Auto Racing – Winnipeg Free Press

Team RB driver Yuki Tsunoda of Japan at the Australian Formula One Grand Prix at Albert Park, in Melbourne, Australia, Saturday, March 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake)

Formula 1: How to watch the Japanese Grand Prix on TV and what to know

The Associated Press 4 minute read 12:05 AM CDT

SUZUKA, Japan (AP) — Here's a guide that tells you what you need to know about the Japanese Grand Prix. It's the third round of the 2025 Formula 1 season.

How to watch the Japanese Grand Prix on TV

— In the U.S., ESPN.

— Other countries are listed here.

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Red Bull chose Lawson over Tsunoda, then gave the youngster just 2 weeks before bouncing him

Jenna Fryer, The Associated Press 6 minute read Preview

Red Bull chose Lawson over Tsunoda, then gave the youngster just 2 weeks before bouncing him

Jenna Fryer, The Associated Press 6 minute read Monday, Mar. 31, 2025

CONCORD, N.C. (AP) — Liam Lawson pulled a nearly $100,000 Raptor pickup truck into the parking lot of the Ford Performance Center running a little bit late during his packed schedule of appearances as Red Bull's newest Formula 1 driver.

“You know Ford ships that truck all over the country so that Liam has it to drive every time he's in the U.S.?” said NASCAR driver Noah Gragson, his host for this portion of the January launch of Ford's 2025 season.

Lawson's schedule was thrown off because he didn't have his laptop — he'd either left it in Europe or it had broken, one or the other — so he'd purchased one to pick up in North Carolina. What the 23-year-old New Zealander didn't realize is he'd chosen a Best Buy store nearly an hour away from his events.

The large contingent of Red Bull Racing staffers on site got it all handled, but perhaps it was a small sign that Lawson wasn't ready to make the switch from the junior team to teammates with four-time F1 champion Max Verstappen. Red Bull had bought Sergio Perez out of his contract when his performance cost the team last year's lucrative constructors' title, and Lawson won the second seat over Yuki Tsunoda and other proven veterans.

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Monday, Mar. 31, 2025

FILE - Red Bull driver Liam Lawson of New Zealand during the drivers portrait photo session ahead of the Australian Formula One Grand Prix at Albert Park, in Melbourne, Australia, Thursday, March 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake, File)

Denny Hamlin reveled in his zest for trash talk after ending a long winless drought at Martinsville

Nate Ryan, The Associated Press 5 minute read Preview

Denny Hamlin reveled in his zest for trash talk after ending a long winless drought at Martinsville

Nate Ryan, The Associated Press 5 minute read Monday, Mar. 31, 2025

To a familiar mixture of cheers and boos, Denny Hamlin climbed onto his No. 11 Toyota’s doorsill and unfurled a blue flag emblazoned with “11 Against The World.”

Waving it at the Martinsville Speedway crowd, Hamlin seemed to be celebrating his 55th Cup Series victory on Sunday while also taunting those who thought he was done winning on NASCAR’s premier circuit.

“That’s me,” he said, adding that if he can't trash talk it takes away his superpower. "I’m not nearly as good. My friends, it drives them absolutely crazy. It fuels me and it just makes me feel good. ... I love when someone says I can’t do it, going out there and doing it.”

For Hamlin, the triumphs often come amid turbulence, and the adversity (some self-induced) has been plentiful lately.

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Monday, Mar. 31, 2025

Denny Hamlin (11) celebrates after winning a NASCAR Cup Series auto race in Martinsville, Va., Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)

Denny Hamlin ends 10-year win drought at Martinsville Speedway

The Associated Press 6 minute read Preview

Denny Hamlin ends 10-year win drought at Martinsville Speedway

The Associated Press 6 minute read Sunday, Mar. 30, 2025

MARTINSVILLE, Va. (AP) — At the track he loves to dominate, Denny Hamlin was back on top with a new face atop his pit box.

The Joe Gibbs Racing star ended an agonizing 10-year winless streak at Martinsville Speedway, holding off teammate Christopher Bell in his home state to secure a spot in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.

Hamlin, who was raised a few hours away in the Richmond suburb of Chesterfield, leads active Cup drivers with six victories at Martinsville. But Sunday was his first checkered flag on the 0.526-mile oval in southwest Virginia since March 29, 2015, and also his first with crew chief Chris Gayle, who joined the No. 11 team this season.

Driving a Camry that “certainly felt like the old days” after the team overhauled its setup, Hamlin led a race-high 274 of the final laps after taking the lead from Chase Elliott.

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Sunday, Mar. 30, 2025

Joey Logano (22) leads the field into Turn 1 at the start of a NASCAR Cup Series auto race in Martinsville, Va., Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)

Wood Brothers Racing makes triumphant return to Martinsville

Nate Ryan, The Associated Press 6 minute read Preview

Wood Brothers Racing makes triumphant return to Martinsville

Nate Ryan, The Associated Press 6 minute read Saturday, Mar. 29, 2025

Wood Brothers Racing returned to a spirited welcome this weekend at Martinsville Speedway.

The pedestrian tunnel leading into the infield and garage area was lined with two dozen life-size images saluting the longtime connection between NASCAR’s oldest track and its oldest team.

"Seeing all the photos in the tunnel walking in here was really cool,” said Josh Berry, who joined the team to drive the No. 21 Ford this season. “Obviously, they’re really close by, so it’s a home race. So we’re going to try to do our best to have a good weekend.”

Wood Brothers Racing was founded in Stuart, a mountain town about 30 minutes west of Martinsville Speedway. The 0.526-mile oval is where the team made its NASCAR Cup Series debut May 17, 1953.

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Saturday, Mar. 29, 2025

Josh Berry celebrates after winning a NASCAR Cup Series auto race Sunday, March 16, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Kenyan UN peacekeeper killed in an ambush in the Central African Republic, spokesperson says

Jean-fernand Koena, The Associated Press 3 minute read Saturday, Mar. 29, 2025

BANGUI, Central African Republic (AP) — The United Nations on Saturday condemned the killing of a Kenyan peacekeeper in an ambush of a patrol in the east of the Central African Republic.

Florence Marchal, the spokesperson for MINUSCA, the peacekeeping mission in the Central African Republic, said the soldier was killed during a UN patrol near the village of Tabant, 24 kilometers (15 miles) northwest of Sémio.

Marchal said Valentine Rugwabiza, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for the Central African Republic, “condemns this attack in the strongest possible terms" and is "extremely shocked by this despicable attack on peacekeepers whose mission is to protect civilian populations.”

Government spokesperson Maxime Balalu told the Associated Press that government and law enforcement authorities would do everything in their power to bring the perpetrators to justice.

Red Bull Formula 1 team drops Liam Lawson and replaces him with Yuki Tsunoda

James Ellingworth, The Associated Press 4 minute read Preview

Red Bull Formula 1 team drops Liam Lawson and replaces him with Yuki Tsunoda

James Ellingworth, The Associated Press 4 minute read Thursday, Mar. 27, 2025

Red Bull dropped Liam Lawson as the teammate of Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen after just two rounds of the season and replaced him with Yuki Tsunoda on Thursday.

Lawson was given the Red Bull seat despite not having previously driven a full F1 season and struggled immediately. The New Zealander did not score any points, crashed out of the season-opening Australian Grand Prix and qualified in last place for the Chinese Grand Prix and its sprint race.

Tsunoda moves up from Red Bull’s second team, Racing Bulls, in time for his home Japanese GP next week. Lawson will take Tsunoda’s place at Racing Bulls alongside rookie Isack Hadjar.

The change is a sign of how cut-throat F1 can be and an admission that Red Bull made the wrong choice in picking Lawson. He completed only 11 career F1 races before this season and was typically slower than Tsunoda across their six races as teammates last year.

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Thursday, Mar. 27, 2025

Red Bull driver Liam Lawson of New Zealand waits in his team garage during the third practice session at the Australian Formula One Grand Prix at Albert Park, in Melbourne, Australia, Saturday, March 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Scott Barbour)

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Red Bull Formula 1 team drops Liam Lawson and replaces him with Yuki Tsunoda

The Associated Press 1 minute read Thursday, Mar. 27, 2025

MILTON KEYNES, England (AP) — Red Bull Formula 1 team drops Liam Lawson and replaces him with Yuki Tsunoda.

23XI and Front Row call NASCAR countersuit on antitrust claims an “act of desperation”

Jenna Fryer, The Associated Press 4 minute read Preview

23XI and Front Row call NASCAR countersuit on antitrust claims an “act of desperation”

Jenna Fryer, The Associated Press 4 minute read Wednesday, Mar. 26, 2025

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — The two teams suing NASCAR over antitrust allegations said Wednesday in a filing that a countersuit against 23XI Racing, Front Row Motorsports and Michael Jordan's manager is “an act of desperation" and asked that it be dismissed.

NASCAR's countersuit contends that Jordan business manager Curtis Polk “willfully” violated antitrust laws by orchestrating anticompetitive collective conduct in connection with the most recent charter agreements.

23XI and Front Row were the only two organizations out of 15 that refused to sign the new agreements, which were presented to the teams last September in a take-it-or-leave-it offer 48 hours before the start of NASCAR’s playoffs.

The charters were fought for by the teams ahead of the 2016 season and twice have been extended. The latest extension is for seven years to match the current media rights deal and guarantee 36 of the 40 spots in each week’s field to the teams that hold the charters, as well as other financial incentives. 23XI — co-owned by Jordan — and Front Row refused to sign and sued, alleging NASCAR and the France family that owns the stock car series are a monopoly.

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Wednesday, Mar. 26, 2025

FILE - Bob Jenkins, owner of Front Row Motorsports and Co-Owner Michael Jordan, of 23XI Racing, pose before a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Talladega Superspeedway, Oct. 6, 2024, in Talladega, Ala. (AP Photo/ Butch Dill, file)

Hendrick Motorsports is off to a great start to the NASCAR season, but they’re after perfection

Alanis Thames, The Associated Press 4 minute read Preview

Hendrick Motorsports is off to a great start to the NASCAR season, but they’re after perfection

Alanis Thames, The Associated Press 4 minute read Monday, Mar. 24, 2025

HOMESTEAD, Fla. (AP) — It's been a fast start to the NASCAR season for powerhouse Hendrick Motorsports.

The racing team has two wins in the first six Cup Series races of the season, including Kyle Larson's victory at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Sunday. And its drivers hold the top three positions in points and four of the top six.

Still, Hendrick Motorsports vice chairman Jeff Gordon believes his team is just in the chase.

“The nice thing is, when you get a start like this and you’re up there in the points, it’s the fine-tuning (that comes after),” Gordon said. “What you’re chasing is victories. Perfection is what you’re really looking at.”

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Monday, Mar. 24, 2025

Kyle Larson celebrates after winning a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Homestead, Fla., Sunday, March 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Terry Renna)

Ferrari vows to sort ‘mistakes’ that disqualified Hamilton: 5 takeaways from F1’s Chinese Grand Prix

James Ellingworth, The Associated Press 4 minute read Preview

Ferrari vows to sort ‘mistakes’ that disqualified Hamilton: 5 takeaways from F1’s Chinese Grand Prix

James Ellingworth, The Associated Press 4 minute read Monday, Mar. 24, 2025

Lewis Hamilton went from the thrill of winning a sprint race for his new Ferrari team to the agony of being disqualified from the Chinese Grand Prix the following day alongside teammate Charles Leclerc.

There was so much drama at Ferrari that it overshadowed Sunday's Grand Prix win for Oscar Piastri, who looks like he might be the closest title challenger to his McLaren teammate Lando Norris this year.

Ahead of next week's Japanese Grand Prix, here are five takeaways from Shanghai:

Ferrari scrambles to fix problems

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Monday, Mar. 24, 2025

Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain gets a pit stop during the first free practice at the Shanghai International Circuit in Shanghai, China, Friday, March 21, 2025, ahead of the Chinese Formula One Grand Prix (Sunday). (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

Kyle Larson wins Cup Series at Homestead, finishes one race shy of triple-header sweep

Alanis Thames, The Associated Press 5 minute read Preview

Kyle Larson wins Cup Series at Homestead, finishes one race shy of triple-header sweep

Alanis Thames, The Associated Press 5 minute read Sunday, Mar. 23, 2025

HOMESTEAD, Fla. (AP) — Kyle Larson passed Alex Bowman with six laps remaining in NASCAR's Cup Series race at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Sunday, giving the Hendrick Motorsports driver the 30th win of his career at one of his best tracks.

Larson, driving the No. 5 Chevrolet, sped by as Bowman scraped the wall on Turn 4 with the lead. Larson extended his edge to more than a second over his Hendrick Motorsports teammate, then held on to beat Bowman by 1.205 seconds for his second career Cup Series win at Homestead, and his second victory of the weekend.

Larson fell one race short of sweeping the triple-header weekend. He won the Craftsman Truck race on Friday and finished fourth in the Xfinity Series on Saturday despite leading 132 of 201 laps. He was hoping to join Kyle Busch as the only drivers to sweep a triple-header weekend — Busch did it at Bristol Motor Speedway in 2010 and 2017. Larson will take another shot at a sweep in Bristol next month.

He said he was motivated by Saturday's result, when a late caution essentially cost him a race he had dominated. It was an all-to-familiar feeling of disappointment at Homestead despite Larson historically driving very well there.

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Sunday, Mar. 23, 2025

Kyle Larson drives during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Homestead, Fla., Sunday, March 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Terry Renna)

Lando Norris: McLaren is ready for title fight between its drivers

Stewart Bell, The Associated Press 2 minute read Sunday, Mar. 23, 2025

SHANGHAI (AP) — Lando Norris says his McLaren team is ready for a no-holds barred title fight between him and teammate Oscar Piastri, should they continue to dominate.

Ten points separate the pair heading to Japan, with Norris on top of the standings, Piastri fourth and each claiming a win – the first time that McLaren has won the opening two races since 2003.

Teammate relationships can quickly fall apart when the same team’s drivers are the only ones fighting for wins and the title — a situation F1 last saw at Mercedes in 2016 when Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg battled, with the German coming out on top and then famously quitting the sport just days after the final round in Abu Dhabi.

Norris, though, says the team is approaching the competition with open eyes.

McLaren driver Oscar Piastri wins the Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix

The Associated Press 1 minute read Sunday, Mar. 23, 2025

SHANGHAI (AP) — McLaren driver Oscar Piastri wins the Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix.

McLaren’s Oscar Piastri wins F1 Chinese GP from teammate Lando Norris. Both Ferraris disqualified

Stewart Bell, The Associated Press 4 minute read Preview

McLaren’s Oscar Piastri wins F1 Chinese GP from teammate Lando Norris. Both Ferraris disqualified

Stewart Bell, The Associated Press 4 minute read Sunday, Mar. 23, 2025

SHANGHAI (AP) — McLaren driver Oscar Piastri cruised to his maiden Chinese Grand Prix win from pole position with the Australian untouchable ahead of his teammate Lando Norris as the pair completed McLaren’s milestone 50th one-two placing in Formula 1.

Piastri, who took his maiden pole position on Saturday, got a great start in Sunday’s race to lead into the first corner, as Norris passed George Russell's Mercedes for second.

The Australian then slowly stretched his legs in an untroubled drive for his third career win, after Hungary and Azerbaijan last year.

“(It’s) very satisfying, obviously,” said Piastri, who is now up to fourth in the standings, just 10 points behind leader Norris with 22 races to go.

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Sunday, Mar. 23, 2025

McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia celebrates his pole position after qualifying session for the Chinese Formula One Grand Prix at the Shanghai International Circuit in Shanghai, China, Saturday, March 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

Kyle Larson, trying to avoid another disappointing weekend at Homestead, misses out on sweep

Alanis Thames, The Associated Press 6 minute read Preview

Kyle Larson, trying to avoid another disappointing weekend at Homestead, misses out on sweep

Alanis Thames, The Associated Press 6 minute read Saturday, Mar. 22, 2025

HOMESTEAD, Fla. (AP) — Kyle Larson is tired of his weekends at Homestead-Miami Speedway ending in disappointment.

The Hendrick Motorsports driver has won a NACAR Cup Series race and Xfinity Series race in his career at the South Florida track, but he mostly just remembers the heartbreaks there.

Last year it was a 13th-place finish in the playoff race. On Saturday, it was a late collapse in the Xfinity Series that cost him a chance of sweeping the weekend.

Larson, who is competing in the Cup, Xfinity and Craftsman Truck races at the 1.5-mile track in Homestead, was hoping to join Kyle Busch as the only drivers to sweep a triple-header weekend — Busch did it at Bristol Motor Speedway in 2010 and 2017.

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Saturday, Mar. 22, 2025

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