Motorsport News February 2, 2023

Last weekend’s 24 Hours of Daytona was a watershed for hypercar sportscar racing, with Porsche joining Cadillac, Acura and BMW on the grid in the top-flight of long distance racing. As Chip Ganassi, who is in charge of the Cadillac programme, said: “If nothing else, this has taken the level of interested from fans to another level and we’ve probably had record crowds here at Daytona. There is a buzz around this series like there never has been before.” He was right. The focus on the twice-around-the-clock race in Florida was more intense than it has been for several seasons and it was, in typical sportscar fashion, a race of attrition. BMW suffered, while Porsche was a leading light until gremlins crept into its cars too. Cadillac performed the best of the…

New Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur says there is only one target for the 2023 grand prix season: to become World champions. The Italian team appointed the Frenchman at the end of last year as the previous incumbent, Mattia Binotto, resigned. Vasseur, formerly the team chief at Alfa Romeo, took the hot seat on January 9. Speaking to the press for the first time since taking over his new role, he said: “I’m really convinced that Ferrari today – and for sure my experience is limited to the last two weeks – have everything to win. “When you are in a top team, you can’t have another target than the win at the end of the day. You can’t start the season saying ‘OK, I would be happy with P2’ – that…

Motorsport’s governor, the FIA, has confirmed that the points-paying system for shortened races will alter in 2023 after confusion reigned at the Japanese Grand Prix last term meaning Max Verstappen was unsure whether he had done enough to clinch a second global crown. Following the two-lap rain-hit Belgian GP in 2021, a new system was put in place for shortened races where the winner would get 13 points or a race that ran beyond 25% but not 50% of its slated distance, 19 points for 50% but not 75% and anything above that would reap the full 25 points. However, the interpretation of the regulations meant that it only applied in cases where the event had been suspended and not restarted. As this didn’t happen in Suzuka’s case – winner Verstappen…

Chiefs of the Ford firm in the US have underlined its potential interest in a grand prix powerplant programme after it was linked to a tie-up with Red Bull Powertrains in the future. The Blue Oval firm has a long history in F1 but has not contested the top-flight in any capacity since 2004. However, the increasing interest in grand prix racing with three USA GPs planned for 2023, plus its increasing visibility on Netflix through the Drive to Survive documentary, has led it to review its activities and a F1 programme could be on the horizon. Red Bull had been negotiating with Porsche as an engine partner for 2026 and beyond, but those talks stalled when the German car giant wanted a controlling hand in the programme. Ford is likely to…

FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem has been in hot water over a number of issues this week, and is at loggerheads with Formula 1’s owner Liberty Media. Under former president Max Mosley in 2000, the FIA handed over the rights to F1 on a 100-year basis on the understanding that the FIA would concern itself solely with the sporting matters, while commercial aspects would be in the hands of the promoter. Liberty Media has sent a letter to the FIA’s legal department after Ben Sulayem reacted to a report saying that a Saudi Arabian wealth fund had tabled a $20 billion bid to take over the sport. Ben Sulayem said the valuation was an “over-inflated” price. In other news, an old website of Ben Sulayem’s, unearthed by an English newspaper last week, showed…

Ex-Formula 1 racers Johnny Herbert and Paul di Resta have been dropped from the Sky Sports F1 line-up for the 2023 season. Herbert joined the satellite broadcaster in 2012 to assist with its coverage, while di Resta has been part of the team since 2016. Sky is not expected to add any new faces into its 13-strong team in 2023 to fill the vacancies. Speaking at the recent Autosport International Show, Herbert said: “I’m not with Sky this year, unfortunately, but there are other things I’ll be getting involved with. I’ll be at Silverstone for sure, and the Monaco Grand Prix. I’m hoping to get to Le Mans as well this year, because that’s going to be a big event this time around.” Di Resta has a full programme of endurance competitions this…