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2024 F1 Grand Prix of Australia — Results & aftermath

Sainz surges to epic victory in Oz after Verstappen’s mechanical failure on Lap 4; Leclerc second for a Ferrari 1-2; Norris P3 & Piastri P4 for McLaren; Perez P5 in lone surviving Red Bull, as Mercedes suffer double DNF

In his first race back after missing the Saudi Arabian GP two weeks ago with appendicitis surgery, Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz demonstrated epic grit and determination, as well as superb skill, to take an amazing victory in Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix. Sainz was undeniably helped by the stunning mechanical failure of Max Verstappen’s normally bulletproof Red Bull on only Lap 4 of this 58-lap event at the beautiful Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne. Verstappen’s RB20 suffered a terminal brake issue at the right rear that actually exploded the wheel as he pulled into the pits to retire the car. It was the first DNF for the flying Dutchman in 43 races, the last one ironically also occurring here in 2022. Nevertheless, the Ferraris had genuine pace and Sainz appeared up for the challenge of a mano-a-mano battle even had Verstappen not been so unlucky, and the Spaniard rapidly proved the class of the field in the three-time champion’s absence. Even his teammate, Charles Leclerc, couldn’t really challenge Sainz’s pace at the front and when the race was ended under a Virtual Safety Car due to George Russels’s dramatic late race crash, it was a Ferrari 1-2 highlighted by a remarkably gutsy performance from Sainz, a man only recently returned from a hospital bed and certainly unable to train for the Grand Prix weekend as he normally would. While Albert Park seems particularly well suited to Ferrari’s cars every time they visit Down Under, F1 fans will hope that the Prancing Horses’ dominance on Sunday was a harbinger for more good things to come in 2024 vis a vis a genuine fight with Red Bull. And for Sainz personally, who was let go by the Scuderia for next year in favor of Lewis Hamilton, it was certainly one of the finest advertisements any free agent pilot has offered prospective future employers in the F1 paddock.

Team McLaren had the second best day amongst the constructors under the sunny Melbourne skies. With Lando Norris starting from P3 on the grid and teammate Oliver Piastri P5 at his home GP, Norris was able to retain that final podium spot when the checkers flew, while Piastri improved to a P4 finish. While they never really had the pace to challenge Leclerc once the Monegasque had cleared Norris via a one-lap undercut on the first pit sequence early on, they did manage to keep the lone surviving Red Bull of Sergio Peres well and truly behind Piastri in the final third of the race. Perez was hampered by a 3-place grid penalty after he was adjudged to have impeded Haas’s Nico Hulkenberg during Saturday qualifying, dropping him to a P6 starting position. While he did make up one position, it appeared his Red Bull suffered with tire degradation and dropped off on pace later in the tire stints. With Verstappen’s shocking DNF and Perez only able to gather 10 points for the team with his P5 finish, it was a rare lost weekend for usually imperious Red Bull.

Perhaps they can take solace in the fact that their old nemesis, the Mercedes factory team, had an even worse Australian excursion. First, Lewis Hamilton, who was looking very racy in the early going, suffered an abrupt engine failure on Lap 17. Then, to add salt to the Silver Arrows’ wounds, George Russell suffered a lurid penultimate lap crash while in pursuit of Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso for P6.  After the race, the stewards handed Alonso a 20-second penalty for erratic driving, deciding that the veteran two-time champ had slowed excessively through the tricky Turn 6-Turn 7 complex and forcing Russell to have to abruptly hit the brakes and change his line. That sent Russell’s Merc skidding through the gravel trap there at a high rate of knots, breaking the front suspension and eventually pitching the Briton’s Silver Arrow across the track and laying on its side. Thankfully, Russell came out of it unscathed but Alonso’s subsequent demotion from P6 to P8 was cold comfort to team Mercedes, which scored zero points for all their efforts coming in to the weekend. Team principal Toto Wolf will need an extra bottle of Maalox while he marinates on this bitter turn of events for the next fortnight.

Alonso’s Aston teammate Lance Stroll was elevated to P6 and the RB Honda of Yuki Tsunoda got P7 thanks to the naughty Spaniard’s penalty. And Haas had a splendid day, scoring points with both cars after Nico Hulkenberg in P9 and Kevin Magnussen in P10 were both able to overtake the lone Williams of Alexander Albon in crunch time. In an effort to score points, Williams had decided to allow Albon to run Logan Sargeant’s car after Albon binned his irreperably during Friday practice. But with Albon not finding the pace to come home in the points, the maneuver led to nothing more than bruised feelings for the already under the gun Sargeant.

Top 10 finishers of the Australian GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR LAPS TIME/RETIRED PTS
1 55 Carlos Sainz FERRARI 58 1:20:26.843 25
2 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 58 +2.366s 19
3 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 58 +5.904s 15
4 81 Oscar Piastri MCLAREN MERCEDES 58 +35.770s 12
5 11 Sergio Perez RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT 58 +56.309s 10
6 18 Lance Stroll ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 58 +93.222s 8
7 22 Yuki Tsunoda RB HONDA RBPT 58 +95.601s 6
8 14 Fernando Alonso ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 58 +100.992s 4
9 27 Nico Hulkenberg HAAS FERRARI 58 +104.553s 2
10 20 Kevin Magnussen HAAS FERRARI 57 +1 lap 1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race is in two weeks’ time with an uncharacteristically early visit to Japan’s fabled Suzuka International Racing Course. Verstappen and Red Bull will be itching for redemption and a return to their usual winning ways, while Ferrari and Sainz will be hoping to ride their Aussie high to even greater heights in Japan. Hope to see you then to find out how it all plays out!

2024 F1 Grand Prix of Saudi Arabia — Results & aftermath

Verstappen romps to second consecutive victory in Round 2; Perez takes second for Red Bull 1-2; Leclerc P3 & pinch-hitting rookie Bearman a solid P7 to Ferrari’s delight

Despite having only two rounds of the 2024 Formula 1 season done and dusted, it’s already clear that is going to take an act of force majeure to prevent Red Bull’s peerless Max Verstappen from romping to his third consecutive Championship. This stark reality was sharply illustrated during Saturday’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, where Verstappen scurried away from the pole and then played hide & seek with the other 19 cars for the rest of the race. While teammate Sergio Perez was able to improve on his P3 grid position by passing Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc for second place early on, and then holding on to that prime podium spot to make it a Red Bull 1-2, he still ended up trailing the flying Dutchman by 13.6 seconds when the checkers flew at this tight and treacherous harborside street circuit.

Despite seeing Leclerc lose a position from his starting spot, Ferrari left Jeddah very happy with their points haul on the day. Facing the abrupt loss of their usual number two, Carlos Sainz, to an appendectomy on Friday, development driver Oliver Bearman was drafted from his F2 seat and thrown into the deep end of a Formula 1 race weekend. Facing the bleak prospect of potentially only one car scoring points in Sainz’s absence, Bearman instead acquitted himself well, first by qualifying in P11 on Friday. He then improved on that effort with a very professional race effort that saw him take advantage of his Prancing Horse’s natural pace advantage to get ahead of a slew of more experienced drivers in inferior equipment. Credit to the young Briton for keeping his car in one piece and for executing his overtakes with aggression if not always the utmost finesse. In any event, by the time the 50 laps of the Grand Prix had wound down, Bearman had worked his way up to a satisfying P7 points-scoring finish in his F1 debut. With Leclerc running a lonely race after Perez’s early pass nevertheless coming home on the podium in P3, it was all smiles in the Ferrari garage on what could have been a disastrous weekend. Barring any more health issues, Sainz should return to his seat at the next race weekend two weeks form now in Australia. But Bearman certainly did his future F1 prospects no harm with his confident and productive effort for the Scuderia on Saturday in Saudi Arabia.

Oscar Piastri, the junior member of McLaren’s team who was also a rookie last year but is now  now a second year driver to worth watching every GP, also had an excellent Saturday night on the banks of the Red Sea. The young Aussie had a race-long ding dong battle with Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, with the veteran seven-time champion holding off the young Aussie repeatedly by giving a defensive driving masterclass. Piastri had pitted early on Lap 8 under Safety Car conditions after Lance Stroll of Aston Martin clipped the wall with his front left and then went spearing into the opposite barriers at Turn 23 with a broken suspension. But both McLaren and Mercedes decided to split their strategies and Hamilton was told to stay out, as was Piastri’s teammate, Lando Norris. Despite the fresher set of Hard Pirellis and his determination to haunt Hamilton’s gearbox, Piastri never could find a way by on track and only leapfrogged Lewis when he eventually pitted his Merc on Lap 37 to run the last of his race on Softs. Piastri was then free to fly as a result and Norris boxed a lap latter to deploy the same Medium-to-Soft alternate tire strategy, the latter coming out ahead of Hamilton and behind Bearman in P8. Despite Norris’s best efforts and the ostensible Soft tire advantage, the Hard-shod Bearman proved adept at holding off the McLaren for the remainder of the contest. With Bearman holding onto P7, Norris coming home P8 and Hamilton a rueful P9, Piastri bettered them all in P4, an outstanding effort by the young Aussie heading into his home race.

Fernando Alonso’s lone surviving Aston Martin salvaged P5 for the team, holding off the lead Mercedes of George Russell down the stretch. Russell finished P6, as once again Mercedes was lacking in both qualifying and real race pace compared to Ferrari and McLaren, not to mention Red Bull. Haas’s Nico Hulkenberg scored the final point in P10, in no small part to a brilliant team drive by the second Haas of Kevin Magnussen. Magnussen played moving roadblock for a passel of midfield cars with points aspirations, enabling teammate Hulkenberg to scamper away and build a pit-proof advantage for that eventual P10 finish.

Top 10 finishers of the Saudi Arabian GP:

1 1 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT 50 1:20:43.273 25
2 11 Sergio Perez RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT 50 +13.643s 18
3 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 50 +18.639s 16
4 81 Oscar Piastri MCLAREN MERCEDES 50 +32.007s 12
5 14 Fernando Alonso ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 50 +35.759s 10
6 63 George Russell MERCEDES 50 +39.936s 8
7 38 Oliver Bearman FERRARI 50 +42.679s 6
8 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 50 +45.708s 4
9 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 50 +47.391s 2
10 27 Nico Hulkenberg HAAS FERRARI 50 +76.996s 1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The teams and drivers now get a much needed rest after a breakneck start to the season — the next race is in a fortnight from Down Under, the Australian GP from the scenic Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit in Albert Park. Can Ferrari and Leclerc use the downtime to close the gap to the supreme Verstappen and Red Bull? Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2024 F1 Grand Prix of Bahrain — Qualifying results

Verstappen picks up where he left off with first pole of 2024 in Bahrain; Leclerc edges Russel for second fastest; Hamilton & Perez adrift

The 2024 Formula 1 season officially kicked off with highly similar results to last year’s campaign as Red Bull’s defending three-time champion Max Verstappen once again blistered the field to take a relatively easy pole at the Bahrain International Circuit. With qualifying taking place on a rare Friday for the first two rounds of the season due to Saturday race days to accomodate the upcoming Ramadan holiday in the hosting Muslim countries, all the posing and posturing of pre-season testing and pre-qualifying practice was replace by the true test of which cars had the real pace. Once again it was the Red Bull in Verstappen’s capable hands that proved the rabbit all the others will have to chase this season. Verstappen bested the P2 of Charles Leclerc by a little over two-tenths and the typically fast-starting Monegasque was able to stay in front of George Russell’s Mercedes for P2 by a whisper thin .078 seconds. The second Ferrari of Carlos Sainz, who was unceremoniously dumped for next year in favor of Lewis Hamilton in the offseason’s biggest shockwave, set the fourth fastest time, while Hamilton could muster no better than a lowly P9 on his final attempt. One wonders if all the upgrades will now go to Russell during the course of the season since Hamilton has one foot out the door and in archrival Ferrari’s camp.

As he did in the second two-thirds of 2023, Sergio Perez again rather badly trailed Verstappen for pure pace and could only manage a time good enough for fifth on tomorrow’s grid. The ageless Fernando Alonso was solid in the Aston Martin for P6 and the two McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri set the seventh and eighth fastest times respectively. Nico Hulkenberg’s Haas rounded out the the top ten qualifiers and will start form P10 on the grid, just as he did in last year’s Bahrain season opener.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Bahrain GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 1 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT 1:30.031 1:29.374 1:29.179 17
2 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 1:30.243 1:29.165 1:29.407 19
3 63 George Russell MERCEDES 1:30.350 1:29.922 1:29.485 17
4 55 Carlos Sainz FERRARI 1:29.909 1:29.573 1:29.507 18
5 11 Sergio Perez RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT 1:30.221 1:29.932 1:29.537 17
6 14 Fernando Alonso ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 1:30.179 1:29.801 1:29.542 14
7 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 1:30.143 1:29.941 1:29.614 15
8 81 Oscar Piastri MCLAREN MERCEDES 1:30.531 1:30.122 1:29.683 18
9 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 1:30.451 1:29.718 1:29.710 18
10 27 Nico Hulkenberg HAAS FERRARI 1:30.566 1:29.851 1:30.502 18

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race airs live beginning at 10 AM Eastern on ESPN. Hope to see you then to find out if anyone can match this new year’s edition of Verstappen and Red Bull in race trim — I have my doubts!

2023 F1 Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi — Qualifying results

Verstappen takes pole for final race in Abu Dhabi, earns 12th of season; Leclerc fights back for P2; Piastri best McLaren in P3 as Norris slides down to P5

Red Bull’s peerless Max Verstappen took the final pole of the season with aplomb during the last Saturday Qualifying of 2023 for tomorrow’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at Yas Marina Circuit. With nothing left to prove in his historically dominant World Championship campaign this year, Verstappen nevertheless outpaced the rest of the field to make it 12 total poles out of twenty-two race weekends. The flying Dutchman will go for his record-extending nineteenth victory of the season in Sunday evening’s Grand Prix under the futuristic light show of Yas Marina and it would be a brave man indeed who would bet against him.

The real battles in tomorrow’s race should be behind the now three-time champion, as Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc pulled a scorching lap out of the bag at the death of Q3 to set the second fastest time and earn the right to start alongside Verstappen on the front row. That makes it five front row starts in a row for the Monegasque, including three poles, as Leclerc looks not only to end his year on a high note with another podium but also help pull the Scuderia ahead of mighty Mercedes for P2 in the all-important Constructors’ standings. But both Ferrari and Mercedes had only one car progress into the final Quali session, as George Russell outpaced teammate Lewis Hamilton to the tune of P4 to P11, while the second Prancing Horse of Carlos Sainz had a disastrous effort that saw him bounced out in Q1 and starting tomorrow down in P16. Sainz had a heavy shunt in Free Practice 2 on Friday so perhaps his car is still ailing after the rebuild but certainly the Spaniard is also lacking for pace and confidence at this sneakily tricky track. Continue reading

2023 F1 Grand Prix of Singapore — Qualifying results

SINGAPORE SHOCKER: Ferrari’s Sainz bests Mercedes’ Russell to take second consecutive pole, Leclerc P3; Red Bull find their bogey track as Verstappen & Perez knocked out in Q2

Saturday qualifying for tomorrow’s Singapore Grand Prix delivered a true shocker, with Red Bull, Formula 1’s dominant team by far in 2023, finally finding their bogey track by suffering unexpectedly poor performance at the tight & treacherous Marina Bay Street Circuit. Struggling with their car’s aero handling at this relatively slow speed but high downforce track since the start of practice on Friday, the team was unable to make the necessary corrections in time and watched in disbelief as first Sergio Perez spun before being able to claw his way out of the bottom five in Q2 and then Max Verstappen, the runaway championship points leader to this point, crossed the line on his final Q2 lap with a time only good enough for P10 and with several runners behind him still on hot laps. The ignominy was complete when AlphaTauri’s Liam Lawson, a raw rookie competing in only his third race weekend while subbing for the injured Daniel Ricciardo, bumped the Dutch Master down to P11 and out of qualifying. It was the first time since 2018 that neither Red Bull had advanced to Q3 and it puts the team’s 15-race winning streak, as well as Verstappen potentially extending his own record streak to 11 victories on the trot, in serious doubt at a confined circuit where passing is none too easy.

Red Bull’s first real speed bump of the season redounded to Ferrari’s success. Carlos Sainz was on his game all day, setting the pace throughout Q3 and then laying down a final last lap that withstood a very game challenge from Mercedes’ George Russell to secure pole by a whisper thin 0.072 seconds. It was the Spaniard’s second pole in a row after thrilling the fans in Monza two weeks ago. He will surely be hoping that Verstappen’s famed powers of recovery and miracle wins will be stymied come race day when the Dutchman has to fight his way up from P11 in what does not appear to be the fastest car on then track for once. Russell’s amazing final lap was obviously still good enough to secure an impressive P2 and a grid spot across from Sainz for tomorrow and the second Ferrari of Charles Leclerc, who had a few slight bobbles on his final effort that cost him, settled for P3. Ferrari have a real shot at the win tomorrow, which would be their first since 2019 when Sebastian Vettel led home Leclerc for a 1-2. The fact that long ago last win also came at Marina Bay Street Circuit will certainly buoy the team’s confidence, though they have got to avoid the sorts of unforced strategic, driver and pit execution errors that have plagued them for several years now.

McLaren’s Lando Norris, running upgrades on his car alone this weekend, was quite quick and able to secure P4 on the grid. Teammate Oscar Piastri’s quali effort were cut short by unluckily finding himself behind Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll when the Canadian driver crashed into the barriers quiet violently and brought out the Red Flag at the end of Q1. Stroll seemed OK, though his head appeared to take a wicked amount of lateral Gs on impact, but Piastri will now have to fight his way back to the points from down in P17 come tomorrow. Lewis Hamilton trailed his Silver Arrow teammate by quite a bit back in P5, while Kevin Magnussen had a spectacular effort for Hass, not only bettering teammate Nico Hulkenberg for the first time this year, P6 to P9, but also out-qualifying Aston ace Fernando Alonso. The veteran two-time champ could only muster the seventh best time in Q3, putting the team in a tough spot since Stroll will certainly struggle to score starting either last on the grid or from the pits (if in fact his car can even be rebuilt in time for the Grand Prix and he himself is healthy enough to go).

Rounding out the Top 10, Alpine’s Esteban Ocon took a decent P8, encouraging enough after the team were nowhere in Monza two weeks ago. And Liam Lawson was content to have the tenth fastest time in Q3, having already been the driver to knock out mighty Max Verstappen earlier, which certainly put the young Kiwi’s name front and center in the driver sweepstakes for next year.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Singapore GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 55 Carlos Sainz FERRARI 1:32.339 1:31.439 1:30.984 20
2 63 George Russell MERCEDES 1:32.331 1:31.743 1:31.056 17
3 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 1:32.406 1:32.012 1:31.063 21
4 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 1:32.483 1:31.951 1:31.270 20
5 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 1:32.651 1:32.019 1:31.485 16
6 20 Kevin Magnussen HAAS FERRARI 1:32.242 1:31.892 1:31.575 21
7 14 Fernando Alonso ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 1:32.584 1:31.835 1:31.615 17
8 31 Esteban Ocon ALPINE RENAULT 1:32.369 1:32.089 1:31.673 18
9 27 Nico Hulkenberg HAAS FERRARI 1:32.100 1:31.994 1:31.808 21
10 40 Liam Lawson ALPHATAURI HONDA RBPT 1:32.215 1:32.166 1:32.268 21

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race airs live on ESPN & ESPN+ beginning at 8AM Eastern here in the States. The Singapore night race is one of the most visually spectacular on the calendar and this jumbled up grid could also make it one of the most dramatic. Hope to see you then to find out if Ferrari can end their victory drought of if Verstappen and team Red Bull have a miracle up their sleeves to keep their streaks going!

2023 F1 Grand Prix of Hungary — Qualifying results

Hamilton comes up huge in Hungary, upsets Verstappen to take pole;  Norris third fastest under new qualifying tire rules

With the smart money on Red Bull’s peerless Max Verstappen to nab his sixth consecutive pole position in what has evolved into an epically dominant year for the Dutchman, his old nemesis and some new qualifying rules conspired to thwart that possibility during Saturday qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix. Faced with a new experimental mandate for this weekend that cars only be allowed to run Hard Pirrelis in Q1, Mediums in Q2 and then Softs in Q3, it was Mercedes ace and seven time champion Lewis Hamilton who found the fastest form at the Hungaroring, one his favorite circuits. Hamilton out-dueled Verstappen by .003-seconds to wrest away the top spot on the grid for tomorrow’s race and earn his first pole since the penultimate race in 2021 in Saudi Arabia. That extended Hamilton’s pole record to 104, with nine of those coming here in Hungary, and left the veteran English pilot hoarse with delight at the achievement after a multi-year struggle by the Silver Arrows to get back on terms with the rapid Red Bulls. While Verstappen was his usual disgruntled self when presented with anything less than the best possible results, you can be sure he will be fired up at the start of the race tomorrow to take back what he perceives as rightfully his and rapid getaway into his seventh consecutive victory. Likewise, Hamilton will be looking to extend today’s high and fend off Verstappen for his first win since starting from pole in Jeddah that fateful year of 2021. It should be a titanic battle between two of the best in the business when the lights go out tomorrow and  let’s hope it lasts all race long.

Slotting in at P3 was not a teammate of either man but rather the McLaren of Lando Norris, with his stablemate Oscar Piastri setting the fourth fastest time, a fine result for the absolutely reinvigorated McLaren F1 program after Norris scored a P2 result at Silverstone a fortnight ago and Piastri finished P4. In fact, the Red Bull and Mercedes wingmen both had poor to disastrous days in the shadow of Hamilton and Verstappen’s mighty laps. Red Bull’s Sergio Perez was only fast enough for P9 on the day, though the veteran Mexican driver will be at least somewhat pleased that he finally got through to Q3 again after an inexplicable five race absence. It was far worse for the second Silver Arrow of George Russell when the team botched his strategy in Q1 and brought him out late amidst too much traffic, which cost the young Englishman dearly. Russell was unable to get away cleanly with so many cars trying to set up their own final runs and will be forced to start way back in P18 on the grid on a track where overtaking is nigh impossible despite what is clearly a reinvigorated Merc chassis.

It was a good day for Alfa Romeo on what has been a fairly miserable season, as Zhou Guanyu was able to get himself up to P5 and veteran Valtteri Bottas slotted in P7. They sandwiched the the lone Ferrari of Charles Leclerc in P6 after teammate Carlos Sainz struggled on his Medium tires in Q2 and wound up only eleventh fastest in that session. Rounding out the top ten qualifiers, Fernando Alonso was P8 in the now back-to-earth Aston Martin and Nico Hulkenberg had another fine quali effort in his Haas for P10. And a special mention for Daniil Ricciardo on his return to first team status in F1 after supplanting the struggling Nick Devries at AlphaTauri. The veteran Australian hot shoe with the giant smile outqualfied his teammate Yuki Tsunoda P13 to P18 on his first race weekend back in the saddle since last year’s finale in Abu Dhabi when he finsihed up an unhappy stint with McLaren. It’s good to see the affable Aussie back on the grid even in what has so far been subpar equipment.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Hungarian GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 1:18.577 1:17.427 1:16.609 20
2 1 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT 1:18.318 1:17.547 1:16.612 21
3 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 1:18.697 1:17.328 1:16.694 20
4 81 Oscar Piastri MCLAREN MERCEDES 1:18.464 1:17.571 1:16.905 20
5 24 Zhou Guanyu ALFA ROMEO FERRARI 1:18.143 1:17.700 1:16.971 22
6 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 1:18.440 1:17.580 1:16.992 21
7 77 Valtteri Bottas ALFA ROMEO FERRARI 1:18.775 1:17.563 1:17.034 20
8 14 Fernando Alonso ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 1:18.580 1:17.701 1:17.035 21
9 11 Sergio Perez RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT 1:18.360 1:17.675 1:17.045 23
10 27 Nico Hulkenberg HAAS FERRARI 1:18.695 1:17.652 1:17.186 20

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race airs live on ESPN beginning at 9AM Eastern here in the States. One can only hope that the razor’s edge battle that we saw today between Hamilton and Verstappen will continue on throughout tomorrow’s Grand Prix — hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2023 F1 Grand Prix of Austria — Qualifying results

Verstappen barely bests Leclerc to notch fourth consecutive pole as track limits penalties wreak havoc; Sainz backs up Ferrari teammate in P3 but Perez’s fast lap deleted in Q2

With another of Formula 1’s fairly gimmicky Sprint Races looming on Saturday, qualifying for Sunday’s Austrian Grand Prix took place on Friday after only one Practice session. Perhaps that lack of track time showed, because nearly every driver in the field had laps deleted at some point throughout the three quali rounds here at the short and fast Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, Austria. That even included the peerless Max Verstappen, who still managed to settle in and set a lap good enough for pole despite having to be slightly more conservative than he would have wished. The Dutch master pipped the very game and hard charging Ferrari of Charles Leclerc by a razor thin 0.048 seconds. Carlos Sainz backed up his Scuderia stablemate in P3, perhaps providing a measure of optimism that the SF-23 might finally be finding the pace to challenge for wins again. But it has been race pace that has been Ferrari’s problem this season, not to mention race strategy, so it remains to be seen on Sunday if the fabled team from Maranello have genuinely conquered the issues holding back their long run performance.

Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez was the most prominent driver to lose his time due to track limits violations. The Mexican veteran came a cropper in Q2 when he had his only fast time of the session deleted with not enough time remaining to make amends. So, while Verstappen earned his fourth consecutive pole, Perez failed to reach Q3 for the fourth race weekend in a row. Starting from a lowly P15 come race day, Perez’s Round 4 win in Azerbaijan seems a century ago and his once optimistic championship hopes are holding on by a thread. McLaren’s Lando Norris was quick all day here in Spielberg at a track he loves and set the fourth fastest time in Q3, besting the P5 Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton. Similarly to Perez, Hamilton’s teammate George Russell also lost his best lap in Q2 for track limits infringements and will be relegated to starting from P11 on the grid. Lance Stroll out-qualified his Aston Martin teammate Fernando Alonso for the first time this year, while Haas’s Nico Hulkenberg in P8, Alpine’s Pierre Gasly in P9 and Alex Albon’s Williams in P10 all benefitted from keeping their cars between the white lines while other, perhaps faster drivers went a little too far over the edge for the stewards’ liking.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Austrian GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 1 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT 24
2 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 26
3 55 Carlos Sainz FERRARI 25
4 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 23
5 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 25
6 18 Lance Stroll ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 25
7 14 Fernando Alonso ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 27
8 27 Nico Hulkenberg HAAS FERRARI 24
9 10 Pierre Gasly ALPINE RENAULT 21
10 23 Alexander Albon WILLIAMS MERCEDES 21

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

The Sprint Race is tomorrow but Sunday’s GP airs live on ESPN beginning at 9AM Eastern here in the States. Can Leclerc and Ferrari finally step up and challenge Verstappen for victory in Red Bull’s own back yard? I have my doubts but hope to se you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2023 F1 Grand Prix of Canada — Qualifying results

Verstappen prevails for pole but rain scrambles grid at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve; lucky Hulkenberg takes P2 when Red Flag disadvantages P3 Alonso

With variably wet and rainy conditions playing havoc during Saturday qualifying for the Canadian Grand Prix, Red Bull ace Max Verstappen nevertheless prevailed over both the elements and his adversaries to earn pole in tricky conditions at a sodden Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve. While it wasn’t surprising to see Verstappen notch his third consecutive pole and fifth out of eight rounds run, he also benefitted from smart strategy by being first to set a banker lap in Q3 and then watching as conditions deteriorated and times got slower and slower as the final quali session wore on. This had the effect of scrambling the grid behind Verstappen resulting in the surprise result of Nico Hulkenberg setting the second fastest time in his Haas ahead of the P3 Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso. Alonso lost out on a higher grid spot when a Red Flag came out for Oscar Piastri’s spun out McLaren directly after Hulkenberg crossed the line but before Alonso could get there with what looked to be a superior time. The Mercedes duo of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell did well in those tricky conditions to take P4 and P5 on the grid respectively and will be the only contending team with two cars within the Top 10 to start the race.

To that point, Carlos Sainz had the lone surviving Ferrari in Q3 after teammate Charles Leclerc waited too long to make a quick switch to slicks in a briefly drying Q2 session. While the Spaniard was only able to qualify a relatively perfunctory P8, it’s likely he will be dropped form even that humble position after a couple of dangerous incidents where his Prancing Horse clearly seemed to be dawdling in the middle of the road to set himself up while other drivers sped his way at full chat. Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate and, for now, closest championship rival Sergio Perez also missed the boat on tire strategy in Q2. He frankly seemed a bit spooked by the conditions in choosing to remain on Intermediate wet tires throughout rather than gamble on slicks, as many others had done successfully. Checo missed Q3 for the third race weekend in a row and will have fight his way to the front from down in P12. And Alonso’s Aston teammate Lance Stroll also failed to emerge from Q2 after a lurid slide in that session and will to start from P13 at his home race.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Canadian GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 1 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT 1:20.851 1:19.092 1:25.858 26
2 27 Nico Hulkenberg HAAS FERRARI 1:22.730 1:20.305 1:27.102 25
3 14 Fernando Alonso ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 1:21.481 1:19.776 1:27.286 25
4 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 1:21.554 1:20.426 1:27.627 26
5 63 George Russell MERCEDES 1:21.798 1:20.098 1:27.893 25
6 31 Esteban Ocon ALPINE RENAULT 1:22.114 1:20.406 1:27.945 25
7 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 1:21.998 1:19.347 1:28.046 26
8 55 Carlos Sainz FERRARI 1:22.248 1:19.856 1:29.294 26
9 81 Oscar Piastri MCLAREN MERCEDES 1:22.190 1:19.659 1:31.349 24
10 23 Alexander Albon WILLIAMS MERCEDES 1:21.938 1:18.725 DNF 24

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race air live on ABC beginning at 2PM Eastern here in the States. With less of a chance of rain in the forecast for Montreal tomorrow, it should intriguing to watch the grid re-sort itself on a dry circuit. Whether anyone has anything for Verstappen is quite a different matter. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2023 F1 Grand Prix of Australia — Qualifying results

Verstappen ekes out first Oz pole ahead of fierce competition but teammate Perez crashes out in Q1; Russell qualifies P2, Hamilton P3 for improved Silver Arrows

Red Bull’s peerless ace, Max Verstappen, excellent during crunch time to earn his first career Australian Grand Prix pole during Saturday qualifying at the Albert Park street circuit but it was anything but his usual dominant romp to the top spot. With teammate Sergio Perez unceremoniously crashing out by beaching himself in the gravel early in Q1, the Dutchman had to fend off some very competitive efforts by other cars to emerge in P1. Most notable among them and somewhat surprisingly were the Mercedes duo of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton. After relentlessly tuning on their cars in the three practice sessions leading up to quali, the Silver Arrows suddenly found nearly Red Bull-like pace at this tricky track. While it looked for a while as though Hamilton might be able to ride a mid-Q3 fast lap to grab pole for himself, in the end it was Russell who slotted in behind Verstappen on the final time sheets by just .236-seconds, earning the right to line up alongside him for tomorrow’s race. Hamilton had to settle for P3 and the second row but that still resulted in both Mercs not only besting the Ferraris for fast lap honors on the day but also their newest rival, Aston Martin. While it remains to be seen if that excellent result will translate into true race pace come Sunday, it was still a potential harbinger of better days ahead for Mercedes, especially with major upgrades to their chassis in the pipeline and arriving soon.

With Perez out of the mix and relegated to the rear tomorrow and the top three spots allotted to one Red bull and two Mercedes, Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso was the best of the rest with another solid effort good enough for P4. The veteran Spaniard’s renewal continues and he is seemingly in the mix for podiums every week with this massively improved Aston Martin machine. Lance Stroll, still healing from a pre-season bicycle crash, closed the performance gap to his veteran teammate somewhat by slotting in at P6. Stroll will find himself sandwiched by the Ferraris of Carlos Sainz in P5 and in Charles Leclerc P7. But the Scuderia pit wall and their famously rabid fan base have got to be concerned about those starting positions, as the best part of the Prancing Horses in the first two rounds has been their qualifying speed and the worst has been their lackluster race pace. If that disappointing form holds true tomorrow, it’s hard to see how either Leclerc or Sainz can compete for a podium in this particular contest, although the Melbourne race does have a history of Safety Cars and unpredictable weather to scramble the expected narrative..

Rounding out the top 10 qualifiers, Alexander Albon drove superbly to will his Williams up to P8, while the Alpine of Pierre Gasly was able to set the ninth fastest time and Haas’s Nico Hulkenberg continued his run of good quali form by slotting in at P10.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Australian GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 1 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT 1:17.384 1:17.056 1:16.732 24
2 63 George Russell MERCEDES 1:17.654 1:17.513 1:16.968 29
3 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 1:17.689 1:17.551 1:17.104 28
4 14 Fernando Alonso ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 1:17.832 1:17.283 1:17.139 26
5 55 Carlos Sainz FERRARI 1:17.928 1:17.349 1:17.270 28
6 18 Lance Stroll ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 1:17.873 1:17.616 1:17.308 26
7 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 1:18.218 1:17.390 1:17.369 25
8 23 Alexander Albon WILLIAMS MERCEDES 1:17.962 1:17.761 1:17.609 27
9 10 Pierre Gasly ALPINE RENAULT 1:18.312 1:17.574 1:17.675 25
10 27 Nico Hulkenberg HAAS FERRARI 1:18.029 1:17.412 1:17.735 26

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race airs live on ESPN beginning at 1AM Eastern here in the States. So, put on a late night pot of coffee or set your DVR because it looks like this year’s Aussie GP could be a wild ride indeed. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes 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!