Chinese HRT reserve driver Ma Qing Hua will make his F1 debut at Monza in Italy. Qing Hua replaces Indian Narain Karthikeyan for the first free practice session on Friday, which begins at 10am local time. The 24 year old becomes the first Chinese driver to take part in an official session during a Grand Prix weekend.
Earlier this year he joined HRT as reserve driver and has since been working on its development programme, including several tests in various cars, outings on the simulator and a ‘rigorous physical training regime’. Qing Hua first drove the HRT F112 on-track in the Young Driver test at Silverstone, thus picking up his Super Licence.
“This is a very important step towards my dream of becoming a Formula 1 driver,” Qing Hua said. “I’m very excited about driving at a circuit like Monza. The objective of this session is to continue advancing with my programme, rack up more miles and experience at the wheel of an F1 car and help the team with whatever they need."
“I’m excited but also calm about it because I’ve been training hard in the past months to be prepared for when the opportunity presented itself. I’ve also worked on the simulator to get to know the circuits a bit better and how a Formula 1 car reacts. Over the last months I’ve been with the team at Grands Prix and I’ve also learned a lot from the engineers and my team-mates, who have shared information and their experience which will be very useful.”Karthikeyan will step back into the cockpit on Friday afternoon.
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2024 F1 Championship Standings (as of April 21)
P | Driver | Team | Points |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 110 |
2 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | 85 |
3 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 76 |
4 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | 69 |
5 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 58 |
6 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 38 |
7 | George Russell | Mercedes | 33 |
8 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | 31 |
9 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 19 |
10 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 9 |
11 | Yuki Tsunoda | RB | 7 |
12 | Oliver Bearman | Ferrari | 6 |
13 | Nico Hülkenberg | Haas | 4 |
14 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | 1 |
15 | Alexander Albon | Williams | 0 |
16 | Daniel Ricciardo | RB | 0 |
17 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | 0 |
18 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | 0 |
19 | Valtteri Bottas | Kick Sauber | 0 |
20 | Logan Sargeant | Williams | 0 |
21 | Zhou Guanyu | Kick Sauber | 0 |
P | Team | Points |
---|---|---|
1 | Oracle Red Bull Racing | 195 |
Poles: 5 Sprint wins: 1 GP wins: 4 | ||
2 | Scuderia Ferrari | 151 |
Poles: 0 Sprint wins: 0 GP wins: 1 | ||
3 | McLaren F1 Team | 96 |
Poles: 0 Sprint wins: 0 GP wins: 0 | ||
4 | Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team | 52 |
Poles: 0 Sprint wins: 0 GP wins: 0 | ||
5 | Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team | 40 |
Poles: 0 Sprint wins: 0 GP wins: 0 | ||
6 | Visa Cash App RB F1 Team | 7 |
Poles: 0 Sprint wins: 0 GP wins: 0 | ||
7 | MoneyGram Haas F1 Team | 5 |
Poles: 0 Sprint wins: 0 GP wins: 0 | ||
8 | Williams Racing | 0 |
Poles: 0 Sprint wins: 0 GP wins: 0 | ||
9 | BWT Alpine F1 Team | 0 |
Poles: 0 Sprint wins: 0 GP wins: 0 | ||
10 | Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber | 0 |
Poles: 0 Sprint wins: 0 GP wins: 0 |
2024 MotoGP Championship Standings (as of April 14)
P | Rider | Team | Points |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Jorge Martin | Pramac Racing | 80 |
2 | Enea Bastianini | Ducati Lenovo | 59 |
3 | Maverick Viñales | Aprilia Racing | 56 |
4 | Pedro Acosta | GASGAS Tech3 | 54 |
5 | Francesco Bagnaia | Ducati Lenovo | 50 |
6 | Brad Binder | Red Bull KTM | 49 |
7 | Aleix Espargaro | Aprilia Racing | 39 |
8 | Marc Marquez | Gresini Racing | 36 |
9 | Fabio Di Giannantonio | Pertamina Enduro VR46 | 25 |
10 | Jack Miller | Red Bull KTM | 22 |
11 | Marco Bezzecchi | Pertamina Enduro VR46 | 20 |
12 | Fabio Quartararo | Monster Energy Yamaha | 19 |
13 | Alex Marquez | Gresini Racing | 14 |
14 | Miguel Oliveira | Trackhouse Racing | 13 |
15 | Joan Mir | Repsol Honda | 7 |
16 | Raul Fernandez | Trackhouse Racing | 7 |
17 | Augusto Fernandez | GASGAS Tech3 | 7 |
18 | Johann Zarco | LCR Honda Castrol | 5 |
19 | Alex Rins | Monster Energy Yamaha | 3 |
20 | Takaaki Nakagami | LCR Honda Idemitsu | 2 |
21 | Luca Marini | Repsol Honda | 0 |
22 | Franco Morbidelli | Pramac Racing | 0 |
P | Team | Points |
---|---|---|
1 | Ducati Lenovo Team | 109 |
Poles: 1 Sprint wins: 0 GP wins: 1 | ||
2 | Aprilia Racing | 95 |
Poles: 1 Sprint wins: 2 GP wins: 1 | ||
3 | Prima Pramac Racing | 80 |
Poles: 1 Sprint wins: 1 GP wins: 1 | ||
4 | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | 71 |
Poles: 0 Sprint wins: 0 GP wins: 0 | ||
5 | Red Bull GASGAS Tech3 | 61 |
Poles: 0 Sprint wins: 0 GP wins: 0 | ||
6 | Gresini Racing MotoGP | 50 |
Poles: 0 Sprint wins: 0 GP wins: 0 | ||
7 | Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team | 45 |
Poles: 0 Sprint wins: 0 GP wins: 0 | ||
8 | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP | 22 |
Poles: 0 Sprint wins: 0 GP wins: 0 | ||
9 | Trackhouse Racing | 20 |
Poles: 0 Sprint wins: 0 GP wins: 0 | ||
10 | Repsol Honda Team | 7 |
Poles: 0 Sprint wins: 0 GP wins: 0 | ||
11 | LCR Honda Team | 7 |
Poles: 0 Sprint wins: 0 GP wins: 0 |