Lewis Hamilton believes his remarkable recovery to finish second at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix on Sunday will prove "very valuable" this season.
In the second race of the year, Hamilton seemed set for a lowly finish at best.
Having lost first place to Max Verstappen at Turn One on the first lap of an epic affair, the defending champion, chasing his rival, ran off into a gravel trap midway through the grand prix.
Hamilton was briefly stuck against the wall, struggling to reverse his car back onto the track, before the W12 limped towards the pit under a shower of sparks.
But a red flag prompted by an incident involving team-mate Valtteri Bottas then brought the race to a standstill.
Hamilton had been ninth and a lap down, yet the restart allowed him to weave through the field and claim P2, behind Verstappen but still ahead of the Red Bull man in the drivers' championship.
"I think, without doubt, getting back to second and getting these points will be very valuable through the season," said the Briton.
"If I'd lost 25 points, that would have been hard to recover based on the fact that [for] Red Bull it's the first time that they've had a championship-winning car.
"Their car is incredibly fast. They were faster than us this weekend, definitely in qualifying trim but it looks like a little bit also in race trim.
"I don't know if they made a couple of mistakes – I think they did, Max did in qualifying for example otherwise he would have been on pole.
"But we've got a real close battle. We love the fact that it's a close battle and it's great to see McLaren back up there after such a long time, it's great to see Ferrari looking strong.
"So, there's going to be a lot of exciting races up ahead and challenging for all of us in so many different ways."
Although Hamilton's resurgence prevented Verstappen from taking an early lead in the standings, the Dutchman was delighted to land a blow in the title tussle, having trailed the Mercedes man in the season opener.
But he was also not getting carried away after a first win of the year.
"It's a very long season. We just have to keep on working very hard," Verstappen said. "I'm very happy with the result today, of course, but that's today.
"I'm of course going to be happy about today, but tomorrow, we start again. We have to keep on improving because there's still a lot of work to be able to keep doing this the whole season.
"It's great to be fighting against Lewis, Mercedes who, I think, as a team, have been so dominant and they're very difficult to beat.
"To be able to sit here now, now two races in a row, we were very, very competitive – that's very promising but no guarantees."
With his nose pressed against the wall and rivals crashing elsewhere on the track in torrid Imola rain, Hamilton could easily have retired following his crash.
He was not to know then that the collision between Bottas and George Russell would provide a reprieve, but he was delighted to be able to continue and learn "an amazing lesson" regardless.
"I remember just sitting there, looking at the barrier, and I refused to think that the race was over," Hamilton said. "I refused to believe that the race was done.
"I could have obviously just turned the car off and got out but I'm grateful that I didn't.
"I'm grateful that I did do a reverse and then, after that, just kind of getting out the car and trying to switch the anger and turn it into positive energy so that I could get back in and race forwards.
"It's an amazing lesson to be sent and experience."
And Hamilton, so often starting from the front of the grid, actually relished the chance to blaze past the opposition from ninth place.
"I loved it," he added. "That's how my career actually started as a kid, coming through.
"We had a really dodgy, old go-kart, so I was always starting at the back. It just took me back to my roots."
McConnell confident heading into rounds three and four of Nitrocross Championship in Utah
Jamaican racing sensation Fraser McConnell is gearing up for an intense weekend of action as he heads into Rounds three and four of the Nitrocross championship on October 5 & 6 in Utah.
Following a stellar performance at the season’s opening rounds in Richmond, Virginia, McConnell holds second place in the overall standings, just 11 points behind leader Kevin Eriksson.
McConnell’s dominant showing at Richmond Raceway on September 7 & 8 saw him secure a third-place finish in Round 1, followed by a thrilling battle for first in Round 2.
After clinching the top qualifier spot and winning his semi-final, McConnell started the Round 2 final in pole position. Despite taking an early lead, a dramatic half-spin pushed him off his racing line, allowing Eriksson to take the win. McConnell finished second ahead of Viktor Vranckx.
Looking ahead to the Utah rounds, McConnell remains optimistic about his chances.
“I’m really looking forward to this weekend, going back to Utah, the birthplace of Nitrocross,” he shared.
“It all started there with the Nitro World Games in 2018 and 2019, so it's a very special place for everyone involved.”
McConnell also highlighted the challenge of the upcoming track. “Salt Lake is one of the craziest tracks on the calendar, with the biggest gap jump and a lot of demanding corners. It requires high speed from us drivers. I'll just go out there and hit my marks as usual, trying to extract as much as I can from the car while proudly repping Jamaica.”
With back-to-back podium finishes in Rounds 1 and 2, McConnell is confident about continuing his strong run.
“We’re second in the championship with 107 points, and I’m looking forward to continuing that streak this weekend,” he said.
McConnell currently leads defending champion Robin Larsson by four points and is poised to close the gap further in his pursuit of overtaking Eriksson.
McConnell's season is sponsored by JustBet, Proven, Tru Shake, Rainforest, and the Jamaica Tourist Board.
Reggae Racers Gore, Summerbell secure creditable finishes in race five of ADAC GT4 Germany series
Jamaica’s team of Tommi Gore and Senna Summerbell produced a creditable showing in the fifth race of the ADAC GT4 Germany series as they secured two top-15 finishes at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, Styria, at the weekend.
The Jamaican duo, dubbed the Reggae Racers, displayed their prowess as they drove their Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Club Sport to a 14th place finish after qualifying in ninth position in race one.
They were up with the pace from a strong start but later faded down the track in a fiercely competitive field.
However, the Avia W&S Motorsport representatives improved significantly in the second race, where they went nine places better to place fifth after placing fourth in qualifying.
The team of Jan Marschalkowski and Philipp Gogollok from Eastside Motorsport, finished tops to register their first win of the series. They won ahead of Finn Zulauf and Josef Knopp, also representing Avia W&S Motorsport.
With much positive to take from their performances, Gore and Summerbell will target even more improvements in the final race of the season scheduled for October 18-20 in Hockenheim, Germany.
“I am so happy to be a part of this team and ready to end the year strong. We had a big jump in results from the start of the season with this change, so we can only expect things to get better from here,” Gore said.
The Avia W&S Motorsports team, which currently occupies second position in the team ranking on 179 points, are the defending champions in the ADAC GT4 Series. They are 11 points behind leaders Hofor Racing.
A no-brainer: Bajan sensation Zane Maloney ditches Formula 2 ambitions to take up Formula E opportunity
With opportunities at certain levels of motorsport only coming far and few in between, Zane Maloney could not pass up the chance to participate in Formula E.
As such, the Barbados racing sensation made the decision to cut short his Formula 2 campaign after securing a seat to represent team Lola Yamaha ABT in the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship.
The event, is an open-wheel single-seater motorsport championship for electric cars. The racing series is the highest class of competition for electrically powered single-seater racing cars.
Though he currently occupies third position in the F2 drivers’ championship with two rounds remaining, Maloney, who recently inked a deal with Lola, is well aware of the significance of the Formula E opportunity presented to him and, as such, is eager to make the most of it at the expense of his F2 ambitions.
“In one way, I wanted to win Formula 2 this year. I wanted to give myself the best chance to do that, but I live my life by the day and I understand the opportunity that I have for next year, and when I think about that opportunity, everything in the present moment kind of gets forgotten about to some extent,” the 20-year-old said.
“So, of course, I know that coming to Formula E is a big opportunity for me and something amazing to show my skills in a world championship. I don’t really focus too much on the negative side of certain things. I try to focus on the positives, and I only see a positive thing coming into next year,” he added.
Maloney, who won the opening two races of the Formula 2 season, believes Formula E has gained traction as a top-notch championship, which made his decision a no-brainer.
“In F1, IndyCar, Formula E, and WEC as well, there’s not many seats that become available every year. There are a lot more drivers than there are seats, which makes it very difficult, and I think Formula E has always been a series that has amazing drivers, amazing manufacturers, and amazing teams. And of course, the media sees different motorsport genres a bit differently,” Maloney explained.
“But within the group of motorsports, Formula E is very well recognized, and every driver that goes into it knows how difficult it is to perform, so from that side of things, I don’t really focus too much on anything other than driving a race car as fast as I can with the opportunity that I’m given,” he noted.
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