Max Verstappen angry at Lewis Hamilton after clash over practice positioning at COTA

Associated PressOct 22, 2021, 6:00 PM EDT
Max Verstappen angry Lewis Hamilton
Mark Thompson/Getty Images
0 Comments

AUSTIN, Texas — The red-hot F1 rivalry between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton returned to the race track with Verstappen angry enough to hurl an obscene gesture and an insult.

It was only practice, but Friday’s exchange between the Formula One title contenders made for a spirited opening day of the U.S. Grand Prix and showed this championship duel between the Red Bull and Mercedes drivers is just hitting its peak heading into the final six races of the season.

Welcome back to Texas, y’all.

It was mere minutes into Friday’s second practice when Verstappen and Hamilton found themselves side-by-side entering the long straight at the starting grid.

Verstappen said he was first to the spot, but Hamilton sprinted with him all the way to the end and took the inside line into the corner. It was the sort of risky, wheel-to-wheel move drivers seldom make in practice, especially these two given their history of collisions this season.

Max Verstappen backed off but still was angry enough to flip Lewis Hamilton his middle right finger and called Hamilton a “stupid idiot” in a radio message to the Red Bull garage.

“Ignore it,” was the answer from Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner.

It’s impossible to ignore what’s to come between those two in Sunday’s race and beyond. Verstappen clings to a minuscule six-point lead over Hamilton for the season championship as the 24-year-old Dutchman chases his first championship. The generational battle has prompted Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton to get angry at each other multiple times this year.

Hamilton, 36, has won seven championships and an eighth would break his tie with Michael Schumacher for most in F1 history.

The Texas race is the first of a two-part swing in North America as the series heads next to Mexico City. Both races were canceled amidst the COVID-19 pandemic last season.

Mercedes has been dominant the Austin track, winning five times since it opened in 2012. Hamilton has won four of those races and teammate Valtteri Bottas won in 2019. Bottas and Hamilton went 1-2 in Friday morning’s first practice.

Verstappen was third behind the Mercedes drivers in the first session, and the incident with Hamilton in second practice was another frustration for the Dutchman. Verstappen was well off the pace in the afternoon of Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez, who was fastest.

But it wasn’t smooth sailing in the Mercedes garage. Bottas’ car needed an internal combustion unit change and he’ll have a grid penalty Sunday. Hamilton had the same issue two weeks ago, and another engine issue at this stage of the season could have a huge impact on the championship.

“I think you see that we are suffering with reliability this year,” said Mercedes boss Toto Wolff. “We are trying to really get on top of the problems. Points lost can be decisive.”

Formula 1 hasn’t seen such a tight championship battle since Hamilton lost out to teammate Nico Rosberg in 2016. The series hasn’t had two teams fighting it out so late in the season since 2012, when Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel rallied late to beat Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso.

The race weekend is expected to draw massive crowds with Sunday’s race expecting a capacity 140,000. Although the entire series is experiencing increased attention and energy in the U.S., at COTA it is Perez who is the star of the show.

The native of Guadalajara, Mexico brought huge cheers when his car was the first one on the track in the morning, and again when he paced the second practice. He drew at least 10,000 spectators to a demonstration in downtown Dallas last weekend, and it’s all just a preview of what’s to come for him next week in Mexico City, where he is adored.

“I don’t feel so far away from my people, and the support I receive in the United States is incredible,” Perez said “Without a doubt, I will be the driver with the most support on Sunday.”

The drivers Friday were able to get a look at the bumps in the track surface that MotoGP riders complained about while racing here three weeks ago. Slow motion replay and the view from driver helmet cameras showed just how much bounce the cars will be put through over the race weekend.

COTA is a home race Haas F1, the only American-led team in the series but the worst on the grid. Haas opened with another round of struggles as both cars were slowest in both sessions.

Haas in previous years contended for points in Austin as a mid-pack team, but performance has plummeted with a pair of rookie drivers and an outdated car.

“I think we knew this year was always going to be tough,” Haas rookie driver Mick Schumacher said. “We went into the season knowing there were going to be no improvements on the car. What we have is what we’ve got.”

Off the track, reports of Michael Andretti’s bid to take over Alfa Romeo continued to flow through the paddock. The American owner of Andretti Autosport and son of former F1 champion Mario Andretti has been vocal in his bid to expand his reach into F1.

Zak Brown, the American head of McLaren and a friend and business associate of Andretti’s, wouldn’t disclose how close Andretti may be on a deal.

“What I can say is he’s very serious about Formula One. He loves Formula One,” Brown said. “Obviously he’s got a lot of history, including his father being a world champion. I think it would be great if Michael and the Andretti name was involved in Formula One. We’ll see what happens.”

There’s been rampant speculation that Andretti will attempt to move 21-year-old American IndyCar driver Colton Herta to F1 if he can get Herta the license required to compete. But even without Herta there still may be an American driver on the way.

Williams on Friday said it signed Logan Sargeant, 20, to its driver development academy after three seasons in Formula 3. F1 hasn’t had an American driver since Alexander Rossi’s brief stint with Sauber at the end of 2015.

“We expect him to move up fast,” Williams Chief Executive Jost Capito said. “We will have a good program for him.”

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
1 Comment

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).