In the round-up: Alfa Romeo expected Lance Stroll would be penalised for running Valtteri Bottas wide in the Australian Grand Prix
Alfa Romeo expected that Lance Stroll would receive a time penalty after Valtteri Bottas appeared to be pushed off track while attempting to pass the Aston Martin late in the Australian Grand Prix.
The pair were fighting over ninth place after the Virtual Safety Car for Max Verstappen’s retirement, when Stroll defended from the Alfa Romeo who was attempting to pass around the outside of turn three, running onto the grass and losing a place to Pierre Gasly. The stewards noted the incident but did not investigate it.
Alfa Romeo’s head of trackside engineering, Xevi Pujolar, said the team felt the move was worth of a time penalty.
“We were expecting him to get a penalty, because it was not very nice what Stroll did,” Pujolar said. “But the decision was no penalty. It was not a frustration for us, but we believe that he was pushed out.”
Italian authorities have seized a property in the island of Sardinia owned by former Formula 1 driver Nikita Mazepin and his father Dmitry as part of sanctions imposed by the European Union against Russia resulting from the country’s military invasion of Ukraine.
Reuters reported that the villa, worth an estimated $114.45 million, was seized by Italian police earlier this week.
Mazepin was contracted to race with Haas this season after contesting his rookie season in F1 with the team last year. After the Russian military invasion of Ukraine, Haas cut ties with Mazepin and his father’s company, Uralkali, who were title sponsors of the team.
Reigning IndyCar champion Alex Palou says he believes Penske’s rivals will catch up to the team as the rest of the season unfolds.
Penske drivers occupy three of the top four places in the championship after three rounds, with Scott McLaughlin and Josef Newgarden winning the opening three races.
After finishing third at Long Beach, Palou says Penske will be challenged by rivals Ganassi and Andretti as the season progresses.
“They did an amazing job at the start of the year,” said Palou. “The same way we started really good the past year, they started really good this year I think with the three cars they have.
“That’s going to change soon. I don’t know if next race or if two, three races, but that’s going to change, and we’re still there. Everybody is talking that they’ve won three races, but I think we are only 15 points away of them. We are always there. We are trying the best. We got already two podiums this season, so yeah, I’m feeling confident.”
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Title defence is already a big task, says Verstappen (Reuters)
"We are already so far down in the championship that from now onwards basically you first need to be faster than them (Ferrari), which we're not, and zero problems with the car which we also don't have."
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Bottas commends Alfa Romeo performance after P8 finish in Melbourne (Formula 1)
"It was a good performance with close racing and battles from beginning to end. Of course, the most important thing is that we brought home some points, and that is due to a good job done by everyone in the team; I am happy with the calls that were made and how we raced."
A race in my words: Clément Novalak (Formula 2)
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How to Whip Yourself Into 'Motorsport Shape,' According to Those Who Race for a Living (Inside Hook)
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