Motorsport News 22/04/21

World champion Lewis Hamilton has promised to bounce back after a rare mistake at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola on Sunday meant he slid off the track. The Mercedes driver, who finished second behind Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, slipped off the road in the treacherous conditions halfway through the race while lapping traffic. He regained the circuit and went on to reclaim runners-up spot after battling ahead of the impressive McLaren of Lando Norris. Hamilton maintains his lead in the championship by a single point as he set the fastest lap of the red-flagged race. Hamilton said: “I’m just grateful I could get going again and get back into the race. It’s not how you fall; it’s how you get up. I definitely didn’t know I would be [on the podium]…

Formula 1 fans were served up a treat on Sunday, when rain sprinkled itself all over the Imola circuit and threw strategies out of the window for every competitor. Much credit must go to Max Verstappen for steering a path through to victory in his Red Bull-Honda. The result, and the manner in which is was executed, means that the prospects for the 2021 season look very good indeed. As Lewis Hamilton has been saying for a while, it was about time Mercedes had some proper on-track competition. It certainly seems to have some this year and the battles that he and Verstappen will enjoy in the races to come are mouth-watering. It was only a rare mistake from Hamilton that stopped the race being even closer in Italy, but that mistake gave…

Emilia Romagna Grand Prix winner Max Verstappen has praise his team’s in-race management after claiming victory in a dramatic race on Sunday. The Dutchman grabbed the lead from polesitter Lewis Hamilton at the opening chicane and controlled the race on the damp circuit. Hamilton later slid off the road at the Tosa hairpin, but a well-timed red flag, which was shown following a high-speed collision between Merc driver Valtteri Bottas and Williams driver George Russell, meant the event was restarted. Hamilton blasted back up from eighth to second place and overtook Lando Norris’s McLaren in the closing stages. Hamilton’s single point for fastest lap means he has a narrow advantage at the head of the drivers’ championship. Verstappen had pitted before Hamilton for dry tyres as the conditions on the Imola circuit improved…

Sportscar veteran Hans Stuck is looking at an expanded racing programme this year after making his racing comeback at Monza last weekend aged 70. Stuck, the two-time Le Mans winner, drove a KTM X-Bow In Italy last weekend in the GT2 European series and finished seventh. He said that he would like to tackle further events where it was possible. Stuck, who is rated as a bronze driver, said he was looking at his calendar to enable him to take part in more rounds of the five-event series. The German said: “I hope, because in the beginning I could only do three, because of other engagements in my work with the Volkswagen Group. But one of those, a presentation, is already cancelled. I think I have a good chance to stay.”…

Bosses of Lotus has confirmed that they evaluating a race programme with one of its new models when the range is overhauled over the course of this year. The Norfolk-based firm has undergone initial development with the British RML firm about a new GT4 racer, which will be based on the upcoming model so far designated the 131. The firm is now owned by Chinese giant Geely, and new models are set to replace the current Elise, Exige and Evora models. A mule racing chassis has been created to undertake the initial work using a Toyota V6 powerplant, which is currently used in the Evora machine, and the project is now awaiting sign-off from the firm’s board before the competition comeback is rubber-stamped. A spokesman from Lotus confirmed that there was a “definite interest…

Formula 1 has confirmed that Miami has signed a 10-year deal to host a grand prix based around the Hard Rock Stadium, which is the home of the NFL club the Dolphins, starting from next season. The exact time of the season that the event in Florida will take place will be announced in due course, but it will be the second grand prix in the country alongside the permanent Circuit of the Americas facility in Austin, Texas. F1 chiefs say the circuit will be 3.36 miles in length, have 19 corners, three straights and potential for three DRS overtaking zones. F1’s president and CEO Stefano Domenicali said: The US is a key growth market for us, and we are greatly encouraged by our growing reach in the US which will be further…