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Author Archives: PressBox

  • Aaron Reutzel sweeps past Donny Schatz, leads every lap at Knoxville

    Aaron Reutzel sweeps past Donny Schatz, leads every lap at Knoxville

    Aaron Reutzel continued his hot streak at Knoxville Raceway, sweeping past polesitter Donny Schatz from the outside of the front row, then leading every lap of the 25-lap World of Outlaws feature to Victory Lane. The win paid $20,000 and was Reutzel’s sixth victory of May and his sixth in the last eight races, pushing his monthly earnings past six figures and his 2026 haul to nearly $200,000. The triumph was his eighth World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series victory, his 12th 410-class win at Knoxville, and increased his combined 410/360 Knoxville total to 28, a result that tied him with Jimmy Sills and Cody Darrah for 56th on the World of Outlaws all-time win list.

    Reutzel held off late traffic to secure the feature as Donny Schatz finished second in the CJB Motorsports No. 15, marking Schatz’s fourth podium of the 2026 season. Rico Abreu placed third to extend his streak to five consecutive podiums, with David Gravel fourth and J.J. Hickle fifth. Austin McCarl initially crossed sixth but was later disqualified after losing a muffler. In the support program, Tasker Phillips charged from the fourth row to win the Randall Roofing 360 20-lap feature in the 3-Way Motorsports No. 1TAZ, his second straight Knoxville victory and sixth career win at the track. Officials also noted Knoxville Raceway will host the Avanti Windows & Doors Corn Belt Clash with AMSOIL USAC National Sprint Cars on May 29–30.

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  • Johnson uses low groove to win Perris in Petty Performance No. 1P

    Johnson uses low groove to win Perris in Petty Performance No. 1P

    R.J. Johnson, the two-time defending Avanti Windows & Doors USAC CRA Sprint Car champion, won the 30-lap “Salute to Indy” main at Perris Auto Speedway, prevailing in a 14-car field. Johnson started sixth in Petty Performance Racing’s No. 1P Sherman, carrying Avanti Windows & Doors and Apache Transport sponsorship, and used the low groove to work to the lead in a race that featured multiple lead changes and two distinct grooves.

    Johnson held off a late charge from Tommy “Thunder” Malcolm, who charged from fifth in Dino Napier’s No. 5x Maxim and had been running the top groove, until Malcolm’s engine expired with five laps remaining. Brody Roa finished second, Eddie Tafoya Jr. was third, Cole Wakim fourth and Austin Williams fifth.

    The victory was Johnson’s third of the season and the 14th of his career. He also picked up the Woodland Auto Display Fast Time Award with a lap of 16.677 seconds and earned a Best Passing Job recognition. The USAC CRA Sprint Car series is scheduled to return on June 6 to Santa Maria Speedway.

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  • Hamilton hails 'awesome' P2 after gripping late duel with Verstappen

    Hamilton hails ‘awesome’ P2 after gripping late duel with Verstappen

    Lewis Hamilton delivered a breakthrough performance for Ferrari at the Canadian Grand Prix, finishing second after deliberately avoiding Ferrari’s Maranello simulator and staging a dramatic late outside pass on Max Verstappen at Turn 1. Hamilton started fifth, passed Oscar Piastri at the first corner and was overtaken by Verstappen earlier in the race, but strong pace on the medium tyre and careful use of overtake mode and battery power let him close from about seven seconds back to within a second with 13 laps remaining. He completed the decisive move on Lap 62, held off Verstappen to the chequered flag and described the chase as something he “loved,” calling the overall result “awesome.”

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  • Stewards suspend Russell's €5,000 fine after headrest apology

    Stewards suspend Russell’s €5,000 fine after headrest apology

    The FIA stewards handed George Russell a suspended €5,000 fine after he threw his car’s headrest onto the track following his retirement from the Canadian Grand Prix at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. The stewards said Russell breached ISC Article 12.2.1.h, and the fine will remain suspended for 12 months provided he commits no similar breach during that period. Stewards reviewed video evidence, heard from Russell, accepted his apology, noted he was embarrassed and recorded that he offered to apologise publicly.

    Russell had been leading the race when a sudden power unit failure forced him to stop around the mid-point, with accounts placing the stoppage on lap 30 and at various locations including Turn 8, Turn 9 and the second chicane on the grass. Witnesses reported Russell angrily threw his headrest and slammed his gloves as he left the cockpit. Mercedes later confirmed the issue was a power unit/module or battery failure, with team principal Toto Wolff citing an electrical/module problem.

    Russell had earlier taken the Sprint win at the event and had been engaged in a tight intra-team duel with teammate Kimi Antonelli in the Grand Prix. Antonelli inherited the lead after Russell’s retirement and went on to win the race, extending his championship advantage to 43 points. The stewards also opened procedures over formation-lap concerns involving Liam Lawson and Nico Hülkenberg, considering stop-and-go penalties that they judged disproportionate and suspended under ISC Article 12.4.6, with both drivers starting from their correct grid positions.

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  • McLaren's intermediate tyre gamble backfires; Montreal ends scoreless

    McLaren’s intermediate tyre gamble backfires; Montreal ends scoreless

    McLaren’s decision to start both cars on intermediate tyres at the Canadian Grand Prix backfired when rain eased during the formation laps, undermining the call and prompting early pit stops and complaints from both drivers. Lando Norris briefly led into Turn 1 from his starting position but pitted for slicks on Lap 2 after the formation-lap rain eased, while Oscar Piastri pitted at the end of Lap 1. Piastri later locked up and collided with Alex Albon, ending Albon’s race and damaging Piastri’s front wing; he was handed a 10-second penalty and was classified 11th. Norris stopped on Lap 40 with an apparent gearbox failure after an earlier pit stop on Lap 15 for a suspected reliability issue. Both McLaren cars finished out of the points, leaving the team scoreless in Montreal.

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  • Reverted wing restores confidence; Norris P3, Piastri P4 in sprint

    Reverted wing restores confidence; Norris P3, Piastri P4 in sprint

    McLaren made a late decision to revert to its previous-spec front wing for sprint qualifying at the Canadian Grand Prix after the updated front-wing design failed to deliver the expected gains in practice. Technical director Neil Houldey said the new wing “wasn’t quite delivering,” and that switching back to the prior wing restored driver confidence and unlocked better performance. Team principal Andrea Stella described the U-turn as a conservative, data-driven choice to avoid introducing an unproven element mid-weekend and said the team needed more time to evaluate the wing’s behavior, adding that McLaren remained “three tenths off” pole while Mercedes had brought meaningful upgrades.

    Both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri had tested the new front wing in Free Practice 1, with Norris running it early and Piastri trying it later, but Friday running was limited after both drivers had excursions onto the grass under braking and posted P6 and P7 in FP1 respectively. McLaren elected to run the older front-wing specification for the sprint session to keep the car predictable for the short-format event; Norris qualified third in the sprint ahead of Piastri in fourth, behind sprint pole-sitter George Russell. Norris described the new front wing as “a bit more questionable,” and warned Miami-derived parts might be track-specific, while Piastri said more work was needed to match Mercedes, who remained the benchmark.

    The reverted wing formed part of a broader second-phase upgrade programme that began in Miami, with McLaren bringing a seven-part package to Montreal that included a new front wing, a reprofiled engine cover with different cooling exits, a new halo fairing, revised suspension fairing and rear wing endplates, and tweaks to the floor-edge wing. McLaren framed the changes as an iterative technical progression intended to build on Miami momentum rather than a one-off tweak, and said some elements of the new wing might be reintroduced either next weekend or at the Barcelona round after further assessment and more running.

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  • Alain Prost hurt in armed home robbery at Nyon villa

    Alain Prost hurt in armed home robbery at Nyon villa

    On Tuesday morning, Alain Prost, 71, the four-time F1 world champion, suffered a minor head injury during an armed home robbery at his villa in Nyon, near Lake Geneva. Masked intruders in balaclavas entered the house, threatened family members and forced a family member — reported to be Prost’s son — to open a safe at gunpoint before fleeing with stolen goods. Swiss tabloid Blick and prosecutors said Prost was visibly shaken; he has since left the lakeside residence and traveled to Dubai.

    Authorities described the incident as a serious burglary and assault and opened a criminal investigation. Vaud Cantonal Police launched a major search; investigators included canine, regional, security and forensic units, an ESU psychological support team, the Federal Office for Customs and Border Security and the French gendarmerie, notified amid concerns that suspects may have crossed the nearby border. Prosecutors compiled an inventory of items taken; the value or contents of the safe have not been confirmed, and no arrests have been announced. Authorities say the case fits a wider pattern of robberies targeting F1 figures and comes against a backdrop of increased home invasions in the Lake Geneva region — 18 similar incidents were recorded in Geneva in 2025. Investigations continue to identify and arrest the perpetrators.

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  • Analysts: Mercedes W17 exploited loophole to boost power

    Analysts: Mercedes W17 exploited loophole to boost power

    Analysts concluded Mercedes’ W17 has exploited a loophole in the technical rules to produce a superior power unit and hybrid delivery. That has given Mercedes a straight-line and usable-energy advantage over Ferrari that has been apparent since Australia. Customer teams running Mercedes power units, notably McLaren, have also benefited.

    Detailed Montreal telemetry showed how the advantage translated on track. In sprint qualifying George Russell set the pace with a 1:12.965 lap; Lewis Hamilton was 0.361 seconds slower at 1:13.326. Russell reached a top speed of 333 km/h versus Hamilton’s 330 km/h and hit 300 km/h about 11 metres earlier. Overlay and speed‑trace comparisons showed stronger exits and higher top speeds for Russell, while Ferrari kept the edge in medium‑speed cornering and chassis rotation. Hamilton suffered electrical deployment fade and battery depletion on his final runs and aborted a Q3 lap after the rear stepped out at Turn 9. Analysts estimated Ferrari’s usable‑energy deficit cost roughly 0.3 seconds of lap time; the pattern was visible in the Sprint as well.

    The gap has already reshuffled the pecking order. McLaren moved ahead of Ferrari after its Miami upgrades, helped by the Mercedes power unit. Data reports and multiple outlets have focused on deployment and straight‑line power differences rather than driver error. Analysts say Ferrari will need hardware upgrades or clever strategy to recover if the trend continues; energy‑deployment management and setup/packaging trade‑offs are likely to be decisive. A wet‑race forecast for race day could still reshuffle the order.

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  • Leclerc calls Montreal worst weekend as Ferrari fights tyres, brakes

    Leclerc calls Montreal worst weekend as Ferrari fights tyres, brakes

    Charles Leclerc endured what he called “one, if not the worst weekend of my career” at the Canadian Grand Prix after persistent tyre and brake problems left him unable to feel or trust his Ferrari. He said he had not had a single lap since FP1 where he could truly feel the SF-26, repeatedly failed to get the tyres into their operating window, was “really struggling” with brakes and warned over the radio he might “end up going straight” into corners or “put it in the wall.” Leclerc described sliding through qualifying, called the weekend a “nightmare” and said he would analyse how to better “switch those tires on.” He recovered in the Sprint to finish fifth.

    Ferrari identified a persistent brake-balance issue and said engineers have a working hypothesis. The team said it would carry out a focused investigation into driver-specific and hardware factors, including operating temperature windows, pad material, migration settings and potential brake-by-wire inconsistencies. Engineers cautioned they were uncertain whether a fix could be applied before the Sprint and Grand Prix qualifying sessions and warned that unresolved brake problems could make it “a very long weekend.” Ferrari brought no upgrades to Montreal, with immediate fixes limited to setup compromises or part swaps and further updates targeted for Barcelona.

    On track, Lewis Hamilton beat Leclerc in Sprint Qualifying and topped SQ1, and Hamilton qualified fifth for the Grand Prix while Leclerc qualified eighth. Leclerc was held up by a McLaren in the Sprint even as he showed stronger medium-tire pace, and team principal Frederic Vasseur pointed to colder track temperatures and a one-step harder compound as factors that made it harder to get brakes and tyres into the right window, an effect he said affected Leclerc more than Hamilton. The situation left Ferrari balancing urgent technical troubleshooting with preparing both cars for the remaining race sessions.

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