The Asian country aiming to host its first-ever F1 race
Thailand 's cabinet has approved a $1.2 billion bid to host a Formula 1 race on the streets of Bangkok.
The country aims to join the F1 schedule from 2028 with an initial five-year contract, following discussions between the Prime Minister and F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali.
The bid prioritises a street track in the capital, despite Thailand already having an FIA Grade 1 circuit in Buriram.
F1's current 24-race schedule presents a challenge for new additions, though some existing races are moving to a rotational basis from 2028.
British-Thai driver Alex Albon has expressed strong support for Thailand's bid, which would make it the eighth Asian country on the F1 calendar.
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BBC News
41 minutes ago
- BBC News
'Nice to see the old me back', says Norris
Austrian Grand PrixVenue: Red Bull Ring, Spielberg Date: 29 June Race start: 14:00 BSTCoverage: Live commentary on BBC Radio 5 Live; live text updates on BBC Sport website and app Lando Norris said he felt like he was back to the form he had missing for much of this season after taking a stunning pole position for the Austrian Grand McLaren driver's season has been hampered by repeated mistakes in qualifying, but he headed the field by more than half a second on one of the shortest laps of the year at the Red Bull said: "It's nice to see the old me back every now and then."It's more just the feeling I had today was a feeling I've missed for quite a long time, the feeling I have behind the wheel with the car, the understanding where the grip is and how to exploit it."That showed in performance and then lap time is a very good combination to have. That when you feel like you can go quicker here and you go out and do it, that's the best feeling a driver can ask for, really."Ferrari's Charles Leclerc will start alongside Norris with McLaren team-mate and championship leader Oscar Piastri in third. Norris has felt this year that a lack of feeling from the front axle of the car has been provoking mistakes when he has tried to push to the absolute limit in the last race in Canada, McLaren introduced a revision to the front suspension to reduce what the team have described as a "numbness". Norris has continued with that part in Austria but Piastri feels he does not need it. That added to aerodynamics upgrades to the car to the front wing and suspension introduced in Austria led to the largest margin any pole winner has had in percentage terms all said: "To come into this weekend and at least move in the right direction was very positive and very reassuring for myself most of all but probably for us as a team as well, so a big thanks to them."The feelings I've been requiring, the feelings that I've not been getting as easily, when they are more my way and more where I want them to be, I can put in better performances and have days like today." Norris is 22 points behind Piastri in the championship, a margin partially created by him crashing out of the race in Canada after running into the back of the a result, he needs a strong result in Austria on Sunday to reduce Piastri's said his qualifying lap in Austria was "as close to perfection as I would probably ask for" and that his session was "easily my best qualifying of the year from a delivery point of view".But he added: "It's very satisfying, but, again, it's about consistency. Everyone can be a hero in one weekend. It's progress. It's steps forward. I'm very happy with today, but it's still a long journey. It's a long season. The job I needed to do today, I did. And it doesn't make up for the last few weekends or anything, but I did it today, and that's what mattered." 'Basically everything felt bad' - Verstappen Red Bull's Max Verstappen is the McLaren drivers' closest challenger in the championship, in third place, 21 points behind the Dutchman had a difficult day, qualifying only was unable to complete his final lap as Pierre Gasly spun his Alpine through 720 degrees at the final corner in front of him, but had managed only sixth fastest time on his first Dutchman said Red Bull had been caught by surprise by the lack of grip in their car"In qualifying basically everything felt bad," Verstappen said. "Every corner was a struggle, I just didn't have the balance. It was either understeer or oversteer. Even every single lap that I did I had a little bit different behaviour with the car. So yeah, that's not ideal."I didn't expect it to be this bad in qualifying, but I think no one did in the team. So, that's something that we have to analyse."But Norris and Piastri both said they would not rule out Verstappen coming into contention in the race."Until he's out of the race, I don't think we're ever going to take Max out of the equation," Norris said.
Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
Mercedes talk of Verstappen is a lot of noise, says Horner
SPIELBERG, Austria, June 28 (Reuters) - Red Bull team boss Christian Horner dismissed talk of Max Verstappen moving to Mercedes, maybe even next year, as just noise on Saturday and suggested that the four-times world champion was irritated by it. Mercedes have George Russell out of contract at the end of the year and both the British driver and team boss Toto Wolff have referenced the possibility of Verstappen becoming available at some point. "It's a lot of noise. I think Max gets quite annoyed by it and we are very clear with the contract that we have with Max until 2028," Horner told Sky Sports television after Austrian Grand Prix qualifying. "Anything is entirely speculative that is being said but we tend not to pay too much attention to it. "I can imagine that George is frustrated, he hasn't been given a contract yet. But that's between him and his team. The situation with Max, we know clearly where we're at, as does Max," he added. "Everything is subject to noise and within any contract it remains confidential between the parties." Verstappen is known to have a release clause in his contract which would allow him to leave if certain performance targets are not met. The Dutch driver is third overall in the championship, 43 points behind McLaren's Oscar Piastri, but qualified only seventh on Saturday for his team's home race at the Red Bull Ring with McLaren's Lando Norris on pole. Verstappen recognised he would not have been able to take pole position even without the yellow flags that forced him to abort his final effort. "FP3 (final practice) wasn't too bad but somehow in qualifying it just completely disappeared, there wasn't a single corner where I felt happy with the car," said the champion. "That is of course a big problem with qualifying. "Hopefully tomorrow we can at least be competitive with Ferrari or Mercedes. I don't know because with the balance that I had in quali, for sure that is not going to look great for tomorrow."
The Independent
2 hours ago
- The Independent
Lando Norris makes statement with scintillating pole position for Austrian Grand Prix
A dominant Lando Norris delivered the perfect response to his Montreal horror show by securing an emphatic pole position for Sunday's Austrian Grand Prix. Norris' world championship bid was dealt a major setback a fortnight ago when he ran into the back of his McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri. But the British driver has been in excellent form at the Red Bull Ring, topping all of the practice sessions he has competed in, before landing the 12th pole of his career. Norris' margin over second-placed Charles Leclerc was a huge 0.521 seconds – the biggest of the year so far at the shortest track on the calendar. Piastri, who leads Norris by 22 points in the title standings, could manage only third, 0.583 secs behind his team-mate with Lewis Hamilton fourth. Piastri was unable to complete his final lap in Q3 after Alpine's Pierre Gasly spun ahead of him. After landing his first win of the season last time out in Canada, George Russell ended up in fifth, but Max Verstappen could manage only seventh after he complained that his Red Bull was 'undriveable'. Norris admitted he made a fool of himself when he collided with Piastri in Montreal, and was warned of 'tough conversations' by McLaren team principal Andrea Stella. However, the 25-year-old Bristolian has been in a class of one so far here, and he will start the 11th round of this 24-race season as the favourite to claim a win which could serve as a springboard to get his title charge back on track a week out from his home event at Silverstone. Norris' first lap in Q3 placed him two tenths faster than anyone else, and he then pulled out more than half-a-second with his next lap. TOP-10 - AUSTRIAN GP QUALIFYING 'It was a good lap, that's for sure,' said Norris. 'I feel like my first lap in Q3 was good but I knew I could get more time and I did exactly that. I did what I planned to do and when I do that and it goes right it is usually very good. 'Some of my tough moments have been in qualifying, so to have a performance like that is exciting. I am very happy with today but I want to prove it to myself over and over again and I hope this is just the beginning.' Verstappen is 43 points off the championship pace and he faces the prospect of losing further ground following a disappointing qualifying session at a venue he has so often ruled. Verstappen has won five times in the Styrian mountains, and taken the last four pole positions here, but he has looked out of sorts in his unruly Red Bull machine. 'The car is completely undriveable,' he said over the radio after finishing nearly a second behind Norris. 'It is even worse than before. I don't even know what to say.' Ollie Bearman out-qualified Haas team-mate Esteban Ocon for the fourth time of his rookie campaign, progressing to Q2 and finishing 15th. One of the grid's other rookies, Gabriel Bortoleto, impressed to haul his Sauber into Q3 for the first occasion in his career. He will start eighth on Sunday.
