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Jehan Daruvala to Test McLaren F1 car MCL35M for the second time
Mumbai, 16 July 2022: Indian racing ace Jehan Daruvala will take part in a second two-day Formula One (F1) test with former champions McLaren at the Portimao Circuit in Portugal next week.
A release sadi that the test, during which Jehan would once again drive the 2021 race-winning MCL35M. The test will take place on July 18 & 19 and comes shortly after Indycar star Colton Herta and McLaren test and development driver Will Stevens ran in the car earlier this week.
Jehan completed over 130 laps of Silverstone during his first Formula 1 outing with the British team last month during which he impressed with his fitness, how quickly he adapted to F1 machinery, his feedback and his ability to assimilate information from the engineers.
Next week’s test in Portimao, his second time in a Formula One car, will allow Jehan to build on that strong outing and further prepare him as he bids to become only the third Indian to race at the pinnacle of the sport.
Jehan, who currently competes with Prema Racing in feeder series Formula 2, is a part of the Red Bull Junior Team. He is now eligible for a Formula One Super License, having both the required points and mileage in last year’s F1 car.
The Portimao test, like the Silverstone outing, is part of McLaren’s Testing Previous Car (TPC) programme, which the team is running to evaluate young, up and coming drivers.
The Mumbai Falcons, who are supporting Jehan’s Formula 2 title bid, said, “The second McLaren test marks yet another milestone in Jehan’s journey to Formula 1. He impressed on his F1 debut at Silverstone and we are confident that with this second test Jehan will continue to prove that he belongs on the Grand Prix grid. This is a truly gratifying moment for Indian motorsports and for us particularly. Our mission is to showcase the best of Indian motorsport talent to the world and we are proud to support Jehan as he pursues his dream of becoming only the third Indian to race in F1.”
Jehan said: “My first taste of Formula One machinery was surreal and I can’t wait to get back in the car again in Portimao. I came away from the Silverstone test with a lot of confidence as both from a driving and physical perspective I did well and covered more than two race distances absolutely trouble-free. My dream has always been to race in Formula One and this test will build on what we achieved at Silverstone. I am thankful to both Red Bull and McLaren for giving me this opportunity and continuing to support my development.”
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Harsh post-race penalty robs Daruvala of a ‘win’ in Austria
The 23-year-old was provisionally classified second but a 20-second penalty drops him down the classification
The Red Bull-backed racer was perfectly poised to inherit victory after provisional winner Verschoor was disqualified
SPIELBERG, 10 July 2022: Indian racer Jehan Daruvala put in a stirring drive from 11th to second in Sunday’s Formula 2 feature race in Austria but was robbed of his sixth podium of the season by a post-race penalty.
Jehan had finished a provisional second after an inspired strategy call to start the race on slick tyres on a damp track and searing pace from the Red Bull-backed racer in the tricky conditions saw him make rapid progress up the field.
But a 20-second time penalty, handed out after stewards deemed the Prema Racing team had attempted to dry the track surface at Jehan’s grid spot, negated his brilliant run.
The penalty was all the more disappointing as Jehan was briefly in with a chance of inheriting the race win after provisional winner Richard Verschoor was disqualified for a fuel irregularity.
Jehan said, “I’m absolutely gutted. All season luck has been against us and just when I thought things were finally going our way we get hit with a penalty.
We did everything right today. I was expecting a tough race from 11th on the grid and, while it was tricky, we read the conditions perfectly today. The team made the right strategy call on the tyres and I was able to maximise it with my pace in the wet. It’s difficult to find the positives after having a result we fought hard for taken away from us in this fashion. We could have taken big points off our rivals today but I can still take encouragement from my pace today. We now have a weekend off before the next run of back-to-back races and it’s now full focus on Paul Ricard and Budapest. We just need to keep pushing and I’m sure our day will come.”
Jehan’s pace in the changing conditions was formidable. He built up a sizeable gap and then timed his one and only pitstop to perfection, coming in on lap 13.
The penalty in Austria was the latest in a series of Sunday misfortunes that have cost Jehan a strong result in feature races this season.
An ill-timed safety car cost him a potential victory in Imola. In Barcelona an electrical problem sidelined Jehan on the fourth lap just when he was ideally placed to benefit from running the alternative strategy.
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Austrian GP: Leclerc wins despite late issues from Verstappen
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc wins F1 Austrian GP from Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton after disaster for Carlos Sainz.
It was dry start to F1 Austrian GP at Red Bull Ring as pole-sitter Max Verstappen led the way from Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc as the trio behind them were in the battle of their own as Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz defended from Mercedes’ George Russell and Red Bull’s Sergio Perez.
It was Sainz against Russell at first where the Spaniard had a moment too but came back on him along with Perez. With the Ferrari getting his nose ahead, the Mercedes and Red Bull driver then fought against each other but it ended up in a collision.
Russell was on the inside in the right-hander as his wheels touched with Perez on the outside, which sent the Mexican onto the gravel. He dropped to the back and needed a pit stop, as the Mercedes racer was fourth then but with a 5s time penalty.
Alpine’s Esteban Ocon was fifth from Haas’ Kevin Magnussen, as Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton passed Haas’ Mick Schumacher for seventh while McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo passed teammate Lando Norris for ninth in the Top 10.
But both Schumacher and Norris got back seventh and ninth, respectively. Williams’ Alexander Albon and AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda were put under investigation for start infringement, but the stewards cleared them of any offence.
At the front, Verstappen came under pressure from Leclerc who eventually passed him for the F1 Austrian GP lead before the Dutchman pitted for the hard tyre. Sainz steadied himself in third as Hamilton moved himself up to fourth after pits for Russell and Ocon.
The Brit passed both the Haas pair in a good move and extended his first stint. Ocon, meanwhile, brought back himself ahead of the Haas pair to gain track position as teammate Fernando Alonso was in a five-way battle at one point.
It had Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu, Magnussen, Schumacher and Norris. It was tasty five-way fight for couple of corners which was eventually won by the Danish driver with the Brit bringing himself into the game to slot behind him.
But Schumacher came through soon to take track position as Alonso and Guanyu pitted to drop out. With Leclerc and Sainz pitting about 12 laps later than Verstappen, the Dutchman was back in the F1 Austrian GP lead from the Ferrari pair.
His teammate Perez was forced to retire, which put Hamilton in fourth as he passed Ocon to gain track position despite a slow stop. Magnussen was sixth from Schumacher with Norris eighth, Russell ninth and Ricciardo in 10th in a recovery drive.
Amid all this, Leclerc started to catch Verstappen and eventually passed him to retake the F1 Austrian GP lead where the Dutchman did not fight as much. He pitted for the second time when Sainz closed in on him in the fight for second.
With Verstappen pitting, it became apparent that his fight was against Hamilton behind. At the fag end of the field, Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel and AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly came together where the German on the outside was spun onto the gravel at the right-hander.
Gasly was handed a 5s penalty for causing a collision which went with his track limits penalty which handed to multiple drivers before him. There were lots of warnings and black and white flag which was a common scene in F2 and F3 races as well.
The Ferrari duo went for their pit stops and came out behind Verstappen. But it wasn’t long for Leclerc to catch and re-pass the Dutchman to retake the F1 Austrian GP lead. Sainz started to catch him as well, but his engine blew up before he could pass him.
The car caught fire as the things started to smash from the sidepod. With the car not stopping, Sainz got into a mess amid fire raging before eventually getting out of it. The Virtual Safety Car was deployed with Leclerc and Verstappen pitting.
The two maintained the Top 2 position with Hamilton at a distant in third, as Russell clawed his way back up to fourth after his penalty and front wing change. Ocon steadied in fifth from Schumacher who passed his teammate Magnussen on the track.
The Dane lost to Norris for seventh with Ricciardo in a good ninth, as Bottas climbed back up to 10th from pitlane after passing Williams’ Alexander Albon with Alonso on his tail soon. At the front, things got a bit tensed with a throttle issue for Leclerc.
They were back and forth on the radio but Leclerc eventually got the F1 Austrian GP win with Verstappen in second from Hamilton in the Top 3. Russell was fourth from Ocon with Schumacher in sixth from Norris, Magnussen and Ricciardo.
Alonso passed both Albon and Bottas to end up 10th and take the final point, but is under investigation. The Finn ended up 11th from the Thai, with Stroll 13th, Guanyu 15th, Vettel 16th, Gasly 17th and Tsunoda 18th – everyone from Schumacher to Tsunoda ended up a lap down to the leaders.
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KY Ahamed clinches a thriller; Rajini, Balappa score a double
Chennai, 10 July 2022: While Rajini Krishnan and Sarvesh Balappa pouched their fourth straight win, KY Ahamed won an absolute thriller that lit up the second round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship 2022 which concluded at the Madras International Circuit, here on Sunday. But INDIAinF1’s hero of the day is Md Samrul Zubair of Hyderabad who came only second but his ride from 33rd on the grid to a valiant podium is the story of the day.
The Race’ists Motorcycle Club in Hyderabad is formed by a group of enthusiastic riders a few years back led by champion riders like Karthik Mateti, Peddu Sriharsha and Rahil Pillarisetty. Of-late they have been a regular feature on the podium in different classes.
Starting P9 for the eight-lap race in the popular Pro-Stock 165cc Open race, Petronas TVS Racing star Ahamed, who endured two crashes on Saturday, showed poise and aggression to rise like a phoenix as he snatched a dramatic win from Pacer Yamaha’s Mathana Kumar and Rajiv Sethu of Idemitsu Honda SK69 Racing, with just one-tenth of a second separating the trio at the finish line. The eventual outcome was in suspense as the three front-running riders exchanged lead after two other contenders, Deepak Ravikumar, also of Petronas TVS Racing, and Prabhu Arunagiri of Pacer Yamaha, retired in the second half of the race. Ahamed then pulled out a last-gasp win in a photo-finish that would be remembered for long.
Meanwhile, in the premier Pro-Stock 301-400cc Open category, Rajini Krishnan, the founder of RACR Castrol Power1, riding Yamaha R3 with a lighter frame than last year’s, was simply unstoppable while posting a fluent win that underlined his class and calibre, as he destroyed the field. His victory margin was over 10 seconds in the eight-lap race with the Petronas TVS Racing duo of KY Ahamed and Deepak Ravikumar coming in second and third, respectively. It was Rajini’s fourth win on the trot this season, following his double in the first round at Coimbatore last month.
Ryhana Bee, after a disappointing first round in Coimbatore last month, bounced back to win the National Championship Girls race (Stock 165cc) to put her campaign on track. She took the top honours ahead of Bengaluru’s Aditi Krishnan (Winverve Apex Racing Academy) who moved up a spot after second-placed Lani Zena Fernandez (Speed Up Racing) was docked a 15-second penalty which dropped her to fourth behind Axor Sparks Racing’s Jagruti Penkar from Mumbai. Lani was penalised for “causing avoidable collision” that involved early race leader Ann Jennifer (Alpha Racing) who finished fifth.
Hubballi’s Sarvesh Balappa (Axor Sparks Racing) continued his dream run as he finished the weekend with a double on the back of his two wins in the first round to remain unbeaten in the Novice (Stock 165cc) category. Finishing second was Md Samrul Zubair (Hyderabad) of Raceists Motorcycle Racing Club who started the race from P33 and worked his way up. His team-mate P Vignesh Goud, also from Hyderabad, was third.
Also scoring four consecutive wins were Sarthak Shrikant Chavan (Pune) and Raheesh Mudassar Khatri (Mumbai) in the NSF 250R and Novice (CBR 150) categories of the Idemitsu Honda India Talent Cup, besides Bengaluru schoolboy Chiranth Vishwanath in the Rookie class of the Petronas TVS One-Make Championship.
Provisional results (all 6 laps unless mentioned):
National Championship – Pro-Stock 301-400cc Open (Race-2, 8 laps): 1. Rajini Krishnan (Chennai, RACR Castrol Power1) (15mins, 15.889secs); 2. KY Ahamed (Chennai, Petronas TVS Racing) (15:26.410); 3. Deepak Ravikumar (Chennai, Petronas TVS Racing) (15:26.729).
Pro-Stock 165cc Open (Race-2, 8 laps): 1. KY Ahamed (Chennai, Petronas TVS Racing) (15:55.678); 2. Mathana Kumar (Trichy, Pacer Yamaha) (15:55.722); 3. Rajiv Sethu (Chennai, Idemitsu Honda SK69 Racing) (15:55.726).
Novice (Stock 165cc) Race-2: 1. Sarvesh Balappa (Hubballi, Axor Sparks Racing) (13:06.383); 2. Md Samrul Zubair (Hyderabad, Raceists Motorcycle Club) (13:08.978); 3. P Vignesh Goud (Hyderabad, Raceists MC) (13:10.293).
Girls (Stock 165cc, 5 laps): 1. Ryhana Bee (Chennai, Pacer Yamaha) (11:01.483); 2. Aditi Krishnan (Bengaluru, Winverve Apex Racing Academy) (11:51.191); 3. Jagruti Penkar (Mumbai, Axor Sparks Racing) (11:18.793).
Idemitsu Honda India Talent Cup – NSF 250R (Race-2, 10 laps): 1. Sarthak Shrikant Chavan (Pune) (18:45.396); 2. Mohsin Paramban (Malappuram) (18:55.514); 3. Shyam Sundar (Chennai) (18:55.663).
Novice (CBR 150, Race-2): 1. Raheesh Mudassar Khatri (Mumbai) (12:54.900); 2. Shyam Babu (Chennai) (13:27.093); 3. Harshith V Bogar (Bengaluru) (13:27.429).
Support race – Hornet 2.0 (Race-2): 1. G Balaji (Chennai) (13:32.712); 2. Kayan Zubin Patel (Mumbai) (13:32.851); 3. Romario John (Chennai) (13:38.944)
Petronas TVS One-Make Championship – Open (RR 310, Race-1): 1. Mohan Babu P (Chennai) (11:47.933); 2. S Vivek Pillai (Chennai) (11:48.064); 3. Manoj Yesuadiyan (Chennai) (11:48.694). Race-2: 1. S Vivek Pillai (Chennai) (11:54.105); 2. Mohan Babu P (Chennai) (11:54.125); 3. Kannan S (Chennai) (11:56.367).
Rookie (Apache RTR 200, Race-2): 1. Chiranth Vishwanath (Bengaluru) (12:25.916); 2. Shreyas Hareesh (Bengaluru) (12:35.302); 3. Abdul Basim RS (Chennai) (12:35.447).
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Austrian GP: Verstappen cruises to sprint win from fighting Ferrari duo
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen had a comfortable sprint F1 race win in Austrian GP from Ferrari pair of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz.
The first of two formation lap started in the sprint F1 race in Austrian GP weekend when Alpine’s Fernando Alonso was forced to retire due to a mechanical issue. At the end of the that lap, Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu stopped at the final corner.
Even though he got going, the extra formation lap had to be taken. The start worked well for Red Bull’s Max Verstappen who led the way calmly from the fighting Ferrari pair of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz. The two went at each for couple of laps.
Sainz tried to clear him for multiple times whether at Turn 1 and or Turn 4, but the Spaniard couldn’t get through and dropped back. Mercedes’ George Russell, meanwhile, was fourth from Alpine’s Esteban Ocon and the Haas pair.
It was Kevin Magnussen in sixth from Mick Schumacher, with Red Bull’s Sergio Perez making up five places to be eighth after the opening lap. There was an incident involving Williams’ Alexander Albon, Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton and AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly.
The Thai was on the outside while the Frenchman on the inside when his wheels touched with the Brit’s which sent Gasly into a spin. This dropped to the back while Hamilton was 11th as Albon made up a good chunk to be 10th on the soft tyres.
It wasn’t for long as Hamilton cleared Albon for 10th and also Bottas to be ninth behind the Haas pair. Those two were cleared by Perez just few laps ago, who also passed Ocon to be fifth. The Mexican, in fact, caught up on the tail of Russell pretty soon.
Hamilton got stuck behind the Haas pair as Bottas stood 10th. There was a 5s penalty for Albon for forcing McLaren’s Lando Norris off the track at Turn 3 in their battle for 11th. The Thai eventually lost to both the Brit and Daniel Ricciardo later on.
He was involved in another incident with Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel, where the wheel touch sent the German onto the gravel. The moment dropped him to last even though he managed to get out of the gravel and make his way onto the track.
While Verstappen led the way comfortably, the fight for the final point continued between Schumacher and Hamilton. The Brit tried hard but just couldn’t get through him as the German had DRS from teammate Magnussen up ahead in seventh.
It was Verstappen to win the sprint F1 race in Austrian GP as Leclerc ended up second from Sainz with the Top 3 remaining as it is for the main grand prix. Russell was fourth from Perez, who made up nine places to round out the Top 5.
Ocon was sixth from Magnussen and Hamilton in the points, with Schumacher keeping off Bottas in the Top 10. Both Norris and Ricciardo recovered well in 11th and 12th for the main race as Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll slotted in 13th from Zhou.
He kept off Gasly at bay in a close fight till the end as Albon was 16th after his penalty from AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda, Williams’ Nicholas Latifi and Vettel. The German was classified 19th but he was asked to retire due to damage.
DNS: Alonso
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Austrian GP: Sainz tops FP2 in Ferrari 1-2 as Hamilton has chassis change
Ferrari pair of Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc led the way in FP2 of F1 Austrian GP, with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in third.
It was a clean and smooth FP2 session in F1 Austrian GP where the Ferrari pair led the way as Carlos Sainz was fastest with a 1m08.610s lap from Leclerc (1m08.660s) who was just 0.050s behind ahead of the sprint race later on, with the Monegasque having minor moment. The two cars are carrying an original version of the team’s which was first seen at the Spa-Francorchamps 24 Hours on 9 July 1932.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen (1m08.778s) was third as teammate Sergio Perez (1m09.179s) was sixth behind the Alpine pair of Fernando Alonso (1m08.832s) and Esteban Ocon (1m08.848s). The two drivers did a limited running having joined later and ended early in the session.
The Mercedes pair too joined a bit late with George Russell (1m09.240s) missing less time than teammate Lewis Hamilton (1m09.350s), where the former was seventh and latter ninth. Both had gearbox change from the pool, while the latter had a chassis change.
Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas (1m09.251s) was eighth with McLaren’s Lando Norris (1m09.519s) rounding the Top 10 from Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll. His teammate Sebastian Vettel slotted in 13th behind AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly.
The German lost a piece after going over the kerb at Turn 10 as the replays showed. Williams’ Alexander Albon was 15th from Haas’ Mick Schumacher, as McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo was 17th from other Haas of Kevin Magnussen, AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda and Williams’ Nicholas Latifi.
Among the runners to have set the fastest lap on the medium tyres, it were the Red Bull, Alpine, McLaren and Williams pair while Tsunoda was the only other one on the yellow-coloured compound where the rest did it on the soft tyres.
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Austrian GP: Verstappen secures sprint race pole as Mercedes pair crash
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen took a close F1 Austrian GP pole for Saturday’s sprint race from Ferrari pair of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz.
Q1:
The first part in F1 Austrian GP qualifying at Red Bull Ring got interesting from the get go as lap deletions hampered multiple drivers including Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, but both managed to get into Q2 by the end.
It was Ferrari on top with Charles Leclerc (1m05.419s) leading Sainz, while Verstappen was third. The fight to get into Q2 was on with McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo being knocked out by just the 0.024s margin after his 1m06.613s lap.
Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll (1m06.847s) was 17th from Sebastian Vettel but the German lost his final lap to end up last with a 1m07.083s lap behind Alfa Romeo’a Zhou Guanyu (1m06.901s) and Williams’ Nicholas Latifi (1m07.033s).
Q2:
The second part in F1 Austrian GP qualifying had Mercedes show some pace with Lewis Hamilton setting a 1m05.475s lap to be fast initially by 0.030s from Red Bull’s Verstappen, as the other Mercedes car of George Russell slotted in third.
The Dutchman’s teammate Sergio Perez was in a spot of bother to initially find himself outside of the Top 10 due to track limits. The second run saw Leclerc take the top spot with a 1m05.287s lap to be faster than Verstappen and Hamilton.
The bottom zone saw AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly not make the cut in 11th with a 1m06.160s lap which was only 0.009 from 10th. Williams’ Alexander Albon (1m06.230s) who made it in Q2 was 12th from Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas (1m06.319s), who will start from back.
AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda (1m06.851s) was 14th but the Japanese driver was hugely disappointed with himself after making a mistake at Turn 1 on his final lap. McLaren’s Lando Norris (1m25.847s) was 15th after troubles with his brakes as he was back on the old ICE.
Q3:
Just at the start of the final part in F1 Austrian GP qualifying, the FIA noted of an investigation for Perez for track limits at Turn 8 where replays showed him going outside the white line of the circuit which denotes the edge of the track.
It was Red Bull’s Verstappen leading the with a 1m05.092s lap provisionally as Ferrari’s Leclerc was only 0.091s behind with Sainz in third. Before the second run could get going, the session was red-flagged after a rare crash from Mercedes’ Hamilton.
He lost the rear into the left-hander and went onto the gravel and into the barrier at Turn 7 when he was running to set a lap time with Alpine’s Fernando Alonso and Haas’ Mick Schumacher still to set a lap time as well in the session.
The teams took it slow upon re-start with Alonso first to improve to seventh and actually set a lap time. But before anyone else could do anything, there was another red flag after Russell crashed at Turn 10 after losing control and going into the barrier.
Russell was then put under investigation for entering the track without permission as he made his way into the pitlane from the crash site. With about two and a half minutes remaining, Leclerc went fastest but Verstappen bettered to 1m04.984s lap.
The Dutchman took F1 Austrian GP pole by 0.029s to start the Saturday’s sprint race on pole from Leclerc (1m05.013s), with Sainz (1m05.066s) only 0.082s behind from Verstappen. It was a good finish for Perez (1m05.404s) to be in fourth but he is under investigation.
Russell (1m05.431s) retained fifth despite the crash as Alpine’s Esteban Ocon (1m05.726s) was sixth from the Haas pair of Kevin Magnussen (1m05.879s) and Mick Schumacher (1m06.011s) who pipped Alonso (1m06.103s), with Hamilton (1m13.151s) 10th.
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Austrian GP: Verstappen tops FP1 as red flag hampers running
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen set the pace in FP1 of F1 British GP from Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Mercedes’ George Russell.
Despite there being no incidents, the FP1 session in F1 Austrian GP saw two red flag period at Red Bull Ring, where the first one was to clear Lando Norris’ McLaren at the pit exit after the team hustled him to stop as soon due to overheating problem.
The Brit has a new ICE taken for this weekend which is his third, with him also taking his third TC, MGU-K and MGU-H. There was another red flag when rubber from the circuit started to pull off after the cars ran over it, with the rescue team having to remove it.
As noted, there were no major issues apart from gravel moment for Red Bull’s Sergio Perez and Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas, with Haas’ Kevin Magnussen doing so on the cement run-off. Traffic was huge with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen being hurt the most.
Despite that, Verstappen led FP1 in F1 Austrian GP with a 1m06.302s lap ahead of qualifying. He led Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc (1m06.557s), with Mercedes’ George Russell (1m06.702s) in third as Perez (1m06.839s) jumped to fourth after a late lap pushing Lewis Hamilton (1m06.909s) to fifth.
In terms of PU elements, Leclerc took his second ES. His teammate Carlos Sainz (1m07.039s) was seventh behind Magnussen (1m07.965s), with Alpine’s Fernando Alonso (1m07.100s) seventh – having not run on the soft tyre.
Haas’ Mick Schumacher (1m07.246s) and AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda (1m07.296s) rounded out the Top 10, with Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll in 11th from Alpine’s Esteban Ocon who also set his time on the medium tyre. Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel slotted in 13th.
Alfa Romeo’s Bottas was 14th on the medium tyres as he is expected to start from the back of the grid due to his fourth ICE, fourth TC, fourth MGU-H, fourth MGU-K and third CE. Williams’ Alexander Albon was 15th with the updates still on his car.
AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly was only 16th from McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo who set his best time on the medium tyre but his session was hampered by rear wing issue. Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu was 18th – with a second CE – from Williams’ Nicholas Latifi and Norris.
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GT4 Europe: Rabindra/Canning secure double points in class at Misano
Akhil Rabindra and teammate Tom Canning had a solid Round 3 in GT4 Europe series at Misano with double points.
Rabindra and Canning were back in action in Round 3 of GT4 Europe series at Misano with Racing Spirit of Leman, driving the #19 Aston Martin Vantage in the Silver class category.
Starting the weekend, they were second and 13th in the overall standings in FP1 and FP2 respectively, while they ended up first and seventh in the Silver class. After a goodish practice session, it was time for qualifying.
The Qualifying 1 for Race 1 saw them finish fifth overall and second in class, while Qualifying 2 for Race 2 saw them end up 15th overall and 10th in Silver class. It was Canning starting in the first stint in Race 1.
It was a clean start initially but he dropped to seventh after suffering some bodywork damage. He lost another place in eighth and ran there until the pit window opened up. A FCY period dropped them to 18th in the pit stop.
Rabindra had to climb up the order but it was disruptive second half with multiple stoppages. He eventually was 15th overall and fourth in Silver class, with more points scored in the category championship.
The Race 2 saw a good start from Rabindra who up to 12th in the opening stages. He was 10th when he pitted to hand over to Canning, who gained a place to be ninth overall but lost a place towards the end.
He eventually finished 10th overall and sixth in Silver class. With three rounds done, Racing Spirit of Leman sit on top of the teams’ standings with 101 points, while Rabindra and Canning are third in the standings with 66.
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DTM: Maini has a difficult Norisring weekend after Race 1 crash
Arjun Maini completed a difficult two weekends in DTM as he is still searching for a points finish since his last one.
Arjun Maini had difficult two weekends in DTM in Imola and Norisring with Haupt Racing Team driving the #36 Mercedes-AMG GT3 machine. In the latter, he was seventh in FP1 and first in FP2.
In qualifying, he was in Group A where he finished third and in overall standings he was eighth. But his Race 1 was short-lived after a rival crashed into him in a mayhem of a start in general.
He did make up places but eventually was forced to retire. In qualifying on Sunday, he was sixth in Group A and started the race from 11th in overall standings. It wasn’t a great start as he dropped to 16th.
He ended up 14th and out of points as he is still searching for a points finish since his fourth place finish. There has been unlucky moments for the Indian in several races since then.
“Misfortune, bad luck and breakdowns – that’s how I can sum it up,” said Maini. “After the retirement on Saturday, which was not our fault, things didn’t go well for us on Sunday either. We just have to leave this weekend behind us.”
