Motorsports Racing News & Blog Articles

Alexander Albon believes his 2022 FIA Formula 1 World Championship season was his strongest one to date, even though he was racing towards the back of the grid with Williams Racing.

The Thai driver returned to the grid in 2022 after sitting out the 2021 season, with Albon forced to compete sparingly in the DTM Series after Oracle Red Bull Racing opted to replace him with Sergio Pérez.

Albon scored half of Williams eight points in 2022 courtesy of a ninth-place finish in the Miami Grand Prix and tenth place finishes in Australia and Belgium.  But despite the lack of chances to score points, he feels his year with Williams was stronger compared to his two years racing for the Red Bull family in 2019 and 2020.

“I think it’s been a tricky one in some respects,” said Albon to Motorsport.com.  “I feel like personally speaking, it’s been a very positive year. I think it’s been my strongest year in F1. I haven’t done many years, but out of the three, it’s my strongest one.

“And I feel like I’ve developed as a driver, which is really the main thing. And I feel like, with the experience that I’ve learned over the last few years, I’ve been able to apply it in the right ways.

Charles Leclerc has pinpointed three key elements that Scuderia Ferrari need to improve on ahead of the 2023 FIA Formula 1 World Championship season, elements that heavily affected them during 2022.

Leclerc started 2022 superbly, taking victories in Bahrain and Australia either side of a second-place finish in Saudi Arabia, but ultimately, Oracle Red Bull Racing had a much better season than Ferrari, with their rivals taking seventeen of the twenty-two race victories available.

Max Verstappen swept to his second consecutive Drivers’ Championship thanks to taking a record breaking fifteen of those victories, with Leclerc forced to battle the other Red Bull of Sergio Pérez for second place, a battle he would just about win by three points.

Leclerc says Ferrari’s reliability cost them valuable points, not only for the races that he retired from (he retired from the Azerbaijan and Spanish Grand Prix from the lead with mechanical issues) but the grid penalties engine component changes cost them later in the season.

He also felt some of the strategy calls made by the team during the season were questionable, while he admitted Ferrari also did not have all the answers when it came to tyre management with Pirelli’s new eighteen-inch tyres.

Christian Horner says Max Verstappen kept Oracle Red Bull Racing in contention at the beginning of the 2022 FIA Formula 1 World Championship season despite Scuderia Ferrari beginning the year with the quicker car.

Ferrari won two of the opening three races of the year in Bahrain and Australia, with Verstappen retiring from those two races following mechanical problems.  However, the Dutchman was able to win the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix after a great battle with Charles Leclerc, and he was always the thorn in Ferrari’s side from there on.

Horner, the Team Principal at Red Bull, believes that Verstappen’s performances prevented Ferrari from running away at the front of the championship early on, and it allowed the team to consolidate their own position and then go on full-attack, with the Dutchman grabbing any opportunity that presented itself to him with both hands.

“I think Max, after winning that first world championship last year — which was like a heavyweight bout from the first race to the last race — again has made another step forward as a driver,” Horner is quoted as saying by Racer.com.

“He’s driven with such maturity, with such composure, and he’s delivered some massive wins under huge pressure.

Guenther Steiner says the MoneyGram Haas F1 Team will find it difficult to rotate their staff during the 2023 FIA Formula 1 World Championship season, especially compared to some of the bigger teams on the grid.

2023 currently has twenty-four planned races, although one of those, the Chinese Grand Prix, has been cancelled and no replacement venue has been announced.  Whether it is twenty-three or twenty-four races, it will still be the longest season in Formula 1 history.

Haas remain one of the smallest teams on the grid with one of the fewest levels of staff, and as such, they will not be able to switch around their mechanics and engineers across race weekends to give them a rest during the season. 

Other teams are in the same boat, but the likes of Oracle Red Bull Racing, Scuderia Ferrari and the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team will have the luxury of rotating their staff across the season.

Steiner, the Team Principal at Haas, says he enjoys going to all the races and will only likely be absence in the case of illness, but he says the status of the team will not allow them to give race weekends off to their staff.

Carl Cox is one of the most renowned disc jockeys in the dance music scene and also has a deep interest in motorsport. This love for racing will translate into him becoming the newest Extreme E team owner when Carl Cox Motorsport makes their début in 2023. A driver lineup was not immediately announced.

“To have the opportunity to be part of something so dynamic on four wheels is a dream come true,” said Cox. “Racing, like music, is in my blood and I’m going to bring my passion and energy into this series and build something special.

“Participating in electric racing is new to me but I’m a fast learner and will bring my hard earned know how and experience into the mix at Extreme E. Carl Cox Motorsports is here to take on all comers and we are going to jump straight in. We are in it to win it.”

Since 2013, Carl Cox Motorsport has mainly competed in motorcycle road racing in Britain and Oceania, spearheaded by 21-time Isle of Man TT winner Michael Dunlop, as well as circuit competition by backing Max Cook in the British Superbike Championship. The team maintains a presence in sidecar and drag racing as well, the latter of which Cox dabbles in. Cox also oversees the Carl Cox Motorsport Cup for aspiring New Zealand motorcycle racers.

In June, Cox was a guest at the Island X Prix in Sardinia, where he became acquainted with the paddock and played a DJ set. His manager Alon Shulman will lead the XE programme as team director.

The last time Dale Earnhardt Jr. ran a NASCAR race at Bristol Motor Speedway, he was in his final season as a full-time driver. Over five years later, he will return to the Tennessee short track as he pilots the #88 Chevrolet Camaro for his JR Motorsports team in the Xfinity Series race on 15 September. Unilever will sponsor his car for the start.

“We’ve been partners with Unilever since the very early days of JR Motorsports,” said Earnhardt. “They’ve been with us as our programme has grown and been an important part of our success, on and off the track. They’re a key component of our company. I’m grateful for their support, and I’m happy to watch our partnership continue to grow.”

The two-time Xfinity champion has twelve starts in the series at Bristol, winning from the pole in 2004. His most recent foray came in 2017 where he finished thirteenth, a night before placing twenty-third in the Cup Series Night Race and what is his most recent NASCAR start there to date.

Since retiring from full-time racing at the end of 2017, he has sporadically returned to the Xfinity Series with one start per year. In 2022, he finished eleventh in his lone race for the year at Richmond.

Earnhardt has two races planned for 2023, with the second’s location yet to be revealed. The other start will come with sponsorship from Bass Pro Shops.

The 2023 Race of Champions on 28/29 January will see the introduction of the new CUPRA UrbanRebel Racing Concept as one of the available vehicles ahead of its rollout in 2025.

The UrbanRebel is built on Volkswagen’s MEB (Modularer E-Antriebs-Baukasten) electric car platform, which CUPRA and sister company SEAT rely on for their production models. It runs on 250 kW of power with 320 kW as its peak, enabling it to reach 100 km/h in 3.2 seconds. The racing version shares much of the same traits save for nuances in aerodynamics to improve motorsport performance.

“The CUPRA UrbanRebel Racing Concept is the personification of what is achievable when you combine racing and electrification, and the Race of Champions is the ultimate event to show the excitement it can deliver with the best drivers from around the world behind the wheel,” said CUPRA Director of Strategy and Business Operations Antonino Labate.

In 2022, the Race of Champions used the Polaris RZR and Porsche 718 Cayman GT4, along with more off-road-savvy rallycross machines in Olsbergs MSE’s Supercar Lites, RX2e, and the Nitro Rallycross FC1-X. The FC1-X used ROC to test its racing capabilities ahead of more increased action with the 2022/23 Nitro RX season.

ROC will take place in Pite Havsbad, Sweden.

This weekend’s season-opening race of Gen3 of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship marks a special weekend for ABT Sportsline, who are returning to the all-electric series following a year away.

The Mexico City E-Prix will see ABT Sportsline and Spanish automaker Cupra tackle the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez together, in their partnership as the ABT CUPRA Formula E Team. The Kempten-based side endured a mixed pre-season, with Robin Frijns and Nico Mueller having had minimal running in Mahindra Racing‘s M9Electro, with ABT Cupra being a customer team of the Anglo-Indian team for Gen3.

Despite being incredibly experienced in the championship, given that they are a founding partner of Formula E, ABT Cupra Team Principal Thomas Biermaier has admitted that the start of Gen3 feels like “the first day of school”, but that their competitors should know very well “what we are capable of”.

“Even though we are starting the season with the experience of seven years and more than 80 Formula E races, the kick-off is still a bit like the first day at school.

“Despite all our successes in the past, we are now coming back to the series in the new role of underdog and challenger. But even though we have respect for the strong competition, we are all now looking forward to finally getting out on the racetrack. And anyone who knows ABT knows what we are capable of with our small but committed team.”

The returning ABT Sportsline are preparing for the season-opening race of the 2023 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, with the famous company ready for their partnership with Spanish automaker Cupra, forming the ABT CUPRA Formula E Team for the start of Gen3 and the Mexico City E-Prix.

The side have recruited a driver line-up they have previously worked with, with Robin Frijns and Nico Mueller having raced for ABT during their DTM days. For Season Nine, Frijns has made the switch from Envision Racing, with the Dutch driver being a real asset to ABT Cupra for the upcoming season. Frijns is more than capable of producing strong results; however, if pre-season testing is anything to go by, then the team will be one to watch come the end of the season, not the start.

Frijns is aware that the season opener is a “big challenge” for the returning side, who experienced plenty of issues during pre-season testing.

“We didn’t spend much time in the race car before this season, so the season opener in Mexico will certainly be a big challenge for our team. We have to approach it step by step. But if we don’t make any mistakes and the car plays along, we’re also in a position to drive for good points.”

Mexico City fans “give an extra dose of motivation” – Nico Mueller

Alongside Frijns is former DTM team-mate Mueller, who is returning to Formula E having not raced in the series since the Season Seven Monaco E-Prix. The Swiss driver might feel like he has a point to prove in his returning season, with the thirty year-old seemingly in the best outfit to prove what he can do, given his history with ABT.

The TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team are aware of how important “gaining positive momentum” is going to be this season, with Season Nine and Gen3 of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship set to begin this weekend at the Mexico City E-Prix. Porsche’s Formula E Director Factory Florian Modlinger is eager for the German manufacturer to “show more consistency” in the all-electric series, with the German giant’s yet to really show what they can do in the championship.

Given Porsche’s motorsport pedigree, it is remarkable to think that they’ve claimed just one win across the last three seasons of the series, with the Stuttgart-based outfit having been a midfield team at best.

There is no hiding the fact that a team with Porsche’s resources shouldn’t be battling in the midfield, something that Modlinger seemingly recognises. Pre-season for Gen3 has been a challenge for Porsche, who haven’t hidden their criticism of how “little time” teams have been given to switch from Gen2 to Gen3, with the new cars being drastically different to their predecessors.

Porsche’s Gen3 challenger, the 99X Electric, has had its difficulties in the build-up to Mexico City, with the side likely hoping that they don’t run into any technical issues at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez. Modlinger is aware that starting Season Nine on the front foot will be vital to a positive campaign, but that the team won’t know the true pecking order “until after the qualifying session”.

“The preparation coming out of season 8 was very labour intensive. We had very little time to get familiar with our new car and refine it on the racetrack. At the end of the day, we’re satisfied with the development and we’re feeling well-prepared for Mexico. We won’t know where we stand in terms of performance until after the qualifying session. The better start you get to the season, the greater the chance of gaining positive momentum and riding the emotional wave that propels you to more successes.”

Pascal Wehrlein is “really looking forward” to the start of Season Nine and Gen3 of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, with the Mexico City E-Prix kicking-off what is set to be a thrilling year for the all-electric championship.

The German driver is remaining with the German manufacturer for a third season, with this weekend’s host, the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, being a very happy hunting ground for the ex-Formula 1 driver. Wehrlein famously claimed pole position at last year’s Mexico City E-Prix, where he then went on to claim his and Porsche’s first win in the all-electric championship. Whilst that result was in Gen2 machinery, it will give Wehrlein plenty of confidence heading into the weekend.

Pre-season testing was mixed for Porsche, with the German side having set less than convincing times; however, Wehrlein did perform well during the pre-season mock-race. The German driver has admitted himself ahead of the season opener that the team “faced a lot of challenges” during the pre-season test, mainly due to there being so much to learn with the new cars.

Despite this, Wehrlein is confident that the team’s Gen3 challenger, the Porsche 99X Electric, has got “potential”.

“I’m really looking forward to racing again and being able to pit ourselves against the other teams. Our new car has a lot of potential. We’re still at the very beginning. We faced a lot of challenges at the Valencia tests because a lot of the Gen3 car is new, such as its second powertrain. Plus, we have a new tyre manufacturer. But at the same time, this gives us a lot of opportunities to improve. I expect we’ll make great headway as the season progresses.”

Maserati MSG Racing looked like the real deal in pre-season testing, with many expecting the Italian manufacturer to be towards the front this weekend at the season-opening race of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship.

The Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez is hosting the first race of Season Nine and the Gen3 era of the all-electric series, with Maserati Team Principal James Rossiter hopeful that his side can “deliver a strong result”, after looking incredibly strong during pre-season testing. This weekend’s Mexico City E-Prix will give the entire paddock a real idea of who are the teams to beat, with many expecting Maserati to be one of those.

If pre-season testing is anything to go by, then the Monte-Carlo based outfit should be a team to keep an eye on this weekend, after Maximilian Günther and Edoardo Mortara produced strong lap-times at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo, Valencia. Günther is a driver in particular who many are expecting to be quick this weekend, after the German topped five of the seven sessions during pre-season testing.

With this weekend being the first race of the new era of Formula E, though, anything can happen, with reliability gremlins expected to play a huge part across the weekend.

Whilst pre-season testing was very “promising” for Maserati, Rossiter knows that what happened in Valencia “counts for nothing”, with “race performance” being the be-all and end-all.

Edoardo Mortara and Maximilian Günther enter the first round of the ninth season of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship on the back of an incredible pre-season; however, Mortara has warned that it’s vital for Maserati MSG Racing to “focus on ourselves”.

Maserati looked very impressive during pre-season testing at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo, Valencia, with many expecting the Monte-Carlo-based team to be towards the front this weekend at the Mexico City E-Prix, as the Gen3 challengers are fully released. Focusing on Mortara, the 2022 third-place finisher enjoyed a solid week in Valencia and ended the test as the ninth quickest driver, although, his package was capable of much better.

The Swiss driver enters the new era of the sport having remained with the team during their off-season rebranding from ROKIT Venturi Racing to Maserati MSG Racing, with the side looking incredibly stylish with the famous trident on the nose of the Maserati Tipo Folgore.

Mortara will be hoping to start the new season in the best way possible, with the thirty-six year old being “confident” that a “strong result” can be achieved at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez on Saturday.

“I’m really looking forward to Mexico City and starting my sixth season in Formula E. Last year, we took a big step forward in performance as a team, and with the Gen3 car, we’re at a new stage of discovery in electric vehicle technology and we’re nearly starting from scratch. It’s very different to drive, and the increased power under braking and acceleration makes for an enjoyable challenge behind the wheel.
 
“We were fortunate to have a solid pre-season test in Valencia, but the real work will begin in Mexico City. In Formula E, the margins are super tight, and it will be very hard to identify who will be the team to beat at this stage. Because of this, it’s important for us to focus on ourselves and make sure that our technical package is the best it possibly can be. If we stay grounded, work hard and focus on our own performance, I’m confident that we can go on to achieve strong results.”

Excitement ran high for the start of the 2023 NASCAR Whelen Euro Series season as 4/5 March was to see the inaugural Arctic Ice Race in Rovaniemi, Finland. However, supply chain woes have forced it to be indefinitely postponed, the series announced Tuesday.

“It is really unfortunate and we feel sorry for all the NASCAR fans eagerly waiting for this event to take place,” said series head Jérôme Galpin, who is currently in Saudi Arabia competing in the Dakar Classic. “With the current situation, it is difficult to get every component we need to prepare the cars for this kind of event. As we do for all the events of the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series, we want to deliver with the Ice Race the best possible experience for everyone at the track and at home, so we prefer to take the time to have optimal conditions. This event should be the highlight of a new concept and we want it to be perfect.”

Galpin tested a EuroNASCAR FJ car in Val Thorens, France, in March 2021 to see if the vehicle is capable of racing on snow and ice. The test proved to be a success and the race was initially planned as a postseason exhibition in 2022 before being delayed to the start of 2023.

Had the exhibition race taken place as planned, it would have featured a unique format that borrows pages from rallycross such as heat races and a knockout time-based bracket. The series also hoped to change the track layout with each day.

Shortages have wreaked havoc on the worldwide supply chain since 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and Russian invasion of Ukraine. Since the Euro Series competes on pavement, the situation presented too many problems with building the cars for the icy environment.

Stage #9 of the Dakar Rally was overshadowed by tragedy when a spectator died of injuries sustained in an accident. Race overseer Amaury Sport Organisation confirmed the news following the stage on Tuesday. Further details were not immediately disclosed.

“A spectator of Italian origin who was behind a dune had an accident on the rally course,” reads a statement from the ASO. “He was evacuated by helicopter for medical assistance but unfortunately died during the transfer.”

The accident marked the fifth death at Dakar since its move to Saudi Arabia in 2020, with at least one having occurred every year. Competitors Paulo Gonçalves (cardiac arrest) and Edwin Straver (neck injuries sustained in a crash) died in 2020, followed by Pierre Cherpin for head trauma following a wreck in 2021. Last year, Dakar Classic mechanic Quentin Lavallée was killed in an accident during the liaison phase on the final day of the race.

76 in total are known to have died in various incidents since the Dakar Rally’s inaugural edition in 1979. Race founder Thierry Sabine passed away in a helicopter crash during the 1986 race.