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ON TODAYS PROGRAM…

MAX IN THE LAST 25 MINUTES GOES FROM 24 TO P9 BUT…PENALTIES KILLED THEIR CHANCES

LANDO MOCKING OTHER DRIVERS IS WRONG!

LIAM LAWSON GOES COUNTRY IN AUSTIN AND …

FERNANDO SAYS…WERE BACK TO GP 2 GP2 ENGINE AHH.

THIS WEEK'S NASIR HAMEED CORNER... INTERVIEW WITH TWO F1 WORLD CHAMPIONS…LANDO. NORRIS AND MARIO ANDRETTI!

AND YES WE DO NEED YOUR CONTRIBUTIONS TO KEEP THIS PROGRAM ON THE AIR, JUST CLICK ON THE SUPPORT F1WEEKLY TAB YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO.

Stefan Wendl, Head of Mercedes-AMG Customer Racing, is incredibly proud of Mercedes-AMG Motorsport's season. The German manufacturer ended the GT World Challenge Europe season with three titles and a victory in the final race. Max Verstappen's participation was also a major highlight for Mercedes.

Now that the GT World Challenge Europe season is over, Mercedes can look back on it with satisfaction. The team is taking no fewer than three titles back to Affalterbach: the overall drivers' championship in the Endurance Cup, the overall teams' championship in the Endurance Cup, and the overall drivers' titles in both the Sprint Cup and the Endurance Cup. To top it all off, the #17 GetSpeed Mercedes-AMG GT3 won the race in Portugal.

For Fabian Schiller, Ralf Aron and Maxi Götz, it was a victory they had waited a long time for. Wendl believes Verstappen Racing could have achieved more if they had not received a drive-through penalty. "It's always nice and actually not only for us as a brand, as a great owner, to have him that he chose us as his family to be here in the GT Sport with his team," Wendl told GPblog after the race in Portimão.

From Ayrton Senna’s and Gerhard Berger’s championship-winning MP4/6As to Lando Norris’s 2023 MCL37A, the most modern Formula 1 car ever offered for private ownership.

1991 McLaren MP4/6A, Chassis #04

1991 McLaren MP4/6A, Chassis #07

2012 McLaren MP4/27A, Chassis #01

2021 McLaren MCL35M, Chassis #01

2023 McLaren MCL37A, Chassis #03

“We have decided to part with these iconic McLaren Formula One cars because we feel that having them simply sitting in storage is a disservice to what they represent. These cars were built to be driven and raced, and we want to see them being used and enjoyed. We believe that is the best way to keep our history alive and our heritage business active.

“I’m very excited to bring this opportunity to market. It is incredibly rare for a collector to have the opportunity to acquire race-driven Grand Prix cars directly from the manufacturer and team that built and campaigned them, and that makes this a very special offering.

Chassis #04 is an exceptionally important ex-works McLaren from the height of the Senna-Berger era. Raced by Berger during McLaren-Honda’s successful 1991 World Championship campaign, the car finished second at the 1991 San Marino Grand Prix, contributing to one of the most dominant McLaren performances in Formula 1 history.

The second 1991 MP4/6A, chassis #07, offers an equally compelling combination of competition history and works provenance. Raced by Berger during McLaren-Honda’s 1991 World Championship-winning campaign, chassis #07 finished second at the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, McLaren’s home race.

Chassis #01 represents one of the most accomplished periods of McLaren’s modern Formula 1 history. Raced by 2009 World Champion Button during the decisive closing stages of the 2012 FIA Formula One World Championship, it competed against the backdrop of one of the most intense title battles of the modern era.

The MCL35M represents an important bridge between McLaren’s historic past and its contemporary Formula 1 renaissance. Chassis #01 was raced exclusively by Norris during the 2021 Formula 1 World Championship season.

With more than 25 years of personal experience dealing at the very top end of the market, Tom Hartley Jnr has built enviable client loyalty and a worldwide reputation on his exceptional knowledge, impartial advice, and commitment to quality in every aspect of his business. 

Max Verstappen followed up his Saturday Sprint Race victory by winning Sunday's Singapore Grand Prix for the first time as the four-time F1 world champion led from start to finish on his 250th Grand Prix start for his second 2026 triumph in a row.

The Dutchman started on pole position and just about held off his challengers off the line to build up a comfortable gap, which he never relinquished over 62 laps of the Marina Bay Street Circuit.

The win moves him up to fourth overall in the drivers' standings as Oracle Red Bull Racing teammate Isack Hadjar bounced back from Saturday reliability issues to finish in 10th place.

Visa Cash App Racing Bulls driver Liam Lawson enjoyed another productive race day with seventh spot for six points as British teammate Arvid Lindblad ended in 15th.

QUOTES

Oracle Red Bull Racing

MAX VERSTAPPEN - 1st

ISACK HADJAR - 10th

LAURENT MEKIES - CEO & Team Principal

ON TODAYS PROGRAM…

MAX MAKES HISTORY WITH THE FORD PACKAGE!

THE START OF THE RACE WAS SOO EXCITING GEORGE FOR A MOMENT HE THOUGHT HIS LUCK WAS TURNING AROUND!

THE SOFTWARE BLUNDER IN THE WET WAS HILARIOUS!

LCH FIGHTS BACK FOR A WELL EARNED PODIUM AND…FERNANDO BRINGS HOME THE ASTON TO P8…!

THIS WEEK'S NASIR HAMEED CORNER... LANDO NORRIS AT SILVERSTONE AND RICKY COLLARD BRITISH F3. 

AND YES WE DO NEED YOUR CONTRIBUTIONS TO KEEP THIS PROGRAM ON THE AIR, JUST CLICK ON THE SUPPORT F1WEEKLY TAB YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO.

Max Verstappen held his nerve in the chaos of Sunday's rain-hit rescheduled Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia to bank his first win of the 2026 FIA Formula One World Championship season.

The Dutchman started on pole position and initially lost the lead to Mercedes duo Kimi Antonelli and George Russell in the run down to Turn 1, however picked them off comfortably in a race that had two safety cars and a virtual safety car.

The four-time world champion then held on to win by 2.307s from title leader Antonelli with Oracle Red Bull Racing teammate Isack Hadjar moving up the grid to fifth after starting out in eighth place.

Visa Cash App Racing Bulls driver Liam Lawson enjoyed a productive race as he moved up to finish seventh, while British teammate Arvid Lindblad earned a gutsy point for finishing in 10th place.

MAX VERSTAPPEN - 1st

ISACK HADJAR - 5th

LAURENT MEKIES - CEO and Team Principal

"The first win of the season is a great way to finish what has been an extremely successful weekend overall. After showing strong pace in every session and securing our first pole position of the season yesterday, Max converted that performance into an outstanding P1 today. In often chaotic circumstances, he remained in control throughout the race, managed the conditions brilliantly, showed the strongest pace and delivered exactly the kind of performance we know he is capable of.

"More broadly, this result confirms the progress we have been making in recent months. We were already close several times, and today we converted that pace. The Team has been working tirelessly to improve our package, and weekends like this are the reward for that effort.

"There are naturally mixed feelings on the other side of the garage because Isack also showed very strong pace all weekend. We could have rounded off this weekend with another double podium; unfortunately, not everything went well with his car. Finishing fifth still represents a strong result considering where he started, but naturally it is frustrating when you know more was possible. We will analyse exactly what happened, take the positives from a weekend where both drivers were consistently competitive, and immediately turn our focus to Singapore. For tonight, however, everyone should enjoy a well-deserved victory and an important milestone for this Team."

RACE RESULT P8

“We have been more competitive this weekend and P8 is a good result for us. There were a lot of things that happened in the race. We started with the dry tyres and put ourselves in a difficult position, but thankfully the Safety Car started a new race for us. There are not many weekends where we can score points, so we executed well and took the opportunity. Let’s see if we can keep up this pace into Singapore where on paper we have some hope. The issues at the start were quite strange and we need to understand what happened there.”

George Russell led from start to finish as he dominated the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

The victory reduced the championship lead of his Mercedes team-mate Kimi Antonelli to 66 points - from 81 - after the Italian finished fifth, although he had recovered from starting 16th on the grid.

Max Verstappen pushed Russell for the win as he took second place, less than two tenths of a second behind. Fellow Red Bull driver Isack Hadjar completed the podium by finishing third on his return to racing following a wrist injury.

Yet dominance isn't a word often used when the margin of victory is as small as the gap separating the duo when the chequered flag flew at the end of 51 laps of the Baku City Circuit, four-time champion Verstappen just 0.196s down on the Merc driver having launched a late attack following two safety car interventions.

It's been an incredible weekend and probably one of the strongest of my career so far. I really enjoyed that race and that final stint was some of the most fun I’ve had in a Formula One race. We had strong pace throughout and were able to build a good gap, so when the Safety Car came out it was a little frustrating, but around a circuit like Baku that's always a possibility.

The restart was probably the most stressful moment of the afternoon with Max right behind me, but I managed it well and from there it was all about staying focused and not making any mistakes. In the final stint we were both pushing hard, and whilst it was intense in the car, those are the moments you enjoy as a driver.

I've felt comfortable all weekend, and at the moment things seem to be coming naturally behind the wheel. We're in a good place, but Formula One changes very quickly so you have to keep pushing. The aim is to keep working hard, keep building this momentum and hopefully continue fighting at the front over the races ahead.

Team quotes as Oracle Red Bull Racing celebrate both drivers on the podium for the first time in 2026 at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Oracle Red Bull Racing celebrated their first double podium of the 2026 F1 season as Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar finished second and third in Saturday's Azerbaijan Grand Prix at the Baku City Circuit.

With both RB22 cars showing great speed on the ultra-fast Baku street circuit, Verstappen in particular made great early passes after the lights went out, quickly advancing from his eighth place starting spot.

As the race went on, mistakes began to happen regularly and the final quarter of the Grand Prix was a chaotic one, with two Safety Car periods happening in quick succession.

That was all the invitation the Oracle Red Bull Racing drivers needed to make a perfectly executed double pit-stop and effectively secure a 2–3 finish. However, with race leader George Russell firmly in his sights, Verstappen never gave up the chance in the final laps and pushed the Mercedes driver all the way to the line, finishing just +0.196s from victory.

As Oracle Red Bull Racing celebrated their best team result of season to date, Arvid Lindlbad also delivered another strong points-scoring drive for Visa Cashh App Racing Bulls.

The British rookie started down the field in 15th place on the grid, but drove a smart and controlled race to avoid the mid-pack chaos late in the race to end the Grand Prix in an excellent seventh place while team-mate Liam Lawson missed the points in 12th

Fernando Alonso has taken delivery of the Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse that a German dealer has been calling the most expensive Veyron ever built since it went on sale in June 2024. A video filmed near the Casino this week shows the Aston Martin Formula 1 driver easing the polished-aluminium car through Monaco traffic. When Mechatronik of Pleidelsheim listed it, the odometer read 750 km after nine years.

The car Mechatronik lists as chassis 8.100 was ordered from Molsheim in 2014 and delivered in 2015 with a front bumper and seamless side panels milled from solid aluminium blocks, then polished, on a body that is otherwise exposed carbon fibre. More than 20 tonnes of aluminium went to Molsheim to produce those panels, Bugatti had to write dedicated CAD programs for them, and it spent longer building this Veyron than any other. Underneath it is a standard Vitesse: an 8.0-litre W16 with four turbochargers, 1,200 hp, 1,500 Nm and 410 km/h with the roof in place. The options bill alone exceeded the Vitesse's list price of about €1.69 million before tax.

The car exists because of an ultimatum. According to Mechatronik, the first owner already had a Veyron Pur Sang and had ordered all six Grand Sport Vitesse Legends editions, the 2013 and 2014 series built three cars apiece, along with several Super Sports. Bugatti declined the aluminium body as too expensive, and the client answered that the rest of his order book would go elsewhere if it did not build the car. It built the car. It then covered 750 km in nine years before it was consigned to a showroom near Stuttgart. Bugatti's own La Maison Pur Sang restoration programme now treats twenty-year-old Veyrons as classics, and this one arrived at that status without ever being used.

Alonso set out the shopping list himself, a month after the Veyron was listed. Interviewed at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in July 2024, he said he was 'in the moment of my life where I'm really looking forward to having a small collection', and added that some of the luxury brands he had driven for 'went into a different direction: bigger numbers', whereas he liked makers that 'treat the customer like unique customers'. The list that followed was an Aston Martin one: a Valkyrie due around his 29 July birthday, one of the 38 Valiants he commissioned with a manual gearbox he admitted he never drives, and a DB5 he was chasing through the heritage department. Two years on, the cars that have actually arrived are a one-off Pagani Zonda Roadster Diamante Verde in May and now a one-off Bugatti, both bought from Mechatronik and both delivered in Monaco.

Chassis 8.100 is the most literal version of what Alonso said he valued: a factory that built exactly what one client wanted and never repeated it. Bugatti made 450 Veyrons between 2005 and 2015, and the Pur Sang of 2007, five cars in bare aluminium and carbon, was the factory's own earlier experiment in showing the metal. That is the same instinct that produced design director Frank Heyl's bespoke Veyron, and it explains why a car that spent 27 months unsold suited this buyer.

The Veyron's first owner averaged less than 100 km a year in it. Alonso, by his own account at Goodwood, drives every day: he lives in Monaco, uses 'maybe more scooters than cars', and takes his Aston Martin DBX to the airport each race week. The video shows the aluminium car doing exactly that kind of duty, waiting at a junction below the Casino rather than sitting under museum lights in Llanera. That puts him in the same camp as Lando Norris, filmed in London this week in the Ferrari F40 a friend crashed last year. Alonso's price is undisclosed; Mechatronik never published one.

Formula 1 made its first trip to the new Circuito de Madring, about 10 miles outside of the Madrid city center, on Sunday, and Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli christened the track with a win. The championship leader now owns an even more comfortable lead and picks up his eighth career race win, one week after he won the Italian Grand Prix.

Max Verstappen finished second after holding off Lando Norris, who was on pole after Saturday's qualifying session, but an unfortunate pit stop contributed to his third-place finish. Ferrari's Charles Leclerc finished fourth, and Antonelli's teammate George Russell came in fifth.

It was great to get the victory today, but we know we were a little bit fortunate with the timing of the Virtual Safety Car. Lando (Norris) was in control at the front, but we were able to dive into the pits just as the Virtual Safety Car was deployed, make the cheap stop onto the Hard, get the net lead and run to the end. We probably didn’t deserve to win therefore but we will of course take it.

We can also be happy with our pace today. We know we are still out of step with other teams in terms of upgrades, but we have been able to win the last two races at very different circuits. That is encouraging as we continue the season; we have a good position in the championships but we know there is still a very long way to go.

MAX VERSTAPPEN 

“It was a great result, and we really maximised our performance, with finishing P2 on this track a solid way to wrap up a good weekend. At the start, Lewis clipped the kerb and jumped back onto the racing line, I had to go off track, otherwise both of us would have taken damage. I don't think we had the pace to challenge for the lead anyway, Kimi and Lando were faster than me throughout, so I'm happy with second. It's a circuit that's very difficult to pass on; if you position yourself in the middle, there isn't really a way through, so I was able to hold off Lando until the end. This double header has been a positive one. The car has been in a decent window both weekends, and we've been able to score consistently good points over the last few races. A podium is a nice way to end the European swing."

LIAM LAWSON 

"I think it was a decent race. We had good speed through parts of it, but I just think we weren’t on the ideal strategy today. We went for the alternate strategy, starting on the Hards. At the start I lost the position to Franco and lost a lot of time as it was, but by the time I cleared him the VSC came out and they’d boxed, so it was just tricky from there. The start was exciting and I had to take a lot of risks to get the move done on Franco because it’s quite difficult to overtake here. It would’ve been nice to start a bit higher, but considering where we did start, the result today was good and I’m happy we managed to gain two places in the Race. I’m much more confident in the car this week, we’ve made a couple of great steps, so there are some good things to take away from the weekend."

LAURENT MEKIES, CEO & Team Principal 

“After Monza another strong result from the whole Team at the end of a tough race. Once again, Max extracted absolutely everything from the car, as he always does. There was obviously some frustration at the start when he had to give the place back to Lewis, but the Team on the pit wall took a good look at it and, credit to them, made the difficult call. It was painful at the time, but Max immediately got himself back into the fight and was outstanding all the way to the flag, including a great defence against the McLaren in the final laps.

It was also a strong race and some good points from Liam. It certainly wasn’t easy towards the end of his first stint on worn Hard tyres, but he kept his cool and showed good pace in the final stint.

Max’s P2 is his fifth podium in the last seven races and, although we have had a couple of tricky moments along the way, we are continuing to close the gap and credit needs to go to everyone working behind the scenes at Milton Keynes, improving every aspect of the car and its PU”.

No matter what we had done with strategy today we would have finished P5. The Virtual Safety Car came at the worst point for everyone who had started on the Hard tyre like me, and the best point for those who had started on the Medium. Unfortunately, that is how racing goes sometimes but it is a little bit the story of my season so far! It was very difficult to overtake today but I’ve enjoyed driving the Madring overall this weekend.

It is going to be an intense run to the end of the season. I’m looking forward to getting back to the factory, working with the team, and getting ready for the first of three triple-headers. My pace today, particularly on the Hard tyre, felt good so we can be encouraged by that as we head to Baku.

"It was pretty good racing to be honest," said Hamilton to media after the F1 Spanish GP. When the journalist noted that the radio comment was more out of frustration since he had to give the place back, the Brit agreed. "Yep, I think nothing to do with me in here," he said.

He didn't add much on the incident since he came straight to the media pen after retiring on lap 7. But he didn't see it as a fight. His brake issues started early and he had no time to think about losing the place to Verstappen. Hamilton explained why he went for another lap as his pedal came back for a moment.

"Yeah, I had a good start," said Hamilton. "I mean I didn't see Max taking that start and then yeah, the battle. I mean I wasn't in the battle then going down into Turn 5 but then it was when I went into Turn 5, then I hit the brake, it started stopping okay.

"And then kind of the pedal took a step and ended up like stopped. It wouldn't stop all of a sudden and then I went wide and that's when I just tapped the barrier but it wasn't really, it didn't feel bad like a bad touch.

"Then the pedal came back and it was fine for the next corners and things were looking okay and then the pedal went wrong. That was it," summed up Hamilton, who felt Ferrari had a decent car, seeing teammate Charles Leclerc lead for the most part before pitting to end up fourth.

Kimi Antonelli's stunning victory in the Italian Grand Prix from 19th on the grid will go down in Formula 1 folklore - and, remarkably, his team boss Toto Wolff said that he had seen it coming on Saturday.

After Sunday's race, Wolff said that beforehand he thought that one of his two drivers was going to be standing on the top of the podium.

It was an eye-opening statement given they started the race 17 places apart on the grid, George Russell on the front row alongside shock pole winner Pierre Gasly's Alpine; Antonelli on the penultimate row.

"I thought one of the two is going to win," Wolff said. "Either George, because he was on the front row, or Kimi because he's going to walk over water, here at Monza. And I felt that yesterday also."

Wolff was asked to explain why he felt a performance he was comparing to a miracle was on the cards.

"It's been a while that I've seen drivers," he said. "Energy levels, mindset or behavioural pattern. I knew that was his mission today, to win the race. I chatted with his father yesterday. The father also saw that coming.

"These are the moments where you can see how a weekend is panning out through the sessions that a special moment can come."

The Italian GP podium is always a special one, but for Kimi Antonelli to win his home race after starting all the way down in 19th place, the young Mercedes driver let out all his joy over the radio, and couldn’t hide his emotions even after the race, saying the fans just add “that little bit extra” emotion that spurred him on to a success he “will remember forever“:

“I think this is the most special podium of the season,” he said in the press conference after the race. “To see all the fans on the straight, it’s just incredible. And then, of course, you know, being at home, it adds that little bit of extra. And, yeah, super, super happy with that.“

When asked if this was the best race of his career, Antonelli was quite philosophical in saying the best one is “yet to come“:

“I mean, the best one has yet to come, but I feel like it was one of the best races I’ve done so far, and one that I will remember forever.

“I think definitely the fans gave that little bit extra to push more.

“For sure, the support has been great this weekend. So definitely, seeing the grandstand cheering every lap, for sure it gave that little bit of extra to push more and to try and do even better to win it.”

MONTEREY, Calif. (Sunday, Sept. 6, 2026) – Scott McLaughlin ended a long winless streak and the 2026 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season in style, dominating the Mission Foods Grand Prix of Monterey for his first victory in more than two years.

Pole sitter McLaughlin drove the No. 3 DEX Team Penske Chevrolet to victory by 1.3739 seconds over the No. 27 Sam’s Club Honda of Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood. The win was the eighth of McLaughlin’s INDYCAR SERIES career and his first since Sept. 1, 2024, in the second race of a doubleheader weekend at the Milwaukee Mile, snapping a drought of 36 races.

SEE: Race Results

“My little girl (Lucy, born in October 2024) hasn’t seen me win yet, and now she has,” McLaughlin said. “So, Dad’s coming home with a trophy, baby. Let’s go!

“These guys and girls at Team Penske have stood behind me the whole time. Congrats to Alex (Palou) on his fifth (championship), but we’re working hard to beat them, and today was a big step in the right direction.”

Alexander Rossi finished third in the No. 20 Java House ECR Chevrolet for his first podium finish since placing third at this event for Arrow McLaren in June 2024.

Felix Rosenqvist placed fourth in the No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian Honda. David Malukas put two Team Penske cars in the top five in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet.

Alex Palou punctuated the fifth NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship that he clinched last weekend at Milwaukee with a quiet drive to eighth place in the No. 10 DHL Lightning Bolt Honda of Chip Ganassi Racing after he won this race the last two years. But Palou and the CGR team celebrated its record-tying fourth consecutive season title with donuts on the front straightaway by the driver and again in a boisterous post-race Astor Challenge Cup presentation.

McLaughlin left absolutely no doubt about his dominance in this race on the 11-turn, 2.238-mile road course. He only trailed during pit stop sequences and ended up leading 87 of 95 laps, erasing all memories of the six podium finishes without a win since his last triumph.

There was only one caution period in the race, for a Lap 1 incident in which Sting Ray Robb’s No. 77 Juncos Hollinger Racing – Goodheart Chevrolet hit the rear of Dennis Hauger’s No. 19 Ault Block Chain Honda of Dale Coyne Racing in Turn 6, sending Hauger spinning into the tire barrier.

McLaughlin had no problem pulling away from the field on the restart on Lap 4, and his precise driving and Team Penske’s clean, quick work during three pit stops took care of the rest.

“We had to be solid,” McLaughlin said. “That’s what it’s going to take to win a championship. What a great warmup we had. Bring on 2027.”

Kirkwood, who started sixth, had climbed to second by Lap 20 after Palou pitted to switch to a different tire strategy and shadowed McLaughlin for the rest of the way, pitting at the same time as McLaughlin on all three stops. McLaughlin’s lead was nearly four seconds at the halfway point, but Kirkwood pulled as close as 1.2 seconds on Lap 72 due to running his final stint on the faster but less-durable Firestone Firehawk alternate tire.

But McLaughlin eased away in the closing laps on the more durable Firestone primary tire, as Kirkwood admitted he and the Andretti Global team took a safety-first approach to ensure the driver would finish a career-best second in the standings. Kirkwood ended up 86 points behind champion Palou.

“Second in the championship, and that’s my best road-course finish,” Kirkwood said. “We just played it super clean, super methodical. I wish I could have had a go at Scotty there at the end on the better tires, but we knew who we were fighting, and that was for the championship, mostly. So, we played it safe there. Second place is best of the rest.”

2016 Indianapolis 500 winner Rossi also was a fixture in the top three for most of the race, producing the best day for ECR since teammate Christian Rasmussen won in August 2025 at Milwaukee. Rasmussen also finished third this year at World Wide Technology Raceway, but road courses have been a weak spot for ECR this season. The best previous finish on this type of circuit was sixth by Rossi in June at Road America.

“I don’t think I could state the significance of it just with how challenging this year has been for the whole organization and how much road courses have been a huge struggle of ours,” Rossi said. “There was a lot of doubt coming into this event whether we could find a direction, so I think this is just a huge reward for all the effort.”

Despite finishing last in the 25-car field due to the incident with Robb, Hauger hung on to win series Rookie of the Year honors. He finished with 228 points, 15 ahead of Mick Schumacher of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing in the rookie race.

WEST ALLIS, Wis. (Sunday, Aug. 30, 2026) – Don’t tell the principal, but Max Garcia may have earned the right to skip school Monday after his stirring first career INDY NXT by Firestone victory Sunday at the Milwaukee Mile.

Series rookie Garcia earned his first win in his 15th career start in the INDYCAR development series, driving his No. 12 Abel Motorsports machine under the checkered flag .9430 of a second ahead of the No. 68 Cusick Morgan Motorsports car of JM Correa, who also earned a career-best finish.

SEE: Race Results

It’s still uncertain whether Garcia, 17, will be in homeroom Monday morning at Christopher Columbus High School in Miami, where he just started his senior year.

“Unbelievable,” Garcia said. “It’s been such a tough year for all of us at Abel. We knew we had a good oval package. We knew we set the car up more for the race, and we knew in practice we could move through cars. It was all about timing it right and then getting through everyone.

“I’m trying to convince my mom not to let me go to school. Surely, this is something to celebrate. A day off would be nice, right?”

Rookie Jack Beeton continued his strong second half of the season by finishing third in the No. 45 HMD Motorsports machine, earning his third podium result in the last five races.

Andretti Global’s Max Taylor finished fourth in the No. 28 Susan G. Komen entry, while Nikita Johnson rounded out the top five in the No. 21 Cape Motorsports Powered by ECR car and took the lead in a sizzling championship fight with two races remaining.

Johnson drove from 15th at the start to earn his eighth top-five finish of the season. He leads Enzo Fittipaldi by three points and third-place Tymek Kucharczyk by 29 entering the season-ending Grand Prix of Monterey doubleheader Sept. 5-6 at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. It’s tied for the fifth-closest race margin between the top two drivers with two races to go in series history.

“I just kept my head down, pushed really hard and found lines that other people didn’t find until about halfway through,” Johnson said. “I think that really helps, just playing around and trying different lines out when everybody was just stuck in one line. It was a really good points day for us.”

Fittipaldi finished seventh in the No. 67 HMD Motorsports car, while Kucharczyk placed 12th in the No. 71 HMD Motorsports machine.

Garcia started ninth but steadily worked his way through the field on the 1.015-mile oval. He passed Beeton for second on Lap 35 and pulled to within one second of leader and pole sitter Josh Pierson of Andretti Global, who had led by more than two seconds in the early going of the 90-lap race.

Under pressure from Garcia, Pierson’s quest for his first career victory unraveled on Lap 54 when he spun in the No. 29 Starchive Andretti car in Turn 2 while leading and hit the tire barrier inside that corner to end his race. Pierson led every lap to that point.

Garcia inherited the lead and never surrendered it despite four restarts in the last 37 laps after the race went caution-free for the first 53 laps.

Abel Motorsports driver Garcia was threatened only once on one of those restarts. Beeton looked under Garcia in Turn 1 on Lap 83 but couldn’t complete the pass. On the next and final restart on Lap 86, Garcia left no doubt by getting a good jump and pulling away easily.

Beeton and Correa raced side by side for second on that restart, allowing Garcia even more time and space out front. Correa eventually prevailed in that duel, one of 208 on-track passes, a track record for INDY NXT at Milwaukee.

After an extended summer break following the cancellation of Rallye Rouergue Rodez Aveyron Occitanie, the Clio Trophy France Asphalte resumes next week at Rallye Mont-Blanc Morzine. At this iconic French Rally Championship event, the return to action will be intense, with 39 crews ready to give it their all to reach the midseason mark in the lead and enter the home stretch in a strong position.

Now in its seventh season with the fifth-generation Renault Clio, the Clio Trophy France Asphalte continues to prove its appeal, with a record 39 Clio Rally5 cars set to line up at Morzine this year.

The Alpine mountains offer a magnificent backdrop for the competitors, who are eager to return to competition for the first time since mid-June. Leader in the general classification following his first victory in the Vosges, Paul Dachicourt (Fun Meca Sport) will look to consolidate his advantage in Morzine. Also leading the Junior category, where an official drive is up for grabs, the Pas-de-Calais native will target another victory at a rally that went his way last year, when he posted one of his best results despite a puncture on the opening special stage.

His main rivals, however, are determined to prevent him from pulling away. Winner of the opening round at Le Touquet, Maxence Potard (Gilbert Compétition) will rely on his experience in the Alps to bounce back after his crash in the Vosges. The member of the FFSA's Collectif France Rallye isn't the only one with this objective, as Romain Brun will attempt to return to the sharp end of the order after a difficult weekend in the Vosges.

Several competitors will try to capitalise on their knowledge of the roads to close the gap to the leaders. Having secured four podium finishes with Clio Rally5 at Morzine since 2020, Romain Fostier (David Auto Compétition) is a serious contender for victory in this demanding event. He will also seek to increase his lead over his rivals in the Gentlemen class: Pascal Bérard, Jacques Bourrat, Franck Giraud (Lycée Roger Claustre) and Michaël Durigon, who returns to the Clio Trophy France Asphalte for his 22nd start in the event.

Jérôme Janny (David Auto Compétition) will equally rely on his experience to build on his strong start to the season, as will Yohan Roumieux (JLA Rally), who finished in the top ten last year, and Maxime Chagot (LCS Location), a two-time class winner at Morzine. Fabien Combe, who has finished 10th twice this year, and Christophe Truchet, 2025 Clio Full Challenge winner, will be outsiders to watch in their Rallye Mont-Blanc Morzine debut.

Behind the trio of Paul Dachicourt, Maxence Potard and Romain Brun, other Junior drivers have high hopes. Following his first podium finish in the Vosges, Clément Didier (JLA Rally) will look to build on that form in the Alps, where Alex Florenson (PH Sport), who finished fifth a year ago, will target a trip to the podium next Saturday. Also worth keeping an eye on are Thomas Santiago (LCS Location), Louis Gass (PH Sport), Néo Rivallant (Fun Meca Sport), Oliver Sørensen, Thomas Van Outryve (LCS Location) and Maxence Girard (CHL Sport Auto), all in search of valuable points.

Meanwhile, Tom Le Jossec (Rageau Sport Location) and Alexis Poso (Salvi Compétition) will aim to stay in contention on their Mont-Blanc debut with Clio Rally5. Back in action after his retirement at Le Touquet, Loan Guibal (Salvi Compétition) wants to turn his obvious speed into stage wins and a strong result in a rally he is discovering for the first time, just like Léo Véricel, Louis Bottin (PH Sport) and Alfred Sablonnière. Clémentine Benoit (Sarrazin Motorsport) will defend her lead in the women's category and face Lilou Boulangé (Gazou Compétition), a rookie this season behind the wheel after co-driving for her father Arnaud in 2025.

Nicolas Paviet-Roche and Mathieu Duclos will make their first appearance of the year in familiar surroundings. Killian Marry will also return to the service park to tackle Alpine special stages for the first time – stages that several newcomers know well, notably William Gagnière, Paul Missillier and Vincent Chagot, Maxime's brother. Lastly, Grégory Scotto La Chianca will make his Clio Trophy France Asphalte debut, as will Robin Duarte, Arthur Guillaume and Tanguy Rubin-Delanchy, who have all cut their teeth with Clio Rally5 in the French Rally Cup.

The 78th Rallye Mont-Blanc Morzine will feature 12 timed sectors covering a total of 196.04 kilometres over a 493.87 km route. On Friday, the action gets underway on the Montriond-le-Lac – Avoriaz stage, followed by two loops comprising Bonneville – Glières Val de Borne and Les Clefs – La Clusaz, then a single run on the Morzine – Montriond-le-Lac stage. On Saturday, the crews will tackle Morillon – Samoëns, Samoëns – Morzine and La Côte d'Arbroz – Taninges three times. The final ten special stages will each award up to five “Jean Ragnotti Performer” points to the five fastest drivers, in addition to the standard finishing points. Ten Clio Rally3s, six Clio Rally4s and nine Clio Rally5s outside the trophy will also be at the start of the event.

"Amazing. A tough race! Yesterday I said we needed to put on a bit of a show for everyone for the final race here, so I made it tough for myself today but [it was] a good race, well-fought. Probably one of my better wins – we had to fight for it well but the pace was strong. We managed things incredibly well today so over the moon, very happy. Nice to win the final race here in Zandvoort."

Norris declared he is doing a better job than every other driver after a superb win at the Dutch Grand Prix – where Max Verstappen walked away from a huge crash at his final home race.

The 26-year-old reeled in championship leader Kimi Antonelli at Zandvoort to clinch back-to-back wins and further raise hope that he could yet defend his title.

Norris leaves the Dutch seaside having moved fourth in the standings but still 83 points behind the Italian – with George Russell and Lewis Hamilton 59 points back from the leader.

Mercedes are wary of the looming threat of McLaren's Norris, with Antonelli branding them the new fastest team on the grid and Russell declaring that the papaya outfit are the ones to beat.

"They are not going to say themselves are they? I don't think it's true," Norris retorted.

"Mercedes have a better all-round performing car. I also know how good of a job I'm doing behind the wheel.

"For once I will give myself a little bit of credit that I feel I am doing a better job than everyone.

"I think that can make a difference. We have a car now capable of beating them. We didn't win yesterday (sprint race) and we didn't change much but I worked a lot on my driving – I want to believe more than everyone else.

"I make one mistake we are P4, P5. So the fact that I am doing a good job is the reason why people are saying it."

Norris banished post-race sprint race negativity to deliver a commanding drive in Sunday's main event.

He was jumped off the line by Antonelli following a red flag for Verstappen's crash, after the race had begun in damp conditions, but McLaren made the key move by pitting him later than the Italian.

That enabled Norris to attack on fresher rubber and he got the job done, blasting past Antonelli round the outside of turn one on lap 54.

"When the car gives me what I want and I am driving at the level I am now, I can win races," Norris said.

"I was able to force him to make mistakes, force them to do something with strategy."

Norris refused to declare himself back in the title hunt but would accept that Sunday's win was among his best.

"I made it tough for myself but a good race. Probably one of my better wins. We had to fight for it," he added.

Mercedes executed team orders, asking Russell to allow Antonelli through on fresher tyres as he came home second. Russell then held off Hamilton over the closing laps to retain third, with Charles Leclerc fourth ahead of Norris' team-mate Oscar Piastri.

The final Dutch Grand Prix before it drops off the calendar began in crushing fashion for the packed grandstands, with their hero Verstappen suffering a crunching high-speed crash at the end of lap one.

The four-time world champion, revered in these parts, appeared to dip a wheel onto the kerb on the inside of the 18-degree banked final bend before sliding across the track and thundering into the barriers.

After the summer break, we have an in-season test to get back on track, with all 30 FIA Formula 3 drivers getting a taste of a brand-new venue. The Madring in the Spanish capital city hosts the two-day event ahead of the season finale later this year, and it will be a crucial test for all involved. 

Carlos Sainz: “First of all, sorry to Alex and the team for the contact at the end of the race. I had very worn hard tyres and braked over the bump in turn 1, locked up and couldn’t stop the car in time. It was obviously the last thing I wanted to end an already tough weekend. Again, apologies to him and the team.

Overall, we struggled to get into a good rhythm throughout the weekend and had to run a number of tests to explore the issues we were having, which put us on the backfoot and meant we weren't able to fight for any more today. The positive is that we've found some solutions and have good learnings to take forward to the upcoming races, so we'll look to come back stronger in Monza.”

Alex Albon: “In clean air the car felt good today, not far off the midfield pace, so there are positives to take. The moment with Carlos was just one of those racing incidents – we were going for the same corner and he locked up. It's not how we wanted to end the weekend, and not what the team needs, but it is what it is and we'll discuss together as we always do.

We need to review our strategy today as we were fighting Fernando and he finished ahead – I think we pitted too early on the first stop, reacting to a potential undercut rather than running our own race. That left us catching a lot of blue flags and stuck in dirty air, which made my second stint messy. We'll review everything as a team and look forward to a cleaner weekend in Monza.”

MARKHAM, Ontario (Sunday, Aug. 16, 2026) – Andretti Global’s Marcus Ericsson wasn’t to be denied victory in the new Ontario Honda Dealers Indy at Markham even as it meant tormenting a longtime rival.

Ericsson charged through the field late in the 90-lap Canadian race to hunt down and pass Dale Coyne Racing’s Romain Grosjean for a victory.

SEE: Race Results

Ericsson scored his fifth career NTT INDYCAR SERIES victory while denying Grosjean his first. Grosjean was trying to reach the top step of the podium only to come one step short for the sixth time. Coincidentally, Grosjean’s last win of any kind came in a GP2 series race in Hungary in 2011. Ericsson finished fifth in that race.

Ericsson’s victory here came 10 days after being confirmed to return to Andretti Global for a fourth season. It also ended his 63-race drought dating back to his 2023 season-opening victory in St. Petersburg.

“It’s been long enough,” Ericsson said. “It doesn’t come as much of a surprise. We’ve had such a good year. We’ve been working every weekend, getting stronger and stronger, qualifying up front every weekend. We might not have got the results we deserved every weekend, but I really felt we deserved (this).”

Ericsson’s voice cracked during the interview, which he blamed on screaming too much after taking the checkered flag. But he said it was a bold and aggressive drive over those challenging street-course laps.

“We were the fastest car all day, I thought,” he said. “Obviously, there were a lot of (cautions), so we had to stay out (longer on the final sequence). I wanted to show the pace and open a gap, so we gambled on staying out. I had the pace and we were lapping so quick (after coming out of the pits on Lap 69) seventh. It was a lot of work to get through the leaders.”

In that charge was contact in the Turn 5 hairpin with Andretti Global teammate Will Power for third place. Ericsson called the hard bump “unfortunate,” but Power said he understood.

Said Ericsson: “You never want that, but I had to get through. I knew I could win this race.”

Ericsson won another race like this. In 2021, he emerged as the winner of a trouble-filled first race on Nashville’s streets that included his car getting airborne vertically. The winner of the 2022 Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge now has four street course victories.

Grosjean settled for second place – his best since finishing second at Barber Motorsports Park in 2023. Power finished third with series points leader Alex Palou of Chip Ganassi Racing taking fourth and Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward fifth.

“We did everything we could,” said Grosjean, who led 28 laps and scored his first top-five finish of 2026. “I wanted to (keep Palou in second place) – I knew (with that gap) it was safe. But then (Ericsson) came … unfortunately that (wasn’t our) day. But on to the next one.”

Several other drivers could say the same.

The race of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Louis Foster had a tragic ending. He started from the pole for the second time in his career – the other was at Road America last year – and built a lead of nearly 3 seconds in leading the first 32 laps. But a caution spoiled that as all of the other frontrunners had pitted a couple of laps earlier, shuffling him to 12th place.

Foster wasn’t to be deterred, and he came charging back. He had moved up eight positions and was stalking Ericsson for third place when they approached Turn 3 on Lap 43. Foster went to the inside, but he clipped the left-side wall, contact which shot him straight into the concrete barrier on the right. The impact was virtually head-on, a major shunt. Fortunately, he was not injured.

That spot in the track similarly claimed Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood, who was running third behind his two teammates. His impact was just as fierce.

Kirkwood’s 21st-place finish allowed Palou to pull even farther ahead in pursuit of his fourth consecutive championship and fifth in six years despite starting outside the top 10 for the first time in 30 races (nearly two full seasons). Now, with four races to go, Palou leads Kirkwood by a nearly insurmountable 133 points with Team Penske’s David Malukas third, 137 points in arrears. Malukas finished this race a lap down in 17th place.

The new 12-turn, 2.1-mile street circuit seemed to offer the right balance of action and reaction, with a fair amount of race-turning calamity. The track produced 258 on-track passes with 242 of those for position - the most on-record in the event, which dates back to 1986 when the INDYCAR SERIES made its debut on the Streets of Toronto. As expected, the Turn 5 hairpin was a hot spot, with several instances of cars coming together.

One of the most significant contacts in that corner featured rookie Dennis Hauger of Dale Coyne Racing bumping Ed Carpenter Racing’s Christian Rasmussen and then O’Ward. That was Lap 20, and it was part of Hauger’s fade through the field.

Last year’s INDY NXT by Firestone champion started the race from the fifth position and was still there when his two-lap slide began. It started with Palou passing him, but then Malukas did and before he knew it, he was 20th. Later, Hauger clipped the rear tire of Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon, who hit Rasmussen, drawing a caution.

Another of the contacts in Turn 5 saw Arrow McLaren’s Nolan Siegel charge too deep into the braking zone, where he struck the car of Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden. Siegel was penalized for avoidable contact.

It wasn’t a good day for first-year series drivers. AJ Foyt Racing’s Caio Collet had contact with Felix Rosenqvist of Meyer Shank Racing w/ Curb Agajanian on Lap 1, and Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Mick Schumacher drew the race’s first caution on Lap 15 when he pounded the Turn 4 wall.

The turnaround is quick as the series sprints to season’s end. Next weekend, the 25 car-and-driver combinations make their anticipated appearance in the U.S. capital city with the Freedom 250 Grand Prix of Washington, D.C. The pre-race show on FOX begins at 11:30 a.m. ET with the race shortly after 1 p.m.