Tag Archives: Daniel Ricciardo

2019 F1 Grand Prix of Russia — Qualifying results

Leclerc and Ferrari keep rolling with pole in Sochi, Vettel P3; Hamilton P2

Ferrari’s stunning second half turnaround continued as their ascendent young star driver scored his fourth consecutive pole position at Sochi Autdrom during Saturday qualifying for tomorrow’s Russian Grand Prix. A week after the rapidly improving Monegasque was left seething after he felt denied a win in Singapore due to fortuitous pit strategy by his senior teammate, Sebastian Vettel, Leclerc gave his best effort to try and get back to the winner’s circle for the third time this season with a blistering 1:32.613 lap time, over 4-tenths ahead of Vettel. Vettel could do no better than the third fastest time of the day and the confidence boost after his much-needed if somewhat lucky Singapore victory could be short lived under the onslaught of his stablemate’s consistent excellence. With their superior straight-line speed now married to improved downforce aerodynamics the Prancing Horses have definitively relegated mighty Mercedes to the second best team on the track and this time at a venue where Mercedes have always dominated previously. Lewis Hamilton, the Silver Arrows’ ace, did manage to split the Ferraris with the second fastest time and the reigning world champion and current points leader will be looking to slipstream himself in front of Leclerc when the lights go out and the cars take off down the long, fast first straightaway.

Mercedes themselves were also temporarily split when Red Bull’s Max Verstappen bettered Valtteri Bottas P4 to P5. But, while they proved that they can fly faster than Mercedes at certain circuits, Verstappen will have to take a 5-spot grid penalty come Sunday. Additionally, their second driver, Alexander Albon, crashed heavily in Q1, most likely also necessitating a gearbox change, and so and will start from the rear of the grid. The two McLarens of Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris showed well and qualified P6 and P8 respectively and the two Renault’s of Nico Hulkenberg and Daniel Ricciardo were P7 and P10 on the timing sheets respectively. Romain Grosjean came home ninth fastest and Haas will be desperate to score some points tomorrow in a season that has come apart rather badly for them.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Russian GP:

POSNODRIVERCARQ1Q2Q3LAPS
116Charles LeclercFERRARI1:33.6131:32.4341:31.62818
244Lewis HamiltonMERCEDES1:33.2301:33.1341:32.03019
35Sebastian VettelFERRARI1:33.0321:32.5361:32.05322
433Max VerstappenRED BULL RACING HONDA1:33.3681:32.6341:32.31015
577Valtteri BottasMERCEDES1:33.4131:33.2811:32.63218
655Carlos SainzMCLAREN RENAULT1:34.1841:33.8071:33.22220
727Nico HulkenbergRENAULT1:34.2361:33.8981:33.28915
84Lando NorrisMCLAREN RENAULT1:34.2011:33.7251:33.30120
98Romain GrosjeanHAAS FERRARI1:34.2831:33.6431:33.51719
103Daniel RicciardoRENAULT1:34.1381:33.8621:33.66118

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race airs live on EPSN2 starting at 7AM here in the States. Can Hamilton out-drag Leclerc to take the lead on Lap 1? And even if he does can his Mercedes hold off the ultra-rapid Ferraris for the rest of the race? Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out in Sochi!

2019 F1 Grand Prix of Singapore — Qualifying results

Red hot Leclerc seizes third pole in a row besting Hamilton and Vettel at tricky Marina Bay Street Circuit

Ferrari’s ascendent young phenom Charles Leclerc, winner of the previous two Grand Prix from pole position, made it three poles in a row in Saturday qualifying for the Singapore Grand Prix tomorrow night, laying down a blistering lap late in Q3 to steal the top starting spot away from not only his teammate Sebastian Vettel but also the rival Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton. After performing so well at the last two high speed circuits, Spa Francorchamps and Monza, which also saw Leclerc win in dominant fashion, the Prancing Horses were expected to falter at the narrow and technically demanding confines of the tightly contained though beautifully illuminated Marina Bay Street Circuit. But instead Ferrari’s latest downforce upgrades merged perfectly with their horsepower advantage and Mercedes quickly found themselves surprised by the speed of the Scuderia’s blood red steeds on this corner-filled street circuit. Vettel appeared to lay down the time to beat early in the last qualifying session and the Silver Arrows of Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas found themselves tangled up in traffic and behind not only he and his speedy teammate but also the Red Bull of Max Vertsappen.

But with time running out Vettel could not improve and had to abort his last flying lap after a series of small errors. Meanwhile his upstart stablemate Leclerc pushed the very limits of adhesion, throwing his SF90 around around the many corners of this street circuit with controlled abandon. The rapidly improving Monegasque came across the line at 1:36.217, more than 2-tenths better than Vettel’s early fast lap. Mercedes wisely had released their men at the very last moment this time and well behind the rest of the gaggle of cars on this cramped track, leaving their men free to fly unencumbered by traffic. Hamilton made the most of that and also tested the track limits by kissing the wall once or twice during his strong final run. But despite his excellent effort the Englishman still found himself trailing Leclerc by just under 2-tenths as the checkered flag flew. Hamilton will line up along the pole-sitting Leclerc in P2 with Vettel a somewhat disappointed P3. It is now clear that Ferrari are finally able to take the fight to Mercedes and compete for wins on equal terms regardless of the circuit. And in Leclerc they may just have found the rare driver who can better Hamilton on a regular basis, as well.

When all was said and done Verstappen could only set the fourth fastest time but still had enough pace to relegate Bottas to P5 on the grid. His rookie Red Bull teammate Alexander Albon acquitted himself very well in his first-ever visit to this ultra-demanding circuit and qualified P6. Rounding out the top 10 on the grid the McLarens sandwiched the two Renaults, with P7 Carlos Sainz starting ahead of P8 Daniel Ricciardo and P9 Nico Hulkenberg and Sainz’s teammate Lando Norris behind them with the tenth fastest time.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Singapore GP:

POSNODRIVERCARQ1Q2Q3LAPS
116Charles LeclercFERRARI1:38.0141:36.6501:36.21718
244Lewis HamiltonMERCEDES1:37.5651:36.9331:36.40819
35Sebastian VettelFERRARI1:38.3741:36.7201:36.43716
433Max VerstappenRED BULL RACING HONDA1:38.5401:37.0891:36.81315
577Valtteri BottasMERCEDES1:37.3171:37.1421:37.14618
623Alexander AlbonRED BULL RACING HONDA1:39.1061:37.8651:37.41116
755Carlos SainzMCLAREN RENAULT1:38.8821:37.9821:37.81819
83Daniel RicciardoRENAULT1:39.3621:38.3991:38.09518
927Nico HulkenbergRENAULT1:39.0011:38.5801:38.26418
104Lando NorrisMCLAREN RENAULT1:38.6061:37.5721:38.32919

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race airs live starting at 8AM on ESPN2 here in the States. Can Leclerc make it 3 wins in a row or will Hamilton reassert his authority as the top driver in the F1 paddock? Can Vettel surprise from P3 for a much-needed victory of his own in a season that is slipping away from him? Or will young Max have some tricks up his sleeve to pass his rivals and make a run towards victory? Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2019 F1 Grand Prix of Italy — Results & aftermath

Leclerc holds off two Mercedes for second consecutive win in front of delirious Ferrari fans at Monza; Bottas P2, Hamilton P3; Vettel spins out of the points early

Rising star Charles Leclerc earned his second consecutive win and a permanent place in the hearts of Ferrari fans with a hard fought victory at Autodromo Nazionale Monza in Italy on Sunday. Coming off his first career win at historic Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium a week ago Leclerc arguably topped that personal first by fighting off both formidable Mercedes to take the win in front of the delirious tifosi at what Ferrari and Italians in general have always considered the most important race of the year. Using every defending skill and trick in his arsenal to hold off the Silver Arrows of first Lewis Hamilton and then Valtteri Bottas, Leclerc delivered the first Monza win for the famed Scuderia from just up the road in Maranello since 2010 when Fernando Alonso took the honors. The Ferrari SF90 now has reliably superior straight line speed to the Mercedes and the ultra-fast Monza circuit was the perfect proving ground for that, confirming the post-summer break trend that began at Spa. While it is too late for Leclerc to come anywhere close to challenging Hamilton for the title this season the talented Monegasque served notice that he could be the English 5-time champion’s biggest rival in the coming years.

Pics courtesy GrandPrix247.com

Leclerc led from pole and he and Hamilton made their first stop for tires a lap apart, with Hamilton boxing on Lap 20 just one lap before Leclerc came in on Lap 21. But Ferrari opted to put Leclerc on the Hard Pirelli compound while Mercedes opted for Medium tires. It was an intriguing decision by Ferrari with potential pitfalls if Leclerc could not make the Hard tires work effectively for the remainder of the race. He was the only driver that opted for this strategy. The two contenders on their different tire compounds promptly began battling for the lead in spirited fashion and when Hamilton tried to make the pass on Lap 23 after closing the gap to within a whisker’s distance Leclerc essentially shoved Hamilton off track to maintain his lead. Leclerc was shown the black and white flag for that but that only serves as a caution against future behavior and is not a penalty. Similarly, when Hamilton had reloaded and made another go at Leclerc on Lap 36 after two brief Virtual Safety Car periods Leclerc locked up through the edge of the chicane and drove straight over the curbs. But the stewards ruled that he gained no real advantage over Hamilton even while rejoining in front of the Mercedes. By this time Hamilton’s tires were going off and his teammate Bottas, who had stayed out longer on his first stint than the two frontrunners and pitted on Lap 28 for his own set of Mediums, was closing down both of the leaders from his P3 position. When Hamilton had a lockup of his own on Lap 42 of the 53 lap contest and had to take the escape route into the chicane it was clear his tires were shot. Bottas easily inherited P2 without any internecine warfare and set about trying to catch Leclerc to try and take the victory for himself.

But Leclerc had other ideas on this day. Continue reading →

2019 F1 Grand Prix of Italy — Qualifying results

Ascendent Leclerc grabs second consecutive pole as Ferrari look strong for home race; Hamilton P2 & Bottas P3 in messy quali as teams get timing wrong for late runs in Q3

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc grabbed his second pole position in a row in a strange Saturday qualifying for tomorrow’s Italian Grand Prix. In front of the rabidly pro-Ferrari tifosi in the stands of the legendary Autodromo Nazionale Monza, the fastest of F1 circuits, Leclerc laid down a storming lap early in Q3. That ended up as the best time when nearly all the teams inexplicably left it too late later in the session and all but McLaren’s Carlos Sainz failed to make the start line prior to Q3 expiring. It was a strange ending but the Ferrari faithful will take the result of having their young Monegasque hero on the pole even if the confusion at the end of Q3 prevented Sebastian Vettel from bettering his P4 time. The two Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas split the Prancing Horses and will start P2 and P3 respectively. Hamilton will be looking to put young Leclerc back in his place while Leclerc will be looking to maximize the SF90s newly superior pace to score his second consecutive win tomorrow. With the two elite teams of the sport lining up side by side in the first two rows the start could well be the pivotal moment of the race.

Further back on the grid, Renault found startlingly good pace with their chassis’ downforce defects turning into advantages at ultra-quick Monza. Daniel Ricciardo set the fifth fastest time while his teammate Nico Huikenberg was P6. Sainz pulled his McLaren up to P7 by dint of persistence and running the most laps of any other runner, while the Red Bull of Alexander Albon could do no better than a P8 time in his second qualifying effort for the team since being promoted for the Belgian GP a week ago. His more heralded teammate Max Verstappen barely made an appearance in Q1 and will start at the back of the grid due to engine penalties. Racing Point’s Lance Stroll earned a solid P9 on the grid while Kimi Raikkonen, who caused a longish red flag period in Q3 after losing it in the Parabolica and backing into the barriers, is slated to start P10 but may face grid-spot penalties if he damaged his gearbox in the incident.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Italian GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 1:20.126 1:19.553 1:19.307 18
2 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 1:20.272 1:19.464 1:19.346 16
3 77 Valtteri Bottas MERCEDES 1:20.156 1:20.018 1:19.354 17
4 5 Sebastian Vettel FERRARI 1:20.378 1:19.715 1:19.457 17
5 3 Daniel Ricciardo RENAULT 1:20.374 1:19.833 1:19.839 13
6 27 Nico Hulkenberg RENAULT 1:20.155 1:20.275 1:20.049 14
7 55 Carlos Sainz MCLAREN RENAULT 1:20.413 1:20.202 1:20.455 20
8 23 Alexander Albon RED BULL RACING HONDA 1:20.382 1:20.021 DNF 15
9 18 Lance Stroll RACING POINT BWT MERCEDES 1:20.643 1:20.498 DNF 19
10 7 Kimi Räikkönen ALFA ROMEO RACING FERRARI 1:20.634 1:20.515 DNF 16

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race airs live on ESPN2 beginning at 9AM Eastern here in the States. Hope to see you then to find out if Ferrari can win in front of the home fans or if Mercedes will spoil the Prancing Horses’ party!

2019 F1 Grand Prix of Great Britain — Results & aftermath

Hamilton continues mastery at Silverstone with lucky win, hard-luck Bottas P2 after missing out during Safety Car; Leclerc salvages P3 for Ferrari as Vettel collides with Verstappen

In a barnburner of a British Grand Prix on Sunday Mercedes ace Lewis Hamilton took advantage of a mid-race Safety Car period to duck into the pits for his one and only tire change and gain an advantage on the race leader and his teammate, Valtteri Bottas. Worse still for Bottas, he had already stopped for a like-for-like tire switch for another set of Medium Pirellis, meaning the Finn would definitely have to stop again for the mandatory second tire compound. So Hamilton not only got a relatively “free” pit stop under the greatly reduced Safety Car-induced speeds of his competitors but also gained the race lead via that maneuver. It was one he would never relinquish as both Mercedes pulled away from the field when the Safety Car was withdrawn at the end of Lap 23. The pole-sitting Bottas was doomed to make another stop on Lap 46 for fresh rubber during fully green flag track conditions costing him in the neighborhood of 20 seconds as Hamilton, who had shrewdly gambled on holding out for a one-stopper, raced around the course. And even though Bottas went onto the Soft Pirrelli’s Hamilton still maintained that gap of over 20 seconds and even set the fastest lap for the extra point on his won Hard tires en route to his record 6th British GP victory at Silverstone. Once again, the fact that Formula 1 does not immediately close the pits and force the drivers to bunch up together before the pits do open when a full course caution occurs like so many other top series do — IndyCar, IMSA, NASCAR — led to a driver at a fortuitous position on the track gaining a major advantage over his competitors. Bottas will feel hard done by the way his strategy failed to play out amidst the roulette-like luck of the Safety Car deployment. But Hamilton and his home fans were jubilant as the victorious Englishman grabbed a Union Flag from one of the marshals after finishing first, happily driving it around and wearing it proudly on the podium for all to see.

Safety Car shenanigans aside, the race itself was undoubtedly one of the best of the season with battles all over the field and fierce whee-to-wheel jousting. While Mercedes eventually showed their clear superiority, the battle between the Ferraris and Red Bulls was race-long and decidedly intense. Ferrari’s Chalres Leclerc and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen renewed their door-banging acquaintance of two weeks ago in Austria for lap after lap to open this race. They even took it into the pits with Verstappen muscling his way past Leclerc after both cars had been serviced on Lap 14 for a momentary advantage. But Verstappen struggled with grip on exit and Leclerc immediately passed the Dutchman back on track, maintaining his P4 position with authority. When Alfa-Romeo’s Antonio Giovinnazi beached it in a gravel trap on Lap 20 bringing out that fateful Safety Car Leclerc pitted again for Hard tires but still emerged in front of Vertsappen. But once the race went green again Verstappen was able to dispatch Leclerc and his own teammate Pierre Gasly, who was finally running a competitive race, for P4. This puts him directly behind the Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel and Verstappen set about hunting the German down. In short order Vertsappen was on the Prancing Horse’s tail and on Lap 36 he made a forceful pass for P3 streaking into Stowe. But as Verstappen decelerated for the upcoming corner, Vettel, certainly keen to retake the position, failed to slow enough and rammed into the back of the Red Bull bouncing Vertsppen’s car off the track with some force. Amazingly Vertsppenn’s mount was intact and able to continue. Vettel, however, was forced to pit for a new nose due to his miscalculation, a race-destroying own goal by the 4-time champion that saw him drop from a possible podium to a lowly P16 finish. Once again the formerly peerless Vettel committed an unforced error with dire consequences for his championship aspirations.

Pics courtesy GrandPrix247.com

Leclerc was able to take advantage of the Verstappen-Vettel melee and zip on by both cars to inherit the P3 position that the Monegasque would never relinquish. It was Leclrec’s fourth consecutive podium finish and the young driver is surely looking like the future at Ferrari. Gasly also took advantage of his teammate’s misfortune to seize P4, the young Frenchman’s best finish of the season. The stricken car of Verstappen was badly wounded but still managed to drive home P5. If Red Bull can stay this close to Ferrari on performance for the remainder of the year there should be plenty more great battles to come between these four closely matched drivers.

Further back in the top 10 McLaren’s Carlos Sainz stayed out fo trouble and patiently worked his way up to a solid P6 finish. The two Renaults of Daniel Ricciardo and Nico Huilkneberg both finished in the points in P7 and P10 respectively. And the veteran Kimi Raikkonen showed his savvy and skill at Silverstone by willing his overmatched Alfa Romeo up to P8, while Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat also did well to come home P9.

Top 10 finishers of the British GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR LAPS TIME/RETIRED PTS
1 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 52 1:21:08.452 26
2 77 Valtteri Bottas MERCEDES 52 +24.928s 18
3 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 52 +30.117s 15
4 10 Pierre Gasly RED BULL RACING HONDA 52 +34.692s 12
5 33 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING HONDA 52 +39.458s 10
6 55 Carlos Sainz MCLAREN RENAULT 52 +53.639s 8
7 3 Daniel Ricciardo RENAULT 52 +54.401s 6
8 7 Kimi Räikkönen ALFA ROMEO RACING FERRARI 52 +65.540s 4
9 26 Daniil Kvyat SCUDERIA TORO ROSSO HONDA 52 +66.720s 2
10 27 Nico Hulkenberg RENAULT 52 +72.733s 1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race is in two weeks time — the German Grand Prix at the Hockenheimring. Hopefully the action at the British Grand Prix is a harbinger of good things to come as the battle between Ferrari and Red Bull heats up even more. And of course Bottas will be looking for retribution against his championship leading teammate Hamilton. Hope to see you then to see how it all shakes out!

2019 F1 Grand Prix of Great Britain — Qualifying results

Bottas steals Hamilton’s thunder for pole at Silverstone; Leclerc to start P3, Vettel P6 for perplexing Ferrari

Seeking to add to his record 6 pole positions at the venerable Silverstone Circuit, Lewis Hamilton was instead thwarted in Saturday Qualifying by his Silver Arrows’ teammate, Valtteri Bottas, who bested the Englishman in front of his home crowd by a minuscule .006 seconds. Atypically, the last flying laps were not the quickest of the session and neither Hamilton or Bottas could better their times from earlier in Q3. So the Finn’s quickest attempt held up against Hamilton’s and the entire top 10’s best efforts to better it and gave him the top spot on the grid for Sunday’s race. It also marked a bit of a resurgence for Bottas, who closed the points gap with Hamilton by out-finishing him P3 to P5 in red hot Austria two weeks ago on what was an off weekend for both Mercedes as a whole and Lewis specifically. But the Silver Arrows looked back on form at cool and overcast Silverstone so we’ll see which of the teammates can prevail if that return to the usual Mercedes supremacy holds true in tomorrow’s GP.

Ferrari had a confusing day in the saddle after looking blindingly fast in the practices leading up to Qualifying. It seemed the longer everybody ran and rubbered in the rather green track with its newly re-paved surface the more the Prancing Horses slowed. After looking like the fastest man at various points throughout the day and going purple/fatstest in the first two sectors on his final flying lap Charles Leclerc had to settle for the third fastest time overall, about 8-tenths behind P2 Hamilton’s pace. Worse still for the legendary Scuderia, Sebastian Vettel’s pace never really presented itself and the German 4-time champion could muster no better than a P6 qualifying lap. Vettel’s mystifying drop off will be of serious concern and is another headache in an already challenging season. Both he and the team have less than 24-hours to pinpoint the issues and try to get more out the car to be competitive in tomorrow’s race.

Red Bull’s Max Vertsappen was also slower than he would have liked and apparently suffered from a fairly rare turbo lag issue. The winner in Austria two weeks ago qualified in P4. His teammate Pierre Gasly had perhaps his best all around qualifying effort of the season slotting in just behind the heralded Verstappen in P5. Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo will line up behind Vettel in P7 and he seriously out-qualified his teammate Nico Hulkenberg, who could do no better than the tenth fastest time. Lando Norris continued his strong run by placing his McLaren up in P8 on the grid and Toro Rosso’s Alexander Albon, another rookie, also did well to set the ninth fastest time. Both young drivers were well ahead of their more experienced teammates, Carlos Sainz and Daniil Kvyat respectively.

Top 10 qualifiers for the British GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 77 Valtteri Bottas MERCEDES 1:25.750 1:25.672 1:25.093 21
2 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 1:25.513 1:25.840 1:25.099 17
3 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 1:25.533 1:25.546 1:25.172 18
4 33 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING HONDA 1:25.700 1:25.848 1:25.276 21
5 10 Pierre Gasly RED BULL RACING HONDA 1:26.273 1:26.038 1:25.590 21
6 5 Sebastian Vettel FERRARI 1:25.898 1:26.023 1:25.787 19
7 3 Daniel Ricciardo RENAULT 1:26.428 1:26.283 1:26.182 21
8 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN RENAULT 1:26.079 1:26.385 1:26.224 21
9 23 Alexander Albon SCUDERIA TORO ROSSO HONDA 1:26.482 1:26.403 1:26.345 24
10 27 Nico Hulkenberg RENAULT 1:26.568 1:26.397 1:26.386 21

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race airs live beginning at 9AM Eastern on EPSN2 here in the States. Can Bottas give Hamilton a run for his money at a circuit where the Englishman has always felt at home? Or will Leclerc earn his first ever F1 win at Mercedes’ expense? Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2019 F1 Grand Prix of France — Results & aftermath

Hamilton romps to dominant victory in France, Bottas a distant P2; Leclerc P3, Vettel P5 as Ferrari’s hopes dim

Mercedes ace Lewis Hamilton was untouchable at Circuit Paul Riccard as he went on to dominate the French Grand Prix from pole and blow away the field for a dominant win on Sunday. On the hunt for his remarkable sixth F1 title the Englishman scored the Grand Slam in this eighth round of the World Championship — pole position, fastest lap, leading all race laps and the win — and aced his nearest competitor, teammate Valtteri Bottas in ostensibly the same equipment, by a whopping 18 seconds to the checkered flag. It was Hamilton’s fourth win on the trot and he has now won six out of the eight contests so far in 2019 and already leads Bottas by 36 Drivers’ points. That’s bad news for anyone hoping that either Bottas or Ferrari would take down the most dominant driver of this new turbo hybrid era, as man and machine once again look to be in perfect harmony and Hamilton is beginning to demoralize his closest rivals.

Pics courtesy GrandPrix247.com

With Bottas’s performance fading after a splitting the first four races with his peerless Silver Arrows rival, Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel is also showing signs of losing the metal war to Lewis. After a controversial penalty at the Canadian GP stripped him of victory two weeks ago the German four-time champ seemed to be suffering the psychological hangover during a very poor qualifying run on Saturday that saw Vettel related to a P7 start from the grid. While Vettel raced hard and kept it clean he was only able to claw back two positions to come home a rather tepid P5. His younger teammate Charles Leclerc finished where he qualified, P3, an encouraging sign for the Monegasque after some inconsistent quali runs lately. But it was all a bit of cold comfort for the legendary Scuderia from Maranello, who have been outclassed for the most part by mighty Mercedes and have seen potential victories in Bahrain and Canada undone by mechanical reliability and driver error respectively. While the Ferrari camp were still keeping their heads high and talking up their chances for major improvements going forward it’s becoming harder to see that happening because Mercedes, already the dominant car, will hardly be resting on their laurels as the summer moves along.

Further back in the pack, Max Verstappen did his usual fine work to finish ahead of Vettel in P4 but the Red Bull simply doesn’t have the pace to compete for victory unless one of the front running teams has a major mishap. Continue reading →

2019 F1 Grand Prix of France — Qualifying results

Mercedes’ Hamilton seizes pole at Paul Ricard to keep momentum going, fading Bottas P2; Leclerc third fastest for Ferrari but Vettel’s woes continue with subpar P7 time

Mercedes ace Lewis Hamilton extended his hot streak by laying down a dominant lap for pole at the colorful and quite windy Circuit Paul Ricard during Saturday qualifying for tomorrow’s French Grand Prix. The English championship points leader came in having won three in a row and five out of the first seven rounds. That torrid run includes his controversial victory at Montreal two weeks ago that saw Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel demoted from a dominant win via a time penalty for unsafe reentry after cutting a chicane. Hamilton is not only looking to demoralize and psych out Vettel but also put his ambitious teammate Valterri Bottas back in his place. The Finn looked up for a Rosberg-like challenge to Hamilton’s supremacy after splitting two of the first four GPs to start the season. But since then Bottas has seen his Mercedes stablemate pull away in dominant fashion and he could do no better than a slightly shaky P2 time as the mistral seemed to play its tricks on his Silver Arrow here in the south of France.

For Ferrari, it was another mixed bag in a season in which they have struggled to get both their cars to perform at a high level simultaneously during qualifying. Continue reading →

2019 F1 Grand Prix of Canada — Results & aftermath

Vettel finishes first but is demoted to P2 by penalty, Hamilton elevated to the win in controversial Canadian GP; Leclerc P3 on disappointing day for Ferrari

It was all going to plan for Ferrari and their lead driver Sebastian Vettel during Sunday’s Canadian Grand Prix. Having pipped Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton for pole in Saturday qualifying, Vettel showed that exquisite Ferrari performance was no fluke in race trim as the German 4-time World Champion got away to a fast start and led nearly every lap on the tight and dusty street/park Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve on the Ille Notre Dame in Montreal. But after their first and only stop for fresh tires, Vettel on Lap 26 and Hamilton on Lap 29, the Englishman turned up his superlative Mercedes engine to “party mode” and slowly began to reel in the leading Prancing Horse. While Ferrari also gave their man maximum available power, by Lap 39 Hamilton was in DRS range of Vettel, filling his mirrors with the hard charging Silver Arrow. After nearly 10 laps of non-stop pursuit it was Vettel who finally blinked with disastrous consequences for his hopes of victory on the day. On Lap 48 Vettel lost control as he was entering the twisty Turn 4 complex and found himself sliding onto the grass behind the curbs. Hamilton was close and dove to the outside to make the pass but Vettel swerved back onto the track barely in control of his car and nearly forced Hamilton into the wall. That the cars didnt touch was testament to Vettel’s remarkable car control but nonetheless Hamilton’s progress was balked as he had to back out of the throttle and Vettel flew away from him down the circuit.

Mercedes immediately complained to the stewards, of course. And on Lap 57 one of the most consequential decisons of the season was made when the stewards judged that Vettel had rejoined the track in an unsafe manner and levied a 5-second time penalty against the German. Hamilton, despite having lost the best edge on his Hard tires after pushing so hard to try and overhaul Vettel and locking up several times at the hairpin, was nonetheless well within 3 seconds of the leader. That meant that so long as Hamilton could keep that gap he was the de facto leader of the race despite Vettel running firmly in front of him. Vettel was livid on the radio and Hamilton made sure to keep close to the Ferrari’s gearbox. And when the final lap of the 70-lap contest ended Vettel crossed the line first but had lost the race to Hamilton due to the stewards’ controversial penalty assessment. After the cars finished their cool down laps Vettel refused to move his car to the end of the pits into victory lane or to participate in the pit lane interviews. He only very reluctantly agreed to join the podium ceremony most likely under threat of further FIA penalties. But even as he made his way to the podium, Vettel switched the order of the placing signs down in the pits, moving the #2 over to Hamilton’s Merc and the #1 in front of the empty space where his Ferrari should have been.

Pics courtesy GrandPRix247.com and Formula1.com

While the decision was generally unpopular and cast a pall over a very tense and competitive affair, as well as Hamilton’s emotions after inheriting the victory, one can see the disputed action from both angles. Vettel did make a mistake on that momentous Lap 48 while being pushed hard and pressurized by Hamilton’s onslaught. Continue reading →

2019 F1 Grand Prix of Canada — Qualifying results

Vettel snatches pole from Hamilton as Ferrari come to play in Canada; Leclerc P3 while Bottas struggles in P6, Verstappen bounced in Q2

For the first time since Bahrain all the talk of Ferrari’s hypothetical straight line speed advantage over Mercedes finally materialized as Sebastian Vettel pipped Lewis Hamilton for pole at Circuit Gilles-Villenueve in Saturday qualifying for the Canadian Grand Prix. The Mercedes man had looked supreme throughout Q3 and it once again appeared that Hamilton would crush whatever fragile dreams of competitiveness Ferrari harbored by setting purple sector after purple sector. But Vettel and the fabled Sucderia had the last laugh today when the German four-time champion put in a blistering effort as the seconds ran down in Q3 to best Hamilton by two-tenths of a second. It was Vettel’s first pole since the German Grand Prix last year and a much needed boost for both the team and Vettel, who has looked less than fully confident at times this season. Obviously, Seb will also need to covert his pole into a victory on Sunday to jump start what is beginning to look like a hopeless campaign for Ferrari against the might of Mercedes. And look for Hamilton, who starts along side him in P2, to try every trick in his book to overhaul Vettel early and once again show that he and his Silver Arrow are an unstoppable force.

Vettel’s teammate Charles Leclerc qualified P3 and seemed to lose a little confidence as the day wore on. But it was nothing like the travails that afflicted Valtteri Bottas, Hamilton’s Mercedes teammate and nearest points rival. With Hamilton having won the last two contests on the trot after Bottas’ victory in Azerbaijan, the Finn is starting to look a little wobbly in the face of the Englishman’s  onslaught. Continue reading →