#americangp

𝒄𝒐𝒘𝒃𝒐𝒚 𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒄𝒐🤠

ALEX IN FIRST!!!

V A L E N T I N O S E C O N D !!!!

JACK THIRD !!!!!!!!!

F1

It sounds as though the Andretti deal to buy Sauber’s F1 team is off the table, apparently due to a lack of funds, or they just don’t think it is worth spending that amount of money. $250 million is the reported figure that Sauber are asking for, to buy the bank which owns 80% of the team. It is obviously a shame to see the deal fall through, as there was a lot of potential positives to it happening, and I am surprised Liberty Media didn’t get more involved.

Ocon has said that COTA was on the limit in terms of the bumps at the Grand Prix last weekend. Having been under major scrutiny for the MotoGP race earlier this month, there are serious concerns about the longevity of the track. There is a resurfacing scheduled before either series returns, however, it could well only be a few years before the problem returns, and I doubt it is financially viable to resurface that often. Which makes a return to Indy even more likely!

IndyCar

Hulkenberg seemed to enjoy his first ever run in an IndyCar, and was pretty much on the pace with the other runners out there. McLaren say he is towards the front of their list for next year, and Nico believes he is ready for IndyCar, as the ‘F1 train has probably left’. I agree with him there, and think much like for Grosjean, it is a great way to revive the career of someone who didn’t quite make it in F1.

Vandoorne is also reportedly set to test the McLaren car, as the team goes all out to try and find the best driver for next year, in their 3rd car. The influx of star European drivers, clearly shows the direction that IndyCar is going in, and harks back to their previous heyday, when a certain Mansell came over.

MotoGP

Quartararo has apparently brought positivity for Yamaha, which is not surprising given his general persona. I think he was the breath of fresh air that Yamaha needed, as Vinales and Rossi were never able to quite get to where they needed to be. It was clear that they were still a rough diamond in 2020, and now he and the team have smoothed everything out, to become formidable indeed.

Vinales thinks he had the pace for the podium in the race at Misano, and was scuppered by qualifying 19th. You can see where he is coming from, as he gained 11 positions, I would agree with a top 5 finish, but a podium may have been stretching it.

Other News

As was reported last week, it has been confirmed that Australian Supercars will be bought by the RACE consortium. The sale is apparently for $60 million, which could be seen as a loss for Archer, the old owners, but is not bad in these current times.

-M

Thank you very much for reading this article! To keep up to date with when they go out, and to see my reactions to races and other news, follow me on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/MeaningofMotor1

F1

Any feeling that Mercedes was taking control of the season have been washed away, as Red Bull seemed to have a few tenths on Mercedes in Qualifying today. It was Verstappen who put it on pole, pulling out a superb lap when it counted. In the race tomorrow, if he can stay ahead of Lewis on Lap 1, he should have the pace to win. However, we could see drama into Turn 1! Perez did brilliantly too, and if there hadn’t been rain at the end of Q3, he could have joined Max on the front row. It looks as though he has got the hang of doing his own set ups, which are rather different to Max’s, so there are promising signs for the team.

On what we thought was a Mercedes track, they have been bested by the better team. They just didn’t find as much improvement as Red Bull overnight, possibly helped by the hotter temperatures. You could see the chronic understeer in Lewis’ car, which caused him to consistently lose time in the last sector. I imagine the race pace will be close with Red Bull, so the race start is key, I wonder how aggressive Hamilton will be, to try and get some points back on Max! Bottas was where he needed to be today, a tenth or two behind Lewis, but with the penalty, it could be hard for him to get back to 4th tomorrow, as we know he isn’t a great overtaker.

Almost perfect day for Ferrari, as they were the 3rd best team, and have a great chance to gain on McLaren tomorrow. The only downside was that Sainz qualified on the softs in Q2, that wasn’t planned, they just expected to improve on the 2nd run, which didn’t happen. Unless Ferrari have one of those weekends where they have terrible tyre wear, it will be hard for McLaren to beat them. Ricciardo and Norris weren’t too disappointed with how qualifying went, Lando thought there was a bit of time on the table, however he may not have beaten Charles.

Having had a mediocre Friday, AlphaTauri actually had a rather good qualifying, with both cars reaching Q3, although only just! It seems that Albon is an effective driver coach for Tsunoda, as we are seeing signs of improvement from him. In the race it will be all about trying to keep the Alpine’s and Aston Martin’s behind.

With Vettel at the back, and Stroll out in Q1, there is a great chance for Alpine to gain more points on Aston Martin with Ocon. They actually did a rather effective tow with Alonso; however, it wasn’t quite enough to reach Q3. Russell once again performed well on a Saturday, despite having a lap time deleted.

Apparently, we are set for a 2 stop race tomorrow, due to the higher temperatures we are seeing in Texas. That means there could be plenty of cars coming and going in the race, which will be great for us to watch. More than anything though, we just can’t wait for the run to Turn 1 between Max and Lewis!

MotoGP

If you thought that the title fight was over, today the racing gods gave their best shot at reviving the battle. As expected, Ducati was almost dominant in the wet conditions, and locked out the front row, but most importantly, it was Bagnaia who came from Q1 to take the pole. It was a remarkable showing by him, as he mastered the conditions, and never really looked as if he could be beaten. His chances of winning tomorrow have gone way up!

It is an all Ducati front row, with Miller barely missing out on pole, he just made a few too many mistakes, and got caught out by yellow flags. It is hard to say what his race pace will be, especially if it is dry, he would do well to bring home a podium. The only person to near Pecco in terms of greatness today, was Marini, who on a two year old bike, very nearly got his first ever pole! It has been a difficult year for him, being outperformed by Bastianini for the most part, but this was another chance for him to show how good he is. A top 6 or 7 result would be excellent for him tomorrow!

Once again, in cold tricky conditions, Pol was able to outperform the bike really, and head up the 2nd row. Much like for Marini, it was a chance to remind people that he is a good rider, he is just in a tough spot at the moment. The race could still be hard for him though. In fact, the whole 2nd row was riders coming back from difficult periods, as both Olivera and Morbidelli have been struck with injury in the 2nd half of the year. The KTM clearly does work well in the wet, which helped Miguel, however Franky pulled that lap out of nowhere, as the rest of the team has been nowhere all weekend.

You would have expected more from Marquez in these conditions, although you have to bear in mind it was nearly completely slick by the end. With some bikes out of position ahead of him, a podium is definitely on the cards for Marc. The Tech 3 squad had a solid run in the end, after a very disheartening year, some solid points tomorrow would do them well.

Pramac would have hoped for so much more today, bearing in mind how well the rest of Ducati did, but the riders kept having issues. It seemed to dry up too much for Aleix, as he fell back, but should come forward tomorrow! Rins and Alex Marquez were unlucky to miss out on Q2, there were just too many strong riders in Q1. Suzuki look as though they will have another trying weekend, with Mir down in 18th.

You couldn’t write this stuff! As Quartararo just couldn’t put a lap together in the wet conditions to advance to Q2. Even if his final lap had stood, it wouldn’t have been enough, the Yamaha just doesn’t work in the rain really. He can take solace in what should be a dry race tomorrow, so from 15th, he should be able to reach at least around 7th or 8th, and likely higher. Bastianini will be following him through most likely, after going so well here last time. He couldn’t match the other Ducati riders in anyway, which will hurt him.

Nakagami did find some pace in the end, but it only got him to 17th, as the Honda pain continues. Vinales was never a fan of wet conditions, so combine that with a new bike and personal issues, and 19th doesn’t look too bad. He just needs to use every race as a test session for 2022! Binder may be the most disappointing rider of the day, as we saw all his teammate fair quite well, but he was nowhere.

-M

Thank you very much for reading this article! To keep up to date with when they go out, and to see my reactions to races and other news, follow me on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/MeaningofMotor1

It feels much longer than 2 years since F1 was last at COTA, but it is great to be back at a drivers track, where the bumps really add to its character. Plus, if today is anything to go by, we could be in for another great instalment of a dramatic 2021 season!

Having won here 5 times, Hamilton was going into the weekend as the likely favourite to win, especially with a newer engine behind him. That was before we saw evidence of Mercedes latest trick to gain a straight line speed advantage, which could prove useful for them again here. Every team is doing the same ride height trick down the paddock; however, it seems that Mercedes have finessed it more. In FP1, their pace was rather worrying, but in the afternoon Red Bull and the other teams were able to close the gap. Hamilton would still be my favourite for pole and the win, because of the car package and he loves this track it seems. Bottas has another set back this weekend, with a new power unit, it is only a 5 place drop this time, but it is more worrying signs for the German team.

In some ways, Red Bull have nothing to lose this weekend, as this is the last real Mercedes circuit of the year, so if they come 2nd, it isn’t a disaster, and if they win, they look like heroes. Obviously, it is more complicated than that, but seeing how strong Perez especially was today, there is real hope they could push Lewis hard this weekend. Plus, with Valtteri starting at best 6th, if Checo can keep the pace up, Red Bull could really put Mercedes under pressure. Max did get a bit flustered in FP2 due to all the traffic, however, I wouldn’t worry about that, he will come back fighting tomorrow. The incident between Lewis and Max was probably just a bit of mind games on Hamilton’s part, which Verstappen laughed off. I believe a double podium for the team is highly likely for them here, and would serve them very well, even if it is 2nd and 3rd.

The battle for 3rd in the constructors is starting to get very interesting, as this new engine for Ferrari means that the playing field has been somewhat equalled. This track has a mixture of short sharp corners, and long duration ones, so it doesn’t suit either team in particular. We saw that today, as Ferrari looked good in FP1, whereas McLaren came back to them in the afternoon. If I had to guess which way it will go, McLaren may do better on Saturday, looking at their one lap pace, yet in the race Ferrari may put them under pressure. We also have to remember that Mercedes engine issues could affect McLaren too!

Aston Martin had remarkable race pace at the end of FP2, obviously we don’t know things like engine modes and fuel loads, but I can’t see why they would waste track time on meaningless runs. It isn’t all great news though, as Vettel is another driver to take engine penalties, so it will be hard for him to make the most of the pace the team has. Alpine had a steady day, nothing remarkable nor terrible, and will hope to take advantage of whatever happens around them.

We didn’t really see anything spectacular from Gasly over one lap, which suggests that it could be a tough weekend for them. With this track being so bumpy, they may have just missed the ride height or stiffness, so I wouldn’t write them off completely yet.

Alfa Romeo, as per usual, outperformed themselves on a Friday, and will likely be in a battle with Williams for the rest of the weekend. Williams themselves struggled for pace slightly, so may find it hard to get up to the Italian sponsored team, although it could be more set up troubles, or even wind for that matter, as we know they don’t like that. Schumacher did well to beat both Williams and be fairly close to the midfield, can he keep it up for the rest of the weekend?

The North and South American swing of the championship is getting underway, and execution needs to be flawless from here on out, not only for the top two teams, but for others who are trying to secure the best spot possible in the constructors, as that can literally mean millions of dollars!

-M

Thank you very much for reading this article! To keep up to date with when they go out, and to see my reactions to races and other news, follow me on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/MeaningofMotor1

F1

The biggest news of the week by far, is the strong rumours that Andretti Autosport, may be buying Sauber’s F1 team, known as Alfa Romeo. As always with something this big, there is talk that it could go either way, all we know for sure is that Andretti has the money to buy an F1 team, and there have been talks ongoing. My gut feeling is that it will happen, as I doubt that any talks would have occurred, if there wasn’t a strong interest in the exchange occurring. It would be a shame to see Sauber go, given their long tenure in F1, although to replace it with Andretti is a fair deal. I wonder, if it does happen, if they could bring an American engine manufacturer with them in 2025?

Linked to the Andretti Autosport rumours is the discussion about Colton Herta, the young IndyCar star, who leads the Andretti Autosport team. There is a very high chance, that at some point he would join the Andretti F1 operation, if they buy the team. It would be a great move for all parties, as Colton would get a shot in F1, and even if it went wrong, he could fall back on IndyCar, the team gets a young quick, driver, and the USA has a young star to watch!

IndyCar

The F1-IndyCar crossover is not done for this week, as Hulkenberg will test for Arrow McLaren SP. It will happen at Barber Motorsport Park, and it is rumoured that Logan Sergeant will be there too. The team say it is as a part of their evaluation of a 3rd car for the team. Nico should definitely go to IndyCar if he has a chance to, as his F1 career is seemingly over, and IndyCar is an excellent 2nd choice.

After it all went very quiet, following his brilliant weekend at the Indy Road Course, Lundgaard has been announced as the 3rd driver for RLL next year. It will be a full time run for 2022, and there is the potential for him to do very well indeed. I have a feeling that the car may actually be the biggest limitation for him, as it is clear he has the speed to perform.

Formula E

Cape Town has been dropped from the provisional calendar for 2022, and has been replaced by Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia. The reason for the change is believed to be Covid related. There are still spaces available on the calendar if it is ready to return, the season starts in Diriyah again, on 28th of January.

Other News

A deal has been finalised for Australian Supercars to be sold to a brand new consortium called RACE – Racing Australia Consolidated Enterprises. The buyout is valued at $100 million , which is a major loss for the current owners, Archer Capital. This could be attributed mostly to the current Covid crisis, as the series had made good profits in previous years. Roland Dane, the outgoing Triple Eight boss, is rumoured to be chairing the new owners. With the deal potentially giving more money to the teams, it suggests a bright future for the sport.

-M

Thank you very much for reading this article! To keep up to date with when they go out, and to see my reactions to races and other news, follow me on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/MeaningofMotor1