Mercedes confesses to hiding new W12 F1 car floor from rivals

Several generations of fans grew up listening to his voice describing the exploits of the likes of Jackie Stewart, James Hunt, Nigel Mansell, Damon Hill and Jenson Button.To the wider public he was best known for his occasional gaffes and the “trousers on fire” commentary style so famously described by Clive James.In fact at heart he was a hardworking and hugely knowledgeable ...Keep reading

His 23 years as the lead commentator on F1’s UK coverage on BBC and ITV helped define grand prix racing for many, and he was as big a star in the paddock as many drivers and team bosses.Born on October 10, 1923, Walker grew up surrounded by motorsport, with his father Graham being a motorcycle works racer for Rudge, Sunbeam and Norton prior to embarking on his own radio commentary ...Keep reading

Two-time world champion Alonso is set to make his F1 comeback this year with Alpine, having not made a grand prix start since his final appearance for McLaren at the end of 2018.Alonso's pre-season preparations were complicated after he was involved in a cycling accident while out on the roads in Switzerland last month.The Spaniard required corrective surgery for an upper jaw fracture, but ...Keep reading

As part of the overhaul of the Renault works F1 squad and rebranding as Alpine for 2021, the team announced a new leadership structure in January, with Brivio becoming racing director.Brivio had worked at Suzuki since 2013, overseeing its full-time return to MotoGP in 2015 before leading its world championship victory with Joan Mir last year.Brivio called the decision to leave Suzuki ...Keep reading

Williams penned in Friday 5 March to launch its new car, the FW43B, at the start of February, and gave the car its first on-track running in a shakedown at Silverstone last week.The team has now revealed that it will present its new car to fans by using a bespoke augmented reality app, allowing them to see the FW43B in their own homes.The presentation will take place at 2pm GMT on Friday ...Keep reading

The seven-time world champion is entering his 15th F1 season this year and his ninth with the Mercedes squad.But after he signed a one-year contract extension with the team for 2021, which Hamilton said at the launch of the Mercedes W12 was because of "no real need necessarily to plan too far ahead in the future", the short length of Hamilton's new deal has led to speculation that he could ...Keep reading

Kvyat dropped off the F1 grid at the end of the 2020 season after AlphaTauri opted to sign Red Bull youngster Yuki Tsunoda to partner Pierre Gasly for 2021.It marked the end of Kvyat's third stint with the Faenza-based squad, and a second exit from the Red Bull umbrella of drivers, having previously departed at the end of 2017.But Kvyat will remain within the F1 paddock this year after ...Keep reading

In a virtual launch event hosted from the team's UK base in Enstone, Alpine presented the new A521 car ahead of its race debut at the end of this month.2021 will see the Alpine name make its bow in F1 after Renault opted to rebrand its works team as part of a restructuring of the group's companies and marques.The team presented an interim livery in January, incorporate the red, white and ...Keep reading

With both Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas only signing one-year contract extensions with the team, the German manufacturer could find itself exposed for 2022 if either of them move on.But while Max Verstappen has emerged as an obvious target for Mercedes if Hamilton does not continue in F1 beyond this year, the team has played down any talk of it scouting options early.Speaking at the ...Keep reading

Morbidelli's mentor and nine-time grand prix world champion Rossi will continue his MotoGP career into a 26th season in 2021 with SRT after losing his factory Yamaha place to Fabio Quartararo.Three-time MotoGP race winner Morbidelli was one of the first riders to be selected for the VR46 Academy, with Rossi a massive driving force in the 26-year-old's grand prix career.With the pair ...Keep reading

Mercedes announced in February that seven-time F1 world champion Hamilton had put pen to paper on a new contract with the team, keeping him on the grid for the 2021 season.It put an end to speculation about Hamilton's immediate future, but led to questions about what would happen beyond the end of 2021 as both parties had traditionally sought multi-year agreements.Mercedes team principal ...Keep reading

2019 FIA Formula 2 champion de Vries linked up with Mercedes following his championship victory, signing with its squad in Formula E ahead of the 2019-20 campaign.The Dutchman scored his maiden Formula E victory in the 2020-21 season-opening Diriyah E-Prix last weekend, dominating from lights-to-flag in the Friday race.Mercedes previously had ex-McLaren F1 driver Vandoorne and former Haas ...Keep reading

For the first time in his career, Rossi will not race a Yamaha in its factory colours after agreeing a one-year deal with SRT for 2021, but he remains on a works contract.Rossi hasn't won a grand prix since the 2017 Dutch TT and only scored one podium in 2021 - marking the first time this has happened since his first year with Ducati in 2011.Speaking after SRT's 2021 launch event ...Keep reading

Fabio Quartararo was Yamaha's leading rider for much of the 2020 season, with his three victories keeping him in the lead of the championship until the Aragon Grand Prix when a front tyre pressure issue dropped him to a career-worst 18th.From that point, Quartararo's title hopes quickly evaporated and he ended the campaign eighth in the standings.Yamaha's hopes of the constructors' ...Keep reading

The 2021 season will be SRT's third in the premier class, with the Yamaha satellite team in its short tenure already a six-time race winner.Last year, Morbidelli won three times on his way to runner-up spot in the championship, and ended up just 13 points behind title winner Joan Mir.For 2021, SRT welcomes nine-time grand prix world champion Rossi to its ranks, after the Italian legend ...Keep reading

The six-time MotoGP podium finisher joins the factory Honda squad from KTM in 2021, but will have just five days to get to know the RC213V in March before the opening round in Qatar.Espargaro should have had two days on the Honda at a post-season test at Jerez last November to have his first experience of the bike, but this outing was scrapped due to the COVID-19 pandemic.He also lost a ...Keep reading

Remarkably, 2021 will be Rossi's 26th season in the grand prix racing - having made his full-time 125cc debut in 1996 - and his 22nd in the premier class.Rossi's scorecard in MotoGP is legendary, the Italian amassing seven world titles, 89 race victories, 55 pole positions and a total of 199 podiums.The latest of those podiums came last season in the baking heat of the Andalusian Grand Prix at ...Keep reading

Marquez has been out of action since his aborted comeback attempt at the Andalusian Grand Prix last July, just days after an operation on the right arm he broke in the opening round of the 2020 campaign.Having undergone a further two operations since, Marquez is finally showing signs of recovery and hasn't ruled out racing in the Qatar GP on 28 March - though won't be present at the pre-season ...Keep reading