F1

Red Bull has responded to the FIA's statement clearing Aston Martin over similarities in its Formula 1 car design by saying any transfer of IP would be 'a ...

“What he has in his head… We will look into it in detail.” Reverse engineering has been banned in F1 since Racing Point – Aston Martin’s predecessor – based its 2020 car design on the 2019 Mercedes title-winner.

Formula One opened the European leg of the season in sweltering temperatures with an appropriately heated and fractious atmosphere in the paddock.

Following a raft of upgrades to the floor of the car, the team appeared to enjoy a decrease in the porpoising that has plagued them this season. We showed them the data and they found themselves with their hands tied because they had already issued the penalty. Fernando Alonso launched a scathing attack on the FIA, the sport’s governing body, for which he faces a potential punishment, while Red Bull in turn expressed scorn and disbelief at Aston Martin, who were accused of copying the design of their car. At the end of last year, two senior aerodynamicists, Dan Fallows and Andrew Alessi, left Red Bull to join Aston Martin and the Red Bull Team principal, Christian Horner, noted his “grave concern” that Red Bull’s intellectual property may have been compromised. But Red Bull were unwilling to let the matter lie. The Spaniard was given a five-second penalty at the last round in Miami for cutting a chicane – dropping the Alpine driver from a points-scoring position.

Ferrari's Charles Leclerc was fastest during Spanish Grand Prix practice in Barcelona on Friday, the sixth round of the 2022 Formula 1 World Championship.

Sainz and Alex Albon (Williams) had a spat after Turn 1, which stewards will investigate after the session. Sebastian Vettel was the first to set a time on softs in his updated Aston Martin, which has been the talk of the paddock today, setting the bar at 1m20.703s. That was soon beaten by Verstappen on 1m20.006s. Teams ran medium tyres at the beginning of this session, with Verstappen leading the way on 1m20.932s, 0.046s ahead of Sainz and 0.063s quicker than Leclerc – the latter suffering a scruffy end to his lap. Russell was best of the rest for Mercedes, lapping 0.762s off the pace on 1m20.590s. He later had a big moment when he came across the second Red Bull, driven for the first time in FP1 by F2 racer Juri Vips. After early running on the hard tyres, Sainz set the bar on softs at 1m19.907s. That looked set to be toppled by Verstappen, who set the fastest first two sectors when he came across a huge amount of traffic towards the end of the lap. Leclerc was quickest in both FP1 and FP2, ahead of Mercedes duo George Russell and Lewis Hamilton, his Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz and Red Bull’s reigning world champion Max Verstappen across the two one-hour sessions.

Lewis Hamilton feels Mercedes is on its way to getting back to the front of Formula 1, after upgrades in Spain helped it dial out much of its porpoising ...

We definitely don't have the porpoising on the straight, which is good, but we're still experiencing a bit here and there in the corners, which ultimately you need to dial out.” We still have some bouncing, but it’s way better.” Speaking after the session, Hamilton said: “I’m positive, yeah.

Mercedes went from F1 practice leader to its natural position in the Miami race, but it has reason to believe it's closer at the Spanish GP.

In reality, Fernando Alonso’s Alpine was the most consistently quick of the group – and the controversially updated Aston Martin with its Red Bull-like bodywork looked significantly more competitive than the previous version. 1m26.398s (9 laps) Nonetheless, Mercedes has real cause for optimism. “The tyres are going to pieces,” he radioed in just eight laps into his run. With its new floor, the W13 still needs fine-tuning into its sweet spot, but both drivers feel that’s perfectly feasible. Unfortunately for Russell, the Ferrari was circulating not far ahead of him and its tyre difficulties, therefore, had an impact on Russell’s average too. Verstappen did by far the most convincing long run, with a super-consistent and pretty long sequence on the medium tyres. “The car’s definitely reacting differently,” said Russell. “We don’t have the porpoising on the straight but we have it in some of the corners here and there which ultimately you need to dial out. “It’s the first time we’ve driven down the straight without bouncing. But both Hamilton and Russell were competitive in both measures. There is genuinely a sense that Mercedes may be on the road to Formula 1 recovery. Their judgements proved accurate over the following two days.

Christian Horner has confirmed Red Bull will conduct an internal investigation to check whether Aston Martin have copied their F1 car, and says any transfer ...

"We see it up and down the paddock individuals move from team to team after a gardening leave period. Red Bull are currently second in the standings but have had the fastest car in recent races, while Aston Martin are ninth and only ahead of Williams. The FIA have yet to comment since their earlier statement. "We have been clear, we have been transparent, we have been open, and we have been given the green light [by the FIA]. "Imitation is the biggest form of flattery at the end of the day," Red Bull team principal Horner told Sky Sports F1. "And it's no coincidence we've had a few individuals who have transferred from Red Bull to Aston Martin over the winter and the early part of this season. Christian Horner has confirmed Red Bull will conduct an internal investigation to check whether Aston Martin have copied their F1 car, and says any transfer of intellectual property would be "totally unacceptable" and a "criminal offence." Red Bull boss tells Sky Sports an internal investigation will take place to check whether there may have been a "criminal offence" transfer of intellectual property; Aston Martin have denied claims of copycat Red Bull car and FIA cleared them of wrongdoing in pre-race investigation

A beaming Lewis Hamilton said he was "super happy" with Mercedes' start to the Spanish GP as he hailed much-needed progress in Friday's practice sessions ...

"Then on the chassis side, we are getting there. "Turn 3 and Turn 9, we are losing a lot so we just need to find what we are going to do there tomorrow. "We definitely don't have the porpoising in the straight but we are experiencing a bit here and there in the corners which means you need to dial it out in the corners and Red Bull still look very, very strong. He added: "It is great to see that we have so many fans and especially so many keen fans. "We still have some bouncing but it is way better so we are starting to eek in a bit of the potential in the car. "We need to get into the data overnight and I think we can get it into an even better pace for tomorrow so hopefully we can tackle the heels of the guys up ahead."

World championship leader Charles Leclerc topped the times for Ferrari ahead of the two Mercedes of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton in Friday's second ...

“Thanks to the factory and all the hard work. The FIA had earlier cleared Aston Martin of any wrong after it was claimed that their upgraded car was a copy of the pacesetting Red Bull, much to the chagrin of Horner and team advisor Helmut Marko. Verstappen responded in 1:20.006, outpacing Vettel by seven-tenths before Sainz delighted his home support in a big Friday crowd by going fastest to end the on-track version of the Aston Martin v Red Bull “copycat” squabble. Sergio Perez was seventh in the second Red Bull ahead of four-time champion Sebastian Vettel in a heavily-revised and resurgent Aston Martin, Esteban Ocon in the second Alpine and Mick Schumacher of Haas. Local star Carlos Sainz was fourth in the second Ferrari ahead of world champion Max Verstappen of Red Bull and another Spaniard two-time champion Fernando Alonso of Alpine. The 24-year-old Monegasque driver was quickest in one minute and 19.670 to outpace Russell by a tenth of a second and seven-time champion Hamilton by two-tenths as Mercedes, with an extensive upgrades package, rediscovered their pace.

Charles Leclerc says he will “think twice” about driving historic Formula 1 cars again in the future after crashing one of Niki Lauda's classic Ferraris in ...

"I got to meet Niki a few times in the paddock in the past and yeah, they are just legends of our sports, of course it's always amazing to be driving their cars." "I think also it's great to experience what it was like and what it's like now, it's very different now, it's so much faster but it's also so much safer and we don't have the safety in mind as much as they probably did once they were racing. "Obviously there was a shakedown of this car the Thursday before and yeah, the failure that happened was on a screw of the brake pads and it's impossible to know.

Formula 1 Spanish Grand Prix is Sunday; Mercedes improving, Red Bull takes shot at Aston Martin.

Mercedes has front wing and floor edge tweaks as it strives to cure the bouncing that has plagued its progress. It involved CAD checks and a detailed analysis of Aston Martin’s development processes, and the FIA concluded that no wrongdoing had been committed, approving the compliance of the new package. So yeah, starting to eke into a bit of the potential in our car.” “Hopefully it will be good ones and enough to be in front of Red Bull again,” said Leclerc on the updates. It means it is a circuit that can produce more reliable feedback and data on new components, particularly with three street-based circuits (Monaco, Baku, Montreal) next up on the schedule. The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya is a known quantity, given its extensive use as a pre-season test venue, and has a layout that assesses most areas of a car.

Lewis Hamilton feels Mercedes is on its way to get back to the front of Formula 1, after upgrades in Spain helped it dial out much of its porpoising ...

We definitely don't have the porpoising on the straight, which is good, but we're still experiencing a bit here and there in the corners, which ultimately you need to dial out." But we're in a good spot." "We're not the quickest yet, but I think we're on our way.

F1 points leader Charles Leclerc paced Spanish Grand Prix practices while the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell seem to be improving.

He said “something’s broke” as his Alfa Romeo ground to a stop in the grass. Race officials expect more than 110,000 fans to turn out for each of the event’s three days after two years of racing without the public due to the pandemic. The Barcelona-Catalunya track is notorious for being tough on tires. We can get it in even better shape tomorrow so we can tackle the guys up ahead.” But he was encouraged by the car’s apparent improvements. Leclerc topped the time charts in both hourlong sessions.

'Not quickest… yet': F1 juggernaut awakens; Aston embroiled in cheat claims: Talking Points.

“We clearly aren’t where we want to be on the timesheets, but there’s a lot to dive into tonight,” he said. “It has been a bit tricky to find the right balance with the heat, and we still have a lot of work to do over one lap,” Verstappen said. Previously one of the slowest in a straight line, on Friday it was fastest in the speed trap. The rest of the midfield is similarly unclear. It had been experimenting with set-up but nonetheless couldn’t understand the apparent step forward — and its lack of confidence was justified on Saturday when the car reverted to type. “We have some work to do, in particular on our race pace and on tyre management,” Leclerc said. The team’s list of upgrades appeared subtle but has added up to something significant. Red Bull Racing has the opposite problem. Tyre degradation was high for all cars, but Ferrari seemed to suffer particularly badly, at least in comparison to Red Bull Racing. However, it’s a little unlike Alpine to carry qualifying pace over to race pace this season, and the French team will be wary that not only did McLaren do little long running, but it didn’t complete a meaningful stint on the medium compound, which will be key to the race given the scale of degradation this weekend. “Some things were working well, and I think the team are happy with some of the improvements.” Ferrari and Red Bull Racing remain locked in a tight fight at the front — which is at least encouraging for Ferrari after it seemed to fall behind in recent races — but it’s the suddenly closer Mercedes that caught the most attention.

Charles Leclerc headed the Mercedes pair of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton during the qualifying simulations in second practice ahead of Formula 1's 2022 ...

Pierre Gasly was the first driver to miss out on the top 10, the AlphaTauri pipping the Haas of Kevin Magnussen and Lance Stroll. A puff of smoke from the rear was matched by the engine seeming to die promptly as Bottas pulled up on the edge of the track at the exit of Turn 1. Verstappen had been the first driver to set a fairly representative lap time on medium rubber as he and Sainz dropped below the 1m21s threshold ahead of Leclerc and the Mercedes. Hamilton was a late adopter of the soft tyre and ran particularly well in the final part of the second sector to land the third-fastest effort - albeit a further 0.09s shy of his team-mate. Alexander Albon, Mick Schumacher, both Aston Martins and Esteban Ocon were the first drivers to hit the track in FP2 as the field stuck initially to the medium and hard compound tyre. The Ferrari driver and pre-event championship leader picked up his form from FP1 by also running to the top in the second of the hour-long Friday practice sessions at Barcelona.

Carlos Sainz admits he's in “two minds” about the risks of driving classic Formula 1 cars, having seen Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc crash a classic Niki ...

Every time I’m going to jump in, I’m going to push a car, and then these things can happen and leaves you with the other questions. ‘If I’m jumping in a car, I’m going to push it,” Sainz said. “But I’m in two minds with it, because why would you risk it first, like why?

The system, which involves the driver opening a flap in their rear wing to reduce drag levels and gain top speed when running within a second of a car in front, ...

When it was first introduced to FIA F3 in 2017 – when the series was known as GP3 – drivers could only activate and use the system on a maximum of six laps per feature race and four laps for sprint events. This is typically deployed as a bid to reduce the chance of being overhauled by a car chasing behind with DRS active by the end of an activation zone. A famous example of a DRS failure leading to a crash occurred at the 2018 Italian GP, where Ericsson crashed heavily at Monza’s first chicane as the DRS on his Sauber car did not close as expected when he braked at high-speed. The attacking driver will manually activate DRS by pressing a steering wheel button – this can be arranged on the front or back of the steering wheel depending on driver preference. This can lead to big accidents given DRS zones usually finish at the end of long straights or acceleration zones. If the following car is measured at running less than one second behind, a signal is sent to the car, allowing its DRS to be activated in the ensuing zone. This meant the highest number of DRS zones used in an F1 qualifying or race session remains three. Defending drivers can only activate DRS if they too are within one second of a car in front. This, allied with the championship reaching greater engine performance parity ahead of a rules alteration in that area of the cars for 2026, means DRS continues to have a major impact in overtaking manoeuvres. DRS continued to be used in the turbo hybrid era, which dramatically altered F1’s competitive order up to the end of 2021. But DRS is not a simple ‘overtake button’ that automatically means getting past the car in front. It allows drivers to increase straightline speed by dumping rear wing drag through a slot that can be opened when a car is running within one second of the car in front.

Esteban Ocon has been assured of changes to the Turn 7 barrier for next year's Miami Formula 1 race after both he and Carlos Sainz were left nursing small ...

“So there's definitely something to review.” Everything’s been listened, acknowledged, and action will be done. “I had a chat with the race director yesterday, we had a one-hour chat to be fair on all of this situation and why it had not been explained,” Ocon said.

Barcelona plays host to the sixth round of the 2022 Formula 1 season. Here's how you can watch qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix.

Viewers from selected countries can subscribe to F1 TV to stream qualifying on a device of their choice. - Denmark - TV3 / TV3 Sport / Viaplay Can’t find your country or region in the list?

Aston Martin's revealing of a Red Bull copy has been the biggest talking point of Formula 1's Spanish Grand Prix weekend so far.

Any form of contact or non-contact surface scanning For now, Red Bull has limited itself to suggesting that any transfer of IP would be a "serious concern", but you can be sure it will be double checking the details in the days to come to ensure that no direct information got out of Milton Keynes and found its way to Silverstone. The regulations state: "It will be the role of the FIA to determine whether this resemblance is the result of reverse engineering or of legitimate independent work." While teams could be "influenced by the design or concept of a Competitor's' design", they could only do so by "using information that must potentially be available to all Competitors". It was agreed that such a scenario should not happen and the FIA was mandated to come up with a series of regulations to limit the scope for car clones. While the Silverstone-based team had been open in recent weeks that a major revamp was coming, few had been expecting it to have adopted much of the concept that Red Bull has put to get use so far with the RB18.

The FIA has cleared Aston Martin after carrying out an investigation into the similarities between its updated Formula 1 car and Red Bull's car ahead of the ...

A spokesperson from Aston Martin said: “We have shared details of our update with the FIA technical people. “While imitation is the greatest form of flattery, any replication of design would obviously need to comply with the FIA’s rules around ‘Reverse Engineering’. “The investigation, which involved CAD checks and a detailed analysis of the development process adopted by Aston Martin, confirmed that no wrongdoing had been committed, and therefore the FIA considers that the Aston Martin aerodynamic upgrades are compliant,” the statement from the FIA reads.

Christian Horner believes it is “no coincidence” that Aston Martin's Formula 1 car updates have led to a similar design concept since the team has signed ...

“It’s not the biggest of issues for us unless Aston Martin start beating us,” Horner said. So it’s very much their job to go and police that.” Fallows formally started as Aston Martin’s technical director on 2 April.

A massive suite of new parts for McLaren is the stand-out entry in the declaration of Formula 1 teams' updates ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix.

Revised front wing endplates, with a reprofiled leading edge, and winglets around the rear brake ducts have been added for localised aerodynamic performance. This is an attempt at increasing the air intake without suffering a lack of pressure. Minor changes for the RB18, with a front wing featuring longer chord profiles. The W13 has received a major upgrade comprising new floor, the outer geometry of which suggests reprofiled venturi tunnels. As revealed on Thursday, Aston Martin has a heavily-revised AMR22 at Barcelona including new sidepods with obvious similarities to the Red Bull RB18. The sidepod inlet is further back and shallower. Ferrari has produced a new floor, a revised rear wing and revised detail around the rear brake ducts.

How do drivers control DRS in F1? What are the circumstances in which they are banned from using it during grand prix weekends?

How do drivers control the DRS in Formula 1? The FIA, who ultimately control the use of DRS in F1, switched it off after a server crash led to the loss of communications with the cars. How do drivers control the DRS in F1 – and when does the FIA ban them from using it?

F1 championship leader Charles Leclerc completed a practice double on Friday ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix as Mercedes again suggested it is back in the fight ...

Read more... Read more... Read more...

Red Bull has responded to the FIA's statement clearing Aston Martin over similarities in its Formula 1 car design by saying any transfer of IP would be 'a ...

But can you copy without documents and then make such a detailed copy of our car?" "Dan Fallows was on gardening leave," Marko said. We will look into it in detail."

Charles Leclerc says he will “think twice” about driving historic Formula 1 cars again in the future after crashing one of Niki Lauda's classic Ferraris in ...

"I got to meet Niki a few times in the paddock in the past and yeah, they are just legends of our sports, of course it's always amazing to be driving their cars." "I think also it's great to experience what it was like and what it's like now, it's very different now, it's so much faster but it's also so much safer and we don't have the safety in mind as much as they probably did once they were racing. "Obviously there was a shakedown of this car the Thursday before and yeah, the failure that happened was on a screw of the brake pads and it's impossible to know.

Barcelona plays host to the sixth round of the 2022 Formula 1 season. Here's how you can watch qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix.

Viewers from selected countries can subscribe to F1 TV to stream qualifying on a device of their choice. - Denmark - TV3 / TV3 Sport / Viaplay Can’t find your country or region in the list?

A new floor and a circuit-specific rear wing are among Ferrari's first major 2022 F1 upgrade package, revealed on Friday at the Spanish GP.

A high-downforce rear wing has also been declared. The new floor is also designed to help combat the porpoising Ferrari has suffered in the opening grands prix and allow it to run the car lower to the ground. But Red Bull has developed its RB18 more since the start of the season and that has been the faster car in the last two races, allowing Max Verstappen to score back-to-back wins.

Charles Leclerc topped Friday practice for Ferrari at the Formula 1 Spanish Grand Prix. Here's how and when to watch qualifying.

For the entire 2022 F1 season, Channel 4 will broadcast highlights of every qualifying and race of each event. Sky Sports can also be accessed through NOW with a one-off day payment of £11.98p or a month membership of £33.99p per month. Live streaming through NOW is also available in the UK.