Motorsports Racing News & Blog Articles

The Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team decided not to change all of Lewis Hamilton’s engine components ahead of this weekend’s Turkish Grand Prix as it would not have been advantageous on either a performance or reliability level.

Hamilton will drop only ten places on the grid at Intercity Istanbul Park after Mercedes opted to replace only his internal combustion engine, whilst relying on the older other components across the remainder of the season.

Andrew Shovlin, the trackside engineering director at Mercedes, admitted they considered changing all components, which would have put Hamilton to the back of the grid, but ultimately they decided it was not worth the risk.

“We are simulating all the races until the end of the year,” Shovlin said to Sky Sports F1.  “There is the balance and risk of a reliability issue, and obviously the thing that you definitely don’t want to do is fail during the race and then have to take a penalty anyway.

“Then there is also a performance element because the power units do lose a bit of horsepower over their life.  The 10-place penalty is the bit that most contributes to that reliability element and the performance is the ICE itself, so it is better to take 10 places than to start from the back.”

Lewis Hamilton knows he will have a lot of work to do on Sunday afternoon at Intercity Istanbul Park due to his grid penalty, so he is looking to take pole position to limit the loss of the penalty.

The Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team driver has taken a new internal combustion engine (ICU) this weekend in Turkey and will take a ten-place penalty for Sunday’s race, and he started the weekend well by topping both free practice sessions on Friday.

With grip levels at the track significantly better than they were twelve months ago, Hamilton was able to break the track lap record in the morning session that had been there since 2005, and he went even quicker in the afternoon.  But he knows the hard work this weekend is still to come.

“The track felt so different to last year – in 2020, oil was rising from the new surface and the grip was so difficult to find,” said Hamilton.  “Coming into this weekend, I didn’t know what to expect when we went out there but the level of grip was intense, it was awesome. The track is so much more enjoyable to drive.

“We started off with a really great setup in FP1, the first session was strong. We made some changes between the sessions and combined with track evolution, the car didn’t feel quite as good but we made some important learnings, for sure.

Lewis Hamilton continued to lead the way at Intercity Istanbul Park as times continued to tumble in second practice for the Turkish Grand Prix on Friday afternoon.

After setting a circuit record-breaking pace in the morning session, the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team driver took top spot in the afternoon with a blistering lap of 1:23.804, although he was run close by Scuderia Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who was just 0.166 seconds back in second.

Having only used soft tyres in the morning session, Hamilton finally took to the track on the medium compound in the afternoon, but it was when he returned to the softs that he took over at the top of the timing sheets.

Team-mate Valtteri Bottas ended up third, but unlike the top two, he was unable to get under the 1:24 bracket, with his best lap of 1:24.214 enough to edge out both the Red Bull Racing drivers.  Sergio Pérez had the better of the sessions of the Red Bull pairing in fourth, with championship contender Max Verstappen ending almost a tenth of a second behind the Mexican in fifth.

Lando Norris was an encouraging sixth for the McLaren F1 Team, while the Alpine F1 Team will be encouraged by their performance as Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon ended seventh and eighth respectively, just 0.012 seconds apart. 

Lewis Hamilton topped the opening free practice session for the Turkish Grand Prix on Friday morning, but the Briton will go into Qualifying on Saturday knowing he will drop ten places on the grid following an engine change.

The Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team driver broke the Intercity Istanbul Park lap record in the opening session, with times considerably faster than they were twelve months ago when track conditions proved much more slippery than they were on Friday.

The track had been water-blasted ahead of the 2021 event, and it seemed to have worked as times tumbled compared to the 2020 race, with Hamilton’s best of 1:24.178 breaking the track record time of 1:24.770, which was from the 2005 event by Juan Pablo Montoya.

However, Hamilton will drop ten places on the grid for Sunday’s race after Mercedes opted to fit his fourth power unit for this event.  This will give title rival Max Verstappen some confidence, and the Red Bull Racing driver ended second quickest in the session, albeit 0.425 seconds back on Hamilton’s time. 

Third fastest was Scuderia Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, with the Monegasque driver using his updated power unit to good effect to get to within half a second of Hamilton’s best, while team-mate Carlos Sainz Jr., who will start at the back of the grid on Sunday following his change of engine, was fifth fastest, just behind the second Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas.

Lance Stroll will return to the scene of one of his best moments of his Formula 1 career this weekend, with the Canadian remembering fondly his first Turkish Grand Prix in 2020.

The Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team driver, then driving for the BWT Racing Point Formula 1 Team, took a surprise pole position in the wet conditions at the Intercity Istanbul Park last year and led a good number of laps at the start, only for a damaged front wing to compromise his second half of the race and drop him to ninth at the chequered flag.

However, he was pleased with how he performed in difficult conditions last year, and he is aiming to return to the points in Turkey this weekend.

“My first experience of Turkey last year gave me one of the best moments of my career when I took pole position before leading laps on Sunday,” said Stroll.  “Those experiences showcased how challenging the track can be.

“Grip can be difficult to find, but that makes for a constant challenge. I’m looking forward to getting back out there and aiming for points.”

The partnership between Red Bull Racing and Honda Motor Co. will continue beyond the 2021 Formula 1 season, even with the latter withdrawing from the sport at the end of the current season.

An agreement between the two parties means Red Bull will take over the intellectual rights of the Honda power units for 2022, with Honda continuing to build the engines and offer some trackside assistance next season.

The three key points of the agreement between the two companies are:

Red Bull Powertrains has the right to use Honda’s IP relating to the Power Unit.Honda will support Red Bull Powertrains in building the 2022 PU and also provide trackside and race operation support from Japan throughout the 2022 season, and from 2023, Red Bull Powertrains will take responsibility for all manufacturing and servicing of Red Bull Racing and Scuderia AlphaTauri’s engines.Employees of Honda Racing Development UK (Milton Keynes) will become employees of Red Bull Powertrains.

The two young driver programmes – Red Bull Junior Team and Honda Dream Project – will continue working together, while the two teams are looking at other options to work together in other forms of motorsport outside of Formula 1.

“I’m glad that we have reached an agreement with Red Bull Group covering all the details of the IP rights for the F1 Power Unit and in this way, Honda can still contribute to the motor racing world,” said Koji Watanabe, the Chief Officer for Brand and Communication Operations at Honda Motor Co.

Max Verstappen is hoping the 2021 Turkish Grand Prix is a much better one for both himself and for Red Bull Racing than it was in 2020 as he looks to take back the lead in the Drivers’ Championship this weekend.

The Dutchman qualified on the front row alongside surprise polesitter Lance Stroll, but a couple of mistakes in difficult conditions saw him finish sixth, more than forty-four seconds behind race winner Lewis Hamilton.

The Intercity Istanbul Park track was very low grip in 2020, which made it extremely difficult for all the drivers, but Verstappen is expecting there to be more grip this weekend.

“Last year’s Turkish GP was of course not the best weekend for us as a Team, but I think it will be quite different circumstances this year, hopefully the tarmac will be a bit more grippy,” said Verstappen.

“I think it will be quite a new weekend in general for everyone, there will be a lot to learn so I’m looking forward to seeing how competitive we are there.”

NASCAR Xfinity Series team Big Machine Racing will be back for a second season in 2022, and with more firepower than this year. On Thursday, the team announced it has agreed to an “enhanced partnership” with technical ally Richard Childress Racing, while Jade Buford will return to the #48 Chevrolet Camaro.

Founded by Big Machine Records owner and sports car racer Scott Borchetta, Big Machine Racing débuted with Danny Bohn finishing nineteenth in the 2021 season opener at Daytona. Buford took over the car for the rest of the season (he was supposed to run the full schedule but was not approved for Daytona). After twenty-seven starts in the #48, he sits twenty-third in points with a top ten at Michigan where he finished ninth.

Buford, also a sports car veteran, made the jump to NASCAR in 2020 as a road course ringer. That year, he recorded his first career top ten at the Charlotte Roval, where the Xfinity Series is racing this weekend, when he placed eighth for SS-Green Light Racing.

“I’m over-the-top excited for the future of Big Machine Racing,” Buford stated. “An alliance with an organization like RCR will give us a huge advantage in improving our racing programme and add another level of consistency that will help us achieve better results across the entire season. 

“With support and access to RCR’s resources, we will have a much better playbook going into every race. Thank you to our team owner, Scott Borchetta, for making this opportunity possible. This will be a huge step forward in making Big Machine Racing a weekly frontrunner in the Xfinity Series.”

After great results at Oulton Park and then Knockhill, getting into the top 10, the next rounds were more difficult at Thruxton and Silverstone National. Circuits with fewer corners and braking zones I still need to adapt my technique. I returned to Thruxton which was also the first round of the championship.

I had done a couple of test days at Thruxton before the start of the championship and therefore before I was more experienced in the car. Therefore returning to Thruxton at this stage of the season, I had not done any testing since I had developed more speed in the car, to push the car more around sixth gear corners.

Credit: Jakob Ebrey Photography

Thruxton is a great circuit and very fast, with only 2 braking zones for the Ginetta Junior spec car and corners in sixth gear taking you to over 180kph leading up to the chicane. It’s really exhilarating! However, with limited horsepower, any small amount of tyre scrub will lose you a few kph which you won’t get back as most of the lap is already on full throttle and, that scrub of even just 1 or 2 kph is also enough for the person behind, who is already getting a slipstream from you, to mount an attack.

Credit: Jakob Ebrey Photography

After doing so well hustling the car around Knockhill, I really needed time to perfect the finesse needed to help the 100bhp keep the maximum speed up around Thruxton as any speed scrubbed off has a compound effect around the whole lap. I qualified twenty-first for race 1 and twenty-second for race 2. Race 1 I made up some places and lost some places to finish in my starting position of twenty-first. In race 2 I made up 4 places to cross the line eighteenth.

However, I had lined up just outside of my grid box and so a 10 second penalty added to my finishing time dropped me down to twenty-first place. Starting race 3 therefore from twenty-first, I was knocked into a spin in the opening lap crowding which dropped me to back of the grid and almost a full lap down. There was also a safety car. I restarted the car and managed to catch up the back of the pack just as the safety car was coming in and also after picking up my gear display pod which had been dislodged by the force of the collision and was rolling around at my feet. I managed to salvage some points by making it back up to seventeenth with some battles that I really enjoyed. I learnt a lot and I know where I can improve for a return to Thruxton next season.

Toto Wolff says there has been a ‘brilliant buzz’ amongst the staff at the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team following their victory in the Russian Grand Prix two weeks ago.

Late race rain spiced up the Grand Prix at the Sochi Autodrom, with long-time race leader Lando Norris losing his maiden victory by staying out too long on the slick tyres.  His drama enabled Lewis Hamilton to secure his one hundredth victory ahead of title rival Max Verstappen, while the weather also enabled Valtteri Bottas to jump from outside the top ten all the way to fifth.

Wolff, the Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport and the Team Principal of the Mercedes Formula 1 project, says the final moments in Russia proved again that anything can happen in Formula 1, and it is important to stay alert and capitalise on the opportunities presented to them.

“There’s been a brilliant buzz in the team over the last week or so,” said Wolff.  “Being back on the top step of the podium was an incredible feeling for all of us, and particularly after such a dramatic race weekend.

“It was obviously made even more special by being Lewis’ 100th race win in Formula One. In the moment, milestones like this are exceptional, but I think it will take time for us to all realise just how remarkable this period of time is, and how privileged we all are to be part of this journey with him.

Michael Annett is calling it a career. On Wednesday, Annett announced he will retire from full-time competition after the 2021 NASCAR Xfinity Series season, his fourteenth in NASCAR’s national series.

Annett began competing in the national series in 2008 with starts in Xfinity and the Camping World Truck Series. Supported by family sponsorship from what is now Pilot Flying J, his first full season came in the Xfinity Series in 2009, where he was a regular until 2014 when he moved up to the Cup Series. After three relatively unsuccessful seasons in lesser equipment, he returned to the Xfinity level with JR Motorsports in 2017. Two years later, he won his first and to date only national series race in the 2019 season opener at Daytona.

However, Annett has also struggled with health problems throughout his career. In 2013, he missed eight races after breaking his sternum in a crash in the first round. This season has seen him miss time due to a broken femur that he eventually re-injured, and he has not run a race since Richmond in early September.

In 316 career Xfinity starts, he has one win, nineteen top fives, ninety-three top tens, and a pole. His best points finish was fifth in 2012 with Richard Petty Motorsports. He also has eight career Truck starts to his name with a runner-up finish at Kentucky in 2008, while his best run in 106 Cup tries is thirteenth in the 2015 Daytona 500.

“I’m just so grateful for the opportunities I’ve had,” stated Annett. “Being able to drive race cars for a living is honestly a dream come true for me. It’s been a privilege to work with some great teams and alongside some of the most talented folks in the garage. None of this would have been possible without the support of my partners, and I am happy to call them life-long friends. It’s those relationships and friendships that are the most rewarding.”

For Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race on the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval, Rick Ware Racing has enlisted the services of IMSA veteran Joey Hand. Hand, who has never raced in NASCAR, will drive the #52 Ford Mustang.

A staple of American sports car racing for two decades, Hand competes in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship after being a regular in its predecessors Rolex Sports Car Series and American Le Mans Series; he won the latter’s GT class championship in 2011. He was a longtime member of Chip Ganassi Racing and became a Ford Performance factory driver in 2015, during which he scored his first of six WTSCC wins before finishing fourth in the Prototype standings. Two years later, now in the GT division with CGR, Hand won the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona GTLM class.

From 2016 to 2019, Hand contested the 24 Hours of Le Mans with CGR and Ford; he previously made his début in the endurance race in 2011 for BMW. The combination, joined by Sébastien Bourdais and Dirk Müller, enjoyed great success in their first year when they scored the GTE Pro class win. The victory also came fifty years after Ford famously won the 1966 edition for the make’s maiden Le Mans triumph.

“We value everything that Joey contributed to our GT programme and have tried to keep him involved in our motorsports programme ever since as a coach for our NASCAR drivers and as a product ambassador for the Ford GT,” Ford Performance global director of motorsports Mark Rushbrook stated. “We view Joey as being one of the best road racers in the world and appreciate NASCAR working with us to get him approved for competition this weekend.  We’re confident he’s going to do a great job. He has great respect for the sport and the competitors in NASCAR.”

Hand’s racing experience also has the open-wheel ladder, which included winning the 1999 title in what is now the Indy Pro 2000 Championship, and DTM from 2012 to 2014. The former allowed him to connect with Mike Shank, who along with Heinricher Racing gave him a ride for the 2020 IMSA finale in the 12 Hours of Sebring, a race that he won in 2011 and 2012.

After the bitter disappointment of not winning the crazy Russian Grand Prix, Mclaren F1 Team’s Lando Norris is ready to go again at the Intercity Istanbul Park for this weekend’s Turkish Grand Prix.

After dominating the entire race, the majority of Formula 1 fans around the world felt heartbroken for Norris, after the British driver made the wrong tyre call in the closing stages during the sudden downpour to lose not only the win but a guaranteed podium. Understandably Norris was visibly emotional after the race but is now feeling much better, having spent time in the simulator going over what went wrong in Sochi.

This could prove to be crucial for Norris with the weather looking uncertain again this weekend, yet another wet grand prix could be upon us. Norris is ready to get back on track and is excited to be heading back to Turkey.

“I’m looking forward to getting back to the track after a disappointing end to the last grand prix. Since then I’ve been spending a lot of time in the simulator, learning from the experience in Russia, and I’m ready to go again. 

“The Turkish circuit is a real driver’s track and I’m glad we’re heading back there again after an exciting race last year. The fans out there are really passionate too, so it’ll be great to see them all again. As always, we’ll be working hard to keep up the fight in both Championships. We know how important every race between now and the end of the season is, so we’ll be pushing hard to score as many points as possible.” 

After a week off, the FIA Formula One World Championship returns this weekend with the Turkish Grand Prix at the Intercity Istanbul Park, where one of the most dramatic races of 2020 unfolded with rain playing a massive factor, something which looks a real possibility this weekend.

Formula 1 should be in Singapore this weekend, however with the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic the Singapore Grand Prix was replaced with a trip to Turkey. Pirelli have brought softer tyres to the circuit this weekend than they did last year. In 2020 the tyre manufacturer brought the hardest range of tyres whereas for this weekend they have gone one softer, bringing the C2, C3 and C4 tyres for the grand prix.

This is the second year in a row that Formula 1 will have raced in Turkey after a nine-year absence coming beforehand, therefore Pirelli and the teams have much better knowledge of the circuit going into the weekend. It is because of the knowledge gained last year as to the reason why Pirelli have brought softer tyres, after last seasons trip saw the circuit have low grip and average levels of abrasion, meaning for a very slippery surface.

Despite it’s slipperiness the surface which was re-asphalted just before last year’s race showed rapid evolution, it has also been jet-washed before this weekend meaning the drivers should have much more grip from the get-go, especially with the softer compounds at use.

Just like last season rain is forecast for periods over the weekend, which could impact any evolution of the circuit. This season’s race also comes a month earlier than last year, so the air and track temperature should benefit the teams and drivers more than the bitter cold they were welcomed with last season.

Mick Schumacher goes into this weekend’s Turkish Grand Prix at the Intercity Istanbul Park, on the back of his first retirement of the season last time out in Russia.

Astonishingly the German’s retirement at the Russian Grand Prix was in fact his first of the season, an incredible feat considering he is of course a rookie. Schumacher and the Uralkali Haas F1 Team don’t have time to dwell on the disappointment of their consecutive finishes run coming to an end, as neither Schumacher or Nikita Mazepin have ever raced at the Istanbul circuit.

So with this weekend being Schumacher’s first race at the circuit it will be a brand new experience for the rookie, who is unsure of how competitive the team will be.

“We have to prepare well with the team, obviously the team has raced there last year so we’ll get experience from them and analyze the data from last year, I can analyse videos to see and therefore prepare myself for the race weekend.

“We are not there yet so we don’t know what our competitiveness is going to be but definitely we’ll make sure we do our best and hopefully that will be enough to be close to the field and maybe fight them.”