Ferrari first in Hungary, Audi cruises in Canada
THE MOTORSPORT LAP/ The 2017 Formula E championship was concluded this past weekend, while the Hungarian F1 GP saw Ferrari dominate
The Hungarian F1 GP took place this past weekend and Ferrari proved a dominant opponent against the rest of the pack, particularly the Mercedes-AMG team.
Both team-mates Sebastien Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen managed to qualify their Ferraris in first and second on the grid. They were followed by Mercedes-AMG team-mates Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton in third and fourth. Sunday’s race finished in the same order, although initially Mercedes had applied team orders for Bottas to let Hamilton through on lap 57 in order for Hamilton to try to overtake Raikkonen.
Although Hamilton could get close to Raikkonen on the straight, it was not to be and so, on the last corner of the last lap, Hamilton let Bottas take the place back to finish third.
Now the F1 circus will take a month-long summer break before returning for the Italian Grand Prix in Monza on September 3. Vettel still leads the championship with 202 points, followed by Hamilton on 188 and Bottas on 169.
Meanwhile, the electric racing Formula E finale took place in Montreal, Canada where the championship was concluded. The actual race win went to Jean-Eric Vergne (Techeetah), who was followed in second by Felix Rosenqvit (Mahindra Racing) and Jose Lopez (DS Virgin Racing). However, the championship victory went to Team ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport’s Lucas di Grassi, who went into the final race with an 18-point deficit but managed to convert that to an advantage.
The Constructors’ championship went to Renault E.dams giving the team its third consecutive title in as many years as the series has been going. The team’s Sebastien Buemi achieved 157 points with six wins, while team-mate Nico Prost scored 92 points. With both BMW and Mercedes having announced their participation in the 2019 season, news emerged this week that Porsche will also be joining the series following an announcement that it will be pulling out of the World Endurance Championship at the end of 2018.
The Finland leg of the WRC (World Rally Championship) saw the Toyota Yaris Gazoo Racing entry of Esapekka Lappi beat Elfyn Evans (M-Sport Ford Fiesta) and Juho Hanninen (Toyota Yaris Gazoo Racing).
Locally, it was the Harrismith 400 round of the SACCS (South African Cross Country Series) where former Dakar Rally winner Giniel de Villiers and Dennis Murphy took their second Production Vehicle category win of the season. De Villiers and Murphy followed up their Toyota 1000 Desert Race victory in June with a comfortable win that preserved the Toyota Gazoo Racing SA’s unbeaten record dating back to the 2015 season.
Pre-race favourites and championship leaders Leeroy Poulter and Rob Howie, in the second Toyota Gazoo Hilux, retired with a broken gearbox.
Joining De Villiers and Murphy were the two Ford NWM Puma Lubricants Rangers of Gareth Woolridge/Boyd Dreyer and Lance Woolridge/Ward Huxtable, who finished second and third overall respectively.
The next race will be the Sun City 400 on September 15-16.