Motorsports Racing News & Blog Articles

Carlos Sainz Jr picked up his first win in Formula 1, in his one hundred and fiftieth race at the British Grand Prix. The race; however, got off to the most dramatic start with an instant red flag. On the opening lap, Turn One saw five drivers involved in a big crash including, Guanyu Zhou. His car flipped on its head and then flew over the wall and into a fence near the crowd, after George Russell clipped the rookie due to being hit by Pierre Gasly, which led to both of them being unable to continue the race alongside Alex Albon.

The race was delayed for over fifty minutes due to the red flag, with both Zhou and Albon going to the medical centre to be checked out. Both are currently okay with Albon having to be transferred to Coventry Hospital for further tests. Before the red flag, Max Verstappen had got himself into the lead of the race after having a great start and overtaking Sainz very easily. Lewis Hamilton also got off to a great start as he made his way into third place after Turn One.

However, before the race was resumed, the FIA decided to go with the qualifying order at the restart instead of the order when the red flag was flown. This happened as not all of the cars had passed the sector two line before the red flag, and therefore the last confirmed order was the original grid meaning that Verstappen would be pushed back to second and Hamilton to fifth at the restart.

The race got back underway with Sainz getting a much better start into Turn One, and lead the way with Verstappen staying in second. Charles Leclerc kept his place in third but suffered some wing damage alongside Sergio Pérez, after they collided with one another slightly at Turn Three with Pérez coming off worse and having to pit early due to the damage sustained.

The next fifty laps were thoroughly entertaining, with the lead of the race changing hands on many occasions from Sainz to Verstappen, then Leclerc to Hamilton. Crucially a full course Safety Car came on lap thirty-nine, after Esteban Ocon’s car had a loss of power and ended up being parked on the entry to Copse. Both Sainz and Hamilton pitted for Soft tyres, whilst Leclerc stayed out on the Hard tyre to keep track position and the lead of the race.

However, Leclerc could do nothing to stop the inevitable, as Sainz overtook his team-mate as soon as racing got underway again on lap forty-three. The Spaniard led the rest of the way to become a race winner in F1, and only the second Spanish driver to win a race in the sport. Pérez claimed second place and a well deserved Driver of The Day award, after a great fightback from him kept Oracle Red Bull Racing at the top of the Constructors’ Championship. Hamilton claimed the final podium spot and an additional point for the fastest lap, after an impressive performance from the seven-time World Champion.

Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team suffered a British Grand Prix of mixed fortunes, after Lewis Hamilton drove superbly but George Russell saw his race end very early.

Russell was involved in a huge crash on the opening corner, which saw Guanyu Zhou slide upside down into the tyre barrier in horrifying fashion. The Brit hit the Chinese driver, after being hit himself by Pierre Gasly, in what was largely a racing incident.

Russell quickly jumped out of his W13 and ran over to Zhou’s stuck C42, which had become wedged between the tyre wall and tecpro barrier. However, after his heroics, Russell wasn’t allowed to restart the race, which was red-flagged as a result of the crash. His car was unfortunately touched by the marshals, which meant he wasn’t allowed to continue.

It meant Russell’s run of finishing every race in the top five came to an end.

When the race restarted, Hamilton dropped from fifth to sixth; however, quickly found himself in third after both Oracle Red Bull Racing drivers were forced into early pit-stops, and after passing Lando Norris.

Scott McLaughlin continues Team Penske‘s dominance in the 2022 season, winning the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio amidst engine failures and teammate collisions throughout the field. This makes six wins out of nine races for Roger Penske’s crew, with Alex Palou finishing second and Will Power putting together the drive of his life to finish on the podium in third.

After Kyle Kirkwood went off-track on lap 30, race control held off on throwing the caution until all drivers got the chance to hit pit road. Immediately after everyone had a chance to get to pit road, caution was immediately thrown. This meant that McLaughlin was able to keep his lead and not lose time on an out lap. From here, the second-year driver kept his race clean and defended well against Palou to win his second career IndyCar race with his Mom and Dad in attendance.

“I really wanted to get a win here with Mom and Dad…” McLaughlin said. “…to have [them] here was super special…”

The first start of the race was abandoned because the field was not compact enough, but on the second attempt Pato O’Ward led the field to green. Every driver made it through turn four clean, but an ambitious dive by Power, who started in twenty-first, sent him spinning in turn nine. He kept the car going, but was now far behind the pack in dead last.

As O’Ward settled into the lead, engine issues plagued his teammate Felix Rosenqvist. While in third place, the Swede’s engine gave way on lap nine, bringing out the first caution of the day in heartbreaking fashion.

The Stadium Super Trucks‘ two races at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course were the Gavin Harlien and Robert Stout Show, but Max Gordon crashed the party in the second event. After stalking the two for much of the race, Gordon found his opportunity on the final lap and pushed his way past both drivers to score his second career win and end what had been a difficult weekend on a high note.

Gordon’s qualifying and Race #1 were plagued by mechanical trouble as his brakes and rear gear respectively failed, though the misfortunes placed him on the pole for the Sunday event. Despite starting first, he was quickly outmatched as Stout and Cory Winner got by him before Saturday winner Harlien joined the battle.

The quartet established themselves as the class of the field by distancing from the others and comprising the top half by the first competition caution. As Harlien and Stout fought for the Race #2 and weekend victories, Gordon watched from a distance through the second yellow. This pattern continued through the final three laps as the trio were isolated in their own fight.

Stout took the white flag but Harlien and Gordon—the latter on the outside—attempted to initiate three-wide as they approached turn four. In the following China Beach corner, Gordon committed to the inside and made contact with Stout as he knocked him aside. Harlien and Stout then made contact on the turn’s ramp that wiped out the latter’s momentum.

“I knew Max was somewhere in the hunt but I didn’t even consider him getting into the mix up there at the end because Gavin and I were so focused on what were going to do against each other,” Stout recalled on the podium.

Lewis Hamilton broke yet another record at the British Grand Prix, after claiming his thirteenth podium at the circuit making him the new record holder for most podiums at a single venue.

The seven-time World Champion left nothing on the Silverstone International Circuit, after coming the closest he has in a long-time to victory. Hamilton initially made an electric start, going from fifth to third in the opening corners. However, due to Guanyu Zhou’s huge crash at the first corner, the race was red-flagged and restarted using the initial starting grid.

At the restart, Hamilton dropped to sixth behind Lando Norris. The Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team driver quickly dealt with his compatriot though, and was soon up to fourth after Sergio Pérez pitted for a nose change. Fourth became third when Max Verstappen was forced into the pits early, after running over a piece of carbon.

This left Hamilton with only the Scuderia Ferrari pair ahead, who he hunted down as quickly as possible. The Brit then found himself leading a race for the first-time this year, after the Ferrari duo pitted. Hamilton eventually emerged in third-place after his own stop, before pitting again for Soft tyres only a few laps later due to a late Safety Car.

This saw a huge ten lap shootout for the podium, as Carlos Sainz Jr cleared off into the distance after quickly overtaking his team-mate at the restart. Hamilton was in a great tussle with Pérez and Charles Leclerc, which involved the Brit overtaking both incredibly at the last corner!

Tony Stewart‘s “family talk” with the Superstar Racing Experience grid about driver etiquette after last week’s temper-filled South Boston round seems to have paid off. Unlike the feuding seen in SoBo, Saturday’s Stafford Speedway races were relatively benign in terms of not having petty retaliation and every driver completed all 132 combined laps, though contact was aplenty as virtually everyone suffered some sort of body damage.

By the end, Ryan Newman was an SRX winner for the first time. He and Stewart—his former NASCAR Cup Series boss at Stewart-Haas Racing—are the only drivers to win races in SRX and its spiritual predecessor International Race of Champions.

While Ryan Hunter-Reay and Bobby Labonte won the two heats, Marco Andretti landed on the pole for the feature and looked to be the early favourite even with contact from Greg Biffle. Stewart joined the picture for the second half of the race.

Andretti and Stewart looked to have a classic battle to the finish before the infamous “fun flag” competition caution came out with ten laps left. Newman pounced on the ensuing restart to take second from Stewart before forcing his way past Andretti with six circuits remaining. Andretti and Paul Tracy rounded out the podium.

The victory comes with some sentimental feeling, especially among fans who watched Newman nearly die in the 2020 Daytona 500, only to make a recovery just weeks later before resuming his career. Although departed from the Cup Series since, he now has an SRX championship to chase.

Arthur Leclerc survived two safety car periods to take his first FIA Formula 3 Championship win of 2022 in the Feature Race at Silverstone, in a race full of drama.

Two British drivers completed the podium in a popular result for the home crowd.

Zak O’Sullivan started on pole, ahead of Leclerc and Zane Maloney.

Everyone kept it clean through the first few corners, with Arthur Leclerc swooping around the outside of O’Sullivan at Stowe as the safety car was scrambled for Franco Colapinto‘s crash at Luffield, while Maloney ran across the grass after contact with Oliver Bearman.

Juan Manuel Correa pitted to retire at the end of Lap 2, with William Alatalo boxing for a new front wing under the safety car.

Ty Gibbs might be the grandson of Joe Gibbs and drive some of the best equipment available in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, but the eighteen-year-old definitely knows how to make the most of what he has. Although reigning Cup Series champion Kyle Larson dominated Saturday’s Henry 180 at Road America, Gibbs passed him on the final lap en route to his eighth career win and fourth on a road course.

Larson, driving for his Cup team Hendrick Motorsports in its first Xfinity programme since 2009, won the pole and looked virtually unstoppable as he led all but fifteen laps and won the first two stages. Gibbs qualified second and spent much of Saturday chasing Larson before finding an opportunity as the last lap commenced. After staying on his rear bumper through the first corner, made his move on the inside before switching to defence.

The young prospect kept the Cup star off him for the rest of the circuit and his series-leading fourth win of 2022.

“I had a fun time racing with Kyle,” said Gibbs. “I thought it was going to get a little rough there, but he’s such a great competitor and a great person. We played golf the other day—I want to tell him thanks for the golf lessons, I still suck. This is awesome. I can’t believe it. It’s wonderful.

“[…] It’s cool to be here, cool to race the Cup Series guys. Hopefully, that says something.”

The last time an NTT IndyCar Series began with nine different drivers winning pole across the first nine races, Bobby Lewis was the the top-charting Billboard single artist and West Side Story was on its way to winning Best Picture.

Pato O’Ward was pole winner #9 on Saturday at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, setting a time of 1:06.70 that beat Scott McLaughlin by .13 of a second. In helping IndyCar set the different pole-sitters milestone last achieved in 1961, O’Ward notched his fifth career pole and third on a road course after Road America in 2020 and Barber last year. He also scored his best qualifying spot at Mid-Ohio by a wide margin as his previous best was fifteenth in his track début in 2020.

Despite the pole, O’Ward described it as “really messy” as “I kept leaving three, four, even half a second on the table just because I couldn’t get it right. If it wasn’t turn blah-blah, it was another. It was really tough to get it right, so I’m super happy to get it together for the team in Q3.”

“I’ve had very successful weekends here in junior formulas but haven’t really capitalised a weekend here in IndyCar, so I think this is the first step. I’m excited for tomorrow. I think we will have a strong race car as we’ve had in the past; the problem is we just haven’t really had that chance to make our life a little bit easier during the race. I’ve had to pass so many cars.”

The session was not without incident for O’Ward, who blocked rookie David Malukas during the second round and prevented him from setting a strong time to make the Firestone Fast Six. IndyCar elected not to penalise O’Ward for the hindrance and Malukas placed eighth, still good enough to be the highest qualifying rookie.

Gavin Harlien faced challenges from both Robert Stout and Race Control if he wished to win the Stadium Super Trucks‘ Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course Race #1 on Saturday. Just when it appeared Harlien held off Stout for the victory after eleven circuits, a miscommunication resulted in officials accidentally extending the race by two laps. Although Harlien and Stout continued to race for the added laps and the latter won out, the results were eventually revised to confirm Harlien as the winner.

Harlien and Stout started at the rear as the fastest qualifiers, while Bill Hynes was on the pole and led Zoey Edenholm early. The Stout/Harlien duo only needed two laps to get by Max Gordon and series newcomers Ben Maier and Cory Winner to enter podium range.

Hynes established a commanding lead as Edenholm lost second to Stout and Harlien before the competition caution came out on lap four. Stout pounced on Hynes at the ensuing restart and Hynes followed suit in the Keyhole.

The second half of the race was defined by Stout and Harlien dueling for the lead while Hynes watched from third. Their battle continued after the second and final competition caution, and it appeared Harlien would keep Stout at bay through the eleventh and final scheduled lap. However, a misunderstanding by Race Control resulted in the distance being lengthened to thirteen laps, abruptly forcing Harlien to continue his defence. Stout cleared Harlien in the China Beach turn five on the now-void penultimate lap before the latter started falling back when his fuel pressure experienced problems.

The checkered flag fell as Stout crossed the line in first while Race Control worked to rectify the matter. While Stout stood atop the podium with Harlien next to him, the series later confirmed Harlien was the actual winner with Stout second. The win is Harlien’s first since Road America in 2019, preceding a two-year hiatus as he focused on college, and his second at Mid-Ohio.

Scuderia Ferrari found success in the wet conditions of Silverstone Circuit during qualifying for the British Grand Prix, with Carlos Sainz earning his first-ever pole position and Charles Leclerc slotting into third place. 

Ferrari Team Principal and Managing Director Mattia Binotto was pleased with the result, and felt that Sainz was particularly deserving of the top spot after the challenging session– further solidifying Sainz’s abilities after coming within a second of the win last time out at the Canadian Grand Prix. 

“It’s very satisfying to come away with pole position and third place in the difficult conditions we faced in today’s qualifying. It was a day where what mattered most was to stay focussed and Carlos certainly succeeded in that. So, he fully deserves this result.

“Securing his first pole position at such a demanding track and in these extreme conditions is the best possible confirmation of how Carlos’ confidence in the car has grown over recent races, especially after Canada.”

In the tight battle for pole position, Ferrari implemented a strategy in which both cars were lapping continuously throughout Q3 to ensure they were able to capitalize on any improvement of track conditions. Sainz’s final lap saw him take provisional pole, while team-mate Leclerc suffered a spin that hindered him from improving from third. Max Verstappen lost his shot at pole due to the yellow flag caused by Leclerc’s spin, further securing Sainz’s pole position by the session’s end.

British racing driver Jamie Chadwick has extended her W Series championship lead after starting from pole position at Silverstone, meaning she has now won all four races in the 2022 season and has a flawless 100 points in the drivers standings.

Chadwick showed strong pace from the start of the race, pulling away from the field and creating a comfortable gap. It was an incredible afternoon for the British star as she took her home race by storm, finishing 19 seconds ahead of Finish driver Emma Kimilainen, who took second place after starting behind Chadwick at the start.

It was fellow Brit Abbi Pulling who grabbed the third step of the podium not long after a collision with Kimilainen on the penultimate lap, leaving her second in the drivers standings with 56 points. Pulling also kept the pressure on Fabienne Wohlwend and overtook her when she made a mistake at Village corner of the circuit, maintaining her third position when crossing the chequered flag.

Unfortunately it was not an afternoon to be remembered for Pulling’s mentor Alice Powell after she stalled her Click2Drive Bristol Street Motors car during the formation lap, meaning she dropped down to seventeenth before the lights went out and was unable to overtake the field back to second before the first safety car line, earning herself a 10 second penalty. Once Powell entered into the pits to fulfil her penalty, she ended up dropping down to eighteenth, finding herself all the way at the back of the field, meaning she had a lot of overtaking to do to get back to her starting position.

Round 4 of the W Series championship will take place at Le Castellet in three weeks in France, on 22 – 23 July.

Oliver Solberg delivered a spectacular couple of heats to end the first day of the second round of the FIA European Rallycross Championship as Top Qualifier. Despite the changeable conditions, the 20-year old outshone his rivals, ending the day 2 points clear of championship leader Anton Marklund.

The ‘Magic Weekend’ in Höljes got off to a rather damp start. The rain poured just before the start of heat one, leading to decidedly slippery conditions for the opening race of the weekend. Race one delivered what fans had been hoping for – a showdown between Andreas Bakkerud and Johan Kristoffersson, two titans of World RX who have been seduced back to Höljes by the lure of the Magic Weekend. Bakkerud made good on his promise to give the four-time world champion “a run for his money” as he barged his way through at the Velodrome on lap three before taking the race win.

However, as the track developed, it was clear that that time would not be enough to win the heat. A pretty much perfect run from Solberg in his Hedströms Motorsport Hyundai i20 gave him a time which was a full nine seconds faster than Kristoffersson, just enough to fend off the attack from a charging Anton Marklund, who demonstrated perfect joker technique in his battle against JB Dubourg to win his race.

With the sun shining down on a fully dry track, the crowds could feel the magic of Höljes as Heat Two got underway. Local hero Linus Östlund set the pace, winning his race after a thrilling battle with Norway’s Ole Christian Veiby, and setting the fastest time of the day in the process. However, this was not to last.

In the second race of Heat Two, the GOAT came out to win. Four-time world champion Johan Kristoffersson did what has become his trademark move. He launched his Volkswagen Polo off the line, threw the car around the outside. made sure he came out of the first corner in the lead, and then proceeded to stay there until the end of the race. Kristoffersson finished his race a full eight seconds faster than Östlund. It is clear that the champion is here to win.

Carlos Sainz has taken pole position for Scuderia Ferrari at the Silverstone Circuit, which was soaked with rain throughout all three sessions. On a day where Max Verstappen looked set to take pole yet again, the Spaniard was able to steal the top spot in the dying moments of the session to take the first pole position of his career.

Sainz somewhat struggled in the earlier sessions to get a good lap on the board, but was able to set a lap in the optimal track conditions for his tyres, while mistakes from team-mate, Charles Leclerc, and championship leader, Verstappen, prevented them from taking the first-place spot. Leclerc was able to set a time good enough for third place, while Verstappen put his car alongside Sainz on the front row.

The rest of the top ten

Sergio Pérez will start Sunday’s Grand Prix from fourth place, ahead of Lewis Hamilton, who was only able to put his Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula 1 Team car in fifth, after looking strong all weekend. Team-mate, George Russell, was unable to get a good lap together at the end of Qualifying Three, disappointingly putting his Mercedes W13 in eighth place on the grid.

Lando Norris continued his streak of always reaching Qualifying Three at his home race, ending the session in the ‘best of the rest’ sixth place. It was an unfortunate day for Daniel Ricciardo, who celebrated his thirty third birthday on Friday, and was knocked out of Qualifying Two after not setting a lap quickly enough before the rain worsened. The Australian will start the race from fourteenth place on Sunday for McLaren F1 Team.

BWT Alpine F1 Team had a tricky day with new upgrades on their cars, with Fernando Alonso yet again qualifying well – this time, in seventh place. However, the session didn’t go quite as well for Esteban Ocon, who suffered the same fate as Ricciardo, and will start the race from fifteenth.

Thomas Preining won a chaotic Norisring race that saw less than half of the drivers reach the checkered flag, including a seven car pile-up into the first hairpin.

A new qualifying format was introduced for the Norisring round. Due to the huge starting grid of 27 cars, the drivers were split into two qualifying groups, A and B. This was done to ensure everyone had the same chance to fight for the pole.

Kelvin Van Der Linde took advantage of the new format and grabbed pole position, followed by Thomas Preining and Ayhancan Güven.

The Norisring is a small 1.4-mile track with only four corners. Incidents are expected at the Nuremberg street circuit. However, no one could have expected only eleven cars to finish the race.

Chaos ensued from the first corner. A seven car pile-up was started when DTM newcomer Franck Perera was tipped around into the first hairpin. Local boy Marco Wittmann, the two Team Rosberg drivers, and Championship leader Sheldon Van der Linde couldn’t avoid the carnage. Forcing them all to retire with damage.