Max Verstappen wins the Bahrain Grand Prix 2023!

First in in Bahrain for Max and the first win for Red Bull in Bahrain since Seb won in 2013!

Sergio Perez in P2, with Fernando Alonso cruising to a brilliant P3 podium finish!

The legend Alonso is back!

First in in Bahrain for Max and the first win for Red Bull in Bahrain since Seb won in 2013!

Sergio Perez in P2, with Fernando Alonso cruising to a brilliant P3 podium finish!

The legend Alonso is back!

Ferrari reveals new SF-23 car for upcoming F1 season

Ferrari unveil their 2023 challenger – the SF-23 – at a launch event in Maranello on Tuesday morning as the Scuderia look ahead to the new F1 season.

Meanwhile, both Aston Martin and McLaren launched their 2023 cars on Monday as they aim to improve on disappointing 2022 campaigns. Ferrari’s launch event is the eighth Formula 1 car reveal of the year, with Mercedes to launch their car tomorrow and Alpine on Thursday.

Leclerc on first few laps:

“It feels good. The first few km felt smooth. I already gave my feedback with the engineers. The car was running well, everything went really well.

“It’s very special to feel the support like this. It’s why Ferrari is so special. I hope this season will be an amazing one, it felt good!”

The Alfa Romeo Formula 1 team has unveiled its new C43, the last Sauber-built car to carry the name of the Italian manufacturer.

Describing the car as ‘lean and mean’ in a launch held jointly in Zurich and Sauber’s nearby headquarters in Hinwil, Alfa have ditched their red and white livery from previous years in favour of an ‘aggressive’ red and black look, with new title partner Stake prominent throughout.

“I really like our new livery,” said Valtteri Bottas, who again partners Zhou Guanyu in 2023. “I think it’s stunning, and a fine evolution from last year.”

The car will be shaken down in Barcelona this week before it hits the track at pre-season testing on February 23-25 in Bahrain, all live on Sky Sports F1. The season starts a week later with the Bahrain GP on March 5.

2023 marks the final season for the team as we know it, with Swiss-based Sauber – who have raced under the Alfa guise for the last four years – going it alone becoming the Audi works team in 2026.

#F12023 #F1 #F1News #imf1fan #formula1 #motorsport #racing Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake

Max Verstappen on pole at the Mexico City Grand Prix

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen took pole for the Mexico City Grand Prix, fending off a challenge from Mercedes drivers George Russell and Lewis Hamilton.

Mercedes had one of their most competitive qualifying performances this year but Verstappen was too quick, taking pole by 0.304 seconds.

Briton Russell held on to second place despite a mistake on his final lap.

Countryman Hamilton recovered from having his first lap deleted to take third, 0.05secs slower than Russell.

Ferrari, the pole position kings of 2022 so far, were nowhere – Carlos Sainz was in fifth place, behind the second Red Bull of Sergio Perez, and 0.576secs from pole.

Team-mate Charles Leclerc, who has more poles than anyone so far this year, was edged out by the upgraded Alfa Romeo of Valtteri Bottas and could manage only seventh place.

McLaren’s Lando Norris was eighth, ahead of the Alpines of Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon.

#MexicoGP #ImF1Fan #F1

Daniel Ricciardo has denied that he has signed a Formula 1 reserve deal for 2023
Daniel Ricciardo has denied that he has signed a Formula 1 reserve deal for 2023, but says he is in talks to ensure he will “still be around” the paddock.
Ricciardo has been considering his future options after confirming back in August that he would be leaving McLaren at the end of the season, one year before the end of his contract.
The eight-time grand prix winner has since accepted he won’t be racing in F1 next year but has been linked with a potential reserve role to support one of the existing teams.
Asked after the session if he had an agreement to become a reserve driver for a team next season, Ricciardo replied: “I don’t, I don’t. For now, everything is just rumours.
“Am I talking? Yes. But there’s no pen on paper or anything like that yet.”
Ricciardo said he would “still be around” as “I still have ambitions for 2024” when he will look to make a full-time return to racing.
“So I won’t completely disconnect from the sport, but obviously nothing’s guaranteed for ’24,” he added. “Like, I don’t have a seat that I can say I’m definitely going to be driving.
“But I’ll still be around and trying to put work in to be back.”
When Ricciardo’s McLaren exit was announced, a number of teams still had vacant seats for 2023, but the driver market has since moved and filled up the drives.
With Williams revealing on Saturday that it plans to field Logan Sargeant in 2023 if he gains enough points for an FIA superlicence, it leaves Haas as the only team with a free seat.
But Ricciardo appeared to distance himself from possibly making a switch to the American team, saying: “With what’s currently available, I feel like I’m better off sticking to the plan I have and aiming for something else.”
#danielricciardo #formulaone #f1racing #racecar #USGP #imf1fan
FIA make offer to Red Bull after Formula 1 cost cap breach as wait for punishment drags on
The FIA offers terms of 'accepted breach agreement' to Red Bull; If Red Bull accept offer - the details of which are confidential - they will accept wrongdoing for cost cap breach but receive less severe punishment; Max Verstappen hits out at 'hypocritical' rivals
The development in the saga that has dominated the start of the United States GP weekend leaves Red Bull with a decision over whether to accept the offer and likely a lesser punishment, or go before an adjudication panel.

The details of the FIA's offer to Red Bull, however, are still unclear.

Red Bull were last week the only team found guilty of exceeding the $145m spending limit from Max Verstappen's maiden title victory last year - with a 'minor' breach meaning they had overspent by less than five per cent ($7.25m) - although have emphatically rejected claims from rival teams that they have purposely cheated.

It allows financial penalties and some 'minor sporting penalties' - but crucially not a points deduction or a reduction in the team's future cost cap, more "damaging" punishments that have been called for by F1 drivers and teams.

If Red Bull reject the FIA's offer, the case would be heard by the cost cap panel and the full range of penalties would be on the table.
Mick Schumacher’s relationship with Ferrari is to conclude in December, meaning that the German will be a free agent as he searches for a 2023 Formula 1 drive
Schumacher's original Ferrari Driver Academy contract will come to what one source called a 'natural end' after this season.
Although there has been no confirmation from Haas, it’s accepted in the paddock that Schumacher won’t be retained by the US-owned team for a third season in 2023, with Antonio Giovinazzi currently a favourite to land the seat alongside Kevin Magnussen.
The remaining open drives on the grid include Alpine and Williams, with Schumacher’s close friend Esteban Ocon backing him as a candidate for the former.
He has also been associated with an AlphaTauri seat, although Colton Herta has now emerged as a more likely candidate should a vacancy arise.
There is a possibility that Schumacher could lose out in the driver market shuffle in the coming days, potentially leaving Germany with no representative on the 2023 grid, unless Nico Hulkenberg is chosen by Alpine.
Schumacher first became associated with Ferrari at the start of 2019, when he was announced as a member of the Ferrari Driver Academy, having won the previous year’s European F3 championship.
He thus joined a strong group that included Callum Ilott, Marcus Armstrong, Robert Shwartzman and Enzo Fittipaldi.
At the time, the team stressed that his father Michael's connections with Ferrari were not the driving force behind the decision to take him, and that he'd earned FDA backing on merit.

 

Max Verstappen wins Belgian Grand Prix

There is just no stopping Max Verstappen right now – not on his way to a stunning victory in the Belgian Grand Prix, and not as he heads inexorably towards a second consecutive world championship.

The Red Bull driver’s first title may have been won in dramatic and controversial circumstances in Abu Dhabi last year, but the only remaining question marks over his second are when he will clinch it.

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff said after Sunday’s race at Spa-Francorchamps that it would be by the time Formula 1 leaves Europe.

As that is in two races’ time and there will still be six races to go at that point, that is highly unlikely. But shortly after that, in either Singapore or Japan, now looks distinctly possible.

When it comes, he will deserve it. His driving this season has been peerless, and in Spa that was more the case than ever.

On pole by more than 0.6 seconds; consistently quicker than anyone else in the race by at least a second. He was, as his Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez put it, “on another level”.

The Red Bull team principal Christian Horner described it as “a phenomenal performance”.

“Max was quite simply in a league of his own,” Horner said. “And not just today; all weekend. He has excelled here in the past and today he has basically smashed it out of the park.”

Horner added: “Max, since winning that championship last year, has taken another step. It’s in many ways released him, and he’s driving at an incredible level.

“A driver that is completely at one with the car and is in an absolute purple patch of his career.”

#I’mF1Fan #formula1 #f1

Date set for 2023 F1 Australian Grand Prix

The Australian Grand Prix Corporation confirmed today that next year’s event will run from 30 March – 2 April, with Formula 1 on track from 31 March.

That will make the race the third round of the Formula 1 world championship for the second year running.

While having traditionally been the opening round throughout the Melbourne era, the event is now set to float in the first three rounds of each season as part of a recently-signed contract extension.

As part of the new agreement Albert Park is only guaranteed five season-openers between now and 2035.

The AGP will open the 2024 and 2025 seasons with the other three opening slots to be spread across the decade that follows.

The 2023 race, meanwhile, is shaping up as a significant one given the likelihood of there being a Melbourne-born driver on the grid for the first time.

Oscar Piastri is widely expected to end up in a race seat next season with McLaren which, would make him the third Australian to compete in his home race during the Melbourne era after Mark Webber and Daniel Ricciardo, and the first from Melbourne itself.

Whether there will be two Australians on the grid is not yet entirely clear, given Ricciardo is expected to lose his McLaren seat to make way for Piastri.

The Perth-born driver could land back at Alpine in a straight swap, of sorts, given Piastri’s attempt to split from the French manufacturer.

The 2023 AGP will also feature an all-new undercard with FIA Formula 2 and Formula 3 to race in Australia for the first time.

Supercars will also hold a points-paying round at Albert Park, the event likely to be either the second or third round following the Newcastle 500 and perhaps the Tasmania SuperSprint in March.

Beyond that there may not be much room for local supports, though, with Carrera Cup thought to be the favourite if there is a fourth slot available.

#imf1fan #f12022 #AustrianGP #Formula1 #racing #australia #danielricciardo

Max Verstappen pulls away in F1 standings after victory at Hungarian GP

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen drove an outstanding race to win the Hungarian Grand Prix from 10th on the grid despite a spin costing the lead.

Verstappen passed title rival Charles Leclerc twice raising fresh questions about Ferrari’s race operations.

Red Bull’s pit strategy also vaulted Verstappen ahead of pole-sitter George Russell, who lost out on second place to team-mate Lewis Hamilton.

Carlos Sainz was fourth and Leclerc sixth as Ferrari’s season imploded.

The result left Verstappen with an 80-point lead over Leclerc with nine races remaining, an advantage that looks unassailable given Red Bull’s steadiness and Ferrari’s flakiness.

A race gripping from start to finish, featuring divergent strategies, and the constant threat of rain on a grey, windy and cool day, provided a perfect symbol of the season so far.

Verstappen was imperious in moving through the field from his lowly grid position, caused by engine problems, Red Bull solid and aggressive on their strategy, and Ferrari uncertain as they converted second and third on the grid to having neither driver on the podium at the finish.

Verstappen and Red Bull had used soft tyres for the start to gain ground in the first stint, and by the time the field had settled down after the first pit stops, he was in fourth place and within three seconds of Russell, Leclerc and Sainz, Ferrari having pitted the Spaniard four laps earlier than his team-mate in an apparent attempt to get Leclerc in front.

The Ferraris began to pressure Russell and Leclerc took the lead on lap 31, and Verstappen was still fourth when he pitted for a second time seven laps later for a second set of mediums.

Leclerc and Russell followed him in a lap later trying to cover him off, but Russell came out behind the Red Bull and Ferrari made an error by fitting the hard tyres, on which Leclerc found no grip.

Within two laps of his stop, Verstappen had passed Leclerc, only to spin at the penultimate corner on the next lap, handing the de facto lead back to the Ferrari, before catching and passing him again four laps after his spin.

Once in the lead, Verstappen never looked like losing control as the race became all about those behind him.