Mercedes clung on to second place in the constructors’ championship by the skin of their teeth – and a £10milllion cash boost – as Max Verstappen ended the most dominant season in Formula One history with another victory at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Verstappen failed to triumph at just three of the 22 rounds staged, and his latest win takes him to 54 for his career, leaving only Lewis Hamilton (103 wins) and Michael Schumacher (91) ahead of him.
The Dutchman finished 17 seconds clear of team-mate Sergio Perez but the Red Bull driver was demoted to fourth following a five-second penalty for a collision with Lando Norris.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was promoted to second with Mercedes’ George Russell third. Lewis Hamilton finished ninth in the other black-liviried machine with Mercedes three points clear of Ferrari in the standings to land a £105million reward, rather than £95m.
However, it marked a second straight season without a victory for Hamilton – a losing streak of 45 races – and Mercedes’ first winless campaign in a dozen years.
Norris finished fifth for McLaren, one place ahead of team-mate Oscar Piastri.
Verstappen has been in a class of one this season and Sunday’s 58-lap race round the Yas Marina Circuit never looked anything other than a Red Bull triumph – the team’s 21st of their all-conquering year – after he resisted a first-lap attack from Leclerc.
Leclerc tried and failed on three occasions to fight his way past Verstappen only for the triple world champion to keep him at bay on each occasion.
Behind, and Norris was on the move, making his way up to third ahead of Piastri and Russell.
Further back and Hamilton, who started 11th, was up two places to ninth, but by the end of the third lap he was in 10th as Perez swept by.
With Leclerc in second, and Russell and Hamilton fifth and 10th, Ferrari held second spot. But Russell was soon on the move to hand the initiative back to Mercedes.
On lap 11 he got ahead of Piastri after sling-shotting ahead of the Australian’s McLaren, and then three laps later, he took advantage of a slow pit stop for Norris to take third.
But in the other Mercedes, Hamilton feared he had sustained damage to his front wing after he biffed Pierre Gasly’s Alpine.
A check from Mercedes suggested otherwise, and team principal Toto Wolff was on the intercom to provide his star man with a pep talk.
“Lewis, you were the second quickest car on the last lap,” he said. “You are quick.” Moments later, the Austrian was back on the radio to tell Hamilton he was the speediest out there.
Wolff’s encouragement seemed to work. On lap 25, Hamilton was up to eighth after he passed Daniel Ricciardo before a second stop dropped him back down the order and in a duel with old foe Fernando Alonso.
Hamilton made his way ahead of Alonso only for the Spaniard to fight back past. Hamilton then accused Alonso of brake-testing him.
Carlos Sainz’s poor qualifying session left him 16th on the grid, but a desperate one-stop strategy saw him exposed to Alonso and then Hamilton as they moved by for eighth and ninth.
Advantage Mercedes. But Perez then threatened to provide a sting in their tail by hunting down Russell in the battle for third. If Perez finished ahead of Russell, the Silver Arrows would lose second spot.
With four laps to go, Perez fought his way past the English driver.
Perez took Leclerc on the last lap, but finished only 3.9 sec clear of Russell – dropping Perez to fourth – as Mercedes breathed a sigh of relief.
Jamaican sensation Alex Powell claims first F4 win in Italy
Jamaican Alex Powell, Mercedes-AMG F1 Team Junior, claimed his first European F4 victory in one of the most exciting races of the year at the famed ‘Temple of Speed’, Autodromo Nazionale di Monza in Monza, Italy, on Sunday.
Ninth on the grid for the first race of the weekend, Powell had a blistering start, which saw him move up four positions on lap one, before the first of several Safety Car appearances paused racing. It was a race with multiple incidents and re-starts, but Powell remained focused and was consistently sharp for every start.
After a three-way battle, the Jamaican sensation executed a breathtaking pass for the race lead, before a final incident brought out the Safety Car again, with Powell crossing the line first as the race finished.
In addition to the outright race win, Powell also secured first among rookie drivers, claiming the two top trophies in the race. His performance also assisted Prema Racing to secure the team title for the 2024 Euro 4 Championship.
McConnell confident heading into rounds three and four of Nitrocross Championship in Utah
Jamaican racing sensation Fraser McConnell is gearing up for an intense weekend of action as he heads into Rounds three and four of the Nitrocross championship on October 5 & 6 in Utah.
Following a stellar performance at the season’s opening rounds in Richmond, Virginia, McConnell holds second place in the overall standings, just 11 points behind leader Kevin Eriksson.
McConnell’s dominant showing at Richmond Raceway on September 7 & 8 saw him secure a third-place finish in Round 1, followed by a thrilling battle for first in Round 2.
After clinching the top qualifier spot and winning his semi-final, McConnell started the Round 2 final in pole position. Despite taking an early lead, a dramatic half-spin pushed him off his racing line, allowing Eriksson to take the win. McConnell finished second ahead of Viktor Vranckx.
Looking ahead to the Utah rounds, McConnell remains optimistic about his chances.
“I’m really looking forward to this weekend, going back to Utah, the birthplace of Nitrocross,” he shared.
“It all started there with the Nitro World Games in 2018 and 2019, so it's a very special place for everyone involved.”
McConnell also highlighted the challenge of the upcoming track. “Salt Lake is one of the craziest tracks on the calendar, with the biggest gap jump and a lot of demanding corners. It requires high speed from us drivers. I'll just go out there and hit my marks as usual, trying to extract as much as I can from the car while proudly repping Jamaica.”
With back-to-back podium finishes in Rounds 1 and 2, McConnell is confident about continuing his strong run.
“We’re second in the championship with 107 points, and I’m looking forward to continuing that streak this weekend,” he said.
McConnell currently leads defending champion Robin Larsson by four points and is poised to close the gap further in his pursuit of overtaking Eriksson.
McConnell's season is sponsored by JustBet, Proven, Tru Shake, Rainforest, and the Jamaica Tourist Board.
Reggae Racers Gore, Summerbell secure creditable finishes in race five of ADAC GT4 Germany series
Jamaica’s team of Tommi Gore and Senna Summerbell produced a creditable showing in the fifth race of the ADAC GT4 Germany series as they secured two top-15 finishes at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, Styria, at the weekend.
The Jamaican duo, dubbed the Reggae Racers, displayed their prowess as they drove their Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Club Sport to a 14th place finish after qualifying in ninth position in race one.
They were up with the pace from a strong start but later faded down the track in a fiercely competitive field.
However, the Avia W&S Motorsport representatives improved significantly in the second race, where they went nine places better to place fifth after placing fourth in qualifying.
The team of Jan Marschalkowski and Philipp Gogollok from Eastside Motorsport, finished tops to register their first win of the series. They won ahead of Finn Zulauf and Josef Knopp, also representing Avia W&S Motorsport.
With much positive to take from their performances, Gore and Summerbell will target even more improvements in the final race of the season scheduled for October 18-20 in Hockenheim, Germany.
“I am so happy to be a part of this team and ready to end the year strong. We had a big jump in results from the start of the season with this change, so we can only expect things to get better from here,” Gore said.
The Avia W&S Motorsports team, which currently occupies second position in the team ranking on 179 points, are the defending champions in the ADAC GT4 Series. They are 11 points behind leaders Hofor Racing.
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