Argentine F2 racer, Franco Colapinto will be making his Formula 1 debut this weekend when he drives Logan Sargeant’s Williams at the British Grand Prix in FP1.
So far this year, the 21 year old is enjoying a strong rookie season in Formula 2, having won one race and scored two podiums in the last four rounds to sit fifth in the standings.
The Williams Driver Academy racer will dovetail this opportunity, which will see him share the garage with Alex Albon, with his F2 duties on the same race weekend.
It will be the second time Colapinto has got behind the wheel of Formula 1 machinery, after he drove for Williams in last year’s young driver test in Abu Dhabi and it is part of a requirement for every team to run a young driver in FP1 at least twice during a season.
Colapinto has fond memories of Silverstone having won the Sprint race at the venue last year in F3, on his way to fourth in the drivers’ championship.
I have so many emotions. I am extremely delighted and it’s a very important moment in my life and my career. I will be the most prepared I can; I will be doing a lot of laps in the simulator and studying the details needed to drive this year’s car. I’m really looking forward to experiencing the new car after driving last year’s in Abu Dhabi. To be able to drive it at a track like Silverstone is a privilege, it is one of my favourite tracks and to drive it at the team’s home race means a lot. To all the Argentine fans – I hope you enjoy FP1 as much as I’m going to! It’s an important moment for our country and I’m so grateful for all the support I’ve been given. I’m going to give my all to make you proud. Colapinto on the news.
Franco has had a very encouraging start to his debut season in F2 and we are delighted to reward his performances over the past two years with his first FP1 session. We are proud of our talented group of drivers in the Williams Racing Driver Academy and it is important for us to give them the opportunity to progress and have these important chances as they move up the ladder. To showcase our talent at our home race at Silverstone is a nice moment and, of course, this is going to be a great day for the Argentine F1 fans. Sven Smeets, Sporting Director.
Isack Hadjar was fastest of all in the Spielberg free practice session, after he completed a lap of 1:16.441 to set the pace ahead of qualifying.
The Campos racing driver was over two-tenths clear out front of Hitech Pulse Eight’s Paul Aron in second and DAMS Lucas Oil’s Jak Crawford in third.
It was PREMA Racing’s Oliver Bearman that led the way early on though thanks to a time of 1:17.011, putting him 0.076s clear of MP Motorsport’s Dennis Hauger in second.
The fastest time continued to change hands and next to top the timesheets was Paul Aron. The Hitech driver’s time of 1:16.680 put him two-tenths in front of ART Grands Prix Victor Martins.
Fresh from his Feature Race victory in Barcelona, Crawford looked to be continuing that fine form as he went up to second, 0.162s off Aron’s leading time.
The Red flags were waved moments later after AIX Racing’s Taylor Barnard pulled over to the side of the road on the main straight.
With the track then clear, the session resumed to green flag conditions and Crawford once again improved on his best effort.
Campos’ Hadjar then took over at the top of the leaderboard on a 1:16.624 eclipsing Aron’s time by just 0.056s. The Frenchman then extended his lead out front on his next flying effort, this time setting a lap of 1:16.441.
No one could improve late on, which left Hadjar with the fastest time ahead of Aron and Crawford.
Qualifying-
MP Motorsport’s Dennis Hauger sealed his second pole position of the season after a close battle with AIX Racing’s Joshua Duerksen in a dramatic Spielberg Qualifying.
The Norwegian driver completed a lap of 1:15.487 to lead Duerksen by just 0.008s, as Invicta Racing’s Gabriel Bortoleto rounded out the top three.
It was Campos Racing’s Isack Hadjar that led the way in the early stages though, an opening time of 1:15.828 put him over two-tenths clear of Hitech Pulse-Eight’s Paul Aron in second.
While most went for cool down laps, others continued to push but no one could trouble the top two. Returning to the pitlane, Hadjar had smoke coming from the rear of his car, with the issue ruling him out the remained of the session.
With five minutes left, the final few laps started and after leading the rest of the field around the track, Hauger went to the top of the timesheets with a 1:15.487.
The Paraguayan improved further on his next flying lap to go within 0.008s of top spot, but in the end Hauger held on to pole position with Bortoleto in third.
The full top 10 are- Pole: Hauger, P2: Duerksen, P3: Bortoelto, P4: Colapinto, P5: Aron, P6: Barnard, P7: Hadjar, P8: Marti, P9: Bearman and P10: Maini.
Day 2-
It was a superb start for Bearman as he took the lead from pole-sitter Kush Maini on the run up to Turn 1. The Invicta Racing driver then ost another place to Marti later in the lap.
By the end of lap 3, Bearman was now over two seconds clear of Marti. The Spaniard was also out of DRS range of Maini in third who was coming under attack from Taylor Barnard, Paul Aron and his teammate Gabriel Bortoleto.
At the start of lap 6, the gaps were starting to close, as Marti had moved to within a second a half of Bearman, while Maini was now within DRS range of the Campos rookie.
Barnard though was beginning to loose touch with Maini in the battle for P3, and the AIX Racing driver then dropped down to fifth after Aron dived down his inside at Turn 3. Back at the front, Bearman’s margin had gone with Marti now within DRS range of the Briton, with Maini just behind as they started lap 9.
At the halfway stage of the race, Joshua Duerksen made his way past his AIX Racing teammate Barnard after diving down his inside on the entry to turn 3.
Maini was beginning to struggle on lap 20 and fell out of DRS range of Marti up ahead. The Invicta driver then lost his place on the podium to Aron at the exit of Turn 3 on the next lap, with teammate Bortoleto following the Estonian through at the next corner.
But this allowed Bearman and Marti to escape on the road with Aron and Bortoleto now over a second away from the top two fighting for the final spot on the podium. The battles had also started further back as Duerksen lost P7 to Hauger on lap 24.
By the end of lap 26, Bearman had extended his lead to over one second to Marti while Bortoleto was all over the back of Aron. Just behind them, Maini lost out to the two MP drivers Colapinto and Hauger and dropped to seventh.
Onto the final lap, and Bearman extended his lead to nearly two seconds before crossing the line to take victory ahead of Marti, while Aron held off Bortoleto to take his seventh podium of the year.
The full top 10 are- P1: Bearman, P2: Marti, P3: Aron, P4: Bortoleto, P5: Hauger, P6: Crawford, P7: Maini, P8: Duerksen, P9: O’Sullivan and P10: Martins.
Day 3-
There was drama before the lights even went out, as pole-sitter Dennis Hauger at the start of the formation lap, alongside Kush Maini and Jak Crawford, forcing the three drivers to start from the pitlane.
This then left Duerksen as the lead car on the grid and he made a fast start ahead of Bortoleto with Colapinto in third and Championship leader Paul Aron in fourth.
Colapinto was the lone driver in the top five to start on the softs and he was coming under pressure from Aron and Isack Hadjar who were on supersofts. Further up the road, Duerksen and Bortoleto were now battling for the lead with the Brazilian making the move down the inside at Turn 4 on Lap 4.
On lap 6, Josep Maria Marti lost P6 to sprint race winner, Oliver Bearman, the Prema racer getting past at the exit of turn 3. Moments later, the Virtual Safety Car was deployed with Zane Maloney stopping on track. After his Rodin Motorsport car was cleared, racing resumed with a number of supersoft runners then pitting for the softs.
That included Marti, Duerksen, Bortoleto, Taylor Barnard, Richard Verschoor and Andrea Kimi Antonelli – with the latter stalling in the pitlane dropping him to the back of the field.
Onto lap 18 and Aron had now got past Duerksen, and further up the road, Bortoleto was now right on the back of Marti in the battle for what would turn out to be the lead of the race. The Brazilian driver dived down the inside of his fellow rookie at Turn 3 to take the position.
Enzo Fittipaldi was having a strong day as he made his way past his Van Amersfoort Racing teammate Rafael Villagomez and Trident’s Roman Stanek with Duerksen his next target in P9.
The battle between the two Campos drivers then resumed on lap 32, just as the leader Colapinto made his mandatory pit stop. The MP rookie came back out in P8 behind a squabbling Fittipaldi and Duerksen. But he quickly overtook both of them at Turns 3 and 4 on lap 35, putting him up to fifth and just under three seconds behind Aron.
Out front, Bortoleto’s lead over Hadjar was over three and a half seconds, with the Frenchman coming under pressure from Marti, Aron and a flying Colapinto.
The Argentine took P4 from Aron at Turn 4 on Lap 38, before moving past Marti on the next tour. Onto the final lap, he overtook Hadjar for second but there was no catching Bortoleto, who crossed the line to take his first Formula 2 victory.
The full top 10 are- P1: Bortoleto, P2: Colapinto, P3: Hadjar, P4: Fittipaldi, P5: Aron, P6: Durksen, P7: Cordeel, P8: Barnard, P9: O’Sullivan and P10: Crawford.
Aston Martin have announced that Lance Stroll will continue to race for the team into the new era of F1 regulations in 2026, ending speculation over his future in Formula 1.
It is the latest development in a fluid and fast-moving driver market, with Alpine also confirming Gasly earlier on.
Stroll’s renewal with the Silverstone team comes after he hinted ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix that news of his plans would be following soon.
Stroll first made his F1 debut with Williams back in 2017, where he spent two seasons at Grove before switching to Racing Point, which then became Aston Martin in 2021 following the team’s purchase by a consortium led by his father, Lawrence Stroll.
This means that Aston Martin will keep the same driver line-up into a third campaign, as two-time world champion Fernando Alonso, recently signed his own contract renewal.
I’m super happy to have committed to staying with the team for 2025 and beyond. It’s amazing to see how far we’ve come in the last five years; we’ve grown so much as a team and there’s still so much more to look forward to. Stroll on the news.
He has played a key role in building this team and his technical feedback, alongside his committed simulator work, has helped contribute to the continuous development of the car each season. The consistency and stability of both Lance and Fernando remaining with our team is a great platform to continue to realise our ambitions. We look forward to creating some incredible memories and achieving further success together. Mike Krack, Team Principal.
Pole sitter, Stenshorne tried to cover off Mansell from lights out but the Australian was able to get alongside him into Turn 1 to take the lead. The Hitech driver tried a re-pass into Turn 3 but was left running off the track, giving Tsolov momentum to take second position into Turn 4, making it an ART 1-2.
Dino Beganovic was a spinner at Turn 1 falling from inside the top 10 down to 25th. Kacper Sztuka was an early retirement and was stranded on the circuit which required the Safety Car to neutralise things.
Racing then resumed on lap 5 and Mansell was able to retain the advantage in front. Luke Browning was on the move after his grip penalty left him from starting 15th, going three-wide into Turn 4 to pass Nikita Bedrin and Arvid Lindblad to move into 11th.
With DRS, Tsolov was able to get alongside Mansell into Turn 4 and rounded the Australian on the outside to take the lead on lap 7.
Browning moved himself into the points-paying positions at the expense of Tim Tramnitz, moving down the inside at Turn 3 on lap 10 to secure 10th from the MP driver.
Lap 12, and Fornaroli put a brave move on Bedrin to move up to 14th, passing the AIX Racing driver around the outside of Turn 6.
Lap 16, was a busy one as Montoya looked to make a move on Alex Dunne at Turn 1, but the MP driver resisted the pressure to hold onto the position.
Up further ahead, Mansell got a move at Turn 4 to stick on Tsolov, able to take the lead from his ART teammate and remain ahead. Gabriele Mini got brave and rounded Oliver Goethe on the outside at Turn 6 to secure sixth position.
Contact with Trident’s Sami Meguetounif at the end of the lap for Lindblad left the PREMA Racing rookie with a puncture and dropped him out of the points fight.
On lap 17, the fight for the lead continued with Tsolov getting back through on Mansell at Turn 4, a slow corner exit for the Australian allowed Stenshorne a run through Turn 5, putting the Norwegian up to second.
The fight for the top five places continued just behind the trio but after a heated battle Montoya made contact with Dunne and was left spinning at Turn 4. The Colombian driver out of his car and ok, but the crash required another Safety Car.
The Safety Car was withdrawn with one lap to go, setting up a final lap sprint to the finish. Tsolov got the restart he needed to put some distance between himself and Stenshorne, and the Bulgarian earned his second sprint race victory of the year ahead of the Hitech driver.
The full top 10 are- P1: Tsolov, P2: Stenshorne, P3: Mansell, P4: Dunne, P5: Van Hoepen, P6: Mini, P7: Goethe, P8: Tramnitz, P9: Leon and P10: Meguetounif.
Day 3-
Browning launched into a clear lead at the first corner while PREMA Racing teammates Lindblad, Mini and Beganovic followed in second through to fourth as Tim Tramnitz dropped down to seventh. Lindblad and Mini battled on the exit of Turn 4 which allowed Beganovic the run into Turn 6 to take third from the Italian.
That became second for the Swede on lap 2, as he dived down the inside of his teammate into Turn 3. Noel Leon was on the move too further back, taking sixth from Sebastian Montoya as he continued his charge from 13th.
Lindblad was dropping through the pack on lap 8 after brief contact with Alex Dunne into Turn 3 as the MP Motorsport driver passed Goethe. Leon, Dunne and Goethe were able to clear the Brit on the run to Turn 4 to relegate the Red Bull Junior Team driver to seventh.
Contact at Turn 3 between Mari Boya in the Campos and AIX Racing’s Nikita Bedrin brought out a Virtual Safety Cat on lap 11 while marshals retrieved the latter’s car.
Back to racing conditions and Goethe was on the attack against Leon for fourth. The slightest of touches resulted in a puncture for the Van Amersfoort Racing driver, ending his charge through the pack and tumbling down the order.
10 laps to go, everyone behind leader, Browning had DRS down to ninth-placed Tramnitz as the fight for points ebbed and flowed.
Christian Mansell made his way into sixth position with a pass around the outside of Lindblad at Turn 4 on lap 19. That became fourth for the Australian with five laps to go, diving down the inside of Goethe at Turn 4.
Mini made an attempt on Beganovic for second at Turn 3 on the following lap, but it was Mansell that went surging around the outside of the Italian at the following corner to take third. That was until Mini pulled off his own audacious pass to re-take P3 at Turn 6.
Onto the penultimate lap and the battling behind allowed Browning to break out of DRS range to Beganovic, who was under attack from teammate Mini at Turn 4, with the Alpine Academy driver securing second a Turn 6.
The full top 10 are- P1: Browning, P2: Mini, P3: Beganovic, P4: Mansell, P5: Goethe, P6: Tsolov, P7: Lindblad, P8: Vans Hoepen, P9: Fornaroli and P10: Dunne.
Wow! What a race we had in Austria, it all looked plain sailing for most of the race until a collision took place and it all changed…
Mercedes’ George Russell claimed a somewhat unexpected victory in the Austrian Grand Prix after a dramatic end to the race which saw Max Verstappen and Lando Norris collide in the battle for the lead, which dropped Verstappen down the order and forced Norris to retire.
Verstappen originally made a strong start from pole position to hold P1 for much of the race, a thrilling duel with McLaren driver Norris unfolded when both made their final pit stops on lap 52, where RB suffered a rare slower stop due to an issue with the rear left wheel.
Norris was then hot on the tail of his rival and made more than one attempt to snatch P1. But it all came to an end of lap 64 when the pair made contact, causing the pair to limp back to the pits.
The full top 10 are- P1: Russell, P2: Piastri, P3: Sainz, P4: Hamilton, P5: Verstappen, P6: Hulkenberg, P7: Perez, P8: Magnussen, P9: Ricciardo and P10: Gasly.
Russell’s second victory in F1! This just shows that Mercedes have made a step forward, I know he didn’t battle for the win, but this is a part of racing, if the top 2 crash into each other the driver in third 9 times out of 10 will take the lead and go on to win the race especially so late on in the race. A very good result, for Mercedes, Hamilton finished 4th aswell a very good points haul for the team!
Piastriii, McLaren’s last man standing, the Australian made up good ground after qualifying and having his lap time deleted. It makes you think if that didn’t happen and he started P3, would he have won the race?
Podium for Carlos Sainz! A good result for Ferrari, just what the team needs. However for Charles Leclerc it is a different story, he had contact on the first lap which saw him have to pit for a new front wing and that was basically his race over he finished P11 out of the points.
A very good result for Nico Hulkenberg P6 for him! And the same goes to Magnussen he finished P8, just what the team needs. And I do have to say their team work between them is great, we have seen it quite a few times this year and they just capitalise on other’s misfortune or go through the field together.
Ricciardo in the points, it was what he needed, and probably wanted aswell. But he will be needing more than one good performance to get a seat for next year and his only bet really is going to be sticking with VCARB.
Gasly in the points aswell! The French driver, is on a run of points at the moment with it being his fourth consecutive race with points, so a good drive from him.
Now we don’t have to wait too long for the next race, as it is only next week! And it is the home race of 7 time world champion, Lewis Hamilton, as well as race winners, George Russell and Lando Norris!
Max Verstappen secured pole position for the Austrian Grand Prix after a commanding performance in Saturday’s qualifying, beating closest challenger Lando Norris by four tenths of a second.
Having set an impressive early benchmark in the initial laps of Q3, Verstappen bettered his time on his second effort to record a lap of 1m 04.314s in the Red Bull.
The full top 10 are – Pole: Verstappen, P2: Norris, P3: Russell, P4: Sainz, P5: Hamilton, P6: Leclerc, P7: Piastri, P8: Perez, P9: Hulkenberg and P10: Ocon.
Pole again for Verstappen! He will definitely be wanting to turn it into a victory, but I don’t think he will be able to sail away with it, he has Norris and Russell right behind him and we have seen the battles those three drivers have had recently…
A wonderful result for the remaining top 3, I have no doubt that they would of been up there, it is all eyes onto the race now…
Another decent qualifying by Carlos Sainz! His teammate Charles Leclerc also had a lot better qualifying that the sprint qualifying. Now the drivers will need to work as a team and score some big points, especially because of McLaren catching them in the constructors standings.
Not the best result from Piastri, he was P3 however he had the lap time deleted due track limits so he got bumped down to P7, he will have a bit of work to do in the race.
A decent result for Nico Hulkenberg! P9 for the Haas driver, he will be wanting to capitalise on this result for the race and score as many points as he can.
Ricciardo just missed out on the top 10, the Australian will be wanting to score some points this weekend, especially because his seat is under threat so will be wanting to prove that he possibly deserves a seat.
Again not the best result for Aston Martin, P15 for Alonso and P17 for Stroll. They really are struggling at the moment and they have gone backwards to where they were last year…
Jenzer Motorsport’s Charlie Wurz ended up quickest of all in the opening session. The Austrian saved his best effort for the final five minutes to go top on a 1:21.182, while Trident’s Santiago Ramos got closest to him, just half a tenth back in second.
Joshua Dufek set the early pace for AIX Racing, though it was beaten shortly afterwards by ART Grand Prix’s Laurens van Hoepen, as he set a 1:22.409 to lead after 10 minutes of running.
Van Amersfoort Racing’s Noel Leon then moved to the top of the timing screens, lowering the fastest effort to a 1:22.387 to narrowly head up the field. Sami Meguetounif then put Trident in P1, going quicker still onto a 1:22.325.
After a minor lock-up on his first flying lap, Luke Browning went quickest of all approaching the halfway stage on a 1:21.781. Teammate Martininius Stenshorne made it a one-two for Hitech Pule Eight.
Fornaroli took back over at the top with 16 minutes to go of the session, lowering the benchmark to a 1:21.663 to lead the way.
After a lull in action, and return to the pits, cars ventured back out onto the circuit with under 10 minutes to go for the final laps.
Charlie Wurz for Jenzer Motorsport was the first to go quickest of all, deposing Fornaroli and then going quicker still, putting in a 1:21.182 to go almost half a second quicker than anyone else.
Santiago Ramos closed the gap down to just 0.054s with under two minutes remaining to go second.
Qualifying-
Luke Browning earned his first pole position in FIA Formula 3, opting to run without a tow on the final runs to take the top spot around the Red Bull Ring.
The Hitech Pulse Eight driver was at the head of the train going into the final few laps and was able to record a 1:20.222 without a slipstream to lead PREMA Racing’s Arvid Lindblad and MP Motorsport driver Tim Tramnitz.
In the opening stages, Noel Leon set the pace before being deposed by Nikola Tsolov, then Oliver Goethe and finally Gabriele Mini, with the PREMA driver’s 1:21.013 the time to beat.
The Van Amersfoort Racing driver repositioned himself in P1 with his next effort, just over a tenth quicker than Mini, before the Alpine Academy driver responded to go quickest by just 0.005s.
A return to the pits and switch to a fresh set of tyres, the field was back out onto the circuit. After trying unsuccessfully to not lead the field across the line to gain a tow, Browning led the line for the final flying laps without a slipstream and set a 1:20.222 for provisional pole.
Lindblad got closest to him, moving into second just 0.048s off that effort, while Tramnitz was another late improvement for MP.
The full top 10 are- P1: Browning, P2: Lindblad, P3: Tramnitz, P4: Mini, P5: Beganovic, P6: Goethe, P7: Van Hoepen, P8: Montoya, P9: Dunne and P10: Tsolov.
Max Verstappen will be lining up in pole position for the Sprint in Austria, after he stormed to the top of the timesheets ahead of McLaren teammates Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.
With every driver in SQ3 posting just one flying lap in the final minutes, the pressure was on to deliver a decent time. And that’s what Verstappen did, pumping in a time of 1.04.686s.
The full top 10 are- Pole: Verstappen, P2: Norris, P3: Piastri, P4: Russelll, P5: Sainz, P6: Hamilton, P7: Perez, P8: Ocon, P9: Gasly and P10: Leclerc.
A lovely result for Max Verstappen, it would be just what he wanted and he will want to turn this into victory.
A very good result for McLaren P2 and P3, both drivers will be wanting to try and win the sprint as well as get on the podium and get a good points haul before the race.
Ferrari had a semi decent result with Carlos Sainz in P5, however not the best result with Charles Leclerc. He failed to set a time after he stopped in the pitlane before being unable to cross the line before the chequered flag, leaving him in 10th. He has a lot of work to do in the race, especially as he is in the middle of the pack and will want to stay out of trouble.
A decent result from Mercedes, P4 and P6, not the worst for the Silver Arrows but also not the best from the team. They still have a bit of work to do if they want to consistently be battling with the McLaren’s etc…
Not the best result from Perez, but at least he qualified in the top 10, I really cant work out how he has these bad qualifying’s and then go on to the race and not really make a massive difference…
Sprint Race-
Red Bull driver, Max Verstappen converted pole position into victory in the Sprint Race at the Austrian Grand Prix, overcoming the McLaren’s of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris.
While Verstappen held his lead at the start, Norris soon closed in and briefly moved in P1 with a bold overtake, only for the reigning world champion to reclaim the position moments later in a squabble that enabled Piastri to pass his team mate.
The full top 10 are- P1: Verstappen, P2: Piastri, P3: Norris, P4: Russell, P5: Sainz, P6: Hamilton, P7: Leclerc, P8: Perez, P9: Magnussen and P10: Stroll.
A wonderful result from Max, turning sprint pole into sprint victory! That makes it 3 sprint victories out of 3 so far this year. His team mate, Sergio Perez, finished in the final points paying position in 8th which isn’t the best result the Mexican driver has had.
A lovely little result from McLaren, both cars finishing the podium in P2 for Piastri and P3 from Norris, just what the team expects from their drivers. They also had quite a good battle with Max at the beginning and it was good to see how close the top 3 was at times.
Russell finished P4 which isn’t bad and Hamilton P6 so where they both started. To be honest most drivers don’t really risk it too much in the sprint as they have qualifying later on and don’t want to risk damaging their cars.
Leclerc moved up a few spots which is good, the Ferrari’s clearly have a bit of pace under their cars this weekend, so they will be wanting a better qualifying session for the race.
Magnussen finished P9! Just outside the points unfortunately but all he needs to do is repeat the same again tomorrow for the race.
Gasly and Ocon didn’t have the best race, they started in the top 10 and finished 11th and 12th…
Alpine has agreed a multi-year extension with Pierre Gasly that will see the Frenchman stay with the Enstone-based team for 2025 and beyond.
Gasly joined the French team at the start of last season, scoring 67 points over that 18 months period including third in the 2023 Belgian GP Sprint and third in the Dutch Grand Prix.
Alpine had been pushing to secure Gasly following their decision to part ways with his current teammate Esteban Ocon at the end of the season.
Alpine are chasing Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz for his signature to become Gasly’s teammate but it is believed the Spaniard is still undecided on his future.
But should Sainz choose to drive elsewhere the team do have other options. They are considering promoting reserve driver Jack Doohan, or fellow academy driver Victor Martins, or going for experience like a 10 time race winner, Valtteri Bottas…
I feel very much at home at this great team. I enjoy being a real part of both the Formula 1 project and the wider Alpine Cars vision. I’ve been officially here for over 18 months and it has always been the plan to build a long-term project with the Team. While on-track it’s been a challenging season so far, I remain faithful to the project and I am not going anywhere. I am happy with the changes made, the hard work, and the direction the team is taking. There is a lot of potential in this team’s personnel and resources. I’m excited for what is to come in the future and right now I’m focusing on the everyday details that we are putting in to improve our performances. Gasly on the news.
The extension of Pierre’s contract with the team is very pleasing. He is a driver with huge experience in Formula 1 and continues to show huge amounts of potential on-track. For Alpine as a brand, he is a great ambassador and we therefore look forward to continuing our collaboration. While this is important for our future, we do have to keep our eyes close to what is coming and that is focusing on improving our current package. We have high ambitions this current season and we will work tirelessly to achieve those things. We will take our time in deciding Pierre’s team-mate and we are excited with the options we have on the table. Team Principal, Bruno Famin.
The second race of the first triple header of the season is here, as we have the Austrian Grand Prix this weekend.
Several unusual features make this a unique track on the championship calendar. First of all, it boasts the lowest numbers of corners (10) and the shortest time, even if its 4.318 kilometre length makes it the fifth shortest track.
The circuit which is owned by Red Bull is second on the list of tracks with the biggest change in altitude with a difference of 63.5 metres between its highest and lowest points.
As usual for this race, Pirelli have chosen the three softest compounds from the 2024 range the C3 (Hard), C4 (Medium) and C5 (Soft).
The Spielberg track surface is quite old and therefore is highly abrasive but the lateral forces exerted on the tyres are decidedly lower than average for the season, resulting in very limited wear overall.
Traction out of the slow corners and stability under braking are key contributors to being competitive at this track. It is important to manage the tyres in such a way as to avoid overtaking, especially if they run at high temperatures: those drivers who don’t manage to keep them cool enough could find it hard to fend off attacks from other cars.
For the past two editions of this race, the two-stop strategy proved quickest, running the Medium and Hard tyres and last year, no driver gambled on the softs.
For the #AustrianGP Pirelli has chosen the three softest compounds from the 2024 range, namely the C3 as Hard, the C4 as Medium and the C5 as Soft. Here you can find all the numbers of this race 👇#F1pic.twitter.com/Ga7DSsDbor
Flavio Briatore is making a return to Formula 1 in an official capacity after the Renault-backed Alpine team announced the Italian businessman as their new Executive Advisor.
Briatore, 74, has long been connected with the sport, initially serving as Benetton’s team boss through the 1990s and achieving title success with Michael Schumacher.
After a spell away, Briatore made a comeback when Renault took over the Enstone-based squad at the turn of the millennium, again overseeing the operation as their Team principal. Briatore added more titles with Fernando Alonso in the mid-noughties, before vacating his position in 2009 and taking some more time out of F1.
Now via several other business ventures and activities, Briatore will embark on a fresh stint with ‘Team Enstone’ as he gets set to assist Renault chiefs in their quest to drive Alpine up the F1 grid.
BWT Alpine F1 Team can confirm that Flavio Briatore has been appointed by Renault Group CEO Luca de Meo as his Executive Advisor for the Formula One Division. Predominantly focus on top level areas of the team. Scouting top talents and providing insights on the driver market, challenging the existing project by assessing the current structure and advising on some strategic matters within the sport. The team on the news.
Maini suffered wheelspin off the line from pole and dropped to fourth while Martins profited to take the lead on the run to the first corner. Ritomo Miyata swept around the outside at Turn 1 to go from fourth to second, ahead of Correa and Maini.
On lap 2 and Maini made a late dive to the inside of Correa at the opening corner to recover one position. Teammate Gabriel Bortoleto followed him through at Turn 4.
In the battle for seventh, Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Isack Hadjar fought hard early on, though the Campos Racing driver was unable to find a route through on the PREMA Racing talent.
By lap 10, Martins was able to escape from DRS range of Miyata behind and led by 1.5s, while the Japanese driver held a 1.1s advantage over Maini in the podium places.
Antonelli had dropped out of DRS range to Paul Aron ahead and after a long time of trying, Hadjar finally cleared the PREMA driver into Turn 1 on lap 12.
With 10 laps to go, track limits became a problem for Miyata, and the Rodin driver was assigned a five-second penalty for one too many breaches. He earned a second time penalty in his struggle to remain ahead of Maini to bring that total up to 10 second with five laps remaining.
Further back, Hadjar lost seventh to Crawford as both DAMS cars looked to be taking better care of the tyres than those ahead. Correa was pressuring Bortoleto for the final podium place, but the Brazilian was able to fend him off to maintain position.
Onto the penultimate lap and a sizeable lock-up into Turn 5 was evidence of how hard Bortoleto was pushing to keep Correa behind. However, it gave the American a run into Turn 10 and after diving to the inside, he claimed fourth on the road.
Aron was next to clear Bortoleto, rounding the Invicta driver at Turn 3 on the final lap to take P5, as two corners later Crawford followed through to take sixth from him.
The full top 10 are- P1: Martins, P2: Maini, P3: Aron, P4: Crawford, P5: Bortoleto, P6: Hadjar, P7: Miyata, P8: Correa, P9: O’Sullivan and P10: Durksen.
Day 3-
Pole sitter Paul Aron got the perfect launch to lead into Turn 1 ahead of Crawford and Colapinto. Further back, contact sent Victor Martins and Dennis Hauger spinning into the gravel at Turn 2 leaving both out of the race.
Isack Hadjar was the biggest winner, moving up from 11th to fifth in the opening half lap prior to the Safety Car deployed for Hauger and Martins’.
Racing resumed on lap 4 and Aron retained the lead, escaping over a second clear to move out of DRS range to Crawford behind.
Lap 8 and the hard compound runners began to benefit over those on softs, with Joshua Duersken taking fifth from Hadjar into Turn 1. Crawford was in from second at the end of the lap, with Ritomo Miyata and Zak O’Sullivan following the DAMS driver in from inside the top 10.
Gabriel Bortoleto pitted on lap 11 for Invicta Racing, filtering back out in P14 behind Crawford but with warm tyres, O’Sullivan was able to pass him on the outlap to take the position.
Leader Aron was called into the pits and Colapinto followed him in on lap 12. The Hitech rejoined ahead of Crawford but with the DAMS driver on his rear wing. Through turn 3, the American driver took ninth from Aron, while Colapinto retained position over Bortoleto.
Duerksen had been the leader and yet to pit on the alternative strategy but on lap 18, he slowed to a half in the middle sector to bring out another Virtual Safety Car. His stoppage handed the lead over to Juan Manuel Correa, who was also yet to pit.
Racing resumed on lap 20, and Colapinto put Bortoleto under immediate pressure, with the Invicta driver getting his elbows out to keep the place. Just behind them, Aron got the slipstream to take 10th from O’Sullivan at Turn 2. One lap later and Hadjar eased by the ART driver at Turn 1.
With 10 laps to go, Correa pitted from the race lead for the soft compound, filtering back out onto the track in P9 just as Aron made a brave dive on Bortoleto into Turn 1 to take fifth.
As Hitech Pulse-Eight’s Amaury Cordeel pitted, Crawford retook the lead with Colapinto his closest rival for the win 3.6s behind in P2.
Onto lap 34, and Hadjar desposed Bortoelto for fifth while Invicta teammate Kush Maini gained seventh at the expense of Maloney on the run into Turn 1.
The Invicta teammate were nose to tail on the final lap and going wheel-to-wheel into the first corner collided with one another, leaving Bortoleto with front wing damage and Maini ahead in sixth.
The full top 10 are- P1: Crawford, P2: Colapinto, P3: Correa, P4: Aron, P5: Hadjar, P6: Maini, P7: Maloney, P8: Cordeel, P9: Marti and P10: Bortoleto.
It was as you were at the start with Trident’s pole-sitter Santiago Ramos leading teammate Sami Megueounif away with the home favourite Boya in third.
But there was plenty of battling in the midfield with Christian Mansell, Gabriele Mini, Luke Browning and Nikola Tsolov going four-wide down the main straight, with the Australian driver taking 13th ahead of his rivals.
Ramos and Meguetounif were now squabbling for the lead at the start of Lap 3, but the Trident pair then collided at Turn 1. The Frenchman spun off while the former was forced to pit with a puncture.
This promoted Boya into the lead ahead of Dunne and Goethe, but the Safety Car was quickly called upon with Callum Voisin and Nikita Bedrin stopping on track after colliding at the same corner.
The action resumed on lap 7 and Van Amersfoort Racing’s Neol Leon was on the move again. The Mexican driver got past Arvid Lindblad at Turn 5, putting him sixth after starting in P13.
As lap 10 got underway, Dunne was now right on the back of Boya, with Goethe just behind. They had separated themselves from the field as Martinius Stenshorne made the move past Laurens van Hoepen for P4, with Leon later following him through to fifth.
On lap 14 of 21, a DRS train had now been formed from Boya in the lead to Sebastian Montoya in the final points paying position – the Colombian having gone from P27 on the grid to P12.
But it was soon to be bad news for the Campos driver after he made slight contact with Mini at the exit of Turn 4. The Prema driver sustained a puncture causing him to lose control of his car which sent him into Montoya, with both ending up in the gravel and the Safety Car was called upon once again.
However, with so few laps remaining, the Safety Car was withdrawn at the end of the final lap to leave Boya unchallenged to cross the line for his first victory in the championship.
The full top 10 are- P1: Boya, P2: Dunne, P3: Goethe, P4: Stenshorne, P5: Van Hoepen, P6: Leon, P7: Fornaroli, P8: Beganovic, P9: Lindblad and P10: Tramnitz.
Day 3-
It was as you were at the start with Mansell getting a strong launch from pole to lead Lindblad and his ART teammate Nikola Tsolov.
Oliver Goethe though was the one driver to lose out in the early exchanges as he dropped from fifth to eighth, promoting Luke Browning and Leonardo Fornaroli.
Mansell was coming under pressure from Lindblad for the lead and the PREMA Racing driver’s attack finally paid dividends on lap 5 as he went round the outside of Mansell at Turn 1 to take the first position.
Approaching the halfway stage of the race, Mansell was now over a second and a half behind Lindblad, with Browning being told to make the move past the ART driver.
Goethe was able to get past van Hoepen for P6, with the Dutchman now coming under pressure from Martinius Stenshorne.
On lap 17, Lindblad was now well over three seconds clear out front while Mansell had escaped from DRS range of Browning. The Hitech driver was now coming under pressure from Tsolov and Fornaroli as they battle for the final spot on the podium. The Trident driver then made his way past on lap 22, going round the outside of Tsolov at Turn 1.
Fornaroli now set his sights on Browning up ahead, the gap between the pair just a second. Tsolov though was beginning to struggle on his tyres, losing out to Goethe for P6 on the next lap.
Browning and Fornaroli went wheel-to-wheel for P3 on the penultimate lap and further behind, Stenshorne and van Hoepen were doing the same for P7. However, the McLaren junior and ART rookie collided at Turn 4, leaving both with punctures.
On to the final lap and Fornaroli went around the outside of Browning at Turn 2 to take P3, just as heavy rain hit the track.
The full top 10 are- P1: Lindblad, P2: Mansell, P3: Fornaroli, P4: Goethe, P5: Browning, P6: Tsolov, P7: Dunne, P8: Beganovic, P9: Leon and P10: Ramos.
The Spanish Grand Prix is officially over, and it was Max Verstappen who was victorious in Barcelona, after he held off pole-sitter Lando Norris to take his seventh win of the season.
The Red Bull driver first took the lead of the race on lap 3 after the Mercedes of George Russell who started fourth, made the most of his electric start as the lights went out to lead early on.
The full top 10 are- P1: Verstappen, P2: Norris, P3: Hamilton, P4: Russell, P5: Leclerc, P6: Sainz, P7: Piastri, P8: Perez, P9: Gasly and P10: Ocon.
A lovely result for Max! Another win in the bag for the reigning Champion, he had a bit of a challenge from Norris, not making it easy but the Dutchman knew what he needed to do to secure the win. His teammate, Sergio Perez didn’t have the best of races, starting P11 and he finished P8, not a major improvement, and he will be hoping for better next weekend in Austria.
A decent result for Norris, I know he wanted the win and felt like he should’ve got it but it is racing sometimes, but the team and Norris should be proud of how far they’ve come, especially the past couple of races.
A wonderful result for Mercedes, Hamilton back on the podium! And George in P4, a very good points haul for the team and a great race in general with the pace of the car and how it has improved. I think next for them would be a double podium or a win.
An okay race for the Italian team P5 for Leclerc and P6 for Sainz. The drivers had a bit of a clash in the race, where now they are not agreeing on whose fault it is, which will make debriefs in Maranello a bit awkward. The team will be looking to see what’s going on as they were not really fighting too much with the top 4.
Both Alpine drivers in the points again, not really too much to say on them apart from the fact they’re improving week on week and it is good to see.
A decent drive from Hulkenberg to P11, so close to the points but not close enough, that will be a good point to take away from the race for Haas.
No Aston Martin’s in the points, I don’t think I was surprised to see this, it’s a shame for the team but at this moment in time they are going backwards and not forwards.
Paul Aron started the Barcelona weekend in good form, topping the Free Practice session for Hitech Pulse-Eight. The Estonian set a 1:26.922 to head the pack ahead of Enzo Fittipaldi in the Van Amersfoort Racing car and MP Motorsport’s Franco Colapinto.
AIX Racing’s Joshua Duerksen set the initial pace, a 1:27.742 putting him on top early with the majority waiting to venture out onto the circuit.
That was bettered by Ritomo Miyata in the Rodin Motorsport, lowering the time to beat to a 1:27.639. As the clocked ticked to under 30 minutes remaining, the track filled up and the times kept flowing.
Championship leader, Paul Aron was the first to break into the 1:26s, setting the fastest time of 1:26.922 with just over 20 minutes left of the session. Fittipaldi filtered through in second, 0.136s down with Colapinto third for MP.
Qualifying-
Paul Aron continued the way he left free practice, setting the fastest time in Qualifying for his maiden Formula 2 pole position in an incredibly close session.
DAMS Lucas Oil’s Jak Crawford ended up just 0.002s back in second, with Franco Colapinto third for MP Motorsport, 0.006s behind Aron.
After ending up fastest in practice, Aron set the first time to beat on a 1:25.385. MP teammates Dennis Hauger and Colapinto filed through in second and third places respectively.
The red flag was then thrown after AIX Racing’s Taylor Barnard went off at Turn 9 and into the barriers. He was out of the car and ok, but his car needed recovering.
Running resumed with 23 minutes left on the clock but there were no threats to Aron’s provisional pole time until Isack Hadjar ventured out for his first flying lap. The Frenchman put his Campos at the top of the times, setting a 1:25.205.
PREMA Racing’s Andrea Kimi Antonelli was able to move up to second place, just 0.141s down on Hadjar’s effort.
After a brief spell of quiet in the pitlane, everyone was fitted with fresh soft tyres and took to the track once again with under 10 minutes to go.
Aron was able to find further improvements to retake the top spot with a 1:24.766 before Ritomo Miyata put himself up to P2 for Rodin, 0.182s behind.
The full top 10 are- Pole: Aron, P2: Crawford, P3: Colapinto, P4: Bortoleto, P5: Antonelli, P6: Miyata, P7: Durksen, P8: Correa, P9: Martins and P10: Maini.
Qualifying is done in Barcelona and we now have had four different drivers on pole in the last four races…
McLaren driver, Lando Norris secured the second pole position of his Formula 1 career after coming out on top in an epic battle with rival Max Verstappen.
Norris, who was last on pole at the Sochi Autodrom back in 2021, had trailed Verstappen after the opening Q3 rounds, but produced a stunning final lap of 1m 11.383s to outpace the Dutchman by two hundredths of a second.
The full top 10 are- Pole: Norris, P2: Verstappen, P3: Hamilton, P4: Russell, P5: Leclerc, P6: Sainz, P7: Gasly, P8: Perez, P9: Ocon and P10: Piastri.
What a lovely result from McLaren and Lando Norris! Pole position! So far this weekend they have looked really strong so it’s no surprise seeing them up there. Piastri starts 10th, obviously it’s not the best place for Aussie. He will be wanting to stay out of trouble at the start of the race and make as many moves as possible as he can.
Lovely result for Max, I don’t think there was many complaints from him, his teammate finished 8th in qualifying, however he won’t be starting 8th as he has a three place grid penalty from Canada so will be starting 11th.
A lovely result for both Mercedes! A second row lockout for the team, we saw how they improved last time out in Canada, and it definitely looks like it wasn’t a one-off which is nice to see. Let’s see how well Hamilton and Russell do in the race!
An okay result for Ferrari, it definitely could’ve been better for the Italian team, it will be all to play for in the race, as Leclerc will be looking to bounce back from an awful Canadian Grand Prix. And Carlos Sainz will be wanting a good home grand prix.
A decent result for Alpine! Both cars in the top 10 which is good to see, it seems like the improvements they have made to the car recently has helped a little bit.
Aston Martin are having a bit of trouble at the moment, not the best results for the team lately. Alonso qualified 11th but will be starting 10th and Stroll will be starting 14th…
Martinius Stenshorne led the way at the Barcelona free practice, as the Hitech Pulse-Eight driver completed a lap of 1:28.774 to top the timesheets ahead of Campos Racing’s Oliver Goethe and PREMA Racing’s Gabriele Mini.
After a quiet first half of the 45 minute session, the drivers head out on to the track for their flying laps of the day, and after the first efforts, it was Mini that went fastest.
The Championship leader completed a lap of 1:28.847 to go six-tenths clear at the front ahead of Van Amersfoort Racing’s Noel Leon in second.
Next to go to the top of the timesheets was Campos’ Goethe, who set a time of 1:28.810, while his teammate Sebastian Montoya moved up to third behind Mini.
While most of the gird came back into the pitlane with 10 minutes left, Hitech Pulse Eight’s trio of drivers stayed out on track. Stenshorne then went quickest with a 1:28.774 while Luke Browning was two-tenths back in fourth as Cian Shields went to P8.
As the session entered into the final five minutes, the red flags were waved with Campos’ Mari Boya in the barrier at Turn 1. The home favourite appeared to suffer an issue on the run down the main straight sending him through the gravel and then into the wall.
Qualifying-
Christian Mansell is set to start Formula 3’s 100th race from Pole Position after he beat PREMA Racing’s Arvid Lindblad to top spot in a dramatic qualifying.
The ART Grand Prix driver set a 1:28.463 on his final attempt in the session to take his maiden Pole in the category, with Lindblad ending up second just 0.036s off the pace, while Mansell’s teammate Nikola Tsolov was third.
After the first set of laps, it was the third ART driver Laurens van Hoepen who went fastest. The Dutchman’s time of 1:29.187 saw him beat Trident’s Leonardo Fornaroli to the top spot by less than a tenth.
The drivers then returned to the pitlane and strapped on a second set of Pirelli hard tyres in preparation for the next set of push laps. As they crossed the line to complete the second flying efforts it was Luke Browning that went fastest with a 1:28.888.
On the final runs, the fastest effort changed hands multiple times before Mansell eclipsed Lindblad’s time by just 0.036s with his lap of 1:28.463 giving him his first Formula 3 pole position.
The full top 10 are- Pole: Mansell, P2: Lindblad, P3: Tsolov, P4: Browning, P5: Goethe, P6: Fornaroli, P7: Stenshorne, P8: Van Hoepen, P9: Dunne and P10: Boya.
Williams have promoted Adam Kenyon to Head of Aerodynamics, a position that has been vacant for more than a year.
The iconic British team – winner of 16 World Championships – are rebuilding under the guidance of Tram Principal James Vowles, with Pat Fry coming onboard last year to head up the technical department as Chief Technical Officer.
Vowles, who only joined the team last February, has been working with Fry to strengthen the technical team with the Head of Aerodynamics a key role they wanted to fill.
David Wheater left the position late in 2022, around the time Team Principal Jost Capito and Technical Director FX Demaison departed, and has since returned to Enstone as Alpine’s Aerodynamics Technical Director.
Vowles revealed that Kenyon – who has been with Williams since May 2021 and previously worked with Vowles at Mercedes where he rose to the role of Aerodynamics Group leader – has been promoted to the role of Aerodynamics.
Vowles revealed in Canada that the team are working hard in the job market to grow the workforce. It is understood many of the signings will join from rival teams, following periods of gardening leave, and have extensive experience in Formula 1.
The British team are currently in ninth in the constructors’ championship, courtesy of the two points Alex Albon scored in Monaco and head to Spain hopeful of fighting for more after an encouraging weekend in Canada went unrewarded.
Adam Kenyon is our Head of Aero – that was done without a big fanfare in March this year. I worked with Adam back at Mercedes and he was at Red Bull prior to that. He was chief aero but an extraordinary chief aero and, really, he was running the operation and doing a good job with it. I just wanted to make sure that he was able to take on the role because it was a large amount of addition to him. He’s doing brilliantly well with it. He’s restructuring and bringing in excellence and using the excellence we have to now not focus on one year but three or four years. And that’s a big change from what it was. We’re bolstering the team around him. Vowles on the news.
The Spanish Grand Prix takes place at the Barcelona-Catalunya Circuit, which is one of the most technically demanding tracks for the cars and also the tyres.
Therefore it’s no surprise that once again for this event, Pirelli has chosen its three hardest tyre compounds, C1 (Hard), C2 (Medium), C3 (Soft), the same three selected for the opening round of the year in Bahrain.
The track is one of the most complete of any circuit in the world, in terms of the challenges it presents. Apart from its straights, it boasts every possible type of corner, with some of them such as turn 3 and the combination of 13 and 114 which lead onto the main straight, taken at very high speeds.
The lateral forces exerted o the tyres, especially on the lefthand side of the car are particularly high, partly because nine of the 14 turns are to the right.
For many years, this circuit was home to winter testing for the teams and also marked the start of the European part of the season, which also signified the arrival of the first major upgrades of the year. Recently, changes to pre-season testing and the calendar mean this is no longer the case, but Barcelona is still a probing test.
In 2023, the original configuration, used since 1991 when this track first appeared on the Formula 1 calendar, was reinstated. It was changed in 2007 with the insertion of a chicane before the final corner, with the aim of creating another overtaking opportunity but this did not materialise. With the removal of the chicane, combined with the aerodynamic configuration of the current cars have seen an increase in overtaking.
This year’s race takes place three weeks later than 2023, so it could be hotter and that could add another factor to tyre management. In terms of strategy, a two-stop should be the quickest option with all compounds possibly coming into play. If degradation is higher, then even a three-stop might be feasible.
Another consideration at the Barcelona-Catalunya Circuit is the importance of qualifying. In no fewer than 24 races here, the pole sitter has gone on to be first past the chequered flag and adding to the importance of this statistic is that on four other occasions the driver who was quickest in qualifying retired from the race.
The Barcelona-Catalunya Circuit is one of the most technically demanding tracks for the cars and also for the tyres. Therefore, it’s no surprise that once again for this event, Pirelli has chosen its three hardest 2024 dry tyre compounds: C1 as Hard, C2 as Medium and C3 as Soft. pic.twitter.com/ejvgKnrBGj
Haas team boss Ayao Komatsu has confirmed that Oliver Bearman will make his next practice outing with the squad at this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix, adding to a recent run out in Imola.
Ferrari-backed Bearman is one of the hottest prospects in the paddock at present, having underlined his junior credentials with a starring stand-in performance for Ferrari at this year’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
A previous Italian and ADAC F4 Champion, and third-place finisher in F3, the 19 year old Brit is now tackling F2 alongside official F1 reserve driver duties for Ferrari and Haas.
While his current F2 campaign has been a rollercoaster ride so far, leaving him 13th in the standings after five rounds, however Bearman continues to impress when given the opportunity in F1 machinery.
He first appeared in FP1 for Haas at the 2023 Mexican and Abu Dhabi Grands Prix and sampled the VF-24 during the recent Emilia Romagna Grand Prix weekend.
Bearman, who is set to complete four more FP1 runs with Haas as the season goes on, will replace Nico Hulkenberg for the opening 60 minute session at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
Haas are yet to confirm either of their two drivers for next season, with Hulkenberg heading to KIck Sauber and Kevin Magnussen attempting to extend his latest stint at the team into what would be a fourth campaign since returning to Haas in 2022.
Thanks to top-10 finishes in Saudi Arabia, Australia and China, Haas sit seventh in the constructors’ standings after nine of this year’s 24 scheduled rounds, 21 points behind RB and two ahead of Alpine.
Of course we are evaluating him. If he is not [under] consideration, we wouldn’t be running him in FP1, and the next time he’s going to be in the car is in Barcelona.
I don’t particularly have a timeframe, it’s more about getting the right driver for our team. We are still a pretty small team. To have somebody experienced, somebody who’s got a really good work ethic, to integrate with the team well and really push the team forward… that’s what we’re looking for, so we’re talking with several different drivers. Komatsu on the drivers market and Ollie Bearman.
Formula E has announced that Liberty Global Ltd is to acquire shares held by Warner Bros. Discovery in the all-electric racing series.
The acquisition of shares held by Warner Bros. Discovery will, on completion, bring Liberty Global’s total share of ownership in Formula E to 65% and mean that Liberty Global will take a controlling interest in the world’s fastest growing motorsport.
Formula E is the only FIA sanctioned all-electric world motor racing championship, the number one-rated ESG sport on the planet and the first net zero carbon sport from inception.
In its 10th season of all-electric racing, Formula E boasts one of the best and most diverse calendars in world sport, with 16 races in some of the world’s most iconic city locations across four continents.
Now with almost 400 million fans around the world, 11 teams, 22 drivers on the grid, Formula E is a destination for the best motorsport talent on the planet, including racing teams Jaguar TCS Racing, Nissan, TAG Heuer Porsche and NEOM McLaren.
At the recent Monaco E-Prix, Formula E revealed its new car for Season 11, the Gen3 Evo, capable of accelerating to 60mph in 1.82 seconds, around 30% faster than a current Formula 1 car, and quicker than any other FIA sanctioned single-seater.
First of all I’d like to offer my thanks to Warner Bros. Discovery for the support and guidance they’ve provided Formula E over the past nine years. Liberty Global have a proven track record of building and growing businesses and their investment in us comes at the perfect time as we plan for a period of exponential growth. Having personally known and worked alongside the Liberty leadership team for over a decade, I’m thrilled to be able to further benefit from their expertise and their resources. This is a powerful vindication of the huge potential of our sport. Jeff Dodds, CEO Formula E.
We’re excited to take a controlling interest in Formula E, a business we first invested in nearly 10 years ago. Formula E has a massive potential for further growth while integrating the most advanced sustainability standards in sports. The investment continues our approach of disciplined capital rotation across our Ventures portfolio and our strategy of making long-term investments in highly attractive businesses.
The all-electric championship’s governing body is set to introduce an official Manufacturers’ title from the Gen3 Evo era.
There will be even more to fight for next year, as the FIA is creating the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship title for Manufacturers.
Formula E boasts one of the most impressive and competitive manufacturer line-ups in motorsport and will be home to seven manufacturers from Season 11, including Electric Racing Technologies, Jaguar, Mahindra Racing, Nissan, Porsche, Stellantis and new addition Lola Cars. Between them, they will be powering 11 teams across the grid.
The scoring for this trophy mirrors that of the Teams’ Championship with points awarded based on the performance of each manufacturer’s two highest-scoring cars in every race.
So, first place will be awarded 25 points, second place gets 18 points and third gets 15 points, etc. Points for the Julius Baer Pole Position and Fastest Lap are also factored into the totals.
Formula E had introduced the Manufacturer’s Trophy for Season 10, to celebrate the leading manufacturers in the championship. However in a recent World Motorsport Council meeting, it was confirmed that this will be recognised as an official FIA trophy.
In the WMSC meeting, it was also shared that the Technical Regulations have been updated to allow for the use of four-wheel drive on the Gen3 Evo car in specific scenarios such as qualifying duels, race start and Attack Mode from the 2024 -2025 season onwards.
I’m thrilled to bring another layer of competition and rivalry to our unique sport, where even more is on the line for the teams and manufacturers. For the first time in our series’ history, manufacturers will be able to compete for the coveted Manufacturers’ Title, where their best performing cars will contribute to a season-long leaderboard. This will enable the best, more efficient and fastest manufacturers to showcase their performance not just on the track, but to the public and consumers of their EVs all around the world. Alberto Longo, Co-Founder and Chief Championship Officer.
Formula E has announced its provisional calendar for Season 11 of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, with the largest number of races and locations set for a season, following validation of the FIA World Motorsport Council.
Formula E will complete a 17 race season for the first time in its history spanning 17 iconic venues as it continues to pioneer all-electric racing.
Round
Location
Date
Pre-Season Test
Valenica, Spain
November 4th-7th
1
Sao Paulo, Brazil
December 7th
2
Mexico City, Mexico
January 11th
3
Diriyah, Saudi Arabia
February 14th
4
Diriyah, Saudi Arabia
February 15th
5
TBC
March 8th
6
Miami, USA
April 12th
7
Monaco
May 3rd
8
Monaco
May 4th
9
Tokyo, Japan
May 17th
10
Tokyo, Japan
May 18th
11
Shanghai, China
May 31st
12
Shanghai, China
June 1st
13
Jakarta, Indonesia
June 21st
14
Berlin, Germany
July 12th
15
Berlin, Germany
July 13th
16
London, UK
July 26th
17
London, UK
July 27th
New race locations in Miami and Diriyah; a double header of separate races in Monaco – a first for the principality; a double header of races in Tokyo; and the return of Jakarta.
The Season 11 campaign will begin in Sao Paulo on the 7th December 2024, with pre-season testing on the 4th-7th November 2024 in Valencia. It will be the first time all-new GEN3 Evo race car will be put through its paces and tested in public, capable of 0-60mph in just 1.82s – 36% faster than the current Gen3.
A new venue in Diriyah will host the first double header of the season on 14th-15th February, while the series returns to Miami for the first time since Season 1 in an all-new location on 12th April 2025. The Homestead-Miami Speedway venue draws on its heritage and success in hosting thrilling NASCAR and IndyCar races for decades.
One location has been included as TBC while final discussions with a new venue take place, ahead of the confirmed calendar announcement due in the autumn following the FIA’s World Motorsport Council Meeting.
For Season 11 we’re taking electric racing to the next level and doing things never been done before in motorsport. Our world-leading GEN3 EVO will debut in front of hundreds of millions of fans around the globe, while adding two brand new locations and combinations of double-headers to grow our sport further. The new and improved calendar offers a perfect blend of circuits for drivers to push their upgraded cars to the limit, while staying true to our street racing DNA and the on-track action it produces. Jeff Dodds, CEO of Formula E.
We’re thrilled to offer a calendar with some fresh new highlights while building on our legacy locations. Returning to Miami gives us a home in one of the US’s most iconic and sports-mad cities, while securing a double-header in Monaco is a dream come true. We can’t wait to build on the success of Tokyo and deliver a double-header, while returning to Jakarta and entertaining our huge Indonesian fanbase too. With 17 races across the season and our most advanced race car debuting on track, we’re offering our fans cutting-edge sport we could only have hoped for when founding the championship just over 10 years ago. Alberto Longo, Co-Founder & Chief Championship Officer, Formula E.
The 2024/25 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship calendar features a range of circuits that will truly showcase the qualities of the brand new GEN3 EVO car, set to be introduced next season. I’m glad that Formula E capitalizes on the success of the Tokyo and Shanghai races whilst also returning to some of its iconic venues and retaining a good amount of street circuits, which is in its core DNA. I’m also hopeful that this new season will again play host to some fascinating action on track. Marek Nawarecki, Director, FIA Circuit Sport Department.
Yuki Tsunoda will continue racing for RB in 2025, with the team confirming that they have taken up the option on their agreement with the Japanese driver to keep him at the squad next season.
After making his debut with the team in 2021, Tsunoda has continued to progress and in 2024 so far has become a regular points-scorer, having finished in the top 10 five of the nine Grands Prix so far.
While the drivers market speculation continues at pace – with several teams still yet to finalise their line-ups for 2025 – RB have now secured one driver by extending the Japanese drivers contract.
Tsunoda’s strong run of points has put him in P10 of the drivers’ standings with a tally of 19, while RB hold a lonely sixth place in the constructors’ championship with 28 points, 30 points away from Aston Martin in fifth.
I’m very happy to be staying with Visa Cash App RB and it’s a good feeling to have my future decided so early in the year. For that, I want to thank everyone at Red Bull and Honda who have played such an important role in my career and will continue to do so. The team has a big development project ahead and I’m excited to be part of it. It’s great to know that everyone appreciates all the hard work I have put in and that the team believes I can help it move further up the grid. We have already made clear progress this season and that really motivates me to always give my best and that’s what I’ll continue to do with VCARB. For the moment, I’m concentrating on the remaining races this season, with the aim of bringing home as many points as possible, always growing with the team, laying the groundwork to do even better next year! Tsunoda on the news.
I watched Yuki’s progress in Formula 1 with interest even before I returned to Faenza and it’s been impressive, year after year. The step up he has made this year is simply phenomenal, and he keeps surprising us all, race after race. There’s no doubting his natural speed to which he has now added a much more mature approach and this combination makes him a very quick and consistent performer, and a great team player. We continue to get a better understanding of what he needs from us and vice versa, so we are progressing together, Yuki as a driver and the team, as Visa Cash App RB. We share the same ambitions, so there are several good reasons to continue our journey together. He still has a lot to give! Laurent Mekies, RB Team Principal.
Yuki is a graduate of both the Red Bull and Honda Junior Driver programmes and it’s thanks to a good job from all parties that he’s been able to reach his current level of performance. As the saying goes, ‘never change a winning team’, so we are delighted to confirm Yuki as part of our future. He is a valuable asset on and off the race track, as his engaging nature has made him very popular with fans around the world. We are excited that he is staying with us. Peter Bayer, CEO at RB.
Lola Cars is set to compete in the GEN4 era for Formula E, extending its commitment until 2030.
Following the announcement of its highly anticipated return to competitive motorsport, Lola Cars revealed that its involvement in the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship will also extend into the Gen4 era.
The iconic, globally renowned motorsport brand, which has more than 500 championship wins, will join as a manufacturer from next season for the new GEN3 Evo era. The latest commitment to GEN4 will take their participation in the championship through to at least 2030, across six seasons.
Lola’s commitment to Formula E is the first of many projects to come, as the iconic British company re-establishes itself as an industry leader in sustainable engineering and motorsport. With their focus on electrification, hydrogen and sustainable fuels, its commitment to Formula E will act as a stepping stone to further innovate in these key areas.
Alongside Lola, three other major manufacturers – Nissan, Porsche and Jaguar – have also committed to the Gen4 era. Their participation promises electric racing fans even more excitement and competitive racing for years to come as the championship continues to grow and expand globally.
Formula E’s next generation GEN4 technology will be introduced in Season 13 (2026/27) and includes significant advancements in efficiency, performance and safety. Aligned with Lola’s goals to further develop sustainable mobility technology, advanced features like all-wheel drive and increased efficiency will provide a new technical challenge for the British manufacturer on an already competitive grid that includes some of the industry’s leading OEMs and teams.
While specific technical details for the Gen4 era are yet to be revealed by the FIA and Formula E, it is confirmed that the cars will feature 600kW of power, up from Gen3’s 350kW and 700kW regenerative braking, compared to the current 600 kW a significant increase.
With their historic return to top-tier motorsport for Season 11 next year, we’re delighted that Lola Cars will also be committing to the GEN4 era – promising their presence will be on the Formula E grid until at least 2030. Their trust in our series for their latest venture into electrification and innovation is testament to our ability to attract the biggest names in motorsport, as well as our joint ambition to continue to grow this championship. It’s a huge privilege for us, and we can’t wait to see what they can do next year when the famous Lola marque hits the Formula E track for the first time. Jeff Dodds, Chief Executive Officer Formula E.
We are excited to be confirming our commitment to GEN4. Formula E is an ideal platform for powertrain and software development that we can use for broader motorsport and automotive applications. We feel the opportunity for innovation in this series will only increase as the performance of the cars and technology develops, giving greater scope to develop innovative technologies across global motorsport and in the broader zero emissions transportation space. Mark Preston, Motorsport Director Lola Cars Ltd.
We are delighted to confirm Lola Cars as Formula E’s fourth committed manufacturer for GEN4. It was only recently that this famous brand announced its entry to the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship next season, so to now similarly sign up for the following era is testament to the belief that Lola has in the series’ technical roadmap. Lola is a name synonymous with success in the sport and we are excited to see what they can now achieve in the pinnacle of electric single-seater racing. Marek Nawaercki, FIA Senior Circuit Sport Director.
Max Verstappen and Red Bull bounced back from their Monaco struggles as they returned to winning ways in an action-packed Canadian Grand Prix! The reigning champions had to overcome rain showers, multiple Safety Car periods, restart and a stern challenge from a couple of drivers.
Verstappen followed pole-sitter George Russell in the wet early stages of the race until a charging Norris overhauled them both amid improving conditions, only for an ill-timed Safety Car which ruined Lando’s chances of winning.
While Verstappen surged towards the chequered flag, Norris took second via a fierce mid-race battle with Russell, and the latter settling for third after some late scrapping with teammate Lewis Hamilton and the other McLaren of Oscar Piastri.
The full top 10 are- P1: Verstappen, P2: Norris, P3: Russell, P4: Hamilton, P5: Piastri, P6: Alonso, P7: Stroll, P8: Ricciardo, P9: Gasly and P10: Ocon.
A lovely result for Max! Just what he wanted, he had a bit of an up and down weekend but came out on top. However, it wasn’t a weekend to remember for Red Bull team, as Sergio Perez had a horrible weekend, qualifying 16th and he ended up spinning off the track and damaged his rear wing, which forced him to retire in the pits. Not only this, it went from bad to worse, as he has now been given a 3 place grid penalty for the Spanish GP after he drove to the pits with a significantly damaged car.
A good result for McLaren, P2 and P5 the team is closing in on Ferrari in P2! Unlucky for Lando with the safety car situation as he was leading and had a lovely gap but that is just racing sometimes…
Mercedes! Probably the most improved team this weekend, they’ve pretty much had pace all weekend, unlucky for them to only get one driver on the podium as it was looking likely it could’ve been both at one point in the race. But the team will look at this positively and the upgrades are working and they’ve managed to grab their first podium of the year.
Ferrari.. where to start, Charles had problems from the start with his engine problem, which then led the Monegasque to retire later on in the race. Not only this, Carlos Sainz who was pushing for points came together with Alex Albon at Turn 7 in unusual circumstances. Where the Spaniard spun at the exit of the corner, and despite his best efforts, Albon’s Williams collected the Ferrari. Which led to both Ferrari’s out, both Williams out and a Red Bull…
A good result for the Aston Martin’s and the Alpine’s both getting double points which was needed especially for the latter after their rough time in Monaco. And for Daniel Ricciardo aswell a points finish, he had quite a good weekend a lot of pace from him.
A bit of a disappointing race for Haas after such a good start to the race, both drivers were in the top 10 after they started on wets, but that didn’t last long as when Magnussen pitted on lap 8 his mechanics were not ready for him and then the team left Hulkenberg out for too long and once he pitted he went to the bottom of the grid… This led the team to score no points.
Qualifying for Round 9 is complete, and there was a few shock surprises with a couple of early exits in Q1 and Q2 which led to some other drivers making an appearance in Q3!
George Russell has taken pole position for the Canadian Grand Prix in an impressive session for the Mercedes driver, with the Brit beating Max Verstappen despite the Dutchman setting the exact same lap time!
Russell had provisionally secured P1 following the initial runs in Q3 with a lap of 1m12.000s and while Verstappen improved on his own effort in the decisive final laps, the Red Bull driver could only equal Russell’s time.
The full top 10 are- Pole: Russell, P2: Verstappen, P3: Norris, P4: Piastri, P5: Ricciardo, P6: Alonso, P7: Hamilton, P8: Tsunoda, P9: Stroll and P10: Albon.
What a result for George Russell! The Mercedes have been showing some strong pace this weekend and that obviously has been shown. Hamilton starts in 7th, as everyone seemed to improve on their laps.
A very good result for McLaren, P3 and P4, it makes you think what could they do from there? Battle for the win or battle for both podium spots? It will be all to play for!
A lovely result from VCARB! Both drivers in the top 10 with Daniel Riccairdo in 5th and Tsunoda 8th. The team will be wanting to capitalise on this result in the race and get a decent points haul.
A tough day for Ferrari as they qualified out of the top 10, Leclerc in 11th and Sainz in 12th. Not the day the Italian team would of wanted, they now have a lot of work to do in the race, as well as staying out of trouble in the midfield…
A bit of a shock to see Perez out in Q1 again! He will be starting the race in 16th. Which isn’t what the Mexican driver would of been hoping for especially after renewing his contract this week! He has a lot of work to do if he wants to score some points.
A decent result for both Aston Martins aswell! P6 for Alonso and P9 for Stroll. The team will be wanting to score some big points this weekend as they currently sit 5th in the Constructors and only on 44 points…
Formula 1’s governing body the FIA has unveiled the “agile, competitive, safer and more sustainable” set of regulations that will define the sport from 2026 and beyond.
Revised aerodynamic regulations will work in tandem with new power unit rules, which include increased battery power and the use of 100% sustainable fuels.
From 2026 onwards Formula 1 will have:
More agile cars, which are 30kg lighter and thus better to battle on track.
A redesigned power unit featuring increased battery power and an even split between internal combustion engine and electric power plus the use of 100% sustainable fuels.
Active aerodynamics in the form of moveable front and rear wings to allow for closer racing.
Increased overtaking opportunities through the introduction of a new system that gives drivers a short burst of additional battery power when within one second of the car in front.
Improved safety through stronger structures and even tougher tests.
Commitment from a record number of six power unit manufacturers.
The revised technical regulations have been set out by the FIA, paving the way for them to be revealed before this weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix. The 2026 regulations are now set to be ratified by the World Motor Sport Council on June 28th.
With this set of regulations the FIA has sought to develop a new generation of cars that are fully in touch with the DNA of Formula 1 – cars that are light, supremely fast and agile but which also remains at the cutting edge of technology, and to achieve this we worked towards what we called a ‘nimble car’ concept. At the centre of that vision is a redesigned power unit that features a more even split between the power derived from the internal combustion element and electrical power. On the chassis side we have managed to reduce the size and weight of the car by 30kg resulting in a much more dynamic car. In addition we are introducing two exciting new features to enhance racing – active aerodynamics to achieve very low drag on the straights and the Manual Override system that will provide drivers with an on-demand burst of battery power when close enough to the car ahead of them. Lighter, more powerful and more focused on driver skill, the 2026 FIA Formula One Technical Regulations have been designed to provide closer racing among drivers, increase the competition between teams and to improve the spectacle. In addition, we have opted for a higher electrical component of the power unit, a more efficient car overall, and fully sustainable fuels, as part of our drive towards a more sustainable future for our sport. Nikolas Tombazis, FIA Single Seater Technical Director.
Today, the FIA is defining a hugely exciting future for the pinnacle of motorsport with the launch of a comprehensive new set of regulations for the 2026 FIA Formula One Championship and beyond. Following the publication of 2026 power unit regulations two years ago we have we have taken opportunity to redefine the chassis regulations to match the energy requirement of the new power units. Collaborating with our partners at Formula 1 and with the assistance of the sport’s 10 teams and all our stakeholders this represents a unique revision that will ensure our premier championship is even more relevant to what is happening in the world. The power unit regulations have already resulted in a record number of PU manufacturers committing to the sport. And now, in tandem with chassis regulations that provide for lighter, more agile cars featuring innovative aerodynamic solutions, we have created a set of regulation designed to not only improve racing but also to make the championship even more attractive to PU manufacturers, OEMs and existing competitors. The key features of the 2026 F1 Regulations are advanced, sustainability technology and safety. Our aim, together with Formula 1, was to produce a car that was right for the future of the sport’s elite category. We believe we have achieved that goal. FIA President, Mohammed Ben Sulayem.
Since the announcement of Lewis Hamilton going to Ferrari before the season started there’s been a popular question flying around, where will Carlos Sainz go?
The Spanish drivers choice is wearing thin even though most of the grid has not been confirmed. 10 drivers have been confirmed but some team’s have recently been making regards to who would potentially be available for those second seats, which rules Sainz out.
Mercedes and Red Bull were somewhat interested but have decided against it, especially with the latter looking like they might re-sign Perez.
Which now they have so Red Bull is out of the equation entirely.
The two teams which seem on the cards for the Spanish driver is Sauber and Williams… neither are current winning teams which is what he wanted.
His two main options are teams which both largely depend on hypothetical progress. The potential trajectories are encouraging – and Audi’s ceiling as a works team is higher than Williams.
Williams is fractionally less worse off, with the British team scoring their first point this season in Monaco. The team seem to be giving Sainz a choice to make between two projects with big question marks and a long list of slightly different pros and cons.
Audi has enough of the latter as a new engine manufacturer and a company taking over a struggling existing team for the door to at least be open to Williams swooping in.
And James Vowles is a big reason for that. He’s already re-signed Alex Albon on a multi year deal and is why Williams team that is performing slightly worse than 12 months ago is escaping with relatively little scrutiny. But for now, Vowles is getting the benefit of the doubt because of the long-term malaise he is try to permanently rescue Williams form, and the many problems the team is known to have from its facilities through to its culture.
So now the decision is on Carlos, what team would he prefer?…
Alpine have announced that reserve driver, Jack Doohan will take Esteban Ocon’s place during Friday’s opening free practice session at the Canadian Grand Prix.
Under the sport’s current regulations, each F1 team must run a rookie in two FP1 sessions each campaign.
Doohan has made four practice appearances as an Alpine junior so far, getting his first experiences in Mexico and Abu Dhabi in 2022 and making further outings at the same venues in 2023.
A former FIA Formula 3 runner-up and the third-placed driver in last year’s F2 standings, the Australian’s latest run comes as he pushes to secure a full-time seat with Alpine.
Alpine announced on the eve of this weekend’s Montreal event that they will part ways with Esteban Ocon at the end of the current campaign, ending a five-year collaboration. It means that at least one seat is available at the Renault-backed operation for next season, with incumbent Pierre Gasly’s place beyond 2024 yet to be confirmed.
In addition to his four FP1 outings, and simulator duties at Enstone, Doohan has completed several test sessions with Alpine over the last couple of years – the latest coming in their 2022-spec A522 at Zandvoort last month.
Really excited to get out on track in Montreal for FP1. It will be my first time driving at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, which I am looking forward to. I am grateful to the team for the opportunity to get more track time, and also familiarise myself with 2024 machinery early in the season. This will also help with the work I am doing in the simulator, particularly at the European rounds. My focus will be on doing the best for the team and maximising the session for both drivers, looking at certain test items and understanding the new track surface. Doohan on the news.
Jordan's Track Talk 