Formula 1

I met Frank in late 1975. I had worked at Lola Cars in the early 1970s for three years, after a degree in engineering at University College, London, and after involvement with a project developing Super Vee Volkswagen engines and then designing the Scott F2 car. I’d then worked with Ron Tauranac at Trojan Cars

Williams is one of Formula 1’s most legendary and best-loved teams. Its recent struggles have been well-documented but last year’s buyout by Dorilton Capital and announcement that the Williams family is stepping aside could herald the start of its revival. PLUS: Why a new era for Williams could beckon success Ahead of the launch of

The former team principal, who originally founded Williams Grand Prix Engineering in 1977, died on Sunday.  People from across the paddock paid their condolences to the legend, who led his team to 114 victories between 1979 and 2012, when he stepped down from the Williams board of directors.  Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali said in

Two-time world champion Alonso returned to the sport in 2021 after a two-year hiatus, and the Spaniard scored his first podium of the season in the Qatar Grand Prix last weekend. It was Alonso’s 98th career podium and his first since the 2014 Hungarian Grand Prix with Ferrari. With Kimi Raikkonen retiring after this season,

At last weekend’s Qatar GP, it took over 21 hours from the end of qualifying before final decisions were announced after Max Verstappen, Carlos Sainz and Valtteri Bottas were accused of yellow flag offences. After qualifying finished at 6pm local time, summonses for the three drivers were issued between 8.37pm and 9.40pm, asking for them

Alpine announced last week that F2 championship leader Piastri would become its full-time reserve driver for next season after seeing fellow academy member Guanyu Zhou get the final seat on the grid. Piastri - who leads Zhou by 36 points at the top of the F2 standings – had been linked with the Alfa Romeo seat, but explained

Current Williams team principal and CEO Capito served as Volkswagen’s motorsport director between 2012 and 2016, overseeing its four consecutive World Rally Championship titles with Sebastien Ogier from 2013 to 2016. The VW Group is known to be considering a potential entry to F1 under the next cycle of power unit regulations due in 2026

Earlier this year, the Russian complained that he was running a chassis that was heavier than the one used by teammate Mick Schumacher. Finally, at the Belgian Grand Prix, Mazepin got the lighter chassis, which at the time he said had “massively improved” his one-lap pace. But the Russian driver was forced to revert to

Drivers met with FIA officials including race director Michael Masi ahead of the Qatar Grand Prix to discuss racing rules after Max Verstappen’s controversial defence against Lewis Hamilton in Brazil. The Red Bull driver went off track while defending his lead from championship rival Hamilton at Turn 4 of the Interlagos circuit, an incident for

The battle on track between F1’s top two teams this year has been accompanied by a fight off it amid recent questions being posed by Red Bull about the Mercedes rear wing. Red Bull suspects that Mercedes has been running a flexible rear wing to boost its top speed, and has based its suspicion on

In the 1960s and 70s, it was widely accepted that racing came with a real risk of severe injury or death and it took some time before the culture of striving to protect lives set in. Three-time world champion Jackie Stewart played an important part in the push for safety during some of F1’s most

The squad has faced a run of issues with its medium downforce configuration in the last few grands prix, which have given it headaches throughout practice. TV images have shown the top element of the rear wing flapping when DRS is open, with the problem appearing to be caused by the actuator element not being

Ranking the best British drivers in Formula 1 history is no easy task as it’s an argument that can generate hours of debate, but statistically the top 10 can be declared. While statistics rarely reveal the full picture to decide any dispute, they can provide a window on the wider topic, albeit with a few

Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton dominated the Qatar GP weekend to take a second consecutive win, which brought the championship gap with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen down to eight points with two races left to run of a hotly contested 2021 world championship. Verstappen was in for a weekend of “damage limitation” after coming up short in

Blandin is still working at Brackley and is not expected to join his new team until October next year, after he has completed his gardening leave. His appointment comes as a surprise as he is the first key player to be headhunted from Mercedes, the power unit and gearbox supplier to Aston Martin. An Aston

Without the normal amount of data to analyse from previous races, drivers were unsure what to expect from the Losail International Circuit – but it ended up being a familiar result as Lewis Hamilton scored his seventh win of the season and cut down Max Verstappen’s championship lead. But it was Fernando Alonso who completed

Having been a strong contender for third place in the constructors’ championship heading in to the Mexican Grand Prix, a run of incidents and bad luck has proved costly for both Daniel Ricciardo and Lando Norris. Despite showing some good pace with its car, Ricciardo got tangled up in a first lap clash with Valtteri

Before the summer break Ocon took a shock maiden win in Budapest after an incident-filled start saw him vault to the lead. All race long Ocon defended his lead against Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel, but it was the resurgent Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton he was more worried about. But behind Ocon teammate Alonso managed to

Lewis Hamilton may still be trailing in the 2021 Formula 1 world championship battle, but the Mercedes driver laid down the gauntlet to Max Verstappen and Red Bull with a second dominant victory on the trot in Qatar. After Verstappen’s victory in Mexico, Hamilton has come alive and with two races to go it’s still

The inaugural Qatar Grand Prix proved to be a significant challenge for the Pirelli tyres due to a combination of high-speed corners and aggressive kerbs at the Losail International Circuit. During Sunday’s race, Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas, McLaren driver Lando Norris and both Williams cars of George Russell and Nicholas Latifi all suffered left-front tyre failures

Just minutes after the chequered flag came out at Losail, Horner was ordered to visit the stewards’ office for alleged breaches of the International Sporting Code. The two elements of the code – Article 12.2.1 f) and 12.2.1 k) relate to the standards of conduct that competitors are expected to follow. It is understood that

Valtteri Bottas, Lando Norris, George Russell and Nicholas Latifi all had similar looking failures during the race. Only Latifi was forced to retire immediately as his occurred just after the pit exit, although – after a stop – Bottas was eventually called back into the garage to retire due to the damage he’d sustained. With

Horner was summoned to the stewards after the race at Losail on Sunday to face allegations that he had breached the International Sporting Code and damaged the reputation of the FIA and its officials. The Red Bull boss received an official warning for his remarks, which he made before the race to Sky, blaming a ‘rogue

The Frenchman went over the kerbs at the penultimate corner, breaking the front wing off his car, puncturing the right front tyre, and damaging the floor. At the time he was up on Valtteri Bottas, who claimed third on the grid, but despite not getting his final lap in he still qualified an impressive fourth.

Like Max Verstappen, who is also under investigation, both drivers were on their final runs in Q3 when Pierre Gasly had stopped on the start-finish straight. Having struck a kerb that ripped off the AlphaTauri’s front wing and gave him a right front puncture, Gasly had driven slowly around the final corner before stopping near

Leclerc suffered an unusually poor qualifying display at the Losail International Circuit, getting no further than 13th in Q2 while team-mate Carlos Sainz Jr progressed to line up seventh for tomorrow’s grand prix. Afterwards Leclerc was at a loss to explain for his struggles, saying he was “very confused” when he saw the gap to

After observing what happened on track and following a discussion in the drivers’ briefing Masi has adjusted the list of corners that will be monitored from FP3 onwards. On Thursday, in his regular notes issued to teams, Masi specified the exits of Turns 4, 12, 13, 14 and 16 as locations where he expected drivers

Mercedes and Red Bull continue to provoke one another both on and off the track this season, with the intensity turned up another notch at the Qatar Grand Prix, as Christian Horner threatened to protest his rival’s car. Red Bull has announced its dissatisfaction about the legality of the rear wing on the Mercedes on

Hamilton heads into the Qatar weekend on a high after charging from 10th on the grid to win in Brazil last Sunday, cutting Red Bull rival Max Verstappen’s championship lead down to 14 points. Practice on Friday at the Losail International Circuit saw Verstappen and Hamilton’s Mercedes team-mate, Valtteri Bottas, lead FP1 and FP2 respectively.

Red Bull and Mercedes have locked horns on a number of occasions this year amid their title battle, with the latest incidents flaring up last weekend at Interlagos. Lewis Hamilton was thrown out of qualifying due to a DRS technical breach, but fought back to score victory on Sunday after a tense battle with Verstappen