Michael May, F1 driver

Ever since the Italian Grand Prix last month, the FIA has been refining its approach to the inherent difficulties of slow cars in qualifying causing problems for cars on quick laps.In the past, the only demand placed on drivers was for them to maintain a minimum speed on their lap back to the pits after putting in a hot lap – as this prevented them from dawdling and causing trouble for ...

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The two-day test is the latest step in Pirelli’s programme of no-blanket slick running, although it is set to be compromised by rain.Pirelli’s hope was to introduce the new tyres in 2024, but at last Friday’s F1 Commission it was agreed to postpone the move to remove blankets, and then have another look for 2025.The decision came too late for Pirelli to change its run plan for Spa, and thus ...

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The first and second stages of a three-step upgrade to change “pretty much every single aerodynamic part on the car” appears to have turned around McLaren’s poor start to the season.Since the first updates arrived in Austria, Lando Norris has qualified inside the top four for the three GPs and finished runner-up to Max Verstappen at Silverstone and last weekend at the Hungaroring.But team ...

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At the 1973 Canadian Grand Prix a Porsche pace car intervened for the first time after a collision between Francois Cevert and Jody Scheckter.
The FIA's 50-year safety car anniversary is somewhat misleading, however, as further appearances were few and far between. The safety car as we know it has only been a regular fixture since the 1993 season.
One man has been at the wheel for 24 of ...

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The seven-time world champion endured a difficult opening day of practice at Barcelona, as Mercedes had its first proper run on a regular circuit of new upgrades following their introduction in Monaco.
Hamilton ended second practice 11th fastest overall, 0.642 seconds adrift of pace setter Max Verstappen, with team-mate George Russell less than two-tenths quicker in eighth.
But with the ...

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While some love the way that the series is trying to open its doors for new followers, others are not so happy with the direction. They feel that there is a danger the championship’s chiefs are ignoring the quality of the racing that is critical to keeping the hardcore fan interested.
But while consensus on that front may not be reached for a while, there is one thing that has become crystal ...

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Of course, it’s the FIA’s F1 safety car driver Bernd Maylander. The 51-year-old from Waiblingen, in the southwest of Germany, has the ice-cold veins required to keep F1’s racers in check when things go off the rails.
Maylander is in his 24th season of driving the safety car and has only missed a couple of races since his debut in 2000 – including Monaco in 2001, after he fractured his ...

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Had he converted it into victory, the Italian’s career might have taken a different direction – but not only did he lose the lead to a brief fit of road rage, he ended the afternoon in the wall, as he so often did.
Instead that race morphed into a memorable first comeback victory for Niki Lauda, by a stroke of fate the man who had replaced de Cesaris at McLaren.
The win vindicated the ...

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Verstappen had dominated most of the proceedings despite losing the initial lead from pole to Mercedes' George Russell and Hamilton, before a first red flag caused by Alex Albon crashing out solo and putting debris and gravel across the road.
At the second standing start Hamilton maintained his lead, but as soon as the DRS overtaking aid was reactivated, Verstappen blasted by into a lead he ...

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Red Bull holds exploratory talks with McLaren over engine supply
On Friday, Red Bull chief Christian Horner confirmed reports that McLaren CEO Zak Brown had visited Red Bull Powertrains to explore a potential engine supply deal from 2026.
Horner said it was "natural we would speak with potential customers" as McLaren ponders whether to stay with current supplier Mercedes or find an ...

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F1's team boss merry-go-round started with Mattia Binotto leaving Ferrari at the end of November to be replaced by Alfa Romeo's Fred Vasseur.
Andreas Seidl left McLaren to become Alfa's CEO, with Andrea Stella replacing him at the Woking squad while Alessandro Alunni Bravi was appointed Alfa's team representative on F1 weekends.
In January, Mercedes strategy director James Vowles became the ...

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The German car manufacturer is coming off the back of a challenging 2022 campaign, where it struggled initially with high levels of porpoising on its W13.
However, an intensive in-season effort to get to the bottom of the problems helped deliver a good step forward and the squad was able to pull off a 1-2 finish in the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The winter period has given Mercedes the ...

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Russell claimed his maiden grand prix victory on Sunday at Interlagos, controlling proceedings from the front of the pack after also winning Saturday's sprint race.
He led home a 1-2 finish for Mercedes ahead of Lewis Hamilton and gave the team its first victory of the season, snapping a win drought that dated back to last December's Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
The win only furthered Russell's ...

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The team brought a single example of the new wing to Austin and declared it to the FIA as a new part, although the plan was always to wait until Mexico to run it on track.
However, the new wing caught the eye of rivals because of the potential aerodynamic impact of its prominent slot gap separators.
Mercedes technical director Mike Elliot said that the team believes the wing is legal, but he ...

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Mercedes has made good progress with the difficult W13 in recent weeks, and Russell now feels that the team can start to think about challenging for race wins.
Over the longer term, he thinks that the lessons learned from all the hard work will ultimately prove beneficial.
"I do truly believe that we'll be in the fight for victories in the second half of the season," he said when asked by ...

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The gathering was one of the regular informal Saturday 'coffee mornings' hosted by Stefano Domenicali, a custom begun by his predecessor Chase Carey.
Drive to Survive?s cameras were following Toto Wolff in Montreal, and were allowed to film the meeting.
They captured a heated exchange between Wolff, Mattia Binotto and Christian Horner on the subject of porpoising and bouncing, and the ...

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The American-owned outfit has elected not to bring any updates to its Ferrari-powered VF-22 so far this season, as it felt there was more performance to be gained from perfecting its set-up instead.
But that has not meant the team stopped work on improvements entirely, as progress has been made on changes to come later this season.
The team originally planned to unleash its work with a ...

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But while almost all of the attention on car changes has been on Aston Martin amid a copy cat row with Red Bull, there have been plenty of other noteworthy ideas that have emerged up and down the pitlane.
Here we take a look at the most interesting upgrades that have been spotted so far.

Red Bull RB18 floor
Photo by: Giorgio Piola

Red Bull has a revised front wing ...

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But Maffei quickly downplayed the chances of adding a fourth American event alongside Austin, Miami and Las Vegas, saying that trying to put on a race in the Big Apple was a ?fight we don?t need to have.?
Former F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone tried for years to get a race either in or close to New York. In 2011 a site at Port Imperial in New Jersey, with the city skyline as a backdrop, was ...

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F1 staged its inaugural grand prix at the Miami International Autodrome on 8 May, welcoming a sell-out crowd of more than 80,000 fans at the track built around the Hard Rock Stadium.
It was seen as a significant moment for F1's growth in the United States, proving the breakthrough it has made with a second grand prix in addition to the Austin race that is scheduled for October.
A third ...

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The German car manufacturer has endured a challenging start to the 2022 season, with Lewis Hamilton and George Russell being hampered by their car suffering from excessive bouncing.
In a bid to dial out the problem, the team has found itself having to raise its ride-height quite considerably, and that is costing it a big chunk of lap time.
Mercedes chiefs are convinced, however, that if the ...

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On lap 46 the safety car came out for a fire on the AlphaTauri of Pierre Gasly. Three laps in, FIA race control notified lapped cars - the six drivers from Aston Martin, McLaren and Williams - that they could overtake the safety car and unlap themselves.
As is customary, one lap after that message was made the safety was called in again. But as cars were only starting to unlap themselves in the ...

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The FIA has introduced all-new regulations for this season in a bid to help cars race each other better. The cars have shifted away from generating much of their downforce from wings, and are instead more towards a ground effect concept.
But while F1 chiefs are hopeful that the changes will improve things a lot, Tost is doubtful that the problems of car wake upsetting following cars ...

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F1 teams are currently putting the finishing touches to their 2022 car designs ahead of the first pre-season test that will take place at Barcelona in Spain from February 23.
The new designs are a complete overhaul of the regulations, with the ground effect challengers aimed at making the racing better and closing up the grid.
But while it is too early to make any predictions about the ...

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F1 will introduce a new technical ruleset for this year, featuring an overhaul of the aerodynamic regulations that could shake up the pecking order.
The goal of the new regulations is to make the field more competitive and allow drivers to race wheel-to-wheel more without losing as much downforce due to dirty air coming off cars ahead of them.
The cars were expected to be several seconds ...

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