Macau: Hamilton wins race one
Lewis Hamilton stamped his authority on the Macau Grand Prix field during a Safety Car interrupted qualification race on Saturday after grabbing the lead on the opening lap and remaining unchallenged throughout the 10-lap encounter. The Briton eventually finished 2.2 seconds ahead of Nico Rosberg, with Alexandre Premat third
Hamilton got away well from his second place on the grid and instantly tucked into the slipstream of pole position man and Manor Motorsport team-mate Robert Kubica. He managed to draft past on the outside as the pair approached Mandarin Bend and, as Kubica lifted, Hamilton swept into the lead, which he held onto through Lisboa Bend.
"It was very scary," said Hamilton of the decisive move. "Robert was covering the inside as I got the tow. I pulled up to the left side and was passing him but not enough to get past him and we could not go through side-by-side. So I hoped to make him scared and lift, and he did that - although I went through sideways."
Kubica's hopes of making an instant response were dashed when the Safety Car was called out following a series of incidents on the grid. Richard Antinucci had got away slowly from third place on the grid and was clouted from behind by Nelson Piquet Jr., while further back there was a much bigger accident as Eric Salignon slammed into the back of the stalled Kazuki Nakajimi before spearing off into the barrier. Also involved in the incident were Marchy Lee, Ho Pin Tung and Rodolfo Avila.
The Safety Car remained out until the start of lap five, as Salignon needed assistance to get out of the car, but as soon as the race restarted Hamilton made a brilliant getaway to pull clear of the field. Behind him, Kubica came under instant pressure from Rosberg and lost second place on the run into Mandarin.
With Hamilton looking unstoppable at the front, Rosberg was happy to settle for the second slot that will ensure him a front-row start position for Sunday's 15-lap race, while behind him Premat took third after diving past Kubica into Lisboa on lap six.
Kubica duly finished fourth, with fifth-placed finisher Jamie Green's bid to wrest that spot from the Polish driver in the closing stages failing to come off. Behind Green, last year's pole position man Fabio Carbone finished sixth, ahead of Loic Duval, Lucas di Grassi, James Rossiter and Danny Watts.
Ellis named as replacement for injured Auer in Bathurst 12 Hour
DTM race-winner Philip Ellis will make his Bathurst 12 Hour debut this week as a stand-in for the injured Lucas Auer.
Winning MSR Acura "super lucky" with Daytona 24 gearbox scare
The Meyer Shank Racing Acura team was "super lucky" to win the Daytona 24 Hours despite its malfunctioning gearbox for most of the race, according to team boss Michael Shank.
Bourdais “surprised” Cadillac was beaten on pace in Daytona 24 Hours
Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac driver Sebastien Bourdais said he was surprised that the victorious Acura ARX-06 outperformed his new V-LMDh in the Daytona 24 Hours IMSA SportsCar Championship season opener.
Daytona 24: MSR Acura opens GTP era with win, Proton snatches LMP2 by 0.016s
Meyer Shank Racing scored its second consecutive victory in the Daytona 24 Hours in the first race for the IMSA SportsCar Championship's new GTP regulations, leading an Acura 1-2 finish.
Ranking the 10 best drivers from F1's junior series in 2022
The ladder to F1 never gets any less slippery. But a strong cast of Formula 3 and Formula 2 aces proved sure of foot as they continued their climbs in 2022
What racing in Australia means for the future of F1's junior series
The announcement that FIA Formula 2 and 3 would race alongside the Australian Grand Prix from 2023 came as a surprise, not only to fans but to the series’ teams too. But with Formula 1’s boom in popularity bringing more fans to the championships, team principals are relishing the opportunity
Why the Formula 3 benchmark's 2022 season hinges on qualifying
Prema Racing has long dominated FIA Formula 3, taking the teams’ title in two of the past three seasons. But its start to 2022 has been trickier than usual, and the answers lie in its qualifying performance
How the ultra-tight F3 title fight is taking shape
With just five points separating the top five after two rounds, FIA Formula 3 looks set for another thrilling season in 2022. But who stands the best chance of pulling away from that pack, and who are the contenders bubbling under?
The F3 newcomer making good on his unusual career path
Joining the FIA Formula 3 grid as a rookie with a team new to the series could prove daunting for most, but then there aren't many drivers who have the extensive experience Franco Colapinto brings from his time racing sportscars. The Argentinian explains how his LMP2 experience is already helping him in 2022
The British trio hunting for F3 title glory
The 2022 FIA Formula 3 season kicks off this weekend in Bahrain. British trio Zak O’Sullivan, Ollie Bearman and Jonny Edgar have all become proteges of Formula 1 teams, and are talents to watch this year
How an outsider demolished a rank of F1 juniors
His career has been a slowburner but Gregoire Saucy trounced a collection of F1 juniors in Formula Regional by Alpine last year, and now he’s preparing to do it again in FIA F3. Here’s how the Swiss caught the world by surprise in 2021 and how he plans to do it all over again
Ranking the top 10 F2 and F3 drivers of 2021
With a veritable feast of feeder series talent in 2021, FIA Formula 2 and Formula 3 produced some of its most exciting racing yet. Although Prema Racing drivers once again dominated the respective series, drivers from other teams also stole the limelight to mark themselves out as stars of the future, or validate their highly-regarded standing
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.