Motorsport News January 20, 2022

What makes motorsport more exciting than any other sport are the unknowns. And the 2022 World Rally Championship entrants are facing more unknowns than they have in more than three decades. The hybrid generation is here and when the WRC runners take to the Luceram to Lantosque stage in the south of France on Thursday evening they will be making history with the first generation of machines that will have added electrical power to assist the traditional internal combustion-engined motivation. There will be many lessons learned along the way as motorsport goes green. The reliability of the new-for-2022 cars will be front and centre as the engineers learn all about their new machines and we sincerely hope that mechanical dramas aren’t the main headline of the competition – although it is…

Seven-time F1 World champion Lewis Hamilton will determine his future in grand prix racing in February after the sport’s governors have conducted a review into last season’sAbu Dhabi Grand Prix. Mercedes racer Hamilton felt the result of the final race of 2021 had been “manipulated” as safety car rules were interpreted in an unusual way by race director Michael Masi. The controversy ultimately led to Hamilton losing the crown to Red Bull’s race winner Max Verstappen on the final lap of the race in the Middle East. Hamilton has remained tight-lipped since the December 12 showdown. His Mercedes team, led by Toto Wolff, initially declared that it would protest the result but has since backed off on this stance, although it admits that its star driver is “disillusioned” with Formula 1 as…

“Following the decision to the World Motor Sport Council in Paris on December 15 2021, the FIA administration, under the leadership of Mohammed Ben Sulayem, has started the detailed analysis of the events of the last Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. “The FIA president [will] launch a consultation with all F1 teams on various issues, including this one. On January 19, an item on the agenda of the Sporting Advisory Committee will be dedicated to the use of the safety car. The following stage will be a shared discussion with all F1 drivers. “The outcome of the detailed analysis will be presented to the F1 Commission in February and final decisions will be announced at the World Motor Sport Council in Bahrain on March 18. “FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem has asked…

Legendary motorsport marque Maserati will return to front-line competition when it joins the Formula E grid from 2023. The Italian brand went through a change of ownership in 2021 to the Stellantis automotive group and the firm has pledged $30 million to invest in electrification. The company will launch an all-electric version of the MC20 sportscar in 2025. Speaking to media last week, Maserati boss Davide Grasso said: “The Maserati brand is going back to the future, going back to its roots of racing. I’m extremely happy and excited to announce that Maserati is the first Italian brand to join the Formula E championship from 2023, season nine.” Alejandro Agag, the boss of Formula E, said Maserati’s decision was momentous for the all-electric World championship. “The incredible history that Maserati has, to have…

Aston Martin’s new Formula 1 team principal has been named as former BMW Motorsport man Mike Krack. He will replace Otmar Szafnauer, who departed the Silverstone-based team earlier this month after 12 years with the squad. Krack has previously worked with Porsche as part of its senior management team before joining Sauber, which became BMW Sauber, and he worked alongside currentAston Martin F1 driver Sebastian Vettel when the German joined the grand prix grid in 2007. Krack will report to Martin Whitmarsh, who isAston’s group CEO alongside team owner Lawrence Stroll. Whitmarsh said: “Having worked in very senior motorsport positions at both BMW and Porsche, backed by an engineering background in F1 with Sauber, Mike possesses a blend of experience and expertise that makes him the ideal choice for us. He works well…

Formula 1 World champion Jacques Villeneuve will attempt to qualify for the Daytona 500 NASCAR showpiece next month. The Canadian, the 1997 world beater, attempted to qualify for the Florida event in 2008 but was ruled out by a crash in the qualifying races. He has recently tested the Next Gen NASCAR for the new Team Hezeberg squad, created by racer Toine Hezemans and entrepreneur Ernst Berg to feed European talent from the NASCAR Whelan Euro Series across the Atlantic. As a new team, Team Hezeberg lacks one of the multi-million dollar charters that guarantees a grid spot. Villeneuve must show strong speed in qualifying or progress through the qualifying races to start in NASCAR’s blue riband event. when it takes place on February 20. Villeneuve, 50, said: “It’s a very special race…