Carlos Sainz Tag

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Scuderia Toro Rosso has revealed that Red Bull junior driver Pierre Gasly will replace Daniil Kvyat for “the next Grand Prix,” starting this weekend in Malaysia. The 2016 Formula 2 (previously known as GP2) champion, Gasly has been competing this year in Japan in Super Formula – a path similar to McLaren’s Stoffel Vandoorne, winner of the 2015 F2 title. The number of races remaining this season that the 21-year-old Frenchman will compete in isn’t confirmed, with the one certainty that he will not compete inRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Carlos Sainz came from 10th on the grid to survive a treacherous and wet Singapore Grand Prix to finish just off the podium in fourth-place – his best ever in Formula One. Oddly enough the result comes on the heels of the announcement of Sainz set to go to Renault next season, and with additional rumors of a potential switch as early as next round in Malaysia. However, the 23-year-old Spaniard was beyond overjoyed with the banner outcome. “WOW,” said an emotionally charged Sainz. “What aRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor Carlos Sainz’s widely reported move from Toro Rosso to Renault is apparently in the form of a “loan” which at least in theory, Red Bull can take back if they need or desire to. With the top Red Bull team filled and Pierre Gasly coming to take his place at Toro Rosso it is likely that Sainz will stay at Renault after 2018, but it is not guarunteed. Should Honda continue to be a disaster in 2018 and Red Bull be forced to take their enginesRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor Renault may yet come out the big winner through McLaren’s separation from Honda. Doing their best to exploit an enemy’s weakness, they have already poached Carlos Sainz from Toro Rosso and dropped them from their engine supply, but if a report by the usually accurate Auto Motor und Sport proves to be true it’s about to get a lot worse for Red Bull. According to the report, the French manufacturer has informed Red Bull that they are cancelling their order of power units for the 2019 andRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor The final hurdle for McLaren to finalize its messy divorce from Honda has been cleared. The parties involved have convinced Scuderia Toro Rosso to a supply of Honda powerplants through the 2020 season. Renault will now supply one less team and Honda will have a partner so the Japanese giant can remain in F1. As widely speculated, Carlos Sainz is set to leave the team and join Renault to sweeten the deal, though it is unclear if he will do so before the end of theRead More

The final day of testing in Budapest was a tale of a remarkable return and an impressive arrival, as Robert Kubica returned to F1 testing for the first time in six years to set the day’s fourth fastest time, while 17-year-old Lando Norris finished in second place, just two tenths of a second behind pacesetter Sebastian Vettel. Driving for Renault, Kubica, who had not driven a contemporary F1 car since suffering serious arm injuries in a 2011 rallying accident, set a best time of 1m18.572s to finish fourth on theRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor Ferrari saved their best for the last day of preseason testing at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya as Kimi Raikkonen blitzed the field en route to the fastest time of winter and the second fastest lap ever recorded at the track. His 1:18.634 very nearly reached the 1:18.243 Fernando Alonso set while testing slick tires on the Renault R28 in preparation for the 2009 season. Of far more importance to Ferrari, Raikkonen’s time is seven tenths of a second faster than Mercedes’ best lap and eight tenths better thanRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor Reports are starting to emerge that Valtteri Bottas is Mercedes main target as a replacement for recently retired world champion Nico Rosberg. In any other year this would be a slam dunk move, as Mercedes boss Toto Wolff manages Bottas and would gladly give a large discount to Williams on their Mercedes engines for the next season. Wolff has already made an offer as such, roughly $10 million off for Williams engine package for 2017, but Williams has said no. They did so because this isRead More

Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton continued to set the pace at Interlagos, though he was pressed hard in second practice ahead of the Brazilian Grand Prix by weekend title hopeful Nico Rosberg. Rosberg, who is bidding to take an unassailable championship lead over Hamilton in Brazil, finished the opening practice session at the Sao Paulo circuit just over two tenths of a second behind the defending champion. In the afternoon performance runs, however, the title leading German closed the gap on his British rival to just three hundredths of a second. BehindRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Daniil Kvyat became the first retirement of the European Grand Prix, exiting on lap 8 with suspension issues. The Russian enjoyed a solid Saturday, qualifying seventh and looking like a strong contender for solid points, but Kvyat’s quest came to a halt as he encountered a second retirement in the last three races. “There was an issue with the suspension, so we had to retire the car very early on in the race,” Kvyat said. “Unfortunately, we need to investigate what happened and try to understandRead More