Motorsport Roundup: F1 And F2 Season Finales, And Round 2 Of The MRF MMSC INRC

This past week saw the 2021 Formula One and Formula 2 seasons come to a close at the Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi. We also had racing action back home with the second round of the  MRF MMSC INRC. Here’s all that transpired over the last seven days:

Formula One

The 2021 Formula One season couldn’t have ended in more dramatic fashion than at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. For most of the race, it looked like seven-time world champion Lewis Hamiton was set to win and take a record eighth driver’s crown for Mercedes. But a safety car being called out with five laps to go completely flipped the script and set the tone for a final lap shootout between title rival Max Verstappen and Hamilton for the title. The Red Bull Racing driver wasted no time on his fresher tyres and passed Hamilton to take a sensational maiden drivers title. Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz ended the season with a third place finish.

In the constructors standings, Mercedes clinched its eighth consecutive title with Red Bull Racing Honda finishing in second place, and Ferrari taking third overall.

Formula 2

It was a bit of an up and down season finale for Carlin’s Jehan Daruvala at Abu Dhabi. While the Indian driver took a hard fought win in the first sprint race, the second sprint race yielded a seventh place finish. In the feature race, Daruvala finished ninth on the road, but was hit with a five-second time penalty for speeding in the pitlane, which dropped him down to 11th at the end. In the end, Jehan Daruvala ended the season seventh overall in the drivers standings.

MRF MMSC INRC 

The second round of the 2021 MRF MMSC FMSCI Indian National Car Racing Championship had wet weather spicing things up at the MMRT in Chennai. In the ITC class, taking top honors in the season's opening round was Arjun Balu (Race Concepts), with Chirag Ghorpade winning the MRF 1600 class. In the Volkswagen Polo Championship, it was Sai Sanjay and Ritesh coming out on top.