Formula 1

Valtteri Bottas butted in on the Lewis Hamilton-Max Verstappen show in qualifying at the Portuguese Grand Prix, adding a new dynamic to the unfolding narrative of the 2021 Formula 1 season. A slightly bizarre qualifying session in changeable, windy conditions ended with the Finn pipping Hamilton to pole position by just 0.007 seconds; the seven-time

Valtteri Bottas beat Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton to pole position in a bizarre qualifying session at the Portuguese Grand Prix. Bottas beat Hamilton by 0.007 seconds, but Red Bull’s Max Verstappen had a faster lap ruled out for exceeding track limits. And Hamilton set a much faster lap in the second part of qualifying, 0.4secs

Lewis Hamilton headed Max Verstappen by 0.143 seconds to lead the way in second practice at the Portuguese Grand Prix. The second Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas was third quickest, ahead of Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and the Alpines of Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon. It is the first time this season that Hamilton has topped a

Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas headed Red Bull’s Max Verstappen to set the pace in first practice at the Portuguese Grand Prix. Bottas was 0.025 seconds ahead of Verstappen and 0.319secs quicker than his Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton. Seven-time champion Hamilton was fifth fastest, behind Red Bull’s Sergio Perez and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. Hamilton was struggling

Leading football clubs and players will be joined by a number of sporting bodies in a four-day boycott of social media platforms from Friday in a move to tackle abuse and discrimination. The “show of solidarity against online abuse” hopes to encourage companies to take a stronger stance against racist and sexist abuse on their

Lewis Hamilton says he intends to remain in Formula 1 for at least another season after this year. The seven-time champion signed a one-year deal with Mercedes at the start of 2021 but said on Thursday that he “plans” to be in the sport next season. He said he was “enjoying” his title fight with

The Canadian Grand Prix has been cancelled and will be replaced on its 11-13 June date by a race at Turkey’s Istanbul Park track. It is the second successive year the Montreal event has been cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic. Travel restrictions made it impossible to enter Canada without a mandatory 14-day quarantine, said

Briton Callum Ilott has joined Alfa Romeo as second reserve driver. Ilott will share reserve driver duties with Robert Kubica when the Pole is unavailable as a result of his commitments in other racing categories. Ilott, a member of the Ferrari driver academy, will take part in some first practice sessions in 2021, starting at

Shorter ‘sprint’ races will be introduced to Formula 1 this year to set the grid positions at three grands prix, series bosses have agreed. Points will be awarded to the top three finishers – three for first, two for second and one for third. Grid positions for the shorter race – to be called ‘sprint

Formula 1 has announced the Japanese Grand Prix will remain at Suzuka until the end of the 2024 season. The figure-of-eight track first staged an F1 race in 1987 and has decided the drivers’ championship on 11 occasions. F1 chief executive Stefano Domenicali said the three-year extension shows a “long-term commitment to growing the sport

Red Bull have recruited a senior figure from rivals Mercedes to lead their new Formula 1 engine programme. Ben Hodgkinson, head of mechanical engineering at Mercedes High Performance Powertrains, will become technical director at Red Bull’s equivalent department. It is being set up close to the chassis factory in Milton Keynes to take over the

Sir Lewis Hamilton says the conviction of a former police officer for the killing of George Floyd “marks a new dawn in the fight for racial justice”. Chauvin was filmed kneeling on Mr Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes during an arrest in May 2020. “This is the first time that a white officer

Williams driver George Russell has issued a public apology following his crash with Valtteri Bottas in the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. Russell said he “takes responsibility” for the risk he took in trying to pass the Finn’s Mercedes not paying off. And he added that his emotions “got the better of me” after the incident.

George Russell accused Valtteri Bottas of lacking respect for the dangers of Formula 1 after they crashed in the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. Stewards decided the 200mph collision between them was a racing incident and took no disciplinary action. Russell said: “Your heart stops for a moment when you crash at over 200mph. You don’t

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen took his first win of the year in a chaotic, incident-strewn Emilia Romagna Grand Prix as Lewis Hamilton fought back to second after a rare error. Rain at the start led to one of the most topsy-turvy races in memory as the treacherous conditions caught out the vast majority of drivers

Miami will hold its first Grand Prix in 2022 after Formula 1 secured a 10-year deal for a race in the Florida city. The move is the culmination of years of work by F1’s owners Liberty Media, who wanted a race in a US “destination city” as they seek to grow the sport. The event

One of Lewis Hamilton’s greatest drives stole victory from Max Verstappen and Red Bull at the first race of the season, and now what he called a “special” lap has deprived Mercedes’ rivals of pole position at the second. That’s one way of looking at it, anyway. Another is that Red Bull let victory at

Lewis Hamilton took pole position ahead of Red Bull’s Sergio Perez in a thrilling qualifying session at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. Hamilton was just 0.035 seconds clear in the Mercedes as Perez beat team-mate Max Verstappen in only the Mexican’s second race for Red Bull. Charles Leclerc put the Ferrari fourth, while Valtteri Bottas