Formula 1

Mercedes has explained in more detail the “aggressive” design changes that have resulted in its new W11 2020 Formula 1 car being “streaks ahead” of its predecessor. While most of the interest surrounding Mercedes has revolved around its dual-axis steering (DAS), technical director James Allison said at last week’s opening pre-season test at Barcelona that

George Russell thinks his rookie Williams Formula 1 team-mate Nicholas Latifi is under-rated and will be tougher for him to beat than most expect. Russell made his debut in F1 last year and was faster than his returning team-mate Robert Kubica in all 21 qualifying sessions, and finished ahead of the one-time grand prix winner

Racing Point technical chief Andrew Green has explained the team’s decision not to take more listed parts from Mercedes for its new car, calling its model “Haas Mk2”. The new Racing Point RP20 broke cover at the start of pre-season testing in Barcelona on Wednesday, with immediate similarities being noted between its design and that

While Mercedes’ dual-axis steering system turned heads in the Barcelona Formula 1 paddock, Red Bull unveiled a front suspension change it hopes will eradicate its deficit in slow-speed corners. While plenty of developments, such as the snorkel change on the nose, are obvious on the Red Bull, the bold revision of its suspension layout is

George Russell feels there is “no way” Williams will be as far off the pace of is its 2020 Formula 1 rivals as it was last year. Williams’ 2020 season started in much better shape compared to ’19 – when it missed the first two full days of testing with the FW42 – with Russell

Whether you look at the headline times or the news headlines themselves, there’s no escaping the fact that Mercedes dominated the first week of pre-season Formula 1 testing. The team led the opening day, caused a stir on day two when its dual-axis steering system was spotted for the first time, and returned to the

Haas driver Kevin Magnussen’s day-ending crash early on in Friday afternoon’s pre-season Formula 1 test session at Barcelona was triggered by a broken wheel spacer. The team’s Friday running was interrupted in the morning when Romain Grosjean suffered a water leak, while Magnussen speared off the track at the Turn 7/8 left-right on his fifth

Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas set the fastest lap of Barcelona Formula 1 pre-season testing so far in the day three morning session, as Sebastian Vettel’s Ferrari suffered an engine problem. Vettel had managed what was then a field-high 40 laps by the time he stopped at Turn 12 just after two hours and a half

There was only one talking point in the Formula 1 paddock on the second day of pre-season testing, as Mercedes debuted its dual-axis steering system. The device is used to adjust the toe on the front wheels between the straights and the corners, but, although Mercedes said the FIA is aware of the system, it

Mercedes’ dual-axis steering turned heads at Barcelona on day two of Formula 1 testing. JONATHAN NOBLE explains why, so far, the team has the FIA’s consent to use the system Formula 1’s second day of pre-season testing has been dominated by intrigue surrounding the Mercedes ‘Dual Axis Steering’ (DAS) system. But while the clever trick

Mercedes’s new Formula 1 car has adopted a new ‘steering mode’ that was visible from onboard footage of Lewis Hamilton’s car during the second day of pre-season testing at Barcelona. Images of Hamilton’s laps in the morning session showed that the world champion’s steering wheel appeared to move towards him on the straights and then

Haas boss Gunther Steiner says previous critic Racing Point should “think before they talk” in reference to the similarities between its rival’s 2020 Formula 1 car and Mercedes’ 2019 challenger. In its previous guise as Force India, Racing Point questioned the technical relationship between Haas and Ferrari and their cars’ shared characteristics after Haas’s “magic”

Charles Leclerc says the Ferrari Formula 1 team has adjusted its approach to pre-season testing after finishing the opening day of 2020 running at Barcelona only 11th fastest. Leclerc, who received a call from Ferrari at 6.45am to replace his unwell team-mate Sebastian Vettel for the opening day of the test, completed 131 laps on

Racing Point has revealed its new Formula 1 car for the first time, as pre-season testing got underway at in Spain on Wednesday morning. The Silverstone-based team held a livery launch in Austria earlier this week, but waited until official track action began on Wednesday to show off its 2020 challenger. The RP20 is the

A two-day Chinese Grand Prix between the Brazilian and Abu Dhabi Formula 1 races has emerged as one option to get the event back on the calendar, Autosport has learned. The outbreak of coronavirus in China forced race promoters to postpone the original event, which had been due to take place in Shanghai on April

Carlos Sainz is in “no rush at all” to agree a new contract with McLaren beyond the end of the season, but has already held early conversations about his future. Sainz joined McLaren for the 2019 season on a two-year deal alongside rookie Lando Norris, and led its charge to fourth place in the constructors’

Renault technical director Pat Fry says the challenge of changing the Formula 1 manufacturer’s fortunes is different to what he faced at McLaren because there is not much “low-hanging fruit”. Fry joined Renault earlier this month from McLaren, which praise him for playing an instrumental part in the team’s most competitive F1 package since 2014

Imola has offered to host a Formula 1 round in place of April’s postponed Chinese Grand Prix, though the circuit’s boss acknowledges the bid could be “mission impossible”. The circuit has approached the Automobile Club of Italy president, Angelo Sticchi Damiani, about the possibility of staging a race should an opportunity arise. Imola last hosted

Racing Point CEO and team principal Otmar Szafnauer has explained why Sport Pesa is no longer the squad’s title sponsor, after announcing a new deal with water tech company BWT. Sport Pesa became Racing Point’s title sponsor as part of a “multi-year” arrangement ahead of the 2019 season, but one year later the betting brand

Williams, Renault and Haas have all hit the track for the first time in 2020 during a filming day before the start of pre-season testing on Wednesday. After releasing the initial render images of its new FW43 car on Monday morning, Williams took it on-track for the first time at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya soon

Mercedes High Performance Powertrains boss Andy Cowell says the company’s Formula 1 programme is now benefitting from its Formula E involvement, even though running parallel programmes was initially “a strain”. The manufacturer announced in July 2017 that it would enter Formula E for the 2019-2020 season, and the powertrain used by Mercedes’ FE cars has

AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly says he will not change his approach to Formula 1 pre-season testing in 2020 despite his two crashes when driving for Red Bull at Barcelona last year. Gasly’s incidents in 2019 pre-season testing, the second of which he called “one of the biggest crashes I’ve had“, disrupted the build-up to his race

Renault team principal Cyril Abiteboul says the manufacturer’s Formula 1 future appears safer now the company’s future management structure has been sorted. Turmoil at Renault, caused by the arrest of former Renault-Nissan alliance head Carlos Ghosn last year, prompted a major review of its operations. Interim CEO Clotilde Delbos said last October that Renault would

Major resurfacing works at Albert Park, including tweaks to the current circuit layout, could happen before Formula 1’s 2021 Australian Grand Prix. The public roads used to make up the Melbourne parkland’s circuit have not been renovated since the first event back in 1996, but major resurfacing has been on the Australian Grand Prix Corporation’s

Renault says its conservative expectations for the coming Formula 1 season mean it will need a leap of faith from Daniel Ricciardo about its 2021 prospects to keep him. The team was cautious about its chances at the launch of its 2020 programme, aiming only for fourth in the constructors’ championship and making no promises

The rebranded AlphaTauri Formula 1 team – formerly Toro Rosso – has unveiled its 2020 car, the AT01. The team’s striking new white and blue livery was revealed at Red Bull’s Hangar 7 facility in Salzburg by drivers Daniil Kvyat and Pierre Gasly, while renders of the new car were released simultaneously online. AlphaTauri, which

Mercedes has focussed on improving the cooling package of its 2020 Formula 1 car, which has been helped by the new engine operating at a higher temperature to last year’s. Last year’s car had cooling issues that the team could not fully address during the season, because of a limitation with radiator capacity. The weakness

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Alfa Romeo’s new 2020 Formula 1 car has broken cover during a shakedown test at Fiorano in Italy on Friday. Kimi Raikkonen conducted the running of the car, which was sporting a black livery, at Ferrari’s official test track. The running is likely to be classified as an official filming day. The Sauber-run team is

McLaren technical director James Key says the new MCL35 includes new concepts at both the front and rear, but remains true to lessons learned with last year’s Formula 1 car. Key says that the in developing the 2019 MCL34, the team pursued ideas that it couldn’t incorporate because of limitations such as the existing suspension