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Mercedes Betrayed Lewis Hamilton Once Again
Lewis Hamilton crashed out of the US prix in just the third lap.
Hamilton had made an impressive start to the race as he had quickly moved up to 12th place from his starting position of 17th.
However, the Mercedes driver ended up with his car on the gravel after appearing to lose concentration.
Hamilton’s car ended up facing towards the wall, although it didn’t make contact with it.
A safety car was subsequently deployed and remained in place until the fifth lap.
Hamilton was left dejected as he walked away following the incident.
The 39-year-old has won two races in 2024 as he triumphed in the British Grand Prix and in Belgium.
He finished in sixth place in his last race in Singapore.
The incident involving Hamilton occurred in the same position where his team-mate George Russell crashed out in qualifying.
Russell lost his grid position of sixth and had to start the US Grand Prix from the pit lane.
He damaged his car with a heavy crash at Turn 19.
The drama in Austin didn’t end there with Lando Norris’ championship hopes being dealt a hammer blow after he was handed a controversial five-second penalty to finish behind rival Max Verstappen.
As Charles Leclerc raced to an impressive win at Austin’s Circuit of the Americas, pole man Norris was only fourth – one place behind Verstappen – to leave him 57 points adrift in the title race with only 146 points to play for across the concluding five rounds. Carlos Sainz took second to complete a Ferrari one-two.
However, the stewards quickly launched an investigation into the pass, and Norris was adjudged to have run off the track. Norris was penalised, and although he crossed the line in third, four seconds ahead of Verstappen, his sanction dropped him back, in what could prove a pivotal decision in his championship quest.
Norris might have hoped he had banished the first-lap demons which have so far plagued his championship bid.
Up until the previous round in Singapore, Norris had failed to end the opening lap in the lead on any of the five previous occasions he has started from pole. Under the lights of the Marina Bay Circuit, Norris finally ended the hoodoo before going on to claim the most emphatic win of his life.
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Audi F1 project’s CEO and CTO, Mattia Binotto, who is laying the groundwork for the German automaker to takeover the Sauber F1 team in 2026, revealed that he met Mick Schumacher in Austin regarding his potential appointment in the team as a full-time driver.
While Audi opted for Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg to occupy one of Sauber’s F1 cars next season, the other seat remains open, which is the last available seat in Formula 1. As a result, many drivers are in contention for the high-demand opportunity, such as current Sauber driver Valtteri Bottas, F2 driver Gabriel Bortoleto, Williams interim driver Franco Colapinto, and Schumacher.
Currently, Audi is deciding whether to appoint a fresh talent such as Colapinto or Bortoleto alongside an experienced F1 driver like Hulkenberg or to hire another experienced driver such as Bottas. Schumacher fits in between the two extremes, as his full-time F1 experience includes 2 years at Haas in 2021 and 2022 before he parted ways with the American outfit at the end of the second year.
Currently, Schumacher is not only performing reserve driver duties for Mercedes but also racing for Alpine’s World Endurance Championship (WEC) team. However, his ultimate goal remains to race in the premier class of motorsport, and Audi seems to be the only option at the moment where he could achieve his dream.
While Binotto still assesses his options for the best fit in the team next year, Bottas said in a recent interview that he was on the verge of closing the deal with Audi, prompting Schumacher to have a word with Binotto at the Circuit of the Americas. When Bottas was asked by the media if he had finalized the contract with Audi and was waiting for a confirmation, he said:
“Correct.
“We’ve been in touch on a weekly basis and I know the terms that I’m up for. Just basically waiting for the green light.”
Binotto, who is well acquainted with Schumacher since his time as Ferrari’s team principal, surprisingly revealed that no decision had been made to sign Bottas, and the same was also conveyed to Schumacher in Austin.
Speaking to Sky Italia, as reported by PlanetF1.com, he said:
“I told him that nothing has been decided yet.
“But I can’t say anything more at the moment.”
Considering his association with Schumacher from the past, Binotto added:
“I think we get on very well. It has to be a decision of the mind, not an emotional decision.”
The clarification offered by Binotto to Schumacher suggests that he is being considered as a serious option by Audi.
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Denny Hamlin Unafraid Of Awkward Encounter With NASCAR President, He makes Sure He said his Mind
NASCAR cannot be happy about being served papers by 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports. The governing body of NASCAR is now going against the two teams that refused to sign the charter agreement. With Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin running the show, things are going to get interesting in the upcoming months. Will 23XI Racing and FRM keep their charters in 2025, or will the lawsuit be their own downfall?
A lot is going on with Denny Hamlin right now. Not only is he facing elimination in the top 8 of the playoffs, but he also has to show up for the lawsuit when things move to court. That’s when Hamlin will be coming across the France family and Steve Phelps, two parties that won’t be happy to see the No. 11 JGR driver. However, Denny Hamlin does not plan on taking the playoffs lightly. He wants to win the title after his 19 years of missing out on the chance, and that’s when he would actually be happy to see Phelps, as he revealed recently
How big of a triumph would it be if Denny Hamlin managed to win both this year’s title and the lawsuit? It definitely would make headlines all over. However, that isn’t the only way that Hamlin can make it into the limelight. Before heading into the Las Vegas race, Bob Pockrass shared Denny Hamlin’s pre-race presser in which the driver revealed what was on his mind heading into the race. The post is captioned “Denny Hamlin on the hopes of hoisting the NASCAR Cup Series championship trophy while being in a legal dispute as a car owner with NASCAR.”
Hamlin spoke about winning this year’s title while saying, “You know, it’s a problem I would love to have is to, you know, lift up that, you know, have Steve Phelps handing me that championship trophy in Phoenix. That would just be awesome, right? And, you know, we’ve spoken personally about and you know that, and he said he’d be glad to do it. And so, you know, certainly, if I win the championship as a driver, I’m the driver of the 11, right? And I represent that team.”
Despite the lawsuit, Steve Phelps and Hamlin have been in touch with each other, and while they have a legal battle at hand, they aren’t ones to forget the years they have worked with each other in NASCAR. With the lawsuit, Hamlin separated his duty as a Joe Gibbs Racing driver from his 23XI Racing responsibilities, saying, “There is another person that is the owner of the 23XI cars. And so again, it’s I can find a way to separate those two.”
It hasn’t been the start to the Round of 8 that Hendrick Motorsports would have hoped for at Las Vegas as Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson both ran into trouble during Sunday’s 267-lap event. Elliott is 33rd and out of the race after getting caught up in a multi-car collision, while Larson was shuffled to the back of the field after a slow pit stop midway through stage two.
On the 89th lap of the race, the driver of the #9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet tangled with fellow playoff driver Tyler Reddick and non-playoff driver Brad Keselowski in a three-car incident on the frontstretch. The 2020 Cup Series champion did multiple 360 spins through the infield grass before coming to a stop.
The #9 team made minimal repairs on pit road, but opted to go to the garage for mechanical issues. Racing insider Kelly Crandall reported Elliott’s early exit from the race via X, writing:
“Chase Elliott has gone to the garage for repairs. He cleared the DVP clock so the 9 team can work on the car.”
Larson, meanwhile, had troubles during a pit stop at the halfway point of the second stage. Racing insider Jeff Gluck took to his personal X account to report on the 2021 Cup Series champion’s troubles and said it could’ve taken him out of the race.
“Disastrous pit stop for the No. 5 team!” Gluck wrote. “Holy cow. Race-ruiner, potentially.”
The driver of the #5 HMS Chevrolet came back down pit road which put him down a second lap at the time, to which Gluck said:
“Kyle Larson has to come BACK to pit road! Oh, this has all gone south for another of the main championship contenders.”
It hasn’t been the ideal race for Kyle Larson, but the six-time winner this season had momentum heading into the Round of 8 following a win last week at the Charlotte Roval. The win guaranteed Larson a spot in the next round.
His teammates, Chase Elliott and William Byron, also advanced to the Round of 8, while Alex Bowman was eliminated in the Round of 12 after being disqualified after last Sunday’s race.
Larson and Elliott are both seeking their second championship this season. Byron, meanwhile, is aiming for his first.
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