Races and Competitions

After a 13-year absence from competition, Mohammed Bin Sulayem is stepping out of retirement this weekend to contest the second round of the 2015 UAE National Rally Championship.   Bin Sulayem’s last competitive appearance was at the 2002 edition of the Dubai International Rally but the UAE driver has accepted an invitation to compete in the Sharjah Rally from the founder and President of the Emirates Motorsport Club, Sheikh Abdullah Al Qassimi.   Bin Sulayem, who has a record 14 FIA...

Williams has leapt back into contention as a likely 2015 force.   After the first two tests at Jerez and Barcelona, it was suggested that in light of the Grove team's low-profile performance, rivals might be set to overtake Williams as 'best of the rest' behind Mercedes this year.   But as upgrades were added up and down pitlane on Thursday as the final test before Melbourne began, it was Felipe Massa who set the headline time.   His laptime, in fact, was easily the quickest of all the...

Two weeks before the 2015 season begins, the participation of McLaren-Honda's star driver is in doubt.   Team supremo Ron Dennis addressed the media in Barcelona on Thursday and admitted it is possible Fernando Alonso will not be in Melbourne.   Five days after the Spaniard's mysterious crash at the circuit last Sunday, Dennis insisted the British team is not "concealing" anything about the circumstances, not "protecting" the team or its driver.   It is amid an air of confusion and...

McLaren has joined fellow creditor Ferrari in helping the former Marussia team to survive.   Ferrari, owed millions by the struggling backmarker, has agreed to keep supplying its 2014-spec turbo V6 engine to the team reborn as 'Manor' for 2015.   McLaren, a separate technology partner, is also owed millions by Manor.   But the struggling team has come out of administration in the past days according to a Company Voluntary Agreement, under which creditors agree to be repaid over a...

Flavio Briatore says Fernando Alonso does not remember the crash that has left him in a Barcelona hospital.McLaren has denied wild conspiracy theories about the cause of the accident that so far has seen the Spanish driver spend two nights in hospital recovering from concussion and the effects of his post-crash sedation.His manager, Luis Garcia Abad, eased the F1 world's gravest fears late on Monday when he published to social media a photo of the 33-year-old smiling and giving a thumbs-up...

Fernando Alonso was "conscious" as he was airlifted to hospital on Sunday after a crash on the final day of the Barcelona test.   The Spaniard was initially taken to the circuit medical centre by ambulance, after his McLaren hit the unprotected concrete wall at turn four.   The Circuit de Catalunya said Alonso is "ok and conscious"; a brief message reiterated by his manager, Luis Garcia Abad.   "It seems that he is ok," circuit officials added, explaining that the trip to hospital is...

Esteban Gutierrez is set to make his debut at the wheel of a Ferrari.   After two years with Sauber, the 23-year-old has taken his Mexican sponsors to Maranello, where he is now the official reserve driver.   New team boss Maurizio Arrivabene thinks that despite his difficult time since debuting in F1, Gutierrez has promise.   "Talented drivers must not be thrown on to the scene too early," he said.   "I am sure he is talented and will have a chance to show it."   That chance will...

Ferrari looks to have beaten McLaren-Honda to the reborn Manor team's door. Earlier, we reported that with the former Marussia team now exiting administration, McLaren could play a role in the resurrection of the backmarker. Writing on his blog f1-insider, German correspondent Ralf Bach had said Ron Dennis was keen to emulate Ferrari's new alliance with the 2016 entrant Haas in terms of having a de-facto 'B-team'. Bach said Manor might nominate Woking as the venue for its wind tunnel...

While Barcelona echoed to the sound of turbo V6 engines on Thursday, behind-the-scenes developments were also making noise. Force India finally began its winter programme at the Circuit de Catalunya, but only with the 2014 car and Mercedes reserve Pascal Wehrlein at the wheel. Wehrlein was then called up by his works employer to replace the ill Lewis Hamilton, leaving race regular Sergio Perez to step into his cockpit of last season for mainly Pirelli tyre testing. The really important...

The Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation (QMMF) has laid on five demanding desert selective sections for car, bike and quad entrants taking part in this year’s Sealine Cross-Country Rally, the third round of the 2015 FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies and round two of the FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Championship, on April 18-24. There will be no super special stage or ceremonial start on this occasion and the competitive action will get underway on Monday, April 20 with the first...