F1Weekly Podcast # 1161
ON TODAY’S PROGRAM…
MAX PREPARES FOR HIS LAST DUTCH GRAND PRIX!
PRETTY BOY GEORGE PREPARES TO GET HIS ASS WOOPED
CADILLAC PULLS OUT THE “YOUR FIRED” LOWDON GETS HIS PINK SLIP… AND
FERNANDO SAYS…I’LL SEE YOU IN 2027…
THIS WEEK’S NASIR HAMEED CORNER….INTERVIEW WITH SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS AND, WE REMEMBER DANIKA PATRICK’S WIN AT MOTEGI JAPAN!
Ericsson Undeniable in Markham
to End 63-Race Drought.
MARKHAM, Ontario (Sunday, Aug. 16, 2026) – Andretti Global’s Marcus Ericsson wasn’t to be denied victory in the new Ontario Honda Dealers Indy at Markham even as it meant tormenting a longtime rival.
Ericsson charged through the field late in the 90-lap Canadian race to hunt down and pass Dale Coyne Racing’s Romain Grosjean for a victory.
SEE: Race Results
Ericsson scored his fifth career NTT INDYCAR SERIES victory while denying Grosjean his first. Grosjean was trying to reach the top step of the podium only to come one step short for the sixth time. Coincidentally, Grosjean’s last win of any kind came in a GP2 series race in Hungary in 2011. Ericsson finished fifth in that race.
Ericsson’s victory here came 10 days after being confirmed to return to Andretti Global for a fourth season. It also ended his 63-race drought dating back to his 2023 season-opening victory in St. Petersburg.
“It’s been long enough,” Ericsson said. “It doesn’t come as much of a surprise. We’ve had such a good year. We’ve been working every weekend, getting stronger and stronger, qualifying up front every weekend. We might not have got the results we deserved every weekend, but I really felt we deserved (this).”
Ericsson’s voice cracked during the interview, which he blamed on screaming too much after taking the checkered flag. But he said it was a bold and aggressive drive over those challenging street-course laps.
“We were the fastest car all day, I thought,” he said. “Obviously, there were a lot of (cautions), so we had to stay out (longer on the final sequence). I wanted to show the pace and open a gap, so we gambled on staying out. I had the pace and we were lapping so quick (after coming out of the pits on Lap 69) seventh. It was a lot of work to get through the leaders.”
In that charge was contact in the Turn 5 hairpin with Andretti Global teammate Will Power for third place. Ericsson called the hard bump “unfortunate,” but Power said he understood.
Said Ericsson: “You never want that, but I had to get through. I knew I could win this race.”
Ericsson won another race like this. In 2021, he emerged as the winner of a trouble-filled first race on Nashville’s streets that included his car getting airborne vertically. The winner of the 2022 Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge now has four street course victories.
Grosjean settled for second place – his best since finishing second at Barber Motorsports Park in 2023. Power finished third with series points leader Alex Palou of Chip Ganassi Racing taking fourth and Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward fifth.
“We did everything we could,” said Grosjean, who led 28 laps and scored his first top-five finish of 2026. “I wanted to (keep Palou in second place) – I knew (with that gap) it was safe. But then (Ericsson) came … unfortunately that (wasn’t our) day. But on to the next one.”
Several other drivers could say the same.
The race of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Louis Foster had a tragic ending. He started from the pole for the second time in his career – the other was at Road America last year – and built a lead of nearly 3 seconds in leading the first 32 laps. But a caution spoiled that as all of the other frontrunners had pitted a couple of laps earlier, shuffling him to 12th place.
Foster wasn’t to be deterred, and he came charging back. He had moved up eight positions and was stalking Ericsson for third place when they approached Turn 3 on Lap 43. Foster went to the inside, but he clipped the left-side wall, contact which shot him straight into the concrete barrier on the right. The impact was virtually head-on, a major shunt. Fortunately, he was not injured.
That spot in the track similarly claimed Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood, who was running third behind his two teammates. His impact was just as fierce.
Kirkwood’s 21st-place finish allowed Palou to pull even farther ahead in pursuit of his fourth consecutive championship and fifth in six years despite starting outside the top 10 for the first time in 30 races (nearly two full seasons). Now, with four races to go, Palou leads Kirkwood by a nearly insurmountable 133 points with Team Penske’s David Malukas third, 137 points in arrears. Malukas finished this race a lap down in 17th place.
The new 12-turn, 2.1-mile street circuit seemed to offer the right balance of action and reaction, with a fair amount of race-turning calamity. The track produced 258 on-track passes with 242 of those for position – the most on-record in the event, which dates back to 1986 when the INDYCAR SERIES made its debut on the Streets of Toronto. As expected, the Turn 5 hairpin was a hot spot, with several instances of cars coming together.
One of the most significant contacts in that corner featured rookie Dennis Hauger of Dale Coyne Racing bumping Ed Carpenter Racing’s Christian Rasmussen and then O’Ward. That was Lap 20, and it was part of Hauger’s fade through the field.
Last year’s INDY NXT by Firestone champion started the race from the fifth position and was still there when his two-lap slide began. It started with Palou passing him, but then Malukas did and before he knew it, he was 20th. Later, Hauger clipped the rear tire of Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon, who hit Rasmussen, drawing a caution.
Another of the contacts in Turn 5 saw Arrow McLaren’s Nolan Siegel charge too deep into the braking zone, where he struck the car of Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden. Siegel was penalized for avoidable contact.
It wasn’t a good day for first-year series drivers. AJ Foyt Racing’s Caio Collet had contact with Felix Rosenqvist of Meyer Shank Racing w/ Curb Agajanian on Lap 1, and Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Mick Schumacher drew the race’s first caution on Lap 15 when he pounded the Turn 4 wall.
The turnaround is quick as the series sprints to season’s end. Next weekend, the 25 car-and-driver combinations make their anticipated appearance in the U.S. capital city with the Freedom 250 Grand Prix of Washington, D.C. The pre-race show on FOX begins at 11:30 a.m. ET with the race shortly after 1 p.m.
DS AUTOMOBILES CONCLUDES ITS INCREDIBLE FORMULA E ADVENTURE THIS WEEKEND IN LONDON
- The grand finale of Season 12 of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship takes place this weekend in London
- Having maximised its electric technology learnings and built up an exceptional record over 11 years of competition, DS Automobiles will contest its final pair of Formula E races
- To mark the occasion, Maximilian Günther and Taylor Barnard will drive a DS E-TENSE FE25 featuring a special livery
On 15 and 16 August, the ExCeL exhibition centre in London’s Newham district will host the final two races of Season 12 of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship. For the fourth consecutive year, this remarkable circuit with its unique indoor section provides a dramatic backdrop to the twists and turns that characterise the all-electric racing series.
At this final weekend of the season, German driver Maximilian Günther and his British team-mate Taylor Barnard will take the wheel of an exclusive DS E-TENSE FE25 with a detailed gold livery especially created for DS Automobiles and PENSKE AUTOSPORT’s final event.
The DS PENSKE team’s last two events will also be the final Formula E races for DS Automobiles. Joining in Season 2 as the first premium brand ever to enter the championship, DS has built an exceptional sporting pedigree against some of the world’s biggest manufacturers to hold the most successful track record in the series, thanks to two double titles, 18 victories, 55 podiums, 26 pole positions and a record seven podiums in the Teams’ Championship. Now, after 11 years of electric competition and technology transfer, DS Automobiles closes its remarkable Formula E chapter at the end of Sunday.
To celebrate this final fling, DS Automobiles will display the three single-seaters that have showcased the brand’s championship history at the ExCeL centre. These Generation 1, 2 and 3 cars (DSV-01, DS E-TENSE FE19 and DS E-TENSE FE25) are set to delight both Formula E fans and passionate supporters of the French marque.
The races will take place on Saturday and Sunday at 16:00 CET (15:00 local time).
Bastien Schupp, Director of Marketing and Communications, DS Automobiles:
“This final event of the season also marks the end of DS Automobiles’ magnificent adventure in Formula E. After 11 seasons that have enabled the brand to establish itself as the manufacturer with the most successful record in the history of the series, we can feel proud to have fully achieved the objectives we set ourselves back in 2015. Today, we leave with major learnings in the fields of electrified powertrains, energy management, and overall efficiency of onboard systems. These intense years of electric competition, highlighted by records and standout performances, have always provided a tremendous accelerator for innovation at DS Automobiles. The technologies proven in the championship also help feed into research and development of our production models, as shown in particular by our latest creations: DS N°4, DS N°7 and DS N°8, offering up to 750 kilometres of electric range. Now we head towards a brand new era of innovation and emotion with SailGP!”
Key figures since DS Automobiles entered Formula E:
- 152 races
- 4 championship titles
- 18 victories
- 55 podiums
- 26 pole positions
