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Leclerc set the session’s best time – a 1m16.990s – aboard the updated Ferrari shortly after the one-hour FP1 action was stopped by Alex Albon’s Williams shutting down after he hit a kerb hard and ran down the Imola track from Piratella to Acque Minerali, where he stopped on the inside.Leclerc’s time was set with a second set of soft tyres and pipped Mercedes’ George Russell by 0.104s …Keep reading

Red Bull opened up for first practice at Imola on Friday afternoon with Tom Hart acting as the voice in Verstappen’s ear instead of Lambiase, who is also Red Bull’s head of race engineering.The team explained to Motorsport.com that the one-off situation is being enacted to provide Hart with additional experience working as a race engineer – as he also did during second practice for the 2023 Abu …Keep reading

After his impressive surprise debut in place of the appendicitis-addled Carlos Sainz at Ferrari in Jeddah, Bearman is now finally starting the main challenge of his season in the top categories of single-seaters.Imola marks the first of six FP1 appearances with Haas that were earmarked into his deal as the team’s reserve driver for 2024, along with his similar duties as a Ferrari junior.In this …Keep reading

A 31-year-old California native, Larson is learning the nuances of an Indy car through the process of his maiden attempt to make the field of 33 for the 108th Running of the Indianapolis 500.Thus far, though, Larson has only logged a combined 85 laps – with a best of 225.245mph (17th overall, in-tow)— due to rain hampering most of this week’s practices. Regardless of how limited his …Keep reading

And while the Scuderia’s boss Fred Vasseur remains tight-lipped on the state of their discussions, ahead of the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix he offered some teasing insight about the thought process he is going through.While the bid to lure Newey remains a work in progress, and nothing needs to really be sorted for months, Vasseur knows it would be remiss of him not to try to capture F1’s biggest …Keep reading

Complaints about officiating in sport is a tale almost as old as time itself. Stewarding in MotoGP has come under an immense amount of fire over the past few years, largely for its inconsistency, which has often led to some bizarre calls.While riders have often been outspoken on this, and crunch talks were held last year after some big flashpoints in the first part of the 2023 campaign (much of …Keep reading

The rear wing’s tip section has been completely overhauled as part of the redesign, with the team having already switched to a semi-detached layout for 2024.Based on what was revealed in the Imola pitlane on Friday, it has now pushed its variant in a new direction.The tip section still sits proud of the endplate as a small bracket raises it clear of the lower element.However, the tip section now …Keep reading

The first European race of the season is traditionally a popular place to introduce a first suite of car updates as it takes place two months into the season and is logistically easier to ship parts to.Red Bull has headlined the update submissions sheet issued by the FIA, bringing a raft of new parts to the RB20 that Max Verstappen has driven to four wins so far this year.The most crucial …Keep reading

Mercedes is still waiting to see if it can somehow convince Max Verstappen to join the team as Red Bull’s power plays drag on, but as time goes on it has become clear that Antonelli might well be its man for the future.On Thursday at Imola, Hamilton said he would put the Italian youngster in the car if it had been his call.”Honestly, I have no idea what Toto [Wolff]’s plans are but I think for me …Keep reading

At a venue which has been something of a bogey circuit for the Walkinshaw Andretti United team in recent years. Mostert topped the times for all of the session in the Ford Mustang, setting a time of 55.0930s to be 0.17s clear of Nick Percat’s Matt Stone Racing Chevrolet.“We’ll see how we go tomorrow tomorrow. 20-minute session for us, [it] was always about focusing going into …Keep reading