Williams has announced today the signing of teenage driver Kean Nakamura Berta to their academy setup. 18 year old Nakamura Berta previously raced under Alpine affiliation from 2022, to the end of 2024 but now joins Williams on the back of a successful 2025. 2025 saw the British driver win the Italian F4 and E4 Championship titles, as well as racing in F4 Middle East and the F4 World Cup in Macau. Born to Japanese mother and Slovakian father, his recognisable name is now one

Welcome to racing in 2026! CTFROT, or the ‘Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Trophy’ to give it it’s full name, is getting underway and is based entirely in New Zealand. Formerly known as the ‘Toyota Racing Series’, last season’s champion was now-F1 driver, Arvid Lindblad. The 2026 edition features a handful of well known feeder series stars, aiming to boost their own name and acclaim, as well as the minor bonuses of a championship trophy and some all important Super Li

By Teagan Crump Cadillac Formula One have announced that former Kick Sauber and Alfa Romeo driver Zhou Guanyu will be joining the team as a reserve driver. 📸: Formula One The Chinese driver raced in Formula One from 2022 to 2024, scoring sixteen points and a best finish of eighth (at the 2022 Canadian Grand Prix and 2024 Qatar Grand Prix). He most recently served as Ferrari's Reserve Driver, but left the role on January 2nd. Zhou will be joining former teammate Valtteri Bot

By Teagan Crump In an Instagram post today, Scuderia Ferrari have confirmed that Zhou Guanyu will no longer be their Reserve Driver. 📸: Scuderia Ferrai HP The post, which features the text “GRAZIE MILLE” (Italian for “a thousand thanks”) was released together with a video montage seemingly showing Zhou’s highlights during his time as Ferrari’s Reserve Driver. 📸: F1 Zhou, who last raced in 2024 for Sauber in F1, was a part of the Ferrari Driver Academy from 2014 to 2018 befo

Ahead of 2026, several members of The Laid Back Race Blog were tasked with choosing one moment of motorsport in 2025 that they thought was the best. Here are Alex, Topher, Teagan and Amelia's picks! Alex: Hulk on the podium…at last!  📸: BBC We had all assumed that a Nico Hülkenberg was never going to happen, right? Especially starting 19th, in a Sauber, at a damp Silverstone. And we all wanted it, didn’t we? After 239 Grand Prix, multiple ‘nearly’ moments and a handful of he

Across the 2025 season, we watched many drivers who are aiming to be the next big star and win their championships. However, many went a little under the radar compared to other names who made headlines. Here are 10 who I believe deserved more recognition. Dino Beganovic - Formula 2 Ferrari junior driver Dino Beganovic made his full F2 season debut for Hitech TGR in 2025 and ended the year a strong seventh overall, taking one win and four further podiums, as well as figuring

For racing fans (of all ages), ‘Cars’ provides entertainment and an animated alternative that helped lots of people get into enjoying racing, and even some current young drivers to pursue it is a career. However, through watching (repeatedly) with my 2 year old, Lightning McQueen obsessed son, I’ve noticed some striking similarities to one of F1’s all time greats, Lewis Hamilton. Firstly, we can safely say, Hamilton was NOT the inspiration for this film as ‘Cars’, the origina

Four time F1 World Champion Max Verstappen will change his racing number in 2026, surrendering the number 1 to new Champion Lando Norris. Verstappen will change to race under the number 3. The 3 was last used by Daniel Ricciardo, during his F1 career, with the number used on his car from 2014, when the rule allowing drivers to pick their own number was introduced. Previously, numbers were allocated by championship position. 📸 Ricciardo celebrates in Monaco. Before gaining Wo

By Teagan Crump As the 2025 Formula One season has ended, all focus switches to 2026 and what the experts are calling “the biggest overhaul of regulations in the sport's history.” But what do you need to know about the changes being made? This guide will take you through all of the critical information ahead of 2026! 📸: Formula One Firstly, the cars will be shorter and narrower- the width from one side of the front wing to the other has been reduced by 100mm. Additionally, t

The ‘Autodromo Internacional do Algarve’ circuit in Portmão, Portugal will return to the F1 calendar, it has been announced. Known simply as Portimão, the circuit featured in the 2020 & 2021 seasons having not been used by Formula 1 previously for a Portuguese Grand Prix, with both races won by Lewis Hamilton - notably for his 92nd win, the win that saw him surpass Michael Schumacher’s previous record. The circuit was fairly popular among fans and drivers, featuring technical

Quite often on the formula ladder we come across drivers who you become slightly dumbfounded that they haven’t been picked up by an F1 team for an academy or reserve role. Here are five drivers who impressed me in 2025 who deserve F1 attention. Joshua Dürksen When Joshua Dürksen stepped up from FREC to Formula 2 at the same time as Kimi Antonelli many eyebrows were raised as to why this relatively unknown Paraguayan was making such a big step. He quickly adapted to the F2 car

By Teagan Crump Alba Larsen will be teaming up with the Scuderia for her second F1 Academy campaign, switching from Tommy Hilfiger. 📸: F1 Academy During her rookie year, Larsen managed seven top-five finishes and claimed seventh in the drivers standings. Her best result of the year was P4, which she got twice- in Shanghai Race 2, and Las Vegas Race 2. Over the winter break, the Danish driver will be participating in the F4 UAE Championship, and will also be returning to her

By Teagan Crump A team synonymous with junior single-seater racing, Rodin Motorsport, has announced that they will be joining forces with Ferrari and competing in British GT in the 2026 season. 📸: British GT Rodin Motorsport are already a familiar name in many paddocks, having achieved success in GB3, FIA F2, FIA F3, F1 Academy and F4. The team was previously known as Carlin and Rodin Carlin before becoming Rodin Motorsport in 2024. The car that the team will be competing wi

The racing season may be over, but the Formula 1 circus is never over. Here’s a handful of things we’ve seen to watch out for in 2026 as the teams took to the circuit in Abu Dhabi once more today. Lando’s new helmet design 📸 Lando Norris ran a new gold and black design in testing, in celebration of his Championship title. Teams trial new ‘26 front wing 📸 A glimpse at a ‘26 style ‘active aero’ front wing on the Mercedes. Hirakawa has an off 📸 Test and reserve Haas driver, R

By Teagan Crump For his fourth FIA Formula Two season Alpine Academy driver, Kush Maini is switching to ART Grand Prix. 📸: F1 Across his ten-year car racing career, Maini has raced in several disciplines such as FIA F4, FIA F3 and WEC Prototype cars. Since joining Formula 2 in 2023, Maini has had varying success. However, he has won two races, and claimed a further five podiums. In a statement, Maini said: “I’m very happy to be joining such an historic team like ART Grand Pr

By Teagan Crump After over 20 years at Red Bull Racing, Dr Helmut Marko has announced that he will be leaving the team. The Austrian oversaw six constructors’ titles, and eight drivers’ championships at the Milton Keynes based team. 📸: F1 During his time at Red Bull Racing, Marko served as a Motorsport Advisor, and has been a key part of the Red Bull Junior Programme. He advised the programme on which drivers should be promoted to Formula One. Throughout his twenty years, Ma

By Teagan Crump Briton John Bennett is set to switch from Van Amersfoort Racing to Trident ahead of his second full FIA Formula Two season. 📸: Formula Two Bennett first joined the Formula Two grid in 2024, replacing Enzo Fittipaldi for the final two races of the 2024 season, and managed to score a total of four points across four races. He also competed in a Formula Two season in 2025, scoring one point in twenty eight races. Prior to competing in F2, Bennett raced in Ginett

Just three seats remain on the 2026 FIA Formula 2 grid after Laurens Van Hoepen and Gabriele Minì had their deals with Trident and MP Motorsport announced. Van Hoepen, 20, steps up after two seasons in F3 and made his debut in the last two rounds with Trident at Qatar and Abu Dhabi. In F3, the Dutch driver totalled five podiums over two seasons with ART Grand Prix that saw him take and 11th and 12th place overall in the championship standings. 📸 Laurens Van Hoepen. 2024 F3 r

In the aftermath of the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi and ahead of the end of season test, teams are continuing to lock in line up. Irishman Alex Dunne is sticking with Rodin, while Ritomo Miyata returns for a third season - switching to Hitech TGR from ART. Dunne will return for his sophomore season, after an impressive rookie campaign that saw him lead the standings and remain mathematically in the title fight until the penultimate round. Rumours remain that he’ll s

Lando Norris has claimed his first World Drivers Championship title, seeing off the challenge of Max Verstappen and teammate Oscar Piastri. The Brit wins in his seventh season of Formula 1, like his counterpart and friend Verstappen did for his 2021 title. Norris took seven wins and 11 further podiums and eventually saw off Verstappen by just two points, with Piastri just 13 points back. 📸 Norris goes wheel to wheel with Tsunoda. Crucial wins at the season opener and at his