Move up a gear
FORMULA One visits 24 locations annually across 21 countries, and its equipment needs to be present. It is a gargantuan operation.
'I've been here 39 years. We used to do 16 races, five international, now it's 15 international and nine Europeans,' Paul Fowler, vice president of motorsport product for DHL Motorsport, Formula One's longtime logistics partner, said in an interview. Follow us on our official WhatsApp channel for breaking news alerts and key updates!
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New Straits Times
a day ago
- New Straits Times
Razlan: Now is a good time to consider bringing back Formula One
KUALA LUMPUR: Former Sepang International Circuit (SIC) chief executive officer Datuk Razlan Razali believes Malaysia can now consider bringing back Formula One. Razlan said Formula One fans are eager to see the pinnacle of four-wheeled racing make a comeback to Sepang, which hosted the race for almost two decades. "When we made the decision to drop Formula One in 2017, I did say we should give it a break for five years and reconsider it after that," said Razlan when met recently. "We have exceeded that (five-year period) now, and as a package, a spectacle event and as a tourist attraction, I think now is a good time to consider bringing it back. "After not hosting it for so long, many fans are craving to see it come back to Sepang so I think it could work. "It is just a matter of whether the government can afford it or not. "With the current sensitivity regarding the economy, they (government) will likely get a lot of criticism if they want to bring it back because you will have to invest a lot into it. "It all depends on the narrative you put forward. If you package it as a tourism initiative and highlight the incentives of hosting it here, it could be justified. "But at the end of the day, it is up to the government to decide." Sepang hosted Formula One between 1999 to 2017 but dropped the event due to dwindling global interest in the championship and disappointing ticket sales in Malaysia. At the time (2016), it was reported to cost Malaysia a staggering RM300 million to host Formula One annually. Formula One has, however, been given a new lease of life since being taken over by current owners Liberty Media in 2017. The Drive to Survive Netflix series, which began airing in 2019, and the introduction of Saturday sprint races in 2021 has significantly boosted interest in the championship. Razlan, who is the former team principal of the now defunct RNF MotoGP Racing Team, said on a personal note, he still prefers MotoGP over Formula One. "As a racing purist, I still think Formula One is boring. The recent Hungarian Grand Prix was hardly exciting," said Razlan with a cheeky smile. "MotoGP, however, is still exciting even though Marc Marquez is dominating at the moment." The Petronas Grand Prix of Malaysia (MotoGP Malaysia) is currently Sepang's flagship international event. The track has hosted MotoGP every year since 1999, except for 2020 and 2021 when the race was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Sun
4 days ago
- The Sun
Colapinto reported OK after crashing in F1 tyre test
ARGENTINE racer Franco Colapinto crashed in Formula One tyre testing at the Hungarian Grand Prix circuit on Wednesday and was reported unhurt after being taken to the medical centre, his Alpine team said. Renault-owned Alpine, Ferrari, McLaren and Racing Bulls are taking part in the two-day Pirelli test at the Hungaroring that followed on from last weekend's grand prix, the last before the sport's August break. Alpine said in a statement that Colapinto, who took over from reserve driver Paul Aron for the final day, had 'an incident' at turn 11, a right-handed curve that can be taken at 220kph. 'Franco was assessed on site at the medical centre and is OK,' they added. The team gave no details about how the crash happened or damage to the car. Colapinto, 22, replaced Australian Jack Doohan at Alpine after the first six races but has yet to finish higher than 13th for the team in seven starts. He did not start in Britain, after crashing in qualifying and then suffering a gearbox issue, and there has been speculation he could also be replaced before the end of the season. Teammate Pierre Gasly has scored all of last-placed Alpine's 20 points, with three scoring finishes in his last six races. Colapinto told reporters last week that he was lacking confidence in the car and struggling to turn into the corners in the way he would like. 'I didn't have this issue last year (in nine races for Williams), I could go straight in and be quick straight away. Now I'm struggling a bit more with that,' he said. 'Generally the car is a bit tricky on entries and that's what we are working on, on my side.'- REUTERS
The Star
4 days ago
- The Star
Motor racing-Mercedes upbeat after binning suspension upgrade
FILE PHOTO: Formula One F1 - Hungarian Grand Prix - Hungaroring, Budapest, Hungary - August 3, 2025 Mercedes' George Russell in action during the race REUTERS/Bernadett Szabo/File Photo LONDON (Reuters) -Former champions Mercedes hope to be challenging for wins again when they return from Formula One's August break after binning a rear suspension upgrade that made the car slower. The upgrade was introduced at Imola in May after George Russell had finished in the top three in four of the first six races. The Briton finished only seventh in that Italian race and Mercedes dropped the upgrade for the next two rounds before bringing it back for Canada, a race Russell won. That proved misleading, and Russell struggled in the following four races until Mercedes reverted to the old package for Hungary last weekend and he finished third. Rookie teammate Kimi Antonelli was also back in the points at the Hungaroring, finishing 10th after three races without scoring. Mercedes boss Toto Wolff said the upgrade would "be ending up in a bin somewhere. "We were misled a bit by the Montreal win... we came to the conclusion it needed to come off, it went off and the car's back to solid form," said the Austrian. Trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin said in a Hungarian GP debrief on Wednesday that the car was now easier to work with and the drivers more confident in attacking the corners. "If we make a new suspension, we're doing it to make the car go quicker... and clearly there's something that wasn't right," he added. "And it's not something that was dead obvious. Otherwise, we wouldn't have had the issue in the first place." Shovlin said the learning would help Russell in his battle with Red Bull's Max Verstappen for third place overall behind the McLaren drivers, and Mercedes chasing second in the constructors'. "Budapest showed that we've got a good car when we land it in the right place," said Shovlin. "And then hopefully there'll be an opportunity to build on our tally of race wins. "We had a great time in Montreal. There's other circuits that are a bit more like that coming up over the remaining 10 races and hopefully we'll have a few more highlights." (Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
