Category: Formula One

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Mexico Grand Prix Qualifying – Brilliant Sainz takes a dominant pole position for Ferrari

Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz will start from pole for tomorrow’s Mexican Grand Prix.

The Spaniard took his first pole position since Singapore last year with an excellent pair of laps in the third qualifying session.

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen will start second ahead of championship rival Lando Norris, with Charles Leclerc a slightly disappointing fourth after a mistake cost him and Ferrari a chance of a front row lockout.

In the last week Ferrari have proven themselves to be spoilers for the two main championship protagonists, with a 1-2 last week headed by Leclerc in Austin  ahead of Verstappen and Norris.

Norris is 57 points behind but couldn’t have picked a better placed to start third from, with a 730 metre run to the first corner sure to offer the chance of a tow away from the grid.

The first qualifying session brought about two huge shocks in a frenetic and fast paced opening 18 minutes.

Home hero Sergio Perez was knocked out and will start 18th in the Red Bull, while Oscar Piastri ended his run of Q3 appearances that stretched back the entirety of 2024 to line up 17th.

That result is likely to damage Perez more than Piastri, whose error strewn session was much more of an anomaly for the man who was quickest in final practice versus the Mexican, who has been struggling all weekend.

They were joined by the less surprising trio of Franco Colapinto in 16th, Esteban Ocon in 19th and Sauber’s Zhou Guanyu in 20th.

The second qualifying session was ended ten seconds early as the RB of Yuki Tsunoda, who was on a lap destined to reach the top ten, crashed out at Turn 12 to leave himself stranded in 11th ahead of teammate Liam Lawson.

The two Aston Martins will share Row 7 with Fernando Alonso, on his 400th Grand Prix weekend, starting 13th and Lance Stroll edging Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas out for 14th.

Ferrari had looked like they were going to battle for the second row heading into Q3 with Norris and Verstappen having been the class of the field, but finally got their act together as Sainz set an early benchmark of 1:16.055.

That lap would have been enough for pole on its own, but he went again to dip below the 1:16s to clock 1:15.946 – a quarter of a second clear of the field.

Leclerc’s wobble in the second sector was compounded by another error at the final corner when the Monegasque was looking at second on the grid, but Ferrari will be satisfied nonetheless.

The Scuderia have designs on the Constructors’ Championship even still, being eight points behind Red Bull and 48 behind leaders McLaren with five races to go.

Elsewhere in the third session, George Russell beat Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton to fifth in the final session, while Haas’ impressive form continued with seventh for Kevin Magnussen and an unfortunate tenth for Nico Hulkenberg.

They sandwiched Pierre Gasly’s resurgent Alpine and Alex Albon’s Williams in eighth and ninth,

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Ferrari dominate the USGP while the championship hots up.

Ferrari dominated the race after an excellent start from Leclerc, which put him in the prime spot to pick up the pieces of the turn 1 battle for the lead. 

After an interesting sprint race, qualifying had a dramatic end. Russell collided with the barrier, preventing Verstappen and most of the runners from completing their final laps. This meant Norris started on pole with a great lap, but Russell started from the pitlane after a full repair, with his teammate only in P17.

The race start. Courtesy of RedBull content pool

Norris is becoming infamous for his starts. Despite making progress in the sprint, he went backwards at turn 1. Verstappen lunged down the inside, but while pushing both of them wide, Leclerc slipped straight through into the lead, with his teammate having to settle for P3. 

There was drama in the middle of the pack with Ocon spinning round, ending up last of the runners, while Lawson was following Hamilton, who made up 5 places in the first few corners. 

The battle at the front carried on as Sainz had speed in the car closing on Verstappen at the end of the main straight, leading to a very entertaining six-corner battle with the RedBull coming out on top. However, just as Sainz was looking for his next move, the safety car came out for a stranded Hamilton at turn 19.

With 4 laps of the safety car complete, at the restart, Leclerc had Verstappen with him all the way and struggled to create a gap. There were no major moves, but Lawson continued to make progress, gaining a place into P12.

The back of the pack provided plenty of overtakes for the first half of the race. They were fighting it out after the safety car, with Stroll taking a short trip into the gravel, Russell gaining places, and Albon very tight on Ocon, but Stroll came back looking to go around the outside of both of them. 

Russell hunting down Bottas. Image courtesy of Stake F1 Team

Lap 13 and Russell makes a move on Bottas into P14 in what appeared to be a good move, but the Mercedes received a 5-second penalty for the move. While Lawson continues to give RedBull something to think about as he was only one place behind Perez who has been in P9 since the restart. 

Having been behind Tsunoda for 10 laps, Perez finally makes it past the RB which now had dead tyres. Hulkenberg also tried to get past the RB with a battle from turn 12 to 16 consisting of very close but great racing. Just as Hulkenberg had to back out and get ready for the next attack, Tsunoda pitted.

As the pitstop window opened on lap 20, Ferrari looked to try an undercut on Verstappen with Sainz in P3. He pitted on lap 22 in an attempt to undercut Verstappen. RedBull decided to leave Verstappen out for 4 laps while Sainz and the McLarens caught the front runners. The undercut was successful for the Ferrari with a 4-second gap while Leclerc reacted to Verstappen’s stop from the lead. He came out behind the two McLarens but crucially in front of his teammate and Verstappen.

Meanwhile, Albon continued to have a great race as he battled Alonso with Gasly was in the best seat in the house to watch just behind them. Alonso held off an initial onslaught from the Williams, who took too much out of his tyres. Gasly was able to make a move but had to take to the outside of turn 12 to complete the pass. This means he received a 5-second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage.

At 31 laps, the US GP became a battle of strategies, with the McLarens yet to pit, Leclerc and Verstappen having pitted only 4 laps before and on a one-stop while Sainz appeared to be on a two-stop. 

After the McLaren stops, Norris was able to work well on the hard tyres. Gaining fastest lap after fastest lap and taking a second out on Verstappen on a few of those. Verstappen was also not happy on the hard tyres and struggled for grip. This hunt was on. 

Colapinto taking on the track. Image courtesy of Pirelli

Magnussen received a very urgent pitstop request from his team, but after a change of tyres came back out. Colopinto, who was having a great race, pitted one lap later and came out just ahead of the Haas. This led to a very exciting battle between two drives who both have nothing to lose. 

While they were getting close, Tsunoda took a quick spin at turn 1. Colopinto locked up but missed the RB and stayed ahead of Magnussen. Tsunoda was able to get going again.

At the front, Norris had closed the gap on Verstappen and was within the DRS zone of the RedBull on lap 44. All eyes were pinned to to these drivers as a podium place and vital championship points were at stake. Norris calculated the move and waited until the right moment on lap 47 after Verstappen locked up.

What ensued was a battle from turn 12 to turn 16 where there was close racing but both were sensible. Verstappen forced Norris around the outside of turn 12 which meant the RedBull could stay ahead through the next set of corners. Undeterred, Norris regrouped and tried again at turn 1 a couple of laps later, but Verstappen was placing his car in all the right places. 

Lap 52 and Norris was much closer on the exit of turn 11 and Verstappen had worse traction. Verstappen forced Norris around the outside and ended up off the track. The stewards immediately began to look at it and the radio messages began between the drivers and the pitwall. On the final lap, Norris received a 5-second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage. 

Drama between Norris and Verstappen. Image courtesy of RedBull content pool

While that drama unfolded, Leclerc and Ferrari were dominating out front, coming home with a 1-2 and now only 4 points behind RedBull in the constructors for P2. They drove a great race and Leclerc put in a lovely drive to stay ahead. 

Verstappen did finish in P3 with Norris having to settle for P4. With one extra lap, he may have been able to get ahead of the penalty, as he finished 0.9s ahead of the RedBull. However, a shoutout to Colopinto who did get a fastest lap during the race and a point for the team. Lawson also came back in P9 on his first outing back in the RB.

The championship is getting spicy, with RedBull now having to watch for Ferrari in the constructors championship, or they may end up third. Only 6 days until Mexico, can Perez make an impact at his home race?

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US Grand Prix Qualifying – Norris claims pole position over a resurgent Verstappen

Lando Norris will start Sunday’s US Grand Prix on pole position, after Mercedes’ George Russell crashed at the end of the final qualifying session to  end Max Verstappen’s run at pole position.

The McLaren driver laid it all on the line early in Q3 to set a time of 1:32.330, 0.031s ahead of Verstappen on a weekend where the team haven’t been as imperious as previous weekends.

Russell’s crash at the fast Turn 19 a minute before the end of the session likely saved Norris’ pole, as both Verstappen and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz looked likely to overhaul the Brit

Behind the front row it is Sainz who starts third ahead of teammate Charles Leclerc, with the second McLaren of Oscar Piastri fifth.

Provided there’s no chassis damage to Russell’s car he’ll start sixth ahead of the impressive Pierre Gasly in the Alpine, while Fernando Alonso put his Aston Martin eighth.

Haas driver Kevin Magnussen will start ninth ahead of Red Bull’s Sergio Perez, who lost his best time in Q3 to a track limits offence and couldn’t complete his final lap due to the yellow flags for the stricken Russell.

The first qualifying session saw one of the biggest shocks of the season so far as Lewis Hamilton was a surprise exit to qualify 19th quickest.

The seven-time World Champion lost almost half a second to a mistake at Turn 12 and crossed the line with a minute to spare, and not enough time to recharge his battery start another lap.

A dejected Hamilton joined the less surprising quartet of the Williams duo of Alex Albon and Franco Colapinto, with the Saubers of Valterri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu sandwiching the Brit.

The second qualifying session was somewhat more routine, with only the minor surprise of Nico Hulkenberg’s Haas missing out on the top ten after mistakes on his final flying lap to start 12th.

The German had looked nailed on for the top ten before that, and was absolutely gutted on the team radio on his inlap.

Teammate Kevin Magnussen did squeeze through in tenth to outqualify Hulkenberg for the first time in 8 races, while Yuki Tsunoda was 11th despite a tow from teammate Liam Lawson, starting last after a host of engine penalties. The Kiwi proved his own point with third fastest in Q1, with Esteban Ocon 13th and Lance Stroll 14th.

 

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F1 US Grand Prix preview – Red Bull’s Big Upgrade Will Define F1 2024 One Way or Another

Formula One returns this weekend after a month-long autumn hiatus at the US Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas, Texas.

Despite having only hosted its first race in 2012, COTA marks a dose of traditionalism as “good old circuit” with its fast, sweeping corners and huge elevation changes in a championship that is increasingly looking to race through America’s most famous cities, with city races through Miami and Las Vegas already on the calendar and a further race at Chicago mooted,

After dominance under the lights at Singapore, Lando Norris comes into the weekend 52 points behind leader Max Verstappen, with the Red Bull driver still maintaining a healthy advantage despite having not won a race since the Spanish Grand Prix in June.

The Dutchman has won each of the last three races around COTA, so a visit to the Lone Star State may prove a welcome one as he bids to leave the McLaren driver needing snookers.

Further opportunity to eat into that lead presents itself this weekend for Norris as this weekend is one of F1’s six Sprint weekends, with the Brit needing to take an average of just under 9 points per weekend out of Verstappen in order to nick the Championship.

Red Bull are bringing a “significant” upgrade this weekend to try to rectify their win drought, the team having finally listened to concerns that second driver Sergio Perez raised about the car almost 18 months ago, as it tries to return to the front.

The Milton Keynes team have not been without controversy, as following talks with the FIA they have “agreed to make changes” to their car after the governing body was alerted to a device that could have allowed Red Bull drivers to change the ride height between qualifying and the race, which is not allowed as per Parc Ferme rules.

The team say that this has never been used and is inaccessible once the car is fully assembled, while the FIA stated there is no evidence of it having actually been used.

Meanwhile, Verstappen is still refusing to fully answer question in the FIA press conferences after Singapore’s Sweargate, instead holding his own unofficial press conferences.

While McLaren are the hunters in the Drivers’ Championship, they are very much the hunted in the Constructors’ Championship.

With Oscar Piastri pretty much matching teammate Norris since the start of the European season, McLaren have overturned what was a 115-point deficit after the Miami Grand Prix in May after six rounds, to an advantage of 41 points after 18 rounds.

In those 12 rounds, Perez has scored only 41 points with Verstappen and Norris having scored almost five times that total in the same period.

Indeed, Red Bull are closer to third placed Ferrari than to McLaren as it is now in the position of having to decide whether to abandon the Constructors’ Championship to focus solely on Verstappen’s title charge.

For that, even then they need the new upgrade to prove transformative and for Perez to return to form.

 

 

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Singapore Grand Prix Preview – F1 2024’s Pressing Questions Could Be Answered Under the Marina Bay Lights

Formula One rolls into Singapore ahead of its accidental break with more questions than answers in 2024.

Marina Bay’s bright lights proved a small ray of hope in 2023 during the most dominant season ever seen, but 2024’s edition could be even more engaging than Carlos Sainz’s interloping win last year.

For the first time since 2021 at least one of the championships is not a safe prediction, with McLaren taking the lead of the Constructors’ standings for the first time since a fortuitous double podium at the 2014 Australian Grand Prix, after Oscar Piastri’s win and Lando Norris’ recovery to fourth at last week’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Red Bull and Max Verstappen have been there to be shot at since May, and McLaren have time and again proven the sharpest of shooters since June, when Norris emerged as the closest driver to being a challenge to three-time World Champion.

Verstappen and Red Bull haven’t won since that month’s Spanish Grand Prix, something that would have been considered impossible as recently as April as the Dutchman breezed his way through F1’s opening rounds with six wins in seven races.

How times change.

Verstappen still has a lead to defend as F1 2024 approaches its final innings, but even a man as near to bulletproof as he has been in F1’s ground effect era is on something of a sticky wicket despite having a 59-point lead.

As recently as the British Grand Prix five races ago, that lead was 84 points, with Verstappen currently on a run of one podium in seven races.

This, therefore, is not a great time to arrive at the circuit they struggled on most last season. Indeed it was the only race Red Bull failed to win in 2023, but failure to avenge that defeat in 2024 would not generate any surprise given their struggles over high kerbs and a bumpy track surface.

McLaren clearly have the fastest car across a wide variety of circuits and are more than just the fast corner specialists they were a year ago and while Sergio Perez in the second Red Bull has improved since the summer break he still has yet to show that he can back Verstappen up in the same way that Oscar Piastri has been asked to back Norris up by McLaren.

Australia’s answer to Kimi Raikkonen’s “Iceman” persona has shown he has everything it takes to be an outright number 1, and has been the most prolific scorer in the last seven races.

Victory last time out in Baku, where he held off a charging Charles Leclerc after executing a brilliant move on the Monegasque driver, only underlines those credentials.

Piastri has said that he will follow team orders where necessary, but McLaren’s eyes on the Constructors prize first and foremost he will not be expected to sacrifice himself needlessly.

Red Bull need be wary of not just McLaren.

While the Papaya outfit are the strongest outfit, boosted by the FIA declaring their “mini DRS” rear wing legal after some minor controversy post-Baku, Ferrari and Mercedes can at the very least get in the way of the current World Champions.

Leclerc drove an almost faultless weekend in Baku last week, with Sainz also on course for a podium before his controversial race ending clash with Perez on the penultimate put both drivers into the wall.

Sainz’s win last year required expert management and Ferrari have in the past showed real strength at Marina Bay, while Lewis Hamilton’s 2018 pole lap for Mercedes is the stuff of legend.

The Silver Arrows have themselves been a little confused on car development in recent races following a summer renaissance, but George Russell was ahead of Verstappen on merit en route to a fortunate third place in Baku.

A “significant” Red Bull upgrade package is expected for the US Grand Prix at COTA in a month’s time.

This weekend will more than likely tell us exactly how much work they have to do to retain both Championships in 2024.

 

 

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Opinion: Red Bull’s Cursed Second Seat

Four years ago, I wrote an article about how Red Bull’s special treatment of Verstappen meant they may never win a constructors’ title again. They went on to win back-to-back constructors’ championships in 2022 and 2023. There’s me told.

And yet, four years later, we are still talking of the Red Bull second-seat curse as Sergio Perez languishes six places and 146 points behind his teammate at the mid-season break.

So, where has this “curse” come from, and what is really behind it?

Gasly in the RedBull outfit. Image courtesy of RedBull content pool

It all started in 2019, when Daniel Ricciardo left Red Bull for pastures anew at Renault. Pierre Gasly was promoted into the seat after comprehensively outscoring his teammate, Brendon Hartley, the season prior.

But Gasly failed to hit the ground running in 2019. In his first race for the team, he finished 11th in a car that should easily have made the top six.

Over the course of the next 11 races, Gasly recorded a best finish of 4th, and only made the top six on five occasions. Red Bull had had enough, and he was demoted back to Torro Rosso, to be replaced by rookie Alex Albon.

Gasly has since claimed the reason for his poor performance was a lack of support he received from the team. Writing on the Player’s Tribune in 2021, he said: “From the moment I made my first mistake in a car, I felt like people there slowly began to turn on me.

“I’d had a crash in winter testing, and from that moment on the season never really got going.

“The car wasn’t perfect, and I was doing my best to try to improve and learn each week.

” I didn’t feel like I was really supported and treated the same way as others there have been. And for me … that’s something that I just can’t accept.

“I was working my ass off every day, trying to get results for the team, but I was not being given all the tools I needed to succeed.

“I would try to offer solutions, but my voice wasn’t heard, or it would take weeks to see changes.”

Under those circumstances, it’s easy to see why Gasly had such a difficult stint at Red Bull. But surely they’d learnt their lesson?

Well, not really. As soon as Albon stepped into the second Red Bull seat, there was an improvement. In his opening race, the Thai driver came from 17th on the grid to 5th, cutting through the field where Gasly couldn’t.

Albon taking his turn in the second seat. Courtesy of Red Bull Content Pool

For seven of the remaining eight races, Albon finished inside the top six, with the only exception the Brazilian Grand Prix, in which he was spun round by Lewis Hamilton whilst being on for a podium. Ironically, Pierre Gasly in his Torro Rosso did get on the podium in Brazil.

But in the following season, Albon struggled to kick on. Just seven top six finishes 17 races, including two podiums, meant he was dropped for the following campaign.

For Albon, it again appears that he received a lack of support. Speaking to the official F1 media, he said: “I struggled with the media attention to begin with. I also didn’t have a manager, I didn’t have anyone around me.

“So in terms of my personal support, I had my family but I was just going about it alone. I’d go to the racetrack by myself – I had my trainer to be fair, but it was just us two going around.”

With such an inexperienced driver (Albon was a rookie when he first joined, don’t forget) this seems like a huge failure from the Red Bull side.

As a team it is their job to protect their driver from the media, and support them when they’re trying to improve. Red Bull were unwilling to do that, so unsurprisingly they faltered.

Having decided they didn’t want to have to babysit their drivers, Red Bull turned to the experienced Sergio Perez for 2021.

Perez has had a few successes with the team over the years. Image courtesy of RedBull content pool.

And Perez’s first season at the team was a success. The Mexican finished the year fourth in the standings, picking up one win and four podiums along the way. It wasn’t enough for Red Bull to beat Mercedes in the Constructors Title, but they weren’t far behind.

His second season at the team was a little less impressive. Despite having comfortably the quickest car, he finished third in the standings, behind Charles Leclerc. He did, however, help the team to the Constructors title, so Red Bull would have had few complaints.

Last year was less impressive still. In a year where Red Bull won every race bar one, Perez won just two races and made the podium a further six times. Verstappen won constructors title by himself.

His poor performances and frustration from the fans that he wasn’t quick enough to stop Verstappen dominating, meant his seat was being called into question going into this year.

With the other teams rapidly closing the development gap, Perez currently sits in seventh position in the championship, with a best result of 7th from his last 8 races.

The gap is closing between RedBull and the other teams. Image courtesy of Pirelli F1 Press Area

The driver market has been awash with rumour suggesting Perez could lose his seat over the break, though these have been denied by the team.

With McLaren snapping at their coattails, both Red Bull and Perez are under pressure to improve performances. But until the culture at the team changes, it’s hard to see how any second driver could perform to the levels the team expect.

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Formula E Season 10 Finale: Wehrlein snatches the Drivers Championship from Jaguar’s Kiwis at nail biting finale

 

Formula E Season 10 concluded this past weekend and it is fair to say that it went down to the wire. Ultimately, Porsche’s Pascal Wehrlein claimed his maiden FE title of the series, beating both Nick Cassidy and Mitch Evans.

Race 1

  • Mitch Evans led the field away from Sebastian Buemi in P2 and Pascal Wehrlein in P3.
  • Robin Frijns and Jake Dennis had a lap 1 accident and the safety car was deployed.
  • By the time the safety car came in on lap 4, Cassidy made up two  places after a terrible qualifying and Nico Mueller had a puncture so he went into the pits.
  • Two incidents occurred at once as former champion Dennis and Jean-Eric Vergne came together, whilst Oliver Rowland took Antonio Felix Da Costa out of title contention.
  • Evans and Buemi battle for the lead on lap 14.
  • Cassidy and Stoffel Vandoorne had a coming together but the Kiwi ended up
  • Wehrlein took the lead on lap 22 and he managed to take both attack modes and stay P1 while Max Guenther was battling Evans for P2.
  • Norman Nato and Sacha Fenestraz ended up colliding bringing out another safety car.
  • After we went green, Wehrlein went for the lead as did Guenther but he had a gearbox failure and had to stop on track from P2, bringing out a full course yellow.
  • Wehrlein managed to hold on and take the win from Evans in P2, Buemi claimed P3, with Nyck De Vries P4 and Edo Mortara in P5. Mueller took P6 ahead of Cassidy P7.  Bird finished P8 ahead of Vandoorne and Nato snatched the final point.

  • Race 2:

    • Championship hopeful Cassidy claimed pole position after missing FP3 with a BBW failure.
    • Evans made it a Jaguar 1-2 on lap 2, until Mortara and Dennis made contact bringing the safety car. However, he was soon disposed.
    •  Bird, Nato, Dan Ticktum and Jehan Daruvala are all involved in an incident, which brings out the safety car. Daruvala and Bird collided and collected both Nato and Ticktum.
    • Cassidy stays in lead after taking his attack mode, but Evans is not going to give up the championship without a fight and he soon retakes the lead.
    • Wehrlein begins to pile the pressure on the Jaguars ahead, nipping past Cassidy in his quest for the title.
    • Dennis got a 5 second time penalty for that collision with Mortara, however it could turn into a grid drop for Brazil.
    • Evans and Wehrlein made contact but attack mode still had to be taken.
    • Da Costa and Guenther had a battle which allowed the German up to P6.
    • Disaster struck for Cassidy as he got a puncture from Da Costa, ending his title hopes and bringing out the safety car.
    • Rowland snatched the lead from Evans and Wehrlein, as Evans missed attack mode.
    • Three added laps due to the safety car, however, Evans was in a position that he could not attack the leaders as he had to ensure his attack mode was used up before the end of the race.
    • As Rowland took the win, it was Pascal Wehrlein, snatching P2, who became the ABB FIA Formula E World Champion!
    • Evans finished in P3 which sealed Jaguar the manufacturer’s championship.

    Final Formula E Season 10 Championship

    Position Driver Team Points
    1st Pascal Wehrlein Tag Heur Porsche Formula E Team 198
    2nd Mitch Evans Jaguar TCS Racing 192
    3rd Nick Cassidy Jaguar TCS Racing 176
    4th Oliver Rowland Nissan Formula E Team 156
    5th Jean-Eric Vergne DS Penske 139
    6th Antonio Felix Da Costa Tag Heur Porsche Formula E Team 134
    7th Jake Dennis Andretti Formula E 122
    8th Maximilian Guenther Maserarti MSG Racing 73
    9th Robin Frijns Envision Racing 66
    10th Stoffel Vandoorne DS Pesnske 61
    11th Sebastian Buemi Envision Racing 53
    12th Nico Muller Abt Cupra 52
    13th Sam Bird Neom McLaren Formula E Team 48
    14th Jake Hughes Neom McLaren Formula E Team 48
    15th Norman Nato Andretti Formula E 47
    16th Edoardo Mortara Mahindra Racing 29
    17th Sacha Fenestraz Nissan Formula E Team 26
    18th Nyck De Vries Mahindra Racing 18
    19th Dan Ticktum ERT Formula E Team 12
    20th Sergio Sette Camara ERT Formula E Team 11
    21st Jehan Daruvala Maserati MSG Racing 8
    22nd Taylor Banard Neom McLaren Formula E Team 5
    23rd Lucas Di Grassi Abt Cupra Formula E Team 4
    24th Joel Eriksson Envision Racing 2
    25th Sheldon Van Der Linde Abt Cupra Formula E Team 0
    26th Jordan King Mahindra Racing 0
    27th Paul Aron Envision Racing 0
    28th Caio Collet Nissan Formula E Team 0
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BRITISH GP: Arise, Sir Lewis Hamilton!

Sir Lewis Hamilton emerged as the winner on Sunday afternoon at Silverstone in a classic British GP as he took his record 9th win at a single venue. It was a Mercedes front row to start the race with George Russell on pole and Hamilton in 2nd. The race had a threat of rain hanging over it right from the start and it became real from as early as lap 6.

George Russell taking the lead from pole. Image courtesy of Pirelli F1 Media

Russell started the race well and the top 4 kept their order until lap 6, as the rain began and the conditions changed quickly for everyone’s liking. Lando Norris in the McLaren and Max Verstappen in the Redbull picked up right where they left off in Austria, albeit a lot cleaner this time. As the rain picked up, Hamilton pipped his teammate Russell to the lead of the race before Lando Norris was quickly over the back of both the leading Mercedes’ as they went off in turn 3 due to tricky conditions.

Norris was leading the race in wet weather with both the Mercedes and Verstappen chasing him. The rain intensity increased as Verstappen and Sainz in the Ferrari were the first ones to pit for inters. McLaren were 1-2 at this point before they got it horribly wrong with Piastri’s pitstop timing and the Australian was relegated to P6. He ultimately salvaged P4 towards the end of the race but could’ve been much higher if not for the mishap. It was the switching of the conditions from wet to dry that changed the fate of McLaren as a brilliant Mercedes undercut meant that Hamilton assumed the lead of the race on lap 40. It was a three-way fight to the finish as Hamilton was in the lead on soft tyres, Norris was 2nd on soft tyres with Verstappen chasing them both on hard tyres. At a stage it seemed that Verstappen would take the win but he just about ran out of laps towards the end and could only finish 2nd to Hamilton.

Perez with the first stop on to inters. Image courtesy of RedBull Content Pool

Elsewhere, George Russell’s day ended in a horrible fashion as he started from pole but had to retire on lap 34 due to a water system issue in his car. Sergio Perez in the other Redbull and Charles Leclerc in the Ferrari had a bad day out in rainy Silverstone as they were experimented with tyre strategy to battle in changing conditions. Perez finished a lowly P17 while Leclerc could only manage a P14 and the Monegasque will hope for a much better showing in Hungary in 2 weeks time after a sorry couple of weeks in the Ferrari.  Carlos Sainz in the other Ferrari managed a quite race amidst the chaos and racked up a handy P5.

Haas continued their good showing with Hulkenberg finishing P6, not losing any ground from yesterday’s qualifying. Kevin Magnussen in the other Haas could not manage a points finish and could only manage P12. Aston Martin had a decent home race as they finished in double points with Lance Stroll at P7 and Alonso at P8.  Among the points, were ‘home’ team Williams with Alexander Albon at P9, the Thai driver suffered early damage to the bodywork of his car but had an impressive drive afterwards. Logan Sargeant in the other Williams was just one position shy of points as he ended up in P11. It was Yuki Tsunoda who claimed the final points spot after a P10 finish, while his teammate Ricciardo finished P13.

Alpine had a day to forget, with Gasly retiring on the formation lap and Esteban Ocon only managing a P16 finish. Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas finished P15 while his teammate Zhou finished P18.

Max Verstappen has increased his lead at the top of the championship standings in his bid for the 4th title but  with about half the season to go, it would be wise to not think that the title is wrapped up, as McLaren seem promising in fighting for wins alongside Mercedes, who have picked up back to back race wins. A lot at play awaits in 2 weeks time in Hungary before the summer break, as Mercedes will be looking for a hatrick of wins and Verstappen himself will be itching to get back to the top of the podium.

 

The top 3 and Bono on the podium. Image courtesy of RedBull content pool.

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An Action Packed Canadian GP

Verstappen came out on top in a race that saw changing weather conditions, lots of incidents, close racing and interesting strategies. 

With the track drenched just an hour before the race start, the spray looked bad as the drivers made their way to the grid, but it dried up enough for a normal standing start on intermediates, or full wets if you are driving a Haas.

Starting in the wet. Image courtesy of RedBull content pool

Lights out and the slowest getaway we have seen this season as they made it down to turn one without colliding. Russell managed to pick up pace out of turn two and kept the lead from Verstappen. Hamilton made up places but the Ferrari’s struggled, with Sainz ending up down in P15 at the end of lap 2.

Haas looked to have played a great strategy game, with Magnussen and Hulkenberg making it to P4 and P8 by lap 5. However, it wasn’t to last as the sun came out and the track started to dry making the inters the best tyres to be on.

As Norris closed the gap on Russell and Verstappen, the conversation began to turn to the forecast. Rain was expected about lap 30 but the track was drying in sectors two and three. Turns one and two were still wet though, Verstappen experiencing a wide moment on lap 17 which allowed Norris to position his car ready for a move.

The McLarens looked quick in the wet so when DRS was enabled, Norris was able to enhance his pace. On lap 21 he made a move on Verstappen into P2, just one lap later he passed Russell for the lead. As he completed the same move Russell lost downforce and went straight on at the final chicane, letting Verstappen through and coming back to the track in P3. Piastri looked to be following his teammate as he closed the gap on the front three. However, the safety car stopped his progress.

The safety car. Image courtesy of RedBull content pool

Sargent dropped it on the inside of turn four and hit the wall on the exit, causing his car to become stranded. This brought out the safety car on lap 25. With rain due in just a couple of minutes, most of the top ten pitted for new inters, apart from Norris. He was too far past the pitlane entry as the safety car came out. This meant that when he did pit a lap later, he came out in P3 with Verstappen leading the race.

Just before the end of the safety car period, Ferrari pitted Leclerc for a change of tyres. However, they put him on the slicks—hard tyres to be more precise—despite rain due imminently. He also had a known engine issue, which caused further delay in the car leaving the pitbox. It was not a surprise when he pitted just 2 laps after the restart for inters.

The restart got away with no issues as they behaved themselves, knowing more rain was on the way. A shout out to Albon, who made an incredible double overtake on Ricciardo and Ocon at the final chicane.

The rain stopped, the sun came out, and the dry line started to form. But for Ferrari, when it rains, it pours. On lap 42, Sainz made contact with the back of Bottas, which caused front wing damage, while the team called in Leclerc to retire the car.

Norris taking on the drying track. Image courtesy of Pirelli F1 Media

On lap 43 it was time to switch to slicks, Gasly was the first car in, followed by Magnussen and Bottas. Hamilton was the first of the frontrunners to pit for medium tyres. It wasn’t long before the rest of the grid was in, apart from Norris again. This time, the team decided to see what the other teams would do.

Norris stayed out and took the lead, meaning he now had a pit stop in hand over second place Verstappen. Despite this, Norris pitted one lap later, but Verstappen and Russell now had warmer tyres and were on the dry line, while Norris had to tiptoe out of the still extremely wet pitlane, ending up in P2.

All seemed calm for a couple of laps when a yellow flag appeared and disappeared again. The camera switched to Perez, who now had a very broken rear wing. He dropped his rear right tyre out of the dry line at turn six and spun into the wall. He was able to get back to the pits but retired the car.

However, a safety car was called, but not for Perez. Sainz dropped it on the same corner but managed to avoid the wall. He spun in the middle of the track and collected Albon in the process, pushing him into the wall. A double DNF for Williams and a double DNF for Ferrari as Sainz drove to the pits and retired.

Both Mercedes with fresh tyres. Image courtesy of Mercedes Benz

On the restart, both Mercedes had fresh tyres in an aggressive strategy, but everyone got away in order. The race was now dry, with no more rain on the way. This enabled a five-way battle for the lead.

Russell closed in on Piastri in P3, and using DRS, he was alongside into the final chicane, but there was not enough room for both cars. It was very close, and Russell went wide, allowing his teammate through. Hamilton made a clean move on Piastri the following lap, giving Russell a second chance, but this time with no issues.

With only 3 laps to go, the Mercedes were allowed to race each other, with Russell making it up into P3 with a nice move using DRS. It remained close between the pair all the way to the line but Russell held on.

He wasn’t the only one holding on with Gasly, Ocon, Magnussen and Hulkenberg fighting all the way to the line for the final two points positions. The Alpines finished P9 and P10 with the Haas cars in P11 and P12, respectively.

Verstappen controlled the final few laps to take the win, with Norris in P2. It was a fantastic race with action at every point. Three teams finished in the top five, Aston Martin with a double top ten finish and battles on every lap.

The podium celebrations. Image courtesy of Pirelli F1 Media

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Leclerc Breaks Home Duck in Monaco

Charles Leclerc took a maiden home win at the Monaco Grand Prix on Sunday afternoon.

After two previous unsuccessful attempts at converting pole to the win at Monaco, the home hero saw off the threat of Oscar Piastri to take the victory in the Principality.

Carlos Sainz suffered a puncture on the opening lap, but was able to retain P3 following a red flag when Sergio Perez, Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg were all involved in a huge collision out of Turn One.

Lando Norris took fourth in the second McLaren ahead of George Russell, who was forced to back off early after the restart to conserve his Medium tyres having started on the Hards.

He fended off Max Verstappen after the Dutchman stopped late on having started behind Russell, while Sir Lewis Hamilton also pitted late and took the fastest lap in seventh – the seven-time champion too remaining where he started.

Yuki Tsunoda and Alex Albon enjoyed relatively quiet afternoons as they scored points, with Pierre Gasly scoring a point despite contact with Alpine team-mate Esteban Ocon on the first lap. Ocon sustained terminal damage from the incident.

Fernando Alonso took eleventh ahead of RB’s Daniel Ricciardo, with Valtteri Bottas leading Lance Stroll following the Canadian’s ouncture when he made contact with the wall.

Logan Sargeant and Zhou Guanyu finished bottom of the running order.

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