All posts by Joey Barnes

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Robert Kubica made his official return to a Formula 1 race weekend for the first time since 2010, ending 19th quickest in Friday morning practice ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix. The outing at was less than ideal as Kubica was 3.362 seconds off the pace, but still managed to place ahead of Williams teammate Lance Stroll by 1.246 seconds at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. Stroll also crashed with half an hour to go the session. Overall, the first of three scheduled opening practice sessions for 2018Read More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Sahara Force India Formula 1 Team will hand the keys over to three junior drivers for the upcoming in-season test in Barcelona on May 15-16. The Silverstone-based squad will feature reserve driver Nicholas Latifi and development pilot Nikita Mazepin in one car. Mercedes junior driver George Russell will be in a second car and will provide help for Pirelli in part for tire development. The run will be Latifi’s first outing in the VJM11 after being pulled out of preseason testing in February due to illness.Read More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief The Verizon IndyCar Series is four races into their 2018 season and the universal aero kit has elevated the spectacle with improved passing and elevated the overall racing product by putting the car back into the drivers’ hands. Marco Andretti (Andretti-Herta Autosport), Scott Dixon (Chip Ganassi Racing), Graham Rahal (Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing) and rookie Robert Wickens (Schmidt Peterson Motorsports) are among those that have enjoyed a solid start to the year and break down why the new car is such a game-changer for the sport. OurRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Kevin Magnussen spared no expense in his belief that the Haas F1 Team are right in the thick of the midfield battle with the likes of Renault and McLaren. The 25-year-old Dane has scored 11 points through the opening three races, which sits him 10th in the Formula One World Driver’s Championship. The flipside is that he is the only driver to provide points for the American team, with Romain Grosjean yet to finish in the top 10. As it stands heading into Baku for theRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief With three races into the 2018 Formula One season, everything is still just as unclear as the day it began. An incredible performance by Aston Martin Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo put him as the star of the show at the last round in China, with momentum also on his side as the defending race winner for the last year’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Our friends from Mobil 1 The Grid have brought the affable Aussie on to explain how he captured the remarkable victory last season inRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Kimi Raikkonen overcame a rough start and avoided trouble en route to finishing third in Sunday’s Heineken Chinese Grand Prix. The 38-year-old Finn got a nice jump from second on the grid, but Scuderia Ferrari teammate and pole sitter Sebastian Vettel came across the track and pinched Raikkonen on the inside. The bad entry angle into Turn 1 meant Raikkonen had to ease off the throttle, which pushed him down to fourth by the end of the opening lap. The 2007 World Champion managed to takeRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief AVONDALE, Arizona – It has been a relatively quiet weekend for Josef Newgarden. Picking up where he left off at the season opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, the 27-year-old Tennessean will start tonight’s Desert Diamond West Valley Casino Phoenix Grand Prix at ISM Raceway from seventh on the grid at 185.279 mph. There was hope for more after Team Penkse teammates Simon Pagenaud and Will Power paced the second and third best times, respectively. However, the reigning Verizon IndyCar Series champion believes the trackRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief The Formula 1 season is officially underway following an exciting Australian Grand Prix two weekends ago, but now the focus turns toward the second and third rounds of the championship. As such, Aston Martin Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo previews the Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix and the Heineken Chinese Grand Prix. Our friends from Mobil 1 The Grid have brought together the Aussie’s thoughts on the first back-to-back events of 2018. Video Credit: Mobil 1 The GridRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief ESPN has issued an apology after a variety of technical issues plagued its debut as the chief provider of Formula 1 broadcast coverage in the United States. The problems began with the “On the Grid” prerace show on ESPN2 as the video feed from coverage partner Sky Sports came through without audio. The network then cutaway to another show as the incident persisted before returning with that particular problem resolved 10 minutes prior to lights out. “We deeply apologize to Formula 1 fans for the technicalRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Fernando Alonso helped lead a McLaren return back to relevancy after delivering with a fifth-place finish in the Australian Grand Prix. The Woking-based outfit spent the previous three seasons backed by Honda power, but an offseason switch to Renault as the engine supplier has already seen a strong return with the team. The performance in the Formula 1 season opener matched McLaren’s best result since Alonso scored a fifth-place effort in the 2016 United States Grand Prix. The 36-year-old Spaniard started from 10th on the gridRead More