Dakar Rally winners Toby Price and Sam Sunderland will switch from the motorcycle category to cars to contest the 2025 edition together in January. 

The pair will be aboard an Overdrive Racing Toyota Hilux T1+ for the gruelling Saudi Arabian rally raid from 3-17 January. 

Price, who won Dakar in 2016 and 2019, will have Sunderland as his co-driver after the Australian was left without a ride as KTM did not renew his contract for 2025. 

He said on social media: “I am excited to announce that we are going to Dakar in January. Super excited for this chance, we are going to be with Overdrive and going to jump in a T1+ car and see what we can do.

“The other good news is I’ll be teaming up with a good mate Sammy Sunderland, who will sit beside me and see what we can come up with. It’s going to be super exciting and a lot of hard work for us.”

Price and Sunderland are looking to join Hubert Auriol, Stephane Peterhansel and Nani Roma as the only individuals to have won the Dakar in both a car and bike. 

Briton Sunderland, who retired from motorcycle racing in August having won Dakar in 2017 and 2022, said: “Me and Pricey are heading to Dakar. Even to say it out loud sounds pretty wild.

#4 Red Bull GASGAS Factory: Sam Sunderland

Photo by: GasGas Factory Racing

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“I remember the days in Dakar, we’d sit in the camp after a long, rough day on the bike chatting about how nice it would be sat in a car.

“It always seemed pretty far-fetched but here we are. Super grateful for all the boys that have put some effort into getting this across the line, it’s a massive help for us and something that I’m really grateful for and hopefully we can do it justice.”

Toyota won the Dakar in 2022 and 2023 with Nasser Al-Attiyah, now part of the Prodrive-run Dacia Sandriders team.

The works Toyota Gazoo Racing roster for 2025 is likely to comprise Lucas Moraes/Armand Monleon and Seth Quintero/Dennis Zenz, who contested the recent Rallye du Maroc that concluded the 2024 World Rally-Raid Championship season.

Defending Dakar winner Carlos Sainz Sr will drive for Ford, having won the 2024 edition with Audi, as the Blue Oval enters its new Raptor T1+. 

Ferrari’s dominance of the United States Grand Prix came on a weekend when it stood out from its rivals in not bringing any upgrades. Or, to be more accurate, none that it officially declared.

With closest challengers McLaren, Red Bull and Mercedes all introducing developments at the Austin track, the FIA’s official submission sheet that details changes showed no tweaks to the Ferrari car.

But that does not tell the true story of Ferrari’s approach to the USA weekend, as there are certain tweaks teams can make that do not have to be declared.

Article 19.1c) of F1’s sporting regulations, which covers what items teams have to tell the FIA about, states that this includes “all major aerodynamic and bodywork components and assemblies that have not been run at a previous Competition or TCC [test] and are intended to be run at the competition.”

Indeed, after seeing Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz take a 1-2 finish, Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur repeated several times that just because no upgrades were declared, it did not mean the Prancing Horse did not have any.

“It is not that because we are not declaring something that we are not bringing something,” he said. “We have to be clear that the upgrades are about the external shape.”

Carlos Sainz, Ferrari SF-24, Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-24

Photo by: Ferrari

Ferrari did not elaborate on what exactly was new for Austin, but speculation has surrounded the possibility that it brought some new specification front wings.

While these externally are identical to what it first introduced in Singapore, insiders suggest Ferrari had spent some time since the last race working on optimising their construction to help exploit aero elasticity more.

In a season when having a more flexible front wing has been instrumental in better balancing a car – helping address the low-speed understeer and high-speed oversteer characteristics of the current ground effect machinery – Ferrari had perhaps been too cautious at the start of the season.

And while it privately felt that others were pushing the boundaries too much in how much flexing was going on, recent FIA clarifications that such behaviour is allowed opened the door for Maranello to go down this route itself now too.

A more optimised flexi-wing is not something that will transform a car but, in a season where the gaps between teams are so close, it is a detail that can have an impact.

Speaking about the value of a good flexi front wing after what we saw in Austin, Vasseur said: “Clearly it is not a game-changer, but we are in the situation today that every single hundredth of a second is making a difference.

“In qualifying we had two or three cars behind us by less than one-tenth, and that meant if these details or another one are down to the hundredths of a second, then we have to do it.”

The new wing design that originally appeared in Singapore is an evolution of its predecessor, with many of the design features retained, albeit more deliberate in their approach.

In terms of the actual design changes to the wing, aside from the obvious flap geometry changes, the design of the spoon-shaped transition from the centre of the mainplane has been altered. This will, in turn, provide a different aerodynamic reaction from the nose assembly.

Meanwhile, the outboard section of the flaps has been redesigned where they mate with the endplate. This is in order to enhance the outwash effect being generated and alter the wake generated by the wheel and tyre assembly behind.

The new flap tips are much more roundly curved (left image, above) and the supporting metal work that had previously been employed has been cast aside, which will alter their dynamic behaviour as a consequence.

Ferrari is also undoubtedly benefiting from a wing designed with a greater ability to exploit aeroelasticity, given the FIA’s clearance of solutions fielded by its rivals in recent races.

BMW factory driver Raffaele Marciello will defend his FIA GT World Cup title in next month’s Macau GT3 showpiece, which features all previous winners on the entry list.

Victorious last year with Mercedes, Marciello will line up as part of a 23-car field comprising representation from six manufacturers as he seeks a third victory in the event he also conquered in 2019, the last edition held before a three-year hiatus induced by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Marciello (Toro Racing powered by MCG) will be joined in BMW’s four-car roster by Augusto Farfus (Team KRC), who scored BMW’s only previous GT World Cup win in 2018, along with WRT pair Sheldon van der Linde and Dries Vanthoor.

“I have won the last two editions of the FIA GT World Cup, but this time the situation is completely new for me as I will be driving the BMW M4 GT3 there for the first time,” said Marciello.

“I have always had good fights with BMW in the past, especially with Augusto in 2018 and also in 2017. Now I am very much looking forward to being on the other side.

“I will do everything in my power to bring the trophy back to Munich.”

Race winner Raffaele Marciello, Mercedes-AMG Team Landgraf Mercedes-AMG GT3

Photo by: Mercedes AMG

Other previous winners on the entry list include Maro Engel (2015), Laurens Vanthoor (2016) and Edoardo Mortara (2017) with Mercedes, Porsche and Lamborghini respectively.

Newly-crowned GT World Challenge Europe Sprint champion Engel (GMR) is joined in the four-car Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo roster by Ralf Aron (Toro Racing), 2011 Macau Grand Prix winner Dani Juncadella and Jules Gounon (both Craft-Bamboo).

WEC Hypercar points leader Vanthoor and Alessio Picariello will both be entered in Porsche 911 GT3 Rs by Absolute Racing, with newly crowned IMSA SportsCar Championship GTD Pro winner Laurin Henrich (Schumacher CLRT) and outgoing DTM champion Thomas Preining (Origine) also seeking to become Porsche’s first GT World Cup victors.

Lamborghini too has its sights set on a first victory in the event, and returns with works drivers for the first time since 2017.

Mortara and Matteo Cairoli’s Huracan GT3 Evo 2s will be run by Vincenzo Sospiri Racing under the VSR Theodore Racing banner, with DTM race winner Luca Engstler in a third Lamborghini entered by his family-run team.

Ferrari is also seeking a maiden victory in the event and has entered World Endurance Championship Hypercar drivers Antonio Fuoco and Yi Yifei, making their first GT World Cup appearances.

Fuoco, the outright Le Mans 24 Hours victor in 2023, will race a 296 GT3 run by the AF Corse team that operates his works 499P in the WEC, while Ye and fellow works driver Daniel Serra are fielded by Harmony Racing.

Audi is also present with R8 LMS GT3 Evo2s for works aces Christopher Haase (Phantom Global) and Ricardo Feller (FAW).

The FIA is confident it has an option to present to the World Motor Sport Council to improve and “simplify” the World Rally Championship’s radical points system for next year.

This year’s all-new points structure has proved a hot topic among competitors and fans thanks to its complexity and weighting that many feel has devalued the overall rally victory.

In 2024, points have been split across Saturday and Sunday, with drivers able to claim provisional points for their overall position at the end of Saturday’s leg which are then banked if they reach the end of the rally.

A sliding scale of 18-15-13-10-8-6-4-3-2-1 is awarded to the top 10 at the end of Saturday, but only to those crews who reach Sunday’s event finish.

In addition to this, Sundays offer up a separate points allocation [7-6-5-4-3-2-1] to the top seven fastest crews across Sunday’s stages on top of the 5-4-3-2-1 system for the top five times on the rally-ending Power Stage.

While the new system was designed to improve the action on Sunday and has been highly effective at creating excitement, drivers and teams have been highly critical of the points weighting of the system that has been derided on several occasions.

The ire seems to stem from the fact that a rally winner can quite easily leave the weekend without scoring the most points. This happened once again last weekend as Elfyn Evans, who finished second at the Central European Rally walked away with two more points than event winner Ott Tanak.

Elfyn Evans, Scott Martin, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota GR Yaris Rally1

Photo by: Toyota Racing

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As previously reported the FIA has been evaluating four new proposals to make improvements to the system for next year.

Speaking at last weekend’s Central European Rally the FIA has confirmed that it has a proposal that it will present to the World Motor Sport Council which could be in place for next year.

Motorsport.com understands that the weighting of the points to ensure the rally winner is rewarded more is part of the proposal.

“We have different options, we have been talking about this all season. Every two weeks we have a sporting working groups and different options are on the table coming from the driver’s representative Scott [Martin] and from the manufacturers and from the WRC Promoter.

“Finally, we think we have an option to be presented to the next commission that more or less all agree with,” said FIA WRC category manager Marina Dunach.

“It will go to a vote at the World Motor Sport Council and maybe we will have a new points system for next year.

“After looking at the different options presented we have been testing with Excel files what would happen using the different options and thinking what is the best for the championship. We all feel more or less that this is more fair, maybe.”

FIA road sport director Andrew Wheatley added: “The key priority for the [original] rule change was to try and ensure that we had less of a discussion about Sunday, it created other discussions which is normal, and now the proposal is to try and tweak to simplify it [the points system].”

Lando Norris has conceded that “driving like a muppet” at the start of the Formula 1 United States Grand Prix ultimately led to the controversial battle with Max Verstappen.

The Red Bull driver made a lunge up the inside of Norris into the first corner, forcing both wide and allowing Charles Leclerc through into the lead on the way to an eventual dominant victory.

While Verstappen’s move could have brought repercussions for its forceful nature, the fact it was on lap one meant the race stewards dismissed the case.

When the duo met again at the end of the race with Norris trying to take the final podium spot, the three-time champion again pushed his title rival wide and, despite both running off-track, it was the McLaren that was penalised for leaving the track and gaining an advantage.

While much ire was directed towards the decision post-race, Norris held his hands up for leaving space for Verstappen to attack into the first corner, which eventually led to the late-race tussle.

“Turn one, I didn’t do the correct thing but I feel like what happened at the end of the race was more on my side. Otherwise, it was a good battle, and I enjoyed it. We just didn’t come out on top because I didn’t do a good enough job.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB20, Lando Norris, McLaren MCL38, battle into turn 1

Photo by: Steve Etherington / Motorsport Images

“If I defended better in turn one and wasn’t driving like a muppet, then I should have led after Turn 1, and we shouldn’t have this conversation in the first place…”

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella was very careful not to direct anger towards Verstappen in his comments after the race, underlining his frustration was with the stewards and the state of F1’s rules.

Norris was also full of respect for his rival, insisting: “I think Max drove very well.

“It’s very hard to do what we’re doing, and it’s hard when you’re side by side, you’re completely one side of the track to guess where your braking marker is.

“You’re going quicker than you have before because you use the battery, the tyres are older, there’s different bumps, there’s a lot of dirt, we’re battling and fighting hard… so I respect the battle that we had, it was a good one, it was enjoyable, I think it was respectful.”

Three FIA Formula 3 race winners are among numerous drivers from the series to step down a level of the single-seater ladder to enter next month’s Macau Grand Prix.

F3 cars have traditionally contested the Macau World Cup event, but organisers revealed earlier this year that they would swap to Formula Regional machinery for the 2024 edition on 17 November, saying it was “a natural consequence of the evolution of the junior single-seater landscape”. 

Several F3 frontrunners were unimpressed by the move at the time, with series runner-up Gabriele Mini among those believing the event could suffer as a result.

However, the change has not stopped a host of this year’s F3 racers from appearing on the 27-strong entry list that has now been announced, and these drivers include championship frontrunners Oliver Goethe and Dino Beganovic.

Red Bull junior Goethe finished seventh in the standings after foregoing his slim chance to take the title by skipping the Monza finale and instead replacing F1-bound Franco Colapinto with MP Motorsport in F2. He will now continue with the Dutch squad for another Macau attack after taking ninth in last year’s GP. 

Ferrari Driver Academy member Beganovic, meanwhile, will again race for Prema, and rounding out the F3 victors so far signed up is Mari Boya (Pinnacle), who was fourth in Macau in 2023. 

Mari Boya, Campos Racing, Sebastian Montoya, Campos Racing and Oliver Goethe, Campos Racing

Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images

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Other F3 competitors entered include 2022 British F4 champion and McLaren junior Alex Dunne, who moves across to Prema from MP, and Noel Leon (Pinnacle).

Multiple current Formula Regional European Championship drivers have also been confirmed, including James Wharton (ART) and Tuukka Taponen (R-ace), who are second and third in the points ahead of this weekend’s Monza finale.

Meanwhile, progressing to Formula Regional competition will be Italian F4 dominator Freddie Slater, who is this week tackling the final shootout for the Silverstone Autosport BRDC Young Driver of the Year Award.

Alongside the FIA F3 and FRECA drivers and F4 graduates, Super Formula Lights race winners Rikuto Kobayashi and Jin Nakamura (both with TOM’S) are among a Japanese contingent tackling the event. 

“I am really happy to see so many of the most talented junior drivers and teams committed to the FIA FR World Cup,” said FIA single-seater committee president Emanuele Pirro. 

“This event has always been one of the toughest and more rewarding challenges on the pathway for young drivers as they progress towards the ultimate goal of Formula 1 and our other FIA World Championships, and to have so many different former champions of F4 and Formula Regional coming to Macau really brings the spirit of this historic race.”

There are still two unconfirmed drivers on the entry, with both MP and PHM having a seat available.