Aston Martin podiums “not enough” for Lawrence Stroll’s F1 ambitions

After finishing seventh in 2022, Aston Martin has made a major leap forward, holding second in the constructors’ standings after three races by virtue of Fernando Alonso’s three consecutive podiums.
It is the most significant year-on-year improvement for an F1 team in many seasons, but Stroll’s ambitions reach much further.
The Canadian billionaire has been assembling a team to fight for …Keep reading
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What “gladiator” Allison’s reappointment reveals about Mercedes’ current F1 shortcomings

On Friday morning, Autosport revealed that Allison is going back to the previous position he held at the team, with his successor Mike Elliott swapping roles in the other direction and becoming the team’s chief technical officer.
In several ways, this is starkly new ground for the modern Mercedes squad, in that it finds itself in such dire straits compared to its years as F1’s dominator that a …Keep reading
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Friday favourite: The interim F1 McLaren that unexpectedly challenged Ferrari

For two-time Le Mans 24 Hours winner and long-time Formula 1 tester Alex Wurz, the question of choosing a favourite racing car isn’t dictated by whether he raced or tested it. Instead, it’s something rather more simple that is behind the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association president’s pick of the McLaren MP4-17D, a machine that narrowly missed out on the F1 world championship in 2003 with Kimi …Keep reading
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WRC – Neuville leads on Croatia Rally as Ogier and Rovanperä hit trouble

WRC – Neuville leads on Croatia Rally as Ogier and Rovanperä hit trouble

Sport news

Thierry Neuville persevered through car set-up challenges to lead a deceptively tough Croatia Rally by 16.1sec on Friday morning.

Having edged Neuville by a slender 2.6sec through the opener, championship leader Sébastien Ogier looked poised to pull clear of the pack as he made the most of the clean road surface offered by his starting position.

But the Frenchman came unstuck only a handful of kilometres into the following test, Stojdraga – Hartje, when he stopped to change a wheel after hitting a pothole with his Toyota GR Yaris. Team-mate Kalle Rovanperä, himself a previous Croatia winner, struck identical trouble at the very same location.

Ogier’s time loss elevated Neuville into the top spot and, although he felt his Hyundai i20 N’s set-up was hindering progress, the Belgian outpaced nearest challenger Elfyn Evans on all but one stage.

“It’s hard,” Neuville said. “We are trying different set-ups all the time, but I just can’t get the right thing. It’s very similar to Monte-Carlo where the chassis is moving a lot, and it makes the car very nervous. When it’s a bit faster I am struggling to control the car.”

Neuville was lucky to escape with minimal damage when he hit a hay bale chicane in SS2, while Evans was also counting his lucky stars after collecting a slow puncture on the final corner of the next stage.

“We had it just near the end, so I don’t think it cost us too much,” omitted the Toyota man. “It looks like we were quite lucky with that one.”

M-Sport Ford’s Ott Tänak completed the podium only 6.1sec further back despite nursing a steering-related problem which began on the first road section of the day. A stall just a short distance into the opening stage also cost a handful of seconds.

Esapekka Lappi’s speed improved over the morning as he acclimatised to the dirty asphalt conditions. The Hyundai star trailed Tänak by 12.7sec at service with Takamoto Katsuta another 15.3sec behind in a Toyota.

A trouble-free morning saw Pierre-Louis Loubet hold sixth in his Puma ahead of the recovering Ogier, who languished 1min 27.1sec back from the lead despite winning three out of four stages.

WRC2 leader Yohan Rossel (PH Sport Citroën C3) was eighth and held a commanding 29.7sec advantage over Toksport WRT2’s Nikolay Gryazin (Skoda Fabia RS) second in the category. Nicolas Ciamin completed the early top 10 in a Volkswagen Polo GTI. Frenchman Laurent Pelltier leads the FIA Junior WRC and WRC3 championships in his Ford Fiesta Rally3, with a gap of 14.9sec over Ireland’s William Creighton. Spain’s Roberto Blach is in third.

2023 WRC - Rally Croatia - Yohan Rossel (FRA)/Arnaud Dunand (FRA), PH Sport Citroën C3 (Photo: Nikos Katikis/DPPI)
 

World Rally Championship

Rally CroatiaWRC2023 WRC - Rally Croatia - T. Neuville (BEL)/M. Wydaeghe (BEL), Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid, Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT (Photo: Nikos Katikis/DPPI)SEASON 2023SportRallies1SportWorld Rally ChampionshipRalliesWRCSEASON 2023Rally Croatia01Friday, April 21, 2023 – 2:15pmFriday, April 21, 2023 – 2:15pm

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Mercedes shuffles F1 technical team as Allison/Elliott swap jobs

The switch, which forms part of a raft of changes the team is making to help it return to the front of the F1 grid, will see Allison return to the role of technical director, while Elliott is to take up the position of Chief Technical Officer.
The bold change, which comes 20 months after Allison originally moved into the CTO position, has been prompted by Elliott concluding that the skills he …Keep reading
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