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  • Turkington takes win as Honda drivers suffer mechanical issues

    Turkington takes win as Honda drivers suffer mechanical issues

    Colin Turkington took a dominant win at Brands Hatch, the 53rd of his career as Tom Ingram and Ash Sutton round off the podium in a nightmare race for Honda drivers.

    Of all the Honda drivers in the field, of which there are seven, only two finished, with five all retiring with various mechanical issues.

    Cammish got a poor start and was leapfrogged by Turkington and Jackson, with Ingram passing the Honda driver too on the first lap. Ingram moved up into second as he passed Jackson into Sheene curve. After an encouraging weekend at Donington last weekend, Chris Smiley went off and lost a handful of places in his Hyundai.

    Rory Butcher was keen to put his race one heartache behind him as he made 13 places in two laps to be 12th as the safety car came out following a collision between Bobby Thompson and Michael Crees.

    On the restart after a six lap safety car period, Cammish and Ingram were chasing down Turkington. Tom Chilton passed Jackson for fourth, but his Honda broke down, with Matt Neal joining him in the pits with mechanical issues on lap ten.

    Rory Butcher continued his rise up the grid as he passed Senna Proctor at Paddock, before Jake Hill became the latest Honda to retire with an engine issue coming onto the GP section.

    On lap 16 Butcher passed his team mate Ollie Jackson for fifth, making it 20 places made in one race. Dan Cammish’s Honda then broke down, struggling to find any power. The Yorkshireman finally got it going again but finished way down the grid.

    Turkington took the win and extended his lead in the championship over Ingram who finished second. Sutton finished third in his pacey Infiniti with Butcher inheriting fourth, and a 21 place gain off the grid. Jackson was fifth with Adam Morgan, Tom Oliphant, Senna Proctor, Stephen Jelley and James Gornall rounding off the top ten.

    Pos Driver Car Interval
    1 Colin Turkington BMW 330i M Sport
    2 Tom Ingram Toyota Corolla +3.222
    3 Ash Sutton Infiniti Q50 +6.546
    4 Rory Butcher Ford Focus ST +12.822
    5 Ollie Jackson Ford Focus ST +13.943
    6 Adam Morgan Mercedes Benz A Class +14.269
    7 Tom Oliphant BMW 330i M Sport +15.082
    8 Senna Proctor Hyundai i30N +16.596
    9 Stephen Jelley BMW 125i M Sport +16.759
    10 James Gornall Audi S3 Saloon +17.408
    11 Jack Goff VW CC +19.429
    12 Aiden Moffat Infiniti Q50 +20.142
    13 Chris Smiley Hyundai i30N +20.329
    14 Andy Neate Ford Focus ST +20.546
    15 Carl Boardley BMW 125i M Sport +22.240
    16 Sam Osborne Honda Civic Type R FK2 +27.470
    17 Nicolas Hamilton VW CC +31.282
    18 Jack Butel Mercedes Benz A Class +31.479
    19 Dan Cammish Honda Civic Type R FK8 +59.674
    20 Ollie Brown VW CC +1 Lap
    DNF Josh Cook Honda Civic Type R FK8 Mechanical
    DNF Matt Neal Honda Civic Type R FK8 Mechanical
    DNF Tom Chilton Honda Civic Type R FK8 Mechanical
    DNF Jake Hill Honda Civic Type R FK2 Mechanical
    DNF Bobby Thompson Audi S3 Saloon Collision
    DNF Michael Crees Honda Civic Type R FK8 Collision
  • Dan Cammish wins after Butcher puncture at Brands Hatch

    Dan Cammish wins after Butcher puncture at Brands Hatch

    Dan Cammish benefited from some bad luck to Rory Butcher to win the first race at Brands Hatch. Butcher’s puncture three laps from the end saw Cammish inherit the win, with Colin Turkington second and Butcher’s team mate Ollie Jackson picking up a fantastic podium for Motorbase.

    Turkington had a great start and flew up to third on the run to Paddock bend, with BUtcher holding off Cammish. Turkington’s team mate Tom Oliphant slid off later on in the lap but did well to recover and only lose a few places.

    The best fight was for fifth place, which was occupied by Jake HIll in the MB Motorsport Honda Civic. Tom Ingram was first to challenge HIll, before Josh Cook slid off while fighting the pair for fifth. He returned to the pits to clear any debris out of his radiator before rejoining.

    Out front Butcher and Cammish were fighting for the lead, the Honda looked more stable but Butcher’s Ford Focus ST held firm. Ingram had another go at passing Hill for fifth, and on lap 12 the Toyota driver finally passed Hill.

    Meanwhile further down the grid Aiden Moffat and Matt Neal collided, Neal dove down the inside and tipped Moffat round, but the Infiniti tapped into Neal and spun his Team Dynamics Honda into the wall and out. Bringing out the Safety Car.

    With a three lap dash to the flag, Cammish received a stroke of luck as Butcher picked up a puncture going out of Paddock bend and Cammish passed at Druids.

    Cammish took the chequered flag and won the sixth race of his career. Turkington grabbed second and Ollie Jackson held off a speedy Ingram for the final podium slot.

    Pos Driver Team Interval
    1 Dan Cammish Honda Civic Type R FK8
    2 Colin Turkington BMW 330i M Sport +0.812
    3 Ollie Jackson Ford Focus ST +1.994
    4 Tom Ingram Toyota Corolla +2.341
    5 Tom Chilton Honda Civic Type R FK8 +2.820
    6 Ash Sutton Infiniti Q50 +2.965
    7 Senna Proctor Hyundai i30N +5.273
    8 Tom Oliphant BMW 330i M Sport +5.587
    9 Stephen Jelley BMW 125i M Sport +5.745
    10 Jake Hill Honda Civic Type R FK2 +6.917
    11 Adam Morgan Mercedes Benz A Class +7.121
    12 Michael Crees Honda Civic Type R FK8 +7.652
    13 James Gornall Audi S3 Saloon +9.038
    14 Bobby Thompson Audi S3 Saloon +9.545
    15 Chris Smiley Hyundai i30N +10.434
    16 Carl Boardley BMW 125i M Sport +10.598
    17 Jack Goff VW CC +11.087
    18 Aiden Moffat Infiniti Q50 +11.317
    19 Andy Neate Ford Focus ST +12.321
    20 Ollie Brown VW CC +13.595
    21 Josh Cook Honda Civic Type R FK8 +13.820
    22 Nicolas Hamilton VW CC +19.974
    23 Jack Butel Mercedes Benz A Class +20.161
    24 Sam Osborne Honda CIvic Type R FK2 +1 Lap
    25 Rory Butcher Ford Focus ST + 3 Laps
    Retirements
    DNF Matt Neal Honda Civic Type R FK8 Collision

    Image Credit: BTCC Media

  • F2 Great Britain: Tsunoda wins after Premas collide

    F2 Great Britain: Tsunoda wins after Premas collide

    Yuki Tsunoda took victory in the Silverstone sprint race after Prema teammates Mick Schumacher and Robert Shwartzman collided in the closing laps.

    Shwartzman and Schumacher started from the front row of the reverse grid and rapidly pulled away from the rest of the field at the start. After the first few laps they were already two seconds clear of Tsunoda in third, while only half a second separated the two Premas themselves.

    Schumacher made a move on Shwartzman into Brooklands on lap 5, but ran wide and dropped a second to his teammate. However the German made the time back up as Shwartzman started struggling with rear tyre grip, and by lap 10 was back in DRS range of his teammate.

    After chipping away at the gap despite his own tyres losing grip, Schumacher closed to a few tenths of Shwartzman on lap 19 and tried another overtake at Brooklands. But after getting partially ahead on the outside, Schumacher turned in too early and clipped Shwartzman’s front wing, allowing Tsunoda through into the lead as a result.

    Mick Schumacher, Prema (Bryn Lennon / Getty Images)

    Schumacher was able to continue and took second place behind Tsunoda, albeit a long way adrift. Shwartzman initially stayed out on track in third despite the damage to his front wing, but on the penultimate lap he was caught by a pack led by Jack Aitken. Shwartzman was prompted swamped by the cars behind and dropped down to 13th by the chequered flag.

    The stewards investigated the Prema collision, but ultimately deemed it a racing incident.

    Aitken came through in third for his second consecutive podium of the weekend. Louis Deletraz finished fourth ahead of Guanyu Zhou, Callum Ilott, Dan Ticktum and Nikita Mazepin. Christian Lundgaard had been set to finish among this pack having run with Aitken and Deletraz for most of the race, but suffered a front left tyre blowout on lap 16 that dropped him to the back of the field.

    Shwartzman’s finish outside the points caps off another troubled round at Silverstone, as title rival Ilott has extended his new championship lead to 21 points. In the teams’ standings, Ilott’s UNI-Virtuosi team has the same lead over Prema. Find the full F2 drivers’ and teams’ standings here.

    Formula 2 returns next weekend at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, in support of the Formula 1 Spanish Grand Prix.

    Full race result:

    Pos. Driver Team Points
    1 Yuki Tsunoda Carlin 15
    2 Mick Schumacher (FL) Prema Racing 14
    3 Jack Aitken Campos Racing 10
    4 Louis Deletraz Charouz Racing System 8
    5 Guanyu Zhou UNI-Virtuosi Racing 6
    6 Callum Ilott UNI-Virtuosi Racing 4
    7 Dan Ticktum DAMS 2
    8 Nikita Mazepin Hitech Grand Prix 1
    9 Jehan Daruvala Carlin
    10 Luca Ghiotto Hitech Grand Prix
    11 Artem Markelov BWT HWA Racelab
    12 Felipe Drugovich MP Motorsport
    13 Robert Shwartzman Prema Racing
    14 Marcus Armstrong ART Grand Prix
    15 Roy Nissany Trident
    16 Pedro Piquet Charouz Racing System
    17 Marino Sato Trident
    18 Nobuharu Matsushita MP Motorsport
    19 Guilherme Samaia Campos Racing
    20 Giuliano Alesi BWT HWA Racelab
    21 Christian Lundgaard ART Grand Prix
    Ret. Sean Gelael DAMS
  • F3 Great Britain: Viscaal snatches win from Zendelli in frantic sprint race

    F3 Great Britain: Viscaal snatches win from Zendelli in frantic sprint race

    Bent Viscaal took victory for MP Motorsport in the Silverstone sprint race, passing long-time leader Lirim Zendelli on the final lap.

    Zendelli and Viscaal started second and third on the reverse grid and got a much better start than polesitter Ben Barnicoat to jump into the lead into Turn 1. While Zendelli and Viscaal pulled away in front, Barnicoat found himself under pressure to hold third from David Beckmann, Theo Pourchaire and Liam Lawson, who had all leapt past Oscar Piastri off the line.

    The battles for first and third were halted on lap 2 when Lukas Dunner and Calan Williams came together to bring out the safety car. When the race resumed on lap 6, Zendelli and Viscaal once again moved clear of the pack with several seconds back to Barnicoat.

    Despite being separated by just half a second for most of the remaining 15 laps, Zendelli held the lead from Viscaal without challenge until the final lap. After setting successive fastest laps and bringing the gap down to just a few tenths, Viscaal made a late dive to the inside of Copse on the final lap, catching Zendelli by surprise and taking the lead.

    Zendelli fought back and the two ran side by side through the final corners. But although Zendelli briefly managed to get ahead, Viscaal hung on around the outside of the final corner and came across the line to win by just one tenth over the Trident.

    Lirim Zendelli, Trident (Joe Portlock / Formula 1 via Getty Images)

    As Viscaal and Zendelli fought over the lead, a fierce battle raged behind them for third place. Barnicoat put in an impressive performance to hold the position early on from the more experienced drivers behind him. But on lap 11, the British driver pulled off the track with a mechanical problem with his Carlin, elevating Pourchaire into third.

    Pourchaire was immediately forced into defending from Beckmann. On lap 16 Beckmann made a move for third but ran wide and dropped back to fifth behind Lawson, while Pourchaire was shown the black and white flag for weaving in his defence.

    Lawson then took up the pursuit of third place but was also unable to find a way past Pourchaire in the closing stages. On the final lap, after losing time attacking Pourchaire and running wide out of the last corner, Lawson was then repassed for fourth by Beckmann in a drag race to the line.

    Pourchaire took third for his third podium of the season, ahead of Beckmann and Lawson. Piastri took sixth place after a tight battle late in the race with Jake Hughes and Frederik Vesti, who finished seventh and eighth respectively. Clement Novalak finished ninth, and Enzo Fittipaldi took the final point in tenth.

    Theo Pourchaire, ART (Joe Portlock / Formula 1 via Getty Images)

    New championship leader Logan Sargeant retired with damage after contact with Cameron Das on lap 10, meaning he now has only a single point in hand over Piastri with four rounds remaining in the championship. Viscaal’s victory elevates him from 14th in the standings to 10th.

    In the teams’ standings Prema has 281.5 points, while second-placed Trident has extended its gap over ART to 18.5 points. Find the full F3 drivers’ and teams’ standings here.

    Update: Fittipaldi was given a post-race penalty of five seconds for leaving the track and gaining an advantage when passing Das. The Brazilian drops from 10th to 17th, and Igor Fraga is promoted up to the points.

    Full race result:

    Pos. Driver Team Points
    1 Bent Viscaal (FL) MP Motorsport 17
    2 Lirim Zendelli Trident 12
    3 Theo Pourchaire ART Grand Prix 10
    4 David Beckmann Trident 8
    5 Liam Lawson Hitech Grand Prix 6
    6 Oscar Piastri Prema Racing 5
    7 Jake Hughes HWA Racelab 4
    8 Frederik Vesti Prema Racing 3
    9 Clement Novalak Carlin Buzz Racing 2
    10 Igor Fraga Charouz Racing System 1
    11 Cameron Das Carlin Buzz Racing
    12 Max Fewtrell Hitech Grand Prix
    13 Sebastian Fernandez ART Grand Prix
    14 Aleksandr Smolyar ART Grand Prix
    15 Roman Stanek Charouz Racing System
    16 Matteo Nannini Jenzer Motorsport
    17 Enzo Fittipaldi HWA Racelab
    18 Richard Verschoor MP Motorsport
    19 Sophia Floersch Campos Racing
    20 Dennis Hauger Hitech Grand Prix
    21 Jack Doohan HWA Racelab
    22 Olli Caldwell Trident
    23 Federico Malvestiti Jenzer Motorsport
    24 Alex Peroni Campos Racing
    Ret. Ben Barnicoat Carlin Buzz Racing
    Ret. Logan Sargeant Prema Racing
    Ret. Alessio Deledda Campos Racing
    Ret. David Schumacher Charouz Racing System
    Ret. Lukas Dunner MP Motosport
    Ret. Calan Williams Jenzer Motorsport

  • All Systems Go At Donington As BSB Finally Gets Underway

    At long last the 2020 Bennetts British Superbike Championship got underway this afternoon (Saturday August 8th) at Donington Park. Here’s how the action unfolded during round one of the #BSBRestart. 

    Andrew Irwin Winner, Glenn Irwin second and third Josh Brookes. Image courtesy of Honda Racing

    Honda Racing’s Andrew Irwin claimed victory at the climax of a thrilling three-way battle alongside his brother/team-mate Glenn and VisionTrack Ducati’s Josh Brookes.

    Buildbase Suzuki’s Kyle Ryde took the early initiative from his qualifying position of third and led during the early stages going from Hector Barberá, the Irwin brothers, Danny Buchan and the Ducati pair. Andrew Irwin went into second place during the second lap, out braving Barberá in a classy move at Roberts.

    Buchan crashed out early on and was joined back in the garages by Synetiq BMW’s Bradley Ray and then Barberá himself.

    Andrew Irwin claimed the lead from Ryde in the sixth lap as the Suzuki rider found himself as the filling in an Irwin sandwich as Glenn took second position to fight for supremacy with his brother. Josh Brookes had been biding his time and made his move on lap eight before being reeled back in by Ryde. Unfortunately for the Buildbase Suzuki man, technical issues forced his withdrawal from the race allowing Brookes back into third.

    It was Glenn Irwin who held the lead when Brookes eventually made his bid for first on lap sixteen, which was successful but only temporarily as the Irwin brothers made a brave attack on Brookes at Schwantz which powered the two Hondas into the top 2.

    During a pulsating final lap, Andrew Irwin made his final and decisive move on his brother which saw him take the lead, a stern defensive approach followed which saw the younger Irwin brother take the first win of the delayed 2020 season by a tight margin of 0.119s with Brookes in third.

    Brookes’ Ducati team-mate Christian Iddon claimed fourth place ahead of Oxford Ducati’s Tommy Bridewell. Luke Mossey aboard the Rich Energy OMG Racing BMW came home in sixth. Tarran Mackenzie finished in seventh, ahead of team-mate and pole sitter Jason O’Halloran, whose progress was hampered by the necessity for evasive action after Danny Buchan’s accident. Ryan Vickers on the RAF Regular & Reserves Kawasaki and Lee Jackson on the Massingberd-Mundy Kawasaki rounded out the top 10.

    Attention now shifts to races two and three which will take place tomorrow afternoon (Sunday August 9th).

  • Edge of the Seat Racing from Portimao in Superpole and Race 1

    Edge of the Seat Racing from Portimao in Superpole and Race 1

    WorldSBK Superpole and Race 1 took place today from Algarve International Circuit, Portimão, Portugal with the reigning Champion, Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) taking pole position by nearly three tenths of a second with Toprak Razgatlioglu (PATA YAMAHA WorldSBK Official Team) taking second place and Rea’s teammate, Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK), slotting into third place.

    Last weekend’s Race 2 winner, Scott Redding (ARUBA.IT – Racing Ducati); took a tumble at Turn 5 but was able to get back on the track and to the pits for some quick repairs by his team before getting back out on the track again to finish in 8th place.

    The top independent rider, Loris Baz (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha), secured a second row start with his impressive pace with the highest place Honda of Leon Haslam (Team HRC) in tenth position. Haslam’s teammate, Alvaro Bautista crashed in Sector 3 and, like Redding, he was able to get the bike back on track and to the pits.

    After a tense session the starting grid looked like this:

    Row 1 : Rea : Razgatlioglu : Lowes Row 2: Sykes : van der Mark : Baz

    Row 3 : Rinaldi : Redding : Laverty Row 4 : Haslam : Gerloff : Bautista

    Row 5 : Davies : Cortese : Fores Row 6 : Caricasulo : Scheib : Mercado

    Row 7 : Melandri : Barrier : Takahashi Row 8 : Ponsson : Gabellini

    With 20 laps of racing, Race 1 gets underway with Rea getting off to a great start with the opposite happening for Redding who, by the first corner is down two places. Sykes on his BMW has a full on wobble nearly losing it at Turn 4 but incredibly recovers and stays on track. Lowes has dropped back into 4th and Redding is now in 6th by Turn 6 and along with Lowes is now closing in on van der Mark.

    Rinaldi and Haslam got off to a good start but by Lap 2 Sykes is down to 9th having started from 4th place but manages to make up a place by Lap 3. Rea has set the fastest lap and is now starting to pull away from Razgatlioglu in 2nd place.

    Lap 4 sees Redding pass Lowes but then, Redding runs wide and Lowes takes the place back but Redding is all over Lowes looking to get back past. At Turn 11 Redding manages to pass Lowes and this time he makes it stick.

    Scott Redding at Portimao WSBK 2020. Image courtesy of Ducati

    Third place is now being fought over by Baz, van der Mark and Redding with some incredible racing taking place with the Ducati all over the Yamahas and at one point they are neck and neck but still holding their positions. Van der Mark has a huge wobble and how he managed to hold onto it and his place is incredible.

    Lap 6 sees van der Mark running wide and losing two places allowing Redding up into 4th and Lowes into 5th.

    On the start-finish straight on Lap 8 Redding passes Baz in a very smooth overtake on the inside and then on the following lap Baz runs wide allowing Lowes and van der Mark to nip past. Meanwhile Redding’s teammate, Davies, is not having a good race at all and has now dropped back to 14th.

    By Lap 11 van der Mark is hot on the heels of Redding fighting for position and Baz is now down into 7th place having been passed by Lowes on Lap 12 who is closing in on van der Mark and Redding. The fight for 3rd place is edge of the seat racing.

    Rea, by Lap 15, has now pulled out a 4 second lead ahead of Razgatlioglu, both of whom are having a very controlled and smooth race.

    Lowes has gone up the inside of Redding and now Rinaldi is having a look. Lap 16 sees Redding run wide, Rinaldi tries to get past on the inside but doesn’t manage it. Lowes is edging away from Redding and the battle for fifth is hotting up.

    On Lap 19 Rinaldi passes Redding and they both run wide with Rinaldi managing to stay ahead but Baz slips past Redding up into 6th place with Sykes now having a look to see if he can pass by too.

    It’s the final lap and Redding is looking to get back past Baz but Baz is managing to hold the Ducati off for now. Rea crosses the finish line easily in 1st position followed by Razgatlioglu, van der Mark and Lowes. Baz managed to hold off Redding to finish 6th with Redding down in 7th.

    Fantastic racing in Race 1, Race 2 is going to be nail biting!

    BK

    Featured image courtesy of Yamaha Racing

  • Super Max! : Guenther wins in Berlin to move him back into championship contention

    Super Max! : Guenther wins in Berlin to move him back into championship contention

    We’re at the halfway point in the Formula E’s super season finale in Berlin, and although the championship fight seems to have fallen by the wayside with Antonio Da Costa still holding an impressive lead, race three certainly was filled with fireworks. However, as the cars took to the original circuit layout, qualifying was not dominated by Da Costa but his teammate Jean-Eric Vergne. He’s been somewhat of the supporter to Da Costa’s heroics this season but he certainly showed otherwise by taking pole position by half a second from BMW’s Max Guenther who put in an impressive lap to line up second on the grid.

    Mahindra seemed to be a team reborn as the Indian-based manufacturer managed to get both cars into Superpole, however, Jerome D’Ambrosio struggled with his overall pace to start P3, whilst Alex Lynn managed a scrappy lap to snatch P5. Stoffel Vandoorne continued his impeccable qualifying form, but his Mercedes struggled with grip in the hot conditions, leaving the Belgian P4 whilst Robin Frijns rounded out the top six, helped by the momentum of almost scoring a podium position in the last race.

    Credit: Formula E

    Vergne lead from the start, whilst Guenther became embroiled in a battle with the two Mahindras for the podium positions and he was passed by D’Ambrosio into turn one. However, Guenther soon reclaimed second place back from the Mahindra and began to cut into Vergne’s two second buffer.

    Vandoorne was another big loser in the opening stages, dropping behind Lynn and Frijns but after the first round of attack mode was deployed, the Mercedes man managed to get back into P4 before his race ended prematurely due to a puncture. Compatriots Luca Di Grassi and Felipe Massa came together in the latter stages of the race, with Di Grassi trying to squeeze the Venturi into the hairpin at turn 1 but the move backfired and the former champion was left out of the points. Massa picked up a late penalty for the incident dropping him too out of the points.

    Frijns continued his momentum by making quick work of Lynn before taking P3 from D’Ambrosio before the safety car was brought out for an incident in the mid pack which left Sergio Sette Camara and Neel Jani stranded in the middle of the track and the safety car deployed.

    Credit: Formula E

    As racing resumed, Guenther closed the gap on Vergne but when the second round of attack modes were deployed, Vergne managed to stay ahead of the chasing BMW but not for long as Guenther managed to get the Techeetah into turn seven with five minutes remaining.

    Vergne lost momentum after the move, and struggling with energy management, he was forced to yield P2 to Frijns who began to chase the race leader Guenther in the dying stages of the race but it was too little, too late.

    Guenther picked up his second win of the season to move to second in the championship standings ahead of Frijns and Vergne, whilst Da Costa had to settle for P4 with a stunning drive up through the order to add another glut of points to his own championship tally.

  • F2 Great Britain: Ilott takes title lead with feature race win

    F2 Great Britain: Ilott takes title lead with feature race win

    Callum Ilott took his second win of the season in the Silverstone feature race, taking advantage of a low finish for title rival Robert Shwartzman to assume the lead of the championship.

    Ilott started the race from pole and got away well to hold the lead into Turn 1. Behind him, Dan Ticktum also got a good launch from fourth to jump both Jack Aitken and Christian Lundgaard into second.

    Ticktum pressured Ilott for the lead over the opening laps, but a mistake on lap 3 sent him wide and dropped the DAMS back behind Lundgaard and Aitken. Two laps later Ticktum then lost another three positions, to Mick Schumacher, Nikita Mazepin and Louis Deletraz respectively.

    Jack Aitken, Campos (Rudy Carezzevoli / Getty Images)

    On lap 6 Lundgaard and Aitken both pitted from the podium positions to change to hard tyres, and Ilott made his own stop a lap later and came out in P12. Schumacher, running the alternative strategy having started on hards, assumed the lead ahead of Mazepin and teammate Shwartzman, who started outside the points.

    While Ilott and the former leaders cut their way through the traffic, Schumacher and Mazepin engaged in a fierce battle at the front of the field. Mazepin looked to be faster at first but couldn’t find a way through, and after a few laps stuck behind the Prema his tyres began to blister and he dropped to over a second behind Schumacher on lap 11.

    Schumacher became the first of the alternate runners to pit on lap 19, handing the lead to Mazepin who stayed out for another three laps. When Mazepin did come in his longer stint looked to have paid off as he rejoined the track ahead of Schumacher in sixth, but Schumacher was able to get back ahead of Mazepin while the Russian was on cold tyres.

    Louis Deletraz, Charouz (Dan Istitene / Formula 1 via Getty Images)

    After all the pit stops had been completed, Ilott was back in the lead ahead of Lundgaard and Aitken, with Deletraz and Yuki Tsunoda in fourth and fifth having passed Ticktum as they made their way through the traffic.

    The top three remained the same for the rest of the race, despite Lundgaard running off track on lap 26 and dropping back towards Aitken. However, Deletraz and Tsunoda came under pressure in the closing laps from Mazepin on fresh soft tyres. Having already taken sixth place back from Schumacher on lap 25, Mazepin then passed Tsunoda two laps later and caught and passed Deletraz for fourth on the final lap.

    Deletraz just about hung on to keep fifth place from Tsunoda. Schumacher was unable to find the same late-race speed as Mazepin despite running on the same strategy and stayed in seventh, and will share the front row of tomorrow’s sprint race with eighth-place finisher Shwartzman. Guanyu Zhou and Felipe Drugovich rounded out the points, while Ticktum finished in P15 after plummeting down the order in the closing stages.

    Ilott’s victory with Shwartzman only eighth means the UNI-Virtuosi driver retakes the lead of the championship with 102 points.

    Callum Ilott, UNI-Virtuosi (Rudy Carezzevoli / Getty Images)

    Full race result:

    Pos. Driver Team Points
    1 Callum Ilott UNI-Virtuosi Racing 25
    2 Christian Lundgaard ART Grand Prix 18
    3 Jack Aitken Campos Racing 15
    4 Nikita Mazepin Hitech Grand Prix 12
    5 Louis Deletraz Charouz Racing System 10
    6 Yuki Tsunoda Carlin 8
    7 Mick Schumacher Prema Racing 6
    8 Robert Shwartzman Prema Racing 4
    9 Guanyu Zhou (FL) UNI-Virtuosi Racing 2
    10 Felipe Drugovich MP Motorsport 1
    11 Nobuharu Matsushita MP Motorsport
    12 Jehan Daruvala Carlin
    13 Luca Ghiotto Hitech Grand Prix
    14 Marcus Armstrong ART Grand Prix
    15 Dan Ticktum DAMS
    16 Giuliano Alesi BWT HWA Racelab
    17 Marino Sato Trident
    18 Roy Nissany Trident
    19 Artem Markelov BWT HWA Racelab
    20 Guilherme Samaia Campos
    21 Pedro Piquet Charouz Racing System
    Ret. Sean Gelael DAMS

  • 70th Anniversary GP Qualifying: Bottas pips Hamilton to pole in a close fight

    70th Anniversary GP Qualifying: Bottas pips Hamilton to pole in a close fight

    Valtteri Bottas took pole at Silverstone on Saturday afternoon after beating teammate Hamilton by 0.063 seconds in a extremely close battle as Mercedes locked out the front row after yet another dominant qualifying this season. The Finnish driver would be delighted at this result especially after signing on for one more year with the Silver Arrows. He will definitely be looking forward to starting the race on pole after the disappointment of last weekend.

    Nico Hulkenberg put on a stellar display in the final parts of the qualifying to put himself on the second row for the race tomorrow in third, a tenth of a second ahead of Max Verstappen in fourth. The other Racing Point of Lance Stroll couldn’t extract the maximum out of the car and ended up qualifying sixth, which puts him on the third row alongside Daniel Ricciardo. The Renault driver put in a mega performance in Q3 on medium tyres but he couldn’t quite get on the second row which was looking likely after the first run of Q3. His teammate Ocon in the other Renault did not make it out of Q2 and will be starting 11th, pending an investigation after impeding George Russell during Q1.

    Nico Hulkenberg, Racing Point RP20

    Ferrari’s dismal form continues. Sebastian Vettel failed to make it to Q3 and will be starting 12th on the grid; Leclerc, who managed to make it to the second row last week couldn’t make it past the fourth row this time and will start eighth. The only direction the team seems to be going is backward and there will be a lot of questions asked back at Maranello.

    Pierre Gasly in the Alpha Tauri looks to be set for another impressive weekend at Silverstone after managing 7th place today with an impressive lap. Teammate Kvyat, on the other hand, never made it out of Q1 after an error-ridden lap which saw him finish 16th.

    Alex Albon and Lando Norris made up the fifth row in 9th and 10th for which both the drivers would not be overly happy.

    It was a very average afternoon for McLaren with Norris at 10th and Sainz at 13th and they will be hoping that the fortunes change come race day tomorrow, especially with the midfield very tightly packed.

    George Russell maintained his perfect qualifying record against his teammate after an extremely impressive lap which saw him progress to Q2 and put him fifteenth on the grid while his teammate will be starting P18.

    Haas will be disappointed with their qualifying after only one car made out of Q1 with Grosjean in P14 and Magnussen in P17 after making a costly error in Q1.

    Alfa Romeo started 1st-2nd-3rd-4th for the first ever British GP in 1950 but fast forward 70 years and they will be starting at the back with Giovinazzi at 19th and Kimi at 20th after a poor showing in Q1.

    With Mercedes locking out the front row for the 67th time, it looks set to be a straight fight between the Silver Arrows for victory while the long-awaited podium for Hulkenberg might finally happen. With an extremely close midfield starting all the way from 3rd to 13th, it looks set to be a promising race for the 70th Anniverary Grand Prix.

  • F3 Great Britain: Sargeant controls feature race for first F3 win

    F3 Great Britain: Sargeant controls feature race for first F3 win

    Prema’s Logan Sargeant took his first Formula 3 win in the Silverstone feature race, controlling from the front after breaking away early.

    Sargeant got a good launch from pole position to hold the lead into the first corner. Behind him, second-placed starter Liam Lawson was slow away and was passed by Jake Hughes starting from third.

    While Hughes was occupied with getting past Lawson, Sargeant immediately set about opening a gap in front. By lap 7 the American was already 2.5 seconds ahead of Hughes, and managed to maintain the same distance for the majority of the race.

    The gap only increased in the closing stages as Hughes’ tyres started to lose grip, with Sargeant running more than three seconds clear in the final four laps. Hughes eventually fell back to within half a second of Lawson, although he just managed to hold off the Hitech to take his first podium of the year in second.

    Jake Hughes, HWA Racelab (Dan Istitene / Formula 1 via Getty Images)

    Lawson crossed the line in third, having held the position throughout a race-long battle with Frederik Vesti. Lawson appeared to struggle with his tyres all through the race and after the opening laps a train was already forming behind him including Vesti, Theo Pourchaire, David Beckmann and Bent Viscaal.

    But despite Vesti’s pace advantage, Lawson was able to successfully defend against the Dane’s attempts at overtaking him. The time lost trying to pass Lawson then left Vesti vulnerable to Pourchaire behind, and on lap 9 the Frenchman tried a move through Vale. Pourchaire briefly got ahead into fourth, but Vesti was able to retake the place and Pourchaire ended up losing out to Beckmann as well.

    After being told by his engineer to get after Lawson and commit to a move, Vesti set successive fastest laps and caught the Hitech again in the second half of the race. However, he was still unable to make a move stick and had to settle for fourth ahead of Beckmann.

    Liam Lawson, Hitech (Dutch Photo Agency / Red Bull Content Pool)

    Pourchaire finished sixth in the end, just holding off Oscar Piastri through the final corners with help from yellow flags for a collision between Sebastian Fernandez and Matteo Nannini at the back of the field. Piastri managed to recover back into the points after trouble in qualifying yesterday, although he ran out of laps to make the most of a late-race turn of speed.

    Viscaal finished in eighth place, with Clement Novalak ninth and Lirim Zendelli taking reverse grid pole for tomorrow in tenth. Lawson scored the additional two points for fastest lap.

    Sargeant’s victory and Piastri’s finish in the lower half of the points means Sargeant now takes over the lead of the championship by six points from his teammate.

    Update: Novalak received a post-race five-second penalty for running off track and gaining an advantage, dropping him out of the points to P13. Zendelli was promoted to P9 and Ben Barnicoat to P10 for his first point of the season and reverse grid pole. Nannini also received a grid penalty for tomorrow’s sprint race for hitting Fernandez.

    Full race result:

    Pos. Driver Team Points
    1 Logan Sargeant Prema Racing 25
    2 Jake Hughes HWA Racelab 18
    3 Liam Lawson (FL) Hitech Grand Prix 17
    4 Frederik Vesti Prema Racing 12
    5 David Beckmann Trident 10
    6 Theo Pourchaire ART Grand Prix 8
    7 Oscar Piastri Prema Racing 6
    8 Bent Viscaal MP Motorsport 4
    9 Lirim Zendelli Trident 2
    10 Ben Barnicoat Carlin Buzz Racing 1
    11 Cameron Das Carlin Buzz Racing
    12 Aleksandr Smolyar ART Grand Prix
    13 Clement Novalak Carlin Buzz Racing
    14 Alex Peroni Campos Racing
    15 David Schumacher Charouz Racing System
    16 Max Fewtrell Hitech Grand Prix
    17 Enzo Fittipaldi HWA Racelab
    18 Igor Fraga Charouz Racing System
    19 Richard Verschoor MP Motorsport
    20 Sophia Floersch Campos Racing
    21 Olli Caldwell Trident
    22 Roman Stanek Charouz Racing System
    23 Lukas Dunner MP Motorsport
    24 Sebastian Fernandez ART Grand Prix
    25 Alessio Deledda Campos Racing
    26 Jack Doohan HWA Racelab
    Ret. Matteo Nannini Jenzer Motorsport
    Ret. Calan Williams Jenzer Motorsport
    Ret. Federico Malvestiti Jenzer Motosport
    Ret. Dennis Hauger Hitech Grand Prix