darren, Author at Octane Photography

Mar 18

by darren in The Feed 0 comments tags: Formula1, Lawson, Red Bull

Five race development plan for Red Bulls Lawson

The Australian Grand Prix didn’t go to plan for Liam Lawson but Helmut Marko won’t pass judgement on the Red Bull rookie until he’s completed “three to five” races with the senior team. Promoted to Red Bull for the F1 2025 championship after 11 Grands Prix with the junior team over two seasons, Marko made it clear before the campaign that Lawson’s job was to “help” Max Verstappen win the titles for Red Bull. Alas, Race One didn’t go to plan. Lawson was knocked out in Q1 at the Albert Park circuit after aborting his final flying lap in Q1 when a wayward moment through Turn 10 was compounded by a slide at the penultimate corner. Down in 18th place on the grid and with rain forecast for the Grand Prix, Red Bull bolted a different specification rear wing and rear beam wing onto the New Zealander’s car but it came to nought. Lawson added his name to the list of non-finishers when he crashed late in the race, the Red Bull driver one of four rookies who didn’t see the chequered flag along Isack Hadjar, Jack Doohan and Gabriel Bortoleto. Spinning off on his slick tyres as others pitted […]

Mar 17

by darren in Track 0 comments tags: Formula1, Shanghai, Verstappen

Shanghai On-Board Lap with Max Verstappen

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing F1 takes us for a lap around the Shanghai International Circuit during Qualifying for the 2024 Chinese Grand Prix

Mar 17

by darren in Crash 0 comments tags: Ericsson, Formula1, Sauber

Ericsson crash 2018 Italian Grand Prix

Marcus Ericsson walked away relatively unscathed after losing control at 220mph during practice for the Italian Grand Prix on Friday. Ericsson’s Sauber hit a wall and rolled three times after it appeared his DRS failed to close under braking. The car came to a standstill the right way up and Ericsson was helped out of his car by marshals and taken to Monza’s medical centre.

Mar 16

by darren in The Feed 0 comments tags: Formula1, McLaren, Piastri

Piastri brutally honest after spin at F1 Australian Grand Prix

Oscar Piastri placed the blame on himself after a dramatic spin into the grass at the F1 Australian Grand Prix. His McLaren teammate Lando Norris won the 2025 season-opener in Melbourne. McLaren might have completed a one-two finish, justifying the pre-race hype around their pace, until Piastri’s nightmare moment on his home turf. On Lap 44, a rain shower caused Piastri to get out of shape at Turn 12. He found himself in the grass and had to reverse his car back into the race, where he rejoined in 13th. Piastri superbly recovered to finish ninth but his home grand prix was ruined by the brief error. “It’s obviously pretty disappointing,” he told Sky Sports. “I feel like, in every lap apart from one, I drove a strong race. It’s a shame not to have a result to show for it. “I don’t have anyone to blame but myself. “I think it was unfortunate to get stuck. But it was only myself that put me there. I am disappointed.” Piastri added: “The positive was the other 56 laps. I felt that I had strong pace in all conditions. “That’s what I’ll try to take away from this race. “The team made the […]

Mar 13

by darren in The Feed 0 comments tags: AMC, MotoGP, Stoner

Stoner elevated to Legend as new Hall of Fame inductees revealed

A touched Casey Stoner admits he “does not feel worthy” of being elevated to Legend status as David Sera, Chris Matheson, Chad Reed and John Sidney have all been recognised as the latest inductees of the Australian Motorsport Hall of Fame. One of Australia’s best ever on two wheels, Casey Stoner has joined illustrious company having been upgraded to Legend status. As a result Stoner joins an exclusive club alongside the very best such as fellow world champions Sir Jack Brabham, Alan Jones, and Mick Doohan. In the space of just six years, Stoner rode into the history books as one of the best ever to take on MotoGP. He famously rode Ducati to its first title in 2007 before moving to Honda and also tasting the ultimate at the first time of asking in 2011. All up took 38 Grand Prix victories from 2006-2012, highlighted by six straight wins in front of his adoring fans at Phillip Island. Doohan was on hand to welcome Stoner to the Legend’s club and the 21st century star was shocked by the honour. “You grow up watching these great people who paved the way and Mick was someone I looked up to immensely […]

Mar 11

by darren in The Feed 0 comments tags: Blanchard, Cameron, Supercars

Cameron replaces Love at Blanchard

Aaron Cameron will replace Aaron Love at Blanchard Racing Team for this weekend’s Australian Grand Prix round, the Ford squad has confirmed. BRT dropped a bombshell just three days out from the commencement of track action at the MSS Security Melbourne SuperSprint, with Love and the team splitting. In a team statement, 22-year-old Love and BRT had mutually agreed to part ways, effective immediately. Love has since been replaced by Cameron, who finished runner-up in the 2024 Dunlop Super2 Series with Kelly Racing, winning in Bathurst and Adelaide. Cameron’s Super2 efforts also earned him the Mike Kable Young Gun Award. The Victorian didn’t return to Super2 in 2025, instead making a surprise switch to Formula Regional Middle East Championship in the summer. After the short open-wheel season, Cameron returned to Australia and was trackside with BRT in CoolDrive colours at the opening round in Sydney. The 25-year-old, who hails from Ferntree Gully in Victoria, will make his first solo Supercars start on home soil on the world stage this weekend’s Australian Grand Prix. In a BRT statement, Cameron said the call-up was “unexpected,” but affirmed he was ready to race. Cameron has already steered Blanchard Racing Team machinery in 2025, sampling one of the […]

Mar 10

by darren in The Feed 0 comments tags: Blanchard, Love, Supercars

Love and Blanchard Racing Team part ways

Aaron Love and Blanchard Racing Team have parted ways in a sudden driver-team split on the eve of the upcoming MSS Security Melbourne SuperSprint. Love will not contest the second round of the 2025 Repco Supercars Championship, with driver and team parting ways effective immediately. In a brief statement, BRT said the decision came at the request of Love himself, who made his debut with the Ford squad as it expanded to two cars in 2024. The Perth-born driver sits 23rd in the drivers’ standings after Sydney, where he finished 24th, 16th and 25th. The BRT statement reads: “At the request of Aaron Love, Blanchard Racing Team and Aaron Love have mutually agreed to part ways, effective immediately.” Aaron Cameron, who was an enduro driver for the team alongside Love last year, was later announced as the new driver of the #3 CoolDrive Ford Mustang. Cameron impressed last year, finishing second in the Dunlop Super2 Series with Kelly Racing with wins in Bathurst and Adelaide, while completing a triple-stint aboard Love’s car in the Great Race. Cameron didn’t return to Super2 in 2025, and was on the ground with BRT in Sydney in CoolDrive colours. Love’s future is now uncertain, with the […]

Mar 08

by darren in The Feed 0 comments tags: Formula1, Red Bull, Tsunoda

Honda distances itself from Tsunoda

The manufacturer has clarified that Tsunoda is “fundamentally an independent driver” with sponsorship from Honda, and that it no longer needs to negotiate deals for him. If Yuki Tsunoda and his new management were hoping to receive a helping hand from Honda as Tsunoda builds a case to remain in Formula 1, the mood music coming from HQ isn’t promising. As a member of Honda’s driver programme, Tsunoda was fast-tracked through the European junior single-seater ladder, making his F1 debut in 2021 with the team then known as AlphaTauri. At the time it was politically expedient for Red Bull to take a Honda-supported driver since it was trying to keep the manufacturer engaged in F1 after an expensive spend to reach competitiveness – and much bad PR during its abortive comeback with McLaren. But now the landscape has shifted: Honda is realigning itself with Aston Martin, Red Bull is pivoting back towards building its own engines, albeit with Ford sponsorship, and Tsunoda is entering his fifth season in F1 having failed to convince Red Bull he is worth promoting to partner Max Verstappen in its senior team. And the message to him from Honda is: you’re on your own. “He [Tsunoda] needs to […]

Mar 08

by darren in The Feed 0 comments tags: KRE, Supercars

KRE signs exclusive GM Supercars engine deal

Supercars’ engine supply tug-of-war is at an end with KRE Race Engines signing an exclusive agreement with General Motors. The Ken McNamara-run KRE is the single engine supplier to Camaro teams. Motorsport Powertrains — which is owned and run by Dick Johnson Racing — supplies engines to Ford teams. Questions over KRE’s engine supply future were raised after current General Motors homologation squad Triple Eight Race Engineering announced its move to Ford from 2026. Triple Eight had declared KRE would take on the Ford engine supply from 2026 when it announced its own switch to the Blue Oval back in January. That was met with heavy resistance from GM, Supercars and various teams in the paddock. McNamara has now shut down the saga by signing an exclusive GM contract, which covers the 2025 and ’26 seasons. The news has been trumpeted by GM in a brief statement from local Chevrolet Racing boss Chris Payne. “We believe that the powertrain is a critical part of the DNA in the sport of Supercars, and that the fans want to see that aspect of the competition continue with strong brand differentiation,” said Payne. “We look forward to working with and extending our relationship […]

Mar 05

by darren in The Feed 0 comments tags: Supercars, Toyota

Toyota in second Supercars team talks

Toyota believes it is closing in on its second Supercars team despite the complicating factor of the GM homologation team saga. The Japanese carmaker has been working to a clear plan for its entry to Supercars next season which involves there being four new Supras on the grid. Two will come from homologation outfit Walkinshaw Andretti United with a second yet-to-be-appointed team to run the other two. Following the Toyota announcement there was a flurry of interest in the second Toyota ‘slot’ with Team 18 quickly emerging as the favourite to land a Supra deal. That has since been deeply complicated by Triple Eight’s impending defection to Ford, which has given GM the carrot of homologation duties to shop around to its current line-up. That too has seemingly piqued Team 18’s interest with the squad being touted as a frontrunner along with PremiAir Racing. It could be that whichever doesn’t end up as the GM HT will switch to Toyota. Not that Toyota’s marketing boss Sean Hanley, who has driven the Supercars program, is worried about what GM may have to offer its teams. “We can only control what we control,” he told Speedcafe. “We had no knowledge of anything that was happening […]