Car FYI

Photo Credit: LAT Images for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd. Saturday’s qualifying for the inaugural Formula 1 race in the Arab nation of Qatar has assembled what is certain to be a dramatic opening lap showdown between this season’s title contenders Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen. In setting the grid for Sunday’s 57-lap main event on the fast, high grip 5.380-kilometer Losail International Circuit, it was the driver of the #44 Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team race car that took honours. Lewis Hamilton’s pole-winning lap time of 1-minute, 20.827 seconds in the final Q3 session putting a cap on a time trial where the seven-time World Drivers’ Champion handily controlled through the three sessions. Joining Hamilton on the front row of the 2021 Qatar Grand Prix will be Max Verstappen’s Red Bull Racing machine. The Honda-powered entrant was 0.455 seconds slower than the rival Mercedes race car. With the race at Losail being the t...

Photo Credit: Steve Etherington for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd. The 2021 Formula One season is quickly rushing to completion with the Brazilian Grand Prix being the fourth-to-last event. With Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton left with fewer chances to gain points, this weekend’s competition at the Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace contained the additional opportunity to gain up to three extra points as the race weekend was the last of three where the sport would stage a Sprint Qualifying session. After a typical time trial on Friday, Hamilton’s Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team race car registered the fastest lap time in Q3 but would receive a penalty for his DRS (Drag Reduction System) being out of compliance with the rules. While Hamilton was moved to the rear for Sprint Qualifying, drivers’ championship leader Verstappen received also entered Saturday with a penalty in the form of a 50,000 euro fine for making physical contact with the rear wing of the #44 Mer...

Photo Credit: XPB / James Moy Photography Ltd/Alpine F1 Team Approaching the 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix weekend and this season’s 11th Formula 1 event, fans have been more prevalently dividing themselves between the camps of Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen along with their respective teams. The battle lines in fandom among the championship contenders have become particularly evident in the aftermath of the recent British Grand Prix. However, beyond the building Hamilton/Verstappen season-long bout, the activities of 18 other drivers can garner more universal kudos. With the conclusion of Sunday’s chaotic 70-lap event on the 4.381-kilometer, 14-turn Hungaroring, the top 10 results contained a number of celebratory performance including that of a first-time grand prix winner. Summer weather at the circuit outside of Budapest served as a major challenge throughout the grand prix weekend led by extreme hot temperature on Friday and Saturday. Sunday’s race was...

Photo Credit: Zak Mauger/LAT Images/Pirelli untitled An event first held back in 1906 and reinstated on the Formula 1 calendar in 2018, the French Grand Prix has been dominated by Lewis Hamilton and the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team in the previous two outings. However, the 2021 edition of the race on the Circuit Paul Ricard served as another outing in this current season where Mercedes and Hamilton would be challenged by Red Bull Racing led by the sports’ young superstar Max Verstappen. A rivalry presently living up to hopes a true race-after-race battle, the two top drivers in Formula 1 exchanged their advantages throughout the grand prix weekend in France. After almost certain victory at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix was foiled by a sudden tire failure while leading on the Baku City Circuit, Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen appears regrouped for Formula 1's seventh round at the Circuit Paul Ricard. At the top of the lap time chart during the latter two...

Photo Credit: Chris Owens/IndyCar 2021 NTT IndyCar Series Drivers and Teams 2 Josef Newgarden United States Team Penske Chevrolet A two-time IndyCar champion, 30-year-old Tennessee driver Josef Newgarden enters his fifth season with Team Penske after a strong 2020 run. Newgarden is once-again considered a contender once more for the year's title. Winning a total of 18 IndyCar events since starting his career in the series in 2012, the pilot of the #2 Team Penske race car has keen sights on capturing this year's Indianapolis 500. 3 Scott McLaughlin New Zealand Team Penske Chevrolet After securing three consecutive driver titles in the Supercars Championship in a Ford Mustang co-owned by Roger Penske, Scott McLaughlin has been promoted to run his full first season in the NTT IndyCar Series competition with the prestigious group. Though he sp...