Motorsports Racing News & Blog Articles

Mario Isola says Pirelli Motorsport’s medium and hard compound tyre worked extremely well during Sunday’s Russian Grand Prix, but the race was ultimately decided by the timing of the drivers’ final stop to switch to the intermediate compound when the rain came.

Rain during Qualifying meant all twenty drivers had a free choice of starting tyre on Sunday, and seven drivers opted to start on the hard tyre and thirteen on the medium compound.  Both tyres gave good longevity and performance, with a little bit of graining often coming and then going.

Fernando Alonso, Sergio Pérez and Antonio Giovinazzi all started on the hard compound and completed thirty-six laps before switching to the mediums, while Lando Norris got twenty-eight laps out of his starting set of medium tyres before pitting for the hard compound.

However, it was the decision of when to switch to the intermediate tyre when the rain began to fall that decided the race, with those who pitted slightly earlier getting the advantage on those who delayed their own stops for a lap or two more.

“After yesterday’s wet conditions, the rain held off until the final few laps – and it decided the race,” said Isola.  “Up until then, the drivers had made the most of dry conditions with maximum tyre freedom, as they could choose their starting tyres and they all had a full unused allocation of slicks.

Nikita Mazepin enjoyed his first Russian Grand Prix, with the Russian making a super start to move up to thirteenth before falling back as the faster runners found a way passed.

The Uralkali Haas F1 Team driver was embroiled in a good battle in the early laps with a number of drivers, but when he pitted and after a lock-up, he fell to the back of the pack, ultimately finishing eighteenth and last of those to see the chequered flag.

Mazepin enjoyed his time on the intermediate tyres at the end of the race, with the Haas driver one of the early stoppers for them.  However, such was the gap to his rivals, he was unable to benefit and gain any positions despite being on the correct tyre at the right moment.

“It was a long race – loads of things happening,” said Mazepin.  “I had a very good first opening lap and then did my best to hold the faster cars behind using the battery cleverly, which I think I did well.

“Then after we boxed, came out on hard tyres, I still tried to keep the cars behind and obviously one overtook me, and then I had a lock-up and unfortunately for us when the hard tyres lock-up, they don’t ever come back.

Claudio Balestri says Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda did not achieve any of their targets during Sunday’s Russian Grand Prix as both Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda ended pointless at the Sochi Autodrom.

With both drivers starting outside the top ten after a poor performance in Saturday’s Qualifying session, AlphaTauri were looking forward on Sunday, but the day did not start too well for either Gasly or Tsunoda as they lost positions on lap one.

The two drivers ran a different strategy, with Gasly starting on the hard tyres before switching to the mediums and Tsunoda vice versa, but the end of race rain put paid to AlphaTauri’s chances of points as the team opted to delay Gasly’s stop while switching Tsunoda to softs rather than intermediates as they believed the rain was not going to be as hard as it was.

Balestri, the Chief Engineer of Vehicle Performance at AlphaTauri, says the team will now go away and analyse just what went wrong in Russia to prevent a repeat should the same scenario play out again in the future.

“Today the target was to score points and we didn’t,” said Balestri.  “In the first lap we immediately lost positions with both cars but for the rest of the race, when we were free of traffic, the pace of the car was quite good.

Pierre Gasly admitted it was a weekend to forget for Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda at the Sochi Autodrom after the Frenchman ended the Russian Grand Prix outside the points in thirteenth.

After getting the tactics wrong during Saturday’s Qualifying session in Russia, Gasly was hoping to make gains and score points on Sunday, but another tactical error not to pit early when the rain begun to fall late in the race cost him a shot at the top ten.

Gasly also found himself spun around by Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team’s Lance Stroll during the rain shower, but all in all it was not the weekend the Frenchman was after, and he is hoping and expecting a better weekend in Turkey in two weeks time.

“It’s not been a great weekend for us really, we missed a big opportunity yesterday in Qualifying and again today we made the wrong decision with the slicks, which unfortunately means we finished out of the points,” said Gasly.

“The pace was strong here and I think we had a good first stint, but we just didn’t utilise all the opportunities given to us this weekend, which is a real shame. We need to review everything from today and work out how we make the most out of these conditions in the future.

Liam Doran and Robin Larsson had one tricky weekend after coming short of the final. Each driver was prepared to be on pace but mistakes on the starting grid and a mid-race roll stopped them short in the LCQ.

“There’s no doubt, this first round has been a tough one. We knew with these tracks and these jumps that it was going to be extreme with some challenging racing and that’s what we’ve got. But, you know, that’s what we came for. That’s what we want”, Doran stated after the event.

After struggles in the bracket heats the drivers found themselves in the highly entertaining LCQ race. With a bad launch from Liam, it dropped him further on the grid than anticipated. Doran later caught a puncture that sent him into the wall retiring the car and red flagging the session.

“I had some issues getting the car off the line and we need to work on that; if you can’t make a clean start and see where you’re going once you’ve got off the line, you’re going to find it hard to win a race.”

Meanwhile, Larsson got away decent but the track state had worn so much that it caused him massive issues. Namely, he rolled the car coming out of the gap jump into the berm but the swede couldn’t be stopped as he got the car on all fours and continued to drive until the session was stopped.

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.