Motorsports Racing News & Blog Articles

Max Verstappen can understand why Lewis Hamilton would not be happy following the outcome of the final race of the 2021 Formula 1 season, but he hopes the Briton uses his past successes and performances to continue in the sport into 2022.

Hamilton lost the chance to take a record breaking eighth World Drivers’ Championship in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix after Verstappen passed him on the final lap, with the Dutchman instead taking his maiden title.

The Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team protested the result, feeling they were cheated out of the Drivers’ title thanks to the actions of the stewards and race director at the Yas Marina Circuit, but the German marque opted not to follow up on their rejected protests and put in an appeal on Thursday.

Mercedes’ Team Principal, Toto Wolff, said that both he and Hamilton were ‘disillusioned’ with the way the final few laps of the Abu Dhabi race unfolded and the ‘random decision making’ within the stewards’ room, but despite this, Verstappen believes Hamilton should continue racing next year and again fight for his eighth title.

“I can understand that the first few days after a race like that, you’re not happy,” Verstappen is quoted as saying by Motorsport.com.  “But you should also understand, like I said before, that this is racing at the end of the day, and these things can happen to you.

Toto Wolff says the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team feel ‘wronged’ following the final few laps of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Sunday, but neither they nor lead driver Lewis Hamilton wanted to win the World Drivers’ Championship in the courtroom.

Max Verstappen denied Hamilton the Drivers’ crown by passing him at turn five on the final lap at the Yas Marina Circuit, but it was the actions from the race director and the stewards’ room that angered the team as they feel what happened in the run-up to that last lap went completely against Mercedes.

Initially, the lapped cars in between then race leader Hamilton and his title rival were not going to be allowed to unlap themselves prior to the restart, but the decision was reversed on the penultimate lap, which allowed the Red Bull Racing driver to be on the tail of the Briton heading to the restart.

Mercedes initially protested the stewards decision only for it to be rejected, and were looking at their options to appeal, only to decline appealing the result on Thursday.  And Wolff, the Team Principal at Mercedes, says it was a joint decision from driver and team not to follow through on their appeal threats despite the way they were feeling following the conclusion of the race.

“Every step on the way it was joint decisions,” Wolff is quoted as saying by Motorsport.com.  “We decided together with Lewis to protest, to launch the appeal, and to withdraw the appeal.

Toto Wolff has revealed that both he and Lewis Hamilton are ‘disillusioned’ following the outcome of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, but he hopes the seven-time World Champion will return to racing in Formula 1 in 2022.

Hamilton missed out on a record breaking eighth title at the Yas Marina Circuit after circumstances appeared to conspire against both him and the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team in the final handful of laps. 

A late safety car in Abu Dhabi for Nicholas Latifi’s crash was called upon, and the FIA and race director Michael Masi opted to allow the five lapped runners in between Hamilton and Max Verstappen to pass the then race leader, despite earlier notifications that they would not be allowed to do so.

This gave Verstappen the edge on the final lap restart after he had pitted for fresh soft tyres, meaning he was able to pass Hamilton into turn five to take over the lead and secure the victory and his maiden Drivers’ Championship.

Wolff says the disillusionment has not come from falling out of love of Formula 1, as both he and Hamilton ‘love’ the sport, but more to do with the ‘random decision making’ that seemed to take place in Abu Dhabi.  And Mercedes will be looking to discuss this with the FIA and their new commission to improve what happens in race direction in the future.

Our Motorsports‘ 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series campaign will be their first with three cars. On Thursday, the team announced Brett Moffitt will return to the line-up, and will be joined by newcomers Anthony Alfredo and Jeb Burton. All three drivers have experience in all three NASCAR national series, including the top-level Cup Series.

Moffitt, the 2018 Camping World Truck Series champion, has raced for Our Motorsports since their debut season in 2020. In 2021, he finished twenty-first in the Xfinity standings (following an early-season points change) with ten top tens and a best finish of second in the opener at Daytona. The 2015 Cup Series Rookie of the Year first raced in the Xfinity Series in 2012 in a one-off for the now defunct RAB Racing, finishing ninth in his series début.

“Chris Our has been a great team owner to work with the past two seasons and I’m looking forward to continuing this journey with him,” commented Moffitt. “The foundation this team has built over the past couple of years has everyone in the shop motivated to take the next step in becoming a playoff team in ’22.”

Burton moves to Our after spending 2021 with Kaulig Racing. In his lone season with Kaulig, he scored his maiden Xfinity win at Talladega, his first NASCAR victory since 2013, en route to a tenth-place points finish. The son of 2002 Daytona 500 winner Ward Burton, he is like Moffitt in that he débuted in Xfinity with a top ten, doing so at Kentucky in 2013. 2016 was supposed to be his first full-time season in the series after two full slates in the Trucks, but sponsorship forced him out of the series. He also ran the full 2015 Cup Series.

“I am very excited to get to work. I can’t thank Mr. Our and his whole family enough. I want to build something special here and win races for Our Motorsports. I appreciate this opportunity as it means the world to me and my family. I signed a multi year deal and plan to build strong partnerships with our partners and compete for wins and championships.” Burton said.

The Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team have opted not to appeal the result of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Sunday, thus confirming Max Verstappen as the 2021 World Drivers’ Champion.

The team had indicated an intention to appeal the result of Sunday’s race at the Yas Marina Circuit, feeling that the FIA and race director Michael Masi did not adhere to the rules surrounding the safety car that made Mercedes feel the final result was manipulated.

Initially the lapped cars were not to be let through prior to the final lap restart, meaning there would have been five cars between race leader Lewis Hamilton and his title rival Verstappen, but the decision was reversed just moments before the safety car was withdrawn.

Mercedes protested twice after Verstappen passed Hamilton on that final lap to claim the victory and the championship only for the stewards to throw out both protests, and the team said they would consider an appeal, only to opt against it on Thursday.

The statement says the team will work with the FIA to understand why what happened did happen, with the FIA introducing a commission that will work with the teams and drivers in order to improve the spectacle of Formula 1.

Lewis Hamilton congratulated Max Verstappen after the Dutchman denied the Briton his eighth World Championship in Sunday’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, but he says he is extremely proud of his Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team for their efforts in 2021.

Hamilton was looking to break the record he currently shares with Michael Schumacher of seven titles on Sunday and was on course to do just that until a late safety car caused by Nicholas Latifi’s crash went against him.

Verstappen pitted for fresh tyres while Hamilton stayed on old hard tyres, and when the lapped cars were allowed to pass him – to many controversially – the Briton did not have the pace or grip in his car to deny the Red Bull Racing driver the win and the championship.

Despite losing out on the title, Hamilton was gracious in defeat, and he praised his team for giving him every chance to break records throughout 2021 only for him to come up short.

“Yeah, well firstly a big congratulations to Max and to his team,” said Hamilton during the post-race press conference.  “I think we did an amazing job this year.

Douglas Motorsport has announced its second driver for the 2022 GB3 Championship season.

Australian Tommy Smith joined the team for select rounds from Snetterton in August, and was quickly on the pace despite being several rounds’ experience behind much of the field in the Tatuus BF3-020.

He arrived after several outings in the Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine with JD Motorsport earlier in 2021, racing in Europe for the first time after campaigns in New Zealand Formula Ford, Australian Formula 4, Toyota Racing Series and Asian Formula 3 prior to the pandemic.

Team Principal Wayne Douglas said: “We thoroughly enjoyed working with Tommy this season, so we’re delighted that he’ll be back with us for a full season in 2022.

“He did a good job with his limited running this year, so with a full pre-season under his belt we’re confident he can enjoy a strong, competitive season.”

Valtteri Bottas says he is ‘really proud’ to have been part of the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team who won an eighth consecutive World Constructors’ Championship in 2021, although the Finn says there is disappointment that Lewis Hamilton missed out on the Drivers’ title.

Bottas had his final Grand Prix with Mercedes before leaving for the Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN team on Sunday in Abu Dhabi, and he finished down in sixth as team-mate Hamilton ended second.  However, Max Verstappen’s victory ensured the title went the way of the Red Bull Racing driver.

The Finn will leave Mercedes’ after five years having taken ten race victories and twenty pole positions, although a Drivers’ title of his own eluded him as Hamilton was the dominant driver within the team.

“I’m really proud that we got the constructors, but obviously drivers’ championship is a big thing,” Bottas is quoted as saying immediately after the race by Motorsport.com. “I haven’t seen the team yet. But I’m sure it’s the same feeling, that is not quite like we won today. I think we lost today.

“Every year I’ve been with a team, we’ve won the constructors’. So I guess I’ve had to do something! So that’s good.  But still, the overriding feeling now is disappointment for Lewis. But I’m sure once you give me a few days that we’ll see the positives.

Both Chip Ganassi Racing and Dale Coyne Racing have announced new full-time drivers for the 2022 NTT IndyCar Series season, unveiling Jimmie Johnson and Indy Lights runner-up David Malukas respectively.

Johnson ran a road and street course schedule for his rookie season, with Tony Kanaan tasked with the ovals. The 46-year-old California native showed growth throughout the season, with a best finish of seventeenth in the last two races of the season. Now, entering his sophomore year of IndyCar competition, the seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion graduates to a full schedule, including the illustrious Indianapolis 500.

“I can’t wait to be part of the Indianapolis 500, it’s a childhood dream come true,” he said.

Johnson completed his rookie orientation program at Indianapolis earlier in the offseason, and tested at Texas Motor Speedway in August. Johnson has victories at each track in NASCAR, and looks to translate that oval success to IndyCar.

“The safety of these cars has come so far, and after I tested the ovals at Texas and Indianapolis Motor Speedway, I realized this was a challenge I wanted to undertake,” he continued.

Mario Isola was pleased that all three compounds that Pirelli Motorsport brought to the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix played an important part in the season finale, with Max Verstappen’s pit stop for the soft compound under safety car conditions proving vital to the final result.

Verstappen pit once the safety car had been deployed following Nicholas Latifi’s crash while race leader Lewis Hamilton remained on the hard compound, and once the lapped runners between the title rivals were allowed through, the Red Bull Racing driver had the grip advantage on the final lap restart that allowed him to pass the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team driver for the lead and the championship.

Isola, the Head of F1 and Car Racing at Pirelli, said the championship battle and the season finale were fitting ways to end the era of thirteen-inch tyres in Formula 1, with the eighteen-inch tyres being introduced to the sport in 2022.

“We had a tense and strategic battle for the championship, when a virtual safety car and then a full safety car provided two pivotal moments,” said Isola.  

“Max Verstappen pitted for new tyres on each occasion and tried to hunt down Lewis Hamilton, who stayed out and managed his tyres well to the finish, but could do nothing about the effect of Verstappen’s fresh soft tyres on the final lap.

Kimi Räikkönen did not end his Formula 1 career in the way he would have liked, but the Finn will bow out of the sport with a lot of positive memories and having met a lot of great people.

The Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN driver was forced to retire from the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix following a technical issue on his C41-Ferrari, and the retirement brought to an end a three hundred and forty-nine race career.

However, Räikkönen retires with many amazing moments to remember from his career, with ‘The Iceman’ having won twenty-one Grand Prix, taken eighteen pole positions and being the 2007 Formula 1 World Champion.

“It’s been nice to see so many people showing their appreciation today, even if the race didn’t go as we hoped,” said Räikkönen.  “We had an issue after the pit-stop, a technical problem that meant we finished earlier today.

“That’s racing, sometimes things fail, but today’s result doesn’t influence how I feel about my career. I’m happy to move on to a normal life, I am looking forward to it.

Both Williams Racing drivers ended the 2021 Formula 1 season by retiring from the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, with Nicholas Latifi’s late crash playing a big part in the decisive overtake by Max Verstappen to take the Drivers’ Championship.

Latifi had been embroiled in a near race-long battle with Uralkali Haas F1 Team’s Mick Schumacher when he crashed out at turn fourteen with six laps remaining, bringing out the safety car in the process.

The subsequent pit stop by Verstappen to fit the soft Pirelli tyre following by the lapped cars in between the Dutchman and race leader Lewis Hamilton then gave the Red Bull Racing driver the chance to pass the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team driver for the race win and the title.

Latifi, of course, was the unwitting pawn in the championship chess game, and he admitted post-race that he was hoping to end the year by bringing the car home having struggled for performance throughout the race at the Yas Marina Circuit.

“It was a tough race out there today and we were struggling for pace throughout,” said Latifi.  “Towards the end of the Grand Prix, I was racing with Mick Schumacher and was forced slightly wide, but fairly, at Turn Nine.

Justin Haley‘s maiden full NASCAR Cup Series campaign in 2022 will see the return of the #31 to the top level. Kaulig Racing revealed Haley’s number prior to Wednesday’s Next Gen car test at Charlotte.

In the Cup Series, #31 is synonymous with Richard Childress Racing, who maintains an alliance with Kaulig in the Xfinity Series. RCR fielded the #31 from 1996 to 2019 for Mike Skinner, Robby Gordon, Jeff Burton, Ryan Newman, and Tyler Reddick. Burton, Gordon, and Newman won four, three, and one time respectively with the number.

#31 has been used since the very first Cup Series race in 1949 by Sterling Long, who finished seventh in the inaugural event. In the seven decades since, the number has run 1,177 races with the eight aforementioned victories, 300 total top tens, and ten poles. The number has never won a championship, though Newman came close when he finished second in 2014. Other notable #31 pilots include Jim Vandiver and Ward Burton, as well as legends like Buck Baker, Curtis Turner, and Joe Weatherly in one-off starts.

A number in the thirties breaks away from Kaulig’s traditional pattern of using numbers in the tens. The team’s three Xfinity cars are the #10, #11, and #16, though Kaulig is only riding with #16 in the Cup Series as Stewart-Haas Racing and Joe Gibbs Racing respectively run the #10 and #11. Other teen numbers are also unavailable: Team Penske has #12, #13 is owned by MBM Motorsports, Stewart-Haas Racing hold #14, Rick Ware Racing has #15, #17 is Roush Fenway Racing’s, and JGR occupy #18 and #19.

While no Camping World Truck Series team uses #31, another RCR client in Jordan Anderson Racing currently does in the Xfinity Series.

DGM Racing has added Mason Massey to the driver roster for the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series season. On Wednesday, the team announced Massey will drive the #91 Chevrolet Camaro for the “majority” of races in 2022.

“We are extremely excited to welcome Mason to the DGM family,” team owner Mario Gosselin stated. “During the offseason, we made many strategic changes to our facilities and equipment that allow us to strengthen and improve DGM Racing. With Mason’s impressive track record and our recent upgrades, we are ready to tackle the 2022 season.”

Massey moves to DGM after spending the last two years at B.J. McLeod Motorsports on a part-time basis. In twenty-three career Xfinity stats, his best finish is fifteenth at Richmond in September. He also finished eighteenth at Darlington in a one-off for SS-Green Light Racing/Rick Ware Racing.

“I’m pumped to be working with Mario and the entire DGM Racing team,” commented Massey. “It’s a family-run race team, and that aligns with the way my family and I have always raced. I appreciate Mario and Michelle believing in me and my ability to get the job done. The 2022 season is going to be a lot of fun, and I can’t wait to get to work prepping for Daytona in February.”

In a sense, BJMM and DGM traded drivers. Last Wednesday, BJMM hired DGM’s Josh Williams to drive the #78, though as a full-timer.

NAPA Racing UK have set their stall out early ahead of the 2022 British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) season with the acquisition of former title challenger and three-time Porsche Carrera Cup GB champion, Dan Cammish making a welcome return to the championship.

Ran by Motorbase Performance under the new backing of NAPA, Cammish will pilot one of a quartet of Ford Focus STs after returning to the aforementioned Porsche Carrera Cup GB last year which also included a solitary outing at Thruxton for BTC Racing where he claimed second as a best result.

After his heartbreaking 2019 which saw him miss out on the Drivers’ Championship by two points following a mechanical failure, he will look forward to a new car and team in 2022 and aiming to go one better.

Pete Osborne, Motorbase Performance Team Owner and Team Principal said: “Dan was a key element for our plans going into 2022. It’s a big year for us in many ways and we acknowledged that we needed a specific type of driver, of which there aren’t many around. In Dan, we have someone we can really work with and rely on his talent and experience, along with his character.

“Dan had another really successful season in 2021 in Porsche Carrera Cup GB and he has a lot of unfinished business in the BTCC, so he’s in the right place right now and knows exactly what to expect from us at NAPA Racing UK. As a driver and team, our targets are the same, we’re expecting success on and off track and we aim to enjoy the journey together. The whole team is buzzing with excitement at the moment, there is a really good feeling about the future of Motorbase.”