Formula 1 - Brazilian Grand Prix; from Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace-Interlagos, San Paolo, Brazil. Practice #1. Friday @ 11am - 12:30pm (NBCSN(HD)) live
Formula 1 - Brazilian Grand Prix; from Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace-Interlagos, San Paolo, Brazil. Qualifying. Saturday @ 9:30pm - 11pm (NBCSN(HD)) same-day replay; next replay on Sunday @ 8:30am
Formula 1 - Brazilian Grand Prix; from Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace-Interlagos, San Paolo, Brazil. Race. Sunday @ 10:30am - 1pm (NBCSN(HD)) live
Bitchin Rides. Tuesday @ 9pm - 10pm (VelocityHD) new
Wheeler Dealers. Wednesday @ 9pm - 10pm (VelocityHD) new
Garage Squad. Wednesday @ 10pm - 11pm (VelocityHD) new
The last few races have been pretty significant in terms of the F1 Season. Petronas Mercedes-AMG won the constructors title for a 4th time in a row after the completion of the USGP and Lewis Hamilton took his 4th career Driver's Championship after finishing 9th in the GP of Mexico, getting a puncture on the first lap from a surging Vettel losing tracking in the chase of Max Verstappen. Verstappen got his first win of the season in Mexico after the disappointment of a FIA steward decision to give him a 5 second penalty after passing Raikkonen for 3rd place on the final lap of the USGP, a scintillating inside move where all four wheels left the track for a brief period of time.Meanwhile, Vettel had a growing up hill battle coming into COTA and after Hamilton's win there had his back up against the wall in Mexico. His response was one of the best qualifying laps of the year, taking the pole over a incredibly quick Verstappen who couldn't pull off a better time in the waiting seconds of Q3. Mercedes didn't look strong in Mexico, Red Bull and Ferrari were definitely the cars to beat; however Bottas did his part and finished on the podium despite their speed challenges. The track was dusty and slick and various teams had trouble over the weekend making their tires work. More significantly, Verstappen did more than just win his second GP at 20 in Mexico, he was also the only Renault powered car to finish the race. While McLaren resigned Alonso and he was excited for next season and having a Renault power unit in his car in 2018, the new power units from the French manufacture were failing all over the place. Verstappen admittedly turned his engine down after the failures continued and he still won by 30 seconds. Sergio Perez (aka Checo) had a great weekend in Mexico and had the entire crowd behind him despite their allegiances to other drivers and teams due to all of his charitable work to support those impacted by the Mexico City earthquake a few weeks ago. He also drove extremely well, finishing in the points a few positions behind his teammate Esteban Ocon. Ocon, a rising star over his sheer consistency of finishing all of his GPs, along with his speed and skill, was just in the news upping his security detail in Mexico due to threats he'd been receiving due to the conflicts he was having with Checo over the season. This was quite an unfortunate turn by fan(atics), both Ocon wasn't deterred and showed his professionalism on the track.
All said, with two races left, the teams and drivers are looking to close out this year with a good showing along with focus on the potential of the new regulations and competition of 2018. We have two races left; we return to Brazil's Interlagos and Abu Dhabi's Yas Marina circuits. Massa will be leaving F1, again, for a second year in a row so Brazil will be bittersweet for his last home race in an F1 car. We'll see how Renault responds to the issues from Mexico and if Mercedes can claw back some of the dominance we've seen wane in the some of the more technical tracks. Will Red Bull be on the podium again? Can Bottas finish 2nd in the Driver's Championship? Tune in to find out.
Formula 1 - Grand Prix of Mexico; from Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City, Mexico. Practice 1. Friday @ 11am - 12:30pm. Practice 2. Friday @ 3pm - 4:30pm (NBCSN(HD)) live
Formula 1 - Grand Prix of Mexico; from Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City, Mexico. Qualifying. Saturday @ 2pm - 4pm (NBCSN(HD)) live
Formula 1 - Grand Prix of Mexico; from Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City, Mexico. Race. Sunday @ 3pm - 5pm (NBC(HD)) live; replay @ 8:30pm on NBCSN
Formula 1 - Brazilian Grand Prix; from Autodromo Jose Carlos
Pace-Interlagos, San Paolo, Brazil. Practice #1. Friday @ 11am -
12:30am (NBCSN(HD)) live
Formula 1 - Brazilian Grand Prix; from Autodromo Jose Carlos
Pace-Interlagos, San Paolo, Brazil. Qualifying. Saturday @ 11am -
12:30pm (CNBC(HD)) live; replay @ 6:30pm
Formula 1 - Brazilian Grand Prix; from Autodromo Jose Carlos
Pace-Interlagos, San Paolo, Brazil. Race. Sunday @ 10:30am -
1pm (NBCSN(HD)) live; replay Sunday @ 7:30pm
The last few races of the season have been crazy, with Hams figuring out his launch method and taking Pole to Checkered flag twice, but Mexico was crazy for more reasons than the Driver's Championship. Controversy abounded, with Vettel chasing down Verstappen late in the race with fresher tires; Verstappen locked up and went through the grass, after the ultra high speed ending turn 1, exiting ahead of Vettel out of the grass and not yeilding the spot despite most folks on the wall thinking he gained an advantage. The Verstappen stayed in front of Vettel and had too much pace for Vettel to get by, and Ricciardo caught up to Vettel in the melee but was unable to make the move stick. Getting back to the Verstappen course cut, there wasn't an announcement from the stewards until another lap went by and it stated that they would figure it out after the race concluded, which didn't make a lot of sense. Scuderia pit wall was livid, only superseded by Vettel cursing FIA Director Charlie Whiting, also cursing Verstappen and everyone else involved. The top three finishers, Hams, Rosberg and Verstappen all park and go into the waiting room and suddenly the stewards announce that Verstappen was assessed a 5sec penalty which effectively moved him from 3rd to 5th because of the Red Bull sammich Vettel was in at the finish. Then the cameras shift and through the crowd of fans in front of the podium comes Vettel, escorted by his entire team, while Verstappen gets the news and is asked to leave by the FIA official. Then after the race and interviews were long over, the stewards decided on a 10sec penalty for Vettel for driving erratically in defense of Ricciardo's advances, resulting of Max running slower than Vettel but doing his best to maintain position. This pushed Ricciardo into 3rd for the race. Seems odd because Verstappen is the one who put Vettel in that position, but in the end Verstappen finished ahead of Vettel, in 4th. Possibly the most eventful and colorful race of this season; radio sound bites for days.
With the smoke cleared after the checkered flag the current Driver's standings are as follows: Rosberg, Hamilton (-19), Ricciardo (-107), Vettel (-162), Raikkonen (-171), Verstappen (-172). Brazil should be another tight battle; there's just about no way to pass an evenly matched car at Interlagos, which if you remember last year is what kept Hamilton from getting past Nico in the final laps. If Rosberg keeps coming in second with Hams winning he'll still win the championship by 5pts; he'll need Red Bull to bring it in the last two races after he gets out to the lead. Qualy will be a big deal in Brazil.
Garage Squad. Wednesday @ 10pm - 10:30pm (VelocityHD) new
F1 action returns to Austin Tx and Haas F1 will have their first home Grand Prix. Where we last left off at Suzuka, Hamilton again bungled the start and fought his way back to finish third behind Max Verstappen - he's now 33 points down. Nico is going to have to do something amazingly bad to lose this Driver's Championship, but it ain't over 'til it's over as they say. Despite Ferrari having a better outing than Red Bull over all, Seb and Kimi finishing 4-5, Verstappen held onto P2 despite the advances of a desperate Hamilton; this consistency has now tied him in 5th in the Driver's Championship with Vettel. Force india out-duked Williams again, with Checo and Hulk finishing 7-8. This will Hulks last season with Force India as he's signed to drive for the Renault factory team in 2017. Despite decent running as of late McLaren couldn't put it together for the home fans, Alonso and Button finishing 16-18. Congrats to Petronas Mercedes AMG for clenching the Constructors Championship for the third time in a row, completely dominating this hybrid-turbo era.The current standings are as follows: Rosberg, Hamilton (-33), Ricciardo (-101), Raikkonen (-143), Verstappen (-148), Vettel (-148). COTA is one of Hamilton's favorite tracks, and he loves the states, so if he's going to get back on track it'll be this weekend. Conversely, Nico could put the proverbial nail in Hamilton's coffin if he takes another checkered flag -- the US GP should be quite significant.
Garage Squad. Wednesday @ 10pm - 10:30pm (VelocityHD) new
We have a loaded motorsport weekend to look forward to this weekend, with the WeatherTech Sports Car Championship finale, the Petite Le Mans from Road Atlanta, V8 Supercars action, WRC action, Monaco Historic GP coverage from earlier this summer and the F1 2016 season continues in Malaysia.
Where we last left off, it was hot and muggy in Singapore two weeks ago. Hams was holding on to the championship lead with his fingernails, and Mercedes was looking forward to trying to rectify the mysterious problems they had last year in SG, where Nico finished off the podium and Hams DNF'd. This year Mercedes seemed to have figured out how to work with the 2016 Pirelli compounds, living towards the top of the order all weekend. Ferrari got the win last year and looked to repeat if possible, and Red Bull was looking for an initial win of the season. Qualifying was a good sign of what was to come in the race; Nico was the fastest, followed by Ricciardo and Hamilton, who struggled a bit with some of consistency in some of the technical sections. Vettel had to start from the back as he suffered a broken rear suspension in Q1 which forced him to retire. Given his ability to chose his fate, he switched power units (negated penalty since he was in the back in the first place) and started on the Softs to get the longest first stint possible. The race start was eventful for all the wrong reasons; Nico Hulkenberg was clipped during a quick start, attempting to split the two Toro Rosso's, resulting in a broken rear suspension. The collateral damage was extensive as the activity resulted in some broken front wings, punctures and other damage, which made the initial trip through the pits for the entire field a mandatory pit stop area for some. From that point forward it was a tire strategy exercise. Rosberg was in clean air so things didn't really get interesting for him until late in the race. Both Mercs were dealing with brake temp issues, and the other front runners worked to exploit that where ever possible. The initial idea for Mercedes was to run a two stopper UltraS-Soft-Soft and Red Bull were to run SSoft-SSoft-Soft or similar. As the race developed however, with the brake issues rearing their head, Ham's was passed by Raikkonen on track while trying to get a new strategy from the team, but he didn't get a new strategy until relatively late; instead of going two stop, Hams and Ricciardo went onto SSofts with about 17 laps to go, which changes the dynamic of the two stop strategy completely. Raikkonen pitted shortly afterward for UltraS's which painted the final laps as ones where Ricciardo, Hams and Raikkonen would be up Rosbergs' transaxle. Due to the pit delta and other factors, and the slow reaction by Rosberg's pit, he stayed out on the Softs and Daniel got within a half second of him on the final lap. The strategy Red Bull employed (and Hams' pit in reaction), almost paid off, but it wasn't quite enough. Perez finished in 8th, doing Sahara Force India's constructor's points well despite Hulkenberg's retirement on Lap 1. Button DNF'd, but Alonso finished 7th for Mclaren's sake. Verstappen recovered from a bad start in 4th, and a near miss with Hulkenberg's quick trip into the wall, to finish in 6th.
With the checkered flag dropped, the top three finished in the order they started, followed by the Ferrari's of Raikkonen and Vettel, respectively. The current Driver's standing are as follows: Rosberg, Hamilton (-8), Ricciardo (-94), Vettel (-120), Raikkonen (-125), Verstappen (-144). Malaysia should be another good one; if teams and drivers want to make an impact it'll have to happen now.
Formula 1 - Grand Prix of Germany; from the Hockenheimring in Hockenheim, Germany. Practice. Friday @ 8am - 9:30pm (NBCSN(HD)) live; replay at 11:30pm
World Rally Championship. Finland. Friday @ 1:30pm - 2:30pm (MAVTV) live
Formula 1 - Grand Prix of Germany; from the Hockenheimring in
Hockenheim, Germany. Qualifying. Saturday @ 8am - 9:30am (CNBC(HD)) live; replay at 11:30pm
World Rally Championship. Finland. Sunday @ 6am - 7am (MAVTV) live
Formula 1 - Grand Prix of Germany; from the Hockenheimring in Hockenheim, Germany. Race. Sunday @ 7am - 10am (CNBC(HD)) live
IndyCar Series - Mid-Ohio. Sunday @ 2pm - 5pm (CNBC(HD)) live
Chris Harris On Cars. Monday @ 9pm - 9:30pm (BBCAmerica(HD)) new
Top Gear (UK). Monday @ 9:30pm - 11pm (BBCAmerica(HD)) replay
This weekend is chock full of mospo action, from rally to open wheel to @harrismonkey. Last weekend in Hungary was somewhat predictable, from the podium perspective, but there was plenty of great action throughout the top 10. Verstappen and Kimi went at it, Vettel and Ricciardo did the same and Rosberg and Hamilton duked it out as well. Alonso finished in the points again, taking P7 in all sessions. The rain rolled in and lead to some interesting results during qualifying; actually Q1 took about an hour due to rain delays. The number of folks smacking into walls due to misjudging water on the track was only out done by some of the greatest WOT-slicks-on-water saves rolling on to the straight, from turn 14, that we've seen this season. Red Bull is still fast and Ricciardo snatched 3rd for Red Bull, and 3rd in the Driver's Championship (DC). Raikkonen's poor qualy was rectified during the race, but was capped by an unpassable Verstappen. The ream radio rules were amended. Rosberg got a questionable Pole in qualy under a yellow flag, edging out Hams; Hams got the last laugh, taking the checkered flag and the DC lead, despite having trouble keeping pace on the softs. With the smoke cleared the championship standings are as follows: Hamilton, Rosberg (-6), Ricciardo (-77), Raikkonen (-78), Vettel (-82), Verstappen (-92). The best of the rest is tighter than ever and Ferrari is feeling the pressure, and to make matters worse, they've lost their technical director, well known aerodynamicist James Allison, this week. Rosberg signed a new contract, so the top 6 drivers here will be in their same cars next year. Red Bull may want to reconsider the engine venture next season, because Renault is doing some great work for them; oh I'm sorry TAG is doing some great work for them. Now we're back in Germany where Nico is strong and is looking to take his lead back. Should be another good one.
The F1 season comes down to this weekend in Yas Marina -- of course 1-2 in both Driver's and Manufacturers Championships have been decided, but there's plenty to play for in the following positions. Plus, Nico is trying to continue his strong performances to take momentum into the 2016 season.
Enjoy the holiday weekend with your family and friends, the turkey and be safe out there on the road. Until next week.
Formula 1 - Grand Prix of Mexico; from Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City, Mexico. Practice. Friday @ 1pm - 2:30pm (NBCSN(HD)) delayed airing; replay @ 11:30pm
Formula 1 - Grand Prix of Mexico; from Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City, Mexico. Qualifying. Saturday @ 2pm - 4pm (CNBC(HD)) live
FIA WEC. Shanghi. Saturday @ 11pm - 4:30am (FS2(HD))live, 4:30am - 6am (FS1(HD)) live
Formula 1 - Grand Prix of Mexico; from Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City, Mexico. Race. Sunday @ 1:30pm - 4:30pm (NBC(HD)) live
The long rainy weekend in Austin Texas ended with a dry track and a declared World Drivers Champion. Before we get to that we have to talk about the rain. It rained so much the coverage of Qualifying was limited, taking place the morning of the GP. The various F1 teams entertained the few fans that camped out on; some dancing, some waving, some acting out imaginary rowing competitions. Rosberg took poll, with Hamilton in 2nd spot. The Ferrari boys had a 2016 power unit putting them over the limit for 2015. Being docked 10 grid positions they started no better than 13th. The Red Bulls were quick in the wet and were looking forward to competing. The race started somewhat predictably, but then it all went out the window. It wasn't raining, but the track was still wet, some spots worse than others. Everyone started on the Inters, but as incidents piled up and the yellow flags started waving, folks hit the pits early and gambled on the Softs, some too early. The McLaren's raced well with the conditions, along with Force India for another quick race. The Red Bulls brought it, Kvyat spent much of the early laps up Hams gearbox. Nico lost ground early but clawed his way back into the top four. Then the Inters started dropping off, Hams fell off the pace and hit the pits for Softs. Then things got really interesting. Without turning this into War and Peace, DNF's abounded. Nico bungled late and proved he wasn't ready to fight Hamilton this year. Hulkenburg made another bad mistake late resulting in a DNF. Alexander Rossi had a great first home race in Austin and was the crowd favorite next to Hams and Vettel was about one lap away from possibly challenging Rosberg for 2nd, which would've put off Hamilton's clinch for another race; but it was not to be.
With the smoke cleared, Rosberg leap frogs Vettel for 2nd overall, so they'll be duking it out for 2nd in the Drivers Championship. AMG Petronas Mercedes double Champions again for two years in a row, Hams passes Vettel in GP victories and matches Senna in World Championships. Sergio Perez has been on a tear lately and did well in Texas finishing 5th behind the young Max Verstappen in 4th. He'll be at his home GP this weekend in Mexico City so this should be a good one with last week's Hurricane now past. Enjoy your weekends.
This past F1 weekend in Singapore was quite the adventure for multiple drivers. Vettel came away with a race win, surpassing Senna with 43 wins and his 3rd win this season. Ferrari was very strong all weekend. Ricciardo took second with Raikkonen right behind him. Rosberg took fourth. Hamilton (power unit issues), Alonso, Button, Hulkenberg and Massa didn't finish. Massa and Hulkenberg had an incident at pit exit that the stewards decided in Massa's favor, but Hulkenberg took the immediate brunt and immediately retired; Massa's retirement came from the result of gearbox issues that may or may not have happened without the contact. Bottas finished 5th, Kvyat 6th, followed by Perez and the Toro Rosso dual of Sainz and the young Verstappen. Toro Rosso pit leadership gave Verstappen team orders (with a few laps) left to let Sainz by, presumably for driver's championship standing help, but he didn't oblige. I don't blame him. Hamilton was in as good a spirits as I've seen him after a DNF, but on his side is a large quantity of championship points. Rosberg on the other hand has Maranello's finest breathing down his neck. There were also yellow flags a plenty in this race; once for some random dude that wandered on to the circuit. Hopefully he's in jail tonight. After the smoke cleared the standings are as follows: Hamilton, Rosberg (-41), Vettel (-49), Raikkonen (-145), Bottas (-151).
This weekend we're at another technical track, Suzuka. Mercedes has shown they aren't as reliable as they could be, and not the fastest around in every scenario. This should be another opportunity for Ferrari to run wild, but if Hamilton wants to win this championship they better figure their issues out.
United Sports Car Championship. Six hours of the Glen. From Watkins Glen International Raceway in New York. Sunday @ 10am - 2pm (FS1(HD)) Sunday @ 2pm - 4:30pm (FS2(HD)) live
We have F1 and the Indy 500 to look forward to this weekend. Nico took the checkered flag in Spain, but the top three was full of the usual suspects. Make sure to follow the channel changes by NBC this weekend. Enjoy the holiday and drive safe.
