Follow Us Into Porsche's Secret Garage of Its Weirdest, Wildest and Most Incredible Cars
This story originally appeared in Volume 30 of Road & Track.Porsche is one such carmaker. Road & Track was granted access to Porsche's warehouse on the condition that its location not be revealed. Hint: It is somewhere in mainland Europe. Figuring out the specific location is up to you.
The variety inside the frosted-glass walls is staggering, with development cars that look like mad-science projects, prototypes of long-rumored future models, Le Mans– and F1-winning race cars, unremarkable examples of the most ordinary production models, bizarre concept cars lost to history, and, of course, a tractor. Welcome inside.
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Max Verstappen Wins First Sprint Race in Red Bull's New Era
Max Verstappen extended his massive lead of overall sprint wins over the field, winning at Spa-Francorchamps Saturday afternoon. The four-time world champion recorded his first sprint race of the year, second career sprint win at Spa, and 12th sprint win since they were introduced to the F1 schedule in 2021. This is Max Verstappen and Red Bull's first performance since the firing of Christian Horner, starting Red Bull Racing's new era under Laurent Mekies. Verstappen started second next to championship leader Piastri, who shattered the track record at Spa-Francorchamps, beating Lewis Hamilton's 2020 qualifying time in the W11 by seven tenths. Piastri's qualifying time of 1:40.510 was four tenths better than the rest of the field. Verstappen took the lead from Piastri on the first lap down the Kemmel Straight into Les Combes, or turn 5. As the Red Bull made it by the lead McLaren, Charles Leclerc in the Ferrari made it by the McLaren of Lando Norris for third. This is Piastri's third second-place finish through the first three sprint races of the season. The Australian driver entered the race with worries of starting on pole next to Verstappen, knowing how second place can capitalize on the pole-winner's start. Ultimately, Piastri was left vulnerable due to his straight-line speed. "I tried my best to snake my way through the straights and not give too much of a tow," Piastri told F1TV. "I just didn't have enough straight-line speed and then obviously didn't have enough straight-line speed for the next 15 laps either." Norris took third position back to minimize Piastri's advantage in the sprint race, losing one point to his teammate. Entering the Grand Prix this weekend, Piastri now leads Norris by nine points in the WDC standings. You Might Also Like You Need a Torque Wrench in Your Toolbox Tested: Best Car Interior Cleaners The Man Who Signs Every Car Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Gizmodo
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How to Watch the F1 Belgian Grand Prix Live on a Free Channel
Looking for a way to watch the F1 Belgian Grand Prix online for free? Today is your lucky day. It's a new weekend and a new Grand Prix. This time, we're heading to Europe, to the famous Spa circuit. Spanning just over 7 kilometers and covering 44 laps, Spa is one of the most complex circuits to drive on. It combines lengthy straights with sharp turns, downhill and uphill sections, ensuring maximum excitement for both drivers and fans. So, how can you watch the 2025 Belgian GP live on a free channel? Here's what you need to know. Look online, and you'll be bombarded by premium channels that broadcast Formula 1 races. If you don't want to overpay, free channels are way better. One of them is SRF, also known as SRF Play. Have you heard of it? Likely not if you're not a Swiss resident. SRF is a Swiss TV channel, while SRF Play is its on-demand streaming service. It provides access to all SRF channels, which you can watch live, for free, without an account. There are a few tricks, however. Watch the Belgian GP With NordVPN SRF's Swiss roots mean the channel is not in English. However, it provides top-notch quality footage and lets you watch the entire Grand Prix, not just the main race. The problem with SRF is its limited availability. As you can guess, SRF operates only in Switzerland. Thus, if you're abroad, you'll likely come across a geo-restriction message when trying to watch the F1 Belgian Grand Prix on this free channel. You can remedy the issue by getting a Swiss IP address with a VPN. We mentioned a VPN, but haven't specified which one to use. According to thousands of F1 fans worldwide, NordVPN seems to fit the bill. It offers countless Swiss VPN servers, unrestricted traffic, and impressive streaming speeds. How does NordVPN work? It's pretty simple. You connect to one of its remote servers and get assigned that server's IP address. Install NordVPN, open its app, and choose Switzerland. Within seconds of connecting, your new IP will be ready. As the new IP overrides your original one, you'll appear in Switzerland to any website you visit. Now, you can go to SRF Play, click Live, and watch the Belgian Grand Prix on a free channel. But wait, NordVPN isn't free, so what's the point? The point is a refund policy. You get 30 days to obtain a refund with a money-back guarantee. This leaves you ample time to watch the F1 Belgian GP online for free and even enjoy the Hungary GP after that. Even if you do this, you'll still be able to obtain a refund and lose nothing. No free channel streams the F1 Belgian GP live in English. While we advised SRF, the race can also be seen on Belgian RTBF or Austrian ServusTV. Both are free but in their respective languages. Premium channels have their advantages, but they're not flawless. Here are a few ideas: Channels from the UK, USA, and Canada offer access to all Formula 1 races; however, they cost a fortune. The cheapest options are Kayo Sports and TSN Plus, but they work exclusively in Australia and Canada. US streaming services, especially Hulu + Live TV and fuboTV, cost way more than NordVPN and don't have refund policies. Plus, users abroad still need to use a VPN because all are restricted to their native countries. Try NordVPN risk-free today Here's a full schedule of this weekend's Belgian Grand Prix. The main race starts on July 25th and ends on July 27th. For your convenience, we have presented the full schedule in CEST, EDT, and PDT.
CNN
3 hours ago
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Former racing driver Martin Donnelly had a ‘reality check' seeing his near-fatal crash recreated in F1 the Movie
Almost everything in the summer blockbuster 'F1 the Movie' is fictional, but the protagonist's spine-chilling origin story really happened exactly as depicted on screen. Brad Pitt's character Sonny Hayes is haunted by a high-speed crash which initially cost him his Formula One dream, but for the man who survived that crash in real life, there would be no Hollywood ending. In 1990, Martin Donnelly was a promising British racing driver with the Lotus Formula One team, but a suspension failure in a practice session for the Spanish Grand Prix sent him hurtling into the Armco barrier at around 160 miles per hour. The aftermath is one of the most horrifying scenes ever witnessed in motorsport. Donnelly says he has no memory of the crash, but he told CNN Sports that his car effectively became a bobsled without any steering or braking control. On impact, 'the carbon fiber tub shattered like a car bomb, and I went with the energy,' he said. 'I got thrown out by about 60 meters (almost 200 feet) and traveled through the air and along the ground like a rag doll.' Donnelly remained strapped to his seat, coming to rest awkwardly in the middle of the track. As cars navigated their way past him and through the field of debris, the marshals in Jerez waited for the arrival of doctor Sid Watkins, but the assumption was that Donnelly was already dead. When Watkins flipped open the visor of his helmet, Donnelly's face had turned blue. He was unconscious having swallowed his tongue, had broken many of his bones – including both of his legs – and his internal organs had been so traumatized that he would be clinging to life on a respirator and kidney dialysis for weeks. After being helicoptered to hospital in Seville, a priest was summoned to read him his last rites. Donnelly was lucky to escape with his life and both of his legs, and although he was subsequently able to resume his motor racing career, he never returned to Formula One as a driver. At least, not in real life. Over three decades later, seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton and the other producers of the movie perused F1 archives to find the crash upon which to base Hayes' narrative arc, a decision that was quickly made once they viewed Donnelly's dramatic incident in Jerez. Hamilton made the call to seek permission, blindsiding Donnelly one Saturday night at home. 'I thought it was going to be one of those cold calls for central heating or double-glazed windows,' he recalled. 'I was quite aggressive … It's not every day you receive a call from a seven-time world champion!' When asked what had made him so good as a young racing driver, Donnelly joked with CNN Sports: 'Well it wasn't my good looks, that's for sure.' So, he could scarcely have imagined that one of Hollywood's biggest heartthrobs would end up playing a character based on his life experience in a movie. Donnelly said it was surreal to find himself filming in a garage at Brands Hatch, with Pitt asking for advice on where to stand and how to enter the car. ''Hey Brad, if I were you,'' he recalled saying, ''just stand at the back of the car, walk around it, touch it, just ask the car to be good to you today, pray that you're going to be both quick and safe.'' Donnelly said that he never dwelled upon the inherent dangers of high-speed racing. 'If you have something in the back of your mind about having an accident, you're not driving that car at 100%, you're at 99%,' he explained. 'In my mind, (accidents) happened to other drivers, not me.' Nevertheless, as he described telling Pitt to climb from the left-hand side of the car, he accepted that he has always been a superstitious driver. 'My daughter once did a feature on me at school and said, 'Dad, can you write down all the superstitions you have,' and there were two A4 pages of it. She says, 'Oh my god, dad, you need some help!'' In assisting with the production of the movie, Donnelly was forced to relive the most traumatic experience of his life, experiencing it for the first time in the third person. The director recreated the crash and filmed it repeatedly, prompting him to wonder: 'Is this what I'm known for?' 'I watched them get a mannequin in yellow overalls and a helmet fly out of this car 15 times and all these cameras are taking pictures,' Donnelly said. 'And then it would drop and be dragged along the ground. For me, that was a reality check because I've never seen it happen.' Donnelly said that footage was never used in the final edit, perhaps because nothing could match the intensity of the original television recording, which he said he didn't know would be used until he saw the movie in the cinema. While he said that he feels 'honored and privileged that Brad Pitt chose my accident and my life to document,' the 61-year-old admitted that the whole thing is bittersweet; his crash came at a cost. 'This is what I've been reenacted for,' he lamented, 'and my friends at the time – Damon Hill, Jonny Herbert, Eddie Irvine, David Coulthard have all gone on to be very successful and very rich. Why wasn't I given a chance to have that? Because when they were my teammates, I kicked their asses!' But then he stops himself, recalling the fate of one of F1's greatest ever drivers, Ayrton Senna. The Brazilian famously walked to the site of Donnelly's accident at Jerez and watched as the rescue teams fought to revive him on the track. They were close, and Senna offered anything he could do to help with his recovery. Four years later, Senna himself was involved in a devastating crash at the San Marino Grand Prix, and he was not so lucky. 'I do believe that I could easily have become a world champion,' he said, 'but then I come back to reality. I'm still talking to you. My friend Senna is dead. He had all the millions in his back pocket, three-time world champion, but who's he going to share it with? 'His death on May 1st, 1994, was the final nail in the coffin for me to say, 'Hey Martin, look around you, you're in the paddock, you're still involved with the sport that you love. You've got no right to complain.''
