In a Formula 1 season dominated by technical intrigue between the top squads, attention was grabbed at the Brazilian Grand Prix by suspicions over a potential trick involving the internal water cooling of tyres.

The speculation follows hot on the heels of wild rumours we have seen throughout 2024 of asymmetric braking systems, flexi front wings, McLaren’s ‘mini-DRS’ and Red Bull’s front bib adjuster as the battle between F1’s big teams gets ever more intense.

One of the games played when performance closes up at the front is to try to hold back the performance of your main rival through politicking, rather than waste effort trying to pursue something similar – which would cost a lot more resource.

This latest story revolves around questions Red Bull has had over whether some teams might be adding a very small quantity of liquid when inflating their tyres, in order to help control temperatures.

While the accusations are centred on several unidentified teams – sources suggest that Red Bull’s main interest involves closest rival McLaren – which has denied any behaviour like this.

It comes with Red Bull being well versed in the tactic, because it is understood to have employed it in the past before doing so was outlawed in an FIA technical directive a few years ago.

However, this is where the matter could fall into a bit of a grey area because TDs are only advisory – and it is ultimately down to the stewards to interpret the wordings of the regulations as they see fit to determine if teams have breached the rules.

Pirelli tyres on the car of Oscar Piastri, McLaren MCL38

Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images

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And in this case, F1’s technical rules regarding tyre treatment only detail the removal of moisture from the tyres – not adding it.

Article 10.8.4 states:
a. Tyres may only be inflated with air or nitrogen.
b. Any process the intent of which is to reduce the amount of moisture in the tyre and/or in its inflation gas is forbidden.

So in theory, inflating the tyres with moist air does not appear to be strictly prohibited.

From Pirelli’s perspective, it supplies the teams with tyres that are inflated with ‘dry air’ inside.

Head of car racing and F1 Mario Isola said: “We have a dryer connected to our system, and they get all the tyres with dry air, as in the regulation. In the technical directive, it’s written that any modification to this is forbidden, and it’s quite clear.”

Red Bull however approached the governing body regarding this matter, because it believes teams may have been able to seek some advantage from altering the air’s composition and inject some cooling liquid – either water or another substance – through the valve.

Evidence of this tactic was alleged to have been spotted with water and watermarks seen inside some rims after tyres had been stripped at Pirelli’s base post-race in Singapore.

Sets of Medium and Hard Pirelli tyres used by McLaren

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

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The motivation appears simple as Pirelli’s tyres are sensitive to temperature and they are designed to thermally degrade over the course of its lifespan.

This results in the teams and drivers constantly trying to find the right balance between the bulk and tread temperature of the tyre. If a driver can keep the tyres cooler than their rivals, so they do not spike out of the operating window, then that results in improved performance and increased stint length.

A considerable amount of time, money and effort is expended by the teams to understand and harness the relationship between the associated components that can impact the tyre’s thermal degradation.

The wheel rim is now a spec component, supplied to all the teams by BBS, which means that any tricks, such as knurling on the wheel rim’s surface, changing spoke design and altering the geometries of the surfaces can no longer take place.

Meanwhile, the outer wheel cover and a great deal of the brake duct fence design are also specified, further limiting how they can be used for individual aerodynamic or thermodynamic benefit.

However, the brake assembly and internal drum design, while more limited than it has been in the past, still provides a playground for the engineers in terms of how they manage the heat generated by the brakes and how it is transferred to the tyre’s bulk temperature, via the wheel rim.

Each team has its own methods for dealing with the heat exchange between components, which obviously means some will do so better than others.

The introduction of a coolant into the tyre would be expected to help with this process, as it will alter the humidity level, which should in-turn impact the bulk temperature and pressure.

The most likely upshot here is that the temperature will be less than if it was just pure dry air, but there will also be a parallel increase in pressure.

This might look like a net loss in the short term, as teams traditionally try to run as close to the minimum tyre pressures prescribed by Pirelli as possible, as that should yield more performance.

However, given that this regulation set favours a car that’s less sensitive to ride height fluctuation but also requires cars to be as low as possible to reap benefits, it might make sense to have more pressure than might otherwise be ideal.

This is a sentiment echoed by Mario Isola, who suggests that teams have opted for a similar direction in the past, in order to gain aerodynamic performance at the short term detriment of a loss of grip from the tyre.

“I remember a few years ago most of the teams were increasing the front pressure to have a stiffer tyre and go lower with the ride height,” he said.

“They accepted to have this smaller contact patch, because the aero set-up of the car was better. So the balance between the two was about performance – because of the downforce they were able to achieve”.

It is understood that the FIA inspected tyres and rims closely at the Brazilian Grand Prix to see if there was any evidence of extra moisture – but nothing was found.

And while this increased focus will almost certainly mean that if anyone was playing around with this tactic then they will not be doing it any more, it will not stop intrigue over whether anyone got away with it earlier in the year.

SOME much-loved European Grands Prix face the prospect of hosting races on a rotational basis sooner rather than later.

F1 chief executive Stefano Domenicali teased that he “had some news to share” as a few European circuits prepare to learn their fate.

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A selection of Europe’s finest tracks might be forced to hold races on a bi-annual basis, starting in 2026.

Domenicali has revealed that some events will have to forego their year-by-year pattern with another event.

With a record-breaking 24 rounds already crammed onto the F1 calendar, the scope for adding new venues is now arguably smaller than ever.

The former Lamborghini CEO said: “We have some news to share very, very soon with regard to the possibility in the mid-term to have some rotational European Grand Prix and some other new options coming later.

“This is something that, of course, we will clarify in the due course. It is true that we have a large demand of new possible venues that want to come in.

“We believe that the balance we have in terms of numbers [of races] is the right one, so 24 is the balanced number that we feel is right.

“I do believe that all the propositions that are coming on our table are giving us the possibility to make even better choices for our future.”

Many of the European circuits are some of the most popular on the calendar, with the Belgian, Italian and British Grands Prix high on the list of the most exciting races each season.

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F1 now spans across four different continents, with the FIA keen to further grow the sport’s presence in the United States with three races – in Miami, Austin and Las Vegas – currently held there.

There are also talks about a further race in South America and a return to South Africa for the first time since 1993.

Rwanda have also pleaded for the chance to host a Grand Prix.

Representatives of the Rwanda Development Board travelled to Monaco earlier this year to meet with the FIA.

In fact, seven-time world champ Lewis Hamilton stressed that F1 can not continue to “ignore Africa”.

Monaco is also up for renewal after 2025 but a rotational option for the famed principality race is thought to be unlikely.

Zandvoort in the Netherlands has long been linked with a rotational deal with Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium.

Zandvoort could also swap yearly with Barcelona – while Monza and Imola in Italy might share hosting duties for the Italian Grand Prix.

Madrid joins the calendar in 2026 with a city street circuit, while races at Silverstone, Budapest and Austria have long-term deals into the 2030s.

And fans are largely less than happy with the proposals.

Taking to X one wrote: “It’s the start. Classic staple F1 tracks will be replaced by soulless street circuits that have the biggest wallets.”

A second added: “Rotate the street tracks, these cars are not made for narrow street circuits!”

A third said: “That actually makes a championship harder. There’s removed predictability of development.”

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LAS VEGAS – MMA Junkie is on scene and reporting live from Friday’s official UFC Fight Night 247 (ESPN+) fighter weigh-ins at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, which kick off at noon ET (9 a.m. PT).

Among those weighing in are welterweight standouts Neil Magny (29-12 MMA, 22-11 UFC) and Carlos Prates (20-6 MMA, 3-0 UFC), who meet in the main event, and Bernardo Sopaj (11-3 MMA, 0-1 UFC) and Ricky Turcios (12-4 MMA, 2-2 UFC), who fight in the bantamweight co-feature.

The full UFC Fight Night 247 weigh-in results include:

MAIN CARD (ESPN+, 7 p.m. ET)

• Neil Magny () vs. Carlos Prates ()
• Bernardo Sopaj () vs. Ricky Turcios ()
• Reinier de Ridder () vs. Gerald Meerschaert ()
• Luana Pinheiro () vs. Gillian Robertson ()
• Mansur Abdul-Malik () vs. Dusko Todorovic ()

PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN+, 4 p.m. ET)

• Denise Gomes () vs. Karolina Kowalkiewicz ()
• Gaston Bolanos () vs. Cortavious Romious ()
• Zach Scroggin () vs. Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos ()
• Charlie Radtke () vs. Matthew Semelsberger ()
• Da’Mon Blackshear () vs. Cody Stamann ()
• Tresean Gore () vs. Antonio Trocoli ()
• Melissa Mullins () vs. Klaudia Sygula ()

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 247.

After he crosses the finish line in Barcelona at the final round of the 2024 MotoGP season on 17 November, Takaaki Nakagami will start a new chapter in his life as a Honda test rider.

It’s a role that will take him back to his home country of Japan, a seismic shift for him after spending the best part of 10 years living in Europe.

Out of those 10, seven were spent racing in MotoGP with the LCR Honda team. He will leave the premier class with the sting of not having finished on the podium, despite coming close on a few occasions during his breakthrough 2020 campaign.

Nakagami had previously scored 14 podiums in six seasons in Moto2, including two wins, which earned him a move up to the premier class with Honda’s satellite squad, LCR. Nakagami was inducted into the Idemitsu side of the operation in 2018 to meet the Asian quota set by the lubricants company.

In 2025, it will be Thai racer Somkiat Chantra who will take over the place currently occupied by Nakagami, who took the decision to step down from MotoGP a few months ago. However, he maintains his relationship with Honda, which will keep him a test rider based in Japan.

Takaaki Nakagami, Team LCR Honda

Photo by: Asif Zubairi

This move is part of the shake-up that Honda instigated by Honda to accelerate the optimisation of its RC213V, a bike whose performance has been in a free fall for some time. The arrival of Romano Albesiano as the new technical director, plus three-time grand prix winner Aleix Espargaro into the testing division in Europe, is all part of the same overhaul. Nakagami will add another gear in the development of the parts that are tested in Japan, a task that was until now in the hands of Tetsuta Nagashima.

In next week’s finale, Nakagami will say goodbye to what can be considered more of his home track than Motegi. The Japanese rider, after all, has been living in Sant Cugat del Valles on the outskirts of Barcelona for almost a decade.

After the final stop on the calendar, and official test the following Tuesday, in which his job will be to tutor Chantra, he will pack his bags and return to his home in Chiba, a city located 40 kilometres to the east of Tokyo. There, his life will suddenly go down two gears, at least as far as travel is concerned, although he still does not know what his day-to-day routine would look like.

“We have not yet spoken with Honda. We will do so at the beginning of December, when I will go to the HRC headquarters. There they will explain to me the plan they have planned for me, for the next six months,” Nakagami told Motorsport.com / Autosport.

“I don’t know yet how many days of testing I will do, or where, or how many wild cards they want me to do.

“Honda wants to accelerate the development of the bike in Japan. There is Nagashima, but he is not fast enough to evaluate the parts beyond their functionality. The idea is to shorten the time in the evaluation of the novelties, and I am faster than him. My times will not be five seconds off the grand prix riders.”

After 17 full seasons in the world championship, including the lower classes, Nakagami is aware that the demands of being a rider will not be the same from next year.

Takaaki Nakagami, LCR Honda

Photo by: Asif Zubairi

That doesn’t mean that he can abandon his preparation, although his new routine will have nothing to do with the one he had until now in Barcelona, where he trained six days a week and combined sessions in the gym with flat track training.

“My rhythm and lifestyle will change completely. For the last 10 years, I have been living in Spain, and now I will move back to Japan,” he said.

“The first thing I will have to do is adapt to the new context, to the new weather, and then see what is the best way to keep fit and familiar with speed.

“The good thing is that Honda is always there, so I will be able to use the bikes they let me use, or use their circuits.”

Manchester United defender Luke Shaw has returned to training following three months out with injury.

The England left-back, who hasn’t played for the club since February, sustained a calf injury in early August.

He had been expected to return after the international break in October but former manager Erik ten Hag said Shaw had suffered a “setback”.

Shaw suffered a hamstring injury in February that ruled him out of the remainder of the last Premier League season.

However, he was selected in England’s squad for Euro 2024 and started the final defeat by Spain after missing the group phase.

Interim manager Ruud van Nistelrooy said earlier this week that fellow left-back Tyrell Malacia, who hasn’t played for the club since April 2023 following a knee injury, was closer to returning to action than Shaw.

Three-time Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw is “planning to crush some rehab” in his recovery from two surgeries.

Kershaw posted on Instagram that he had foot and knee procedures on Wednesday. He thanked Drs. Kenneth Jung and Neal ElAttrache for performing the operations.

“Planning to crush some rehab and be as good as can be come next year,” Kershaw posted on Thursday.

The 36-year-old Kershaw is 212-94 with a 2.50 ERA in 429 starts and three relief appearances over 17 seasons — all with the Los Angeles Dodgers. He declined a $10 million player option in favor of free agency, but he is expected to return to L.A. after vowing to do so at multiple points during and after the Dodgers’ run to a 2024 World Series championship.

Kershaw was hurt for much of last season, finishing with a 2-2 record and a 4.50 ERA over seven starts. He was sidelined throughout the postseason.

Reporting by The Associated Press.

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Clayton Kershaw

Los Angeles Dodgers

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