Good morning! It's finally the month of May which means the greatest day in Motorsports looms just around the corner... But before we can get to that, let's cover all the chaos from the weekend!

What year was the first Indy 500?

*Answer at the bottom

F1

Perez Makes Statement in Baku

Red Bull Racing took a 1-2 finish at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix with Sergio Perez leading the way and Max Verstappen finishing in second. Charles Leclerc finished 19 seconds behind in third. The race saw a clean start, with Leclerc maintaining the lead from pole position. Verstappen passed Leclerc with the help of DRS, dropping him into the path of Perez who then passed him for second. The safety car was brought out on lap 20, and most drivers pitted to switch to hard tires. The race ended without any further position changes, except for Russell who pitted on the final lap to take on a set of softs and set the fastest lap time.

Ocon Narrowly Avoids an 'Oh No' Moment

The FIA has said it will reassess its parc ferme procedures after Esteban Ocon was held up by people blocking his entry into the pit lane on the final lap of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. The Frenchman had started from the pit lane and run the first 50 laps on a set of hard tires, hoping for a late safety car or red flag. He was called into the pits on the final lap, but photographers and other personnel were in the pit lane preparing for the podium ceremony. Ocon was able to take evasive action to avoid a collision.

Toto's Take one the 2023 Cars

In a post race interview, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has said that Formula 1 needs to concentrate on making the racing more exciting instead of constantly making changes to the format. Following a lacklustre Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Wolff called for F1 and teams to examine why the current rules weren't working. The lack of action at the grand prix highlights that the current generation of cars isn't delivering the kind of spectacle hoped for when new rules were introduced in 2022. Despite drivers suggesting that the 2023 cars are harder to follow than last year's, Wolff does not believe F1 needs to embark on an all-new rule set but to keep tweaking the existing set in order to avoid outcomes like Baku.

More F1

🤝 Formula 1 and Azerbaijan Grand Prix announce new contract extension... The new deal will keep Baku on the calendar until 2026

🎶 Charles Leclerc debuts new single (yes, you read that right)... The new classical song instantly made it into the Top-10 of the charts

🤬 Verstappen calls George Russell a 'd***head'...  Russell and Verstappen have words after Baku Sprint Race run-in

NASCAR

Truex's Take Dover Sweep

Martin Truex Jr. ended a 54-race winless streak by dominating the final stage of the NASCAR Cup Series race at Dover Motor Speedway, leading for 68 of the final 69 laps. Ross Chastain finished second, Ryan Blaney third, William Byron fourth and Denny Hamlin fifth. Truex's younger brother, Ryan, won Saturday's Xfinity Series race at Dover, giving the Truex family two NASCAR wins in three days. The Cup race was postponed from Sunday to Monday due to bad weather. The win was Truex's fourth at Dover, and his 32nd win in the Cup Series.

Ryan Truex Jr. Rallies for First Xfinity Win

Ryan Truex won his first NASCAR national series race on Saturday in a dominating performance at Dover Motor Speedway. Truex, who has come close to victory in both the Xfinity and Truck series during his career, cycled through a late-race round of green-flag pit stops holding the lead despite a hiccup on his stop and cruised to a 4.8-second win over Josh Berry. Truex has been running a partial schedule this season with Joe Gibbs Racing, and this victory was his second top-five finish in his seven starts.

Ross gets Rowdy Again

Ross Chastain finished second to Martin Truex Jr. in a NASCAR Cup Series race at Dover Motor Speedway but faced criticism for causing an on-track incident earlier in the race that ruined the races of Brennan Poole and Kyle Larson. Chastain collided with Poole, causing him to crash into Larson's car. Poole said that Chastain "probably needs to get his butt whooped." Chastain apologized after the race and said he would visit Rick Ware Racing to apologize further. Despite the near-win, Chastain has had to deal with the fallout from incidents with other drivers over the past two seasons.

IndyCar

McLaughlin's Master Strategy

Scott McLaughlin won the fourth round of the NTT IndyCar Series at the Children's of Alabama IndyCar GP over the weekend. The race was a strategy battle between two-stop and three-stop plans. Polesitter Romain Grosjean led most of the race, but he ultimately succumbed to McLaughlin's three-stop plan. Will Power secured third, his first podium of the season, while Josef Newgarden finished down in 15th. Ganassi’s championship leader Marcus Ericsson retained his lead in the Drivers’ standings by just three points over Pato O’Ward.

More IndyCar

📅 IndyCar announces deal extension... Barber Motorsports Park will remain on the IndyCar Calendar through 2027

GLOBAL MOTORSPORT

Take a trip to far away motorsport lands

🤝 Croatia set to return to WRC in 2024 and beyond... Croatia locks down a multi-year extension with WRC

🛞 Cold tires, rising popularity and Toyota's dominance... All of the takeaways from the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps

👥 Supercars claim parity between cars despite one big discrepancy... Series is trying to work out an ongoing 'engine anomaly' between the teams

🇭🇷 Meeke wins in WRC's return in Croatia... The perfect way to honor the late Craig Breen as Meeke takes his car to victory lane

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ONBOARD OF THE DAY

2021 Indianapolis 500 Lap 1 Onboards

It's finally the month of May! Which means the Indy 500 (and the greatest day in motorsports) is just around the corner. Ride along with these drivers as they navigate through the infamous three wide start at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

TELL ALL YOUR FRIENDS

*Answer

The first Indy 500 was held in 1911 won by Ray Harroun.

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