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The 2019 BTCC Season Preview – Going Through Changes, But The Song Remains The Same

The British Touring Car Championship gets underway next weekend at Brands Hatch, and with so many changes during the off-season, 2019 looks like being one of the best seasons yet.

There are new title sponsors in the form of Kwik Fit, who replace long standing sponsor Dunlop. While a change in title sponsor is usually big news, it has been overshadowed by a wide range of developments and changes.

Perhaps one of the biggest announcements over the winter is the return of Toyota in a manufacturer capacity. Having won two titles in the 1980’s with Chris Hodgetts at the wheel, the Japanese marque are no stranger to success, and with the new Corolla, the team will be looking to start on the right foot.

To do this, they have taken on 2018 runner up Tom Ingram and his formerly independent team, Speedworks Motorsport. Touted as a future champion of the BTCC, Ingram has high hopes for 2019. Speaking to Pit Crew reporter Warren Nel in January, Ingram said: “The plan is very much to hit the ground running at Brands Hatch Indy, kind of start where we left the 2018 season and be in a position to look to win the championship.”

Though he understands success may not be instant: “Realistically we’ve got to look more at the following season as our go to year, but of course whenever you enter a season, you enter to win, not finish second. Our goal is very much to win it, but we’ve got a bit of a mountain to climb to get there.”

Another big story is that reigning champions BMW have retired their 1 series in favour of the all-new 3 series. The model which had title success with Tim Harvey in 1992 and Jo WInkelhock in 1993 has been brought back in its current guise. With current champion Colin Turkington behind the wheel, the 3 series is bound to be successful from the start.

While some faces remain on the grid, there is fresh blood, and not all of it is fresh faced youngsters. Former Formula One and IndyCar driver Mark Blundell will be making his BTCC debut at the age of 52, showing that age doesn’t matter in the world of tin-tops. Racing for the brand new Trade Price Racing team in an Audi S3, all eyes will be on Blundell as he looks to back up his illustrious CV.

Another of the old guard making headlines was Jason Plato, who returns to Vauxhall, where he won his first title in 2001. Currently backing the Power Maxed Racing team, Plato is joined by former BMW man Rob Collard in the Astra.

There will still be 30 rounds of the championship, with three races at ten meetings throughout the year. Though there won’t be a return to Rockingham this season. The Corby based circuit has been sold, and as a result won’t see the BTCC return to the unique oval circuit. Instead there will be an extra round at the high speed Thruxton circuit in August.

Circuit	Date
Brands Hatch Indy	6-7 April
Donington Park	27-28 April
Thruxton	18-19 May
Croft	15-16 June
Oulton Park	29-30 June
Snetterton	3-4 August
Thruxton	17-18 August
Knockhill	14-15 September
Silverstone	28-29 September
Brands Hatch GP	12-13 October

Team	Drivers	Car
Team BMW	Colin Turkington &Tom Oliphant	BMW 330i M Sport
BMW Pirtek Racing	Andrew Jordan	BMW 330i M Sport
Sterling Insurance With Power Maxed Racing	Jason Plato & Rob Collard	Vauxhall Astra
Adrian Flux Subaru Racing	Ash Sutton & Senna Proctor	Subaru Levorg GT
Halfords Yuasa Racing	Matt Neal & Dan Cammish	Honda Civic Type-R FK8
Team Toyota GB With Ginsters	Tom Ingram	Toyota Corolla GT
Team Shredded Wheat With Gallagher	Tom Chilton & Ollie Jackson	Ford Focus RS
RoKit Racing With Motorbase	Nicolas Hamilton	Ford Focus RS
Excelr8 Motorsport	Rob Smith & Sam Osborne	MG6
Cobra Sport AmD Tuning With RCIB Insurance	Rory Butcher & Sam Tordoff	Honda Civic Type-R (FK2)
BTC Racing	Chris Smiley & Josh Cook	Honda Civic Type-R (FK8)
Trade Price Cars Racing	Mark Blundell & Jake Hill	Audi S3
Team Parker Racing	Stephen Jelley	BMW 125i M Sport
Laser Tools Racing	Aiden Moffat	Mercedes A Class
(Team HARD) GKR Scaffolding With Autobrite Direct	Bobby Thompson & Michael Crees	Volkswagen CC
(Team HARD) RCIB Insurance With Fox Transport	Jack Goff & Carl Broadley	Volkswagen CC
Ciceley Motorsport With MAC Tools	Adam Morgan	Mercedes A Class
Ciceley Motorsport With Cataclean Racing	Dan Rowbottom	Mercedes A Class
Simpson Racing	Matt Simpson	Honda Civic Type-R (FK2)

While there are plenty of changes afoot in the BTCC, one thing we can all rely on never changing, is the level of excitement and door-to-door action that the championship always promises.

All images credit: Matthew Pigg.

29th March 2019

Moto2: Can Anyone Break Kalex in Argentina?

The second round of the Moto2 World Championship takes place this weekend in Argentina, three weeks on from Lorenzo Baldassarri’s win for Sito Pons’ Flexbox HP 40 squad.

Baldassarri’s win was one which came as a result of a staunch defensive performance in the face of strong late race pace from the returning Tom Luthi, who took second place on his debut for the Dynavolt Intact GP team. The win also means that Baldassarri comes to Argentina leading the World Championship for the first time in his career, and it will be interesting to see how he deals with that this weekend, at a track where he has never made the podium, a best result of fourth coming back in the 2017 edition of the race.

Thomas Lüthi riding for Dynavolt Intact GP. Image courtesy of Dynavolt Intact GP

For Luthi, the goal this weekend will be to prove that Qatar was not a fluke, not a one-off, and that his return to the intermediate class of grand prix motorcycle racing from a season of MotoGP in 2018 has come with a new impetus for the Swiss, who is once more in search of a second world title in 2019, and will know no doubt that a result to support the one of Qatar can be very important for his chances, though not vital. For example, last year’s Moto2 World Champion Francesco Bagnaia suffered his worst weekend of the season in Argentina, finishing only ninth. However, it is worth pointing out that in every year previous to that, the winner of the Argentinian round of the Moto2 World Championship had gone on to win the title.

Something else to keep in mind this weekend is that only Kalex have won intermediate class grands prix in Termas de Rio Hondo. However, several other chassis brands have landed podiums in Argentina since 2014: Suter, Speed Up and KTM have all taken rostrum positions at least once in intermediate class races at Termas. However, seeing past a Kalex whitewash of the podium is difficult, considering how they dominated Qatar.

In Qatar, every bike in the top ten was a Kalex, the first non-Kalex chassis being Fabio Di Giannantonio’s Speed Up frame in eleventh. Additionally, the weekend was a disaster for KTM, with Jorge Martin (Red Bull KTM Ajo) damaging his hand on Saturday, and Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Ajo) suffering after the initial laps to finish twelfth – not the way he wanted his championship campaign to begin in a season in which he aims to win the title.

JorgeMartin, Qatar Moto2 2019. Image Courtesy of Gold and Goose /KTM

The saving grace for Binder in Losail was that his two main championship rivals, or the two thought to be his main championship rivals before the season got underway, had similarly disappointing races.

Luca Marini (Sky Racing Team VR46) managed only eighth place in Qatar, and Sam Lowes (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2) came home sixth after entering the weekend as the favourite for the win. For these two, and for Binder, Argentina represents a clean slate – three weeks on from disappointing races in Losail they will view this weekend as the true beginning of their respective championship challenges.

There were impressive rides in Qatar for Remy Gardner (ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team) and Augusto Fernandez (Flexbox HP 40) who finished fourth and fifth respectively. Like Luthi, they will be aiming this weekend to show that they can replicate those performances on a regular basis.

In fact, for Gardner, he will be aiming to go one step further this weekend, after he was narrowly beaten to the line in Qatar by Marcel Schrotter (Dynavolt Intact GP) to what would have been his first podium in the World Championship.

The Marc VDS team is the second most successful Moto2 outfit in Termas, having enjoyed two wins there since 2014, with Tito Rabat (2014) and Franco Morbidelli (2017). Both riders went on to win the championship in their respective victorious years in Argentina, so look out for Xavi Vierge – who finished second in Argentina last season – and Alex Marquez this weekend.

29th March 2019
Moto3: Unpredictable Argentina Awaits for Round Two

The Moto3 World Championship arrives in Argentina this weekend for the second round of the 2019 season at Termas de Rio Hondo, three weeks on from the opening race of the year in Qatar.

That season opener was won by an unlikely name: Kaito Toba (IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia). The Japanese rider became the first person from his country to win a race in the lightweight class since the inauguration of Moto3 in 2012. His win came from nowhere, having never previously scored a podium or even a top five in his World Championship career before this year, and that means it will be very interesting to see what the #27 rider can do this weekend, at a track which is as peculiar as Losail, albeit in a different way.

Termas has seen a variety of winners in the Moto3 category ever since it was added to the calendar in 2014. Such as Khairul Idham Pawi who won in 2016 with the Honda Team Asia, with which Toba will be trying to go back-to-back wins this weekend – and Marco Bezzecchi for PruestelGP last season, a win which propelled him towards a title challenge which went almost until the very end of the season.

Additionally, in 2014, Romano Fenati forced his way to the top step with a tough move on Jack Miller in the penultimate corner of the race, a win which makes Fenati – now riding for the Snipers Team – the only rider on this year’s Moto3 grid for the Argentinian round of the championship to have previously won at Termas. However, Fenati has not visited the podium in Argentina since that victory in 2014, something which the Italian will be keen to change this weekend, especially in wake of what he must view as a missed opportunity in Qatar three weeks ago, when he finished ninth.

Aron Canet, Moto3, Qatar 2019. Image courtesy of Gold and Goose /KTM

Along with Fenati, there are two other riders who before Qatar were considered championship contenders: Aron Canet (Sterilgarda Max Racing Team) and Lorenzo Dalla Porta (Leopard Racing). Unlike Fenati, both Canet and Dalla Porta managed to reach the podium in Losail, kicking off their championship campaigns in almost precisely the ways in which they would have wanted. However, for the pair of them, missing the victory at round one – even if to a rider they perhaps do not consider a direct threat for the championship – will see them with even greater hunger to take the top spot this weekend.

After a difficult weekend in Qatar resulting in retirement from the race, Jaume Masia (Bester Capital Dubai) will be hoping to show something closer to his full potential in Argentina after three weeks in which he will have been able to rest somewhat, and allow his injuries to heal.

Whilst Masia’s season is just beginning this weekend, being less limited by injury, the opposite can be said for Albert Arenas (Sama Qatar Angel Nieto Team), who finished sixth in Losail after spending the entire race fighting for the podium. Unfortunately for the Spaniard, he suffered a series of injuries, including a lacerated spleen and broken rib. At the moment it is unclear for how long Arenas will be out of action, but in his absence, Arenas’ Sama Qatar Angel Nieto Team teammate Raul Fernandez will be joined in the garage by Aleix Viu, who Fernandez knows well from their time spent racing together in the CEV. It will be Viu’s second Moto3 World Championship race this weekend in Argentina, after making his debut in 2017 at the Catalan Grand Prix.

Termas tends to throw up excitement and exceptional unpredictability, and to do so this weekend the rain is due to arrive on three out of the three days the riders will be on track. Bravery could well be the winning ingredient this weekend – the more the better.

29th March 2019
MotoGP: Marquez the Favourite for Round Two

The second round of the 2019 MotoGP World Championship takes place this weekend in Argentina, at the Termas de Rio Hondo circuit.

Termas has had a habit of throwing up controversy since it made its debut on the MotoGP calendar back in 2014 – it has seen Valentino Rossi and Marc Marquez clash twice, with opposite results, in 2015 and 2018; Scott Redding blow a rear Michelin in 2016 which caused a pit stop in the middle of the race and Michelin to completely change their design philosophy for the rest of the 2016 season and Danilo Petrucci ride unpenalized into the side of Aleix Espargaro last season.

This year, though, the controversy began three weeks ago in Qatar at the opening round. Andrea Dovizioso (Mission Winnow Ducati) won from Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) in another of their last lap scraps, again being decided in the final corner. Dovizioso had been using Ducati’s new aerodynamic device which attaches to the swing arm, claimed by Ducati to cool the tyre. Aprilia, KTM, Honda and Suzuki all protested the result to the Race Direction on Sunday night after the race, but it was thrown out. They then put it to the MotoGP court of appeal, which made their decision this week, a decision which ruled the Ducati to be legal, and the result to stand. With the result of the previous race being decided so close to this weekend’s round, it is sure to be a big talking point in the paddock, and it shouldn’t be long until the other factories have their own versions of Ducati’s swing arm device.

Andrea Dovizioso 1st, Marc Marquez 2nd and Cal Crutchlow third at the Qatar GP 2019. Image courtesy of Ducati

In fact, for Ducati this weekend promises to be an interesting one, regardless of appeals and protests by their rivals, as a Desmosedici has not visited parc ferme in Termas since Eugene Laverty took fourth place and top ‘independent’ for Aspar in 2016. Furthermore, Ducati haven’t had a podium in Argentina since 2015 with Dovizioso, although they should of course have had a double rostrum in 2016. The last two years have been particularly disappointing for the Italian marque in Argentina. In 2017, Dovizioso struggled for pace all weekend and in the end was taken out by Aleix Espargaro’s Aprilia as the Spaniard was avoiding Danilo Petrucci and lost the front; and last year Dovizioso could manage only sixth place in the mixed conditions. Having started once more with a victory, Dovizioso will be keen to back it up with another strong result this weekend in South America.

This will be especially important for Dovizioso’s title ambitions, as Argentina is one of Marc Marquez’ strongest GPs. Of the five races run in Argentina since 2014, Marquez has won two, and taken four poles. His win count would be higher, but for his catalogue of errors last year which resulted in a thirty-second penalty and no points for the Spaniard. Marquez has always shown strongly, though, in Termas, and it is difficult to see past him this weekend, especially with rain expected.

Jorge Lorenzo at an uneventful Losail GP. Image courtesy of Hondanews.eu

Whilst Argentina has traditionally been strong for Marquez, the same cannot be said for his Repsol Honda Team teammate, Jorge Lorenzo, who has not found the podium in Argentina since 2014 and hasn’t scored a point there since 2015 when he finished fifth. Still suffering with his scaphoid and likely still feeling some effects from the injuries he picked up from his high side in Qatar FP3, this weekend could be another tough one for the Spaniard.

After Marquez, the most successful MotoGP rider in Termas de Rio Hondo is Valentino Rossi (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP). The Italian took a dramatic win in 2015, and made the podium on two more occasions, in 2016 and 2017. Last year, however, was a disastrous race for the Italian, even before the contact with Marquez he lacked pace and was lapping in eighth place – the fact that Marquez took a ride through penalty in the beginning of the race and still caught Rossi with several laps to go says a lot about both Marquez’ and Rossi’s pace at the 2018 Argentinian GP. Losail was also a disappointment for Rossi. At a track where both he and Yamaha traditionally excel, he qualified fourteenth and finished fifth, leaving him suggesting that in reality nothing much has really changed in the factory Yamaha camp over the winter. Rossi is still without a podium since Sachsenring last season and, despite a disappointing opening round of the season and difficult ace in Termas last year, his record at the Argentinian track suggests this could be his best opportunity to return to the rostrum before the paddock heads back to Europe.

Valentino Rossi, at Qatar 2019. Hoping to regain form. Image courtesy of Yamaha Corporation

With Maverick Vinales alongside Rossi in the Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP garage, the factory Yamaha box is the only garage on the pit lane with two winners at Termas in the premier class. Vinales’ 2017 win feels like a long time ago, and whilst practice and qualifying in Losail three weeks ago implied that the Maverick of early 2017 was back, the race proved otherwise, as he slumped to seventh place after qualifying on pole.

Both Rossi and Vinales were hurt in Losail by the YZR-M1’s lack of top speed, and that is likely to hurt them again this weekend, with the long straight down to turn five. What Termas does not have that Losail did, though, is a long run to the (start/finish) line, and that could present an opportunity for the Yamaha riders.

Argentina was the scene of Alex Rins’ (Team Suzuki Ecstar) first MotoGP podium twelve months ago, and after a strong winter and impressive ride in Qatar where he took fourth place, the Spaniard will be after his first win in the premier class this time around.

Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda CASTROL) took a spectacular win in Termas last year, fighting in a four-way scrap with Miller, Rins and Johann Zarco for the duration of the race. It was Crutchlow’s third triumph in the premier class, and after a heroic podium in Qatar – after missing some feeling with the bike through preseason, a preseason hampered by the catastrophic ankle injury he sustained in Australia last October – the Briton will no doubt be after the rostrum once more this weekend, at the circuit which he took his first podium on Honda, when he stuffed Andrea Iannone back in 2015 in the final corner.

Featured image courtesy of Box Repsol.

29th March 2019
An Enduring Respect – Pierre Gasly On Racing With Red Bull Teammate Max Verstappen In 2019 | M1TG

Check out the latest Mobil 1 The Grid video featuring Red Bull’s Pierre Gasly talking about his approach to 2019, and his thoughts on racing with teammate Max Verstappen.

Pierre on Max Verstappen:
“I’m really looking forward to racing alongside Max. We’ve know each other for many years now because we raced together in karting. I think we have a lot of respect. We are friends as we have known each other for a lot of time, and he is one of the most talented guys on the grid at the moment. It’s always important to be next to someone who is really fast. I think that’s how you manage to push yourself and extract everything from yourself. I think it’s gonna be great.”

Pierre on his approach and his education in junior categories and at Toro Rosso:
“It’s not [a case of] just following all the things you’ve learnt in the lower series. You don’t reset the way you drive; you don’t reset the way you work. I think it’s important to keep a similar approach, because if you get to F1, it means what you’ve done before worked out well. It’s just following your development as a driver, developing the experience you get with the car and trying to develop your feedback as well, to be more precise and be a leader inside the team, give the right directions and try to extract the best potential of the car. They give you experience and develop you as a driver to be more complete and more consistent over the season. It’s super exciting as a driver. I’m a competitive guy and, for sure, what I want is to fight for the top positions and, with this team, it’s gonna take me one step closer to my goal.”

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28th March 2019
Valtteri Bottas: a man reborn

If I may initiate this piece with a song reference, honours are bestowed to this one, plucked straight from Eminem’s six-barrel lyrical blitz ‘Lose Yourself’. ‘Yo! His palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy’. It speaks of one being pelted at from all corners by the tribulations of life, while maintaining an outward show of calmness. What better example, then, than a fallen sportsman.

At one point or another during 2018, Valtteri Bottas may have stared into the abyss of his bathroom mirror, opened out his fingers and checked for any trickling beads of moisture. He may have felt out the strength of his joints with reflex tests. He may even have found his arms screaming out for contact with the ground, as though the distress of his on-track results were taking on a physical form.

2018 was Valtteri’s annus horribilis. What started out as a championship fluttering around the reach of his grasp, derailed and morphed into a warped nightmare. His trademark stoicism was being sapped away with each botched race weekend, and the Finn even admitted the tyre blowout which denied him a crucial victory in Baku left him ‘crying like a baby’.

2018 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Saturday – Wolfgang Wilhelm

I like to think of this as his Mika Hakkinen moment, and not just for his and Hakkinen’s shared nationality. Harking back to 1999, the king of flying Finns faced his own emotional nadir – after spinning out of the lead in Monza, Hakkinen both blew ten points into the wind and folded under the mind games of the Scuderia’s tifosi. Away from their taunts, he wept under the trees lining the track.

If you’re familiar with the tale of F1 1999, you’ll know that Hakkinen’s mistake did not cost him the championship. He admits that while the pain of never winning an Italian GP still rests in his mind, he was never going to be desolate under the trees for long. Bottas’ tears in Baku dried much the same, but his internal hurting lasted for the season and brought into question just whether he was able to channel that same energy Hakkinen generated for himself.

So, with the winter months behind him, Bottas likely came into Melbourne praying a new chapter would be penned, rather than a grim continuation of what had gone before. Not that he outwardly seemed it – there was now a surprising arrow to his bow: bite. Armed with a gruff beard and a sharp tongue, the champions’ element of disdain with the circus of whispers around them were acquired by Bottas like a platformers’ item box.

Throughout the weekend, Albert Park’s white lines could have buckled under the strain of confining Bottas, the Finn busy proving to the globe that he does have the winner’s uncompromising instinct, as a matter of fact. Even when high Mercedes brass suggested over the radio that he place the shackles back on and resist the push for fastest lap, they were welcomed with the unexpected hand grenade – no. Not this time.

2019 Australian Grand Prix, Sunday – Wolfgang Wilhelm

Albert Park’s indoor parking spot welcomed its winner first, as is usual. A silver front nose told a story we’d seen many a time over the hybrid era, but this time a white and red helmet didn’t complete the set. It was white, blue and carbon. And to whom that may concern, the man underneath it has words for you. Unsavoury ones. The Hakkinen moment and the understated power of his sisu mindset gave this race’s victor the second wind that could quell media scaremongers and seat poachers alike over the season.

With Australia 2019 now stored in the archives, we can admit there were outside factors that helped Bottas’ day of days. Lewis Hamilton was at the helm of a wounded machine, but even so, with a start so fierce and race management on-point, it’s hard to see past a Finn win. To me, at least, it wasn’t the margin of victory that tells the story here. It’s the way it all unfolded.

Bottas wasn’t holding on for dear life, protecting his right to be part of the elite like Russia, his first win. No murmurs over his conduct, as there were in Austria. Even his Abu Dhabi triumph, under the circumstances of a dead-rubber season’s end. No, this was the breakthrough. His palms were dry like the sahara. His knees were manning the sweet orchestra in the footwell, and his arms were weighted with the delicacy of porcelain. He was no longer wrestling with the tears, nor his rhythm behind the wheel.

Will it last? We wait to see, but the strength he has acquired can last for the rest of his career. This second wind truly feels like it could be season long, if the gods of racing roll the dice of fate favourably. And so he now ventures off to Bahrain, with a thirst for vengeance. For what feels like the longest time, I won’t be concerned for him when he gets there.

[Featured image: Paul Ripke]

28th March 2019
Ilott given Barcelona F1 test debut with Alfa Romeo

Ferrari academy driver Callum Ilott will make his Formula One test debut in May with Alfa Romeo, at the in-season test following the Spanish Grand Prix.

Ilott will complete a day of running in the Alfa Romeo C38, and will be Ferrari’s second junior to get an F1 testing opportunity with the Swiss team following Mick Schumacher’s test debut in Bahrain next week. The Barcelona test will mark Ilott’s first on-track experience driving a F1 car.

Glenn Dunbar / FIA F2 Championship

Alfa Romeo team principal Frederic Vasseur said: “We are very pleased to announce that Mick Schumacher and Callum Ilott will each complete a rookie test day for Alfa Romeo Racing.

“It is in our DNA to spot and nurture young talents. Mick and Callum are perfect examples of determined and skilled racers who deserve to be given the chance to take the next steps in their careers.”

Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto added that opportunities for F1 test experience for Ilott and Schumacher would be “very useful at this stage in their career”. Ilott tweeted that it was a “really proud moment” to be selected by Alfa Romeo.

26th March 2019
Mick Schumacher to make F1 test debut in Bahrain

Mick Schumacher will drive for Ferrari and Alfa Romeo in the upcoming in-season test in Bahrain, after this weekend’s Grand Prix at the Sakhir circuit.

Joe Portlock / FIA F2 Championship

The 19-year-old son of 7-time world champion Michael Schumacher will compete in the F2 championship this season, with the Prema team.

His career started in karting in 2011, where he did not race under his real surname, and he had the nickname ‘Mick Junior’.

Schumacher moved to the ADAC Formula 4 championship, in 2015, after testing the single-seater in 2014. His tenure with the Jenzer Motorsport outfit saw him take one win in 22 races, and 10th in the drivers’ standings.

In 2017, Mick made the next step in his career, driving in European Formula 3, with Prema. After a sub-par season, claiming just one podium, Schumacher pushed through and, in 2018, he drove phenomenally, clinching the title with 8 wins and 7 pole positions.

Glenn Dunbar / FIA F2 Championship

Late in 2018, it was announced that he will graduate to the F2 championship with Prema, and early in 2019 Scuderia Ferrari took him under its wing, adding him to its Young Driver Academy.

This gives him the opportunity to drive Ferrari’s SF90 and Alfa Romeo’s C38 next week, in the young drivers’ test in Bahrain.

That will be the first time the Schumacher name will appear in an F1 session since his father’s retirement at the end of 2012.

26th March 2019
2019 Bahrain Grand Prix Preview

After an impressive start to the 2019 season in Australia, the Formula One bandwagon arrives in Bahrain for round two of the championship under the lights in the desert.

The 5.4 kilometre circuit welcomes the sport for what should hopefully be another exciting and closely contested race – a race that was won last season by Sebastian Vettel, narrowly beating Valtteri Bottas to the line.

Ferrari Media

This, however, looks a much different Bottas. He had ample opportunity to make a move and pass Vettel last year, but appeared passive and Vettel clung onto his lead. The ruthlessness that we have since seen from the Finn, and the impressive and dominant performance last time out in Australia leads to a firm belief that, given the chance again this year, he would not need a second invitation to take the victory.

Typically, however, this has been Ferrari’s track. The increased temperatures and powerful nature of the circuit has been taken advantage of by Vettel’s prancing horse in each of the last two races in Sakhir. But their start in Melbourne has left a decided uncertainty as to whether the story will be the same this year.

Mark Thompson, Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool

Honda-powered Red Bull look like they’re going to be pushing Ferrari to their limit this year, and may even have the odd advantage over Mercedes at certain tracks. The champions themselves looked remarkably quick in Australia having far from shown their hand in testing, while Ferrari head into Bahrain scratching their heads as to why they were so far off the pace last time having looked on top of the world in Barcelona in February.

Of course, Australia is a unique track and certainly differs from Bahrain in terms of track evolution and the flow of the tracks, which is what makes this race equally as anticipated and leaves us itching to find out whether Ferrari are really as slow as we were perhaps made to ascertain in Australia, whether Bottas will make a charge for his team mate Lewis Hamilton’s throne this year, and whether Red Bull’s Honda partnership really is something to be excited about.

Renault F1 Team

Further down the field, Racing Point and Renault will both be hoping they can improve on disappointing weekends last time out, as Toro Rosso look to capitalise on a mostly positive weekend with Daniil Kvyat and Alex Albon. McLaren seek their first points of the season following Carlos Sainz’s fiery exit in round one and Lando Norris’ unlucky non-points finish after a stupendous qualifying on his debut, while Alfa Romeo try to extend their impressive push forward after a confusing, mixed weekend in Melbourne. Williams look to Robert Kubica and George Russell for inspiration as they attempt to move closer to the midfield battle following an atrocious start to the year that saw them back of the pack in Australia.

While we would love for this to be all about the racing, unfortunately it can’t be. For the first time in over 40 years, F1 travels to a Grand Prix without race director Charlie Whiting. The word “legend” gets used too often in the sporting world now, but it’s a word that fits him perfectly. He made every effort to make the racing as entertaining as possible, and played a massive part in cars being as safe as they are now. He understood the sport from every perspective, and was respected both as a race director, but also as a fantastic human being in the paddock, and it is sad to head into a race without him. The way the atmosphere changed in F1 from the excitement on Wednesday, when he was walking the track and talking to Sebastian Vettel, to the sorrow on Thursday when the news broke that he had passed overnight, speaks volumes about just how much he meant to the sport and the fans all around the world. He was more than just a mechanic, or the man who kept the drivers in check, or the man who pressed that button to start the race—he was an icon. He will be sorely missed.

However, Charlie would want the show to go on, and F1 will make sure it does in the 19^th Bahrain Grand Prix and the 999^th F1 championship race—we’re nearly at 1000 folks!

25th March 2019
Vergne victorious in Sanya: Reigning champion kickstarts claim to reclaim his title

Jean-Eric Vergne finally ended his pointless run and the miserable start to his championship defence by claiming victory in a dominant display in the inaugural Sanya ePrix this weekend. Starting from the front row, the reigning champion pounced on Nissan’s Oliver Rowland on lap 19 and held firm against the rookie’s attack to clinch his first win since last season. The race also saw another change in the standings at the top of the table as championship leader Sam Bird was forced out of the race in the early stages, allowing Antonio Felix da Costa to clinch the coveted position as we approach the halfway point in the season.

BMW’s da Costa continued his dominant form in qualifying, initially claiming the top spot whilst his championship competitors struggled with Bird slowest in the first group, seventh tenths off the pace and di Grassi also half a second down on da Costa’s time. Jaguar’s headache continued with Evans tagged the wall and collected part of the sponsorship on his 200kw lap, leaving him at the lower end of the table whilst teammate Nelson Piquet Jr also struggled. Vergne finally managed to slot himself into the coveted superpole positions just behind da Costa and Audi’s Daniel Abt but it was Nissan that impressed in the initial session with both Sebastien Buemi and Rowland both managing to get into superpole, with Buemi snatching the top spot from da Costa by two tenths of a second. The Nissan drivers were joined in superpole by da Costa, Sims, Vergne and Abt.

Andrew Ferraro/LAT Images

Nissan’s dominance continued into superpole with Rowland taking his maiden pole position for the team, edging just ahead of Vergne by just over a second with the reigning champion having to settle for the front row. Da Costa looked promising but a messy mistake in the final corner proved costly and the Portuguese driver had to settle for third. Abt snatched P4 ahead of Sims and Buemi, with the former failing to set a lap time after suspected gear issues, whilst the latter made a mistake into turn 3, forcing him to abort his lap 25 seconds off the pace.

Rowland started well, managing to keep Vergne at bay in the opening stages as Abt began to pressure da Costa for P3 almost immediately. Bird’s misery continued after a clash with HWA’s Stoffel Vandoorne ruled him out of the race in the early stages, whilst Dragon also suffered with a double retirement as Felipe Nasr and Jose Maria Lopez found themselves out of contention after issues with their cars. Vergne continued to pressure Rowland, finally forcing the Nissan rookie into a mistake on lap 19 to take the lead. With his thoughts surely on his last victory in New York last season, Vergne began to put away from Rowland and the chasing pack.

Sam Bloxham/ LAT Images

Vergne continued to lead as a red flag forced a suspension of the race after Sims crashed out with just ten minutes left on the clock. His mood was dampened as the race resumed with the news that he was under investigation for incorrect full course yellow procedures but continued to keep Rowland behind as the clock ticked down. Drama continued in the closing stages as Buemi collided with Envision Virgin’s Robin Frijns, sending the Dutchman into the back of di Grassi, sending both drivers out of the points and saddling Buemi with a late penalty for causing a collision. Despite this, Vergne continued to hold the lead from Rowland and was informed that he had received a reprimand. Vergne’s victory was his first since last season and the first for the DS-Techeetah partnership, made even more special by the fact that it is the team’s home ePrix. Rowland claimed a respectable P2 ahead of Antonio Felix da Costa in P3, who claimed the championship leader position.

Formula E will return on 13^th April in Rome.

25th March 2019