On the one hand, we got exactly the winner we expected in Barcelona but, on the other, the track changes at the end of the lap made for more action and the revised Mercedes W14 suddenly came alive last Sunday.
As Alex Kalinauckas explains in his weekly column and our in-depth report, there were several reasons why Mercedes jumped Aston Martin and Ferrari in Spain. Some of them were situation-specific, but there is also now a real hope that the multiple championship-winning team is finally on the right path.
The question now is how long it will take to get to the level of Red Bull, which has been on this road since the ground effect regulations were introduced.
On a busy motorsport weekend, Tom Howard reports on Thierry Neuville getting his World Rally Championship challenge back on course with a victory for Hyundai on a bruising Rally Italy Sardinia, while Rachit Thukral explains how Porsche’s Pascal Wehrlein bounced back from recent troubles to take Formula E success in Indonesia.
On the UK front, there were some incredible beasts out last weekend and we report on events at Oulton Park, Snetterton, Silverstone, Brands Hatch, Anglesey and Shelsley Walsh, as well as GB3’s trip to Spa.
But the only performance really in Red Bull’s ballpark came in the British Touring Car Championship at Thruxton! Ash Sutton and his Motorbase Ford Focus demonstrated a superiority rarely seen in modern tin-tops. Marcus Simmons saw the excellence unfold, as well as unusual circuit changes thanks to the ongoing track-limits saga…
Our final Le Mans 100 article looks at Ferrari’s presence at the 24 Hours since its last factory effort in the top class in 1973. Gary Watkins reveals how close privateers came to making it 10 wins for the famous Italian marque.
This weekend is all about the Le Mans 24 Hours (unless you’re a bike fan!). Controversial tweaks have thrown the form book into doubt, so keep your eyes on Autosport.com for all the latest news and look out for our bumper report special in next week’s issue (15 June).
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