Motorsport News 09/09/21

Hats of to Max Verstappen. On Sunday, he delivered his fifth win in seven races to ease his way to the top of the race for this year’s Formula 1 silverware, and he did it under the most intense scrutiny last weekend. It wasn’t only Lewis Hamilton piling on the pressure, either. While the Mercedes man kept the Red Bull honest throughout the 72 laps in the sand dunes, it was the sea of orange flags that meant the spotlight was turned up to its brightest. Verstappen had the hopes of a nation resting on his shoulders, and performed manfully. One of the most impressive aspects of last weekend was not the performance of the pretender to the throne. No, it was the sweeps of Zandvoort, which hadn’t hosted a World championship…

The return of the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort after 36 years was a resounding success and fittingly was won by the nation’s home hero, Max Verstappen. Rarely has there been such partisan support for a single driver. Of the 65,000 crammed into the tiny, seaside circuit, only a handful were not dressed in national orange colours. And while Zandvoort is used to mist rolling in from the North Sea, last Sunday the fog was bright orange thanks to the flares lit throughout the tribunes. If you wanted a party on a national level, the Netherlands was the place to be. The narrow, high-speed nature of this old-school circuit put an added emphasis on qualifying and Verstappen took pole by the narrowest of margins. When he rolled his Red Bull into pole position on…

Red Bull goes into this weekend’s Italian Grand Prix in “damage limitation” mode according to team boss Christian Horner. Despite Max Verstappen taking the lead in the drivers’ championship after a home win at Zandvoort last Sunday, the high-speed power circuit at Monza is expected to favour the Mercedes. “Their car and engine package has historically always been very strong at that venue and has been weaker for us,” said Horner. “I expect them [Mercedes] to have the advantage at the next two [races] and after that it should be nip and tuck. The next two are about limiting the damage as much as we can.” Two weeks after Monza is the Russian Grand Prix at Sochi, a circuit that only Mercedes has triumphed at in the seven races hosted there. “It’s massively tight,”…

Kimi Raikkonen is hoping to be fit in time for his last-ever Italian Grand Prix, after he had to withdraw from Zandvoort after testing positive for Covid-19. The Finn took part in Friday practice, but could not drive for the rest of the weekend. He was replaced by Alfa Romeo’s test driver Robert Kubica, who made his first race start since Abu Dhabi in 2019. Last week Raikkonen revealed this would be his last season, as the 2007 World champion will quit F1 in December. His seat at Alfa Romeo is expected to be filled by compatriot Valtteri Bottas, with George Russell moving to Mercedes from Williams for 2022. Red Bull’s Alex Albon has emerged as a surprise candidate to return to F1 with Williams and talks about him driving a customer…

Sources suggest that Briton George Russell will be confirmed as a Mercedes Formula 1 driver this week. The 23-year-old is under contract to the three-pointed star and deputised for Merc in place of the Covid-stricken Lewis Hamilton in the Sakhir Grand Prix last season. He has driven for Williams since entering F1 in 2019 and the 2018 FIA Formula 2 champion took his first podium in the truncated Belgian Grand Prix at the end of August. While the driver himself remained tight-lipped, he said in the Netherlands last weekend that he had a clearer direction over his future. “The truth is: there’s nothing to announce, but, as I said, I’m aware of the situation of where I’ll be racing next year and I was informed prior to Spa, just prior to Spa,” said Russell. While…

Briton Alex Albon and Formula E World champion Nyck de Vries are both battling for spots on next season’s grand prix grid with Williams and Alfa Romeo on the lookout for new talents. With Kimi Raikkonen departing Alfa Romeo after his recent decision to retire, and no confirmation on teammate Antonio Giovinazzi’s future, there are potential seats available. George Russell’s expected promotion to the Mercedes squad will also leave a berth at the British team. Albon emerged as a surprise candidate for a Mercedes-powered Williams last week, but his links to Red Bull could prove to be a spanner in the works. De Vries, who took the Formula E title for Mercedes and is on its young driver programme, is also highly regarded. Mercedes boss Toto Wolff said that Albon’s links to…