2019 F1 Grand Prix of Spain — Qualifying results

Bottas coverts momentum into dominant pole at Barcelona, outperforms Hamilton in P2; Vettel P3 for Ferrari

Valtteri Bottas carried the momentum of his redemptive victory in Azerbaijan two weeks ago and converted it into a dominant pole at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Spain in Saturday qualifying. The ostensible Number 2 at Mercedes once again bettered his 5-time World Champion teammate Lewis Hamilton to secure his third pole position in a row and enhanced his case to be taken seriously as genuine threat for this year’s title. Hamilton did qualify in P2 but the Englishman was was a full 6-tenths behind his budding Finnish rival. Sebastian Vettel was once again the third fastest car on the track, as Ferrari find themselves unable to close down Mercedes’ superior pace despite all the pre-season hype. His talented teammate Charles Leclerc had a bit of ragged Q3 and only set the fifth fastest time.

That saw Red Bull’s Max Verstappen split the two Prancing Horses to to take P4 on the grid. Once again the Dutch wunderkind easily bested his junior Red Bull teammate Pierre Gasly, who could do no better than a P6 time. The two Haas F1 cars had their best quali session of the season showing solid speed at this most familiar of tracks, which all the teams use for preseason testing; Romain Grosjean got a much-needed confidence boost by pipping his teammate Kevin Magnussen P7 to P8. The Haas team desperately need a good result come Sunday after a rocky start to the 2019 campaign and at the very least their car looks nicely hooked up on the Barcelona circuit and should be quite competitive.

Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat did very well to score a P9 start but the Russian also needs to bring the car safely home in that points and avoid his usual unfortunate tendency to be reckless in the race. Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo was the last of the top 10 qualifiers but he was assessed a 3-spot grid penalty after backing into Kvyat in Azerbaijan so McLaren’s Lando Norris will be promoted to start P10 tomorrow.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Spanish GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 77 Valtteri Bottas MERCEDES 1:16.979 1:15.924 1:15.406 18
2 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 1:17.292 1:16.038 1:16.040 17
3 5 Sebastian Vettel FERRARI 1:17.425 1:16.667 1:16.272 18
4 33 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING HONDA 1:17.244 1:16.726 1:16.357 12
5 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 1:17.388 1:16.714 1:16.588 19
6 10 Pierre Gasly RED BULL RACING HONDA 1:17.862 1:16.932 1:16.708 17
7 8 Romain Grosjean HAAS FERRARI 1:18.042 1:17.066 1:16.911 16
8 20 Kevin Magnussen HAAS FERRARI 1:17.669 1:17.272 1:16.922 15
9 26 Daniil Kvyat SCUDERIA TORO ROSSO HONDA 1:17.914 1:17.243 1:17.573 20
10 3 Daniel Ricciardo RENAULT 1:18.385 1:17.299 1:18.106 19

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s Spanish GP airs live starting at 9AM Eastern on ESPN2 here in the States. Hope to see you then to see how it all shakes out!

Certina DS2 SuperPH1000M

tomvox1’s Watches for Sale — Vintage Certina DS-2 Super PH 1000M Dive Watch

Now on offer for the merry month of May is one of the great cult dive watches of all time — the massive and massively good looking Certina DS-2 Super PH 1000M (say that 3 times fast!).  At 45mm in diameter and a whopping 18mm tall this muscular, purpose built diver is what it would be like if a Doxa Sharkhunter and an Omega Ploprof had a baby.

Certina DS2 SuperPH1000M

Hailing from the innovative late-1960s/early-‘70s era this early version of DS-2 1000M features the coveted matte black applied index dial with orange accents in Mint condition. The dial’s original Tritium luminous has acquired a lovely patina, as has its original highly legible Tritium handset. And its innovative bi-directional bezel features a very clever spring loaded self-locking design. You simply press down to rotate it in either direction and when you stop applying pressure it pops back up and locks itself into place.

Certina DS2 SuperPH1000M

An underrated company for the most part, Certina was a true manufacture at this time and their excellent in-house 27-jewel caliber 25-651 with semi-quickset date is what lies beneath that remarkable robust all-steel exterior. I’ve had it serviced since owning it and it’s ticking away like a champ.

Certina DS2 SuperPH1000M

Obviously no safe queen, this stunning Certina DS-2 Super 1000 has instead clearly led an adventurous life and is ready for its next chapter as a robust tool watch companion for an equally adventurous new owner. Strap this bad boy on and see where it takes you!

Certina DS2 SuperPH1000M

Check out the complete ad with many more pictures and complete condition report over at the always hopping Omega Forums Watch Sales corner.  SOLD

2019 F1 Grand Prix of Azerbaijan — Results & aftermath

Bottas brilliant in Baku for the win, Hamilton P2 to extend Mercedes mastery; Vettel P3 for frustrated Ferrari

Valtteri Bottas entered the 2019 season vowing to be less of a wingman to his peerless 5-time World Champion teammate Lewis Hamilton and more of a threat to him for the title. So far in this young season Bottas has made good on his promise. After pipping Hamilton for pole position, Bottas was able to hold off the hard charging Hamilton on the opening lap of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on Sunday at the alternately wide and tight Baku City Street circuit. It was something the Finn was unable to do in China two weeks ago but this time he kept his elbows out in a respectful but forceful manner and kept Hamilton behind him. Following that crucial first lap, the pace of Bottas’ Mercedes was untouchable by the rest of the field, including his elite teammate. Bottas was able to pull away and manage the race from the front, surviving some tricky tire strategy, as well as Hamilton’s best efforts, to eventually romp to the win by a healthy 1.5 seconds. That avenged Bottas’ heartbreaking loss here last year when a late lap puncture denied him certain victory and he now has two wins to bookend Hamilton’s own brace. Bottas leads the Englishman by a single point in the Driver’s standings, which he scored by taking fastest lap in Melbourne along with the victory there. The race in Azerbaijan, Round 4 of the Championship, also highlighted a dominant start by team Mercedes and marked their fourth consecutive 1-2 finish to start the year.

That is bad news for Ferrari and fans of the fabled Scuderia. After all the talk of the Prancing Horses having the pace advantage over the Silver Arrows, Ferrari has yet to prove that in a race this year. Mercedes appears able to turn up the performance without sacrificing reliability and they have two drivers who almost never make mistakes. Both those shortcomings bit Ferrari in Baku. Wile looking like the fastest overall during each round of practice, Ferrari’s young phenom Charles Leclerc binned his car into the TecPro barriers at the tricky Castle complex during Saturday qualifying. Yeoman’s work by the team’s mechanics enabled Leclerc to start with a healthy car on the grid on Sunday and he was elevated to P8 by the time the race started due to others’ penalties. But it was a far cry from a possible pole and put the Monegasque on an alternate tire strategy from the rest of the frontrunners, with Leclerc’s Prancing Horse starting on the Medium Pirelli’s while the other top 10 began on the softs. So Leclerc would obviously run a longer first stint and for a while it looked like the alternate strategy just might pay off with unexpectedly good results, as the Soft rubber of those around him expired much more quickly than expected.

Pics courtesy GrandPrix247.com

Leclerc made a passel of passes through the midfield to get to P5 by Lap 7 and by the time Hamilton finished off the round of pit stops for the top 3 on Lap 14 Leclerc inherited the race lead. But Ferrari may have gotten greedy — they were also understandably worried about the life of the Soft tires to close the race to be fair — and kept Leclerc out on that first set of Medium tires all the way to Lap 34. Continue reading →

2019 F1 Grand Prix of Azerbaijan — Qualifying results

Bottas sizes last-second pole at Baku at expense of teammate Hamilton; Vettel qualifies P3 for Ferrari after Leclerc crashes out in Q2

Mercedes ostensible Number 2 driver Valtteri Bottas snatched pole for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in the dying moneys of an action packed Saturday qualifying, knocking off his teammate Lewis Hamilton’s previously supreme time by .06 seconds as the checkered flag flew. For a desperate moment in Q3 it looked as if Mercedes had blown it by playing cute and loitering at pit out while a stream of cars launched onto the track for their last runs. But with the sun setting and the track cooling after several crash-induced delays to qualifying, Mercedes had the last laugh by enabling their two stars to utilize the slipstream of the closest cars in front of them — for Hamilton running last that meant Bottas — to get a tow down Baku’s enormous final high speed straight. That proved to be enough of an advantage for both Silver Arrows to once again lockout the front row. And for Bottas, who made just slightly better effect of that drafting technique than Hamilton, it meant gaining the prime position to try and avenge his loss in this race last year when he was leading handily but suffered a puncture that cost him victory just yards from the finish line.

Pics courtesy GrandPirx247.com

Mercedes’ joy once again came at the expense of Ferrari, which had been looking like the quickest cars coming into qualifying today. The fastest of the Prancing Horses on this tight and treacherous Baku City Circuit was actually the junior member Charles Leclerc who displayed a decided advantage over his teammate Sebastian Vettel and the entire field throughout each of the three practice sessions. But team and driver may have both gotten a little greedy in Q2. With Ferrari setting the pace the braintrust decided to put both cars out on the Medium Pirellis, the only cars in the remaining 15 to go out on the harder rubber. The Medium tires lacked just that bit of grip on the cooling asphalt and Leclerc misjudged his breaking by a fraction going into the very tight Turn 8 Castle complex. The young phenom tried to make the corner rather than play it safe and abort down the escape runoff but the Ferrari went straight and speared heavily into the TecPro barrier, ending the Monegasque’s day and badly damaging his chassis. From looking like a favorite for the pole Leclerc instead was left bitterly upbraiding himself and praying that his team of mechanics can rebuild a competitive car by the start of the GP tomorrow.

The surviving Ferrari of veteran Sebastian Vettel qualified P3 and the German looked like he might seize the pole that Leclerc left unclaimed. But Mercedes’ slipstream strategy nipped him at the end and relegated Vettel to the second row. He will start alongside Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who was very quick, as well, and qualified P4. The Dutchman’s Red Bull could be the dark horse for the race win because the car looks exceptionally well planted on this technical circuit and perhaps the team’s lack of straight line speed relative to the big two of Mercedes and Ferrari can be made up in race trim. Unfortunately, Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate Pierre Gasly, while also very quick, was undone by incurring a major penalty for blowing by the inspection weigh station in Friday practice, which necessitates a pit lane start as draconian punishment. Look for the Frenchman to cut his way through the laggards at the back of the field in the opening laps, though of course he must stay patient in such tight quarters lest he throw the race away by clashing with slower competitors.

The misfortunes of some of the members of the top three teams proved a boon to several of the midfield runners. Now benefitted more than Sergio Perez, who did a wonderful day’s work by willing his Racing Point machine all the way up to the fifth fastest time. Similarly, Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat had one of his good days and overcame a hard kiss off the wall on his rear right to qualify P6. McLaren rookie Lando Norris qualified P7, which was the best placement of any Renault-powered chassis on the grid by far. Antonio Giovinazzi also had his best-ever qualifying result, besting his Alfa-Romeo teammate Kimi Raikkonen P8 to P9, as Alfa also made good use of slipstreaming to set their fast final laps. Unfortunately for the young Italian he will drop back 10 spots on the gird come Sunday due to power unit changes. That means even after his mishap in Q2, Leclerc is slated to be elevated to P9 on the grid for tomorrow’s start. That is if Ferrari can rebuild his car without taking any parts-change penalties in the process.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Azerbaijan GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 77 Valtteri Bottas MERCEDES 1:42.026 1:41.500 1:40.495 20
2 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 1:41.614 1:41.580 1:40.554 21
3 5 Sebastian Vettel FERRARI 1:42.042 1:41.889 1:40.797 23
4 33 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING HONDA 1:41.727 1:41.388 1:41.069 15
5 11 Sergio Perez RACING POINT BWT MERCEDES 1:42.249 1:41.870 1:41.593 17
6 26 Daniil Kvyat SCUDERIA TORO ROSSO HONDA 1:42.324 1:42.221 1:41.681 23
7 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN RENAULT 1:42.371 1:42.084 1:41.886 23
8 99 Antonio Giovinazzi ALFA ROMEO RACING FERRARI 1:42.140 1:42.381 1:42.424 21
9 7 Kimi Räikkönen ALFA ROMEO RACING FERRARI 1:42.059 1:42.082 1:43.068 21
10 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 1:41.426 1:41.995 11

Complete qualifying results amiable via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race airs live on ESPN2 at  8:00 AM Eastern here in the States. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out at this always eventful street circuit!

Men’s Cologne — Monsieur de Givenchy by Givenchy (Original)

This is a review for the original Monsieur de Givenchy, which was in production for about a million years before being reformulated and moved to the Les Mythiques line of classic Givenchy fragrances from years gone by. I don’t have any experience with the new Les Mythiques version, although I do know it is certainly streamlined and tweaked ingredient-wise and complaints about its sillage and longevity are prevalent amongst the cognoscenti. That said, the original Monsieur de Givenchy is not exactly a powerhouse either. Nor was it meant to be.

One of the granddaddies of masculine perfumery, Monsieur de Givenchy was the famed designer’s first offering for men and debuted way back in 1959. Along with Chanel Pour Monsieur (1955 ) and Dior’s Eau Sauvage (1966), Givenchy’s Monsieur could be said to form a perfect triptych of “modern” mid-century aromatic citrus fragrances from which all successors have borrowed and taken inspiration. Interestingly nowadays not quite as highly regarded as those other two icons of masculine perfumery, for my money Monsieur de Givenchy is certainly more wearable today for the average guy than the more senior Pour Monsieur, which has a much heavier powder vibe to go along with its lemon-floral mix. It is also decidedly less sweet than Eau Sauvage, leaning less on fruity citrus than the Dior and more on bracing lemon and lemon verbena for its top notes. Monsieur de Givenchy’s other real signature element is its reliance on a crisp and classy carnation that fills out the heart after the initial eye-opening lemony astringency of the top notes.

There are also the traditional lavender, sandlewood and oakmoss accords very subtly undergirding the base of what is really a very bright and invigorating composition overall. Interestingly, the nose behind this mid-century masterpiece was Francis Fabron who was primarily a woman’s fragrance composer. But Monsieur de Givenchy is unmistakably masculine with its aura of restrained elegance and overall high end barbershop vibe. It’s just about the perfect morning tonic after a shower and a shave and is particularly good in warm weather when heavier colognes become unpleasant to wear. In fact, while labeled an Eau de Toilette, Monsieur de Givenchy is similar to Eau Sauvage in that it essentially performs at a traditional Eau de Cologne strength while maintaining superior natural ingredients and a beautifully structured overall composition. So sillage and projection are moderate and unintimidating while longevity is relatively fleeting at around 4 hours, the last 1 hour as pretty much a skin scent. But then if you are looking for power there’s always Monsieur’s patchouli-soaked bad boy brother Gentleman. It’s notable that Givenchy cleverly played up the concept of a different scent for day and night in their marketing by pairing the two bottles in the ads after Gentleman was introduced in the more ballsy ’70s.

If you’re looking for a sophisticated masculine that pairs well with a crisply ironed cotton shirt at the office or at brunch with friends and family or perhaps a new flame, Monsieur de Givenchy is a classic choice that really hasn’t aged a bit in its long life. It makes a great changeup from most modern masculines, as there isn’t a hint of sweetness or the aquatic and yet it is still “fresh” in the best sense of the word. And since the original is my only experience with it, I’d recommend picking up a vintage bottle on eBay, where they are generally under $80 for a 2 ounce spray and less for a splash. You certainly could try the new Les Mythiques interpretation and at around $40-something for 3.3 ounces from discount retailers like Amazon it’s definitely much less pricey. But I’ll be sticking with the original version for as long as it doesn’t get too crazily expensive on the secondary market. I like Monsieur de Givenchy just the way he always was. Why mess with a classic?

2019 F1 Grand Prix of China — Results & aftermath

Hamilton runs away from Bottas & field to dominate Chinese GP, Mercedes finish 1-2; Intrigue builds at Ferrari as team orders boost Vettel to P3 at Leclerc’s expense

The Chinese Grand Prix was essentially won on the getaway the moment the lights went out to start the race at the Shanghai International Circuit on Sunday. Lewis Hamilton got the better escape from the line and bested his pole-sitting Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas to take a lead he would never really relinquish. After Bottas’ inspiring pole run in Saturday qualifying it had to be deflating for the Finn to once again find himself looking at Hamilton’s war wing for nearly the entirety of the race, as so often happened last season en route to Hamilton’s fifth World Championship. After Hamilton’s somewhat lucky win in Bahrain two weeks ago where he and Mercedes were the beneficiaries of Ferrari’s fumbles, Hamilton was simply supreme in Shanghai this contest and no other driver in the field could put him under duress from Lap 1 onward. It was Hamilton stamping his authority back on team Mercedes and the series itself after Bottas had won in Round 1 in Melbourne. It also put the Englishman solidly into the lead of the Drivers’ points for the first time this young season. And when Bottas brought his Silver Arrow home safely in P2 6.5 seconds in arrears of Hamilton he was also a good 7 seconds ahead of the P3 Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel, insuring the third consecutive Mercedes 1-2 finish in three contests so far and maximum points for this era’s dominant team in the 1000th Formula 1 race. It was also Hamilton’s 75th career victory, the most by any current F1 driver and second most in the sport’s history behind only the great Michael Schumacher.

Pics courtesy GrandPrix247.com

For Ferrari the days discontents ran deeper than their cars clear inferiority to the Mercedes and Vettel’s eventual third place and Charles Leclerc’s P5 finish. The Scuderia’s brain trust made an early and consequential call from the pit wall on Lap 11 for their young phenom Leclerc to the let the veteran Vettel through. While that is never an order for any driver to swallow and Leclerc was understandably miffed it also had the net negative of not paying off. Vettel was not really that much quicker than Leclerc if at all, struggled to get the Medium Pirellis that the all the top five started on to work and never really seemed a threat to P2 Bottas up ahead. The team then tried to make a different play by splitting their strategy, calling Vettel in first on Lap 19 for the Hard compound and then telling Leclerc to stay out to Lap 31 to theoretically take advantage of fresher tires at the end with much younger Hards..

But the very abrasive Shanghai Circuit had other ideas for any team seeking to make the race a one-stopper. Continue reading →

2019 F1 Grand Prix of China — Qualifying results

Bottas wins pole in China for F1’s one thousandth race, beats out Hamilton in P2 for Mercedes front row lockout; Vettel third fastest ahead of teammate Leclerc

Mercedes’ ostensible number two Valtteri Bottas laid down a scorching final lap of 1:35.547 in Saturday qualifying at the Shanghai International Circuit to claim pole for the Chinese Gran Prix tomorrow. Bottas, who tamale Lewis Hmaitlon by a single point in the Drivers’ standings in the early going, had the superior Silver Arrow on this day and in fact had already secured the pole when Hamilton crossed the line in front of him already a few one-hundredths down on the Finn’s previous fast lap as Q3 ended. Bottas wound up improving his already excellent time on his final pass nonetheless. It was the second Mercedes front row lockout in three race weekends so far this young season and marked Bottas first pole since Round 16 in Russia last year. There is next to nothing separating the two Mercs so it should make for a tight internecine battle up front between the two hard-charging teammates.

Ferrari were slightly slower than the Silver Arrows two weeks after dominating on pure pace in Bahrain. On the tricky high abrasion Shanghai Circuit, veteran Sebastian Vettel pipped his precocious teammate, Charles Leclerc, for P3 on the grid by a mere two-hundredths of a second. Vettel will be looking to reestablish dominance and bolster his confidence after his subpar performance in the Bahrain GP, which featured a P5 finish after an unforced spin by the German while dicing with Hamilton that surely cost the team points. And Leclerc will still be hunting his first career F1 victory and be highly motivated to bag it after he was heartbreakingly robbed of a seemingly certain win by mechanical issues late in that last race.

Further back, Max Verstappen’s Red Bull was the best of the rest with a decent P5 and while his new teammate Pierre Gasly had his best qualifying and will start beside the Dutchman in P6 he was still over eight-tenths behind Verstappen. On the other hand Daniel Riccardo got the better of his Renault teammate Nico Hulkenberg, out-qualifying him P7 to P8 by a hair’s breadth. The factory Renault team will be desperate to have both cars fisinsh solidly in the points after their double DNF in the desert a fortnight ago. The two Haas F1 cars of Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean rounded out the top 10 qualifiers in P9 and P10 respectively,

Top 10 qualifiers for the Chinese GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 77 Valtteri Bottas MERCEDES 1:32.658 1:31.728 1:31.547 16
2 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 1:33.115 1:31.637 1:31.570 16
3 5 Sebastian Vettel FERRARI 1:33.557 1:32.232 1:31.848 17
4 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 1:32.712 1:32.324 1:31.865 16
5 33 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING HONDA 1:33.274 1:32.369 1:32.089 14
6 10 Pierre Gasly RED BULL RACING HONDA 1:33.863 1:32.948 1:32.930 14
7 3 Daniel Ricciardo RENAULT 1:33.709 1:33.214 1:32.958 18
8 27 Nico Hulkenberg RENAULT 1:33.644 1:32.968 1:32.962 15
9 20 Kevin Magnussen HAAS FERRARI 1:34.036 1:33.150 DNF 16
10 8 Romain Grosjean HAAS FERRARI 1:33.752 1:33.156 DNF 15

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race airs live at 2AM Eastern on ESPN2 here in the States. So set your DVR or brew a fresh pot of late night coffee to see just who is going to win this contest in Shanghai amongst the very tightly grouped and competitive top 4. Hope to see you then to see how it all shakes out!

tomvox1’s Watches for Sale — 1960s Movado Cal. 95M Chrono w/Stunning Inverse Panda Dial

It”s time to kick off April in stunning style — no fooling. To make that happen I have on offer, a beautiful 1960s Movado caliber 95M chronograph with coveted black dial with contrasting white registers, aka an Inverse Panda dial, one of the most sought after chronograph layouts in vintage watches.

1960s Movado Cal. 95M Chrono Panda

The unique 95M in-house chronograph movement was one of Movado’s crowning achievements and it operates in a funky “upside down” manner, with the bottom pusher starting & stopping the timer and the top pusher resetting it, likely due to its innovative modular design. Also unusual is that the minute counter is calibrated for a full 60 minutes as opposed to the more common 30-minute register found on most chronos.

1960s Movado Cal. 95M Chrono Panda

Further adding to this watch’s allure is the all-stainless steel screwed case, which features an inner anti-magnetic dust cover and was manufactured by FB (Francois Borgel/Taubert & Fils) who also manufactured water resistant cases for Patek Phillipe, Vacheron and Mido among others.

1960s Movado Cal. 95M Chrono Panda

But the real star of the show is the beautiful glossy black dial with contrasting white sub-registers and silver print. That super legible layout gives this 35mm Movado loads of class and wrist presence even with its modestly sized proportions. This 1960s stunner is simply a big league addition to any vintage chronograph collection and is probably still undervalued in the grand scheme of things. Once you behold that Inverse Panda dial and strap it on you’re bound to fall in love with it — just like I did!

1960s Movado Cal. 95M Chrono Panda

Check out the complete ad now over at the always hopping Omega Forums’ Watches for Sale section for many more pictures and complete condition report. I doubt it will last so you better pounce!  SOLD

2019 F1 Grand Prix of Bahrain — Results & aftermath

Mercedes and Hamilton pounce as Ferrari fumble away a win in the desert; Bottas P2 ahead of hard-luck Leclerc while Vettel spins

Ferrari had the dominant car and driver all weekend long. And in Sunday’s race at the Sakhir Circuit in Bahrain everything appeared to be playing out just as it had in practice and qualifying, with a Prancing Horse firmly in the lead. It was their rising young star Charles Leclerc who was dominating from the front, showing his class by fighting back first against his 4-time World Champion teammate Sebastian Vettel when Vettel got away quicker at the start and then leaving the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas in his wake. The 21-year-old pole-sitter looked to be on course for his maiden Formula 1 victory and perhaps the establishment of a new team and driver pecking order in the paddock. But on Lap 46 the dream weekend of Ferrari dominance began to crumble as Leclerc began compiling of engine issues and his blood-red car began losing power with what appeared to be a turbo problem. With Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton running a clean race even though he lacked the pure pace of the Prancing Horse the 5-time and current World Champ was in perfect position to take advantage of the Ferrari’s ill-timed reliability issues. In heartbreaking fashion, Leclerc saw his almost certain victory evaporate as Hamilton’s Silver Arrow relentlessly closed down his previously unassailable lead. On Lap 48 the Englishman passed the wounded Ferrari easily. Worse still for the Scuderia, Bottas was also able to catch up to Leclerc and took away P2.

Pics courtesy GrandPrix247.com

In a bare minimum of good fortune for the crestfallen Ferrari pilot the race finished under the Safety Car when both Renaults suffered terminal mechanical failures on Lap 53 of this 57-lap contest. With the drivers forced to hold station for the final few laps, this insured that Leclerc at least made the podium and kept his P3 before Red Bull’s Max Verstappen could dispatch him on track, as the Dutchman most likely would have. But it was cold comfort on a day that promised so much more for the famed team from Maranello and their young Monegasque phenom. To compound Ferrari’s woes Vettel had a disappointing effort. Continue reading →

2019 F1 Grand Prix of Bahrain — Qualifying results

Leclerc scores maiden pole in Bahrain ahead of P2 Vettel to lead Ferrari rebound & front row lockout; Mercedes’ Hamilton only third fastest

After showing disappointingly pedestrian pace at Formula 1’s season opener in Australia two weeks ago, Ferrari rebounded strongly during Saturday qualifying for Round Two at the Sakhir Circuit in Bahrain. And it was their precocious first year driver Charles Leclerc who bested not only the field for his first career pole position but also his 4-time World Champion teammate, Sebastian Vettel. Under the bright lights of this night race in the affluent Persian Gulf nation it was the Monégasque Leclerc who shone the brightest, setting a new track record of 1:27.866, eclipsing Vettel’s previous record lap from last year. With Ferrari back to the form they showed in preseason testing, the Scuderia dominated all practice sessions and then locked out the front row when it really mattered. And their 21-year-old ostensible Number 2 blasted a shot across not only Mercedes’ bow but also senior stablemate Vettel’s. The braintrust at Maranello have to be feeling much better about taking the fight to Mighty Mercedes than they did a fortnight ago after their underwhelming run in Melbourne. Now it’s up to the Prancing Horses to run away from the Silver Arrows come race day tomorrow and prove that it really will be game on for the Constructors’ Title in 2019.

Mercedes were clearly second best on Saturday after dominating the debut race of the season which led to Bottas’ impressive win. Lewis Hamilton did out-qualify Bottas P3 to P4 but then he also led the field from pole at Albert Park and was outclassed by his Finnish teammate. So look for Hamilton to work very hard to best Bottas tomorrow even if Mercedes do not have the pace to challenge for the win against what looks to be a resurgent Ferrari at a track that really seems to suit their blood red cars. Continue reading →