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Clark Rodgers
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  1. 3d ago

    F1Weekly Podcast # 1153

    ON TODAYS PROGRAM…   LE CLERC MUST DO SOMETHING IN AUSTRIA OR HE WILL BE NUMBER TWO!! MCLAREN SAYS BEING A MERCEDES CUSTOMER TEAM IS A DISADVANTAGE! FORMULA ONE RULES KEEP ON EVOLVING! GASLY’S MONACO PODIUM REINSTATEMENT WAS THE RIGHT THING TO DO AND… FERNANDO LOOKING FORWARD TO THE DAKAR RALLY AND RACING AT LE MANS WITH MAX VERSTAPPEN!!!…   THIS WEEK’S NASIR HAMEED CORNER WE HAVE: A MOMENT IN MOTORSPORTS HISTORY…AN INTERVIEW WITH F1 PHOTOGRAPHER PETER NYGARD AND MORE TRIVIA!!! When the rear wing has to go in your carry-on – a look into the different worlds of logistics at Audi How the logistics division of AUDI AG and the Formula 1 project benefit from each other Dieter Braun, Head of Audi Supply Chain, in discussion with his F1 colleagues Björn Brickwedde and Lars Rolack Logistics as a performance factor in motorsport and a driving force in road car production   More than 20 race weekends, global supply chains, tight time windows, geopolitical tensions, and the constant pressure to get every part to the right place on time: Formula 1 is not only a high-performance technological laboratory but also an extreme test for logistics. Many of the challenges faced by Audi Revolut F1 Team on the racetrack are also familiar to Audi Supply Chain – just on a different scale. A discussion between the logistics experts reveals what both worlds can learn from each other.   Dieter Braun, Head of Audi Supply Chain, sums it up: “If there’s one thing we need in the company, it’s speed. Not just on the racetrack, but when making decisions.” This is exactly where the key leverage lies: Formula 1 demonstrates what quick decisions, clear responsibilities, and precise preparation can achieve. Logistics as a performance factor In Formula 1, logistics directly determines on-track performance. Anything that isn’t at the track on time can’t be used. If transportation costs are too high, there’s less left in the budget for other areas. Björn Brickwedde, Head of Logistics at Audi Revolut F1 Team in Hinwil, Switzerland, explains: “Any savings we make in logistics can be invested in development and parts.” This is especially true under Formula 1’s cost cap. Efficient logistics thus becomes a performance factor. Brickwedde cites specific examples: intelligent strategies for return shipments, minimal spare parts inventory, smart route planning, and determining the most cost-effective location from which to ship update parts or components. “Every expense saved can flow into development – and then into lap times.” Audi Supply Chain, in turn, designs and manages the entire customer order process – from ordering an Audi to delivery to the customer. This complex system involves several thousand suppliers in nearly 60 countries to manage the flow of goods comprising around one million parts per day. Every optimization in this cross-divisional core process creates leeway – whether in terms of costs, capital tied up, or the CO2 footprint. “In our role as conductors, we can contribute hundreds of millions in earnings for the company,” says Braun. One example illustrates the scope: Audi Supply Chain doesn’t just orchestrate – it also manages crises and, with experienced employees working as a team, overcomes short-term challenges. Braun describes a situation involving the production of the last Audi Q2 cars. A container with displays that could not be reproduced was on its way from China via Dubai to Germany when war broke out in the Middle East. “The shipping company spontaneously decided to call at a port in India and unload all the containers without consulting us,” says Braun. The goods couldn’t be obtained in time via India, so Audi organized a detour via Sri Lanka and Turkey. “The parts arrived half a day before they were needed,” says Braun, “otherwise we wouldn’t have been able to finish and deliver 2,000 Q2 cars.” Brickwedde’s account of the Formula 1 season opener in Melbourne sounds very similar. “A supplementary shipment for the first race was supposed to fly from Zurich to Dubai – that’s exactly when restrictions on global air traffic took effect,” he says, referring to canceled transport routes. Important update parts were held up, just like the freight from other teams. “We organized an alternative route with F1 Cargo and DHL and prepared new customs documents. It was a nerve-wracking ordeal for everyone involved – but the parts arrived in Melbourne on Wednesday evening, and thanks to the great teamwork on site, both cars were fully assembled in time for the first session.” In doing so, the logistics team laid the groundwork for Audi Revolut F1 Team to score its first points right off the bat in its debut in the premier class of motorsport. Speed is also a key factor in the Audi Supply Chain The racing series brings into sharp focus what often remains abstract in mass production: the impact of quick decisions. “In a race, you immediately realize when you’ve made a wrong strategic decision – for example, when you leave the pit lane too late,” says Braun. “From a business perspective at Audi, the impact of a decision often only becomes apparent later, but it can be just as serious. Deciding too late during a crisis is problematic – but so is doing so during planning, for example with long-term investments, which makes it particularly challenging for my team and the relevant departments.” The Formula 1 involvement provides a tangible narrative for this. Braun uses the Audi R26 as a permanent background image for his meetings – not just out of enthusiasm for motorsport, but as a signal to the organization: speed matters in the supply chain, too. Formula 1 shows that a good solution at the right time is more valuable than a perfect solution that comes too late. When the rear wing has to go in your carry-on The most exciting examples emerge where planning and improvisation meet. Brickwedde talks about the limited availability of parts during race operations: “We manage the production of parts very efficiently. This is partly because of the cost cap, but also because we only take to the racetrack what we genuinely believe we’ll need. If something unexpected happens, you’ve got to think on your feet. This means that a team member might have to carry the necessary components in their luggage so that they’re available at the track as quickly as possible. In a pinch, these could even be parts of a rear wing.” Time windows are tight on the power unit side as well. Lars Rolack, Head of Logistics at Audi Formula Racing in Neuburg an der Donau, describes the unscheduled return shipment of a high-voltage battery during the race weekend in Miami: hazardous materials, special customs and transport regulations, a short analysis window in Neuburg – and shipment back out to the next race just a few days later. “The battery arrived at our facility in Neuburg on Monday morning and was shipped out again on Wednesday evening, heading for Montreal.” Even though the processes at Audi Supply Chain are generally more predictable, the combination of foresight and flexibility remains a crucial success factor – for instance, in the face of supply bottlenecks, natural disasters, or geopolitical disruptions, which have almost become the new normal these days. Rolack used to work in the logistics division at AUDI AG himself before moving to the Formula 1 project. “My background in planning and my experience helped me, but race logistics is a very ad-hoc business – we all had to adapt our mindset extremely quickly to the pace.” While Audi’s supply chain division manages several thousand different suppliers across the globe using a multitude of processes – now also with the help of complex mathematical algorithms – organizational skills and personal networks are what count in the F1 project. “If something gets stuck here, my first instinct is to pick up the phone. Thanks to lean processes and short lines of communication within the team, problems can be solved very quickly,” says Rolack. Lundgaard Charges From Last to First To Win at Road America ELKHART LAKE, Wis. (Sunday, June 21, 2026) – Christian Lundgaard asked his Arrow McLaren team over the radio what everyone else also wondered after the Dane took the checkered flag Sunday for the XPEL Grand Prix at Road America Presented by AMR. “How did we do that?” Lundgaard asked incredulously to his pit box. SEE: Race Results Lundgaard used strategy, speed and a bit of good fortune to climb from last in the 25-car field after contact on Lap 1 to earn his second victory of the season in the No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet. The race ended under caution when Graham Rahal spun into the gravel trap outside Canada Corner after contact with Will Power while dueling for third place on a one-lap restart to the checkered flag. The victory was the third of Lundgaard’s NTT INDYCAR SERIES career, joining his win in May on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course with Arrow McLaren and in 2023 on the streets of Toronto with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. “I knew we had a chance,” Lundgaard said of the probability of winning after the early contact. “I knew how this race panned out last year, and I knew it was all about just sticking in the race. I did that last year. I made a bunch of mistakes last year that spun ourselves around last year, and I just wanted to make up for that. “We’ve been on the struggle bus all weekend, so to turn this around, I have to thank the team for that.” David Malukas finished second in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, his third runner-up finish of the season as he seeks his first career victory. Power held on to finish third in the No. 26 TWG AI Honda, matching his best finish of his first season with Andretti Global. Kyffin Simpson finished a season-best fourth in the No. 8 S

    54 min

  2. Jun 15

    F1Weekly Podcast # 1152

    ON TODAYS PROGRAM…   THREE BRITS ON THE PODIUM…LCH TAKES THE WIN IN BARCA AND TOTO SAYS…MAYBE HIS GIRL FRIEND HAS SOMETHING TO DO WITH IT!!! LECLERC CONTINUES HIS DOWNWARD SPIRAL KIMI’S DNF SLOWS DOWN HIS MOMENTUM AND… SO SO SAD…FERNANDO DEAD LAST IN QUALI…THE FINAL CURTAIN!   TOYOTA WINS LEMANS AND NICK DE VRIES GETS THE LAST LAUGH! CORVETTE WINS THE GT3 CLASS AND…   THIS WEEK’S NASIR HAMEED CORNER WE HAVE: A MOMENT IN MOTORSPORTS HISTORY…AN INTERVIEW WITH MIKA SALO. MORE GREAT TRIVIA FROM ANDREW. George Russell Congratulations to Lewis (Hamilton). He drove a really impressive race today after being incredibly quick in Qualifying yesterday. Coming into the weekend, I don’t think we expected that pace from Ferrari, so we know we’ve got a challenge coming from them in the races ahead. We will be working hard to tackle that challenge and get back to winning ways. On my side, the race today was not straightforward. I was struggling with the tyres towards the end of my second and third stints; the Virtual Safety Car didn’t help us either and it would have been a fascinating race with Lewis without that. I will take the positives from this weekend though. It has been clean from the very start and I come away with 18 points, which is 18 points more than I managed across Canada and Monaco! We will regroup in the week ahead and look to improve for Austria. We’ve got a big double-header coming up with Spielberg and Silverstone and I am already excited for it. Kimi Antonelli It is very disappointing to retire from P2, but these things can happen in racing. George suffered an issue in Canada and now it’s happened to me; we know our reliability is something we need to work on and I am sure the team will be pushing incredibly hard to improve that. It’s more important points that we’ve lost but we must remember that it is the first year of these new regulations and we are all learning quickly. Congratulations to Lewis (Hamilton) on his victory today. He is a great driver and has been so much help in my career so far. I am pleased to see him up there once again as he really deserves it. I think we had the pace today to challenge him for the win, but the Virtual Safety Car came out at a bad time for us, and we didn’t get to see how things would have played out. We have one week without racing before returning in Austria. We have seen our competitors take a step forward here this weekend and we will need to raise our game there if we want to fight for victory again. We will pick ourselves up, learn from this weekend, and come back stronger. MAX VERSTAPPEN - 4th "Today we just didn't have the pace to keep up with the cars ahead. I was really just doing my own race as we were a little bit behind the guys that finished in front of me. As a Team we did everything right, it was the winning strategy, so we made the right call there with the tyres. We were just too slow compared to the cars ahead on each compound, unfortunately. We tried our best and put everything into it but ultimately the whole weekend was a bit tough for us. We do struggle more with these high energy tracks with high degradation and we just need to work on things and try to find more pace in the upcoming races." ISACK HADJAR - 6th "I felt like I had good pace this weekend once we got to Qualifying and the race, but I had a shocker at the race start with so much wheelspin, so that's one aspect I really want to focus on before Red Bull Ring. We could have fought with Oscar if we had a good start, so it's a bit of a shame. I think we did way better than we thought we would this weekend given the track layout and conditions. Austria will be a better track for us, and we expect to have a stronger car. We just need to work on the starts." TOYOTA TAKE ITS SIXTH VICTORY AT LE MANS Toyota executed a perfect, textbook strategy throughout the 94th edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans to claim its first victory since 2022, securing a sixth overall triumph and equalling the tally of British marque Bentley.     To spectacular fanfare, Japanese powerhouse Toyota Racing lifted the iconic trophy at a sun-kissed Circuit de la Sarthe for the first time in four years, in front of hundreds of thousands of spectators at the venue and millions more watching around the world. Drivers Kamui Kobayashi, Nyck de Vries and Mike Conway emerged as the team to beat at the end of the race, guiding the #7 Toyota to victory ahead of the sister #8 Toyota Racing entry, the #20 BMW M Team WRT and the #12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA machine in an epic four-way battle to the chequered flag – underlining the "Platinum Era" status that the Hypercar category is building. For Kobayashi, it was a second Le Mans victory. It marked a second triumph for British star Mike Conway and, for the first time in 38 years, a historic win for the Netherlands as Nyck de Vries became the latest Dutch driver to conquer Le Mans. It looked set to be another Toyota one-two, but BMW's never-say-die attitude ensured that the FIA World Endurance Championship points leaders – the #20 crew of Robin Frijns, René Rast and Sheldon van der Linde – claimed second overall and a valuable haul of championship points. Toyota could still be delighted with third place, although a few costly mistakes and strategy calls denied the #8 Toyota of Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryō Hirakawa another victory. Meanwhile, Cadillac can take plenty of plaudits once again. A crowd favourite throughout the week, the #12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA crew gave everything in pursuit of victory, and the pace they demonstrated at Le Mans suggests they will remain contenders for years to come. Inter Europol Competiton lock-out LMP2  It was a grandstand finish in LMP2 as Inter Europol Competition worked well overnight to bring both cars into the rostrum contention, but a second day charge from Forestier Racing by Panis had everyone on the edge of their seats, but after 24 hours of racing the Polish #43 ORECA with pilots Jakub Smiechowski, Tom Dillmann and Nicholas Yelloly win the penultimate race at Le Mans for this specification LMP2 car! Corvette charge back to the top! Corvette capture the magic of Le Mans once again with iconic yellow #33 Corvette run by TF Sport took LMGT3 laurels with Ben Keating, Jonny Edgar, Nicky Catsburg taking a popular leap onto the top step of the podium. Akkodis ASP Team put Lexus on the podium for the first time at Le Mans with the #78 car second and the #23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin joins in the celebrations in third. Top 5 Results - 24 Hours of Le Mans: Toyota TR010 Hybrid #7 Toyota Gazoo Racing – Mike Conway / Kamui Kobayashi / Nyck de Vries – 381 Laps BMW M Hybrid V8 #20 BMW M Team WRT – Robin Frijns / Rene Rast / Sheldon van der Linde – + 10.913 Toyota TR010 Hybrid #8 Toyota Gazoo Racing – Sébastien Buemi / Brendon Hartley / Ryo Hirakawa – + 20.417 Cadillac V-Series.R #12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA – Louis Delétraz / Will Stevens / Norman Nato – +32.381 Ferrari 499P #51 Ferrari-AF Corse – Alessandro Pier Guidi / James Calado / Antonio Giovinazzi – +2:22.423 Category Winners: LMP2: Oreca 07-Gibson #43 Inter Europol Competition – Jakub Smiechowski / Tom Dillmann / Nicholas Yelloly - 361 Laps LMGT3: Corvette Z06 LMGT3.R #33 TF Sport – Ben Keating / Jonny Edgar / Nicky Catsburg – 336 laps Fastest Lap: Rio Hirakawa (Toyota TR010 – Hybrid #8 Toyota Racing) – 3:25.041 - Lap 306 Retirements: Oreca 07-Gibson #30 Duqueine Team – Doriane Pin / Julien Andlauer / Richard Verschoor Ferrari 499P #50 Ferrari-AF Corse – Antonio Fuoco / Nicklas Nielsen / Miguel Molina Porsche 911 GT3 R LMGT3 #91 Manthey DK Engineering – James Cottingham / Timur Boguslavskiy / Ayhancan Güven Genesis GMR-001-Hypercar #17 Genesis Magma Racing – André Lotterer / Luis Felipe Derani / Mathys Jaubert Ford Mustang LMGT3 #77 Proton Competition –  Eric Powell / Ben Tuck / Sebastian Priaulx Cadillac V-Series.R #38 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA – Sébastien Bourdais / Earl Bamber / Jack Aitken Mercedes-AMG LMGT3 #79 Iron Lynx – Johannes Zelger / Matteo Cressoni / Lin Hodenius Ferrari 296 LMGT3 Evo #54 Vista AF Corse – Thomas Flohr / Francesco Castellacci / Davide Rigon Mercedes-AMG LMGT3 #61 Iron Lynx (Martin Berry / Rui Andrade / Maxime Martin Corvette Z06 LMGT3.R #13 Thirteen Autosport – Orey Fidani / Lars Kern / Matthew Bell

    1h 19m

  3. Jun 8

    F1Weekly Podcast # 1151

    ON TODAYS PROGRAM…   KIMI WINS 5 IN A ROW WITH A CHERIE ON TOP! PIERRE GASLY ROBBED OF PODIUM HADJAR KEEPS HIS PODIUM… CADILLAC LOOSES FIRST POINTS TO PENALTY.   SINCE LECLERC GOT MARRIED HIS PERFORMANCE HAS DECLINED…SORRY CHARLIE! SINCE GEORGE SIGNED HIS NEW CONTRACT AND GOT HIS FIRST PAYCHECK HIS PERFORMANCE HAS DECLINED!   THIS WEEK’S NASIR HAMEED CORNER WE HAVE: A MOMENT IN MOTORSPORTS HISTORY…AN INTERVIEW WITH BOBBY UNSER… SOME TRIVIA ON THE GRAND PRIX OF TURKEY AND TECH TALK WITH TIM! LCH GETS INTRODUCED TO A LOS ANGELES LOW RIDER!! Kimi Antonelli It’s an incredible feeling to win in Monaco. It’s such a special weekend and one I’ll remember for a long time. Today was one of those days where everything just clicked; I had a lot of confidence in the car, felt strong throughout, and to bring the win home in a place like this makes it even more meaningful. From a race perspective, there were definitely some key moments to manage. The starts are still an area we’re working on, but I’ve made good progress. My first one was solid, and although the second was a bit more challenging with the tyres, it’s positive to see improvement. The red flag added a bit of stress, especially knowing the restart could change everything, but we handled it well. In the final laps, I really enjoyed myself out there, even though I still had to carefully manage the tyres. This track demands a lot of focus, you have to find the right balance between pushing and not making mistakes, and once you settle into that rhythm, everything starts to come together. At the same time, I know there’s still a lot to learn and improve. I just want to keep pushing, keep building on this momentum, and most importantly, keep enjoying the journey. That’s what makes moments like this so rewarding. ISACK HADJAR  "It's been an outstanding result and weekend considering how it started in FP1! The race was difficult and I had to dig very deep. We got off to a clean start and were managing our race, and then within the first 10 to 15 laps I started having big drivability issues. If there's one track you don't want that, it's here, so that was incredibly challenging having to cover 60 laps. There was then uncertainty about what was going to happen with the red flag and you need to get your head back again in focus. Even towards the end, I was still lacking power on the restart. It really was the longest race of my life but now it's finished we got the podium. Whatever happens with the stewards, it's now completely out of my control. I celebrated and had my podium and I will always have that. My moment with the lads. Huge thank you to the Team, I trust these guys. Whatever happens, the emotions on the podium have already happened and I am proud of the Team." MAX VERSTAPPEN - DNF "We don't know what happened today but we think the issue was due to an engine problem. During the formation lap I could feel that something was off and the pre-start was terrible. There was no consistency and then, at the start, the engine just dropped out. I dropped the clutch and it went dead and had no power. When I got a bit more power back, unfortunately it was messed up so I had to bring it back slowly. It was such a shame for us as everything was going really well up to that point. We felt great in the car all weekend and to come out with no points and to finish the race like this when you do everything so well as a Team is of course disappointing." George Russell Firstly, congratulations to Kimi. He did an amazing job today and over the weekend and is a well-deserving winner. On my side, the race was very difficult. I had managed to get to P4 but the penalty for speeding in the pitlane is difficult to understand. I was under the limit but then that was compounded by us not serving the penalty at my second stop; that ultimately cost me a lot and left me with zero points again. It’s tough to take but I’m not going to give up. Across the last two races, I’ve effectively lost around 40 points. It’s incredibly frustrating but the rest of the season can still look very different. We saw that last year and, in many seasons previous. It’s unfortunate how things have played out so far but I’m aiming to bounce back in Barcelona. I believe in myself and I know what I’m capable of. LAURENT MEKIES - CEO & Team Principal "Mixed emotions today, as Isack and the Team did a great job to get him to the podium, overcoming some technical issues on the car, but on the other side of the garage, we lost Max's car straightaway with an engine issue. It was hard to take as he had incredible pace all weekend. It's frustrating when you miss out on a big points score, but that's part of the game, and we can only apology to him. For Isack it was a very intense battle in the car considering the number of issues he had to deal with. It was also an intense battle for the team in the garage as they worked to keep his car alive to the finish. In that context, making it to the podium is a very strong result. The most important lesson we take away from Monaco is that the underlying performance of the car keeps improving." Badoer earns maiden F3 victory in Monte Carlo. Brando Badoer launched off the line and into the lead and didn’t look back, taking his first FIA Formula 3 victory for Rodin Motorsport.  The Italian beat pole-sitter Théophile Nael off the line and on the run to Turn 1, with the Frenchman having to settle for second place at the chequered flag. Freddie Slater completed the podium for TRIDENT.  AS IT HAPPENED  Nael was immediately passed by Badoer while Slater took to the escape road at the opening corner and filtered in behind the top two up the hill, with the remainder of the top five staying as they were on the grid.  Van Amersfoort Racing’s Bruno del Pino was able to make up a place, getting ahead of MP Motorsport’s Alessandro Giusti for P6 at Turn 1, but for the Frenchman’s teammate, his race was over soon after. Tuukka Taponen found the barriers at the penultimate corner after an attempted pass by Maciej Gladysz left the Finn nowhere to go. That incident brought out the Safety Car on Lap 2.  With the MP cleared, racing resumed going onto Lap 5, with Badoer able to gap Nael comfortably, with the Frenchman under attack from Slater on the run to Turn 3. By Lap 10, Badoer had escaped out of DRS range to the Campos driver behind, while Slater, Ugo Ugochukwu and Ernesto Rivera remained within a second of the car ahead.  Drivers inside the top 10 began to back off on some laps in order to generate enough space to attempt a fastest lap for the additional point. Slater was very happy with the balance of his TRIDENT, praising the car over team radio. Lap 18 and Badoer looked unflappable out front, now two seconds clear of the field.  Further back in the pack, Nandhavud Bhirombhakdi was coming under serious pressure from Enzo Deligny in the fight for P15. The Thai driver had to defend into Turn 1 on Lap 21, and later missed the Turn 10-11 chicane, skipping across the run-off as the Frenchman behind turned the screw.  Nael spent the final five laps closing the gap to the leader back down to under a second, but the Rodin driver would not be denied, earning his first win in the Championship around the Principality. Slater completed the podium behind Nael while Ugochukwu and Rivera ensured all three Campos’ were in the top five.  Bruno del Pino finished sixth for Van Amersfoort, followed by Giusti in P7, Pedro Clerot in eighth, Sprint Race winner Gerrard Xie in P9 and Noah Stromsted completing the points in 10th.  KEY QUOTE – Brando Badoer, Rodin Motorsport  “I was studying the start all evening with the guys yesterday and I executed it perfectly. I jumped to P1 at Turn 1 and then led the 27 laps. It was a very long race, I was hoping it ended a bit earlier and it felt long in the car, but winning in Monaco is one of my dreams come true! Really happy with the team and my performance. Thanks to everyone.”  THE CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS  Ugo Ugochukwu retains the lead of the Drivers’ Championship going onto 43 points. Bruno del Pino is P2 on 35, just a single point ahead of Freddie Slater in third. Brando Badoer’s win moves him up to P4 on 28 points, while Théophile Nael rounds out the top five drivers with 22 points.  Campos Racing extend their advantage at the top of the Teams’ Standings, moving onto 75 points. Van Amersfoort Racing are P2 with 47, while Rodin Motorsport jumps TRIDENT into third place, 44 points to 43. ART Grand Prix complete the top five with 31 points.  León dominates in lights-to-flag victory in Monte Carlo F2. Noel León led every lap of the Monte Carlo Sprint Race on his way to claiming a dominant second victory of the season. Starting from pole, the Campos Racing driver managed the race expertly before going on to win by over three seconds. DAMS Lucas Oil driver Roman Bilinski achieved his maiden F2 podium in P2 ahead of MP Motorsport’s Gabriele Minì in third.  AS IT HAPPENED  It was a good start from León, who kept the lead ahead of Bilinski, while Minì kept P3 ahead of Joshua Duerksen. In the battle for P11 Ritomo Miyata and Oliver Goethe went wheel-to-wheel through the hairpin and Mirabeau. However, they made slight contact which caused the MP Motorsport driver to pit, dropping him to the back of the field.  Out in front, León was struggling to pull away from Bilinski with the DAMS driver consistently within DRS range of the Mexican during the opening laps. The top four drivers of León, Bilinski, Minì and Duerksen were pulling away from the rest of the field, and by Lap 5 just two seconds separated the quartet.  Down the field, Laurens van Hoepen, who started in P21 was up to 15th by Lap 8. However, the TRIDENT driver’s charge was halted when he was given a 10-second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage at the

    1h 1m

  4. Jun 1

    F1Weekly Podcast # 1150

    ON TODAYS PROGRAM…   PALOU WINS IN DETROIT!!!…SCHUMACHER P21  IS TOTO HAVING FANTASIES OF A KIMI AND MAX SUPER TEAM FOR THEIR SUPER CAR! WOULD THE TIFOSI WEAR ORANGE TO HELP FERRARI GET MAX? ZACK BROWN TOOK LANDO NORRIS TO THE SPEEDWAY THE DAY AFTER THE 500 LARGEST MOTORSPORTS SPECTACLE IN THE WORLD AND…FERNANDO SAYS: I WILL ATTEMPT THE INDIANAPOLIS 500 ONE MORE TIME!….mention MAX and competition.   THIS WEEK’S NASIR HAMEED CORNER WE HAVE: A MOMENT IN MOTORSPORTS HISTORY WITH CIAO COLLET FROM 2023 WHO CRASHED IN THE INDY 500 WITH 8 LAPS TO GO!! AND A LITTLE HISTORY ON THE MICHELIN TYRE!!  Palou Prevails Amid Chaos, Varying Tire Strategies in Detroit. DETROIT (Sunday, May 31, 2026) – Four-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion Alex Palou prevailed in a full-contact race filled with various tire strategies, winning the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear on Sunday for his fourth victory in eight races this season. Pole sitter Palou drove his No. 10 HRC Chip Ganassi Racing Honda to a 3.0584-second victory over the No. 27 Sam's Club Honda of Andretti Global's Kyle Kirkwood. It was the 23rd victory of Palou’s career in 106 starts, a remarkable strike rate of 21.7 percent, and he has won 12 of the last 25 races (48 percent win rate) dating to the start of the 2025 season. SEE: Race Results “It feels like the first time, honestly” Palou said. “It was a tough one, a very tough one. But the team did an incredible job once again with the strategy. The pit stops were incredible. Incredible run, incredible start of the year, but it was tough.” The victory extended Palou’s championship lead to 62 points over Kirkwood, more than a race’s worth of margin. The Spaniard is aiming for an INDYCAR SERIES record-tying fourth straight title. Graham Rahal finished third in the No. 15 Fifth Third Bank Honda of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, his third podium finish of the season. Arrow McLaren teammates Pato O'Ward and Christian Lundgaard finished fourth and fifth in the No. 5 and No. 7 Chevrolet-powered cars, respectively, at General Motors’ home event. Palou led 71 of the 100 laps, but this wasn’t a stroll down Easy Street. He took the lead for good on Lap 69 when Kirkwood pitted from the lead for the last time and stayed out front on restarts on Laps 72, 76, 83 and 93 after full-course yellows bunched the field. The move to the front was paved a few laps earlier when strategist Barry Wanser and Palou decided to make their final pit stop at the end of Lap 63, switching from the faster but less durable Firestone Firehawk alternate tire to the primary tire. Wanser saw a variety of jousts for position unfolding on the tight, nine-turn, 1.645-mile street circuit and wisely didn’t want Palou to get caught on track under caution and lose track position. Wanser’s decision proved prescient on Lap 66 when Santino Ferrucci’s No. 14 Homes For Our Troops Chevrolet of AJ Foyt Racing nudged the rear of Rinus VeeKay’s No. 76 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet into a spin in Turn 5. Kirkwood was leading but still had to make his final stop, which he did under yellow on Lap 69 and was forced to use a set of Firestone Firehawk alternates per INDYCAR rules that require at least two sets of the softer rubber to be used in street-circuit events. Palou rocketed away from Alexander Rossi’s No. 20 Java House Chevrolet of ECR on the restart on Lap 72. Rookie Mick Schumacher and David Malukas were engaged in an intense duel for third on the restart, with Schumacher missing the corner in Turn 5 and nosing into the barriers in his No. 47 ENVE Honda of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. Malukas had nowhere to go and ran wide in his No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, with the incident triggering another full-course caution on Lap 73. By this point, Kirkwood had worked his way back to third after his final pit stop and had to make the most of the added early grip of the alternate tire before the increased durability of Palou’s primary tires prevailed in the closing laps. Kirkwood passed Rossi and then set sail for Palou, knowing this was his best chance to win. Kirkwood pulled to within two car lengths of Palou on Lap 79 and appeared to be ready to pounce for the lead when Ferrucci’s car slowed in Turn 4 with a mechanical problem, triggering the fifth full-course yellow of the race on Lap 80. “We took a little bit of a gamble on tires there, being the only guy on reds (alternates) at the end,” Kirkwood said. “It nearly paid off. It was so, so close. There were two untimely yellows. “We almost covered Palou when we were on primes, which would have been phenomenal, and then we had that other yellow where I had him lined up. I was ready to make a dive on him, and, of course, (the yellow) comes out after I burned 10 seconds of overtake. From there, we just didn’t really have another shot at it. I think I just used up my tires too much to make that one pass.” Palou kept the lead on the restart on Lap 83, but Kirkwood continued to push and forced Palou into a flat-spotting tire lockup on Lap 88. But Palou gathered himself and his car and started to pull away, building a lead of 1.8929 seconds by Lap 91. But there was one more restart for Palou to manage after Rossi clipped the rear of the No. 18 BMax Honda driven by Romain Grosjean of Dale Coyne Racing and sent Grosjean into the outside wall approaching Turn 3 on Lap 91. That triggered the last of six full-course yellows, but Palou pulled away from Kirkwood and the field on the Lap 93 restart and was never threatened despite the 173 on-track passes today, a high for a street circuit this season.  “Being able to be up front was key,” Palou said. “On the first stint, I started struggling and kind of put myself in a bad spot and lost two positions with Lundgaard and (Scott) McLaughlin. I lost us positions there, but the team made a great call to be safe with the yellow. It kind of worked out for us.” Fittipaldi Wins Motor City Thriller, Takes Series Lead. DETROIT (Sunday, May 31, 2026) – Enzo Fittipaldi returned his famous last name to Victory Lane in Detroit for the first time in 35 years, winning the INDY NXT by Firestone Detroit Grand Prix despite driving nearly the entire distance with a damaged front wing and nose cone. Series rookie Fittipaldi won the race, originally scheduled for 45 laps but switched to a timed event, under caution in the No. 67 HMD Motorsports car after starting seventh. It was his second victory of the season and vaulted him to the championship lead in the INDYCAR development series, seven points ahead of Nikita Johnson of Cape Motorsports Powered by ECR and eight ahead of HMD teammate Tymek Kucharczyk. SEE: Race Results The victory also was the first by the legendary Fittipaldi name in Detroit since his grandfather and two-time Indy 500 winner Emerson Fittipaldi won INDYCAR SERIES races on a different downtown street circuit in the Motor City in 1989 and 1991. “I just pushed as hard as I could,” Enzo Fittipaldi said. “I found pace. I was really, really fast. Just so happy to get the win. I love to race; I’m a racer.” Series veteran Myles Rowe finished a season-best second in the No. 99 Abel Motorsports with Force Indy machine, with rookie Kucharczyk rounding out the podium finishers in the No. 71 HMD Motorsports entry. Rookie Max Garcia tied his season-best finish by placing fourth in the No. 12 Abel Motorsports machine, with veteran Seb Murray rounding out the top five in the No. 27 Megatron car of Andretti Global. Frenzied action started from the drop of the green flag on Lap 1, as Lochie Hughes made an aggressive move into the Turn 3 hairpin with his No. 26 Andretti Global car, punting pole sitter Alessandro de Tullio into a spin from the lead in the No. 14 AJ Foyt Racing entry. Hughes received a drive-through penalty for avoidable contact. Fittipaldi nudged another car in that chain-reaction melee, which damaged the right side of his front wing and punched a large hole in his nose cone. Kucharczyk took the lead from that point, keeping it on the restart on Lap 8. Kucharczyk built a lead of 3.324 seconds over Fittipaldi by Lap 13, with Rowe climbing to third by Lap 18. Rowe dove under Fittipaldi for second on Lap 20 and started to chase down Kucharczyk. By Lap 21, Rowe pulled to within .5477 of a second of leader Kucharcyzk, slicing 1.6 seconds from the Polish driver’s lead in just three laps. But the complexion of the race changed on Lap 26 when the second of four full-course yellow flags in the race were unfurled for debris on the nine-turn, 1.645-mile temporary street circuit. The restart came at the end of Lap 27, with Rowe trying to dive under Kucharczyk for the lead immediately after the green flag, in the Turn 3 hairpin. But the move forced both cars wide, leaving an opening along the inside curb for Fittipaldi. He took it, squeezing past Rowe and Kucharcyzk and never trailing thereafter. Fittipaldi stayed out front on another restart on Lap 34 after Niels Koolen nosed his No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing machine into the barrier in Turn 8. “I got it done,” Fittipaldi said. “I knew Myles was going to go for a lunge there, and I just prepared my mid-(corner) to exit of Turn 3, and he went on the lunge on Tymek, and I was able to do the crossover and got the lead. I had the pace to stay there, and I was actually pulling away.” The decisive move was one of 141 on-track passes, including 124 for position, in the exciting race – both INDY NXT records for any circuit on which the series has competed in the Motor City. Fittipaldi expanded that gap to nearly six-tenths of a second when Andretti Global’s Max Taylor also nosed into the barrier in Turn 1 in his No. 28 Susan G. Komen car with about four minutes, 20 seconds left in what had become a timed race, triggering the final caution. Taylor’s car could not be cleared in time to restart the

    1h 1m

  5. May 25

    F1Weekly Podcast # 1149

    ON TODAYS PROGRAM… GEORGE’S MERC GOES KABLAMO WHILE IN THE LEAD GIFTING ANTONELLI THE WIN! MCLAREN MAKES ONE. BLUNDER AFTER ANOTHER… GOOD FIGHT BETWEEN MAX AND LCH FOR P2 AND… FELIX ROSENQVIST WINS THE INDY 500 BY A NOSE!!! SUPER SAD NEWS…KYLE BUSCH GONE AT 41… THIS WEEK’S NASIR HAMEED CORNER WE HAVE: A MOMENT IN MOTORSPORTS HISTORY WITH FRANCOIS CASTAIN!… Rosenqvist Earns Epic Victory in Closest-Ever Indianapolis 500 Finish INDIANAPOLIS (Sunday, May 24, 2026) – Felix Rosenqvist capped his magical May by edging David Malukas in a last-lap drag race to the Yard of Bricks with the highest stakes, winning the 110th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge on Sunday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in the closest finish in the century-plus history of “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.” Rosenqvist rode the high line against the concrete wall exiting Turn 4 on Lap 200 in the No. 60 SiriusXM Honda of Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian and powered past the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet of David Malukas to prevail by .0233 of a second. The previous closest finish in “500” history came in 1992, when Al Unser Jr. held off a charging Scott Goodyear by .043 of a second. SEE: Race Results “Unreal; I still don’t believe it,” Rosenqvist said. “It kind of worked out the right way when I got back to third, and then I just had to flat-out lap on the high line, and it stuck,” Rosenqvist said. “It was just the coolest way you can finish and win an Indy 500.” The breathtaking race featured an event-record 70 lead changes over its 200 scintillating laps, breaking the previous mark of 68 set in 2013. With his second career NTT INDYCAR SERIES victory, Rosenqvist became the third Swedish driver to win “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing,” joining Kenny Brack (1999) and Marcus Ericsson (2022). Meyer Shank Racing also earned its second NTT INDYCAR SERIES victory – both coming in the most prestigious race in the world. Helio Castroneves captured his record-tying fourth Indianapolis 500 victory in 2021 for the Ohio-based team. The victory capped a remarkable month for Rosenqvist. He and his wife, Emille, welcomed their first child, a daughter named Stella, on May 4. “I really miss my wife and my newborn child, Stella,” Rosenqvist said. “I wish they were here with me. This whole month, becoming a dad and winning the ‘500’ … We joked about it in the beginning: ‘Maybe you’ll win the ‘500’ and have a baby.’ It’s just unreal.” Scott McLaughlin finished third in the No. 3 Pennzoil Team Penske Chevrolet, as the fabled team placed two drivers in the top three but fell just short of a record-extending 21st Indy 500 victory. Pato O’Ward placed fourth in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, his fifth career top-four finish in seven “500” starts without a victory. Marcus Armstrong rounded out the top five in the No. 66 Acura Honda of Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian despite taking the green flag in the lead on a one-lap shootout for the victory after a late caution. An incredible .4360 of a second separated the top-five finishers. Rosenqvist’s average speed was 162.021 mph. The one-lap dash to the checkered flag and immortality was set up when rookie Mick Schumacher brushed the SAFER Barrier in Turn 2 in his No. 47 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda on Lap 197. Racing resumed at the end of Lap 199, with Armstrong leading to the flag stand with the white flag in the air and one lap remaining, with Malukas in second and Rosenqvist third. Malukas powered to the lead entering Turn 1 and started to pull away on the backstretch of the 2.5-mile oval with teammates Armstrong and Rosenqvist running side by side in a joust for second. Rosenqvist, running the high line around the oval, nosed ahead of Armstrong in Turn 4 and set his sights on Malukas. With the checkered flag in the air ahead, Malukas drove his car toward the pit wall to try and break Rosenqvist’s aerodynamic tow. Malukas then moved toward the center of the track, and Rosenqvist quickly swung his machine back toward the top of the racetrack, just barely avoiding contact. The two cars were side by side yards from the finish line when Rosenqvist nosed ahead and crossed the Yard of Bricks first by about a half-car length, the capacity crowd of 350,000 pulsating in delight. It was the most important of the 629 on-track passes in the race, including 567 for position. “I don’t know what else we could have done,” Malukas said as he choked back tears in his pit box. “We were the fastest car that whole race. I gave it 150 percent. I mean, I almost crashed this damn car every lap, and we still ended up with a P2. “I just can’t believe it. I don’t know what else I can give. So close. This place, we’re going to come back and bring it everything. We’re going to give it 160 percent the next time.” Said Rosenqvist: “Good job to Marcus and David at the end. They raced really cleanly. It’s because of drivers like that you get really good racing. Unbelievable.” McLaughlin, O’Ward and Armstrong then crossed the Yard of Bricks three-wide in the sprint for third, capping a race for the ages. The spellbinding finish was the final act of a dual-strategy drama that unfolded over the closing laps. O’Ward, Armstrong and Rosenqvist made their final pit stops on Laps 164, 165 and 166, respectively, right at the edge of the fuel window to finish the race without another stop under green-flag racing. Meanwhile, Malukas, McLaughlin and pole sitter Alex Palou in the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda were among a group of cars that were on a different sequence and had to make their final stops on Laps 175 (Malukas) and 176 (Palou and McLaughlin). Malukas took control of that chasing group, but they were more than 20 seconds behind O’Ward, Rosenqvist and Armstrong with less than 25 laps to go. Rosenqvist, with two more laps of fuel than O’Ward, was content to ride in the draft of the Mexican and save even more fuel as both lapped nearly 10 mph slower than the chasing pack to ensure they could make it to the finish. Rosenqvist finally pounced past O’Ward for the lead on Lap 185 and was headed toward Easy Street. The chasing trio of Malukas, McLaughlin and Palou appeared to be running out of laps to catch O’Ward, Rosenqvist and Armstrong, but the field was bunched on Lap 192 when rookie Caio Collet slammed the SAFER Barrier in Turn 2 in the No. 4 Combitrans Amazonia Chevrolet of A.J. Foyt Enterprises, triggering the sixth of seven caution periods in the race. Race officials immediately red-flagged the event for accident cleanup, with all cars pulling into the pits. “It was the perfect situation for us before that,” Rosenqvist said. “We kind of had everything lined up. Pato was struggling with fuel, and we were pretty rich (on fuel) to the end. I was like: ‘This is going to be great. At some point you’re just going to pass him and hopefully cruise to the win.’ But then in the end, everything flipped upside-down. “But you just have to reload. I was a little negative at first. I was like, ‘Of course, this happened.’ But then you just had to think forward. It actually was good when I got back to third because it felt like I was hunting instead of being hunted.” Rosenqvist led the field to green flag on the Lap 196 restart after the 10-minute red flag period, with O’Ward second and Armstrong third. But Armstrong powered to the front in the four-wide restart with a bold outside move in Turn 1, with Malukas riding his aerodynamic coattails to second. But then Schumacher made contact with the SAFER Barrier to bring out the final caution on Lap 197, setting up the one-lap dash for glory. NTT P1 Award winner Palou led a race-high 59 laps but finished seventh. Adding his 12 bonus points for earning the Indy 500 pole, Palou leads the series standings by 42 points over Malukas entering the next event, the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear on Sunday, May 31 on the streets of Detroit. Kimi Antonelli First of all, massive commiserations to George. I feel very sorry for him as he was leading the race and was super strong. We were having a great battle in that first stint and very close on pace. I am sure it would have gone right until the end of the Grand Prix, and I am disappointed we didn’t get the chance to continue that. It was not an easy race for us. The wind was very tricky and with the low temperatures, it was hard to get the tyres working. We had several lock-ups, particularly in the early stages, but fortunately were able to keep it on the track and get to the chequered flag first. It is of course not how we want to win but we will take it. We now get ready for the European portion of the season and six races in eight weekends leading up to shutdown. It will be an intense period, but we are looking forward to it. George Russell I am proud of my weekend, no matter that it ended in a retirement today. I took pole for the Sprint, won that race, took pole for the Grand Prix and was leading before we had the Power Unit issue that finished our race. I know there is nothing more I could have done this weekend to perform and that fills me with confidence moving forward into the rest of the season. It is of course a painful way to finish our Canadian Grand Prix weekend, but I will leave here satisfied that I did my best. Up until lap 30, I was thoroughly enjoying the race. I loved the battle with Kimi, and I am sure he did too. It was like going back to karting days where you are racing wheel-to-wheel, swapping the lead multiple times. I hope everyone enjoyed watching it as much as I enjoyed being in it. I just wish we could have continued it until the end of the Grand Prix. MAX... We made the right calls and didn't leave anything on the table! Finish Position: 3, Start Position: 6 "It’s great to be back on th

    1h 20m

  6. May 18

    F1Weekly Podcast # 1148

    ON TODAYS PROGRAM…   MERCEDES WINS AT THE 24 HOURS OF THE NURBURGRING FIRST WIN FOR MERC IN A DECADE! BUT MAX’S CAR HAS A DRIVE SHAFT FAILURE! NICK DEVRIES WINS THE MONACO E-PRIX!! WHAT ARE THE OTHER F1 DRIVERS DOING ON THEIR DAYS OFF? WILL MAX BE MOTIVATED TO RACE AT LE MANS? AND…FERNANDO SAYS…I WANT TO KEEP RACING UNTIL MY SON CAN SEE ME IN THE F1 PADOCK!!  THIS WEEK’S NASIR HAMEED CORNER WE HAVE: YANNICK DALMAS FOUR TIME LE MANS WINNER…CARLOS SAINZ SR…AND INDY 500 WINNER THE LATE GIL DE FERRAN!! Max Verstappen and team dominate 24h Nürburgring until final hours, as Red Bull Team ABT makes a spectacular comeback for 2nd place! Max Verstappen produced a standout debut performance at the ADAC RAVENOL 24h Nürburgring, in command of the race for the majority of its 24 hours before Mercedes-AMG Team Verstappen Racing were forced out of the lead with just over three hours remaining following a driveshaft failure on the #3 Mercedes-AMG GT3. The four-time F1 world champion, sharing the car with Dani Juncadella, Lucas Auer and Jules Gounon, had delivered spells of excellent driving across both day and night in his first 24-hour race, a performance that further underlined his ability to adapt seamlessly across different disciplines of motorsport. With Mercedes-AMG Team Verstappen Racing forced to retire, the sister #80 Mercedes inherited the lead to take overall victory, with the #84 Red Bull Team ABT Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2 classified second after a recovery drive from a lap-one puncture. A record 352,000 spectators attended the 24h Nürburgring weekend for Verstappen's debut appearance, a surge many are calling the "Verstappen effect". The charge began on the opening lap, when Juncadella moved up the order from P4 as the pole-sitting Red Bull Team ABT #84 suffered a puncture. Verstappen took over for his maiden Nordschleife race stint with the #3 in P3, and a brief early scare onto the grass did little to slow him. Settling into rhythm, he stormed through the order with a string of thrilling overtakes to take the lead inside his very first stint. From there the #3 settled into a sustained battle at the front, with the team's four-driver rotation slotting into the rhythm of the race. After Verstappen's opening double stint, Gounon took the car on for his run before Auer reclaimed the lead with a strong spell of his own. Juncadella then took the wheel into the small hours, going lap-for-lap with the chasing #80 as the two factory Mercedes cars opened up a commanding gap over the rest of the field, the two rarely separated by more than 20 seconds across the full race distance. Verstappen was at the centre of the action across the overnight hours. The Dutchman pulled nearly half a minute clear of the sister car on his way to a string of standout moments, including a 270 km/h side-by-side battle on the Döttinger Höhe that saw the #80 run onto the wet grass before recovering, and a patient overtake to put the #3 back into the lead after more than 20 minutes of pursuit. The 24h Nürburgring is widely regarded as one of the most punishing events in motorsport, and across the race weekend a sizeable share of the 161-strong field were caught out by some combination of mechanical issues, crashes and the Nordschleife's notoriously changeable conditions. By the time the chequered flag fell, only 18 of the 41 GT3 cars that had started the race were still running. Heading into the final four hours, Verstappen had stretched the lead back out to 33 seconds before handing over to Juncadella on his in-lap. The issue struck shortly after, just three laps into the Spaniard's stint. An initial ABS warning escalated into vibrations from the rear right corner, and the car limped back to the garage where mechanics diagnosed a broken driveshaft and significant rear axle damage. With repair time running to nearly an hour, victory was no longer possible, but the team committed to rebuilding the car so it could rejoin the race for the closing laps. "We spoke with Max and the other three drivers, and everybody is so disappointed," said Mercedes-AMG manager Stefan Wendl. "But we said let's send this beautiful car out again for the last two or three laps and present it to the fans who have cheered for 20 hours and tried to bring us to victory." Juncadella, who was behind the wheel when the issue struck, took the disappointment in his stride: "It's obviously very heartbreaking, but motorsport is like that sometimes. There are many things you cannot control. The mechanical aspect in motorsport can sometimes be very cruel, and it was with us this time. Unfortunately, the race was three hours too long for us, and we couldn't make it to the end. Nevertheless, we have to be proud of everything that has been done. The team was incredible with the calls they did in the race. Max had a lot of fun; we could all see that. Maybe now there's a reason to come back." Driving alongside Verstappen for the first time, Lucas Auer reflected on the team dynamic: "Last time we drove together was against each other, and it's definitely better to have him as a teammate because he is just a machine. He's a lot of fun, a hard worker and has amazing speed." The sister #80 Mercedes of Team RAVENOL (Maro Engel, Luca Stolz, Fabian Schiller and Maxime Martin) went on to take Mercedes-AMG's first 24h Nürburgring victory in a decade, having recovered from a Top Qualifying crash that had left them starting in 25th place. Red Bull Team ABT held on to second despite a late penalty for a Code 60 infringement, finishing 16 seconds clear of the third-placed Walkenhorst Aston Martin. Red Bull Team ABT's Luca Engstler, who shared driving duties in the #84 with Mirko Bortolotti and Patric Niederhauser, could scarcely believe the team had fought back to second after a puncture dropped them to 14th: "It was an incredible week. We had a very good qualifying, starting front row, and then we had a horrible start, got taken out, and we had the puncture, and we were two and a half minutes down. We dropped back to about nine minutes behind the leader. But I never gave up, and in the end, we're here, and that's just insane." Race engineer Leon Wippersteg, fresh from delivering Lamborghini’s first Nürburgring front-row lockout in qualifying, credited the wider team effort that delivered second place: "It was one year of preparation to come here and to perform. All the drivers, engineers, mechanics, all the partners, everything has to fit together to be able to perform. We had the package, and I would say we're one of the quickest manufacturers out there. I think we managed well, and I'm very proud." La revanche de Servol et Jousset en Championnat de France FFSA GT  Malchanceux samedi, Rudy Servol et Léo Jousset ont renoué avec la victoire ce dimanche sur le Circuit de Dijon-Prenois David Levy et Jodie Sloss remportent leur premier succès en Am Cup Romain Monti et Rodolphe Wallrgen prennent le large dans l’Alpine ELF Cup Series, Gillian Lay et Mikkel Njor lauréats dans la Ginetta Cup. Le Circuit de Dijon-Prenois a offert aux fans du Championnat de France FFSA GT deux courses hyper spectaculaires. Malgré une météo fraîche pour la saison, 13.420 spectateurs ont rejoint le mythique tracé bourguignon ce week-end… et ils n’ont pas été déçus ! N’ayant pas pu prendre le départ samedi suite à un problème technique, Rudy Servol et Léo Jousset (Alpine A110 GT4+ / Race Cars Consulting) ont pris une cinglante revanche ce dimanche en menant cette seconde course de bout en bout. Mais avec un total de trois neutralisations en 60 minutes de course, ils n’ont jamais pu réellement souffler. Leur deuxième victoire de la saison, après la course 1 de Nogaro, leur permet de de conserver leurs chances au championnat.  Avec une ultime relance pour un seul tour en fin de course, on s’attendait à vivre de nombreux scénarios… Harri Reynolds er Rhys Lloyd (Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO2 / Circuit Toys) croyaient s’offrir la deuxième place, mais les Gallois étaient pénalisés après l’arrivée pour un contact durant la course. Premiers des concurrents de la classe Am à passer sous le drapeau à damier samedi, David Levy et Jodie Sloss (Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 EVO / Mirage Racing) ont perdu la victoire sur le tapis vert après la course, le dépassement décisif pour la victoire ayant été effectué après le déclenchement de la procédure Full Course Yellow. Ce dimanche, rien n’est venu entraver leur marche en avant et le duo franco-écossais signe ainsi son premier succès de la saison. Avec une victoire samedi puis une deuxième place ce dimanche, Nicco Ferrarin et Julien Briché (Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport / JSB Compétition) ont marqué des points très importants pour le championnat en devançant deux fois Stéphane Lémeret et Stéphane Auriacombe (Alpine A110 GT4 EVO / CMR), toujours leaders mais avec une avance de 2 points seulement sur la paire Ferrarin-Briché.  Monti et Wallgren creusent l’écart en Alpine ELF Cup Series, de nouveaux vainqueurs en Ginetta Cup. Les arrivées au sprint deviennent une habitude dans l’Alpine ELF Cup Series. Mais un final avec 85 millièmes de seconde de différence entre les vainqueurs et leurs dauphins, c’est une première !  Dans cette course entre les Alpine A110 Cup, Romain Monti et Rodolphe Wallgren (Chazel Technologie Course) ont donc remporté de justesse leur troisième victoire de la saison face aux vainqueurs de la veille, Gosia Rdest et Paul Alberto (Chazel Technologie Course).  Deux fois en pole position dans la classe, le jeune Luxembourgeois de 16 ans Lenny Kieffer et son nouvel équipier Julien Neveu (Schumacher GP) sont montés sur la plus petite marche du podium pour la première fois après une magnifique prestation. Roulant en solo et ne marquant pas de points au championnat, Axel Constantin (Chazel Technologie Course) a devanc

    1h 13m

  7. May 11

    F1Weekly Podcast # 1147

    ON TODAYS PROGRAM… FIA APROVE MORE REG CHANGES FOR 2027 SO… IS FERRARI STUCK IN A LOOP OF MEDIOCRITY?  HONDA MAKING SOME PROGRESS IN RELIABILITY WOULD VERSTAPPEN BE TOO MUCH FOR MOTORSPORTS IF HE LEAVES F1 AND… FERNANDO SAYS PATIENCE IS MY STRENGTH WITH HINTS OF NO RETIREMENT ANY TIME SOON!! THIS WEEK’S NASIR HAMEED CORNER WE HAVE: ROBIN FRINJS WHO JUST WON THE WEC RACE AT SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS! AND, HANNES VAN ASSELDONK! BONUS: DAVID COULTHARD AND LONG TIME F1W LISTENER... CHRISTOPHER DEHARDE. ISACK HADJAR THRILLS CROWD AT GRAND PRIX DE FRANCE HISTORIQUE HOMECOMING  Isack Hadjar roared the 2011 championship-winning RB7 past a sea of French fans as he returned to home soil for the first time as an Oracle Red Bull Racing driver at Circuit Paul Ricard.   In front of an adoring home crowd, Isack paraded around the iconic track allowing him to soak up the electric atmosphere, before taking part in the ‘Fast and Famous’ demo run alongside legends of the sport.  Joined by CEO and Team Principal Laurent Mekies, Isack was cheered on by a passionate sell-out crowd of 25,000 fans, as he completed demonstration laps around Le Castellet for the first time since claiming victory there in the Formula Regional European Championship in 2021.   Headlining the 2026 Grand Prix de France Historique, Isack took to the 5.8km Grand Prix course, returning RB7 to the historic Formula One layout, waving to his fans as their roar from the grandstands rivalled the deafening thunder of the car’s V8 engine.   Isack later joined fellow French F1 driver Esteban Ocon in the ‘Fast and Famous’ segment, which placed cars from several decades of F1 history against one another in a celebration of legacy. Earning the biggest cheer of the afternoon, Isack raced Ocon down the Mistral Straight.   Sharing the track with four-time World Champion Alain Prost, Isack followed in the slipstream of one of his childhood heroes around Circuit Paul Ricard while also driving alongside Jean Alesi, Philippe Alliot and René Arnoux, amongst some of the most celebrated names to race under the French flag.   Capping off a memorable afternoon under the Le Castellet sunshine, Isack was given the honour by waving Le Tricolore to signal the start of the ‘Historic F1 race’, featuring an extraordinary collection of World Championship-winning drivers and decades of iconic F1 machinery.   Isack Hadjar, Oracle Red Bull Racing driver, said: "Being here was the perfect day. It was my home Grand Prix here in France and it was my chance to feel the support from so many fans today. I had a lot of fun, both on track and in the paddock. The roar of RB7's V8 is iconic and it felt so light around this circuit which made for a lovely drive. The atmosphere was unreal, you can get so close to the fans and enjoy special moments with them. Coming here brought back a lot of memories from winning races in F4 and to drive around Paul Ricard in an F1 car was a full circle moment." Laurent Mekies, CEO and Team Principal of Oracle Red Bull Racing, said: "Today has been an incredible event, it's the first time Oracle Red Bull Racing have shown up in this way for the Grand Prix de France Historique and it felt like a really special occasion. Isack's popularity here has been through the roof, you feel an extraordinary sense of passion from the French fans for their motorsport and Isack. He had a great afternoon having a good go on track against cars from so many different eras of our sport. Our heritage team and Showrun programme is so unique to Red Bull, it’s our way of bringing Formula One to those that haven't been able to experience a Grand Prix atmosphere before and today they got that." Kucharczyk Breaks Through for First INDY NXT Win at IMS INDIANAPOLIS (Saturday, May 9, 2026) – Tymek Kucharczyk was Mr. Consistency for the first five races of the INDY NXT by Firestone season. But now he’s a winner. Series rookie Kucharczyk, the first Polish driver to compete in the INDYCAR development series, earned his first career victory by holding off Max Taylor to win Race 2 of the Indianapolis Grand Prix doubleheader Saturday on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. SEE: Race Results “What a special day,” Kucharczyk said. “To do it here, coming back to November in my first test in an INDY NXT car, now a winner here at Indy, it’s spectacular. I’m so grateful to my sponsors, to my team. It was a tough race. It was really, really hard to hold Max behind me. He was pushing me for the whole race.” Kucharczyk was the only driver to record a top-five finish in the first five races this season, but his best was third place, three times. He finished fourth in Race 1 of this doubleheader in mixed conditions Friday. But Kucharczyk climbed from fifth to the lead after the first two turns on the 14-turn, 2.439-mile circuit, leading all 30 laps in the No. 71 HMD Motorsports car. He took the checkered flag .6273 of a second ahead of Taylor in the No. 28 Susan G. Komen machine of Andretti Global after a taut, race-long duel in the caution-free race. Enzo Fittipaldi, who won Race 1 Friday, prevailed in an exciting three-way fight over the last 10 laps of the race for the final podium spot in the No. 67 HMD Motorsports machine. Lochie Hughes placed fourth in the No. 26 Andretti Global car, with Alessandro de Tullio rounding out the top five in the No. 14 AJ Foyt Racing entry. Series leader Nikita Johnson placed sixth in the No. 21 Cape Motorsports Powered by ECR car. Kucharczyk climbed to second in the standings with his win, 11 points behind Johnson. There were two main flashpoints in the race, which took place under sunny skies in a contrast to the wet conditions at the finish Friday. The first came at the green flag. Taylor started from pole and went side by side with Josh Pierson’s No. 29 Starchive Andretti entry of Andretti Global, with both cars going wide. Kucharczyk snuck through the opening for the lead, with Taylor clinging to second. Kucharczyk maintained a gap of six- to seven-tenths of a second for the next 16 laps before the second main incident of the race. Kucharczyk locked his right front wheel braking for Turn 1 on Lap 17, creating a large flat spot on his Firestone Firehawk tire. “Other than the lockup that I made midway through the race, it was a pretty flawless execution,” Kucharczyk said. “I don’t think we had probably the fastest car on the grid today, but the first lap helped me massively. Max was pushing really hard, so I had to save the Push to Pass at the end, as well. It’s all good. I made it happen, so super, super grateful.” Taylor pulled to within .4807 of a second on Lap 23, and it appeared the flat spot on his tire may have started to sap speed from Kucharczyk. But the Pole managed his tires and saved enough Push to Pass engine boost to increase the gap to .7830 of a second on Lap 25. He maintained a steady gap to the checkered flag. “That was everything,” Taylor said of his effort. “I thought we were going to catch him. I messed up on the start, I think. So, something to look over. But still good points, decent points this weekend, and a lot to take away and a lot to improve on if we want to win this championship.” Taylor is third in the standings, three points behind Kucharczyk and 14 behind Johnson. The next INDY NXT by Firestone race is the Detroit Grand Prix on Sunday, May 31 on the streets of Detroit. Lundgaard Breaks Long Drought To Win Sonsio Grand Prix INDIANAPOLIS (Saturday, May 9, 2026) – Christian Lundgaard prevailed in a race filled with thrills, incidents and enough pit wall decisions to prematurely age strategists to win the Sonsio Grand Prix on Saturday on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, his first NTT INDYCAR SERIES victory in nearly three years. Lundgaard drove his No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet to his second career victory by 4.6713 seconds over the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet of David Malukas. Lundgaard’s first career win came at the Honda Indy Toronto on July 16, 2023, while driving for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. This victory ended a 47-race winless drought for the Danish driver, and he became the third McLaren driver to win in the INDYCAR SERIES, joining Johnny Rutherford and Pato O’Ward. SEE: Race Results “Very happy,” Lundgaard said. “I really didn’t expect this today. I hoped for it. This was a long wait for this win, especially around this place. You know how fast I’ve always been around here, and it’s just been time after time after time disappointments. Now we’re here. Let’s go! “We did it. Let’s go. Good start to May.” Graham Rahal was the final podium finisher today, third in the No. 15 Fifth Third Bank Honda to tie his season-best result. Josef Newgarden placed fourth in the No. 2 Astemo Team Penske Chevrolet to put two Penske cars in the top four. NTT P1 Award winner Alex Palou, who led every session he was on track this weekend entering the 85-lap race, rounded out the top five in the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. Lundgaard, who started fourth, took the lead for good with a scintillating pass of Malukas on Lap 68. The two drivers raced side by side through Turns 3 and 4 before Lundgaard slipped through a small opening in the Turns 5 and 6 chicane leading to the backstretch of the 14-turn, 2.439-mile circuit. Then Lundgaard, who last pitted for the final time one lap earlier than Malukas on Lap 65, pulled away over the closing laps. Malukas led a race-high 27 laps, four more than Lundgaard, as he fell just short of earning his first career victory. “We were very strong in those middle stints, and then toward the end, we maybe made the wrong decision on wing (adjustments) there,” Malukas said. “We were just falling apart. I was doing everything I can just to survive, and Rahal was coming from behind. “But either way, that is a fantastic result. We went into this weekend

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  8. May 4

    F1Weekly Podcast # 1146

    ON TODAYS PROGRAM… THE TEENAGER WINS ANOTHER GRAND PRIX! MAX DOES A 360 AFTER LOOSING THE REAR IN TURN ONE! THE FORMULA IS GETTING MORE EXCITING FOR SURE! GEORGE NOW 20 POINTS BEHIND…AND A WATCHED POT NEVER BOILS!!!…CONCER NING THE RAIN ALEX ZANARDI GONE AT 59…WE WILL MISS YOU AND YOUR WILL TO FIGHT! THIS WEEK’S NASIR HAMEED CORNER WE HAVE: GIACOMO AGOSTINI AND ALEXANDER ROSSI FROM MONZA BY THE HOST OF F1W IN 2010   ALEX ZANARDI October 23, 1966 - May 1, 2026 At WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, legends aren't just made; they are carved into the corners themselves. Thirty years ago, at the infamous Corkscrew, Alex Zanardi delivered one of the boldest moves motorsport has ever seen.  Chasing Bryan Herta in the closing laps, Zanardi saw an opportunity where none should exist. As they crested the hill, nearly blind to what lay beyond, Zanardi committed...diving down the inside into the Corkscrew, a line few would even consider, let alone attempt.  It was instinct, precision, and fearless intent, all in a single breathtaking moment. Side by side through the drop, gravity pulling them into chaos, Zanardi merged ahead, completing a pass that defied logic and redefined what was possible on the track. Decades later, that move still echoes through Laguna Seca, a reminder that greatness isn't just about speed, but about daring to do what no one else will. Alex Zanardi’s impact reaches far beyond the racetrack. He inspired generations of drivers, fans, and communities around the world, and his legacy will continue to do so for years to come.  Grazie Alex. Charles Leclerc’s day at the Miami International Autodrome has taken a turn for the worse after the stewards gave him a post-race time penalty. Leclerc was called up by the officiating panel for three separate potential offences, triggered when the Ferrari man suffered a last-lap spin and tapped the wall. After that, Leclerc was noted for driving his damaged car in an unsafe condition, leaving the track multiple times and gaining an advantage, and clashing with Mercedes rival George Russell at the final hairpin. Following their investigations, the stewards opted to hand Leclerc a drive-through penalty, which – given that this was handed out after the Grand Prix – has been converted into 20 seconds being added onto his race time, dropping him down the order to eighth place. This penalty was given for leaving the track “on several occasions without a justifiable reason”, a document released following the stewards’ hearing confirmed. After hearing from Leclerc and a team representative – as well as the data, video and radio evidence – the findings from the stewards read: “Car 16 spun on the last lap at Turn 3 and hit the wall but continued on track. “The driver informed us that the car appeared fine save that the car would not negotiate the righthand corners properly. “Given this problem, he was forced to cut chicanes on the way to the chequered flag. We determined that the fact that he had to cut the chicanes (i.e. to leave the track) meant that he gained a lasting advantage by leaving the track in that manner. “The fact that he had a mechanical issue of some sort did not amount to a justifiable reason. We accordingly impose a Drive Through penalty on Car 16, given the number of times the car left the track and gained an advantage. “We also considered whether there was an additional breach in continuing to drive a car with an obvious and discernible mechanical issue. We determined that there was no evidence of there being an obvious of discernible mechanical issue. We therefore took no further action in relation to that potential infringement.” In a separate investigation for Leclerc’s contact with Russell into Turn 17, the stewards deemed that no further action was necessary, stating in a document from that hearing: “Both drivers considered the contact to be minor racing incidents and we agreed. Verstappen fights back from first lap spin to take fifth in Miami Oracle Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen fought back from a spin on the opening lap with a determined drive into fifth place at a chaotic Miami Grand Prix that saw Visa Cash App Racing Bulls rookie Arvid Lindblad finish in 14th as both Isack Hadjar and Liam Lawson crashed out of the action early. After qualifying in an impressive second place on Saturday behind eventual Grand Prix winner and Drivers' Standings leader Kimi Antonelli of Mercedes, Verstappen made a strong start, but was squeezed on to the kerb just two turns into the 57-lap race and spun, dropping him to ninth. From there, the four-time Formula 1 world champion staged an impressive fight back through the field. The Safety Car was deployed on Lap 5 when team-mate Isack Hadjar crashed out of the Grand Prix and Verstappen took the opportunity to pit for hard tyres, rejoining the race in 16th place. Verstapppen scythed through the field on the first street circuit of the season, all the way back inside the top three. However, the huge stint driven on hard tyres began to take their toll in the closing laps and despite fighting with everything he had, the Dutch driver dropped to fifth place the chequered flag. Later on the same lap that Hadjar crashed out in the second RB22, Visa Cash App RB's Liam Lawson was also forced to retire after making contact with Pierre Gasly's Alpine. His rookie team-mate Arvid Lindblad drover another solid Grand Prix however, gaining vital street circuit experience in an F1 car on his way to 14th place. Quotes Oracle Red Bull Racing MAX VERSTAPPEN – 5th “It was a very eventful race. Unfortunately, on lap one I lost the rear and spun in the second corner, which was a shame. I recovered it well, but then we had to manage and minimise the time loss. After that we opted to do an early stop. It's easy to say after the race, but the hard tyre wasn’t really working for us, as we didn’t have particularly good grip and struggled a bit at the end. I tried my best to hang in there, but it wasn't meant to be. However, for sure we picked up a bit of performance, which is really promising. Overall, it was a positive weekend for us and good to be back in the mix. The car is a work in progress and we keep on pushing and keep trying to improve, so we are heading in the right direction." ISACK HADJAR – DNF “It's a tough one to take. We had a good start from the pitlane and I felt awesome the first few laps. We had very good pace early on and then the mistake came. I didn't see it coming and everything went so fast. I was just too eager and ended up finding the limit of the track. I need to look back at what happened to understand where I went wrong. The team made a big step forward and the pace was much stronger today than we've had in the opening rounds, so I'm frustrated that I couldn't score what I felt were easy points. I'm already itching to get back into the car in Canada and maximise what we now have." LAURENT MEIKES – CEO & Team Principal "Our car is very different today to what it was five weeks ago in Japan, when we were 1.2 seconds off pole. It’s clear we still have a lot of work to do, but looking at our race pace today and our quali pace yesterday, I think we are on the right track. We brought upgrades, like almost everyone else, but on top of that we have been able to resolve some of the issues we had up until now and we found some lap time there too.   "I have no problem repeating myself when I say we have a fantastic team of people back in Milton Keynes and here at the race track. In my opinion its the best talent in the paddock and they must take the credit for this uptick in performance. It’s been a strong united effort at 360 degrees, chassis side and PU side. "We also take home some very important learnings from this weekend on what to improve next and we are well aware that much more is needed in order to compete again for the top spot. Max reminded us of how incredible he is when he can push with the car, sticking the RB22 on the front row yesterday and fighting for each millimetre of track today, coming through the entire field and surviving a 50ish lap long stint on the hard. Isack did not have a clean weekend and we did not help him with the back of the grid start due to our mistake yesterday. His initial pace in the race was strong and I have every confidence we will regroup back in MK and come back stronger for a smoother weekend in Montreal."

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