F1 News

Following a number of incidents in his first F1 season, particularly in qualifying, Tsunoda initially struggled to live up to his impressive debut at Bahrain in which he scored ninth place.
F1 managing director of motorsport Ross Brawn even labelled Tsunoda as F1's "best rookie for years" following his immediate breakthrough result, before a string of difficult races left the Japanese driver ...Keep reading

O’Ward was handed an outing in McLaren’s MCL35M on Tuesday in Abu Dhabi as a prize for scoring his first IndyCar race win earlier this year for the sister Arrow McLaren SP squad. O’Ward won a bet with McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown by scoring his first victory for the team in Texas, and finished the season third in the overall standings.



The Mexican driver finished the test day ...Keep reading

F1 remains under the spotlight for the way in which race director Michael Masi opted to overrule the sporting regulations to allow a safety car restart for the final lap at the Yas Marina circuit.
That decision gave Verstappen all the opportunity he needed to overtake Hamilton, who was on worn tyres, to take the win that secured the title.
Masi's decision to select a certain number of ...Keep reading

Formula E champion de Vries featured as Mercedes’ young driver for the test at the Yas Marina Circuit that was split between rookies in this year’s cars and current F1 drivers sampling the new 18-inch tyres in modified mule cars ahead of 2022.
De Vries set a fastest lap time of 1m23.194s in the final 30 minutes of the day, giving him P1 by over 1.3 seconds from AlphaTauri’s Liam Lawson ...Keep reading

While the Milton Keynes-based team saw Max Verstappen clinch his maiden drivers’ title on Sunday, it has expressed some unease about the way events have been handled through the 2021 campaign.
The FIA has found itself in the firing line over the past 48 hours for the way that F1 race director Michael Masi handled the final safety car restart.
In particular, a decision to only allow a ...Keep reading

The two-day test at the Yas Marina Circuit will see teams complete running with young drivers, who will drive 2021 cars, and with existing F1 drivers using modified mule cars to test Pirelli’s 2022 18-inch tyres.
Bottas was given permission by Mercedes to take part in the test with Alfa Romeo, and made his first appearance on Tuesday morning at the start of the morning session. He will not ...Keep reading

Verstappen benefited from a late safety car restart to overtake Hamilton for a victory that secured him the crown in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Sunday.
And although the race ended in controversy, as Mercedes protested the result over its belief the FIA did not follow its own rule book in the timing of the safety car restart, Red Bull thinks the events should not overshadow the ...Keep reading

Race control initially said that lapped cars would not be allowed to overtake, but then announced that those between leaders Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen would after all be required to overtake the Mercedes driver before the race resumption.
Lando Norris, Fernando Alonso, Esteban Ocon, Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel – who were running in seventh to 11th places – were all ...Keep reading

Williams driver Latifi crashed into the wall at Turn 14 with six laps remaining at the Yas Marina Circuit, resulting in a safety car that would help decide the championship.
Lewis Hamilton had been more than 11 seconds clear of title rival Max Verstappen, and was poised to win a record eighth title, only for the safety car to wipe away his lead.
Race director Michael Masi opted to resume the ...Keep reading

Just four corners from the chequered flag and having realised that he would not be able to re-pass Max Verstappen to claim his eighth world championship, he shouted: "This has been manipulated, man."
The comment was not broadcast on the world feed, but was heard on Hamilton's onboard channel on F1 TV.
During the safety car period Hamilton's chat was focused mainly on his ...Keep reading

Hamilton had looked on course to grab the win that he needed for an eighth title, before a late safety car was brought out following a crash for Williams driver Nicholas Latifi.
A decision by F1 race director Michael Masi to restart the race with one lap to go gave Verstappen, who had pitted for soft tyres, the opportunity he needed to surge to the front and clinch the crown.
While delighted ...Keep reading

Abu Dhabi served up one of the most dramatic ends to a season in Formula 1 history as Max Verstappen passed Lewis Hamilton on the last lap to become champion.
In a controversial finish that caused confusion among drivers and frustration among fans, Verstappen capitalised on a late restart following the safety car to overtake Hamilton for the lead and deny him an eighth title.
It was a ...Keep reading

The Red Bull driver was crowned F1 world champion for the first time on Sunday after a last-lap overtake on title rival Lewis Hamilton to win the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
It means Verstappen now has the opportunity to race with #1 on his car next season, which is reserved for the reigning world champion under the permanent number system that was introduced in 2014.
Verstappen has always raced ...Keep reading

Verstappen was crowned champion after a dramatic finish to the season at the Yas Marina Circuit that saw him clinch the title with a last-lap pass on rival Lewis Hamilton.
A late safety car period bunched the field and gave Verstappen the chance to attack Hamilton late on after sitting over 10 seconds behind with six laps remaining.
The result saw Verstappen become the first Dutch F1 world ...Keep reading

While Todt praised "all those who made it possible", many fans could not hide their anger at what they felt had been a shambolic running of the final F1 race of the season.
Pouring through the messages, accusations of the FIA having rigged the event, manipulated its own rules and put the desire for a Hollywood-style finish over sporting fairness were rampant.
But, in a year when F1 social ...Keep reading

Max Verstappen clinched the F1 world championship title at the Yas Marina circuit after race director Michael Masi elected to restart the race with one lap to go following a brief safety car period triggered by a crash from Williams’ Nicholas Latifi.
The Red Bull driver had been switched on to soft tyres for the final shootout lap, while Hamilton was powerless to resist him as he was on ...Keep reading

Mercedes filed two protests with the FIA stewards at the Yas Marina Circuit over the race restart after Max Verstappen passed Lewis Hamilton on the final lap of the race to win the world championship.
The stewards dismissed both protests, including one of the resumption of the race with one lap remaining, but Mercedes has confirmed it has lodged its intention to appeal the decision.
“We ...Keep reading

After the FIA stewards initially rejected Mercedes' protest over Max Verstappen illegally overtaking behind the safety car, a second protest was also dismissed about the restart from the late safety car period. Here's the full FIA verdict:
Protest filed by Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team against the Classification established at the end of the Competition Stewards Decision:
The Protest is ...Keep reading

Mercedes lodged two protests with the FIA following the controversial end to the race at the Yas Marina Circuit, including one over the restart of the race with one lap remaining.
Max Verstappen overtook Lewis Hamilton on the last lap to win the race and the championship after race director Michael Masi brought in the safety car with one lap to go.
It means that Verstappen is formally the ...Keep reading

Mercedes lodged two protests against the race result in the wake of Lewis Hamilton's title defeat to Verstappen in Abu Dhabi over the restart procedure by race director Michael Masi.
Mercedes cited articles of the sporting regulations saying that no driver can overtake another car on track behind the safety car, and that all lapped cars must pass the safety car before the race resumes on the ...Keep reading