Motorsports Racing News & Blog Articles

Mike Krack reckons Fernando Alonso’s own passion will increase the desire for the Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula 1 Team to improve after the Team Principal of the Silverstone-based team was impressed by the Spaniard during the post-season test in Abu Dhabi.

Alonso joined Aston Martin after two seasons with the BWT Alpine F1 Team, with the two-time World Champion replacing a four-time World Champion in Sebastian Vettel after the German announced he would be retiring at the end of the 2022 FIA Formula 1 World Championship season.

Krack was immediately impressed by Alonso during the post-season test at the Yas Marina Circuit last month, feeling the Spaniard has continued to show himself to be extremely dedicated and motivated despite debuting in Formula 1 way back in 2001.

“With Fernando, I always hold up this picture of the Mexico City Grand Prix of his frustration at not finishing seventh – this is an example of dedication and motivation,” Krack is quoted as saying by Racer.com.

“If you have someone with this passion and drive to win it has an impact on the team, we could really see that, how everyone was really happy to have this guy in the car last Tuesday.

Pierre Gasly does now know where his former team Scuderia AlphaTauri will be in the pecking order during the 2023 FIA Formula 1 World Championship season, with the Faenza-based squad set for a concept change with its AT04 chassis.

Gasly will move to the BWT Alpine F1 Team in 2023 and will be replaced by Dutchman Nyck de Vries, with the team enduring an extremely difficult 2022 season that saw them slip to ninth in the Constructors’ Championship, ahead only of Williams Racing.

The Frenchman scored only twenty-three points during 2022 on his way to fourteenth in the Drivers’ Championship, with only six top ten finishes, the best of which was a fifth place in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in June.

Despite this, and the fact he is moving away from AlphaTauri to join Alpine, Gasly is confident the team will come back stronger in 2023, and he is expecting the AT04 to be the best car they have developed.

Gasly hopes Alpine can improve on their fourth place in the Constructors’ Championship from 2022 next season, but he knows it is always difficult to predict the order from one year to another in Formula 1, particularly in the extremely close midfield.

Frédéric Vasseur will do a good job as Team Principal of Scuderia Ferrari, according to one of his new drivers, Carlos Sainz Jr.

Sainz has had his first chat with the incoming Team Principal, who has moved across from the same role at the Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN outfit to replace the outgoing Mattia Binotto for the 2023 FIA Formula 1 World Championship season.

It will be Vasseur’s third Team Principal job in Formula 1, with a single season with the Renault F1 Team in 2016 being followed by six years with the Sauber F1 Team/Alfa Romeo.

Sainz, who will begin his third season with Ferrari alongside Charles Leclerc in 2023, revealed Vasseur had wanted him to join Renault whilst he was leading the French team back in 2016, and after a brief chat with his new boss this week, he knows the Frenchman will do well at the helm of the team.

“I’ve heard very good things about him,” Sainz is quoted as saying by Motorsport.com.  “I know him personally, he already wanted to sign me to go to Renault.

Álex Palou insists his primary focus in 2023 will be reclaiming the NTT IndyCar Series title with Chip Ganassi Racing despite the Spaniard being confirmed as a reserve driver for the McLaren F1 Team.

Palou, the 2021 IndyCar champion, was involved in a tug-of-war battle between Ganassi and the Arrow McLaren SP during the 2022 season over his services for 2023, with both teams laying claim to a legally-binding contract with the Spaniard.  The outcome saw him remain with Ganassi for a third consecutive season whilst also involving some running with McLaren in Formula 1 machinery.

He tested three times with McLaren in 2022, twice in the 2021 MCL35M before making his free practice debut with the team in the opening session of the United States Grand Prix driving the MCL36.

Despite the confirmation that Palou will be part of the test driver rota for McLaren in 2023, he insists that IndyCar remains his priority and it will only be weekends where he is not racing for Chip Ganassi that he would be available to take up his reserve driver duties in the FIA Formula 1 World Championship.

“I’m 100 per cent in IndyCar,” Palou said to Motorsport.com. “When we announced [the McLaren F1 reserve driver role] we made it clear that I was going to be a reserve driver only when it didn’t coincide with the IndyCar program.

It has been a mighty fine week for Maserati MSG Racing and Maximilian Günther, who ended pre-season testing at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo, Valencia, in the same way he started it, on top.

Pre-season testing for Season Nine and the start of Gen3 for the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship has been truly intriguing, as it has become apparent fairly quickly who has developed the best powertrain on the grid. All the stars seem to be pointing at DS Automobiles, with Maserati and DS Penske having looked strong all week.

Morning Session: DS Penske seal one-three in strong session

It was double Formula E Champion Jean-Éric Vergne who topped the morning session on the final day, after posting a 1:25.248, with DS Penske having locked-out a one-three Friday morning with Stoffel Vandoorne having claimed third.

Rookie Jake Hughes claimed a brilliant second spot in the morning session, just four-hundredths behind the experienced Frenchman. Hughes was remarkably the only non-DS powered driver in the top five, as Günther claimed fourth with Edoardo Mortara in fifth. Jake Dennis claimed sixth for the Avalanche Andretti Formula E Team, despite having broken down earlier in the session. He was followed closely by fellow Brit Dan Ticktum, who rounded off the top seven.

Whilst it was a pleasurable morning for the NIO 333 FE Team, who continue to show promise, it was a nightmare start to the day for Envision Racing. Sébastian Buemi caused a red flag following a crash at Turn Four, whilst Nick Cassidy failed to even post a lap-time.

Mick Schumacher saw his chance at a seat in the 2023 FIA Formula One World Championship slip away with Haas F1 Team deciding not to renew his contract past 2022. Haas instead elected to bring Nico Hülkenberg back into the F1 ranks, leaving Schumacher on the sideline. Since then, It has been announced that he will be joining Mercedes in a reserve role, with Schumacher intent on remaining involved in F1.

Reviewing Schumacher’s time with Haas F1 Team

In reflecting on Schumacher’s F1 career up until this point, it is clear that it was at times tumultuous, as he himself attests to. Schumacher got his start with Haas at a time when the team was struggling from both a financial and performance standpoint– the team had a difficult 2020 season, only scoring three points and finishing ninth in the constructor’s championship.

As a result, Haas decided to shake things up with an all-rookie lineup of Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin in 2021, which was a monetarily strategic move for the team. This season, however, marked Haas’ worst performance since entering F1, finishing last in the constructor’s with zero points. 

Haas couldn’t get off the ground when it came to performance, which meant that both Schumacher and his team-mate were left to flounder at the back of the field. With this, it was particularly difficult to size up his individual ability. 

Schumacher outperformed Mazepin by a comfortable margin, beating him out nineteen to three in qualifying and sixteen to five in race results. He did, however, suffer some rookie woes in 2021, from spins to race-day tangles. Ultimately, his 2021 performance left fans wanting to see more from the German driver, particularly in a competitive car.

Laurent Rossi has said that both Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly will be ‘losers’ if they crash each other out during the 2023 FIA Formula 1 World Championship season as the two Frenchman become team-mates at the BWT Alpine F1 Team.

Gasly has moved across from Scuderia AlphaTauri to replace the Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula 1 Team-bound Fernando Alonso to join Ocon at the Enstone-based team, and the two have openly admitted in the past they have not had the best of relationships coming through the junior formulae.

Although both have subsequently said that they are happy to work alongside each other and be professional about it, Rossi, the CEO of Alpine, says they will not tolerate any issues between Ocon and Gasly that would negatively affect the team.

“If any problems come up, they (Ocon and Gasly) will be the losers because everyone expects that and many think they are big kids,” Rossi is quoted as saying to French publication L’Equipe by PlanetF1.  “There they can show that they have transformed into mature leaders.

“At the end of the contract, they will approach 30 years [of age], they must not mess up because it is dangerous to find yourself pushed out of a team because you haven’t shown sufficient maturity. Both are aware of this and they have affirmed it to me individually and together.”

With Michael McDowell on the best two-year stretch of his career by a wide margin and Todd Gilliland entering his sophomore run, it comes with little surprise that Front Row Motorsports will keep the duo in the #34 and #38 Ford Mustangs for the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season.

While the drivers remain the same, they will have new names calling the shots for them. Travis Peterson will work as McDowell’s crew chief, coming over from Ford ally RFK Racing where he was the engineer for Chris Buescher’s #17. Ryan Bergenty becomes Gilliland’s crew chief after working as McDowell’s car chief. McDowell’s 2021 crew chief Blake Harris was hired by Hendrick Motorsports to work with Alex Bowman while Seth Barbour is promoted from the #38’s pit box to team technical director.

“Michael and Todd are an intricate part of continuing our NASCAR Cup Series success in 2023,” commented team manager Jerry Freeze. “Michael and the #34 team are coming off a record year, and we believe with Travis Peterson, they will only build on that success and have an even better season.

“Todd showed us growth in his rookie campaign. The addition of Ryan as the crew chief, and the promotion of Seth, we believe we’re making changes to give Todd what he needs to improve.”

After racing in inferior equipment for much of his Cup career, McDowell’s fortunes took a turn for the significantly better when he won the Daytona 500 in 2021 and made the playoffs. He backed up the year with an even better 2022 statistical campaign as he more than doubled his top tens (twelve in 2022 versus five the previous year). Had it not been for a 100-point penalty that relegated him to twenty-third in the standings, he would have finished in the top twenty.

In 2018, ThorSport Racing switched to Ford after spending six years with Toyota, only to return to the latter in 2021. After two seasons, the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series team has rejoined the Blue Oval for 2023.

“With twenty-eight years in the Truck Series, we look forward to the partnership with Ford Performance in NASCAR,” said team owner Duke Thorson. “Our pursuit of wins and championships remains at the forefront of our objectives.”

Despite only spending three years with Ford, ThorSport won the 2019 championship with Matt Crafton. It was their third of four total titles in the Truck Series, with the other three—most recently in 2021 with Ben Rhodes—coming with Toyota.

ThorSport raced with Chevrolet prior to 2012, meaning they have used all three current manufacturers.

As part of their new alliance, ThorSport also claims dibs on Ford Performance’s driver development programme. As such, Hailie Deegan has joined the team after spending the last three years with David Gilliland Racing. She finished twenty-first in the 2022 standings with two top tens while winning Most Popular Driver.

After Maximilian Günther topped the first two days of pre-season testing at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo, Valencia, a new name finally ended a session on top, as Norman Nato went fastest on the third day of running.

Nato’s top spot would’ve thoroughly pleased the Nissan Formula E Team, with the Frenchman having actually looked very solid throughout the test so far. Nato, who is returning to the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship following a year out, went fastest with a 1:25.776, with Mahindra Racing‘s Oliver Rowland just behind in second.

The Brit was just a tenth behind the Frenchman following the close of the third day’s running, with Sébastian Buemi claiming third for Envision Racing, following a mixed pre-season so far. It meant that DS Automobiles didn’t have one of their powertrains in the top three for the first session so far of the official test; however, Edoardo Mortara ensured that there was one in the top four.

Mortara claimed fourth for Maserati MSG Racing, whilst his team-mate ended the third day in nineteenth and a couple of seconds off the pace. Mitch Evans and Sam Bird claimed fifth and sixth for Jaguar TCS Racing, with the DS Penske duo of Stoffel Vandoorne and Jean-Éric Vergne right behind in eighth and ninth respectively.

In between the Jaguar’s and DS Penske’s was Robin Frijns, who has been working well with the new ABT CUPRA Formula E Team outfit. Rounding off the top ten was top rookie Jake Hughes, who has looked solid all week so far for the NEOM McLaren Formula E Team. The Brit certainly looks comfortable in the all-electric series, with him having been a regular top ten finisher in testing so far.

It has been announced that Mick Schumacher will be Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team‘s reserve driver for the upcoming 2023 FIA Formula 1 World Championship season.

Schumacher lost his seat in Formula 1 last month when it was confirmed by the Haas F1 Team that they had decided to replace the 2020 F2 champion with a veteran of the sport in Nico Hülkenberg.

Many fans were sceptical over this decision by Haas as Schumacher is a talented young driver who carries a very successful and important name within the sport. However, with that comes expectation and pressure to perform, which lead to Team Principal Guenther Steiner choosing a more experienced line up for next season.

On the other hand, Mercedes’ Team Principal Toto Wolff has spoken openly and positively about the German driver and his family with his father Michael Schumacher, his uncle Ralf Schumacher and cousin David Schumacher all previously racing for the Mercedes team across motorsport.

Wolff is delighted to have Schumacher join the team, believing that he has all the qualities to learn and improve with the team and the two years of experience that he already has in the sport will make him ready to step into the car if needed to.

It has been confirmed that Scuderia Ferrari and Mick Schumacher have decided to end their collaboration, with the German leaving the Ferrari Driver Academy after four years together.

Schumacher joined the prancing horse back in 2019 where he was a part of their young driver programme. A year later, the German driver would go on to win the 2020 FIA Formula 2 Championship with the Prema Racing team, winning three races to secure the title ahead of current NTT IndyCar Series star Callum Ilott and current Scuderia AlphaTauri driver Yuki Tsunoda.

In 2021, he was given a seat in the FIA Formula 1 World Championship with the Haas F1 Team. With Ferrari being an engine supplier to Haas, it made perfect sense for Schumacher to join the team and gain some experience at the pinnacle of the sport. However, Haas’ decision to focus purely on developing their 2022 car meant his first season was one fighting at the very back of the field.

Schumacher’s second session was better, and overall across his two seasons with the team, he started fourty-three races and scored twelve points. He finished in sixth place at the Red Bull Ring and in eighth place at Silverstone, but his season was blighted by high-profile and high-speed crashes during the Saudi Arabian and Monaco Grand Prix weekends.

His departure confirmed the rumours from earlier in the season that Schumacher would lose the backing of Ferrari at the end of the season, and the German also lost his Haas seat at the end of the year to Nico Hülkenberg.

Nico Hülkenberg knows he will need three months of ‘hardcore preparation’ ahead of his return to the FIA Formula 1 World Championship in 2023 after his first test with the Haas F1 Team last month left him struggling physically.

The German has been out of full-time racing in Formula since the end of the 2019 season, with Hülkenberg restricted to just five outings for COVID-19-hit drivers in that time, three for the BWT Racing Point Formula 1 Team in 2020 and two for the Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team in 2022.

Hülkenberg, who will replace Mick Schumacher at Haas in 2023, completed one hundred and ten laps of the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi in the post-season test, and he admitted that by the end of the day, he was suffering with some ‘human degradation’, although he was expecting that after so long out of racing.

“It’s not just the neck, it’s the body, too – the glutes have to work a lot,” Hulkenberg is quoted as saying by Racer.com. “It was hard, tough, was feeling some human degradation towards the end of the day, but that was to be expected.

“I coped better than I expected to be honest, so that’s good. Three months of hardcore preparation now.

Life in the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship has started beautifully for Maserati MSG Racing, as it was Maximilian Günther who once again ended the day top of the timesheets at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo, Valencia.

The German driver who departed the Nissan Formula E Team at the end of Season Eight to join Maserati, has started pre-season in fine fashion, having topped all three completed sessions so far. It certainly gives the impression that the Italian carmaker aren’t in the series to simply make up the numbers, with Günther having set the quickest lap ever completed at the circuit in a Formula E car.

Following Günther’s 1:25.449, was reigning World Champion Stoffel Vandoorne who appears to be getting on with DS Penske swimmingly; however, he was over a quarter of a second behind the rapid German.

Third was taken by Norman Nato in his Nissan, after enjoying a strong session in the Spanish sun following a difficult opening day of pre-season. The DS powertrain certainly appears to be working well, with fourth having been taken by Jean-Éric Vergne, making it two DS Penske’s in the top four and three DS powertrains in the top four.

It was actually four DS powertrains in the top five, as Edoardo Mortara claimed fifth just ahead of Robin Frijns. Perhaps the star of the day, though, was rookie Jake Hughes, who has looked super so far in Valencia.

Trident have confirmed that Oliver Goethe will join Gabriel Bortoleto in their 2023 FIA Formula 3 lineup, making the step up from Euroformula Open, after clinching the 2022 title.

This won’t be Goethe’s first F3 rodeo, as he participated in race weekends in Budapest and Spa-Francorchamps during the 2022 season, for Campos Racing.

Goethe impressed in his short Formula 3 stint, particularly at Spa, where he secured an incredible 4th place in the feature race.

The eighteen-year-old also impressed during Formula 3 post-season testing in Jerez, where he completed all three days of the test in Trident machinery.

Trident team principal Giacomo Ricci expressed his delight at their new signing as he said, “We are extremely proud to have him in our line-up for 2023 in FIA Formula 3 Championship and we look forward to a new season together.