After three weeks away, Formula 1 has certainly return with a bang in Belgium this weekend – and it’s only Friday. We’ve had drivers in, drivers out, new noses, Le Mans winners, PR statements… you name it, it’s been here.
However, one thing has remained constant: Mercedes’ domination of the 2014 season. Once again during practice at Spa today, Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg completed a pair of one-twos with relative ease, sharing top spot in the sessions.
We do have an interesting battle forming behind, though. Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso finished as the best of the rest in both sessions, but with the Mercedes-powered cars excelling through the Ardennes forest, the Spaniard has a tough challenge ahead of him.
Alexander Rossi enjoyed his second FP1 outing of the season, but his weekend will go no further after Marussia reneged on its plans to replace Max Chilton with the American. The Briton appears to have resolved his contractual issues just in the nick of time.
Here’s the full round-up from the Spa-Francorchamps paddock on Friday.
Today started in very disappointing fashion when news broke that Alexander Rossi would not be ending America’s seven-year wait for an F1 start when Marussia confirmed that Max Chilton would indeed be racing after all. It seems that his “contractual issues” had been resolved – or, perhaps more likely, a few legal threats were made.
As much of a shame as it is for Rossi, it did not see him lose anything heading into the weekend. The plan was for him to run in only FP1 anyway, and he did well, finishing clear of both Caterham drivers in his first time in the car.
According to Chilton, Rossi did not find out that he had been ‘dropped’ until he got out of the car at the end of FP1.
“I passed on my best wishes to Alex this morning when he got into the car and unfortunately he found out when he got out but he’s still our reserve driver and we’re still in a good friendship,” the Briton said.
All in all, it has been a bit of a disastrous exercise for Marussia and Chilton, but they will be hoping to put this behind them to focus on the rest of the race weekend.
On track, it was business as usual for Mercedes as Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg dominated proceedings. The Silver Arrows may be wary, but the team once again appears to be out of reach for the chasing pack.
Fernando Alonso will be pleased with his efforts, although the challenge from Williams may prove to be too great for the Spaniard. Nevertheless, a top five finish here would be a very good result for both the driver and the team.
Also we must give a big pat on the back to Caterham’s Andre Lotterer. In his first time in the car, he outpaced full-time driver Marcus Ericsson, and will be hoping to secure a good qualifying result tomorrow.
Spa always produces a thrilling weekend, and this year is no different. Be sure to join us for qualifying tomorrow, live on CNBC from 8am ET.
Blake Alexander captured his first career NHRA Top Fuel win, winning Sunday at the Summit Racing Equipment Nationals at Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio.
Alexander becomes the 105th different winner in NHRA Top Fuel history.
Alexander won the race with a 4.011-second pass at 297.81 mph, defeating Terry McMillen.
“It felt really good,” Alexander said afterward. “I got a little emotional because I’ve tried to do this my whole life. I’ve come close but have lost sponsors, thought I was never going to drive the car again and basically we have gone through everything to climb back to the top.”
Alexander qualified 12th for the event and defeated three of the sport’s heavyweight drivers – Don Schumacher Racing pilots Antron Brown, Tony Schumacher and Leah Pritchett – before entering his second career final round.
In Funny Car, Matt Hagan earned his second event of the season with a run of 4.094 seconds at 288.21 mph over points leader Courtney Force.
It was Hagan’s first win since the season-opening race at Pomona, California.
“We just had a good solid car all weekend,” Hagan said. “We qualified well and went down the race track pretty much every lap.
“It’s been a while since we turned on four win lights but it’s a nitro Funny Car; you never know what you’re going to get.”
Hagan was the No. 3 qualifier and defeated fellow DSR teammates Tommy Johnson Jr. and Jack Beckman, followed by Kalitta Motorsports’ J.R. Todd in the semifinals en route to meeting Force – who had qualified No. 1 – in the final round.
Courtney Force defeated John Smith, Shawn Langdon and her father, 16-time Funny Car champion John Force.
In Pro Stock, young Tanner Gray earned his third win of the season and eighth of his career. Gray covered the quarter-mile in 6.615 seconds at 209.62 mph, defeating two-time Pro Stock champion Erica Enders in the final round.
Gray becomes the only Pro Stock driver to reach the winner’s circle three different times this season.
“This was definitely a huge accomplishment,” Gray said. “We struggled a lot at the beginning of the season.
“We did a lot of testing and couldn’t really see where that hard work was because the results weren’t showing. It feels good to have finally turned a corner and see where all of the hard work has paid off.”
Gray defeated Chris McGaha, Matt Hartford and Drew Skillman prior to his final round win over Enders, who now has one win and four runner-up finishes in the first 12 races of 2018.
In Pro Stock Motorcycle, Eddie Krawiec won for the third time in his career at Norwalk with a pass of 6.923 seconds at 195.05 mph, defeating 2016 PSM champ Jerry “The Alligator Farmer” Savoie.
“It was a good one for me,” Krawiec said. “It’s been a good weekend for us. It was a struggle early on trying to dance through the rain drops.
“We were trying to get a handle on a new track and understand what it is we need to do. We were able to get it done and get our bike in the winner’s circle.”
Savoie is now 1-1 in final round appearances, with a win at Charlotte and runner-up Sunday.
The next NHRA national event, which kicks off the second half of the 24-race Mello Yello Drag Racing Series schedule, takes place July 6-8 at New England Dragway in Epping, N.H.
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FINAL FINISHING ORDER:
TOP FUEL: 1. Blake Alexander; 2. Terry McMillen; 3. Steve Torrence; 4. Leah Pritchett; 5. Tony Schumacher; 6. Richie Crampton; 7. Clay Millican; 8. Mike Salinas; 9. Doug Kalitta; 10. Antron Brown; 11. Pat Dakin; 12. Dom Lagana; 13. Kyle Wurtzel; 14. Chris Karamesines; 15. Brittany Force; 16. Luigi Novelli.
FUNNY CAR: 1. Matt Hagan; 2. Courtney Force; 3. J.R. Todd; 4. John Force; 5. Jack Beckman; 6. Shawn Langdon; 7. Robert Hight; 8. Ron Capps; 9. Tommy Johnson Jr.; 10. Jim Campbell; 11. Dale Creasy Jr.; 12. John Smith; 13. Del Worsham; 14. Bob Tasca III; 15. Jeff Diehl; 16. Tim Wilkerson.
PRO STOCK: 1. Tanner Gray; 2. Erica Enders; 3. Drew Skillman; 4. Bo Butner; 5. Jason Line; 6. Jeg Coughlin; 7. Vincent Nobile; 8. Matt Hartford; 9. Greg Anderson; 10. Alex Laughlin; 11. Deric Kramer; 12. Chris McGaha; 13. John Gaydosh Jr; 14. Wally Stroupe; 15. Charlie Westcott Jr.; 16. Kenny Delco.
PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE: 1. Eddie Krawiec; 2. Jerry Savoie; 3. LE Tonglet; 4. Angie Smith; 5. Hector Arana Jr; 6. Angelle Sampey; 7. Andrew Hines; 8. Jim Underdahl; 9. Matt Smith; 10. Mark Paquette; 11. Scotty Pollacheck; 12. Cory Reed; 13. Ryan Oehler; 14. Steve Johnson; 15. Hector Arana; 16. Joey Gladstone.
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FINAL RESULTS:
TOP FUEL: Blake Alexander, 4.011 seconds, 297.81 mph def. Terry McMillen, 4.155 seconds, 289.20 mph.
FUNNY CAR: Matt Hagan, Dodge Charger, 4.094, 288.21 def. Courtney Force, Chevy Camaro, 4.220, 227.54.
PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE: ROUND ONE — Angie Smith, Buell, 6.932, 192.17 def. Steve Johnson, Suzuki, 6.993, 190.19; LE Tonglet, Suzuki, 6.907, 195.56 def. Mark Paquette, Buell, 6.932, 189.60; Eddie Krawiec, Harley-Davidson, 6.906, 193.85 def. Cory Reed, Buell, 6.959, 192.11; Jerry Savoie, Suzuki, 6.896, 194.60 def. Hector Arana, Buell, Foul – Red Light; Angelle Sampey, Buell, 6.903, 193.29 def. Joey Gladstone, Suzuki, 7.066, 189.71; Hector Arana Jr, Buell, 6.866, 195.39 def. Ryan Oehler, Buell, 6.964, 193.71; Jim Underdahl, Suzuki, 6.926, 193.32 def. Matt Smith, 6.899, 195.48; Andrew Hines, Harley-Davidson, 6.953, 192.69 def. Scotty Pollacheck, Suzuki, Foul – Red Light; QUARTERFINALS — A. Smith, 6.972, 191.10 def. Underdahl, 7.080, 188.73; Krawiec, 6.889, 193.46 def. Sampey, 6.922, 193.35; Savoie, 6.916, 193.13 def. Hines, 6.991, 192.25; Tonglet, 6.940, 194.58 def. Arana Jr, Foul – Red Light; SEMIFINALS — Savoie, 7.187, 155.10 def. A. Smith, 7.627, 128.07; Krawiec, 6.865, 194.24 def. Tonglet, 6.898, 195.11; FINAL — Krawiec, 6.923, 195.05 def. Savoie, 7.071, 175.39.
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UPDATED POINT STANDINGS:
TOP FUEL: 1. Steve Torrence, 964; 2. Clay Millican, 847; 3. Tony Schumacher, 817; 4. Doug Kalitta, 749; 5. Leah Pritchett, 736; 6. Terry McMillen, 643; 7. Antron Brown, 622; 8. Brittany Force, 594; 9. Mike Salinas, 475; 10. Scott Palmer, 471.
FUNNY CAR: 1. Courtney Force, 1,038; 2. (tie) Jack Beckman, 788; Matt Hagan, 788; 4. Robert Hight, 771; 5. J.R. Todd, 767; 6. Ron Capps, 755; 7. Tommy Johnson Jr., 637; 8. John Force, 577; 9. Shawn Langdon, 537; 10. Bob Tasca III, 532.
PRO STOCK: 1. Tanner Gray, 882; 2. Greg Anderson, 856; 3. Erica Enders, 830; 4. Vincent Nobile, 812; 5. Drew Skillman, 751; 6. Jeg Coughlin, 732; 7. Bo Butner, 717; 8. Chris McGaha, 691; 9. Deric Kramer, 659; 10. Jason Line, 628.
PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE: 1. Eddie Krawiec, 515; 2. Andrew Hines, 510; 3. LE Tonglet, 440; 4. Jerry Savoie, 389; 5. Hector Arana Jr, 377; 6. Scotty Pollacheck, 363; 7. Matt Smith, 355; 8. Angie Smith, 272; 9. Angelle Sampey, 257; 10. Hector Arana, 255.
