Formula 1

The pace shown by F1’s top two teams at the season opening Bahrain Grand Prix left Mercedes in no doubt that its form had been hit by new rules introduced this year. In particular, it believes that changes to the floor aimed at cutting downforce have hurt lowrake cars like its own and Aston Martin

Although Leclerc and Vettel had some famous clashes on the track, the pair did actually work well together during their two seasons as team-mates at Ferrari. Reflecting on their partnership and what he would miss about Vettel, Leclerc has said that it was the German’s intelligent approach to the job that stood out for him.

Alpine failed to score any points in its first grand prix since the rebrand of Renault’s works operation as it failed to take the fight to its upper-midfield rivals from 2020. Esteban Ocon spent the majority of the race outside of the points after dropping out in Q1 and was hit by Sebastian Vettel in

After a difficult 2020 campaign where Ferrari finished sixth overall, the team appeared to make some good progress in the season-opening Bahrain GP, with both Sainz and Leclerc finishing in the points. Leclerc has already made reference to Ferrari shaking off the “strange” atmosphere that dogged it at the start of last year and in an exclusive interview

Albon was dropped by the senior Red Bull outfit over the winter for failing to consistently match team-mate Max Verstappen in 2020, with ex-Racing Point driver Sergio Perez hired as his replacement. Unlike his predecessors Daniil Kvyat and Pierre Gasly, who were placed at the then-Toro Rosso team following their demotions from Red Bull Racing,

If successful, it would lead to a memorandum of understanding between the city, the Miami Dophins organisation and F1 to hold the race on a purpose-built circuit around the Hard Rock Stadium, home of the Dolphins NFL team. Miami Gardens is a city 16 miles north of Miami, and its council will vote next Wednesday

McLaren finished third in last year’s constructors’ championship and the Woking outfit is tipped to confirm its status as best of the rest behind Red Bull and Mercedes in 2021. While McLaren drivers Daniel Ricciardo and Norris qualified sixth and seventh respectively in Bahrain, behind a Ferrari and an AlphaTauri, Norris worked his way up

Mercedes endured a difficult pre-season test programme as the team struggled with rear-end instability on its new W12 car following the downforce cuts introduced for 2021. Although Mercedes remained on the back foot over one lap in Bahrain, losing out to Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in the fight for pole position, it fared much better

After losing his last full-time F1 drive with Renault at the end of the 2019 season, Hulkenberg took part in three events for the Aston team that was then known as Racing Point during the last campaign on the occasions when its regular drivers were unable to race after contracting COVID-19. Hulkenberg entered the two

In an exclusive interview with Autosport, Verstappen discussed his rivalry with the seven-time world champion, which has taken on a new dimension at the start of the 2021 season as the Dutchman’s Red Bull team has begun a campaign with the fastest car for the first time in the turbo hybrid era. This led to

The Sky Sports F1 pundit had feared for the championship’s future in recent years, as spiralling costs threatened the existence of several smaller teams and the viability for manufacturers to commit and compete. However, he reckons the introduction of a cost cap, the signing off of new cars for 2022, and radical regulations designed to

After a rough patch, McLaren worked its way back up the grid under team boss Seidl and technical director James Key. Drivers Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz proved to be a competitive pairing, ultimately handing McLaren third place in the 2020 championship. With Sainz leaving McLaren to join Ferrari, the Woking team moved quickly to

Verstappen and Mercedes rival Hamilton were engaged in a race-long battle for the win in F1’s season-opener, which was ultimately settled in the dying moments of the race. Verstappen caught Hamilton in the final stint and overtook him with four laps to go, but completed the move off-track and was forced to hand back the

It’s why teams spend money on spy photographers to capture close-ups of other cars, and why there are rules limiting what techniques and technology – like 3D camera scans – are actually allowed. While teams try their best to keep their own designs secret – which is why you often see mechanics blocking off sections

The Grove-based outfit is hoping to move up from the bottom of the F1 constructors’ championship table this season, with its main rivals set to be Haas and Alfa Romeo. But although wanting to do well with its current car, it is well aware of the opportunities that will come from the all-new 2022 rules.

After every race this season, the FIA will select a finishing car at random and subject it to a deeper level of checks and analysis than is usually the case, focusing on particular areas. Teams are trusted to show up with cars that are fully legal, and indeed the F1 sporting regulations note that “competitors

Verstappen took pole position for Red Bull for the F1 season-opener and led the opening stages of the race, but frequently reported problems and was unable to pull more than two seconds clear of Lewis Hamilton. This allowed Hamilton to pit early and get the undercut on Verstappen, laying the foundations for the Mercedes driver

After being teammates in karting, Hamilton and Rosberg raced at Mercedes between 2013 and 2016, going head-to-head for the F1 world championship in their final three years together. The title battles featured a number of tense moments between the two drivers, including on-track collisions at the 2014 Belgian Grand Prix and the 2016 Spanish Grand

The team previously known as Renault endured a tough season-opening Bahrain GP, with Fernando Alonso retiring and team-mate Ocon finishing down in a disappointing 13th position. It was the first time since last year’s Spanish GP that neither of the Enstone team’s cars finished in the points. Ocon’s race chances at Sakhir were compromised by

The American outfit had revealed ahead of the first race that it wouldn’t develop its VF-21 car following the pre-season test in Bahrain, focusing all its resources on its 2022 challenger instead. Haas will have some minor updates for the second race of the season at Imola because they weren’t ready in time for testing

Honda-backed Tsunoda ended the seven-year wait for a full-time Japanese grand prix driver by securing a seat at AlphaTauri alongside Pierre Gasly for 2021, earning plaudits for his performances in pre-season testing and the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix. The 20-year-old finished ninth in Bahrain to become the first Japanese driver ever to earn points on

Vettel’s Aston Martin start was hampered by issues in pre-season testing, which restricted his mileage and opportunities to adjust to the AMR21. The four-time world champion qualified 18th in Bahrain after encountering double yellow flags on his final Q1 hotlap but was demoted to last on the grid after stewards decided he hadn’t respected the

Arguments over the halo have quietened down after some high-profile accidents, but Formula 1’s V6 turbo-hybrid engines still get some flak. The points of attack usually concern the sound (‘they’re too quiet’), the cost, or the argument that everything is going towards electric so what’s the point of keeping a formula that includes an internal

The Japanese youngster marked himself out as a future star with a great showing at last weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix. He set the second fastest time in Q1 and finished the race in ninth place, having pulled off a great overtaking move on Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll on the final lap. Tsunoda’s pace and the

The world champion team has revealed plans to work with new sponsor TeamViewer to explore what opportunities can be provided with AR technology. Global software company TeamViewer, which has just become Mercedes’ third biggest sponsor in its $300 million (USD) total portfolio, works with many industry partners in helping provide augmented reality solutions. Mercedes believes there is scope for

Mazepin’s F1 debut weekend went from bad to worse when he lost control on the Turn 2 kerbs at the start, veering into the barriers and ending his first race after less than a mile. Mazepin took full responsibility for his mistake, saying his team “deserved better”. Team principal Steiner said Mazepin was “pretty beat

The Japanese manufacturer introduced a new engine for this year ahead of its departure from F1 at the end of the season, before Red Bull takes over its development from 2022. The new engine is smaller and more powerful, and both Red Bull and AlphaTauri have taken a step forward judging by their performances in

It’s a question that even the team itself can’t yet answer, despite the example of Mercedes providing some encouragement. This was supposed to be the year when, boosted by extra financial resources and the arrival of Sebastian Vettel, the Silverstone team broke away from the midfield pack. Instead, the team has found itself towards the

Ricciardo jumped ship from Renault to McLaren during the off-season, hoping to do better than the two podiums he achieved in two years with the Enstone team.  After not being able to finish in the top three in his first season with Renault, Ricciardo got team boss Cyril Abiteboul to agree on getting a tattoo

Szafnauer has blamed the rule tweaks for the team’s loss of competitiveness since the end of last season, when as Racing Point it was a regular podium challenger and took victory in the Sakhir GP. Racing Point followed the Mercedes low-rake concept for its 2020 car and was committed to it for 2021 due to