F1
So the upcoming 2018 season is the final one which includes live races on free-to-view British TV. Sky's deal for the six seasons hereafter is exclusive and immutable, so we could see audiences tail off for the sport. Whether or not a highlights deal will be done, we'll have to see.
As to the cars, they are going to have 'halo' roll bars, looking something like this:
And the driver merry-go-round has been in full swing, with Williams currently having a vacant seat. There are several available drivers who might be chosen for it, such as Jolyon Palmer who left Renault (Sainz Jr moved there from Toro Rosso), Pascal Werhlein (who left Sauber but is rumoured to be looking at returning to German Touring Cars, DTM) - or maybe offering a route back for Daniil Kvyat or Paul di Resta. But the front-runner for Williams, at least for the first part of the season, is thought to be Robert Kubica.
And the races for 2018 will not include Malaysia, which had dropped off the calendar, and sees a return of a French Grand Prix at Paul Ricard. It's also a Hockenheim year.
WRC
We go again with the four teams who provided an entertaining season in 2017 - M-Sport, Hyundai, Citroen and Toyota. Citroen have announced that multiple former champion Sébastien Loeb is coming back for a few of the rallies, and the prospect of some Loeb vs Ogier showdowns is pretty exciting. Hopefully Citroen will have a bit more luck and give Chris Meeke a decent shot at Ogier's title. Though Thierry Neuville at Hyundai will have something to say about that, I'm sure, as will Ott Tänak, who has moved from M-Sport to Toyota, replacing Juho Hänninen. We start in Monte-Carlo on 25 January
Dakar
This one starts on Saturday 6 January. Loeb will be there, Sainz senior will be there and, er, Andre Villas-Boas will be there.
So the upcoming 2018 season is the final one which includes live races on free-to-view British TV. Sky's deal for the six seasons hereafter is exclusive and immutable, so we could see audiences tail off for the sport. Whether or not a highlights deal will be done, we'll have to see.
As to the cars, they are going to have 'halo' roll bars, looking something like this:
And the driver merry-go-round has been in full swing, with Williams currently having a vacant seat. There are several available drivers who might be chosen for it, such as Jolyon Palmer who left Renault (Sainz Jr moved there from Toro Rosso), Pascal Werhlein (who left Sauber but is rumoured to be looking at returning to German Touring Cars, DTM) - or maybe offering a route back for Daniil Kvyat or Paul di Resta. But the front-runner for Williams, at least for the first part of the season, is thought to be Robert Kubica.
And the races for 2018 will not include Malaysia, which had dropped off the calendar, and sees a return of a French Grand Prix at Paul Ricard. It's also a Hockenheim year.
WRC
We go again with the four teams who provided an entertaining season in 2017 - M-Sport, Hyundai, Citroen and Toyota. Citroen have announced that multiple former champion Sébastien Loeb is coming back for a few of the rallies, and the prospect of some Loeb vs Ogier showdowns is pretty exciting. Hopefully Citroen will have a bit more luck and give Chris Meeke a decent shot at Ogier's title. Though Thierry Neuville at Hyundai will have something to say about that, I'm sure, as will Ott Tänak, who has moved from M-Sport to Toyota, replacing Juho Hänninen. We start in Monte-Carlo on 25 January
Dakar
This one starts on Saturday 6 January. Loeb will be there, Sainz senior will be there and, er, Andre Villas-Boas will be there.
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