Motorsports Racing News & Blog Articles

Otmar Szafnauer was full of praise for both Lance Stroll and Sebastian Vettel as they both finished inside the points in Sunday’s Qatar Grand Prix, the first time since the French Grand Prix where both Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team drivers ended inside the top ten.

Stroll climbed from twelfth on the grid to finish an excellent sixth after running a one-stop strategy, while Vettel recovered from being pushed wide at turn one and dropping down to seventeenth to take tenth, also with only one trip to the pit lane.

Szafnauer, the CEO and Team Principal at Aston Martin, says it is a nice feeling for everyone within the team to see both drivers have strong performances at the Losail International Circuit and score nine points towards the Constructors’ Championship.

“That was a complex race from a technical point of view, and I want to pay tribute to two brilliant drives, particularly by Lance, who managed tyre wear and pressure from the Ferraris superbly to finish sixth under intense racing throughout all 57 laps,” said Szafnauer. “He was the star of our race today. 

“Sebastian was pushed wide at the start by [Valtteri] Bottas, and had to take to the artificial grass to avoid an accident, which dropped him back to P17, having started from a P10 grid slot. He drove hard and consistently well thereafter, ending up back in the points.

Lance Stroll made a one-stop strategy work to his advantage during Sunday’s Qatar Grand Prix, with the Canadian gaining six places from his starting position to claim sixth place at the Losail International Circuit.

The Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team driver made up a couple of places on the opening lap and was able to pass Yuki Tsunoda on track before jumping Carlos Sainz Jr. in the pit stops. He then moved up two spots following the punctures to both Valtteri Bottas and Lando Norris.

He finished on the tail of Alpine F1 Team’s Esteban Ocon, with Stroll feeling satisfied to score eight points at the end of a difficult triple-header for the Canadian.

“The car felt very good today and I am very happy with our performance,” said Stroll.  “I made up a couple of places on lap one and over the first stint it was clear that we had pace to perform well.

“I overtook [Yuki] Tsunoda on the Mediums and then, after catching the guys ahead, undercut [Carlos] Sainz to move into sixth after stopping for the Hards.

The SCORE International Baja 1000 is a test of endurance unlike any other in North America. The 54th edition saw 302 entries push through 1,226.35 miles (1,973.62 km) of Baja California desert from Ensenada to La Paz. Throughout the three days of racing, stories ranged from longtime faces continuing to assert their dominance, such as Mark Samuels‘ stable dominating the motorcycles en route to his sixth win in the event, to newcomers making an impact, perhaps most notably Alexander Rossi claiming his maiden Baja 1000 win.

Samuels and his #1X Honda team of Justin Morgan, Kendall Norman, and Brandon Prieto dominated the Pro Moto Unlimited class and overall for motorcycles, as they were the only bike to complete the track in less than 24 hours at 23 hours, 7 minutes, 18.363 seconds. It is Samuels’ second in a row and third in the last four years, while Morgan secures his fifth straight and Norman gets his first since 2011 and seventh. The #5X of Derek Ausserbauer, Colton Udall, and Brandon Petersen provided the closest challenge, but had only reached the 1201st mile when the #1x finished the race and would finish after 24 hours, 22 minutes, 46.894 seconds.

Many of the first to reach La Paz were bikes like the two aforementioned teams, which is to be expected as such vehicles began the 1000 seven hours before the cars. Nevertheless, the fastest time elapsed from start to finish came from the cars as the top five overall times were filled by Trophy Trucks. Rob MacCachren, a 2011 inductee into the Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame, added a fifth Baja 1000 to his trophy room after previously winning in 2007 and from 2014 to 2016 while team-mate Luke McMillin scored his second consecutive win. While the duo’s #11 showed plenty of speed throughout, they spent much of the early stages chasing down the dominant #7 truck of Bryce Menzies and McMillin’s cousin Andy McMillin. However, Menzies’ hopes of claiming his maiden 1000 were dashed at the 684th mile when an alternator bolt broke shortly after McMillin took over the truck. The MacCachren/McMillin duo finished with a time of 20 hours, 45 minutes, 58.908 seconds, over 33 seconds ahead of the #21 piloted by Tavo Vildosola, father Gustavo, and Ricky Johnson.

Fourth was 2019 overall winner Alan Ampudia, Jax Redline, and rally icon Ken Block; Block previously ran the 2007 Baja 1000 in the Baja Challenge class, with 2021 marking his first time racing in Trophy Trucks. The Ampudia/Redline/Block #10 was the highest finisher of the 172 that received a time penalty, getting eighteen minutes added to their time for speeding. It is a fairly light punishment compared to what others got, with eight having over an hour placed for multiple infractions like speeding and missing Virtual Checkpoints; the #264 Trophy Truck Spec of Pierce, Thor, and Riley Herbst were also slapped with a one-hour penalty for “deliberate, abusive nerfing”, while Samuel Araiza Vazquez‘s #2996 Pro UTV Forced Induction had two hours for speeding. Ironically, the #10’s finishing position came as the result of another rival being penalised as Tim and Troy Herbst‘s #19 TT was relegated from fourth to fifth for an eighteen-minute speeding infraction.

Three-time 1000 winner Robby Gordon finished seventh in TT alongside fellow ex-NASCAR driver Casey Mears and Steve Strobel. Gordon’s run ended with him being responsible what is one of the coolest acts of kindness in racing: with miles before the finish, he encountered fellow Trophy Truck driver Larry Roeseler, whose truck lost its transmission which prompted Gordon to tow him for eight miles closer to the end. Upon regaining power, Roeseler finished the race on his own, one spot behind Gordon; the 64-year-old, a record thirteen-time 1000 victor, was the oldest competitor in the field to attempt all 1,227 miles with no replacement drivers. These “ironmen” also enjoyed success stories in other divisions as six of thirteen finished in the Pro Moto Ironman class (won by Juan Carlos Salvatierra) while both Pro Quad Ironman riders Miguel Angel Arranz Lopez and Francisco Javier Villavicencio completed the race.

The Alpine F1 Team will always remember the first-ever Qatar Grand Prix, after Fernando Alonso returned to the podium for the first time since the 2014 Hungarian Grand Prix. There was yet more delight for Alpine with Esteban Ocon securing an excellent fifth place at the Losail International Circuit.

It was an unbelievable drive from both Alonso and Ocon, who were two of the few drivers to risk a one-stop strategy. The risk was well and truly met with a reward, with both cars securing top five finishes. Alonso sat in third the majority of the race after starting in that place for the race, after Max Verstappen and Valtteri Bottas were awarded grid penalties.

Alonso had overtaken Pierre Gasly for second but then lost the spot to a charging Verstappen. Alonso was later overtaken by Sergio Pérez, however the Mexican fell back behind the Spaniard after being on a two-stop strategy. Pérez was then flying in the closing stages of the race but was momentarily held up by Ocon who defended valiantly.

Ocon’s defending may have secured Alonso the podium, with a late VSC leaving Pérez just a couple of seconds behind Alonso. The result means Alpine are somewhat comfortable now in fifth place in the Constructors’ standings, twenty-five points ahead of Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda with two races remaining.

Alpine’s Chief Executive Laurent Rossi was so happy for Alonso and the team as a whole, after a brilliant weekend for the entire Alpine F1 Team.

It was a first-ever Qatar Grand Prix to remember for Fernando Alonso, after securing an unbelievable third place at the Losail International Circuit for his first podium since 2014. Team-mate Esteban Ocon finished fifth in what was the perfect weekend for the Alpine F1 Team.

Fernando Alonso returned to the podium for the first time since the 2014 Hungarian Grand Prix, one-hundred-forty-six races ago, after taking an incredible risk of running a one-stop strategy. The Spaniard’s risk was met with the ultimate reward as Alonso stepped foot on the rostrum. He raced brilliantly after starting from third due to Valtteri Bottas’s and Max Verstappen’s grid penalties, and quickly overtook Pierre Gasly for second in the early stages of the race.

Alonso was only overtaken by Verstappen who finished second and Sergio Pérez who finished fourth, the Mexican was on a two-stop strategy so had a pit-stops worth of time to make up on Alonso. The veteran was helped by a late VSC for a stricken Nicholas Latifi, halting a charging Pérez who only finished a couple seconds behind.

The Double-world champion is overwhelmed to be back on the podium after a super weekend.

“It felt fantastic today and to be back on the podium was so good. We deserved this result as a team and I’ve had to wait seven years since my last one. Hopefully we don’t need to wait this long again! We took some risks with the one-stop strategy but it worked out well. We had some strong pace and despite Perez catching us at the end we did enough to hang on.

Red Bull Racing are now just five points behind the Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team in the Constructors’ championship, after Max Verstappen and Sergio Pérez recovered to second and fourth respectively at the Losail International Circuit.

It was an overall strong Qatar Grand Prix for Red Bull despite both of their drivers starting in unordinary positions. Verstappen started the race in seventh after being awarded a five-place grid penalty, and Pérez started eleventh.

Both made rapid progress through the pack after making excellent starts. Verstappen quickly found his way through the field and up to second, where he finished the race behind title-rival Lewis Hamilton who closed the gap to Verstappen down to just eight points.

Pérez took slightly longer to climb into the top five after starting further down, however he did eventually get himself up to fourth where he tried to chase down Fernando Alonso for third. Unfortunately for Pérez he couldn’t catch the Spaniard in time, a late VSC to recover Nicholas Latifi’s stricken car meant Pérez didn’t have the time to get onto the podium.

Red Bull would’ve happily taken second and fourth going into the race, especially with Valtteri Bottas retiring late on. Red Bull sit just five points behind Mercedes with two races to go.

World championship leader Max Verstappen finished an excellent second at the Qatar Grand Prix, in what was damage limitation for the Dutchman after starting the race in seventh. Team-mate Sergio Pérez just missed out on the podium in fourth.

Verstappen’s race was made more difficult before it had even begun, the Dutchman was awarded a five-second grid penalty dropping him from second to seventh, after being deemed to have ignored double-waved yellow flags during qualifying.

Verstappen recovered from this setback in rapid fashion, the championship leader quickly found himself in second after a super start followed by some great overtakes. By the time he was up to second though it was already clear that race-winner Lewis Hamilton was just too fast, Verstappen finished comfortably being the current world champion.

Second place and the fastest lap though means Verstappen reduced the number of points Hamilton could claw back, the Dutchman now leads the championship by just eight points with two races remaining. Verstappen is happy with second after what has been a tough weekend.

“I’m of course happy with the result today. This weekend has been quite difficult for us as a Team and we are still lacking pace, I tried everything I could after the five-place grid penalty so to finish in second and score the fastest lap is really good. I had an exciting start and I knew that the first few laps were really important, I had a good launch and I was fairly quickly back in to second place, from there I tried to keep the gap small and that worked out quite well.

Lewis Hamilton won the first-ever Qatar Grand Prix in what was a comfortable victory for the world champion ahead of Max Verstappen at the Losail International Circuit, however questions are being asked of Pirelli after numerous sudden tyre failures during the race.

Both Williams Racing drivers, Lando Norris and Valtteri Bottas all suffered tyre failures during the Qatar Grand Prix, Nicholas Latifi and Bottas both retired from the race which was triggered by the tyre failures.

Hamilton won the race on a two-stop strategy, going from the mediums to the hards, then back to the mediums for the final stint. Verstappen followed suit but did do an extra stop on the penultimate lap onto the softs to go for fastest lap. The leading pair had a huge gap to those behind. Third place went to Fernando Alonso who stepped foot on the podium for the first time since the 2014 Hungarian Grand Prix, he amazingly managed a one-stop race from the softs to the hards.

The four punctures during the race though does take some of the limelight away from the podium trio, with all the punctures during the race being on the front-left tyre. Head of F1 and Car Racing at Pirelli Mario Isola, has said that they will find out what caused the punctures to happen.

“With Losail being a new and relatively unknown track, featuring some high energy corners, the teams headed into the race lacking all the information they would ideally want, with only one representative practice session. However, it became clear during the race that a one-stopper was very marginal in terms of tyre wear, requiring a high degree of management.

Lewis Hamilton won the first-ever Qatar Grand Prix to claim back-to-back victories, in what was a mixed evening at the Losail International Circuit for the Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team with Valtteri Bottas retiring.

Hamilton controlled the race from start to finish after starting from pole, the world champion won in commanding fashing with title-rival Max Verstappen finishing second. The British driver was untroubled throughout and now sits just eight points behind the Dutchman with two races remaining.

For Valtteri Bottas it was a difficult race, the Finnish driver had to start from sixth after being awarded a three-place grid penalty and then had a horrendous start. The Finnish driver found himself outside the top ten by the end of the first lap, he then took his time to begin his charge through the field.

His charge was brought to a sudden halt however after suffering a puncture, dropping him too far outside the points to recover, the team decided to retire his car in order to save mileage.

The team now lead Red Bull Racing by just five points after Sergio Pérez recovered to fourth, Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff knows that there are still many challenges remaining with just two races left this season.

Red Bull Racing Team Principal Christian Horner, has been given an official warning by the FIA, after comments he made following the announcement before the race, that Max Verstappen had been awarded a five-place grid penalty for ignoring double-waved yellow flags in qualifying at the Qatar Grand Prix.

Horner breached Article 12.2.2 f) and 12.2.1 k) of the FIA International Sporting Code.

The Red Bull Team Principal referred to the marshal who was waving the double-waved yellow flag as “rogue”, he has since offered an apology to the marshal who accepted it.

After being summoned, Horner has offered to take part in the 2022 FIA International Stewards Programme early next year.

Lewis Hamilton claimed victory number one-hundred-two, after winning the first-ever Qatar Grand Prix in dominant fashion to claw back yet more points to championship leader Max Verstappen. Team-mate Valtteri Bottas retired from the race.

It was a fairly easy evening for Hamilton, the Seven-time world champion made a great start off the line from pole and quite simply never looked back. His title-rival Verstappen could only see Hamilton in the distance, after the Dutchman was awarded a five-place grid penalty before the race.

Hamilton was comfortable out in front and never looked troubled on his way to claiming back-to-back victories, reducing the gap to Verstappen to just eight points.

Hamilton knows he still has his work cut out but is thriving in the championship battle.

“It’s been a hell of a year so to be at this point of the season and have back-to-back wins is a great feeling. It was a pretty straight forward race for me, a little bit lonely but of course, we needed those points, so a really solid job by the team. A big thank you to everyone trackside and back at the factories for all their hard work. I’m really grateful for these points and it’s amazing to be able to close the gap so much in the last two weeks.

Spa Francorchamps Circuit in Belgium had previously advised the organisers of the Motorsport UK 5 Nations British Rallycross Champion that they were no longer able to host the December event scheduled due to work schedule, severe flooding and the current COVID situation. The organisers have been working very hard to secure a replacement venue to allow the championship to reach its planned conclusion, even looking at joining the Irish Rallycross, but has been unable to find an economically viable solution for an alternative venue.
Each of the championships concerned were therefore concluded at Lydden Hill over the weekend of 6-7 November. The 2021 winners are as follows.

Motorsport UK Supernational Rallycross Championship – Jason Bleasdale has won the class after winning four of the seven rounds. Slawomir Woloch finished second with Paige Bellerby in third.

Motorsport UK Junior Rallycross Championship – Max Langmaid never looked back, claiming the remaining six wins this season. Will Ovenden finished second with Owen Robbins in third.

Swift Sport Rallycross Championship – Going into the final round, Max Weatherley and Luke Constantine had each won three rounds, however, Constantine’s big accident at Knockhill ruled him out of round six and the points gap was too big to close leading to Weatherley taking his fourth victory and the 2021 title.

Super 1600 Championship – Both Darren Scott and Phil Chicken suffered serious mechanical issues at Knockhill meaning that Craig Lomax managed to bag maximum points and his fourth win. After round seven, Lomax was crowned the Super1600 Champ. Scott finished second having won two rounds with Belgium based driver Nick Snoeys claiming one win. Chicken finished third in the standings.

Lewis Hamilton clinched a comfortable win at the 2021 Qatar Grand Prix to seal his seventh win of the season. Max Verstappen finished in second position to limit the damage and keep the lead in the drivers’ championship.

Fernando Alonso with a well-crafted race secured a podium position. The Spaniard was back on the podium for the first time since 2014.

The race at the Losail International Circuit in Qatar started at five pm local time under the lights with air temperatures at 26 degree C and track temperatures at 31 degree C.

There was breaking news before the race started that Verstappen was given a five-place grid penalty for not slowing down under double-waved yellow flags in qualification. Valtteri Bottas was given a three-place grid penalty for ignoring yellow flags.

This mixed up the starting grid with Hamilton and Pierre Gasly on the front row. Alonso and Lando Norris were on the second row.

Championship leader Max Verstappen will not be starting the Qatar Grand Prix from second place, instead he will be lining up in seventh at the Losail International Circuit, after being given a five-place grid penalty for ignoring double-waved yellow flags.

In what is a massive blow to his championship hunt, Verstappen will be starting from seventh place for the race which many of the drivers believe will be difficult to overtake at. The stewards found footage showing Verstappen failing to slow in a double-waved yellow section of the circuit at the end of qualifying, the flag was out for Pierre Gasly’s stricken Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda.

It was obvious Verstappen had ignored the flags, as he improved on his lap-time by two tenths of a second, he isn’t the only driver though who has been awarded a grid-penalty.

Valtteri Bottas was awarded a three-place grid penalty and now starts fifth, after ignoring a single-waved yellow flag. It sets the first-ever Qatar Grand Prix up beautifully, with Verstappen and Bottas starting in the bottom of the top ten.

Will pole-sitter Lewis Hamilton make the most of the opportunity?

I’ve accomplished my pre-season goal of a top-three place in my maiden Ginetta GT5 Challenge so I’m very, very pleased especially considering this year marks only my second full season in car racing. 

I’d been in the title hunt for the entire season and finished off the season in style – two victories, which should have been three but that’s another story, I’ll come on to that later!

The seven-event, 18-race season closed out at Croft and Donington Park. I arrived at Croft for the penultimate event in mid-September second in the series and trailing series leader, the eventual champion, Josh Steed by 67-points. But an unusually poor qualifying session, resulting in only eighth and 13th place starts, put me right on the back foot. 

I should have been at the sharp end, like I’d been all season, which would have allowed me to fight for wins as had been the norm this year. It was weird. I finished the two races in seventh and 10th and left Croft third in the standings.

The important thing was that I needed to learn from that experience so that it didn’t happen again. Mathematically, I could have still won the title heading to the last three races at Donington but I needed Steed to have a couple of bad races there.