Qatar, one of the maddest weekends in F1 history for all the wrong reasons.

We had Pirelli discovering that the FIA’s new Pyramid Kerb was harming the construction of the tyre, leading to a gamechanger as the track was reduced in width on the fast Turn 12/13 complex by almost three feet, leading to an insane rise in track limits violations, and a race that was a 3-stop mandated sprint with an 18-lap limit on tyre life, regardless as to if they were used or new. It led to another Max Verstappen win, his 14th of the season, but a close fight with McLaren became the story, despite track limit violations out the ass.

But the race went without a tyre issue, it was another problem that reared its ugly head – Extreme heat. The race was run at 33-degree heat with 77% humidity and it led to health issues everywhere. Stroll and Russell admitted to nearly passing out behind the wheel. Logan Sargeant had to retire due to a mix of dehydration and flu symptoms. Albon had acute heat exposure. Bottas called it torture. Dre speaks passionately about why this race should have been stopped and the insecurity the sport has over hero worship.

We also clean up all the weekend news, like McLaren’s best F1 weekend since 2021 with Oscar Piastri, Max Verstappen’s 3rd straight Championship, Mercedes teammate clash that put Hamilton out of the race on Lap 1, and some of the craftiness of their PR, and Andretti’s bid being approved by the FIA.

All that and even more in Motorsport101!

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Was it really Palou-over if it never really began?

Welcome to the 2023 IndyCar Season Review, and in this special 130 minute edition of the show, we break down the best and the worst of IndyCar in 2023!

Dre is joined by regular RJ O’Connell and Ryan Erik King to go team by team up and down the paddock. From the struggle buses of AJ Foyt and Meyer Shank’s disasterous 2023, to the more intriguing teams too. Was it really a good season for Juncos Hollinger, as well as the hot mess of their season finale. Just what is Ed Carpenter going to do with his race team and a Rinus Veekay being lost in the shuffle?

Can Rahal Letterman Lanigan hold onto Christian Lundgaard, who drove like a star last season. How did McLaren go winless on the year? How did Andretti win twice and still feel like a disappointment? Is it the beginning of the end for Will Power? And how did Scott Dixon put together an all-time great season and STILL lose by 78 points?

All that and much, much more in our 2023 IndyCar Season Review!

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We weren’t sure days out from the race itself whether this one was even going to happen. But it did. Dorna’s first venture to India for the India GP, and while we joked in the intro about the Miami Dolphins putting 70 on the Broncos head, Marco Bezzecchi was running a similar beating of his own on the MotoGP field, because he DOMINATED at the Buddh International Circuit. Winning by nearly 9 seconds on the field, he’s firmly put himself back in contention…

…via Francesco Bagnaia hitting the canvas for the first time in a while. With it, and Jorge Martin finishing 2nd while nearly passing out from heatstroke, it’s just a 13 point Championship fight, with Bez back in the running at -44. The Italian looked uncomfortable out there and squirmed under braking even before he crashed. Is Bagania vulnerable?

We also talk about the mess that was organising this GP in the first place. VISA’s being scrambled at the last minute to fly press, staff, and even riders themselves to the track at the very last minute, a track that wasn’t homolgated until a week out and with safety concerns eventually fixed and then fights with the press themselves on Twitter over it. Messy stuff, and that’s before Dorna decided to put a map of the country on the screen without Kashmir in it. Yikes.

We try to make sense of it all on another Motorsport101!

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Congratulations to Red Bull Racing for winning F1 Championship Number 74, it is their sixth Superbowl win.

It’s coronation time at Red Bull after Max Verstappen took his Singapore defeat personally and won the Japanese GP by 20 seconds ahead of a double McLaren podium of Norris and Piastri. But it was marred by Sergio Perez stinking up the joint again, breaking two front wings, passing under a Safety Car and eventually crashing out to Kevin Magnussen. Is HE the secret bottleneck for Red Bull’s driver management?

We also try to make sense of the evolving fight for second as Mercedes cross paths via some weird George Russell strategy shenangians, Ferrari being undercut (Again), and McLaren scoring their five podium in the last 7 weekends. Big Larry Bird: “So which one of y’all are finishing second?” energy.

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