This weekend, Formula 1 witnessed spectacular competition as Max Verstappen won the Canadian Grand Prix which was riddled with poor weather and tricky calls. Meanwhile, it was a memorable week for the Indian driver siblings, Arjun and Kush Maini.
F1: Verstappen back to winning ways at rain-hit Montreal race
The Canadian leg of F1 was nothing short of eventful as unpredictable weather conditions persisted throughout the weekend. The race, which had wet and dry stints, saw Red Bull’s Max Verstappen triumph after starting from second - his third consecutive win in Montreal.
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The top five drivers had a lengthy battle for the win despite the Safety Cars, drastic change in track conditions and strategy gambles. But the reigning champion returned to winning ways, finishing alongside McLaren’s Lando Norris and pole-sitter George Russell, who completed the top three.
It was a margin of nothing that separated Russell and Verstappen as both drivers set the same lap time down to the thousandth in Saturday’s qualifying. However, the Mercedes driver was on the timesheet first which helped him get his second career pole since Brazil 2022.
Arjun and Kush Maini — a week to remember for the driver siblings
It was a memorable week for the Indian driver siblings, Arjun and Kush Maini. While Arjun, the elder of the two, finished third at Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM), a German Touring Car Masters, in the Netherlands, Kush completed his first F1 test with Alpine.
Arjun, the former F2 driver, currently competes with Mercedes-AMG in the DTM. Round 3 took place at the Circuit Zandvoort and in the two rounds of racing, the 26-year-old found himself on the podium for the first time this season.
Kush Maini during his F1 test with Alpine. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
He came fifth in the second round to grab a decent number of points (26). He is now placed fifth in the points table with 62 points after six races.
Meanwhile, his 23-year-old brother accomplished a feat he dreamt of since he started racing. Kush tested a 2022 Alpine F1 car at the Red Bull Ring in Austria.
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This was the second time the F2 driver who is a part of the Alpine Young Driver Academy tested with Alpine. He previously drove the A521 at Bahrain International Circuit in 2023.
IndyCar: Power’s overcut pays off as Team Penske takes the honours
Will Power, a two-time IndyCar Series champion, made the risky move to lead his teammates to the finish line at the Grand Prix of Road America in Wisconsin. The 43-year-old Penske driver was in third place before the final pitstop but chose to overcut (staying out longer and pit later).
After finishing by a comfortable margin of more than three seconds at the 4.014-mile natural terrain road course, Power equalled former racer Michael Andretti’s fourth place record for most race wins (42).
This was also his first win since Detroit in June 2022. Josef Newgarden, Indianapolis winner, was second, ahead of Scott McLaughlin, who was the race leader for quite a few laps. By finishing 1-2-3, Team Penske managed to accomplish the rare feat for the tenth time.
NASCAR: Hometown hero Larson takes the crown in crash-filled California race
The Sonoma Raceway, one of the few road courses in NASCAR, saw hometown hero Kyle Larson claim his second win in California. This was the 31-year-old’s third trophy of the season, giving him the championship lead by 14 points over his teammate Chase Elliott.
The newly repaved 1.99-mile course had seven caution flags during the 110-lap race. Larson had a lot to make up for in the final laps - the Hendrick Motorsport driver came out eighth with 20 laps remaining, after going in late for the final pit stop.
The varying strategies, however, played a huge role in deciding the final track positions as Larason made the critical race-winning pass with eight laps to go. A battle with Martin Truex Jr. for first place during the closing stages saw Truex stay ahead until his car ran out of gas, finishing in a heartbreaking 27th place.
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