Charles Leclerc took pole in his home race at Monaco on Saturday afternoon after delivering a good lap on his first run in Q3. The qualifying session did not end in the best way for the rest of the drivers though, after the Monegasque driver lost control of his car coming out of the swimming pool section and ended up in the barriers and brought out the red flag.
This bitter-sweet ending to his qualifying session meant that Max Verstappen, Valtteri Bottas and Carlos Sainz, who were all setting decent times behind him, had to abort their laps.
A frantic Q1 got underway under cloudy Monaco skies with cars all over the short layout track and drivers had to do multiple warm-up laps to get the tyres to running temperatures as the track was colder compared to previous sessions. Both the Haas cars saw their drivers go out in Q1, especially Mick Schumacher who had a huge crash coming out of the casino square in free practice even failed to make it onto the track in the session.
A surprise knockout of Q1 was Fernando Alonso of Alpine who has had such a brilliant record at the track previously and this meant he would only be starting as high as P17 for tomorrow’s race. His teammate Ocon on the other hand qualified at a decent P11 giving himself a chance to score points. Highly talented Japanese rookie Yuki Tsunoda in the Alpha Tauri was another driver who had to exit Q1 after his hot lap could only manage to put him at P16. Latifi in the Williams could only manage a P18 while his teammate George Russell got out of Q1 yet again and will be starting at P15.
Q2 saw the 2018 Monaco GP winner Daniel Ricciardo get knocked out after his lap was only good enough to be placed at P12 which shows that the Australian is still getting accustomed to the McLaren car. His teammate Lando Norris however had yet another good qualifying session at put his McLaren at P5. Lance Stroll of Aston Martin and Kimi Raikkonen of Alfa Romeo were the rest of the drivers to be knocked out of Q2 and they are set to start from P13 and P14.
Credit: McLaren Media Centre
Q3 got off to a brilliant start as expected with Verstappen in the Redbull taking on the Ferraris of Sainz and Leclerc but it was Leclerc who came out on top after the first runs. Mercedes who were struggling all weekend will take some comfort from the fact that Valtteri Bottas atleast managed to put his car onto P3 at the grid after the end of the session. Concern will still be present around Lewis Hamilton’s starting position after the championship leader could only manage a lap good enough to put him at P7.
Pierre Gasly put in another stellar performance even outqualifying Hamilton in the process and will be starting his race P6 alongside Norris in P5. Sebastian Vettel in the Aston Martin impressed yet again after qualifying for Q3 and he will lining up alongside an old rival in Lewis Hamilton at P8.
The Monaco GP returning after a 1 year break is all set to alter the course of the championship standings should Verstappen finish where he is starting from. Fate could still intervene for Charles Leclerc at his home race as his pole position might be taken away from him if his gear box has suffered from the crash but for now, Ferrari have a real chance of making a statement after a horrible season of 2020.
Ever changing track conditions at Le Mans caused for some spectacular qualifying. For a few moments it looked as if Marc Marquez (Honda) was going to grab his first pole since 2019! But local boy – Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha) had other ideas and snatched it away. Leading from Maverick Vinales (Yamaha) and Jack Miller (Ducati) on the front row. Marquez started 6th place on the grid.
Courtesy of: Superbike-news
Uncharacteristically, the championship leader – Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) qualified low down the grid in 16th place.
Valentino Rossi (Petronas Yamaha), looked in good form and had a flying lap, which would have taken him to front row, but an almost high-side in the last corner, removed those hopes. He slotted into 9th place.
The unpredictable track conditions had meant that Sunday’s race had been declared a flag-to-flag race. The first one in four years – meaning some of the riders had never experienced this before.
This was going to be interesting:
Race:
Le Mans had it all – rain, sun, bike swaps, crashes, penalties! As the drama unfolded in-front of us, one thing was for sure – Miller gave yet another ‘Thriller’ race!
As the riders lined up on the grid, the dark grey clouds loomed overhead. Weather forecasts predicted the rain wouldn’t emerge during the race. Just in-case though it had been declared a flag-to-flag event, meaning the riders had their spare bikes ready with wet tyres on, should the rain interfere with the proceedings.
Miller got a lighting start and led the pack into lap one, from Vinales and Quartararo. But it was Pol Espargaro (Aprilia), that had a ‘moment’, rejoining in the middle of team-mates Rossi and Frankie Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha), Morbidelli had to take evasive action, leaving him holding his knee in the gravel. Already having hurt it during a freak pit-lane accident in qualifying. (He was able to later rejoin, but finished outside the points).
Miller takes the lead. Courtesy of: Motorsport.com
Vinales soon took first and started to slowly break-away. Were we seeing Maverick finally not letting the weather conditions mess with his head? M. Marquez was fighting for 4th place with Alex Rins (Suzuki) and Takaaki Nakagami (Honda)
All to quickly though, bustling started to happen in the pit lane, as the pit crews started to get the second bikes ready for the inevitable change over. Marshals were waving the red and white flags track-side and the riders now had the option to come in and switch bikes. The rain had come earlier than expected!
Quartararo took full advantage to the change of weather conditions and swept through to first place. Vinales, sadly couldn’t help but react negatively to the wet weather and immediately went backwards.
Jack wasn’t prepared to just let Fabio have first place though and soon they were battling for first.
The rain continued to pour, getting heavier by the second. Miller went into the gravel but saved himself and with 23 laps to go he and all the riders decided to enter the pit lane to swap their bikes. M. Marquez made a swift exit from pit lane securing first place. The reigning champion Joan Mir (Suzuki) however, accidently fell upon entering the pit lane.
Pitlane pandemonium. Courtesy of: Moto GP website
Then turn four, saw his team-mate Alex crash. Both Suzuki’s were having a race they would want to forget.
Then seemingly disaster for the Ducati boys! Both Bagnaia and Miller got a double long-lap penalty for exceeding pit-lane speed limits. The speed limit is 60km/h but both were recorded as over it.
With Miller in third place, being led by Quartararo and Marquez, he didn’t want to give up any places, but he took his first long-lap the next lap (lap 9) and then his second on lap 10. Getting them out the way with quick.
Marc Marquez looked like his old self again and even pulled away from Fabio leading with 1.380 seconds and then by 1.973 seconds. He had said that these weather conditions could fall into his hands on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Rins had managed to return to the race with his second bike.
All hearts leapt in unison though as on lap 8, Marquez took a high-side from first position, on the final corner! Launching himself from his bike and rolling through the gravel. He managed to also re-join the race (using the same bike, albeit missing some of its wings).
With Miller taking his second penalty, Quartararo set about extending his lead. Little did he know that he too had collected a penalty. Never having raced a flag-to-flag race he had gone into the pit-lane to swap over his Yamaha’s just to ride into Vinales’s pit box. This was seen as a safety risk which meant he too had to take a long-lap soon. He decided to take it lap 12.
Cutting quickly through the pack, aware that this was his best chance at getting any points this race, Marquez was now the fastest man on track. Ignoring his pain and the rain.
An issue with Lorenzo Savadori’s Aprilia saw him retire from the race. On the same lap Miguel Oliveira (KTM) slid off on the nefarious turn 3. It soon took Rins as well, now his second time seeing the gravel during the race.
Meanwhile Marquez was still slicing through his competitors and with 13 laps to go was in 15th place. His younger brother Alex Marquez (Honda), it is worth noting, was having a brilliant race, from 19th on the grid to 5th by lap 15. By lap 17 M. Marquez had clawed back to 12th place.
Nakagami had his position taken away from him by one of the local boys – Zarco, who was picking up speed – quick. He was now in 3rd place with fellow country-man Quartararo in his sights and the leader – Miller not far away either. Could Le Mans finally have a French winner?
With 11 laps until the end, Aleix Espargaro’s Aprilia malfunctioned, leaving the team with DNF’s for both bikes.
Conditions changed again – the track had dried up and the rain ceased. All riders were on their second bike with wet tyres. They could return to the pits again and swap a second time for slick tyres but none of them wanted to be the first to juggle with fate.
Then absolute heartbreak – Marc Marquez crashed out again – turn 6, lap 18, from 11th place. This time he was unable to pick the bike up and return.
Courtesy of: Moto GP website
Miller had a 5.475 second lead over Quartararo, who had a 3.763 second gap to Zarco. But this was decreasing quick! Zarco had both medium wet tyres, where Miller and Quartararo had one soft and one medium tyre each. With the track getting drier each lap, the gap between the two Frenchmen rapidly shrunk. On lap 21 of 27 the gap was 0.696 seconds.
Johann passed Fabio with relative ease with 6 laps to go. Could he catch Miller?
Last lap – the track was completely dry – the riders were all still on wet tyres – there were two Frenchmen hunting down the Australian in first. But it was a Thriller performance from Miller who was in complete control, taking back-to-back victories! His first ever time doing this in the premier class and only his 3rd ever win in Moto GP. He is the first Australian to win back-to-back races since Stoner (Ducati) in 2012.
It was like a win for Fabio (who had never finished on the podium in wet conditions before) and Johann who rounded off the podium in France.
Top 10 race results:
First
Miller
Second
Zarco
Third
Quartararo
Fourth
Bagnaia
Fifth
Petrucci
Sixth
A. Marquez
Seventh
Nakagami
Eigth
P. Espargaro
Ninth
Lecuona
Tenth
Vinales
Championship Standings:
First
Quartararo
80 Points
Second
Bagnaia
79 points
Third
Zarco
68 points
Fourth
Miller
64 points
It was a rollercoaster ride for Miller who said “…they’re gonna red flag this for sure…” aren’t we all glad that they didn’t?
Miller and Quartararo in Parc Ferme – Le Mans. Courtesy of: Moto GP website.
Mugello (30th May) is the next round of the championship and is notably a Ducati track. Can the Dukes keep up this dominating pace? Or will Yamaha fight back and claim the top spot once more?
Endurance racing stands out from any other forms of motorsport, in that it tests not only the skill and stamina of the driver, but the reliability of the car, whether its at 24 hours of Le Man’s, 24 hours of Daytona or 12 hours of Sebring.
Car manufacturers boast and take pride in their cars winning but its not just open to the elite manufacturers (Ferrari, Toyota, Porsche, Aston Martin, Peugeot) private and independent teams (privateers) can take part, and there are several classes, for example WEC (World Endurance Championship) has 4 classes Hypercar (New for 2021 was LMP1), LMP2 and LMPGTE with 2 classes PRO & AM.
Image courtesy of HYPERCAR
HYPERCAR (Formally known as LMP1)
Le Man’s prototypes, these are built to a set specification set out by the governing body’s (FIA, ACO) with a minimum weight of 1030kg and have a total combined output of 500KW (Engine + Hybrid system) they must be based around road going vehicles and BOP (Balance of Performance) is a level playing field, plus for WEC run on Michelin tyres.
LMP2
LMP2 cars are smaller, lighter and less powerful but they do have potentially better power to weight ratio, minimum weight allowed is 930KG, fuel tank capacity of 75 litres, with a 4.2 litre V8 engine with 500BHP.
Image courtesy of LMGTE Pro
LMGTE (PRO + AM)
Also, on the grid are LMGTE car’s these are race cars derived from street cars, they have a fuel tank capacity of 90 litres with either a normal aspirated engine 5500CC MAX or a turbo/supercharged engine 4000CC MAX plus a minimum weight of 1245KG. There are 2 classes in LMGTE (PRO) which will have drivers especially professional / factory drivers (AM) these are amateur drivers or gentleman drivers.
Within each race there is 4 races, with all classes competing for prizes, whether its for overhaul victory or winner of each class, (The podium will have 4 ceremonies).
Le Man’s is the most famous and prestigious of all the endurance races and has been held since 1923 at the 8.5-mile road circuit at Le Sarthe, Le Man’s, France, Endurance racing has several racing deries throughout the world
FIA-WEC World Endurance Championship
IMSA International Motor Sport Association (Based in the USA)
ELMS European Le Man’s Series
Asian Le Man’s Series (Based in China, Japan)
IGTC Intercontinental GT Challenge (GT Cars Only)
Plus, there are stand-alone endurance events such has SPA 24 hours, 24 hours of the Nurburgring but these are mainly for GT car’s but still have different classes (GT3, GT4) and based on different specifications & regulations.
Manufacturers use these races / events to test certain types of parts / engineering which is then put in their road cars which we buy today.
Team’s can use 2 to 4 drivers depending on the length of the race, plus depending on the event / series regulations, they must only drive for a certain length of time or stint, so a driver can double or triple stint has long the teams go by he set regulations for that series / championship.
Endurance racing his ever more popular and fans can enjoy and interact with teams and drivers in the paddock, in 2019 a staggering 252,500 fans attended the Circuit De La Sarthe for the Le Man’s 24 hours.
Terminology
LMP —– Le Man’s Prototype
LMDh — Le Man’s (ACO) Daytona (IMSA) hypercar / hybrid car
LMGT — Le Man’s Grand Tourer
BOP —– Balance of Performance
FIA —— Federation Internationale de l’Automobile
ACO —- Automobile Club de I’Quest
Hypercar – FIA ACO specialist prototype / car based on road gong vehicles
IndyCar will take to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course this weekend for the GMR Grand Prix.
This year, we roll into Indianapolis with four different race winners in as many races with others hot-on-the heels, ready to take snatch victories if the opportunity presents itself.
Scott Dixon comes into this race as points leader with a 22 point margin over nearest rival Patricio O’Ward. He is also last year’s Indianapolis GP winner and will be coming into this weekend with plenty of confidence – confidence that has seen him finish inside the top five in every outing this season.
But for once – it isn’t the highly-rated New Zealander that has got everyone talking.
Changing of the Guard?
Patricio O’Ward won last time out at Texas, taking his long-overdue maiden IndyCar win by beating six-time world champion Scott Dixon. The win, which had been ‘on-the-cards’ for over a year was one of many other success stories across the paddock. Among those are a range of drivers under the age of 25 including Alex Palou who won at Barber while Colton Herta took victory at St. Petersburg. Also, who could forget Rinus VeeKay who is consistently putting in strong performances with the Ed Carpenter Racing outfit?
This isn’t to say that the proverbial ‘old-guard’ are not up to the job. The likes of Scott Dixon, Will Power, and Simon Pagenaud are still serious competition while Josef Newgarden may be mistaken as a younger driver, even he is into his 30’s.
O’Ward currently sits second in the drivers’ championship. Photo Courtesy of James Black.
But while the young guns have shown glimpses of brilliance over the past few seasons, now they are consistently challenging at the front of the field. Pato’s win was something of a ‘monkey on his shoulders’ and will certainly give him the confidence that he belongs at the sharp end. If Arrow McLaren SP can deliver a title-challenging car, you better believe Pato will be a factor in most races.
Alex Palou holds one of the coveted spots at Chip Ganassi Racing and is certainly viewed as the team’s future. This at least ensures the Spaniard has the backing and resources to be a major contender for years. But the fact that he is putting in results in his first season with the team was perhaps beyond most peoples’ expectations.
Rinus VeeKay has made it no secret that top-teams have already been in contact but felt another year with Ed Carpenter would be best for his development in the series. The most likely of destinations for the Dutchman would be either Andretti Autosport or Chip Ganassi to replace Jimmie Johnsons’ part-time no. 48 entry. Wherever his destiny lies his future looks bright and will be a title contender in the next few years.
Interestingly, a third of the available spots on all podiums this year have been filled by these drivers, a significant change on past seasons. Considering Herta and VeeKay’s past success at Indianapolis – I expect them to be a factor once again this weekend at the GMR Grand Prix.
Can Penske Strike Back?
We return to a track where not only Roger Penske himself owns, but where his team has dominated in recent years. Will Power and Simon Pagenaud have stolen the spoils every year between 2015 and 2019. In addition, all excluding 2019 have been won from pole position by the winning Penske driver.
Josef Newgarden wins at the Harvest GP ’20. Photo Courtesy of Doug Matthews.
IndyCar’s last visit to the Road Course was for October’s Harvest GP doubleheader which Penske won on both times of asking – Josef Newgarden followed by Will Power from pole the next day. With five of the last nine IMS road races won from the front row, Friday’s qualifying will prove that much more important.
Newgarden is the highest placed Penske in the drivers’ championship in fourth. By their standards, they will be hoping to change that by the end of this weekend. His unfortunate start to the season at Barber has been something of a blip, finishing consistently in the top-six on every occasion since.
His teammate Will Power by contrast had his turn of misfortunate at the Texas Motor Speedway, slipping down the order and out of contention in both races. Ninth place in the championship is not good enough for the former IndyCar champion and will be looking to capitalise on his winning experience around this circuit.
The GMR Grand Prix will take place on Saturday afternoon in a condensed two-day weekend.
Friday 14th May will play host to qualifying at 21:30 (BST) while the race will get underway on Saturday 15th May at approximately 19:00 (BST).
Lewis Hamilton took his 98th Formula 1 win on Sunday afternoon after delivering yet another stunning drive which was strategically very reminiscent of Hungary 2019. The English driver started from his 100th pole position and fell behind to his title rival Max Verstappen but thanks to an aggressive and well thought out strategy from the Mercedes team, he was able to come back into the race and take the lead towards the very end and went on to win.
Hamilton’s teammate Valtteri Bottas was once again limited to playing the team game as he failed to match either of Hamilton or Verstappen. The Finnish driver did not quite back down after team orders were implemented which meant Hamilton had to overtake him losing some time in the process. It all ended well as the English driver was able to catch the leading Redbull and take a healthy lead in the driver’s championship. Sergio Perez in the other Redbull could only manage only a 5th place finish which brings into question, the ever present dilemma surrounding the Redbull second car.
Charles Leclerc in the Ferrari drove an excellent race finishing 4th ahead of Sergio Perez in the Redbull which means it is good signs for the Ferrari after a season to forget last year. Carlos Sainz in the other Ferrari also had a very good drive after his battles with the McLaren drivers saw him finish 7th. Daniel Ricciardo in the McLaren seems to have gotten over his shaky start to the season and drove an excellent race to finish P6 while his teammate Lando Norris just seems to have taken foot off the gas after a good start to the season and managed an 8th place finish only.
Esteban Ocon started off the weekend in a brilliant fashion after qualifying P6 but could only manage P9 in the race while his teammate Alonso after being involved in the tussle for the final points position for a long time had to pit towards the end and ended up at a lowly P17. Alpha Tauri had a mixed weekend after Yuki Tsunoda’s car had an engine failure very early in the race but Pierre Gasly managed his race well after he had to overcome the challenge of Aston Martin drivers.
Aston Martin had a very under the radar showing with both the drivers Stroll and Vettel finishing outside points and the team will be left to figure out how to better their fortunes in a fortnight’s time for the Monaco grandprix. It was a better outing for Kimi Raikkonen in the Alfa Romeo than last time as he finished the race this time around and finished well at P12. His teammate on the other hand had to sit through a sub 40 second pit stop and could only manage a P15.
‘Mr.Saturday’ George Russell had yet another mellow Sunday interms of the result but the whole team will definitely take heart from a performance where he was close to P10 for the most of the afternoon but failed to put the final fight in for it and finished P14. His teammate Latifi in the other Williams finished at P16.
Haas cars had yet another slow outing during the race and Mick Schumacher managed an 18th placed finish despite a bright start from him and his teammate Nikita Mazepin only finished last of the lot while often being mentioned in the radio for not following the blue flags correctly.
Redbull definitely seemed to have the pace going into the race but they were caught out by Mercedes’ aggressive strategy just like Hungary 2019 as Lewis Hamilton drove his heart out in Barcelona. Max Verstappen will have many more chances in the upcoming part of the season to take the challenge to Hamilton on track but for now the momentum is with the British driver.
ADAC Total 24 Hours – Nürburgring Qualifying Race
Images courtesy of ADAC
A Total of 31 GT3 Cars in an 85-car entry will start this weekends Nürburgring 24 hours qualifying race, last years event was cancelled due to the covid pandemic, this weekend’s race will once again run behind closed doors with no spectators’ it will be a 6-hour dress rehearsal & set the grid for the main event which will take place on the weekend of the 5th to 6th June, 6 manufacturers will enter 31 cars in the GT3 (SP9) class (Audi 3 Cars, Ferrari 3 Cars, Lamborghini 2 Cars, Mercedes-AMG 8 Cars, Porsche 8 Cars and last years winners BMW 7 Cars).
Image courtesy of ADAC
The remainder of the grid will be a mix of GT4 cars plus 2 cars which are entered in the SP-X clas a Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO & the other entry is the Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus SC9 004C which has been also entered in this year FIA WEC championship has a Hypercar.
Image courtesy of ADAC
Over 240 drivers will take to the full 15.8 mile circuit nicknamed the Green Hell, which has been held since 1970 in the Rhineland’s of Germany.
Lewis Hamilton took his 97th career win at Portimao on Sunday afternoon after fending off the challenge from his teammate Bottas and Redbull’s Max Verstappen. The English driver started 2nd on the grid behind his teammate Valtteri Bottas and got off to a steady start. He was later jumped by Verstappen at the early safety car restart and was running 3rd at one point. Hamilton then made his way back into the race in fiery fashion after picking off both Verstappen and Bottas on the main straight and never looked back once he was in control.
The race saw a very early safety car brought in on lap 2 after both the Alfa Romeos tangled on the main straight with Kimi Raikkonen losing the front wing in the process. The Finnish driver then had to retire while his teammate managed to stay on. It was a good restart from the other Finnish driver in the Mercedes which enabled him to open up a gap over the drivers behind him. The race was not the one to remember for him however as he was later on overtaken by both his teammate and Verstappen. A little comfort for him was that the final pitstop made towards the end of the race enabled him to grab the fastest lap and the extra point from today’s outing.
Redbull ended their day where they started on the grid with Verstappen at 3rd and Perez at 4th but would have hoped for much more from the race, especially with the car looking quick enough to challenge Mercedes this year. Verstappen was initially awarded the fastest lap of the race towards the end but the lap time was deleted thanks to the Dutch driver exceeding limits at track 14. His teammate Perez ended his race at 4th after having a super long first stint on medium tyres for 53 laps and went with soft tyres for the rest of his race.
It was yet another top 5 finish for Lando Norris in his McLaren as his excellent start to the season continued. The English driver was mega at the restart and battled Alpine’s Esteban Ocon to jump places. His teammate Ricciardo in the McLaren also bounced back from a poor show in qualifying on Saturday and finished in the points at 9th place after a stellar drive.
Ferrari had a mixed showing at the grandprix, mostly brought upon by themselves as Leclerc finished at P6 after starting 8th and Carlos Sainz despite having a good start, only managed P11 after a questionable strategy call from the team. The Italian outfit will however take heart from their showing compared to the kind of season they had last year.
Alpine managed a double points finish with Esteban Ocon in 7th and Fernando Alonso in 8th after excellent drives from both the drivers. Alonso turned the clock back years with some fine overtaking moves while Ocon showed why he deserves to be in F1. The final place in the points belonged to Pierre Gasly who had a decent race and managed to finish 10th while his rookie teammate Yuki Tsunoda could only manage a 15th placed finish.
With Kimi Raikkonen retiring as early as lap 2, Alfa Romeo had only one car finishing the race with Giovinazzi at P12 after the Italian driver managed to pull some moves towards the end of the race. Aston Martin could only manage out of points finishes for their drivers with Vettel finishing P13 and Stroll finishing at P14. The team will hope for a better performance in the coming weekend and will quickly want to turn their season around if they want to be anywhere close to where they were last year.
It was a poor showing for Williams on Sunday especially with George Russell starting at P11. The English driver could not manage to hold his place there during the course of the race and could only manage a 16th place finish while his teammate in the other Wiliiams only managed 18th. Haas will be very disappointed with their result after Mick Schumacher could only manage a 17th place finish and his Russian teammate Nikita Mazepin finished last of the runners, with a whole minute behind his own teammate at one point during the race.
The season is definitely off to a great start with Redbull looking a lot closer to Mercedes than they ever were and with Lewis Hamilton’s dominance under threat from the ever hungry Max Verstappen, this could go on to be one of the classic seasons of F1.
After opening the 2021 IndyCar season with races on a permanent track and street circuit, we head to our first oval races of the year at Texas Motor Speedway. With two different race winners at both St Pete and Barber alongside the added unpredictability that comes with oval racing, it is highly likely that there may be a different winner this weekend.
Chip Ganassi Racing‘s Alex Palou comes into this race with a narrow two-point lead over teammate Scott Dixon and Will Power in the drivers championship, with last time out race winner Colton Herta leading the charge to challenge the top three.
In addition, drivers like Tony Kanaan and Pietro Fittipaldi will be making their season debuts this weekend, substituting for drivers on road and street course races.
The history of IndyCar racing at the Texas Motor Speedway starts in 1997 – won by Dutch extraordinaire Arie Luyendyk. Since then the circuit has played host to 32 different races and 21 different race winners. Both Helio Castroneves and Scott Dixon are the most successful drivers at Texas with four wins apiece.
If you’re a fan of racing, there’s going to be a lot of it! The 1..5-mile oval located in Fort Worth, Texas will host our first double-header of the season including both the Genesys 300 and the Xpel 375 – the first time Texas has hosted a double-header since 2011. It will be incredibly important to get this track right if a driver wishes to make a significant dent in the championship with 106 points available across both races. Yes, 106!
Unlike 2011, this weekend will be run over a full race distance (In 2011 two races were held on the same day and as a result, the race distance was reduced by half for both). The Genesys 300 will last 212 laps while the second race will be even longer at 248 laps.
Additionally, the qualifying format will see a small tweak. The first lap will determine the starting position for the first race while the second lap will determine the starting position for the second. Normally, when there is only one race your starting position is determined by the combined time for two consecutive timed laps. Got that?
DRIVER CHANGES
Texas Motor Speedway winner (2004) Tony Kanaan will make his return to the series this weekend for Chip Ganassi at both the Genesys 300 and the Xpel 375.
The 2004 series champion is sharing the entry this season with seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson, who is focusing on the road courses and street circuits. This will form two out of the four races Kanaan will compete in this year alongside the Indy 500 and the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 at World Wide Technology Raceway, Illinois.
Courtesy of Chris Owens. Ed Carpenter at the Texas Pre Season Test
Joining alongside him is fellow Texas winner Ed Carpenter, who in recent years has opted to race only on ovals. He will take Conor Daly’s place in the Ed Carpenter Racing Air Force Chevrolet entry. Like last year, Daly will drive the Carlin Chevrolet in place of Max Chilton who will sit out for this weekend.
Romain Grosjean will also not be competing this weekend with his Dayle Coyne Racing with RWR entry taken by Peitro Fittipaldi. The Brazilian making his IndyCar comeback after his 2018 season was cut short by injuries suffered in the World Endurance Championship race at Spa, Belgium.
WHO TO LOOK OUT FOR
There are some incredibly talented drivers to watch out for that I could name almost half the field. Alex Palou was our race winner at Barber but suffered a pretty uneventful outing at St Pete finishing down in 17th. The Spaniard has fresh memories of the Speedway and will be hoping to avoid a repeat of his incident with Rinus VeeKay. Both drivers crashed out of the race on Lap 37 after the Dutchman lost control into turn two.
But while Palou retains his lead at the top of the championship, VeeKay will be looking to continue his consistent run of form after finishing twice in the top ten. The Dutchman qualified in the ‘Fast Six’ on both his oval debuts at the Indy 500 and Gateway with a maiden pole position at the Harvest Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway – he may be one to watch to put in an impressive qualifying performance.
During IndyCar’s pre-season test back in March, it was Arrow McLaren SP’s Patricio O’Ward who was the fastest of everyone. Despite picking up a draft on his flying lap he was amongst the top five fastest on the solo runs. O’Ward has been a constant threat in both races of the season and still seeks his maiden victory. O’Ward’s closest rival in that test was Alexander Rossi who still continues to struggle with poor performances this season.
Courtesy of Chris Owens. Herta at the Texas Pre Season Test
Colton Herta comes off the back of one of his strongest performances of his career with a win at St Pete. The young American is in imperious form, picking up where he left off finishing third in his sophomore IndyCar season and staking a claim as the team leader at Andretti versus the likes of Ryan Hunter-Reay and Alexander Rossi. Last year, Herta was incredibly consistent on ovals, finishing inside the top ten on six occasions. His best result that year on ovals came at the Harvest Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway where he finished second alongside an equally impressive qualifying performance.
And as always you can never count out six-time champion Scott Dixon. With his win record at the track, he will be a threat to win once more and could take the points lead by the end of the weekend. He was last year’s winner at the Texas Motor Speedway and is coming off the back of two top-five finishes. Dixon is someone who is famous for knowing how best to execute a strategy on ovals and will most likely find his way to the top of the field even if he starts far down the order.
Texas will see qualifying take place on Saturday 1st May at 21:00 (BST) followed by the Genesys 300 at midnight, 00:00 (BST).
The Xpel 375 will take place on Sunday 2nd May at 22:00 (BST).
You can watch the race on SkySportF1 in the UK. Alternatively, you can read our post-race reports following each event. In solidarity, with fellow organisations ThePitCrewOnline will be taking part in a social media boycott across the weekend in protest of online hate.
Arrow McLaren SP’s Patricio O’Ward kicked off his 2021 IndyCar campaign in style – taking pole position for the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama. The Mexican extraordinaire looked extremely quick throughout the day, topping all the sessions he featured in throughout qualifying. He narrowly edged out Andretti Autosport’s Alexander Rossi by nearly seven-hundredths of a second on route to securing his second career pole.
Third fastest and quickest of the Chip Ganassi drivers went to series sophomore Alex Palou in his first qualifying run for Chip Ganassi Racing-Honda, while four-time Barber polesitter Will Power was top Team Penske driver in fourth.
Six-time and reigning champion Scott Dixon, who is seeking his first Barber win, will line up fifth, alongside teammate Marcus Ericsson, making it three Ganassi cars in the first three rows.
Romain Grosjean, who drove with a custom helmet designed by his children, drove superbly to secure seventh on his debut. He will start ahead of two-time series champion Josef Newgarden in eighth and young superstar Colton Herta in ninth with Conor Daly rounding out the top ten.
Courtesy of Chris Owens
The qualifying session was not without its drama. The second group session was first disrupted by James Hinchcliffe understeering off the track into the tire wall at Turn 5, bringing out the red flag. Pato O’Ward himself narrowly saved a huge moment at the top of the crest between Turns 13 and 14 on his way to topping the session.
However, his teammate Felix Rosenqvist was not so lucky. The Swede dropped it at the final turn which brought out the second red flag of the session. Despite crossing the line, the lap-time was deleted.
Other notable mentions include our other two star rookies, Australian Supercar Champion Scott McLaughlin and multiple-time NASCAR Champion Jimmie Johnson who will start 12th and 22nd respectively.
After what seemed like an unusually long winter Formula 1 is back with a bang in the desert.
After winter testing, three practice sessions and qualifying all that we knew for sure was the grid had indeed tightened up, especially for the top two teams in Mercedes and Red Bull.
Max Verstappen had taken pole position from Lewis Hamilton by just under four tenths of a second with the sister Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas in third and Charles Leclerc in fourth.
Even sitting thousands of miles away the anticipation at the start was palpable.
The instillation lap did nothing to calm the nerves as Checo Perez loses power initialising a second instal lap.
He did manage to power up the ailing Red Bull but had to start from the pit lane.
Five red lights go out and we’re away for the Bahrain Grand Prix and indeed the start of the 2021 season. Unsurprisingly to many fans the number two Haas crashes out at turn one and his race ends before it can even start, leaving Mick Schumacher the sole Haas driver as the safety car is deployed.
Leclerc had managed to snatch third from Bottas before the safety car was deployed! Sainz lost out at the start and is down in P10, with Alonso and Stroll both gaining a position from him.
Verstappen leads the pack away from Hamilton who is left to defend from Leclerc into turn one.
Bottas takes third place back as we settle into a familiar pattern.
Verstappen pulls out a small lead of just under two seconds.
Further down the pack Sergio Perez starts to haul the Red bull through the field.
Mercedes are first to blink and try the undercut, putting the hard tyres on and it looks like a great decision as Red bull stays out as Lewis starts pumping in purple sectors and is the fastest man on track.
Verstappen’s in at last! And goes from mediums to mediums, he will have to stop again. He exits the pits nearly seven seconds behind Hamilton!
The top three are Hamilton, Verstappen and Bottas. Further down the field Vettel and Alonso are fighting it out for P8!
Max is putting in the strong laps now on tyres ten laps newer than Hamilton’s. He closes to within two seconds or so, as Mercedes once again throws the dice and pull Lewis in for a new set of hard boots.
He exits the pits in third behinds Bottas in second and Max in first.
Bottas stops but there’s a problem with the front left! It’s a 10.9s stop and he comes out behind Leclerc in P5
Verstappen pits for hards and is stationary for an incredible 1.9 seconds and leaves himself 8.7s to make up to Hamilton in the final 17 laps.
Hamilton’s trying to keep his tyres going until the end, andy it’s falling back into Verstappen’s hands as he starts to take chunks off Lewis.
Verstappen is eating into Hamilton’s lead like its an open buffet. Half a second out in the middle sector alone, and he can see the Mercedes on the straights now.
Hamilton brakes another record this time for the most laps led in F1 with 5,112!
Vettel and Ocon have come together. Both have got going again, but Vettel has some damage to his front wing. Looks like Sebs fault but that’s one for the stewards to decide.
Max is like a lion hunting down his prey with only the odd back marker to hold him back, Lewis locks up and goes wide at Turn ten! He keeps the lead but Verstappen is just a second behind now and within DRS range.
Lap 52 and Hamilton only has half a second over Verstappen as he tries around the outside of Turn one but Hamilton holds him off!
Down to Turn four and Verstappen goes around the outside again, and this time he takes the lead!
Max Is immediately told by his team to give the place back as he’s left the circuit whilst taking the position, if he doesn’t do it a penalty could be costly.
Verstappen’s loses grip in Hamilton’s wake but he’s now out of DRS range on the start finish straight.
Bottas stops for a new set of tyres as he attempts to grab the extra point for fastest lap.
Hamilton starts the final lap and Verstappen is back within DRS range, no matter how well Max has driven this weekend he just can’t get passed the exuberant Hamilton who takes the win from Verstappen and Bottas.
Norris, Perez, Ricardo and Yuki Tsunoda all make impressive debuts, Alonso and Seb looked good and should improve as we get further into the season.
Mick Schumacher had a quiet race finishing last but that’s all that can be expected in the under developed Haas.
image courtesy of Pirelli Motorsports 
image courtesy of Pirelli Motorsports 
