Sargeant “proud” of qualifying run despite missing out on upgrades

In brief

Sargeant “proud” of qualifying run

Sargeant will line up 15th on the grid after both Haas drivers were disqualified from qualifying. Although he will be six places behind team mate Alexander Albon, Sargeant said he’s not running the same upgrades as his team mate this weekend.

“To be honest I feel like I’ve been driving well all weekend,” he said. “I feel like it was another good run at it. Traffic-free laps and honestly, really happy with the laps I did and the performance I got out of the car.

“Just unfortunate to be missing a few key components this weekend, which I think ultimately made have made a bit of a bigger difference than I was expecting and that would have been the difference in getting through or not. But nonetheless proud of the way I drove and I genuinely feel like I got everything out of the package I had.”

Da Costa loses fifth after penalty

Porsche Formula E driver Antonio Felix da Costa fell from fifth place to 18th after being hit with a penalty for forcing Jean-Eric Vergne off the track during Saturday’s first Shanghai Eprix.

Da Costa was deemed to have pushed the DS Penske driver off track at turn 12 while they were fighting late in the race, giving him a five second penalty for being responsible. Due to the close field spread, five seconds dropped him 13 places in the final classification to 18th.

Floersch hit with grid drop

Sophia Floersch was hit with a five-place grid penalty for today’s F3 Monaco feature race after she was deemed responsible for causing the collision in yesterday’s sprint race that put Kacper Sztuka out and left her with front wing damage.

The pair were fighting over 14th place midway through the race when Floersch attempted to pass to the inside of the final corner, Anthony Noghes. Floersch clipped the rear of Sztuka’s car, damaging him enough to put him out of the race. She was deemed “wholly responsible” for the clash and given a five place penalty.

Floersch will therefore start today’s race from 23rd place. Fellow Alpine junior Gabriele Mini will start from pole.

Links

Motor racing links of interest:

F1 is finally winning US fans, so why won't it admit a new American team? Congress wants answers (NBC News)

Sen. Amy Klobuchar: ''American teams driving American cars should have the same opportunities to compete. And I’m very concerned that there may have been collusion to avoid competition from Andretti on the race track and competition from Cadillac in selling cars.''

F1 interested in second race in South-East Asia (Reuters)

''There are lots of places which want a Formula 1 race and we really look to the intersection of where our fans are and where they could be, who could run a great race and who can frankly afford a race. I think you could very easily see a second one in Southeast Asia.''

‘No one will ever beat Monaco’: Amid new glamour GPs, F1’s ‘crown jewel’ still shines (Athletic)

Hamilton: ''You’ve got the sprint things that they’ve added, but for this particular weekend, I think they should come up with some new formula for it rather than it just be the same'.'

F1 exhibition and super-size Scalextric at Haynes Motor Museum (Somerset Live)

'Haynes Motor Museum is promising an action packed May half term for the family. From May 27 to June 2 events and exhibitions will include a high-octane Williams F1 exhibition and motorcycle exhibition, Life on Two Wheels.'

Liberty Media’s goal ‘is to expose’ MotoGP ‘to a broader world’ as they’ve ‘done with F1’ (Motociclismo)

''We’re hugely proud of the sport we have and we think that there could be no better than Liberty to help us to exploit that visibility and improve our fan engagement and getting more people to be aware about the sport out of the main markets. And one thing they’ve done amazingly well is making the sport culturally resonate and transcend the sport itself. And we think a lot of values that we have with MotoGP will transcend very well into a younger and more diverse fan base across the globe. Another thing that we think Liberty will be great at is helping us to tell a story outside of racing. And both of these combined, I think is going to create a great value for us outside our more endemic markets.''

Jeff Dodds: the Formula E boss planning a move into pole position (Guardian)

'The Formula E ball has now dropped to Dodds, with Liberty and Warner happy to bear steep losses – €242m across 2021 and 2022, according to its latest UK accounts – in pursuit of growth. He acknowledges that ''not enough people know about us'', but says Formula E now has 385 million fans, while F1 has 800 million by the same survey methodology. ''Across Japan, China, Indonesia, we see an incredible growth in fanbase,'' he says.'

Formula E round 11: Shanghai International Circuit (Formula E via YouTube)

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Good day for the Leclerc family

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Our honoured guest at Plant Zero.1 my good friend @nigelmansell seeing the magic of #SynthetheticFuel as it is being made 24×7 and sharing #OldStories! Nigel is an absolute legend taking our #FW14B car to an exhibition @F1 World Championship in 1992 #FuelReinvented @ZeroPetroleum pic.twitter.com/8b8WnEjyN6

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What on earth was happening in Monaco Porte Hercule during qualifying 😨 I hope no one got hurt
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Comment of the day

With a Ferrari and McLaren on the front row for today’s Monaco Grand Prix, one reader dares to dream…

It might just be wishful thinking, but I’m starting to believe we have a fight for the constructors’ championship this year. If Ferrari and Red Bull finish in the same positions they start (quite possible in Monaco), the gap between first and second after this weekend will be 14 points.
Alonso

Happy birthday!

Happy birthday to Lustigson and Zazeems!

On this day in motorsport

• On this day in 1994 Williams confirmed David Coulthard would join the team as Damon Hill’s team mate following the crash which killed Ayrton Senna.