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Lando Norris admitted it was a disappointing day for both himself and the McLaren F1 Team in the São Paulo Grand Prix as the Briton could only score a single point for tenth place.

Norris made a good start and attempted to pass Carlos Sainz Jr. on the outside only to collide with the Scuderia Ferrari, with the Briton suffering an immediate puncture as a result.

A slow opening lap crawl to the pits left him at the back of the pack, although he was given a chance to fight through the field thanks to the safety car.  He eventually claimed tenth, although Ferrari’s fifth and sixth place means McLaren have slid thirty-one-and-a-half points behind them in the Constructors’ Championship with only three rounds remaining.

“A disappointing day for all of us as a team, as well as for myself,” said Norris.  “I had a really good start and as I tried to come back onto the track there just wasn’t enough room and I ended up getting the puncture.

“We could’ve scored some good points. We’ll review it and try to do a better job next time. The fight back through was good, managing to score a point, which is better than nothing.

A new era has begun for Jack Roush‘s NASCAR operation. On Tuesday, Roush Fenway Racing announced the rebranding to RFK Racing, highlighting the arrival of new driver and minority owner Brad Keselowski. Keselowski will drive the #6 Ford Mustang, which also receives a new livery and number font, beginning with the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season.

RFK Racing can be regarded as the third “chapter” in Roush’s NASCAR endeavours. He founded the team as Roush Racing in 1988 before becoming Roush Fenway in 2007 with the addition of the Fenway Sports Group (via John W. Henry) as an owner. The team won the 2003 and 2004 Cup championships with Matt Kenseth and Kurt Busch, respectively, along with five Xfinity Series titles and the 2000 Truck Series crown.

Keselowski, the 2012 Cup champion, announced in July that he would join Roush for 2022, a position that also includes working in the team’s competition department. He had spent much of his career with fellow Ford organisation Team Penske, and finished his final season with the team with a sixth-place points finish. RFK will not be his first foray into team ownership as he previously owned the Truck outfit Brad Keselowski Racing.

“The heritage and innovation of Jack Roush, the championship swagger of Fenway Sports Group and the passion for racing of Brad Keselowski are what merges together to create RFK Racing,” said team president Steve Newmark. “These principles form and drive the fundamentals of our team and the new brand, as we lay out the roadmap that will lead us into the future.”

Chris Buescher will serve as Keselowski’s partner in the #17. He won the 2015 Xfinity title with Roush.

The Alpine F1 Team did everything they could to maximise their race result in Sunday’s São Paulo Grand Prix, although team orders were not enough to deny Pierre Gasly seventh place.

Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso were both running inside the top ten throughout the race at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace and were running seventh and eighth after Gasly had made his second pit stop.

Ocon allowed Alonso through to try and keep the Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda driver behind them until the chequered flag, but Gasly’s fresher tyres meant he was able to pass both, while Alonso allowed Ocon back through late in the day to take eighth.

“I’m happy to be back in the points today after a very busy race,” said Ocon.  “Today was all about our strong teamwork between all of us.

“We tried to maximise everything the best we could, and we pushed everything to the limit both from a performance and tactical point of view. When Gasly pitted for the second time, I gave the place to Fernando to see if we could hold him behind by giving me a tow. It worked for a couple of laps, but it was not enough in the end and Fernando returned the place.

Pierre Gasly believed he got the best result possible in Sunday’s São Paulo Grand Prix with seventh place, with the Frenchman enjoying the battles he had on track throughout the race at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace.

The Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda driver had on-track battles with the likes of Daniel Ricciardo and Sebastian Vettel in the early laps before battling with the two Alpine F1 Team drivers later on, but he was able to beat them all to seventh place and six more points.

Gasly says it is important AlphaTauri continue to build the points as they battle Alpine for fifth place in the Constructors’ Championship, with the two teams continuing to be locked on the same number of points heading into the final three races of 2021.

“I’m really happy, it’s been a very intense race, but I think we can be pleased with today,” said Gasly.  “There were some really nice battles, with Daniel and Seb, then at the end of the race with the Alpines.

“It was so fun to be racing with them, as we don’t often get to do that in F1. It was of course hard, but today we finished in the best position we could, behind the top three teams, and that’s the most important thing, as we continue our fight for fifth.”

Mattia Binotto remains cautious about Scuderia Ferrari’s advantage over the McLaren F1 Team in the Constructors’ Championship despite seeing the team open up a thirty-one-and-a-half-point advantage over their rivals following the São Paulo Grand Prix.

Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz Jr. finished fifth and sixth at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace to score eighteen points in the Constructors’ Championship, while Sainz’s third place in Sprint Qualifying on Saturday gave the team an additional point.  McLaren on the other hand only scored one point in Brazil thanks to Lando Norris’ tenth place on Sunday.

Binotto, the Team Principal at Ferrari, says it was pleasing for Ferrari to have had such a positive weekend in Brazil, but they cannot feel third place is a certainty despite the big gap over McLaren, especially with how some races have gone for each outfit this season.

“A good result in terms of the championship, given that we have doubled our lead over our closest rivals in the Constructors’ classification,” said Binotto.  “Having said that, a 31.5 point lead doesn’t mean that it’s done and dusted, far from it.

“We know the situation can change in an instant and that our opponents are very strong.”

Red Bull Racing saw themselves slip further behind the Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team in the Constructors’ championship, after coming so close to overtaking them in the standings. Max Verstappen finished second and Sergio Pérez crossed the line in fourth at Brazil.

Team Principal Christian Horner believes the Sao Paulo Grand Prix was damage limitation for the team, after Lewis Hamilton won the race with Valtteri Bottas rounding off the podium. It brought an end to Red Bull’s run of double podium finishes and saw the gap between themselves and Mercedes grow, whereas Verstappen saw his lead shrink to fourteen points.

Both Red Bull’s fought valiantly to keep Hamilton behind, with Verstappen even appearing to run the world champion off the track, both though eventually fell to the speed with which Hamilton carried all weekend in Brazil. Pérez was unfortunate to slip off the podium after being caught out by a VSC, allowing Bottas a cheap pit-stop ahead to jump the Mexican driver.

With three races to go it is still all to play for but Horner does believe that his team have some catching up to do.

“To come away with second and fourth today, plus the fastest lap was damage limitation this weekend. We scored 20 points for Max this weekend versus their 25 for Lewis in the Drivers’ Championship, so we’ll take that. We put up as good a defence as we could, Max did his best and raced hard, and Checo made Lewis have two goes to get past, and he came back with a great move to reclaim the place after Lewis’ first effort.

Charles Leclerc was positive after the São Paulo Grand Prix on Sunday after climbing from seventh on the grid to finish fifth, the best of the rest behind the leading two teams.

The Scuderia Ferrari driver had been disappointed with his performance during Saturday’s Sprint Qualifying at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace, but he felt he performed better on Sunday, with his start giving him track position over his nearest competitors.

Although well behind the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team and Red Bull Racing on Sunday, Leclerc was pleased to end fifth and to score good points in the Constructors’ Championship for Ferrari as they battle the McLaren F1 Team for third place.

“That was a really nice race,” said Leclerc.  “We weren’t satisfied after the Sprint Qualifying yesterday, so we worked hard last night to analyse where we could make some improvements. And that’s what we applied today, so I am very happy with the performance.

“I had a very good start, which was my first target. After that, the race was all about managing the tyres well and maintaining the gap to those behind me.

Max Verstappen saw his championship lead drop to just fourteen points at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, after second place finish behind championship rival Lewis Hamilton. Sergio Pérez’s run of consecutive podiums came to an end with fourth place finish at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace Circuit.

Verstappen endured another titanic battle with Hamilton, this time with both drivers coming out of it unscathed, just! Verstappen took the lead of the race after making a better start than pole-sitter Valtteri Bottas. The Dutchman extended his lead to almost five seconds, whilst Hamilton was charging through the top ten after starting in the middle of the pack.

It wasn’t long till Hamilton was up to second place and only a couple of car lengths behind the championship leader, as the battle begun to commence. Neither of drivers pit-stops could break the pair apart, with Hamilton clearly having more pace than Verstappen in front. Hamilton’s first attempt at overtaking Verstappen came around the outside of Turn Four. Verstappen however appeared to run both drivers off the circuit though, and kept hold of the lead.

Only a couple laps later though and Verstappen finally dropped to second, with Hamilton this time completing the move down the back-straight before Turn Four, the Dutchman had no answer and had to settle for second place on the podium.

Verstappen enjoyed the race and believed the racing between the pair was fair, you’d like to think we will see more fighting between the two in the remaining three races.

After three seasons at the Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN team, Antonio Giovinazzi will be leaving not only the team but Formula 1 at the end of the season, with Chinese driver Guanyu Zhou confirmed to be taking his place.

Giovinazzi became the first Italian driver to complete a full season in Formula 1 since 2011, and has started fifty-nine races to date. His first came in 2017 after replacing the injured at the time Pascal Wehrlein. Giovinazzi has grown to become popular both on and off the track with his likeable character and effort to the sport. The Italian’s best result came in Brazil two years ago, when he finished in fifth.

Alfa Romeo Team Principal Frédéric Vasseur wishes Giovinazzi all the best for the future.

“Saying goodbye to a driver is never easy, especially so in the case of Antonio, who has been part of the team for so long. As we part ways, we will cherish the memories of the good times and learn lessons from the bad ones, knowing these moments all made us grow together as a team. We wish Antonio the best for his future after the 2021 season: before then, we still have three races to achieve some good results together and finish the year strongly.”

Formula 2 championship contender Guanyu Zhou has officially been announced as Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN’s second new driver for the 2022 season, alongside the experienced Valtteri Bottas. Zhou will become the first ever Chinese driver to have raced in Formula 1.

After weeks of rumours, Zhou has been as expected confirmed as Alfa Romeo’s second new driver for 2022, an incredibly proud moment for Chinese motorsport as Zhou looks set to create history for the country. The Chinese driver will replace Antonio Giovinazzi, who is leaving Formula 1.

Zhou, who has tested in Formula 1 with the Alpine F1 Team, has been linked to Formula 1 for the past couple of years. The twenty-two year old has experienced successive throughout his career so far, and is currently battling Oscar Piastri for the Formula 2 title.

Zhou is very proud to be moving up to Formula 1 next season and is incredibly thankful to Alfa Romeo for their support.

“I dreamt from a young age of climbing as high as I can in a sport that I am passionate about and now the dream has come true. It is a privilege for me to start my Formula 1 racing career with an iconic team, a team that has introduced so much young talent into Formula 1 in the past. Now the dream is reality. I feel well prepared for the immense challenge of Formula 1, the pinnacle of my sport, alongside a proven, world-class talent in Valtteri Bottas.

Alpine academy superstar and leader of the Formula 2 championship Oscar Piastri, has been announced as Alpine F1 Team’s official reserve driver for the 2022 Formula 1 season.

The twenty-year-old who joined the Alpine academy in 2020 becomes yet another driver to be moved up in their ranks, as Piastri edges closer to a future seat in Formula 1. The Australian has risen up the motorsport ladder in impressive fashion, winning the Formula 3 title in 2020 and of course is now leading the Formula 2 championship with only two rounds left in his rookie season. Only George Russell and Charles Leclerc have completed the feat of winning both titles back to back in their rookie year.

Alpine have stated that Piastri’s role as reserve driver in 2022, will involve an extensive testing programme as the team continue to prepare Piastri for a future in Formula 1. Piastri is understandably very much looking forward to next season as he now focuses on winning the Formula 2 crown.

“I’m super excited to be joining Alpine F1 Team as Reserve Driver. I’m looking forward to being much more involved with the team and contributing to its intended success next season. The Reserve Driver role is the next step towards my aim for a race seat in 2023, which is very exciting. I’ve proved myself in the junior formulas over the last couple of years and feel like I’m ready for Formula 1 now.

“Along with the trackside experience at race weekends, we will put together a substantial test programme in order to keep developing myself to grow even more prepared for a race seat. I’m very thankful to Alpine for their support. We’ve enjoyed two very successful seasons together in the Academy and I’m grateful for the faith they’ve put in me for this next step with an eye on a bigger future.

The 2022 Race of Champions will mark not only the first time that the star-studded event is held on a snow/ice surface, but also the first race for the FC1-X. On Monday, a day after Nitro Rallycross wrapped up its Wild Horse Pass race weekend, ROC announced the series’ FC1-X electric car will make its racing début at the event on 4–6 February.

Various rallycross series have experimented with electric vehicles in recent times, perhaps most notably the FIA World Rallycross Championship which intends to switch to a fully electric grid in 2022. In advance, the series has the all-electric FIA RX2e Championship support class. NRX’s FC1-X will also begin competition in 2022 with a sixteen-car grid, though as its own division while the headlining Supercars continue to use internal combustion engines. Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, Good Times Racing, Gronholm RX, Olsbergs MSE, Vermont SportsCar, and XiTE Racing have currently locked in their entries for the FC1-X, as has a to-be-announced organisation.

Unveiled at Wild Horse Pass, the FC1-X was designed by First Corner, a joint venture between QEV Technologies and Olsbergs MSE, with blessings from manufactuers like Ford, Subaru, and Volkswagen. QEV is a Spanish electric mobility manufacturer that is responsible for projects like solar cars and has participated in motorsport like Formula E, Extreme E, the World Rally Championship, and touring cars. Olsbergs MSE is one of the top operations in the rallycross world. Both parties also worked together on the RX2e.

The FC1-X is intended to be the fastest and strongest rallycross car in history, even quicker than its ICE-powered counterparts. It is planned to have over 1,000 horsepower; by comparison, Supercars possess 600 hp.

“Our future goal is to break all kinds of records with this platform,” said Olsbergs MSE head Andreas Eriksson. “We can today do 0–100 km in less than 1.5 seconds. The car will make a mark on history and perhaps change the way we look at motorsport. ROC is the perfect launch pad for the FC1-X.”

On Sunday, 7 November, Kyle Busch finished the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season by finishing seventh at Phoenix Raceway. A week later, he was driving a rallycross car at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park, approximately thirty miles away from Phoenix, for the first time with Nitro Rallycross. After fighting into the final, he concluded his debut in fourth.

Busch, a two-time Cup Series champion and one of the biggest names in stock car racing today, dipped his feet into rallycross on 13/14 November as part of the NRX weekend at Wild Horse Pass in Chandler, Arizona. Although he had prior dirt experience, rallycross was unknown territory for him.

He drove the #51 ZipRecruiter #GoNitro car, the number being the same as one of his Camping World Truck Series vehicles. As Toyota, whom Busch has raced for in NASCAR since 2008, does not have an NRX car, meaning he raced in an unbadged Subaru (Toyota owns a twenty-percent stake in the make).

With his inexperience, it took time to adjust to the discipline as evidenced by finishing with the second-slowest time in the opening practice and losing his battle qualifying race to ex-NASCAR driver Scott Speed. He finished fifth in his heat race to be relegated to the semi-final, where he placed runner-up to another former NASCAR competitor in Steve Arpin.

He started sixth in the final and battled with Cabot Bingham throughout the first two circuits to stay in seventh. Busch took the Joker Lap on lap two after which he passed Tanner Foust for sixth, though Foust regained the spot. However, lap four saw Arpin and Kevin Hansen retire from the race after hitting the wall, which promoted Busch to fifth. On the final lap, Busch and Bingham passed Foust to finish fourth and fifth, respectively.

After making a name for himself in what is now the ARCA Menards Series, Josh Williams embedded himself into the NASCAR Xfinity Series grid with Mario Gosselin‘s DGM Racing. After five years together, the two parties have parted ways, the team announced Monday.

“They say all good things come to an end, and unfortunately, it’s the #EndOfAnEra for #DriverOfThe92,” began a social media post from the team. “After five years of racing, laughing and making memories, [Josh Williams] will not be returning to DGM Racing in 2022. Although we are sad to see him go, we couldn’t be more excited to see what he will accomplish and achieve.

“Josh, no matter where you go, you’ll always be part of the #DGMFamily. We love you, we will miss you, and will always support you! We look forward to cheering you on and wish you the best of luck moving forward. Thank you for a lifetime of memories and laughter. It’s not goodbye, it’s a see you around!”

Williams joined DGM Racing in mid-2016 when it was known as King Autosport; the signing came on the heels of his Xfinity début earlier that year with Jimmy Means. Despite failing to qualify for his first race with the team, he made sporadic starts over the next two years before increasing his track time in 2018 as he ran twenty races. He was elevated to a full schedule in 2019, during which he finished seventeenth in points and scored his maiden top ten at Talladega.

2020 saw his and DGM’s best season with six top tens, a best finish of sixth at Kansas in the fall, and fifteenth in the standings. However, increasing competition and various misfortunes in 2021 resulted in just a single top ten (tenth at Mid-Ohio), a DNQ at Circuit of the Americas, and an eighteenth-place points placement.

After eight rounds of racing across four weekends, the inaugural Great American Shortcourse season came to an end with a pair of races at Glen Helen Raceway. Fifteen classes from the junior divisions to Pro 2 trucks had champions crowned at the San Bernardino, California track in the newest attempt to cultivate short course off-road racing on the West Coast.

Article sorted by hierarchy on GAS website

Pro 2: Consistency and strong finale rewards Mason

The top-flight Pro 2 class was won by Dave Mason Jr. as he enjoys his maiden short course title. The longtime desert racer, who is set to run the upcoming Baja 1000 in Mexico, began his Pro 2 exploits in 2019 in the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series (GAS’ predecessor in Western short course racing). He won his first career Pro 2 event in the second race at SBC Fairgrounds in Victorville, California in April. While wins were split between multiple drivers as the year progressed, with Ricky Gutierrez breaking out by winning his first three career starts, consistency kept Mason atop the point standings ahead of Erik Jacobus.

Entering Sunday’s finale, Mason held a 43-point advantage over Jacobus. On a slick race track, Mason dominated by leading every lap, holding off challenges from Gutierrez who was hindered by a pair of miscues as he over-rotated his truck in corners. Jacobus only completed one lap before retiring with a mechanical issue, enabling Mason to win the Pro 2 title with 408 points to his 357.

“It’s great to have some good competitors out here like Ricky G to keep me honest,” Mason said on the podium. “He smoked me yesterday so it felt really good to get some feedback and really have him as a marker today and make it happen.