Last year, Netflix released its first season of “NASCAR: Full Speed,” a docuseries following the 2023 Cup Series. The film crew zeroed in on potential championship contenders, planning to shadow the eight drivers they expected to make it to the end. When Christopher Bell made the top eight, they brought him on screen almost randomly.

“I wasn’t in that plan, was I?” Bell asked.

“You were never in that plan,” they responded.

“Imagine that.”

Bell made NASCAR’s final four (formally called the Championship Four) in 2022, the year before Netflix filmed that scene. He made it again last year. This year, with one race left to qualify, Bell has a big cushion over the fifth-place elimination line. He’s led 1,002 laps so far this season, second only to one of the Cup Series’ biggest title threats, Kyle Larson.

The Netflix crew gave Bell the “quiet contender” storyline, and they weren’t wrong. But as he knows well, people notice the “quiet” part — but don’t pay enough attention to the “contender” half.

Christopher Bell in the No. 20 Toyota Camry

Photo by: Matthew T. Thacker / NKP / Motorsport Images

“I’m definitely quiet,” Bell told Motorsport.com. “I’m quiet and reserved, and people will kind of take that as a weakness. I’m not one of the guys that’s going to be out there hooting and hollering, but I know that I’m every bit as capable as anyone else out there.

“It was interesting to me how the Netflix deal played out last year. They have to pick guys to follow throughout the year, and coming off of 2022, I was a championship contender. We made the final four, then they specifically chose not to follow me because they didn’t expect me to perform well. It made me happy that I proved them wrong and crashed their party.”

Bell, 29, drives the No. 20 car for Joe Gibbs Racing, one of the longtime powerhouse teams in the Cup Series. Modern NASCAR no longer tallies season-long points to decide the champion; these days, the title trophy shows up after a 10-race, 16-driver playoff format. Those drivers get eliminated in sets of four throughout the playoffs, until only four remain. When they get to the last race of the season, points no longer matter — whicheverChampionship Four driver finishes highest wins the title (even if a non-playoff driver wins the race).

This weekend, Bell enters the final race of the eight-driver round, which happens at Martinsville Speedway, in the third seed. The only two drivers above him are Joey Logano and Tyler Reddick, who both automatically qualified for the Championship Four by winning races earlier in this round.

“I know I can be as big of a threat
as anyone.”

“I feel cautiously optimistic,” Bell said. “That’s the words that I’ve been using this week, because while we do have a pretty good buffer, our competition is going to be fierce. They’re going to be fast, and they’re going to be racing for the win. It’s going to be very important for the 20 team to be right there with them, and if we do that, we could be staring at another Championship Four berth.”

Bell is 29 points above the elimination line. His next closest competitor, William Byron, is only seven above. Bell can either make the Championship Four this weekend on points or by winning the race, and the points look good: The fewest points a driver can score in a race is one, and the most is 60.

Bell has a cushion of nearly half that, but the standings change drastically throughout a playoff weekend as drivers accumulate mid-race stage points and climb or fall through the field. Bell will be calculating points in his head — and with his team — all race long.

“Going into Martinsville, we’re racing two cars: the 24 [of Byron] and the 5 [of Larson],” Bell said. “I’m sure I’m going to be asking where they’re at and what the points look like, but I’ll be keeping track of it pretty well. You just do the math in your head: where they’re running at the end of the stages, what points get scored, and how it’s playing out.”

The chop from eight drivers to four is cutthroat, and no one is eliminated until they turn their last lap at Martinsville. If there’s a race winner from below the cut line, they’ll automatically advance to Phoenix, taking a spot away from a driver who would’ve advanced on points. Bell did it from the seventh seed at Martinsville in 2022.

Christopher Bell hoisting his lobster prize after winning in New Hampshire in June

Photo by: None

“This is certainly unique for us,” Bell said. “I look back at my previous Championship Four appearances, and last year, I was able to win at Homestead, lock myself in, and not have to worry about Martinsville. The year before, we went into Martinsville knowing the only thing that mattered was winning the race. We didn’t have to worry about getting stage points, or even really qualifying. We just had to worry about having the best race car possible.

“This time around, we have a ton of importance on qualifying, pit-box selection, and the stage points we accumulate throughout the race. Then, even after all of that, we still have to be performing at the end of the race and get points. We have to execute on all fronts.”

The NASCAR playoffs move quickly. If Bell qualifies for the Championship Four this weekend at Martinsville, he’ll have one week to prepare for the title race in Phoenix. Bell’s never won the Cup title; in 2022, he finished 10th in the race and third of the four championship drivers. In 2023, a blown brake rotor took him out of the race early.

This week, Bell told Motorsport he’s not even thinking about the title race until after Martinsville.

“We’ve definitely got to get there first,” Bell said. “That’s the advantage that Joey Logano has, and now Tyler Reddick. They can do that. But for us, we cannot turn that page yet.

“There’s a lot of stress that comes from [the playoff format], but I love it. I wouldn’t have it any other way. You dream of being a part of these moments and fighting for a championship. I’m sure Saturday night at Martinsville I’m not going to be sleeping very well, but the job’s going to be on.”

Bell has proven he’s more than just Netflix’s quiet contender — he’s also a playoff specialist. And not shy about it, either.

“I’m super confident in my abilities,” Bell said. “I think other people kind of take me as not much of a threat, but I know I can be as big of a threat as anyone.”

Factory Ducati team manager Davide Tardozzi has insisted that Enea Bastianini will not be expected to help team-mate Francesco Bagnaia win the MotoGP riders’ championship over the final two weekends of the season.

While Bagnaia could certainly use support in his quest to overhaul a 17-point deficit to Pramac Ducati’s Jorge Martin, Bastianini is embroiled in a fight of his own for third place.

Italy’s Bastianini is currently fourth, 11 points behind Gresini Ducati’s Marc Marquez, as MotoGP prepares for this weekend’s Malaysian Grand Prix, the penultimate stop on the calendar.

“We haven’t spoken with Enea [about team orders],” said Tardozzi. “He is fighting with Marc for third place. There are no team orders and there is no discussion about this matter.

“So far each of them [Bagnaia and Bastianini] has been fighting for his own position in the championship – third is much better than fourth, obviously.”

Bastianini, who will move to KTM next season as Marquez takes over his ride at the Ducati factory team, added that he will ride for himself at Sepang and at the season finale.

“I’m competing freely,” said the British and Emilia Romagna Grand Prix winner. “I’ve also got something to contribute at the end of the season; I can bring that third place. I’m really close to it.

Enea Bastianini, Ducati Team, Jorge Martin, Pramac Racing, Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

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“Both Marc and I have committed some mistakes in the last period, losing time and points. I need to close that small gap to try to be able to fight at Valencia.”

Bastianini arrives at Sepang with both circuit and current form. He won last year’s Malaysian Grand Prix at the Kuala Lumpur venue and also won the sprint race last weekend in Thailand.

Meanwhile, Pramac team manager Gino Borsoi has reiterated that he considers the fight between Martin on the independent Ducati and Bagnaia on the factory machine to be completely free of any favouritism by the Italian manufacturer.

Despite Pramac switching to Yamaha machinery next season and Martin moving to Aprilia, Borsoi gave the media nothing to work with when he was questioned about the subject at a press conference alongside Tardozzi on Thursday.

“Next year is another story,” replied Borsoi. “Next year is the future. As I’ve said several times, Ducati has never fought against us in terms of giving us all the tools and support.

“They are the only team in the paddock that gives us the tools and the chance to fight for the championship. So far no factory team [has given the same kind of] support as Ducati.

“I don’t want to say anything more. It’s clear they are really beside us and helping us.”

Borsoi’s comments were followed shortly after by a warm embrace with Tardozzi.

Pramac won the teams’ championship in 2023, but the factory team wrapped up the 2024 title last weekend in Thailand.

Liam Lawson insists his attitude to racing in Formula 1 will not change and he does not believe the Red Bull hierarchy will call for him to alter his approach despite his incident with Sergio Perez at the Mexico Grand Prix.

Lawson, in his second race since his promotion to the RB team, apologised to Perez for showing him the middle finger during their intense battle in Mexico City.

The New Zealander came to blows with his rival on lap 19 at Turn 4 where, after being pushed wide as the Red Bull attempted an overtake, he kept his foot in and the pair then collided at the following right-hander.

While the Mexican managed to stay ahead for the rest of the lap, he eventually lost out as the RB breezed past him on the main straight.

In his frustration at the situation, Lawson showed Perez the finger as he overtook – a moment that was captured on television.

He may have apologised for the gesture, but Lawson is not about to change his aggressive nature when battling on the track.

“My attitude towards racing and how I approach races in Formula 1 won’t change, that’s how I’ll always be,” he said.

“But at the same time there’s things in there, if I make mistakes I’ll always learn from them, and clearly in Mexico I made a mistake, and I’ll learn from it. 

“Briefly we spoke after the race, but at the same time we left the track very early, immediately afterwards anyway. I think it was an on-track fight and I apologise obviously for what I did after the incident.

Liam Lawson, RB F1 Team VCARB 01, Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing RB20

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

“But in terms of the fight we had on track, it was, I guess, deemed as a racing incident and something that was an in-the-moment battle.

“I’ll learn from, maybe, mistakes that I made. But at the same time, I’ll take advice from everybody I can and my target is not to go out and make enemies with anybody, that’s not the goal obviously, but at the same time I’m not here to make friends, I’m here to win.” 

Speaking after the incident in Mexico, Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko said it was an “unnecessary collision” and that he saw “Lawson as being more to blame”.

Lawson could still find himself at the senior Red Bull team next year should they opt to drop an underperforming Perez.

He is certainly in contention should the shuffle occur, with current RB team-mate Yuki Tsunoda heading for his first drive of a Red Bull at the Abu Dhabi test while team principal Christian Horner has also hinted the team could be tempted to make a move for Franco Colapinto – who has impressed for Williams but currently does not have a race seat in 2025.

Asked if he had spoken to Marko and Horner since the scrap with Perez, Lawson replied: “I don’t think they want me to race differently.

“But obviously the target is not to make contact with another Red Bull car, and as I said at the time it wasn’t my intention in the moment, and looking back maybe I could have avoided it and clearly that would have been the right thing to do at the time.”

Ducati says Andrea Iannone’s comeback outing in this weekend’s Malaysian Grand Prix is a reward for what he missed in MotoGP during his four-year ban from competition.

The Borgo Panigale manufacturer wants Iannone to just have fun and not put any pressure on himself as he joins the VR46 team on a GP23 bike at Sepang, substituting for Fabio di Giannantonio at VR46.

Once it became clear that 26-year-old Di Giannantonio will be skipping the final two races of the year to undergo a surgery on the shoulder he broke in the Austrian Grand Prix, both Ducati and VR46 decided that the best alternative would be to replace him with Iannone in Malaysia.

The Italian has a long relationship with Ducati, having raced for the marque for four seasons between 2013-16 – including two years at the factory team alongside Andrea Dovizioso.

He was a part of Aprilia’s MotoGP programme in 2019 when he was tested positive for traces of Drostanolone, an anabolic steroid present on the list of prohibited substances of the World Anti-Doping Agency.

He was subsequently banned from active competition for four years and it was only at the beginning of 2024 that he could race competitively again, as he joined the World Superbike Championship with Go Eleven Ducati.

Andrea Iannone, Team VR46

Photo by: Media VR46

Ducati bosses are aware that MotoGP has changed a lot since Iannone last raced in the premier class and want the one-time grand prix winner to not take things seriously as he teams up with Marco Bezzecchi at Valentino Rossi’s squad.

“What we ask of Andrea is that he has fun,” Ducati CEO Gigi Dall’Igna told Motorsport.com. “In terms of performance, we can’t ask anything of someone who hasn’t been on a grand prix bike for so long, with the tyres so different to what he knows, and without having done a test.

“This must be a reward for everything he hasn’t been able to do in the last few years.”

Mauro Grassilli, Ducati’s sporting director, added: “We believe he can put on a show.”

VR46 team manager Pablo Nieto echoed the comments of Ducati’s management, saying that the team can’t expect him to be on par with rivals due to a lack of experience on contemporary MotoGP machinery.

However, Nieto added that there are no doubts about just how talented the 35-year-old is, having scored five podiums and a victory in WSBK this year despite being on a satellite bike.

Andrea Iannone, Team Go Eleven

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

“What we hope is that Andrea enjoys it. At the same time, we know it will be complicated for him, because he hasn’t done any previous testing,” said Neito.

“We know that he has an incredible talent, he has already shown in the past that he is a very fast rider.”

Although Di Giannantonio is due to miss the final two rounds of the season, the statement announcing Iannone’s return made it clear that he will be riding for VR46 at the Malaysia GP only.

Motorsport.com understands that Ducati’s test rider Michele Pirro will step in at VR46 at the final race of the season, the venue for which remains in doubt following severe flooding in Valencia.

The FIA Rally Star programme will provide extra support to rising star Romet Jurgenson and has opted to retain Taylor Gill and Max Smart to contest the 2025 FIA Junior WRC.

The three drivers have impressed after earning selection into the FIA’s fully-funded programme that aims to unearth future WRC talent.

Jose Caparo (Peru), Gill (Australia), Jurgenson (Estonia) and Smart (South Africa) impressed judges to earn fully funded drives in this year’s Junior WRC.

This year was intended to be a learning year although Jurgenson and Gill found themselves locked in a fight for the Junior WRC title with the former coming out on top.

As a result, the 24-year-old will receive a fully-funded drive in the WRC’s second tier WRC2 class. FIA rally Star has now confirmed it will extend its support from four events to six next year. Jurgenson will pilot an M-Sport-build Ford Fiesta Rally2 although his event schedule is yet to be announced.

“We were already looking forward to doing four WRC2 events with M-Sport as our prize for winning the Junior WRC title but to get two extra events thanks to the support of FIA Rally Star is really great and I can’t thank the FIA enough,” said Jurgenson.

“As in 2024, I am trying my best to add some events with my own sponsors, but the overall target is to get the maximum out of the year in terms of experience and developing as a Rally2 driver. It’s a new category for me, new car, new speeds, new events…

“Everything is different, but I still want to show my potential at some point in the year so it’s not all about gaining experience, but also to show my speed, which is really important for continuing my career.”

Romet Jurgenson, Oja Siim, Ford Fiesta R3

Photo by: Jaanus Ree – Red Bull Content Pool

After analysing extensive data and considering the recommendations of the FIA Rally Star team of experts, the FIA Rally Star Committee agreed that Gill and Smart will embark on their second seasons in the Junior WRC in 2025. Caparo and co-driver Esther Gutierrez will no longer be part of the programme.

“Since they were selected for the FIA Rally Star programme, Max, Romet and Taylor have not only demonstrated their talent but also their determination and it’s only right they have been rewarded with further opportunities to learn and progress in 2025, said FIA Deputy President for Sport Robert Reid.

“At the same time, it’s a further demonstration of the success of FIA Rally Star that young hopefuls with limited experience who came through from grassroots level via selection events organised by FIA Member Clubs are preparing to embark on their second seasons in the FIA World Rally Championship.

“This will incentivise other aspiring WRC champions to start their motorsport adventures by joining their FIA Member Club and discovering the possibilities that exist.

“I’d also like to thank Abito and Esther for their contributions to FIA Rally Star and I look forward to seeing how the learnings and experience from this programme help them in their future motor sport journeys.”

Whatever way you slice many of the controversial overtaking clashes in Formula 1 of late – particularly those involving Max Verstappen – there’s one element that cannot be denied.

When it comes to drivers fighting hard, title rivals going toe to toe, the best racing machines on the planet being thrown at each other – it makes a great television spectacle. TV can’t replace the buzz of the crowd and the raucous response to great or contentious overtaking moves, but F1 – really more than any other – is a sport designed for broadcasting.

And yet, there is one development in all the excellent output Formula One Management (FOM) produces for its world feed coverage that needs to be undone for the sake of the championship’s sporting sanctity.

And it’s pertinent to the current furore over Verstappen’s driving towards Lando Norris at Austin. In that case, there was a healthy dose of deja vu from Brazil 2021 and the Dutchman’s controversial clash there with Lewis Hamilton.

This is how, in both episodes, the live onboard feed from Verstappen’s car was pointing backwards at the time of each incident (in 2021 it cut there seconds before the clash Turn 4 occurred).

This meant that the respective stewards of those meetings had to make their calls without a very important piece of evidence, which showed the Dutchman’s full attempts to make the corner in real time. They do have steering lock data available as part of their telemetry assessments, but this is rarely explained for watching viewers.

A forward-facing onboard is generally the best view of a drivers’ perspective in any racing move, but when the opposite angle is being used for the live broadcast (including on FOM’s OTT offering, F1 TV) the critical view can only be accessed by the officials and teams when cars return to the pits and recordings from every onboard camera are downloaded.

In Brazil 2021, this was what formed Mercedes’ doomed right-of-review request regarding why Verstappen wasn’t even assessed for a penalty there.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB16B, battles with Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W12

Photo by: Charles Coates / Motorsport Images

For McLaren’s own similar attempt this time around, however, Motorsport.com understands that the forward-facing feed from Verstappen’s car, when viewed after the Austin weekend, played little part in how the team put together its own unsuccessful legal argument against Norris’s Austin penalty.

McLaren was and remains convinced that Norris was so far ahead of Verstappen that the stewards were wrong not to consider the latter the attacking car, having had his rival’s MCL38 blast by on the outside with DRS.

The key aspect of its legal challenge was the timing of ‘Document 69’ that announced Norris’s penalty – they feel it simply wasn’t sent out in time to form any defence, which combines with how they wished both drivers had been able to state their respective cases. The onboard camera footage just bolstered their position, rather than established it to the point of driving its right-of-review request.

In Mexico last weekend, the forward-facing onboard feeds added considerably to F1’s spectacle and detracted from it at the same time.

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner put on theatrical display in defending the Dutchman post-race – armed with printed telemetry data.

With it, Horner claimed that in Verstappen’s next (but not last) clash with Norris post-Austin the Briton “would’ve run off track” as “you can see from his onboard steering” regarding Mexico’s Turn 4.

But a view of the McLaren’s onboard actually shows his trajectory was surely on to make the corner with at least some of his car within track limits (fine per the rules). It was Verstappen’s feed that shows the critical, brief, opposite lock that left Norris with no space and having to go off.

And then there was Charles Leclerc’s latest brilliantly wild moment – nearly dropping his Ferrari into the Peraltada barriers as Norris bore down late on.

His car’s onboard feed is looking back at the McLaren throughout. And while the off-board helicopter showed how he held the twin massive oversteer slides towards and through what is a pretty small run-off area running onto the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez’s main straight, the art of his effort to avoid a massive shunt was lost to millions of watching live viewers.

The Shotover F1 camera, which is operated by Lieven Hermans, Aerial Camera Operator for F1, mounted on a helicopter

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

Pontificating over the minor is very F1, but the entertainment factor provided by these feeds just shouldn’t be allowed to interfere with the job sporting officiating, as it currently does. The teams and drivers have at regular times pointed out recently how tough a job the stewards and race officials have in this delightfully complex sporting exercise, so why compromise their efforts for the sake of a camera shot that can quickly become inferior anyway?

Any functioning society wouldn’t expect legal investigators to examine a crime with their view deliberately impaired – so why should F1 be any different? Helpfully, change is afoot.  

Motorsport.com understands that a process to keep the forward-facing cameras broadcasting constantly live – at least for race control officials and stewards – is currently being developed for the FIA. This will combine with the extra analysis tools it has developed with its Remote Operations Centre in Geneva since 2022.

There is understood to be a considerable technical challenge to rolling this out, but if it can be achieved, it will solve one of F1’s glaring problems with ruling on contentious decisions. Small scale, but progress at least and something that would surely save an awful lot of future angst.