Motorsports Racing News & Blog Articles

Two-time Indianapolis 500 champion and former Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing driver Takuma Sato has announced that he will join Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing to pilot the No. 51 Honda for the 2022 NTT IndyCar Series season.

The Japanese driver replaces fellow ex-Formula 1 driver Romain Grosjean, who is now with Andretti Autosport, and brings with him one of the most experienced resumes in the IndyCar field.

Through twelve years of competition, Sato has claimed 10 pole positions and 70 top ten finishes, along with 14 podiums and six wins including his two Borg-Warner Trophies. Sato noted that the team’s partnership with Honda, as well as their speed shown with Grosjean behind the wheel, were crucial points for his signing.

“With Honda an integral part of Dale Coyne Racing, it seemed like a great fit,” he said. “The team has proven year after year that they are very competitive on all types of circuits.

“Particularly the speed that team has shown in recent years at the Indy 500 were very impressive. I am really looking forward to working with my new environment and can’t wait to get started.”

Max Verstappen finished on top of the time charts at the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in the first free practice session. Valtteri Bottas finished in second position ahead of his team-mate Lewis Hamilton at the end of the first practice session.

The first free practice session started at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi with air temperatures at 26 degrees C and track temperatures at 38 degrees C.

The Pirelli tyre choice at this race is the white-striped hard compound tyres (C3), yellow-striped medium compound tyres (C4), and red-striped soft compound tyres (C5), the softest compounds in the Pirelli tyre range.

The title-rivals, Hamilton and Verstappen, have arrived at the final race of the season exactly level on points at 369.5 points in the drivers’ championship.

The Yas Marina circuit has been a track where it is hard to overtake. The circuit layout has been changed with tweaks to the hairpin, the corners around the hotel complex and a banked corner at Turn 9.

Al Unser, one of the greatest names in IndyCar history, passed away at his New Mexico home at the age of 82. One of four drivers to win the Indianapolis 500 four times, the news was broken on Thursday night by fellow four-time victor Hélio Castroneves before being confirmed by the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Friday.

For thirty years, Unser was an icon who made the family name synonymous with American open-wheel racing. He won the Indy 500 in 1970, 1971, 1978, and 1987 as well as the IndyCar World Championship thrice in 1970, 1983, and 1985. Much of his success came with Parnelli Jones as he scored two of his 500 victories and 1970 title for his fellow ex-500 winner, but he also enjoyed strong runs for current IndyCar head Roger Penske‘s team with whom he claimed his last two championships and final 500.

Nicknamed “Big Al”, he also dabbled in other disciplines such as the NASCAR Cup Series, International Race of Champions, and the 24 Hours of Daytona. Unser won the IROC championship in 1977 while he and A.J. Foyt, also a quadruple winner of the 500, joined Thierry Boutsen and Bob Wollek in scoring the 1985 Daytona 24 overall crown.

He retired from driving in 1994, the same year that his son Al Unser Jr. won the 500 on the elder Unser’s 55th birthday. Unser was inducted into the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame in 1986 and the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1998. In May, he, Foyt, and Rick Mears attended the Indy 500 where they watched Castroneves tie their win record.

“RIP AL SR…you will b missed! Descance em paz AL …vamos sentir sua falta,” read Castroneves’ Instagram post. The Portuguese in the second sentence approximately translates to “Rest in peace Al … we’ll miss you.”

Landon Cassill is finally getting a shot in competitive equipment. On Thursday, Kaulig Racing announced Cassill will drive the #10 Chevrolet Camaro for the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series season. Cryptocurrency platform Voyager Digital will follow him as sponsor.

Despite being a fan favourite, Cassill has been a journeyman throughout his NASCAR career as he bounced between multiple teams. In 2021, he rejoined JD Motorsports, for whom he ran the full 2014 and 2015 Xfinity seasons, and finished twenty-second in points. He has fourteen career top tens in the Xfinity Series and a best finish of third in the 2011 season opener at Daytona.

Much of Cassill’s national series starts have come in the Cup Series, with 326 races since 2010 for a variety of organisations. His highest finish is fourth at Talladega in 2014. For 2021, he ran the fall Daytona and Talladega for Gaunt Brothers Racing.

Kaulig will easily be the best team that Cassill has raced for since being a Hendrick Motorsports development driver in the late 2000s. New team-mates Daniel Hemric and A.J. Allmendinger respectively won the 2021 championship and regular season title.

“We are really excited to bring Landon Cassill onboard for the 2022 season,” Kaulig president Chris Rice stated. “Landon has competed in NASCAR’s top series for many years and has brought with him a pivotal partner in Voyager Digital. We are looking forward to this partnership with Voyager and think Landon will be a great asset to our Kaulig Racing family.”

In a fantastic move by Sky Sports, this weekend’s title deciding Abu Dhabi Grand Prix will be available on free-to-air television, as Sky have partnered up with Channel 4, who will now both be broadcasting the final round of this incredible 2021 season.

The British public are in for a treat this weekend, with the title-decider between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton being aired on Channel 4, making it highly likely that this weekend may see the biggest viewing figures for a live sports event this year.

Sky’s Chief Executive for the UK and Europe, Stephen van Rooyen, as said why Sky have chosen to partner up with Channel 4 to broadcast this special weekend.

“Sunday’s Grand Prix is one of the biggest sporting events in the last decade, and could be a historic moment for British sport. We’ve chosen to gift the race to the whole country at Christmas through our partnership with Channel 4, so everyone can be part of a huge national moment as Lewis Hamilton goes for a historic eighth world championship title.”

This weekend could see Lewis Hamilton claim an unprecedented eighth world title, an achievement which would be placed straight into British sporting history, Channel 4’s Chief Executive Alex Mahon is very happy the whole country will be able to access this potentially historic event.

For the final time in Formula One history, the 13-inch tyre will make it’s farewell appearance at this weekend’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, after being in Formula One for more than half a century. It comes as the sport moves to brand-new 18-inch Pirelli tyres from next season.

In a special touch by Pirelli, all the tyres this weekend will have “Next year I turn 18”, on the sidewall. Pirelli have done this to bid a fitting goodbye to the 13-inch tyres whilst also looking ahead to the new 18-inch tyres to be introduced next season.

13-inch tyres have been used for almost the entirety of the sports existence, however it was in the 1980s when the tyre was the definitive size in the sport. Pirelli’s first 13-inch tyre appeared in the 1981 San Marino Grand Prix, where Derek Warwick and Brian Heaton used the tyre for the Toleman Team. The first win using Pirelli’s 13-inch tyres came four years later in 1985, thanks to Nelson Piquet at the French Grand Prix whilst racing for Brabham-BMW.

In 1989 Pirelli introduced a new generation of 13-inch tyres which were used till Pirelli left the sport in 1991. The P-Zero’s made their return of course though in 2011, when Pirelli returned to Formula One as the sole tyre supplier. Since Pirelli returned in 2011, the Italian manufacturer have produced more than 400,000 tyres, coming from their factories in Turkey and Romania.

Mario Isola Head of F1 and Car Racing at Pirelli, is proud of all the things Pirelli have achieved over the years with the 13-inch tyres, and is excited as the sport undertakes a new revolution in 2022.

Ahead of the final round of the 2021 FIA Formula One World Championship, Williams Racing have announced that Academy Driver Logan Sargeant, will drive for the team at the end of season test at the Yas Marina Circuit.

Sargeant was announced as a Williams Academy Driver in the buildup to the United States Grand Prix. The American driver who is still only twenty-years-old, is now preparing for his first taste of Formula One machinery. Sargeant will drive the FW43B during the end of season test after this weekend’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

The American who came seventh in this year’s Formula Three championship, and who also drove at the final round of the Formula Two championship at Saudi Arabia last weekend, can’t wait to get his first ever experience in a Formula One car and is extremely thankful to Williams for their support.

“I can’t wait for my first run in a Formula One car and want to thank the team for trusting me with this amazing opportunity. I’ve been spending time in the factory at Grove and getting to grips with the simulator, which has helped me get an initial feel for the characteristics of the FW43B, but to be able to get out on track will be an incredible experience and one that I won’t forget. I’ll be going into the test looking to perform the best I can and to learn as much as possible from the team.”

As the Uralkali Haas F1 Team prepare for the final round of the 2021 championship at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, they have already made their first announcement regarding 2022 in that they have resigned Pietro Fittipaldi as their official test and reserve driver for next season.

It will be the fourth consecutive season for Fittipaldi in the role at Haas, one which has seen him frequently within the garage during the Formula One season. Fittipaldi did of course make his Grand Prix debut last year at the Sakhir Grand Prix, after replacing the recovering Romain Grosjean.

Fittipaldi is pleased to have resigned for Haas and is excited to get to grips with the team’s 2022 car.

“I’m naturally very happy and excited again by the opportunity to continue my association with Uralkali Haas F1 Team. I’ve been with the team for a few seasons now and they very much feel like family. I’ve learned a lot in my time and I hope I can keep contributing with the introduction of the new generation of Formula 1 car in 2022. It’s going to be exciting to see what’s coming with the new package and I’m obviously as keen as the rest of the team to see what the VF-22 will accomplish on-track.”

Scuderia Ferrari go into the final round of the championship at the newly configured Yas Marina Circuit, knowing that they have almost certainly secured third in the Constructors’ Standings, and that only a catastrophic weekend could take it away from them.

Charles Leclerc goes into the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in a tight battle with Lando Norris and his team-mate Carlos Sainz Jr, over fifth place in the Driver’s Championship. Leclerc currently sits in fifth but only has a slender lead over Norris.

The battle for fifth is a big one, Leclerc recognises this and will do all that he can to claim fifth spot, and enjoy the last race of the year.

“The fight with Lando (Norris) is still wide open. Clearly, I’d like to stay fifth, but most of all I want to enjoy myself. It’s been an intense season, which has seen us make constant progress and the fight for third place, which has come good in the final part of the year, is proof of that.” 

“It’s been the best year of my career” – Carlos Sainz Jr.

As mentioned above Carlos Sainz Jr is still in the fight for fifth place, the Spaniard currently sits in seventh and will require a big result this weekend most likely to claim fifth. It would round off what has been a good first year at Ferrari for Sainz, who has gotten stronger as the year has passed.

Travis Pastrana has now made it two consecutive wins for the Subaru manufacture team, placing him on the atop the championship leaderboard. The action sports star sped through the weekend after finishing second in the battle brackets and making easy work of his heat race come Sunday. In the final he made a great get away at the start leading to a three way subaru lineup as they dominated the front of the field. Pastrana held his own against teammate Scott Speed and Andreas Bakkerud, albeit the ladder was there to support the team this weekend and not challenge for position. Travis now leads the points with a total of 182 points going into the final round while Speed is hot on his tails at 175.

Team Hansen had a troubling weekend after they couldn’t get the car settled properly leading to some ups and downs all weekend. Timmy Hansen struggled Saturday finding the quickest pace but made it through to round 2 of the battle brackets where he ultimately fell short to Fraser McConnell. Meanwhile the younger brother, Kevin, took to the battle brackets with ease finishing first to take home a few extra points for the drivers championship.

However, his luck would turn continuing into Sunday as he didn’t compete well in the heats or LCQ finding himself in a drama filled LCQ. Kevin Hansen and Liam Doran had a bit of a battle in the second LCQ which resulted in the Hansen brother to go a bit sideways into a wall. Unfortunately this placed him on the backfoot as Ronalds Baldins was able to pass making the best of an opportunity. While the result of the race was go be debated and a penalty given to Doran, it didn’t change the end result for Kevin as it ended his championship contention as he won’t make enough points by the final round to challenge for the drivers title. Timmy found himself through to the final where he would finish fifth to take home a few points keeping him contention sitting third in the championship.

Over at OMSE, the drivers are seeing a mixed bag of results but more positives this weekend than last. Kevin Eriksson’s on track battles and pace have been improving upon each weekend as he continues his fued with Scott Speed offering some great battles this weekend. The swede had his best weekend all season after making it to the final finishing fourth overall. Meanwhile stand in driver Ronalds Baldins made his debut in the final and finished seventh. Fraser McConnell and Oliver Eriksson weren’t so fortunate in making it to the finals this week but they did show strong pace throughout.

Solo driver Steve Arpin managed to get himself into the final this weekend after missing out on Saturdays activities. The Canadian-American lost the first race of the day to Kevin Hansen when race control didn’t do a proper restart forcing him to miss the start. After some discussions with race control, he was allowed to go again but it didn’t make the difference as Hansen still remained on top. Come Sunday his luck had turned as he battled his way through his Semi Final to come out on top pushing him through to the final where he would finish sixth after a lake joker strategy and subsequent puncture. The GRX Loenbro driver now stands fifth in the standings overall with a potential to make up one spot if he can bring the battle to Kevin Hansen in the final round.

The longest season in Formula One history concludes this weekend at the newly-configured Yas Marina Circuit for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, where either Max Verstappen or Lewis Hamilton will be crowned the 2021 World Drivers’ Champion.

For the final round of the twenty-two race long season, Pirelli have opted to bring the softest range from their allocation, the C3, C4 and C5 compounds. It’s the same range used at the 2020 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix which was won by Max Verstappen, a similar feat this weekend would crown the Dutchman as champion.

As mentioned though the track has been given a new-layout for this weekend, with lap times expected to be ten-fifteen seconds faster. The modifications are endless, the chicane at what used to be Turns 5-6 into the hairpin, is now a straight which goes into a wider hairpin, meaning drivers can carry more speed into the corner.

The chicane at Turns 11-14 have also been replaced for this weekend, with a new banked left-hand corner. Finally the last four corners, Turns 17-20, have all been opened up to allow the drivers to attack them, something which should look spectacular in Qualifying. The changes made should make for more overtaking but we will only found out for certain on Sunday.

All the changes to the track design has in fact made the circuit slightly shorter, therefore the number of laps in the race has been raised from fifty-five, to fifty-eight. Verstappen won last year on a one-stop strategy from medium to hard, a similar strategy should be expected this weekend.

The Uralkali Haas F1 Team have suffered their worst and most challenging season since joining Formula One, however the torment is about to end as Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin prepare for the last round of their rookie season, the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

It has been a year full of learning for Mick Schumacher, the German has performed valiantly all season in what has been the worst car on the grid. Despite it all the rookie can take lots out of the year as he begins his preparation for the Yas Marina Circuit.

Schumacher is amazed just how fast his rookie season has gone, in what has been a year he is overall happy with.

“The year has gone by quicker than I expected it would! It’s been a lot – I’ve learned massive amounts in terms of approach to weekends and how to approach races. I am excited about my last race, I think we’re all ready for a break. It’s been a long year with lots of insecurities at times as well but overall, we’ve managed it well. We’ve got more than expected from the car and I’m happy with that. I think we achieved many good things and many things that we know we can improve for next year.” 

“I don’t feel mentally fatigued” – Nikita Mazepin

Nikita Mazepin’s rookie year has arguably been the most challenging of them all, the Russian driver has struggled to keep up with his team-mate all year, however has shown some signs of promise.

It has been a long and challenging season for the Aston Martin Cognizant F1 Team, who haven’t performed as strongly this season as many predicted them too, however they will be hoping to finish the year well at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Sebastian Vettel has very fond memories of the Yas Marina Circuit, it is of course the venue where he won his first World Championship back in 2010. This year though will see the circuit take-on a brand new layout, predicted to be ten-fifteen seconds faster! The new layout is supposed to make overtaking easier, something which Vettel will be more than welcome too as he is currently leading the award for Most overtakes of the Year.

Vettel is interested to see how the new layout will affect the tyres and the strategy but is more than anything just hoping to end the season on a high.

“There’s been significant change to the Yas Marina Circuit, so it will be like going to another new track this weekend. We can expect much faster lap-times, and it will be interesting to see the knock-on effect to the tyres and strategy, as well as the changes we’ll need to make to car set-up. Once again, we’re aiming to end the season on a high with some good points.”

“We’ve learnt a lot this season” – Lance Stroll

Lance Stroll’s last race of the season will be a memorable one no matter the result, as the Canadian prepares to take part in his one-hundredth Formula One Grand Prix this weekend.

Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda go into the final round of the season at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, knowing they will need a miracle to claim fifth place in the Constructors’ Standings, the team need at least thirty points to beat the Alpine F1 Team meaning a chaotic final race could go in their favour.

Pierre Gasly was one of the only drivers to have a fairly uneventful race at Saudi Arabia last weekend, the Frenchman secured a brilliant sixth place finish which saw him hit one-hundred points for the season. Gasly will be waiting to end the season on a high, especially as it’s the final time this spec of Formula One car will ever be seen, with the overhaul of new regulations in 2022.

Gasly is looking forward to this weekend, where he hopes to end this era of F1 car in style.

“Last year in Abu Dhabi I scored some points, starting tenth and finishing eighth. I’ve always liked it and there’s a special atmosphere as it’s the last race of the season, the end of all the hard work over a year. And even the track itself is quite interesting, although the layout has been changed for this year, making it overall a bit faster and more flowing, so I’m looking forward to seeing what effect that has on making overtaking easier.

“The weekend also marks the end of an era as it is the last time we race with these cars, the ones I’ve known since I started in F1, before the very big change to the technical rules comes in for next year, with new wheel sizes and a completely new look and design for the cars. So, it would be nice to end what has been a very good year for the team on a high note, showing a strong performance at the final race.” 

The Alpine F1 Team go into the final round of the championship at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix with lots to play for, such as their fight with Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda for fifth in the Constructors’ Championship, and Fernando Alonso’s battle for the Most Overtakes of the Year.

Fernando Alonso had a disappointing Saudi Arabian Grand Prix which sees him needing a lot of overtakes to beat Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Räikkönen to the Most Overtakes of the Year Award. The priority will of course be on securing the team fifth in the Constructors’ Standings, something which they have almost certainly done after some recent impressive results.

Alonso is looking forward to trying the new layout at the Yas Marina Circuit this weekend, where he wouldn’t mind a mini-race with his fellow veterans.

“I think it’s been clear for a while that the circuit is quite difficult to overtake on and hopefully these changes can make the difference. It’s a shame when a title deciding race is tough to overtake on, but it’s a good track to race on and if there can be more overtaking it’ll naturally make it more exciting for us drivers and everybody watching. We like racing in Abu Dhabi and I am curious to see if it will change anything. I’m always keen for trialling new circuit layouts, so let’s see on Sunday.

“On the overtake of the year award, we’ve had some fun battles out there and with Sebastian (Vettel) and Kimi (Räikkönen) too who are also in contention for this award. Maybe we can have our own mini race on Sunday and see who gets the most overtakes.”