INDIA in F1

Author: David Bodapati

  • Thrilling maiden F1 victory for Esteban Ocon: Race Analysis

    Thrilling maiden F1 victory for Esteban Ocon: Race Analysis

    By Malhaar Khaladkar

    Esteban Ocon unexpectedly won a thrilling race at the Hungaroring circuit, his first career win as Sebastian Vettel finished second but was later disqualified for a technical infringement. Subsequently Lewis Hamilton got the second spot and Carlos Sainz was promoted to the podium spot in third.

    New Delhi, 2 August 2021: Esteban Ocon achieved his first career victory as he led the whole race ahead of Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton. Later the German getting disqualified due to a technical infringement as race officials could not extract the required amount of fuel sample from his car. This promoted Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz on the podium, his second podium of the year after Monaco. Ocon’s Alpine teammate Fernando Alonso finished P4 who played a pivotal role in helping his teammate win. AlphaTauri duo of Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda finished in P5 and P6 respectively. Both Williams drivers Nicholas Latifi and George Russell achieved points for the first time, crossing the line in P7 and P8. Max Verstappen could only manage P9 in his heavily damage Red Bull and Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Raikkonen rounded out the top 10.

    Ricciardo was unable to finish in the top 10 as he nursed his McLaren throughout the race with Haas’ Mick Schumacher and Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi the last two race finishers.

    Valtteri Bottas collided with two cars of Lando Norris and Sergio Perez with all three retiring atthe start due to terminal damage. Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll skidded onto wet grass and took out Charles Leclerc and both were unable to continue in the race. An unsafe release by Alfa Romeo meant that Raikkonen tagged Nikita Mazepin in the pits, with the Russian’s car having suspension failure due to contact.

    Esteban Ocon, third from left, poses with Hamilton, right and Vettel, left, after winning the Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday. A Mercedes image

    The forecasted rain arrived before the race start as everyone changed to intermediate tyres. The race got underway, and Hamilton was cleanly off from the pole. His teammate Bottas got a less than ideal start as he fell prey to Verstappen and Norris. Bottas overcooked his breaking point in turn 1 and speared into Norris who in turn damaged the right side of Verstappen’s car. Meanwhile, Bottas lost his front wheel and tagged Perez. The Mexican carrying on for another sector before his engine shut off due to damage. Stroll tried to get on the inside of Leclerc’s Ferrari in turn 1, but he lost control on the wet grass and collected Leclerc who tagged Ricciardo’s McLaren because of the knock-on effect. Leclerc and Stroll retired on the spot. Several cars retiring on the grid and debris meant the race was red flagged.

    When the race got underway, a bizarre sight was witnessed as only Hamilton started on the grid and everyone else on the grid pitted for dry tyres. Hamilton and Mercedes later realizing their mistake and pitting one lap after the race was underway as the Briton slotted into last position. Ahead briefly Russell lead the grand prix in his Williams before being asked to give the positions back due to overtaking in the pitlane. Ocon assumed the race lead with Vettel close behind followed by Sainz.

    Hamilton passed Giovinazzi and Schumacher but was stuck in a train as it is notoriously difficult to overtake at this track even if the car has superior pace. Mercedes pitted Hamilton again for hard tyres on lap 19. Both Ricciardo and Verstappen pitted a lap later trying to cover Hamilton, but his undercut was superior as he got past both of them and releasing the Briton in free air. By lap 32 Hamilton was up to P5 passing the likes of Schumacher, Latifi and Tsunoda in the process.

    To cover Hamilton’s undercut, Ferrari pitted Sainz on lap 32 and the Spaniard emerged in front of the Mercedes driver. Ahead Ocon was still in the lead defending from the relentless pressure of Vettel with Alonso in third. All three yet to pit. Vettel was the first to pit among the race leaders as he attempted an undercut with Ocon following suit for hard tyres a lap later. Ocon just about managed to stay in front and resume his defense for the victory. Alonso pitted on lap 39 emerging behind Sainz and Hamilton but on fresher tyres.

    Mercedes pitted Hamilton again on lap 47 for medium tyres, trying to do the ‘Hungary 2019’ strategy again with even Toto Wolff assuring Hamilton on the team radio. Hamilton quickly caught up to Alonso and Sainz. Hamilton and Alonso had a titanic duel as Alonso defended hard but fair with the Briton attacking lap after lap. This battle being reminiscent of the past two decades between this pair. Finally Hamilton managed to get past Alonso by lap 65 and overtaking Sainz by lap 67. But he could not challenge for the win as the battle with Alonso had cost him too much time.

    The day belonged to Ocon as he triumphed at Hungary for his first Formula 1 victory with Vettel getting another podium in his decorated career- later being disqualified. Hamilton had to settle for P3 but was happier of the two title rivals as he retook the championship lead alongside Mercedes.

    The Formula 1 circus heads for a well-deserved summer break as racing will resume at the end of August for the Belgian Grand Prix. See you then!

    Mercedes upgrades confirmed that they have clawed back performance compared to Red Bull. Hungaroring was expected to suit Red Bull’s car characteristics, but Mercedes got pole position by over four-tenths of a second, securing a front row lockout and had the fastest race car. If not for Mercedes’ strategy error, they would have won. Red Bull had a miserable weekend as they unexpectedly lost to their German rivals in qualifying. Already on the backfoot, both drivers’ race was ruined due to the turn 1 melee started by Bottas as they managed to salvage two points for this weekend. They lost both championship leads.

    AlphaTauri had an encouraging race weekend as the Gasly out qualified both McLaren and Ferrari cars. They also achieved a double-points finish which will help them in the fight for P5 in the constructors championship. The Hungaroring circuit suiting the characteristics of the AT02 as it requires high downforce. McLaren had a dismal race weekend scoring no points as they were caught up in the turn 1 incident and therefore it is difficult to judge how they would have done in the race. Ferrari had a positive race with Sainz as they managed to achieve a podium. Ferrari had decent qualifying pace and very close to Gasly and Norris’ pace as they were just separated by 0.013s in qualifying.

    This was a mega result for Alpine as Ocon got his first win. Qualifying pace wise they were behind the top three midfield teams this race but made most of the opportunity in the race. Ocon’s performance boosted in the last few races as he swapped his chassis. Alonso played a key role in Ocon’s victory as he held off Hamilton for more than 10 laps. Aston Martin arguably had a faster car in race trim than Alpine unable to pass Ocon for the race lead as it was difficult to overtake. Vettel’s car was later disqualified, and he lost P2 as the race stewards could not extract the required amount of fuel sample from his car. Aston Martin have lodged an appeal against this.

    Williams finally achieved double points finish which helped them jump to P8 in constructor’s standings. They showed mediocre qualifying pace as Russell was knocked out of Q1 for the first time this season but made full opportunity of the incidents at the start to achieve points. Alfa Romeo lacked race pace to challenge Williams but still managed P10 with Raikkonen. Haas were unable to make full use of the race incidents to achieve points with Schumacher and admittedly lacked pace to do so.

    Saturday Qualifying Results were:

    P1: Lewis Hamilton- 44 (Mercedes)P2: Valtteri Bottas- 77 (Mercedes)
    P3: Max Verstappen- 33 (Red Bull)P4: Sergio Perez- 11 (Red Bull)
    P5: Pierre Gasly- 10 (AlphaTauri)P6: Lando Norris- 4 (McLaren)
    P7: Charles Leclerc- 16 (Ferrari)P8: Esteban Ocon- 31 (Alpine)
    P9: Fernando Alonso- 14 (Alpine)P10: Sebastian Vettel- 5 (Aston Martin)
    P11: Daniel Ricciardo- 3 (McLaren)P12: Lance Stroll- 18 (Aston Martin)
    P13: Kimi Raikkonen- 7 (Alfa Romeo)P14: Antonio Giovinazzi- 99 (Alfa Romeo)
    P15: Carlos Sainz- 55 (Ferrari)P16: Yuki Tsunoda- 22 (AlphaTauri)
    P17: George Russell- 63 (Williams)P18: Nicholas Latifi- 6 (Williams)
    P19: Nikita Mazepin- 9 (Haas)P20: Mick Schumacher- 47 (Haas)
  • Ruhaan, Rohaan and Nikhilesh claim Round 1 honours

    Ruhaan, Rohaan and Nikhilesh claim Round 1 honours

    Bengaluru, 1 August 2021: In the battle between youth and experience,talented Bengaluru teenager Ruhaan Alva took the honours in the first round brushing aside the challenge of two-time National champion Ameya Bafna to lead the table in the MSport IAME X30 Senior Class of the MECO fmsci National Karting Championship 2021 at the 12.km Meco Kartopia track at Bangalru, near here on Saturday and Sunday.

    X30 Karting Nationals Round 1 Senior Class winners after 4 races. From left: MR Rishon 3rd, Ruhaan Alva 1st and Ameya Bafna 2nd;

    Making a comeback after a hiatus of five years, the 26-year Mumbai racer, Ameya Bafna, who won the National Karting Championship in Senior Class in 2012 and 2014, began with a bang posting a facile victory in Race 1 ahead of Bengaluru pilot Magehalli Rishon Rajeev in second. Ruhaan Alva, after dominating the Junior Class in 2020 upgraded himself to the Senior Class looking for better competition but struggled with the balance of the kart in Race 1 and could finish only third. But the talented 15-year-old, starting P4 on the reverse grid ahead of Rishon and Ameya Bafna, made amends and won Race 2. Behind Ruhaan, Rishon finished second again bagging valuable points and Ameya had to settle for third on the podium.

    Ameya came back winning Race 3 but suffered issues with the silencer and could finish only 8th in Race 4. Ruhaan, who kept himself with a striking chance taking second place in Race 3, won the last race with ease taking a six-second lead over Rishon and set a blistering lap of 56.360 on the way. He also clocked the fastest lap of the week-end, a 56.28 in warm-up. Ruhaan leads the points table with 33 points after Round 1 followed by Ameya Bafna and MR Rishon, both on 27 points.

    In the Junior Class, another talented Bengaluru racer Rohaan Madesh won three races to take the Championship lead with 32 points while his younger brother, Ishaan Madesh, the 2020 Cadet champion, won Race 3. Abhay M, also from Bengaluru, who was consistent bagging three second places and a third place, was second in the standings with 27 points ahead of Ishaan on 20 points.

    X30 Round 1 Junior Class – 1st – Rohaan Madesh (centre); 2nd – Abhay M; 3rd (right)- Ishaan Madesh (left)

    In the Cadet Class, Aditya Suresh Kamat and Arafath Sheikh won a race each on Saturday while Nikhilesh Raju clinched both the races on Sunday and with the two second places he bagged on Saturday, the 11-year, Grade 6 student of Vibgyor High School, Bengaluru took the Championship lead with 34 points. Aditya has logged 30 points while Arafath claimed 26 points after Round 1.

    This is the first of the five rounds in the National X30 championship. Each round has four races offering a maximum of 40 points. X30 Round 2 and 3 will be held together from August 13 to 15 while the final two rounds, Round 4 and 5 are scheduled for August 27 to 29. All rounds will be held at Meco Kartopia in Bengaluru, unless Carona restrictions disrupt the schedules.

    MSport IAME X30 India 2021 National Karting Championship (at Meco Kartopia, Bengaluru)

    X30 Round 1 Cadet Class: 1st – Nikhilesh Raju (centre); 2nd – Aditya Suresh Kamat (right); 3rd – Arafath Sheikh (left)

    Round 1 Final provisional classification:

    Seniors (15 laps)

    Saturday: Race 1: 1. kart#32 Ameya Bafna (Mumbai) (14:41.597); 2. #25 MR Rishon (Bengaluru) (14:46.375); 3. #27 Ruhaan Alva (Bengaluru) (14:49.808); Best lap: Ameya Bafna 56.880; Race 2: 1: Ruhaan Alva (14:30.977); 2. MR Rishon (14:33.300); 3. Ameya Bafna (14:33.468); Best lap: Ruhaan Alva 56.703.

    Sunday: Race 3: 1. Ameya Bafna (14:23.399); 2. Ruhaan Alva (14:26.885); 3. MR Rishon (14:31.115); Best lap: Ruhaan Alva 56.419; Race 4: 1. Ruhaan Alva (14:30.839); 2. MR Rishon (14:37.309); 3. #28 Nigel Abraham Thomas (14:42.481). Best lap: Ruhaan Alva 56.360.

    Juniors (12 laps)

    Saturday: Race 1: 1. #15 Rohaan Madesh (Bengaluru) (12:08.116); 2. #11 Abhay M (Bengaluru) (12:08.299); 3. #18 Jaden R Pariat (Guwahati) (12:14.940); Best lap: Abhay M 56.983; Race 2: 1. Rohaan Madesh (12:23.232); 2. #17 Ishaan Madesh (Bengaluru) (12:24.523); 3. Abhay M (12:25.070). Best lap: Abhay M 56.871;

    Sunday: Race 3: 1. Ishaan Madesh (Bengaluru) (11:38.782); 2. Abhay M (Bengaluru) (11:41.156); 3. Jaden R Pariat (Guwahati) (11:41.385); Best lap: Ishaan Madesh 56.452; Race 4: 1. Rohaan Madesh (Bengaluru) (11:41.008); 2. Abhay M (Bengaluru) (11:43.499); 3. Jaden R Pariat (Guwahati) (11:46.559); Best lap: Ishaan Madesh 56.415;

    Cadet (10 laps)

    Saturday: Race 1: 1. #2 Aditya Suresh Kamat (Bengaluru) (11:05.088); 2. #4 Nikhilesh Raju (Bengaluru) (11:07.440); 3. #5 Arafath Sheikh (Pune) (11:07.686); Best lap: Arafath Sheikh 1:03.881; Race 2: 1. Arafath Sheikh (11:08.223); 2. Nikhilesh Raju (11:12.114); 3. Aditya Suresh Kamat (11:14.461). Best lap: Arafath Sheikh 1:03.657;

    Sunday: Race 3: 1 Nikhilesh Raju (Bengaluru) (11:29.864); 2. Aditya Suresh Kamat (Bengaluru) (11:32.642); 3. #3 Vedha Vishnu (Chennai) (12:00.659); Best lap: Arafath Sheikh 1:03.846; Race 4: 1 Nikhilesh Raju (10:56.494); 2. Aditya Suresh Kamat (11:03.359); 3. Vedha Vishnu (11:05.795); Best lap: Arafath Sheikh 1:03.592;

    Standings after Round 1:

    Cadet Class (Total grid = 5)

    1. Nikhilesh Raju (Bengaluru) 34;
    2. Aditya Suresh Kamat (Bengaluru) 30;
    3. Arafath Sheikh (Pune) 26;
    4. Vedha Vishnu (Chennai) 22;
    5. Zarah Mishra (Bengaluru) 16;

    Junior Class (Total grid = 12)

    1. Rohaan Madesh (Bengaluru) 32;
    2. Abhay M (Bengaluru) 27;
    3. Ishaan Madesh (Bengaluru) 20;
    4. Jaden R Pariat (Guwahati) 19;
    5. Akshat Misra (Bengaluru) 19;
    6. Ranvir Singh (Pune) 17;
    7. Sai Shiva Makesh (Pune) 8;
    8. Neythan McPherson (Pune) 8;
    9. Tharun M (Bengaluru) 2;

    Senior Class (Total Grid = 8)

    1. Ruhaan Alva (Bengaluru) 33;
    2. Ameya Bafna (Mumbai) 27;
    3. MR Rishon (Bengaluru) 27;
    4. Nigel Abraham Thomas (Bengaluru) 17;
    5. Shaurya Kapani (Mumbai) 17;
    6. Raaj Bakhru (Mumbai) 13;
    7. G Rahul Reddy (Hyderabad) 11;
    8. Dhruv Mugugappan (Chennai) 7;
  • Vettel disqualified; Hami promoted to P2

    Vettel disqualified; Hami promoted to P2

    Sebastian Vettel has been excluded from the result of the Hungarian Grand Prix after his Aston Martin teams failed to provide sufficient fuel from his car after the race to meet regulations.

    According to the decision handed down by the FIA race stewards it was not possible to take a 1.0 litre sample of fuel from Vettel’s car after the race, stating that though “the team was given several opportunities to attempt to remove the required amount of fuel from the tank, however it was only possible to pump 0.3 litres out”.

    The stewards’ decision added: “During the hearing in presence of the FIA Technical Delegate and the FIA Technical Director the team principal of Aston Martin stated that there must be 1,44 litres left in the tank, but they are not able to get it out. This figure is calculated using the FFM or injector model.

    “Given this situation, car No. 5 is not in compliance with the requirements of Art. 6.6 FIA Technical Regulations. According to Art. 6.6.2 competitors must ensure that a 1.0 litre sample of fuel may be taken from the car at any time. The procedure was followed however the 1.0 litre sample of fuel was unable to be taken.

    “The Stewards determine to apply the standard penalty for technical infringements. Therefore they took into account, that it shall be no defence to claim that no performance advantage was obtained.”

    The decision therefore was that “Car 5 (Vettel) is disqualified from the results of the Race”.

    While Aston Martin have the right to appeal, Vettel’s exclusion from the result promotes Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton to second place in the result with Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz claiming third. Haimilton will therefore will go into Formula 1’s summer break with an eight-point Driver’s Championship lead over Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, while Mercedes now lead the Constructors’ Championship with 303 points, 12 ahead of Red Bull.

  • Stunning maiden win for Esteban Ocon: Hungarian GP

    Stunning maiden win for Esteban Ocon: Hungarian GP

    Budapest, 1 August 2021: Alpine’s Esteban Ocon held of Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel to take a surprise maiden grand victory after collisions in turn one upset the order and brought out the red flags. Lewis Hamilton, meanwhile, fought back to third place after a tactical error at the restart left him in last place in the Round 11 of the Formula 1 World Championship on Sunday.

    Later, Vettel was disqualified and the rest of the nine drivers after him were promoted.

    At the start, held in drizzly conditions and with the field on intermediate tyres, Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas made a poor getaway from P2 on the grid and was passed by third-place starter Max Verstappen, the second Red Bull of Sergio Pérez and by McLaren’s Lando Norris, who moved in front of the Mercedes driver. 

    Bottas attempted to recover but when Norris appeared to brake slightly early to avoid trouble in Turn 1, the Finn driver locked up and ploughed into the back of the Englishman’s car. Norris cannoned into the side of Max’s RB16B with the championship leader’s car sustaining heavy damage to the floor. Bottas, meanwhile, bounced through the corner and collided with Pérez. 

    Seeing the incident unfolding, Lance Stroll tried to move to an inside line for Turn 1 but Charles Leclerc was already turning and the Aston Martin driver made heavy contact with the Ferrari driver who exited the race. The Safety Car was quickly deployed.

    Verstappen and Pérez were initially able to continue but midway thorugh the lap Pérez pulled over and retired from the race. Verstappen limped back to the pits for visual checks but as he rejoined his right bargeboard detached and with debris in the pit exit and scattered across Turn 1 the red flags were displayed.

    In the pit lane pole position man Lewis Hamilton held P1 for Mercedes ahead of Ocon and Vettel. Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz was fourth ahead of AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda and Williams’ Niocholas Latifi was sixth. Alpine’s Fernando Alonso sat in seventh place ahead of Williams’ George Russell, the Alfa Romeo of Kimi Räikkönen and the Haas of Mick Schumacher, while ahead of the wounded RB16B of Verstappen at the restart would be AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly and McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo. 

    Race control informed the teams that a standing start would take place and the cars were led out of the pit lane by the safety car. The entire field went out for the formation lap on intermediate tyres but with the sun now rapidly drying the track it quickly became clear to all but Hamilton that slicks would be required. The race leader made his way to the front of the grid but behind him the entire field pitted to take on slicks. Hamilton was left alone on the grid to restart the race on his own. 

    As Hamilton powered away towards Turn 1, the rest of the order then filed out of the pit lane and took up position behind him. Mercedes immediately told Hamilton to pit at the end of the lap and Ocon soon took up the race lead ahead of Vettel and Latifi. 

    Hamilton dropped to P14 and last as Verstappen made his way to P11 but as Ocon and Vettel pulled away from the pack, the championship leaders struggled to get past rivals at the back of the field. 

    Verstappen  eventually made his way past Schumacher to claim P10 and that became ninth place when Räikkönen served a penalty for an unsafe release in the pit lane traffic ahead of the restart. Hamilton eventually made his way to P13 and then, on lap 20 he dived into the pits to take on hard tyres.

    Red Bull then pitted Verstappen for hard tyres, but with the Dutchman struggling for pace in his damaged car the undercut worked for Mercedes and Hamilton swept past as the Dutchman exited the pit lane. 

    Verstappen was now in 12th place just behind McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo. But even though the Red Bull driver could get inside DRS range of the McLaren, the Australian was getting a similar boost from George Russell ahead and the champion leader found himself stuck at the tail of a train of cars. 

    Ahead, Hamilton continued his march forward and by lap 35 he was in fifth place behind Alonso, who needed to make another pit stop. The Spaniard briefly took the race lead when Vettel and Ocon took on fresh tyres, with Ocon holding the advantage, but a lap later Alonso made his stop and Hamilton swept past to claim fourth place behind Sainz. The Briton was struggling for grip on his hard tyres, however and Mercedes opted to pit him for new mediums and a renewed assault. 

    Further back, Verstappen pitted to find a way out of the train and after taking on new medium tyres began to attack the cars ahead.

    Hamilton then began to reel in the top four and on lap 54 he was just 1.8s behind Alonso. Verstappen, meanwhile, has made his way past Räikkönen and was up to P11 and closed in on Ricciardo eventually getting past the Australian with 10 laps to go to secure P10 and a single point.

    Alonso’s defence against Hamilton eventually expired at the start of lap 65. The Alpine driver had a momentary lock up into Turn 1 and Hamilton pounced to steal P4 on the run down to Turn 2. The Mercedes driver quickly closed on Sainz and at the start of lap 67 he powered past the Ferrari to take third place. 

    And there the odder solidified. Vettel could find no way to mount an attack on Ocon and though Hamilton pressed hard to reel in the Aston Martin driver he couldn’t close the gap and after 70 laps Ocon crossed the line to take a memorable first grand prix win ahead of Vettel and Hamilton. 

    Fourth place went to Sainz, with Alonso a brave fifth ahead of Pierre Gasly, who took the point for fastest lap. Seventh place went to Yuki Tsunoda, while Williams celebrated their first points in two years thanks to Nicholas Latifi and George Russell’s finishing eighth and ninth respectively.

    Verstappen now goes into the break in P2 in the Drivers’ standings. Hamilton now leads on 192 points with Max six points behind. The team is now P2 in the Constructors’ 10 points behind Mercedes. 

    2021 FIA Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix – Race
    1 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 70 2:04’43.199
    2 Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin/Mercedes 70 2:04’45.058 1.859
    3 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 70 2:04’45.935 2.736
    4 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 70 2:04’58.217 15.018
    5 Fernando Alonso Alpine/Renault 70 2:04’58.850 15.651
    6 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri/Honda 70 2:05’46.813 1’03.614
    7 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri/Honda 70 2:05’59.002 1’15.803
    8 Nicholas Latifi Williams/Mercedes 70 2:06’01.109 1’17.910
    9 George Russell Williams/Mercedes 70 2:06’02.293 1’19.094
    10 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda 70 2:06’03.443 1’20.244
    11 Kimi Räikkönen Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 69 2:05’00.261 1 lap /17.062
    12 Daniel Ricciardo McLaren/Mercedes 69 2:05’12.032 1 lap /28.833
    13 Mick Schumacher Haas/Ferrari 69 2:05’21.793 1 lap /38.594
    14 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 69 2:05’22.828 1 lap /39.629
    Nikita Mazepin Haas/Ferrari 3 31’35.873 Collision
    Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 2 5’29.158 Collision
    Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 0 Collision
    Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda 0 Collision
    Charles Leclerc Ferrari 0 Collision
    Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 0 Collision

    Pirelli KEY MOMENTS

    • Alpine driver Esteban Ocon took his first ever Formula 1 win at a dramatic Hungarian Grand Prix, which originally started with all the field (apart from Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi) on Cinturato Green intermediates in wet conditions. A collision at the first corner brought out a red flag, during which teams were allowed to change tyres and repair any damage.
    • Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton, who led the field away for the re-start, was the only competitor to keep the intermediates and start from the grid, while all the other drivers came into the pits for medium tyres. Hamilton then pitted for mediums too at the end of the first racing lap following the re-start, rejoining last but eventually finishing third after an early switch to hard followed by a final run on mediums.
    • Ocon effectively re-started on the P Zero Yellow medium C3 tyre after the second formation lap and then switched to the P Zero White hard C2 on lap 37, one lap after Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel, who finished a close second on an identical strategy.
    • After record-breaking temperatures on Friday and warm conditions yesterday, the weather completely changed today with rain and 28 degrees ambient, plus 32 degrees of track temperature at the start of the race. The track then warmed up considerably after few laps, peaking at 40 degrees of asphalt temperature.

    Mercedes Session Report

    A race of high drama results in a P3 and a DNF for the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team at the 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix

    • Lewis completed a remarkable recovery drive to finish on the podium despite finding himself running last on lap five after an action-filled start to the race.
    • Valtteri suffered wheelspin in the heavy rain at the race start, losing position to the cars around him on entry to the first corner. He locked brakes and collided with NOR, sparking a multi-car accident with several cars suffering damage and a number of retirements, including Valtteri. Lewis was unscathed out-front.
    • The race was red-flagged and upon the standing restart, the Team chose to keep Lewis out on the Intermediate tyre and start from the grid, while the remainder of the field behind opted to pit for slick tyres and start from the pit lane.
    • On a rapidly drying track, Lewis was forced to pit just one lap later to fall in line with the other cars and found himself emerging from the pits 14th and last, with a mountain to climb.
    • Lewis carved his way through the field with a number of impressive overtakes to climb to fifth with a little over 10 laps to go, before encountering a stubborn ALO who defended strongly and cost Lewis precious time.
    • Eventually, Lewis made the pass on ALO and quickly dispatched SAI thereafter but ran out of laps and was forced to settle for a heroic P3, joining debut-winner OCO on the podium alongside VET in P2.
    • Lewis Hamilton (192 points) leads the Drivers’ Championship by 6 points from Max Verstappen (186) and Lando Norris in P3 (113), with Valtteri (108) in P4.
    • The Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team (300 points) lead Red Bull by 10 points in the Constructors’ Championship.

    Estaban Ocon: I don’t know what to write I’m lost for words, we just won the Hungarian @f1 Grand Prix i will forever remember this moment !!

    Thank you to @AlpineF1Team without them I would not have make it, and what a drive by the legend himself @alo_oficial he’s part of this too.

    Sebastian Vettel says; “Second place is a great result and we can be proud of our performance, but when you are that close to victory, you always want more. At the start of the race, I could see the contact ahead of me, so I took the inside line and found myself with the leading cars. From then on, I felt like I tried to take the lead for the entire 70 laps, but it is so difficult to overtake here. I think we were quicker for most of the race, but there was not enough of a difference to make an overtake because it was very hard to follow in the dirty air. I tried to pressure Esteban [Ocon] into a mistake, but he did not make a single one. Congratulations to Esteban, it is his day and I am very happy for him. He deserved the victory. I will sleep well tonight knowing I gave it my all. We have a good fight on our hands in the midfield with Alpine and AlphaTauri, so we will take the summer break to rest up and come back ready to fight in Belgium.”

    Lewis Hamilton says: First of all, I want to say a quick congratulations to the Alpine Team and to Esteban – he’s been a shining star for some time now so it’s been a long time coming and I’m really, really happy for him. It’s great to see Aston Martin up there with their best result so far and I know there’s more to come from them. We’ve had an amazing crowd this weekend and I’m grateful for the support.

     Today was definitely tough, it’s crazy to think we were the only ones on the grid at the start, but these things happen in an unpredictable race, and we will learn any lessons that need to be learnt. I gave it everything today and I had nothing left at the end. I came into this weekend not knowing how we would perform and considering the circumstances today, I’ll take P3!

  • Akhil Rabindra-Conde finish P11 in Silver Category in Race 1

    Akhil Rabindra-Conde finish P11 in Silver Category in Race 1

    Spa Francorchamps, 1 August, 2021: Akhil Rabindra, the only Indian on the European GT4 Championship grid, racing for AGS Events Racing Team, finished P11 in the Silver category in Race 1 along with his team mate Hugo Conde in an incident laden round four of the championship in Belgium on Saturday evening at the iconic Circuit de Spa Francorchamps which also hosts  the much-awaited Belgian Grand Prix .

    The Indo-French duo driving the Aston Martin Racing V8 Vantage GT4 for AGS Events Racing Team had earlier finished at P13 & P12 in the Silver category at the Qualifying race 1 & 2 respectively. Akhil took to the steering wheel after the pit stop in Race 1 of the fourth round of the European GT4 Championship made an impressive run to finish P11 in the Silver category and an overall P23 from a grid of 37 cars. Akhil while being on the driver’s seat completed 21 laps in 1:02:22.434 minutes.

    Circuit Spa is known for inconsistent weather and the rain started with the formation lap which caused a lot of splashes and caused visual disruptions for the drivers on the grid. Akhil started the Race 2 and Hugo who took over the driver’s seat after the pit stop but with just few minutes to go for the final lap the damper broke and the duo finished the race at P14 at Silver cup category and completed 19 laps at 57:09.649 minutes and  overall P36.

    Akhil Rabindra commented, “We could have done much better and are definitely not happy with our performance. The rain made it difficult it impacted the speed and also the technical glitch at the end of the race which was unexpected. We will have to keep working on our performance and keep improving to ensure that in future such indirect and unforeseen hurdles do not impact our positions drastically.”

    Round 4 of the European GT4 Series saw #22 Allied Racing Porsche’s victory in Silver Cup, #42 Sainteloc Racing Audi in Pro-am and #12 BMW  in the AM Cup claiming the top honors. The European GT4 Series now moves to Circuit Nürburgring, Germany for round five of the Championship from September 3rd -5th , 2021. The race can be watched LIVE on the YouTube Page of European GT4 Series.

    About European GT4 Championship:

    The GT4 European Series is a sports car championship created and organised by SRO Motorsports Group. It is a pro/am championship which followed a formula similar to the FIA GT3 European Championship, which was itself derived from the FIA GT Championship which utilized the GT1 and GT2 classes.

    GT4 class cars are mostly what can be referred to as track day cars, which are factory-built race cars available to the public. However, custom-built cars based on production models can also be built by teams. All cars are test driven by the FIA and then modified so that they all have near identical performance levels. Once a car has been approved by the FIA, it cannot be modified by the teams, eliminating continual development costs for constructors. All cars run on regulated Pirelli tires to further equalize performance.     

  • Stunning lap gives Hamilton his 101st career pole

    Stunning lap gives Hamilton his 101st career pole

    Budapest, 31 July 2021: Lewis Hamilton will start tomorrow’s Hungarian Grand Prix from the front of the grid after he grabbed an emphatic 101st career pole position at the Hungaroring beating Mercedes’ team-mate Valterri Bottas by three tenths of ahead with championship leader Max Verstappen over four tenths of a second off the pace in third in the 11th round of the Formula 1 World Championship qualifying session here on Saturday.

    At the beginning of the hour-long qualifying session the expected frontrunners were quickly into action, with Bottas taking an early P1 with a lap of 1:16.610. However, he was soon demoted by Hamilton who stole top spot thanks to a lap of 1:16.424. Verstappen wasn’t far behind the Mercedes pair on track, though, and the Red Bull driver jumped ahead of both with his opening push lap of 1:16.214.

    Verstappen’s team-mate Sergio Pérez looked to be struggling, however.  The Mexican opened with a lap of 1:17.300 but as better laps flooded in he soon dropped to ninth place. He opted for a second attempt but only improved to 1:17.233 and still held ninth ahead of the final runs.

    Despite the risk to Pérez, Red Bull chose to keep both drivers in the garage for the final runs. And it proved the right choice as there were few improvements in the final moments and Verstappen held top sport as Pérez progressed in P11.

    Eliminated at the end of the first session were AlphaTauri’s Tsunoda in P16, Williams’ George Russell and Nicholas Latifi in P17 and P18 respectively and Haas’ Nikita Mazepin in P19. The Russian’s team-mate, Mick Schumacher, didn’t make it out on track in the session with Haas unable to repair his car following an earlier crash in FP3.

    At the start of Q2, Hamilton set the pace on medium tyres with a lap of 1:16.553. Verstappen also opted for mediums and slotted into P2 with a time of 1:16.769. However, the Dutchman was pushed to P3 as Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, on soft tyres, set an impressive time of 1:16.725.

    The session was then halted as Carlos Sainz lost control of his Ferrari in the final corner and slid into the barriers. The red flags were quickly displayed.

    After a short delay the action resumed and both Red Bulls mopved to soft tyres. Verstappen jumped to the top of the timesheet with a lap of 1:15.650 while Pérez went through to Q3 in P4 thanks to an improved time of 1:16.443. Both Mercedes drivers opted to back out of their final laps and after progressing in P6 and P8 will start on medium tyres.

    Eliminated at the end of Q2 were 11th placed Danile Ricciardo of McLaren, Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll, Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Räikkönen and Antonio Giovinazzi and the unfortunate Sainz.

    In the first runs of Q3, Hamilton laid down a tough marker with an opening time of 1:15.419. Bottas followed on 1:15.734 and Max sat in P3 with an opening time of 1:15.984. Verstappen then improved on his final run but the  tenth of a second he found was not enough to trouble Hamilton and the Mercedes driver claimed pole position with Bottas second and Vrestappen third.

    Pérez claimed fourth place on the grid with his opening run time, while Pierre Gasly put in an impressive lap of 1:16.483 to take fifth place on the grid ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris. Leclerc will start seventh for Ferrari with Alpine’s Esteban Ocon and Fernando in eighth and ninth. The final top 10 position went to Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel.

    2021 FIA Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix – Qualifying
    1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:15.419 6 209.119
    2 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:15.734 0.315 0.418 6 208.249
    3 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda 1:15.840 0.421 0.558 6 207.958
    4 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda 1:16.421 1.002 1.329 5 206.377
    5 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri/Honda 1:16.483 1.064 1.411 6 206.210
    6 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:16.489 1.070 1.419 6 206.194
    7 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:16.496 1.077 1.428 6 206.175
    8 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 1:16.653 1.234 1.636 6 205.753
    9 Fernando Alonso Alpine/Renault 1:16.715 1.296 1.718 6 205.586
    10 Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:16.750 1.331 1.765 3 205.493
    11 Daniel Ricciardo McLaren/Mercedes 1:16.871 1.221 1.614 6 205.169
    12 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:16.893 1.243 1.643 6 205.110
    13 Kimi Räikkönen Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1:17.564 1.914 2.530 6 203.336
    14 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1:17.583 1.933 2.555 3 203.286
      – Carlos Sainz Ferrari 2
    16 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri/Honda 1:17.919 1.705 2.237 8 202.410
    17 George Russell Williams/Mercedes 1:17.944 1.730 2.270 8 202.345
    18 Nicholas Latifi Williams/Mercedes 1:18.036 1.822 2.391 8 202.106
    19 Nikita Mazepin Haas/Ferrari 1:18.922 2.708 3.553 9 199.837

  • Valtteri Bottas tops FP2 ahead of Hamilton: Hungarian GP

    Valtteri Bottas tops FP2 ahead of Hamilton: Hungarian GP

    Hungaroring (Budapest, Hungary), 30 July 2021: Valtteri Bottas went quickest in the second practice session for Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix, shading team-mate Lewis Hamilton by two hundredths of a second as championship leader Max Verstappen finished three tenths of a second off the pace after struggling with handling issues.

    Earlier, Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen went quickest in the opening practice session for the Hungarian Grand Prix, outpacing Mercedes Valtteri Bottas by six hundredths of a second with Lewis Hamilton a further tenth of a second back in third place in the other Mercedes.

    In FP2, after an opening period in which Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc held way on medium tyres, Bottas moved to the front on the same compound with a lap of 1:18.376. Hamilton then moved into P2 three tenths of a second. Verstappen then emerged for his first run of the afternoon and he immediately split the Mercedes, with team-mate Sergio Pérez slotting into fourth place.

    Hamilton then found a solid gain ands rose to the top of the order with a lap of 1:18.140 that remained the quickest lap before the field began to switch to soft tyres for their qualifying simulations.

    Bottas bolted on a set of the red-banded tyres close to the half hour mark and he jumped to a time of 1:17.012 that remained the benchmark for the rest of the session.

    Hamilton almost bested his team-mate but though the seven-time champion was quicker in the final sector good work early on from Bottas gave him a slim edge on the timesheet.

    Verstappen, meanwhile, was busy trying to dial out persistent understeer but try as he might the championship leader couldn’t find a sweet spot with his RB16B and he had to settle for third place.

    Alpine’s Esteban Ocon have the Anglo-French squad hope of a good weekend with a lap of 1:17.759 that was good enough for fourth place ahead of Pérez who finished with a best time of 1:17.824.

    Pierre Gasly was sixth for AlphaTauri ahead of Fernando Alonso in the second Alpine while Sebastian Vettel put his Aston Martin in eighth place ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris and Aston Martin team-mate Lance Stroll.

    2021 FIA Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix – Free Practice 2
    1 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:17.012; 29 204.794
    2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:17.039; 0.027 27 204.722
    3 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda 1:17.310; 0.298 24 204.004
    4 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 1:17.759 0.747 29 202.826
    5 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda 1:17.824 0.812 23 202.657
    6 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri/Honda 1:18.113 1.101 31 201.907
    7 Fernando Alonso Alpine/Renault 1:18.169 1.157 27 201.762
    8 Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:18.228 1.216 31 201.610
    9 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:18.313 1.301 25 201.391
    10 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:18.320 1.308 30 201.373
    11 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:18.370 1.358 30 201.245
    12 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:18.441 1.429 32 201.063
    13 Daniel Ricciardo McLaren/Mercedes 1:18.737 1.725 26 200.307
    14 Kimi Räikkönen Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1:19.277 2.265 21 198.942
    15 George Russell Williams/Mercedes 1:19.292 2.280 29 198.905
    16 Nicholas Latifi Williams/Mercedes 1:19.479 2.467 30 198.437
    17 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri/Honda 1:19.671 2.659 3 197.959
    18 Mick Schumacher Haas/Ferrari 1:19.817 2.805 29 197.597
    19 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1:20.186 3.174 28 196.687
    20 Nikita Mazepin Haas/Ferrari 1:21.881 4.869 28 192.616.

    Free Practice 1
    1 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda 1:17.555 21 203.360
    2 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:17.616 0.061 26 203.200
    3 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:17.722 0.167 25 202.923
    4 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:18.115 0.560 24 201.902
    5 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri/Honda 1:18.181 0.626 27 201.731
    6 Fernando Alonso Alpine/Renault 1:18.385 0.830 26 201.206
    7 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:18.391 0.836 23 201.191
    8 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda 1:18.466 0.911 20 200.999
    9 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:18.649 1.094 26 200.531
    10 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:18.755 1.200 25 200.261
    11 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 1:18.765 1.210 26 200.236
    12 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri/Honda 1:18.770 1.215 18 200.223
    13 Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:18.989 1.434 22 199.668
    14 Daniel Ricciardo McLaren/Mercedes 1:19.265 1.710 27 198.973
    15 George Russell Williams/Mercedes 1:19.724 2.169 24 197.827
    16 Nicholas Latifi Williams/Mercedes 1:19.824 2.269 24 197.579
    17 Mick Schumacher Haas/Ferrari 1:20.383 2.828 26 196.205
    18 Robert Kubica Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1:20.639 3.084 23 195.582
    19 Nikita Mazepin Haas/Ferrari 1:20.992 3.437 23 194.730
    20 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1:21.889 4.334 5 192.597.

  • Indian National anthem sounds sweet as Lynn delivers victory for Mahindra Racing

    Indian National anthem sounds sweet as Lynn delivers victory for Mahindra Racing

    London, 25 July 2021: Alex Lynn was disappointed to finish third in yesterday’s London E-Prix after starting from pole position; just under 24 hours later, the Mahindra Racing ace made amends in fine style, racing from third on the grid to his maiden ABB FIA Formula E World Championship victory on home soil. The sweet victory for the Indian outfit saw that the Indian National anthem, Jana, Gana mana… played at the London e-prix and the Indian flags were proudly displayed.

    Watch the video clip here courtesy twitter @anandmahindra

    As pole-sitter Stoffel Vandoorne (Mercedes-EQ) led away in the early stages, Lynn initially conceded a place to the Belgian’s team-mate Nyck de Vries – the Dutchman damaging his steering in the process.

    Undeterred, Lynn subsequently reclaimed the spot with the dual benefit of FANBOOST and ATTACK MODE, going on to seal his first win in his 40th start in the all-electric single-seater series. In so doing, he completed a popular British double, following countryman Jake Dennis’ triumph for BMW i Andretti Motorsport yesterday around the ExCel circuit in the heart of London’s historical docklands district.

    Right from the outset, this was a race that had a bit of everything. Up until mid-distance, Vandoorne looked odds-on to secure his second victory of the 2020/21 season as he established a small gap over the chasing pack and mastered a brace of safety car interventions, but a lock-up from Oliver Rowland at the hairpin resulted in contact that put both cars in the barriers, incurring the Nissan e.dams driver a five-second penalty.

    That drama promoted de Vries to a net lead, pursued by Lynn – net, because Lucas Di Grassi (Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler) had driven through the pit-lane during the second safety car period to controversially vault to the front of the field.

    Whilst the Brazilian would go on to take the chequered flag first, he was disqualified for having not brought his car to a complete standstill on his passage through the pits and then failing to serve a drive-through penalty handed down for the indiscretion.

    The duel for honours, therefore, was between de Vries and Lynn, with the Mahindra man taking advantage of a later second ATTACK MODE to steal the initiative. Di Grassi’s post-race penalty left Lynn celebrating his breakthrough series success, whilst the runner-up spoils were sufficient to vault de Vries into a six-point championship lead with just two rounds of the season left to run.

    Behind the top two, Mitch Evans produced an inch-perfect defence to tally his fourth third-place finish of the campaign, artfully fending off first Maximilian Günther (BMW i Andretti Motorsport) and then Envision Virgin Racing rival Robin Frijns to reach the bottom step of the rostrum for Jaguar Racing, despite nursing some damage and losing time when he missed the activation zone for his second ATTACK MODE and had to try again the following lap.

    Frijns took fourth to keep the pressure on in the title fight, impressively battling past Günther with a bold round-the-outside move. TAG Heuer Porsche’s Pascal Wehrlein would similarly demote his compatriot before the flag fell as the pair wound up respectively fifth and sixth, while Envision Virgin Racing rookie Nick Cassidy continued his recent strong run in seventh from all the way down in 18th on the grid.

    Dragon / Penske Autosport’s Sérgio Sette Câmara troubled the scorers for the first time since Diriyah in eighth, with Saturday star Dennis placing ninth. Joel Eriksson in the sister Dragon / Penske Autosport entry claimed his first Formula E point in tenth.

    António Félix da Costa was also in the wars, the defending champion displaying fast and feisty form as he hauled himself almost into the points-paying positions from the penultimate row of the grid, until contact with André Lotterer’s TAG Heuer Porsche sent him crashing out of contention and earned the German a drive-through penalty.

    In much the same fashion, Sam Bird – championship leader entering the E-Prix – was on the cusp of the top ten from a lowly 21st starting slot when a coming-together with ROKiT Venturi Racing’s Norman Nato in the closing moments propelled both drivers into the wall, dropping the Briton to equal-third in the overall table alongside Dennis, some 14 points adrift of de Vries.

    The season will conclude in the German capital of Berlin on 14/15 August, where at the end of a truly thrilling and unpredictable title scrap, the seventh Formula E champion – and the series’ first world champion – will finally be crowned.

    Alex Lynn – Mahindra Racing

    “It’s hard for words to be honest. It’s as special as it gets. I’ve never felt something like this. Formula E has been a difficult one for me so to win is very special. I’ve got a huge crew behind me that I have to thank. I get the pleasure of driving around their hard work, and I can tell you there isn’t a group of guys and girls that stay longer and wake up earlier than them. I honestly can’t believe this has happened. It’s incredible.”

    Nyck de Vries – Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team

    “I have to admit I’m a bit disappointed with P2. First of all, I feel sorry for my team mate (Stoffel Vandoorne), he deserved the win today if it wasn’t for Oliver Rowland taking him out. We were a bit unlucky with the safety car when we just activated the attack mode, that made me a little bit vulnerable after the re-start. And then Lucas Di Grassi was there which I was surprised to see because he shouldn’t have been there. At the end, the energy targets were so high, so I wasn’t able to get alongside him. I made quite a lot of mistakes trying to push but the targets were too high to ever be in a position to make a move.”

    Mitch Evans – Jaguar Racing

    “A bit of an unexpected podium for me. At parts I actually thought I was out the race. I didn’t have a clean first few laps, and after the Rowland and Vandoorne incident I made a mistake, Günther got me and I made a stupid move into him and broke my front wing, and I thought I would be out the race. But with a bit of luck the wing flew off and I was able to continue. I missed my second attack mode which I couldn’t believe. I thought I gifted it to Frijns, but lucky I was able to activate it later and make good move on him and bring it home. A bizarre race and I’m a bit surprised to be on the podium, but roll on Berlin.”

  • Arjun Maini shows speed but forced to retire in Race 1: DTM

    Arjun Maini shows speed but forced to retire in Race 1: DTM

    Lausitz (Germany), 25 July 2021: Mercedes-AMG racing star Arjun Maini made significant progress during the second weekend of the 2021 DTM season with the Indian topping Free Practice 1 and qualifying sixth for the first race before ultimately retiring due to damage sustained from a racing incident.  

    The Omega Seiki Mobility and J.K.Tyre backed driver made the most of his knowledge of the Lausitzring circuit, placing his Mercedes AMG GT3 race car in first and fourth during the two practice sessions on Friday before qualifying sixth for Race 1. While this represented a marked improvement from his weekend at Monza, the Bangalore-based driver had to take his place at the rolling start on the outside, meaning he had faced a distinct disadvantage heading into Turn 1.  

    The competitive nature of the DTM championship meant there was an intense battle for position at the start with Maini sandwiched between two drivers with his Mercedes being forced off the race circuit going into Turn 3. The Indian and his GetSpeed racing team had a mountain to climb and while their efforts did yield some success, Maini’s race was once again curtailed with the team having to retire him with ten minutes to go as they were worried about damage sustained to his brakes and potential engine issues after the incident on the first lap.  

    Sunday was just as eventful, with the Mercedes-AMG driver showing his speed once again. The Indian missed out on a potential front-row start after a mistake in sector three lost him valuable time, meaning he had to contend with a ninth place on the starting grid for Race 2. The former Le Mans’ driver spent a large chunk of the race battling Red Bull F1 reserve driver Alex Albon, with their intense squabble hampering both drivers and costing Maini his shot at scoring his first points in the series.  

    Speaking about the weekend Maini stated, “Despite the final result, I’m reasonably happy with how the weekend progressed. I think it’s important to remember that there are some very experienced drivers on this grid and racing wheel to wheel with them is both challenging and exciting.  

    “While we ultimately failed to score our first points of the season, I definitely feel like this weekend was a huge step-forward over Monza. My objective is to keep improving and hopefully, both the team and I can get our first points at next round in Zolder.”  

    With the likes of Timo Glock, Marco Wittmann, and Mike Rockenfeller now racing bumper to bumper with Maini, the Indian certainly has his work cut out for him. However, based on current pace and growing experience with just 4 races under his belt it is safe to say that a good result is just around the corner for the Mercedes-AMG man.  

    The third round of the 2021 DTM championship will take place on the weekend between August 6-8th at the Zolderrace circuit in Belgium.

    Note: Updated on 26th July 2021 at 8pm

  • Rea claims 13th victory at Assen in curtailed Race 1

    Rea claims 13th victory at Assen in curtailed Race 1

    Rea prevails in WorldSBK title fight as he becomes the first rider in history to win at one track 13 times

    Assen, 24 July 2021: As the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship returned to the TT Circuit Assen, a titanic three-way battle for the podium welcomed fans back to the circuit as Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) continued to make history with his 13th victory in Race 1 at the Prosecco DOC Dutch Round.

    It means Rea becomes the first rider in WorldSBK history to win 13 times at a single circuit, having converted pole position into a win after he held off the challenge from his nearest rivals to claim more WorldSBK history. The race was Red Flagged with just a few of the scheduled 21 laps following a crash for Jonas Folger (Bonovo MGM Action) at Turns 6 and 7; after the German rider was on course for a career best WorldSBK result. Folger was conscious and taken to the medical centre for a check-up following the crash. The German rider will be transported to Assen Hospital for further assessments and has been declared unfit for the remainder of the round.

    Rea fended off the challenge from both Scott Redding (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) and Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with BRIXX WorldSBK) throughout the duration of the race, with the trio battling each other throughout various stages of the race. Nothing could separate the three as the race entered the second half of the race, although a mistake from Redding allowed Razgatlioglu through for second place, but it also allowed Rea to jump ahead by a couple of seconds ahead of the battling duo, with Razgatlioglu and Redding continue to fight until the end; Redding finishing the race in second place ahead of Razgatlioglu after passing the Turkish star on Lap 16 to secure second place.

    P1 Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK)
     
    “I felt good from the get-go. Just a little bit of battling with Toprak. I wanted to get a clear track and do my rhythm because I knew that I could be a little bit faster and try to push away. At the end, I just had to manage a little bit as the rear tyre was dropping. I already took the best performance out of it. So happy, so happy to have these guys here in the grandstands. Looking forward to tomorrow. Now we have almost 21 laps under our belt because of the Red Flag. I hope the guy that went down is okay. Come back tomorrow with more info and try again.”
     
    P2 Scott Redding (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)
     
    “First of all, it’s great to have all the fans back here. It really gives emotion when you battle, you really feel the adrenaline, you push for every centimetre on the track. I hope you guys were entertained. I struggled a little bit in the beginning and then I got my pace. Then I started to fight Toprak and we gave Jonathan the time to go away. I felt I had the pace to close the gap but because I was fighting, I used a lot of the tyre. We ended up P2 and I’m happy with that. It’s good to be back on the podium and great to be here in Assen.”
     
    P3 Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with BRIXX WorldSBK)
     
    “Normally, in the race, I was waiting until the last lap because I can follow Scott and see which corners he is slower in. I was waiting until the last lap, but we saw the Red Flag. I am not happy because in the first laps I was feeling good, but after the front tyre was destroyed and it wasn’t possible to follow Jonny. Tomorrow, we will see.”

    WorldSBK TT Circuit Assen – Race 1

    1. Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK)
    2. Scott Redding (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +3.093s
    3. Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with BRIXX WorldSBK) +3.214s
    4. Michael van der Mark (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) +4.478s
    5. Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha with BRIXX WorldSBK) +6.139s
    6. Garrett Gerloff (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) +7.901s

    Championship Standings (after Race 1, Round 5)

    1. Jonathan Rea (GBR) Kawasaki (206 points)
    2. Toprak Razgatlioglu (TUR) Yamaha (199 points)
    3. Scott Redding (GBR) Ducati (137 points)