Motorsports Racing News & Blog Articles

Christian Horner has revealed that Red Bull Racing were willing to do anything they could to ensure their partnership with Honda worked, and they have been rewarded with two Drivers’ Championships for Max Verstappen and one Constructors’ Championship win.

Honda first joined forces with Scuderia Toro Rosso (now Scuderia AlphaTauri) in 2018 after they cut short their alliance with the McLaren F1 Team, with Red Bull jumping on board in 2019 after they themselves ended their own partnership with Renault.

Red Bull were able to get more out of the power units and brought themselves into championship contention in 2021, with Verstappen edging out Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team’s Lewis Hamilton in the season finale in Abu Dhabi, albeit in contentious circumstances.

Honda withdrew from Formula 1 at the end of the season but allowed Red Bull to take over ownership of its power units, with the Japanese marque still responsible for the maintenance and updates for the engine. 

It was much more clear cut in 2022 with Verstappen winning fifteen of the twenty two races on his way to his second title, but Horner says it was important during the early days of the Red Bull Honda partnership that they would allow them to do anything they wanted to ensure performance came.

Toto Wolff says the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team may still be behind Oracle Red Bull Racing and Scuderia Ferrari when the 2023 FIA Formula 1 World Championship season gets underway in Bahrain.

Mercedes were around half a second down on their rivals during the 2022 season and Team Principal Wolff says it will be difficult for them to quickly claw their way back to the front of the field. 

They scored only one race victory and took only one pole position in 2022 – both courtesy of George Russell – a very different season to what they were expecting after winning eight consecutive Constructors’ Championships between 2014 and 2021. Pre-season

And heading into 2023, Mercedes are looking to regain that kind of form again, but Wolff remains realistic and acknowledges it will be difficult to close that gap.

“I think we have understood how we fell back, where the shortcomings are, and where we have gaps in understanding,” Wolff is quoted as saying by Motorsport.com.

Lando Norris says some of the more boring races of the 2022 FIA Formula 1 World Championship season were his best ones, with the Briton admitting to not having had as much excitement driving last year compared to previous seasons.

The McLaren F1 Team driver has already admitted that he is not the biggest fan of the cars following changes to aerodynamic regulations ahead of the 2022 campaign, and it meant he was less excited about the racing as a result.

Norris scored McLaren’s only top three finish when he took third place in the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix but felt some of the other races, such as the United States Grand Prix, were amongst his better ones of the campaign.

The twenty-three-year-old says for McLaren, it was the results that scored them the most points that were the best, such as at Imola and in Singapore, but on a personal level, he felt there were better performances.

“I would say Imola because it is the one that we achieved the most in,” Norris is quoted as saying by GPFans.com.  “But I don’t think we were any quicker in Imola than we were in any other race.

Otmar Szafnauer has warned Esteban Ocon not to fight too hard with his new team-mate Pierre Gasly on track, as on-track clashes have the potential to see the BWT Alpine F1 Team lose out.

Ocon has a history of moments against team-mates during his FIA Formula 1 World Championship career, with clashes with Sergio Pérez whilst they were team-mates at the Racing Point Formula 1 Team and, more recently, incidents against Fernando Alonso at Alpine.

Rumours about a long-time rift between Ocon and Gasly have been rife ever since the latter was confirmed to replace Alonso for the 2023 season, although both drivers have subsequently laughed this off.

Team Principal Szafnauer insists that Ocon will be reminded that it is a team game should he battle too hard against his new team-mate, and it will only be the team that loses out should they collide.

“He needs to probably make better judgements when his team-mates are next to him, because you don’t win it on the first lap, team-mate or not,” Szafnauer is quoted as saying by Motorsport.com.

Valtteri Bottas says there is a lot of potential at Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN, and they can go far under the leadership of Audi Sport when the German marque take over the running of the team in 2026.

Bottas joined Alfa Romeo in 2022 after five years with the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team, and he helped the Hinwil-based team secure sixth place in the Constructors’ Championship.

The Finn acknowledges that Alfa Romeo are one of the smaller teams on the FIA Formula 1 World Championship grid at present, but there are a lot of people that are assets to the team, on top of facilities that are great and offer potential of growth.

And with Audi coming in to take over, Bottas sees no reason why the team cannot make a step forward and bring themselves into the title picture at the front of the field.

“Absolutely, all of the potential is there that I’ve seen with the people,” said Bottas to Racer.com. “It feels like quite a young team and there’s lots of people that think outside the box, which is good. Facilities at the factory are great, the wind tunnel is great…

Nico Hülkenberg admits he has not spoken to Mick Schumacher since he took over his seat with the MoneyGram Haas F1 Team, but he feels that if it had not been him replacing him then it would likely have been someone else.

Schumacher was released by Haas after two seasons with the team having scored points on only two occasions, while he was also responsible for two of the biggest crashes of the season in Saudi Arabia and Monaco that cost the team a lot of money in repairs.

Hülkenberg returns to Formula 1 after three years on the side-lines to partner Kevin Magnussen, and the German says he did not really have a close relationship with the driver he replaces, but he feels that Schumacher was going to be replaced by someone, whether it was him or another driver.

“We haven’t spoken to each other since,” Hülkenberg said to German broadcaster RTL, as quoted by PlanetF1.com. “We never really exchanged ideas before that either.

“Mick is also a different generation. We never had a real relationship, something like he has with Sebastian.  The story is what it is. If it hadn’t been me, it might have been someone else.”

The Africa Eco Race prides itself in following the original route of the Dakar Rally beginning in Europe and ending in Dakar, Senegal. However, amidst flooding in Dakar and concerns about other weather events, organisers have elected to postpone the 2023 edition from its 11–26 March slot to 30 December, meaning it will run through 14 January 2024. It is not clear if the new date will also take the place of a 2024 Eco Race.

Organisers cited heavy rain and resulting floods in Dakar, especially at the Lac Rose pink lake where the Eco Race finishes; the flooding had resulted in multiple deaths in 2022. Concern was also due to the recently concluded Dakar Rally in its current home Saudi Arabia, where the first half was plagued by rain which caused an already difficult 2023 course to become even harder for competitors. Dakar officials had to make multiple scheduling changes to work around the situation such as shortening Stages #3 and #7 as well as cancelling Stage #7 for Bikes.

Weather had also impacted the 2022 Eco Race, though on the opposite end as racers had to contend with more extreme heat and dust storms.

“After several editions impacted by the Covid 19 pandemic, we did everything possible to go on the adventure again in March 2023,” reads a statement from organisers. “However, despite all our commitment, and in consultation with the Senegalese Federation of Motor Sports and Motorcycling, we have regretfully taken the decision to postpone the 15th edition of the AFRICA ECO RACE.

“Indeed, like other sporting events, the current climatic upheavals are forcing us to rethink and adapt our human activities. Other races have also been hit hard at the beginning of 2023, like the one that has just ended in Saudi Arabia in harsh and unsatisfactory conditions.

Fernando Alonso says the Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula 1 Team offered him the best chance of becoming a race winner and fight for World Championships within the next two to three years.

With no vacancies at any of the leading three teams in the FIA Formula 1 World Championship – Oracle Red Bull Racing, Scuderia Ferrari and the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team are all locked in with their line-ups for several years – the veteran Spaniard was forced to look around at what would have been best for his career.

With just a one-year contract on offer with the BWT Alpine F1 Team, Alonso opted to make the switch to Aston Martin to replace the retiring Sebastian Vettel, with the forty-one-year-old feeling the Silverstone-based team would give him the best chance of success.

As well as going through a recruitment programme, Aston Martin are currently in the process of building a new factory after outgrowing their old one, and they will also have the use of their own wind tunnel from midway through the 2024 season.

It is almost ten years since Alonso stood on top of a Formula 1 podium, but the Spaniard believes Aston Martin have what it takes to reach the top of the sport, perhaps within the next two to three seasons.

While Landon Cassill is no longer the permanent driver of Kaulig Racing‘s #10 NASCAR Xfinity Series car, the team will still race it in 2023 albeit with a rotation of people. Their Cup Series driver Justin Haley will begin the season in the #10 at the first race at Daytona International Speedway, and he will continue making select starts throughout the year.

Haley has been in the Kaulig family since 2019. After running three full seasons, he graduated to the Cup Series with Kaulig and finished twenty-second in the 2022 standings with four top tens, three top fives, and a best finish of third at Darlington and Texas.

He only ran one Xfinity race since becoming a Cup full-timer at the second Daytona event, where he was caught in a wreck and finished twenty-fifth. The effort came in a newly opened #14 car for Kaulig. While said start did not go as planned, Haley is one of the top superspeedway racers especially at Daytona, where he won the 2020 and 2021 summer races. He also swept Talladega in 2020 while his first Cup win came in the rain-shortened 2019 Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona.

The bosses @MattKaulig (Matt Kaulig) / @C_Rice1 (Chris Rice) called and told me to go trophy hunting at Daytona, so trophy hunting we will go,” tweeted Haley.

The team has not announced other drivers for the #10. Kaulig also fields the #11 and #16 full-time for Daniel Hemric and Chandler Smith, respectively.

Nyck de Vries has admitted that he had doubted whether he would ever reach the FIA Formula 1 World Championship after coming so close on a number of occasions to a drive that ultimately failed to materialise.

The Dutchman will join the grid full-time in 2023 with Scuderia AlphaTauri after impressing on a one-off outing with Williams Racing in the 2022 Italian Grand Prix.  De Vries scored two points at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza whilst standing in for an unwell Alexander Albon, with his performance opening the eyes of many teams on the grid.

De Vries was already the test and reserve driver with the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team and had run with them, Williams and the Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula 1 Team during free practice sessions in 2022.

However, he mentioned that he had previously found himself feeling ‘rejected’ from joining Formula 1 several times, including after winning the FIA Formula 2 championship in 2019 and the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship in 2021.

“To be honest, there were more times when I thought it was never going to happen than when it did,” said de Vries on the Day1 YouTube channel.  “I didn’t get frustrated with that, because at the same time, I was very happy with what I did have and the opportunities I did get.

Logan Sargeant says he does not expect to feel any additional pressure by being an American racing in the FIA Formula 1 World Championship when he makes his debut with Williams Racing in 2023.

Sargeant will become the first from his homeland to race in Formula 1 since Alexander Rossi competed in five races for Manor Racing back in 2015, and the first full-time entrant since Scott Speed back in 2007.

The twenty-two-year-old feels he has put in a lot of hard work to reach Formula 1, and although he will have the eyes of his home nation on him, especially in the three races being held in the country, he remains level-headed and focused on being the best driver he can be.

“I feel like, at the end of the day, I’ve put in as much hard work as anyone else to reach this point,” Sargeant is quoted as saying by Formula1.com.  “I just have to look at it as, ‘prepare the best I possibly can to be the best driver I can possibly be’.

“Hopefully I can represent [the country] well and make them proud. I don’t think it’s any extra pressure, to be honest. I have high expectations for myself as it is.”

Hyundai Motorsport’s primary focus remains the FIA World Rally Championship despite rumours about them potentially joining the FIA Formula 1 World Championship, according to the recently appointed Team Principal Cyril Abiteboul.

It has been Abiteboul’s appointment has fuelled the rumours of Hyundai joining Formula 1, with the Frenchman having been Team Principal of both the Caterham F1 Team and Renault F1 Team during his spell in the sport.

New engine regulations for the 2026 has seen multiple manufacturers from around the globe be linked with joining the Formula 1 grid, but Abiteboul insists that Hyundai are not currently looking into this and will remain focused primarily on getting everything right in rallying.

“There is no particular plan,” Abiteboul is quoted as saying by Motorsport.com.  “Clearly, Hyundai is a company that is hot for a fantastic development at a global scale, with a new product line-up, a unique range and so on and so forth. And motorsport is here to support the business.

“So I need to understand, with the rest of the company, what the business needs, and how we can support it right now.  Rally has been the best solution in order to support small segment cars, segment A.

Formula 4 is getting the anime treatment. On Friday, Kadokawa Corporation and studio TROYCA announced the original anime Overtake!, which will follow a fictionalised F4 Japanese Championship. The GT Association, who organises Super GT and Japanese Formula 4, is also involved with the project. A release date was not immediately announced.

The F4 Japanese Championship was founded by the GT Association in 2014, and all of its races are held as support events to Super GT.

The series stars Anan Furuya as Haruka Asahina, a high school student who competes in F4 for Komaki Motors and has a part-time job as a newspaper delivery boy. Opposite Furuya will be Katsuyuki Konishi as Kōya Madoka, a freelance photographer who hopes to turn around his struggling career. The two cross paths when Kōya attends a Super GT race at Fuji Speedway in which Haruka is participating, and the former sees it as an opportunity to partner up to pursue their dreams.

Haruka will be Furuya’s first time voicing a main character in an anime. Most of his voice roles had been in supporting capacities like Dawn of the Witch, Futsal Boys!!!!!, and even background characters in the Japanese dub of Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore. His biggest role prior to Overtake! was Jutta Qasim, the protagonist of the mobile game Mobile Suit Gundam U.C. ENGAGE.

Konishi is a major personality in the anime scene, with his most popular characters including Kamina in Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann and Laxus Dreyar in Fairy Tail. He has also appeared in beloved shows like Bleach, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, and One Punch Man. Overtake! will be Konishi’s second sports role in the past year after the ongoing football series Blue Lock.

After fourteen long stages, the 2023 Dakar Rally has come to a close. The Checkered Flag closely followed each day with live coverage on social media and recaps published here.

Missed any of the reports and stories from before and during the race? Check them out below!

Stories

6 June 2022: 2023 Dakar Rally route revealed20 June 2022: KAMAZ-master presses on with rally raid programme despite invasion fallout28 June 2022: Saudi all-women SHERO Rally Team gears up for Italian Baja, aims for Dakar 202329 June 2022: Despite Russian uncertainty, SNAG Racing hopeful for Dakar 202323 July 2022: Van den Brinks receive Eurol backing, set for Dakar run with Team de Rooy26 July 2022: Nani Roma eyeing Rallye du Maroc, Dakar 2023 after cancer battle29 July 2022: Mixed feelings, uncertainty surround Dakar 2023 plans for KAMAZ, MAZ3 August 2022: Dakar 2023 Bike acceptances arrive for amateur newcomers9 August 2022: Thomas Kongshøj to become first Danish rider at Dakar since 201117 August 2022: Baja 1000 champion Francisco Arredondo joins Puma Energy Dakar triumvirate22 August 2022: INTERVIEW: Ace Nilson talks road to Dakar 202326 August 2022: Vaidotas Žala to pilot Prodrive Hunter at Dakar 202328 August 2022: Nico Stijnen to make Dakar début in 202331 August 2022: Molly Taylor enters Rallye du Maroc, Dakar 20232 September 2022: Audi reveals RS Q e-tron E26 September 2022: Luis Díaz qualifies for Dakar 2023 in Atacama Rally9 September 2022: Vladimir Chagin: KAMAZ-master “negotiating with” Dakar Rally on 2023 entry13 September 2022: Ignacio Casale departs Buggyra Racing after two years15 September 2022: Guerlain Chicherit, GCK Motorsport to run Prodrive Hunter at Dakar 2023, W2RC16 September 2022: Russia’s Zhiltsov, Kariakin hold differing views on Dakar 2023 entry conditions17 September 2022: Yasir Seaidan’s 2023 Dakar entry jeopardised by injury22 September 2022: Julien Ingrassia backs out of Dakar 202327 September 2022: Anastasiya Nifontova declines FIA Russian invasion condemnation, to skip Dakar 202328 September 2022: KAMAZ-master formally kills Dakar 2023 plans30 September 2022: Nikita Mazepin still holding out hope for Dakar 2023 entry30 September 2022: Nani Roma calls off Dakar 2023 effort7 October 2022: Toomas Triisa, Stefano Caimi qualify for Dakar 2023 at Rallye du Maroc8 October 2022: Buggyra Racing ends NASCAR Euro Series season to focus on Dakar 20239 October 2022: Gerard Farrés confirms Dakar 2023, Andalucia Rally entry15 October 2022: Sergei Kariakin lobbies to FIA’s Mohammed Ben Sulayem for end of invasion condemnation policy21 October 2022: Rallye du Maroc showing earns Ruben Saldaña Goñi a Dakar 2023 slot21 October 2022: Sodicars, Nebrija University collaborating on Dakar Rally challenger25 October 2022: Antanas Juknevičius calls off Dakar 2023 entry due to T1+ costs and supply27 October 2022: David Pearson secures Road to Dakar 2023 invite at Sonora Rally27 October 2022: Eryk Goczał receives licences ahead of Dakar 202330 October 2022: Carlos Checa, Laia Sanz join Astara Team for Dakar 20232 November 2022: M-Sport Ranger T1+ skipping Dakar 2023 though development continues7 November 2022: Sébastien Loeb Racing allies with Polaris, to field SSV for Xavier de Soultrait at 2023 Dakar Rally10 November 2022: Ottavio Missoni Jr. to make Dakar Rally début in 202310 November 2022: 144 riders receive numbers for 2023 Dakar Rally12 November 2022: Isle of Man TT winner James Hillier set for Dakar Rally début in 2023 Malle Moto14 November 2022: Hino Team Sugawara confirms Dakar 2023 effort despite parent’s emissions scandal15 November 2022: Team Land Cruiser Toyota Auto Body eyes 10th straight T2 win at Dakar15 November 2022: Spanish Rally Champion Sergio Vallejo making Dakar Rally debut in 202316 November 2022: Benediktas Vanagas upgrades to Toyota GR DKR Hilux T1+ for Dakar 202316 November 2022: European Bajas champion João Ferreira to make Dakar Rally début in 2023 with X-raid17 November 2022: With no FIA response, Sergei Kariakin confirms Dakar 2023 absence18 November 2022: 2023 Dakar Classic competitors total 187 across 91 entries20 November 2022: Josef Macháček transitions to advisory role at Buggyra for Dakar 202320 November 2022: Rally Raid Estonia to field duo of Dakar debutants in Urvo Männama, Toomas Triisa21 November 2022: Astara Team 01 Concept’s Dakar 2023 model modified from 2022 counterpart22 November 2022: Isidre Esteve brings Toyota Hilux T1+ to Dakar 202323 November 2022: Dakar 2023 Cars, Prototypes, SSVs, Trucks total 21824 November 2022: X-raid Team reveals 7-car stable for Dakar 2023 with newcomers Casale and Ferreira, 5 female pilots24 December 2022: Former Bike rider Helder Rodrigues returns to Dakar after 5 years, racing in T324 December 2022: Tomas Ouředníček gains Toyota factory backing, to run GR Hilux T1+ in 2023 and Dakar 202426 November 2022: Heels on Wheels team’s Dakar entry delayed to 20242 December 2022: 2023 Dakar Rally route breakdown released2 December 2022: Feryn Dakar Sport barred from 2023 Dakar Rally by FIA due to rollcage violations3 December 2022: Russians Krotov, Kuzmich, Zhiltsov ready for Dakar 2023 with new licences5 December 2022: KH-7 Epsilon truck to use hydrogen power for 2023 Dakar Rally8 December 2022: Martin Šoltys returns to Buggyra Tatra for Dakar 202312 December 2022: X-raid Team to race MINI Cooper Plus in T1+ at Dakar 202313 December 2022: Century Racing brings 10 cars to Dakar 2023, including 2 new CR6-Ts13 December 2022: Red Bull Can-Am Factory Team created ahead of 2023 Dakar Rally20 December 2022: Josef Macáček replaces injury-sidelined Yasmeen Koloc at Dakar 202322 December 2022: Appendicitis sidelines Konrad Dąbrowski for Dakar 202323 December 2022: INTERVIEW: Aliyyah Koloc prepares for Dakar Rally début29 December 2022: Julio Estanguet, Ignacio Sanchís withdraw from Dakar after late health incidents6 January: Yasir Seaidan penalised, faces disqualification for co-driver’s watch6 January: FIA clears Carlos Sainz Jr. for closing father’s door9 January: Erik van Loon remains committed to 2023 being final Dakar9 January: FIA penalties mount on rest day10 January: Spectator dies in accident during Stage 911 January: Aleš Loprais withdraws from Dakar after fatal accident

Overall winners

Class	Number	Competitor	Team	Time	Recap
T1	200	Nasser Al-Attiyah	Toyota Gazoo Racing	45:03:15	Recap
T2	250	Ronald Basso*	Team Land Cruiser Toyota Auto Body	107:39:42	Recap
T3	303	Austin Jones	Red Bull Off-Road Junior Team	51:55:53	Recap
T4	428	Eryk Goczał	EnergyLandia Rally Team	53:10:14	Recap
T5	502	Janus van Kasteren	Boss Machinery Team de Rooy IVECO	54:03:33	Recap
RallyGP	47	Kevin Benavides	Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	44:27:20	Recap
Rally2	17	Romain Dumontier	Team Dumontier Racing	47:03:58	Recap
Malle Moto	40	Charan Moore*	HT Rally Raid Husqvarna Racing	52:24:42	Recap
Quad	151	Alexandre Giroud*	Drag’on Rally Team	56:44:30	Recap
Classic	778	Juan Morera*	Toyota Classic	428 points	Recap

* – Not competing in World Rally-Raid Championship

Stage recaps

Stage	Date	Overall Cars winner	Overall Bikes winner	Recap
Prologue	31 December 2022	Mattias Ekström	Toby Price	Prologue
1	1 January 2023	Carlos Sainz	Ricky Brabec	Stage #1
2	2 January	Nasser Al-Attiyah	Mason Klein	Stage #2
3	3 January	Guerlain Chicherit	Daniel Sanders	Stage #3
4	4 January	Sébastien Loeb	Joan Barreda	Stage #4
5	5 January	Nasser Al-Attiyah	Adrien van Beveren	Stage #5
6	6 January	Nasser Al-Attiyah	Luciano Benavides	Stage #6
7	7 January	Yazeed Al-Rajhi	Cancelled due to rain	Stage #7
8	8 January	Sébastien Loeb	Ross Branch	Stage #8
9	10 January	Sébastien Loeb	Luciano Benavides	Stage #9
10	11 January	Sébastien Loeb	Ross Branch	Stage #10
11	12 January	Sébastien Loeb	Luciano Benavides	Stage #11
12	13 January	Sébastien Loeb	José Ignacio Cornejo	Stage #12
13	14 January	Sébastien Loeb	Kevin Benavides	Stage #13
14	15 January	Guerlain Chicherit	Kevin Benavides	Stage #14

The Dakar Classic is like a moving museum of racing history as competitors race through the deserts of Saudi Arabia in vehicles built between 1979 (the first year of the Dakar Rally) and 1999. It also stands out from the Rally in that one’s position is based on navigation ability rather than time, meaning the winner is determined by whoever has the fewest points like in golf.

As if it were a guerrilla army (or the Rally’s T2 category), Toyota Land Cruisers dominated the Classic. Six finished in the top ten with all but one being the HDJ80, a model of the Land Cruiser that peaked in the late 1980s and early 1990s, including a 1–2 finish led by Juan Morera. Morera and his wife Lidia Ruba Cuartero recorded 428 points, 101 fewer than Carlos Santaolalla, with two stage wins. It was a strong rebound for Morera, a businessman who raced a Fiat Panda in 2022 but was plagued by mechanical troubles.

“Reality has surpassed my dreams,” said Morera. “It sounds like a cliché, but it’s the plain truth. We knew we could do well, but everything went very well for us and that’s what allows you to win the Dakar.”

Land Cruisers swept the podium as Paolo Bedeschi was third in the BJ71, which existed at around the same time as the HDJ80.

“These days have been intense, tiring, challenging, but also full of emotions,” posted Bedeschi’s co-driver Daniele Bottallo. “We placed third overall in the Classic category and this pays off for all our efforts. The Dakar, the ‘toughest race in the world,’ tests you both physically and mentally. In addition to the medal and the trophy, I bring home many feelings, many good memories of exciting moments. Met many interesting people, saw beautiful landscapes, lived a dream.”