Motorsport News January 27, 2022

Sebastien Loeb produced the ultimate comeback drive to win a thrilling Monte Carlo Rally for M-Sport as the World championship’s new hybrid era began in dramatic fashion. In doing so the nine-time champion, whose last WRC appearance was in Turkey in September 2020, drew level with Sebastien Ogier at the top all-time Monte winners’ list. Ogier was set for a ninth Monte win with a 24.6s lead heading to the penultimate stage. But a front-left puncture proved costly for the Toyota Yaris driver, who slipped 9.5s behind with just the nine-mile Powerstage remaining. A 10-second penalty for a jumped start then effectively widened that gap to 19.5s. Despite Ogier’s storming drive, Loeb took M-Sport’s all-new Ford Puma Rally1 to victory by 10.5s. It was Loeb’s 80th WRC win and the first for his new…

Almost overlooked in the build-up to the World Rally Championship’s new hybrid era was the actual competition itself, but as soon as the engines sparked into life in the south of France last week the fight was on, and what a battle it was. Two of the sport’s finest – the men who have shared 17 of the last 18 World Rally Championship titles between them – went toe-to-toe. Sebastiens Ogier and Loeb fought an epic fight at the head of the pack and shared the majority of the stage wins between them. Loeb’s victory, his eighth on the classic event, was taken when his countryman suffered a heart-breaking puncture with just a handful of miles left. In truth, the two WRC grandees were head and shoulders above the others and it…

Chiefs of the Australian Grand Prix, which is due to be the third round of the 2022 Formula 1 season on April 10, are confident that there will be no visa issues with racers entering the country. Tennis star Novak Djokovic was embroiled in a controversy with the country’s government in the build-up to the recent Australian Open tennis tournament that ultimately led to his visa being revoked. Australian GP boss Andrew Westacott says the ‘100% vaccination’ event would not suffer a similar fate. Westacott said: “We’ve worked very closely with the Victorian government throughout 2021 and in the lead up to 2022,” he said. “And of course we’ve worked very, very closely with Formula 1. “The rules are simple to get into the country and the rules are simple to operate in Formula…

No flying displays for Formula 1 Formula 1 has axed military air displays at grands prix on sustainability and environmental grounds to keep the sport in line with its aims of being carbon neutral by 2030. There is also a concern that the displays could be used to make political statements. It is thought displays such as the RAF’s Red Arrows will be permitted as they are less obviously linked to the military. Red Bull deal for powertrain man Red Bull’s new director of powertrains, Ben Hodgkinson, will join the Milton Keynes team from May after an agreement between his new employer and his former squad Mercedes. Red Bull is developing its own powertrain as Honda withdrew from F1 at the end of 2021. Formula E to be shown on C4 Channel 4 will broadcast…

Bosses of Formula 1 predict that new grand prix racing aerodynamic rules will even up the time differential between the fastest and the slowest machines on the grid. The 2022 regulations mean a return to ground effect cars in an effort to enable drivers to run closer to each other and encourage overtaking. The FIA’s head of single-seater matters Nikolas Tombazis says that once teams have some knowledge of the new machines, the pack will be more competitive. Tombazis said: “I think that currently the best to worst [team gap] is probably about three seconds, depending on the circuit. I hope that, after maybe a year, we will have this less than half of that. That is what I would hope, but we’ll have to see.” The wraps will come off the first…

McLaren boss Zak Brown has revealed that F1 teams are at loggerheads over introducing an expanded roster of sprint qualifying events in 2022. The original plan was to boost the number of Saturday events from three to six this term but Brown revealed that a number of teams were pushing for an increase on the £103 million budget cap. Brown explained: “A couple of teams, and one team in particular, wanted a $5m budget cap increase, which was just ridiculous. “And [there were] no rational facts behind it. When you challenged them, they go to ‘what if’and ‘could’and ‘you’ve got to anticipate’. You sit there and go ‘This is just nonsense.’” Any change in the upcoming season’s rules need eight teams to agree and that could lead to a delay to sprint races in…