Hamilton set for huge F1 title advantage after RADICAL Ferrari change
READ MORE: Aston Martin reveal IMMEDIATE lineup change in team shakeup Hamilton has now officially joined the Maranello outfit, with his debut around the Fiorano track earmarked to happen later in January, before his grand prix debut at the Australian Grand Prix in March. Hamilton is not the only former Mercedes star who has opted […]
Hamilton is not the only former Mercedes star who has opted to join Ferrari, with a couple of other team members following the Brit to Maranello.
The seven-time champion opted to ditch Mercedes following three seasons of underperformance, with the team falling out of championship contention.
Now, Motorsport Italy are reporting that Serra has identified changes to the 2025 car design to make it faster over a single lap.
Former Mercedes performance director Loic Serra is now the technical director at Ferrari, while Jerome d’Ambrosio is now the Scuderia’s deputy team principal, and head of the Ferrari driver academy.
Lewis Hamilton will race with Ferrari in 2025Ferrari’s 2024 car came close to winning the 2024 constructors’ championship
In his last three seasons with the Brackley outfit, Hamilton only achieved two race victories, despite winning 82 grands prix and six world championships in the nine seasons before that.
Hamilton’s dismal 2024 season included being dominated by team-mate George Russell in qualifying, going down 19-5 to his fellow Brit throughout the season.
However, Hamilton has been handed a huge boost that may help to prevent early Q1 and Q2 exits, with reports from Italy stating that Serra has been focusing on the elements that make up the suspension (torsion bars and shock absorbers), aiming to make the most of new Pirelli tyres, thus improving one lap pace and potentially handing Hamilton a solution to his Saturday session woes.
Loic Serra (left) is the technical director at Ferrari
That qualifying form has been levelled at Hamilton as a reason why he will not compete for a title with Ferrari, with one of the F1 grid’s best qualifiers in Charles Leclerc sat alongside him from 2025 onwards.
Team principal Fred Vasseur has already revealed that the 2025 car will be radically different to their 2024 challenger, with Hamilton hoping that he will be able to challenge for an unprecedented eighth world championship title behind the wheel of the new machinery.
USAC National Midgets Results From Sweet Springs Motorsports Complex
Sweet Springs, Missouri — Kale Drake may not be overly superstitious, but at the least, he is certainly a little bit stitious. Prior to Sunday night’s USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship event at Missouri’s Sweet Springs Motorsports Complex, the Collinsville, Oklahoma native was involved in a series of fortunate events with the number […]
Sweet Springs, Missouri — Kale Drake may not be overly superstitious, but at the least, he is certainly a little bit stitious.
Prior to Sunday night’s USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship event at Missouri’s Sweet Springs Motorsports Complex, the Collinsville, Oklahoma native was involved in a series of fortunate events with the number two featuring prominently everywhere he turned.
“I was talking to (USAC official Kirk Spridgeon) and Justin (Grant) at the trailer earlier today and I told them that when I stopped at the gas station, it was $22.22. After that, I drew the pill 22, then I put on 22 tear-offs before the A-Main. I might be superstitious but I think it worked out,” Drake said with a laugh.
2025 USAC NOS Energy Drink Midgets at Sweet Springs Motorsports Complex
In the end, that same numeral played an integral role in the backdrop of Drake’s fortunes at Sweet Springs. As a matter of fact, he was leading the USAC Midget race there in 2024 with two laps remaining when he found trouble and bounced to a stop, ending his bid for the win.
On Sunday, Drake was slotted third on the final restart. Picking up from where he left off one year ago, Drake made a charge around the outside to take the lead with – you guessed it – two laps to go. Lest we mention that he led the feature three different times, each in chunks of two laps at a time – laps 1-2, laps 16-17 and laps 29-30.
When all was said it done, Drake collected – wait for it – USAC National Midget career victory number two. But to do it in such dramatic fashion, this will be one he remembers for a lifetime, possibly “two” lifetimes.
“Holy smokes, that was a long race and a technical one and super fun,” Drake exclaimed. “That’s not quite up my alley but we made it work.”
Drake was in a prime spot for the start of the 40-lap main event – on the pole position in his Keith Kunz-Curb-Agajanian Motorsports/Eibach – TRD – Toyota – Mobil 1/LynK/Speedway Toyota. But after leading the opening lap, he found himself suddenly on the chase of his teammate, Jacob Denney.
But on lap 16, Denney tripped over the turn two cushion, opening the door for Drake to race on by while utilizing the bottom of turns three and four to edge his way into the lead. After the lap was completed, 17th running Garrett Benson flipped into the outside wall at the exit of turn four. He was okay, but his night was over.
Now let’s flashback to before the start of the feature. Riley Kreisel was initially slated to start on the pole, but in a wild turn of events, was penalized for being late to staging, delayed while attempting to remedy a tire bleeder issue. The result was a two row penalty, which docked Kreisel back to fifth on the grid. However, as it turned out, it wasn’t much of a deterrent to the determined Kreisel.
Kreisel’s Ron Cox owned ride hadn’t been fired since January’s Chili Bowl Nationals four months earlier. Furthermore, he only found out he was going to compete at Sweet Springs at 11pm the night before. On top of everything else, it was only his third career USAC National Midget start and his first since seven years prior in 2018 at the very same 1/6-mile Sweet Springs dirt oval.
The beneficiary of Kreisel’s position shuffle was Drake who moved from the outside of the front row to the pole, a spot he actually wasn’t all that particularly at ease with.
“I didn’t know how I really felt about taking the pole over,” Drake admitted. “I didn’t really want to start the race off and set the pace, but Jacob got out in front of me and showed me what I needed to do and what not to do, which really showed me where the limit was.”
Back to Kreisel. Just after the restart, he found his groove on the bottom and rolled past Denney for second on the 17th circuit, then picked off Drake moments later on lap 18 for the lead. At the same time, 13th starting Drake Edwards followed Kreisel’s path to slot into second ahead of Drake. However, Edwards performed a half-spin in turn two on lap 24 and lost grip of the second spot to Drake in the meantime. That said, Edwards stuck with it and snuck his way back into second on the bottom past Drake as the pair worked around the lapped car of Thomas Meseraull.
Meanwhile, Kreisel’s lead had expanded to a full second and he looked to be on his way to a surefire first career USAC national victory. But on lap 37, series Rookie Brandon Carr (20th) hooked the turn one cushion and nearly flipped before coming to a rest on all fours. Kreisel’s 1.35 second advantage over the field was erased due to the caution and he now had the field bearing down on him with a three-lap shootout on the horizon.
Sitting third with three to go was Drake who had low line dwellers Kreisel and Edwards, both first time USAC national winning hopefuls, sitting in front of him coming back to green. There was only one place to “send it.”
“I had to remind myself on that restart that I know what I’m doing and I have the best guys behind me, and I just needed to hit my marks,” Drake recalled. “It really came down to that last restart. I really had to send it. If I could hit my marks, I knew I had the best car on the racetrack, so it was just a matter of committing. It took a lot of commitment to run it up there and be fast.”
Staying true to his personal pep talk under the helmet, Drake dug in on the outside and nipped Edwards at the stripe for second with two to go on lap 38. Heading to the white flag, Drake hit the cushion in turn one perfectly, then launched off turn two to dispose of Kreisel and place himself at the top of the leaderboard.
On the last go around, Drake changed course and attacked the bottom of turns three and four to thwart off Kreisel and Edwards and block the lane. Drake crossed the line with a 0.363 second margin of victory, his first in USAC since a BC39 prelim win last September.
Behind him, Justin Grant seemingly came out of nowhere, picking off both Kreisel and Edwards in one fell swoop off turn four to get the second spot by a car length. The runner-up result also moved Grant back to the top of the USAC National Midget standings. Grant’s fourth to second final corner surge proved to be the Inferno Armor Fire Move of the Night.
In Arizonian Drake Edwards’ first ever visit to Sweet Springs, he earned his best career USAC National Midget finish. He very nearly won the thing after starting 13th but wound up a strong third to round out the podium.
Kreisel fell to fourth after leading a race high 21 laps while 2018 and 2024 Sweet Springs USAC Midget feature winner Logan Seavey took fifth.
Andrew Felker doesn’t run USAC National Midgets very often, but when he does, he does some mighty fine work. He advanced 12 positions on his way from 19th to 7th to collect the Rod End Supply Hard Charger award.
Earlier in the evening, Cannon McIntosh recorded his 12th career USAC National Midget fast time during Honest Abe Roofing Qualifying. That moved him to 49th on the all-time list alongside Don Meacham, Larry Rice and Josh Wise.
USAC National Midgets At Sweet Springs Motorsports Complex Results
1. Kale Drake (1), 2. Justin Grant (4), 3. Drake Edwards (13), 4. Riley Kreisel (5), 5. Logan Seavey (3), 6. Gavin Miller (11), 7. Andrew Felker (19), 8. Kyle Jones (15), 9. Cannon McIntosh (6), 10. Jacob Denney (2), 11. Kevin Thomas Jr. (9), 12. Gunnar Setser (12), 13. Daniel Robinson (24), 14. Cale Coons (18), 15. Steven Snyder Jr. (17), 16. Hayden Reinbold (7), 17. Brecken Reese (14), 18. Thomas Meseraull (21), 19. Branigan Roark (22), 20. Mack Leopard (8), 21. Brandon Carr (20), 22. Kameron Key (10), 23. Garrett Benson (16), 24. Chad Winfrey (23)
Bishop Motorsports welcomes Jordan DaCosta to the team
Bishop Motorsports is proud to officially welcome 18-year-old Florida drag racing sensation Jordan DaCosta to the team. Just one month after joining the program, Jordan traveled to Minnesota to meet the team and complete his NHRA licensing process—an experience that turned heads and proved he’s one to watch. In a remarkable display of talent, Jordan […]
Bishop Motorsports is proud to officially welcome 18-year-old Florida drag racing sensation Jordan DaCosta to the team. Just one month after joining the program, Jordan traveled to Minnesota to meet the team and complete his NHRA licensing process—an experience that turned heads and proved he’s one to watch.
In a remarkable display of talent, Jordan successfully licensed in five NHRA classes—Super Street, Super Gas, Super Comp, Top Dragster, and Advanced ET—in just three days.
“This is something big and exciting for our sport,” said team owner Chris Bishop. “To see someone so young adapt and drive at such a high level with this kind of versatility—it’s rare. Jordan showed us right away that he’s the real deal.”
Jordan’s journey to this milestone has been fueled by determination and vision.
“I’ve been working toward finding an NHRA team that believes in me and shares the same goals,” said Jordan DaCosta. “I can’t believe I’ve gotten to this point. Before this, my personal best was a 9.33 in the quarter mile. Now, I’m leaving Minnesota with a new personal best of 7.75 seconds and a top speed of 180 MPH+. It’s unreal.”
From day one, Jordan made it clear he wasn’t here to take shortcuts. AJ from Go Lithium and Bishop Motorsports’ Partnership & Logistics Manager shared: “From day one, Jordan showed he was willing to put in the work. We threw roadblocks in his path, and he overcame every single one without hesitation. When he finally got in the car, he didn’t just show up—he proved he belonged. Jordan is the real deal. He’s focused, driven, and eager to learn, both on and off the track. He lifts up everyone around him and shares the same vision we do. We’re proud to have him with us and excited to see where his journey takes him next.”
Adding to the excitement of the weekend, Jordan also got to experience the winner’s circle when teammate Steve Stockton captured the win in Super Pro, and teammate Cameron earned a runner-up finish in Junior Dragster. The weekend was not just a breakthrough for Jordan—it was a winning weekend all around for Bishop Motorsports.
Joey Logano did not go and win back-to-back in the NASCAR All-Star Race, but he certainly gave it everything he had. The Team Penske driver was in control of the race until the promoter’s caution was displayed with just under 40 laps to go. The controversial new rule for this non-Championship points exhibition race allowed […]
Joey Logano did not go and win back-to-back in the NASCAR All-Star Race, but he certainly gave it everything he had. The Team Penske driver was in control of the race until the promoter’s caution was displayed with just under 40 laps to go.
The controversial new rule for this non-Championship points exhibition race allowed for the race promoter to throw one caution, whenever they want, between Lap 100 and 220 in the 250-lap event.
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Logano ended up finishing second to Christopher Bell, and he wasn’t too thrilled with him or Speedway Motorsports CEO Marcus Smith.
“I’m glad you had a blast,” Logano told a NASCAR on FOX reporter. “I’m pissed off right now. Just dang it, we had the fastest car. The Shell-Pennzoil Mustang was so fast. You get to — I’m trying to choose my words correctly on the caution situation. Obviously I got bit by it, so I am the one frustrated obviously.
“Gosh, I don’t know. I felt like the falloff wasn’t too bad as the sun went down, and yeah, six cars or so stayed out with us. Thought maybe we could hold him off but the 20 [Bell] had a good enough restart, cleared too many of them too fast. I couldn’t get away in time. It took me six, seven laps to get my car up and rolling again.
Joey Logano, Team Penske Ford, Christopher Bell, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
Joey Logano, Team Penske Ford, Christopher Bell, Joe Gibbs Racing ToyotaDavid Jensen / Getty Images
David Jensen / Getty Images
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Logano continued, struggling to hold back his annoyance. “I did all I could do to hold him off and he got under me and released the brake and gave me no option. Kind of just ran me up into the wall, and if I could’ve got to him, he was going around after a move like that, I just couldn’t get back to him. Just too much to try to make up with the tire deficit.
“Just frustrated after you lead so many laps and the car is so fast and you don’t win, it hurts quite a bit.”
In a later media scrum, Logano spoke more about Bell’s race-winning move. “It is what it is,” said Logano. “I don’t know. I mean, sure. Sure. He did it good enough that I couldn’t get back to him because I was gonna show him what fair was, but I just couldn’t get there. I just couldn’t get there with the tires. I couldn’t get away fast enough. It took me six or seven laps after that restart to get rolling again and then he passed too many cars there the first couple laps and then he was there. I was doing all I can to play defense until my rear tires would come in and it just took too long, and then he was gone. I couldn’t catch back up.
“It’s frustrating when you lead that many laps, you had the fastest car and a gimmick caution beats you. It just sucks, but it is what it is. You move on and we’ll be happy that we had the best car the last two times that we’ve been here. I wish we had two wins, though.”
When the promoter’s caution flew (via Michael Waltrip, who actually dropped it on the race track), most of the field pitted for fresh rubber. Logano was among five drivers who chose to stay out on old tires, hoping to hang on.
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“I’m all about no gimmicks with the caution,” said Logano, who chuckled as he said it, but the frustration was clear in his voice. “I am all about that. I’m a little — me and Marcus Smith aren’t seeing eye to eye right now, okay? I’ve got to have a word with him.”
Photos from All-Star Race
Christopher Bell, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
Christopher Bell, Joe Gibbs Racing ToyotaDavid Jensen / Getty Images
David Jensen / Getty Images
Noah Gragson, Front Row Motorsports Ford
Noah Gragson, Front Row Motorsports FordJames Gilbert / Getty Images
James Gilbert / Getty Images
Shane van Gisbergen, Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
Shane van Gisbergen, Trackhouse Racing ChevroletJames Gilbert / Getty Images
Carson Hocevar recorded his first All-Star Open victory on Sunday at North Wilkesboro Speedway. NWS/HHP photo From the North Wilkesboro Speedway The NASCAR All-Star Race on Sunday, May 18, added two first-time participants – winner Carson Hocevar and runner-up John Hunter Nemechek – through the All-Star Open on Sunday at North Wilkesboro Speedway. Noah Gragson […]
Carson Hocevar recorded his first All-Star Open victory on Sunday at North Wilkesboro Speedway. NWS/HHP photo
From the North Wilkesboro Speedway
The NASCAR All-Star Race on Sunday, May 18, added two first-time participants – winner Carson Hocevar and runner-up John Hunter Nemechek – through the All-Star Open on Sunday at North Wilkesboro Speedway.
Noah Gragson qualified for his third All-Star Race start by winning the Fan Vote for the third consecutive year.
Hocevar, though, felt like the real winner. The Spire Motorsports driver assumed the point after pole winner Shane van Gisbergen dominated the opening 50 laps, but pitted for four tires under a caution period and never recovered the track position.
Hocevar used a quick two-tire stop, clean air and a strong car to keep all comers at bay, while a slew of contenders fought it out for the second transfer spot. Nemechek’s Legacy Motor Club team opted to take four tires under a late caution for Riley Herbst’s spin, and used the improved grip to catch and pass Bubba Wallace for second. Wallace faded to eighth on old tires.
Ty Dillon ended up third with Erik Jones fourth and Michael McDowell fifth. Gragson advanced after finishing 17th.
CARSON HOCEVAR, NO. 77 SPIRE MOTORSPORTS CHEVROLET (Race Winner): “Super big for this group, this team. It’s great to win, especially being challenged by tires there. I had my hands full. We definitely have to go to work here on our race car because I didn’t really like it, but it’s a good sign that we didn’t like it and we were still pretty quick there.”
JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK, NO. 42 LEGACY MOTOR CLUB TOYOTA (Runner-Up): “We have a shot to go win a million dollars. Hats off to this No. 42 team. We unloaded and we had good two- or three-lap speed, but no longer on pace. Proud of them for the effort they put in yesterday and what they were able to find, and pitting there at that last deal, I knew I couldn’t win from where I was at. We came and got two (tires) and that helped us out. Hats off to the whole 42 team. Proud of the effort.”
NOAH GRAGSON, NO. 4 FRONT ROW MOTORSPORTS FORD (Fan Vote Winner): “The fans are the GOATs. It’s awesome to be part of this All-Star Race. Thank God for that Open race, because I feel like we got the balance fixed.”
Alex Bowman & Hendrick Motorsports Treat the 2025 NASCAR All-Star Race as a Test Session Despite Solid Top-5 Finish
All four Hendrick Motorsports drivers currently sit inside the top eight of the Cup Series standings, thanks to their consistent runs and trips to victory lane. That form seemed to take some of the pressure off heading into the All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro, which the team treated more as a tune-up than a must-win […]
All four Hendrick Motorsports drivers currently sit inside the top eight of the Cup Series standings, thanks to their consistent runs and trips to victory lane. That form seemed to take some of the pressure off heading into the All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro, which the team treated more as a tune-up than a must-win event, according to Alex Bowman.
Three of the HMS cars cracked the top six by the end of the night, though Kyle Larson faded to a P21 finish after showing early pace and leading five laps.
Bowman led the charge for the team, bringing his #48 home in fourth after starting ninth. Reflecting on the performance, he credited his crew for digging deep. “We were so bad yesterday and the guys made the right adjustments,” Bowman said. “Our hands are pretty tied on what we can or can’t change, and they made a lot of really good calls to take us from struggling pretty bad to at least having a shot at it there at the end.”
Though a fourth-place result in a non-points race doesn’t move the needle in the standings, Bowman acknowledged the improvement was a step forward. “I think we certainly came here just to try to learn things. It pays $1 million, but honestly, winning a regular Cup race, with the playoff implications and everything, it adds up to more than that. So yeah, just came here to learn.”
Chase Elliott, who crossed the line right behind Bowman, admitted he wished he had been in the mix for the win, calling it a strong race for track position.
He noted the event ran smoother than last year’s edition and felt his #9 Chevy was competitive, just a tick off the pace needed to win. “We were in the mix, but we just needed a little bit more [pace] to be there with Joey [Logano] and Christopher [Bell],” Elliott said.
William Byron also tipped his cap to the entire HMS lineup but pointed out that his #24 team needs to keep chipping away. “We were good to start the weekend and good to start the race, but it just seemed like it kind of went away on us,” Byron said. While he admitted he didn’t expect to walk away with the win, he felt they were at least in the ballpark. Overall, he was content with the performance but knew there is more work to be done.
NASCAR All-Star Race results: Christopher Bell is winner, plus full leaderboard
The checkered flag is out for the NASCAR All-Star Race, featuring the best Cup Series drivers in the sport. Joey Logano is the winner of the All-Star Race on May 18 North Wilkesboro Speedway in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina. This is Bell’s first All-Star Race victory in five attempts. Bell has three regular season victories […]
The checkered flag is out for the NASCAR All-Star Race, featuring the best Cup Series drivers in the sport.
Joey Logano is the winner of the All-Star Race on May 18 North Wilkesboro Speedway in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina. This is Bell’s first All-Star Race victory in five attempts. Bell has three regular season victories in winning three-straight races earlier this season.
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Bell passed defending race winner and Cup Series champion, Joey Logano, with 10 laps to go and drove away to secure the victory.
The All-Star Race had five cautions for 32 laps and 18 lead changes.
Bell and Brad Keselowski won their respective heat races on May 17 and started on the front row, with Keselowski starting on pole position.
Carson Hocevar won the All-Star Open on May 18 to transfer into the main event. John Hunter Nemechek finished second in the Open and Noah Gragson won the fan vote for the final transfer spot.
Here are the results from the NASCAR All-Star Race.
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LW WRIGHT PART TWO: The long Talladega con: Could L.W. Wright drive as fast as he could talk?
LW WRIGHT PART ONE: The long Talladega con: How L.W. Wright talked his way onto NASCAR’s fastest track
HOW IT HAPPENED: NASCAR All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro: Live updates, highlights, leaderboard in Cup Series
Who won NASCAR All-Star Race? Winner, race results for North Wilkesboro Cup Series race
The unofficial full running order, results from NASCAR All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway.
Christopher Bell, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
Joey Logano, No. 22 Team Penske Ford
Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
Alex Bowman, No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Tyler Reddick, No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota
Kyle Busch, No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
Chase Briscoe, No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
Chris Buescher, No. 17 Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing Ford
Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
Noah Gragson, No. 4 Front Row Motorsports Ford
Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 HYAK Motorsports Chevrolet
Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Team Penske Ford
Josh Berry, No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford
Austin Cindric, No. 2 Team Penske Ford
John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42 Legacy Motor Club Toyota
Harrison Burton, No. 51 Rick Ware Racing Ford
Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Brad Keselowski, No. 6 Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing Ford
Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: NASCAR All-Star Race results: Christopher Bell is winner Sunday
