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Fernando Alonso says his unexpected Q3 performance in the Qatar Grand Prix shows why he was right never to doubt himself amid Aston Martin’s recent struggles.The Spaniard, who is Formula 1’s oldest driver, has endured a challenging run of races off the back of his squad’s backward step with a new floor that arrived at the United States Grand Prix.Its difficulties have left it as the eighth …Keep reading

Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz was left frustrated after qualifying seventh for the 2024 Qatar Grand Prix, two places and two tenths of a second behind team-mate Charles Leclerc.The duo will line up for the race fifth and seventh, split by the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton, who had his own reasons to lament being in the back half of the top 10.Read Also:Formula 1Hamilton: “I know I’ve still got …Keep reading

Either side of the Interlagos wildness, the other final sprint events of the 2024 Formula 1 season bear significant similarities that pile focus on Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and the Ferrari drivers. The key difference between Austin and Qatar, however, is that so far both McLaren and Mercedes have dominated the victory hunt.The prospect of a four-team win scrap over what is expected to be the …Keep reading

Valtteri Bottas has hailed the effect of his Sauber team’s latest upgrades on car performance after qualifying 13th for the Qatar Grand Prix and finishing 12th in the sprint event – but acknowledged the improvement has come rather late for him.Bottas is out of an F1 race drive next year since all the other seats are filled, and he and Zhou Guanyu are to be replaced by Nico Hulkenberg and …Keep reading

McLaren says it cannot be happy with its current trajectory if it is to have any hope of targeting both Formula 1 championships next year.The Woking-based team could clinch the constructors’ title in the Qatar Grand Prix today, which would be the first time it has done so since 1998 when Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard were its drivers.Having missed out on the drivers’ crown, with Lando …Keep reading

Max Verstappen has been stripped of his Qatar Grand Prix pole position after being handed a one-place grid penalty for impeding George Russell in Formula 1 qualifying.Verstappen had clinched his first pole since the Austrian Grand Prix in June after beating Russell by 0.055 seconds, completing a significant turnaround in Red Bull’s form at the Losail circuit.But the Dutchman was summoned to the …Keep reading

Abbi Pulling clinched the F1 Academy title on Saturday after she finished second in the first race of the Losail round.Pulling arrived in Qatar knowing that she needed just 18 points from the final two weekends in order to take the F1 Academy title, regardless of what chief rival Doriane Pin could achieve.Beaten by both Mercedes-backed Pin and Ferrari representative Maya Weug in qualifying …Keep reading

Niels Wittich oversaw the final round of the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup in Jeddah, after his surprise departure from the FIA as Formula 1’s race director.Wittich had served as an F1 race director since 2022, initially on a part-time basis alternating with Edoardo Freitas, following the departure of Michael Masi in acrimonious fashion following the contentious 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand …Keep reading

Max Verstappen took his first Formula 1 pole since June after headlining Qatar Grand Prix qualifying, after knocking George Russell off the top of the order by 0.055s.After a series of struggles across the sprint sessions, Red Bull unearthed extra pace to compete for the fastest time in qualifying, and Verstappen praised the turnaround in fortunes over the radio after clinching pole.Russell had …Keep reading

Newly-crowned four-time champion Max Verstappen took pole position in Qatar after recovering from a disastrous performance in the sprint, where he described Red Bull’s F1 car as undriveable.Mercedes driver George Russell will start the race from second place, while McLaren duo Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri will share the second row of the grid.Local time Your …Keep reading