Norris: Leclerc should have passed Verstappen at Imola F1 restart

Verstappen was preparing to take the pack back up to racing speed after the Emilia Romagna event had been suspended to clear up the wreckage from George Russell and Valtteri Bottas crashing heavily, when the Red Bull driver lost control at the final corners.
He speared left over the kerbs of the first Rivazza turn, appearing to briefly put all four wheels across the white line at the track’s …Keep reading

Knife-edge F1 battle risks Red Bull/Mercedes development war

The two teams have taken a victory apiece so far this year, with Lewis Hamilton winning the season opener in Bahrain and Max Verstappen triumphing at Imola last weekend.
With very little to choose in performance terms between the two cars, both teams are continuing to push hard to improve their packages as much as possible.
However, with F1 teams knowing they need to commit as much resource …Keep reading

McLaren agrees £170m sale and leaseback of F1 factory

Following months of negotiations aimed at selling the 840,000 square foot facility, a deal was announced on Tuesday for the factory to be bought by American company Global Net Lease (GNL).
The transaction is expected to be completed in the second quarter of this year and will include a 20-year lease for McLaren.
James Nelson, CEO of GNL, said: “We are excited to announce that this …Keep reading

Alonso: Playing catch up in F1 is no excuse for current form

The Spaniard is returning to F1 after two seasons away, and has faced a battle to get fully comfortable with Alpine as he gets back into the swing of things.
But despite an encouraging run in the Bahrain GP opener, he had a more difficult time at Imola last weekend.
The two-time F1 world champion was outqualified by team-mate Esteban Ocon, spun in the wet conditions before the start and then …Keep reading

Latifi only knew about Mazepin Imola F1 contact from TV replay

The Canadian had spun off the track at Acque Minerali on the opening lap at Imola but managed to get going again.
However, as he resumed on the run to the Variante Alta, he tagged Mazepin’s front left wheel and was spun around into the wall before the chicane.
Reflecting on the incident, Latifi said that he wasn’t aware that his Haas competitor was alongside him.
“When I came back on, I …Keep reading

Is Mercedes’ big strength against Red Bull a weakness for Bottas?

Mercedes escaped from Imola with its lead of both Formula 1 world championships still intact, but the team is under no illusions of the gap to Red Bull that remains.
Lewis Hamilton scraped pole position for Mercedes on Saturday, aided by mistakes from both Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez behind. A rocket start by Verstappen then put Red Bull in control of the race, leading to its first win of …Keep reading

Russell: Bottas crash won’t harm my relationship with Mercedes

Williams driver Russell collided with Bottas when trying to overtake the Mercedes car for ninth place in the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, resulting in a big crash.
The incident eliminated both drivers from the race and brought out a red flag due to debris strewn across the track. It also caused Bottas’s car to almost be written off due to the amount of damage sustained.
Bottas and Russell …Keep reading