Motorsports

Ferrari F1 boss gives X

Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur insists he is “not too worried” about Lewis Hamilton’s struggles so far this season – adding that analysis of the Scuderia’s form dipping “dramatically” is “f****** bull****”. Hamilton, 40, has endured a difficult start to his £50m-a-year time at Ferrari, failing to finish higher than fifth in five races, though he […]

Published

1 month ago

April 22, 2025

Your Sports Nation

Hamilton, 40, has endured a difficult start to his £50m-a-year time at Ferrari, failing to finish higher than fifth in five races, though he did win the sprint race in China.

The seven-time F1 world champion has repeatedly voiced his frustrations at being unable to adapt to the SF-25 car, following 12 years with Mercedes. Yet having finished seventh in Saudi Arabia on Sunday – with teammate Charles Leclerc on the podium – the Briton admitted that he “couldn’t blame the car” for his position in Jeddah.

Hamilton lies seventh in the drivers’ standings and already trails championship leader Oscar Piastri by 68 points. Yet Ferrari team principal Vasseur believes it is a “positive” that Hamilton is so downbeat.

“I will give him support and we will start straight away to find solutions,” Vasseur said, after the race in Saudi.

“I am not too worried. Have a look at what he did in China or what he did in Bahrain last week or even in the first part of the session this weekend. The potential is there for sure.

“He’s down because he finished seventh and his team-mate is on the podium. It is positive that Lewis is down because if he was happy, it wouldn’t be normal.”

Questioned further on the Scuderia’s “dramatic” slump in form – from a position where they finished second in last year’s constructors’ championship – Vasseur reacted firmly.

“Dramatically?” he said. “We have done five races so far. I know that you won’t have the big headlines tomorrow that Fred said this, but this is f****** bull****.

“You have ups and downs. When we have an up, we are not world champions. When we are down, we are not nowhere.”

Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur (right) has defended star driver Lewis Hamilton (left) (Getty)

Hamilton was nearly lost for words after finishing the Saudi race where he started, in seventh place.

Asked if he felt comfortable at all, in the fifth race of the 2025 season, Hamilton’s reply was short: “No. There wasn’t one second.

“Clearly the car is capable of being P3, Charles did a great job today, I can’t blame the car.”

Questioned if he had any idea why the car wasn’t working for him, Hamilton simply responded: “No.”

Ferrari are expected to bring an upgrade package to the next race in Miami (2-4 May), with both Hamilton and Leclerc revealing they will be present at Ferrari HQ in Maranello this week as they work towards an improved car for the rest of the season.

Related Topics:big car f1 ferrari formula 1 happy motorsports season sports team working

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Charlotte (2025) Coca-Cola 600: NASCAR Practice Speeds, Lap Averages, and Notes

NASCAR Practice Speeds, Notes, and Lap Averages. Use these NASCAR stats and info to build lineups on DraftKings for the the 2025 Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Carson Hocevar was fastest in the session. The NASCAR Cup Series ran a single practice session at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Saturday afternoon in preparation for the […]

Published

16 minutes ago

May 25, 2025

Your Sports Nation

The NASCAR Cup Series ran a single practice session at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Saturday afternoon in preparation for the upcoming Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday afternoon.

The 40-car field was split in to two groups for practice, with each group getting 25 minutes on track.

Below you will find the two groups, key notes from the practice session, as well as the practice speeds for all drivers.

Important Practice Notes

Ross Chastain – Ross Chastain had one of the fastest cars in practice, but he didn’t escape the session without problems. With about 12 minutes to go in practice, Chastain blew a left rear tire and spun out, hitting the wall. There’s no word yet on if the No. 1 team will have to go to a backup car for the race.

Kyle Busch – The No. 8 team had some major issues during practice, and Kyle Busch wasn’t able to get much track time. In addition to radio problems between driver and team, Busch also reported major problems with the steering.

Denny Hamlin – During the first group’s session, Denny Hamlin got a little too high and scraped the outside wall. There wasn’t much damage to the No. 11 Toyota and shouldn’t be anything to worry about.

2025 Charlotte Coca-Cola 600 Practice Speed Chart

Click here to download the PDF of the practice speed chart.

Pos	Driver	Time	Speed	Fastest Lap	Laps Ran	Behind Leader
1.	Carson Hocevar	29.926	180.445	3	34	—.—
2.	Ty Gibbs	29.939	180.367	1	37	-0.013
3.	AJ Allmendinger	30.115	179.313	2	31	-0.189
4.	Denny Hamlin	30.178	178.938	1	41	-0.252
5.	Tyler Reddick	30.185	178.897	18	34	-0.259
6.	Erik Jones	30.191	178.861	2	28	-0.265
7.	Bubba Wallace	30.192	178.855	1	37	-0.266
8.	William Byron	30.220	178.690	1	34	-0.294
9.	Ross Chastain	30.243	178.554	1	20	-0.317
10.	Michael McDowell	30.289	178.283	5	26	-0.363
11.	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	30.295	178.247	22	26	-0.369
12.	Chase Elliott	30.310	178.159	2	43	-0.384
13.	Brad Keselowski	30.339	177.989	2	30	-0.413
14.	Shane Van Gisbergen	30.368	177.819	1	34	-0.442
15.	Daniel Suarez	30.370	177.807	3	41	-0.444
16.	Noah Gragson	30.370	177.807	6	29	-0.444
17.	Justin Haley	30.381	177.743	4	45	-0.455
18.	Alex Bowman	30.389	177.696	3	30	-0.463
19.	Ryan Blaney	30.414	177.550	4	37	-0.488
20.	Austin Cindric	30.437	177.416	23	32	-0.511
21.	Kyle Larson	30.477	177.183	1	31	-0.551
22.	Austin Dillon	30.512	176.980	2	30	-0.586
23.	Chase Briscoe	30.529	176.881	1	35	-0.603
24.	John Hunter Nemechek	30.543	176.800	1	32	-0.617
25.	Riley Herbst	30.547	176.777	3	32	-0.621
26.	Christopher Bell	30.553	176.742	2	34	-0.627
27.	Jimmie Johnson	30.557	176.719	5	30	-0.631
28.	Cole Custer	30.560	176.702	2	24	-0.634
29.	Joey Logano	30.562	176.690	11	33	-0.636
30.	Ryan Preece	30.565	176.673	3	36	-0.639
31.	Josh Berry	30.569	176.650	1	23	-0.643
32.	Chris Buescher	30.591	176.523	8	31	-0.665
33.	Todd Gilliland	30.614	176.390	3	31	-0.688
34.	Ty Dillon	30.633	176.280	5	31	-0.707
35.	Connor Zilisch	30.649	176.188	3	40	-0.723
36.	Zane Smith	30.665	176.097	4	38	-0.739
37.	Cody Ware	30.923	174.627	5	23	-0.997
38.	Derek Kraus	31.682	170.444	2	22	-1.756
39.	Josh Bilicki	32.613	165.578	12	15	-2.687
40.	Kyle Busch	0.000	0.000	0	0	0.000

2025 Charlotte Coca-Cola 600 10-Lap Average Chart

Pos	Driver	From Lap	To Lap	Avg Speed
1.	Ross Chastain	1	10	177.400
2.	AJ Allmendinger	1	10	177.300
3.	Ty Gibbs	1	10	176.972
4.	Carson Hocevar	1	10	176.749
5.	Brad Keselowski	2	11	176.722
6.	Justin Haley	1	10	176.604
7.	William Byron	1	10	176.524
8.	Shane Van Gisbergen	1	10	176.509
9.	Tyler Reddick	5	14	176.440
10.	Erik Jones	1	10	176.434
11.	Michael McDowell	1	10	176.361
12.	Austin Cindric	1	10	176.285
13.	Daniel Suarez	1	10	176.184
14.	Alex Bowman	1	10	176.175
15.	Chase Elliott	1	10	176.174
16.	Kyle Larson	1	10	176.160
17.	Chase Briscoe	1	10	175.939
18.	Ryan Blaney	1	10	175.865
19.	Denny Hamlin	1	10	175.845
20.	Bubba Wallace	1	10	175.835
21.	Chris Buescher	2	11	175.832
22.	Noah Gragson	12	21	175.623
23.	Todd Gilliland	1	10	175.609
24.	Zane Smith	1	10	175.554
25.	Ryan Preece	1	10	175.456
26.	Christopher Bell	1	10	175.446
27.	Jimmie Johnson	2	11	175.443
28.	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	1	10	175.419
29.	John Hunter Nemechek	1	10	175.158
30.	Austin Dillon	2	11	175.143
31.	Ty Dillon	1	10	175.072
32.	Connor Zilisch	1	10	174.963
33.	Cole Custer	13	22	174.073
34.	Joey Logano	11	20	173.398
35.	Riley Herbst	13	22	173.297
36.	Cody Ware	14	23	171.957
37.	Derek Kraus	1	10	167.652

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Denny Hamlin makes JGR contract admission after Kyle Busch news – Motorsport – Sports

Speaking on ‘Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour Podcast’ in May 2024, Hamlin explained: “There’s a few hesitations I have. “One is that I want to end my career with Joe Gibbs Racing because I want to be loyal to the person that gave me my start. “But yes, there is a part of me that wants […]

Published

17 minutes ago

May 25, 2025

Your Sports Nation

Speaking on ‘Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour Podcast’ in May 2024, Hamlin explained: “There’s a few hesitations I have.

“One is that I want to end my career with Joe Gibbs Racing because I want to be loyal to the person that gave me my start.

“But yes, there is a part of me that wants to drive for 23XI, absolutely. I think, without doubt, I’ll say that I’ll certainly be racing at 23XI in at least a race at some point in my career.”

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NASCAR Cup Series Coca-Cola 600 Preview

The NASCAR Cup Series is racing the longest race of the season, the Coca-Cola 600. By learning about Sunday’s race, prepare for 600 miles of racing action. Justin Allgaier drives during the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 26, 2024(David Jensen/Getty Images) NASCAR Cup Series Coca-Cola 600 Preview NASCAR is having its homecoming, […]

Published

41 minutes ago

May 25, 2025

Your Sports Nation

The NASCAR Cup Series is racing the longest race of the season, the Coca-Cola 600. By learning about Sunday’s race, prepare for 600 miles of racing action.

Justin Allgaier drives during the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 26, 2024(David Jensen/Getty Images)

NASCAR Cup Series Coca-Cola 600 Preview

NASCAR is having its homecoming, with its annual trip to the Charlotte Motor Speedway oval for the longest race of the season, the Coca-Cola 600. The sport will honor the Memorial Day holiday with many displays of honor and respect, as across the country, we honor those who have fallen in service to the United States.

Last year, it was Christopher Bell taking the victory in a rain-shortened Coke 600 in 2024. Can Bell start another winning streak, going back-to-back with the All-Star Race and another Coke 600?

Race Preview:

The longest race of the year, the Coca-Cola 600, is a 600-mile race, 400 laps around the Charlotte Motor Speedway. It features four stages, each 100 laps. At lap 200, the halfway break will feature a moment of silence, paying tribute to those in the US Armed Forces who have fallen in the service to this nation.

There is $13,651,450 up for grabs in the prize purse for this race. The Cup Cars will be racing on the same tire that was used at Kansas two weeks ago. Teams will have 13 sets of tires to use between qualifying and the race.

The Track: Charlotte Motor Speedway

Charlotte Motor Speedway, located in Concord, North Carolina, opened in 1960 as a premier venue for stock car racing. The first race track to have lights and host a night race. Featuring 24 degrees of banking in the turns and 5 degrees on the straights, Charlotte is the quintessential 1.5-mile track in NASCAR. This is a home race for many teams, with shops located a short distance away.

This will be the 127^th race at Charlotte for the NASCAR Cup Series. The first race was won by Joe Lee Johnson driving a ‘60s Chevrolet. Jimmie Johnson holds the record for wins at Charlotte with 8 wins. He also holds the track record with a time of 28.598, set in 2017.

Cup Series Point Standings:

Here are the points standings following the Cup Series race at Kansas:

1. Kyle Larson: 469
2. William Byron: 434
3. Christopher Bell: 384
4. Chase Elliott: 378
5. Ryan Blaney: 362
6. Tyler Reddick: 357
7. Denny Hamlin: 346
8. Alex Bowman: 325
9. Joey Logano: 318
10. Bubba Wallace: 310

READ MORE: Kyle Larson Once Again Showcases His Dominance at Kansas

Drivers to Watch:

Four drivers are joining the field for the Coke 600. Derek Kraus will drive the #44 for NY Racing. Josh Bilicki will drive the #66 for Garage 66. Connor Zilisch will make his second Cup start, first oval start, in the #87 for Trackhouse.

Jimmie Johnson will be making his 700^th start in the Cup Series this Sunday, driving the #84 Toyota for his team, Legacy Motor Club.

This is the second leg of “The Double” for Kyle Larson. He will be flying from the Indianapolis 500 after that race. Last year, weather delayed the start of the 500 and shortened the Coke 600, unfortunately ending Larson’s day at only 500 of the 1100 complete.

Predictions For The Coke 600:

Many fans were disappointed with how the race finished last year, and that Larson did not get a chance to get in the car. This year, he is still the favorite to win, and I think that is correct. Look at the last 1.5-mile track race, Kansas. Larson won the pole, won both stages, the fastest lap award, and the win. I think Larson is a safe pick for the 600, and it looks like the weather will permit it.

Brad Keselowski and Josh Berry have been two fast Fords on 1.5-mile tracks this season. Berry scored his first career win at Vegas earlier in the year, and finished fourth in the second stage at Kansas, and sixth at the checkered flag. Keselowski was running second to Chase Elliott when he had a tire blow up and put him into the wall. I think these guys are contenders for Ford.

Toyota has the most wins in the Next-Gen car in the Coke 600. Denny Hamlin scored the victory in 2022, and Bell in 2024. Both guys have been running great in 2024, and are winners in this race before. I think these two guys will lead the Toyotas in Sunday’s race.

How To Watch the Coke 600 at Charlotte:

Important note about this weekend’s television coverage. Coverage will be on Amazon Prime for the next five races.

Saturday, May 24th:

Practice
- 1:30 PM Eastern
- Coverage is on Amazon Prime
Qualifying
- 2:40 PM Eastern
- Coverage continues on Amazon Prime

Sunday, May 25th:

The Coca-Cola 600
- 6:00 PM Eastern
- Coverage is on Amazon Prime, PRN, and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio

Stay connected with Last Word on Motorsports for all the news from the 2025 Coca-Cola 600

Main Photo: David Jensen, Getty Images

Recording Date: 5/26/2024

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Motorsports

NASCAR Cup Series Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte

Chase Briscoe rocketed to the pole position for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Briscoe, the driver of the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, turned a lap time of 29.532 seconds (182.852 mph) to secure the pole position. Briscoe narrowly defeated Kyle Larson, who will attempt the Indianapolis 500/Coca-Cola 600 […]

Published

42 minutes ago

May 25, 2025

Your Sports Nation

Briscoe narrowly defeated Kyle Larson, who will attempt the Indianapolis 500/Coca-Cola 600 double, for the pole position. William Byron, Chris Buescher, and AJ Allmendinger were the rest of the top-five qualifiers for Sunday’s crown jewel event.

Here is the official starting lineup for the NASCAR Cup Series Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Race 13 of 36.

Pos	Car	Driver	Lap time	Speed
1	19	Chase Briscoe	29.532	182.852
2	5	Kyle Larson	29.552	182.729
3	24	William Byron	29.566	182.642
4	17	Chris Buescher	29.660	182.063
5	16	AJ Allmendinger	29.684	181.916
6	42	John Hunter Nemechek	29.725	181.665
7	54	Ty Gibbs	29.747	181.531
8	4	Noah Gragson	29.809	181.153
9	48	Alex Bowman	29.814	181.123
10	20	Christopher Bell	29.815	181.117
11	47	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	29.847	180.923
12	45	Tyler Reddick	29.850	180.905
13	7	Justin Haley	29.856	180.868
14	2	Austin Cindric	29.871	180.777
15	71	Michael McDowell	29.897	180.620
16	22	Joey Logano	29.916	180.505
17	84	Jimmie Johnson *	29.926	180.445
18	21	Josh Berry	29.970	180.180
19	10	Ty Dillon	29.988	180.072
20	11	Denny Hamlin	30.022	179.868
21	12	Ryan Blaney	30.029	179.826
22	9	Chase Elliott	30.037	179.778
23	38	Zane Smith	30.039	179.766
24	8	Kyle Busch	30.043	179.742
25	99	Daniel Suarez	30.063	179.623
26	3	Austin Dillon	30.084	179.497
27	43	Erik Jones	30.100	179.402
28	60	Ryan Preece	30.114	179.319
29	41	Cole Custer	30.147	179.122
30	88	Shane van Gisbergen #	30.161	179.039
31	35	Riley Herbst #	30.222	178.678
32	23	Bubba Wallace	30.277	178.353
33	87	Connor Zilisch * (i)	30.304	178.194
34	34	Todd Gilliland	30.314	178.136
35	6	Brad Keselowski	30.314	178.136
36	51	Cody Ware	30.683	175.993
37	44	Derek Kraus *	31.427	171.827
38	66	Josh Bilicki * (i)	32.261	167.385
39	77	Carson Hocevar	36.144	149.402
40	1	Ross Chastain	0.000	0.000

# indicates Rookie of the Year contender
* indicates “Open” entry
(i) indicates a driver ineligible to score points

Motorsports

Chase Briscoe wins pole for Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway

CONCORD, N.C. — Chase Briscoe added to his pole collection at NASCAR’s major events Saturday at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Briscoe, who started on the pole for this year’s Daytona 500, won the pole for Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600. Briscoe won the pole with a lap of 182.852 mph. Points leader Kyle Larson, who is attempting to […]

Published

58 minutes ago

May 25, 2025

Your Sports Nation

CONCORD, N.C. — Chase Briscoe added to his pole collection at NASCAR’s major events Saturday at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Briscoe, who started on the pole for this year’s Daytona 500, won the pole for Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600.

Briscoe won the pole with a lap of 182.852 mph.

Points leader Kyle Larson, who is attempting to be the second driver in the last 20 years to compete in the both the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 will start second. Larson qualified at 182.729 mph.

William Byron qualified third at 182.642 mph. Chris Buescher will start fourth after a lap of 182.063 mph. AJ Allmendinger will start fifth after a lap of 181.916 mph.

Christopher Bell, who won last year’s 600 and is coming off his victory in the All-Star Race, qualified 10th at 181.117 mph.

Jimmie Johnson, making his 700th career Cup start, qualified 17th at 180.445 mph. Johnson stated Saturday that this will not be his final Cup start.

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As Kyle Larson aims for ‘the Double,’ other IndyCar and NASCAR drivers ponder motorsports marathon

INDIANAPOLIS — NASCAR star Kyle Larson will be taking another shot at ”the Double,” one of the most grueling feats in all of motorsports, when he tries to complete every lap of the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday. Tony Stewart is the only driver to have successfully pulled it off, and that […]

Published

1 hour ago

May 24, 2025

Your Sports Nation

Tony Stewart is the only driver to have successfully pulled it off, and that was nearly 25 years ago.

But while attempts have been scarce since John Andretti first tried it in 1994, that doesn’t mean there aren’t plenty of ambitious drivers interested. Defending Indy 500 winner Josef Newgarden, Team Penske teammate Scott McLaughlin and reigning IndyCar series champion Alex Palou all expressed some desire to give it a go this week.

”Gosh, we could have a huge laundry list of people that should do it,” said Newgarden, who is aiming for an unprecedented third straight Indy 500 win. ”You could ask the majority of the field (and they) would want to do the double. It’s so much fun.”

Yet it’s also a massive undertaking, which is why Stewart still stands alone, and not just on the driver who has to complete 1,100 miles around Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Charlotte Motor Speedway — tracks some 550 miles apart. It also takes some serious financial support, the backing of teams in both IndyCar and NASCAR, tremendous logistical help, and plenty of luck that the weather cooperates, cars hold up mechanically and the driver is able to avoid any wrecks.

Two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch, whose brother Kurt completed the Indy 500 in 2014 but failed to finish the Coca-Cola 600, is among those who have tried to put together a deal to attempt ”the Double” but haven’t quite pulled it off.

”It’s just very difficult to get that lined up,” Newgarden said. ”Doing what Kyle (Larson) is doing right now, it’s harder than it looks. What I mean by that is just putting the program together. You would have a lot of people doing it if it was simple, I can promise you that. I think Kyle Busch has spoken publicly about trying to get something off the ground. That’s Kyle Busch. It should seem like it’s pretty likely for him to put a program together. It was quite difficult.”

So who else could be in line to try?

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