Raikkonen tests NASCAR Next Gen car ahead of Watkins Glen Cup debut

RaceFans Round-up

Posted on

| Written by

In the round-up: Kimi Raikkonen acquainted himself with a NASCAR Next Gen car at the Virginia International Raceway yesterday ahead of making his Cup series debut at Watkins Glen next weekend.

In brief

Raikkonen tests NASCAR Cup Car ahead of debut

Kimi Raikkonen acquainted himself with a NASCAR Next Gen car at the Virginia International Raceway yesterday ahead of making his Cup series debut at Watkins Glen next weekend.

The 2007 Formula 1 world champion will race with Trackhouse Racing in the Cup Series race at Watkins Glen next weekend, his first entry in NASCAR’s premier division. Raikkonen has competed in NASCAR’s truck and grand national series during his two year hiatus away from Formula 1 across 2010 and 2011.

Raikkonen will also be racing against former F1 driver Danill Kvyat and Le Mans 24 Hour winner Mike Rockenfeller, who will also be making their NASCAR debuts in the race.

Porsche to run special Seoul Formula E livery

The Porsche Formula E Team will run a special livery for the season finale rounds at Seoul in South Korea this weekend.

Both Pascal Wehrlein and Andre Lotterer will run in a black livery with blue highlights during the double-header season finale in Seoul, to celebrate the first EPrix held in South Korea and help promote the launch of a new Tag Heuer watch.

Porsche currently sit in sixth position in the Formula E teams’ championship on 128 points, with Wehrlein in tenth and Lotterer 11th in the drivers’ standings. Stoffel Vandoorne heads into the final two races of the championship holding a 36 point lead over Mitch Evans.

Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free

Social media

Notable posts from Twitter, Instagram and more:

Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free

Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free

Comment of the day

Will Sebastian Vettel’s efforts to promote equality and stand up for environmental concerns along with Lewis Hamilton inspire future drivers to follow in their footsteps? Inspiring the younger generation is a noble thing, says @geekzilla9000…

I hope so. Especially as motorsport becomes more sustainable and is used to develop further green innovation.

It’s not just about Green politics either, I hope the next generation of F1 drivers will use their platform for good and push the narrative for human rights. Hamilton and Vettel are role models and like many, I feel very proud of them to have spoken about issues when it would have been easier to stay quiet. Actions speak louder than words, and although some dismiss it as virtue-signalling, it’s not, they aren’t doing it for simple brand-enhancement, they are taking personal action and hopefully that cumulative impact will raise awareness and inspire actual political change. I don’t doubt that there is some double-standards, but speaking out is the first step to make standards better.

Young fans might be inspired by their role models. They may not be able to emulate them by jumping in a Formula 1 car, but they can share the desire to want a better word and let that shape their decisions and life-philosophy.
Dan Rooke

Happy birthday!

Happy birthday to Pimbers4955 and Dawson Johnstone!

On this day in motorsport

  • On this day in 2007 Sebastien Bourdais dominated the 10th round of the ChampCar series at Road America, leading almost every lap from pole position to win

Author information

Will Wood
Will has been a RaceFans contributor since 2012 during which time he has covered F1 test sessions, launch events and interviewed drivers. He mainly...

Got a potential story, tip or enquiry? Find out more about RaceFans and contact us here.

35 comments on “Raikkonen tests NASCAR Next Gen car ahead of Watkins Glen Cup debut”

  1. +1 for CoTD

    Interesting the 2 seat Renault-power-era RB is almost as long as the current single seat stretch limo race cars. ;-)

    1. Who doesn’t want to rock up to a Daft Punk concert in a stretched limo?

  2. Out of all the comments in that article yesterday, you found about the only one in support of drivers derailing F1’s purpose, function and media space to use for CotD….
    Noisy minorities doing inappropriate things for attention – exactly what the modern world seems to be all about.

    1. Or just maybe, the community fostered by this site is not all about promoting the majority opinion and letting comments rise to the top (let alone only be seen) based off popular opinion alone. A good point worth considering doesn’t have to be the most popular point. I’d be sad if CotD started being decided by how many replies started with +1. There’s already reddit for that.

      Fact of the matter is that drivers in F1 have learnt they have a great platform they can leverage to make the change they want to see in the world. That generally comes with popularity. Has nothing to do with derailing F1 at all really.

      1. I agree that CotD is better when it promotes thought rather than merely being representative of popular opinion. The more controversial the better, in that sense.

        Yeah, drivers have learned they can (mis)use their popularity and visibility. People of wealth and power have been doing it for millenia – it’s not new. It’s quite common for people who live a highly public and wealthy lifestyle to think they are just a little bit better than the average person. Ego is a thing.
        Doesn’t make it right to disrespect other people’s wishes to be free of it for a couple of hours though, does it. Those messages come at us 24/7 – we just want an escape for a bit.

        I do wonder if there’d be such support for these things if the messages were different?
        How about the driver who supports white supremacy? Or the one who thinks that the world would be a better place if women were only allowed out of the kitchen to go to the bedroom? Or even the one who thinks that western democracies such as Europe and America should be ‘depopulated?’
        I think those messages would signal an end to support of drivers ‘raising awareness’ of too many causes within F1’s media space. It’s only supported while the messages are supported, and F1 can bask in some of the reflected glow from them.

    2. petebaldwin (@)
      12th August 2022, 8:50

      Well it would have been 2 comments but I didn’t bother clicking on the link because I wasn’t interested in reading a bunch of right wing nonsense in the comments….

      1. Since you didn’t read them, @petebaldwin, they are mostly arguing for the depoliticisation of F1. No politics or social engineering messages during car racing time.

        The delivery method is the problem, not the content.

        1. petebaldwin (@)
          12th August 2022, 16:01

          Other than a few helmet designs, I have seen hardly any politics during racing time. I don’t understand why it bothers people…

          Hamilton is primarily trying to make people be a bit less racist which seems fair enough. I know some won’t like that but I wouldn’t really class that as a “political” message.

          Vettel is a bit more political with some of his statements but even then, he’s mainly focussed on the climate. If that’s too political for people, I dread to think how they’ll cope over the next 10 years as it’s going to be talked about increasingly in all aspects of life!

          1. Hamilton is primarily trying to make people be a bit less racist which seems fair enough.

            But he can’t. And the way he does it quite often comes across as being a little bit racist himself.

            If that’s too political for people, I dread to think how they’ll cope over the next 10 years as it’s going to be talked about increasingly in all aspects of life!

            Hopefully not during F1 broadcasts.

            I repeat, for the 1000th time:

            The delivery method is the problem, not the content.

            Keep it out of F1.

    3. As @petebaldwin mentions in his comment “S” I read the article, saw the first dozen comments and closed the article because of how toxic, mostly uninformed as well as prejudiced and unpleasant towards specific drivers and parts of our society most of the comments were.

      As @skipgamer mentions, the best pics for CotD have often been exactly those that did NOT fall within the majority of comments on an article. They are highlighted exactly because they show a different point of view.

      I really hope, and gladly also feel pretty sure in saying this based on interaction with large amounts of people both here and in other places online in the F1 fan community, that those toxic attitudes that dominate in the comments to the article yesterday are actually a minority (both of F1 fans and of humanity)

      1. I think it is safe to say that the attitudes of long term F1 fans are substantially different to the tribal attitudes Netflix and the orange army seems to have brought in. People used to be fans of the sport in general rather than rabid haters of anyone other than their favourite driver or team. The scenes at Austria this year wouldn’t have happened in years before, or else nowhere near that scale or element of danger and fear.

      2. Uninformed, prejudiced and unpleasant comments? A couple, perhaps – but that’s common in every comments section.
        I think you mean you just didn’t agree with them.

        The basic theme of most of them was quite clear.
        The messages these drivers are spreading are fine for most people – however their method of delivery isn’t.
        That’s the point. Be a social or political activist on your own time – not F1’s time.

      3. Very similar to the comments defending the Nazi salute in a previous post some weeks ago.

        When you have to argue with others that that kind of behaviour isn’t acceptable and deserves sanction, it just makes to want to give up.

        1. Not at all similar to the ‘Nazi salute’ – which was done by a teenager as a joke, probably without any grasp of the meanings it holds for others. Not acceptable to adults who know…
          As for the commentary – the people who can see both sides of the coin are the ones bringing thought and reason to the conversation.
          Nobody learns anything in an echo chamber. Or a vacuum.

          1. Not interesting in rehashing this debate with you. Nothing to be gained from it.

  3. Nice custom-made plates.

    I’m still wholly confident about Mick’s continuation at Haas & not conducting talks during summer break doesn’t necessarily mean anything negative.

    1. @jerejj Sorry to be naive, but what do the plates refer to? What is ‘The Plan’? I don’t understand.

      *I’m not being sarcastic – I genuinely don’t get it.

      1. @bernasaurus Are you familiar with the NBA team the Philadelphia 76ers and their ‘Trust the Process’ mantra?

        It was like a rallying cry for the fans a few years ago. The idea was that the front office were making a lot of unusual moves to try and improve the underperforming team long-term and ‘Trust the Process’ became this thing that fans would use to quell anxieties over whether the team were actually making a bunch of stupid decisions that were all going to backfire. Don’t worry, Trust the Process.

        It became a meme in the US sports world and ‘El Plan’ is pretty much the same concept. Alonso made one off-the-cuff comment near the end of last year and it just grew into being a rallying cry for Alonso and Alpine fans.

        However, I think we can safely say ‘El Plan’ is being shelved round about now…

        1. Ahhhhh……. thank you @willwood I would never have got that. Other than having a lot of fun with friends on 2K16 I don’t follow basketball at all or know the meme.

          Best laid plans of mice, men & Otmar………..

          Thanks for clearing it up for me.

          1. @bernasaurus @willwood
            El Plan indeed, although I don’t get the 57 specifically.

  4. Imagine having as role model the imagery of someone you hardly know anything but what PR let shown.

    1. This is precisely how most religions work, except the role model itself is imaginary too. Probably the reason for most of the world’s problems, in my opinion. At least people like Hamilton and Vettel exist :)

  5. I thought this Mario Andretti tweet is interesting for a (future) round-up too. (cc @willwood )

  6. Why do they think Red Bull have flex floors and Mercedes not ? While we all see the floor of the Mercedes flex a lot…

    1. @macleod: Not so much about flexy floors, it’s about the flexing skid plates. Perfectly good loophole too. FIA only measures skip plate wear near the front… not at the rear where the most downforce goes. F1 engineers are very clever.

    2. If the Mercedes floor doesn’t flex, but they keep hitting the ground at pretty much every straight, how come they have never been over the limit on wear?

      That’s not meant as as snarky comment, by the way. If even the bouncing Mercedes doesn’t fail the limit, is the limit as it is currently in the regulations even fit for purpose?

      1. Don’t they have those strings to keep the floor from hitting the ground too hard? With the poper skitblocks you don’t get wear …

        But it’s easy if we see Cars porpoising the FIA should take action against those cars if not it’s not important.

  7. This site seems so obsessed with issues that are secondary to racing. Maybe another name change incoming? It’s less racefans and more virtuesignallingfans. Even in the quiet off season you’re still banging the drum about “activist drivers”. One/two articles, fine. But it’s seeping into every corner of this site. And frankly I don’t come here to read about virtue signalling. If I want that, I read the guardian. I come here to read about racing.

    By the way – it’s funny how you haven’t considered that these “activist drivers” all have the same point of view. I wonder how you’d react as a website if suddenly we had another type of activist driver. Someone who was also interested in politics. But maybe wanted less immigration. Campaigned for lower taxes. Fought against cancel culture. Would this also be as welcome? Or because it’s not in line with your views – would it be less valid?

    1. It would not be welcome. I’ve had plenty of polite posts moderated away purely by not be aligned. Yes, I’ve even been wrong on a couple (like I had a wrong take on a Supreme Court ruling), but I was polite, non malicious, and just trying to discuss. But if a post is not the approved view, they moderate it away.

      I doubt you’ll even see this post.

    2. I agree. That’s what happens when you have writers trying to push a narrative. We both know that type of driver you mention would be treated with scorn here.

      Great post @cduk_mugello.

    3. Quality comment there, @cduk_mugello ! Spot on.
      If that’s gonna be the tone for the foreseeable future, then maybe it was a mistake having dropped the ‘fanatic’ name.

    4. You are all free to go elsewhere if you can’t handle people having opinions that don’t jibe with your own. Frankly, I find many of these reactionary comments to be disingenuous at best, and flat out close minded at worst. (I’m thinking of you here, Blanky.)

      1. @ferrox-glideh isn’t it telling that at the first point of objection to an editorial line – one is told to go elsewhere? Incidentally I didn’t say what my own views were, but I think you’ve underlined my point very well.

        Have you considered how you’d feel if there were ‘activist’ drivers with views that oppose your own? Perhaps an F1 driver who actively campaigns against abortion for example. Would this be okay?

        Presumably you’d be cool with that driver espousing their activism. But then again, I suppose if you can’t handle people having opinions that don’t jibe with your own, you’re free to go elsewhere…

        1. @cduk_mugello It seems to me that you didn’t like politics on this site. I am fine with politics on this site, F1 is a very political sport, and I support the premise that all views should be heard. That being said, if I disagree with those views, I will post a critical response to them. I was fine with Mazepin saying what he thought, for example, but I believe that his thinking was flawed.
          If a driver spouts ideas that demean, disrespect, or infringe upon the rights of others (using you example of being anti-abortion), then I will endeavor to knock them down a peg. Of course, I believe that no one has the right to be a racist or a homophobe or a litterbug for that matter.
          And I am not going elsewhere ;)

        2. @cduk_mugello One more thing: You in fact did implicitly state your political views by using the conservative dog-whistle term “virture signalling.” That is almost as vapid and unuseful a term as “woke”.

Comments are closed.