Latest news with #British-Thai
New Straits Times
6 days ago
- Automotive
- New Straits Times
Thailand plans bid for F1 race in 2028
Bangkok: Thailand plans on bidding to host a Formula One race by 2028, the government said Monday, after Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra held her latest talks with motorsport bosses at the Monaco Grand Prix. A bid and feasibility proposal will be submitted to the Thai cabinet for approval on Wednesday next week, government spokesman Jirayu Houngsub said in a statement. Plans for a Thai grand prix, most likely run as a street race in the capital Bangkok, have been under serious discussion for more than a year. The Thai government has touted the idea of a "sustainable" race and Jirayu said the grand prix could benefit the kingdom to the tune of $600 million. Paetongtarn has held multiple meetings with F1 chief Stefano Domenicali as she seeks to push the project forward, including at the weekend in Monte Carlo, home to the sport's most storied street race. Most of Formula One's 24-race schedule is confirmed for several years but gaps are set to open up and Domenicali has suggested that Thailand could be a contender to join the circuit. Last month, British-Thai driver Alex Albon of Williams said the kingdom was taking the idea "very seriously" and had come up with strong plans. Formula One currently stages one race in Southeast Asia, in Singapore, which is regarded as the toughest race of the season because of the intense heat and humidity.
Gulf Today
6 days ago
- Automotive
- Gulf Today
Thailand plans bid for F1 race in 2028
Thailand plans on bidding to host a Formula One race by 2028, the government said Monday, after Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra held her latest talks with motorsport bosses at the Monaco Grand Prix. A bid and feasibility proposal will be submitted to the Thai cabinet for approval on Wednesday next week, government spokesman Jirayu Houngsub said in a statement. Plans for a Thai grand prix, most likely run as a street race in the capital Bangkok, have been under serious discussion for more than a year. The Thai government has touted the idea of a "sustainable" race and Jirayu said the grand prix could benefit the kingdom to the tune of $600 million. Thailand's Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra attends the 46th ASEAN Summit, at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Monday. Reuters Paetongtarn has held multiple meetings with F1 chief Stefano Domenicali as she seeks to push the project forward, including at the weekend in Monte Carlo, home to the sport's most storied street race. Most of Formula One's 24-race schedule is confirmed for several years but gaps are set to open up and Domenicali has suggested that Thailand could be a contender to join the circuit. Last month, British-Thai driver Alex Albon of Williams said the kingdom was taking the idea "very seriously" and had come up with strong plans. Formula One currently stages one race in Southeast Asia, in Singapore, which is regarded as the toughest race of the season because of the intense heat and humidity. Agence France-Presse
Daily Mirror
7 days ago
- Automotive
- Daily Mirror
F1 star wants investigation after admitting team 'manipulated' Monaco GP result
Conditions at the Monaco Grand Prix allowed some teams to use some unsavoury tactics to maximise their results and even the drivers involved weren't pleased to be a part of it Carlos Sainz wants Formula 1 bosses to find a way to stop racers from driving slowly on purpose to benefit their team. His call came after the Monaco Grand Prix where his Williams outfit was one of the teams which employed that tactic to secure a double points finish. Sainz was 10th at the end, one place behind Alex Albon. They had worked together to get that result, using the narrow streets of Monte Carlo to their advantage by driving intentionally slowly to give their team-mate the gap they needed to pit without losing positions. They were not the only ones who did it, with Racing Bulls also doing so to secure a strong result for both Isack Hadjar and Liam Lawson. But even though he benefitted, for Sainz, it left a sour taste. And he has called upon F1 bosses to come up with a way to stop it from happening in the future, unhappy with how his team had to "manipulate" the race in order to have a successful afternoon. He said: "[We were] driving four seconds off the pace at some stages of the race. "Ultimately, we were victims, first from Lawson that managed to lose 40 seconds to Isack, [it allowed] two pit stops that Isack would do in front of us to finish, to do his two pit stops and finish P6. "As we were victims of that situation, we had to, in the end, do the same thing as Lawson did both times with Alex and myself to make sure we bought the two cars to the points, something I definitely didn't enjoy doing, something definitely the sport should look into. "Ultimately, yeah, you're driving two or three seconds off the pace that the car can do. You are ultimately manipulating the race and manipulating the outcome a bit. So we should find a way that this cannot be done in the future. "Every year, people are going to do it more and more, and it's becoming more of a trend the last few years. So in that sense, the two-stop, if anything, helped to maybe spice up around the pit windows, to have two pit stops, but it made us have to do the slow driving twice, which is not a very good look for the sport." Team-mate Albon also felt bad about their approach to the race, though he too said the Racing Bulls cars had forced their hand. The British-Thai racer said: "[That was] not how we want to go racing, Carlos and I. I know we put on a bad show for everyone, and that we made a few drivers behind us angry in the process as well. "It was just taking advantage of the track, the size of the cars, and that's it, really. The two-stop just made us do it twice, rather than once. Apologies to everyone who watched that, it wasn't very good. "Being honest, we didn't want to do it and we never planned to do it. We knew on Thursday that this was going to be a thing and, when the RBs started it... if they hadn't started it, we would never have done it. But the way they bottled everyone up, we then had to do the same thing for ourselves. Sorry!"
Business Times
7 days ago
- Automotive
- Business Times
Thailand plans bid for F1 race in 2028
[BANGKOK] Thailand plans on bidding to host a Formula One race by 2028, the government said on Monday (May 26), after Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra held her latest talks with motorsport bosses at the Monaco Grand Prix. A bid and feasibility proposal will be submitted to the Thai Cabinet for approval on Wednesday next week, government spokesman Jirayu Houngsub said in a statement. Plans for a Thai grand prix, most likely run as a street race in the capital Bangkok, have been under serious discussion for more than a year. The Thai government has touted the idea of a 'sustainable' race and Jirayu said the grand prix could benefit the kingdom to the tune of US$600 million. Paetongtarn has held multiple meetings with F1 chief Stefano Domenicali as she seeks to push the project forward, including at the weekend in Monte Carlo, home to the sport's most storied street race. Most of Formula One's 24-race schedule is confirmed for several years but gaps are set to open up and Domenicali has suggested that Thailand could be a contender to join the circuit. Last month, British-Thai driver Alex Albon of Williams said the kingdom was taking the idea 'very seriously' and had come up with strong plans. Formula One currently stages one race in South-east Asia, in Singapore, which is regarded as the toughest race of the season because of the intense heat and humidity. AFP
Daily Mirror
26-05-2025
- Automotive
- Daily Mirror
Alex Albon shows true colours with act towards George Russell after Monaco GP
George Russell was infuriated by Alex Albon during the Monaco Grand Prix with Williams employing a strategy which prevented Mercedes from rising into the points positions Alex Albon and George Russell have buried the hatched after their Monaco Grand Prix clash. The two close friends went for dinner after a bad-tempered race which saw Mercedes racer Russell lose his cool over Albon's "erratic" driving. The British-Thai driver's Williams team had made the most of the tight Monte Carlo streets to help both their drivers pit without losing track position. That involved them taking it in turns to back up those behind them so that there would be enough room for their team-mate to swap tyres. And because modern Formula 1 cars are so wide, overtaking is virtually impossible even when the driver ahead is moving slowly. That infuriated Russell who could do nothing to get by Albon legally, blocking the Brit from rising into the points-paying positions. The Mercedes drivers lost his composure and cut the Nouvelle Chicane to get past. And when he was told by his race engineer Marcus Dudley to give the place back to Albon, Russell refused and said he would rather take the penalty – which duly came and saw him lose 20 seconds with a drive through the pit lane. But the two are friends and they made it clear that it will not affect that relationship. On Sunday night, they went out for dinner together and Albon picked up the bill to say sorry, before posting a photo of them together in the restaurant on social media. That was after Albon had already admitted his shame over how Williams had secured their double points finish. He said: "[That was] not how we want to go racing, Carlos [Sainz] and I. I know we put on a bad show for everyone, and that we made a few drivers behind us angry in the process as well. "It was just taking advantage of the track, the size of the cars, and that's it, really. The two-stop just made us do it twice, rather than once. Apologies to everyone who watched that, it wasn't very good. "Being honest, we didn't want to do it and we never planned to do it. We knew on Thursday that this was going to be a thing and, when the RBs started it... if they hadn't started it, we would never have done it. But the way they bottled everyone up, we then had to do the same thing for ourselves. Sorry!" That cordial relationship between Albon and Russell was reflected in the one between their bosses. Williams chief James Vowles was a deputy to Toto Wolff at Mercedes for many years and the Austrian revealed how his former colleague had texted him during the race to apologise for their tactics. "I'm sorry. We had no choice given what happened ahead," said Wolff, reading Vowles' message aloud for reporters. "I answered, 'We know'. He had to do it, you know – it's two cars in the points, and I think that what started it [all] was the RBs [Racing Bulls] that pegged us back off, and that's what he had to do."
