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Sainz not expecting Toro Rosso rivalry repeat at McLaren

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Carlos Sainz does not expect his relationship with new teammate Lando Norris to be as troubled as those he faced at Toro Rosso at the start of his Formula 1 career. The Spaniard and fellow rookie Max Verstappen endured some tense times during their first season in Formula 1, as they knew that the winner of their battle would likely get promotion to the Red Bull team. Despite there being very little to separate the pair in pace terms, it was Verstappen who eventually got to move up - and he took a maiden win on his first outing for Red Bull at the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix. Sainz, who also had run-ins with his other Toro Rosso teammate Daniil Kvyat, was eventually loaned out to Renault, joining the team at the 2017 United States Grand Prix, and will now be moving to McLaren as Norris's teammate next year. Although Norris arrives in F1 eager to prove a point after an F2 campaign that did not deliver the title he hoped for, Sainz thinks there will be little tension with the y...
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Ricciardo changed by 2015 low point at Red Bull

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Daniel Ricciardo has revealed that he was at “such a low” and changed as a person during the 2015 Formula 1 season because of off-track factors, including Jules Bianchi’s death. Speaking on a special farewell Red Bull podcast after the 2018 season, his last with the team before switching to Renault next year, Ricciardo picked out 2015 as one of his most significant memories. Having come to prominence in 2014 by winning three races in his first season with Red Bull and besting four-time world champion teammate Sebastian Vettel, Ricciardo suffered a tougher sophomore campaign. He was beaten by new teammate Daniil Kvyat in the points and scored just two podiums all season, with the first of those coming at the Hungarian Grand Prix just days following Bianchi's death nine months after his crash in the 2014 Japanese GP. “A lot happened in 2015, more on a personal level, with life,” said Ricciardo. “Jules’ passing affected me more than I ever would have thought and I had a f...
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Raikkonen Sauber has the tools to build great car

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Kimi Raikkonen thinks Sauber has all it needs to built a "great car" in 2019, having now had his first test with the team. After five years with Ferrari, Raikkonen is returning to the Sauber outfit that he made his F1 debut with in 2001 after agreeing a multi-year deal. He had his first experience with it during the post-season tyre test that took place in Abu Dhabi last week. Although Sauber is in a rebuilding phase following some difficult years, Raikkonen believes the changes that team boss Fred Vasseur has made, allied to its state-of-the-art facilities at Hinwil, put it in a good place to impress. Speaking ahead of the FIA prize gala in Russia on Friday about his return to Sauber, Raikkonen said: “I am excited. It is different obviously as I have been in the team [before] but there are a lot of different people now. “They have all the tools, they have a great wind tunnel and they have everything to build a great car. We have a Ferrari engine, so we know what...
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Mercedes even wary of Williams amid loophole threat

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Toto Wolff says even a team like Williams cannot be discounted from coming up with a Mercedes-beater next year, amid fears that loopholes in the rules could be key to the Formula 1 battle. As teams work on honing their cars to new aero regulations that are aimed at improving overtaking, Wolff maintains his belief that the order could be turned on its head by teams exploiting potential grey areas in the rules. He thinks a repeat of 2009, when Brawn emerged from nowhere to triumph thanks to its double diffuser design, could be on the cards and that any outfit has the potential to come out on top. "I think with the rule changes everything is possible," he said in Russia on Friday, ahead of the FIA Prize Gala. "It is almost like 2009 where Brawn identified the double diffuser. I think there could be teams that have found loopholes, which others didn't spot, that could make the difference. "So we are taking everybody serious: whether it is Ferrari finish...
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Is Williams capable of the change it needs

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Last and by some margin among the teams contesting the 2018 Formula 1 season, the once-heralded Williams outfit hopes its current woes will lead to a much stronger future. There was nowhere for Williams to hide in 2018. Not only did the team finish 10th and last in the world championship, but it did so by a significant margin. Even with its endless grid penalties, ninth-placed Toro Rosso scored nearly five times as many points as Williams did. The days of Williams challenging for podiums in the early years of Formula 1's hybrid era suddenly seem like a long time ago, and having hit rock bottom, the only way forward is surely through change. That's easy to say, but making it happen will be difficult.
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How Michael Schumacher changed F1 forever

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Michael Schumacher broke the mould in terms of what it meant to be a Formula 1 driver - and while he's no longer competing, his legacy lives on in a whole new generation of thoroughly modern racers. The resigned slump of their shoulders said it all. The way a driver had to apply himself to racing in Formula 1 had changed forever - and they knew it. The podium at the 1992 Belgian Grand Prix heralded the revolution. Nigel Mansell, then 39, and his Williams teammate Riccardo Patrese, 38, looked weary. Standing between them was a sprightly, ebullient Michael Schumacher, 15 years their junior, who had just taken his first grand prix victory to establish himself as the new heir to the Formula 1 throne.
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First look McLaren's touches lift F1-inspired smartphone

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Formula 1 teams are no strangers to tying up with mobile phone companies, but McLaren’s new partnership with Chinese smartphone company OnePlus has taken things to the next level. Rather than this being a simple branding exercise – with just a pretty logo and a few photo opportunities with drivers – the new special edition OnePlus 6T McLaren Edition has delivered something that is of genuine interest to those who follow the sport closely. Under the spotlights at McLaren’s Woking factory on Tuesday, the official launch of the handset revealed how the new generation of phone has F1's past and present at the heart of it. OnePlus has embraced McLaren’s history, with the papaya orange box that the phone comes in making clear from the start that this is about saluting the team’s heritage. Emblazoned on top is a ‘Salute to Speed’ message – which is the catchphrase the company has used for the new product. At the heart of the box is a small book that reflects on the legacy of Br...
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