James Elson

United Kingdom

Staff Writer at Motor Sport

@Motor_Sport @ENGINE_BAND @phil_madeley

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Articles

Hanson on winning Le Mans: 'Most intense race of my life'

3 days ago | motorsportmagazine.com | James Elson

The last time Phil Hanson won Le Mans in 2020, there was almost no one there to see it. After coasting in on the sidepod of his United Autosports LMP2 car while wearing a face mask, the Brit raised the trophy in front of a largely empty circuit – his greatest moment had come at a closed-doors Covid-time race.
Will Norris ever learn how to race? Up/Down in Canada

1 week ago | motorsportmagazine.com | James Elson

“Something… something.. going for a gap… racing driver,” goes the famous quotation: or something like that. Cue a grumpy Ayrton Senna looking defiant against Jackie Stewart’s slightly lecturing, furrowed brow. The quotes, clips and memes of the above champions’ famous exchange have been flying round as thousands on the internet have made a side-splitting connection between it and Lando Norris going for a opening in Canada which apparently never existed in the first place.
F1 Fantasy: top picks & predictions for the 2025 Canadian GP

1 week ago | motorsportmagazine.com | James Elson

To join the official Motor Sport magazine 2025 F1 Fantasy league, click here. There comes a point in many F1 seasons where there’s a shift in performance — a moment where the dependable points scorers start to underdeliver, as new faces appear at the front. The F1 Fantasy managers quickest to sport that trend can often make their season in a single race. However, the Canadian Grand Prix doesn’t appear to be that moment.
A flying lap around Le Mans - take a tour of the iconic La Sarthe track

2 weeks ago | motorsportmagazine.com | James Elson

A lap of Le Mans isn’t just one more blast through the French countryside France – it’s a true test of man and machine. The La Sarthe circuit is one that commands respect to win the world’s greatest race. From nailing Tetre Rouge and getting the perfect run on the Mulsanne Straight, to threading your way through the thrilling Porsche Curves, the track challenges drivers like few others, particularly at night.
The last Aston Martin to lead Le Mans was powered by Pink Floyd

2 weeks ago | motorsportmagazine.com | James Elson

On one side you have precision engineering to the thousandth decimal point. On the other is rock and roll’s loose-as-you-like approach. The worlds of motor sport and music might seem galaxies apart but both can embody excess in every department and hair-raising tales of life on the road. Maybe that’s why they’ve managed to intertwine on a number of famous occasions.
Is Balance of Performance 'fixed'? Le Mans argument rages on

2 weeks ago | motorsportmagazine.com | James Elson

Balance of Performance: it’s the gift that keeps on giving, or is the greatest injustice in the sports car world – depending on your point of view. BoP, as it’s colloquially known, is the slightly mysterious technical process which is intended to level the playing field in the World Endurance Championship, and at Le Mans.
British Ferrari star Calado: ‘WEC title is bigger than Le Mans’

2 weeks ago | motorsportmagazine.com | James Elson

For most drivers operating at the sharp end of sports car racing, there’s only one goal: win Le Mans. It’s an event so gargantuan that this one round of the World Endurance Championship dwarfs the whole series. As a result, winning at La Sarthe is more important to most drivers than going the distance across a whole season. Try telling that to strong-willed James Calado though, Britain’s Ferrari Hypercar hero who says that for him, a series title gets priority every time.
'FIA must ban Verstappen - now' - Going Up, Going Down in Spain

3 weeks ago | motorsportmagazine.com | James Elson

There are few things which makes Max Verstappen’s blood boil more. Wrestling an inferior car, before getting shuffled back into the pack on granite-like hard tyres while all around you are better placed for a safety car restart. Then, as if things just couldn’t get any worse, you’ve got Formula Partridge in your mirrors. Verstappen’s final act of his little tête-à-tête with George Russell was to simply, and quite deliberately, smash into him.
F1 Fantasy: top picks & predictions for the 2025 Spanish GP

1 month ago | motorsportmagazine.com | James Elson

To join the official Motor Sport magazine 2025 F1 Fantasy league, click here. You can’t win ‘em all. For the first six races of the season, Mercedes was the value for money F1 Fantasy constructor, racking up the points like nobody’s business. And so, Motor Sport sagely advised you to pair Brackley with McLaren – before the Silver Arrows proceeded to have two absolute nightmares in Imola and Monaco.
Monaco showed F1 badly needs new cars - Up/Down in Monte Carlo

1 month ago | motorsportmagazine.com | James Elson

Sport and tactics. It’s a match made in heaven (or hell, depending on your viewpoint). They were meant to be together though, as demonstrated by the Monaco GP’s better-than-usual showing yesterday. It was affected by the new F1 rule that all cars had to stop at least twice during the race, throwing up some unconventional tortoise-and-hare racing, where a team-mate would slow down to back the pack up, allowing their colleague to pull out enough of a gap to make a stop without losing a place.