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2017 F1 Grand Prix of Azerbaijan — Results & aftermath

Red Bull’s Ricciardo capitalizes on chaos for Baku victory as Hamilton and Vettel clash; Mercedes’ Bottas fights back for gritty P2, Williams’ rookie Stroll scores maiden podium

Sunday’s Azrbaijan Grand Prix on the tight and windy Baku City Circuit was everything last year’s first-ever running was not: exciting, chaotic and unpredictable. In a race disrupted by several long and eventful Safety Car periods and one Red Flag timeout for debris on track, as well as a host of retirements and disabled vehicles, the preferred script of pole-sitter and Mercedes ace Lewis Hamilton vs the pursuing Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel did not play out according to plan. Not even close. Instead, what had been a largely respectful rivalry turned sour when, during the second Safety Car period, Vettel ran into the back of Hamilton as the Englishman slowed his Silver Arrow coming out of Turn 16. The surprised German then pulled beside him to make his displeasure known. In a stunning turn of events the Ferrari bashed into the side of the Mercedes. Whether the 4-time World Champion made the move deliberately or merely lost control while yelling at Hamilton we may never know. But in the end intent was not important, as Vettel’s reckless move both lost him respect from Hamilton and also earned the German a 10-second stop & hold penalty.

Pics courtesy GrandPrix247.com

Pics courtesy GrandPrix247.com

The penalty was late in coming, however, and was only issued after a lengthy Red Flag period necessitated by a crash between Force India teammates Esteban Ocon and Sergio Perez and the unacceptable accumulation of debris on the track. And there were many who felt that Vettel got off lightly, Hamilton chief amongst them. Nevertheless, he must have been thinking that victory was all but certain when the race restarted and his Merc ran free and clear in first position. But Hamilton soon faced a crushing disappointment of his own when it became apparent that his headrest was not properly re-installed during the Red Flag period and kept popping up, a somewhat inexcusable lapse by the team. Despite his best efforts to secure it while driving 200mph down the straights Hamilton was forced to pit for repairs for that unforced error on Lap 31, an ill-timed extra stop. Hamilton emerged P8 and when Vettel finally took his penalty on Lap 33 his Ferrari still managed to come out ahead of the circulating Mercedes. So despite being the aggrieved party, Hamilton got no revenge on Vettel in this race and was never able to pass him. Vettel finished P4 despite his transgression with Hamilton P5 and the Englishman now trails his newly bitter rival by 14 points. More than that, the seemingly friendly competition is over between the two — it will now be war between Vettel and Hamilton in the fight for the title.

AzerbaijanF1GP-podium_2017

There were many beneficiaries of the contretemps between the two championship aspirants but the biggest and happiest was Daniel Ricciardo. Despite pitting early to clean the break ducts on his Red Bull, Ricciardo was able to work himself back up to a competitive position via the Safety Car periods and attrition in the field, including his unlucky teammate Max Verstappen, who dropped out with engine failure on Lap 13. When the third and final Safety Car period ended on Lap 24 the affable Aussie was all the way back up to P5 and was ready to pounce. And pounce he did, picking off two Williams with one late-breaking power move. That left only Hamilton and Vettel ahead and when they each suffered their respective race-altering issues, Ricciardo inherited the race lead. He never looked back and no one else ever got a sniff as he piloted his Red Bull to his fifth GP win and first since Malaysia in Round 16 of last season. It was also the fourth podium in a row for the surging Ricciardo, much to the chagrin of his podium mates who are more often than not are forced to drink champagne out of his hot, race-worn shoe in a bizarre but endearing ritual.

Hamilton’s Mercedes teammate, Valtteri Bottas, also benefitted from the chaos, clawing his way back from a first lap coming together with fellow Finn and Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen that cut down his left front tire and forced him to limp around to the pits and rejoin a lap down after a tire service and a front wing change (Raikonnen would eventually be forced to retire on Lap 47 due to the accrued damage after his team tried valiantly to keep his car in the race). Again, though, the host of Safety Cars worked to Bottas’ advantage, as did the misfortune of his teammate and rivals, and Bottas was not only able to unlap himself but drove steadily up through the field with good pace. As the laps ran down, he had worked his way all the way back up to P3 and was hunting the last surviving Williams of Lance Stroll. Bottas never stopped pushing and slipstreamed Stroll, surging past him right at the line for a hard fought P2. It was an excellent drive for the Finn and a definite bright spot on a rather mixed day for Mercedes.

While Stroll would have loved to have taken P2 he was nonetheless thrilled with his first career F1 podium, which was also Team Williams’ first of the season. The 18-year-old Canadian rookie became the second youngest driver to podium behind Max Verstappen. After scoring his first points in his home Grand Prix two weeks ago Stroll seemed to find his footing and put the rough start to his year behind him. Certainly the field was scrambled in Azerbaijan but Stroll was genuinely fast all weekend on this demanding circuit, out-qualifiying his veteran teammate Felipe Massa P8 to P9. And when the opportunities presented themselves in the race he didn’t miss them, driving flawlessly and avoiding contact with walls and other cars. He kept it throughly tight and clean and in the end the young Canadian was rewarded with a P3, a very significant achievement at the beginning of his F1 career.

The lone surviving Force India of Esteban Ocon took P6 despite damage incurred while dicing with his teammate Sergio Perez coming out of the second Safety Car period (their accident caused that eventful Red Flag). It was the second race in row where the two drivers were at loggerheads after Perez balked Ocon’s progress in Montreal, denying the young Frenchman a potential podium. That ill will is sure to continue, as the collision eventually led to Perez’s retirement and pushed Ocon down the order. Force India were left to wonder what might have been when they could have been the biggest beneficiaries of all the chaos and looked at one point like putting both cars on the podium. The team has got to get control of their two talented and strong-willed drivers lest they continue to let massively valuable points slip through their fingers due to lack of team discipline.

Rounding out the Top 10, Kevin Magnussen drove an excellent race and came home P7 in his Haas, Carlos Sainz recovered from an early spin to bring his Toro Roso home safely in P8 and Fernando Alonso scored McLaren’s first points of the season with a decent P9 despite his Honda engine still being down on pure power. And both McLarens finally ran a full race distance! Pascal Wehrlein took P10 for struggling Sauber, only the team’s second points-scoring finish in 8 rounds this year.

Top 10 finishers of the Azerbaijan GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR LAPS TIME/RETIRED PTS
1 3 Daniel Ricciardo RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 51 2:03:55.573 25
2 77 Valtteri Bottas MERCEDES 51 +3.904s 18
3 18 Lance Stroll WILLIAMS MERCEDES 51 +4.009s 15
4 5 Sebastian Vettel FERRARI 51 +5.976s 12
5 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 51 +6.188s 10
6 31 Esteban Ocon FORCE INDIA MERCEDES 51 +30.298s 8
7 20 Kevin Magnussen HAAS FERRARI 51 +41.753s 6
8 55 Carlos Sainz TORO ROSSO 51 +49.400s 4
9 14 Fernando Alonso MCLAREN HONDA 51 +59.551s 2
10 94 Pascal Wehrlein SAUBER FERRARI 51 +89.093s 1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race is in two weeks time from the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, Austria. With tempers getting as hot as the summer weather and respect between Vettel and Hamilton, not mention Bottas and Raikonnen, evaporating like the early morning dew it should be a hammer and tongs showdown between Ferrari and Mercedes. Hope to see you then!

2017 F1 Grand Prix of Azerbaijan — Qualifying results

Hamilton bests Bottas for pole at Baku in inter-team Mercedes battle; Raikkonen & Vettel 3-4 for Ferrari

Mercedes Lewis Hamilton pipped his teammate Valtteri Bottas for pole in dramatic fashion at the Baku City Circuit in Azerbaijan this Saturday. Coming out of a Red Flag period caused by Daniel Ricciardo’s shunt, the drivers were left with only 3:33 to set a faster time than Bottas’ seemingly untouchable provisional pole run around the tight and treacherous turns of Baku. But despite this year’s tire compounds’ problematic and prolonged warm-up period, the cars lighter weight from fuel burn off at the end of the session saw no decrease in performance in that last minute scramble. And in fact Hamilton was able to set a blazer of a lap for his 66th career pole — breaking a tie for second all-time with his idol Ayrton Senna — even as his impressive first year teammate Bottas improved his speed on his way to a solid P2 start and a Mercedes front row lockout. Both Ferrarari’s were also able to jump up the pylon, albeit more than half a second behind the Silver Arrows, with Kimi Raikkonen besting his usually quicker teammate Sebastian Vettel, P3 to P4. In fairness, Vettel was forced to switch to an older power unit prior to quali so he might be a bit down on horsepower to the Finn. Watch for the Vettel and the Scuderia to have some tricks up their sleeves come race day.

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was overtaken by both Prancing Horses at the end of the day but after a host of technical issues in the practice sessions he should probably feel well pleased with starting P5. Whether his increasingly fragile Renault power plant and RB13 chassis can make it to the end of Sunday’s race, however, remains to be seen. After his terminal slide into the wall late in Q3 the other Red Bull of Riccardo saw his fastest time, once good enough for P7, eclipsed by all the other runners in the final session and the Aussie will start back in P10. Force India look set to continue their increasingly tense drivers’ dual after their memorable spat in Montreal a fortnight ago, with Sergio Perez desperate to keep the rapidly improving your Estaban Ocon behind him in the team pecking order. Perez was faster than Ocon by a mere .07 and they will line up P6 and P7 respectively. And Williams Lance Stroll seemed to take his first-ever points scoring F1 race at his home Grand Prix in Canada and covert it into much needed confidence at this tricky track, looking quick all weekend and out-qualifying his veteran teammate Felipe Massa for the first time this year, P8 to P9.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Azerbaijan GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 1:41.983 1:41.275 1:40.593 20
2 77 Valtteri Bottas MERCEDES 1:43.026 1:41.502 1:41.027 23
3 7 Kimi Räikkönen FERRARI 1:42.678 1:42.090 1:41.693 23
4 5 Sebastian Vettel FERRARI 1:42.952 1:41.911 1:41.841 23
5 33 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 1:42.544 1:41.961 1:41.879 22
6 11 Sergio Perez FORCE INDIA MERCEDES 1:43.162 1:42.467 1:42.111 21
7 31 Esteban Ocon FORCE INDIA MERCEDES 1:43.051 1:42.751 1:42.186 21
8 18 Lance Stroll WILLIAMS MERCEDES 1:43.613 1:42.284 1:42.753 21
9 19 Felipe Massa WILLIAMS MERCEDES 1:43.165 1:42.735 1:42.798 22
10 3 Daniel Ricciardo RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 1:42.857 1:42.215 1:43.414 20

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race airs live on NBC Sports starting at 9AM Eastern here in the States. Still a green circuit in only its second running, Baku has all the technical aspects that make for a really good F1 circuit. And with the walls just waiting to catch out the unsuspecting virtually anything could happen to any of the drivers in the race. Hope to see you then to see how it all shakes out!

2017 F1 Grand Prix of Canada — Results & aftermath

Mercedes’ Hamilton returns to form with dominant win in Montreal, teammate Bottas P2; Ricciardo takes P3 for Red Bull, Vettel a valiant P4 for Ferrari

The Canadian Grand Prix nearly always seems to be the tonic Lewis Hamilton needs to get back to his winning ways. And two weeks after his disappointing 7th place finish in Monaco the Mercedes ace dominated this race yet again, running away from the field after a terrific start from the pole. Leaving all pursuers in his wake at the place where he won his very first F1 race in 2007, Hamilton romped to his remarkable sixth career victory at the beautiful parkland course on the Ille Notre Dame in Montreal. There are some tracks that simply suit certain drivers and Hamilton has repeatedly proven that Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve is his personal playground. With his teammate Valtteri Bottas finishing a distant second place some 20 seconds behind it was an all round excellent day for the Mercedes factory team but an even better one for Hamilton and his championship aspirations.

Pics courtesy GrandPrix247.com

Pics courtesy GrandPrix247.com

Not only was Hamilton dominant but the expected dual with his nemesis, Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, never materialized. While the German points leader started from P2 on the grid and looked for all the world like he had the pace to battle Hamilton for the win he got away slowly and was tagged at the very first turn by the overtaking Red Bull of Max Verstappen. That clout damaged his Ferrari’s front wing. But when a safety car was deployed on that opening lap due to the spinning Toro Rosso of Carlos Sainz collecting the Williams of an unlucky Felipe Massa neither Vettel or the team noticed the damage. By the time they did and called Vettel into the pits for a wing change the safety car period was over and cars were back circulating at race pace. That cost Vettel a ton of track position and when he rejoined he was back at the tail of the field in P18. Nevertheless, with some patient but forceful driving and clever pit strategy to switch to two stops for tires instead of only one, Vettel worked his Prancing Horse back through the field and into contention for a potential podium. While that huge task eluded him he was able to overtake the dicing Force India’s of Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon due to his relatively fresh Ultra Soft tires, locking up a valuable P4 at the checkered flag. So though Hamilton trimmed the points lead back down to just 12 with his win it was still a good day of damage control for Vettel. However, with the Mercedes one-two Ferrari lost their lead in the Constructors’ battle and now find themselves 8 points behind the Silver Arrows.

The Scuderia was not helped by Kimi Raikkonen’s subpar performance. After also getting away slowly at the start and losing positions from his P4 grid spot, Raikkonen’s attempt to battle back into contention was thwarted late in the race by incurable break issues that forced the Iceman to back off on his pace. Running in conservation mode Raikkonen could do no better than P7. Ferrari’s misfortune was Daniel Ricciardo’s opportunity, as the senior Red Bull driver took advantage of a good start to ward off all comers and secure P3, his second consecutive podium. But all was not well for Red Bull because Ricciardo’s teammate Max Verstappen did not complete the race. Despite a lightning getaway and surviving the early contact with Vettel, the Dutch wunderkind’s troubled 2017 season continued when his car lost a battery on Lap 11 and he was forced to retire. Versttappen has now retired in three out of seven races to start the year and has only one podium so far, a P3 in China. With Red Bull’s woes and third-best status in the paddock it is distinctly possible that the talented youngster will be looking to jump to a team with greater reliability and performance next year so he can fulfill what everybody believes is his championship potential.

Motor Racing - Formula One World Championship - Canadian Grand Prix - Race Day - Montreal, Canada

What should have been a banner day for overachieving Force India was marred somewhat by internal team dissension. While Sergio Perez finished P5 and Esteban Ocon came home P6, an extremely valuable trove of points for the little squad, it seemed that for want of a little more cooperation between their drivers they could have done even better. With Ocon running faster times on fresher rubber due to pitting after Perez the young Frenchman had the pace and potential to take the fight to Ricciardo and perhaps onto the podium. Perez refused to yield his position pleading with his team to let him be the one to attack Ricciardo. But lap after lap Perez failed to get by Ricciardo while Ocon was stuck behind Perez as his tire advantage dissipated. And that enabled Vettel to pip both of them for P4 in the final laps. So while in other races Force India would be giddy with a 5-6 finish, in Canada it felt a bit like they had left points on the table.  It also remains to be seen how the two previously friendly teammates deal with Perez’s stubbornness. Ocon was certainly disappointed at not having the chance to fight for a podium during the narrow window when he had the pace in his tires to do so.

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Nico Hulkenberg had another solid run for the Renault factory team finishing in P8. And after his teammate Massa crashed out on the opening lap, young Canadian Lance Stroll flew the flag for Team Williams in his home Grand Prix scoring his first F1 points in his seventh career race with a well driven P9. After a poor start to his F1 career the 18-year-old sorely needed a good result and scoring points in front of his ecstatic countrymen should give Stroll the confidence boost all drivers require to succeed. Finally, Haas’ Romain Grosjean managed to survive the Sainz-induced opening lap shunt and, despite an early pit stop for repairs, managed to grab the last points paying position in P10.

Top 10 finishers at the Canadian GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR LAPS TIME/RETIRED PTS
1 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 70 1:33:05.154 25
2 77 Valtteri Bottas MERCEDES 70 +19.783s 18
3 3 Daniel Ricciardo RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 70 +35.297s 15
4 5 Sebastian Vettel FERRARI 70 +35.907s 12
5 11 Sergio Perez FORCE INDIA MERCEDES 70 +40.476s 10
6 31 Esteban Ocon FORCE INDIA MERCEDES 70 +40.716s 8
7 7 Kimi Räikkönen FERRARI 70 +58.632s 6
8 27 Nico Hulkenberg RENAULT 70 +60.374s 4
9 18 Lance Stroll WILLIAMS MERCEDES 69 +1 lap 2
10 8 Romain Grosjean HAAS FERRARI 69 +1 lap 1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race is in two weeks time with the second running of the cool Baku City Circuit in Azerbaijan. With the fight between Vettel and Hamilton and Mercedes and Ferrari tight as a tick every race takes on major significance, so best not to miss any of them. Hope to see you then!

2017 F1 Grand Prix of Canada — Qualifying results

Hamilton blisters track record to score pole in Montreal but Vettel right behind in P2; Bottas P3

Mercedes ace Lewis Hamilton set the all-time fastest lap on the ultra-quick and treacherous Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve on Saturday logging a blistering 1:11:459 on Illes Notre Dame in Montreal, Canada and besting his closest pursuer, Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, by 3-tenths of a second. Desperate to make amends for his subpar Monaco qualifying performance, which saw him bounced in Q2 en route to a damaging P7 finish, Hamilton’s superb effort gave him his 65th career pole. That tied the Englishman with his personal hero, Ayrton Senna, and after the session was over the Senna family presented him with a period official publicity helmet from the late F1 legend with a promise of an actual race worn version to come. Hamilton was visibly moved by the gracious gesture and it should give him even more motivation to run to victory come Sunday on a track where he has often dominated and where he has 5 career wins, including his first ever top step in F1 back in 2007 when he was a rookie with McLaren.

Pics courtesy GrandPrix247.com

Pics courtesy GrandPrix247.com

But as dominant as Hamilton’s Mercedes was Ferrari and Vettel must be well pleased to have ended up so very close to the lead Merc. The Monaco winner and points leader slotted in at P2 with the only other time below 1:12 and it will be all to play for when the lights go out so look for some fierce dicing between these ultra-competitive pilots, as well as key strategic decisions between the two mega-factory teams. Hamilton’s Mercedes teammate Valterri Bottas was just a bit behind the elite duo in P3, while Vettel’s wingman Kimi Raikkonen, still stewing over a potential Monaco win that he failed to convert from pole, took P4. The start of the tomorrow’s race with those mixed Silver and Red front two rows should be very interesting indeed.

The Red Bulls were once again the best of the rest, with Max Verstappen laying down a time good enough for fifth on the grid and Daniel Ricciardo following up his excellent Monaco podium with a P6 start. Felipe Massa showed one again that the Williams is suited to tracks with long straights and nabbed a P7 starting spot, while Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon both showed  good pace for Force India with laps good enough for P8 and P9 on the grid respectively. Renault’s excellent Nico Hulkenberg gave a good effort to get into Q3 and will start P10.

Top 10 Qualifiers for the Canadian Grand Prix:

POS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 1:12.692 1:12.496 1:11.459 21
2 5 Sebastian Vettel FERRARI 1:13.046 1:12.749 1:11.789 21
3 77 Valtteri Bottas MERCEDES 1:12.685 1:12.563 1:12.177 20
4 7 Kimi Räikkönen FERRARI 1:13.548 1:12.580 1:12.252 23
5 33 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 1:13.177 1:12.751 1:12.403 26
6 3 Daniel Ricciardo RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 1:13.543 1:12.810 1:12.557 28
7 19 Felipe Massa WILLIAMS MERCEDES 1:13.435 1:13.012 1:12.858 27
8 11 Sergio Perez FORCE INDIA MERCEDES 1:13.470 1:13.262 1:13.018 22
9 31 Esteban Ocon FORCE INDIA MERCEDES 1:13.520 1:13.320 1:13.135 22
10 27 Nico Hulkenberg RENAULT 1:13.804 1:13.406 1:13.271 24

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race airs on NBC proper live starting at 2PM Eastern here in the States. With Hamilton and Vettel nice and tuck and the Mercedes-Ferrari dual as close as possible it’ll be game on in Montreal to see who bag glory and the most points out of this demanding and fast race. Hope to see you then!

2017 F1 Grand Prix of Monaco — Results & aftermath

Ferrari & Vettel victorious in Monte Carlo, Raikonnen ; Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo P3 to keep Mercedes off the podium

Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel jumped his pole-sitting teammate Kimi Raikkonen for the victory on Sunday at the legendary Monte Carlo street circuit for the team’s first Monaco GP win since 2001. While suspicious minds contemplated possible secret Scuderia team orders, Vettel was the faster driver and was able to extend the life of his preferred Ultrasoft Pirelli rubber, banking 6 valuable fast laps and pulling out a lead  greater than the pit stop delta after Raikonnen had already pitted. Vettel therefore emerged in front of Raikkonen on pit out on Lap 40 and with passing at such a premium in the tight street circuit and the bit between the 4-time World Champ’s teeth the victory was formality. In the end and, as has been the case throughout this season, Vettel simply outperformed Raikkonen, who still finished a solid if disappointing for him P2. For Ferrari, it was a fantastic points scoring day made even better by the fact that their main rivals for the Constructors’ Title, mighty Mercedes, were kept off the podium. The Prancing Horse had been stymied at the principality since the legendary Michael Schumacher’s win in 2001, and it was also the team’s first 1-2 here since 1999 when Schumacher also won and his teammate Rubens Barrichelo was P2. On a more somber note, the 2017 Monaco GP also marked 50 years since the death of the well-liked Ferrari driver Lorenzo Bandini in a fiery crash in 1967 at the very same race.

Pics courtesy GrandPrix247.com

Pics courtesy GrandPrix247.com

Mercedes’ had issues all weekend long and were doomed by an uncharacteristically poor qualifying effort from Lewis Hamilton that saw the British contender forced to start from way back in P13. His Silver Arrows teammate Valtteri Bottas qualified P3 but faltered to lose a position in the race and came home P4. And while Hamilton battled back all day long, running a very long stint on his first set of tires and eventually working his way up to a hard-earned P7 finish, both the team and drivers took serious points hits. Meredes now trails Ferrari by 17 points in the Constructors’, while Hamilton saw his deficit to Vettel balloon to 25 points. Bottas still leads his countryman Raikkonen for third but now only by 8 points. While all their woes could have come down to the long wheel base of their F1 W08 chassis’ particular unsuitability to the low speed twists and turns of Monte Carlo, Mercedes’ inability to stick closer to Ferrari in this one race could come back to haunt them at season’s end. It must also be of concern to Toto Wolff, Niki Lauda and the rest of the Merc brain trust how their car will perform down the road at a track like Singapore, a place where they have often struggled even when more dominant than they are now and where rotation of the car in tight turns is nearly as paramount as at Monaco.

F1GPMonaco_2017

Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo capitalized on Mercedes’ woes and drove a superb race to pip Bottas for the last step on the podium. A year after his team blew what seemed a sure win for the affable Aussie, Red Bull made amends to Ricciardo by running him longer his first set of tires, the preferred Ultrasfofts. And much like Vettel, that enabled him to jump his higher qualifying and earlier pitting teammate Max Verstappen when the time finally came for his pit stop. Continue reading →

2017 F1 Grand Prix of Monaco — Qualifying results

Raikkonen claims dominant pole in Monte Carlo to lead all-Ferrari front row, Vettel P2; Mercedes’ Bottas P3 but Hamilton bounced out in Q2

Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen grabbed his first pole since 2008, dominating his more heralded teammate Sebastian Vettel and leaving both rival Mercedes well in his wake. Vettel was still good enough for P2 .05 behind his Finnish wingman in the excellent Ferrari chassis, scoring the second front row lockout of the year for the Scuderia. Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas was able to muscle his Silver Arrow up to P3 with a spirited challenge but his teammate, Lewis Hamilton, struggled for grip on the iconic street circuit throughout the day and then was fatally balked on his final lap in Q2 by the crashing McLaren of Lance Stroll at the Swimming Pool. That left Hamilton in the unfamiliar position of starting from P14 with all to do to fight his way through the field for points on a street circuit where passing is at a premium.

The two Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo seemed well suited to the ultra-tight twists and turns of the principality, qualifying P4 and P5 respectively. They could well be spoilers at Ferrari’s presumptive party, with Ricciardo looking to avenge last year’s bitter disappointment and young Max simply looking to finish his first Monaco GP. Carlos Sainz was able to lift his Toro Rosso up to P6, while Sergio Perez was seventh fastest in his Force India and Haas’ Romain Grosjean took an admirable P8, a solid recovery after numerous spins seemed to spell doom for his efforts. Rounding out ten Top 10, the two McLaren’s were able to thrive on this low speed circuit where their poor Honda power plant was not as exposed as in most venues. The returning veteran and 2009 champ Jenson Button, driving a one-off while Fernando Alonso races the Indianapolis 500 halfway around the world on Sunday, did yeoman’s work to make it through to Q3 with his P9. And his teammate Stoffel Vandoorne was truly quick and might have done better than P10 if he hadn’t binned his McLaren in that fateful shunt at the end of Q2 that brought such grief to both him and Lewis Hamilton.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Monaco Grand Prix:

POS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 7 Kimi Räikkönen FERRARI 1:13.117 1:12.231 1:12.178 23
2 5 Sebastian Vettel FERRARI 1:13.090 1:12.449 1:12.221 23
3 77 Valtteri Bottas MERCEDES 1:13.325 1:12.901 1:12.223 30
4 33 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 1:13.078 1:12.697 1:12.496 24
5 3 Daniel Ricciardo RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 1:13.219 1:13.011 1:12.998 21
6 55 Carlos Sainz TORO ROSSO 1:13.526 1:13.397 1:13.162 30
7 11 Sergio Perez FORCE INDIA MERCEDES 1:13.530 1:13.430 1:13.329 23
8 8 Romain Grosjean HAAS FERRARI 1:13.786 1:13.203 1:13.349 29
9 22 Jenson Button MCLAREN HONDA 1:13.723 1:13.453 1:13.613 27
10 2 Stoffel Vandoorne MCLAREN HONDA 1:13.476 1:13.249 20

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race airs live at 8 AM Eastern on NBC here in the States. Will Ferrari dominate the day as all signs point to? And can Kimi knock off his championship-leading teammate for once? Or will Mercedes work some strategic magic to pull Hamilton up from the midfield to perhaps help Bottas take the fight to Ferrari? Hope to see you then to find out!

2017 F1 Grand Prix of Spain — Results & aftermath

Hamilton reigns in Spain after besting Vettel in thrilling duel; Riccardo third for Red Bull

Pics courtesy GrandPrix247.com

Pics courtesy GrandPrix247.com

In the young season’s best race so far, Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton gave everything he had to come out on top in a mano-a-mano duel with Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Spain. Hamilton started on pole but made a less than spectacular getaway that saw him quickly passed by Vettel as the lights went out. But Hamilton survived a big bottleneck in Turn 1, which was more than could be said for Vettel’s teammate Kimi Raikkonen and Red Bull’s young phenom Max Verstappen. With Mercedes’ second driver Valtteri Bottas looking for an advantage over Raikonnen on the inside at that pivotal first bend, the two cars touched wheels. That sent Raikonnen’s blood red Ferrari across the track and into the ambitious Vestappen’s Red Bull, who had also stuck his nose into the melee on the outside, terminally damaging both vehicles’ suspensions. In less than a lap, two premier runners were out of the race and Vettel had lost a crucial ally.

Nevertheless, Vettel swanned away from the pack and up the road, leaving Hamilton to bide his time and settle in for the chase. Vettel pitted early on Lap 14 for another set of  the better performing soft tires, on which he had started the race, while Mercedes ran both Hamilton and Bottas longer, with Hamilton going to Lap 21 and then switching to the slower but more durable medium compound Pirellis. And with Bottas yet to come in that enabled the Finn to hold up Vettel somewhat when the German Ferrari man was desperate to put as much distance between himself & Hamilton while on the superior soft rubber. That small impedance by the second Silver Arrow may have proved pivotal as Hamilton did not lose as much time as he might have without Bottas’ entirely legal obstructions. Vettel managed to pass the Finn on Lap 25 and Bottas subsequently let his teammate by quickly and then came to the pits for his first stop and his own set of medium tires on Lap 28, indicating that Mercedes were committing to a 2-stop strategy for both their cars while the sole remaining Ferrari’s options remained open.

And then Mercedes, which had been caught flat-footed in the season opener that saw Ferrari outsmart them for a Vettel win in Australia, had the strategic coup of the race. Continue reading →

2017 F1 Grand Prix of Spain — Qualifying results

Mercedes’ Hamilton takes pole in Barcelona over Ferrari’s Vettel; Bottas P3 in second Silver Arrow

Eager to regain his momentum after a disappointing fourth place finish in Russia two weeks ago, Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton stormed to a blisteringly fast pole position on Saturday at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Spain. With most of the cars sporting significant upgrades entering Round 5 and the beginning of the pivotal European portion of the Championship, Hamilton ran a remarkable 1.19.149 lap during the latter part of Q3. It was good enough to keep him in front of the hard charging Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel on the warm and windy track if only by a scant .05. Hamilton’s Silver Arrows teammate, Valtteri Bottas, who is coming off the high of his first F1 win at Sochi, was not quite as quick as the elite top two despite pushing his ride to the limit. That separated Bottas from his teammate and pushed him onto the second row in P3. Vettel’s Prancing Horse teammate Kimi Raikkonen slotted in alongside Bottas in P4, once again seeming to be very fast in all the practice sessions but then missing that final special something when the real qualifying began.

The two Red Bulls struggled for top end speed and stability somewhat versus their top-flight opposition despite their own upgrades. Max Verstappen once again outpaced his senior teammate Daniel Ricciardo, P5 to P6. McLaren had a surprisingly good day coming off a huge oil leak issue in practice, with Spaniard Fernando Alonso vaulting his troubled chassis all the way up to P7 despite a serious lack of track time. Must have been the home cooking and tennis break on Friday while the mechanics scrambled to fix the Honda-powered car. Spain will be Alonso’s last race before he skips Monaco and takes on the daunting challenge that is the Indianapolis 500 in two weeks. He and the team would dearly love to grab some points before that cross-continetal adventure after a slew of DNFs to start the season.

Rounding out the Top 10, the two Force Indias once again made a very representative showing, with Sergio Perez qualifying P8 and young Esteban Ocon taking P 10 on the grid. Felipe Massa spilt them with his P9 time for Williams.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Spanish Grand Prix:

POS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 1:20.511 1:20.210 1:19.149 12
2 5 Sebastian Vettel FERRARI 1:20.939 1:20.295 1:19.200 16
3 77 Valtteri Bottas MERCEDES 1:20.991 1:20.300 1:19.373 15
4 7 Kimi Räikkönen FERRARI 1:20.742 1:20.621 1:19.439 14
5 33 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 1:21.430 1:20.722 1:19.706 12
6 3 Daniel Ricciardo RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 1:21.704 1:20.855 1:20.175 12
7 14 Fernando Alonso MCLAREN HONDA 1:22.015 1:21.251 1:21.048 15
8 11 Sergio Perez FORCE INDIA MERCEDES 1:21.998 1:21.239 1:21.070 14
9 19 Felipe Massa WILLIAMS MERCEDES 1:22.138 1:21.222 1:21.232 15
10 31 Esteban Ocon FORCE INDIA MERCEDES 1:21.901 1:21.148 1:21.272 17

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race airs live on NBC Sports at 8AM Eastern here in the States. With Ferrari nipping at Mercedes’ heels and Lewis Hamilton desperate for a win it should be all to play for on a track these drivers all know so well. Hope to se you then!

2017 F1 Grand Prix of Russia — Results & aftermath

Mercedes’ Bottas holds off Ferrari’s Vettel for maiden F1 win; Raikkonen P3 for the Prancing Horse; Hamilton off the podium in P4

Valtteri Bottas drove a nearly flawless race to score his first-ever Formula 1 win at the Russain Grand Prix on Sunday. Always highly regarded in his years at Williams, the 27-year-old Finn is finally piloting a win-worthy ride with his unexpected elevation to a factory Mercedes drive after outgoing champion Nico Rosberg’s surprise retirement at the end of last season. After showing promising pace in the first three rounds of 2017, Bottas put his excellent new equipment to best use at the Sochi Autodrom to claim his maiden F1 victory after 81 races, a great moment for any driver in the sport. Despite Ferrari’s first front row lockout since 2008 Bottas got the jump on the two Prancing Horses of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen as the lights went out, surging from his P3 grid position up through the Ferraris to take the race lead with a fine outbreaking maneuver going into Turn 2. Proving once again that a strong start into clean air is worth its weight in gold in an F1 tilt, Bottas quickly stretched the lead over his two blood red pursuers, as well as his teammate Lewis Hamilton, who remained mired in fourth with mysterious overheating issues.

Pics courtesy GrandPrix247.com

Pics courtesy GrandPrix247.com

Despite an early Safety Car due to a collision between the Haas of Romain Grosjean and the Renault of Jolyon Palmer that bunched up the field before one full lap had even been run Bottas sprinted away again when the track went green three laps later, proving that his Silver Arrow had the legs for any and all comers on this day. Vettel’s race engineers gambled on running a longer first stint than Bottas on the Ultra Soft Pirelli tire compound so that his Super Soft set would be fresher at the death of the race. As the laps wound down it looked like the bet might pay off for the Scuderia, with Vettel carving large chunks of time off the anxious Finn so desperate to see the checkered flag. But Bottas mastered his nerves and ran near-perfect laps under that considerable pressure from the 4-time World Champion just behind him. He also took advantage of slower traffic by not only picking them off quickly but also by deploying his DRS when close to the non-contenders to negate Vettel’s own use of the open wing. Bottas came home .6 seconds to the good and after so much promise he will forever finally be known as a Formula 1 race winner. Now the question remains if he can build on this career-defining victory and truly challenge Hamilton for supremacy within the Mercedes team and perhaps even the World Championship.

F1GPRussia-2017

Despite their obvious improvement Ferrari must still have been somewhat disappointed at not getting the race victory after qualifying 1-2. But Vettel and Raikkonen did earn valuable points with their respective P2 and P3 podium finishes. Vettel now leads the Drivers’ Championship by 13 points over Lewis Hamilton after four rounds and Ferrari are only one point behind mighty Mercedes in the Constructors’ points. If Raikkonen can find a way to raise his game and take the fight to his teammate Vettel we could even be in for a crazy 4-driver slam bang shootout for the title. Certainly Mercedes and Ferrari have shown themselves to be the class of the manufacturers’ field this season and the battle between the two elite automotive giants now appears to be so close that it could well go down to the final race to decide 2017’s ultimate victor.

Bottas’ Mercedes teammate Hamilton was left wondering how his weekend in Russa went so wrong. Continue reading →

2017 F1 Grand Prix of Russia — Qualifying results

Ferrari locks out front row at Sochi with Vettel taking pole, Kimi P2; Mercedes on the back foot in quali with Bottas besting Hamilton, P3 to P4

If there were still doubts about Ferrari’s surprisingly strong start to the 2017 season after three strong rounds for the fabled Scuderia they were laid to rest during Saturday qualifying in Sochi, Russia when the two Prancing Horses locked out the front row for an F1 race for the first time since 2008. Sebastian Vettel put in a storming lap with time running out in Q3 to pip his teammate Kimi Raikkonen for the pole by less than half a second. The excellent pace of the two Ferraris knocked both Mercedes Silver Arrows off the front row, an usual sight in the new turbo era to say the least. Even more unusual, Mercedes ace Lewis Hamilton was pushed out of the top 3, out-qualified by his new teammate Valtteri Bottas for the second week in a row. Hamilton finds himself starting from fourth position on the grid aside Bottas’ superior P3. Obviously come race day the getaway from the line will be paramount for this contending quartet. But Ferrari have clearly shown that they have an advantage in getting maximum performance out of the new generation of extra wide Pirelli rubber, which has enabled them to seriously challenge Mercedes’ formerly unquestioned dominance. And in Vettel they have a driver with the supreme talent to wring the utmost out of this excellent and much improved new SF70H chassis and compete with a superstar like Hamilton on even terms for victories.

Further back on the grid, Daniel Ricciardo did very well to bank a lap good enough for P5 after the Red Bulls had struggled to find outright pace on the very low abrasion Sochi Autodorm circuit. The veteran Aussie’s time was signifcantly better than his wunderkind teammate Max Verstappen’s, who could do no better than P7. Splitting the Red Bull duo was the Williams of Felipe Massa, who qualified P6 and showed that perhaps the Williams is finally beginning to find some consistent speed after an underwhelming beginning to the season. But rookie teammate Lance Stroll could do no better than P12 and Team Williams will need more from their young Canadian driver if they are to start banking those ever-valuable Constructors’ points on a regular basis. Nico Hulkenberg was excellent once again, pulling his factory Renault within shouting distance of the contenders in P8, his third Top 10 qualifying effort in a row. And overachieving Force India also performed well, with Sergio Perez taking P9 and the impressive young Frenchman Esteban Ocon quick enough for P10.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Russian GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 5 Sebastian Vettel FERRARI 1:34.493 1:34.038 1:33.194 20
2 7 Kimi Räikkönen FERRARI 1:34.953 1:33.663 1:33.253 18
3 77 Valtteri Bottas MERCEDES 1:34.041 1:33.264 1:33.289 18
4 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 1:34.409 1:33.760 1:33.767 19
5 3 Daniel Ricciardo RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 1:35.560 1:35.483 1:34.905 20
6 19 Felipe Massa WILLIAMS MERCEDES 1:35.828 1:35.049 1:35.110 20
7 33 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 1:35.301 1:35.221 1:35.161 18
8 27 Nico Hulkenberg RENAULT 1:35.507 1:35.328 1:35.285 21
9 11 Sergio Perez FORCE INDIA MERCEDES 1:36.185 1:35.513 1:35.337 18
10 31 Esteban Ocon FORCE INDIA MERCEDES 1:35.372 1:35.729 1:35.430 20

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race airs live starting a 8 AM Eastern on NBC Sports here in the states. Can Ferrari follow up their impressive qualifying with a matching 1-2 when it really counts or will Mercedes find the race pace to deny the Scuderia that fervent wish? Hope to see you then to find out!