Racetrackmasters

FIM raises MotoGP entry age from 16 to 18 from 2023 onwards

Kevin Peterson3 years ago3 years ago04 mins

The minimum age to compete in motorcycle grand prix racing will be raised from 16 to 18 for 2023 onwards following changes from the Federation of International Motorcycles (FIM). The raising of the age limit comes following a string of tragic accidents throughout 2021 across the Moto3-based categories as well as the similarly slipstream dependent World Supersport 300 series that culminated in the deaths of Jason Depasquier, Dean Berta Vinales as well Hugo Millan in a Red Bull Rookies race in July. Another frightening accident took place at the Circuit of the Americas during the Moto3 world championship contest three weeks ago, with Deniz Oncu picking up a two-race ban for dangerously cutting across Jeremy Alcoba at high speed, causing several riders to slam into the bikes strewn across the circuit. A document detailing the raft of changes across all FIM ruled series was released on Friday afternoon, revealing that from 2023 the minimum age to enter the Moto3, Moto2 and MotoGP world championships will be raised from 16 to 18. Exceptions will be made for riders that enter the ’23 season under the age of 18 that have already competed in ’22, while going forward the champions of the FIM Moto3 Junior world championship and Red Bull Rookies series respectively will be given special dispensation to enter the Moto3 world championship at age 17. These changes come in order to try and reduce the risk the frequency of aggressive riding resulting in incidents, with the bulk of the problems coming from riders aged 16 and under and in series that frequently see large slipstream battles due to the underpowered nature of the motorcycles. The extra time afforded to the younger riders in lower series will hopefully allow them to mature at a better pace, and ideally allowing them to make their world series debuts under much reduced pressure to what they currently have to sustain. The changes would mean that current Moto3 series leader Pedro Acosta – who only recently turned 17 – would have been ineligible to join the full championship this year had the rules already been in place, though theoretically would have been able to enter wildcard events as the reigning Red Bull Rookies champion later in the year. The same could be said for last years Junior Moto3 champion Izan Guevara, who turned 17 in June.

Jack Miller dominates damp Emilia Romagna MotoGP FP2

Kevin Peterson3 years ago3 years ago04 mins

Ducati’s Jack Miller takes over at the top during another wet Friday practice session for the Emilia Romagna MotoGP, the second of this year’s events at Misano. Conditions were at least better than the morning session, with sunshine breaking through the clouds and a dry line starting to develop, prompting riders to switch from the soft to medium compound front wet tyre. Miller, fastest for most of this morning, was soon leading the timesheets this afternoon, where he remained to the chequered flag. FP1 leader Johann Zarco claimed second overall for a Ducati one-two, just 0.9s behind Miller, with Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro snatching a late third. World championship leader Fabio Quartararo will need to keep his fingers crossed for dry weather on Saturday morning after again struggling in the wet. The Frenchman was left down in 16th place and is currently heading for a rare Qualifying 1 appearance. Quartararo won’t be alone in hoping for a fine FP3 with Joan Mir and Marc Marquez also among those outside the top ten. Quartararo has his first chance to win the 2021 MotoGP title this weekend, providing he can keep his 52-point lead over Francesco Bagnaia to at least 50-points on Sunday. Bagnaia was eighth today. Local hero Valentino Rossi is competing in his final Italian round before retirement, but could only manage 22nd. Bagnaia won last month’s first Misano round, ahead of Quartararo and Enea Bastianini. EMILIA ROMAGNA MOTOGP, MISANO – FREE PRACTICE (2) RESULTS POS RIDER NAT TEAM TIME/DIFF LAP MAX 1 ^2 Jack Miller AUS Ducati Team (GP21) 1’41.305s 10/16 295k 2 ˅1 Johann Zarco FRA Pramac Ducati (GP21) +0.927s 19/19 294k 3 ^16 Aleix Espargaro SPA Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP) +0.986s 17/17 290k 4 ^5 Iker Lecuona SPA KTM Tech3 (RC16) +1.271s 8/22 286k 5 ^2 Miguel Oliveira POR Red Bull KTM (RC16) +1.286s 16/21 288k 6 ^5 Luca Marini ITA Sky VR46 Avintia Ducati (GP19)* +1.296s 16/16 290k 7 ^17 Lorenzo Salvadori ITA Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP)* +1.310s 17/18 286k 8 ˅2 Francesco Bagnaia ITA Ducati Team (GP21) +1.364s 5/21 293k 9 ˅1 Danilo Petrucci ITA KTM Tech3 (RC16) +1.470s 18/18 286k 10 ˅6 Jorge Martin SPA Pramac Ducati (GP21)* +1.504s 19/21 295k 11 ˅1 Joan Mir SPA Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) +1.537s 11/17 289k 12 ^8 Enea Bastianini ITA Avintia Ducati (GP19)* +1.537s 18/18 292k 13 ^1 Alex Marquez SPA LCR Honda (RC213V) +1.574s 12/17 291k 14 ˅12 Marc Marquez SPA Repsol Honda (RC213V) +1.578s 6/18 290k 15 ^1 Alex Rins SPA Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) +1.639s 18/18 290k 16 ^2 Fabio Quartararo FRA Monster Yamaha (YZR-M1) +1.792s 9/19 287k 17 ^6 Brad Binder RSA Red Bull KTM (RC16) +1.932s 20/22 286k 18 ˅5 Michele Pirro ITA Ducati Team (GP21) +2.108s 6/13 286k 19 ˅4 Pol Espargaro SPA Repsol Honda (RC213V) +2.165s 8/17 290k 20 ˅15 Franco Morbidelli ITA Monster Yamaha (YZR-M1) +2.280s 18/18 284k 21 ˅4 Maverick Vinales SPA Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP) +2.374s 16/16 291k 22 ˅10 Valentino Rossi ITA Petronas Yamaha (YZR-M1) +2.484s 19/19 286k 23 ˅1 Takaaki Nakagami JPN LCR Honda (RC213V) +2.770s 21/21 289k 24 ˅3 Andrea Dovizioso ITA Petronas Yamaha (YZR-M1) +3.338s 10/16 286k

Johann Zarco tops wet Emilia Romagna MotoGP FP1

Kevin Peterson3 years ago3 years ago04 mins

Pramac Ducati rider Johann Zarco returns to the top by leading a wet opening practice session for MotoGP’s return to Misano at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, while fellow Ducati rider and title contender Francesco Bagnaia suffered a late fall. Factory Ducati’s Jack Miller led for the majority of the session ahead of factory team-mate Bagnaia, with Zarco moving to the top with seven minutes remaining. Zarco, who has struggled to repeat his early season podium run and recently underwent arm pump surgery, improved his time further to pull a big 1.4s clear of nearest rival Marc Marquez, who popped ahead of Miller on his final lap. Late improvements also moved Jorge Martin and Franco Morbidelli to fourth and fifth, ahead of Bagnaia, who had lowsided at the end of the back straight. World championship leader Fabio Quartararo may have stayed upright but the Frenchman’s Yamaha again looked twitchy in the wet on his way to 18th place, 3.1s behind Zarco. Quartararo has his first chance to win the MotoGP title this weekend, providing he can keep his 52-point lead over Bagnaia to at least 50-points on Sunday. There were early accidents for Alex Marquez and Brad Binder, plus a technical issue in the pits for Aleix Espargaro, who had been fastest at the Misano post-race test. Local hero Valentino Rossi is competing in his final Italian round before retirement. Bagnaia won last month’s first Misano round, ahead of Quartararo and Enea Bastianini. The tyre allocation will be the same for this weekend, but temperatures are cooler and more rain is expected throughout Friday. EMILIA ROMAGNA MOTOGP, MISANO – FREE PRACTICE (1) RESULTS POS RIDER NAT TEAM TIME/DIFF LAP MAX 1 Johann Zarco FRA Pramac Ducati (GP21) 1’42.374s 19/19 295k 2 Marc Marquez SPA Repsol Honda (RC213V) +1.417s 20/20 291k 3 Jack Miller AUS Ducati Team (GP21) +1.625s 6/15 292k 4 Jorge Martin SPA Pramac Ducati (GP21)* +1.667s 19/19 293k 5 Franco Morbidelli ITA Monster Yamaha (YZR-M1) +1.680s 13/13 283k 6 Francesco Bagnaia ITA Ducati Team (GP21) +1.809s 17/17 290k 7 Miguel Oliveira POR Red Bull KTM (RC16) +1.869s 20/20 289k 8 Danolo Petrucci ITA KTM Tech3 (RC16) +1.950s 17/17 286k 9 Iker Lecuona SPA KTM Tech3 (RC16) +2.031s 16/18 283k 10 Joan Mir SPA Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) +2.139s 16/18 289k 11 Luca Marini ITA Sky VR46 Avintia Ducati (GP19)* +2.201s 15/17 288k 12 Valentino Rossi ITA Petronas Yamaha (YZR-M1) +2.377s 14/14 284k 13 Michele Pirro ITA Ducati Team (GP21) +2.514s 13/13 285k 14 Alex Marquez SPA LCR Honda (RC213V) +2.637s 18/18 289k 15 Pol Espargaro SPA Repsol Honda (RC213V) +2.830s 19/19 289k 16 Alex Rins SPA Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) +2.847s 18/20 288k 17 Maverick Vinales SPA Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP) +3.071s 16/19 293k 18 Fabio Quartararo FRA Monster Yamaha (YZR-M1) +3.103s 20/20 283k 19 Aleix Espargaro SPA Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP) +3.282s 15/15 288k 20 Enea Bastianini ITA Avintia Ducati (GP19)* +3.479s 13/15 286k 21 Andrea Dovizioso ITA Petronas Yamaha (YZR-M1) +3.507s 16/16 284k 22 Takaaki Nakagami JPN LCR Honda (RC213V) +3.672s 18/18 287k 23 Brad Binder RSA Red Bull KTM (RC16) +3.778s 14/14 278k 24 Lorenzo Salvadori ITA Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP)* +4.592s 5/12 282k

Top F1 drivers defend Netflix series Drive to Survive after Verstappen branded it ‘fake’

Kevin Peterson3 years ago3 years ago04 mins

Leading Formula One drivers defended the popular Netflix “Drive to Survive” fly-on-the-wall series on Thursday after Red Bull’s championship leader Max Verstappen said he was snubbing it because he felt some of the rivalries were “faked.” The docu-series, now filming its fourth season, has been credited as a big factor influencing the sport’s growth in the United States. Red Bull driver Max Verstappen earlier told the Associated Press that he recognized the importance of the series but did not like being a part of it and would not be giving any interviews.Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, Verstappen’s title rival, told reporters at the U.S. Grand Prix in Austin, Texas, that he had noticed a surge in interest in the country.“In this last couple of years it’s been the steepest rise and more and more people are talking about it, more and more people engaging,” he said.“The amount of emails and messages I get from people I’ve known for years in the States and who never knew what I was doing and now are hooked and can’t wait to come. I think a lot of them are coming this weekend.” Verstappen’s Mexican team mate Sergio Perez, a two-times race winner who featured heavily last season, said he respected what the documentary was doing.“What it has done for Formula One is tremendous. It’s really something I appreciate,” he said.“The way they sell the sport is a bit of a drama. It is a show but at the end of the day it is good for the sport and is good for the fans so I am happy with it.” McLaren’s Lando Norris, voted the second-most popular driver after Verstappen in a fan survey published on Thursday, also appreciated the show.“I’m fine with it,” he said. “I think it’s a cool thing. Coming to America there are so many people who are now into Formula One just because of watching ‘Drive to Survive.’ I think I come across on it alright.“I think they do a good job. I can’t really speak on behalf of Max.”His Australian team mate Daniel Ricciardo agreed: “Most of us experience the effect it’s had on the sport. There’s certainly been a lot of growth and I honestly see that most in America.“There’s times where you want a little bit of space or privacy but I do think if you let them know no cameras in this room they are pretty good with that.”

Verstappen will not be taking part in Netflix series Drive to Survive, says it’s ‘fake’

Kevin Peterson3 years ago3 years ago04 mins

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen has declared he will not be participating in the fourth season of Netflix series Drive to Survive. The 24-year-old has hit out at the popular TV show branding it as ‘fake’, bringing out claims it is edited to portray rivalries that do not exist. In March 2020, the Dutch driver had criticised the series again stating that he was unhappy with how the series potrayed him. The championship leader has now announced he is refusing to be involved in the upcoming season, which will be released after the 2021 World Championship. The Netflix show gives fans a behind-the-scenes look from the F1 season, showing exclusive interviews from drivers as well as action from each Grand Prix. But don’t expect to see Verstappen, who could win his first world title this year, in season four. Speaking ahead of the United States Grand Prix on Monday morning, he told the press he will not be taking part in the fourth season of Drive to Survive. “I understand that it needs to be done to boost the popularity in America… But from my side as a driver, I don’t like being part of it,” said Verstappen. “They faked a few rivalries which they don’t really exist, so I decided to not be a part of it and did not give any more interviews after that because then there is nothing you can show,” he continued. “I am not really a dramatic show kind of person, I just want facts and real things to happen.” Verstappen, who leads Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton by six points in the standings, then went on to state how Netflix will oversell his rivalry with the 36-year-old. “Probably in the Netflix show we will be,” he said when asked if he and Hamilton are rivals. “We one time bumped into each other walking, so probably that will be in there. “The problem is they will always position you in a way they want, so whatever you say they will try to make you look reckless or try to make you…whatever fits the stor of the series. “So I never really liked that. I prefer to just have a one-on-one interview with the person who would like to know me.” Fans will be disappointed not to see Verstappen in the show with supporters voting him as their current favourite F1 driver.

Haas boss Steiner gives a hint on Andretti takeover but talks ‘not as concrete’

Kevin Peterson3 years ago3 years ago04 mins

Haas Formula 1 team boss Guenther Steiner has given a hint that there were talks between the team and Michael Andretti on a possible takeover but insists that the talks were not as ‘concrete’ as the rumors state they are. According to reliable media sources, Andretti is believed to have plans to buy major shares in Sauber which have him take control of the Alfa Romeo F1 team. The tycoon, who was a former McLaren driver is said to be looking for an 80 per cent share of Islero Investments which was set up by the Longbow Finance group that acquired the team from founder and then co-owner Peter Sauber. The move would provide a second American-owned entry on the F1 grid alongside Haas and asked if Andretti had held talks over acquiring a stake in the team, Steiner said: “Everybody knows each other in American racing and maybe there were talks but maybe not as concrete as you think they are.” On Andretti’s talks with Sauber, he added: “I don’t know what Michael is doing to be honest. “I spoke with Michael a few times, not lately, but I don’t know what Michael is trying to do.” With the focus on promoting F1’s market in the US providing a second race Stateside in Miami next year, being an American-owned team will bring a more intense spotlight. WIth the potential of Haas losing that exclusivity if Andretti completes the takeover of Sauber, Steiner was adamant his team did not see any threat to the job it has been doing. “I don’t see anybody as a threat,” he said. “We have no issue with that one wherever the team is from. But I think what we didn’t do, we didn’t exploit the American market, the sponsorship market as much as we should have because otherwise we would have more American on the car. “But there seems to be a lot of this that everything needs to be American all of a sudden and everything sounds to be focussed on America. But I think there is other countries as well and for sure, because Austin is now on, there is a lot of focus on it. “But there hasn’t been anyone knocking on our door with a big sponsorship deal and saying because we are American, this is what we are going to do or this is why we are going to support an American driver. “There is no magic in this game and whatever happens, there will be not a lot of change. “There is a lot of talk at the moment but we need to walk now.”

Pierre Gasly was at fault for clashing with Alonso on the first corner

Kevin Peterson3 years ago3 years ago07 mins

The Istanbul stewards explain why Pierre Gasly was handed a time penalty for his first corner clash with Fernando Alonso. Heading into Turn 1 left-hander at the start of Sunday’s Turkish Grand Prix, Sergio Perez was on the inside, with Pierre Gasly to his right and Fernando Alonso on the outside. As they jostled for position, the AlphaTauri clipped the Alpine sending it into a spin and thereby dropping Alonso from 5th to 16th. “I was sandwiched,” Gasly immediately told his team. Usually, in the mad scramble for position at the start of a race, particularly in such conditions, such a clash would be viewed as a ‘racing incident’, but in this case the stewards felt Gasly was “predominantly” to blame. “Gasly tried to negotiate Turn 1 with Perez on the inside and Alonso on the outside,” they explained. Alonso was slightly in front of Gasly at the exit of the corner when both cars made contact, causing the Spaniard to spin. “The Stewards determine that Gasly was predominantly at fault for the collision, as he did not leave enough space for Alonso on the outside. “It should also be pointed out that the Stewards do not consider this incident as an unavoidable Lap 1 Turn 1 contact between two cars,” they added, “as Gasly was not sandwiched between two cars when he touched Alonso’s car.” “If we go back to the start of the year, if you recall, pre the first event was that following discussions with the drivers and the teams we had to sort of ratchet back a little bit, the let them race principles in general,” race director, Michael Masi subsequently explained. “And one of them was first-lap incidents, and that if a driver was wholly to blame for an incident, then it would likely result in a penalty. “And that one there was the stewards determined that Pierre was wholly to blame for the incident. And as a result, a five-second penalty was imposed.” Asked how that compared to the first lap clash at Imola involving Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen, Masi said: “If you look at the Max and Lewis one, it’s one of those, the wholly or predominantly, under our regulations. “So we’ve said, and the way that for ease of interpretation, let’s call it, for everyone’s benefit, is that if someone is wholly to blame on lap one, it will result in a penalty. “If it takes two to tango, then it would be likely on lap one not result in anything, or if there’s more than the two cars involved. But if it’s quite clear, two cars, one has done it, then a penalty would happen.” Asked if Perez has played a part in Sunday’s incident, Masi said: “That was one of the things why it probably took a little bit longer at the start to have a closer look at, is that obviously Sergio was on the inside, but once it was quite clear from all of the footage and everything available, that’s why they determined that it was a five second penalty.” “There was contact and I haven’t really seen the footage” said Gasly. “For me it was tight with Sergio inside me and Fernando was on the outside, so honestly there wasn’t space, but yes there was contact. “I did the penalty,” he added, “I don’t know if it was the right thing or not. I need to look at the footage first. “I saw Fernando was there, I also saw Sergio was there, and I tried to go where I could. We know it is always usually not a good mix when there are that many cars. I don’t have any other similar situation that comes to mind. That is just the way it is.” Ironically, Alonso subsequently picked up his own penalty for clashing with Mick Schumacher. “Alonso tried to make a move on Schumacher at the inside at the approach to Turn 4, but never got in a position to complete the move and made contact with the inside rear wheel of the Haas, causing it to spin,” said the stewards, who deemed that Alonso – like Gasly moments earlier – was “predominantly to blame”. The Spaniard was also handed 2 penalty points, his first since his return to the sport.

Mercedes believes Hamilton would have gotten a better result if he pitted earlier

Kevin Peterson3 years ago3 years ago05 mins

Mercedes believe that they needed to pit Lewis Hamilton earlier than they did in order for him to finish higher than fifth in the Turkish Grand Prix. Hamilton ran as high as third at one point in the race after deciding not to fit a fresh set of intermediate tyres at the same time as Max Verstappen and his other rivals ahead. The team called him in at one stage, but he decided to stay out.Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff said the team had to decide between coming in at that point or risking a run to the end of the race without pitting. They opted for the latter, but abandoned the strategy after they became concerned how much time Hamilton was losing to the cars behind him. “In the car it’s always very difficult to assess your position in the race,” said Wolff. “I think we could have either played it very conservative and pitted him when Verstappen, Perez at the time pitted, and then fight it out on-track, probably come out behind Perez and fight for P4, P3 on track.” “The other thing was to try to go long and either think whether it’s transitioning to a dry tyre or just not stopping any more. So there was two possible options that sounded quite good.” However Hamilton’s tyres began to fade, putting him at risk of losing a place to Pierre Gasly if he pitted, leading Mercedes to bring him in with eight laps to go. “Unfortunately the pace just dropped off much quicker than we would have needed in order to stay third or even fourth or even fifth,” said Wolff. “We almost lost the window against Gasly and then we decided okay, that’s not going to happen, and let’s pit and consolidate it.” “So in hindsight now, I would have pitted ten laps earlier and fought it out on track, probably finished third or fourth. It was much more to gain from the other more dynamic variant.” While Mercedes won the race with Valtteri Bottas Hamilton finished fifth. Wolff said that was the best they could have expected from 11th on the grid in a dry race, but the damp conditions meant a better result was possible. “I think in a normal dry race, this would have probably been the best case, finishing fifth. And today best case with every decision, with the hindsight of the end result or with the information we have at the end, probably third would have been the best we could have achieved. So it’s a five point swing. “But I think we need to walk away from here and say that was damage limitation for this weekend. And Valtteri, thank God Valtteri was up there and won the race and and scored an extra point for fastest lap.”

Bottas wins wet Turkish GP as Verstappen takes championship lead

Kevin Peterson3 years ago3 years ago06 mins

Valtteri Bottas won the Turkish Grand Prix, ending a year-long winless drought after leading most of the race from pole position. Max Verstappen finished second to take a six point lead in the championship, ahead of Lewis Hamilton, who finished fifth following a late pit stop.Rainfall earlier in the morning soaked the course with water, and light showers persisted throughout the day. All twenty cars started the race on the intermediate tyres. To their credit, it was a mostly clean opening lap – though not entirely without incident. Pierre Gasly picked up a five second time penalty for avoidable contact with Fernando Alonso at the first corner. Alonso, who dropped to the back of the field after a spin, then picked up a five second penalty of his own when he hit Mick Schumacher and spun the Haas driver out. All of the leaders were content to run their single set of intermediates, potentially as long as to the end of the race. That changed on lap 37, when Verstappen made a stop to switch to a new set of intermediates. Bottas pitted from the lead on the next lap. Aston Martin even felt confident enough to send Sebastian Vettel out on a set of medium compound slick tyres, but the track was still far too wet for the gamble to pay off at all. Charles Leclerc took the lead after Bottas’ pit stop. Leclerc, Lewis Hamilton, and Esteban Ocon were the last of the front runners running on their first set of tyres. At the front, Leclerc began to haemorrhage time to Bottas on his worn set of intermediates, setting Bottas up for a chance to re-take the lead with a lunge up the inside of turn one on lap 47. Leclerc finally pitted at the end of the lap, and much to the seven-time world champion’s reluctance, Hamilton made his stop on lap 51. Hamilton continued to protest the decision to pit with eight laps to go. He dropped into fifth place behind Leclerc, with Gasly gaining on him in sixth. Hamilton could not make any forward progress as he suffered with graining in his new set of intermediates. Bottas, at the front, stretched his lead out to over ten seconds – and after spinning off five times in last year’s Turkish Grand Prix, he drove to a commanding first win of the 2021 season by 14.5 seconds; Verstappen finished second to take the championship lead, and the second Red Bull of Sergio Perez finished in third, for his first podium since the French Grand Prix. Leclerc held on to fourth, ahead of Hamilton in fifth, Gasly sixth, and Lando Norris in seventh. Carlos Sainz Jnr was voted Driver of the Day are completing his drive from 19th on the grid after a pre-event power unit change, up into eighth place. Lance Stroll finished ninth and Esteban Ocon, the only driver to run the full distance without stopping, held off Antonio Giovinazzi for the final point in tenth. 2021 F1 TURKISH GRAND PRIX – RESULTS POS DRIVER NAT. TEAM TIME 1 Valtteri Bottas FIN Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team 58 Laps 2 Max Verstappen NED Red Bull Racing + 14.584s 3 Sergio Perez MEX Red Bull Racing + 33.471s 4 Charles Leclerc MON Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow + 37.471s 5 Lewis Hamilton GBR Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team + 41.812s 6 Pierre Gasly FRA Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda + 44.292s 7 Lando Norris GBR McLaren F1 Team + 47.213s 8 Carlos Sainz ESP Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow + 51.526s 9 Lance Stroll CAN Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team + 82.018s 10 Esteban Ocon FRA Alpine F1 Team + 1 Lap 11 Antonio Giovinazzi ITA Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen + 1 Lap 12 Kimi Raikkonen FIN Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen + 1 Lap 13 Daniel Ricciardo AUS McLaren F1 Team + 1 Lap 14 Yuki Tsunoda JPN Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda + 1 Lap 15 George Russell GBR Williams Racing + 1 Lap 16 Fernando Alonso ESP Alpine F1 Team + 1 Lap 17 Nicholas Latifi CAN Williams Racing + 1 Lap 18 Sebastian Vettel GER Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team + 1 Lap 19 Mick Schumacher GER Uralkali Haas F1 Team + 2 Laps 20 Nikita Mazepin RUS Uralkali Haas F1 Team + 2 Laps

Mercedes explain why Hamilton has only taken a ten-place grid penalty at the Turkish GP

Kevin Peterson3 years ago3 years ago05 mins

Lewis Hamilton will take a 10-place grid penalty for Sunday’s Turkish Grand Prix, after Mercedes fitted his W12 out with a fresh Internal Combustion Engine. Unlike the majority of engine changes, Mercedes didn’t introduce new ancillaries such as the MGU-H, MGU-K or Turbocharger, and the simple replacement of the ICE element of the power unit means that Hamilton only takes a 10-place grid drop, rather than starting from the very back. Speaking after the first practice session in Turkey, Mercedes’ Head of Trackside Engineering, Andrew Shovlin, explained why the team had made that call and why the decision was made for the Istanbul weekend. “We’re simulating all the races to the end of the year and there’s a balance of the risk of a reliability issue,” Shovlin told Sky Sports F1. “Obviously, the thing that you definitely don’t want to do is fail during a race, and then have to take a penalty anyway. “Then there’s also a performance element because the power units do lose a bit of horsepower over their life. “Now, the 10-place penalty is the bit that most contributes to that reliability element, and the performance is the ICE itself. It’s better to take 10 places than start from the back.” However qualifying goes, Shovlin said that it’s very unlikely Mercedes will change any additional power unit parts this weekend. “Unlikely, really, [because] it’s a lot of fairly intrusive work when you start changing some of those elements during the race weekend,” he explained. “So we’re pretty happy with the decision that we’ve taken so far, and they’ll be likely what we’ll stick with.” Istanbul Park is, in theory, one of the easier venues left on the calendar for overtaking, meaning that Hamilton shouldn’t find it too hard to exploit Mercedes’ outright pace. Shovlin said the extra challenge for this weekend adds a fresh layer of excitement. “Working out how easy it is to overtake, it’s actually quite hard, because you know in your own mind which are the tracks that are good for passing,” he commented. “Sochi has got very long straights but we were struggling a bit with understeer and that made it tricky. “This is a circuit, you remember Lewis and that GP2 race, where he felt there’s a lot of opportunity here, and it should make for an exciting Sunday!” Having topped the times in FP1, Shovlin was asked whether the team might be kicking themselves after qualifying if it turns out that Hamilton has a big pace advantage over title rival Max Verstappen. “That’s the thing, isn’t it? It’s a double-edged sword,” he said. “It does make it easier to recover. Could it be a race that Lewis could have won from pole? Obviously, that balance is one of the things, but it is what it is, so we just need to make the most of getting back and hopefully even have an opportunity to win.”

Young Motorsports crew chief suspended after Talladega incident

Kevin Peterson3 years ago11 months ago02 mins

Truck Series crew chief Eddie Troconis has been suspended indefinitely for violating the NASCAR behavioral policy. The 42-year-old’s suspension came as a result of breaching NASCAR’s policy that indicates “Member-to-Member confrontation(s) with physical violence and other violent manifestations such as significant threat(s) and/or abuse and/or endangerment.” Troconis, has been serving the current season in Young Motorsports as crew chief for driver Kris Wright in the Truck Series and as crew chief for part of the year for driver Josh Williams in the Xfinity Series. According to reliable sources, Troconis was involved in a physical altercation with a member of another team last Saturday night at Talladega Superspeedway, which is what led to his suspension. Young’s Motorsports did not comment on Troconis’ suspension. Troconis has been a crew chief for 142 races over nine seasons in the Truck Series with two wins – in 2017 and 2018 with driver Ben Rhodes. He has also served as a crew chief in the Xfinity Series in a total of 20 races with five different drivers.

Michael Annett to retire at the end of 2021 NASCAR Xfinity Series

Kevin Peterson3 years ago11 months ago03 mins

NASCAR driver Michael Annett announced on Wednesday that he will retire as a fulltime driver at the conclusion of the 2021 Xfinity Series. The 35-year-old, is in his fifth year in the Xfinity Series competing with JR Motorsports. However, this season he has missed seven which include the past two as he was recovering from July surger to repair a stress fracture in his right femur. Josh Berry has been serving as a replacement for Michael Annett driving his No. 1 Chevrolet and even earned a victory at Las Vegas with the team last month. A representative to Annett told the media about his plans to compete in the final five races of the 2021 NASCAR Xfinity season. “I’m just so grateful for the opportunities I’ve had,” Annett said in a statement. “Being able to drive race cars for a living is honestly a dream come true for me. It’s been a privilege to work with some great teams and alongside some of the most talented folks in the garage.” “None of this would have been possible without the support of my partners, and I am happy to call them life-long friends. It’s those relationships and friendships that are the most rewarding.” Annett who hails from Des Moines, Iowa, earned his only NASCAR national series victory back in 2019 after winning the Xfinity Series season opener at Daytona International Speedway. He has made 431 race starts across the Cup, Xfinity and Truck series. He also owns a pair of victories in the ARCA Menards Series (2007 at Talladega and 2008 at Daytona).

Hamilton handed a 10-place grid penalty after Internal Combustion Engine change

Kevin Peterson3 years ago3 years ago01 mins

Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes received a 10-place grid penalty on Friday over an Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) change for the upcoming Turkish Grand Prix. “His Mercedes W12 has been fitted with a new internal combustion engine (ICE) and exhaust but the driver has only exceeded his allocation of new ICEs,” the F1 said in a statement. “Because he has exceeded his allocation of new engines, he’s set to receive a 10-place penalty however, Hamilton came from sixth to win the 2020 Turkish GP,” it added. The season’s 16th race will take place over 58 laps of the 5.4-kilometer (3.4 miles) Intercity Istanbul Park on Sunday, Oct. 10. Hamilton currently holds the top spot in the driver standings with 246.5 points, while Red Bull’s Dutch driver Max Verstappen ranks second with 244.5 points.

Lewis Hamilton tops Turkish GP FP1

Kevin Peterson3 years ago3 years ago04 mins

Lewis Hamilton led the field in the first practice session for the Turkish Grand Prix, the Mercedes driver edging Red Bull’s Max Verstappen by a comfortable margin of 0.425s. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc concluded his morning in third position, very close to the Dutchman while Valtteri Bottas and Carlos Sainz completed the top five in the incident-free session. Local weather forecasts are predicting a wet weekend, but the opening practice session kicked off under a cloudy but sunny sky, and 20°C air temperatures. To help cope with Istanbul Park’s water-blasted higher grip surface, Pirelli is supplying its softest three compounds. The novelty at the outset on Friday was Red Bull’s revamped RB16B livery that pays tribute to its engine partner Honda that will depart F1 at the end of the season. With the usual installation laps and rake experiences out of the way, Hamilton was quick to charge to the top, but the Briton was overhauled in short order by Verstappen. But Alpine’s Esteban Ocon briefly settled the matter between the two title contenders by leap-frogging both, with McLaren’s Lando Norris following right behind. However, Hamilton pumped in a lap in the 1m24s on the soft tyre to reassert his authority over the young guns. As the session unfolded, the 100-time Grand Prix winner continued to lower the benchmark, with Verstappen in tow, 0.425s behind. The soft rubber was the tyre of choice for the entire field during the session. Behind the two inseparable front-runners, Leclerc attempted a flyer on the red-walled compound that nearly allowed the Scuderia charger to pip Verstappen for second. In the end however, the Monegasque’s best effort came up just 0.051s short. Behind the leading trio, Bottas worked diligently to conclude his morning fourth, just edging the second Ferrari of Sainz. Thereafter followed Ocon, the faster of the two Alpine drivers, Norris, AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly, Fernando Alonso and Sergio Perez who rounded off the top ten, a fair distance once again from his Red Bull teammate. The second half of the field lined up also enjoyed an incident-free session, with Williams’ George Russell clocking in P11, ahead of Daniel Ricciardo. Bringing up the rear, Mick Schumacher comfortably edged his Haas teammate Nikita Mazepin.

2022 MotoGP calendar revealed with Finland and Indonesia debuting

Kevin Peterson3 years ago3 years ago02 mins

MotoGP on Thursday unveiled its 2022 calendar. It will be holding 21 races with first visits being made in Kymiring circuit which is in Finland and Mandalika in Indonesia. Fabio Quartararo, Joan Mir and the rest of the riders under the MotoGP will kick off the championship battle under the floodlights of Qatar on March 6 in a 2022 season that will run through to November 6 at Valencia’s Ricardo Tormo circuit. As well as the new races, there are five non-European destinations back on the schedule after being cancelled due to COVID-19 related travel restrictions this year. Argentina, Japan, Thailand, Australia and Malaysia are all back in the fold. Finland and Indonesia had been due to return to the world circuit in 2020, but their inclusions were also victim to the global pandemic. 2022 provisional MotoGP calendar : March 6 – Qatar (Losail) March 20 – Indonesia (Mandalika) April 3 – Argentina (Termas de Rio Hondo) April 10 – Americas (Circuit of The Americas, Austin) April 24 – Portugal (Algarve circuit, Portimao) May 1 – Spain (Jerez) May 15 – France (circuit Bugatti, Le Mans) May 29 – Italy (Mugello) June 5 – Catalonia (Montmelo, Barcelona) June 19 – Germany (Sachsenring) June 26 – Netherlands (Assen) July 10 – Finland (KymiRing) Aug 7 – Britain (Silverstone) Aug 21 – Austria (Spielberg) Sep 4 – San Marino (Misano) Sep 18 – Aragon (Motorland Aragon) Sep 25 – Japan (Motegi) Oct 2 – Thailand (Chang International Circuit, Buriram) Oct 16 – Australia (Philip Island) Oct 23 – Malaysia (Sepang) Nov 6 – Valencia (circuit Ricardo Tormo)

Dramatic Albon almost lost his passport the day he was set to sign contract with Williams

Kevin Peterson3 years ago3 years ago05 mins

Red Bull reserve driver Alex Albon will be driving for Williams in the 2022 Formula 1 season after signing the contract with the team a few weeks ago. However, The 25-year-old Thai-British driver gives an account of how he would have missed the contract signage after misplacing his passport. Red Bull dropped Alex Albon after the 2020 season, but the outfit decided to still retain him as test and reserve driver this year. This means Albon travels to race tracks and events under Red Bull. In one of the events Alex Albon was able to meet Red Bull senior management at a dinner and things turned hectic when he thought he had lost his passport there. “I actually have a funny story about losing my passport,” Albon revealed. “This year, I was doing an interview for Austrian TV. First time meeting a lot of the big guys at Red Bull Austria, who I’ve never actually met before.” “For the first time I visited the main factory, and I went to one of the people’s houses to his apartment, took off my jacket, that kind of thing,” Albon continued. “We had dinner, and I had to leave my hotel at 3am to catch this flight. I left my passport in my jacket, which I left at his house. I called him, called him, called him… Obviously I don’t really want to call someone that senior…” The biggest trouble was that Albon was flying to sign the contract with Williams. However, he did not find the passport where he thought he left it but in the end he was fortunate enough to trace where it actually was. “What makes this even funnier is this was the day I was signing my contract with Williams. I was like, ‘I have to be there’, like I can’t wait, or go to an embassy or anything like that, I really need to fly that day,” Albon added. “But I called him and he didn’t pick up, obviously he was sleeping. So I was like, ‘What do I do?’. I remembered where his address was, got a taxi to go to his place, got to this apartment building and was buzzing the door, but he was still sleeping. “Luckily, there was someone from the apartment walking into his building complex at like 3:30 in the morning at that point. So I go in behind them, and I’m just knocking on his door. His name’s Max , ‘Hey, Max, sorry I think I left my passport in your apartment’. And he’s like, ‘No, you didn’t leave your jacket here. You left it at the TV studio.” “Then I had to go to the TV studio, and I was so lucky that there was a security guard there. He had all the keys to all the places and I could get my jacket, and I was on my way!”