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Formula 1 - 2022 Season

Ferrari's Charles Leclerc headed McLaren's Lando Norris in Friday practice at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Leclerc was 0.217 seconds quicker than Norris, who surprisingly beat the second Ferrari of Carlos Sainz and Max Verstappen's Red Bull.

Leclerc was comfortably clear of the two drivers who will most likely be his key rivals this weekend.

Sainz was 0.231secs behind his team-mate and world champion Verstappen 0.283secs off the pace.
 
Max Verstappen said he believed it would be difficult to beat Ferrari in a straight fight in the dry after Friday practice at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
 
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has admitted that the team could join forces with Porsche in Formula 1 in the future.

Horner said Red Bull had "healthy dialogue" with Porsche but there were "some major caveats we need to get past before things get near progression".

These focus on the finalisation of 2026 engine regulations, which are overdue.

Legal documents have been filed with authorities saying Porsche could take upon to a 50% shareholding in Red Bull.

But Horner said there was no formal agreement on any level at this stage.
 
Russell on pole position for the Hungarian Grand Prix

Britain's George Russell, for the first time in his Formula 1 career, secures pole position.

He will start the Hungarian Grand Prix at the front.

Mercedes' George Russell on earning his first pole position of his career said: "Over the moon, absolutely buzzing, yesterday was probably our worst Friday of the season and everyone last night was working so hard, we didn't really know what direction to go in.

"But that last lap I got round Turn One, Turn Two, and the lap times just kept on coming. I came across the line and looked at the screen and saw P1 and it was an incredible feeling."

On whether Mercedes are 'back,' he added: "I don't know to be honest we need to look and understand where that came from there's a few ideas we had.

"But generally we had good race pace but the Ferraris looked very fast on Friday but we are going to be absolutely going for it (tomorrow), but either way that was a pretty special day no doubt."
 
Verstappen wins the Hungarian Grand Prix

He's done it. What a performance from Max Verstappen and what a win.

Red Bull's calls were perfect, he started 10th, he's then had to nurse his medium tyres at the end with the rain getting harder and harder on the last couple of laps.
 
Lewis Hamilton believes he could have fought for the Hungarian GP victory without his qualifying issues but still praised Mercedes after his on-merit second place and insists they're closing the gap to their rivals.

Charles Leclerc described Ferrari's decision to put him on hard tyres at the Hungarian Grand Prix as "a disaster" as he surrendered the lead of the race and eventually finished sixth.
 
BREAKING NEWS! Fernando Alonso will race for Aston Martin next season!
 
Oscar Piastri says he will not replace Fernando Alonso at Alpine next season - after the team announced he would.
 
Charles Leclerc admits "emotions have run extremely high" in a tumultuous first part of the season for himself and his Ferrari team.
 
<b>Mick Schumacher's F1 future in doubt after Haas make surprise announcement</b>

Mick Schumacher’s Formula 1 future may been in doubt after Haas announced that Antonio Giovinazzi would be participating in two practice sessions for the team this season.

Ahead this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix, Haas revealed that Giovinazzi would be driving for them in FP1 for the grand prix in Italy and the United States.

Schumacher and teammate Kevin Magnussen will be taking turns to vacate their seat for the Italian driver, who previously raced for Sauber/Alfa Romeo from 2017 to 2021.

Giovinazzi has spent this year racing bin Formula E and as Ferrari’s reserve driver, but the announcement today suggests that he could be returning to the grid for 2023.

Each F1 team is mandated to run a ‘rookie’ driver in two practice sessions throughout the season, as a way to give more opportunities to younger racers, something Haas are yet to do this year.

The drivers in question may not have started more than two grand prix, but Giovinazzi has 62 races under his belt, raising questions as to why he has been given this opportunity, with some speculating that Haas could be assessing him with a view to a race seat in the future.

‘Ferrari were keen to give Antonio some seat time in a current-spec Formula 1 car on a race weekend and we were naturally happy to assist,’ Haas team principal Guenther Steiner said.

‘We enjoyed a similar situation back in 2017 with Antonio and Ferrari – the clear difference between then and now is the experience he’ll have gained competing for the previous three seasons in Formula 1 and the feedback he’ll be able to give us in Italy and America.’

If Haas really are thinking about signing Giovinazzi, then Schumacher would have to make way as the young German is out of contract at the end of this season while Magnussen’s deal runs till the end of 2023.

Schumacher has had a difficult season so far, having been involved in a number of big crashes, but showed flashes of brilliance during recent races in Britain and Austria.

In an interview with GPFans, Steiner claimed that in order to get a new contract, Schumacher simply has to: ‘Score more points.’

The son of the legendary seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher is currently 15th in the standings with 12 points after 13 races.

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George Russell says there is "no doubt" Red Bull and Ferrari "pushed the regulations" through the first half of the season and hopes the new technical directive for the Belgian GP slows down Mercedes' F1 rivals.
 
BREAKING: McLaren confirm Daniel Ricciardo will leave the team at end of the 2022 season.
 
Formula 1 president Stefano Domenicali says he does not expect a woman to race at the top level of the sport in the next five years.
 
Stefano Domenicali: F1 chief does not expect female driver in next five years

Formula 1 president Stefano Domenicali says he does not expect a woman to race at the top level of the sport in the next five years.

Domenicali said it was "crucial to give the maximum possibility for women to come to F1 - we are totally dedicated to that".

But he added: "Realistically speaking, unless there is something like a meteorite, I don't see a girl coming into F1 in the next five years.

"That is very unlikely."

Domenicali added that F1 was "working to see what we can do to improve the system".

Only two women, both Italian, have ever started an F1 World Championship grand prix.

Maria Teresa de Filippis competed five times in the 1950s, and Lella Lombardi took part in 12 races in the mid-1970s.

Lombardi is the only female to score points - she won half a point for finishing sixth in the truncated 1975 Spanish Grand Prix.

F1 is promoting the female-only W Series by running its races at grands prix this season.

Domenicali said: "We are very happy with the collaboration with Formula W.

"But we believe that to be able to give the chance to girls to be at the same level of competition with the guys, they need to be at the same age when they start to fight on the track at the level of Formula 3 and Formula 2.

"We are working on that to see what we can do to improve the system. And you will see soon some action.

"We want to build up the right parameters with the right approach for them to start racing against the guys, at the right age, with the right car."

Two-time W Series champion Jamie Chadwick is aiming for F1, but has said she is not sure whether women will be able to cope with the physical demands currently required to make it there.

One issue is that while F1 cars have power steering, those in F2 and F3 do not.

Chadwick said: "Without power steering and driving big, heavy cars, a lot of women do struggle, even though they have been successful in go-karting."

Domenicali, who was speaking in a wide-ranging news conference before the resumption of the season in Belgium this weekend, did not expand on what plans he had to ease women's path to F1.

South Africa and the future of Belgium
Domenicali confirmed he was in discussions to hold a race in South Africa at the Kyalami circuit near Johannesburg, but did not say whether the event would make it on to the calendar in 2023 or 2024.

"I always said we want to have a race in Africa and today the most likely place to have one is South Africa," he said.

"Discussions are going on. We are looking for a very solid and clear long-term commitment. It is taking time. I think we will clarify it in the next days.

"The commitment to being in Africa is one we want to take, but we want to take it right.

"The calendar will be defined in the next couple of weeks maximum."

The return of South Africa was considered a threat to the historic Belgian race at Spa-Francorchamps, but Domenicali said people should be "very prudent" before saying this year's Belgian Grand Prix would be the last.

He said discussions were ongoing and added that the Belgian GP promoter would spend "a lot of time in my office this weekend".

China is pushing for a return to the calendar next year for the first time since 2019, after missing the past three seasons because of the country's Covid restrictions.

Domenicali said: "Covid is unclear, and all the major sports leagues are waiting to understand what is going on, and we believe we will have a clear guidance on what is the scenario for China in the future by the end of this year."

He pointed out that the Chinese Communist party was holding elections in October. After that, Domenicali said, "the first point will be to understand what are the Covid regulations applied in that country and then we will see how the situation will evolve".

Asked about China's human rights record, and whether its increasing isolation on the international stage could put the race under threat, he said: "The political line of the sport is always very thin. We need to be always prudent.

"But we always said we want to put the spotlight on our positive values. In all the countries, we are going to be highlighting what we believe is the right thing to highlight. If it is not happening, we will take the right decision to move out."

This comment, BBC Sport understands, is not to be interpreted as a suggestion that the Chinese Grand Prix is under threat as a result of the country's current stance on human rights and geopolitics.

Domenicali said Saudi Arabia would remain on the calendar despite the concerns raised by drivers after a rocket attack on a nearby oil refinery during this year's race weekend in Jeddah.

And on the country's promises to improve its human rights record, Domenicali said: "They are pushing to change what they believe is the right way to move forward.

"You cannot expect a millennial culture to move from day to night but we will help with our spotlight to make sure what they promised will be delivered. Otherwise, then things will be different."

He said he believed the calendar would be 24 races next year, which would be the longest in history, and said "the market has requested this number".

He added "23 or 24 races is the tipping point, the maximum".

Ricciardo to leave McLaren at end of Formula 1 season
Fewer races, he said, was not possible because the historic races in Europe "cannot be expected to have the financial strength to cover the money the others are paying" - a reference to higher fees demanded of promoters in the Middle East and elsewhere.

And he said the calendar would look "different from the last couple of years" in 2024 because the Muslim holy month of Ramadan moves to the beginning of March.

He did not explain the ramifications of that, but it is likely to mean that Bahrain and Saudi Arabia cannot start the season as they have this year and are expected to in 2023. Australia is likely to return to its former slot as the first race.

BBC
 
Sky Germany reporting a press conference to be held tomorrow in Spa with the news of Audi's entry into F1
 
Sebastian Vettel says Formula 1 boss Stefano Domenicali used a "very unlucky choice of words" when he said it was "very unlikely" a woman will be on the grid within five years.
 
Lewis Hamilton and George Russell said they believe a win for Mercedes is "close" as the Formula 1 season resumes at the Belgian Grand Prix.
 
cpleigh said:
Audo to enter F1. Confirmed
Click to expand...

Confirmation arrived from Audi on Friday morning ahead of this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix after the next cycle of power unit regulations was finalised by the FIA last week.

Audi’s entry marks the first major step into F1 from 2026 for the Volkswagen Group. It is set to be joined on the grid from 2026 by sister brand Porsche through a partnership with Red Bull.

Audi’s arrival comes after years of links to a potential F1 entry, during which time it has instead focused on its efforts in sportscar racing and, up to the end of the 2020-21 season, in Formula E.

It marks a major coup for F1, which has seen its popularity boom in recent years while increasing its appeal to potential manufacturers, aided by the series’ commitment to using sustainable fuels.

“I am delighted to welcome Audi to Formula 1, an iconic automotive brand, pioneer and technological innovator,” said F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali.

“This is a major moment for our sport that highlights the huge strength we have as a global platform that continues to grow. It is also a big recognition that our move to sustainably fuelled hybrid engines in 2026 is a future solution for the automotive sector.

“We are all looking forward to seeing the Audi logo on the grid and will be hearing further details from them on their plans in due course.”

Audi and Porsche had been waiting on the FIA’s engine plans to be rubber-stamped before going official with their F1 entry announcements.

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Belgian GP

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Title rivals Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc will start the Belgian Grand Prix from the back of the grid.

The Red Bull and Ferrari stars are two of six drivers to be penalised for using too many engine parts, with McLaren's Lando Norris another.

Verstappen, who leads Leclerc by 80 points in the championship, set the pace in Friday practice, an eye-opening 0.862secs quicker than Leclerc.

Norris was third, with Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton in sixth.

Lance Stroll's Aston Martin, normally outside the top 10, was a surprise fourth ahead of Carlos Sainz's Ferrari. Fernando Alonso's Alpine, Mercedes' George Russell, Daniel Ricciardo's McLaren and Sergio Perez's Red Bull completed the top 10.

The other drivers with engine penalties are Alfa Romeo's Valtteri Bottas, Alpine's Esteban Ocon and Haas' Mick Schumacher.

What did the drivers say?

Verstappen's pace looked hugely impressive and Leclerc certainly seemed to think it was an imposing time. When informed of it by his engineer, Leclerc said: "Oh. 45.5 is quick."

After the session, Verstappen said: "We just looked at how we could set up the car in the best possible way and as soon as we went out the car was working pretty well.

"There are always little things you have to fine-tune with balance but basically from the first run I was happy with the car. So far it has been a good start."

Sainz said: "I was comfortable and happy with the car. The end result is not looking very competitive but I was very happy with the car in P1.

"We did some changes in P2 that we know they might have not gone in the right direction but if you give me back the car of P1 we can be on the pace.

"It is true that Verstappen looked very quick today in P2 with the new soft. In the long run we were closer but he seems to be on it this weekend and we are going to need to extract the maximum out of it."

Leclerc said: "Overall it wasn't too bad a day. We tested quite a lot of things, I think everybody was on quite a different programme so difficult to compare on this first day back from the holidays. Low-fuel pace seems to be poor but high fuel seems to be quite OK. So we will try to come back stronger tomorrow."

Both Mercedes drivers were struggling. Hamilton was 1.386secs slower than Verstappen and Russell 0.149secs further back.

Hamilton said: "We are just not very quick and I don't know why. We are going out and giving it everything we've got: it could be tyres, tyre temps, wing level... could be a multitude of things. It doesn't feel disastrous out there, it's just we are just a long way off. But we often find this on Friday and then things change a little bit on Saturday. I hope that's the case."

Mercedes' main problem was that the cars were lacking tyre temperature.

Russell, who was on pole at the last race in Hungary, said: "It's something we've struggled with quite a lot this year, to get the temperature into the tyres and I struggled with it quite a lot today on every compound," he said.

"In these conditions it's definitely something we need to work on but you can find a huge amount of performance if you get it in the right window but the gap to Max and Ferraris is pretty extravagant.

"We are pretty used to having bad Fridays so let's see if we can turn it around but I don't think there will be any guarantees that we will be able to find the performance we found in the last race. But we will be working flat out tonight to get on top of it. But totally different conditions today."

The warmer, drier weather expected over the weekend should help Mercedes in this regard.

Despite the difficult conditions at the end of the session, no one crashed, although Hamilton had a scary moment when the car snapped through the super-fast Eau Rouge sweepers in the wet and he ran off track collecting the car, but managed to keep it out of the barriers.

Shortly afterwards, Schumacher went off at the Malmedy right-hander at the top of the hill, before the rain became heavy enough for the drivers to abandon running on slick tyres.

Verstappen's one-lap pace raised eyebrows, especially the way he achieved it.

Spa is a track which often requires a set-up choice - favour high downforce for the corners of the middle sector of the lap; or trim the car out for speed on the flat-out sections that dominate sectors one and two. The two choices usually yield similar lap times but the low-downforce choice is favourable for the race because it aids overtaking.

Verstappen was not only 0.6secs faster than anyone else in the middle sector, but was also competitive with his rivals on the straights, a formidable combination.

The Red Bull was especially strong in the change of direction in Turns Five, Six and Seven Les Combes and Malmedy at the start of the middle sector, Turns 12 and 13 - the medium speed Fagnes right-left - and the final chicane.

From Les Combes to the fast left at Pouhon alone, he gained 0.4secs on Leclerc.

The Red Bull's advantage was smaller on the race-simulation runs later in the session, when he was 0.3secs up on Sainz's Ferrari on the same medium tyre, but the session was cut short because of rain late on so the long runs were likely not that representative.

Giving hope to Ferrari was the fact that Verstappen pulled into the pits after just three laps of his race run complaining that his front tyres were already gone.

BBC
 
The dispute between McLaren and Alpine over the future of Oscar Piastri will go before Formula 1's contract recognition board on Monday.

Alpine laid claim to the Australian, but Piastri has said he will not drive for them. He is understood to have committed to McLaren.

Alpine team principal Otmar Szafnauer said he was "very confident Oscar signed with us back in November".

McLaren also believe they are in the right but are not commenting publicly.

The contract recognition board (CRB) was set up to adjudicate in disputes such as this. It is a group of lawyers whose role is establish which party has prior right to a driver.

Szafnauer said: "We will have the CRB decide which contract Oscar signed takes precedence and after that we will see where we go.

"Once we have all the info in front of us we will start looking at who will fill the open seat."

On their legal position, he said: "There are certain things that need to be in the contract [to secure Piastri] and I am confident they are in there."

Szafnauer refused to comment on whether Alpine would try to force Piastri to drive for them if they won the case or try to seek a financial settlement with McLaren.

"Once we have all the info in front of us we will start looking at who will fill the open seat," he said.

However, he drew a parallel with a similar dispute that involved Jenson Button in 2004. Button had wanted to leave British American Racing and signed for Williams.

But BAR took up an option on him, the CRB ruled in their favour and Button did not move. Szafnauer was with BAR at the time and when they became Honda two years later.

Button later won his first race with Honda in 2006, and then the World Championship in 2009 with the same team after they became Brawn following the car company's withdrawal at the end of 2008.

"It is the logical next step when you believe you have a valid contract with the driver and he wants to go somewhere else," Szafnauer said.

"I was there with Jenson Button when he wanted to go to Williams, but BAR won in the CRB and we had a great relationship with Jenson thereafter that culminated with a World Championship, albeit after Honda had left the sport."

The dispute led to a remarkable day on the Tuesday after the Hungarian Grand Prix, before F1's summer break.

Alpine had hoped to keep Fernando Alonso and farm Piastri out to Williams to gain experience.

But Alonso objected to the offer of only a one-year deal and negotiations stalled. In the meantime, Piastri and his manager the former F1 driver Mark Webber decided they had lost faith in Alpine and committed to McLaren instead.

Alpine put out a statement on 3 August saying Piastri would drive for them in 2023, only for the 21-year-old to say on Twitter an hour later that the statement was unauthorised and he would not be racing for the team.

Szafnauer said in a news conference at the Belgian Grand Prix on Saturday that he had informed Piastri of the decision before the announcement went out.

"I saw Oscar before we put out the release," he said. "He was in the simulator, so I went and found him and told him. He smiled and was thankful."

McLaren team principal Andreas Seidl, who was sitting next to Szafnauer in the same news conference, shook his head and smiled when he heard those remarks.

Asked why he did not get a quote from Piastri for the statement, Szafnauer said he and the team had wanted to act fast.

He said he learned that Piastri did not want to drive for them "from social media".

The situation has damaged Alpine's reputation in F1, as on the face of it not only have they misunderstood Alonso's determination to secure more than a one-year contract, but have also angered Piastri and Webber with their intentions for him.

Szafnauer said he and chief executive Laurent Rossi had "no regrets" about the situation but admitted there were "lessons to be learned".

BBC
 
Max Verstappen put in a stunning performance in Belgian Grand Prix qualifying - but Ferrari's Carlos Sainz will start the race from pole position.

Red Bull's Verstappen was a remarkable 0.632 seconds clear of the field but a grid penalty for using too many engine parts means he starts towards the back.

Sainz won a battle with Red Bull's Sergio Perez to take pole by 0.165secs.

Alpine's Fernando Alonso will start third ahead of Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and George Russell.

Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and Alpine's Esteban Ocon qualified fourth and fifth but both also have engine penalties, along with four further drivers.

Verstappen looks set to start 15th, one place ahead of Leclerc.

The Dutchman, who heads Leclerc by 80 points in the championship with nine races to go, has been in imperious form all weekend and his pace suggests he could even win the race from three-quarters back on the grid on Sunday.

Verstappen said: "It was amazing qualifying but the whole weekend we've been on it. The car has been working well and it all came together in qualifying.

"Of course I had to be careful with the tyres I was using and starting at the back.

"We need to move forward, especially a car like this - it will be a shame not to be on the podium."

Sainz was pleased to be on pole - and he did his job of winning the battle with Perez as the two drivers from the top teams without penalties - but the Spaniard expressed concern about Verstappen's pace.

Sainz: "The lap was OK. Happy to be starting on pole but not so happy to see the gap to Max this weekend and the gap Red Bull has on us.

"I am a bit puzzled to see this big gap to Max and Red Bull which makes me wonder what will happen during the race - there is something there to find.

"We need to keep digging to see why Red Bull are so fast around this track and why we are trailing them, but starting from pole is a good place to start and we will try and win from there."

The penalties in front of them mean that Hamilton and Russell have one of their best collective starting positions of the season, but both drivers were concerned about the car's lack of pace.

Hamilton was 1.838secs off pole position, by far Mercedes' least competitive performance in terms of relative pace to the front all season, and he said the "sole focus" for the rest of the season had to be on learning the lessons from the 2022 car and making sure next year's car "is not like this one".

"All you can do now is laugh about it," he said, while acknowledging that his starting position, with only Sainz, Perez and Alonso ahead of him, meant a podium was a real possibility.

But both said they were aware that Verstappen and Leclerc would probably come back into the fight for the podium before the end of the race.

Williams driver Alex Albon will start right behind the Mercedes drivers in sixth place, having qualified a superb ninth in the Williams.

The British-born Thai said he and the team had got "everything right" in qualifying, although he acknowledged that the decision to go out for a run on his own in the final part of qualifying rather than try to get a tow from another car was probably not the best.

McLaren's Lando Norris was the final driver in the top 10, but he is one of the other drivers to have a penalty, along with both Alfa Romeo drivers Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu and Haas' Mick Schumacher.

That promotes McLaren's Daniel Ricciardo to seventh on the grid, ahead of Alpha Tauri's Pierre Gasly.

BBC
 
Red Bull's Max Verstappen crushed the rest of the field to take a stunning victory in the Belgian Grand Prix.

The world championship leader was in a class of his own as he fought quickly from 14th to take a firm lead by lap 18 and disappear into the distance.

Verstappen was a second a lap - sometimes more - quicker even than team-mate Sergio Perez, who completed a one-two for a dominant Red Bull.

Ferrari's Carlos Sainz held off Mercedes' George Russell to take third.

Verstappen's ninth win in 14 races consolidated his championship lead.

His only rival, Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, finished fifth, but was demoted to sixth by a penalty for speeding in the pit lane and has now dropped to third place in the standings, five points behind Perez, with a 98-point deficit to Verstappen that is now surely unrecoverable.

Verstappen went into the summer break on the back of one of his greatest victories, winning in Hungary from 10th on the grid, thanks partly to the latest in a series of Ferrari strategy mistakes for Leclerc.

And the Dutchman began the run-in to the end of the season with an even more emphatic statement of his and Red Bull's superiority.

From the moment Verstappen took to the track in practice on a dank Friday afternoon, he looked imperious, and even a grid penalty for using too many engine parts could not stand in his way.

Verstappen - one of seven drivers who suffered penalties that put them to the 'back of the grid' - took a stunning pole position by nearly 0.7secs from Sainz, and his pace led to predictions from many in the paddock, including Russell, that he would win despite his penalty.

And so it proved.

Choosing the unfavoured soft tyre from the start, on the first sunny day of action of the weekend, Verstappen made rapid progress - he was eighth by the end of lap one.

There was a safety car on lap one after two separate incidents - Lewis Hamilton was ordered to park his Mercedes on track after it was damaged by him colliding with Fernando Alonso's Alpine trying to pass around the outside of Les Combes on lap one, for which Hamilton accepted the blame; and a crash for Valtteri Bottas' Alfa Romeo trying to avoid a spinning Nicholas Latifi's Williams on lap two.

Within a lap of the restart on lap five, Verstappen was up to fifth. By lap 10, he was on team-mate Perez's tail as the Mexican closed on Sainz.

Sainz pitted on lap 11 to change his soft tyres and Verstappen took the lead by passing Perez.

Despite being on worn soft tyres, Verstappen continued to set a prodigious pace, but dropped behind Sainz when he stopped on lap 15.

But he emerged three seconds behind, and was on Sainz's tail a lap later, ahead up the long Kemmel Straight on the next tour, and two seconds in front by the end of it.

That was the end of any battle for the lead as Verstappen crushed the field, two seconds faster than Sainz, who was soon passed by Perez.

Ferrari, who have been closely matched with Red Bull for most of the year, had no pace, and Sainz had to spend the rest of the race worrying about Russell's Mercedes behind him.

Russell closed in over the final stages of the race but Sainz hung on and just managed to take third place.

Leclerc came to Belgium knowing that he had to beat Verstappen and start making ground in the championship, but the Red Bull's pace left him and Ferrari flabbergasted and lacking an explanation for what had gone wrong.

Leclerc's race was damaged when he had to pit early because of smoking front wheel - caused by overheating from a visor tear-off stuck in a brake duct - which meant he went to the back.

He fought back well to fifth but was unable to close on Russell, who he finished more than 20 seconds behind.

Leclerc pitted on the penultimate lap in a bid to claim fastest lap, but it was complicated by the fact that he came out only just ahead of Alonso's Alpine and the Spaniard overtook into fifth place going up the hill into Les Combes.

Leclerc repassed Alonso into the same corner on the final lap but his attempt to reclaim fastest lap from Verstappen failed by 0.6secs.

To add insult to injury, Leclerc was given a five-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane and dropped back behind Alonso.

Team boss Mattia Binotto said the usual speed sensor for the pit-lane limiter was damaged by Leclerc's early wheel overheating, and the back-up system was wrongly calibrated - he went 0.1km/h over the limit.

Alonso, after a strong drive from third on the grid, was rewarded with sixth on the road and fifth in the results.

His team-mate Esteban Ocon pulled off the overtaking move of the race on his way to seventh.

After Sebastian Vettel passed Pierre Gasly out of the La Source hairpin, Ocon, right behind them, drafted both as Gasly went to repass Vettel.

Ocon went to the outside and they went three-wide into Les Combes, snatching the lead with a brave bit of out-braking in a move reminiscent of Mika Hakkinen's famous pass of Michael Schumacher around backmarker Ricardo Zonta in 2000.

Vettel claimed eighth, followed by Gasly, as Alex Albon claimed the final point for Williams after his impressive ninth place in qualifying, which became sixth on the grid.

BBC
 
Belgian Grand Prix: Lewis Hamilton shoulders blame for Fernando Alonso clash and responds to 'idiot' insult

Lewis Hamilton said it was "nice to know" how Fernando Alonso felt about him following their first-lap clash at the Belgian Grand Prix which drew a sharp rebuke from the Alpine driver.

The pair came together at Les Combes as Hamilton tried to go around the outside of Alonso, briefly launching himself into the air and eventually being forced to retire due to the damage caused.

Alonso gave his former McLaren team-mate a verbal blast over his team radio following the collision too, branding the 37-year-old "an idiot", who "only knows how to drive and start in first".

But having appeared to be unconcerned by Alonso's rant at first, the Mercedes driver seemed irked by those remarks in his post-race press conference.

"I don't really have a response to it," Hamilton, who took responsibility for the crash, said. "I know how things feel in the heat of the moment, but it's nice to know how he feels about me.

"It's better that it's out in the open how he feels and, like I said, it wasn't intentional, and I take responsibility for it - that's what adults do."

The seven-time world champion said he would not be reaching out to Alonso either.

"No," Hamilton said when asked if he would be speaking to him, adding: "I would have until I heard what he said."

Hamilton had initially brushed off those jibes from the 41-year-old after holding his hands up for being at fault.

"Looking back at the footage, he was in my blind spot, and I didn't leave him enough space, so it was my fault today," Hamilton said. "I'm just so sorry to the team.

"It doesn't really matter what he said, I don't really care. Like I said, it was my fault; I couldn't see him, actually - he was right in my blind spot.

"I'll just recuperate and get back on the treadmill."

https://www.skysports.com/f1/news/1...ndo-alonso-clash-and-brushes-off-idiot-insult
 
Ferrari have questioned the ability of Formula 1's governing body to police the sport's budget cap effectively.
 
Alonso called Hamilton an "idiot" and said that he only knew how to win races when starting first.

Hamilton later took responsibility for the clash, but he escaped any sanction as the FIA stewards took into account that it was the first lap.

Hamilton retired from the race and may suffer further consequences if he can no longer use the V6 engine that was in the car.

Alonso said ahead of the Dutch GP that he made the comments in the heat of the moment, and they don't reflect his true thoughts on his former McLaren team-mate.

"First of all, Lewis is a champion, he's a legend of our time," said Alonso when asked by Autosport if he regretted his comments.

"And then when you say something - and I'm sorry to repeat this - against a British driver, there is huge media involvement after that. They've been saying a lot of things to Checo [Perez], to Carlos [Sainz], to me.

"If you say something to a Latin driver, everything's a little bit more fun. When you say something to others, it's a little bit more serious.

"But anyway yes, I apologise. I was not thinking what I said.

"I don't think that there was much to blame in that moment, to be honest, looking at the replays and everything, because it's a first-lap incident, we are all very close together."

He also insisted that he doesn't stand by what he said about Hamilton only winning from the front.

"No, no, no, I don't believe [that]. I mean, it's not that I believe or don't believe, there are facts that it is not that way. So it's something that you say in the heat of the moment. But as I said, nothing that I said is true, or there are facts that are completely the opposite. So I have huge respect."

Alonso said he hadn't had time to apologise directly to Hamilton, but he hoped to do it on Thursday in Zandvoort.

"I will hopefully when we are doing the TV pen I will approach him and say sorry if he understood in that way. I have absolutely no problems with him. And as I said, I have huge respect for him."

Alonso admitted that drivers sometimes say things on team radio that they don't have time to think through.

"The heat of the moment and the adrenaline of the moment, fighting for finally top two, top three, made me say those comments that I should not say," he added.

"But at the same time, as I said also after the race, I said that it was a race incident in my opinion.

"When you say something on the radio, in that moment, you think that you are talking with your engineer, so you are preparing the strategy.

"Obviously, you should be aware that is broadcast. But it's like if someone makes a hard tackle or something in football, in that moment you say something to your team-mate, or your defender or wherever, that is not broadcast."

Alonso said that he will be more careful about what he says in the future.

"Sure. I will be very quiet in the radio," he said. "It's a sport that has this thing that is broadcast, things that you should be in a little bit of privacy with your team. So yeah, I will try to be quiet always in the radio, and don't be part of a show that I don't agree with."

He also questioned whether driver radio should be broadcast at all.

"I don't think so, as I said, that is the only sport, in football, in tennis, in whatever, you can have your moments of privacy with your team, and you prepare everything.

"But I know that this is part of the show, and as I said, all the things that are broadcast in the radio normally are a little bit spicy, because the sport wants that spice into the race.

"They never said go to diff position five, because it's not interesting. And it's what we talk every lap. I understand that. And unfortunately, the measure that you will have to take to avoid broadcasting things that you are not thinking on in the heat of the moment is to stay quiet all the time."

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/sport/mot...pc=U531&cvid=63106a8a2d2541a18663ad0e77426388
 
Lewis Hamilton says Red Bull could be embarking on an era of domination similar to his with Mercedes.

Hamilton said: "The chances are very high that that's already happened. They are already on that way.

"It's going to be very tough for teams to close that gap."
 
Max Verstappen suffered a car failure early in Dutch Grand Prix first practice and managed only seven laps as Mercedes set the pace with a one-two.

Verstappen, championship leader after a series of Ferrari errors, stopped on track. Team boss Christian Horner said he lost drive while shifting gear.

He was fastest at the time but slipped down to 19th out of 20 runners.

George Russell was fastest by 0.240 seconds from Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton with Carlos Sainz third.

Mercedes set their times on the fastest soft tyre much later in the session than most others, so their times are not necessarily comparable.

Ferrari's Sainz was 0.390secs off the pace, with McLaren's Lando Norris less than 0.1secs further back in fourth.
 
Lewis Hamilton torn into by F1 fans for wearing pink 'tea cosy' balaclava at Belgian GP

Lewis Hamilton torn into by F1 fans for wearing pink 'tea cosy' balaclava at Belgian GP.

RyoGazuki joked: "Never trust a man who, when left alone in the room with a tea cosy, doesn't try it on," while @MattRed5 said: "Why is it when people get rich, they just wear nonsense?"
[MENTION=14194]brook[/MENTION]_f1 meanwhile, opted to mock the porpoising issue which has evidently affected the pace of the Silver Arrows throughout the 2022 campaign: "His straight-line speed must be off the charts cause I can't defend this," he posted.

Hamilton, 37, has never been afraid to turn up at races in flamboyant clothes. Indeed, ahead of Sunday's race, he rocked up dressed completely in bright red clothing, with a waistcoat accompanying his matching trousers and t-shirt.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/formula-1/lewis-hamilton-balaclava-belgian-gp-27853001

062362D8-B443-477C-994C-8409F68BAD99.jpeg
 
Lewis Hamilton says he and Mercedes are "not that far behind" at the Dutch Grand Prix after an encouraging Friday practice for the team.
 
Dutch Grand Prix: Max Verstappen edges Charles Leclerc to take impressive pole at Zandvoort

Max Verstappen won a titanic fight for pole at the Dutch Grand Prix, shading Charles Leclerc by just 0.021 seconds.

The Red Bull driver looked to be in formidable form early in qualifying but Leclerc went faster on the first runs in the final session in his Ferrari.

Leclerc improved on his final run, only for Verstappen to pip him, sending the orange-clad capacity crowd at his home race into paroxysms of joy.

Ferrari's Carlos Sainz snuck ahead of Mercedes Lewis Hamilton for third.

Hamilton had been third on his first run in the final session but he was unable to complete his final lap when Verstappen's team-mate Sergio Perez spun at the final corner to bring out the yellow flags, preventing the seven-time champion from improving.

Perez hung on to fifth, his spin also preventing Hamilton's team-mate George Russell from potentially beating him.

Perez had also earlier annoyed Alpine's Fernando Alonso, who claimed he had been obstructed by the Mexican as he sought to make it out of the second session.

Verstappen, 98 points clear of Leclerc in the championship, was thrilled with his second consecutive pole at Zandvoort since the historic track returned to the F1 calendar last year after a gap of 36 years.

"Unbelievable," Verstappen said.

Leclerc added: "It was very, very close. Max did a great lap in the end. Our car was getting better and better through qualifying. At the beginning, I was pretty scared because Max was much quicker than us on used tyres. But in the end I managed to get it together for the final session."

https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/62779184
 
Lewis Hamilton says he could be in a "good place" to challenge for victory at Sunday's Dutch GP, but pole-sitter Max Verstappen insists he is not concerned by Mercedes' pace.
 
Max Verstappen's serene march to a second title continued with a comfortable victory in an eventful Dutch Grand Prix.

The Red Bull driver had to pass Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes after a late safety-car period to take his 10th win in 15 races this year to extend his lead to 109 points.

Hamilton was left fuming after Mercedes failed to change his tyres during the caution period.
That left him vulnerable and allowed team-mate George Russell and Ferrari's Charles Leclerc to pass him after the restart to take the other podium places.

Hamilton, who briefly had slim hopes of a victory with about 20 laps to go, saw them evaporate in a situation remarkably similar to the way in which he lost his eighth world title in Abu Dhabi last year.

He managed to hang on to fourth ahead of Red Bull's Sergio Perez, Fernando Alonso's Alpine and Lando Norris' McLaren. Ferrari's Carlos Sainz finished fifth on the road but was demoted do eighth after a five-second penalty for an unsafe pit stop release.
 
Dutch Grand Prix: Lewis Hamilton taken to 'breaking point' as win slips away at Zandvoort

Lewis Hamilton admitted that he was driven to "the edge of breaking point with my emotions" after seeing what he believed was a possible win in the Dutch Grand Prix snatched from his grasp.

Max Verstappen took yet another consummate victory - his 10th in 15 races so far this year - as he marches serenely to a second title that is now inevitable. But the story of the race was that Mercedes came closer than ever before this year to taking that elusive win.

When a strategy decision during a late safety-car period left Hamilton in the lead, but vulnerable to Verstappen - much as he had been last year in the title decider in Abu Dhabi - it all became too much for the seven-time champion.

He swore at his team over the radio, railing at what in the heat of the moment felt like an opportunity thrown away.

That one of the two safety-car periods that prevented Hamilton and team-mate George Russell heading into the final 10 laps of the race running one-two came under suspicious circumstances involving Red Bull's sister team only made those emotions stronger.

Out of the car, the adrenaline no longer flooding through him, Hamilton apologised.

"I don't even remember what I said," Hamilton said. "I just lost it for a second. But I think they know that there is just so much passion.

"I want to look at it as a glass half-full. We came here struggling from the last race. We were fighting against the Red Bulls. We were quicker than most at many points.

"So many great things to take from it. The car was finally working. If this can be the same in the future races, we're going to be continuing to breathe down their necks and we're going to get that win."

https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/62787526
 
Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton will start the Italian Grand Prix at the back because of a grid penalty for using too many engine parts.

The seven-time champion has been given his fourth power unit of the season - one more than is permitted.

Hamilton's brand-new third engine was damaged when he crashed into Alpine's Fernando Alonso at the Belgian Grand Prix.

Mercedes say they are still working out a "recovery plan" for the engine.

"That's my doing," said Hamilton. "We're still hopeful we can use that again but I have to recover the best I can from the back."

The third engine needed repairs after Hamilton continued after his first-lap incident with Alonso with fluids leaking out of the car, before being ordered to stop on track half a lap later.

The penalty almost certainly takes Hamilton out of the fight for victory at Monza, which gives him one less race to play with to retain his record of being the only driver in F1 history to win a grand prix in every season of his career.

But Hamilton, who was in the running for a win in the Netherlands last weekend until a late safety car scuppered his chances, said that record had "zero importance" to him.

"I don't care about records," he said. "But I am focused on getting that win.

"I am grateful that each year since 2007 we have had an opportunity to win. I do believe we will have a chance this year. We still have seven races to go and it is definitely a big goal to get back to the front.

"I have no idea where our car is going to be great. It was a surprise when I got into the car last weekend."
 
Red Bull's Max Verstappen has been handed a five-place grid penalty for the Italian Grand Prix.

The Dutchman was second in practice, 0.143 seconds behind Ferrari's Carlos Sainz, who will start from the back with his own grid penalty.

Ferrari's Charles Leclerc was third, quickest of those without a penalty, ahead of McLaren's Lando Norris.

Mercedes' George Russell was fifth, split from team-mate Lewis Hamilton by the second Red Bull of Sergio Perez.
 
<b>Italian Grand Prix: Charles Leclerc takes pole position for Ferrari</b>

Ferrari's Charles Leclerc took pole position at the Italian Grand Prix ahead of Red Bull's Max Verstappen.

Cheered by the tifosi, Leclerc beat the championship leader Max Verstappen of Red Bull by 0.145 seconds.

Verstappen will be demoted as one of nine drivers who have a grid penalty - his is only five places.

Ferrari's Carlos Sainz, Red Bull's Sergio Perez and Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton, who have bigger penalties, completed the top five.

That means Mercedes' George Russell, who qualified sixth fastest, will probably start second on the grid.

Leclerc, who won this race in 2019 in his first season for Ferrari, said: "It's amazing. It wasn't an easy qualifying session. I knew there was quite a bit of potential in the car but I didn't manage to put everything together, and on the last lap I managed to do it.

"The car has been feeling great all weekend and I really hope I can finish like in 2019 tomorrow."

McLaren's Lando Norris was eighth fastest, ahead of team-mate Daniel Ricciardo, the Australian's best qualifying performance since the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix back in April.

Alpha Tauri's Pierre Gasly qualified ninth, ahead of Alpine's Fernando Alonso, who failed to take advantage of a car that looked like it could have qualified best of the rest behind the Ferraris and Red Bulls.

Alonso aborted his first lap in the final session and then had his second deleted for exceeding track limits at the second Lesmo on his final lap.

The multiplicity of penalties make it difficult to work out the grid order - along with Verstappen, Sainz and Perez, Alpine's Esteban Ocon, Alfa Romeo's Valtteri Bottas, Alpha Tauri's Yuki Tsunoda and Haas drivers Kevin Magnussen and Mick Schumacher will all drop down the grid to varying degrees.

Some of them are likely to promote Dutchman Nick de Vries into the top 10 in the Williams.

De Vries was drafted in on Saturday morning after Alex Albon was diagnosed with appendicitis, and qualified 13th, ahead of team-mate Nicholas Latifi.

BBC
 
Italian Grand Prix: Max Verstappen wins after late safety car

Red Bull's Max Verstappen inflicted a home defeat on Charles Leclerc and Ferrari in the Italian Grand Prix to continue his cruise to a second world title.

The Dutchman beat Leclerc after the Italian team tried a questionable two-stop strategy, surrendering the lead to the reigning champion twice on track.

Verstappen's 11th win this year puts him 115 points clear of Leclerc and means he could potentially clinch the championship at the next race in Singapore.

Mercedes' George Russell took third place, ahead of the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz and Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes, both of whom fought up from the back of the grid.

Verstappen drove another consummate race, moving up quickly from seventh on the grid after a penalty for excessive engine usage to be second after five laps.

He edged closer to Leclerc until a virtual safety car was deployed on lap 12 when Sebastian Vettel's Aston Martin broke down on track.

Ferrari decided to gamble on a stop, hoping to benefit from the time saved from doing so under caution, although they stopped as the VSC was ending so did not gain all of it.

Verstappen, though, ran his planned race and did not come in for his stop for tyres until lap 25.

Verstappen came out 10 seconds adrift of Leclerc and soon began to close on the Ferrari. Within seven laps, he had receded the lead to just over five seconds and looked certain to catch and pass Leclerc.

But Ferrari called Leclerc in again on lap 33, changing to soft tyres, hoping to close on Verstappen over the remaining 18 laps.

But he came out 20 seconds behind and made little progress before a full safety car was deployed with five laps to go when Daniel Ricciardo's McLaren broke down with an engine problem and stopped at the Lesmo corners.

Everyone bar Hamilton pitted for fresh tyres but officials ran out of time to restart the race, and it finished under the safety car.

There will be questions as to why the safety car initially picked up Russell rather than Verstappen, why it took so long to run through the procedures required to restart the race, and why officials could not have red-flagged the race and gone for a re-start and short sprint to the flag.

What are the championship maths?
To clinch the title, Verstappen needs to leave Singapore in three weeks' time leading by at least 138 points.

That means he would need to win the race with Leclerc retiring to become champion there.

The first of those events seems almost inevitable as Verstappen has taken total control of this season and he and Red Bull have established such an advantage that they seem to be almost unbeatable.

But Leclerc would be fancied to finish on the podium on a track that should suit Ferrari assuming he does not run into technical problems.

The rest of the field
Both Sainz and Hamilton drove well to move up following their penalties for using too many engine parts.

Sainz made the most eye-catching progress, but while Hamilton made a cautious start he, too, soon began to pick his way through the backmarkers and midfielders.

And as the rest of the field began to make pit stops, Sainz and Hamilton moved up into the fourth and fifth positions many expected them to achieve before the race.

And Red Bull's Sergio Perez followed them in sixth place, from 13th on the grid, despite an early pit stop and a brake fire as he resumed.

Lando Norris was the first of the midfield drivers in the McLaren, while Pierre Gasly's Alpha Tauri benefited from the retirement of Fernando Alonso's Alpine with engine problems to take eighth.

And there was an impressive drive from Nyck De Vries on his debut for Williams.

Drafted in on Saturday morning after Alex Albon was diagnosed with appendicitis, the Dutchman started eighth, promoted from 13th by the multitude of engine penalties, and drove a controlled and impressive race to take ninth ahead of the Alfa Romeo of Zhou Guanyu.

BBC
 
Alex Albon has been released from hospital after he suffered a respiratory failure and was placed on a ventilator following complications from an appendicitis surgery.
 
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has hinted at being "Abu Dhabi traumatised" but says he is happy that last year's controversial F1 title decider at least gave the FIA confidence to make the right decisions at the Italian GP.
 
Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto has accepted his team needs to improve and make changes if they are to win titles again, admitting a "painful" finish behind Mercedes is only possible because of too many mistakes.
 
Fernando Alonso will be "challenging" for Aston Martin when he joins them next year, says team boss Mike Krack.

The two-time champion is joining Aston Martin from Alpine, who would not offer him the terms he wanted to stay on.

Krack said: "He can push us, more than a driver who does not have that calibre. It will maybe be much more difficult than it is now.

"We discussed this. We said: 'What are the pros and cons?' And we came to the conclusion that it is the right step."

Alonso is a legendary figure in Formula 1, and at 41 is still regarded as one of the sport's finest drivers.

But he is also known to be someone who demands a lot from his teams.

The Spaniard will replace four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel, who is retiring from F1 at the end of the season, at a team that lies ninth of 10 in the constructors' championship. Alpine are fourth, with six races of the 2022 season remaining.

In an exclusive interview, Krack told BBC Sport that Alonso was Aston Martin's number one candidate to replace Vettel because of his "speed - you know where the car is; that's the first thing".

But he admitted: "It will be challenging for us."

Krack said: "Normally, drivers with this experience, they do not have this desire to win. Normally, this desire goes down, especially if they have won already.

"Fernando has this unique combination of speed, hunger, motivation and experience. For us, it makes the perfect candidate.

"The downside could be that if the car we deliver is just not good enough, then we know it gets difficult. But it gets difficult with every driver if the car is not fast enough.

"We think having someone like Fernando is really, really important to make the next step as a team.

"You need to learn to manage champions, which we already did with Sebastian. Because these drivers are very demanding, they are quite difficult to manage. I would not even say Sebastian is that difficult to manage if you are transparent, honest and straight. And I think the same goes for Fernando.

"Difficulties arise when expectation does not match deliverables, or when it's not outspoken.

"He knows very well when he comes here that we will probably not win the first race together.

"But he can be assured we give it everything and we will listen to what he has to say. And if we cannot deliver on something we have to tell him, open and transparently: 'Look, this we cannot do. With all possibilities, this is what we can do next.'

"I think if we have this kind of dialogue, it is not going to be problematic."
 
A record 24-race calendar has been confirmed by Formula 1's governing body for the 2023 season.

The new race in Las Vegas and the return of Qatar and China makes next year the longest ever season despite the loss of the French Grand Prix.

The season begins in Bahrain on 5 March and ends in Abu Dhabi on 26 November.

Las Vegas will be the penultimate event on 18 November, while China has been given a 16 April date after a three-year absence due to the Covid pandemic.

Monaco and Belgium have retained their places after securing new contracts - Monaco's until 2025, F1 announced on Tuesday; Belgium's only for one year.

The British Grand Prix will be held on 9 July.

There remain some doubts about China as a result of the country's management of Covid, in which lockdowns remain an ongoing strategy.

F1 will want reassurances from the Chinese government as to how it plans to manage any positive cases before the race goes ahead next year.

The calendar is put together by F1 but was confirmed on Tuesday by the world motorsport council of governing body the FIA, as dictated by protocol.

There were no details of the events that will be 'sprints', with a shorter race on the Saturday deciding the grid for the main Grand Prix.

F1 wants to increase the number of these from three to six in 2023, and agreed this with the teams in spring, but FIA president Mohammed ben Sulayem has so far been blocking the plan.

The FIA said in April that it wanted to study the impact of increasing the number of sprints on its staff and resources.

Ben Sulayem has asked for increased financial input from F1 for the FIA in return for his agreement, according to numerous senior sources close to the situation.

An FIA spokesperson told BBC Sport on Tuesday that there had been "no hold-up" on the sprint events but that it was "just not what's being announced today".

Pressed on why it had taken five months to still not reach an agreement, the spokesperson said they "were not aware there was a specific deadline".

F1 president Stefano Domenicali said the increased number of races was a reflection of the fact that "Formula 1 has unprecedented demand to host races and it is important we get the balance right for the entire sport.

"We are very pleased with the strong momentum Formula 1 continues to experience and it is great news that we will be able to bring our passionate fans a mix of exciting new locations such as Las Vegas to the Championship with much loved venues across Europe, Asia and the Americas."

Ben Sulayem said the record calendar was "further evidence of the growth and appeal of the sport on a global scale".

Despite the expansion, there is no place for a race in South Africa in 2023.

Domenicali flew to South Africa in June to meet with representatives of the Kyalami circuit, but a deal could not be finalised for the sport to return to Africa.

Kyalami, a fixture on the calendar in the 1970s and early 1980s, last held a Grand Prix in 1993 and there has been no F1 race on the continent since then.

However, F1 is still working towards having Kyalami back on the calendar in 2024.

2023 F1 calendar
5 March: Bahrain (Sakhir)

19 March: Saudi Arabia (Jeddah)

2 April: Australia (Melbourne)

16 April: China (Shanghai)

30 April: Azerbaijan (Baku)

7 May: Miami

21 May: Emilia Romagna (Imola)

28 May: Monaco

4 June: Spain (Barcelona)

18 June: Canada (Montreal)

2 July: Austria (Red Bull Ring)

9 July: United Kingdom (Silverstone)

23 July: Hungary (Budapest)

30 July: Belgium (Spa-Francorchamps)

27 August: Netherlands (Zandvoort)

3 September: Italy (Monza)

17 September: Singapore (Marina Bay)

24 September: Japan (Suzuka)

8 October: Qatar (Losail)

22 October: USA (Austin)

29 October: Mexico (Mexico City)

5 November: Brazil (Sao Paulo)

18 November: Las Vegas

26 November: Abu Dhabi (Yas Marina)
 
F1 BREAKING: Williams have confirmed the team will part ways with Nicholas Latifi at the end of the 2022 Formula One season
 
Formula One has confirmed that it will double the number of sprint races next season to six. The decision was agreed earlier this year but the announcement was delayed by new FIA president, Mohammed bin Sulayem
 
<b>Lewis Hamilton: Mercedes failure to win not 'end of the world'</b>

Lewis Hamilton says he does not "think it is the end of the world" if Mercedes do not win a race this season and that the team "will get back to the top".

The seven-time champion and team-mate George Russell have yet to win this season with six races remaining.

Hamilton is the only driver in history to have won a grand prix every year of his F1 career.

"I do not look at it as a dry spell. I feel this year has been a year of growth," said the 37-year-old.

Speaking in the build up to this weekend's Singapore Grand Prix, he added: "It has been a good experience for all.

"There are six races
so there's six opportunities and we will try to get a win, but if we do not do well, I do not think it is the end of the world."

Hamilton was involved in a title challenge with Red Bull rival Max Verstappen last season.

But after rule changes were introduced for 2022, he has struggled in what he described as "one of the toughest seasons" of his career.

However, Mercedes are still challenging Ferrari for second place in the constructors' championship.

"We just need to understand the car," added Hamilton.

"Our goal is a second placing. Hopefully, in the next six races, we will do well."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/63057770​
 
Williams driver Alex Albon will race in Singapore after missing the Italian Grand Prix because of appendicitis.
 
Four-time champion Sebastian Vettel says Formula 1 should appoint an independent body to monitor the sport's progress on sustainability.

There have been questions as to whether F1's target to be carbon neutral by 2030 is credible in the context of the record 24-race 2023 calendar announced last week.

"Big organisations - whether it's business or sports events - probably need to dare to make a step to find an organisation to control them," Vettel said.

"And if they don't stay within the limitations they put out, then face consequences."

Vettel has admitted that his decision to retire at the end of the season was influenced by his questioning whether flying around the world to race cars was an appropriate thing to do in the face of the climate crisis.

He said that sports such as F1 had to be seen to be credible when they made pledges on sustainability.

"We can put everything on a poster and a piece of paper," he said. "It sounds great but if it doesn't happen, so what?

"Nations decide to sign an agreement to limit to 1.5C of global warming. If we don't manage to do so, what are the consequences? There are some systems in place but nations can still go out [of their commitments] whenever they like in a way.

"The real transparent way would be to find an organ to control them, an external independent body, to police them [to see] if they achieve their goals or not. That is the only credible way of doing it."

He also questioned the structure of next year's calendar, which starts with races in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Australia, all two weeks apart. This, he said, would mean extra air travel as personnel flew back to Europe in between each of the races.

"Now there is more interest in F1, there is a bigger chance to make money and it is all fair and valid," Vettel said.

"But if you look at the first three races, then the easy wins [to reduce environmental costs] would be to save on travel and flights.

"Everyone will go there and come back for three weeks in row. That's fair because everyone has family and life and you can't expect people to stay out for eight weeks at the beginning of the season."

F1 is taking a series of steps towards limiting its impact on the environment, including switching the cars to fully sustainable synthetic fuel in 2026.

An F1 spokesperson said: "Formula 1 has committed to be Net Zero Carbon by 2030 and have sustainably fuelled cars by 2026.

"We are focused on reducing our carbon footprint across the sport and want to work towards regionalising the calendar more.

"It won't change overnight as we are a world championship with races in many locations.

"Simply changing the calendar in one sweep comes up against climatic issues as we cannot race in certain places at certain times of the year and also important dates for promoters need to be maintained."

BBC
 
Alex Albon's return in Singapore three weeks after a medical emergency is "audacious", says George Russell.
 
Lewis Hamilton 'feels for fans' amid Max Verstappen dominance ahead of first title chance at Singapore GP

Lewis Hamilton says he "feels for the fans" amid Max Verstappen's domination of the 2022 Formula 1 season and has stressed his hopes for changes to create a closer championship next year..

Verstappen heads to this weekend's Singapore GP, live on Sky Sports F1, with his first chance of wrapping up the defence of his drivers' title - and the earliest coronation in 20 years.

The Dutchman's domination, with 11 race wins out of 16 and a whopping 116-point buffer to closest challenger Charles Leclerc, is a far cry from last year when Verstappen against Hamilton came down to a hugely controversial last lap in the season's final race at Abu Dhabi.

"Definitely, I feel for the fans," said Hamilton, who is only sixth in the championship, about this season's title race.

"For everyone and even for us last year going down to the wire, that was intense for everybody and so it's never great when the season finishes early."

Five of Hamilton's record-equalling seven championships have been settled before the final race of the season and the Englishman admitted those were also "not spectacular" for F1.

"When I've experienced having it finish early in places like Mexico - for you as the one individual, it's great, but for the actual sport it's not spectacular," Hamilton stated.

"So I'm really grateful to have had 2008 right down to the last 17 seconds, and obviously last year pretty much the same thing. So let's hope for the future it's a bit better."

https://www.skysports.com/f1/news/2...e-ahead-of-first-title-chance-at-singapore-gp
 
Carlos Sainz led Charles Leclerc in a Ferrari one-two in an apparently unrepresentative second practice session at the Singapore Grand Prix.

Sainz was 0.208 seconds quicker than his team-mate but both Leclerc and Max Verstappen's Red Bull had sessions disrupted by technical issues.

Verstappen did only seven laps and ended up fourth, splitting the Mercedes of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton.

Esteban Ocon's Alpine was fifth fastest ahead of Alfa Romeo's Valtteri Bottas.
 
Williams' Alex Albon declared himself fit to race in the Singapore Grand Prix after completing practice on his first day on track after a medical emergency.
 
Singapore Grand Prix: Charles Leclerc on pole after Max Verstappen fuel issue

Ferrari's Charles Leclerc took pole position after a gripping qualifying at the Singapore Grand Prix as Max Verstappen finished only eighth.

Red Bull's Verstappen appeared to have the pace to take pole but abandoned his penultimate lap after an error and then was told urgently to pit before finishing his final one.

He swore over the radio, saying: "I don't get it. What are you saying?"

It was later confirmed Verstappen was short of fuel.

Leclerc beat Verstappen's team-mate Sergio Perez by 0.022 seconds, with Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton third.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/63101845
 
Ferrari's Charles Leclerc took pole position after a gripping qualifying at the Singapore Grand Prix as Max Verstappen finished only eighth.

Red Bull's Verstappen appeared to have the pace to take pole but abandoned his penultimate lap after an error and then was told urgently to pit before finishing his final one.

He swore over the radio, saying: "I don't get it. What are you saying?"

It was later confirmed Verstappen was short of fuel.

Leclerc beat Verstappen's team-mate Sergio Perez by 0.022 seconds, with Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton third.
 
Lewis Hamilton has dismissed the ongoing controversy about his wearing a nose stud in his Formula 1 car as "all a bit silly" after the issue blew up again at the Singapore Grand Prix.

Hamilton's Mercedes team were fined €25,000 (£22,000) after qualifying for a procedural error in incorrectly filing out a scrutineering form saying Hamilton would comply with the regulations not to wear jewellery, only for him to do so.

Hamilton said when the issue first emerged at the start of the season that he felt singled out by governing body the FIA over the issue, as he is the only driver to wear significant amounts of piercings.
 
Red Bull's Sergio Perez held off Ferrari's Charles Leclerc to win an incident-packed Singapore Grand Prix run in treacherous wet-dry conditions.

Championship leader Max Verstappen finished eighth after a frustrating race from the same place on the grid that included a major error from the Red Bull driver.

Verstappen can clinch the title in Japan next Sunday, but would need the results of both Perez and Leclerc to go his way.

Lewis Hamilton also had a difficult evening under the lights of Marina Bay and finished only ninth after two errors.

The seven-time champion had been stuck behind Ferrari's Carlos Sainz, who took the final place on the podium, after losing a place to the Spaniard at the start. He made a mistake as he sought to get close enough to pass, running wide at Turn Seven and damaging his front wing.

A second error, running wide at Turn 14, allowed Verstappen passed him for seventh.

Verstappen's error was similar. He was trying to pass McLaren's Lando Norris after a restart from one of five safety car periods, two real and three virtual, but locked up and slid straight on, also at Turn Seven.

Verstappen would need to gain eight points on Leclerc - the difference between a win with fastest lap and second place - and nine on Perez to clinch the title at Suzuka on Sunday.
 
Sergio Perez celebrated "the best drive of his career" as he dominated a gruelling Singapore Grand Prix on Sunday.
 
George Russell has revealed a new "philosophy" Mercedes are working towards on their 2023 car design has left him confident of a return to contention next season.
 
Formula 1's governing body has delayed the publication of its inquiries into whether any team breached the sport's budget cap last year.

The FIA told F1 teams last week that it planned to issue certificates of compliance or otherwise on 5 October.

But the FIA said in a statement on Wednesday that it was "a long and complex process that is ongoing".

It would be "concluded to enable the release of the certificates on Monday, 10 October," the statement said.

The delay is likely to infuriate the teams, who are all in Japan ahead of this weekend's Grand Prix at Suzuka.

Japan is eight hours ahead of UK time and teams had been waiting for an announcement of the FIA's results so they could issue their responses. The statement was not released until just before 16:00 in the UK, which is midnight in Japan.

And the new publication date means that it will be made public whether teams have been found in compliance on the day most are flying back to Europe from Japan.

Wednesday's delay is the fourth time the FIA has given teams a date only to push it back.

At first, teams were told the results would be published on Friday 30 September, then Monday 3 October, then 5 October.

The issue has become a contentious one in F1, after Mercedes and Ferrari said at the Singapore Grand Prix last weekend that it was an open secret within the sport that two teams had broken the $145m (£114m) cap.

Neither explicitly named the teams in question, although Mercedes F1 team principal Toto Wolff did refer to specific allegations that have been made about Red Bull.

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner reacted angrily to his rivals' interventions, saying he regarded the remarks as defamatory and would take further action if they were not withdrawn.

Mercedes and Ferrari rejected Horner's request.

Horner insisted that he was "absolutely confident" in Red Bull's submission to the FIA, adding: "We believe we are comfortably within the cap."

The FIA said: "There has been significant and unsubstantiated speculation and conjecture in relation to this matter, and the FIA reiterates that until it is finalised, no further information will be provided.

"The FIA also reiterates that any suggestion that FIA personnel have disclosed sensitive information is equally baseless."

There are two levels of offence according to F1's financial regulations - 'minor' and 'material'.

The dividing line between the two is 5% of the cap, or $7.25m last year.

Senior sources have told BBC Sport that if any team is found to have been in breach last year, the offence is likely to be minor

Potential penalties for a minor offence include a reprimand; deduction of constructors' or drivers' championship points for the year in question; suspension; limitations on aerodynamic or other testing; a reduction of that team's cost cap.

For a material breach, the possibility of exclusion from the championship is included.

The budget cap reduced to $140m in 2022 and is coming down to $135m in 2023. The exchange rate is fixed to the pound at a specific level - so the cap is not affected by the recent reduction in the value of sterling.

BBC
 
Lewis Hamilton says it is "imperative" that suitable punishments are meted out for any team found to have broken Formula 1's budget cap.

The FIA will reveal on Monday which teams exceeded it last season, after delaying the publication.

Hamilton said: "I like to think that if it's being delayed, it's because it's being taken very seriously.

"It would be bad for the sport if action wasn't taken if there was a breach."

Hamilton's Mercedes team and Ferrari both said at last weekend's Singapore Grand Prix that it was an open secret that two teams broke the cost cap last season.

And it is widely expected within the sport that Red Bull and Aston Martin will be found not to have been in compliance in 2021 when the results are published.

Senior sources have told BBC Sport that if any team is found to have been in breach last year, the offence is likely to be minor.

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has insisted that he is "absolutely confident" in Red Bull's submission to the FIA, adding: "We believe we are comfortably within the cap."

Hamilton, who was engaged in a close battle with Red Bull's Max Verstappen in the championship last year, said he had "trust" in FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem to "do what is right for the sport".

The seven-time champion said: "It is imperative, for transparency, [that punishments are handed out].

"We need to continue to have transparency for the fans and the integrity of the sport. I know there are a lot of conversations in the background. No one truly knows. There are different numbers and things being said here and there."

He said that if a team is found to be in breach "it would put in question our values and transparency [as a sport]".

He added: "As a driver you are always asking for updates. In Silverstone, we got our last update and that was [worth] almost 0.3secs. And I am pretty certain it cost less than a million. Maybe in time [working hours] it cost more.

"I remember after that needing more updates but seeing trucks of updates continuing to arrive on the other car [Red Bull], and I was thinking it is going to be difficult to beat them in the championship if they keep bringing updates.

"It is so integral to the development race. If we had had another half a million to spend, we would have been in a different position at some of the following races, if we had bought another floor, which we could easily have done.

"But that's not the name of the game and I'm grateful our team is very strict and abides by it. It needs to be taken seriously."
 
Lewis Hamilton has questioned Red Bull's 2021 upgrades and believes if Mercedes had matched them last season it could have "changed the outcome of the championship".
 
George Russell said he had "no idea" of the competitive order at the first Japanese Grand Prix in three years after topping a wet Friday practice.

The Briton headed team-mate Lewis Hamilton to a Mercedes one-two on the first day of F1 running at Suzuka since 2019 as a result of the pandemic.

Russell was 0.235 seconds quicker than Hamilton, with Max Verstappen's Red Bull 0.851secs off the pace in third.

Dry weather is forecast for qualifying and showers for Sunday's race.

Russell and Hamilton both used a fresh set of intermediate tyres to set their fastest times in the driest part of the second session, while Verstappen did not.

Russell said: "It's probably not going to be that representative for this weekend but definitely good learning for the future.

"There is a chance for Sunday it could be wet but it looks dry tomorrow. It's nice to top the time sheets and definitely made some improvements from P1 because we were at the bottom of the time sheets then.

"I think we will be fighting for the top six as always. I hope we can have a shot at something better but I truly don't know. Have to wait until FP3. That will be a crucial session for everybody."

Mercedes struggled in the first session, which was also wet, but Hamilton said they had managed to get their tyres up to temperature in the second - a problem the world champions have been struggling with all season.

Hamilton said he had "no clue" where Mercedes were in competitiveness.

"I have no idea," he said. "If it's dry I imagine the Ferraris and Red Bulls will be quite quick. I hope we will be fast but that's a hope that continues at every race weekend."

Verstappen will clinch his second world title at Suzuka on Sunday if he wins the race with fastest lap, regardless of the results of Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and Red Bull's Sergio Perez, the only two other drivers still in with a mathematical chance of the championship.

He can still do so in other circumstances, but then it would depend on the results of Leclerc and Perez, who are 104 and 106 points behind him with a maximum of 138 still available.

Verstappen said: "I would have liked that it was a little more representative. It wasn't a complete disaster with the weather, we could at least get round and do a little bit of stuff. But in terms of knowing where you are with pace in the wet it is a bit tricky.

"I'm looking forward to tomorrow to see where we can be in the dry. It's starting from zero tomorrow in the dry and I don't think it will make massive differences throughout the grid."

Perez, winner in Singapore last weekend, was fourth fastest, just 0.048secs behind his team-mate.

Ferrari's Carlos Sainz was fifth from Kevin Magnussen's Haas, who did a new-tyre run late in the session to vault up the time sheets, and and Alpine's Fernando Alonso, who was fastest in the first session.

Leclerc, the fastest man over one lap on balance this season, was down in 11th place after a troubled session complaining of problems with his left front wheel.

There were no major incidents in the second session, after the first ended with Mick Schumacher's Haas in the wall.

The German, who is fighting for his future in F1 in the face of claims that Haas are likely to sign the veteran Nico Hulkenberg to replace him in 2023, lost control after the chequered flag on his return to the pits following a practice start.

Schumacher was unable to take part in the second session after Haas decided to change his chassis as a precaution following the incident.

BBC
 
Lewis Hamilton and George Russell have admitted they are unsure as to whether Mercedes' impressive Practice Two display will carry into the remainder of the Japanese Grand Prix weekend.
 
Pierre Gasly will join Esteban Ocon in an all-French line-up at Alpine from 2023 while Dutchman Nyck de Vries replaces him at Alpha Tauri.

The double move follows Fernando Alonso's decision to leave Alpine for Aston Martin after they failed to meet his demands for a new deal.

Gasly leaves Red Bull for the first time in his career after it agreed to release him from his contract.

De Vries makes his full-time Formula 1 debut after years on its fringes.

Gasly, 26, said he was "delighted to begin this new chapter in my F1 career".

"Driving for a team that has French roots is something very special," he said. "I know the strengths of Alpine having raced against them over the past couple of years and, clearly, their progress and ambition is very impressive."
 
Max Verstappen is in the perfect position to clinch a second world title at the Japanese Grand Prix on Sunday by grabbing pole at Suzuka.

Ferrari's Charles Leclerc just missed out on beating Verstappen's earlier time with his final lap but the Red Bull driver held on by 0.01 seconds.

Verstappen made an error on his own final lap, running wide at Turn Two and losing some bodywork, but held on.

Ferrari's Carlos Sainz took third ahead of the second Red Bull of Sergio Perez.

Verstappen will become champion if he wins the race with fastest lap, regardless of the results of Leclerc and Perez.

A win without fastest lap for the Dutchman would require Leclerc to be lower than second for Verstappen to put the title to bed.

Verstappen was later handed a reprimand by the race stewards following a scary moment with McLaren's Lando Norris during the final session.

Verstappen almost lost control of his car on the exit of the flat-out 130R while on a slow lap as Norris approached at high speed. And when the Red Bull snapped sideways, Norris had to take to the grass to avoid him.

"I was driving quite slow and tried to accelerate," Verstappen said, "but my tyres were quite cold so I had a snap."

For his part, Norris saw the incident very differently, insisting it was "quite clear" Verstappen had tried to defend his position on track.

Asked if he would expect a penalty if he was in Verstappen's situation, Norris said: "Oh yeah, for sure."

According to a statement confirming the ruling, Norris accepted it had been an "unfortunate incident" but the stewards noted it was "the driver's responsibility to at all times maintain control of their car" and that all previous such incidents had resulted in a reprimand.

Speaking before seeing the stewards, Verstappen said he had enjoyed F1's return to the fabled Suzuka track for the first time since 2019, after a break because of the pandemic.

"It was incredible to drive here again," Verstappen said. "These cars really come alive in the first sector.

"I lost a part of the [floor] duct in the second lap, which is why I couldn't improve, but the first lap was enough."

It was Verstappen's first pole for three races and his fifth of the season. He will be bidding for his 12th win of the year on Sunday, which would be one short of the record for a season held by Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel.

Alpine's Esteban Ocon grabbed fifth place with his final lap, jumping ahead of Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes and the Frenchman's team-mate Fernando Alonso.

George Russell in the second Mercedes was eighth, followed by an impressive ninth from Sebastian Vettel in the Aston Martin on his final appearance at his favourite track and Lando Norris' McLaren completing the top 10.

BBC
 
Japanese GP:

Japanese GP red-flagged after several incidents on first lap

14:50 local time, and it will be a rolling start
 
Max Verstappen cliched a second title in extraordinary circumstances after dominating a Japanese Grand Prix truncated by heavy rain.

Verstappen headed Sergio Perez in a Red Bull one-two after Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, who crossed the line second, was penalised for cutting the track and gaining an advantage on the last lap.

There was confusion after the race as to whether Verstappen had done enough to tie up the championship, because it was not immediately clear whether full points would be awarded for a race that ran just over half distance.

But governing body the FIA said that reduced points only applied if a suspended race could not be resumed.

Even Verstappen asked: "Are you sure?" when he was told he was champion, reflecting the historical precedent that reduced points are awarded in such circumstances.

But it seems that this protocol was inadvertently left out of the rules when they were rewritten over last winter following the controversial Belgian Grand Prix, when a result was declared despite no racing taking place.

There can, however, be no question marks about the validity of Verstappen's championship, after he secured his 12th victory of the season in the same manner as he has taken control of the championship, by being a class apart from everyone else in his Red Bull car.

The race was marred by a controversy over officials deploying a recovery vehicle on to the track while cars were still running after a crash on the first lap.

Drivers and team bosses united to call the decision from race control "unacceptable", eight years after Jules Bianchi lost his life after crashing into a tractor on track

The race was stopped shortly afterwards, leading to a two-hour delay while officials waited for the persistent rain to ease sufficiently for racing to resume.

When it finally did, Verstappen and Leclerc initially pulled away from the rest of the pack, but as the laps ticked by Ferrari's tyre problems reared their head.

Leclerc dropped back from Verstappen and Perez began to reel in the Ferrari. Leclerc held him off for several laps and looked to have done enough, only to lock up at the final chicane on the last lap and cut the corner.

Leclerc held Perez off to the line, but was deemed to have gained an advantage by going off track and was demoted back behind.

Behind them, Alpine's Esteban Ocon held off Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes for the entire race, with Aston Martin's Sebastian Vettel doing the same to Fernando Alonso's Alpine.

Alonso made a stop for fresh tyres with just 15 minutes of race time remaining and dropped to ninth, reclaiming sufficient ground to finish the race right on Vettel's tail, but unable to pass.

Mercedes' George Russell climbed up to eighth from 13th, after being delayed by being stacked behind Hamilton in the pits when the field changed from wet to intermediate tyres, and the final points when to Williams' Nicholas Latifi and McLaren's Lando Norris.

BBC
 
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<b>It was, Max Verstappen acknowledged, a "weird, confusing and quite funny" way of winning a world championship.</b>

The Red Bull driver had won the Japanese Grand Prix - but he and pretty much everyone else in Formula 1 thought he had not quite done enough to seal a second world title just yet. Only for it to be decided a few minutes later that he had.

"I had no clue what they were going to decide with the points," Verstappen said.

"When I crossed the line, I was not world champion yet." Then someone said he was. "Are you sure?" he replied. Then he was told he wasn't. And then finally, yes, he really was.

How had one of the world's most high-profile sports found itself in a situation where someone has to decide in the moment how many points are awarded in a race, and the conclusion reached was different from what all the teams were expecting?

According to Verstappen's team principal at Red Bull, Christian Horner, the answer was "a mistake" made in the redrafting of the regulations following another controversy over another race hit by bad weather, last year's Belgian Grand Prix.

With nothing in the rules specifying what to do, the FIA decided to award full points - against what the teams understood was the intention, and contrary to all historical precedent.

Back in Spa in 2021, the controversy was over the fact that a result was declared, and points awarded, despite no racing laps taking place because of torrential rain.

The intention was to re-write the rules to ensure that points could not be awarded unless there had been a genuine race, even if it was short.

Historically, it has always been the case in F1 that a shortened race would mean reduced points. Typically, 75% race distance was the mark at which full points were awarded.

But one four-word clause has changed all that.

In the rules governing a race suspension, a table is laid out detailing a set of points awarded in a series of scenarios. And in this table, between 50-75% race distance means three-quarter points.

But the clause in question starts by saying: "If a race is suspended, and cannot be resumed…" So the table, the FIA said on Sunday, only applies in the event a race is not restarted.

The problem that emerged in Japan is that nowhere in the rules does it lay out what happens to the points if the race is resumed - as happened at Suzuka, when a heavy crash on the first lap led to a two-hour stoppage and then a shorter race that ran to just over half the original distance.

With nothing in the rules specifying what to do, the FIA decided to award full points - against what the teams understood was the intention, and contrary to all historical precedent.

And that was the difference between Verstappen becoming champion already, or having to go to US Grand Prix on 21-23 October still needing to gain a point over team-mate Sergio Perez and Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, whose error at the final chicane and subsequent five-second penalty and three points lost was enough to secure the title for Verstappen once the points situation had been clarified.

Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto said: "We were confused ourselves; we did not think full points would be awarded."

Red Bull motorsport adviser Helmut Marko said: "It was a surprise because our statisticians said we needed one more point."

Mercedes agreed that the intent of the rules was to scale the points relative to race distance completed.

And the fact this was true can be determined by one simple fact - under the rules as written, officials could run just two racing laps, and award full points.

Horner said: "What was supposed to be fixed following Spa is unspecified in the regs, so unexpectedly we won.

"It was a mistake that wasn't included after the issues of Spa. We were under the strong impression that only 75% of the points would be scored."

And will be rule be revised? "I'm certain it will be," Horner said.

An FIA spokesperson said: "This is something we'll look into as part of our ongoing review processes and make any necessary updates as normal through the appropriate governance channels."

This is now two championships in a row that have ended in controversy.

Last year, the problem was that the race director Michael Masi applied the rules incorrectly during a late safety-car period in the final grand prix of the season. This led directly to the championship changing hands, when Verstappen passed Lewis Hamilton on track when the grand prix was restarted for a single lap of racing.

This year, the errors with the rules had no effect on the destiny of the championship, only on the timing of when it was won.

But there is one huge irony here.

Rules are discussed with the teams and have to go through a formal approval process. But guess who wrote the new rule that has now been exposed so publicly?

Masi, before he was relieved of his post over the winter.

From the FIA's point of view, it was exactly what it did not need at the climax of a season that has been marked by growing dissatisfaction on behalf of the teams and F1 at the way the sport is being run.

From Verstappen's, his crowning moment in a season in which he has been magnificently peerless was at least partially overshadowed.

"I don't mind that it was a little bit confusing," he said. "I actually find it quite funny."

He can afford to be magnanimous, after the sort of year he has had.

In 2022, F1 embarked on a new era, with new technical rules aimed at closing up the field and making the racing better. One of those aims has been achieved - cars can race closer together. The other has very much not - Verstappen and Red Bull are putting together one of the most dominant seasons in F1 history.

Japan was Verstappen's 12th win in 18 races, and his fifth in the last six. With four grands prix still to go, it seems inevitable that he will smash the record for most wins in a season, currently held at 13 by his predecessor at Red Bull Sebastian Vettel and Michael Schumacher during his Ferrari pomp.

The year did not start that way. For the first half of the season, there was little to choose between Red Bull and Ferrari, Verstappen and Leclerc.

Leclerc opened up a 46-point advantage over Verstappen after just three races because the Dutchman retired from two of them when running second to him.

At the time, Verstappen felt that gap would be difficult to close. But then Ferrari's season imploded in a torrent of engine failures and strategy errors - and a couple from Leclerc himself.

Until mid-July, the two cars were still close in performance, but as Red Bull took weight out of their car, it came alive for Verstappen. And while Perez still finds himself fighting the Ferraris, Verstappen now looks unbeatable, and able to win from pretty much anywhere on the grid.

"I don't feel like Red Bull had a dominant car to win the championship the way Max won it," Perez said on Sunday. "When he got comfortable with the car, he was driving at another level to everyone. Some of the races he did were incredible to watch."

Indeed they were - the highlights among many being his winning from 10th on the grid in Hungary, 15th in Belgium and seventh in Italy.

Even before that, though, Verstappen already looked to have moved on this year from the already very high standards he was attaining previously. For Horner, the turning point was winning his titanic scrap with Hamilton last year.

"Last year was such a heavyweight bout between two titans," Horner said. "And having achieved that last year, it released the pressure off his shoulders and he has gone out and smashed it out of the park."

The blistering pace has remained, but Verstappen has married it to a level of maturity and control this year that has made him even more formidable.

On Sunday, Verstappen was only beginning the process of coming to terms with what he has achieved.

"Very different emotions [to last year]," he said, "but that's because of the whole season being very different, completely different cars, a completely different way of racing, the amount of races we have won.

"Last year was all qualifying-dependent and now, even with some engine penalties, [it has been possible] to come back to the front.

"It has really been an enjoyable year and a very special year that will be very hard to match."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/63192820
 
Well done Max. Though again a World Championship at the 11th hour. (Max was told he was world champ during his post race interview after officials applied a 5 sec penalty on LC)

Where's Lewis? LOL.
 
Lewis Hamilton says he has "no doubt" that Mercedes will build a better car for 2023, after congratulating Max Verstappen on sealing a second successive world championship.
 
Red Bull found guilty of breaking Formula 1's budget cap

Red Bull have been found guilty of breaking Formula 1's budget cap by the sport's governing body, the FIA.

Red Bull exceeded the $145m (£114m) limit during 2021, the FIA said, adding that the offence was "minor", the lower of the two categories of breach.

This means the team exceeded the cap by less than 5%, or $7.25m.

Both Red Bull and Aston Martin were also found guilty of a procedural breach of the cap.

The FIA did not reveal the amount by which Red Bull exceeded the cap, how it had done so, or what penalties would be applied. It said it was "currently determining appropriate action".

Red Bull said in a statement that they noted the FIA's findings "with surprise and disappointment".

The team added: "Our 2021 submission was below the cost-cap limit, so we need to carefully review the FIA's findings, as our belief remains that the relevant costs are under the 2021 cost-cap amount.

"Despite the conjecture and positioning of others, there is of course a process under the regulations with the FIA which we will respectfully follow while we consider all the options available to us."

Both teams have the possibility of appealing against the decision.

Potential penalties for a 'minor' breach include: a reprimand; deduction of drivers' and/or constructors' championship points for the season in question; suspension from one or more stages of a competition; limitations on aerodynamic or other testing; and a reduction of the team's cost cap.

The FIA statement added: "With respect to this first year of the application of the financial regulations, the intervention of the FIA cost-cap administration has been limited to reviewing the submissions made by the competitors and that no full formal investigations were launched."

A procedural breach is not an overspend, but rather a failure to fill in forms correctly. Williams were also found guilty of this and fined $25,000 earlier this year.

Earlier on Monday, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner repeated his belief that the team were under the cap in 2021, a season in which Red Bull driver Max Verstappen won a close championship fight with Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton in controversial circumstances at the final race of the year.

"We're very confident we're within the cap and within those financial regulations," Horner told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

"So we've been shocked at the speculation and accusations that have been made by other teams. We wait for the FIA to conclude their process and we wait to see what comes out. Anything other than compliance we'll be extremely surprised at."

In addition to the potential of an appeal, Red Bull also have the opportunity to enter into a 'settlement agreement' with the FIA.

In this scenario, a team accepts its guilt and the FIA imposes a penalty it deems appropriate.

If a settlement agreement cannot be reached, the dispute will go to an adjudication panel of independent judges, who will look at the case and come to the conclusion whether the offence should be penalised.

If the team is still not happy after that, it can take its case to the FIA's international court of appeal.

Aston Martin did not comment, but their position is understood to be that they spent less than the total amount of the budget cap in 2021 and regret their breach, which centred on administrative protocols that reflect what they consider a complex regulatory interpretation.

Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto said on Sunday that even a so-called 'minor' breach was a significant offence, and detailed the value of an overspend to a team's competitiveness.

Binotto said: "If there is a breach, the penalty has to be significant. Our car has been developed respecting the budget cap and we know how much even a minor breach would have implied in performance.

"$5m is about half a second, $1-2m is 0.1-0.2secs, which can be the difference between second on the grid to pole.

"It is about 2021. And also over the following seasons. I am expecting full transparency and clarity on the discussions they have had."

Mercedes F1 team principal Toto Wolff has also called for transparency about the process that was used to arrive at the assessment of any offence.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/63204082
 
Mercedes have admitted they made multiple mistakes during their frustrating Japanese GP weekend, including a decision George Russell called their "worst".
 
McLaren F1 boss Zak Brown has written a letter to governing body the FIA in which he says Red Bull breaking the budget cap "constitutes cheating".

Brown calls for penalties that will hit Red Bull financially and on the track.

"Any team who have overspent have gained an unfair advantage both in the current and following year's car development," he writes.

Brown adds the FIA should "communicate subsequent action and penalties at pace to maintain the integrity of F1".

The letter, which has been seen by BBC Sport, is dated 12 October and is addressed to FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem, and copied to F1 president Stefano Domenicali.

It was sent on Monday to the teams who in addition to McLaren have not committed any cost-cap offences - Ferrari, Mercedes, Alpine, Alfa Romeo and Haas.

The FIA announced last week that Red Bull were guilty of a "minor" breach of the cap - the lesser of two categories of offence under F1's financial regulations - as well as a procedural breach.

The dividing line between "minor" and "material" offences is 5% of the cap - or $7.25m in 2021.

The FIA has not yet provided any details of Red Bull's wrongdoing, the negotiations that took place between the two parties before the team's final accounts were settled, or any penalties that may be handed out.

Aston Martin have also been found to have committed a "procedural" breach.

Williams were fined $25,000 in May for an earlier procedural breach.

Red Bull declined to comment when approached by BBC Sport about Brown's letter. The team said last week they were "surprised and disappointed" by the FIA's decision, adding: "Our belief remains that the relevant costs are under the 2021 cost-cap amount."

McLaren were contacted about the leak of the letter but declined to comment.

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen won a close title fight with Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton last year in controversial circumstances at the final race of the season, and clinched his second championship at last weekend's Japanese Grand Prix, with four races of the 2022 season still to go.

What does Brown's letter say?
Brown's letter does not mention Red Bull or Aston Martin by name, which is apparently an attempt to make it clear he is expressing his views about any potential cost-cap breach.

However, it does directly reference the offences announced last week.

Brown praises the FIA's work on the cost cap, and says policing it is "critical" to the sport's future.

He suggests any team guilty of an overspend should be hit with a fine equal to double the amount by which they have breached the cap, and for a reduction in their permitted research and development next year.

He writes: "The overspend breach, and possibly the procedural breaches, constitute cheating by offering a significant advantage across technical, sporting and financial regulations.

"The FIA has run an extremely thorough, collaborative and open process. We have even been given a one-year dress rehearsal (in 2020), with ample opportunity to seek any clarification if details were unclear. So, there is no reason for any team to now say they are surprised.

"The bottom line is any team who has overspent has gained an unfair advantage both in the current and following year's car development.

"We don't feel a financial penalty alone would be a suitable penalty for an overspend breach or a serious procedural breach. There clearly needs to be a sporting penalty in these instances, as determined by the FIA.

"We suggest that the overspend should be penalised by way of a reduction to the team's cost cap in the year following the ruling, and the penalty should be equal to the overspend plus a further fine - ie an overspend of $2m in 2021, which is identified in 2022, would result in a $4m deduction in 2023 ($2m to offset the overspend plus $2m fine).

"For context, $2m is (a) 25-50% upgrade to (an) annual car-development budget and hence would have a significant positive and long-lasting benefit.

"In addition, we believe there should be minor overspend sporting penalties of a 20% reduction in CFD and wind tunnel time. These should be enforced in the following year, to mitigate against the unfair advantage the team has and will continue to benefit from."

What rule changes does he suggest?
Brown proposes changes to the rules to address what he sees as weaknesses, exposed by the process of administering the cost cap in its first season.

"To avoid teams accumulating and benefiting from the multiplier effect of several minor overspend breaches, we suggest that a second minor overspend breach automatically moves the team to a major breach," he writes.

"Finally, given the financials involved, a 5% threshold for a minor overspend breach seem far too large of a variance. We suggest a lower threshold, 2.5%, is more appropriate."

Brown makes it clear he feels the FIA should release details of the offences as soon as possible.

"It is paramount that the cost cap continues to be governed in a highly transparent manner, both in terms of the details of any violations and related penalties," Brown writes.

"It will also be important to understand if, after the first full year of running and investigating the scheme, there needs to be further clarity on certain matters or any key learnings. Again, any insights or learnings should be shared across all teams - there can be no room for loopholes."

He concludes the introduction of a budget cap has been critical to the success F1 is enjoying at the moment.

The cap was introduced in 2021 as part of a package of changes aimed at closing up the field and making the racing more competitive.

Brown writes: "The-cost cap introduction has been one of the main reasons we have attracted new shareholders and investors to F1 in recent years, as they see it as a way to drive financial and sporting fair play.

"It is therefore critical that we be very firm on implementing the rules of the cost cap for the integrity and the future of F1."

It has not yet been made public whether Red Bull will accept the FIA's findings and enter into what is known as an "accepted breach agreement", or reject them and demand to go before the so-called cost-cap adjudication panel.

The budget cap was introduced last year, and it has taken until October this year for the FIA to release its findings because of the complexity of the process.
 
Last edited:
Lewis Hamilton has highlighted Mercedes' huge off-season as they bid to get back into Formula 1 contention, admitting the team have to "dig deeper" and "go in a different direction" to catch up to Red Bull and Ferrari.
 
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