On The Gravel

Round 8 of the Formula One World Championship brought us to the Circuit de Monaco in Monte Carlo for one of the most boring races in the history of F1, aside from the first few corners and Charles Leclerc breaking his horrid streak of luck at his home race to be the first Monegasque driver to win at home. Around the paddock, McLaren wore a special livery to honor 30 years since Senna’s passing, Lawrence Stroll and Alonso are losing patience, and Checo has been offered an extension. Along with this, the FIA abandoned the spray guards, Sainz is on Williams radar, and the CEO of Liberty media seems to have a vendetta against the Andretti family. This was the race win and race winner that Formula One fans have been yearning for and its been well worth it. Canada is in 2 weeks time and we will be right here waiting, On The Gravel.

Round 7 of the Formula One World Championship took us to Imola for the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, a slow burn of a race that built up to a wonderful race for the win towards the end for Verstappen and Norris. It wasn’t to be for Lando, but the Red Bull seems to be slowly losing its massive advantage over the field. In and around the paddock, Chicago is back in the headlines with rumors of a finalized deal for a date and circuit, Alex Albon extending with Williams past 2026, and Ferrari’s key engineering and development pickups from Mercedes. Along with this, Adrian Newey has stated that he wants to continue designing, Haas may be eying Zhou over Bearman, and Bottas may be turning some eyes at Alpine and Williams.  Plenty of racing is coming up this week with the Spanish GP in MotoGP, the 108th running of the Indy 500, and the Monaco GP in Formula One. Stick with us this week On The Gravel as we look on to see who’s drinking the milk and who blitzes the opposition on the streets of the principality!

In the week leading up to the Emilia-Romanga Grand Prix at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, the racing world blessed us with the famous Month of May, widely regarded as the greatest month of the year for world motor racing. This weekend had fans booked with the 6HRs of Spa in WEC, Rally de Portugal in the WRC as well as the French GP in MotoGP. Along with our coverage and takes on those three events, there was still news to be heard around the F1 paddock. A deep dive onto the penalty points system was due after last week's Miami GP along with Leclerc apparently having no water from the formation lap, the Miami GP setting US watch records and RB Powertrains taking hundreds of employees from the Mercedes HPP engine program. To finish off, the changes to Imola were discussed for the upcoming race, all the racing events for May were outlined and Leclerc’s long time race engineer Xavi Marcos is being reshuffled elsewhere at Ferrari. Many continuous weeks of fruitful racing are on the horizon and we intend to talk about it all here when we see you next, On The Gravel.

Round 6 of the Formula One World Championship brought us to the Miami International Autodrome for a now infamous Miami Grand Prix. The sprint weekend saw some incredible wheel to wheel racing between Hamilton and Magnussen in the sprint, Sergeant being taken out at his home race through no fault, and  a first career victory for Lando Norris after a wonderful strategy, well timed safety car and upgraded McLaren. In other places around the paddock, we remembered Ratzenberger and Senna who both lost their lives 30 years ago this week at Imola, Adrian Newey’s departure from Red Bull is now fully confirmed, and we had a massive tease and subsequent disappointment from Ferrari when regarding their special blue livery this week. On top of this, members of congress have written to Liberty Media to request answers on Andretti’s denial to the sport, F1 Academy announced a Netflix series, and Williams have asked the FIA to approve Antonellis entrance to the sport. Finally, next week sees a hefty amount of racing including the 6hr of Spa in WEC, Rally de Portugal in WRC, and the GP de France in MotoGP. Enjoy Lando’s maiden victory and get ready for an incredible week of racing ahead as we hope to see you back again, On The Gravel!  

As we await our return to the Miami International Autodrome in a week's time, Nico Hulkenburg decided to add a further bit of spice to the driver market this week with his move to Sauber for 2025 on. This week On The Gravel focuses on the effects of Hulk’s move for the rest of the grid, the potential for Sargeant to be replaced by Antonelli after Miami, and the questionable future of Adrian Newey given his desire to leave the Red Bull family. In other news, there's potential F1 and Super Formula could share a race weekend at Suzuka in the near future, Max has a meeting with Mercedes about a potential move after next week's race, and a big discussion over engine suppliers, title sponsors and contracts across the teams with new changes to these occurring this week. Finally, we wrapped up with our rundown of the Croatian Rally event that happened this past week as we work our way over to Miami Gardens for the reveal of the potentially blue Ferrari and our second sprint weekend of the year.

Round 5 of the Formula One World Championship took us to the Shanghai International Circuit for the first time since 2019. And a worthwhile wait it was, F1’s first sprint weekend of the year paired with some well timed rain set up for some masterful qualifying moments and good racing throughout the field. Lance Stroll’s incident with Daniel Ricciardo was not one of those moments, but one of high discussion with Stroll blaming someone who was clearly the victim in the situation. While it was a straightforward win for Verstappen in both races, the battle for the podium was enthralling in both. Other news this week in the paddock revolved around Tsunoda being on Audi’s shortlist as well as them bringing the German National Anthem back to F1, Liam Lawson potentially looking out of Red Bull, and worries that the 2026 regs may hinder the peak performance of an F1 car. On top of this, the impact report for 2023 was released, Red Bull is potentially in talks with Sainz, and a new points system may be on the horizon to bring more value to the midfield battle. The week finished bright and early with the 6h of Imola in WEC which was a rollercoaster ride that saw Toyota Gazoo take the flag first and leave us fully pleased after a satisfying week of racing On The Gravel!

In the off week before our first return to the Shanghai International Circuit since 2019, Fernando Alonso decided to kick off the silly season by resigning a “lifetime” contract with Aston Martin through 2026. Elsewhere around the paddock and motorsport, the ever growing hype and trust around Kimi Antonelli has been reinforced through multiple more scheduled tests with the W12 and W13, Andretti is set to push for F2, F3 and a WEC entry to cement their push for a Formula One team, and Prema has decided to expand their reach to the Indycar series stateside. Along with this, Formula One released the official 2025 calendar with a reshuffle of the opening rounds of the season, rumors of Alpine selling the team floated around the internet, and MotoGP took a trip to COTA for round 3 of the championship. With a resurfaced track, limited testing due to the sprint weekend, and a first time excursion for many of the drivers, the Chinese Grand Prix is set to be an exciting one. We can't wait to share our reactions with you next time out On The Gravel!

This week On the Gravel took us to one of the most iconic tracks in all of motor racing, the famous Suzuka Circuit in Japan. It was a bounce back from heartbreak for Max Verstappen and a good showing of tire strategy throughout the field during the course of the race. A first lap racing incident between Albon and Ricciardo had us contemplating if Williams would give him Sargeants car under the red flag, a charge up the field for Leclerc and the midfields' fight for the lower points kept us on our toes. News in the paddock this week featured the acquisition of rights to MotoGP by F1’s parent company Liberty Media, David Sanchez’s departure from McLaren, and the incoming Pirelli tire test after the Japanese Grand Prix. Kimi Antonelli is getting a private test in the W13 and tensions may be heating up at Williams after drivers crashing, the lack of substitute chassis and drivers being swapped in the process. A lot happened this week but with an off week on the horizon, we aim to keep you in the loop with us while On the Gravel.

The off week before our excursion to Japan On the Gravel brought some interesting news in F1 and viewing of the Safari Rally at Kenya in the WRC. Talk on Perez’s future at Red Bull and what it means for the pipeline of talent in the family, Zak Brown’s contract extension at McLaren, and Honda’s plans for their new base for PU’s in the UK were a few notable points of discussion this week along with a new unwanted record taken by Lando Norris, Aston Martin’s astronomical bid for Adrian Newey, and Ricciardo coming under serious pressure at RB. Once we made our way to Kenya, we were treated to an exciting spectacle with a convincing win for Kalle Rovenpera of Toyota Gazoo and Ford’s first podium at the event since 2002. Another race at night in the states awaits this week as we continue to keep you up to date On the Gravel!

Round Three of the Formula One World Championship in Australia kicked off in unusual form with Max Verstappen, for the first time in 43 participations, suffering a mechanical failure. A convincing victory for Carlos Sainz followed with issues for Hamilton, a controversial final lap incident between Alonso and Russell, as well as the Albon/Sargeant chassis drama heavily impacting the weekend for Williams. On top of the race review this week, Adrian Newey seems to be in advanced talks with Ferrari, Verstappen's exit clause with Marko is looked over and some concerning statements from drivers on the F1 president are mentioned. The Formula 2 and Moto GP Recaps conclude our dive this week On the Gravel as we look on and over the pond to the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka in two weeks time!

Our first off-week On The Gravel in 2024 was an interesting one after last week's Saudi Arabian GP. An incident that went under the radar for most, Dorian Pin had a race victory - in the F1 Academy series - snatched away after a post race penalty for failing to slow from racing speed which caused some controversy and necessary discourse over checkered flag bearing, the positioning of the flag box, as well as communication between team and driver. Along with this, a full timeline was drafted about our favorite Red Bull drama along with the weekly update on the ever growing series. Some other notable points from this week include talk over a potential Wolff/Alonso coffee excursion, Bearmans future, and a backtrack into Mercedes lack of a fight posed in Jeddah. WEC and MotoGP news conclude this off week as we gear up for the Australian GP in a week's time!

Round Two of the F1 World Championship took us to the Jeddah Corniche Circuit in Saudi Arabia and while it was a familiar winner,  for most,  there was an all new face in scarlet red. This week On The Gravel a potential return to Turkey is discussed, Saudi Arabia’s huge plans for a new F1 circuit in the coming years, as well as one more conversation over the delusion of Christian Horner. The race weekend brought a surprise debutant from the Ferrari Driver Academy in Oliver Bearman as Carlos Sainz was diagnosed and treated for appendicitis. A race of many parts, seeing the potential of Bearman showcased, a strategic masterclass from Haas, and some good battles between the Mercedes and McLarens gave us a nice race under lights. Concluding with our F2, IndyCar and MotoGP talk for the week, we hope you enjoyed this week in racing as much as we did!

It's Sunday, the first race of the season at Bahrain has concluded with a commanding victory for Max Verstappen, but the Dutch National Anthem will not be stealing our show this week. On The Gravel this episode, the Christian Horner drama has come to a clean end, the lights have gone out and we’ve finally gone racing. Alpine’s disastrous car has proved itself on track throughout the weekend, a messy start for Hulkenberg set up a wonderful recovery drive for Stroll, and multiple teams faced some major engine cooling issues throughout our 57 laps at Bahrain. Sergeant suffered a steering and brake bias issue to ruin his outing, along with Leclerc having a brake issue that starts the Ferrari pain off strong. Along with talk over the F2 running as well as the 6hrs of Qatar in WEC, there's plenty to pick through this week in F1 and the greater racing world as we gear up for the Saudi Arabian GP this Saturday!

Preseason Testing has concluded which means its Race Week! A fruitful few days in Bahrain saw all the teams taking their 2024 challengers to track to conduct their preparation for the season ahead with some notable shocks up and down the grid. Covered this week On The Gravel are our thoughts on testing, chat on flow-vis and aero rakes, the dreaded drain covers, as well as the sneaky front wing loophole exposed by Mercedes. Our preseason predictions follow, with some reserve driver talk and our thoughts on the newest season of Drive to Survive. With some touches on WEC, WRC and MotoGP, there is plenty to look forward to in the world of racing as we prepare for the Bahrain GP this Saturday!

Our last dry Sunday in the world of F1 commences On The Gravel this week with our reactions to the final five livery releases, insight into our top five and not five, and a technical dive on new innovations and changes made by some of the teams before preseason testing. On the other side of the racing world, the WRC race in Sweden caught our attention with some notable finishes and the Daytona 500 rain out means green flag racing on a Monday this year. Preseason testing begins on Wednesday morning to keep you on your toes as we’ve made it to the final lap of the offseason.

Our second Sunday in February swiftly arrived with four new livery reveals with a controversial point of similarity between their use of carbon fiber. In other news, Christian Horner has had serious allegations of inappropriate behavior put forth in front of the F1 World, Stake F1 has come across a notable issue of legality in Switzerland surrounding their title sponsorship, and F1 could very well be heading back to Maylasia with Petronas striking a new deal becoming the title sponsor of the Sepang International Circuit. With the British GP locked until 2034, Pete Bonnington failing to follow Hamilton to Ferrari and talk on the upcoming WRC event in Sweden, there’s plenty to catch On The Gravel as we head under 10 days until Pre-Season Testing in Bahrain!

Our final biweekly episode comes on a memorable Sunday as we have a whole off-season's worth of news. Lewis Hamilton has completed one of the biggest driver moves in the history of the sport to Ferrari, but what does this mean for the vacancy he leaves at Mercedes and the departing Carlos Sainz? In other news, Haas revealed their 2024 challenger, along with big contract extensions for Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris with their respectable teams. The new Madrid street circuit has been revealed with a potential new race in Chicago being trademarked by FOM and slinking its way into conversation. Finally, Andretti has unfortunately been denied entry to the sport with F1 citing a lack of potential competitiveness and rumor has it Alex Albon could make his return to Red Bull. With such big news came a myriad of vehement opinions, all of which you can hear with us this week On The Gravel!

Our last episode of January comes with the surprising decision by Haas to part ways with the beloved Guenther Steiner in favor of Ayao Komatsu, talk on the shock drop of McLarens 2024 challenger and our opinions over the rebranding of the Sauber and (potentially) Alpha Tauri teams. The full list of car reveals gives us something to get excited about over the next couple weeks along with seeing our favorite drivers continuing to chase that adrenaline throughout this offseason. Enjoy the show and stick with us, we’re almost there!

2024 kicks off On The Gravel with the contract extension of Red Bulls Helmut Marko, a festive Uncle Fernando, and our opinions on Zak Brown’s view on testing under the budget cap. Williams renewed engine partnership with Mercedes is exciting news along with Red Bulls extensive work on the RB20 and 21, as well as Tim Malyon’s appointment as the FIA’s new sporting director hopefully touting good fortune in the F1 world as we inch ever closer to Bahrain testing.