Motorsport

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

Coming into Q3, McLaren had topped every session of the Japanese Grand Prix weekend – free practice, Q1, and Q2 – positioning the Woking-based team as the clear favourite for pole. Oscar Piastri led the way after the first runs in Q3, with Max Verstappen trailing by a quarter of a second.
"I just thought, 'I'm going to give it everything in that last run,'" Verstappen explained of his ...Keep reading

Both Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc are pinning their hopes on upgrades in Ferrari's pipeline. The Scuderia's Formula 1 drivers feel that the SF-25 in its current specification is lacking performance in comparison to the Mercedes and Red Bull cars.
Ferrari made a significant change to its car concept over the off-season in switching to a pull-rod front suspension layout, as technical ...Keep reading

Oliver Bearman admitted he did not expect to get out of the first qualifying session for the Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix before putting his Haas 10th on the grid.
Having benefitted from a trio of disqualifications to finish eighth last time out in China, Bearman continued to impress after progressing to Q3 at Suzuka.
In contrast, team-mate Esteban Ocon failed to get out of Q1 and will ...Keep reading

Despite returning to the slower Racing Bulls car, Liam Lawson outqualified his Red Bull replacement Yuki Tsunoda for Formula 1's Japanese Grand Prix. But there are signs Red Bull's merciless switch may actually be working already.
Leaving aside the ruthlessness of Red Bull's decision to demote Lawson after two difficult races on circuits he didn't know, what ultimately mattered to the team is ...Keep reading

Pain from his seatbelts almost put Racing Bulls Formula 1 driver Isack Hadjar out in Q1 for the Japanese Grand Prix, before completing an "unbelievable" lap having overcome the discomfort.
Hadjar was heard over the radio complaining about an unspecified cockpit issue in FP3, and had reported in the first part of qualifying that the problem had reoccurred as he attempted to break into Q2.
It ...Keep reading

Lengthy rain showers have been forecast for Suzuka overnight on Saturday and into Sunday, with the expected downpours set to halt the Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix grass fires.
Five separate incidents of scorched turf have delayed track action across the weekend so far, with two red flags in FP2, two in FP3 and another during Q2 as the FIA and race organisers grappled with finding a ...Keep reading

Williams driver Carlos Sainz has received a three-place grid penalty for Formula 1's Japanese Grand Prix for impeding Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton in qualifying.
Arriving at high speed into Turn 1 for his final flying lap in Q2, Hamilton encountered Sainz in the middle of the road, having to abort his lap and take avoiding action into the runoff area.
Sainz said he had no warning that Hamilton ...Keep reading

Lando Norris insists he is much happier with his McLaren Formula 1 car than he was in China - despite being beaten to Japanese Grand Prix pole by Max Verstappen.
The current championship leader bemoaned small margins for missing out on pole by 0.012 seconds at Suzuka as Verstappen surprisingly took the top spot ahead of both Norris and his McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri.
Throughout the ...Keep reading

After every F1 qualifying session, Motorsport.com publishes each team's qualifying record in terms of team-mate battles.
This record is based exclusively on qualifying results so that grid penalties don't alter the statistics.
When a driver can't put in a representative lap time due to a technical issue or an incident, this will be mentioned in the table.
McLaren




Oscar ...Keep reading

Max Verstappen has said Red Bull has not fixed its troublesome Formula 1 car despite taking a stunning Japanese Grand Prix pole that he called one of his finest career laps.
The four-time world champion was bidding for his fourth consecutive pole at Suzuka, but balance issues with his 2025 Red Bull car combined with McLaren's dominant form looked set to end that streak.
But after not making ...Keep reading

Max Verstappen stormed to a surprise pole position at the Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix as the reigning world champion defeated both McLarens to grab top spot.
Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri had been setting the pace during practice, but it was Verstappen who delivered when it mattered, putting in a new track record of 1m26.983s to secure his fourth successive Suzuka pole.
Early championship ...Keep reading

Lando Norris closed out Japanese Grand Prix practice with the fastest time, just 0.026 seconds ahead of McLaren Formula 1 team-mate Oscar Piastri, as the session faced two red flags due to grass fires.
The championship leader aborted two hot laps during his late-session qualifying simulations on soft tyres due to minor wide moments on the exit of the second Degner corner, but rallied on his ...Keep reading