Motorsport journalist and podcaster
Max Verstappen enjoyed a well-deserved break as the new world champion during the off-season, but there’s clearly been no such rest for his lawyers.
Before a wheel had been turned in anger in 2022, Red Bull Racing and its new world champion announced they’re extending terms until 2028.
Reports from the Netherlands place the value of the deal at around $A75 million per year — Lewis Hamilton-tier cash for a driver almost 13 years the Briton’s junior.
Continue reading on FOX SPORTSLewis Hamilton and new world champion Max Verstappen will resume hostilities in a new season of Formula 1 later this month, but the blows from their brutal 2021 showdown are still reverberating.
Last December motorsport fans were treated to the closest finish in Formula 1 history: Hamilton and Verstappen, tied on points, in a final-lap duel to win the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and the world championship.
A late-braking lunge on fresh tyres catapulted Verstappen down Hamilton’s inside at turn five. Shod with older rubber courtesy of a late-race safety car, the Briton was powerless to fight back, and the Dutchman became the first driver to beat Hamilton to the crown in five years.
Continue reading on FOX SPORTSMotoGP returns for 2022 with a record-breaking calendar, three world champions with points to prove and a field as wide open as ever.
Fabio Quartararo will attempt to defend his maiden championship, but the Frenchman has had barely a good word to say about Yamaha’s prospects after preseason testing. Meanwhile, Marc Marquez gets closer to full fitness with each passing day after two seasons of injury. And Joan Mir will be eager to prove his 2020 title was no COVID-influenced fluke.
There are two Aussies to keep an eye on too, with Jack Miller in desperate need of a strong, consistent showing to prevent a Ducati reshuffle among its mammoth eight-bike contingent, while Remy Gardner continues his year-long rivalry with nemesis turned teammate Raul Fernandez.
Continue reading on FOX SPORTSNikita Mazepin’s chances of clinging to his Formula 1 seat have received a boost after the FIA declined to ban Russians from international motorsport despite IOC recommendations.
Mazepin will be allowed to race under the FIA flag subject to “adherence to the FIA’s principles of peace and political neutrality”. The FIA also confirmed the Russian Grand Prix has been cancelled for 2022 for reasons of “force majeure”.
But the Haas driver’s future in the sport is far from certain. His position in the team dependent on the backing of Russian chemicals company Uralkali, in which his father, Dmitry, is a shareholder. Dimity Mazepin has ties to Russian president Vladimir Putin, whose invasion of Ukraine is now in its seventh day.
Continue reading on FOX SPORTSThe Supercars will fire up for 2022 at a floodlit Sydney Motorsport Park this weekend with just one crucial question in mind: can anyone catch Shane van Gisbergen?
The challenge of title defence will be as hard as ever in the final year of the Gen2 regulations. It’s a truism in motorsport that the longer the rules stay the same, the closer the field becomes, and the pandemic-induced delaying of Gen3 til 2023 has gifted Van Gisbergen’s would-be usurpers a final opportunity to hone their attacks to steal the crown.
But momentum counts for a lot in Supercars, and getting the campaign off to a strong start was key to Van Gisbergen’s title last year. Can he do it again this weekend in Sydney?
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