Vodafone Rally De Portugal Preview: WRC2

The 2023 World Rally Championship season continues this weekend with round five, Vodafone Rally De Portugal. Below I will preview the WRC2 class drivers. 

Championship Rundown

Yohan Rossel currently leads the WRC2 Drivers’ Championship standings. Rossel currently sits 9 points above reigning WRC2 champion Emil Lindholm heading into Vodafone Rally De Portugal. Oliver Solberg sits third in the championship, a single point behind Lindholm. Nikolay Gryazin sits fourth in the championship, 5 points back from Solberg. Gus Greensmith rounds out the top five in the championship standings, sitting one point behind Gryazin heading into Vodafone Rally De Portugal. This weekend should be a fun one for the WRC2 class of drivers. As 4 out of the top 5 drivers will be at the event. There is also a chance Adrien Fourmaux who currently sits sixth could move into a top-five spot. As Fourmaux currently sits just 4 points behind his former M-Sport Ford teammate Gus Greensmith. 

To Honour Breen

Kris Meeke will return to the WRC this weekend. Meeke last competed in the WRC in 2019 with the Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team. Meeke will drive a Hyundai i20 R5 this weekend. Craig Breen’s former co-driver James Fulton will join Meeke this weekend at Vodafone Rally De Portugal. Meeke and Fulton will look to honour their late friend Craig Breen. Since his last WRC appearance, Meeke has competed in Nitro RX, finishing ninth in the championship. Meeke would also help Skoda test the new Skoda Fabia Rally2 car. 

Mikkelsen Returns

Andreas Mikkelsen will make his WRC2 return this weekend at Vodafone Rally De Portugal. Mikkelsen will pilot a new Skoda Fabia R5 run by Toksport WRT 3. Mikkelsen would finish third in the WRC2 championship last season. 

Team Rundowns

Toksport World Rally Teams

Toksport will run three different teams this weekend. With Sam Pajari alone on the first Toksport World Rally Team this weekend. Nikolay Gryazin and Marco Bulacia are on the second Toksport World Rally Team. Andreas Mikkelsen and Gus Greensmith are on the third Toksport World Rally Team. Each team will qualify for WRC2 teams championships under their respective team numbers. Oliver Solberg will also be driving a Toksport run Skoda this weekend, but will not be racing for WRC2 teams points under any team. 

M-Sport Ford WRT

Adrien Fourmaux and Grégoire Munster will drive for M-Sport Ford this weekend. Both drivers will look to move up the WRC2 driver’s championship rankings and M-Sport Ford up the WRC2 teams’ standings or at least close the 5-point gap between them and Toksport WRT 2. 

Hyundai Motorsport N

Teemu Suninen and Fabrizio Zaldivar will both drive for Hyundai Motorsport N this weekend. Much like the M-Sport Ford crew, they will both look to move up the WRC2 drivers’ rankings and move Hyundai up the WRC2 teams standings. 

Vodafone Rally De Portugal Preview WRC1

From FIM: This article was not written by Speed Trap Magazine Staff

The MotoGP™ Court of Appeal have issued its final decision on the Application of the Sanction in Marc Marquez’s (Repsol Honda Team) case. Here is what the FIM have published:

Following the provisional decision of the MotoGP™ Court of Appeal pronounced on 12 April 2023 granting the stay of execution of the Application of the Sanction imposed on Marc Marquez, the Court still had to decide on the merits of the case considering inter alia the brief of appeal submitted by Marc Marquez and Team HRC – Repsol Honda Team on 17 April 2023.

The Court decided to annul the Application of the Sanction imposed on Marc Marquez, which was issued by the FIM MotoGP™ Stewards Panel in connection with the Original Sanction.

The Court considered that the Double Long Lap Penalty imposed on Marc Marquez by the FIM MotoGP™ Stewards Panel during the MotoGP™ Race of Portugal held on 26 March 2023 has been served by the non-participation of the Rider in the 2023 MotoGP™ Race of Argentina.

Marc Marquez is hence allowed to compete in the next race in which he will be able to participate, without any further sanction.

Read the full decision of the MotoGP™ Court of Appeal in the attached file.

Sergio Perez (Red Bull Racing) started the race from pole and maintained the lead of the races until pitting for hard tires. Perez fell to 4th place but quickly made up 1 place by Lap 23. Teammate Max Verstappen fought from P9 to win the race after a very long stint on the hard compound tire.

The hard compound tire appeared to offer the best performance with most drivers switching to the tire for their mandatory pits pots. By lap 25 all drivers were on the hard with Verstappen leading the race having started on the tire. Verstappen, Esteban Ocon (Alpine), Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) and Zhou Guanyu (Alphe Romeo) were the only drivers to start on the hards and at this point of the race they had yet to pit. By lap 30, Verstappen’s lead fell to 16s ahead which would put him behind teammate Perez after his inevitable pit stop which on average takes 20s at the Miami Grand Prix street circuit under normal race conditions.

Alonso Secures Another Podium

Fernando Alonso took third place securing another podium with the Red Bull drivers. Alonso is flying high in 2023 having shared the podium 3 times with the Red Bull drivers. Pierre Gasly (Alpine) completed another points finish in a great season start for the driver. Teammate Esteban Ocon (Alpine) also finished in the points. Haas found the pace to complete a points finish with Kevin Magnussen finishing in 10th place to score the final point up for grabs on the weekend.

Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) received a 5 second time penalty for speeding in the pitlane. Due to the race being a one stopper this penalty was served on total race time instead of stationary in the pit lane. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) had improved to P6 by lap 32 after starting 13th on the grid. Fernando Alonso moved up to the podium positions effectively running in 2nd because Verstappen still had not yet pit.

Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) will be disappointed after not making it into the top 5 given the pace of the Ferraris all weekend. After crashing in Q3 Leclerc started P7. By lap 37 he was in 11th having lost 4 positions since the start but made up time in the closing laps ultimately finishing P7 where he started. Teammate Carlos Sainz finished in P5 despite his 5 second penalty for speeding in the pit lane. The Mercedes secured a double points finish with George Russell (Mercedes) finishing P4 and Hamilton finishing P6.

Max Takes P1

Team radio chatter with Red Bull revealed that Verstappen was to push until there was no more usable life in his current set of tires. Perez and Verstappen traded fastest laps until Verstappen pitted. Max did not pit until lap 46. He came out of the pitlane 1.5 seconds behind Sergio Perez on brand new medium tires with 12 laps to go after a slow pit stop lasting 3.1s. By lap 48 Verstappen’s tire advantage saw him through to first place.

Hometown driver Logan Sargeant had a very disappointing home grand prix finishing dead last as nothing seemed to go right for his weekend. On a positive note there were no crashes during the race and all of the cars finishing running. This was the 14th retirement free race in Formula 1 history. There were no yellow flags and no safety cars during the race.

Full Race Results are Below

2023 Miami Grand Prix Results

1. Max Verstappen
2. Sergio Perez
3. Fernando Alonso
4. George Russell
5. Carlos Sainz
6. Lewis Hamilton
7. Charles Leclerc
8. Pierre Gasly
9. Esteban Ocon
10. Kevin Magnussen
11. Yuki Tsunoda
12. Lance Stroll
13. Valterri Bottas
14. Alex Albon
15. Nico Hulkenberg
16. Zhou Guanyu
17. Lando Norris
18. Nyck de Vries
19. Oscar Piastri
20. Logan Sargeant

For more coverage check out F1.com

Next week the IMSA WeatherTeach Championship heads to Laguna Seca for the Motul Course De Monterey Powered by Hyundai N. The race weekend will feature GTP, LMP2, GTD Pro and GTD classes. After IMSA just announced that LMP3 would be excluded from the championship in 2024. Fans can use the upcoming race as an indicator for how the field will look next year. The race this year will mark the 25th year IMSA has visited the circuit. It will also be the first opportunity for fans to see the new GTP class in action on the course.

Temperatures for the weekend are expected to be in the 60s and sunny all weekend. You can find the full entry list here: Motul Course De Monterey Powered by Hyundai N Entry list

Tickets are available here: Ticket Sales

Event Details

Motul Course de Monterey Powered by Hyundai N
WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca – Monterey, California
May 12-14, 2023
Race Day/Time:  Sunday, May 14 – 3:10 p.m. ET
NBC Network Coverage: LIVE – Flag-to-flag beginning at 3 p.m. (also streaming in the U.S. on Peacock, outside the U.S. on IMSA.com/TVLive)
IMSA.com/TVLive Qualifying Stream:  Saturday, May 13 – 3:50 p.m. ET
IMSA Radio:  All sessions live on IMSA.com and RadioLeMans.com; SiriusXM live race coverage begins Sunday, May 14 at 2:30 p.m. (XM 207, Web/App 992)
Circuit Type:  2.238-mile, 11-turn road course
Race Length:  Two hours, 40 minutes
Classes Competing: Grand Touring Prototype (GTP), Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2), GT Daytona Pro (GTD PRO), GT Daytona (GTD)

Track Social Media:

• Instagram.com/WeatherTechRaceway
• Facebook.com/WeatherTechRaceway
• Twitter.com/WeatherTechRcwy
• WeatherTechRaceway.com

Event Hashtags:  #IMSA, #MotulCoursedeMonterey

WeatherTech Championship Track Records

GTP: New class in 2023 (DPi track record: Ricky Taylor, Acura DPi, 1:13.924 / 108.987 mph, April 2022)
LMP2: Louis Deletraz, ORECA LMP2 07, 1:16.216 / 105.709 mph, May 2022 (race lap)
GTD PRO: Mathieu Jaminet, Porsche 911 GT3 R, 1:23.142 / 96.903 mph, April 2022
GTD: Russell Ward, Mercedes-AMG GT3, 1:23.567 / 96.411 mph, April 2022

Here we provide a recap for the 6 hours of Spa-Francorchamps. Toyota Gazoo takes another win in the World Endurance Championship season.

2 Hour Mark

Hypercar

After an early lead the No. 50 and No. 51 Ferrari 499Ps started to fall back opting to run wet tires. The No. 07 Toyota Gazoo GR010 which started on slicks found the more beneficial strategy and was able to pass the Ferraris claiming the lead at the 2 hour mark. Cadillac Racing had an impressive start as the No.3 Cadillac V-Series.R runs second with Renger van der Zande starting on slicks and capitalized on improved track conditions. However the day ended early for the No. 03 when Van der Zande crashes heavily at Eau Rouge. He was unscathed from wreckage after a suspected steering issue. The crash triggered a very long safety car period under which some cars pitted.

As the race approached 3 hours the Ferraris had dropped to sixth after No.51 499P driven by Antonio Giovinazzi fought back through as wet tires overheated in drying track conditions and then they struggled to get slicks up to temperature after a tire change. No.50 Ferrari was in seventh. The Penske Porsche 963s held second and fourth place at the 2 hour mark.

LMP2

The No. 27 United Autosport Oreca 07 lead the 31 Team WRT by 2.5s at the 2 hour mark. Tom Blomqvist drove the No. 27 with little to no challenge. Blomqvist sees Team WRT Robin Frijns make a push nearing the 3 hour mark but Blomqvist holds. The No. 10 Vector Sport Oreca 07 retired from the race after losing a rear wheel on course.

LMGTE-Am

Wet tires were seemingly a better option for the LMGTE-AM cars to start on. However, race leader Ben Keating in No.33 Corvette C8.R lost the lead after switching to slicks and losing pace. Tomonobu Fuji in the No.777 D’Station Aston Martin inherited the lead but the Japanese racer receivesd a drive-through penalty for making contact with Sarah Bovy in Iron Dames Porsche.

4 Hour Mark

Hypercar

The Toyota Gazoo Racing GR010s found a groove at the 4 hour mark. The No.07 Car retains the lead as the No. 8 car fought up through the field to run 1-2 for the team. Disappointment struck for Porsche Penske as the No. 6 963 driven by Laurens Vanthoor retired due to a mechanical failure. The No. 4 Floyd Vanwall driven by Jacques Villeneuve collides with the LMGT3-Am No.54 AF Corse Ferrari at Blanchimont and the cars both retire, bringing out the third safety car in the process. Both drivers were unhurt.

LMP2

Team WRT takes the lead at the 4 hour mark. The Team WRT Sister car fought through the field to finish the 4 hour mark in second place. The No. 28 Jota driven by Oliver Rasmussen made a late challenge. He ultimately was able to make the pass at Eau Rouge after a hard fought battle. The battle resulted in side by side action until the next braking zone. The No.23 United Autosports car that led early in the race loses out in safety car period and fell to sixth. JOTA lose several positions in fourth hour losing momentum as their strategy call proves to be incorrect.

LMGTE-Am

Lilou Wadoux in the No.83 Richard Mille AF Corse Ferrari took the lead from No.88 Dempsey Proton Porsche. However, the No. 88 fought back to retake the lead at the 4 hour mark. The Iron Dames Porsche stays in third and had the pace to stay in contention for the podium. Driver Rahel Frey completed an amazing stint cutting into the front runners’ lead.

Race Results

Hypercar

Toyota Gazoo Racing complete the 1-2 for the win at the 6 hours of Spa. The Toyotas dominated from the 2 hour mark on. No. 51 Ferrari was able to salvage early weekend success and secured P3 to round out the hypercar podium. The No. 05 Penske Porsche and No. 3 Cadillac completed the top 5. The No. 50 Ferrari retired from the race.

LMP2

The No. 41 Team WRT with Louis Deletraz, Rui Andrade and Robert Kubica claim their first race win of the season on WRT’s home track. The team retains their success from 2022. The sister car was not able to hang on for the 1-2 finish after both cars led at the 4 hour mark. United Autosports continued their successful 2023 campaign with a P2 finish with the No. 23 car.

LMGT3-Am

The No. 83 Richard Mille AF Corse Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo wins the class with their first win of the 2023 season. Lilou Wadoux becomes the first women to win in a WEC Class. Corvette Racing whom have had a strong presence on track all year finish in second with another podium for 2023. The ORT by TF Aston martin Vantage AMR took third in the class to complete the podium. The top 3 cars were the only cars on the lead lap of the in class race.

Full Results can be found below.

For more information on the race result visit World Endurance Championship.

The MotoGP world was turned upside down again as KTM Racing rider Brad Binder secured his second Sprint Race win of the season. KTM Jack Miller was also in the mix in an intense battle at the front of the field. The two exchanged positions throughout the race, but a late lunge down in Turn 6 secured the win for Binder. It was an overall successful day for KTM Racing wth Jack Miller rounding out the podium in third. Francesco Bagnaia stole second place away on the final lap while the KTMs were involved in their scrap for first. Bagnaia was able to double draft the two to make up one place.

Alex Marquez (Gresini Racing) and Franco Morbidelli (Monster Energy Yamaha) came together and set off a chain reaction that took out championship leader Marco Bezzecchi and Augusto Fernandez. Morbidelli was abel to continue but finished in P16. Bezzecchi was able to salvage a P9 finish and Augusto Fernandez finished P17 for GasGas Factory racing.

Alex Espargaro was involved in a self induced crash that saw his race finished. Fabio Quartarao started the race by gaining 8 positions after starting from 16th. He later fell to 12th in yet another disappointing finish for the Frenchman. He qualified in his lowest position ever for the Spanish Grand Prix.

Full Spanish Grand Prix Sprint Race Results are Below

For more action check out MotoGP Video Pass.

In a time when Ferrari F1 team seemed to be struggling with every issue possible, a silver lining emerged in Baku. Charles Leclerc has secured his first pole position of 2023 for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. This is Leclerc’s third consecutive pole position in Baku having secured the same in 2021 and 2022. This pole finish is the ray of hope Ferrari has needed this year currently sitting 4th in the constructors championship. It also marked a turn of fortunes for Leclerc, who’s last pole was at the 2022 Singapore Grand Prix 6 months ago.

Leclerc is in an unfamiliar P10 in the drivers championship standings. The Ferraris have experienced reliability issues in the early season stages. Leclerc has had two DNFs thus far in 2023. It is promising to see them back on top as a contender for taking the competition to Red Bull who have seemed almost untouchable thus far in 2023.

The top 3 was rounded out by Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing) and Sergio Perez (Red Bull Racing). Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) finished in 4th as the best of the rest; 8 tenths behind his teammate Leclerc. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes AMG F1) showed good form with a P5 finish in qualifying which is a positive after early season complications with the W14. Hamilton will be building off of his P2 finish from Australian and the Mercedes camp look to improve the car and get back to being competitive for race wins.

The Bottom Half of Q3

Lando Norris (McLaren) and Yuki Tsunoda (Aplha Tauri) secure a spot in the top 10 with P7 and P8 finishes. McLaren have failed to make Q3 in two of the three races in 2023 thus far. Both cars finishing in the top 10 is a good sign that the team has made some improvements. We won’t know if this early success will lead to a meaningful finish until the grand prix, but before that we have a sprint race. We will use the sprint as a proxy to determine how well the McLarens are stacking up to the competition. Piastri rounded out the last spot in Q3 finishing about 1.4s slower behind the session leader.

Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) surprisingly fell back in the pecking order. He finished P6 in Q3 a full second behind the leader Leclerc. George Russell failed to make it out of Q2 which is surprising considering his early found pace. You can check out the full results below.

Full Azerbaijan Grand Prix Qualifying Results

Q1 107% time – 1:48.357
Note – De Vries failed to set a time within 107% in Q1. It is yet to be determined if he will race.

FP2 is complete at the Spanish GP and Aprilia Racing is on top. Both riders Aleix Espargaro and Maverick Viñales set fastest laps throughout the session with the margin between their best laps being only 0.002s. Jack Miller who was 3rd fastest was just over a tenth of a second behind Viñales.

The session halted briefly due to Marc Marquez’s injury substitute Iker Lecuona crashing in turn 12; causing a red flag. The session restarted but riders did not start to break FP1 times until the final 15 minutes. Francesco Bagnaia seemingly is well off pace today given he ran 8th fastest. There did not seem to be an obvious reason why he was so behind on pace. Similarly Marco Bezzecchi could only amount a response to finish 7th fastest raising questions as to whether there are new factors impacting the pace of these riders. Fabio Quartararo had an FP2 to forget finishing 15th fastest. With each grand prix round Quartararo’s likelihood of making another title run seems to dwindle as his has not consistently been able to remain in the top 5 for lap times in any of the previous practices or races for the 2023 campaign. While we wait for qualifying be sure to check out MotoGP.com for exclusive content and interviews from this weekend.

Free Practice 2 Results

MotoAmerica weekend at Road Atlanta has come to an end. Cameron Beaubier and Jake Gagne put on a spectacle in Medallia Superbike Race 1 with back and forth action passing each other at different points around the circuit throughout the entire race. Beaubier emerged victorious in race one and would attempt the double in race 2. However, Jake Gagne had something to say about that.

The Race

Superbike race 2 will go down as one of the most exciting and event filled races in the history of the Superbike Championship. Cameron Beaubier (6), Jake Gagne (1), Cameron Petersen (45) Josh Herrin (2) and Mathew Scholtz (11) battled it out in the front pack from the start. Gagne lead the race at the start of lap 3 and Beaubier had a moment on track where he missed his racing line and almost lost the bike going into turn one over the curbing. Beaubier was able to save the bike, but Gagne had already made the pass.

As the riders progressed up the hill to turn 2 Cameron Petersen’s Yamaha R1 spontaneously burst into flames without obvious incident. Due to the quick response by the corner workers the bike did not appear to be a total loss. The fire was put out in seconds, and Petersen appeared to be unharmed.

Naturally this ended Petersen’s race. Herrin jumped up to third and tried to hold on to Gagne and Beaubier battling it out at the front 5 tenths ahead. Gagne and Beaubier exchanged a multiple position switches and by lap 7 Mat Scholtz had taken advantage of clean race lines to work his way up to within 0.2s of the leaders.

Late Stages

Herrin found some space in turn 1 and turn 10 to take the lead with 5 laps to go. However, Beaubier retook the lead by the end of the lap. The top 4 were separated by 6 tenths leaving the door open for anyone to finish strong for the win. Herrin took the lead with 2 laps to go. However, Beaubier again retook the lead at turn 10 with better exit speed than Herrin in the exchange.

At the beginning of the final lap, Gagne sat in third place. Herrin ran wide in turn 7 which seemingly knocked him out of rhythm on the back straight through the kink. Beaubier passed Herrin in the exchange. Herrin tried to recover, but made contact with Beaubier and was bumped wide in turn 9. This left the door wide open for Gagne to steal the win lead. Gagne pounced with a perfect double bike draft to take the lead which he would hold until the checkered flag. Herrin tried to recover and ended up running off track settling for 4th. Scholtz who was in tow rounded out the podium.

With Gagne and Beaubier tied atop the standings with 45 points, Herrin is third with 29 points

After the Race Thoughts

Gagne, Beaubier and Scholtz spoke with MotoAmerica after the race.

Jake Gagne, Fresh N Lean Progressive Yamaha

“The bike was awesome. My drives are awesome. I was still struggling on the brakes, but I think that was just because of me and after a couple laps, I was really pumped up. So, I kind of tried to just chill and relax and tried to just breathe and watch what those guys were doing a little differently and watch them battle each other. For the last lap, it was hard to really have a plan. Obviously, both of those bikes were really fast and really strong down into 10 through the kink. So, I was kind of just hoping for the best. I figured maybe they both would have a little braking battle in there and I could drive up under the bridge, but it was nuts.”

Cameron Beaubier, Tytlers Cycle Racing

“My bike was super-fast. I was trying to get to those last three laps and then put my head down and be good on the brakes and try to hold them off. Then (Josh) Herrin came by me and got in another pretty good battle with us. Man, that last lap was so hairy. I’m just super happy everyone’s safe after that one. He ran me a little wide on the straightaway, and then I went into the fast right-hander pretty tight. I went to lean in, and he was on the outside of me I just didn’t turn. I pushed the front a little bit. It was terrifying. He was right on the outside of me, and I ran him wide. I was afraid I ran him off the track. You’re doing 180 miles an hour through that corner. So, I glanced over my shoulder. Saw he was good, and then Jake and him blew by me on the brakes. There was nothing I could do to fight Jake going through the last section. Glad everyone is safe. Super stoked to get out of here with a one-two. Didn’t really even know what to expect coming into this round. Just massive thank you to the Tytlers BMW guys.”

Matt Scholtz, Westby Racing LLC

“To be honest, the first couple laps I was just hanging on. We made quite a few changes from the first race. I was just still feeling out what the bike was kind of doing. I felt like the strong parts of the track for me, I was really, really quick, but the weaker parts I was losing a lot of time. So, I was just literally going backwards and forwards. I really didn’t have a spot that I could kind of pass in, unless something happened, which it did, and I managed to capitalize on that. But otherwise, starting from where we were on Friday to where we ended up now, I think we made huge strides forward on the motorcycle. So, I just have to give a big shout out to the Westby Racing team.”

2023 Medallia Superbike Championship Standings

For more information on how to re-live the race check out MotoAmerica Live+.

After the Australian Grand Prix Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 driver George Russell publicly made a bold claim. Russell stated stated, “For sure they’re holding back, They’re almost embarrassed to show their full potential because the faster they seem globally the more the sport is going to try to hold them back somehow. I think realistically, they probably have seven tenths advantage over the rest of the field. Max has got no reason to be pushing it, nor has Red Bull. They have done a really great job, we can’t take that away, and we clearly have to up our game.”

The comment came after championship leader Max Verstappen extended his lead in the Australian Grand Prix by almost 10 seconds before the red flags. Verstappen responded to Russell’s criticisms by stating, “I mean, we just try to do the best we can with the development of the car, but it’s also about pace management. We didn’t really know, I think no-one really knew how long that hard tire would last, so it’s about just bringing it home because we had a bit of pace I think over the others. There’s no need to try and gain half a second a lap and destroy your tires to the end because you never know, a Safety Car can happen, red flags, like we had today. So yeah, it’s not necessary to risk all that.”

In response to the banter Red Bull Racing Team Principal Christian Horner laughed and stated, “That’s very generous of him. I mean, his team would know all too well about those kinds of advantages [referring to Mercedes run of 7 world championships]. There’s always an element of managing that goes on in any race. You could see because it was a one-stop race and a very early one-stop race, there was an element of tire management that was going on, which is what they were doing.

He continued, “Checo wasn’t hanging about, he wasn’t cruising round holding back seven tenths a lap because he didn’t want to show it. The grid was certainly a little bit closer at this venue. We’ve obviously weighted the car towards the race rather than qualifying. You can see perhaps the cars that warmed up their tires more aggressively perhaps suffered a bit more in the race.”

Lewis Hamilton’s Previous Comments

Red Bull Racing have also been the subject of discussion by 7 time world champion Lewis Hamilton. After the race in Jeddah Hamilton responded to a question on whether Red Bull’s dominance was bad for the sport. Hamilton replied stating, “I don’t know, it’s not for me to say, but I’ve never seen a car so fast. When we were fast, we weren’t that fast. That’s the fastest car I’ve seen compared to the rest. I don’t know why or how but he came past me with serious speed. I didn’t even bother to block because there was a massive speed difference.”

Verstappen responded to RacingNews365.com stating, “I think if you look at the statistics, then those statements are not correct. But we also do have a very good car. Nothing wrong with that, of course. Still, we are not as dominant as Mercedes has shown some years. I don’t pay much attention to that, that doesn’t get you anywhere. Whatever we have done in the eight years that Mercedes is so dominant, we also tried to close the gap. That’s the only thing you can do.”

Hamilton seems to have found some pace in Australia allowing him to secure a P2 finish. However, the Australian Grand Prix was plagued with safety cars and red flags so we may not know the true pace of the W14 Mercedes until the next race in Azerbaijan. You can read more about the outcome of the Australian Grand Prix here.