Motorsport Roundup: Hamilton And Bagnaia Win F1 And MotoGP, Vergne Retains Formula E Techeetah Drive And More

Like was the case the week before, there was enough action to satiate your racing fix. It included the Formula One Sao Paulo Grand Prix in Brazil, the 2021 MotoGP season finale at Valencia, and the second and third rounds of the Indian karting season at Bangalore. There was also an important future driver market announcement at the DS Techeetah Formula E team for the 2022 season. 

Here's all the lowdown over the last seven days:

Formula One 

Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton had a rollercoaster of a weekend, recovering from multiple penalties to take a thrilling win from 10th on the grid at the 2021 Sao Paulo Grand Prix. Title rival Max Verstappen finished second for Red Bull Racing Honda, with Hamilton’s teammate Valtteri Bottas in third position. In the title race, Verstappen’s lead over Hamilton has shrunk to 14 points in the drivers' standings, with Mercedes now 11 points ahead of Red Bull Racing Honda in the constructor standings, with three rounds to go.

MotoGP

The 2021 MotoGP season finale couldn’t have ended on a better note for Ducati's Pecco Bagnaia, as the Italian staved off a close challenge from Pramac Ducati’s Jorge Martin to take victory at Valencia.  Bagnaia’s teammate Jack Miller made it an all-Ducati podium in third place.  

The end of the 2021 MotoGP season also saw nine-time world champion Valentino Rossi call time on his MotoGP career with a tenth-place finish. The MotoGP legend bows out with an illustrious career spanning 26 seasons, 432 grands prix, and 115 victories. That being said, the Rossi legacy will continue to live on in MotoGP, as his team (Sky Racing Team VR46) will be joining the MotoGP grid in 2022. 

Indian motorsport 

The 2021 Meco FMSCI National Karting Championship Rotax season returned to racing action with Rounds 2 and 3 taking place at the Meco Kartopia circuit in Bangalore. With wet weather spicing things up, it was Anuj A (MSPORT) in the  Micromax class, Ruhaan Alva in the Juniormax class, and Kyle Kumaran (Peregrine Racing) taking top honors in Round 2. The third round saw  Aditya Suresh Kamat (Birel Art India), Rohaan Madesh (Peregrine Racing)  and  Kyle Kumaran (Peregrine Racing) take victory in the Micromax, Juniormax, and Seniormax classes.

Formula E

As we get closer to the 2022 season, more pieces of the driver market puzzle continue to fall into place. This time, two-time world champion Jean Eric Vergne has confirmed that he’ll be retained at DS Techeetah for the 2022 Formula E season alongside Antonio Felix Da Costa. 

Next week will see Formula One return to racing action with the Qatar Grand Prix at Losail to end the triple-header races.