F1Weekly.com - Home of The Premiere Motorsport Podcast

ON TODAYS PROGRAM…
 
KIMI WINS 5 IN A ROW WITH A CHERIE ON TOP!
PIERRE GASLY ROBBED OF PODIUM
HADJAR KEEPS HIS PODIUM…
CADILLAC LOOSES FIRST POINTS TO PENALTY.
 
SINCE LECLERC GOT MARRIED HIS PERFORMANCE HAS DECLINED…SORRY CHARLIE!
SINCE GEORGE SIGNED HIS NEW CONTRACT AND GOT HIS FIRST PAYCHECK HIS PERFORMANCE HAS DECLINED!
 
THIS WEEK’S NASIR HAMEED CORNER WE HAVE: A MOMENT IN MOTORSPORTS HISTORY…AN INTERVIEW WITH BOBBY UNSER… SOME TRIVIA ON THE GRAND PRIX OF TURKEY AND TECH TALK WITH TIM!
LCH GETS INTRODUCED TO A LOS ANGELES LOW RIDER!!
Kimi Antonelli
It’s an incredible feeling to win in Monaco. It’s such a special weekend and one I’ll remember for a long time. Today was one of those days where everything just clicked; I had a lot of confidence in the car, felt strong throughout, and to bring the win home in a place like this makes it even more meaningful.
From a race perspective, there were definitely some key moments to manage. The starts are still an area we’re working on, but I’ve made good progress. My first one was solid, and although the second was a bit more challenging with the tyres, it’s positive to see improvement.
The red flag added a bit of stress, especially knowing the restart could change everything, but we handled it well. In the final laps, I really enjoyed myself out there, even though I still had to carefully manage the tyres. This track demands a lot of focus, you have to find the right balance between pushing and not making mistakes, and once you settle into that rhythm, everything starts to come together.
At the same time, I know there’s still a lot to learn and improve. I just want to keep pushing, keep building on this momentum, and most importantly, keep enjoying the journey. That’s what makes moments like this so rewarding.
ISACK HADJAR "It's been an outstanding result and weekend considering how it started in FP1! The race was difficult and I had to dig very deep. We got off to a clean start and were managing our race, and then within the first 10 to 15 laps I started having big drivability issues. If there's one track you don't want that, it's here, so that was incredibly challenging having to cover 60 laps. There was then uncertainty about what was going to happen with the red flag and you need to get your head back again in focus. Even towards the end, I was still lacking power on the restart. It really was the longest race of my life but now it's finished we got the podium. Whatever happens with the stewards, it's now completely out of my control. I celebrated and had my podium and I will always have that. My moment with the lads. Huge thank you to the Team, I trust these guys. Whatever happens, the emotions on the podium have already happened and I am proud of the Team."
MAX VERSTAPPEN - DNF"We don't know what happened today but we think the issue was due to an engine problem. During the formation lap I could feel that something was off and the pre-start was terrible. There was no consistency and then, at the start, the engine just dropped out. I dropped the clutch and it went dead and had no power. When I got a bit more power back, unfortunately it was messed up so I had to bring it back slowly. It was such a shame for us as everything was going really well up to that point. We felt great in the car all weekend and to come out with no points and to finish the race like this when you do everything so well as a Team is of course disappointing."
George Russell
Firstly, congratulations to Kimi. He did an amazing job today and over the weekend and is a well-deserving winner. On my side, the race was very difficult. I had managed to get to P4 but the penalty for speeding in the pitlane is difficult to understand. I was under the limit but then that was compounded by us not serving the penalty at my second stop; that ultimately cost me a lot and left me with zero points again.
It’s tough to take but I’m not going to give up. Across the last two races, I’ve effectively lost around 40 points. It’s incredibly frustrating but the rest of the season can still look very different. We saw that last year and, in many seasons previous. It’s unfortunate how things have played out so far but I’m aiming to bounce back in Barcelona. I believe in myself and I know what I’m capable of.
LAURENT MEKIES - CEO & Team Principal"Mixed emotions today, as Isack and the Team did a great job to get him to the podium, overcoming some technical issues on the car, but on the other side of the garage, we lost Max's car straightaway with an engine issue. It was hard to take as he had incredible pace all weekend. It's frustrating when you miss out on a big points score, but that's part of the game, and we can only apology to him. For Isack it was a very intense battle in the car considering the number of issues he had to deal with. It was also an intense battle for the team in the garage as they worked to keep his car alive to the finish. In that context, making it to the podium is a very strong result. The most important lesson we take away from Monaco is that the underlying performance of the car keeps improving."
Badoer earns maiden F3 victory in Monte Carlo.
Brando Badoer launched off the line and into the lead and didn’t look back, taking his first FIA Formula 3 victory for Rodin Motorsport. The Italian beat pole-sitter Théophile Nael off the line and on the run to Turn 1, with the Frenchman having to settle for second place at the chequered flag. Freddie Slater completed the podium for TRIDENT. AS IT HAPPENED Nael was immediately passed by Badoer while Slater took to the escape road at the opening corner and filtered in behind the top two up the hill, with the remainder of the top five staying as they were on the grid. Van Amersfoort Racing’s Bruno del Pino was able to make up a place, getting ahead of MP Motorsport’s Alessandro Giusti for P6 at Turn 1, but for the Frenchman’s teammate, his race was over soon after. Tuukka Taponen found the barriers at the penultimate corner after an attempted pass by Maciej Gladysz left the Finn nowhere to go. That incident brought out the Safety Car on Lap 2. With the MP cleared, racing resumed going onto Lap 5, with Badoer able to gap Nael comfortably, with the Frenchman under attack from Slater on the run to Turn 3. By Lap 10, Badoer had escaped out of DRS range to the Campos driver behind, while Slater, Ugo Ugochukwu and Ernesto Rivera remained within a second of the car ahead. Drivers inside the top 10 began to back off on some laps in order to generate enough space to attempt a fastest lap for the additional point. Slater was very happy with the balance of his TRIDENT, praising the car over team radio. Lap 18 and Badoer looked unflappable out front, now two seconds clear of the field. Further back in the pack, Nandhavud Bhirombhakdi was coming under serious pressure from Enzo Deligny in the fight for P15. The Thai driver had to defend into Turn 1 on Lap 21, and later missed the Turn 10-11 chicane, skipping across the run-off as the Frenchman behind turned the screw. Nael spent the final five laps closing the gap to the leader back down to under a second, but the Rodin driver would not be denied, earning his first win in the Championship around the Principality. Slater completed the podium behind Nael while Ugochukwu and Rivera ensured all three Campos’ were in the top five. Bruno del Pino finished sixth for Van Amersfoort, followed by Giusti in P7, Pedro Clerot in eighth, Sprint Race winner Gerrard Xie in P9 and Noah Stromsted completing the points in 10th. KEY QUOTE – Brando Badoer, Rodin Motorsport “I was studying the start all evening with the guys yesterday and I executed it perfectly. I jumped to P1 at Turn 1 and then led the 27 laps. It was a very long race, I was hoping it ended a bit earlier and it felt long in the car, but winning in Monaco is one of my dreams come true! Really happy with the team and my performance. Thanks to everyone.” THE CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS Ugo Ugochukwu retains the lead of the Drivers’ Championship going onto 43 points. Bruno del Pino is P2 on 35, just a single point ahead of Freddie Slater in third. Brando Badoer’s win moves him up to P4 on 28 points, while Théophile Nael rounds out the top five drivers with 22 points. Campos Racing extend their advantage at the top of the Teams’ Standings, moving onto 75 points. Van Amersfoort Racing are P2 with 47, while Rodin Motorsport jumps TRIDENT into third place, 44 points to 43. ART Grand Prix complete the top five with 31 points. 
León dominates in lights-to-flag victory in Monte Carlo F2.
Noel León led every lap of the Monte Carlo Sprint Race on his way to claiming a dominant second victory of the season. Starting from pole, the Campos Racing driver managed the race expertly before going on to win by over three seconds. DAMS Lucas Oil driver Roman Bilinski achieved his maiden F2 podium in P2 ahead of MP Motorsport’s Gabriele Minì in third. 
AS IT HAPPENED It was a good start from León, who kept the lead ahead of Bilinski, while Minì kept P3 ahead of Joshua Duerksen. In the battle for P11 Ritomo Miyata and Oliver Goethe went wheel-to-wheel through the hairpin and Mirabeau. However, they made slight contact which caused the MP Motorsport driver to pit, dropping him to the back of the field. Out in front, León was struggling to pull away from Bilinski with the DAMS driver consistently within DRS range of the Mexican during the opening laps. The top four drivers of León, Bilinski, Minì and Duerksen were pulling away from the rest of the field, and by Lap 5 just two seconds separated the quartet. Down the field, Laurens van Hoepen, who started in P21 was up to 15th by Lap 8. However, the TRIDENT driver’s charge was halted when he was given a 10-second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage at the start. On to Lap 11 of 30, the drivers entered management mode, but the top four were still close, and were covered by 2.7s. As the race reached the halfway point, Dino Beganovic had closed the gap to Duerksen and was now within DRS range of the Invicta Racing driver. Miyata, who had been running with a broken front wing since his contact with Goethe on the opening lap, was looking to make a move past Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak at Tabac, but found the door closed on Lap 17. By the next lap the top two of León and Bilinski had pulled a three-second gap to Minì, as they continued to battle for the lead. The Italian driver was now running on his own having built a 2.3s gap to Duerksen in P4, with Beganovic right on the back of the Invicta driver on Lap 20. Miyata’s pressure on Inthraphuvasak finally paid off on Lap 22 as he dived to the inside of the ART Grand Prix driver on the run to Tabac. On the next lap, the Hitech driver was putting pressure on Nikola Tsolov for P10, while behind them, Mari Boya went around the outside of van Hoepen at the hairpin for P15. With five laps to go, Inthraphuvasak retired to the pitlane with an issue. At the front of the field, León was now 2.4s ahead of Bilinski with Minì having closed the gap on the Polish rookie, just over a second away on Lap 27. The Campos driver continued to pull away and by the start of the final lap he was over three seconds clear of the rest of the field and would go on to win for the second time this season. Bilinski held off Minì’s charge to take his maiden podium, with Duerksen in P4 ahead of Beganovic. Stenshorne finished sixth ahead of Kush Maini, as Rafael Câmara rounded out the points in eighth. KEY QUOTE – Noel León, Campos Racing “Feels great to win in Monaco, my second win in a row on a weekend and in a Sprint. I feel very happy to be honest. Yesterday we missed a bit, we missed pole, but luckily it put me in a position to start on the front row today, to get the 10 points, and for the championship it is great. I have a great opportunity tomorrow to score again good points, that’s the goal for this weekend and I am very happy that every weekend we are stronger and stronger and qualifying is going to get there at some points, so very happy.” THE CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS Gabriele Minì continues to lead the Drivers’ Championship with 63 points, while Noel León has jumped up second, 20 points adrift of his rival. Martinius Stenshorne is third on 38 points, with Rafael Câmara a further point in fourth, as Nikola Tsolov rounds out the top five with 36. In the Teams’ Standings, Campos Racing have taken over at the top with 79 points, while MP Motorsport slip to second with 75. Rodin Motorsport are third with 68 points, with Invicta Racing a further 10 points behind in fourth, as DAMS Lucas Oil sit fifth on 38. UP NEXT The drivers have one more chance to hit the jackpot in Monte Carlo with Sunday’s Feature Race set to start at 09:25 local time. 2026 FIA Formula 2 - Monte Carlo -  Provisional Classification, Sprint Race
|
 
|
DRIVER
|
LICENCE
|
TEAM
|
|
1
|
Noel Leon
|
MEX
|
Campos Racing 
|
|
2
|
Roman Bilinski
|
POL
|
DAMS Lucas Oil 
|
|
3
|
Gabriele Mini
|
ITA
|
MP Motorsport
|
|
4
|
Joshua Durksen
|
PAR
|
Invicta Racing 
|
|
5
|
Dino Beganovic
|
SWE
|
DAMS Lucas Oil 
|
|
6
|
Martinius Stenshorne
|
NOR
|
Rodin Motorsport
|
|
7
|
Kush Maini
|
IND
|
ART Grand Prix
|
|
8
|
Rafael Camara
|
BRA
|
Invicta Racing 
|
|
9
|
Alexander Dunne
|
IRL
|
Rodin Motorsport
|
|
10
|
Nikola Tsolov
|
BUL
|
Campos Racing 
|
|
11
|
Ritomo Miyata
|
JPN
|
Hitech
|
|
12
|
Nico Varrone
|
ARG
|
Van Amersfoort Racing
|
|
13
|
Sebastian Montoya
|
COL
|
PREMA Racing 
|
|
14
|
Mari Boya
|
ESP
|
PREMA Racing 
|
|
15
|
Colton Herta
|
USA
|
Hitech
|
|
16
|
Rafael Villagomez
|
MEX
|
Van Amersfoort Racing
|
|
17
|
Emerson Fittipaldi
|
BRA
|
AIX Racing 
|
|
18
|
Cian Shields
|
GBR
|
AIX Racing 
|
|
19
|
Laurens van Hoepen
|
NED
|
TRIDENT
|
|
20
|
John Bennett
|
GBR
|
TRIDENT
|
NOT CLASSIFIED
|
DNF
|
Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak
|
THA
|
ART Grand Prix
|
|
DNF
|
Oliver Goethe
|
GER
|
MP Motorsport
|
OVERALL FASTEST LAP 
|
 
|
Nikola Tsolov
|
BUL
|
Campos Racing 
|
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
1:22.100 (Lap 23)
 
OVERALL FASTEST LAP FOR POINTS 
|
 
|
Nikola Tsolov
|
BUL
|
Campos Racing 
|
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
1:22.100 (Lap 23)
 
 
FIA Pit lane speed trap Monaco 

ON TODAYS PROGRAM…
 
PALOU WINS IN DETROIT!!!…SCHUMACHER P21 
IS TOTO HAVING FANTASIES OF A KIMI AND MAX SUPER TEAM FOR THEIR SUPER CAR!
WOULD THE TIFOSI WEAR ORANGE TO HELP FERRARI GET MAX?
ZACK BROWN TOOK LANDO NORRIS TO THE SPEEDWAY THE DAY AFTER THE 500 LARGEST MOTORSPORTS SPECTACLE IN THE WORLD
AND…FERNANDO SAYS: I WILL ATTEMPT THE INDIANAPOLIS 500 ONE MORE TIME!….mention MAX and competition.
 
THIS WEEK’S NASIR HAMEED CORNER WE HAVE: A MOMENT IN MOTORSPORTS HISTORY WITH CIAO COLLET FROM 2023 WHO CRASHED IN THE INDY 500 WITH 8 LAPS TO GO!! AND A LITTLE HISTORY ON THE MICHELIN TYRE!! 
Palou Prevails Amid Chaos,Varying Tire Strategies in Detroit.
DETROIT (Sunday, May 31, 2026) – Four-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion Alex Palou prevailed in a full-contact race filled with various tire strategies, winning the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear on Sunday for his fourth victory in eight races this season.
Pole sitter Palou drove his No. 10 HRC Chip Ganassi Racing Honda to a 3.0584-second victory over the No. 27 Sam's Club Honda of Andretti Global's Kyle Kirkwood. It was the 23rd victory of Palou’s career in 106 starts, a remarkable strike rate of 21.7 percent, and he has won 12 of the last 25 races (48 percent win rate) dating to the start of the 2025 season.
SEE: Race Results
“It feels like the first time, honestly” Palou said. “It was a tough one, a very tough one. But the team did an incredible job once again with the strategy. The pit stops were incredible. Incredible run, incredible start of the year, but it was tough.”
The victory extended Palou’s championship lead to 62 points over Kirkwood, more than a race’s worth of margin. The Spaniard is aiming for an INDYCAR SERIES record-tying fourth straight title.
Graham Rahal finished third in the No. 15 Fifth Third Bank Honda of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, his third podium finish of the season.
Arrow McLaren teammates Pato O'Ward and Christian Lundgaard finished fourth and fifth in the No. 5 and No. 7 Chevrolet-powered cars, respectively, at General Motors’ home event.
Palou led 71 of the 100 laps, but this wasn’t a stroll down Easy Street. He took the lead for good on Lap 69 when Kirkwood pitted from the lead for the last time and stayed out front on restarts on Laps 72, 76, 83 and 93 after full-course yellows bunched the field.
The move to the front was paved a few laps earlier when strategist Barry Wanser and Palou decided to make their final pit stop at the end of Lap 63, switching from the faster but less durable Firestone Firehawk alternate tire to the primary tire. Wanser saw a variety of jousts for position unfolding on the tight, nine-turn, 1.645-mile street circuit and wisely didn’t want Palou to get caught on track under caution and lose track position.
Wanser’s decision proved prescient on Lap 66 when Santino Ferrucci’s No. 14 Homes For Our Troops Chevrolet of AJ Foyt Racing nudged the rear of Rinus VeeKay’s No. 76 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet into a spin in Turn 5. Kirkwood was leading but still had to make his final stop, which he did under yellow on Lap 69 and was forced to use a set of Firestone Firehawk alternates per INDYCAR rules that require at least two sets of the softer rubber to be used in street-circuit events.
Palou rocketed away from Alexander Rossi’s No. 20 Java House Chevrolet of ECR on the restart on Lap 72. Rookie Mick Schumacher and David Malukas were engaged in an intense duel for third on the restart, with Schumacher missing the corner in Turn 5 and nosing into the barriers in his No. 47 ENVE Honda of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. Malukas had nowhere to go and ran wide in his No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, with the incident triggering another full-course caution on Lap 73.
By this point, Kirkwood had worked his way back to third after his final pit stop and had to make the most of the added early grip of the alternate tire before the increased durability of Palou’s primary tires prevailed in the closing laps. Kirkwood passed Rossi and then set sail for Palou, knowing this was his best chance to win.
Kirkwood pulled to within two car lengths of Palou on Lap 79 and appeared to be ready to pounce for the lead when Ferrucci’s car slowed in Turn 4 with a mechanical problem, triggering the fifth full-course yellow of the race on Lap 80.
“We took a little bit of a gamble on tires there, being the only guy on reds (alternates) at the end,” Kirkwood said. “It nearly paid off. It was so, so close. There were two untimely yellows.
“We almost covered Palou when we were on primes, which would have been phenomenal, and then we had that other yellow where I had him lined up. I was ready to make a dive on him, and, of course, (the yellow) comes out after I burned 10 seconds of overtake. From there, we just didn’t really have another shot at it. I think I just used up my tires too much to make that one pass.”
Palou kept the lead on the restart on Lap 83, but Kirkwood continued to push and forced Palou into a flat-spotting tire lockup on Lap 88. But Palou gathered himself and his car and started to pull away, building a lead of 1.8929 seconds by Lap 91.
But there was one more restart for Palou to manage after Rossi clipped the rear of the No. 18 BMax Honda driven by Romain Grosjean of Dale Coyne Racing and sent Grosjean into the outside wall approaching Turn 3 on Lap 91. That triggered the last of six full-course yellows, but Palou pulled away from Kirkwood and the field on the Lap 93 restart and was never threatened despite the 173 on-track passes today, a high for a street circuit this season. 
“Being able to be up front was key,” Palou said. “On the first stint, I started struggling and kind of put myself in a bad spot and lost two positions with Lundgaard and (Scott) McLaughlin. I lost us positions there, but the team made a great call to be safe with the yellow. It kind of worked out for us.”
Fittipaldi Wins Motor City Thriller, Takes Series Lead.
DETROIT (Sunday, May 31, 2026) – Enzo Fittipaldi returned his famous last name to Victory Lane in Detroit for the first time in 35 years, winning the INDY NXT by Firestone Detroit Grand Prix despite driving nearly the entire distance with a damaged front wing and nose cone.
Series rookie Fittipaldi won the race, originally scheduled for 45 laps but switched to a timed event, under caution in the No. 67 HMD Motorsports car after starting seventh. It was his second victory of the season and vaulted him to the championship lead in the INDYCAR development series, seven points ahead of Nikita Johnson of Cape Motorsports Powered by ECR and eight ahead of HMD teammate Tymek Kucharczyk.
SEE: Race Results
The victory also was the first by the legendary Fittipaldi name in Detroit since his grandfather and two-time Indy 500 winner Emerson Fittipaldi won INDYCAR SERIES races on a different downtown street circuit in the Motor City in 1989 and 1991.
“I just pushed as hard as I could,” Enzo Fittipaldi said. “I found pace. I was really, really fast. Just so happy to get the win. I love to race; I’m a racer.”
Series veteran Myles Rowe finished a season-best second in the No. 99 Abel Motorsports with Force Indy machine, with rookie Kucharczyk rounding out the podium finishers in the No. 71 HMD Motorsports entry.
Rookie Max Garcia tied his season-best finish by placing fourth in the No. 12 Abel Motorsports machine, with veteran Seb Murray rounding out the top five in the No. 27 Megatron car of Andretti Global.
Frenzied action started from the drop of the green flag on Lap 1, as Lochie Hughes made an aggressive move into the Turn 3 hairpin with his No. 26 Andretti Global car, punting pole sitter Alessandro de Tullio into a spin from the lead in the No. 14 AJ Foyt Racing entry. Hughes received a drive-through penalty for avoidable contact.
Fittipaldi nudged another car in that chain-reaction melee, which damaged the right side of his front wing and punched a large hole in his nose cone. Kucharczyk took the lead from that point, keeping it on the restart on Lap 8.
Kucharczyk built a lead of 3.324 seconds over Fittipaldi by Lap 13, with Rowe climbing to third by Lap 18. Rowe dove under Fittipaldi for second on Lap 20 and started to chase down Kucharczyk.
By Lap 21, Rowe pulled to within .5477 of a second of leader Kucharcyzk, slicing 1.6 seconds from the Polish driver’s lead in just three laps. But the complexion of the race changed on Lap 26 when the second of four full-course yellow flags in the race were unfurled for debris on the nine-turn, 1.645-mile temporary street circuit.
The restart came at the end of Lap 27, with Rowe trying to dive under Kucharczyk for the lead immediately after the green flag, in the Turn 3 hairpin. But the move forced both cars wide, leaving an opening along the inside curb for Fittipaldi.
He took it, squeezing past Rowe and Kucharcyzk and never trailing thereafter. Fittipaldi stayed out front on another restart on Lap 34 after Niels Koolen nosed his No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing machine into the barrier in Turn 8.
“I got it done,” Fittipaldi said. “I knew Myles was going to go for a lunge there, and I just prepared my mid-(corner) to exit of Turn 3, and he went on the lunge on Tymek, and I was able to do the crossover and got the lead. I had the pace to stay there, and I was actually pulling away.”
The decisive move was one of 141 on-track passes, including 124 for position, in the exciting race – both INDY NXT records for any circuit on which the series has competed in the Motor City.
Fittipaldi expanded that gap to nearly six-tenths of a second when Andretti Global’s Max Taylor also nosed into the barrier in Turn 1 in his No. 28 Susan G. Komen car with about four minutes, 20 seconds left in what had become a timed race, triggering the final caution. Taylor’s car could not be cleared in time to restart the race, with the field finishing under yellow.
“I was losing quite a lot of time through (Turns) 6 and 7,” Fittipaldi said of the damage to his car. “It was quite difficult. Down the straight, I could feel the air coming through my legs and I said: ‘Man, this is not good. We’re definitely dragging a lot on the straight.’ It was hard to keep that lead and keep up with the guys.”

ON TODAYS PROGRAM…
GEORGE’S MERC GOES KABLAMO WHILE IN THE LEAD GIFTING ANTONELLI THE WIN!
MCLAREN MAKES ONE. BLUNDER AFTER ANOTHER…
GOOD FIGHT BETWEEN MAX AND LCH FOR P2 AND…
FELIX ROSENQVIST WINS THE INDY 500 BY A NOSE!!!
SUPER SAD NEWS…KYLE BUSCH GONE AT 41…
THIS WEEK’S NASIR HAMEED CORNER WE HAVE: A MOMENT IN MOTORSPORTS HISTORY WITH FRANCOIS CASTAIN!…
Rosenqvist Earns Epic Victoryin Closest-Ever Indianapolis 500 Finish
INDIANAPOLIS (Sunday, May 24, 2026) – Felix Rosenqvist capped his magical May by edging David Malukas in a last-lap drag race to the Yard of Bricks with the highest stakes, winning the 110th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge on Sunday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in the closest finish in the century-plus history of “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.”
Rosenqvist rode the high line against the concrete wall exiting Turn 4 on Lap 200 in the No. 60 SiriusXM Honda of Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian and powered past the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet of David Malukas to prevail by .0233 of a second. The previous closest finish in “500” history came in 1992, when Al Unser Jr. held off a charging Scott Goodyear by .043 of a second.
SEE: Race Results
“Unreal; I still don’t believe it,” Rosenqvist said. “It kind of worked out the right way when I got back to third, and then I just had to flat-out lap on the high line, and it stuck,” Rosenqvist said. “It was just the coolest way you can finish and win an Indy 500.”
The breathtaking race featured an event-record 70 lead changes over its 200 scintillating laps, breaking the previous mark of 68 set in 2013. With his second career NTT INDYCAR SERIES victory, Rosenqvist became the third Swedish driver to win “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing,” joining Kenny Brack (1999) and Marcus Ericsson (2022).
Meyer Shank Racing also earned its second NTT INDYCAR SERIES victory – both coming in the most prestigious race in the world. Helio Castroneves captured his record-tying fourth Indianapolis 500 victory in 2021 for the Ohio-based team.
The victory capped a remarkable month for Rosenqvist. He and his wife, Emille, welcomed their first child, a daughter named Stella, on May 4.
“I really miss my wife and my newborn child, Stella,” Rosenqvist said. “I wish they were here with me. This whole month, becoming a dad and winning the ‘500’ … We joked about it in the beginning: ‘Maybe you’ll win the ‘500’ and have a baby.’ It’s just unreal.”
Scott McLaughlin finished third in the No. 3 Pennzoil Team Penske Chevrolet, as the fabled team placed two drivers in the top three but fell just short of a record-extending 21st Indy 500 victory.
Pato O’Ward placed fourth in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, his fifth career top-four finish in seven “500” starts without a victory. Marcus Armstrong rounded out the top five in the No. 66 Acura Honda of Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian despite taking the green flag in the lead on a one-lap shootout for the victory after a late caution.
An incredible .4360 of a second separated the top-five finishers. Rosenqvist’s average speed was 162.021 mph.
The one-lap dash to the checkered flag and immortality was set up when rookie Mick Schumacher brushed the SAFER Barrier in Turn 2 in his No. 47 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda on Lap 197.
Racing resumed at the end of Lap 199, with Armstrong leading to the flag stand with the white flag in the air and one lap remaining, with Malukas in second and Rosenqvist third. Malukas powered to the lead entering Turn 1 and started to pull away on the backstretch of the 2.5-mile oval with teammates Armstrong and Rosenqvist running side by side in a joust for second.
Rosenqvist, running the high line around the oval, nosed ahead of Armstrong in Turn 4 and set his sights on Malukas. With the checkered flag in the air ahead, Malukas drove his car toward the pit wall to try and break Rosenqvist’s aerodynamic tow. Malukas then moved toward the center of the track, and Rosenqvist quickly swung his machine back toward the top of the racetrack, just barely avoiding contact.
The two cars were side by side yards from the finish line when Rosenqvist nosed ahead and crossed the Yard of Bricks first by about a half-car length, the capacity crowd of 350,000 pulsating in delight.
It was the most important of the 629 on-track passes in the race, including 567 for position.
“I don’t know what else we could have done,” Malukas said as he choked back tears in his pit box. “We were the fastest car that whole race. I gave it 150 percent. I mean, I almost crashed this damn car every lap, and we still ended up with a P2.
“I just can’t believe it. I don’t know what else I can give. So close. This place, we’re going to come back and bring it everything. We’re going to give it 160 percent the next time.”
Said Rosenqvist: “Good job to Marcus and David at the end. They raced really cleanly. It’s because of drivers like that you get really good racing. Unbelievable.”
McLaughlin, O’Ward and Armstrong then crossed the Yard of Bricks three-wide in the sprint for third, capping a race for the ages.
The spellbinding finish was the final act of a dual-strategy drama that unfolded over the closing laps. O’Ward, Armstrong and Rosenqvist made their final pit stops on Laps 164, 165 and 166, respectively, right at the edge of the fuel window to finish the race without another stop under green-flag racing.
Meanwhile, Malukas, McLaughlin and pole sitter Alex Palou in the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda were among a group of cars that were on a different sequence and had to make their final stops on Laps 175 (Malukas) and 176 (Palou and McLaughlin).
Malukas took control of that chasing group, but they were more than 20 seconds behind O’Ward, Rosenqvist and Armstrong with less than 25 laps to go. Rosenqvist, with two more laps of fuel than O’Ward, was content to ride in the draft of the Mexican and save even more fuel as both lapped nearly 10 mph slower than the chasing pack to ensure they could make it to the finish.
Rosenqvist finally pounced past O’Ward for the lead on Lap 185 and was headed toward Easy Street.
The chasing trio of Malukas, McLaughlin and Palou appeared to be running out of laps to catch O’Ward, Rosenqvist and Armstrong, but the field was bunched on Lap 192 when rookie Caio Collet slammed the SAFER Barrier in Turn 2 in the No. 4 Combitrans Amazonia Chevrolet of A.J. Foyt Enterprises, triggering the sixth of seven caution periods in the race.
Race officials immediately red-flagged the event for accident cleanup, with all cars pulling into the pits.
“It was the perfect situation for us before that,” Rosenqvist said. “We kind of had everything lined up. Pato was struggling with fuel, and we were pretty rich (on fuel) to the end. I was like: ‘This is going to be great. At some point you’re just going to pass him and hopefully cruise to the win.’ But then in the end, everything flipped upside-down.
“But you just have to reload. I was a little negative at first. I was like, ‘Of course, this happened.’ But then you just had to think forward. It actually was good when I got back to third because it felt like I was hunting instead of being hunted.”
Rosenqvist led the field to green flag on the Lap 196 restart after the 10-minute red flag period, with O’Ward second and Armstrong third. But Armstrong powered to the front in the four-wide restart with a bold outside move in Turn 1, with Malukas riding his aerodynamic coattails to second. But then Schumacher made contact with the SAFER Barrier to bring out the final caution on Lap 197, setting up the one-lap dash for glory.
NTT P1 Award winner Palou led a race-high 59 laps but finished seventh. Adding his 12 bonus points for earning the Indy 500 pole, Palou leads the series standings by 42 points over Malukas entering the next event, the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear on Sunday, May 31 on the streets of Detroit.
Kimi Antonelli
First of all, massive commiserations to George. I feel very sorry for him as he was leading the race and was super strong. We were having a great battle in that first stint and very close on pace. I am sure it would have gone right until the end of the Grand Prix, and I am disappointed we didn’t get the chance to continue that.
It was not an easy race for us. The wind was very tricky and with the low temperatures, it was hard to get the tyres working. We had several lock-ups, particularly in the early stages, but fortunately were able to keep it on the track and get to the chequered flag first. It is of course not how we want to win but we will take it. We now get ready for the European portion of the season and six races in eight weekends leading up to shutdown. It will be an intense period, but we are looking forward to it.
George Russell
I am proud of my weekend, no matter that it ended in a retirement today. I took pole for the Sprint, won that race, took pole for the Grand Prix and was leading before we had the Power Unit issue that finished our race. I know there is nothing more I could have done this weekend to perform and that fills me with confidence moving forward into the rest of the season. It is of course a painful way to finish our Canadian Grand Prix weekend, but I will leave here satisfied that I did my best.
Up until lap 30, I was thoroughly enjoying the race. I loved the battle with Kimi, and I am sure he did too. It was like going back to karting days where you are racing wheel-to-wheel, swapping the lead multiple times. I hope everyone enjoyed watching it as much as I enjoyed being in it. I just wish we could have continued it until the end of the Grand Prix.
MAX...
We made the right calls and didn't leave anything on the table!Finish Position: 3, Start Position: 6"It’s great to be back on the podium. It was a little bit of a surprise, but we made the right calls and didn’t leave anything on the table. We had a very good first stint on the Soft tyre, and that gave us the gap we needed. The Medium tyre was more difficult because managing the temperatures, combined with going in and out of Virtual Safety Cars, made things more challenging. I enjoyed the last few laps battling with Lewis, and I pushed hard to take the position back. Over the last two weekends, we’ve been a lot closer, and there have been positive steps forward. It’s also our first podium with our own powertrain, which is a great milestone for the Team, so credit to everyone for getting us here.” 

ON TODAYS PROGRAM…
 
MERCEDES WINS AT THE 24 HOURS OF THE NURBURGRING FIRST WIN FOR MERC IN A DECADE!
BUT MAX’S CAR HAS A DRIVE SHAFT FAILURE!
NICK DEVRIES WINS THE MONACO E-PRIX!!
WHAT ARE THE OTHER F1 DRIVERS DOING ON THEIR DAYS OFF?
WILL MAX BE MOTIVATED TO RACE AT LE MANS?
AND…FERNANDO SAYS…I WANT TO KEEP RACING UNTIL MY SON CAN SEE ME IN THE F1 PADOCK!! 
THIS WEEK’S NASIR HAMEED CORNER WE HAVE: YANNICK DALMAS FOUR TIME LE MANS WINNER…CARLOS SAINZ SR…AND INDY 500 WINNER THE LATE GIL DE FERRAN!!
Max Verstappen and team dominate 24h Nürburgring until final hours, as Red Bull Team ABT makes a spectacular comeback for 2nd place!
Max Verstappen produced a standout debut performance at the ADAC RAVENOL 24h Nürburgring, in command of the race for the majority of its 24 hours before Mercedes-AMG Team Verstappen Racing were forced out of the lead with just over three hours remaining following a driveshaft failure on the #3 Mercedes-AMG GT3. The four-time F1 world champion, sharing the car with Dani Juncadella, Lucas Auer and Jules Gounon, had delivered spells of excellent driving across both day and night in his first 24-hour race, a performance that further underlined his ability to adapt seamlessly across different disciplines of motorsport.
With Mercedes-AMG Team Verstappen Racing forced to retire, the sister #80 Mercedes inherited the lead to take overall victory, with the #84 Red Bull Team ABT Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2 classified second after a recovery drive from a lap-one puncture. A record 352,000 spectators attended the 24h Nürburgring weekend for Verstappen's debut appearance, a surge many are calling the "Verstappen effect".
The charge began on the opening lap, when Juncadella moved up the order from P4 as the pole-sitting Red Bull Team ABT #84 suffered a puncture. Verstappen took over for his maiden Nordschleife race stint with the #3 in P3, and a brief early scare onto the grass did little to slow him. Settling into rhythm, he stormed through the order with a string of thrilling overtakes to take the lead inside his very first stint.
From there the #3 settled into a sustained battle at the front, with the team's four-driver rotation slotting into the rhythm of the race. After Verstappen's opening double stint, Gounon took the car on for his run before Auer reclaimed the lead with a strong spell of his own. Juncadella then took the wheel into the small hours, going lap-for-lap with the chasing #80 as the two factory Mercedes cars opened up a commanding gap over the rest of the field, the two rarely separated by more than 20 seconds across the full race distance.
Verstappen was at the centre of the action across the overnight hours. The Dutchman pulled nearly half a minute clear of the sister car on his way to a string of standout moments, including a 270 km/h side-by-side battle on the Döttinger Höhe that saw the #80 run onto the wet grass before recovering, and a patient overtake to put the #3 back into the lead after more than 20 minutes of pursuit.
The 24h Nürburgring is widely regarded as one of the most punishing events in motorsport, and across the race weekend a sizeable share of the 161-strong field were caught out by some combination of mechanical issues, crashes and the Nordschleife's notoriously changeable conditions. By the time the chequered flag fell, only 18 of the 41 GT3 cars that had started the race were still running.
Heading into the final four hours, Verstappen had stretched the lead back out to 33 seconds before handing over to Juncadella on his in-lap. The issue struck shortly after, just three laps into the Spaniard's stint. An initial ABS warning escalated into vibrations from the rear right corner, and the car limped back to the garage where mechanics diagnosed a broken driveshaft and significant rear axle damage.
With repair time running to nearly an hour, victory was no longer possible, but the team committed to rebuilding the car so it could rejoin the race for the closing laps. "We spoke with Max and the other three drivers, and everybody is so disappointed," said Mercedes-AMG manager Stefan Wendl. "But we said let's send this beautiful car out again for the last two or three laps and present it to the fans who have cheered for 20 hours and tried to bring us to victory."
Juncadella, who was behind the wheel when the issue struck, took the disappointment in his stride: "It's obviously very heartbreaking, but motorsport is like that sometimes. There are many things you cannot control. The mechanical aspect in motorsport can sometimes be very cruel, and it was with us this time. Unfortunately, the race was three hours too long for us, and we couldn't make it to the end. Nevertheless, we have to be proud of everything that has been done. The team was incredible with the calls they did in the race. Max had a lot of fun; we could all see that. Maybe now there's a reason to come back."
Driving alongside Verstappen for the first time, Lucas Auer reflected on the team dynamic: "Last time we drove together was against each other, and it's definitely better to have him as a teammate because he is just a machine. He's a lot of fun, a hard worker and has amazing speed."
The sister #80 Mercedes of Team RAVENOL (Maro Engel, Luca Stolz, Fabian Schiller and Maxime Martin) went on to take Mercedes-AMG's first 24h Nürburgring victory in a decade, having recovered from a Top Qualifying crash that had left them starting in 25th place. Red Bull Team ABT held on to second despite a late penalty for a Code 60 infringement, finishing 16 seconds clear of the third-placed Walkenhorst Aston Martin.
Red Bull Team ABT's Luca Engstler, who shared driving duties in the #84 with Mirko Bortolotti and Patric Niederhauser, could scarcely believe the team had fought back to second after a puncture dropped them to 14th: "It was an incredible week. We had a very good qualifying, starting front row, and then we had a horrible start, got taken out, and we had the puncture, and we were two and a half minutes down. We dropped back to about nine minutes behind the leader. But I never gave up, and in the end, we're here, and that's just insane."
Race engineer Leon Wippersteg, fresh from delivering Lamborghini’s first Nürburgring front-row lockout in qualifying, credited the wider team effort that delivered second place: "It was one year of preparation to come here and to perform. All the drivers, engineers, mechanics, all the partners, everything has to fit together to be able to perform. We had the package, and I would say we're one of the quickest manufacturers out there. I think we managed well, and I'm very proud."
La revanche de Servol et Jousset en Championnat de France FFSA GT 
Malchanceux samedi, Rudy Servol et Léo Jousset ont renoué avec la victoire ce dimanche sur le Circuit de Dijon-Prenois
David Levy et Jodie Sloss remportent leur premier succès en Am Cup
Romain Monti et Rodolphe Wallrgen prennent le large dans l’Alpine ELF Cup Series, Gillian Lay et Mikkel Njor lauréats dans la Ginetta Cup.
Le Circuit de Dijon-Prenois a offert aux fans du Championnat de France FFSA GT deux courses hyper spectaculaires. Malgré une météo fraîche pour la saison, 13.420 spectateurs ont rejoint le mythique tracé bourguignon ce week-end… et ils n’ont pas été déçus !
N’ayant pas pu prendre le départ samedi suite à un problème technique, Rudy Servol et Léo Jousset (Alpine A110 GT4+ / Race Cars Consulting) ont pris une cinglante revanche ce dimanche en menant cette seconde course de bout en bout. Mais avec un total de trois neutralisations en 60 minutes de course, ils n’ont jamais pu réellement souffler. Leur deuxième victoire de la saison, après la course 1 de Nogaro, leur permet de de conserver leurs chances au championnat. 
Avec une ultime relance pour un seul tour en fin de course, on s’attendait à vivre de nombreux scénarios… Harri Reynolds er Rhys Lloyd (Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO2 / Circuit Toys) croyaient s’offrir la deuxième place, mais les Gallois étaient pénalisés après l’arrivée pour un contact durant la course.
Premiers des concurrents de la classe Am à passer sous le drapeau à damier samedi, David Levy et Jodie Sloss (Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 EVO / Mirage Racing) ont perdu la victoire sur le tapis vert après la course, le dépassement décisif pour la victoire ayant été effectué après le déclenchement de la procédure Full Course Yellow. Ce dimanche, rien n’est venu entraver leur marche en avant et le duo franco-écossais signe ainsi son premier succès de la saison.
Avec une victoire samedi puis une deuxième place ce dimanche, Nicco Ferrarin et Julien Briché (Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport / JSB Compétition) ont marqué des points très importants pour le championnat en devançant deux fois Stéphane Lémeret et Stéphane Auriacombe (Alpine A110 GT4 EVO / CMR), toujours leaders mais avec une avance de 2 points seulement sur la paire Ferrarin-Briché. 
Monti et Wallgren creusent l’écart en Alpine ELF Cup Series, de nouveaux vainqueurs en Ginetta Cup.
Les arrivées au sprint deviennent une habitude dans l’Alpine ELF Cup Series. Mais un final avec 85 millièmes de seconde de différence entre les vainqueurs et leurs dauphins, c’est une première ! 
Dans cette course entre les Alpine A110 Cup, Romain Monti et Rodolphe Wallgren (Chazel Technologie Course) ont donc remporté de justesse leur troisième victoire de la saison face aux vainqueurs de la veille, Gosia Rdest et Paul Alberto (Chazel Technologie Course). 
Deux fois en pole position dans la classe, le jeune Luxembourgeois de 16 ans Lenny Kieffer et son nouvel équipier Julien Neveu (Schumacher GP) sont montés sur la plus petite marche du podium pour la première fois après une magnifique prestation. Roulant en solo et ne marquant pas de points au championnat, Axel Constantin (Chazel Technologie Course) a devancé Julien Paget et Anthony Pisano (Chazel Technologie Course). 

ON TODAYS PROGRAM…
FIA APROVE MORE REG CHANGES FOR 2027 SO…IS FERRARI STUCK IN A LOOP OF MEDIOCRITY? HONDA MAKING SOME PROGRESS IN RELIABILITYWOULD VERSTAPPEN BE TOO MUCH FOR MOTORSPORTS IF HE LEAVES F1 AND…FERNANDO SAYS PATIENCE IS MY STRENGTH WITH HINTS OF NO RETIREMENT ANY TIME SOON!!
THIS WEEK’S NASIR HAMEED CORNER WE HAVE: ROBIN FRINJS WHO JUST WON THE WEC RACE AT SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS!
AND, HANNES VAN ASSELDONK!BONUS: DAVID COULTHARD AND LONG TIME F1W LISTENER... CHRISTOPHER DEHARDE.
ISACK HADJAR THRILLS CROWD AT GRAND PRIX DE FRANCE HISTORIQUE HOMECOMING 
Isack Hadjar roared the 2011 championship-winning RB7 past a sea of French fans as he returned to home soil for the first time as an Oracle Red Bull Racing driver at Circuit Paul Ricard.  In front of an adoring home crowd, Isack paraded around the iconic track allowing him to soak up the electric atmosphere, before taking part in the ‘Fast and Famous’ demo run alongside legends of the sport. 
Joined by CEO and Team Principal Laurent Mekies, Isack was cheered on by a passionate sell-out crowd of 25,000 fans, as he completed demonstration laps around Le Castellet for the first time since claiming victory there in the Formula Regional European Championship in 2021.  
Headlining the 2026 Grand Prix de France Historique, Isack took to the 5.8km Grand Prix course, returning RB7 to the historic Formula One layout, waving to his fans as their roar from the grandstands rivalled the deafening thunder of the car’s V8 engine.  
Isack later joined fellow French F1 driver Esteban Ocon in the ‘Fast and Famous’ segment, which placed cars from several decades of F1 history against one another in a celebration of legacy. Earning the biggest cheer of the afternoon, Isack raced Ocon down the Mistral Straight.  
Sharing the track with four-time World Champion Alain Prost, Isack followed in the slipstream of one of his childhood heroes around Circuit Paul Ricard while also driving alongside Jean Alesi, Philippe Alliot and René Arnoux, amongst some of the most celebrated names to race under the French flag.  
Capping off a memorable afternoon under the Le Castellet sunshine, Isack was given the honour by waving Le Tricolore to signal the start of the ‘Historic F1 race’, featuring an extraordinary collection of World Championship-winning drivers and decades of iconic F1 machinery.  
Isack Hadjar, Oracle Red Bull Racing driver, said: "Being here was the perfect day. It was my home Grand Prix here in France and it was my chance to feel the support from so many fans today. I had a lot of fun, both on track and in the paddock. The roar of RB7's V8 is iconic and it felt so light around this circuit which made for a lovely drive. The atmosphere was unreal, you can get so close to the fans and enjoy special moments with them. Coming here brought back a lot of memories from winning races in F4 and to drive around Paul Ricard in an F1 car was a full circle moment."
Laurent Mekies, CEO and Team Principal of Oracle Red Bull Racing, said: "Today has been an incredible event, it's the first time Oracle Red Bull Racing have shown up in this way for the Grand Prix de France Historique and it felt like a really special occasion. Isack's popularity here has been through the roof, you feel an extraordinary sense of passion from the French fans for their motorsport and Isack. He had a great afternoon having a good go on track against cars from so many different eras of our sport. Our heritage team and Showrun programme is so unique to Red Bull, it’s our way of bringing Formula One to those that haven't been able to experience a Grand Prix atmosphere before and today they got that."
Kucharczyk Breaks Throughfor First INDY NXT Win at IMS
INDIANAPOLIS (Saturday, May 9, 2026) – Tymek Kucharczyk was Mr. Consistency for the first five races of the INDY NXT by Firestone season. But now he’s a winner.
Series rookie Kucharczyk, the first Polish driver to compete in the INDYCAR development series, earned his first career victory by holding off Max Taylor to win Race 2 of the Indianapolis Grand Prix doubleheader Saturday on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.
SEE: Race Results
“What a special day,” Kucharczyk said. “To do it here, coming back to November in my first test in an INDY NXT car, now a winner here at Indy, it’s spectacular. I’m so grateful to my sponsors, to my team. It was a tough race. It was really, really hard to hold Max behind me. He was pushing me for the whole race.”
Kucharczyk was the only driver to record a top-five finish in the first five races this season, but his best was third place, three times. He finished fourth in Race 1 of this doubleheader in mixed conditions Friday.
But Kucharczyk climbed from fifth to the lead after the first two turns on the 14-turn, 2.439-mile circuit, leading all 30 laps in the No. 71 HMD Motorsports car. He took the checkered flag .6273 of a second ahead of Taylor in the No. 28 Susan G. Komen machine of Andretti Global after a taut, race-long duel in the caution-free race.
Enzo Fittipaldi, who won Race 1 Friday, prevailed in an exciting three-way fight over the last 10 laps of the race for the final podium spot in the No. 67 HMD Motorsports machine. Lochie Hughes placed fourth in the No. 26 Andretti Global car, with Alessandro de Tullio rounding out the top five in the No. 14 AJ Foyt Racing entry.
Series leader Nikita Johnson placed sixth in the No. 21 Cape Motorsports Powered by ECR car. Kucharczyk climbed to second in the standings with his win, 11 points behind Johnson.
There were two main flashpoints in the race, which took place under sunny skies in a contrast to the wet conditions at the finish Friday.
The first came at the green flag. Taylor started from pole and went side by side with Josh Pierson’s No. 29 Starchive Andretti entry of Andretti Global, with both cars going wide. Kucharczyk snuck through the opening for the lead, with Taylor clinging to second.
Kucharczyk maintained a gap of six- to seven-tenths of a second for the next 16 laps before the second main incident of the race. Kucharczyk locked his right front wheel braking for Turn 1 on Lap 17, creating a large flat spot on his Firestone Firehawk tire.
“Other than the lockup that I made midway through the race, it was a pretty flawless execution,” Kucharczyk said. “I don’t think we had probably the fastest car on the grid today, but the first lap helped me massively. Max was pushing really hard, so I had to save the Push to Pass at the end, as well. It’s all good. I made it happen, so super, super grateful.”
Taylor pulled to within .4807 of a second on Lap 23, and it appeared the flat spot on his tire may have started to sap speed from Kucharczyk. But the Pole managed his tires and saved enough Push to Pass engine boost to increase the gap to .7830 of a second on Lap 25. He maintained a steady gap to the checkered flag.
“That was everything,” Taylor said of his effort. “I thought we were going to catch him. I messed up on the start, I think. So, something to look over. But still good points, decent points this weekend, and a lot to take away and a lot to improve on if we want to win this championship.”
Taylor is third in the standings, three points behind Kucharczyk and 14 behind Johnson.
The next INDY NXT by Firestone race is the Detroit Grand Prix on Sunday, May 31 on the streets of Detroit.
Lundgaard Breaks Long DroughtTo Win Sonsio Grand Prix
INDIANAPOLIS (Saturday, May 9, 2026) – Christian Lundgaard prevailed in a race filled with thrills, incidents and enough pit wall decisions to prematurely age strategists to win the Sonsio Grand Prix on Saturday on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, his first NTT INDYCAR SERIES victory in nearly three years.
Lundgaard drove his No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet to his second career victory by 4.6713 seconds over the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet of David Malukas. Lundgaard’s first career win came at the Honda Indy Toronto on July 16, 2023, while driving for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. This victory ended a 47-race winless drought for the Danish driver, and he became the third McLaren driver to win in the INDYCAR SERIES, joining Johnny Rutherford and Pato O’Ward.
SEE: Race Results
“Very happy,” Lundgaard said. “I really didn’t expect this today. I hoped for it. This was a long wait for this win, especially around this place. You know how fast I’ve always been around here, and it’s just been time after time after time disappointments. Now we’re here. Let’s go!
“We did it. Let’s go. Good start to May.”
Graham Rahal was the final podium finisher today, third in the No. 15 Fifth Third Bank Honda to tie his season-best result.
Josef Newgarden placed fourth in the No. 2 Astemo Team Penske Chevrolet to put two Penske cars in the top four. NTT P1 Award winner Alex Palou, who led every session he was on track this weekend entering the 85-lap race, rounded out the top five in the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.
Lundgaard, who started fourth, took the lead for good with a scintillating pass of Malukas on Lap 68. The two drivers raced side by side through Turns 3 and 4 before Lundgaard slipped through a small opening in the Turns 5 and 6 chicane leading to the backstretch of the 14-turn, 2.439-mile circuit.
Then Lundgaard, who last pitted for the final time one lap earlier than Malukas on Lap 65, pulled away over the closing laps. Malukas led a race-high 27 laps, four more than Lundgaard, as he fell just short of earning his first career victory.
“We were very strong in those middle stints, and then toward the end, we maybe made the wrong decision on wing (adjustments) there,” Malukas said. “We were just falling apart. I was doing everything I can just to survive, and Rahal was coming from behind.
“But either way, that is a fantastic result. We went into this weekend knowing it was going to be a struggle for us. We thought we wouldn’t even make the (Firestone) Fast Six (in qualifying), and here we are P2 on the podium. We’re one step closer to getting that win.”
Chaos and snap decisions from strategists reigned from the drop of the green flag until the race settled into a rhythm after the final round of pit stops for the field with 20 to 25 laps to go.
Palou led into Turn 1 at the start, seeking his fourth consecutive victory in this road race that opens the Month of May at IMS. Behind him, O’Ward in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, Scott Dixon in the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, Felix Rosenqvist in the No. 60 SiriusXM Honda and Caio Collet in the No. 4 Combitrans Amazonia Chevrolet were collected in a chain-reaction accident as the 25-car field funneled from the front straightaway to the tight Turns 1-2 complex.
That incident helped Malukas jump from fifth to second and triggered the first of three full-course cautions in the race. Many teams began to adopt alternate strategies to cope with the early field shuffle, entering for tires and fuel when the pits opened on Lap 3.
Meanwhile, Palou stayed on track and began to pad his lead. Kyle Kirkwood drove his No. 27 JM Bullion/Gold.com Honda of Andretti Global past Malukas for second place on Lap 7, and the top two drivers in the series point standings started to pull away and possibly set up a one-on-one duel for victory.
The race turned on its head on Lap 22 when the No. 20 Java House Chevrolet driven by Alexander Rossi of ECR stopped along the pit wall near the Yard of Bricks start-finish line on the front straightaway with a mechanical problem. Many other cars had started to pit before the full-course yellow, but Palou and Kirkwood did not from the top two spots.
Palou and Kirkwood entered the pits on Lap 25, dropping them to 19th and 20th, respectively, when they returned to speed. Palou and Kirkwood just avoided calamity on the restart on Lap 28, darting around another chain-reaction collision – this time in Turn 13 – between Rosenqvist, O’Ward, Sting Ray Robb in the No. 77 Juncos Hollinger – Goodheart Chevrolet and Kyffin Simpson in the No. 8 Sunoco Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.
Kirkwood’s chances at contending for victory ended during his pit service on Lap 39, when a slow right-front wheel change resulted in a 15.2-second stop. Palou’s stop was 7.2 seconds on the same lap, allowing him to continue to march toward the front. But he never got any closer than fifth, ending up 14.3630 seconds behind winner Lundgaard.
Palou’s two-race win streak this season ended, but he still padded his series lead over Kirkwood to 27 points. Kirkwood finished ninth.
Lundgaard will try to repeat Palou’s 2025 “double” of winning the Sonsio Grand Prix and the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge when the 110th edition of “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” takes place Sunday, May 24. Practice on the fabled 2.5-mile oval opens Tuesday, May 12.
 

ON TODAYS PROGRAM…
THE TEENAGER WINS ANOTHER GRAND PRIX!MAX DOES A 360 AFTER LOOSING THE REAR IN TURN ONE!THE FORMULA IS GETTING MORE EXCITING FOR SURE!GEORGE NOW 20 POINTS BEHIND…ANDA WATCHED POT NEVER BOILS!!!…CONCER NING THE RAIN
ALEX ZANARDI GONE AT 59…WE WILL MISS YOU AND YOUR WILL TO FIGHT!
THIS WEEK’S NASIR HAMEED CORNER WE HAVE: GIACOMO AGOSTINI AND ALEXANDER ROSSI FROM MONZA BY THE HOST OF F1W IN 2010
 
ALEX ZANARDI
October 23, 1966 - May 1, 2026
At WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, legends aren't just made; they are carved into the corners themselves.
Thirty years ago, at the infamous Corkscrew, Alex Zanardi delivered one of the boldest moves motorsport has ever seen.  Chasing Bryan Herta in the closing laps, Zanardi saw an opportunity where none should exist.
As they crested the hill, nearly blind to what lay beyond, Zanardi committed...diving down the inside into the Corkscrew, a line few would even consider, let alone attempt.  It was instinct, precision, and fearless intent, all in a single breathtaking moment.
Side by side through the drop, gravity pulling them into chaos, Zanardi merged ahead, completing a pass that defied logic and redefined what was possible on the track.
Decades later, that move still echoes through Laguna Seca, a reminder that greatness isn't just about speed, but about daring to do what no one else will.
Alex Zanardi’s impact reaches far beyond the racetrack. He inspired generations of drivers, fans, and communities around the world, and his legacy will continue to do so for years to come.  Grazie Alex.
Charles Leclerc’s day at the Miami International Autodrome has taken a turn for the worse after the stewards gave him a post-race time penalty.
Leclerc was called up by the officiating panel for three separate potential offences, triggered when the Ferrari man suffered a last-lap spin and tapped the wall.
After that, Leclerc was noted for driving his damaged car in an unsafe condition, leaving the track multiple times and gaining an advantage, and clashing with Mercedes rival George Russell at the final hairpin.
Following their investigations, the stewards opted to hand Leclerc a drive-through penalty, which – given that this was handed out after the Grand Prix – has been converted into 20 seconds being added onto his race time, dropping him down the order to eighth place.
This penalty was given for leaving the track “on several occasions without a justifiable reason”, a document released following the stewards’ hearing confirmed.
After hearing from Leclerc and a team representative – as well as the data, video and radio evidence – the findings from the stewards read: “Car 16 spun on the last lap at Turn 3 and hit the wall but continued on track.
“The driver informed us that the car appeared fine save that the car would not negotiate the righthand corners properly.
“Given this problem, he was forced to cut chicanes on the way to the chequered flag. We determined that the fact that he had to cut the chicanes (i.e. to leave the track) meant that he gained a lasting advantage by leaving the track in that manner.
“The fact that he had a mechanical issue of some sort did not amount to a justifiable reason. We accordingly impose a Drive Through penalty on Car 16, given the number of times the car left the track and gained an advantage.
“We also considered whether there was an additional breach in continuing to drive a car with an obvious and discernible mechanical issue. We determined that there was no evidence of there being an obvious of discernible mechanical issue. We therefore took no further action in relation to that potential infringement.”
In a separate investigation for Leclerc’s contact with Russell into Turn 17, the stewards deemed that no further action was necessary, stating in a document from that hearing: “Both drivers considered the contact to be minor racing incidents and we agreed.
Verstappen fights back from first lap spin to take fifth in Miami
Oracle Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen fought back from a spin on the opening lap with a determined drive into fifth place at a chaotic Miami Grand Prix that saw Visa Cash App Racing Bulls rookie Arvid Lindblad finish in 14th as both Isack Hadjar and Liam Lawson crashed out of the action early.
After qualifying in an impressive second place on Saturday behind eventual Grand Prix winner and Drivers' Standings leader Kimi Antonelli of Mercedes, Verstappen made a strong start, but was squeezed on to the kerb just two turns into the 57-lap race and spun, dropping him to ninth.
From there, the four-time Formula 1 world champion staged an impressive fight back through the field. The Safety Car was deployed on Lap 5 when team-mate Isack Hadjar crashed out of the Grand Prix and Verstappen took the opportunity to pit for hard tyres, rejoining the race in 16th place.
Verstapppen scythed through the field on the first street circuit of the season, all the way back inside the top three. However, the huge stint driven on hard tyres began to take their toll in the closing laps and despite fighting with everything he had, the Dutch driver dropped to fifth place the chequered flag.
Later on the same lap that Hadjar crashed out in the second RB22, Visa Cash App RB's Liam Lawson was also forced to retire after making contact with Pierre Gasly's Alpine. His rookie team-mate Arvid Lindblad drover another solid Grand Prix however, gaining vital street circuit experience in an F1 car on his way to 14th place.
Quotes
Oracle Red Bull Racing
MAX VERSTAPPEN – 5th
“It was a very eventful race. Unfortunately, on lap one I lost the rear and spun in the second corner, which was a shame. I recovered it well, but then we had to manage and minimise the time loss. After that we opted to do an early stop. It's easy to say after the race, but the hard tyre wasn’t really working for us, as we didn’t have particularly good grip and struggled a bit at the end. I tried my best to hang in there, but it wasn't meant to be. However, for sure we picked up a bit of performance, which is really promising. Overall, it was a positive weekend for us and good to be back in the mix. The car is a work in progress and we keep on pushing and keep trying to improve, so we are heading in the right direction."
ISACK HADJAR – DNF
“It's a tough one to take. We had a good start from the pitlane and I felt awesome the first few laps. We had very good pace early on and then the mistake came. I didn't see it coming and everything went so fast. I was just too eager and ended up finding the limit of the track. I need to look back at what happened to understand where I went wrong. The team made a big step forward and the pace was much stronger today than we've had in the opening rounds, so I'm frustrated that I couldn't score what I felt were easy points. I'm already itching to get back into the car in Canada and maximise what we now have."
LAURENT MEIKES – CEO & Team Principal
"Our car is very different today to what it was five weeks ago in Japan, when we were 1.2 seconds off pole. It’s clear we still have a lot of work to do, but looking at our race pace today and our quali pace yesterday, I think we are on the right track. We brought upgrades, like almost everyone else, but on top of that we have been able to resolve some of the issues we had up until now and we found some lap time there too.  
"I have no problem repeating myself when I say we have a fantastic team of people back in Milton Keynes and here at the race track. In my opinion its the best talent in the paddock and they must take the credit for this uptick in performance. It’s been a strong united effort at 360 degrees, chassis side and PU side.
"We also take home some very important learnings from this weekend on what to improve next and we are well aware that much more is needed in order to compete again for the top spot. Max reminded us of how incredible he is when he can push with the car, sticking the RB22 on the front row yesterday and fighting for each millimetre of track today, coming through the entire field and surviving a 50ish lap long stint on the hard. Isack did not have a clean weekend and we did not help him with the back of the grid start due to our mistake yesterday. His initial pace in the race was strong and I have every confidence we will regroup back in MK and come back stronger for a smoother weekend in Montreal."

ON TODAYS PROGRAM…
MIAMI IS THE REAL 2026 SEASON OPENER!!TURKEY GP RETURNS FOR 2027!JEAN ALESI CRASHES HIS 1969 312 FERRARI AT THE MONACO HISTORIQUES!TOTO KEEPING HIS CARDS CLOSE TO HIS CHEST!BYD ARE TALKING WITH DOMINICALI!!…..AND….FERNANDO’S VICTORY OVER THE RED BARRON WAS 20 YEARS AGO! AND…
THIS WEEK’S NASIR HAMEED CORNER WE HAVE: JEROME D’AMBROSIO AND LANDO NORRIS AT DONINGTON 2015!!
On 24 April 2005, the San Marino Grand Prix at Imola became one of the defining races of Fernando Alonso’s first championship season. He won for Renault, but the result is remembered above all for the final laps, when Michael Schumacher brought the Ferrari close enough to make every corner matter.Alonso had started second. Schumacher had started 13th on the grid after a difficult qualifying session, yet as his pace came alive, it transformed the afternoon. Kimi Räikkönen had led early for McLaren before retiring with a driveshaft problem, and Alonso inherited a race that soon became a test of control as much as speed.
In the closing phase, Schumacher was the faster driver. He had the Ferrari underneath him, the experience of seven world titles behind him, and a circuit where passing was difficult. Alonso had track position, a Renault R25 to protect, and no margin for error. For lap after lap, he placed the car exactly where it needed to be.Alonso crossed the line just 0.215 seconds ahead of Schumacher. After the later BAR-Honda disqualifications, Alexander Wurz was classified third for McLaren Mercedes.Imola 2005 remains a clean piece of Formula 1 memory: pressure, restraint, and two drivers at different points of their stories meeting at the edge of a changing era. Machismo!
We spoke with former World Drivers' Champion Nigel Mansell after the regulation refinements were announced and he shared his views.
Here's a summary of what he said:
It's fabulous that everyone's talking and this is a massive change
"I think the fabulous thing is that everyone's talking. It's been a massive change in regulations, both with the car and the engine. I think there's going to be improvements with the harvesting of power. Hopefully, they won't be slowing down too much into some of the corners now.”
"I think it is so vitally important for the drivers to be able to drive the cars to the maximum, as opposed to having a computer telling them when they can brake or can't brake. Fernando Alonso made us all laugh by saying that his chef could drive the car better than he could at the moment.”
"We have to get back to normality. Formula One is the grand stallion of all racing worldwide and we mustn't lose sight of that. And as technology gathers pace, they can do these other tweaks to do 50/50 later but they just need to give more power to the cars at the moment to go racing.”
I'd like to see more power to the elbows of the drivers
"In engineering terms, if it's not broken, you don't try to fix it. People don't understand that there's major changes which have been in place for some time. It takes a lot of time for all the teams and manufacturers to put it all together.” "So the complexity of the rules is enormous and if you don't get it right, along with the combination of the power units, harvesting of electrical power, and so on and so forth. It's a minefield.” "Drivers can fall foul of so many regulations and yet it's the computers doing it all. I'd just like to see more power to the elbow of the drivers, as opposed to computers doing it.” "Going back to the 70s and 80s, 90+ percent of the engines were Cosworth DFV. Everyone had the same engines pretty much and we had fantastic racing. You knew the cars, the drivers, the tyres, the mechanics and the engineers made a huge difference.” "Yes we're in the computer age but racing should be as stable as it can be, for everyone to be able to catch up to compete. Everyone's mooting it would be great to have the V10s back for the noise. If you're a purist, the answer is yes. Everybody makes their own V10 and it'll sound fantastic because it's the pinnacle of motorsport.”Challenge for F1 is to balance technological advancement and "racing"
"I have tremendous sympathy, and support the drivers one hundred percent with what they're saying. They need to be listened to. They've got a job to do and they do a fantastic job, all of them.” 
"It's all well and good, coming up with new ideas and regulations. All I'd say to the powers that be is that they've done a fantastic job but they have to work and they have to be able to be implemented safely and properly.” "When they've tweaked it enough that it works, it's fantastic. But until it does work properly for everybody, we need to keep tweaking it, I think urgently now so that we get the show on the road.” "As long as it doesn't carry on for much longer they'll be fine. They're all doing a great job. What the manufacturers have done, the FIA, the governing body and Liberty Media themselves.” "They mustn't lose sight of the fact that the cars need to race properly. It has some growing pains but it has been the most difficult start of any year because they've had three races and then this month or so off. And now we've got Miami so I think everyone's excited about that at the end of next week as we can get racing again.”Mercedes still have the advantage despite regulation refinements
"If you're Mercedes you must be incredibly frustrated because you could have gotten a big lead in the championship.” "The people who are struggling, they'd go 'oh, thank you!'. They get a bit more time to sort things out and get ready for the next race.” "It's on both ends of the spectrum. Some people are going to feel very comfortable with it and some will feel frustrated. It's racing anyway. There's always something going on.” "I don't think so (Mercedes and Toto Wolff being disappointed) because we haven't had a proper race yet, if you're a purist. Mercedes have done such a fantastic job, they'll have an advantage all through the year. Their engine is better than anybody else's.” "We're talking purely here about harvesting power and drivers being able to race the cars on the track and at every corner as much as they can. So it's a different thing altogether". "I still think Mercedes will have an advantage all through the year but it's a big development. It's a big development with the cars, with the engines. A month is a very long time and we could see a lot of changes in Miami. Once we get racing properly, everything can stay stable again. It's just that everybody is not racing properly at the moment". These regulation refinements make Miami GP the first pivotal race of the season "I hope everything settles down and we have a great race in Miami.” "I think Miami, because the focus is on it, could be one of the pivotal races this year with all the new tweaks. I think Miami's got hype because obviously without going into the negativity of what's happening in the war, with this month off, everybody's hungry to go racing again. So Miami's going to be under the microscope, and I think it's going to be a fantastic race down there.” "Well, I'll let you know firsthand I'm gonna be there this year for one of the days, so I'm gonna go and have a look. This is my first time in Miami. I haven't been there but Miami is a great spectacle. I think every year when any race returns, there's improvements.” "I'm very optimistic that Miami will be a much better presentation.”
Stovebolt Special Returns to Pebble Beach Decades after Historic Run in Last Road Race
 
PEBBLE BEACH, CALIFORNIA (April 22, 2026) — At the drop of the green flag, in what was to be the very last road race at Pebble Beach although no one knew that then, two-time past winner Bill Pollack jumped into the lead in a much-modified car that would come to be known as the “Stovebolt Special”—a 1950 HWM fitted with experimental disc brakes and the very first Chevy V8 to be used in road racing. The date was April 22, 1956.
For a brief time, the car led the Ferraris of Phil Hill, Carroll Shelby, and Ernie McAfee as well as every other car in the race. It was powered to win—and might have done so but for the many tight corners of the tree-lined course, which the just-completed special struggled to navigate since its handling was not yet dialed in.
Ultimately it finished sixth overall—a fine achievement in a field comprising the top sports racing cars and drivers of the day. 
Although the Stovebolt Special now resides in England with renowned auto journalist and current owner Simon Taylor, it will return to Pebble Beach this August for the 75th celebration of the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, an event that began in tandem with the Pebble Beach Road Races in 1950. 
The HWM had already lived a long and storied life when it raced at Pebble Beach. In original form, as a works race car bearing a four-cylinder two-liter Alta engine, it served as the steed for Stirling Moss in his first paid competition. He raced the car for HWM throughout much of the 1950 season, recording several fine results including a third-place finish behind the Alfas of Giuseppe Farina and Juan Manuel Fangio in the Bari Grand Prix. With Johnny Claes at the wheel, the HWM won the Grand Prix des Frontieres. It was also driven by Rudi Fischer and Raymond Sommer. 
A few years later, the car was sold to 20th Century Fox to be used in the film “The Racers,” starring Kirk Douglas—and was crashed in accord with the script. 
It was Tom Carstens who bought the wreck and resurrected it for Pebble Beach, not simply rebuilding it, but doing all that he could to improve the chassis, transmission, and body. The new Chevy V8 engine was bored and stroked to just under five liters by Bobby Meeks at Vic Edelbrock’s shop and then was fitted in the car by Eddie Kuzma, who managed that task by repositioning the firewall and fabricating new rear bodywork. Ted Halibrand’s shop added a quick-change rear axle and the disc brakes. 
The finished creation was called the Stovebolt Special by “Sports Cars Illustrated” magazine—and the name stuck.
The return of the Stovebolt Special to Pebble Beach is made possible thanks to Simon Taylor as well as the American Hot Rod Foundation (ahrf.com), particularly founder Steve Memishian and foundation manager David Steele.The “Stovebolt Special” among several race cars in competition at the very last road race through the tree-lined course in Pebble Beach.Photo Credit: Julian P. Graham / Pebble Beach Company Lagorio ArchivesThe 75th Concours will pay tribute to its historic ties in racing as well as the many “first-ever” gatherings of cars that have made it famous. The former road racers will be showcased in two special classes, one focusing on cars that raced in close-to-original form as made by their manufacturers and the other focusing on specials that were much modified.
The event will also feature cars ranging from early American Speedsters to Ferraris and Japanese race cars, and the latest new creations and dream cars will be displayed on the Concept Lawn. 
ZHENRUI CHI JOINS THE ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO FORMULA ONE™ TEAM DRIVER ACADEMY
22 April 2026, AMRTC, Silverstone, UK: The Aston Martin Aramco Formula One™ Team is pleased to announce that Zhenrui Chi has joined its Driver Academy. The 17-year-old, regarded as one of China’s most promising young drivers, becomes the latest addition to the Academy’s expanding roster as the team continues to strengthen its long-term pathway for developing emerging talent from across the global motorsport landscape.
As a member of the team’s Driver Academy, Zhenrui will race in an Aston Martin Aramco-liveried car, introducing the marque’s iconic green to the Formula Regional grid.
Zhenrui’s signing follows a comprehensive selection process carried out by the team’s Driver Academy programme, which first saw him driving at its evaluation day in Mugello before tracking his impressive 2025 campaign. Over the course of the season, he demonstrated consistent front-running pace and racecraft across European and Middle East F4 categories, delivering a series of standout performances that underlined his talent.
As part of the Aston Martin Aramco Driver Academy, Zhenrui will take part in a tailored development programme designed to support every aspect of his motorsport progression. The programme includes racecraft mentorship from experienced team personnel both trackside and at the AMR Technology Campus, physical conditioning, and a dedicated media and communications training to prepare him for the demands of professional motorsport.
Zhenrui Chi, Aston Martin Aramco Formula One™ Team Driver Academy: “Joining the Aston Martin Aramco Formula One™ Team family is a huge honour for me. It’s a great responsibility, but also an incredible opportunity and motivation to keep pushing myself to the next level. Knowing that I have the support of such an iconic team, with all its experience and expertise, gives me a lot of confidence for the journey ahead. I know the road will require hard work and dedication, and I’m fully aware that I have to continue to prove I deserve this opportunity. I’m ready to give everything I have and I can’t wait to start this journey with Aston Martin Aramco.”
Nuno Pinto, Racing Director, Aston Martin Aramco Formula One™ Team Driver Academy: “Zhenrui is exactly the kind of talent our Academy exists to find. We first saw him at an evaluation test in Mugello and were immediately impressed by his ability and approach. We then followed his progress through the rest of the 2025 season, where he showed not only pace but also strong consistency in one of the most competitive junior categories in racing, Italian F4. We are delighted to welcome him to the Academy and to support his development through our programme at Silverstone. With the resources of the AMR Technology Campus and the environment we have built around our drivers, we believe we can help him to continue to grow. This is a long-term partnership, and we are looking forward to the journey ahead together.”

ON TODAYS PROGRAM…
DOMINICALI NOW LISTENING TO MAX!RED BULL LOOSING TALENT FASTER THAN YOU CAN SHAKE A STICK!WILL MIAMI BRING MORE GRID CHANGES…TALK OF NEW ENGINE PROPOSALS COULD TAKE US BACK TO V8’S FAIRLY QUICKLY! AND…FERNANDO SAYS…I AM A PATIENT MAN!!
TOYOTA BEATS FERRARI AT THE 6 HOURS OF IMOLA!
Race car driver Juha Miettinen (66) has passed away following the severe crash on the Nordschleife. The race understandably  did not continue. Deepest condolences to his family and friends.THIS WEEK’S NASIR HAMEED CORNER WE HAVE: JEAN ERIC VERGNE, ESTEBAN GUTIERREZ...
F1 Academy Champion Doriane Pin Breaks New Ground with Maiden F1 Test
Doriane Pin has taken the latest, and one of the most significant, steps in her career by completing her maiden F1 test yesterday (Friday April 17) at Silverstone. The Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team Development Driver drove the world-championship winning W12 from the 2021 season and impressed with her pace, feedback, and technical understanding.
The 22-year-old completed 76 laps of the 2.639 km Silverstone National Circuit for a total of 200 km of running on the day.
Driving an F1 car for the first time today was unreal.
“Driving an F1 car for the first time today was unreal. I am very grateful to have been given this opportunity and to be surrounded by this incredible team. It was a unique opportunity and I made sure to enjoy my day to the fullest, along with doing the best job I could. Whilst being a female driver doesn’t define me, it was great to show what we can do. It was an extremely emotional day and I’m also thankful I was able to share this experience with my family.
“The W12 is obviously really different from the other cars I’ve been able to drive. Everything is different, bigger and more powerful. I am glad I was able to build confidence lap after lap and show what I was capable of.”
Her preparation and professionalism has impressed the whole team and she should be really proud of what she has achieved.
In preparation for the test, the affectionally named ‘Pocket Rocket’ spent extensive time in the team’s simulator, integrating closely with engineers and refining her understanding of the necessary procedures to drive the W12.
Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director, commented: “It's been great to have Doriane complete a day of testing with the W12 today. It marks another major step on what is proving to be a very exciting and promising career and also makes her the first ever female driver of a Mercedes F1 car.
“Her preparation and professionalism has impressed the whole team and she should be really proud of what she has achieved. Whatever series you come from, it is always a massive step when getting into an F1 car but she looked at home from the very first laps and was able to enjoy driving the car on the limit.”
Today, it is even more unique as Doriane is the first ever woman to drive a Mercedes F1 car.
Gwen Lagrue, Driver Development Advisor, said: “It is always really special for a young driver to drive an F1 car for the very first time. Today, it is even more unique as Doriane is the first ever woman to drive a Mercedes F1 car.
“We are very proud to show to the next generation of female drivers that driving an F1 car is achievable. I am sure we will see a woman driving in F1 in the coming years and as a team, we would be incredibly proud if we were to achieve that goal with someone in our team. Doriane can certainly act as an inspiration for those following in her wheel tracks as she continues her career and role as Development Driver with our team.”
Doriane becomes the latest female talent to get behind-the-wheel of a modern F1 car, highlighting the value of series such as F1 Academy, in which Doriane became last year’s champion. The test also underlines the team’s continued commitment to nurturing talent and opening pathways, while showcasing the progress being made in creating meaningful opportunities for women at the highest level of motorsport.
Doriane’s assured performance on such a significant stage further highlights the impact of the team’s long-term investment in her growth. She will now continue in her Development Driver duties, which include simulator development, additional activities at the factory and trackside, attendance at several Grands Prix and her support and mentorship to the team’s 2026 F1 Academy driver, Payton Westcott.
Quick Pit Work, Pace Help Palou Run Away to Win at Long Beach!
LONG BEACH, Calif. (Sunday, April 19, 2026) – Alex Palou got the break he needed and fast work from his Chip Ganassi Racing pit crew, and then he ran away with a victory Sunday in the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.
Palou earned his third victory in five races this season, the 22nd victory of his career and his first win at prestigious Long Beach in the No. 10 OpenAI Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, beating the No. 60 SiriusXM/Acura Honda of NTT P1 Award winner Felix Rosenqvist to the finish by 3.9663 seconds. Palou also took the series lead by 17 points over Kyle Kirkwood as he aims for his fifth series championship and series record-tying fourth in a row.
“It’s huge,” Palou said. “Super proud of everybody’s job but especially this crew. Incredible to finally win here at Long Beach.”
Six-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion Scott Dixon rounded out the podium with his best result of the season in the No. 9 PNC Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, as CGR produced two of the top three finishers.
Kirkwood finished fourth in the No. 27 JM Bullion / Gold.com Honda of Andretti Global, with Pato O’Ward placing fifth in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet.
Pole sitter Rosenqvist controlled the race from the green flag. He led the first 31 laps, with Palou climbing from his third starting spot to second by passing O’Ward on Lap 2. Rosenqvist and Palou pitted for the first time in tandem at the end of Lap 31, with the MSR crew helping Rosenqvist win the race out of the pits after both drivers started their second fuel stint with their mandatory second set of Firestone alternate tires.
Rosenqvist had built a three-second lead over Palou, who admitted he struggled a bit on the softer Firestone alternate tire. But Palou got the break he needed on Lap 57 when a large piece of debris was spotted on track, triggering the only caution period of the 90-lap race.
The entire field pitted on Lap 59, led by Rosenqvist and Palou as a showdown loomed between the MSR and CGR crews. Rosenqvist and Palou each took four primary Firestone tires and fuel on their last stop, but Palou escaped his pit box ahead of Rosenqvist to take the lead for the first time. CGR serviced Palou’s car in 7.3 seconds on the final stop, while MSR needed 8.4 seconds for Rosenqvist’s stop.
Palou rocketed away from the field on the restart on Lap 61. It was checkout time, as he never trailed from that point.
“The OpenAI car was super, super fast, but it was that yellow, that pit stop with all the pressure that these boys were able to do it and execute it perfectly,” Palou said. “From there, it was just managing the tires. We didn’t know how the primaries were going to be.”
The primary tire suited Palou just fine. The Spaniard expanded his lead to 2.4 seconds on Lap 68, with the gap mushrooming to 5.5 seconds with 12 laps remaining. Palou played it safe during the final two trips around the 11-turn, 1.968-mile temporary street circuit, but Rosenqvist never got close. Still, the Swede, who led a race-high 51 laps, earned his first podium finish since placing second in June 2025 at Road America.
“A little bit of a bittersweet race,” Rosenqvist said. “I lost a little bit on the stop. Alex is obviously going to be 10 out of 10 almost every stop, so I don’t think it was necessarily that our one was slow, but they probably had a great one, as well. That’s how it goes.
“At the end of the day, we’ve got to celebrate this one. P2, plus the points and podium – that’s where I want to be.”
 

ON TODAYS PROGRAM…
WITH GIANPIERO LAMBIASES LEAVING RED BULL THE MAX ERA IN F1 COMING TO AN END…WHEN FERRARI PLAY CATCH UP…WELL WE’VE SEEN THAT COMEDY OF ERRORS BEFORE
MERCEDES WILL NEVER SHOW ALL THEIR CARDS AND…FERNANDO KNOWS THE FAT LADY IS ABOUT TO SING!
THIS WEEK’S NASIR HAMEED CORNER WE HAVE: ZACK BROWN before he joined McLaren and BOB BONDURANT…
AND YES….OUR BONUS IS HIRO MATSUSHITA OF FORMULA 1 AND CHAMP CAR FAME!
Bob Bondurant was one of America’s most influential racing figures — a driver who succeeded on the world’s greatest circuits, competed for legendary teams including Shelby American, Ferrari, and Eagle, and ultimately shaped generations of racers through education.
Rising from the fiercely competitive Southern California road racing scene of the 1950s, Bondurant achieved significant success on both sides of the Atlantic and became a pivotal ambassador for American road racing. His enduring legacy lives on through the Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving, which trained hundreds of thousands of drivers — from future professionals to Hollywood royalty.
Career,
Bondurant was born in Evanston, Illinois, but his competitive instincts emerged early and loudly. As a teenager, he raced Indian motorcycles on dirt ovals, learning car control the hard way. By 1956, he shifted his focus to sports cars, initially racing a Morgan, and soon made his mark by winning the West Coast “B” Production Championship in a Chevrolet Corvette, claiming an extraordinary 18 victories in 20 races.
His growing reputation caught the attention of Santa Barbara Chevrolet dealer Shelly Washburn, who hired Bondurant in 1961 to drive his #614 1959 Corvette. Over the next several seasons, Bondurant became a dominant force on the West Coast. His on-track rivalry with David McDonald produced some of the era’s most memorable Corvette battles. At the 1962 L.A. Times Grand Prix, Bondurant debuted Washburn’s new 1963 Corvette Z06 Stingray, and between 1961 and 1963, he won an astonishing 30 of 32 races in Washburn’s Corvettes.
Shelby, Europe, and international successIn 1963, Bondurant joined Carroll Shelby’s Ford Cobra team, immediately delivering results. He won his first race for Shelby at Continental Divide Raceway in Colorado, followed by an overall GT victory at the L.A. Times Grand Prix at Riverside later that year.
The following season propelled him onto the global stage. After finishing second in GT at Sebring, Bondurant spent 1964 racing in Europe, campaigning Shelby’s new 289 FIA Cobras at iconic events including the Targa Florio, Spa-Francorchamps, and the Nürburgring. His most celebrated triumph came at the 1964 24 Hours of Le Mans, where he and Dan Gurney won the GT class in the revolutionary Cobra Daytona Coupé.
Bondurant reached the peak of his international racing career in 1965, when he played a key role in Shelby American and Ford winning the FIA Manufacturers’ World Championship. He won seven of ten races, defeating the class-dominant Ferrari 250 GTOs across Europe. That same year, Bondurant expanded his résumé further, driving a works Ferrari Formula One car at the United States Grand Prix at Watkins Glen, followed by a start in a Lotus 33 for Reg Parnell at the Mexican Grand Prix.
Formula One, film, and defining momentsIn 1966, Bondurant’s expertise took him beyond the racetrack. He served as technical consultant for John Frankenheimer’s film Grand Prix and personally trained lead actor James Garner to drive Formula cars for the movie’s racing scenes.
That same year, Bondurant was involved in one of the most consequential moments in motorsport safety history. Alongside Graham Hill, he helped extract Jackie Stewart from his fuel-soaked wreck during the 1966 Belgian Grand Prix — an incident that directly inspired Stewart’s later campaign for improved safety standards.
Bondurant also competed in five Formula One Grands Prix with Team Chamaco Collect, driving BRMs and achieving an impressive fourth-place finish at Monaco. He rounded out his Formula One involvement in North America with two races driving an Eagle for Dan Gurney’s Anglo American Racers.
The crash that changed everythingIn 1967, Bondurant competed in the Can-Am series and returned to Le Mans in a Corvette L88 Coupé, leading the GT class until a wrist pin failure ended his race in the early morning hours. Later that year, disaster struck at Watkins Glen. While driving a McLaren, a steering arm failed at approximately 150 mph approaching the Loop-Chute section (today’s Turn 5). The car flipped eight times, leaving Bondurant with severe injuries to his ribs, legs, feet, and most critically, his back. Doctors warned he might never walk again.
Bondurant refused to accept that verdict. Through determination and relentless rehabilitation, he recovered — and in the process, envisioned a new chapter.
LAMBIASE TO LEAVE ORACLE RED BULL RACING IN 2028 
Oracle Red Bull Racing confirms that GianPiero Lambiase will leave the Team in 2028, when his current contract expires. “GP” is a valued member of the Team, which he joined in 2015. 
Until his planned departure, “GP" continues in his roles as Head of Racing and as Race Engineer to Max Verstappen. 
The Team and he are fully committed to add more success to our strong track record together. 
Miami and Montreal to host FIA Formula 2 Championship Rounds in 2026
FIA Formula 2 announce that Miami and Montreal will host Rounds 2 and 3 of the 2026 calendar, alongside Formula 1 – the first time the Championship will race in North America. The opportunity for Miami and Montreal to join the F2 calendar has come about following the news that the Sakhir and Jeddah Rounds will not take place in April.
The FIA Formula 2 championship will go to Miami, USA, on May 1-3 for what will be the second Round of the 2026 season, followed by Montreal, Canada on May 22-24, as Round 3, before returning to Europe, starting with Monte-Carlo, Monaco, on June 04-07.
Stefano Domenicali, President & CEO of Formula 1, said: “While it has not been possible to go ahead with the two races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia this month, and we look forward to being back with our passionate fans there as soon as possible, it is great news for our fans, the drivers and the teams that Formula 2 will be racing in Miami and Montreal. Bruno and the whole F2 family have done a great job, working closely with us, the FIA, and the Miami and Montreal promoters, to ensure we limit the gap in racing for the championship this season and I want to thank them for making this possible. It is going to be fantastic to restart the racing in a few weeks’ time and to have F2 alongside Formula 1 as we return to the US for the first time this season.”
Mohammed Ben Sulayem, FIA President, said: “Following the necessary changes to the calendar at the start of the season, the addition of these new rounds ensures the FIA Formula 2 Championship remains strong and balanced, and able to deliver for our teams, drivers and fans. Bringing the championship to North America via Miami and Montreal for the first time marks an important step in its continued global growth, strengthening the pathway alongside Formula One and connecting with new audiences. I thank all those who worked tirelessly to make these rounds possible.
“Our thoughts remain with all those affected by the ongoing events in the Middle East and we continue to hope for a swift return to stability. We look forward to racing in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia very soon.”
Bruno Michel, FIA Formula 2 CEO, said: “We always love to race in Sakhir and Jeddah, and we wish them well and look forward to returning to both as soon as circumstances allow. We are now going to Miami and Montreal for the second and third rounds of the 2026 season, respectively. I would like to thank Stefano Domenicali and Formula 1 for their support in making this possible, and also the FIA, the promoters of the Miami and Canadian Grands Prix, and of course my team, who have worked hard to put in place two new Rounds in such a short amount of time. It was not an easy thing to do, but bringing F2 to North America for the first time is really fantastic. It’s something we have been wanting to do for a long time, and it enables us to ensure we’re back racing as quickly as possible. It will be a great new challenge for our teams and our drivers, who have all welcomed the news with enthusiasm. I am certain that the quality of racing will bring a lot of excitement to the fans and to everyone attending both Grands Prix.”
Revised 2026 FIA Formula 2 Championship Calendar
Date                       Venue06-08 March                  Melbourne, Australia01-03 May  Miami, USA*22-24 May     Montreal, Canada*04-07 June   Monte-Carlo, Monaco12-14 June  Barcelona, Spain26-28 June  Spielberg, Austria03-05 July  Silverstone, Great Britain17-19 July  Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium24-26 July  Budapest, Hungary04-06 September   Monza, Italy11-13 September  Madrid, Spain**24-26 September  Baku, Azerbaijan27-29 November  Lusail, Qatar04-06 December  Yas Island, UAE
ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO FORMULA ONE™ TEAM EXPANDS DRIVER ACADEMY LINE-UP, WELCOMING AVA LAWRENCE & ROLAND NAGY
AMRTC, UK, 9 April 2026: The Aston Martin Aramco Formula One™ Team is pleased to announce the expansion of its Driver Academy, welcoming DPK Racing karters Ava Lawrence and Roland Nagy to the programme. The team’s latest signings reflect its ongoing commitment to identifying, supporting, and developing the next generation of motorsport talent.
The team’s Driver Academy offers a clear pathway to the highest levels of racing, supporting drivers both on and off the track. It helps them develop, learn and grow, while providing the opportunities needed to succeed. The programme focuses on building long-term partnerships and actively scouting the brightest young talent across all levels of motorsport.
At just 11 years old, Australian born Ava Lawrence has established herself as a rising force in international karting. Competing across Rotax, IAME and FIA-aligned categories, she has claimed multiple podium finishes and broken new ground as the first female MENA Cup Champion, the first female winner of a Mini race in ROK Cup Italy, and the first female driver to reach the podium in the Mini class of the Champions of the Future Academy.
Ava, who races under an Emirati licence, was recently selected to represent F1 ACADEMY DISCOVER YOUR DRIVE in this year’s British Champions of the Future Academy (COTFA) Programme having also been chosen to represent the initiative over the previous two seasons in the international series.
13-year-old Roland Nagy has emerged as a standout competitor in the premier OK-Junior category, making his mark on the international karting scene. Roland, from Hungary, is a regular contender in the sport’s most prestigious series, including the FIA Karting European Championship and the WSK Super Master Series. He has demonstrated his exceptional race craft and speed, notably securing heat victory at the opening round of the Champions of the Future Euro Series at La Conca.  
Roland frequently qualifies for highly competitive finals, marking him as one of the most promising young Hungarian talents as he continues his progression toward the higher echelons of professional motorsport.
The Aston Martin Aramco Driver Academy’s strategic partnership with DPK Racing, the official team of FA Alonso Kart chassis, provides access to a combined wealth of karting expertise and a global network, including that of Fernando Alonso. This collaboration strengthens the Academy’s ability to identify and nurture promising young talent from the earliest stages of their motorsport careers, and reflects the trust placed in the team’s karting expertise to help identify and develop these young drivers as they progress through the ranks.
Nuno Pinto, Racing Director, Aston Martin Aramco Formula One™ Team Driver Academy: “Bringing in talent at a junior level is an important part of our strategy, and Ava and Roland are excellent examples of the calibre of young driver that we want to bring in the programme. Both drivers have already shown impressive potential on the international stage, with strong performances in highly competitive categories. Having the opportunity to contribute to a driver’s development from such an early stage is incredibly important, allowing us to help shape their progression both on and off the track as they continue to grow in the sport.”
Ava Lawrence, Aston Martin Aramco Formula One™ Team Driver Academy: "I’m really excited to join the Aston Martin Aramco Driver Academy. It’s going to be such a huge step to help me improve my driving and become even better on track. I’m looking forward to meeting everyone on the team and learning from them.
“Getting to visit the AMR Technology Campus (AMRTC) for my announcement was so cool. My favourite part of the day was seeing the different materials they use on the Formula One cars and actually getting to touch parts of the car. It was so interesting to see how it’s all made!”
Roland Nagy, Aston Martin Aramco Formula One™ Team Driver Academy: “I’m really pleased to be a part of the Aston Martin Aramco Driver Academy. The team will be giving me a lot of support, which will be really important for my career, and I’m excited to learn as much as I can from everyone I meet inside the team.
“It was really cool to visit the AMRTC. I really liked how it looks, both outside and inside – it's very futuristic. My favourite part was seeing how the cars are made. It’s amazing seeing Formula One cars up close and what they look like on the inside.”
 
Ava and Roland join current Aston Martin Aramco Driver Academy members Mari Boya, competing in FIA Formula 2, and Mathilda Paatz, F1 ACADEMY driver.

ON TODAYS PROGRAM…
 
CARLOS SAINZ SAYS IT’S NOT F1
NORRIS SAYS THERE’S SOMETHING WRONG
WE KNOW WHAT MAX SAYS…
THE ROOKIES ON THE OTHER HAND DON’T KNOW ANY BETTER!
IS KIMI FASTER THAN GEORGE? AND…
FERNANDO’S NEW BABY’S NAME…LEONARD ALONSO JIMINEZ…MACHISMO!
THIS WEEK’S NASIR HAMEED CORNER WE HAVE: JOHNNY CECCOTTO JR. AND RIO HARYANTO FORMER F1 DRIVER
NEXT WEEK…WE HAVE ZACK BROWN before he joined McLaren and BOB BONNDURANT…
Johnny Amadeus Cecotto, aka Johnny Cecotto Jr., was born in Augsburg, Germany, in 1989 and has lived in the Principality for a long time. He is a former racing driver, entrepreneur, aviator, and dad who is happily married to Cristina Boeri de Cecotto. They have two children, a son and a daughter, who are the light of their lives. His mother is Monaco resident jewellery designer Martina Wagner, and his father, Johnny Alberto Cecotto Persello, known as Johnny Cecotto, is a Venezuelan former professional Grand Prix motorcycle and auto racer.  
Johnny Cecotto Jr.’s racing career was filled with numerous highlights. He became the youngest driver to win an international Formula 3 race at just 16-years-old, a record that still stands today. He also won the Monaco Formula 2 Grand Prix in 2012, a race that is considered one of the most prestigious in the world. Johnny served as the third driver for Toro Rosso and Force India in Formula 1, a testament to his skill and talent. He also held the record for the most race starts in GP2 history, including several victories, pole positions, and podiums. 
Eventually, Johnny left racing to dedicate fully to his booming entrepreneurial career as the founder of Stars Monte-Carlo, a luxury car dealership in the Principality, where he continues his passion for wheels by selling luxurious and super-sport cars. With Stars Formula, a motorsport management company, Stars Capital, an investment firm, and Stars Real State, he has been expanding his portfolio in various fields since 2012, with no end in sight. This was after successfully building his IT company, which had clients like Vodafone and the Nolan Group. 
 Rio Haryanto, born 22 January 1993 in Surakarta, Central Java, holds a unique place in motorsport history as Indonesia’s first and only Formula One driver, and the first Muslim driver to start a Grand Prix. Though his F1 career was brief, just 12 Grands Prix in 2016, Haryanto’s journey from Southeast Asian karting circuits to the global Formula One stage was anything but ordinary.
Haryanto’s career began in karting where he quickly made a name for himself, winning multiple regional championships. He moved to single-seaters in 2008 and took his first major international title in 2009, claiming the Formula BMW Pacific Championship with Meritus.
He then climbed the European junior ladder, including spells in GP3 and GP2, developing under the Manor Motorsport umbrella, which would later form his link to F1. His early success in GP3 even earned him a test with Virgin Racing (later Marussia/Manor) at the 2010 Abu Dhabi young driver test.
After years on the brink, Haryanto was confirmed as a full-time driver for Manor Racing in 2016, alongside Pascal Wehrlein, the reigning DTM champion and Mercedes protégé. It was a historic moment for Indonesia and a major milestone for Southeast Asian motorsport.
Driving car number 88, Haryanto made his debut at the 2016 Australian Grand Prix, but an early incident with Romain Grosjean in practice earned him a grid penalty and set the tone for a challenging campaign. In the race, he retired on lap 18 with a drivetrain issue.
Despite often finding himself at the back of the field, Haryanto showed flashes of racecraft and resilience. His best finish came in Monaco, where he brought the car home in 15th, albeit four laps down—but it was still classified! He also beat teammate Wehrlein in China and Spain, though Wehrlein would eventually grab Manor’s only point of the season in Austria, highlighting the gulf in car performance and opportunity.
While Haryanto had talent, his F1 seat was primarily backed by Indonesian government sponsorship—funds that, partway through the season, were frozen by Parliament due to procedural concerns. Without the financial backing to continue, Manor demoted him to reserve driver after the 2016 German Grand Prix, replacing him with Esteban Ocon.
In a twist of fate, both of Haryanto’s successors—Ocon and Wehrlein—would go on to race for established teams. Manor, however, collapsed at the end of the 2016 season, closing the chapter on Haryanto’s F1 story.