Search

Mount Panorama once again served up a weekend of chaos including the ongoing weather conditions. We started the weekend with great weather, sunny skies and high temperatures. By Sunday that was a different story. Initially the weather was the same it had been so far with sun in the sky, by a couple hours in, rain had begun and instantly brought chaos.   Hour 1: Bryce Fullwood had a difficult start with having to pit almost immediately, there was uncertainty if they were going to be able to return to the race. The start for the race was clean; Todd Hazelwood (#38) led from Mark Winterbottom (#6) and Jayden Ojeda (#2). By lap 2, advisors had declared the race as wet and therefore the wet tyres were brought to the garage for when they were needed. Cooper Murray (#99) had an impressive chase up to P3 at one point, proving the strength in himself as a driver as well as the team. The very calm race start to an extremely wild bathurst 1000. We saw scrappy laps between various teams, including Garth Tander (#100), Craig Lowndes (#888) and James Courtney (#7). This moment specifically saw these drivers lose position on track. By halfway through, Jamie Whincup (#88) had managed to pass Fabian Coulthard (#25) and Jayden Ojeda to get to P4. It had been a better start for the Feeney/Whincup pairing. Closing to the end of the first hour, Scott Pye (#1) had gained position on track with 5 positions made up, making it to P7. Our biggest moment for the end of the hour, was Garth Tander losing position on track to Craig Lowndes. The moment Garth Tander and Craig Lowndes almost collided with one another. Both managing to keep it on track. Hour 2: At the beginning of the hour, your top 3 was Broc Feeney, Todd Hazelwood and Jobe Stewart. Most of the initial driver swaps had occurred by now with the main drivers in for their first stint. For Bathurst, the rules had been changed from previous years, with Co-Drivers having to complete a minimum of 60 laps. Thomas Randle (#55) and Jack LeBrocq (#09) had a collision with one another which resulted in a 5 second time penalty for Randle as a driving infringement. We had our first minor collision with Aaron Cameron who was unfortunately having to deal with vibrations and damage due to a collision with the wall. Bryce Fullwood finally made his return to the track, 24 laps down on the remainder of the field, but still could score points vital for himself and the team. 888 duo, Craig Lowndes and Zach Bates had a good stint promoting themselves to P15, still a long way to go, but impressive for the youngster. Eventually by the end of the hour, teams had begun their driver swaps again.   Hour 3: Hour 3 began to bring chaos. Shell V-Power Duo Will Davison and Tony D’Alberto (#17), were out due to a big collision at Forrest’s Elbow, carrying lots of speed, and unfortunately finding the outside wall. The collision was our first safety car of many. By the time the first safety car was over, a second one was forced as Chaz Mostert's Mustang had various issues including problems with the water pump. By this time, rain had started falling on the track, this was the beginning of the on-track drama. Another penalty was handed out, this time it was Cam McLeod who received a 15 second penalty, for a driving infringement. The significant damage to Will Davison's Shell V-Power car after the collision with the wall. Halfway through the hour and Lee Holdsworth (#20) led from Jamie Whincup and James Moffat, before a third safety car was brought out. This safety car was the result of Nash Morris (#62), who managed to beach himself in the last corner. When the restart occurred the top 3 was switched up again, with Mark Winterbottom leading from Garth Tander and James Moffat. Before the end of the hour, with rain falling quite heavily and most cars being on wet tyres, Winterbottom, who was on slicks hit the wall, receiving a puncture and being forced to limp back to the pits, eventually he was going to be only one lap down.   Hour 4: Your early top 3 for this was David Russell, Garth Tander and Zak Best. These were everchanging positions, especially given the conditions and the length of the race. By lap 85, Jayden Ojeda was leading the race, but with the rain, it was going to be difficult, especially to keep it on track. Kostecki and Hazelwood had to change some things, with problems needing to be fixed relating to the battery. Both of the RedBull Ampols cars were getting into a battle at the end of the hour, Pye triumphs ahead of Whincup.   Hour 5: This hour was quiet, with not much happening due to settling in the conditions. Brodie Kostecki hit Kai Allen on the pit straight after trying to overtake multiple cars in one go, both losing positions on track. Kostecki received a pitlane penalty for that incident. This penalty was completed very quickly, they dropped to P20, but also faced other ongoing issues related to the engine. The conditions were causing severe sliding for everyone and Zach Bates suffered from that, going off at the last corner, but saving it and managing to continue. Payne and Randle were putting in the big battles, with a minor bump from Payne. Brodie Kostecki made another return to the pit, possibly as a DNF, but this was not certain. One of the many collisions during the Bathurst 1000. This was between Kai Allen and Brodie Kostecki. Hour 6: This was the hour with a most going on regarding racing. Ryan Wood led from Broc Feeney and Matt Payne. Broc Feeney brought out our 4 th safety car after running into the wall, getting wedged in the barrier and being unable to get back out. Brodie Kostecki was able to get back out, after changing out for a new battery. There were also other issues on track including gearbox problem for Courtney. Kai Allen having a decent weekend was hit again, this time by Jack Le Brocq, after the first one with Kostecki, luckily, he was able to continue and finish the race. Two more 5 second penalties were given out; One was for Will Brown, and the other was for Jack Le Brocq after hitting Kai Allen.   Will Brown was the 5 th safety car, when he hit the wall just up at ‘Griffins Bend’, this was very different damage with Brown almost losing the bonnet of the car and having to drive the remainder of the lap being unable to see. At the restart, Wood was ahead of Golding and Payne, but a mistake from Golding brought Payne up into P2. There was yet another 5 second penalty for Thomas Randle for an unsafe release during a pitstop. Jones was the 6 th safety car, and such a sad end to the weekend for the De Pasquale/ Jones pairing. After such a great weekend, the mountain had to punish another young driver with Ryan Wood suffering from an expired engine. It was a devastating result, especially given how close he was to a win or even a podium. Will Brown's car after his collision with the wall at turn 2. Hour 7: We reached the final hour, after all the chaos and drama including the weather. We had another race restart due to the Jones incident and from that Cooper Murray led from James Golding and Matt Payne. By this point, the visibility was nearly zero, especially at the highest point of the mountain, making the conditions near impossible. Richie Stanaway was our 7 th safety car of the event after he collided with the wall, a very difficult result but so tough given how bad the track conditions were. By the Restart, the result was the same with Murray leading from Payne and Golding. Ryan Wood was finally able to make a return to the track after fixing their problem, but not the result him or the team would’ve liked. One of the battles for the P1 position on track through the significant weather conditions. This was the big deciding moment between Golding and Payne. On the final restart, Murray was knocked by Golding which dropped him to P4, as a result, Reynolds moved up into P3. For that incident, Golding did receive a 5 second penalty but ultimately this would not make much difference. The winner of the Bathurst 1000 was Matt Payne and Garth Tander, with P2 being David Reynolds and Lee Holdsworth and in P3 despite the penalty was James Golding and David Russell. The 2025 winners of the Bathurst 1000; Matt Payne and Garth Tander. Gold Coast 500: It was an overall brilliant and unexpected race weekend at Bathurst with a similar podium result. This weekend, we head back to the sunny state. It is the weekend of the Gold Coast 500, it should be an interesting weekend, especially given how the track is setup. We return for the excitement and chaos of the Gold Coast 500.

Honorable Mention: Chris Buescher’s consistency continues, with another solid top 10 run resulting in a P12. There’s not much more I can say, he’s just always really solid come Sunday. Rarely the best, but even more rarely out to lunch. Talladega could be a solid result, as an RFK car has finished a photo finish P2 in the last 3 Talladega races (barring a DQ from Ryan Preece in the spring). Buescher also has a win at Daytona in 2023 and led some laps before being wrecked early stage 2 in the spring. 10: Joey Logano locked up a 6th place finish on Sunday after a 2-tire gamble set him up for the win. Logano still has a nasty deficit to the cutline, but can easily make that up with a win at either of the next two tracks, something he’s done at both of them a combined 4 times, although his last win at both came all the way back in 2018. 9: Bubba Wallace had a really good run going Sunday, consistently inside the top 8, before a speeding penalty stage 2 doomed his day. Wallace never really recovered and ended up 22nd. Wallace is headed to Talladega, the track he captured his maiden Cup Series win at back in 2021. With that being said, this is Wallace’s only top 5 at the track, with his only other top 10s being a 9th and an 8th in the last two races respectively.  8: Tyler Reddick had much of the same as his teammate, minus the speeding penalty. He came home with a 5th place finish (in an extremely ugly paint scheme, so close yet so far on the paint scheme scale). Reddick won at Talladega last spring, but only mustered a 20th and a 14th in the races since. This might be Reddick’s last shot at a win this year, which might come as a surprise considering he’s the reigning regular season champion, but then again, Chase Elliott went winless in 2023 and MTJ went winless in 2024, both following a regular season championship. Look out, Byron fans. 7: Ryan Blaney and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad racetrack. In 3 of the 4 fall races at Las Vegas, Blaney has finished 28th or worse, with only a 6th in 2023 to save him. Adjacent with this, however, is his success at Martinsville, where his last 3 fall races hasn’t had a finish worse than 3rd, including back to back wins. I know I’m skipping over Talladega, (which is a solid track for Blaney, with 3 wins) but if you’re a YRB fan, all eyes are on Martinsville.  6: Chase Briscoe finished 4th at Las Vegas and led 57 laps. He dropped a spot in the rankings. That should tell you how close this top 7 is. Briscoe has only 2 top 10s at Talladega, most recently coming in the spring of 2023. With that being said, in his 9 starts at Talladega, he’s only finished worse than 15th twice here, a 30th last fall and a 37th in 2022. Briscoe also finished 4th in the Great American Race to kick the season off, leading 4 laps.  5: The other Chase, being Elliott, is back to 5th on the list. Again, after an 18th place run, it’s not necessarily that I think Elliott had that bad of a performance to warrant dropping him 3 spots, it’s just the fact that there were 3 others with better standout performances. Chase Elliott most recently has a win at Talladega in 2022, along with a win in 2019. He also won at Atlanta earlier in the summer, so look for Elliott to gain on that cutline, if not advance himself into the next round. 4: This might just be Denny Hamlin’s year. Now locked into the championship race, Denny Hamlin does not care in the slightest about the next 2 races, with all eyes on Phoenix. Hamlin has several wins at drafting tracks, but the last one came at Talladega in 2020 in 100% fair conditions and absolutely in no way was there any controversy at all.  3: We should be talking about what a solid day William Byron had, if not talking about his advancement into the Championship Round. Instead, we’re talking about the fact that the most consistent driver all year long is now 15 points out thanks to his late race run in with Ty Dillon. It’s a shame the 24 team couldn’t perform when the lights were the brightest, I suppose. While Byron does not have a win at Talladega, he does have 5 straight top 7 finishes, and 10 of his last 11 starts are top 15 finishes. Byron is also the reigning Daytona 500 champion 2 years running.  2: Christopher Bell had a really solid run Sunday, which sits him nicely at 2 in the rankings and 3 in the playoffs. He’s going to need every one of those points, because Bell is just as likely to finish outside the top 30 as he is to finish top 10 at Talladega. He did finish 6th here last year, but also finished 35th in the spring. Bell did nab a win at Atlanta early in the year, so maybe the tides are turning for Bell at superspeedways.  1: Sunday finally looked to be Kyle Larson’s day. He led 129 laps, finished 2nd in stage 1, and won stage 2. Larson fans see Talladega coming up and probably sigh, but it might not be as bleak as it seems. Larson’s last 2 finishes in Alabama are 2nd in the spring and 4th last fall. At 35 above the cutline, all Larson needs is a solid top 15 at Talladega, regroup, and to perform at Martinsville, something he is absolutely capable of. That 21 race winless streak might be coming to an end here soo

We returned to the fabulous lights in Singapore for one of the best night races in Formula One. It was to be a good race with previous years proving exactly that.   Mercedes driver George Russell was an odd pole position but given the pace of that car it was partially to be expected. Alongside Russell was Max Verstappen in P2 and Oscar Piastri starting in P3. Qualifying proved there was plenty up for grabs, with Ferrari struggling and McLaren’s Lando Norris starting from P6. Mercedes Driver George Russell takes pole position ahead of RedBull's Max Verstappen and McLaren's Oscar Piastri. It was a very unfortunate qualifying session for the Williams duo, with a decent result of P12 and P13, until a post qualifying disqualification caused them to drop to the back end of the grid. Alex Albon would start from the pit lane with Pierre Gasly, whilst Carlos Sainz was to start P18.   The race was varying emotions depending on who you support. For the George Russell fans, it was another win under his belt in the 2025 season, with teammate Kimi Antonelli who started in P4, and finished in P5. This was a very good result for the duo, given their cars ability to work well on most high-speed street circuits as well as their ability to defend track position well during pitstops. The top 3 drivers at the Singapore Grand Prix; Max Verstappen, George Russell and Lando Norris. For RedBull Racing, it was another podium opportunity for their champion Max Verstappen, finishing P2 and having the time of his life defending against the driver in P3, Lando Norris. For close to 30 laps, Verstappen was forced to defend that P2 stop from Norris, whilst he was desperate for a charge and those extra points which were to be vital to his championship. Yuki Tsunoda was a quiet runner, unfortunately finishing outside the top 19, in P12. It was a tough race, with minimal overtaking spots, you must be very committed.   Whilst Lando Norris was battling Max Verstappen, Oscar Piastri was in his own battle. This however was with frustrations towards his teammate during a lap one incident, in which Piastri was not too happy about the result. Various comments were brought up on the radio, regarding the “fairness of such a move”, with fans even questioning the ‘Papaya Rules’ concept. Piastri would finish just out of podium position in P4. McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri getting into a scrap at the Singapore Grand Prix. Whilst tensions were heard and seen, by the end of the race McLaren would be declared the constructors’ champions for the 2025 season as well. The celebrations would begin following the podium result. McLaren team celebrating their 2025 Constructors championship win on the podium in Singapore. Ferrari were a team in a battle with themselves. It was a tough weekend, with double points scored, but brakes not working and frustrations occurring. Charles Leclerc was forced to stick behind Kimi Antonelli, struggling to find any way around the young driver, whilst Lewis Hamilton was stuck behind his teammate. Lewis Hamilton eventually switched to new soft tyres to try and catch Antonelli, whilst this may have worked, the brakes would not allow it. Hamilton would have no brakes for the remaining two laps, receive a 5 second time penalty and drop to P8, Leclerc finished in P6. The Ferrari duo Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc with a tough race result from the Singapore Grand Prix. The driver who did manage to catch up to the stricken Ferrari was the Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso. This was going to be a feat, with a large 40 second gap, but due to the car’s issues, it was easy. He would finish ahead of Hamilton due to the penalty in P7. His teammate Lance Stroll was another driver who could’ve had a good weekend, if they had managed to get past all the traffic and battle against those ahead of him, but in Singapore that is not easy. Stroll finished in P13.   Some drivers that managed to sneak into the top 10, very stealthily was the Williams of Carlos Sainz. He had a difficult task starting from P18, but given the experience he has as a driver, if anyone could do it, Carlos could. He managed to beat some great drivers for that singular point finishing in P10. A driver that stayed quite under the radar but still finished in the top 10 was Ollie Bearman. He had a great weekend, it was going to be a difficult task for the young driver, but he excelled, having started from P9, and finishing in P9, a very good weekend for himself and the team.   Sainz’s teammate Alex Albon would have a tough result, only managing a P14 finish. This however was still very good, considering the conditions they were put in and having to start from the pitlane. Esteban Ocon was a driver that had a weekend to forget, having ended up P18. It was not the result him or the team would have wanted, especially given that his teammate maintained his position from qualifying. Williams duo Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz with a tough situation following their disqualification from Qualifying, but better results in the race. Racing Bulls were a team we were watching to see what they could do in Singapore. With their previous results at the last few races, it was going to be intriguing to see what they could do. Liam Lawson was one that was quite involved with battles on the track, between himself, Colapinto and even Albon. He managed to maintain composure and work through it and finish P15. His teammate Isack Hadjar, having started P8, would’ve wanted a better result, but given the problems with his car that he was fighting with, it was not easy. He still managed to maintain track position and fight for that and would ultimately finish just outside the points in P11.   The Alpine pairing of Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto had a semi quiet weekend. In their own on track, there was not much going on around them with very little they could do. It was going to be a big ask of this duo, and given their cars ability, was not going to happen. Colapinto would finish in P16, ahead of Gasly in P19.   Nico Hulkenberg unfortunately had a bad result, with a spin halfway through the race, that would cause him to be quite far behind. He only managed a P20 finish, whilst his teammate Gabriel Bortoleto also had a tough result finishing in P17. Both drivers did fly a little under the radar, given the lack of stream time for them. Nico Hulkenberg with an unfortunate spin, that would drop him to the back of the field. We are coming up to the last few races for this season. Before we start celebrating and getting to the intense side of the championship we must return to Austin, Texas for the US Grand Prix. The excitement of COTA is back, and it will be interesting with another sprint race weekend taking place between October 17-19. The Race Start at the US Grand Prix in 2024.

With a qualifying session that had resulted in about 6 red flag situations, and a race that had an unexpected driver out early, we knew Baku might have something up its sleeve. Top 10 Qualifying: This session was not the result that many of these drivers wanted including the world championship leader Oscar Piastri with a DNF from the Q3 session. Starting from P9, he was going to have to put in lots of work if he stood a chance. His teammate Lando Norris had a bad qualifying as well only managing P7, whilst the Ferrari pairing of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc only managed P12 and P10 with Leclerc also crashing in qualifying. Charles Leclerc with another tough qualifying session in Azerbaijan finding the same wall as in previous years.   Max Verstappen was the big winner in qualifying starting on pole and alongside him, Carlos Sainz in the Williams after putting an important banker lap, to ensure a spot in case of a situation in the session. Liam Lawson also put an important lap on the board in Q3 securing P3 for the race start. Another difficult pill to swallow for Haas as Esteban Ocon was disqualified post qualifying after failing a rear wing check. The very unexpected top 3 result in Azerbaijan- Liam Lawson P3, Carlos Sainz P2 and Max Verstappen P1. Race: The race itself was interesting with very little overtaking points; you needed to be faster and closer to your opponents to gain on them. During the race start, championship contender, Oscar Piastri jumped the race start due to anti stall multiple times. He dropped to last very quick, before unfortunately finding the wall at turn 5. It was a result that nobody thought would have happened and was shocking to see. He was okay and spent the remainder of the race watching from turn 5. Oscar Piastri with an early out at turn 5 due to a crash in Baku.   Your race winner on the day was Max Verstappen with a near perfect drive from him. He managed to lead easily from lap 1 and had no competition as he extended the gap to p2 and closed the gap in the driver’s championship. In P2, was George Russell and after an unfortunate week of being sick, it was an impressive driver and even more impressive result to be that high up, knowing that sickness can often be difficult to work around. In P3, for the first time since moving and the first Williams podium since Lance Stroll in 2017, was Carlos Sainz and It was an unexpected result, but given the fight he brought to qualifying and the race itself, a very deserved result. Your top 3 for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Carlos Sainz P3, George Russell P2 and Max Verstappen P1.   Piastri’s teammate Lando Norris had a difficult time being stuck being the Racing Bulls and RedBull Racing drivers and having to settle for P7. Liam Lawson was the king of defence in Baku, which secured him a P5 result for himself and points for the team, whilst Yuki Tsunoda also banked some decent points with a P6 finish. Isack Hadjar was the final driver finishing P10 and resulting in a double points scoring weekend for Racing Bulls.   Another mid weekend for the Ferrari pairing, whilst both drivers scored point’s they were looking for more. Lewis Hamilton was able to catch up to Norris eventually but with not enough time to overtake. He settled for P8, whilst his teammate Charles Leclerc made it to P9. The Ferrari Duo, Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton with a tough weekend in Azerbaijan.   Just missing out on a top 10 finish were two young rookie drivers. In P11, was Gabriel Bortoleto and he drove a great race but just did not have enough to get closer to that top 10. Similarly, Oliver Bearman had a good race for Haas, with this looking more positive for the team, they also just missed out with not enough pace compared to the top 10. Overall, though for both these drivers, a good race and plenty of defensive moments for them. Oliver Bearman driving a brilliant race in Baku with battles for positions very early on, including with Sauber driver Nico Hulkenberg.   The Aston Martin duo went under the radar over the weekend, with a bad qualifying and not so great race. It was quiet from them as they finished P17 and P15. That car can typically do rather good in a qualifying situation, but often, under race pace they do struggle slightly. This sometimes is track dependent too.   As for a quiet weekend these drivers were not spoken about much. In P16 was Nico Hulkenberg and he seems to have weekends where he does well and some where he does struggle slightly, this was not as strong as some other weekends from him, and he had to settle for a P16 result. Esteban Ocon surprisingly had an impressive run. After being disqualified and forced to start P20, he charged all the way to P14. This is a great result, even without scoring points, it is promising for Haas. Esteban Ocon battling Pierre Gasly and Alex Albon for track positions. A successful weekend for the Haas pairing. Lastly in P13 (P11 before penalty) was Alex Albon. He would have wanted a much better result but after crashing in qualifying, it was a big feat to ask of him. He brought it back to P11, before being demoted to P13 after a 10 second penalty for a collision with Franco Colapinto.   Starting from the back of the field, an unfortunate result for Alpine being at the back of the grid, Franco Colapinto finished in P19, after an incident with Alex Albon that may have hampered his race. His teammate Pierre Gasly finished P18. Overall, a very quiet day and not the result they would have been hoping for. A tough race weekend for both alpine drivers with collisions and raw pace failing them in Baku. Now we begin to look forward to the next Grand Prix Weekend which is in Singapore. This will be an interesting weekend, with the heat and the fast-paced circuit, will McLaren see a rise back to the top? Will Ferrari or Mercedes come through for a stronger weekend, or will Max Verstappen take out yet another win?   The Singapore Grand Prix begins on October 3 rd through to October 6 th . Under the lights and racing in hot weather conditions for the Singapore Grand Prix.

Honorable Mention: 18th is Chris Buescher’s worst finish since Richmond. The 17 lacked speed all day long, which is going to knock him out of the top 10. He heads to Kansas, a place where he has 3 straight top 11 finishes, including a race that me, a Chris Buescher fan, will not mention. 10. Carson Hocevar has had 4 straight top 15s to start his playoffs. He nearly won last week at Bristol, and today, he was consistently in the top 5-10 before winding up 11th. Some of the summer speed seems to be on its way back for the 77. Hocevar had a great run going at Kansas in the spring before he cut a tire late, relegating him to 26th. 9. Joey Logano was quietly consistent in round 1 of the playoffs, but on Sunday, he was loud and proud. Logano led nearly half the race, 149 of 301, before finishing 4th. Logano has won at Kansas 3 times, but hasn’t done so since the fall of 2020.  8. Bubba Wallace looked bad on Sunday. No ifs ands or buts (same with his teammate, hence his lack of appearance on this list). This was the first time in a while where Wallace was a complete and utter afterthought. Even when he’s not competing, Wallace has been 10th to 15th in the running order, but not on Sunday. Good news, however, is that Wallace has won at Kansas in the past, in the fall of 2022. The bad news, other than a 4th in the next race, he hasn’t finished better than 17th since, including 2 sub-30th place finishes. 7. Kyle Larson looked the best he’s looked since his spin from the lead in the Coke 600. He led a few laps, but ran top 5 almost all day, finishing 7th. This is good mojo heading to Larson’s best track. In the last 8 races, other than a 26th in the fall race last year, he’s had an 8th, a 4th, and five podiums, three of which are wins. He’s also led laps in 6 of those races, 627 total. This is also the site of Larson’s last win. What I’m getting at is Kyle Larson should easily be the favorite this weekend. 6. Chase Elliott had a top 10 to 15 run going, with a great call by Alan Gustafson late, nabbing Elliott a top 5. From a 27th starting spot, this was exactly what Elliott needed. In the last 5 races at Kansas, he’s only finished worse than 10th once, and it was the most recent race. Pit issues set them back, and ruined an easy top 5 for him. 5. Christopher Bell had a solid run, with a 6th place finish at New Hampshire. Bell sits a reasonable +29 on the cutline, heading to Kansas. Bell has 4 straight top 10s here, including a 2nd in the spring. Not much to say about Bell, we’ll save the talking for his teammate.  4. Denny Hamlin…wow. A quiet 12th place with some stage points would be the case, if he didn’t get into his teammate midway through stage 2. Looking past the predicament the 11 team is now in for the rest of the year, Hamlin heads to a track he’s won 4 times at, most recently May of 2023. Going back to October of 2019, the last 12 races at Kansas, Hamlin has 3 wins, 8 top 5s, and 11 top 15s. His only bad finish was earlier this spring, a drivetrain failure resulted in Hamlin’s 36th. Hamlin needs a solid points day (and to stay away from the 54) if he wants to continue his playoff hunt. 3. William Byron had 3s across the board, in both stages and finishing position, so we’ll give him #3 on the list. It’s been the story all year. Quiet, consistent, fast. Kansas has not been one of Byron’s particularly best tracks, with only a 53% top 10 rate, which drops to 20% for top 5. Since the Next Gen, he has 2 top 5s and 2 sub 20ths, with a 6th, 15th, and 16th sandwiched between them.  2. Chase Briscoe drops to 2nd after a quiet top 10 at New Hampshire. On a day where JGR cars seemed to miss the setup, he looked to be the class of them, leading 19 laps on a strategy call. While Briscoe’s Kansas stats look, quite frankly, terrible, with 5 finishes being 20th or worse, he finished 4th in his only start there with JGR in the spring, and this team looks way more competitive now than they did earlier this year. I think another solid run is due for Briscoe this weekend. 1. Who else would it be? In the last 10 races, Blaney had 9 top 8s, 6 of which are 4th or better, 295 laps led, and is tied with Hamlin for the most amount of wins in that time period, 2. Blaney has back to back top 5s at Kansas, and fortunately for him, even if he sucked at Kansas, he doesn’t have to worry how he runs with the automatic bid. With his win at New Hampshire, Ryan Blaney looks poised to win NASCAR championship #2 in just 3 years.

The road to Formula 1 has never been more competitive, and spotting the stars of tomorrow has become just as compelling as watching the world champions of today. After highlighting NASCAR’s up-and-coming talents earlier this summer, it’s time to turn our attention to the next wave of F1 hopefuls. Using an MLB-style “ETA” prediction system, here are five young drivers to keep on your radar, and please note these drivers are not ranked by skill. Freddie Slater – Age 17 Few F1 hopefuls have put together the résumé Freddie Slater has in such a short time. In 2024, Slater claimed two F4 titles before stepping up in 2025 to win the Formula Regional European Championship and finish runner-up in the Formula Regional Middle East Championship, where he also captured the rookie cup. Slater made his Formula 3 debut this season, scoring a sprint race podium and immediately proving he belongs in the fight against highly touted rivals. He has not yet signed with an F1 driver academy, but McLaren and Audi are reportedly vying for his signature. His management group is the same that represents Lando Norris, which could further strengthen his connections. 2026 will be his first full season of F3 so it will be interesting to see what he has. F1 ETA: 2029 Fionn McLaughlin – Age 17 Ireland’s Fionn McLaughlin made the leap from a decorated karting career to cars in 2025, and he wasted no time making an impression. Competing in the Formula Winter Series, he finished third overall with three wins, while also leading the British F4 championship heading into its finale. McLaughlin joined the Red Bull Junior Team in 2024, and so far he’s showing exactly what the program values most: consistent winning. If he continues this form, the path up Red Bull’s ladder could accelerate quickly, though no 2026 plans have been confirmed yet. F1 ETA: 2030 Kenzo Craigie – Age 14 Mercedes junior Kenzo Craigie is just 14 years old but already one of the brightest prospects in karting. He captured a karting world championship and has been nearly unstoppable over the past two years at the top level of the discipline. Craigie hasn’t yet made the switch to cars, though many expect that move soon. His name is already being whispered in comparison to Andrea Kimi Antonelli, the last Mercedes junior to rise quickly through the ranks. With Lewis Hamilton and George Russell secure but Mercedes’ long-term future still in flux, Craigie is a prospect the team will watch closely. F1 ETA: 2030 Luna Fluxá – Age 15 Another Mercedes-backed talent, Luna Fluxá, is already making headlines as one of the sport’s most promising young women. At just 15,she has claimed an FIA Karting title and was recognized with the Rising Star award in early 2025. Fluxá continues to hone her craft in karting, and while no plans for 2026 have been announced, the expectation is another year at the highest level of karts with possible single-seater outings. Her trajectory could place her in a prime position to bypass F1 Academy and rise through the traditional ladder if Mercedes commits to her long-term. F1 ETA: 2032 Sebastian Wheldon – Age 16 Carrying one of the most recognizable last names in racing, Sebastian Wheldon is on his way to stardom. The eldest son of IndyCar legend "Lionheart" Dan Wheldon, Sebastian has already picked up a championship in the Skip Barber Series and wins in YACademy Winter Series, while finishing runner-up. He has also collected podiums in USF Juniors. 2025 has been a good year: Wheldon sits third in Italian F4, placed inside the top 10 in the Formula 4 Middle East series, and currently ranks fifth in Euro 4. Though backed by Andretti Global on the IndyCar side, there’s growing speculation that Cadillac’s F1 program could be his eventual landing spot. Curently Dan Towriss looks to be keeping his cards close to his chest when it comes to the F1 team and its plans. If no F1 chance comes to fruition, he’ll have the safety net of IndyCar waiting at Andretti, but his current path seems to be on the F1 route in my opinion . F1 ETA: 2031 Conclusion on these F1 hopefuls Projecting drivers’ arrival to Formula 1 is practially impossible given all the different outcomes ( I think only Doctor Strange knows), but the names above are already generating buzz in paddocks worldwide. Freddie Slater looks closest to a breakthrough out of everyone on the list right now, while McLaughlin has the backing of Red Bull’s formidable program. Younger talents like Craigie and Fluxá still have years to grow, but with the right timing, they could emerge just as F1 teams refresh their lineups. Wheldon, meanwhile, carries the legacy and with Cadillac wanting an American star in F1 that makes him a major prospect with the support he has. The future of F1 is full of question marks but right not it looks like the pipeline of talent is stronger than ever.

It was an intense week with our first enduro for the season. The Bend in Adelaide was ready to get put to work and the drivers had a weekend and a half. Our first endurance race before Bathurst and we did not expect the results. The first endurance race out of the two for the season with a stellar lineup of drivers. (Source: Supercars)   From early on track action from Triple Eight’s Red Bull Ampol’s co-drivers, Jamie Whincup and Scott Pye to mistakes in qualifying from Ryan Wood, it was going to be interesting. For those who typically do not watch Supercars, we have our top 10 shootout which declares our starting grid for the race itself. This race was a longer track and more laps as it was one of two endurance races this season. 500 kilometres total for the Bend in Adelaide, which is 102 laps. Chaos between the two Triple Eight Co-Drivers in practice 4 as the two collide under safety car test conditions. (Source: V8 Sleuth)   Feeney and Whincup were on pole position with a brilliant lap, of a 1:48.6. Cameron Hill was P2 after a real fast lap with almost no errors for a 1:48.7 and starting in P3 was the Shell V-Power car of Brodie Kostecki. The Monster Castrol duo took out P4&P5, with only small margins separating the two. Matthew Payne was P6, after a slower lap than we would have thought with a 1:49.2. Anton De Pasquale was P7 just behind Matt Payne’s Penrite. Chaz Mostert received a penalty in the top 10 shootout which resulted in a drop to P10, however made a lap that put him in P8. Your final two were Cooper Murray in the Erebus car and Ryan Wood was P10 after his error in qualifying resulted in a very slow time of a 1:54.5.   The dramatic race tart at The Bend 500 in Adelaide. (Source: Supercars) The race started off as a very interesting result, Jamie Whincup led the race just ahead of Mcleod and Moffat. Craig Lowndes made a return to supercars pairing up with the young driver Zach Bates in the 888 car. He made up positions early on with 4 positions in the first few laps. Overall, this duos race weekend was great with experience, good defensive skill and young talent they were a good pairing finishing P16.   Andre Heimgartners co-driver Declan Fraser suffered a collision early in the race, which resulted in them being 3 laps down on the rest of the field. Not what you want in a race like this. Whilst this top 3 battle was going on we were seeing battles all over the track including a battle between Thomas Randle and Kai Allen.   Jamie Whincup faced with a shocking 40 second stop, due to issues with the fuel pump. This pushed them quite far down the grid with plenty to work back if they stood any shot of a top 3 position. By the time Broc Feeney was in the car, it was a tough ask for him. There were still 45 laps remaining but being towards the back of the pack, was going to be difficult. In the end, they finished P19. A shockingly slow pitstop for the Triple Eight Team with issues around the fuel pump connection. (Source: Supercars)   By lap 26 your top three was Hazelwood, Murray and Pye. The Shell V-Power pairing was a strong contender for a top 3 finish. Cooper Murray was yet to pit, and Scott Pye had already done one pitstop but hadn’t yet done the driver changes. Will brown and co-driver Scott Pye would just miss out on a podium opportunity finishing P4.   By Lap 44, we had seen small changes with Hazelwood still leading, but Winterbottom in P2 and Tander in P3. With Mark Winterbottom and Todd Hazelwood coming in to make the driver switches though, Mostert was able to get ahead and the top 3 suddenly appeared different, but Mostert still had to pit for new tyres and more fuel, so the likelihood of him getting top 3 was small. By lap 52 the top 3 was Mostert, Kostecki and Waters.   Kai Allen received a 5 second penalty, while James Golding got a pit penalty for a speed limiter breach.   Ultimately your winner with some brilliant defensive driving over the race was Brodie Kostecki and co-driver Todd Hazelwood, followed by Cam Waters and co-driver Mark Winterbottom and in P3 was Matt Payne and co-driver Garth Tander. Some high intensity battles between Brodie Kostecki and Cam Waters for the win. (Source Supercars)   With this result the championship battle closes significantly with only 71 points between Broc Feeney and Matt Payne. We now take a break before making our return to the Mountain. The Bathurst 1000 is our second endurance race and will determine the enduro cup winner. This takes place from Thursday October 9 th through to Sunday October 12 th . We're back and just in time for the most iconic race up the mountain at the Bathurst 1000. (Source: Supercars)

Honorable Mention: John Hunter Nemechek brought the Legacy 42 to a 14th place finish, which isn’t an amazing run, but he was on pace for another top 10, possibly top 5, before a tire issue set them back. Nemechek these past few weeks has shown speed that we haven’t seen out of him since his Xfinity days. Could Legacy be finally turning the corner? 10. Tyler Reddick had a solid day at Bristol, consistently around the 15th place area, which is exactly where he finished. New Hampshire is another solid track for Reddick. Of his 5 starts, he’s only finished worse than 13th once, a 21st in 2022. He’s got back to back 6th place finishes, including 53 laps led last year.  9. Chris Buescher had a solid top 5 run going, which seemed to go belly up late, with Buescher taking home an 11th. One spot better and he’d be tied with both Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell with 16 top 10s on the year, the most in the series. Instead, he’s still tied with Hamlin for 3rd. Buescher’s average finish the last 4 races is 9.25, so it seems pretty fair to put him at spot 9. From his time in Front Row equipment to 2023, he had never finished better than 15th at New Hampshire, but last year, he finally managed a top 5.  8. Kyle Larson has now gone 17 races since his last win, one race away from half the season. Larson looked to be making a strategy move early, but it failed, and from then on, a bad day got worse. He cut a tire and broke a toe link, and then wrecked from said toe link, subjecting him to 32nd place. New Hampshire is a decent track for Larson. His last 4 races have been top 15s, with 3 of them being 7th or better. However, since his first race there, in which he led 14 laps, Larson has only led 8 laps since.  7. Chase Elliott is on a sinking ship right now. In the first 23 races, Chase Elliott finished worse than 15th 4 times, with 0 finishes worse than 20th. In the last 6 races, he’s matched his sub 15ths with another 4, and has 2 additional finishes of 38th or worse. Since Watkins Glen, Elliott has an average finish of 22, salvaged by his 3rd at Gateway a couple weeks back. If the 9 wants to fight for a championship, much less make the Round of 8, he’d better figure it out, and quick. He only has 3 top 10s at New Hampshire in his career, and 3 of his last 6 finishes have been 18th or worse. He does have a silver medal snuck in that group; however, with a silver medal in 2023. 6. Christopher Bell finally won again, something he hadn’t done since May, and that race only paid money, not points. You’d have to go back to March 9th as the last time Bell won a points race. However, there’s a solid chance he repeats what he did in the spring and go back to back, considering we’re headed to New Hampshire. Bell’s never lost an Xfinity Series race here, and in the Cup Series, he has 3 podiums in 5 races and 2 wins in the last 5 years. 5. I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again: Bubba Wallace is hot. Although he was caught up in a wreck and finished 34th, Wallace had a strong run going. He led 12 laps and was top 10 all day, and put on tires late to try and make a charge, but was wrecked with 13 to go. Had he not been wrecked, it’s possible this would’ve been Wallace’s 7th top 10 in 9 races. Wallace has finished top 10 twice in the last 3 races at New Hampshire, but was wrecked last year for a 34th. 4. William Byron maintains his 4th in the power rankings with a 12th at Bristol. A solid run punched him into the Round of 12 early, and the 24 was on autopilot the rest of the day. In his 7 races at New Hampshire, Byron has never finished top 10, but he does have 3 finishes of 12th or better. However, 3 of his last 4 have been 20th or worse. Don’t expect big things this weekend out of William. 3. Denny Hamlin was never a factor Saturday. He started 6th and immediately started dropping positions. He did try and make a comeback late in stage 2, but would have a tire fall off, solidifying his sub 30th place run. Hamlin heads to New Hampshire without 2 crew members. Hamlin has a handful of wins, but his last one came in 2017. Hamlin has since had a few runner ups, but his last finish there was a 24th. He did lead 43 laps in that one, however. 2. Ryan Blaney is back to #2. He and Ty Gibbs alternated stage wins and 2nds, and finishing 4th overall. That’s Blaney’s 8th top 10 in 9 races and his 5th top 5 in 7. However, since the Next Gen started racing, Blaney has never been able to muster better than 18th, including back to back sub 20ths. Short, flat tracks are Penske’s bread and butter, however, and it might just be a good run for Blaney. 1. Chase Briscoe retains the #1 spot. After a surprisingly poor qualifying run, Briscoe rallied to 9th. He led the 2nd most amount of laps on the day with 127. New Hampshire is Briscoe’s 3rd best track by average finish in the Next Gen era, with 9.0. He finished 2nd in this race last year, along with a 10th in 2023 and a 15th in 2022. Also, keep in mind of the “where MTJ was good at” rule. Truex’s last win came here, and after the first race in 2016, he finished top 10 the remaining 10 races in his career here, apart from a 12th in 2021. I’d say your winner is gonna come from a JGR car this weekend and it’s a good chance it’s this one.

It was a very inspiring weekend, especially for the Scuderia Ferrari duo. Lewis Hamilton had his first outing at Monza as a Ferrari F1 Driver and Charles maintained the excitement there too! For some fans, it was a great weekend, others not so much. It had the good, the bad and the ugly for various teams. The Tifosi were hoping for a dominate performance The race began and it was initially an easy run to the first corner for Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc, until Verstappen was asked to give positions back to the McLaren driver Lando Norris, who clearly was frustrated with the move that put him into the grass, even calling Verstappen an idiot. similar movement was happening behind with a tough battle for P3 between Oscar Piastri and Charles Leclerc. The McLarens had a strong weekend out managing P2 and P3, but a pit stop error for Lando Norris’s stop, almost cost him P2, until the team asked Piastri to swap positions. This was an extremely controversial situation, given similar result in Hungary 2024, but ultimately, Piastri gave it back with no arguments. Max Verstappen was one of many that were extremely confused on this call, even heard laughing on his radio about the slow pit stop and the need to get the position back. The driver managing to stop the McLarens from having a win, was Max Verstappen, with a strong lead ahead of just over 19 seconds. It was very impressive given the domination we’ve seen from McLaren so far this season. Yuki Tsunoda had another tough result finishing P13, after being stuck behind various DRS trains. The Ferrari pairing had a great weekend, especially with running their iconic new livery celebrating 50 years since Niki Lauda’s first world title win at Monza in 1975. It was going to be hard for Lewis Hamilton given his 5-place grid penalty from the Dutch GP, but he made it work. Qualifiying P5, being pushed back to P10, and ultimately finishing the weekend in P6. It was an impressive result, but pushing through the field to manage that is what we would expect from the 7-time world champion. His teammate Charles Leclerc, had a brilliant result only just missing out on P3, coming home to finish P4. Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz had some tense moments during the race George Russell and Kimi Antonelli had a quiet weekend, keeping to themselves and making double points for the team. George Russell was close to having battles with Leclerc but was often forced to back off due to various reasons. Antonelli was also noted and received a 5 second time penalty for driving erratically. Russell finished P5, whilst Antonelli managed P9. Similarly, just sneaking into the points were 2 young rookies, Gabriel Bortoleto, ensuring points for himself and the team finishing in P8, and Isack Hadjar, who after starting a fair way back in P19, stormed through the field to take the remaining point scoring position in P10. Taking a page out of his mate Lewis Hamilton’s book I see. Oliver Bearman was another rookie, who managed to beat his teammate, although missing out on points this was still a good result. It was very relaxed weekend for him until he did received a 10 second time penalty for causing a collision. Alex Albon, being the experienced driver that he is, had an impressive drive all the way to P7, it was a strong result for a team that had one driver in the points and the other just missing out. His teammate, Carlos Sainz just being beaten for the final spot in the top 10 by Isack Hadjar, a good result, but just missed out finishing P11. Another driver beaten by a teammate was Liam Lawson, who had a not-so-great weekend, given the similar race start to Hadjar, it was to be a tough race starting from P18. He came home to finish P14, but most likely not the result that the team had expected. Lance Stroll, Franco Colapinto, Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon were all unfortunately down a lap after being lapped by the field. It was most likely a weekend to forget for these 4. Stroll finished P18, hard situation for the Aston Martin team with one driver last and the other as a DNF. Colapinto and Gasly were P17 and P16, hopefully we will see some improvement before the end of the year from this pairing before they move to the new Mercedes engine. And finally, Ocon who finished P15, another quiet race, where there was not lots going on with him other than an early penalty of 5 seconds. For Nico Hulkenberg, it was a very short race with the Sauber driver forced to retire before the race even started, due to a technical issue, linked to the hydraulics system. He was extremely disappointed, quoting the frustration “Are you serious?”, before pulling into the pitlane to retire. A disappointing result for a driver who has been on the up and up, seeing improvements every week. A similar race result for Aston Martins Fernando Alonso after an early race retirement due to a suspension failure. Alonso was certainly not happy with the result quoting “this is so unbelievable”. Red Bull's risk to use a lower downforce setup made the difference to get the win With Monza complete, the championships battle is very close with 34 points separating Norris to Piastri. It will come down to the wire with this battle, whilst the constructors is all but set in stone with McLaren significantly above Ferrari in P2. This weekend we return to Baku in Azerbaijan, for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. McLaren could win the constructors this weekend if they are lucky, if not the battle will continue. This weekend will be a difficult one, with many previous years of chaos both between teammates as well as competitors. This includes the 2018 incident between Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen as well as last year’s last lap incident involving Carlos Sainz and Sergio Perez. It will be a race to watch!

Luke Baldwin grew up a in a famed racing family, though his path to driving wasn’t immediate. “I played a ton of sports growing up, which turned my interest away from racing, but at about 14, when I realized it was pretty terrible at everything I was playing, I caught the bug again,” Baldwin said. “I started working in the shop around that time, trying to play catchup from all the years I missed out on. Finally at 16 I got in a legend car, now I’m 19 racing Modifieds, Late Models, and Trucks.” When I asked about the most important skill he learned from growing up in a racing family, Baldwin emphasized understanding the car he drives. “I’m not a genius in the shop by any means, but I pride myself in knowing how to work on my racecars, and I think that helps a lot with being able to dial one in.” Luke Baldwin comes from racing royalty in the Northeast. His dad Tommy Baldwin Jr was a long time crew chief and worked with many drivers including Dick Trickle, Ward Burton, and Kasey Kahne. After his crew chief tenure he ran his own NASCAR team that competed full time from 2010-2016. Luke's grandfather Tom Baldwin was a famed modified racer and a fixture at Riverhead Raceway the only active track in the family home base of Long Island. Baldwin never worked in his father Tommy Baldwin Jr.’s Cup or Xfinity shop. “Regretfully, I never did work in his Cup or Xfinity shop. Unfortunately just rode my scooter around and sat in the seat. When my brother started racing is when I got iRacing, and that’s when I fell in love with it.” We talked about his father’s fiery reputation, and I asked Luke what his dad's most memorable crashout. Baldwin talked about a recent incident at South Boston. “I think the wildest I’ve seen was earlier this year at South Boston, where most people saw him getting pulled down by a tow truck driver. I understand where he was coming from, but in that moment, no I don’t think it was completely justified. He wasn’t mad at the wreck that occurred, because that was Jack’s fault, he was mad at the other group running their mouths, so that part I understand.” The tow truck incident is a reoccurring joke on his dad's podcast Door Bumper Clear' Baldwin has raced in multiple series recently, from the SMART Tour to the NASCAR Truck Series, noting the Truck Series has been the most beneficial for his development. “If I’m lucky enough to continue my career and keep climbing the ladder, I’m going to be dealing with heavy stock cars, dirty air, big tracks, and you don’t get any of that with the other cars I’ve raced.” Many experts note that the Truck Series races the closest to the Cup Series. Reflecting on his debut in the Truck Series, Baldwin said, “Making my debut at Martinsville definitely helped, but it was definitely a learning curve. I showed that at Kansas when I got in a bad aero spot and ruined my race. So yes it was hard to adapt, but I feel like I’m getting a bigger understanding every time I’ve been behind the wheel.” Baldwin has had solid runs with Sandusky, Ohio based team ThorSport Racing this year. I asked the 19 year old who at the team has helped him the most given the big jump to Trucks, “Ty Majeski has been a big help, but there are a lot of people that have played a role. Rich Lucius, Doug George, Eddie Troconis, the people at Ford, in the sim. That’s just to name a few.” Baldwin also explained how the partnership came together: “Towards the end of last year my dad and I decided we wanted to try and take the next step, so we reached out to people and had conversations, weighed everything out, and ThorSport was a great fit for us. Duke and Rhonda (Thorson) were gracious enough to give me the opportunity to do it.” No driver is perfect so I asked Luke what flaws he discovered this season and what he's planning on working on before 2026. “Getting a late start has definitely taken its toll. I’d say I just need to be more polished, limit mistakes. I’ve gotten myself caught up in bad positions and probably given away races, way too many times, so I’m definitely looking to eliminate those.” Luke's friend group consists of NASCARs next generation of superstars he is close to Connor Zilisch, Brent Crews, and Jesse Love. Now with them all being amazing up and coming racecar drivers I wanted to see if they all learn from each other and how intense their sim racing sessions can get. “I don’t know if they learn much from me, but I definitely learn a ton from them. It’s been good for me to listen in on conversations and have people to ask questions when I have them so often. Believe it or not, we actually don’t ever really play iRacing together, it might ruin relationships.” In the US alot of parents seem to throwing their kids in adult racing series and cars at very young ages. With Luke being a young driver I asked for his views, Baldwin commented, “I have mixed feelings on this. I’ve seen young kids hop in full-sized cars and immediately impress, for example, Keelan Harvick. However, I’ve also seen many kids do quite the opposite, and it usually depends on the people around them. I don’t have an exact answer on a fix, but I do think the minimum age might be a little low.” As the interview winded down I asked Luke some fun questions and got to learn more about who he is off the track. When asked who’s faster, he said simply, “Me,” referring to his older brother Jack. His favorite racing movie: “Days of Thunder.” His ideal co-drivers for a hypothetical 24 Hours of Le Mans entry would be “Connor Zilisch and SVG.” Another cool thing is Luke will be in the upcoming NASCAR video game as a driver in the Truck Series with the 66 ThorSport machine, Baldwin said, “I’m pumped, extremely pumped, but I’m not sure if I’m as excited about that as my brother is to wreck me in the game.” Overall it was great to talk with and get to know a great up and coming talent in NASCAR. Many are touting Luke for a full time seat in 2026 but no plans have been announced. No matter what happens though Luke Baldwin will be a key name to watch whether it's on Fox, Flo or wherever you get your racing fix.

Kevin Estre in the Porsche Penske #6 Hypercar in the Lone Star Le Mans at Circuit of The Americas (Photo by Kylar Boggs) Porsche Penske claims their first win of the year at the Lone Star Le Mans at Circuit of The Americas in chaotic fashion. It was a wet one for the drivers in the World Endurance Championship and the conditions on track were very unforgiving. Before the race got underway, the conditions were quite treacherous due to the rain and the spray of the cars on track. The race began behind the safety car. This was in hope to clear any standing water off the racing line with the cars on track to make the conditions good enough to race. Shortly into the race, the #5 Porsche Penske of Julien Andlauer goes for a half spin into turn 13 and loses a position under the safety car, and just after that the #6 Porsche Penske of Laurens Vanthoor reported some smoke from inside the car to the team, although was able to carry on just fine. #20 BMW Hypercar carried away by a safety vehicle after retiring in the Lone Star Le Mans at Circuit of the Americas (Photo by Kylar Boggs) In addition to that, the #20 BMW Hypercar of Rene Rast pulls off to the side of the track in turn 3 with a terminal problem to the car. 1 hour into the race, the stewards decide to red flag the race due to the conditions. The race would finally get underway at the 4 hour 10 minute mark, and the chaos would begin. Heading into turn 3, the #15 BMW of Kevin Magnussen would go wide and off the racing line but able to keep it straight. However, just behind Magnussen, the 007 Aston Martin of Tom Gamble would aquaplane off track and tag the wall with the rear of the car, and the #36 Alpine of Fred Makowiecki would also spin and hit the wall at higher speeds ensuing a lot of damage to the car. Due to the debris from the incident on track, the safety car was deployed. Racing resumed at the 3hr and 44 minute mark, but it wasn't much later until the virtual safety car was deployed for the #99 Proton of Nico Varrrone spinning in the triple right hander in sector 3 and getting stuck in the gravel. During the VSC, there would be an issue for the #83 Ferrari AF Corse Hypercar in the pitlane. Entering the pit lane, the #83 Ferrari had to take a sharp entry into the pit box, avoiding the #21 GT3 Ferrari. The Crew of the #83 would have to end up rotating the car for it to not only be in the pit box but for them to set the car back down before they could do their driver change, and this costed them multiple seconds in their pit stop. The VSC would end up going to a full safety car once again with 3 hours and 9 minutes remaining. This safety car period was rather a short one and the field went back to green flag conditions at the 2hr 56 minute mark. Shortly after, the #8 Toyota Hypercar of Ryo Hirakawa would go spinning through the esses in turns 4-6 due to contact with the #33 TF Sport GT3 Corvette. As the race went on, it was the #38 Cadillac Hypercar of Sebastien Bourdais going for a very fast spin just at the end of sector 1 but keeps it out of the wall, as well as the #36 Alpine going for a spin once more. In addition, the #7 Toyota of Jose Maria "Pechito" Lopez goes for a spin in turn 3, and later on in the lap spins again in turn 12 and brings out the VSC once again. The #7 Toyota would end up retiring from the race and the #33 TF Sport would go for a spin and this caused the full safety car to be deployed yet again. The field went back to green flag racing and heading into turn 1, the #51 Ferrari AF Corse of Alessandro Pier Guidi, and the Penske Porsche #6 of Kevin Estre would make contact and this resulted in a left front puncture for the #51 Ferrari causing him to fall down the order. After that occured, the #87 Lexus GT3 goes into the wall in the last corner and another safety car is deployed. More problems for the #33 Corvette LMGT3 as well and retires from the race with the right rear of the car broken. Later on after the safety car ends at the 1hr 19 minute mark, in LMGT3, the #61 Iron Lynx GT3 Mercedes would make contact with another car and spins in turn 8 and this causes a full course yellow. #95 United Autosport McLaren in the rain during the Lone Star Le Mans at Circuit of The Americas (Photo by Kylar Boggs) Meanwhile, the battle for the win in LMGT3 began to heat up with the #95 United Autosport McLaren of Marino Sato, and the #77 Ford of Ben Tuck racing for the lead, making contact with each other multiple times. Fast Forward to 36 minutes left in the race, as the #007 Aston Martin of Harry Tincknell came out of the pitlane, the engine died and he would end up retiring from the race. This brought out the final VSC of the race due to the Aston being stopped at the end of the pitlane up hill. The race went back to green with 26 minutes remaining and within the last 10 minutes of the race, it was the #94 Peugeot of Stoffel Vandoorne and the #50 Ferrari of Miguel Molina battling for 2nd in the Hypercar class as the Porsche Penske #6 of Estre was pulling away. In the GT3 class, the #54 Ferrari of Davide Rigon and #77 of Ben Barker making severe contact in the hairpin just past the end of sector 1. As the checkered flag fell, it was Kevin Estre for Porsche Penske picking up the win in the Hypercar class with Miguel Molina in the #50 Ferrari AF Corse in 2nd, and Stoffel Vandoorne for Peugot in the 3rd position rounding out the podium. In LMGT3 it was the #54 Ferrari crossing the line 1st, however due to the contact with the #77 Ford, the Ferrari received a 5 second penalty and was demoted to 3rd, making the winner the #95 United Autosport McLaren of Marino Sato, and in 2nd the #46 BMW of Kevin Van Der Linde. Lone Star Le Mans race winners #95 United Autosport McLaren LMGT3 (left) and #6 Porsche Penske Hypercar (right) in the celebratory area (Photo by FIAWEC - DPPI) In the post race conference, Matt Campbell, one of the three drivers of the #6 Penske Porsche was asked about the conditions and Campbell stated, "turn 18 and turn 2 were quite tricky and going down the back straight having to life halfway down the back straight due to the aquaplaning." This was Campbell's first win in the World Endurance Championship since Spa Francorchamps in 2019. When Marino Sato, Winner of the LMGT3 class, was asked about the choice of tire to go on towards the end of the race, Sato stated "it was 50/50 for the wet tires, and 5 laps before we had to pit, was discussing with the team where it was wet and where it was dry, ultimately going with the right call to go on the slick tires."

What a weekend (unless you’re a Lando Norris fan or Ferrari fan like me). There were plenty of highs and lows over the span of the F1 weekend leading up to the race, but ultimately who won? The race start at the Dutch Grand Prix.  It was an extremely intense race with rain causing a bit of drama, it was a race with a very unexpected podium result. Crashes saw an early leave for the Ferrari drivers Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc, whilst Lando Norris suffered an engine issue close to the end of the race. Norris now will need to work twice as hard to even stand a chance at competing against teammate Oscar Piastri. Let’s get into the big winners and losers from the weekend at Zandvoort. WINNERS: Oscar Piastri: Your first winner must be none other than Oscar Piastri himself. Making the Dutch Grand Prix his seventh win of the season, it was one for the books for him. He drove a brilliant race giving almost no opportunity for Norris to catch up. The pit strategy was near perfect, and even in rainy conditions there was no errors. His weekend overall was perfection, resulting in an extension of the championship now to 34 points, it will be hard but with plenty of races to go, anything can happen. Piastri simply needs to maintain his momentum and the championship will most likely belong to him. Oscar Piastri finishes P1 at the Dutch GP (Source Getty Images). Isack Hadjar: Now was this the podium finisher that we expected? Probably not, but it was amazing to see him there. With yet another crazy result we saw Hadjar grace us with his presence on the p3 step. He was a confident driver with plenty of potential and we knew that coming into the season. He managed to defend against the likes of Charles Leclerc and George Russell which is a brilliant feat. He is a very strong contender for the rookie of the year. He has proven his capability so far this season starting off with a rocky race in Australia to now achieving his first F1 podium (one of many more I would hope). An honourable mention here must be Racing Bulls as well who assisted Hadjar to that result, how great it must have felt for them, especially Alan Permane in only his first race as the Team Principal. Isack Hadjar with a podium finish at the Dutch GP. Aston Martin: In the craziness of the safety cars and results, both Aston Martin cars managed to sneak into the top 10. They had a great weekend with decent positions in all the practice sessions but struggled a little in Qualifying. There was no need for panic because they would eventually get to that top 10, scoring double points for the team. Lance Stroll finished P7 and Fernando Alonso P8. The drivers may have been frustrated with pit stop strategies, but ultimately, they did pay off. Aston Martin Duo, Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso (Source: Getty Images). LOSERS: Ferrari: This weekend was a tough pill to swallow for all the Ferrari fans. First with Lewis Hamilton out early due to a crash just after the rain had begun and then Charles Leclerc later after an incident with Kimi Antonelli, it just was not the race for them. Before that though, they really struggled to keep up with those ahead including George Russell and Isack Hadjar, the car was not doing what it should’ve. Once again as well, late pit strategies were not the best idea and was partially the reason for Hamilton’s DNF due to wet paint and simple misjudgement. In addition to the double DNF, Lewis Hamilton was given a 5-place grid drop to be imposed at the next Grand Prix AKA Monza. Not the day for Ferrari with a double DNF at the Dutch Grand Prix. Lando Norris: Ouch. Any Lando Norris fans here? That was not the race for you guys either. That unexpected issue was insane, I could not believe we were seeing that and for such a close title battle. Before that however, Norris was still struggling to make any impact on the gap to Piastri, with only small movement in the gap. It was going to be a tough result if he could’ve gotten closer. That engine issue was the major problem with the gap in the drivers’ championship growing significantly. The battle is still there, but both McLaren drivers will have to FIGHT if they genuinely want to win it. Remember it can all come down to the final race, Abu Dhabi. (McLaren driver Lando Norris. Source: McLaren Media). Carlos Sainz and Kimi Antonelli: I think the only way you can explain these drivers’ races are just simply unlucky. Carlos Sainz was hit early on with a 10 second penalty for a collision with Liam Lawson, this was going to be a tough race to get back, especially after starting in the top 10. He had a good start early on, with starting P9, just ahead of Fernando Alonso, he had done well, even making it up to 7 th at one point. But that incident with Lawson unravelled all the hard work, dropping down to P18. As for Kimi Antonelli, he had a quiet race until that incident with the Ferrari. He had plenty of work to do starting outside the top 10 after just being knocked out by Alonso. He was working his way up the grid, eventually getting into the top 10. He would have had a decent weekend if not for the penalties coming his way. With an initial 10 second penalty for causing a collision with Charles Leclerc and an additional 5 second penalty for speeding in the pit lane, it went sideways very quick. He would go to finish outside the top 10, scoring no points and finishing P16. Carlos Sainz and Kimi Antonelli with tough weekends after some unfortunate penalties.  With the Dutch Grand Prix over, we head off to one of the oldest tracks, Monza. The home of the Ferrari and very passionate Tifosi, the Ferrari pairing need a better weekend than Zandvoort. It will be a fast-paced weekend, with plenty going on.