Hamilton and Mercedes bring F1 to New York’s Fifth Avenue for demo run

In brief

Hamilton enjoys demo run in “car I wanted”

Hamilton said it was “such a dream” to be reacquainted with Mercedes’ W12, which scored the team’s most recent championship victory in 2021, on the streets of New York City. “I can’t believe that we’re here in the middle of New York City, down Fifth Avenue and I get to drive the car that I wanted,” said Hamilton.

Team principal Toto Wolff said the level of interest in the event reflected how popular F1 has become in the USA. “You can see how many people showed up without this having having been announced, because obviously you can’t shut down New York with a Formula 1 car, there would be thousands of people,” he said. “But it was a success and you can see that in the faces of the people.”

The event was held to promote Mercedes’ sponsor WhatsApp, which has changed its Racing car graphic to match Mercedes’ livery and had a model car in the same style present at the demonstration run.

Miami “should be good” for Red Bull

Max Verstappen expects to have a good chance of continuing his monopoly on victories at the Miami International Circuit this weekend.

“It should normally be a good race for us,” said Verstappen, who won the two previous Miami Grands Prix. “It’s normally a little bit more straightforward with the strategy, but it’s always quite a difficult track.

“I’m excited. It’s always quite a crazy weekend there, so it’s going to be quite a busy one.”

Ghiotto relieved to finish first IndyCar race

Former Formula 2 driver Luca Ghiotto declared himself pleased with his run to 21st place on his IndyCar debut last weekend, having been unable to test the car previously.

“The first race was long, I’m happy that I got to the end because this is probably the most physical car in the world and I was not sure I was going to be fit enough to do a 90-lap race,” he admitted. “So that was the first goal and I’m happy that we made it.”

Ghiotto will return to drive for the Coyne team on the Indianapolis Grand Prix circuit next week, and said his first race provided a useful practice opportunity.

“On the race itself, I think I had a little bit too many mistakes because during pit stops everything was just new to me, especially going from the reds [softer tyres] to the black tyres, all of that, basically every lap was something new. So for sure there was too many mistakes.”

“But on one side I’m happy that I had those because I know that now I actually learned more thanks to those mistakes and we’ll get to Indy more prepared.”

Mercedes’ Vesti among Formula E testers

Mercedes junior driver Frederik Vesti, who is currently Racing in the European Le Mans Series, will test for Formula E team Mahindra in Berlin this month. Rivals Nissan have confirmed Caio Collet and Gabriele Mini will appear in their cars at the same test.

F1 extends Viaplay deal

Viaplay will continue to broadcast Formula 1 in the Netherlands, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden after agreeing a new deal with the championship. Fans in the regions will also have access to the F1 TV Pro live streaming platform.

Wildcard announced for F1 Academy Miami

F1 Academy has granted a wildcard slot at this weekend’s Miami round to American sports car driver Courtney Crone. She took part in the series’ test at Zandvoort two weeks in preparation.

Five-times #IndyCar race winner Wally Dallenbach died yesterday at the age of 87, the series has announced. He came close to winning the Indianapolis 500 in 1975, retiring from the lead 12 laps before the race was stopped due to rain. He later served as CART’s chief steward. pic.twitter.com/N9oRxC7lbd

— RaceFans (@racefansdotnet) April 30, 2024

Thoughts and prayers go out to the Dallenbach family. We will miss you Wally.🙏🏻 RIPWally

— Michael Andretti (@michaelandretti) April 30, 2024

.@NBC got 763,000 viewers for Sunday’s IndyCar race @BarberMotorPark (TV only), down from 930,000 viewers last year. pic.twitter.com/ZT4ImEY1rB

— Adam Stern (@A_S12) April 30, 2024

MARIO ANDRETTI is on the Hill today talking to lawmakers about his bid to join F1.

— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) April 30, 2024

Let’s take a closer look at our special livery for this weekend 🔍#MiamiGP 🇺🇸 #F1 pic.twitter.com/4pPyfFICf0

— Scuderia Ferrari HP (@ScuderiaFerrari) April 30, 2024

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