Pit strategy crucial for IndyCar winner
LEXINGTON, Ohio — Alexander Rossi gambled Sunday afternoon at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, and it paid off with an IndyCar victory — his second this season and fourth overall.
Starting from the pole position and using a two-stop strategy while the rest of the field pitted three times, the 2016 Indianapolis 500 winner finished 12.8 seconds ahead of rookie Robert Wickens in the caution-free race on the 13-turn, 2.258-mile permanent road course. The race covered 90 laps and 202.3 miles.
“It was a little concerning at times,” said Rossi, who led 66 laps. “(Other) guys committed to doing it, but they bailed. (The strategy) worked. We didn’t know how it would work. Without a warmup, we were not capable of knowing the fuel mileage you’re getting.”
Will Power was third, 14.7 seconds behind Rossi, Josef Newgarden was fourth and season points leader Scott Dixon finished fifth.
“Maybe we should have thought of that,” Power said about Rossi’s strategy. “I don’t know what my fuel number would have been.”
Rossi also won the street race in Long Beach, California, in April. Sunday’s win was Andretti Autosport’s 60th in the series.
Rossi had a 23-second lead over Wickens when he made his second pit stop on the 59th lap. Wickens took the lead but, because he had been so far back when Rossi pitted it, it was only a matter of time before he would fall behind again.
“We ran a good race today,” Wickens said. “We were just unfortunate with the traffic. I got stuck behind (Takuma) Sato. We had to wait 10 to 15 laps to make a move. It was a frustrating stint.”
Rossi got the lead for good when Wickens pitted on the 65th lap and Power temporarily moved to second. Rossi cruised from there, and his only problem was trying to do a post-race doughnut in celebration only to get stuck in the grass.
Dixon leads the series with 494 points, 46 more than Rossi. Newgarden, the 2017 series champion is third, 60 points back.
Dixon made his 300th IndyCar start and Power his 200th on Sunday. Dixon was born in Australia but is a citizen of New Zealand, where good friend Power is from.
F1: Hamilton cruising
BUDAPEST, Hungary — Lewis Hamilton heads into Formula One’s summer break with a comfortable 24-point lead over rival Sebastian Vettel after cruising to victory from pole position at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Hamilton was untroubled as he secured a second straight win, his fifth of the season and 67th overall. Vettel was second.
“It’s great to go into the break with back-to-back wins,” said Hamilton, who won in Germany last week. “That boost will last a long time with our team.”
After 12 of 21 races, 2017 series champion Hamilton has the momentum. At the same stage last season, he trailed Vettel by 14 points.
“What a beautiful day, what a great car,” said Hamilton, who won by 17 seconds. “We’ve had an amazing job by the team, and we came here with Ferrari pushing.”
Mercedes missed out on a 1-2 finish as Valtteri Bottas was overtaken by Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen with five laps to go.
Bottas and Vettel touched during the overtaking move, with some debris flying off the Mercedes.
In a dramatic finish, Bottas lost control of his car as he bumped Daniel Ricciardo’s Red Bull off the track as he was about to be overtaken.
Bottas was told on team radio to give the position back to Ricciardo, who finished a commendable fourth after starting 12th. Bottas was later given a 10-second time penalty but it did not affect results, with Toro Rosso’s Pierre Gasly remaining in sixth place.
Hamilton and Vettel will continue their battle for a fifth F1 title when the championship resumes at the Belgian GP on Aug. 26.
“The second half is always exciting and intense,” Hamilton said.