Car FYI

Photo Credit: Unnamed Photographer/Pirelli untitled In Formula 1's last race in Monza, the sport’s long-running McLaren Racing team completed its gradual return to the top echelon of the sport when Daniel Ricciardo spectacularly took the Italian Grand Prix . Lando Norris finishing second reinforced McLaren’s triumph with the 21-year-old British driver comforted by the likeliest case scenario that he’s in the early stage of a long career in Formula 1 where he stands close to his own success. While that was a thought two weekends ago in Italy, Norris wasted little time after the strong Italian Grand Prix performance to add a major professional milestone. Rain prior to Saturday’s qualifying at the 5.848-kilometer Sochi Autodrom for the 53-lap Russian Grand Prix made the time trial session tricky for competitors. The showers were so heavy that they caused the cancellation of the third and final practice earlier in the day but qualifying took place af...

Photo Credit: Steve Etherington for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd. untitled Despite the best efforts of the 20 Formula 1 drivers and teams, the ultimate winner of this weekend racing at Belgium’s Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps was the weather. Complicating Saturday’s qualifying for the 2021 Belgian Grand Prix by soaking the fast Eau Rouge section of the popular race track, rain continued into Sunday greatly hindering what was supposed to have been a 44-lap event. Instead of pole sitter Max Verstappen leading the field with his #33 Red Bull Racing RB16B race car, the vehicle at the front during the limited laps around the course was the safety car. In fact, the lap count at the end of the Belgium Grand Prix would be a series record for the shortest grand prix ever to be run by Formula 1. Conditions ahead of the start Belgian Grand Prix instantly signalled how miserable the weather competitors, track workers and race fans would have to endure as Formula 1 attempted ...

Photo Credit: Charles Coates/LAT Images/Pirelli untitled The duet performance of 20 high-performance turbocharged gasoline and an electric power unit takes to the stage at Belgium’s Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps after nearly a month-long hiatus. A favourite track among Formula 1 drivers and fans, the 20-turn, 7.004-kilometer (4.352-mile) race track is a venue many would like to claim victory. Spa-Francorchamps is also known for being tricky and potentially dangerous place to compete. A six-car accident in qualifying for the W Series companion event on the Belgian Grand Prix weekend highlighted the course’s fast and challenging Eau Rouge section. Formula 1 cars’ Saturday qualifying combined the element of rain showers reducing the predictability of grip on the track surface and would contribute to some major surprises for setting the grid for the 44-lap main event on Sunday. With the conclusion of the Q1 and Q2 in qualifying at Spa-Francorchamps, Bri...

untitled Photo Credit: Clive Rose/Getty Images/Red Bull Content Pool At the beginning of the 2021 Formula 1 season, it was hoped upon by many parties that Red Bull Racing would mount a consistently competitive battle with the juggernaut that is the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team. Although that seemed to have been the case in the earlier grand prix events in 2021, the races since the Monaco Grand Prix has instead shown Red Bull Racing potentially rediscovering their pre-2014 form while displacing the long dominant German factory team. Ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix, the squad fielding drivers Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez has been on a four-race win streak. Claiming three of the victories in Red Bull Racing’s recent tear is Verstappen who entered the second race of the season at the 4.318-kilometer Red Bull Ring course winner of the previous week’s Styrian Grand Prix . Though Mercedes-AMG showed the potential of matching their Honda-powered rival on pace th...

Photo Credit: Unnamed photographer/Pirelli The 2021 Formula 1 tour arrived in Austria this past weekend for the first of two events held on the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg. A grand prix created last year as a result of the disrupted Formula 1 calender caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Styrian Grand Prix has made a return for the 2021 season after the cancellation of the Canadian Grand Prix that was to be run on June 13 th due to COVID-19 related restrictions. A 71-lap event on the 10-turn, 4.318-kilometer Austrian circuit features many elevation changes and some of the shortest lap times on the grand prix schedule. In Saturday qualifying at the Red Bull Ring Max Verstappen secured home track advantage. After registering fastest times in both Friday practice sessions, the #33 Red Bull Racing RB16B driven by the Dutch pilot took pole with a 1-minute, 3.841-second lap time in the Q3 session. Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team driver Valtteri Bottas recorded the second-fastes...