Fernando Alonso Tag

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor The 2018 Formula One season is finally upon us. After the long winter break, all 10 teams hit the track this morning at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Barcelona, Spain. While the full picture of who is competitive, who has got it right, and who has got it wrong won’t fully form till the end of testing next week, there are meaningful things we can gleam just from breaking down the first day’s running. The biggest caveat in doing so are two variables that made today’s runningRead More

By FIA Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo went quickest as testing for the 2018 FIA Formula 1 season got underway in Barcelona today. In cold conditions, Ricciardo rose to the top of the timesheet in the morning with a time of 1:20.169 set on medium tyres. The lap, which left him just under two tenths of a second clear of Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas, stood until the end of the day as conditions worsened in the afternoon, with rain falling in the final part of running. There was further good newsRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor McLaren debuted their new 2018 Formula One car today, the MCL33, which represents a fresh start for the brand with Renault power after three seasons of misery with Honda power unit failures. To symbolize this new beginning the car makes a bold return to McLaren’s classic papaya orange color, a nod to company founder Bruce McLaren, who proudly painted his cars in the standout color during the team’s early years of the 1960s. The car is a clear evolution of the MCL32 that came before it,Read More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief The 56th edition of the Rolex 24 at Daytona was rough on those from Formula 1. Although Fernando Alonso had everyone’s attention during his stints in the No. 23 United Autosports Ligier LMP2 early on, it was Lance Stroll that put up the best result among F1 regulars. The 19-year-old Canadian finished 15th overall and 11th among prototypes in the No. 37 Jackie Chan DCR JOTA ORECA LMP2, which endured a frequent number of right rear tire failures throughout the endurance classic. Stroll, who teamed withRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer DAYTONA BEACH, Florida — The 2018 Rolex 24 at Daytona is going green shortly and here we will have live updates throughout the race. 00:00- Race went green at 2:40 p.m. ET, The No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac DPi with Renger Van Der Zande leads over the No. 7 Acura Team Penske Acura DPi of Helio Castroneves. The two Ford GTs are 1-2, the No. 66 ahead of the No. 67 in GTLM. In GTD the No. 82 Risi Competizione Ferrari is leading over theRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor The 56th edition of the Rolex 24 at Daytona kicks off the racing year with one of the most star studded grids of the season. Among the starters of tomorrow’s endurance classic are three 2018 Formula One drivers who have come stateside to compete against the best of IMSA, as well as some of better talents from NASCAR and IndyCar. Fernando Alonso is continuing his exploration outside of F1 as the next chapter of his triple crown attempt (Monaco GP, Indianapolis 500 and 24 Hours ofRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer The 2018 Rolex 24 at Daytona has achieved star power status with world championship-caliber drivers and manufacturers in the Prototype ranks in the second year of the DPi/LMP2 rules package. (what is a DPi? https://www.imsa.com/qa-2017-daytona-prototype-international-dpi-concept) The entry list has four manufacturers in the DPi ranks with Nissan (two cars), Mazda (two cars), Acura (two cars) and Cadillac (four cars) going up against 10 LMP2 cars from Oreca (six cars), Riley/Multimatic (one car) and Ligier (three cars). Let’s look at the Prototype portion of the entry listRead More

The FIA last night inaugurated the new FIA Hall of Fame in Paris with nine FIA Formula One World Champions in attendance as all 33 winners of motor sport’s most prestigious title were honored by the sport’s regulator. In association with official partners Michelin and Rolex, the FIA Hall of Fame was launched at a glittering ceremony at the headquarters of the ACF in Paris, with champions Sir Jackie Stewart, Mario Andretti, Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell, Damon Hill, Jacques Villeneuve, Fernando Alonso, Sebastian Vettel and Nico Rosberg joining representatives andRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor 2017 Indianapolis 500 winner Takuma Sato was the star of Honda ‘Thanks Day’ at Twin Ring Motegi today. The annual event showcases Honda’s brightest racing stars who lap the circuit in both current and historic race cars to the delight of a massive crowd. Sato was joined by the Borg-Warner trophy which made its first overseas trip to mark the occasion. Other notable participants included MotoGP Champion Marc Marquez, as well as McLaren-Honda Formula One drivers Jenson Button and Stoffel Vandoorne. Toro Rosso driver Pierre Gasly,Read More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor Kimi Raikkonen topped the time sheets for Ferrari on the first day of Pirelli’s Abu Dhabi tire test, where all 10 Formula One teams are evaluating the prospective 2018 tire compounds. The Finn clocked an impressive 1:37.768 on Pirelli’s new hypersoft compound, just three tenths ahead of Daniel Ricciardo’s Red Bull, and nearly a second ahead of World Champion Lewis Hamilton. Hamilton, who qualified and finished second behind team mate Valtteri Bottas on Sunday, hailed Pirelli’s hypersoft tires as the best tire Pirelli has made sinceRead More