In the round-up: FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem has been branded “deeply discourteous and unprofessional” by a member of the UK House of Lords.
In letter
Ben Sulayem branded ‘unprofessional’ by UK peer for ‘ignoring’ human rights concerns
Mohammed Ben Sulayem has drawn the ire of Liberal Democrat MP Lord Scriven after the FIA president allegedly failed to respond to a letter raising human rights concerns over F1 racing in Gulf states.
Lord Scriven was one of 90 European politicians who wrote to the FIA president last year over concerns that the governing body was “facilitating sportswashing” in Gulf states such as Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates due to their human rights records. In a follow-up letter sent to Ben Sulayem, Lord Scriven accused him of being “deeply discourteous and unprofessional”.
“Why do you think you can ignore parliamentarians?,” Lord Scriven was reported by the Independent to have written. “Do you think that concerns raised over human rights and the policies of the FIA should be above scrutiny?
“We wrote to you in order to raise concerns that are in the public interest, and we expect openness and transparency from the FIA. For the sake of clarity, I still expect to receive a response to our letter.”
F1 extends TV deal with beIN Sports across Asia
F1 fans cross ten Asian territories will have to subscribe to beIN Sports to watch the next three seasons after F1 signed an exclusive deal with the Qatar broadcaster.
The deal sees beIN Sports hold exclusive rights to show all F1 sessions until 2025 across Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia, Timor-Leste, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and the Philippines.
O’Ward’s 2023 IndyCar revealed
Pato O’Ward, McLaren, 2023McLaren have unveiled the livery of the car in which Pato O’Ward will compete in this year’s IndyCar season.
O’Ward will be one of three drivers races for at McLaren in the 2023 IndyCar Series, racing alongside 2022 team mate Felix Rosenqvist and joined by new recruit Alexander Rossi, whose livery for this season has already been unveiled.
O’Ward finished seventh in last year’s championship standings on 480 points, taking two victories at Barber and in the second Iowa race.
Forza Motorsport to feature 500 cars for 2023 release
Microsoft’s long-awaited next Forza Motorsport game will feature over 500 cars and 20 environments when it launches later this year, developers Turn 10 have announced.
The eighth mainline title in the long-running racing franchise was detailed in Microsoft’s developer direct yesterday. The game will feature 500 cars of which 100 will be new to the series, with 20 environments to race around including the newly announced Kyalami circuit, each with dynamic time of day and weather conditions.
There is no launch date for the title yet, which will be releasing on Xbox Series S|X consoles and PC, but the game is still set to release this calendar year.
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Left
Motor racing links of interest:
Horner explains the F1 teams’ opposition to Andretti Cadillac’s proposal (Racer)
“All 10 teams are in great shape, and that’s in part due to the popularity of the sport, but also the budget cap and the fact that there are only 10 tickets and 10 franchises. I think Formula 1 will be very conscious of diluting that if they could be giving themselves problems further down the line.”
Bia Figueiredo appointed President of Brazilian Women’s Motorsport Commission (Racers)
“The Brazilian Automobile Confederation appointed Bia Figueiredo as President of the newly created Women Automobile Commission (CFA). Figueiredo is also the coordinator of the Girls on Track and Women in Formula 1 programs in Brazil, as well as a member of the FIA Women in Motor Sports Commission.”
Formula E heads to Diriyah for a double in the dark amid on and off track questions (Independent)
“Increasingly, all sports and their governing bodies are being pressed and pushed to justify taking their events to nations routinely partaking in sportswashing. The Qatar World Cup was the biggest and most prominent example of such, but not even the only one in the last few months. Before Lionel Messi triumphed in Lusail, Max Verstappen won at the Yas Marina Circuit; since then, Victor Perez has claimed the Abu Dhabi Championship.”
Hauger: Momentum on my side after strong end to 22 and move to MP (F2)
“Coming into a new team with some more experience and knowing what I want is a good feeling. It’s a refresh and I definitely have a good feeling and I’m sure we can be up there. That’s the goal – to fight for the Championship . We just have to keep working on that and what I do now to try and prepare as well as we can ahead of the first round.”
Season Starts Strong with First Seven Races on NBC, Peacock (IndyCar)
“The first seven races of the season will air on NBC and Peacock, including the season-opening Streets of Petersburg at noon ET Sunday, March 5th and concluding with the new Streets of Detroit circuit at 3pm ET Sunday, June 4th.”
2023 Rolex 24 at Daytona: GTD Pro Preview (Daily Sports Car)
“It’s an immensely tough act for GTD Pro to follow in 2023, but the ten entries in this year’s field are up for the task. Eight different makes and models are represented – including the all-new Ferrari 296 GT3, the latest 992 generation Porsche 911 GT3 R, and the vastly upgraded Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2.”
It’s time to party in Grid Legends: Winter Bash (EA)
“The Winter Bash pack features eight new story events with the familiar face of Valentin Manzi making an appearance. The majority of the events feature some suitably seasonal weather conditions, with a generous blanket of snow covering many of the racing circuits. This final update also adds three exciting vehicles to Grid Legends’ already extensive roster.The SRT Viper GTS-R is now accompanied by a ‘Drift Tuned’ variant and the BMW 2002 TII Race Car has also been added.Finally, boasting a whopping 1,500 bhp, the fearsome Bugatti Bolide makes its big-screen videogame debut in Grid Legends.”
F1 driver Lando Norris’ custom configuration Artura (McLaren)
“Every McLaren on the road should be an expression of its driver’s instincts. We asked Lando Norris to configure the new Artura to reflect his personal style. The result speaks for itself: performance mindset meets hybrid supercar.”
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social media
Notable posts from Twitter, Instagram and more:
11 new screengrabs from the upcoming season five of Formula 1: Drive to Survive, which will arrive on February 24th:https://t.co/p1GNeV6f7q #F1
— RaceFans (@racefansdotnet) January 26, 2023
Your support means everything to us 
Grazie mille for braving the cold during the last three days!
When we say you’re the best fans. This is why 
pic.twitter.com/AmsyeJhmdz
— Scuderia Ferrari (@ScuderiaFerrari) January 26, 2023
POV: You’ve just heard your 2023 McLaren F1 car fire up for the first time! 
pic.twitter.com/3u1fAWJjKT
— McLaren (@McLarenF1) January 26, 2023
New year, new challenge. ¡Vamos! pic.twitter.com/N2VIXIQcqy
— Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team (@AstonMartinF1) January 26, 2023
Old team on the road again heading to @RaceOfChampions @JamieChadwick @ValtteriBottas @F1 , check the sign on the wall pic.twitter.com/V4Pz4G7KLA
— David Coulthard (@therealdcf1) January 26, 2023
I can finally announce it: On February 10th my documentary will be released on Amazon Prime Video Benelux! Get ready…
pic.twitter.com/hq88XYjrOs
— Rinus VeeKay (@rinusveekay) January 26, 2023
Think you’ve got what it takes to manage an @F1 team?
PlayStation Plus Premium members can now trial F1 Manager 2022 on PlayStation 5!https://t.co/1sPcjEINIr pic.twitter.com/5tYmgfSJyH
— F1® Manager 2022 | OUT NOW! 
(@F1Manager) January 26, 2023
Admin thought, “Well, I know these other guys are a little more relevant right now but man, that candy-paint lid of Hildebrand’s is really dope,” aaaand *select as cover image* https://t.co/xrrc0mjNcJ
— JR Hildebrand (@JRHildebrand) January 26, 2023
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Happy Birthday!
Happy birthday to Shelley Lee, Tnfox and David Clifford!
On this day in motorsport
- 50 years ago today new BRM signing Clay Regazzoni put his car on pole position for the first race of the season at Buenos Aires
