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McLaren F1 Team’s Lando Norris finished eighth at the Spanish Grand Prix, having moved up from eleventh, while Daniel Ricciardo was unable to find the pace needed to hold onto his starting position of ninth, and ended up finishing twelfth. 

Principal Andreas Seidl was pleased with the points result in the “challenging” Barcelona conditions and said that the team will work to understand the issues that caused Ricciardo to struggle. 

“It was a long and challenging Spanish Grand Prix under very hot conditions. Lando together with the team maximised everything we had in our hands today and finished in P8. On Daniel’s side unfortunately, after getting into Q3 yesterday, we were struggling a lot with the rear of the car whenever we tried to push more, and went backwards in the race finishing in P12. We have some homework to do over the next couple of days to understand why.”

Seidl was proud of Norris for pushing through the weekend and achieving a great result in spite of his not feeling well, and hopes he will be better in time for the Monaco Grand Prix.

“Lando did not feel well all weekend but showed great fighting spirit battling it through and bringing home some points for the team. We wish him a speedy recovery now in the next few days and will hopefully have him back at full energy in Monaco in a couple of days.”

In spite of being “on the backfoot” at the Spanish Grand Prix due to illness, Lando Norris managed an impressive result of eighth place. Having started from eleventh, his solid run earned him some points to add to McLaren F1 Team’s tally. 

“Today was tough. I was feeling really unwell before the race as I’m suffering with tonsillitis, and that, in combination with the high temperatures, made this one of the hardest races I’ve ever done. I’ve been a bit on the backfoot this weekend as most of my energy has been spent fighting off this illness.”

He said that his illness hindered his preparation for the race, so to end the grand prix in the points was a success for the team. 

“I’ve had to miss a lot of engineering sessions, which has compromised my weekend, and I definitely wasn’t as prepared for the Grand Prix as I could have been. With that in mind, I’m really pleased to have come out of the race with decent points for the team.”

With the Monaco Grand Prix coming up this week, Norris said that the few days between will be used to review data and attempt to improve the car’s performance. 

Jody Egginton admitted the Spanish Grand Prix weekend was a ‘tough’ one for Scuderia AlphaTauri, but it was pleasing to not leave the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya emptyhanded as Yuki Tsunoda secured tenth place.

Pierre Gasly’s race was compromised early with a damaged front wing, which made for a difficult afternoon for the Frenchman, but Tsunoda had a cleaner day, battling hard for the minor points against the two McLaren F1 Team drivers, BWT Alpine F1 Team’s Fernando Alonso and Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team’s Sebastian Vettel.

Egginton, the Technical Director of the Faenza-based team, said both drivers battled as hard as they could throughout the sixty-six-lap race but could only manage a single point when they had hoped for more.

“Today’s race has been tough, but with both drivers battling hard we managed to come away with a point,” said Egginton. “Pierre picked up front wing damage early on, which made the car a bit trickier to drive and cost him some time.

“Yuki had a cleaner start and was in a battle with the McLarens and Alonso early on in the race, fighting for points. With the hot conditions moving the race to a three stop for the majority, track position was key, and Yuki’s final stop was timed to prevent Vettel, who was one of the two stoppers, getting ahead when we stopped and this worked out well.

Yuki Tsunoda ended the Spanish Grand Prix with a tenth-place finish on Sunday, with the Japanese race pleased to break into the points on a weekend where his Scuderia AlphaTauri team were not at their best.

Tsunoda had a quietly impressive weekend at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, out-qualifying team-mate Pierre Gasly on Saturday and outracing the Frenchman on Sunday despite neither driver feeling particularly comfortable driving the AT-03.  He charged through to take tenth ahead of Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team’s Sebastian Vettel.

Despite the top ten finish, Tsunoda says there is still a lot of work for AlphaTauri to do if they want to fight higher up the midfield after struggling for performance all through the weekend in Spain.

“That was a super tough race, it was so hot in the car today and then we were in a constant battle to make it into the points, so the pressure was there,” said Tsunoda.

“I’m quite happy with my performance today and where we finished in the race, we haven’t been comfortable in the car the whole weekend, so to be fighting for points was a good step forward.

It was a strong Sunday afternoon in the Spanish sun for the BWT Alpine F1 Team, after what was a shocking Qualifying for them. Esteban Ocon recovered from twelfth to finish seventh, whilst Fernando Alonso finished his home race in ninth despite having started last at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

Both Alpine drivers proved that they have a much stronger race car than they do in one-lap pace, after both pulled a number of overtakes to climb up into the points places. The team may wonder what could’ve been, had both cars made it into Qualifying 3. With the midfield proving incredible tight yet again this season, it’s vital that the French side get on top of their qualifying performance, in order to maximise their Sunday pace.

Alpine CEO Laurent Rossi, highlighted this point, as well as explained that the team did a good job considering where they were prior to the race.

“While the weekend didn’t look promising before the race, we managed to recover with both cars finishing inside the points. To go from twentieth, and last, on the grid with Fernando and twelfth with Esteban to eight points in the bag at the end is certainly satisfying and well deserved. We’ve managed to salvage points after a tough Qualifying, which is important in a close championship fight like we’re in.

“That said, we need to continue the hard work, in particularly ensuring more performance consistency throughout the whole weekend to better our starting grid positions. We’ve demonstrated today, on a demanding track in tough conditions, that we have what it takes to perform well on Sundays. We now need to ensure we put ourselves in a position where we’re battling for the higher points-scoring places on a more regular basis.

Esteban Ocon recovered well from a disappointing Qualifying at the Spanish Grand Prix, to finish seventh-place at a scorching hot Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. Team-mate Fernando Alonso drove an incredible race to make up eleven places.

Ocon proved that Alpine do have a good race car, the Frenchman made an excellent start to the race and made up a number of places early on. The A522 appeared an almost completely different car on Sunday, following the team’s disappointment on Saturday.

Ocon finished seventh on a three-stop strategy, which was used by the majority of the drivers on what was an exceptionally hot day.

Ocon was very pleased with the result, in what he described as “the best” the team could’ve targeted.

“I’m very happy for the team today with a good double result. It’s probably the best result we could have hoped for after yesterday and the team should be very proud for what we achieved today. It was a great first stint with some good overtakes and, overall, I don’t think there is anything we could have done better.

Frédéric Vasseur was delighted to see Valtteri Bottas score eight more points for Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN in Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix, a race where they did not think they would be that competitive ahead of the weekend.

Bottas ran as high as a fourth during the race at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, but a two-stop strategy gamble did not pay off as he was powerless to defend from the recovering Carlos Sainz Jr. and Lewis Hamilton, who both made three pit stops, in the closing laps to drop to sixth.

However, Vasseur, the Team Principal at Alfa Romeo, was full of praise for Bottas for bringing home another good finish – his fifth top ten result in the opening six races – and score another good haul of points for the team.

“We experienced another race in which we showed just how quick we can be, and to bring home eight more points, finishing just behind the front runners, is a positive result,” said Vasseur.

“We can be pleased about our performance, even more so given that we were not expecting Barcelona to suit us too well, so we can be confident we can be competitive on every race weekend.

Valtteri Bottas said the gamble by the Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN to pit only twice during Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix did not pay off, but the Finn was still happy to end the day with a strong seventh place finish at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

Only once this season has the Finn not finished inside the points – he was forced to retire from the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix – and he was embroiled in the battle for the top five for much of Sunday afternoon.

However, Bottas pitted only twice while his rivals pitted three times, which meant he was lacking in pace in the closing laps that left him unable to keep ahead of Carlos Sainz Jr. or Lewis Hamilton as the Scuderia Ferrari and Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team drivers recovered from early issues.

“We got some good points today and we take plenty of positives home,” said Bottas. “Our pace throughout the race was really strong and it was nice to be in battles with the big teams ahead – it shows how much progress we are doing and how the upgrades we brought here seem to work well.

“In the end, we chose to be aggressive and take a risk with the strategy, going for a two-stopper when everyone else went for three: it didn’t pay off, as the tyre life of the medium compound was a bit shorter than we anticipated and we struggled at the end, but we still brought home a good result.

Mattia Binotto says Scuderia Ferrari can be happy with their performance over the opening six races of the 2022 FIA Formula 1 World Championship season, but they cannot be content with their results from the Spanish Grand Prix.

Binotto, the Team Principal at Ferrari, said before the season began that they would not be able to access their position in the grid before the first six races of the season, but they can be pleased that they have a car that is quick and is being developed in the right manner.

However, race number six at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya saw Charles Leclerc retire with a power unit issue whilst comfortably in the lead, while an early spin and subsequent damage saw Carlos Sainz Jr. end down in fourth in his home Grand Prix.

“After a result like this, I think we should look at the positive aspects,” said Binotto. “I said that after the first six races, we would be able to assess the performance levels and hierarchy among the teams and today, we can say that we have built a good car and we have done a fine job of developing it.”

Binotto says the issue that affected Leclerc cost the Monegasque racer an almost certain victory in Spain, and they will be doing all they can to identify the cause of the problem so it doesn’t happen again.

Charles Leclerc already has his eyes on his home Grand Prix in Monaco this weekend after seeing a near-certain victory slip out of his hands in the Spanish Grand Prix due to a mechanical issue while comfortably in the lead.

The Scuderia Ferrari appeared to have the race in the bag only for a power unit problem to cause his retirement, but despite the disappointment of losing the win – and the lead in the Drivers’ Championship to Max Verstappen – he still feels there are many positives to take away from the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

Leclerc was pleased Ferrari had found a way to manage the Pirelli’s tyres better on race day compared to what they were working with on the long runs on Friday, and he was comfortable behind the wheel of the F1-75 right up until he was forced to retire.

“So far this year, the team has been doing an incredible job in terms of reliability,” said Leclerc. “Of course this one hurts, because we were in front all weekend and worked really well.

“I know that things like this can happen sometimes and in moments like these, it is important to look at the positives. Our pace was very strong in qualifying and in the race and the feeling in the car was really good.

The NASCAR All-Star Race has been a polarising event in recent years for its perceived gimmicks (some of which would later be implemented for points rounds) to compensate for poor racing. The 2022 race, held at the much-maligned Texas Motor Speedway, did little to quell fan frustration as an officiating conundrum befell the finish: Ryan Blaney was only metres away from crossing the finish when Ricky Stenhouse Jr. wrecked, creating a caution that resulted in overtime; despite lowering his window net for the cooldown lap and being unable to return it to the original location, he held off Denny Hamlin to win anyway.

Right before Blaney could take the checkered flag, the yellow came out for Stenhouse hitting the backstretch wall, though he did not receive severe damage. Nevertheless, NASCAR elected to call the caution. Under traditional rules, a race would end if the yellow flag waved on the final lap, but All-Star rules mandated it must conclude under green, justifying overtime.

Before the restart, Blaney took down the window net under the assumption he had won, but could not replace it in time and therefore continued racing. Such an act comes with obvious safety concerns, and Section 14.3.3.3.1 of the rulebook stipulates window net fasteners must remain secured at all times (without the use of tape or zip ties) during a race. Despite this, no penalty was given.

Blaney quickly quashed concerns of having the win taken away from him by beating Hamlin to the finish in overtime. It is Blaney’s first All-Star victory and first for Team Penske since Joey Logano in 2016.

To little surprise, the fiasco was widely ridiculed by many, including fans and drivers. Dale Earnhardt Jr. wrote on Twitter that NASCAR will “gladly let you debate the window net so as you don’t reflect on how ridiculous that yellow flag situation was as Blaney was crossing the finish line to win.”

Scott Dixon dominated qualifying to win his second consecutive Indianapolis 500 pole position with authority, putting up a four lap average of 234.046 mph, the second fastest pole speed of all time en route to his fifth pole for “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing”.

IndyCar’s “Iceman” was the last to hit a rapidly-cooling track, beating out his teammate Alex Palou and Ed Carpenter Racing‘s Rinus Veekay who make up the rest of the first row in second and third respectively.

“This is stage one,” Dixon said on pit lane. “Obviously it doesn’t mean nothing come next Sunday. We’re starting in the right spot, we haven’t had a good record of keeping it in the right spot, but we’ll definitely be trying come next Sunday.”

Ed Carpenter will start on the inside of Row Two in fourth place, flanked by CGR teammates Marcus Ericsson and Tony Kanaan in fifth and sixth respectively. Kanaan’s team made a herculean effort to put the car on the track after electrical issues threatened their qualifying runs.

Dixon was just as dominant in the Fast Twelve as well. The New Zealand native was the third car on track in the first session of the day and picked up right where he left off from practice this morning, as he set the bar high with a hyper consistent four lap average of 233.510 mph. That held to be the fastest ahead of Veekay and Palou in second and third respectively.

Oracle Red Bull Racing lead the Constructors’ championship, following another 1-2 finish with Max Verstappen continuing his run of winning every race he finishes in 2022. The Dutchman also now leads the Drivers’ standings.

It was an enthralling Spanish Grand Prix, which did present Red Bull with a number of issues. Verstappen lost ground on Charles Leclerc early on after running into the gravel, but also suffered from a faulty DRS. This made passing George Russell virtually impossible later in the race, an issue which Sergio Pérez also found.

Eventually, with Leclerc retiring and both Red Bull’s finding their way past the British driver, Red Bull were left with a much-needed 1-2 finish. It wasn’t all plain sailing though with who would take the win, as Pérez whilst in the lead, was asked by the team to give the Dutchman the position. Pérez followed the instructions but informed his team that a chat was needed after the race.

Team Principal Christian Horner was extremely happy with the result, and was happy to see both of the Red Bull drivers working together. Horner also noted that the team knew prior to the race that Verstappen had a DRS problem.

“It is fantastic for the Team to bring home our second 1-2 finish in three races, which was hugely important for us in the fight for both Championships. Both drivers got great starts and things were settling down quite nicely, but a massive gust of wind sent Max into a slide and that dropped him down to fourth.

Max Verstappen continued his run of winning every race he’s finished so far this season, after taking a dramatic victory at the Spanish Grand Prix. The Dutchman incredibly now leads the championship as well, after Charles Leclerc was forced into retirement.

Verstappen remained in second for the opening stages of the race, keeping Leclerc within distance. However, Verstappen suddenly tumbled to the the bottom end of the top five, the Dutchman went off at Turn 4 after being caught by a huge gust of wind that unsettled his RB18.

The reigning World Champion got his head down, and was quickly on the back of George Russell who was in second. The battle for second soon became the battle for the lead, after Leclerc pulled into the pits after suffering a power unit issue. Verstappen was met by his own gremlins, as his DRS malfunctioned yet again, resulting in a furious Dutchman.

Verstappen failed to find his way past Russell, who defended brilliantly. Instead, Oracle Red Bull Racing opted to put Verstappen on a different strategy. Verstappen pitted onto a set of soft tyres and hunted Russell back down, before taking the race lead when the British driver pitted again. Verstappen had the pace to open up a gap, pit again, then make his way past Sergio Pérez late on to claim his fourth victory of the season.

Verstappen was over the moon with his victory, in what was an exciting Grand Prix at the Circuit de Barcelona Catalunya.

Max Verstappen led an Oracle Red Bull Racing 1-2 as he battled to win the 2022 Spanish Grand Prix at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Spain.

Sergio Pérez drove a fine race to finish in second position. George Russell finished on the podium after another fine drive which featured close wheel to wheel racing with Verstappen.

The race started under hot conditions with air temperatures at 36 degrees C and track temperatures at 49 degrees C at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

The Pirelli tyre choice at this race is the white-striped hard compound tyres (C1), yellow-striped medium compound tyres (C2), and red-striped soft compound tyres (C3).

Charles Leclerc was on pole position with Max Verstappen on the first row. Carlos Sainz and George Russell started on the second row.