What to watch this F1 Weekend (July 30th - Aug 4th)

• Formula 1 - Grand Prix of Hungary; from the Hungaroring in Budapest, Hungary. Practice 1. Friday @ 5:25am - 6:30am (ESPN2) live
• Formula 1 - Grand Prix of Hungary; from the Hungaroring in Budapest, Hungary. Practice 2. Friday @ 8:55am - 10am (ESPNU) live
• Formula 1 - Grand Prix of Hungary; from the Hungaroring in Budapest, Hungary. Practice 3. Friday @ 5:55am - 7am (ESPN2) live
• Formula 1 - Grand Prix of Hungary; from the Hungaroring in Budapest, Hungary. Qualifying. Saturday @ 8:55am - 10am (ESPN2) live
• Formula 1 - Grand Prix of Hungary; from the Hungaroring in Budapest, Hungary. Race. Sunday @ 9:05am - 11am (ESPN) live
• Bitchin Rides. Mon/Tue/Wed @ 6pm - 7pm (MotorTrend) replays
• Garage Squad. Mon/Wed @ 7pm - 8pm (MotorTrend) replay
• Auto Mundial. Tuesday @ 7pm - 7:30pm (MotorTrend) replays
• Motorweek. Tuesday @ 7:30pm - 8pm (MotorTrend) replays
• Wheeler Dealers. Tuesday @11pm - 12am (MotorTrend) replay
• Chasing Classic Cars. Wednesday @ 10pm - 11pm (MotorTrend) new

Silverstone's race weekend (and first lap for that matter) was an eye opener to say the least; we had our first sprint quali session which determined the GP starting order after an exciting traditional quali session on Friday afternoon. Hamilton took pole on Friday and Max converted his second place finish into pole in the sprint quali on Saturday afternoon. Then the lessons learned from sprint quali lead to potentially one of a few more race incidents between Max and Hamilton. I won't get into fault and all of that, there have been plenty of talking heads with that analysis, including the chainbear vid below, but as well all know when two racing drivers want to win and don't back down, shit happens. In this case Max just so happened to get the worse end of the contact and Hamilton ended up with minor damage (broken wheel rim that got swapped during the ensuing red flag) and parlayed some good race pace on hards into a race victory. What made this situation even more unfortunate for Red Bull Racing, the sprint race turned out as bad as it could've for Checo. He spun out late in the sprint race which resulted in him having to start the GP from the pit lane; he drove himself back into the points, but instead of taking 8th (with a possibility of taking 7th), RBR pit him late to steal the fastest lap point away from Merc/Hamilton. Not sure this was the most logical decision on the face, but it's in the books. The primary thing to pay attention to here is how Max and Hamilton will choose to go forward, in races; will they be more apt to contact one another again while imposing their will? Will things get more chippy as races pass? There is a lot at stake here, specifically for Red Bull Racing as they're trying to snag a Constructors' (and Drivers') chip heading into the new regulations of 2022, with by all accounts is a better overall package this year. Meanwhile Merc is trying to lockout the first stretch of the turbo-hybrid era with an 8th Constructors title. Lewis is trying to take his 8th Driver's title and break the Schumacher's historic record. In the meantime, Ferrari has been looking better, Charles taking second after almost taking the win. McLaren had a decent day as well, which definitely suggests the Constructors' fight for 3rd will drag out until very late in the year. With the checkered flag dropped Max now has an 8pt lead over Hamilton, cut down from 33. RBRs lead over Mercedes AMG is now just 4pts. Ferrari is now within 15pts of McLaren. Hungary should tell us plenty about what will happen through the second half of this Championship, post-summer break.

Enjoy your motorsport weekends.

Video courtesy of ChainBear.

Check here for the Formula1 race recap.

What to watch this Weekend (June 6th - June 12th)

• Isle of Man TT. 2019 insane action from the infamous Isle. Thursday @ 11pm - 12am (VelocityHD) new
• The Grand Tour. Season 3. Episodes on demand. Friday (Amazon Prime) 
• Formula 1 - Canadian Grand Prix; from Gilles Villeneuve Circuit in Montreal, Canada. Practice 1. Friday @ 9:55am - 11:30am (ESPNU(HD)) live
• Formula 1 - Canadian Grand Prix; from Gilles Villeneuve Circuit in Montreal, Canada. Practice 2. Friday @ 1:55pm - 3:30pm (ESPNU(HD)) live
• Isle of Man TT. 2019 insane action from the infamous Isle. Friday @ 11pm - 12am (VelocityHD) new
• Formula 1 - Canadian Grand Prix; from Gilles Villeneuve Circuit in Montreal, Canada. Practice 3. Saturday @ 10:55am - 12pm (ESPN2(HD)) live
• Formula 1 - Canadian Grand Prix; from Gilles Villeneuve Circuit in Montreal, Canada. Qualifying. Saturday @ 1:55pm - 3pm (ESPNNews(HD)) live
• Isle of Man TT. 2019 insane action from the infamous Isle. Saturday @ 11pm - 12am (VelocityHD) new
• Formula 1 - Canadian Grand Prix; from Gilles Villeneuve Circuit in Montreal, Canada. Race. Sunday @ 1:30pm - 4pm (ABC(HD)) live
• Chasing Classic Cars. Tuesday @ 7pm - 7:30pm (MotorTrendHD) replay
• Motorweek. Tuesday @ 7:30pm - 8pm (MotorTrendHD) replay
• Wheeler Dealers. Wednesday @ 8pm - 9pm (MotorTrendHD)

Monaco was quite the weekend. Merc finally failed to get a 1-2 finish, but they still got a 1-3 finish. Ferrari got on the podium, but only because Red Bull released Max into Bottas and there was contact; this lead to a 5 second penalty, which put Max in 4th even though he hounded Hams until the very end -- Hamilton taking a set of mediums into uncharted territory, 60+ laps on a tire only supposed to do 50. However Monaco is a track position dominant track, so once you get your stop in you can typically run to the end if you have the separation needed at right sections of the circuit, which Merc had in spades; Hams rears were perfect even though his left front was graining so he could hook up out of corners without issue. Verstappen was in a pickle once he realized there would be a time penalty for the unsafe release, so he could either run to the end to get as far ahead of 3rd and 4th place as possible to maintain a podium finish, which would require he get past Hamilton, or pit, take the penalty then and try to overtake his way back onto the podium, which didn't look likely unless there was another safety car. No additional safety car came, it didn't rain, so he tried to take on Hamilton for his position. Hams drove a strong race through some old tires and defended like the grizzled vet that his is. Vettel got a surprisingly good finish despite not qualifying to well, on behalf of Ferrari, but Ferrari is still trying to figure out why they can't turn tires on. Honda missed out on making the podium in Monaco, but has been superior to Renault in every way in 2019. Bottas looked strong again this weekend, but was unable to take pole despite a great lap; Hamilton pushed his Merc to the limit and just managed to edge him out in his final lap while Bottas couldn't warm his tires up well enough for the end of Q3. Ferrari's strategy is still suspicious, Leclerc fell victim to that in Q1 -- he should've been told to go back out since the track was getting faster while he sat in the pit (after a salvaged weigh-bridge snaffu, Leclerc missing his call in and his pit pushing him back to avoid penalty). Gasley had another strong race, finishing 5th behind Max and taking the fastest lap point late in the race on softs. McLaren did well enough to get Sainz into 6th, but Norris missed the points in 11th. Torro Rosso finished 7-8, getting all four Honda powertrains well into the top ten. Ricciardo had a scrappy race and got a point for Renault in 9th, but they still have plenty to sort out. Alfa Romeo was MIA and Williams didn't finish in the last two places (15th (Russell) and 18th (Kubica)). The Driver's Championship standings are as follows: Hamilton, Bottas (-17), Vettel (-55), Verstappen (-59), Leclerc (-80), Gasely (-105).  Canada should be a chance for all the teams to reassert themselves; unfortunately Merc is getting an engine upgrade. Red Bull is slowly putting themselves into position to overtake Ferrari; let's see how that effort shakes out.

Enjoy your weekends.

Video courtesy of Autosport.

What to watch this Weekend (Mar 9th - Mar 14th)

• The Grand Tour. All of Season 2. Friday (Amazon Prime)
• Indycar Series - Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg in St. Petersburg, FL. Sunday @ 12pm - 3pm (ABC(HD)) live 
• Top Gear. Season 25 - Episode 3. Sunday @ 8pm - 10pm (BBCAmerica) new
• Chasing Classic Cars. Tuesday @ 7pm - 7:30pm (VelocityHD) replay
• Motorweek. Tuesday @ 7:30pm - 8pm (VelocityHD) replay
• Wheeler Dealers. Mini-marathon. Wednesday @ 3pm - 6pm (VelocityHD) replays
• Garage Squad. Wednesday @ 7pm - 8pm (VelocityHD) replays
• Restoration Garage. Wednesday @ 9pm - 9:30pm (VelocityHD) new

Enjoy your motorsport weekends.

Video courtesy of Formula1.

What to watch this Weekend (Feb 8th - Feb 10th)

• What's my car worth? Mini-marathon. Monday @ 1pm - 4pm (VelocityHD)
• Top Gear (UK). Monday @ 7pm - 10pm (BBCAmerica(HD)) great replays
• Motorweek. Tuesday @ 7:30pm - 8pm (VelocityHD)
• Wheeler Dealers. Alfa Romeo Alfa Sud (9pm). Wednesday @ 7pm - 10pm (VelocityHD) 

Enjoy your weekends. 

Video courtesy of VerstappenNL.