Featured post

2026 F1 Grand Prix of Hungary — Results & aftermath

Leave a reply

Norris romps to first victory of season with dominant drive in Hungary; Verstappen a hard-earned P2; Antonelli salvages day with solid P3; Ferrari struggle in traffic and execution; nightmare start for Russell

After starting squarely on the back foot under the new Formula 1 rules regime for 2026, McLaren finally came good in the eleventh round of the season in Hungary, as reigning champion Lando Norris out-dueled and out-paced his teammate Oscar Piastri, as well as Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli, to take his first win of the year in dominant fashion. With mighty Mercedes’ pace advantage neutralized by the short, twisty and slow nature of the Hungaroring, the second slowest circuit on the calendar to Monaco, Norris made good on the exceptional consistency he showed here in earning pole on Saturday over Red Bull, Ferrari and the Silver Arrows, and then had to contend with Piastri, who started from P3 on the grid but passed both the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc and then stablemate Norris in quick order on Lap 1 of the 70-lap contest. It quickly became clear that the fight for the win would be between the two McLaren men, barring the reliability issues that have been the bane of Team Papaya all season long.

Piastri kept Norris behind him until pitting on Lap 17 to doff his opening Pirelli Mediums for a set of the Hard tires and attempt to run a long second stint on the more durable rubber. Norris pulled the same swap a lap later and came out still behind Piastri, albeit vocally trying to convince his pit wall that his car was the faster and all this fighting between them was a waste of effort and resources. The McLaren braintrust pulled the plug on the internecine battle in their own way by splitting the strategy for the rest of the race between the two cars, opting to box Piastri a second time on only Lap 33 for another set of Hards, while Norris stayed out, still pleased with the  performance of his now 15-lap old Hard tires. This enabled him to build the gap to Piastri, who also came to grief when the inattentive back marker Carlos Sainz failed to follow blue flags in his Williams and closed the racing line on Piastri, leading to contact between the two. That cost Piastri serious time as well potentially damaging his car. Norris kept stretching his advantage, running all the way to Lap 40 before making his second stop. The overcut and yet another fine stop by his McLaren mechanics worked a treat, bringing the English World Champion out ahead of his Australian rival.

With Piastri unable to challenge from the rear, Norris used the pace advantage of his fresh Pirellis to move back towards the front. He inherited second place when Red Bull’s Max Verstappen made his second stop, choosing an alternate Hard to Soft tire strategy for what was ostensibly his final stint. Norris then set about hunting down Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli, who was running a very long second stint en route to inheriting the lead due to staying out while others boxed. But Antonelli’s Merc on aging tires was no match for Norris freshly shod McLaren and Norris blew by him to retake the lead on Lap 46 after several laps of hard dicing between the two young aces. Now obviously losing time, Antonelli then decided to make his second stop on Lap 54, which turned out to be the lucky call of the race. Two laps later Piastri came to an abrupt stop on track with a heartbreaking gearbox failure, his second mechanical failure of the season and his fifth non-scoring day in eleven races. With the Virtual Safety Car deployed, Norris made the decision to duck in for Softs to finish out the race, still coming out ahead of the second place Verstappen due to the reduced speed, as well as the remarkably third place Antonelli, who also benefited from solid strategy to overcome a penalty-affected P7 starting spot and vault himself back to the podium. Norris won by a very handy 15 seconds when all was said and done, with a highly vocal yet highly effective Verstappen holding on to P2 by 3.7 seconds over Antonelli.

It was a good way to go into the break for the top there and their teams but the same could not be said of Ferrari. Despite the Prancing Horses looking the the team to beat here entering the weekend, and Lewis Hamilton barely missing out on pole to Norris by a scant .008 seconds, the team from Maranello was undone by a penalty to Hamilton for impeding during qualifying that dropped him to P5 on the grid and then a poor start from the dirty side of the track by the now P2 Leclerc. As the Monegasque spun his wheels at the getaway, he was jumped by both Piastri and Verstappen. Hamilton also managed to overtake Leclerc early but found it incredibly difficult to make further headway following that, especially against the stubborn Red Bull of Verstappen, as the two greatest drivers of their generation engaged in a multi-lap mano a mano. And when Hamilton did manage to get ahead of Verstappen on pit strategy by running a short first stint in Softs before switching to the preferred Hards, he was taken by surprise by the Dutchman on Lap 15, when Verstappen, fresh from the pits himself and seemingly coming from a mile back, dive bombed his way past the Ferrari into Turn 1. It was a race full of sound and fury for the Scuderia that wound up signifying not very much, as Hamilton earned a late race pit lane speeding penalty that demoted him to fifth place and Leclerc was therefore promoted to P4, despite rather mediocre long run race pace. The second Red Bull of Isack Hadjar came home a solid P6, while the second Mercedes of George Russell recovered somewhat from a nightmare anti-stall start that saw the Briton drop from seventh to the rear of the field on the opening lap. Russell fought back to his original P7 position but it continued a tough run of form and fortune for the preseason favorite. The long summer break is probably coming at the right time for him.

Top 10 finishers of the Hungarian GP:

POS DRIVER TEAM RACE TIME LAPS PITS FASTEST LAPS
1

Lando Norris

 McLaren 1:39:56.180 70 3 —
2

Max Verstappen

 Red Bull +15.080 70 2 —
3

Kimi Antonelli

 Mercedes +18.728 70 2 —
4

Charles Leclerc

 Ferrari +23.840 70 3 1:22.000 (58)
5

Lewis Hamilton

 Ferrari +24.540 70 3 —
6

Isack Hadjar

 Red Bull +55.488 70 2 —
7

George Russell

 Mercedes +57.503 70 2 —
8

Liam Lawson

 Racing Bulls +1 Lap 69 2 —
9

Nico Hülkenberg

 Audi +1 Lap 69 2 —
10

Arvid Lindblad

 Racing Bulls +1 Lap 69 1 —

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

With the enforced summer break upon us, the next race is not until the weekend of August 23rd, when the teams return from vacation and take on the dunes of Zandvoort in the Netherlands. Hope to see you then when the F1 festivities resume and enjoy your summer in the meantime!

Featured post

2026 F1 Grand Prix of Hungary — Qualifying results

Leave a reply

Norris nabs first poll as champ by pipping Hamilton, Leclerc P3, as Mercedes struggle with rivals’ Hungaroring pace; Antonelli’s final effort compromised by Verstappen spin, then earns penalty for not slowing

With the short, low speed and twisty Hungaroring proving the same sort of kryptonite to Mighty Mercedes as Monaco, it was other teams time to shine during Saturday Qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix. And the two that shone brightest were a steadily improving McLaren and what was already the second fastest team in F1 this year, Ferrari. On a very dusty and dry circuit where grip has been at a premium throughout the race weekend so far, it was McLaren’s Lando Norris keeping his car planted the best over the course of his final Q3 flying lap, bettering what had seemed like a supreme time by Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton by a scant eight-one hundredths of a second. Hamilton had set his fast time on the first attempt and could not improve on it with his second run, a pattern shared by most drivers in the final session. But Norris did improve, vaulting up the pylon at the death and earning his first pole position as reigning champion this season. Even worse for Hamilton, he was demoted three grid places after Quali for impeding Norris’ teammate Oscar Piastri in the session. That elevated the second Prancing Horse of Charles Leclerc to P2 and the Monegaque will now start alongside Norris in Sunday’s race.

Mercedes not only failed to display their usual superior pace in Hungary but even the best efforts of their points-leading breakout star Kimi Antonelli went for naught when Red Bull’s Max Verstappen spun out on his last Q3 attempt, bringing out a yellow that Antonelli was later adjudged to have not slowed enough through while transiting  the single waved yellow zone. Already a bit disappointed not to be able to improve on his P4 time, Antonelli will have it all to do in the Grand Prix, now starting from P7 and against some extremely formidable competition ahead.

With Hamilton compromising his final lap, Piastri could do no better than a P5 time, while Verstappen’s spin doomed him to P6, with Red Bull teammate Isack Hadjar also struggling for grip en route to the eighth best time. Antonelli’s Mercedes teammate George Russell continued to look unsettled in the car with a mediocre P7. Rookie Arvid Lindbad was P9 for Racing Bulls and veteran Nico Hulkenberg was P10 for Audi.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Hungarian Gand Prix:

POS DRIVER TEAM Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1

Lando Norris

 McLaren 1:18.277 1:17.456 1:17.207 16
2

Lewis Hamilton

 Ferrari 1:18.730 1:17.803 1:17.219 15
3

Charles Leclerc

 Ferrari 1:18.984 1:17.626 1:17.445 20
4

Kimi Antonelli

 Mercedes 1:18.726 1:18.393 1:17.479 20
5

Oscar Piastri

 McLaren 1:18.891 1:17.928 1:17.684 15
6

Max Verstappen

 Red Bull 1:18.656 1:18.249 1:17.725 18
7

George Russell

 Mercedes 1:18.856 1:18.445 1:17.760 20
8

Isack Hadjar

 Red Bull 1:18.754 1:17.872 1:17.856 14
9

Arvid Lindblad

 Racing Bulls 1:19.233 1:18.360 1:18.281 18
10

Nico Hülkenberg

 Audi 1:18.796 1:18.639 1:18.686 18

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race airs live beginning at 9 AM Eastern on AppleTV here in the States. Can Norris earn his first win of the 2026 campaign or will the high flying Ferraris surge back to take victory? And can Antonelli do his best to limit the damage or perhaps even pull an unlikely surprise? Hope to see you then to see how it all shakes out!

Featured post

2026 F1 Grand Prix of Belgium — Results & aftermath

Antonelli earns sixth victory by fending off rapid Leclerc for win at Spa; Verstappen a game P3 for Red Bull; Russell suffers calamitous opening-lap DNF after collision with Hamilton

Mercedes rising superstar Kimi Anotnelli earned his sixth victory of the 2026 season after a three-race drought, successfully overtaking the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc late in the race, and then keeping the very rapid Monegasque in his rearview mirrors until the checkered flag. Even better for the young Italian phenom, his Silver Arrows teammate and closest pursuer George Russell spun off the Spa-Francorchamps Circuit and unceremoniously beached in a gravel trap Les Combes on the opening lap of the race after a contretemps with the second Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton. With Russell certain to score zero points on the day after outscoring Antonelli in the last three Grand Prix, it was all up to Kimi to recover from yet another mediocre start that saw his Mercedes overtaken by Red Bull’s Max Verstappen nearly as soon as the lights had gone out to begin the contest. But the superior long run pace of the Mercedes W17 shone over over the first flowing third of this classic 4.3 mile course and not only did Antonelli repass Verstappen but Leclerc’s Ferrari also got around the defending Red Bull, relegating Verstappen to P3 in the blink of an eye. Verstappen returned the favor to reclaim second place on the 6th lap of this 44-lap contest, making it clear this would be an elite three team and three driver battle until the race’s conclusion. 

Hamilton was also showing good pace, his Prancing Horse undamaged by the contact with Russell and still performing well. Unfortunately for the seven-time champ, however, the stewards reviewed the opening lap incident and adjudged Hamilton the guilty party, earning him a 5-second time penalty for the second race in a row. While that decision was highly questionable, as it looked for all the world like a racing incident between the two cars, it essentially foreclosed any chance of Hamilton fighting back for a podium against either Verstappen or his teammate Leclerc. Conversely, Leclerc was somehow spared a penalty despite forcefully closing the door on Oscar Piastri’s McLaren on Lap 8, causing aero-affecting damage to the latter’s side elements. And when Leclerc was cleared of culpability on Lap 17, that had the decisive consequence of Verstappen deciding to pit the next lap to endeavor to undercut the Ferrari. It was another solid stop by team Red Bull but the timing proved poor when a Virtual Safety Car for debris was called two laps later, enabling Leclerc to pit under full course yellow conditions and thereby jump not only Verstappen but also the former race leader Antonelli in the process. The second McLaren of Lando Norris briefly inherited the lead an ran a long opening stint on Hard Pirellis, opposite to the majority of the contenders due to his penalty-induced P13 starting position. Likely hoping for another VSC, Norris gamely ran to Lap 31 despite being passed by Leclerc, Antonelli and Verstappen in quick succession, before finally diving in to switch onto the better performing Mediums and finish out the race with that tire advantage over the other contenders. But the stop was dreadfully slow at 7.8 seconds due to a stuck rear left and all of the reigning champion’s good work was undone.

Easily growing his gap to the third place Verstappen, Antonalli set about hunting down the race-leading Ferrari of Leclerc, finally making the decisive overtake on Lap 34, thanks in no small part due to the lapped Cadillac of Valtteri Bottas acting as a moving chicane for the Monegasque. Somewhat surprisingly, Leclerc kept pressing Antonelli to regain the lead for several laps before Antonlli used the clean air to his advantage and finally increased his lead out of the danger zone. He eventually took victory by some 1.9 seconds, not much when you consider how long a lap here is at Spa, and it’s clear that Ferrari has made great strides over the course of the first half of the season. It was also a display of particularly good form from Leclerc, who had seemed a bit lost until his surprise win at Silverstone two weeks ago. But all tribute must be paid to Antonelli, who started from pole, took the victory despite some very game competition and now leads the championship by an impressive 45 points after the first ten rounds. Potentially even better for the young Italian ace, Russell slipped to third in the Drivers’ Standings, falling behind Hamilton by dint of Sunday’s nightmare opening-lap DNF.

Top 10 finishers of the Belgian GP:

POS DRIVER TEAM RACE TIME LAPS PITS FASTEST LAPS
1

Kimi Antonelli

 Mercedes 1:24:42.479 44 1 —
2

Charles Leclerc

 Ferrari +1.952 44 1 —
3

Max Verstappen

 Red Bull +11.586 44 1 —
4

Lewis Hamilton

 Ferrari +17.245 44 1 —
5

Oscar Piastri

 McLaren +18.988 44 1 —
6

Isack Hadjar

 Red Bull +23.307 44 3 —
7

Lando Norris

 McLaren +24.014 44 1 1:48.890 (44)
8

Gabriel Bortoleto

 Audi +49.140 44 1 —
9

Arvid Lindblad

 Racing Bulls +50.406 44 1 —
10

Franco Colapinto

 Alpine +1:16.037 44 1 —

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race is in but a week’s time as the teams make the quick trip to the always tricky Hungaroring for the Hungarian Grand Prix in Budapest. That will be the final round before the long summer break – hope to see you then to find out if Ferrari can keep closing the gap to Mercedes and if Russell can recover to try to stop Antonelli’s momentum!

Featured post

2026 F1 Grand Prix of Belgium — Qualifying results

High flying Antonelli snatches Spa pole from Verstappen despite Red Bull teamwork; Norris P3 in improved McLaren but will face 10-spot penalty; Russell a distant P4 on pace

 

Top 10 qualifiers for the Belgian GP:

POS DRIVER TEAM Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1

Kimi Antonelli

 Mercedes 1:46.304 1:45.142 1:44.361 15
2

Max Verstappen

 Red Bull 1:45.930 1:45.589 1:44.678 12
3

Lando Norris

 McLaren 1:45.865 1:45.454 1:44.801 11
4

George Russell

 Mercedes 1:46.185 1:45.689 1:44.869 18
5

Charles Leclerc

 Ferrari 1:46.278 1:45.397 1:44.893 18
6

Lewis Hamilton

 Ferrari 1:46.124 1:45.543 1:44.895 15
7

Oscar Piastri

 McLaren 1:46.433 1:45.671 1:45.016 17
8

Arvid Lindblad

 Racing Bulls 1:46.191 1:45.629 1:45.143 18
9

Gabriel Bortoleto

 Audi 1:46.609 1:46.082 1:45.628 18
10

Isack Hadjar

 Red Bull 1:46.062 1:45.823 — 13

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Featured post

2026 F1 Grand Prix of Great Britain — Results & aftermath

Leclerc fills hard luck script at Silverstone to win dramatic British GP under Safety Car; Russell finishes P2, Hamilton P3 after late race crash out by Verstappen; mechanical issues doom Antonelli to another pointless day

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc turned around years of bad luck at the venerable Silverstone circuit when the racing gods smiled on the Monegasque with a late race Safety Car in Sunday’s British Grand Prix that sealed a victory for him that looked anything but certain. Leclerc had already benefited when misfortune struck championship points leader, Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli. After a remarkably long 35-lap opening stint on Medium Pirellis  the Italian phenom was poised to fight it out with the race-leading Leclerc for the win on much fresher rubber in the closing stanza. But in a rare moment of structural fragility for this year’s W17 Silver Arrow, Antonelli paid the price for running over one too many curbs and his left wheel shield failed on Lap 41, making high speed steering nigh impossible. The team eventually figured out the problem and removed the broken part but only after two frantic pit stops. To rub salt in the wound, because Antonelli could not really control his car and ran off track several times during the period after first picking up the mechanical, he was assessed a 5-second time penalty for track limits infringements. Antonelli went from having a supreme tire advantage over Leclerc in the hunt for victory to trying to salvage tenth place and a single point on the day.

But even that was not to be, as bad luck caught up with another contender and ruined any chance of Antonelli keeping at least 5 seconds ahead of P11. With the Mercedes hanging on and starting to build a gap, Max Verstappen lost the rear of his Red Bull at Stowe on Lap 48 and beached it into the huge gravel trap there, necessitating a full Safety Car. At the time Verstappen was running solidly in the podium places in P3, skillfully holding off the second Merc of George Russell despite being on much older tires. But in an instant the Dutchman’s race was over due to some sort of violent reaction to the the active suspension snapping shut. The Safety Car bunched the field up, erasing Antonelli’s small advantage over the Alpines of P10 Franco Colapinto and P11 Pierre Gasly. While it looked for a moment that there might be a final lap shootout when the Safety Car appeared to be called in at the end of the penultimate Lap 51, it confusingly stayed out, neutralizing the field and insuring that Leclerc would face no further pressure en route to his first win here at Silverstone. While Antonelli got the short end of the stick and was eventually demoted to a pointless P16 after the penalty amidst such tightly packed processional, his teammate Russell was the beneficiary of not only Antonelli’s misfortune but also Verstappen’s, simultaneously lucking into second place and also not having to duke it out with the second Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton for those valuable points. Hamilton had to settle for P3 but it was still an excellent day for the Scuderiai on English soil. And in the Drivers’ Championship, Russell closed the gap to 35 points in arrears of Antonelli, making it game on once again between the two in the title hunt, with Hamilton now only seven points behind Russell for second place.

Top 10 finishers of the British GP:

POS DRIVER TEAM RACE TIME LAPS PITS FASTEST LAPS
1

Charles Leclerc

 Ferrari 1:27:11.335 52 2 —
2

George Russell

 Mercedes +0.427 52 2 —
3

Lewis Hamilton

 Ferrari +0.772 52 2 —
4

Lando Norris

 McLaren +1.149 52 3 —
5

Isack Hadjar

 Red Bull +1.598 52 3 —
6

Liam Lawson

 Racing Bulls +2.023 52 2 —
7

Arvid Lindblad

 Racing Bulls +2.214 52 2 —
8

Gabriel Bortoleto

 Audi +2.413 52 2 —
9

Franco Colapinto

 Alpine +3.229 52 2 —
10

Pierre Gasly

 Alpine +3.445 52 2 —

Complete race results available via Formula.com.

The next race is in a fortnight and at another all-time classic Formula 1 circuit — the legendary Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium. While it will be tough to top the twists and turns that went down at Silverstone, Spa is no stranger to high drama either. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

Featured post

2026 F1 Grand Prix of Great Britain — Qualifying results

Antonelli reclaims Championship momentum with pole at Silverstone after Sprint victory; Leclerc and Hamilton relegate Russell to P4 after rocky qualifying effort

Championship leader Kimi Antonelli sent a message loud and clear to both his Mercedes teammate and any and all other challengers with a special Saturday effort at the venerable Silverstone Circuit in England. The upstart Italian contender began the day by taking the win in the Sprint race ahead of the Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton and then carried that momentum into the subsequent Qualifying session, earning a dominant pole for Sunday’s British Grand Prix. Ferrari also had a strong showing, albeit miles away from Antonelli’s supreme pace on the day, with Charles Leclerc getting the better of Hamilton, P2 to P3. That put them in front of the second Mercedes of George Russell, who had a choppy qualifying after surviving both an unusual rear axel lockup into a gravel trap and then an uncommon seat change en route to P4 on the grid. Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar had the very rare honor of out-qualifying his highly decorated senior teammate Max Verstappen, P5 to P7. That excellent effort also put the young Frenchman ahead of both McLarens, with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri scuffling to mediocre P6 and P8 results respectively.

Top 10 qualifiers for the British GP:

POS DRIVER TEAM Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1

Kimi Antonelli

 Mercedes 1:29.719 1:28.493 1:28.111 19
2

Charles Leclerc

 Ferrari 1:29.534 1:28.626 1:28.286 18
3

Lewis Hamilton

 Ferrari 1:29.644 1:28.864 1:28.458 17
4

George Russell

 Mercedes 1:29.985 1:28.920 1:28.481 17
5

Isack Hadjar

 Red Bull 1:29.276 1:29.069 1:28.746 18
6

Lando Norris

 McLaren 1:30.186 1:29.383 1:28.877 17
7

Max Verstappen

 Red Bull 1:29.549 1:29.113 1:28.893 18
8

Oscar Piastri

 McLaren 1:29.971 1:29.218 1:29.032 18
9

Arvid Lindblad

 Racing Bulls 1:29.661 1:29.324 1:29.305 17
10

Liam Lawson

 Racing Bulls 1:29.300 1:29.429 1:29.716 20

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race airs live beginning at 10 AM Eastern on AppleTV here in the States. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out, as Antonelli looks to hold off two hungry Ferraris and his always game teammate!

Featured post

2026 F1 Grand Prix of Austria — Results & aftermath

Russell tames Red Bull Ring for much needed win; Verstappen holds off Antonelli for P2 on home turf; Ferrari spin wheels on pace & strategy leading to non-podiums for P5 Hamilton, P8 Leclerc

Mercedes’ talented ace George Russell needed a win the way a man in the desert needs a drink of water. And on Sunday the thirsty Briton championship contender got to drink from  big bottle of champagne after his first victory since Round 1, converting a pivotal pole position into the win at the Austrian Grand Prix despite arguably not being the fastest car on track. But Russell drove cleanly from the front at the short and tricky Red Bull Ring, his side of the pit wall made the right strategy calls and he held off all comers to take his second win on the year and vault himself back into contention against his precocious points-leading Silver Arrows teammate, Kimi Antonelli. Antonelli suffered with break unreliability from the time the lights went out in this 71-lap slugfest but was still able to make up one spot over his qualifying position and take the last step of the podium in P3. Splitting the two Mercedes was Max Verstappen’s Red Bull, who recovered from binning his car in the last session of Saturday Quali by pushing just that much too hard, starting from fifth as a consequence, to make multiple passes en route to P2 at the checkers, the Dutch master’s best finish of the season so far. With Isack Hadjar working his way up to a P6 finish after starting from P8, it proved to be an encouraging day for the so far underwhelming Red Bull team, albeit at a very short circuit without a lot of long, flat out straights.

On the other side of the coin, Ferrari had a poor race and to at least some degree, pit strategy was to blame. With Leclerc qualifying P2 and Hamilton P3, the Scuderia’s hopes for a big day never came to fruition. Leclerc was slow from the get go and was quickly overtaken by his teammate and then Antonelli shortly thereafter despite the young Italian’s brake issues. Soon Leclerc was mired in a battle with the two McLarens and the second Red Bull of Hadjar. Leclerc lost all those battles in the end after sustaining front wing damage in a early race kerfuffle with McLaren’s Piastri and drifted down the standings, finishing a rather humdrum P8 by the time his race was run. Meanwhile, Hamilton looked to be on for a podium after a ding dong early race battle with Verstappen over second place and then an attempt to undercut the Red Bull with an early stop for Hard tires on Lap 12, with Verstappen running all the way to lap 18 for his first stop for fresh Pirellis. However, the Ferrari braintrust outsmarted themselves when they pitted for a since time under a VSC on Lap 25, choosing to gamble of the short term benefit of the Soft tire but also locking them into a 3-stop race. With that many laps remaining, it didn’t pay off. Hamilton emerged in P7 after that second stop and had to once again get by his teammate Leclerc and also Hadjar, leaving him miles away from the front three by the time he made his third stop on Lap 42. In the end, the seven-time champ and last race’s winner in Barcelona could do no better than a P5 finish with a car — and a strategy — that proved to be inferior to the two Mercedes and Verstappen’s Red Bull. The opportunistic Piastri made the most of Ferrari’s curious strategy calls and his own aggressive efforts against Leclerc to take P4 ahead of both Hamilton and his teammate, Lando Norris.

Top 10 finishers of the Austrian GP:

POS DRIVER TEAM RACE TIME LAPS PITS FASTEST LAPS
1

George Russell

 Mercedes 1:26:37.979 71 2 —
2

Max Verstappen

 Red Bull +1.611 71 2 —
3

Kimi Antonelli

 Mercedes +1.986 71 2 1:10.374 (59)
4

Oscar Piastri

 McLaren +21.809 71 2 —
5

Lewis Hamilton

 Ferrari +26.393 71 3 —
6

Isack Hadjar

 Red Bull +29.399 71 2 —
7

Lando Norris

 McLaren +31.505 71 2 —
8

Charles Leclerc

 Ferrari +45.659 71 3 —
9

Liam Lawson

 Racing Bulls +1 Lap 70 2 —
10

Arvid Lindblad

 Racing Bulls +1 Lap 70 2 —

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The 2026 season finally feels like it has some momentum going now, not to mention a number of possible contenders for victory each race weekend. And the next tilt is just a week away, as the teams head to venerable Silverstone for the British GP. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out and who will be the winner in jolly old England!

Featured post

2026 F1 Grand Prix of Austria — Qualifying results

Verstappen crashes out on the limit in hunt for pole at Red Bull Ring; Russell finesses yellow flags to best Ferraris for top spot; Leclerc ahead of Hamilton in P2; Antonelli lifts too much amid the Q3 mayhem

 

Top 10 qualifiers for the Austrian GP:

POS DRIVER TEAM Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1

George Russell

 Mercedes 1:07.398 1:06.979 1:06.113 20
2

Charles Leclerc

 Ferrari 1:07.543 1:07.030 1:06.349 15
3

Lewis Hamilton

 Ferrari 1:07.290 1:06.994 1:06.408 14
4

Kimi Antonelli

 Mercedes 1:07.083 1:06.763 1:06.414 17
5

Max Verstappen

 Red Bull 1:07.407 1:07.183 1:06.475 11
6

Lando Norris

 McLaren 1:07.259 1:06.897 1:06.502 15
7

Oscar Piastri

 McLaren 1:07.487 1:06.890 1:06.511 14
8

Isack Hadjar

 Red Bull 1:07.408 1:07.086 1:06.632 18
9

Liam Lawson

 Racing Bulls 1:07.385 1:07.136 1:06.955 18
10

Arvid Lindblad

 Racing Bulls 1:07.549 1:07.155 1:07.007 18

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Sunday’s race airs love beginning at 9AM Eastern on AppleTV here in the States. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out among the key combatants at the Red Bull Ring!

Featured post

2026 F1 Grand Prix of Barcelona-Catalunya — Results & aftermath

Hamilton earns first Ferrari win with bold 3-stop strategy; Russell P2 as Antonelli suffers late race DNF; Norris inherits P3

Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton earned his first win for Scuderia Ferrari with a superb drive and perfect strategy calls from the pit will at Sunday’s Grand Prix of Barcelona-Catalunya. On a hot and sunny day in the northeast of Spain, it was a blast from the past when Hamilton, who qualified P2 just behind Mercedes’ George Russell and ahead of the second Silver Arrow of points leader Kimi Antonelli, drove a perfect opening stint and then made the bold decision to be the first of the top contenders to pit, committing Ferrari and Lewis to a three-stop strategy at this high-deg track. Mercedes, meanwhile, struck with the more conventional two-stopper, but in the end more stops for fresher Pirelli rubber proved superior to running longer and stopping one less time. Hamilton also benefitted greatly from a perfectly timed Virtual Safety Car just about two-thirds of the way through this 66-lap contest that enabled hime to take his third and final stop with his closest competitors all running 30% under their normal speeds. Sir Lewis probably would still have stayed out in front of the pursuing Mercs but this little stroke of luck really tied up the eventual victory with a neat bow. Hamilton steered the car home cleanly and quickly for the final twenty-four laps, crossing the line nearly twenty seconds to the good of Russell and making the dreams of the tifosi — and his own — come true after in his second year with Ferrari.

 

Top 10 finishers of the Barcelona-Catalunya GP:

POS DRIVER TEAM RACE TIME LAPS PITS FASTEST LAPS
1

Lewis Hamilton

 Ferrari 1:32:28.105 66 3 1:20.122 (44)
2

George Russell

 Mercedes +19.561 66 2 —
3

Lando Norris

 McLaren +23.719 66 2 —
4

Max Verstappen

 Red Bull +40.497 66 3 —
5

Oscar Piastri

 McLaren +58.661 66 2 —
6

Isack Hadjar

 Red Bull +1 Lap 65 3 —
7

Pierre Gasly

 Alpine +1 Lap 65 2 —
8

Liam Lawson

 Racing Bulls +1 Lap 65 2 —
9

Arvid Lindblad

 Racing Bulls +1 Lap 65 2 —
10

Franco Colapinto

 Alpine +1 Lap 65 2 —

 

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race is in a fortnight, as the teams head to Austria and the fast & fierce Red Bull Ring. Can Ferrari keep closing the gap to mighty Mercedes and can Antonelli rebound after his first significant setback in his up til now magical season? Hope top see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

Featured post

2026 F1 Grand Prix of Barcelona-Catalunya — Qualifying results

Aiming to get ’26 campaign back on track, Russell takes pole in Barcelona just ahead of rapid Lewis Hamilton; Antonelli in P3 off front row for first time this year

Mercedes’ George Russell, the preseason favorite for the Drivers’ title before his upstart teammate Kimi Antonelli put an end to that narrative with an early season salvo of dominance, took the first step in attempting to get his season back on track by laying down a blistering lap at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya good enough for pole position in Sunday’s Grand Prix. After being blanked in terms of points in the last two races in Canada & Monaco, Russell utilized his desperation to hook up a fast lap at the death of Q3 that put him well ahead of  Antonelli by some three-tenths. Somewhat surprisingly, it was a resurgent Lewis Hamilton driving the Ferrari who gave Russell the closest run for his money, displaying a bit of the old seven-time champ magic to slot in just six one-hundredths of a second behind Russell and grab P2 across from his erstwhile teammate come Sunday. That bumped Antonelli off the front row for the first time this year and he will line up side by side with the McLaren of reigning world champion Lando Norris. The Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar were the next fastest, qualifying in P5 and P6 respectively, putting them both ahead of the second McLaren of Oscar Piastri, who could only muster a time good enough for P7. The young Aussie struggled more than his teammate with rear locking and controlling tire temperature under the brutal Catalunyan sun.

Rounding out the top ten qualifiers, Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson was P8, veteran Nico Hulkenberg  an impressive P9 for Audi and the second Ferrari of Charles Leclerc did not set a time after crashing out early in Q3 following a snap of oversteer at Turn 4, bringing out the Red Flag for the cleanup. The Monegasque driver was unhurt aside from his pride, after also crashing out of his home Grand Prix last weekend late in the race.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Barcelona-Catalunya GP:

POS DRIVER TEAM Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1

George Russell

 Mercedes 1:15.717 1:15.228 1:14.679 13
2

Lewis Hamilton

 Ferrari 1:15.625 1:15.418 1:14.743 14
3

Kimi Antonelli

 Mercedes 1:15.977 1:15.295 1:14.998 14
4

Lando Norris

 McLaren 1:16.287 1:15.361 1:15.001 14
5

Max Verstappen

 Red Bull 1:16.352 1:15.484 1:15.021 12
6

Isack Hadjar

 Red Bull 1:16.427 1:15.754 1:15.077 14
7

Oscar Piastri

 McLaren 1:16.138 1:15.518 1:15.090 15
8

Liam Lawson

 Racing Bulls 1:16.673 1:15.585 1:16.542 14
9

Nico Hülkenberg

 Audi 1:16.066 1:15.768 1:16.657 17
10

Charles Leclerc

 Ferrari 1:15.964 1:15.281 — 8

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race airs live at 9AM Eastern on AppleTV here in the States. Can Russell keep Hamilton and Antonelli behind him and get back into the championship fight? Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

Featured post

tomvox1’s Watches for Sale — Vintage 1970s King Seiko ref. 5626-7040 CHRONOMETER Blue Dial

Click here to contact me and make this cool vintage King Seiko Chromometer yours today!  SOLD

On offer here I have a wonderful and uncommon circa early 1970s, all-stainless steel King Seiko ref. 5626-7040 Certified Chronometer Day-Date with rare original & beautiful blue sunburst dial. This watch features the characteristically heavily beveled and angled “Grammar of Design” case of the era, which has also been the inspiration for many modern Grand Seiko designs to this day. 

The phrase “bang for your buck” is thrown around a lot these days but this watch is truly that. Priced well under a grand, it’s hard to beat in the vintage watch world in terms of excellence of movement and robustness and build quality, not mention overall attractiveness. This King Seiko Chronometer is in honest, well-used Very Good vintage condition, with a case that shows many marks from the years but also features sharp edges & angles and appears unpolished. The handsome original blue sunburst dial is likewise Very Good, with some minor spotting, likely due to galvanic reactions typical of blue dials from this era.

This King Seiko also features the highly regarded Chronometer-certified caliber 5626 “Hi-Beat” movement under the hood, boasting both quickset date and rapid day advancements. This high grade movement was fully serviced a few years back and is operating flawlessly.

At 36mm, this early 1970s King Seiko is eminently wearable and is also a textbook example of the great Taro Tanaka’s “Grammar of Design” philosophy that he utilized to elevate Seiko into more serious competition with the Swiss. It’s an absolute pleasure to wear, very ergonomic, and that lovely vibrant blue dial never fails to draw the eye. This would make a great first vintage watch for the budding collector or a nice entree into the world of vintage Seiko for the seasoned  enthusiast. And at this price it won’t last — hit me up to put it on your wrist today!

Click here to contact me and make this cool vintage King Seiko Chromometer yours today!  SOLD

Featured post

2026 F1 Grand Prix of Monaco — Results & aftermath

Antonelli romps to first Monaco victory, fifth win in a row as Verstappen DNFs at start; Hamilton hangs on for P2, Hadjar avoids late penalty to keep P3, Russell doesn’t to tumble out of points in incident-filled race

Mercedes’ teenage phenom Kimi Antonelli romped to victory at Sunday’s Monaco Grand Prix, earning his first win at this fabled street circuit and making it an astounding five victories in a row for the young Italian. While his putative championship rivals suffered various race destroying incidents on what was a chaotic, incident-filled day, Antonelli survived a late Red Flag period that wiped out his large time advantage and then a standing restart with nine laps to go, the only known Achilles heel of this year’s Silver Arrow. Antonelli aced it off the line nonetheless, easily keeping Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari at bay and cruising home to take F1’s most prestigious trophy some 6.27 seconds to the good. On a day that featured seven premature retirements for the Grand Prix, the one that potentially benefitted Antonelli the most came right at the start, when the Red Bull of Max Verstappen, lining up in P2 on the grid and expected to be the main threat to Mercedes after a superb qualifying, suffered a catastrophic power unit failure when he dropped the clutch to make his getaway. As cars streamed by the helpless Dutchman, he managed to get it going on battery power, but the team quickly realized the issue was terminal and brought him in to retire the car. It was mega-frustrating day for Verstappen and his fans in a race where he really had a shot at victory due to Monaco’s unique slow-speed, high downforce characteristics, not to mention Verstappen’s special abilities in demanding environments.

George Russell, Antonelli’s teammate and closest Championship pursuer, also had a disastrous day. After looking less than conformable all weekend within the tight confines of the street circuit, Russell lined up down in P6 at the start at a track where it is extremely difficult to overtake. It got worse for the British contender when he incurred a 5-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane during his first stop for fresh Pirellis on Lap 32. To be fair to Russell, multiple drivers were also dinged for violating the pit lane speed limit, an oddity caused by Monaco’s unique right-left entry and then another left kink upon exit and perhaps also something in the new design of the cars this year that saw drivers illegally shortening the distance to the timing loops. In any event, Russell had that hanging over his head for the next twenty-plus laps as he tried to get up to Isack Hadjar’s Red Bull and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and perhaps get himself onto the podium. But it all went away on Lap 61, when the team brought both Silver Arrows in under a Safety Car caused by Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll crashing out at the final Antony Noghès corner. While Russell had to wait while race leader Antonelli was serviced, the mechanics were not clear on Russell’s need to mandatorily serve his 5-seconds once he came into the box. Instead, they changed his tires right away, a violation that incurred a harsh drive-through penalty. While Russell tried to salvage something and hung it out until the end, perhaps hoping for a reprieve from the stewards, none was forthcoming and the drive-through plunged him down the order and into a pointless P12. That made it two very difficult zero-point races in a row after his mechanical DNF last time out in Montreal and increased his deficit to Antonelli to a discouraging 68 points, as well as dropping him behind Hamilton and into third by the time all the post-race dust had settled.

 

Two big beneficiaries of the misfortunes that befell so many were Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton and Red Bull’s lone surviving entrant, Hadjar. With Verstappen going out on Lap 1 or this 78-lap contest, Hamilton inherited P2. And while it looked a tossup for that final position all race long between the seven time champ and his Monegasque teammate Charle Leclerc, the hometown hero shockingly binned it on a Safety Car restart on Lap 65, spearing off into the barriers at Noghès just as Stroll had done. That heartbreak for the hometown favorite, who blamed his brakes in no uncertain terms, led to a prolonged Red Flag period, as the race director and event organizers surveyed that particular piece of track where the tarmac appeared to be breaking up. It also promoted the P4 Hadjar into P3 and a potential first podium with the big Red Bull team. When the long Red Flag period ended and the race resumed from a standing start on Lap 70, Hamilton had nothing for Antonelli but easily kept Hadjar behind him to claim his second second place in a row. Hadjar, meanwhile, survived an investigation into a possible Red Flag infraction, as well as a dodgy power unit ion his own, and then benefitted from yet another speeding penalty, this time to Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, to earn that last step on the podium in Monaco, a fittingly complicated ending to what was a highly chaotic but entertaining race.

Top 10 finishers of the Monaco GP:

POS DRIVER TEAM RACE TIME LAPS PITS FASTEST LAPS
1

Kimi Antonelli

 Mercedes 2:23:31.243 78 4 1:13.481 (76)
2

Lewis Hamilton

 Ferrari +6.271 78 5 —
3

Isack Hadjar

 Red Bull +23.394 78 4 —
4

Oscar Piastri

 McLaren +24.261 78 5 —
5

Liam Lawson

 Racing Bulls +26.553 78 4 —
6

Arvid Lindblad

 Racing Bulls +29.010 78 4 —
7

Pierre Gasly

 Alpine +30.369 78 4 —
8

Alexander Albon

 Williams +33.413 78 5 —
9

Esteban Ocon

 Haas +37.140 78 5 —
10

Fernando Alonso

 Aston Martin +41.899 78 6 —

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race is in but a week’s time, as the teams jet off to Spain for the Grand Prix of Barcelona-Catalunya. With the exception of Antonelli, Hamilton and Hadjar, the majority of the drivers will be happy to have such a brief break to escape the claustrophobic confines of Monaco and start with a clean slate at a purpose built circuit. Antonelli, on the other hand, will just be keen to keep the good times rolling in his pursuit of becoming the first Italian F1 champion since Alberto Ascari back in 1953. hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

Featured post

2026 F1 Grand Prix of Monaco — Qualifying results

Red hot Antonelli snatches Monaco pole from razor sharp Verstappen; Hamilton out-duels hometown favorite Leclerc for P3: Russell struggles en route to P6

Mercedes young phenom Kimi Antonelli, winner of the last four Grand Prix on the trot, continued his red hot ways by wresting pole away from a very game Max Verstappen during Saturday Qualifying for the legendary Monaco Grand Prix. With the tight and twisty streets of the principality looking more claustrophobic than even, Antonelli kept his foot in it on his final flying lap, as he had done all day, mastering the ultimate street circuit on the F1 calendar to the tune of a 1:12.051 lap. That was a little over four-tenths quicker than Verstappen’s best effort in his Red Bull. But he and the team will still be very pleased to come home P2 on the day and to be so close in competitiveness to mighty Mercedes, at least for this one very atypical race. Antonelli and Verstappen’s excellence also put Ferrari in the shade when many had been picking one of the two Prancing Horses to start from pole on Sunday. Instead, Lewis Hamilton got the better of hometown favorite Charles Leclerc, P3 to P4. The Monegasque native recovered from being mired down in P10 earlier in Q3 to take provisional pole with his penultimate lap but then whammed the barriers at Tabac on his final flier, ending any hopes of improvement.

Red Bull’s second driver, Isack Hadjar, also performed well, capturing P5 on the grid. That was one spot better than George Russell’s Mercedes, the Briton looking less than comfortable in the cramped confines all weekend so far, in contrast to youthful upstart Antonelli. At a place where passing is nigh impossible, Russell will have it all to do come race day to somehow keep up with his streaking points-leading teammate at the front. After some glimmers in qualifying, McLaren underwhelmed when it really counted, with Oscar Piastri only good enough for P7 and Lando Norris just behind his Aussie teammate in P8. On the other hand, Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and Racing Bulls Liam Lawson exceeded expectations, qualifying P9 and P10 respectively despite both just scraping through to progress in the first two Quali sessions.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Monaco GP:

POS DRIVER TEAM Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1

Kimi Antonelli

 Mercedes 1:13.599 1:12.704 1:12.051 28
2

Max Verstappen

 Red Bull 1:13.490 1:12.499 1:12.094 26
3

Lewis Hamilton

 Ferrari 1:13.777 1:12.934 1:12.279 28
4

Charles Leclerc

 Ferrari 1:13.293 1:12.774 1:12.351 29
5

Isack Hadjar

 Red Bull 1:14.408 1:12.722 1:12.434 25
6

George Russell

 Mercedes 1:14.214 1:13.238 1:12.445 28
7

Oscar Piastri

 McLaren 1:14.159 1:12.983 1:12.624 29
8

Lando Norris

 McLaren 1:13.630 1:12.919 1:12.765 28
9

Pierre Gasly

 Alpine 1:14.469 1:13.762 1:13.226 32
10

Liam Lawson

 Racing Bulls 1:14.498 1:13.471 1:13.412 29

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Sunday’s race airs live beginning at 9 AM Eastern on AppleTV here in the States. The opening lap battle for supremacy between Antonelli and Verstappen should be epic and the Ferarri duo of Hamilton and Leclerc will be looking to take advantage of any contact between the two. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

Featured post

2026 F1 Grand Prix of Canada — Results & aftermath

Antonelli wins fourth on the trot in Canada as frustrated Russell DNFs; Hamilton makes late pass on Verstappen for P2; McLaren gamble on tires and come up snake eyes

Mercedes rising star Kimi Antonelli prevailed for the victory at a chaotic Canadian Grand Prix on Sunday, surviving a fierce 30-lap intra-team battle with his most serious rival, George Russell, that was spicier than a vindaloo curry and then sailing to an easy win after Russell’s Silver Arrow called it quits on Lap 31 of this 68-lap contest. No other cars could challenge Antonelli en route to his fourth victory on the trot and the teen sensation bumped up his points lead over Russell to 43 after five rounds in 2026. Russell’s DNF opened the door to second and third place wide open and Ferarri’s Lewis Hamilton and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen had a ding dong battle for second place as then laps ran down. After hunting his old rival’s Red Bull over the course of several circuits, Hamilton was finally able to overtake the Dutch master on Lap 62 while using his full momentum from the start finish straight and steaming past into Turn 1. Verstappen did his best to regain P2 over the course of the final seven laps but Hamilton was able to keep the position for his and the Scuderia’s best finish of the young season. Despite being relegated to third on the day, that final podium spot was also Verstappen and Red Bull’s best finish so far in 2026.The second Ferrari’ of Charles Leclerc was never quite on top of the vicissitudes of Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve in the masterful manner of Hamilton, a seven-time winner here, and came home a respectable but rather forlorn P4. Verstappen’s teammate Isack Hadjar survived a raft of penalties to take a solid P5, making it a strong double points day for what has been an inconsistent Red Bull campaign so far.

On the other side of the coin, McLaren had a disastrous day, beginning when they decided that the damp but rapidly drying conditions on Île Notre Dame warranted a gamble on wet weather Intermediate Pirellis, making them the only team in the top ten starters to see things that way. While the Papaya duo of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri did get away quickly from their slick grid spots, with Norris even passing both Mercedes for the lead on Lap 1, any benefit was going to be extremely short lived and the team baled as the track was clearly going to be dry for the foreseeable future. Piastri, who had been complaining about the risky tire choice from even before the formation lap, came into the pit for a switch to slick Mediums before completing his first race lap and Norris followed on the end of Lap 2. From there, McLaren were well and truly behind the eight-ball, with both drivers now having to fight their way back into the points after  qualifying on the second row. Things went from bad to worse when Norris was forced to retire on Lap 40 with a terminal gearbox issue and Piastri, after an incident-filled attempt to flight back to the front, including incurring a ten-second penalty for punting Alexander Albon’s Williams out of the race at the hairpin midway through, could only manage to scramble his way back up to P11. McLaren will be keen to turn the page on their pointless Canadian nightmare as they head to another grand casino in Monaco in two weeks. They’ll be hoping their self-made luck runs better at the principality than the unforced snake eyes they rolled in Montreal.

Top 10 finishers of the Canadian GP:

POS DRIVER TEAM RACE TIME LAPS PITS FASTEST LAPS
1

Kimi Antonelli

 Mercedes 1:28:15.758 68 1 1:14.210 (68)
2

Lewis Hamilton

 Ferrari +10.768 68 1 —
3

Max Verstappen

 Red Bull +11.276 68 1 —
4

Charles Leclerc

 Ferrari +44.151 68 1 —
5

Isack Hadjar

 Red Bull +1 Lap 67 3 —
6

Franco Colapinto

 Alpine +1 Lap 67 1 —
7

Liam Lawson

 Racing Bulls +1 Lap 67 1 —
8

Pierre Gasly

 Alpine +1 Lap 67 1 —
9

Carlos Sainz

 Williams +1 Lap 67 2 —
10

Oliver Bearman

 Haas +1 Lap 67 1 —

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race is in a fortnight as the F1 circus heads to its most glamorous venue, the Monaco Street Circuit The cars will wend their way through the famously tight streets of the principality for the calendar’s slowest race where qualifying is essentially everything. With Anotnelli looking imperious, it will be interesting to see how the young Italian can pedal it in such tight quarters, and with Russell desperate for a bit of hope, Hamilton and Verstappen surging and the home favorite Monegasque Leclerc. Hope to se you then to find out how it all shakes out!

 

Featured post

2026 F1 Grand Prix of Canada — Qualifying results

Russell nabs pole at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve with last-second flier, Antonelli P2 as Mercedes lock out front row; McLaren claim second row with Norris ahead of Piastri, P3 to P4

Having already aggressively diced with and prevailed over his Mercedes teammate in the Sprint race, George Russell came from down in tenth place to seize pole at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve with a stunning final flying lap during Saturday Qualifying for the Canadian Grand Prix. Desperate to reestablish his championship aspirations and get back on terms with his points-leading Silver Arrows stablemate, Kimi Antonelli, Russell was all arms and elbows in the Sprint en route to victory there, earning the ire of the young Italian in the process, and then pulled one out of the bag in the dying moments of Q3 to relegate Antonelli to second on the grid here in Montreal. The opening lap battles between the two Mercedes men should set the tone for a potentially epic internecine fight for glory that could well end in tears for one or both men and potentially open the door for another contender to take advantage of any potential race-altering contacts between the two lead Mercs.

Chief among those trailing rivals appear to be a resurgent McLaren, whose tandem of reigning champion Lando Norris and the always capable Oscar Piastri steadily progressed on pace throughout quali and put themselves firmly ahead of both Ferraris with a P3 for Norris and a P4 for Piastri.  While the McLaren duo couldn’t quite match the pace of mighty Mercedes, team Papaya are inching closer to parity with some already significant early season upgrades. Lewis Hamilton flew the flag for Ferrari at a circuit he loves and where he has seven career victories. While his hopes for pole faded as Mercedes and McLaren showed their true one-lap pace, he put in a time good enough for a solid P5. That was quite a bit more rapid than his normally equal stablemate, Charles Leclerc, who struggled throughout qualifying with the balance of his Prancing Horse and ended up merely P8 on the time sheets. The Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar split the Scuderia in P6 and P7 respectively, despite Verstappen’s vociferous gripes about the abilities of his RB22. Rounding out the top ten qualifiers for Canada, rookie Arvid Lindblad pedaled his Racing Bull to an impressive P9 and Franco Colapinto was the lead Alpine in P10.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Canadian GP:

POS DRIVER TEAM Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1

George Russell

 Mercedes 1:13.953 1:13.079 1:12.578 24
2

Kimi Antonelli

 Mercedes 1:13.380 1:13.076 1:12.646 24
3

Lando Norris

 McLaren 1:13.503 1:13.049 1:12.729 28
4

Oscar Piastri

 McLaren 1:13.559 1:13.285 1:12.781 29
5

Lewis Hamilton

 Ferrari 1:13.767 1:13.041 1:12.868 27
6

Max Verstappen

 Red Bull 1:14.067 1:13.479 1:12.907 23
7

Isack Hadjar

 Red Bull 1:13.654 1:12.975 1:12.935 22
8

Charles Leclerc

 Ferrari 1:13.825 1:13.496 1:12.976 29
9

Arvid Lindblad

 Racing Bulls 1:13.895 1:13.548 1:13.280 28
10

Franco Colapinto

 Alpine 1:14.466 1:13.857 1:13.697 27

Complete qualifying results available via Formula.com.

Sprint Race results are here.

Sunday’s Canadian Grand Prix airs live beginning at 4pm Eastern on AppleTV and Netflix here in the States. Hope to see you then to find out if Russell can keep Antonelli behind him or if the two come to grief amidst their increasingly heated rivalry and open the door to another contender to take victory!

Featured post

2026 F1 Grand Prix of Miami — Results & aftermath

Antonelli holds off Norris to take third win on the trot but gap to Mercedes supremacy tightens; Piastri seizes P3 for greatly improved McLaren; late Leclerc spin dooms Ferrari

The long delayed Round 4 of the 2026 Formula 1 World Championship finally got underway in Sunday’s Miami Grand Prix and it was quickly apparent that the rules changes by the sport’s governing body and the individual upgrades by the contending Constructors had paid huge dividends vis a vis the quality of racing and competitiveness. After three strange and artificial opening races under the new regulations, which the Mercedes factory team generally dominated, Kimi Antonelli was once again the pole-sitter for the third contest in a row here at the temporary Miami International Autodrome just outside and around the stadium where the NFL’s Dolphins play. But this time the competitors behind him almost made him pay for his typical poor start when the lights went out. As the young Italian’s Silver Arrow bogged down, he was quickly swallowed up the third positioned Ferrari of Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen’s second place Red Bull. But, while Leclerc prevailed to pull away from the pack, Verstappen had a shocking self-induced spin that dropped him down the order to P10. This benefitted Antonelli, who recovered well enough from yet another slow getaway, his one bête noir this year, and began methodically hunting down Leclerc’s Prancing Horse. By lap 4, the Mercedes man was close enough to execute a move on Leclerc and recapture first place. As has been typical of these cars this year, however, Leclerc was able to pass back to retake P1. Two laps later, McLaren’s Lando Norris also go into the action, taking advantage of the ongoing scrap to sneak by Anotonelli and suddenly relegate the Merc to P3.

It was on that action-packed sixth lap of this 57-lap contest that Red Bull’s second driver Isack Hadjar came to grief and found the barriers after missing the apex steaming into the tricky Turn 14 complex.Recing Bull’s Liam Lawson also contacted the Alpine of Pierre Gasly at just an unfortunate enough able to send the Frenchman literally barrel rolling off the track. When racing resumed after all that chaos five laps later, Leclerc led away from the restart cleanly but quickly found Norris right on his gearbox. On Lap 13, Norris steamed by the lead Ferrari with ease and then Antonelli and Leclerc spent the next couple of circuits passing and re-passing each other until finally Antonelli made a move stick to secure second place late in Lap 14. As things settled into a post Safety Car rhythm, the race waited for the first real pit stop shoe to drop. Although Verstappen was the only genuine to contender to pit earlier under the Safety Car due to being out of position after his ill-timed opening lap spin — and promptly being noted by the stewards for illegally crossing the white line at pit exit — it was Mercedes’ George Russell who pulled the pin amongst the top five under green flag conditions on Lap 21. Leclerc quickly followed him in a lap later in an attempt to cover the Briton’s Silver Arrow. But Ferrari lost out with a slow 3.7 second stop and Leclerc came out behind Russell. Antonelli hung it out a little longer but pitted from P2 on Lap 27 for the same favored Medium to Hard Pirelli change as all the top runners chose. Norris ran a lap later for his tire swap but the undercut proved powerful enough that Antonelli was able to pass Norris on hotter tires for P3 just after the McLaren man exited the pits.

This turned out to be the decisive moment in Miami, as Norris’s teammate Oscar Piastri made his first stop a lap later, conceding the point to Verstappen, who had committed to running a very long second stint on the Hards after rolling the dice under the Safety Car. Game as he was, the Dutchman was no match for the much fresher rubber on Antonelli’s and Norris’s cars, and he was first passed for the lead by Antonelli on Lap 29 and then relegated to P3 by Norris a lap later. Meanwhile, Leclerc seemed to be making amends for the team’s slow stop as he hunted a podium, the Mongasque getting by Russell for P4 and then badgering and finally overtaking the game Verstappen after a spirited back and forth on Lap 47. Piastri was also eager to show the improved pace of his McLaren, contending for P5 with Russell and finally securing it with a decisive overtake on Lap 36. Piastri was then able to put himself in position to grab fourth from Verstappen on lap 49, the Red Bull’s aging Hards just about giving up the ghost by this point and now also about to see Russell filling up his mirrors for the final few circuits. The McLaren’s quality shown once again, as Piastri nabbed the final podium position from Leclerc on outright pace on the final lap. Leclerc’s then shockingly spun the Ferrari on his own and glanced sideways into the wall, damaging the suspension. With Russell easily by Verstappen earlier in the final lap, he then pounced on Leclerc’s wounded Prancing Horse for a valuable P4, as did the never say die Verstappen, the Red Bull coming home fifth while the despondent Leclerc was finally demoted to P6 by his atypical error (and later P8 after incurring a post-race 20-second time penalty for driving an unsafe vehicle after that fateful spin). At the front, Antonelli serenely took the Checkers to make it three wins on then trot and solidify his championship points lead. But, with Norris finishing P2 and Piastri P3, McLaren fired a warning shot to the entire paddock that they are back fighting for wins and doing everything they can to equal Mercedes’ so far superior race pace in 2026.

Top 10 finishers of the Miami GP:

POS DRIVER TEAM RACE TIME LAPS PITS FASTEST LAPS
1

Kimi Antonelli

 Mercedes 1:33:19.273 57 1 —
2

Lando Norris

 McLaren +3.264 57 1 1:31.869 (35)
3

Oscar Piastri

 McLaren +27.092 57 1 —
4

George Russell

 Mercedes +43.051 57 1 —
5

Max Verstappen

 Red Bull +48.949 57 1 —
6

Lewis Hamilton

 Ferrari +53.753 57 1 —
7

Franco Colapinto

 Alpine +1:01.871 57 1 —
8

Charles Leclerc

 Ferrari +1:04.245 57 1 —
9

Carlos Sainz

 Williams +1:22.072 57 1 —
10

Alexander Albon

 Williams +1:30.972 57 1 —

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

Unfortunately, after all the exciting action in Miami, the next race is not for another three weeks — the Canadian Grand Prix from the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve in Montreal. All the teams are certain to be feverishly working to continue the improvements they’ve already been able to make due to the previous five-week hiatus. Hope to see you then to find out if anyone finally has found the key to success against Kimi Antonelli’s merciless Mercedes!

Featured post

2026 F1 Grand Prix of Miami — Qualifying results

Rivals creep closer to Mercedes after long break but Antonelli still scores third pole in a row; Verstappen less than two-tenths behind in P2, Leclerc a solid P3

Formula 1 returned from an unprecedented five week break at the very beginning of the season to race the temporary Miami International Autodrome street circuit for a Sprint weekend and proved that neither the FIA or the teams had been idle during their extended time off.  The rules body issued  a host of tweaks to the new formula designed to improve the quality of racing and reduce the clear risks of the radically different race speeds displayed in the opening three rounds. And the majority of the teams went to work on improving their chassis in relation to the currently dominant Mercedes team. Both of these big if distinct changes showed immediate dividends in Sprint qualifying and the Sprint itself, with McLaren finding a reprise of their 2025 mojo here in Miami to the tune of a Lando Norris/Oscar Piastri one-two finish in the 19-lap Sprint. But Saturday Grand Prix qualifying saw a bit off a reversion to the 2026 mean, with Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli laying down a superb lap early in Q3 that no one could quite touch, earning the young Italian points leader his third pole on the trot. It wasn’t for lack of trying from his closest pursuers, however. A reinvigorated Max Verstappen pulled his heavily revised Red Bull RB22 to within .166 of Antonelli’s best effort, taking P2 alongside the Merc in the process. And Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was able to muster third on the grid in his equally improved Prancing Horse. With Norris not quite as quick as he had been in the Sprint quali but slotting into a respectable P4 and Antonelli’s unfortunate habit of terrible starts off the line in every round so far to start the season, it really could be anyone’s first corner when the lights go out in Miami on Sunday.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Miami GP:

POS DRIVER TEAM Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1

Kimi Antonelli

 Mercedes 1:28.653 1:28.289 1:27.798 17
2

Max Verstappen

 Red Bull 1:29.099 1:28.116 1:27.964 15
3

Charles Leclerc

 Ferrari 1:28.938 1:28.315 1:28.143 21
4

Lando Norris

 McLaren 1:29.183 1:28.920 1:28.183 20
5

George Russell

 Mercedes 1:29.492 1:28.477 1:28.197 18
6

Lewis Hamilton

 Ferrari 1:29.483 1:28.477 1:28.319 21
7

Oscar Piastri

 McLaren 1:29.920 1:28.332 1:28.500 20
8

Franco Colapinto

 Alpine 1:29.584 1:28.975 1:28.762 19
9

Pierre Gasly

 Alpine 1:29.914 1:29.070 1:28.810 20
10

Nico Hülkenberg

 Audi 1:29.645 1:29.439 — 14

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Sunday’s GP airs live on AppleTV beginning at 1PM Eastern, about three hours earlier than originally scheduled, due to some severe weather being forecast for later in the afternoon in that part of Florida. Hope to see you then to find out if Antonelli can finally make a clean getaway and then manage to keep the very hungry Verstappen, Leclerc and Norris behind him to the finish!

Featured post

2026 F1 Grand Prix of Japan — Results & aftermath

Antonelli scores second win on the trot benefitting from well-timed Safety Car at Suzuka, even as it disadvantages P4 Russell; Piastri gives McLaren signs of life with impressive P2 drive; Leclerc holds off Russell for final podium position

While Mercedes young hard charger Kimi Antonelli started from pole and went on to win the Japanese Grand Prix on Sunday, the 19-year-old’s road to his second consecutive victory was anything but straightforward. Both he and Silver Arrows’ teammate George Russell, who started alongside Antonelli from P2 on the grid, faced the team’s early season Achilles heel by bogging down when the lights went out to start the race at the famed Suzuka Circuit, watching with a sinking feeling as their rivals swallowed them up en masse. Antonelli dropped like a stone to P6, while Russell fared somewhat better by only falling two places to P4. The main beneficiary of Mercedes’ misfortune was McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, who was looking to simply start and finish his first GP of the season here in Round 3 after an embarrassing crash out at his home race in Melbourne and than a mechanical Did Not Start in Japan two weeks ago. Piastri surged to the front and then began gapping the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc and his own teammate, Lando Norris. Meanwhile, the two Mercedes men set about making up for their starting woes as quickly as possible. By Lap 3, Russell passed Norris for third and a lap later he made easy work of Leclerc’s Prancing Horse to get back to P2. He then began closing in on the front-running Piastri, passing the Aussie for the lead on Lap  8 but then promptly being re-passed for first by the McLaren due to the complexities of the energy recharge and deployment required of these new power units.

For his part, Antonelli stayed cool despite his disastrous getaway, methodically working his way to the front. He was able to pick off Norris for P4 on Lap 11 and then Leclerc to get back into the podium positions and P3 some four laps later. But the young Italian ace suffered a snap of oversteer that allowed Leclerc to retake the position. Now, it became clear that pit stops were imminent, all drivers but one out of twenty two starting on the Medium Pirelli tires in anticipation of a one-stop Medium to Hards strategy. Norris was the first to blink and gamble on the undercut on Lap 17, with Leclerc covering him off the next lap and then Piastri following the Monegasque in for his own fresh Hard rubber. Russell debated with his engineer, finally making the call for a stop on Lap 21, while Antonelli stayed out, presumably for one additional lap. It couldn’t have been worse timing for Russell or better timing for Antonelli, as Haas’s Oliver Bearman suffered a lurid high-impact crash when he came upon the far too slow Alpine of Franco Colapinto, who was presumably recharging by dawdling on the racing line. While Bearman came away with a sore leg after the 50-G sideways hit into the barriers, he was OK in the end and the Safety Car was, of course, deployed. It also raised some serious questions about the overall safety of this new formula, where drivers are forced to lift to recharge their batteries in places on a track that no racing driver would ever think of doing normally and the unpredictability of those individual decisions.

Bigger picture questions aside, the Safety Car meant that Antonelli, running in the lead after the first green flag pit cycle, got a delightfully cheap stop under the reduced pace of the SC. He lost a relative fraction of the usual 22-second pit lane delta to his slow moving competitors and was able to reemerge with his lead intact. His teammate Russell, now third, complained bitterly about his bad luck, and Piastri in P2 was also disadvantaged. When the Safety Car ended, Antonelli streaked away in clean air and onward to victory, leaving the other top contenders to haggle over the podium places. While Piastri was strong enough to hold off all comers and secure a much needed second place when all was said and done, Lecelrc got the better of Russell on Lap 38 when the Merc had a brief mechanical gremlin, overtaking him for P5. From there, the two had a ding dong battle to the end, both getting by Leclerc’s teammate Lewis Hamilton in the process, despite Hamilton also pitting under the Safety Car. Russell did manage to pass Leclerc for P3 with only five laps to go in this 56-lap contest, but Leclerc immediately took back that last podium spot with a re-pass and held it to the end of the race. Norris got by Hamilton late to secure P5, making it an excellent points scoring day for McLaren when they had to have one. For Antonelli, his second win of 2026 put him in the points lead ahead of Russell, making him the youngest ever F1 driver to claim that honor.

Top 10 finishers of the Japanese GP:

POS DRIVER TEAM RACE TIME LAPS PITS FASTEST LAPS
1

Kimi Antonelli

 Mercedes 1:28:03.403 53 1 1:32.432 (49)
2

Oscar Piastri

 McLaren +13.722 53 1 —
3

Charles Leclerc

 Ferrari +15.270 53 1 —
4

George Russell

 Mercedes +15.754 53 1 —
5

Lando Norris

 McLaren +23.479 53 1 —
6

Lewis Hamilton

 Ferrari +25.037 53 1 —
7

Pierre Gasly

 Alpine +32.340 53 1 —
8

Max Verstappen

 Red Bull +32.677 53 1 —
9

Liam Lawson

 Racing Bulls +50.180 53 1 —
10

Esteban Ocon

 Haas +51.216 53 1 —

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

Due to the cancellations of the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, the next race is an unusually long way away — May 3rd in Miami. McLaren and Ferrari will be keen to keep honing their 2026 machines in the hopes of taking the fight to mighty Mercedes. And the drivers will surely enjoy the extra time to fine tune the frankly strange driving style required of these new power units. That is, if FIA don’t change the rules in the interim — hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

Featured post

2026 F1 Grand Prix of Japan — Qualifying results

Mercedes still setting early season pace as Antonelli nails down second consecutive pole, Russell starts P2 at Suzuka; McLaren back in the mix with Piastri P3, Norris P5; Ferrari’s Leclerc P4

Flush with the confidence of his first Formula 1 win two weeks ago in China, Mercedes’ rising young star Kimi Antonelli made it two poles in a row with a superb effort at the always challenging Suzuka Circuit during Saturday Qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix. The 19-year-old was able to get just that much more out of his Silver Arrow than his veteran teammate George Russell, to the tune of nearly three-tenths on their fastest respective laps set midway through Q3. To be fair, Russell seemed to struggle all day with an issue with his rear stability throughout quali and, additionally, the track seemed to deteriorate somewhat toward the end of the final round with regards to overall grip. Nevertheless, the current points leader will be keen to retake the momentum from his precocious Mercedes teammate and beat him off the line come race day.

McLaren showed some tentative signs of regaining their footing after a fairly disastrous opening two rounds, with Oscar Piastri a ways away from the Mercs but still good enough for P3 and the second row and teammate and reigning World Champion Lando Norris just off the Aussie’s pace in P5. The specter of mechanical gremlins still hovers over team Papaya, however, as Norris’s car spent nearly all of Free Practice 3 in the garage with a software/battery communication issue plaguing their new power plant. It will be critical that both McLarens run a full race distance in Sunday’s GP no matter where they end up finishing, lest these initial severe teething problems threaten to derail their 2026 campaign, while Mercedes and Ferrari take the opportunity to bury them.

Speaking of Ferrari, Charles Leclerc looked to be on the ragged edge of adhesion pretty much all race weekend so far. But the Monegasque still managed to wring the neck of his SF-26 to the tune of the fourth fastest time, splitting the McLaren’s on the grid. Scuderia teammate Lewis Hamilton was about a tenth and a half slower and slotted in behind Norris in P6. Alpine’s Pierre Gasly came from seemingly nowhere to post an impressive final time good enough for P7, which bodes well for both driver and team after the Frenchman’s impressive sixth place finish in the previous Chinese GP. Red Bull’s new promotion for this year, Isack Hadjar, earned P8, bettering his more decorated stablemate Max Verstappen, who struggled with an unruly mount on his way to an underwhelming P12 and early exit in Q2. The Dutch Master’s mood about the current state of F1 was certainly not improved after he called his RB22 “undriveable” yet again, his new favorite adjective. On the other hand, Audi’s Gabriel Bortoletto and Racing Bulls rookie Arvid Lindblad seemed more than pleased with the new formula, the young guns slotting in at P9 and P10 respectively.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Japanese Grand Prix:

CLA DRIVER # LAPS TIME INTERVAL TYRES KM/H
1 A. AntonelliMercedes 12 15

1’28.778

 S 235.477
2 G. RussellMercedes 63 21

+0.298

1’29.076

 0.298 S 234.689
3 O. PiastriMcLaren 81 20

+0.354

1’29.132

 0.056 S 234.542
4 C. LeclercFerrari 16 18

+0.627

1’29.405

 0.273 S 233.825
5 L. NorrisMcLaren 1 20

+0.631

1’29.409

 0.004 S 233.815
6 L. HamiltonFerrari 44 20

+0.789

1’29.567

 0.158 S 233.402
7 P. GaslyAlpine 10 18

+0.913

1’29.691

 0.124 S 233.080
8 I. HadjarRed Bull Racing 6 17

+1.200

1’29.978

 0.287 S 232.336
9 G. BortoletoAudi 5 20

+1.496

1’30.274

 0.296 S 231.574
10 A. LindbladRacing Bulls 41 21

+1.541

1’30.319

 0.045 S 231.459

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Sunday’s race airs live on Apple TV beginning at 1 AM Eastern here in the States. Can McLaren really get their mojo back and take the fight to mighty Mercedes or can Leclerc and Ferrari pull an epic upset?  Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

Featured post

2026 F1 Grand Prix of China — Results & aftermath

Antonelli scores first F1 win with perfect drive in Shanghai, Russell P2 as Mercedes extend early season dominance; Hamilton earns first Ferrari podium besting P4 teammate Leclerc; Disaster for McLaren as neither Norris or Piastri are able to start

Mercedes’ second-year driver Kimi Antonelli converted his record-setting effort as F1’s youngest ever driver to take pole in a Grand Prix into the fulfillment of all his professional dreams. Antonelli handily won Sunday’s Chinese Grand Prix, thereby becoming the second youngest driver to earn a win behind the then 18-year-old Max Verstappen, as well as the first Italian national to claim victory in twenty years. Avoiding the unacceptably slow starts that have cost the 19-year-old Italian in both Round 1 in Australia and Saturday’s Sprint race here at Shanghai International Circuit, Antonelli quickly recovered after losing a position to the hard charging Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton on the opening lap. Keeping his cool, Antonelli quickly took back the position from the Prancing Horse of the seven-time champ on Lap 2. From there on out, he, deftly held off the best efforts of not only his senior Silver Arrows teammate, George Russell, but also the veteran Ferrari duo of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc.  Antonelli was able to control the race from the front like a veteran to keep the Ferraris and Russell behind him with relative ease until the checkers flew after Lap 56, notching his first F1 win in a new car that, at this early date, seems capable of winning the majority of races this year.  With this maiden victory, Antonelli proved that Mercedes’ faith in the minimally experienced teenager to replace Hamilton was well founded and he now has the skill and confidence to go toe to toe with the best at this level, including the person who could be his main rival for the 2026 title, the supremely talented and very hungry for the crown Russell.

Top 10 finishers of the Chinese GP:

Pos Driver Time Pts
1
A.K. Antonelli
Mercedes

·

#12
1:33:15.607
25
2
G. Russell
Mercedes

·

#63
+5.515s
18
3
L. Hamilton
Ferrari

·

#44
+25.267s
15
4
C. Leclerc
Ferrari

·

#16
+28.894s
12
5
O. Bearman
Haas

·

#87
+57.268s
10
6
P. Gasly
Alpine

·

#10
+59.647s
8
7
L. Lawson
RB

·

#30
+80.588s
6
8
I. Hadjar
Red Bull

·

#6
+87.247s
4
9
C. Sainz Jr.
Williams

·

#55
+1 Lap
2
10
F. Colapinto
Alpine

·

#43
+1 Lap
1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race is in two week’s time, as the teams head to Japan’s famous Suzuka Circuit. Anotnelli will have an extra week to savor his first F1 win but no doubt the young Italian is raring too get back onto the track and repeat the feat. Likewise, teammate George Russell and the dueling Ferraris of Hamilton and Leclerc will be eager to fight for the top step themselves. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

Featured post

2026 F1 Grand Prix of China — Qualifying results

Antonelli makes F1 history as youngest ever pole-sitter in Shanghai; Russell overcomes gremlins to grab last-second P2 for early favorites Mercedes; Hamilton P3, Leclerc P4 for next best Ferrari

In a dramatic final session of Saturday qualifying for the Chinese Grand Prix, newly mighty Mercedes needed to deploy all of their technical and strategic expertise to both salvage their veteran driver’s Sunday starting position and maximize their junior driver’s best efforts. With what is clearly the virgin season’s best car, last week’s race winner George Russell, who was also victorious in the Sprint race earlier in the day, faced Q3 gremlins that threatened to put him at the bottom of the Top 10. But the team brilliantly got him out of the garage and back onto the track with just enough time for one flying lap. Meanwhile, teammate Kimi Antonelli had already laid down a blistering benchmark provisional pole lap immediately prior to Russell emerging from the pits at Shanghai International Circuit, daring his teammate and any other challengers to better it. While Russell couldn’t catch his Silver Arrows stablemate with his last desperate attempt, he did manage a fantastic nail-biting flier that vaulted him from “No Time” to P2 for Sunday’s grid. Meanwhile, Antonelli hung on in the face of Ferrari’s and McLaren’s best efforts to become Formula 1’s youngest ever pole-sitter, the 19-year, 6-month-old Italian besting the great Sebastian Vettel’s previous record of 21-years and two-months set at Monza back in 2008. The acid test for Antonelli, though, will be a clean getaway from that historic pole when the lights go out on Sunday. The young star has struggled mightily in both race starts under the new format, with another extremely slow start in the Sprint, where he started from second but finished in P6 as a direct result of bogging down again.

Despite looking feisty all race weekend, Ferrari found themselves in the familiar for 2026 runners up role to the Mercs, with Lewis Hamilton besting teammate Charles Leclerc P3 to P4. McLaren have clearly been working very hard and showed improvement since the opener in Melbourne, closing the gap even while still trailing the top two teams. Oscar Piastri claimed P5 on the grid for the Papayas ahead of P6 Lando Norris. The Alpine of Pierre Gasly made his own statement by bettering both Red Bulls and slotting into P7, an impressive effort that relegated Max Verstappen to P8 and Isack Hadjar to P9. Those lowly quali positions show that the Red Bull braintrust have a lot of improvements to unlock to get to terms with both this new car and their new Ford engines. Haas’s Oliver Bearman took P10 with a fine effort for the competitive American midfield team.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Chinese GP:

Driver Grid Qual time
A.K. Antonelli
Mercedes

·

#12
1
1:32.064
G. Russell
Mercedes

·

#63
2
1:32.286
L. Hamilton
Ferrari

·

#44
3
1:32.415
C. Leclerc
Ferrari

·

#16
4
1:32.428
O. Piastri
McLaren

·

#81
5
1:32.550
L. Norris
McLaren

·

#1
6
1:32.608
P. Gasly
Alpine

·

#10
7
1:32.873
M. Verstappen
Red Bull

·

#3
8
1:33.002
I. Hadjar
Red Bull

·

#6
9
1:33.121
O. Bearman
Haas

·

#87
10
1:33.292

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Sunday’s race airs live beginning at 1 AM  Eastern exclusively on Apple TV here in the States. Whether you pull the all-nighter or catch up with the race with an Apple TV replay on demand after a good night’s sleep, Round 2 of Formula 1’s new era will surely be worth a watch to see how the teams are improving and getting to grips with these very tricky and brand new hybrid machines. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

Featured post

2026 F1 Grand Prix of Australia — Results & aftermath

Russell surges to victory Down Under, Antonelli recovers from awful start to take P2 as Mercedes claim first blood of new era; Ferrari impress with Leclerc in P3, Hamilton P4; Norris holds off Verstappen for P5 but Piastri bins it on reconnaissance lap

The Mercedes factory team laid down the first marker of Formula1’s new era at Round 1 of the 2026 season, with George Russell excelling to a dominant win at Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix in his new W17, and teammate Kimi Antonelli rallying from a terrible start to take P2 after making a slew of passes to get back to the front. It was fast and frantic action from Down Under in Melbourne, with the new 50-50 internal combustion-battery power unit providing a host of technical complications for the drivers, not least of which being where within the lap to harvest power for the battery. The answer appeared to be by slowing a bit prematurely when entering the corners and even down certain straightaways, with the resulting yo-yoing effect creating a lot of nose-to-tail action throughout the field. Additionally, for all their evident raw pace, Mercedes struggled to get away solidly when the lights went out to begin the contest. The pole-sitting Russell found himself quickly overtaken by the absolutely flying Prancing Horse of Charles Leclerc, who steamed by not only Russell but also the Red Bull of Isack Hadjar and the second Merc of Antonelli en route to the point. Antonelli, meanwhile, had a terrible getaway and plunged like a stone from his P2 grid position all the way down to P7. As Leclerc and Russell went at it hammer and tongs at the front for the honor of leading the race, Antonelli showed the Silver Arrows superior race pace by easily picking off those he had initially lost positions to, elevating himself to a respectable P4 by Lap 6.

The race’s first break in the action happened when young Hadjar’s new Ford-manufactured engine blew up on Lap 11, resulting in a Virtual Safety Car to retrieve the stricken Red Bull. McLaren’s Lando Norris, the reigning World Champion, was first to dart into the pits a lap later, doffing his opening set of Mediums in favor of the more durable Hards in anticipation of running to the finish of the 58-lap tilt on a one-stopper. Russell and Antonelli came in the next lap for the same switch but Ferrari elected to have both cars stay out, with Leclerc maintaining the lead and Hamilton now promoted to P2. Hamilton forcefully argued that one of them should have come in to split the strategy, and in hindsight he may have been right, but the die was cast, as the short VSC ended on lap 14. Just four laps later, there was another VSC when the Valtteri Bottas’s Cadillac, making its F1 debut, came to a halt on track. Racing resumed on Lap 20, with Leclerc still leading and Hamilton still in P2 but Russell and Antonelli in hot pursuit on fresher rubber. Indeed, Ferrari conceded the point and made the call on Lap 25 to call Leclerc in for his first stop, the Monegasque pitting from P1 for the preferred Medium to Hard Pirelli switch and emerging in P4. Hamilton inherited the lead and managed to keep it for a few laps longer but Russell blew by him on Lap 28 as Hamilton headed to the pits for his own new set of Hards with which to finish out the race. From there it was smooth sailing for the Briton, with teammate Antonelli comfortably behind by around 4 seconds as the laps wound down and the Ferraris unable to close up and take the fight to the Silver Arrows.

The battle for best of the rest, and indeed one of the best battles in the closing stanza of the Grand Prix, was between Norris’s McLaren and Max Verstappen’s Red Bull. Verstappen had the most impressive drive of the day, starting as he did from way down in 20th on the grid after a  crash in the first session of qualifying on Saturday. The Dutch Master put in a vintage effort, making a multitude of passes all race long  that finally saw him right on the gearbox of Norris and a fight for fifth place after a second pit stop for new Hards on Lap 42. But Norris, who had made the same  rare second stop for new Hards on Lap 35 right after a third, very short VSC for debris, was able to hold off the best efforts of the four-time champ to retain that valuable P5.  McLaren clearly lacked the outright pace of either the Mercedes or the Ferraris and to make matters worse for the reigning Constructors’ Champions, second driver Oscar Piastri scored zero points and failed to even take the green flag after locking up the rear axel on the reconnaissance lap and completely binning his new MCL40. It was an embarrassing end to the young Aussie’s day at his home race to say the least. Piastri was the first of five retirements in Australia, not entirely a surprise as the teams come to grips with the new regulations and the reliability and drivability issues that go along with them.

Top 10 finishers of the Australian GP:

POS DRIVER TEAM RACE TIME LAPS PITS FASTEST LAPS
1

George Russell

 Mercedes 1:23:06.801 58 1 —
2

Kimi Antonelli

 Mercedes +2.974 58 1 —
3

Charles Leclerc

 Ferrari +15.519 58 1 —
4

Lewis Hamilton

 Ferrari +16.144 58 1 —
5

Lando Norris

 McLaren +51.741 58 2 —
6

Max Verstappen

 Red Bull +54.617 58 2 1:22.091 (43)
7

Oliver Bearman

 Haas +1 Lap 57 1 —
8

Arvid Lindblad

 Racing Bulls +1 Lap 57 1 —
9

Gabriel Bortoleto

 Audi +1 Lap 57 2 —
10

Pierre Gasly

 Alpine +1 Lap 57 1 —

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race is in but a week’s time, as the teams take what they learned from Melbourne, pack it up and head directly to Shanghai for the Chinese Grand Prix. With a somewhat similar long straights/difficult to recharge layout as the temporary Albert Park Circuit, the purpose built Shanghai International Circuit could also favor Mercedes’ strengths. But Ferrari’s race pace will still be worth keeping an eye on, especially if the Silver Arrows struggle off the line again at the start. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

Featured post

2026 F1 Grand Prix of Australia — Qualifying results

Russell inaugurates Formula 1’s new era with pole in Melbourne, Antonelli P2 as Mercedes’ lock out front row for Round 1; Hadjar surges to P3 on Red Bull debut but Verstappen crashes out in Q1

Formula 1’s new era debuted in earnest when the expanded 22-car grid lined up for qualifying hot laps on Saturday at Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne, Australia to kick off the 2026 season and set the grid for the Round 1 Australian Grand Prix. With entirely new regulations leading to shorter, lighter cars, as well as a 50-50 split between the internal combustion unit and battery power forcing drivers to alter their driving styles by lifting into corners to recharge, the Mercedes factory team claimed the early lead in getting to grips with the new formula. After looking like a three-way battle between the Silver Arrows, reigning champs McLaren and the very hungry Scuderia Ferrari squad, Mercedes dusted the competition on one-lap pace, with senior driver George Russell claiming pole in the opening salvo of the quest for his first World Championship and teammate and second year man Kimi Antonelli recovering from a big shunt in Free Practice 3 to slot into P2 on the grid. The young Italian pilot owes a huge debt of gratitude to his mechanics who rebuilt his shattered Merc in time to qualify, as well as Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who shockingly crashed out in Q1 when his rear axel locked up. The four-time champ spun through a gravel trap exiting Turn 1 at a high rate of knots and came to a hard stop against the barriers sidewise, catching his hands in the snapping steering wheel for good measure. The Dutch Master will have to fight his way from P20 on the grid come race day with the ignominy of seeing the two brand new Cadillacs actually lined up in front of him.

But all was not completely grim for team Red Bull. Their second driver, the impressive Frenchman Isack Hadjar, who is  making the jump to the big team after an excellent rookie season with the junior Racing Bulls last year, laid down an impressive final lap that was good enough for P3. That bumped Ferarri’s Charles Leclerc to P4 but the Prancing Horses do look ready to run for wins this year after a barren 2025, although Lewis Hamilton’s quali struggles continued, as the seven-time champ could only muster a P7 time . The McLaren duo of Oscar Piastri and reigning title holder Lando Norris split the Ferraris but have been a bit off the elite pace so far throughout the race weekend, with Piastri only claiming P5 at his home event and Norris just P6. The Racing Bulls of Liam Lawson and impressive rookie Arvid Lindblad were good enough for P8 and P9 respectively, and while the Audi (formerly Sauber) of Gabriel Bortoleto didn’t run in Q3 due to an engine issue, he still earned P10 based on his Q2 performance, with teammate Nico Hulkenberg slotting in just behind in P11, an impressive first result for the Audi Factory effort.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Australian GP:

CLA DRIVER # TIME TYRES KM/H
1 G. Russell – Mercedes 63

1’18.518

 241.992
2 A. Antonelli – Mercedes 12

+0.293

1’18.811

 241.093
3 I. Hadjar – Red Bull Racing 6

+0.785

1’19.303

 239.597
4 C. Leclerc – Ferrari 16

+0.809

1’19.327

 239.525
5 O. Piastri – McLaren 81

+0.862

1’19.380

 239.365
6 L. Norris – McLaren 1

+0.957

1’19.475

 239.078
7 L. Hamilton – Ferrari 44

+0.960

1’19.478

 239.069
8 L. Lawson – Racing Bulls 30

+1.476

1’19.994

 237.527
9 A. Lindblad – Racing Bulls 41

+2.729

1’21.247

 233.864
10 G. Bortoleto – Audi 5

 

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

The Australian Grand Prix airs live at 11pm Eastern exclusively on AppleTV here in the States. So set that DVR or brew a fresh pot of coffee because the 2026 F1 season has finally arrived and things are bound to get interesting with these new and very tricky cars. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

Featured post

tomvox1’s Watches for Sale — Vintage Omega ref. 2077-4 cal. 33.3 CHRO 38mm Steel Chronograph

Click here to contact me and make this historically important vintage Omega 33.3 CHRO yours today! SOLD

On offer here is this highly coveted, all-time vintage Omega classic reference 2077-4 chronograph powered by the famed manual wind caliber 33.3 CHRO movement. The 2077 began production during WWII and is an oversized water resistant, military-style chronograph with screwed back and round pushers. It measures an impressive 38mm in diameter and is a direct progenitor of the famed Speedmaster line.

As far as I can tell, all these Omega 33.3 CHRO movements were made in a few limited runs in the 1940s and then cased up at different times, some quite a few years later than the movement serial would indicate. This example is from the 10.8 million batch (ca. 1944) but likely dates to 1950 or so, as denoted by not only the fourth series indicator in 2077-4 but also the style of the Arabic “12” & “6” and dagger markers dial.

I believe that this is an older redial — perhaps 1960s-era based on the style of the OMEGA font? — and, as you can clearly see, it has more than a little aged vintage character to it, both of which are reflected in the asking price. Still, it’s quite charming on the wrist, with a super strong case, and if you happen to have an original dial that fits this case and caliber you’ll certainly be in clover. 😉

Overall, the watch is in Very Good well-worn vintage condition and the complex 33.3 CHRO movement has just come back from a full overhaul, so it’s ready to wear and enjoy, with all timekeeping and chronograph functions operating well. Contact me today to make this legendary piece of Omega history yours!

Click here to contact me and make this historically important vintage Omega 33.3 CHRO yours today! SOLD

Featured post

2025 F1 Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi — Results & aftermath

Verstappen wins in Abu Dhabi but Norris earns first F1 Championship by two points after coming home P3; Piastri finishes second in epic season for McLaren

The 2025 Forula 1 season came to a nail-bitingly tense close in Abu Dhabi on Sunday, as Red Bull’s Max Verstappen came just two points shy of securing his fifth consecutive title despite winning at Yas Marina Circuit and McLaren’s Lando Norris completed a dream season for him and the team by earning his first Formula 1 Drivers’ Championship with a steady but by no means drama-free third place finish. With Verstappen starting from the pole and Norris lined up alongside him to begin the 58-lap season finale, Norris was immediately put on the back foot by his teammate Oscar Piastri, who started third and on the Hard Pirrelli tires, the only driver in the top ten to do so, but easily passed Norris on the opening lap to nab P2 and drop Norris into the clutches of the very rapid Ferrari of Charles Leclerc. But, as Verstappen and Piastri sailed away, Norris was able to fend off Leclerc’s best efforts and maintain his crucial third-place spot until his first pit stop for fresh tires on Lap 17. Norris then doffed his opening set of Medium tires and bolted on his own Hard Pirellis to try to run a long second stint, perhaps even to the end. Leclerc came in on the same lap and made the same tire switch and then both came out P9 and P10 respectively behind a lot of midfield runners. Norris quickly and decisively set about making a series of overtakes to get him back up into the crucial podium position he would need need to guarantee his World Championship even should Verstappen go on to win the race, as now seemed the probable outcome.

After whipping his way back up to P4 by lap 23, Norris was confronted by the second Red Bull of Yuki Tsunoda, who was told in no uncertain terms by his race engineer to make like difficult for the McLaren man in an effort to boost Verstappen’s chances at snatching the title. But Tsunoda took things a bit too far on Lap 23  by weaving across the track heading into the high speed Turn 6/7 complex and then forcing Norris into the tight runoff area on the straight and off of the track itself before the championship aspirant could finalize his committed pass for P3. Ominously for both drivers, the Stewards announced an investigation of both Tsunoda for forcing Norris off and Norris for leaving the track and gaining an advantage. The authorities quickly decided that only Tsunoda would be penalized, with Norris only judged to have been taking evasive action despite having all four wheels off track. That was really the crucial moment, as not only did Norris escape a penalty that may or may not  have been significant to his overall result but, more importantly, he didn’t damage his car despite Tsunoda’s shenanigans.

Meanwhile, Verstappen decided to pit from the lead on Lap 24, making the move from Mediums to Hards, while Piastri kept running his Hards after inheriting the lead. For a fleeting few laps, Piastri had a pit stop’s advantage on Verstappen of over the 21-second delta here at Yas Marina, but the team chose not to take the risk in order to insure Piastri was in play to aid Norris in the closing stanza, if needed. Verstappen steadily chipped away at Piastri’s advantage and then overtook the young Aussie to regain the race lead on Lap 41. Piastri dove into the pits for his first stop a lap later, making the contrarian Hard-to-Medium switch to finish out the race. He still had enough of a lead over his teammate to come out in P2, well ahead of Norris, and well over 22-seconds adrift of Verstappen. Red Bull also declined to roll the dice and pit Verstappen a second time for fresh rubber, instead hoping against hope that Leclerc, who had forced Norris to make a second stop on Lap 41 for fresh Hard after the Monegasque had tried a two-stop undercut on Lap 40,  might pull off a late overtake on Norris due to that Scuderia strategy call. But the Ferrari faded down the stretch and, while Verstappen claimed victory when the checkers flew and Piastri maintained his second place, it was Norris who claimed his first F1 crown and snapped Verstappen’s Championship streak at four by a scant two points.

Top 10 finishers of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix:

CLA DRIVER # LAPS TIME INTERVAL KM/H PITS POINTS
1 M. Verstappen Red Bull Racing 1 58

–

 1 25
2 O. Piastri McLaren 81 58

+12.594

12.594

 12.594 1 18
3 L. Norris McLaren 4 58

+16.572

16.572

 3.978 2 15
4 C. Leclerc Ferrari 16 58

+23.279

23.279

 6.707 2 12
5 G. Russell Mercedes 63 58

+48.563

48.563

 25.284 1 10
6 F. Alonso Aston Martin Racing 14 58

+1’07.562

1’07.562

 18.999 1 8
7 E. Ocon Haas F1 Team 31 58

+1’09.876

1’09.876

 2.314 1 6
8 L. Hamilton Ferrari 44 58

+1’12.670

1’12.670

 2.794 2 4
9 L. Stroll Aston Martin Racing 18 58

+1’14.523

1’14.523

 1.853 1 2
10 O. Bearman Haas F1 Team 87 58

+1’16.166

1’16.166

 1.643

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

Final 2025 Drivers Standings:

PTS
1Lando Norris
 423
2Max Verstappen
 421
3Oscar Piastri
 410
4George Russell
 319
5Charles Leclerc
 242
6Lewis Hamilton
 156
7Kimi Antonelli
 150
8Alexander Albon
 73
9Carlos Sainz
 64
10Fernando Alonso
 56
11Nico Hülkenberg
 51
12Isack Hadjar
 51
13Oliver Bearman
 41
14Liam Lawson
 38
15Esteban Ocon
 38
16Lance Stroll
 33
17Yuki Tsunoda
 33
18Pierre Gasly
 22
19Gabriel Bortoleto
 19
20Franco Colapinto
 0
21Jack Doohan
 0
Final 2025 Constructors Standings:
PTS
1 McLaren
 833
2 Mercedes
 469
3 Red Bull
 451
4 Ferrari
 398
5 Williams
 137
6 Racing Bulls
 92
7 Aston Martin
 89
8 Haas
 79
9 Sauber
 70
10 Alpine
 22
Featured post

2025 F1 Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi — Qualifying results

Last race showdown set as Verstappen nabs pole at Yas Marina ahead of P2 Norris, P3 Piastri

Red Bull’s peerless ace Max Verstappen kept his come from behind quest for a fifth consecutive Drivers’ Championship very much alive by taking a dominant pole during Saturday Qualifying for Sunday’s season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Mastering the high speed twists and turns of the beautifully lit Yas Marina Circuit with aplomb, Verstappen bettered the points-leading McLaren of Lando Norris by two-tenths. Crucially for Norris, however, he was able to keep Oscar Piastri, his teammate and next closest pursuer after Verstappen, behind him when the young Aussie aspirant was unable to improve on a P3 time. Norris “only” needs a third place finish on Sunday to claim his first F1 crown. But it will be crucial that he and Verstappen keep it clean steaming down to Turn 1 when the lights go out and during the early laps in general, while Norris must also not completely abandon his aggression and cede potions to potentially  fall back into the clutches not only of his teammate and rival Piastri but also the Mercedes of George Russell, who lurks in P4 with more pace than his final flying laps in Q3 might indicate. If Verstappen wins and Norris finishes off the podium, it will be a bitter offseason as he watches Verstappen walk away with a fifth championship after looking like having zero shot after Round 14 in Hungary. For Verstappen, it would be an epic comeback that would only add to his still growing legend as one of the Formual 1 all-time greats. And for Piastri, the harsh reality of his once dominant season is that he  needs not only to win the race but then hope a series of misfortunes befalls the top two that sees him outscore Norris by 17 points and Verstappen by 5. Sunday’s GP has all the makings of a true nail biter and one the tensest F1 finales in recent memory, not to mention must watch TV — don’t miss it!

Top 10 qualifiers for the Abu Dhabi GP:

CLA DRIVER # LAPS TIME INTERVAL TYRES KM/H
1 M. Verstappen Red Bull Racing 1 6

1’22.207

 S 231.264
2 L. Norris McLaren 4 6

+0.201

1’22.408

 0.201 S 230.700
3 O. Piastri McLaren 81 6

+0.230

1’22.437

 0.029 S 230.619
4 G. Russel lMercedes 63 6

+0.438

1’22.645

 0.208 S 230.039
5 C. Leclerc Ferrari 16 6

+0.523

1’22.730

 0.085 S 229.802
6 F. Alonso Aston Martin Racing 14 6

+0.695

1’22.902

 0.172 S 229.326
7 G. Bortoleto Sauber 5 6

+0.697

1’22.904

 0.002 S 229.320
8 E. Ocon Haas F1 Team 31 6

+0.706

1’22.913

 0.009 S 229.295
9 I. Hadjar Racing Bulls 6 6

+0.865

1’23.072

 0.159 S 228.856
10 Y. TsunodaRed Bull Racing 22 5

 

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s season-ending, Championship-crowning race airs live on ESPN beginning at 8AM Eastern here in the States. It’s white knuckle time for Norris, as Verstappen and Piastri have nothing to lose by giving it full gas to go for the win in Abu Dhabi, while Norris will have to balance aggression with his need to only survive to a third place finish for his first title. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

Featured post

2025 F1 Grand Prix of Qatar — Results & aftermath

DOWN TO THE WIRE: Verstappen leapfrogs Piastri, closes to within 12 of Norris with win in Qatar after McLaren’s Safety Car strategy backfires; Piastri second, Norris finishes fourth; Sainz captures last podium spot in P3

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen continued his improbable come-from-behind quest for a fifth consecutive Drivers’ Championship by taking advantage of team McLaren’s timidity during an early race Safety Car period and then parlaying his team’s decision to pit him into a win at Lusail International Circuit in Sunday’s Qatar Grand Prix. After starting from P3 start and with McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris lined up in front of him in P1 and P2 respectively, Verstappen passed Norris almost as soon as the lights went out, steaming by the points leader while heading down to Turn 1. Meanwhile, Piastri kept his lead easily, looking like the man to beat on the night and seeking to creep even closer to Norris after already bagging 8 points with his Saturday Sprint Race win. But the racing gods had other plans for the Aussie when Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg crashed out on Lap 7 while tangling with the Apline of Pierre Gasly during an attempted overtake. With Hulkenberg stranded and debris littering the circuit, a Safety Car was quickly deployed. This opened up the first key strategy decisions of the race. Normally, this would have been too early in the race for the frontrunners to dive to the pits for fresh rubber, the entire top ten starting on the reasonably durable Medium tires. However, due to the high lateral loads that clockwise Lusail sends through the left front tires, Pirelli mandated a 25-lap maximum limit for their tires for the Qatari race. That put Piastri and McLaren in a bind and the team’s braintrust decided to not only keep the race-leading Aussie out but also not to split their strategy and call Norris in for fresh rubber under the SC. This proved to be a mistake, as pretty much the entire field, and most significantly Verstappen, opted to come in for a cheap stop for new tires under the greatly reduced Safety Car speed on Lap 8, and knowing that they’d all be forced to change on Lap 25 regardless. This also meant the early stoppers could now run until Lap 32 before the next tire mandate needed to be met.

While Norris was promoted to second when Verstappen boxed for a new set of Mediums, the Papaya duo were now locked into stopping on Lap 25 and then again later in the race, both out of sequence with the rest of the field and with Verstappen lurking right behind them. Sure enough, when first Piastri pitted on Lap 24 and then Norris a lap later, both also opting for another stint on Mediums, Verstappen inherited the lead. While the Dutch Master would relinquish that P1 position once again for his own mandatory second charge onto the Hard Pirellis on Lap 32, Verstappen had now satisfied all his tire requirements for the remainder of the 57-lap contest and both McLaren’s would have to come in for one more change. Piastri talked the team into pitting a bit earlier than required on Lap 42, hoping that he would be able to use the new Hard boots to take the fight to Verstappen’s 10-lap older tires. He duly came out in third behind Verstappen, with Norris leading the race momentarily. But Norris made his mandatory second stop two laps later and Verstappen retook the race lead. Worse still for the points leader, Norris emerged in P5 when Williams’ Carlos Sainz and Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli passed him before he could get out of the pits. Despite his best efforts, Piastri was never able to get close enough to Verstappen to even threaten a pass for the win. The Dutchman sailed to victory nearly 8-seconds in front of the P2 Piastri. While Norris was able to make a late pass on Antonelli to secure P4, the final results still saw Verstappen leapfrog Piastri for second in the Drivers’ and he now trails Norris by a mere 12 points heading into the season finale in Abu Dhabi next week. Piastri, now in third, trails by 16. Any of the three could win the Championship at the Yes Marina Circuit next Sunday. Tune in next week to find out who will wear the crown — it’ll be must watch TV!

Top 10 finishers of the Qatar GP:

ResultsFinal
Pos Driver Time Pts
1
M. Verstappen
Red Bull

·

#1
1:24:38.241
25
2
O. Piastri
McLaren

·

#81
+7.995s
18
3
C. Sainz Jr.
Williams

·

#55
+22.665s
15
4
L. Norris
McLaren

·

#4
+23.315s
12
5
A.K. Antonelli
Mercedes

·

#12
+28.317s
10
6
G. Russell
Mercedes

·

#63
+48.599s
8
7
F. Alonso
Aston Martin

·

#14
+54.045s
6
8
C. Leclerc
Ferrari

·

#16
+56.785s
4
9
L. Lawson
RB

·

#30
+60.073s
2
10
Y. Tsunoda
Red Bull

·

#22
+61.77s
1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

Top 3 Driver Standings with one race remaining:

PTS
1Lando Norris
 408
2Max Verstappen
 396
3Oscar Piastri
 392

The season ending finale is in but a week’s time when the three-way title hunt comes to a climax in Abu Dhabi. Nerves will be on edge in the McLaren camp, particularly on Norris’s side of the garage, as they feel Verstappen’s hot breath on their necks and the Dutchman’s ruthless pursuit of a fifth consecutive championship filling up their rearview mirrors. Hope to see you then to find out how the 2025 season comes to a close and who will be wearing the F1 crown when it does!

Featured post

2025 F1 Grand Prix of Qatar — Qualifying results

Resurgent Piastri nabs pole at Lusail after dominant Sprint win, looks to keep title hopes alive against McLaren teammate, P2 Norris; Verstappen lines up in P3

McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, who seemed a favorite for his first Drivers’ Championship until a steep drop in performance following his last win in the Netherlands at the end of August, regained some of his mojo in Qatar this weekend. Seeking to keep the pressure on his points-leading teammate Lando Norris with only two race remaining, Piastri dominated the Saturday Sprint race from the pole and then set the fastest lap in Qualifying later in the day to also take the pole for Sunday’s Grand Prix. Norris was still second fastest, trailing his Aussie stablemate by about a tenth, and will line up alongside Piastri in P2 on the grid. After outscoring Norris 8 to 6 points in the Sprint, Piastri now trails by 22 and will be looking to score the maximum from the weekend to keep his title aspirations alive heading into the finale in Abu Dhabi two weeks from now, while also perhaps hoping that Norris experiences some sort of mechanical misfortune that limits his own points possibilities. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who is third in the title hunt and got a big boost to his long shot bid for a fifth consecutive crown after McLaren’s double DQ in and his own victory in Vegas last week, will line up on the second row in P3. The Dutchman will be rooting for more mayhem to befall the two McLaren’s ahead as they battle with one another, as he trails Norris by 25 points, exactly one race win.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Qatar GP:

Driver Grid Qual time
O. Piastri
McLaren

·

#81
1
1:19.387
L. Norris
McLaren

·

#4
2
1:19.495
M. Verstappen
Red Bull

·

#1
3
1:19.651
G. Russell
Mercedes

·

#63
4
1:19.662
A.K. Antonelli
Mercedes

·

#12
5
1:19.846
I. Hadjar
RB

·

#6
6
1:20.114
C. Sainz Jr.
Williams

·

#55
7
1:20.287
F. Alonso
Aston Martin

·

#14
8
1:20.418
P. Gasly
Alpine

·

#10
9
1:20.477
C. Leclerc
Ferrari

·

#16
10
1:20.561

Complete quali results available via Formula1.com.

Sunday’s race airs live beginning at 11 AM Eastern on ESPN2 here in the States. Can Norris overtake his teammate and chief pursuer or will Piastri keep the pressure on until Abu Dhabi by sweeping the weekend? And Can Verstappen pull another miracle out of the bag to keep his long shot title hopes alive until the final round? Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

Featured post

2025 F1 Grand Prix of Las Vegas — Results & aftermath

Verstappen comes up aces in Vegas with race win, while McLaren crap out with double DQ due to technical violations; Game on in championship hunt, as Verstappen gets level with Piastri, trails Norris by only 24 with two races to go

By the time the last of the neon soaked 50-laps of Saturday night’s Las Vegas Grand Prix were completed, McLaren’s Lando Norris thought he had done enough to maintain his dominating lead in the Drivers’ Championship with only two more races left to run on the 2025 calendar. Despite a rather overenthusiastic start from the pole that saw him steam off the circuit at Turn 1, allowing Red Bull’s Max Verstappen to take the lead and then hold it until the end of the contest, Norris nursed tires and a potential low fuel issue well enough to earn second place when the checkers flew. Even with Verstappen’s 25-point victory, that was only a net gain of seven on Norris’s points bulge, which stood at 49 at that moment in time. Meanwhile, McLaren teammate and chief rival Oscar Piastri continued to sputter down the stretch and could only muster a fourth place result after a difficult weekend of limited running and very changeable track conditions. But it was after the race that it all began to unravel in Papayaland, when both Norris and Piastri were disqualified form the results due to the skid wear on both their cars coming in under the minimum thickness as per the technical regulations. With that astonishing transgression in Sin City, both McLaren men scored precisely zero on the evening, with Verstappen surging in his improbable comeback bid for a fifth consecutive title by now tying Piastri for second place with 366 points and both pursuers trailing Norris by a mere 24 points. With Verstappen’s deficit under just a race win heading into the penultimate race in Qatar next weekend, things just got a whole lot more nerve jangling for Norris and the McLaren braintrust, as the young Englishman desperately tries to keep his increasingly fraught grip on what would be his first F1 title.

Top 12 finishers of the Las Vegas GP (includes DQ’s Norris & Piastri, who scored zero):

CLA DRIVER # LAPS TIME INTERVAL KM/H PITS POINTS
1 M. VerstappenRed Bull Racing 1 50

1:21’08.429

 229.201 1 25
dq L. NorrisMcLaren 4 50

+20.741

1:21’29.170

 20.741 228.228 1
2 G. RussellMercedes 63 50

+23.546

1:21’31.975

 2.805 228.097 1 18
dq O. PiastriMcLaren 81 50

+27.650

1:21’36.079

 4.104 227.906 1
3 A. AntonelliMercedes 12 50

+30.488

1:21’38.917

 2.838 227.774 1 15
4 C. LeclercFerrari 16 50

+30.678

1:21’39.107

 0.190 227.765 1 12
5 C. SainzWilliams 55 50

+34.924

1:21’43.353

 4.246 227.568 1 10
6 I. HadjarRacing Bulls 6 50

+45.257

1:21’53.686

 10.333 227.089 1 8
7 N. HulkenbergSauber 27 50

+51.134

1:21’59.563

 5.877 226.818 1 6
8 L. HamiltonFerrari 44 50

+59.369

1:22’07.798

 8.235 226.439 1 4
9 E. OconHaas F1 Team 31 50

+1’00.635

1:22’09.064

 1.266 226.381 1 2
10 O. BearmanHaas F1 Team 87 50

+1’10.549

1:22’18.978

 9.914 225.927 1 1
11 F. AlonsoAston Martin Racing 14 50

+1’25.308

1:22’33.737

 14.759 225.253 1
12 Y. TsunodaRed Bull Racing 22 50

+1’26.974

1:22’35.403

 1.666 225.178 2

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race, the penultimate of the season, is in but a week’s time — the Qatar Grand Prix at the Lusail International Circuit. Norris, Piastri and team McLaren as a whole will have a short turnaround to try to shake off this weekends’ stunning developments in las Vegas, while Verstappen will be keen to keep applying the pressure and continue his quest to pull off one of the most improbably comebacks in F1 history. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

Featured post

2025 F1 Grand Prix of Las Vegas — Qualifying results

Norris bests Verstappen for pole in bizarre wild & wet Vegas qualifying; Sainz impresses to nab P3; Piastri spins his way to P5 late in the going, damaging title hopes

Top- 10 qualifiers for the Las Vegas GP:

CLA DRIVER # LAPS TIME INTERVAL TYRES KM/H
1 L. NorrisMcLaren 4 8

1’47.934

 I 206.826
2 M. VerstappenRed Bull Racing 1 7

+0.323

1’48.257

 0.323 I 206.209
3 C. SainzWilliams 55 7

+0.362

1’48.296

 0.039 I 206.135
4 G. RussellMercedes 63 7

+0.869

1’48.803

 0.507 I 205.174
5 O. PiastriMcLaren 81 7

+1.027

1’48.961

 0.158 I 204.876
6 L. LawsonRacing Bulls 30 7

+1.128

1’49.062

 0.101 I 204.687
7 F. AlonsoAston Martin Racing 14 7

+1.532

1’49.466

 0.404 I 203.931
8 I. HadjarRacing Bulls 6 7

+1.620

1’49.554

 0.088 I 203.768
9 C. LeclercFerrari 16 7

+1.938

1’49.872

 0.318 I 203.178
10 P. GaslyAlpine 10 6

+3.606

1’51.540

 1.668

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Saturday night’s race airs live on ESPN beginning at 11PM Eastern on ESPN here in the States. Hope to see you the to see if Mother Nature has any more ironic twists up her sleeves for this glitzy night affair in the supposed desert!

Featured post

tomvox1’s Watches for Sale — 1969 Rolex ref. 1016 Explorer w/Beautiful Mk 1 Matte Dial

Click here to contact me and make this beautiful vintage Rolex Explorer yours today!  SOLD

Up for sale is this classic vintage Rolex reference 1016 Oyster Perpetual Explorer Chronometer featuring a beautiful Mark I matte dial, aka “Frog Foot” due to the shape of the coronet, with creamy original Tritium luminous markers and a perfectly matching Mercedes handset.

This Explorer has a 2.1 million serial number and dates to 1969, as per the matching inner caseback date/quarter stamp. This great 1016 comes on a Swiss-made 7206 rivet Oyster bracelet with model-correct 58 endpieces that has a later (and very uncommon!) service replacement clasp & buckle assembly with “VC” date code (circa 1978).

The watch itself is no safe queen and has clearly been worn and enjoyed throughout its long life, with a case that is still Very Good by vintage standards.  But it’s the stunning original matte dial & matching handset that really makes this one special, with just a subtle ring of hard-to-see “frosting” along the outer right edge of the dial keeping it from being perfect.

One of the most versatile of the great 20th-Century Rolex Sports models, this wonderful 36mm vintage Explorer is ready to accompany its lucky new owner on any and all of their own future adventures. Contact me here to make this great 1016 yours today!

Click here to contact me and make this beautiful vintage Rolex Explorer yours today!  SOLD

Featured post

2025 F1 Grand Prix of Sao Paulo — Results & aftermath

Norris sails to victory in Sao Paulo, extends points lead with weekend sweep; Antonelli scores career-best P2 finish; Verstappen rallies from pit lane start to podium with otherworldly P3 effort; Ferrari face double DNF in incident-packed race

McLaren’s Lando Norris did his Championship aspirations a world of good in Sao Paulo, capping off a dominant Round 21 weekend by handily winning Sunday’s Grand Prix after also taking victory in Saturday’s Sprint Race. The young Briton, who will turn 26 in a few days, expanded his lead over top rival and teammate Oscar Piastri to 24 points by taking a maximum of 33 in Brazil. Untoubled in the race after starting from pole, Norris easily led the majority of the 71-laps at Interlagos and was never really pressured by any of the other top competitors, even after early Safety Car and Virtual Safety Car periods due to incidents behind him. Piastri, meanwhile, showed signs of feeling the pressure of his teammate’s superior form since Round 16 in Italy, when his hit own lead began slipping away. The Aussie contender crashed out of the Saturday Sprint and then qualified P4 for the GP. Eager to advance his position and close the gap to Norris up at the point, Piastri tried a bit of dive-bomb move on the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli steaming ump the inside of Turn 1 on Lap 6. However, the Aussie overcooked it, locked up and wound up tagging the Silver Arrow. Antonelli was then shunted into the second place Ferrari of Charles Leclerc, instantly ending the Monegasque’s race with a broken wheel. After taking their time to assign blame, the stewards came down on Piastri to the tune of a ten-second penalty that effectively ended his hopes of a podium finish. Despite his best efforts and leading the race briefly on pit stop cycle, Piastri ended up where he started in fourth, keeping his deficit to Norris to under one victory’s points value at 24. But with only three rounds now remaining in the 2025 season, the advantage for the coveted F1 Drivers’ Title lies strongly with Norris, while Piastri’s stumbles down the stretch make it seem highly unlikely that he can catch him.

Antonelli survived the contact with Piastri and went on to thrive to the tune of a career-best P2 finish. More impressive for the Italian rookie, he had to fight of the otherworldly efforts of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in the closing stages of the race. In one of the more astonishing drives in a career already full of them, Verstappen started from the pit lane but stormed all the way back to a P3 podium finish by the time the checkers flew. Not only did the Dutch Master put in a sublime performance behind the wheel, but the team gave him the tools he needed to fight after qualifying a lowly P16. The Red Bull braintrust cleverly opted to give Verstappen a fresh engine, thereby not only requiring a pit lane start but also breaking parc fermé and enabling them to undue the disastrous set-up changes that led to their qualifying woes. Between the powerful new power unit and the savvy tweaks to the car’s aero balance, Verstappen was free to fly and overtook with aplomb until his final set of Soft Pirellis went off in the final laps and Antonelli proved able to escape his best efforts.

Top 10 finishers of the Sao Paulo GP:

Pos Driver Time Pts
1
L. Norris
McLaren

·

#4
1:32:01.596
25
2
A.K. Antonelli
Mercedes

·

#12
+10.388s
18
3
M. Verstappen
Red Bull

·

#1
+10.75s
15
4
G. Russell
Mercedes

·

#63
+15.267s
12
5
O. Piastri
McLaren

·

#81
+15.749s
10
6
O. Bearman
Haas

·

#87
+29.63s
8
7
L. Lawson
RB

·

#30
+52.642s
6
8
I. Hadjar
RB

·

#6
+52.873s
4
9
N. Hülkenberg
Kick Sauber

·

#27
+53.324s
2
10
P. Gasly
Alpine

·

#10
+53.914s
1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race weekend takes place towards the end of the month over November 20-22, as the teams head back up to North America for the Las Vegas Grand Prix. Which contender will end up the luckiest in that fantastically illuminated nocturnal shootout and who will roll snake eyes?  Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out in Sin City!

Featured post

2025 F1 Grand Prix of Sao Paulo — Qualifying results

Norris snatches pole at Interlagos with gutsy final effort; Antonelli impresses in P2, Leclerc carries Ferrari hopes in P3; Verstappen astonishingly bounced in Q1 as Red Bull search for answers

With time running out in the final session of Saturday Qualifying for the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, McLaren’s Lando Norris put in a superb final effort worthy of his Drivers’ Championship points lead and title aspirations. Norris, who had muffed his first flying lap, stormed to a 1:09.511 time when he crossed the stripe, good enough for pole position in Sunday’s race and also a bit of psychological edge over his Papaya teammate, Oscar Piastri, who could only muster P4 on the pylon with his best try. With Norris having already won the earlier Sprint Race and starting from the pole for the Grand Prix at the short but intense Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace, aka Interlagos, as well as having overhauled his Aussie stablemate and archrival in the points, the young Englishman set himself up nicely to try and nail down his first career F1 crown. Piastri, on the other hand will be desperate to reassert some kind of momentum with only four more races remaining in 2025, Norris having outscored him in every race since his last win in the Netherlands back on August 31st.

Perhaps more newsworthy than who earned the upper ranks of the starting grid was who didn’t, and chief among them was an astonishingly poor Q1 time by Red Bull’s Max Verstappen that mired him in P16 and knocked him out in the first round. It was a serious ding to the Dutchman’s underdog title aspirations and Red Bull will have to figure out how to make the car go faster overnight after dialing it in the wrong direction before quali and all while in parc fermé conditions. With potentially heavy weather forecast for Sunday’s race, they may be hoping for that rainy day so that Verstappen can potentially replicate his astonishing wet weather win from last year, when he stormed to victory from P17. The second Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also struggled for grip and could not get out of Q2, with only the thirteenth fastest time on the board in that session.

Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli put in a stonking effort to overhaul Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and take P2 on the grid, demoting Lecerc to P3 and the second row alongside the P4 Piastri. Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar continued his remarkable rookie campaign with a solid Q3 effort good enough for P5, bettering the second Merc of George Russell, who so struggled on the favored Soft Pirelli rubber that he actaully gambled on Mediums for his final run, to little or no appreciable effect.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Sao Paulo GP:

# DRIVER TEAM TIME TYRE
1
Lando NORRIS
 McLaren 1:09.511
2
Kimi ANTONELLI
 Mercedes 1:09.685
3
Charles LECLERC
 Ferrari 1:09.805
4
Oscar PIASTRI
 McLaren 1:09.886
5
Isack HADJAR
 Racing Bulls 1:09.931
6
George RUSSELL
 Mercedes 1:09.942
7
Liam LAWSON
 Racing Bulls 1:09.962
8
Oliver BEARMAN
 Haas 1:09.977
9
Pierre GASLY
 Alpine 1:10.002
10
Nico HULKENBERG
 Stake 1:10.039

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race airs live beginning at noon on ESPN2 here in the States. With some possibly wild weather forecast, it could be a very unpredictable race and maybe Vrstappen’s only chance to get back in the action. Norris, however, will be hoping for smooth sailing from the front as he looks to keep gapping teammate Piastri down the home stretch. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

Featured post

2025 F1 Grand Prix of Mexico City — Results & aftermath

Norris dominates scrappy Mexico City GP to retake championship lead; gritty Leclerc holds off Verstappen for second place; Piastri does damage limitation coming home P5

McLaren’s Lando Norris capped off a picture perfect weekend with a dominant victory at Sunday’s Mexico City Grand Prix, vaulting himself back into the championship lead ahead of his teammate Oscar Piastri by a single point. In a scrappy contest on a very hot and dusty Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez that saw multiple drivers struggle to keep their cars on the circuit when pushing ten-tenths, Norris reigned serene and supreme, capitalizing on his pole position and then running away to the tune of an over 30-second advantage over the second place Ferrari of Charles Leclerc when the checkers flew. Piastri was able to somewhat limit the damage to his championship aspirations, despite the psychological blow of relinquishing the lead to Norris, by improving on his poor P7 starting position to come home in P5. While Piastri  maximized his race pace to work his way by both Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli and George Russell late in the going en route to that fifth place result, the young Aussie ace could not quite find a way past impressive Haas rookie, Oliver Bearman, who held off the McLaren to finish a career high P4. Piastri was also hindered by a penultimate lap Virtual Safety Car due to the stricken Williams of Carlos Sainz, which did not come to an end until the last half of the final lap of this 71-lap tilt. Likewise, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was also balked by that late VSC as he pursued Leclerc/\’s Prancing Horse, and the Dutchman had to settle for P3. It was still a valuable 15-points for Verstappen after starting from P5, and kept him in the Drivers’ Championship conversation by staying within 36 points of Norris and 35 of Piastri with only four rounds remaining.

Top 10 finishers of the Mexico City GP:

DRIVER TEAM TIMES
1. Lando Norris McLaren 1:42.980
2. Charles Leclerc Ferrari +30.324
3. Max Verstappen Red Bull +0.725
4. Oliver Bearman Haas +9.906
5. Oscar Piastri McLaren +1.110
6. Kimi Antonelli Mercedes +5.772
7. George Russell* Mercedes +2.450
8. Lewis Hamilton Ferrari +6.159
9. Esteban Ocon Haas +19.018
10. Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber +1.399

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race is in a fortnight, the São Paulo Grand Prix from legendary Interlagos. Norris will be looking to keep his mojo working, Piastri will be desperate to regain his momentum and Verstappen will be keen to keep the pressure on the talented but young McLaren duo. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

Featured post

2025 F1 Grand Prix of Mexico City — Qualifying results

Norris nails it for pole at Hermanos Rodriguez, keeps pressure on Piastri, who stumbles to P8; Ferrari strong at altitude, as Leclerc notches P2, Hamilton P3 ahead of Russell & Verstappen

Lando Norris continued to ratchet up the pressure on his championship leading teammate Oscar Piastri by laying down a blistering lap good enough for pole during Saturday Qualifying for the Mexico City Grand Prix. Norris was by far the fastest driver on the day and headed the P2 Ferrari of Charles Leclerc by nearly three-tenths. The Scuderia nevertheless had a very good day between Leclerc’s solid second-best effort and Lewis Hamilton’s stout P3, and the fabled team from Maranello will be desperate to convert those efforts into race pace as they incredibly hunt their first win of the season here in Round 20. Piastri, on the other hand, continued to scuffle down the stretch, notching only the eighth best time in Q3. While Piastri will gain a position due to a penalty to Williams’ Carlos Sainz, who unbelievably out-qualified him, the young Aussie’s famous equipoise seems to have deserted him at the most crucial juncture of the season. In fact,  he has been out-scored by Norris in every race since his last win in the Netherlands back in Round 15. With five races remaining and his points lead over his teammate down to just 14, Piastri will have to fight from deep in the top ten on the grid to maximize his result in the race, hoping that Norris drops back, while also avoiding trouble with the other contenders that could further damage his championship aspirations.

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen saw his impressive late season comeback efforts somewhat stymied when Mercedes’ George Russel got then better of him, P4 to P5. Still, the Red Bull in Verstappen’s hands has traditionally been an impressive weapon here at the high altitude of Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez and usually seems well suited the quirky nature of the circuit so, one would be foolish to count the Dutchman out as a contender come race day.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Mexico City GP:

DRIVER TEAM TIMES
1 – Lando Norris McLaren 1:15.586
2 – Charles Leclerc Ferrari +0.262
3 – Lewis Hamilton Ferrari +0.352
4 – George Russell Mercedes +0.448
5 – Max Verstappen Red Bull +0.484
6 – Kimi Antonelli Mercedes +0.532
7 – Carlos Sainz* Williams +0.586
8 – Oscar Piastri McLaren +0.588
9. Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls +0.666
10 – Oliver Bearman Haas +0.874

Complete qualifying results available via Formula!1.com.

Sunday’s Mexico City GP airs live on ABC starting at 4 PM Eastern here in the States. Hope to see you then to find out if Norris can keep upping the pressure on teammate & rival Piastri by converting pole into victory or if Ferrari can translate their qualifying pace into an opportunity for their first win of the season!

Featured post

2025 F1 Grand Prix of the United States — Results & aftermath

Verstappen ramps up Drivers’ Championship pressure on McLaren duo with imperious victory at COTA; Norris makes late race move on Leclerc to secure P2; Piastri continues to falter down the stretch, finishes P5

Red Bull’s second half renaissance continued in emphatic manner as their unparalleled ace Max Verstappen gave a masterclass at the Circuit of the Americas on Sunday to notch a dominant win in the United States Grand Prix and his record seventh victory in American soil. Not only did Verstappen score his third win from the last four races but the Flying Dutchman also continued to ratchet up the pressure on the McLaren duo of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris in his effort to overhaul them in a long shot bid to retain his Drivers’ Championship crown and secure his fifth consecutive F1 title. While Verstappen still trails points leader Piastri by forty points and the second place Norris by twenty-six, both McLaren drivers and the team itself have had their issues in recent races, even as the Red Bull braintrust have greatly improved the aerodynamics of their RB21, turning it back into a fearsome on-track weapon. Crucially, Verstappen took advantage of a race-ending collision between the two Papaya pilots on the opening lap of Saturday’s sprint race en route to victory in that hors d’oeuvre, scoring 8 points from that 19-lap contest compared to a big fat zero for either McLaren driver. Both Papaya drivers survived Sunday’s Grand Prix to score points at the checkered flag, with Norris crucially overcoming a slow second pit stop by his mechanics and making a late race pass on Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc on Lap 51 of this 56-lap contest to regain second place and maximize his possible points on the day. Meanwhile, Piastri continued to falter down the home stretch of 2025 and could do no better than P5 after a mediocre Saturday Qualifying saw the young Australian title aspirant start from P6 on the gird. That spread between the two McLarens’ finishing positions saw Norris pull to within 14 of Piastri with only five more races remaining. So, the pressure will be squarely on Piastri to get it together and regain his dominant early season form when the teams head to Mexico in a week’s time. The young Aussie will need every bit of his vaunted calm, cool demeanor with teammate Norris breathing down his neck and Verstappen and Red Bull looking like they’ve regained their vintage, domineering form.

Despite Leclerc getting demoted by Norris to third place late in the going, it was still a very good day for Ferrari overall. Leclerc easily maintained a large cushion over all other chasers behind him to secure that valuable podium position, and teammate Lewis Hamilton also drove an excellent race to improve on his P5 start and record a solid P4 result  Better yet for the Scuderia, Mercedes’ George Russell slipped two positions from his starting grid spot down to a P6 finish, while Silver Arrows teammate Kimi Antonelli did not score after a costly collision with the Williams of Carlos Sainz on Lap 7. Sainz was assessed a 5-grid spot penalty for Mexico but the damage was done and Mercedes saw their lead over Ferrari trimmed to just seven points for second place in the all-important Constructors’ Championship, McLaren having already sewn up the top spot, of course.

Top 10 finishers of the USGP:

POS. NO. DRIVER TEAM LAPS TIME / RETIRED PTS.
1 1 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing 56 1:34:00.161 25
2 4 Lando Norris McLaren 56 +7.959s 18
3 16 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 56 +15.373s 15
4 44 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 56 +28.536s 12
5 81 Oscar Piastri McLaren 56 +29.678s 10
6 63 George Russell Mercedes 56 +33.456s 8
7 22 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull Racing 56 +52.714s 6
8 27 Nico Hulkenberg Kick Sauber 56 +57.249s 4
9 87 Oliver Bearman Haas F1 Team 56 +64.722s 2
10 14 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 56 +70.001s 1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next round is in but a week’s time as the teams make the short trip from Austin to Mexico City. Can Verstappen continue his and Red Bull’s resurgence in the thin air at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez? Will Norris keep surging to close in on or even overtake his intrateam rival? Or can Piastri regain the surgical precision and sang-froid that powered him to the points lead that he is now so desperately clinging to? Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

Featured post

tomvox1’s Watches for Sale — Vintage Rolex 18k YG Datejust 6605 w/Spectacular NO LUME Dial

Click here to contact me and make this beautiful vintage 18k Rolex Datejust yours today!   SOLD

On offer from my personal collection is this classic Rolex reference 6605 Oyster Perpetual Datejust with solid 18 karat yellow gold case, semi-coin edge milled bezel and super elegant and scarce non-luminous dial & hands. This circa 1958-9 gold Datejust has acquired a lovely case patina and it comes equipped with its original 18k Rolex-signed buckle mounted on a genuine modern Rolex dark brown crocodile strap.

Overall, this beautiful gold DJ is in Excellent vintage condition for an over 60-year-old gold watch, with fantastic Near Mint dial & hands, and its uncommon caliber 1066 movement with butterfly rotor is running like a champ. 

With its semi-coin edge bezel, classy mid-century markers and dauphine hands, the 6605 Datejust represents the end of an era in Rolex design language, as the 1960s saw them homogenize their dress watch line with the sticks hands, stick markers and fluted bezels that we know today. IMO, you can put this particular Datejust up against any Patek of the era in terms of elegance and purity of design, and the 18 karat 6605 also represents the top of the pyramid, as these gold versions were also made in 14k and even 9k depending on the market.

Despite the fantastically unmolested case and case patina, the star of the show is the absolutely stunning gold sunburst pie pan dial with beautiful faceted yellow gold arrow and tri-bar markers in remarkable Near Mint condition. Most notably, this dial is a rare non-luminous version for an extra clean and elegant presentation. Simply a stunning dress watch design from what many consider Rolex’s golden age and pure golden magic on the wrist!

Click here to contact me and make this beautiful vintage 18k Rolex Datejust yours today!   SOLD

Featured post

tomvox1’s Watches for Sale – Vintage Cartier Santos Carrée ref. 2961 GRAY “Ghost” Dial

Click here to contact me and make this super cool Cartier Santos Carrée yours today!  SOLD

On offer is this classic Cartier Santos Carrée ref. 2961 in steel and 18k yellow gold with original stunning and quite rare Gray “Ghost” dial in beautiful original condition. This Santos Carrée looks to me to be unpolished — or possibly detailed by Cartier at some point — because the very factory-quality matching vertical brushing on the top of the steel case and the solid gold bezel is still present, which is unique to the burgundy and gray dial examples of Carrée 2961, and the sides also appear to retain their original satined finish. The vast majority of these have been polished to a high gloss through the years so, finding one with a correct factory finish is a pretty huge coup, especially since it is a key characteristic of the colored dials.

Obviously, the highlight of this Carrée it’s absolutely stunning original matte gray “Ghost” dial with beveled date window at “3” that changes color depending upon the angle and the light, with the gold Cartier signature playing hide and seek accordingly. This rare dial is in Mint condition and the SWISS-only marking below “6” indicates original 1980s issue and not a later SWISS MADE service replacement. These slate gray 296x dials are really quite beautiful in an understated way, giving the whole watch a very unified “all-metal” look and they are certainly several factors more rare than the standard Roman numeral dials of the period.

Although it is a true midsize watch, the references 2961 and 2960 are the largest version of Carrée models and they measure 29mm (more like 32mm including the crown & guards) x 41mm for a very ergonomic and well proportioned fit on just about any man or woman. It’s also powered by a high quality automatic movement rather than a quartz, with hacking seconds and quickset date.

Overall, this wonderful Cartier is in Excellent vintage condition and likely dates to circa 1980 based on the bracelet style and caseback nomenclature. The semi-integrated bracelet with its trademark gold screws is super tight, as is the Gen. 1 clasp. It is also quite long at around 7.5” diameter, what I can only imagine is the original full length. To put the cherry on top of this Cartier sundae, I’ve just had this Santos Carrée fully overhauled by an excellent independent watchmaker and so it will come with a 6-month movement warranty, as well as service records.

So, go ahead and put this eternally stylish ’80s midsize stunner on your wrist today!

Click here to contact me and make this super cool Cartier Santos Carrée yours today!  SOLD

Featured post

2025 F1 Grand Prix of Miami — Results & aftermath

McLaren recover from early race bobbles to deliver masterclass in Miami, as Piastri takes dominant victory, Norris P2 ahead of Mercedes’ Russell; pole-sitting Verstappen settles for P4; tensions boil over at Ferrari en route to mediocre results

Six rounds into the 2025 Formula 1 season, the trend lines are becoming clear — that McLaren are the dominant team — and that was thoroughly reinforced during Sunday’s Miami grand Prix. In F1’s first of three visits to the United States, McLaren stomped their authority on the race despite a shambolic start by their top-placed car, Lando Norris, with Oscar Piastri pouncing on his teammate’s pace to position himself for the eventual victory. With Red Bull’s peerless Max Verstappen starting from pole after another excellent effort during Saturday Qualifying and Norris lining up alongside him in P2 on the grid, Norris went for the hyper-aggressive option when the lights went out and the cars steamed down into Turn 1 of the temporary Miami International Autodrome. While Verstappen has made a habit of going toe-to-toe with the McLaren duo this year, in one instance earning a race-deciding penalty in Saudi Arabia for cutting a chicane to maintain the lead against Piastri on the opening lap, here it was Norris who forced the issue and faced the consequences as a result. The young Briton attempted to stuff his McLaren up the inside after Verstappen locked up briefly into T1, putting himself on the outside line heading into Turn 2. While the bold move briefly gave Norris the lead, Verstappen was able to squeeze Norris off the track there, where the McLaren driver lost multiple positions as the lead pack scurried by him, quickly relegating him to sixth.

Despite Norris’s protestations, Verstappen’s racing was judged to be clean and no sanctions were issued. That kerfuffle redounded to teammate Piastri’s benefit and the young Aussie and currrent Championship points leader, who had only qualified P4, was quickly promoted to third place on the track. After a brief Virtual Safety Car caused by the unlucky Jack Doohan’s puncture and subsequent on-track DNF, Piastri quickly made a Lap 4 overtaking maneuver on Mercedes’ promising young pilot, Kimi Antonelli, to seize P2 behind Verstappen. Norris meanwhile used his MCL39’s superior pace to quickly dispatch the Williams of Alexander Albon, the second Mercedes of George Russell and then Antonelli, working himself back up into a podium position after his disappointing opening lap. In front of all that, Piastri was relentlessly hunting down Verstappen’s Red Bull, and despite the Dutch Master’s best defensive efforts, Piastri made the decisive pass on him for the lead of the race on Lap 14 when Verstappen went too deep into Turn 1 and allowed the McLaren to slide on by. While Verstappen was able to hold off Norris for a few more laps, the second McLaren finally made a move that stuck for second place on Lap 18 even after a major, multi-lap battle saw Norris actually give the position back earlier in the lap for forcing the Red Bull off.

All to say that the Miami GP was a very exciting affair throughout its 57-lap duration, despite the fact that Piastri checked out to an insurmountable lead and pulled teammate Norris along with him, showing that McLaren, having now won five of the first six rounds, are clearly the benchmark for this season and the odds-on favorite to win a second consecutive Constructors’ title. The rest of the field, however, scratched and clawed their way to the finish line in a sign of growing parity between teams not outfitted in Papaya orange. Russell was able to deny the last step on the podium from Verstappen and secure P3 after taking advantage of another VSC period on Lap 29 to make a cheap pit stop and thereby getting the track position drop on the Dutchman. While Red Bull protested that Russell had failed to lift sufficiently during the yellow flags prior, the stewards rejected that contention post-race, and Russell kept his third podium finish of what has so far been a very good season for him. A resigned Verstappen remained in P4 at the conclusion despite the pole start, while Williams’ Albon bested Antonelli, P5 to P6, an excellent result for both Albon and the rapidly improving Williams team. It was still an fine weekend for young Kimi, the Italian driver having taken pole for the Sprint race and qualified P3 for the Grand Prix, if not quite getting the same results in the races themselves.

Ferrari had both a disheartening and contentious day in the saddle in Miami, with Charles Leclerc only able to elevate himself to P7 after a P8 start and Lewis Hamilton working very hard to get up to a P8 finish after a poor qualifying saw the seven-time champ start from a lowly P12 on the grid. Despite the desultory results, there was a lot of spicy team friction during the race, as Hamilton lambasted the pit wall’s perceived indecision in deciding when and where to swap the Prancing Horses after another VSC period on Laps 28-29 to take advantage of Hamilton’s then-fresher Medium Pirelli tires versus Leclerc’s Hards. While the decision was eventually made to swap the positions, and after Hamilton scathingly suggested the engineers should just have a tea break for a think, the life in Hamilton’s tires had been wasted and the opportunities for further gains agains the P6 Antonelli evaporated. The disgruntled Scuderia duo were eventually obliged to swap back and the rest of us viewers were left to wish to be a fly on the wall during the post-race Ferrari debrief.

The second Williams of Carlos Sainz gave it his all, including a feisty late race showdown with Hamilton, en route to a solid P9 finish. And Yuki Tsunoda scored for Red Bull for the second race in a row by taking P10 despite a 5-second penalty for speeding in the pits on his one and only Lap 27 stop.

Top 10 finishers of the Miami GP:

POS

NO

DRIVER

CAR

LAPS

TIME/RETIRED

PTS

1

81

Oscar Piastri

McLaren Mercedes

57

1:28:51.587

25

2

4

Lando Norris

McLaren Mercedes

57

+4.630s

18

3

63

George Russell

Mercedes

57

+37.644s

15

4

1

Max Verstappen

Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT

57

+39.956s

12

5

23

Alexander Albon

Williams Mercedes

57

+48.067s

10

6

12

Kimi Antonelli

Mercedes

57

+55.502s

8

7

16

Charles Leclerc

Ferrari

57

+57.036s

6

8

44

Lewis Hamilton

Ferrari

57

+60.186s

4

9

55

Carlos Sainz

Williams Mercedes

57

+60.577s

2

10

22

Yuki Tsunoda

Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT

57

+74.434s

1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race is in a fortnight with a trip to the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari, better known as Imola, for the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix in the bucolic heart of Italy. Can McLaren retain their sheer dominance at a very different circuit from Miami, or will Red Bull and Verstappen retake the initiative after a few weeks of fine tuning? And can Ferrari get on the same page and achieve a better result in the year’s first visit to their home country? Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

Featured post

2025 F1 Grand Prix of Miami — Qualifying results

Verstappen shines again in Miami to take pole ahead of Norris; surging Antonelli finds pace to claim P3 ahead of Piastri

Top 10 qualifiers for the Miami GP:

POS

NO

DRIVER

CAR

Q1

Q2

Q3

LAPS

1

1

Max Verstappen

Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT

1:26.870

1:26.643

1:26.204

18

2

4

Lando Norris

McLaren Mercedes

1:26.955

1:26.499

1:26.269

21

3

12

Kimi Antonelli

Mercedes

1:27.077

1:26.606

1:26.271

20

4

81

Oscar Piastri

McLaren Mercedes

1:27.006

1:26.269

1:26.375

16

5

63

George Russell

Mercedes

1:27.014

1:26.575

1:26.385

20

6

55

Carlos Sainz

Williams Mercedes

1:27.098

1:26.847

1:26.569

20

7

23

Alexander Albon

Williams Mercedes

1:27.042

1:26.855

1:26.682

20

8

16

Charles Leclerc

Ferrari

1:27.417

1:26.948

1:26.754

20

9

31

Esteban Ocon

Haas Ferrari

1:27.450

1:26.967

1:26.824

21

10

22

Yuki Tsunoda

Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT

1:27.298

1:26.959

1:26.943

21

Complete qualifying results available via Fomrula1.com.

Sunday’s race airs live on ABC beginning at 4 PM here in the States. Hope to see you then to find out if Verstappen can hold off Norris steaming into Turn 1 or if both potentially clash to open the door for another contender!

Featured post

2025 F1 Grand Prix of Saudi Arabia — Results & aftermath

Piastri romps to victory after first-lap penalty to Verstappen, assumes championship lead; Leclerc holds of Norris for P3

Sunday’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix all came down to the opening lap, when pole-sitter Max Verstappen ran his Red Bull off track at Turn 1 in an effort to avoid the surging McLaren of Oscar Piastri and then rejoined ahead of the young Aussie still retaining P1. After a Safety Car neutralized the race for two-laps as a result of a crash between Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and the second Red Bull of Yuki Tsunoda, the stewards adjudged that Verstappen had gained an unfair advantage and the Dutchman was handed a 5-second time penalty for not previously handing over the position to Piastri. While the top two continued to hold station at the front when the race resumed on Lap 3, Piastri and the McLaren braintrust were confident the 5-seconds that Verstappen would serve on his first pit stop would redound to their benefit. They also played the undercut, boxing Piastri on Lap 20 of this 50-lap contest at the Jeddah Corniche street circuit, while Verstappen ran to Lap 22 before following the preferred strategy by doffing his opening stint Medium Pirellis in favor of the Hards, while also serving his penalty. When Verstappen reemerged, he found himself in fifth place, while Piastri had assumed P3, behind Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari and teammate Lando Norris, both of whom had yet to pit.

While Leclerc eventually came in on Lap 30 after getting the most out of his Mediums, Norris continued on with his Hard tires, looking to maximize a long run strategy gambit after crashing out of qualifying and starting from P10 on the grid. When Norris finally did pit, Piastri assumed the lead of the race for the first time and, with the entirety of the field running a one-stopper, he would not relinquish the point en route to his second win on the trot and third out of five rounds run so far in 2025. The excellent result also gave Piastri the lead of Drivers’ Championship for the first time, 10 points clear of his teammate Norris. Verstappen held on to P2 easily and ended up only two points adrift of Norris in the Drivers’, although he and the team will likely rue not immediately handing Piastri the lead after that Lap 1 contretemps. And, while Norris made a valiant comeback drive from that unfortunate P10 starting spot, he could never really get onto Leclerc’s gearbox to execute a pass for the final podium position, the Monegasque heading him P3 to P4. This was also Ferrari’s first Grand Prix podium of the season, although Lewis Hamilton did win the Sprint in China in Round 2. The Mercedes duo of George Russell and rookie Kimi Antonelli took the checkers in P5 and P6 respectively, while the second Ferrari of Hamilton settled for P7 after some spirited battles with the McLarens earlier in the race. Of the midfield runners, Williams had the best day, with an increasingly confident Carlos Sainz slotting in at P8 and teammate Alex Albon holding off the hard charging Racing Bulls rookie Isack Hadjar, P9 to P10.

Top 10 finishers of the Saudi GP:

POS

NO

DRIVER

CAR

LAPS

TIME/RETIRED

PTS

1

81

Oscar Piastri

McLaren Mercedes

50

1:21:06.758

25

2

1

Max Verstappen

Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT

50

+2.843s

18

3

16

Charles Leclerc

Ferrari

50

+8.104s

15

4

4

Lando Norris

McLaren Mercedes

50

+9.196s

12

5

63

George Russell

Mercedes

50

+27.236s

10

6

12

Kimi Antonelli

Mercedes

50

+34.688s

8

7

44

Lewis Hamilton

Ferrari

50

+39.073s

6

8

55

Carlos Sainz

Williams Mercedes

50

+64.630s

4

9

23

Alexander Albon

Williams Mercedes

50

+66.515s

2

10

6

Isack Hadjar

Racing Bulls Honda RBPT

50

+67.091s

1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race is in a fortnight, as the teams get a breather after a grueling three weekends in a row,  F1’s first of three visits to the United States for the Miami Grand Prix. Can Piastri keep up his remarkable run of form at yet another challenging street circuit or will Norris eliminate the errors that have cost him and find a way to regain his championship momentum after a breakthrough win in Miami last year? Or will Verstappen spoil the McLaren party at a track he dominated in 2022 & 2023? Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

Featured post

2025 F1 Grand Prix of Saudi Arabia — Qualifying results

Verstappen nabs pole from Piastri as Norris crashes out; Russell P3, Leclerc P4 foreshadowing hyper-competitive race

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen once again showed that he’s not ready to cede his current championship crown to McLaren or anyone else, as the flying Dutchman laid down a blistering lap on the Jeddah Corniche Circuit to secure pole for Sunday’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. In a hyper-competitive Saturday Qualifying under the lights of the tight and twisty Jeddah street track, Verstappen’s final flier in Q3 was good enough to pip McLaren’s Oscar Piastri for P1 by a slim .01-seconds. Earlier in that final quali session, Piastri’s teammate and current point leader Lando Norris lost control running over the curbs exiting Turn 4 and binned his car in the walls  across from that the exit. Under pressure from not only his teammate Piastri, the dominant winner last week in Bahrain, but also the stubbornly excellent Verstappen, Norris will be forced to start from P10 on the grid at a track where overtaking is extremely difficult.

Once again, Mercedes’ George Russell capitalized by keeping it clean and putting in a very solid effort good enough for P3. While the Silver Arrows may not quite be ready to take a win on pure pace, Russell certainly shows all the signs of earning one should one or more of the top two come to grief in the race. His rookie Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli also acquitted himself well in P5. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc spilt the Silver Arrows in P4 but teammate Lewis Hamilton was out qualified by the Williams of Carlos Sainz, P6 to P7. Sainz seems to really be getting to grips with his new mount for this season, while Hamilton continues to suffer from inconsistency in the Prancing Horse. The second Red Bull of Yuki Tsunoda completed qualifying in P8 and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly took P9, both ahead of the stricken McLaren of Norris, which will certainly require some overnight repairs.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Saudi Arabian GP:

POS

NO

DRIVER

CAR

Q1

Q2

Q3

LAPS

1

1

Max Verstappen

Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT

1:27.778

1:27.529

1:27.294

19

2

81

Oscar Piastri

McLaren Mercedes

1:27.901

1:27.545

1:27.304

18

3

63

George Russell

Mercedes

1:28.282

1:27.599

1:27.407

16

4

16

Charles Leclerc

Ferrari

1:28.552

1:27.866

1:27.670

19

5

12

Kimi Antonelli

Mercedes

1:28.128

1:27.798

1:27.866

17

6

55

Carlos Sainz

Williams Mercedes

1:28.354

1:28.024

1:28.164

23

7

44

Lewis Hamilton

Ferrari

1:28.372

1:28.102

1:28.201

20

8

22

Yuki Tsunoda

Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT

1:28.226

1:27.990

1:28.204

16

9

10

Pierre Gasly

Alpine Renault

1:28.421

1:28.025

1:28.367

22

10

4

Lando Norris

McLaren Mercedes

1:27.805

1:27.481

DNF

11

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race airs live on ESPN beginning at 1PM Eastern here in the States. Expect a real street fight between at least the top four players and it wouldn’t be surprising if an accident-induced Red Flag jumbled things up. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

Featured post

tomvox1’s Watches for Sale – Rare Vintage 1970s Breitling ref. 8806 Navitimer CHRONO-MATIC

Click here to contact me and make this special Angelus Chrono yours today!  SOLD

Up for sale from my personal collection is this Grail-level circa 1973 Breitling ref. 8806 Navitimer Chrono-Matic with absolutely Mint Tritium dial and in fantastic Excellent+ condition overall. This highly uncommon version of Breitling’s classic pilot’s watch features an all stainless steel case with beautiful glossy “Big Eyes” Twin Jet dial, gorgeously patinaed Tritium luminous markers, red date and iconic left-hand crown. This is one of the rarest Navitimer references and hails from the days when Breitling bet the farm on their innovative automatic modular chronograph movement family pioneered in partnership with Heuer and Hamilton.

So, instead of the usual Venus 178 found in nearly all other earlier Navitimers, this scarce 8806 preserves the iconic oversized Navitimer proportions, snap back case and chunky slide rule bezel, but incorporates an automatic Caliber 12 under the hood, with minute and hour counters but no running seconds hand and a semi-quickset date at “6” in red. Coming so close as it did to the end of the Breitling company’s first incarnation as possibly the highest profile casualty of the quartz revolution, the reference 8806 Navitimer was made in extremely limited numbers and finding one in this kind of spectacular condition is a rare thing indeed.

This beautiful Navi came to me in near NOS condition and, having worn it frequently but carefully, the unpolished 41mm steel case is still easily in Excellent+ condition, with razor sharp chamfers and lovely satined sides. To put the cherry on top of the sundae, this great Breitling retains its original gloss black dial in absolutely Minty condition. Featuring two silver-white engine turned sub-registers, gorgeous puffy tan tritium luminous “12” & bar markers and intricately printed slide rule calibrations in silver “gilt”, this fantastic dial really shows off Breitling’s unmatched prowess at making highly functional, complexly printed dials back in the day.

This is a fantastically pure vintage tool watch with great wrist presence and panache, as well as a model you’re not likely to see on someone else’s wrist. It’s a real collector’s chronograph with historical rarity and importance. Don’t miss out on your chance to own a really special piece of Breitling history in stunning condition!

Click here to contact me and make this special Angelus Chrono yours today!  SOLD

Featured post

2025 F1 Grand Prix of Bahrain — Results & aftermath

McLaren’s Piastri romps to dominant win at Bahrain; Russell holds off Norris for P2 amidst Mercedes electrical gremlins; Red Bull’s Verstappen struggles mightily en route to P6

McLaren’s rising young superstar Oscar Piastri made the most of his pole position at Sunday’s Bahrain Grand Prix, controlling the race from the front in the opening stanza and then maintaining his cool when a mid-race Safety Car wiped out his large lead. The Aussie still went on to take assured victory over fifteen seconds ahead of his closest pursuer and dramatically narrowed his championship points defect to teammate Lando Norris. Norris did rally from a poor P6 qualifying effort, and then a 5-second penalty for lining up just over his grid box at the start of the race, but could not quite get by the very game George Russell’s Mercedes as the laps wound down, settling in the end for P3. While Norris was perturbed by what he felt was a subpar effort here at what is a home race of sorts for McLaren — the Bahrain Wealth Fund is a major investor in the team — Piastri was overjoyed to get back on terms in the championship battle against his teammate, trimming Norris’s lead to just three points after four rounds. With McLaren back to being the dominant car in F1 for 2025 after a lackluster outing at Suzuka a week ago, it looks to be game on between the Papaya teammates in the quest for the Drivers’ Title.

Mercedes had the second fastest car here at Sakhir, with Russell holding off the dogged late race pursuit of Norris to secure second place despite dealing with numerous electrical gremlins in the car. Russell and the team were also somewhat fortunate not to be penalized due to an accidental use of the DRS in an unauthorized zone, also caused by those pesky electronics issues. And while the freshly Medium-shod Norris was able to pass both Ferraris after the Safety Car restart, making the Scuderia pay for their decision to switch to Hard Pirellis after opening the race on a Medium-to-Medium strategy, Russell was somehow able to keep enough life in his Soft Pirellis to hold off Norris until the checkered flag flew some twenty-two laps after the end of the Safety Car period. Ferrari will be left wondering about that tire strategy decision, as the Hard tires proved a very bad race tire, which several drivers who chose that option for their opening stint could have confirmed. In the end, Charles Leclerc headed his teammate Lewis Hamilton, P4 to P5, with the Prancing Horses showing some signs of joining the party at the front but still not quite there yet.

A week after a vintage drive to take victory in Japan from the pole, Red Bull and Max Verstappen were back in the wilderness here in the desert. After only qualifying P7, Verstappen found that his RB21  was not particularly good in race trim either, especially on the Hard tires. The team and driver’s misery was compounded by a peculiar failure of their pit go/no-go lighting system that led to the Red Bulls being stationary far longer than they should have been on their first stops. Verstappen hung in, though, even prevailing over a second slow pit stop with a sticky right front tire that funneled him back out in last place on Lap 27, working his way all the way back to a last lap pass on Pierre Gasly’s Alpine to secure a P6 finish. And even if that was not exactly Champagne-popping news, two Red Bulls finally scored this year, as Yuki Tsunoda battled and banged his way to ninth place by the end of the 57 laps. While Gasly did lose that position to Verstappen on the final lap, P7 was still an excellent result for the Frenchman and the Alpine team. Similarly, Haas had an excellent day, with veteran Esteban Ocon hustling his car to P8 by the end, and rookie teammate Oliver Bearman grabbing the last point in P10.

Top 10 finishers of the Bahrain GP:

POS

NO

DRIVER

CAR

LAPS

TIME/RETIRED

PTS

1

81

Oscar Piastri

McLaren Mercedes

57

1:35:39.435

25

2

63

George Russell

Mercedes

57

+15.499s

18

3

4

Lando Norris

McLaren Mercedes

57

+16.273s

15

4

16

Charles Leclerc

Ferrari

57

+19.679s

12

5

44

Lewis Hamilton

Ferrari

57

+27.993s

10

6

1

Max Verstappen

Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT

57

+34.395s

8

7

10

Pierre Gasly

Alpine Renault

57

+36.002s

6

8

31

Esteban Ocon

Haas Ferrari

57

+44.244s

4

9

22

Yuki Tsunoda

Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT

57

+45.061s

2

10

87

Oliver Bearman

Haas Ferrari

57

+47.594s

1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next tilt is in but a week’s time, as the teams scramble off to Saudi Arabia to finish up the first hectic three in a row of 2025. The Jeddah Corniche Circuit is the fastest street circuit ever built, with speeds rivaling the purpose built Monza. It should be fun to see McLaren stretch their legs there and to find out if Mercedes or another marque has the pace to keep up with the Norris-Piastri Papaya duo. Hope to see then to find out how it all shakes out!

Featured post

2025 F1 Grand Prix of Bahrain — Qualifying results

McLaren’s Piastri rockets to dominant pole in Bahrain but teammate Norris fumbles final effort en route to P6; Mercedes’ Russell and Antonelli qualify P2 & P4 but penalized one spot each for pit infractions; Leclerc elevated to second on grid; Verstappen and Red Bull nowhere

A week after being thoroughly outperformed by Red Bull’s Max Verstappen at the Japanese Grand Prix, the McLaren duo of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri were keen to reassert their dominance during Saturday Qualifying for the Bahrain Grand Prix. But it ended up only Piastri who flew the Papaya flag by laying down a stunning marker here at the very tricky and twisty 5.4 kilometer Bahrain International Circuit, blasting his way to a dominant pole position, some two-tenths ahead of his closest pursuer, Mercedes’ George Russell. Meanwhile, Piastri’s normally superlative McLaren teammate, Lando Norris, failed to get the best out of his MCL39 and to come to grips with the windy conditions in the desert and could only manage P6 on his final flier in Q3, over four-tenths behind his pole-sitting teammate. While it is certainly more possible to pass here than at what ended up a stagnant Suzuka circuit last week, Piastri will have a major advantage getting away from the point while Norris has to fight his way through a quartet of fairly fast drivers to get back on terms for a win. Piastri will certainly be looking to maximize that advantage and take a victory that would vault him ahead of Norris for the points lead. Game on.

Mercedes were impressive and were definitely the next best team on pace here, just ahead of Ferrari and well ahead of the struggling Red Bull duo. But, while Russell was hyper-competitive with a P2 effort and rookie teammate Kimi Antonelli excelled to slot in at P4, the team were penalized for a pit lane infraction under Red Flag conditions after Haas’s Esteban Ocon had a major crash earlier in Q2. Both drivers were docked a grid place for the team’s error in sending them info the fast lane prematurely while the medical car was still driving to the front of the pits after Ocon had been dropped off for examination, big no-no. That elevated Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc to second on the grid and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, who had a genuinely superb qualifying effort regardless, up to the second row and P4. Meanwhile, a week after their surprise victory in Japan, Red Bull were nowhere in Bahrain, with both Verstappen and Tsunoda struggling mightily with balance and breaking. It all ended up with a humbling P7 effort for last week’s winner Verstappen, with Tsunoda at least making it to Q3 for the first time in tow tries, albeit with only the tenth fastest time.

Carlos Sainz appeared to finally get the handle on his Williams with a very solid P8 result, but Lewis Hamilton again struggled in his Prancing Horse and could manage no better than an underwhelming P9.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Bahrain GP:

POS

NO

DRIVER

CAR

Q1

Q2

Q3

LAPS

1

81

Oscar Piastri

McLaren Mercedes

1:31.392

1:30.454

1:29.841

15

2

63

George Russell

Mercedes

1:31.494

1:30.664

1:30.009

20

3

16

Charles Leclerc

Ferrari

1:31.454

1:30.724

1:30.175

16

4

12

Kimi Antonelli

Mercedes

1:31.415

1:30.716

1:30.213

20

5

10

Pierre Gasly

Alpine Renault

1:31.462

1:30.643

1:30.216

19

6

4

Lando Norris

McLaren Mercedes

1:31.107

1:30.560

1:30.267

18

7

1

Max Verstappen

Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT

1:31.303

1:31.019

1:30.423

17

8

55

Carlos Sainz

Williams Mercedes

1:31.591

1:30.844

1:30.680

19

9

44

Lewis Hamilton

Ferrari

1:31.219

1:31.009

1:30.772

18

10

22

Yuki Tsunoda

Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT

1:31.751

1:31.228

1:31.303

17

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

The adjusted grid after Mercedes’ penalties are factored in is here. 

After a raft of overnighters to start the season, tomorrow’s race airs at the perfectly decent time of 11AM Eastern on ESPN2 here in the States. With a supreme advantage over his teammate and the rest of the field, Piastri will be looking to both stamp his authority on the race from the get go and then vault himself ahead of Norris in the Championship by dint of the victory. But do the Mercedes duo of Russell and Antonelli have anything to spring an upset when the lights go out, even from their slightly demoted positions? Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

Featured post

2025 F1 Grand Prix of Australia — Results & aftermath

McLaren and Norris begin championship hunt with impressive win at tricky, rain-affected Aussie GP; Red Bull’s Verstappen stays calm amidst carnage to salvage P2, Russell earns final podium position with solid effort; Piastri and Ferrari lose out

Round 1 of the 2025 season kicked off in chaotic fashion on Sunday at the Australian Grand Prix from the Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne, where persistent rain caused havoc throughout the field. In a true drive to survive, McLaren’s Lando Norris kept his cool throughout the race long carnage, including a late mistake by teammate Oscar Piastri amidst a renewed downpour, converting pole position into his first win of the year in what the young Briton hopes will be his first World Championship-winning campaign. With his car obviously slightly inferior to the McLarens coming out of the offseason, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen made the best of a bad hand and put himself in position to pounce on P2 when Piastri slid off the track and into some very wet grass late in the going. The unlucky Aussie elicited cries of dismay from his countrymen in the stands but was at least able to salvage P9 after determinedly — and very slowly! — backing onto the tarmac when he looked to be stranded and en route to an embarrassing DNF. And Mercedes, who have been flying somewhat under the radar amidst all the McLaren-Red Bull-Ferrari hype leading into this opening round, made the right strategy calls when it counted most to boost their drivers, veteran George Russell and rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli, to P3 and P4 respectively. Both Silver Arrows pilots were impressive in the wet, with Russell bettering his P4 starting position to reach the podium after many other cars around him crashed out — there were a whopping six DNFs by the time the checkers flew — and Antonelli using a bit of luck, skill and good strategy to overcome  a clearly out of position P16 start after the young Italian damaged his car by clouting one too many curbs in Saturday qualifying. 

Williams Alexander Albon was another standout driver on the day, surviving and thriving to take an impressive fifth place. Others scoring improbably good points by dint of keeping their cars on the black stuff and staying steady during the frequently  very greasy conditions were Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and Kick Sauber’s wise old hand Nico Hulkenberg, who placed P6 and P7 respectively. But there was not much to cheer for Ferrari after they gambled and lost by keeping Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton out on slick tires a lap too long and then bringing the duo in for the much needed Inters after the other contenders had already made the much needed switch. The Prancing Horses went from a potential 1-2 finish to Leclerc holding on for P8 and the game but forlorn Piastri relegating Hamilton to P10 on the last lap of this eventful 57-lap contest.

What does such a rain-affected contest really tell us about who’s got the pace overall in 2025? Not much except that McLaren and Verstappen looked quick in any and all conditions. And Mercedes could be further along in their development than initially suspected, especially with new Red Bull number two Liam Lawson having a horror show weekend the ended with him crashing out and scoring zero points in Melbourne. Meanwhile, Antonelli acquitted himself admirably on his debut drive for Mercedes in highly challenging circumstances. As for Ferrari, they’ll be looking forward to the quick turnaround in China next weekend to be able to hopefully show their true pace under more predictable conditions. Hamilton, in particular, seemed to struggle to fully get to grips on the technical side with his new mount after so many years with Mercedes, and his relationship with his new race engineer, Riccardo Adami, is clearly still a work in progress after working hand in glove with Pete Bonnington over the course of the prior dozen years.

Top 10 finishers of the Australian GP:

POS

NO

DRIVER

CAR

LAPS

TIME/RETIRED

PTS

1

4

Lando Norris

McLaren Mercedes

57

1:42:06.304

25

2

1

Max Verstappen

Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT

57

+0.895s

18

3

63

George Russell

Mercedes

57

+8.481s

15

4

12

Andrea Kimi Antonelli

Mercedes

57

+10.135s

12

5

23

Alexander Albon

Williams Mercedes

57

+12.773s

10

6

18

Lance Stroll

Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes

57

+17.413s

8

7

27

Nico Hulkenberg

Kick Sauber Ferrari

57

+18.423s

6

8

16

Charles Leclerc

Ferrari

57

+19.826s

4

9

81

Oscar Piastri

McLaren Mercedes

57

+20.448s

2

10

44

Lewis Hamilton

Ferrari

57

+22.473s

1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race is in but a week’s time, as F1 hits the ground running for the Round 2 Chinese Grand Prix from the Shanghai International Circuit. It’ll also be the first Sprint weekend of the season, with all the extra angst that entails for the teams, especially with such a short turnaround. Norris will be looking to make it two in a row, Verstappen will be looking to take him down a peg, and Piastri will be seeking redemption, as will so many other drivers who had disappointing or even disastrous days in Australia. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

Featured post

tomvox1’s Watches for Sale – Vintage 1970s Omega Genève Day-Date w/Beautiful BLUE Dial

Click here to contact me and make this cool Omega Genève yours today!  SOLD

Now on offer is this wonderful circa mid-1970s, all-stainless steel Omega Genève Day-Date ref. 166.0174/366.0833 with original and beautiful blue sunburst dial. This watch features a very attractive and full-sized round, sweeping 36mm case with original, long integrated 1186/215 bracelet.

Overall, the watch is in Excellent vintage condition with a case that shows sharp definition and appears unpolished. And the very special original Near Mint+ blue sunburst dial with original tritium lume plots is what really pushes this watch over the top.

This Genève also features the highly regarded in-house Omega caliber 1022 23-jewel movement under the hood, boasting both quickset date and rapid day advancement.

This circa 1975 Omega has a more timeless design than many of its more funky brethren of the period, making it just as stylish and fashionable today as it was when it was originally released nearly 50 years ago. It’s an absolute pleasure to wear, very ergonomic, and that lovely vibrant blue dial never fails to draw the eye.

Simply a really handsome and appealing dial if you’re a fan of blue dial watches, as I am, making it an absolute pleasure to admire on the wrist!

Click here to contact me and to make this cool Omega Genève yours today!  SOLD

Featured post

tomvox1’s Watches for Sale – 1990s Tudor ref. 79170 “Big Block” Inverse Panda Automatic Chronograph

Click here to contact me and make this cool Tudor Big Block yours today!  SOLD

On offer is this super cool circa mid-1990s Tudor ref. 79170 Oysterdate Chrono Time chronograph with gorgeous Near Mint glossy black Inverse Panda dial, massive “Big Block” Oyster case and rotating dual-time bezel. This classic plexi-crystal Tudor chrono, one of the last before the introduction of the sapphire crystal models, is powered by a Tudor-modified Valjoux caliber 7750, and the ref. 79170 with rotating bezel is the most uncommon version of this era. The high gloss dial is very attractive and, having owned both a matte dial version previously and now this one, the wow factor is frankly far superior on these, with not only the attractiveness of the shimmering black gloss dial but also the very nicely delineated engined-turned high gloss white sub-registers. 

In my opinion, these non-exotic, acrylic crystal Tudor Big Blocks are still some of the best values in the vintage watch world. With their screw down Rolex crown & pushers and tank-like Oyster case, they have all the build quality of a Rolex Cosmograph Daytona at a fraction of the price and make a great daily driver if you’ve got the wrist for it. While this example shows previous polish and some wear, this Tudor Chrono Time is still in Excellent overall original vintage condition, featuring an absolutely Near Mint gloss black Inverse Panda dial with all the original tritium lume plots intact.

The key difference with this model and the others in the Chrono Time line of the era is the chunky, Sea-Dweller-like rotating steel bezel. It features a black anodized aluminum dual-time  insert that has aged to a lovely charcoal-blue color and, with this “1-to-12” bezel calibration, more uncommon than the usual fixed Tachymeter versions, one can tell secondary time similar to a GMT-Master, but in 12-hour increments and in relation to the hour hand. Obviously, it can also be used for elapsed time in 5-minute units.

All in all, a great looking Inverse Panda dial and a highly legible chronograph layout on this classic Tudor Big Block that makes a great everyday watch and a true vintage statement on the wrist!

Click here to contact me and make this cool Tudor Big Block yours today!  SOLD

Featured post

tomvox1’s Watches for Sale – Cartier JUMBO Tank MC ref. W5330003 w/B&P

Contact me here to make this cool Cartier yours today SOLD

On offer is this modern, handsome Cartier Tank MC ref. W5330003 in stainless steel with stunning silver guilloché Roman numeral dial and high-grade in-house automatic caliber 1904-PS MC. This model is part of the now discontinued line of watches that featured Cartier’s first true manufacture-developed & produced caliber after years of relying on other suppliers. For whatever reason, Cartier abandoned this concept after about a decade and took an abrupt U-turn back to almost exclusively outsourcing Piguet and ETA movements again. But it makes for a very interesting chapter in Cartier’s history and who knows what the future will bring for these models in terms of collectibility down the road? This Tank MC also comes with red Cartier box and original papers, including International Warranty Card with correctly matching case serial number, mini instruction booklet, as well as paperwork & purchase receipt from Birks Montreal from 2019, confirming original purchase for $9,700 Canadian. 

The Tank MC is by far the most classical and, to my eyes, most handsome of these “Manufacture Cartier” models, with its oversized but still recognizable Tank proportions and design, albeit a bit of a hybrid between the classic Tank Louis and the Tank Americaine. Make no mistake, this is a large rectangular watch at 34mm wide x 44mm long lug tip to lug tip that wears big for sure. But with its ergonomic curved case and the thinness of the movement, it is still only around 9mm tall at its highest point. And with its gorgeous “wave” pattern silver guilloché dial, bold Roman numerals and sunken, engine turned sub-seconds register, not to mention the oversized blue sapphire cabochon-set octagonal crown, it is absolutely stunning on the wrist, as well as being unmistakably Cartier stylistically.

The 27-jewel caliber 1904-PS MC is nicely decorated — if also a bit noisy — and easy to admire through the display back. It comes on its original black Cartier alligator strap with the patented adjustable steel Cartier deployant buckle, which makes proper fitting a breeze for any wrist size just by sliding the strap and then locking it down it via the U-shaped tines.

This classic oversize men’s dress watch has been worn and not stuck in a safe — if you want NOS, look elsewhere — and so, is in overall Very Good+ to Excellent pre-owned condition. It has never been polished and there are some small scratches to both factory-satined sides, especially the non-crown side, and one significant ding to the bottom right lug, which is quite hard to see when on the wrist (please refer to the pictures). The high polish tubular tops of the sides of the watch have numerous superficial swirlies but no major marks. Both sapphire crystals on the face and rear are undamaged and without chips or scratches. The dial and hands are obviously Mint. 

All in all, a fine Swiss watch from the great maison of Cartier with a lot of wrist presence and style that certainly represents in a casually elegant style. Very easy to dress this Cartier up or down if you’ve got the wrist for it!

Contact me here to make this cool Cartier yours today SOLD

Featured post

tomvox1’s Watches for Sale – Vintage Angelus Military Type Chronograph w/Tropical Gilt Dial

Click here to contact me and make this special Angelus Chrono yours today!  SOLD

Up for sale is this large and beautiful circa 1940s-50s Angelus chronograph in 38mm all-stainless steel case with stunning dark brown tropical gilt dial, powered by the in-house Angelus cal. 215 movement. A famed maker of movements for others, Angelus came into their own in the middle of the twentieth century, when the demand for chronographs for military and civilian use reached a fever pitch. In addition to their famed Chronodato models, Angelus also produced aviator & military-style chronographs to meet the demand of the WWII and post-War era, like this one, which is exactly the same model as the “L.E.” marked Hungarian Air Force-issued version (for Légi Erő).

This example has no issue marks but is notable not only for the large and sought after 38mm case but the stunning original gilt dial with “big eye” sub-dials and original radium luminous Arabic numerals, the surface of which has also aged to a very beautiful and even deep brown tropical tone. This oversized Angelus military-style chrono represents beautifully on the wrist and the organic, even, warm dark chocolate tone is especially appealing.

Overall, this classic Angelus aviator’s chrono is in Excellent vintage condition with a stunning Excellent+ original gilt dial with complex, finely printed minute and tachymeter outer scales and luminous Arabic numeral layout. The case has some marks from age, as one would expect from a 70/80-year-old tool watch, but it still appears to retain its original brushed & polished finish and facets. The venerable Angelus cal. 215 movement was serviced last year and is operating well, ready for years’ more faithful service for its lucky new owner.

All in all, a very special mid-century aviator’s chronograph with loads of vintage charm and impressive wrist presence. Not the most uncommon vintage chrono out there but this is definitely one of the nicest examples you will see!

Click here to contact me and make this special Angelus Chrono yours today!  SOLD

Featured post

tomvox1’s Watches for Sale – Vintage 1960s Omega C-Shape Constellation w/Stunning BLUE VIGNETTE Dial

Contact me here to make this very special C-Shape Connie yours today! SOLD

On offer is this beautiful and uncommon circa 1968 all-stainless steel Omega C-Shape Constellation ref. 168.017 with original & ultra rare blue vignette/dégradé dial. For Omega, these vignette dials are primarily found in the later, small square Constellations of the early ’70s, and it is highly uncommon to find one in a C-Shape Connie.

This type of dial features a high gloss lacquer finish with a color tone beneath that grows darker the further it gets from the center, in this case a stunning blue colorway that transitions from bright cobalt to a deep navy at the edges. This example also features a very subtle, attractive but hard-to-see-without-a-loupe “spidering” or “ice crackle” effect when viewed from certain oblique angles, which is a common occurrence on these dials as the lacquer ages and contracts.

Accompanied by its long brick-link ref. 1040 bracelet, this is a very special steel Constellation for the sophisticated collector. And at a very ergonomic 34.5mm in diameter, it’s really suitable for any wrist size or gender, especially as the fashion trend in watches heads back to more modest dimensions. Overall, the watch is in Excellent vintage condition with a case that appears unpolished and the very special original Near Mint blue vignette dial being the most remarkable aspect. This Connie also features the highly regarded caliber 564 Chronometer movement with quickset date under the hood.

The star of the show on this Constellation is, of course, the quite rare vignette aka dégradé dial, with its hypnotic gradations of blue. It also features hand-riveted white gold bar markers, applied OMEGA and Omega logo, Connie star and faceted date window frame. This is a luminous dial with all the original tritium lume plots still intact and perfectly matching luminous hands, so it is correctly signed “T SWISS MADE T”. Featuring its original white printing, the only “flaw” one can ascribe to this beautiful dial is the aforementioned “crackling” of the glossy lacquer finish, which is only barely visible at certain angles with the naked eye and which a lot of collectors, including me, find quite handsome. Simply put, this is a gorgeous and endlessly appealing Constellation dial and if you are a fan of blue dial watches, as I am, this is about as good as it gets from an aesthetic perspective.

Contact me here to make this very special C-Shape Connie yours today! SOLD

Featured post

Watch Collector’s Notebook: Three Special Dial 1960s Omega Seamasters

Arguably more than any other of the great Swiss marques, Omega has always been daring, experimental and graphically innovative in their dial designs. And one could make a very strong case that they were at the peak of their powers in this regard in the 1960s. I first became aware of Omega’s penchant for creativity and purpose built “tool” dials on what would ordinarily have been standard dress models by way of having a Seamaster “Railmaster Official” passed down to me by my father. It, along with his Speedmaster Mark II racing dial, is what got me into vintage Omega, and ultimately vintage watches and watches more generally, in the first place.

Seamaster “Railmaster Official” ref. 165.002, cal. 550, 17 jewels, adjusted 3 positions, circa 1966:

I’m not sure if you’ve ever experienced this with an heirloom-type watch, but I’ve always felt not only grateful to have it but also, I have to admit if I’m being honest, slightly constrained by the aesthetic. While Omega designed this watch (with no small copying of Ball’s famous layout) to sell to the very specific railroad worker market, as well as those who value maximum legibility at a glance (something I do appreciate more as I get older), this dial is not quite my personal style. In other words, if it hadn’t been in the family, I don’t think I would have sought it out and bought it on my own despite its very attractive glossy white “porcelain” finish and bold black enamel numerals.

So, I recently decided to acquire what are essentially the same models of Seamaster but with very different dials that are a bit more in my design wheelhouse. The first is the semi-famous “Speedy Companion”, which might more properly be called the “Soleil Companion”, due to the fact that it not only mimics the legendary Speedmaster Professional’s characteristic luminous plots but also the very uncommon lustrous blue-gray soleil/metallic dial finish very rarely found in certain highly desirable ’60s Speedys.

Seamaster “Speedy Companion” ref. 166.002, cal. 565 (quickset), 24 jewels, circa 1966:

Being a compulsive sort of collector, I was not only thrilled with the Speedy Companion but also left wanting one more from this special era of Seamaster dial designs. The scarce “Albino Technical” really spoke to me, with its hyper-attractive matte white dial, non-luminous black “Speedy” markings and punchy red crosshair and Omega logo. It kind of screams “NASA UNIVAC technician”, at least in my imagination.

Seamaster “Albino Technical” ref. 166.002, cal. 562, 24 jewels, circa 1966:

All three watches have pretty much the exact same, rapidly coming back into fashion 34.5mm cases and yet represent completely differently on the wrist, a delightful tribute to a time when creativity in the Swiss watch industry generally, and Omega in particular, was really at an impressive and perhaps all-time high.

I’ll always be proud and honored to have my father’s “Railmaster Official” and look forward to always keeping it in the family, as it has been for some 58-years and counting. But I’m also really pleased to have now added two other very special and distinct 1960s Seamasters that are truly reflective of my own personal tastes and my pleasure in Mid-century modern design language.

You never know where your collector’s journey will take you in this hobby. But it’s certainly a lot of fun following the various tributaries that spring from the main river of your passion!

Featured post

2024 F1 Grand Prix of Belgium — Results & aftermath

Russell shockingly DQ’d from victory due to minimum weight violation after audacious one-stop strategy; teammate Hamilton elevated to win at Spa; Piastri P2, Norris P3 for McLaren; Verstappen recovers from P11 to P4

Mercedes’ George Russell appeared to ride an audacious one-stop tire strategy to victory over his teammate Lewis Hamilton in Sunday’s action packed Belgian Grand Prix. But the daring young English pilot was stripped of his win after post-race scrutineering discovered that his car was under the weight limit specified by the F1 regulations by 1.5 kilograms when properly drained of fuel. Ironically, it may have been due to Russell’s running the one-stopper, contrary to all the other drivers in the field, that contributed to enough rubber loss on his final set of Pirelli Hard tires to bring the car in under the limit. Additionally, the fact that there is no cool down lap at Spa, the longest track on the F1 calendar, during which drivers usually deliberately add spent rubber “marbles” back onto their tires to add weight, could have been a contributing factor. Either way, it was a stunning blow to young George after his fantastic gamble appeared to pay off, as well as team Mercedes as whole, which must shoulder the blame for the car coming in underweight regardless of any mitigating circumstances. And despite Hamilton, who drove an outstanding race of his own, being elevated to the victory, it cost the Silver Arrows a very valuable 1-2 finish and will leave a bitter taste in everyone’s mouth back at Brackley as the they and all the teams head into the long summer break.

With blue skies and sunshine bathing the famed Spa-Francorchamps Circuit on Sunday after nothing but clouds and rain the previous two days, the teams were flying blind in terms of tire data heading into the Belgian Grand Prix. With all the teams projecting a two-stop race, the variables were which tires to start on and switch to and the major unknowns were the level of degradation over 44-laps with the track temps so much hotter than in practice and Qualifying.  The top ten runners all started on the Medium Pirellis except for Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, who chose the Hards to begin the race. P11 Max Verstappen, who was fastest in qualifying but was dropped ten places due to an engine component change, also started on Mediums and when the lights went out to start the Grand Prix, Verstappen shot himself up to P9 is short order, passing the Williams of Alexander Albon and the Alpine of Esteban Ocon in the blink of an eye. Meanwhile at the front, the pole-sitting Ferrari of Charles Leclerc got away cleanly, while Hamilton dispatched the lead Red Bull of Sergio Perez to quickly nab second place. McLaren’s Lando Norris, starting in P3, ran wide heading into Turn 1 and dropped a wheel into the gravel, costing him several places and teammate and last week’s race winner Oscar Piastri inherited third as a result.

By Lap 3, Hamilton had already hunted down Leclerc and the Prancing Horse proved to be no match for the improved Silver Arrow in a straight line, the seven-time champion dispatching the Monegasque for the lead of the race while streaking down the Kemmel Straight. Things then settled down for a few laps as the teams calculated when to make their first stops for fresh rubber, with Verstappen and Russell diving to the pits on Lap 10 to try and make use of the powerful undercut strategy against their rivals, both drivers opting to doff their Mediums in favor of the Hard compound tires for the second stint. Hamilton pitted a lap later, along with P3 Piastri, handing the lead back to Leclerc briefly until Ferrari brought their point man in on Lap 12, all three contenders making the predicted Medium to Hard switch. Sainz then inherited the race lead from his teammate, with second place Norris making his stop on Lap 15, also swapping out his Mediums for Hards, while the Spaniard ran all the way to Lap 20 before finally making his first stop and utilizing the opposite strategy of Hards to Mediums.

The second stops came rather quickly for the most part, Perez pitting again on Lap 21 directly after being passed by Russell on track for P4. Leclerc ran to Lap 25 in an attempt to undercut Hamilton but he had a slightly slow 3.4-second stop while changing from Hards to Hards and when Hamilton came in a lap later, he made the same tire choice but cemented his advantage over Leclerc’s Ferrari thanks to a nifty 2.4-seconds spent stationary. The flurry of pit lane activity at the front continued, with both Verstappen and Sainz making their second stops on Lap 28, Sainz continuing to run the counter strategy by switching off his Mediums back onto Hards for the remainder of the race and Verstappen making the conventional Hard to Medium swap. Norris boxed a lap later, choosing another fresh set of Hards to finish out the race, while on track Perez let Verstappen by for P5 and a possible charge onto the podium for the Dutch Master. Piastri wound up being the last of the top ten to make his second stop on Lap 30 but the young Aussie almost ruined his race when he came into the box too hot and nearly knocked over his front jack man, who did fine work to absorb the impact, stay on his feet and hoist the car for service. The driver error resulted in a slow but not catastrophic 4.4 seconds stationary and he came back out in P5.

Meanwhile, Russell had inherited the lead after all was said and done and was insisting that his now 20-lap-old Hard tires could make it for the final fourteen circuits of the race. The Mercedes brain trust, to their credit, allowed the young Briton to execute the high risk gamble, perhaps feeling that running in clean air at the front might make up for any loss of performance due to tire degradation. His P2 teammate Hamilton looked to have the ultimate advantage on much fresher rubber, though, relentlessly closing up to within DRS range for the final five laps. Piastri, meanwhile, was closing in on both and looking to pick up any pieces as they squabbled, having dispatched Leclerc for P3 back on Lap 36. But Russell was able to hold off Hamilton’s best efforts and Lewis raced wisely enough not to throw away both their races with any desperate lunges for the lead. It all seemed like a dream finish when Russell came to the checkers still in first place and claim victory over his teammate and lead home a Mercedes 1-2. But the technical violation afterwards turned what was a great day into a nightmare and snatched away what was truly a gutsy drive and tactical decision by Russell. Mercedes will be looking into how they got their weight calculations wrong enough to cost their man a stellar victory but full credit to Russell and his outstanding efforts despite the painful DQ.

As a result of Russell’s exclusion, Hamilton not only was declared victor but Piastri was elevated to P2 and Leclerc was put on the podium in P3. Verstappen must have been pretty happy with his P4 considering where he started and the serious competition from Mercedes and McLaren, but Norris was less than thrilled with his eventual P5, in no small part feeling that his early lap bobble cost him against Verstappen and his teammate. Sainz, who has just been signed by Williams for the next two seasons, ended up P6 and Perez was classified P7, while also setting the race’s fastest lap after a late third pit stop for Softs. Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso took P8, Alpine’s Ocon grabbed P9 and the RB Honda of Daniel Ricciardo was promoted into the points in P10.

Top 10 finishers of the Belgian GP:

POS

NO

DRIVER

CAR

LAPS

TIME/RETIRED

PTS

DQ

63

George Russell

Mercedes

44

1:19:57.040

0

1

44

Lewis Hamilton

Mercedes

44

+0.526s

25

2

81

Oscar Piastri

McLaren Mercedes

44

+1.173s

18

3

16

Charles Leclerc

Ferrari

44

+8.549s

15

4

1

Max Verstappen

Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT

44

+9.226s

12

5

4

Lando Norris

McLaren Mercedes

44

+9.850s

10

6

55

Carlos Sainz

Ferrari

44

+19.795s

8

7

11

Sergio Perez

Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT

44

+43.195s

7

8

14

Fernando Alonso

Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes

44

+49.963s

4

9

31

Esteban Ocon

Alpine Renault

44

+52.552s

2

10

3

Daniel Ricciardo

RB Honda RBPT

44

+54.926s

1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race weekend is nearly a month away — the Dutch Grand prix from the dunes of Zandvoort on August 23-25th. The season has really hotted up with a lot of uncertainty in the hunt for the Championships as McLaren and Mercedes relentlessly close the gap to Red Bull. So, the wait should be worth it when Formula 1 returns — hope to see you then to find out how things pick up after the hiatus!

Featured post

2024 F1 Grand Prix of Miami — Results & aftermath

McLaren’s Norris earns maiden win in Miami with brilliant drive & a little luck; Verstappen relegated to rare P2 in fair fight, Leclerc P3 for Ferrari

McLaren’s Lando Norris drove the race of his life at the Miami Grand Prix on Sunday, using his ever improving skills as a driver, the new upgrades on his MCL38 chassis and little bit of Safety Car luck to earn his maiden win in Formula 1 in spectacular fashion. Having knocked on the door with seven podiums over the course of a F1 career that began in the middle of the 2018 season, the 24-year-old Briton finally kicked down that barrier to take the top step of the podium ahead of the usually imperious Red Bull of Max Verstappen by an impressive 7.612 seconds. After coming a cropper on the first lap of Saturday’s Sprint race, Norris excelled in Sunday’s GP, even though he started from back in P5 on the grid. With Verstappen looking fully in control and en route to another easy win midway through this 57-lap contest, and teammate Oscar Piastri actually seeming the quicker car in the early going, Norris made his own luck by running an extra-long first stint on his initial Medium Pirelli tires. While some contenders pitted under a brief Virtual Safety Car deployed on Lap 23 to retrieve a loose bollard from the chicane that Verstappen had knocked onto the track a few laps earlier, including Max himself, the two McLarens were not in position to take the risk of the VSC ending while in the pits and stayed out. It proved to be a prescient decision.

When the action resumed at the end of that lap, Verstappen had been shuffled back to P4, with Piastri now in the lead, Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz in P2 and Norris in third. Piastri and Sainz then pitted under green flag conditions on Lap 28, both going from Mediums to Hards under the favored one-stop strategy, with Norris then inheriting the lead and presumably attempting a one-lap overcut strategy. But that plan paid even bigger dividends when the Haas of Kevin Magnussen came together with the Williams of local boy Logan Sargeant on the very same lap, spinning Sargent backwards into the barriers and disabling his car. A Safety Car to retrieve the stricken Williams was quickly deployed on Lap 29, enabling Norris to duck into the pits for the cheap stop under the full course yellow a lap later. Norris then reemerged still in the lead, setting up a showdown for the victory with Verstappen when the SC ended in the latter part of Lap 32. The pace in the McLaren being up to the challenge, Norris held off Verstappen with aplomb at the rolling the restart and then, to the capacity crowd’s astonishment, began pulling away from the flying Dutchman. With the tension and anticipation of something truly special unfolding as the laps wound down, Norris kept pulling away from Verstappen, who for once could do nothing to get back up to Norris and make a real challenge. Perhaps the Red Bull’s front wing was damaged from hitting that bollard or perhaps the McLaren in Norris’s hands truly had the legs on the RB20 on this day — or maybe little of both. But when the checkers flew it was an ecstatic Norris with that all important first Formula 1 victory to put McLaren back in the winners circle for the first time since 2021 and relegate the runaway championship favorite Verstappen to a wholly unaccustomed P2.

Continue reading →

Featured post

tomvox1’s Watches for Sale – Vintage SS Longines ref. 6536-1 w/Breguet Numeral Dial & Bombé Lugs

 

CLICK HERE TO CONTACT ME FOR MORE INFO ON THIS GREAT VINTAGE LONGINES  SOLD

On offer is this great looking circa 1950s Longines reference 6536-1 in a very cool all-stainless steel Bombé lug case and featuring a beautiful all-original Breguet numeral dial with wonderful eggshell patina and café au lait aged radium luminous. This great vintage Longines is in overall Excellent original condition and sports the terrific in-house caliber 19AS full rotor sweep seconds movement under the hood.

At 35 mm wide, this beautifully proportioned mens watch with attractive Breguet dial wears wonderfully well on the wrist and is a really fine example of mid-century Longines design. To my eyes, this case is like a hybrid of a Rolex Bombé with its twisted, sweeping lugs and then a Patek 565, with the very distinctive flat, “non-bezel” bezel.

Makes for some very interesting and eye-catching effects on the wrist, to be sure, and just a super pleasing case shape that works in wonderful harmony with that handsome ivory Breguet dial. Fully serviced in the middle of last year, this classic Longines is running well and ready to be enjoyed by the lucky new owner. Make it yours today!

CLICK HERE TO CONTACT ME FOR MORE INFO ON THIS GREAT VINTAGE LONGINES  SOLD

Featured post

tomvox1’s Watches for Sale – Vintage Eska Valjoux 22 Spillman Chrono w/Stunning Gilt Sector Dial

CLICK HERE TO CONTACT ME FOR MORE INFO ON THIS KILLER ESKA CHRONO  ON HOLD

On offer this month of March is this rare and beautiful circa 1940s-50s Eska chronograph in Spillman case with amazing gilt sector dial, powered by the famed Valjoux 22 movement. A rather unheralded brand, Eska was founded as S. Kocher in 1918 with “Eska” being a simple phonetic version of those initials for the purposes of branding. Like a lot of mid-century manufacturers, Eska made use of the contract oversize Spillman waterproof cases and Valjoux movements to create aviator & military-style chronographs to meet the demand of the WWII and post-War era.

This example is notable not only for the large and sought after 37mm screw back Spillman case and Valjoux 22 caliber with 45-minute counter under the hood but, of course, the obvious superstar is the stunning black gilt dial with super uncommon and beautiful sector dial layout. This is one of the most sought after chronograph layouts in vintage watches, as made famous by Patek Phillipe in several of their most coveted vintage references. While I wouldn’t call this Eska inexpensive, this special piece will certainly set you back a helluva lot less than a period Patek version would.

Overall, this classic Eska chrono is in Very Good vintage condition with a stunning Very Good+ original gilt dial with complex outer chronograph scales, minute track and interior Arabic numeral sector layout for the timekeeping. The case has some wear and the lugs appear to have been given a matte finish rather than the typical polished finish seen on most Spillman cases. The venerable Valjoux 22 movement was serviced recently and is operating well, ready for years’ more faithful service for its lucky new owner.

The all-original and absolutely stunning glossy black gilt dial features complex outer calibrated Tachymeter & Telemeter chronograph scales, followed concentrically by a minute track and Arabic numeral sector dial interior for the standard timekeeping. Engine-turned sub registers for constant seconds at “9” and the 45-minute recorder at “3”, also with gilt numerals. This Eska sector dial represents beautifully on the wrist, often brightly reflecting the light when you move, and the gilt sector dial layout is absolutely stunning aesthetically, not to mention incredibly hard to find in the wild unless on a modern homage. 

There are not a lot of Spillman cased, Valjoux 22 chronographs out there and even fewer with nice black gilt dials. But a gilt/gloss sector dial Spillman cased Valjoux 22 chronograph has got to be the rarest iteration around. Make this very special vintage Eska chrono yours today.

CLICK HERE TO CONTACT ME FOR MORE INFO ON THIS KILLER ESKA CHRONO  ON HOLD

Featured post

2024 F1 Grand Prix of Bahrain — Results & aftermath

Verstappen opens ’24 campaign with dominant win in Bahrain, Perez P2 as Red Bull remain car to beat; Sainz out-duels Ferrari teammate Leclerc for P3

If there were any illusions remaining from the preseason that another team and driver could truly challenge the Red Bull/Max Verstappen era of dominance that was ushered in with the ground effects spec in 2022, they were quickly shattered in Round 1 of 2024. With the 2024 season starting in Bahrain on Saturday, Verstappen simply picked up where he left off last year when he had one of the most supreme seasons in F1 history. The flying Dutchman led the race’s opening lap from the pole, holding off Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc into Turn 1, and then rapidly distanced the field in imperious fashion. By the time the 57 laps under the lights at Bahrain International Circuit were completed, he had led every lap, set the race’s fastest lap for the extra point and bested his second place teammate Sergio Perez by a whopping 22.457 seconds. With three consecutive Formula 1 World Championships under his belt, the smart money remains on Verstappen to rack up a fourth, which would tie Sebastian Vettel’s awesome title run with Red Bull from 2010 to 2013. While obviously you’ve got to hand it to a driver who is so superior to the rest of the field and so perfectly matched to his vehicle, another season of Verstappen and Red Bull crushing everyone without breaking a sweat is probably not what the Formula 1 brass — or the millions of viewers — really want to see. Still, with a new formula not scheduled to debut until 2026, it’s highly probable that, barring any sort of previously unforeseen reliability issues, it’s going to be the Max Verstappen show on most weekends the majority of the time. Get ready to hear a lot of the Dutch national anthem.

The real battles occurred for the places not on the top step and Perez was able to hold off Ferrari’s very game Carlos Sainz to make it a perfect Red Bull one-two on the day. The veteran Mexican pilot recovered from a subpar P5 qualifying effort to take the fight to George Russell’s Mercedes and the two Prancing Horses of Sainz and Charles Leclerc ahead of him. Despite running his final stint on the more delicate if faster Soft compound Pirellis, Perez was able to nurse his tires to the end and keep the Hard-shod Sainz behind him to earn second place. Nevertheless, it was a strong effort by the Spaniard as he embarks on his final season with Ferrari after being unceremoniously dumped by the Scuderia in favor of Lewis Hamilton for next year. Perhaps driving with a bit of chip on his shoulder from that surprising turn of events, Sainz made a couple off very aggressive passes on his teammate Leclerc, no team orders required, to secure that last spot on the podium. Despite being edged into fourth by his stablemate, Leclerc still had a solid effort in the newly redesigned Ferrari SF-24, particularly as he was plagued by brake or brake bias issues all race long that resulted in multiple lockups. These issues seemed to ease up for the Monegasque when he was not in the hot air of traffic and he was able to catch up and hound Russell into a mistake on Lap 46, overtaking as the Briton’s Silver Arrow slid off track at Turn 11, thereby locking down that P4 for keeps and the valuable 3-4 for Ferrari on the day.

Mercedes also had some technical issues related to overheating that dogged them early in the race in tight quarters but abated somewhat in clean air. Russell was able to keep Lando Norris’s McLaren behind him after Leclerc got by and came home a decent P5. Teammate Hamilton battled one or two gremlins of his own but improved on his poor P9 qualifying by two spots to take P7. Norris secured P6 and McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri slotted in behind Hamilton in P8, essentially confirming that, with Red Bull not really in reach, the battle for second in the Constructors’ points will likely be a three-way battle between Ferrari, Mercedes, and McLaren. At least in this earliest of going, it looks like Aston Martin will not really be privy to that elite competition. After their blistering start to last year, the team plateaued around midway through 2023 and seem to have failed to develop during the offseason. Despite looking fairly quick in pre-season testing and the first qualifying effort of the year on Friday, Fernando Alonso could only muster a fairly distant P9 result, with teammate Lance Stroll backstopping him in P10. Stroll does deserve special mention for that otherwise pedestrian result because he not only started from twelfth on the grid but also need up facing the wrong way on the opening lap after tangling with the Haas of Nico Hulkenberg. So, a good recovery drive from the young Canadian but still, a 9-10 is not exactly where Aston dreamed they’d be today.

Top 10 finishers of the Bahrain GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR LAPS TIME/RETIRED PTS
1 1 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT 57 1:31:44.742 26
2 11 Sergio Perez RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT 57 +22.457s 18
3 55 Carlos Sainz FERRARI 57 +25.110s 15
4 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 57 +39.669s 12
5 63 George Russell MERCEDES 57 +46.788s 10
6 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 57 +48.458s 8
7 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 57 +50.324s 6
8 81 Oscar Piastri MCLAREN MERCEDES 57 +56.082s 4
9 14 Fernando Alonso ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 57 +74.887s 2
10 18 Lance Stroll ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 57 +93.216s 1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race is in but a week’s time and it’ll be another Friday qualifying/Saturday race in Saudi Arabia to accommodate the upcoming Ramadan holiday. There won’t be any time to really upgrade the cars so, look for Red Bull & Verstappen to have another romp when the action in Round 2 gets underway, though the much tighter Jeddah Corniche Street Circuit could provide some more incidents than we saw in today’s Safety Car-free running. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

Featured post

2023 F1 Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi — Results & aftermath

Verstappen caps historic season with easy victory in Abu Dhabi; wins 19 out of 22 races in 2023; first driver to lead 1000 laps; Leclerc P2 but Russell’s elevation to third after Perez penalty plus Hamilton’s P9 finish earn Mercedes second in Constructors’

Red Bull’s supreme ace Max Verstappen ended his historically dominant 2023 campaign in Abu Dhabi the way he started it way back in early March in Bahrain — with a commanding and effortless win. Under the bright and colorful lights of the Yas Marina Circuit, Verstappen cruised from pole to the win in Sunday’s final Grand Prix of the year, with no other car and driver able to challenge the pace of the RB19 in his hands. Having already won his third consecutive title on a Sprint Saturday in Qatar six races ago, the flying Dutchman nevertheless put his foot down to storm his way to a remarkable 19 victories from 22 Grand Prix run this season. Only his teammate Sergio Perez, with two early season wins in Saudi Arabia and Azerbaijan, and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz in Singapore, were able to claim any other top steps on the podium this year. If all that’s not enough of a fitting symbol of his absolute dominance, Verstappen became the first driver in Formula 1 to lead 1000 total laps in a single season. Truly, superlatives get worn thin when describing the amazing year Max and Red Bull have had in 2023, and it will go down as one of the greatest by any team or driver in the sport’s history. It is certainly in the conversation with Lewis Hamilton’s glory days at Mercedes, Michael Schumacher at Ferrari, Jim Clark at Lotus, Jackie Stewart at Terrell and Sebastian Vettel at this very same Red Bull team.

With the top spot on the podium essentially conceded once Verstappen nabbed pole for the race on Saturday, the real dramas took place behind the lead Red Bull. Chief among those was the battle between Ferrari and Mercedes for second place in the all-important Constructors’ standings. Continue reading →

Featured post

tomvox1’s Watches for Sale – Vintage Favre-Leuba Square Steel BLUE Daymatic “Cioccolatone”

SOLD

Up for sale is this very cool and highly uncommon vintage Favre-Leuba Daymatic with beautiful blue dial and impressive square “Cioccolatone”-style all steel water resistant case. Like most rectangular and square watches, this wonderful late-1960s/early-1970s model wears larger than its 33 x 37mm dimensions might indicate and delivers great wrist presence, as you can see from the photo of it on my 7-inch wrist. The rather heavy and ingeniously engineered steel case features wide, downward sloping beveled edges for a distinctly muscular feel not unlike a smaller version of Heuer’s famous Monaco.

I haven’t seen more than a handful of these “Cioccolatone” Daymatic models and never with this exact case design or a blue dial, making it highly unlikely that you will run into anyone else wearing this watch in the wild. The stunning vertically brushed cobalt blue dial with original luminous also happens to be in Mint condition.

The watch itself appears unpolished and is in Very Good to Excellent overall vintage condition, showing honest wear commensurate with having been worn and enjoyed for most of its long life. The rather over-engineered and quite substantial case design features, I believe, some sort of split-crown method for removing the dial, movement and back from the top case in one piece once the locking ring has been unscrewed and thereby gaining potential access to the movement.

In addition to the signed dial, case and crown, this sporty yet elegant Favre-Leuba also comes with its likely original and period correct signed steel buckle, a nice bonus for the attentive collector. Though increasingly difficult to find, there are still some vintage watches out there where you don’t have to spend crazy money to get a ton of style on your wrist. I’d say this striking Daymatic “Cioccolatone” is proof of that.

CLICK HERE TO CONTACT ME ABOUT THIS SUPER COOL FAVRE-LEUBA DAYMATIC

SOLD

Featured post

RIP Mark Lanegan, 1964-2022

I’ve frankly struggled to process the death of the great rock vocalist Mark Lanegan since his passing at the age of 57 this past February. When someone has essentially been your musical spirit animal for 30-odd years it’s very difficult to say goodbye, particularly as Mark’s passing was just the latest in a numerous and dispiriting series of deaths of all-time greats in the music world. It wasn’t the extreme gut punch of Chris Cornell’s painful and unexpected suicide back in 2017; or the shock of Prince’s sad and seemingly pointless OD in 2016; or the extreme melancholy of a stoic David Bowie succumbing to liver cancer that same year. Lanegan was, by his own admission, a long-time hardcore drug and alcohol abuser, as well as a chain smoker, even if he had been reportedly sober for some years now. Then, he also had an extremely nasty case of COVID that put him in the hospital and even into an induced coma for far too long a spell in 2021. (A true artist, Mark wrote two emotionally honest, raw and well-received autobiographical books about those horrible experiences of addiction and illness, Sing Backwards and Weep: A Memoir and Devil In A Coma.)

 Revenue generating link

Borracho

A standout track from just his second solo effort, 1994’s Whiskey For the Holy Ghost , the barn burning “Borracho” shows a young artist already nearly fully formed. 

So, hearing he had died suddenly in late winter of ’22 was not exactly a complete surprise. A total bummer, yes, but one couldn’t be surprised that his extreme lifestyle, born out of a brutally unhappy childhood in rural Washington, had caught up with him and that the bill had finally come due. It wasn’t really any more surprising than Kurt Cobain cashing his check back in 1994. Mark Lanegan was every bit the self-destructive rock poet Cobain was and at least he beat the curse of 27 by about 30 years, not to mention somehow outliving his other doomed contemporaries, Andrew Wood, Layne Staley, Scott Weiland and Cornell. Though that time still seems far too brief now that he’s passed, he put it to astonishingly good use. His longevity and prolific output of exceedingly high quality material, as well as his unflinching honesty as an artist and aversion to self-indulgence, make him one of the towering if woefully underappreciated figures in Rock history. While he was often primarily noted for his work as the Screaming Trees frontman way back in the ’90s, or compared as a solo artist to Tom Waits and Leonard Cohen in a facile, shorthand way, the long view shows many more similarities with Jim Morrison (and even Rimbaud), from the brooding, almost unfathomably deep and textured baritone that could all at once rise to a banshee’s wail, to that craving for riding to the very edge of self-destruction in search of some sort of twisted enlightenment and then — for a long while, at least — returning to tell the tale as only a debauched survivor can.

 Revenue generating link

Because of This

An 8-minute, raga-inflected mini-epic from his third solo album, 1998’s Scraps at Midnight, shows Lanegan’s virtuosic understanding of dynamics in songwriting and within his own vocal range.

Lanegan put his time on this earth and his haunting and beautiful instrument to good use. If you only know Mark Lanegan from Screaming Trees or even just the hit single “Nearly Lost You” then you are really missing out. To get first things out of the way first, though, Screaming Trees themselves were way more than that one big hit from the Singles soundtrack, no matter that Mark held little fondness for his first band. They started well before most of their grunge brethren, back in the mid-1980s, and were key pioneers of that Seattle scene even if never quite fully a part of it. Their earlier recordings are well worth seeking out and show a band rapidly evolving into a semi-psychedelic hard rock powerhouse, with 1991’s Uncle Anesthesia being a particularly tight precursor to their big breakthrough, Sweet Oblivion.

Revenue Generating Link

Dollar Bill

Not “Nearly Lost You” — one of the many ‘hidden gems’ hiding in plain site on Oblivion.

Oblivion, which featured “Nearly Lost You” as its breakthrough hit, is a total ass-kicker from opening to closing track. But the toxic band dynamics and the record label’s condescending view of the Trees as “inferior” to their labelmates, Alice in Chains (perhaps the Trees were not really “Grunge” enough), squelched any momentum they should’ve had. The fantastic, technically impressive follow-up four years on, Dust, failed to build any kind of commercial momentum. Continue reading →

Featured post

tomvox1’s Watches for Sale — Vintage 1970s Audemars Piguet Royal Oak JUMBO 5402ST B-Series

SOLD

Up for sale, a watch that needs no introduction — Gerald Genta’s all time design classic, the original, legendary all-steel Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Jumbo reference 5402ST. This coveted and rare Royal Oak is from the second B-series produced in the mid-1970s and is in Excellent vintage condition overall with a stunning original deep gray Petite Tapisserie dial in absolute Near Mint condition. Featuring all its original case parts as far as I can tell, this Royal Oak 5402 still has its correct second generation signed bracelet clasp, correct unsigned octagonal crown, correct original date wheel and original matching Tritium slim paddle hands. The amazing integrated bracelet has minimal stretch for its age and will fit up to a 7 1/4” wrist comfortably.

This ultimate cult Royal Oak features AP’s revolutionary JLC-derived caliber 2121 ultra-thin automatic-winding calendar movement, a technical marvel with recessed rotor that enables the brilliantly engineered case to remain so thin. This magical caliber was also used in the original Patek Phillipe Nautilus 3700 and the Vacheron Contsantin 222 among others. I had wanted to send this watch to AP for a service but their new policy is to make any 5402 “like new” cosmetically, replacing crown, hands, etc and thereby destroying the vintage originality for us true collectors. So you know going forward unmolested examples like this one are going to become harder and harder to come by. In any event, instead I just had this Royal Oak fully overhauled by my watchmaker, including the installation of a new mainspring, while allowing no other cosmetic work. 

While not a safe queen, the case of this Royal Oak still has sharp chamfers & bevels that appear to me to be unpolished, while the bezel has either softened from years of cuff wear or has been lightly polished at some point in the past (never by me). The watch shows minor wear commensurate with semi-regular use over its nearly 50 years of life, though it’s still in Excellent vintage condition. To my mind, that means you don’t have to worry about babying it and can just strap it on and go when the mood strikes, which is what I’ve done for the eight or so years that I’ve owned this beauty.

The star of the show is the magnificent original Petite Tapesserie dial, which has not gone tropical as so many have and retains its original deep metallic charcoal gray color, with notes of blue in the sun. There are a few very subtle speckles showing in places from the brass beneath under magnification, an effect more noticeable by far in these macro photos than to the naked eye. The original slim hands match the dial perfectly and the appearance is absolutely stunning, looking just about like it came out of the factory yesterday save the pleasingly warm lume patina and the slight “sparkle” effect.

On the wrist, this classic ultra-slim Royal Oak is simply magic. You’ll understand all the hype once you’ve put one on and they don’t come up for sale in this sort of condition too often. Think about making this piece of watchmaking history yours today!

SOLD

Featured post

tomvox1’s Watches for Sale — Vintage Heuer Camaro 7220NT Exotic CHOCOLATE Dial

Up for sale is this absolutely stunning vintage Heuer reference 7220NT Camaro chronograph featuring a beautiful Near Mint+ Third Execution Exotic pure Chocolate dial with stunning red Tachy track and orange chrono hands. This example is in overall Excellent original vintage condition for a 50+-year-old watch and, along with its pristine dial, also retains its original brushed sunburst finish on the top of the iconic cushion-shaped Camaro case.

 SOLD

This 7220 Camaro, which Heuer heads more knowledgeable than I have dubbed the 7220NT Third Execution Exotic, has the correct 174,xxx case serial number for this specific iteration of brown dial, which was only made for a very short time.

I have also just had its famed Valjoux 72 column wheel movement fully overhauled for the convenience of the next owner, including replacement of the mainspring, so it’s good to go with all timekeeping and chronograph functions operating as they should.

Everyone seems to rave about the Panda versions of Camaros as the ne plus ultra but having owned both, this stunning and uniformly “tropical” brown dial blows them away, IMO. In fact, the dials on these are not actually “tropical” per se, as the consensus opinion of the experts is that these were born brown… and I’d have to agree!

Personally, I call this one King Camaro and I think when you peruse the pictures in different lighting conditions you’ll see why I do. After all, you find Panda dials on Carreras and Autavias but nothing as unique as this. There is just something so appropriate to the funky Camaro case shape and the late-60s/early-70s ethos that makes a deep brown dial with a red Tachy track and orange chrono hands totally work. And I know the lucky next owner will enjoy the one-of-a-kind style of this cool brown beauty as much as I have. 

 SOLD

Featured post

Men’s Cologne — Pasha de Cartier by Cartier

Pasha de Cartier is a very interesting, reasonably daring but, at its core, classic and conservative men’s fragrance. Created in 1992 by famed nose Jacques Cavallier, auteur of such varied artistic and commercial successes as Bvlgari’s Aqva Pour Homme, L’Eau d’Issey Pour Homme and a yin-yang duo for Yves Saint Laurent, the archetypal male oriental, Opium Pour Homme, and the throwback wet-shaver fougère, Rive Gauche Pour Homme (among many others), Pasha is variously listed as a Woody or Fresh Aromatic but is more of a typical fougère top grafted onto a somewhat Oriental-style heart and base. That twist is where the interest lies for this yellow juice in the ornate, ribbed, bullet-shaped flaçon. As others more knowledgeable than I have noted, Pasha seems like a kind of bridge between old school barbershop scents and the last gasp of pre-aquatic, spicy masculine semi-but-not-really-powerhouses like the boozy Ungaro pour L’Homme III and the spice-rack-in-a-bottle that is Halston’s Catalyst. Pasha is frequently compared to YSL’s much admired Jazz from 1988 and I can see that — they both share a very classic citric/lavender opening zipped up by spices. But Pasha is altogether sharper, with Cavallier favoring a more focused and pared down offering of mint and mandarin orange to mate to the bracing lavender, as opposed to Jazz’s very busy mix of bergamot, artemisia and basil plus several more culinary spices like coriander, cinnamon, nutmeg and cardamom. The spices in Pasha are also not so well behaved and gentile as they are in Jazz, with caraway seed paired with anise giving a hint of licorice skank playing just below the surface of the brighter top notes for a classic dirty-clean trick of the nose. I also get just a hint of the notorious Kouros in the far dry down for what that’s worth, which may be due to a still-present oakmoss note laying down the bass for those aforementioned high notes. But Pasha is definitely more well behaved and user friendly than the famously difficult and iconoclastic Kouros, so no need to steel yourself for decidedly mixed reactions to that extent when you apply the Cartier.

I also hear Pasha described as sweet an awful lot but I don’t really get that in any honey or fruity sense of the word. In fact, there is a bit of austere dryness to the heart of aromatic rosewood and coriander that seems to suck out any of the juiciness of that initial burst of mandarin orange rather rapidly, leaving just the more bitter and oily peel. By the time this fine eau de toilette evolves into its base of labdanum and a creamy but not cloying sandalwood, buttressed by rather faint hints of patchouli and that fizzy and genuine-smelling oakmoss, you’ve experienced the sort of pleasant olfactory journey of something akin to a good amaro, with pronounced natural citrus fruit and sharp mint melded to slightly funky herbal-spice-woody accords. Pasha also gets compared frequently to Van Cleef & Arpel’s formerly cheap but now discontinued and coveted classic, 1989’s very forest green Tsar, perhaps due to both scents’ perceived “soapiness”. But that seems like more than a stretch to me, as there are no evergreen notes in Pasha whatsoever and it is far more refined and less in-your-face than the rather prickly, pine-juniper/oakmoss bomb that is Tsar. I’d say a more apt analog would be Dunhill’s Edition, which mines a similar hybrid aromatic fougére vein to Pasha in the way they meld traditional bright lavender-citric tops with heavy doses of spiciness, nutmeg and clove in Edition’s case, caraway, anise & coriander in Pasha’s. So, if you like the style of Edition you’ll probably also enjoy Pasha.

Pasha is strong but it’s not loud, screechy or overbearing by any means a la today’s Sauvage EDT, which could actually be considered a descendent if you squint real hard. Somewhat laughably, the famed Leffingwell/H&R Geneology chart of masculine perfumes puts Pasha in the “Fresh Fougére” category in essentially the same column as the key exemplar of that style, Drakkar Noir. Maybe in 1992 Pasha could register as “fresh” compared to, say, bruising chypres like Anteaus, Yatagan and the original, ominous Van Cleef & Arpels Pour Homme. But nobody in 2022 is going to think you smell particularly fresh per se when you’re sporting Pasha. Well-groomed certainly, but Pasha completely eschews any airy aldehydes, florals or really any green, forest notes whatsoever, not even coumarin, which is how you know you’re dealing with an unusual take on a fougère. In fact, it’s a little challenging to contemporary tastes upon the first few wearings, the well blended but diverse notes a bit difficult to get a handle on, not to mention its rather unsmiling and all-business manner. But the quality of the ingredients, the refined nature of its composition and its overall hearkening back to classic masculine tropes in perfumery with a creative twist should win over anyone not solely addicted to ambroxan or vanilla-laden modern “freshies” or ” blue” scents.

There’s none of that contemporary style in Pasha and it definitely skews more old school formal regarding the situations where one might wear it, be that at the office or for a fancier night out at a fine restaurant. But I also feel it works particularly well in cool weather and in outdoor situations due to the bracing nature of its overall citric spiciness and warm, creamy woodiness, both of which frankly make it unsuitable for warm weather. As mentioned above and as with so many iconic men’s fragrances, one definitely can get a “soapy” vibe off of Pasha, which perhaps is where the misguided comparisons to Tsar come into play. But for me, Pasha is the sort of luxury soap found in a fine English hotel; Tsar is a pine resin soap at a lumberjack’s camp. Both have their merits but they’re really nothing alike. Wear time is quite impressive on my skin at a solid eight-plus hours with, like Edition, notable development throughout. Projection is moderate but its subtle sillage is certainly consistently noticeable from about two feet away at its peak and you will get wafts of this from beneath your shirt until the bitter end. At the price point, about $85 on the secondary market for the larger 3.3-ounce bottle, Cartier’s Pasha is not cheap but you get what you pay for quality-wise and it’s pretty much a no brainer for the fan of traditional men’s fougères with just a bit more going on than simply lavender-bergemot-coumarin-oakmoss. While I haven’t tried any of the myriad flankers, I don’t think you can go wrong sampling the original. Pasha is a bit of an acquired taste in today’s world but one that many mature and secure guys will have no problem getting into, even if it should take a little time to do so. The potential rewards from Pasha are essentially too good to pass up giving it a few cool weather wearings to see if you can connect with it.

Featured post

tomvox1’s Watches for Sale — Vintage Mido Multifort “Extra-Flat” Gloss BLACK Radial Dial

SOLD

Newly on offer — and now newly REDUCED — is this handsome and uncommon late-1940s/early-1950s Mido Multifort “Extra-Flat” manual winder with wonderful original gloss black dial in classically sized 34mm all-steel FB/Taubert et Fils case.

This lovely midcentury Mido is powered by their high quality caliber 1200A. This cool Multifort “Extra-Flat” also features an all-stainless steel screwed case manufactured by the famed case makers, FB/Taubert et Fils, which also made cases during this era for Patek Phillipe, Vacheron and Movado.

But the main attraction is the glossy black sub-seconds dial with “copper gilt” print and original radium radially positioned Arabic numerals showing lovely patina. Overall, this great little Mido is in Very Good unpolished vintage condition with a black dial that really pops on the wrist and a wearable size that a lot of vintage Midos don’t possess (it’s the same diameter as a Rolex Date for comparison).

A really nice bit of genuine vintage style & quality for not a lot of money in today’s market. Jump on it now before its gone!

 SOLD

Featured post

tomvox1’s Watches for Sale — Vintage 1961 Omega Speedmaster ref. 2998-3 cal. 321

The time has come to let go of a very special part of my collection, as this beauty just doesn’t get the wrist time it so richly deserves anymore.  SOLD

Up for sale is this all-time classic early 1960s ref. 2998-3 Omega pre-professional Speedmaster powered by the famed Lemania-based manual wind caliber 321 chronograph movement. This is the model refereed to as the First Omega in Space, as a 2998 was on the wrist of Mercury astronaut Wally Schirra during his Sigma 7 flight in 1962, a few years prior to the Speedmaster being officially approved by NASA for all manned space missions to follow. According to the official Omega Extract from the Archives, which obviously will be passed along to the new owner, this Speedy left the factory in 1961 and was delivered to Switzerland at that time. 

This is an exceptional example of the classic and historically important Speedmaster reference 2998, with a well worn but unpolished case and a gorgeous original Radium stepped dial in absolutely Near Mint condition. The original luminous has developed a pleasing dark caramel patina, as has the matching lume of the original Alpha handset. This 2998-3 also features the correct & desirable dagger subdial hands, as well as the straight, non-luminous chrono sweep seconds. Another highlight is the original DON Tachy bezel, which shows wear commensurate to the rest of the watch with some ghosting and wonderful wabi-sabi. 

Overall, the watch is in Very Good vintage condition and it comes on a slightly later (1963) 7912 flat-link bracelet with very hard to come by number “6” end links correct for the 19mm lug width of this straight, no-crown guards case. (If for some reason you don’t want the bracelet, I’m sure we can work out an appropriate discount for the head onIy.) I have also just had the movement preemptively overhauled for the enjoyment of the next owner, so it is ready to wear with all timekeeping and chronograph functions operating well.

Continue reading →

Featured post

Men’s Cologne — Explorer by Montblanc

First off, let’s discuss the elephant in the room when it comes to Montblanc’s Explorer, namely that it is widely considered one of the best “clones” of Creed’s genre-defining blockbuster, Aventus. That’s certainly part of the reason I bought it blind: because I wanted something more economical than Aventus. I enjoy that high-end fragrance but seeing as Aventus retails for somewhere north of four hundred bucks for 100 ml and Explorer can be had for around $100 (and often less than that via discounters like Fragrancenet.com) it seemed like a no brainer to give the Montblanc a tumble. But now having tried them both, applying the Aventus clone label to Explorer seems a bit damning with faint praise in a snobby kind of way. Yes, there are certainly similarities between Explorer (created 2019) and Aventus (2010). But there are enough differences for me to say that Explorer is not so much of a clone per se but rather a designer offering that utilizes the same modern and somewhat minimalist style that has essentially redefined masculine perfumery the way the inexpensive Davidoff Cool Water and the pricey Creed Green Irish Tweed did for the “aromatic aquatic”/”fresh fougere” in the late 1980s (although those two really do smell virtually identical).

From the Montblanc Explorer ad campaign

Instead of the rather heady and photorealistic sweet pineapple top notes of Creed’s Aventus, Explorer opens with a more astringent but still slightly sweet bergamot note which is much more fleeting than the lush tropical fruit of the Creed. It is paired with that ubiquitous pink peppercorn note now found in virtually all flagship masculines like Bleu de Chanel and Dunhill’s Icon, putting Explorer firmly in the same easy to reach for, easy to wear category as those two modern classics. They say there’s clary sage at the top, as well, but I don’t really get a lot of that and Explorer will never be mistaken for classic sage-heavy ballbusters like Antaeus and Maxim’s Pour Homme. Rather, Explorer is always a very polite and office friendly offering. Some have even claimed that it’s a more versatile cologne than Aventus, since it lacks the smoky birch tar/incense note that certain batches of that endlessly fetishized juice seem to emphasize more than others (trust me, you don’t want or need to go down that rabbit hole of Aventus batch micro-analysis — that’s its own weirdly obsessive demimonde). Instead Montblanc and the trio of perfumers who apparently worked by committee to develop this Eau de Parfum opt for a very pleasing vetiver in the heart to pair with the rather seductively salty ambroxan/Ambrofix/ambergris note that also makes Aventus such a joy to wear and such a consistent compliment getter. In some ways, I actually prefer the vetiver-ambergris pas de deux in Explorer, as it comes across like a real exotic beach experience with both the smell of the ocean and the fizz of Haitian vetiver — the coming together of the sea and the land — complimenting each other marvelously. So kudos to the creative team at Montblanc for pairing these two classic notes and blending them so well.

Where Explorer is decidedly inferior to Aventus is in terms of performance. While it gets knocked a lot for smelling “synthetic,” this is a facile criticism to make because Explorer proudly touts the use of artificial scent molecules like Ambrofix and Akigalwood. In fact, Explorer smells just as “natural” as the Creed icon and is never screechy or loud in the vein of another ambroxan-laden poster boy, Dior’s polarizing Sauvage. But frankly Explorer could use a bit more of Sauvage’s swagger because, while it is altogether classier and easier to wear, this “eau de parfum” concentration struggles to perform like even a decent eau de toilette. It could be the way it wears on my skin or perhaps I become anosmic to its scent molecules but I get only about four hours of noticeable wear time and the latter half of that is pretty much entirely as a skin scent. The promised patchouli-Akigalwood base sadly never really materializes, at least from the brand new bottle I have, making this purported “woody aromatic” actually fit the mode of an aquatic aromatic instead with a slightly soapy a very faint finish. I don’t think it is peculiar to me, though, as I can’t really smell it in on my clothes the following day when my nose has been refreshed, a test nearly all colognes that I’ve owned usually pass with flying colors.

Don’t get me wrong, I really like Explorer. I think it’s not so clone-like that if you already have Aventus you would never need or want the Montblanc, especially if you’re particularly fond of this modern style of men’s scent but don’t feel like burning through the high end Creed quite so rapidly. But Aventus thrashes Explorer in terms of longevity and sillage, as do such other modern pillars of perfumery like the aforementioned Bleu de Chanel and Terre d’ Hermès. And while the price is easy enough to afford a backup bottle since you’re going to need to reapply a couple times of day if you want it to stick around, that’s still disappointing. For something that should be an ideal work or casual scent, good in all weather except the very coldest and a definite compliment getter, the poor performance really lets this juice down in the end. I keep waiting for the aeration of the recently acquired bottle — which is a really beautiful flaçon, by the way — to bring a little more punch and power to Explorer, much as time seems to benefit Aventus’s complexity and performance. But I have my doubts. Maybe you’ll have better luck, though, and on just pure wearability and enjoyment of the overall fragrance I still have to highly recommend Explorer to any guy out there looking for a can’t miss crowd pleaser at a fair price. The brief top and heart is so pleasing and frankly addictive you’ll probably forgive Explorer’s rather anticlimactic disappearing act.

Featured post

Men’s Cologne — Invasion Barbare by MDCI Parfums

I don’t often write outright negative reviews — what’s the point in that there is usually something to enjoy in most offerings out there so why take time to dwell on the negative? But for Invasion Barbare, I’ll make an exception. Because anything both this hyped and this expensive should be exceptionally good and it just isn’t to my nose. I’m not even going to go with the damning with faint praise “it’s solid but nothing special.” I’m saying that I do not like the way Invasion Barbare smells at all. Now, I’ll be the first to admit that this reaction places me in the extreme minority of opinions about this highly regarded niche fragrance from the very lux MDCI Parfums. Perhaps swayed by the retail price of $250 per 75ml via Lucky Scent ($375 if you spring for the over-the-top Roman bust flaçon) or grand guru of perfume reviewers Luca Turin’s 5-star rave, people can’t seem to help gushing about this 2006-created “oriental fougère.” But I really don’t like it. For all the talk about the incredible blending of ultra-natural ingredients, IB smells highly synthetic to my nose, as well as unbalanced and flabbily “spicy” until the reasonably pleasant woody dry down. There is a notable lack of greenness in the composition with a lavender that is barely there, subsumed by violet, ginger, cardamom and vanilla notes that provide an almost oppressive warmth and sweetness. I suppose this is what makes Invasion Barbare skew “oriental” but simply put this is not how I like my fougères.

Invasion Barbare starts out with a very heavy violet accord — a note I don’t dislike at all in a many classic men’s scents from Grey Flannel to Morabito’s Or Black — but here it is somewhat flaccid/withered and paired pretty much instantly with ginger, cardamom and a very persistent vanilla, which I admit is a note I usually don’t love and I certainly don’t love it in this. If this parfum-strength juice did actually have more of that promised lavender — or more kick and brightness from the very fleeting grapefruit/bergamot top notes — it might rescue it from the claustrophobic feel I get when wearing it. But the “sharpness,” such as it is, comes from a kind of cedar note buzzing in the background through the dry down, which is pleasant enough on its own, paired with a very realistic but incongruous thyme that just adds to the overall sense of a construction out of balance. It’s also not helped by an utterly generic musk in the base that, paired with the persistent vanilla, really clings to the skin for hours on end for a kind of clean laundry meets woodsy-spiciness plus powder effect. How anyone could perceive these accords as “ultra-natural” and “of the highest quality” is beyond me. Frankly, they smell cheap and artificial and that’s with trying it in winter, undoubtably showing this fragrance in its best light. In warm weather I think it could well be unwearable.

If you want something in this vein but one hundred times better and more distinctive (again, my opinion only) search out an original bottle of vintage Gucci Pour Homme. Yes, the cedar, patchouli and general pencil shavings feel that it shares with Invasion Barbare are dialed up way higher in the lamentably discontinued Gucci PH, perhaps due to a greater concentration of Iso E Super (an ingredient I would bet is also in IB in some quantity). But that is a good thing as it doesn’t allow the ginger that they also share to become so stiflingly prominent and more patchouli would, in fact, have really helped Invasion Barbare to counterbalance its cloying vanilla/musk base notes. At least Guccci Pour Homme has a real masculine personality and doesn’t come across like it was designed by committee out of the most clichéd and synthetic aroma chemicals available after being planned on a white board in some conference room, as well as containing no unisex vanilla. Sure, Gucci Pour Homme may also be nearly as expensive on the secondary market as a brand new bottle of IB but I will take the vintage, out-of-print designer frag over this over-hyped niche offering any day of the week. For a more economical analog you could go with the original Burberry for Men, although in its current formulation it is undoubtedly less refined, more minty and less bold than either the Gucci or the IB, but does share a lot of the same general vibe and can be had for very little money.

So there it is — I don’t like Invasion Barbare. A lot of people do, however, and will praise it to the skies as one of the best fougères in the modern firmament. For me it is neither “fresh” enough or “fougère” (i.e., green) enough to be a pleasant wearing experience, much less deserving of a full bottle purchase at that extremely high price point. Worst of all, it lacks cojones and is altogether generic smelling. Your mileage may vary, of course, so I suggest sampling before you buy, as you probably should with any cologne, especially an expensive one like this. You may well like it a lot, as most reviewers seem to, and find it one of the best, most masculine, most gentlemanly scents out there. For me, it served as a fine motivation to have a vigorous workout so I could justify a second shower on the day to wash it off. So I suppose it wasn’t a total loss after all.

Featured post

Men’s Cologne — Ungaro pour L’Homme I by Emanuel Ungaro

Ungaro pour L’Homme I was the first of three Emanuel Ungaro masculine fragrances released in successive years between 1991 and 1993. Of the three, only the unapologetically macho and boozy Ungaro III is still in production, which is a pity as I and II have plenty to offer the omnivorous frag-head. That said, it’s not hard to see why the first two Ungaro pour L’Hommes were discontinued rather abruptly shortly after Salvatore Ferragamo acquired the brand from Chanel. This first one is described as an Oriental Fougere, a term that seems somewhat like an oxymoron but I suppose because there is a bit of lavender, bergamot and lemon in the composition that is the justification for this hybrid categorization and it is placed close to the infamous Zino from Davidoff on the definitive H&R Genealogy of Masculine Fragrances chart, which makes sense both conceptually and in terms of their similar styles. Like Zino, Ungaro I is primarily an Oriental scent, though it is thankfully much less musty/heavy than Zino. What you get with Ungaro is a heady rose/pathcouli/oakmoss blend with a hard to pin down musk in a base that mainly features sandalwood with hints of amber, tonka and honey. Perhaps because the bottle I have is likely from the early-to-mid-’90s (though not the first batch since it has the Roman numeral on it to distinguish it from it’s successors) I don’t really get a lot of the bright citrus top notes originally listed, though there is definitely some cool lavender up front. Mainly this is one of the most rose-forward men’s fragrances I’ve ever come across, much more so than another ostensible rose powerhouse, Van Cleef & Arpels Pour Homme. The Ungaro is altogether brighter than the gloomy VC&A Pour Homme with an almost photo-realistic rose accord as opposed to Van Cleef’s impression, which is submerged in massive amounts of oakmoss, spices, woody notes and leather. Sure, the oakmoss is quite prominent in Ungaro I, and since this is a vintage potion I assume it’s the real stuff, but here it seems to be dancing a pas de deux with the rose and not overwhelming it. There is a touch of sage, artemisia and pine giving this juice a forested if not really a green feel and I also get some sort of cedar-like woodiness that doesn’t seem to be in the notes. But these heart notes are fairly fleeting and quickly become submissive to a rather impressive and refined patchouli that emerges to the fore in the dry down alongside a pleasantly creamy but subtle sandalwood and just enough amber and honey to keep Ungaro I from getting overly somber.

Now, as you can probably tell from that description, the original Ungaro pour L’Homme can be a tricky scent for the uninitiated and there is something definitely throwback-gentlemanly about it that will make a younger guy raised on aquatics and sport scents run screaming for the hills at first sniff. This is a man’s eau de toilette and specifically a rather well dressed and even formal man. I wore this on New Year’s Eve and I think those sorts of special occasions are where it shines most brightly. You’d be hard pressed to pull off Ungaro I in jeans and a T-shirt or a casual meet-up for brunch with friends. This is essentially a nocturnal scent and not suitable for the office unless you are the boss and want to make a power statement to strike fear into the hearts of the millennials who work for you. It’s not even doable for your average date night unless you happen to be going to a fancy French restaurant that still has a dress code and a wine list like an encyclopedia. Undoubtedly one of the main reasons for its short time in production was that this first Ungaro pour L’Homme was asking a question that was becoming increasingly irrelevant in the ’90s when it debuted and certainly even less so as we progressed into the 2000s and beyond. That would be: What should the well-dressed man wear during some of life’s more formal occasions? There just aren’t enough of these sorts of black tie events in most people’s lives to justify something as over-the-top conservative slash dandified as Ungaro I. I enjoy wearing it but this is no one’s idea of a signature scent — it’s simply not versatile enough for that — and I probably reach for it a mere handful of times in any given year. I’m fairly sure my 3.5 oz bottle will last longer than I will. In fact, it almost feels more 1890s than 1990s and you could easily see Sean Connery’s suave, cigar smoking, ruffle-shirted rogue in The Great Train Robbery wearing this rather majestically anachronistic masculine concoction.

Ungaro pour L’Homme I does smell very, very good and if you have acquired the taste for a dominant rose note in your colognes it’s definitely worth sampling. The problem being, however, that it is discontinued as mentioned and the prices on the secondary market are quite high, like well into the $200s for full size bottles. You can find somewhat pricey decanted mini-samples on eBay from time to time, so that might be the best route to try before you really buy and spend niche money on what was always just a very good quality designer frag. Alternatively, I don’t see the comparison anywhere else but to my nose Ungaro I smells reasonably similar to Guerlain’s Heritage, at least to the latter’s current EDT formulation. For me the two share a similar bright rose note with fizzy oakmoss/patchouli/sandalwood vibes, though there isn’t any of the famed “Guerlainade” vanillin base of Heritage in the Ungaro. Heritage is also somehow more versatile even if still an acquired taste for most modern men and lends itself to casual as well as formal situations once you’ve gotten into a groove with it. But the original Ungaro pour L’Homme is simply too jarringly out of time for that kind of everyday wear. While I don’t find it as gloomy or overly dark as many people seem to and I think comparisons with animalic ball breakers like Salvador Dali Pour Homme and Balenciaga Pour Homme are misguided — de la Renta’s brooding Pour Loui this is definitely not — this eau de toilette performs more like a parfum, projecting quite strongly for the first four hours or so and then settling down to a still potent moderate phase where the patchouli really kicks in until dying down to a pleasant skin scent at around the 8-9 hour mark. I’d say it’s for a relatively mature man who is secure in his own skin, as this one will perplex most men and women under 35, if not 45. It’s definitely masculine and a borderline powerhouse but has a classiness that pulls it back from the brink of loud and uncomfortable. Given the right occasion, Ungaro pour L’Homme I is a rather stunning addition to one’s gentlemanly presentation. It’s just that finding such an occasion and an appreciative audience for this fascinating and rare out-of-print Oriental Fougere can be more of a challenge than actually finding a bottle.

Featured post

RIP Sir Sean Connery, 1930-2020

As if 2020 wasn’t already a rotten enough year, legendary Scottish actor and screen icon Sean Connery passed away on October 31 at the ripe old age of 90. The New York Times obituary is here.

The iconic incarnation of Bond…James Bond but also so much more.

While it’s only natural that the majority of tributes for this great man focused on his career and character-defining creation of James Bond on the big screen — a role that he will forever be linked with through his singular excellence even though he had not played the part in 37 years — Connery was at best ambivalent about this seminal pop culture cinematic contribution. He worked hard both during and after his time as 007 to establish a screen persona distinct from the debonair and dangerous secret agent. While Bond was undoubtedly his ticket to the big time, as early as 1964 Connery was looking to expand his horizons as an actor with his intriguingly complex role as Mark Rutland in Hitchcock’s Marnie (1964) breaking down a neurotic and sexy Tippi Hedren. Even as his career-defining work as Bond turned him into a 1960s pop culture icon on a level with the Beatles, Connery bristled at the confining nature and potential career cul de sac of such a monolithic character. Indeed, he was right to worry that his entire career would be defined by Bond and he would never be able to be perceived or accepted by the public in any other manner. Famously unhappy during location filming in Japan for 1967’s You Only Live Twice and the suffocating and hysterical adulation of his fans and paparazzi there, Connery shockingly renounced the role and passed on making the next film in the series, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. While 1969’s OHMSS is actually one of the greatest Bond movies in terms of plot, featuring complexities of character that wouldn’t be plumbed again until Timothy Dalton’s brief, unsuccessful tenure in the late ’80s and then the rampaging success of Daniel Craig’s current edgy and penetrating portrayal, and one-off Bond George Lazenby did a perfectly capable job, one still wonders what kind of special performance Connery might have given in that final scene mourning the death of his new bride Tracy (the lovely, late Diana Rigg), a victim of Blofeld’s vengeful drive-by shooting.

Alongside Michael Caine getting carried away with their success in John Huston’s The Man Who Would Be King

After Lazenby self-destructed, Saltzman & Broccoli lured Connery back into the EON Bond fold by means of the then-unheard of amount of $1.25 million dollars for the somewhat tacky but enjoyable Vegas romp, Diamonds Are Forever (1971). Pocketing his money like any good Scotsman, Connery bid adieu to Bond and the requisite toupee for the remainder of the 1970s, embarking on a career no longer entirely beholden to the super spy. With his receding hairline a near declaration of liberation, Connery built on the grittier realism of Bond-concurrent performances in The Molly Maguires (1970) and especially Sidney Lumet’s excellent The Anderson Tapes (1971), to craft an equally charismatic but much more jaded and cynical character on screen, particularly the latter’s swaggering, unrepentant thief at large in 1970s New York City. Sure, Connery was still bigger than life, as witness his game participation in the bonkers sci-fi of Zardoz (1974) running around in only a red loincloth for most of the picture; the fantastic Kipling-derived adventure of John Huston’s The Man Who Would Be King (1975), finding the perfect partner for fortune hunting in Michael Caine but getting fatally carried away as a pretend god; and a very Scottish Berber bedeviling Theodore Roosevelt from afar in The Wind and the Lion (1975). But his finely crafted performances, natural as ever, now revealed men with serious flaws and character defects that made them all the more interesting, most notably delusions of grandeur and a true and sometimes self destructive soft spot for the ladies (unlike Bond’s love ’em and leave ’em ethos).

With the beautiful Audrey Hepburn as aging legends in Richard Lester’s poignant Robin and Marian

Connery embraced his middle age with Robin and Marian (1976), Richard Lester’s touching and elegiac reimagining of a post-Crusades Robin Hood returning to find Maid Marian, played by the wonderful Audrey Hepburn, a devoted nun and Nottingham unacceptably under the thumb of his old foe, the Sheriff, played by the always compelling Robert Shaw. Shaw was that rare match in equalling Connery’s natural machismo and toughness, as he had been back in the From Russia With Love days when he was a homicidal defector trained by the Russians to kill Bond. Sir Sean was back at his lighter, mischievous best in Michael Crichton’s excellent 19th Century heist extravaganza, The Great Train Robbery (1979), wonderfully paired with the always unique and equally roguish Donald Sutherland as two particularly brilliant and stylish thieves. After notable cameos in the star studded but bloated A Bridge Too Far (1977), one of several possible suspects for Poirot to consider in Murder on the Orient Express (1974), and the very trippy and enjoyable 1981 Terry Gilliam opus, Time Bandits, where he was perfectly cast as a fatherly Agamemnon, Connery gave another terrific lead performance in the criminally underrated space “western” Outland (1981), laying down the law against long odds Gary Cooper-style, only with a mining station orbiting  Jupiter as the scene of the showdown instead of a dusty frontier town. In 1983 he gave in to the siren song of a return to Bond in the “unauthorized’, non-EON Never Say Never Again, a remake of Thunderball, the rights of which were not controlled by the Fleming estate. While the film and Connery’s return as an aging but still peerless Bond have their undeniable pleasures, not least of the them very worthy opponents in Klaus Maria Brandauer’s flamboyant Largo, a lethal, leather-clad Barbara Carrera as femme fatale Fatima Blush and a delectable Kim Basinger as Domino, it was a strange lateral and some might say spiteful move by Connery. By making a Bond movie in direct competition with not only his old mates Broccoli & Saltzman but also then-current Bond, Roger Moore, it may have satisfied audiences for a double dose of 007 but it did nothing for his reputation as a somewhat irascible star prone to view producers as rip-off artists — certainly with some justification — and to cling to long-held resentments even against those who had helped launch his amazing career.

As a seasoned Irish cop instructing Kevin Costner’s green Eliot Ness on The Chicago Way in The Untouchables

Never Say Never Again was the last time Connery would revisit Bond and not only was he truly done with the legendary character but he embarked on an arguably greater chapter in his career, embracing his age to evolve into a kind of grand old man of Hollywood complete with gravitas and prestige to deliver to any larger than life role. After a fun, swashbucking turn in the silly but enjoyable fantasy of Highlander (1984) — as a Spanish swordsman, no less — Connery found the greatest critical success of his already highly accomplished career as the veteran Irish cop Jim Malone, teaching Kevin Costner’s green Eliot Ness “The Chicago Way” in order to hunt down Al Capone in Brian De Palma’s mega-hit The Untouchables (1987). The role, which the great film critic David Thomson noted culminates with his character “dying a samurai death,” won Connery that year’s supporting actor Oscar, his first and only Academy Award. It also opened up the floodgates of terrific parts to close out the ’80s and provided serious momentum well into the ’90s. He was Indiana Jones’s amusingly cantankerous dad in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), a skillful Soviet submarine commander matching wits with Alec Baldwin’s Jack Ryan in the smash hit The Hunt for Red October (1990) and a British publisher involved in Cold War intrigue and wooing Michelle Pfeiffer in the smart and intricate film version of Le Carré’s The Russia House (1990). As if that wasn’t enough of a third act, Connery also starred in and was executive producer on 1993’s Rising Sun, schooling Wesley Snipes in the ways of the Yakuza; likewise star and executive producer of the Simpson/Bruckheimer/Michael Bay summer blockbuster extravaganza The Rock (1996), as a long-imprisoned British commando freed to team up with Nicholas Cage to stop a group of rogue soldiers from turning Alcatraz into ground zero for a biological terror attack; and showing a lithe, cat-suited Catherine Zeta-Jones the ropes as a suave veteran thief planning a very high concept — and very high! — skyscraper robbery in Entrapment (1999). Even his last real film role, 2003’s very promising but troubled The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, offered a treat for Connery fans with his resonant portrayal of legendary adventurer Alan Quartermaine in twilight.

Connery’s cunning Soviet sub commander matches wits with Alec Baldwin’s Jack Ryan in The Hunt for Red October

So Sir Sean Connery’s passing offers us an opportunity not only to mourn the man who defined James Bond for decades of enchanted fans but also an actor of great daring and bravery who was not content to be solely pigeon-holed by Bond and actively worked to slip the potential trap of such a career-making role. That he succeeded so brilliantly is all the more proof that he was a film actor and a true movie star of the highest order, one of the last of that rare breed who was able to dominate cinema for a multi-decade span by the strength of a very fixed but adaptable screen persona. To revisit the Connery Bond films is always a pleasure and a delight of almost childlike enjoyment; to revisit his other great roles is to see the craft and skill of the mature actor whose joy in more complex parts was always evident on screen and therefore contagious to the audience, a multi-generational audience that never seemed to get enough of the great Scotsman. Godspeed, Sir Sean, and thank you for a lifetime of special performances. While we won’t see your like again we will always have your wonderful films and those many magnificent moments on screen to remember you by.

Featured post

Rolex Collector’s Notebook: The mystery of the “Neat Fonts” matte meters-first 5512 Submariner dial

Grateful thanks for this article go to timlua and HQ Milton for kindly contributing their dials and data. Thank you, gentlemen! I’m also especially indebted to the great collector & Man’s Fine Life contributor Beaumont Miller II, not only for sharing his watch photos but also for his invaluable insights about the “Neat Fonts” dial, its place in matte dial chronology and particularly his excellent observations on its similarity to the mid-1960s gilt Sub dials. My heartfelt appreciation for sharing your expertise, my friend — couldn’t have done this without you!

One of the things that makes collecting vintage watches so interesting, and Vintage Rolex in particular, is trying to decode the subtle changes that took place in ostensibly “identical” watches those many years ago. We see evolutions in movements, in cases but most intriguingly we see variations in dial layouts and typography. And just when you think you’ve figured out a dial sequence and its logical chronology, something else out of the ordinary comes along and makes you look at things with fresh eyes.

timlua's 5512 from the VRF Dial Archive -- the watch that put me on the hunt

timlua’s 5512 from the VRF Dial Archive — the watch that put me on the hunt.

Such is the case with what I call the “Neat Fonts” matte meters-first 5512 dial. I first saw this interesting dial several years ago, when a Vintage Rolex Forum member named timlua submitted his mid-1960s 5512 for the Dial Archive. I knew I had to have one… and it took me 8 more years to hunt one down. As you can clearly see and what struck me right away, the printing on this dial is not at all like what we normally see on the first generation of matte meters-first 551x dials.

A standard matte meters-frist dial -- courtesy HQ Milton

A standard matte meters-first dial — courtesy HQ Milton

Those first gen matte dials for the Submariner have always had a particularly “first draft” quality to my eye, with rather scraggly fonts and slightly uneven printing. And it makes sense that Singer, undertaking their first try at this new matte-style of dial manufacture and departing their tried and true gilt/gloss method of dial printing, might have had some teething issues with their printing techniques. But not so the “Neat Fonts” 5512 dial. You can already see the clean typography that would become a hallmark of the later 1960s and early 1970s Singer dials: nicely proportioned, flat-ish bottom Coronet with a small “mouth”; SUBMARINER text very clean with a distinctive snake-like “S”; and the depth rating pretty level with minimal jump to the numbers and open 6s.

5512MetersFirst-dial-edit

In fact, the “Neat Fonts” dial does not resemble the Mark I meters-first Sub dials at all. It actually resembles the pre-Bart gilt/gloss dials of the middle 1960s with their high standards of printing and execution. So much so that aside from the application of the SWISS – T<25 you might even think that Singer used the same dial dye for the process. Perhaps they did after figuring out how to utilize that gilt-era dye/tampon, which featured a reverse printing method, and apply it to the paint-on-top method of the matte dials. But more likely they returned to it as a template for the new matte-style dye and that is why they are so similar if not quite identical.

5513gilt-coronet 5512MetersFirst-coronet

5513gilt-depth 5512MetersFirst-depth

It also shares some characteristics with the Mark III Red Submariner dial, particularly the fonts for the depth rating, the SCOC text and the odd little feature of the dash in the “SWISS – T<25” not quite being centered over the “30” tick.

Photo courtesy Beaumont Miller II

Photo courtesy of Beaumont Miller II

5512MetersFirst-depth_SCOC

Photo derived from Vintage Rolex Forum's Classic "Everything Red Sub" by Mark Lerman

Photo derived from Vintage Rolex Forum’s Classic “Everything Red Sub” by Mark Lerman

(If you visit the great site DoubleRedSeaDweller.com you can also see that the SCOC text on the Neat Fonts and Mark III Red Sub is highly similar in format/style to the Mark I 1665 Double Red Sea-Dweller, indicating another connection there.)

Making this iteration even more interesting is that unlike just about every no-date Sub Rolex ever made, the “Neat Fonts” dial is always to the best of my knowledge found only in 5512s and never 5513s. Continue reading →