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  • Safari Rally Kenya 2026, Sunday’s Report

    Safari Rally Kenya 2026, Sunday’s Report

    We came then to the final day of action and the crews would be facing just over fifty-seven kilometres over four stages to finish the rally. Elfyn would open the road throughout the day in these final stages.

     

    First up then was SS17 Oserengoni 1 and Seb set the pace from Oliver and Adrien. Takamoto continued to lead the rally, his lead over Adrien now a few seconds over a minute. The Japanese driver was looking good to take a first victory with his Irish co-driver Aaron Johnston.

     

    Next up was SS18 Hell’s Gate 1, the first run through what would be the powerstage and Elfyn was fastest from Oliver and Seb as the three teammates continued to show their pace at the front of this championship. Takamoto was being careful and taking no chances out there as he set the ninth best time.

     

    Next up then was SS19 Oserengoni 2 and Oliver was fastest in this one as Seb and Elfyn were second and third fastest. Once again, Takamoto continued to manage his pace setting the eighth best time but still maintaining a considerable margin over Adrien with just one stage remaining. Of the three early championship protagonists Oliver was the only one who had remained in the overall top ten, whilst his teammates Seb and Elfyn were holding eleventh and thirteen respectively.

     

    We came then to the final stage, SS20 Hell’s Gate 2 and of the front runners Elfyn set the early pace before first being pushed down by Seb and then Oliver to the third best time as the Swede took the stage win. Adrien came through to take a well fought for second place and Sami for his third-place finish.  All eyes were on the number eighteen GR Yaris piloted by Takamoto with his co-driver Aaron as they came through the stage and crossed the finish line to take their first ever WRC victory. There were emotional scenes at the time control before they climbed onto the top of their car.

    Let’s take a look at the final finishing positions and hear from the drivers.

    Safari Rally Kenya Final Classification

    1 T. Katsuta A. Johnston Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 3:16:05.6
    2 A. Fourmaux A. Coria Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +27.4
    3 S. Pajari M. Salminen Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +4:26.1
    4 E. Lappi E. Mälkönen Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +6:07.3
    5 R. Virves J. Viilo Skoda Fabia RS +11:38.7
    6 G. Greensmith J. Andersson Toyota GR Yaris +12:09.0
    7 F. Zaldivar M. Der Ohannesian Skoda Fabia RS +12:20.0
    8 A. Mikkelsen J. Listerhud Skoda Fabia RS +12:30.7
    9 D. Domínguez R. Peñate Toyota GR Yaris +13:28.4
    10 O. Solberg E. Edmondson Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +16:44.5


    Super Sunday Classification – Safari Rally Kenya

    1 O. Solberg 33:28.9
    2 S. Ogier +3.6
    3 E. Evans +17.5
    4 T. Neuville +26.8
    5 A. Fourmaux +38.4

    Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

    Takamoto Katsuta

    “It’s such an amazing feeling to achieve this result. It’s hard to describe how I felt when I crossed the finish line: it was just crazy. There have been so many difficult moments, and these memories all went through my head. It hasn’t been easy but finally we are here. Thanks to Aaron who has worked so hard with me, and to every single person in the team, which has always been believing in me. Trying to manage today was really difficult, because you see every small rock and you try to avoid them. But we managed it without any problems, so thank you to the team for giving me such a strong car and strong support. We’re here because we never give up and we’ll keep working hard to achieve more results like this.”

    Sami Pajari

    “It’s really nice to finish on the podium again. This was a real adventure of a rally, a really tough one but that’s the nature of this event. The performance we had on Friday especially was really nice, and to take five stage wins is great. We had the speed, but the most important thing today was just to reach the finish without any issues. Thanks to the team for keeping the car running all week. I’m super happy for me and Marko and also for Taka and Aaron taking their first win.”

    Oliver Solberg

    “The goal for today was to have one last push after the disappointment of yesterday. I just tried to turn it around and do the best that I could, and we ended up having a fantastic day, winning Super Sunday and the Power Stage. We did the best that we could possibly could to recover, so I’m really happy with the day. And if it couldn’t be us winning, then I’m also happy to see Taka and Aaron winning the rally. With all the hard work Taka does and the passion that he has, he really deserves it.”

    Sébastien Ogier

    “Today we tried to get as many points as we could, but it’s never easy to push to the maximum in these conditions like we had in the Power Stage. I just tried to drive clean in the ruts, and it’s possible to go faster if you really push it. Speed-wise I think it’s been a good weekend, but this is also the rally of the year where the speed matters the least. I’m really glad to see that Taka could still bring the win home for the team and for himself: it’s well-deserved for him after all these years of effort.”

    Elfyn Evans

    “It’s definitely been a tough weekend. We tried to use our head but still we weren’t able to get the car through the whole rally. It’s like this, sometimes it happens in rallying like we know. I’m a bit disappointed with today also: we were quite slow in the first stage this morning and conditions were not ideal for us. We tried but didn’t get as many points as we would have liked. I’m pleased to still be leading the championship, and we can look forward to Croatia. I’m very happy for Taka and Aaron who have worked really hard and are very deserving of this win.”

     

    Hyundai Motorsport

    Adrien Fourmaux

    “I’m feeling relieved finishing on the podium after four tough days; this is a big result. I said often this weekend that Safari Rally Kenya isn’t over until the finish line, and anything can happen. We never gave up, even when we had a lot of time to make up on Friday. On Saturday morning, we had more issues to battle. We knew coming into this event that everyone would have problems, but our plan was to have fewer than everyone else. We can be pleased that we achieved that. Congratulations, and a big thank you, to the team – it has been a proper team effort this weekend. What the mechanics did yesterday was unbelievable. People think rallying is about the driver and co-driver, but there are many others behind the scenes who contributed to this success.”

    2026 FIA World Rally Championship
    14 Round, Safari Rally Kenya
    11-15 March 2026
    Photographer: Helena El Mokni
    Wordwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH

    Esapekka Lappi

    “We had a plan this weekend and let nothing deviate us from it, and it has paid off. We might not have won the rally; however, it is the first time I have finished it. If you’d have told us at the start of the weekend we would finish second and fourth as a team, we would have taken it, and considering that we should be very satisfied with the result today. Thanks to the mechanics, who did an amazing job at every service. Today we were slow to be safe, we had a bit more rhythm on the Power Stage, but it was all about ensuring we finished. It was the toughest event I’ve ever done; I’ve never done so many repairs on the road section. The conditions Thursday and yesterday were insane, the mud made it so difficult to drive and keep the car alive.”

    Thierry Neuville

    “A very tough rally comes to an end; this has been a Kenya like no other. It has been an incredible adventure from the beginning, and the conditions were very difficult. The team has done really well, making some great steps forward with the car to address the issues we had previously and surviving where others failed. Today was tough, we tried hard to fight for Super Sunday, but we just couldn’t go any faster. We didn’t give up, and I’m happy we did what we could after a lot of disappointments on each stage. We will fight back. Finally, a big shout-out to the mechanics who have done an incredible job this weekend to get the car repaired every time – they deserve this great result.”

     

    M-Sport Ford WRT

    Jon Armstrong

    “It’s been one of the toughest weekends we’ve experienced. Some of the issues we had – one of them was my mistake – but at least we were able to fix the car and continue. It’s a big bonus to get to the finish without having to super rally, and the car held up really well apart from a couple of small things. That’s just Kenya – you take it on the chin and bank the experience. I’m quite happy with our pace in some of the stages too, so I’m looking forward to getting back on tarmac – but all of this has been valuable knowledge for the next gravel rally.”

    Josh McErlean

    “It’s disappointing to retire with the engine issue after the effort the whole team put in this week. Safari is always a huge challenge, but there were some positives for us – especially the third fastest time on Friday which showed the pace we’re capable of. Thanks to the team at M-Sport for all their hard work!”

    Romet Jürgenson (WRC2)

    “It’s been a really difficult weekend for us, starting with issues already on stage one – and it basically got worse from there. On the second day we didn’t get any further than the first stage again, but at least on Saturday we got to do some proper mileage. Sunday brought another issue, so it’s one of those weekends where you just want to draw a line and focus on the next one. The team put in a huge amount of effort and sometimes it just doesn’t get rewarded – that’s the way it goes sometimes.”

     

    Summary

    Well, we knew it was going to come one day and now Takamoto and Aaron now join the elite of this championship as rally winners. There were moments during the rally which really tested them including the double puncture on Saturday. Yet, they were just there when their teammates hit problems and took their first win in the rally which gave Taka his first podium in 2021.

    Adrien and Alex took a very well deserved second place to add to his previous podiums. Again, there were problems along the way, but their drive gave them good points which has placed them in fourth in the championship standings after three rounds and the top Hyundai crew.

     

    Finally, Sami and Marko took a third overall podium and their second in a row. Lots of stage wins showed that they really have the pace now. Their first win cannot be far away.

     

    2026 FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers’ Standings
    After round 3

    1 E. Evans 66
    2 O. Solberg 58
    3 T. Katsuta 55
    4 A. Fourmaux 47
    5 S. Pajari 32
    6 S. Ogier 26
    7 T. Neuville 25
    8 E. Lappi 21
    9 R. Virves 10
    10 G. Greensmith 8

     

     

    2026 FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers’ Standings
    After round 3

    1 Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team 157
    2 Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team 114
    3 Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team 2 35
    4 M-Sport Ford World Rally Team 23

     

    The next round is in Croatia taking place over the ninth to twelfth of April.

  • Kimi Antonelli Dominates Chinese Grand Prix For First Ever F1 Victory

    Kimi Antonelli Dominates Chinese Grand Prix For First Ever F1 Victory

    Kimi Antonelli took a lights to flag win at the Shanghai International Circuit to win the Chinese Grand Prix for his first ever victory.

    Antonelli led home Mercedes teammate George Russell to become the first Italian since Giancarlo Fisichella at the 2006 Malaysian Grand Prix to win a Formula One Grand Prix and the result puts the Italian four points behind Russell at top of the fledgling 2026 Drivers’ Championship standings.

    The podium was completed by Lewis Hamilton, who took his first podium in a Grand Prix for Ferrari following a race long battle with teammate Charles Leclerc, with Ollie Bearman continuing his strong start to the season in fifth for Haas.

    Pierre Gasly’s sixth place represented a return to form for Alpine ahead of a resurgent Liam Lawson in the RB, with Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar recovering to eighth following a spin on lap one ahead of Williams’ Carlos Sainz in ninth and Franco Colapinto, who scored his first points since the US GP of 2024 in tenth for Alpine.

    Max Verstappen retired on lap 47 with a Power Unit failure from sixth, having recovered from a poor start in an underwhelming Red Bull.

    Of 22 cars, only 18 took to the start as Alex Albon for Williams, Gabriel Bortoleto’s Audi and both McLarens of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris were unable to start due to technical problems, with Piastri still having not completed a Grand Prix lap this season following a crash on his reconnaissance lap last week.

    As has become a theme in 2026, the fast starting Ferraris leapt towards the front as polesitter Antonelli moved to cover off teammate Russell, allowing Hamilton to swoop for the lead as Leclerc attacked Antonelli for second – the Italian holding out and re-taking the lead from Hamilton soon after.

    Russell was able to deal with the Ferraris by the end of lap 4 to take second place as the race settled down, before Lance Stroll’s retirement with another Honda engine issue in his Aston Martin sparked a Safety Car on lap 11.

    Antonelli was able to retain his lead having pitted for hard tyres as Russell dropped behind Esteban Ocon and Colapinto, who had stayed out, and a tough race was compounded when the Brit lost out to former teammate Hamilton and Leclerc in short order following the restart, to drop to sixth.

    The three frontrunners were able to pass Ocon and a particularly stubborn Colapinto, who proved a roadblock to the two Haas’, teammate Gasly and Verstappen before Bearman opened the floodgates on lap 22 with a move into the hairpin at Turn 15, Gasly and Verstappen following shortly after as the tyre advantage told.

    That gave way to a mid race scrap between Leclerc and Hamilton that saw a Scuderia battle see-saw until a lockup for Leclerc on lap 38, with the Ferraris side by side through turns one and two on numerous occasions as a frustrated Russell watched on behind in fourth.

    Russell would be past them by lap 30 but could do nothing about teammate Antonelli ahead as he was forced to settle for second.

    Further back it was another mature drive from Ollie Bearman as the Brit, in his second season, was fifth having had to avoid a spinning Hadjar on lap one, which saw him drop back to 12th.

    Bearman recovered in part due to the Safety Car allowing him to pit, but the pace was strong and prior to Verstappen’s retirement he had kept the Dutchman at arm’s length.

    This was in stark contrast to experienced teammate Esteban Ocon, who was compromised due to that very Safety Car as he started on the Hard tyres compared to Bearman’s mediums, but the Frenchman wasted a chance to score strong points by needlessly running into the back of Colapinto as the Argentine exited the pits.

    Ocon was already placed on notice by Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu prior to the start of the season, and a torrid start to 2026 will not have helped the former Alpine driver.

    His former team this week delivered on the promise shown in testing, as Gasly followed up his seventh place qualifying with sixth in the race, notwithstanding the McLarens failing to start he kept pace with Verstappen’s Red Bull and were it not for a delay in the pits, he had the pace for fifth place.

    The previously maligned Colapinto put in a similarly mature performance in holding off drivers on fresher tyres for 10 laps prior to Bearman’s pass on lap 22, and would have been likely to finish inside the top eight were it not for Ocon’s brain fade on lap 33.

    While Cadillac were able to get both cars to the finish, both Aston Martins were forced to retire as Stroll stopped with an engine issue on lap 11, while Alonso could only last 32 laps before the now infamous vibrations left his hands numb.

  • Safari Rally Kenya 2026, Saturday’s Report

    Safari Rally Kenya 2026, Saturday’s Report

    Onto Saturday’s action then and the crews had just under 123 kilometres over eight stages to improve their position on the leaderboard. Oliver and Elliott held a one second lead over their world champion teammates, Seb and Vincent. Meanwhile Josh and Eoin returned to the action after their early exit on Friday.

     

    First up then was SS11 Soysambu 1 and Oliver was fastest from Elfyn and Adrien. Seb suffered a puncture and lost over two minutes, the result being that he dropped from second overall to fifth. Elfyn, Sami and Adrien were the three to benefit from the champions problem. Their teammate, Takamoto was also benefitting from problems as he moved up one position at the expense of Thierry who’d lost two positions.

     

    Next up was SS12 Elmenteita 1 and Seb who was clearly fired up set the pace from Adrien and Thierry. The Frenchman moved up the leaderboard and back into third overall, whilst Sami suffered a huge tyre blowout which tore the left rear quarter panel to pieces. He emerged from the stage having lost five positions in eighth position. Elfyn had some drama in this one as he suffered a double puncture on the right-hand side of his Yaris. The three Toyota drivers, Takamoto, Elfyn and Oliver all had something to say about the changes made to the stage since recce earlier in the week. They were really angry.

     

    There was some real drama on the following stage though, SS13 Sleeping Warrior 1. Elfyn’s suspension failed on the right-hand rear, and this was traced back to the double tyre failure in the previous stage having put huge pressure on the set-up. Seb set the pace in this one from Jon with Takamoto third fastest. There was drama for lots of crews, with windscreens covered in mud as they ran out of water to clean it. Esapekka was one of those who lost lots of time just making sure that he and Enni reached the end of the stage. Josh in his Puma also had trouble as his car took in some water into the engine. He and co-driver Eoin pushed the car away from the stop line time control, as the engine had cut out. They would get the engine running though and make the start line for the next stage.

    After the service break came SS14 Soysambu 2 and Adrien was fastest from Takamoto and Esapekka. This was also the Hyundai team’s first stage win of the rally and with the demise of both Oliver and Seb from the front of the leaderboard Takamoto was now leading the rally from Adrien and Esapekka, whilst Sami was in fourth and only one and a half seconds behind his fellow Finn.

     

    Onto what was meant to be the penultimate stage of the day then, SS15 Elmenteita 2 and Sami was fastest by almost five seconds from the new rally leader Takamoto whilst Adrien was third fastest. Sami’s pace took him into third overall from Esapekka who suffered a mud splatted windscreen making it really tricky to see the road.

     

    The final stage was cancelled bringing the day to an early end.

    Let’s take a look at the top ten and hear from the drivers.

    Classification after Day Two

    1 T. Katsuta A. Johnston Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 2:41:00.2
    2 A. Fourmaux A. Coria Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +1:25.5
    3 S. Pajari M. Salminen Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +5:29.1
    4 E. Lappi E. Mälkönen Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +6:18.5
    5 R. Virves J. Viilo Skoda Fabia RS +9:42.1
    6 G. Greensmith J. Andersson Toyota GR Yaris +10:37.4
    7 F. Zaldivar M. Der Ohannesian Skoda Fabia RS +10:43.8
    8 A. Mikkelsen J. Listerhud Skoda Fabia RS +11:24.4
    9 D. Domínguez R. Peñate Toyota GR Yaris +11:57.8
    10 O. Solberg E. Edmondson Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +18:21.0

    Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

    Takamoto Katsuta

    “Everybody knew that today would be very tough and that a lot of drama could happen. Of course, I would not have hoped for these difficulties to happen for our team-mates. Already in the morning I was just following my strategy of trying to stay away from problems, and in the afternoon I was really trying to manage the situation and avoid all the rocks. In a way it’s easier to be fighting for tenths of a second, and now it’s more about surviving which is not so enjoyable, but still the times have been quite OK. There’s still quite a long day ahead tomorrow and I will just stay focused and try my best to bring the car home.”

    Sami Pajari

    “I’m sure today has been an exciting day for the fans to follow, because you could never know what was going to happen next. We were not the only ones to face difficulties this morning, and I think we were lucky to get back to service with the damage we had. Thankfully the team could fix the car and the afternoon was quite positive for us, as we gained some positions and took another stage win. Tomorrow there will be drivers who retired today who have nothing to lose, but I will be very happy to have a clean day and reach the finish.”

    Oliver Solberg

    “The morning had started really well: we were trying to be clean but still have good speed. The feeling in the car was good and we were able to extend our lead. Unfortunately, after that muddy third stage we had an issue and had to stop on the road section. This team is known to be the strongest and most reliable and unfortunately this was just one of those days where we got an issue. It’s hard in the moment, when you’re leading the rally and the car stops on the road section trying to get back to service, but we will come back with a big push tomorrow.”

    Sébastien Ogier

    “We were having an eventful morning, but we managed to complete the last stage of the loop with a good time, coming back into second position. Unfortunately, it looks like some of the mud got into our alternator and although we tried everything we could on the road section, we ran out of battery before we could get back to service. This has been the most extreme Safari Rally we’ve seen in recent years: considering that our team has a reputation for having the strongest car, today has proven just how tough this year’s rally is. Tomorrow there will be quite a few of us fighting for Super Sunday and Power Stage points and we’ll see what we can do.”

    Elfyn Evans

    “This morning started pretty well for us and things were going fine in the second stage as well, but we unfortunately got caught out by the layout of the end, hit a rock and picked up a double puncture. It looks like there was some more damage caused by the impact because in the next stage when we came to the first braking point, something gave way at the rear, and unfortunately there was no chance to continue. After a long run of events without retirements, it’s a huge disappointment of course, but it’s one of those things and we have to move on. Tomorrow we’ll be looking to get back at it and try to fight for some points.”

     

    Hyundai Motorsport

    Adrien Fourmaux

    “Today has been one of the toughest days of my career. We have to say thank you to the mechanics and the whole team who did a very good job at midday service to prepare the car for the afternoon, they did a fantastic job. Tomorrow we will try to push for the Super Sunday points, but we still need to secure the podium. Everybody had technical issues today, and we were struggling with the transmission because of the amount of mud we faced on the stages. Tomorrow will be tricky, but the Power Stage is flat out, so we’ll see what that is like if the rain comes.”

    2026 FIA World Rally Championship
    14 Round, Safari Rally Kenya
    11-15 March 2026
    Photographer: Helena El Mokni
    Wordwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH

    Esapekka Lappi

    “We have been trying to survive since SS1. The stages are more or less fine, but we are really busy working on the car on the road sections, trying to keep it moving on to the next stage. We have had overheating issues almost every stage; the mud is coming into the radiator and blocking it, so that’s one area that we had to focus on. We had so much mud on Sleeping Warrior that it went in the clutch as well. We need some food and a good night’s sleep before we go again tomorrow.”

    Thierry Neuville

    “We had multiple problems throughout SS14 that led to our retirement. First of all, we had a harsh impact on the front left in the first section and I felt that something wasn’t 100% right on the car, but we carried on. A couple of kilometres later we got a double puncture, so we immediately stopped to change the tyres, and then four to five kilometres later the driveshaft snapped, and we knew we were finished. There’s still one more day to go, and we just need to try to get through. It will be difficult, but we will see what we can bring home tomorrow.”

     

    Sunday

    The final day will hopefully see all the stages run and no cancellations. There are 57 kilometres over four stages. Sadly, Josh and Eoin won’t be returning to the action as the damage to the engine in their Puma from the water taken in is too bad.

  • Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix Qualifying Report: Antonelli makes history at China as the youngest pole sitter

    Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix Qualifying Report: Antonelli makes history at China as the youngest pole sitter

    Q1


    Piastri set the early benchmark from Hulkenberg, Bortoleto, Hadjar and Norris in the top 5. Russell and Antonelli waited until the clock ticked down a bit before getting their laps in. Hamilton, Verstappen and Hadjar started on the mediums before Hamilton had a spin. Russell and Antonelli then set the times up at the top for a 1-2. Alonso went P17 as the clock ticked to 7 minutes 30 seconds remaining. Hamilton manages P3 as both Williams, Aston and Cadillac were the bottom 3 in the dropzone as 6 minutes remained. Lindblad then had to box as they had an issue. As drivers like Hamilton, Norris and Gasly crossed the line, no one could dethrone the silver arrows until Leclerc went ahead by about 1 second.

    Lindblad managed to get out onto the track with around 3 minutes remaining as the final laps came in with Albon moving up to P16, Hadjar up to P7, Verstappen P4, Sainz P14, Lindblad P11, Stroll and Alonso remain P21 and P19 respectfullt, Bortoleto up to P7 and Bottas remains P20.

    Out in Q1:
    Sainz
    Albon
    Alonso
    Bottas
    Stroll
    Perez

    Q2

    Q2 got underway and Bortoleto and Hadjar were marked as “No Further Investigation” for an impeding incident. Russell set the earl;y pace ahead of Hamilton, Leclerc, Antonelli with Verstappen, Norris, Hadjar all qualifying P5 and dethroning each other. Bearman manages to go P6 with Bortoleto only managing P6. Gasly manages P8, Colapinto P13, Lindblad then ahead of Bortoleto before the two Alpine times with Lawson P14.

    In the final laps of Q2, Piastri had the most amount of pressure and went out to get clean air earlier than most drivers to manage P5 before Leclerc manages to go P1. Norris then managed to get P5. Hulkkenberg missed out on Q3 by 0.002s as Antonelli managed P1. Hadjar only managged P10 with Verstappen to P6. Bortoleto then spun at the final corner and ruined laps for many drivers as Colapinto wasn’t able to get through.
    Out in Q2:
    Hulkenberg
    Colapinto
    Ocon
    Lawson
    Lindblad
    Bortoleto

    Q3

    Q3 saw Russell’s car get a new rose but then his car stopped on track and then get going but being unablce to change gears. Antonelli manages a 1:32.332 with Leclerc manages P2, Hamilton P3 and Bearman P4. Norris and Piastri manage P3 and P4 respectfully with Hadjar P7 before he goes P6. 

    Drivers headed out to qualifying with just over 3 minutes 30 seconds remaining  that Russell was ale to make it out of the pitlane. Purple sectors were being traded between Antonelli and Norris and Leclerc. Antonelli was the first to cross the line and extend his gap ahead as Norris remained P3, Leclerc P2, then Hamilton P2, Gasly P6, Bearman P7, Hadjar managed P7 then Verstappen P7.  Russell managed to get a lap in for P2 so Andrea Kimi Antonelli managed to become the youngest pole sitter in F1 history!

    Image Credit: Mercedes-Benz Media

    Full Qualifying Finishing Order

    PositionDriverTeam
    P1Andrea Kimi AntonelliMercedes
    P2George RussellMercedes
    P3Lewis HamiltonFerrari
    P4Charles LeclercFerrari
    P5Oscar PiastriMcLaren
    P6Lando NorrisMcLaren
    P7Pierre GaslyAlpine
    P8Max VerstappenRed Bull
    P9Isack HadjarRed Bull
    P10Oliver BearmanHaas
    P11Nico HulkenbergAudi
    P12Franco ColapintoAlpine
    P13Esteban OconHaas
    P14Liam LawsonVCARB
    P15Arvid LindbladVCARB
    P16Gabriel BortoletoAudi
    P17Carlos SainzWilliams
    P18Alex AlbonWilliams
    P19Fernando AlonsoAston Martin
    P20Valtteri BottasCadillac
    P21Lance StrollAston Martin
    P22Sergio PerezCadillac
  • Safari Rally Kenya 2026, Friday’s Report

    Safari Rally Kenya 2026, Friday’s Report

    The first full day of this rally would see the crews tackle 137 kilometres over eight stages. There had already been two stages on Thursday afternoon with really tricky conditions in the first one and Oliver led from Elfyn by over thirty seconds with Seb a further thirty seconds back in third overall. Thierry was the best of the three Hyundai crews holding sixth overall, whilst Jon was seventh for M-Sport.

     

    Onto Saturday then and unfortunately the first stage was cancelled, SS3 Camp Moran 2. This was the stage hit by huge rain and puddles on Thursday afternoon.

    The first action then was in SS4 Loldia 1 and Seb set the pace from his teammate Sami, whilst Adrien was third. Oliver who was leading the rally was eighth fastest whilst his closest challenger for the lead, Elfyn, was sixth. The Frenchman reduced the gap to the front in this stage.

     

    Next up then came SS5 Kengen Geothermal 1 and Sami set the pace from Seb and Elfyn in this one. Once again Oliver was near the bottom end of the top ten with the ninth best time and thirteen seconds off the pace. His two teammates had reduced the gap as well with Elfyn less than thirty seconds away and Seb now under forty seconds. It was an impressive stage win for the Finn as he suffered a puncture as well.

     

    Sami also won SS6 Kedong 1, the stage with the jump near the tree, from Takamoto and Thierry was third fastest. Interestingly, Oliver beat both Seb and Elfyn in this stage going sixth fastest with Seb eighth and Elfyn tenth. There was no big-time gaps between the three of them meaning the gaps remained pretty much as they were at the end of Kengen.

     

    After service the crews returned to SS7 Kedong 2 and Seb was fastest this time from Sami and Esapekka. There was a little bit of movement on the overall leaderboard as Seb passed Elfyn for second overall and despite a twenty second penalty Sami moved ahead of Takamoto. The Japanese driver sadly suffered double punctures on his front tyres, losing thirty-two seconds and falling to fifth overall.  At least he had two spares on-board to be able to change before the next stage. It was a good drive from Jon in this one who set the sixth best time, just four tenths of a second behind former M-Sport driver Adrien.

    Then it was back to SS8 Kengen Geothermal 2 and once again Sami showed that he had this one figured out going fastest again from Seb and Thierry. With no spare tyres, Takamoto just took it easy going sixth fastest. There was some time loss for the rally leader though as Oliver had a puncture on the right-hand rear corner which then saw his lead reduced to just one second over Seb with Elfyn now just a further 4.7 seconds back. Also getting a puncture was Jon in his Puma and he fell one position overall to ninth as Esapekka moved into eighth.

     

    Seb ended Sami’s run of fastest times, winning SS9 Loldia 2 from Adrien and Oliver who set the identical time of fourteen minutes, fourteen seconds and four tenths. Seb’s pace took him a little closer to his Swedish teammate, with just seven tenths of a second between them! There was some movement further down the leaderboard as both Thierry and Adrien passed Takamoto for sixth and seventh overall. There was more drama for Jon though who stopped in the stage for over twenty minutes. The reason was that he’d lost the rear and clipped something at the edge of the road and broke the driveshaft and a part of the suspension. He and co-driver Shane got it changed, but this left the Puma with front-wheel drive. They did make it through to the end which was important.

     

    Onto the final stage then, SS10 Mzabibu 2 and Sami was once again setting the pace from Oliver and Seb. Oliver opened the gap to his world champion teammates to one second whilst Elfyn who remained in third overall saw the gap grow to just under twenty seconds.

     

    Let’s take a look at the top ten positions and hear from the drivers.

    Classification after Day One

    1 O. Solberg E. Edmondson Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 1:33:50.2
    2 S. Ogier V. Landais Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +1.0
    3 E. Evans S. Martin Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +20.5
    4 S. Pajari M. Salminen Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +1:10.5
    5 T. Neuville M. Wydaeghe Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +1:46.1
    6 A. Fourmaux A. Coria Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +1:47.3
    7 T. Katsuta A. Johnston Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +1:53.3
    8 E. Lappi E. Mälkönen Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +2:53.2
    9 R. Virves J. Viilo Skoda Fabia RS +6:53.6
    10 G. Greensmith J. Andersson Toyota GR Yaris +7:08.1

    Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT
    Oliver Solberg

    “Today the goal was to try to be clean and keep a similar pace to Elfyn. This afternoon was so rocky, and for my first time in the car in these conditions it isn’t easy. We probably lost half our lead from being careful, and half the lead from the tyre damage in SS8. That was unfortunate but a lead is a lead and I have to be happy with that. Seb has been incredible today, probably taking more risks, but there’s such a long way to go and to be one second in front is better than two minutes behind.”

    Sébastien Ogier

    “I think I can be very happy with today, starting with a deficit of more than a minute and being only one second from the lead tonight. Of course, we always believed that we could come back after last night, but it felt like a long shot even here in Kenya. Now it’s all very open, so let’s see. I think we are all expecting that tomorrow is the biggest day of the rally with three very demanding stages, so many things can still happen, but we’ll try to keep the same approach and a strong rhythm.”

    Elfyn Evans

    “It’s been a bit of a mixed day for us. We gave away a bit of time at moments, some of it a bit unnecessarily, but that’s also the nature of this rally. We damaged a wheel in the first run through Kedong and dropped a bit of time with that. It’s been going OK but I wouldn’t say I’m happy. The stages that are coming tomorrow are prone to a lot of rain, especially in the afternoon, and conditions could be difficult already in the first pass. We’ll just keep trying to do the best we can.”

    Sami Pajari

    “It’s been a nice day for us. The conditions were relatively straightforward, and I just tried to choose the sections where I could push. I still felt that in the most tricky and rough places I was trying to back off. Still, we could set the fastest time in four of the stages and be very close in the others, and that was really nice to see. It’s not like we were just flat-out everywhere because that will end very quickly: you need to be clever too. That will be important too on tomorrow’s stages, where we’ve seen a lot of rain and drama before.”

    Takamoto Katsuta

    “This morning I was driving quite steady and not really pushing, but still the times were not too bad and the feeling in the car was good. Unfortunately, in the first stage of the afternoon we got the double puncture. That was really not ideal, and I just tried to survive the afternoon with so many rough sections knowing that we didn’t have any spare tyres. We’ve lost a few positions but a minute on this rally is almost nothing and we know that tomorrow anything can happen. Hopefully there will be some drama and I’m ready if it rains.”

     

    Hyundai Motorsport

    Thierry Neuville

    “It has been an eventful day here in Kenya. I didn’t have the best start this morning, but when we got into a rhythm we felt more comfortable, especially this afternoon after we made some changes. The roads are more rutted, but I just couldn’t drive the car faster. We had a few troubles this afternoon with a stone causing our fan to break and our radiator to overheat. Tomorrow, we’re expecting the worst, although we’re not quite sure what that will be – so we need to focus on getting through, keeping a rhythm, accept the weather isn’t in our favour and do everything we can to stay out of trouble.”

    2026 FIA World Rally Championship
    14 Round, Safari Rally Kenya
    11-15 March 2026
    Photographer: Helena El Mokni
    Wordwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH

    Adrien Fourmaux

    “I was really enjoying today – we had the pace, and we were able to do some very good times, so overall I am pleased. We were missing out on the fastest time by a few tenths each stage, but at least we were there and able to close the gap to those ahead of us. That is a positive, and let’s see what we can do tomorrow. We know many things can happen, so we just need to make sure we are performing well in the rain.”

    Esapekka Lappi

    “This morning it became clear that the settings I have on the car, which I chose myself, are not right, but there isn’t much we can do about the situation. Instead, we focused on what we can control, and were able to make it a bit better. Today we took a similar approach to yesterday – just try to survive until the finish.”

     

    Saturday

    The second full day of both morning and afternoon stages sees the crews tackle just under 123 kilometres over six stages, with the longest stage of the rally Soysambu as well at twenty-four kilometres run twice. There is also the possibility of rain arriving in the afternoon as well.

     

    Who will be holding the top positions at the end of the day?

  • Super Touring 25 Years On – F1 involvement and wing controversy

    Super Touring 25 Years On – F1 involvement and wing controversy

    This article is the latest in a series looking back at the Super Touring era of the BTCC.

    The Super Touring era was in full swing, and manufacturers from around the globe were staring to take notice. There were already representatives from the UK, France, Germany and Japan, but a certain Italian marque would make their mark in 1994; and in controversial fashion too.

    Alfa Romeo entered the fray with their 155, bringing along Formula One driver Gabriele Tarquini with them. Volvo also joined the growing list of factory backed teams with their some would say kooky, this author would say excellent, 850 estate. Other drivers were in a sense of disbelief seeing the boxy entry on media day but the car is now a modern cult icon.

    Alfa, and in particular Tarquini, hit the ground running. He won the first five races at a canter, with the likes of Paul Radisich and John Cleland chasing him down. But all was not what it seemed…

    Their advantage was attributed to the aerodynamic wing package, a myth since debunked by Tarquini himself, who states the engineering in the car was what made it better than the rest.

    The ToCA rules stated teams had to build their cars based off their road-going counterparts. So many of these had to be produced in order for the car to be legal to race. Alfa exploited this rule by creating a ‘homologation special’ of the 155 – named the Silverstone (I would’ve thought an Italian team would choose the Monza but there we go…). This was purely to receive the aero advantage, much to the chagrin of other teams on the grid.

    Many teams complained, rumour has it Ford’s Andy Rouse actually bought a 155 Silverstone, just to see how it was engineered. At Oulton Park, Alfa famously withdrew from the meeting in protest, having been told to run without the aero package on their car. For the next round at Donington, Alfa returned with the wings lowered. While not as fast, Tarquini was consistent enough to maintain his gap at the top of the leaderboard, with wins at Brands Hatch and Silverstone and a bunch of second placed finishes sealing the title.

    For 1995, the competition was only getting stronger, with Formula One teams now getting involved. Renault were being backed by Williams, and Volvo by Tom Walkinshaw of Benetton and Arrows fame. With reigning champion Tarquini departing (though he would return midway through the season), Alfa signed up ex-F1 racer Derek Warwick. Aero was now also legal to avoid any issues like the season before.

    At Vauxhall, John Cleland was so confident after pre-season testing, he told his team: ‘Clean it, put it back in the truck, and bring it to Donington, don’t change a thing.’ Confidence? The charismatic Scot had the ability to back it up too. The ageing Cavalier had one last dance before the Vectra would be introduced for 1996 – and it saved the best for last.

    He didn’t have it all his own way though, Rickard Rydell, now in the Volvo 850 saloon, and Alain Menu in the Williams Renault Laguna were at times faster and staked their own claims to the title.

    Menu was arguably the fastest over the course of the season, but the 1994 runner up suffered with teething problems between Williams and his Laguna. If he wasn’t winning he was out of the points. He took seven wins to Cleland’s six, including three of the last five races to help Renault to the manufacturers crown. Will Hoy, Menu’s Renault teammate, won the other two.

    Rydell started the season strongly but a poor end to the season stunted his title hopes. He took just 13 points from the last six races of the season with a high speed spin into retirement at Snetterton being the nail in the coffin for the charismatic Swede.

    Cleland was consistent and smooth in his Cavalier, giving the car the perfect swansong. A streak of seven podiums, including four wins, in mid-season helped his title bid. From 25 rounds, Cleland scored 18 podiums, and taking his second title in the process.

    This one will have meant more to John, as his 1989 title always comes with the caveat of being won under the old class rules system where he was fastest in his class and secured the most points, but he rarely took the chequered flag. 1995 was different, he was the class of the field and earned it the right way.

    For the majority of the season it was a three horse race, and with no less than eight different winners, 1995 was one of the closest seasons in a long time and a marker of things to come.

  • Safari Rally Kenya 2026 Preview

    Safari Rally Kenya 2026 Preview

    Time for the first round of this seasons championship on gravel and on some of the most iconic roads of Kenya. After their win last time out Elfyn and Scott lead the championship and will open the road throughout the stages on Friday.

     

    This years edition has 350 kilometres over twenty stages. The action begins with shakedown on Thursday morning before two stages that afternoon which total just over 33 kilometres. Then Friday sees the most amount of stages at eight with almost 140 kilometres of action. Saturday is a little shorter with six stages and almost 123 kilometres of action whilst Sunday’s stages see the crews tackle four stages with just over 57 kilometres of action.

    Let’s hear from the drivers.

    Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

    Elfyn Evans

    “It’s been an incredible start to the year for the team, but we certainly can’t underestimate the challenges ahead of us, especially going into a rally like Safari. It can be a really unpredictable event: you can find rocks in the middle of the road or hidden in the grass, and when it rains there can be standing water and zero grip. It’s been a very successful rally for our team, which works hard to give us a strong car with modifications to help us in those tough conditions. Last year’s rally was quite extreme with the weather, and I was very happy to get through it and come away with the win for the first time. It won’t be an easy feat to repeat but that will be the target.”

    Oliver Solberg

    “Safari Rally Kenya is a rally that I love and I’m looking forward to doing it with the GR YARIS Rally1 car for the first time. It’s a very different type of rally to somewhere like Sweden or Estonia because it’s not about pure speed or finding the ultimate feeling with the car. There are some sections you can attack and have a lot of fun in the car, but you can’t do that everywhere, so you need to try to find a consistent and safe pace. The team has an amazing record in Kenya, and we can be confident that the car will be strong. The main goal is to have a clean rally and if you can do that, you can bank some very good points.”

    Sébastien Ogier

    “It will be a pleasure to return to Kenya after missing the last two editions of the Safari Rally. I look forward to being back in this beautiful country and seeing the excitement of the African fans, and it’s always a unique experience different to any other rally. It will be my first time being there at this earlier time of year, and it looks like it could be wetter than I’ve seen in the past. How you approach this rally depends a lot on the conditions you face, and these can evolve very quickly. It’s an event you need to start with humility, but the team has been in amazing form and Kenya has been good ground for us in the past, so let’s hope we can achieve another great result.”

    Takamoto Katsuta

    “It was enjoyable to be in the fight in Sweden and hopefully I can take this feeling forward to Kenya, even though that will be a very different challenge for everybody. For the Safari, you need to forget about driving flat-out like in Sweden and sacrifice some speed to try to manage everything. Despite this, it’s another rally that I really like, and it seems to suit me quite well. Our team has also been very good there and they are always providing us with a strong and reliable car for those tough conditions. It’s a special rally for me and for the team and we always feel great support, and I’m confident we can aim for another good result.”

    Sami Pajari

    “Sweden was a really nice rally for me with a solid performance and result, but Kenya will be a completely different and unique challenge. Doing the rally for the first-time last year was a real adventure. On some stages it’s more a matter of surviving, but there are others which are more fast and flowing. It’s a rally where I believe experience is playing quite a big role. Last year we had a clever approach and finished fourth, which was a good result for our first time, but I hope this year we can have more speed and fight for the podium positions, while still needing to be smart about where we push and where we back-off.”

     

    Hyundai Motorsport

    Thierry Neuville

    “Safari Rally Kenya is one of the most demanding events on the calendar for both man and machine. It’s been a tough event for us, but last year we were able to secure our first podium, and that’s where we want to get back to. It’s hard to know what the conditions will be like but based on what we’ve had over the past few years, we expect a huge variety. Rain tends to be very localised, but it’s usually heavy across stages like Sleeping Warrior. As well as navigating the conditions, we must optimise our setup to protect the car as much as possible. Balancing reliability with the right setup is always a challenge, but avoiding punctures is an even bigger one. My goal is to have a trouble-free event; we can be fast in Kenya, but we’ve also struggled to get through without any issues. Hopefully this year we can bring home another strong result.”

    2026 FIA World Rally Championship
    14 Round, Safari Rally Kenya
    11-15 March 2026
    Photographer: Helena El Mokni
    Wordwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH

    Adrien Fourmaux

    “Safari Rally Kenya is a unique event for our championship. Everything from pacenotes to the unpredictable weather are very different to other rallies, and they’re not necessarily things that we are used to. This event can be a mix of fesh-fesh, mud and deep puddles across rough sections – this can be very hard on both the car and the mechanics. Tyre management is crucial; we have to get the best out of them without doing too much damage. We’ll be fourth on the road in Kenya, which is a strong position for this event. It’s ideal because you avoid the destroyed roads you’d get starting further back, and you can also make the most of the lines in the road from the cars in front. Our target is to have a clean rally – avoid damaging the car and risking any punctures – so we can finish on the podium.”

    Esapekka Lappi

    “We’ve tried to maximise our preparations for Kenya by focussing on reliability, including enhancing our demisting system for the best visibility in wet conditions. Pure performance is not as crucial in Kenya, so we are at less of a disadvantage there. It’s difficult to prepare for the fesh-fesh as it’s almost impossible to find similar conditions in Europe, so it’s often just full throttle and fingers crossed. Enni hasn’t competed in Kenya before, but she did do a recce there two years ago, which gives her some understanding of what it’s like. Her most important preparation will be getting advice from our co-driver colleagues. I’d like to be in a position where we’re on the pace to fight for a good finish, but to do that we need a calm and collected approach.”

     

    M-Sport Ford WRT

    Josh McErlean

    “Safari Rally is one of the toughest events of the year. The focus is on being smart, looking after the car and putting together a consistent performance. If we do that, we can come away with a really positive result.”

    Jon Armstrong

    “Kenya will be a unique challenge for me and Shane, as it’s our first time there it will be a lot to discover. As we work through our preparations and research, I can tell it’s not going to be easy, but we will give it our best shot and focus on keeping it as clean as we can! We recently spent time in the workshop preparing with the team and working on the car which was very valuable going into such a rough event.”

    Romet Jürgenson (WRC2)

    “Kenya will be a very different challenge compared to the rallies I’ve done in the past. Maybe Greece in my Junior WRC years compares a little, but it’s definitely an event where we have to think about the long game and getting through without major issues to secure a good position in the end. That will be our aim, to get the experience of this unique and great event and then just hope for the best result we can get.”

    Summary

    The action gets underway tomorrow with shakedown before the first two stages in the afternoon.

    Who will take victory this year?

  • Honda’s future in F1 at stake if they cannot fix latest problems

    Honda’s future in F1 at stake if they cannot fix latest problems

    The 2026 Formula One season is now underway, and while Mercedes confirmed themselves to have the best chassis and engine, it was another engine supplier whose performance was the biggest talking point in Melbourne.

    Honda sounded warning signs about the performance of its engine from pretty early on in pre-season, but nothing could have prepared both it and F1 team partner Aston Martin for the pain that it would endure during the two official test sessions and the Australian Grand Prix.

    Lance Stroll failed to run at all on Saturday and both he and Fernando Alonso were unclassified on Sunday due to the need to save engine components as Honda tries to work out what’s causing all of its reliability problems.

    Regulations mandate this season that the power is split almost 50/50 from the Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) and the electrical element from the battery, with 350kw (469 bhp) supplied from the retained MGU-K (Motor Generator Unit – Kinetic) – which harvests energy from  braking, coasting and on throttle.

    Expectations set very low on Thursday

    The writing was on the wall as early as the Thursday media day when Design Technical Partner and Team Principal Adrian Newey and Honda Racing Company’s F1 boss Koji Watanabe called a press conference, after being unable to run on the final day of testing two weeks prior in Bahrain due to battery issues and a lack of stock.

    That session drew enough headlines to last an entire weekend, where Newey revealed that excessive vibrations from the ICE was causing the battery to fail (this would eventually leave the team with two working batteries going into Saturday) but more strikingly was a possible risk to the drivers’ long term health.

    “That vibration into the chassis is causing a few reliability problems. Mirrors falling off, tail lights falling off – all that sort of thing, which we are having to address. But the much more significant problem is that the vibration is transmitted ultimately into the driver’s fingers,” Newey began.

    “So Fernando is of the feeling that he can’t do more than 25 laps consecutively before he will risk permanent nerve damage to his hands. Lance is of the opinion that he can’t do more than 15 laps before that threshold.”

    Honda introduced countermeasures aimed at reducing the effects of those vibrations but even after two weeks of testing on the dyno at their factory in Japan, they still have not been able to identify the root cause of those vibrations. While that remains the case, Honda will not be able to solve that problem and extract any more performance from an engine widely thought to be the weakest in terms of power output, behind newcomers Audi and Red Bull/Ford.

    And when they got to the track?

    Friday and Saturday went broadly as Newey warned it would.

    Alonso failed to run in the first Friday Practice while Stroll completed three laps, while in FP2 Stroll ran 13 laps and Alonso 18.

    Stroll may as well have stayed at his hotel on Saturday as he failed to run in either the third practice or in qualifying. Alonso did complete 20 laps in FP3 but was unsurprisingly out of qualifying in the first session, outqualifying only the Cadillac duo of Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez while Carlos Sainz of Williams, Stroll and Max Verstappen failed to set a time.

    A crash for the McLaren of Oscar Piastri on his way to the grid, and a DNS for Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg promoted both men up the grid by two spots. Alonso ended up 10th on the opening lap before a lack of power and reliability curtailed his afternoon as he completed 21 laps. Stroll, fresh from his enforced Saturday hiatus, saw the chequered flag – albeit 15 laps down.

    This was broadly in line with what was briefed, with Newey explaining that “we will need to be very restricted on how many laps we do in the race until we get on top of the source of the vibration and improve the vibration at source.”

    Hasn’t Honda been here before?

    Fernando Alonso was driving for McLaren when it disastrously linked up with Honda in 2015

    On the face of it, yes.

    Honda announced that they would return to Formula One in 2015 with McLaren towards the end of 2013, with the hope being that they could rekindle the glory days of the late 1980s and the early 1990s.

    To say that failed to materialise would be a catastrophic understatement as the three year partnership ended with McLaren breaking its contract at the end of 2017 to conclude a partnership that failed to even yield a podium and became synonymous with endless engine failures and a lack of performance.

    The reality is that there is more nuance to this, more reasons to be positive and more questions about how Honda found itself in this position yet again.

    In 2015 McLaren demanded that Honda fit its Power Unit within the team’s bold “size zero packaging” requirements that Honda simply couldn’t, and the upshot was that McLaren would almost relentlessly brief the media that the car and chassis was up to standard and being let down by the engine.

    McLaren did not compromise throughout those three years, and would ultimately find out the hard way that was not the case, only returning to true competitiveness in 2023.

    Honda and Red Bull linked up in 2019 and built a good working relationship with Newey in his previous role at the head of the Red Bull design department, and Newey referenced that with his comments on Thursday about Honda “having a track record” of recovering from a bad start to engine regulations.

    Honda announced it would leave Red Bull and F1 at the end of 2021 in early 2020, but gave Red Bull and sister team Alpha Tauri (Now Racing Bulls) technical support over the next two years.

    Honda will now be operating under an engine budget cap of $130m and so cannot just throw money and resource at the problem, and will be limited by upgrade windows to a maximum of two upgrades this season, in the name of reliability.

    Did Aston Martin know about these issues before the season started?

    Another telling quote from Newey revealed that Honda’s engine department had been gutted in that time away, and he estimates that 30% of the original engine department remain now.

    “Honda pulled out at the end of 2021. They then re-entered the sport kind of at the end of 2022, so roughly a year and a bit out of the competition. When they reformed a lot of the original group had, it now transpires, disbanded, gone to work on solar panels or whatever. So a lot of the group that reformed are actually fresh to Formula 1, they didn’t bring the experience that they had had previously.

    “Plus, when they came back in 2023 that was the first year of the budget cap introduction for engines so all their rivals had been developing away through ’21 and ’22 with continuity the existing team and free of budget cap.”

    He then went on to reveal Aston Martin were not aware of that when the deal was agreed to link up in 2024 ready for 2026, and that Aston Martin were not aware of any performance deficit until a meeting in Tokyo in November last year to discuss rumours of Honda missing its targets back in November.

    Those unusually candid comments point to a frustration felt by the higher ups at Aston Martin, alongside comments made on the chassis (sound familiar?!) that it was the fifth best with scope to be the most competitive.

    That is not to absolve the team of any blame for this, as while they were not in charge of the Honda engine department and didn’t oversee any of the reassignments, quitting and re-entering F1, the fact they did not know about all of this points to a lack of due diligence done ahead of signing off on the deal to leave a now all-conquering Mercedes to partner with Honda.

    Time will tell on whether Honda can recover again, should they not this crisis could end up costing them their future in Formula One.

     

    Image credit: Pirelli F1 Media

     

  • Russell wins terrific season-opener in Melbourne

    Russell wins terrific season-opener in Melbourne

    George Russell claimed victory in the opening race of the 2026 season in Australia, leading a Mercedes one-two from Kimi Antonelli.

    Charles Leclerc came home third despite enjoying a phenomenal start in his Ferrari from fourth on the grid, taking the lead from Russell into Turn One.

    Several laps of entertaining action saw the pair swap the lead on multiple occasions, but a Virtual Safety Car would prove Ferrari’s undoing.

    Russell and Antonelli, whose poor start saw him fall to seventh on lap one, pitted after Isaac Hadjar’s engine failure brought about a caution period. Ferrari opted not to bring Leclerc or Sir Lewis Hamilton in, costing them valuable time as the Mercedes duo managed to get both cars to the end on one stop.

    Leclerc and Hamilton pitted significantly later, but were unable to reel in either Mercedes car despite the freshness of their rubber, ultimately leaving them third and fourth respectively.

    Chaos had ensued before the curtain could even be raised when Oscar Piastri, at his home race, lost control of his McLaren on his lap to the grid, ruining his McLaren and leaving Lando Norris as the sole runner for the constructors’ champions. Norris finished fifth in a disappointing day for the Papaya squad.

    Mixed fortunes could be found at Red Bull too. Hadjar’s engine failure spelt another ill-fated Melbourne outing for the Frenchman, but Max Verstappen recovered from his accident in qualifying – which saw him start 20th – to finish sixth.

    Oliver Bearman made up impressive ground to end up seventh, and Arvid Lindblad scored points on his Formula One debut in his Racing Bulls car in eighth. Gabriel Bortoleto was the only Audi to take the start after a pre-race issue ruled out Nico Hulkenberg’s car, and the Brazilian crossed the line in ninth.

    Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and Haas’ Esteban Ocon renewed their rivalry with a series of absorbing overtakes on one another, the former beating his fellow Frenchman to the final point.

    Alex Albon finished 12th for Williams ahead of Liam Lawson’s Racing Bull, the Kiwi suffering a disappointing finish having been slow off the line at the start.

    Franco Colapinto took 14th in the second Alpine ahead of the other Williams of Carlos Sainz, while Cadillac’s Sergio Perez, missing a piece of his bargeboard after it came loose, took 16th.

    Lance Stroll was 12 laps behind in 16th, having initially brought his Aston Martin into the pits before heading back out to complete some more running.

    His team-mate Fernando Alonso retired early due to the British team’s persistent safety concerns, and Valtteri Bottas’ Cadillac joined the retirement list when he ground to a halt at the final corner midway through the grand prix.

    It is the first time that Mercedes have won the season opener since 2021, and the first time they have opened the season with a one-two since 2019.

  • Russell takes Melbourne pole as Verstappen crashes

    Russell takes Melbourne pole as Verstappen crashes

    George Russell claimed pole position for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, while Red Bull’s Max Verstappen suffered a horrible start to 2026, the Dutchman crashing in the early stages.

    Russell beat team-mate Kimi Antonelli to pole, with Mercedes locking out the front row in Melbourne for the first time since 2019.

    Attention in the early part of qualifying was dominated by Verstappen’s accident which took place on his first timed attempt, confirming a 20th-placed start for the race.

    The rear axle of Verstappen’s RB22 seized as he braked into Turn One, sending the four-time champion skating across the gravel into the barrier.

    The Dutchman’s misfortune did pay dividends to Mercedes, the subsequent red flag offering them more time to prepare Antonelli’s car following his crash in third practice prior to qualifying.

    But more drama ensued in the third and final part of qualifying, when Mercedes sent Antonelli onto the circuit with both sidepod coolers still attached.

    The coolers were inevitably deposited onto the racetrack; one landed in the gravel at Turn One, while one was obliterated by Lando Norris’ McLaren having been flung onto the track.

    The Mercedes driver’s day became trickier when he took an excursion at Turn Three having locked up. However, he recovered from that and his earlier crash to end qualifying second.

    Isaac Hadjar impressed hugely on his Red Bull debut, setting a lap good enough for third behind the Mercedes duo.

    Charles Leclerc will line up fourth for Ferrari, ahead of the two McLarens of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris in fifth and sixth respectively. Sir Lewis Hamilton will start seventh. The Racing Bulls of Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindlad followed.

    Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto will start 10th having ground to a halt in the pit entry at the end of Q2 – an incident that caught Lawson and Lindblad by surprise. The latter nearly ended up in the barrier as a result.

    Nico Hulkenberg was pipped into Q3 by team-mate Bortoleto and will start 11th, while the Haas cars of Oliver Bearman and Esteban Ocon will take to the grid in 12th and 13th respectively on Sunday.

    Pierre Gasly ended qualifying in 14th ahead of the Williams of Alex Albon, a trip across the grass at the end of Q2 preventing any improvements for the Thai driver. Franco Colapinto will start the grand prix in 16th.

    Fernando Alonso, during a torrid opening to the year for Aston Martin, set a time good enough for 17th, ahead of the Cadillacs of Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas.

    Verstappen, following his shunt, ended the session in P20, while Carlos Sainz and Lance Stroll did not manage to get out on track.

    Russell’s pole is his eighth in Formula 1, and his first in Australia.