The Latest on one of the busiest days in motorsports (all times local):
8:30 a.m.
Thousands of fans have started pouring into Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where clothing is apparently optional with soaring temperatures this year, to see the 102nd running of the Indy 500.
The expected high is 93 degrees, which would eclipse the 1937 race as the hottest on record. Some 300,000 fans are expected at the speedway.
The temperatures are also causing concern for drivers. It’s hotter than it has been all month, and nobody is quite sure what that means for handling, passing and speed when the green flag drops.
— Dave Skretta in Indianapolis
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8:15 a.m.
Scott Dixon will be auctioning off his customized helmet from the Indianapolis 500 after the race, and all the proceeds will go to a UK-based charity that supports mental health.
The helmet has the name Jessie painted across the front, just above the visor, to honor his wife Emma’s younger sister. She died unexpectedly in 2013 and would have been 30 this month.
— Dave Skretta in Indianapolis
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2 p.m.
The Monaco Grand Prix is close to home for Charles Leclerc — literally.
In fact, the 20-year-old Leclerc could literally jump out of bed and into his car: Leclerc lives in an apartment near the race’s start-finish line.
He is the first driver from Monaco itself — or Monegasque — to compete on the famed track since Olivier Beretta in 1994. Leclerc watched his first Monaco GP from a friend’s apartment when he was 4 years old.
After winning the F2 championship last year, Leclerc got fast-tracked into F1.
He drives for the unheralded Sauber team, but is rated very highly and few expect him to stay there for long.
— Jerome Pugmire in Monaco
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1:40 p.m.
After days of unbroken sunshine, the weather is cloudy and somewhat windy before the start of the Monaco Grand Prix.
Still, it takes more to deter the Champagne-swilling fans waiting for F1’s most glamorous race to start. They are perched on apartment balconies overlooking the track or watching from yachts as the loud music reverberates around the famed harbor.
Sebastian Vettel won last year and the Ferrari driver needs another good performance to claw back his 17-point deficit to championship leader Lewis Hamilton.
The Mercedes driver has won the past two races of the season, but has his work cut out seeing as Monaco’s tight 3.4-kilometer (2.1-mile) course is the hardest to overtake on in F1.
Hamilton starts from third on the grid, while Vettel goes from second place and Daniel Ricciardo is on pole position, just like in 2016.
Max Verstappen — Ricciardo’s Red Bull teammate — is last on the grid after crashing before Saturday’s qualifying. He will look to carve his way through the field with his trademark aggressive driving.
— Jerome Pugmire in Monaco
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One of the busiest days in motorsports has arrived.
The Formula One series kicks things off with the Monaco Grand Prix on Sunday, the jewel in the F1 calendar. After a difficult start to his title defense, Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton has won the past two races and leads Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel by 17 points.
Hamilton starts from third place on the grid behind Red Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo and Vettel. Ricciardo took the pole position.
The 102nd running of the Indianapolis 500 sees the career finale of Danica Patrick at the biggest race on the IndyCar calendar. She has stolen the spotlight for “The Great American Race” — but Helio Castroneves is chasing a record-tying fourth victory in the twilight of his IndyCar career.
NASCAR wraps things up Sunday night with one of its biggest races of the year, the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in North Carolina. Kyle Busch is on the pole. He has won a Cup points race at every track on the NASCAR circuit except Charlotte. Kevin Harvick has won the last three Cup races.
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More AP auto racing: https://racing.ap.org
