Max Verstappen shone under the lights to take the first pole position of the season, his first back-to-back pole in his career.
What looked to be a dramatic showdown between Mercedes and Red Bull did not disappoint, both teams swapping places at the top of the time sheets all session.
After running wide on the penultimate corner in (Q1), a piece of carbon fibre came loose on Verstappen’s car, causing doubt as to whether the car would suffer as a result.
However, the Flying Dutchman took the fastest time by almost four tenths of a second, clinching pole and will also have the advantage of starting on the mediums, having set his fastest time on the compounds in (Q2).
Max Verstappen is the first non-Mercedes driver to take pole on F1’s opening weekend since Sebastian Vettel in 2013.
Lewis Hamilton had to eventually settle for second alongside Valterri Bottas who starts third.
Interestingly, if Verstappen, Hamilton and Bottas finish on the podium together, they will be tie the record for most appearances on the podium as a trio (14), currently held by Hamilton, Rosberg and Vettel.
The other superstars of qualifying were Charles Leclerc and Pierre Gasly who qualified in fourth and fifth respectively. Importantly, the Alpha Tauri driver will start the race on the medium tyres giving him a massive advantage on a track known for high degradation. Additionally, the Scuderia will see this as a sign of improvement and a turn of fortune for the coming season.
Courtesy of Alpha Tauri
Daniel Ricciardo impressed on his first outing in McLaren in sixth, outqualifying his teammate Lando Norris in seventh. Carlos Sainz, who set the fastest time of (Q2) failed to improve on his first run and will line up in eight.
Fernando Alonso reached (Q3) for the first time since Monaco ’18 – a fantastic achievement for the returning two-time world champion. Alonso’s teammate Esteban Ocon failed to escape (Q1) in 16th. Lance Stroll in the Aston Martin rounded out the top ten.
Sergio Perez failed to reach (Q3) and will start in 11th, but importantly with a free tyre choice for tomorrow’s race. Other notable mentions should include an improved Alfa Romeo who finished a respectable twelfth with Antonio Giovinazzi and 12th with Kimi Raikkonen 14th.
Sebastian Vettel had a difficult first outing for his new team Aston Martin going out in 18th place, Japan’s Yuki Tsunoda, the 20-year-old at his first F1 meeting put in a good run with 13th for AlphaTauri. George Russell was 15th for Williams, with his teammate Nicholas Latifi 17th.
Mick Schumacher, the 22-year-old son of seven-time world champion Michael, acquitted himself well on his F1 debut, keeping it clean in a very uncompetitive Haas. He was in 19th place, beating teammate Nikita Mazepin into 20th, who brought out multiple yellow flags in (Q1).
Hitech’s Liam Lawson opened his rookie Formula 2 season with a dominant win in the first Bahrain sprint race, holding the lead throughout after taking it at the start.
Lawson got a rapid start from third on the grid to get past fellow rookies David Beckmann and Theo Pourchaire, who started first. Pourchaire briefly dropped down to third behind Beckmann, but recovered by the end of the lap to retake second place. Just behind them, Jehan Daruvala jumped Oscar Piastri for fourth.
Lawson’s attempt to break clear of DRS range from Pourchaire was briefly halted on lap 3, when Marcus Armstrong’s DAMS stopped on track to bring out the virtual safety car. But by lap 6, Lawson pulled a second clear of Pourchaire for the first time and went on to build a gap in clean air.
As Pourchaire dropped back from the lead, he started coming under pressure from Daruvala, who’d passed Beckmann for third on lap 11. But on lap 13 Pourchaire suddenly slowed with a mechanical problem, gifting Daruvala second as he dropped out of the points and eventually stopped on track.
Now in pursuit of the lead, Daruvala looked to have much better tyres than Lawson. On his first lap in second, Daruvala took half a second out of the lead as his rival struggled for grip. Lawson then had a big lock up on lap 17, which brought Daruvala to within half a second of the Hitech.
But despite being in DRS range, Daruvala was ultimately unable to get close enough to Lawson to make a move for the lead. Lawson held on to win by 0.7 seconds over Daruvala, with Beckmann taking third on his F2 debut.
David Beckmann, Charouz (Joe Portlock, Formula Motorsport Limited via Getty Images / courtesy of FIA Formula 2)
Robert Shwartzman took fourth ahead of Piastri, after battling through the field from his starting position of 11th. Christian Lundgaard and Guanyu Zhou were sixth and seventh, and Dan Ticktum took the final point in eighth after being demoted by a time penalty for spinning around Richard Verschoor early on.
Lirim Zendelli finished ninth but took two points for the fastest lap, and Juri Vips finished tenth to start on pole for the second sprint race.
The Formula 2 grid will take to the track this weekend in Bahrain, for the opening round of the 2021 championship.
It only feels like yesterday that Mick Schumacher was crowned the 2020 F2 champion, but a lot has changed since the series left Bahrain last December. For starters, there’s a new race weekend format for the teams and drivers to get their heads around this year.
Instead of a Saturday feature race and Sunday sprint race, the F2 weekend will now feature three races — two sprint events on Saturday, and a feature before Sunday’s F1 Grand Prix. Friday qualifying will still determine the feature race grid, while the first sprint race grid will be set by reversing the top ten from qualifying. The starting positions for the second sprint race will then be a reverse of the first race’s top ten finishers.
Robert Shwartzman, Prema (Courtesy of Prema Racing)
The weekend format might be different though, but for the eleven drivers returning to F2 this year, the goal of winning the championship and reaching F1 remains the same. And of those drivers, Robert Shwartzman is going to come to Bahrain with the most expectation on his shoulders.
In his rookie season last year, Shwartzman took the most wins of the field, helped Prema to the teams’ title, and was in championship contention himself for most of the season. He’s already proven he’s quick in Bahrain — one of his four wins last year came in the sprint race there — so Shwartzman will be the one with the target on his back in the opening round.
But there are plenty more drivers from the class of 2020 who will be out to prove this weekend that it’s not all about Shwartzman. Jehan Daruvala and Dan Ticktum have a great chance of opening the year with a win, as their Carlin team had rapid pace in Bahrain last year. Watch out for Marcus Armstrong too, who was also quick here last year and is starting a new partnership with DAMS.
And lastly, Felipe Drugovich will be a driver with plenty of attention on him in the opening round. After being one of last year’s revelations, the Brazilian has earned himself a move to UNI-Virtuosi alongside Guanyu Zhou and the perfect chance to prove he can challenge the likes of Shwartzman for the title.
Dan Ticktum, Carlin (Michael Regan, Formula Motorsport Limited via Getty Images / Courtesy of FIA Formula 2)
But while the returning field is strong, they’ll have a real fight on their hands to keep ahead of an equally impressive crop of rookies.
One of those new faces will be the 2020 Formula 3 champion and Alpine F1 junior Oscar Piastri. Coming into F2 with Prema, Piastri is expected to be a natural title contender this year — and if his F3 days are anything to go by, he won’t be taking any time at all to get his campaign underway.
Piastri isn’t the only rookie looking to impress an F1 academy, though. Hitech is fielding an all-Red Bull junior lineup this year with Juri Vips and Liam Lawson, both of whom were consistently rapid in pre-season testing.
A lot of the spotlight will fall on Vips after he made his F2 debut last year substituting for Sean Gelael in four rounds, and scored a podium at Mugello. But Lawson is no slouch either — he was a multiple race winner with Hitech in F3 last year, and is every bit as quick as Vips.
And then there’s Theo Pourchaire. Like Vips, Sauber F1 junior Pourchaire made his F2 debut in a handful of rounds last year — including Bahrain — before a full campaign for 2021. He came within three points of snatching the F3 title away from Piastri last year and has been widely tipped as a future F1 star. Driving for ART this year, he’ll be with a team capable of challenging for podiums and wins right from the off.
But as Drugovich showed last year, it’s not just the F1 juniors to watch for. Between Formula Regional European champion Gianluca Petecof, F3 race winners Lirim Zendelli, David Beckmann and Bent Viscaal, and F3 podium finishers Richard Verschoor and Matteo Nannini, there are plenty of lightning-fast rookies coming in under the radar this weekend.
For the second year running, Albert Park in Melbourne finds itself unable to host the Formula One curtain-raiser, so instead the circus rolls back to the scene of the pre-season test – the 5.4 kilometre Sakhir International Circuit.
The venue played host to two races at the back end of last year, meaning that F1 has spent a lot of time here over the course of the last three months, but this now is set to be our last visit to Bahrain for at least a year.
Just as the two races last year, there is a sense of anticipation that this year’s edition will be an exhilarating one to watch.
Red Bull and Max Verstappen looked exceptional in pre-season testing, while Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton looked decidedly average, leading many to believe that we have a title fight on our hands this season.
Mercedes believe the impressive Red Bull and Max Verstappen are the favourites this year – Courtesy of Red Bull Content Pool
Conversely, however, Mercedes have a history of “sandbagging” in testing – take 2019 for example – so exactly how much validity Red Bull’s title credentials have will be revealed when the cars are properly unleashed for the first time in qualifying on Saturday, but the outlook is certainly positive for Red Bull. Let’s not forget of course that Red Bull’s new driver Sergio Perez won the second of the two races last year for Racing Point.
While Mercedes did not look brilliant in testing, they are expected to show a lot more pace this weekend – Courtesy of Mercedes Media
Looking further down the grid, the midfield yet again promises to be a dramatic one. Fernando Alonso’s new-look Alpine team sport an eye-catching new engine cover, and they hope to achieve an equally flamboyant championship finish, but they face stiff competition from McLaren, Ferrari and potentially Aston Martin for what has become a coveted third spot.
Alonso’s return not only coincides with Renault’s transformation to Alpine, but also Racing Point’s re-brand as Aston Martin. They looked shaky in the test in Bahrain, with Sebastian Vettel completing the second-lowest tally of laps last weekend.
Fernando Alonso makes his much-anticipated debut for Alpine this weekend – Courtesy of Alpine Racing Media
Bahrain will be the first of 23 races in 2021, but this calendar has already been adversely affected by the Coronavirus pandemic, so just how this year will shape up remains to be seen.
One thing that is certain for now, though, is that Sakhir will play host to its third F1 race in four months this weekend, and we can get the long-awaited 2021 season underway
It’s all change for Team Dynamics as they sign a new driver, gain a title sponsor, and lose another as title sponsor Yuasa have left the team after ten glorious years in the British Touring Car Championship.
After news broke of Dan Rowbottom taking the second Honda seat alongside the returning Gordon Shedden, it was confirmed that Cataclean, a partner of Rowbottom would become a sponsor of the team alongside the long-standing Halfords.
Rowbottom made his BTCC debut in 2019 with Ciceley Motorsport, and after sitting out 2020, he returns after a ‘lifeline’ from one of the sport’s most famous names.
Rowbottom had a season in BTCC in 2019 with Ciceley Motorsport. (Image Credit: BTCC Media)
“I was thrown a bit of a lifeline with a call from Matt Neal suggesting we should get together and have a chat about the future! To be honest it was a real ‘pinch yourself moment’ one moment no racing, then next I had the main man of BTCC suggesting that it might be possible to join Team Dynamics,” Rowbottom stated in a press release on his website.
Neal was happy to have Rowbottom in the team and will play a more mentoring role in his development. “It’s great to have Dan join the team, he’s got previous experience in the BTCC, so he knows what to expect and how competitive it is. I know he has set himself some pretty realistic, yet tough goals and I’ll be there to help and mentor him and make sure we achieve the best results we can for him and for the team”
Dynamics and Yuasa is one of the most successful partnerships in the history of the BTCC. (Image Credit: BTCC Media)
This therefore means Yuasa leave the team, after 11 trophy laden seasons with Team Dynamics. In a press release from the battery brand, they stated: ‘During their 10 years (11 seasons) in the sport, Yuasa has enjoyed phenomenal success with the team and their drivers Matt Neal, Gordon Shedden and Dan Cammish.
‘With Yuasa’s backing Matt and Gordon both became three-time BTCC champions, and Dan narrowly missed out on his first BTCC title at nail biting season finale in 2019. In fact, since the relationship began in 2010 Yuasa and Team Dynamics have shared a phenomenal 78 race wins, 232 podiums, 4 drivers’ championships, 5 teams and 5 manufacturers titles.’
This of course means Matt Neal won’t be on the grid next year, but he is expected to remain heavily involved in the team and the garage.
In preparation for the upcoming NTT IndyCar Season, the series is giving fans and participants a pre-season reason to be excited in the upcoming months as it revives the IndyCar iRacing Challenge.
As it did when the pandemic began, the series expects to play host to many of the current crop of IndyCar drivers which starts Thursday 18th March. The iRacing Challenge will be streamed live on INDYCAR.com, the series’ Youtube channel and Facebook page while you can also find exclusive content via the drivers personal social media and Twitch accounts.
This three-race series, will kick off March 18th on the (VIRTUAL) Circuit Giles Villeneuve circuit of Montreal, followed a week later at Homestead Miami Speedway. The series will culminate on April 1st on a soon-to-be announced circuit which will be decided by fan-vote.
Drivers expected to take part will be IndyCar rookie and Australian Supercar Champion Scott McLauglhin,as well as his Penske teammates Simon Pagenaud, Will Power and Josef Newgarden. Joining them is expected to be Ryan Hunter-Reay, Takuma Sato, Felix Rosenqvist, Graham Rahal, Ed Carpenter, Pato O’Ward, Alex Palou, Ed Carpenter, Conor Daly and ex-Formula 1 driver Romain Grosjean.
Each driver’s strategists and engineers are invited to participate in the event to help their drivers.
INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA – MAY 02: (EDITORIAL USE ONLY) (Editors note: This image was computer generated in-game) Scott McLaughlin, driver of the #40 PIRTEK Team Penske Dallara, races during the IndyCar iRacing Challenge First Responder 175 at virtual Indianapolis Motor Speedway on May 02, 2020 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
Romain Grosjean spoke with great excitement about the opportunity to race against his future competitors in the virtual world.
“I love the circuit. It’s one of the best,” he said. “Actually, it could be a circuit that fits the real IndyCar Series. (iRacing) did such a nice job and taking it to the next level. It is tough to go fast. It takes hours of practice, and we get so competitive. You think it’s just a video game, and then we spend eight, nine, 10 hours of practice for a short race. We are competitors, and we want to win. We are going to push it and try as hard as we can. It’s going to be great fun.”
The 2020 iRacing Challenge went down fantastically with motorsport fans around the world, praising it for its star-studded driver line-up, competitiveness, and realism. Scott McLaughlin took last years’ championship following a chaotic and infamous race at the Indianapolis International Speedway. You may remember it involving a certain Lando Norris and Simon Pagenaud.
Each race will begin streaming at 6:30pm (ET) / 10:30pm (GMT) – If you need something to ‘wet the whistle’ before the first IndyCar race at Birmingham, Alabama April 18th – be sure not to miss.
There are talented racers in Moto GP and then there are those who seem to be born to race. Ones that stand out from the crowd. Marc Marquez is one of those riders. With his natural ability, his intelligence, understanding of racing and his wonderful family support behind him, culminate to an unstoppable force.
Courtesy of: MichelinMotorsport.com
Born February 1993, in Cerevera, Spain. Marquez has always gravitated towards a career in Motorcycle racing. Thriving from his family’s love and encouragement, Marc has gone on to be a phenomenon in his own right. He has shown audiences worldwide that he has the passion, courage and correct character that all great champions need.
Starting off racing competitively in the Catalan and Spanish National Championships Marquez went on to race in the 125’s. Only six races into his first season he scored his first podium. Learning how to use the bike to his full advantage, he carried on this momentum into his second season in 2009. Finishing in the top 10.
2010 became the first actual taste of Marquez’s true talent. Winning the 125 championship, just 17 years and 263 days old. The second youngest 125 champion after Loris Capirossi, who was just 17 years and 165 days old.
Progressing into the Moto 2 class in 2011, Marquez only took one season to learn, conquering in 2012, becoming the new world champion.
Not wishing to carry on in Moto 2, Marquez then progressed again, this time to the Premier Class. Showing his determination to be a Moto GP champion, he won his first race on the Honda, in only the second race of the season in Texas, a new track for Moto GP. It was here that he also became the youngest ever pole setter, the youngest ever race winner of the top class at just 20 years and 62 days and he completed the full set with the fastest lap, a superb achievement.
He was soon breaking all the youngest ever records and setting new ones. In only his first year he managed the impossible – winning the entire championship, by only 4 points, over Jorge Lorenzo. The first time a rookie had won since 1978 (Kenny Roberts Snr). Becoming the youngest ever World Champion at 20 years and 266 days and the youngest rider to win back-to-back Grand Prix races in the Premier Class at Laguna Seca and Sachsenring.
Putting any doubters to rest, saying that he would only be a one-time champion, he won back-to-back seasons in 2014, securing victory with three races to spare. Setting new records for the most wins in a season as well as most pole positions in a year and beating Mick Doohan’s record of twelve race wins in one season. The same year saw his younger brother Alex also win a title, in Moto 3.
Winning five races and retiring in six, Marquez found himself finishing third overall in 2015, having not been able to match the consistency of Yamaha team-mates Rossi and Lorenzo. Having three collisions on-track with Rossi, controversy about his “aggressive riding style” drew criticism, yet again, from his fellow riders, namely Rossi with whom he had battled numerous times for the championship. Some racing fans turned against Marquez, even booing him on the podium, but things soon settled down again when Rossi and Marquez embraced in parc ferme after the race which followed the tragic death of Moto 2 rider Luis Salom.
Despite not winning the 2015 title, Marquez was still putting himself firmly in the history books. Becoming the first rider to win six consecutive races at one track – Sachsenring – his most successful track.
Courtesy of: Motorsport.com. A seemingly impossible save
However, having this set back in 2015 spurred him on to win in 2016 and once again be crowned Moto GP World Champion, in Japan. The culmination of new Michelin tyres and new bike restriction rules saw audiences witness nine race winners during this season.
Struggling at the start of the 2017 championship, Honda decided they needed to find a suitable set-up for Marc’s personal riding style. They soon found it and he went on to win the races at Germany, Czech Republic, Misano and Australia. Dovizioso, who was his closest rival that year, kept the championship alive up to the final round, but ultimately Marquez held onto his title.
Courtesy of: Asphalt & rubber.com. Soaking up the championship win.
With history repeating itself the following year, Dovizioso seemed to be Marquez’s main on-track rival in 2018, but several crashes ruled out his contention to be Moto GP Champion and Marquez once again won the title. This same year Dani Pedrosa, Marc’s team mate decided to retire, he was replaced by fellow countryman Jorge Lorenzo.
Marquez won eleven races in 2019, sealing victory with an impressive four rounds left until the end of the season. This was now his sixth Premier Class Championship title, having only been in the top-class for the past seven years. He has become the youngest rider in the history of Moto GP to win seven World Championships and the youngest rider to have won five premier-class titles. At the end of 2019 Lorenzo also retired, leading the way for Marquez’s younger brother Alex to partner up with him at Honda.
Courtesy of: Motorsport.com. Celebrating the 2019 win with brother Alex.
This team looked to be the perfect match, with the brothers being so close, they would share everything and hopefully bring both sides of the Honda garage together.
However, this was not to be. Having done so many impossible saves, Marc was unable to save his bike and had a very heavy crash in just the first race of the new season, in Qatar on lap 20 and broke a bone in his arm. This resulted in him having to miss the entire year. Having gone under numerous surgeries since the accident, he is determined to come back strong and fighting again in 2021.
Hopefully we will witness the same Marc Marquez we have grown to admire. With his unique racing style and positive attitude, there surely will be more records set and broken.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen set the pace as pre-season testing came to an end on day three, as Alpha Tauri’s Yuki Tsunoda sprung a surprise to finish second.
Japanese driver Yuki Tsunoda impressed with a second-placed finish – Courtesy of Red Bull content pool
The second session on day three brought some more big names into play, with the likes of Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso, Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen joining the fray.
Early doors, Alpha Tauri’s Yuki Tsunoda went for a spin through the chicane at turns six and seven, but left the incident completely undeterred, going on to set a an exceptional 91 laps.
Kimi Raikkonen, who completed 91 laps in the earlier session, briefly occupied top spot before being displaced once more by the scintillating Dutchman Verstappen. The Finn took his tally up to 166 for the day.
The second session saw seven drivers topple the Sergio Perez lap that led the opening three hours of the day. The slightly cooler conditions as night began to fall allowed for more ideal one-lap conditions.
The Ferrari of Carlos Sainz struggled with gearbox issues midway through the session, but recovered to put the Prancing horse into the top three, six tenths off the pace.
Carlos Sainz has looked on good form ahead of his first season with Ferrari – Courtesy of Scuderia Ferrari Media
Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel had to abandon a long run to allow the team to make some significant changes to the body of the car; he ended the day 17th fastest.
Mercedes’ unexpected struggles persisted, as Lewis Hamilton contrived to finish the day fifth fastest overall, seemingly fighting to the tame a volatile back-end; it is an issue over which his team mate Valtteri Bottas has been outspoken during the three days of testing.
The session ended dramatically, with Carlos Sainz and Kimi Raikkonen reportedly making contact into turn 10 – an indication that nobody can wait for the real racing to get going in two weeks’ time.
On a day in which Formula One was looking forward to the final day of testing and the anticipated start of the season, we were instead hit with the mourning of Formula One legend Murray Walker. The former F1 commentator and “voice of F1” passed way on Saturday, tainting what was to be an exciting day of F1 action.
On track though, it was back to business. The first half of the session was largely dominated by low fuel, quick-paced runs, before the teams began to switch their focus to long-run pace. The swelteringly hot conditions were not conducive to running the soft tyres, prompting the majority of the runners to use the medium and hard compound tyres.
It was Sergio Perez, with 48 laps, who topped the timing sheets at the end of the session with a 1:30.1. He took the lead from Charles Leclerc, before lowering the lap time after bolting on a fresh set of softs.
In a largely uneventful three hours, a big back-end loss for George Russel and some skittish front and back-end moments for Mick Schumacher proved the most entertainment for the morning. Red Bull meanwhile, with Mexican Sergio Perez in the car, looked far more swift to get onto the leaders’ pace than they have in previous years, with Perez exchanging fastest lap times with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc with just over 90 minutes gone. The Monegasque driver set impressively consistent lap times, chartering 80 in total by the end of the morning session.
Charles Leclerc set the second fastest lap of the morning session, nothing up 80 laps in the process – Courtesy of Scuderia Ferrari Media
Valtteri Bottas and Lance Stroll were the first drivers of the session to surpass the race distance 57 laps, with the Finnish Mercedes driver completing the champions’ most laps in any session so far this test. It was as much progress as it was an indictment of what has been a surprisingly difficult three days for Mercedes. Bottas and Stroll set 86 and 80 laps respectively.
Valtteri Bottas’s 86 laps were an improvement on an otherwise unimpressive test for Mercedes so far – Courtesy of Mercedes Media
But it was Kimi Raikkonen, who set a brilliant 91 laps, who topped the lap counter, in spite of a ninth place finish by the end of the running. He spent the morning focusing on long run pace, along with Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll, who was 10th.
The news that Murray Walker had died aged 97 was as heart-breaking as it was sudden, but he was a man who lived a long, excellent life – and he spent it entertaining and inspiring generations.
The more you look at the fallout from Murray’s passing, the more you realise that it was not just British fans that treasured the voice of Formula One, but the death of such a lovely human being is being mourned by motorsport fans around the world.
Murray was the voice of some of the most amazing moments in the history of Formula One and motorcycle racing; he even provided his emotive and unmistakable voice to the British Touring Car Championship too.
Honestly though, so much adulation and collective sentiment for a perpetual hero of Formula One cannot be summed up by one person in an article. Murray produced some infamous quotes, provided notoriously emotional soundtracks to some of the most incredible moments in motorsport, and touched the lives of many, so we thought we should include some thoughts from all of us here at the PitCrew Online.
Image Courtesy of Ian McWilliams
For me, Murray Walker was, and always will be, the voice of Formula 1. I grew up listening to Murray and loved the way he could convey the excitement of F1 and his absolute passion for the sport. My fondest memory is of Damon Hill crossing the finishing line and winning the championship when he says he has a lump in his throat making you realise he had known Damon as a man and boy and obviously knew Damon’s father, Graham. – Karen
“I watched, F1 in the 80s, wanted to be a racing driver, then i choose more boring things, anyhoo. James and Murray guided me through F1, with James’s hate of slow back markers, and Murray’s enthusiastic and over optimistic ‘comms’. Oh and he had the curse all right, Australia’86 will stick in many peoples’ heads. Talking of heads. I’m sure Damon and Nigel, have forgiven him many moons ago. “Oh and he had the commentator’s curse all right” – Taras
RIP Murray.
My favourite moment was the 1998 Belgian GP at spa when Murray commentated on the biggest accident in F1 history on lap one, he showed genuine shock and concern for the drivers involved. He nearly jumped out of his chair when Michael Schumacher rear-ended David Coulthard in the rain, then saw Damon Hill and Ralph Schumacher secure the Jordan team’s first ever win and one-two in one of the most exciting and unforgettable races ever. Murray was not just a commentator he was a real F1 fan and that is why so many people loved him, he was captivating to listen to and embodied the essence and excitement of racing. – Mandy
Murray Walker is synonymous with Formula One. In fact, he IS Formula One. He was always more than just a commentator: He was the friendly voice that encouraged you into the sport, he was the passionate fan that infected you with his enthusiasm and he was an orator capable of wonderful storytelling. He was a man that simply wanted to share his love for motorsport with the rest of the world, and we thank him for that. We will miss you Murray. – Adam Wheeler
Mine and many others’ first voice of F1. The only voice of F1 for some. Murray Walker was a treasure to me, to Formula One and to Great Britain as a whole. An imperfect genius behind the microphone, and we’ll never see his like again. – Jack Prentice
As a small boy mum used to sit me down in front of the TV whenever Murray was on, it was the only way to keep me still and quiet, he’s literally responsible for my life’s greatest passion!
Thanks for all the amazing memories and for giving me a love of motorsports that is such a big part of my life. – Simon Tassie
RIP, Murray
My Murray Walker Memories
When I think of Murray Walker, I don’t just think of Formula One, but also British Rally Cross and the British Touring Car Championship. He was THE motorsport commentator, and his style was utterly unique! I discovered motorsport in my late teens, and by the end of 1991 was following the WRC, BTCC and Formula One. Murray was commentating on the BTCC and Formula One for the BBC and this meant that you would hear Murray’s commentary throughout the year as the races came and went.
He retired from commentating during the 2001 Formula One season, but remained a much-loved man, and would pop up from time to time with great interviews with the drivers and other characters from the motorsport community.
As we’ve seen, he will be massively missed by everyone. My thoughts are with his family and friends – Thank you for sharing him with us. – Warren Nel
Growing up in South Africa, Murray was the voice to an F1 world that we could only see on television. He made me feel connected to this world that was so far away (as a child I felt that way) and is the reason my love of F1 grew. He was and will always be the voice of the greatest sport ever and the voice I always hear in my head at lights out. – Rhea Morar
Murray was the best of us. His child-like enthusiasm was infectious; it resonated with us all. It was Murray who said that those who can do and those can talk about it, which is true to all of us who contribute to the PitCrew Online. Murray laid the foundations so we could run, and we are all eternally grateful. Murray’s unrivaled passion for racing has driven every single one of us. Thank you for everything Murray – Luca Munro
As a kid growing up my parents bought me a VHS – Murray’s Magic Moments. I watched it again and again, enthralled by his infectious commentary over some of F1’s most iconic moments. So much so that I know quote them verbatim when I see them on TV. Murray Walker was more than just a commentator, he was a fan first and foremost, and brought that passion to millions around the world. He’s an icon and a pillar of motorsport. His BTCC commentary is also hugely popular and something I love watching again and again. Sleep tight Murray, a gentleman and in a world of egos, his humble nature and passionate commentary will live on. “And now I’ve got to stop, cause I’ve got a lump in my throat.” – Aaron Irwin
Murray was the voice of F1 across the world not only the UK; he was just a legend in motorsport. The word legend at times is used too frequently, but I grew up listening to his iconic voice and murrayisms like ‘Go Go Go!’ He, in my view, should be immortalised at Silverstone on the national circuit as he was there when it all began! His legacy will continue to inspire all; he was truly unparalleled in knowledge and how to put it through the microphone. – Chris Lord
Murray brought races to life with his enigma and his pure passion for racing. He has inspired and will continue to inspire generations in motorsport and broadcasting. We will miss you, Murray.
