Tag Archives: #Formula1

2024 F1 Grand Prix of Saudi Arabia — Results & aftermath

Verstappen romps to second consecutive victory in Round 2; Perez takes second for Red Bull 1-2; Leclerc P3 & pinch-hitting rookie Bearman a solid P7 to Ferrari’s delight

Despite having only two rounds of the 2024 Formula 1 season done and dusted, it’s already clear that is going to take an act of force majeure to prevent Red Bull’s peerless Max Verstappen from romping to his third consecutive Championship. This stark reality was sharply illustrated during Saturday’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, where Verstappen scurried away from the pole and then played hide & seek with the other 19 cars for the rest of the race. While teammate Sergio Perez was able to improve on his P3 grid position by passing Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc for second place early on, and then holding on to that prime podium spot to make it a Red Bull 1-2, he still ended up trailing the flying Dutchman by 13.6 seconds when the checkers flew at this tight and treacherous harborside street circuit.

Despite seeing Leclerc lose a position from his starting spot, Ferrari left Jeddah very happy with their points haul on the day. Facing the abrupt loss of their usual number two, Carlos Sainz, to an appendectomy on Friday, development driver Oliver Bearman was drafted from his F2 seat and thrown into the deep end of a Formula 1 race weekend. Facing the bleak prospect of potentially only one car scoring points in Sainz’s absence, Bearman instead acquitted himself well, first by qualifying in P11 on Friday. He then improved on that effort with a very professional race effort that saw him take advantage of his Prancing Horse’s natural pace advantage to get ahead of a slew of more experienced drivers in inferior equipment. Credit to the young Briton for keeping his car in one piece and for executing his overtakes with aggression if not always the utmost finesse. In any event, by the time the 50 laps of the Grand Prix had wound down, Bearman had worked his way up to a satisfying P7 points-scoring finish in his F1 debut. With Leclerc running a lonely race after Perez’s early pass nevertheless coming home on the podium in P3, it was all smiles in the Ferrari garage on what could have been a disastrous weekend. Barring any more health issues, Sainz should return to his seat at the next race weekend two weeks form now in Australia. But Bearman certainly did his future F1 prospects no harm with his confident and productive effort for the Scuderia on Saturday in Saudi Arabia.

Oscar Piastri, the junior member of McLaren’s team who was also a rookie last year but is now  now a second year driver to worth watching every GP, also had an excellent Saturday night on the banks of the Red Sea. The young Aussie had a race-long ding dong battle with Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, with the veteran seven-time champion holding off the young Aussie repeatedly by giving a defensive driving masterclass. Piastri had pitted early on Lap 8 under Safety Car conditions after Lance Stroll of Aston Martin clipped the wall with his front left and then went spearing into the opposite barriers at Turn 23 with a broken suspension. But both McLaren and Mercedes decided to split their strategies and Hamilton was told to stay out, as was Piastri’s teammate, Lando Norris. Despite the fresher set of Hard Pirellis and his determination to haunt Hamilton’s gearbox, Piastri never could find a way by on track and only leapfrogged Lewis when he eventually pitted his Merc on Lap 37 to run the last of his race on Softs. Piastri was then free to fly as a result and Norris boxed a lap latter to deploy the same Medium-to-Soft alternate tire strategy, the latter coming out ahead of Hamilton and behind Bearman in P8. Despite Norris’s best efforts and the ostensible Soft tire advantage, the Hard-shod Bearman proved adept at holding off the McLaren for the remainder of the contest. With Bearman holding onto P7, Norris coming home P8 and Hamilton a rueful P9, Piastri bettered them all in P4, an outstanding effort by the young Aussie heading into his home race.

Fernando Alonso’s lone surviving Aston Martin salvaged P5 for the team, holding off the lead Mercedes of George Russell down the stretch. Russell finished P6, as once again Mercedes was lacking in both qualifying and real race pace compared to Ferrari and McLaren, not to mention Red Bull. Haas’s Nico Hulkenberg scored the final point in P10, in no small part to a brilliant team drive by the second Haas of Kevin Magnussen. Magnussen played moving roadblock for a passel of midfield cars with points aspirations, enabling teammate Hulkenberg to scamper away and build a pit-proof advantage for that eventual P10 finish.

Top 10 finishers of the Saudi Arabian GP:

1 1 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT 50 1:20:43.273 25
2 11 Sergio Perez RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT 50 +13.643s 18
3 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 50 +18.639s 16
4 81 Oscar Piastri MCLAREN MERCEDES 50 +32.007s 12
5 14 Fernando Alonso ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 50 +35.759s 10
6 63 George Russell MERCEDES 50 +39.936s 8
7 38 Oliver Bearman FERRARI 50 +42.679s 6
8 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 50 +45.708s 4
9 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 50 +47.391s 2
10 27 Nico Hulkenberg HAAS FERRARI 50 +76.996s 1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The teams and drivers now get a much needed rest after a breakneck start to the season — the next race is in a fortnight from Down Under, the Australian GP from the scenic Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit in Albert Park. Can Ferrari and Leclerc use the downtime to close the gap to the supreme Verstappen and Red Bull? Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2023 F1 Grand Prix of Austria — Qualifying results

Verstappen barely bests Leclerc to notch fourth consecutive pole as track limits penalties wreak havoc; Sainz backs up Ferrari teammate in P3 but Perez’s fast lap deleted in Q2

With another of Formula 1’s fairly gimmicky Sprint Races looming on Saturday, qualifying for Sunday’s Austrian Grand Prix took place on Friday after only one Practice session. Perhaps that lack of track time showed, because nearly every driver in the field had laps deleted at some point throughout the three quali rounds here at the short and fast Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, Austria. That even included the peerless Max Verstappen, who still managed to settle in and set a lap good enough for pole despite having to be slightly more conservative than he would have wished. The Dutch master pipped the very game and hard charging Ferrari of Charles Leclerc by a razor thin 0.048 seconds. Carlos Sainz backed up his Scuderia stablemate in P3, perhaps providing a measure of optimism that the SF-23 might finally be finding the pace to challenge for wins again. But it has been race pace that has been Ferrari’s problem this season, not to mention race strategy, so it remains to be seen on Sunday if the fabled team from Maranello have genuinely conquered the issues holding back their long run performance.

Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez was the most prominent driver to lose his time due to track limits violations. The Mexican veteran came a cropper in Q2 when he had his only fast time of the session deleted with not enough time remaining to make amends. So, while Verstappen earned his fourth consecutive pole, Perez failed to reach Q3 for the fourth race weekend in a row. Starting from a lowly P15 come race day, Perez’s Round 4 win in Azerbaijan seems a century ago and his once optimistic championship hopes are holding on by a thread. McLaren’s Lando Norris was quick all day here in Spielberg at a track he loves and set the fourth fastest time in Q3, besting the P5 Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton. Similarly to Perez, Hamilton’s teammate George Russell also lost his best lap in Q2 for track limits infringements and will be relegated to starting from P11 on the grid. Lance Stroll out-qualified his Aston Martin teammate Fernando Alonso for the first time this year, while Haas’s Nico Hulkenberg in P8, Alpine’s Pierre Gasly in P9 and Alex Albon’s Williams in P10 all benefitted from keeping their cars between the white lines while other, perhaps faster drivers went a little too far over the edge for the stewards’ liking.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Austrian GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 1 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT 24
2 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 26
3 55 Carlos Sainz FERRARI 25
4 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 23
5 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 25
6 18 Lance Stroll ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 25
7 14 Fernando Alonso ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 27
8 27 Nico Hulkenberg HAAS FERRARI 24
9 10 Pierre Gasly ALPINE RENAULT 21
10 23 Alexander Albon WILLIAMS MERCEDES 21

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

The Sprint Race is tomorrow but Sunday’s GP airs live on ESPN beginning at 9AM Eastern here in the States. Can Leclerc and Ferrari finally step up and challenge Verstappen for victory in Red Bull’s own back yard? I have my doubts but hope to se you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2022 F1 Grand Prix of Spain — Results & aftermath

Verstappen overcomes DRS issues to seize victory, Perez takes P2 for maximum Red Bull points in Spain; heartbreak for Ferrari as Leclerc DNFs, elation for Mercedes as Russell podiums

In a highly volatile and entertaining Spanish Grand Prix this Sunday, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen went from extreme frustration with his car’s intermittent DRS problems and even an off track excursion in the first half of the race to the thrill of victory when the checkers flew to end this 66-lap contest. On the other end of the emotional spectrum, Ferrari and their lead driver Charles Leclerc suffered fierce disappointment when what looked like a sure victory turned instead into an ignominious DNF, when the Monegasque’s engine conked out unceremoniously not even halfway through. As the pole-sitting Leclerc, who was out in front by a seemingly insurmountable margin after the first round of pit stops, limped his stricken F1-75 back to the pits in despair, Mercedes’ George Russell inherited the lead, with the formerly P3 Vertsappen now promoted to P2 right on the Englishman’s tail. It was Verstappen’s fight with Russell over the several laps prior that exposed his Red Bull’s DRS issues, where the flap on the Dutchman’s car just wouldn’t stay open in a constant manner in the activation zones, as it is designed to do. That lack of extra DRS-induced speed in pursuit gave Russell the advantage in holding off Verstappen lap after lap, all the time making Max hotter and hotter under the collar on an already hot day in Barcelona.

With Leclerc now out of the picture and Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez closing in on the dueling pair on fresh Medium Pirellis, the team decided to split their strategy and disengage Verstappen from both Russel and Perez, bringing the Number 1 car in on Lap 29 for the Soft tires instead. This also indicated the team were now seriously flirting with a seemingly radical 3-stop strategy for Verstappen, deviating from the accepted wisdom that a 2-stopper was the fastest way to get around the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. It also meant game on for  Perez to attack Russell for the race lead, which the Mexican did to fine effect on Lap 31, easily overtaking the Silver Arrow on his much fresher rubber. Another round of pits stops ensued when Russell, facing a repeat onslaught from Verstappen, pitted from P2, this second time for a set of the more durable Medium tires in an effort perhaps to go to the end and jump Perez in the pits. Perez responded a lap later, also putting on the Mediums to cover Russell’s maneuver. Meanwhile, Verstappen ran a rapid set of laps to close up on the top two and then dove to the pits on Lap 45. When he emerged on his own set of Mediums after the typically crisp Red Bull tire change, Verstappen had leapfrogged Russell for P2 and was under 6-seconds behind his race leading teammate. Verstappen continued to close in on Perez and the team gave the order for the Mexican to step aside and let their golden boy through on Lap 49. Unfair, cried Perez, but it was soon clear the team had made the right decision, as Vertsappn swanned away to an eventually dominant victory over 13-seconds to the good of his loyal wingman. Perez did have the consolation of not only taking P2 on the day but also setting the fastest lap of the race, thereby netting the bonus point and giving the Red Bull team the maximum Constructors points available on the day.

So, for Ferrari it was a day that went from great promise with their men starting from P1 and P3 on the grid to more than a minor disaster. With Leclerc’s DNF and Carlos Sainz’s salvaging a P4 finish after he suffered yet another spin into the gravel early in the race, something that has become an unfortunate theme for the Spaniard this season, the Scuderia were only able to score 12 points to Red Bull’s 44 on the day. That meant Verstappen overhauled Leclerc for the Drivers’ points lead and Red Bull vaulted ahead of Ferrari for the top spot in the all important Constructors’ Championship. Despite this year’s RB18’s somewhat deserved reputation for fragility, it is the Ferrari that suffered terminal engine woes that cost Leclerc a potential win and now all the momentum has swung Red Bull’s way. It’s still far too early to hit the panic button but mighty Maranello had better tighten things up before Red Bull really hit their stride. They’ll have only a week to suss things out before the next race in Monaco, a street circuit where Leclerc and Verstappen have both had their respective highs and lows

Perhaps sending yet another pang of nervousness team Ferrari’s way was the improved performance of the Mercedes duo this weekend. Finally coming to grips with the porpoising issues that have bedeviled them since the beginning of the year, Russell’s Silver Arrow was able to hold off the DRS-hobbled Verstappen if not really the fully fit car of Perez. But young George was certainly the best of the rest, running a canny race to take the last step on the podium in P3 ahead of Sainz’s allegedly more impressive Prancing Horse. Russell’s teammate Lewis Hamilton had an up and down adventure of his own under the hot Spanish sun, colliding with Haas’s Kevin Magnussen on the opening lap, which caused a puncture and sent the seven-time champ to the back of the field after a premature pit stop. While a despondent Hamilton mused about simply retiring the car to save the engine, the team bucked him up and Lewis was able to fight his way back up to within shouting distance of the podium. Hamilton was forced to concede P4 to Sainz with an engine cooling issue forcing him to nurse the car home on the final laps but he was still able to earn a valuable P5 on the day and things are looking a lot more optimistic for formerly mighty Mercedes and their fervid aspiration to compete on even terms with Ferrari and maybe even Red Bull going forward.

Top 10 finishers of the Spanish GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR LAPS TIME/RETIRED PTS
1 1 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING RBPT 66 1:37:20.475 25
2 11 Sergio Perez RED BULL RACING RBPT 66 +13.072s 19
3 63 George Russell MERCEDES 66 +32.927s 15
4 55 Carlos Sainz FERRARI 66 +45.208s 12
5 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 66 +54.534s 10
6 77 Valtteri Bottas ALFA ROMEO FERRARI 66 +59.976s 8
7 31 Esteban Ocon ALPINE RENAULT 66 +75.397s 6
8 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 66 +83.235s 4
9 14 Fernando Alonso ALPINE RENAULT 65 +1 lap 2
10 22 Yuki Tsunoda ALPHATAURI RBPT 65 +1 lap 1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race is in but a week’s time — the venerable Monaco Grand Prix, a great motorsport tradition on Memorial Day Weekend along with the Indianapolis 500. It will be interesting to see if this new generation of F1 car can actually pass on the narrow city roads of the principality. Equally intriguing will be to find out how native son Leclerc recovers from today’s crushing disappointment. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2021 F1 Grand Prix of Mexico City — Results & aftermath

ECSTASY FOR RED BULL, AGONY FOR MERCEDES: Verstappen earns dominant win in Mexico City; Hamilton holds on for P2 over Perez but pole-sitter Bottas spins out of points in opening lap contretemps

Red Bull’s superlative pilot Max Verstappen took another step closer to earning his first Formula 1 Drivers’ title by cruising to a dominant victory at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in the Mexico City Grand Prix on Sunday. The Dutch wunderkind, who started from P3 on the grid after Mercedes surprised the paddock by locking out the front row during Saturday qualifying, made an outstanding overtaking move going on the outside into Turn 1 against the pole-sitting Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas and the P2 car of Lewis Hamilton. To compound the Finn’s misfortunes, Bottas was promptly spun around after contact from the rear by McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo, completely wrecking both fo their days although no penalties were assessed. With Verstappen also scooting around the outside of the English seven-time Champion in that impressive two-for-one maneuver, he took a lead in the race that he would never really relinquish again. As the lead Red Bull scampered away from him in the distance, Hamilton was forced to defend his vital second place for the latter portion of this 71-lap contest against Verstappen’s teammate and hometown hero Sergio “Checo” Perez. The hard charging Mexican harried and harassed Hamilton as best he could in an effort to strip even more points from the number two man in the Championship and aid Verstappen’s title hunt but Hamilton had enough left to hold on for those valuable P2 points when the laps ran out.

Continue reading →