Roger Diez: F1’s Hamilton tops podium for 1st time since ‘21

It was a record-breaking, losing streak-ending, weather-marred and very busy weekend of racing. Drivers in Formula 1, NASCAR Cup and IndyCar broke losing streaks, and all three series experienced rain during the weekend.

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At the British Grand Prix on the Silverstone course, Formula 1 saw the continuation of Mercedes and McLaren’s improvement and Red Bull’s increasing vulnerability.

George Russell led from pole with the McLarens and teammate Lewis Hamilton snapping at his heels. Rain showers triggered a switch to intermediate rain tires, then a switch back to slicks as the track dried.

Sadly, Russell’s race ended early with a mechanical issue, but Hamilton surged to the lead and held off Max Verstappen to take his ninth British Grand Prix win. It was his first win since Saudia Arabia in December 2021 and extended his career F1 win total to 104. He also became the first F1 driver to win nine races at a single track. Fellow Briton Lando Norris was also on the podium in third with his McLaren.

Formula 1 is dark this week, returning to action in Hungary next weekend.

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The NTT IndyCar series raced at Mid-Ohio, where Friday rain gave way to dry running for qualifying and the race.

The race start was delayed when six-time Mid-Ohio winner Scott Dixon’s car quit on the pace lap and was towed to the pits. A few drivers pitted early on a three-stop strategy which failed miserably. It looked like defending winner Alex Palou had the race in hand, but he had trouble finding first gear on his final pit stop, handing the lead to Pato O’Ward. The two put on a great show with O’Ward fishtailing off the final corner for the win. It was his first actual victory since Iowa in July 2022 (footnote: he was gifted this year’s St. Petersburg win when IndyCar disqualified Josef Newgarden).

Interestingly enough, the series is back in Iowa this weekend with Newgarden and O’Ward the only two drivers in the field who have won there. O’Ward won once in 2022 and Newgarden six times including both of last year’s races and five of the last seven.

Qualifying airs Saturday on Peacock at 12:45 p.m. with both races on NBC. Race 1 is at 5 p.m. Saturday and Race 2 at 9 a.m. Sunday.

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The NASCAR Cup and Xfinity series were on the streets of Chicago for the second time. The Xfinity race was one of the best street races I’ve seen in any series, as Shane Van Gisbergen (a.k.a. SVG) and Kyle Larson put on a terrific show with SVG winning his third road course race in a row.

On Sunday both crashed out early in a rain-soaked wreckfest which was red-flagged for an hour and 43 minutes for weather. With dusk approaching, the race was shortened from 75 laps to 58 and Alex Bowman scored the win, breaking an 80-race losing streak and punching his ticket to the playoffs. He became the 12th different winner, leaving only four playoff berths to be filled with six races to go in the regular season.

Larson retains the regular season points lead by 11 over teammate Chase Elliott.

This weekend all three of NASCAR’s top series are at Pocono Raceway. Denny Hamlin is the king of the tricky triangle with seven wins, beginning with a sweep in 2006. Kyle Busch has four and one-time winners are Elliott, Bowman, Martin Truex Jr., Ryan Blaney, and Chris Buescher.

Saturday’s action includes Xfinity qualifying at 7:30 a.m., Cup qualifying at 9:45 a.m. and the Xfinity race at noon, all on USA. The Great American Getaway 400 is also on USA, airing at 11:30 a.m.