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2021 F1 Grand Prix of Belgium — Qualifying results

Verstappen takes pole in wet conditions at Spa, denying overachieving P2 Russell; Hamilton settles for P3; promising Norris crashes out in lurid Q3 shunt at Eau Rouge

Formula 1 returned from the long summer break and arrived at the fabled Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium with a bang — a bit too literally for McLaren’s talented young driver, Lando Norris. On a consistently wet day in the Ardennes, the rain picked up between the second and third qualifying sessions and Norris found himself running a hot lap early in Q3 that only lasted as long as Eau Rouge. His McLaren twitched in the standing water there and when Norris attempted to correct he lost control of his mount and spun violently into the tire barriers, destroying the car. Norris appeared to injure his left arm in the violent shunt but was otherwise unscathed when he finally emerged from his wrecked chassis after a tense few moments. Just like that, one of the main contenders for pole at the Belgian Grand Prix was out of the running and Norris will also likely have to start from the pits tomorrow after the crew spend the night rebuilding his car.

After a long Red Flag delay to clean up the track, the remaining nine drivers and their teams scrambled to figure out how best to deal with the weather, which thankfully lightened up during the pause, though it was certainly still wet. As time ran down in the stop-start Q3, everyone decided that Intermediate wet tires were worth the risk and at first Mercedes ace Lewis Hamilton set a time that appeared fast enough to claim pole. But the circuit continued to improve and, surprisingly, it was the Williams of George Russell who displaced the seven-time champion Hamilton from that top spot by several tenths as time ran out in the final quali session. When Hamilton was unable to better Russell’s mark on his final attempt, it looked like the younger of the two Englishman might earn a flukey but still joyous first career pole. But Red Bull’s Max Verstappen had other ideas. With the bitter taste of his collision-affected P10 at the last race in Hungary still fresh in his mouth and plenty of time to brood about it during the long break, the young Dutch Master hooked up his final lap beautifully and dashed Russell’s pole dreams, besting the Briton by a shade over three-tenths. Nevertheless, Russell was still elated to earn his first front row start in F1, as were Wiliams after a long slog back to respectability, and he will line up in P2 across from Verstappen to start tomorrow’s Grand Prix.

Hamilton had to settle for the third best time and Norris’s McLaren teammate Daniel Ricciardo, who seemed to be nowhere earlier in qualifying, excelled as the sessions wore on and earned a much needed solid P4 starting spot for himself and the shaken team. Cagey old veteran Sebastian Vettel, who had been calling for a Red Flag prior to Norris’ shunt and was livid with the race directors after the crash, still kept his head together enough to pilot his Aston Martin to the fifth fastest time on the day. AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly also did well in the wet and will line up alongside Vettel on the third row in P6 on the grid. Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez could only manage a time good enough for P7 but he still bested the second Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas, who not only qualified down in P8 but will be pushed back 5 spots on the grid due to his culpability for running into Verstappen at the Hugaroring on the opening lap. Alpine’s Esteban Ocon, the shock winner of that contentious Hungarian GP, set a P9 time but will slot in at P8 on the grid for tomorrow’s contest due to Bottas’ penalty. That is exactly the starting spot Ocon had in Hungary when he drove to victory so the Frenchman may be feeling that he has the rest of the field right where he wants them.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Belgian GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 33 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING HONDA 1:58.717 1:56.559 1:59.765 20
2 63 George Russell WILLIAMS MERCEDES 1:59.864 1:56.950 2:00.086 24
3 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 1:59.218 1:56.229 2:00.099 22
4 3 Daniel Ricciardo MCLAREN MERCEDES 2:01.583 1:57.127 2:00.864 22
5 5 Sebastian Vettel ASTON MARTIN MERCEDES 2:00.175 1:56.814 2:00.935 23
6 10 Pierre Gasly ALPHATAURI HONDA 2:00.387 1:56.440 2:01.164 23
7 11 Sergio Perez RED BULL RACING HONDA 1:59.334 1:56.886 2:02.112 22
8 77 Valtteri Bottas MERCEDES 1:59.870 1:56.295 2:02.502 22
9 31 Esteban Ocon ALPINE RENAULT 2:01.824 1:57.354 2:03.513 23
10 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 1:58.301 1:56.025 DNF 19

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race airs live beginning at 9AM Eastern on ESPN2 here in the States. With more foul weather forecast at Spa for Sunday it could be another crazy race result in a season full of them. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2021 F1 Grand Prix of Hungary — Results & aftermath

Alpine’s Ocon earns shock victory in Hungary after first lap melee takes out five top contenders; Vettel finishes P2 for Aston Martin but DQ’d for fuel violation; Hamilton fights back to take P3 after early strategic error by Mercedes; Verstappen salvages P10 on disastrous day for Red Bull

Just a little bit of rain before the start of the Hungarian Grand Prix was enough to soak the Hungaroring and lead directly to a thoroughly scrambled race with some of the most unexpected results in a Formula 1 contest seen in years. With all the runners starting the GP on Intermediate wet weather Pirelli tires, the die was cast for massive unpredictability when Mercedes number two man, Valtteri Bottas, perhaps trying to make up for a poor start that saw the Finn lose several spots when the lights went out, badly misjudged his breaking point going into Turn 1 and plowed into the back of McLaren’s Lando Norris. That set off a chain reaction of mayhem and collisions amongst several top contenders that led to the retirement of not just Bottas and Norris but also the Red Bull of Sergio Perez, the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc and the Aston Martin of Lance Stroll when all were mauled too badly to continue. And while pole-sitter Lewis Hamilton was unaffected by his teammate’s blunder, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was not so lucky, as he was smashed into by Stroll when the Canadian attempted to reenter the track after taking evasive action prior. That led to major damage to Verstappen’s floor and barge board that was not able to be fully repaired even in the prolonged Red Flag period for cleanup that followed that massive first lap shunt, badly compromising the Dutchman’s race pace thereafter.

Meanwhile, Alpine’s Esteban Ocon and Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel, who started in P8 and P10 respectively, danced their way through the carnage and were able to emerge unscathed with the wreckage in their rearview and only Hamilton in front, with Ocon ascending to P2 and Vettel to P3 when first the Safety Car was deployed and then the race halted for the Red Flag. After the debris field had been cleaned up, Hamilton led the field back to the grid for a standing restart at the end of Lap 3. But the Englishman found himself starting completely alone on the track because the entirety of the other fourteen cars still able to participate dove into the pits to get off the wet tires and onto slicks, as the circuit had dried sufficiently for that maneuver and no more rain was forecast on the day. It was a bad miscalculation by the Mercedes brain trust, perhaps aggravated by the ban on team comms with the leader during the formation lap, because Hamilton was forced to plod around for an extra lap before he could get his own slick Medium Pirellis, while the entirety of the field zoomed around on that fresh racy rubber. By the time Hamilton emerged form the pits, the erstwhile race leader found himself dead last in P14 (Haas’ Nikita Mazepin having been taken out of the race by a pit lane collision with the unsafely released Alfa of Kimi Raikkonen). That strange strategic error by the usually nimble Mercedes pit wall saw Ocon take the lead of the race with only Vettel within shouting distance of the Frenchman. With Hamilton having it all to do to claw his way back into contention, Ocon controlled the race masterfully at the front and his Alpine team also aided him with a sterling pit stop at the end of Lap 37 nearly a second quicker than Vettel’s the lap prior. That proved to be the decisive edge that Ocon needed and the 24-year-old Frenchman was able to keep the 34-year-old and four time champion Vettel behind him until the very end no matter how much pressure the German veteran applied. When the checkers flew, Ocon took was 1.859 to the good ahead of Vettel to earn a stunning maiden Formula 1 victory that no oddsmaker would have given you 100-to-1 on at the beginning of the day.

Pics courtesy GrandPrix247.com

To make matters even more frustrating for the already frustrated Vettel, his Aston ran out of fuel on the cool down lap and then was unable to provide a liter’s worth of gas to the FIA, as required. Therefore, Vettel was disqualified and his terrific P2 result nullified. That meant that Hamilton, who fought like crazy, particularly with Ocon’s Alpine teammate, Fernando Alonso, in real multi-lap, wheel-banging ding dong battle, to will himself up to a P3 podium spot despite feeling dizziness and fatigue during the contest, was then promoted to P2 and earned 18 championship points, a net of three extra points due to Vettel’s infraction. Meanwhile, Verstappen struggled to make headway against normally inferior competitors in his badly damaged Red Bull and could only make it back up to P10, earning an addition point due to his promotion after the race. Continue reading →

2021 F1 Grand Prix of Hungary — Qualifying results

Hamilton beats Bottas to pole as Mercedes flex pace at Hungaroring; Verstappen qualifies P3

With the return to good old three-round knockout qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix after F1’s rather underwhelming Sprint Race format two weeks ago in Great Britain, the hunt for pole for tomorrow’s race was once again focused solely on one-lap pace. And with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton dueling for that coveted top starting spot after their on track collision left Verstappen out of the British GP on Lap 1 and the entire Red Bull team hopping mad at Hamilton, who incidentally went on to win, there was more tension in the air than even a normally nervy qualifying Saturday. But as the Q3 session expired with all the top contenders waiting until the last possible second to make their final runs, it was team Mercedes that outperformed team Red Bull on this day and rather comprehensively. Hamilton hooked up a near perfect lap on Soft Pirellis to grab pole with a blistering 1:15.419 time and his wingman Valtteri Bottas was very nearly as good, slotting in at P2 on the grid just a little over three-tenths slower than the pole time. Verstappen was about a tenth in arrears of Bottas and will find himself in the unfamiliar position of starting from the second row in P3, ending a run of four consecutive poles for the Dutchman. His teammate Sergio Perez could not make the line in time for a final flying lap but was still fourth fastest and will line up alongside Verstappen on the grid, which should make the opening lap more than a little interesting with the Mercedes and Red Bulls stacked back-to-back, as they will be.

AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly returned to form after a bit of a lost weekend at Silverstone a fortnight ago, setting the fifth fastest time and bettering the hard charging Lando Norris, who could only get up to P6 in his McLaren. That was still miles ahead of his teammate, Daniel Ricciardo, who got bounced in Q2 and will start down in P11. Likewise, Gasly’s AlphaTauri teammate, rookie Yuki Tsunoda, could not get to grips with the tricky and breezy Hungaroring and found himself knocked out in Q1 with just the sixteenth quickest time. Charles Leclerc will be the sole Ferrari to start in the top ten at P7 because his stablemate Carlos Sainz crashed out in lurid fashion entering the final corner on his last hot lap in Q2. The Spaniard will have his work cut out for him trying to fight back from way down in P15, as will the team in rebuilding the car overnight. On the other hand, Alpine saw both of their drivers make it into Q3 for the first time since Round 4 in Spain, with the struggling Esteban Ocon actually outpacing his double-World Champion teammate Fernando Alonso, P8 to P9. And four-time Champ Sebastian Vettel pulled his Aston Martin into P10 to line up alongside fellow wizened veteran Alonso on the fifth row.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Hungarian GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 1:16.424 1:16.553 1:15.419 19
2 77 Valtteri Bottas MERCEDES 1:16.569 1:16.702 1:15.734 18
3 33 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING HONDA 1:16.214 1:15.650 1:15.840 17
4 11 Sergio Perez RED BULL RACING HONDA 1:17.233 1:16.443 1:16.421 16
5 10 Pierre Gasly ALPHATAURI HONDA 1:16.874 1:16.394 1:16.483 15
6 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 1:17.081 1:16.385 1:16.489 17
7 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 1:17.084 1:16.574 1:16.496 17
8 31 Esteban Ocon ALPINE RENAULT 1:17.367 1:16.766 1:16.653 15
9 14 Fernando Alonso ALPINE RENAULT 1:17.123 1:16.541 1:16.715 15
10 5 Sebastian Vettel ASTON MARTIN MERCEDES 1:17.105 1:16.794 1:16.750 15

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race, Round 11 of the Championship., airs live on ESPN beginning at 9AM Eastern here in the States. Can Verstappen get his vengeance on Hamilton by coming from behind to win in this final round before the month-long summer break? Or was Max’s DNF via collision with Lewis in Britain the turning point of what was looking like a Championship season? Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2021 F1 Grand Prix of Monaco — Results & aftermath

Verstappen masterful in Monte Carlo against depleted field, as Leclerc fails to start, Bottas DNFs; Sainz salvages P2 for Ferrari, Norris P3 for McLaren; Hamilton a disgruntled P7, loses championship lead

The return of the Monaco Grand Prix to the Formula 1 calendar after a year’s hiatus due to the global COVID-19 pandemic failed to live up to the intriguing qualifying results a day earlier when pole-sitter Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari suffered a driveshaft failure on the pre-race installation lap that may or may not have been related to his crash late in Saturday qualifying. While many tifosi were angry that the team didn’t preventatively just change the gearbox and team principle Matteo Binotto claimed the issue was, in fact, unrelated to Leclerc’s heavy shunt, the end result was removing the pole sitting Prancing Horse before the lights even went out and denying the young Monegasque a chance for victory in his home Grand Prix. But for Red Bull’s Max Vertstappen, it removed arguably the Dutchman’s biggest threat for a win on the day. Despite technically starting from P2 on the grid, Max was able to lead the field away at the start in Leclerc’s absence and cut off the attacking Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas to take a lead that Verstappen would not relinquish all race long. Things got even more favorable for Verstappen and Red Bull when Bottas, the only serious challenger remaining and running solidly in P2, suffered a stripped wheel nut on his first pit stop on Lap 31. The pit crew were unable to remove his right front wheel by any means or method, forcing the unfortunate Finn to retire prematurely in freak fashion. While the second Ferrari of Carlos Sainz drove well enough to ascend to a P2 finish and salvage some good points on a day when they should have had many more, the Spaniard was unable to pose a real challenge to Verstappen’s hegemony. The Flying Dutchman easily secured his first victory — and first ever podium — on the fabled streets of Monte Carlo, a career-defining fillip for an F1 driver no matter how it comes to them.

Pics courtesy GrandPrix247.com

Making things even sweeter from the Red Bull perspective, Mercedes strategy to try and elevate Hamilton above his rather poor P7 qualifying position did not come good and he finished where he started after first the AlphaTauri of Pierre Gasly and then the Aston Martin of Sebastian Vettel rode the overcut by running slightly longer of their first tire stint to come out ahead of Hamilton after that trio’s respective first round of pit stops. Hamilton was audibly irate over his radio at this strategy failure, especially because he had really been gifted a minimum of P6 with Leclerc’s pre-race retirement. Hamilton was forced to look at Gasly’s gearbox for the entirety of the contest and while he pitted late for fresh Soft Pirellis and then set the fastest lap for the bonus point, the seven-time champion saw his points lead in this year’s Drivers’ Standings evaporate with Verstappen’s dominant win. So Hamilton now finds himself in the unfamiliar position of trailing in the championship after the Mercedes mishaps in Monaco, four points in arrears of the formidable flying Dutchman. All in all, it was a very bad weekend for for the Silver Arrows because Red Bull’s second driver, Sergio Perez, redeemed his own lackluster P9 qualifying effort, paying off the team’s clever strategy of running him all the way to Lap 35 before his first stop, a full six laps longer than Hamilton had done. That saw the Mexican emerge directly in front of his team leader with clear track in front to push hard, an advantage he maximized to jump all the way to P4. While Perez could never quite catch and pass the McLaren of Lando Norris to take it to the podium, the combined Red Bull 1-4 finish vaulted the team into the lead of Constructors’ standings ahead of Mercedes by a single point. Perez’s solid effort no doubt will boost his confidence and reaffirm the team’s commitment to him after occasionally erratic performances in the prior first four rounds of the season. Now he just needs to build on this good result and qualify better going forward.

 

Norris held on for that podium with his P3, a wonderful result for a young driver on the cusp of a really special career, though McLaren’s feelings must have been mixed when their other pilot, Daniel Ricciardo, suffered the ignominy of being lapped by his rapid teammate on Lap 52 of this 78-lap contest. Ricciardo is struggling to get to grips with his new ride at McLaren and could only manage a point-less P12 result. On the other hand, Aston Martin had their best points haul of the season with Vettel’s savvy P5 and Lance Stroll also managing to turn a long first stint to his advantage and come home P8, a good effort by driver and team after the Canadian had started down in P13. Gasly, Hamilton’s bête noire on the day, kept his calm in the face of the trailing Mercedes multiple onslaughts, confident in the ability of his AlphaTauri to keep the frustrated Hamilton behind him at this ultra-difficult-to-overtake circuit. And the Alpine of Esteban Ocon held off the Alfa Romeo of Antonio Giovinazzi to secure P9, although Alfa’s young Italian hot shoe was still positively giddy over scoring the team’s first Formula 1 World Championship point of the 2021 campaign.

Top 10 finishers of the Monaco GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR LAPS TIME/RETIRED PTS
1 33 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING HONDA 78 1:38:56.820 25
2 55 Carlos Sainz FERRARI 78 +8.968s 18
3 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 78 +19.427s 15
4 11 Sergio Perez RED BULL RACING HONDA 78 +20.490s 12
5 5 Sebastian Vettel ASTON MARTIN MERCEDES 78 +52.591s 10
6 10 Pierre Gasly ALPHATAURI HONDA 78 +53.896s 8
7 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 78 +68.231s 7
8 18 Lance Stroll ASTON MARTIN MERCEDES 77 +1 lap 4
9 31 Esteban Ocon ALPINE RENAULT 77 +1 lap 2
10 99 Antonio Giovinazzi ALFA ROMEO RACING FERRARI 77 +1 lap 1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race is in two week’s time — the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. While Baku is another street circuit, it’s a horse of a different color than the nearly single-lane Monte Carlo track, and much faster and easier to pass on if equally unforgiving in its together spots. So expect a less processional contest at this lovely city circuit by the Caspian Sea, as well as Ferrari and Mercedes teams anxious to redeem themselves, as well as an ever more intriguing championship battle between the challenger Verstappen and the champ Hamilton. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2021 F1 Grand Prix of Spain — Results & aftermath

Mercedes strategy gamble pays off with victory for Hamilton in Spain; Verstappen leads most laps but is runner-up yet again; Bottas P3

Red Bull’s superstar driver Max Verstappen seemed to have a solid shot at victory on Sunday when he passed Mercedes pole-sitter Lewis Hamilton for the lead with a forceful move going into Turn 1 on the opening lap of the Spanish Grand Prix. Being out in front at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya is paramount, where passing is as difficult as at any street circuit on the calendar. So Max’s stellar start boded well for the Dutch phenom and his aspiring team. But it wasn’t to be, as once again the Mercedes brain trust pulled a strategic coup at Red Bull’s expense, calling P2 Hamilton in for a surprise second pit stop on Lap 42 for a fresh set of Pirelli Medium compound tires. Red Bull failed to react to the surprise undercut in time and left Verstappen out, hoping that track position would trump tire life and performance. But it was Hamilton’s Silver Arrow that won that particular gamble, paying off the team’s gutsy move with the return pass for the lead on Verstappen, now helpless on his ancient 36-lap old set of Mediums, on Lap 60 of this 66-lap contest. While Verstappen was finally free to pit for fresh rubber and thereby set the fastest lap of the race for the bonus point, Hamilton simply scooted away to victory in deceptively dominating fashion, over 15 seconds ahead of the frustrated Dutch wunderkind. Hamilton has now won two races on the trot and three of the opening four rounds, proving once again that despite all the hype about Red Bull’s impressive pace improvements enabling them to take the fight to Mercedes, the English seven-time World Champion is still the favorite to win a record tying eighth title and Verstappen and Red Bull are still slightly behind the always superlative Silver Arrows.

Pics courtesy GrandPrix247.com

Hamilton’s teammate Valtteri Bottas finished where he started, in P3, a decent enough result for the Mercedes number two man, though he once again suffered the ignominy of being told to move aside for Lewis to aid his ultimate pursuit of Verstappen and victory. That the Finn did it quite grudgingly and forced Hamirlon to expend valuable tenths in executing a rather legitimate pass for P2 at that critical moment speaks to Bottas’ frustrations with his standing within the team. Then again, if he wants to not be treated like a wingman he has got to up his game and prove that he is a match for not only Hamilton in the same equipment but also Verstappen in the enemy car. Frankly that seems highly unlikely, Valtteri’s own ego notwithstanding. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc drove an excellent race to come home P4, maximizing his very improved but still not elite Prancing Horse. His teammate Carlos Sainz finished P7, making it a pretty good points haul for the Scuderia and improving their chances of a P3 “best of the rest” finish in the Constructors’ Championship a year after they slumped to a lowly P6 in that all-important, cash-rich contest.

Sergio Perez fought back from a poor P8 qualifying effort to earn a fifth place finish. But Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate was unable to really act as a strategic force for the team in their duel with the two Mercedes by dint of his starting so far behind to begin with. The veteran Mexican is also going to need to raise his game and qualify better and soon if he is really going to be of any assistance to Verstappen’s perhaps wistful championship aspirations. McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo has his best race with his new team, holding off Sainz and taking a solid P6 finish. The affable Aussie’s McLaren stablemate Lando Norris, who has generally outshined Ricciardo so far this season, finished in P8. But it’s very encouraging for the team that both their drivers appear to be able to score points on a weekly basis and that they seem have something for Ferrari. Alpine’s Esteban Ocon faded somewhat from the promise of his P5 qualifying position to come home in ninth, while AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly rallied after starting from twelfth on the grid and a 5-second penalty for lining up for the race outside of his designated box to take the last point in P10.

Top 10 finishers of the Spanish GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR LAPS TIME/RETIRED PTS
1 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 66 1:33:07.680 25
2 33 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING HONDA 66 +15.841s 19
3 77 Valtteri Bottas MERCEDES 66 +26.610s 15
4 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 66 +54.616s 12
5 11 Sergio Perez RED BULL RACING HONDA 66 +63.671s 10
6 3 Daniel Ricciardo MCLAREN MERCEDES 66 +73.768s 8
7 55 Carlos Sainz FERRARI 66 +74.670s 6
8 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 65 +1 lap 4
9 31 Esteban Ocon ALPINE RENAULT 65 +1 lap 2
10 10 Pierre Gasly ALPHATAURI HONDA 65 +1 lap 1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race is in a fortnight’s time when the grandaddy of them all, the legendary Monaco Grand Prix, returns to the F1 calendar after a year’s absence due to the pandemic. While it certainly won’t be any easier to pass on the tight and twisty streets of Monte Carlo, Verstappen will surely be looking for a change of luck after two tough losses on the Iberian peninsula. Hamilton, on then the other hand, will be seeking to ride his hot streak all the way to that most prestigious of winner’s circles. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2021 F1 Grand Prix of Spain — Qualifying results

Hamilton takes 100th pole besting P2 Verstappen in Barcelona; Bottas qualifies P3

On a sunny, breezy day in Barcelona where Red Bull’s Max Verstappen topped the time sheets in Q1 and Q2 and looked like he would cruise to an easy pole position, Mercedes ace Lewis Hamilton showed once again that you have to take the belt from the champ. The English seven-time World Champion pulled just that much more out of the bag in the final session of Saturday qualifying for tomorrow’s Spanish Grand Prix to become the first Formula 1 driver to reach the century mark in poles by a mere three-hundredths of a second over the Dutch hard charger. Building on his own amazing record and putting Michael Schumacher’s previous mark of 68 even further in the rearview, the mind-blowing 100th top starting spot will be all important at the highly familiar Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, which all the teams use for pre-season testing and where passing is at a premium. The winner nearly always comes from the front row, so Verstappen’s disappointment at being bested by Lewis the Legend this day will be somewhat tempered by his starting alongside the lead Silver Arrow in P2, not to mention his minuscule fast lap time deficit to the points leader. Once again, as it did last weekend in Portugal, it seemed like the Iberian winds played a bit of havoc with the aero-sensitive cars, perhaps abetted by the relatively harder compounds Pirelli has chosen to provide for these two back-to-back races, for it seemed that improvement later in the qualifying sessions was hard to come by. We’ll see if tire strategy is as paramount and potentially surprising tomorrow in Barcelona as it was at Portimao.

Hamilton’s Mercedes teammate acquitted himself well enough in the face of the unquestioned brilliance of the top two superstars, qualifying P3 about a tenth in arrears of Verstappen. He will be flanked by the Ferrari of the increasingly confident Charles Leclerc in P4. With his Scuderia teammate Carlos Sainz setting the sixth fastest time, the Prancing Horses appear to have legitimately improved enough to contend for podiums this year, especially since the second Red Bull of Sergio Perez seems to be succumbing to the dreaded curse of being Verstappen’s teammate. The Mexican veteran had a lurid spin midway through Q3 when he dropped a rear wheel into the gravel and could only recover enough to take a rather poor P8. On the other hand, Esteban Ocon continued his strong start to the season for Renault-powered team Alpine by splitting the two Ferraris and grabbing fifth on the grid. Highlighting Ocon’s prowess in the A521, his two-time champion teammate Fernando Alonso was only fast enough for P10. And McLaren also had bit of a mixed bag, seeing Daniel Ricciardo recover from his inexplicable P16 quali flub in Portugal to take a P7 time but the normally impressive Lando Norris finishing the final session down in P9. Both the MCL35M chassis and Norris usually seem to have better race pace, and Perez will be looking to make up ground in a hurry, so look for a fierce battle throughout the midfield in the early going of tomorrow’s race, to say nothing of the intriguing duel for supremacy between Hamilton and Verstappen at the front.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Spanish GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 1:18.245 1:17.166 1:16.741 19
2 33 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING HONDA 1:18.090 1:16.922 1:16.777 14
3 77 Valtteri Bottas MERCEDES 1:18.005 1:17.142 1:16.873 16
4 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 1:18.041 1:17.717 1:17.510 18
5 31 Esteban Ocon ALPINE RENAULT 1:18.281 1:17.743 1:17.580 15
6 55 Carlos Sainz FERRARI 1:18.205 1:17.656 1:17.620 15
7 3 Daniel Ricciardo MCLAREN MERCEDES 1:18.264 1:17.719 1:17.622 14
8 11 Sergio Perez RED BULL RACING HONDA 1:18.203 1:17.669 1:17.701 17
9 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 1:17.821 1:17.696 1:18.010 17
10 14 Fernando Alonso ALPINE RENAULT 1:18.281 1:17.966 1:18.147 17

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race airs live on ESPN beginning at 9AM here in the States. Can Hamilton dust off Verstappen and give himself a little breathing room in the championship here in Round 4 or will young Max have a lesson of his own to teach the English master? Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2021 F1 Grand Prix of Portugal — Results & aftermath

Hamilton vanquishes nearest rivals for easy win in Portugal; Vertsappen P2, Bottas struggles to P3

Sunday’s Portuguese Grand Prix, which seemed to promise so much after a very tight qualifying between the front running Mercedes and Red Bull teams, instead turned into something of a wet firecracker. In an ominous sign for the rest of the field, Mercedes ace Lewis Hamilton returned to dominating form and handily trounced the rest of the field, including his pole-sitting teammate Valtteri Bottas and closest rival in terms of sheer talent, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen. Despite starting from P2 and actually being passed for that position by the Dutchman when he bobbled a post-Safety Car restart on Lap 7, the superlative English seven time champion rebounded quickly, first retaking that second place from Verstappen on Lap 11 and then dusting off Bottas on Lap 20 to grab the lead of the race. While Red Bull’s other driver Sergio Perez used an exceptionally long stint on his opening set of Medium Pirellis to inherit the race lead for a large chunk after the Mercedes man made his first pit stop on Lap 38, Hamilton bided his time until the delta between his fresher Hards and Perez’s old Mediums inexorably converged. By Lap 51 the Mexican was easy meat for the Silver Arrow and Ham the man took back his rightful lead. With Hamilton and his W12 back in perfect harmony, Lewis took the checkered of this 66-lap contest just under half a minute ahead of P2 Verstappen and 33.5 seconds in front of the beleaguered Bottas. It could be that the Red Bulls were just uniquely unsuited to the track here in Portugal and they definitely struggled with the windy conditions on their aero-sensitive RB16B chassis. But Mercedes also seemed to grab a decisive pace advantage in a straight line, with the Honda-powered Red Bulls looking very much down on power by comparison. The next race in Spain will be highly instructive to discover whether Mercedes have come to grips with this year’s rule changes and are on their way to another year of domination or if Red Bull can continue improving their mounts to keep the Silver Arrows honest.

Pics courtesy GrandPrix247.com

While Verstappen settled for P2 and the cold comfort of beating Bottas to the line, he was unable to set the fastest lap and earn the bonus point after a late switch to Soft Pirellis when his quickest time was deleted due to exceeding track limits in the attempt. That meant that Bottas, who pulled the same trick with a late switch to Softs, snatched that extra point with the race’s fastest lap. However, that honor will mainly benefit his teammate’s championship pursuit and not the Finn’s own, which now looks as improbable as at any time in his tenure with the big Mercedes factory team. Perez finished where he started, in P4, despite his heroic effort in stretching his first set of tires all the way to Lap 52. Truly, the veteran Mexican is a master of keeping life in his rubber.

Best of the rest was the rapidly improving Lando Norris of McLaren, who scored a very handy P5 finish after battling with a lot of other midfield runners throughout the race. His teammate Daniel Ricciardo had a good recovery drive for the team after qualifying a lowly sixteenth on the grid. The gritty Aussie fought his way all the way back into the points and came home P9 with a determined and savvy effort. Charles Leclerc was the lone Ferrari to earn points on the day, finishing P6 and getting the better of the Scuderia’s tire strategy when the team gambled on splitting it by putting Carlos Sainz onto Mediums and Leclerc on Hard tires after their first stops. The Hards proved to be the way to go for the long haul and Sainz struggled badly late in the race and finished down in P11. The two Alpines of Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso were genuinely quick, especially as the laps wound down and the cars got lighter by nursing off their fuel, with Ocon coming home P7 and Alonso in P8. The feat was particularly impressive by the Spanish two-time champion, who battled up from a P13 start in what was his best drive since coming back to F1 after a three year hiatus in WEC. AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly took the last point with a tenth place finish.

Top 10 finishers of the Portuguese GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR LAPS TIME/RETIRED PTS
1 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 66 1:34:31.421 25
2 33 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING HONDA 66 +29.148s 18
3 77 Valtteri Bottas MERCEDES 66 +33.530s 16
4 11 Sergio Perez RED BULL RACING HONDA 66 +39.735s 12
5 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 66 +51.369s 10
6 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 66 +55.781s 8
7 31 Esteban Ocon ALPINE RENAULT 66 +63.749s 6
8 14 Fernando Alonso ALPINE RENAULT 66 +64.808s 4
9 3 Daniel Ricciardo MCLAREN MERCEDES 66 +75.369s 2
10 10 Pierre Gasly ALPHATAURI HONDA 66 +76.463s 1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race is in but a weeks’ time, the nearby Spanish Grand Prix at the very familiar Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, which all the teams use for preseason testing. Hopefully for the sake of a tight championship contest Red Bull were just ill-suited to Portimao this weekend and will be back to their harassing ways, bringing the fight for victory to Hamilton and Mercedes. Look forward to seeing you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2021 F1 Grand Prix of Portugal — Qualifying results

Bottas bests Hamilton for pole at Portimao as Mercedes lock out front row; Verstappen a disappointed P3, Perez P4 for Red Bull

Mercedes number two driver Valtteri Bottas looked more like a number one during tricky Saturday qualifying for the Portuguese Grand Prix, taking pole and from his championship-leading teammate Lewis Hamilton. With gusty winds whipping the cars as they made their way around the rather hilly and twisty Portimao circuit and the Pirellli tires proving a bit of a puzzlement to the teams in not particularly warm conditions, the veteran Finn was the one who was able to best hook up a fast lap to take the premier starting spot for Sunday’s race and deny Hamilton his one-hundredth pole. The normally superlative Hamilton, who similarly wrested last yer’s pole position from Bottas in this tricky little circuit’s debut on the Formula 1 calendar, found himself adrift of his Silver Arrows teammate by a mere seven-one-thousandths of a second when time ran out. It was a  nice rebound by Bottas after he was crashed out by the rash George Russell’s Williams at the last race in Emilia Romagna two weeks ago.

Intriguingly, while the Mercedes duo both chose the Medium Pirelli tires to run on when it counted most in Q3 the Red Bulls both decided the Soft tires were better suited to their chassis. It didn’t quite pay off, however, as Max Verstappen struggled with a tail wind into turns 13 and 14 that led to his fastest lap early in the final qualifying session being deleted for exceeding track limits. While the flying Dutchman was able to set a quick time later in Q3 he couldn’t quite match the pace of the Silver Arrows even on the Softs and had to settle for P3. Likewise, his Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez was also unable to really challenge the dominant Mercedes on this day and slotted in on the second row alongside Verstappen in P4. Tire strategy between these two top teams should be very interesting come race day, assuming that Mercedes continue to favor the Mediums while Red Bull prefer the Softs. The seemingly ever present winds here in the Algarve will also have their say, I’d reckon.

Ferrari continued what appears to be a nice little 2021 renaissance, with Carlos Sainz out-qualifying his more heralded stablemate Charles Leclerc P5 to P8. The Prancing Horses are already miles ahead of their woeful pace last season and could conceivably land a podium finish or two before the year is out with a little luck. Esteban Ocon did a fine job for Alpine with a stout P6 effort, really outclassing legendary teammate Fernando Alonso on this day, who was unceremoniously bounced in Q2 with only the thirteenth fastest lap. Similarly, McLaren’s Lando Norris continued to excel, nabbing the seventh fastest time, while his veteran teammate Daniel Ricciardo was flummoxed when he found himself eliminated in Q1 with a lap only good enough for P16, not to mention over a second behind the rapidly developing Norris in that session. Rounding out the top ten starters for tomorrow’s race, Pierre Gasly continued his impressive run of making it into Q3 and was able to fight his twitchy car for a time good enough for P9, while Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel had his best quali effort in some time and certainly his best for his new team, taking P10 on the grid, some seven grid spots ahead of teammate Lance Stroll. That should do some good for Vettel’s rather fragile confidence. Now the German four-time champ just needs to avoid what have become his far too frequent unforced errors and get a solid points finish in tomorrow’s race.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Portuguese GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 77 Valtteri Bottas MERCEDES 1:18.722 1:18.458 1:18.348 23
2 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 1:18.857 1:17.968 1:18.355 24
3 33 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING HONDA 1:19.485 1:18.650 1:18.746 20
4 11 Sergio Perez RED BULL RACING HONDA 1:19.337 1:18.845 1:18.890 22
5 55 Carlos Sainz FERRARI 1:19.309 1:18.813 1:19.039 23
6 31 Esteban Ocon ALPINE RENAULT 1:19.092 1:18.586 1:19.042 17
7 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 1:18.794 1:18.481 1:19.116 24
8 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 1:19.373 1:18.769 1:19.306 29
9 10 Pierre Gasly ALPHATAURI HONDA 1:19.464 1:19.052 1:19.475 26
10 5 Sebastian Vettel ASTON MARTIN MERCEDES 1:19.403 1:18.970 1:19.659 22

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race airs live at 10AM Eastern on ESPN here in the States. Hope to see you then to find out how things shake out between not only the Mercs and Red Bulls but also between the respective teammates, as well, which could be a real ding dong battle between the four best cars on the grid!

2021 F1 Grand Prix of Emilia Romagna — Results & aftermath

Verstappen dominates at rainy & wet Imola for win; Hamilton salvages P2 with remarkable recovery drive after uncharacteristic error; Norris an impressive P3 for McLaren; Bottas crashes out, error-ridden Perez fails to score

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen dominated in tricky wet weather conditions on Sunday at Imola to take victory in the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, his first win of what looks to be a very promising season for both the Dutchman and his team. While cars all around him slipped and slid off on a track that started wet after pre-race rain and never fully dried, Verstappen passed pole-sitter Lewis Hamilton for the lead on Lap 1, kept his ride on the black stuff and avoided the serious trouble that bedeviled so many of contenders throughout the day and flew away to what was eventually a fairly easy victory. Meanwhile Hamilton, his certain archrival for the 2021 championship, made an uncharacteristic unforced error when he was closing up on Verstappen nearly midway thorough the race. Carving his way through back-markers on Lap 31 of this 64-lap contest, Hamilton took it in too deep entering Tosa just three laps after pitting for a set of Medium Pirellis, his first slick tires of the day. Hamilton slid off a damp asphalt and through the gravel, nosing into a barrier. For a while it seemed he might be stuck, as it took the English seven-time champ forever to find reverse. But he finally managed to extricate himself ever so gingerly and headed towards the pits, albeit while losing a lap after such a lengthy delay. Fortunately for Hamilton, though not at all for the team, his Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas, who was already having a dismal day mired back in P8, was speared into by Williams’ (and Mercedes development driver) George Russell in a vicious shunt at high speed that sent both cars crashing out with massive damage. While both Bottas and Russell were thankfully OK physically, if none too happy with each other, the massive debris field forced a prolonged Red Flag period on Lap 34.

Pics courtesy GrandPrix247.com

But the disaster for Bottas perversely redounded to Hamilton’s benefit. Not only were the Mercedes mechanics able to change his front wing without losing any time in the pits where all cars still running were now stationary but he also got back on the lead lap at the end of the Red Flag delay, when he and the other lapped cars were allowed to drive around the circuit to get to the tail end of what was now a rolling restart. So while Hamilton had still been shuffled back to P9, he could now begin making passes for position with the resumption of the race, something he did with aplomb in an effort to make amends for his rare gaffe. While Verstappen ran away from the field easily and was now untouchable, Hamilton gradually worked his way up to P5 by Lap 42 and then dispatched the two Ferraris of Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc for P4 and P3 on Laps 50 and 55 respectively. On a day where he looked to have possibly thrown a strong result away after starting from pole, the Englishman’s damage limitation drive came about as good as possible when he executed a masterful pass on the McLaren of Lando Norris to claim P2 on with only four laps remaining. And in so doing, Hamilton also managed to set the race’s fastest lap, thereby claiming the bonus point so that even when Vertsappen won the race by over 20 seconds, Hamilton still retained his Drivers’ Championship lead by a single slim point with his gutsy P2 finish and that opportunistic fastest lap bonus. That said, both Hamilton and Mercedes know they have a real battle on their hands with the Red Bulls this year and that both driver and team have got to improve their performance and consistency if they are going to hold off young Max’s determined pursuit of his first title in equal or perhaps even superior equipment.

All was not sweet music for Red Bull despite Verstappen’s glorious win, however. With Bottas crashing out, the team missed a golden opportunity to land a hard blow against Mercedes in the Constructors’ battle when second driver Sergio Perez made a mess of his opportunity to do score big points. After being handed a penalty on Lap 12 for inexplicably passing under the first Safety Car, Perez still looked to be fighting for a podium when the race resumed post-Red Flag. But on Lap 38 Perez made another unforced error, albeit under tricky wet-dry conditions. Seemingly sitting pretty in P4 with 26 laps remaining to get closer to his teammate and thwart Hamilton’s progress, Perez spun off the circuit and dropped all the way back to P14. The veteran Mexican, of whom much greater things are expected, could only manage to work his way back up to P11 when the laps ran out, scoring zero points on a day where it seemed certain Red Bull would net a far larger haul. The uncharacteristically ragged and fruitless outing by Checo opened the door to McLaren’s Lando Norris for his second career podium and while he could not hold off Hamilton’s hard charging Merc the talented Englishman did keep both Ferraris behind him to claim P3. It was an impressive drive from the ascendent Norris and along with Daniel Ricciardo’s P6 made for a very satisfying day for the much improved McLaren team.

Ferrari also must have been well pleased with a very solid run from team leader Charles Leclerc for P4 and a good comeback drive from Carlos Sainz after some early race mistakes to take P5. AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly also recovered from a nearly disastrous strategy call by the team to keep him out on full wet tires for far too long sent the Frenchman plummeting down the order. But Gasly hung tough and managed to take P7 when Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll was penalized 5-seconds for track limits abuse after the race. Still, Stroll drove well for his adjusted P8 and the points were important for the team in light of Sebastian Vettel being forced to retire due to an accumulation of mechanical gremlins late in the race. And somehow the rather pokey Alpines of Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso also managed to score points in P9 and P10 respectively by dint of simply surviving the fray and staying out of the gravel traps that led to grief for so many drivers on this wet and unpredictable day in Italy. A day that could well be remembered as the beginning of the end of Mercedes-Hamilton hegemony and the real start of the championship run of Max Verstappen.

Top 10 finishers of the Emilia Romagna GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR LAPS TIME/RETIRED PTS
1 33 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING HONDA 63 2:02:34.598 25
2 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 63 +22.000s 19
3 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 63 +23.702s 15
4 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 63 +25.579s 12
5 55 Carlos Sainz FERRARI 63 +27.036s 10
6 3 Daniel Ricciardo MCLAREN MERCEDES 63 +51.220s 8
7 10 Pierre Gasly ALPHATAURI HONDA 63 +52.818s 6
8 18 Lance Stroll ASTON MARTIN MERCEDES 63 +56.909s 4
9 31 Esteban Ocon ALPINE RENAULT 63 +65.704s 2
10 14 Fernando Alonso ALPINE RENAULT 63 +66.561s 1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

With the season now really rolling, the next race is but two weeks away — the Portuguese Grand Prix at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve aka Portimao. The Round 3 rematch between  Verstappen and Hamilton in what is looking like a season-long heavyweight fight can’t come soon enough for me. Hope to see you then to find out what’s next in the real inter-team rivalry we’ve been waiting for!

2021 F1 Grand Prix of Emilia Romagna — Qualifying results

Hamilton bests Red Bulls for pole at Imola as Perez surprises by out-qualifying Vertsappen

After a three-week layoff following the beginning of the 2021 season in Bahrain the anticipation couldn’t help but build for another showdown between Mercedes ace Lewis Hamilton and Red Bull phenom Max Verstappen at the fast and flowing Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, aka Imola. Saturday qualifying for tomorrow’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix offered the opportunity for the first real rematch of the young campaign after Verstappen seemed to have the faster car at the Sakhir Circuit during the first round but Hamilton still managed to pip the Dutchman for victory via superior strategy. It also meant a test of Mercedes’ ability to upgrade their cars in relation to Red Bull, a team they acknowledge has the pace advantage for now, by using those three weeks of tuning and analysis to potentially close that alleged gap. When it really counted, the latest results ended up in Mercedes’ favor, as Hamilton was able to put together a superb lap in Q3 that resulted in his astonishing 99th career pole. And while Hamilton just pipped the second Red Bull by a mere .035 seconds, it was new man Sergio Perez who ended up closest to the peerless Englishman, getting the better of his more favored teammate Verstappen by some five-one hundredths. It was a surprising result and should make for an intriguing start to tomorrow’s contest, with the veteran Mexican lining up alongside Hamilton on the front row and Verstappen eager to pounce from directly behind the Merc’s gearbox in P3. Perez will also be starting on the Soft Pirellis, which he felt needed to get through Q2 cleanly, while the other two top contenders will be on the favored, longer lasting Mediums. So look for a split Red Bull strategy to play its part in attacking Mercedes during the race, as well.

If Hamilton and Mercedes were nearly giddy at earning their hard fought pole position that joy was tempered more than a little by the subpar performance of their number two driver, Valtteri Bottas. Bottas struggled to match the pace of not only his multi-championship teammate and the aspiring Red Bulls but also a veritable hoard of other top ten contenders and could only set the eighth fastest time. With this year’s Merc looking not quite as dominant and several of the other non-“big two” teams having made significant improvements, the Finn will have his work cut out for him trying to get back in touch with the elite trio at the front of the field and be of some use in playing the team game to help Ham the Man fend off those hard charging Red Bulls. Taking advantage of Bottas’ mediocrity on the day was Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who slotted delightedly into P4 after a very solid qualifying effort on a short, flowing circuit that seems to suit this year’s improved Prancing Horse. Like Mercedes, though, it was a split result for the Scuderia because their other pilot, Carlos Sainz, got inexplicably bounced out in Q2. While Sainz will have that always valuable extra set of Pirellis to play with, the Spaniard was anything but thrilled to be starting from P11. He will also have to dig deep to try and salvage points against the very evenly matched field of competitors ahead of him.

Pics courtesy GrandPrix247.com

Pierre Gasly got a good result for AlphaTauri at was is essentially their home circuit with a strong lap good enough for P5 on the grid. It salvaged the day somewhat after their rookie driver Yuki Tsunoda, who scored on debut in Bahrain, crashed out in Q1 and essentially destroyed the back end of his AT02, giving the team mechanics a mountain of work to get the car repaired in time for tomorrow’s GP. The two McLaren’s also looked very fast all day, especially young Lando Norris. But at crunch time the veteran Daniel Ricciardo bested Norris P6 to P7 when the latter had a superior time deleted due to exceeding track limits, something that was an ongoing theme for many drivers throughout the day. Esteban Ocon did very well to handily out-qualify his more heralded Alpine teammate, Fernando Alonso, P9 to P15. And Lance Stroll also struck a blow for youth over experience by getting the better of four-time champion Sebastian Vettel P10 to P13 for an Aston Martin team that still seems to be struggling to come to grips with the 2021 rules changes. Concentrating on changes to the design of the floor f the cars, these appear to have hurt the aero of so-called low rake cars like Mercedes and Aston Martin (formerly Racing Point) and to the benefit of the rest of the more high rake cars on the grid like Red Bull and McLaren.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Emilia Romagna GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 1:14.823 1:14.817 1:14.411 23
2 11 Sergio Perez RED BULL RACING HONDA 1:15.395 1:14.716 1:14.446 18
3 33 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING HONDA 1:15.109 1:14.884 1:14.498 20
4 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 1:15.413 1:14.808 1:14.740 19
5 10 Pierre Gasly ALPHATAURI HONDA 1:15.548 1:14.927 1:14.790 21
6 3 Daniel Ricciardo MCLAREN MERCEDES 1:15.669 1:15.033 1:14.826 21
7 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 1:15.009 1:14.718 1:14.875 15
8 77 Valtteri Bottas MERCEDES 1:14.672 1:14.905 1:14.898 22
9 31 Esteban Ocon ALPINE RENAULT 1:15.385 1:15.117 1:15.210 20
10 18 Lance Stroll ASTON MARTIN MERCEDES 1:15.522 1:15.138 DNF 20

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race coverage begins at 9 AM Eastern on ESPN here in the States. Hope to see you then to find out if the two Red Bulls can hunt down Hamilton’s Silver Arrow and, if so, which driver can beat him for the win!