Motorsport News January 19, 2023

It is nearing the end of January, and that only means one thing: the World Rally Championship is about to blast back into life with the Monte Carlo showpiece. This year’s competition is set to be a belter with each of the major entries containing at least one star driver. Ott Tanak’s switch from Hyundai, where he cut an unhappy figure over the latter part of 2022, is perhaps the most intriguing of all. The Estonian has huge ambition and wants to take a second World title and the fire in his belly to beat his former employers will only be a boost for M-Sport. The Rally1 Puma has already proved itself capable of winning rallies in the right hands, and Tanak will extract the absolute maximum from the hybrid machine. Tanak…

Williams has employed former Mercedes man James Vowles as its new team principal. The 43-year-old Briton was the head of strategy at the Brackley-based squad but will now replace Jost Capito at Williams. Capito was sacked in November last year after two years with the Dorilton Capital-owned team. Vowles revealed that he had a long-held desire to be a team chief and he was relishing his new role with Williams. He will begin his new job on February 20. He said: “It is an honour to join a team with such an incredibly rich heritage. I cannot wait to start with Williams Racing. The team is an icon of our sport, one I greatly respect, and I am very much looking forward to the challenge. “I am grateful for everything [former boss at Mercedes]…

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has said that the team is in no rush to replace the outgoing James Vowles, who will take over as the team principal of Williams. Vowles was a key part of the Mercedes senior management team, but Wolff says that the team was prepared for his departure and processes had already been put in place. Speaking last week, Wolff said: “There is no gap left behind, because for many years we have discussed the succession planning in this area. “We’ve been very reliant on James’ visibility, and we put an emphasis a few years ago on how that would continue if he one day would decide to do something else, whether within Mercedes or outside. James was very good in setting that up. “We have an extremely talented team of…

Andretti Global boss Michael Andretti has hit out at Formula 1 teams who have given his proposed grand prix entry the cold shoulder. Andretti has announced plans to enter Formula 1 with his own team and has backing from General Motors brand Cadillac. While his entry still needs to be ratified by the sport’s governor, the FIA, he has faced resistance from the current outfits. Andretti will have to find a $200 million bond to enter grand prix racing, a payment devised to make sure the current F1 squads to not lose a proportion of their expected income, which is shared out among the entrants. Andretti says that the frosty reception he has received is down to protectionism from the existing operations. “It’s all about money,” Andretti said. “First, [the other teams] think they…

More support races could be added to the British Grand Prix weekend in the future to ramp up the event to four days. Silverstone boss Stuart Pringle has said that he wants the blue-riband event to become a four-day festival of motorsport. While the Formula 1 framework is set in stone and can’t change from the three days it currently operates, other events could be added to the race meeting to increase the on-track activities and boost the race weekend for spectators. “We’re looking to extend the weekend,” Stuart Pringle, the managing director of Silverstone, said on the main stage at Autosport International in Birmingham on Thursday. “I’m working hard on Formula 1. I believe they need to change the format of the weekend. They say: ‘Oh well it’s the FIA, they’ve…

Seven-time Formula 1 World champion Lewis Hamilton’s desire to stay with the Mercedes Grand Prix team will be signed within a matter of moments, according to team boss Toto Wolff. Hamilton’s current deal comes to an end at the conclusion of 2023 and the driver has expressed an interest in signing up for a new “multi-year” contract. He said, in October last season, that he was keen to maintain his relationship with the team. Wolff has said that thrashing out a new deal with the British ace would be a simple process. “We have a full year to go,” said Wolff. “We’re so aligned. In the last 10 years our relationship has grown that it’s just a matter of him physically being back in Europe, sticking our heads together, wrestling a bit and…