Motoring News

Qualifying wasn't easy for Kimi Antonelli as he struggled to extract the level of performance he's got used to from his Mercedes machinery. Finishing five-tenths off polesitter Max Verstappen, he stood in front of microphones thinking he was indeed fourth on the grid. But, thanks to a grid-place penalty for Isack Hadjar ahead of him, he was promoted to third. This resulted in a brilliant reaction ...Keep reading

The McLaren Formula 1 team has shared a heartwarming moment between Oscar Piastri and a young fan named Harry.
During the busy Bahrain Grand Prix schedule, the Woking outfit arranged for the young fan, who has beaten leukaemia twice and currently competes in two-stroke karting, to meet his racing hero.
The Australian driver gave Harry a tour of the McLaren garage, talked him through his F1 ...Keep reading

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has clarified the issues with Lando Norris' current Mercedes power unit, as the reigning champion rued the lack of straightline speed in Formula 1 qualifying for the second week running.
Although McLaren is known to be missing straightline speed versus its other Mercedes-powered counterparts owing to its selected gear ratios being lower, Norris had a deficit ...Keep reading

Even Lewis Hamilton fears Max Verstappen will be tough to beat in Sunday's Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia.

Aprilia's Jorge Martin will start the Japanese Grand Prix from pole position after breaking the circuit record in Saturday's qualifying session at Motegi.
The 2024 MotoGP champion will line up just in front of Ducati rival Marc Marquez, who won the sprint race on Saturday and has vowed to attack in the remaining rounds of the season.
Completing the front row will be Austrian GP winner Pedro ...Keep reading

Lewis Hamilton reckons he produced the “best lap” of his 2026 Formula 1 season to take a front row start alongside Max Verstappen at the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia.
The Ferrari driver set a 1m35.428s at Sepang and that put him 0.298s off polesitter Verstappen, whose Red Bull team-mate Isack Hadjar completed the top three on Saturday.
It certainly came as a surprise to Hamilton, as he ...Keep reading

Max Verstappen hasn't sat on pole since the 2025 Formula 1 season closed at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. So watching him place his car at the top of the time sheets today in Sepang for the Bahrain Grand Prix was a special moment for fans of the four-time champion. Following his performance, he hailed his team's improvements as he looks forward to Sunday's race.
Beating Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton by ...Keep reading

A "wholesome" moment between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton has gone viral after qualifying for the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia.
Verstappen secured the first non-Mercedes-powered pole position of the 2026 season at the Sepang International Circuit. Hamilton qualified second for Ferrari, marking his fifth consecutive front-row start at the circuit.
Despite their contentious history ...Keep reading

It is less than a month since Max Verstappen qualified sixth at Monza and afterwards spoke about a Red Bull car "made of paper". Admittedly, that comment specifically concerned the "car degradation" issue – components that sometimes deteriorate over the course of a race – and according to Verstappen and team principal Laurent Mekies, that issue can no longer be fully resolved in 2026.
But ...Keep reading

While Honda more than delivered on expectations with a second place in the sprint at Motegi on Saturday, its rider Diogo Moreira was keen not to raise hopes for the Japanese Grand Prix on Sunday.
Though it was by far the Brazilian's best result thus far in his rookie premier class season, he reminded media after the sprint that the podium had been a fortunate one despite indications earlier in ...Keep reading

Will we get a repeat of Verstappen & Hamilton’s epic 2021 battle into turn one at Sepang?

Mika Hakkinen returns to the Formula 1 cockpit today at the Allwyn x McLaren Racing: Live in Athens event outside the Olympic Athletic Center (OAKA).
The two-time champion will drive around a bespoke track layout in Ayrton Senna's iconic McLaren MP4/6, and fans will have the opportunity to see the 2025 constructors' championship-winning MCL39.
"We are here with a great event with McLaren ...Keep reading

The Mercedes team has taken a big swing by introducing a substantial aerodynamic update package at a circuit Formula 1 hasn't visited since 2017. Has it missed?
Probably not – but, because the upgrade is a major one, Mercedes has committed to it on both cars so it has been unable to run back-to-back comparisons between old and new in identical conditions. This has added to the challenges of ...Keep reading

Kimi Antonelli will start third on the Bahrain Grand Prix grid thanks to Isack Hadjar's five-place grid penalty, but after Mercedes introduced a seven-piece upgrade package at Sepang, the driver's expectations were much higher before he started driving. He now places his hopes on using the powerful undercut this circuit may have to offer.
Antonelli looked like the man to beat after what ...Keep reading

A delighted Lewis Hamilton has reflected on how he secured P2 in Qualifying at the Sepang International Circuit.

Max Verstappen secured his first pole position of 2026 during Qualifying for the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia, an achievement that the Red Bull driver felt was an "amazing moment".

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen topped each segment of Qualifying at the Sepang International Circuit on his way to clinching pole position.

Lando Norris was left frustrated by a power unit problem that left him just sixth on the grid for the Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia.
The McLaren driver was six tenths off Red Bull’s polesitter Max Verstappen at Sepang on Saturday, setting a 1m35.757s that put Norris just 0.005s ahead of team-mate Oscar Piastri in seventh.
Norris reckons his deficit came via a lack of speed on ...Keep reading

Following acute tyre difficulties for some riders during today's sprint race at Motegi, MotoGP tyre supplier Michelin has taken the extreme step of banning the soft compound for tomorrow's Japanese Grand Prix. 
Jorge Martin and Francesco Bagnaia were particularly affected by high temperatures on the soft rear compound, leading to worrying television images and some speculation that Michelin ...Keep reading

Isack Hadjar (Red Bull) is handed a 5-place penalty for using a new power unit element outside his allocation.
Franco Colapinto (Alpine) is handed a 15-place penalty: 5 for the collision he caused in Baku, 10 for using a new V6 outside his allocation.
Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls) is handed a 30-place penalty for using several new power unit elements outside his ...Keep reading