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McLaren F1 Team‘s new upgrades for the French Grand Prix appear to be working well at the Circuit Paul Ricard, with both Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo ending the day in the top ten.

Norris came out on top between the two McLaren drivers, with the British driver ending the opening day in sixth-place. Norris performed well across both sessions, where he brought his day to a close almost 1.1 seconds behind early-pacesetter and former team-mate Carlos Sainz Jr.

The Brit was “reasonably” happy with how the first day went, but believes he still needs to “adapt” slightly to make the most of the new parts.

“A reasonable day. It’s been a day of trying the new parts on the car and trying to understand them and figure them out for tomorrow. I think we’ve done that. The pace of the car and the handling’s in a reasonable position – but also a bit different between the old package and the new package. There’s still some adapting to do with my driving and so on, so a bit more potential to move forward tomorrow. We’ll have a look this evening, figure it out and see what we can improve on for Saturday.” 

“There’s still quite a lot to come” – Daniel Ricciardo

On the other side of the McLaren garage, Ricciardo also performed well on the opening day. It was one of the Australian’s better opening days of the season, after the Honey Badger ended Friday in ninth-place.

The Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula 1 Team were further off the pace than expected on the opening day of the French Grand Prix, with George Russell ending the day almost eight-tenths behind Circuit Paul Ricard pacesetter Carlos Sainz Jr.

The British driver ended both Free Practice 1 and Free Practice 2 in fourth-place, leaving Russell convinced that the team have “work to do”. Russell may have been disappointed to have ended the day so far off the pace, after Mercedes installed a number of upgrades to the W13 which saw them predicted as favourites prior to the opening running.

Despite being far off the pace, Russell found the day “enjoyable”, but believes there is a “lot to go over” on Saturday.

“It was quite enjoyable to be back out there at this track as it’s quite a fun one in certain aspects. Some teams struggled more than others with the high temperatures. We only did five consecutive laps but we’re also probably a bit further off the pace than what we had hoped for. We have work to do tonight here at the track and back at the factories. There’s a lot to go over and we need to make sure we can optimise our pace for tomorrow.

“From the running today, it looks like we’re finding time but all the other teams keep bringing updates too, and the whole grid moves forward. So, although we’re finding time, our competitors do as well. And we need to look at the data to see if our upgrades are working as sometimes it’s not as simple as just seeing it on the lap charts.”

Carlos Sainz Jr. felt it was a positive Friday at the Circuit Paul Ricard as the topped second practice, but the Spaniard already knows he will drop ten places on the grid for Sunday’s race after engine component changes outside of his allocation.

The Scuderia Ferrari driver retired with a spectacular engine failure and fire in the Austrian Grand Prix last time out, and although the team have been able to fall back on used components elsewhere, they were forced into introducing a third Control Electronics to his car, thus setting off the penalty.

Despite this, Sainz believed the updates brought to France this weekend had been working well, and all his focus going forward will be to set-up the car for Sunday’s race so he can make his way up the order quickly and efficiently.

“It has been a positive day,” said Sainz.  “The updates seem to work well and the car felt good, especially on the flying laps.

“The long runs were a bit more challenging due to the graining. For sure, today’s high temperatures were an important factor to consider, but we need to look carefully into how we can protect the tyres as much as possible.

Pierre Gasly was feeling positive after Friday’s running at the Circuit Paul Ricard as Scuderia AlphaTauri brought some significant updates to is AT-03, with the Frenchman already feeling like they have brought an improvement in performance to the team.

The team have not had a great run of results of late and have slipped down the pecking order – they sit eighth in the Constructors’ Championship at the halfway point of the season – but Gasly showed a good turn of speed in practice for his home event on Friday.

Gasly ended fifth fastest in the morning session and seventh in the afternoon, and he was encouraged by the updates that are giving him positive signs heading into the rest of the weekend.

“Clearly, in terms of performance, we were back in the Top 10 with fifth this morning and seventh this afternoon,” said Gasly.  “The feeling in the way the car behaved showed a lot of positive signs with the new parts we brought this weekend.

“It is great to have this package for my home race and to see all the people around the track. Now we need to work to understand what we tested today and go through all the data to be able to put it together for Quali tomorrow.

Carlin’s Logan Sargeant is continuing to prove his potential with another pole position in the 2022 FIA Formula 2 championship, with just three hundredths of a second separating the top three qualifiers in Le Castellet.

The Williams junior left it late to steal the pole from DAMS’ Ayumu Iwasa who was on provisional until Sargeant’s last second lap. The Japanese driver ended up just six-thousandths of a second off the pole time of Sargeant.

Frederik Vesti completed the top three after out-qualifying early championship candidate and ART Grand Prix team-mate, Théo Pourchaire once again.

The Frenchman who will be enjoying his home race weekend qualified in fifth place, just behind Virtuosi Racing’s Jack Doohan who qualified in fourth.

Championship leader Felipe Drugovich had another consistent qualifying and put himself onto the third row of the grid in sixth place where he will line-up alongside Pourchaire.

Max Verstappen admitted Oracle Red Bull Racing have work to do overnight to correct the balance issues they faced during free practice for the French Grand Prix on Friday.

The Dutchman was edged out from top spot by Scuderia Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in the first session at the Circuit Paul Ricard, while he ended third behind both Leclerc and session leader Carlos Sainz Jr. in the second session.

Verstappen feels Red Bull have a better car over the long runs, which bodes well for race day, but they are just lacking something when it comes to the qualifying simulations, something he hopes they can overcome before Saturday’s running in France.

“I think FP2 was a little bit more difficult for us than FP1 as we didn’t get the balance that we had hoped for,” said Verstappen. “We were also trying different things with the car.

“We’ll have a look at it all overnight and of course try to be quicker tomorrow. I think the long run is better but the tyres are running really hot so it’s difficult to judge where you really are.

Luke Browning took two more pole positions to aid his GB3 Championship title charge at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps on Friday afternoon.

He broke into the 2:15s around the seven-kilometre circuit, lapping almost half a second ahead of title rival Joel Granfors, the Swede just one thousandth ahead of Douglas Motorsport‘s Max Esterson.

Silverstone Race 3 winner, Cian Shields put his Hitech GP car fourth, just ahead of team-mate Bryce Aron to put all three race-winning Hitech drivers in the top five for Race 1 on Saturday afternoon.

McKenzy Cresswell lapped around a tenth slower than Aron to set his best grid slot of his maiden campaign so far, but just ahead of his Chris Dittmann Racing team-mate Branden Oxley, who lines up second for Race 2.

Javier Sagrera picked up his first podium of the year at Snetterton, and built on that momentum and his experience of the Spa circuit to lead the Carlin trio, with Callum Voisin P18 and Roberto Faria P20.

Carlos Sainz topped the second practice session at the 2022 French Grand Prix. Charlse Leclerc finished in second position, just 0.101 seconds slower than his team-mate.

Max Verstappen finished in third position ahead of the Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team drivers.

The second free practice session at the Circuit Paul Ricard started with air temperatures at 30 degrees C and track temperatures at 54 degrees C.

The Pirelli tyre choice at this race is the white-striped hard compound tyres (C2), yellow-striped medium compound tyres (C3), and red-striped soft compound tyres (C4), the middle range of compounds in the Pirelli tyre range.

Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas were back in their cars after Nyck de Vries and Robert Kubica drove in their place in the first free practice session.

After being left off of the schedule in 2021, the NTT IndyCar Series returns to the 1.4 km oval of Iowa Speedway for an exciting doubleheader weekend with the Hy-VeeDeals.com 250 and Hy-Vee Salute to Farmers 300.

Marcus Ericsson continues his run at the top of the points standings with 351 points, extending his lead to 35 points over second place Will Power. Alex Palou jumps to third place after the Honda Indy Toronto with 314 points, seven ahead of Josef Newgarden in fourth. And after his win in Toronto, Scott Dixon jumps into the top five tied with Newgarden on 307 points.

This Iowa doubleheader sits in the middle of a five-race stretch in a four-week span, and over 100 points will be on offer in this two-day window.

Will anyone be able to break Team Penske‘s dominance at Iowa in recent years? How will drivers deal with the physical demands of a doubleheader? How will the rookie class adapt to the bumpy, short oval? Here’s everything you need to know ahead of the Honda Indy Toronto.

WHAT HAPPENED LAST YEAR?

Iowa was also a doubleheader in 2020, where Simon Pagenaud and Newgarden made it a Penske Perfect weekend.

Charles Leclerc led the first free practice session of the 2022 French Grand Prix in Le Castellet, France.

Max Verstappen finished in second position, 0.091 seconds slower than the Scuderia Ferrari driver. Carlos Sainz finished in third position at the end of the session.

The first free practice session of the French Grand Prix at the Circuit Paul Ricard started with air temperatures at 29 degrees C and track temperatures at 58 degrees C. The hot temperatures are predicted for the whole weekend with Europe in the midst of a scorching summer season..

The Pirelli tyre choice at this race is the white-striped hard compound tyres (C2), yellow-striped medium compound tyres (C3), and red-striped soft compound tyres (C4), the middle range of compounds in the Pirelli tyre range.

Nyck de Vries was in Lewis Hamilton’s W13 for the first free practice session. Robert Kubica drove in place of Valtteri Bottas in this session.

NASCAR plus electric vehicles is an equation that is considered sacrilegious to a considerably portion of the fan base. After all, electric motors are virtually the antithesis to the loud, roaring V8 stock car engines and the smell of gasoline that permeates oval tracks around America.

But as times change and the world begins looking towards alternatives to internal combustion and fossil fuels, it only made sense for NASCAR to begin doing the same and beyond. The sanctioning body is entering a new era with the début of the Cup Series‘ Next Gen car in 2022 and increased schedule diversity with road courses and even a street circuit in Chicago due for 2023 competition. Such changes in the sport’s image, perhaps unfathomable as recently as the turn of the decade, seem to be continuing full steam ahead amid musings about a potential exhibition series using electric cars in 2023 or even a re-imagining of the Xfinity Series to use SUVs. Leaks of the former circulated on social media before Jerry Jordan of Kickin’ the Tires brought them forward in a report on Thursday. While NASCAR remained vague when inquired about its veracity, KTT suggested the official appearance and past rumours of electrification provide enough reason to not turn a blind eye.

The leak outlines plans to field twelve electric cars (three or four per manufacturer) in support of the Cup Series at six events beginning with a demonstration at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, which is hosting the Busch Clash on 5 February 2023 and another chapter in NASCAR’s “new and radical” philosophy. The vehicle would use the Next Gen car’s platform, built atop its chassis with modifications to the front/rear clips to accommodate electric components like powertrain and battery, and intended to perform identically to their ICE counterparts. Although the Next Gen is envisioned as the base, the document notes the body could be modelled after SUVs or crossovers depending on the manufacturer. The Next Gen car already features hybrid capability as its transaxle unifies the transmission and rear gear to make such a switch viable.

Austrian rallycross operation STARD would supply the 1,000-hp electric powertrains for the cars. In 2020, STARD partnered with Ford Performance (a NASCAR manufacturer) to develop the Fiesta ERX2 as part of the FIA World Rallycross Championship’s ongoing transition to fully electric cars. Ford Performance director Mark Rushbrook had speculated in 2019 about NASCAR hybridising by introducing a KERS-like system to complement the ICE engines.

Each demonstration race would be only thirty minutes long, with pit stops taking place strictly to repair the car and provide tyres; battery swaps, much less drivers switching cars like in Formula E’s early years, are not in the picture.

On Point Motorsports‘ driver carousel has added Chris Hacker to the rotation as he will drive the #30 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park on 29 July. TJ’s Team Foundation, a nonprofit aimed at supporting pediatric cancer research, will sponsor the truck.

“TJ loved NASCAR and we have since continued to embrace the sport with passion in his honor,” said foundation co-founder Travis Anderson, whose six-year-old son TJ Anderson passed away from cancer in 2018. “When we were made aware of Chris Hacker and the struggles that he has gone through to get onto the track, we knew he was a driver that we wanted to be aligned with in helping us promote TJ’s Team Foundation.

“Chris’ passion is what stood out to me, just seeing a kid that has medical issues put everything he has into chasing his dream, reminds me of my son TJ. We are just hoping to utilize the NASCAR platform to spread the word about TJ’s Team Foundation and we are proud to have Chris as our ambassador.”

Hacker is no stranger to On Point Motorsports as his Truck début at Gateway in 2021 came via partnership between OPM and Reaume Bothers Racing, where he finished twenty-seventh. Since then, He has made three starts to date in 2022, all for RBR: after finishing seventeenth at Atlanta, he respectively placed thirty-first and twenty-ninth at Texas and Nashville. He also has two starts for Niece Motorsports in late 2021, with a thirty-seventh at Las Vegas and a career best sixteenth at Martinsville.

His hometown of Noblesville, Indiana is approximately forty miles (64.37 km) away from IRP in Brownsburg, essentially making this a home race.

Otmar Szafnauer says everyone within the BWT Alpine F1 Team are looking forward to flying the French flag this weekend as the 2022 FIA Formula 1 World Championship season continues with the French Grand Prix at the Circuit Paul Ricard.

Szafnauer, the Team Principal of the Enstone-based team, says racing in front of home fans makes for a much more enjoyable but humbling experience, and they are all looking to make everyone proud at the track this weekend.

“It’s always exciting when it’s a home Grand Prix, and we’re looking forward to flying the French flag on home soil at Circuit Paul Ricard this weekend,” said Szafnauer.  “Racing at any Grand Prix is special but when it’s in front of a home crowd, it just makes the experience even more enjoyable and humbling.

“It makes all the staff at Alpine very proud to be part of a Formula 1 team and we’re aiming to do everyone proud on track this weekend.”

Szafnauer says it is important for Alpine to execute clean weekends with both Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon throughout the remainder of the season if they are to beat the McLaren F1 Team to fourth place in the Constructors’ Championship.

For the first time in his career, Esteban Ocon will race in front of his own grandstand, with the ‘Esteban Ocon Grandstand’ adorning the Circuit Paul Ricard.

The BWT Alpine F1 Team driver says it is a ‘dream come true’ for him to have his own stands, and he is expecting the atmosphere to be amazing both in the grandstand as well as the track itself as the Frenchman races in front of his own fans.

“There isn’t a feeling quite like racing in your own country and seeing the passion of the home fans when arriving to the circuit, or, in the grandstands when driving past,” said Ocon.  “I’ll also have my own grandstand this weekend which is a first for me and a dream come true.

“I know the atmosphere will be amazing in the ‘Esteban Ocon Grandstand’ and throughout the grounds in what is a sold-out race weekend.”

Looking ahead to the racing, Ocon is ready to get back behind the wheel of the A522 and fight once more for a strong result, having finished an excellent seasons-best fifth in the Austrian Grand Prix last time out.

Max Verstappen is aiming to bounce back this weekend at the French Grand Prix, after missing out on victory at the team’s home race. Verstappen suffered from tyre degradation at the Red Bull Ring, something he’s hoping the team will have learnt from ahead of this weekend at the Circuit Paul Ricard.

The reigning World Champion holds a thirty-seven point lead going into the twelfth round of the championship, where he’ll be looking to extend his advantage over Charles Leclerc. Should Verstappen win this weekend, then he’ll make it back-to-back victories at the venue, after winning the same round last season.

The Dutchman is aware that he’ll need to look after his tyres this weekend, with temperatures expected to be warm.

“We had a good result last year in France as a Team. The track has a lot of technical and high-speed corners towards the end, so it will be important to look after the tyres, especially considering it’s going to be a very hot weekend. I’m looking forward to another race week where we can hopefully improve on our performance from Austria and learn from our result last time out.”

“I’m still in contention for the Drivers’ Championship” – Sergio Pérez

Sergio Pérez has suffered three DNFs in the last two races, with his most recent retirement occuring at the recent Austrian Grand Prix. Pérez collected significant damage in the opening lap, as a result of colliding with George Russell at Turn Four. The Mexican was forced into retirement due to the sheer volume of the damage.