Italian race track which was the venue for an f1 grand prix last week

Will Power avenged a bitter defeat in last year’s Detroit Grand Prix by taking the win in the final IndyCar race held around the Belle Isle Street Circuit, charging from 16th on the grid and managing his final stint to perfection to cap off his first win of the season. Advert | Become a Supporter & go ad-free Power was one of the few drivers to start the race on the harder primary tyres – which would be the preferred race tyre as it was last year. It took him less than ten laps to work his way into the top five. On lap 14, he overtook pole winner and Penske team mate Josef Newgarden – who started on the softer alternate tyres – for the race lead. Power pitted once on lap 25, going to another set of primary tyres, with the aim of stretching out his advantage before doing a shorter final stint on the alternates. His competition was not Newgarden – but Alexander Rossi , who discarded the alternate tyres after four laps and committed to a three-stop strategy. After … [Read more...] about Power clings onto Detroit Grand Prix victory under pressure from Rossi · RaceFans

Formula 1 president Stefano Domenicali is very much open to keeping Sebastian Vettel in the fold after he retires. Vettel has been a part of the Formula 1 grid since 2007, but at the Hungarian Grand Prix, he announced to the world that the 2022 season will be his last in the series. Having not had the chance to go racing in a competitive car since 2019, Vettel’s father recently confirmed that racing near the back with Aston Martin had accelerated retirement thoughts for his son, the 2022 Austrian Grand Prix proving to be the low point. Vettel has, over the past few years, found a second purpose for his Formula 1 career, that being to use the platform to speak out about environmental and social issues, while also setting up various projects of his own to address his concerns. Recently, Vettel’s compatriot and six-time Formula 1 race winner, Ralf Schumacher, claimed that some of the series’ higher-ups, including Domenicali, were glad that Vettel is leaving because of how … [Read more...] about Stefano Domenicali would ‘welcome’ Sebastian Vettel in another F1 role

Now a Formula 1 veteran at the tender age of only 24, has there been a “clear change” in Max Verstappen with his thinking and racing? It can be easy to forget how young Verstappen still is considering that he already has a lengthy Formula 1 career under his belt, having debuted back in 2015 as part of the Toro Rosso team. It was not long before Red Bull promoted their driver to the main team, and he would reward their gamble with a victory on debut at the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix. From there though, Verstappen built up something of a reputation for being a driver who, while incredibly talented, could be too forceful, perhaps even hot-headed out on the track. But now a World Champion, who looks set to make it back-to-back titles with a 2022 triumph , has there been a “clear change” in Verstappen’s mindset and actions when competing? His compatriot and fellow racer Tom Coronel believes so. “You see a clear change in how he thinks and how he races,” said … [Read more...] about Has there been a ‘clear change’ in how Max Verstappen thinks and races?

Mere days after his 41st birthday, Formula 1 was shocked by the sudden announcement that Fernando Alonso would switch from Alpine to Aston Martin for 2023 on a multi-year deal. Advert | Become a Supporter & go ad-free A full 22 years after making his Grand Prix debut at the age of 19, Alonso will enter into his 20th full campaign in Formula 1 with his fifth different team, moving to Silverstone to join Aston Martin. Of those four teams Alonso has previous raced for – Minardi (now AlphaTauri), Renault (now Alpine), McLaren and Ferrari – the two-time world champion has won races for three of them, only failing to win with Minardi during his debut season in 2001. Something Alonso himself count not be blamed for. In moving from Alpine to Aston Martin, Alonso is clearly taking a risk. After all, Alpine currently sit fourth in the constructors’ championship, 79 points and five places ahead of Aston Martin. Alonso is clear that he is making this move based on his innate … [Read more...] about Will Alonso win with Aston Martin? · RaceFans

Sergio Perez has been looking back at his season so far and highlighted the Monaco Grand Prix as the highlight of his “7/10” campaign. Now in his second season with Red Bull, the Mexican seems to have improved his understanding of the car and has 63 more points this campaign than he did after the same number of races in 2021. Yet there is a feeling of what could have been currently hanging over Perez. Following his maiden win around the streets of Monaco, there was a sense that Perez, rather than Charles Leclerc, would provide the most realistic challenge to Max Verstappen’s chances of retaining the Drivers’ Championship. But his hopes faded away and at the same rate Verstappen’s performances improved, Perez’s declined. Since the Monaco Grand Prix, he has as many podium finishes as he does DNFs and has finished outside out of the top three in the last two races. Perez, who was ranked sixth on our top 10 drivers of the season so far , was asked by his team to score his season … [Read more...] about Sergio Perez’s assessment of his ‘7/10’ season so far with Red Bull

Mercedes decided to go out of their comfort zone with tyre preparation in Hungary, and pole for George Russell followed. The Silver Arrows, without a pole or victory to that point in 2022, arrived at the Hungarian Grand Prix with many once again tipping them for a strong result, Lewis Hamilton an eight-time winner at the Hungaroring. However, the race weekend did not get off to a very competitive start, with the wet conditions of FP3 dropping Mercedes even further off the pace. Mercedes’ experiments with setup had not paid off, but as their trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin humorously put it to Auto Motor und Sport , “at least we learned what not to do”. Despite the funny intent, the statement rang true, as Mercedes went into qualifying and thrived on a track that was now dry. But, few expected Russell to do what he did as on his final flying lap, the Brit snatching pole for the Hungarian Grand Prix, the first pole position of his Formula 1 career. … [Read more...] about Mercedes went with more daring tyre set-up as George Russell took pole

Charles Leclerc is confident that Ferrari can move on from the habit of making errors, while the process after his own mistakes is unchanged. What was once a comfortable Championship lead for Leclerc in 2022 has turned into an alarming 80-point deficit as Formula 1 enters the summer break, largely down to errors from either Leclerc himself or the Ferrari team, plus reliability woes. Leclerc admits that the first 13 races of the season have not quite yielded the results that were possible, though he retains hope that somehow, he can deny Max Verstappen the 2022 title. “First of all, it was amazing to see that we finally got back to fighting for wins,” Leclerc told BBC Sport . “On the other hand, we haven’t managed to maximise all the potential we had. And this is not great. We still have the second part of the season to catch up, I hope, and I will push at the maximum. But the last few races have been a bit difficult.” Leclerc hits the nail on the head in that final point, … [Read more...] about Charles Leclerc discusses mental process of dealing with his and Ferrari’s mistakes

Lando Norris knows Formula 1 will lose one of its most vocal characters in Sebastian Vettel, but younger drivers cannot be forced to step up. Vettel in recent years has stepped up the use of his platform to speak out on environmental and social concerns, often applying pressure to Formula 1 to reduce its carbon footprint and highlighting various nation-specific environmental issues which he perceives. At the end of 2022 though, Vettel will retire from Formula 1 , which of course leaves a hole to fill in more ways that just the spot on the grid. But Norris says that the younger drivers, like himself, must not be forced to take over the baton from Vettel. He used the 2013 Malaysian Grand Prix as an example to support his view, where the infamous ‘Multi 21’ drama occurred as Vettel ignored Red Bull’s team orders and overtook Mark Webber , going on to claim the win. Norris believes that the Vettel of now, no longer focused solely on championship success, would probably not … [Read more...] about Lando Norris says young drivers can not be pressured to fill Sebastian Vettel void