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2023 F1 Grand Prix of Spain — Results & aftermath

Verstappen romps to easy win in Spain; Silver Arrows soar with Hamilton P2, Russell P3; Aston & Ferrari falter

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen continued his recent run of utter domination, blowing away the rest of the field at Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix to take another easy victory, his third on the trot. Verstappen solidified his status as the prohibitive favorite for the Formula 1 Drivers’ Championship by making it five wins out of seven races run in 2023. He beat runner-up Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes to the line by a whopping 24-seconds, the second GP in a row where the flying Dutchman has bested P2 by over 20-seconds. Better still for Verstappen, his teammate and ostensibly closest title challenger Sergio Perez could not fully overcome his poor qualifying and starting spot of P11, rallying to an impressive but still insufficient P4 by the race’s end. As Sky Sports commentator Martin Brundle pointed out, Perez must essentially finish second to Verstappen on the days when he himself does not win. And after a disastrous zero-point effort in Monaco a week ago, Perez’s 12 points in Barcelona to Max’s maximum 26 must have felt like little more than a consolation prize. With the points lead now 53 in Verstappen’s favor over his teammate in the same superior equipment, it’s hard to see another result than a third consecutive crown for the reigning two-time champ. Such was Verstappen’s front running dominance in Spain that he seemed to lose focus and repeatedly exceeded tracks limits, leading to his actually being shown the Black & White flag. Not that any penalty would have made a difference even if he had earned one…

Despite Verstappen’s dominance, it turned into an entertaining race as the rest of the field died for positions and there were multiple overtakes, something rarely said about this circuit. Mercedes came out the other winners on the day, their latest upgrades having the chance to really show their stuff at the high speed Circuit de Catalunya-Barcelona, as they could not on the tight streets of Monaco a week prior. Despite getting run into form behind by McLaren’s Lando Norris diving into Turn 1 as the race got underway, Lewis Hamilton was able to survive and thrive. With Norris forced to pit prematurely for a new front wing, Hamilton moved up to P4 and then showed that the Silver Arrows’ pace was superior to the much improved Aston Martin’s, getting by Lance Stroll for P3 on Lap 8. After coming in on Lap 25 for the first pit stop and ditching his opening set of Soft Pirelli tires for the Mediums, Hamilton resumed his attacking ways by very quickly dispatching the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz for P2 on Lap 28. With outstanding work by his pit crew leading to a mere 2.2 seconds stationary on the second stop on Lap 51 and a switch back to Softs for the final stint , Hamilton maintained that P2 all the way to the end of this 66-lap contest. It equalled the seven-time Champion’s best finish of the season, giving the Mercedes faithful hope that their team might be the best of the rest behind Red Bull when all the points are tallied up.

The possibility of a Mercedes resurgence got even more realistic in view of teammate George Russell’s outstanding performance in Spain. Mired back in P12 after a terrible Saturday qualifying that even featured contact with Hamilton, the younger of the British duo had the bit between his teeth from the moment the lights went out. Russell was super aggressive, using literally all of the track and then some to storm up from that lowly grid position all the way to P6 by Lap 7. As his teammate would do, Russell was also able to overtake the nearest rivals in the pack, dispatching Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso early and then Sainz’s Prancing Horse late to secure the final podium place by the final third of the contest. Russell was even able to hold off Perez’s best last gasp efforts and secure that valuable P3, which led to the Mercedes works team overtaking this year’s biggest surprise, Aston Martin, for P2 in the Constructors standings. One swallow does not make a spring but all signs point to positive progress for the Silver Arrows as we head into the heat of summer.

Ferrari were once again left scratching their heads at their cars’ erratic race pace. After a strong P2 qualifying by Sainz in his home race, the speed went away over the long haul of the Grand Prix and the Spaniard could manage no better than an eventual P5 result. Still, that was miles away from the disappointment felt by teammate Charles Leclerc, who not only suffered the ignominy of qualifying P19 and then starting from the pits when the team desperately attempted to cure on his car by breaking parc ferme. But despite those efforts, the Monegasque nevertheless lacked race pace and was unable to work his way back into the points over the course of the 66-laps, ending up in P11. It was a bitterly disappointing day for Leclerc only a year out from starting on pole at this very same race and track. And with Mercedes back on the ascent and Aston still scoring good points, the nervousness among the Scuderia’s brain trust was almost palpable, especially after touting the supposed upgrades to the SF-23 going into this weekend.

With Leclerc’s dismal result, Aston were once again able to out-point Ferrari here in Round 8, something very few would have predicted before the start of the 2023 Championship. However, there were signs that they may be finding their level after overachieving to this point. Lance Stroll finished ahead of his veteran teammate Fernando Alonso for the first time this year, P6 to P7, after Alonso damaged his floor during a moment of inattention and resultant trip into the gravel trap during quali. But neither car ever was a real threat to overhaul Sainz’s Ferrari, and both Astons were passed relatively easily by each of the Mercedes at different points in the race. While the team would certainly have leapt at third in the Constructors points where they now find themselves, it is fair to ask if they will be able to keep up with the pace of progress that Mercedes is now deploying and mount a credible challenge to retake second. And if history is any lesson, it would seem to be a matter of when not if Ferrari get it together and get both their cars working in harmony. So, another good day for Aston Martin but they had better keep tuning their AMR23 because the other teams are certainly going to be bringing their own upgrades.

Rounding out the Top 10, Alpine had another good day, with Esteban Ocon taking P8 and Pierre Gasly grabbing the last point in tenth. And Zhou Guanyu of Alfa Romeo fought hard and drove well to bring home a decent P9 result for the team. Both Zhou and Gasly were helped by a 5-second penalty to AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda after the Japanese driver was deemed guilty of forcing Zhou off track late in the going. For McLaren, it was a dismal day and made their strong qualifying effort look like nothing more than a mirage. Norris’s race was effectively destroyed by the early contact with Hamilton and after a promising P3 start he finished a lowly P17. But teammate Oscar Piastri avoided incidents yet still finished P13 after starting in P9, indicating that the McLaren’s “upgrades” are not yet ready for primetime.

Top 10 finishers of the Spanish GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR LAPS TIME/RETIRED PTS
1 1 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT 66 1:27:57.940 26
2 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 66 +24.090s 18
3 63 George Russell MERCEDES 66 +32.389s 15
4 11 Sergio Perez RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT 66 +35.812s 12
5 55 Carlos Sainz FERRARI 66 +45.698s 10
6 18 Lance Stroll ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 66 +63.320s 8
7 14 Fernando Alonso ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 66 +64.127s 6
8 31 Esteban Ocon ALPINE RENAULT 66 +69.242s 4
9 24 Zhou Guanyu ALFA ROMEO FERRARI 66 +71.878s 2
10 10 Pierre Gasly ALPINE RENAULT 66 +73.530s 1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race is in a fortnight’s time — the Canadian Grand Prix from the beautiful Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve. While every race now seems to be Verstappen’s to lose, anything can happen in motorsports and there are plenty of other plot lines to be written throughout the paddock. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2023 F1 Grand Prix of Spain — Qualifying results

Verstappen takes dominant pole in Barcelona ahead of Sainz; Leclerc knocked out in Q1, Perez in Q2; Norris qualifies P3 in upgraded McLaren; Alonso starts only P9 in home race; Mercedes avoid catastrophe as P5 Hamilton and P12 Russell collide late in Q2

 

Top 10 qualifiers for the Spanish GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 1 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT 1:13.615 1:12.760 1:12.272 20
2 55 Carlos Sainz FERRARI 1:13.411 1:12.790 1:12.734 22
3 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 1:13.295 1:12.776 1:12.792 22
4 10 Pierre Gasly* ALPINE RENAULT 1:13.471 1:13.186 1:12.816 21
5 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 1:12.937 1:12.999 1:12.818 23
6 18 Lance Stroll ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 1:13.766 1:13.082 1:12.994 23
7 31 Esteban Ocon ALPINE RENAULT 1:13.433 1:13.001 1:13.083 21
8 27 Nico Hulkenberg HAAS FERRARI 1:13.420 1:13.283 1:13.229 18
9 14 Fernando Alonso ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 1:13.747 1:13.098 1:13.507 18
10 81 Oscar Piastri MCLAREN MERCEDES 1:13.691 1:13.059 1:13.682 20

*Gasly penalized 6 grid spots for impeding during Quali, starts P10

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race airs live beginning at 9AM Eastern on ESPN here in the States. Hope to see you then to find out if anyone can challenge the soaring Verstappen and just how far up Leclerc can fight his way through the field from a P19 start!

2023 F1 Grand Prix of Monaco — Results & aftermath

Verstappen romps to victory in Monaco despite late rain; Alonso a distant P2 after wrong tire call; Ocon takes P3 with stellar effort; Perez scores zero points to cap off lost weekend

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen laid down a major marker in his quest for a third consecutive Formula 1 Drivers’ title, dominating the always significant Monaco Grand Prix on Sunday to claim a relatively easy victory despite the uncertainty brought by rain late in the race. Starting from pole for the first time here and with his teammate and closest championship rival Sergio Perez forced to start from the rear after the Mexican street ace crashed heavily during Saturday Qualifying, Verstappen proved untouchable in race trim even at this slow speed street circuit where the RB 19 ‘s usual DRS superiority was not really a factor. Verstappen potentially put Perez’s championship hopes to the sword with an untouchable performance and a second career win on the streets of Monte Carlo, as Perez was betrayed by a series of errors that saw him unable to advance his position and ended up scoring zero points on the day. Verstappen survived and thrived during the rainy conditions that swooped down from the mountains starting on Lap 52 of this 78-lap contest, patiently riding out several very slippery laps to suss out the track conditions & future weather before diving into the pits for the now necessary treaded Intermediate Pirelli tires on Lap 55.

On the other hand, Verstappen’s closest competition in the race, Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso, chose to pit a lap earlier for Medium slicks after running his Hards all the way to Lap 54. It proved to be a crucial miscalculation by Alonso’s strategists, as it remained far too wet for slick tires to function and the Spaniard was forced to pit again on Lap 56 for the much needed Inters. Alonso ended up a distant second to the flying Dutchman, nearly 28-seconds adrift, and it’s reasonable to speculate just how much time that second stop cost the Spaniard. With a pit delta of around 19-seconds and traffic circulating relatively slowly due to the poor conditions, if Aston had just made the move to Inters right off the bat, the story of the latter third of the race could have been a bit different. Still, it’s hard to see how anyone really had anything for Verstappen on this day and in his current run of unstoppable form, even the magnificent Alonso. Either way, it meant another strong result in P2 for Fernando, his highest finishing place of the season and his rather remarkable fifth podium out of six races. Alonso is having a renaissance and Aston Martin have made a quantum leap in performance with the AMR23 that makes them arguably the second best car in the paddock.

For Perez, it was an absolutely lost weekend due to the knock on effects of his heavy qualifying shunt, which required a chassis change and a host of other repairs overnight, resulting in a last place start on the grid. On a track where passing is extraordinarily difficult, Perez was stifled in the early going of the race and then got caught up in some extracurriculars that essentially doomed his race further. Trying to somehow move through the field, he tangled with the second Aston Martin of Lance Stroll and the Haas of Kevin Magnussen, contact that damaged his front wing to the extent that he needed a new nose by Lap 36. This totally negated his planned long run tire strategy. After another damaging incident coming together with Mercedes’ George Russell when the rains started to fall, Perez was relegated to tire testing the full Wet Pirellis in potential service of his teammate. He finished two laps behind Verstappen, whose points lead over his teammate grew to 39, while Alonso narrowed his deficit to Perez to only 12. All in a all, a weekend to forget for Perez and he’ll probably be happy there’s another race next weekend to wash the bitter taste of this disaster out of his mouth.

On the other end of the spectrum, it was pure jubilation for Alpine’s Esteban Ocon, who finished an excellent P3 after being gifted that grid position by Charles Leclerc’s penalty for impeding during quali. Ocon became the first Frenchman to reach the podium in Monaco since Jean Alessi way back in 1993. Ocon tenaciously fought off all challengers, including at various times, the two Ferraris of Carlos Sainz and Leclerc and the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton. Ocon also acquitted himself well in the rain, smartly pitting with the main group of frontrunners for that key switch to Inters on Lap 55 and then keeping it clean in the final stanza for that eye opening P3 result. Throw in Pierre Gasly’s solid P7 effort and it was an outstanding result for the midfield Alpine team. Hamilton was the best of the rest, running a solid if unspectacular race and staying out of trouble in tight quarters to finish in P4. Hamilton and Silver Arrows stablemate George Russell, who finished P5, were also helped by yet more strange strategy decisions by the Ferrari pit wall and some inconsistent driving by their pilots. After Carlos Sainz collided with Ocon speeding out of the tunnel and into the Nouvelle Chicane on Lap 11, damaging the Spaniard’s front wing, the team seemed to equivocate on their next move, resulting in a series of aborted calls for Sainz to box. When they did finally call in their driver from P4 on Lap 34, Sainz was none too pleased when he found himself emerge down in P7. But Sainz made his own misfortune later in the race when he spun out in the rain and lost several more positions, ending up in P8 at the finish and making for a very frustrating day for him.

Leclerc’s day was not that much better, though the Monegasque did rally in front of the home fans to maintain P6 behind Russell when the checkers flew. That’s where he started after that 3-place grid penalty so at least he didn’t lose any positions, but neither could he make any up after that key qualifying mistake. Leclerc is quite talented but prone to mental errors that lead to a lack of consistent performance and cost him better results. One wonders if this is because he feels he has to overdrive the Ferrari to even come close to the Red Bull’s pace or if he is just putting too much pressure on himself and that leads to a loss of concentration. Whatever the reason, it was another disappointing result in his home GP.

Rounding out the top 10, McLaren got good results amidst the chaos for others with a P9 for Lando Norris and P10 for rookie Oscar Piastri. With major upgrades coming to their chassis, McLaren will take those kinds of points paying results with their current underperforming car any day of the week.

Top 10 finishers of the Monaco GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR LAPS TIME/RETIRED PTS
1 1 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT 78 1:48:51.980 25
2 14 Fernando Alonso ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 78 +27.921s 18
3 31 Esteban Ocon ALPINE RENAULT 78 +36.990s 15
4 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 78 +39.062s 13
5 63 George Russell MERCEDES 78 +56.284s 10
6 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 78 +61.890s 8
7 10 Pierre Gasly ALPINE RENAULT 78 +62.362s 6
8 55 Carlos Sainz FERRARI 78 +63.391s 4
9 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 77 +1 lap 2
10 81 Oscar Piastri MCLAREN MERCEDES 77 +1 lap 1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race is in but a week’s time — the Spanish Grand Prix from the very familiar Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya where the drivers due their pre-season testing. While Alonso will be on home soil, it’s Verstappen who looks to be unstoppable right now in any country and on any track. But of course in racing, surprises happen all the time and nothing is a given. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2023 F1 Grand Prix of Monaco — Qualifying results

Verstappen grabs first Monaco pole with mighty effort in dying seconds of Q3, bumps game Alonso to P2; Leclerc slots in at P3 at home GP; Perez crashes out heavily in Q1

Formula 1 returned to action after the unfortunate cancellation of last week’s planed Emilia Romagna Grand Prix due to the catastrophic flooding in that beautiful region with a thrilling Saturday qualifying for tomorrow’s Monaco Grand Prix. Under clear and sunny skies and with the famed street circuit ever-evolving to the bitter end of Q3, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen pulled out a miracle final lap at the death to earn his first-ever pole in Monte Carlo, bumping the seemingly supreme time of Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso and relegating the veteran Spaniard to P2. That sets things up nicely for the points-leading Dutchman as he seeks to build on his seemingly unstoppable championship momentum after a frankly amazing run from ninth to victory in Miami twenty days ago. As for Alonso, even though he’s now still hunting his first pole in F1 since 2012, he’s certainly in the mix for the win tomorrow if he can get away to a good start and get ahead of Verstappen. The Aston Martin in Alonso’s hands is arguably the second best car on the grid and the Red Bull’s usual DRS advantage should be quite muted at this tight, slow speed circuit. Not to mention that Alonso also out-qualified both Ferraris on the day, bettering hometown hero Charles Leclerc*, who came home with the third fastest time, and teammate Carlos Sainz, who was not as quick at P5. (*Leclerc was subsequently penalized three grid positions post-qualifying when he was adjudged to have impeded Lando Norris.)

Alonso was also aided by Verstappen’s teammate and main title rival Sergio Perez’s unforced error in Q1, when the veteran Mexican, who has had his share of drama in Monte Carlo, overcooked it going into Sainte Devote and crashed heavily into the outside barriers at Turn 1 there. While Perez was unhurt, it was a heavy shunt that literally smashed the normally robust carbon fiber side pod to smithereens and likely ruined the gearbox and rear suspension, as well. So, on a day where team Red Bull were thrilled to have one driver on pole after a tight multi-car duel, don’t be surprised if Perez is forced to start from the pits tomorrow, making any sort of points finish a rather remote possibility on this near-impossible to overtake track. If Verstappen saunters away from Perez in the championship fight, his teammate’s rather inexplicable crash so early in quali will be pointed at as the season’s key turning point.

Alpine also showed really good pace on the day, with Esteban Ocon at one point topping the timing sheets late in Q3 but settling for P4 when the big boys had their say, and teammate Pierre Gasly notching a solid P7 effort. Lewis Hamilton out-qualified his Mercedes teammate George Russell, P6 to P8, despite having a shunt in the final practice session earlier in the day that required repairs and then struggling for pace in much of qualifying. And AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda did very well to take a solid P9, while McLaren’s Lando Norris had to settle for P10 after damaging his car in Q2 by hitting the outside barrier in the Nouvelle Chicane, his team nonetheless having done yeoman’s work in getting it repaired and able to turn some laps in Q3.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Monaco GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 1 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT 1:12.386 1:11.908 1:11.365 30
2 14 Fernando Alonso ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 1:12.886 1:12.107 1:11.449 25
3 16 Charles Leclerc* FERRARI 1:12.912 1:12.103 1:11.471 26
4 31 Esteban Ocon ALPINE RENAULT 1:12.967 1:12.248 1:11.553 26
5 55 Carlos Sainz FERRARI 1:12.717 1:12.210 1:11.630 28
6 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 1:12.872 1:12.156 1:11.725 30
7 10 Pierre Gasly ALPINE RENAULT 1:13.033 1:12.169 1:11.933 25
8 63 George Russell MERCEDES 1:12.769 1:12.151 1:11.964 29
9 22 Yuki Tsunoda ALPHATAURI HONDA RBPT 1:12.642 1:12.249 1:12.082 29
10 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 1:12.877 1:12.377 1:12.254 23

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race airs live at 9AM on ABC here in the States. While qualifying is usually the more exciting event than the actual race in Monaco, look for Alonso to keep Verstappen on his toes in the early going, as there is really nothing between the Aston and the Red Bull on this short street course. It should also be interesting to see if the Red Bull braintrust can figure out a way to get Perez back in the mix with some sort of bold strategy maneuver. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2023 F1 Grand Prix of Miami — Results & aftermath

Peerless Verstappen recovers from P9 start to take dominant victory in Miami, relegates Red Bull teammate Perez to P2; Alonso earns fourth podium out of five races with solid P3

Red Bull’s peerless ace Max Verstappen recovered from an ill-timed Red Flag during Saturday Qualifying that relegated him to a P9 start for the Miami Grand Prix all the way back to a surprisingly easy victory on Sunday. On a track that had been difficult to pass on in its debut last year, 2023’s race was a very different affair, featuring a passel of passes and not only by Verstappen. But, once again, it was the Red Bull in the Dutchman’s hands that proved an irresistible force, as Verstappen carved his way through the midfield during the first third of the GP like a hot knife through better. If this were IMSA, the RB19 would surely be given a balance of performance weight penalty, such was the seeming ease of its multiple overtakes on reasonably proficient cars, including, eventually, his teammate. Verstappen and his strategists also made the wise decision to start on the Hard Pirelli tires from his disadvantaged position on the grid, while the others in the top 10 started on the quicker but shorter-lived Mediums. In any event, after biding his time and staying out of trouble on the opening lap, Verstappen essentially proved the distinction between Hard and Medium tires to be meaningless for him, first making easy work of Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas on Lap 2 for P8 and then nabbing two places by passing the Haas of Kevin Magnussen and the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc while they were preoccupied dueling each other on Lap 4 to vault up to P6 in the relative blink of an eye. By this point it was clear that not only was Verstappen going to be able to get up and challenge his race leading teammate Perez by the last stanza of the race but it was actually Perez who was likely to be the hunted rather than the hunter, even on one of the Mexican’s favored street courses.

While Perez had successfully gotten out of DRS range of the very fleet P2 Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso, with Alonso likewise being able to keep the P3 Ferrari of Carlos Sainz at bay in the early going, he was unable to build a gap over his hard charging Red Bull teammate further behind. On Lap 9, Verstappen made easy work of Mercedes’ George Russell for P5 and on the next lap he rounded up the out-of-position Alpine of Pierre Gasly for P4 at the same point in Turn 17, the last real corner at the Miami International Autodrome and a section that turned into a prime overtaking area on Sunday. Just a few laps later, Verstappen was on the back of Sainz’s gearbox and he then flew by the Spaniard for P3 midway through Lap 14, utilizing Turn 11 with aplomb this time and then duplicating the feat on Alonso on the subsequent lap. So, by Lap 15 of the 57-lap contest, Verstappen had already erased the memories of his qualifying disappointment and made up an astounding eight positions. With that, he set about closing down his race leading teammate just up the road.

Before any early intra-team dramas could bloom on track, the Red Bull pit wall called in Perez on Lap 20 to make the switch off his aging Medium tires and onto the Hards, which he would be forced to run for the remainder the contest due to the preferred (and likely only feasible) one-stop strategy. That handed the lead to Verstappen and the Dutchman now concentrated on pumping in solid laps on his Hards while running in clean air to bank time for his own inevitable pit stop. That he did in seemingly effortless fashion, running all the way to Lap 46 before diving to the pits for fresh rubber and a new set of Pirelli Mediums with which to close out the race. While the normally top notch Red Bull pit crew was slightly slow by about a second and Verstappen came out behind Perez once again, it was quickly all too clear that Perez on aging, 25-lap old Hards was no match for Verstappen on fresh Mediums. The Flying Dutchman stamped his dominance on yet another race and demoralized yet another teammate, cruising by the game but helpless Perez just a few revolutions of the circuit later on Lap 48, making the decisive move while the two ran side by side down into Turn 1. From there, Verstappen just set off into the distance, setting the race’s fastest lap for the extra championship point en route to the victory five seconds ahead of Perez. It was a remarkable exhibition in Miami and a real statement of dominance by the two-time and reigning World Champion after a disappointing weekend in Baku, setting things up nicely for a rematch between the only two genuine contenders this season two weeks hence at Imola.

Top 10 finishers of the Miami GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR LAPS TIME/RETIRED PTS
1 1 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT 57 1:27:38.241 26
2 11 Sergio Perez RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT 57 +5.384s 18
3 14 Fernando Alonso ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 57 +26.305s 15
4 63 George Russell MERCEDES 57 +33.229s 12
5 55 Carlos Sainz FERRARI 57 +42.511s 10
6 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 57 +51.249s 8
7 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 57 +52.988s 6
8 10 Pierre Gasly ALPINE RENAULT 57 +55.670s 4
9 31 Esteban Ocon ALPINE RENAULT 57 +58.123s 2
10 20 Kevin Magnussen HAAS FERRARI 57 +62.945s 1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race is in a fortnight’s time on May 21st, the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix from the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, aka Imola, just a little southeast of Bologna. Bring your appetite for more wheel to wheel action between the Red Bull championship rivals and teammates, with Perez aiming to reassert his title hopes and Verstappen looking to hand out another beatdown. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2023 F1 Grand Prix of Miami — Qualifying results

Perez takes pole on Miami as late Leclerc spin brings out Red Flag to scramble grid; Alonso P2, Sainz P3; Verstappen P9 after failing to set Q3 time

Saturday Qualifying for this year’s Miami Grand Prix turned unpredictable in the dying moments, as Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc lost it late in Q3 while trying to improve his position, spinning his Prancing Horse off the circuit entering Turn 17. That brought out a Red Flag for the stricken Ferrari and with under two minutes remaining in the final quali session, ended Q3. It also froze all the drivers in their prior positions with no more chance of improvement. For Red Bull’s Sergio Perez, that meant the fatstest lap of the session and pole for Sunday’s race. But it also doomed  his teammate and championship rival Max Verstappen to an uncharacteristic P9. The Dutchman aborted his first lap of the final session and then was never able to set another time afterwards due to Leclerc’s mishap. The very tight Miami International Autodrome is a hard place to make passes so Verstappen will have his work cut for him, though if any current F1 driver can recover from that disadvantage, it’s him. Conversely, Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso benefitted from the abbreviated quali session and secured P2 alongside Perez on the front row. With the Spaniard’s run of excellent form to start 2023 and a very completive car, P2 may well be where he finishes the race.

Leclerc’s teammate Carlos Sainz also reaped the benefits of having already banked a solid fast lap earlier in the session and will start P3, while Leclerc obviously did not improve on his standing P7 time. Haas’ Kevin Magnussen was ecstatic to find himself starting P4 after a really solid day for the Danish veteran. And Alpine had a much needed good result with both cars getting through to Q3 and Pierre Gasly qualifying up in P5 and Esteban Ocon in P8.  On the other hand, Mercedes had a torrid time of it in the Miami heat with George Russell only able to manage a time good enough for P6 and teammate Lewis Hamilton unceremoniously knocked out in Q2. The seven-time World Champ will start way back in P13, his first-ever start outside the top 6 while on American soil. Ala Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas was P10 and did not leave the pits at all in that fateful final session.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Miami GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 11 Sergio Perez RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT 1:27.713 1:27.328 1:26.841 20
2 14 Fernando Alonso ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 1:28.179 1:27.097 1:27.202 19
3 55 Carlos Sainz FERRARI 1:27.686 1:27.148 1:27.349 18
4 20 Kevin Magnussen HAAS FERRARI 1:27.809 1:27.673 1:27.767 19
5 10 Pierre Gasly ALPINE RENAULT 1:28.061 1:27.612 1:27.786 20
6 63 George Russell MERCEDES 1:28.086 1:27.743 1:27.804 20
7 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 1:27.713 1:26.964 1:27.861 19
8 31 Esteban Ocon ALPINE RENAULT 1:27.872 1:27.444 1:27.935 20
9 1 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT 1:27.363 1:26.814 DNF 15
10 77 Valtteri Bottas ALFA ROMEO FERRARI 1:27.864 1:27.564 DNS 15

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race airs live on ABC beginning at 3:30 PM Eastern here in the States. With a rather epically jumbled grid and Vertsappen forced to make up a ton of positions on a notoriously difficult to overtake circuit, it should be a wild ride in the Sunshine State. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2023 F1 Grand Prix of Azerbaijan — Results & aftermath

Perez cruises to victory with help from timely Safety Car, Verstappen P2 as Red Bulls run away in Baku; pole-sitter Leclerc P3 for first Ferrari podium of season

Confirming on Sunday what has been abundantly clear since Round 1 this season, the Drivers’ championship hunt is a two-man, intra-team Red Bull battle, with ostensible number two driver Sergio Perez surging to within 6 points of leader Max Verstappen after an absolutely dominant weekend in Azerbaijan. Making the most of the first Sprint race of the season, Perez won that 17-lap affair in fine fashion on Saturday to take the 8 points on offer. The veteran Mexican then powered his way from a P3 starting grid spot to another impressive victory in Sunday’s full length Grand Prix on the very tricky and treacherous Baku City Street Circuit. Perez took advantage of a slight strategic error by Verstappen’s side of the pit wall when they called the Dutchman in on Lap 10, when AlphaTauri rookie Nyck De Vries came to a stop on track after clipping a barrier. With Verstappen leading the race after an early Lap 4 pass on the pole-sitting Ferrari of Charles Leclerc, his strategists gambled on a momentary local yellow flag  or Virtual Safety Car period to make the switch off the opening-stint Medium Pirellis and onto the Hard compound to execute the preferred one-stopper. But De Vries was unable to restart, necessitating a Safety Car, which then allowed the rest of the main contenders to get ultra-cheap 11-second pit stops and allowed the second place Perez to emerge as the leader and Leclerc now also ahead of Verstappen in P2. When the race resumed on the very end of Lap 13, Perez scampered away deftly, while Verstappen showed the pace advantage inherent in the Red Bull chassis by dusting off Leclerc for that second position without delay and without need of the not yet reenabled DRS. While Verstappen could occasioanally close the gap to his teammate, the longer the 51-lap contest went on, the more Checo inched away from his grasp, in the end coming home over two-seconds ahead of his two-time champion teammate. That made it a massive 33 point haul for Perez over the race weekend to Verstappen’s 24. With no other cars able to challenge Red Bull to this point, it also signaled game on for what could be the best intra-team battle since Hamilton vs. Rosberg in 2016.

While Ferrari’s Leclerc earned pole in both the Sprint and the GP, the Monegasque was unable to convert either of those into victory due to the obvious limitations of the SF-23 in race conditions. In fact, Lecerc has technically won four poles in a row in Azerbaijan if this year’s Sprint is included but has yet to take a victory in Baku. Nevertheless, the Monegasque drove efficiently and held off a hard charging Fernando Alonso for the latter part of the contest to take P3 and earn the Scuderia’s first podium of the season. As things stand now in relation to the peerless Red Bulls, that’s probably about the best result Ferrari can expect barring reliability issues for their rivals. While Alonso didn’t quite have the pace on old Hard tires to hunt down Leclerc he did score another impressive result for the massively improved Aston Martin team, crossing the line in P4 as the checkers flew. Teammate Lance Stroll, who suffered with grip more than Alonso, nearly losing it going into Turn 1 at one point, was able to come home safely in P7, shoring up the team’s improbable P2 in the Constructors’ standings. The second Ferrari of Carlos Sainz drove well enough to keep the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton at bay and finish P5, while Hamilton recovered from a poorly timed pre-Safety Car pit stop to take P6, overtaking Stroll on Lap 20 for that position after the Canadian made an error going into Turn 16. On a weekend when Mercedes were pretty clearly the fourth best team, the second Silver Arrow of George Russell had a fairly lackluster time of it in Baku and had to settle for P8, though the young Briton did set the fastest lap for an extra point after a late switch to Soft Pirellis on the penultimate lap. McLaren’s Lando Norris and AlfaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda rounded out the Top 10 finishers in Azerbaijan coming home in P9 and P10 respectively.

Top 10 finishers of the Azerbaijan GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR LAPS TIME/RETIRED PTS
1 11 Sergio Perez RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT 51 1:32:42.436 25
2 1 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT 51 +2.137s 18
3 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 51 +21.217s 15
4 14 Fernando Alonso ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 51 +22.024s 12
5 55 Carlos Sainz FERRARI 51 +45.491s 10
6 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 51 +46.145s 8
7 18 Lance Stroll ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 51 +51.617s 6
8 63 George Russell MERCEDES 51 +74.240s 5
9 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 51 +80.376s 2
10 22 Yuki Tsunoda ALPHATAURI HONDA RBPT 51 +83.862s 1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race is in but a week’s time — the Miami Grand Prix, the first of three United States-hosted contests this year. With Perez full of confidence and a master of the street race, look for the Mexican to be right on pace with teammate Verstappen and up for the increasingly intriguing championship fight. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2023 F1 Grand Prix of Azerbaijan — Qualifying results

Leclerc bests Verstappen for pole on the streets of Baku, Perez P3

Charles Leclerc’s mastery of the tricky Baku Street Circuit during qualifying continued on Friday when the Ferrari ace bested Red Bull’s Max Verstappen for fast lap honors and the pole position for Sunday’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix. After a three-week break and on the first of Formula 1’s gimmicky Sprint Race weekends of 2023, this year’s rules have at least been tweaked so that Qualifying is now still really Qualifying for the race grid, with the Sprint Race on Saturday counting for championship points but not grid positions. (Why they need a second mini-race on Saturday with an additional 3-rounds of “shootout” qualifying before it, and on a very treacherous race track to boot, is beyond me, especially if the goal these days is cost reductions… but what do I know.)  With the standard qualifying therefore beginning on Friday, teams scrambled to come to grips with the often tight yet frequently high speed Baku circuit with only one practice session under their belts. Leclerc proved to be the fastest learner, returning to one of his best quali tracks and earning his third in a row Azerbaijan pole. Coming into the final stages of Q3 with the exact same time on the pylon, the Monegasque was able to hook up his last lap just that little bit more efficiently than Verstappen, beating the usually peerless Dutchman by nearly two-tenths. It was Leclerc’s first pole of what has so far been a trying season for the fabled Scuderia, and also the first time that Verstappen has not claimed pole after coming out of the gate this year with three on the trot. Despite Leclerc’s excellent quali form here, however, he has never won at Azerbaijan. He and the team will be praying that changes on Sunday.

The second Red Bull of Sergio Perez qualified P3 on a track where he won in 2021. And the second Ferrari of Carlos Sainz will line up across Checo in P4, an impressive effort after struggling mightily for grip for most of the day. Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton pulled a surprise P5 out of the bag in the end after the Silver Arrows seemed to be seriously down on pace all day long, which resulted in teammate George Russell getting bounced in Q2. Aston Martin continued their strong start, with Fernando Alonso setting the sixth fastest time and Lance Stroll slotting in at P9. And McLaren built on their momentum from their good double-points result last race in Australia, with Lando Norris taking P7 and rookie Oscar Piastri P10. AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda rounded out the Top 10 with a very solid effort good enough for P8 on the grid.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Azerbaijan GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 1:41.269 1:41.037 1:40.203 21
2 1 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT 1:41.398 1:40.822 1:40.391 20
3 11 Sergio Perez RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT 1:41.756 1:41.131 1:40.495 21
4 55 Carlos Sainz FERRARI 1:42.197 1:41.369 1:41.016 24
5 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 1:42.113 1:41.650 1:41.177 24
6 14 Fernando Alonso ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 1:41.720 1:41.370 1:41.253 23
7 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 1:42.154 1:41.485 1:41.281 20
8 22 Yuki Tsunoda ALPHATAURI HONDA RBPT 1:42.234 1:41.569 1:41.581 23
9 18 Lance Stroll ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 1:42.524 1:41.576 1:41.611 23
10 81 Oscar Piastri MCLAREN MERCEDES 1:42.455 1:41.636 1:41.611 24

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

The Sprint Shootout quali results are here and the Sprint Race results are here.

Sunday’s race airs live on ESPN beginning at 7AM Eastern here in the States. It’s usually an incident-filled and dramatic affair on the streets of Baku, so you wouldn’t want to miss it. Hope to see you then to find out if Leclerc can take it to Verstappen and wrest the win from the Red Bull points leader!

2023 F1 Grand Prix of Australia — Results & aftermath

Verstappen prevails is chaotic, incident-filled Aussie GP; Hamilton runs to a clean P2, Alonso survives late-race carnage & rulings for P3

The only predictable thing in Sunday’s absolutely bonkers Australian Grand Prix at the tricky Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne was Red Bull’s Max Verstappen taking victory. The rest of the race was pure chaos that featured a record three Red Flag periods for debris clean up, followed by nail-biting two standing restarts from the grid, and, not coincidentally, a whopping eight retirements. With the race already having been effected by the first Red Flag on Lap 9 after Williams’s Alexander Albon lost control and crashed out at Turn 7, spewing gravel all over the track that necessitated a lengthy cleanup, it seemed that the results would come down simply to long run tire management by the top 3 of Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso. But right after Verstappen seemed to show a hint of vulnerability on Lap 54 of this 58-lap contest by running off track and through the grass after locking up on his aging Hard Pirellis, the real drama began in earnest. On that same lap, Haas’s Kevin Magnussen misjudged his exit coming out of Turn 2 and bashed his rear right into the concrete barrier. That knocked the rubber off the rim as well as shattering Magnussen’s suspension and a second Red Flag was thrown on Lap 55 to clean up the debris field & haul away the stricken Haas, as well as preserve a few precious final racing laps and not end under yellow. The stewards then made the momentous decision to restart the race from the grid once again, rather than a more conventional rolling start behind the Safety Car, thereby turning the Down Under GP into a 2-lap shootout.

This backfired rather spectacularly when the cars sped off in anger again, as first the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz got into Alonso’s Aston Martin, spinning his fellow Spaniard around amidst a pack of snarling F1 cars. Directly or indirectly, that had the knock-on effect of forcing the Alpine of Pierre Gasly across the road and into the front left tire of his teammate Esteban Ocon, wrecking both of their cars in the process and robbing the team of a certain double-points finish. As a result of all that mayhem, another Red Flag was thrown with no chance of any more competitive laps being left to run. Now the debate within the FIA race directors and rules experts was on how to classify the field for the final ceremonial restart. After another long delay, it was decided that the order would be determined by the positions upon the prior restart, as the field had not even completed one sector before the last Red Flag had come out. That was great news for Alonso and Aston teammate Lance Stroll, the latter having also lost a ton of spots outbreaking himself amidst the mayhem. And while it seemed to be good news for the lone surviving Ferrari of Carlos Sainz in P4, that joy was extremely short lived when the stewards handed down a 5-second penalty to Sainz for the earlier contact with Alonso. With the twelve cars surviving to take the checkered flag all bunched together behind the Safety Car and no racing on the final lap, that saw the disconsolate Sainz dropped out of the points to dead last of the runners in P12. It made for a miserable, pointless day for the fabled Scuderia, which also suffered the ignominy of seeing their other pilot, Charles Leclerc, crash out and beach himself on the very first lap while  going into Turn 1 after contact with Stroll. To say Ferrari and their drivers are seriously in trouble in their championship pursuits after just three rounds would be an understatement.

Possibly lost in all that drama and incident was Verstappen’s first win in Australia and second of the season. And while it didn’t look as if Hamilton or Alonso really had anything for the Dutch points leader, particularly in the face of the Red Bull’s seemingly invincible advantage while using DRS, it was still an excellent race for both veterans, who joined Verstappen on the podium to make it three World Champions taking home trophies when the GP finally ended. Hamilton withstood Alonso’s best efforts and kept it clean to maintain a solid P2, even briefly taking the lead from Verstappen early in the race. That gives some hope and momentum to the Silver Arrows in their quest to creep closer to the imperious Red Bulls. It was also doubly important that Hamilton scored big points on the day because teammate George Russell was forced to retire on Lap 18 when something in his engine caught on fire. For Alonso, who looked like he had been punted out of the points by Sainz, it was another sweet day on what is turning out to be a 2023 renaissance. With his P3 restored after the collision with Sainz and teammate Stroll promoted back up to P4 after Sainz’s penalty, it was also a banner day for Aston Martin, which have made themselves a genuine fourth powerhouse team in F1. Spare a kind word for Sergio Perez, as well. The second Red Bull had to start from the pits after a disastrous qualifying and some engine tweaks while in parc fermé. But the talented Mexican, who excels at driving through the field, patiently worked his way up to P7 at the time of the penultimate Red Flag. And, while he went dirt tracking through the mayhem on that fateful final proper restart, losing several spots in the process, between the ruling on the actual race positions reverting to prior to that start, the double DNF of the Alpines and the penalty to Sainz, that pulled Checo all the way up to a very respectable and hard-earned P5.

If Alpine had a disaster with their late race shunt between teammates and subsequent double DNF, team McLaren finally caught a break after a dismal zero-points start to this year’s campaign. Lando Norris was able to finish in P6 and rookie teammate & Melbourne native Oscar Piastri got a fairy tale P8 in his literal hometown Grand Prix.  Alfa Romero’s Zho Guanyu and AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda also capitalized on the carnage to come home safely in P9 and P10 respectively.

Top 10 finishers of the Australian GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR LAPS TIME/RETIRED PTS
1 1 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT 58 2:32:38.371 25
2 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 58 +0.179s 18
3 14 Fernando Alonso ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 58 +0.769s 15
4 18 Lance Stroll ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 58 +3.082s 12
5 11 Sergio Perez RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT 58 +3.320s 11
6 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 58 +3.701s 8
7 27 Nico Hulkenberg HAAS FERRARI 58 +4.939s 6
8 81 Oscar Piastri MCLAREN MERCEDES 58 +5.382s 4
9 24 Zhou Guanyu ALFA ROMEO FERRARI 58 +5.713s 2
10 22 Yuki Tsunoda ALPHATAURI HONDA RBPT 58 +6.052s 1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

Somewhat suitably after this epic, bizarre and frankly exhausting contest in Australia, the next race is in three weeks time — the equally unpredictable Azerbaijan Grand Prix on the perilous streets if Baku. So rest up and I’ll hope to see you then for what should be even more crazy F1 action!

2023 F1 Grand Prix of Australia — Qualifying results

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

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

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

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

Top 10 qualifiers for the Australian GP:

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

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

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