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Joined November 2013
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Taker of pictures and writer of words about race cars.
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Formula One will roar for one last time in 2023 as the curtains are close to closing following 58-laps of the Abu Dhabi Grand…
It all comes down to a battle between Erebus Motorsport’s Brodie Kostecki and Shane van Gisbergen for this year's Supercars title.
After all the hyperbole and hysteria over Formula One’s return to Sin City four decades after the Caesar's Palace parking lot races, the talking…
Riding high on the news that São Paulo will have Formula One visiting its iconic Interlagos circuit until 2030, it is time for what…
It's difficult not to feel sympathetic for six-time grand prix winner Sergio Perez, amid a continual downward spiral in form and continual speculation over…
The traditional mantra of sun, surf and Supercars on the Gold Coast at this time of year couldn’t have been any more truer as…
Four races remain in the 2023 Formula One world championship, as the circus travels south of their last event in Texas to the bustling…
Formula One returns to the Middle East with six rounds remaining in the 2023 season and a return as well to the Lusail International…
The grid is set and at last the talking stops, as 56 drivers in 28 cars get set to tackle the biggest challenge in…
As is tradition following the conclusion of the footy seasons, the legendary Bathurst 1000 takes centre stage on the Australian sporting calendar, with the…
Liam Lawson burst onto the Formula One scene at the Dutch Grand Prix, deputising for the injured Daniel Ricciardo. In the last four races…
A week after Red Bull’s record run was snapped in Singapore, Formula One world championship rolls onto the land of the rising sun and…
The return of the Sandown 500 to its pre-Bathurst enduro status was one that was met with universal glee, as endurance racing once again…
It’s flyaway season again for Formula One as the world championship returns to the Far East and the physically demanding and perennially entertaining Singapore…
It was announced ahead of the Italian Grand Prix weekend that Mercedes had locked down both their incumbent drivers in Lewis Hamilton and George…
Formula One returns to the famed Cathedral of Speed at the legendary Autodromo Nazionale Monza for the Italian Grand Prix, and there is one…
Formula One is back after its mid-season break, restarting with the popular Dutch Grand Prix at the seaside Zandvoort circuit. Tune in from 10:50pm…
The Supercars championship celebrated its 600th round at South Australia’s Bend Motorsport Park, as the premier Australian touring car category delivered fascinating racing and…
The start of the 2023 Formula One season brought with it renewed optimism of a potential championship battle between Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes…
Following their third double DNF of the season in Hungary, Alpine were in the headlines during Belgian Grand Prix weekend and it wasn’t for…
Well up until this year, all I’ve had from both sides whenever talking about Ferrari drivers, is Leclerc, Leclerc, Leclerc. Even after the win in Singapore last year, more was made about Leclerc when he found comfortability in the SF-23 than what Sainz was getting out of it. I was absolutely gutted that Sainz left McLaren, but understood the lure of Ferrari made for a better proposition. Still, it was an awesome partnership between he and Lando.
And yeah, Audi with Andreas Seidl and James Key; who he’s already worked with at McLaren has the makings of being great. But wherever he goes, my wish is to see him as the spearhead because (as you say) he’s more than capable demonstrating that in a car that isn’t.
Carlos Sainz may not be underrated any longer but he does deserve a seat worthy of his talent
Also easy to follow for anyone not fully into the sport.
Supercars Melbourne SuperSprint talking points: Clinical Red Bulls, Fords implode and short races praised
As much as Logan cops it for his performances, he’s a consummate professional for still turning up for the rest of the weekend to do the Melbourne Walk and other event activations. It was a bit poor though, not have him included on the driver’s parade.
How to destroy a driver's self-belief: Williams' Melbourne car swap could affect Logan Sargeant's overall confidence
It’s poor of Williams to not have a spare chassis yes, but it is due to the bizarre set of circumstances and the risk that they took has ultimately backfired. Yes, the Excel spreadsheets can be attributed to this.
Because James Vowles, Pat Fry and co decided over the off-season to tear apart the Williams F1 procedures manual and start from scratch – they’ve all been stretched to the point where in order to upgrade/improve a process for the future – they had to compromise on dedicating resources to build that third chassis for the opening handful of rounds. Vowles himself acknowledged that in Melbourne and wasn’t certainly hiding from his own deciding making and took full accountability.
As much as it sucks for Logan and its unheard of in modern F1 of drivers having to give up their cars for their teammate – it all comes back to the that fact Williams have long been in a hole and somebody has finally come along to burst their way out of it. Even if it means ruffling some feathers along the way.
How to destroy a driver's self-belief: Williams' Melbourne car swap could affect Logan Sargeant's overall confidence
Yuki Tsunoda looked pretty handy in the first session, I’d say he’ll get points and outshine Ricciardo. And, hoping for a good weekend for Logan too.
Australian F1 Grand Prix full schedule: Albert Park, Melbourne 2024
And live blog coverage here on The Roar come Sunday from yours truly 😁
Australian F1 Grand Prix full schedule: Albert Park, Melbourne 2024
Stuart, you are spot on.
Let’s cast our minds back to 2014 or thereabouts, when it was prophesied about this Dutch whiz kid would one day. Who’d have thought almost a decade on, that said prophecy would’ve been fulfilled as it is?
So many drivers are talked about in high regard, but so few then achieve what Max has and his individual talent cannot be discounted. So when you say it’s an insult to say it’s all because of the car – you are correct.
We are living in the Max Verstappen era, but also as Sebastian Vettel once wisely said, ‘nothing lasts forever’.
Don't tell me F1 is boring... Yes, we've seen Hamilton dominate, but this time it's simply Verstappen greatness
What I loved though was seeing F1 Academy do its first race of the season in Saudi and on International Women’s day too.
F1's state of disrepute a much-needed wake-up call to the powers that be
Might need a race like last year to see the Aussies in with a chance of better results!
For the first time in a decade, two Aussies headline the Australian Grand Prix - can either of them capture an elusive podium?
Yep, Ricciardo in the press conference was pretty much like if we have a repeat of last year’s race then they’ll do well. Oscar said realistically top five is what they are expecting.
For the first time in a decade, two Aussies headline the Australian Grand Prix - can either of them capture an elusive podium?
Throughout last year, I couldn’t help but compare the sort of season Verstappen was having to Marquez’s mighty 2019 where he scored 420 out of Honda’s 426 team championship points and outscored second placed Dovizioso by 6-race wins worth of points. His teammate that year? Lorenzo who by no means a slouch, couldn’t even crack the top ten on that Honda.
It's Verstappen versus the world after Bahrain deja vu... but don't press the panic button just yet
🤢 🤢 🤢
Is my reaction to the proposed Mario Kart circuit.
It's Verstappen versus the world after Bahrain deja vu... but don't press the panic button just yet
It is crazy to think the lengths that drivers would go to in that era, in pursuit of the maximum. We can only be grateful that those limits can be explored today without the constant threat of fatality or even serious injury.
It's Verstappen versus the world after Bahrain deja vu... but don't press the panic button just yet
For sure Sarah, you summed it up spot on about Verstappen and the RB20. So amongst the dominance, we have to recognise the perfect harmony between driver and car – which in this case too sees the organic element being that difference to maximise the performance.
It's Verstappen versus the world after Bahrain deja vu... but don't press the panic button just yet
Great stuff James, I think it is nice to have the conversation of comparison from time-to-time. I recall in 2015 I wrote here about MotoGP having more entertainment and better racing than F1 at that point – only to get lambasted for making the inference and advise not to watch F1 then.
While NASCAR isn’t quite my cup of tea for the time being and I’ll admit to not being any sort of expert, I certainly have grown to respect it as an overall product a lot more. The Netflix series they did about the Playoffs was great and didn’t shy away from showcasing the drivers in a way that they’re all ruthless and will demonstrate it on track and off it. Just shows how simplicity sometimes is best and much can be learned from it.
With F1 however, my perennial hope is that it delivers on the raceability pillar that Ross Brawn and co sold us with their vison for the ground-effect technical regulations. I do believe the cost cap is a good thing for the sport – it’s just the teams currently chasing Red Bull seem to want to kick stones around and drum up negativity about it, rather than trying to utilise/maximise their resources in such optimal way. If McLaren and Aston Martin can make exponential leaps to join the top teams, then surely they along with Mercedes and Ferrari all make that final step towards being on par with Red Bull.
'Would you rather watch the same guy win?' Settling the great F1 vs NASCAR debate
And even RB makes you think of Red Bull. One of the worst branding exercises in F1 history!
F1 2024 Preview: An endurance test for drivers as the season is set to go boldly longer and further than ever before
I love how neither of us could escape Sergio Perez being our bold prediction, though great we are predicting differently 😂
F1 season predictions: Young gun for Mercedes seat, Ricciardo's redemption arc, surprise Aus GP winner
Thank you Blink!
I hope that there’s a lesson to be learnt from this investigation into Christian Horner and a warning to be heeded, in that the sort of behaviour he was accused of (and subsequently cleared of) is unacceptable in the workplace. I still feel furious over how the Team Principals were coercively lobbying the then Race Director at the end of the 2021 title fight.
Regardless of whether you’re working the Maccas assembly line or running a multi-million dollar sports franchise – a healthy and positive workplace culture is crucial. I don’t buy into the ‘pressure cooker’ or ‘ruthless’ business means you have to behave like an animal. Hopefully James Vowles’ fresh take on leadership will prove me right there.
F1 2024 Preview: An endurance test for drivers as the season is set to go boldly longer and further than ever before
😂 😢
Bathurst 500 talking points: Supercars season off with a bang, but Kostecki saga overshadows it
Prime real estate! While I was there for the 12 Hour I saw a sign advertising a couple of villas past Forrest’s Elbow and thought, how nice would it be to have a house there.
Bathurst 500 talking points: Supercars season off with a bang, but Kostecki saga overshadows it
Re the Melbourne sprint races; yeah given how incident prone they can be at that track, I’d be surprised if we had much green flag racing to keep anyone hooked.
In terms of the time between rounds; this is bone I’ve had with Supercars for a long time. The breaks between rounds is way too long to keep even a rusted on follower from losing interest in the championship – particularly when you’ve got both footy codes on in the winter every weekend. NASCAR do how many rounds per season? And they transport their freight by road too? 12 rounds (while grateful during the pandemic they could meet that minimum) stretched across from February to the end of November is not good enough for a ‘premier’ national touring car series.
Bathurst 500 talking points: Supercars season off with a bang, but Kostecki saga overshadows it
That’s sad the coverage didn’t do it justice. But yeah, those super-imposed billboards have been such a pain for years during Supercars too.
The hidden motorsport gem that is the Bathurst 12 Hour
Thank you, appreciate it as I love this event quite a lot.
Perilous yes, but how amazing that there were no incidents until we were more than two hours into the race?
The hidden motorsport gem that is the Bathurst 12 Hour
Yeah this was written and submitted before the Williams launch, so Vowles confirming that they’ve got Albon till the end of 2025 changes his prospects.
Vesti is an interesting one and yes I did ponder him, but I feel he’ll probably be consigned to a role at Williams long before being considered for Mercedes – if he even makes it to F1 at all.
The probables, possibles and wildcards: Who'll replace Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes?
Taking that odd development path in 2022 and then failing to grasp that it perhaps isn’t the path to success in the ground-effect era when they committed to it again in 2023, certainly hasn’t helped Mercedes’ cause.
'We need to continue to push hard': McLaren's 12-month progress shows gains can be made in a cost cap era