Motoring News

Lewis Hamilton says Mercedes had their "best session of the year" in Friday's practice at the Japanese Grand Prix.

Masi came under fire for the way he handled the closing stages of the 2021 season finale, where he ended the safety car period just in time to enable a final-lap showdown between title rivals Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton.It allowed Red Bull driver Verstappen, who was on fresher tyres, to make a last-gasp pass on Mercedes rival Hamilton for the lead and with it clinch his maiden drivers' ...Keep reading

During FP1, the only dry Friday session, Melbourne winner Carlos Sainz set the best time of the Ferrari duo during a short flurry of hot laps conducted on softs but was nonetheless 0.213s shy of Max Verstappen's headline effort.In the meantime, Leclerc was eclipsed by both McLarens and stacked up sixth in the overall FP1 order, a quarter of a second away from his team-mate over his lap.The ...Keep reading

Charles Leclerc has said it was “so important” for him to pay tribute to Jules Bianchi at this weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix after revealing a special helmet design in honour of the late Frenchman.

Toto Wolff has stated that he would “never discount” Sebastian Vettel amid reports linking the four-time world champion to a possible F1 comeback with Mercedes.

The drivers and teams report back on Friday practice at the Suzuka International Racing Course ahead of the Formula 1 MSC Cruises Japanese Grand Prix 2024.

Williams team boss James Vowles has insisted that Logan Sargeant's heavy crash during FP1 in Japan was just a mistake and not a symptom of a dip in confidence.

Motorsport.com understands that over the recent Saudi Arabian Grand Prix weekend, Stroll presented pre-eminent F1 designer Newey with a big-money bid to move.Read Also:


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Although Newey has turned down opportunities to leave Red Bull since joining in 2006, most notably rejecting advances from Ferrari, such ...Keep reading

Day one of the County Championship season has been hit by bad weather, with play abandoned for the day at Derbyshire, Durham, Lancashire and Kent without a ball being bowled.

Before deciding to extend his contract with Yamaha - a deal announced on Friday - Fabio Quartararo had to choose between following two paths: to be competitive again as soon as possible, or to consider a more long-term and lucrative route. Yamaha's lack of progress makes it very difficult for the Frenchman to return to winning ways before the expiration of his new deal, which makes him the ...Keep reading

There was a touch of inevitability. Red Bull's significant Suzuka upgrade has not slimmed the RB20 as predicted, with rumours Ferrari was rushing its important Imola updates scotched too on what was overall something of a slow news day on Thursday.Then there's the drivers involved. Alonso and Russell are rather divisive figures amongst F1's fanbase. But there was nevertheless a surprise split in ...Keep reading

The Argentina GP at Termas de Rio Honda was scheduled to represent the third round of the 2024 MotoGP season. However, on 31 January it was officially cancelled by series promoter Dorna Sports.Due to harsh government spending cuts imposed by Argentina’s new president Javier Milei, the grand prix – which receives considerable public funding – could not be staged.Has the Argentina GP been ...Keep reading

Max Verstappen and Red Bull led the way in opening practice for Formula 1's 2024 Japanese Grand Prix, but this was far from a repeat affair of the opening day from the 2023 event at Suzuka just six months ago.This time, in the cooler April climate, rain intervened to limit running massively in FP2, while Red Bull was left eyeing Charles Leclerc's surprise early long-run times from FP1 with ...Keep reading

Light but persistent rain coated Suzuka’s high-speed figure-of-eight circuit on Friday afternoon, preventing Formula 1 teams from gathering long run data for Sunday’s Japanese Grand Prix and limiting the learnings from a slew of upgrades introduced this weekend. From what we did see, Red Bull lived up to their favourites tag, but they do not appear to have the commanding advantage they enjoyed last year.

Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris both shared cautious optimism over McLaren’s prospects at this weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix as the team look to build on their first podium finish of the season last time out in Australia.

Winner last time out in Australia, Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz was pleased with the start to his weekend in Suzuka, feeling that his team were closer to Red Bull than they’d anticipated.

Lewis Hamilton was left feeling encouraged by Mercedes’ performance in Friday’s first practice session at the Japanese Grand Prix, with the seven-time world champion stating that the car had felt at its best so far this season.

It was a damp conclusion to Friday’s practice action at the Japanese Grand Prix, with drivers completing the majority of their laps on intermediate tyres during FP2 around the Suzuka circuit.

TEAM REPRESENTATIVES: Toto WOLFF (Mercedes), Bruno FAMIN (Alpine), James VOWLES (Williams), Ayao KOMATSU (Haas)

While pleased with his start to the Japanese Grand Prix weekend, Max Verstappen believes Red Bull will face more of a battle at this year’s event compared to their recent dominance at Suzuka.