Gene Force, F1 driver

The Woking-based squad has made huge gains with its MCL60 this season to emerge as one of the most consistent challengers to Red Bull over the second half of the campaign. However, a more challenging time at last weekend's Las Vegas Grand Prix has highlighted that its rivals seem better prepared in low downforce configuration. And, with the calendar featuring a growing number of circuits where ...

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Sainz had to take his third energy store of the season after it was damaged when he ran over a water valve cover in FP1.The change automatically triggered a 10-place penalty, and there was widespread sympathy for Ferrari in the paddock given that the incident was outside the control of the team and driver, and was caused by a fault with the circuit.“Something that we could change is the ...

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This damning verdict from the stewards follows an investigation into the results of the recent United States Grand Prix after a right-of-review protest was launched by the Haas team.Haas might have elevated its driver Nico Hulkenberg to the points after drawing attention to cases of Alex Albon, Logan Sargeant, Sergio Perez and Lance Stroll exceeding the Austin track limits at Turn 6 which were not ...

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After a "nightmare" Friday, Hamilton was much happier with his W14 thanks to overnight changes, but he still faced a tricky balance come qualifying.As high as fourth in Q2, Hamilton took seventh place in Q3, immediately ahead of team-mate George Russell.The outcome clearly benchmarked the Mercedes as the fourth-best car at Suzuka after the Red Bull, McLaren and Ferrari.Hamilton admitted that he ...

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Hamilton, who has won in Singapore four times, believes that his team's high-downforce package will work well.In July, he took pole position in Hungary, another venue that played to the strengths of the Mercedes."I feel like this [Monza] might be the worst one for us," he said after the Italian race. "Singapore is all high downforce and, when we put our high downforce wing on, we generally are a ...

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The Belgian GP exposed the weakness of the MCL60 at high-speed tracks, and Norris found himself unable to defend in the race on his way to seventh place.At Monza, Norris qualified ninth and finished eighth having been stuck behind the Williams of Alex Albon for many laps.Although the final outcome was actually a place lower than at Spa, Norris felt that the car was more competitive overall and ...

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Polesitter Sainz launched strongly to maintain the lead into the first Monza chicane and he then repeatedly defended well against front-row rival Verstappen during their early DRS battles down the main straight.But on lap 15 of a shortened 51, Sainz locked up during the big Turn 1 braking zone to compromise his apex and the tighter line then delayed his corner exit to allow Verstappen to challenge ...

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The interesting new addition could be found beneath the AMR23’s rear crash structure, as the designers had found a way to utilise a small bowtie-style winglet to work in conjunction with changes that were also made to the surface of the diffuser.And, whilst the team did not race the item in the end, its introduction is not one that should be taken lightly – as the team had clearly gone the ...

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After Ferrari reserve Robert Shwartzman ran in the car during FP1 and classified 19th, Sainz clocked 16th in FP2. Team-mate Charles Leclerc finished 16th and then 11th.Both Scuderia drivers have called on the team to make major gains overnight, with Sainz supposing that Ferrari has again been caught out by a high-downforce track.He suggested Ferrari's larger rear wing specification could not match ...

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The ballooning weight of current-era F1 cars has become increasingly unpopular with drivers and teams, with this year's minimum weight of 798kg well over 200kg higher compared to cars from 15 years ago.It is one of the key aspects FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem wants to tackle for the next 2026 regulations cycle, even though most teams reckon F1 would do well to keep car weight on a similar ...

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With an eye on the predicted wet conditions, McLaren went for a higher level of downforce than its rivals with both cars, a move that paid off in the sprint event, where Oscar Piastri briefly led and finished second, with Norris sixth.Nevertheless, the Englishman says that given more time the team would probably have taken downforce off the car."I think we're just not in the optimal range of ...

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The huge leap forward that McLaren has made with its Austrian/British GP package, which was inspired by both Red Bull and Aston Martin sidepod ideas, has left rivals pondering if they too need to make a dramatic change of direction. And while Mercedes has long insisted that sidepod and bodywork tweaks are not a key performance differentiator, rivals are clearly seeing good gains coming from ...

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A close associate of Vijay Mallya, Fernley held the role at the Silverstone team from its first season under the Force India name in 2008 until the summer of 2018, when Lawrence Stroll bought the assets of the company and relaunched it as Racing Point.
A native of Stockport, Fernley had an initial involvement with F1 via the Ensign team in the early 1980s, helping close friend Jim Crawford to ...

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Honda initially announced its exit from F1 in 2020, and officially withdrew from the championship after helping Max Verstappen clinch his maiden title the following year.
However, it continued to provide power units to Red Bull and still does as part of a supply deal that now runs until the end of the 2025 season.
Honda’s future beyond then had been unclear though, as it was left facing ...

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Fixes for the W14’s cockpit being placed too far forward relative to the front wheels, and the true impact of the technical switch of Mike Elliott and James Allison, likely will not be realised until 2024.
But after identifying design flaws with the car prior to Bahrain pre-season testing, a B-spec machine has been promised, with the first major upgrade set for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix ...

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After the AMR23's promising testing pace raised eyebrows in the F1 paddock, Aston Martin confirmed its leap forward by taking third and sixth in the Bahrain Grand Prix with Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll.
As Aston grabbed headlines by helping Alonso claim his first podium in two years, the Silverstone team's former chief Szafnauer was keen to point out that the Bahrain result reminded him of ...

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The Enstone-based squad has had the fourth quickest car for much of the season, and in the constructors' championship is currently 18 points ahead of McLaren in the fight to be best-of-the-rest behind Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes.
While the team missed out on the points in Italy last weekend, as McLaren's Lando Norris took seventh, the squad believes that its disappointing weekend was simply ...

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Red Bull is still waiting for an FIA decision the matter before it can press ahead with plans to release Pierre Gasly to Alpine, thus creating a slot for Herta at AlphaTauri.
Binotto joins fellow team bosses Toto Wolff, Fred Vasseur, Mike Krack and Gunther Steiner, who have all previously indicated that the FIA should stick the established points system. F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali has expressed ...

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It was no different with the new generation of 2022 cars, but the Belgian Grand Prix highlighted some of the core strengths of the RB18 as it appeared to be quick on the straights but without hurting its pace in the twisty sector two.
Red Bull also had a few new parts for Belgium to help improve its performance envelope. The largest of those modifications was made to the transition in the ...

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It?s clearly the consequence of a design direction that the team has taken with the new regulations though. For its drivers have often found themselves at the top of the speed trap figures in 2022, whereas in previous seasons they?d be at the bottom more often than not.
In order to tackle this issue in Hungary, Red Bull introduced a new beam wing layout, pairing it ...

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The double world champion was forced to start Sunday's 71-lap grand prix from the back of the grid after his Alpine went into "full blackout" ahead of Saturday's sprint race, which he was due to start from ninth.
Alpine put Alonso on the hard tyre to begin with, which he used to coast into the top 10 as the medium runners around him made their first stops.
He made his first pitstop on lap 27 ...

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Alonso felt he had the pace to fend off the Mercedes drivers but ultimately he tumbled down to seventh from his second grid spot.
Alonso is under investigation for doing more than one change of direction while defending from Valtteri Bottas in the final stages of the race.
The Spaniard ran a very long opening stint from his second grid spot, but the strategy was compromised by a reduction in ...

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For the third race running, Hamilton has ended up behind teammate George Russell on the grid as the pair continue trials of new developments that are not delivering the progress hoped for.
But while those tests have especially hindered Hamilton in recent races, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff insists the learnings for the team are far more valuable to helping it make a bigger recovery longer ...

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Ahead of his home grand prix weekend at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Sainz finished second in opening practice on Friday before taking fourth in FP2, ending the day three tenths of a second off teammate Charles Leclerc?s benchmark time.
But Ferrari has now revealed that a fuel system issue on Sainz?s car has prompted it to complete a chassis change ahead of Saturday?s running in ...

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The Maranello-based team has had a strong start to the 2022 campaign, winning two of the first four races as it knuckles down for an intense fight with Red Bull.
But the scale of the challenge it faces was made clear at last weekend's Emilia Romagna Grand Prix when an upgraded Red Bull helped the team dominate, with Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez bringing home a 1-2 finish.
While Ferrari ...

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