Autosport 3/10/2022

Max Verstappen is the 34th driver to win the world championship, and will bring #1 back to the Formula 1 grid for the first time since fellow Red Bull champion Sebastian Vettel’s final title defence in 2014. Verstappen claims that being champion makes no difference, that he won’t change. That’s in keeping with his public persona – he wouldn’t admit to the tweaks he made after some major errors early in 2018 – but, as Alex Kalinauckas shows on page 14, that can’t be the case. That’s not to say Verstappen will be any less impressive on track. If the Red Bull RB18 is competitive, there’s no reason to think he won’t be fighting at the front just as before. But being champion carries a certain gravitas, a responsibility – and the…

FORMULA 1 Formula 1 team Haas has been left searching for a new driver for 2022 after axeing Nikita Mazepin from its line-up in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Haas announced last weekend that it had terminated Mazepin’s contract along with its Uralkali title sponsorship agreement with immediate effect. “As with the rest of the Formula 1 community, the team is shocked and saddened by the invasion of Ukraine and wishes for a swift and peaceful end to the conflict,” said the team’s statement. Uralkali’s Russian-themed livery was removed from Haas’s car for the final day of pre-season testing at Barcelona. Team principal Gunther Steiner and other senior officials at Haas undertook a full review of the matter last week, leading to the decision to terminate the agreement. Mazepin’s father Dmitry…

LE MANS 24 HOURS/WEC Russian entrant G-Drive Racing’s sportscar programmes have been put on hold as a result of the fallout from the invasion of Ukraine by Russia. That means it won’t be competing in the World Endurance Championship, the European Le Mans Series or at the Le Mans 24 Hours. The move was confirmed last weekend by Roman Rusinov, team principal and driver with an operation that has competed in top-line sportscar racing since 2013 and won the WEC LMP2 class in 2015. He said in a short statement on his private Instagram account that members of the team “won’t compete for GDR” in 2022, and that “we are already looking at different projects to develop motorsports in our country”. Rusinov explained that he was unwilling to agree to the conditions laid…

FORMULA 1 Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen will stay with Red Bull until the end of the 2028 season after signing a five-year extension to his contract. Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has called the new deal a “real statement of intent” as the Milton Keynes squad maps out its future. The Dutchman already had a contract that covered the 2022 and 2023 seasons after a previous extension was announced in January 2020. The seven-year total duration of the new arrangement is believed to be the longest driver deal ever signed in F1. After winning the 2021 world championship, Verstappen joked that he wanted to stay with the team for the next “10 or 15 years”, and Red Bull motorsport boss Helmut Marko confirmed shortly afterwards that an extension was in…

WORLD ENDURANCE CHAMPIONSHIP Toyota has revealed the specification of the latest version of the GR010 HYBRID Le Mans Hypercar with which it will defend its World Endurance Championship titles in 2022. The car has the different-size wheels and tyres as predicted, as well as some visible aerodynamic changes. The switch of wheel sizes to the second option allowed within the rules (see Autosport, 24 February) has been confirmed. The two GR010s will run 12.5in fronts and 14in rears rather than the 13in all-round of the original iteration of the car that won the drivers’ and manufacturers’ Hypercar titles last year. Toyota Gazoo Racing Europe technical director Pascal Vasselon explained that the change has been designed “to address challenges we faced last season with management of the rear tyres”. No mention has been made of…

INDYCAR Global supply-chain difficulties with some hybrid-system components have persuaded IndyCar to delay the introduction of its next-generation engines by one year. IndyCar was set to move to larger 2.4-litre twin-turbo V6s with hybrid units at the start of next season, and Chevrolet-Ilmor and Honda Performance Development have been working to that deadline. Engines were originally due to begin testing in the first quarter of this year, with hybrid units from German company Mahle. But IndyCar’s decision to push the engines’ debut back to 2024 means the current 2.2-litre units are to soldier on for a 12th season. IndyCar president Jay Frye said: “We are very encouraged by the progress our team and our partners have made, but an immediate decision needed to be made to ensure we are prepared for the 2023…