This Week In Motorsports: Drama At F1 And MotoGP’s European Races, 2021 INRC Rd 1 Postponed, And More

Racing action dominated proceedings this week especially for Formula One’s and MotoGP’s first European races of the 2021 season. There were also a few off-track announcements with Formula E announcing its track layout for the Monaco E-Prix. Unfortunately the COVID-19 pandemic continued to rear its ugly head back home, and delayed the start of the 2021 FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship. Here’s more about what transpired:

Formula One

 

The 2021 Emilia Romagna Grand Grand Prix at Imola was a thriller with wet conditions, crashes, surprise results, and intense fights up and down the grid. In the end, Red Bull Honda’s Max Verstappen took top honors, with title rival Lewis Hamilton managing a great recovery to second for Mercedes after dropping down to ninth due to a rookie error midway through the race. McLaren’s Lando Norris scored his second ever F1 podium in third place. 

Hamilton continues to lead the driver’s standings despite having the same wins and second-place finishes as Verstappen thanks to gaining an extra point by setting the fastest lap. Racing aside, Formula One confirmed a 10-year deal to host a race at Miami USA from 2022 onwards. The new street-track is situated at the Hard Rock Stadium complex in Miami Gardens, and is 5.41km long with 19 corners. An exact date is yet to be determined, but F1 expects it to be around the second quarter of 2022. 

MotoGP

The Portugal Grand Prix in Portimao was a race of attrition, with many big names dropping out of the race. But it was Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo who came out on top. Following him in second was Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia, while reigning world champion Joan Mir rounded off the podium for Suzuki. 9-time MotoGP world champion Marc Marquez’ return to MotoGP yielded a very respectable seventh place finish despite the Honda rider falling behind the pack towards the end of the race. Quartararo’s second win of the season puts him 15 points clear of Bagnaia. 

Formula E 

It was a long-time coming, but Formula E unveiled the layout for the Monaco E-Prix, and finally switched over to the full 3.32km layout that Formula One uses.  This should certainly spice up the racing action in the principality. It is scheduled to run as the seventh round of the season on May 8, 2021.

Indian motorsport

With the second wave of COVID-19 hitting hard in India, the inevitable unfortunately happened. The season opener of the 2021 FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship that was scheduled to run in Chennai from April 23-25, was postponed to June 25-27 due to COVID regulations. The revised dates of the remaining  five rounds of the season are yet to be announced.