How This Car Gets Amazing Aerodynamics With Hidden Features!
In this episode of Drive Smart, EV Editor Steve Fowler gets up close with the new DS No. 8, a premium electric SUV from DS Automobiles.
It's bold in both design and ambition — offering standout range and a luxury interior.
But is it all style over substance? And will UK drivers embrace its daring looks?
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Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Learner drivers forced to wait more than five months to book their driving tests
Learner drivers are having to wait more than five months to book their driving test at four out of five British test centres, it emerged yesterday. Some 258 sites, or 81 per cent of the total, had the maximum waiting time of 24 weeks for a test as of May 5 – up from 161 at the start of the year. AA Driving School, which obtained the figures from the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA), said things 'cannot get much worse'. The average waiting time across all test centres has reached 22 weeks, up from 14 weeks in February 2024. The DVSA blamed higher demand and some learners booking their test much earlier than before. Officials hope an increase in the number of tests will bring waiting times down. The number of bookings in the DVSA's system was 122,000 higher in June than 12 months earlier. The National Audit Office recently vowed to investigate the 'root causes' of delays to booking tests, and 'how the DVSA is responding'. Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said in April that the Government 'inherited an enormous backlog', but was 'acting fast'. She told the Commons transport committee that her department aimed to reduce the average waiting time to seven weeks by next summer. A Government consultation on amending the test booking system closed last week, having floated a plan to stop people making a quick buck by using bots – automated software – to mass-book slots for resale on the black market. The DVSA is offering overtime payments to get instructors to conduct more tests. AA Driving School managing director Emma Bush said: 'The situation cannot get much worse. It is disappointing to see learners are continuing to face an uphill battle when it comes to booking their test.' DVSA boss Loveday Ryder said: 'DVSA's goal is to make booking a test easier and fairer.'
Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Jos Verstappen squirms after being hit with awkward Christian Horner question as father of Red Bull star Max is grilled on rift with ex-team boss following his Formula One sacking
Jos Verstappen was left squirming on live television as former world champion Nico Rosberg confronted him with his past comments about Christian Horner. Horner was dismissed as team principal and CEO of Red Bull earlier this month after 20 years with the team, having overseen their transformation from upstart on the grid to winner of six constructors' championships and eight drivers' championships. Although his sacking came over a year after the former team principal was engulfed in a high-profile investigation, Horner's dismissal was said to be purely performance-related. In February last year, the 51-year-old was accused of sexual harassment and coercive and controlling behaviour by a female employee. He was twice cleared, initially after an internal investigation conducted by a lawyer, and then by another lawyer who dismissed the female employee's appeal. Around the time, Jos - influential father of Red Bull's reigning world champion Max Verstappen - called for Horner's exit. MailOnline reported that Jos was spending time with the woman at the heart of the sexting scandal, and that the controversy 'caused even more difficulties' in his and Horner's already-fragile relationship. Jos Verstappen on Christian Horner's Red Bull exit 🗣️ — Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) July 27, 2025 The two warring F1 giants 'never really saw eye to eye in the first place'. But Jos has now downplayed any alleged tensions he had with Horner. Being interviewed on the grid ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix, Sky Sports reporter Martin Brundle asked Jos: 'Big changes in the team. Are you and Max and everybody happy with where it's going so far?' Jos issued a diplomatic response. 'Well, they decided to change so I'm fine with everything, so as long as it works,' he said. Rosberg then reminded Jos of his public call last year for Horner to step down. The former Mercedes driver said: 'Last year, you said: "Horner needs to go because he's going to destroy the team".' Jos tried to brush it off, replying: 'That was a year ago. It's different. I have nothing to say. It's fine.' But Rosberg pressed again, 'Now you're quiet? You're quiet now?' to which Jos responded: 'I'm always quiet.' Throughout the scandal, Max's loyalty remained with Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko, the man who discovered and backed him as a teenager. Jos was spending time with the woman at the heart of the sexting scandal, and the controversy 'caused even more difficulties' in his and Horner's relationship When Marko threatened to quit during a power struggle between himself and Horner in early 2024, Max made his stance clear. From then onwards, Horner's position at the team was precarious. It is understood that Horner's expanding grip on power within the Red Bull structure, including control over marketing, technical, and engine departments, had caused friction at the top. Max, who has a contract with Red Bull until 2028, has been persistently linked with a shock switch to Mercedes. But the four-time champion insisted Horner's exit will have no bearing on his Formula One future. The Dutchman said: 'No, it doesn't really. Now, I think people can have a difference of opinion here and then... I don't think it will matter at all for my decision in the future. 'And yet, the only thing that matters is that we work on the car and make it as fast as we can make it, really.'
Times
2 hours ago
- Times
Max Verstappen slams 80-minute rain delay – but George Russell backs FIA
George Russell said it 'isn't racing, it's just stupidity' to suggest the FIA was wrong to delay the Belgium Grand Prix due to rain. The Spa-Francorchamps circuit is one of the most dangerous on the calendar, but Max Verstappen said the race was 'ruined' after an 80-minute rain delay without cars on track, and a further ten behind the safety car. McLaren secured a one-two in the grand prix which began on a wet track but was predominantly dry. Oscar Piastri overtook Lando Norris on the first racing lap — with the leader disadvantaged without a slipstream. The move effectively won Piastri the race. While the cars lined up on the grid, teams were erecting gazebos as a sudden shower hit the track. Drivers reported poor visibility on the formation lap behind the safety car, so the start was delayed. It is the spray from the cars which is the main issue, rather than the standing water or grip itself from the intermediate or wet tyres. 'As a racer, you always want to get going,' said Mercedes driver Russell, who finished fifth. 'You love driving in the rain. But the fact is, when you're doing over 200 miles an hour out of Eau Rouge, you literally cannot see anything, you may as well have a blindfold on. It isn't racing, it's just stupidity.' Anthoine Hubert, the F2 driver, died aged 22 in a crash at this circuit in 2019, while Dilano van 't Hoff died in a multi-car crash in the rain in a Freca race here in 2023. Frustration remains at the length of the delays when rain occurs in Formula 1 races, and the idea of wet tyres essentially being made redundant because of the spray. There is hope that next year's new regulations could mean slightly less spray is produced from the back of the cars. It was not an afternoon which produced great interest for the television fan, or those who had braved the weather in Belgium. Drivers spent an hour and 20 minutes twiddling their thumbs in the garage, as a heavier rain shower on the radar prevented the FIA starting the race in a brief dry period. Eventually it stopped by 4.20pm local time with the race resuming behind the safety car. 'Yeah [it could have started] miles earlier, I mean one hour earlier,' Verstappen said. 'It was a bit of a shame, they [the FIA] took a more cautious approach. Of course, we spoke about it after Silverstone to be a little more cautious because there was quite a lot of water there, but this for me it was the other extreme. It just ruined a nice classic wet race as well.' Verstappen and Red Bull had added downforce to his car ahead of qualifying, predicting wet weather conditions. He likely would have had more grip than his rivals if the race had got underway in the rain. Instead, the new normal for Red Bull without Christian Horner, their long-serving former team principal and CEO, was rather similar to the old one; Verstappen did not have the pace to challenge the McLarens and was stuck behind the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc in third, with Verstappen eventually finishing fourth. The most notable difference was perhaps on the grid, with Verstappen's father Jos — who had been openly critical of Horner — relaxed and stood alongside new team principal Laurent Mekies. It was the first grand prix in 405 events (and Red Bull's entire race history) that Horner had not attended. On lap five, racing began in earnest with a rolling start after Norris, on pole, was one of those to report on the radio that one side of the grid was drier than the other, suggesting a standing start would not be fair. It did him little favour though — as having used much of his battery pack on the restart, he was easily passed by his team-mate Piastri on the Kemmel Straight. 'A bit lively up over the hill,' was the calm Australian's verdict. Piastri extended his championship lead to 16 points so won't mind the lack of activity, barely even given a fright by his team-mate, on the harder compound tyre, who again made mistakes running wide in his eagerness to close the gap. Norris was perhaps always going to struggle, with Piastri joking after qualifying that it might have been to his advantage that he could not beat the Briton on Saturday given the benefit of the slipstream. In the wet conditions it is impossible to drive through Eau Rouge flat out, but Norris admitted his team-mate had 'committed a bit more', holding his nerve to take the lead. That forced Norris to opt for an alternative strategy, selecting the hard compound in the hope he would be able to reach the chequered flag, while Piastri could struggle on the medium. Instead, the championship leader calmly managed his tyres, while Norris again made mistakes as he pushed to the limit to close the gap. The battle promised much but fizzled out in the closing laps as it became clear Piastri had too much of an advantage. 'I got a good exit out of turn 1 and then lifted as little as I dared through Eau Rouge and it worked out pretty well. We had it mostly under control after that,' Piastri said. It was a role reversal on his fortunes in the sprint race earlier in the weekend, where he was the pole sitter and was passed by Verstappen on the Kemmel Straight. Lewis Hamilton produced an excellent recovery drive to finish seventh, having started in 18th. He perfectly timed the crucial decision to switch from intermediate tyres to slicks on lap 11 but still apologised to his team on the radio for mistakes earlier in the weekend. Hamilton had very little to lose after what he described as a 'weekend to forget', having spun his car in sprint qualifying, finishing 15th in that short-format race, and then been eliminated from the first session of main qualifying after exceeding track limits at Raidillon. He called it an 'unacceptable' individual error.
