Motorsport journalist and podcaster
George Russell topped a wet first practice hour at the Hungarian Grand Prix after Sergio Perez spun into the barriers just three minutes into the session.
Perez was two laps into his run plan when he dipped his left wheels onto the grass getting on the brakes at Turn 5, sending him sliding out of control towards the outside barrier on exit. His upgraded Red Bull Racing car crunched its left-front corner into the wall, forcing a red flag to retrieve it from the circuit.
“I cannot believe this,” the distraught Mexican said over team radio, acknowledging his rookie error.
Continue reading on RACERAlpine CEO Laurent Rossi has been replaced at the head of the French carmaker by vice-president Philippe Krief, effective immediately.
Rossi took up the CEO role in 2021 as the Formula 1 team transitioned from Renault to Alpine to increase visibility of the boutique car brand. The Frenchman will be shifted to a “special projects” role in the broader Groupe Renault.
Rossi’s hands-on reign featured the acquisition from Aston Martin of Otmar Szafnauer as team principal, but engineer Marcin Budkowski and French racing icon Alain Prost were collateral damage of his attempt to shake the team out of its midfield lethargy.
Continue reading on RACERRed Bull Racing sets its sights on a new record, but all anyone wants to talk about is Daniel Ricciardo’s sudden F1 comeback.
Lando Norris played down expectations of a strong result for McLaren this weekend at the Hungaroring, despite his stunning second-place finish in Silverstone.
The heavily upgraded MCL60 looked at home at the British Grand Prix’s fast, sweeping bends, qualifying second and third and finishing second and fourth, with Oscar Piastri missing out on a maiden podium thanks only to the timing of the safety car.
Further upgrades are due on the car this weekend, completing a three-race update cycle that Norris said was the largest he seen in his Formula 1 career. But despite the positivity around McLaren’s big step forward into the front-running pack, the Briton is anticipating tougher going in Budapest, where he doesn’t expect the circuit’s slower layout to play to the car’s strengths.
Continue reading on RACERSergio Perez says he isn’t concerned about the threat posed by Daniel Ricciardo being back on the grid despite the Australian’s intention to take his Red Bull Racing seat.
Ricciardo is Red Bull Racing’s reserve driver this season but has been loaned to the sister AlphaTauri team to replace the ousted Nyck de Vries for the rest of the year. The sudden switch was made after Ricciardo set a time quick enough to have been on the front row of the British Grand Prix during a Pirelli tire test at Silverstone last week.
The test came just days after Perez started the British race 16th, having been knocked out of Q1 for the third time this season. It was also the sixth time in 10 rounds he had failed to qualify inside the top 10 for a grand prix.
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