Hamilton eases to Italian GP pole at Monza

By Sep 5, 2015, 9:04 AM EDT
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Lewis Hamilton eased to his seventh consecutive pole position during qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix on Saturday at Monza.

Hamilton posted a fastest lap time of 1:23.397 to secure his 11th pole of the 2015 season ahead of Ferrari drivers Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel as Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg struggled to fourth place on the grid.

After discovering a problem on Rosberg’s power unit following the final practice session on Saturday morning, Mercedes opted to revert back to the one used by the German at the Belgian Grand Prix so he could take part in qualifying.

WATCH: Italian Grand Prix qualifying full replay

As a result, Hamilton was the only Mercedes driver to run with the upgraded power unit in qualifying, and the advantage was clear as he stormed to his seventh consecutive pole position with relative ease.

Hamilton’s first lap in Q3 was enough to give him pole, but the Briton went faster still with his second effort to ensure that he would not be beaten by the chasing Ferrari drivers.

Taking advantage of Rosberg’s engine trouble, Raikkonen rallied to record his best qualifying of the season in second place, edging out Ferrari teammate Vettel by just 0.054 seconds.

Rosberg managed to jump up to P4 with his final lap in qualifying after previously trailing Williams’ Felipe Massa. The Brazilian was eventually left to settle for fifth place ahead of teammate Valtteri Bottas.

Sergio Perez finished seventh for Force India in what proved to be a mixed Q3 for the team. Nico Hulkenberg could only qualify ninth after he stopped at the pit entry during the session, allowing Romain Grosjean to move up to P8 for Lotus. Marcus Ericsson rounded out the top ten for Sauber.

Pastor Maldonado and Felipe Nasr were unable to match the pace of their teammates in qualifying, dropping out in Q2 as a result in 11th and 12th place respectively.

Given the grid drops that were hanging over their heads, Carlos Sainz Jr. and Daniil Kvyat only went out for one flying lap during qualifying, leaving them P13 and P14. Daniel Ricciardo did not even bother to go out on track in Q2 for the same reason, knowing he would start from the very back regardless.

The McLaren duo of Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso endured another difficult qualifying session on Saturday as they both dropped out in Q1 once again. Alonso had been on the brink of making it into Q2, but late laps from Ricciardo and Button dropped the Spaniard down to P17 at the end of the session.

Manor had a trouble-free session en route to P18 and P19, leaving Max Verstappen to prop up the order for Toro Rosso. The Dutchman was only sent out on track with a few seconds to go in Q1 after Toro Rosso had to fix a problem on his car. When he did though, his engine cover was not fitted properly, causing it to fly off the car at the Curva Grande and leave debris on the track.

Verstappen, Button and Alonso are just three of the drivers that will face a grid drop for tomorrow’s race. They will be joined at the back of the grid by Kvyat, Sainz and Ricciardo after they all made changes to their power units, bumping the Manor drivers up the order.

Hamilton’s tally of seven consecutive pole positions matches the record set within a single season by Alain Prost back in 1993, and is now just one shy of Ayrton Senna’s overall record that was spread across 1988 and 1989.

Ford unveils a new Mustang for 2024 Le Mans in motorsports ‘lifestyle brand’ retooling

Associated PressJun 9, 2023, 7:00 PM EDT
Ford Mustang Le Mans
Ford Performance
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LE MANS, France — Ford has planned a return to the 24 Hours of Le Mans with its iconic Mustang muscle car next year under a massive rebranding of Ford Performance aimed at bringing the automotive manufacturer “into the racing business.”

The Friday unveil of the new Mustang Dark Horse-based race car follows Ford’s announcement in February (and a ballyhooed test at Sebring in March) that it will return to Formula One in 2026 in partnership with reigning world champion Red Bull.

The Mustang will enter the GT3 category next year with at least two cars in both IMSA and the World Endurance Championship, and is hopeful to earn an invitation to next year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans. The IMSA entries will be a factory Ford Performance program run by Multimatic, and a customer program in WEC with Proton Competition.

Ford CEO Jim Farley, also an amateur sports car racer, told The Associated Press the Mustang will be available to compete in various GT3 series across the globe to customer teams. But more important, Farley said, is the overall rebranding of Ford Performance – done by renowned motorsports designer Troy Lee – that is aimed at making Ford a lifestyle brand with a sporting mindset.

“It’s kind of like the company finding its own, and rediscovering its icons, and doubling down on them,” Farley told the AP. “And then this motorsports activity is getting serious about connecting enthusiast customers with those rediscovered icons. It’s a big switch for the company – this is really about building strong, iconic vehicles with enthusiasts at the center of our marketing.”

Ford last competed in sports car racing in 2019 as part of a three-year program with Chip Ganassi Racing. The team scored the class win at Le Mans in 2016 in a targeted performance aimed to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Ford snapping Ferrari’s six-year winning streak.

Ford on Friday displayed a Mustang with a Lee-designed livery that showcased the cleaner, simplified look that will soon be featured on all its racing vehicles. The traditional blue oval with Ford Performance in white lettering underneath will now be branded simply FP.

The new mark will be used across car liveries, merchandise and apparel, display assets, parts and accessories and in advertising.

Farley cited Porsche as an automaker that has successfully figured out how to sell cars to consumers and race cars in various series around the world while creating a culture of brand enthusiasts. He believes Ford’s new direction will help the company sell street cars, race cars, boost interest in driving schools, and create a merchandise line that convinces consumers that a stalwart of American automakers is a hip, cool brand.

“We’re going to build a global motorsports business off road and on road,” Farley told the AP, adding that the design of the Mustang is “unapologetically American.”

He lauded the work of Lee, who is considered the top helmet designer among race car drivers.

“We’re in the first inning of a nine inning game, and going to Le Mans is really important,” Farley said. “But for customer cars, getting the graphics right, designing race cars that win at all different levels, and then designing a racing brand for Ford Performance that gets rebranded and elevated is super important.”

He said he’s kept a close eye on how Porsche and Aston Martin have built their motorsports businesses and said Ford will be better.

“We’re going in the exact same direction. We just want to be better than them, that’s all,” Farley said. “Second is the first loser.”

Farley, an avid amateur racer himself, did not travel to Le Mans for the announcement. The race that begins Saturday features an entry from NASCAR, and Ford is the reigning Cup Series champion with Joey Logano and Team Penske.

The NASCAR “Garage 56” entry is a collaboration between Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet and Goodyear, and is being widely celebrated throughout the industry. Farley did feel left out of the party in France – a sentiment NASCAR tried to avoid by inviting many of its partners to attend the race so that it wouldn’t seem like a Chevrolet-only celebration.

“They’re going right and I’m going left – that NASCAR thing is a one-year deal, right? It’s Garage 56 and they can have their NASCAR party, but that’s a one-year party,” Farley said. “We won Le Mans outright four times, we won in the GT class, and we’re coming back with Mustang and it’s not a one-year deal.

“So they can get all excited about Garage 56. I almost see that as a marketing exercise for NASCAR, but for me, that’s a science project,” Farley continued. “I don’t live in a world of science projects. I live in the world of building a vital company that everyone is excited about. To do that, we’re not going to do a Garage 56 – I’ve got to beat Porsche and Aston Martin and Ferrari year after year after year.”

Ford’s announcement comes on the heels of General Motors changing its GT3 strategy next season and ending its factory Corvette program. GM, which unlike Ford competes in the IMSA Grand Touring Prototype division (with its Cadillac brand), will shift fully to a customer model for Corvettes in 2024 (with some factory support in the IMSA GTD Pro category).