On The Gravel

A New Century | On the Gravel

In the build up to the Spanish GP in a weeks time, On the Gravel took us to France for the 24 hr of Le Mans in the World Endurance Championship for a fantastic battle of wit, strategy and endurance. And what a race it was, with Ferrari winning Le Mans back to back after a 60 year drought. Elsewhere around the F1 paddock, Charles elaborated on his struggles from Canada, Perez’s triggering of the safety car was brought into question, and Zak Brown spoke on the toxic environment at Red Bull. The FIA also rewrote the super license rules this week for Antonelli, Norris believes it's between Ferrari and McLaren for the constructors, and Williams have offered Sainz a 4 year deal at Williams. Not the heftiest of weeks but still one to keep us on our toes On The Gravel, see you all in Spain in weeks time!

Dead Heat | Canadian GP Recap

Round 9 of the Formula One World Championship took us to the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve for the Canadian Grand Prix, arguably the most entertaining race weekend we’ve had all season, from a Mercedes on pole and the second ever dead heat in qualifying, to all the different strategies posed by the rain and a multi team challenge for the win. It wasn’t to be for George Russell or Lando Norris however, with multiple safety cars playing into Verstappen's favor, seeing him cross the line to take his 60th victory in Formula One. Elsewhere around the paddock, Yuki Tsunoda extended his deal with VCARB for a further year, Perez somehow earned a multiyear extension, and a deep dive into the newly released images and information about the 2026 regulations. Lights out for the Spanish GP is two weeks out, but the fabled 24hr of Le Mans is here to give us a full day of racing this coming weekend and we can't wait to share our thoughts with you next time out On The Gravel.

The Death of Penalty Points?

In the build up to the Canadian Grand Prix this weekend, a lot of time was spent On The Gravel this week hashing out the validity of the penalty points system after Kevin Magnussen escaped any investigation for the kerfuffle that occurred on the first lap of the Monaco Grand Prix last week, truly bringing into question why the system remains in place if the points aren’t dished out in a cut and dry manner. Other news around the paddock centered around Haas folding their Nascar outfit and its impact on the F1 side of the business, Mattia Binotto potentially joining Aston Martin, and the impact the lap one incident with Magnussen and Perez has on the potential future upgrades Red Bull hopes to bring this season. On top of this, a new C6 tire compound is being discussed, Flavio Briatore may be returning with Alpine and a dive into the standings and destructors championship. Takes on the Indy 500, Rally de Italy in WRC, and the Italian GP in MotoGP rounded up a lengthy stint for us, out On The Gravel!

The Curse is Broken | Monaco GP Recap | On The Gravel

Round 8 of the Formula One World Championship brought us to the Circuit de Monaco in Monte Carlo for one of the most boring races in the history of F1, aside from the first few corners and Charles Leclerc breaking his horrid streak of luck at his home race to be the first Monegasque driver to win at home. Around the paddock, McLaren wore a special livery to honor 30 years since Senna’s passing, Lawrence Stroll and Alonso are losing patience, and Checo has been offered an extension. Along with this, the FIA abandoned the spray guards, Sainz is on Williams radar, and the CEO of Liberty media seems to have a vendetta against the Andretti family. This was the race win and race winner that Formula One fans have been yearning for and its been well worth it. Canada is in 2 weeks time and we will be right here waiting, On The Gravel.

Italian Slow Burn | Emilia-Romanga GP Recap | On The Gravel

Round 7 of the Formula One World Championship took us to Imola for the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, a slow burn of a race that built up to a wonderful race for the win towards the end for Verstappen and Norris. It wasn’t to be for Lando, but the Red Bull seems to be slowly losing its massive advantage over the field. In and around the paddock, Chicago is back in the headlines with rumors of a finalized deal for a date and circuit, Alex Albon extending with Williams past 2026, and Ferrari’s key engineering and development pickups from Mercedes. Along with this, Adrian Newey has stated that he wants to continue designing, Haas may be eying Zhou over Bearman, and Bottas may be turning some eyes at Alpine and Williams.  Plenty of racing is coming up this week with the Spanish GP in MotoGP, the 108th running of the Indy 500, and the Monaco GP in Formula One. Stick with us this week On The Gravel as we look on to see who’s drinking the milk and who blitzes the opposition on the streets of the principality!

The Month of May | WEC, WRC and MotoGP Recap - On The Gravel

In the week leading up to the Emilia-Romanga Grand Prix at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, the racing world blessed us with the famous Month of May, widely regarded as the greatest month of the year for world motor racing. This weekend had fans booked with the 6HRs of Spa in WEC, Rally de Portugal in the WRC as well as the French GP in MotoGP. Along with our coverage and takes on those three events, there was still news to be heard around the F1 paddock. A deep dive onto the penalty points system was due after last week's Miami GP along with Leclerc apparently having no water from the formation lap, the Miami GP setting US watch records and RB Powertrains taking hundreds of employees from the Mercedes HPP engine program. To finish off, the changes to Imola were discussed for the upcoming race, all the racing events for May were outlined and Leclerc’s long time race engineer Xavi Marcos is being reshuffled elsewhere at Ferrari. Many continuous weeks of fruitful racing are on the horizon and we intend to talk about it all here when we see you next, On The Gravel.

No More Lando NoWins | Miami GP Recap - On The Gravel

Round 6 of the Formula One World Championship brought us to the Miami International Autodrome for a now infamous Miami Grand Prix. The sprint weekend saw some incredible wheel to wheel racing between Hamilton and Magnussen in the sprint, Sergeant being taken out at his home race through no fault, and  a first career victory for Lando Norris after a wonderful strategy, well timed safety car and upgraded McLaren. In other places around the paddock, we remembered Ratzenberger and Senna who both lost their lives 30 years ago this week at Imola, Adrian Newey’s departure from Red Bull is now fully confirmed, and we had a massive tease and subsequent disappointment from Ferrari when regarding their special blue livery this week. On top of this, members of congress have written to Liberty Media to request answers on Andretti’s denial to the sport, F1 Academy announced a Netflix series, and Williams have asked the FIA to approve Antonellis entrance to the sport. Finally, next week sees a hefty amount of racing including the 6hr of Spa in WEC, Rally de Portugal in WRC, and the GP de France in MotoGP. Enjoy Lando’s maiden victory and get ready for an incredible week of racing ahead as we hope to see you back again, On The Gravel!
 

On The Gravel - The Audi Puzzle

As we await our return to the Miami International Autodrome in a week's time, Nico Hulkenburg decided to add a further bit of spice to the driver market this week with his move to Sauber for 2025 on. This week On The Gravel focuses on the effects of Hulk’s move for the rest of the grid, the potential for Sargeant to be replaced by Antonelli after Miami, and the questionable future of Adrian Newey given his desire to leave the Red Bull family. In other news, there's potential F1 and Super Formula could share a race weekend at Suzuka in the near future, Max has a meeting with Mercedes about a potential move after next week's race, and a big discussion over engine suppliers, title sponsors and contracts across the teams with new changes to these occurring this week. Finally, we wrapped up with our rundown of the Croatian Rally event that happened this past week as we work our way over to Miami Gardens for the reveal of the potentially blue Ferrari and our second sprint weekend of the year.

Shanghai’s Return | F1 Chinese Grand Prix

Round 5 of the Formula One World Championship took us to the Shanghai International Circuit for the first time since 2019. And a worthwhile wait it was, F1’s first sprint weekend of the year paired with some well timed rain set up for some masterful qualifying moments and good racing throughout the field. Lance Stroll’s incident with Daniel Ricciardo was not one of those moments, but one of high discussion with Stroll blaming someone who was clearly the victim in the situation. While it was a straightforward win for Verstappen in both races, the battle for the podium was enthralling in both. Other news this week in the paddock revolved around Tsunoda being on Audi’s shortlist as well as them bringing the German National Anthem back to F1, Liam Lawson potentially looking out of Red Bull, and worries that the 2026 regs may hinder the peak performance of an F1 car. On top of this, the impact report for 2023 was released, Red Bull is potentially in talks with Sainz, and a new points system may be on the horizon to bring more value to the midfield battle. The week finished bright and early with the 6h of Imola in WEC which was a rollercoaster ride that saw Toyota Gazoo take the flag first and leave us fully pleased after a satisfying week of racing On The Gravel!

A “Lifetime” Contract/F1 Offweek - On The Gravel

In the off week before our first return to the Shanghai International Circuit since 2019, Fernando Alonso decided to kick off the silly season by resigning a “lifetime” contract with Aston Martin through 2026. Elsewhere around the paddock and motorsport, the ever growing hype and trust around Kimi Antonelli has been reinforced through multiple more scheduled tests with the W12 and W13, Andretti is set to push for F2, F3 and a WEC entry to cement their push for a Formula One team, and Prema has decided to expand their reach to the Indycar series stateside. Along with this, Formula One released the official 2025 calendar with a reshuffle of the opening rounds of the season, rumors of Alpine selling the team floated around the internet, and MotoGP took a trip to COTA for round 3 of the championship. With a resurfaced track, limited testing due to the sprint weekend, and a first time excursion for many of the drivers, the Chinese Grand Prix is set to be an exciting one. We can't wait to share our reactions with you next time out On The Gravel!