Alonso still injured in hand following Melbourne qualifying crash RaceFans

In short

Alonso with hand injury from Melbourne

Fernando Alonso says he has been driving with an injured hand since crashing during qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix in April.

Alonso crashed on the final sector of the Albert Park circuit on his first flying lap in Q3 when his Alpine suffered a hydraulic failure, denying him all engine braking and seeing him crash into the tire wall. The two-time world champion says he has since suffered hand injuries from the accident.

“Bones, ligaments, tendons – everything is a mess right now,” Alonso said. “I need two or three months. There is no surgery, nothing you can do – just rest. Unfortunately, every two weeks I have to drive. So I try to rest at home, but it will take a few months.

Wolff not happy with ‘gifted’ podiums

Toto Wolff says he and Mercedes will not be satisfied until the team once again earns podiums at pace, rather than being “gifted” podiums.

Mercedes sit third in the constructors’ championship with 134 points – 101 behind leaders Red Bull. Mercedes scored three podiums in seven races: one for Lewis Hamilton in Bahrain and two for George Russell in Australia and Spain. Wolff says he wants Mercedes to start clinching the top three spots on pure merit as soon as possible.

“In the past we had a few podiums before, but that’s only when something goes wrong up front,” Wolff said.

“At the moment, I don’t want anything talented for us. Our team is only third on the road and that’s why the fifth and sixth positions are where we belong, but that’s not where we want to be. If you inherit a podium, that’s fine – it’s good for long-term points – but I don’t want any of that. I want to be part of winning up front and those important lessons that we are learning here that will be the basis of our long term performance.

Aron beats Beganovic in the first FREC Paul Ricard race

Junior Mercedes driver Paul Aron won the first of two races in the Formula Regional European Championship (FREC) this weekend at Paul Ricard.

The Prema driver beat teammate and Ferrari academy driver Dino Beganovic to move up from third place on the grid and win his second race of the season by a margin of victory of just under a second. MP Motorsport’s Michael Belov took the final podium spot in third.

Beganovic increased his championship points lead to 65 points over Hadrien David in the standings. The second race takes place this afternoon.

Connections

Interesting motorsport links:

Alex Palou on rumored interest in Arrow McLaren SP: ‘I’m happy where I am’ (Indy Star)

“I’m happy where I am, and just because someone is interested doesn’t mean I’m actively looking for a place for the future.”

I see a long-term future for Formula E in India: Co-founder Alberto Longo (Indian Economic Times)

“India is a huge market for us, a tier 1 market for us. You don’t know what the future holds, but the intention is to be there for a long time. It’s not going to be a 20-year deal. years to start. It would be a mid-term deal and hopefully we extend it for another four or five years.”

Automobilista 2 V1.3.7.1 RELEASED (Reiza Studios via Steam)

“F-USA, F-V12, F-V10 G1, F-V10 G2, F-Reiza, Group C, GT5 & G40 Cup now join the list of cars that have received extensive physics updates, with another update Substantial update also included for Super V8.The update also includes extensive AI calibration for all classes that have already received the latest physics updates.

Why ‘smart and capable’ Sainz can still be a factor in 2022 title fight (source)

“I just need to be a bit quicker. I need one or two tenths, in terms of qualifying and race pace. If I find those one or two tenths that I found in the second half of last year with last year’s car, the sooner I find them, the sooner the victory will come. I worked hard to find them.

Formula E Round 9: Jakarta (Formula E via YouTube)

Formula Regional Europe round 7: Paul Ricard (Formula Regional Europe via YouTube)

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On this day in motorsport

• On this day in 1977, Gunnar Nilsson claimed his only F1 victory at the Belgian Grand Prix at Zolder, which was briefly led by David Purely into the obscure LEC entry.