It is a tight battle for the laurels on Rally Italia Sardegna after the first full day, with Hyundai’s Dani Sordo on top, ahead of M-Sport’s Teemu Suninen and Toyota’s Ott Tänak – with the leading trio covered by only 11.2 seconds. During the afternoon, temperatures remained high, but the sky was overcast and it was quite windy as well on the Mediterranean island.

There was plenty of drama, with early afternoon leader Jari-Matti Latvala rolling his Toyota on the first stage after the midday service, after cutting a hairpin bend. He managed to put the car onto its wheels but limped to the end of the stage with a broken windscreen and lost more than eight minutes. Certainly exhausted after such intense efforts in the dazzling heat, the Finn went off again on the final stage.

This delivered an intense fight for the lead, with Tänak and Sordo matching each other on pace. However, thanks to his better road position, further down the order, Sordo was able to pull clear, ending the day 10.8 seconds ahead of M-Sport Ford driver Suninen, in the runner-up spot.

Tänak finished Friday only 0.4 seconds behind Suninen, in third, having suffered with dirty roads.

Suninen set the fastest stage time in SS6, while the following stage was cancelled because of a medical emergency for a spectator in the stage. The competitive action resumed for the final two stages, which were won by the Hyundai duo of Sordo and Andreas Mikkelsen respectively.

This helped to secure fourth overnight for Mikkelsen, just a tenth of second ahead of M-Sport driver Elfyn Evans, who had a clean run.

Toyota’s Kris Meeke is in sixth position in spite of his lack of experience after missing Sardinia last year. He heads Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville, who lost time after going off and damaging his car – the result of a misunderstanding with pace-notes.

Esapekka Lappi is in eighth for Citroën, after a frustrating day during which the Finn was affected by a sensor issue in the afternoon. He ends Friday ahead of Juho Hanninen, who classifies ninth on his Toyota return.

Rounding off the top 10 is FIA WRC 2 leader Pierre-Louis Loubet, in his Škoda Fabia R5.

In the FIA WRC 2 class, Rally Portugal winner Kalle Rovenperä leads the field, ahead of his Škoda team-mate Jan Kopecky and Citroën’s Mads Østberg.

FIA WRC 2 leader Loubet holds a comfortable 22.2 second advantage over Nikolay Gryazin, with Takamoto Katsuta 58.4 seconds behind the French.

Dennis Radstrom claims the lead in the FIA Junior WRC. Tom Kristensson is second and Nil Solans third at the end of the first full day of action.

 

Rally Italia Sardegna – Unofficial Results After Section 3:

1. Dani Sordo (SPA) / Carlos Del Barrio (SPA) Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 1hr 36min 01.5sec 2. Teemu Suninen (FIN) / Marko Salminen (FIN) Ford Fiesta WRC 1hr 36min 12.3sec 3. Ott Tänak (EST) / Martin Järveoja (EST)                          Toyota Yaris WRC 1hr 36min 12.7sec 4. Andreas Mikkelsen (NOR) / Anders Jaeger-Amland (NOR) Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 1hr 36min 21.7sec 5. Elfyn Evans (GBR) / Scott Martin (GBR) Ford Fiesta WRC 1hr 36min 21.8sec 6. Kris Meeke (GBR) / Sebastian Marshall (GBR) Toyota Yaris WRC 1hr 36min 31.0sec 7. Thierry Neuville (BEL) / Nicolas Gilsoul (BEL) Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 1hr 36min 59.2sec 8. Esapekka Lappi (FIN) / Janne Ferm (FIN) Citroën C3 WRC 1hr 37min 05.0sec 9. Juho Hänninen (FIN) / Tomi Tuominen (FIN) Toyota Yaris WRC 1hr 38min 39.5sec 10. Pierre-Louis Loubet (FRA) / Vincent Landais (FRA) Škoda Fabia R5 1hr 38min 51.8sec

 

 

Max Verstappen recovered from a poor start to take a brilliant Austrian Grand Prix, and to score Honda’s first F1 victory in 13 years, though the Dutch driver’s sixth career win was only officially confirmed following a stewards’ investigation into the overtaking move on Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc that earned Verstappen top spot on the podium. 

Polesitter Leclerc had led from the start of the race, but with a handful of laps to go Verstappen used greater pace on hard tyres to close up to the Ferrari driver. He tried to pass on the inside into Turn 3 on lap 68 but the attempt was rebuffed by the clam Leclerc who held his line and power ahead of the Dutch driver on exit from the corner. 

Undaunted, Verstappen tried again on the next lap, in the same place. This time there was contact and Leclerc was forced wide. As the Ferrari driver slowed, Verstappen raced away into the lead and at the end of the 71^stlap crossed the line to take a brilliant win. 

Almost immediately race stewards reported that the incident was under investigation and there followed a nervous wait while the officials deliberated. 

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Some three hours later, Verstappen’s win was confirmed with the matter ruled to be a racing incident. 

“Car 33 sought to overtake car 16 at Turn 3 on lap 69 by out-braking car 16. When doing so, car 33 was alongside car 16 on the entry of the corner and was in full control of the car while attempting the overtaking move on the inside of car 16,” read the verdict. 

“However, both car 33 and car 16 proceeded to negotiate the corner alongside each other but there was clearly insufficient space for both cars to do so. Shortly after the late apex, while exiting the corner, there was contact between the two cars. In the totality of the circumstances, we did not consider that either driver was wholly or predominantly to blame for the incident. We consider that this is a racing incident.”

Verstappen’s sixth career win and the first for power unit partner Honda since the Hungarian Grand Prix of 2006 seemed unlikely when the Dutchman’s RB15 bogged down and he was immediately passed by a swarm of rivals. Leclerc powered away into the lead ahead of the Mercedes cars of Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton, the Alfa Romeo of fast-starting Kimi Räikkönen, the McLaren of Lando Norris and the second Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel.  Verstappen, though, dropped to P7 and looked to be out of contention. However, both Verstappen and Vettel passed Norris with relative ease and within a handful of laps they had also cleared Räikkönen.

After a dozen laps, Leclerc was a healthy three seconds ahead of Bottas, with Hamilton a further 2.7 seconds back in third. Vettel was now fourth, 4.5s behind Hamilton, while Verstappen was a similar distance behind Vettel. Ahead of the first round of pit stops Leclerc had built an almost five-second advantage over Bottas, who triggered what would for most of the leafing pack would be a single pit stop. 

Bottas made a clean stop on lap 21 but there was no such luck for Vettel who stopped at the same time4. The Ferrari driver’s crew were not ready with a set of hard tyres and the German was forced to sit stationary for six seconds as a front left wheel was located and fitted. Leclerc made his stop at the end of the following lap and he emerged in P3 behind new leader Hamilton and Verstappen . 

Hamilton was now suffering with degradation to his opening set of medium tyres and as Verstappen closed the gap, the Mercedes driver pushed too hard and damaged his front wing. He pitted at the end of lap 30, not only for hard tyres but also for a new front wing. 

The stop saw Hamilton stand still in his pit box for 11 seconds and Red Bull responded by pitting Verstappen on lap 31. He emerged four seconds clear of Hamilton, in fourth place. And it was then, with hard tyres on board, that the race began to come to the Dutchman 

He swiftly close on third-placed Vettel and on lap 50, breezed past the German on entry to Turn 4 to take third place. 

Verstappen now had Bottas in his sights and on lap 56 her took second place, dismissing Bottas effortlessly with a move down the inside into Turn 3 under DRS. 

With 10 laps to go Max was just 3.8 seconds behind the race leader and five laps later the Red Bull driver arrived on Ferrari’s gearbox. The two 21-year-old racers then engaged in the epic battle that ended with Verstappen spraying champagne from the top step of the podium but also facing a stewards’ investigation. 

Vettel had also been on the move during the closing stages and he passed Hamilton to take a solid fourth place after starting from P9. Hamilton was left with fifth place ahead of Norris and Pierre crossed the line in P7 to score his seventh points finish of the season to date. Eighth place was taken by Carlos Sainz who finished ahead of the Alfa Romeo cars of Räikkönen and Antonio Giovinazzi. 

2019 FIA Formula One Austrian Grand Prix – Race
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing 
2 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 2.724
3 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 18.960
4 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 19.610
5 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 22.805
6 Lando Norris McLaren 1 Lap
7 Pierre Gasly Red Bull Racing 1 Lap
8 Carlos Sainz Jr. McLaren 1 Lap
9 Kimi Raikkonen Alfa Romeo Racing 1 Lap
10 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo Racing 1 Lap
11 Sergio Perez Racing Point 1 Lap
12 Daniel Ricciardo Renault 1 Lap
13 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 1 Lap
14 Lance Stroll Racing Point 1 Lap
15 Alex Albon Scuderia Toro Rosso 1 Lap
16 Romain Grosjean Haas 1 Lap
17 Daniil Kvyat Scuderia Toro Rosso 2 Laps
18 George Russell Williams 2 Laps
19 Kevin Magnussen Haas 2 Laps
20 Robert Kubica Williams 3 Laps
 

The X-Raid MINI JCW Team crew of Orlando Terranova and Ronnie Graue won Baja Aragón, the fourth round of the FIA World Cup for Cross Country Bajas, their second consecutive victory of the season. The Argentineans were fastest through three of the four selective sections to reach the finish three minutes and 36 seconds ahead of Joan ‘Nani’ Roma and Alex Haro. Jakub Przygoński and Timo Gottschalk took the final podium position, making it a podium lockout for Mini.

The second and final leg of Baja Aragón took the crews over the same two stages, the shorter of the two run first before the rally-deciding 164.78 kilometre section that brought the field back to Teruel and the podium.

Terranova started the day with just over three minutes in hand to Martin Prokop and powered through the first short stage to claim his third stage win. He was able to ease the pace through the final section to preserve an advantage established from the outset. “To win you need to be clever, winning was the goal and now we will fight for the Championship,” said Terranova. “It’s my first victory here having finished second on four occasions. The fight for the title is close and we’ll be pushing in the next rallies.” After two events this season, Terranova has now moved into second position in the World Cup standings.

Nani Roma, a nine-time winner and competing in his 21st Baja Aragón, moved from fourth overnight to second in the first stage. He claimed fastest time in the final section, the best stage of the rally for the Spaniard. “In the end I’m happy, I felt the speed,” he said. “Three Minis on the podium, it’s a great result for the team.”

Jakub Przygoński, third last night, maintained position and second fastest in the final stage guaranteed an impressive 1-2-3 for the Mini John Cooper Works Rally. “I’m really happy, it was tough but we’re on the podium,” said the Pole. “The rally was hard on the car and the brakes and we finished the last 30 kilometres with zero brakes. But in the end, a great result.”

Martin Prokop and Jan Tománek were on course for second but knew they had a fight on their hands from the chasing pack. They dropped from second to fifth after the first stage but ultimately finished fourth when Bernhard Ten Brinke/Tom Colsoul were forced to retire with an unconfirmed transmission related problem. “It’s been an up and down weekend; we did our best but it’s not really a good result,” said the Ford Raptor driver. “It was maximum attack from everyone and in the end we were slowest today. It was the most we could do with this car, we risked a lot in the final stage but it was a nice fight.”

After a difficult opening leg, Vladimir Vasilyev and Konstantin Zhiltsov – last year’s winners – bounced back today and were able to move a place up the leaderboard into fifth, despite a puncture. The Russians, who provisionally maintain their World Cup lead by four points, overhauled João Ramos and Victor Jesus, the Portuguese crew dropping to sixth with two punctures in the last stage. “The weekend has been good and the result is fantastic,” said Ramos. “I’m with some of the best guys but I was aiming for a top five finish before the start. I know what I can do, have a good car and we could have achieved that without some issues.”

Luis Recuenco/Victor Alijas, Helder Carapeta/Rui Pereira, Fernando Alvarez/Juan Monasterolo and Laurent Poletti/Cyril Debet rounded out the top 10 positions.

In the T3 category, Santiago Navarro and Dani Oliveras claimed the win in their Can-Am Maverick X3, the Spaniards a mere five seconds ahead of the Russian crew of Alexander Dorosinskiy and Dmitry Pavlov. Fifth in the category was enough for Michele Cinotto to provisionally maintain his series lead. After a big battle, T2 was finally won by Portugal’s João Ferreira/David Monteiro who finished ahead of their fellow countrymen, Nuno Corvo/José Martins.

The contenders now head to Hungary for the fifth round of the FIA World Cup for Cross Country Bajas (8-11 August).

Baja Aragón – Provisional Final Classification

1

Orlando Terranova/Ronnie Graue

Mini John Cooper Works Rally

6hr 21min 40sec

2

Joan ‘Nani’ Roma/Alex Haro

Mini John Cooper Works Rally

6hr 25min 16sec

3

Jakub Przygoński/Timo Gottschalk

Mini John Cooper Works Rally

6hr 25min 52sec

4

Martin Prokop/Jan Tománek

Ford Raptor RS Cross Country

6hr 27min 13sec

5

Vladimir Vasilyev/Konstantin Zhiltsov

Toyota Hilux

6hr 33min 57sec

6

João Ramos/Victor Jesus

Toyota Hilux

6hr 38min 09sec

7

Luis Recuenco/Victor Alijas

Mini X-Raid Cross Country

6hr 43min 57sec

8

Helder Carapeta/Rui Pereira

Range Rover Evoque

6hr 58min 39sec

9

Fernando Alvarez/Juan Monasterolo

Volkswagen Amarock

7hr 00min 09sec

10

Laurent Poletti/Cyril Debet

MMP Original

7hr 03min 07sec

Reigning World Champion Sébastien Buemi set the best time of 1m27.373 lap, 0.286 ahead of the no1 Rebellion Racing R13 driven by Norman Nato, who set the second quickest time in the session’s closing minutes.

Kamui Kobayashi was third quickest in the no7 Toyota with a time of 1:27.790 ahead of the two Team LNT’s Ginettas. The no5 Ginetta was fourth fastest with Ben Hanley clocking a time of 1:28.449, however both cars spent a lengthy period in the pits due to brake cooling issues.

In LMGTE Pro Porsche headed Ferrari and Aston Martin in LMGTE Pro, with Gianmaria Bruni setting a best time of 1:38.315 in the no91 Porsche 911 RSR-19 he shares with Richard Lietz.  A flying lap in the dying minutes of the session by Michael Christensen in the no92 Porsche gave Porsche a 1-2 in class, just one tenth of a second behind the sister car.

The No.71 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE of Davide Rigon and Miguel Molina placed third ahead of the Nicki Thiim and Marco Sørensen crewed No.95 Aston Martin Vantage AMR in fourth.

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Season 8 newcomers High Class Racing equipped with Goodyear tyres top LMP2 times as local star Kenta Yamashita sets the pace early in the session with a time of 1:29.624.  Racing Team Nederland second quickest, with newly crowned FIA Formula 2 Champion Nyck de Vries setting a time of 1:30.832 late in the session.  Third out of the LMP2 teams was Cool Racing with Nicolas Lapierre at the wheel

In LMGTE Am the No.90 TF Sport Aston Martin Vantage lead the category, with a fastest time of 1:39.010 set by Jonny Adam, just two hundredths of a second ahead of the second-placed car, the No.70 MR Racing Ferrari 488 GTE. Showing his Fuji Speedway experience early in the 90-minute session was Kei Cozzolino in the MR Racing Ferrari, setting a fastest time of 1:39.039 to claim second spot in the class.  Third in GTE Am was the No.86 Gulf Racing Porsche 911 RSR of Ben Barker with a best lap of 1:39.351.

The second Free Practice session will begin at 15h30 (local time) / 08h30 (CET)

CLICK HERE for the result from Free Practice 1

Thierry Neuville and Nicolas Gilsoul scored victory on Rally de España in Salou today, but it was not enough to keep the Hyundai crew in the fight for the crown, as Toyota’s Ott Tänak and Martin Järveoja secured the 2019 FIA World Rally Championship title.*

Tänak and Jarveojä finished in second place but importantly won maximum Power Stage points, which promoted them ahead of Dani Sordo and Carlos Del Barrio, who complete the podium in third place.

Mads Østberg and Torstein Eriksen claimed FIA WRC 2 Pro victory for Citroën, while Eric Camilli and Benjamin Veillas won in the FIA WRC 2 class in a privateer Citroën C3 R5.

* subject to the official publication of the results by the FIA

Kevin Magnussen has lashed out at the ‘really bad’ rear view mirrors on modern Formula 1 cars, suggesting that they leave drivers essentially blind at crucial moments.

Since joining Haas in 2017, Magnussen has been repeatedly criticised by rivals for blocking them on track. He countered this on several occasions by suggesting that he had been unsighted and couldn’t see them approaching.

The most recent example came in Suzuka at the start of the Japanese Grand Prix when Sauber’s Charles Leclerc ended up running in the back of the Haas on the starting straight.

• Leclerc wants clarification after exoneration of ‘stupid’ Magnussen

The stewards cleared him of blame for the collision at the time but race director Charlie Whiting later changed his mind, saying that Magnussen had indeed moved too late and that he should have been penalised after all.

“I have to say I think he was right to change his opinion, because it was too late that I moved over,” Magnussen admitted last week.

“But the problem is that you can’t see the guy behind you until he moves,” the Dane continued. “Then you can see him. That’s a problem that we need to fix all together.”

The FIA is already planning on introducing changes to the technical regulations for 2019 that will be more prescriptive about the position of rear-view mirrors, requiring them to be lower and more outboard than at present.

The new rules will also mandate an adjustment to the permitted height of the new, wider rear wings that were introduced in 2017 and which currently obstruct the driver’s view of the track behind them.

“The rear wing will be higher so it should be better,” Magnussen agreed.

“[At the moment] you’ve got the rear wing so when the guy’s right behind you, you don’t see,” he explained. “As soon as he moves out that’s when he becomes visible. So you can’t do anything but react when you see.

“These cars are really bad. You can only see him when he’s at an angle, so either in a corner or off-set,” he stressed. “Right behind you, you’re blind.”

Drivers have suggested that the problem requires a more technological approach, with rear-view cameras instead of mirrors.

2019 Sauber driver Antonio Giovinazzi has experience with exactly that sort of solution from his time racing in the LMP2 class of the FIA World Endurance Championship in 2016.

“I think it’s a good thing,” Giovinazzi said. “Now it’s really difficult to see with the mirrors with the aerodynamics at the back of the car, so maybe a screen will help.

• FIA tweaks rear wing rules to boost visibility

“It will depend where you put the screen and everything, but I think it can be a good option,” he continued.

“It was really good. In an endurance race you need the mirrors more because an LMP1 car is coming or a GT car is behind you, so you need to see more. I think this was really good for drivers to have a camera to see what’s behind.”

Magnussen’s boss, Haas team principal Guenther Steiner, also thought that the rear-facing camera idea was something worth looking into.

“The technology is out there,” he said. “It’s already available, the technology. We could do that, and I think it’s in discussion with the FIA at the moment. Charlie Whiting is looking into it.

“If that is a better way to look to the side and backwards, when the Saubers are coming, we can see them and we don’t run into them!”

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Touted as the next possible female F1 driver, GP3 racer Tatiana Calderon completed 23 laps behind the wheel of a Sauber C37 in Mexico City on Tuesday, the young Colombian driver enjoying her first experience in an F1 car.

The run at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez was conducted within the context of a Sauber promotional event and filming day, thus limited to the mandatory 100-kilometer distance.

Sauber has stayed on in Mexico as part of its participation in Pirelli’s tyre test programme, entrusting development work to its 2019 driver Antonio Giovinazzi.

Ericsson heads west to IndyCar for 2019 with SPM!

“Driving the Sauber C37 today was an incredible experience,” said an ecstatic Calderon.

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“The power, braking and grip of this car are unbelievable, and I felt very comfortable on track. After a few laps, you start getting used to the speed, and I had lots of fun.

“I want to thank the Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team, Excuderia Telmex, Telcel, Infinitum and Claro for giving me this opportunity today, and trusting me to do the job. This is a day I will remember forever.”

Xevi Pujolar, Sauber’s head of track engineering was impressed with Tatiana’s skills and commitment.

“Tatiana drove a Formula One car for the first time today and did a very good job,” said the Spaniard.

“We are happy to see her perform so well, and once again were impressed by her dedication and work ethic.

“This event marks a positive step for our sport, and we look forward to seeing Tatiana continue to make progress.”

Calderon has been associated with Sauber for the past two years in her capacity as a development driver, the 25-year-old taking part in technical debriefs and conducting simulator work at the team’s base in Hinwil.

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Jos Verstappen says a healthy dose of anger helped his son power to a dominant fifth career win in Sunday’s Mexican Grand Prix.

Verstappen Sr. said the Red Bull driver’s determination on race day was fueled by his missing out on pole position on Saturday, when he was pipped by team mate Daniel Ricciardo, the Aussie depriving the 21-year-old from becoming the youngest poleman in the history of F1.

‘Sleepless’ Verstappen never under pressure in Mexico

“I saw him on Sunday morning and he told me straight away that he had slept very badly,” Jos Verstappen told Dutch broadcaster Ziggo Sport.

“Max was annoyed about the car and missing the pole. But also by Ricciardo,” he revealed.

“He [Ricciardo] celebrated his pole position with the exuberance of having become world champion. Max was very angry and wanted only one thing: to win.”

Despite his barn burner lap that allowed him to lead the field off the line on Sunday, Ricciardo was overhauled by his team mate and Lewis Hamilton into the first corner.

The Renault-bound driver eventually worked his way back up to second only to endure a frustrating eighth retirement ten laps from the checkered flag, sidelined by a clutch failure.

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