Palou’s win at Portland launches him back into lead

PORTLAND, Ore. — Alex Palou recovered from a near first-lap disaster at Portland International Raceway to win for the third time this season and reclaim the IndyCar points lead.

The victory put the Spaniard back on top of the standings for the ninth time in 14 races this season. The second-year IndyCar driver had lost a 42-point lead in back-to-back races and came to Portland down 10 points to Pato O’Ward.

But Palou won the pole to earn one point and start the race down just nine to O’Ward. But the start nearly ruined this race as Palou and his Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Scott Dixon hurtled toward the first turn on the permanent road course.

Felix Rosenqvist appeared to clip Dixon, causing Dixon to lock his brakes as he and Palou rode side-by-side. Neither Ganassi car was going to make the turn and both followed Rosenqvist through a runoff to avoid crashing.

The off-course adventure dropped Palou to 17th and Dixon to 18th when the race restarted on Lap 11 — the first lap under green. But in all the ducking and weaving to avoid a multi-crash accident, O’Ward had cycled from seventh on the start to the lead before he even made it through the first turn.

“We kept our heads down and we knew the race was very long,” Palou said of the 110-lap event.

Although O’Ward led 28 laps, he couldn’t put a complete race together and the Ganassi drivers slowly picked their way back into contention. Palou had returned to the lead and was out front for a pair of restarts in the final 20 laps, holding off Alexander Rossi both times to preserve the victory.

FORMULA ONE: In Monza,

Italy, a simmering battle erupted in spectacular fashion on Sunday as championship leader Max Verstappen and defending champion Lewis Hamilton crashed out of the Italian Grand Prix, which was won by McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo.

As both Hamilton and Verstappen fought for position midway through the race, their cars came together in a move that could have seriously injured Hamilton. Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff went as far as describing it as “a tactical foul” by Verstappen.

“The stewards will decide who is to blame,” Wolff said. “In football you would call it a tactical foul. He knew that if Lewis stays ahead, then that is the race win.”

The stewards did decide, judging that Verstappen “was predominantly to blame for the collision.” They gave the Red Bull driver a three-place grid drop for the start of the next race, the Russian GP on Sept. 26.

“I’m proud of the stewards,” Hamilton said after learning of their decision. “I need some time to really reflect on it but I think it definitely sets a precedent and I think it’s important for us moving forwards, for the safety of the drivers that there are strict rules set in place.”

Hamilton, who had been outspoken against the protective halo at the front of F1 car cockpits before its introduction in 2018, thinks it might have saved his life on Sunday.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been hit on the head by a car before. It’s quite a shock for me,” added Hamilton, who still sounded distressed several hours after the incident. “And I’ve been racing a long, long time. So I’m so, so grateful that I’m still here. I feel incredibly blessed. I feel like someone was watching over me today.”

Verstappen maintained his championship lead, which he had slightly extended to five points by coming second in the sprint on Saturday.

“We were racing for position today but you need two people to work together to make the corner and Lewis just kept squeezing until there wasn’t room anymore for two cars and that’s when we crashed,” Verstappen said.

“I was there to try and race hard but fair. I don’t fully agree with the penalty as I believe it was a racing incident. It’s very unfortunate what happened today but we are both professionals and so we will move on.”

It was the second major incident between the two in as many months. They clashed on the first lap of the British GP in what Red Bull called a “desperate” move by Mercedes driver Hamilton that saw him given a 10-second penalty and Verstappen hospitalized.