McLaren CEO Zak Brown says he’s been unfairly accused of mistreating Daniel Ricciardo in his team’s early split with the Australian.
Ricciardo joined McLaren on a three-year deal in 2021 as one of Formula 1’s most highly rated drivers but was sacked in August this year after 18 months of underperformance.
He will be replaced by compatriot Oscar Piastri from next season.
Continue reading on FOX SPORTS‘Round 1’ and ‘Australian Grand Prix’ just seem to go together — or they did, anyway.
For almost its entire tenure to date Melbourne has hosted the opening race of the Formula 1 season, with the motorsport world descending on Albert Park for a sunny sporting festival to kick off the battle for racing’s biggest prize.
It took a pandemic to break the tradition. The wealthier races in the Middle East have muscled in, and with pre-season testing now tending to take place in the warmer climes of Bahrain, the sport has decided it’s just easier to open proceedings in the desert rather than Down Under.
Continue reading on FOX SPORTSJoined by Superlicense Podcast, we manage to reference Pastor Maldonado, Flavio Briatore and the 2022 Victorian state election in a single podcast. And someone uses the B-word.
American auto giant Ford is mulling a surprise return to Formula 1 with Red Bull Racing.
According to Autosport, Ford has emerged as a candidate to partner the reigning constructors champion on its in-house power unit project for the new engine rules in 2026.
Red Bull Racing is investing in its engine-building capability in a bid to become a self-sufficient works constructor, having been reliant on customer motors for its entire 17-year history.
Continue reading on FOX SPORTSRed Bull Racing has long given the vibe of a championship-winning team in exile, and at the ninth time of asking since its previous era of domination came to an end, Milton Keynes is back at the top of Formula 1.
Max Verstappen led the way there, but this was a team-driver joint effort to return to the front.
But it’s not the only partnership that found success in 2022, and most teams found reasons to be at least a little bit optimistic that they’d got the new regulatory era off to an at least decent start.
Continue reading on FOX SPORTSIf you thought this year’s driver market was wild, little did you know what was coming during the off-season for the team managers.
Formula 1 has never known team principal chaos like this. In an unprecedented two weeks, four team principals left their posts with varying degrees of autonomy. And in a hectic couple of hours this week, three positions were filled in a merry-go-round highly orchestrated between the teams.
Ferrari and McLaren, the sport’s oldest and grandest teams, have new principals. Audi has positioned itself for its 2026 debut with a new CEO. Williams, for so long last among the teams, finds itself still in the hunt for new management.
Continue reading on FOX SPORTSFrédéric Vasseur will replace Mattia Binotto as Ferrari team principal in 2023, the Italian team has confirmed today.
Vasseur will leave his position at the helm of Alfa Romeo at the end of the month to take up the most famous job in world motorsport.
He will reportedly be replaced by current McLaren team principal Andreas Seidl. The Alfa Romeo-branded Sauber team will become the Audi works entry in 2026.
Continue reading on FOX SPORTSJost Capito is leaving his role as Williams team principal and CEO after just two years in the job.
The heritage team issued a short statement on Tuesday confirming Capito would be relieved of his duties before the start of the 2023 season.
Technical director François-Xavier Demaison, who was hired in March 2021, will also leave the team in a management clean-out ahead of the new season.
Continue reading on FOX SPORTSWe close out Season 3 of In The Fast Lane with a look ahead to the 2023 Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix with AGPC CEO Andrew Westacott, who joins hosts Matt Clayton and Michael Lamonato along with our AusGP Access members to discuss the unprecedented interest in next year’s event (03:17), Oscar Piastri’s prospects in year one at McLaren (07:35), the extension of Melbourne’s contract to 2035 and whether the race was a chance to move to Sydney (12:49), the 2023 music line-up headlined by Birds of Tokyo and Sneaky Sound System (18:45), the must-see areas and activities for first-time grand prix patrons (25:30), how fans can get up close to F2 and F3 in their debuts in Melbourne (29:00), and what the coming years have in store at Albert Park (32:39).
When Richie Stanaway left the Supercars in 2019, he had no intention of coming back.
The then 28-year-old had come to the end of an underwhelming two-season stint in the series, having returned from Europe to Australia after plying his trade in the World Endurance Championship with Aston Martin.
His first year at Tickford was unconvincing, but his switch to Garry Rogers Motorsport, pushing out Garth Tander in the process, was even worse. The change of scenery failed to revitalise him, and despite barely having had the chance to catch his breath and settle into being back Down Under, he was out of the sport at the end of the year.
Continue reading on FOX SPORTSFour-time Bathurst 1000 winner Greg Murphy admits that he doubted whether he would be quick enough to tackle Mount Panorama in his comeback wildcard outing alongside Richie Stanaway.
Murphy was coaxed out of retirement for a one-off co-drive alongside compatriot Stanaway in an ambitious plan hatched by Boost Mobile founder Peter Adderton.
The story is recounted in the new documentary Wildcard: One Last Shot, now streaming on Kayo.
Continue reading on FOX SPORTSThe lifeblood of motorsport is new winners, and the Supercars was certainly feeling revitalised on Sunday night in Adelaide.
Broc Feeney had mounted the top step of the podium for the first time in his senior career, putting a neat full stop on a rookie season that started with some considerable hype.
The 20-year-old put in a Sunday performance well judged beyond his years to record a gritty victory ahead of a sieging Chaz Mostert. The Queenslander had laid down a marker at the end of a solid rookie season. He’s ready to contend at the point end of the championship next year.
Continue reading on FOX SPORTSGetting into the Supercars is only part of the challenge. Keeping yourself there is another story. Just ask Richie Stanaway.
There was a time when the Kiwi had the racing world at his feet.
He was a German Formel Masters and Formula 3 champion, a three-time GP3 race winner, a Monaco GP2 winner and a two-time WEC winner. Three times he finished in the top 10 in class at Le Mans. His sixth Supercars entry was a victory at the Sandown 500 with Cameron Waters, and they could’ve won Bathurst too were it not for a car problem.
Continue reading on FOX SPORTSFrom the moment Daniel Ricciardo revealed that he intended to take a year off racing in 2023, his story has been dominated by one question: what are the odds that he gets back onto the grid in 2024?
Giving up a seat on the grid willingly is rare because of how difficult it is to return to the fast-moving driver market. It’s why reception to Ricciardo’s decision to take a break has been met with such lukewarm reviews among former drivers in particular — everyone wants to see him racing again, but the odds would appear to be stacked against his return.
But while Ricciardo’s aim is to return to Formula 1, he’s also made clear that it isn’t his priority, something he came to understand after being sacked by McLaren in August.
Continue reading on FOX SPORTSDaniel Ricciardo says the prospect of being contracted to four different teams in six seasons was part of the reason he was turned off a possible Mercedes move for 2023.
Ricciardo confirmed last week that he will return to Red Bull Racing as a third driver next year, reuniting with the team for which he won seven of his eight victories.
He split with Milton Keynes at the end of 2018 for Renault, but in his second year with the French team he uprooted himself a second time to move to McLaren, where his career stalled off the back of two difficult seasons.
Continue reading on FOX SPORTSSupercars and the Adelaide 500. The words just go together.
Now they’re united again after an almost three-year hiatus.
Those three years were a rollercoaster for the relationship. The race was the last to go ahead in 2020 before the outbreak of the pandemic, and at the end of the year its contract was ripped up by South Australia a season early.
Continue reading on FOX SPORTSEsteban Ocon says he’s glad to see Fernando Alonso leave Alpine after having to bear more than his fair share of the load alongside the decorated Spaniard.
Alonso returned to Formula 1 after a two-year sabbatical as the French team’s star signing to replace Daniel Ricciardo. The two-time champion’s signature was considered a signal of intent that Alpine expected to maintain its forward momentum as it rebuilt itself into a race-winning force.
But hosting the notoriously prickly Spaniard hasn’t always made for smooth sailing at Enstone.
Continue reading on FOX SPORTS