Category: Open Wheel Racing

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IndyCar Finale: St Petersburg Preview

image courtesy of IndyCar

After seven months we have finally reached the culmination of a full season of IndyCar racing. We head into the Firestone Grand Prix of St Petersburg, after COVID-19 risked the suspension of the series in its entirety, with an enthralling championship decider, and some wonderful races along the way.

With the cooperation of the Florida city’s governing leaders, they have fortunately been able to construct the airport / street layout in time for this weekend’s fall event. Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon leads Penske’s Josef Newgarden as the two battle for the NTT IndyCar Series crown in a year dominated by postponements, cancellations, and rescheduling, but will finish with 14 races instead of the intended 17. Dixon has never won here but has been a runner-up four times while Newgarden had one “top-of-the podium” St. Pete finish a year ago.

This weekend’s running of the Firestone Grand Prix is the 17th event at St Petersburg since 2003, will run for 100 laps/180 miles; ten laps shorter than in 2019 when Josef Newgarden won there for the first time. Team Penske will be confident having won here nine times while Will Power and Sebastien Bourdais have each won twice among the active series drivers. Will Power also has an incredible eight pole positions to his name so don’t overlook the Australian this weekend.

 

LAST TIME OUT

In March 2019, Josef Newgarden took his first St Petersburg win, kickstarting his championship winning campaign. Power took the start from pole position, surging to an early lead until the first round of pit stops. Opting for an alternative strategy, Newgarden waited five extra laps before stopping, building an extensive lead out front before changing to the softer tyre. The margin he built on his competitors meant he was able to win by 2.899 seconds over Scott Dixon who has never won there despite being a five-time series champion

 

DRIVER NEWS

St Petersburg sees the debut of Australian Supercar champion Scott McLaughlin who features for Penske this weekend,

There has been some seismic driver news for 2021 over the past few weeks, notably the change at Arrow McLaren SP. It seems that Oliver Askew following a season placated by a variety of issues will be leaving the team at the end of the season.

To take his place is Chip Ganassi’s Felix Rosenqvist, who has one IndyCar victory to his name. The lineup alongside Pato O’Ward will undoubtedly excite all fans as one of the best young driver pairings on the grid.

Unfortunately for Askew, it seems that his luck ran out. What started with a promising podium at Iowa came crashing down, with the American featuring inside the top ten once since then. Lately, Askew was forced to miss the Harvest GP after is was revealed that he was suffering with ‘concussion-esque’ symptoms after his crash at the Indy 500. Helio Castroneves filled in for Askew at the Harvest GP, however he has been cleared fit to race for this weekend and will feature one final time for McLaren.

The final question will be who takes the vacant Chip Ganassi seat? With incoming NASCAR champion Jimmy Johnson set to feature in a few races, it seems only logical that Ganassi will share that car between Johnson and an IndyCar veteran. Rumours have been that Tony Kanaan or Helio Castroneves could fill in.

And significantly Formula E champion Antonio Felix Da Costa will take part in a pre-season test with Rahal Letterman Racing. It is unclear whether this is with a view for a 2021 IndyCar seat but would undoubtedly replace Conor Daly to line up alongside Dutch superstar Rinus VeeKay.

CHAMPIONSHIP OUTLOOK

The good news for Josef Newgarden is that there are nearly 200 scenarios in which he can clinch the IndyCar championship Sunday at St. Petersburg, Florida.

The bad news is there are nearly 19,700 ways in which rival Scott Dixon will win the championship.

Entering the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg with a 32-point lead, the Chip Ganassi Racing driver, who has led the standings since opening the season with three consecutive victories, is a heavy favourite for his sixth championship. He will clinch the title with a ninth-place or better, regardless of where Newgarden finishes.

 

WHO ELSE TO WATCH OUT FOR

Colton Herta, Patricio O’Ward and Rinus VeeKay have all had successes at St Petersburg in their lower formula experiences. All three has taken victory here in either IndyLights or the Pro Mazda championship.

Colton Herta has been in magnificent form with an amazing qualifying record, a win at Mid-Ohio and a podium at the Harvest GP. He is currently third in the standings and will be looking to finish his campaign in similar style.

Rinus VeeKay is almost certain to win the ‘Rookie of the Year’ title. His nearest challenger his Alex Palou who is 54 points behind. Palou would have to take pole, win, and lead the most laps in the race to tie level. Simply put, an impossible task.

Finally, Alexander Rossi has put his gremlins behind him. A season plagued with issues has effectively written off the American’s year. However, with four consecutive podiums since Mid-Ohio Rossi will be looking to send a statement to everyone heading into 2021.

 

WHAT TIME IS THE RACE?

 

SATURDAY 24 OCTOBER

10:55 EST / 14:55 GMT – Practice

15:05 EST / 18:05 GMT – Qualifying

 

SUNDAY 25 OCTOBER

14:30 EST / 19:30 GMT – Race

 

WHERE CAN I WATCH THE RACE?

Coverage in the UK for the races will be on Sky Sports F1. However, you can also read our session reports right here, on ThePitCrewOnline.

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F3: Novalak leads Trident 1–2 in post-season test

Clement Novalak ended the second day of Formula 3 testing in Barcelona on top of the timesheets, with Trident teammate Jack Doohan in second.

Novalak was on the pace throughout the morning session. Hitech’s Igor Fraga set the initial pace with a 1:33.033s, but this was swiftly beaten by Novalak. The Trident driver was briefly deposed by Matteo Nannini, driving from ART after topping yesterday’s test with Campos, but by the end of the session Novalak was back on top with a benchmark of 1:31.989s.

Nannini stayed in second until late in the session, when Doohan put in a 1:32.147s to drop Nannini to third ahead of Fraga. Doohan also recorded the most laps of the day with 91.

Jonathan Hoggard, Jenzer (David Ramos / Formula 1 via Getty Images)

Jenzer rookie Jonathan Hoggard impressed by ending the day fifth-fastest ahead of ART’s Olli Caldwell, and then topping the afternoon session which focused on race simulations.

Renault junior Victor Martins made it all three ARTs in the top seven, while Dennis Hauger (Prema), Calan Williams (Jenzer) and David Schumacher (Trident) rounded out the top ten.

Hauger was the only Prema driver in the top ten in the morning session, with Roman Stanek P17 and Arthur Leclerc P22. However, the reigning champions had a much stronger afternoon with Stanek and Hauger second and third behind Hoggard, and Leclerc fifth behind Fraga.

Overall classification:

Pos. Driver Team Time (best) Laps (total)
1 Clement Novalak Trident 1:31.989 80
2 Jack Doohan Trident 1:32.147 73
3 Matteo Nannini ART Grand Prix 1:32.252 91
4 Igor Fraga Hitech Grand Prix 1:32.290 86
5 Jonathan Hoggard (R) Jenzer Motorsport 1:32.328 73
6 Olli Caldwell ART Grand Prix 1:32.332 77
7 Victor Martins (R) ART Grand Prix 1:32.457 85
8 Dennis Hauger Prema Racing 1:32.472 67
9 Calan Williams Jenzer Motorsport 1:32.478 61
10 David Schumacher Trident 1:32.549 81
11 Enzo Fittipaldi HWA Racelab 1:32.575 84
12 Ben Barnicoat Carlin Buzz Racing 1:32.596 71
13 Jak Crawford (R) Hitech Grand Prix 1:32.599 77
14 Caio Collet (R) MP Motorsport 1:32.665 85
15 Pierre-Louis Chovet Hitech Grand Prix 1:32.784 85
16 Jonny Edgar (R) MP Motorsport 1:32.878 78
17 Roman Stanek Prema Racing 1:32.930 69
18 Michael Belov Charouz Racing System 1:33.056 65
19 William Alatalo (R) Campos Racing 1:33.079 79
20 Amaury Cordeel (R) MP Motorsport 1:33.087 77
21 Sophia Floersch Carlin Buzz Racing 1:33.092 71
22 Arthur Leclerc (R) Prema Racing 1:33.169 71
23 Patrik Pasma (R) Charouz Racing System 1:33.219 77
24 Ido Cohen (R) Carlin Buzz Racing 1:33.240 68
25 Alessandro Famularo (R) Campos 1:33.251 65
26 Oliver Rasmussen (R) HWA Racelab 1:33.339 68
27 Filip Ugran (R) Jenzer Motorsport 1:33.837 57
28 Rafael Villagomez (R) Campos Racing 1:33.840 79
29 Tijmen van der Helme (R) HWA Racelab 1:33.947 77
30 Josef Knopp (R) Charouz Racing System 1:34.604 78
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F3: Nannini fastest in first post-season test

Matteo Nannini topped the first day of Formula 3’s post-season test in Barcelona ahead of Jake Hughes and Calan Williams.

On his first day driving for Campos Racing, Nannini set his time of a 1:32.170s in the morning session, before switching to race simulations in the afternoon and logging a total of 64 laps. Hughes, returning to HWA, was only 0.257s slower than Nannini and set 62 laps overall.

Jenzer’s Williams led a tight trio of drivers with less than three tenths separating him from Dennis Hauger at Prema and ART rookie Victor Martins in fifth. Renault junior Martins, currently leading the 2020 Formula Renault Eurocup championship, was the only rookie within the top ten and had one of the highest lap counts with 74.

Victor Martins, ART (Photo Alexandre Guillaumot, DPPI / Renault Sport Media)

Enzo Fittipaldi (HWA) and Roman Stanek (ART) were sixth and seventh, while Jack Doohan was eighth-fastest overall and topped the afternoon session for Trident. Clement Novalak (Trident) and David Schumacher (Prema) rounded out the top ten.

HWA rookie William Alatalo recorded the most laps of the day with 93, while Novalak had the fewest with 49.

Six drivers set their fastest laps in the afternoon session, all of whom were rookies: Alessandro Famularo (Campos), Amaury Cordeel (MP Motorsport), Jonny Edgar (MP Motorsport), Patrik Pasma (Charouz), Rafael Villagomez (Trident) and Josef Knopp (Charouz).

Overall classification:

Pos. Driver Team Time (best) Laps (total)
1 Matteo Nannini Campos Racing 1:32.170 64
2 Jake Hughes HWA Racelab 1:32.427 62
3 Calan Williams Jenzer Motorsport 1:32.500 60
4 Dennis Hauger Prema Racing 1:32.512 74
5 Victor Martins (R) ART Grand Prix 1:32.527 74
6 Enzo Fittipaldi HWA Racelab 1:32.615 73
7 Roman Stanek ART Grand Prix 1:32.625 77
8 Jack Doohan Trident 1:32.777 57
9 Clement Novalak Trident 1:32.816 49
10 David Schumacher Prema Racing 1:32.948 73
11 Igor Fraga Hitech Grand Prix 1:33.069 70
12 Franco Copalinto (R) MP Motorsport 1:33.085 77
13 Jonathan Hoggard (R) Jenzer Motorsport 1:33.096 54
14 Artur Leclerc (R) Prema Racing 1:33.161 71
15 Jak Crawford (R) Hitech Grand Prix 1:33.286 72
16 Michael Belov Charouz Racing System 1:33.331 50
17 Ben Barnicoat Carlin Buzz Racing 1:33.450 51
18 Oliver Rasmussen (R) Hitech Grand Prix 1:33.492 74
19 Pierre Louis Chovet Campos Racing 1:33.509 64
20 Olli Caldwell ART Grand Prix 1:33.530 72
21 William Alatalo (R) HWA Racelab 1:33.772 93
22 Sophia Floersch Carlin Buzz Racing 1:33.819 61
23 Ido Cohen (R) Carlin Buzz Racing 1:33.838 61
24 Alessandro Famularo (R) Campos Racing 1:33.988 68
25 Amaury Cordeel (R) MP Motorsport 1:34.139 75
26 Jonny Edgar (R) MP Motorsport 1:34.389 71
27 Patrik Pasma (R) Charouz Racing System 1:34.911 64
28 Rafael Villagomez (R) Trident 1:35.062 65
29 Filip Ugran (R) Jenzer Motorsport 1:35.170 56
30 Josef Knopp (R) Charouz Racing System 1:35.758 70
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IndyCar Harvest GP: Newgarden victory keeps title fight alive. Maiden podium for Rinus VeeKay.

image courtesy of IndyCar & Chris Owens

Josef Newgarden landed a crushing blow to Scott Dixon’s championship lead, gaining his 20th career IndyCar victory at the IMS, his 3rd this season. The New Zealander would eventually finish down in ninth after a late and costly mistake.

Dutchman Rinus VeeKay led from pole position from Colton Herta, and managed to pull a healthy gap on the rest of the field after starting on the faster sticker red tyres.

However, Herta started on the sticker blacks, going further on his first stint, looking to make up the time with the faster tyre on the second stint. This tactic proved to be successful, passing the Dutchman after the first pit stop with an audacious dummy move down the inside of turn 7.

Josef Newgarden also chose to start on the sticker blacks. Managing to go 10 laps longer than his rivals, he was able to come out ahead of Colton Herta after the pit stops into the lead of the race.

But came back fighting did Herta. Using up all his push to pash to catch Newgarden, diving to the inside of Turn 1 to take the race lead back from the two-time champion.

Following the second pit stop all of the top three chose to go onto the sticker reds, emerging with Herta in front, followed by Newgarden and VeeKay. Herta would unfortunately struggle with his rear tyres, prompting a lock up on lap 60, gifting the lead back to Newgarden before putting again.

Newgarden would follow, both opting for the sticker blacks. However, the two time champion was able to magnificently pull away from the rest of the field, enough to seal his first career win at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

This win cuts the championship gap to 40 points with 108 remaining over the next two races, one of which comes tomorrow with the second of the doubleheader weekend. What was seemingly an unassailable championship fight going into Mid-Ohio in September, now seems like a mouth-watering prospect as Newgarden chases his third and what would be his most incredible championship.

Colton Herta on the other hand, would fall under the pressure of a charging Felix Rosenqvist, who had dropped as low as 10th before fighting back to the podium. Although, an unsuccessful pass on Herta would drop him into the clutches of Alexander Rossi who would steamroll through both Rosenqvist and Herta for a second-place finish. Rossi was visibly irritated following the race due to a penalty brought on by exceeding track limits. It marks another string of penalties at the IMS for Rossi who is starting to make something of a habit of it at this circuit.

Image courtesy of IndyCar by Doug Matthews

Rinus VeeKay, who had done so well to put that Ed Carpenter Racing car on pole position, had to make up for lost ground during the pit stops, but saved the majority of his push to pass to overtake both Herta in fourth and Roseqnvist in fifth to take his first IndyCar podium in style.

Behind them, a titanic battle ensued with Will Power who suffered due to a stuck front-right wheel during his first pit stop as well as experiencing a huge slide going into turn 1 that could have easily ended his race. Behind him was Graham Rahal and Jack Harvey who were able to capitalise on a unusual late mistake from Scott Dixon who ran wide onto the grass, to finish in a disappointing ninth. Rounded out the top ten was Marcus Ericsson marking a solid day for Chip Ganassi who featured every car in the top ten.

The race ran without a caution period but Marco Andretti was forced to retire with a handful of laps remaining after the rear caught fire. Andretti was able to bring the car back to the pits for his pit crew to put it out.

RACE CLASSIFICATION

1 Josef Newgarden
2 Alexander Rossi
3 Rinus VeeKay (R)
4 Colton Herta
5 Felix Rosenqvist
6 Will Power
7 Graham Rahal
8 Jack Harvey
9 Scott Dixon
10 Marcus Ericsson
11 Max Chilton
12 Conor Daly
13 Charlie Kimball
14 James Hinchcliffe
15 Santino Ferrucci
16 Simon Pagenaud
17 Alex Palou (R)
18 Takuma Sato
19 Ryan Hunter-Reay
20 Helio Castroneves
21 Sebastien Bourdais
22 Pato O’Ward
23 Sage Karam
24 Dalton Kellett (R)
25 Marco Andretti
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IndyCar Harvest GP Preview

image courtesy of IndyCar

The first Indy Harvest Classic was held way back in 1916, so here we are in 2020, about to witness the next running, now called the Indy Harvest GP, to be run in two parts on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s 2.439-mile road course Friday and Saturday, October 2-3. Races 12/13 of the NTT IndyCar Series were a somewhat late addition to the often-altered season schedule and will precede Sunday’s 8-Hour GT World Challenge America endurance race.

The previous IMS road course race (the GMR GP) was held during July’s Brickyard weekend after its traditional May running was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Dixon’s Chip Ganassi Honda ran away with the race after a full-course caution shuffled the field on lap 36/80. Dixon had stopped three laps earlier while the leaders at the time pitted under caution after Oliver Askew’s crash. Following the green flag, Dixon chased down then leader Graham Rahal on Lap 48 and cruised to a 19.9-second victory after leading 26 laps; his first GMR win after three runner-up finishes. Rahal was second with Jack Harvey taking his first podium finish in third.

This event will mark the eighth and ninth times that the IMS road course has hosted an IndyCar race. So far, only Simon Pagenaud (three times), Will Power (also three times) and Scott Dixon have won here. Power has started from pole position here four times, with the other three poles going to Sebastian Saavedra, Pagenaud and Felix Rosenqvist.

Seven drivers are still mathematically eligible for the 2020 IndyCar championship. Dixon on 456 points, Josef Newgarden -72, Pato O’Ward -118, Colton Herta -129, Will Power -150, Graham Rahal -155 and Takuma Sato -156. There will be no double-points available at the St. Petersburg finale, however. So with a maximum of 54 points available from any race (50 for the win, 1 for pole, 2 for leading most laps, 1 for leading a lap), drivers emerging from Friday’s race more than 108 points behind Dixon will be out of the title running. Dixon will clinch his sixth championship a race early if he is more than 54 points ahead of his nearest pursuer come Saturday evening.

 

DRIVER CHANGES

Helio Castroneves will be temporarily replacing Oliver Askew in the Arrow McLaren SP after he was deemed not medically fit to race. It marks the third time in three years that the Indianapolis 500 winner has taken part in the Indy Road Course since his retirement from full-time racing.

Sebastien Bourdais returns this weekend taking the third A.J Foyt Racing entry, joining with Charlie Kimball and Dalton Kellett for the final three races.

Conor Daly is back with Ed Carpenter for his usual road course duties while Dryer & Reinbold will extend its schedule, entering Sage Karam for the weekend.

Finally, Zach Veach has permanently stepped out of the Andretti Autosport No. 26, making way for James Hinchcliffe for the remaining races and perhaps next season. Hinchliffe had driven for Andretti up until the 2015 season when he moved to Schmidt Peterson Motorsports.

 

OUTLOOK FOR THE WIN

In my opinion you cannot overlook the Penske drivers for this race, who have won a staggering five out of the last six iterations of this race. Will Power has won here three out of six in that time and will be looking to improve on his race winning performance at Mid-Ohio.

Remember it was Power who led from pole position this time back in July when a poorly timed caution cycled him back into the pack. He will have the ‘bit between his teeth’ to right that wrong and push for a top three championship position.

 

OTHERS TO LOOK OUT FOR

As we go into this race Rinus VeeKay still leads the coveted ‘Rookie of the Year’ title 39 points ahead of his nearest challenger Alex Palou. With Askew withdrawn, there is very little competition going this weekend. Rinus has been consistent and has pulled off some staggering overtakes this year. I expect him to carry on in a similar fashion this weekend.

Also, I fully expect Colton Herta to do what he has been doing all season. In his sophomore season, he is currently fourth in the standings with both a win and a pole position to his name. His win last weekend was a just-reward for his performances lately, and I expect, with a few improvements here and there, that he will be a fully fledged title contender in the years to come.

 

WHAT TIME IS THE RACE?

There are two!

THURSDAY 01 OCTOBER

14:15 EST / 19:15 GMT – Practice

18:20 EST / 23:20 GMT – Qualifying

 

FRIDAY 02 OCTOBER

15:30 EST / 20:30 GMT – Race 1

 

SATURDAY 03 OCTOBER

10:20 EST / 15:20 GMT – Qualifying

14:30 EST / 19:30 GMT – Race 2

 

WHERE CAN I WATCH THE RACE?

Coverage in the UK for the races will be on Sky Sports F1. However, you can also read our session reports right here, on ThePitCrewOnline.

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F2 Sochi: Zhou takes maiden win under red flag

Renault junior Guanyu Zhou was awarded his first Formula 2 win at Sochi, after the sprint race was ended early under the red flag following a heavy crash for Luca Ghiotto and Jack Aitken at Turn 3.

Zhou got a good start from reverse grid pole to hold the lead into the first corner, helped by Nikita Mazepin dropping back from second to third behind Aitken. Championship leader Mick Schumacher shot up from eighth on the grid, passing Jehan Daruvala through Turn 2 to get up into fourth.

Mazepin retook second from Aitken on lap 2, and a lap later Schumacher overtook the Campos for third. Aitken briefly lost fourth as well to Daruvala at the start of lap four, but he retook the place when Daruvala ran wide at Turn 2 and earned himself a time penalty for not rejoining the track correctly.

On lap 6 Ghiotto got past Daruvala and started reeling in Aitken for fourth. But on lap 7 the two made contact as they went wheel-to-wheel through Turn 3 and shot into the TecPro barriers. Both cars ended up between the layers of the barriers with Ghiotto’s car catching fire, but thankfully Aitken and Ghiotto were both unharmed.

Luca Ghiotto, Hitech (Clive Mason / Formula 1 via Getty Images)

The race was immediately red-flagged, and the extent of the repairs needed to fix the barriers meant there wasn’t time for it to resume. As a result Zhou was declared the winner, albeit with half points, with Mazepin second and Schumacher third.

Aitken and Ghiotto were able to take the points for fourth and fifth as per red flag rules the race result was counted back to lap 5. Tsunoda, Ilott and Ticktum took the final points, while Mazepin claimed the two bonus points for fastest lap.

Guilherme Samaia and HWA rookie Jake Hughes also retired from the race after making contact on lap one.

After Sochi, Schumacher’s championship lead has extended as he holds 191 points over Ilott’s 169. Schumacher’s Prema team also extends its lead over Ilott’s UNI-Virtuosi with 331 points to 288.5.

Formula 2 returns on 28th November for the first of the double header finale in Bahrain.

Nikita Mazepin, Hitech (Joe Portlock / Formula 1 via Getty Images)

Full race result:

Pos. Driver Team Points
1 Guanyu Zhou UNI-Virtuosi Racing 7.5
2 Nikita Mazepin (FL) Hitech Grand Prix 7
3 Mick Schumacher Prema Racing 5
4 Jack Aitken Campos Racing 4
5 Luca Ghiotto Hitech Grand Prix 3
6 Yuki Tsunoda Carlin 2
7 Callum Ilott UNI-Virtuosi Racing 1
8 Dan Ticktum DAMS 0.5
9 Pedro Piquet Charouz Racing System
10 Robert Shwartzman Prema Racing
11 Jehan Daruvala Carlin
12 Artem Markelov BWT HWA Racelab
13 Christian Lundgaard ART Grand Prix
14 Marcus Armstrong ART Grand Prix
15 Marino Sato Trident
16 Giuliano Alesi MP Motorsport
17 Louis Deletraz Charouz Racing System
18 Juri Vips DAMS
19 Roy Nissany Trident
20 Felipe Drugovich MP Motorsport
Ret. Guilherme Samaia Campos Racing
Ret. Jake Hughes BWT HWA Racelab

 

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F2 Sochi preview: focus on 2021

Formula 2 returns this weekend for round 10 of the championship at Russia’s Sochi Autodrom, where all the field will now be driving with one eye on their 2021 plans.

With only three rounds of the season left, the focus of the championship has shifted to who’s gunning for an F1 graduation, and who’s teeing up a campaign for next year’s F2 title. Obviously the driver attracting the most spotlight at the moment is championship leader Mick Schumacher, who is reported to be a firm favourite for one of Alfa Romero’s 2021 seats.

If Schumacher wants to solidify his chances he’ll have to continue to pull away from his title rivals Callum Ilott and Robert Shwartzman. And doing that means having a much better weekend in Sochi than he did last year, when he scored nothing after retiring from both races. A repeat of that this year would be disastrous for his title aspirations.

Robert Shwartzman, Prema (Scuderia Ferrari Press Office)

For Shwartzman in particular though, a troubled weekend for the title leader would be just what he needs. After two non-scores last time out at Mugello, Shwartzman has now dropped to fourth in the standings behind Schumacher, Ilott and Christian Lundgaard, and is 21 points off the championship lead he’d previously held for so long.

Shwartzman fortunately has a great relationship with the Sochi Autodrom to help him this weekend. As well as being the Russian’s home circuit, it was at this track last year that he wrapped up the Formula 3 title in commanding fashion, with pole position and two podiums to leave him 54 points ahead of runner-up Marcus Armstrong.

If Shwartzman can bring that kind of form again this year, there’s no reason he can’t make up for Mugello and get right back in the title hunt.

Another driver whose 2021 F1 shot is looking in danger after Mugello is Yuki Tsunoda. After his pole and win in the Spa feature race made him a shoe-in for AlphaTauri next year, Tsunoda has only scored once in the five races since. Crucially, he’s dropped from fourth to sixth in the standings, and if he doesn’t improve from there he won’t secure the superlicense points he needs to move up to F1.

What Tsunoda needs most of all is a clean race weekend. He’s shown no lack of speed since Spa, but some scruffy racing like his incidents with Dan Ticktum and Felipe Drugovich at Mugello have kept that speed from translating into the points finishes Red Bull are expecting of him.

Christian Lundgaard, ART (Joe Portlock / Formula 1 via Getty Images)

What makes things more difficult for Tsunoda is that he’s racing for that fourth spot against Lundgaard and Nikita Mazepin. Both drivers are on excellent form and will almost certainly be title contenders if they remain in F2 next year.

Neither of them had a particularly profitable outing at Sochi last year. Mazepin finished eighth in the F2 feature race but retired from the sprint race, while Lundgaard finished fourteenth and ninth in the two F3 races.

But in terms of their recent results, Mazepin and Lundgaard are both riding high as the winners of the Mugello feature and sprint race respectively. Lundgaard especially has a lot of momentum behind him, as he was on pole for the Mugello feature race as well and scored a double podium at Monza the week before.

Lundgaard’s results have put him back into the championship’s top three after a run of non-scores in the middle of the season knocked him down the order. Although he’s touted as one of next year’s title favourites, the Dane is only 16 points off Schumacher and could be a surprise late contender for the 2020 crown instead.

Giuliano Alesi, MP Motorsport (Scuderia Ferrari Press Office)

There have been two driver changes ahead of Sochi. Nobuharu Matsushita has left MP Motorsport, saying in a statement that he’s “decided to move on to fresh challenges elsewhere”. He’s been replaced by Giuliano Alesi who moves over from HWA, and in turn HWA have promoted their F3 driver Jake Hughes to take Alesi’s seat.

Alesi will be hoping that MP, who have won three races this year with Matsushita and Drugovich, will provide him with a car more capable of challenging for points than HWA. Alesi’s only points this year came with sixth place in the opening race in Austria.

Finally, Juri Vips will continue to drive for DAMS this weekend. The Estonian was initially only due to replace the injured Sean Gelael for three rounds ending with Mugello, but this has been extended to include Sochi as well.

Jake Hughes, HWA (Bryn Lennon / Formula 1 via Getty Images)
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Formula 1 is broken!

Formula 1 is broken!

It’s not the fault of Hamilton or Mercedes but instead the strict formula that teams have to work to. If there’s to be a constructors championship then we need looser regulations so designers and engineers can have more freedom, different engine types and different aero design. Then, lets go racing!

If not, we might as well have a single construction championship like Formula 2 where the racing is much closer and more exciting, even if admittedly some of that is because young drivers make more mistakes.

Formula 1 should be open. I bet that if it was, you’d have more than just hybrid engines! We’d have the possibility of an electric car racing a combustion engine in the not too distant future. I’m afraid that if huge changes aren’t made then F1 will be left behind. If we had those kind of regulations would Formula E even have got up and running? Look how exciting the races are. Guess what? They are all driving the same car!

I’m not advocating that F1 should be a single constructors championship, but if they are to all build their own designs completely then they need to take the shackles off. Budgets have been cut now going forward which can only be a good thing, but all of the teams working towards a single design framework will lead to almost identical cars again.

2020 Styrian Grand Prix, Sunday – LAT Images

Somehow, like in football, the richer teams like Ferrari and Mercedes will find a way to attract the best people even on a restricted budget. We need to make room for initiative, give a chance to the next Adrian Newey or Colin Chapman, whose ideas revolutionised the sport. With tight regulations these kinds of ideas are harder to find.

If they really want to save money then Friday free practice should go! Other than a cheap day out to watch Formula 1 cars I can see little need for it.

Here’s my road map for the sport.

You probably have your own ideas on how to fix F1. These are just me spit balling mine. We’d love to hear your ideas.

A. Loosen the restrictions to allow for innovation in both engine and chassis design.

B. Cut costs by cutting out Friday free practice sessions.

C. Teams should be allowed to race three cars but the third driver must be a young driver or a guest with enough super license points. The team would lose the points of the third driver.

D. Tyres should only be one small element of the teams strategy, so maybe another tyre manufacturer should come in.

If the Formula 1 changes that are scheduled now for 2022 – when in all likelihood Lewis Hamilton will be an eight-time world champion – do not make the significant difference that they promise, F1 will not attract enough new young fans to make it viable and, in my opinion, Formula E will become the de-facto pinnacle of motorsports. 

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F3 2020 season review

The 2020 FIA Formula 3 season ended with a bang last weekend at Mugello. ART’s Theo Pourchaire came within touching distance of flipping the championship on its head after title contender Logan Sargeant crashed out on the opening lap, but ultimately it was Prema’s Oscar Piastri who came through to be crowned the 2020 drivers’ champion.

With all the prizes now handed out, it’s time to look back on what will go down as a memorable season—not just for the circumstances surrounding it, but for the brilliant racing seen all year long.

Oscar Piastri, Prema (Courtesy of FIA Formula 3 media)

The fight at the top

Obviously, any review of this year’s F3 season has to start with its champion Oscar Piastri and his rivals for the crown.

From his win in the first race of the season, there was little doubt that Piastri would be one of the major players in the title battle right through to the end. Although it took him until the Barcelona sprint race to win again, Piastri’s podiums and strong points finishes kept him in the championship lead right up until round five at Silverstone, when Logan Sargeant’s first F3 win set up a close title fight between the two Premas.

His season wasn’t perfect. Considering he won the title, it’s surprising that Piastri did so with fewer wins than Frederik Vesti or Liam Lawson, and fewer podiums than Theo Pourchaire. More surprisingly, Piastri scored no pole positions at all this year—by comparison, Sargeant took three and qualified ahead of Piastri in almost every round.

All of which must make the final result of the 2020 season tough to swallow for the four drivers above. Despite all outperforming Piastri by one metric or another, the Australian’s consistency meant he was still able to come out on top.

But hopefully, they’ll all come away from the season emboldened by their performances, and the knowledge that the championship could have so easily swung in any of their directions. Pourchaire, Sargeant, Vesti and Lawson would all have been just as deserving a champion as Piastri, and will surely be contenders once again if they stay in F3 next year.

Alex Peroni, Campos (Joe Portlock / Formula 1 via Getty Images)

Who else impressed?

While much of the focus this year was on the battle for the championship, there were still plenty more standout performances from drivers up and down the grid.

Alex Peroni was one such. His 2019 F3 debut didn’t start particularly strongly with only two lower points finishes, but it was his vertebrae fractures sustained at Monza that defined it. But Peroni came back a different driver in 2020, taking his maiden podium in the first round with two more to follow at Silverstone and Barcelona, and scoring all of Campos’ 64 points.

Another impressive podium challenger was ART’s Aleksandr Smolyar. While the Russian was a long way off teammate Pourchaire’s results, he showed serious pace all season with a pole position at the Hungaroring and a win at Silverstone, although the latter was taken away by a post-race penalty.

Smolyar’s results wobbled a little after his lost win, but two fourth places at Spa and a podium he could keep at Monza put him back on track and will hopefully set up an even stronger sophomore year in 2021.

Mention should also be made of Ben Barnicoat, Michael Belov and Pierre-Louis Chovet, who all managed to score points acting as last-minute stand-ins for Carlin, Charouz and Hitech respectively. No easy feat by any means, given the steep learning curve of Formula 3.

Jack Doohan, HWA (Dutch Photo Agency / Red Bull Content Pool)

Who needs to improve?

As for drivers who’ll need to step up their game if they return to F3 next year, the easy answer is the likes of Cameron Das, Sophia Floersch, Lukas Dunner and Alessio Deledda. Each of these stood out for the unfortunate reason that they scored no points all season, while their respective teammates were able to take frequent points and occasional podiums.

Another driver with the same distinction is Jack Doohan, who finished 26th in the championship while his HWA teammate Jake Hughes took two wins and two further podiums to finish 7th. Doohan is one of a trio of Red Bull juniors along with Dennis Hauger and Igor Fraga who will need to find new form next year after being significantly overshadowed by Lawson this year.

And speaking of F1 junior drivers, there’s also Ferrari’s Enzo Fittipaldi. The Brazilian showed some good speed at certain races this year, and particularly found his form at Mugello where he finished fifth and fourth in the two races. But over the whole season Fittipaldi only finished in the points six times in 18 races.

With highly-rated Ferrari juniors like Gianluca Petecof and Arthur Leclerc potentially targeting F3 next year, Fittipaldi will need to flip this ratio around to avoid falling behind them in the FDA pecking order.

While we won’t know for a while who’ll make up Formula 3’s 2021 grid, the talent and potential seen throughout 2020 gives us a lot to look forward to. In the meantime, F3 will be back on track next month for two post-season tests, at Barcelona on October 5th–6th and Jerez on October 27th–28th.

Igor Fraga, Charouz (Dutch Photo Agency / Red Bull Content Pool)

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IndyCar Mid-Ohio Race 2: Colton Herta and Andretti Autosport sweep podium.

image courtesy of IndyCar

It has been a fifteen year wait for the Andretti Autosport team but they have finally achieved a team sweep of the podium at Mid-Ohio, ending the double-header in style. The race was dominated by young superstar Colton Herta getting his third IndyCar career win, his first of the 2020 season.

Following a magnificent pole position start, his fourth of his career, the son of Bryan Herta led from start to finish, untroubled by second place teammate Alexander Rossi.

The driver of the No. 27 Honda finished 1.3826 seconds back for his second podium of the weekend and third of the year. Just over one second back came veteran Ryan Hunter-Reay, giving Andretti Autosport three podium finishes on Sunday alone and four on the weekend after just one in the previous nine races.

“I’m so happy. We’ve been knocking on the door almost every week, and we’ve had the pace, but just some reason or another, this or that, things have gone wrong,”

 Herta said on the post-race broadcast after leading 57 of the 75 laps Sunday:

“We just need to be finishing on the podium more, maybe every other weekend. It seems like only when we win, we get up here, so if we could fill in some of those spots, we’d be good.”

This win moves Herta into fourth place in the series championship, eclipsing both yesterdays winner Will Power and Indy 500 winner Takuma Sato. A worthy prize for a young racer who has been one of the standout drivers this season with eight top ten finishes in ten starts before Sunday.

“That’s so huge, so huge. Thank god we came here to Mid-Ohio,” said team owner Michael Andretti post-race on the broadcast. “I was a little worried we weren’t gonna be able to get here, but those guys at Green Savoree Racing Promotions did a good job getting this race on. After the way things have gone this year, this is huge for the team.”

Added Rossi:

“I’m so happy for Andretti Autosport. It’s been a terrible year for us, and to do this, that’s just huge. Hats off to Colton and the No. 88 team, but to sweep the podium, that’s very cool. We’re just focused on race wins and building a good foundation for next year, and we’re doing that with this now.”

However, it could have been very different for the team as Herta narrowly missed what could have been a race ending incident on lap one when Santino Ferrucci ran off-track at turn 4 only to re-join and collide with teammate Alex Palou and Chip Ganassi’s Felix Roseqnvist. Both of their races ended they’re with Santino being sent to the back of the grid for avoidable contact.

Following a period of caution the field pitted on lap sixteen that saw Alexander Rossi cycle up from tenth to fourth, Hunter-Reay from eight to third, Power from seventeenth to tenth and O’Ward from twenty first to fourteenth.

During this time Takuma Sato and Marco Andretti stayed out attempting to go long into the race and attempt a strong overcut which proved effective in yesterdays race. Unfortunately, their efforts would be in vain after Marco lost the car into the gravel not soon after, and after Sato failed to make much ground, finishing outside the top ten.

Another memorable moment came on lap 22 when championship leader Scott Dixon, who had been following Herta and Rossi, came out of shape and spun into the grass. A rare mistake from the five time champion that sent him right to the back of the pack. He would eventually spend the rest of the race fighting back through the pack with some audacious moves on the likes of Jack Harvey and Rinus VeeKay, eventually finishing in tenth, just two spots behind runner up in the championship Josef Newgarden.

An ‘off weekend’ for the Kiwi which saw his lead in the championship cut by twenty four points.

“I got a little too aggressive there and hit the overtake on the exit, and it was just too much power,” Dixon said. “I spun the tires and the car. It was a stupid mistake I shouldn’t have made. It should have been an easy points day.”

Following Hunter-Reay’s season-best third, Graham Rahal finished fourth for the second time this weekend, with Marcus Ericsson climbing from a 15th-place start to end fifth.

Graham Rahal interestingly now sits sixth in the championship standings alongside his Rahal Letterman teammate Takuma Sato in seventh. Separated by one point.

It was a Penske trio finishing sixth, seventh and eighth with Simon Pagenaud, Power, and Newgarden. A slow pit-stop by Josef Newgarden caused himself and teammate Will Power to have a drag race out the pits in which Power came out victorious. The status-quo remained the same for most of the race.

Patricio O’Ward, third place in the championship, started in eleventh on the grid and held his own from a late-charging Scott Dixon to round out the top ten.

Other notable results were highest placed rookie, Rinus VeeKay who extended his lead in the ‘Rookie of the season’ standings, while beating his Ed Carpenter Racing teammate Conor Daly.

IndyCar now has a two to three week break until we return to the Indianapolis Road Course for the Harvest GP on October 2nd and 3rd.

Official Classification:

  1. (1) Colton Herta
  2. (10) Alexander Rossi
  3. (8) Ryan Hunter-Reay
  4. (12) Graham Rahal
  5. (15) Marcus Ericsson
  6. (6) Simon Pagenaud
  7. (17) Will Power
  8. (9) Josef Newgarden
  9. (21) Pato O’Ward
  10. (3) Scott Dixon
  11. (11) Rinus VeeKay
  12. (19) Jack Harvey
  13. (18) Max Chilton
  14. (2) Santino Ferrucci
  15. (14) Oliver Askew
  16. (16) Conor Daly
  17. (13) Zach Veach
  18. (22) Takuma Sato
  19. (23) Charlie Kimball
  20. (7) Marco Andretti
  21. (20) Dalton Kellett
  22. (5) Felix Rosenqvist
  23. (4) Alex Palou
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