In the round-up: The USA team of IndyCar drivers Colton Herta and Jimmie Johnson were beaten in the final of the Race of Champions Nations Cup by Team Norway of Petter and Oliver Solberg.
In brief
Herta and Johnson beaten by Solbergs to ROC Nations Cup crown
The Race of Champions Nations Cup was claimed by Team Norway during the first day of competition in Sweden.The Norweigian team – made up of the father-and-son pairing of Petter and Oliver Solberg – defeated IndyCar drivers Colton Herta and Jimmie Johnson in the final of the tournament on the ice circuit situated on the frozen Baltic Sea.
Team Norway won by three heats to one, with Herta making a mistake in the final heat, allowing Petter Solberg to clinch the tournament. Team Finland, made up of double F1 world champion Mika Hakkinen and Emma Kimilainen, and Team Nordic, featuring Tom Kristensen and Johan Kristoffersson, were eliminated in the semi finals.
Current F1 drivers Sebastian Vettel and Mick Schumacher, representing Team Germany, were eliminated in the quarter final stages after being beaten by the United States team. Team GB of two-time W Series champion Jamie Chadwick and David Coulthard were also eliminated in the quarter finals by Team Finland.
The drivers will each compete against each other today in the ‘Champion of Champions’ tournament, to determine the overall winner.
Montoya wins as Leclerc extends FRAC championship lead
Sebastian Montoya won the first of three races in the Formula Regional Asian Championship this weekend at the Dubai Autodrome.
The Mumbai Falcons India Racing driver led from pole position after holding off Red Bull junior driver Isack Hadjar on the run to turn one. The race was suspended with just over 15 minutes of race time remaining after an engine failure for Francesco Braschi left oil on the track.
When the race resumed, Montoya led away once again and absorbed pressure from Hadjar, but Hadjar and Hitech team mate Leonardo Fornaroli were both given five second time penalties for not being within their grid slots at the original race start. That assured Montoya his second victory of the season, while Arthur Leclerc was promoted from fourth on the track to second in the standings, allowing him to increase his lead in the series standings.
There will be two more races around the Dubai Circuit today, before a third and final weekend of races in Dubai next weekend.
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Social media
Notable posts from Twitter, Instagram and more:
Expectation ↔️ Reality 🥵 pic.twitter.com/XfdippRKnx
— Max Verstappen (@Max33Verstappen) February 5, 2022
And it's happened immediately! eROC finalist and sim racer @LucasBlakeley DEFEATS Sebastian Vettel in their first heat! #ROCSweden 😱😱
Someone pinch him! pic.twitter.com/U6MhBX21d2
— #ROCSweden (@RaceOfChampions) February 5, 2022
Loved every minute of today’s @RaceOfChampions #NationsCup 😃 Won my 1st race but unfortunately a mistake from me meant @therealdcf1 & I couldn’t take Team GB 🇬🇧 any further 🙁 Amazing to race against so many legends of the sport & looking forward to another go at it tomorrow 💪🏻 pic.twitter.com/FMYRKiXAFM
— Jamie Chadwick (@JamieChadwick) February 5, 2022
Incredible. Simply incredible.
Take a look at this awesome scene inside the historic @lacoliseum! #BuschLightClash pic.twitter.com/7eSCfqWesR
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) February 5, 2022
- Find more official F1 accounts to follow in the F1 Twitter Directory
Links
Motor racing links of interest:
Five times F1 teams got the new regulations right (Formula 1)
"F1 history is full of examples of times when a team was transformed into a title-winner through understanding the regulations well and producing a strong car from the very start. Here are five of the most famous cases when a team jumped to the front thanks to mastering rule changes."
Red Bull admit Max Verstappen early retirement fears because of Lewis Hamilton (Mirror)
"At least that's the suggestion made by Red Bull advisor and driver development chief Helmut Marko, who hinted Verstappen could even be forced into an earlier retirement should those tensions be revived."
Ferrari NV (RACE) Q4 2021 Earnings Call Transcript (AlphaStreet)
Benedetto Vigna: "For sure, the digital technologies, the web 3.0 technologies that they’re using the Blockchain and the NFT is an area that is can be interesting for us, it deserves some attention."
Haas F1 reserve driver Pietro Fittipaldi to drive in Le Mans (Independent)
"Haas Formula 1 reserve driver Pietro Fittipaldi will compete in the European Le Mans Series this year with the Inter Europol LMP2 squad."
Jehan Daruvala faces ‘make-or-break year’ in quest to reach F1 (The Hindu)
"I have been pushed by Dr. Marko to be more aggressive and show everyone, and it definitely paid off at the end of the year. It gives me a lot of confidence that they want to support me and they believe I am capable of going to F1."
Transforming Spa-Francorchamps for the return of Motorcycle racing (Spa-Francorchamps via YouTube)
"Discover the work in progress at the Circuit for the comeback of a legendary race."
Race Week In The Life Of A Racing Driver | Dan Ticktum’s Formula E Vlog (Formula E via YouTube)
"Get the inside scoop on what it’s REALLY like to be a racing driver heading into their first race weekend. Join NIO 333’s Dan Ticktum as he shows you first-hand the life of a Formula E driver, during the Diriyah E-Prix double-header."
We always endeavour to credit original sources. If you have a tip for a link relating to single-seater motorsport to feature in the next RaceFans round-up please send it in via the contact form.
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Comment of the day
With Lewis Hamilton breaking his social media silence and giving his strongest indication yet that he intends to return to Formula 1 this season, @redearedrabbit is pleased that the seven-time world champion will likely race again this season…
The grid is a more exciting place with him on it. I hope he can keep racing to his usual high standard for a couple more years at least. With exceptional younger talents like Max, Lando, George and Charles, if the new cars do give us closer racing, it could be a golden year in 2022. Here’s hoping.
@redearedrabbit
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to Chris Gordon-Smith, Charlieshan, Motor_Mad and Alec!
RandomMallard
6th February 2022, 0:58
Wow quite an achievement for Blakely!
Congrats to the Solbergs of course.
Helmut Marko and the Daily Mirror sounds like a match made in hell.
Agree with it being make or break for Daruvala
I didn’t realise just how much work they were doing at Spa until O saw that video. Quite impressive, all while not changing the spirit of the current circuit.
And agree with COTD.
S
6th February 2022, 1:29
Oooohhh. Early 90’s F1 cars….
Personally, I found the Ferrari to be about the ugliest of the lot, but I still think it’s gorgeous compared to today’s ugly, enormous sea monster-esque monstrosities.
mmertens (@mmertens)
6th February 2022, 3:20
Agree, the proportions and weight are so wrong now. The early 90s era cars proportions are much better .
amian
6th February 2022, 11:19
The same here! I used to not like the 1992 and 1993 Ferraris, but today this 1992 model looks absolutely stunning.
And what I’ve always found super intriguing about that model are those protruding sidepod air inlets, a concept that Ferrari abandoned for 1993, but ressurected 3 years later in a more radical way with the 1996 F310 model.
Lifting the sidepods to let air through underneath them was a concept way ahead of its time!
And the way they did it in 1992 was also very beautiful.
StefMeister (@stefmeister)
6th February 2022, 1:39
The Ferrari F92A may have been a rather awful car but as a kid i always loved watching Jean Alesi wrestling with it around every corner.
Always seemed on the verge of throwing him at the scenery yet more often than not his hands would become a blur & he’d somehow save it.
I don’t think anyone of that era drove with as much pure passion or was as spectacular to watch as Jean.
mmertens (@mmertens)
6th February 2022, 3:26
What’s sad about this Ferrari it’s that effectively it was so bad that it also ended Capelli’s F1 career, he was so good driver, but the pressure of bad Ferrari + Italian driver was too great. Agree that Alesi was a pleasure to watch, very dramatic style, aggressive. Personally I also love to watch the finesse of a Prost too. Different styles , both great to watch. Great era with beautiful cars.
Sumedh
6th February 2022, 2:01
So Lewis is back and wearing Red Bull colours?
Specifically, the Red Bull colors of Turkey 2021 which honor Honda
ian dearing
6th February 2022, 9:43
Why not, his drivers do to.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CW_CvgsrSPr/
RatSack
6th February 2022, 2:24
So admittedly I’m not much of an oval racing fan but the LAColiseum looks like a terrible track. Way too small, how is anyone supposed to build up any decent speed to pull off an overtake?
StefMeister (@stefmeister)
6th February 2022, 4:02
I believe over in nascar they call it ‘Bump & Run’.
Bump the guy ahead just enough to move him up the track so you can stick your car up the inside & run away before he has a chance to retaliate. Or in some cases just turn him round.
https://youtu.be/k_BOf2DtG8A
RatSack
6th February 2022, 4:16
Ah thankyou, that makes a bit more sense
Jere (@jerejj)
6th February 2022, 8:58
I doubt Max would stop early.
Make-or-break for Daruvala indeed. A 3rd full campaign in F2 is generally like this.
COTD: 100% agreed.
Jere (@jerejj)
6th February 2022, 9:00
BTW, until today I was unaware about Horner getting infected post-Abu Dhabi GP.
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
6th February 2022, 10:23
I know short track ovals are a thing and can be exciting even in the fastest series of oval racing but that stadium is just ridiculous.
On the other hand, it looks stunning. Like the Piston Cup final race in the first Cars movie!
Barry Bens (@barryfromdownunder)
6th February 2022, 22:14
The comments under the Mirror-article (which is also sourced from a different platform) are hilarious. I know The Mirror isn’t exactly for the sharpest tools in the shed, but man…:’)