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William Byron did well to honor Jeff Gordon in No. 24 “fiery” throwback scheme by rocketing to the top of the charts in qualifying on Saturday. Just over a tenth of a second separated the drivers between second and tenth on the time sheets, but second to first was nearly the same margin as Byron put down a new Darlington record for the current Gen-7 race car.Byron lapped the historic track in …Keep reading

Fernando Alonso was stunned by the lap that earned Max Verstappen pole position at tomorrow’s Japanese Grand Prix. The veteran driver, who was eliminated in Q2, described it as a “magical moment” while speaking to reporters on Saturday afternoon. “Only he can do it, only he can do it,” Alonso told Viaplay after the Dutchman snatched pole from Lando Norris by 0.012 seconds. “I …Keep reading

On the final lap of last weekend’s NASCAR Xfinity race, Sammy Smith drove deep into the final corner in an effort to intentionally wreck race leader Taylor Gray. He succeeded, but wrecked himself in the process as a multi-car incident broke out.Neither driver won the race and after outcry from several industry leaders, NASCAR chose to penalize Smith. He was later docked 50 points and fined …Keep reading

Lando Norris says he is ready to claim the Formula 1 title – but he’s determined to do it on his own terms “by being a nice guy”.The 25-year-old has long been depicted as the calm, mild-mannered counterpoint to reigning four-time champion Max Verstappen’s fiery personality.“I feel like there is a very prescribed version of how people say a world champion needs to be – overly …Keep reading

Throwback Weekend, officially established at Darlington in 2015, has been used as a way to honor the history of NASCAR through special paint schemes and liveries inspired by the sport’s past. It’s expanded to include everything from ‘throwback’ commentators in the booth and old-school logos on the Goodyear tires.Some years have had themes, focusing on specific decades, but most years, teams …Keep reading

Both Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc are pinning their hopes on upgrades in Ferrari’s pipeline. The Scuderia’s Formula 1 drivers feel that the SF-25 in its current specification is lacking performance in comparison to the Mercedes and Red Bull cars.Ferrari made a significant change to its car concept over the off-season in switching to a pull-rod front suspension layout, as technical …Keep reading

Coming into Q3, McLaren had topped every session of the Japanese Grand Prix weekend – free practice, Q1, and Q2 – positioning the Woking-based team as the clear favourite for pole. Oscar Piastri led the way after the first runs in Q3, with Max Verstappen trailing by a quarter of a second.”I just thought, ‘I’m going to give it everything in that last run,'” Verstappen explained of his …Keep reading

Oliver Bearman admitted he did not expect to get out of the first qualifying session for the Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix before putting his Haas 10th on the grid.Having benefitted from a trio of disqualifications to finish eighth last time out in China, Bearman continued to impress after progressing to Q3 at Suzuka.In contrast, team-mate Esteban Ocon failed to get out of Q1 and will …Keep reading

Despite returning to the slower Racing Bulls car, Liam Lawson outqualified his Red Bull replacement Yuki Tsunoda for Formula 1’s Japanese Grand Prix. But there are signs Red Bull’s merciless switch may actually be working already.Leaving aside the ruthlessness of Red Bull’s decision to demote Lawson after two difficult races on circuits he didn’t know, what ultimately mattered to the team is …Keep reading

Pain from his seatbelts almost put Racing Bulls Formula 1 driver Isack Hadjar out in Q1 for the Japanese Grand Prix, before completing an “unbelievable” lap having overcome the discomfort.Hadjar was heard over the radio complaining about an unspecified cockpit issue in FP3, and had reported in the first part of qualifying that the problem had reoccurred as he attempted to break into Q2.It …Keep reading