All the latest news from the racing world!
F1
Having been the favourite all along, Zhou has been confirmed in the 2nd Alfa Romeo seat for 2022. He is an Alpine junior, who is currently 2nd in the F2 standings, with a few wins this year. Whilst there are more impressive CV’s out there, Guanyu is worthy of an F1 seat you have to say, and will be the 1st Chinese driver in F1. Money seems to be what allowed him to get the seat over Giovinazzi or Piastri, as Chinese backers are reported to have sourced $30 million for him.
After the stewards felt there was no need to investigate the incident on Lap 48 of the Grand Prix, Mercedes have lodged a right to review it, as the onboard of Verstappen’s car has been released now to the public. I imagine that the FIA will agree with their view, and allow them to appeal for a penalty, but given Lewis did get past before the race ended, the FIA may not feel it necessary to penalise him. I am sure it will be the subject of much debate!
Formula E
After the news of Zhou joining Alfa Romeo, Giovinazzi announced he will move across to Dragon Penske for next year. This was probably the best choice for him, as he is a very good driver, he just wasn’t quite cut out for F1. I am excited to see how he does. Alongside this, Sette Camara was confirmed to stay at the team with the Italian, creating a rather strong line up.
Vergne has also resigned with Decheetah, to continue the fiery partnership with Da Costa, which surely will lead to disaster soon! Until then, the team will have two great drivers, who have the potential to do great things for the team.
IndyCar
The US Air Force have pulled out of sponsoring the No. 20 Ed Carpenter car, presumably as the performance of that car is not what they were hoping for. Daly was unlucky on road courses this year, and Ed has been struggling to put it all together on ovals too. This has left a big vacuum at the team, and could be a major issue going forwards.
MotoGP
Unfortunately, work has kept me from writing another MotoGP review article, I can only apologise, there will be a review article of the season coming out soon, and things should be calmer for me when they return in March/April. As for the season finale, it was another weekend for Ducati, as Martin ended his rookie year on a high, before having the win snatched from him by Bagnaia, who offered it as a thank you to Rossi. The Italian squad look formidable for 2022, especially as Jorge was ill this weekend.
Quartararo was at sea all weekend, although he did get well inside the top 10 for the race, he can still be so proud of his year. Mir and Binder did their bit, for teams who are probably glad to leave 2021 behind them, and should expect much better next year. Bastiannini and Aleix Espargaro deserved to end their years in the top 10, after both having stellar campaigns. Morbidelli too showed promise for 2022.
However, that weekend was all really about one man, who was leaving behind one of the most incredible careers in racing, spanning 26 years. It was truly emotional to think that was it for the GOAT of motorcycle racing, and whilst it would have been crazy for him to win the final race, this year has shown he chose the right time to go, and has nothing to be ashamed of. We should all just be thankful we got to witness Rossi’s career unfold around us.
Other News
Glickenhaus will have 1 full time car in 2022 for the WEC season, with there being 2 entries for Le Mans. This is probably a smart move, as they are a small team, and don’t want to overstretch themselves. There is the potential for the 2nd car to race outside of Le Mans, but the logistics of that is still being sorted out.
Dodge is reportedly set to return to NASCAR, sources say it is 80% done, with them apparently joining up with Stewart Haas Racing to begin with. This would not happen in time for next year, but 2023 or 24 is highly likely. This would be a major coup for NASCAR, as Dodge would bring much more money and viewers to the sport, and complete the big 3 American Automotive giants.
-M
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