Jamaica's Formula Woman driver Sara Misir (left) share a photo opportunity with Naomi Jade Garcia of Trinidad and Tobago at the Palisadoes Runway recently.
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Jamaican Formula Woman driver Sara Misir locked eyes with a competitor that looked too familiar. Among the thirteen karters, who participated in the third Caribbean Junior Karting Academy Trophy (CJKAT) was a lone female, Trinidad and Tobago's Naomi Jade Garcia.
After three days of competition between July 21 and 23, at the Palisadoes International Raceway, the 14-year-old finished ahead of the pack. Garcia emerged as the new Caribbean Junior Karting Champion, with Jamaica's Zander Williams and Matthew Warmington, finishing second and third, respectively.
When asked how pleased she was to see Garcia atop the podium, Misir, the Caribbean's only Formula Woman driver, Misir, welcomed the fearless personality of a young female in what is deemed, a male-dominated sport.
"She has been incredible all weekend. So focused, fearless and full of personality on the track. It was great seeing her outclass the competition and hoisting the trophy,” Misir said.
Misir also had a one-on-one with Garcia after the victory, as she imparted knowledge to the promising female prospect.
"I urged her to stay focused as we need more women and girls in motorsports. The level of physicality required to get to the very top of the sport is a pretty steep curve. Still, with her level of will and determination, and of course, given more opportunities to compete at a high level, anything is possible,” she reasoned.
CJKAT is the Caribbean's version of the CIK-FIA Karting Academy Trophy, the first rung on the ladder of the FIA's single-seater path to Formula One. CJKAT allows more opportunities for Caribbean hopefuls to race. The regional series caters for a more comprehensive age range than in Europe, where the limits are 12 to 14 years.
Misir, 25, is the Caribbean's only competitive female race car driver. She competed as part of the Formula Woman Team for McLaren Customer Racing in the British GT Cup Championship in races at Snetterton, Oulton Park and Silverstone.
Verstappen follows up sprint race win by taking pole at Miami Grand Prix
Max Verstappen continued to be critical of his own performance despite taking pole position for the Miami Grand Prix.
Verstappen, who won the sprint earlier on Saturday and had on Friday claimed pole in qualifying for that event, recorded a best time of 1:27.241 round the track in the final qualification session for Sunday's race.
The reigning Formula One world champion will share the front row with Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, who like in the sprint, came second.
Leclerc's team-mate Carlos Sainz pipped Red Bull's Sergio Perez to third, while Lando Norris rounded out the top five.
Verstappen, though, was not particularly thrilled with his drive, continuing the trend after both qualifying on Friday and the sprint race.
He said: "We definitely improved the car a bit but I don’t know what it is but every single year we come here I find it extremely difficult to be very consistent with the car and tyre feeling over one lap. It’s super hard to make sure that Sector One feels good and Sector Three at the end of the lap to make that happen together is incredibly tough.
"Again today it was really about finding that balance, I think we did ok, it wasn't the most enjoyable lap out of my career especially with how slippery it is and you aren't very confident on the lap but we are on pole."
Leclerc said: "I felt so much on the limit. It was very close until Q3, where we started to push for the last one or two tenths. We started to lose the tyres in sector two and three, overheating them quite a bit. That's where we lost a little bit of time.
"However, the race is long and this morning we showed a good pace, so I hope tomorrow we can put Max under a bit more pressure."
Lewis Hamilton recovered from a 20-second penalty in the sprint race to qualify in seventh, one place behind Mercedes team-mate George Russell.
Verstappen clinches sprint victory at Miami Grand Prix, Hamilton hit with penalty
Formula One world champion Max Verstappen claimed victory in the sprint race ahead of the Miami Grand Prix.
Verstappen clinched pole for the sprint in Friday's qualifying session, and capitalised on that effort to finish ahead of Ferrari's Charles Leclerc on Saturday.
The Dutchman had to see off an early push from Leclerc, but ultimately had too much.
Sergio Perez, Verstappen's Red Bull team-mate, recovered from an early mistake to finish third.
Daniel Ricciardo took fourth, having fended off the challenge of both Carlos Sainz and Oscar Piastri.
It was a bad drive for Lewis Hamilton, who was penalised for speeding in the pit lane, dropping him from eighth down to 16th.
Red Bull designer Newey 'flattered' by Hamilton interest in Ferrari link-up
Adrian Newey acknowledged Lewis Hamilton's interest in working with him at Ferrari came as a flattering compliment for the outgoing Red Bull designer.
Hamilton will complete his switch to Ferrari next season as the Italian team managed to convince the seven-time world champion to leave Mercedes.
Newey will also be on the move early next year and is free to join a rival team ahead of the 2026 season.
Hamilton said working with Newey would be a "privilege", with one of the best designers in Formula One history at the top of his list of people to work with.
Those comments did not go unnoticed by Newey, who spoke to Sky Sports about a potential link-up with Hamilton ahead of the Miami Grand Prix on Sunday.
"F1 is all-consuming. I've been at it for a long time now," Newey said of his decision to leave Red Bull after joining the team in 2006.
"2021 was a really busy year because of the tight battle with Mercedes, through the championship and at the same time, putting all the research into the RB18 [the 2022 car].
"There comes a point where I just felt, as Forrest Gump said, 'I'm feeling a little bit tired'.
"It's very kind of Lewis to say that. I'm very flattered. At the moment, it's just take a bit of a break and see what happens next."
Newey's decision to part ways with Red Bull was announced on Wednesday, though the acclaimed designer says it has been on his mind for a while.
"A little while now. I guess over the winter a little bit," Newey said when asked about his intentions to depart.
"Then as events have unfolded this year, I thought, I'm in very lucky position where I don't need to work to live. I work because I enjoy it.
"I just felt now is a good time to step back a bit, take a break and take stock of life.
"Then maybe at some point I will stand in the shower and say 'right, this is going to be the next adventure'.
"But right now, there is no plan."
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