Lewis Hamilton under investigation for DRS breach after Sao Paulo GP Qualifying

Kevin Peterson03 mins

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton faced a stewards’ investigation and possible demotion to the back of the field on Friday after qualifying fastest for the sprint race that will decide the Sao Paulo Grand Prix starting grid.The seven-times F1 world champion dominated the session at the Brazilian city’s atmospheric Interlagos circuit but the rear wing element on his Mercedes then failed a technical inspection. A team representative was summoned to see the stewards. The Briton, 19 points adrift of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen with four races remaining, made the most of a new engine to clock a best time of one minute 07.934 seconds in front of a cheering crowd. Verstappen was second and 0.438 slower, a considerable margin around one of the shortest laps on the calendar. “Let’s go,” exclaimed Hamilton over the team radio on a cold and windy afternoon with brooding dark clouds overhead. The Briton is sure to have a five-place grid penalty for Sunday’s main race as result of his engine change but can take three points on Saturday, with the top three scoring in a 3-2-1 system. “We’re working so hard to try and get this car right and it’s been tough. So to finally get the car feeling like it did today feels great,” said Hamilton. “A lot of the times we get it wrong, I get it wrong, and today I got it right and the car was really nice to drive. It was everything I wanted,” added a beaming Hamilton. That mood might have changed, when a merc team representative was summoned to the Stewards after they received the following report from FIA F1 Technical Delegate, Jo Bauer regarding the #44 Mercedes: “The uppermost rear wing element adjustable positions were checked on car number 44 for compliance with Article 3.6.3 of the 2021 Formula One Technical Regulations. “The requirement for the minimum distance was fulfilled. But the requirement for the maximum of 85mm, when the DRS system is deployed and tested in accordance with TD/011-19, were not fulfilled.”

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Lewis Hamilton handed a five-place grid penalty in the Sao Paulo Grand Prix

Kevin Peterson03 mins

Lewis Hamilton will take a five-place grid penalty for Sunday’s Sao Paulo Grand Prix in another blow to the Briton’s hopes of winning a record eighth Formula One world championship this season. The Mercedes driver is 19 points adrift of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who is building momentum with four races remaining. Formula One’s governing body confirmed on Friday that Hamilton had taken a new engine, his fifth of the 22-race campaign. Drivers have three engines to last the season, with any more triggering a penalty of 10 places for the first time the limit is exceeded and then five places for subsequent engines. Hamilton collected a 10 place grid penalty after taking his fourth engine in Turkey in October and started Friday practice at Interlagos with his fifth. Red Bull are favourites to win at Interlagos, with Dutch 24-year-old Verstappen chasing his third win in a row and 10th of the season. He won the last pre-pandemic race at the Sao Paulo circuit in 2019. Verstappen started the Russian Grand Prix in September from the back of the grid, finishing second, due to power unit penalties. Team boss Christian Horner saw no need for Red Bull, who are only a point behind Mercedes in the constructors’ championship, to take any further engine penalties. “It’s entirely understandable that Mercedes would strategically decide to take that penalty here, which they will incur on Sunday,” he told Sky Sports television. “We’re just focused on ourselves and do the best job we can. “All things being normal, we expect to get to the end of the year with the combustion engines that we have. “Obviously we lost one following the crash at Silverstone (in July between Hamilton and Verstappen) but with the penalty we took in Sochi that got us back into good shape.”

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Sao Paulo GP: Hamilton tops in FP1 ahead of Verstappen(Results)

Kevin Peterson07 mins

Lewis Hamilton was quickest in the first and only practice ahead of Sao Paulo Grand Prix qualifying – but Mercedes and Red Bull had different approaches to the session. Hamilton, who has a five-place engine penalty to overcome on Sunday after a new ICE was fitted to his W12 car, was three tenths quicker than rival Max Verstappen. However, Red Bull seemed more focused on race pace compared to Mercedes, where one-lap pace was of more importance. The data collected from AWS suggested the gap between Hamilton and Verstappen was much closer, just o.50s heading into qualifying. Sergio Perez completed the top three with Valtteri Bottas behind in P4. Pierre Gasly, Carlos Sainz, Charles Leclerc, Esteban Ocon, Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll completed the top 10. There was an even greater importance placed on a cool, overcast FP1 session, with drivers and teams restricted to just one hour of practice before being thrown straight into qualifying later on Friday afternoon – Formula 1 completing its third and final sprint weekend of the 2021 season. As the cars hit the track for the first time, confirmation came from the FIA of a fifth ICE element being fitted to Lewis Hamilton’s W12, which will result in a five-place grid drop for the seven-time World Champion for Sunday’s race. But it wasn’t the new engine causing Hamilton problems in the early stages of FP1, it was the front suspension instead. In the opening runs, Hamilton asked via team radio for a “solution to be found” as he bobbled and bounced around the Interlagos circuit. He found himself eight tenths down on title rival Verstappen, who set the opening benchmark at 1:10.189, a slender 0.020s ahead of Red Bull team-mate Perez. As we approached the halfway stage of the session, Lance Stroll reported spots of rain dropping on the circuit, keeping the paddock on their toes ahead of qualifying. Even though the clouds looked particularly dark and brooding, it was still dry enough for drivers to continue with their dry tyre running for the rest of the session. Verstappen re-emerged on the soft tyre compound for a qualifying sim run and promptly ate five tenths out of his previous best time by the time he had completed the second sector. He crossed the line with a 1:09.417 to his name, Perez still falling just short of the target by being 0.075s behind. In the other Mercedes, meanwhile, Bottas was struggling to make an impression on Verstappen’s leading time. He had to abort his first attempt at a hot lap and, on his second, already found himself two tenths down in the first sector. Traffic in the middle sector did nothing to help his cause and he could only manage a 1:09.857 to sit nearly five tenths off the pace. With 16 minutes of the session remaining, Hamilton, complete with front suspension tweak, put pedal to the metal for his qualifying sim attempt. He all-but matched Verstappen through the first sector, but the gap would slowly increase to three tenths by the time he crossed the finish line. It provided further evidence that Red Bull were the ones to beat heading into Friday afternoon qualifying. Bottas would try to discredit it as he surprisingly went fastest in the first sector on his latest effort and, while still unable to topple Verstappen, he did move above his team-mate and to within a tenth off the pace. 2021 F1 SAO PAULO GRAND PRIX – FREE PRACTICE RESULTS (1) POS DRIVER NAT. TEAM TIME 1 Lewis Hamilton GBR Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team 1m09.050s 2 Max Verstappen NED Red Bull Racing 1m09.417s 3 Sergio Perez MEX Red Bull Racing 1m09.492s 4 Valtteri Bottas FIN Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team 1m09.567s 5 Pierre Gasly FRA Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda 1m09.880s 6 Carlos Sainz ESP Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow 1m10.124s 7 Charles Leclerc MON Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow 1m10.142s 8 Esteban Ocon FRA Alpine F1 Team 1m10.145s 9 Fernando Alonso CHI Alpine F1 Team 1m10.201s 10 Lance Stroll CAN Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team 1m10.352s 11 Yuki Tsunoda JPN Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda 1m10.374s 12 Sebastian Vettel GER Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team 1m10.413s 13 Kimi Raikkonen FIN Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen 1m10.443s 14 Antonio Giovinazzi GBR Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen 1m10.587s 15 Lando Norris GBR McLaren F1 Team 1m10.610s 16 Mick Schumacher GER Uralkali Haas F1 Team 1m10.885s 17 Nicholas Latifi CAN Williams Racing 1m10.902s 18 George Russell ISR Williams Racing 1m10.938s 19 Daniel Ricciardo AUS McLaren F1 Team 1m10.990s 20 Nikita Mazepin RUS Uralkali Haas F1 Team 1m11.342s

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Valencia MotoGP: Miller tops afternoon practice ahead of Espargaro(Results)

Kevin Peterson05 mins

ack Miller ended Friday at the Valencia Grand Prix fastest with a rapid final tour in FP2, the Aussie narrowly leading Honda’s Pol Espargaro. The final Friday practice session of the season started out pretty much bone-dry following a wet opening test of the weekend just hours earlier, allowing the riders to lap around six second per-lap faster immediately. Times continued to drop throughout the session as the track rubbered in further and further, with a final qualifying-like shootout taking place in the closing minutes to decide a potentially crucial top ten if the rain makes another appearance on Saturday. Miller ended up finding the most time on his final effort as he fired in a 1:30.927s to move ahead of Ducati team-mate Francesco Bagnaia, though the Italian would ultimately be shuffled back to third by the session’s conclusion by Espargaro. The Spaniard looked good to further improve on his best lap on his final circulation, though asked a little too much from the front-tyre of his Honda and went down at Turn 6. Alex Rins ended up fourth for Suzuki ahead of Pramac Racing’s Jorge Martin, while Takaaki Nakagami lifted himself well into the top ten in sixth with a late improvement of his own. Joan Mir-who scored his one and only career MotoGP win at Valencia last year-ended Friday seventh ahead of KTM’s Brad Binder, while Andrea Dovizioso was a surprise ninth for Petronas SRT Yamaha having struggled for speed in recent races, the Italian only 0.670s adrift of Miller’s benchmark as the only Yamaha rider in the top ten. Johann Zarco completed the ten that could possibly decide who heads directly to the pole shootout on Saturday afternoon, the Frenchman denying countryman and 2021 world champion Fabio Quartararo the spot by just over a tenth-of-a-second. Franco Morbidelli held position at the head of the timesheets for a significant portion of the session before being shuffled to 13th by the end, while Alex Marquez struggled to match the speed of his fellow Honda pilot’s down in 14th. Aprilia continued their recent raw speed deficit with Aleix Espargaro 12th ahead of team-mate Maverick Vinales in 18th, while Valentino Rossi’s final MotoGP weekend continued to look challenging as he ended the day 21st and last-albeit only 1.3 seconds from the ultimate pace. VALENCIA MOTOGP, CIRCUIT RICARDO TORMO – FREE PRACTICE (2) RESULTS POS RIDER NAT TEAM TIME/DIFF LAP MAX 1 Jack Miller AUS Ducati Team (GP21) 1’30.927s 19/20 329k 2 Pol Espargaro SPA Repsol Honda (RC213V) +0.012s 19/19 331k 3 Francesco Bagnaia ITA Ducati Team (GP21) +0.068s 19/20 331k 4 Alex Rins SPA Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) +0.409s 19/19 327k 5 Jorge Martin SPA Pramac Ducati (GP21)* +0.469s 17/17 329k 6 Takaaki Nakagami JPN LCR Honda (RC213V) +0.500s 20/20 331k 7 Joan Mir SPA Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) +0.586s 19/20 327k 8 Brad Binder RSA Red Bull KTM (RC16) +0.594s 20/20 327k 9 Andrea Dovizioso ITA Petronas Yamaha (YZR-M1) +0.670s 19/22 324k 10 Johann Zarco FRA Pramac Ducati (GP21) +0.676s 20/21 332k 11 Fabio Quartararo FRA Monster Yamaha (YZR-M1) +0.781s 16/17 323k 12 Aleix Espargaro SPA Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP) +0.893s 20/21 326k 13 Franco Morbidelli ITA Monster Yamaha (YZR-M1) +0.905s 11/20 321k 14 Alex Marquez SPA LCR Honda (RC213V) +0.925s 20/20 327k 15 Danilo Petrucci ITA KTM Tech3 (RC16) +1.156s 19/21 321k 16 Iker Lecuona SPA KTM Tech3 (RC16) +1.171s 17/18 331k 17 Miguel Oliveira POR Red Bull KTM (RC16) +1.281s 19/21 329k 18 Maverick Vinales SPA Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP) +1.287s 14/16 324k 19 Enea Bastianini ITA Avintia Ducati (GP19)* +1.292s 14/14 326k 20 Luca Marini ITA Sky VR46 Avintia Ducati (GP19)* +1.302s 18/19 320k 21 Valentino Rossi ITA Petronas Yamaha (YZR-M1) +1.358s 17/19 324k

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F1 drivers give divided opinion on Brazilian Grand Prix sprint race

Kevin Peterson07 mins

Formula 1’s sprint qualifying format is back for this weekend’s Sao Paulo Grand Prix and the drivers are split as to whether it will be a success this weekend. Brazil completes a three-race trial of the new format which is expected to be run at six grands prix in 2022. Silverstone and Monza have already trialled it out and while there was a lack of track action in the shorter sprint on the Saturday, having three days of meaningful running has been positive. Formula 1 title rivals Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton haven’t spoken too positively about F1 sprint making a return this weekend, with the Red Bull driver still favouring the traditional format. “I mean the main excitement comes from the start because after that with the amount of laps that you do then you put the tyre on that will last to the end mainly – especially the guys in the front – and there’s not a lot of passing going on,” Verstappen said. “So I don’t think it really matters where you do it. I think there are still a few things to fine-tune about it, but if people like the excitement of the start, then to do two starts in a weekend, why not? “I think personally I’m a bit more for the traditional F1 weekend. If we have competitive cars and all the teams closer together then naturally you don’t need to change anything, so we’ll see.” Despite there being a long start-finish straight at Interlagos, Hamilton doubts there will be too much on-track action. “No, this is not a very good track for overtaking,” Hamilton explained. “Of course, you’ve got that long straight but I believe it’s close to one of the hardest places for overtaking in the list of… on the edge on the list of one of the hardest of the year. “I think you’ve got to have something like a 1.1-second advantage on the car ahead to have a 50 per cent chance of overtaking – something crazy like that, so it’s not a great one.” Conversely, Valtteri Bottas is confident we will see more overtaking in Brazil than in Mexico last weekend. “I think so. There’s no reason why it shouldn’t be good,” Bottas said. “Overtaking is possible here, it’s definitely better than Mexico, that’s my feeling, but we’ll find out on Saturday.” Unlike Verstappen, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc isn’t a fan of F1’s traditional format and welcomes the return of sprint qualifying. “I quite like those weekends, especially the Friday which normally I don’t really like on a normal weekend,” Leclerc added. “To have the qualifying straight away, the Friday afternoon, this makes it exciting for everyone and then Saturday the sprint race, maybe there are a few things that we could change in the future but still, I am very excited for this weekend and again, it’s a bit different too normal. Maybe it is an opportunity for us to do even better.” Fernando Alonso has been one beneficiary of the new format, making up five places at the start of the Silverstone sprint in what was a stunning Lap 1. The two-time champion admits that ‘balancing the risk’ is crucial given that one incident could send you to the back of the grid for the main grand prix. “Well it has been positive for us in Silverstone and Monza,” Alonso said. “You never know, it’s a very random result what you can get on those weekends. You can get very lucky and recover some places on Saturday and Sunday or you can be very unlucky. “We saw a couple of examples – I think Checo in Silverstone, Pierre in Monza – where something happened on Saturday and your weekend is very compromised. You have to balance a little bit the risk you put on Saturday especially because it can be good in order to start further up on Sunday or it can be very bad if you have a DNF on Saturday. “We will try to manage that and as I said the most important thing is to feel again a good level of competitiveness.”

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Hamilton and Norris give tribute to Valentino Rossi as he retires from MotoGP

Kevin Peterson06 mins

McLaren F1 driver Lando Norris paid tribute to his boyhood idol, Valentino Rossi, and revealed they had exchanged text messages ahead of the Italian rider’s great’s final MotoGP this weekend.Norris, 21, wore a Rossi tribute helmet at the 2019 Italian Grand Prix and the two have kept in touch since they met at Silverstone that year. “He sent me a message last night, just because he is going into the final race of his career,” the British Formula 1 driver told reporters ahead of the Sao Paulo Grand Prix at Brazil’s Interlagos circuit. “It’s sad times. I’m going to miss him. He was the guy I watched when I was four, five, six years old. He got me into racing, got me onto a motorbike first,” Norris added. “He’s been the guy that I’ve looked up to, the guy who’s kind of helped me get to this position where I am because probably without watching him, my ambition of being a racing driver wouldn’t have been so high.” Norris would not divulge the details of Rossi’s text and said it was in response to a “little heartfelt message” he sent saying how much he would miss him and congratulating him on what he had achieved. Norris said he and Rossi talked “now and then” and still had plans to do some car racing together, mentioning GT sportscar events such as 12-hour races in Abu Dhabi and Dubai or even online. Seven-times F1 world champion Lewis Hamilton, who swapped machinery with Rossi for fun at an event in Valencia in 2019, also paid tribute to the Italian: “It’s obviously sad to see Vale stopping but I think his drive, his approach, just everything he’s done has been incredible. “The passion that he’s had for so long has shown through. And just such a legend, one of the greatest to ever do it,” declared Hamilton. The 41-year-old Italian will make his 432nd Grand Prix start this weekend having amassed a record 89 wins and 199 podium finishes in MotoGP. “I think that the most positive thing in my career is that a lot of people started to follow MotoGP to follow my career from the beginning, and the sport became bigger, more famous in Italy but also all around the world,” Rossi told reporters on Thursday. “It’s good to understand that during my career I became something different, something like an icon and this is a great, great pleasure also if for a rider it’s more important what happens on track, the result, everything.” Rossi started his career in the 125cc category and won a world title in 1997, followed by the 250cc championship in 1999. He moved to the premier class a year later and won seven titles between 2001 and 2009. “I always imagined this presser… this is a strange feeling. I want to keep it normal but that’s not possible. Great emotion right now,” said Rossi, who took part in a special ceremony during which all his championship-winning bikes were presented before the media. The Petronas Yamaha rider said he was disappointed at being unable to add a 10th world title. “I fought a lot for the 10th championship… I was able to race at a good level. My last title in 2009 was a lifetime ago. I would have been happy to win another championship but I cannot complain. I had a great career,” added Rossi.

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Lecuona tops wet Valencia GP FP1 as Miller and Bagnaia crash(Results)

Kevin Peterson05 mins

Tech 3 KTM rider Iker Lecuona has topped his second MotoGP practice of the year after bettering Jack Miller late on in FP1 at Valencia. Rain began to fall between Moto3 and MotoGP FP1 which led to every rider heading out on wet tyres. As was the case with Alex Rins in Portimao, 2021 MotoGP World Champion Fabio Quartararo was seen using the new shoulder cam around the Ricardo Tormo Circuit. While conditions continued to worsen around the ten minute mark, Miguel Oliveira was able to repeatedly improve his lap time and lead from Ducati’s Miller. Winner last time out, Francesco Bagnaia then jumped to the top of the field with a 1:41.511 – two tenths better than Oliveira, while Danilo Petrucci who is competing in his last MotoGP race went down at turn four whilst following Bagnaia. Bagnaia went on to improve by another two tenths on his next lap around, before he too suffered a crash – turn 2. Despite Petrucci’s crash, the wet conditions were proving beneficial for KTM as Oliveira, Lecuona and Petrucci were all within the top six at FP1’s mid-session point. Valentino Rossi, who will retire following this weekend’s Valencia MotoGP, was one of the last riders to set a flying lap, however, his first few laps weren’t classified due to being outside the seven second margin. Enea Bastianini was the other rider to be in that situation, but that changed for the former Moto2 champion with 12 minutes to go as he went 19th. Bagnaia, who led team-mate Miller for much of the session was then bettered by the Australian who set a first sub 1m 41s lap of the session. Miller’s time was over five tenths quicker than Bagnaia, while Jorge Martin made it three Ducati machines inside the top three with five minutes left. But just like Bagnaia earlier on, Miller crashed at turn one shortly after going quickest. The Ducati rider ran wide at turn one before the painted run-off wiped out the front end of his machine. Luca Marini then made it four Ducati’s at the front before Lecuona went quickest with a 1:40.569s. who has been very impressive in wet conditions since returning from injury at Misano (1), also moved into the top five momentarily, however, the Italian was eventually pushed down to eighth after good laps from Johann Zarco and Joan Mir put them fourth and fifth respectively. VALENCIA MOTOGP, CIRCUIT RICARDO TORMO – FREE PRACTICE (1) RESULTS POS RIDER NAT TEAM TIME/DIFF LAP MAX 1 Iker Lecuona SPA KTM Tech3 (RC16) 1’40.569s 17/19 317k 2 Jack Miller AUS Ducati Team (GP21) +0.155s 11/12 323k 3 Miguel Oliveira POR Red Bull KTM (RC16) +0.161s 19/19 314k 4 Johann Zarco FRA Pramac Ducati (GP21) +0.371s 20/20 320k 5 Joan Mir SPA Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) +0.374s 16/17 318k 6 Francesco Bagnaia ITA Ducati Team (GP21) +0.446s 13/13 321k 7 Luca Marini ITA Sky VR46 Avintia Ducati (GP19)* +0.535s 13/14 315k 8 Franco Morbidelli ITA Monster Yamaha (YZR-M1) +0.631s 15/17 314k 9 Pol Espargaro SPA Repsol Honda (RC213V) +0.731s 18/19 318k 10 Takaaki Nakagami JPN LCR Honda (RC213V) +0.917s 19/19 315k 11 Alex Rins SPA Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) +0.943s 16/16 318k 12 Jorge Martin SPA Pramac Ducati (GP21)* +0.978s 17/18 318k 13 Aleix Espargaro SPA Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP) +1.320s 14/14 315k 14 Enea Bastianini ITA Avintia Ducati (GP19)* +1.405s 11/14 317k 15 Fabio Quartararo FRA Monster Yamaha (YZR-M1) +1.512s 20/21 315k 16 Alex Marquez SPA LCR Honda (RC213V) +1.589s 16/16 320k 17 Brad Binder RSA Red Bull KTM (RC16) +1.599s 18/19 313k 18 Andrea Dovizioso ITA Petronas Yamaha (YZR-M1) +1.613s 12/12 308k 19 Danilo Petrucci ITA KTM Tech3 (RC16) +1.869s 6/6 310k 20 Maverick Vinales SPA Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP) +2.198s 14/15 321k 21 Valentino Rossi ITA Petronas Yamaha (YZR-M1) +12.412s 3/4 293k

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Rossi reunites with his championship winning bikes ahead of his last MotoGP race in Valencia

Kevin Peterson04 mins

A special display awaited Valentino Rossi as he arrived for the start of his final Valencia GP race weekend, in Valencia on Thursday. One bike from each of his nine world championship seasons was assembled, plus a representative from each of the respective factories: Lin Jarvis for Yamaha (2004, 2005, 2008, 2009), Alberto Puig for Honda (2001, 2002, 2003) and Massimo Rivola for Aprilia (1996, 1998). “The last race I want to try to make normal, but it’s not possible! It’s a great emotion and already from today to see all the bikes together and all the riders from MotoGP here is a great feeling,” said Rossi. “I have the bikes at home, except the Hondas. I have all the Aprilias and all the Yamahas. The Yamahas are in my house, the 2004 model is in my bedroom, so every morning when I wake up I see the bike! “But to have them all together like this is a great emotion and it’s a long way from the first one, a really long time ago, also if you consider that after the last one [in 2009] have another 10 years! It’s a long way and a great emotion.” Rossi was seen speaking to Puig about the 500cc NSR two-stroke as they posed for pictures, later revealing he had been asking if Honda would allow him to keep the bike he says was promised to him but never delivered. “I spoke with Alberto and I ask for minimum for the 500, also because that 500 is my 500, it’s the bike that Honda was supposed to give to me,” Rossi said. “I was ready to take it, I have already the place at home, but after for some reason the bike never arrived. “I’m happy if Honda changes their mind and give me that one. For sure, the bike will be well looked after, at a good temperature and have a good place in my house!” Rossi won the last ever 500cc world title for Honda in 2001, then the opening titles of the new four-stroke MotoGP era in 2002 and 2003, before stunning the sport by switching to the struggling Yamaha factory where he won the title at his first attempt. While Jarvis was instrumental in tempting Rossi to Yamaha in 2004 and has overseen all his seasons on the M1, Puig and Rivola arrived at HRC and Aprilia respectively long after Rossi’s era at the factories. Editorial Note: Watch a video on YouTube of Rossi’s reunion with the winning race bike here.

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Lewis Hamilton more likely to face grid penalty in the Brazilian GP

Kevin Peterson04 mins

Lewis Hamilton’s quest to win a record-breaking eighth world championship could be dealt a further blow in the Brazilian GP this weekend with the Mercedes driver facing a grid penalty. Hamilton’s team are considering an engine change, which would exceed the number of parts their driver is allowed to use. The Englishman served a 10-place grid drop at last month’s Turkish Grand Prix after taking on his fourth power unit of the campaign. He finished fifth, three places behind Max Verstappen. Hamilton heads into the final stretch 19 points adrift of the Dutchman, and the loss of further ground at Interlagos may all but end his title charge with only 78 points remaining after Sunday’s race. When asked about the possibility of an engine change, Hamilton refused to rule it out. “I cannot really comment at the moment,” the 36-year-old said. “As far as I am aware, my engines are fine, but I will find out later on. We have not even done an engineering briefing yet.” Hamilton, who finished a distant second to Verstappen last weekend in Mexico City, would serve any penalty after the conclusion of Saturday’s sprint race. The result of the sprint determines the grid for Sunday’s main event. But Hamilton says a charge back through the field will be fraught with problems after suggesting the Interlagos track – the venue of his superb 2008 maiden championship triumph – is among the hardest to pass on the Formula One schedule. The circuit is also expected to suit Verstappen’s Red Bull machinery. “This is not a very good track for overtaking,” added Hamilton, who has just one victory from his last eight appearances. “You have to have a 1.1 second advantage on the car ahead to have a 50 per cent chance, or something crazy like that, of making the move. “I would imagine the challenge this weekend is as steep as it can be. Red Bull’s pace was phenomenal at the last race, and they have had the strongest car this year, so we have done as well as we could. “We are going to be pushing this weekend to see if we can squeeze any more out of the car. But last time here they were incredibly strong so we anticipate they will be hard to beat. “Every race is a must-win race and it has been that way forever – particularly since we came back from the summer break – but we have not been able to do so.”

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Repsol Honda will not be finding a replacement for Marquez in Valencia

Kevin Peterson03 mins

Pol Espargaro will be the Repsol Honda Team’s sole rider in this weekend’s MotoGP season finale at Valencia, as Marc Marquez remains sidelined. Then, it was Honda test rider Stefan Bradl who filled the breach, as he had done when #93 missed most of last season and the first two rounds of 2021 due to his badly broken arm. However, the German has not been called up this time around, meaning only #44 will be in the garage at the Valencia Grand Prix. “On Tuesday it was announced that Marc Marquez will miss both the Valencia GP and the Jerez Test due to diplopia after a training crash,” read the works Honda team’s pre-event press release, in part. “The Repsol Honda Team have elected not to field a replacement for the Valencia GP weekend.” Espargaro, who moved across from KTM in the last off-season, is enjoying his best run of form to results with Honda. The Spaniard has five top 10 finishes in the last six races, including his first podium on an RC213V at Misano, two rounds ago, and is hoping to continue that form. “First I want to wish Marc all the best during this difficult time and I hope he can recover soon and well,” said Espargaro. “His absence will of course be felt at the track, but we arrive in Valencia still motivated to do our job the best we can. “It’s a circuit that I really enjoy a lot, I achieved my first MotoGP podium there in 2018 and I think we can do well there this year. “The circuit is very cold at this time of year and this is good for us. It’s the last race, I want to continue the speed from the last races to end well before 2022 begins in Jerez.” Marquez will also miss the post-season test which takes place at Jerez on November 18-19.

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KTM announces Petrucci for 2022 Dakar Rally

Kevin Peterson04 mins

KTM MotoGP regular Danilo Petrucci has confirmed he will make his Dakar Rally debut in 2022. Petrucci, who has accumulated 10 podium finishes and two wins in his 10 seasons on the MotoGP grid, will fulfil a lifetime dream with the transition into the next stage of his elite racing career after the season-closing Valencia race. ‘Petrux’ is a skilled offroad rider in enduro and motocross but knows the discipline and demands of rally will be a big challenge. Learning from some of the most successful racers in the sport, and experts from the KTM squad that has previously won an outstanding 18 successive Dakar victories, Petrucci has begun his rally preparation as he embarks on the challenge of a switch from MotoGP to the Dakar. Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s 2018 Dakar winner and recently crowned FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Champion Matthias Walkner, two-time Dakar champion Toby Price, and reigning Dakar champion Kevin Benavides will be on-hand in the KTM stable to help the MotoGP star make his transition to the sport. “For me it is really a dream come true to race the Dakar. It’s an event I’ve always wanted to do since I was a child when I was watching video tapes of the Dakar Rally from the 80s and 90s,” said Petrucci. ‘Now, thanks to KTM, this dream is coming true. First, I would like to thank KTM for this great opportunity; I think I will be the only rider that in just over one month has competed in MotoGP and then the Dakar Rally – so it is with great pride that I go there. ‘My main target is just to finish the race and enjoy it. The first approach was to have some road book training with Jordi, he competed in the race many times and finished on the podium, so he has been great in helping me learn this special art. ‘I had my first taste of riding the KTM 450 RALLY recently at an initial test in the Dubai dunes, where I was with KTM’s Dakar champions and I was able to learn so much from them – it was great to see them riding, and they were super nice and helpful to me. “I hope the training for the next month will be enough; for sure it will be a tough race, but I am excited.”

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F1 teams suffer logistics delay ahead of Sao Paulo Grand Prix

Kevin Peterson02 mins

Multiple Formula 1 teams are missing key equipment after a logistics delay in the few days between the Mexican and Brazilian grand prix. Poor weather in Mexico on Monday delayed Shipments of Formula 1 hardware heading from Mexico City to the Interlagos circuit. As a result some items will not arrive at the track until Thursday.All teams have been affected by the disruption to a similar degree. The delayed freight includes essential items related to the running of the race weekend. It is expected to arrive at the circuit on Thursday, the day before the first practice session of the weekend begins, leaving sufficient time to complete preparations for the event. “There were delays in freight departing Mexico on Monday due to the weather conditions, meaning some freight is still to arrive in Brazil,” an F1 spokesperson said. “We expect this to arrive tomorrow with no wider impact on the race weekend.” The Sao Paulo Grand Prix is the second of three races on consecutive weekends. Following Sunday’s race F1 and its teams will travel to Qatar in the Middle East, 12,000 kilometres away, for the next round of the world championship.

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Press conference schedule for Brazilian GP

Kevin Peterson03 mins

The Brazilian Grand Prix is just around the corner and that means the drivers can get ready for the first press conference of the weekend. The format is known and Max Verstappen will sit next to Nicholas Latifi. On Thursday prior to a Grand Prix weekend, there is always a press conference for the drivers. Each time two drivers are seated next to each other to answer questions of the different journalists. On Thursday this press conference starts at 4:30pm. Fernando Alonso and Valtteri Bottas will be the first to speak during this press conference. Verstappen will appear later in the session. He will sit next to Nicholas Latifi, who he has complained about many times during practice. Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris are also paired up as former teammates, while Lewis Hamilton and Lance Stroll close the press conference. On Friday there is a press conference for the team bosses at 4pm between the first free practice and the qualifying session. However, not all team bosses will be present at this press conference. First, we have Otmar Szafnauer (Aston Martin) and Andreas Seidl(McLaren), followed by Toyoharu Tanabe and Mario Isola speaking on behalf of Honda and Pirelli. Szafnauer’s press conference will be interesting after he was linked to a switch to Alpine this week.  Brazilian GP: FIA Press Conference Schedule THURSDAY, 11 NOVEMBER, 1230 HOURS LOCAL TIME Fernando Alonso (Alpine)Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) Nikita Mazepin (Haas)Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren) Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri)Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin) Antonio Giovinazzi (Alfa Romeo)George Russell (Williams) Kimi Räikkönen (Alfa Romeo)Mick Schumacher (Haas) Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri)Esteban Ocon (Alpine) Max Verstappen (Red Bull)Nicholas Latifi (Williams) Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)Sergio Pérez (Red Bull) Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)Lando Norris (McLaren) Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) FRIDAY, 12 NOVEMBER, 1400 HOURS LOCAL TIME Otmar Szafnauer (Aston Martin)Andreas Seidl (McLaren) Toyoharu Tanabe (Honda)Mario Isola (Pirelli)

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Mazepin denies allegations that he was ‘kicked out’ of nightclub

Kevin Peterson02 mins

Nikita Mazepin’s representatives have hit back at claims the Russian driver was kicked out of a nightclub in Mexico last Sunday. Video footage has emerged of the controversial Haas rookie arguing with staff as he attended the club with Haas mechanics and fellow F1 drivers George Russell and Alex Albon. Reports suggested Mazepin was in the process of being ejected from the venue. “He was not kicked out,” a spokesperson for the driver told Tass news agency. “On the contrary, he reserved a table to honour a team engineer for whom the race in Mexico was his last. He invited the whole team, and when they came to the entrance, they were not allowed to come in for a time. “Nikita went to talk to the guards personally, and after that everyone was allowed into the club. So no one kicked anyone out – it was the opposite. “Nikita stood up for the team so that everyone could enjoy the party,” the spokesperson added.

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London Grand Prix coming soon as track construction plans are underway

Kevin Peterson03 mins

Plans to build a new Formula One race track in the heart of London’s East End are closer than ever with talks said to be at an advanced stage. According to a report in the Daily Mail, US investment firm 777 Partners and an unnamed UK sports group are looking to build a brand new complex at the Royal Docks in Newham, east London that would be capable of hosting a grand prix. Both 777 Partners and the UK group have also been in talks with F1 about the possibility of adding their race to the calendar in addition to the current British Grand Prix at Silverstone, with the proposal also having the backing of London mayor Sadiq Khan. Speaking about the plans, 777 Partners founder Josh Wander, said: ‘We are hopeful that it is coming. We are hugely excited about it.’ ‘There will be an electric atmosphere as the greatest athletes in the world, along with an international fanbase and the world’s largest companies as sponsors, descend on the Docks for race weekend. ‘More importantly, we will build a world-class sports and entertainment complex that can serve the community year-round and revitalise the surrounding areas. It is the type of thing you really can’t quantify until it actually happens, but the impact is dramatic.’ The plans to build a new track were supposed to be at an even more advanced stage by now, but progress was delayed by the covid-19 pandemic. However, the proposal now looks to back on track with Khan hoping to persuade the organisers to turn the race into a carbon neutral event, where spectators would get to and from the track by public transport only.

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Alfa Romeo sets date for driver announcement amid tensions after sabotage claims by Giovinazzi

Kevin Peterson05 mins

Tension keeps growing in the Alfa Romeo’s box as driver Antonio Giovinazzi was left, once again, disappointed by the strategies decided by the team during the Mexican Grand Prix. Antonio Giovinazzi quickly became one of the most discussed drivers of the 2021 season thanks to his often-surprising exploit in qualifying, which led him to consistently outqualify his teammate Kimi Raikkonen. However, Antonio was rarely able to finalize his Saturday performance during the races due to a combination of bad luck and costly mistakes from the team, the latter being the absurd strategy call during the Mexican Grand Prix. The Italian driver started the Grand Prix from 11th but immediately climbed up to 6th due to the accidents involving various drivers during the first lap as well as his now proven ability to conquer positions at the start. He was then able to fend off from Sebastian Vettel to remain in 7th before being instructed to box on lap 16. To understand how unusual and even senseless the strategy call was, it must be understood that Pirelli believed the pit window to be between lap 22 and 32. Moreover, Giovinazzi was still in a good condition with Vettel not getting any closer. After the pit stop, the Alfa Romeo driver was stuck behind Daniel Ricciardo and Valtteri Bottas and couldn’t move past the obviously more performant car. Dirty air damaged his tyres and at that point, his race had been completely ruined. Finally, the Italian finished the race in 11th without conquering any points. Unfortunately, the Mexican Grand Prix hasn’t been the first time Alfa Romeo provided Antonio Giovinazzi with reckless tactical decisions but this time the Italian was finally able to speak up and ironically thanked the box for the strategy at the end of the race. Later on, when asked by Sky Sports Italy about whether he feels like Alfa Romeo is trying to sabotage him, Giovinazzi admitted: “I didn’t want to believe it until now but today I’m really disappointed”. Italian sportsmen sided with the driver through a social campaign that was shared by the likes of Chelsea player Jorginho, showing his pride in Giovinazzi. Support for the Italian also came from the Elkann family, as Lapo Elkann, brother of the president of Ferrari John Elkann, tweeted after the race: “I have great respect for Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen Team Principal but seeing an F1 team damaging his driver is really sad and enraging. I stand with Giovinazzi, an Italian talent who deserves the fans’ affection. “. Furthermore, if it’s now clear Antonio Giovinazzi is set to leave Alfa Romeo at the end of 2021, Alfa Romeo Team Principal Frederic Vasseur announced to Canal+ during a Twitch live the decision regarding who will side Valtteri Bottas at Alfa Romeo in 2022 has been taken and the announcement is set for the 16th of November. Hence, Guanyu Zhou seems set to debut in Formula 1 in 2022. Meanwhile, the hypothesis on Giovinazzi’s future is that the driver might join Ferrari in its alternative programs, such as GT or Hypercars. Whatever the political situation at Alfa Romeo is, it remains the fact that a driver that worked hard for the team should be treated with more respect in what could be his last season at the pinnacle of F1.

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