Latest news with #W16
Yahoo
17-05-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Emilia Romagna Grand Prix qualifying results: Oscar Piastri captures pole position
Are we headed to another dominant Saturday from McLaren, or will their rivals spring a surprise in Formula 1 qualifying at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix? The McLaren duo of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris has led the way over all three practice sessions. Piastri topped the timing sheets in both FP1 and FP2 — with Norris right behind him in P2 — while it was Norris who was fastest earlier today in FP3, with Piastri behind him in second. Advertisement A major story to watch in today's qualifying session is the soft C6 compound, which is being used for the first time this season at Imola. While drivers switched from the medium compound to the softs late in FP3, few improvements were found in lap times. The possible reason? The soft tires were overheating by the end of the lap, decreasing grip levels through the final few corners of the circuit. That might change how teams approach their warmup laps during qualifying, which could increase the traffic we see during Q1. It could be a chaotic qualifying session, and we will have it covered live for you here at SB Nation, from the start of Q1 through the session. Here is the provisional grid, which we will fill in as qualifying unfolds at Imola: Advertisement Note: Updates are all in Eastern time. Q3 qualifying notes 11:35: Russell leaps ahead of Norris on the medium compound, but the day belongs to Oscar Piastri. His lap takes pole position, just 0.034 seconds ahead of Verstappen. Here is your provisional top ten. Piastri Verstappen Russell Norris Alonso Sainz Albon Stroll Hadjar Gasly 11:34: Verstappen was purple through the first sector, but had a bit of a scruffy second sector. Norris' time was good for third. 11:33: Piastri's final push lap has him ahead of Verstappen's benchmark time through the first two sectors. 11:30: Verstappen is the first of the drivers to pull out of the garage for a final push lap. Just over three minutes remain in Q3 and pole position is on the line. Advertisement Again Aston Martin bolts on medium tires for both Alonso and Stroll, but they are not alone. George Russell rolls out of the Mercedes garage with a set of mediums bolted onto his W16. 11:27: Opening push laps are done and it is Verstappen on provisional pole, just ahead of Piastri. Here is the current top ten, with each driver preparing for one more push lap: Verstappen Piastri Norris Russell Hadjar Stroll Alonso Sainz Albon Gasly 11:22: Q3 begins and all ten drivers roll out on a set of soft tires. 11:20: I cannot remember the last time we took stock of tires remaining on Saturday, this was the number of each compound the drivers had coming into the day today: Advertisement iven what we just saw from Aston Martin at the end of Q2, do we see more sets of mediums here in Q3? Q2 qualifying notes 11:16: Here are the top ten from Q2: Sainz Piastri Norris Russell Verstappen Alonso Stroll Gasly Hadjar Albon 11:15: Aston Martin's gamble works. Both Stroll and Alonso advance, with Stroll in P7 and Alonso in P6. Who do they knock out? The Ferrari duo of Leclerc and Hamilton. Leclerc finishes in P11 and Hamilton in P12. Antonelli, Bortoleto, and Colapinto join the in the elimination zone. 11:14: Sainz posts and absolute banger of a lap to go P1 as the clock expires. 11:09: With under four minutes left in Q2 the cars roar out of their respective garages. Interestingly enough both Alonso and Stroll have a set of medium tires bolted on, as Aston Martin is placing a bet on the C5 mediums being quicker than the C6 softs. Advertisement 11:08: Williams reports that both Albon and Sainz used scrubbed soft tires for their first laps in Q2. Albon currently sits P9 on the timing sheets, while Albon is down in P13. 11:06: With just under seven minutes remaining in Q2 the bottom five drivers are: Stroll, Gasly, Albon, Bortoleto, and Colapinto. 11:04: The first push laps are done and we have a McLaren one-two atop the timing sheets, with Piastri just 0.020 seconds ahead of Norris. 11:01: As a reminder we have 14 cars in Q2, as Colapinto did advance to Q2 but his crash at the end of Q1 ended his day. 10:59: Q2 is finally underway and it is indeed Bortoleto who takes to the track first, followed by Verstappen. Advertisement 10:58: Haas reports that Bearman's lap has not been reinstated, and he is out of qualifying. 10:56: Bortoleto rolls out of the garage and takes his place on pit lane, so he's convinced he is through ... Now we wait to see if Haas sends Bearman out too. 10:53: Race officials report that Q2 will begin at 4:58 local time/10:58 Eastern time. Alex Brundle on F1TV now shows replays that illustrate that Bearman may advance after all. 10:51: This extended delay is allowing some dark clouds to roll in ... 10:49: Both Haas and F1 confirm that Bearman's final lap is under further review: 10:46: Race officials have again delayed the start of Q2 as they check on the barrier after Colapinto's crash. Advertisement Bearman has yet to climb out of the VF-25. 10:44: Q2 will begin at 4:46 local time/10:46 Eastern. Q1 qualifying notes 10:43: F1 confirms that Bearman has been eliminated. Bortoleto advances to Q2. 10:42: Replays on F1TV seem to confirm that the red flag was out before Bearman completed his lap. 10:38: Jolyon Palmer on F1TV notes that lost in the chaos of the end of Q1 is the fact that Lance Stroll jumped to P4 on a set of medium tires. Yes, Aston Martin brought an upgrade package to Imola, but the medium compound might be quicker than the C6 soft tires right now. Also ... there is some weather off in the distance. More chaos could be on the horizon, literally and figuratively. Advertisement 10:35: The start of Q2 will be delayed. That will give us some time to sort out the controversy that is unfolding at Imola. F1 race officials have deleted Bearman's time, which drops him down to P19 and promotes Bortoleto into Q2 in P15. Haas will likely argue that he completed his lap before Colapinto's crash, but we will see how race stewards handle this situation. 10:34: Colapinto technically advances to Q2 in P15, but his qualifying session is over. Bearman survives, as he posted a lap that was good enough to move into Q2 just before Colapinto hit the wall at Turn 4. 10:33: Another big crash, as Franco Colapinto has found the barrier at Turn 4. As things stand the five drivers eliminated are Bortoleto, Lawson, Hülkenberg, Ocon, and Tsunoda. Advertisement Colapinto reports that he is okay as he climbs out of his A525. 10:32: Bortoleto's final push lap sees him jump into P15, so he has a chance to advance into Q2. His teammate Hülkenberg, however, found the gravel late in his lap and will be out in Q1. 10:30: With two minutes left in Q1 your bottom five drivers who are at risk of elimination are: Nico Hülkenberg, Gabriel Bortoleto, Oliver Bearman, Esteban Ocon, and Tsunoda, whose crash has brought an end to his day. 10:29: Only three minutes remain in Q1, and the cars are coming out for their final push laps. Notably Lance Stroll left the garage with a set of C5 medium tires bolten onto his AMR25. Teams have been struggling with the C6 soft compound as noted above. Advertisement 10:28: Times are coming in as Q1 continues, and surprise surprise, Max Verstappen is currently in P1. Replays on F1TV show several drivers, including Norris, Charles Leclerc, and Fernando Alonso dealing with some slides off the racing line and into the gravel. 10:19: The session will resume at 4:20 local time/10:20 Eastern. With one minute before the light turns green, cars begin to queue up in pit lane. 10:16: The red flag is still out at Imola after Tsunoda's shunt. You can see a replay of the incident here: 10:08: Tsunoda is out of the car and walks away from the RB21, and is able to climb into the medical car. Advertisement His RB21 has suffered significant damage, and he is likely looking at a pit lane start tomorrow. 10:06: RED FLAG. Yuki Tsunoda has gone off the line and into the wall hard, with the impact with the wall flipping his RB21. 10:05: We have some early lap times in Q1, and at the moment Alexander Albon is atop the timing sheets. Perfect time to plug my chat with the Williams driver from earlier in the week. 10:00: We have a green light at Imola, and Q1 is underway. 18 minutes are on the clock, and traffic is going to be a massive factor as noted above. Pre-qualifying notes 9:55: McLaren CEO Zak Brown predicts that the top three in qualifying will be Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri, and Max Verstappen in some order. Take that for what it's worth. 9:47: During the F1TV pre-qualifying show, Flavio Briatore talks with Lawrence Barretto about the switch from Jack Doohan to Franco Colapinto. Briatore brushes aside the idea that Colapinto just has five races in the car to prove himself at Alpine, stating that how long Colapinto lasts comes down to 'performance.'
Indian Express
15-05-2025
- Automotive
- Indian Express
How Mercedes' latest material innovation pushes F1 sustainability forward
Written by Somya Panwar For 75 years, Formula One has thrived on innovation — much of it engineered for performance, speed, and spectacle. But the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team is adding another layer to that legacy: sustainability. In a landmark move that aligns with F1's shifting environmental priorities, Mercedes announced that by 2025, their W16 challenger will feature use of sustainable carbon fibre composites — marking the first time in the sport's history that this scale of sustainable material will be integrated into a Formula One car. The initiative, driven in part by Mercedes' commitment to achieving net-zero carbon by 2040, isn't just about optics. Roughly 75% of the team's race car will soon be composed of sustainable carbon fibre. 'When you combine performance and innovation, you create progress,' Toto Wolff, CEO of Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team and Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport, said in a statement. 'I am proud to lead a team of problem solvers who are committed to driving sustainable changes.' The material itself is engineered from two essential components — fibres and a resin system. Typically, the composite is made up of 60% fibres and 40% resin, cured into a lightweight but durable material capable of withstanding the stress of elite motorsport competition. Mercedes' longstanding partner, Petronas, is onboard as well, aligning its own green fuel development with the team's sustainability push. The latest project sees Mercedes collaborate with Chestnut Carbon, an organization focused on ecological restoration and carbon removal. Two separate programs are underway: one targeting the carbon fibre material and another improving the sustainability of the resin system. 'This commitment is reflected in our ownership of the land and our 100-year project design,' said Ben Dell, CEO of Chestnut Carbon. 'We have developed a comprehensive Community Engagement plan to ensure transparent communication and positive relationships with the local stakeholders, reinforcing our dedication to both environmental stewardship and community support.' As part of this effort, Mercedes has committed to purchasing 5,500 tonnes of carbon removal credits between 2027 and 2030. The project is supported by a network of four to eight suppliers for each component of the composite material, and each part must still pass the FIA's rigorous performance testing before hitting the grid. 'We are proud to be at the forefront of sustainable innovation within our sport,' said Alice Ashpitel, Head of Sustainability at Mercedes. 'Leadership must be driven by innovation, and our team's efforts in this space are the latest demonstration of our ambition to become one of the world's most sustainable global sports teams.' Mercedes is exploring applications of these sustainable materials in industries like aviation and aerospace—an evolution of F1's role as a high-speed laboratory for change. As per sustainability magazine, Ben Dell, CEO of Chestnut Carbon commented: 'This commitment is reflected in our ownership of the land and our 100-year project design. Additionally, we have developed a comprehensive Community Engagement plan to ensure transparent communication and positive relationships with the local stakeholders, reinforcing our dedication to both environmental stewardship and community support.' (The writer in an intern with the Indian Express)
Top Gear
15-05-2025
- Automotive
- Top Gear
The 'king of engines': one last hurrah in the 8.0-litre, 1,578bhp Bugatti Bolide
The quad turbo W16 gets a final, intense flourish in the lightweight, track only, multimillion pound Bolide. TG hangs on tight This is not a new noise. It's the sound Bugatti's W16 has always made and there's nothing else like it because no one else has ever had a W16. The king of engines doesn't need to be rowdy. It communicates in another way. It's the only engine I've come across that uses the ground underneath it as a resonating surface, sending vibrations far and wide, like how a croc ripples its back in the water. You'd probably read it as a warning not to mess, and that wouldn't be a bad interpretation. Even now it's unsilenced and decatalysed, it's not so much noise that it emits as presence. The king of engines whoomphs into life. Definitely whoomphs. It doesn't snarl or scream, it doesn't pepper the air with fake pops, there's just a sense of a lot of air being drawn in, and then suddenly combusted deep inside. Whoomph. The bodywork? That makes a tad more fuss. From the sinewy snout along the raked profile to the X-wing rear end, it exudes menace. A wheeled knuckle duster, the king of engines dressed as a street fighter. You'd imagine quite a lot has had to be done to the quad turbo 8.0-litre for this track only version, what with all the forces it's got to deal with. Nah. It's not the engine that's had to be changed. It's the car. Because Bugatti has done something remarkable here. It's built a car that can cope. The Bolide is the most extreme Bugatti there's ever been. It's more powerful than any racing car, has to shed more energy in the course of a lap, delivers 2,900kg of downforce, 2.5g of cornering force, explosive acceleration force – in short it's one of the most forceful cars there's ever been. And it is the last place a W16 engine will ever call home. Now 20 years old, we'll miss it when it's gone. Other hypercar engines rev higher, shriek louder. One or two produce more power, several are more power dense, all are smaller, lighter. But just as you don't doubt the lion's claim to be king, nor do you question the W16's. All others live in its shadow. Well, you don't start with a Chiron. Dallara built Bugatti a bespoke carbon tub to Le Mans Hypercar regulations, and from there Bugatti set about creating a car that would showcase the engine in its purest form. Because that's what's going on here. This is not a track car that happens to be powered by a W16, it's a W16 given a new dimension on track. That's a small but important distinction. The engine itself is pretty much as it came out of a Chiron Super Sport. Same internals, same valvetrain, pistons and conrods, even the same oil and water pumps. But how do you take a 1,578bhp, 1,179lb ft powerplant, that together with its (only lightly modified) twin clutch transmission is a leviathan weighing some 700kg, and build a track car around it? Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. Look out for your regular round-up of news, reviews and offers in your inbox. I'm at Paul Ricard in the south of France. Tomorrow four owners are turning up to drive their new cars. Today is the training day for the instructors who will sit alongside them (no thanks) and Bugatti has found a small gap for me to drive it as well. It's a busy day. Some 40 people mill around. Big boss and CEO Mate Rimac is here, so too most of Bugatti's board of directors. I spend the morning in track briefings, filling out terrifying paperwork and watching the Bolide thunder around. Bugatti has laid on a pair of GT3 RSes as track learning cars. I'm watching them howl down the main straight when I sense another movement. The Bolide is storming out of the final corner. It devours the distance to the hard charging Porsches in great chunks, rips past them under the gantry. The speed differential is colossal, but more than that there's just this sense of immense pent up aggression being released. I think about this an hour or so later as I'm strapped into the Bolide. It's tight in here, the wheel butting up close to the A-pillar, the view out blinkered by high front arches. The 3D printed steering yoke is reassuringly solid in my hands – just as well given how hard I'm clenching it. Raindrops have just started to pepper the windscreen. I'm on slicks. Andy Wallace has the good grace not to look remotely concerned as he straps in alongside me. 'Once you've got the pit speed on, just put the throttle wide open and hold it there.' 'In first gear?' I reply bemusedly. 'Yep, in first. And then at the end of the pitlane, knock the limiter off and hold on tight.' I point blank refuse. 'No way. It'll spin all four wheels and I'll be straight into the barriers.' 'Honestly. As long as it's got good tyre temperature, it'll hook up without a trace of wheel slip.' Whoomph. The king of engines fires. I immediately resolve not to do as I'm told, given the engine appears to be clawing its way through the bulkhead. The Bolide throbs and pulses with barely contained energy. I wincingly click the paddle for first gear, gingerly touch the throttle and the Bolide crawls away, docile as anything. I pull second. Barely sense the shift. Chiron vibes. And so, once clear of the pitlane, I nail it. My world erupts. Noise. Force. Power. All of it huge. It's all consuming, a furious, unrelenting onslaught. I brake for the first corner. There's little heat in the brakes so they surf on. Ooh gawd. Then I turn in and the Bolide starts to slide. Gulp. Don't forget it's damp, Marriage. It slides through turn three. And four. And five. Bloody hell. But by the end of the lap I don't want to park up, I just want more. Because the Bolide moves so well. Yes it slid, but a) that was entirely my fault for getting carried away on cold tyres and a damp track, b) it was caught masterfully by the life – and reputation – saving stability control, and c) the reason I was happy pushing immediately was that the Bolide felt calm in my hands, not snatchy, but progressive. 20 minutes 57 seconds The handling takes its lead from the motor, which delivers its power with creamy smoothness across the whole rev range. There's no top end crescendo, just this outrageous thrust everywhere, accompanied by monstrous bass roar. It's not sharp and zingy, the king of engines likes the power to be poured on and kept on, not fiddled with mid corner. And the dynamics are the same. When I speak to Mate Rimac afterwards he'll tell me, 'Ultimately it's not about lap times in this car, it needs to be engaging for our customers to drive. And many of them are not racers.' He goes on to admit that some of them aren't even likely to drive the car at all. I understand the 'wheeled artwork' argument sometimes, but not here, not with this. So despite the way it looks, it's friendly, benign, approachable. There's nothing tricksy about it. The steering rack is fast but not Ferrari twitchy. There's not much actual steering feedback but it's positive and incisive into corners and there's loads of feel through the seat. The chassis is a great communicator. Hadn't expected that. But the best bit happens after the apex. And it's not just because you get to shovel air and 102 octane fuel into the power station. It's how all four wheels deal with the resulting torque onslaught. Because the diffs are sensational at putting the power exactly where it's needed to maximise traction without spoiling trajectory. It's just wonderfully flattering, makes me feel like a hero as it exits slow corners with a whiff of four wheel drift. The twin clutch box has new ratios and final drive, better suited to sprinting up to the 236mph max. Downforce at that speed hits 2,900kg. Once into sixth at, what, 170-odd mph, I notice the acceleration let up a fraction as drag takes effect. And then there are the brakes. Early suggestions of a 1,250kg kerbweight came to naught – the Bolide is probably around 1,625kg with fluids and me on board. Yet the power means it arrives into braking zones at outrageous speeds, a kinetic energy conundrum that Brembo has solved with 390mm carbon carbon brakes that apparently feature F1 materials. And ABS. A rare, perhaps unique, combo. They're foolproof and the stopping power hangs me in the belts every time. Ever skydived? That breath crushing feeling when the parachute is yanked? It's that. Every corner. Mega pedal feel – I see operating temperatures up over 800°C and those outside get glowing discs. I'm swatted down the track like a suddenly flattened fly. I hoot with laughter If there's an issue here it's the load all of this places on the tyres. Due to high speed aero load, Michelin insists on high pressures – around 35–38psi. They're fine there, but Wallace says grip drops away significantly when they go above that. The long and the short of all this is that the Bolide is very harmonious. The king of engines has been matched in braking power, lateral grip, and yes, traction. On my last lap I slow down on the back straight and engage the pit limiter. It sits smoothly at 40mph in first gear and I hold it there for five seconds to let the four turbos pressurise. And then I thumb the little black button on the steering wheel to cut loose the king of engines and I'm swatted down the track like a suddenly flattened fly. I hoot with laughter, while blown away that the slicks can cope with every single one of the 1,600-odd horses without so much as a chirrup. Andy reckons it's even more vivid than launch control from a standstill. I can believe him. Like I said, the Bolide feels very together, each component balanced against the others. I remember thinking the same after I drove another track only hypercar – McLaren's P1 GTR. The whole car is calm under pressure – and more than that it feels like a Bugatti. When I track down Mate afterwards he tells me 'the hardest thing for this project was to make it a Bugatti in terms of detail and quality. Racecars are fascinating things, but they're not Bugattis". I'd expected to find the Bolide a racecar with a W16 shoved in. With only 40 being built I thought it would be heavily compromised, a bit of a Frankenstein's monster. But as Mate said, if that were the case, it wouldn't be a Bugatti. Instead the Bolide seems to have been as rigorously developed as a Chiron by people with a very clear idea of who it's for and what it needs to do. Ballistically fast, yes, but also polished and flattering, which gives the driver the mental capacity to enjoy and appreciate the Bolide's centrepiece, the 16 pulsating pistons and conrods, four turbos and 64 valves that make up the world's one and only W16 engine. The king of engines.
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Vesti in at Mercedes for Bahrain GP FP1 outing
Motorsport photo Frederik Vesti will take part in Free Practice 1 with Mercedes at Formula 1's Bahrain Grand Prix, driving George Russell's W16. A Formula Regional European champion in 2019 and Formula 2 runner-up in 2023, Vesti has been on Mercedes' books since 2021, currently acting as the team's reserve driver alongside Valtteri Bottas – on top of his racing commitments in the IMSA SportsCar Championship with Cadillac. Advertisement F1 regulations state that teams must run rookies – drivers who have competed in two grands prix at most – twice in each of their cars over the 2025 season's grand prix weekends. Debutant Andrea Kimi Antonelli has already fulfilled this requirement in Melbourne and Shanghai on his side of the garage, and Vesti is set to do likewise with, at first, his Bahrain appearance. 'I am really looking forward to getting my first taste of the W16 in FP1 in Bahrain,' the 23-year-old Dane said. 'Being able to put all of my simulator work into practice on the track is a really exciting prospect for me. Frederik Vesti, Reserve Driver, Mercedes-AMG F1 Team Frederik Vesti, Reserve Driver, Mercedes-AMG F1 Team Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images Advertisement 'At the start of the year, I set myself the goal of maximising every chance I get behind the wheel of an F1 car in 2025, and that is what I hope to achieve in Bahrain. I will be doing everything I can to help the team, George, and Kimi get set for the rest of the weekend. 'I am grateful to Mercedes for once again giving me this opportunity.' Similar rules previously allowed Vesti to drive Mercedes' W14 car in FP1 at the Mexico City and Abu Dhabi grands prix in 2023, while last year the required sessions had been given to incoming racer Antonelli. At least two other rookies will take part in FP1 at Sakhir, with Ferrari protege Dino Beganovic driving Charles Leclerc's SF-25 machinery, while Oliver Bearman will cede his Haas car to Ryo Hirakawa following the latter's recent switch from Alpine. Read Also: Hirakawa switches from Alpine to Haas as 2025 F1 reserve driver
Yahoo
06-04-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
F1 Rookie Kimi Antonelli Sets All-Time Record at Japanese Grand Prix
Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli appeared to be flailing throughout practice ahead of Sunday's Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka, Japan, struggling for confidence at a challenging circuit he had never previously visited, but race day proved to be another story. Antonelli went through onboard videos of his laps and, aided by past winner Valtteri Bottas providing tips, turned around his fortunes to qualify in sixth place on the grid. Antonelli ran a lengthy first stint and cycled through into the lead, in the process becoming the youngest driver to lead a lap of a Grand Prix at the age of 18 years and 225 days—besting Max Verstappen's previous record by just three days set at the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix. Antonelli then went on to set the race's fastest lap in the second stint, setting another 'youngest ever' record, and finished in sixth place, within sight of teammate George Russell. Not bad for a driver who is still studying for his final school exams. 'I am happy with how it went and the speed we were able to show,' Antonelli said. 'It was also a nice feeling to lead the race for a few laps and become the youngest driver in F1 history to have done so. The next goal is to do that on the only lap that matters: the final one. "It has been a good weekend overall. It's a great track and one that I felt that I was getting on top of by the end of the weekend. Every time I get in the car, I am building my learning and feeling more comfortable with the W16.' Antonelli has scored 30 points across the first three Grands Prix of his career. 'It was another mature performance from Kimi as he continues to build his experience,' Mercedes' Trackside Engineering Director Andrew Shovlin said.
