RaceFans Round-up: Mercedes “didn’t listen”

In brief

Mercedes “didn’t listen” to

Hamilton suggested Mercedes did not take on his advice about changes to the team’s car for this year after their tricky 2022 campaign.

“Last year, there were things I told them. I said the issues that are with the car,” Hamilton told the BBC. “It’s about owning up and saying ‘yeah, you know what? We didn’t listen to you, it’s not where it needs to be and we’ve got to work’.”

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has admitted that a change in design philosophy would be required for its 2023 car to cut its deficit to the front after starting the season in Bahrain finishing over 50 seconds behind the winner with both of its cars.

Raikkonen returns to NASCAR

2007 F1 world champion Kimi Raikkonen will make his second start at NASCAR’s top level in the race at United States Grand Prix venue Circuit of the Americas on 26th March.

Raikkonen will drive for Trackhouse Racing, the same he made his NASCAR Cup debut with last year at Watkins Glen. It has a scheme called ‘Project 91’ where it signs drivers from outside of drivers to race its cars.

In 2011 Raikkonen made two starts in the two lower tiers of NASCAR, finishing 27th on his debut in the second-tier Xfinity Series and 15th in the third-tier Truck Series race he contested. He failed to finish his Cup race in 2022.

IndyCar team penalised following Daytona 24H win

IndyCar team Meyer Shank Racing has been caught violating the rules in North America’s IMSA sportscar championship after they won the season-opening Daytona 24 Hours race. The tam’s IndyCar pairing Helio Castoneves and Simon Pagenaud won the race alongside team mates Tom Blomqvist and Colin Braun.

IMSA put out a statement yesterday saying: “After the completion of post-race technical inspection and both provisional and official results were released for the Rolex 24 At Daytona, IMSA became aware of the potential manipulation of tyre pressure data from the number 60 car to IMSA as the monitoring point for the minimum tyre pressure regulation. Following a thorough investigation of all cars in the class, IMSA officials today announced that the number 60 Meyer Shank Racing GTP team has been penalised for a violation of the following 2023 IMSA Sporting Regulation and SSR.”

The violation of the series operational…