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Robert Shwartzman feels Formula 1 teams would benefit from running young drivers during free practice sessions as the regulations surrounding the use of rookies change ahead of the 2022 season.

From next season, all Formula 1 teams will be required to run young drivers in free practice sessions, although the exact number of sessions has yet to be determined.

And the likes of Shwartzman, part of the Ferrari Driver Academy and a front runner in the FIA Formula 2 championship with Prema Racing, could be in line for a chance of getting some practice running in 2022, and the young Russian believes teams will see more potential in drivers once they see how they run in their cars.

“It is really nice that rookies can get the possibility [to drive an F1 car] because it is something special, and it might be interesting for the teams, because in my opinion a rookie or a new driver can give something new to the team and maybe some new information that they can use for the future,” Shwartzman is quoted as saying by Motorsport.com.

“I really hope that it is going to work well and that the F1 teams will appreciate that and likewise the drivers.  I hope it is going to be well managed from both sides, and maybe for some of the drivers the team might consider them as a potential F1 driver.”

The first round of the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series playoffs was dominated by Sheldon Creed, John Hunter Nemechek, and Chandler Smith. The second round, on the other hand, have forced them into an uphill battle after just one race as wrecks in Friday’s Victoria’s Voice 200 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway took out many playoff hopefuls. Christian Eckes and his ThorSport Racing team-mates were on the lucky side as they finished 1–2–3–4, with Eckes scoring his maiden Truck win.

Kyle Busch Motorsports team-mates Nemechek and Smith, who respectively finished third and first in the last race at Bristol, started on the front row. While Nemechek led every lap to win Stage #1, Todd Gilliland leapfrogged Smith for second. Ben Rhodes, Stewart Friesen, Zane Smith, Eckes, Creed, Austin Hill, and Tyler Ankrum rounded out the top ten. The lone incident of the opening stage came just five laps in when Chris Hacker spun and hit the wall; he subsequently tweeted, “Learned the definition of ‘dirty air’ tonight… sad to experience it but not much I could’ve done.”

Nemechek’s night began to sputter when engine problems caused him to fall off the pace. He eventually stopped on the track on lap 54 for the only race-related caution (the other was for debris on lap 41). Meanwhile, Gilliland dominated the stage to win ahead of Rhodes, Carson Hocevar, Friesen, Creed, Tanner Gray, Hill, Matt Crafton, Eckes, and Smith.

It was only five laps into Stage #3 before Creed and Smith found themselves as the next playoff victims: Ankrum spun and collected Smith; as Smith’s truck rolled onto the apron billowing smoke, Creed tried to speed through but could not avoid Smith and slammed into him, setting Creed’s truck ablaze. Hailie Deegan also spun into Ankrum, resulting in damage for the two.

“Tyler got loose up at the top. He got completely sideways,” said Smith. “Some tracks like this I’ve got experience with, they come back down the race track and take a good portion of the field with them. My spotter told me to go low. I should have listened to him. It’s completely my fault. I went high, I went with my gut, and bit the bullet for it. It is what it is.”

Mario Isola admits Friday’s running at the Sochi Autodrom was influenced by the weather forecast for Saturday, with teams eager to find out as much as they could from each of the three compounds of tyre.

Friday’s free practice sessions are expected to be the only ones held in dry conditions, with heavy rain forecasted for Saturday, which could disrupt both final practice and Qualifying.

Isola, the Head of F1 and Car Racing at Pirelli Motorsport, says all ten teams were eager to learn more about how the soft, medium and hard compounds work around Sochi as they look to find the best strategy options for Sunday’s race, which is expected to be held in dryer conditions than what is expected on Saturday.

Valtteri Bottas showed strong pace on each compound, with his best lap of 1:33.593 being set on the red-walled soft compound, but the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team driver also set the fastest time on the medium compound.  McLaren F1 Team’s Lando Norris was the quickest driver on the hard compound.

“Tomorrow’s expected weather influenced free practice today, with the drivers concentrating more on collecting plenty of data over all three compounds as well as setting a lap time just in case FP2 has an influence on the grid positions for the race, with a strong chance that tomorrow will see wet conditions all day,” said Isola.

Nikita Mazepin had the better day of the two Uralkali Haas F1 Team drivers on Friday, with the Russian enjoying the first day of running at the Sochi Autodrom.

Mazepin, racing in Formula 1 in his homeland for the first time, ended nineteenth fastest in both the morning and afternoon sessions in Russia, edging out team-mate Mick Schumacher in both as he continues to gain confidence behind the wheel of the VF-21.

The Russian was happy to complete his planned running on Friday under the Sochi sun, but he is expecting a much different day on Saturday, mainly due to the promise of heavy rain reaching the track that could disrupt the day.

“I love Sochi and I think Sochi loves me because when we arrived here yesterday, I looked at the weather and it was saying it wasn’t going to be very good, but there is nothing like Sochi sun,” said Mazepin. “Especially with that track, it’s fast and then it’s flowing, during the whole lap it’s very enjoyable to drive.

“I wasn’t quite sure what the car was going to feel like, given the balance can be different, but the balance was very similar to what it was like last year in Sochi and although we’re just missing overall downforce and lack pace, I think we’re close to extracting what we had to.

George Russell felt it was an ‘interesting’ opening day of the Russian Grand Prix weekend, although the Briton feels the pace of the car was not as strong as it could be.

The Williams Racing driver ended only seventeenth fastest in the morning session at the Sochi Autodrom but improved to thirteenth in the afternoon, with the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team-bound racer feeling confident behind the wheel of the FW43B.

“It was an interesting day today,” said Russell.  “The car was feeling good, but the pace wasn’t quite as good as the car was feeling. We will go away and analyse why that was overnight.

“That positive feeling definitely helped us on the high-fuel pace though, and hopefully that will benefit us if it is dry on Sunday.”

The weather looks as though it could take a turn for the worst on Saturday, and if any running is possible in Sochi, Russell feels the experience of the Belgian Grand Prix weekend will hopefully benefit Williams, even if the track is completely different.

Antonio Giovinazzi felt positive about his Friday at the Sochi Autodrom, even if the Italian ended his afternoon session without a rear wing after crashing into the barriers on the exit of turn eight.

The Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN driver, coming into the Russian Grand Prix weekend on the back of two excellent Qualifying displays in the Dutch and Italian Grand Prix, was thirteenth in the morning session on Friday, while his best time prior to his crash in the afternoon left him fourteenth.

Giovinazzi admitted he lost control of his C41-Ferrari after being caught out by the wind and some oversteer exiting turn eight, with the combination seeing him spin into the barriers and causing a lot of damage to the rear of the car.

“The sessions were going pretty well until the incident,” said Giovinazzi.  “FP1 wasn’t too bad and FP2 was an improvement, overall a good start of the weekend.

“The wind was rather strong, I got a bit of understeer outside the corner, touched the astroturf on the exit and lost the rear. Tomorrow is another day, we need to see what the weather is going to be like and continue our work.”

With NASCAR giving manufacturers the freedom to change their Camping World Truck Series bodies for the 2022 season, Toyota is the second to follow suit after Ford did so on Thursday. On Friday, Toyota unveiled the Toyota Tundra TRD Pro, a new truck model that replaces the standard Tundra which had been used since Toyota’s entry in 2004.

“The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series has always been extremely important to Toyota not only in our history, but our focus at our dealerships,” Toyota Motor North America motorsports group manager Paul Doleshal stated. “The launch of the new Tundra is a really exciting time for our entire organisation so to be able to reflect that new styling in our NASCAR Tundra with the TRD Pro design is a reflection of the importance of the series to all of us and allows us to continue ensuring our on-track production resembles its production counterparts that can be found in our Toyota showrooms.”

Toyota leads the manufacturer standings with race wins in all but five of the nineteen rounds so far, including Friday night’s event at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Six full-time teams currently use the Tundra with Kyle Busch Motorsports leading the way. ThorSport Racing, which won two driver’s titles with Toyota and Matt Crafton in 2013 and 2014, fields four trucks while Halmar Friesen Racing, Hattori Racing Enterprises, McAnally-Hilgemann Racing, and On Point Motorsports are single-truck teams. Reaume Brothers Racing has sporadically used Toyotas in addition to other makes, while Clay Greenfield Racing is a part-time operation.

“All of us at Kyle Busch Motorsports are proud to have carried the Toyota Tundra badging since we started this race team,” commented KBM owner Kyle Busch. “Toyota and TRD are always working with us to ensure we’re as competitive as possible on the race track, but also ensuring that the body styling of our Tundras matches what fans can buy in their dealerships. The new Tundra is really aggressive looking and it’s great to see that reflected in our NASCAR Tundras with the TRD Pro badging for the 2022 season.”

Shortly after Ford revealed its new F-150, NASCAR announced the three manufacturers—Chevrolet being the third—could modify their trucks’ noses and tails to better emulate their street versions. Such changes allow the trio to break away from the uniform lower fascia in favour of appearances that look more like the production F-150, Tundra, and Chevrolet Silverado. Chevrolet has yet to reveal the 2022 Silverado.

For the first time since the 2019 season finale at Gold Coast, Matt Brabham is not the Fastest Qualifier for a Stadium Super Trucks weekend. Instead, Robby Gordon led the thirteen-driver grid in Friday’s practice/qualifying session at the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, enabling him to end Brabham’s streak at five.

Gordon, a three-time winner at Long Beach, notched his third Fastest Qualifier at the street circuit with a best lap time of 1:44.521. He previously accomplished it in 2016 and 2018, both of which saw him score runner-up race finishes.

Jerett Brooks and Brabham were the only other drivers to finish with times faster than one minute, forty-five seconds at 1:44.833 and 1:44.929, respectively. Brabham has also won thrice at Long Beach while Brooks’ lone Long Beach start in 2014 saw him finish tenth. The top three times would have crushed the most recent Long Beach qualifying runs; in 2019 (the 2020 race was cancelled due to COVID-19), pole winner Sheldon Creed set a time of 1:45.072.

In fourth was Robert Stout, who is coming off his maiden SST win at Nashville ahead of Jacob Abel, who notched a runner-up in Stout’s winning race. Stout’s 1:45.334 placed him within a second of Gordon while Abel’s 1:46.940 lands him in the top five after qualifying ninth in his début a round prior.

Sixth- and seventh-fastest were a pair of Baja Jerky-sponsored drivers in SST newcomer Christian Sourapas and Max Gordon. Both set times in the 1:48 range.

Baja Jerky is dipping its feet into the world of Stadium Super Trucks competition as the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach looms. On Friday, the beef jerky brand announced it will sponsor Max Gordon‘s #77 truck for the weekend while Christian Sourapas, a Baja Jerky athlete, will make his series début in the #9 VP Racing Fuels truck with associate sponsorship from Baja.

Since his maiden start in the series at Road America in 2020, Gordon’s primary sponsor has typically been Continental Tire or SPEED RC Cars, the latter of which is operated by father and SST founder Robby Gordon. The younger Gordon’s colourful 2021 truck is one of the available remote-controlled vehicle available at SPEED RC Cars’ website.

“I remember stopping in Baja in the middle of the desert, Robby and Max walked up to me and Max asked if I had any of that Baja Jerky,” said Baja Jerky CEO Eric Brandt. “I just kept thinking I want to bring my son down here and create these experiences and memories like Robby and Max are.”

The youngest driver in the series at thirteen years of age, Gordon is still seeking his first career podium but came close in the most recent race at Nashville when he finished fourth. In the first seven races, he flipped between fifth- and seventh-place runs.

“I am super excited to be representing Baja Jerky this weekend in the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach,” commented Gordon. “I am stoked to have the opportunity to drive and compete with them on my side. I was fortunate enough to get a taste of Baja Jerky down in Baja and I love it.”

Colton Herta continued his momentum from his Laguna Seca victory over to the Streets of Long Beach, going fastest in the first practice session ahead of the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach. Championship leader Alex Palou led all of the title contenders, as he finished third.

Drivers found themselves testing the limits of the track throughout the session, but after a couple of taps with the wall, Oliver Askew brought out the first red flag of the day with 20 minutes remaining as he broke the rear tow link.

Another red flag came out just inside 10 minute remaining as Scott Dixon who went wide in turn one, locking up his left front. Dalton Kellett had a moment on the other end of the track with turn nine as a bump on the outside of the corner upset his car.

Cars got out with five minutes remaining to complete the final laps of their practice runs.

Simon Pagenaud too had an off moment in turn nine, but by the end of the session found himself as the top Team Penske car going second fastest. Palou looked comfortable finishing in third on his Long Beach debut, and Arrow McLaren SP showed pace with a car in fourth place, but it was that of Felix Rosenqvist.

Sebastian Vettel had an excellent first day at the Russian Grand Prix finishing the day in ninth place at the Sochi Autodrom, team-mate Lance Stroll ended the day in fifteenth.

Vettel had a very productive opening day in Sochi, the German was fifth at the end of the morning session, before ending the day in ninth. The four-time world champion completed a good number of laps and was happy with the balance of the car come the end of the day.

The Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team driver is very happy with his start to the weekend, Vettel is aware though that with rain forecast for qualifying the grid could be completely mixed up.

“It was a productive day of running: we covered a good number of laps and found a decent balance with the car. That is positive because it can be tricky to find the flow in Sochi, so I think we have a good starting point. But it looks like it will rain tomorrow.

“That could make for an interesting qualifying session and, because it will mix up the field, it could lead to some opportunities for us, especially with some other drivers taking grid penalties already this weekend. Sunday is looking drier, so today’s positive work is still important. We will make sure we are well prepared tonight and then see what tomorrow brings.”

Scuderia Ferrari had a moderately successful opening day at the Russian Grand Prix, with Carlos Sainz Jr ending the day in seventh and Charles Leclerc tenth but with a back of the grid start for Sunday’s race.

It was a positive opening day for Sainz, the Spaniard who ended both Free Practice One and Two in seventh at the Sochi Autodrom, looked to have good pace. Sainz ended the day happy, with the car well balanced and performing well at a track of Sochi’s nature. The Spaniard believes however that the team need to work on their long runs after complaining of graining on the front tyres, something which may be impossible to work on with heavy rain forecast for Saturday.

“A positive Friday for us in general, mainly coming from a decent balance right from the beginning and the car performing a bit better on this kind of track. There’s still a lot of work to do on the long run side as it looks like there’s some graining on the front tyres. Hopefully we can find a way to work around it for tomorrow, although we are expecting rain and things can change quickly. We’ll see.”

“My focus was on race simulation” – Charles Leclerc

Charles Leclerc had a busy opening day, the Monegasque driver will start Sunday’s race from the back of the grid after being fitted with an upgraded power unit, so ran many programmes across the first two Practice Sessions.

The Ferrari driver was fourth at the end of the First Practice Session, and then tenth in the afternoon with his prime focus being on race simulation. Unlike his team-mate, Leclerc didn’t have the same graining problem, as the Monegasque driver gathered as much data as possible to support his charge through the field come Sunday.

Championship leader Max Verstappen will start the Russian Grand Prix from the back of the grid, after Red Bull Racing decide to fit fourth power unit for the grand prix at the Sochi Autodrom.

Despite the Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team dominating the opening day in Sochi, all eyes were on Verstappen as the news broke that the team will make the expected engine change, resulting in an engine penalty meaning a back of the grid start for Sunday’s race.

With this in mind, Verstappen’s approach to the opening two Free Practice Sessions was different compared to a normal weekend. The Dutchman was third after the morning session but ended the day sixth after Free Practice Two. Verstappen focused solely on set-up and having the best possible race car for Sunday, with a lot of overtaking ahead of Verstappen come race day.

Verstappen believes that taking the penalty in Russia is the right decision, and that hopefully they can make something work on Sunday.

“We thought it would be best to take the engine penalty here in Russia, we took everything into account before making the decision and we of course considered the weather for tomorrow. We had to take the penalty at some point so if we didn’t take it here, we would have taken it somewhere else.

It was a strong start to the weekend for the Alpine F1 Team at the Russian Grand Prix, with Esteban Ocon ending the opening day in fifth and Fernando Alonso in eighth at the Sochi Autodrom.

Ocon made an excellent start to the Russian Grand Prix, a round the Frenchman always enjoys. He made excellent progress in the afternoon session to end the day in fifth place, building on his eleventh place finish in the morning Free Practice Session in Sochi.

Alpine were busy all day gathering as much dry-running data as possible, with Saturday looking like a potential washout. Ocon is very pleased with the progress made on the opening day and believes the team have a good idea on what they can do with their set-up.

“It’s good to be back in Sochi as it’s a track that I’ve always enjoyed racing at. It’s high grip, especially in comparison to Monza last time out. We have the Softest tyres on the range here, so that gives us some things to try and understand. It’s been a very busy day for us, busier than a usual Friday, with half an eye on the weather tomorrow and we aimed to be as productive as possible.

“Things could be interesting tomorrow, so optimising today was important. We completed quite a few runs – low fuel and high fuel – and we have a good idea on what we can do on car set-up. Let’s see what the rest of the weekend brings but so far, I’m pleased with our progress.”

Lando Norris had a fairly successful opening day at the Russian Grand Prix, whereas Mclaren F1 Team team-mate and Italian Grand Prix winner Daniel Ricciardo crashed back to earth with day to forget at the Sochi Autodrom.

It was a solid opening day in Sochi for Norris, the British driver found himself in fourth place come the end of Free Practice Two, four places higher than his eighth place in Free Practice One. By the end of the day Norris was half a second behind fastest man Valtteri Bottas but crucially ahead of both Scuderia Ferrari’s.

Despite the predominantly positive day, the morning did end in embarrassing style for Norris. The British driver managed to spin when entering the pit-lane at the end of the opening session, brushing the wall in the process. Thankfully no real damage was done to his Mclaren.

Norris doesn’t believe the team are as competitive as they were in Monza but is still confident that they have a good package to fight those around them.

“Today was a bit up and down – we struggled quite a bit in P1, but we made quite a few changes on the car for the second session which improved things. That progress has made me feel a bit more confident in the car this afternoon and given us a more positive feeling going into tomorrow.