Motorsports Racing News & Blog Articles

Otmar Szafnauer admits the result of the Russian Grand Prix was a disappointing one for the Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team, with Lance Stroll and Sebastian Vettel both missing out on points in eleventh and twelfth.

Stroll ran as high as fourth in the opening laps and was managing his tyres well, with the Canadian on course for points only for him to pit a lap too late when the rain began to fall in the final half dozen laps that ultimately cost him his place inside the top ten.

Team-mate Vettel also pitted too late for the intermediate tyres and fell to twelfth at the chequered flag, with the two drivers also finding time to collide.  Stroll also tangled with Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda’s Pierre Gasly, which earned him a ten-second time penalty, although it did not affect his finishing position.

Szafnauer, the CEO & Team Principal at Aston Martin, says luck deserted the team during the closing stages at the Sochi Autodrom, which meant they left Russia pointless.

“Lance made a fantastic start to move up to fourth place on lap one, and he held that position comfortably on the Medium tyres until we brought him in for Hards on lap 12 – the first tyre stop of the race,” said Szafnauer.  

Sebastian Vettel said the late race rain at the Sochi Autodrom caught out the Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team as they missed out on points despite being in contention for them all day long.

Vettel gambled on staying on track in a bid to gain position, but the rain worsened with three laps remaining, meaning the gamble did not pay off and he fell out of the top ten. 

He also survived a late-race clash with team-mate Lance Stroll as the two found themselves fighting over the same part of the track, but Vettel was disappointed to leave Russia with a twelfth place result.

“In the early part of the race it was not easy to make much progress in the train of cars, but when the rain came in the final few laps the race became a lottery,” said Vettel.  “It felt like a 50/50 call as to whether we should pit for Intermediate tyres.

“It felt like the rain would stay light, so we stayed out, but then it became much heavier and caught us out. So we had to pit in the end and fit Intermediates, which dropped us down the order. When you have rain late in the race it can give you a big opportunity, but it did not go our way today.

Oliver Bennett arrived ready and prepared for Nitro Rallycross, well all besides his car. This was the start of his issues for the weekend but the driver remained in good spirits.

Stating in a press release, the Brit was ecstatic at the prospect of this championship, “To be here in this championship now is fantastic. The tracks really are crazy, the action is off-the-charts and the whole thing is chaos.”

With a history of riding motocross, Bennett knows his way around a dirt track. He took to the track with familiarity as he reminisced on his motocross days where tracks were similar to NRX layouts.

“The tracks here in America are much more like the tracks I started my career on motocross on. They have a much heavier bias towards the loose surface, the gravel, and the dirt. And they have such insane jumps.”

After he familiarized himself with the track the driver got stuck into the racing. After winning his first heat race against Kevin Eriksson, he was pitted against Fraser McConnell and that is where it all start to go downhill for the Brit. Bennett sustained damage and had to retire, ending his first day at NRX.

A duo of NASCAR Xfinity Series regulars named Justin will be in Cup Series rides for Sunday’s race at Talladega Superspeedway. On Monday, Kaulig Racing announced Haley will drive the #16 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE in the event while Spire Motorsports has recalled Justin Allgaier to pilot the #77 Camaro. It will be Allgaier’s second start for the team.

Haley already drives for Kaulig at the Xfinity level while the team’s Cup car is often piloted by Kaz Grala at the superspeedways. Grala, who finished sixth at Talladega in the spring, broke his foot in a crash in the Daytona summer race. With him rendered unavailable, the team turns to a driver who has enjoyed substantial success at such tracks as all four of his Xfinity race wins have come at either Talladega or Daytona; his lone Cup victory in 2019 was also at Daytona. The 22-year-old is currently sixth in points with one win at Daytona, six top fives, and nineteen top tens.

In a way, Haley driving Kaulig’s Cup car on Sunday will also be a dress rehearsal for 2022 as he and the team will move up to the top level full-time next year. Kaulig will also field a second multi-driver Cup car for names like team-mate and Xfinity regular season champion A.J. Allmendinger. With Allmendinger, Kaulig visited Cup Victory Lane for the first time at the Indianapolis Road Course in August. Haley last drove the Kaulig #16 in the team’s Cup début at the 2020 Daytona 500, where he finished thirteenth.

Haley posted on Twitter, “This will be an awesome opportunity to get a head start on next year! Thankful to have a team owner like @MattKaulig (Matt Kaulig)!”

In June, Allgaier filled in for Haley in the Spire #77 at Pocono after the latter was too banged up in a wreck in the Xfinity race earlier in the day; he finished twenty-fifth. After racing full-time in the Cup Series from 2014 to 2015 for HScott Motorsports, he has made three starts in the series since as a substitute driver, which included piloting the famed Hendrick Motorsports #48 at Indianapolis last year after Jimmie Johnson tested positive for COVID-19. The other interim duty came in 2016 when he replaced current JR Motorsports team-mate Michael Annett in HScott’s #46 while Annett was out with illness.

George Russell produced another brilliant Sunday performance at the Russian Grand Prix, claiming a further point for his and Williams Racing’s tallies after tenth place finish at the Sochi Autodrom. Nicholas Latifi retired in the closing stages.

Russell who started third did brilliantly to maintain the position for the opening phase of the race, the British driver dropped down the field however after being forced into an early pit-stop by fourth place runner Lance Stroll. Russell had to pit to cover the undercut, something which he failed to do due to the supreme power of the undercut at the Russian venue.

Russell then sat outside the points for the majority of the race, until the heavens opened. Williams timed Russell’s switch to Intermediates perfectly, managing to overtake those who risked an extra couple laps on the dry tyres. By the end of the chaotic finish Russell found himself crossing the line in tenth.

Latifi on the other hand had a frustrating race after starting towards the back due to an engine penalty, the Canadian struggled to make any progress and then when the rain came he span round and slid into the barrier. This broke his rear wing leading to a safe call by the team to retire the car. A disappointing end to Latifi’s weekend.

Head of Vehicle Performance Dave Robson is incredibly proud of the hard work demonstrated by the time after another points finish.

George Russell added yet another point to his and Williams Racing’s tallies for the season, after a brilliant tenth place finish at the crazy Russian Grand Prix. Team-mate Nicholas Latifi retired in the closing stages at the Sochi Autodrom.

Russell held his own brilliantly all race, the British driver maintained his third position starting spot for the opening phase of the race, before being forced to pit by Lance Stroll. Stroll who sat in fourth behind Russell, made an early pit-stop on Lap 12, forcing Russell into the pits on the following lap to prevent being undercut. Unfortunately for Russell the Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team driver found his way past.

This dropped Russell outside the points, where he remained until the closing laps. When the sudden and heavy rain fell in the last handful of laps, Russell was one of the first to pit for Intermediates. This meant he had superior grip compared to those who made the switch too late. By the end of the race Russell found himself crossing the line in tenth, adding yet another point to his increasing tally.

Russell believes himself and the team had a strong race and is proud to have raced against the front-running cars.

“I thought we had a really strong race today. We held our own and made no silly mistakes and that was our Grand Prix throughout. We held third for the first 12 laps and it was quite fun fighting for this position, trying to keep cars like the McLaren, the Mercedes’, and the Aston Martin behind and we have to be proud of this.

Meyer Shank Racing are forming an Indianapolis 500-winning super team for 2022, as two-time Indy 500 winner and 2016 IndyCar Series champion Simon Pagenaud joins the team to pilot the number 60 car in place of the departing Jack Harvey.

The Frenchman joins the team after seven seasons with Team Penske, marking the first season in the team’s five-year history that they will run multiple cars for the full season. This meteoric rise was aided by Pagenaud’s not-so-new teammate Helio Castroneves, who won the 2021 Indianapolis 500.

“Next year will be a big year for MSR and I think we have a very strong lineup of drivers between Simon and Helio,” said Team Owner Mike Shank.

“We have built this program every year, growing with our partners and working to have all the ingredients we need to be competitive. Our Indianapolis 500 win was a big breakthrough, and we are looking forward to having a consistently competitive program that will have the chance to fight for wins and podiums no matter where we go and I think this lineup will help us do that.”

Castroneves and Pagenaud create one of the most experienced team lineups on the grid, with 61 pole positions, 40 wins and 121 podiums between them. The two also have great chemistry already, having spent five full seasons and six Indianapolis 500s as teammates at Penske from 2015 to 2020.

Frédéric Vasseur was pleased to see his Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN team score four points during Sunday’s Russian Grand Prix, only the fourth top ten finish for the outfit in 2021.

Kimi Räikkönen scored the teams’ best finish of the year to date with an eighth-place finish at the Sochi Autodrom to bring Alfa Romeo’s points tally for the season to seven.  They remain ninth in the Constructors’ Championship with seven races remaining.

Vasseur, the Team Principal of the Hinwal-based squad, felt the team brought Räikkönen into the pits at the right time when the rain began to fall towards the end of the race, and it brought the veteran Finn into the points-paying positions.

However, he was disappointed that Antonio Giovinazzi was unable to take home a top ten finish in the second C41-Ferrari, with the Italian struggling throughout the race without having use of his radio.

“The race ended up being very exciting and we head home with a good haul of points,” said Vasseur.  “Despite a difficult Saturday, we entered the race with some quiet optimism as we knew we would be in a position to fight.

Kimi Räikkönen ended Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN’s points drought in Sunday’s Russian Grand Prix, with the veteran Finn claiming eighth place after choosing the right time to change to the intermediate tyres.

Räikkönen, who missed the Dutch and Italian Grand Prix weekends after a positive COVID-19 test, ran inside the top ten in the early laps but appeared to be heading for another pointless day at the Sochi Autodrom, only for the rain to come late in the day to jumble up the order.

The 2007 Formula 1 World Champion fought hard all day, staying in touch with those inside the points, and he was rewarded for his persistence with an eighth-place finish, although he lost seventh on the final lap to the recovering Lando Norris.  It was only the fourth time in 2021 that Alfa Romeo have scored points.

“It was a good result we fought hard for,” said Räikkönen.  “We could keep up with our rivals in the dry but passing them was not easy, especially in the DRS trains.

“In the end, we made the right call on the tyres: I thought it was getting too wet and we chose to box, which really helped us in the end. We did the best we could and we have some points to show for it.”

Marcin Budkowski felt it was a ‘bittersweet’ Sunday for the Alpine F1 Team in the Russian Grand Prix after Fernando Alonso took a top six finish but was denied a potential podium by a late-race rain shower.

Alonso was battling Red Bull Racing’s Sergio Pérez for the final step of the podium, but a decision to pit three laps from the end for the intermediate tyre saw him fall away from the fight for the top three as the likes of Max Verstappen, Carlos Sainz Jr., Daniel Ricciardo and Valtteri Bottas all stopped the lap before and gained a significant amount of time in the process.

Both Alonso and team-mate Esteban Ocon lost positions as a result of their delayed pit stops (both drivers stopped on lap fifty of fifty-three), but with neither Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda nor the Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team scoring points, Budkowski said it was still a relatively good day for the Enstone-based outfit despite the missed podium opportunity.

“A bittersweet feeling today; we took home eight points, but we missed an opportunity to finish on the podium,” said Budkowski, the Executive Director at Alpine.  “We decided to start the cars on different strategies, with Fernando starting on Hard tyres with the objective of stopping later in the race and potentially benefit from safety cars or any rain coming.

“Both drivers had a good first stint, with Esteban stopping earlier on the Mediums. Unfortunately, he ran out of grip in the later stages of the race on the Hard tyres. Fernando managed his tyres well and had very good pace right until the rain started to fall.

Fernando Alonso felt his performance during the Russian Grand Prix merited a podium, but the Spaniard was forced to settle for sixth after pitting a lap later than other drivers for intermediate tyres, a decision that gave his rivals the advantage.

The Alpine F1 Team driver was battling Red Bull Racing’s Sergio Pérez for the final step on the podium when the rain began to fall in the closing stages at the Sochi Autodrom, and he headed to the pits with three laps remaining to switch to the intermediate compound.

However, the likes of Max Verstappen, Carlos Sainz Jr., Daniel Ricciardo and Valtteri Bottas all benefitted from pitting the lap before, with the time lost by Alonso in driving around the damp-to-wet track on slick tyres costing him the chance of a first Alpine podium finish.

“We finished sixth, but I think third place is more of a true reflection of our finishing position today,” reckoned Alonso.  “It all came down to luck in the end with the rain coming so late on.

“It was like a flip of a coin. Some cars stopped one lap earlier and I was in third position when it really started to rain. It was impossible to predict. Nevertheless, sixth is a good result for us and we deserved it.

Michael Belov took his second victory of the 2021 Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine season in a processional race around the Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia, while Grégoire Saucy moved closer to securing the title with another podium finish.

G4 Racing’s Belov, who start from pole position, held onto the lead at the start having taken top spot in Qualifying on Sunday morning, and despite being shadowed for much of the race by race one winner Franco Colapinto, he went on to take the win.

Colapinto withstood a first lap attack from Saucy to maintain second, with the MP Motorsport driver able to stay with Belov up front whilst easily keeping the ART Grand Prix driver behind him.

Saucy’s third place, coupled with a sixth place for closest rival Hadrien David, puts the Swiss racer seventy-eight points clear at the top of the championship standings with only one hundred points left on the table.  He only requires twenty-two points across the final four races to clinch the title.

Isack Hadjar took fourth for R-ace GP, while a fast start from seventh gave Saturday podium finisher David Vidales fifth for Prema Powerteam, ahead of David and his R-ace GP team-mate Zane Maloney. 

Andreas Seidl admits the result of the Russian Grand Prix was disappointing for the McLaren F1 Team, even though they scored solid points with both Daniel Ricciardo and Lando Norris in fourth and seventh place respectively.

After being victorious in the Italian Grand Prix two weeks earlier, McLaren looked for much of the afternoon at the Sochi Autodrom that they would take a second consecutive win, with Norris leading comfortably at the front after dispatching early leader Carlos Sainz Jr.

However, with Norris in control and withstanding every threat from behind, the weather added the curveball that saw the Briton gamble on staying out on slicks, a gamble that failed to pay off as the weather worsened and he fell down the order, ultimately finishing seventh.

Ricciardo pitted earlier and was able to take a fourth place, but Seidl, the Team Principal at McLaren, admits analysis of the race and the decisions the team made towards the end in a bid to prevent any repeat of the outcome in Russia.

“We are, of course, disappointed with finishing P4 and P7 in the Russian Grand Prix today, given the positions we were in three laps from the end of the race,” said Seidl.  “On the positive side, both Lando, Daniel and the whole team put in strong performances all weekend, which is highly encouraging going into the last third of the season.

The result of the 2021 Russian Grand Prix will have Lando Norris down as finishing seventh, but this will show the true reflection of a race that saw him on the verge of a maiden Formula 1 victory onto to be denied in the closing laps by the weather.

For much of the race at the Sochi Autodrom on Sunday, the McLaren F1 Team driver was leading, and at one point had more than a ten-second advantage over eventual winner Lewis Hamilton.

The race unravelled with just half a dozen laps to go when rain began to fall at the circuit, and whereas Hamilton headed to the pit lane to switch to the intermediate tyre, Norris gambled on completing one more lap to try and get an advantage.

However, on that lap, the rain began to fall heavier, and rather than gain an advantage, it was a test just to get back to the pit lane.  He lost the lead by going off track at turn five before crawling to the pits for intermediate tyres.  He was able to pass Kimi Räikkönen for seventh but that was all he could manage on a day where he had the race in his pocket.

“It wasn’t the race or the result we wanted in the end,” said Norris.  “I made a good start and we had a good first stint.

Eight-time North American co-driver champion Craig Drew will be pairing up with Oliver Solberg for Rally Finland on 1-3 October as Aaron Johnston and Solberg agreed to go separate ways.

Last week saw a huge change in the driver pairings in the FIA World Rally Championship as there were many announcements of co-driver changes happening, the experienced co-driver Drew, was co-driver for the most successful driver in USA, David Higgins between 2011 and 2019 in the American Rally Association championship for Subaru Motorsports USA.

Solberg and Drew will be entering the WRC2 class in a Hyundai Motorsport backed Hyundai i20 N and so far this partnership seems to be only for Rally Finland. It will be the first time for both in Rally Finland, Solberg previously made his WRC debut during the winter round of Arctic Rally Finland earlier this season.

“Craig is a good guy, a former team-mate and somebody I know well. I’m looking forward to working with him.” Solberg said.

“It’s a tough event to jump into a new car and with a new driver but, having worked as team-mate to Oliver in 2019, it won’t take us long to gel,” Drew added.