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Category: Open Wheel Racing

  • IndyCar Big Machine Spiked Coolers Grand Prix Preview

    IndyCar Big Machine Spiked Coolers Grand Prix Preview

    We didn’t have to wait long for IndyCar as we prepare for the Big Machine Spiked Coolers Grand Prix of Indianapolis.

    This 14-turn, 2.439-mile road course will play host to the eleventh round of the championship. Since its inception, the road course has always been seen as the ‘warm-up’ act on the lead-up to Indianapolis 500, traditionally on a Saturday two weeks prior. However, the 2021 calendar included a *second* Indy GP to replace the cancellations as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

    The inaugural Nashville Music City Grand Prix gave us an IndyCar spectacular like no other. Nine cautions and two red flags were enough to make any keen viewer dumbfounded as the chequered flag dropped.

    Ericsson and Chip Ganassi Resurgence?

    Chip Ganassi teammates Marcus Ericsson and Scott Dixon share the podium in Nashville. Photo Courtesy of James Black.

    Nevertheless, Marcus Ericsson left Nashville a two-time IndyCar race winner and added a fascinating twist to the title fight. Who would have thought that before the start of the season?

    In fact,  he was unfortunate not to win at Mid-Ohio as he chased down Josef Newgarden to the line. Since his first win in Detroit Ericsson has been a revelation, justifying Chip Ganassi’s decision to sign him and perhaps unleashing a level of performance that has always been there.

    Importantly, he has finished ahead of his six-time champion teammate Scott Dixon 4 out of the last 6 times of asking and in doing so has thrown himself into championship contention.

    Alex Palou sits comfortably in the lead on 410 points with his next closest competitor Scott Dixon trailing by 42 points. Patricio O’Ward is a further 6 behind. However, Josef Newgarden and Marcus Ericsson are only a couple of wins away from leapfrogging many of their aforementioned rivals, both on 335 and 331 respectively.

    Three out of the top five in the championship are Chip Ganassi Racing, which underlines the impressive level of performance and consistency they have reached.  However, it remains to be seen how the team will be able to manage the driver battles as we draw closer to the business end of the season.

    Christian Lundgaard Makes His Debut With Rahal Letterman

    Christian Ludgaard will make his IndyCar debut with RLL at the IMS. Photo Courtesy of Alpine F1.

    Rahal Letterman Lanigan announced on Monday that the team will enter FIA Formula 2 driver Christian Lundgaard into the Big Machine Spiked Coolers Grand Prix. The 20-year-old Danish driver recently tested with the team at Barber Motorsports Park and is a member of the Alpine Driver Academy, a program originally known as the Renault F1 Academy set up in 2002 to nurture and develop young drivers through their careers.

    The news comes as RLL prepares to evaluate drivers in anticipation of expanding to a third entry.

    Son of European Rally champion Henrik Lundgaard, Christian is no short of success, having claimed the SMP F4 Championship and F4 Spanish Championship. The following year he was the runner-up in the Formula Renault Eurocup.

    Lundgaard is currently in his second full season of Formula 2 with two race wins and a pole position to his name.

    McLaren Acquires Majority Stake in IndyCar Team

    McLaren Group set to acquire a majority stake in Arrow McLaren SP. Photo Courtesy of Chris Owens.

    In a surprise announcement earlier this week, the McLaren Racing Group announced that it would be acquiring a majority stake in the Arrow McLaren SP team.

    The partnership, which saw McLaren partner with the former Arrow Schmidt Peterson team has seen remarkable success in their short time together. They were able to build on their five podiums in only their first season to achieve two wins in 2021 while sitting third in the drivers’ championship.

    It is believed that they will acquire a 75% majority stake in the team which would give them complete control over drivers and whether to expand to a third car entry, something they are widely expected to do.

    As part of the agreement, the Arrow McLaren team will be headed by a new management structure which will be comprised of, team founder Sam Schmidt, co-owner Ric Peterson, McLaren Racing chief executive Zak Brown and Taylor Kiel, the president of Arrow McLaren.

    Who To Watch Out For?

    Colton Herta was unfortunate not to win at Nashville, having dominated the whole weekend and being within touching distance of victory.

    Having found himself in fourth after the penultimate caution, he made light work of James Hinchcliffe and Scott Dixon before hunting down Marcus Ericsson. However, his race ended with five laps to go as he locked up and went straight into the wall at Turn 9.

    A victory at Nashville would have propelled Herta into the championship fight and will be looking to bounce back in spectacular fashion. He is no stranger to success at the IMS, finishing twice in the Top Five at the 2020 Harvest Grand Prix.

    Rinus VeeKay won last time out at the IMS after usurping pole-sitter Romain Grosjean in the closing stages. Could they be a factor again this weekend?

  • How Did Marcus Ericsson Win the Nashville Music City Grand Prix?

    How Did Marcus Ericsson Win the Nashville Music City Grand Prix?

    Marcus Ericsson crashed early, only to take his second career IndyCar victory in a chaotic Big Machine Music City Grand Prix, bringing himself into championship contention.

    But how did he do it?

    Colton Herta led from pole position. Photo Courtesy of Chris Owens.

    All weekend long Andretti Autosport’s Colton Herta dominated the rest of the field, leading all practice sessions and claiming an incredible sixth pole position, the second of his season. He would lead the field convincingly from the start ahead of  Chip Ganassi’s Scott Dixon and Andretti teammate Alexander Rossi. Or at least, he would have led convincingly had there not been a run of safety car interruptions.

    One of the culprits came in the form of eventual race winner Marcus Ericsson who was lucky to escape a collision with Sebastien Bourdais without serious damage.  The Swede made a dreadful misjudgment on the restart, collecting into the back of the Frenchman and launching himself into the air.

    The TV cameras were able to pick up the underside of Ericsson’s car as he soured through the air so much was the scale of the accident. Luckily, he landed bottom down and continued to the pits (albeit with a broken front wing, which at one point was bending underneath the car and remaining in a *vertical* position)

    Following repairs, he was forced to serve a stop-go penalty for his part in the Bourdais incident. However, importantly it was during this time his team made the interesting strategy call to put on the red sidewall tyres. He had already used the primary black sidewall tyres for his first stint, meaning he had fulfilled the need to use both compounds early on. The team still had one more set of red tyres for the rest of the race which offers more grip, with the risk of less life.  But when he would have to pit again, it would be early, preempting any late safety cars.

    As a result, Ericsson was on an off-set strategy to the rest of the field and able to capitalise through the series on ensuing caution periods.

    So much so, on Lap 31, Ericsson emerged in the lead while under caution as the rest of the leaders (including Colton Herta) dove into the pits. Heading back out just as the safety car led the field through Turns One and Two. In fact, it was millimeters that decided the lead of the race as both Ericsson, Hunter-Reay, and Herta crossed the ‘Blur Line’ at almost the exact same time.

    Would you believe it? Marcus Ericsson had soured through the air, served a penalty, and had somehow come out in the lead of the Nashville Music City Grand Prix, a place where track position is key.

    Marcus Ericsson at the Music City GP. Photo Courtesy of Joe Skibinski.

    The Swede would lead until Lap 45 when it was time to stop again which cycled Herta back out to the front. However, the constant flow of safety cars never gave the American a moment to build a gap. On the seventh caution, Herta would eventually pit again, rejoining down in ninth which would eventually become fourth as the pit stop cycles sorted themselves out. With twenty laps to go, he would have to make it past James Hinchcliffe, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Scott Dixon, and Marcus Ericsson for the win.

    On the restart he set out to do just that, pulling off some audacious overtakes, the best one arguably on Scott Dixon into Turn Nine after getting a great run off the bridge. With 18 Laps remaining, it was just Ericsson left with neither having to stop again.

    With ten to go, Ericsson was under incredible pressure, with his red-wall soft tyres falling away and with a significant amount of fuel-saving to do. However, he held firm, masterfully using his advantage of ‘push-to-pass’ to hold off Herta over the bridge. It almost came up to an abrupt end for both. Herta locking up coming into Turn Nine and almost running into the back of Ericsson.

    Unfortunately, the resulting flat spot led to another, more catastrophic lock-up in the same corner, forcing Herta into the wall. Within a blink of a second, his dominant weekend came to an end. Overcome with emotion, the American was left languishing in the medical truck, head deep in his hands, and fought back the tears of what could have been.

    The incident triggered the second red flag of the day, and as the field got back underway, it was Ericsson’s to lose. His teammate Scott Dixon seemed happy to settle for second leaving James Hinchcliffe to fend off Ryan Hunter-Reay for the final podium positions with three laps to go. Soon after, the fairytale comeback was achieved as Ericsson crossed the line to take a fabulous Chip Ganassi ‘1-2 ‘with James Hinchcliffe rounding out the podium. Ryan Hunter-Reay and Graham Rahal completed the Top Five positions.

    Ericsson remains fifth in the championship but is now only four points behind Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden.

    Ganassi team-mate Alex Palou, who salvaged seventh in Nashville, leads Dixon by 42 points with Pato O’Ward third for Arrow McLaren SP whose race was ruined after causing a collision with Alexander Rossi.

  • IndyCar Nashville Grand Prix Preview: The Title Race Takes Shape

    IndyCar Nashville Grand Prix Preview: The Title Race Takes Shape

    IndyCar returns this weekend for the tenth round of the season at the inaugural Big Machine Music City Grand Prix, which aims to add to an already enthralling IndyCar season at the newly designed Nashville City course.

    The Grand Prix will take place along a 2.17-mile temporary circuit, the first of its kind for over a decade. The circuit will take place around the Nissan Stadium campus and the Korean Veterans Memorial Bridge eventually finishing back at the stadium that is home to the Tennesse Titans NFL team.

    For fans, a three-day weekend of food, entertainment, and support races await them, including the GT America, Trans AM, and Stadium Super Trucks series. But importantly, after a hefty four-week break IndyCar picks up where it left off with an unbelievably tight championship battle with plenty of contenders looking to steal a march on the second half of the season.

    Championship Battle Becomes Clearer

    Championship battle rages ever on between Alex Palou and Patricio O’Ward. Photo courtesy of Joe Skibinski

    The ninth round of the season left us with a fascinating picture of the next generation of drivers vying for championship glory.

    Chip Ganassi’s Alex Palou came away with the upper hand and taking a well-earned podium and extending his lead in the championship while his closest competitor Patricio O’Ward settled for an eighth-place finish.

    Both have claimed wins at both Detroit and Road America and are likely to be in contention again this weekend.

    Ganassi’s Scott Dixon and Penske’s Josef Newgarden aren’t far behind, with the Kiwi only 17 points away from O’Ward with a win and a podium to his name already this season. Newgarden, who was born and raised in the suburbs of Nashville, has overcome his early-season struggles and sits 13 points off Dixon after a second and first place in the last three races.

    Unless something dramatic occurs, it seems incredibly likely that the championship will ultimately be between these four drivers, presenting an incredibly intriguing contest between the established veterans of the sport, and the next-generation superstars. Dixon and Newgarden are seeking to add to their illustrious list of championships, while O’Ward and Palou both are pushing for their first in their sophomore seasons.

    Nashville presents a great chance for one of these drivers to change the championship picture, depending on who can adapt to the new circuit. It will also be important to make no mistakes, qualify well, and keep track-position. Although, we may well see a significant amount of cautionary periods which will provide opportunities to move up through the field as we saw with O’Ward at Detroit, who pulled of some incredibly impressive moves to ultimately steal the win from Newgarden in the closing laps.

    Helio Castroneves Returns After Signing Full-Time for 2022

    Helio Castroneves will race the final rounds of the IndyCar season with Meyer Shank Racing. Photo courtesy of Chris Owens

    Helio Castroneves returns to the IndyCar paddock as part of his six-race deal with Meyer Shank Racing, the team which saw him claim victory at this year’s Indianapolis 500. It is understood that he will run in all five of the season’s remaining road and street course races this year.

    The Brazilian recently announced that he will race with the team full-time in 2022, in place of Britain’s Jack Harvey whose destination is unknown. It is unclear as to the reason’s behind the separation, but it is likely that they were coming to the end of a contract together. Rahal Letterman Lanigan is being touted as a potential destination for Harvey.

    In the recent mid-season IndyCar test at Portland International Raceway, both Harvey and Castroneves were second and third respectively behind Arrow McLaren SP’s Patricio O’Ward.

    As the most experienced driver on the grid alongside Scott Dixon, Castroneves will be an exciting driver to watch on this newly-designed track.

    Power on Energy Save?

    Will Power is still winless in 2021. Photo courtesy of Joe Skibinski

    Will Power is one of a range of drivers seeking their first win of the 2021 season at Nashville. However, the Australian is extremely unfortunate to not have taken victory at Detroit. He has one of the longest winning streaks in the series, having taken the top spot of the podium in every season since 2006, then known as Champ Car.

    Rossi and Pagenaud are also seeking their first win of the year, while the likes of Colton Herta and Rinus VeeKay are also in desperate need of a strong weekend to restart their title charges. However, Power will be a man on a mission this weekend and may have returned well-rested from the summer break with the mental reset he needed.

    With Penske securing their first win of the season last time out at Mid-Ohio, and getting something of a ‘monkey off their back’. The momentum could be with them heading into the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix.

     

  • F3 Hungary: Hauger prevails over Leclerc in mixed conditions battle

    F3 Hungary: Hauger prevails over Leclerc in mixed conditions battle

    Formula 3 championship leader Dennis Hauger won the Hungary feature race, beating his Prema teammate Arthur Leclerc in a race-long battle in changing conditions.

    Leclerc started the race from pole ahead of Hauger. But before either driver had the chance to fight for the lead off the line, the track was drenched by heavy rain and the race was started behind the safety car instead.

    When the race got underway with a rolling start, Leclerc got going to stay clear of Hauger into Turn 1. Behind them, third-placed Jack Doohan came under pressure into the first corner from his trident teammate David Schumacher, who tried the move around the outside but didn’t have the grip.

    The safety car was back out by the end of the first lap, as Victor Martins found himself in the wall with a broken front wing. When the race resumed on lap 4 Leclerc again went into Turn 1 unchallenged, although Hauger was much closer throughout the lap and was putting the pressure on.

    Arthur Leclerc, Prema (Lars Baron, Getty Images / FIA F3)

    Further back in the pack, several cars tried to make places as their rivals struggled on the wet track but ended up coming under attack themselves as a result. Clement Novalak in fifth was slow at the restart and gave an opportunity to Alex Smolyar, but when Smolyar couldn’t get the move done he found Frederik Vesti looking up the inside of him instead.

    Olli Caldwell tried to take advantage of Vesti’s fight with Smolyar to slip up the inside of the Dane, but had to back out to defend from Ayumu Iwasa behind him. At the start of lap 5, Caldwell then missed his braking for Turn 1, clipping the back of Vesti and dropping to ninth behind Iwasa as a result.

    At the front Hauger settled into a rhythm and started setting fastest laps to close to within four tenths of Leclerc by lap 7. With the pressure on, Leclerc then dipped a wheel into the standing water towards the end of the lap and gave Hauger a run down into Turn 1 on the next lap.

    Leclerc forced Hauger to the outside where the Norwegian had to back off and slip back in behind. Hauger kept up the attack through the next few corners, but each time Leclerc held the inside line, forcing Hauger to back off from an outside move and dropping him back towards Doohan.

    But on lap 9 Leclerc was wide through Turn 1, and this gave Hauger the opportunity he needed to run alongside his teammate and take the lead heading down to Turn 4. Hauger then cemented his pace in the conditions by setting the fastest lap while in front, and starting lap 10 with a 1.5 second lead over Leclerc.

    With the track almost dry by the halfway stage, Hauger’s wet tyres started to overheat and Leclerc began coming back at him. Leclerc set the fastest lap on lap 11 to cut the gap to half a second, but Hauger responded on the following lap and opened it back up to a second.

    As Hauger and Leclerc traded lap times, Prema told them to be wary of overheating their wet tyres. This brought Doohan into play, who began setting fastest laps and closing the gap to Leclerc to under a second.

    Jack Doohan, Trident (Red Bull Content Pool)

    But despite the late surge from Doohan, the Premas were able to keep enough tyre life to stay just out of reach. Doohan’s charge was then called off altogether three laps from the end, when Laszlo Toth collided with Ido Cohen at the rear of the field and brought out a safety car to lead the field over the line.

    Hauger therefore led home Leclerc and Doohan, who took their second and fourth podium finishes of the year respectively. Doohan’s Trident teammates Schumacher and Novalak followed him in fourth and fifth. Smolyar was sixth ahead of Vesti and Caldwell, and Enzo Fittipaldi and Logan Sargeant rounded out the points for Charouz in ninth and tenth.

    Matteo Nannini, who started 13th, was the only driver to chance a stop for slick tyres when the track dried out. But despite being the quickest car on track by almost two seconds and taking the fastest lap, the final safety car coupled with a very slow stop meant Nannini couldn’t capitalise on the gamble, and he finished in 26th.

    Hauger’s third win of the year gives him 152 points in the standings and a 63-point lead, meaning he could fail to score in the next round entirely and still hold the championship lead. Doohan’s third place returns him to second in the standings on 89 points, three points ahead of Olli Caldwell in third.

    F3 returns after the summer break on 28th and 29th August at Spa-Francorchamps in support of the Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix.

  • F3 Hungary: Nannini storms to first victory in race two

    F3 Hungary: Nannini storms to first victory in race two

    Matteo Nannini took his maiden Formula 3 victory in the second Hungaroring sprint race, while Dennis Hauger put in another charging drive to increase his championship lead.

    Nannini started the race from third on the reverse grid behind Enzo Fittipaldi and Roman Stanek, neither of whom had won before in F3 either. Although Fittipaldi looked to have the lead covered heading into Turn 1, Nannini made a late braking lunge around the outside to jump from third to alongside the Charouz.

    Fittipaldi held the position, helped in part by a lockup from Nannini through Turn 3, forcing Nannini to settle back into second ahead of Stanek. The trio led a chaotic opening lap that also saw three cars stalled on the starting grid, and a collision between Oliver Rasmussen and Olli Caldwell that left Caldwell with a broken front wing and well outside the points.

    Olli Caldwell, Prema (Courtesy of Prema Racing)

    Fittipaldi set an early fastest lap, but Nannini stuck with him. At the start of lap 4, Nannini closed to the back of Fittipaldi under DRS and passed him for the lead around the outside into Turn 1. Fittipaldi tried to fight back through the following corners, but although Nannini locked up at Turn 3 the HWA managed to stay ahead.

    Once in front, Nannini put the clear air ahead to good use to open up a 2-second gap by lap 8. As that increased even further to almost three seconds by the halfway stage, Fittipaldi was unable to keep up and instead had Stanek and fourth-placed Alex Smolyar on his tail.

    Fittipaldi managed to stabilise by lap 15 and drop Stanek out of DRS range, but by this point Nannini was too far up the road to catch. Nannini crossed the line with a comfortable lead to take the victory, with Fittipaldi and Stanek following him across the line in second and third.

    While the podium battle was settled early on, the midfield played host to several close fights in the closing laps. Jack Doohan was running in fifth behind Smolyar for most of the race, but his tyres faded on lap 16 and he was passed by teammate David Schumacher at Turn 3.

    David Schumacher, Trident (Bryn Lennon, Getty Images / FIA F3)

    Doohan then fell prey to Dennis Hauger two laps later at the outside of Turn 1, before tumbling back through the order. Lorenzo Colombo and Clement Novalak demoted him to ninth at the start of lap 19, which then became eleventh as Logan Sargeant and Ayumu Iwasa found their way past the Trident before the end of the lap.

    On the penultimate lap Hauger made up another place by launching around the outside of Schumacher at Turn 1 to take fifth. He even managed to catch up to fourth-placed Smolyar by the end of the lap, although didn’t have enough time to pass the ART before the chequered flag.

    Hauger crossed the line fifth behind Smolyar to add another six points to his championship tally. Schumacher was sixth, and Colombo, Novalak, Sargeant and Iwasa rounded out the points.

  • W Series Hungary: Chadwick dominates to retake title lead

    W Series Hungary: Chadwick dominates to retake title lead

    Jamie Chadwick took her second win of the W Series season, beating title rival Alice Powell by some margin to reclaim the lead of the championship standings.

    Chadwick lost the title lead to Powell following the latter’s victory at Silverstone two weeks ago, but Chadwick struck back this weekend with pole position. She then got a much better launch off the line than Powell on race day to hold the lead into Turn 1.

    Powell briefly had to go on the defensive to stay in second ahead of Nerea Marti, who got away quickly from third. Meanwhile, Marti’s Academy teammate Ira Sidorkova jumped forward from fifth position to challenge Beitske Visser, and claim fourth place at Turn 4 on the opening lap.

    Further back in the pack, Chadwick’s Veloce teammate Bruna Tomaselli dropped back from sixth on the grid to ninth behind Marta Garcia, Emma Kimilainen and Belen Garcia. At Turn 1, Fabienne Wohlwend got caught up in the jostling for position and lost her front wing, forcing her into a pit stop at the end of lap 1, and retirement shortly after.

     

    Over the opening few tours, Chadwick set a series of fastest laps in clean air to stretch clear of Powell. The gap was already over a second by the end of lap 2, and that continued to grow with each following lap. As Chadwick drove away, Powell and Marti also began opening up a gap on the rest of the field.

    Chadwick continued to lead for the remainder of the race, and opened a gap of over seven seconds after consistently setting fastest lap times and lapping within a second of her pole time from Friday. She crossed the line to take the win at the end of lap 19 with Powell a distant second, and Marti further back in third and taking her first podium in the series.

    Behind the top three, Sidorkova and Visser remained locked in a tight battle over fourth place. Sidorkova made an error at Turn 11 on lap 3 which allowed Visser to close to within half a second, although Sidorkova responded well in the following laps to keep ahead of the Forbes car.

     

    Visser continued to put the pressure on the 18-year-old ahead and was consistently a tenth quicker per lap. But with the Hungaroring being such a difficult circuit to overtake on, Visser had to follow Sidorkova home over the line in fifth place.

    Kimilainen took sixth place, having pounced on a late wide moment by Marta Garcia through Turn 11 to take the position on lap 16. Marta Garcia was seventh ahead of Belen Garcia, Tomaselli and Jess Hawkins.

    Chadwick’s win puts her back at the top of the championship standings with 73 points, although Powell is just one point behind in second place. Marti’s podium moves her up into third in the standings on 37 points, with former third-place driver Sarah Moore one point behind her after finishing the Hungary race in 15th.

    W Series returns after the summer break on 28th August at Spa-Francorchamps, in support of the Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix.

  • F3 Hungary: Iwasa inherits race one win after Colombo penalised

    F3 Hungary: Iwasa inherits race one win after Colombo penalised

    Hitech’s Ayumu Iwasa has inherited the victory in the opening Hungaroring sprint race, after original winner Lorenzo Colombo was handed a post-race penalty.

    Colombo was penalised for dropping more than ten car lengths behind the safety car late in the race. Drivers are only allowed to do so after the safety car has turned out its lights prior to the restart. Colombo was handed a five-second time penalty for the infringement, which drops him from first and seventh.

    Iwasa therefore inherits the win, with Olli Caldwell moving up to second place and Logan Sargeant taking his first podium of the year in third. Clement Novalak is now fourth, Dennis Hauger fifth, and Alex Smolyar sixth. David Schumacher, Jack Doohan and Matteo Nannini remain eighth, ninth and tenth behind Colombo.

  • F3 Hungary: Colombo and Campos take emotional maiden win in first sprint race

    F3 Hungary: Colombo and Campos take emotional maiden win in first sprint race

    Lorenzo Colombo scored his and Campos Racing’s first Formula 3 win in the opening Hungaroring sprint race, beating the Red Bull juniors of Jonny Edgar and Ayumu Iwasa.

    Colombo started the race from second on the grid behind reverse polesitter Edgar. The Italian looked to the inside of Edgar at Turn 1, but had to slip back to hold second as Iwasa tried to take them both around the outside.

    The top three ran in single file in the first few laps, and quickly broke the DRS gap back to Olli Caldwell in third. But despite Edgar, Colombo and Iwasa being separated by just a second in total, neither was able to make any move to change the order.

    Jonny Edgar, Carlin (GEPA pictures, Manfred Binder / Red Bull Content Pool)

    That changed soon after though, as Colombo started putting in a sequence of good laps to close up more on Edgar. At the beginning of lap 8 Colombo drew alongside Edgar under DRS on the start/finish straight and swept around the outside at Turn 1 to take the lead.

    But as Colombo settled in front of Edgar, the Carlin started slowing with a mechanical problem and dropping down the order. As Edgar fell out of the points and eventually pulled over to retire, Iwasa inherited second and Caldwell third.

    Iwasa wasn’t able to pressure Colombo for the lead though, as he himself had to defend second from Caldwell. Just two laps after taking first place, Colombo had already opened up a second gap over Iwasa to protect from the DRS threat.

    Colombo’s drive to victory was briefly worried on lap 16, when Frederik Vesti came to a halt by the track and brought out a safety car. But at the restart on lap 19, Colombo went early through the final corner and caught Iwasa off guard, and restored his one second gap within two laps.

    Ayumu Iwasa, Hitech (Red Bull Content Pool)

    Colombo eventually crossed the line with a 1.5 second lead, and dedicated his win to team founder Adrian Campos, who passed away in January this year. Iwasa scored his first F3 podium in second, while Caldwell finished in third and moves up to second place in the championship.

    Logan Sargeant finished fourth for Charouz ahead of Clement Novalak. Championship leader Dennis Hauger took sixth place from eleventh on the grid, having made up places at the safety car restart. Alex Smolyar, David Schumacher, Jack Doohan and Matteo Nannini rounded out the points, and Enzo Fittipaldi finished twelfth to take pole for race 2.

  • W Series Hungary Preview: Powell in the lead in tight battle at the top

    W Series Hungary Preview: Powell in the lead in tight battle at the top

    Round 4 at Budapest signifying we are nearly halfway through this exciting season. In an 8 race season every race counts, so it’s important to optimise the more tighter style at the Hungaroring compared to the fast track of Silverstone.

    The Hungaroring is a 4.38km circuit which held its first Formula 1 race in 1986, with this year’s race being its 36th event. The first females to race at the track were Annette Meuvissen and Mercedes Stermitz in 1988 during a one-off DTM race. Since then, there have been relatively few females’ appearances. However, on the 2021 W Series grid 3 drivers have had experience here.

    Beitske Visser has the most experience at the Hungaroring, competing in 2014, 2015 and 2016 in the Renault 3.5 World Series and in the GT4 Euro South competition. When GP3 supported F1 in 2012 both Alice Powell and Vicky Piria competed around the track, however neither made the points.

    Can Alice Powell hold on to the lead?

    During a dramatic Silverstone race where, after qualifying on pole with a stunning lap, Alice Powell lost first position in the first few corners, then had a race-long battle with Fabienne Wohlwend to eventually come out on top. This adds to her win in round 1, and with Jamie Chadwick finishing in 3rd at Silverstone this means Powell is currently on top of the standings, 6 points ahead of Chadwick.

    Alice Powell is having a good season so far, getting her first pole position in the series and beating her number of wins from the whole of the 2019 season. Widely considered a very strong contender for the championship, Powell is taking advantage of her run of form.

    Jamie Chadwick, however, is looking to fight back. After a 3rd place finish at Silverstone where she was on her own all race, she is hoping for a strong race weekend in Hungary to take back the lead of the championship and add to her win from round 2 at the Red Bull Ring.

    Sarah Moore and Wohlwend are not far behind Chadwick in the standings, and a strong race for both means they come into this weekend with confidence. Wohlwend in particular had an impressive performance in her fight with Powell, which she will be hoping to repeat in Budapest.

    Caitlin Wood’s comeback

    Caitlin Wood (Drew Gibson / W Series)

    The 24-year-old Australian competed in the inaugural 2019 W Series season, but narrowly missed out on automatic qualifying for the next season at the Brands Hatch and was therefore listed as a reserve driver. She finished 13th overall with 11 points scored and a highest finish of 5th.

    Caitlin will be racing for PUMA this weekend; she is the first Australian woman to compete successfully in the European scene. She has also taken part in GT4 European Series and Formula Ford along among others.

    Many drivers looking to improve their own performances for this weekend and it will be exciting to watch who can tackle this track which is known to test fitness and skill. Qualifying starts at 3:30pm GMT on Friday, lights out at 3:30pm GMT on Saturday.

  • F2 Silverstone: Zhou strikes back at Piastri with feature race win

    F2 Silverstone: Zhou strikes back at Piastri with feature race win

    Guanyu Zhou ran away to victory in the Silverstone Formula 2 feature race, beating polesitter Oscar Piastri after losing the championship lead to the Australian yesterday.

    Zhou started alongside Piastri on the front row but got the better launch and was already ahead before they made it to Abbey. Behind them, Dan Ticktum also made a move off the line to take third from Richard Verschoor, while Robert Shwartzman jumped past Felipe Drugovich and Theo Pourchaire for fifth.

    At the front of the field, Zhou set the pace with early fastest laps as the top four pulled away from Shwartzman, Drugovich and Pourchaire behind. By lap 4 Zhou had pulled out of DRS range of Piastri, who was starting to come under pressure from Ticktum.

    That pressure was relieved when Ticktum pitted for hard tyres on lap 6 to try the undercut. Piastri covered him off on the following lap, but despite coming out ahead of Ticktum he didn’t have the tyre temperature to keep the Carlin behind on the outlap, and Ticktum was able to pass him for P13 and net second.

    Oscar Piastri, Prema (Courtesy of Prema Racing)

    Zhou pitted from the lead a lap after Piastri, but was able to come out comfortably ahead of Ticktum despite his undercut strategy. That left Verschoor out in the lead for a few laps, but his own pit stop was slow and left him well down on Piastri when he rejoined the track.

    At the front, Juri Vips now lead from Lirim Zendelli, Jehan Daruvala, Jack Aitken and Matteo Nannini. They had started on the hard tyre instead of the mediums and were trying to prolong their first stint to jump up into the points. Meanwhile, Zhou had joined the back of this group after passing Marino Sato on lap 12.

    Ticktum and Piastri picked off Sato a lap later. Ticktum was held up by the Japanese driver and lost a lot of time to Piastri, who had considerable pace on his first laps on the new hard tyre. But that pace seemed to flip around on lap 16, as Ticktum passed the long-running Nannini for sixth but Piastri couldn’t find a way around the Campos.

    Piastri stayed behind Nannini until the Italian finally pitted on lap 24. By this point Piastri was more than nine seconds adrift of Ticktum, while Verschoor was closing rapidly to put pressure on for the final podium position.

    Verschoor got within a second of Piastri by lap 27, and finally launched his assault around the outside of Stowe on the penultimate lap. Piastri managed to hold him off then, almost cutting the corner at Club to stay ahead. On the final lap, Verschoor tried the same move at Stowe, but was too far back this time to get alongside the Prema.

    Richard Verschoor, MP Motorsport (Lars Baron, Getty Images / FIA F2)

     

    Zhou took the chequered flag with four seconds in hand over Ticktum, and Piastri completed the podium with Verschoor on his gearbox. Shwartzman led Drugovich over the line in fifth and sixth, and Vips picked up seventh place from ninth on the grid after his alternate strategy. Pourchaire, Zendelli and Daruvala completed the top ten, with Daruvala taking another two points for the fastest lap.

    Zhou’s victory puts him back up to second in the championship standings, just five behind Piastri and twelve ahead of Shwartzman.

    Formula 2 now takes a long break, returning at Monza for the Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix on 10–12 September.