Verstappen, Hamilton ready to tangle again in Chinese GP

Associated PressApr 12, 2018, 10:51 AM EDT
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SHANGHAI (AP) — Get set for Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton to tangle again in the Chinese Grand Prix.

Last Sunday in Bahrain, Verstappen tried to squeeze by Hamilton at the start of only the second lap. But their cars clipped each other and the Dutchman, well known for taking risks and pushing the envelope, wound up with a punctured tire and was forced to retire.

Hamilton got the better of it and managed to finish third.

But the four-time champion – and defending champion with Mercedes – was not happy. Hamilton called Verstappen an expletive after the race and suggested the 20-year-old Red Bull driver lacked maturity and respect for others.

“I went through that stuff when I was a young guy,” the 33-year-old Hamilton said a few days ago. “So I know how it is. And it’s easy to also get ahead of yourself and forget also the respect for the other guys.

“I just hope he’s learning from whatever situation he’s going through.”

Verstappen didn’t back down on Thursday in Shanghai and defended his driving. He said Hamilton was making him a scapegoat.

“It’s quite simple and easy to blame the younger driver,” Verstappen said. “That’s the only way I can see it. Like I said, those things happen. There’s no reason for me to change anything.

“That’s racing. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn’t. You can say whatever you like about the incident. I had a fair shot at it. It was nothing crazy, nothing risky. Unfortunately, this time it didn’t work out.”

Verstappen said he had not talked with Hamilton since the incident. He said he might, but only “if it’s really necessary.”

Just a few minutes after he said that, the two shook hands in the paddock with some form of apology exchanged.

But that won’t lessen the tension on Sunday.

Neither Verstappen nor Hamilton have had perfect starts as the young season enters the third race. Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel has won the first two races with Hamilton second in Australia and third in Bahrain.

Verstappen and Red Bull teammate Daniel Ricciardo both retired early last weekend in Bahrain, and they both had off-the-podium finishes in Australia: Ricciardo was fourth and Verstappen was sixth.

The Chinese Grand Prix on Sunday offers a chance for a turnaround, particularly for Verstappen, who finished third in China a year ago.

“I’m just looking forward to getting started again here because I think we have a good package and have a lot of promising things coming,” Verstappen said.

Hamilton is probably the favorite to win on Sunday in China. In 11 races at the Shanghai circuit, he’s won five times – three of the last four races, including last year – and has claimed the pole six times.

Rain is possible for practice during qualifying on Friday and Saturday, but race day should be dry and chilly.

Only three other drivers on the grid have ever won on the Shanghai circuit: Fernando Alonso (2013 and 2005), Vettel (2009) and Kimi Raikkonen (2007).

Verstappen was the youthful promise when – at 17 in 2015 – he became the youngest driver to race in Formula One. The next season at the Spanish Grand Prix, the Dutchman became the youngest to win a race.

But he also started slowly last season, retiring in seven of the first 14 races. The only bright spot early was his podium in China.

Asked if he’d be more conservative in China, Verstappen said “there won’t be a change.”

“We gave each other, maybe not enough space (in Bahrain),” he said, “but that’s racing.”

With throaty roar, NASCAR Next Gen Camaro is taking Le Mans by storm on global stage

Associated PressJun 8, 2023, 4:00 PM EDT
Le Mans 24 Hour Race - Car Parade
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LE MANS, France — The V8 engine of the NASCAR Chevrolet Camaro has a distinct growl that cannot go unnoticed even among the most elite sports cars in the world at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

When the Hendrick Motorsports crew fired up the car inside Garage 56, NASCAR chairman Jim France broke into a huge grin and gave a thumbs up.

“The only guy who didn’t cover his ears,” laughed seven-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson.

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France has been waiting since 1962 – the year his father, NASCAR founder Bill France Sr., brought him to his first 24 Hours of Le Mans – to hear the roar of a stock car at the most prestigious endurance race in the world.

A path finally opened when NASCAR developed its Next Gen car, which debuted last year. France worked out a deal to enter a car in a specialized “Innovative Car” class designed to showcase technology and development. The effort would be part of NASCAR’s 75th celebration and it comes as Le Mans marks its 100th.

Once he had the approval, France persuaded Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet and Goodyear – NASCAR’s winningest team, manufacturer and tire supplier – to build a car capable of running the twice-around-the-clock race.

The race doesn’t start until Saturday, but NASCAR’s arrival has already been wildly embraced and France could not be more thrilled.

“Dad’s vision, to be able to follow it, it took awhile to follow it up, and my goal was to outdo what he accomplished,” France told The Associated Press. “I just hope we don’t fall on our ass.”

The car is in a class of its own and not racing anyone else in the 62-car field. But the lineup of 2010 Le Mans winner Mike Rockenfeller, 2009 Formula One champion Jenson Button and Johnson has been fast enough; Rockenfeller put down a qualifying lap that was faster than every car in the GTE AM class by a full three seconds.

The Hendrick Motorsports crew won its class in the pit stop competition and finished fifth overall as the only team using a manual jack against teams exclusively using air jacks. Rick Hendrick said he could not be prouder of the showing his organization has made even before race day.

“When we said we’re gonna do it, I said, ‘Look, we can’t do this half-assed. I want to be as sharp as anybody out there,” Hendrick told AP. “I don’t want to be any less than any other team here. And just to see the reaction from the crowd, people are so excited about this car. My granddaughter has been sending me all these TikTok things that fans are making about NASCAR being at Le Mans.”

This isn’t NASCAR’s first attempt to run Le Mans. The late France Sr. brokered a deal in 1976, as America celebrated its bicentennial, to bring two cars to compete in the Grand International class and NASCAR selected the teams. Herschel McGriff and his son, Doug, drove a Wedge-powered, Olympia Beer-sponsored Dodge Charger, and Junie Donlavey piloted a Ford Torino shared by Richard Brooks and Dick Hutcherson.

Neither car came close to finishing the race. McGriff, now 95 and inducted into NASCAR’s Hall of Fame in January, is in Le Mans as France’s guest, clad head-to-toe in the noticeable Garage 56 uniforms.

“I threw a lot of hints that I would like to come. And I’ve been treated as royalty,” McGriff said. “This is unbelievable to me. I recognize nothing but I’m anxious to see everything. I’ve been watching and seeing pictures and I can certainly see the fans love their NASCAR.”

The goal is to finish the full race Sunday and, just maybe, beat cars from other classes. Should they pull off the feat, the driver trio wants its own podium celebration.

“I think people will talk about this car for a long, long time,” said Rockenfeller, who along with sports car driver Jordan Taylor did much of the development alongside crew chief Chad Knaus and Greg Ives, a former crew chief who stepped into a projects role at Hendrick this year.

“When we started with the Cup car, we felt already there was so much potential,” Rockenfeller said. “And then we tweaked it. And we go faster, and faster, at Le Mans on the SIM. But you never know until you hit the real track, and to be actually faster than the SIM. Everybody in the paddock, all the drivers, they come up and they are, ‘Wow, this is so cool,’ and they were impressed by the pit stops. We’ve overachieved, almost, and now of course the goal is to run for 24 hours.”

The car completed a full 24-hour test at Sebring, Florida, earlier this year, Knaus said, and is capable of finishing the race. Button believes NASCAR will leave a lasting impression no matter what happens.

“If you haven’t seen this car live yet, it’s an absolute beast,” Button said. “When you see and hear it go by, it just puts a massive smile on your face.”

For Hendrick, the effort is the first in his newfound embrace of racing outside NASCAR, the stock car series founded long ago in the American South. Aside from the Le Mans project, he will own the Indy car that Kyle Larson drives for Arrow McLaren in next year’s Indianapolis 500 and it will be sponsored by his automotive company.

“If you’d have told me I’d be racing at Le Mans and Indianapolis within the same year, I’d never have believed you,” Hendrick told AP. “But we’re doing both and we’re going to do it right.”

Le Mans 24 Hour Race - Car Parade
Fans gather around the NASCAR Next Gen Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 that is the Garage 56 entry for the 100th 24 Hours of Le Mans at the Circuit de la Sarthe (Chris Graythen/Getty Images).

General Motors is celebrating the achievement with a 2024 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Garage 56 Edition and only 56 will be available to collectors later this year.

“Even though Chevrolet has been racing since its inception in 1911, we’ve never done anything quite like Garage 56,” said GM President Mark Reuss. “A NASCAR stock car running at Le Mans is something fans doubted they would see again.”

The race hasn’t even started yet, but Hendrick has enjoyed it so much that he doesn’t want the project to end.

“It’s like a shame to go through all this and do all this, and then Sunday it’s done,” Hendrick said. “It’s just really special to be here.”