Motorsports Racing News & Blog Articles

After the drama of the last few weeks, the title race between the young Belgian Max Verstappen and the experienced Lewis Hamilton has certainly heated up with both drivers and teams delivering blows to each other on Social Media, Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula 1 Team’s statement on the failed review from Red Bull Racing of Lewis Hamilton’s penalty from the British Grand Prix certainly added more heat to a title battle this season that could potentially be one for the ages.

However, once both drivers were back on track at a circuit in which Hamilton tends to go extremely well at – (even managing to take a win at the 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix in a McLaren which should not of been near the top step of the podium) it was Verstappen who dealt the first blow out on track finishing 0.061 seconds ahead of Valtteri Bottas and 0.167 seconds of title rival Hamilton who was down in third.

It was a practice session full of plenty of incidents, Fernando Alonso had a spin early on in the session, Mick Schumacher ran wide at the same sweeping left hander of Turn 4 and most dramatically, Yuki Tsunoda – who would’ve been hoping for a quiet weekend incidents wise after a tricky couple of Grand Prix weekends crashed which brought out the red flag.

Even though he was down in third place, the lap set by Lewis Hamilton was on a used pair of soft tyres, which suggests that this weekend could be another close one with the momentum in the title fight having potentially swung Lewis Hamilton’s way.

Perhaps the surprise of the session was Sergio Pérez who finished the session down in eighth, almost a second off team-mate Verstappen and the Mexican will no doubt be looking to find that performance after a tricky weekend at Silverstone.

Alex Smolyar was top of the times in Free Practice for ART Grand Prix as the FIA Formula 3 Championship visited the Hungaroring.

The Russian driver edged out Championship leader Dennis Hauger (PREMA Racing) by over a tenth ahead of Qualifying on Friday afternoon.

Logan Sargeant and Reshad de Gerus (both Charouz Racing System) were the first to set times, with Hitech GP‘s Jonny Edgar and Carlin Buzz Racing stand-in and FIA F3 stalwart Jake Hughes just behind.

Hughes replaces 2020 BRDC British Formula 3 champion Kaylen Frederick as the American recovers from a thumb injury sustained in his collision with Juan Manuel Correa (ART) in Spielberg.

The British driver went fastest early on, before Red Bull Junior Programme and Hitech man Ayumu Iwasa bested his time with a 1:36.418 around one of the shortest laps of the season.

With COVID-19 curtailing the Repco Supercars Championship‘s schedule for the second straight season, the series has unveiled a revised calendar that also impacts the Boost Mobile Super Trucks.

Much like the inaugural season in 2020, the trucks’ sophomore year has been marred by the pandemic. Although the series was able to run the first three race weekends at Tasmania, Darwin, and Townsville without many hitches (Tasmania was delayed by a week due to restrictions), the remaining four have faced challenges as outbreaks continue in the region.

The Bunnings Trade Perth SuperNight at Wanneroo Raceway on 10–12 September and the ITM Auckland SuperSprint at Pukekohe Park Raceway on 5–7 November have been removed entirely from the 2021 schedule. Perth hosted the Stadium Super Trucks in 2017 and 2018, while Pukekohe (and New Zealand as a whole) would have been a new stop for the discipline. Both races were also cancelled in 2020.

Both decisions are spurred by travel restrictions in the effort to contain the pandemic. In Western Australia, where Perth is located, the government’s Department of Health said Friday that Queensland—where many Supercars teams and the Boost Mobile Super Trucks headquarters at the Norwell Motorplex are located—has been assessed as a “medium risk (external site) state”.

Meanwhile, the trans-Tasman bubble that had been in existence since April to facilitate quarantine-less travel between New Zealand and Australia has been suspended by the New Zealand government. The shutdown launched last Friday and will be at least eight weeks long.

The Stadium Super Trucks‘ weekend at the inaugural Big Machine Music City Grand Prix in Nashville will feature a grid of thirteen drivers, three of whom return after an extended period away from a truck and two set for their series débuts. The field is the largest since fourteen drivers ran the 2018 Grand Prix of Long Beach.

Bo LeMastus‘ Crosley Brands has stepped up their promotion for the weekend by assuming the series’ naming rights—dubbing it the Crosley Stadium Super Trucks—and sponsoring five trucks. Including their CEO, Crosley will also appear on the trucks of Ricky Howerton, Ricky Johnson, Arie Luyendyk Jr., and Jeff Ward. Of the quintet, Luyendyk possesses the most SST experience as a three-time race winner who most recently ran the season opener at St. Petersburg.

Johnson and Ward, both off-road and motocross aces, make their returns to SST after last racing in the inaugural season in 2013, Both made four starts apiece that year, with Johnson’s best finish being second at San Diego 1 while Ward’s is eighth at Long Beach and San Diego 2. Ward has also indicated in an Instagram comment that he hopes to run the next weekend at Long Beach in September.

Howerton is a new face who is familiar with LeMastus and Crosley. He is a crew chief in the American Flat Track motorcycle racing leaghe, and his bikes have been sponsored by Crosley; in 2016, he won the AFT Grand National championship with rider Bryan Smith. While much of his résumé is on the engineering side, Howerton has also enjoyed driving success as the 1990 United States Auto Club Sprint Car Rookie of the Year. In 2015, he made a start for Crosley in what is now the ARCA Menards Series, finishing twenty-second at Winchester.

Another SST newcomer in the grid is Stanton Barrett, who tested a truck last Wednesday. The film stuntman boasts over two decades of NASCAR experience across the three national series, with seven top ten finishes in the Xfinity Series and most recently racing at the Cup level in 2020. In June at Mid-Ohio, he finished sixth in his first ARCA start since 2001; the weekend, which was headlined by the Xfinity Series, also featured SST as a support class.

After seeing six different winners and ten different podium finishers across the opening nine rounds of what has been an intense and frantic 2021 British F4 Championship, the exciting junior single seater circus arrives at Oulton Park with Fortec Motorsport’s James Hedley leading the title race by 20 points over impressive JHR Developments’ rookie Matthew Rees, with JHR team mate Mckenzy Cresswell leading the rookie standings and will be looking for his maiden victory this weekend to state his intentions on this year’s overall championship.

Hedley’s advantage has been gently eroded by Rees over the past couple rounds, with the BRDC Rising Star slowly losing points to Matthew Rees after the rookie scored a brace of wins at Snetterton last time out and even outscoring Hedley overall on a mixed condition weekend at Brands Hatch last month. But with both performing at a very high level so far this year, there’s no doubt that the title fight will further intensify this weekend.

Mckenzy Cresswell has been one of the standout performers so far in what is looking to be a promising 2021 for JHR Developments’ two young promising rookies. Whilst also being very consistent, Cresswell has also been fast in qualifying, eventually snapping team mate Matthew Rees’ early string of pole positions on top of four podium finishes and points in all races so far except one. He’ll be looking to really set his championship charge alight this weekend and take the fight to Hedley and Rees ahead of him.

Phinsys by Argenti new boy Matias Zagazeta has come on leaps and bounds in his second full season in British F4, with the young Peruvian taking his maiden victory at Brands Hatch last month, moving up to fourth in the overall standings. And even though he may be 52 points back at this early stage in the season, you’d be a fool to write off Zagazeta as we begin to approach the second half the season, especially as the Phinsys by Argenti squad appear to be finding their winning stride.

One driver that shot out of the blocks quickly but has been unable to replicate that form in later rounds is Swede, Joel Granfors. The Fortec Motorsport young promise set the title fight on course with a brace of second place finishes at the season opener at Thruxton, but has since not been able to spray the champagne in what has been a sometimes frustrating time for the reigning Formula Atlantic champion. The early title contender will be looking to get back on terms with his Fortec team mate and championship leader James Hedley at Oulton Park this weekend.

This weekends Hungarian Grand Prix is the final round before the much needed summer break for all the teams, Williams Racing will be hoping to go into the break on a high, perhaps even on a points finish!

Williams won the first-ever Formula 1 race at the Hungaroring back in 1986, Nelson Piquet took victory on that day but a points finish this weekend may taste just as sweet for the team. Overtaking is notoriously difficult at the circuit which makes qualifying very important.

This should suit George Russell who will almost certainly be doing everything he can to go into the summer break on the back of a points finish this weekend. Nicholas Latifi will also be hoping for a strong weekend based on the team’s performance at the venue over recent years.

Head of Vehicle Performance Dave Robson is looking forward to the challenge the twisty circuit brings, almost the opposite of the recent British Grand Prix.

“The short twisty Hungaroring is a stark contrast to the fast-flowing Silverstone track, but it nonetheless offers an exciting challenge. Overtaking is very difficult, which places a premium on qualifying position. The weather in Budapest in late July is typically very hot and this makes tyre management difficult and therefore heavily dictates the set-up direction.

This weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix could be George Russell’s best opportunity of the season for a first ever points finish with Williams Racing, can the British driver finally do it as Formula 1 reaches the summer break?

The eleventh round of the world championship represents the final round before the important summer break, a time for all the teams to reflect on the first half of the season. Russell will be hoping to enjoy the summer break having finished in the points this weekend with overtaking being extremely difficult. This opens the door to Mr Saturday to end the first half of the season on the ultimate high, if he can produce another qualifying masterclass.

The Hungaroring is one of Russell’s favourite circuits, will this weekend finally be the one that see’s Russell finish in the points?

“I’m really looking forward to heading to Hungary this weekend. The Hungaroring is a circuit that I love, especially the second sector; it’s fast and flowing, and you don’t get a break from turn four to turn 11, but when the car is nailed it’s such a fantastic feeling to really extract everything from that sequence of corners.

“Budapest is a city that I really enjoy too, it has such a great atmosphere. I am going to be giving it my everything to make sure we end the first half of the season strongly, especially coming off the back of a number of strong races recently.”

The Uralkali Haas F1 Team go into this weekends Hungarian Grand Prix looking to end the first half of the season on a high, with the traditional summer break commencing after the weekend.

Both Haas rookies Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin have had success at the circuit in their junior category days, Schumacher claimed his first ever Formula 2 win at the Hungaroring in 2019 whereas Mazepin won at the circuit in 2018 whilst competing in GP3.

With overtaking being very difficult at the circuit, this weekend could be Haas’s best chance of pushing towards the top half of the field if they are in the right position to capitalise on others mistakes.

No matter what happens this weekend, Team Principal Guenther Steiner is aware of just how important the summer break will be for the team after their difficult start to the season.

“It’s very important for the team to have some time off, especially during COVID times where there are a lot of triple-headers, and also rest before we go into the second half of the season which will be as tough, if not tougher. It’s very important that they can see they still have time at home with their families, even if at the moment they are pretty tired. I’m sure they all plan to take some time off and recharge batteries.

Uralkali Haas F1 Team rookies Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin, go into their final round of the season at the Hungarian Grand Prix before the summer break.

The venue for this weekend is of course the Hungaroring which has featured on the FIA Formula One World Championship calendar for the past thirty-five years, dating back to 1986.

The circuit holds many special memories for Schumacher, who in 2019 claimed his first ever Formula 2 win at the venue. Victory is certainly off the cards this weekend for the young German who will be doing all he can to qualify and finish as high as possible.

“This track has always been very good to me, I’ve always had a very nice experience. There are great fans but also the results were not always that bad. It’s a track that I always look forward to, and it always concludes a chapter as it’s the race just before the summer break, so for everyone it’s a nice time to come together and then everybody gets to have some time off.

“It’s a great track – it’s a dominant qualifying track – so usually where you qualify is usually where you start and where you end the race, mainly because there’s a lack of straights but also because DRS isn’t as effective, but it’s a great track to drive. It has a nice flow to it and usually it’s quite warm which is nice.

Nyck de Vries ended a poor run of results for the Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team during the London E-Prix, with the Dutchman claiming second place in both races to take over at the top of the standings in the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship.

De Vries was back on form during Saturday’s opening race at the Exhibition Centre London (ExCeL) track, climbing from ninth on the grid to take an excellent second, with good late race passes on Sébastien Buemi for third and Alex Lynn for second giving him the podium.

Ultimately, he was too far behind BMW i Andretti Motorsport’s Jake Dennis to do anything for the win, but after only a run of only two points in the previous six races, it was a welcome return to the front end of the field.

“It’s great that we were able to hit back today with this second place on the podium,” said de Vries on Saturday.  “We’ve had a tough time this part of the season up until now, for which we were partly to blame but there have also been factors outside of our control.

“It’s really nice to have made it onto the podium here in London, especially when you think that we managed to move up the field from ninth on the grid.

Lucas di Grassi and the Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler team came so close to pulling off a genius tactical move during Sunday’s race two of the London E-Prix, but it ultimately ended in disappointment and in disqualification.

Whilst running eighth, di Grassi headed for the pit lane behind the safety car and came out in the lead. However, the stewards looked at his pit stop and deemed that he had not come to a complete halt in his pit box, and as such he was handed a drive-through penalty.

The team did not inform di Grassi of the penalty and, as a result, the Brazilian was disqualified from the final result, meaning Audi left London without adding to their points tally in Sunday’s race.  They had started the weekend with a fifth and sixth place in race one.

“That was a good strategy by the team, which found an opportunity in the regulations and took advantage of it,” said di Grassi. “Given the close standings in the title fight, we didn’t want to leave any opportunity unused.”

Team Principal Allan McNish says the team will accept the punishments handed to them after it was clear that they did not stop in the pit box enough to warrant it being called a pit stop.

Robert Kubica will take part in the first free practice session of the Hungarian Grand Prix weekend for Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN on Friday.

The Polish racer will take over the car of Kimi Räikkönen at the Hungaroring for his third practice outing of the season, having previous run in sessions during the Spanish and Styrian Grand Prix weekends.

And Kubica will the focus of the support of many fans, with the Pole aiming to help the team progress ahead of the final race before the summer break.

“It’s always great to be back in the car, especially so in Budapest which is the closest race to Poland on the calendar,” said Kubica.  “There are always a lot of Polish fans on the stands and I know there will be a lot of flags to welcome me when I head of out the garage on Friday.

“Of course, once you’re in the car, the focus is on doing the best possible job for the team and on helping our engineers with the set-up of the car. The margins are really small in the midfield so every improvement can be crucial.”

Mario Isola says Pirelli Motorsport are not expecting any big surprises with regards to tyre wear at the Hungaroring this weekend, although it is not obvious to what strategy will be best.

The Hungarian Grand Prix is the final race before the summer break, and Isola is expecting a mixture of one and two stop strategies on Sunday.  Last year’s race was held in mixed conditions so saw the use of the wet weather tyres before all drivers switched to the dries, but the 2019 race saw Lewis Hamilton win by making two stops whereas Max Verstappen tried to make it on one.

Isola, the Head of F1 and Car Racing at Pirelli, says there have been some ‘tactically intriguing races’ in Hungary, and he can see the 2021 race being another where strategy plays a major part in the outcome.

“Tyre-wise, we’re not expecting any particularly big surprises from the Hungaroring, which has been a constant on the calendar and signals the end of the first half of the season,” said Isola.  “The defining characteristic of the track are all the tight corners in quick succession, with no long straights to cool down the tyres, and hot weather.

“This makes the Hungaroring actually more demanding on tyres than it initially seems, so some degree of management is likely to be needed on the soft compound in particular. As a result, the best strategy is not always obvious – with different approaches often yielding a similar overall race time, depending on the individual circumstances.

Sebastian Vettel says the Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team are continuing to make progress with its AMR21, but the German has not scored points in any of the past three races.

Vettel was running inside the top ten in the British Grand Prix two weeks ago, but an early race spin caused by a technical issue left him at the back of the field, before that issue worsened and forced his late-race retirement.

The four-time World Champion says Aston Martin will be looking to qualify well on Saturday for the Hungarian Grand Prix this weekend before bidding for a top ten finish on Sunday.

“I think we’re making progress with the AMR21, although it was a shame not to be able to get the strong points we looked set for at Silverstone,” said Vettel.  “We’re close to a well-earned summer break, but we need to keep pushing until the very last lap in Hungary before we get some downtime.

“Overtaking is hard in Hungary, so a good strategy and one-lap pace will be important this weekend.”

Andreas Seidl says the McLaren F1 Team will be looking to score a good number of points in the final race before the summer break in Hungary as they bid to extend their advantage over Scuderia Ferrari in the Constructors’ Championship.

Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo finished fourth and fifth in the British Grand Prix last time out, but McLaren saw their points advantage over Ferrari reduce as Charles Leclerc took second and Carlos Sainz Jr. sixth at Silverstone.

Seidl, the Team Principal at McLaren, says the Hungaroring will pose a much different challenge to what they faced at Silverstone and at the Red Bull Ring, but the team and engine partners Mercedes HPP will be doing everything they can to score points and go into the break with confidence.

“The Hungaroring presents the team with an interesting challenge compared to the relatively high-speed tracks of Austria and Silverstone,” said Seidl.  “With high downforce levels and a tight, twisting layout, it’s no surprise many often describe the circuit as Monaco without the walls.

“The team, along with Lando and Daniel, has done a fantastic job so far to put us in this position in the Constructors’ Championship, but we know the fight is far from over, and momentum could shift away from us with a single difficult weekend. The challenges posed by the Hungaroring may not suit our car as much as other circuits on the calendar, but much of the fight for third this year will be decided by how well we perform at tracks that don’t naturally play to our strengths.