Motorsports Racing News & Blog Articles

Pierre Gasly brought home a brilliant sixth place at the inaugural Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, in what was one of the craziest races in Formula One history. Team-mate Yuki Tsunoda felt the full brunt of the chaotic race at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit, he finished fourteenth.

Gasly was one of the few drivers who actually had a relatively uneventful race, whereas those around him were caught up in the craziness of the Grand Prix. The Frenchman started the race in sixth and had initially lost a few places after the first start but regained the places during the multiple race stoppages.

Gasly is happy with his sixth place in what was an intense race for all the drivers.

“I’m very pleased with today, finishing in the top six in front of Ferrari, I’m really happy with that result and we’re taking home a lot of points again. We knew it was going to be tricky coming to a new track, but we’ve performed well throughout the weekend and had a strong starting position today.

“It was a difficult race, with lots of things happening and it was very long, which meant it required a lot of focus. We know how complicated it is into the first corner here, so having three starts was intense, but we tried to take every opportunity we could and in the end I think we did a good job.”

Scuderia Ferrari have all but sealed third place in the Constructors standings, after Charles Leclerc finished seventh and Carlos Sainz Jr eighth at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

It was a solid display by the Prancing Horses, both Leclerc and Sainz performed well to bring home yet more points for the team, with Sainz putting on an impressive attacking display having started fifteenth.

The race could’ve gone very differently for the team however, Leclerc was lucky to finish the race after tangling with Sergio Pérez during the restart after the races first red flag. The collision saw Pérez spin across half the circuit’s width, causing mayhem and further collisions behind, resulting in a second red flag of the race. Leclerc survived, Péred didn’t. Neither were at fault though, there just wasn’t enough room for the drivers at the time.

Had it not been for the red flags Ferrari may have had both drivers in the top six, both Leclerc and Sainz had strong pace and could’ve easily finished higher up had it not been for the multiple stoppages.

Team Principal Mattia Binotto is glad the team have all but secured third in the standings but does think more was possible from the Jeddah Corniche Circuit.

Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz Jr performed solidly at the completely bonkers Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, finishing seventh and eighth respectively at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit.

Leclerc came out as top Scuderia Ferrari at the inaugural Saudi Arabian Grand Prix but was actually very lucky to even make the finish. The Monegasque driver heavily tagged the rear-left of Sergio Pérez after the first red flag restart of the race, sending Pérez round and into the wall. Miraculously Leclerc’s car was okay, neither driver was at fault for the incident, there was simply not enough room for them all.

Other than that it was a strong display by Leclerc, who had it not been for the two red flags, would’ve been right amongst the top five after clearly having strong pace on track. Leclerc even had a couple brilliant scraps with his team-mate in completely fair and clean fashion, something which there wasn’t too much of in the race!

The seventh place moves Leclerc up to fifth in the standings with just one race to go. Leclerc leaves Saudi Arabia happy with how he performed but believes more was possible.

“We’re happy with the way we recovered after Friday’s crash, so it is a shame to only finish seventh, because we had the potential to do better. The first part of the race was really good and our pace was strong. When the Safety Car came out after the start, we thought some luck had come our way and we would benefit from stopping when we did. Three laps later came the red flag and it cost us three positions. 

Hill Motorsports will become the sixth Toyota team in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series for 2022. On Monday, the team announced an expansion from one truck to two, with team owner Timmy Hill elevating himself to a full-time schedule in the #56 Tundra TRD Pro. The second truck’s number and driver(s) were not immediately revealed.

A family operation, Hill Motorsports débuted in 2019 on a part-time basis with Hill and younger brother Tyler Hill sharing the #56 Chevrolet. In 2021, the truck ran all but two races, with the older Hill scoring three top tens with a best run of seventh at Darlington. Mike Marlar also piloted the truck at the Bristol Dirt round.

“It’s so rewarding to see this programme continue to progress each year and I’m excited to have the pieces in place to take the next step for our organisation with a second truck,” said Hill. “I’m really looking forward to competing full-time next year. I certainly think we can surprise some people and hopefully be a regular contender at the front of the field.”

The manufacturer switch consolidates Hill’s NASCAR activities under the Toyota banner. Since joining MBM Motorsports in 2016 for part-time competition in the Cup and Xfinity Series, the majority of his starts have come in a Toyota though MBM occasionally bounces between makes.

Adding Hill to the Toyota camp means the manufacturer has essentially traded one team for another with Chevrolet. McAnally-Hilgemann Racing also expanded to two trucks, but went in the opposite direction by defecting to Chevrolet from Toyota. Other full-time Truck teams racing with the Japanese brand are Halmar Friesen Racing, Hattori Racing Enterprises (who will also be a two-truck stable), Kyle Busch Motorsports, On Point Motorsports, and ThorSport Racing. Glory 2 God Racing also announced plans for a part-time slate in former KBM trucks, while regular team Reaume Brothers Racing uses both Chevy and Toyota.

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.