News from the Motorsport world has to include Kalle Rovanpera's dominant drive in WRC GreeceRed Bull

Motorsport News 101 | Your weekly digest from the motorsport world

With WRC, F2, F1 and MotoGP taking place over the weekend, we chose to present the five motorsport news from the events

Last week was amazing to say the least from a motorsports fan perspective.The week was filled with races, news and incidents which have struck up gossip that may possibly last till the end of the season. Starting from Max Verstappen sliding all over Lewis’ car to Rovanpera wiping the floor with his experienced rivals, we have it all covered in this week’s segment. So, without much further ado, let us look at the news from the Motorsport world over the week.

FIA deemed Verstappen as the driver at fault and handed him a three-place grid penalty for the Russian GPMercedes-AMG F1

1. Verstappen v Hamilton crash verdict

The Italian GP brought in some tasty talking points like McLaren’s first Grand Prix win since Brazil 2012 and Bottas’ charge through the field, but the biggest event was the crash between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton out of turn 1. For those who didn’t see the race, Verstappen and Lewis found each other side by side into turn 1 in lap 26, and as usual, both failed to give each other space on the track. This resulted in a contact that made Max’s Red Bull launch into the air and landed right on top of Lewis’ car. Fortunately, both the drivers were safe but had to retire from the race.

In the final verdict from the FIA, Verstappen was deemed as the driver at fault, received a three-place grid penalty for the next race and also received two points on his super licence. The verdict by the FIA has been thoroughly debated by fans around the world but one thing we all can agree with is the implementation of the Halo structure on F1 cars. From the multiple photos and videos we analysed about the crash, it is clearly visible that the Halo system did save Lewis Hamilton from any fatal injuries.

To read the full report of the Italian GP, click here.

The announcement of Kimi's retirement started a domino effect in the drivers mark etRed Bull

2. Formula 1 driver market shuffle

The news of Kimi Raikkonen’s retirement had a butterfly effect on the rest of the grid. All the teams came into gear to either lock or poach drivers for the 2022 season. Mercedes-AMG F1 was the first to make the move by announcing Valtteri Bottas’ exit from the team as he gears up to join Alfa Romeo for 2022. At the same time, the Brackley-based team signed George Russell which was a long-awaited move. To fill the empty seat at Williams, Red Bull signed a complicated deal with Williams and Mercedes and got Alex Albon. This gives the Thai driver another chance to prove his worth in Formula 1. Moving to Scuderia AlphaTauri, both Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda renewed their contract for the 2022 season around the same time. Only one seat i.e. the second seat at Alfa Romeo is still up for grabs as Antonio Giovinazzi is yet to be confirmed for the second seat.

Kalle Rovanpera dominates Acropolis despite surprise rain and an accidentRed Bull

3. Kalle Rovanpera dominated WRC Greece

Just after becoming the youngest ever WRC winner, Kalle Rovanpera (Toyota Racing) strikes again at Greece by dominating the 2021 Acropolis Rally. The 20-year-old Finnish driver led most events over the four-day race week, building a gap of 42.1 seconds over veteran driver Ott Tanak (Hyundai Motorsport). The rest finished at least an hour behind the leading two as they faced repairs during the stages. The gods were particularly not happy as rains made the gravel tracks slippery and unpredictable, a problem which added to the fact that Acropolis Rally made its appearance after 2013 and most drivers had no experience on this track. These factors made sure that the playing fields were rather even for all the drivers and only courage could give them the edge. Rovanpera, with this win under the belt, is now close to pouncing on Elfyn Evans and Thierry Neuville in the drivers championship.

To read the full report of the WRC EKO Acropolis Rally, click here.

Jehan won the Sprint Race 2 at Monza inched heir in the drivers championship table to P7James Gasperotti

4. Jehan wins F2 Sprint at Monza

Monza has proved to be a strong circuit for Jehan Daruvala as the Indian driver stood victorious in Sprint Race 2. This was the second time Jehan won a race in F2 and the second race this season where he claimed a podium finish. Over the weekend at Monza, Daruvala managed to score 25 points which took him up to P7 in the championship table with 81 points. Jehan had a rocky start this year, but hopefully, this win would act as a boost for his momentum through the last three rounds in the Formula 2 calendar.

To read the full report on Jehan’s F2 victory at Monza, click here.

A knife fight with Marc Marquez for the victory would have made Bagnaia's first MotoGP win even sweeterRed Bull

5. Francesco Bagnaia wins first MotoGP race at Aragon

Francesco’s first win at MotoGP was clearly not the easiest as he had to duel it out with Marquez on the track from the get-go. This was especially more difficult since Aragon is also considered as Marquez’s backyard. Marquez was chasing Bagnaia the entire race and with three laps remaining, he started to make moves on the Ducati rider. Attempt after attempt was made by the Honda rider, but Pecco always found the drive to get past the Honda rider. Marquez tried seven overtake attempts in the last three laps and yet came second to Pecco on the finish line. This surely made Bagnaia’s first victory a lot sweeter. Moreover, Bagnaia’s win marked the end of a dry spell in Ducati’s history of victories on this track as the last Aragon win for the Italian team came in 2010 with Casey Stoner.

To read the full report of MotoGP Aragon, click here.

After scoring points at the Red Bull Ring, Arjun Maini prepares himself for DTM AssenArjun Maini

This weekend, DTM will take place at Assen starting from September 17, along with MotoGP at Misano on September 19. The MotoGP weekend will also showcase Moto 2, Moto 3 and the latest addition Moto E. There are a lot of exciting events ahead of us, so stay tuned to evo India for news and updates from the motorsport world.