Latest news with #F1Constructors'Championship
Newsweek
2 days ago
- Automotive
- Newsweek
Red Bull Unites Racing Icons for Hangar-7 Drag Race with Max Verstappen
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Red Bull organized a motorsport event to celebrate the reopening of its Hangar-7, where motorsport athletes, including four-time Formula One champion Max Verstappen, competed against each other in a unique drag race. Red Bull's Hangar-7 is located at the Salzburg Airport in Austria and is home to the team's F1 cars and the Flying Bulls aircraft fleet. With attractions such as a restaurant and bar, a cafe, and space for art exhibitions, the space is perfect for art and motorsport enthusiasts. The event paid homage to Red Bull founder Dietrich Mateschitz, who envisioned a space that united multiple worlds. MotoGP legend Dani Pedrosa, Dakar Rally icon Daniel Sanders, and NASCAR star Connor Zilisch were present at the event. The show was a treat for any petrolhead, considering the smoking donuts, airplanes, and a drag race. Verstappen, who uploaded a video of the celebration, said: Max Verstappen of the Netherlands and Oracle Red Bull Racing prepares to drive in the garage during practice ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Spain at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on May 30, 2025 in... Max Verstappen of the Netherlands and Oracle Red Bull Racing prepares to drive in the garage during practice ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Spain at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on May 30, 2025 in Barcelona, Spain. More"I've been quite often already to Hangar-7, so for me it's almost like a homecoming every time. "So many cool activities, these helicopters, planes, cars, you know, all kinds of motorsport come together here and then to do a drag race all together with all these different kinds of cars I think it is very cool to do." Verstappen could be seen racing in the Red Bull RB8, the car that won the 2012 F1 Constructors' Championship. The celebration comes in stark contrast to the race weekend in Barcelona for the Dutchman, who was hit with a ten-second penalty for crashing into George Russell, leading him to finish tenth. Three penalty points were also added to Verstappen's Super Licence, bringing his tally to 11 points. Thus, he remains just one point away from a race ban. The collision with Russell proved costly, especially for Verstappen's championship prospects, as he sits in third place in the standings. The gap to championship leader Oscar Piastri is currently 49 points. Verstappen admitted on Instagram after the Spanish Grand Prix that the safety car restart and the use of hard tires for the final stint fueled his frustration. He said: "We had an exciting strategy and good race in Barcelona, till the safety car came out. "Our tyre choice to the end and some moves after the safety car restart fuelled my frustration, leading to a move that was not right and shouldn't have happened. "I always give everything out there for the team and emotions can run high. You win some together, you lose some together. See you in Montreal."
Yahoo
04-04-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Haas F1 Team Principal Ayao Komatsu Offers Advice for Wannabe Formula 1 Engineers
So, you want to work in Formula 1, do you? Maybe you have your dreams set on a job in engineering or even wonder what it might take to be a team boss one day. Second-year Haas F1 Team Principal Ayao Komatsu, who is at Suzuka this week for the F1 Japanese Grand Prix, has some advice for you. "When I got interested in Formula 1 when I was a kid, all the others apart from my parents told me: 'Don't be so stupid. You will never make it.' I didn't listen to any of them," the 49-year-old Komatsu said on Friday. "So my advice would be: don't listen to those people who tell you that you cannot do it. You know, you can do pretty much anything, I think, if you put your mind to it and dedicate your life to it." Komatsu is a Haas F1 Team original, having begin his Haas career as the team's trackside engineering director in 2016. He replaced Guenther Steiner as team principal prior to the start of the 2024 season. This year, he's overseeing a team with drivers Esteban Ocon and Oliver Bearman that is sixth in the F1 Constructors' Championship standing heading into Sunday's race. "I think it's just that sometimes the first step is the hardest one to make, but I hope that people have the courage to make that first step in making the dream," Komatsu said. "Because to me, if you try—even if you fail—it kind of doesn't matter. As long as you put everything into it, even if you don't make it to the original goal, you learn something from it. And then as a human being, you can use that at your next stage in your life. "So please, just take that initial step."
Yahoo
03-04-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
F1 Racer Yuki Tsunoda in ‘Best Situation Ever' Ahead of Red Bull Debut at Japanese Grand Prix
Yuki Tsunoda and Liam Lawson have switched rides, as Red Bull Racing hopes to keep its F1 Constructors' Championship hopes alive. Tsunoda comes to this week's F1 Japanese Grand Prix having not yet driven Red Bull's RB21. Tsunoda says that Red Bull has asked him to 'be as close to Max [Verstappen] as possible." Banners, flags and posters of Yuki Tsunoda have undergone revisions in recent days at Suzuka, home of this week's Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix, with Racing Bulls imagery swapped out for shots of the home favorite in Red Bull Racing gear. Tsunoda is center of attention in Japan and his fourth home Grand Prix will coincide with his Red Bull Racing debut, following last week's decision by the outfit to swap him with the underperforming Liam Lawson after just two events. While Lawson prepares to rebuild at the junior team, it is the opportunity towards which Tsunoda has been working for several years, and which at times looked set to remain elusive. 'Yeah, really looking forward to it,' Tsunoda said. 'It can't be crazier than this, I guess, this situation. First race in the Red Bull Racing, but also on top of it in home Grand Prix. I think best situation ever in terms of anything but I'm just excited.' Tsunoda has not yet driven Red Bull's RB21—that will come during Friday's two practice sessions—but he was encouraged by his virtual running in the team's simulator last week. 'Obviously I'm sure it's not fully, fully correlated in terms of like, the trickiness of the car,' Tsunoda said. 'But at least it didn't feel like crazy, crazy tricky. But I can, at the same time, feel what the drivers was mentioning about the instability. I tried different setups. I did multiple setups that I want to try and to make it a little bit better. And actually, those two days was pretty productive. 'And at least I know now what kind of direction I want to start. And it seems to be also a good baseline for an overall performance as well.' Tsunoda outlined that Red Bull has requested him to 'be as close to Max [Verstappen] as possible' and that the fortunes of his predecessors have not agitated his mindset. 'I mean, pressure has always come, I guess, once you hit the track,' Tsunoda said. 'For now, I'm really relaxing somehow. It feels actually similar to when I was in Racing Bulls. I don't really, so far, feel pressure or anything. I think those things will naturally come. Anyway, it's my home Grand Prix. I'm sure it's going to be hectic, but there's not much point to feel pressure.' Reigning F1 World Champion Max Verstappen, who trails McLaren's Lando Norris by eight points, was reluctant to speak much on the driver swap. 'My reaction was shared with the team, in general, about not only the swap but about everything, we discussed it,' Verstappen said. 'Everything has been shared, how I think about everything, sometimes it's not necessary to share everything in public, I think it's better. 'Our main issue is that our car is not where we want it to be, everyone knows that, and that's where I focus on, as soon as the car is more competitive and driveable in general, then in the second car it will come to you anyway a bit more naturally.'
Yahoo
23-03-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
'Amazing Day' For Haas F1 Team in Chinese Grand Prix
Haas F1 Team left China fourth place in the F1 Constructors' Championship. Ollie Bearman provided much of the entertainment for Haas on Sunday with a sequence of passes on the alternative strategy. After DQs were announced that affected Ferrari drivers Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, Haas' Esteban Ocon was promoted to fifth place, and Bearman eighth, giving Haas a haul of 14 points. There was a grim mood at Haas in Melbourne after a weekend-long absence of performance, particularly in high-speed turns, and boss Ayao Komatsu feared would take time to resolve. Fast-forward seven days and an outstanding Esteban Ocon put Haas at the front of the midfield pack in Sunday's Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix, while Ollie Bearman provided much of the entertainment with a sequence of passes on the alternative strategy. Ocon started from 11th place but was inch-perfect as he rose to seventh, the highlight a move on Kimi Antonelli in which he dipped a tire onto the grass at high-speed, with Haas also nailing the timing of its one-stop strategy. Bearman started only 17th but ran a lengthy first stint on the harder tires, taking the punishment early on, before thriving on fresher and softer tires in the second stint. Bearman cleanly carved his way through the pack to classify in 10th place. Those results became even better post-race following the exclusion of the Ferrari drivers, promoting Ocon into fifth place, and Bearman eighth, giving Haas a haul of 14 points. 'Things were obviously looking difficult just a week ago in Melbourne, but we haven't slept much since then and it's all been worth it as we've discussed everything and where to unlock the performance from the car,' Ocon said. 'We knew there was more performance to be had, obviously we're keen to improve some more, but the signs for now are good. Honestly, it's been an amazing turnaround from the team. "I'm proud of everyone back in Maranello, Banbury and Kannapolis—everyone's worked hard to find solutions. Well done to them and of course well done to Ollie, to. Double points, for us, is a massive thing.' Added Bearman: 'I'm super happy with the result—I didn't expect points today. Everything I was doing with the car worked, and that's a nice feeling to just have the groove and then to have some points to show for it. I'll be honest, I wasn't expecting a one-stop race today but the tires were lasting much better than they were yesterday, the car was fantastic.' Team Principal Ayao Komatsu, speaking before the result was revised, was over the moon at the recovery job. 'It's been an amazing day,' Komatsu said. 'We reacted to our change of circumstances very well. Like I said before, the reaction after the Sprint yesterday to change the car set-up, it really worked for qualifying and the race. Communication and execution in the race today was really good. I think it's the best reaction I could have asked for, everyone has just gotten on with the work after Melbourne. I wasn't expecting to score seven points today, if somebody had told me would could have scored one point I'd have been happy. It's an amazing result. I'm looking forward to working together as a team and improving this car.'
Yahoo
11-02-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
F1 Preview: Why the Heat Is Squarely on McLaren to Repeat
McLaren ended a 26-year wait for the F1 Constructors' Championship in 2024 as both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri claimed breakthrough victories. Now the target must be to go one better. Autoweek takes a preseason looks at the defending Formula 1 champions:Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri will make up one of just two unchanged driver lineups (Aston Martin is the other) at a team in 2025. Both drivers have spent their entire Formula 1 racing careers at McLaren, with Norris entering his seventh season, and Piastri (pictured) about to tackle his third does not have a nominated reserve but its relationship with Mercedes means it has had its reserve drivers as back-ups if required – which could include Valtteri Bottas. IndyCar front—runner Pato O'Ward (pictured), who has tested for the team several times, is also an option on non-clashing understated Andrea Stella remains as team principal for a third season, having calmly led McLaren to the crown last year. The gregarious American Zak Brown is the overall had to readjust to being at the sharp end of the grid week in, week out, and on occasion it squandered opportunities, taking time to realize the competitiveness of its package. Entering as reigning champions means it now has a target on its back so that brings a different level of expectation. It needs to be a little bit sharper and reactive on the pit wall, and has recruited Will Courteney from Red Bull to ease the load on Randy Singh, but he is not currently due to be available until 2026. In terms of car performance McLaren still has to solve its performance deficit at circuits with slow corners and low track temperatures, as best witnessed in Las Vegas last drivers are strong but still have the capacity to unearth gains. Norris' first-lap woes were regular and costly, and when the title fight got a little bit spicier he was wrong-footed by Verstappen at critical junctures. There were also major wobbles of self-belief, with Norris his own biggest critic, and he and McLaren need to work on that. While Piastri's one-lap deficit was often consistently small he out-qualified his team-mate just four times in 24 Grands Prix, giving him too much to do on Sundays. Piastri is an understated and placid figure and it is easy to forget he is only about to embark on his third season, but last year a strong mid-season was bookended by a slightly underwhelming start and finish, so tidying up those rough edges will yield the desired rise from also-rans to world champions was so rapid that it took the team by surprise, with Zak Brown (pictured) in early 2023 having initially looked at 2025 as its first likely chance to contend for overall honors. Consequently last season was a spectacular bonus—but that quickly raises expectations. Anything less than another Constructors' title will now be a disappointment, while for Norris and Piastri they will be eyeing up the Drivers' crown, so McLaren has to manage that relationship as well, which simmered at a few flash points last year but never spilled over. It's a different kind of pressure to a few years ago (and a much nicer pressure!) but the team can't afford to take its new-found success for granted. As the only front-running team not to change its lineup across the offseason it also has the opportunity to hit the ground only two years since McLaren started a season struggling to score points, so to quip that failing to win a title would be a failure shows how quickly they have surged to the top, and how expectations have been raised. But after the highs of 2024, retaining its crown, and taking the Drivers' championship, have to be the ambitions.
