MOTORSPORT - The African Mirror

Oct

2023

Team-by-team analysis of the Mexico City Grand Prix

TEAM-BY-TEAM analysis of Sunday's Mexico City Grand Prix, the 19th race of the 22-round Formula One season (teams listed in championship order): RED BULL (Max Verstappen 1, Sergio Perez retired) Verstappen lined up third and made a great getaway to take the lead into the first corner. He also led cleanly from the re-start. The win was his 16th of the season, a record, and 51st of his career to go level in the all-time lists with French great Alain Prost. He has now won five of the last six races in Mexico. Perez tried to pass Ferrari's Leclerc at…

Oct

2023

By ALAN BALDWIN

FIA ‘revisiting’ Hamilton track-crossing incident in Qatar

MOTORSPORT

FORMULA One's governing body is reviewing Lewis Hamilton's punishment for crossing a live track without permission at last weekend's Qatar Grand Prix amid concern the penalty was not tough enough. The seven-times world champion collided with Mercedes teammate George Russell at the first corner at Lusail, abandoning his car in the gravel and crossing the track to return to the pit lane. The Briton was given a reprimand and fined 50,000 euros ($52,545), with 25,000 suspended for the rest of the season on condition he did not do it again. The governing body said on Sunday it was 'revisiting' the…

Oct

2023

By The African Mirror

Team-by-team analysis of the Qatar Grand Prix

MOTORSPORT

TEAM-by-team analysis of Sunday's Qatar Grand Prix, round 17 of the 22-race Formula One season (listed in championship order): RED BULL (Max Verstappen 1, Sergio Perez 10) Verstappen took his first win as a triple world champion, a title secured in the Saturday sprint, after starting on pole position. He also secured the fastest lap. The win was his 14th of the season and 49th of his career. Perez started in the pit lane with hard tyres after parts were replaced following his sprint crash. He collected 15 seconds of penalties for exceeding track limits and dropped to 10th at…

Oct

2023

By The African Mirror

Red Bull’s Verstappen seals third F1 title in Qatar

MOTORSPORT

RED BULL's Max Verstappen secured his third Formula One world championship after his teammate and sole title rival Sergio Perez crashed out of a Qatar Grand Prix sprint. Mexican Perez needed to finish in the top three places to keep the title open for another day, with the main grand prix on Sunday, but started eighth and dropped to 11th before tangling with Alpine's Esteban Ocon and Haas's Nico Hulkenberg on lap 11. The Red Bull was then stuck in the gravel, with Perez stepping out. That meant Verstappen, who was running in third place at the time and went…

Oct

2023

By The African Mirror

Formula One statistics for the Qatar Grand Prix

MOTORSPORT

FORMULA One statistics for the Qatar Grand Prix, round 17 of the 22-race calendar: Lap distance: 5.419km. Total distance: 308.611km (57 laps) No race was held in 2022 2021 pole position: Lewis Hamilton (Britain) Mercedes One minute 20.827 seconds 2021 winner: Hamilton Race fastest lap: Max Verstappen (Netherlands) Red Bull 1:23.196 Start time: 1700GMT/2000 local QATAR The circuit has hosted MotoGP since 2004, becoming a night race in 2008. Qatar has a 10-year deal to host Formula One from this year after making a debut in 2021. There was no race in 2022 because of the country hosting the soccer…

Sep

2023

By The African Mirror

Hawkins becomes first woman in five years to test an F1 car

MOTORSPORT

ASTON Martin driver ambassador and former W Series racer Jessica Hawkins has become the first woman in nearly five years to test a Formula One car, the Silverstone-based team announced. Hawkins, a 28-year-old former British karting champion who has also worked as a James Bond movie stunt driver, did 26 laps in Aston's 2021 car at the Hungaroring outside Budapest last Thursday. She alternated in the car with Brazilian test and reserve Felipe Drugovich. "It’s taken me every bit of blood, sweat and tears to get here," said the Briton of what she described as a dream come true. "Nothing…

Sep

2023

By The African Mirror

Team by team analysis of the Japanese Grand Prix

MOTORSPORT

TEAM by team analysis of the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka, the 16th round of the 22-race Formula One season (listed in championship order): RED BULL (Max Verstappen 1, Sergio Perez retired) Red Bull secured the constructors' championship for the second successive year and sixth time in all. Verstappen won in Japan from pole for the second year in a row, his 13th victory of the season and 48th of his career. He also took fastest lap and can win his third title at the next race in Qatar, with Perez now his sole rival but 177 points adrift. The…

Jul

2023

By The African Mirror

Ricciardo replaces De Vries at AlphaTauri from Hungary

MOTORSPORT

AUSTRALIAN Daniel Ricciardo will return to a Formula One race seat with AlphaTauri from Hungary next week after replacing Nyck de Vries for the rest of the season, the Red Bull-owned team said. Ricciardo drove for the team from 2012-13 when they were known as Toro Rosso and then graduated to Red Bull from 2014 to 2018, winning seven races. He left McLaren last year after being replaced by compatriot Oscar Piastri and was due to spend 2023 on the sidelines as Red Bull reserve while deciding his future intentions. "I am stoked to be back on track with the…

Jul

2023

By ALAN BALDWIN

Verstappen takes Red Bull’s 11th win in a row

MOTORSPORT

MAX Verstappen won the British Grand Prix to stretch his Formula One lead to 99 points as unbeaten Red Bull equalled McLaren's 1988 record run of 11 victories in a row. McLaren's Lando Norris finished second in front of a roaring 160,000-strong home crowd at Silverstone, with fellow Briton and seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton third for Mercedes after starting seventh. "Eleven in a row. That's pretty crazy," said Verstappen over the team radio after what was also his sixth win in a row and eighth in 10 races this season. The double world champion bagged the fastest lap bonus…

May

2023

By ALAN BALDWIN

Imola F1 race called off as floods devastate region

MOTORSPORT

FORMULA One and local organisers called off the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola as torrential rain and flooding caused devastation across the northern Italian region. The sport said the event could not be held safely this weekend and the decision was "the right and responsible thing to do given the situation faced by the towns and cities in the region". There is little scope for rescheduling on a crowded calendar that initially had a record 24 events but dropped to 23 in January when China was cancelled and is now set to end up with 22. Italy's civil protection…