After many months of speculation, Mercedes have confirmed that Nico Rosberg will remain with the team for the 2017 and 2018 Formula One seasons. Rosberg has established himself as an integral member of the team since arriving from Williams at the beginning of 2010, becoming the first German driver to win behind the wheel of a German car in the 2012 Chinese Grand Prix before helping Mercedes win two consecutive world championships in 2014 and '15. The 31-year-old's place at the Silver Arrows had come under much scrutiny due to his troubled relationship with team-mate Lewis Hamilton, with the pair coming to blows on track on numerous occasions since Mercedes emerged as F1's dominant force. But with the help of former McLaren and Ferrari driv...

Nico Rosberg capitalised upon Lewis Hamilton's unfortunate crash to end Friday's second practice as the fastest driver in contention ahead of Sunday's 2016 Hungarian Grand Prix. There was a red flag on the track after Hamilton span off the track at Turn 11, just four laps into the session, and he didn't return to the track, per Sky Sports F1: Hamilton was the pace-setter at the time of his early exit, but Rosberg bounded into the lead shortly after his departure with a terrific lap of one minute, 20.435 seconds. The official Formula 1 Twitter account provided a breakdown of the fastest times recorded in second practice, with Red Bull duo Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen also taking advantage to finish second and fourth respectively...

Does Fernando Alonso truly believe he can win the Formula One title in 2017? Or does he just keep saying it to keep McLaren-Honda motivated during one of the most difficult periods in their history? With the Spaniard restricted to just four top-10 finishes over the last 18 months, the chances of McLaren making enough progress to even challenge for the world championship this time next year seem remote. But when you consider that F1 will almost start from scratch in 2017, with new bodywork regulations to be introduced alongside wider tyres, why can't they be the ones to stop Mercedes' dominance? Alonso has already indicated that next year could be his last in F1 if the season doesn't go to plan, with Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen also expected to...

With Dale Earnhardt Jr. on the shelf because of concussion-like symptoms, Jeff Gordon will come out of retirement to drive the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Pocono Raceway over the next two weeks. According to ESPN.com's Bob Pockrass, Hendrick Motorsports released a statement confirming the move. Earnhardt missed last week's race at New Hampshire, and Alex Bowman replaced him. There is no timetable for Earnhardt's return to action. He had the following to say regarding his health on the Dale Jr. Download podcast (h/t Gray Caldwell of the official Hendrick Motorsports website): "It's just going to take a lot of patience and putting my health an...

The Hungarian Grand Prix outside Budapest is the beginning of the third set of back-to-back race weekends on the Formula One calendar leading up to the traditional summer break in August.  After Canada and Azerbaijan, the teams had a week to regroup before Austria and Britain, followed by another off week leading up to the Hungarian race. This also marks the halfway point of the season, as the Hungarian Grand Prix is the 11th race on this year's bloated, 21-race calendar. Lewis Hamilton is back on his championship form from the previous two years, having won four of the last five grands prix, including a dominant performance in his home race at Silverstone. He is also tied with Michael Schumacher for the most career Hungarian Grand Pri...

This renewal of the Brickyard 400 may be the most charged in years. Will Dale Earnhardt Jr. zip up the No. 88 Nationwide fire suit? Will Jeff Gordon don a new number the way Michael Jordan once wore the No. 45? Will the No. 88 car fall completely off the Chase Grid? Can Chase Elliott stop the bleeding? Will Kevin Harvick ever smile again? It’s gettin’ real for drivers on the Chase bubble. That’s where the real races are now. It’s reminiscent and somehow foretelling of what happens in Chase elimination races. That floating, fluid cut line shows where drivers are in relation to one another. There’s racing for the win, but then there’s racing for desperation, for the chance to fight one more day. This is the...

The 11th round of the 2016 Formula One season will take place at this weekend's Hungarian Grand Prix in Budapest, where Max Verstappen will stand a chance of claiming his second victory of the year. After exceeding expectations in the four races between Canada and Britain, Red Bull are expected to rediscover their best form at the Hungaroring, a circuit where the four-time world champions have been traditionally strong. With the RB12 car set to lead the way on the track's 14 twists and turns, Verstappen and team-mate Daniel Ricciardo should be able to fight Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg on almost equal ground. With a look at a surprise podium finisher and more misery for Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel and Renault's Kevin Magnussen, ...

Matt Kenseth's victory at New Hampshire Motor Speedway may not have been a turning point. It may have been no more than an isolated race, off in a corner of the country, as remote in its way as all the golf at Royal Troon. It was a change but maybe not a sea change. Five of the top six finishers were at least 40 years old. What in the name of Harry Gant was going on out there? Are there far-flung ramifications? For gosh sakes, man, the Chase is getting closer! As the laps expired—and the veterans marched—NBC Sports' Jeff Burton said, "Kyle Busch must be, like, 'who are these guys I'm racing?' He has been in front of them all day, and now he is in a battle with them." Seven more races define the 16 drivers who qualify for the NA...

Formula One could be set to return to Imola for the first time in 11 years next season, with the circuit signing a contract to host the 2017 Italian Grand Prix. After much debate surrounding the future of F1 in Italy and the troubled Monza track, the revelation of Imola's deal is the first piece of concrete news that the pinnacle of motorsport will continue to visit Ferrari's homeland beyond this year. But while Imola has put pen to paper on a deal to host the Italian GP, the contract is still yet to be inked by the man who really matters. With the driver market simmering, contracts are the talk of F1 at the moment as the drivers try to put themselves in the best position to take advantage of the major regulation changes planned for 2017. O...

The New Hampshire 301 saw Matt Kenseth win his second race of the year, his third lobster at New Hampshire and his 38th career race. Loudon unfolded slowly with few cautions early in the race and then close to 44 million in the final 40 laps. “Then we see our typical cautions at the end, a lot of mix-up, a lot of chaos and you see a guy finish on top,” said NBCSN’s Kyle Petty during the broadcast. “To me that’s typical New Hampshire race.” Cars that looked terrible early in the race drove their way into the top 10, while strong cars found ways to lose. New Hampshire proved to be a crew chief’s race in many ways: many calls, many adjustments. So let’s get to the winners and losers from Loudon.B...