Motorsport

MotoGP is the only grand prix class without a combined minimum weight for motorcycle and rider. While such regulations exist in Moto2 and Moto3 (and even the World Superbike Championship) to offset the disadvantages faced by taller and heavier riders, no comparable rule applies at the top level of motorcycle racing.
In Moto3, the combined minimum weight of bike and rider is 152kg, while in ...Keep reading

Mercedes has confirmed the launch date for its 2026 Formula 1 challenger, the W17. The Brackley outfit is set to unveil the W17 on 22 January 2026 before private testing takes place from 26 to 30 January. 
The team will release renders of the livery on 22 January before a season launch event on 2 February, which will be available to stream live online. Drivers George Russell and Andrea Kimi ...Keep reading

Seth Quintero led a top-five lockout for Toyota in the second stage of the 2026 Dakar Rally, while Dacia’s Nasser Al-Attiyah leapt to the top spot in the overall standings.
While Toyota struggled at the start of the 48th edition of Dakar in Yanbu, it bounced back strongly in Monday’s 400km test to Al-Ula, with the Japanese manufacturer’s Hilux pick-up emerging as the class of the ...Keep reading

2025 Formula 1 champion Lando Norris is set for a hefty €1,023,658 superlicence fee for 2026.
Every driver must pay a superlicence fee to compete in the championship, although it is worth noting that the bill is usually picked up by the driver's team. The fee consists of a flat rate plus an amount per point scored in the previous season. For Norris, he scored 423 points in 2025, so ...Keep reading

With Cadillac joining the grid for the 2026 Formula 1 season, there will be 22 cars on the grid, two more than we're currently used to. Because of this, qualifying will see a small change to include the extra two cars. This is what you need to know. 
F1's 2026 qualifying format will still have the familiar three-part knockout structure that we're all accustomed to. With a larger grid this ...Keep reading

McLaren driver Oscar Piastri has revealed that he, George Russell and Alex Albon held an "UNO World Championship" that took place during travel days between some of the races of the 2025 Formula 1 season. Admitting there were "questionable rules" between the trio, he opened up on what he did during his downtime. 
Talking on F1's Off The Grid with presenter Lawrence Barretto, the Australian ...Keep reading

The F1 movie picked up two wins at the 2026 Critics' Choice Awards on 4 January.
The blockbuster, directed by Joseph Kosinski and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, was awarded the Critics' Choice Awards for Best Sound (Al Nelson, Gwendolyn Yates Whittle, Gary A. Rizzo, Juan Peralta and Gareth John) and Best Editing (Stephen Mirrione).
In the editing category, Mirrione competed against Kirk ...Keep reading

Will Courtenay has completed his long-awaited move to McLaren's Formula 1 team to take up a new role as sporting director, after being granted approval to leave his position at Red Bull.
McLaren had announced its signing of Courtenay as early as 2024, but the Briton was not able to negotiate an exit from his contract ahead of 2025 and remained the team's head of strategy.
Red Bull had ...Keep reading

Zhou Guanyu has been confirmed as a Cadillac Formula 1 reserve driver for the 2026 season just three days after his Ferrari exit was announced.
The 26-year-old spent the 2025 campaign in a reserve role for the Scuderia, but has left the team for a new challenge with F1’s latest outfit, which is set to make its debut this season.
It will see Zhou join forces with Cadillac team principal ...Keep reading

A sense of trepidation accosts the arrival of Formula 1's incoming cycle of regulations. While the birth of F1's 2026 generation has been admittedly problematic, with genuine concerns raised throughout the development of the new rules, many have tended to err on the side of caution in their predictions.
Of course, the landscape will change and it'll be a very different F1 that we need to get ...Keep reading

Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur reckons “pure performance” is quite irrelevant at the first pre-season test for the 2026 Formula 1 season due to the regulation change coming in.
The 2026 campaign will introduce changes to both the power unit and chassis, as cars will become lighter and smaller and there’ll be more emphasis on electrical power. 
With a huge regulation switch for the upcoming ...Keep reading

Defending car champion Yazeed Al-Rajhi faces an uphill battle at the 2026 Dakar Rally after a troubled opening stage, in which he lost significant time and incurred a heavy penalty.
Shortly after his Dakar victory in 2025, Al-Rajhi and navigator Timo Gottschalk suffered injuries that forced them to miss several rounds of the World Rally-Raid Championship. The Saudi driver and his German ...Keep reading

X-raid Mini’s Guillaume de Mevius topped the opening stage of the Dakar Rally on Sunday, overhauling long-time leader Mattias Ekstrom in a dramatic late turnaround.
Ford driver Ekstrom controlled much of the day’s 305km stage around Yanbu in Saudi Arabia, grabbing the lead at the second checkpoint on 70km before stretching out an advantage of over a minute in his Ford Raptor.
De Mevius ...Keep reading

Marc Marquez could achieve two major milestones during the 2026 MotoGP season as he looks to further cement his place among motorsport’s all-time greats.
At last year’s San Marino Grand Prix on 14 September, he clinched his 73rd victory in MotoGP and 99th across all three classes. With six grands prix left in the season at that stage, no one doubted his chances of securing his 100th world ...Keep reading

Max Verstappen has emerged as the best Formula 1 driver from the 2025 season, according to team principals, drivers themselves, as well as Motorsport, Autosport and their readers.
All current team bosses and racers were asked by F1 to submit their top 10s, applying the 25-18-15-12-10-8-6-4-2-1 points system to create separate standings. No representative from Red Bull and Ferrari took part in ...Keep reading

Major regulation changes usually lead to bigger gaps in Formula 1. Both the teams and the FIA expect a bigger field spread than last year, although the governing body has introduced several measures to prevent a repeat of 2014.
At the start of the hybrid era, Mercedes arrived with a superior power unit, after which dominance was effectively locked in for years. With the 2026 reset, such a ...Keep reading

Francesco Bagnaia and Michele Pirro believe Ducati’s rivals made effective use of MotoGP’s concession system to close the gap over the course of the 2025 season.
Although Ducati swept all three world championships in 2025, helped by Marc Marquez’s arrival in the factory team, its dominance was challenged more frequently than in previous years.
After losing just one grand prix in ...Keep reading

Factory Ford driver Mattias Ekstrom drew first blood in the 2026 Dakar Rally, edging out team-mate Mitch Guthrie in Saturday’s Prologue.
The 48th edition of Dakar kicked off in earnest on 3 January, with a total of 72 cars taking the start in the Ultimate class. The Prologue featured a 95km route around the Saudi Arabian port city of Yanbu, though only 22km were timed, resulting in minimal ...Keep reading

Land Rover's Defender has been a familiar sight in the Dakar Rally for many years, but the British brand has never before lined up with a full factory team. That will change in 2026: the Defender will foray into the world's biggest rally-raid with three factory entries, with 14-time Dakar winner Stephane Peterhansel spearheading the team's line-up.
Notably, the British manufacturer has opted ...Keep reading

Four-time Dakar Rally-winning navigator Mathieu Baumel has returned to the event this year, just 11 months after a serious accident and the amputation of his right leg.
Baumel was on his way to Rally Monte Carlo at the beginning of 2025 when he was struck by a vehicle after stopping to help stranded motorists.
The crash caused such severe injuries to his right leg that it had to be ...Keep reading