TONS

Two classic races at either end of the speed spectrum

Two of motorsport’s true classics provided plenty of drama last weekend, albeit very different kinds, and two brilliant winners.

For perhaps the first time this year, Max Verstappen and Red Bull faced a strong challenge from another team. Ferrari wasn’t as quick as hoped around Monaco, but Fernando Alonso and Aston Martin were. With one sector to go of his final qualifying lap, Verstappen looked vulnerable, but a superb, wall-skimming run through the tight final corners denied Alonso pole by 0.084 seconds.

As Jake Boxall-Legge shows on page 16, Verstappen never really looked like losing, but Alonso and the tricky late conditions made the Dutchman work harder than he’s been used to in the RB19. With one of Red Bull’s trickiest weekends out of the way, the possiblity of the team winning every Formula 1 race in 2023 seems that little bit higher.

Far less predictable was the Indianapolis 500. McLaren duo Felix Rosenqvist and Pato O’Ward could have won and Marcus Ericsson probably thinks he should have won, but it was Josef Newgarden who drank the milk after starting his Penske machine down in 17th. It wasn’t a race without controversy (see p14 and p32), but the most remarkable thing was that Kyle Kirkwood’s errant wheel found a high-speed route to not hit one of the 300,000 or so spectators…

This week we also preview another great motorsport event in our Le Mans 24 Hours guide. Roll on 10-11 June!

Kevin Turner Chief Editor kevin.turner@autosport.com

NEXT WEEK

8 JUNE F1, WRC and BTCC action A bumper issue of reports, plus Ferrari’s rich history

at Le Mans

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Cover image Mark Thompson/Getty Images/ Red Bull Content Pool

PIT & PADDOCK 4 Le Mans: hydrogen top class by 2030 6 Williams to ‘rebuild from foundations’ 8 Tincknell secures Porsche LMDh seat 10 Merhi replaces Rowland at Mahindra 11 Spanish Grand Prix preview 13 Opinion: Alex Kalinauckas 14 Opinion: Charles Bradley 15 Feedback: your letters

RACE CENTRE 16 Monaco GP report and analysis 32 Newgarden wins controversial Indy 500 38 World of Sport: Formula 2; F3; DTM; TCR World Tour; Porsche Supercup; International GT Open

CLUB AUTOSPORT 51 British GT Team Abba hits out at SRO 52 McGaughay makes race return 54 Drag record for Wallace; Ericsson wins 57 Opinion: Stefan Mackley 58 National reports: Donington Park;

Kirkistown; Silverstone; Brands Hatch; Snetterton; Oulton Park; Jim Clark Rally

FINISHING STRAIGHT 70 What’s on this week 72 From the archive: 1955 Dutch GP 74 My favourite track: Tanner Foust

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