Alexander Rossi took umbrage with a hybrid issue that left him stranded on the frontstretch of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, which was only furthered after Race Control failed to throw a full course caution as he tried to exit his #20 ECR Chevrolet as cars whizzed by at over 170mph. 

After 21 laps during Saturday’s Sonsio Grand Prix, the California native was left stranded on the frontstretch of the 14-turn, 2.439-mile IMS road course circuit. Instead of throwing a full course caution, however, Race Control opted for a local yellow instead, and this after a chunk of debris from another vehicle had already occupied another part of the race track for several laps.

Two laps later, as Rossi had steering wheel in hand and clearly unbuckled while trying to extract himself from his vehicle, he got out despite the danger and left race officials to finally throw a full course caution. Rossi jumped over the wall onto pit lane and began walking to his timing stand. 

“It’s pretty annoying to have failures on the car because of a product we didn't ask for that doesn't improve the racing,” Rossi said. “So that's frustrating." 

Rossi, who ended up finishing 24th on the day once the manic race concluded, also voiced his displeasure at the lack of a full course caution prior to him getting out of the car and being left in a vulnerable position, while qualifying was postponed on Friday due to standing water. 

"Second of all, the fact that it took that long to throw a full course caution when the cars on the front straight were going by at 170 miles an hour also seems insane when they don't let us drive in the wet yesterday,” he said.

“So, I don't really know where the priorities lie. So, pretty frustrated.”

Christian Lundgaard stuns David Malukas with bold pass to win at Indianapolis

How the 2027 F1 rule changes will work

The sixth round of the 2026 IndyCar season is over, and Arrow McLaren returned to the top step of the podium with Christian Lundgaard. It was his second career win, and his first in almost three years.

David Malukas, still searching for his first career win, finished second for the third time in his career. He was 4.6 second back of Lundgaard at the checkered flag. Graham Rahal rounded out the podium in third, 7.9 second behind the race winner.

Josef Newgarden finished fourth and pole-sitter Alex Palou was fifth.

Mick Schumacher was just a couple of laps away from a career-best finish of 11th, but contact with Santino Ferrucci resulted in a drive-through penalty that dropped him to 20th. Dennis Hauger led the rookie class in eighth -- his career-best finish.

Next up on the schedule is the 110th running of the Indianapolis 500.

Christian Lundgaard stuns David Malukas with bold pass to win at Indianapolis

2026

1	7	Christian Lundgaard	Arrow McLaren	85	1:55'40.2894		107.536	3
2	12	David Malukas	Team Penske	85	1:55'44.9607	4.6713	107.464	3
3	15	Graham Rahal	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	85	1:55'48.2036	7.9142	107.414	3
4	2	Josef Newgarden	Team Penske	85	1:55'50.3186	10.0292	107.381	3
5	10	Alex Palou	Chip Ganassi Racing	85	1:55'54.6524	14.3630	107.314	3
6	9	Scott Dixon	Chip Ganassi Racing	85	1:56'07.1314	26.8420	107.122	4
7	45	Louis Foster	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	85	1:56'08.4163	28.1269	107.102	3
8	19	Dennis Hauger	Dale Coyne Racing	85	1:56'12.2219	31.9325	107.044	3
9	27	Kyle Kirkwood	Andretti Global	85	1:56'14.4832	34.1938	107.009	3
10	6	Nolan Siegel	Arrow McLaren	85	1:56'19.1331	38.8437	106.938	3
11	66	Marcus Armstrong	Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian	85	1:56'26.7604	46.4710	106.821	5
12	8	Kyffin Simpson	Chip Ganassi Racing	85	1:56'30.4793	50.1899	106.764	4
13	26	Will Power	Andretti Global	85	1:56'32.3181	52.0287	106.736	3
14	14	Santino Ferrucci	A.J. Foyt Enterprises	85	1:56'36.6602	56.3708	106.670	3
15	76	Rinus VeeKay	Juncos Hollinger Racing	85	1:56'39.8747	59.5853	106.621	4
16	3	Scott McLaughlin	Team Penske	85	1:56'40.1597	59.8703	106.617	4
17	77	Ray Robb Sting	Juncos Hollinger Racing	85	1:56'40.4559	1'00.1665	106.612	4
18	5	Patricio O'Ward	Arrow McLaren	85	1:56'46.5751	1'06.2857	106.519	5
19	4	Caio Collet	A.J. Foyt Enterprises	85	1:56'47.9595	1'07.6701	106.498	4
20	47	Mick Schumacher	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	85	1:56'54.4186	1'14.1292	106.400	3
21	18	Romain Grosjean	Dale Coyne Racing	84	1:56'36.7538	1 Lap	105.414	4
22	28	Marcus Ericsson	Andretti Global	61	1:26'12.0214	24 Laps	103.558	3
23	60	Felix Rosenqvist	Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian	28	43'26.3824	57 Laps	94.327	3
24	21	Christian Rasmussen	Ed Carpenter Racing	28	1:24'24.0159	57 Laps	48.549	3
25	20	Alexander Rossi	Ed Carpenter Racing	20	28'36.8339	65 Laps	102.286

Christian Lundgaard pulled off a remarkable move on David Malukas to win the Sonsio Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.

The 24-year-old Dane made an outside pass with 18 laps to go in Turn 4 en route to securing the second win of his career, and first with Arrow McLaren, by 4.6713s at the 2.439-mile, 14-turn road course. The win came on the same track Lundgaard made his IndyCar Series debut in 2021. It’s also the 28th victory in IndyCar history for McLaren and 10th since returning to IndyCar full-time in 2020.

Malukas finished second in his best showing yet since joining Team Penske. Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Graham Rahal finished third. 

Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden finished fourth, ahead of pole-sitter Alex Palou in the #10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. 

Scott Dixon (Chip Ganassi Racing), Louis Foster (Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing), rookie Dennis Hauger (Dale Coyne Racing), Kyle Kirkwood (Andretti Global), and Nolan Siegel (Arrow McLaren) rounded out the rest of the top 10.

The Race

Palou, starting on the harder primary tire compound, led the field to the green flag but the slow start led to contact in the back, with Rinus VeeKay suffering wing damage. Then, in Turn 1, multiple cars came together, including second-place starter Pato O’Ward, who was clipped by Felix Rosenqvist. The likes of rookie Caio Collet and six-time series champion Dixon were also collected with significant damage. 

The new running order following the incident was Palou, Malukas, Rahal, Kirkwood, and Romain Grosjean. Meanwhile, Rosenqvist and VeeKay came to a closed pit lane for service and were hit with a penalty and required to restart at the back of the field. Rosenqvist was also deemed at fault for the opening corner crash by Race Control and handed a drive-thru penalty.

The pits finally opened on Lap 4 of 85, with Collet, Dixon, O’Ward and Rosenqvist, again,  among those that came in for service. 

The restart came out on Lap 5, with Palou leading a calmer run into Turn 1 as the field filled in behind. ECR’s Christian Rasmussen ended up off course in Turn 7 after contact and eventually brought it back to the pits and went behind the wall.

Kirkwood, who started seventh, propelled up to second after a brilliant pass on Malukas on the inside of Turn 1 on Lap 7. 

Race Control also handed a penalty to Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin for blocking and was forced to give up three track positions as a result, relegating back to 14th by Lap 10. He also appeared to have an issue with the right side of his front wing. 

Palou led Kirkwood by 2.2034s after 10 laps. 

Dixon opted to go off-sequence and pitted on Lap 16, while McLaughlin was among those coming in the next lap and taking a front wing change. 

O’Ward pitted on Lap 19, along with teammate Nolan Siegel, Dennis Hauger and Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden. 

The local caution came out on Lap 21 after ECR’s Alexander Rossi stopped on the frontstretch. He excited the car despite the lack of a full course caution, which was finally called moments after he got out and jumped over the wall to pit lane. 

Palou and Kirkwood came down to pit lane for service on Lap 25, handing the lead to Will Power, with Malukas in second. Palou and Kirkwood returned 19th and 20th, respectively. 

Power led the field to the restart on Lap 27, holding Malukas at bay as Lundgaard got around Rahal. 

A big crash on Lap 28 saw Sting Ray Robb make contact with an Arrow McLaren car into Turn 13, leaving Kyffin Simpson trying to avoid the contact but was then hit by Rosenqvist, who ramped over the front wing and caught brief air. Rosenqivst retired from the race as a result of the contact.

Power, meanwhile, pitted on Lap 31, handing Malukas the lead. 

Rasmussen returned to pit lane to try and go back out on Lap 32. 

Malukas led the field to the green flag on Lap 33, with Lundgaard and Rahal behind. 

The lead for Malukas expanded to 1.1s over Lundgaard by Lap 39, while Palou dove to pit lane and took on a fresh set of softer alternates. Kirkwood dove to pit lane from seventh the following lap but an issue with the right-front hampered his stop and ended up dropping behind Palou on track. 

Malukas continued to lead after 45 laps, with a gap of 1.7s over Lundgaard and 4.3s over Rahal in third. 

Rahal pitted from third on Lap 47 and took on a used set of softer alternates. Newgarden also pitted at the same time and took on softer alternates, too. 

Malukas pitted the next lap from the lead, but called over the radio for a suspected engine issue. However, he took on a used set of softer alternates and returned to the fight. Lundgaard pitted from the lead on Lap 49, followed by Foster, with the former taking on used alternates. 

Power cycled back to the lead, with a 7s gap over O’Ward and 9.4s over Simpson. Malukas returned in fourth, ahead of Lundgaard. 

Power extended his lead to 7.8s by Lap 54, but it was Malukas in second now, with Lundgaard in third and Rahal in fourth, as O’Ward slid to fifth. 

Power took to pit lane on Lap 59 and put on a set of alternates, handing the lead to Malukas. Power came back out 15th, but was hit with a drive thru penalty by Race Control for an improper pit exit for when he crossed the blend line early. 

Palou pitted on Lap 63 from fifth. Foster pitted from fourth on Lap 65. 

Lundgaard dove to pit lane on Lap 66 from second, followed by Rahal in third. 

With 20 laps to go, Malukas dove to pit lane and took on a fresh set of alternate tires. 

Malukas, with a 7.1s stop, came out ahead of Lundgaard by 1.3s, with Rahal a staggering 6.1s back in third. 

Lundgaard got a massive run out of Turn 14 and closed on the rear wing of Malukas and went to the outside in Turn 2 as they went side-by-side, with the former taking the lead on the exit of Turn 4 with 18 laps to go. 

Meanwhile, Marcus Ericsson’s #28 Andretti Global Honda was being pushed behind the wall with an apparent mechanical issue with 17 laps to go. 

Lundgaard’s lead widened to 2.5s over Malukas with 13 laps to go. 

With six laps to go, Lundgaard’s lead over Malukas expanded to 3.4s, with Rahal 4.5s behind.

Rookie Mick Schumacher broke late into Turn 7 while fighting with Santino Ferrucci, but then got into the back of him into Turn 9 and punted him off track with three laps to go. Schumacher was handed a drive-thru penalty for avoidable contact as a result. 

Lundgaard went on to comfortably win, ahead of Malukas and Rahal. 

It was an incredible finish to Saturday's NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series race at Watkins Glen International. Defending series champion Jesse Love was stretching the fuel while Connor Zilisch was running him down on fresher tires.

Even after slicing through the mud and damaging his car, Zilisch ran Love down, passing him in the final corner on the final lap, snatching the win away for JR Motorsports.

Zilisch now has 13 career wins, and he has won the last three consecutive NASCAR O'Reilly races at The Glen.

Behind Zilisch and Love, Taylor Gray finished third, Ross Chastain fourth, and Brandon Jones fifth. Brent Crews, Parker Retzlaff, Shane van Gisbergen, Austin Green, and Justin Allgaier filled out the remainder of the top ten.

Love and Zilisch react to nail-biting finish

"When you really nickel and dime it, there's 100 small mistakes that let him get close, and at the end of the day, the glaring piece of it was that I had a bad corner," said Love, who was very despondent.

He later added: "What a good mental challenge for me. All I want to do is beat Connor here. We're best friends and we've caused each other a lot of pain. I didn't execute when I needed to. I think the reason I'm so quiet is that I'm just embarrassed. As a driver, you can't make those mistakes. It was such a bad mistake, and it's just embarrassing. I know I'll learn from this and be better because of it, but I let down a lot of people including myself. Maybe it's a good idea that I feel this pain right now."

And after falling from the car after last year's win at the Glen, Zilisch was much more careful climbing the from the car this time around.

"That was driving as hard as I could for all 30 of those laps, trying to make up that gap," said Zilisch. "I wasn't going to move Jesse in the last corner, but he got in deep and I was able to get by. It's so cool to come back and get my third win at Watkins Glen in a row with JRM. Cool to get it with Rodney [Childers] -- it's my third different crew chief here. Really means a lot to get another one here, and get out of the car safely and make it onto the ground without trying to kill myself. It means a lot."

Stage 1

Caruth led the race from pole position after qualifying was rained out, but he ran wide into Turn 1 while battling side-by-side with Allgaier. This opened the door of Mayer, who later ran wide into Turn 1 as well, allowing Crews to move into the lead.

Patrick Staropoli went to the garage early with a blown engine, as did William Sawalich. Jeb Burton and Matt Wilson also faced early setbacks, damaging their cars.

Zilisch and Van Gisbergen were making big moves early after starting in the teens, with both reaching the top five within the first ten laps.

As expected, a handful of cars led by Zilisch and Caruth flipped the stage, pitting just before the scheduled caution.

Crews did not, staying out to win Stage 1 over Mayer, Allgaier, B. Jones, A. Hill, Caruth, Retzlaff, Chastain, and R. Sieg.

Stage 2

It was now JR Motorsports teammates Zilisch and Van Gisbergen on the front row, with Crews in the third row.

Lavar Scott went for a spin in Turn 1 and Jeremy Clements nosed his car into the tire pack, becoming stuck and forcing a caution. 

On the restart, Van Gisbergen took the lead from Zilisch briefly before he took it back. 

The next caution was for a bumper laying on the track after Scott went for another spin.

Zilisch went on to win the stage, barely holding on against Crews. They were followed by Crews, Van Gisbergen, Allgaier, Love, Love Tay. Gray, A. Hill, Mayer, S. Smith, and B. Jones. 

Stage 3

In the pits, Van Gisbergen made contact with Zilisch exiting his pit stall, damaging the left-front fender and forcing him back down pit road.

A handful of cars stayed out with Crews leading. Creed ended up going through the mud at the exit of the bus stop chicane, going fully airborne as he drove through the muddy grass.

The RCR cars opted to pit along with a few others, aiming to potentially go all the way to the end. 

With 26 to go, Crews pitted from the lead, followed by Zilisch soon after. SVG has fought his way back through the field and pitted from the lead with 20 to go.

Love was leading those on the alternate strategy, hoping to make it to the end without another stop. Just behind him was Ross Chastain, who hit a tire pack at Turn 1 and damaged his No. 32 Chevrolet.

The race remained green as Love led teammate Hill at the front of the field. Zilisch was about 15 seconds behind, and he rapidly cut down the margin.

After getting to within three seconds of him at the exit of the bus stop, Zilisch ended up getting into the mud and causing a tire rub. His pace slowed for a couple of laps, but he managed to get there on the white flag lap.

Love locked up at the entrance of the final corner and ran wide with Zilisch driving right on by.

Watkins Glen NASCAR O'Reilly Results

1	1	Connor Zilisch	Chevrolet	82	2:10'06.197		5	20
2	2	Jesse Love	Chevrolet	82	2:10'06.459	0.262	5	18
3	54	Taylor Gray	Toyota	82	2:10'19.798	13.601	5
4	32	Ross Chastain	Chevrolet	82	2:10'21.387	15.190	6
5	20	Brandon Jones	Toyota	82	2:10'22.877	16.680	5
6	19	Brent Crews	Toyota	82	2:10'26.235	20.038	5	32
7	99	Parker Retzlaff	Chevrolet	82	2:10'26.383	20.186	5
8	9	Shane van Gisbergen	Chevrolet	82	2:10'27.413	21.216	7	7
9	87	Austin Green	Chevrolet	82	2:10'28.094	21.897	6
10	7	Justin Allgaier	Chevrolet	82	2:10'28.119	21.922	6
11	21	Austin Hill	Chevrolet	82	2:10'30.071	23.874	4
12	88	Rajah Caruth	Chevrolet	82	2:10'32.101	25.904	6	2
13	41	Sam Mayer	Chevrolet	82	2:10'37.678	31.481	6	3
14	91	Carson Kvapil	Chevrolet	82	2:10'39.133	32.936	6
15	17	Corey Day	Chevrolet	82	2:10'41.677	35.480	5
16	8	Sammy Smith	Chevrolet	82	2:10'44.142	37.945	6
17	24	Harrison Burton	Toyota	82	2:10'44.513	38.316	6
18	44	Brennan Poole	Chevrolet	82	2:10'56.156	49.959	6
19	0	Alex Labbe	Chevrolet	82	2:11'00.420	54.223	6
20	42	Will Rodgers	Chevrolet	82	2:11'05.036	58.839	6
21	50	Preston Pardus	Chevrolet	82	2:11'09.167	1'02.970	6
22	07	Josh Bilicki	Chevrolet	82	2:11'11.629	1'05.432	6
23	39	Ryan Sieg	Chevrolet	82	2:11'13.924	1'07.727	7
24	96	Anthony Alfredo	Chevrolet	82	2:11'21.067	1'14.870	7
25	27	Jeb Burton	Chevrolet	82	2:11'32.351	1'26.154	6
26	31	Blaine Perkins	Chevrolet	81	2:09'22.590	1 Lap	5		Out of fuel
27	45	Lavar Scott	Chevrolet	81	2:09'49.586	1 Lap	7		Out of fuel
28	92	Alex Guenette	Chevrolet	81	2:10'21.198	1 Lap	6
29	00	Sheldon Creed	Chevrolet	81	2:10'27.534	1 Lap	8
30	55	Glen Reen	Toyota	81	2:10'36.229	1 Lap	9
31	28	Kyle Sieg	Chevrolet	81	2:10'43.710	1 Lap	7
32	53	Derek White	Chevrolet	78	2:10'09.631	4 Laps	10
33	51	Jeremy Clements	Chevrolet	74	2:10'13.403	8 Laps	9
34	02	Ryan Ellis	Chevrolet	72	1:59'17.148	10 Laps	9		Suspension
35	26	Dean Thompson	Toyota	54	1:35'40.222	28 Laps	9		Transmission
36	18	William Sawalich	Toyota	15	18'39.631	67 Laps	3		Engine
37	35	Matt Wilson	Chevrolet	5	6'46.017	77 Laps	3		Accident
38	48	Patrick Staropoli	Chevrolet	4	5'14.288	78 Laps	3		Engine

Rally Portugal organisers have been issued a suspended €15,000 fine and a reprimand following a security breach that resulted in two unauthorised vehicles entering a live stage of the World Rally Championship event.

Friday’s second pass through the famous Arganil test (stage seven) was halted after two separate incidents where unauthorised vehicles had entered the stage while it was live. 

First, Toyota’s Elfyn Evans encountered a recovery tow truck that had entered the stage. Officials were then forced to issue a red flag several minutes later when a car entered the stage that was caught rapidly by Lancia WRC2 driver Yohan Rossel.  

The Rally Portugal organising committee subsequently launched an investigation into the security breach.

The matter has since been referred to the FIA stewards which has resulted in the organisers being hit with a suspended fine and a reprimand. 

According to a report from the stewards, the organiser has been requested “to further improve the existing safety measures to avoid any other safety issue” during this year’s event. The stewards decision has also been forwarded to the FIA WRC Commission, FIA Road Sport Committee, FIA Safety Committee, FIA Closed Road Commission and the Portuguese ASN, FPAK.

The report also details the timeline of events that resulted in the stage being red flagged. The clerk of the course Horacio Rodrigues confirmed “that at no time was the entry of these vehicles on to the stage communicated to Rally Control.”

The Stewards found the lack of communication of the entry of the vehicles onto the stage amounted to unsafe acts that lead to an unsafe situation, and therefore a breach of Article 12.2.1.h of the 2026 FIA International Sporting Code. 

“The Clerk of the Course explained that it had been established that a recovery vehicle was on its way to collect a competitor who had retired from the rally,” read the report. 

Adrien Fourmaux, Alexandre Coria, Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team Hyundai i20 N Rally1

Photo by: Hyundai

"The driver had entered the GPS coordinates, and the sat-nav system directed him along the SS7. The driver of the truck was unaware that he had entered on to a running special stage. Nevertheless, the truck was able to pass several barriers marking the special stage.As the truck quickly escaped to a side road and was secured, the stage was not interrupted. 

“Approximately 35 minutes later a second vehicle, which belonged to the same company as the recovery truck and was reportedly on its way to assist it, also passed the barriers and entered SS7 in front of car No. 21. 

“The stage was then immediately red-flagged for safety reasons.

The Clerk of the Course and Mr Joao Paulo Jordao [Representative of the Organising Committee] apologised for the incidents that had occurred. They stated that the Organiser had arrangements in place with the relevant civilian authority to provide security and road closures for the rally stages. 

“They have confirmed that the investigation into the circumstances of this incident is still ongoing.”

WRC Portugal: Sebastien Ogier storms back into lead as Oliver Solberg’s charge unravels

Former Formula 1 driver David Coulthard has praised Colin Farrell’s genuine knowledge of the championship after his enthusiastic appearance at the Miami Grand Prix. 

Farrell caught the attention of fans after his interaction with Martin Brundle during the Sky Sports F1 grid walk. "It's lovely to meet you. After all of these years, you don't write, you don't call. Look at this shirt. Old school,” Farrell said with a beaming smile as Brundle approached him ahead of the race at the Hard Rock Stadium. 

He went on to describe his first F1 experience. "The first race I went to was '98, Monza, on a package holiday,” the Hollywood actor continued. “Me and two lads and a dodgy hotel, sharing rooms, flying Ryanair. The V10s back then. Schumacher brothers first and third and Eddie Irvine finished second.

"It's mega to be here,” he added, before predicting that Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli would win in Miami. "Kimi, but it's great to see Lando coming back. He had a great sprint quali and a great sprint. I love seeing Max figuring out the Red Bull but I'll say Kimi for the win."

David Coulthard on the grid during the Sprint

Photo by: Dom Gibbons / LAT Images via Getty Images

While celebrities flooded the grid ahead of the race, including American Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon and DJ Khaled, it was Farrell who impressed Coulthard. 

“I didn't meet him [Jimmy Fallon], but I did meet Colin and I didn't realise I had met him back in 1994, and he remembered and I was slightly embarrassed because he's the Hollywood A-lister and I'm just an old has-been,” Coulthard explained on the Up To Speed podcast.

“But I did an interview with him and it got to the point where it was almost like we need to wrap now. It doesn't normally happen with celebrities, but he is truly enthusiastic about motorsports and unsurprisingly very proud of his Irish heritage. He was talking about Eddie Jordan, talking about Eddie Irvine and it was great to see people come and enjoy the sport.”

Tymek Kucharczyk (HMD Motorsports) captured his first career Indy NXT win in a stellar drive in the nightcap of the doubleheader weekend at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.

The 20-year-old Polish driver started fifth and made an opportunistic move for the lead after frontrunners drifted off course in Turn 1 of the opening lap. Despite pressure for all 30 laps, he held serve to win by 0.6273s over Andretti Global’s Max Taylor on the 2.439-mile, 14-turn road course. Kucharczyk becomes the first driver from Poland to win in IndyCar’s developmental championship.

“What a special day,” Kucharczyk said. “To do it here, going back to November, my first time in an Indy NXT car and now winners here at Indy is just spectacular. So grateful to my sponsors, to my team. Tremendous job. It was a tough race. It was really, really hard to up Max behind me, who was pushing me for the whole race. Except for any lockup that I made during the race, it was a pretty flawless execution. Yeah, super happy.”

Enzo Fittipaldi (HMD Motorsports) backed up his Race 1 win with a third-place finish in the second race. Lochie Hughes (Andretti Global) took fourth, with Alessandro De Tullio (AJ Foyt Racing) in fifth.

After six of 17 races, Nikita Johnson holds an 11-point lead over Kucharczyk (231-220). Taylor sits third (-14), ahead of Fittipaldi (-16), and Hughes (-64).

The Race

Pole-sitter Taylor led a three-wide run into Turn 1, with both him, front row mate De Tullio and Josh Pierson (Andretti Global), who started third, all ended up briefly off course through the opening corner. Johnson was also pressuring for the lead, but fell back due to being directly behind Taylor. As a result, Kucharczyk went from fifth into the lead.

Kucharczyk led the initial four laps, but Taylor put the opening corner issue away and chased down the Polish driver. Taylor attempted an outside pass for the lead into Turn 1, with the two touching slightly and Kucharczyk able to successfully defend the top spot.

Both Kucharczyk and Taylor held a 1.7s lead over third-place setter Enzo Fittipaldi.

On Lap 9, Myles Rowe (Abel Motorsport) was running 15th and under pressure by Bryce Aron (Chip Ganassi Racing), who rolled off last after dealing with a mechanical issue on pit lane, when he overshot Turn 1 while locking up his front tires in a plume of smoke and went to the runoff road before calling for “brake failure” over the radio. Rowe ended up on pit lane and eventually became the first retirement of the race.

Kucharczyk extended his lead to 0.7s over Taylor, with Fittipaldi still in third at 2s back by Lap 10. Max Garcia and Jack Beeton came together in Turn 7 on Lap 11 when the former attempted an inside pass but tapped the curbing and bounced into the latter while they battled for 17th.

At the halfway point of the 30-lap contest, Kucharczyk continued to hold a stout lead of 0.6s over Taylor. Fittipaldi, De Tullio, and Hughes made up the rest of the top five.

Aron continued his remarkable comeback, charging up to 13th by Lap 18.

It became evident Kucharczyk was pressing, with multiple brief lockups while leading, allowing Taylor to inch slightly closer by Lap 20. With nine laps to go, Taylor got within 0.4s of the leader. Fittipaldi remained 2.9s back in third.

Pierson began putting the heat on Nikita Johnson (Cape Motorsports Powered by ECR) for sixth with six laps to go. However, Pierson overcharged Turn 7 and went off course, faltering well behind Johnson and fading down to eighth, handing seventh to Matteo Nannini (Cape Motorsports Powered by ECR).

With four laps to go, Hughes, on new tires for the race, powered by De Tullio, who briefly went off course, and took over fourth. Hughes then set his sights on Fittipaldi as the two ended up in a tight battle for the final podium spot. Hughes attempted an outside pass, but Fittipaldi held his line and stayed in second through the next lap.

Kucharczyk extended his lead to 0.6s over Taylor in the approach to the final lap.

Despite the consistent pressure, Kucharczyk held his nerve and took his first series win.

Enzo Fittipaldi snags first Indy NXT win in Race 1 of Indianapolis doubleheader

Alessandro de Tullio breaks through for first Indy NXT win in Barber Race 2

Reigning world rally champion Sébastien Ogier delivered a wet weather masterclass as the Toyota driver reclaimed the Rally Portugal lead after Oliver Solberg lost ground to a puncture and spin.  

The nine-time world champion once again outlined his class in tricky conditions to end Saturday’s mammoth 145 kilometre leg with a 21.9s lead over Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville. Toyota’s Sami Pajari held third, a further 3.9s back.  

Ogier started the afternoon loop trailing Solberg by 0.5s after the latter stunned the field to climb from fourth to first in the wet stage 14.

However, Solberg’s time in the rally lead was short-lived as Ogier issued a response in the first stage after midday service. Held in largely dry conditions, Ogier admitted he needed to push after Solberg’s stage 14 time and managed to take the stage win by 0.1s from Pajari. 

Solberg dropped 4.5s in the test as he dropped to second overall, 4.0s behind Ogier. However, second position would turn into fifth by the next stage. A front right puncture likely picked up from exposed bedrock in the rough stage 16 cost Solberg 18.8s.

The tyre issue elevated Ogier into a 3.9s rally lead over Neuville as Pajari moved to third and championship leader Elfyn Evans snatched fourth.

Elfyn Evans, Scott Martin, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota GR Yaris Rally1

Photo by: Toyota Racing

Heavy rain created treacherous wet and muddy conditions for stage 17 (Amarante), testing crews to the very limit. 

The stage belonged to rally leader Ogier, who delivered a stunning effort to go 11.2s faster than anyone else. The time was enough to extend his rally lead over Neuville to 16.0s. 

"Not the most enjoyable stage but we made it. The driving was not so awesome, it was about surviving in there. I will take that,” said Ogier. 

Solberg once again excelled in the wet conditions as he did in stage 14. But this time he couldn’t beat Ogier, although his third fastest time was enough to move up to fourth ahead of Evans, who stopped briefly after losing the front of his car.

Ogier delivered another head turning drive to win stage 18 that also featured plenty of standing water, including a section reminiscent of Safari Rally Kenya.

After dropping 19.1s to Solberg in the first pass of the stage in the morning, Ogier went on to set a time 3.7s faster than Evans to take the stage win and move into a 20.2s rally lead over Neuville.

Thierry Neuville, Martijn Wydaeghe, Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team Hyundai i20 N Rally1

Photo by: Hyundai

Ogier then extended his lead by another 1.7s after beating Neuville. In the head-to-head Super Special held in torrential rain at the Lousada rallycross circuit, Pajari lost his duel with Solberg but remained in third overall. 

Solberg managed to hold onto fourth [+49.6s] but was frustrated by a spin in stage 18 that cost him valuable time. Championship leader Evans completed the loop in fifth [+58.2s] ahead of Hyundai’s Adrien Fourmaux, who picked up two stages wins across Saturday’s loop, but was unable to catch Evans.     

Safari Rally Kenya and Croatia winner Takamoto Katsuta was also frustrated for much of the day, marooned in seventh. The Japanese driver did make up time in the wet to head into Sunday 11.5s behind Fourmaux.

Hyundai’s Dani Sordo endured a frustrating Saturday, unable to find the speed to make any inroads in his pursuit of the lead group. The Spaniard ended the day in eighth overall [+3m44.7s]  

M-Sport-Ford’s Mārtiņš Sesks completed the day in ninth overall. Sesks impressed in the wet stage 17 to clock the second fastest, while McErlean was fortunate fans were able to push him back on the road after an off in the same test.

McErlean also suffered a spin at the first corner in stage 18 before his miserable day ended in the barriers at the Super Special stage after being caught out by the mud.

M-Sport’s Jon Armstrong became the first Rally1 driver to suffer a retirement in the rally after he rolled his Ford Puma in stage 15. The Northern Irishman nudged a bank 600 metres into the test which was enough to pitch the car into a roll. The car came to rest off the road with both Armstrong and co-driver Shane Byrne unscathed. 

Jon Armstrong, Shane Byrne, M-Sport Ford World Rally Team Ford Puma Rally1

Photo by: M-Sport

It is unclear if he will rejoin the rally for Super Sunday. Armstrong had been sitting in 10th position after recovering from  losing time to a power steering failure on Friday. 

Crews will face four more stages on Sunday, comprising 65.56km. 

Hyundai brings WRC engine upgrade to Rally Portugal

Why WRC drivers expect Portugal to deliver a rally that has “everything”

WRC Rally Portugal organisers fined for stage security breach

The grid is set for Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series race at Watkins Glen International. Defending winner Shane van Gisbergen earned pole position -- his first at the Glen but fifth at the Cup level. The impressive qualifying effort also comes on the Kiwi's 37th birthday!

Spire Motorsports' Michael McDowell will start from the outside of the front row, a full 0.259s off of SVG's fast lap of 1:11.165s. 

Austin Cindric qualified third for Team Penske, while SVG's teammates Ross Chastain and Connor Zilisch were fourth and fifth, respectively. 

"The guys did a good job tuning it for what I needed for the one lap," said Van Gisbergen. "It was really good, but all Trackhouse cars in the top five as well. We got some good cars here this weekend."

Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney, Christopher Bell, Chase Briscoe, and Ty Gibbs filled out the remainder of the top ten.

Watch: Van Gisbergen captures Cup pole at Watkins Glen

The 35-minute qualifying session got off to a slow start as cars hesitated to go out on track. Halfway through the session, only 15 cars had put down a time with Hocevar leading the way over Allmendinger.

With less than ten minutes to go, Van Gisbergen made his run with Zilisch following him around the track. The difference was all under braking into the bus stop, as the three-time Supercars champion gained a ton of time through that one section.

In the end, the gap between 1st and 2nd on the speed charts was more than the gap between 2nd and 14th, showcasing just how far ahead SVG was on his flying lap.

While there were four Chevrolets inside the top five, the top Hendrick Motorsports driver was William Byron down in 13th. Kyle Larson was back in 23rd, Texas winner Chase Elliott 27th, and Alex Bowman 28th.

23XI was another surprise, as Tyler Reddick had won the most recent road course race at COTA from pole, but he was only fast enough for 15th.

Katherine Legge, who had her car chief ejected after two inspection failures, qualified last, 5.3 seconds off the pole time.

Watch: SVG expects strategy-heavy Cup race at Watkins Glen

NASCAR Cup Watkins Glen Starting Lineup

1	97	Shane van Gisbergen	Chevrolet	2	1'11.165		123.937
2	71	Michael McDowell	Chevrolet	2	1'11.424	0.259	123.488
3	2	Austin Cindric	Ford	2	1'11.445	0.280	123.452
4	1	Ross Chastain	Chevrolet	2	1'11.449	0.284	123.445
5	88	Connor Zilisch	Chevrolet	3	1'11.483	0.318	123.386
6	22	Joey Logano	Ford	2	1'11.522	0.357	123.319
7	12	Ryan Blaney	Ford	2	1'11.523	0.358	123.317
8	20	Christopher Bell	Toyota	3	1'11.582	0.417	123.215
9	19	Chase Briscoe	Toyota	4	1'11.583	0.418	123.214
10	54	Ty Gibbs	Toyota	2	1'11.615	0.450	123.159
11	77	Carson Hocevar	Chevrolet	4	1'11.620	0.455	123.150
12	16	AJ Allmendinger	Chevrolet	3	1'11.654	0.489	123.092
13	24	William Byron	Chevrolet	3	1'11.664	0.499	123.074
14	17	Chris Buescher	Ford	5	1'11.668	0.503	123.067
15	45	Tyler Reddick	Toyota	3	1'11.699	0.534	123.014
16	7	Daniel Suarez	Chevrolet	2	1'11.723	0.558	122.973
17	42	John Hunter Nemechek	Toyota	3	1'11.739	0.574	122.946
18	23	Bubba Wallace	Toyota	3	1'11.755	0.590	122.918
19	41	Cole Custer	Chevrolet	3	1'11.847	0.682	122.761
20	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	4	1'11.854	0.689	122.749
21	8	Kyle Busch	Chevrolet	5	1'11.890	0.725	122.687
22	34	Todd Gilliland	Ford	2	1'11.941	0.776	122.600
23	5	Kyle Larson	Chevrolet	4	1'11.961	0.796	122.566
24	43	Erik Jones	Toyota	5	1'11.972	0.807	122.548
25	3	Austin Dillon	Chevrolet	5	1'11.999	0.834	122.502
26	6	Brad Keselowski	Ford	3	1'12.060	0.895	122.398
27	9	Chase Elliott	Chevrolet	2	1'12.067	0.902	122.386
28	48	Alex Bowman	Chevrolet	5	1'12.095	0.930	122.339
29	47	Ricky Stenhouse Jr	Chevrolet	3	1'12.122	0.957	122.293
30	60	Ryan Preece	Ford	6	1'12.124	0.959	122.289
31	10	Ty Dillon	Chevrolet	4	1'12.148	0.983	122.249
32	35	Riley Herbst	Toyota	3	1'12.260	1.095	122.059
33	38	Zane Smith	Ford	2	1'12.264	1.099	122.052
34	21	Josh Berry	Ford	4	1'12.614	1.449	121.464
35	4	Noah Gragson	Ford	5	1'12.637	1.472	121.426
36	51	Cody Ware	Chevrolet	4	1'13.199	2.034	120.493
37	66	Josh Bilicki	Ford	2	1'14.090	2.925	119.044
38	78	Katherine Legge	Chevrolet	14	1'16.497	5.332	115.299

Factory Ducati rider Francesco Bagnaia will start the French Grand Prix from pole position after topping Saturday's qualifying session at Le Mans.

It was the Italian's first pole position since last year's Malaysian Grand Prix, as well as the second for Ducati in 2026 following Marc Marquez's impressive lap at the Spanish Grand Prix last month.

Marquez was due to join his team-mate on the front row but suffered a huge high-side in the sprint race and damaged his foot, leaving him out of both Sunday's race and next weekend's Catalan GP. He will undergo surgery on his broken foot as well as another operation on his right shoulder, which he had already planned after a screw had become dislodged.

With Marquez absent, the rest of the riders will move up a position. That means Aprilia rider and championship leader Marco Bezzecchi will start second, with Fabio di Giannantonio lining up third on the grid on the VR46 Ducati.

Pedro Acosta (KTM), Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha) and Joan Mir (Honda) will represent their respective manufacturers on the second row, while sprint winner Jorge Martin (Aprilia) will take the start in seventh place.

Last year's French GP winner Johann Zarco (LCR) moves up a place to 10th, with rain forecast on Sunday.

BMW executed an alternative strategy to perfection to claim its maiden World Endurance Championship victory in a chaotic, incident-packed Spa-Francorchamps 6 Hours race.

A decision to short-fuel in the opening pitstop propelled the #20 BMW M Hybrid V8 LMDh of Rene Rast, Sheldon van der Linde and Robin Frijns to the lead, which the trio consolidated when a safety car in the penultimate hour forced all hypercars to the pit at the same time.

Frijns then pulled away from rivals in the final two stints, guiding the factory WRT team to a home win in Belgium. 

At the start of the race, Will Stevens got a great run from Raidillon in the #12 Cadillac V-Series.R, passing the polesitting #94 Peugeot 9X8 of Loic Duval at Les Combes to snatch the lead.

The two Alpine A424 LMDhs jumped to second and fourth by the end of the hour, split by the #94 Peugeot, while Kevin Magnussen underlined BMW’s pace by charging from 10th to fifth in the #15 car.

With the opening round of pitstops complete, the #20 BMW had leapt to the front of the field with a shorter pitstop, while Brendon Hartley had jumped to second in the #8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid by pitting early and undercutting rivals. However, both cars were significantly low on fuel, leaving those on the conventional strategy – led by the #12 Cadillac – firmly in the hunt.

During the middle section of the race, the #20 BMW continued to extend its advantage at the front, going for an aggressive approach when most rivals opted to conserve fuel and tyre life. At its peak, van der Linde’s lead over the #12 Cadillac stood at 52 seconds, although it would come down to 40 seconds later.

Meanwhile, the battle for third place on track raged on, with Antonio Felix da Costa putting the #35 Alpine A424 ahead – and potentially in the net lead – with a faster in-lap and pit service in the third hour.

The complexion of the race changed completely with just over two hours to go when Matteo Cressoni went wide at Les Combes and spun into the path of the #94 Peugeot 9X8 of polesitter Malthe Jakobsen who, on cold tyres, could do little to avoid the Mercedes-AMG GT3. The subsequent safety car put everyone on the same strategy, leaving the #20 BMW firmly in the lead ahead of the #8 Toyota and the #35 Alpine.

#94 Peugeot Totalenergies Peugeot 9X8: Loic Duval, Malthe Jakobsen, Theo Pourchaire

Photo by: FIA WEC / DPPI

Frijns quickly built a gap of eight seconds in the next stint, but his advantage was wiped out when the safety car was deployed again at the start of the final hour. Alessandro Pier Guidi was running in a strong position in the #51 Ferrari 499P when the Italian was hit from behind by the #32 BMW M4 GT3 of Augusto Farfus, who in turn appeared to have made contact with Ayhancan Guven in the #91 Porsche.

After a prolonged safety car, Frijns perfected the restart to remain in the lead, but the race was neutralised yet again as Alex Riberas spun in the #009 Aston Martin Valkyrie while chasing da Costa’s Alpine for fifth.

That set up a 24-minute dash for victory, with Frijns leading from Magnussen, who had jumped to second in the pitstop cycles. The Dutchman had no trouble keeping his rivals behind, taking the chequered flag by just under two seconds to score the first WEC win for BMW’s LMDh programme.

Magnussen fended off a late attack from the #50 Ferrari of Miguel Molina, who had the luxury of four new tyres, completing a remarkable 1-2 for BMW.

The #50 Ferrari had a topsy-turvy race at Spa, with Molina guiding the car to second behind Stevens in the second hour before a slow pitstop cost the crew 20 seconds and left it outside the top 10. But Molina, Fuoco and Nielsen gradually worked their way back and eventually completed the podium positions.

Fourth place went to the #007 Aston Martin Valkyrie LMH of Tom Gamble and Harry Tincknell, after Gamble passed the #7 Toyota of Kamui Kobayashi with just four minutes left on the clock.

The #7 Toyota emerged as the highest-placed from the Japanese manufacturer after the sister #8 car that was running in second position lost a heap of time by pitting in green conditions just before Pier Guidi’s accident.

AF Corse’s satellite #83 Ferrari crewed by Robert Kubica, Phil Hanson and Yifei Ye finished sixth, ahead of Stoffel Vandoorne, Paul Di Resta and Nick Cassidy in the sole surviving Peugeot.

When Paul Di Resta beat Sebastian Vettel to the F3 title

Newcomer Genesis scored its maiden points in the WEC, with the #17 GMR-001 shared by Pipo Derani, Mathys Jaubert and Andre Lotterer benefiting from late-race drama to take eighth. The sister #19 car ran into electrical issues in the first hour and spent several laps in the garage, ending up 13th.

The #12 Cadillac of Stevens, Norman Nato and Louis Deletraz lost a heap of time in the fifth hour after contending for the win early in the race, ending up ninth. The top 10 was completed by the recovering #8 Toyota of Hartley, Sebastien Buemi and Ryo Hirakawa.

Alpine came away from the race empty-handed after da Costa went off the track at the final restart and damaged the front end of the #35 A424. He had been running fifth.

The #38 Cadillac retired from the race with a loss of drive following a first-hour collision between Earl Bamber and the #92 Manthey Porsche 911 GTR R of Yasser Shahin at Turn 12.

McLaren triumphs in LMGT3

#10 Garage 59 McLaren 720s GT3 EVO: Antares Au, Thomas Fleming, Marvin Kirchhofer

Photo by: Paul Foster

Garage 59 took top honours in the LMGT3 class, with Antares Au, Tom Fleming and Marvin Kirchhofer taking the top spot in the #10 McLaren 720S GT3.

Following late heartbreak at Imola, fortune smiled for McLaren and its new LMGT3 Garage 59 as the #21 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 that had led since the second hour was hit with a five-second time penalty for an unsafe release. 

Francois Heriau had leapt from sixth to third in the first stint, before a quick pitstop propelled him in the lead in the third hour. The #21 Ferrari remained at the front through various stages of the race until the AF Corse crew was penalised for blocking Kirchhofer’s McLaren at the exit of the pitlane during the final round of pitstops.

Ian James, Mattia Drudi and Zacharie Robichon were elevated to second in the #27 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 as a result of the sanction, while the #92 Manthey Porsche 911 GT3 R of Richard Lietz, Shahin and Riccardo Pera completed the podium from 12th on the grid.

Proton endured a tough day at Spa, despite both its cars leading certain stages of the race. Eric Powell drove the #77 Ford Mustang GT3 to the front with a bold pass over Tom van Rompuy’s Lexus at Eau Rouge. However, just 14 minutes into the race, he ran too wide over the kerbs at Stavelot and beached the car in the gravel, triggering the first safety car appearance of the day.

The #88 Ford led the second hour in the hands of Stefano Gattuso, but a drive-through penalty for track limits while running in second left it further down the order.

The polesitting #87 Lexus RC F GT3 shared by van Rompuy, Hadrien David and Esteban Masson remained in the hunt for the podium until the final hour, when it mysteriously slowed down on track at the same time the #51 Ferrari LMH stopped with terminal damage.

Spa-Francorchamps 6 Hours results

Guenther Steiner has criticised the Miami Grand Prix stewards, claiming that a time limit should be introduced for post-race penalties.

Several incidents were under investigation by the stewards following the race at the Hard Rock Stadium. These included Max Verstappen for allegedly crossing the white line at the pit exit, Max Verstappen and George Russell for causing a collision, Charles Leclerc and Russell for causing a collision with their contact on the final lap, Leclerc for leaving the track multiple times on the last lap and gaining an advantage, and Leclerc for driving his car in an unsafe condition. 

It wasn’t until approximately two and a half hours after the chequered flag that the verdicts began to come through. While the majority of the drivers were left unscathed, Leclerc was handed a 20-second penalty which dropped him to eighth.

“The stewards because I was sitting in the airplane already going back home when I heard that there was still penalties going around,” Steiner explained during The Red Flags Podcast. “So I'm just thinking, we need to decide it after the race, but I think there needs to be a time limit. If you don't know, guess what? Don't give a penalty.

“What are they doing during the race? Because I think the stewards are not there to watch the race. They're there to take decisions on things which went wrong.

Pierre Gasly, Alpine

Photo by: Andy Hone/ LAT Images via Getty Images

"So I think they should shut the race down and tell the stewards, analyse this, process this scene, what happened here, work on it, make a decision and move on, not watch. But I mean for them watching the race, I don't think that should be part of their job.”

He added, “Crossing a white line, what you want to litigate? Either it is on or off. You have got cameras there, and then the team still has got the chance to protest.

"But in the end, you're either going over a white line or not. It's not like it's an incident like with Gasly and Lawson. It's either over or not. Before, after, in three days, it will be the same picture.”

Davide Brivio will leave his position as Trackhouse Aprilia team principal to join Honda's management as part of the Japanese manufacturer’s ongoing restructuring process.

The news of his new consultancy role, first reported on Saturday by Sky Italia and subsequently confirmed by Motorsport, will mark the Italian’s return to a factory squad. 

He enjoyed previous factory spells at Yamaha – where he played a key role in building the team led by Valentino Rossi and later joined by Jorge Lorenzo – and Suzuki, with whom he celebrated the 2020 MotoGP world title alongside Joan Mir.

Immediately after securing that crown with the Hamamatsu manufacturer, Brivio joined Alpine’s Formula 1 operation, initially as racing director, before taking on several different roles within the organisation before agreeing to leave at the end of 2023.

While Brivio’s departure from Trackhouse has yet to be officially announced, the Italian, who has served as team principal since Justin Marks’ organisation took over from RNF in 2024, is set to join HRC in 2027 as an internal consultant.

Alberto Puig, who has been Honda’s team manager since 2018, is expected to renew his contract, which expires at the end of the current season.

Brivio helped Joan Mir to the 2020 world title

Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images

It is also worth noting the departure of Hikaru Tsukamoto from Honda’s racing department. In recent years, Tsukamoto had overseen the development of the company’s motorcycle division. He bid farewell to paddock personnel during the season-opening Thai Grand Prix.

Motorsport understands that Honda has decided to change its strategy regarding the organisation of its MotoGP project. Under this new structure, Japanese executives have taken on a much more prominent role than in recent years.

In fact, the operation that led to the signing of Fabio Quartararo, who is set to become Honda’s lead rider from 2027 onwards, was handled directly by Taichi Honda. The Japanese management group was also responsible for the decision to extend Johann Zarco’s contract by another two years, making him the only one of HRC’s four riders currently tied to the manufacturer until the end of 2027, in a move that raised eyebrows in the paddock.

While official confirmation of most rider deals is still pending ongoing negotiations between MotoGP Sports Entertainment Group, the championship promoter, and the participating manufacturers and teams, Quartararo is known to have a guaranteed place in the factory HRC garage. He is expected to be joined by David Alonso, who has already signed a pre-contract agreement.

That scenario would leave Zarco and Diogo Moreira in their current positions at the satellite LCR team.

As for the possibility of Honda reaching an agreement with Tech3 to expand its presence on the grid to six bikes, the chances appear to have diminished considerably following the latest meetings held between the parties in Le Mans.

At this stage, all indications suggest that the French outfit, led by Guenther Steiner, is more likely to remain linked to KTM.

Photos from French GP - Saturday

Guenther Steiner puzzled by MotoGP bikes sitting out sessions without stand-in riders

2025 F1 Academy champion Doriane Pin hopes that her Formula 1 test with Mercedes will open the door to more opportunities in the championship, as she explained that securing a seat in F1 has now become a goal rather than a dream.

The French driver joined the Mercedes Junior Team in 2024 when she entered the all-female racing series. After winning the championship in 2025 , she was promoted to the role of development driver at the Brackley outfit. 

Come April 2026, and Pin was behind the wheel of the Mercedes W12 from the 2021 F1 championship. 

"Driving again in Formula 1," Pin said when asked what her next goal is during the Mercedes Nu Silver Arrows Show. 

"I hope I will have the opportunity. I think we did a pretty good job today. I hope it will open some doors and some opportunities for the future, but what is next is Le Castellet in three weeks for ELMS [European Le Mans Series]. 

Doriane Pin

Photo by: Tristan Fewings / LAT Images via Getty Images

"And with F1, I hope this chapter is only the beginning and I will have more chances to drive a Formula 1 car and to continue my progression step-by-step, and hopefully be in FP1 at one point."

Talking about her goal of driving in F1, the 22-year-old added: "But from when I was nine until a few years ago, it was a dream - Formula 1. And now it's a goal. It's a bit different. And now I have proved to myself that I can be fast in a Formula 1 car, I don't know what to say to my nine-year-old Doriane, but I think that it's important to follow what is inside your heart, and your gut."

Pin's outing with Mercedes made her the first F1 Academy champion to test an F1 car and the first woman to test a Mercedes F1 car.

versus Alex Palou in qualifying for the Sonsio Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.

The four-time and reigning IndyCar Series champion, who has won the last three consecutive years at the IMS road course, dished out an electrifying run of 1m09.748s to take pole at the 2.439-mile, 14-turn road course. It also marks his third straight pole in the event. 

“It’s tough to get the car in good windows like these guys have been doing,” said Palou, of his #10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda crew members. “It’s a lot of work that everybody is putting behind at Chip Ganassi Racing. Very happy to be in that #10 on the pole once again here. It feels really good. The car was amazing. I think not everyone was running on new alternates, so I know we’re going to be in a small disadvantage on the race, but still, happy that we’re starting on the front row and see if we can win with the #10.”

Behind the Spaniard was Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward, who qualified a distant second by 0.5475s back. Meyer Shank Racing’s Felix Rosenqvist took third, 0.7061s off the top mark. 

Arrow McLaren’s Christian Lundgaard ended up fourth, ahead of Team Penske’s David Malukas in fifth, and Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Louis Foster in sixth.

Fast Six

Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing

Photo by: Geoff Miller / Lumen via Getty Images

Malukas and Foster were the first to go out and do a buildup lap before diving back to pit lane. 

The first contested time on pace came courtesy of Rosenqvist with a 1m10.547s lap with just under a minute to go. However, he was relegated after Palou nailed a 1m10.011s lap a moment later. 

Malukas wheeled a 1m10.566s lap on a set of used softer alternates, which slotted him fifth after O’Ward jumped up to second with a 1m10.296s lap, with Lundgaard fourth at 1m10.566s.

Foster quietly delivered a 1m10.940s lap to take sixth, his best qualifying performance of the season.

Round of 12

Josef Newgarden, Team Penske, Jonathan Diuguid

Photo by: Geoff Miller / Lumen via Getty Images

Palou dished out a 1m09.780s with less than a minute to go in the session, which was enough to hold the top transfer spot. O’Ward put down a 1m10.053s lap to take second, directly ahead of teammate Lundgaard. 

Rosenqvist took fourth, with Foster fifth and Malukas in sixth. 

Graham Rahal (Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing) was the first driver to miss out on transferring in the Fast Six, doing so by a narrow 0.0521s. Six-time IndyCar Series champion Scott Dixon was eighth in the #9 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. 

Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood, who is currently second in the overall championship standings, came across ninth. Josef Newgarden, a two-time Indianapolis 500 winner and two-time series champion, was 10th in the #2 Team Penske Chevrolet. Dale Coyne Racing’s Romain Grosjean took 11th, with AJ Foyt Racing rookie Caio Collet putting his best qualifying performance of the season in 12th.  

Groups

Will Power, Andretti Global

Photo by: Gavin Baker / Lumen via Getty Images

Live timing for the first group was a mystery for the opening six minutes and change, at least publicly, but once it showed up there was a frantic run to the finish. Kirkwood dished out a 1m10.2179s flyer, followed by Dixon, O’Ward, Rahal, Newgarden, and Collet. 

ECR’s Alexander Rossi made a last-gasp effort, but in the end fell 0.0011s short of transferring. 

“It’s annoying that it wasn’t three amazing laps from my side,” Rossi said. “I’ve been struggling a lot getting the balance in the window to what we need. I think we’ve made a lot of improvements from yesterday. I just didn’t put it all together there, which is annoying. 

“I don’t know that we had a car for pole, but I think we could have easily been in the top 12. It’s unfortunate that’s not the case.”

The 2016 Indianapolis 500 winner was followed by AJ Foyt Racing’s Santino Ferrucci and Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin. Christian Rasmussen (ECR) wrapped up 10th in the group, ahead of Juncos Hollinger Racing’s duo of Rinus VeeKay and Sting Ray Robb. 

The second group was led by Arrow McLaren’s Nolan Siegel for the majority of the session, but he was bumped by Grosjean with a 1m10.299s with 1m to go. However, the rotation at the top continued and ended with Palou delivering a 1m09.912s flyer to pace the group. 

Malukas elevated to second, followed by Rosenqvist, Foster, Grosjean, and Lundgaard. Andretti Global’s Marcus Ericsson was the first driver on the outside looking in, missing the cut by 0.0498s. 

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Siegel ended up eighth, followed by Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing rookie Mick Schumacher in ninth. Meyer Shank Racing’s Marcus Armstrong was 10th, ahead of Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kyffin Simpson and Dale Coyne Racing rookie Dennis Hauger.

Will Power, a six-time pole winner around the IMS road course, ended up last (13th) among the second group in the #26 Andretti Global Honda.

“Honestly, a bit surprised.”

Ryan Preece was very measured on Saturday morning when discussing the penalty levied against him this week by NASCAR for the incident involving him and Ty Gibbs last Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway. Gibbs crashed on Lap 101 and NASCAR deduced intent based on radio communication that indicated Preece could retaliate in some form for a previous incident.  

“What a fucking idiot that kid is,” Preece said over the radio. “He’s so lucky his car is so fucking fast. … Alright, when I get to that 54, I’m done with him. Fucking idiot. It’s just, that car is so fast, it fucking pisses me off. Stupid. I can’t I’m going to vent for 15 seconds. I can’t stand when idiots like him have fast race cars that they can do stupid shit and get away with it. End of rant.”

Shortly afterwards, Gibbs crashed off his nose, and Preece told reporters afterwards that he simply didn’t cut a break that other drivers might have earned.

NASCAR penalizes Ryan Preece for Texas incident with Ty Gibbs

RFK Racing will appeal Ryan Preece penalty for wrecking Ty Gibbs

RFK Racing confirmed that it would appeal the $50,000 fine and 25 point penalty that pushed the driver of the No. 60 Ford Mustang to 13th in the standings and closer to the cutline for the Chase for the Championship.

He’s now just 38 points above it.

“You know, I’m thankful that NASCAR has an appeals process so I feel like I can be heard and let that process play out,” Preece said.

How did Preece respond to NASCAR’s declaration?

“Well, I was on my mower, mowing my lawn at about 4:30 and not very great signal,” Preece said. “I just saw that I had a missed call and I made the call back and found out that I had a penalty. I’m thankful for RFK Racing and for Chip (Bowers, president) and everyone for their support.

“Because, like I said, at least I feel like I can go through it and share my side.”

Preece also said he’s not going to have a conversation with Gibbs until after the appeals process. He’s also not planning on changing anything he wants to say when he keys up the microphone.

“At the beginning of the season, we talked about being ourselves so I’m not going to change being myself,” Preece said. “But what can I say? I’m excited for the appeals process and I look forward to going through that.”

And if he has to pay 50 grand?

"I'm feeling pretty good about the appeals process and I hope to not have to worry about that but to your point, it's a substantial amount."

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Jorge Martin says instinct and faith were among the main elements in his remarkable start to the sprint race at Le Mans on Saturday.

The Spaniard set up victory by means of a good getaway from eighth on the grid, followed by some jaw-dropping execution through the first series of corners.

MotoGP French GP: Jorge Martin wins sprint after rocket start, Marc Marquez crashes

He positioned himself for momentum through the sweeping right-hander at Dunlop, where he found an empty road ahead of him and gained four places from his grid slot. But with that done, conventional thinking would have dictated that he was in the wrong part of the track for the first braking point at the chicane that concludes the complex. 

Despite being on the outside of Marco Bezzecchi, Francesco Bagnaia and Marc Marquez, however, he simply rode around these rivals and hit the second apex before them. From that point on, Martin was never headed as he cruised to his second sprint win of the season.

"It was a bit of instinct, for sure," reflected Martin after the race. "I had a lot of faith in my potential. I had a lot of determination going into those corners today."

Jorge Martin, Aprilia Racing Team

Photo by: Loic Venance / AFP via Getty Images

Asked how much had been luck and how much had been judgement, Martin replied:
"Yeah, maybe I was lucky because starting from eighth it's impossible to predict what the other riders are going to do. I started really well – that was skill – and then I found very well the place to go [positioning on the track], so maybe this was luck. 

"But for sure that braking point was planned. I never thought I would be first after two corners. Maybe I was thinking about fourth or fifth."

Despite the subsequent run to victory looking easy from the outside, Martin was keen to emphasise that there was still a lot of work to do once he had hit the front: "For sure it helped quite a lot to be fast in the start, but from that point is where the real race started, so I had to push a lot."

Asked if he thought this had been the best opening sequence of his career thus far, Martin said there was a better example from his past: "No, I don't think so. [Today] I just found a good line, good places, but I still think Qatar in 2021, going from 15th to third, was the best."

Photos from French GP - Saturday

F1 TV presenter and former IndyCar Series driver James Hinchcliffe has warned Kimi Antonelli that his experienced Mercedes team-mate George Russell could end his winning streak at the Canadian Grand Prix later this month. 

Antonelli has surprised the paddock with an incredible start to 2026 in only his second season in the championship. Heading into the season, his team-mate was an easy favourite for the title, but after back-to-back wins at the Chinese and Japanese Grands Prix, the 19-year-old driver took the lead of the standings. 

Speaking after the Miami Grand Prix, where Antonelli's win from pole position extended his lead over Russell to 20 points, Hinchcliffe claimed that Russell's strength at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve could give him the edge.

"Nothing lasts forever in Formula 1, right? And we're going to a track next that we know George Russell is very competitive at," the former IndyCar driver explained on the F1 TV post-race show.

"He won there last year. It'll be interesting to see how he handles it if George goes there and is able to get the momentum back on his side. How does he handle that wave ebbing and flowing?"

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes

Photo by: Sona Maleterova / Getty Images

Russell claimed the victory at the 2025 Canadian Grand Prix, and Antonelli secured third place.

"It's not as good as first," Hinchcliffe added of Antonelli's 2025 podium finish. "It was a dominant performance from George. But again, the swagger that this kid had when he qualified on pole, he's now getting comfortable winning races. He's now got a signature move he's done on top. That's a thing he's decided he's going to start doing. When you're planning ahead, what's my move going to be when I win? That's a confident kid."

The Canadian Grand Prix weekend will take place from 22-24 May at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, and will feature another sprint race.

MotoGP legend Marc Marquez has withdrawn from the French Grand Prix weekend after his violent highside crash late in Saturday's sprint race. 

MotoGP French GP: Jorge Martin wins sprint after rocket start, Marc Marquez crashes

The Ducati factory star has been declared unfit after an X-ray revealed a fracture in his right foot. 

Marquez will fly to Madrid this evening with surgery scheduled tomorrow, and has already been ruled out of his home race at Barcelona next weekend. 

The Spaniard was already 51 points behind championship leader Marco Bezzecchi, and this latest setback will leave him requiring little short of a miracle to defend his world championship title. 

Marquez was running in seventh place when the accident occurred on the penultimate lap. He lost control of the bike on the way into Raccordement at the end of the lap, and was spat over the handlebars in a rare MotoGP highside.

While Marquez's troublesome right shoulder appears to have escaped further damage in this accident, the rider revealed to DAZN after the race that he had existing plans for further surgery in that area following the Barcelona race.

"I already had an operation scheduled for after Catalonia, on my right shoulder," he said. "That was one of the reasons I was taking it easy. I knew I could fall at any moment."

Marc Marquez, Ducati Team

Photo by: Marc Fleury

That revelation flew in the face of his recent claims to be fully fit, and confirmed the rife speculation that shoulder issues had been hampering his riding in recent races.

"After Jerez, I realised something wasn’t right," he added. "We went to see the doctors, and they found that everything was fine, but that the infamous broken screw in my lateral ligament was in a different position. 

"It was a very strange sensation, because at home I felt fine, but when I came here it impeded my riding, because it was touching the radial nerve. That’s what causes me to make mistakes, be inconsistent and have unexpected crashes. That’s why I was so calm [unconcerned]. 
 
"The shoulder procedure is simply a matter of opening it up and removing that screw. It shouldn’t take long."

Given that Marc will no longer race in Barcelona next weekend, that procedure will now be brought forward to coincide with the foot surgery on Monday.

Additional reporting by German Garcia Casanova

Photos from French GP - Saturday

During Friday's NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Watkins Glen International, two late-race leaders were penalized for going early and mashing the gas before reaching the restart zone.

The first was Ross Chastain, who led 19 laps before penalized with just ten laps to go. Two restarts later with five laps to go, it was Gio Ruggiero, who was even closer to the line and was getting pushed from behind.

"Whoever was behind me pushing right before the box, pushing me right into it -- like I can't do anything about that," Ruggiero said over the radio. "You want me to get on the brakes and wreck the whole f****** field?"

It's worth noting that the restart zone also changed this year with NASCAR moving closer to the entrance of the final corner. While a white line is painted across the track to mark the start of the new zone, there is a faded black timing line just before it. They beefed up the lines, added some more colors and other visuals aids to the area on Saturday morning.

Gio Ruggiero leads the field on a late-race restart, No. 17 Tricon Garage Toyota

Photo by: Sean Gardner / Getty Images

Chastain's penalty wasn't about getting shoved, and was definitely more about being able to see where the restart zone actually began.

"I haven't seen a replay but if they said I went early, then I'm pretty sure I did," said Chastain, later adding: "I just mis-executed. I completely failed on that restart by going early. Crossed a line and went at the wrong line, clearly. That hurts, and then doubling down and I tore it up back for 20th so a very humbling day here."

On Saturday morning, NASCAR was working out in that area, removing some tire packs just before the start of the restart zone, which sits between Turn 6 and Turn 7, right before the entrance of the final corner. 

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