The Latest Breaking News on Formula 1

Formula 2 launched its all-new 2024 machinery late last year and, while the visually striking aerodynamic changes dominated the headlines, it was all change under the bodywork too. This included a new six-speed longitudinal Hewland sequential gearbox, replacing the previous iteration which had been used since 2018.

At Suzuka, Mercedes endured another disappointing weekend, in which George Russell finished seventh and Lewis Hamilton ninth – reversing their respective qualifying positions in a train behind Fernando Alonso.

Alonso qualified fifth at Suzuka and eventually finished sixth, losing out to the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc in the race

A fortnight on from receiving a penalty for potentially dangerous driving against George Russell during a last-lap battle in Australia, Alonso found himself needing to hold his rivals back once again at Suzuka.

Norris started third and was the first of the frontrunners to pit, but as the race unfolded he lost out to Ferrari pair Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc to finish in fifth, while the latter came through to fourth from eighth place on the grid using a one-stop strategy.

The Spaniard holds a lead in the championship after the opening two rounds of the season of 18 points, marking the first time ever he has headed the standings for more than 24 hours.

While a restriction on testing is the most notable addition to the 2024 rulebook, the ADAC has also tweaked the regulations elsewhere for what would be the second season of the DTM under its stewardship.

Verstappen had gone into the race in Japan with no guarantees about his long-run form, after not finding the perfect set-up for the high degradation characteristics that are a hallmark of racing at Suzuka during practice.

The Dutch driver and the Red Bull team look so strong and fears will grow that the sport’s new fans may not last the distance

The Ferrari driver's strong run of seven consecutive front-row starting positions ended in Australia where he qualified fifth before a penalty for Sergio Perez gifted him a place.

The 2022 Moto2 world champion scored a best result of fourth in an otherwise difficult rookie campaign last year, though earned a MotoGP stay with Tech3 over Pol Espargaro as KTM figured out how to solve its three-riders-for-two-bikes problem.