Motorsports Racing News & Blog Articles

The Mclaren F1 Team suffered a mixed race at the inaugural Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, with Daniel Ricciardo finishing an excellent fifth but with Lando Norris in a disappointing tenth at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit.

In what was possibly the craziest and most chaotic race of the season, Ricciardo capitalised on mayhem ahead brilliantly to launch himself up the field. The Australian was one a few drivers who didn’t pit before the first red flag of the race came out, meaning he gained track position on all those who had pitted before the flag was flown.

Ricciardo kept himself out of trouble and enjoyed a brilliant battle with Valtteri Bottas, before coming out of it second best. The Honey Badger then settled for a brilliant fifth place.

Norris suffered massively during the first red flag of the race after being one of many drivers who pitted before the flag was flown, this dropped the British driver right down the order who had to work his way back up to tenth, which he did in strong fashion. Norris clearly had the pace for potentially a top five finish but was just unlucky on the day.

Team Principal Andreas Seidl was overall happy with the race, after it was the team’s strongest performance for a number of weeks.

Daniel Ricciardo enjoyed a chaotic Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, to clinch fifth place at the inaugural Grand Prix at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit. Team-mate Lando Norris suffered a frustrating race and finished tenth.

After not making it into Qualifying Three, Ricciardo recovered brilliantly in the race thanks to the chaos that pursued ahead. The race featured two red flags and saw one big incident involving Sergio Pérez, George Russell and Nikita Mazepin, all of which retired from the race. Ricciardo capitalised on the mayhem and launched himself up the field.

The Australian didn’t pit during the first safety car period, where the red flag was eventually flown. This elevated Ricciardo right up the front end of the order, as the majority of drivers gambled on pitting.

Ricciardo spent much of the race once it had properly restarted for longer than a lap, defending from Valtteri Bottas, the Honey Badger defended brilliantly. Eventually though Bottas’s pace was too much, leaving Ricciardo a relatively comfortable drive to the flag in fifth.

Ricciardo is happy to have kept hold of a top five finish in what he believes felt like “the longest race ever”.

Marcin Budkowski admitted it hurt to see Esteban Ocon lose third place on the run to the finish line in Sunday’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, with the Frenchman being out-dragged by Valtteri Bottas.

The Alpine F1 Team driver was on course for his second trip to the podium in 2021 after his victory in the Hungarian Grand Prix, but despite resolute defending, he dropped behind the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team driver as the two drivers raced to the end.

Despite losing out on the podium, Alpine scored some good points towards the Constructors’ Championship in their battle for fifth place against Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda, even though Fernando Alonso missed out on finishing inside the top ten in the other A521.

Budkowski, the Executive Director at Alpine, says the decisions surrounding the pit stops after Mick Schumacher crashed – they opted not to pit Ocon but to bring in Alonso – dictated their races thereafter, but it was a good day overall for the team.

“Some good points today to consolidate fifth in the championship… but that result does hurt!” said Budkowski.  “What a race from Esteban – he drove exceptionally well and only just got beaten by a much quicker car on the line.

Esteban Ocon was denied a podium finish within the last one hundred metres of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, with Valtteri Bottas getting by in sight of the finish line.

The Alpine F1 Team racer was involved in the battle for the podium as soon as he opted not to pit under the first safety car at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit, and he even started the second restart from pole position after inheriting the place when Max Verstappen was told to start behind Lewis Hamilton.

Ocon might have lost the lead at the first corner of the restart, but he was easily able to hold onto third ahead of Daniel Ricciardo, but once Ricciardo was passed by Bottas, the job became much harder, and the final lap proved one lap too many for the Frenchman as the Finn out-dragged him on the run to the finish line.

“I gave it my all today,” said Ocon.  “The competitor inside of me is disappointed to miss out on the podium by such a short distance, but I’m very proud of the whole team today.

“What we achieved is outstanding and to take fourth place and add 12 more points in the bag in the championship is what counts. We took the right decisions in the race; we did everything we could on track and on strategy at the right moments, which put us in the best possible position to take big points.

Christian Horner says he was confused with the collision between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton on the back straight of the Jeddah Corniche Circuit on Sunday.

Verstappen was attempting to let his championship rival passed to prevent himself getting a time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage as he kept Hamilton at bay by running off track at turn one.

However, Hamilton appeared to not get what Verstappen was doing and ran into the back of the Red Bull Racing driver, causing damage to both cars.

“There was obviously an awful lot of damage and debris for Race Control to deal with because of all the incidents, so it was a frustrating race in that respect and we were probably lucky to come away with second, especially given the amount of damage we had to the back of our car,” said Horner, the Team Principal at Red Bull.

“I don’t know what Lewis was doing because Max was trying to give the place up as instructed by Race Control, he lifted and you can hear that, it was clear we were trying to give the place up and we’d informed Race Control. 

Max Verstappen will go into the final round of the season equal on points with Lewis Hamilton after finishing second to his rival in the controversial Saudi Arabian Grand Prix on Sunday.

The first-ever race at the Jeddah Cornice Circuit saw Verstappen embroiled in an often over-the-limit battle with Hamilton, with the Red Bull Racing driver ultimately coming out second best.

Verstappen attempted to defend his position at the front of the field, but often pushed his luck a little too far, particularly heading into turn one.  However, after being asked to give up the position, he backed off on the back straight, only for the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team driver to hit him as he did not realise Verstappen was letting him through.

The Dutchman ultimately fell behind Hamilton and finished second, with the opportunity to pit for fresh tyres and go for fastest lap out of the question due to the battle between Esteban Ocon and Valtteri Bottas being too close to make it work, particularly with a five-second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage hanging over him.

He was handed a subsequent ten-second penalty post-race for what happened on the back straight while letting Hamilton through, but it had no effect on his final position.

The Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team will remember the first-ever Saudi Arabian Grand Prix as one of the craziest nights of their lives, as two red flags, multiple safety cars and VSC’s as well as a dangerous collision between race winner Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen, saw Mercedes take control of the Constructors’ championship.

The Jeddah Corniche Circuit certainly delivered, for too many reasons! The Grand Prix saw tensions boil over for Red Bull Racing, whereas Mercedes remained relatively calm, despite losing positions moments before the opening red flag. Both Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas pitted under the first safety car of the race, thinking it would give them an advantage later on. It was a good idea but one which ultimately backfired, after the red flag was flown moments later.

Bottas lost out during the restart as did Hamilton, after being forced wide by Verstappen. The red flag was again brought out though after multiple collisions took place further down the field. At the restart Verstappen was on softer tyres than Hamilton, with the world champion opting for the hard compound. This saw Verstappen get an excellent launch off the line and take the lead of the race.

Hamilton was quickly on the tail of Verstappen though, with the pair duelling for first, the race then began to take an ugly turn. Hamilton towards the end of the race got an excellent slipstream down into Turn 1 and dived down the inside of Verstappen, the Dutchman failed to make the corner and went straight across the chicane, gaining an advantage in the process. He was awarded a five-second penalty as a result.

Red Bull instructed Verstappen to let Hamilton pass, which he tried to do down the back straight after slowing massively. Hamilton wasn’t told that Verstappen was trying to let him pass, the world champion was visibly confused as to what the Dutchman was doing. The talking point of the race then occurred, Verstappen suddenly braked sharply resulting in Hamilton hitting the back of Verstappen’s car, heavily damaging his front-wing. After the race Verstappen was awarded a further ten-second penalty for the incident.

Lewis Hamilton took his one-hundred-third and potentially craziest race victory of his career, after winning the inaugural Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in highly controversial fashion at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit. Team-mate Valtteri Bottas claimed a brilliant third place after winning a drag race to the line.

Hamilton showed all his years of experience and rose above the challenge of title-rival Max Verstappen, after the pair collided in dangerous fashion late on.

It was actually a relatively calm start to the race, Hamilton made an excellent start from pole and led the opening laps of the grand prix with Bottas sitting just behind, before all kinds of mayhem broke loose. Mick Schumacher crashed heavily at the dangerous Turn 22 bringing out an immediate safety car at first. Both Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team drivers dived into the pits, whereas Verstappen stayed out and took the lead in the process.

The red flag was flown moments later, giving Verstappen a free pit-stop and the lead of the grand prix, much to Hamilton’s dismay. When the race restarted Verstappen was on pole with Hamilton alongside in second, with the latter making an excellent restart to the race. Hamilton had the inside line for Turn 1 but was importantly ahead of Verstappen, the Dutchman went off the circuit before forcing Hamilton wide when rejoining, Esteban Ocon capitalised on the duo’s duel and moved ahead of Hamilton.

Carnage broke out further down the field with debris and stricken cars all over the exit of Turn 3, the red flag was brought out yet again. In a weird turn of events, the FIA Race Director Michael Masi, offered Red Bull Racing the chance for Verstappen to simply restart the race behind Hamilton, instead of a time penalty, Red Bull accepted.

Pending sanctioning body approval, Tyler Carpenter has turned his dirt track success into a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series opportunity. By winning Saturday’s Gateway Dirt Nationals Super Late Model race, he will get the chance to drive a truck for Niece Motorsports at Knoxville Raceway on 18 June 2022.

Days before the Nationals, held at The Dome at America’s Center in St. Louis, Niece announced the “Win and You’re In” programme in partnership with the event. The premise laid out was simple: win the Late Model race and one could race a NASCAR Truck. Knoxville is one of two dirt tracks on the series schedule along with Bristol Motor Speedway.

Carpenter, who won the most recent edition in 2019, backed it up by scoring the Thursday preliminary victory followed by the feature two nights later. After the preliminary win, he made waves with a very colourful interview in which he quipped his rivals were no different from “keyboard warriors” and “this race was for all you pussies. […] I’m going to earn my ass a Truck ride and you all are going to have to watch it.”

He was eventually fined, not for his comments but for standing on the roof of his Late Model wearing Hey Dude shoes.

“The Gateway Dirt Nationals Event Management & Staff would like to acknowledge & address an occurrence that took place yesterday evening, where a competitor (Tyler Carpenter, Super Late Model #28) did not have on proper SFI rated safety equipment (Footwear),” read a statement from event organisers that was released on Friday. “The situation has been addressed & this driver has been penalized accordingly with a Fine.

Last place is never a good finish, but for Chase Elliott, it’s baby steps after an interesting weekend in unfamiliar waters. The 2020 NASCAR Cup Series champion made his rallycross début over the weekend in the Nitro Rallycross season finale at the Florida International Rally & Motorsports Park (FIRM), and he found himself sparring with rallycross’s best in his fight into the final race.

Elliott drove the #9A ZipRecruiter car that fellow Cup champion Kyle Busch piloted two rounds prior at Wild Horse Pass. After being the sixth and eleventh quickest in two practice sessions, he took on Tanner Foust in his battle qualifying race on Saturday. After chasing down Foust until the final lap, Elliott made his move on the inside as they went through the final hairpin, causing the two to slam.

He cleared Foust and was initially declared the winner as the first to cross the line. However, the move for the lead, which consisted of Elliott keeping his car straight as he collided with Foust akin to a hip check, was ruled a push to pass. Elliott was consequently penalised and Foust got the victory. Foust would be eliminated by Timmy Hansen in the next round.

Sunday began with Elliott running the second heat race, where he started fourth. He and Oliver Eriksson opted to take the Joker Lap on the opening circuit, and he would finish in his starting position. This relegated him to the second semi-final, where he was caught in a duel with Fraser McConnell for the second and final transfer spot. Although McConnell beat him to the finish, he received a penalty for contact with Oliver Bennett and going off course.

“I don’t really know the rules well enough to know why the guy in front of me got a penalty,” quipped Elliott afterwards.

Lewis Hamilton clinched a scrappy win at the 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix to seal his eighth win of the season. Max Verstappen finished in second position as the two title contenders clashed repeatedly on the track.

Valtteri Bottas battled his way back to clinch the final podium spot as he got past Esteban Ocon just before the finish line.

It was a chaotic race with two red flags, Safety Cars and innumerable Virtual Safety Cars. The two championship rivals clashed on the track and touched and survived the damage. It was a contentious battle with the Race Director and the stewards getting involved at several points.

Hamilton and Verstappen go to the last race of this epic season level on points in the drivers’ championship. As this race showed, the rivalry is at fever pitch with neither driver willing to give an inch.

The race at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia started under the lights with air temperatures at 28 degree C and track temperatures at 32 degree C.

Lewis Hamilton claimed pole position for the first-ever Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, where Pirelli believe that many unknown factors could influence drivers strategy at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit.

The race looks set to be a one-stopper, with the optional strategy being to start on the yellow-banded medium compound tyre, which nine of the top ten will do, and then switch to the white-banded hard compound. Lando Norris is the only driver in the top ten who will start the race on the red-banded soft compound, he will most likely have more tyre management problems than the rest of the front-runners.

Even though a one-stopper is the recommended strategy, many unknown factors remain especially as it’s the first-ever Formula One race at the brand-new circuit. Factors such as safety cars and VSC could open the door to alternative strategies.

Pirelli’s Head of F1 and Car Racing Mario Isola, is excited to see how Norris gets on in the race, with the British driver starting on the softs.

“With this being the second-longest lap of the season, the teams and drivers had a relatively limited window of opportunity to get it right, in terms of preparing for a flying lap. The medium tyre was favoured by nearly everyone in Q2, with Lando Norris being the only driver to start on the soft in the top 10. It’s going to be fascinating to see what he can do, surrounded by so many cars starting on mediums.

Both Uralkali Haas F1 Team drivers Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin, will start from the last row of the grid for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix after qualifying nineteenth and twentieth respectively at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit.

Mick Schumacher was top Haas on Saturday but was left frustrated with himself, the German was late to deploy his DRS costing him around a tenth of a second on his fastest lap. Had he deployed it on time, Schumacher would’ve found himself right amongst the Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team drivers, who line up on the penultimate row of the grid.

Despite the mistake Schumacher believes his pace shows how far the team have come, and that he is ready to fight on Sunday.

“I delayed the deployment of my DRS, and it’s around a tenth so it’s quite frustrating but I was not anticipating being so close to the Aston Martin so that’s something I think really shows our build-up of performance over the weekend. The race is a different story – if we get the opportunity to fight we will but if we get ahead and have a good start, we might be even able to keep it.”

“I was happy with my rhythm” – Nikita Mazepin

Nikita Mazepin will start the first-ever Saudi Arabian Grand Prix from last place, the Russian was left frustrated during qualifying after a number of drivers cut ahead of the rookie whilst he was building a gap for his lap.

On 21 November, Rob MacCachren and Luke McMillin were celebrating their Baja 1000 victory. On Saturday, McMillin was congratulating MacCachren on his Mint 400 win.

The 2021 BFGoodrich Tires Mint 400 in Las Vegas, one of the premier desert races in North America, was dominated by the Ford Unlimited Trucks of McMillin and MacCachren, who respectively had Baja team-mate Jason Duncan and son Cayden MacCachren as navigators. Seeking his second straight win in the race, McMillin won the pole and dominated much of the Unlimited race, leading the first three of four laps.

However, MacCachren was on the leader’s tail and finally caught him on the home stretch. With five miles remaining, MacCachren hit McMillen in the rear, causing him to roll over multiple times before landing on his roof. The two, being close friends, quickly made amends as MacCachren stopped to ensure McMillen’s safety before the latter sent him off.

By the end, MacCachren was the first to the finish with a time of 6 hours, 55 minutes, 47.11 seconds, to score his second career Mint 400 victory after first doing so in 2017. The Las Vegas native is the sixth driver to win the Baja 1000 and Mint 400 car overalls in the same year after Malcolm Smith and Bud Feldkamp (1977), Mark McMillin (1988), Andy McMillin (2009, 2014), and Luke McMillin (2020).

Ryan Arciero finished second at 7:02:53.038. McMillin was able to get his truck rolled back on its wheels and take third. Despite the incident, McMillin maintained humility and personally congratulated MacCachren in Victory Lane. He wrote in his race recap on Instagram:

The Williams Racing team had a decent qualifying session as George Russell progressed to the second qualification session (Q2) at the 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. Russell qualified in fourteenth position as he could not get a clean lap on the medium compound tyres in Q2. Nicholas Latifi finished in sixteenth position as he failed to get out of the first qualification session.

Russell has been an outstanding performer in qualification race after race this season. In his penultimate race before he moves to the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team next season, Russell had to be content with fourteenth position on this really quick track as their main rivals Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN were quicker on this track.

Russell was happy with his performance and said: “I was really happy with my lap in Q1 and was pleased to get through to Q2. We ran the medium tyre for the first time since FP1 in Q2 and again, I was pretty happy with my first lap but couldn’t improve on my second effort, running slightly wide in the middle sector.

“I am relatively satisfied with P14, but we are a bit further behind Alfa Romeo than we would want to be. It is tricky out there and getting the tyres in the right window is difficult, but I do believe that is about where our car is at the moment.

“I think overtaking is going to be difficult in the Grand Prix but we will have to see on Sunday. Nobody knows how the tyres are going to react and the grip levels are pretty high. You can push relatively hard which is quite fatiguing but what we want to see in F1. Let’s see what we can do tomorrow.”