Verstappen will not be easing pressure on Mercedes, wants to win last four races – Marko

Kevin Peterson03 mins

Max Verstappen is not going into ‘cruise’ mode to simply manage his 19-point championship lead over Lewis Hamilton for the last four races of 2021. “He will drive for victory in every race,” declared Dr Helmut Marko, who revealed that he is recovering from a case of gastrointestinal ‘Montezuma’s Revenge’ after Verstappen’s most recent win in Mexico. “It’s nothing dramatic,” said the 78-year-old Austrian. “I’ll be fit again in Sao Paulo.” Also fit and strong, Marko insisted, will be Hamilton and Mercedes, even though Interlagos is expected to be another circuit that suits Red Bull better. “Mercedes is an extremely strong opponent,” he told f1-insider.com. “We have to keep applying the pressure and setting ourselves high goals. “That’s why we want a one-two in Sao Paulo. “Trying to just get podiums and points to win the title in the end is useless,” Marko continued. “It’s not in Max’s blood. “Experience also shows us that the error rate can actually increase if you try to take it more slowly than usual.” He is sure, however, that Verstappen will not creak under the pressure of trying to win his first F1 title against the sport’s most successful driver in history. “Max still surprises us,” said Marko. “You think he’s already at his peak performance and then he goes one better. It’s unbelievable what kind of capacities he has at his relatively young age.” Verstappen, 24, confirmed Marko’s claim that he won’t be easing off the throttle in Brazil and beyond. “I know I’m in the fight, but it doesn’t change my approach,” he told Square Mile magazine.

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Miami GP hot lap simulation with George Russell

Kevin Peterson02 mins

Williams driver George Russell has given a glimpse into the Miami Grand Prix circuit due to make its F1 debut next season. Russell recently visited the Hard Rock Stadium, home to Miami Dolphins American football team, around which the 19-turn, 5.41km Miami International Autodrome will be laid out for the May 6-8 event. FIA race director Michael Masi recently dismissed concern the grand prix would resemble others in the United States in the past and be nothing more than a race around a car park. Russell, however, was suitably impressed after conducting a number of laps on a simulator, describing it as “really, really cool”. “[There are] Lots of fast-flowing sections, I feel there will be plenty of overtaking opportunities as well but also a real street vibe with some tight and twisty corners,” added Russell, speaking in a video on Williams’ YouTube channel. “It will be really interesting to see how we get on when we come here next year but so far so good.” Watch George Russell’s simulation tour in Miami Circuit here..

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Marquez to miss Valencia season finale due to vision problems

Kevin Peterson04 mins

Marc Marquez’s MotoGP season is over after he was ruled out of this weekend’s Valencia Grand Prix and the Jerez test which follows due to ongoing vision problems. The six-time premier class champion missed last weekend’s Algarve Grand Prix after a training crash left him with concussion. Despite resting at home for a week now, he continued to feel unwell and suffer from vision problems. Yesterday (Monday, local time), he was visited by ophthalmologist Dr Sánchez Dalmau at the Hospital Clínic de Barcelona, who examined him. Tests picked up a new episode of diplopia, otherwise known as double vision, and he will not ride a MotoGP bike again this year. “The examination carried out on Marc Marquez today after the accident that occurred has confirmed that the rider has diplopia and has revealed a paralysis of the fourth right nerve with involvement of the right superior oblique muscle,” said Dr Dalmau. “A conservative treatment with periodic updates has been chosen to follow with the clinical evolution. “This fourth right nerve is the one that was already injured in 2011.” Marquez suffered from vertical diplopia in 2011 after a crash in a Moto2 session at Sepang left him with paralysis of that same muscle due to trauma to the fourth right cranial nerve. The latest injury means he will have missed a total of four rounds by season’s end, having sat out the first two as he continued to recover from the bad arm facture which he suffered in Jerez last year. Nevertheless, he is currently sixth in the standings, edging Brad Binder on a countback, and cannot finish any worse than seventh, meaning he will be the top Honda rider for 2021. Marquez has scored three wins this year, including two in what have ended up being his last two starts of the campaign. There is no word yet on a replacement but it is highly likely that Honda test rider Stefan Bradl will fill in again, given he has done so on the other three occasions. Practice at Valencia begins on Friday, while the Jerez post-season test takes place on November 18-19.

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F1 introduces new grid rules for celebrities after Megan Thee Stallion incident

Kevin Peterson04 mins

Martin Brundle will no longer have to contend with celebrities’ bodyguards during his pre-race gridwalks following his Austin run-in that went viral. The Sky F1 broadcaster reached a new level of fame, and especially in America, following his attempts to interview rapper Megan Thee Stallion. Although the artist herself appeared reasonably happy to talk to Brundle when he approached her while walking down the grid, her entourage had other ideas. A bodyguard walking in front turned around and warned off the 62-year-old, while another at the back of the group told Brundle he could not “do that”, to which the veteran of 158 grand prix starts replied: “I can because I just did.” After that incident, Brundle called for “manners and respect” from those accompanying celebrity guests when they are on Formula 1’s patch, while the episode was replayed and discussed on American TV shows besides going viral on social media. At the Mexican Grand Prix, Brundle confirmed new protocols had been introduced after Austin, which was his first gridwalk since the onset of the pandemic delayed the start of the 2020 season. Now, not only will bodyguards not be allowed on the grid but celebrities must also make themselves available for a short interview. “There have been new rules introduced, that any celebrities on the grid must not have bodyguards any longer,” confirmed Brundle on Sky F1. “It must be the ‘Brundle clause’ and they are obliged to talk to me. I sort of like it if they ignore me, to be honest.” Brundle clearly prefers talking to celebrity guests who have a genuine interest in F1 rather than those who are simply there to promote themselves. “I like to call out some of the celebs I think are just using the grid a little bit, if I’m honest. They don’t really have a passion,” he said. “I know there are millions of fans at home going ‘I should be on that grid. I’m a massive Formula 1 fan, not them’. “But my claim to fame at last. I get ignored by Megan Thee Stallion, I get biffed out of the way by a man mountain and then told off by a Malfoy lookalike who doubtless was on his first ever time to a Formula 1 grid. “I put out a simple tweet about it and got five million impressions. I don’t understand any of that, to be honest.”

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Gasly ‘extremely happy’ with Mexican GP performance as AlphaTauri levels with Alpine

Kevin Peterson03 mins

Pierre Gasly has hailed his performance in Mexican GP as AlphaTauri moved level with Alpine in the Formula 1 constructors’ championship Gasly finished comfortably ahead of the two Ferraris to finish fourth at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez. It was a lonely race for the AlphaTauri driver, finishing over 17 seconds ahead of Charles Leclerc in fifth. “I’m extremely happy, yes. It’s been a fantastic weekend – fifth in quali and fourth in the race,” Gasly said. “Everything was under control with Charles [Leclerc] behind and I could pull away nicely. I managed the whole race, so no, just a fantastic day.” Mexico was an important race for Gasly having not scored in three of the previous four races before the Mexican GP. “Yes exactly. Especially in the last four races… we had two DNFs even though the pace was there. But this weekend, the car was there, we delivered yesterday in quali, we delivered today in the race and finishing [ahead of] the two Ferraris always feels nice.” The result means AlphaTauri sits level on points with Alpine in the race for fifth in the constructors’ championship – the French outfit is ahead on countback thanks to Esteban Ocon’s win at the Hungaroring. Brazil is next up in F1 – the scene of Pierre Gasly’s maiden podium for Toro Rosso back in 2019. “We’re equal on points with Alpine now,” he added. “So it’s my personal target to give that to Franz so I can have a nice Christmas gift at the end of the year! So we’ll keep pushing for that and looking at our work as a team. I think we have our chances and we’ll fight until the end.”

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F1 confident Jeddah Circuit will be complete ahead of debut event amid concerns

Kevin Peterson04 mins

Formula 1 Race Director Michael Masi has expressed confidence over the construction of the Jeddah Corniche Circuit ahead of its debut event. Formula 1 is due to visit Jeddah on December 3-5 for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, the penultimate round on this year’s 22-event calendar. A 6km 27-turn quasi street circuit, which is set to be among the fastest on the schedule, is being developed on Jeddah’s Corniche, adjacent to the Red Sea. Photos and videos that emerged from a recent preview segment carried out by Formula 1’s broadcast team highlighted the work that is still required. But Masi has asserted that everything will be ready in time for the circuit’s debut at the start of next month. “There is a lot going on there,” said Masi at the Mexico City Grand Prix. “There is a huge amount of work happening. “The FIA and F1 are getting daily updates of where things are at, and it’s progressing very, very quickly. “Yes, there’s a lot to do – there’s nothing to deny there, I think everyone will acknowledge there’s a lot to do – but I’m still confident of the race going ahead, no problems.” Masi pointed to previous circuit builds in conceding that “there’s always an element of worry with everything” but outlined that “having been involved [with] Korea in 2010, and I think India was talked about, [and] both of those went off with no problems, I’m quite confident Saudi will be exactly the same.” Masi is due to make another visit to Jeddah ahead of its inaugural grand prix, either shortly before or after the preceding event in Qatar. “There are areas absolutely complete [and] the quality of work is first class,” Masi asserted. “They will finish, I have confidence.” “Given that the Jeddah Corniche Circuit is being built in record time, it was always the case that timings would be tight, but construction remains on schedule and will be completed on time ahead of F1’s arrival next month,” said Saudi Arabian GP CEO Martin Whitaker in a statement. Saudi Arabia has a 10-year contract to host Formula 1 races and next year’s event, set to be held in late March, will also take place at Jeddah. Long-term the plan remains to move the event to the Qiddiya entertainment facility under construction on the outskirts of capital Riyadh. The Jeddah circuit will then form part of the Corniche’s regeneration that includes sustainability and environmental projects, along with recreational areas for residents.

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Kyle Larson secures 2021 NASCAR Cup title after Phoenix win

Kevin Peterson08 mins

Kyle Larson completed one of the best seasons in NASCAR history by winning Sunday’s season finale at Phoenix Raceway to claim the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series championship. An 11.8-second pit stop under caution gave Larson the lead entering the race’s final restart with 24 laps to go. Larson did the rest, holding off fellow Championship 4 drivers Martin Truex Jr. (finished second), Denny Hamlin (finished third), and Chase Elliott (finished fifth). Larson, who closes the season with 10 wins, becomes the 35th driver to win a title in NASCAR’s premier series. He does so after spending much of the 2020 season indefinitely suspended by NASCAR following his use of a racial slur during an April 2020 e-sports event. During that period, Larson spent time working to make amends and to mature personally. He also received a second chance to restart his NASCAR career when Hendrick Motorsports signed him to be their driver of the revived No. 5 car. Now, Larson has given the powerhouse HMS its 14th Cup crown. “I cannot believe it,” Larson told NBC Sports after the race. “I didn’t think I’d be racing a Cup car a year and a half ago, and to win the championship is crazy. … There were so many points of this race where I did not think that we were going to win. “And without my pit crew on that last stop, we would not be standing right here. They’re the true winners of this race. They’re the true champions. I’m just blessed to be a part of this group. Every single person at Hendrick Motorsports – this win is for all of us and every one of you. “This is unbelievable, I’m speechless.” Stage 1 began with the Championship 4 drivers taking different strategies off early cautions. Larson pitted for tires on the day’s first yellow at Lap 8, but cycled back toward the front when Elliott, Hamlin, and Truex made their own first stops during a yellow at Lap 16. Ryan Blaney stayed out under the latter caution and kept the lead for the next 30 or so laps. But on Lap 51, Truex passed him for the race lead. While Blaney faded out of the top five, Truex pulled away to the stage win ahead of Kevin Harvick, Elliott, Hamlin and Larson. During the stage break, Elliott jumped two spots to take the race lead off pit road from Truex, whose jack man slipped on his stop but did well to recover. As Stage 2 progressed, Truex’s long-run speed helped him reel Elliott in. Over 35 laps into the run, he reclaimed the race lead from Elliott at Lap 120. A Quin Houff crash brought out the yellow at Lap 130 and brought the leaders to the pits. Elliott again was first off to take the race lead, while Truex fell to fourth and Hamlin fell to ninth with slow stops. Two more cautions for incidents led to another round of pit stops under a yellow at Lap 156. There, Larson came out first ahead of Elliott. Several cars stayed on the track, but during the ensuing restart, the entire Championship 4 were able to pass that group unscathed. Larson went on to win Stage 2 ahead of Elliott, Hamlin, Truex Jr. and Blaney. Larson, Elliott, Hamlin and Truex Jr. kept their positions through pit stops during the stage break and the restart to begin the final stage. Elliott took the race lead back from Larson at Lap 236, as Hamlin in third began to close in with long-run speed of his own. On Lap 245, Hamlin passed Larson for second and began working to catch Elliott. Three laps later, Truex was the first of the Championship 4 to visit pit road. As his car was serviced, Anthony Alfredo slammed the Turn 2 wall to bring out the yellow at Lap 249. However, due to the timing of the yellow, Truex was able to stay on the lead lap. And with the other Championship 4 drivers pitting, Truex stayed out to cycle into the lead while Hamlin was first off pit road ahead of Elliott. Truex and Ryan Blaney (who was also pitting when Alfredo crashed) led the field to green with 58 laps to go. When the field shook out, Truex and Hamlin were first and second, while Elliott and Larson were in third and fourth. As the run went on, JGR’s long-run speed – now bolstered by track position – allowed Truex and Hamlin to pull away. But with 30 laps to go, debris from the car of David Starr brought out the caution to set up the final sprint to the finish

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Red Bull reverts on Tsunoda’s criticism after Mexican GP Qualifying mix-up

Kevin Peterson04 mins

Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner backtracked on some of the criticism directed at AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda after seeing both his drivers finish on the podium in Mexico. Yuki Tsunoda was heavily criticised after qualifying in Mexico, but Red Bull team boss Christian Horner was much more understanding of the AlphaTauri driver’s blunder following Sunday’s race. The Japanese rookie, who races for Red Bull’s development team Alpha Tauri, was slammed as a “dumb idiot” by Verstappen for running off the track in the decisive moments of Q3. Red Bull team boss Christian Horner said Verstappen and also Sergio Perez had been “Tsunoda-d”, while Dr Helmut Marko accused the 21-year-old of “killing both of our cars”. Predictably, Mercedes poked fun at the situation on social media. “Keep your head up, Yuki. Don’t let the haters get you down,” the team quipped on Twitter. Tsunoda also defended himself, writing on social media that there was “nothing more” he could do to get out of the way of the two Red Bulls. “I’m worried because I have to talk to Red Bull now,” the Japanese also told reporters. “But I did nothing wrong.” Tsunoda was indeed summoned to a one-on-one meeting with Marko – and afterwards, the 78-year-old Austrian had changed his tune. “The incident was not Tsunoda’s fault,” Marko insisted. “The team knew what was happening on the track and should have asked him to leave the line earlier.” When asked what he told Tsunoda during the meeting, Marko revealed: “I told him that the engineer was responsible.” Alpha Tauri boss Franz Tost also said the young driver, who was moved to Italy by Red Bull earlier this year and is now being personally coached by Alex Albon, did nothing wrong. “We told him on the radio that the Red Bull was coming and he just needed to get out of the way so they could drive by safely,” said the Austrian. “But Perez flew off the track after Tsunoda. It wasn’t Yuki’s fault,” Tost added. “To be honest, I absolutely do not understand why Perez left the track after Yuki.” Sergio Perez, whose run off the track inspired Verstappen to lift the throttle and ultimately miss pole by two tenths, explained: “Yuki suddenly went off track in front of me.

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Toto Wolf annoyed with Bottas for letting Verstappen through on Turn 1

Kevin Peterson03 mins

Toto Wolff is unhappy with how poleman Valtteri Bottas failed to prevent Max Verstappen from overhauling both Mercedes drivers at the start of the Mexican GP. Ahead of Sunday’s race, Hamilton vowed to work with Bottas to fend off any attacks from the Red Bull camp. But as the front-runners barreled down to the first corner, Bottas remained alongside his teammate in the middle of the track rather than move towards to the left towards the racing line to block Verstappen’s charging Red Bull. And to add insult to injury, the Finn was then tagged and spun around by McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo, a setback from which Bottas could not recover. “That should not happen,” Wolff told Sky. “I think we had two cars in front and seemed to open up the scene for Max to come around the outside.” “And even the spin afterwards, and the complete loss of points with Valtteri’s car when there could have been a third or fourth place is annoying, to say the least.” Bottas eventually secured the fastest race lap, depriving Verstappen of an extra point, but Wolff appeared indifferent to the feat. “I mean, that doesn’t really console me at that stage.” Looking back on the race, the Austrian conceded that Mercedes would have likely been hard-pressed to prevail against Red Bull in Mexico if the start had gone according to plan “You have to congratulate Red Bull because the pace was just on another level,” Wolff said. “I don’t think we could have won the race even if he would have stayed ahead in the first corner, because they could have driven circles around us around the pit stops. “In the end, I think for Lewis’s championship it was damage limitation. And for the constructors’, Valtteri spinning out at turn one was very painful.”

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Mexican GP: Verstappen wins ahead of Hamilton, Perez third in home race(full results)

Kevin Peterson07 mins

Max Verstappen stretched his Formula 1 world championship lead by dominating the Mexican Grand Prix, as his Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez narrowly failed to deprive Lewis Hamilton of second. Verstappen had surged down the outside of the front-row-starting Mercedes into Turn 1 on the opening lap, braking later and instantly sweeping into the lead. Polesitter Valtteri Bottas looked set to fall into third behind Hamilton, but was tapped into a mid-corner spin by seventh-place starter Daniel Ricciardo – who was passing Perez down the inside on the dusty line. The ensuing traffic chaos triggered by Bottas spinning in front of the pack led to Yuki Tsunoda and Mick Schumacher sandwiching Esteban Ocon and both sustaining race-ending damage, though the Alpine they had both bounced over continued. After a four-lap safety car period, Verstappen simply stormed away. By lap 20 he was 8s clear of Hamilton, who could not shake Perez off. Mercedes brought Hamilton in for his sole pitstop long before the two Red Bulls in the hope of gaining an undercut advantage. While that made no difference to Verstappen’s comfortable margin, Red Bull responded by extending Perez’s first stint so that he came in a full 10 laps later than Hamilton. That long run on older tyres dropped Perez 8s away from the Mercedes by the time he rejoined, but the hope was he could hunt down Hamilton on his fresher tyres. Sure enough, Perez caught Hamilton with 10 laps to go. Despite his best efforts, and amid various traffic headaches, the home favourite couldn’t quite make it a Red Bull 1-2. Verstappen’s points lead is now up to 19 as he was denied a fastest lap point by Mercedes bringing in the delayed Bottas (who had made little progress from the back after his spin then had a poor second scheduled pitstop) for two extra pitstops for fresh tyres late on so he could deny Verstappen that bonus point. Bottas’s first effort to take fastest lap was ironically denied when he came across Verstappen on track. The second attempt finally proved successful on the last lap. Pierre Gasly spent most of the race in a comfortable fourth for AlphaTauri, but did have to be wary of the closing Carlos Sainz late on. The Ferrari driver had left his sole pitstop very late and was charging on fresh tyres, being let through by team-mate Charles Leclerc along the way. They swapped places back as it became clear Sainz wouldn’t catch Gasly. Ferrari’s fifth and sixth places meant it swept past McLaren into third in the constructors’ championship as its rival only scored one point for Lando Norris’s 10th place – achieved from 18th on the grid. Ricciardo smashed his front wing hitting Bottas and could only recover to 12th. Sebastian Vettel took Aston Martin’s best result in nearly two months with seventh, while Kimi Raikkonen’s eighth place ahead of Fernando Alonso’s Alpine was Alfa Romeo’s highest finish all season. Raikkonen’s team-mate Antonio Giovinazzi looked like he would be Alfa’s hero as he emerged from the first-corner mess sixth, but pitting too early for his sole stop left him in the midfield and he finished 11th. George Russell and Nikita Mazepin had also leapt forward through the lap one chaos and briefly ran ninth and 11th for Williams and Haas. That proved unsustainable and they fell back to 16th and 18th respectively by the finish. 2021 F1 MEXICO CITY GRAND PRIX – RESULTS POS DRIVER NAT. TEAM TIME 1 Max Verstappen NED Red Bull Racing 71 Laps 2 Lewis Hamilton GBR Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team + 16.555s 3 Sergio Perez MEX Red Bull Racing + 17.752s 4 Pierre Gasly FRA Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda + 63.845s 5 Charles Leclerc MON Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow + 81.037s 6 Carlos Sainz ESP Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow + 1 Lap 7 Sebastian Vettel GER Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team + 1 Lap 8 Kimi Raikkonen FIN Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen + 1 Lap 9 Fernando Alonso ESP Alpine F1 Team + 1 Lap 10 Lando Norris GBR McLaren F1 Team + 1 Lap 11 Antonio Giovinazzi ITA Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen + 1 Lap 12 Daniel Ricciardo AUS McLaren F1 Team + 1 Lap 13 Esteban Ocon FRA Alpine F1 Team + 1 Lap 14 Lance Stroll CAN Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team + 2 Laps 15 Valtteri Bottas FIN Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team + 2 Laps 16 George Russell GBR Williams Racing + 2 Laps 17 Nicholas Latifi CAN Williams Racing + 2 Laps 18 Nikita Mazepin RUS Uralkali Haas F1 Team + 3 Laps DNF Mick Schumacher GER Uralkali Haas F1 Team DNF DNF Yuki Tsunoda JPN Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda DNF

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Bagnaia wins crash filled Algarve GP ahead of Mir and Miller(full results)

Kevin Peterson07 mins

Francesco Bagnaia has soared to a third MotoGP win in five races after dominating the Algarve Grand Prix at Portimao. Starting from pole position following a record lap time, the factory Ducati rider was imperious in running away with victory at Portimao. The race was called early, on the penultimate lap, following a collision between Iker Lecuona and Miguel Oliveira. With the results backdated to the end of Lap 23, the final margin to second-placed finisher Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) ended up at 2.478s. Off the start, it was Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team) who got the best getaway to lead the field into Turn 1. Bagnaia wasted no time in regaining the lead though, getting the upper hand with a stronger exit out of the first corner, and later that same lap Mir would pass Miller too. Bagnaia and Mir quickly set about dropping Miller, who fell back into the clutches of a tight battle back behind initially led by Jorge Martin (Pramac Racing). By Lap 4, the Australian’s threat from behind was now Alex Marquez (LCR Honda Castrol), the Spaniard having started well from his career-best grid slot of eighth. While Bagnaia upped the ante to widen his buffer over Mir to eight tenths by Lap 7 and towards 1.5s at the midway point of the race, Miller continued to fall back and was passed for third by Marquez at the start of Lap 12. Unlike the medium-shod Miller, Marquez was making his hard rear tyre work a treat. By the end of Lap 15 of 25, the order ran: Bagnaia, Mir, Marquez, Miller, Martin, Johann Zarco and champion-elect Fabio Quartararo. Starting seventh, the Monster Energy Yamaha star was sluggish off the line and struggled to find a way past the Ducatis ahead – Zarco sneaking through after Quartararo ran wide at Turn 13. The biggest improver in the opening segment was home hero Oliveira, who gained seven spots to 10th within two laps. By contrast, Maverick Viñales plummeted to last immediately – and things would get worse for Aprilia Racing Team Gresini when Aleix Espargaro crashed out on Lap 8 at Turn 1. That completed a shocking day for the older Espargaro brother, who had also crashed in Sunday warm-up. He was the second to trigger yellow flags, Danilo Petrucci (Tech 3 KTM Factory Racing) making it only to the fourth corner of the opening lap. Miller, searching for his first podium since the Catalan Grand Prix five months ago, briefly snuck back into third with a block pass at the start of Lap 19, only for Marquez to execute a criss-cross. Two laps later, Miller would make it stick after a Marquez error opened the door. A little further back, the same lap would bring Quartararo unstuck at Turn 5, a crash representing his first non-finish of 2021. Quartararo had held sixth at the time, Martin having lost positions to both Zarco and #20 moments earlier. He’d be joined in the non-finisher category by Lecuona and Oliveira, an incident which brought about the race-ending red flag. Lecuona lost his #27 on entry to Turn 13, wiping out his fellow KTM competitor. After initial concern, both riders were seen to be conscious, Lecuona appearing to apologise. The early stoppage did, however, cost Marquez any chance of launching a last-gasp assault on Miller, leaving him to settle for fourth. With the results, Bagnaia and Mir sealed second and third, respectively, in the riders’ championship. Ducati also sealed the 2021 constructors’ title. ALGARVE MOTOGP, PORTIMAO – RACE RESULTS POS RIDER NAT TEAM TIME/DIFF 1 Francesco Bagnaia ITA Ducati Team (GP21) 38m 17.72s 2 Joan Mir SPA Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) +2.478s 3 Jack Miller AUS Ducati Team (GP21) +6.402s 4 Alex Marquez SPA LCR Honda (RC213V) +6.453s 5 Johann Zarco FRA Pramac Ducati (GP21) +7.882s 6 Pol Espargaro SPA Repsol Honda (RC213V) +9.573s 7 Jorge Martin SPA Pramac Ducati (GP21)* +10.144s 8 Alex Rins SPA Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) +10.742s 9 Enea Bastianini ITA Avintia Ducati (GP19)* +13.840s 10 Brad Binder RSA Red Bull KTM (RC16) +14.487s 11 Takaaki Nakagami JPN LCR Honda (RC213V) +20.912s 12 Luca Marini ITA Sky VR46 Avintia Ducati (GP19)* +22.450s 13 Valentino Rossi ITA Petronas Yamaha (YZR-M1) +22.752s 14 Andrea Dovizioso ITA Petronas Yamaha (YZR-M1) +26.207s 15 Stefan Bradl GER Repsol Honda (RC213V) +26.284s 16 Maverick Vinales SPA Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP) +26.828s 17 Franco Morbidelli ITA Monster Yamaha (YZR-M1) +27.863s   Miguel Oliveira POR Red Bull KTM (RC16) DNF   Iker Lecuona SPA KTM Tech3 (RC16) DNF   Fabio Quartararo FRA Monster Yamaha (YZR-M1) DNF   Aleix Espargaro SPA Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP) DNF   Danilo Petrucci ITA KTM Tech3 (RC16) DNF

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Daniel Hemric wins Phoenix race securing the 2021 Xfinity Series championship title

Kevin Peterson06 mins

Daniel Hemric’s first NASCAR win came at a very opportune time. Hemric passed Austin Cindric just before the finish line to get the 2021 Xfinity Series title in a door-banging finish at Phoenix on Saturday night. The 30-year-old entered Saturday night’s race with 207 career starts in NASCAR’s Cup Series, Xfinity Series and Truck Series without a win. He had finished second 10 times in the Xfinity Series and looked set to make it 11 as he slid in behind Cindric on the final lap. But he drove underneath Cindric in the final two corners and finally grabbed that checkered flag by a few feet. “I’m blacked out, blacked out,” Hemric said at the start/finish line after turning a back flip off the roof of his car. “Just knew I had to be the first one to the line. I thought I let him get too much of a run off of (Turn) 4 (on the first lap of overtime). “Drove into (Turn) 1, knew I was close, not to completely use them up, but we work our asses off for an opportunity like this—excuse my language. This is what it’s all about, winning at the second highest level in all of motorsports. What an honor… “How about those race fans? That back flip good enough for you? I’ve been waiting a long damn time to do that.” Cindric took the loss with consummate grace. “Until you spin somebody out, it’s not dirty racing,” said Cindric, who entered the championship event with five wins to his credit this season. “If everyone in the stands enjoyed it, it’s good racing. “I’m appreciative of the opportunity to race on such a big stage, race for Roger Penske, represent Ford Performance, all of our sponsors that helped us this season. It would have been awesome to finish this out. I felt like we had a dominant race car, felt like we did everything right. Come up a little short.” As a consolation prize, Cindric secured the Xfinity Series Owners Championship for Roger Penske with his runner-up result. The other two Championship 4 drivers—Noah Gragson and AJ Allmendinger—were in contention at the end. Gragson slammed the wall shortly after a restart on Lap 193 and fell to 12th at the finish. Allmendinger suffered a loose wheel late in the race and spun in Turn 2 on Lap 181, causing the eighth of 10 cautions. Cindric, who led a race-high 113 laps, had a commanding lead at the time, but the yellow bunched the field and set up the late-race shootout. Harrison Burton ran third on Saturday, followed by Riley Herbst and Justin Haley. John Hunter Nemechek, Brandon Jones, Brett Moffitt, Justin Allgaier and Sheldon Creed completed the top 10. After racing two full seasons for Brad Keselowski Racing in the Truck Series and finishing in the top seven in points in each of those seasons, Hemric moved up to the Xfinity Series with Richard Childress Racing in 2017. He made the final four in each of his two Xfinity seasons with Childress despite not getting a win. A win has always felt like it was inches away from Hemric’s grasp and would happen at some point. He moved up to the Cup Series with RCR in 2019 and had a forgettable season. He was 25th in the points standings and had just one top five and two top 10s. Tyler Reddick, the man who replaced Hemric in the Xfinity Series at RCR, won the 2019 Xfinity Series title. The team moved him up to the Cup Series and Hemric was left without a full-time ride. After racing part-time in the Xfinity Series in 2020, Hemric scored a ride at Joe Gibbs Racing in 2021. He finishes the season with 15 top-five finishes and 21 top 10s. And it’s his only season with the team. He’s moving on to Kaulig Racing in 2022.

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Verstappen says Perez and Tsunoda ruined his bid to take pole for Mexican GP

Kevin Peterson03 mins

Max Verstappen confirmed Yuki Tsunoda and Sergio Perez running wide through the middle sector in Q3 “destroyed” his chances of pole position for the Mexico City Grand Prix. Mercedes took a shock one-two spearheaded by Valtteri Bottas, with Verstappen finishing third, over three-tenths down on the Finn. Verstappen had his chance of improving in his final run taken away by the AlphaTauri of Tsunoda running wide through turns 10 and 11, followed by Perez. Despite no yellow flags being waved, Verstappen revealed he had lifted off. The championship leader explained: “On the last lap, I was on for a good lap. “I don’t know what happened in front of me but there were two guys going off so I thought there was going to be a yellow flag so I backed out and then you know the lap is then, of course, destroyed. “Even without that, I think we could have still gone for that pole lap. Third is not amazing but I think it is still better than starting second.” Red Bull had performed extensive work on the rear wings of both cars throughout the day but Verstappen ruled out any effect on qualifying from the issues. “We had to repair them but I think in the end, when we went into qualifying, everything was like normal,” said Verstappen. “Of course, it is not ideal but I don’t think it was the reason why it was a bit of a struggle for us in qualifying. “Qualifying did not go our way but we are not using these tyres [softs] anyway so still all to fight for.”

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Toyota #8 wins 8 Hours of Bahrain as sister car #7 wins 2021 Championship title

Kevin Peterson07 mins

Toyota Gazoo Racing wrapped up the FIA World Endurance Championship season with a dominant 1-2 run in Saturday’s 8 Hours of Bahrain that saw the No. 8 crew of Brendon Hartley, Kazuki Nakajima and Sebastien Buemi win the race and No. 7 car of Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Jose Maria Lopez crowned world drivers’ champions. Nakajima, in his final race with the Japanese manufacturer, drove the No. 8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid to a 7.351-second victory over the sister entry, brought to the checkered flag by Lopez. It gave Toyota a clean sweep of wins in the WEC season, in another commanding race after the No. 36 Signatech-run Alpine A480 Gibson battled gearbox issues early on. Nico Lapierre dashed into the lead in the grandfathered LMP1 car at the start until Conway took over point on Lap 8, in what quickly turned into another Toyota affair with the two cars exchanging the lead. Lapierre’s trip to the garage, which cost the Alpine three laps in the opening hour, handed a clear-sailing win to Toyota. Other minor setbacks saw Lapierre and co-drivers Andre Negrao and Matthieu Vaxiviere finish six laps behind the race-winning No. 7 machine. Team WRT claimed the LMP2 world title with its third consecutive class win with drivers Robin Frijns, Ferdinand Habsburg and Charles Milesi, which enjoyed an equally dominant race. Audi Sport factory driver Frijns took the No. 31 Oreca 07 Gibson to 1 minute and 14.320-second win over the No. 38 JOTA entry of Antonio Felix Da Costa, Roberto Gonzalez and Anthony Davidson in second. The No. 28 JOTA Oreca of Tom Blomqvist emerged in second following the final round of stops ahead of Da Costa, who got around the sister car with three minutes to go. Davidson, in his final race in professional competition, overcame an unexpected trip down pit lane and a subsequent drive-through penalty for speeding in the pit lane. Filipe Albuquerque drove the No. 22 United Autosports entry to a fourth place class finish, ahead of the No. 34 Inter Europol Competition Oreca, which completed the top-five. LMP2 Pro-Am honors went to the No. 29 Racing Team Nederland entry of Frits van Eerd, Giedo van der Garde and Job van Uitert, which finished sixth among the LMP2 entries. Van Eerd, meanwhile, claimed the sub-class championship as a solo driver. Ferrari Provisionally Wins GTE-Pro Title in Dramatic Finale Alessandro Pier Guidi and James Calado have provisionally claimed the GTE drivers’ world championship in a dramatic conclusion that saw contact between the No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE and the then-class leading No. 92 Porsche 911 RSR-19 of Michael Christensen in the final 15 minutes. Christensen spun as a result of the contact, with race control ordering Pier Guidi, with a damaged nose, to give the position back, which he did not as the the Porsche pitted for fuel with ten minutes to go. Pier Guidi crossed the line ahead of Christensen by 3.249 seconds, with no further decisions having been made as of the time of this writing. It has provisionally given Ferrari the GTE world manufacturers’ title as well. The No. 52 AF Corse Ferrari completed the class podium followed by the No. 91 Porsche, which lost time due to a pit stop infringement and a left-rear wheel issue in the final three hours. GTE-Am class and championship honors went to the No. 83 AF Corse Ferrari trio of Nicklas Nielsen, Alessio Rovera and Francois Perrodo. Nielsen finished 1 lap ahead of the No. 77 Dempsey-Proton Racing Porsche of Matt Campbell in the race, which was largely dominated by the Italian Ferrari squad. The No. 56 Team Project 1 Porsche completed the class podium after overcoming a 1 minute stop-and-hold penalty in the fourth hour for “putting a marshal in danger” during the race’s third Full Course Yellow. Riccardo Pera held second in class until a final lap pass by Campbell for position. It marked back-to-back class titles for Ferrari factory driver Nielsen and Perrodo, with the Frenchman claiming his third outright GTE-Am championship. A challenge from the No. 33 TF Sport Aston Martin Vantage GTE, which entered the race with a chance of the class title, started to unravel on the opening lap when Ben Keating and the No. 98 Northwest AMR entry of Paul Dalla Lana made contact, resulting in punctures for both cars. Keating later suffered an incident with the No. 54 AF Corse Ferrari of Thomas Flohr that resulted in suspension damage and eventual retirement.

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Bottas takes pole as Mercedes lock out the front row in the Mexican GP qualifying(full results)

Kevin Peterson06 mins

Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas has taken pole position for the Mexican GP, leading a 1-2 for the Brackley team as Lewis Hamilton claimed second place. In what was a surprising turn of events, Mercedes proved untouchable in the final part of qualifying as Bottas set a 1:15.875 on his first run in Q3. This was over a tenth quicker than what Hamilton managed, but it was Red Bull who shocked as they fell short in the crunch part of qualifying. Having looked the favourites throughout the weekend, Verstappen was left scratching his head after falling 0.350 shy of what Bottas managed. A reasonably scruffy first flying lap put him on the back foot, while his second run was ruined when AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda went off through the esses on the final runs. This distracted Sergio Perez, with the two cars being off the track and distracting Verstappen as he arrived at the scene. Perez was left in fourth, with neither Red Bull improving on their second runs as a result of the incident. AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly finished in fifth, just over a tenth shy of Perez and possibly highlighting just how far short Red Bull fell in the final part of qualifying. Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz finished sixth, having survived a scare in the first part of qualifying when he appeared to suffer a power unit issue leaving the pits. He managed to get the car fired back up to full power, going on to make it into Q3. McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo was seventh, ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, and Tsunoda in ninth. The Japanese driver will start on the Soft compound, having been the only driver in the top ten in Q2 to use the red marked tyres to get through the second part of qualifying. Rounding out the top ten was McLaren’s Lando Norris, although he will start from the back of the grid as a result of an engine change grid penalty. 2021 F1 MEXICAN GP – QUALIFYING RESULTS POS. DRIVER NAT. TEAM Q1 Q2 Q3 1 Valtteri Bottas FIN Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team 1m16.727s 1m16.864s 1m15.875s 2 Lewis Hamilton GBR Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team 1m17.207s 1m16.474s 1m16.020s 3 Max Verstappen NED Red Bull Racing 1m16.788s 1m16.483s 1m16.225s 4 Sergio Perez MEX Red Bull Racing 1m17.003s 1m17.055s 1m16.342s 5 Pierre Gasly FRA Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda 1m16.908s 1m16.955s 1m16.456s 6 Carlos Sainz ESP Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow 1m17.517s 1m17.248s 1m16.761s 7 Daniel Ricciardo AUS McLaren F1 Team 1m17.719s 1m17.092s 1m16.763s 8 Charles Leclerc MON Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow 1m16.748s 1m17.034s 1m16.837s 9 Yuki Tsunoda JPN Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda 1m17.330s 1m16.701s 1m17.158s 10 Lando Norris GBR McLaren F1 Team 1m17.569s 1m17.473s 1m36.830s 11 Sebastian Vettel GER Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team 1m17.502s 1m17.746s   12 Kimi Raikkonen FIN Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen 1m17.606s 1m17.958s   13 George Russell GBR Williams Racing 1m17.958s 1m18.172s   14 Antonio Giovinazzi ITA Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen 1m17.897s 1m18.290s   15 Esteban Ocon FRA Alpine F1 Team 1m18.126s 1m18.405s   16 Fernando Alonso ESP Alpine F1 Team 1m18.452s     17 Nicholas Latifi CAN Williams Racing 1m18.756s     18 Mick Schumacher GER Uralkali Haas F1 Team 1m18.858s     19 Nikita Mazepin RUS Uralkali Haas F1 Team 1m19.303s     20 Lance Stroll CAN Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team 1m20.873s     After being absent from the 2020 season calendar due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Formula 1 returns to racing in Mexico this weekend.

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Mexican GP FP3: Sergio Perez leads a Red Bull 1-2 in final practice

Kevin Peterson07 mins

Sergio Pérez topped the final free practice session in front of his adoring home crowd at the 2021 Mexican GP. Max Verstappen was in second position, 0.193 seconds behind the Mexican. Lewis Hamilton was in third position with a gap of 0.651 seconds behind the leader. The sixty-minute long all-important third free practice session started under sunny conditions with air temperatures at 17 degrees C and track temperatures at 35 degrees C. The track had cement dust deposited on it due to oil leakages from the support races making it even more slippery. The Pirelli tyre choice at this race is the white-striped hard compound tyres (C2), yellow-striped medium compound tyres (C3), and red-striped soft compound tyres (C4). After silence for the first five minutes, Yuki Tsunoda was the first driver on the track on a used set of soft compound tyres. The young Japanese driver was joined by Lance Stroll and George Russell. Tsunoda and Stroll will start from the back of the grid due to penalties for new power unit components. Lando Norris and Esteban Ocon will also join them at the back for the same reason. Russell has a five-place grid penalty for a gearbox change. Tsunoda set the first timed lap and improved on it with a lap time of 1m19.744s. Norris joined the fray on a new set of soft compound tyres and slotted into second position. With less than forty minutes to go, the Scuderia Ferrari drivers came out on the track on a set of soft compound tyres. Both drivers kicked up cement dust and slid around on the oily patch. Bottas went to the top of the time charts with a lap time of 1m18.661s with Hamilton 0.109 seconds behind him. Pérez cheered by his home crowd went faster than Bottas by 0.036 seconds. Times started tumbling as the track improved and Charles Leclerc went to the top of the time sheets. With less than thirty minutes to go, Verstappen finally came out of the garage and took first position with a lap time of 1m17.537s. Verstappen was faster than Pérez by 0.397 seconds. Bottas then improved to take second position, just 0.171 seconds behind the Dutchman. Verstappen further improved on his lap time by 0.320 seconds. With less than fifteen minutes to go, Leclerc was the first driver to come out for the final qualification simulation runs on a set of new soft compound tyres. But Leclerc had a spin and went back into the pits. Hamilton on his first flying lap improved to third position but still 0.686 seconds slower than Verstappen. Pérez then slotted into second position, just 0.055 seconds behind Verstappen. On his second flying lap, Pérez went fastest with a lap time of 1m17.024s. Verstappen could not get his brand new set of soft compound tyres in the right temperature range and stayed in second position, 0.193 seconds behind the Mexican. Hamilton and Bottas were in third and fourth positions. Sainz and Tsunoda finished in fifth and sixth positions, nearly one second slower than the leaders. Daniel Ricciardo and Pierre Gasly were in seventh and eighth positions. Leclerc and Norris rounded off the top ten positions. It is advantage Red Bull Racing going into the qualification session. 2021 Mexican GP FP3 Results: Pos No Driver Nat. Team Time Gap Laps 1 11 Sergio Perez MEX Red Bull Racing 1:17.024 15 2 33 Max Verstappen NED Red Bull Racing 1:17.217 +0.193s 12 3 44 Lewis Hamilton GBR Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team 1:17.675 +0.651s 14 4 77 Valtteri Bottas FIN Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team 1:17.708 +0.684s 17 5 55 Carlos Sainz ESP Scuderia Ferrari 1:18.029 +1.005s 20 6 22 Yuki Tsunoda JAP Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda 1:18.037 +1.013s 25 7 3 Daniel Ricciardo AUS McLaren F1 Team 1:18.121 +1.097s 15 8 10 Pierre Gasly FRA Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda 1:18.202 +1.178s 18 9 16 Charles Leclerc MON Scuderia Ferrari 1:18.213 +1.189s 20 10 4 Lando Norris GBR McLaren F1 Team 1:18.312 +1.288s 16 11 18 Lance Stroll CAN Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team 1:18.352 +1.328s 20 12 7 Kimi Räikkönen FIN Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN 1:18.531 +1.507s 22 13 99 Antonio Giovinazzi ITA Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN 1:18.556 +1.532s 19 14 5 Sebastian Vettel GER Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team 1:18.614 +1.590s 17 15 14 Fernando Alonso ESP Alpine F1 Team 1:18.847 +1.823s 15 16 31 Esteban Ocon FRA Alpine F1 Team 1:18.999 +1.975s 17 17 63 George Russell GBR Williams Racing 1:19.211 +2.187s 19 18 47 Mick Schumacher GER Uralkali Haas F1 Team 1:19.238 +2.214s 14 19 6 Nicholas Latifi CAN Williams Racing 1:19.313 +2.289s 12 20 9 Nikita Mazepin RAF Uralkali Haas F1 Team 1:20.479 +3.455s 15

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