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2023 F1 Grand Prix of Qatar — Qualifying results

Verstappen takes race pole under tricky conditions at windy, sandy Lusail Circuit; Russell P2, Hamilton P3 — Piastri wins Saturday Sprint while Verstappen earns third consecutive championship with second place points

F1’s gimmicky Sprint Race format achieved its unintended apex when Red Bull’s peerless Max Verstappen was able to clinch his third consecutive Drivers’ Championship by finishing second in the Saturday Sprint race. Those seven points earned for P2 put him mathematically out of reach of his closest pursuer, teammate Sergio Perez, who collided with Esteban Ocon and Nico Hulkenberg to DNF in the Sprint, with only five more race weekends remaining. While it was an event-filled few days of qualifying, Sprint qualifying and then the actual Sprint due to a very green, newly repaved Lusail International Circuit plus very gusty and sandy conditions making for treacherously low grip, the early coronation in the short race does rob tomorrow’s Grand Prix of any real significance. Verstappen, who only qualified third for the Sprint and watches as the pole-sitting Oliver Piastri flight back against Mercedes’ George Russell to earn his first Formula 1 win, did earn pole for Sunday’s GP ahead of the Mercedes duo of Russell and Lewis Hamilton. Track limits were also once again a talking point, as drivers struggled for grip and then also suffered when the track was slightly reconfigured out of Pirelli’s concern for their tries abnormal rate of wear over the multiple high speed curbs at this very fast and twisty track.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Qatar GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 1 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT 1:25.007 1:24.483 1:23.778 19
2 63 George Russell MERCEDES 1:25.334 1:24.827 1:24.219 21
3 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 1:26.076 1:24.381 1:24.305 20
4 14 Fernando Alonso ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 1:25.223 1:25.241 1:24.369 21
5 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 1:25.452 1:25.079 1:24.424 26
6 81 Oscar Piastri MCLAREN MERCEDES 1:25.266 1:24.724 1:24.540 23
7 10 Pierre Gasly ALPINE RENAULT 1:25.566 1:24.918 1:24.553 23
8 31 Esteban Ocon ALPINE RENAULT 1:25.711 1:24.928 1:24.763 24
9 77 Valtteri Bottas ALFA ROMEO FERRARI 1:26.038 1:25.297 1:25.058 21
10 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 1:25.131 1:24.685 DNF 21

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Top 10 Sprint Race results:

POS NO DRIVER CAR LAPS TIME/RETIRED PTS
1 81 Oscar Piastri MCLAREN MERCEDES 19 35:01.297 8
2 1 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT 19 +1.871s 7
3 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 19 +8.497s 6
4 63 George Russell MERCEDES 19 +11.036s 5
5 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 19 +17.314s 4
6 55 Carlos Sainz FERRARI 19 +18.806s 3
7 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 19 +19.860s 2
8 23 Alexander Albon WILLIAMS MERCEDES 19 +19.864s 1
9 14 Fernando Alonso ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 19 +21.180s 0
10 10 Pierre Gasly ALPINE RENAULT 19 +21.742s 0

Complete Sprint results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race airs live on ESPN beginning at 1PM Eastern here in the States. While the major prizes for 2023 have all been handed out due to Verstappen and Red Bull’s sheer dominance, the tricky Losail track should still provide a lot of unpredictability and excitement. Hope to see you then find out how it all shakes out!

2023 F1 Grand Prix of Japan — Qualifying results

Verstappen and Red Bull back on form at Suzuka with dominant pole; Piastri impresses with P2, McLaren teammate Norris P3

After their uncharacteristically modest performance at a rare bogey track in Singapore a week ago, Red Bull and their peerless ace Max Verstappen retuned to their dominating form during Saturday Qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix. The uniquely twisty and flowing figure-eight Suzuka circuit allowed the RB15 to stretch its legs again after the cramped confines of Singapore’s Marina Bay Street Circuit and Verstappen blistered the field with the fastest Q3 lap, well over half second ahead of the P2 McLaren of Oscar Piastri. It was the biggest quali margin at Suzuka since way back in 2004 when the great Michael Schumacher set the pace that day. The result bodes well for Verstappen to get back to his winning ways after that anomalous hiccup a week ago, as well as for the team to clinch the Constructors’ title quite early if everything goes just right on Sunday. Conversely, it was an ominous portent for the rest of the competitive teams, Ferrari in particular, if they were hoping that Red Bull’s Singapore slump would somehow continue when they unloaded in Japan.

The rookie Piastri has been have a very fine second half of the season, as the team’s upgrades have really kicked in and the young Aussie seems to improve a little bit more every week. He bettered his more experienced teammate Lando Norris by a mere four-one hundredths and the papaya-clad duo really did seem to be the only ones within even sniffing distance of Verstappen in one-lap performance. That included the second Red Bull of teammate Sergio Perez, who found himself in P5 nearly eight-tenths down on Max. Perez also ended up in a Ferrari sandwich, with Charles Leclerc a bit quicker than him and taking P4 on the grid for tomorrow and last week’s race winner, Carlos Sainz, just behind of Perez in P6 but across from him come race day Those three are likely to be going at it hammer and tongs in tomorrow’s Grand Prix, which could hamper any of them from getting up to the McLarens and trying to climb onto the podium. Look for differing tire strategies to be a key part in just how the race unfolds among the top contenders.

Further down the order, Lewis Hamilton out-qualified Mercedes teammate George Russell for the first time since Belgium, P7 to P8. Rounding out the top ten qualifiers for tomorrow’s race, Yuki Tsunoda did himself proud in front of his countrymen and women by getting his AlphaTauri into Q3 and a final time good enough for ninth on the grid, while Fernando Alonso barely survived Q2 and couldn’t improve in Q3 either, settling for P10 in what seems to be a rapidly fading Aston Martin.

POS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 1 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT 1:29.878 1:29.964 1:28.877 12
2 81 Oscar Piastri MCLAREN MERCEDES 1:30.439 1:30.122 1:29.458 14
3 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 1:30.063 1:30.296 1:29.493 12
4 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 1:30.393 1:29.940 1:29.542 14
5 11 Sergio Perez RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT 1:30.652 1:29.965 1:29.650 18
6 55 Carlos Sainz FERRARI 1:30.651 1:30.067 1:29.850 14
7 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 1:30.811 1:30.040 1:29.908 18
8 63 George Russell MERCEDES 1:30.811 1:30.268 1:30.219 15
9 22 Yuki Tsunoda ALPHATAURI HONDA RBPT 1:30.733 1:30.204 1:30.303 18
10 14 Fernando Alonso ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 1:30.971 1:30.465 1:30.560 15

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race airs live on ESPN2 beginning at the ungodly hour of 1AM Eastern here in the States  So set that VCR or brew an especially strong pot of coffee to find out if Verstappen can get back to his usual winning ways and help team Red Bull clinch the Constructors’ title after only 16 races run!

2023 F1 Grand Prix of Singapore — Results & aftermath

RED BULL TAMED: Sainz & Ferrari snap Red Bull, Verstappen streaks with tense win in Singapore; Norris holds off Hamilton for P2 as Russell crashes out of podium position on final lap

In a tense and eventful Singapore Grand Prix, Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and Ferrari were able to do what no other driver had done in ten races and no other team had done in fifteen races: beat Max Verstappen and Red Bull respectively. With former teammate Lando Norris acting as wingman in his McLaren by holding off the hard charging Mercedes duo of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton in the final, fraught laps, Sainz mastered the circuit and his long run tire management to take his first victory for the Scuderia and Ferrari’s first since 2019 at this very same Marina Bay Circuit by a little under a second. Meanwhile, Red Bull’s struggles in Singapore proved to be too difficult to overcome in the short span of a race weekend and Max and the team both saw their record setting win streaks come to an abrupt end. With Verstappen starting from P11 and teammate Sergio Perez from thirteenth, the pair did the best they could with an inverse strategy of starting on Hard Pirellis while the rest of the top runners were on Mediums. But their best laid plans were stymied somewhat when the inevitable Singapore Safety Car was deployed on Lap 20. Due to where they were on the circuit when the SC came out, the team opted to keep running, which garnered them some track position but the front runners were all able to pit under yellow for cheaper first pit stops. Red Bull then pitted under green with Perez on Lap 40 & Verstappen the subsequent lap and ran their final 20-odd lap stint on the very effective Medium tires. Salvaging what they could on this rare bogey track for them and after that ill-timed early Safety Car, Verstappen was able to forcefully pass his way up to P5 and Perez, who had a bit of sloppy race that included a 5-second penalty for causing a collision with Oliver Piastri, was still good enough for P8. Japan and Suzuka next week should see the return of Red Bull dominance as the RB15, especially in Max’s hands, gets to stretch its legs properly again on a much faster course. But on Sunday, it was Sainz and Ferrari raising the trophies and bathing in champagne after what must have seemed an eternity for the team in the garage, pit wall, the braintrust back in Maranello and the legions of Prancing Horse devotees.

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It was a tale of two races, as the first part unfolded methodically with all drivers locked into their chosen tire strategies and therefore not pushing too hard on the first stint. The Safety Car on Lap 20 began spicing things up by forcing Red Bull to make the decision to stay out on their Hards while all the other contenders came in for cheap stops and switches to fresh Hards for their ostensible final stint. The utility of fresh rubber was quickly bourn out as the Red Bulls were  gobbled up by their pursuers within a handful of laps. First, Russell nabbed Verstappen for a true P2 on Lap 23. Then, Hamilton regained P5 against Perez two laps later. Hamilton passed Verstappen for P4 on Lap 27 and Leclerc followed that up with his own successful move on the Dutchman a lap after to get his Ferarri back to P5. But Leclerc never really recovered from a slow first stop when the Scuderia double-stacked their men but Leclerc was both further away from Sainz on entry and the mechanics were slow with his tire change. So, the leaders were really the quartet of Sainz, followed by Russell, then Norris and then Hamilton. The two Red Bulls finally made the decision to get off their Hards in favor of the Mediums for the rest of the race, first with Perez on lap 40, then Verstappen on lap 41. Once again, their timing was not optimal because the Alpine of Esteban Ocon, who had been having a superb race, came to an abrupt stop at Turn 2 near pit out, bringing out a Virtual Safety Car. Continue reading

2023 F1 Grand Prix of Singapore — Qualifying results

SINGAPORE SHOCKER: Ferrari’s Sainz bests Mercedes’ Russell to take second consecutive pole, Leclerc P3; Red Bull find their bogey track as Verstappen & Perez knocked out in Q2

Saturday qualifying for tomorrow’s Singapore Grand Prix delivered a true shocker, with Red Bull, Formula 1’s dominant team by far in 2023, finally finding their bogey track by suffering unexpectedly poor performance at the tight & treacherous Marina Bay Street Circuit. Struggling with their car’s aero handling at this relatively slow speed but high downforce track since the start of practice on Friday, the team was unable to make the necessary corrections in time and watched in disbelief as first Sergio Perez spun before being able to claw his way out of the bottom five in Q2 and then Max Verstappen, the runaway championship points leader to this point, crossed the line on his final Q2 lap with a time only good enough for P10 and with several runners behind him still on hot laps. The ignominy was complete when AlphaTauri’s Liam Lawson, a raw rookie competing in only his third race weekend while subbing for the injured Daniel Ricciardo, bumped the Dutch Master down to P11 and out of qualifying. It was the first time since 2018 that neither Red Bull had advanced to Q3 and it puts the team’s 15-race winning streak, as well as Verstappen potentially extending his own record streak to 11 victories on the trot, in serious doubt at a confined circuit where passing is none too easy.

Red Bull’s first real speed bump of the season redounded to Ferrari’s success. Carlos Sainz was on his game all day, setting the pace throughout Q3 and then laying down a final last lap that withstood a very game challenge from Mercedes’ George Russell to secure pole by a whisper thin 0.072 seconds. It was the Spaniard’s second pole in a row after thrilling the fans in Monza two weeks ago. He will surely be hoping that Verstappen’s famed powers of recovery and miracle wins will be stymied come race day when the Dutchman has to fight his way up from P11 in what does not appear to be the fastest car on then track for once. Russell’s amazing final lap was obviously still good enough to secure an impressive P2 and a grid spot across from Sainz for tomorrow and the second Ferrari of Charles Leclerc, who had a few slight bobbles on his final effort that cost him, settled for P3. Ferrari have a real shot at the win tomorrow, which would be their first since 2019 when Sebastian Vettel led home Leclerc for a 1-2. The fact that long ago last win also came at Marina Bay Street Circuit will certainly buoy the team’s confidence, though they have got to avoid the sorts of unforced strategic, driver and pit execution errors that have plagued them for several years now.

McLaren’s Lando Norris, running upgrades on his car alone this weekend, was quite quick and able to secure P4 on the grid. Teammate Oscar Piastri’s quali effort were cut short by unluckily finding himself behind Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll when the Canadian driver crashed into the barriers quiet violently and brought out the Red Flag at the end of Q1. Stroll seemed OK, though his head appeared to take a wicked amount of lateral Gs on impact, but Piastri will now have to fight his way back to the points from down in P17 come tomorrow. Lewis Hamilton trailed his Silver Arrow teammate by quite a bit back in P5, while Kevin Magnussen had a spectacular effort for Hass, not only bettering teammate Nico Hulkenberg for the first time this year, P6 to P9, but also out-qualifying Aston ace Fernando Alonso. The veteran two-time champ could only muster the seventh best time in Q3, putting the team in a tough spot since Stroll will certainly struggle to score starting either last on the grid or from the pits (if in fact his car can even be rebuilt in time for the Grand Prix and he himself is healthy enough to go).

Rounding out the Top 10, Alpine’s Esteban Ocon took a decent P8, encouraging enough after the team were nowhere in Monza two weeks ago. And Liam Lawson was content to have the tenth fastest time in Q3, having already been the driver to knock out mighty Max Verstappen earlier, which certainly put the young Kiwi’s name front and center in the driver sweepstakes for next year.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Singapore GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 55 Carlos Sainz FERRARI 1:32.339 1:31.439 1:30.984 20
2 63 George Russell MERCEDES 1:32.331 1:31.743 1:31.056 17
3 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 1:32.406 1:32.012 1:31.063 21
4 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 1:32.483 1:31.951 1:31.270 20
5 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 1:32.651 1:32.019 1:31.485 16
6 20 Kevin Magnussen HAAS FERRARI 1:32.242 1:31.892 1:31.575 21
7 14 Fernando Alonso ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 1:32.584 1:31.835 1:31.615 17
8 31 Esteban Ocon ALPINE RENAULT 1:32.369 1:32.089 1:31.673 18
9 27 Nico Hulkenberg HAAS FERRARI 1:32.100 1:31.994 1:31.808 21
10 40 Liam Lawson ALPHATAURI HONDA RBPT 1:32.215 1:32.166 1:32.268 21

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race airs live on ESPN & ESPN+ beginning at 8AM Eastern here in the States. The Singapore night race is one of the most visually spectacular on the calendar and this jumbled up grid could also make it one of the most dramatic. Hope to see you then to find out if Ferrari can end their victory drought of if Verstappen and team Red Bull have a miracle up their sleeves to keep their streaks going!

2023 F1 Grand Prix of Italy — Results & aftermath

Verstappen outruns Ferraris to make history at Monza with tenth consecutive win; Perez rights back to take second on magic day for Red Bull; Sainz holds off teammate Leclerc for P3

Despite not starting from pole at Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen simply wouldn’t be denied in his relentless pursuit of history in what is shaping up to be an individual Formula 1 season for the ages. Bested by Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz for the top spot on the starting grid during Saturday qualifying and confronted by the rabid, Scuderia-obsessed tifosi in the stands instead of his usual adoring orange-clad army, Verstappen bided his time during the opening laps, just waiting for his car’s inherent advantages to come to the forefront. Running nose to tail with Sainz after the former’s solid start to begin the race kept him momentarily ahead, Verstappen shadowed the Spaniard and kept the pressure on the lead Ferrari even as he began to gap the third place Prancing Horse of Sainz’s teammate, Charles Leclerc. Despite the ultra-rapid pace that F1 cars run at Monza — it isn’t called the Temple of Speed for nothing and is the fastest circuit in the calendar — passing is actually not as easy as at some other tracks, especially since the DRS is not as powerful here.

But, with the confidence in his RB15’s superior tire performance, Verstappen could see early on in the game that Sainz’s Ferrari was starting to squirm around at the rear on its opening set of Medium Pirellis. When Sainz locked up on Lap 15 going into the first chicane past the start-finish straight, Verstappen saw the opportunity and pounced. The runaway points leader made the overtake for P1 coming out of the Curva Grande and finished it off successfully while steaming into the second chicane. Sainz had been game and valiant in defense from the point but Max simply controlled the race from that moment onward, as he has so many times this year, en route to his record breaking tenth consecutive win and giving the Red Bull team their own record setting 15th win on the trot dating back to last season. It’s worth remembering that the drivers’ record for consecutive wins was previously held by Sebastian Vettel, a feat he achieved also driving for Red Bull in the midst of his four straight titles. It certainly looks like nothing is going to stop Verstappen from winning his third World Championship in a row this season and he’s probably already pondering tying Vettel’s four crowns next year.

With Verstappen dancing away in the distance, the real action took place with many riveting battles up and down the order throughout the race’s 51-lap distance (shortened from 53 after the rescue of Yuki Tsunoda’s stationary AlphaTauri required two extra formation laps before the race could get underway). After the dicing with Verstappen was concluded, the major podium duel was between Sainz, the second Red Bull of Sergio Perez and the other Ferrari of Leclerc. Perez, who started P5 after another lackluster qualifying performance, made good use of a slight overcut on the Ferraris for his first and only pit stop and then maximized his second stint on Hard Pirellis to chase down the Prancing Horses. By Lap 31, he was filling up Leclerc’s mirrors and by Lap 32, he had made the decisive overtake on the Monegasque to grab P3.  Pushing hard and driving with precision, the Mexican was soon on Sainz’s gearbox, where the two soon engaged in a many-lap epic ding dong battle, with Sainz using every trick in the book to try to hold off the Red Bull. After several tussles through the tricky first chicane that saw Perez run off the circuit and then give the place back as a result, he was finally able to get by Sainz on Lap 46, gaining ownership of a richly deserved second place on the day. Sainz was then hounded mercilessly by Leclerc for the rest of the contest but was able to hold off his hard charging stablemate to secure the last step on the podium. Three-four is probably not what the tifosi or the braintrust at nearby Maranello were dreaming of after Saturday’s electrifying pole run by Sainz. But the respectable result was about the best the team could do when confronted by the superior race pace of the Red Bulls.

Further down the order, Mercedes also optimized their performance on the day, with George Russell coming home in P4 and Lewis Hamilton crossing the line in P5, albeit nearly twenty seconds adrift of his teammate. The Silver Arrows pit wall used a split strategy, with Russell running the conventional Medium-to-Hard tire one-stopper after qualifying in P4, while Hamilton did the opposite because he was starting from down in P8. It wound up coming good for the team, even after some misgivings by Hamilton over the decision, and both men even survived 5-second time penalties for causing collisions, the latter by Hamilton coming at the expense of the McLaren of Oliver Piastri when he squeezed the young Aussie too much and slapped into the McLaren’s front wing. That destroyed Piastri’s race because he required a nose change on Lap 42 and he wound up finishing outside the points in P12 as a result. Making it a decidedly meh day for the McLaren team, Williams Alexander Albon successfully held off Lando Norris to secure P7, another fine effort by the rapidly improving Thai-British pilot. Aston Martin were pretty much nowhere at Monza and Fernando Alonso had to settle for P9 and a meager two points for the team. Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas took the last point in P10 by driving a savvy, veteran race and then watching misfortune strike the faster cars of Piatsri and Esteban Ocon. Special mention should also be given to Liam Lawson, the New Zealand rookie filling in for Mark Webber at AlphaTauri while the veteran recovers from a broken hand suffered at Zandvoort during practice. Driving in his second F1 race, the young Kiwi was solid throughout the day and finished an impressive P11.

Top 10 finishers of the Italian Grand Prix:

POS NO DRIVER CAR LAPS TIME/RETIRED PTS
1 1 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT 51 1:13:41.143 25
2 11 Sergio Perez RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT 51 +6.064s 18
3 55 Carlos Sainz FERRARI 51 +11.193s 15
4 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 51 +11.377s 12
5 63 George Russell MERCEDES 51 +23.028s 10
6 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 51 +42.679s 8
7 23 Alexander Albon WILLIAMS MERCEDES 51 +45.106s 6
8 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 51 +45.449s 4
9 14 Fernando Alonso ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 51 +46.294s 2
10 77 Valtteri Bottas ALFA ROMEO FERRARI 51 +64.056s 1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race is in a fortnight’s time — the totally different animal to Monza that is the Singapore Grand Prix. Swap out high speeds for tight confines on that tricky and challenging Marina Bay Street Circuit half a world away and maybe, just maybe Verstappen’s luck will falter and his win streak will end. I still wouldn’t bet on it but hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2023 F1 Grand Prix of Italy — Qualifying results

Ferrari’s Sainz bests Verstappen & teammate Leclerc for coveted pole at Monza in front of delirious tifosi

Only a week out from a disappointing showing at the Dutch Grand Prix, team Ferrari was looking for redemption in front of their rabid fans, the tifosi, at their backyard circuit of the Autodromo Nazionale Monza during Saturday qualifying for Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix. Fast through all three practice sessions, the Scuderia maximized that impetus to take the fight to the usually supreme Red Bull of Max Verstappen at the famed Temple of Speed. Perhaps trimmed out ever so slightly more than the RB19, it was Carlos Sainz who eked out the very best fast lap of the day in Q3, earning his first pole in a year and the team’s third of the 2023 campaign by a razor thin 0.013 seconds over Verstappen. The Spanish veteran also bettered his teammate Charles Leclerc, who managed the third fastest time in Q3. While Sainz will start from the point and the SF-23 appears genuinely quick here at Monza, it remains to be seen if the Prancing Horses have the genuine race pace to go toe-to-toe with Verstappen, whose long run racing form has been nothing short of otherworldly this season. One thing’s for sure come race day: Verstappen will not give up his shot at a record breaking tenth win in a row without a fight.

Mercedes George Russell was the quickest of the rest with a time good enough for fourth on the grid. That was well ahead of his Silver Arrows teammate Lewis Hamilton, who has frankly struggled with his straight line speed all weekend long so far. The second Red Bull of Sergio Perez was also quite a distance away from team leader Verstappen in P5, nearly four-tenths down on the Dutchman’s P2 time. In contrast, Williams’ Alexander Albon continues to over-perform in what has been a breakout season for the young Thai-British driver. With the Williams quite quick & slippery on the straights, Albon hustled his mount all the way up to a P6 starting spot just a little off Perez’s pace. The two McLarens of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris struggled somewhat to put a solid lap together under the stresses of quali and were punished as a result, with Piastri only quick enough for P7 and Norris worse than Hamilton in P9. Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin rounded out the top ten on the day with a rather poky performance in P10.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Italian GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 55 Carlos Sainz FERRARI 1:21.965 1:20.991 1:20.294 20
2 1 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT 1:21.573 1:20.937 1:20.307 21
3 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 1:21.788 1:20.977 1:20.361 21
4 63 George Russell MERCEDES 1:22.148 1:21.382 1:20.671 21
5 11 Sergio Perez RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT 1:21.911 1:21.240 1:20.688 21
6 23 Alexander Albon WILLIAMS MERCEDES 1:21.661 1:21.272 1:20.760 21
7 81 Oscar Piastri MCLAREN MERCEDES 1:22.106 1:21.527 1:20.785 24
8 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 1:21.977 1:21.369 1:20.820 21
9 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 1:21.995 1:21.581 1:20.979 23
10 14 Fernando Alonso ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 1:22.043 1:21.543 1:21.417 19

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race airs live on ESPN beginning at 9AM Eastern here in the States. Hope to see you then to find out if Sainz and Ferrari’s qualifying pace was a one lap mirage or if he can truly hold off Verstappen to send the tifosi home in ecstasy!

2023 F1 Grand Prix of the Netherlands — Results & aftermath

Verstappen prevails for record-tying ninth win on the trot in chaotic, rain-affected Dutch Grand Prix; Alonso returns to podium with masterful P2; superb Gasly promoted to P3 due to Perez penalty

Even the unpredictable elements at the Dutch seaside Zandvoort circuit could not prevent the great Max Verstappen from adding to his record-setting victory pace at his hometown race. With rain chucking it down at the very start of Sunday’s 72-lap Dutch Grand Prix and then again during the closing stanza, forcing split second strategy decisions up and down the pit wall, Verstappen and his Red Bull brain trust made all the right calls en route to another dominant victory. It was the points leader’s record trying ninth win in a row, drawing him level with the great Sebastian Vettel, who first lifted this team named after a sports drink to the pinnacle of motorsport. Proving himself a worthy successor to the German four time champ, the Dutch wunderkind wowed the virtual sea of his sodden and ecstatic orange-clad fans by surviving the opening two laps on slicks as the rain began and then two Safety Car periods that erased his cushion. The latter deluge began on Lap 61, leading to first a VSC three laps later and then a Red Flag due to cars aquaplaning off the track en masse. Nevertheless, the Dutch master held off the late charge of wily old Fernando Alonso and pulled out his winning margin over the final five green flag laps to 3.744-seconds over the Spaniard. That also made it eleven wins from thirteen races run in 2023 and increased his points lead over teammate Sergio Perez to a whopping 128. While Verstappen’s dominance may make for sometimes less than thrilling and lopsided victories, this race had excitement galore due to the changeable weather and abundance of incident. In any event, one has to give the devil his due in saying that Verstappen is head and shoulders above all the other contenders in what is shaping up to be one of the legendary individual seasons in the sport’s history.

Nearly as good was Aston Martin’s Alonso, who started from P5 but used his mastery of touch and feel in the wet to consistently push to the front whatever the track conditions. By Lap 13 and after a switch to Intermediate wets and then back to Soft Pirellis, Alonso had worked his way to P3, a position he looked destined to be locked into for the duration. But he got a huge break when the heavy showers hit and the field were once again forced to come in for wet weather tires. The P2 Red Bull of Perez dove to the pits for Inters on Lap 61, which looked like the shrewd move at the time. The pursuing Alonso came in a lap latter for the same compound but the rain only intensified from there and the Red Bull team pulled first Verstappen in for the full Wet tires on Lap 63 and then, after Perez had slid off the track in T1, they called him in for the same on Lap 64. But with a big shunt by Alfa Romeo’s Zho Guanyu directly after Perez had his own off, the race director first deployed a Virtual Safety Car but then determined that the only safe course of action was a Red Flag. That trapped Perez in the pits as the rest of the field trundled round to get back into them for safe retrieval of Zho’s Alfa and barrier repair. While Perez was allowed to keep P3 and not relegated any further, as that was his last timed position, he had lost out to Alonso on P2. Making matters worse for the Mexican, he somehow accrued a pit speed violation on that fateful pit entry and was slapped with a 5-second time penalty. Alonso easily held off Perez, as he made a hard if eventually futile charge at catching Verstappen at the point. Meanwhile, Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, who drove a superb race, kept himself close enough to the second Red Bull to inherit the last step on the podium when Perez was docked those five-seconds after the checkers flew. It was brace of brilliant drives and results by Alonso and Gasly and another difficult day at the office for Perez when all was said and done.

Carlos Sainz was the lone Ferrari to make it home after teammate Charles Leclerc DNF’d due to floor damage on Lap 42. While Sainz held on for P5, it was another confused and disappointing day for the Scuderia, with Leclerc’s pointless retirement preceded by a botched stop for Inters on Lap 2. The Monegasque driver made his own call to box but the team weren’t ready for him with the tires, making for an agonizingly long time spent stationary. Heading into Monza next week, Ferrari will be under immense pressure to do better in front of their rabid tifosi. Mercedes Lewis Hamilton was likewise his team’s lone representative in the Top 10, recovering from a poor qualifying and a P13 start to take a hard earned P6. Teammate George Russell’s day came to grief late in the race when he suffered a puncture dicing with McLaren’s Lando Norris on lap 67 and was forced into an emergency pit stop that pushed him back to P17 and last among the remaining runners. Norris survived that incident to come home P7, with teammate Oscar Piastri not quite as quick in P9. Williams’ Alexander Albon did an excellent job after running his opening stint on Soft tires all the way to Lap 44 despite the drenched circuit, a crazy feat that set him up for his eventual P8 finish. The second Alpine of Esteban Ocon took the last point in P10 after the team’s gamble to be the first to go on full Wet tires on Lap 62 didn’t quite pay off due to the Red Flag.

Top 10 finishers of the Dutch GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR LAPS TIME/RETIRED PTS
1 1 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT 72 2:24:04.411 25
2 14 Fernando Alonso ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 72 +3.744s 19
3 10 Pierre Gasly ALPINE RENAULT 72 +7.058s 15
4 11 Sergio Perez RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT 72 +10.068s 12
5 55 Carlos Sainz FERRARI 72 +12.541s 10
6 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 72 +13.209s 8
7 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 72 +13.232s 6
8 23 Alexander Albon WILLIAMS MERCEDES 72 +15.155s 4
9 81 Oscar Piastri MCLAREN MERCEDES 72 +16.580s 2
10 31 Esteban Ocon ALPINE RENAULT 72 +18.346s 1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race is in but a week’s time as we head into September — the Italian Grand Prix from Monza, the Temple of Speed. Verstappen will be gunning for the record for consecutive race wins and the rest of the contenders will be hoping that somehow the ultra-fast circuit suits their hot rods a little better. And, at their home circuit, Ferrari will simply be praying for both of their cars to perform well and with no embarrassing mistakes for the Italian media to harp on. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2023 F1 Grand Prix of the Netherlands — Qualifying results

Verstappen returns from break on form, earns dominant pole in tricky conditions at Zandvoort; Norris P2, Russell P3 amidst damp-to-dry conditions, two Red Flags in Q3

After a month off for the traditional summer break, Formula 1 returned to action and the buildup to Sunday’s Dutch Grand Prix amidst the dunes at Zandvoort. But the time off added no rust to Max Verstappen’s sterling form this season and the Red Bull driver pulled out yet another pole during Saturday qualifying for his home race. With rain earlier in the day leading to a wet track that was slowly dried by the clearing & sunny conditions at this beachside circuit, the drivers were forced to contend with the always entertaining and fraught wet-to-dry scenario, where a very thin dry line would make it possible to run slick Pirellis during the final quali session. Though no one dared doff the Intermediates for the first two rounds of qualifying, the remaining ten contenders all ran the Softs for their final fast laps. But once again it was Verstappen who mastered the track and the tricky conditions the best, laying down a blazingly fast 1:10.567 lap on his final attempt. That put the Dutch master some six-tenths to the good of the very game McLaren of Lando Norris and the two will start side by side at the front of the grid for tomorrow’s race. It was Verstappen’s astonishing eighth pole out of thirteen race weekends so far in 2023.

With the fastest laps of the day being the final ones attempted due to the continually drying track, Mercedes George Russell maximized his last try to take an impressive P3. His teammate Lewis Hamilton was less fortunate when the Mercedes pit wall seemed to misjudge their strategy in the damp of Q2 and the seven-time champ was ignominiously bounced out at the end of that session. Hamilton will have to fight his way back from a lowly P13 start on a short, quick circuit that is mighty tough to pass on. Williams continued to show solid improvement, with the impressively maturing Alexander Albon quick all day en route to a final lap good enough for P4. Teammate Logan Sargeant had the high of making it into Q3 for the first time this year and then the immediate low of a heavy shunt after setting a decent time that brought his day to a premature end and resulted in a lengthy Red Flag period for barrier repair. Unable to improve any further, Seargant will have to settle for a season best P10 spot on the grid, assuming his car will be able to be fixed properly and doesn’t require a pit lane start due to all the damage.

Fernando Alonso was the sole Aston Martin to make the top 10 at P5 and Carlos Sainz was the lone Ferrari in P6 after teammate Charles Leclerc crashed and brought out the second Red Flag of Q3. Leclerc was relegated to a P9 start, again assuming his Prancing Horse doesn’t require more drastic repairs after taking a fairly brutal lateral wack to his left rear. Rounding out the Top 10 for tomorrow’s grid, the second Red Bull of Sergio Perez was a long way off his teammate’s pace in P7 and Oscar Piastri slid down to P8 in the second McLaren when the final times were tallied.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Dutch GP:

OS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 1 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT 1:20.965 1:18.856 1:10.567 31
2 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 1:21.276 1:19.769 1:11.104 30
3 63 George Russell MERCEDES 1:21.345 1:19.620 1:11.294 32
4 23 Alexander Albon WILLIAMS MERCEDES 1:20.939 1:19.399 1:11.419 32
5 14 Fernando Alonso ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 1:21.840 1:19.429 1:11.506 30
6 55 Carlos Sainz FERRARI 1:21.321 1:19.929 1:11.754 32
7 11 Sergio Perez RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT 1:21.972 1:19.856 1:11.880 33
8 81 Oscar Piastri MCLAREN MERCEDES 1:21.231 1:19.392 1:11.938 31
9 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 1:22.019 1:19.600 1:12.665 27
10 2 Logan Sargeant WILLIAMS MERCEDES 1:22.036 1:20.067 1:16.748 27

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race airs live on ESPN beginning at 9AM Eastern. Verstappen will be hunting his ninth win on the trot in front of the hordes of orange clad Dutch fans. Hope to see you then to find out if anybody else has anything for him!

2023 F1 Grand Prix of Belgium — Results & aftermath

Unstoppable Verstappen cruises to easy win at Spa despite starting sixth; Red Bull teammate Perez a solid second, Leclerc holds off Hamilton for P3

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen continued his rampage this past Sunday at legendary Spa-Francorchamps, effortlessly moving up from a gearbox penalty-induced P6 start to take an easy victory in the Belgian Grand Prix over 22-seconds ahead of his closest pursuer and teammate Sergio Perez. On a typically changeable weekend in the hills and valleys of the Ardennes that saw occasionally heavy rains leading to tricky track conditions during Friday qualifying and the Saturday Sprint spectacular, the Grand Prix itself was almost entirely dry, leading to a rather straightforward race and, with Verstappen’s incredible run of form in 2023, a seemingly predetermined outcome. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc inherited pole after Verstappen’s gearbox change penalty and he lead away Perez when the lights went out. But the lead Red Bull of the Mexican made easy work of the Prancing Horse on the opening lap and charged into the lead, albeit one that was destined to be short lived. Verstappen meanwhile set about his relentless march to the front with typical aplomb, nimbly working his way through the McLaren of Oscar Piastri and the second Ferrari of Carlos Sainz, who clashed going into Turn 1 and fatally damaged both of their cars in the process. By Lap 9, the Dutch master had disposed of Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes and was on the gearbox of Leclerc, making the decisive move to take P2 away while cruising into Les Combes. After their first round of pit stops to doff their opening set of Soft Pirrellis in favor of the more durable Mediums, on Lap 14 for Perez and the following circuit  for Verstappen, the two Red Bulls drew inexorably closer. Perez was no match for Verstappen’s pace and the runaway championship points leader overtook him without breaking a sweat easily on Lap 17, grabbing the lead for the remainder of this 44-lap contest and breezing into the summer break the undisputed top dog in F1.

After that, it was mainly a matter of where the rest of the top ten would finish, as Verstappen ran away en route to his eight consecutive victory and the Red Bull team’s unprecedented thirteenth in a row, including all twelve races run so far this year. For good measure, Verstappen also won the Saturday Sprint race for an extra 8 points, although on this day it would be Hamilton who nabbed tho bonus point for the race’s fastest lap. Perez had to settle for second but, combined with his P3 last weekend in Hungary, it still marked a solid return to form for him after some bleak outcomes following the high of his last win in Azerbaijan way back in Round 4. While Leclerc couldn’t match the pace of either Red Bull, his was still fast enough to hold off the Merc of Hamilton, the Monegasque netting the final podium position while Hamilton could never really mount a real charge and so finished in P4.

Those results were still far better than their teammates, with Sainz being forced to retire his damaged Ferrari on Lap 25 after steadily going in reverse after his opening lap contretemps with Piastri. And Hamilton’s stablemate George Russell also had a dispiriting day at Spa, losing a ton of positions on Lap 1 but then at least gamely fighting his way from P11 back to a respectable finish in P6. Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso drove steadily and smoothly all race long, maximizing the car’s performance to the tune of a P5 finish ahead of Russell after starting from P9 on the grid, while his wingman Lance Stroll could only improve his starting spot by one and came home P9. After his McLaren teammate Piastri’s race came to an abrupt halt on Lap 2 due to his tangle with Sainz, it was left to Lando Norris to fly the papaya flag. With the McLaren MCL60 seemingly carrying excessive downforce which served them well in the mixed wet conditions on Friday and Saturday but led to a draggy car during this dry race, Norris struggled to a P7 result. That made for a bit of a disappointment after the team had been so solid in recent race weekends and throughout quali and the Sprint events this weekend, Piastri having finished runner up to Verstappen in the rain-shortened Sprint race. Esteban Ocon ended his points drought with a P8 finish, a small ray of hope on a weekend that saw Alpine fire most of their team’s top officials. And Yuki Tsunoda scored the last point in P10 in his AlphaTauri, acing out the second Alpine of Pierre Gasly for the final point paying position.

Top 10 finishers of the Belgian GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR LAPS TIME/RETIRED PTS
1 1 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT 44 1:22:30.450 25
2 11 Sergio Perez RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT 44 +22.305s 18
3 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 44 +32.259s 15
4 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 44 +49.671s 13
5 14 Fernando Alonso ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 44 +56.184s 10
6 63 George Russell MERCEDES 44 +63.101s 8
7 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 44 +73.719s 6
8 31 Esteban Ocon ALPINE RENAULT 44 +74.719s 4
9 18 Lance Stroll ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 44 +79.340s 2
10 22 Yuki Tsunoda ALPHATAURI HONDA RBPT 44 +80.221s 1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The August recess is upon us and the next race weekend is not until August 25-27 amidst the dunes of Zandvoort in the Netherlands, Verstappen’s veritable back yard. Enjoy your summer recess and I’ll look forward to seeing you when the on track action resumes!

2023 F1 Grand Prix of Belgium — Qualifying results

Verstappen fastest in Friday qualifying but denied pole due to gearbox penalty, will start P6; P2 Leclerc promoted to pole, P3 Perez second on grid

On the last race weekend before the long summer break, qualifying for Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix took place on Friday due to this being another of Formula 1’s periodic, somewhat gimmicky Sprint Race weekends. But with the first race held at legendary Spa-Francorchamps in July instead of the traditional late August second half opener, Red Bull’s magnificent Max Verstappen was once again definitively the fastest man on track. Pulling an epic final flier out of the bag on the rapidly drying but still damp 4.35-mile circuit in the heart of the Ardennes after a typical period of deluge earlier in the day, Verstappen whipped up the pace to the tune of a whopping 8-tenths advantage over Ferrari man Charles Leclerc’s formerly fastest lap of 1:46.988. Unfortunately for Verstappen, however, that superlative effort did not result in pole position because Red Bull chose this race to take their sixth gearbox change of the season on Max’s car, resulting in a 5-place gird drop for the Dutch master. While that forces the current runaway championship leader to start from only P6 on the grid come Sunday a week after having his pole streak snapped by Lewis Hamilton in Hungary, you’d have to be braver man than I to bet against Verstappen charging all the way back to the front and contesting for the win.

Due to that penalty, Leclerc was elevated to pole for the GP, the Monegasque being truly quick all day long and definitely in contention for a podium, if not the win itself, with what looks to be an improved Prancing Horse, at least on a long, flowing track like this one. Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez qualified P3 but will now start alongside Leclerc in P2. Lewis Hamilton was fourth fastest but his Mercedes teammate George Russell could do no better than P8 in these tricky conditions. Likewise, Leclerc’s teammate Carlos Sainz lagged behind him in P5, trailed by the greatly improved McLarens of Oliver Piastri in P6 and Lando Norris in P7. Aston Martin rounded out the Top 10 qualifiers, with Fernando Alonso once again out-qualifying Lance Stroll, P9 to P10. After their gangbusters first third of 2023, Aston appear to have lost ground when their most recent “upgrade” made the car slower rather than faster and even at a favorable long, high speed circuit like Spa they couldn’t match the pace of Ferrari, McLaren and Mercedes, much less Red Bull .

Top 10 qualifiers for the Belgian GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 1 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT 1:58.515 1:52.784 1:46.168 22
2 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 1:58.300 1:52.017 1:46.988 23
3 11 Sergio Perez RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT 1:58.899 1:52.353 1:47.045 22
4 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 1:58.563 1:52.345 1:47.087 24
5 55 Carlos Sainz FERRARI 1:58.688 1:51.711 1:47.152 23
6 81 Oscar Piastri MCLAREN MERCEDES 1:58.872 1:51.534 1:47.365 23
7 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 1:59.981 1:52.252 1:47.669 21
8 63 George Russell MERCEDES 1:59.035 1:52.605 1:47.805 24
9 14 Fernando Alonso ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 1:58.834 1:52.751 1:47.843 22
10 18 Lance Stroll ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 1:59.663 1:52.193 1:48.841 22

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Adjusted starting grid after Verstappen’s penalty is here.

Click here for Sprint Shootout Qualifying and Sprint Race results.

Tomorrow’s race airs live on ESPN beginning at 9AM Eastern here in the States. This is Leclerc’s and Perez’s best opportunity in some time to make up at least a little ground on Verstappen  — let’s see if they take advantage of it. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!