Good Morning and G'Day mate! It's Australian GP weekend and that only means one thing.... rather than getting up early you'll have to stay up late to watch the F1 action this weekend!

A lot has happened this week in the motorsports world from half-rescinded penalties, former F1 champs getting sued and even a new team trying to join the grid. So let's get caught up and enjoy a weekend packed full of racing with NASCAR, F1 and IndyCar all set to hit the track!

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 Standings

Motorsports Moneyline

Australian GP Driver Odds (provided by BetMGM) 

-275 Max Verstappen

+450 Sergio Perez

+700 Fernando Alonso

+2000 Charles Leclerc

+2200 Lewis Hamilton

COTA Driver Odds (provided by BetMGM) 

+500 William Byron

+600 Kevin Harvick

+600 Kyle Larson

+800 Christopher Bell

+900 Denny Hamlin

Trending Up 📈

Fernando Alonso - The Alonso Hype train is full steam ahead after proving Aston Martin's pace wasn't a fluke showing in the first race. Alonso will be a serious contender this weekend in Australia and going forward.

Martin Truex Jr. - This weekend Truex heads to one of his statistically best track in Richmond. He kicked the year off with a win at the short track in the LA Coliseum and should see similar success on Sunday. 

Trending Down 📉

Charles Leclerc - Despite Fred Vasseur's ever-present optimism, Ferrari has loads of work to do before they can be considered to be in contention. Reliability, poor strategy and a general lack of pace have already plagued Leclerc through the first two races of 2023. 

Aric Almirola - Almirola and the no. 10 crew at Stewart Haas have struggled to find their footing this season. With an average finish of 27.5 through the first six races, Almirola desperately needs to find some speed.

eRacr's AI Generated Fantasy Lineup

Based on current trends and previous race statistics here is the ideal lineup for your NASCAR Fantasy team heading into Atlanta:

1. Denny Hamlin

2. Martin Truex Jr.

3. William Byron

4. Kyle Larson

5. Ryan Blaney

Garage: Kevin Harvick

NASCAR

Points Paid Back for Hendrick Motorsports

The National Motorsports Appeals Panel has reduced some of the penalties that NASCAR issued to all four Hendrick Motorsports Cup teams for unapproved modification of a single-source supplied part. The panel upheld a $100,000 fine and four-race suspensions to each of the four crew chiefs, but rescinded the 100 owner and 10 playoff points assessed to each team and the 100 driver points assessed to drivers Kyle Larson, Alex Bowman and William Byron. The updated standings put all three drivers back into the Top 10 with Alex Bowman as the current points leader.

NASCAR expressed disappointment that the entirety of the penalty was not upheld, stating that it believed the points penalty was an important part of the penalty in this case and moving forward.

Project 91 to Feature a New Face

Trackhouse Project 91, a NASCAR team, will not be running with driver Kimi Raikkonen at its next Cup appearance, but has secured a new driver and sponsor, according to co-owner Justin Marks. The team's focus on road courses and its Project 91 initiative, which intends to field "world-class drivers from other disciplines", means it will feature a new face.

While Marks did not reveal the driver's identity, three-time Supercars champion Shane van Gisbergen has spoken previously about joining the team, making him a logical choice to drive its Chevrolet Camaro in the Cup series.

Decline of the Driver Code

Kevin Harvick recently stated in an interview that he believes that the driver code has changed significantly since he began his career in the mid-1990s. He claims he's seen these driving tactics at the go kart track stating "They’re taught to block, they’re taught to race in the rain, they’re taught to run into you and they’re taught to gouge on the restarts, and that’s just the way it is."

Harvick suggests that there used to be a race etiquette that was passed on by veteran drivers like Earnhardt and Schrader, but that this has changed with the modern era of racing, as evidenced by the recent wreck-fest in the closing stages of the Cup race at Austin that required multiple overtime restarts.

More NASCAR

🛻 Logano joins Thorsport Racing... He'll be hitting the dirt in Bristol in just two weeks

🏆 Joe Graf Jr. wants to prove he can compete for wins in opportunity with JGR... "I feel like as a driver, you always have to bet on yourself."

F1

Formula Equal

Craig Pollock, founder of British American Racing (BAR) and former manager of Jacques Villeneuve, has submitted an expression of interest for a new Formula 1 team named Formula Equal. The team would have a 50-50 split of male and female employees in all roles, and Pollock hopes to have a female driver as part of the line-up. He is willing to state that the majority of financing will come from a Gulf area country, and hopes to create the "first Formula 1 team that is truly outside of Europe." The FIA's window for prospective teams to submit an Expression of Interest remains open.

Brazilian Court Fines Former F1 Champ

Brazilian court fined three-time Formula 1 world champion Nelson Piquet $950,000 for racist and homophobic comments made on a podcast in November 2021. Four groups including Brazil's National LGBT+ Alliance sued Piquet for 10 million Reals, with the judgment in Brasilia's civil court favoring the plaintiffs for half the amount. Lewis Hamilton praised the Brazilian authorities for holding Piquet accountable and for demonstrating that racism and homophobia are not acceptable in society. Hamilton also called for more governments to take similar action against hate speech.

Checo's Ready to Chase a Championship

Red Bull driver Sergio Perez believes that he has the full support of the team in his ambitions to win the Formula 1 title, indicating that the team has moved away from being a one-car operation centered around Max Verstappen. Perez said that he feels more comfortable in the Red Bull RB19 than in last year's car and believes that the team is heading in the right direction with its development. The RB19 appears to suit Perez's driving style much better than the RB18, giving him a strong chance of winning the championship. The Mexican driver edged out Verstappen to win the recent Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

More F1

🤒 Verstappen still dealing with a looming illness... felt like he was "missing a lung" in Saudi Arabian GP

🇦🇺 Piastri poised for success in first home GP... McLaren trying to keep him "focused on racing" this weekend and repeat his Q3 effort

🤝 Silly season is starting soon... Are Leclerc and Ferrari at a crossroads after slow start to 2023?

GLOBAL MOTORSPORT

Take a trip to far away motorsport lands

➕ Cadillac adds second Hypercar entry... WEC Spa 6 Hours will now Ganassi add an entry with Sebastien Bourdais and Reger van der Zande

💥 Are sprint races to blame for Portugal MotoGP chaos?... the new race format isn't the only thing responsible

eNASCAR

Bobby Zalenski claimed the top spot in the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series at Richmond Raceway, breaking his winless streak since his playoff victory at Talladega last September. Zalenski qualified on pole and led for a total of 95 laps, securing the win and ending his anxious wait to qualify for the playoffs. This victory also marked his seventh consecutive year of winning an eNASCAR race, establishing his dominance in the virtual world of stock car racing.

The race was not without its share of drama, as the string of cautions interrupted the flow of the race. Richmond Raceway has established itself as one of the only tracks in eNASCAR history that tends to breed cautions, and this race was no exception. Despite the cautions, Zalenski managed to hold his ground and hold off his competitors to claim the checkered flag. The eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series will now move on to its next event, where it will make history by leaving the United States for the first time with a road course round at Autodromo Nazionale Monza in two weeks time.

Memes

ONBOARD OF THE DAY

Jenson Button Belgian GP 2012 Onboard

Lets go back to the 2012 Belgian Grand Prix for today's onboard video! Here Jenson Button rips around the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps on his way to setting quick time! He went on to win the race over Kamui Kobayashi.

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