Esteban Ocon questioned Alpine’s call to pit him late in the United States Grand Prix and take the fastest lap – before realising it was to stop Williams claiming an additional point in what could be a tight battle in the Formula 1 constructors’ championship.

Williams driver Franco Colapinto was running 10th on Sunday, but was on to double his points haul for the race after setting the fastest lap.

Yet Alpine was aware of this and called in Ocon, who was running towards the back of the field, to put on soft tyres and beat Colapinto’s effort with three laps remaining. 

The two squads are squabbling over eighth and ninth place in the standings and Williams is now four points ahead with five rounds left of the 2024 season.

“The only thing at the end was to recover the fastest lap – to get it away from Williams, from Franco, and we managed to do that successfully, but the car was difficult to drive,” said Ocon, who finished 18th after a forgettable race.

Esteban Ocon, Alpine A524

Photo by: Alpine

“Normally, P10 never has the fastest lap, that is why I questioned completely [the decision to stop], because I didn’t see the point. But I get it now.

“It’s a battle for everything in the end and a point is a top 10 finish, which is very important. I’m sorry to him because he deserved it, to be fair, but that is how it is.”

Alpine team principal Oliver Oakes praised the call to bring Ocon into the pits as the French squad aims to overtake Williams before the end of the season.

“Credit to the guys on the pitwall,” he said. “I think they were beating themselves up a bit, but it is never easy. Everyone has got hindsight afterwards but that was a good call at the time.

“I guess it’s a bit cheeky to take a point off Williams for the fastest lap, because I think Colapinto would have had it had we not, so that was the main reason.

“Fair play to Williams, they are doing a good job. I think Baku was a big weekend for them [Williams scored 10 points] and capitalising on that has made our lives a little bit difficult to get that back, but there are still a few races to go and we are aiming for that.”

Oliver Oakes, Team Principal, Alpine F1 Team, in the Team Principals Press Conference

Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Motorsport Images

Colapinto impressed yet again and secured another points finish for Williams, who brought in the Argentinian to replace Logan Sargeant from September’s Italian GP onwards.

He will not race for the team next year as Carlos Sainz will join from Ferrari to partner Alex Albon, but his form means he remains in the conversation for a drive – as Sauber and RB are yet to finalise their line-ups.

“We had the fastest lap,” Colapinto told Motorsport.com. “He took it with new tyres but it had not been close before.

“I think I did it many laps earlier, with an older tyre, and I think we just had a much better pace than them. They had to put a new set of wheels, low fuel to try to take it from us.

“So they weren’t close to us in terms of pace. But look, it’s part of racing. I was happy for the fastest lap and I wanted to keep it but it’s fine. We had it for a while. 

“It’s a point that we lost, but we are going to recover it soon. We had a good car, and we are capable of scoring points, so we’re going to come back stronger, I’m sure of that.” 

Franco Colapinto, Williams FW46

Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images

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Alpine’s call came just days after it was confirmed that the point for fastest lap would be scrapped from 2025 onwards.

There was controversy at the Singapore GP last month as Daniel Ricciardo, racing for RB for the final time, came in towards the end of the race for softs and took the fastest lap point away from Lando Norris.

The McLaren driver is fighting for the title against Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, with the team denying after the race that it had called on the sister squad to pit Ricciardo to snatch the extra point from Norris.

Two-time Le Mans winner Earl Bamber will race for Cadillac in next year’s IMSA SportsCar Championship in what looks set to be a twin programme straddling the World Endurance Championship.

Bamber, winner at the Le Mans 24 Hours in 2015 and 2017 with Porsche, was announced as a full-season driver for the solo Action Express Racing Cadillac V-Series.R LMDh when the General Motors brand took the wraps off its full line-up for its three IMSA GTP class entries on Wednesday. 

Cadillac will not be revealing its roster for the two Jota WEC entries until after next month’s series finale in Bahrain, but it is expected that Bamber will move over to the British team from the Ganassi squad with which he has raced in the series for the past two seasons.

The New Zealander, who joined Cadillac for an IMSA programme with Ganassi in 2021 after his departure from Porsche, has made no secret of his desire to race in IMSA’s GTP class alongside his WEC commitments with the brand. 

No confirmation of Bamber’s dual programme was forthcoming from Cadillac ahead of its WEC announcement, which is understood to be due in mid-November. 

But Bamber alluded to a joint programme in his statements in the IMSA announcement from Cadillac.

#02 Cadillac Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac V-LMDh: Earl Bamber, Alex Lynn, Richard Westbrook

Photo by: Jake Galstad / Motorsport Images

“Hopefully I can bring experience from the WEC and IMSA, and I think it will also bring a little bit of continuity,” he said. 

“We have that on the engineering side and hopefully on the driver side that shared information from both platforms brings us forward.”

What is not clear is what programme will take precedence for Bamber when the two series have a conflicting date in May with the Spa WEC round and the Laguna Seca IMSA event taking place on the same weekend.

The same would apply to Le Mans should Action Express return to the double-points round of the WEC, which it has contested as an additional Caddy entry for the past two editions.

Bamber is replacing four-time Sebring 12 Hours winner Pipo Derani at Action Express, winner of the IMSA GTP title in 2024, after the Brazilian announced his decision to leave Cadillac back in June. 

Briton Jack Aitken will remain as a full-season Action Express driver for a second season, while 2023 Formula 2 runner-up Frederik Vesti comes in as the team’s additional driver for selected long-distance races in Michelin Endurance Cup segment of the IMSA series. 

The 22-year-old Dane, who is a Mercedes Formula 1 reserve driver this year, is getting his maiden chance with a manufacturer in sportscar racing after taking his first steps in the discipline this year in LMP2 in the European Le Mans Series. 

His season with the Swiss Cool Racing squad included two podiums at Paul Ricard and Portimao in May and October respectively aboard one of the team’s ORECA-Gibson 07s. 

Bamber, who this year contested three IMSA enduros with Corvette Racing in GT Daytona Pro, described the chance to return to IMSA with Action Express as “an exciting opportunity”.

“I’ve really missed IMSA, driving in America,” he added. 

Action Express team boss Gary Nelson said: “We are all very excited to have such an amazing group of talented drivers lined up for the 2025 season. 

“Jack Aitken and Earl Bamber bring a great combination and bringing in a young, talented Frederik Vesti for endurance races adds to what we’re trying to accomplish.”

American Express has become an official partner of Formula 1 after expanding its sponsorship deal with the series.

Having previously been a regional partner in the Americas, Amex will now be visible at 15 of F1’s 24 grands prix next season.

Amex card members will gain access to a raft of perks, including pre-sale tickets and a range of on-site experiences at the tracks where the company will hold activations – including the Monaco, British and Italian Grands Prix.

The multi-year expansion of the previous agreement is a reflection of the close partnership that has developed, not only through Amex’s sponsorship in the Americas but also its commitment to the F1 Academy.

Earlier this year, Amex became an official partner of F1 Academy, sponsoring a car in the female-only series, supporting British racer Jess Edgar and also hosting a “Celebration of Women with Drive” event at the Miami Grand Prix back in May which featured an appearance from award-winning musician Camila Cabello.

“American Express has been a fantastic partner to Formula 1 in the Americas and as a supporter of F1 Academy, and I’m delighted that they have chosen to expand their relationship with us to become an official partner,” said Formula 1’s chief commercial officer Emily Prazer.

“We look forward to working with Amex to enhance the experience of card members at our races and showcasing Amex perks to our existing fans everywhere we race.”
Amex will continue to have a presence at the races in the Americas, including at this weekend’s Mexico Grand Prix.

Jessica Edgar, Rodin Motorsport

Photo by: F1 Academy Limited

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Complimentary race radios will be available for card members, while the Amex Fan Experience will allow ticket holders the chance to design their own car livery and record their own driver intro video.

 “We are thrilled to expand our relationship with Formula 1, building on the strong momentum of the sponsorship in the Americas over the past year,” added American Express chief marketing officer Elizabeth Rutledge.

“With more than 300 million fans worldwide age 18-34, F1 continues to grow in popularity and as a passion area for Millennials and Gen Z – American Express’ fastest growing customer segment.”

The Nissan and Jaguar Formula E teams have been handed a partial testing ban and been fined after both outfits broke the championship’s cost cap limit for the 2022-23 season.

Having completed its review of documentation from all 11 Formula E teams, the FIA announced on Wednesday that it had found Jaguar and Nissan to be in breach of the cost cap limit of €13,668,000 (£11,634,213).

Nissan were found to be 1.96% over (€269,252/£223,730), while Jaguar exceeded the limit by 0.6% (€88,883/£73,849), with both teams now forced to miss the opening three hours of pre-season testing in Valencia on 4 November as punishment.

It means Nissan’s Oliver Rowland and Norman Nato, as well as Jaguar’s Mitch Evans and Nick Cassidy, will sit out the afternoon session, while the teams have also been fined €300,000 and €100,000 respectively.

“The Cost Cap Administration recognised that they [Jaguar and Nissan] have acted cooperatively throughout the review process and have sought to provide additional information and evidence when requested in a timely manner,” according to an FIA statement.

“That this is the first year of the full application of the Financial Regulations and that there is no accusation or evidence of aggravating factors or that they have sought at any time to act in bad faith, dishonestly or in fraudulent manner, and nor has it wilfully concealed any information from the Cost Cap Administration.”

Norman Nato, Nissan Formula E Team, Nissan e-4ORCE 04

Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images

An Accepted Breach Agreement (ABA) was signed by both Nissan and Jaguar on 15 October, confirming the teams accepted the findings as well as the sporting and financial punishments.

Nissan placed seventh in the teams’ championship for the 2022-23 season, which was the first year of Formula E’s new financial regulations and the Gen3 car.

“The Nissan Formula E Team has determined that these minor breaches are exclusively related to the process of interpretation and adaption of the new Financial Regulations at a time when the team was also facing specific challenges linked to its change of ownership, full restructure, and relocation,” read a statement from Nissan.

“Nissan Formula E Team has since put in place all the necessary precautions to avoid these kinds of miscalculations and oversights in the future.”

Jaguar finished the 2022-23 season runner-up in the teams’ championship, having lost out on the title to customer squad Envision, while Evans came within reach of the drivers’ crown.

“It’s an extremely complex process and while at all times Jaguar Racing acted in good faith with honesty, integrity and in a spirit of transparency and cooperation, we acknowledge that procedural filing errors have led to the minor overspend breach,” read a statement from Jaguar.

“Following consultation with the FIA, we believe that had we filed correctly, we would have been fully compliant with Teams’ Cost Cap and the minor overspend breach would not have occurred.

“Unfortunately, we understand a re-filing is not allowable by the current regulations and therefore due to these unintended procedural errors we are in a very minor overspend position.

“At no time did we seek or gain a technical or sporting advantage, as can be seen and confirmed by the Cost Cap Administration’s findings and the nature of the ABA.

“We will continue to work closely with the FIA going forward on the development and application of the cost cap and in the best interests of Formula E – the pinnacle of electric racing.”

Hyundai is “not quite there yet” with its decision regarding who will pilot its third World Rally Championship entry next year, although Motorsport.com understands Adrien Fourmaux is the favourite.

The Korean marque has already confirmed that it has retained the services of Thierry Neuville and Ott Tanak, but its plans for its third entry are yet to be announced. 

Hyundai has been evaluating its options for its third car, having chosen to split the entry across Esapekka Lappi, Dani Sordo and Andreas Mikkelsen this year. 

Lappi, who tasted victory in Sweden, has tackled gravel rallies, with Sordo called upon for rough gravel events, while Mikkelsen has largely been employed as an asphalt specialist. 

The prospect of employing the services of a driver to pilot the car on a full-time basis appears to be an option Hyundai is seriously investigating.

When asked about the team’s plans for its third car at last weekend’s Central European Rally, Hyundai team principal Cyril Abiteboul told Motorsport.com: “We are always closer to something. There are discussions and those will turn into options and that will turn into a decision. We are not quite there yet. 

“You can always think about a lot of things but right now we are playing for three [cars next year], but we are keeping our eyes open on opportunities.” 

Speculation continues to point to Fourmaux leaving M-Sport-Ford to take up the seat at Hyundai on a full-time basis.

Adrien Fourmaux, M-Sport Ford World Rally Team

Photo by: M-Sport

The Frenchman was previously linked with Hyundai last year and has been a revelation on his return to Rally1 this season with M-Sport, scoring four podium finishes. Last weekend a front differential problem cost him a chance to increase his podium tally.  

Prior to last weekend’s Central European Rally, M-Sport team principal Richard Millener said his driver line-up plans were “up in the air” and that nothing had been signed with anyone for 2025.

Fourmaux remained coy when asked if he knew where his future lies next year, stating: “We know it will be in a Rally1 [car].

“There are for sure some distractions but as a driver you need to learn to live with it,” he added, referring to the speculation linking him to Hyundai.

Rally Sweden winner Lappi has previously indicated that he would be interested in a continuation of his part-time role, while Sordo has been linked to more of a management position within the team for next year. 

Mikkelsen, who will pilot the third car in the Japan season finale next month, was unable to provide clarity on his plans for next year.

When asked ahead of last weekend’s rally if he was confident he would remain driving a Rally1 car next year he said: ”No, but we will see.

“I haven’t thought too much about [what I will do next year], I haven’t talked to anybody, to be honest my focus is on here.”

Andreas Mikkelsen, Hyundai World Rally Team

Photo by: McKlein / Motorsport Images

The three-time WRC rally winner delivered impressive speed last week, running as high as third before a crash on Friday ended his podium hopes. 

“I come from this rally with a good feeling, to be honest. We struggled so much in Monte Carlo and Croatia to find some kind of feeling with the car, and obviously it is very different compared to a Rally2 car,” he added.

“From the first stage I felt really comfortable with the car and it is the first time I really felt at one with it, which you really need when you are fighting with these guys that are so fast and in the cars all the time. 

“In that way I feel a bit lighter because I really didn’t get the rallies I wanted this year, I got all tarmac, and when I’m struggling to get the feeling, it was nice to come this weekend and get a different vibe and feeling. I’m looking forward to Japan.”  

Francesco Bagnaia’s face in the post-race press conference at Phillip Island on Sunday, after finishing third in MotoGP’s Australian Grand Prix, was the best imaginable projection of the 10 seconds that separated him from the victorious Marc Marquez and runner-up Jorge Martin.

Reigning two-time champion Bagnaia’s gesture was one of concern, a logical reaction considering that Marquez created that gap over him despite losing ground at the start when he ran over the plastic visor that he himself had just thrown to the ground. That mishap cost him 12 positions and put him back in 13th, before he staged one of the best recoveries in recent memory to claim his third grand prix win of the season.

Leaving the Desmosedici’s obvious potential aside, another key factor that led Marquez to forgo the final year of his multi-million dollar Honda contract to sign with a Ducati satellite team for 2024 was the sophistication of the protocols used by the Borgo Panigale brand to increase the overall performance of the eight bikes it currently has.

The computers that receive the information downloaded from the bikes each time they return to the garage send this data to a server, to which the authorised technicians of each team have access. Not only does this operation take place in near real-time, but it is also combined with sophisticated analysis tools, including artificial intelligence, with a very high capacity for interpretation. With this in mind, it is much easier to understand the leaps in quality made by certain riders, both from Friday to Saturday and from Saturday to Sunday, when the sprint race becomes the best generator of all that information.

“We all know that Pecco will be there to win on Sunday. It doesn’t matter if he seems to suffer a little bit on Friday, because on Saturday he takes a step and on Sunday he takes another step,” says any member of the grid whenever he is asked.

However, in the context of a close duel like the current one, there are ways of camouflaging information to try and complicate that improvement a little. The last event in Australia was a case in point.

Bagnaia was a subdued third in the Australian GP, surpassed by Marquez after his sluggish launch

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

The 10 seconds that split Marquez and Bagnaia’s factory bike on Sunday can be explained by several factors that aligned and worked against Ducati’s leading rider. First of all, the track had been resurfaced, which put the previous years’ record into question. Add to this the weekend’s tricky weather and we get a race with more unknowns than certainties: an ideal Sunday for Marquez’s genius and Martin’s explosiveness, but less conducive to the cerebral Bagnaia.

Friday morning’s storm forced the organisers to cancel the first free practice session, so there was less information to gather. Second practice, already valid to generate the cut between Q1 and Q2, was the first contact with the dry but cold new asphalt.

The rain meant that Saturday’s practice was held on a still-damp track, and so the pack went out for a qualifying session that seemed to bear Marquez’s name as the rider who adapts best and fastest to the changes. Few expected that it would be Pramac rider Martin, with a stratospheric last lap, who would take pole by almost six-tenths over Marquez. The lap gave a preview to Martin’s form ahead of his sprint race victory, while on Sunday he duelled with Marquez until reaching the conclusion that it wasn’t worth risking a crash.

“Jorge was playing with us, because he was much faster” Francesco Bagnaia

“It was an incredible weekend, I scored as many points (32) as I could have hoped for here,” Martin told Motorsport.com after stepping off the podium. “I could have fought for a win or I could have crashed. I don’t focus so much on the wins as on being competitive, and I think we have to continue in this vein.”

Shortly before the race, someone close to him told Motorsport.com that the strategy for the final stretch of the championship had changed. “On the circuits where we know Jorge has some margin, we will not show everything from the first moment, we are not going to give that information away,” said this authoritative voice.

Martin arrived in Australia 10 points ahead of Bagnaia in the standings and will go to Thailand having doubled that advantage, with only 111 points left to play. Considering the distribution of points so far, one can see that the Spaniard has built his chances on Saturdays. In fact, in the pre-sprint era, Bagnaia would lead the standings with a 14-point cushion over the Pramac rider (295 points to Martin’s 281).

On the assumption that in Buriram, where Martin won the sprint and grand prix last year, he will once again look superior to his rival, it is likely that Martin will try to hide his cards until the last moment.

Martin unleashed blistering pace to snare pole, from which he cruised to victory in the sprint

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

“There are ways to play the game of misdirection in order not to give clues,” the track engineer of one of the world champions on the grid explained to Motorsport.com. “For example, looking for the performance of a particular sector, or plotting a particular corner, on a ‘bad’ lap. You always try to show your weapons as late as possible, to avoid the others, who can see your data, benefit from it.”

This paddock voice has no doubt that Martin made his rivals dizzy on Saturday and that feeling was also felt by Bagnaia after the sprint: “Jorge was playing with us, because he was much faster.”

All things considered, Martin will land in Thailand as the favourite to take the crown, which could be sealed in Malaysia in less than 10 days. On the other side of the scale is Bagnaia. He is not only a ‘victim’ of Ducati’s promise not to intervene in the duel, but seems increasingly aware of the strength with which new team-mate Marquez will arrive and how the multi-champion could become the judge of this world championship.

Could misdirection be a key to Martin’s first MotoGP world title?

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images