Car FYI

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: Mark Sutton/LAT Images/Pirelli untitled Formula 1's oldest race track on the current schedule, Autodromo Nazionale di Monza is recognized as a venue of speed. The 11-turn, 5.793-kilometer (3.6-mile) track layout hosting the 2021 Italian Grand Prix has some of the lowest downforce expectations of many event on the circuit. The unusual performance attributes of Monza where aerodynamic grip is de-emphasized in favour of top speed have given some drivers and teams a taste of glory. Last year’s event won by Scuderia AlphaTauri pilot Pierre Gasly was achieved by the combination of utilizing the team’s Honda engine power and taking advantage of lucky breaks. Gasly’s win in the 2020 Italian Grand Prix also featured fending off a McLaren race car driven by Carlos Sainz Jr. who finished in the runner-up spot. With some extraordinary circumstances occurring in last year’s race, it seemed less than likely that similar unorthodox matters would cre...

Photo Credit: Mark Sutton/LAT Images/Pirelli untitled The week between the Dutch Grand Prix and this weekend’s Italian Grand Prix has involved a series of major announcements ahead of the 2022 Formula 1 season. The biggest domino was British driver George Russell tapped to pilot an entry for the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team as a teammate to Lewis Hamilton. This move for next season occurred as Alexander Albon was announced to return to Formula 1 in the Williams Racing team while current Mercedes-AMG Valtteri Bottas would depart for the Alfa Romeo Racing organization. In the case of Bottas, his final races with the German factory team are widely expected to be his last, best chances at Formula 1 glory. Formula 1's second sprint qualifying weekend at the Autodromo Nationale de Monza was an opportunity for the Finnish driver to leave a lasting impact on the 2021 season. The Italian Grand Prix is one of the three events in the 2021 Formula 1 season to use the league...

Photo Credit: Sam Bloxham/LAT Images/Pirelli untitled Born in Belgium, Formula 1 driver Max Verstappen competes with the flag of the Netherlands just like his father Jos did throughout his grand prix career. Enthusiasm behind the success of the Dutch pilot for Red Bull Racing played an extra part in an aggressive push to bring back the top open wheel racing to Holland’s Circuit Zandvoort. Awarded a date on the Formula 1 calendar last year but cancelled due to COVID-19 health pandemic, the 2021 season would finally welcome the return of the Dutch Grand Prix set to attract a race-day audience of 70,000 with a majority of support going to the driver of the #33 Red Bull Racing machine. Saturday’s qualifying for the event generated the result many native fans were hoping for as Max Verstappen topped the session with a 1-minute, 8.885-second lap time securing pole by a very tight 0.038-second margin over the Lewis Hamilton’s #44 Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team ca...

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...

untitled Photo Credit: Clive Rose/Getty Images/Red Bull Content Pool At the beginning of the 2021 Formula 1 season, it was hoped upon by many parties that Red Bull Racing would mount a consistently competitive battle with the juggernaut that is the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team. Although that seemed to have been the case in the earlier grand prix events in 2021, the races since the Monaco Grand Prix has instead shown Red Bull Racing potentially rediscovering their pre-2014 form while displacing the long dominant German factory team. Ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix, the squad fielding drivers Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez has been on a four-race win streak. Claiming three of the victories in Red Bull Racing’s recent tear is Verstappen who entered the second race of the season at the 4.318-kilometer Red Bull Ring course winner of the previous week’s Styrian Grand Prix . Though Mercedes-AMG showed the potential of matching their Honda-powered rival on pace th...

Photo Credit: Unnamed photographer/Pirelli The 2021 Formula 1 tour arrived in Austria this past weekend for the first of two events held on the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg. A grand prix created last year as a result of the disrupted Formula 1 calender caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Styrian Grand Prix has made a return for the 2021 season after the cancellation of the Canadian Grand Prix that was to be run on June 13 th due to COVID-19 related restrictions. A 71-lap event on the 10-turn, 4.318-kilometer Austrian circuit features many elevation changes and some of the shortest lap times on the grand prix schedule. In Saturday qualifying at the Red Bull Ring Max Verstappen secured home track advantage. After registering fastest times in both Friday practice sessions, the #33 Red Bull Racing RB16B driven by the Dutch pilot took pole with a 1-minute, 3.841-second lap time in the Q3 session. Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team driver Valtteri Bottas recorded the second-fastes...