Tag Archives: Esteban Ocon

2023 F1 Grand Prix of Saudi Arabia — Results & aftermath

Perez holds off Verstappen’s amazing recovery drive to take victory in Saudi Arabia, notching Red Bull’s second consecutive 1-2;  Alonso loses podium then given P3 back after FIA penalty reconsideration

Red Bull’s Sergio Perez maximized his pole start in Sunday night’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix and mastered the tricky Jeddah Corniche Street Circuit, all while holding off his teammate Max Verstappen’s furious comeback, to take a solid victory in F1’s second round of 2023. After a driveshaft issue prematurely ended Verstappen’s qualifying efforts on Saturday relegating the Dutchman to P15 on the starting grid, the veteran Mexican street specialist capitalized on his good fortune to run in clean air from the front on the the tight and twisty streets of Jeddah and proved to be the class of the field this evening.  Even though Perez momentarily lost his lead to the Aston Martin of the resurgent Fernando Alonso on the opening lap, the Red Bull’s pace soon proved to be too much for the Spaniard’s Aston. Perez reclaimed P1 from Alonso on Lap 4 and then simply sailed away, building a seemingly insurmountable gap to the rest of the field. Even after a short Safety Car period due to the sister Aston of Lance Stroll coming to an abrupt on-track stop on Lap 18, with the resultant cheap pit stops and tightening of the field, Perez’s Red Bull still proved the dominant car on the day. He jumped away after the end of Lap 20/beginning of Lap 21 restart, leaving the other top runners to fight over the other two podium positions en route to a solid victory and a tie with Verstappen in the Championship points.

On Verstappen’s side of the garage, it was all about recovery after the mechanical failure in qualifying and the resultant P15 start, and the two-time Champ took to his task with his usual gusto in overtaking. After a somewhat easygoing start, Verstappen really began putting the moves on after DRS became enabled on Lap 3, this year’s RB19 looking like having a nearly unfair advantage when it gets to open its rear wing on the straights. By Lap 8, Verstappen had improved to tenth in the race, and by Lap 12 he had passed the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton for P8. When that first and only Safety Car was deployed, Verstappen wisely dived to the pits for fresh rubber, doffing his opening set of Medium Pirellis for the Hards to see him through to the end of the race. The deft strategy call saw Verstappen well placed in P4 upon the restart and he made short work of Mercedes’ George Russell for P3 on Lap 23, then took P2 from Alonso two laps later. But on this night, Perez had the measure of his more decorated teammate and kept him at bay with aplomb. While Verstappen was able to nick an extra championship point for setting the race’s fastest lap to keep him level in on points, it was Perez who took home top honors some 5.35 seconds to the good. Aside from the intriguing intra-team implications, the result made it two consecutive Red Bull 1-2 finishes to open the 2023 campaign. For the moment, at least, no other team looks anywhere near their raw pace and tis year’s Drivers’ Championship could quickly be reduced to a two man, one team battle.

Alonso had a frustrating but ultimately fulfilling day after his opening-lap pass on Perez for the lead. Very quickly, word came down from the stewards that he had lined up his car incorrectly in his grid box to start the race, which incurred a 5-second penalty. While he got a break by being able to serve that time penalty under full-course yellow conditions during the Safety Car period, the stewards initially also adjudged that an Aston Martin mechanic had improperly put his rear jack onto the car while the 5-seconds were being served. That ran afoul of the interpretation of the rules of “no work may be done on the car while serving a penalty” and the team were then assessed a post-race penalty of 10-seconds for the infraction. That momentarily turned what had been a certain second consecutive podium P3 finish for the Spaniard into a P4 when the time had been added, knocking the streaking Spaniard off the podium. But then, a  day of mixed emotions for Aston Martin with Stroll’s early retirement factored in, got a final positive uplift after the race officials reviewed their decision and rescinded Alonso’s penalty. That negated Russell’s short-lived promotion to P3, the young Englishman keeping his original earned race result of P4. Russell had earlier resisted not-so-veiled team orders to allow teammate Lewis Hamilton by him during the post-Safety Car second tire stint, which saw Hamilton on the quicker Mediums and Russel running the opposite strategy after a change off Mediums to Hards. But Russell fended off Hamilton’s best on-track efforts, as well any internal politics from the pit wall, and Hamilton had to settle for a still better than expected P5 when the checkers flew.

On the other hand, Ferrari may well have categorized their day at Jeddah as a bit of a minor disaster. While it was always going to be tough with Charles Leclerc starting from P12 after already running afoul of engine component limitations for multiple energy control unit replacements in only the second race weekend, the team thought they had a decent shot at a podium with Carlos Sainz starting in P4. But the Prancing Horses never really showed good race pace compared with the Aston Martins and the Mercedes (leaving the untouchable Red Bulls out of the discussion entirely) and the Scuderia saw themselves unable to move forward against those adversaries. Leclerc stalled out after recovering to P7 and Sainz was no match for Hamilton after the Safety Car restart and eventually had to settle for P6 at the finish. Fourth Best Cars in 2023 is certainly not what Ferrari expected coming in to the new race year and it’s definitely not going to be satisfactory for the brass back at Maranello. The Ferrari F1 team is going to be under increasingly heavy pressure to improve their results and reliability and quickly.

Rounding out the Top 10, Alpine had another good double points day, with Esteban Ocon coming home in P8 and new hire Pierre Gasly taking P9. And Haas’s Kevin Magnussen scored the last point  after a late race hammer-and-tongs battle with AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda saw the veteran Dane prevail for P10.

Top 10 finishers of the Saudi Arabian GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR LAPS TIME/RETIRED PTS
1 11 Sergio Perez RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT 50 1:21:14.894 25
2 1 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT 50 +5.355s 0
3 63 George Russell MERCEDES 50 +25.866s 15
4 14 Fernando Alonso ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 50 +30.728s 12
5 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 50 +31.065s 10
6 55 Carlos Sainz FERRARI 50 +35.876s 8
7 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 50 +43.162s 6
8 31 Esteban Ocon ALPINE RENAULT 50 +52.832s 4
9 10 Pierre Gasly ALPINE RENAULT 50 +54.747s 2
10 20 Kevin Magnussen HAAS FERRARI 50 +64.826s 1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race is in a fortnight’s time — the always enjoyable Australian Grand Prix from Melbourne’s Albert Park Circuit. All signs seem to point for a two-man internecine fight for wins between the Red Bull’s of Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez with the resultant raising of tensions between the two aces. Can any other team make a dent in Red Bull’s easy season superiority? Hope to see you then to find out!

2023 F1 Grand Prix of Bahrain — Qualifying results

Reigning champ Verstappen picks up where he left off to nab pole for Round 1 of 2023 at Sakhir; Perez P2 for Red Bull front row lockout; Ferrari sacrifice Leclerc’s potential pole challenge for more strategy options in race; Aston Martin and Alonso looking dangerous

The 2023 Formula 1 campaign kicked off in earnest with the first race qualifying of the year on Saturday to set the grid for the opening round of the season at the Sakhir circuit in Bahrain. With the teams masterfully using the short winter offseason & measly on track testing sessions to solidify their understanding of the ground effects-dependent aerodynamics that debuted last year, the result was a much more tightly compacted field that promises potential podiums from more than just the two or three powerhouses of the sport. But the more things change, the more they seemed to stay the same once the teams really showed their hands in the all-out speed contest that is F1’s three rounds of knockout qualifying. 2022’s reigning champion, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, put paid to any other drivers’ hopes of bettering him on this first quali Saturday when he kept improving his pace at an untouchable rate during Q3. In the end, the Flying Dutchman cleared his teammate Sergio Perez by a little under second-and-a-half to take pole for tomorrow’s Round 1 Bahrain Grand Prix and launch his quest for a third consecutive title. Verstappen was aided somewhat by Ferarri’s mildly curious decision to stop their ace Charles Leclerc from running one last flying lap in the final qualifying session and attempt to dethrone Verstappen in favor of having more fresh tires, and therefore more strategy options, for tomorrow’s race. Leclerc had to settle for P3 with stablemate Carlos Sainz backing him up on the second row in P4. Both Red Bull and Ferrari appeared to be hiding their true pace for much of the practice sessions prior and even in Q1 and Q2. But when it really counted, the two teams threw off their sandbags and mimicked last year’s performances as the best and second best teams on the grid, at least at this admittedly extremely early portion of what will be a grueling 23-round season.

While Red Bull and Ferrari were playing it a bit coy in the earlier stages of quali, it looked as though the Aston Martin of new hire Fernando Alonso might spring Saturday’s biggest surprise and claim his first pole since 2012 in Germany. With the wicks fully turned up, however, the veteran Spaniard two-time World Champ settled for a still solid P5, which was still better than both Mercedes were able to achieve. It was a marked improvement for the Aston Martin team and certainly seems to be the payoff for poaching Red Bull’s number two aerodynamicist, Dan Fallows. While Alonso’s teammate Lance Stroll could do no better than a P8 time, the Canadian was hampered by hand and wrist injuries suffered in a pre-testing mountain bike accident so, if he can grit his way through tomorrow’s GP the signs are very promising for the team’s potential going forward. Meanwhile, the aforementioned Silver Arrows duo of George Russell and seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton, while both completely fit, had to settle for P6 and P7 respectively. Though the Mercedes braintrust appears to have mastered the extreme porpoising issues under the new aero formula that doomed their 2022 season to mediocrity, it’s clear that the cars are still not able to challenge for the front row consistently, as least not so yet. Mighty Mercedes and their ambitious and demanding driver duo will be keen to sharpen this year’s weapon in a hurry while simultaneously hoping that one again their cars are better race machines than one-lap specialists.

Rounding out the top ten on the grid, Alpine’s Esteban Ocon did very well to will his rather mediocre looking mount to P9 and Nico Hulkenberg made a solid return to F1 after several years as a super sub and reserve driver to qualify P10 for his new team, Haas. The veteran German, who looked genuinely rapid on the day, may have been hoping for even better positioning but he had his only competitive lap in Q3 deleted for exceeding track limits.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Bahrain GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 1 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT 1:31.295 1:30.503 1:29.708 15
2 11 Sergio Perez RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT 1:31.479 1:30.746 1:29.846 15
3 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 1:31.094 1:30.282 1:30.000 17
4 55 Carlos Sainz FERRARI 1:30.993 1:30.515 1:30.154 18
5 14 Fernando Alonso ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 1:31.158 1:30.645 1:30.336 15
6 63 George Russell MERCEDES 1:31.057 1:30.507 1:30.340 15
7 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 1:31.543 1:30.513 1:30.384 15
8 18 Lance Stroll ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 1:31.184 1:31.127 1:30.836 18
9 31 Esteban Ocon ALPINE RENAULT 1:31.508 1:30.914 1:30.984 15
10 27 Nico Hulkenberg HAAS FERRARI 1:31.204 1:30.809 DNF 17

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s season-opening race airs live on ESPN beginning at 10AM Eastern here in the States. Hope to see you then when this much tighter field should lead to a ding dong race with multiple contenders for the podium and if anyone has anything for Verstappen for the top step!

 

 

2022 F1 Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi — Qualifying results

Red Bull lock out front row for Abu Dhabi season finale with Verstappen on pole, Perez P2; Leclerc P3 & Sainz P4 for Ferrari as Mercedes struggle for pace

‘Looking to end their double championship season in style, Red Bull locked out the front row for Sunday’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix after Saturday’s three-rounds of knockout qualifying. 2022’s Drivers’ Champion Max set down a blazingly quick lap time of 1:23.824, making him the only driver to get into the 1:23s at any point in the day. The Dutch master accomplished this even while somewhat playing the team game, as opposed to last week’s inexplicable fit of pique in Sao Paulo, by helping teammate Sergio Perez with a tow in the first sector of their final flying laps, which enabled the Mexican to outpace Ferraris’ Charles Leclerc for the second fastest time in Q3 and P2 on the grid. Leclerc, who is tied with Perez on points for second in the Drivers’ standings, will start P3 come Sunday but still leads Perez if all things stay equal by virtue of having won more races this year. Leclerc’s Scuderia stablemate Carlos Sainz took P4, outpacing both Mercedes, which struggled for pace under the lights at the high-abrasion Yas Marina Circuit. Lewis Hamilton was able to better his teammate George Russell, last week’s race winner in Brazil, but the Silver Arrows duo could muster no better than P5 and P6 respectively after showing more promising signs of performance improvement in the prior three rounds.

McLaren’s Lando Norris, returned to good health after feeling ill in Brazil a week ago, put in a stout effort to claim P7 on the grid, with outgoing teammate Daniel Ricciardo good enough for P10 in his last race for McLaren. They sandwiched Esteban Ocon’s Alpine in P8 and the Aston Martin of Sebastian Vettel in P9. The German four-time champion had an inspired quali and got the absolute most from his Aston as he prepares to ride off into the sunset after tomorrow’s race.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Abu Dhabi GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 1 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING RBPT 1:24.754 1:24.622 1:23.824 17
2 11 Sergio Perez RED BULL RACING RBPT 1:24.820 1:24.419 1:24.052 18
3 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 1:25.211 1:24.517 1:24.092 17
4 55 Carlos Sainz FERRARI 1:25.090 1:24.521 1:24.242 16
5 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 1:25.594 1:24.774 1:24.508 21
6 63 George Russell MERCEDES 1:25.545 1:24.940 1:24.511 20
7 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 1:25.387 1:24.903 1:24.769 17
8 31 Esteban Ocon ALPINE RENAULT 1:25.735 1:25.007 1:24.830 17
9 5 Sebastian Vettel ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 1:25.523 1:24.974 1:24.961 18
10 3 Daniel Ricciardo MCLAREN MERCEDES 1:25.766 1:25.068 1:25.045 15

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race airs live on ESPN2 beginning at 8AM Eastern here in the States. Will Verstappen really be ready to help Perez in his quest for second in the Drivers’ or will the return of Me-Me-Me Max rear its ugly head if he sniffs a win? Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out as we close out the 2022 F1 season!

2022 F1 Grand Prix of Sao Paulo — Results & aftermath

Russell takes first F1 win in Sao Paulo, Hamilton P2 to extend Mercedes’ late season surge; Sainz P3 for Ferrari ahead of Leclerc; Verstappen vociferously refuses to help teammate Perez

Mercedes up and coming young driver George Russell made good on the team’s constant faith in his talents and earned his first Formula 1 victory at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix on Sunday. Spearheading a late season charge by the Silver Arrows, Russell started first on the grid after winning Saturday’s Sprint race and then survived an incident-filled 71-laps on the short and tricky Interlagos circuit to break his duck and claim his maiden F1 win. Better still for Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton was able to survive early contact with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen to come home P2, proving that the recent improved showing by the W13 were not just flukes due to the thinner atmosphere in Mexico City or a unique synergy between driver and track after Hamilton’s excellent showing at COTA in the USGP. After struggling mightily with porpoising to begin the campaign under the new aero specs and then being simply too draggy to compete with Red Bull and Ferrari until really the latter third of the season, Mercedes’ advancements might be too little too late for this year but bode well for a more competitive, possible 3-team competition in 2023. Hamilton and Verstappen also collided after a Safety Car restart on Lap 7, with neither car badly damaged but Verstappen requiring a new front wing and receiving a 5-second penalty as the guilty party, there were certainly shades of last year’s epic tense and testy season-long duel. Let’s hope it’s foreshadowing for next year.

Behind the top two Mercs there was a ton of tension and intrigue. Ferrari managed to come home with Carlos Sainz in P3 and Charles Leclerc in P4 after somehow recovering from a Lap 7 coming together with McLaren’s Lando Norris just after the Hamilton-Verstappen kerfuffle. It was an impressive rally from the Monegasque, whose Prancing Horse at first looked to be in real trouble after spearing into the barriers. While both Leclerc and his F1-75 proved resilient as they fought their way forward, less impressive was his repeated requests to the Ferrari pit wall to tell Sainz to let him by for the extra points. While it’s understandable that Leclerc would want every available advantage to try and secure second in the Drivers’ championship, bumping his teammate from a podium was never going to fly and simply made Leclerc seem a little whiny and desperate.

But that was nothing compared to what went down late race at team Red Bull. With Verstappen’s race compromised because of that early clash with Hamilton, it seemed that Perez might have the best opportunity to spoil Mercedes’ day. But the team had kept Perez out on Medium tires late in the race and the Mexican was forced to defend rather than attack, as Sainz came upon him after another Safety Car period ended on Lap 59 on fresher and superior Soft tire. Despite his best efforts, the veteran Mexican was easy meat for Sainz, the Spaniard making the overtake on Lap 63, a lap after DRS had been re-enabled. Worse still, Leclerc followed suit a lap later and the Alpine of Fernando Alonso also scooted by him on Lap 65. At this point, Verstappen had caught also up to Perez and the team somewhat curiously told Perez to let Max through to “take some points off Alonso and Leclerc”. But, despite the fact that Verstappen couldn’t make anything happen with that theory and stayed stuck in P6, the current World Champion then inexplicably refused direct team orders to hand the place back to Perez to finish out the race. That proved pivotal in the Drivers’ Standings, because while Leclerc salvaged P4 after his stressful adventures on the day, Perez sank to P7 behind his not-very-team oriented teammate Verstappen. The resultant points scoring on the day put Leclerc and Perez into a tie with 290 points, but Leclerc would earn the tiebreaker if it remained that way because he has more wins on the season. It remains to be seen if Verstappen, who many are theorizing still holds a grudge for Perez bringing out the Red Flag way back at Monaco qualifying to deny the Dutchman pole, will feel he’s made his point and go back to aiding Perez’s quest for P2 in the Championship at the last race in Abu Dhabi. However things turn out at Yas Marina next week, Verstappen’s diva-like behavior in Sao Paulo will likely not be forgotten by the popular Perez or by his legions of Mexican and non-Mexican fans. Frankly, there’s no putting that particular toothpaste back in the tube and it could cast Perez’s continued membership on the Red Bull team into some serious doubt.

With the two Alpine’s of Alonso and Esteban Ocon playing reasonably nice for a change, the team had a very good day at the races. First and foremost was Alonso’s most impressive drive. Staring from P17 on the grid behind Ocon after the pair had tangled multiple times in the Sprint race, the Spanish two-time World Champ put in a brilliant effort to come home all the way up in P5 and ahead of both Red Bulls. Combined with Ocon’s solid P8 and a double DNF for McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo, who knocked out Haas’ Kevin Magnussen along with himself on the opening lap, and Lando Norris, whose car died on Lap 52 bringing out the final Safety Car, it made for a 19-point lead for Alpine over McLaren for P4 in the all-important Constructors’ points with only the one race remaining. Valtteri Bottas also scored decent points for Alfa Romeo with a ninth-place finish and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll took the final point in P10.

Top 10 finishers of the Sao Paulo GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR LAPS TIME/RETIRED PTS
1 63 George Russell MERCEDES 71 1:38:34.044 26
2 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 71 +1.529s 18
3 55 Carlos Sainz FERRARI 71 +4.051s 15
4 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 71 +8.441s 12
5 14 Fernando Alonso ALPINE RENAULT 71 +9.561s 10
6 1 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING RBPT 71 +10.056s 8
7 11 Sergio Perez RED BULL RACING RBPT 71 +14.080s 6
8 31 Esteban Ocon ALPINE RENAULT 71 +18.690s 4
9 77 Valtteri Bottas ALFA ROMEO FERRARI 71 +22.552s 2
10 18 Lance Stroll ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 71 +23.552s 1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

In one week’s time, it’s the final race of the 2022 season — the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix from the futuristic and colorful Yas Marina Circuit. The last of the prizes will be claimed and it will be more than a little interesting to see if Verstappen can overcome his bizarre fit of pique and actually help his teammate Perez to prevail over Leclerc for P2 in the Drivers’ standings. Likewise, can Mercedes finish on another high and keep the good vibes flowing into the off season? Stay tuned & hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out as Formula 1 draws to close for the year!

2022 F1 Grand Prix of Mexico City — Results & aftermath

Red Bull’s Verstappen cruises to victory in Mexico City; Hamilton out-duels teammate Russell P2 to P4 in strong showing for Mercedes; Perez P3, Ferrari far off the pace

2022 Formula 1 Champion Max Verstappen continued his winning ways at Sunday’s Mexico City Grand Prix, setting a new record  with his 14th victory of the season and doing so with relative ease. With the peerless Red Bull ace starting from pole, the now two-time champ lead the field from the moment the lights went out in this 71-lap contest at Autódromo Hermanos Rodriguez and never really looked back. Verstappen made the most of a one-stop Soft-to-Medium Pirelli tire strategy on a day where tire degradation was less than expected and Mercedes appeared to guess wrong by betting on the Hard tires for their second stint after starting on the Mediums. With Verstappen’s Mediums holding up well despite being swapped out on Lap 25, it was really all over but the shouting as both Lewis Hamilton and George Russell were left to lament lack of performance on their Hards in their radio calls back to the Mercedes pit wall while the lead Red Bull disappeared into the distance. Hamilton had executed a flawless pass for P2 on stablemate Russell on the opening lap, forcing his junior teammate to ride the curbs off the racing line and seizing P2 from Russell, but the English seven-time champ was left over 15-seconds adrift of Verstappen by the time the checkers flew.

That opening lap tussle with his Silver Arrows teammate cost Russell not only a position to Hamilton but also a podium, as the second Red Bull of Sergio Perez was able to capitalize on that pivotal loss of momentum and take P3 from Russell shortly thereafter on Lap 1 to the delight of his countrymen in the stands. The veteran Mexican pilot then followed suit on tire strategy to his teammate, having come in two laps earlier on Lap 23 for the same Soft-to-Medium switch. Perez used that tire advantage to run away from Russell and secure a satisfying P3 podium finish at his home race. Further back of the top four, Ferrari had a majorly off day and were never seriously in contention. Perhaps dialing back their engines to save them for another day or perhaps just struggling at the high altitude and thin atmosphere of this Mexico City circuit, the Prancing Horses never really looked like contenders. Carlos Sainz struggled to a P5 finish some 9-seconds behind Russell and Charles Leclerc, who seems to have lost a bit of the fire since his championship dreams were extinguished a few races back, muddled through to P6. One can only hope that Ferrari put up more of a fight once back at sea level for the next race in Brazil in a couple of weeks.

Rounding out the Top 10, McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo drove his best race of the season, making a slew of aggressive overtaking maneuvers after wheel banging contact with AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda on Lap 51. Despite being handed a 10-second time penalty as a result of the contretemps, the affable Aussie drove like a man possessed to secure P7, making the most of a final stint on Soft tires to maximize the McLaren’s performance and dust his midfield competitors. Teammate Lando Norris was for once overshadowed by Ricciardo and could only muster a P9 finish, still adding up to solid points for McLaren in their battle with Alpine for fourth in the Contractors Championship. They were aided in that quest by Alpine’s increasing reliability issues, which saw Fernando Alonso retire with an engine issue with just six laps to go. That left Esteban Ocon as the lone Alpine to score, coming home P8, and it will be all to play for for the big fourth-place payout between the French team and McLaren in the final two rounds. Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas hung on for the last point in P10, not really having the race pace in his C42 despite qualifying P6.

Top 10 finishers of the Mexico City GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR LAPS TIME/RETIRED PTS
1 1 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING RBPT 71 1:38:36.729 25
2 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 71 +15.186s 18
3 11 Sergio Perez RED BULL RACING RBPT 71 +18.097s 15
4 63 George Russell MERCEDES 71 +49.431s 13
5 55 Carlos Sainz FERRARI 71 +58.123s 10
6 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 71 +68.774s 8
7 3 Daniel Ricciardo MCLAREN MERCEDES 70 +1 lap 6
8 31 Esteban Ocon ALPINE RENAULT 70 +1 lap 4
9 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 70 +1 lap 2
10 77 Valtteri Bottas ALFA ROMEO FERRARI 70 +1 lap 1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race is in a fortnight’s time — the Sao Paolo Grand Prix at Interlagos in Brazil. Can Mercedes maintain their improved performance back t sea level and possibly grab a win off of Red Bull or will Verstappen continue to add to his race-win record? Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2022 F1 Grand Prix of Mexico City — Qualifying results

Red Bull’s Verstappen pips Russell for first pole in Mexico City, Hamilton P3 as Mercedes show late season strength; Ferrari adrift at high altitude Autódromo Hermanos Rodriguez

After struggling for grip at the always tricky high altitude/thin air Autódromo Hermanos Rodriguez, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen hooked up a lap to perfection when it counted most, as he so often has this championship season. Trailing the suddenly resurgent Mercedes duo of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell late in Q3, Verstappen was able to lay down an untouchable final fast lap at the death during Saturday qualifying to secure pole for Sunday’s Mexico City Grand Prix. With the Red Bulls struggling for grip in the hot, high altitude conditions and Mercedes paying less of a penalty for what has been a draggy car this season, it seemed that Hamilton might snatch his first pole of 2022. But it was not to be, as the English seven-time champion ultimately fell short not only of the flying Dutchman’s pace but also his teammate Russell, who will slot in alongside Verstappen on the front row with Hamilton settling for P3. Despite that momentary disappointment, this could be Mercedes best chance to win that elusive first race of the already 19-round-old campaign. In addition to Hamilton’s recent personal resurgence and Russell’s slowly improving consistency, if they can keep their tires under them for the duration of the GP, Mercedes may actually have the pace under these conditions to best Verstappen for once.

While Verstappen’s teammate and local hero Sergio Perez struggled to a P4 qualifying effort in front of his home fans, it was worse for Ferrari. The Prancing Horses seemed unmoored at high altitude, with Carlos Sainz only setting the fifth best time in the final quali session and stablemate Charles Leclerc even further off the pace in P7. The loss of downforce here really seemed to effect the F1-75 when putting power down through the low speed corners, of which there are many at this twisty 4.3 kilometer circuit. Such were their struggles that Valtteri Bottas, representing Ferrari’s secondary team Alfa Romeo, split Sainz and Leclerc with a superb P6 effort. Rounding out the top ten qualifiers, McLaren’s Lando Norris was eighth quickest and the Alpines of Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon qualified P9 and P10 respectively.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Mexico City GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 1 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING RBPT 1:19.222 1:18.566 1:17.775 16
2 63 George Russell MERCEDES 1:19.583 1:18.565 1:18.079 18
3 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 1:19.169 1:18.552 1:18.084 19
4 11 Sergio Perez RED BULL RACING RBPT 1:19.706 1:18.615 1:18.128 18
5 55 Carlos Sainz FERRARI 1:19.566 1:18.560 1:18.351 17
6 77 Valtteri Bottas ALFA ROMEO FERRARI 1:19.523 1:18.762 1:18.401 18
7 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 1:19.505 1:19.109 1:18.555 18
8 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 1:19.857 1:19.119 1:18.721 19
9 14 Fernando Alonso ALPINE RENAULT 1:20.006 1:19.272 1:18.939 15
10 31 Esteban Ocon ALPINE RENAULT 1:19.945 1:19.081 1:19.010 18

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Sunday’s Mexico City Grand Prix airs live on ESPN beginning at 4PM Eastern here in the Sates. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2022 F1 Grand Prix of Japan — Qualifying results

Verstappen survives stewards after contretemps with Norris to keep pole at Suzuka; Leclerc P2 & Sainz P3 for Ferrari

Inching ever closer to his second consecutive Formula 1 World Championship, Red Bull’s Dutch master Max Verstappen set the fastest lap during Saturday qualifying for the return of the Japanese Grand Prix after a two year hiatus. Verstappen held off not only the hard charging Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz but also survived a stewards inquiry into his leisurely weaving through 130R during Q3, forcing McLaren’s Lando Norris to take evasive action at full chat to avoid the out of shape Red Bull. While Verstappen received a reprimand, he was not penalized and so will start from pole for tomorrow’s race, where he will have the best possible chance of clinching the title with both a win and the bonus point for fastest lap no matter where his rivals finish. Ferrari’s Leclerc, starting alongside Max on the front row in P2, and Sainz in P3, as well as his Red Bull teammate and last race’s winner in Singapore, Sergio Perez, lining up in P4, will all surely give their best efforts to deny the Dutchman that most coveted motorsport prize, if only for one more race.

Outside that elite top four, Alpine’s Esteban Ocon out-qualified his more heralded teammate, Fernando Alonso, P5 to P7 respectively, while Lewis Hamilton got the better of his Mercedes teammate George Russell, P6 to P8. Sebastian Vettel willed his Aston Martin into Q3 and P9 on the grid in the last F1 qualifying effort of his illustrious career at his favorite Suzuka Circuit. And Norris could do no better than P10, perhaps due to the limitations of his McLaren chassis and perhaps as a result of being thrown off rhythm from his earlier hairy encounter with Verstappen.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Japanese GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 1 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING RBPT 1:30.224 1:30.346 1:29.304 13
2 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 1:30.402 1:30.486 1:29.314 13
3 55 Carlos Sainz FERRARI 1:30.336 1:30.444 1:29.361 13
4 11 Sergio Perez RED BULL RACING RBPT 1:30.622 1:29.925 1:29.709 15
5 31 Esteban Ocon ALPINE RENAULT 1:30.696 1:30.357 1:30.165 18
6 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 1:30.906 1:30.443 1:30.261 20
7 14 Fernando Alonso ALPINE RENAULT 1:30.603 1:30.343 1:30.322 15
8 63 George Russell MERCEDES 1:30.865 1:30.465 1:30.389 19
9 5 Sebastian Vettel ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 1:31.256 1:30.656 1:30.554 15
10 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 1:30.881 1:30.473 1:31.003 18

Complete qualifying results available via Fomrula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race airs live on ESPN2 beginning at 1AM Estern here in the States. So set your DVR or brew that extra pot of coffee to find out of Verstappen can clinch the title in Japan or if Leclerc, Sainz or Perez can spoil his day!

2022 F1 Grand Prix of Belgium — Results & aftermath

DUTCH TREAT — Verstappen surges from P14 start to take dominating win at Spa, Perez P2 for maximum Red Bull points; Ferrari’s Sainz P3 but luckless Leclerc demoted to P6 after late pit stop penalty

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen may well have just sealed the deal on his second consecutive Drivers’ Championship. Despite starting Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix from P14 on the grid after being penalized for voluntary engine changes, the Dutch points leader proved an irresistible force as he relentlessly pushed his way to the front. By Lap 12 of this 44-lap contest at the fabled Spa-Francorchamps circuit here in the Ardennes forest, Verstappen had carved his way through the field and executed a pass on his Red Bull teammate, Sergio Perez, to take the lead of the race, a progression as astonishing as it was seemingly predictable. Meanwhile, the pole-sitting Ferrari of Carlos Sainz had pitted a lap earlier than Verstappen and emerged in P6 but rapidly sliced his forwards the front so that by the time Mercedes’ George Russell made his first stop for fresh Pirellis on Lap 14, with Perez and Verstappen both coming in following Lap, the Spaniard had recaptured the lead. However, it soon became apparent that Sainz’s Prancing Horse did not have the legs for Verstappen’s Red Bull on this day, perhaps because of too much downforce put on the Ferrari or perhaps just because the RB18 is simply superior to the F1-75. On Lap 18, Verstappen made easy work of Sainz and then pulled away, eventually extending to such an advantage that by Lap 30, when he made his second and final pit stop, he easily retained the lead when he reemerged onto the track. It then became a formality, as Verstappen swanned away for the remaining final third of the race to take his eighth victory in fourteen rounds and extend his Drivers’ Championship lead to a whopping 93 points over his teammate Sergio Perez, who leapfrogged Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc on the day as a result of his own strong second place finish. It was not only Verstappen’s third win on the trot, having prevailed in France and Hungary before the summer break, but he also pulled off the rare feat of making it to the top step of the podium in back-to-back races despite starting from P10 or lower at both the Hungaroring and here at Spa.

Pics courtesy GrandPrix247.com

That Leclerc ended up losing out in his increasingly long shot quest to stay close to Verstappen was not entirely the Monegasque’s fault. While finding himself similarly disadvantaged as his Dutch rival due to engine component changes that saw him start from P15 on the grid, Leclerc had the misfortune of sucking up a stray visor tear-off into his right front brake duct on the opening laps. That forced an early pit stop, which fortunately was under a Safety Car caused by Valterri Bottas’s Alfa Romeo being beached in a contretemps with the Williams of Nicholas Latifi. Nevertheless, it threw Ferrari’s strategic plans for Leclerc for a loop and the team exchanged Medium Pirellis for his opening set of Softs during that premature stop under yellow on only Lap 4. Form then on, it was primarily damage control. Leclerc rejoined way back in P17 and there was no way that set of Medium tires could possibly go to the end and save another stop on a very warm day where tire deg was significantly higher than expected. The ups and downs of the next forty some odd laps culminated in a questionable call for a late switch to Soft tires on Lap 43 in an attempt to set the fastest lap. This backfired in more than one way, as Leclerc first ended up losing P5 to Alpine’s Fernando Alonso upon exiting the pits. With some effort, Leclerc was able to catch and pass Alonso to regain the position on the final lap but Verstappen not only retained the extra point for fastest lap but the stewards also dinged Leclerc for speeding in the pit lane on that final stop and penalized him 5 seconds, which handed P5 back to Alonso after the race. So, at the end of a frustrating day, Ferrari had to settle for Sainz’s decent podium in P3, while Leclerc dropped not only a position in the race due to that late penalty but also ceded P2 in the points to Red Bull’s Perez. With only eight more rounds remaining in the 2022 campaign, Leclerc’s dreams of a championship are fading just as fast as Verstappen continues to disappear down the road.

Mercedes had a decidedly mixed day at the races. While young George Russell acquitted himself well and came home a valuable P4, if never quite having the pace to really challenge Sainz for the podium, seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton crashed out on the opening lap after a poorly judged overtaking maneuver led to a collision with Alpine’s Fernando Alonso. While Hamilton’s Silver Arrow suffered terminal damage after being launched by Alonso’s front tire coming into contact with Hamilton’s rear, Alonso somehow survived and thrived, taking that unexpected, penalty-induced P5 for a very satisfying day for the Spaniard. Even better for the team and their mission to take fourth in the Constructors’ title, the second alpine of Esteban Ocon did very well to finish in P7, the Frenchman showing his determination by making several stunning two-car overtakes during the course of the race. Sebastian Vettel drove a savvy race and finished P8 for Aston Martin and Pierre Gasly got a rare positive result for struggling AlphaTauri in P9. Williams’ Alexander Albon also performed well on the day to take the last point in P10.

Top 10 finishers for the Belgian GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR LAPS TIME/RETIRED PTS
1 1 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING RBPT 44 1:25:52.894 26
2 11 Sergio Perez RED BULL RACING RBPT 44 +17.841s 18
3 55 Carlos Sainz FERRARI 44 +26.886s 15
4 63 George Russell MERCEDES 44 +29.140s 12
5 14 Fernando Alonso ALPINE RENAULT 44 +73.256s 10
6 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 44 +74.936s 8
7 31 Esteban Ocon ALPINE RENAULT 44 +75.640s 6
8 5 Sebastian Vettel ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 44 +78.107s 4
9 10 Pierre Gasly ALPHATAURI RBPT 44 +92.181s 2
10 23 Alexander Albon WILLIAMS MERCEDES 44 +101.900s 1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race is in but a week’s time and will be in Verstappen’s home sandbox — the Dutch Grand Prix form the beachfront Zandvoort Circuit. Hope to see you then to find out if anyone can slow Max’s relentless march to what now seems like an inevitable second F1 crown!

2022 F1 Grand Prix of Belgium — Qualifying results

Verstappen quickest at Spa but Sainz inherits pole after engine penalties effect slew of top drivers; mixed up grid should lead to wild Belgian GP

Formula 1 returns from the long summer break with one of the oldest and most prestigious events on the calendar, the Belgian Grand Prix from fabled Spa-Francorchamps. And Saturday Qualifying for tomorrow’s race saw Red Bull’s peerless Max Verstappen miss not a beat coming back from his holiday, as the Dutchman easily set the fastest time on the series’ longest circuit. However, Verstappen will not be starting from pole because even though he gapped the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz by over six-tenths he and the team decided to make engine changes and so Max will be pushed towards the back despite setting the fastest lap. He wasn’t the only competitor to take the pain of power unit component changes this weekend either. Not only his main rival, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, bit that particular bullet, but Alpine’s Esteban Ocon, McLaren’s Lando Norris, Haas’s Mick Schumacher and Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas also followed suit. While one might need a degree from MIT to figure out all these penalty permutations, it looks like the key takeaway is that Verstappen will start P15 and Leclerc P16 tomorrow. Along with all the other out-of-position cars it could make for a chaotic run into Eau Rouge on the opening lap when Verstappen and Leclerc try to fight their way through slower traffic in an effort to get to their respective teammates at the front, the pole-sitting Sainz and the P2 Red Bull of Sergio Perez.

The biggest beneficiaries of all those penalties are Alpine’s Fernando Alonso, who gets promoted to P3 on the grid, and the two Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell, who look to be starting in P4 and P5 despite not even being the third fastest team in quali.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Belgian Grand Prix:

POS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 1 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING RBPT 1:44.581 1:44.723 1:43.665 9
2 55 Carlos Sainz FERRARI 1:45.050 1:45.418 1:44.297 14
3 11 Sergio Perez RED BULL RACING RBPT 1:45.377 1:44.794 1:44.462 12
4 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 1:45.572 1:44.551 1:44.553 14
5 31 Esteban Ocon ALPINE RENAULT 1:46.039 1:45.475 1:45.180 15
6 14 Fernando Alonso ALPINE RENAULT 1:46.075 1:45.552 1:45.368 16
7 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 1:45.736 1:45.420 1:45.503 20
8 63 George Russell MERCEDES 1:45.650 1:45.461 1:45.776 20
9 23 Alexander Albon WILLIAMS MERCEDES 1:45.672 1:45.675 1:45.837 18
10 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 1:45.745 1:45.603 1:46.178 14

The provisional grid after all the penalties looks like this, however: Continue reading →

2022 F1 Grand Prix of Hungary — Results & aftermath

Red Bull’s Verstappen rallies from P10 start to take victory in Hungary; P2 Hamilton & P3 Russell pounce for Mercedes as Ferrari fumble strategy yet again

Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix, the last race before the long August break, began with a scrambled grid that promised big swings and did not disappoint once the lights went out to start the race. Starting from an unaccustomed P10 after engine issues ruined his qualifying pace, the points-leading Red Bull of Max Verstappen gave his typically superlative effort behind the wheel to eventually take a stunning victory at the end of this 70-lap contest at the short, tight and twisty Hugaroring. He was benefitted first by his team’s clever use of the undercut and then by yet another inexplicable strategy call by Ferrari that doomed the race of his key rival, Charles Leclerc. Taking advantage of that Ferrari fumble, the Mercedes duo of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell had an excellent run to take their second consecutive double-podium finish on the trot. For Ferrari, it was a lousy way to end the first portion of their up and down season and they will have the bitter taste of Carlos Sainz’s P4 and Charles Leclerc’s P6 stuck in their mouths for a month before they can try to redeem themselves and get back on track.

Having already fought his way from that P10 start to P5 by Lap 12, Verstappen made his first pit stop for fresh rubber on Lap 17, swapping his opening set of Soft Pirellis for the more durable but still high performing Mediums. While the Mercedes of George Russell, who started the race from P1 after earning his first career F1 pole, covered the Dutchman’s move and followed him into the pits for his own Soft-to-Medium swap, Ferrari chose to keep their two drivers out. For Carlos Sainz, who started from P2 on the grid, it was just one lap more and he promptly came in for a fresh set of Medium tires, the same compound the Spaniard had started on. On the other hand, Charles Leclerc, Verstappen’s chief championship rival, stayed out until Lap 21, also opting for the Medium-to-Medium move. That meant that both Ferraris were still obligated to run a different compound later in the race unless it should rain enough to necessitate wet weather tires. The threatening weather held off on this cool and cloudy day in Hungary, however, and the decision of which tire to choose at the next stop proved to be the pivotal inflection point of the Grand Prix. Continue reading →