Autosport

It’s been a sorry past week in motorsport, with flooding forcing the cancellation of the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, racism over the radio in NASCAR and fatal shootings in the Baja California Rally (page 9). In Formula 1’s case, at least we can say that lessons have been learned since the 2020 Australian GP. As Alex Kalinauckas explains on p16, all the right decisions seem to be made in good time. Looking forward, various teams will have updates for the Monaco GP this weekend and the nature of the circuit – and relative strengths of the Aston Martin AMR23 and Ferrari SF-23 – mean it might not be a foregone conclusion. If Fernando Alonso or Charles Leclerc are going to defeat the dominant Red Bulls this year, this could be their chance. The…

INDIANAPOLIS 500 Chip Ganassi fought hard in the courts last year when Alex Palou wanted to leave to join Arrow McLaren, and pole position for the 107th Indy 500 underlined why he was so determined to keep him. Palou’s Honda-powered CGR machine produced a sensational four-lap run of 234.217mph in the Fast Six shootout to beat Rinus VeeKay’s Chevrolet-motivated Ed Carpenter Racing machine by 0.006mph, which translates to 0.004 seconds. That’s the second-closest gap between first and second in qualifying since Ryan Briscoe and James Hinchcliffe were separated by half that in 2012. Felix Rosenqvist completed the front row for this weekend’s race for McLaren, the team that Palou is still widely expected to join next season. Amazingly, it was the Spaniard’s first oval pole and only the 2021 champion’s second in IndyCar…

FORMULA 1 Honda will return to Formula 1 in 2026 as the works engine supplier to Aston Martin. The Japanese manufacturer was listed by the FIA in February as a registered party for the new power unit rules cycle that ditches the expensive and complex Motor Generator Unit – Heat. But with former partner Red Bull starting its own powertrain programme in Milton Keynes, many thought the prospective Cadillac-backed Andretti team entry appeared to be Honda’s best bet of coming back. This was helped by ex-F1 driver Michael Andretti partnering Wayne Taylor Racing in the IMSA SportsCar Championship to form solid ties with Honda’s North American division Acura. While a customer deal could still happen there, Aston Martin will serve as Honda’s F1 flagship. Lawrence Stroll’s outfit had previously evaluated its own in-house…

FORMULA 1 Ferrari is expected to hold off debuting its new rear suspension until June’s Spanish Grand Prix following the cancellation of last weekend’s Emilia Romagna GP. The Scuderia, which currently lies fourth in the constructors’ table, had already opted to delay the upgrade before the Imola race in the flood-hit region was scrapped due to the extreme weather forecast but still planned to sport a tweaked diffuser for its SF-23 (left). It has also now opted against validating its new components in Monaco due to the anomalous nature of the tight track, and the increased likelihood of the parts being damaged in a brush with the barriers. Mercedes, however, will still bring its heavily remodelled W14 to the principality. The car is expected to sprout more conventional sidepods, a revised floor and…

FORMULA 1 Mercedes has unveiled plans for a £70million revamp of its Brackley Formula 1 factory. A late 2025 completion date will allow for the construction of a pedestrianised zone plus new marketing buildings, leisure facilities and restaurants to improve the working environment. Motorsport boss Toto Wolff told Autosport: “The Brackley campus was built to accommodate 350 people. Today, we are at 1250. The development of the campus over the last five years was done at an astonishing pace and this now looks like an F1 team with modern state-of-the-art facilities. “But what we are planning to do is to expand the campus with multiple new buildings and create a modern-style campus, with lots of breakout areas, restaurants, state-of-the-art gyms, new marketing buildings, and getting all the cars out. We want it to become…

WEC Rising prototype star Malthe Jakobsen has been signed up by Peugeot for its World Endurance Championship squad. The 19-year-old Dane has been named as a junior driver and will undertake testing and simulator duties on the 9X8 Le Mans Hypercar programme. Jakobsen has been recruited by the French manufacturer after an impressive try-out in a 9X8 at last November’s WEC rookie test in Bahrain. He lapped within a second of the car’s fastest time in the test the day after the 2022 WEC season finale after moving up from the LMP3 ranks where he won the class title in last year’s European Le Mans Series with the Swiss Cool Racing squad. Peugeot CEO Linda Jackson said that the marque has “ambitious plans for Malthe for the future” and that “identifying young drivers…