Motorsport

Ryan Blaney was one of the fastest drivers at Darlington, but in the end, circumstances prevented him from reaching Victory Lane. It seemed like every time the Team Penske driver got near the lead, something would happen that would put him deeper in the field. Here’s how Blaney managed to salvage fifth, despite it all.
First, there was an untimely caution in the middle of green-flag pit stops ...Keep reading

Denny Hamlin now has 56 career victories in the NASCAR Cup Series, but it was not a dominant showing like his Martinsville victory just one week ago. Driving a throwback scheme paying tribute to Carl Edwards, Hamlin earned his fifth win at the track 'too tough to tame', in a race that was ultimately won via pit road.
First, a well-timed caution mid-race netted Hamlin a lot of track position and ...Keep reading

Kyle Larson started Sunday's race from 19th position on the grid. Driving a car inspired by Terry Labonte's 2003 Kellogg's car (which Labonte earned his final Cup win with), Larson's throwback scheme was awarded 'Best in Show' ahead of the 400-mile race.
Unfortunately, it didn't look that good for long. As Larson tried to make up some ground early, he was battling side-by-side with Joey Logano ...Keep reading

Following the season opener on March 2, the 2025 MotoGP season has already completed its first three stops: the Grand Prix of Thailand, Argentina, and the United States. The next scheduled event is the Qatar GP, set to take place from April 11 to 13.
Before that, however, the test and development teams from some of the premier class outfits will make a two-day stop at the track in Misano ...Keep reading

Max Verstappen has quipped that if he was driving McLaren’s Formula 1 car “then you wouldn’t have seen me” despite his dominant pole and victory at the Japanese Grand Prix.
The Red Bull driver took his fourth consecutive win at Suzuka, fending off both McLaren drivers in the grand prix on Sunday after securing a stunning pole position on Saturday, which completed a remarkable turnaround ...Keep reading

For a circuit as famously difficult to master as Suzuka, seeing three Formula 1 rookies secure points during the Japanese Grand Prix is a testament to the ability of the new breed of driver coming through the ranks.
While reigning world champion Max Verstappen sealed a fine victory ahead of the chasing McLaren pair of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, a trio of inexperienced drivers also ...Keep reading

A qualifying lap for the ages and an impressive batch of rookies brightened up Formula 1's tepid Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka. Here's who impressed us at Suzuka and who didn't make the grade
Winner: Max Verstappen
There aren't enough superlatives to describe Verstappen's Japanese Grand Prix performance. Much has been made of Red Bull's second car failures, with Yuki Tsunoda making an ...Keep reading

Fred Vasseur believes the current Formula 1 season is in danger of becoming a “quali championship” with overtaking at a premium in the past two rounds.
While the 2025 campaign began with a frantic Australian Grand Prix, the changeable weather played a key part in ensuring plenty of on-track action.
It has been a different story, though, in both the Chinese Grand Prix and this weekend’s ...Keep reading

McLaren says it had to choose between potentially sacrificing Oscar Piastri or losing time to Max Verstappen on new hard tyres when it came to Lando Norris' Japanese Grand Prix strategy, which explains the decision to pit the Briton on the same lap as the Red Bull driver.
Team principal Andrea Stella has explained the team's strategic options following a drab affair at Suzuka, which he felt had ...Keep reading

Lando Norris says McLaren should have pitted him before Max Verstappen to try to defeat the Red Bull Formula 1 driver, but thinks the Suzuka race was lost in qualifying.
Verstappen safeguarded his lead from pole on the first lap, and the four-time champion then never really looked under serious threat from the chasing McLaren duo of Norris and Oscar Piastri.
While the McLarens were the ...Keep reading

Red Bull's Max Verstappen claimed an impressive pole position for the Japanese Grand Prix and went on take his first Formula 1 victory of the season.
The McLaren duo completed the podium as the majority of the top 10 finished in grid order.
Here's what our team of writers thought straight after the finish in Suzuka.
Verstappen won't give up on fifth title
If the weekend in Suzuka ...Keep reading

Max Verstappen held off the two McLarens throughout the Japanese Grand Prix to clinch his first Formula 1 victory of 2025, crossing the line with a 1.4-second advantage.
The Red Bull driver capitalised on his impressive qualifying run to put together a controlled drive at the front of the order, ensuring that he did not wilt under the scrutiny from the two McLarens behind - as Lando Norris and ...Keep reading

When Denny Hamlin crossed the start-finish line at Martinsville for his 55th career win, it also placed him in a tie for 11th on the all-time wins list. He and the rest of the Cup Series field now head to Darlington where Hamlin has more wins than any other active driver (four) with his most recent coming in 2021.
While always battling near the front of the field, Hamlin was facing a 31-race ...Keep reading

Brandon Jones snapped a three-year winless streak after taking victory in a dramatic NASCAR Xfinity race at Darlington. His last victory came 98 races ago at Martinsville early in the 2022 season. 
"It's all for my confidence but it's also nice to prove some haters and some people who said I wasn't capable of doing it wrong again," said Jones, who now has six wins as a NASCAR Xfinity Series ...Keep reading

Damon Hill has made no secret of the fact he isn’t Max Verstappen’s biggest fan. The 1996 world champion previously called the Red Bull driver a “cry baby” and claimed he uses “fear and intimidation” against his rivals. However, Hill had a simple, four-word response to the 27-year-old’s stunning Suzuka lap that secured him pole position at tomorrow’s Japanese Grand Prix. 
The ...Keep reading

On the final lap of last weekend's NASCAR Xfinity race, Sammy Smith drove deep into the final corner in an effort to intentionally wreck race leader Taylor Gray. He succeeded, but wrecked himself in the process as a multi-car incident broke out.
Neither driver won the race and after outcry from several industry leaders, NASCAR chose to penalize Smith. He was later docked 50 points and fined ...Keep reading

William Byron did well to honor Jeff Gordon in No. 24 "fiery" throwback scheme by rocketing to the top of the charts in qualifying on Saturday. Just over a tenth of a second separated the drivers between second and tenth on the time sheets, but second to first was nearly the same margin as Byron put down a new Darlington record for the current Gen-7 race car.
Byron lapped the historic track in ...Keep reading

Fernando Alonso was stunned by the lap that earned Max Verstappen pole position at tomorrow’s Japanese Grand Prix. The veteran driver, who was eliminated in Q2, described it as a “magical moment” while speaking to reporters on Saturday afternoon. 
“Only he can do it, only he can do it,” Alonso told Viaplay after the Dutchman snatched pole from Lando Norris by 0.012 seconds. “I ...Keep reading

Throwback Weekend, officially established at Darlington in 2015, has been used as a way to honor the history of NASCAR through special paint schemes and liveries inspired by the sport's past. It's expanded to include everything from 'throwback' commentators in the booth and old-school logos on the Goodyear tires.
Some years have had themes, focusing on specific decades, but most years, teams ...Keep reading

Lando Norris says he is ready to claim the Formula 1 title - but he’s determined to do it on his own terms "by being a nice guy".
The 25-year-old has long been depicted as the calm, mild-mannered counterpoint to reigning four-time champion Max Verstappen’s fiery personality.
“I feel like there is a very prescribed version of how people say a world champion needs to be – overly ...Keep reading