Jack Benyon
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American Editor @wearetherace, columnist @RACERHQ. Journalist specialising in motorsport, video and podcasting
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Articles by Jack Benyon
Leclerc heads Verstappen in first F1 US GP practice
Ferrari Formula 1 driver Charles Leclerc set the fastest time in the first practice for the United States Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas ahead of Red Bull's Max Verstappen. The session had the air of a pre-season test as the condensed sprint race schedule at Singapore and a week off before this race, after a triple-header, meant the teams put the more-traditional-three-practice weekend schedule to work immediately.
F1 2026 Singapore Grand Prix practice results
Yes, you've read this correctly, Singapore is a sprint weekend! So just the one practice before sprint qualifying gets underway on Friday. Here are the results from that lone practice session.
F1 2026 Singapore Grand Prix practice results
Now FP1 Highlights | 2026 Singapore Grand Prix www.youtube.com on YouTube • 33m The sole practice session of the weekend got underway in Marina Bay - catch up on all the action as the drivers and teams test their set ups ahead of Sprint Qualifying.
Verstappen dominates Malaysia F1 race after early chaos
Max Verstappen took a commanding first win of the season in a Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia, which finished over three hours after it started thanks to heavy rain at the start. Kimi Antonelli extended his championship lead, with the late-race retirement for team-mate and main rival George Russell. After an aborted start where multiple cars stopped on track and a software issue had to be corrected with a lengthy delay in the pits, the race finally got going an hour and a half late.
Verstappen beats upgraded Mercedes in Sepang practice one
Max Verstappen repeatedly overshadowed Baku Formula 1 winner George Russell and his massively upgraded Mercedes to lead the first practice session for the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia, with both McLarens outside the top 10. Grip levels were even worse than teams expected with cars sliding around as the world's most expensive road sweepers, as track temperatures of 57 degrees Celsius contributed to the difficulty level.
Verstappen beats upgraded Mercedes in Sepang practice one
13 hours ago Nearly a third of the Formula 1 grid took part on a group vacation between races in Azerbaijan and Malaysia. Formula 1 drivers tend to fiercely guard their privacy—especially when it comes to what they do between races, away from the Drive to Survive cameras. Unusually, though, the world learned this …
Russell denies Verstappen in Azerbaijan GP punctuated by two safety cars
George Russell ended a barren run without a Formula 1 victory in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix by just 0.196s over Max Verstappen, with championship leader Kimi Antonelli recovering to fifth from 16th in part thanks to a pair of safety cars for crashes. Russell did everything a leader on a street circuit with a long straight on it should do: he got a good start, immediately cleared the one-second overtake window, and had extended his lead to 12 seconds by the time of the first pit stops.
Antonelli crashes in Baku qualifying as Russell takes crushing pole
George Russell took Azerbaijan Grand Prix pole by eight tenths with a sensational lap, a massive boost given his Mercedes Formula 1 team-mate and championship leader Kimi Antonelli crashed and is due to start 16th in Baku. The big drama unfolded with seven minutes left in Q1 as Antonelli whacked the inside wall at Turn 1 which immediately pointed the front left wheel in the wrong direction and punctured his tyre.
Winners and losers from F1 Madring practice
The first day of proper Formula 1 on-track running at the Madring didn't produce the predicted chaos. But it did provide some early winners and losers... A first day of F1 track action at a venue is always scary times, especially for a track that was tipped to be an immediate cauldron of chaos. This was largely true in Formula 3 and Formula 2 - but the Formula 1 grid by and large kept things tidy, and first impressions up and down the field seem seriously positive.
All that happened in second Madring F1 practice
Championship leader Kimi Antonelli topped the times in Madring's second practice session as the first red flag of the Spanish Grand Prix weekend was triggered by the star of the session up until that point. The Madring circuit had been labelled a car killer in the run-up to the event, and drivers were on best behaviour with no incidents in FP1. Unfortunately, there was a red flag in FP2 as just under 15 minutes of the session was lost.
Everything you need to know about Italian GP FP2
George Russell disappointed the Ferrari-supporting home crowd at Monza on Friday by setting the pace in second Italian Grand Prix practice, with Charles Leclerc demoted to second after setting the pace in FP1. The two Mercedes drivers duked it out almost unchallenged early on for the top times, with Russell seemingly holding the edge over his championship-leading team-mate Kimi Antonelli - who will start at the back of the grid on Sunday for engine-change penalties.
Norris extends McLaren F1 contract through to 2030 at least
Reigning Formula 1 world champion Lando Norris has extended his McLaren contract, taking his stay with the team beyond a decade and through the 2030 season. But there is scope for that to run longer - as McLaren's announcement of the deal added there was a "multi-year option to commit beyond" that 2030 date. Norris, who has won the last two F1 races in the upgraded McLaren, became part of McLaren's junior programme in 2017 and earned a race drive for 2019.
Winners and losers from F1's Dutch GP sprint race
Formula 1's first (and last) ever sprint race at the Dutch Grand Prix was hardly a classic, but it did produce some winners and losers. Here's our team's picks... We’re going to have more sprint races in 2027, and while it wouldn’t be fair to judge that decision based purely on this turgid Zandvoort race, it’s at least a warning that F1 has to be very careful in choosing which races get the sprint treatment. I’ve seen more action in supercar parades than this so-called 'race'.
Russell wins static Dutch Grand Prix sprint race
Formula 1's 2026 Zandvoort sprint race could have been mistaken for a car parade rather than an actual race, as George Russell won from pole and only two changes of position happened in the top 10 over the 24 laps. Lando Norris managed to keep Russell under pressure for the first stretch of the race but over laps nine and 10 he lost over a second to Russell with a tail-happy rear-end. That allowed Russell the breathing room he needed.
Winners and losers from sprint qualifying at F1's Dutch GP
Formula 1's first competitive session in almost a month delivered a closely fought battle for sprint pole and some interesting intra-team victories. Below are our picks for the biggest winners and losers from sprint qualifying at Zandvoort. Despite a disappointing SQ2 outcome relative to what he'd managed in SQ1, it's ultimately fair to say Liam Lawson is holding up his end of the bargain.
Russell upstages Antonelli with Dutch GP sprint pole
George Russell claimed his third sprint pole of the season for Mercedes in a Zandvoort Formula 1 sprint qualifying where the top four were split by less than a tenth of a second. Russell trails team-mate Kimi Antonelli by 50 points, but nailed a 1m11.567s lap here - despite a relatively slow middle sector - as the field switched to soft tyres for the one-lap sprint pole shootout. “Must be a bit lighter after the engagement ring,” joked Russell, alluding to his recent proposal to his partner.
Winners and losers from F1 qualifying at Belgian GP
Even if it's a very different challenge with the 2026 cars, F1 qualifying at the Belgian Grand Prix remains a fascinating spectacle. And it was a spectacle that produced a broad mix of winners and losers... Antonelli has had his share of challenging(-ish) moments this weekend - FP1, Q1, first run of Q3, but always looked to have plenty of spare capacity to restore himself in his increasingly-familiar first place before too long.
Two more drivers get grid penalties for F1's Belgian GP
Login Formula 1 — 1 min read Isack Hadjar and Lance Stroll will both take grid penalties at Spa for Formula 1's Belgian Grand Prix. Red Bull’s Hadjar has taken a new internal combustion engine, turbocharger and exhaust, meaning his penalty is the most severe of the drivers in Spa so far as he'll start from the back of the grid, unless the team elects to start him from the pitlane and make more changes.
F1 teams declare 21 upgrades for Belgian GP
Formula 1 teams have brought a combined 21 upgrades to Spa as the relentless development of the new 2026 cars continues. Ferrari, unusually for the 2026 season, and Aston Martin, very typically for the 2026 season, are the only teams not to bring upgrades. Mercedes has an interesting tweak to keep an eye on, while the midfield-leading Racing Bulls might have the most intriguing package to view, and Haas has a very unusual-looking development.
Everything we learned from day one at F1's Belgian GP
Formula 1's penultimate race before the summer break has already told us plenty. Here's everything we learned from Thursday's media day at the Belgian Grand Prix. Sky F1 commentator David Croft's highly-publicised claim that Red Bull was keeping an eye out on Ollie Bearman as a potential signing took, as expected, about 0.05s to come up during Bearman's Thursday debrief.
Red Bull could park trick wing for Spa after Verstappen incidents
Red Bull has not ruled out going back on its 'upside down' - or 'Macarena' - rear wing in the wake of a second rear wing failure in as many races. Max Verstappen crashed on his final flying lap in qualifying for the Austrian Grand Prix when his rear wing didn't close properly, and the result was the same while Verstappen was running fourth and crashed at Copse in Sunday's British Grand Prix, although both Red Bull and Verstappen say the exact cause was different.
Leclerc wins British GP after bizarre safety car finish
Charles Leclerc survived a rogue umbrella interrupted and an aborted one-lap shootout to win a bizarre British Grand Prix at Silverstone, as championship leader Kimi Antonelli was robbed of a very likely win by an apparent bodywork failure. The Ferraris darted ahead at the start and Lewis Hamilton acted as a buffer in the early running - not by design, but he complained of front left graining - which allowed Leclerc to build a four-second gap at the front.
Winners and losers from F1's 2026 British Grand Prix qualifying
The competitive picture in Formula 1's main qualifying of the British Grand Prix weekend looked more like the Saturday sprint than the Friday sessions that had previously tested single-lap speed. And that's bad news for the title race. Our regular winners and losers feature reflects that - but it starts on a negative note this time.
Hamilton beats Antonelli to Silverstone F1 sprint pole
Lewis Hamilton continued his Formula 1 renaissance by denying Kimi Antonelli pole for the British Grand Prix sprint race by just 0.011 seconds. With the switch to soft tyres for SQ3, it was always going to be a one-lap shootout for pole as the tyres cried enough after that. With just over three minutes to go the drivers headed out and Hamilton was the favourite given his performance through practice and early in qualifying, and he made no mistake and duly ousted Antonelli at the top.
Everything that happened in second Austrian GP F1 practice
Formula 1 world championship leader Kimi Antonelli fought off a spirited challenge from the McLaren duo to top Austrian Grand Prix FP2 for Mercedes. Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris both took turns at the top of the order, but Antonelli was able to go top with half an hour to go on the softs and before the long runs dominated.
Everything that happened in second Austrian GP F1 practice
3 hours ago The suspect allegedly used flashing lights to try and stop another vehicle, but it happened to be occupied by undercover authorities. There are bad decisions, and then there are decisions so spectacularly bad that they almost seem unbelievable. According to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office …
Marquez signs new Ducati MotoGP deal
Any doubt over Marc Marquez’s Ducati future has been officially put to bed after the team announced a new MotoGP deal up to and including the 2028 season. The news of Marquez's renewal at Ducati is expected to kick off a slate of rider announcements, which had been on hold while MotoGP hashed out a new commercial deal with its five manufacturers to cover the 2027-31 period. Most of those deals, including that of Marquez, are believed to have been not just agreed but signed for months already.
Every F1 team's tech upgrades for the Monaco GP
The 11 Formula 1 teams have brought a combined 30 upgrades in a busier-than-expected Monaco Grand Prix tech update. The new winglets attached to the rear wings - most aggressively from Mercedes, Red Bull and McLaren - sparked intrigue on Thursday, but there's much more to the packages brought by the teams, including one other change that's been adopted almost unanimously across the board.
Kajetan Kajetanowicz wins third European Rally Championship title
The Ford Fiesta R5 driver entered the gravel-based event as the favourite with a 24-point lead, although Portuguese frontrunner Bruno Magalhaes still had a chance to take the title with 39 points available on the event for a win and finishing at the front on both legs of the event. But he was taken to hospital for checks on Saturday after sending his Skoda Fabia R5 into retirement via a tree with a hefty impact. He retired citing "personal reasons".
Kajetan Kajetanowicz beats Craig Breen to 2015 European Rally title
Kajetanowicz came into the final round with a comfortable lead over Irishman Breen - who has struggled with reliability all season in his Peugeot 208 T16 R5. The Pole secured the win when the event - which had been marred by poor conditions - ended after only six of the scheduled nine stages were run as organisers decided the heavy rain made it too dangerous to continue.
Craig Breen wins Circuit of Ireland for second year running
Citroen World Rally Championship driver Breen - this year in a Citroen DS 3 R5 for the Circuit after winning for the works Peugeot team last season - took three stages to get into the grove. He hit the front on Friday's titanic 19-mile The Glens stage taking in the Northern Irish coast. "That's the best piece of Tarmac in the world," claimed Breen at the finish.
Paying tribute to NASCAR racer Kyle Busch
“Because you never know when the last one is.” That was double NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch after winning a Truck race at Dover last week, and it was a prophetic statement that marked his last ever NASCAR win before his tragic passing on Thursday, May 21, aged 41. Busch’s entrance onto the NASCAR scene coincided with my most attentive NASCAR-watching spell.
Sky Sports extends UK and Italy F1 deals
Sky Sports has extended its deal with Formula 1 to show the championship in the UK through the 2034 season. Sky Sports F1 has been the sole home of UK live coverage since 2019, and in 2025, according to the series, F1 had its most-watched season on the channel in the UK and Ireland. Sky Sports in Italy is also part of the renewed deal with its renewal running through the 2032 season.
Winners and losers from F1 2026 Miami sprint qualifying
Formula 1's first competitive session for almost five weeks threw up plenty of surprise and intrigue, as well as McLaren's first 'pole' of 2026. Here's our pick of the stars and flops from Miami sprint qualifying. Loser: Mercedes (2nd & 6th) A first defeat of the season in a competitive session for Mercedes has to go down as a loss, even though championship leader Kimi Antonelli made the front row.
First non-Mercedes 2026 pole as Norris tops Miami sprint qualifying
Mercedes' 2026 Formula 1 domination appears to be over - at least for now - as Lando Norris became the first non-Mercedes driver to take a pole this year for the Miami sprint. Norris had the measure of team-mate Oscar Piastri for most of Friday and was the first and only driver to dip under the 1m27s barrier with a stunning single flying lap on the soft tyre to end sprint qualifying.
Colapinto a 'sitting duck' in dangerous Bearman crash
Alpine’s Franco Colapinto said he was a “sitting duck” in the incident that led to Ollie Bearman’s 50g Formula 1 crash in the Japanese Grand Prix. Bearman approached Colapinto seemingly 50km/h faster on the run to Spoon on lap 22 of 53, and had to take avoiding action, swerving to the left and onto the grass on the short straight that leads to that corner. Bearman went into the barriers backwards in a massive crash. He avoided broken bones in the incident, emerging with bruising on his knee.
Winners and losers from Friday at F1's Japanese GP
As China was a sprint weekend, Friday at the Japanese Grand Prix was only the second full Friday of practice the teams have had with the 2026 Formula 1 cars. With the caveat that it's 'only practice', here are the early winners and losers emerging from the first day of on-track action. Loser: Red Bull Red Bull spent the Chinese GP weekend stuck in the midfield fight, and there’s no evidence so far to suggest Suzuka will be much different.
Jaguar 1-2 and team order fury in Spain Formula E race
Antonio Felix da Costa won a second Formula E race in a row, leading a Jaguar 1-2 ahead of 16th-place starting Mitch Evans in a breathless Jarama circuit race in Spain. Evans was left fuming on the radio after being told to hold poisition behind da Costa in the closing stages. “Don’t talk to me,” he said, visibly annoyed in the post-race exchanges, too.
China F1 sprint qualifying 2026 winners and losers
The first sprint qualifying session of Formula 1’s new era produced some notable form swings from the 2026 season opener just a week ago. Here’s our pick of the Chinese Grand Prix sprint qualifying winners and losers. Loser - Red Bull (8th & 10th) Red Bull can be happy that Isack Hadjar has started life at Red Bull close to Max Verstappen, but that’s where the positives end today.
WEC first series to postpone race amid Middle East crisis
The World Endurance Championship has postponed its 2026 season opener in Qatar in response to the escalation of military conflict in the Middle East. The first race of the eight-round WEC season was due to take place on March 28 at the Lusail circuit, the weekend after its 'prologue' test that was due to be held at the same venue. But the WEC has now announced the Qatar round has been postponed "until later in the year".
Palou, McLaren, Ganassi saga has remarkable final twist
The long-running legal dispute between McLaren, Alex Palou and Chip Ganassi Racing has taken a remarkable final twist with a settlement between the relevant parties and Palou backtracking on his criticism of McLaren in court. In January, the UK’s High Court awarded McLaren in excess of £12million for the lost revenue incurred after Palou breached a contract to join McLaren’s IndyCar team and be an F1 test and reserve driver, to remain with Ganassi in IndyCar instead.
A legendary racing team will never be the same
Actual tears were shed on Monday when the Rosin family internally announced it would leave Prema Racing - the team it founded in 1983 and turned into one of junior single-seater’s best ever. Angelo Rosin founded and established the team alongside his wife Grazia Troncon, while their son Rene and Angelina Ertsou have taken on the day-to-day running of the team for some time, but all of them have now left for good. It doesn’t matter how many times you write that, it doesn’t seem real.
With the addition of Tandy, AO Racing looks to keep its rapid rise roaring
If you haven’t been to an IMSA race before, it’s hard to describe the impact AO Racing has on the fans. It’s like if you go to the Italian Grand Prix and see how fanatical Ferrari’s adoring tifosi are. Only AO’s biggest support base comes from even more raucous children, owing to its dinosaur-themed liveries across Rexy (green GT), Roxy (pink GT) and Spike (purple LMP2).
IMSA the 'last place on earth' left for Manthey to conquer | RACER
This may have gone under the radar and/or not got the recognition it deserves, but the team which won Le Mans and the DTM last year is coming to IMSA to race in North America for the first time across multiple races in a season. Manthey Racing claimed LMGT3 honours at Le Mans and the World Endurance Championship title with America’s Ryan Hardwick, Richard Lietz and Riccardo Pera, won DTM with Ayhancan Guven and finished second at Bathurst and the Nurburgring and that’s just 2025 alone.
How a ‘dinosaur driver’ got to be Porsche’s fastest-rising young star
Laurin Heinrich is the youngest driver to race a works Porsche 963, and after that one-off in Bahrain last year, he’s earned a call-up to Porsche Penske Motorsport for the endurance races in 2026 alongside Julien Andlauer and Felipe Nasr. It caps off a rapid ascension and an absolutely amazing journey for the German.
Relaunching from scratch: How RLL’s fresh start with McLaren presents both challenge and opportunity
ShareThis is disabled until you accept Social Networking cookies. By Jack Benyon - Dec 10, 2025, 12:34 PM ET Mick Schumacher isn’t the only big name joining Rahal Letterman Lanigan this year, as the team has replaced its outgoing BMW GTP program with a McLaren GTD PRO deal for IMSA. BMW ultimately elected to have the team which runs its FIA World Endurance program, WRT, handle its business in IMSA too, which left a hole for RLL to fill for 2026. It's done that, with another automaker.
Everything that happened in Abu Dhabi FP2 as Norris heads Verstappen
Lando Norris topped FP2 at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix as McLaren team-mate and fellow 2025 Formula 1 title contender Oscar Piastri's first session of the weekend did not go to plan. Piastri had handed his car to IndyCar driver Pato O'Ward for FP1, meaning FP2 was his first time in the car and it showed. He ended the session 11th thanks to a massive lock-up at Turn 6 on his final flying lap before switching to long runs.
Piastri takes vital Qatar sprint pole, Verstappen only sixth
Oscar Piastri took pole for the Qatar sprint race in a great day for his Formula 1 title comeback aspirations as McLaren team-mate Lando Norris could only manage third, behind George Russell, while Max Verstappen starts just sixth. Piastri looked really competitive in practice and throughout qualifying, a return to Qatar seemingly helping to restore his confidence and performance which has wavered so much since the Baku weekend in September.
How to run a historic F1 car + more - this week in the Members' Club
Coming this week in The Race Members' Club! Secrets of running FW14B Samarth Kanal speaks to James Barker from the Williams heritage team about how they get historic machines like the all-conquering FW14B to run more than 30 years on. Val Khorounzhiy's MotoGP rider rankings There was one last dance for MotoGP 2025 at Valencia - which means one final chance for you to quiz Val on his rider rankings.
New F1 livery rules to be introduced for 2026
The FIA has moved to combat the much-criticised use of large sections of exposed carbon fibre bodywork on Formula 1 liveries for 2026. Friday’s F1 Commission meeting included the new rule, mandating “a minimum of 55% of surface area (when viewed from the side and above) must be covered by painted or stickered liveries as opposed to bare carbon fibre surfaces.
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