Weekend preview: F1, Maini, Patel, MRF, VW

Germany returns to the F1 map after a one-year hiatus at Hockenheim.

It will be the home race for Mercedes, the team that has dominated the championship since the advent of the V6 era but has faced stern competition from Ferrari - and to some extent Red Bull - this year.

The two teams will be locking horns once again, with Red Bull again expected to be in the mix.

Force India should also be competitive around Hockenheim, but must remain wary of Renault and Haas, which has been particularly strong this year.

Kush Maini and Krishnaraaj Mahadik (British F3, Belgium)

The second half of the British F3 season will get underway this weekend at the legendary Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium.

India will have a strong representation on the grid, courtesy of frontrunners Kush Maini and Krishnaraaj Mahadik.

Maini currently sits third in the championship with two pole positions and one victory, but needs to up his game a notch to close the gap to Linus Lundqvist and Nicolai Kjaergaard in the standings.

Mahadik, meanwhile, has been consistently finishing in the points and even scored a podium at Snetterton.

Audi India-backed Aditya Patel will continue his sophomore campaign in the Blancpain GT Asia Series for OD Racing at Japan’s Fuji circuit this weekend.

While Patel hasn’t been able to replicate his 2017 success this year, one can reasonably expect him to finish in the points in both races and perhaps even sneak a top-five finish.

Akhil Rabindra (GT4 European series, Belgium)

Akhil Rabindra will be aiming for another strong finish as the GT4 European Series moves to Belgium’s Spa Francorchamps circuit.

Rabindra, who drives a BMW M4 GT4 alongside former Le Mans driver Stephane Lemeret for 3Y Technologies, has performed reasonably well in his rookie season so far, securing a best result of fourth at Brands Hatch.

The second round of MRF F1600 championship will take place at the Madras Motor Race Track this weekend.

Ashwin Datta sweeped the opening round of the series last month and is again expected to be the driver to beat.

Nayan Chatterjee, Goutham Parekh and Raghul Rangasamy will also be the ones to watch, given their past success in single-seater racing.

Round 2 of Volkswagen Ameo Cup will be held concurrently to MRF F1600 at the MMRT this weekend.

One can expect a close fight between Round 1 double winner Dhruv Mohite, last year’s frontrunner Saurav Bandyopadhyay as well as former Ameo Cup junior champion Jeet Jhabakh.