July 2021

Max Verstappen has been taken to hospital for ‘precautionary tests’ following his crash at the British Grand Prix. The Dutchman was on pole at Silverstone on Sunday but lasted less than one lap in the Midlands after colliding with Lewis Hamilton in the early stages. Verstappen and Hamilton’s wheels touched as the Red Bull veered off track and hit the barriers at 180 MPH. Somehow the former managed to escape the incident unscathed, as he exited his car and walked into an ambulance to be checked over. Verstappen’s Red Bull was later towed away and was completely destroyed following the high-speed collision. A Red Bull statement read: “Following a first-lap incident at Copse Corner between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton at the British Grand Prix, we can confirm that Max Verstappen walked away from his car and was immediately taken to the Silverstone Circuit Medical Centre. “Following an assessment by the trackside doctors at Silverstone Circuit Medical Centre, Max Verstappen has been taken to a local hospital for further precautionary tests.” Hamilton went on to win the British race, despite receiving a 10-second penalty for his role in Verstappen’s exit. The Mercedes man left it late, overtaking long-time race leader Charles Leclerc with just two laps remaining. Those fans packed into Silverstone were delighted with the hard-fought win. Hamilton went on to win the British race, despite receiving a 10-second penalty for his role in Verstappen’s exit. The Mercedes man left it late, overtaking long-time race leader Charles Leclerc with just two laps remaining. Those fans packed into Silverstone were delighted with the hard-fought win. But Red Bull chief Christian Horner felt Hamilton should have been given a more severe penalty. Team boss Horner said: “Everyone who’s driven that corner knows you don’t stick a wheel up the inside at Copse. He’s put him in the fence. Thank God he’s not been hurt. It was a desperate move. “You do not stick a wheel up at Copse, one of the fastest corners in the world. That’s just dirty driving.” Hamilton now sits just eight points behind Verstappen in the race for the 2021 title.

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen crashed after suffering a collision with Lewis Hamilton during Sunday’s British Grand Prix. The two F1 title rivals were battling it out for the entire opening lap at Silverstone, with the Red Bull race-leader on the defensive throughout. But just halfway through lap one, disaster struck for Verstappen after he was sent veering off the track and into the barriers. Hamilton was alongside his fellow driver as his front-left wheel touched Verstappen’s back-right tyre. The Dutchman escaped unscathed but will be unable to continue, while Hamilton also minor suffered damage to his car. The British race was temporarily suspended due to the incident, as race control began investigating the incident to see if Hamilton was at fault for the collision. The Mercedes driver instantly began blaming Verstappen for the crash. Meanwhile, Red Bull were furious in their garage as they lamented the incident and the behaviour of the Mercedes driver. Team chief Christian Horner called it “dirty driving” from the world champion while speaking to Channel 4. Mercedes boss Toto Wolff said he had sent an email to the FIA, showing diagrams of the incident, defending his man. Verstappen was seen exiting an ambulance, appearing to be without injury. And it was Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc who benefitted from the crash, overtaking the Brit as he sent Verstappen off the track. Hamilton managed to keep second-place, ahead of his team-mate Valtteri Bottas. The incident caps off a poor weekend for Red Bull, who watched second driver Sergio Perez spin off track during Saturday’s sprint race. The Mexican started Sunday’s race at the back of the grid. Red Bull still lead the drivers and constructors championship. But Hamilton will be hoping to capitalise on this incident and close the gap on his title rival Verstappen this afternoon. To add, the home fans in attendance in the Midlands this afternoon will be delighted to see their man in with a shout of taking maximum points this weekend.

Williams CEO Jost Capito has indicated they’re preparing for life after George Russell with a “long list” of replacement drivers being lined up. Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is facing increased questions on what he plans to do with his driver line-up next season. Lewis Hamilton has already committed to a new two-year deal, meaning he will still be driving for Mercedes at 38 years of age. But a decision is yet to be made on Valtteri Bottas, who has struggled to match Hamilton and Max Verstappen this year. The Finnish driver currently sits fifth in the Drivers’ Championship behind Sergio Perez and Lando Norris, although that in part is due to two retirements. Wolff has had to deal with more queries on Bottas’ future at Mercedes heading into the summer break. But the Mercedes chief has been open in the fact that Russell is definitely in the running for a seat alongside Hamilton. Speaking on Friday ahead of the British Grand Prix spint race, Wolff admitted that contract conversations will be held during the August summer break. “I think it’s important for George and Valtteri to know whether they’ll be driving next year and that’s, that’s gonna happen,” said Wolff on Friday. “I expect some questions in Spa.” Russell’s contract at Williams expires at the end of the year and Capito had previously expressed his hope in tying the British driver down to a new deal. But the Williams CEO has now indicated they’re now preparing for life without Russell. Nico Hulkenberg has not held a permanent F1 seat since the 2019 season, but has made no secret of his desire to change that. He’s currently a reserve driver at Aston Martin this year, but there could be a few seats available next season. And Capito has confirmed that Hulkenberg is among several drivers Williams are looking at should they need to replace Russell. “I think at the moment we do not exclude any driver who would be available for next year. Nico is available for next year,” Capito told The Race. “So we’ve got quite a long list.”

It has been a disappointing weekend so far for the Scuderia AlphaTauri team at the 2021 British Grand Prix at the Silverstone circuit. Both drivers, Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda,finished the Sprint Qualifying race in the same position they started. Gasly has consistently qualified and started the race in the top ten positions this season. But he ended Friday qualification in twelfth position only. The Frenchman did not improve during the Sprint race and finished in twelfth position only. A disappointing Gasly said: “I’m quite frustrated this evening, it was just not what we wanted out there today. We started this weekend badly in FP1 and with only one practice session we couldn’t really react to that ahead of Qualifying, then today I’ve really struggled again. “It’s very disappointing because I know the car has much more potential but so far, we just haven’t managed to get it working here this weekend. We will look at all the data tonight and try everything we can to make our way up to the points in the tomorrow’s race.” Yuki Tsunoda had a disappointing Friday qualification when he was eliminated in the first session itself (Q1). The Sprint Qualifying race did not help him improve his position as he finished where he started in sixteenth position. Tsunoda said: “I’m obviously disappointed with today’s performance, I’m not finishing in a position that I’m happy with and I’m then starting the race tomorrow from the same place. “I feel that this weekend’s format is quite difficult for rookies, as you only have one free practice session before Qualifying, which is tough, but I hope the spectators enjoyed this new schedule. We’ve struggled with the performance of the car this whole weekend, so we just need to go away tonight and review the data so we can learn more for tomorrow’s race.”

Toyota driver Jose Maria Lopez bounced back from a mistake on his first hot lap in qualifying to claim pole for Sunday’s FIA World Endurance Championship round at Monza. Lopez went straight on at the first chicane on his opening attempt, but two laps later he was able to get down to a 1m35.899s in the #7 Toyota GR010 Hybrid to snatch the pole from teammate Brendon Hartley. Hartley’s 1m35.961s left him just six hundredths behind Lopez, who has been fastest in every session of the Monza weekend so far, and was good enough for second position. Lopez said: “It’s not usual to be quickest in every session: I felt confident, but I put a bit of suspense into it. “We’d discussed with the team that we were only going to go once, so I went for it and still managed to do the lap after three laps on the tyres.” Nicolas Lapierre was only two tenths off Lopez in the Alpine A480-Gisbon grandfathered LMP1 car with a best lap of 1m36.121s. The Frenchman made a last bid for pole after the 10-minute session was red-flagged when Stoffel Vandoorne crashed his JOTA Oreca 07 LMP2 on the exit of the second Lesmo righthander, but failed to improve his time. The best of the two Glickenhaus-Pipo 007 LMHs got within a second of the pace after a late improvement from fourth-placed Pipo Derani. The Brazilian found three tenths with a 1m36.686s right at the end of the session, although he did not improve his position in the five-car Hypercar field. Richard Westbrook, who didn’t go for a time after the red flag, ended up fifth with a best lap of 1m38.323s. Charles Milesi took a maiden WEC pole in LMP2 for the Belgian WRT squad. The Frenchman’s 1m38.527s aboard his Oreca 07 set before the red flag secured him the top spot despite a late improvement from Filipe Albuquerque after the break. The United Autosports Oreca driver got to within three hundredths of the WRT car with a 1m38.557s to move up to second. Ben Hanley took third position for DragonSpeed with a 1m38.663s, while Nyck de Vries was fourth for Racing Team Nederland. Kevin Estre maintained his monopoly on the GTE Pro pole with his third qualifying top spot of the season — and fourth in a row — for Porsche. The Frenchman posted a 1m45.412s on his second flier after straightlining the first chicane on his opening lap to just do enough to beat Alessandro Pier Guidi in the best of the factory AF Corse Ferraris. Pier Guidi’s 1m45.477s in the #51 Ferrari 488 GTE Evo gave him a margin of just over a tenth over the second Porsche 911 RSR in which Gianmaria Bruni made a late improvement to 1m45.844s. Miguel Molina took fourth in the #52 Ferrari with a 1m46.214s. Ben Keating came out on top in a battle for GTE Am pole with Francois Perrodo that continued after the chequered flag had fallen. Both drivers set their fastest times on their last laps of the 10-minute session, TF Sport Aston Martin Vantage driver Keating’s 1m47.272s just shading Perrodo’s 1m47.541s in the AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE Evo.

After the sprint race Red Bull Racing announced that Sergio Perez would most likely have to start from the pitlane on Sunday. The FIA has now confirmed that the Mexican will indeed have to start from the pitlane, after replacing a number of parts under the Parc Fermé regulations. On the car of Perez are a number of things renewed and replaced. The driver of Red Bull gets his third Energy Store and his third Control Electronics. Both parts are probably installed because of the high speed spin which caused some damage. Also the rear wing has been changed for the Mexican. The FIA writes that the team has requested written permission to replace the part, but because it has a different specification the FIA is forced to allow the Mexican to start from the pitlane instead of P20. This is also because changes have been made to the setup of the suspension and the cooling of the front brakes.

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen clocked in fastest in Friday’s single practice session before qualifying. The Dutchman enjoyed a comfortable 0.779s margin over McLaren’s Lando Norris, an edge that likely left Mercedes and third-placed man Lewis Hamilton once again with more questions than answers. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Valtteri Bottas completed the top-five in the incident free session. Silverstone’s innovative format compelled F1 to schedule Friday’s action later than usual, but the first practice session kicked off under cloudy skies but on a dry track. However, with lower temperatures all round later today, qualifying will likely unfold under different conditions which is but another factor to throw into the mix. And because teams and drivers were only given a single 60-minute session, everyone was up and running at the outset, focused on set-up and aero balance. Home favourite and darling of the crowds Lewis Hamilton took to the track under a roaring crowd, a sight and a sound that the Briton had not felt for since his last visit to Silverstone in 2019. However, it was Verstappen who set the first representative time, the Dutchman running on the hard tyre. But just to get their rivalry rolling, Hamilton shot back with a lap on the mediums that put the Mercedes ahead by 0.584s. Bottas followed suit, also advancing ahead of Verstappen but slotting in second behind Hamilton. The Finn pressed on and overhauled his teammate, but the Mercedes duo’s 1-2 was short-lived, disrupted by an impressive effort by Perez who set back Bottas by 0.518s. But whatever Perez does, Max can do better, as he proved when he edged his teammate by 0.326s with a lap in 1m27.745s. Behind the Red Bull-Mercedes top four combo, a diverse set of drivers led by Esteban Ocon – armed with a new Alpine chassis – jockeyed for position. Confined to the bottom half of the field during the first 30 minutes, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz vaulted to third and fifth respectively, the pair sandwiching Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel. With 20 minutes left on the clock, as the track rubbered in and improved, the action was frantic and rotations behind Verstappen were fast and furious, with Lando Norris, Perez, Daniel Ricciardo and Pierre Gasly getting a grip on the top five. But as the session unwound, Verstappen remained out of reach, and by a comfortable 0.779s margin over Norris, with Hamilton 0.780s behind. The Mercedes camp will have been scratching its heads once again, noting that the upgrades implemented on its W12 will have had little effect so far on closing the gap to Red Bull. Behind the top-three, Leclerc, Bottas and Sainz rounded off the top six while Vettel, Perez, Ricciardo and Ocon completed the top ten. Both AlphaTauri drivers clocked in outside the first half of the field, as did Fernando Alonso, Lance Stroll and Alfa Romeo’s drivers, while George Russell’s brought up the rear for Williams. 2021 F1 BRITISH GRAND PRIX – FREE PRACTICE RESULTS (1) POS DRIVER NAT. TEAM TIME 1 Max Verstappen NED Red Bull Racing 1m27.035s 2 Lando Norris GBR McLaren F1 Team 1m27.814s 3 Lewis Hamilton GBR Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team 1m27.815s 4 Charles Leclerc MON Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow 1m27.828s 5 Valtteri Bottas FIN Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team 1m27.897s 6 Carlos Sainz ESP Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow 1m27.923s 7 Sebastian Vettel GER Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team 1m28.062s 8 Sergio Perez MEX Red Bull Racing 1m28.163s 9 Daniel Ricciardo AUS McLaren F1 Team 1m28.211s 10 Esteban Ocon FRA Alpine F1 Team 1m28.415s 11 Pierre Gasly FRA Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda 1m28.449s 12 Yuki Tsunoda JPN Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda 1m28.600s 13 Antonio Giovinazzi GBR Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen 1m28.827s 14 Fernando Alonso CHI Alpine F1 Team 1m28.873s 15 Kimi Raikkonen FIN Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen 1m29.220s 16 Nicholas Latifi CAN Williams Racing 1m29.227s 17 Mick Schumacher GER Uralkali Haas F1 Team 1m29.227s 18 Lance Stroll CAN Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team 1m29.597s 19 Nikita Mazepin RUS Uralkali Haas F1 Team 1m29.808 20 George Russell GBR  Williams Racing 1m29.857

F1 revealed the first images of a full-sized 2022 car at Silverstone on Thursday, as the sport prepares for its biggest technical overhaul since the introduction of the V6 hybrid engines in 2014. The design commissioned by F1 looks radically different to what’s currently used in the sport, with a low rear wing and front wheel arches two of the most visually striking elements on the car. The aim of the overhaul is to improve the quality of racing and make it easier for drivers to follow each other in traffic without compromising the performance of their cars. Ground effect is one way the rulemakers are planning to achieve this goal. F1 presented the car in a colour scheme of its own, incorporating logos of its sponsors and partners on the bodywork. Now, nine of the 10 teams have shown how next year’s cars will look like with their current liveries using computer-generated models, offering fans a better view into the future of F1. Red Bull 2. Mercedes 3. Mclaren 4. Aston Martin Cognizant 5. AlphaTauri 6. Alpine 7. Williams 8. Alfa Romeo 9. Haas

will continue to have Frederic Vasseur at the helm for 2022, following confirmation earlier this week that the Italian car manufacturer will continue its partnership with the Sauber team. With Vasseur’s contract as team boss also coming to an end at the conclusion of 2021, he confirmed that the renewal of the Alfa Romeo deal will also see him stay on as Team Principal into next season. Speaking on a media call, which included RacingNews365, Vasseur confirmed he would be staying on. Asked about the driver situation for next season, given that Alfa Romeo are yet to confirm either Kimi Raikkonen or Antonio Giovinazzi for 2022, the team boss said that decision is yet to be made. “It’s far too early,” Vasseur explained. “I had the same question last week and it has absolutely nothing to do with Alfa Romeo [the company], the driver choice is the responsibility of the team. “We have to take time to discuss and think about this, but we are not in a rush. “I want to see what happens in F1 and in the junior series also, and I will take the decision on the second part of the season – not before.” As well as having their current drivers as options for next season, rising star Theo Pourchaire is making waves as a Sauber junior, while Ferrari Academy driver Callum Ilott has also tested extensively for the team, including a recent first practice appearance.

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and Ares Management will invest £400m into the Surrey-based automotive giant. Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund is in advanced talks to acquire a stake in McLaren Group as part of a fresh shake-up at the British supercar manufacturer and Formula One (F1) team-owner. Sky News has learnt that the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) is to participate in a £550m equity-raise which could be unveiled by McLaren within days. Banking sources said the deal would include £400m of new capital from PIF and Ares Management, a major global investment firm, with £150m being injected into the company by McLaren’s existing shareholders – who include Mumtalakat, the sovereign investment fund of Bahrain. The equity-raise was still being finalised on Friday and could still be delayed, the sources cautioned. If completed, however, it would represent a major vote of confidence in McLaren’s strategy under the leadership of Paul Walsh, the former Diageo chief who joined last year as executive chairman. AdvertisementThe Woking-based company endured a torrid start to the pandemic as it sought a government loan to shore up its balance sheet. It was also forced into a restructuring of its workforce which saw hundreds of jobs axed.

Spa-Francorchamps, the fabled host of this year’s Belgian GP next month, is currently closed. The circuit was already battered by flooding recently, and now it has been hit with another round of abysmal weather. In a statement, Spa-Francorchamps admitted that “the related infrastructures of the circuit” have been damaged, including the “collapsed” paddock access road and “impassable” tunnels. While the “track itself has not been impacted”, races have been called off for now because of fallen trees, damaged safety fences and downed “digital infrastructure”. “Our teams are already at work in order to be able to resume activities from this weekend, and to restore all the safety conditions required for the circuit’s customers,” a spokeswoman confirmed.