Motorsport News

The Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI) has announced that the 2020 Indian motorsport season will not be cancelled amidst the Coronavirus pandemic. The motorsport governing body issued a statement after a recent report quoted FMSCI President J Prithviraj saying that the domestic motorsport season could be called off this year due to the COVID-19 crisis. The report further stated that the next season could begin as early as January 2021. However, FMSCI has now confirmed that it does not share the stance on the matter.

The Mercedes-AMG F1 team has unveiled its new livery for the W11 Formula 1 that now wears an all-black paint scheme for the 2020 season that starts in a week. While the team is famously known as the Silver Arrows, the colour switch is the team's way to take a stand against racism and discrimination and improve the diversity in the sport. The bold step was taken after Black citizen George Floyd's death sparked global protests against discrimination, rekindling the Black Lives Matter movement. Mercedes driver and reigning F1 champion Lewis Hamilton has been vocally in support of the protest and even called out other teams and drivers for keeping mum on the matter. Hamilton is the only black driver and world champion in F1, which is widely regarded as a white-dominated sport.

Mumbai-based karting racer Aashi Hanspal has been selected by the FMSCI to represent India at the FIA on Track - Rising Stars Project. The 13-year-old will be competing against 19 others in the age group between 12-16 years in the shoot out at the Paul Ricard circuit in France. The 20 racers have been shortlisted from 70 entries and will be competing for a chance to become the first-ever female driver to be a part of Ferrari's 2021 Formula 4 season. The FIA on Track - Rising Stars Project is scheduled to take place on October 12-13, 2020.

American TV presenter and race car driver Jessi Combs has been named the fastest female land-speed record holder by Guinness World Records, posthumously. The automotive daredevil died last year while attempting to beat the land speed record on August 27, 2019, in the Alvord Desert, US. Her previous land speed record attempts from earlier that day were submitted to the institution, which concluded that she had reached a speed of 522.783 mph (841.338 kmph), making her the fastest woman on Earth.

Sauber Motorsport, which operates the Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN entry in the Formula One world championship, has relaunched its new junior driver development programme that was established last year. The new Sauber Academy will be supporting four young drivers including German Formula 4 champion Theo Pourchaire, Sauber Karting Team graduate Dexter Patterson, Formula Renault Eurocup racer Petr Ptacek and karting racer Emerson Fittipaldi Jr. The team previously worked with Charouz Racing System to operate its junior team in 2019 but with that partnership concluding last season, the new Sauber Academy has been established and promises to offer a full development pathway from the grassroots to the pinnacle of motorsport.

Mahindra Racing has confirmed that Alex Lynn will be stepping in place of Pascal Wehrlein after the latter announced his departure from the team earlier this month. The British racing driver was currently in the role of a reserve/test driver with Jaguar Racing and will join the Indian squad for the remainder of Formula E Season 6. The current season was recently confirmed to kick-start races once again in August this year and will have six back-to-back races through the month in Berlin at the Tempelhof airfield.

American stock car racing, NASCAR started its recent race with an extraordinary act of solidarity for its only black driver Darrel Wallace Jr., more commonly known as Bubba. Dozens of drivers pushed the car belonging to Wallace to the front of the field as a show of support after a noose was found in the driver's garage over the weekend. The incident has sparked massive uproar as a racist attack amidst the nationwide protests in the wake of George Floyd's death in the US. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is investigating Wallace's case.

Formula E has announced the provisional calendar for 2020-21 that was approved by the FIA World Motor Sport Council last week. While the current season is set to resume in August with back-to-back races in Berlin, Germany, the next season of the electric motorsport series will be held only through 2021. The championship would normally begin in November, culminating in July the next year. The 2020-21 Formula campaign will now see its first race on January 16, with the Santiago e-Prix becoming the opening round of the championship. It also gains the FIA World Championship status for the seventh season.