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  • F3 Mugello: Piastri beats Pourchaire to title after Sargeant crash

    F3 Mugello: Piastri beats Pourchaire to title after Sargeant crash

    Oscar Piastri was crowned the 2020 Formula 3 champion after the Mugello sprint race finale, overcoming a late charge from outside contender Theo Pourchaire after main rival Logan Sargeant retired from a first lap collision.

    Sargeant started the race as the highest title contender in fifth on the reverse grid, while Pourchaire started in eighth and Piastri outside the points in 11th. But Sargeant’s title challenge was ended at the second corner of the race when he was squeezed by Sebastian Fernandez into Lirim Zendelli. Sargeant and Zendelli both went off into the gravel, and despite Sargeant’s efforts he couldn’t make it back to the track and was out of the race.

    As the safety car came out to recover Sargeant and Zendelli’s cars, Piastri looked set to take the title as he ran seventh with his only remaining rival Pourchaire behind in eighth. But at the restart on lap 4 Pourchaire immediately leapt past Piastri and then Jake Hughes for sixth as he tried to turn his nine-point deficit into an unlikely championship steal.

    Theo Pourchaire, ART (Rudy Carezzevoli / Getty Images)

    As the opening phase of the race unfolded, everything seemed to fall into place for Pourchaire’s title hopes. As he passed his ART teammate Aleksandr Smolyar for fifth and targeted the podium positions he needed to become champion, Piastri struggled for pace and was shuffled down to tenth by his own teammate Frederik Vesti.

    But after Pourchaire passed Enzo Fittipaldi and Sebastian Fernandez to reach third place in the second half of the race, Piastri’s pace started to recover. The Australian took ninth from the struggling Smolyar at the same time as Pourchaire passed Fernandez, meaning that Piastri would still have enough points to win the championship if Pourchaire couldn’t improve to second.

    With 1.5s between Pourchaire and second-placed David Beckmann on lap 17, it looked far from unlikely that Pourchaire would be able to take the position. But while Piastri’s pace was improving, Pourchaire’s earlier charge took its toll on his tyres and he was unable to make up much of the gap between him and Beckmann.

    Meanwhile, Piastri continued picking off the lower top ten to make Pourchaire’s job even more difficult. On lap 18 Piastri passed Vesti for eighth place, then caught Fernandez as the ART dropped back through the field and took seventh place in a drag race to the line on the final lap.

    Finishing seventh with Pourchaire third, Piastri won the championship by three points, while Pourchaire took the runner-up position from Sargeant by one point.

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

    The sprint race was won by Liam Lawson, who put in a commanding performance from pole to win by almost seven seconds from Beckmann. The win gave Lawson fifth place in the championship ahead of Beckmann, although both were kept out of the top four by Vesti.

    Fittipaldi took his best result of the season just behind the podium in fourth, ahead of Richard Verschoor and Hughes. Behind Piastri and Fernandez, the final points were taken by Vesti and Smolyar, with Vesti also earning the bonus two points for the fastest lap.

    Full race result:

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

  • IndyCar Mid-Ohio: Will Power dominates to take first win of 2020

    image courtesy of IndyCar

    Will Power dominates at Mid-Ohio to take his first win of the 2020 IndyCar season and his maiden win at Mid-Ohio. The Australian was barely troubled leading from lights out to chequered flag at a circuit that he has finished in the top five in eight out of his previous eleven outings.

    Following the race, Power was elated saying:

    “That’s probably the first race in 10 years that I’ve just gone hard. I just said, ‘Screw this, let’s just go hard and use my raw pace and see what happens.’ We won the race, it was a great strategy. … It’s great to tick off Mid-Ohio.”

    This will be a welcome positive in a season that has been blighted with unreliability, bad pit stops and other calamities which have made this a season to forget for the one time series champion. Additionally, it was a great day for Penske who finished both first and second with Josef Newgarden.

    Rain threatened the race with five laps to go, but in typical motorsport fashion stayed clear until after the chequered flag.

    Newgarden’s second place is important in terms of the championship, cutting the deficit to Scott Dixon to 75 points. Certainly not an insurmountable target with just under five races to go.

    Someone who enjoyed a fantastic day was Andretti’s Alexander Rossi was able to hold off Rahal Letterman’s Graham Rahal in the closing stages. Earlier in the race, the ex-Formula One driver decided to try the overcut-on competitors Ryan Hunter-Reay and Graham Rahal. Rossi was putting in some blistering in laps using his ‘push to pass’ off the corners to gain as much lap time as possible. When he eventually came into the pits, he was released back out behind Ryan Hunter-Reay, albeit much closer than before.

    Following a close fight between both teammates Rossi got on the radio to get Hunter-Reay to move aside as the likes of Felix Rosenqvist closed in. The team eventually caved in and allowed Rossi to eventually overtake Rahal to claim third position. The last ten laps were a tense fight between Rahal and Rossi in which the latter came out victorious.

    Ryan Hunter-Reay would eventually finish in fifth, ahead of Chip Ganassi driver Felix Rosenqvist who found much more pace on a road course which he is used to. Felix was the highest placed Ganassi car at Mid-Ohio, a magnificent achievement for the young-super star.

    Jack Harvey continued a super run of form finishing in seventh position, his fourth top ten of the season. The British driver pitted early, attempting the undercut on many of his fellow competitors to claim my self-prescribed title of: ‘best of the rest’

    Colton Herta had a dramatic race of epic proportions finishing in eight place. Starting outside the top ten, the young-gun opted to start on sticker black tyres, attempting to go longer into the race. However, it wasn’t as simple as it turned out. A battle ensued with the likes of Santino Ferrucci, Rinus VeeKay and Marco Andretti. Herta made his way past VeeKay in the hunt for fellow countryman, Santino. After a slow pit stop, caused after Colton had to put on the brakes during Alexander Rossi’s stop, the time lost put him out into a scrap with championship leader Scott Dixon. The next stage of the race involved a titanic fight between these two which Herta won with a gutsy move down the inside. Pitting late on the final pit stop cycle would hand him his fully deserved final classification.

    Ed Carpenter Racing duo Rinus VeeKay and Conor Daly rounded out the top ten in magnificent style. Perhaps the greatest moment of the race was VeeKay’s audacious move on Dalton Kellet and Colton Herta, the Dutchman caught them both napping and passed them with an exhilarating move around the outside. Rinus was once again the highest place rookie, extending his position in the standings as ‘Rookie of the Year’.

    Outside the top ten it was a miserable day for championship contenders Scott Dixon and Patricio O’Ward who bravely fought their way back to eleventh and twelfth respectively. Both enjoyed some incredible wheel to wheel battles, trying to claw back some of the advantage Newgarden had gained. O’Ward will be disappointed not to capitalise on Dixon’s poor qualifying, now 79 points behind. Even more worrying will be his deficit to second place Josef Newgarden (33 points).

    Further ramifications for the championship include Will Power moving up into fourth position in the standings on 76 points, three behind the McLaren SP driver.

    To our delight, IndyCar goes again for the second race of the double-header tomorrow.

    Official Classification
    1st – Will Power
    2nd – Josef Newgarden
    3rd – Alexander Rossi
    4th – Graham Rahal
    5th – Ryan Hunter-Reay
    6th – Felix Rosenqvist
    7th – Jack Harvey
    8th – Rinus VeeKay
    9th – Colton Herta
    10th – Scott Dixon
    11th – Pato O’Ward
    12th – Alex Palou
    13th – Conor Daly
    14th – Santino Ferrucci
    15th – Marcus Ericsson
    16th – Max Chilton
    17th – Takuma Sato
    18th – Simon Pagenaud
    19th – Oliver Askew
    20th – Zach Veach
    21st – Charlie Kimball
    22nd – Dalton Kellett
    23rd – Marco Andretti

  • Ferrari 1000 GP: Hamilton takes pole at Mugello

    image courtesy of Pirelli Motorsports

    Lewis Hamilton took his 95th career pole beating teammate Bottas in a close fight at the inaugural Tuscan Grand prix qualifying. It was a pretty anti-climactic second Q3 run as it was expected that both the Mercedes would go head to head since Bottas was leading the free practice sessions and seemed to be in the zone.

    It was all for nothing towards the end of Q3 when Esteban Ocon in the Renault made a mistake in the first sector which sent him spinning onto the grass. The yellow flags that followed meant that the drivers on flying laps had to lift and this brought an end to Q3 except for Hamilton, Verstappen and Leclerc. The only winner out of these three drivers has to be Charles Leclerc after the Monegasque driver put in a lap good enough to secure him 5th since both the Racing Point drivers behind him could not get a lap in.

    The third row presents an all RedBull line up after Albon finally got his qualifying act right this season lining him up at 4th next to his teammate Verstappen at 3rd. The practice sessions indicated that one of the two Redbulls might be in with a shot at pole position but as Q3 unfolded, it was not to be the case.

    Leclerc after qualifying at 5th alongside Stroll instead of Perez thanks to a one place grid drop for the Mexican driver for an incident in yesterday’s free practice. Perez now starts at 7th next to Ricciardo at 8th who was one of the drivers who couldn’t get in a second lap because of yellow flags in sector 1. Carlos Sainz was the only McLaren in Q3 who will be starting 9th next to Ocon which rounds off the top 10.

    Lando Norris missed out Q3 for the first time this season as his best lap in Q2 only put him up to P11. A contrasting weekend awaits the British team after such a high in Monza. It was a difficult qualifying session for the Monza hero Pierre Gasly after he failed to get out Q1 and qualified 16th, four places behind his teammate Danil Kvyat, who has out-qualified Gasly only for the second time this season despite making a mistake in Q2.

    While 5th place in qualifying might not seem like a bad result for Ferrari at their landmark grand prix, it was not all good for them as Vettel could only qualify 14th behind Kimi Raikkonen in 13th. The German driver even seemed surprised on the radio to be out of Q1 which quite sums up the kind of season that the team from Maranello are having.

    Both the Haas cars will line up with Grosjean at 15th and Magnussen at 20th for their engine suppliers’ 1000th GP. George Russell has maintained his 100% qualifying record vs his teammate which now stands at 30-0 and will see him start at 18th ahead of his teammate Latifi at 19th. The English driver had quite a big moment in Q1 after he ran on to the gravel but yet somehow spectacularly managed to keep his car on the track and finished ahead of his teammate. Giovinazzi will line up in his Alfa Romeo at 17th finishing the grid.

    With Mugello seeming like a track where overtaking might be scarce, track position is set to be key ahead of the race tomorrow. Ferrari would have hoped to be in a much better position for their landmark race but it is Mercedes, who look set to take the maximum points from the event. Max Verstappen at 3rd will be ever hungry to split the Mercedes at the start, which has been a virtue of the 2020 season so far.

  • F3 Mugello: Vesti wins feature race as Sargeant levels championship

    F3 Mugello: Vesti wins feature race as Sargeant levels championship

    Frederik Vesti beat Jake Hughes and Lirim Zendelli to victory in the Mugello feature race, as Logan Sargeant drew level with Oscar Piastri in the title standings.

    With plenty of championship positions on the line, the race began with a relatively cautious start. Zendelli, Hughes and Vesti, starting from the top three, held their positions into the first corner, while most of the top ten behind them followed through more or less in order. However, Enzo Fittipaldi was shuffled down from his starting position of fourth off the line by Sargeant and Theo Pourchaire.

    Zendelli and Hughes, battling for seventh in the standings, began to pull away from the rest of the pack in the opening phase of the race as both set fastest laps early on. While Zendelli initially held a one-second gap over Hughes, a mistake on lap 4 gave the HWA driver a chance into Turn 1 at the start of lap 5.

    Zendelli held the position around the outside, but was unable to keep Hughes behind for long. After trying another move on lap 6, Hughes finally got by for first a lap later, hanging on around the outside to take Zendelli into the chicane after Turn 1.

    This began a game of cat and mouse between the Trident and the HWA, as Zendelli came back at Hughes on lap 7 to retake the lead before being passed by Hughes again on lap 13.

    Jake Hughes, HWA (Clive Mason / Formula 1 via Getty Images)

    This close fighting for the lead allowed Vesti to draw up enough to join the battle in the second half of the race. On lap 14 Zendelli went deep into Turn 1 trying to repass Hughes, and this put Vesti within a few tenths of the Trident. A lap later, Vesti moved around the outside into Turn 1 and moved ahead of Zendelli into second.

    Vesti wasted little time in going after Hughes, and he tried to take the lead at the start of the next lap. Hughes held the inside into Turn 1 to see Vesti off, but a mistake from Hughes later in the lap gave Vesti the opportunity to take first place on lap 17.

    Hughes briefly retook the lead on the penultimate lap with another overtake around the outside of Turn 1, but Vesti came back at him at the same corner on the final lap and got back ahead. With few overtaking opportunities later in the lap, Vesti was able to hold on and beat Hughes to his third win of the year.

    Zendelli had held on to third for most of the race after dropping behind Vesti. But the consequences of his hard battle with Hughes earlier on meant that he ran out of tyre life in the later stages, and ended up losing third place to Pourchaire on the final lap.

    Logan Sargeant, Prema (Clive Mason / Formula 1 via Getty Images)

    While Vesti battled for the race win, his Prema teammates Sargeant and Piastri were fighting hard to better their respective championship positions going into tomorrow’s title-deciding sprint race.

    After getting up to fourth at the start, Sargeant was unable to keep pace with the top three and ended up fifth behind Pourchaire by the end of the second lap. As Pourchaire then set off in pursuit of the podium, Sargeant’s race settled into one with Fittipaldi to hold fifth place.

    Sargeant stayed ahead for most of the race, but Fittipaldi got ahead on lap 17 as Sargeant struggled with oversteer from his fading tyres. Sargeant retook fifth on lap 19, but was unable to hold on to the place and Fittipaldi got back through on the final lap for his best finish of the season so far.

    Finishing in sixth wasn’t such a loss to Sargeant, however, as his main rival Piastri failed to score at all. Relegated to 16th on the grid due to a penalty from the Monza sprint race, Piastri’s job was to make as many moves as possible and try to salvage reverse grid pole for tomorrow.

    But despite making early progress, picking off the likes of Matteo Nannini, Alex Peroni and Dennis Hauger in the early phase of the race, Piastri’s pace slowed after passing Richard Verschoor for 12th on lap 13. It took Piastri another five laps to take 11th place from Jack Doohan, by which point tenth-placed Liam Lawson was too far ahead for Piastri to reel in by the chequered flag.

    Jack Doohan, HWA (Dutch Photo Agency / Red Bull Content Pool)

    With Sargeant scoring eight points for sixth, the two Premas are level on 160 points in the championship. Piastri is still ahead on results countback, but he will start tomorrow’s crucial reverse grid race just outside the points, while Sargeant will start from fifth place.

    As for the other outside title contenders, only Pourchaire is still able to win the championship tomorrow. His podium has in fact bettered his chances, as the ART driver is now only nine points behind Piastri and Sargeant on 151.

    Full race result:

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

  • Valtteri Bottas sets the benchmark in FP1 at the Tuscan Grand Prix

    image courtesy of Pirelli Motorsports

    Valtteri Bottas was fastest during free practice one at the Tuscan Grand Prix. It is the first timed session that we have been able to see with Formula One cars at the famous Mugello circuit.

    Bottas set a time of a 1:17:879 closely followed by the Red Bull of Max Verstappen (+0.048). His teammate Alex Albon finished down in P9 (+1.189)

    Genuine pace or a masquerade? Regardless Charles Leclerc went third fastest (+0.307) on Ferrari’s 1000th Grand Prix in a surprising up-turn in pace. There were some questions as to whether the ‘Red Car’ were running extremely light to set positive headlines in Italy. Well, it may have worked as there will be an enthusiastic tifosi willing the team on to a potential top 6 result.

    Leclerc has been running a new chassis after his collision at the Parabolica last weekend. There is no evidence that it is a new design, but it is entirely possible that they could be tweaks for Ferrari’s famous weekend.

    As for Sebastien Vettel, it was a familiar story. Finishing down in P13 (+1.388), the German will no doubt be setting the headlines off-track more so than on-track. With his famous move to Aston Martin for 2021 now in the open, perhaps pressure will be off Vettel this weekend with his future in Formula One assured?

    Lewis Hamilton finished down in fourth place (+0.530) in a rather uneventful session, in which the only memorable moment came from a radio transmission asking Lewis to turn the engine down. Mercedes feeling the strain on the engine perhaps?

    Alpha Tauri’s Pierre Gasly and Danil Kvyat finished in an impressive P5 (+0.797) and P7 (+0.960) freshly following the Frenchman’s win at Monza. Earlier in the session there was a slight concern as engineers crowded around Pierre’s bargeboard. However, this seemingly didn’t hinder the team’s pace who have a strong chance to continue their strong run of form since Spa.

    Esteban Ocon finished in P6 (+0.926) with Daniel Ricciardo in P10 (+1.261) Renault have shown glimpses of form since Spa however have some strong competition with the resurgence of both McLaren and Alpha Tauri.

    McLaren’s Lando Norris finished P8 (1.102) with Carlos Sainz P15 (+1.578). The British team tested a range of different aero parts, particularly a new front wing. From casual observation the wing is similar to that of the Mercedes with a narrow body, short stubby pillars under the nose to connect to the wing and a higher cape.

    Outside the top ten was a train of Ferrari powered cars starting with the Alfa Romeo of Kimi Raikkonen in P11 (+1.340), the Haas of Romain Grosjean in P12 (+1.345) and Giovinazzi in P14 (+1.443). It is going to be a constant balancing act of lower the downforce to gain on the straight. However, the number of high-speed corners may mean that sacrificing too much downforce will be too much risk on a track such as this. Grosjean had a small moment with the Racing Point of Sergio Perez in which the Swiss driver complained on the radio that he was blocked coming into the second sector.

    George Russell finished in P16 (+1.599) closely followed by Kevin Magnussen in P17 (+1.672)

    Interestingly, the Racing Point’s decided to not run the soft tyres and focus on race simulations. Stroll finishing in P18 (+1.957) and Perez P19 (+1.961). The Silverstone based team need to find a solution to their confusing drop off in race pace and may be testing to see if they can make the medium tyres last on a one stop strategy.

    The final position was rounded out by the Williams of Nicholas Latifi in P20 (+2.155) who’s most memorable moment was a spin during the final ten minutes of the session.

    As we draw closer to Free Practice Two. The drivers will be seeking the aid of their trainers and physiotherapists to negate the strain on their necks. While the Mugello circuit is something of a beauty with the backdrop of the Florence and the mountains nearby, it is a double-edged sword. The undulating, medium and high-speed corners are tricky, demanding and will prove a stiff test for many of the drivers to acclimatise before qualifying on Saturday.

    FP1 Classification

    1. Bottas (1:17:879)
    2. Verstappen (+0.048)
    3. Leclerc (+0.307)
    4. Hamilton (+0.530)
    5. Gasly (+0.797
    6. Ocon (+0.926)
    7. Kvyat (+0.960)
    8. Norris (+1.102)
    9. Albon (+1.189)
    10. Ricciardo (+1.261)
    11. Raikkonen (+1.340)
    12. Grosjean (+1.345)
    13. Vettel (+1.388)
    14. Giovinazzi (+1.443)
    15. Sainz (+1.578)
    16. Russell (+1.599)
    17. Magnussen (+1.672)
    18. Stroll (+1.957)
    19. Perez (+1.961)
    20. Latifi (+2.155)

     

  • IndyCar Mid-Ohio Preview

    IndyCar Mid-Ohio Preview

    The NTT IndyCar Series returns this weekend for its fourth doubleheader with the Honda Indy 200 at Lexington’s Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. The undulating twists and turns of the thirteen-corner, 2.2-mile road course has seen the circuit become one of the favourite locations on the calendar for drivers and fans alike.

    What’s more, with just five races remaining, it’s up to the few remaining title challengers to step up this weekend if they wish to keep the championship alive.

    Scott Dixon heads into this weekend on 416 points, a 96-point advantage over Josef Newgarden, with Patricio O’Ward and Takuma Sato realistically the remaining two contenders, albeit around 150 points behind.

    Scott Dixon (Joe Skibinski / IndyCar Media)

    Looking Back to 2019 Mid-Ohio and beyond.

    The 2019 running was won by current championship leader Dixon in spectacular fashion. The New Zealander had rookie Felix Rosenqvist charging in the closing laps. In the final pass through turn two they had wheel contact. Both cars bobbled, but the drivers kept them straight, which led to a thrilling run to the chequered flag as Dixon drove with tires that had lost their effectiveness.

    The margin of victory was 0.0934 seconds, the closest IndyCar finish at Mid-Ohio and third closest on a road course in IndyCar history.

    Dixon and Chip Ganassi have proved a dominant force at Mid-Ohio in recent years. ‘Mr Mid-Ohio’ has a staggering six wins at the Sports Car Course, likewise Ganassi have won there 11 times, giving them a vast amount of confidence heading into the weekend.

    Other drivers who have enjoyed success at the circuit have been Newgarden, Alexander Rossi and Simon Pagenaud with a win apiece. Alongside them, look out for likes of O’Ward, Jack Harvey, Oliver Askew and Rinus VeeKay who have all had relative success at the track in the junior categories.

    Pato O’Ward (Joe Skibinski / IndyCar Media)

    What should I look out for this weekend?

    Dixon is the bookies favourite to win the IndyCar championship due to his commanding lead. However, the focus on this race will continue to be on his realistic championship rivals to see whether they can make a dent in that points deficit. Out of those only Newgarden has won here before, and he may be the most obvious challenge to the Kiwi.

    O’Ward will be coming into the weekend following some magnificent but bittersweet performances having narrowly missed out on a handful of wins this season. The Mexican has been a consistent qualifier and regularly puts himself in the frame to challenge for the win. It’s often been strategic calls that have stripped those opportunities away. He’ll be looking to rectify that here to claim his maiden IndyCar win.

    Sato, perhaps coming down from his second Indy 500 win, was in the fight arguably in both races last time out at Gateway. He’s somehow found a run of form that’s put him in his highest championship spot in his career. Although challenging Dixon in the standings is a tough order, to compete well against the likes of two-time champion Newgarden and up-and-coming superstar O’Ward will be all the incentive Sato needs to prove that experience sometimes trumps youth.

    Another driver with something to prove this weekend will be Andretti’s Rossi. His crushing performance in the 2018 running race saw him and the team take a dominant victory from pole with an incredible tyre strategy. Rossi has demonstrated that he has the speed and his team have the strategies to come out on top in Mid-Ohio and he’ll be determined to do so again to try and draw himself closer to the top five in the championship, after a season plagued by bad luck.

    Rinus VeeKay (Joe Skibinski / IndyCar Media)

    In terms of the battle for the coveted ‘Rookie of the Year’ title, VeeKay currently leads that fight, 13th in the standings on 181 points. His closest rivals are Alex Palou on 160 and Askew on 155. All three drivers have enjoyed a mixed bag of success and rotten luck, showing promising qualifying and race pace. VeeKay certainly has the momentum coming into the weekend and will be looking to replicate the win he had at the circuit during his time in the Pro Mazda Championship.

    Just a mention about Colton Herta. What a season he’s been having. I wrote about his incredible qualifying performances during my preview for Gateway and touted him as someone to watch out for. He then went on to finish in fourth and sixth across both races of the doubleheader putting him in fifth place in the championship on 250 points. In only his sophomore year in IndyCar he’s certainly proved that he’s a superstar in the making, and now has the consistency to mount a title challenge in the future. I wouldn’t put it past Herta to do something similarly impressive this weekend to try and break into the top four.

    Dale Coyne Racing‘s Santino Ferrucci is also on an impressive run of form. A fellow sophomore and a young American ‘hot-shot’, he is easily, like-for-like Colton Herta’s closest rival. After an amazing fourth at the Indy 500, followed by a top ten finish last time out at Gateway, Ferrucci is making somewhat of a name for himself. It wasn’t too long ago that he enjoyed a run of three top ten finishes between IMS and Iowa. He’ll be hoping to draw on his prior experience of racing single-seaters in Europe to try and get a similarly strong result on the Mid-Ohio road course this weekend so that he can impress further.

    Finally, keep an eye on Meyer Shank Racing‘s Jack Harvey, aiming to continue what has so far been relatively strong season so far for the British driver. He’s shown glimpses of brilliances with three consecutive top ten finishes (IOWA 1, IOWA 2, INDY) and a strong showing at Gateway before an unfortunate timing with the caution ruined a race where he’d been running in the top 5. He’s currently 14th in the standings, which is by far the highest he has ever been during his time in IndyCar. This weekend he has an opportunity to push for 11th in the standings as Ryan Hunter-Reay, Marcus Ericsson, VeeKay and Harvey are all separated by just 3 points.

    IndyCar at Mid-Ohio will be shown live on Sky Sports F1 with qualifying set for 7:30pm (GMT) on Saturday followed by the race at around 8:30pm (GMT) on Sunday.

  • F3 Mugello preview: advantage Piastri in title decider

    F3 Mugello preview: advantage Piastri in title decider

    Formula 3 takes to Mugello in Italy this weekend for the final round of a sensational 2020 season, and the conclusion of the title fight between Oscar Piastri and Logan Sargeant.

    Mathematically there are six drivers capable of becoming champion this weekend, with Theo Pourchaire, Liam Lawson, David Beckmann and Frederik Vesti all still close enough that a near-perfect weekend could earn them the crown.

    But realistically, Piastri and Sargeant have been the only drivers with any real claim to the championship this season, and it would take something remarkable to deny either of them now.

    Oscar Piastri and Logan Sargeant, Prema (Joe Portlock / Formula 1 via Getty Images)

    It’s Piastri who has the upper hand coming to Mugello. After Sargeant failed to score in both races at Monza, Piastri has an eight-point lead over his teammate. It’s not the largest buffer, but it does mean that if Piastri can outscore Sargeant by nine points in the feature race, the title will be his.

    This means that if Sargeant misses out on points again in race one, Piastri could finish fifth (providing he doesn’t take any extra points for pole or the fastest lap) and become champion. Alternatively, if Piastri wins the feature race, Sargeant would have to be second just to keep the fight alive into the final race.

    Therefore, with overtaking expected to be difficult at Mugello, Sargeant’s best hope will be to qualify ahead of Piastri and hope to create some space between them while also chasing the bonus two points for fastest lap.

    But there will be extra drama in the title battle this weekend, as both drivers come to Mugello with grid penalties hanging over them from incidents in the Monza sprint race. Piastri has a five-place penalty for causing Beckmann’s retirement with a Turn 5 collision, while Sargeant will drop three places for cutting across Vesti’s front wing and putting them both out of the race.

    This could have huge ramifications for the championship, as Piastri and Sargeant will likely be starting in the thick of the midfield and therefore at much greater risk of a first lap incident.

    Theo Pourchaire, ART (Bryn Lennon / Formula 1 via Getty Images)

    While the rest of the top six will be hoping for problems for Piastri and Sargeant to give them a last-gasp shot at the title, their focus coming to Mugello will be mostly on the tight battle for third in the standings.

    Pourchaire heads the group after his double podium at Monza, with nine points over Lawson. Both drivers have been revelations this season, and will be targeting the “best of the rest” spot as a springboard for a title challenge in 2021.

    At the other end of the spectrum, there are eight drivers heading to the final round still in search of their first points: Cameron Das, Lukas Dunner, David Schumacher, Jack Doohan, Sophia Floersch, Federico Malvestiti, Calan Williams, and Alessio Deledda. Each of these will be desperate to make some moves this weekend and not end the season still with a zero next to their name.

    Of those, Schumacher will perhaps be the most frustrated if he’s unable to reach the points in Mugello. His mid-season switch from Charouz to Carlin has so far not yielded the step up the order he was hoping for. And to make matters worse, since his move Charouz has gone on to score with all three drivers, including Schumacher’s rookie replacement Michael Belov.

    Schumacher seemed to have a turnaround in Monza as he set the fastest time in practice, only to start from the back of the grid after a messy qualifying. But if he can bring that practice pace to Mugello and maintain it across the whole weekend—no mean feat in a field as competitive as Formula 3—then he’s got every chance of being rewarded with his first points and confidence boost for next season.

    David Schumacher, Carlin (Photo by Mark Thompson / Getty Images)
  • F2 Mugello preview: Ferrari juniors on top in Ferrari’s backyard

    F2 Mugello preview: Ferrari juniors on top in Ferrari’s backyard

    Formula 2 returns this weekend for round nine of the championship, in support of the Tuscan Grand Prix at Mugello.

    Mugello is set to be a special weekend for F1, being Ferrari’s record 1,000th Grand Prix and taking place at a circuit they own. But while the Scuderia is currently suffering through one of its worst seasons in F1 to date, its academy drivers Callum Ilott, Mick Schumacher and Robert Shwartzman will give them plenty to be proud of as they enter the weekend first, second and third in the F2 championship respectively.

    Callum Ilott, UNI-Virtuosi (Photo by Bryn Lennon / Formula 1 via Getty Images)

    Monza proved a particularly happy hunting ground for the Ferrari academy, with Schumacher taking his first win and eighth podium of the season in the two races. But it was Ilott who came away with a seven-point lead in the standings, having taken pole for the feature race and inheriting the sprint race win from the disqualified Dan Ticktum.

    Trying to predict whether they’ll have the same form at Mugello is tricky. Shwartzman and Schumacher both have competitive experience of the track, but nothing more recent than their last Italian F4 campaigns in 2015 and 2016 respectively.

    However, the Prema team they drive for has spent many a race weekend at the circuit over the years. They’ll have plenty of knowledge to draw on, and arguably have the best chance of giving their drivers a winning car.

    And speaking of winning cars, Schumacher will have an opportunity this weekend to drive one of the very best, as he will take his father’s Ferrari F2004 around the track in a very special demonstration run.

    Mick Schumacher driving the Ferrari F2004 at Hockenheim in 2019 (Scuderia Ferrari Press Office)

    As well as Schumacher and Shwartzman, five other drivers on the current F2 grid have experience of Mugello: Guanyu Zhou, Luca Ghiotto, Marcus Armstrong, Marino Sato, and DAMS stand-in Juri Vips.

    Armstrong and Vips have the most recent experience, having raced there in the 2017 Italian F4 championship. Both had strong results that year: across the two rounds raced at Mugello, the two drivers collected five poles, three wins and five further podiums between them.

    Of course, results in 2017 Italian F4 don’t guarantee results in 2020 F2. But Armstrong and Vips will both be hoping their prior knowledge of the trick will give them some edge at least over their rivals.

    After a strong start to the year with two podiums at the Red Bull Ring, Armstrong has yet to finish in the points again since. As another one of Ferrari’s juniors, he needs to get back to the kind of form he showed in F3 last year if he wants the FDA’s focus for a 2021 F2 title campaign. Armstrong still has four rounds of the season left to recover from his 14th position in the standings, and there’s no better place for him to start than on Ferrari’s home turf.

    Marcus Armstrong, ART (Scuderia Ferrari Press Office)

    As for Vips, Mugello may mark his final opportunity to score points in F2 this year as Sean Gelael is currently marked to return to DAMS from Sochi onwards.

    Vips has enjoyed an impressive debut so far, having challenged for points in each of the four races he’s contested despite being parachuted into the series with little to no preparation.

    However, the Estonian must be frustrated that for all his efforts, he’s finished just on the wrong side of the top ten each time. In fact, his average finishing position from the last two rounds is 10.5, so it’s not as if Vips needs a gargantuan upshift in form to break into the points.

    It’s not yet been announced whether Vips is targeting a full-time F2 campaign next year, or if he will try to contest Super Formula again instead. But whichever route Red Bull chose for him, capping off his first run in F2 with a couple of points will be an excellent way to make the most of what’s been a challenging year for him.

    Juri Vips, DAMS (Dutch Photo Agency / Red Bull Content Pool)
  • Ferrari’s 1000th race – but hardly a celebration: Tuscan Grand Prix Preview

    Ferrari’s 1000th race – but hardly a celebration: Tuscan Grand Prix Preview

    We did get an Italian team on the top step of the podium in Monza, and I would love to say it was not the Italian team we expected.

    But in reality, no one was anticipating that there would be a Ferrari – or an Alpha Tauri –  winning in front of the Tifosi like they did last year, and no one would predict that this weekend either at Mugello.

    But as the F1 circus rolls in towards the 5.2 kilometre Tuscan race track, Alpha Tauri’s Pierre Gasly enters the weekend as the 109th different winner in F1 history following his tremendous and shock victory last Sunday at the temple of speed.

    Pierre Gasly celebrates his momentous victory in Monza – Courtesy of Red Bull Content Pool

    For Ferrari, their 1000th race will be played out in front of the 10,000 spectators that will be permitted to enter the grandstands, but following the presence of the Netflix during what was a disastrous weekend for the Scuderia, they will probably be wishing they were not in attendance.

    A brake failure for Sebastian Vettel and an enormous crash for Charles Leclerc followed on from a horrible qualifying performance for them in Monza. However, the slightly more downforce-orientated nature of the Mugello circuit compared to Monza may soften the blow to the Ferrari team that have been battered and bruised thus far by the car’s terrible lack of performance.

    The Italian Grand Prix was a home race to forget for Ferrari – Courtesy of Ferrari Press Office

    Mercedes, meanwhile, were dealt their first real blow of the 2020 season, as a polemic pitstop penalty for Lewis Hamilton cost him any chance of a victory, while team mate Valtteri Bottas continued his frustrating run of form by finishing fifth and failing to capitalise on the red flag and penalty drama. A win at what is a very technical and tricky race track would do his confidence a world of good, even if his world championship hopes seem to have dissipated.

    Racing point and McLaren enter the weekend on almost as big a high as Alpha Tauri, following magnificent podium finishes for Lance Stroll in third and Carlos Sainz in second, but the Spaniard did not hide his disappointment at not being able to snatch the win from Gasly at the end. The higher-downforce nature at Mugello will suit McLaren slightly better than Alpha Tauri and Racing Point, but it would probably need a race equally as eventful as Monza to earn them a podium.

    Carlos Sainz and Lance Stroll join Gasly on the podium in Monza – Courtesy of Red Bull Content Pool

    But having said that, Stroll and Lando Norris are tied for points for fourth place in the drivers’ championship. They find themselves both ahead of Red Bull’s Alex Albon, who failed to score last weekend and is under pressure from the driver he replaced at the senior team last year – Pierre Gasly.

    The Frenchman will be fully aware he is back in with a shout of being promoted once again for next season, and there will now be much anticipation as F1 heads to the first of the new tracks hurriedly introduced in the wake of the pandemic-affected 2020 season.

    Following the second win for Alpha Tauri in the Italian Grand Prix, a second Italian chance beckons as Ferrari prepare for their 1000th race.

     

    Feature Image Courtesy of Red Bull content Pool

  • A close fought battle for the lead in Race 2 at Aragon

    Round 5 of the WorldSBK Race 2 took place on Sunday 6th September from MotorLand Aragon with Scott Redding (ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati) in pole position followed by the reigning Champion, Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) and then Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Team GOELEVEN) taking the last place on the front row of the grid.

    The starting grid for Race 2 looked like this:

    Row 1 : Redding : Rea : Rinaldi Row 2 : Bautista : Davies : Lowes

    Row 3 : Razgatlioglu : Haslam : Sykes Row 4 : Baz : Caricasulo : van der Mark

    Row 5 : Scheib : Gerloff : Fores Row 6 : Laverty : Melandri : Ramos

    Row 7 : Barrier : Ferrari : Takahashi

    With 18 laps of racing, Race 2 gets underway with Rea getting off to a great start and is first into Turn 1 followed by Redding, Rinaldi, Bautista, Davies and Razgatlioglu. Lowes has dropped from 6th to 9th, Redding surprises Rea on the inside and takes him. Rea is looking to get the place back but cannot get the move on Redding. Rinaldi is now homing in on Rea.

    Scott Redding and Jonathan Rea at Teruel WorldSBK 2020. Image courtesy of Ducati

    Sykes retires on lap 2 and the following lap sees Haslam pass Razgatlioglu swiftly followed by Lowes who has now dropped two places. Scheib crashes at Turn 15 on lap 4 putting an early end to his race and Baz has dropped five places to 15th. Redding puts in the fastest lap but Rea is hot on his heels.

    Lap 5 sees Bautista go down at Turn 15 and although he has managed to rejoin the track, he is now at the back of the grid. There is less than 3/10ths of second between Redding, Rea and Rinaldi and going into Turn 7 Rea slips up the inside of Redding and they are neck and neck going round the corner, Rea pulls ahead slightly but Redding pulls the lead back and manages to hold on to 1st place.

    Whilst Redding and Rea are jostling, Rinaldi takes advantage and pulls down the inside of Rea up into 2nd and then continues up on the inside of Redding into Turn 12 to take the lead. Rea tries to follow Rinaldi through but doesn’t make it but then on the last corner going into lap 6, Rea passes Redding. Redding has lost 2 places in one lap. Haslam has moved up into 5th position followed by Lowes who are both putting pressure on Davies for 4th place.

    Lap 9 sees a one second gap between Rinaldi and Rea with Redding dropping back slightly on the front runners. Rea closes the gap on Rinaldi on the corners but the Ducati of Rinaldi has the speed on the straights.

    Lowes is hot on the heels of Haslam, van der Mark has moved up into 7th and Barrier crashes out. Rea is glued to the tail of Rinaldi but he is not backing off and is managing to hold off the reigning World Champion, defending his position perfectly.

    By lap 13, Redding is just over a second behind Rea, Rea is not giving up on trying to gain first position but can Rinaldi hold him off for the remaining laps? Turn 14 sees Davies go down and out of the race with the fight for 4th position, now between Haslam, Lowes, van der Mark and Razgatlioglu.

    Redding has closed the gap to just under a second on Rea by the following lap but the fight between Rinaldi and Rea continues with Rea continually having a look to see if he can make his move on Rinaldi. Going into turn 5, Rea goes down the inside of Rinaldi but then by turns 6 and 7 Rinaldi is back in front again. Rea has a huge wobble and gets totally out of shape but somehow manages to save the bike and the place but he’s now got to make up the gap between him and Rinaldi again.

    On turns 6 and 7 on the following lap, Rea goes down the inside of Rinaldi again and this time he makes the pass stick and by the end of the lap has pulled out a .3 second gap. Haslam is holding off Lowes in the fight for 4th position and by the last lap the gap is now .6 seconds between Rea and Rinaldi.

    Rea is looking good for the win and he passes the chequered flag first for his 96th WorldSBK win in such a closely fought battle followed by Rinaldi and Redding.

    Rea now has a 36 point lead over Redding in the Championship.

    The next race is at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain on the 18-20 September.

    BK

    The Driver’s / Team Standings so far at the end of Round 5 at MotorLand Aragon on the 5/6 September August looked like this:

    Pos

    		 Rider

    Points

    Pos

    		 Team

    Points

    1

    		 Jonathan Rea

    243

    1

    		 Kawasaki

    269

    2

    		 Scott Redding

    207

    2

    		 Ducati

    245

    3

    		 Toprak Razgatlioglu

    147

    3

    		 Yamaha

    185

    4

    		 Chaz Davies

    141

    4

    		 Honda

    116

    5

    		 Michael van der Mark

    133

    5

    		 BMW

    66

    6

    		 Michael Ruben Rinaldi

    131

    6

    		 Aprilia

    4

    7

    		 Alex Lowes

    127

    8

    		 Alvaro Bautista

    83

    9

    		 Loris Baz

    76

    10

    		 Leon Haslam

    75

    11

    		 Tom Sykes

    58

    12

    		 Garrett Gerloff

    39

    13

    		 Federico Caricasulo

    36

    14

    		 Xavi Fores

    33

    15

    		 Eugene Laverty

    31

    16

    		 Marco Melandri

    23

    17

    		 Sandro Cortese

    14

    18

    		 Leandro Mercado

    12

    19

    		 Maximillan Scheib

    11

    20

    		 Sylvain Barrier

    5

    21

    		 Christophe Ponsson

    4

    22

    		 Roman Ramos

    4

    23

    		 Matteo Ferrari

    4

    24

    		 Takumi Takahashi

    2