Automotors

The Defender brand has announced plans to enter the Dakar Rally in 2026 as part of a three-year programme.The British manufacturer, a subsidiary of Land Rover, will field two examples of the popular Defender in all rounds of the World-Rally Raid Championship next year, with an additional third vehicle added to its line-up for Dakar.Defender will compete in the Stock category that is …Keep reading

Lewis Hamilton has outlined the new year as one of “embracing new opportunities” as he begins life as a Ferrari Formula 1 driver.The Briton ended his 12-year association with Mercedes – and a career-long affiliation with the German brand, which had been McLaren’s engine supplier during his junior career and entry to the highest echelon of single-seater racing – to join the Scuderia for the …Keep reading

On the face of it, Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff carefully downplaying expectations surrounding rookie driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli seems like a typical piece of off-season ‘noise’. Very little of it would provoke angry debate in the sanctified halls of the Oxford Union.“If you expect him [Antonelli] to be on pole position in Melbourne, win the race and immediately compete for the …Keep reading

Red Bull has said it is ahead of its initial schedule with the building of its new Formula 1 wind tunnel.Red Bull Racing currently uses an outdated wind tunnel compared to its main rivals, with its facilities near Bedford being over 70 years old.The wind tunnel has been labelled “a Cold War relic” by team boss Christian Horner.While the team has been continually improving the tunnel in …Keep reading

Sebastien Loeb says he is ‘not obsessed’ with winning the Dakar Rally after coming close to clinching the top prize on several occasions.One of the greatest rally drivers of all time with nine titles in the World Rally Championship, Loeb has found it hard to emulate the same success in the cross-country format.The Frenchman finished runner-up in the Dakar on three occasions and set a new …Keep reading

Factory Toyota driver Henk Lategan beat Ford rival Mattias Ekstrom to take victory in Prologue at the start of the 2025 Dakar Rally.The 47th edition of the world’s biggest cross-country rally kicked off with a short 29km special in Bisha in south west region of Saudi Arabia, with a total of 64 cars lining up in the Ultimate category.While all eyes were on Ford and Dacia as they made their …Keep reading

World Endurance Championship class race winners Sean Gelael and Darren Leung are moving from BMW to McLaren for a second LMGT3 campaign together in 2025. The winners of the Imola WEC round last April aboard a WRT BMW M4 GT3 shared with Augusto Farfus, will race a McLaren 720S GT3 Evo for United Autosports in the coming season. Gelael and Leung will respectively be the silver and …Keep reading

Alex Albon has warned Williams not to “be relaxed” for the 2025 Formula 1 season, despite not having to repeat painful 2024 efforts to improve critical car design and build processes. Williams started the 2024 campaign with its car significantly overweight – to the extent it estimated it was losing up to 0.45-second a lap until it could replace parts with lighter components during its …Keep reading

2024 was the first season in Formula 1’s 75-year history that didn’t feature a single rookie. In what almost looks like an attempt to make up for that absence, a new crop of talented young drivers are set to refresh the sport and show the old guard what they can do. Six rookies, aged 18 to 22, will line up on the grid in Melbourne come March, all with varying degrees of pressure on their …Keep reading

Alpine Formula 1 team boss Oliver Oakes says the team improving its fortunes over the second half of the 2024 season has shown that streamlining its Enstone operation was the right way to go.Hitech junior team chief Oakes was brought in alongside advisor Flavio Briatore by Renault boss Luca de Meo to help steady the ship at Alpine after a rocky first half of the 2024 season.As part of de …Keep reading