Racing lines: Alonso's Alpine climb gets more daunting

Racing teams are at their best when there’s clear accountability within their ranks – which is precisely why the convoluted internal politics that tends to clog major car manufacturers so often leads to an embarrassing F1 farce. Remember the Ford/Jaguar debacle of 20-odd years ago? Renault/Alpine must get its house in order, and pronto.

Red Bull's power play

Red Bull’s decision to take over Honda’s powertrains and bring development in-house was by far the best of not many available options for the Milton Keynes-based team. Honda’s decision to withdraw from F1 at the end of this year was a huge blow to the energy drinks giant and the F1 paddock as a whole. But by maintaining the already matured race-winning powertrain itself, Red Bull has kept its destiny in its own hands and avoids the team becoming just another customer for Ferrari, Mercedes-AMG or Renault – none of whom really wanted to power one of the strongest racing teams on the grid anyway.

It’s no surprise either that Red Bull was behind the recent decision of the F1 Commission to freeze engine development between 2022 and 2024, ahead of the introduction of an all-new F1 powertrain in 2025. Freezing technology represents the opposite of what F1 has stood for over the past 70-plus years, but in an era of total Mercedes domination, it’s the sensible solution to give the likes of Red Bull a competitive chance.

But the question remains: does Red Bull have enough guaranteed firepower to keep Max Verstappen out of a Silver Arrow? Lewis Hamilton’s newly minted one-year deal to remain at Mercedes has only heightened speculation about his future beyond this year – plus the big question of who his potential successor might be and when he will be required. Verstappen is considered the key piece on the F1 chessboard. It’s down to Red Bull Powertrains to stop him switching colours.

Nascar lottery at Daytona

Nascar’s premier tier was known as the Grand National series for its first 20 years. Perhaps it still should be, given its parallels to the famous horse race of the same name. Like the 182-year-old Aintree steeplechase, who wins the annual Daytona 500 can so often come down to pure luck and being in the right place at the right time.

That was the case at the Florida speedbowl this month when Michael McDowell, a Nascar veteran of 358 starts without ever rolling into Victory Lane, scooped America’s Greatest Race on the last lap when Brad Keselowski contrived to punt Penske team-mate Joey Logano out of the lead, triggering a multi-car wreck.

As the race finished under caution, McDowell – who just missed the melee – was judged to have the edge on reigning Cup champion Chase Elliott as the wreck played out, by a single car length. It was the only time he had led all night.