The factory Ducati rider has come close to victory in MotoGP before, but has been cruelly denied by misfortune and error. However, during the Aragon weekend, Bagnaia proved faultless, displaying strong pace throughout practice before taking pole with a lap-record-smashing effort. He led from the off and stayed in front for all 23 laps of
Month: September 2021
Rossi started the Grand Prix of Portland from the front row, and although he and Chip Ganassi Racing drivers Palou and Scott Dixon were among those sent to the back of the pack for missing the Turn 1/2 chicane on the opening lap, he kept pace with them and pressurised Palou during the final two
Verstappen’s Red Bull was launched into the air by the array of sausage kerbs, precipitating contact between the underside of his car and Hamilton’s halo. Had the halo not been introduced to F1’s regulations in 2018, there is a very real chance that Hamilton would not have walked out of the incident unscathed. However, the
At the start of the race, polesitter Palou beat fellow front-row starter Alexander Rossi of Andretti Autosport, the latter also being jumped by the Chip Ganassi Racing-Honda of Scott Dixon, who had started third. Dixon moved right to protect the inside line and started drawing alongside Palou, but got a tap from the Arrow McLaren
Palou resisted the advances of Alexander Rossi on the final pair of restarts – caused by spin and stalls from Simon Pagenaud and Oliver Askew respectively – after catching the Andretti driver off-guard on both occasions. Rossi was able to wind Palou in on the final stint, getting within a second of the Chip Ganassi
The Dutchman and Hamilton collided at the first chicane on lap 26 of the Italian Grand Prix, just after a sequence of pitstops. Hamilton had emerged ahead of Verstappen and held the inside line in to the first chicane, with his rival trying to go around the outside and claim the apex for the second
The M4 GT3, which replaces the venerable M6 that has been in service since 2016, was due to make its debut on the Nurburgring Nordschleife in June but this was postponed after a technical fault caused Sheldon van der Linde to crash in practice. The car had previously appeared at the official Spa 24 Hours test day,
F1 introduced a version of the technology that has been used in Formula E since the start of 2020 at last month’s Belgian Grand Prix, with Fernando Alonso’s helmet being fitted with the 2.5g camera that has been produced in conjunction with Bell Helmets for practice running at Spa. Russell became the first driver to
Truex, who was penalised by NASCAR for jumping the start of the race and ended up last in the running order, grabbed control of the race in the final stage and never looked back. Truex emerged as the leader following a round of green flag pitstops on Lap 350 of 400 at Richmond Raceway and
Cameron set the early pace in his Meyer Shank Acura DPi at 1m14.957s, repeatedly swapping the top spot early on with Albuquerque, who eventually took over with a lap of 1m14.441s that won the pole position, compared to Cameron’s 1m14.464s. Kevin Magnussen (Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac) was third quickest, over half a second off the
Alex Palou beat Alexander Rossi to score his first-ever IndyCar pole position in a qualifying when all four Penske drivers failed to progress out of Q1. In the fast six pole position shootout, Chip Ganassi Racing’s Palou laid down a 58.7701s lap around the 1.964-mile Portland International Raceway to beat Rossi for Andretti Autosport by
Despite an off at the final corner that brought out one of three red flags mid-session, Spanish sophomore Palou headed the field with a 58.782s lap on the red-walled soft compound Firestone tyres to go 0.102s faster than Castroneves. The Brazilian veteran, making only his fourth appearance of the season for Meyer Shank Racing ahead
The Monza sprint race has been criticised by fans and even drivers after a lack of action on the track. The event also served to split title contenders Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton on the grid for Sunday’s grand prix. Having qualified second and third, they will now be separated by the McLarens of Daniel
Having spent this season on the sidelines as Red Bull’s test and reserve driver, the Thai driver was announced as George Russell’s replacement at Williams for next year prior to the Italian Grand Prix. The 25-year-old, who scored two podiums with Red Bull last year before being replaced by Sergio Perez, has kept race-sharp in
For many sportscar drivers, the imminent manufacturer influx into the top classes at Le Mans poses a potential career-making opportunity. Factory BMW GT driver Nick Yelloly makes no bones about his desire to race the Munich marque’s LMDh car that will debut in 2023, not least because his only taste of prototypes to date was
Following weeks of discussions, Red Bull has helped pave the way for development driver Albon to make his F1 return with Williams next year by releasing him from contractual ties – although a statement said it retains a relationship with “future options”. It follows protracted talks with Williams’ current engine supplier Mercedes, which favoured placing
Last year’s championship runner-up was in need of a strong result to stay in touch with points leader Sebastien Ogier, but is now left fighting for the minor placings after a transmission issue plagued his Friday. Evans headed into the day sitting second overall after Thursday night’s Super Special and remained firmly in the hunt
Ilott, who it was announced earlier this month will make his series debut at Portland International Raceway this weekend, has now also been confirmed as the pilot of the #77 entry for next weekend’s Laguna Seca round and the Long Beach season finale. “On top of starting my debut weekend in the IndyCar Series with
Mercedes F1 boss Toto Wolff said earlier on Friday that all teams were “struggling” with their power unit allocation for the season, and that the team had “thoughts” of taking a penalty at Monza to add to its pool for the remainder of the year. During qualifying on Friday evening, the FIA issued a bulletin
A Formula 1 team would be nothing without a car, and it takes hundreds of dedicated people to create the cars and parts you see racing each weekend. One of the most important jobs involved with this is a CNC Machinist – someone who makes the parts necessary to race. To find out more about
Even without a win during the regular season, Hamlin had remained in the hunt to head the standings into the Playoffs until the last of the 26 races at Daytona. With five wins so far this season, Hendrick Motorsport’s Kyle Larson eventually claimed the regular season ‘title’ and the critical 15 playoff points that came with
Mercedes put an end to months of speculation by announcing on Tuesday that Russell would be joining its works F1 team next year, replacing Valtteri Bottas after spending three seasons with Williams. Russell has been a member of Mercedes’ young driver programme since 2017, and deputised for Hamilton at last year’s Sakhir Grand Prix after
On IndyCar’s last visit to Portland in 2019, the leaders were able to run the 105 lap race distance on just two stops, after 17 laps were run under caution. This year the race has been extended to 110 laps of the 1.964-mile course, which is expected to enforce a three-stopper while opening up the
Aston Martin’s luxury cars have been synonymous with the Bond film franchise for over half a century, with the British manufacturer set to feature heavily again the upcoming film that is due for release at the end of the month. To mark the upcoming release of the film, Aston Martin’s F1 squad revealed some special
The Hyundai Motorsport driver has been among those to criticise the championship’s new rule set, built around cars fitted with a 100kW hybrid systems and a stronger tougher chassis. While the 2022 cars are expected to receive a power boost to 500 horsepower when electric power is engaged alongside the 1.6 litre internal combustion engine,
The deal between BMW and Dallara to partner on the German manufacturer’s LMDh programme focused on the IMSA SportsCar Championship in North America was signed in Italy on Wednesday. Dallara is one of the four constructors licensed to build the next generation of LMP2 chassis out of which an LMDh must be developed. BMW is
F1 returned to the Netherlands last weekend after a 36-year absence as Red Bull driver Max Verstappen scored a popular victory in front of his home fans, reclaiming the championship lead. Having criss-crossed Europe in recent years to cheer on Verstappen, the Dutch fans offered fervent support on home soil as over 70,000 fans formed
Based on the Emira road car, which was debuted in July at the company’s Hethel test track by 2009 Formula 1 world champion Jenson Button, the race model is powered by a 3.5-litre Toyota V6 engine and will be eligible for GT4 championships including GT4 European Series, British GT, ADAC GT4, DTM Trophy and the
One-time FE race winner Rowland will leave Nissan e.dams after three seasons to replace Alex Lynn at Mahindra in a multi-year deal, partnering fellow Brit Alexander Sims. The 29-year-old compared favourably against Buemi during his spell with the Japanese marque, finishing within a point of his experienced teammate in his sophomore campaign with a maiden
The Dutch GP weekend saw the unusual sight of drivers waiting in the narrow pit exit lane before commencing their out laps. Because it was not possible to pass, that sometimes led to frustration for those behind and who were keen to get going. In some cases drivers failed to get round in time to