Motorsport Roundup: Ricciardo And Bagnaia Win Chaotic F1 And MotoGp Races, And Daruvala Wins At F2 Monza

There wasn’t any dearth of racing action this past week with some incredible races from F1’s Italian Grand Prix, and MotoGP’s Aragon Grand Prix. It was also a good week for our Indian presence in Formula 2 at Monza, followed by Mahindra Racing announcing their 2021/22 Formula E driver lineup. Here’s all about it:

Formula One

The 2021 Italian Grand Prix saw McLaren return to winning ways since 2012 with Daniel Ricciardo claiming a sensational first win for the team, after sustaining pressure from behind all race long. Teammate Lando Norris made it McLaren’s first 1-2 finish since Canada 2010. Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas came from the back of the grid to finish third in the end. The race also saw title protagonists, Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton clash on track again, eliminating both the Red Bull Honda and Mercedes driver out of the race. 

Off the track there were major announcements in the driver market starting with George Russell confirmed to move to Mercedes in 2022. Replacing him at Williams will be Alex Albon, who will be partnered by Nicholas Latifi. This leaves a sole Alfa Romeo seat up for grabs with a number of names being linked for the seat. 

Formula 2

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Jehan Daruvala’s return to Formula 2 after the summer break was quite a strong one at Monza Italy. Qualifying second, the Carlin driver finished ninth in the first sprint race, but made up for it with a dominant display in the second sprint race to score his first win of the season. A top five finish in the feature race capped off a strong haul of points for the Indian driver. 

MotoGP

We were treated to a titanic battle for the win at the Aragon Grand Prix with plenty of nail-biting moments right until the final lap. In the end it was Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia who staved off an intense onslaught by the factory Honda of Marc Marquez to score his maiden win in MotoGP. With championship leader Fabio Quartararo struggling to eighth place, Bagnaia has closed the gap to 53 points in the riders’ standings.

Formula E 

The driver market for the 2021/22 FIA Formula E Championship continues to take place as Mahindra Racing have retained Alexander Sims, and have signed up Oliver Rowlands from Nissan e.Dams. Rowland already has previous experience with Mahindra Racing, when he made his Formula E debut with them, standing in for Nick Heidfeld at the 2015 Punta Del Este E-Prix. Over the three full seasons of Formula E, Rowland has scored a win, five podiums and five pole positions.   

Next week will see MotoGP head to Misano for the San Marino Grand Prix, with DTM returning to racing action at Assen for the sixth round of the 2021 season.