Colin Chapman’s death in 1982 ought to have been the end of Lotus. Not just a visionary engineer in his own right, Chapman was Lotus’s wheeler-dealer and a pusher, chivvier and charmer who could extract brilliance from his design team. He defined the organisation in all its magnificent but often fragile glory.
Not for nothing did former Lotus sales director Graham Arnold describe Chapman as “an incredible bloke who could do anything better than the next man. If he’d been in charge of the Royal Shakespeare Company, within a year he’d have produced the definitive Macbeth, the most controversial Macbeth or even the most controversially definitive Macbeth…”
The under-fire F1 driver fighting for his future
The strange tyre travails faced by F1’s past heroes
The other McLaren exile hoping to follow Perez’s path to a top F1 seat
How studying Schumacher helped make Coulthard a McLaren F1 mainstay
Could F1 move to a future beyond carbonfibre?
How Russell has proven he deserves to be Hamilton’s Mercedes heir
Why all signs point to F1’s Monaco special relationship continuing
How Red 5’s 1992 F1 throwback wowed Goodwood
Domenicali: Spa could keep its place on 2023 F1 calendar
Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali has hinted that the Belgian Grand Prix could yet retain its place on the calendar in 2023.
Ricciardo unsure of F1 future post-McLaren exit
Daniel Ricciardo says he’s “not sure yet” where he will be racing next year after announcing he’ll leave McLaren at the end of the 2022 Formula 1 season.
McLaren shares responsibility for Ricciardo’s F1 struggles
McLaren says it needs to share responsibility for things not having worked out with Daniel Ricciardo, after the Australian’s split from the Formula 1 team was announced on Wednesday.
McLaren confident about Ricciardo replacement plans despite Piastri dispute
McLaren says it is ‘confident’ about its replacement plans for Daniel Ricciardo, despite there being no certainty yet about Oscar Piastri’s Formula 1 future.
Why Spa can reveal the most about Mercedes’ powers of resurrection
After a difficult start to Formula 1’s ground effect-era, Mercedes has shown signs of recovery in recent races by regularly finishing on the podium and even taking pole last time out in Hungary. With more time to understand its W13 car and its improvement in recent races, plus a new technical directive coming into force for Spa, the Belgian GP could be a crucial barometer of its progress
How Senna’s first F1 winner gave Lotus life after Chapman
Designed by Gérard Ducarouge, the 97T returned Lotus to the winners circle for the first time since the death of its founder but also, as STUART CODLING reveals, gave the team a problem holding onto its new star
Grading F1’s 2022 drivers at half-term
Over the first 13 races of Formula 1’s new ground effects era, Max Verstappen has surged into the lead in the world championship over Charles Leclerc. But as the 2022 season prepares to roar back into life, who stacks up as the top of the class, and who must do better? We graded every driver based on their performances so far
The 10 stories to watch out for across the rest of the 2022 F1 season
It’s 13 down, nine to go as the Formula 1 teams pause for breath in the summer break. But what can we expect to happen over the next three months from Belgium to Abu Dhabi? Here’s the key storylines to keep an eye out for the rest of the 2022 season
The inconvenient truth about F1’s ‘American driver’ dream
OPINION: The Formula 1 grid’s wait for a new American driver looks set to continue into 2023 as the few remaining places up for grabs – most notably at McLaren – look set to go elsewhere. This is despite the Woking outfit giving tests to IndyCar aces recently, showing that the Stateside single-seater series still has some way to go to being seen as a viable feeder option for F1
How a bad car creates the ultimate engineering challenge
While creating a car that is woefully off the pace is a nightmare scenario for any team, it inadvertently generates the test any engineering department would relish: to turn it into a winner. As Mercedes takes on that challenge in Formula 1 this season, McLaren’s former head of vehicle engineering reveals how the team pulled of the feat in 2009 with Lewis Hamilton
The under-fire F1 driver fighting for his future
Personable, articulate
and devoid of the usual
racing driver airs and graces,
Nicholas Latifi is the last Formula 1 driver you’d expect to receive death threats, but such was the toxic legacy of his part in last year’s explosive season finale. And now, as ALEX KALINAUCKAS explains, he faces a battle to keep his place on the F1 grid…
The strange tyre travails faced by F1’s past heroes
Modern grand prix drivers like to think the tyres they work with are unusually difficult and temperamental. But, says MAURICE HAMILTON, their predecessors faced many of the same challenges – and some even stranger…
How energy price move helped boost Alpine’s F1 development push
Red Bull first to run F1 car at revamped Spa
