Метка: United States GP

Red Bull «cannot afford» big gap between drivers in 2025 as pressure grows on Perez

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Red Bull says it «cannot afford» for there to be a big gap between its two drivers next year, as Sergio Perez faces increasing pressure to end this campaign on a high.

The Milton Keynes-based squad has already lost the lead in the constructors’ championship to McLaren and is in danger of conceding second place too with Ferrari now just 34 points behind.

It is not lost on Red Bull that its plight has not been helped by Perez failing to contribute as much as the team would have liked, with his 144 points tally so far this year well adrift of Max Verstappen’s 331.

Perez was given a stay of execution over his place in the squad following the summer break, with the team hopeful he could deliver more at venues he was better at. However, things have not been ideal, especially after he lost a potential podium finish in Baku following a late crash with Carlos Sainz.

With Liam Lawson slotted in as replacement for Daniel Ricciardo at RB to evaluate his potential in being a Red Bull candidate for 2025, it is clear that the team is evaluating the best way forward.

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner says the need to understand what options it has available has become critical, because the title fight will likely be even harder next year.
And, with the difference between the leading positions in the constructors’ championship being around $9 million – Red Bull needs no reminding that having a second driver who costs it one or two places is costly.

“We desperately need answers,” Horner told Autosport about its driver situation.

Photo by: Alastair Staley / Motorsport Images

“I think when you look at our opponents, Ferrari will be strong next year, with [Lewis] Hamilton and [Charles] Leclerc. Plus McLaren with [Lando] Norris and [Oscar] Piastri is a strong line-up.

“We need to make sure that with both of our drivers, that there’s not a big gap between them because you can’t afford to have that.”

Lawson’s prospects for a potential move up to Red Bull, should he impress in the final races this year, have increased with rookie drivers in fashion once again in F1.

With Oliver Bearman and Franco Colapinto impressing so much, teams certainly seem more open-minded about putting youngsters in once again.

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Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko told Speedweek in his most recent column: “The GP appearances of Oliver Bearman and especially Franco Colapinto have shown that the youngsters are ready for the step up, and that the old philosophy of some team bosses, that you can only promote drivers with three or four years of experience to a top team, is outdated.

“Mercedes has now proven this with its driver decision, just as Red Bull Racing has done several times in the past.

“So you can rely on the youth. There is a certain risk, but it is manageable and it is worth it.”



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F1 drivers with the most pole positions to race win conversions

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A Grand Slam (or Grand Chelem) is when a driver takes pole position, a race win whilst leading every lap and the fastest lap, all at one grand prix. A total of only 25 five drivers have taken a combined 68 Grand Slams in total, with Verstappen taking the most recent (and his fifth) at the 2025 Bahrain GP.

While 65 drivers have converted a pole position start to a race win, only 12 drivers have managed to reach double figures. Here’s everything you need to know about drivers with the most poles to race wins. 

F1 drivers with the most pole positions converted to race wins

1. Lewis Hamilton — 61 pole position to race wins

Lewis Hamilton has converted the most pole positions to grand prix victories with a total of 61 over his 18-year career. This is a conversion rate of 58.65% from his 104 pole positions, which is unsurprising given the Brit’s dominant performance between 2014 and 2021.  

His first pole to win came at the 2007 Canadian GP just six races into his debut season. He was able to hold off an attack from his McLaren team-mate Fernando Alonso at the start of the race but lost his lead for two laps between 22-24 to Felipe Massa having pitted on lap 21.

The race saw four safety car periods and 10 drivers out of the grand prix, but Hamilton remained calm and drove smoothly, later saying it was a “fairly simple race apart from the restarts”.

Lewis Hamilton, McLaren MP4-22 Mercedes

Lewis Hamilton, McLaren MP4-22 Mercedes

Photo by: Lorenzo Bellanca / Motorsport Images

By winning the race, the then-22-year-old took the lead in the drivers’ championship — leapfrogging his team-mate Alonso by eight points.  

Hamilton took a notable pole to win at the 2017 Italian GP when he broke Michael Schumacher’s record for most pole positions, taking his 69th. He has since gone on to take a further 36 pole starts over his career and sits solidly in first place, with the nearest current driver being Max Verstappen who sits in fifth with 40 poles behind Ayrton Senna and Sebastian Vettel in third and fourth respectively.
The Brit has faced a couple of tough years in Formula 1 recently though, and has not taken a pole-to-win finish since the 2021 Saudi Arabian GP — just one race before the season finale. Hamilton took pole position with a gap of 0.111 seconds ahead of his Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas. He had looked to be losing the pole to a charging Verstappen, but a crucial mistake on the final corner saw the Dutchman end his lap in the wall.  

On lap 37 of the race, Verstappen was found to have gained an advantage over Hamilton at turn 1 by overtaking him off the track for the lead,  

But was ordered to give the position back. Mercedes had not told Hamilton the pass would happen and when the Dutchman broke suddenly, he found himself colliding with the back of the Red Bull, which caused damage to his front wing. Verstappen was handed a 10-second time penalty and Hamilton took his final win of the season, leaving him tied in points with the Red Bull driver.  

2. Michael Schumacher — 40 pole position to race wins

Schumacher took a total of 40 pole positions to race wins from his overall total of 68 pole positions, giving him a win ratio of 58.62%.  

His first pole position conversion came four seasons into his career at the 1994 Monaco GP, whilst racing for Benetton. Similar to Hamilton, Schumacher’s first pole position was followed by a win — albeit it was his sixth victory.

Michael Schumacher, Benetton Ford

Michael Schumacher, Benetton Ford

Photo by: Sutton Images

The German led from McLaren’s Mika Hakkinen by 0.928 seconds during qualifying, however, the Finn retired from the race after his left tyre was clipped by Damon Hill’s Williams at Turn 1 during the start of the grand prix. He’d go on to lead every lap, win the race and take the fastest lap, resulting in his first Grand Slam — one of five, including the 1994 Canadian, 2002 Spanish, 2004 Australian and 2004 Hungarian GPs. 
His last pole-to-win came at the 2006 French GP — the last race in which Schumacher claimed a pole position. He out-qualified his Ferrari team-mate Massa by 0.017 seconds in qualifying and led the majority of laps in the grand prix — losing the front position for seven laps when he pitted on laps 19 and 39. In taking the victory, Schumacher secured the record for most wins at a single circuit, after claiming eight wins at Magny-Cours — a record which was later equalled and broken by Lewis Hamilton with eight wins at the Hungaroring and nine wins at the Silverstone Circuit. 

3. Max Verstappen — 32 pole position to race wins

Verstappen has taken 32 wins after starting from pole from a total of 40 overall pole positions, giving him one of the highest wins from pole conversion rates of 80% — only being beaten by Bill Vukovich, Pat Flaherty, Jo Bonnier, Thierry Bousten and Pastor Maldonado who have a full 100% after only taking one pole position and then winning that grand prix.   

His first pole position converted to a race win was taken at the 2019 Brazilian GP, with his first pole position coming eight races earlier in Hungary. Verstappen out-qualified Ferrari’s Vettel by 0.123 seconds and was able to maintain his lead at the start of the race as the German battled with Hamilton. He briefly lost the lead from a combination of a block from the Williams cars and an undercut from Hamilton but regained the lead quickly. He repeated the tactic during the first safety car and later brought home his eighth win.  

Verstappen’s latest pole position to race win came at the 2024 Emilia Romagna GP — his eighth consecutive pole position dating back to the 2023 Abu Dhabi GP. He briefly conceded his lead to Carlos Sainz on lap 25 after pitting four laps previous but was quick to regain the position by lap 27. Verstappen looked comfortable in the lead, although Norris quickly closed the gap to 0.725 seconds by the chequered flag, after being six seconds behind in the final 15 laps.  

4. Sebastian Vettel — 31 pole positions to race wins

Vettel took a total of 57 pole positions over the course of his 16-year career and converted 31 of those into a race win — giving him an overall percentage of 54.39%. The German took his maiden pole position at the 2008 Italian GP, leading from McLaren’s Heikki Kovalainen at a race which was started behind a safety car due to heavy rain.

He was the first driver to pit on lap 18, briefly handing the lead to the Finnish McLaren driver, before regaining first place three laps later. As the track dried, Vettel extended his lead to an impressive 12.512 seconds from Kovalainen when he crossed the finish line, and in doing so became the youngest driver to win a Formula 1 race at 21 years and 73 days old — a record which was later broken by Verstappen who took a win at the 2016 Spanish GP aged 18 years and 228 days old.  

Sebastian Vettel, Toro Rosso STR03

Sebastian Vettel, Toro Rosso STR03

Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images

Vettel’s final pole position to race win came at the 2018 Canadian GP, despite taking a further three pole positions and the same number of race wins. After starting the race ahead of Mercedes’ Bottas he was able to finish with a lead of 7.376 seconds ahead of the Finn, during an uneventful race. Race officials ordered flag bearer Winnie Harlow to wave the chequered flag before Vettel had completed the penultimate lap, meaning the final race results were taken from lap 68. His final pole to win was also Vettel’s 50th career win, making him the fourth driver to achieve as many victories. 

5. Ayrton Senna — 29 pole positions to race wins

Ayrton Senna is the last Formula 1 driver to have been able to convert over 20 pole positions into a race win. The Brazilian achieved 65 total pole positions but was only able to convert 29 to a win, resulting in a conversion percentage of 44.62%. His first pole to win was taken at the 1985 Portuguese GP with Lotus — one of three he took with the team, including the 1986 Spanish and 1986 Detroit GPs.

Similar to many at the top of this list, Senna’s first pole position was followed by a race win, which was also his maiden victory. He led the race from McLaren’s Alain Prost and showed off his impressive wet weather driving skills when he finished over a minute ahead of second place Michele Alboreto and a lap or more above the rest of the grid.  

In a similar style, Senna’s final pole position also came with his final win at the 1993 Australian GP. It was the final race of the season and his last with McLaren — the team which had seen him take his three drivers’ championship victories. Senna led the majority of the race, only briefly losing the top spot for pit stops. A notable moment from the grand prix came when Senna invited second place’s Prost onto the top step to honour the Frenchman’s final race before retirement despite a previously fierce rivalry.  

2024  F1 drivers pole position to wins

Here’s how each of the 2024 Formula 1 drivers has fared with achieving a pole position and converting it into a win. Only nine of this year’s grid have successfully converted a pole position into a win despite 13 drivers having secured a pole position. Those who have started in P1 but have not taken a win include Nico Hulkenberg, Kevin Magnussen, George Russell and Lance Stroll. 



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The factors that make the US GP weekend crucial to F1’s fight at the front

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After four weeks away, Formula 1 returns for a frantic six-race run in eight weeks, with Austin’s United States Grand Prix a crucial weekend across the grid as 2024’s final upgrades emerge.

The race at Austin’s Circuit of the Americas is largely seen as the last major opportunity to unleash a last batch of car upgrades this season. Austin is the start of a triple-header that includes Mexico and Brazil, making it logistically the easiest place to introduce new parts.

Then follows another triple-header of Las Vegas, Qatar and Abu Dhabi to close off a hectic season. Some teams might bring new low-downforce items to outlier Vegas, although it is expected teams will generally re-use their wing specifications from Monza and especially Baku. And by Qatar it will have been too late to get a big return on investment, unless teams choose to trial parts for 2025.

So, whatever teams have had in the production pipeline over the last month will now start to emerge as teams make one final push to improve their fortunes. Austin is a sprint weekend, giving teams less practice time to dial updates in, but they have become accustomed to the format so their reluctance to bring upgrades to a sprint event is not as big as it used to be.

«We all know that we already started the development of the next year car and we try to do our best to have a small upgrades,» said Ferrari’s Fred Vasseur. «I think it will be probably the last one for everybody; that it will be true for us, but it will be true for the other teams. And now it’s so tight over the last four, five, six races, if you have a look on the grid, it may get tight and every single bit can make a difference.»

«It’s a natural point in the year that all teams will bring something to Austin,» Red Bull team boss Christian Horner added. «Ferrari has got something sizable. I think Mercedes, McLaren, they’ll all be bringing something.»

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-24

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-24

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

At the front McLaren leads by 41 points and looks primed to keep its advantage until the end of the year, based on its performance gap with Red Bull in recent races. But Red Bull has offered glimpses that it has finally understood where it has gone wrong with the development of its RB20. Yes, Max Verstappen finished a massive 21 seconds behind McLaren’s Lando Norris in Singapore but was still a clear second at Red Bull’s worst circuit. COTA’s flowing layout might offer a better picture of whether or not Red Bull has truly turned the corner.

That is the second reason why the Austin weekend is so key. It heralds a return to more traditional circuits featuring high-speed direction changes, contrasting with the most recent run of low-downforce tracks Monza and Baku, and a maximum downforce but low-speed street circuit in Singapore.

Austin will therefore offer a clearer picture of what the form table might look like until the end of the year, with only November’s race on the Las Vegas Strip the odd one out that’s closer to Baku in nature.

«What we’re looking to do is to build on the understanding that we have and take a car there that’s well balanced between both of its axles, it inspires the confidence of the driver,» Horner said. «It’s a very different challenge. There is that first sector is very high speed. They’ve resurfaced part of the circuit as well, so there’s another variable that’s thrown in.

«It’s a sprint weekend, so you’ve got to hit the ground running. But the whole team’s been working incredibly hard on understanding the issues, addressing them, and getting, hopefully, remedies on the car for Austin.»

While all attention has gone to McLaren’s battle against Red Bull, Ferrari may yet be in the fight, following just 34 points behind Red Bull in third. But the Scuderia is perhaps the team with the biggest question marks to answer this weekend, as it has struggled with high-speed bouncing on the most demanding circuits since the summer. Maranello’s solutions to that crippling problem have gone unproven on the atypical run of Monza, Baku and Singapore, so Austin will be the litmus test on whether or not Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz have the tools to compete on COTA’s demanding configuration.

Lando Norris, McLaren MCL38

Lando Norris, McLaren MCL38

Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images

«We are seeing the numbers that we expected, bringing those new parts on the car, but we still don’t have the definitive answer of how close we got to McLaren or Red Bull on a normal track,» Leclerc said. «I’m sure we did a step forward. How much? I think we’ll see that in Austin.»

Sainz remains cautious too until he sees Ferrari’s latest specification stretch its legs on «normal tracks», but feels Vegas will be Ferrari’s best bet to take another win this year.

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«I think every team has one more upgrade more or less in the pipeline that they’re going to try before the end of the year, so we could still see some swings in performance,» the Spaniard said. «At the same time, we’ve seen upgrades this year don’t [always] mean performance. It doesn’t always translate into lap time. It’s happened to us and other teams, Red Bull, Mercedes, except McLaren.

«What we need to see is if it makes a difference in Austin and Brazil, all the more old school normal tracks, basically. And then Vegas I think is our next big chance.»



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McLaren adds T-Mobile deal to network of partnerships

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McLaren has added another name to its burgeoning book of commercial partners after announcing a deal with T-Mobile.

As well as leading the way in the constructors’ championship, McLaren also boasts more partnerships than any other team on the Formula 1 grid.

T-Mobile has signed on as an official partner but will also be the team’s exclusive 5G partner in the US – starting at the weekend’s United States Grand Prix in Austin.

For McLaren, that means it can leverage T-Mobile’s 5G network during races in America, with Miami and Las Vegas also on the F1 calendar.

T-Mobile’s branding will be included on the cars of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri in both Austin and Vegas this year and moving forwards.

Elsewhere, McLaren’s communication headsets will also be branded with the T-Mobile insignia as part of the agreement.

“We are delighted to welcome T-Mobile to the McLaren Racing family,” said McLaren’s co-chief commercial officer Matt Dennington.

 

“As our US fan base continues to grow, it is great to be able to work with more partners that will help us increase our presence and ability to activate with our fans in these regions.”

McLaren had 52 partners when the 2024 season began, 30 of which are based in the United States.

The sheer number of deals struck with American companies has grown across the sport since Liberty Media completed its takeover of F1 in 2016.

At the start of the current season, across all teams on the grid, 46.8% of all partners are American, more than doubling the amount prior to Liberty’s involvement.

McLaren has struck plenty of deals of differing lengths to maximise their value, which is only increasing alongside the squad’s performances on the track.

The team leads the way in the race for the constructors’ title and Lando Norris is still in the hunt for the drivers’ championship.

Norris sits 52 points behind leader and defending champion Max Verstappen heading to Austin, having won the previous grand prix in Singapore in commanding fashion.



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The Bearman traits that have really impressed Haas

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Incoming Haas Formula 1 driver Ollie Bearman has already made important impressions on the American squad concerning his “maturity” and “ability to understand the bigger picture”.

This is the view of team principal Ayao Komatsu, who has signed Bearman to race alongside Esteban Ocon in an all-new 2025 Haas driver line-up.

Ferrari junior Bearman, who has been impressing Haas since he made a rookie practice appearance in Mexico last year, was able to show how he could handle the various pressures of contesting a race weekend for a midfield team involved in a close championship battle [with RB] during his latest one-off race this year in place of the banned Kevin Magnussen in Azerbaijan.

Having finished seventh for Ferrari while replacing the appendicitis-addled Carlos Sainz in Saudi Arabia at the start of the season, Bearman scored another point with 10th in Baku.

When asked by Autosport if he had been surprised by this return given Formula 2 driver Bearman’s lack of experience at the top level, Komatsu insisted: “I’m not surprised.

“But this is not to take anything away from Ollie. I’m not surprised because I’ve seen so much good stuff with him in the FP1s that that’s what I expected.

“The very first time he drove for us in Mexico FP1 [in 2023] — what really impressed me was his ability to understand the bigger picture – understand the role he needs to play, what he needs to execute [and] when. And also how quickly he can learn.

Oliver Bearman, Haas VF-24

Oliver Bearman, Haas VF-24

Photo by: Dom Romney / Motorsport Images

“For Baku, the objective was very different. [It’s a] totally different mindset during the whole race weekend [compared to just practice outings], but in terms of what he did – what he executed, how quickly he learned – that’s everything I saw in from Mexico the very first time we ran him in FP1.

“Yeah, of course, FP3 [where Bearman crashed on his first push lap in Baku] was a setback.

“So that’s one thing I didn’t know – how he was going to deal with the setback like that.

“But then again, he was really good, managed to then switch and be focused, go back to what he’d done well on Friday, and then hit the Q1 like that. So that was brilliant.

“It’s impressive. But that’s what I expected.”

Komatsu also hailed Bearman’s “maturity” when asked to swap positions with temporary team-mate Nico Hulkenberg during the first Baku race stint – as the Briton was lapping too slowly obeying Haas’s instructions on tyre management, when Hulkenberg was showing the tyres could sustain a surprise harder pace on the tricky street circuit.

“What he showed in the race when we had to ask swap positions during the first stint, and then… he wasn’t happy,” Komatsu added. “Which I can totally understand why.

“But then, even though he was unhappy about it, he just did it.

“He didn’t then not let Nico by, and then delayed it for another lap or two. So again, that just shows the maturity, right? It’s great.

Oliver Bearman, Haas VF-24, Nico Hulkenberg, Haas VF-24

Oliver Bearman, Haas VF-24, Nico Hulkenberg, Haas VF-24

Photo by: Dom Romney / Motorsport Images

Bearman’s Baku point came after he nipped past Hulkenberg in the aftermath of Sainz and Sergio Perez crashing late on – where the lead Haas driver did not react to a green flag marker board after passing the incident and hitting debris, when the following Lewis Hamilton did.

Bearman following the Mercedes past Hulkenberg showed his “awareness and calmness”, per Komatsu.

“That’s another thing – he’s always calm, even when he’s upset or facing the adversity,” he added.

“He’s just very calm, and even that yellow flag situation towards the end of the race with the big accident, lots of debris — but again he was calm.

“He had a presence of mind to say, ‘ok, Nico’s not on it’ [and] just went.”

Watch: Why RB have Dropped Ricciardo for Lawson with Immediate Effect



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Fake gravel among new track limits measures for US Grand Prix

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United States Grand Prix organisers have made a series of revisions to the Austin circuit to try to help reduce Formula 1 track limits problems, Autosport has learned.

With the Circuit of the Americas (COTA) venue being resurfaced for this year, the opportunity was there to address issues that cropped up at last year’s F1 race with drivers abusing the white lines at the edge of the circuit.

In fact, the problem of drivers cutting corners became so prevalent that Haas sought a right of review over what it claimed were multiple breaches by competitors in the race that should have been sanctioned.

While the FIA stewards rejected Haas’ request, on-board video footage of drivers running off track – especially Turn 6 – prompted complaints from other teams about the lack of action being taken.

In the end, while the FIA acknowledged that on-board footage of the track limits problems existed, it said external monitoring of specific corners was not deemed sufficient to provide an accurate judgement on if drivers had been outside the white lines.

Mindful of the situation that emerged last year, it has now emerged that Austin has made a series of modifications to the circuit that should prevent a repeat scenario this year.

At several areas of the track, the asphalt verges have been narrowed by 1.5 metres and replaced with turf which should stop drivers being tempted to run fully across them. These are on the inside of Turns 6, 13, 14 and 15.

To help the policing of potential track limits problems, Austin also said it had added cameras in “strategic places” that should help better monitor any cars that are deemed to run off the track.

Yuki Tsunoda, AlphaTauri AT04

Yuki Tsunoda, AlphaTauri AT04

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

A change has also been made at the exit of Turn 11, the tight left-hander on to the back straight. This had previously been an asphalt run off area with ‘turtle bumps’ on the exit, but it has now been fitted with a resin-bound gravel filled insert.

This ‘fake gravel’ was pioneered at Zandvoort several years ago to act as a deterrent for drivers, but not risk loose stones being brought back on to the track.

It is understood that the change has been made as an experiment for this year – with COTA needing to balance the requirements of F1 with MotoGP.

Austin race promoter Bobby Epstein said: “There are some areas where it’s hard because, if you run Moto GP and F1 on the same track, one wants gravel in an area where another one wouldn’t.

“You can’t have both, and you can’t cut into the track and put in gravel, then flip it back and hope it stays watertight when you have clay underneath it. So there’s some back and forth challenges to it.”

Other kerbs have also been replaced around the track, with drainage added to help improve things for wet conditions.

Track resurfacing

As well as the changes for track limits, Austin has also undergone a resurfacing since last year’s race – which should help alleviate some of the bumps that drivers complained about in 2023.

“It was mainly to get rid of the bumps,” added Epstein. “Some of that track was 12 years old, so it was time.

“I know Max [Verstappen] gave it a pretty poor review last year. So I hope we hear something positive. I’m certain we’re going to hear: ‘This is like a totally new track. It’s fantastic.’”



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Sharing Mercedes wind tunnel ‘no excuse’ for 2024 struggle

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Aston Martin team principal Mike Krack has conceded the shared use of Mercedes’ wind tunnel could be “a factor” in his team being off the pace this season, but insisted it was no excuse for the downfall.

Whereas the 2023 campaign saw Aston Martin claim seven podium finishes in the first 18 grands prix, the return this term is zero. The team is lying fifth in the constructors’ standings with a best finish of fifth – this recorded at the second event of the year in Saudi Arabia.

“I think that would be too easy of an excuse,” said Krack when asked about the compromises of sharing a wind tunnel. “We have another team using the same wind tunnel with less time. So this is not an excuse.”

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Pressed as to whether it could be a factor in the performance deficit, he added: “That’s possible, but still, we are quite far behind that team. So it’s maybe a factor for them.

“It’s maybe a factor for us, but I think with the same tool, we could do better.”

Mercedes wind tunnel

Mercedes wind tunnel

Photo by: Mercedes AMG

The issue of a shared wind tunnel is not one that will affect Aston Martin long-term, however, with the team’s state-of-the-art tunnel expected to come online by 1 January, when aero testing is permitted to begin on the 2026 cars.

While a combination of the new wind tunnel and key technical hires, including that of Adrian Newey from Red Bull, is hoped to turn Aston Martin into a frontrunning team, Krack doubled down in his refusal to wholly blame the team’s current situation for its form.

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“If you are a team in the building process, it’s not only to put the wind tunnel there but also to have the technology and the methodology and the way you go about testing,” he explained. “The same is [true] for simulation.

“We were a customer team for many years and you have to build all these things in parallel, but if that is the choice you make, you should not use it as an excuse afterwards.

“You have that part [the wind tunnel] that has to be developed, but you also have a car to be developed and you must not use one to excuse the other.”



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F1 and MotoGP double-header possible but not probable

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Earlier this month it was announced that Liberty Media, the American entertainment company which also owns F1, acquired an 86% stake in Dorna Sports, valuing the MotoGP, WorldSBK and MotoE promoter at €4.2 billion.

It revived the idea of the two championships experimenting with a joint weekend, which according to Dorna sporting director Carlos Ezpeleta was «not discarded» but not actively worked on either.

COTA chairman Epstein, whose circuit hosted last week’s eventful Grand Prix of the Americas and welcomes F1 in October, believes a double-header with both series would be possible but faces several stumbling blocks.

«I think there are complications beyond the obvious,» Epstein told selected media, including Motorsport.com.

«The first ones that come to mind are just the physical ones, but from a sponsor activation standpoint they both bring different sponsors, different activations and manufacturers, that we would be bulging at the seams.

«And also, you’d have to do a lot of changeover of track signage. The media centre would bulge a little bit at the seams. It’s possible, I don’t know that it’s probable.»

But amid struggles to expand MotoGP’s fanbase in North America, Epstein welcomed Liberty’s arrival with open arms, saying his circuit will be «one of the biggest beneficiaries».

Pedro Acosta, Red Bull GASGAS Tech3 leads start

Pedro Acosta, Red Bull GASGAS Tech3 leads start

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

«We’re excited by it probably more than anybody,» he explained. «MotoGP has come to the US and really not had a whole lot of attention paid to it. And once they leave, that’s all you hear for about another 51 weeks.

«So this is a fantastic thing to have us be the only sort of flag bearer of MotoGP in the US and to give support to that series that we’ve had 12 years of commitment to, and really believe in.

«It’s a fantastic competition and it’s just waiting for more people to discover it. I hope we’re one of the biggest beneficiaries of that purchase.

«I don’t think they have to change the sport at all. They just have to focus on shedding a little more light on it, giving it visibility. They’ve got the channels and the ability.»

On Thursday COTA announced a deal whereby early bird ticket holders for October’s F1 grand prix can re-sell their weekend general admission tickets back to the circuit for a profit, which runs until after the circuit unveils its music line-up on 29 April.

«We sold more than 10,000 GA tickets at a price of $299 and we’re going to offer to buy back their tickets at $350,» Epstein explained.

«When we announce our performers, those tickets are going to be worth well more than then they paid.

«We’re going to put a limited amount of tickets on sale again, after the music announcement, at a little bit higher price.

«We want to show there’s value in our tickets and I think it’s a strong statement.»

Watch: F1 Teams Concerns about the 2026 Regulations Changes



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