NASCAR news

[Hobie Hartkins]

This is messed up!  I'm not sure how I feel. How do you guys feel about this? ( I'm sorry if I put this in the wrong place.)

 

NASCAR trial Day 1: Michael Jordan arrives, Denny Hamlin cries

Edited Tuesday at 05:53 PM by Hobie Hartkins

[HossC]

Apologies for my late review of the Qatar Grand Prix. Lando Norris went into the weekend needing to outscore his rivals by two points to clinch the championship.

In the sprint race, Oscar Piastri took pole ahead of George Russell and Lando Norris. Max Verstappen started a couple of place back in sixth. The top three finished in grid order, but Max made it up to fourth. You can see the highlights here.

For the main race, Oscar took pole again, but Lando was close behind and Max was in third. There was a rule for this race that tires could do no more than 25 laps, so everyone had to do at least two pit stops. When Nico Hulkenberg and Pierre Gasly came together on lap 7, the safety car came out. Max pitted along with most of the rest of the field, but the McLarens stayed out. That gave them an uphill struggle for the rest of the race. At the flag, Max won with Oscar behind. Lando passed Kimi Antonelli on the last last to take fourth behind Carlos Sainz. Due to a radio message from Red Bull suggesting that Kimi let Lando past, some idiots sent Kimi death threats. Red Bull have since apologised to Kimi and Mercedes, and have accepted that Kimi just went wide. You can see the race highlights here.

The final race of the season is this weekend's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Lando still leads the championship, but now by only 12 points from Max in second with Oscar four points further back. Any of the three could still win.

[HossC]

A little bit of F1 driver news - Red Bull are promoting Isack Hadjar to their first team to partner Max Verstappen next year. Taking his place at Racing Bulls is F2 driver Arvid Lindblad.

[RogerDuke]

This Michael Jordan vs NASCAR lawsuit sounds pretty serious. ESPN is talking like it is something that could serious shake things up. You guys paying attention? 

Edit: Woops. I see Hobie is way ahead of me. 

Edited Wednesday at 05:35 AM by RogerDuke

[HossC]

In just a few hours the 2025 F1 championship will be decided.

After so much promise and hype, it looks like being the end of a year to forget for Lewis Hamilton who failed to make it out of the first qualifying session for the third race in a row. By contrast, his Ferrari team mate Charles Leclerc will start from  fifth. At the front, Max Verstappen claimed pole despite complaining about his car's handling in practice. Close behind were Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, so all three drivers who can become this year's champion are starting in the top three. George Russell is next in fourth and could still play a part in the outcome.

This weekend will also be the last to feature the Sauber name on the cars. Peter Sauber has been in motorsport for over 50 years and has had a stake in an F1 team since the early '90s. With a change in ownership, the Sauber team will be Audi F1 next year. Gabriel Bortoleto did a great job to put his Sauber in seventh place on the grid.