Mercedes reveals plan to quit Formula E just days after winning a World Championship double August 18, 2021 Mercedes-Benz has announced plans to pull out of Formula E just days after winning the drivers’ and constructors’ championship. The German car maker said it would step away from the electric vehicle racing series at the end of next season. It comes less than 72 hours after Nyck de Vries sealed Mercedes-EQ’s first Formula E [...]
Lewis Hamilton hits back at Max Verstappen and Red Bull chiefs after being labelled ‘dangerous’ for causing 190mph crash at British Grand Prix July 19, 2021 Lewis Hamilton has vowed to contiuing racing “hard but fairly” after Max Verstappen strongly criticised him following the British Grand Prix. Verstappen branded Hamilton “dangerous”, “disrespectful” and “unsportsmanlike” as he blamed him for their 190mph collision at Silverstone on Sunday. The Dutchman was released from hospital last night, seven hours after the high-speed crash on [...]
Nico Rosberg on running his own motor racing team in Extreme E, striking deals with sponsors and recruiting drivers on Instagram June 4, 2021 It is five years since Nico Rosberg performed the ultimate mic drop, walking away from Formula 1 just days after being crowned world champion. Rosberg hasn’t completely abandoned the spotlight since. He has enjoyed a high-profile second career as an investor, particularly in tech companies and those with a green agenda, while staying involved in [...]
Max Mosley dead: Former Formula One chief dies aged 81 May 24, 2021 Former Formula One chief Max Mosley has died at the age of 81. The controversial racing boss was president of the international racing federation (FIA) and widely considered to be one of the most influential figures in the history of the sport. He began his career as a barrister and an amateur racing driver. Alongside [...]
Week in Sportbiz: Ed Sheeran sponsors Ipswich Town; Javier Tebas blasts Gianni Infantino; Tokyo 2020 set for first transgender Olympian May 6, 2021 It has been a whirlwind few weeks at Ipswich Town. Fresh from welcoming new owners, the League One club now has an unlikely new shirt sponsor: Ed Sheeran. The Suffolk songsmith, a long-standing fan of the Tractor Boys, has agreed to sponsor the men’s and women’s team on a one-year deal that starts next season. [...]
Formula 1 to use ‘sprint qualifiying’ to decide grid position at some races, starting with the British Grand Prix April 27, 2021 Formula 1 is to introduce “sprint qualifying” races on the Saturdays of some grand prix weekends. The 100km sprints – roughly a third of a full grand prix – will not only be used to set grid positions for Sunday’s main race but will also be worth points for the three fastest drivers. July’s British [...]
Week in Sportbiz: Sports give qualified backing to Covid certification plan; US Beijing boycott talks escalates; Masters caught up in vote row April 8, 2021 British sport’s leading governing bodies have backed plans to use Covid certification if it means they can reopen stadiums in full later this summer. But they have called for urgent clarification on how and when social distancing will be relaxed, warning that partially full venues will not stem their financial losses. The Premier League, Football [...]
Singled out: This year’s billionaire Brits April 7, 2021 Forbes released its highly anticipated billionaire list yesterday morning which has left regular folks pinching purse strings in hopes to add another zero to their bank accounts. The UK’s home-grown billionaires did not make it into the lucrative top 10, which was dominated by tech big dogs: Amazon’s founder Jeff Bezos, Tesla and SpaceX’s Elon [...]
A drive to survive: How Liberty Media used Netflix and esports to win a new generation of fans and safeguard the future of Formula 1 March 26, 2021 It feels like an awful long time ago now that Liberty Media took the wheel of Formula 1, completing a takeover valued at $8bn including debt in January 2017. Donald Trump had just been inaugurated and the most relevant global health emergency was the Zika virus. In motorsport, meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton had been dethroned and [...]
Former Formula One driver and Le Mans winner Johnny Dumfries dies aged 62 March 22, 2021 Former Formula One driver and Le Mans winner Johnny Dumfries has died at the age of 62 after a short illness. The Scot was born John Crichton-Stuart, the seventh Marquess of Bute, but adopted a pseudonym to disguise his background. Dumfries won the British F3 title in 1984 and tested for Ferrari in 1985 before [...]