Tag Archives: Esteban Ocon

2018 F1 Grand Prix of Germany — Results & aftermath

Hamilton drives from P14 to victory in damp Hockenheim; Bottas P2, Raikkonen P3; Vettel crashes out from the lead late in race

The script flipped for Ferrari and Mercedes at the German Grand Prix due to a little wet weather at the Hockenheimring in Sunday’s German Grand Prix. With the two top contenders in this year’s Formula 1 Championship looking like going in different directions due to their recent race results, Ferrari’s ace Sebastian Vettel started from pole and seemed a lock to consolidate his position as the points leader and expand on the team’s lead in the Constructors’ Championship. Meanwhile, Mercedes’ ace Lewis Hamilton was stuck back in P14 on the grid after a hydraulic failure saw the Englishman bounced out of qualifying in Q1 on Saturday. It would have to be another massive recovery drive for Hamilton to get up to his teammate Valtteri Bottas, flying the team flag up in P2, with Vettel’s wingman, Kimi Raikkonen, looking to attack his fellow Finn from just behind in P3. And when the lights went out for the start that’s how things looked like they’d shake out.

Pics courtesy GrandPrix247.com

Vettel and Bottas both got away well from the line, holding position and keeping Raikkonen just behind them who in turn was able to fight off the Red Bull of the newly circumspect Max Verstappen. Meanwhile, Hamilton began carving his way through the field, putting his superior Mercedes power and chassis to good use against a host of backmarkers. By Lap 8 Hamilton was already up to P8 and by Lap 11 he had taken P6 by passing the Renault of Nico Hulkenberg as if the German were standing still. By Lap 14 he had overtaken the Haas of Kevin Magnussen for P5 and set of for Verstappen and possible podium aspirations to try to salvage the day. And now the first round of tire stops for the frontrunners began, as on Lap 15 Raikkonen pitted for Softs in an apparent attempt to ensnare Mercedes into a similar early move for Bottas.

But Bottas’ initial Ultrasoft Pirellis retained their advantage and there was no need for Mercedes to take Ferrari’s bait. Even so, while Bottas was bale to keep Verstappen safely behind him in P3 the Mercedes #2 didn’t seem to have anything for the ultra-confident Vettel running several second to the good out front, well out of DRS range. However, Ferrari’s split strategy gambit began to backfire as Raikkonen’s pace actually seemed to drag Hamilton up to the front with him. When Vettel finally pitted on Lap 26, he did manage to come out ahead of Hamilton, still running on his initial set of the harder Soft tires, but he was behind his teammate Raikkonen. Bottas was now running from the lead and stretched his initial stint on Ultras until Lap 29, when he pitted for fresh Soft rubber. It looked as though it might be terrible timing when Daniel Ricciardo’s Red Bull, himself moving up through the field after engine penalties pushed him back on the grid, came to an abrupt stop on track. But the Aussie’s stationary Red Bull was able to be retrieved without a Safety Car, saving Mercedes and Bottas any headaches or heartbreak.

With Raikkonen now leading the race and Vettel in P2 it became apparent that Ferrari had miscalculated because Vettel was unable to take advantage of his fresher tires while Raikkonen was holding him up. After much cajoling by Vettel to the pit wall and a needlessly coy message to the Iceman by Scuderia chief strategist Jock Clear, Raikkonen ceded the top spot to his Championship leading teammate on Lap 39. Clearly that decision should have been made earlier and/or putting Raikkonen ahead of Vettel should never have been made in the first place. Somewhat remarkably Hamilton still hadn’t pitted while all this Ferrari drama was going on. Instead he simply ran competitive laps and held his position at P3. But by Lap 42 he was definitively holding up Bottas with shagged tires so he finally dove for the pits for fresh rubber, culminating a remarkable opening stint. By playing the long game and starting on the Softs, unlike the other main contenders, this meant he now had on the high performing Ultra Soft tires. This was an all the more significant decision — and a major team gamble — as foreboding rain clouds surged around the forests of Hockenheim. With a clean stop, Hamilton came back in P5.

On Lap 44 the threat of rain finally came good with light showers near the tricky hairpin. Some teams gambled on pitting for Intermediate wet tires including, surprisingly, Vertsappen from P3 who then came out behind Hamilton in P5. But the track was never fully wet and by Lap 49 the rain had decreased to the pint where it was clear that was huge mistake. Verstappen promptly pitted to get back to the Ultras, losing no more positions at least. The track did remain treacherous to those on the proper slicks, with perhaps Hamilton’s fresher, softer tires giving him some advantage. After some nervy moments for all the frontrunners it was Vettel who was the man who surprisingly cracked. The usually supremely confident 4-time World Champion, likely feeling the heat from the the surging Hamilton, overcooked it going into the tricky Sachs Turn in the Stadium section on Lap 52 and speared off the road through the gravel and into the barriers. With Vettel’s Ferrari now buried, just like that race and points leader had thrown away a nearly certain victory for himself and the team.

That brought out the Safety Car. Ferrari tired to fire up some of their patented strategy magic by bringing Raikkonen in for new tires but on this day all their moves were busts. That ceded the lead to Hamilton of all people, who had been abruptly waved off from pitting again at the last second and stayed out instead. That meant Raikkonen rejoined in P3 behind Bottas. After some tense jousting between the Mercedes teammates, Bottas was given team orders to stand down and hold position against Raikkonen. With the threat of rain omnipresent but holding off in the final laps, Lewis Hamilton held on for perhaps the most surprising and significant win of his career, driving back from a P14 start to victory and taking back the Championship lead for both himself and, thanks also to Bottas’ P2 and Vettel’s DNF, team Mercedes’ lead, as well. As Hamilton frolicked in stunned disbelieving joy on the top step of the podium the skies opened up and poured down on the resourceful and lucky Englishman, washing away the doubts that had consumed him over the last few races and leaving him poised to seize another World Championship at the expense of the suddenly mortal Vettel.

Top 10 finishers of the German GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR LAPS TIME/RETIRED PTS
1 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 67 1:32:29.845 25
2 77 Valtteri Bottas MERCEDES 67 +4.535s 18
3 7 Kimi Räikkönen FERRARI 67 +6.732s 15
4 33 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 67 +7.654s 12
5 27 Nico Hulkenberg RENAULT 67 +26.609s 10
6 8 Romain Grosjean HAAS FERRARI 67 +28.871s 8
7 11 Sergio Perez FORCE INDIA MERCEDES 67 +30.556s 6
8 31 Esteban Ocon FORCE INDIA MERCEDES 67 +31.750s 4
9 9 Marcus Ericsson SAUBER FERRARI 67 +32.362s 2
10 28 Brendon Hartley SCUDERIA TORO ROSSO HONDA 67 +34.197s 1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

Notes: Ferrari boss Sergio Marchionne was replaced as CEO of the Fiat Chrysler auto group over the weekend after falling gravely ill following shoulder surgery some 3 weeks ago. All of us here at Man’s Fine Life wish the 66-year-old Italian industrialist and savior of both Fiat and Chrysler companies only the best and hope he has a full recovery no matter how grim things may look at the moment. Gianni Agnelli’s grandson, John Elkann, was appointed new Chairman of Ferrari.

The next race is in but a week’s time — the Hungarian Grand Prix from the Hungaroring. It’s the last contest before the 3-week summer break. So catch it if you can to see whether Hamilton can parlay his unlikely victory into a proper winning streak or Vettel can regain his mastery after his fumble in Germany. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2018 F1 Grand Prix of Austria — Results & aftermath

Verstappen seizes opportunity in chaotic Austrian GP to win at Red Bull Ring; Ferrari capitalize on stunning Mercedes double DNF as Raikkonen and Vettel take P2 & P3

Under punishingly hot conditions at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg Austria on Sunday, Red Bull’s own Max Verstappen capitalized on a chaotic race and parlayed a dynamite start into an unexpected victory in front of a sea of orange-clad fans. With the perfect vantage point of his P4 position on the grid, the Dutch wunderkind watched as Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen attacked both front row Mercedes by forcing his Prancing Horse between the Silver Arrows of pole-sitter Valtteri Bottas and P2 starter Lewis Hamilton. For a brief moment it looked as if that bold and ballsy effort might work but Bottas was able to recover and force Raikonnen off the circuit as Hamilton sped away into the distance. That left Raikonnen at the mercy of Max, as Verstappen was able to capitalize on the veteran Finn’s loss of momentum and pass him for P3 before the eventful first lap was even half over.

It looked as if Hamilton’s and Mercedes preferred script for the win was playing out perfectly but the track conditions made extra demands of the equipment on this very hot day. In a harbinger of things to come, first the factory Renault of Nico Hulkenberg suffered a prolonged and smokey engine failure on Lap 12. It proved to be the first of many retirements in this race, none more astonishing then when Bottas suffered complete hydraulic failure just two laps later and was forced to pull his car off into a partial escape road. It was a stunning turn of events for the pole-sitter and yet another perplexing bit of very bad luck for Bottas in what is turning into something of a snakebite season for him. Even worse for Mercedes they were once again caught flat-footed when a Virtual Safety Car was deployed to slow the field so Bottas’ car could be retrieved. The top contenders — Verstappen, his Red Bull teammate Daniel Ricciardo and the two Ferrari men Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel — all dove for the pits for fresh rubber, dispensing with their pit stops on this potential one-stopper while the race was essentially neutralized. In an inexplicably defensive decision Mercedes kept Hamilton out circulating on track at reduced speed. This made it much more likely that the English championship points leader would be forced to pit under less advantageous green flag conditions down the road. I any event his rivals had all made up valuable track position on him with their stops during the VSC.

So when Hamilton was called in for his tire change on Lap 25 he had only a 13-second cushion. And with a roughly 20-second pit delta even the typically efficient Mercedes pit work couldn’t keep Hamilton in the lead. In fact, he came out in P4 when all was said and done, behind the new leader Verstappen, Ricciardo in P2 and Raikkonen in P3. With Bottas out Mercedes were trying to cover being ganged up on by the two car teams of Red Bull and Ferrari if they split their strategies. But that didn’t materialize and it proved to be the wrong call, which the Mercedes brain trust admitted to a highly frustrated Hamilton.

In front of the lone Mercedes, Raikkonen hunted down Riccardo, whose rear tires were blistering badly, passing him for P2 on lap 38. Blistered rears were an issue that would begin to afflict the entire field as the race wore on at this high speed and very short circuit.  Ricciardo was forced to pit for fresh rubber on Lap 39, seemingly gifting back P3 to Hamilton. But Vettel forced his way by Hamilton for that position on the very same lap, as the Merc appeared to already be losing its rears in the heat. By Lap 53 Hamilton had to pit again, once more conceding valuable track position. Hamilton came out in P5 behind a seemingly rejuvenated Ricciardo. But just as it seemed the affable Aussie was going to take off and try to force his way onto the podium he suffered a sudden engine failure at the start of Lap 54. As a disconsolate Ricciardo climbed out of his stricken Red Bull the team had to be looking at Verstappen’s telemetry and wondering whether their bad luck at their home track was fated to continue.

But Hamilton’s good fortune at the expense of Ricciardo’s DNF was short lived. In an unbelievable turn of events Hamilton’s engine also let go10 laps later while running solidly in P4. While it was always going to be a race of damage limitation after the ill-fated decision not to stop under the VSC, Mercedes now had to swallow the bitterest pill of seeing both their cars scoring precisely zero points. It ended a 33-race points scoring streak for the factory team and proved to be calamitous when the race results were tallied. Verstappen finished off a race he controlled beautifully from the front for the majority of the contest with an authoritative victory. And Ferrari saw their men Raikkonen and Vettel take P2 and P3 respectively, a massive result fir the fabled team from Maranello. With their arch-rivals scoring nothing, it catapulted Ferrari into the lead of the all-important Constructors’ Championship by 10 points. Vettel also regained the points lead in the Drivers’ competition. And while that was only a 1 point margin in what has been a see-saw battle between four-time champions all season long one almost felt that the gut punch that Mercedes received in Austria could be more significant to the overall direction of these two powerhouse teams’ and their long term fortunes.

The disasters experienced by so many of the top contenders proved a veritable boon for the mid-field running teams. Haas saw the biggest benefit from others’ misery as Romain Grosjean finally put together a composed drive and came across the line in a stunning P4. His teammate Kevin Magnussen finished right behind him in P5 making it a banner day for the young American team. Force India also flourished due to the bad luck of their nearest rivals, especially pointless Renault, after looking utterly lost in qualifying. Esteban Ocon took P6 and Sergio Perez was P7 despite starting near the rear, a mega-valuable points haul for a team that had been struggling and appears to be up for sale. Fernando Alonso, who started from the pit lane, managed to salvage a remarkable P8 for McLaren, while Sauber had a rare double points day with rookie phenom Charles Leclerc taking P9 and Marcus Ericsson coming home in P10.

Top 10 finishers of the Austrian GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR LAPS TIME/RETIRED PTS
1 33 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 71 1:21:56.024 25
2 7 Kimi Räikkönen FERRARI 71 +1.504s 18
3 5 Sebastian Vettel FERRARI 71 +3.181s 15
4 8 Romain Grosjean HAAS FERRARI 70 +1 lap 12
5 20 Kevin Magnussen HAAS FERRARI 70 +1 lap 10
6 31 Esteban Ocon FORCE INDIA MERCEDES 70 +1 lap 8
7 11 Sergio Perez FORCE INDIA MERCEDES 70 +1 lap 6
8 14 Fernando Alonso MCLAREN RENAULT 70 +1 lap 4
9 16 Charles Leclerc SAUBER FERRARI 70 +1 lap 2
10 9 Marcus Ericsson SAUBER FERRARI 70 +1 lap 1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race is but a week away as F1 completes its unprecedented “triple header” — the historic British Grand Prix from Silverstone. Can Mercedes recover from this weekend’s fiasco or have Ferrari now got their number? Hope to see you then to find out!

2018 F1 Grand Prix of Canada — Results & aftermath

Vettel masterful in Montreal in dominating win, reclaims championship lead over uninspired P5 Hamilton; Bottas salvages P2 for Mercedes, Verstappen P3 for Red Bull in processional Canadian GP

Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel went from pole to the victory in seemingly effortless fashion at the Canadian Grand Prix on Sunday, dominating a race where once again overtaking proved exceedingly difficult. That resulted in a somewhat desultory contest where finishing positions were mainly dictated by starting positions. Once again F1 finds itself in a season with record setting fast cars but a lack of on-track action due to the overly aero sensitive nature of these magnificently engineered machines, as well as a lack of tire degradation form this year’s Pirelli rubber. All that said it is shaping up to be a seesaw season results-wise between the top contenders from the elite Mercedes and Ferrari teams. And this weekend it was Vettel’s turn to win again, as Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton exhibited a surprisingly similar malaise to the one that seemed to afflict him in slow-speed Monaco only this time at one of his favorite fast tracks here in Montreal. Hamilton couldn’t overcome his mediocre qualifying effort and in fact lost a position from his P4 start on a pit stop overcut by Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo. The Englishman could never get back at Ricciardo and came home a disappointing P5. With Mercedes holding back on their new engine for now Hamilton was definitely down on power and coupled with Vettel’s dominating victory, the 50th of his illustrious F1 career, it saw the Drivers’ Championship lead swing back to the German by a single point. So while the racing may not be of the most exciting overtaking variety, this 2018 season is providing some real suspense as to which driver will walk away with the crown at the end of it.

Pics courtesy GrandPrix247.com

Valtteri Bottas was the better of the two Silver Arrows, maintaining his P2 starting position in the face of a first lap onslaught by Red Bull’s hyper-aggressive Max Verstappen. While he didn’t really have anything to challenge Vettel in front, missing his only minor chance by running a ragged Lap 56 when he was almost within striking distance, Bottas drove well once again to come home P2. It was a good salvage job when Mercedes seemed throughly outclassed by the red cars this weekend. One wonders what the team dynamic would be had Bottas not DNF’d from the lead in Baku with an ill-timed puncture that ceded Hamilton a very lucky win. Verstappen had a much needed steady and incident-free race after a lot of erratic performances this season. While Bottas held him off early and Vertsappen never really had another shot to advance, young Max managed his race well enough to take the last step on the podium in P3. With Ricciardo’s overachieving P4 it made for another very solid day for team Red Bull and their slightly underpowered RB-14.

With the difficult nature of overtaking in this race with these cars, Ferrari’s second driver Kimi Raikkonen found himself stuck in P6 after Ricciardo also pipped him at the start of the race. Ferrari could never quite figure out how to get the veteran Finn back in the mix and so Raikkonen finished there as well. Best of the rest after the elite 6 was Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg who finished P7 followed by his teammate Carlos Sainz in P8. Rounding out the top 10 Esteban Ocon came home P9 for Force India and Charles Leclerc’s stock kept rising with another splendid drive to take the last point in P10 for perpetual backmarkers Sauber.

A scary opening lap shunt between Williams Lance Stroll and Toro Rosso’s Brendan Hartley caused a Safety Car until Lap 4. Hartley went airborne briefly and was checked at hospital but was cleared medically and released. It was another disappointing result for the struggling Kiwi, as well as for the Canadian Stroll, who found himself out of the GP before the end of the first lap in front of his home fans.

Top 10 finishers of the Canadian GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR LAPS TIME/RETIRED PTS
1 5 Sebastian Vettel FERRARI 68 1:28:31.377 25
2 77 Valtteri Bottas MERCEDES 68 +7.376s 18
3 33 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 68 +8.360s 15
4 3 Daniel Ricciardo RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 68 +20.892s 12
5 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 68 +21.559s 10
6 7 Kimi Räikkönen FERRARI 68 +27.184s 8
7 27 Nico Hulkenberg RENAULT 67 +1 lap 6
8 55 Carlos Sainz RENAULT 67 +1 lap 4
9 31 Esteban Ocon FORCE INDIA MERCEDES 67 +1 lap 2
10 16 Charles Leclerc SAUBER FERRARI 67 +1 lap 1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

In two weeks’ time the next race will feature the return of France to the GP calendar after a decade’s absence. The first French Grand Prix since 2008, it will be back at the venerable Circuit Paul Ricard. Hope to see you then to see if Vettel can extend his points lead or if Hamilton can back to his winning ways on this new-old circuit!

2018 F1 Grand Prix of Canada — Qualifying results

Vettel untouchable at Gilles-Villeneuve for Canada pole; Bottas P2 while Verstappen bests Hamilton for P3

At Montreal on Saturday, the first return to pure speed after the ultra-slow Monaco street circuit two weeks ago, Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari showed that they definitely have the legs to go toe-to-toe with Mercedes in 2018. Vettel laid down a dominant 1:10.764 lap, a new track record at high-speed Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve, to authoritatively take pole for tomorrow’s Canadian GP. It appeared that he and the team found that little bit extra to pull away from the rest of the contenders in Q3 after everyone in the top tier looked to be very close in the prior two quali sessions. Vettel’s superb effort also marked the end of a 17-year pole drought in Canada for the famous team from Maranello.

Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas was the next quickest man and will line up alongside Vettel’s Prancing Horse in P2. Not for the first time this year Bottas bested his points-leading teammate, Lewis Hamilton, who is usually a master at this wonderful neck-stretching circuit. Worse still, Hamilton found himself bumped back to P4 when Red Bull’s Max Verstappen crossed the line at the checkered flag .06 ahead of the Englishman. Verstappen was no doubt eager to put his ill-timed practice crash at Monaco behind him and once again display his prodigious talents when he keeps his car on the track. For Hamilton, it was another disappointment after his desultory P3 finish in Monte Carlo a fortnight ago in what has been an up and down season. He also must have been bewildered as to why he could never quite hook up a full clean lap at a place where he had previously scored six poles and six victories, including his first-ever F1 win back in 2007. Come race day, Hamilton will be looking to return to his previously superlative form here but he’ll have to get by some fairly formidable talent to tie Michael Schumacher and take a seventh win in Canada.

Kimi Raikkonen muffed a chance to improve his time late in Q3 and had to settle for P5 after looking genuinely quick all day. It should be interesting to see how Ferrari can strategize to get the veteran Finn back into the fray and try to assist Vettel’s grander aspirations. Daniel Ricciardo also underperformed somewhat and seemed unable to carry the confidence of his supreme race-winning victory in Monaco across the pond. After showing some signs of perhaps contending for a front row position in Q2, Ricciardo got a reality check in Q3 and  will start back in P6. Behind the three elite teams, Renault had a good qualifying performance with Nico Hulkenberg grabbing P7 on the grid and Carlos Sainz P9. They were bracketed by the Force Indias of Esteban Ocon and Sergio Perez who rounded out the top 10 in P8 and P10 respectively.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Canadian Gran Prix:

POS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 5 Sebastian Vettel FERRARI 1:11.710 1:11.524 1:10.764 18
2 77 Valtteri Bottas MERCEDES 1:11.950 1:11.514 1:10.857 20
3 33 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 1:12.008 1:11.472 1:10.937 16
4 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 1:11.835 1:11.740 1:10.996 21
5 7 Kimi Räikkönen FERRARI 1:11.725 1:11.620 1:11.095 20
6 3 Daniel Ricciardo RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 1:12.459 1:11.434 1:11.116 18
7 27 Nico Hulkenberg RENAULT 1:12.795 1:11.916 1:11.973 15
8 31 Esteban Ocon FORCE INDIA MERCEDES 1:12.577 1:12.141 1:12.084 14
9 55 Carlos Sainz RENAULT 1:12.689 1:12.097 1:12.168 15
10 11 Sergio Perez FORCE INDIA MERCEDES 1:12.702 1:12.395 1:12.671 13

Complete qualifying results amiable via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race airs live on ABC starting at 2PM here in the States. Can Hamilton recover his mastery at Circuit Gille-Villeneuve or will it be a dual between his teammate Bottas and their Ferrari archrival Vettel? Or will young Vertsappen crash the party instead of out the race to steal the victory? Hope to see you then to find out!

2018 F1 Grand Prix of Monaco — Results & aftermath

Ricciardo rules the streets of Monte Carlo; Vettel P2, Hamilton a desultory P3

Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo dominated the race weekend for the prestigious Monaco Grand Prix, topping the pylon in every practice session, starting from the pole and leading every lap in Sunday’s race. But it wasn’t all smooth sailing for the veteran Aussie ace. About a third of the way through the contest on Lap 28 his RB14 developed a Kers issue that robbed him of precious horsepower due to incomplete energy harvesting under braking. With his hybrid power failing him Ricciardo was forced to nurse his rear breaks due to overheating and push the bias towards the front in an effort to cope with near-critical temperatures in the rear. It began to look that once again Ricciardo would suffer another devastating heartbreak in Monte Carlo after losing a sure win 2 years ago when his team was caught flatfooted and without tires during a critical late race pit stop. The second place Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel was eating up chunks of time to the previously impervious Red Bull and seemed sure to seize this unfair advantage to hunt him down even if Ricciardo’s mount didn’t expire first.

Pics courtesy GrandPrix247.com

But Riccardo and Red Bull gritted it out and the narrow nature of the Monte Carlo street circuit worked to their advantage, as Vettel could never quite execute a pass while his tires were at their best. Even a late Virtual Safety Car period caused by Charles Le Clerc’s Sauber rear ending Brendon Hartley’s Toro Rosso when the former’s breaks failed didn’t impede Ricciardo’s momentum, as there were simply too few laps remaining for any of the other contenders to risk a last minute dive to the pits for fresh rubber. In the end Ricciardo did a superb job managing his car’s ill health, got back into a very quick rhythm and stayed out in front to capture victory and redemption at this most storied of F1 races. It was a very special moment in the talented Australian’s already excellent career and it was also Riccardo’s second victory of the year, vaulting him to an impressive third place in the Drivers’s standings.

While Vettel, who started and stayed second, could never get by the superior Red Bull it was nevertheless a decent day for the Ferrari team. Vettel maintained his P2 starting position and the pursuing Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton had no real chance of overtaking him on this notoriously narrow street circuit. Better yet, Kimi Raikkonen also ran well and kept Hamilton’s teammate Valtteri Bottas behind him, despite a gutsy early stop for the harder Super Soft compound tire by the second Silver Arrow. But tire strategy and jettisoning the new Hypersoft tires early was not enough for Bottas to make up positions after a mediocre qualifying and so Mercedes saw themselves bested by their biggest rivals at one of the rare circuits that simply does not suit their normally nonpareil chassis. The Ferraris of Vettel and Raikkonen finished P2 and P4 respectively while Hamilton & Bottas had to settle for P3 and P5. That reduced Vettel’s deficit to Hamilton down to 14 points while the Ferrari team whittled Mercedes’ advantage in the Constructors’ Championship to just 22 points. So overall a good weekend for Ferrari and a disappointing one for the Mercedes factory team who will be looking forward to stretching their legs again in Montreal in two weeks time.

Further back in the field, Esteban Ocon excelled for Force India, converting a clean and tidy run into a valuable P6 finish. Rookie Pierre Gasly once again showed his talent after a few bad luck races and brought his Toro Rosso home safely in P7. Nico Hulkenberg got a much needed result with a P8 finish, while his Renault teammate Carlos Sainz got the last point in P10, though the Spaniard was less than thrilled with the team’s decision to pit him early for the Ultra Soft Pirellis rather than what turned out to be the better option Super Softs.

Special mention should be made for Max Verstappen’s P9 finish. While that doesn’t sound very impressive for such an elite driver it was a very good salvage job by the young Dutchman after  he had put his Red Bull into the wall in free Practice 3 and damaged his gearbox severely enough to miss out on qualifying entirely. However, the Red Bull brain trust must still have been left wondering what might have been with two healthy cars in the race and perhaps starting from the 1-2 positions. While no one questions Verstappen’s supreme talent behind the wheel his costly risk taking in practice was yet another indication that in the big picture he’s got to mature into a smarter, more consistent racer if he’s ever going to take his place among the elite of F1.

Top 10 finishers of the Monaco GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR LAPS TIME/RETIRED PTS
1 3 Daniel Ricciardo RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 78 1:42:54.807 25
2 5 Sebastian Vettel FERRARI 78 +7.336s 18
3 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 78 +17.013s 15
4 7 Kimi Räikkönen FERRARI 78 +18.127s 12
5 77 Valtteri Bottas MERCEDES 78 +18.822s 10
6 31 Esteban Ocon FORCE INDIA MERCEDES 78 +23.667s 8
7 10 Pierre Gasly SCUDERIA TORO ROSSO HONDA 78 +24.331s 6
8 27 Nico Hulkenberg RENAULT 78 +24.839s 4
9 33 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 78 +25.317s 2
10 55 Carlos Sainz RENAULT 78 +69.013s 1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race is in two weeks from the always challenging and high speed Circuit Gille-Villeneuve in Montreal, Canada. Will the Silver Arrows to return to their front running form or can Ferrari build on their superior Monaco results? Or will Red Bull find the key for consistent performance and reliability from both cars & drivers to crash the Canadian party? Hope to see you then to find out!

2018 F1 Grand Prix of Monaco — Qualifying results

Ricciardo seizes pole for Red Bull at Monte Carlo; Vettel P2, Hamilton P3

Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo blistered the field in Saturday qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix, laying down a track record fast lap of 1:10.810, easily good enough for pole over the other favorites. After his teammate Max Verstappen had a costly crash in free Practice 3 that ruined his gear box and kept the Dutchman out of qualifying entirely, Ricciardo saved Red Bull’s honor by running the fastest laps in every qualifying session including when it counted most. This was Riccairdo’s second career pole at the famed Monte Carlo street circuit and showed once again how dangerous Red Bull’s slippery chassis can be on this ultra-tight course. Now if only his team can remember to put tires out for him during the race the Aussie just might win the big prize on Sunday. It should also be worth the price of admission to see young Max attempt to fight his way back into contention from the very rear of the pack.

Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel was the best of rest, outperforming Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton for P2 to the Englishman’s P3 time. Likewise Vettel’s Scuderia stablemate Kimi Raikkonen bested Hamilton’s Silver Arrows wingman Valtteri Bottas P4 to P5 indicating the Prancing Horse may be better suited to this great old street course than the usually superior Mercedes. Force India did well to put both their drivers into the Top 10 on the grid with Esteban Ocon qualifying P6 and Sergio Perez P9, while Fernando Alonso willed his McLaren up to P7. Rounding out the front of the grid, Carlos Sainz will start P8 for Renault and Pierre Gasly will start P10 for Toro Rosso.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Monaco GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 3 Daniel Ricciardo RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 1:12.013 1:11.278 1:10.810 17
2 5 Sebastian Vettel FERRARI 1:12.415 1:11.518 1:11.039 21
3 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 1:12.460 1:11.584 1:11.232 22
4 7 Kimi Räikkönen FERRARI 1:12.639 1:11.391 1:11.266 22
5 77 Valtteri Bottas MERCEDES 1:12.434 1:12.002 1:11.441 25
6 31 Esteban Ocon FORCE INDIA MERCEDES 1:13.028 1:12.188 1:12.061 27
7 14 Fernando Alonso MCLAREN RENAULT 1:12.657 1:12.269 1:12.110 26
8 55 Carlos Sainz RENAULT 1:12.950 1:12.286 1:12.130 28
9 11 Sergio Perez FORCE INDIA MERCEDES 1:12.848 1:12.194 1:12.154 23
10 10 Pierre Gasly SCUDERIA TORO ROSSO HONDA 1:12.941 1:12.313 1:12.221 29

Complete qualifying results available via Forumla.com.

The 2018 edition of the classic Monaco GP airs live tomorrow starting at 9AM Eastern on ESPN here in the States. It kicks off the greatest day of the year for motorsports in typically classy Monagasque fashion before the Indy 500 roars into action later in the afternoon. Hope to see you yacht side and with bellinis in hand to see how it all goes down in Monte Carlo!

2018 F1 Grand Prix of Azerbaijan — Qualifying results

Vettel & Ferrari continue pole streak in Baku but Raikkonen slips to P6; Hamilton seizes front row spot in P2, Bottas primed to attack in P3

The good news for Ferrari and their lead driver Sebastian Vettel is that they both kept their pole streak alive at the mind blowingly difficult Baku street circuit in Azerbaijan in Saturday qualifying. Vettel showed once again that the Scuderia’s 2018 SF71H chassis has more than made up the speed defeicit to might Mercedes by taking his third consecutive pole and besting Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton & Valtteri Bottas in mano a mano combat. The bad news for Ferrari is that their Number 2, veteran Kimi Raikkonen, was once again maddeningly inconstant when it counted the most. On a flying lap in the dying moments of Q3 Raikkonen looked primed to pip Vettel for the top starting spot. Instead he pushed just that little bit too hard resulting in a wriggling tank slapper that the Finn quickly caught before smashing into the wall but that cost him valuable time. After that bobble Raikkonen ended up with only the 6th fastest time and therefore leaves his teammate potentially at the mercy of two hard charging Mercedes Silver Arrows on the opening lap.

Lewis Hamilton showed the fire that had been missing in the last couple of race weekends and tried very hard, coming up just short of Vettel in P2. His teammate Valtteri Bottas who has performed well so far and is a mere 5 points behind his more illustrious teammate in the Drivers’ Championship, put in a lap good enough for P3. That makes for intriguing starting positions for Mercedes and they are sure to harass Vettel with Raikkonen farther from the fight and perhaps try and get Lewis Hamilton his first win of the season here in its fourth round.

Red Bull might also find themselves in the mix even if they seem to lack the overall pace of the top two teams. Daniel Ricciardo, the winner of the last GP in China, parlayed that rediscovered confidence into a fine P4 start on the grid. His sometimes impulsive teammate drove within himself on this very challenging and at places super tight circuit to secure a P5 start. Behind Raikkonen, Force India’s Esteban Ocon did very well to come home with the seventh fastest time with his teammate and ofttimes archrival Sergio Perez just behind him in P8. The Renualts of Nico Hilkenber rounded out the top 10 qualifiers with Nico Hilkenberg in P9 and Carlos Sainz in P10 respectively. However, Hulkenberg will get dropped five spots with a gearbox penalty so Lance Stroll will be elevated to start tenth, a nice and much needed reward for struggling Williams.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Azerbaijan GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 5 Sebastian Vettel FERRARI 1:42.762 1:43.015 1:41.498 19
2 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 1:42.693 1:42.676 1:41.677 21
3 77 Valtteri Bottas MERCEDES 1:43.355 1:42.679 1:41.837 21
4 3 Daniel Ricciardo RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 1:42.857 1:43.482 1:41.911 20
5 33 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 1:42.642 1:42.901 1:41.994 19
6 7 Kimi Räikkönen FERRARI 1:42.538 1:42.510 1:42.490 20
7 31 Esteban Ocon FORCE INDIA MERCEDES 1:43.021 1:42.967 1:42.523 20
8 11 Sergio Perez FORCE INDIA MERCEDES 1:43.992 1:43.366 1:42.547 20
9 27 Nico Hulkenberg RENAULT 1:43.746 1:43.232 1:43.066 20
10 55 Carlos Sainz RENAULT 1:43.426 1:43.464 1:43.351 20

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race airs live at 8AM Eastern on ESPN2 here in the States. On this highly challenging and exciting street course expect Safety Cars and chaos. Hope to see you then to see who can keep it out of the walls and come home to victory!

2018 F1 Grand Prix of Bahrain — Results & aftermath

Vettel victorious for Ferrari in Bahrain but Raikkonen DNFs after pit lane mishap; Bottas P2, Hamilton P3 for Mercedes

Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel parlayed his pole-setting pace into a thrilling victory in the desert in Sunday’s action packed Bahrain Grand Prix. Vettel was able to hold off the hard charging Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas on worn rubber in the dying minutes of the race despite the Finn’s best efforts. Both drivers were on a one-stop strategy, Bottas by choice and Vettel by necessity, and the German 4-time world Champion was able to nurse his Soft compound Pirellis just long enough to keep him out front at the finish. Bottas, who was switched to Medium tires on his only pit stop exactly like his teammate Lewis Hamilton, had the better rubber at the end. But perhaps Mercedes waited to long in asking hime to turn up the wick. In the end, while Bottas took chunks of time out of the leading Ferrari he couldn’t make the pass for the win when needed on the very last lap. That made it one of the most satisfying victories in Vettel’s illustrious career and gave him a 17 point lead over, Hamilton, his nearest rival.

Hamilton had a reasonably good race despite starting from P9 due to a mediocre qualifying time with a gearbox penalty layered on top. He survived opening lap contact with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, passed the midfield runners forcefully and managed to make the best of a bad starting situation, taking the last step on the podium by finishing P3. Still, the reigning champion now trails Vettel by 17 points and things have definitely not gone Mercedes way in the first two races. So far Ferrari’s pace appears to be for real and Mercedes also seem to be lacking in strategic thinking and decisiveness, a mix that could lead to Maranello’s first Constructors’ Championship in a decade if mighty Mercedes cannot up their game.

Pics courtesy GrandPrix247.com

All was not sunshine and roses for Ferrari, however, as the team’s second car was the victim of a serious pit mishap that cost them not only valuable points but also severely injured one of their mechanics. When Kimi Raikkonen came in for his scheduled pit stop on Lap 37 all went awry. The Iceman, who had been within striking distance of a podium as well as acting as Vettel’s wingman against the Silver Arrows onslaught, got a false green light signal to go even though his rear left tire had not yet been changed. Raikkonen took off while a mechanic, Francesco Cigarini, was standing in front of the enormous rear tire and ran the poor fellow over, resulting in a badly broken leg for Cigarini. Raikkonen was then ordered to stop, as he now had illegal mismatched tires, and while the mechanic was being tended to in the pit box the team were unable or unwilling to pull his car back and complete the service, which would have been legal if done by hand. The result was a DNF for the second Ferrari and a 50,000 Euro fine to the team for an unsafe release. Despite the huge haul of points left on the table by the Scuderia the really good news is that the mechanic had surgery and is expected to recover despite the unsettling incident.

On the other end of the spectrum, there was absolute joy in the Toro Rosso garage when young Pierre Gasly drive his Honda-powered chassis to a remarkable P4 finish, a much needed boost for both the team and the besieged engine manufacturer. While his teammate Brendon Hartley finished outside the points in 17th after accruing a penalty for contact early in the race, Gasly drove a superb race. The 21-year-old Frenchman actually improved upon his already excellent P6 starting position, stayed out of trouble and showed real pace as he came home nearly 13 seconds ahead of Kevin Magnussen’s fifth-place Haas. A season after their acrimonious split from McLaren this was just the result that Honda was so feverishly working towards. Obviously in a very competitive F1 midfield Toro Rosso will take it, too. And a superb drive like that should also put Gasly in prime position for promotion to Red Bull when the time is right, as has happened to other talented young Toro Rosso trainees such as certain fellows by the name of Vettel and Verstappen.

Gasly was helped enormously by the surprising double DNFs of Toro Rosso’s parent team. After his first-lap tangle with Hamilton while trying to make up positions quickly after crashing out in qualifying the hyper-aggressive Verstappen’s Red Bull came off second best with a puncture to his left rear. While he was able to limp his machine back to the pits and run a few more laps his transmission was mortally wounded and the young Dutchman had to retire the car. His teammate Daniel Ricciardo also had a catastrophic race when his car suffered complete power failure on Lap 2 and switched off. All in all a disastrous day for Red Bull, which saw their race points scoring streak snapped at 38.

As mentioned above, Haas got good points from Kevin Magnussen who drive aggressively but survived to come home P5. Their other driver, Romain Grosjean, probably should have been black flagged as pieces of his car’s body work kept depositing themselves on the circuit but in any event the Frenchman finished a disappointing P13. Nico Hulkenberg was P6 for the Renault factory team and Renault-powered McLaren had an excellent double points day with Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne finishing P7 and P8 respectively despite both starting well outside the Top 10. Marcus Ericsson gave a much needed boost to perennial back markers Sauber with a somewhat stealthy P9, the Swede’s first points in 50 races. And Esteban Ocon was the lone Force India to score, coming home in the last points paying position at P10.

Top 10 finishers of the Bahrain GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR LAPS TIME/RETIRED PTS
1 5 Sebastian Vettel FERRARI 57 1:32:01.940 25
2 77 Valtteri Bottas MERCEDES 57 +0.699s 18
3 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 57 +6.512s 15
4 10 Pierre Gasly SCUDERIA TORO ROSSO HONDA 57 +62.234s 12
5 20 Kevin Magnussen HAAS FERRARI 57 +75.046s 10
6 27 Nico Hulkenberg RENAULT 57 +99.024s 8
7 14 Fernando Alonso MCLAREN RENAULT 56 +1 lap 6
8 2 Stoffel Vandoorne MCLAREN RENAULT 56 +1 lap 4
9 9 Marcus Ericsson SAUBER FERRARI 56 +1 lap 2
10 31 Esteban Ocon FORCE INDIA MERCEDES 56 +1 lap 1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race is but a week away at the Shanghai International Circuit in China. Can Ferrari & Vettel maintain their winning ways or will Mercedes turn up with the key to their first victory in 2018? Hope to see you then to find out!

2018 F1 Grand Prix of Bahrain — Qualifying results

Vettel seizes pole in Bahrain desert, Raikkonen P2 to secure Ferrari front row lockout; Bottas salvages P3 on grid for Mercedes but Hamilton relegated to P9 after gearbox penalty

Ferrari again showed that they have the pace to challenge and perhaps dethrone Mercedes in 2018, at least based on qualifying results at the dusty desert Bahrain International Circuit on Saturday. The Scuderia’s ace, Sebastian Vettel, laid down a track record 1:27.958 lap to secure the pole for Sunday’s Grand Prix, a solid .143 in front of his stablemate, Kimi Raikkonen. That secured a Ferrari front row lockout, as Mercedes’ second driver, Valtteri Bottas, could set a lap no better than third fastest. To make matters worse for the Silver Arrows, while Lewis Hamilton was not only off the pace and qualified behind Bottas and his main rivals in P4 the English current World Champion also faces a 5-spot gearbox penalty and will have to start from back in P9 on the grid. At least in the very early going this year the racing gods seem to be favoring Ferrari’s challenge to the previously unmatched might of Mercedes.

Daniel Ricciardo was fifth fastest but his headstrong teammate Max Verstappen crashed out in Q1, allegedly after a “horsepower spike” sent his car careering off track and into a barrier. Vertapeppen will have to fight his way through the back of the pack, which should at least make for some exciting racing for the young Dutchman as he scrambles to secure precious points for team Red Bull. Perhaps most impressive of all qualifying efforts, Pierre Gasly piloted his previously woeful Honda-powered Toro Rosso all the way up to the sixth fastest time, out performing Haas, Renault and Force India in the process. With his teammate Brendan Hartley qualifying just outside of Q3 in P11 it could be that Honda power is finally coming good a year after the McLaren divorce. Making matters more awkward for McLaren neither of their Renault-powered chassis were able to get through to Q3, with Fernando Alonso & Stoffel Vandoorne mired back in P13 and P14 respectively.

Rounding out the Top 10 in quali, Kevin Magnussen made it to P7 for improving Haas a week after their twin pit disasters led to heartbreak in Australia; Nico Hulkenberg was P8 and Carlos Sainz was P10 for the Renault factory team; and Esteban Ococn was the sole Force India to make it into Q3 at P9. Once formidable Williams look to be in deep trouble as they were essentially as slow as the pitiful Saubers, with Lance Stroll having the dubious distinction of setting the worst time of the day.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Bahrain GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 5 Sebastian Vettel FERRARI 1:29.060 1:28.341 1:27.958 13
2 7 Kimi Räikkönen FERRARI 1:28.951 1:28.515 1:28.101 13
3 77 Valtteri Bottas MERCEDES 1:29.275 1:28.794 1:28.124 16
4 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 1:29.396 1:28.458 1:28.220 16
5 3 Daniel Ricciardo RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 1:29.552 1:28.962 1:28.398 12
6 10 Pierre Gasly SCUDERIA TORO ROSSO HONDA 1:30.121 1:29.836 1:29.329 18
7 20 Kevin Magnussen HAAS FERRARI 1:29.594 1:29.623 1:29.358 16
8 27 Nico Hulkenberg RENAULT 1:30.260 1:29.187 1:29.570 15
9 31 Esteban Ocon FORCE INDIA MERCEDES 1:30.338 1:30.009 1:29.874 16
10 55 Carlos Sainz RENAULT 1:29.893 1:29.802 1:29.986 18

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

The Bahrain Grand Prix airs live on Sunday, April 8 starting at 11AM on ESPN2 here in the States. Hope to see you then to see if Ferrari can put the fear of god into Mercedes to make it two wins in a row to start this year’s campaign!

2017 F1 Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi — Results & aftermath

Bottas wins last race of season going away, Hamitlon P2; Vettel a distant P3

Mercedes #2 Valtteri Bottas finished out the season in style by winning the Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi from the pole. His recently crowned 4-time World Champion teammate Lewis Hamilton came home a comfortable second and never seemed to push his Finnish wingman too hard for the victory, having secured the ultimate individual prize in Mexico some weeks back. Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel finished a distant P3, a fitting end to a fleetingly promising season for the fabled Scuderia from Maranello. Their once robust challenge to Mercedes supremacy all began to fall apart in the second half when a first lap shunt between teammates in Singapore started a death spiral of unreliability that ended any realistic chance of a genuine title run. Vettel’s stablemate Kimi Raikkonen finished P4 after a lackluster campaign, once again begging the question of just why Ferrari have re-signed the aging Iceman for next season when there is so much hot young talent out there.

Pics courtesy GrandPrix247.com

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen came home a decent P5, flying the flag for the team after Daniel Ricciardo suffered hydraulic failure on Lap 21. It was an unfortunate bookend to the affable Aussie’s season — he also DNF’d in the first race of the year way back in March at his home Grand Prix in Melbourne — and it seeded fourth in the Drivers’ points to Raikkonen. With better reliability Red Bull really would have challenged Ferrari for second overall and they’ll be hoping for just that next season, Further back in the pack Nico Hulkenberg overcame a 5-second time penalty for cutting a corner while passing his old Force India sparring partner Sergio Perez early in the race to take P6 for Renault. The result was doubly excellent for the veteran German in his first year with the squad, as it netted enough points to lift the factory Renault team into 6th in the Constructors’ standings ahead of struggling Toro Rosso. It was a very lucrative last race promotion that also bodes well for the French automotive giant’s chances next year.

Perez, whose incessant complaining about Hulkenberg’s unfair pass guaranteed the penalty from the stewards, could nevertheless not capitalize and finished P7. His Force India teammate Esteban Ocon was right behind in P8, wrapping up another excellent points haul for the little team from Silverstone and proving with that season-long consistency that their fourth place in the Constructors’ was no fluke. Two veterans rounded out the Top 10. Fernando Alonso took P9 for McLaren and will be looking forward to next year not only for a new Renault power unit but also for his double duty in sports cars at The Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona and in the WEC Championship for Toyota. And Felipe Massa finished up his 269th and final F1 race in the points in P10, capping a sterling 15-year career with crowd pleasing burnouts alongside the top two Mercedes as a massive fireworks display exploded around the dazzling Yas Marina circuit. It was a memorable and fittingly celebratory end to the little Brazilian’s outstanding Formula 1 career.

Top 10 finishers of the Abu Dhabi GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR LAPS TIME/RETIRED PTS
1 77 Valtteri Bottas MERCEDES 55 1:34:14.062 25
2 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 55 +3.899s 18
3 5 Sebastian Vettel FERRARI 55 +19.330s 15
4 7 Kimi Räikkönen FERRARI 55 +45.386s 12
5 33 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 55 +46.269s 10
6 27 Nico Hulkenberg RENAULT 55 +85.713s 8
7 11 Sergio Perez FORCE INDIA MERCEDES 55 +92.062s 6
8 31 Esteban Ocon FORCE INDIA MERCEDES 55 +98.911s 4
9 14 Fernando Alonso MCLAREN HONDA 54 +1 lap 2
10 19 Felipe Massa WILLIAMS MERCEDES 54 +1 lap 1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

Final 2017 Drivers Standings are here.

Final 2017 Constructors Standings are here.