Motorsports Racing News & Blog Articles

Lewis Hamilton finished in first position at the British Grand Prix at the tenth race of the 2021 FIA Formula 1 World Championship.

Max Verstappen was in second position, just 0.075 seconds slower. Valtteri Bottas was in third position a further 0.119 seconds behind the Dutchman.

In the new format, the qualifying session took place on Friday instead of the traditional session on Saturday. The qualification results set the grid for the Sprint race which will take place on Saturday.

The finishing positions in that race will determine the pole position and the grid positions for the race on Sunday. The top three drivers in the Sprint race will be awarded points.

The qualifying session took place at the Silverstone circuit under cool conditions with air temperatures at 25 degree C and track temperatures at 40 degree C. The three compounds for this race are from the hardest range of the Pirelli tyres – the white-striped hard tyres (C1), the yellow-striped medium tyres (C2) and the red-striped soft tyres (C3).

Pole position at Silverstone went the way of Oscar Piastri who closed the gap on FIA Formula 2 championship leader Guanyu Zhou to just one point.

The PREMA driver set his pole time on his first run and even though he couldn’t improve, no one was able to get close after his teammate Robert Shwartzman spun at Stowe on his last attempt.

Second fastest was the best Zhou could do although he set that time while Shwartzman was stationary as did Richard Verschoor in third which puts both their laps in question.

Dan Ticktum was quickest in practice but he could transfer the speed onto the medium tyres so he had to settle for fourth where he can look forward with strong race pace.

Théo Pourchaire didn’t set a lap in practice after hitting the wall at Luffield but he rebounded tremendously to qualify fifth, while managing his fractured arm suffered in Baku last time out.

The new Hyundai i20 Rally2 was susposed to be making it´s debut in Rally Estonia, but the debut of the new car has been postponed and now it will instead be the subsequent Ypres Rally that gets to see the brand new Rally2 car.

The drivers who will be driving it at the debut was not presented to Hyundai Motorsport’s WRC2 team, but Oliver Solberg and Jari Huttunen are expected to be the drivers according to some rumours.

At the same time, Hyundai Motorsport presented a new talent project together with the FIA, the project named FIA ​​Rally Champions World Tour is a concept that will last for at least three years.

Already from this year´s season, winners of the regional FIA rally championships will be offered a WRC round together with Hyundai Motorsport in the new Hyundai i20 Rally2 next season. This year´s winners from the African Rally Championship, Asia-Pacific Rally Championship, Codasur Rally Championship, Middle East Rally Championship and NACAM Rally Championship will each be guided during the 2022 season.

The project together with the FIA ​​is to help more drivers to take the step in to the WRC and give them the chance to be seen and tested in the series in its further development.

After the success of the Remote Broadcast Operations Project which was introduced by Formula 1 in 2020 – which reduced the amount of technical cargo and the number of personnel which needed to be taken to races. By delivering this, F1 has got one step closer to achieving its 2030 Net Zero Carbon ambition goal.

The broadcast has been given albert certification who have been awarded by BAFTA for the environmental impact of their broadcasting and being a founding member of the albert Sports consortium shows F1’s commitment to working with its partners to help reduce the emissions created by Grand Prix’s.

The changes that will be made for the Formula 1 Pirelli British Grand Prix are as follows : Replacing the fuel in the TV Compound Generators with HVO fuel, switching up to 70% of the car fleet to hybrid vehicles, zero-emission vehicles will be introduced for circuit operations, offering higher supply of vegan and vegetarian meals, the Remote Broadcast facility in Biggin Hill will be run on a renewable mains energy supply, all the remaining CO2 emissions will be offset through the official partner of the albert scheme and finally a ‘Switch it Off!’ campaign will be run which will promote reduced energy consumptions across all of the Facilities being run.

Formula 1 plans to use the lessons they will learn from Silverstone and use these in other Grand Prix’s throughout this season and the season’s to come which will continue to reduce the emissions of the sport,

Robert Dalla – Managing Director – Media and Technology Centre at Formula 1 is very pleased that the TV productions of the British Grand Prix has been awarded albert certification and should be recognised by all as a sustainable broadcast which is yet another step on the long journey to becoming Net-Zero Carbon.

For the first time since 2019, fans were back at Silverstone for some action at the British Grand Prix.  The first practice session of the weekend brought the fans out in their thousands, and it was great to see the full grandstands once again.

The session was a quiet one, with next to no incidents happing on track meaning there was flat out action for an hour. 

It was Max Verstappen who came out on top, spoiling Lewis Hamilton’s home coming party. Not only was Verstappen the fastest but he beat second placed Lando Norris’ time by over seven-tenths of a second. The young Brit has had a tough week, after being mugged at the Euro’s 2020 final, so sitting in second will surely give him a boost. 

Hamilton was the third fastest with his Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team teammate Valtteri Bottas down in fifth. 

Scuderia Ferrari’s fast form continued with both drivers in the top six. Charles Leclerc was the one of top, coming fourth fastest. Carlos Sainz Jr. spun coming out of Farm Curve; that didn’t dampen his session, coming sixth overall. 

Six weeks after their last round, FIA Formula 2 got back on track at Silverstone as Dan Ticktum led the way in practice at his home grand prix.

The Brit, who claimed his third podium of the year in Baku last time out, was a comfortable two tenths clear of the field in his Carlin as he started the weekend in the perfect fashion under Northamptonshire sunshine.

He had to wait to set his fastest lap after two red flags halted the early running. Théo Pourchaire was the first to exit the session as he spun into the barriers at Luffield. The Frenchman is racing for the first time since fracturing his arm in Azerbaijan. Alessio Deledda also brought out the red flag after spinning and stalling at Club.

Oscar Piastri sits just five points behind championship leader Guanyu Zhou so he could reduce the gap to just one point with pole later today, he was second fastest ahead of the star of Baku, Juri Vips who won twice on the Caspian sea shore.

Richard Verschoor was the surprise name among the fastest in fourth for MP Motorsport while Ticktum’s teammate Jehan Daruvala completed the top five.

From the start of September, Mark White will become the brand new Operations Director at the Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team.

White has over twenty five years experience behind him having started at Honda in 1994. Whilst working for the Japanese manufacturer White took on various managerial roles including leading Synchro Motorsport, the Honda race team based out of their UK manufacturing sites.

White will take full responsibility of Production Control, Quality Assurance and Manufacturing. White will report to Bob Halliwell, who has been promoted to Chief Operating Officer.

Aston Martin CEO and Team Principal Otmar Szafnauer, is extremely pleased with White’s arrival.

“Mark White’s arrival at Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One™ Team will be a key appointment and add valuable expertise to our factory operations. Mark’s experience of the automotive world will be especially relevant as the cost cap comes into force with greater emphasis on containing manufacturing expenses. 

In the build up to this weekend’s British Grand Prix at Silverstone, the world was introduced to what the next generation of Formula 1 car will look like, as a full scale 2022 F1 car was presented to the media.

The part we already new about was the brand new for 2022, 18-inch Pirelli tyres where the rims diameter alone is five inches bigger than it currently is and has been since the 1960’s.

The brand new Pirelli tyres for 2022 have the same tread width as currently used but with an overall slightly bigger diameter, growing from 660 millimetres to 720 millimetres. The most dramatic change to the tyres for 2022 is a reduction in the sidewall, the sidewall now resembles the low-profile Pirelli tyres seen on some of the world’s leading performance road cars.

The tyres new profile will see the cars behaving differently in 2022, the P Zero F1 tyre will change direction more precisely than ever before. During testing of the new tyre, feedback has been very positive from the drivers. The 2022 cars will be less sensitive to aerodynamic turbulence, hopefully meaning that from next season onwards drivers will be able to sit much closer behind one another.

The tyre compounds for next season will also be completely new, however as normal there will be a range of five different compounds, with three being chosen for each grand prix. From 2022, Pirelli will officially be the only tyre manufacturer in Formula 1 which has manufactured all the wheel sizes seen in the championship, since the sport began. An incredible feat for the manufacturer, as the excitement for 2022 continues to grow.

Williams Racing go into their home grand prix on the back of coming agonisingly close to George Russell getting his first points for the team, after he made it to final qualifying for the first ever time with the team.

In front of 140,000 British fans on Sunday, Williams will be hoping that their home grand prix will see their points drought come to an end, especially with the new weekend format possibly giving the team an open oppurtuniy.

For the first time ever in Formula 1 qualifying will take place on Friday evening, with the result determining the grid for a sprint race on Saturday which in itself will decide the grid for the traditional Sunday race.

Head of Vehicle Performance Dave Robson is really looking forward to the weekend and is hoping to be battling with the midfield teams yet again.

“The event at Silverstone is always a highlight of the Formula One season, as well as an iconic event of the British summer. This year, the event is notable for the experimental format which will see traditional Qualifying take place on Friday evening and then a Sprint Qualifying session on Saturday afternoon, before the main Grand Prix on Sunday. For us, this represents quite a change in how we approach, plan and execute the event.

George Russell goes into his home race this weekend at Silverstone, on the back of possibly his greatest performance yet for Williams Racing at the Austrian Grand Prix.

After making it to final qualifying for the first time with Williams, Russell narrowly missed out on the illustrious points finish he is so desperate to get with the British team. Russell will be going into the British Grand Prix full of confidence and belief, that his first points finish with the team is just around the corner.

The British driver is excited for the weekend ahead and is expecting the full capacity crowd to make an electric atmosphere.

“I am really excited for my home race and to have all the British fans back will be an incredible experience. It will be a challenge with the new format this weekend, so we are going to have to be on our toes to make the most of it. All in all, the British Grand Prix at Silverstone is always a great weekend; it has the best crowds of the year, the fans are incredibly passionate, and the circuit offers great racing. There’s nothing quite like it.”

“I am super excited for Silverstone” – Nicholas Latifi

After the Canadian Grand Prix got cancelled, Nicholas Latifi is treating this weekend as his home race, with the British Grand Prix of course being Williams’ home race.

Thursday morning brought big news for Ford allies Team Penske and Wood Brothers Racing as the former announced NASCAR Xfinity Series driver Austin Cindric will replace Brad Keselowski in the #2 Ford Mustang for the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season. Cindric was initially planned to take over WBR’s #21 in 2022, which will now be filled by Harrison Burton who moves over from Joe Gibbs Racing and consequently leaves Matt DiBenedetto out of a ride.

Keselowski departs Penske after twelve years in the organisation, during which he won the 2010 Xfinity and 2012 Cup titles. While he has not formally announced his 2022 plans, plans to become a co-owner of Roush Fenway Racing are all but confirmed; he previously ran the Camping World Truck Series team Brad Keselowski Racing, whom Cindric drove for in 2017 before moving up to the Xfinity Series.

“Getting to drive for Mr. Roger Penske in the No. 2 has been a tremendous opportunity, and I am so proud of the success we’ve had together,” read a written statement from Keselowski. “His guidance has helped me both be a better competitor, but even more so, a better man.”When I first walked through the doors at Team Penske, the team had 65 Cup Series wins and was on the hunt for their first NASCAR Championship. Over our years together we developed into a formidable force. Today, the team has more than 130 Cup Series wins, two XFINITY Championships and two Cup Series Championships. I am so proud to have played a role in these wins and milestones.

“Looking to the future, I wish Austin and the team all the best in this next chapter. I extend my sincerest gratitude to the entire 2 crew for their commitment and work over these past 12+ years. I know they will continue to do great things together with Austin at the wheel.

“Making the decision to part ways with Team Penske to embrace a new opportunity and challenge was a difficult one, and one I did not take lightly. I know that I am leaving in a good place though, and I am both excited and eager to share the details of what’s next for me soon.

Roman Bilinski brought home a solid points haul from his debut weekend in the BRDC British Formula 3 Championship at Donington Park (10/11 July).

After being expected to replace Alex Connor at Arden Motorsport, the Polish driver was eventually drafted in to replace Frederick Lubin, who was ruled out of testing and the race weekend on medical advice.

Having driven for Arden in the British F4 Championship last season, he made the switch to Carlin over the off-season.

But he returned to the Banbury squad for their trip to the Leicestershire circuit for the third race weekend of the F3 season, after taking seventh- and fifth-place finishes at Brands Hatch last time out in F4.

He immediately impressed, going third, eighth, fifth and second in the four testing sessions on Thursday, before adding second- and third-fastest times on Friday.

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series owner/driver Dawson Cram announced Wednesday that he will move up to the Xfinity Series for Saturday’s Ambetter Get Vaccinated 200 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. He will drive the #74 Chevrolet Camaro of Mike Harmon Racing.

The 19-year-old Cram has raced for his family-run Cram Racing Enterprises since the second half of the 2020 Truck season. Cram has raced in the series since 2018 with a highest run of fourteenth at Michigan in 2020 for Long Motorsports, the assets of which were purchased to form CRE. In 2021, he is running much of the Truck schedule in the #41 but has occasionally allowed others like Cody Erickson and Todd Peck to make starts. After twelve of fourteen races, the #41 is thirty-third in owner points with a best finish of seventeenth by Cram at the Daytona Road Course in February.

The #74 has primarily been driven by Bayley Currey in 2021, though he stepped out of the seat at Pocono for Jesse Iwuji. The car is currently thirty-eighth in the Xfinity owner standings with Currey scoring a seventh at Phoenix for the team’s second top ten in its history. Kyle Weatherman, who drives the partner #47, holds the other top ten of eighth at Kentucky in 2020.

“Extremely honored and excited to announce I will be making my @NASCAR_Xfinity debut this weekend at @NHMS,” tweeted Cram, “thank you so much @mhrracing and @BayleyCurrey blessed to be able to live my dream!”

The #74 was set to start thirty-fifth in the race, though Cram will likely be sent to the rear for a driver change as Currey is listed on the entry list.

Kyle Larson‘s dominant début season with Hendrick Motorsports has rewarded him with a contract extension. On Wednesday, the team announced Larson has signed a deal that will keep in the organisation through the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season. His contract had previously been set to expire after 2022.

Since his return to NASCAR for the 2021 season, Larson has been on a tear as a first-year Hendrick driver. After twenty-one races, he has a series-high four wins while his eleven top fives and fourteen top tens are tied for the most; he is also second in points. From the Coca-Cola 600 on 30 May to the inaugural Ally 400 on 20 June, he won four straight events with three points rounds and the exhibition All-Star Race, and would have made it five in a row had his tyre not blown on the final lap at Pocono 1.

“It’s been a big year for Kyle,” team owner Rick Hendrick said. “His talent inside the race car has been on full display, and he’s doing amazing things through his foundation and with our partners. I’m proud of his hard work and look forward to having him on our team for many years to come.”

Hendrick Automotive Group‘s HendrickCars.com brand will continue sponsoring his #5 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for the next two seasons, which includes supporting his non-NASCAR exploits such as dirt track racing. When he was suspended by NASCAR in the spring of 2020, he enjoyed a tremendously successful dirt season that included victories in sprint cars and late models.

HendrickCars will comprise the bulk of his sponsor schedule by appearing on the #5 for thirty-five of thirty-eight races in 2022. Valvoline will support him for the other three.

There is a high level of intrigue surrounding this years British Grand Prix with the debut of a brand new weekend format, which adds sprint races to the calendar which should promise for more overtaking which adds the potential for an even more exciting British Grand Prix Weekend than usual to the delight of the full capacity crowd at Silverstone.

Kimi Räikkönen is excited to try out the brand new format, but is wary to not be too quick to judge the format before the weekend has begun and the Fin will then make his mind up on the format after he has experienced it for himself.

“The new format will be interesting: I don’t feel we are in a position to judge it yet, let’s see what this weekend brings and then we can make our mind up about it with more knowledge.”

Räikkönen feels that it will be imperative to be competitive right from the off on the weekend to be in with a chance of scoring points in either or both of the races on the weekend.

“Most importantly, no matter how the weekend looks like, we need to make sure we’re competitive from the beginning: things start to matter on Friday and we need to be right in the battle for the top ten from the start if we want to be there at the end of the day on Sunday.”