IMAGES

GALLOWAY/MOTORSPORT

Are Norris, McLaren and F1 starting to believe?

Since Zandvoort returned to the Formula 1 schedule in 2021, Max Verstappen’s domination on home soil had been complete until last weekend: three poles and three wins. But, as we’ve started to expect in 2024, Lando Norris and McLaren made things difficult for Red Bull and the reigning world champion this time around. More than that, the way in which Norris dominated the event despite a sluggish getaway – and won by 22.9 seconds – increased the murmurs about a possible fightback in this year’s title race.

It’s never quite as simple as that, of course. As Alex Kalinauckas shows in our report on page 14, Red Bull’s set-up gamble left Verstappen vulnerable in the Dutch Grand Prix, while McLaren’s tech upgrade (p29) is likely to have less of an impact this weekend at high-speed Monza. Verstappen surely remains the favourite to take the drivers’ title, but a 30-point gap in the constructors’ standings shows we have much more of a battle in 2024 than anyone expected…

That’s also true of the British Touring Car Championship following Ash Sutton’s comfortable fourth crown last year. All the leading protagonists had their ups and downs at Donington Park and Stephen Lickorish was there to see Jake Hill take a slim points lead (p38).

For those wanting a broader array of racing machinery to behold, the Silverstone Festival was the place to be last weekend – once the British weather decided to play ball. Our coverage of the historic extravaganza starts on p30, while we also look ahead to the important Rali Ceredigion as international stars return to the UK (p52).

Kevin Turner Chief Editor

kevin.turner@autosport.com

NEVER MISS AN ISSUE Special deals for Autosport p62

Autosport editorial Motorsport Network

Media UK Ltd 151 Wardour Street London, W1F 8WB

@ E-mail autosport@ autosport.com

Visit our website

autosport.com

Twitter twitter.com/ autosport

Facebook facebook.com/

autosport

Instagram instagram.com/

autosport

YouTube youtube.com/ AUTOSPORTdotcom

Cover image Simon Galloway; Andy Hone/Motorsport Images

PIT & PADDOCK 4 Haas pays Uralkali after scare 6 WRC picks finalists for prize drive 8 Isotta Fraschini withdraws from WEC 11 Italian Grand Prix preview 12 Opinion: Alex Kalinauckas 13 Guest column: Luke Browning

RACE CENTRE 14 Dutch GP report and analysis 30 Best of the Silverstone Festival 38 Roller coaster ride for BTCC title rivals 44 World of Sport: IndyCar; ELMS; GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup; IMSA; Porsche Supercup; Super Formula; F1 Academy; NASCAR Cup; Indy NXT

FEATURES 52 International rallying returns to the UK 56 Rali Ceredigion preview: what to watch

CLUB AUTOSPORT 65 Monza joins GB3 calendar for 2025 66 Loggie and Keen to swap to Porsche 68 Encouraging debut for Phantom racer 71 Opinion: Stefan Mackley 72 National reports: Donington Park;

Brands Hatch; Snetterton; Castle Combe

FINISHING STRAIGHT 78 What’s on this week 80 From the archive: 1958 British GP 82 My favourite car: Pedro de la Rosa

Visit autosport.com for other ways to read Britain’s best motorsport weekly

29 AUGUST 2024 AUTOSPORT.COM 3