How Indians performed over the weekend (23-25 June)

Result: Sixth and DNF

Force India lost a potential victory - and a definite podium finish - in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix after teammates Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon controversially came together in the race.

After one of the three safety car interventions, Ocon made an opportunistic move over Perez at turn 2, forcing the Mexican into the wall. Ocon punctured his tyre in the clash, while Perez incurred significant damage to his car.

Ocon was able to pit for fresh tyres and continue, eventually crossing the finishing line in sixth. Perez, meanwhile, underwent repairs under the red flag and rejoined the race a lap down. He eventually pulled into the pits to retire the car.

Given that Perez and Ocon were running fourth and fifth before the crash, and those running ahead of him ran into different issues, it was a major missed opportunity for the Silverstone-based team.

Best result: 16th

Mahindra failed to score points at the Moto3 race at Assen, despite CIP rider Marco Bezzecchi qualifying fifth on the grid.

The Italian stayed inside the top 10 for the first five laps, but started gradually falling down the pack. At one position he fell to 19th, before recovering to cross the chequered flag in 16th place.

Jakub Kornfeil was the next highest Mahindra rider in 17th, just a tenth behind Bezzecchi. Kornfeil’s Peugeot teammate Patrik Pulkkinen was last of the classified finishers in 22nd.

Both the factory-supported Aspar riders retired from the race, with Albert Arenas’ replacement Raul Fernandes losing his bike on the very final lap.

Best result: third

OD Racing’s Aditya Patel scored a podium finish in the first Blancpain GT Asia race at Suzuka, having qualified second on the grid.

During the second race, which took place in mixed weather conditions, Patel was running in the lead having passed the #7 Audi and the #999 Mercedes in quick succession.

However, with less than 15 minutes left in the race, the right rear tyre on Patel’s Audi R8 LMS GT3 blew up on the start/finish straight, leading to an immediate retirement.

Armaan Ebrahim (Lamborghini Super Trofeo Suzuka)

Best result: fifth

Armaan Ebrahim endured a difficult weekend in the latest Lamborghini Super Trofeo Asia round at Suzuka after technical troubles in qualifying left him with a mountain to climb in the two races.

Ebrahim’s Huracan suffered a broken differential and driveshaft, which meant he was unable to take part in qualifying, leaving him on the last row of the grid.

In the first race, he and FFF Racing teammate Jack Bartholomew staged a remarkable recovery drive to end up fifth. The second race proved to be a little difficult, with the Indo-British duo ending 11th after running as high as seventh at one stage.

Best finish: seventh

Kush Maini had an ordinary weekend n the Vallelunga round of Italian F4, where he managed a best finish of seventh.

Two sub-par qualifying sessions left him 13th, 15th and 15th respectively for the three races. While he made up a lot of ground with rocketing starts in each race, a topline finish was always going to be an uphill task given the starting position.

The 16-year-old ended seventh in the first race, before finishing ninth and 11th in the other two over the course of the weekend.