Motorsports Racing News & Blog Articles

Max Verstappen dedicated his United States Grand Prix victory to the memory of Dietrich Mateschitz, the co-founder of Red Bull who sadly passed away last weekend.

Mateschitz died aged seventy-eight on Saturday and was an instrumental part in Verstappen’s career, the Dutchman joining one of his two teams – Scuderia Toro Rosso – in 2015 before switching to the other – Oracle Red Bull Racing – in 2016.

Verstappen was in control of the race at the Circuit of the Americas on Sunday until a slow pit stop relegated him to third, but he made decisive overtakes on both Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, arguably his biggest rivals of the past two years, to retake the lead and win for a record-equalling thirteenth time in 2022.

“It was a tough one,” Verstappen is quoted as saying by Motorsport.com. “It was all looking good, but then the pit stop was a bit longer than we would have liked, so I had to fight my way forward again. But we gave it everything out there today.

“Of course it’s a very difficult weekend for us, so this is dedicated to Dietrich, for what he has done for everyone.

Lewis Hamilton felt the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team showed solid pit stop and performance strategy at the Circuit of the Americas. The team’s performance in Austin confirmed the final step-up of the upgrade package of the season, which was introduced this weekend.

Hamilton took a strong second-place finish at the United States Grand Prix after leading the race from laps forty-one to forty-nine before a late overtake from Max Verstappen denied him his first win of the season. Running a medium/hard/hard strategy, Hamilton drove superbly as the W13 seemed to bring the pace that Mercedes had been lacking for the majority of the 2022 season.

The seven-time world champion was happy with his performance, but the drive proved to be harder than Hamilton expected upon his reflection on the race.

“I’m shattered. It felt amazing to be in the lead, but the car was a handful today. We came here with upgrades, and we closed the gap a little bit. It was so close, and I did everything I could to try and stay ahead, but Red Bull were just a little bit too quick.

“We’ve been working so hard as a Team over this year, and there are lots of positives from this race, as a team we showed great pit stop and strategy performance. I’m also happy with my performance and it was showing when we have a competitive car, I can bring it home. So we’ll keep pushing and we’ll try and give it everything we can over the next three races – it’ll come to us at some stage.”

Christian Horner felt Dietrich Mateschitz, the Red Bull co-owner who passed away during the United States Grand Prix weekend, would have been proud of the way Max Verstappen recovered from a slow pit stop to pass both Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton to take victory in Sunday’s race at the Circuit of the Americas.

Verstappen looked on course for an easy win as he was clear of the field prior to his second pit stop, but a problematic wheel gun meant an eleven second pit stop and the loss of the lead.  Such was the delay he came out behind Scuderia Ferrari’s Leclerc as well as Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team’s Hamilton.

Horner, the Team Principal at Oracle Red Bull Racing, was delighted to see Verstappen take the victory, with he and team-mate Sergio Pérez doing enough to clinch the World Constructors’ Championship in the United States, something Mateschitz would have taken great delight in celebrating.

“I think that Max was driving a very controlled race today,” Horner is quoted as saying by Motorsport.com. “And then it all came alive when we had a gun issue on the second stop for Max, and we’d already elected to go on to the medium, which we felt was the better tyre.

“And he lost close to probably eight seconds in the pitstop. Which put him behind Charles [Leclerc], and then obviously he had to close down that gap down to Lewis. And it was almost as if it had been scripted for him to have to come back through the field.

BWT Alpine F1 Team are to protest against the penalty that was awarded to Fernando Alonso following the conclusion of the United States Grand Prix.

Alonso was awarded a penalty after Haas F1 Team claimed that the Alpine car was unsafe due to the right-hand mirror moving and falling off. The damage had been done after an incident that saw Alonso going airborne after a crash with Lance Stroll during the race when the Spaniard was trying to overtake the Canadian driver.

The stewards and FIA technical staff reviewed the protest and agreed the car was unsafe, but this morning Alpine issued a statement confirming they will protest the decision. They are deciding to protest the decision due to the Haas protest being lodged twenty-four minutes after the specified deadline and they believe that it should not have been accepted by the FIA.

“The team acted fairly and deemed the car remained structurally safe as a result of Fernando’s incident with Lance Stroll on lap 22 of the race with the right-side rear view wing mirror detaching from the chassis as a result of accident damage caused by Stroll,” read the Alpine statement.

“The FIA has the right to black and orange flag a car during the race if they consider it unsafe and, on this occasion, they assessed the car and decided not to action the flag. “Moreover, after the race, the FIA technical delegate considered the car legal.

Kyle Larson has long been a threat to win at Homestead-Miami Speedway, dazzling with his high racing line along the outside wall. However, that often came back to bite him in the end as his strong runs were generally undermined by coming up short or being overshadowed by the championship battle during Homestead’s time as the season finale.

While he has been eliminated from the playoffs, he still locked his #5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet into the NASCAR Cup Series Owner’s Championship Round by leading 199 of 267 laps en route to his first win at Homestead. It is his third victory of 2022 after Fontana and Watkins Glen.

“Definitely the best run we’ve had all year long,” said Larson. “We’ve been capable of it I feel like many weekends, we just haven’t quite put it all together. Cliff (Daniels, crew chief) gave a great speech this morning and got us all ready to go and focused and did my best to keep it out of the wall. I got in the wall a few times but I could still make speed doing that.

“Amazing race car. I knew that that last run was going to be short enough where I was going to be in some sort of trouble there, but thankfully A.J. (Allmendinger) and Ross (Chastain) were racing hard behind me.”

It was not all smooth sailing for Larson as highlighted on lap 246, when Tyler Reddick wrecked to bring out a caution. As they came to pit road, Larson spun Martin Truex Jr., who was leading up to the accident, and caused him to nearly collide with his pit crew. Both drivers shared responsibility for the incident.

The Ypres Rally Belgium organizer Club Superstage has now announced the rally will not be featured on the 2023 FIA World Rally Championship schedule after two successful seasons on the top level of rallying.

The 2023 Ardeca Ypres Rally will return to its traditional date at the end of June as the world-famous rally will be part of the 2023 British Rally Championship schedule with the dates set to be at 23/24 June.

The rally was featured on the WRC schedule for the 2021 season and the 2022 season as part of a multi-year contract signed during the COVID-19 pandemic, the rally was set to make its debut in the 2020 season but they were forced to cancel it due to the pandemic. The request fee to host a WRC rally was financially unaffordable for the organization without government support and therefore they will not be featured in the WRC calendar next year.

“The Ardeca Ypres Rally will be the third round of the British Rally Championship on 23 and 24 June, from 2017 to 2019, the British were also guests in Ypres. We are happy that they are coming back to Ypres this year, because it always resulted in an exciting battle between the Belgian and British stars, both in the Rally2/R5 main class and among the youngsters with Rally4s. Ypres is also the only round on the British Championship calendar to be held outside Great Britain.” Alain Penasse, Club Superstage president, said.

“We are presenting a calendar of 7 rounds, each with its own character. We will visit the four nations within the United Kingdom: Ireland, Scotland, England and Wales. In addition, the intention was to put longer and tougher races on the calendar, in order to increase the challenge for the drivers. The Ardeca Ypres Rally certainly fits in. The fast, narrow track on asphalt is very challenging. A great challenge for our BRC drivers.” Reece Tarren, British Rally Championship manager, said.

The FIA World Rally Championship stewards have handed a five-second time penalty to Hyundai´s Dani Sordo after it was found out that the Hyundai i20 N Rally1 car performed an illegal hybrid boost during the Riudecanyes 2 power stage in RallyRACC Catalunya – Costa Daurada.

Sordo’s car was found to have produced a 0.08kJ hybrid boost without a valid regeneration. Rally1 cars are required to regenerate 30kJ of energy before a hybrid boost can administer via the throttle pedal. Due to this misfortune, Sordo has lost his valuable bonus championship points by finishing fifth in the stage and was now dropped down to 10th place, however, the penalty will not affect his fifth-place finish in the overall standings.

The steward´s decision reads: “The representative of the Competitor explained that after the start launch of SS19 the car boosted 0.08kJ without a valid regen, which is due to latency in the communication system and exceptionally hard braking. As this problem had never occurred before (also not while testing), the team did not have any idea that this could happen. The Team Manager [Pablo Marcos] stated that this mistake is possible to avoid in the future.”

“The Stewards considered that, although the performance advantage was negligible, the minimum regen 30kJ value was not met to have an extra boost. They, therefore, decided to impose the above penalty, also considering that it is the competitor’s responsibility to ensure compliance of the car at all times.”

Lance Stroll will drop three places on the grid in next weekend’s Mexico City Grand Prix after the stewards at the Circuit of the Americas laid the blame on him for the mid-race collision with Fernando Alonso.

The Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team driver was defending his position from the BWT Alpine F1 Team driver on the back straight of the Circuit of the Americas but appeared to leave his defensive move on the Spaniard too late, which resulted in contact between the two.

Alonso’s car briefly rode up on two wheels after hitting the left-rear wheel of Stroll’s Aston Martin, before brushing the barrier.  He, amazingly, was able to return to the pits, have a new front wing and tyres fitted, and was able to resume his race.

Stroll, however, was out on the spot after being spun into the wall.  His AMR22 suffered heavy damage and debris was littered across the track, meaning the second introduction of the day of the safety car.

Post-race discussions between the FIA, Aston Martin and Alpine, as well as visual evidence, highlighted that Stroll was ‘predominantly to blame’ for the accident, and as a result, he was handed a three-place grid penalty for the next event, which takes place in Mexico City next weekend.

A protest from the Haas F1 Team has cost Fernando Alonso a top ten finish in the United States Grand Prix, but a second protest against Sergio Pérez was thrown out.

Haas felt both Alonso and Pérez were driving cars in unsafe conditions during the race at the Circuit of the Americas, the Spaniard having a loose right-hand side mirror after contact with Lance Stroll and the Mexican with a damaged end plate after first lap a clash with Valtteri Bottas.

Similar end plate damage has seen Kevin Magnussen called to the pits for repairs three times during the 2022 FIA Formula 1 World Championship season, but stewards dismissed Haas’ protest as they felt Pérez’s Oracle Red Bull Racing car was no longer unsafe after the damaged wing end plate fell off on track after a few laps.

However, Haas’ protest over BWT Alpine F1 Team’s Alonso was more successful, with stewards agreeing with the team that the Spaniard’s car was being driven unsafely after his high-speed crash with Stroll on the back straight mid-way through the race.

The fact that Alonso was racing at all was amazing after he and Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team’s Stroll collided on the straight, with the Alpine driver briefly running on two wheels and against the barrier after he hit the rear wheel of the Canadian’s AMR22 as he attempted an overtake.

The RallyRACC Catalunya – Costa Daurada rally winner Sébastien Ogier has been handed a fine for performing celebratory donuts following his win and Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT won the 2022 manufacturer´s title.

The eight-time world rally champion scored his first win of the all-new Rally1 hybrid era but the win was also his first since Rally Monza last year. Ogier beat the Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT driver Thierry Neuville by 16.4 seconds. The team managed to secure the title when the teammate Kalle Rovanperä managed to bring home a third-place finish.

The WRC stewards have issued the 38-year-old Frenchman with a reprimand and a fine of 1,500 euros for breach of Article 34.1.3 in the 2022 WRC sporting regulations for “exhibition driving” before the podium in Salou as the podium haven´t been declared as “exhibition driving” zone in the supplementary regulation of the rally.

The stewards decision reads: “The Stewards heard from the Team Manager Mr. Kaj Lindström at 18:00 on 23 October 2022. He apologized that the driver was not able to attend the meeting, but he had a phone call with the driver to get his explanation. The Team Manager stated that the driver saw how one preceding car started with the launch into the podium area and he thought this was an exhibition area prepared to perform doughnuts. The Team Manager apologized for this incident.”

Two-time World Champion, Max Verstappen, has taken victory at Circuit of the Americas to match a record thirteen victories in a FIA Formula 1 World Championship season; while bringing Oracle Red Bull Racing its first Constructors’ title since 2013.

The Dutchman, who was crowned as a double champion last time out in Japan, started alongside the Scuderia Ferrari driver of Carlos Sainz, but would take an early lead when the Spaniard was spun around at Turn One.

Verstappen remained in control for most of the race, holding off Lewis Hamilton, before an issue with his front left tyre on lap thirty-six resulted in an eleven-second pitstop. Hamilton took the lead and looked set to take his first victory of the season, but was chased down by an incredibly fast Verstappen, who overtook the Briton for the lead on lap fifty of fifty-six.

Meanwhile, Sergio Pérez was forced to nurse a damaged front wing for the entire race after some contact with Kevin Magnussen on the opening lap. Pérez would spend most of his race squabbling with George Russell, crossing the line in fourth place, but still bringing enough points home for Red Bull to take the title.

The rest of the podium

Despite his best efforts to keep Verstappen behind, a differing tyre strategy for Hamilton and the pure speed of the Red Bull in his mirrors meant an overtake was inevitable. Hamilton pitted for his second set of Hard tyres at the end of lap thirty-five, prompting Verstappen to follow a lap later. The number one driver’s slow stop would promote Hamilton to the lead, though with Verstappen and Charles Leclerc opting for the Medium tyre, the advantage was not in Hamilton’s favour, and he would cross the line in second.

JR Motorsports has now filled two of four spots in the NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship Round (and can go for the clean sweep depending on Justin Allgaier and Sam Mayer‘s runs at Martinsville). After Josh Berry began the Round of 8 at Las Vegas by punching his ticket to the final round, Noah Gragson joined in by dominating at Homestead-Miami Speedway. He led 127 of 200 laps and swept the stages en route to his first win at the Florida 1.5-miler.

Gragson has been the class of the field in 2022, with his Homestead victory marking his eighth of the season; no other driver has more than five. The eight wins are the most by a JRM driver in a single season, with the second most being Allgaier’s five in 2018. He had come close to winning at Homestead in the past but came up short, most infamously being caught up in a crash with a lapped car while leading late in 2021.

“I wanted this one so bad the last three years,” said Gragson.

Trevor Bayne won the pole but fell back in the final stage to finish sixth. His Joe Gibbs Racing team-mate Ty Gibbs tried to chase down Gragson in the final stage but finished over half a second back.

“I feel like we were just battling all day,” Gibbs commented. “I gave it my all here. This place is pretty tough. I feel like we were battling the car a little bit, which makes it harder.”

Race results

Just some hours after the results from the 2022 RallyRACC Catalunya – Costa Daurada round came, it was announced that the 2019 world rally champion Ott Tänak and Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT will end their collaboration after this year´s season.

Tänak chooses to break the contract with the team and does so in a situation where he says he has reached a limit in his career and needs a new challenge. The seasons with Hyundai have not been the best in the 35-year-old’s career, after the WRC title with Toyota Gazoo Racing, the Estonian took the step to Hyundai in the hope of continuing to deliver WRC titles, but it was not to be.

Tänak has had three seasons with the German-run team where the problems followed each other, technical problems, driver mistakes, and problems in communication with team management. Now Tänak chooses not to continue after this year’s season, what the next challenge will be is not known. The Estonian is still registered for Rally Japan, where he will defend his second place in the championship.

For a long time, rumors surrounding a comeback at M-Sport Ford WRT have been rife, Tänak and sporting director Malcolm Wilson have a long relationship where the Briton many times saved the Estonian’s career when the crashes followed each other. After the final in Japan, we know for sure what happens – maybe we will see Tänak and Oliver Solberg in Ford Puma Rally1 when the 2023 season starts in Rallye Monte-Carlo as the Swede is also in talks with the British outfit.

For Hyundai, this means that the team only has Thierry Neuville contracted for 2023, possibly Dani Sordo, who himself is considering putting his helmet on the shelf, will now have to take a step up, from part-time to full-time driver. A name mentioned in the speculation is the Norwegian Andreas Mikkelsen, while Teemu Suninen is said to be ready to be picked up in the Rally1 class again.

Dietrich Mateschitz, the founder and co-owner of Red Bull, has died at the age of seventy-eight following a long-term illness.

The Austrian founded the Red Bull company in 1984 alongside Thai businessman Chaleo Yoovidhya, with the sports drink later launched in Austria in 1987. The company is today known across the globe and a world leader in the sports drink industry.

Mateschitz helped establish Red Bull into a prominent figure in the sporting world by not only owning three football teams but also sponsoring thousands of athletes across the sporting world.

In 2004 Mateschitz purchased the Jaguar Racing Formula 1 Team from the team’s owners Ford, the team would be rebranded the following season into Red Bull Racing and has competed in the FIA Formula 1 World Championship ever since.

The following year Mateschitz would expand Red Bull’s involvement in Formula 1 by purchasing the Minardi F1 Team alongside Gerhard Berger. The team was subsequently renamed Scuderia Toro Rosso and currently competes under the name Scuderia AlphaTauri.

Sébastien Loeb might have won the Andalucía Rally T1 class overall, but it was not enough to overtake Nasser Al-Attiyah for the category’s inaugural World Rally-Raid Championship. While he barely edged out Al-Attiyah for the race victory by a mere six seconds, Al-Attiyah claimed the rally’s fourth and final stage on Sunday to put the cherry atop his inaugural W2RC title.

Al-Attiyah fell behind Loeb after a challenging Stage #3 but rebounded to win the fourth by twenty-two seconds on Loeb. While his total time of 8:40:41 was not enough to surpass Loeb’s 8:40:35 for the overall, Al-Attiyah’s twenty-two-point advantage in the standings entering Andalucía only decreased by two in the end as he defeated the Frenchman 169 points to 149. The victory bookends a strong year for Al-Attiyah and co-driver Mathieu Baumel that began with winning the Dakar Rally.

“The main objective here was to win the first-ever world championship,” said Al-Attiyah. “It was an amazing year of racing. Things were always very tight between ourselves and Seb.”

Francisco López Contardo was assured the T3 title after Cristina Gutiérrez‘s difficult run on Saturday such that even finishing behind her and outside the podium in Stage #4 did not make a dent in his points edge. Guillaume de Mevius won both the stage and his first international rally raid ahead of fellow Red Bull racer Seth Quintero; while he finished fourth in the driver’s points, co-driver François Cazalet claimed his respective championship ahead of Quintero’s partner Dennis Zenz.

“It’s been a really long year going all the way back to the Dakar,” López said. “We’ve needed to be at our best all year to stay on top. I have to say a big thanks to all of my team for making this result possible.”