Category: Miami

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Dominant Verstappen beats Leclerc to Miami GP victory

Max Verstappen took victory with a commanding performance at the Miami Grand Prix after passing polesitter Charles Leclerc early on.

A crash and a hydraulic issue had limited Verstappen’s running in practice before he qualified third behind Ferrari, who qualified first and second for the first time since the Japanese Grand Prix of 2019, 48 races prior after they both capitalised on a mistake by the reigning champion in qualifying.

Due to an issue heating the fuel up, Aston Martin’s promising looking qualifying was undone as both Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll were forced to start from the pit lane.

Verstappen with a great start. Image courtesy of Red Bull Content Pool

Off the start, Leclerc kept the lead through the first corner as Max Verstappen got round Carlos Sainz at Turn Two, splitting the Ferraris and giving Red Bull a near perfect start.

The Monegasque opened out a second advantage to the reigning champion after the first two tours of the circuit, setting the fastest lap as both of the leaders began to drop Sainz.

Having made a poor start from sixth, Sir Lewis Hamilton was passed by both Pierre Gasly and Fernando Alonso, with the Briton claiming that Alonso had hit him, but he streamed back ahead of the double world champion shortly after.

The seven-time champion then got back ahead of Gasly, regaining sixth and putting him just over two seconds behind former Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas.

Mick Schumacher and Yuki Tsunoda then engaged in an entertaining battle for 11th as the German got past, while Verstappen was beginning to close on Leclerc as Zhou Guanyu brought his Alfa Romeo back into the garage to retire.

Yuki Tsunoda fighting Mick Schumacher. Image courtesy of Red Bull Content Pool

He was told of significant graining on the Ferrari driver’s front left tyre, and he duly took full advantage by getting to within a second and passing his fellow 24-year-old into Turn One, and Leclerc then began to fall away while Sainz began to fall into the clutches of Sergio Perez.

The first stops of the race arrived on lap 13 as Tsunoda and then Kevin Magnussen came in for Hard tyres, followed by Schumacher, with the lack of longevity of the Pirelli rubber this weekend being confirmed.

Alonso’s stop was intended to gain the undercut on Gasly, but an issue on the front right delayed his getaway, and cost him time to the Frenchman.

Vettel would then engage in an entertaining battle with Williams’ Nicholas Latifi after Stroll had cleared the Canadian, with the German and then Magnussen making their way past, as Gasly’s came back out of the pits comfortably clear of Alonso as Alpine’s misfortune this season continued.

Vettel then narrowly cleared Norris as the Briton exited the pits, before Magnussen followed him through past the McLaren after a slow stop, and Perez began to lose power in his Red Bull, causing him to fall back towards Bottas, but his lap times began to improve as he returned to the pace.

Magnussen had a go at clearing Vettel at Turn 11, but he ran out of table on the outside as the 34-year-old defended well.

A great stop for Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton. Image courtesy of Mercedes Media

Hamilton came in on Lap 23 and was given a splendid stop by the Mercedes crew, and he re-joined behind George Russell after the 24-year-old’s P12 in qualifying left him out of position.

Leclerc then began using the rest of his residual grip on the Mediums as he set the fastest lap, indicative of an imminent stop, but the gap to Verstappen had risen to 4.5 seconds.

Despite his pace, he told his team that the car was “so difficult to drive,” and he was shortly thereafter brought into the pits for a set of Mediums.

Red Bull waited a couple of laps to bring Verstappen in as he got a super stop from his mechanics, and came back out ahead of Perez, who had yet to make a stop, with Sainz in the lead for the same reason.

Sainz pitted on lap 27, but had a slow stop as the crew struggled with the front left, but owing to Perez’s earlier issues, was able to re-join in front of the Mexican, before Hamilton reported to his team that he was beginning to suffer from overheating tyres.

Lance Stroll battles Magnussen. Image courtesy of Aston Martin Media

Magnussen, having finally cleared Vettel, now had a face full of Stroll’s Aston Martin, and Norris was behind the train involving Schumacher as his slow stop continued to cost him time.

As Vettel’s attempt to get back past Magnussen failed, Schumacher gladly took the opportunity to get ahead of the Aston Martin.

That left the Banbury-made cars to battle between themselves as the 29-year-old endeavoured to defend from his younger team-mate.

Schumacher was eventually allowed to get past the Dane, before a Vettel mistake at Turn Seven opened the door for Norris to gain the position.

Russell, meanwhile, had been completing a remarkably good stint, and he told his team he was more than happy to stay out in anticipation of a Safety Car or some rain as Christian Horner began to look nervously at the sky.

Gasly and Alonso made contacted as they continued their squabble as the Spaniard went for an ambitious move down the inside, and the subsequent time loss cost the 25-year-old a place to Stroll, who had yet to pit in another miserable day for Aston Martin.

Contact then ensued between Norris and Gasly, causing a puncture and a spin out of the race for the McLaren and extracting the Virtual Safety Car – an ideal opportunity for Russell to make his stop.

Gasly had been slowing after going off at Turn Eight and, as he re-joined, he turned into the back of the Briton, and the departure of his tyre followed by his stricken car lying out on track brought eventually brought out a full Safety Car.

The subsequent stops put Russell into seventh, while Aston Martin were brought back into the picture, and Esteban Ocon, having started last after being unable to contest qualifying due to an FP3 crash, was placed onto Softs.

Alonso was also given a five-second penalty for the collision with Gasly, who then came in for Softs of his own.

Most importantly though, Perez had put on fresh Mediums, leaving the Ferraris vulnerable to him for when the race restarted, and a neglect on Hamilton’s side of the garage to pit him also looked set to leave him at the mercy of Russell.

Sergio Perez in for his vital stop. Image courtesy of Red Bull Content Pool

Sainz was immediately forced to fend off Perez on the restart, but Verstappen negotiated it perfectly, remaining ahead of Leclerc as everyone kept it clean on lap 47.

Schumacher managed to clear Ocon for ninth place as he chased his first points finish, and Perez continued to attack the second Ferrari.

Russell tried to make a move stick on Hamilton, but the 37-year-old defended well before a mistake from Bottas allowed both of them to clear the Alfa Romeo, which had made contact with the barrier.

Russell did then manage to clear his Mercedes team-mate after a boisterous battle of the Britons, and Leclerc was sticking within a second of Verstappen as he chased the win.

A highly audacious attempt from Perez into Turn One, and the subsequent lock-up allowed Sainz to get back in front.

Schumacher would then dive down the inside of his friend and mentor Vettel, hitting hi and spinning him at Turn One, allowing Ocon to climb into the points, as well as Alex Albon.

Verstappen opened out the gap to a comfortable margin, and as he crossed the line on the final lap, claimed the 23rd win of his career.

It leaves him 19 points behind Leclerc in the Drivers’ Championship, while Ferrari’s lead over Red Bull has been cut to six points.

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W Series Miami Race 2: Chadwicks makes it a Double

Chadwick puts in a dominant performance to win the second race in Miami. In contrast to yesterdays race it was a clean session but still had the last lap which W Series is becoming known for.

The second fastest times in qualifying set the grid for this race. This meant Chadwick started on pole with Marti in P2, Kimiläinen in P3 and Powell in P4. Both Kimiläinen and Powell were looking to improve on their results from race 1.

Lights out and everyone gets away clean. Chadwick with a good start kept the lead into turn 1 while Kimiläinen behind her had a great start. She was alongside Marti heading towards turn 1 but gets stuck behind Chadwick and stayed in P3.

Through sector one kimiläinen stayed close to Marti which meant by the time they got to turn 11 she was lining up a move on Marti. She goes too deep just like the restart of race 1 and undoes all the hard work she had done. Next time around, on lap 2 she had another go and this time made it stick.

While this was happening Marta Garcia was making up places which is important for her after receiving a penalty after the race yesterday for colliding with Kimiläinen in the closing stages of race 1.

Powell was also wanting to improve on race 1 and was closing the gap on Marti after Kimiläinen’s move. She kept searching for a passing position but couldn’t find the right opportunity to make a move.

The pressure from Powell pushed Marti closer to Kimiläinen, and with 20 minutes to go Marti was in the slipstream of the team Puma driver. Kimiläinen made a mistake in turn 17 and Marti took back P2.

This battle was far from over though. Down the main straight Kimiläinen had more speed and takes the inside line into turn 1. Just when she thought the battle was won though, Marti gave Kimiläinen one final battle into turn 11. Marti out braked Kimiläinen and came out on top.

Trying to get in on the action, Powell makes a lunge into turn 1 on Kimiläinen. She went too deep though and couldn’t make it stick, leaving Kimiläinen to great a gap to Powell. This opened the door for Belen Garcia, but Powell was able to keep her behind.

Moore chasing down Visser before her overtake. Image courtesy of W Series Media

Further back and Moore was putting in fastest laps in an attempt to catch Visser. With 14 minutes to go Moore had caught Visser, making a great move into turn 1. This pace wasn’t too last forever though as Abbi Pulling was on the charge behind her.

Having taken fastest lap, Pulling was following Moore and passed Visser in a great move around the outside of turn 11. It wasn’t long before she was only half a second behind Moore with only 5 minutes left of the race.

Moore was holding Pulling off until the pressure seemed to get to her, and she locked up, going deep into turn 11. Pulling took advantage and made it up to P7. It only got worse for Moore as Visser got past as well in the last minute of the race.

In the final few minutes of the race Powell had closed up on Kimiläinen in P3. On the final lap after the 30 minute time Powell looked to make a move on kimiläinen. Going into turn 17 kimiläinen was pushing hard to keep Powell behind but the back end stepped out causing her to spin round. This caused some damage to Powell’s front wing, but she was able to carry on to the end.

So heartbreak again for kimiläinen but Jamie Chadwick made it a double win in Miami to start her 2022 season. Nerea Marti and a damaged Alice Powell joined her on the podium. A second W Series podium for Marti and an important points haul for Powell after yesterday’s disappointment.

All smiles from Marti, Chadwick and Powell on the podium. Image courtesy of W Series Media

Next up is Barcelona where we only have 1 race on Saturday the 21st of May.

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W Series Race 1: Chadwick Wins in an Exciting Season Opener

Jamie Chadwick opens her 2022 defence campaign with a win in a very exciting and dramatic race 1. Miami proved to be quick but had good overtaking spots as the was battles all the way down the field.

As they line up on the grid Marti was ready to cover off Chadwick into turn 1 but Chadwick was pointing towards her competitor. The rest of the grid follow behind as all 18 drivers made it to the race after various crashes in qualifying.

Lights out and disaster for Marti who stalled on the grid along with Powell. Heartbreak for Marti after taking pole but Chadwick and Kimiläinen made it through with great starts for each of them.

Jamie Chadwick leads into turn 1. Image courtesy of W Series Media

After stalling Powell was in P18 and was pushing to catch up to the pack on the opening lap. She hit the wall on the outside of turn 7.  She hit some dust just off the racing line and it dragged her wide, causing her to hit the wall which sprayed lots a debris.

This brought out the safety car which means that, in W Series, the clock keeps running down until the track is clear to go racing. But, with 18 minutes left on the clock, the stewards finally decided to bring out the red flag so the marshals could actually remove the car.

Abbi Pulling was reporting potential damage and vibrations on her car after the first lap incidents. However, after investigation by her engineer in the red flag period there was a flat spot on her tyre but it was not down to the canvas so her engineer gave the ok.

Alice Powell, the driver coach. Image courtesy of W Series Media

Just before the rolling restart we got to witness Alice Powell the driver coach. She is Abbi Pulling’s coach and, evening though she was in P9, Powell told Pulling to go and get a podium. This struck a cord with Pulling who then got on the radio to plan some push laps on the restart.

At the restart Chadwick timed it perfectly and bolted once the safety car was in. The cortDAO teammates where battling each other in P3 and P4. Garcia manged to stay ahead at turn 11 by being late under braking and eventually begun to pull away from Wohlwend.

As Garcia got up to the back of the leaders, Wohlwend became the leader of a train of cars, which were all trying to overtake each other. Down the main straight it became 3 wide with another pair overtaking behind. This repeated itself for several laps.

With about 9 minutes left many wanted to get past Wohlwend. But she tapped the wall in sector 2, causing the car to become unbalanced. As Abbie Eaton came to overtake the slower pink car, Wohlwend went straight on and took Eaton with her into turn 5 the next lap.

Meanwhile the battle for the lead had got closer. Even with the yellow flags in sector 1 this didn’t stop the speed of Kimiläinen. She had a great run into turn 11 and broke late to take the lead from Chadwick. Then putting in a strong defence before the safety car eventually came out for the stricken cars.

Fabienne Wohlwend gets a ride back after an incident. Image courtesy of W Series Media

It looked like Kimiläinen had timed that move perfectly as the clock ran down. But she would need one last strong defence because the safety car came in to give us an exciting 1 lap shoot out to the end.

On the restart Kimiläinen tried to leave Chadwick behind but the 2 time champion was with her all the way and brought Garcia along with her. In the slipstream Chadwick had more speed down the main straight and was ahead of Kimiläinen. Garcia then tried to follow Chadwick, making it a 3 way battling into turn 1.

Heartbreak for Kimiläinen as she goes deep into turn 1 trying to take back P1. She managed to get going into P3 and was all over the gearbox of Garcia. In a last attempt to push for P2 she out-braked Garcia into turn 17. But disaster as she spun out of the points finishing P17.

This left the first win of the season to Jamie Chadwick, Garcia capitalising on Kimiläinen’s mistake to finish P2 and a debut W Series podium for Jess Hawkins. The podium was full of smiles as the season is now officially underway.

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Miami GP: Leclerc takes pole as Ferrari lockout front row

Charles Leclerc’s quest for redemption got off to a splendid start in Miami after the Monegasque driver delivered an excellent lap to put his Ferrari on pole for the race on Sunday. Leclerc looked in control throughout the free practice sessions and did not put a foot wrong when it mattered. His teammate Carlos Sainz who has been on a bit of a rough patch would be extremely satisfied with his result in qualifying after he was able to lock out the front row alongside his teammate.

Redbull and Max Verstappen would not be overly rejoicing at their qualifying result after a mistake from Verstappen in the second run of Q3 undid any chance of Dutchman trying to get closer to his championship rival Leclerc. Sergio Perez in the other Redbull could not replicate his FP3 result and had to settle for fourth position on the grid, locking out the second row next to his teammate.

Disappointment for Verstappen as he steps out of the car. Image courtesy of Red Bull content Pool

It was yet another disappointing session for Mercedes as only Lewis Hamilton could make Q3 this time, qualifying in 6th in the process. His teammate George Russell got knocked out in Q2 after the English driver could not deal completely with the issues of oversteer in his Mercedes. He will be starting the race from P12 on the grid which would mean that he has a decent amount of work ahead of him on Sunday to score some points.

Bottas on his way to a P5. Image courtesy of Pirelli F1 Press Room

Valtteri Bottas in the Alfa Romeo continued to impress this season after the Finnish driver put together a great lap in the final run of Q3 good enough for a fifth place on the grid. His teammate Zhou in the other Alfa Roemo unfortunately finished only P17 as traffic on the last runs of Q1 ruined his flying lap. This concluded a mixed Saturday for Alfa Romeo but they definitely look highly likely to score good points through Bottas come Sunday.

It was a great Saturday in Miami for Alpha Tauri after Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda qualified seventh and ninth respectively. Gasly got off to a shaky start in Q1 after he had his lap time deleted but he got on well with the rest of the session earning the team a great chance to score points on Sunday.

McLaren were able to get one car into Q3 via the courtesy of Lando Norris as the Englishman is set to start the race from P8. Daniel Ricciardo in the other McLaren could not improve enough in the second runs of Q2 and the Australian will be forced to start from P14 for the race.

Vettel not able to make it to Q2. Image courtesy of Aston Martin F1 Media

Aston Martin seem to be finding pace slowly as the season progresses as this time, Lance Stroll comfortably made it into Q3 after a very good lap in the last run of Q2. He will be starting the race from P10 while his teammate Vettel in the other Aston Martin will be starting the race from P13 after missing out on Q2 by 0.086 seconds, which the German driver admitted on radio was due to his mistake.

Alpine had only the one car of Fernando Alonso running in the qualifying after a heavy crash in FP3 meant that Esteban Ocon could not participate in qualifying. Alonso will be starting P11 whiile Ocon will be starting at the back of the grid.

Both the Haas cars will be starting P15 and P16 with Mick Schumacher and Kevin Magnussen respectively. They will be looking to make inroads on Sunday for some points. Both the Williams will start with Albon at P19 and Latifi in P20 respectively and would take something special like Australia to score points come raceday.

It was Ferrari’s turn to draw first blood this weekend after Redbull took 1-2 in their home country a couple of weeks ago. The Italian team will be looking to convert their excellent qualifying result into a race result but they will be facing a big task of fast charging Redbulls from the second row.

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W Series Qualifying: A Maiden Pole Sitter for 2022

Nerea Marti takes her first pole in W Series after a dramatic end to the first qualifying of the season.

30 minutes of qualifying and it’s a double header weekend so the fastest time sets the grid for race 1 and the second fastest time sets the grid for race 2. The plan was simple then, drive the fastest to get the most out of the session.

10 minutes in and it was the usual suspects topping with time sheets. Chadwick was on pole with Powell and Kimiläinen closely behind. It is always important to remember that for W Series all the cars are required to start the session with a full tank of fuel, so lap times were consistently getting faster.

Pushing the limits at this new track, Marti had a moment nearly ending her session coming into turn 7 and 8 but she kissed the wall with her tyre and was able to carry on. Having watched the Formula 1 sessions as well the drivers are beginning to find gains around this new track.

Half way through and the traffic is causing havoc as Powell and Kimiläinen were now faster than Chadwick. Street circuits always create traffic issues. Those on fast laps can unintentionally be hindered by divers on slow laps because there are not many places to easily get out of the way on this fast street circuit.

Alice Powell bringing the heat in Miami. Image courtesy of W Series Media

The session saw its first red flag when Chloe chambers spun at the chicane. She was top rookie at that point in P5 and putting in a very soild performance, not far off her teammate, Jamie Chadwick. She did manage to get the car going again so the red flag didn’t last long.

With only 9 minutes left it was time for the drivers to push for their position for race 1. The banker laps are for race 2 which will mix up the grid. This format for double headers means the goal for drivers is just to go fast, which makes it much easier for us to follow at home.

Coming back out Chadwick had the pace on the drivers. She took top spot and only kept improving her time as fuel weight came down. Powell had a strong start to the session but now couldn’t seem to get on match Chadwick’s pace.

Jamie Chadwick back out for the final push. Image courtesy of W Series Media

In the closing stages of the session everyone was putting in faster laps and finding the limits of the track. Nerea Marti put in an incredible lap with 90 seconds left in the session, topping the time sheets. This pushed Chadwick down to P2 and Powell down to P3.

Just 30 seconds to go and Fabienne Wohlwend had a big incident bringing out the red flag. She got out of the car and was ok, but this ended the session. That meant that Marti took her maiden pole in W Series for race 1 and was on the first row for race 2.

Chadwick will be pole for race 2 while Powell lost out the most from the red flag. She was up by 2 tenths on Marti’s pole lap when the red flag came out. Powell will start P3 for race 1 and P4 for race 2.

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W Series Weekend Preview: Miami

W Series starts its 3rd on-track season in Miami for the biggest season yet. The series will again be supporting the Formula 1 calendar with a record 10 races, starting with the double header at Miami.

After 195 days since the last race we get two for the price of one. This season features two double headers at the start and the end of the season in Mexico. The rest follows the format of last year with qualifying on Friday and the race on Saturday.

Miami is a very fast street track which demands a lot from the drivers. This is a great place to start to show off the talent of these women and test their ability to tame such a demanding track. Overtaking opportunities will be similar to Formula 1, coming mostly from turns 11 and 17, but lines will be different so don’t be surprised if they come in other corners.

The Two time Champion Returns

Jamie Chadwick is back with Jenner racing to defend her title. She starts the season as the women to beat in a newly formed team funded by Caitlyn Jenner. Her main rival from last year, Alice Powell, will be looking to bring the heat all season.

Last season Alice Powell started off her campaign stronger than Chadwick, winning the first race of the season at the Red Bull Ring while Chadwick finished in P6. This is something Powell will want to repeat and take full advantage of the double header. However, she will need to keep this momentum all season if she wants to finally beat Chadwick.

Champion Jamie Chadwick is congratulated by Alice Powell on the podium in Austin 2021. Image courtesy of W Series Media

Five New Rookies

After pre-season testing in Barcelona five drivers make their W Series debuts in Miami. Tereza Babickova, Bianca Bustamante, Chloe Chambers, Emely De Heus, and Juju Noda. This is the current surge of young talent to add to break out star from 2021, Abbi Pulling.

They will compete against some of W Series most seasoned drivers like Alice Powell, Jamie Chadwick, Emma Kimiläinen, Jessica Hawkins and many others. But all 18 drivers will start from zero and be given a fair chance to fight for the title.

Chloe Chambers getting to grips with her new car. Image courtesy of W Series Media

W Series has signed a contract with Sky Sports so all qualifying’s and races will be broadcast live on Sky Sports F1. There will also be highlights on channel 4 and practice and qualifying streamed from YouTube and Facebook.

Qualifying starts at 2pm BST on Saturday. Race 1 is at 7:10pm BST on the same day and race 2 is at 3:10pm BST on Sunday.

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F1 Weekend Preview: Miami GP

It’s finally here. The inaugural Formula 1 Miami GP is set to be fast and furious as the teams get used to this street track from Friday practice to the race on Sunday.  

After years in the making, Miami, Florida has its own Grand Prix on the calendar. The track has only been finished recently so drivers and teams have had limited data to put into simulators. They can only get a real feel for the track and what it might have in store when we get to Friday.

What we do know is that we have another very fast street track for the drivers to conquer. With a potential 3 DRS zones this is set to give us thrilling flying laps in qualifying. There a long swooping corners after turn 1 which lead to a straight before the first major overtaking spot at turn 11.

Sector 2 does look to be twister making the set up very important for the teams. This leads to the final, very long, final straight before another perfect overtaking opportunity if the turn 17 hairpin. That is set to be the last obvious overtaking spot before heading back to the main straight.

Miami Preview. Image courtesy of Pirelli

Ferrari ‘s time to fight back

Ferrari had a weekend to forget last time in Imola after Red Bull dominated the weekend, taking 58 out of a possible 59 points. To make things worse Sainz ended up in the gravel on lap 1 and with Charles Leclerc in prime position to take a podium, he spun out late on in the race, finishing P6.

On their home turf they really suffered, so Ferrari will be looking to bring the heat in Miami. With Red Bull performance still mostly unpredictable after the first few rounds, Ferrari need to capitalise on every opportunity they get.

Mercedes with upgrades

Mercedes are still not even close to where they want to be, fighting for podiums and wins consistently. In fact, McLaren seem to have solved their problems and are now their main rivals or possibly the faster car.

However, all is not lost because they are rumoured to be bringing a large upgrade package to Miami which will hopefully solve their porpoising problems.

It has been evident from the last few races that Mercedes are not the only team to suffer from serious bouncy car syndrome, with Ferrari showing the problem affects them. But it appears to be affecting their handling less when coming into corners compared to the Mercedes.

This is a problem which they are very much approaching cautiously but they are hopeful that they can solve these issues and be up at the front with Red Bull and Ferrari.

Lewis Hamilton struggling in Imola. Image courtesy of Mercedes Media

Qualifying is 9pm GMT on Saturday and the Race is 8;30pm GMT Sunday.

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