russian gp: valtteri bottas leads fp1 as hamilton comes 19th

Russian GP: Valtteri Bottas leads FP1 as Hamilton comes 19th

Valtteri Bottas set the early pace in an eventful first practice session at the Russian Grand Prix. The Finn would post a 1m34.923s early on, using the soft compound tyre, and that would go unbeaten until the end thanks to a series of events. Two would be disruptions due to collisions with the barriers as first Carlos Sainz damaged his rear wing after losing the rear in Turn 7, requiring a Virtual Safety Car to clear the debris. Then, Nicholas Latifi would have a bigger crash at Turn 10 with a red flag needed to recover his Williams. The first incident meant Lewis Hamilton didn’t set a representative lap time on his first set of tyres, then, after the mid-session change, he would ruin his second set on the first timed lap with a big lock-up into Turn 2. Limited to just a handful of laps on the damaged rubber late on then, the six-time world champion ended FP1 down in 19th place, but given the chance then to get an upper hand on his teammate in terms of running, Bottas couldn’t capitalise as he too damaged his front-left into Turn 13, leaving both Merc’s in the pits for much of the morning. Still, no-one could get close to Valtteri’s initial lap-time with Daniel Ricciardo half a second down in P2, a tenth clear of former teammate Max Verstappen in third.

russian gp: valtteri bottas leads fp1 as hamilton comes 19th

Fabio Quartararo quickest in Barcelona MotoGP FP1

Fabio Quartararo, Andrea Dovizioso, Joan Mir and Maverick Vinales are the top four in the 2020 MotoGP standings and also fill the top four in the Catalunya MotoGP FP1. The top four in the 2020 MotoGP World Championship standings filled the leading positions as the Catalunya MotoGP which kicked off in Spain with Fabio Quartararo the quickest over Andrea Dovizioso. As is becoming a frequent occurrence for the Frenchman in his second season of MotoGP, Quartararo was in fine form out of the box on the Petronas SRT Yamaha to take control early on at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya before steadily chipping away at his own benchmark. Eventually posting a best of 1min 40.431secs on his final revolution, it placed him four tenths up on championship leader Dovizioso, who enjoyed arguably the best start to a race weekend this year in second place. Coming into the weekend unclear of whether his inconsistent Ducati would have pace, the Italian made full use of trailing Joan Mir before going on to play best of the rest to Quartararo. Mir endured an eventful start to his weekend, suffering an unusual crash early on at the tricky downhill Turn 5 left-hander which, though low speed, sent his Suzuki GSX-RR somersaulting through the gravel trap. Undeterred, he returned to track later to post the third fastest time, ahead of the fourth rider to currently sit within four points of the top in the standings, Maverick Vinales. Local hope Aleix Espargaro fired in a quick late lap to climb to fifth on the Aprilia, ahead of Franco Morbidelli, Alex Rins and Valentino Rossi. Making his first FP1 appearance since Styria despite injuring his ankle on Wednesday as Cal Crutchlow hit the ground running with a solid run to ninth position on the LCR Honda, while Miguel Oliveira rounded out the top ten. Save for Dovizioso, it was a disappointing start to the weekend for Ducati broadly with Johann Zarco its next best representative in 13th, while Misano standout Pecco Bagnaia and Jack Miller were 15th and 18th respectively. It was also a low key opening for KTM beyond Oliveira, with Iker Lecuona 14th, after crashing late on at Turn 2 ,Pol Espargaro and Brad Binder 13th, 16th and 21st respectively.

russian gp: valtteri bottas leads fp1 as hamilton comes 19th

Valentino Rossi to take 3 Yamaha crew members to petronas

Rossi says he will be taking three of his current crew members at Yamaha to Petronas for 2021 MotoGP season. This comes as he prepares to announce his new deal before the end of the 2020 MotoGP season. The three current crew members that will be joining Rossi for the 2021 MotoGP season include crew chief David Munoz, data engineer Matteo Flamigni, and rider coach Idalio Gavira. This means that the current veteran Southern Hemisphere major crew members Alex Briggs and Brent Stephens, won’t be working with him in 2021 for the first time since he made his premier class debut in 2000. Valentino Rossi’s new petronas deal is expected to be announced officially on Thursday and the 7-time world champion also announced that the new contract signing will be formalised later in the Barcelona MotoGP weekend. “Like I said last week, we tried to sign during the weekend [at the Grand Prix of Emilia Romagna] because between the two races at Misano we fixed all the details,” said Rossi. “The situation is very clear, I will race with Petronas next year, but the contract is long and we’re in no hurry. “During this weekend, I will sign it and I will continue next year with Yamaha and Petronas, and we’ll let you know as soon as possible!” He also brushed off the latest delay as simply being due to all parties taking their time in ensuring that the deal is perfect before pens are finally put to paper. “Sometimes in MotoGP we sign the contract for next year too early and sometimes you’re already thinking of next season before the current one is over. Step by step, everyone is signing a lot earlier – for example, we sign a lot earlier than Formula One,” he added. “I agreed with Yamaha and with Petronas from Jerez, but because we are OK we haven’t made the deal in a hurry. It’s an important contract so there are things to fix: the technical details, the bike, the team. “In general we’re not in a hurry and I’m happy.”

russian gp: valtteri bottas leads fp1 as hamilton comes 19th

Lewis Hamilton gets invited by Bubba Wallace at Daytona 500

Lewis Hamilton is a fan of the new team formed by Denny Hamlin in partnership with Michael Jordan and Bubba Wallace as the driver. Will the 6-time Formula-1 World Champion be a personal fan in the NASCAR in the near future? Bubba Wallace is hoping so after he responded to a tweet by Lewis Hamilton supporting the news about the Denny Hamlin, Michael Jordan and Bubba Wallace partnership in a nascar team that will debut in 2021, responding with an invitation to the Daytona 500. Much would need to be worked out, starting with how much garage and grandstand access would be afforded for a 2021 season opener that likely would occur during a still ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic. But it would seem fitting given that Hamilton and Wallace have been two of the world’s most outspoken Black athletes about the quest for diversity and racial justice. Hamilton recently reaffirmed his commitment to activism after his donning a Breonna Taylor shirt sparked an FIA inquiry. The idea of Hamilton attending the season opener already had support too. The Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 driver has expressed a desire to race the Daytona 500 after he has retired from Formula One racing. He was a spectator (with racing legend Mario Andretti) at four-time champion Jeff Gordon’s final Cup race as a full-time in the 2015 season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. In 2011, Hamilton swapped cars with three-time champion Tony Stewart at Watkins Glen International. Having rubbed shoulders with other racing greats so often, it only would be fitting if Hamilton — who is one victory from tying Michael Schumacher’s career record and also could tie the F1 record with a seventh championship this season — spent some time with the greatest basketball player of all time.

russian gp: valtteri bottas leads fp1 as hamilton comes 19th

Former Ferrari boss Stefano Domenicali to be the new Formula 1 CEO

Former Ferrari principal Stefano Domenicali will be making a return to Formula 1 as the CEO of the sport. The current CEO Chase Carey took the position in 2017 January in a Liberty Media takeover and he has been overseeing the success of the 2017,2018,2019 and 2020 Formula 1 seasons as well as the successful completion of the negotiations aiming to extend Formula 1’s concorde agreement with the 10 participating teams. Chase Carey also holds the position of the F1 chairman, will be retaining links to the F1 sport even as he hands over his CEO role. 55-year-old Stefano Domenicali is well known for his former role at Scuderia Ferrari and is well connected to Formula 1 managing director Ross Brawn and FIA president Jean Todt. He was born in Imola and studied at the University of Bologna, later joining the Ferrari team in 1991. Stefano later in 2007 took the head of the Ferrari team from Todt and oversaw the team’s success up to 2014, when he stepped down. In December 2014, Stefano Domenicali took over as the head of the FIA’s single seater comission and two years later he became the Lamborghini CEO, the company which is allegedly believed to be up for sale by the parent company Audi. Domenicali will be taking up his new role before the beginning of next season. The appointment of Domenicali means the top roles at both F1’s governing body and commercial rights holder will be held by former Ferrari principals. However Todt, who became FIA president in 2010, has indicated he will not seek re-election when his current term expires at the end of next year.

russian gp: valtteri bottas leads fp1 as hamilton comes 19th

Rebellion Racing will not be taking part in the WEC Bahrain finale

Rebellion racing have announced that they will no longer be competing in the World Endurance Championship after the 24 Hours of Le Mans. This means the LMP1 team will not be taking part in the WEC final round which will take place in Bahrain. As Rebellion Racing CEO, Calim Bouhadra in a statement said that the team’s involvement in the 8 hours of Bahrain race still depended on the team having a chance to beat Toyota Gazoo in the WEC title. The Rebellion team has taken the second place in the 24 Hours of Le Mans after topping FP3 as Gustavo Menezes, Norman Nato and Bruno Senna being 30 points behind the No.8 Toyota. A 39 point offer still remains in the 2019/2020 WEC finale including a point for the pole position. The Rebellion R-13’s have been the only non-hybrid LMP1 cars on the track and their only chance to beat the dominant Toyotas relies on the possibility they do not finish the race. Bouhadra confirmed the decision made by the team on Tuesday, that the Swiss racing team will not be racing in Bahrain, in addition to termination of their involvement in WEC. This means that only 2 cars owned by Toyota Gazoo Racing will be taking part in the final race that will conclude the LMP1 era of cars. Bykolles Racing with their ENSO CLM P1/01 only competed at Spa in August and 24 Hours of Le Mans as Ginetta also ruled out racing in Bahrain. This withdrawal of the LMP1 teams will give the two Toyota TS050 Hybrid A rather simple race as no car will finish below 2nd. Victory at Le Mans for Sebastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Kazuki Nakajima in the No.8 Toyota maintained them to the top of the WEC standings on 175 points. Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Jose Maria Lopez driving the No.7 Toyota were leading prior to last weekend, winning three of the preceding six WEC races, but are now behind by seven points following their troubled run to third place at La Sarthe. With the 38 points offer on the victory and 27 for the 2nd at the Bahrain finale, means that whichever car finishes first will have won the title even without any consideration of the car that will win the pole

russian gp: valtteri bottas leads fp1 as hamilton comes 19th

Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan to partner on NASCAR team with Bubba Wallace as the driver

Denny Hamlin is starting his own race car team in partnership with Charlotte Hornets owner Michael Jordan and Bubba Wallace as the driver. Hamlin, a three-time Daytona 500 winner and top contender for this year’s Cup title, made the announcement on social media. The team will be a single-car Toyota entry aligned with Joe Gibbs Racing. “Eleven years ago I met Michael Jordan at a then-Charlotte Bobcats game and we became fast friends,” Hamlin wrote. “Not long after, I joined Jordan Brand as their first NASCAR athlete, our friendship has grown over the years and now we are ready to take it to the next level…Deciding on the driver was easy it had to be Bubba Wallace.” Hamlin said additional details about the new team would be forthcoming. Bubba Wallace is the only Black driver at NASCAR’s top level. There’s been speculation for months that Denny Hamlin was organizing some sort of ownership group as he expects NASCAR’s business model to become more favorable for team owners when the “Next Gen” car is released in 2022. NASCAR rules prohibit a current driver from owning a team and driving for another, but Hamlin works around the policy with Jordan as the primary owner. Jordan became a partial owner of the Bobcats in 2006 and bought the team outright in 2010, restoring the franchise to its original Hornets name. Hamlin has been a longtime season-ticket holder with courtside seats along the visitors’ bench. Jordan has twice traveled to the NASCAR season finale to watch Hamlin race for the championship. Hamlin, who’s 39, is still seeking his first title. Wallace, who has cobbled together about $18 million in sponsorship deals since he made social equality his platform, already said he’d leave Richard Petty Motorsports at the end of the season. “This is a unique, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that I believe is a great fit for me at this point in my career,” Wallace wrote in a social media post coordinated with Hamlin’s. “I am grateful and humbled that they believe in me and I’m super pumped to begin this adventure with them.”

russian gp: valtteri bottas leads fp1 as hamilton comes 19th

Can Max Verstappen leave Redbull?

Over the last week, Max Verstappen’s contract with Redbull Racing team has been on the limelight as there has been discussion if the Dutchman’s contract has the clause allowing him to leave Redbull Racing earlier or not, and if the contact allows him to leave, should he do so now? Verstappen signed a contract with the Redbull team last season that will last up to 2023. This is a long time, but following the rule changes in 2022 this was the right call for the team. The new rules will be accompanied by budget caps and the rules will determine which teams will remain afloat, as they are trying strategies that will give them an advantage over the other teams. There has been rumours over the last couple of weeks that there is a clause in Verstappen’s contract, that he could leave the Redbull team at the end of 2021 season. ”That rule in contracts is always there, if a team doesn’t deliver a winning car, you have clauses that allow you to get out. That’s why you don’t make a contract to continue with each other, but rather how you get rid of each other if things don’t work out,” says Olav Mol at F1 aan Tafel. However Olav doesn’t see Verstappen leaving the Redbull team any time soon. ”I don’t see it happening any time soon that you change to a team of which you don’t know if there’s a good car in 2022. Personally, I think the Verstappens are very loyal to the people who brought them in. Of course they have to make sure that he is satisfied, but you don’t have to tell anyone at Red Bull or Honda now that you have to step it up”, added Mol.

russian gp: valtteri bottas leads fp1 as hamilton comes 19th

Bitter Cyril Abiteboul opens up on Daniel Ricciardo frustration

Renault boss Cyril Abiteboul has opened up on his frustration about Daniel Ricciardo leaving the team just as it is about to improve. The australian racer will be quitting The Renault Formula 1 Team after driving for two years after quitting Redbull F1 Team at the end of the 2018 Formula 1 season. He will be signing with the Mclaren team for 2021 after Carlos Sainz joined Ferrari as they will be cutting ties with four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel. Ricciardo’s stint at the french outfit team has been dented by a series of backs and forths though he has achieved the fourth position in the recent Formula 1 events. The Australian is yet to stand on the podium wearing black and yellow. Cyril Abiteboul was frustrated by Daniel Ricciardo’s move to Mclaren, issuing a statement saying, “Reciprocated confidence, unity and commitment are more than ever, critical values for a works team.” The Renault boss continues saying that it hurts even more for Daniel Ricciardo to leave when he(Abiteboul) is very certain of Renaults future even if he can’t prove it. Although Daniel Ricciardo knew that he wasn’t getting championship-winning car when he signed with Renault but he was impressed with their vision for the future which has not yet materialised for the two seasons he has been there. Abiteboul also knows it takes more than empty promises to keep a strong driver like Ricciardo. “I think everyone has been able to feel the frustration, and my own frustration, when it (Ricciardo’s exit) was announced,” Abiteboul said “And let’s be honest. I had the feeling that this (progress) was coming, that the team had made a step up, and that the car would be better.” “Plus that there was much more to come actually in the pipeline, that he had not driven yet. I knew the figures, but the problem is that it’s only figures, and I know that he’s been promised lots of things in the past not only by us, but also by his previous team (Red Bull).” “Daniel is very emotional but he has clearly made a step up. He has gained massively in confidence with the team and with the car, and the relationship between him and his race engineer is very, very strong. We see all of that, it’s finally paying dividends.” Renault will be replacing Ricciardo with Fernando Alonso who left the F1 sport at the end of 2018 and has already secured the contract with Renault up to the end of 2022. “It’s really true that when you change driver, you make a step back before making a step forward,” Abiteboul said. “Because year one is always a bit of an investment before the years ahead, so we need to have longer stints with our drivers if want to make steps forward.” Ricciardo currently sits at the 7th place in the drivers championship and the Renault team sits fifth in the constructors championship

russian gp: valtteri bottas leads fp1 as hamilton comes 19th

Ross Chastain set for Chip Ganassi racing No.42 in 2021

Ross Chastain will finally get an opportunity next season to compete full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series after signing a deal to join Chip Ganassi Racing. The 27-year-old, will take over the driving duties of Ganassi’s No. 42 Chevrolet in 2021, as an official announcement of Chastain’s move is expected later on Monday multiple sources said. Chastain will replace veteran Matt Kenseth, who stepped into the car in May to replace former driver Kyle Larson, who was fired in April for using a racial slur during the broadcast of an iRacing event and remains indefinitely suspended by NASCAR. This season, Chastain has been competing full-time in the Xfinity Series with Kaulig Racing. He has yet to win, but advanced to the series playoffs and is ranked eighth in the series standings. He finished second in last Friday night’s race at Bristol, which marked his fifth runner-up finish of the 2020 season. Following the race on Friday night, Chastain was asked whether he would drive the No. 42 if the opportunity arose. “Are you kidding me? Of course,” he said. “Everyone in this whole entire garage would, yeah. I mean yeah who wouldn’t? Everyone would.” In his NASCAR career, Chastain owns a pair of wins in the Xfinity Series and three in Trucks. He also ran three Xfinity races in the 2018 season with CGR, winning at Las Vegas. He was also scheduled to run the full Xfinity season for Ganassi in 2019, but the deal fell apart in the offseason when the sponsor became embroiled in legal issues. Chastain competed in Cup, Xfinity and Truck races in 2019 – and contended for the Truck title – with other teams but continued to maintain his relationship with the Ganassi organisation. In January, CGR announced plans to help field Chastain in a Cup car in both the Daytona 500 and Coca-Cola 600 this season. He finished 25th and 21st, respectively, in the races.

russian gp: valtteri bottas leads fp1 as hamilton comes 19th

Valentino Rossi to announce his new MotoGP deal this week

Valentino Rossi will be anouncing his move to Petronas Yamaha SRT this week at the Catalan Grand Prix. The deal has been very much anticipated after it has been delayed for weeks, after the announcement was expected to be made in the Austrian Grand Prix. A series of meetings have been going on between Yamaha boss Lin Jarvis, Petronas Yamaha CEO Razlan Razali and Valentino himself in the last couple of weeks trying to get to an agreement on the deal, but finally the deal has been confirmed and it will be announced on Thursday at the Barcelona circuit. The final details of the contract were being put in place last week as the MotoGP events took place at the Misano Circuit for the San Marino and Emilio Romagna MotoGP. With Rossi being in his homeground and the other parties being at the same venue, it was easier to have face-to-face talks as Razlan Razali confirmed on social media. Valentino Rossi signed a year-long contract for 2021 with the Yamaha satellite team which is based in Malaysia. The contract does not last for just one year as there are speculations that Rossi may be looking for retirement, but because all the contracts will be coming to an end for the satellite team as they will be preparing for reorganisation for the 2022 MotoGP season. The deeper details of the contract are yet to be known, with the specification of his new bike and how much of his current crew will be joining him at Petronas SRT Yamaha which have seemed to be very difficult to come up with an agreement in the talks. On the other hand, some of Fabio Quartararo’s crew are looking forward to move with him from Petronas Yamaha to Factory Yamaha, and some of the straight personnel swap has been put in place to ease the transition between the two teams for the two riders. This could in turn open the door for the long waited VR46 Yamaha MotoGP team to join the grid for 2022. That’s an idea reinforced by rumours that the Petronas SRT squad is unhappy with its current status as a Yamaha client team while many of its independent rivals are becoming an increasingly key part of their respective factory set-ups. It’s not the first time a Yamaha satellite team has felt that way. Tech3 boss Herve Poncharal admitted in an exclusive interview after his team’s first win with KTM at the Styrian Grand Prix that he’d wanted more from Yamaha. Having moved to KTM in search of a closer factory relationship, he admitted that he thought Yamaha was moving in that direction with Petronas – but it seems according to The Race’s sources within the team that progress has been more limited than it appears from the outside. “When we were with Yamaha it was coming, they were starting to understand,” said Poncharal. “You always feel a little like you’re a weight on your factory – ‘oh we’re concentrating on the top guys, leave us alone, but they realised when I left them that they lost something they needed.” “Of course, Razlan stepped in and they did very well. He’s got the support of a huge sponsor, they picked up the right riders, and if you went to Yamaha now and told them that an independent team is a weight, they would disagree.” Should Petronas SRT decide to look elsewhere, there is a strong option available for it in the shape of Suzuki. Having admitted that it’s all but necessary to have a satellite squad for 2022 in order to further speed its rapid development, Suzuki has also hinted that its plan would be to field four identical machines instead of two different specifications as Yamaha currently does.

russian gp: valtteri bottas leads fp1 as hamilton comes 19th

Catalunya WSBK: Chaz Davies takes first 2020 victory as Gerloff takes maiden podium

Chaz Davies became the seventh different winner of the 2020 WorldSBK season while American star Garrett Gerloff scores his first WorldSBK podium. Race 2 from MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship’s was full of drama and intrigue at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya as Chaz Davies (ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati) claimed his first win of the 2020 season and became the seventh different winner in 2020, while American rookie Garrett Gerloff (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Junior Team) claimed his maiden World Superbike podium. Davies was able to get to the front in the early stages of the races before taking the lead and controlling the race, withstanding pressure from Tissot Superpole Race winner Michael van der Mark (PATA YAMAHA WorldSBK Official Team) after the pair passed each other in the first half of the race. Van der Mark then fell into the clutches of Gerloff after the American made a sensational start from fifth place to run in the top three, putting pressure on van der Mark all race. Gerloff passed van der Mark for second place on the last lap but a mistake from Gerloff on Lap 10 allowed the Dutchman through for second; Gerloff coming home in third place. Davies held on to win his 31st race in his career, equalling Colin Edwards on the all-time list of winners. Gerloff’s podium means he becomes the first American to stand on the WorldSBK podium since Nicky Hayden in 2016. Championship leader Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) extended his lead at the top of the standings with fourth place, finishing five seconds clear of Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team). Scott Redding (ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati) finished in sixth place after being passed by Sykes with just a couple of laps to go. Rea had lost ground at the start, but was able to regroup to finish in fourth place and take a 51 point lead into the next round at Magny-Cours. Eugene Laverty (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) secured his best result of the season with seventh place as he showed more impressive pace, ahead of Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) in eighth. Leon Haslam (Team HRC) was the sole Honda rider in Race 2 and finished in ninth, with Loris Baz (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) in tenth after losing lots of ground at Turn 1 at the start. Jonas Folger’s (Bonovo Action by MGM Racing) impressive wildcard weekend continued as he battled his way from the back of the grid to 11th place; Folger not setting a time in Tissot Superpole and missing out on a top nine starting grid for Race 2 by the smallest of margins. Federico Caricasulo (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Junior Team) was 12th after starting from the back of the grid; Caricasulo penalised for irresponsible riding in the Superpole Race after a collision with Haslam Lorenzo Zanetti (Motocorsa Racing) scored points after being called up to the Championship on Friday evening with 13th place while Takumi Takahashi (MIE Racing HONDA Team) and Xavi Fores (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) completed the points-scoring positions. Alvaro Bautista (Team HRC) did not start the race following a technical issue on the sighting lap; the Spanish rider, who was declared fit following his dramatic highside crash in the Tissot Superpole Race, pulling off the track shortly after leaving the pit lane. Samuele Cavalieri (Barni Racing Team) crashed out in the early stages, while Sylvain Barrier (Brixx Performance) and Valentin Debise (OUTDO Kawasaki TPR) had a coming together on Lap 17 while battling for 15th place. Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Team GOELEVEN), who had been running in the top four for the majority of the race, had a technical issue in the latter stages of the race forcing him to retire from the race on Lap 19.