Motorsports
Leclerc was millimeters faster than Perez and Saint in Monaco’s first tests
Charles Leclerc with the Ferrari F1-75 climbed to the top of the year in the first free testing phase of the Monaco GP, two tenths ahead of Max Ferstappen. The “nightmare” of jumps for Mercedes is back.
Charles Leclerc began his quest to turn the tide in Formula One’s title fight by reaching his first year in the opening round of the Monaco GP, the 7th round of this year’s championship.
On the streets of his homeland, the Monegasque was less than a tenth of a second quicker than Red Bull’s Sergio Perez and his Ferrari counterpart Carlos Saint – while fourth-year champion Max Ferstappen finished fourth.
Since the four leaders of the two top teams alternated in the early years, Mercedes experienced the return of its big bouncing problems of the W13 – as expected little due to the uniqueness of this racetrack. George Russell was seven tenths from Leclerc in 8th and Lewis Hamilton was almost a second in 10th.
Russell described the jumps as “terrible” speaking on the team’s radio, while Hamilton said the problem was returning on a paramount scale for the “Silver Arrows”. “The amount and intensity of the jumps is unbelievable”, said the 37-year-old. Similar problems arose at Ferrari, but – as always this year – did not cost them as much time as Mercedes.
Leclerc’s top time of 1’14.531 was 12 minutes from the end on the medium tire – the only type of tire used by Monegasque during the first hour of testing. Ferrari did the same with Saint, while RBR, in contrast, collected data with the hard rubber, with two sets each for Ferstappen and Perez.
The first phase of testing was interrupted for a while in the 20th minute when a problem with the Haas gearbox immobilized Mick Schumacher just before entering the pits at La Rascas. Fernando Alonso, who followed at a small distance with Alpine, had to stop himself, which closed this waypoint and raised the red flag.
This year Valteri Botas, the protagonist of the battle of the medium dynamic teams, only managed to get out on track for two laps – due to a problem in the gearbox – and did not set a fast lap.
Source: sport 24
Sophia Jhon is a sports journalist and author. He has worked as a news editor for Sportish and is now a sport columnist for the same publication. Alberta’s professional interests lie largely in sports news, with an emphasis on English football. He has also written articles on other sporting topics.
One of the two new teams on the Formula 1 grid is preparing to introduce its car for the 2026 season. The Audi team will officially reveal the new car at a special event in Berlin on Tuesday, January 20.
Audi has fully taken over Sauber’s project ahead of the 2026 season and will start its first Formula 1 championship as a factory team and power unit manufacturer. The team has also retained a significant portion of its 2025 Sauber structure, including team boss Jonathan Whitley and drivers Gabriel Bortoleto and Nico Hulkenberg.
This will make Audi the fourth team to submit designs for its 2026 car, after Red Bull, Racing Bulls and Haas. The presentation will take place in the German capital in the format of a full-fledged seasonal launch.
Following the main event, a separate event will be held in Berlin on Wednesday, January 21 for selected fans and media to take a closer look at the new car and its livery.
The presentation will start on January 20 at 20:00 Kyiv time. During the event, the team will reveal the car’s full design for the 2026 season.
Let’s remember that Audi had previously put the 2026 car on the track during promotional races at the Barcelona-Catalonia circuit in early January, but only a limited number of images were released at that time.
Formula 1. Presentation of the first Audi car. Watch LIVE online
Source: Sport UA
Ruth Waterhouse is an author and sports journalist who writes for Sportish. She is known for her coverage of various sports events and her insightful analysis of sports-related news. With a passion for sports and a keen eye for detail, she has become a respected voice in the sports community.
Formula 1 driver Nico Hulkenberg can count on a multimillion-dollar bonus in his first season with Audi if he can repeat the results in the 2025 season.
Last season, the German pilot reached the Formula 1 podium after 250 races for the first time in his career and finished the British Grand Prix in third place. At Silverstone, Hulkenberg was ahead of seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton and scored 15 points in one go.
Hulkenberg scored 51 points at the end of the 2025 season.
On the eve of Audi’s first season, specialized media reported that the 38-year-old pilot signed a contract providing a bonus of 50 thousand euros for each point earned in the 2026 season.
Given the large-scale changes in Formula 1, even the pilots themselves cannot yet predict the balance of power in the peloton. However, if Hulkenberg scores 51 points again, the bonus can reach 2 million 550 thousand euros in addition to his base salary at Audi.
If Nico manages to win the race and score the maximum 25 points, this will immediately earn him a bonus of 1,250,000 euros.
The team will present the appearance of its first car today at 20:00 Kyiv time.
Source: Sport UA
Ruth Waterhouse is an author and sports journalist who writes for Sportish. She is known for her coverage of various sports events and her insightful analysis of sports-related news. With a passion for sports and a keen eye for detail, she has become a respected voice in the sports community.
Thomas Berman, the younger brother of Haas Formula 1 team driver Oliver Berman, will officially take part in Italian Formula 4 and Euro 4 in the 2026 season.
Thomas will represent the VAR team colours.
The 16-year-old Briton spent last year in British Formula 4, where he scored one win and finished eighth in the final season standings.
But the ones that are considered the most prestigious and promising are the Italian and European Formula 4 championships. They are often chosen by young pilots for further career advancement. In addition, Thomas’ older brother Oliver Berman also competed in these series and became the Italian Formula 4 champion in 2021 with 11 wins.
Let us also remind you that Ukrainian Alexander Bondarev will compete in the same championships with the Prima Racing team in the 2026 season. The Ukrainian pilot does not hide his ambitions and has repeatedly expressed his intention to fight for the championship title.
Bondarev now participates in Middle East Formula 4 in preparation for the European leg of the season. After the first stage, he took first place in the general rankings and became the leader in the rankings.
Thomas Berman will compete in the Formula Winter Series as part of his preparations.
The competition between the current “four” promises to be extremely high, and the appearance of the younger brother of the Formula 1 pilot will only increase interest in the series.
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Source: Sport UA
Ruth Waterhouse is an author and sports journalist who writes for Sportish. She is known for her coverage of various sports events and her insightful analysis of sports-related news. With a passion for sports and a keen eye for detail, she has become a respected voice in the sports community.
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