Australians Daniel Ricciardo and Oscar Piastri are at the heart of one of the biggest Formula 1 ‘silly season’ stories in years. To make sense of a wild week of news on Ricciardo’s future and Piastri’s path to a full-time race seat, Scott Mitchell-Malm from the-race.com joins hosts Matt Clayton and Michael Lamonato to discuss where things unravelled for Ricciardo at McLaren (03:58), his options to race on or sit out in 2023 (07:09), McLaren’s role in the failed relationship (13:13), the pressure Piastri will face when he debuts (17:37), how Piastri declining an Alpine seat is seen in the paddock (20:26) and the impact of the contractual tug-of-war between Alpine and McLaren on his reputation (24:06).
Max Verstappen has dominated the Belgian Grand Prix with a storming drive from 13th on the grid to start the countdown to his second world title. Featuring Brazilian F1 correspondent Julianne Cerasoli.
With the F1 world championship all but over, we debate who will win the equally prestigious F1 gluten championship. Mercedes enters the Del Boca Vista stage of its decline.
F1 journalist and host of the strategy report joins us live from Belgium for the latest in motorsport.
Pure’s F1 fanatic Matt Oostveen, is joined by former F1 driver Alex Yoong and F1 journalist Michael Lamonato to dissect all the action on the track and in the pits during the Belgian GP and what it all means for the championship.
Max Verstappen landed a major boost to his championship campaign with a peerless drive to victory in the Belgian Grand Prix.
Verstappen started the race from 14th on the grid but made scintillating progress from lights out. He made five positions up on the first lap alone and continued scything through the field after a brief safety car intervention to clear the stricken cars of Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas.
By the end of lap 8 – just five racing laps into the race – he was up to third and had victory in his sights.
Continue reading on RACERCarlos Sainz bested Charles Leclerc to the top spot in a damp first practice session at the Belgian Grand Prix, that was overshadowed by six drivers being confirmed as having back-of-grid starts for Sunday.
Just 0.069s split the Ferrari teammates, with title leader Max Verstappen 0.2s adrift in third for Red Bull. The hour-long session started on a damp and drying track but ended with sudden heavy showers in the final 10 minutes.
Leclerc, however, won’t be contending for pole, having taken new power unit parts and a new gearbox, sending him to the back of the grid. Verstappen, who holds an 80-point advantage over the Monegasque, will join him at the back with several new engine parts of his own.
Continue reading on RACERFormula 1 is reconvening from its midseason break this weekend with the Belgian Grand Prix, where a more competitive frontrunning pack is being teased.
Now is the time for the king to take his rightful place, throne, in the hall of fame — sit on his king of throne.
Formula 1 awakens from its midseason slumber with a quickfire three races starting with the Belgian Grand Prix, and Charles Leclerc will have to win them all if he’s any chance to so much as delay Max Verstappen’s second championship coronation.
Max Verstappen dominated qualifying at the Belgian Grand Prix but Carlos Sainz will start from pole after an intriguing Saturday afternoon at Spa-Francorchamps.
Verstappen, title rival Charles Leclerc and five other drivers started qualifying carrying heavy grid penalties for power unit changes that will send them to the back of the grid.
The battle for pole therefore came down to a fight between Carlos Sainz and Sergio Perez, but neither was on Verstappen’s level. The Dutchman beat his would-be rivals by 0.6s with his first lap. It was a large enough margin that he didn’t bother to set a second time.
Continue reading on RACERMax Verstappen set an imposing benchmark in second practice at the Belgian Grand Prix despite tricky slippery conditions.
The cool track, which had been sprinkled intermittently with rain throughout the day and endured another shower in the final 10 minutes, offered grip at a premium, but the Dutchman mastered the slick circuit to set a best time of 1m45.507s with his Red Bull. The only blot in his copybook was the stewards noting him for a potential practice start infringement when the cars lined up on the grid after the checkered flag, which at worst would likely lead to a reprimand.
Charles Leclerc was next quickest, but his Ferrari was 0.862s off the pace. The Monegasque’s only ameliorating excuse was that his car appeared to be making some unusual noises via the warning system that he asked the team to switch off.
Continue reading on RACER