Aston Martin has ‘everything’ to woo Verstappen

In brief

Aston Martin has ‘everything’ to woo Verstappen

Despite Verstappen being under contract at Red Bull until at least 2028, Marko believes rivals Aston Martin could become a tempting prospect for the multiple world champion now they have signed Adrian Newey.

“Max races where he can win,” Marko told Kleine Zeitung.

“Aston Martin has the most modern factory, their wind tunnel will go into operation next year, and Honda engines will be added as well. Everything is really in place. And if you look at history, it’s clear: everywhere Newey has gone, there’s been an upward trend. I don’t see why it should be any different at Aston Martin.

“He knows he can win titles with us as well, if we can still get this championship over the line. That is an absolute must.”

Sainz warned for Perez incident

Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz Jnr has received a formal warning from the Azerbaijan Grand Prix stewards after they deemed him to have impeded Sergio Perez at the fast kink of turn 13 in second practice.

After investigating the incident, the stewards determined Sainz had been “distracted by a variety of alarms on the car” and had “misjudged the closing speed” of the Red Bull.

As Perez stated in the hearing that he felt the incident “did not end up being particularly dangerous”, the stewards chose to give Sainz a warning.

BMW quickest in WEC Fuji practice

BMW’s number 15 team of Dries Vanthoor, Raffaele Marciello and Marco Wittmann set the pace at the end of Friday’s practice sessions for this weekend’s Six Hours of Fuji. Vanthoor’s best time of 1’29.577 was only six-thousandths of a second quicker than the number five Penske Porsche, while the number two Cadillac were third-fastest, just 0.015s behind.

AF Corse’s number 83 Ferrari were fourth after winning the last event at Circuit of the Americas, while the fastest Toyota was the number seven car in ninth place. Qualifying for the penultimate round of the WEC season takes place early this morning.

Links

‘We cannot ignore Africa’: F1 fans on continent add to Hamilton’s call for grand prix (Guardian)

‘For African fans, the wait goes on. Kevin Matla, a 28-year-old microbiologist who makes TikTok videos about the sport, said a race in his country, South Africa, was the dream. ”I don’t know if I’d cry or get all emotional, but it would be amazing. Not only for me alone but for people in the country, who have been longing for such an event to come.”’

F1 24 Patch notes (v1.10) (EA)

Next week’s latest patch for the official F1 game brings the 2024 Formula 2 season, the return of the Elimination race mode, visual updates for all ten F1 cars, minor bug fixes and more.

Scott Borchetta saved IndyCar in Nashville despite financial losses and matchup against the Titans (AP)

‘Just days after Borchetta announced he was moving the race to the speedway, the NFL released its 2024 schedule with a Titans game scheduled for Sunday. ”Had I not moved the race, the game would have definitely been the nail in the coffin,” Borchetta said. ”There is no scenario in which we could have held a downtown race during a Titans game.”’

Formula Regional Americas round 4: Road America (Formula Regional Americas via YouTube)

We always endeavour to credit original sources. Got a tip for a link relating to single-seater motorsport? Please send it to us via the contact form.

| Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free

Happy birthday!

Happy birthday to Gwenouille, Evered7 and Paul555!

On this day in motorsport

• Born on this day in 1918: Georges Berger, who entered two F1 races in the fifties, then died during the 1967 Marathon de la Route, a monster 84-hour (three-and-a-half day) endurance race at the Nurburgring Nordschleife