November 2021

Red Bull reverts on Tsunoda’s criticism after Mexican GP Qualifying mix-up

Kevin Peterson4 years ago4 years ago04 mins

Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner backtracked on some of the criticism directed at AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda after seeing both his drivers finish on the podium in Mexico. Yuki Tsunoda was heavily criticised after qualifying in Mexico, but Red Bull team boss Christian Horner was much more understanding of the AlphaTauri driver’s blunder following Sunday’s race. The Japanese rookie, who races for Red Bull’s development team Alpha Tauri, was slammed as a “dumb idiot” by Verstappen for running off the track in the decisive moments of Q3. Red Bull team boss Christian Horner said Verstappen and also Sergio Perez had been “Tsunoda-d”, while Dr Helmut Marko accused the 21-year-old of “killing both of our cars”. Predictably, Mercedes poked fun at the situation on social media. “Keep your head up, Yuki. Don’t let the haters get you down,” the team quipped on Twitter. Tsunoda also defended himself, writing on social media that there was “nothing more” he could do to get out of the way of the two Red Bulls. “I’m worried because I have to talk to Red Bull now,” the Japanese also told reporters. “But I did nothing wrong.” Tsunoda was indeed summoned to a one-on-one meeting with Marko – and afterwards, the 78-year-old Austrian had changed his tune. “The incident was not Tsunoda’s fault,” Marko insisted. “The team knew what was happening on the track and should have asked him to leave the line earlier.” When asked what he told Tsunoda during the meeting, Marko revealed: “I told him that the engineer was responsible.” Alpha Tauri boss Franz Tost also said the young driver, who was moved to Italy by Red Bull earlier this year and is now being personally coached by Alex Albon, did nothing wrong. “We told him on the radio that the Red Bull was coming and he just needed to get out of the way so they could drive by safely,” said the Austrian. “But Perez flew off the track after Tsunoda. It wasn’t Yuki’s fault,” Tost added. “To be honest, I absolutely do not understand why Perez left the track after Yuki.” Sergio Perez, whose run off the track inspired Verstappen to lift the throttle and ultimately miss pole by two tenths, explained: “Yuki suddenly went off track in front of me.

Toto Wolf annoyed with Bottas for letting Verstappen through on Turn 1

Kevin Peterson4 years ago4 years ago03 mins

Toto Wolff is unhappy with how poleman Valtteri Bottas failed to prevent Max Verstappen from overhauling both Mercedes drivers at the start of the Mexican GP. Ahead of Sunday’s race, Hamilton vowed to work with Bottas to fend off any attacks from the Red Bull camp. But as the front-runners barreled down to the first corner, Bottas remained alongside his teammate in the middle of the track rather than move towards to the left towards the racing line to block Verstappen’s charging Red Bull. And to add insult to injury, the Finn was then tagged and spun around by McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo, a setback from which Bottas could not recover. “That should not happen,” Wolff told Sky. “I think we had two cars in front and seemed to open up the scene for Max to come around the outside.” “And even the spin afterwards, and the complete loss of points with Valtteri’s car when there could have been a third or fourth place is annoying, to say the least.” Bottas eventually secured the fastest race lap, depriving Verstappen of an extra point, but Wolff appeared indifferent to the feat. “I mean, that doesn’t really console me at that stage.” Looking back on the race, the Austrian conceded that Mercedes would have likely been hard-pressed to prevail against Red Bull in Mexico if the start had gone according to plan “You have to congratulate Red Bull because the pace was just on another level,” Wolff said. “I don’t think we could have won the race even if he would have stayed ahead in the first corner, because they could have driven circles around us around the pit stops. “In the end, I think for Lewis’s championship it was damage limitation. And for the constructors’, Valtteri spinning out at turn one was very painful.”

Mexican GP: Verstappen wins ahead of Hamilton, Perez third in home race(full results)

Kevin Peterson4 years ago4 years ago07 mins

Max Verstappen stretched his Formula 1 world championship lead by dominating the Mexican Grand Prix, as his Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez narrowly failed to deprive Lewis Hamilton of second. Verstappen had surged down the outside of the front-row-starting Mercedes into Turn 1 on the opening lap, braking later and instantly sweeping into the lead. Polesitter Valtteri Bottas looked set to fall into third behind Hamilton, but was tapped into a mid-corner spin by seventh-place starter Daniel Ricciardo – who was passing Perez down the inside on the dusty line. The ensuing traffic chaos triggered by Bottas spinning in front of the pack led to Yuki Tsunoda and Mick Schumacher sandwiching Esteban Ocon and both sustaining race-ending damage, though the Alpine they had both bounced over continued. After a four-lap safety car period, Verstappen simply stormed away. By lap 20 he was 8s clear of Hamilton, who could not shake Perez off. Mercedes brought Hamilton in for his sole pitstop long before the two Red Bulls in the hope of gaining an undercut advantage. While that made no difference to Verstappen’s comfortable margin, Red Bull responded by extending Perez’s first stint so that he came in a full 10 laps later than Hamilton. That long run on older tyres dropped Perez 8s away from the Mercedes by the time he rejoined, but the hope was he could hunt down Hamilton on his fresher tyres. Sure enough, Perez caught Hamilton with 10 laps to go. Despite his best efforts, and amid various traffic headaches, the home favourite couldn’t quite make it a Red Bull 1-2. Verstappen’s points lead is now up to 19 as he was denied a fastest lap point by Mercedes bringing in the delayed Bottas (who had made little progress from the back after his spin then had a poor second scheduled pitstop) for two extra pitstops for fresh tyres late on so he could deny Verstappen that bonus point. Bottas’s first effort to take fastest lap was ironically denied when he came across Verstappen on track. The second attempt finally proved successful on the last lap. Pierre Gasly spent most of the race in a comfortable fourth for AlphaTauri, but did have to be wary of the closing Carlos Sainz late on. The Ferrari driver had left his sole pitstop very late and was charging on fresh tyres, being let through by team-mate Charles Leclerc along the way. They swapped places back as it became clear Sainz wouldn’t catch Gasly. Ferrari’s fifth and sixth places meant it swept past McLaren into third in the constructors’ championship as its rival only scored one point for Lando Norris’s 10th place – achieved from 18th on the grid. Ricciardo smashed his front wing hitting Bottas and could only recover to 12th. Sebastian Vettel took Aston Martin’s best result in nearly two months with seventh, while Kimi Raikkonen’s eighth place ahead of Fernando Alonso’s Alpine was Alfa Romeo’s highest finish all season. Raikkonen’s team-mate Antonio Giovinazzi looked like he would be Alfa’s hero as he emerged from the first-corner mess sixth, but pitting too early for his sole stop left him in the midfield and he finished 11th. George Russell and Nikita Mazepin had also leapt forward through the lap one chaos and briefly ran ninth and 11th for Williams and Haas. That proved unsustainable and they fell back to 16th and 18th respectively by the finish. 2021 F1 MEXICO CITY GRAND PRIX – RESULTS POS DRIVER NAT. TEAM TIME 1 Max Verstappen NED Red Bull Racing 71 Laps 2 Lewis Hamilton GBR Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team + 16.555s 3 Sergio Perez MEX Red Bull Racing + 17.752s 4 Pierre Gasly FRA Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda + 63.845s 5 Charles Leclerc MON Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow + 81.037s 6 Carlos Sainz ESP Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow + 1 Lap 7 Sebastian Vettel GER Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team + 1 Lap 8 Kimi Raikkonen FIN Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen + 1 Lap 9 Fernando Alonso ESP Alpine F1 Team + 1 Lap 10 Lando Norris GBR McLaren F1 Team + 1 Lap 11 Antonio Giovinazzi ITA Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen + 1 Lap 12 Daniel Ricciardo AUS McLaren F1 Team + 1 Lap 13 Esteban Ocon FRA Alpine F1 Team + 1 Lap 14 Lance Stroll CAN Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team + 2 Laps 15 Valtteri Bottas FIN Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team + 2 Laps 16 George Russell GBR Williams Racing + 2 Laps 17 Nicholas Latifi CAN Williams Racing + 2 Laps 18 Nikita Mazepin RUS Uralkali Haas F1 Team + 3 Laps DNF Mick Schumacher GER Uralkali Haas F1 Team DNF DNF Yuki Tsunoda JPN Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda DNF

Bagnaia wins crash filled Algarve GP ahead of Mir and Miller(full results)

Kevin Peterson4 years ago4 years ago07 mins

Francesco Bagnaia has soared to a third MotoGP win in five races after dominating the Algarve Grand Prix at Portimao. Starting from pole position following a record lap time, the factory Ducati rider was imperious in running away with victory at Portimao. The race was called early, on the penultimate lap, following a collision between Iker Lecuona and Miguel Oliveira. With the results backdated to the end of Lap 23, the final margin to second-placed finisher Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) ended up at 2.478s. Off the start, it was Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team) who got the best getaway to lead the field into Turn 1. Bagnaia wasted no time in regaining the lead though, getting the upper hand with a stronger exit out of the first corner, and later that same lap Mir would pass Miller too. Bagnaia and Mir quickly set about dropping Miller, who fell back into the clutches of a tight battle back behind initially led by Jorge Martin (Pramac Racing). By Lap 4, the Australian’s threat from behind was now Alex Marquez (LCR Honda Castrol), the Spaniard having started well from his career-best grid slot of eighth. While Bagnaia upped the ante to widen his buffer over Mir to eight tenths by Lap 7 and towards 1.5s at the midway point of the race, Miller continued to fall back and was passed for third by Marquez at the start of Lap 12. Unlike the medium-shod Miller, Marquez was making his hard rear tyre work a treat. By the end of Lap 15 of 25, the order ran: Bagnaia, Mir, Marquez, Miller, Martin, Johann Zarco and champion-elect Fabio Quartararo. Starting seventh, the Monster Energy Yamaha star was sluggish off the line and struggled to find a way past the Ducatis ahead – Zarco sneaking through after Quartararo ran wide at Turn 13. The biggest improver in the opening segment was home hero Oliveira, who gained seven spots to 10th within two laps. By contrast, Maverick Viñales plummeted to last immediately – and things would get worse for Aprilia Racing Team Gresini when Aleix Espargaro crashed out on Lap 8 at Turn 1. That completed a shocking day for the older Espargaro brother, who had also crashed in Sunday warm-up. He was the second to trigger yellow flags, Danilo Petrucci (Tech 3 KTM Factory Racing) making it only to the fourth corner of the opening lap. Miller, searching for his first podium since the Catalan Grand Prix five months ago, briefly snuck back into third with a block pass at the start of Lap 19, only for Marquez to execute a criss-cross. Two laps later, Miller would make it stick after a Marquez error opened the door. A little further back, the same lap would bring Quartararo unstuck at Turn 5, a crash representing his first non-finish of 2021. Quartararo had held sixth at the time, Martin having lost positions to both Zarco and #20 moments earlier. He’d be joined in the non-finisher category by Lecuona and Oliveira, an incident which brought about the race-ending red flag. Lecuona lost his #27 on entry to Turn 13, wiping out his fellow KTM competitor. After initial concern, both riders were seen to be conscious, Lecuona appearing to apologise. The early stoppage did, however, cost Marquez any chance of launching a last-gasp assault on Miller, leaving him to settle for fourth. With the results, Bagnaia and Mir sealed second and third, respectively, in the riders’ championship. Ducati also sealed the 2021 constructors’ title. ALGARVE MOTOGP, PORTIMAO – RACE RESULTS POS RIDER NAT TEAM TIME/DIFF 1 Francesco Bagnaia ITA Ducati Team (GP21) 38m 17.72s 2 Joan Mir SPA Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) +2.478s 3 Jack Miller AUS Ducati Team (GP21) +6.402s 4 Alex Marquez SPA LCR Honda (RC213V) +6.453s 5 Johann Zarco FRA Pramac Ducati (GP21) +7.882s 6 Pol Espargaro SPA Repsol Honda (RC213V) +9.573s 7 Jorge Martin SPA Pramac Ducati (GP21)* +10.144s 8 Alex Rins SPA Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) +10.742s 9 Enea Bastianini ITA Avintia Ducati (GP19)* +13.840s 10 Brad Binder RSA Red Bull KTM (RC16) +14.487s 11 Takaaki Nakagami JPN LCR Honda (RC213V) +20.912s 12 Luca Marini ITA Sky VR46 Avintia Ducati (GP19)* +22.450s 13 Valentino Rossi ITA Petronas Yamaha (YZR-M1) +22.752s 14 Andrea Dovizioso ITA Petronas Yamaha (YZR-M1) +26.207s 15 Stefan Bradl GER Repsol Honda (RC213V) +26.284s 16 Maverick Vinales SPA Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP) +26.828s 17 Franco Morbidelli ITA Monster Yamaha (YZR-M1) +27.863s Miguel Oliveira POR Red Bull KTM (RC16) DNF Iker Lecuona SPA KTM Tech3 (RC16) DNF Fabio Quartararo FRA Monster Yamaha (YZR-M1) DNF Aleix Espargaro SPA Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP) DNF Danilo Petrucci ITA KTM Tech3 (RC16) DNF

Daniel Hemric wins Phoenix race securing the 2021 Xfinity Series championship title

Kevin Peterson4 years ago1 year ago06 mins

Daniel Hemric’s first NASCAR win came at a very opportune time. Hemric passed Austin Cindric just before the finish line to get the 2021 Xfinity Series title in a door-banging finish at Phoenix on Saturday night. The 30-year-old entered Saturday night’s race with 207 career starts in NASCAR’s Cup Series, Xfinity Series and Truck Series without a win. He had finished second 10 times in the Xfinity Series and looked set to make it 11 as he slid in behind Cindric on the final lap. But he drove underneath Cindric in the final two corners and finally grabbed that checkered flag by a few feet. “I’m blacked out, blacked out,” Hemric said at the start/finish line after turning a back flip off the roof of his car. “Just knew I had to be the first one to the line. I thought I let him get too much of a run off of (Turn) 4 (on the first lap of overtime). “Drove into (Turn) 1, knew I was close, not to completely use them up, but we work our asses off for an opportunity like this—excuse my language. This is what it’s all about, winning at the second highest level in all of motorsports. What an honor… “How about those race fans? That back flip good enough for you? I’ve been waiting a long damn time to do that.” Cindric took the loss with consummate grace. “Until you spin somebody out, it’s not dirty racing,” said Cindric, who entered the championship event with five wins to his credit this season. “If everyone in the stands enjoyed it, it’s good racing. “I’m appreciative of the opportunity to race on such a big stage, race for Roger Penske, represent Ford Performance, all of our sponsors that helped us this season. It would have been awesome to finish this out. I felt like we had a dominant race car, felt like we did everything right. Come up a little short.” As a consolation prize, Cindric secured the Xfinity Series Owners Championship for Roger Penske with his runner-up result. The other two Championship 4 drivers—Noah Gragson and AJ Allmendinger—were in contention at the end. Gragson slammed the wall shortly after a restart on Lap 193 and fell to 12th at the finish. Allmendinger suffered a loose wheel late in the race and spun in Turn 2 on Lap 181, causing the eighth of 10 cautions. Cindric, who led a race-high 113 laps, had a commanding lead at the time, but the yellow bunched the field and set up the late-race shootout. Harrison Burton ran third on Saturday, followed by Riley Herbst and Justin Haley. John Hunter Nemechek, Brandon Jones, Brett Moffitt, Justin Allgaier and Sheldon Creed completed the top 10. After racing two full seasons for Brad Keselowski Racing in the Truck Series and finishing in the top seven in points in each of those seasons, Hemric moved up to the Xfinity Series with Richard Childress Racing in 2017. He made the final four in each of his two Xfinity seasons with Childress despite not getting a win. A win has always felt like it was inches away from Hemric’s grasp and would happen at some point. He moved up to the Cup Series with RCR in 2019 and had a forgettable season. He was 25th in the points standings and had just one top five and two top 10s. Tyler Reddick, the man who replaced Hemric in the Xfinity Series at RCR, won the 2019 Xfinity Series title. The team moved him up to the Cup Series and Hemric was left without a full-time ride. After racing part-time in the Xfinity Series in 2020, Hemric scored a ride at Joe Gibbs Racing in 2021. He finishes the season with 15 top-five finishes and 21 top 10s. And it’s his only season with the team. He’s moving on to Kaulig Racing in 2022.

Verstappen says Perez and Tsunoda ruined his bid to take pole for Mexican GP

Kevin Peterson4 years ago4 years ago03 mins

Max Verstappen confirmed Yuki Tsunoda and Sergio Perez running wide through the middle sector in Q3 “destroyed” his chances of pole position for the Mexico City Grand Prix. Mercedes took a shock one-two spearheaded by Valtteri Bottas, with Verstappen finishing third, over three-tenths down on the Finn. Verstappen had his chance of improving in his final run taken away by the AlphaTauri of Tsunoda running wide through turns 10 and 11, followed by Perez. Despite no yellow flags being waved, Verstappen revealed he had lifted off. The championship leader explained: “On the last lap, I was on for a good lap. “I don’t know what happened in front of me but there were two guys going off so I thought there was going to be a yellow flag so I backed out and then you know the lap is then, of course, destroyed. “Even without that, I think we could have still gone for that pole lap. Third is not amazing but I think it is still better than starting second.” Red Bull had performed extensive work on the rear wings of both cars throughout the day but Verstappen ruled out any effect on qualifying from the issues. “We had to repair them but I think in the end, when we went into qualifying, everything was like normal,” said Verstappen. “Of course, it is not ideal but I don’t think it was the reason why it was a bit of a struggle for us in qualifying. “Qualifying did not go our way but we are not using these tyres [softs] anyway so still all to fight for.”

Toyota #8 wins 8 Hours of Bahrain as sister car #7 wins 2021 Championship title

Kevin Peterson4 years ago4 years ago07 mins

Toyota Gazoo Racing wrapped up the FIA World Endurance Championship season with a dominant 1-2 run in Saturday’s 8 Hours of Bahrain that saw the No. 8 crew of Brendon Hartley, Kazuki Nakajima and Sebastien Buemi win the race and No. 7 car of Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Jose Maria Lopez crowned world drivers’ champions. Nakajima, in his final race with the Japanese manufacturer, drove the No. 8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid to a 7.351-second victory over the sister entry, brought to the checkered flag by Lopez. It gave Toyota a clean sweep of wins in the WEC season, in another commanding race after the No. 36 Signatech-run Alpine A480 Gibson battled gearbox issues early on. Nico Lapierre dashed into the lead in the grandfathered LMP1 car at the start until Conway took over point on Lap 8, in what quickly turned into another Toyota affair with the two cars exchanging the lead. Lapierre’s trip to the garage, which cost the Alpine three laps in the opening hour, handed a clear-sailing win to Toyota. Other minor setbacks saw Lapierre and co-drivers Andre Negrao and Matthieu Vaxiviere finish six laps behind the race-winning No. 7 machine. Team WRT claimed the LMP2 world title with its third consecutive class win with drivers Robin Frijns, Ferdinand Habsburg and Charles Milesi, which enjoyed an equally dominant race. Audi Sport factory driver Frijns took the No. 31 Oreca 07 Gibson to 1 minute and 14.320-second win over the No. 38 JOTA entry of Antonio Felix Da Costa, Roberto Gonzalez and Anthony Davidson in second. The No. 28 JOTA Oreca of Tom Blomqvist emerged in second following the final round of stops ahead of Da Costa, who got around the sister car with three minutes to go. Davidson, in his final race in professional competition, overcame an unexpected trip down pit lane and a subsequent drive-through penalty for speeding in the pit lane. Filipe Albuquerque drove the No. 22 United Autosports entry to a fourth place class finish, ahead of the No. 34 Inter Europol Competition Oreca, which completed the top-five. LMP2 Pro-Am honors went to the No. 29 Racing Team Nederland entry of Frits van Eerd, Giedo van der Garde and Job van Uitert, which finished sixth among the LMP2 entries. Van Eerd, meanwhile, claimed the sub-class championship as a solo driver. Ferrari Provisionally Wins GTE-Pro Title in Dramatic Finale Alessandro Pier Guidi and James Calado have provisionally claimed the GTE drivers’ world championship in a dramatic conclusion that saw contact between the No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE and the then-class leading No. 92 Porsche 911 RSR-19 of Michael Christensen in the final 15 minutes. Christensen spun as a result of the contact, with race control ordering Pier Guidi, with a damaged nose, to give the position back, which he did not as the the Porsche pitted for fuel with ten minutes to go. Pier Guidi crossed the line ahead of Christensen by 3.249 seconds, with no further decisions having been made as of the time of this writing. It has provisionally given Ferrari the GTE world manufacturers’ title as well. The No. 52 AF Corse Ferrari completed the class podium followed by the No. 91 Porsche, which lost time due to a pit stop infringement and a left-rear wheel issue in the final three hours. GTE-Am class and championship honors went to the No. 83 AF Corse Ferrari trio of Nicklas Nielsen, Alessio Rovera and Francois Perrodo. Nielsen finished 1 lap ahead of the No. 77 Dempsey-Proton Racing Porsche of Matt Campbell in the race, which was largely dominated by the Italian Ferrari squad. The No. 56 Team Project 1 Porsche completed the class podium after overcoming a 1 minute stop-and-hold penalty in the fourth hour for “putting a marshal in danger” during the race’s third Full Course Yellow. Riccardo Pera held second in class until a final lap pass by Campbell for position. It marked back-to-back class titles for Ferrari factory driver Nielsen and Perrodo, with the Frenchman claiming his third outright GTE-Am championship. A challenge from the No. 33 TF Sport Aston Martin Vantage GTE, which entered the race with a chance of the class title, started to unravel on the opening lap when Ben Keating and the No. 98 Northwest AMR entry of Paul Dalla Lana made contact, resulting in punctures for both cars. Keating later suffered an incident with the No. 54 AF Corse Ferrari of Thomas Flohr that resulted in suspension damage and eventual retirement.

Bottas takes pole as Mercedes lock out the front row in the Mexican GP qualifying(full results)

Kevin Peterson4 years ago4 years ago06 mins

Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas has taken pole position for the Mexican GP, leading a 1-2 for the Brackley team as Lewis Hamilton claimed second place. In what was a surprising turn of events, Mercedes proved untouchable in the final part of qualifying as Bottas set a 1:15.875 on his first run in Q3. This was over a tenth quicker than what Hamilton managed, but it was Red Bull who shocked as they fell short in the crunch part of qualifying. Having looked the favourites throughout the weekend, Verstappen was left scratching his head after falling 0.350 shy of what Bottas managed. A reasonably scruffy first flying lap put him on the back foot, while his second run was ruined when AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda went off through the esses on the final runs. This distracted Sergio Perez, with the two cars being off the track and distracting Verstappen as he arrived at the scene. Perez was left in fourth, with neither Red Bull improving on their second runs as a result of the incident. AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly finished in fifth, just over a tenth shy of Perez and possibly highlighting just how far short Red Bull fell in the final part of qualifying. Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz finished sixth, having survived a scare in the first part of qualifying when he appeared to suffer a power unit issue leaving the pits. He managed to get the car fired back up to full power, going on to make it into Q3. McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo was seventh, ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, and Tsunoda in ninth. The Japanese driver will start on the Soft compound, having been the only driver in the top ten in Q2 to use the red marked tyres to get through the second part of qualifying. Rounding out the top ten was McLaren’s Lando Norris, although he will start from the back of the grid as a result of an engine change grid penalty. 2021 F1 MEXICAN GP – QUALIFYING RESULTS POS. DRIVER NAT. TEAM Q1 Q2 Q3 1 Valtteri Bottas FIN Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team 1m16.727s 1m16.864s 1m15.875s 2 Lewis Hamilton GBR Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team 1m17.207s 1m16.474s 1m16.020s 3 Max Verstappen NED Red Bull Racing 1m16.788s 1m16.483s 1m16.225s 4 Sergio Perez MEX Red Bull Racing 1m17.003s 1m17.055s 1m16.342s 5 Pierre Gasly FRA Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda 1m16.908s 1m16.955s 1m16.456s 6 Carlos Sainz ESP Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow 1m17.517s 1m17.248s 1m16.761s 7 Daniel Ricciardo AUS McLaren F1 Team 1m17.719s 1m17.092s 1m16.763s 8 Charles Leclerc MON Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow 1m16.748s 1m17.034s 1m16.837s 9 Yuki Tsunoda JPN Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda 1m17.330s 1m16.701s 1m17.158s 10 Lando Norris GBR McLaren F1 Team 1m17.569s 1m17.473s 1m36.830s 11 Sebastian Vettel GER Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team 1m17.502s 1m17.746s 12 Kimi Raikkonen FIN Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen 1m17.606s 1m17.958s 13 George Russell GBR Williams Racing 1m17.958s 1m18.172s 14 Antonio Giovinazzi ITA Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen 1m17.897s 1m18.290s 15 Esteban Ocon FRA Alpine F1 Team 1m18.126s 1m18.405s 16 Fernando Alonso ESP Alpine F1 Team 1m18.452s 17 Nicholas Latifi CAN Williams Racing 1m18.756s 18 Mick Schumacher GER Uralkali Haas F1 Team 1m18.858s 19 Nikita Mazepin RUS Uralkali Haas F1 Team 1m19.303s 20 Lance Stroll CAN Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team 1m20.873s After being absent from the 2020 season calendar due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Formula 1 returns to racing in Mexico this weekend.

Mexican GP FP3: Sergio Perez leads a Red Bull 1-2 in final practice

Kevin Peterson4 years ago4 years ago07 mins

Sergio Pérez topped the final free practice session in front of his adoring home crowd at the 2021 Mexican GP. Max Verstappen was in second position, 0.193 seconds behind the Mexican. Lewis Hamilton was in third position with a gap of 0.651 seconds behind the leader. The sixty-minute long all-important third free practice session started under sunny conditions with air temperatures at 17 degrees C and track temperatures at 35 degrees C. The track had cement dust deposited on it due to oil leakages from the support races making it even more slippery. The Pirelli tyre choice at this race is the white-striped hard compound tyres (C2), yellow-striped medium compound tyres (C3), and red-striped soft compound tyres (C4). After silence for the first five minutes, Yuki Tsunoda was the first driver on the track on a used set of soft compound tyres. The young Japanese driver was joined by Lance Stroll and George Russell. Tsunoda and Stroll will start from the back of the grid due to penalties for new power unit components. Lando Norris and Esteban Ocon will also join them at the back for the same reason. Russell has a five-place grid penalty for a gearbox change. Tsunoda set the first timed lap and improved on it with a lap time of 1m19.744s. Norris joined the fray on a new set of soft compound tyres and slotted into second position. With less than forty minutes to go, the Scuderia Ferrari drivers came out on the track on a set of soft compound tyres. Both drivers kicked up cement dust and slid around on the oily patch. Bottas went to the top of the time charts with a lap time of 1m18.661s with Hamilton 0.109 seconds behind him. Pérez cheered by his home crowd went faster than Bottas by 0.036 seconds. Times started tumbling as the track improved and Charles Leclerc went to the top of the time sheets. With less than thirty minutes to go, Verstappen finally came out of the garage and took first position with a lap time of 1m17.537s. Verstappen was faster than Pérez by 0.397 seconds. Bottas then improved to take second position, just 0.171 seconds behind the Dutchman. Verstappen further improved on his lap time by 0.320 seconds. With less than fifteen minutes to go, Leclerc was the first driver to come out for the final qualification simulation runs on a set of new soft compound tyres. But Leclerc had a spin and went back into the pits. Hamilton on his first flying lap improved to third position but still 0.686 seconds slower than Verstappen. Pérez then slotted into second position, just 0.055 seconds behind Verstappen. On his second flying lap, Pérez went fastest with a lap time of 1m17.024s. Verstappen could not get his brand new set of soft compound tyres in the right temperature range and stayed in second position, 0.193 seconds behind the Mexican. Hamilton and Bottas were in third and fourth positions. Sainz and Tsunoda finished in fifth and sixth positions, nearly one second slower than the leaders. Daniel Ricciardo and Pierre Gasly were in seventh and eighth positions. Leclerc and Norris rounded off the top ten positions. It is advantage Red Bull Racing going into the qualification session. 2021 Mexican GP FP3 Results: Pos No Driver Nat. Team Time Gap Laps 1 11 Sergio Perez MEX Red Bull Racing 1:17.024 15 2 33 Max Verstappen NED Red Bull Racing 1:17.217 +0.193s 12 3 44 Lewis Hamilton GBR Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team 1:17.675 +0.651s 14 4 77 Valtteri Bottas FIN Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team 1:17.708 +0.684s 17 5 55 Carlos Sainz ESP Scuderia Ferrari 1:18.029 +1.005s 20 6 22 Yuki Tsunoda JAP Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda 1:18.037 +1.013s 25 7 3 Daniel Ricciardo AUS McLaren F1 Team 1:18.121 +1.097s 15 8 10 Pierre Gasly FRA Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda 1:18.202 +1.178s 18 9 16 Charles Leclerc MON Scuderia Ferrari 1:18.213 +1.189s 20 10 4 Lando Norris GBR McLaren F1 Team 1:18.312 +1.288s 16 11 18 Lance Stroll CAN Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team 1:18.352 +1.328s 20 12 7 Kimi Räikkönen FIN Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN 1:18.531 +1.507s 22 13 99 Antonio Giovinazzi ITA Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN 1:18.556 +1.532s 19 14 5 Sebastian Vettel GER Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team 1:18.614 +1.590s 17 15 14 Fernando Alonso ESP Alpine F1 Team 1:18.847 +1.823s 15 16 31 Esteban Ocon FRA Alpine F1 Team 1:18.999 +1.975s 17 17 63 George Russell GBR Williams Racing 1:19.211 +2.187s 19 18 47 Mick Schumacher GER Uralkali Haas F1 Team 1:19.238 +2.214s 14 19 6 Nicholas Latifi CAN Williams Racing 1:19.313 +2.289s 12 20 9 Nikita Mazepin RAF Uralkali Haas F1 Team 1:20.479 +3.455s 15

Algarve MotoGP: Bagnaia takes pole, Quartararo will start from seventh

Kevin Peterson4 years ago4 years ago07 mins

Ducati rider Francesco Bagnaia scored a remarkable fifth consecutive pole in MotoGP at Portimao, while champion Fabio Quartararo – who had managed the same feat earlier this season – was only seventh. Quartararo and Bagnaia had run the show through practice, but it was Jack Miller who uncorked a Portimao record lap early on in the pole shoot-out instead, with neither of the two favourites even in the top three at the halfway mark of the session. Yet Bagnaia jumped narrowly ahead of team-mate Miller with his very first attempt on his second run, and found another tenth of a second with a follow-up effort moments before the chequered flag. Miller improved too, but only by seven thousandths, leaving him to prop up a Ducati 1-2 that would have been a 1-2-3-4 if not for the efforts of Suzuki rider Joan Mir. Mir beat the closely-matched Pramac Ducati duo of Jorge Martin and Johann Zarco to record his best-ever MotoGP qualifying, although he was seen angrily giving a piece of his mind to Alex Marquez (LCR Honda) – who had passed him into Turn 1 on their last laps – after the chequered flag. Despite being world champion in 2020, Mir had never previously qualified above fourth in MotoGP – though he was elevated to third by a Zarco penalty at last year’s Styrian GP. Pol Espargaro was the lead Honda rider in sixth, a place that would’ve gone to Quartararo had he not had his fastest lap in the session deleted for a yellow flag infringement – the yellow flags having been caused by a Luca Marini Turn 14 crash. Quartararo only lost one place as a consequence, and will be joined by Marquez and team-mate Franco Morbidelli on the third row. Iker Lecuona, who was comfortably the fastest KTM of the quartet in Q1 and advanced to Q2 with Zarco, will lead row four, joined by Alex Rins (Suzuki) and Marini (VR46 Ducati). Avintia rider (and Marini’s semi-team-mate) Enea Bastianini briefly looked like joining his many Ducati peers in Q2, but was shuffled down to 13th by a late Q1 improvement from Zarco. Aleix Espargaro was a further tenth down in fourth in Q1, as the lead Aprilia rider (four places up on team-mate Maverick Vinales), while Danilo Petrucci was the closest KTM rider to his team-mate Lecuona in Q1, and will complete the fifth row. It was therefore a bruising session for KTM’s factory riders. Home hero Miguel Oliveira was just a couple of hundredths off Petrucci and 16th-placed Valentino Rossi, but was almost half a second down on Lecuona – at a track where Oliveira had won last year. It was worse still for team-mate Brad Binder, who will line up at the head of row seven and was nearly seven tenths off Lecuona, not helped by an early-Q1 crash at the sharp Turn 3. The only other rider to fall in Q1 was Takaaki Nakagami, with the Japanese LCR Honda rider’s late off at the hairpin-like Turn 5 consigning him to last place on the grid. ALGARVE MOTOGP, PORTIMAO – FULL QUALIFYING RESULTS POS RIDER NAT TEAM TIME/DIFF LAP MAX 1 Francesco Bagnaia ITA Ducati Team (GP21) 1’38.725s 7/8 335k 2 Jack Miller AUS Ducati Team (GP21) +0.104s 7/8 342k 3 Joan Mir SPA Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) +0.168s 3/7 332k 4 Jorge Martin SPA Pramac Ducati (GP21)* +0.191s 7/8 342k 5 Johann Zarco FRA Pramac Ducati (GP21) +0.193s 6/8 342k 6 Pol Espargaro SPA Repsol Honda (RC213V) +0.333s 6/7 341k 7 Fabio Quartararo FRA Monster Yamaha (YZR-M1) +0.406s 7/7 331k 8 Alex Marquez SPA LCR Honda (RC213V) +0.466s 6/7 338k 9 Franco Morbidelli ITA Monster Yamaha (YZR-M1) +0.596s 3/7 329k 10 Iker Lecuona SPA KTM Tech3 (RC16) +0.662s 7/8 333k 11 Alex Rins SPA Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) +0.924s 3/7 332k 12 Luca Marini ITA Sky VR46 Avintia Ducati (GP19)* +1.103s 5/6 331k Qualifying 1: 13 Enea Bastianini ITA Avintia Ducati (GP19)* 1’39.283s 7/8 338k 14 Aleix Espargaro SPA Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP) 1’39.389s 7/8 335k 15 Danilo Petrucci ITA KTM Tech3 (RC16) 1’39.595s 7/8 328k 16 Valentino Rossi ITA Petronas Yamaha (YZR-M1) 1’39.604s 7/8 333k 17 Miguel Oliveira POR Red Bull KTM (RC16) 1’39.624s 3/8 330k 18 Maverick Vinales SPA Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP) 1’39.738s 3/7 331k 19 Brad Binder RSA Red Bull KTM (RC16) 1’39.859s 6/7 336k 20 Stefan Bradl GER Repsol Honda (RC213V) 1’39.907s 7/8 335k 21 Andrea Dovizioso ITA Petronas Yamaha (YZR-M1) 1’39.918s 7/8 331k 22 Takaaki Nakagami JPN LCR Honda (RC213V) 1’40.009s 5/5 334k

Bagnaia leads Quartararo with 0.001s in Algarve MotoGP FP3

Kevin Peterson4 years ago4 years ago06 mins

Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia led MotoGP world champion Fabio Quartararo by just 0.001 seconds in an extremely tight Algarve Grand Prix FP3. Despite clear skies bathed in bright sunshine, conditions were cold for the third 45-minute session of the Algarve weekend. This meant lap time improvements on the combined order were few and far between for most of FP3. Suzuki’s Joan Mir was the first major improver on the combined order, the 2020 world champion moving up to third with a 1m39.586s – which also put him top of the individual FP3 timesheet. But this would be the most significant lap for some time, with LCR’s Takaaki Nakagami the only other rider able to improve into the top 10 with 25 minutes of the session gone. Despite the lack of combined order improvements, the field still went for fresh slicks in the closing stages for a final time attack to try and secure a direct place in Q2 for this afternoon’s qualifying. With seven minutes to go Quartararo finally bettered his Friday time with a 1m39.206s to slightly extend his advantage at the top of the combined timesheets. But it wouldn’t keep him top for long, as Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia found 0.004s to edge ahead with a 1m39.202s moments later. A flurry of late lap times would shake up the top 10 order as the session wound down, but Bagnaia would remain fastest of all. However, Yamaha’s Quartararo found a 1m39.203s on his final lap to shadow Bagnaia by 0.001s – setting up a titanic battle for pole position later today. Mir completed the top three, missing top spot by just 0.025s on his Suzuki, with Ducati’s Jack Miller jumping up to fourth late on ahead of top Honda runner Alex Marquez on the LCR-run RC213V. Franco Morbidelli had a wild ride to sixth on the second of the factory Yamahas ahead of Suzuki’s Alex Rins, while Pol Espargaro bagged a place in Q2 on the factory Honda ahead of Avintia rookie Luca Marini and Pramac’s Jorge Martin. Just 0.461s covered the top 10, with Nakagami denied a place in Q2 by 0.005s from Tech3’s Iker Lecuona, who was comfortably top KTM on a continuing difficult weekend for the Austrian brand. Home hero Miguel Oliveira – who said on Friday he’s “hit a wall” in terms of going faster – did manage to find nine tenths compared to his Friday best, but that was still only good enough for 15th and was still 0.859s off the pace. He’ll face Q1 later along with the likes of Petronas SRT duo Valentino Rossi and Andrea Dovizioso, and both Aprilias of Maverick Vinales and Aleix Espargaro. ALGARVE MOTOGP, PORTIMAO – FREE PRACTICE (3) RESULTS POS RIDER NAT TEAM TIME/DIFF LAP MAX 1 ^1 Francesco Bagnaia ITA Ducati Team (GP21) 1’39.202s 15/18 339k 2 ˅1 Fabio Quartararo FRA Monster Yamaha (YZR-M1) +0.001s 20/20 330k 3 ^1 Joan Mir SPA Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) +0.025s 13/16 332k 4 ˅1 Jack Miller AUS Ducati Team (GP21) +0.160s 18/19 344k 5 ^2 Alex Marquez SPA LCR Honda (RC213V) +0.173s 19/20 336k 6 ^6 Franco Morbidelli ITA Monster Yamaha (YZR-M1) +0.274s 19/19 328k 7 ^3 Alex Rins SPA Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) +0.348s 19/20 336k 8 ˅3 Pol Espargaro SPA Repsol Honda (RC213V) +0.350s 17/18 339k 9 ^6 Luca Marini ITA Sky VR46 Avintia Ducati (GP19)* +0.378s 17/18 336k 10 ^1 Jorge Martin SPA Pramac Ducati (GP21)* +0.461s 17/19 341k 11 ˅2 Takaaki Nakagami JPN LCR Honda (RC213V) +0.466s 18/19 338k 12 ^8 Iker Lecuona SPA KTM Tech3 (RC16) +0.681s 18/19 335k 13 ^3 Enea Bastianini ITA Avintia Ducati (GP19)* +0.734s 16/18 334k 14 ˅8 Johann Zarco FRA Pramac Ducati (GP21) +0.793s 18/19 340k 15 ^4 Miguel Oliveira POR Red Bull KTM (RC16) +0.859s 18/19 332k 16 ˅3 Danilo Petrucci ITA KTM Tech3 (RC16) +1.005s 17/17 332k 17 ^4 Valentino Rossi ITA Petronas Yamaha (YZR-M1) +1.011s 18/19 335k 18 ˅1 Brad Binder RSA Red Bull KTM (RC16) +1.011s 17/17 334k 19 ˅1 Stefan Bradl GER Repsol Honda (RC213V) +1.080s 20/20 338k 20 ^2 Andrea Dovizioso ITA Petronas Yamaha (YZR-M1) +1.162s 19/19 334k 21 ˅7 Maverick Vinales SPA Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP) +1.414s 13/15 332k 22 ˅14 Aleix Espargaro SPA Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP) +1.624s 4/18 341k

Ben Rhodes wins maiden NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship

Kevin Peterson4 years ago1 year ago06 mins

Ben Rhodes sealed the deal Friday night at Phoenix Raceway, winning the 2021 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship in his first-ever appearance in the Championship 4. After six full-time seasons in the Truck Series, the 24-year-old ThorSport Racing driver has a truck title to celebrate. The Championship 4 battle came down to the final laps. Zane Smith appeared to be in championship-winning position, but with eight laps remaining, Rhodes found enough speed in his No. 99 ThorSport Racing Ford to pass Smith, nudging the back bumper of the No. 21 GMS Racing Chevrolet in Turn 2 to get by him. Rhodes finished the race in third. Smith finished fifth and second in the championship standings. “I thought it was gone,” Rhodes said during the trophy presentation. “When the 21 (Smith) drove past me, I thought it was all over. He just kept driving away further and further and further. The end of the race, when everybody started wearing their stuff out, I didn‘t think I had anything left. I was sideways every corner. But we had just enough, just enough. “This sounds weird, but this felt special from the time I got here, but I didn‘t want to ruin it,” he added. “I didn‘t want to say anything, I didn‘t want to do anything out of context, I just wanted to stay 100% focused.” Another Championship 4 driver, John Hunter Nemechek, had his title chances quickly evaporate at the start of the race. A left-front tire went down on his No. 4 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota after the start of the race as a result of some contact with another truck. Nemechek lost two laps after pitting to change tires. He earned both laps back and recovered for a seventh-place finish to finish third in the championship standings. The final Championship 4 driver, Matt Crafton, fought an ill-handling No. 88 ThorSport Racing Ford throughout the night. Crafton finished 12th and took the fourth spot in the final playoff rankings. Rhodes opened the season with a statement, winning back-to-back races at Daytona International Speedway and the track‘s road course layout. Those proved to be his only two wins throughout the remainder of the regular season, but his consistency radiated throughout the year with seven top-five finishes, 15 top 10s and a trio of runner-up finishes this season heading into Phoenix. The Phoenix finale caps off a career year for Rhodes in the Truck Series, including his first multi-win season, but he‘s no stranger to success behind the wheel. Before landing at the top of the Truck Series standings, Rhodes burst onto the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East (now ARCA Menards East) scene with a stellar 2014 campaign. At 17 years old, Rhodes scored five wins, 11 top fives, 13 top 10s and six pole awards in 16 races. He had just five finishes outside the top four all season, resulting in a series championship. That same year, Rhodes ran four races in the Truck Series and brought home three top-10 results. That early success landed Rhodes a part-time ride in the Xfinity Series, driving 10 races for JR Motorsports in 2015. One year later, he earned into a full-time role in the Truck Series behind the wheel for ThorSport and hasn‘t looked back since. Rhodes joins veteran Matt Crafton (2013, 2014, 2019) on the list of championship drivers for ThorSport. “I wouldn‘t even be here today if it wasn‘t for Duke and Rhonda (Thorson, ThorSport team owners),” Rhodes said. “They gave me my opportunity in this sport. They were my very first full-time national team that I raced for and I‘ve been with them ever since. They‘re so amazing and I can‘t even begin to thank them enough. This has just been a ride of a lifetime. I hope it‘s not over. I want to keep going now. This is amazing.”

Formula 1 extends Chinese GP up to 2025 in a new deal

Kevin Peterson4 years ago4 years ago03 mins

Formula 1 has extended its contract with the Chinese Grand Prix until 2025, the organisation said Saturday, despite the race being dropped from its calendar for next year. COVID-19 and China’s strict travel restrictions prompted the cancellation of the Shanghai event in 2020 and this year. F1 has also not included the race on its 2022 schedule due to “ongoing pandemic conditions”. But that has not stopped it from extending its deal with the world’s second-largest economy, which is a major growth market for F1. “We are very pleased that this new agreement will ensure our fans in China have Formula 1 racing to look forward to in the coming years,” F1 said in a statement. “While we are all disappointed we could not include China on the 2022 calendar … China will be restored to the calendar as soon as conditions allow and we look forward to being back with the fans as soon as we can,” President and CEO Stefano Domenicali said. F1 last month released a record 23-race schedule for 2022 that included several events — such as Australia, Canada, Singapore and Japan — that were axed this year and in 2020 due to the pandemic and subsequent health restrictions. The Chinese GP, which has been running since 2004, will be replaced by the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola on 24 April. The 2022 season will start in Bahrain on 20 March and end back in the Gulf at Abu Dhabi on 20 November. F1 is growing in popularity in China but the world’s most populous nation still lacks a home star. But there are high hopes that hotly tipped youngster Zhou Guanyu will make the leap up from Formula 2.

Russell handed a five-place grid penalty after gearbox change

Kevin Peterson4 years ago4 years ago03 mins

George Russell is set for a five-place grid penalty for the Mexican GP after taking a new gearbox following problems in the second practice session. Russell was the last of the 20 drivers to take to the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in FP2, and was quick to report a gearbox problem. Initially, it appeared as if a rear body cover screw that had fallen out as Russell pulled out of the Williams garage may have been at fault. But Williams soon dismissed the theory, insisting it was an internal gearbox issue that led to an investigation, confining Russell to the garage for the rest of the session. The FIA has since confirmed Russell is to take a new gearbox for the remainder of the weekend, which will result in an automatic five-place grid drop. Russell said: “I had a gearbox failure. Not ideal. It’s only Friday. Points are awarded on Sunday.” Putting the gearbox issues aside, Russell added: “FP1 was a surprisingly good session for us. I had a good rhythm, showed some good race pace, and I think that’s what it’s all going to be about. “This high altitude makes it difficult for the cooling, the brakes, the engine, so if we can be on top of that, we can be on the front foot for the race.” Despite his strong Saturday form this season, Russell will drop towards the rear of the grid where he will join Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda who have taken power unit penalties.

Hamilton admits Red Bull are ‘too quick’ after Friday practice

Kevin Peterson4 years ago4 years ago03 mins

Mercedes team secured a one-two in the first practice session at the Mexican Grand Prix on Friday, but that glory was short-lived as Red Bull’s Max Verstappen outperformed both Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas in FP2. The defending world champion got candid about the situation and admitted that his championship rival may simply be too quick this weekend. The Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez has always seen strong performances from the Red Bull, and this weekend may not be any different. Hamilton knows that he needs to step up his game, with even his teammate Bottas trumping him in both the practice sessions so far. More significantly, Verstappen was half a second quicker in FP2. “They’re definitely too quick for us at the moment,” Lewis Hamilton said after the session, before adding that he still feels like they have a strong chance to keep pace with the Red Bulls. “The car has been feeling OK. I’ve not really had any major issues,” he said. Lewis Hamilton is always one to stay positive, but his honest assessment reveals that the Red Bulls currently have an advantage. “We’re giving it absolutely everything we’ve got, and I think they are just quicker than us at the moment,” he said, before pointing to their lack of downforce as a possible culprit. He then assured that the Mercedes team will be busy finding a solution to the pace disadvantage. Bottas also spoke up and complained about low grip on his car. He said that it was a dusty track and that made things more difficult for him and his teammate. Nevertheless, practice pace is often not necessarily reflective of race pace. The Mercedes drivers have always been strong for the long haul on Sunday, and the tight results of the practice sessions make it impossible to predict which team will be dominant on Saturday qualifying and on the main race on Sunday.

Mexican GP FP2: Verstappen tops as Russell and Ricciardo experience gearbox issues

Kevin Peterson4 years ago4 years ago05 mins

Mercedes dictated the early pace in Mexico, but championship leader Max Verstappen bounced back in the afternoon session to end the opening day on top. The Mercedes duo of Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton finished second and third, followed by home hero Sergio Perez. The start of the session saw the majority of drivers opt for the yellow-banded medium compounds, albeit the Mercedes cars kicked off their afternoon work on the hard compound after only using Pirelli’s soft tyres in Free Practice 1. The Brackley-Brixworth-based outfit was quick in the first practice, but found it difficult to replicate that speed in the early part of the second session. Hamilton had a lap time deleted for double-yellow flags, and then locked up on hard tyres while Bottas was unable to set an eye-catching lap time on the white-banded tyres. When the time arrived for the usual qualifying simulations, Verstappen managed to set the fastest time of the day with a 1m17.301 to go four tenths of a second quicker than Bottas. The Finn’s time was, however, a remarkable result given the fact that he set that after racking up multiple laps on his soft compound. The Nastola-born driver’s team mate was not satisfied with the balance of his W12, and finished half a second off his championship rival’s benchmark. Home hero Sergio Perez finished fourth, just a whisker behind Hamilton. While Ferrari drivers made mistakes in the opening session, they had a smoother run in the afternoon. Carlos Sainz finished fifth fastest, but he was over a second adrift of Verstappen. Following his strong showing in Texas, Charles Leclerc completed a total of 28 laps, setting the seventh fastest time. The Monegasque seemingly had issues with the balance of his SF21 over a single lap, but his long run pace was impressive compared to Ferrari’s main rival, McLaren. AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly is eager to deliver a good result after his technical woes at the United States Grand Prix. The Frenchman finished P6 in between the two Ferraris with his team mate Yuki Tsunoda ending up eighth fastest. The Japanese driver will face a back-of-grid start on Sunday after taking new PU components just as Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll. The Canadian took 17th, but his result is less important as his focus centred around the race setup of his car. It was not an easy session for Daniel Ricciardo and George Russell with both drivers having endured technical woes which were related to the Mercedes gearboxes in their cars. The Australian, who scored his latest F1 win at Monza in early September finished P15 after only completing seven laps on Pirelli’s hard compound. The Williams racer notched up a total of two laps, finishing 20th without a time on the board. 2021 F1 MEXICO CITY GRAND PRIX – FREE PRACTICE RESULTS (2) Pos. No. Driver Car Time Gap Laps 1 33 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:17.301 28 2 77 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:17.725 +0.424s 31 3 44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:17.810 +0.509s 26 4 11 Sergio Perez Red Bull 1:17.871 +0.570s 26 5 55 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:18.318 +1.017s 29 6 10 Pierre Gasly Alphatauri 1:18.429 +1.128s 29 7 16 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:18.605 +1.304s 28 8 22 Yuki Tsunoda Alphatauri 1:18.644 +1.343s 31 9 5 Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin 1:18.681 +1.380s 32 10 14 Fernando Alonso Alpine 1:18.732 +1.431s 27 11 7 Kimi Räikkönen Alfa Romeo 1:18.841 +1.540s 25 12 4 Lando Norris Mclaren Mercedes 1:18.979 +1.678s 27 13 99 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo 1:19.227 +1.926s 31 14 31 Esteban Ocon Alpine 1:19.431 +2.130s 37 15 3 Daniel Ricciardo Mclaren Mercedes 1:19.521 +2.220s 7 16 47 Mick Schumacher Haas 1:19.620 +2.319s 30 17 18 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1:19.730 +2.429s 36 18 6 Nicholas Latifi Williams 1:20.820 +3.519s 17 19 9 Nikita Mazepin Haas 1:21.581 +4.280s 28 20 63 George Russell Williams 2

Red Bull reverts on Tsunoda’s criticism after Mexican GP Qualifying mix-up

Toto Wolf annoyed with Bottas for letting Verstappen through on Turn 1

Mexican GP: Verstappen wins ahead of Hamilton, Perez third in home race(full results)

Bagnaia wins crash filled Algarve GP ahead of Mir and Miller(full results)

Daniel Hemric wins Phoenix race securing the 2021 Xfinity Series championship title

Verstappen says Perez and Tsunoda ruined his bid to take pole for Mexican GP

Toyota #8 wins 8 Hours of Bahrain as sister car #7 wins 2021 Championship title

Bottas takes pole as Mercedes lock out the front row in the Mexican GP qualifying(full results)

Mexican GP FP3: Sergio Perez leads a Red Bull 1-2 in final practice

Algarve MotoGP: Bagnaia takes pole, Quartararo will start from seventh

Bagnaia leads Quartararo with 0.001s in Algarve MotoGP FP3

Ben Rhodes wins maiden NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship

Formula 1 extends Chinese GP up to 2025 in a new deal

Russell handed a five-place grid penalty after gearbox change

Hamilton admits Red Bull are ‘too quick’ after Friday practice

Mexican GP FP2: Verstappen tops as Russell and Ricciardo experience gearbox issues

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