Toyota claimed pole position for the Bahrain World Endurance Championship finale to move one point closer to Porsche in the manufacturers’ standings.

Brendon Hartley took the top spot in the Hyperpole session on Friday evening aboard the #8 Toyota GR010 HYBRID Le Mans Hypercar, his first pole since this race last year.

It means that Toyota goes into Saturday’s Bahrain 8 Hours only nine points behind Porsche in the manufacturers’ classification.

Hartley’s 1m46.714s gave him the top spot by three tenths from team-mate Nyck de Vries, who lapped in 1m47.037s aboard the sister Toyota.

“We had a tough day yesterday and were not happy with the few things,” said Hartley.

“I learnt from quali one where I didn’t get the tyre prep quite right and then the car came alive in Hyperpole.”

Antonio Giovinazzi took third with a 1m47.080s, only four hundredths behind the second Toyota, in the best of the factory Ferrari 499P LMHs.

#51 Ferrari AF Corse Ferrari 499P: Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado, Antonio Giovinazzi

Photo by: Shameem Fahath

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Top Porsche was the customer Proton 963 LMDh in the hands of Neel Jani, who was a further two tenths back on a 1m47.234s.

Antonio Fuoco took fifth on the grid in the second of the AF Corse-run factory Ferraris with a 1m47.527s.

That put him just ahead of the championship-leading factory Penske-run Porsche in which Kevin Estre took sixth with a 1m47.542s.

The second of the Penske cars was seventh in Matt Campbell’s hands, while Norman Nato was eighth in the only one of the two Jota customer Porsches to make it through to Hyperpole for the fastest 10 cars in opening qualifying.

The two BMW M Hybrid V8 LMDhs brought up the rear of the times, Dries Vanthoor ahead of Robin Frijns.

Frijns, however, did a time lost to a track limits infringement that would have put him seventh.

Cadillac failed to make it through to Hyperpole with its solo V-Series.R LMDh run by Chip Ganassi Racing, Alex Lynn ending up 13th after only posting a representative time when the chequered flag had already fallen.

Both Peugeot 9X8 2024 LMHs and Alpine A424 LMDhs were knocked out at the first stage of qualifying.

#95 United Autosports McLaren 720S LMGT3 Evo: Joshua Caygill, Nicolas Pino, Marino Sato

Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images

The United Autosports team locked out the LMGT3 front row as McLaren took its second class pole of the season after the Inception Racing IMSA SportsCar Championship squad took qualifying honours at the Le Mans 24 Hours in June.

Josh Caygill grabbed the top spot in the times in the best of the McLaren 720S GT3 EVOs when he lapped in 2m02.201s, just two thousandths of second quicker than team-mate James Cottingham’s 2m02.203s.

The McLarens ended up more than a tenth clear of Francois Heriau, who posted a 2m02.367s in the best of the AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3s.

Sarah Bovy, the only driver to take two poles in LMGT3 this year, ended up fourth in the Iron Dames Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2.

Alex Malykhin, who has already been crowned LMGT3 champion with team-mates Joel Sturm and Klaus Bachler, took fifth in the Manthey PureRxing Porsche 911 GT3-R despite carrying 35kg of success ballast.

Both WRT BMW M4 GT3s failed to make the cut for Hyperpole in the hands of Darren Leung and Ahmad Al Harthy.

The Bahrain 8 Hours, the eighth and final round of the 2024 WEC, begins at 14:00 local time on Saturday.

Photos from Bahrain Friday Practice & Qualifying

WEC Bahrain 8 Hours – Qualifying results

Williams team principal James Vowles has revealed he has spoken to more than one of the team’s rivals as he “actively works” to get Franco Colapinto a Formula 1 drive next season.

Colapinto has impressed since he replaced Logan Sargeant from the Italian Grand Prix onwards and, in his five races so far, he has scored five points and never finished below 12th.

Despite his eye-catching performances, there is no room for him at Williams next season, with Alex Albon remaining and Carlos Sainz, who won the Mexican Grand Prix last time out, joining from Ferrari.

Speaking recently at an Autosport Business panel in Austin, Vowles said he wanted to see Colapinto on the grid in 2025 – even if it meant he was driving for a rival team that would take points away from Williams.

There are two empty seats remaining for next year, with RB and Sauber yet to firm up their driver line-ups and, with Red Bull team boss Christian Horner conceding Colapinto’s outings have been turning heads, Vowles has revealed talks have taken place with some teams over a possible move for the 21-year-old.

“The best I can really tell you is we’re actively working with teams that are interested to try and find the right arrangement that helps Franco, that protects Franco as well and protects all parties,” said Vowles.

“It is never straightforward between Formula 1 teams, because you’re fighting on track and you’re trying to find a solution for a career of a young man.

Franco Colapinto, Williams FW46

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

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“We are exploring possibilities with a number of teams that are interested at the moment and beyond there, it would be wrong to do anything more than speculate here. There’s nothing to really communicate beyond that point.

“When there is I’ll happily talk about it, because he’s an exceptional driver, and I really mean that – go look outside, and there were tens of thousands of individuals here to support a driver that’s been in our championship for five races.

“He’s doing an outstanding job on track, and as I’ve said from the very beginning, earn your position and elements will come your way. But beyond there, I think especially when we look at the fact he’s a 21-year-old, my responsibility is also towards him and making sure we do the right thing. I want to make sure that when we have news [we will] come to the world, but there really isn’t much to talk about.”

The possibility of Colapinto being loaned to another team is something else that has been mooted in recent days, although that is something that Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko believes is a non-starter.

Vowles would not be drawn on whether a temporary switch away from Williams could be an option as he aims to do the best for both Colapinto and the Grove-based squad.

“It’s the same conversation I just had,” he replied when asked if any deal would include a “bungee” back to Williams.

“In any circumstance, I want to make sure we understand what others are interested in and then we’ll form our basis as to what’s the best solution for everyone.

“He’s earning his place. He needs to do more on track to keep earning his place as a result of things, but he’s shining, and that’s why there’s interest from teams and our responsibility in that, as I have responsibility both towards him and Williams, and hopefully we’ll have some great news to be able to talk to everyone about but today that isn’t available.”

Christian Eckes was a dominant force in Saturday’s NASCAR Truck race at Martinsville, but a rash of late yellows completely changed the complexion of the finish. Several drivers chose to pit for fresh tires, rapidly cutting through the field and one of them had his sights set on the Championship 4.

Taylor Gray drove all the way to the back bumper of Eckes and powered into the race lead. Moments later, Eckes ran into the back of Gray and shot him up the track. While Gray’s title hopes shattered into pieces, more drivers with fresh tires were still charging.

Ben Rhodes, who was already eliminated from the playoffs, then forced his way into the lead. Eckes did not let that stand either, performing yet another bump-and-run to retake the position with three laps to go. He went on to win the race, securing his place in the Championship 4 alongside Grant Enfinger, Corey Heim, and Ty Majeski.

Rhodes finished second in the race, Chase Purdy third, Gray fourth, and Nick Sanchez fifth. Layne Riggs, Corey Heim, Tyler Ankrum, Grant Enfinger, and Stewart Friesen rounded out the top-ten.

“Like I told everybody, I wasn’t going to let us lose this race,” said Eckes as boos erupted from the stands. “The truck was too good. The 17 [Gray] was just hard racing. I feel bad about the 99 [Rhodes]. I just got way too loose entering the corner. Everybody’s (not) really happy with me, but I don’t really care.”

While he was giving his winning interview, an irate Gray was marching down pit road, flanked by NASCAR security and several reporters. He walked all the way to Victory Lane and shared an expletive-filled exchange with Eckes.

“Do you know how many chances I had to ship you into the f****** fence?” asked Gray.

“You should have, I guess,” replied Eckes.

Gray then appeared to say something about next week before shoving Eckes and walking off. Obviously, Gray was still livid.

“I get shipped to the fence when I raced him perfectly clean in (Turns) 1 and 2,” Gray told FOX Sports. “What comes around goes around. I have to race him next year all year long, so I guess he’s got that one for him.”

Gray was eliminated from the playoffs alongside Sanchez, Rajah Caruth, and Tyler Ankrum.

We expected the newly resurfaced track at the Brazillian Grand Prix to cause issues for teams with tyre thermal degradation. Still, nobody foresaw the issue with the bumpiness of the track itself! Most teams have commented on it – though it didn’t stop McLaren from claiming a 1-2 sprint pole position after Friday’s sprint qualifying session. But with Mercedes and Aston Martin struggling, and Max Verstappen taking a 5-place grid penalty, what can we expect over the Brazil GP weekend? Jon Noble and Filip Cleeren chat within the paddock to find out more.

Oscar Piastri pipped his McLaren team-mate Lando Norris to top sprint qualifying at Formula 1’s 2024 Brazilian Grand Prix, with Charles Leclerc third for Ferrari ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.

The McLaren drivers dominated qualifying and took very different approaches to SQ3 compared to their rivals.

Elsewhere, there was a shock SQ2 exit for Lewis Hamilton, while Sergio Perez could only take the changed chassis on his Red Bull RB20 to 13th and Oliver Bearman again shone for Haas.

In SQ3, the McLarens came out very early once on the softs they had all run for the opening two sessions, with rain clouds steadily building up and track temperatures plummeting.

But with softer softs for the 2024 event here, the McLarens had no trouble firing them up, nor keeping them alive on the resurfaced track.

Norris blasted to a 1m08.928s with his first run, with Piastri trailing him before they quickly returned to the pits – in the former’s case for a front wing setting adjustment, while the latter went straight through – before having another attempt on the same set of softs.

Piastri used his second attempt to head Norris by 0.029s with a 1m08.899s, with Norris abandoning his second go after producing a poor middle sector compared to his first attempt.

The best of the single-effort runners in SQ3 was Leclerc, with Verstappen slotting in behind in fourth and Mexico winner Carlos Sainz fifth in the other Ferrari.

Then came George Russell as the sole Mercedes runner in SQ3, as Pierre Gasly, Liam Lawson, Alex Albon and Bearman rounded out the top 10.

Bearman might have done better had he not had a big moment in the Senna S and gone so wide in Turn 2 that he had his time deleted for track limits, before staying on a lap that would not count despite having time to back off and go again, plus with the soft tyres apparently capable of doing multiple laps here.

At the end of SQ2 topped by Norris looking in dominant form at this stage, Bearman and Lawson got through with just a single flying lap in the middle segment compared to most of the rest, while Nico Hulkenberg only had one shot too and he failed to progress.

Hulkenberg was knocked out around the big fallers in Hamilton and Perez, with Franco Colapinto and Valtteri Bottas also eliminated for Williams and Sauber respectively.

Perez’s exit came after he failed to complete his final out-lap in time and so was ordered to park his car in the pits by Red Bull.

In SQ1, which Norris also topped, Colapinto’s last-gasp improvement knocked out Alonso, who had previously jumped from the drop zone with his second and final run on the mediums.

He was joined in exiting at the first hurdle by Esteban Ocon, Yuki Tsunoda and Lance Stroll, who all set personal bests on their final fliers before being shuffled back, plus Sauber’s Zhou Guanyu.

Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc has been handed a €10,000 fine, half of which suspended, for swearing in the Mexico Grand Prix’s post-race press conference.

After finishing third in Mexico City, Leclerc used an expletive in the FIA press conference to describe his thinking as he went off the track at Mexico’s final corner, which allowed McLaren driver Lando Norris through to claim second.

“I had one oversteer and then when I recovered from that oversteer, I had an oversteer from the other side and then I was like, ‘f***’,” Leclerc said.

He then realised he might get in trouble over his choice of words given FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem’s recent crackdown on swearing, with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen handed a community service penalty for his own use of the word in Singapore.

“Oh, sorry! Oh no, I don’t want to join Max,” Leclerc laughed.

But after investigating the matter on Friday evening in Brazil, the FIA stewards decided to hand the Ferrari driver a €10,000 fine instead, with €5,000 suspended provided there is no repeat offence over the next 12 months.

Explaining their verdict, the stewards argued that Leclerc immediately being apologetic was a mitigating factor in his punishment, and that Leclerc’s offence was not at the same level as Verstappen’s swearing in Singapore.

Carlos Sainz, Scuderia Ferrari, Charles Leclerc, Scuderia Ferrari

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

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“The Stewards reviewed the transcript of the Post-Race Drivers’ Press Conference in Mexico and found that Charles Leclerc, the driver of car 16, used language in response to a somewhat leading question asking him ‘What did you say to yourself’ in relation to the significant moment towards the end of the race when Leclerc was fighting to control the car at the exit of the last corner,” the verdict read.

“In response, Leclerc used coarse language being the accurate recollection of what he thought to himself at the time. Leclerc immediately realized his error and apologized. Such language is not considered suitable for broadcast.

“This is “Misconduct” as defined in Article 20 of the International Sporting Code, and is a breach of Article 12.2.1.k. The Stewards noted that the language was not directed at anyone or any group and that Leclerc immediately apologised.

“During the hearing Leclerc expressed his regret for his momentary lack of judgment and shared that he understood his responsibility as a role model for the sport. The Stewards considered the mitigation factor that Leclerc was immediately apologetic.

“The Stewards while noting that the driver’s contrite behavior conclude that a breach has occurred and a penalty is warranted. The Stewards do not consider that this breach reached the same level as the most recent case and as such chose to levy a fine of €10,000 with €5,000 suspended pending no repeat within 12 months.”

Verstappen therefore remains the only F1 driver to serve community service penalties, with the Dutchman previously joining the FIA stewards at the 2019 Formula E round in Marrakesh as an observer to gain a better understanding of how they worked.

Verstappen was given the penalty for shoving Esteban Ocon in parc ferme at the 2018 Brazilian Grand Prix.

Later on, Verstappen also joined a meeting of the FIA’s International Stewards Programme as part of his community service.