Motorsport News 06/05/21

Formula 1 delivered another compelling race in Portugal last weekend, but it was a very different type of contest than we had been served up in the opening two races of the season. It might not have provided the corner-by-corner thrills that Imola did, for example, but it certainly had fans on the edge of their seats throughout. It was one of those grands prix that relied heavily on having the perfect strategy as much as it did on having a particularly heavy right foot. The chess match was enthralling, as was Lewis Hamilton’s mastery of all that was in front of him. This might not go down as one of his most memorable victories, but it is these types of grand prix where the Briton is able to exercise his…

Lewis Hamilton says he was “on the limit” to battle his way back into the lead of the Portuguese Grand Prix in Sunday after slipping to third place early on. The Briton’s 97th career Formula 1 win was made more difficult when he was jumped at an early restart by Max Verstappen’s Red Bull-Honda, which pushed the World champion down to third spot. He responded by repassing the Dutchman when the Red Bull man made a tiny mistake. Hamilton then tracked down race leader and team-mate Valtteri Bottas pulled a move at Turn 1 to secure prime slot. Hamilton was further helped when the pitstops played out as Bottas slithered wide and allowed Verstappen back up to second spot. That secured the order for the rostrum. Hamilton said: “That was such a tough…

Reigning British Touring Car Championship Jack Sears Trophy holder Michael Crees has parted ways with the BTC Racing squad on the eve of the opening rounds of the championship at Thruxton this weekend. In a brief statement, the Brackleybased team, which will field Honda Civic Type Rs for Jade Edwards and Josh Cook this term, said that the partnership was over and it was looking for a substitute driver to take over the controls of the Japanese machine. Crees joined the BTCC in 2019 at the wheel of a Team Hard VW CC, before moving to BTC Racing last term.As well as collecting the Jack Sears Trophy, which is held for drivers who had not previously scored a podium at the start of the season, he finished 12th in the chase for…

Further details have emerged about how the new sprint events added to the 2021 Formula 1 schedule will work, with points being awarded to the podium finishers. The three extra events will take place at Silverstone and Monza with the third expected to be at Interlagos, though the Brazil track is not yet confirmed as part of the plan. The winner of what has been dubbed ‘sprint qualifying’will get three World championship points, the second-placed driver will earn two marks and one is on offer for third spot. The race weekends will change when the extra events are planned. Friday’s opening practice will take place as normal, and then the qualifying will take place on Friday afternoon. There have been tweaks to the tyre allocations too to cover the sprint qualifying sessions. F1 president…

The Turkish Grand Prix will return to the Formula 1 schedule this year as the Canadian Grand Prix has been axed due to the global health pandemic. The race at Istanbul Park, which was welcomed back onto the F1 roster last season for the first time since 2011 amid the cancelled grands prix, is due to take over what would have been the Montreal slot on June 11-13. Travel restrictions in Canada require a 14-day quarantine which mean the grand prix has been axed for a second season in a row. It’s deal to host the grand prix has been extended by those two years through to 2031. F1 president Stefano Domenicali said: “While it is disappointing we cannot be in Canada this season, we are excited to confirm that Turkey will host…

Toyota took victory in the first race of the World Endurance Championship’s new Hypercar era at Spa in Belgium last weekend, although it faced a tough battle to claim the honours from the only other contender in the division. The two new GR010 Hybrids locked out the front row, but an error by Kamui Kobayashi meant the car he shared with Jose Maria Lopez and Mike Conway was delayed. That handed the initiative to the sister machine of Sebastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Kazuki Nakajima, which itself had to battle to overcome a penalty for a pitstop infraction. They nevertheless finished over a minute clear of theAlpineA480-Gibson of Nicolas Lapierre,Andre Negro and Matthieu Vaxiviere. Filipe Albuquerque, Phil Hanson and Fabio Scherer crewed the LMP2-winning United Autosports Oreca while French star Kevin Estre and…