Motorsport

Former Haas Formula 1 team principal Guenther Steiner believes Mercedes will face threats from other teams this year due to the high rate of development in the 2026 season. 
After the first two rounds of the season, Mercedes leads the constructors' standings with 98 points, 31 points more than Ferrari in second. George Russell won the season-opening Australian Grand Prix and Chinese sprint ...Keep reading

Alex Brundle has identified a weakness for Mercedes Formula 1 driver Kimi Antonelli, as he finds himself battling against his team-mate George Russell in the 2026 championship. 
The Italian became the second-youngest driver to win an F1 race at the Chinese Grand Prix, and his part in the drivers' championship battle has since become a hot topic of conversation. 
While Brundle applauded ...Keep reading

Lewis Hamilton has fired back at those who criticised him during the ground effect era.
The seven-time champion has bounced back after a difficult few years in the championship. Hamilton struggled to adapt to the ground-effect era cars as he seemingly failed to bond with the change in driving behaviour. On top of this, he was also tasked with adjusting to his new surroundings at Ferrari after ...Keep reading

Ferrari is "just not quick enough" to trouble the front of the grid, thinks Lewis Hamilton, as the Scuderia hopes fixing its car balance will get it ahead of 2026 Formula 1 rival McLaren in Japan.
Charles Leclerc and Hamilton finished fifth and sixth in second practice on Friday, shipping around seven and eight tenths respectively to session leader Oscar Piastri in the McLaren.
Over half of ...Keep reading

Ollie Bearman has branded Kimi Antonelli's maiden Formula 1 win as "very special".
The Briton watched his former Formula 2 team-mate clinch his first grand prix victory at the Chinese Grand Prix at the Shanghai International Circuit, which he claimed gave him confidence that he would be able to reach the same milestone one day.
"We text. We sent each other a message after the race," Bearman ...Keep reading

Jorge Martin is still not fully fit as he embarks on the third round of the 2026 MotoGP world championship. Given that the venue for that race is COTA, the most physical circuit on the calendar, it's little wonder that the Spaniard is downplaying his chances.
"Honestly speaking, I felt a bit of pain after the race in Brazil [last weekend]," Martin told media in Texas. "I'm not at 100% still ...Keep reading

2009 Formula 1 champion Jenson Button has tempered expectations after McLaren's Oscar Piastri topped the timesheets in FP2 ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix. 
While the Australian driver edged out the dominant Mercedes drivers, George Russell and Kimi Antonelli, in the second practice session at Suzuka, Button argued that the Brackley outfit will likely be holding some performance back.
"We ...Keep reading

McLaren is expecting no changes to the 2026 Formula 1 pecking order despite a very strong showing in second practice at this weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix.
The Woking outfit, which has won the last two titles, controlled FP2 via Oscar Piastri, whose world champion team-mate Lando Norris finished fourth amid issues with his hydraulics.
It was nonetheless some much-needed positivity for ...Keep reading

Ferrari brought its so-called (by team boss Frederic Vasseur) 'Macarena' wing to the Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix. But ahead of free practice on Friday, it decided to not to use the innovative rotating rear wing flap, even though there were enough spare parts in the Suzuka garages to build two cars.  
The SF-26s will therefore contest the third round of the calendar with no major changes ...Keep reading

Two-time Formula 1 champion Fernando Alonso has shared an update after the birth of his first child.
The 44-year-old driver arrived late at the Suzuka Circuit for "personal family reasons", which have now been confirmed to be the arrival of his child with his partner, Melissa Jimenez.
"I’m a little jet-lagged because I landed this morning, but here we are," Alonso told DAZN Spain after the ...Keep reading

Former IndyCar driver and F1 TV presenter James Hinchcliffe believes Carlos Sainz is facing a "defining moment" in his career after joining Williams.
The Spaniard was left looking for a new seat after he was replaced at Ferrari by seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton from 2025. After weighing up multiple options, Sainz ultimately signed with Williams.
The Grove outfit is currently battling ...Keep reading

Red Bull F1 team principal Laurent Mekies admitted his squad is "very far" from the frontrunners in Japan after crippling balance issues have left his drivers off the pace. Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar ended the day in 10th and 15th respectively, over 1.3 seconds off the front, after Red Bull struggled to dial in the balance of its RB22, which saw substantial upgrades in the shape of a revised ...Keep reading

Formula 1 stewards were busy after opening practice for this weekend's Japanese Grand Prix as Friday's FP1 saw three separate incidents be investigated afterwards.
Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen, Alex Albon, Sergio Perez, Liam Lawson and Carlos Sainz were under the spotlight, though all incidents resulted in no further action at Suzuka.
One was between world champions Hamilton and ...Keep reading

Four-time world champion Max Verstappen says his Red Bull Formula 1 car is "bleeding a lot of lap time" from significant balancing issues in Japanese Grand Prix free practice.
In a Red Bull RB22 that featured upgrades including a reshaped sidepod and a tweaked floor, Verstappen was seventh in Friday morning's FP1 session, eight tenths adrift of leader George Russell in the Mercedes. Verstappen ...Keep reading

During the opening weekend of the 2026 Formula 1 season, much of the media attention was on the number of batteries that Honda had to its disposal in Melbourne.
But that Friday, Adrian Newey made an unrelated, even more interesting comment. The legendary designer revealed that Aston Martin did not know until November 2025 that Honda’s F1 project was in a completely different state compared to ...Keep reading

Ferrari chairman John Elkann admitted that the Maranello outfit "fell short of ambitions" in 2025, but assured its stakeholders that "racing is as much about learning as winning".
The Fred Vasseur-led team finished the 2025 Formula 1 season fourth in the constructors' standings. After Lewis Hamilton joined the team at the start of the year, he took time to adjust to the new team. While he ...Keep reading

Marco Bezzecchi and Marc Marquez are the favourites for victory at the Circuit of the Americas for different reasons.
Aprilia's Bezzecchi has been on a strong run of form in MotoGP, having dominated the last four grands prix across 2025 and 2026 seasons. He is also on the verge of breaking an 11-year old record for most consecutive laps led in MotoGP.
But the Italian will face stern ...Keep reading

Oscar Piastri halted Mercedes dominance by pipping Kimi Antonelli to top second practice for the Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka.
The McLaren driver set a 1m30.133s which was 0.092s quicker than Antonelli, whose Mercedes team-mate George Russell completed the top three after dominating opening practice.
FP1 saw the championship leader top a Silver Arrows 1-2, but Mercedes struggled ...Keep reading

Aston Martin Formula 1 ambassador Pedro de la Rosa has stated Adrian Newey’s team principal job “will remain unchanged” and Jonathan Wheatley isn’t joining the squad “for the time being”.
Wheatley officially left his position at the rival Audi team last Friday ”due to personal reasons”, one day after Motorsport revealed he was set to replace Newey as Aston Martin’s team ...Keep reading

Championship leader George Russell has topped Formula 1's first free practice session at Suzuka's Japanese Grand Prix, pipping Mercedes team-mate Kimi Antonelli by a tiny margin.
With Russell and Antonelli having divided the first two grands prix wins between themselves, Mercedes' early-season dominance showing little signs of slowing down at the third event of the 2026 era.
Russell led the ...Keep reading