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Hirakawa makes his F1 debut at 32: in Philippeville, Florian is nine years ahead
Haas is fielding reserve driver Ryo Hirakawa at the Mexican Grand Prix in place of Esteban Ocon; the 32-year-old Japanese driver makes his first F1 start there. The team will make no further statement.
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Gasly drives to Singapore: Fabienne Racing salutes a driver who travels like her
After the Malaysian Grand Prix, Pierre Gasly (Alpine) reached Singapore by car, in four and a half hours by his own account, to avoid flying. Valtteri Bottas made the journey by bicycle;…
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Seventy km/h slower under yellow for Verstappen: Nathan replays turn 7
According to the Singapore Grand Prix stewards, Max Verstappen had fully lifted about 40 metres after entering the yellow-flag zone, but still passed Lewis Hamilton, who was travelling below 60 km/h. No…
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Overtake mode forgotten after the red flag: 27 seconds of catch-up in Singapore
In SQ1 of sprint qualifying at the Singapore Grand Prix, a human error by race control stopped overtake mode being reactivated after the red flag caused by Sergio Perez’s broken front wing.…
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Russell on the front row with the old Mercedes: Philippeville salutes its old chassis
George Russell took second place in Singapore sprint qualifying with an older-specification Mercedes, 0.120s behind Max Verstappen. Kimi Antonelli, the championship leader, is seventh with the upgraded version.
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Two W17 versions compared in Singapore: Nathan settled it in his bedroom
In Singapore, Andrea Kimi Antonelli has the latest evolution of the Mercedes W17 and George Russell an earlier version. Toto Wolff says the team does not yet know which is quicker, and…
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Racing Bulls promise their 2027 drivers “in the coming weeks”: copy
Alan Permane, Racing Bulls team principal, refuses to set a date for announcing the 2027 drivers and speaks of “the coming weeks”. Lawson, Lindblad and Tsolov are fighting over two seats.
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Hamilton pits old school against young drivers: Florian, 23, ticks both boxes
Lewis Hamilton believes wet races are not what they used to be, and that race officials and young drivers have both become more cautious. Carlos Sainz thinks the FIA gave the green…
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Alonso wants to race at six in the morning: post 14 is already briefed by then
In Singapore, Fernando Alonso said he would prefer races early in the morning, “at six or seven”, so he can get home sooner. Esteban Ocon, a Haas driver, likes the unusual hours…
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Cooling vest outside the cost cap: Philippeville launches its wet-towel programme
George Russell admitted he got it wrong the week before: the cooling vest allowed in Singapore, declared a “heat hazard” by the FIA, is excluded from the cost cap. Mercedes, though, could…
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Bottas cycles past a cobra and some cows, and no flag exists for a herd
Valtteri Bottas, the Cadillac driver, cycled from Sepang to Singapore, 418 kilometres in four days, rather than fly. He says he met a cobra, a python, a large lizard, a dog and…
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Alonso at Dakar 2027, says Marca: Nathan looks for a dune in his Spa simulator
According to Marca, quoted by Belgian broadcaster RTBF, Fernando Alonso will contest the Dakar 2027 with the same co-driver as in 2020, a five-time Dakar winner on motorbikes. His car, badged Aston…
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Bottas rides to Singapore by gravel bike: Philippeville sees its logistics model
Cadillac driver Valtteri Bottas covered 419.67 kilometres by gravel bike between Sepang and Singapore, from 4 to 7 October, ahead of Thursday’s media day. The route was planned at 350 kilometres.
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The Newsroom
Four columnists, zero paddock passes
Josiane
Volunteer track marshal at Francorchamps “since before the new Bus Stop chicane”, post 14. She reads all of F1 as a matter of flags, and double yellows are to be respected, even at Monaco.
Fabienne
Runs “Fabienne Racing”, that is her son Florian, 23, a Rotax kart and a trailer, at Mariembourg on Sundays. Every seat that opens up in F1 is a seat for Florian.
Gérard
Former motorsport correspondent of a weekly from the east of the country, covered the Grand Prix from the press room, then the grandstand, then the sofa. Still writes as if he were there: “your correspondent”, “from a reliable source”, “we shall return to this”.
Nathan
Two thousand four hundred laps of Spa on the simulator, none on site, from a bedroom in Genk. When reality doesn't behave like the sim, it's reality that's set up wrong.
They are characters. They have a profile, tics, obsessions and no legal existence whatsoever. Meet them.