Motoring News

Lewis Hamilton was left feeling encouraged by Mercedes’ performance in Friday’s first practice session at the Japanese Grand Prix, with the seven-time world champion stating that the car had felt at its best so far this season.

It was a damp conclusion to Friday’s practice action at the Japanese Grand Prix, with drivers completing the majority of their laps on intermediate tyres during FP2 around the Suzuka circuit.

TEAM REPRESENTATIVES: Toto WOLFF (Mercedes), Bruno FAMIN (Alpine), James VOWLES (Williams), Ayao KOMATSU (Haas)

While pleased with his start to the Japanese Grand Prix weekend, Max Verstappen believes Red Bull will face more of a battle at this year’s event compared to their recent dominance at Suzuka.

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen posted the fastest time during Friday practice for the Japanese Grand Prix, which saw a mixture of dry and wet running.

A new way of allocating wet-weather rubber for 2024 meant teams were reluctant to use any intermediate tyres in Suzuka’s damp FP2 session because they wanted to save them for later in the weekend.It meant that drivers sat in garages for most of the session, with the only major running coming very late on when conditions were dry enough for slicks.Read Also:


Formula 1F1 Japanese GP ...Keep reading

“I really love this track,” says Franck Montagny of the Jerez circuit in southern Spain. “I remember my chief engineer in Renault’s test team was always saying ‘if there was a championship of 15 races in Jerez, you are world champion every year’.”The Frenchman never raced at the track he picks out as his favourite, but relished every time he got to drive it testing Formula 1 ...Keep reading

Max Verstappen set the pace for Red Bull in FP1, which was the only representative session on Friday, as he posted a time of 1m30.056s in his RB20.Sergio Perez finished just under two tenths down in second, followed by Australian GP winner Carlos Sainz in the Ferrari.Mercedes ended up a strong fourth and fifth, with George Russell leading team-mate Lewis Hamilton.What time does qualifying for the ...Keep reading

If you've got an exciting new technology you'd like to see used throughout the varied world of sportscar racing, there are two organisations you need to be working with.The first of these, of course, is the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO), the body behind the Le Mans 24 Hours and the World Endurance Championship (WEC). And the other is the SRO Motorsports Group, the organisation at the centre of ...Keep reading

After a challenging start to the campaign where Mercedes has struggled with its W15, duo George Russell and Lewis Hamilton ended up fourth and fifth quickest respectively in Suzuka’s morning free practice session, which offered the only representative running with FP2 taking place in damp conditions.Off the back of a host of experiments that the team was running as part of its bid to get to the ...Keep reading

The American ran wide at the high-speed Dunlop Curve left-hander and having put his right-hand side wheels on the grass, he lost control and spun into the barrier.He hit with both the front and rear, damaging the suspension and cracking the gearbox of the FW46.Fortunately the chassis, which was shipped back to the UK and repaired after team-mate Alex Albon’s FP1 crash in Australia, escaped ...Keep reading

Quartararo made his MotoGP debut in 2019 with Yamaha at the satellite Petronas Sepang Racing Team, scoring seven podiums in a stunning rookie campaign.This earned him a promotion to the factory squad in 2021 to replace Valentino Rossi, with Quartararo arriving there as a three-time race winner following the 2020 campaign.Quartararo went on to win the world championship in 2021 and fought to the ...Keep reading

Oscar Piastri set the best timed lap in a rain-affected Free Practice 2 session at the Japanese Grand Prix, with limited running until a late burst of action as conditions dried in the final moments.

Live coverage of Friday's second practice session for the 2024 Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka.

Max Verstappen made the perfect start, as he looks to bounce back from his Melbourne disappointment, by going quickest in Friday's opening practice session in Japan.

Follow live text and audio commentary from third practice and qualifying at the Japanese Grand Prix.

Verstappen was fastest in Free Practice 1, lapping in 1m30.056s, while FP2 was blighted by rain showers. That was topped by McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, with a quickest time of 1m34.725s.Japanese GP FP1 results: Verstappen fastest from PerezWhat happened in Japanese GP Free Practice 1?Lewis Hamilton had just sent the quickest time on soft tyres of 1m30.543s in his Mercedes when Logan Sargeant lost ...Keep reading

Rain started sporadically falling in the paddock with under an hour to go ahead of FP2's 3pm local time commencement, but this intensified with 15 minutes to go.It was therefore no shock when no cars headed out as FP2 did get underway, with few drivers even in their cockpits at this stage.After 12 minutes, Lewis Hamilton did venture out on the mediums, declaring the track "pretty dry", but he was ...Keep reading

The Grove team still does not have a spare, as Sargeant is using the chassis that was crashed by Alex Albon in Melbourne and subsequently repaired.Sargeant lost control when he put his right-hand wheels on the grass at the high-speed Dunlop Curve left-hander, striking the barrier with both ends of the car. "It's pretty significant," said Vowles when asked about the extent of the damage. "The ...Keep reading