Motor Sports News
Returning from the summer break and with 10 races to go, there are plenty of targets remaining across the paddock besides McLaren’s shootout
Revitalised after the summer break, 10 races remain between this weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix and the finale in Abu Dhabi in December – and it will be Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris going head to head for the title.
Ducati rider extends world title lead to 175 points
Jorge Martín fourth as injury comeback continues
Marc Márquez delivered a masterclass at the Balaton Park Circuit on Sunday to win the first Hungarian Grand Prix in 33 years. The Ducati rider secured his seventh straight sprint-race double and stretched his world championship lead to 175 points.
KTM’s Pedro Acosta and Aprilia’s Marco Bezzecchi joined Márquez on the podium as the defending world champion, Jorge Martín, came fourth – his best finish on the Aprilia since his return from injury.
Continue reading...Forty years ago, the 25-year-old Brazilian produced possibly the finest drive of his career, and it’s still vivid in the mind of his mechanic Chris Dinnage
As debut victories in Formula One go, few come close to the masterclass delivered by Ayrton Senna for Lotus at the Portuguese Grand Prix in 1985. A drive which still stands 40 years later as one of the defining moments of the Brazilian’s extraordinary career, not least when witnessed first-hand by No 1 mechanic in Estoril, Chris Dinnage.
“It was an exceptional performance by a gifted racing driver who had one mission and that was to win, to be the best,” says Dinnage. “I think there’s very few races since where you could say someone had such a command of what they were doing.”
Continue reading...Marc Márquez takes 142-point lead over brother Alex
Wins sixth GP in a row for first time since 2014
Six-times MotoGP champion Marc Márquez marked the 1,000th premier class race in history by winning the Austrian Grand Prix for the first time in his career to take a mammoth 142-point lead over his brother Alex in the championship.
Having won Saturday’s sprint from the second row, Marc Márque claimed the sprint-race double for the sixth Grand Prix in a row, with the Spaniard unbeaten since the British Grand Prix in May. Not since 2014 had Marc Márquez claimed six Grand Prix wins on the bounce as he inches closer to a seventh MotoGP crown with nine rounds left.
Continue reading...Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris have set up a potentially thrilling title race, Gabriel Bortoleto is one to watch, and Lewis Hamilton needs time off
Oscar Piastri Leading the world championship and has earned his place at the top. He has not only been quick in the best car on the grid, but consistent and calm. This has not been the stuff of fireworks, but relentless precision. His execution and attitude have no little of the Alain Prost about them and he is shaping up to be a similarly formidable opponent as The Professor.
Continue reading...Dutch driver had been linked with move away
George Russell said to have received Mercedes contract
Max Verstappen has acted to stop speculation about his future by stating he will be driving for Red Bull in 2026, ending rumours that have swirled around the world champion for several months concerning a switch to Mercedes next season.
However, he did not confirm he would then see out the rest of his contract with Red Bull that extends until 2028.
Continue reading...‘A shame for everyone,’ Red Bull driver insists
George Russell says FIA ‘made the right call’
Max Verstappen condemned as unnecessary the FIA decision to delay the start of the Belgian Grand Prix because of adverse weather conditions, but his view was countered by George Russell, a director of the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association, who insisted any other call from the governing body would have been “stupidity” given the conditions and the dangerous nature of the Spa‑Francorchamps circuit.
The start was delayed by an hour and 20 minutes after rain swept into Spa just before the race. The FIA opted not to proceed after one formation lap because the visibility given the spray from the cars was so poor. The circuit is enormously fast and challenging and can be dangerous even in good conditions. There have been two fatalities in recent years, Anthoine Hubert in 2019 and Dilano van ’t Hoff in 2023.
Continue reading...A daring, decisive move by McLaren’s Oscar Piastri saw him overtake pole-sitter Lando Norris on the first lap of racing
“I loved days like this,” Brundle tells Jenson Button when asked if he would like to be out there racing in the rain. “It was a chance of nicking a few points.”
Lando Norris has always maintained confidence in his abilities even as the season has ebbed and flowed, a point he felt he made definitively in claiming pole position for the Belgian Grand Prix. While Norris soared Lewis Hamilton was left bereft, offering only apologies to his team for an “unacceptable” error that left him languishing in 16th place here.
Continue reading...Márquez holds off brother Álex to extend title lead
Francesco Bagnaia third as eight riders crash out
Marc Márquez proved once again why he is known as the “King of Sachsenring”, as the Ducati rider won the German Grand Prix on Sunday in a race that became a test of survival with only 10 riders finishing.
Márquez’s ninth MotoGP victory at the Sachsenring, in his 200th overall start, takes his season points tally to 344. He has stretched his championship lead over his brother, Álex, who finished second, to 83 points. Marc’s teammate, Francesco Bagnaia, finished third and sits 147 points behind.
Continue reading...Bringing in a new team principal when developing a car for 2026 regulations might not be to world champion’s liking
Even as the reverberations from the shock sacking of Christian Horner as team principal of Red Bull are still being felt across Formula One and their thunderous echo remains, whether all this sound and fury will have been quite enough to keep Max Verstappen at the team remains a moot point.
When it was announced on Wednesday that Horner had been released from his post as team principal and chief executive of Red Bull after 20 years in charge and enormous success, pivotal to the decision was seemingly the desire to prevent the four-time world champion from being tempted away. Horner’s removal a price the parent company was willing to pay.
Continue reading...Leaked clip shows team principal announcing departure
Horner marks ‘incredible journey’ with Instagram post
Christian Horner was reduced to tears when he announced to his Red Bull staff that his two-decade spell as team principal had been terminated.
The 51-year-old was removed from his role by the British-based Formula One team’s parent company, Red Bull GmbH, on Tuesday. Horner travelled to the team’s Milton Keynes campus on Wednesday to deliver the bombshell news to a stunned 1,500-strong workforce at 10am.
Continue reading...Departure now leaves a question mark about the next chapter of one of the sport’s extraordinary success stories
The removal of Christian Horner from his post as team principal at Red Bull represents both the end of an era in Formula One and, in the short term, the most turbulent period in the team’s history. It carries an import that will be felt right across the sport, a significance in how it played out and what happens next as the team Horner built and led to such enormous success faces an uncertain future.
Horner has been at Red Bull since the team was formed in 2005 from the ashes of Jaguar, a team in no little disarray when Red Bull bought it. Horner was at the helm as it was transformed from an operation of 450 personnel, without so much as a win to their name, to one of 1,500 today that has won eight drivers’ titles and six constructors’ championships, and is one of the most extraordinary success stories in F1 history.
Continue reading...Laurent Mekies appointed as Horner’s replacement
Red Bull have had turbulent time on and off track
Christian Horner has been sacked as Red Bull’s team principal with immediate effect. Horner, who has been in charge of Red Bull since the team was formed in 2005, will be replaced by the principal of sister team Racing Bulls, Laurent Mekies.
Horner’s surprise removal as principal and chief executive of Red Bull Racing was confirmed in a statement from Red Bull’s parent company on Wednesday morning and comes just over 17 months since Horner was embroiled in a scandal involving accusations of inappropriate behaviour by an employee, though he was later cleared by an investigation.
Continue reading...Head of FIA bats away criticism from Tim Mayer
‘Whatever I’ve been doing is good for the members’
The FIA president, Mohammed Ben Sulayem, has denied accusations of a “reign of terror” and suggested the governing body’s member clubs are “smiling” about the prospect of him serving another four years.
Ben Sulayem’s controversial first term as head of the FIA will come to an end in December. The 63-year-old has confirmed he will stand for a second term and is poised to face off against Tim Mayer after the American announced his candidacy in the buildup to Sunday’s British Grand Prix.
Continue reading...Norris earned a home win with McLaren’s Oscar Piastri second, Nico Hülkenberg a surprise podium place
Oh, and Vin Diesel was there, too, as the former Quentin Cook signs off with a version of the Stones’ Satisfaction.
Tony Hawk - skateboarder not member of Morris Minor and The Majors - is here. He has his board with him. Tom Holland – actor not popular historian - is also there. “I am going to try and catch Lewis. I am always wary not to be a distraction,” he tells Martin Brundle. Damson Idris – of the Brad film – will be waving the chequered flag. “I’m so glad everyone has supported the movie.” It stops raining. Nigel Mansell – from the Isle of Mad – is there with Jackie Stewart. “Lewis has an outside chance,” says Nige. Sebastian Coe is cheering for “anyone who can master the circumstances. Clarkson’s here, Clarksoning along. “There’s 20 drivers, and 17 I like them.” Someone called Kaleb – a Clarkson acolyte? – is there with Jezza. Sam Ryder – the world’s most excitable man – gives Brundle a hug. Hannah Waddingham dishes out the hugs and the luvviedom to Brunds, too. She wants to see Hamilton and Verstappen “going at it in the wet”. The drivers rush to the track. Fernando Alonso gives the thumbs up. Ian Wright is “buzzing, bro”, and now Idris Elba is as hyped as Wrighty and Ryder – he’s “Team Lewis”. And here’s the National Anthem with clouds deep above the track…Becky Hill gives it the discursive, big flourish at the end on “k-i-n-g”. Let’s get racing!
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