Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc became the first non-Red Bull driver to take a pole position this year with a stunning lap at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Leclerc beat Red Bull’s Max Verstappen by 0.188 seconds. Sergio Perez was third in the second Red Bull ahead of Leclerc’s team-mate Carlos Sainz.
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Franz Tost will be replaced at the end of this season as team principal of Red Bull’s Alpha Tauri team by Ferrari sporting director Laurent Mekies. Peter Bayer, previously F1 executive director and secretary general for motorsport at the FIA, will become the team’s chief executive.
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Formula 1 is to introduce a new format for ‘sprint’ races, starting at this weekend’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix. The ‘sprint’ – a shorter race held on Saturday – has been made independent of the grand prix and will have its own qualifying session, known as the ‘sprint shootout’.
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Aston Martin driver Lance Stroll is to miss this week’s pre-season test after suffering “minor injuries” in a cycling accident. The Canadian’s team have not yet decided how to cover his absence over the three days in Bahrain starting on Thursday Stroll’s injury means there is a risk he could miss the opening race weekend at the same track on 3-5 March.
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Red Bull have unveiled their title-defending car for Formula 1 2023 and announced a major new engine partnership with Ford.
The Ford deal – while not kicking in until 2026 – was the headline of the launch, with the American manufacturing giant to return to F1 for the first time in 22 years to part-fund the engine Red Bull are designing for the new regulations.
