Motorsport News June 16, 2022

Toyota has become a five-time winner of Le Mans as its GR010 Hypercar claimed its second win in succession at the classic French endurance race. Sebastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa led home the sister machine of Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Jose Maria Lopez to complete a lock-out for the Japanese firm in the leading Hypercar class. Buemi became a four-time winner of the twice-around-the-clock race with this year’s success adding to glory in 2018, 2019 and 2020. The Swiss racer said: “The whole team, and our crew, executed a perfect race without any mistakes and no damage to the car. It’s an incredible feeling to win Le Mans for the fourth time, and the fifth time for Toyota.” Full report, p16…

Toyota winning the Le Mans 24 Hours is hardly a shocker: it had won the last four editions before last weekend’s event, and it really only had itself to beat. But the speed bumps that can be encountered along the way in any twice-around-the-clock race mean that nothing is a foregone conclusion. Nevertheless, it successfully navigated its way to the top and congratulations go to Sebastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa who, in Buemi’s words, executed a “perfect” race to beat the sister machine of Kamui Kobayashi, Mike Conway and Jose Maria Lopez. This year’s race was always one that was going to be in a holding pattern as the new unified Hypercar regulations begin to swing into full effect. With Peugeot joining the World Endurance Championship in July, things are…

Oh dear. What is going on at Ferrari?Adouble DNF on the streets of Baku and a 1-2 for Red Bull has cemented Max Verstappen’s lead at the top of the World championship standings. It’s worth remembering that after round three inAustralia, Leclerc enjoyed a 46-point lead over Verstappen. Heading towards Montreal for round nine this coming weekend, the Dutchman has 34 more than his Ferrari rival.Aswing of 80 points. And yet Leclerc has pace, especially on a Saturday. He recorded his fourth consecutive pole position last weekend – but he just isn’t converting that into victories.After Baku, he hasn’t won since Melbourne in earlyApril. Although Leclerc was beaten into Turn 1 by Sergio Perez from the front row of the grid, he had seized command of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix by taking advantage…

11 Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo-Ferrari) -1 lap; 12 Alexander Albon (Williams-Mercedes) -1 lap; 13 Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri) -1 lap; 14 Mick Schumacher (Haas-Ferrari) -1 lap; 15 Nicholas Latifi (Williams-Mercedes) -1 lap; 16 Lance Stroll (Aston Martin-Mercedes) vibrations/46 laps; 17 Kevin Magnussen (Haas-Ferrari) engine/31 laps; 18 Guanyu Zhou (Alfa Romeo-Ferrari) hydraulics/23 laps; 19 Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) engine/ 21laps; 20 Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) hydraulics/8 laps. Drivers’ championship: 1 Verstappen 150; 2 Perez 129; 3 Leclerc 116; 4 Russell 99; 5 Sainz 83; 6 Hamilton 62, etc. Constructors’ Championship: 1 Red Bull 279 ; 2 Ferrari 199; 3 Mercedes 161; 4 McLaren 65; 5 Alpine 47; 6 Alfa Romeo 41.…

Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto says the team will have to change the way it uses its engines after the hammer blow of a double failure inAzerbaijan on Sunday. Leader Charles Leclerc, who had qualified on pole position, was almost 15s ahead of the pack when his motor failed and he was forced to retire on lap 21. Team-mate Carlos Sainz had been ruled out on lap eight with a similar problem. It means Leclerc has fallen to third place in the drivers’champions behind Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez, who took a 1-2 finish for Red Bull in Baku. While Binotto said he was worried about the unreliability of the F1-75, he said alterations to the way the team thought about its powerplant could hold the key to a short-term answer. “It is a concern,”…

World champions Max Verstappen and Fernando Alonso have questioned the need for a limit on Formula 1 driver salaries that is currently under discussion. While the F1 cost cap will be reduced to £109m in 2023 but the drivers’wages are not part of that limitation. However, there is a push to make the drivers’salaries part of the restrictions with a proposed combined salary cap of £24.3m. Dutch Red Bull driver Verstappen said: “At the moment, F1 is becoming more and more popular, and everyone is making more and more money, including the teams and FOM. Everyone is benefiting. “So why would the drivers with their IP rights and everything be capped, [the people] who actually bring the show and put their lives at risk? Because we do, eventually. So for me, it’s completely…