Tag Archives: Lando Norris

2023 F1 Grand Prix of Monaco — Qualifying results

Verstappen grabs first Monaco pole with mighty effort in dying seconds of Q3, bumps game Alonso to P2; Leclerc slots in at P3 at home GP; Perez crashes out heavily in Q1

Formula 1 returned to action after the unfortunate cancellation of last week’s planed Emilia Romagna Grand Prix due to the catastrophic flooding in that beautiful region with a thrilling Saturday qualifying for tomorrow’s Monaco Grand Prix. Under clear and sunny skies and with the famed street circuit ever-evolving to the bitter end of Q3, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen pulled out a miracle final lap at the death to earn his first-ever pole in Monte Carlo, bumping the seemingly supreme time of Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso and relegating the veteran Spaniard to P2. That sets things up nicely for the points-leading Dutchman as he seeks to build on his seemingly unstoppable championship momentum after a frankly amazing run from ninth to victory in Miami twenty days ago. As for Alonso, even though he’s now still hunting his first pole in F1 since 2012, he’s certainly in the mix for the win tomorrow if he can get away to a good start and get ahead of Verstappen. The Aston Martin in Alonso’s hands is arguably the second best car on the grid and the Red Bull’s usual DRS advantage should be quite muted at this tight, slow speed circuit. Not to mention that Alonso also out-qualified both Ferraris on the day, bettering hometown hero Charles Leclerc*, who came home with the third fastest time, and teammate Carlos Sainz, who was not as quick at P5. (*Leclerc was subsequently penalized three grid positions post-qualifying when he was adjudged to have impeded Lando Norris.)

Alonso was also aided by Verstappen’s teammate and main title rival Sergio Perez’s unforced error in Q1, when the veteran Mexican, who has had his share of drama in Monte Carlo, overcooked it going into Sainte Devote and crashed heavily into the outside barriers at Turn 1 there. While Perez was unhurt, it was a heavy shunt that literally smashed the normally robust carbon fiber side pod to smithereens and likely ruined the gearbox and rear suspension, as well. So, on a day where team Red Bull were thrilled to have one driver on pole after a tight multi-car duel, don’t be surprised if Perez is forced to start from the pits tomorrow, making any sort of points finish a rather remote possibility on this near-impossible to overtake track. If Verstappen saunters away from Perez in the championship fight, his teammate’s rather inexplicable crash so early in quali will be pointed at as the season’s key turning point.

Alpine also showed really good pace on the day, with Esteban Ocon at one point topping the timing sheets late in Q3 but settling for P4 when the big boys had their say, and teammate Pierre Gasly notching a solid P7 effort. Lewis Hamilton out-qualified his Mercedes teammate George Russell, P6 to P8, despite having a shunt in the final practice session earlier in the day that required repairs and then struggling for pace in much of qualifying. And AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda did very well to take a solid P9, while McLaren’s Lando Norris had to settle for P10 after damaging his car in Q2 by hitting the outside barrier in the Nouvelle Chicane, his team nonetheless having done yeoman’s work in getting it repaired and able to turn some laps in Q3.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Monaco GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 1 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT 1:12.386 1:11.908 1:11.365 30
2 14 Fernando Alonso ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 1:12.886 1:12.107 1:11.449 25
3 16 Charles Leclerc* FERRARI 1:12.912 1:12.103 1:11.471 26
4 31 Esteban Ocon ALPINE RENAULT 1:12.967 1:12.248 1:11.553 26
5 55 Carlos Sainz FERRARI 1:12.717 1:12.210 1:11.630 28
6 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 1:12.872 1:12.156 1:11.725 30
7 10 Pierre Gasly ALPINE RENAULT 1:13.033 1:12.169 1:11.933 25
8 63 George Russell MERCEDES 1:12.769 1:12.151 1:11.964 29
9 22 Yuki Tsunoda ALPHATAURI HONDA RBPT 1:12.642 1:12.249 1:12.082 29
10 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 1:12.877 1:12.377 1:12.254 23

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race airs live at 9AM on ABC here in the States. While qualifying is usually the more exciting event than the actual race in Monaco, look for Alonso to keep Verstappen on his toes in the early going, as there is really nothing between the Aston and the Red Bull on this short street course. It should also be interesting to see if the Red Bull braintrust can figure out a way to get Perez back in the mix with some sort of bold strategy maneuver. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2023 F1 Grand Prix of Azerbaijan — Results & aftermath

Perez cruises to victory with help from timely Safety Car, Verstappen P2 as Red Bulls run away in Baku; pole-sitter Leclerc P3 for first Ferrari podium of season

Confirming on Sunday what has been abundantly clear since Round 1 this season, the Drivers’ championship hunt is a two-man, intra-team Red Bull battle, with ostensible number two driver Sergio Perez surging to within 6 points of leader Max Verstappen after an absolutely dominant weekend in Azerbaijan. Making the most of the first Sprint race of the season, Perez won that 17-lap affair in fine fashion on Saturday to take the 8 points on offer. The veteran Mexican then powered his way from a P3 starting grid spot to another impressive victory in Sunday’s full length Grand Prix on the very tricky and treacherous Baku City Street Circuit. Perez took advantage of a slight strategic error by Verstappen’s side of the pit wall when they called the Dutchman in on Lap 10, when AlphaTauri rookie Nyck De Vries came to a stop on track after clipping a barrier. With Verstappen leading the race after an early Lap 4 pass on the pole-sitting Ferrari of Charles Leclerc, his strategists gambled on a momentary local yellow flag  or Virtual Safety Car period to make the switch off the opening-stint Medium Pirellis and onto the Hard compound to execute the preferred one-stopper. But De Vries was unable to restart, necessitating a Safety Car, which then allowed the rest of the main contenders to get ultra-cheap 11-second pit stops and allowed the second place Perez to emerge as the leader and Leclerc now also ahead of Verstappen in P2. When the race resumed on the very end of Lap 13, Perez scampered away deftly, while Verstappen showed the pace advantage inherent in the Red Bull chassis by dusting off Leclerc for that second position without delay and without need of the not yet reenabled DRS. While Verstappen could occasioanally close the gap to his teammate, the longer the 51-lap contest went on, the more Checo inched away from his grasp, in the end coming home over two-seconds ahead of his two-time champion teammate. That made it a massive 33 point haul for Perez over the race weekend to Verstappen’s 24. With no other cars able to challenge Red Bull to this point, it also signaled game on for what could be the best intra-team battle since Hamilton vs. Rosberg in 2016.

While Ferrari’s Leclerc earned pole in both the Sprint and the GP, the Monegasque was unable to convert either of those into victory due to the obvious limitations of the SF-23 in race conditions. In fact, Lecerc has technically won four poles in a row in Azerbaijan if this year’s Sprint is included but has yet to take a victory in Baku. Nevertheless, the Monegasque drove efficiently and held off a hard charging Fernando Alonso for the latter part of the contest to take P3 and earn the Scuderia’s first podium of the season. As things stand now in relation to the peerless Red Bulls, that’s probably about the best result Ferrari can expect barring reliability issues for their rivals. While Alonso didn’t quite have the pace on old Hard tires to hunt down Leclerc he did score another impressive result for the massively improved Aston Martin team, crossing the line in P4 as the checkers flew. Teammate Lance Stroll, who suffered with grip more than Alonso, nearly losing it going into Turn 1 at one point, was able to come home safely in P7, shoring up the team’s improbable P2 in the Constructors’ standings. The second Ferrari of Carlos Sainz drove well enough to keep the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton at bay and finish P5, while Hamilton recovered from a poorly timed pre-Safety Car pit stop to take P6, overtaking Stroll on Lap 20 for that position after the Canadian made an error going into Turn 16. On a weekend when Mercedes were pretty clearly the fourth best team, the second Silver Arrow of George Russell had a fairly lackluster time of it in Baku and had to settle for P8, though the young Briton did set the fastest lap for an extra point after a late switch to Soft Pirellis on the penultimate lap. McLaren’s Lando Norris and AlfaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda rounded out the Top 10 finishers in Azerbaijan coming home in P9 and P10 respectively.

Top 10 finishers of the Azerbaijan GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR LAPS TIME/RETIRED PTS
1 11 Sergio Perez RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT 51 1:32:42.436 25
2 1 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT 51 +2.137s 18
3 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 51 +21.217s 15
4 14 Fernando Alonso ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 51 +22.024s 12
5 55 Carlos Sainz FERRARI 51 +45.491s 10
6 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 51 +46.145s 8
7 18 Lance Stroll ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 51 +51.617s 6
8 63 George Russell MERCEDES 51 +74.240s 5
9 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 51 +80.376s 2
10 22 Yuki Tsunoda ALPHATAURI HONDA RBPT 51 +83.862s 1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race is in but a week’s time — the Miami Grand Prix, the first of three United States-hosted contests this year. With Perez full of confidence and a master of the street race, look for the Mexican to be right on pace with teammate Verstappen and up for the increasingly intriguing championship fight. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2023 F1 Grand Prix of Australia — Results & aftermath

Verstappen prevails is chaotic, incident-filled Aussie GP; Hamilton runs to a clean P2, Alonso survives late-race carnage & rulings for P3

The only predictable thing in Sunday’s absolutely bonkers Australian Grand Prix at the tricky Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne was Red Bull’s Max Verstappen taking victory. The rest of the race was pure chaos that featured a record three Red Flag periods for debris clean up, followed by nail-biting two standing restarts from the grid, and, not coincidentally, a whopping eight retirements. With the race already having been effected by the first Red Flag on Lap 9 after Williams’s Alexander Albon lost control and crashed out at Turn 7, spewing gravel all over the track that necessitated a lengthy cleanup, it seemed that the results would come down simply to long run tire management by the top 3 of Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso. But right after Verstappen seemed to show a hint of vulnerability on Lap 54 of this 58-lap contest by running off track and through the grass after locking up on his aging Hard Pirellis, the real drama began in earnest. On that same lap, Haas’s Kevin Magnussen misjudged his exit coming out of Turn 2 and bashed his rear right into the concrete barrier. That knocked the rubber off the rim as well as shattering Magnussen’s suspension and a second Red Flag was thrown on Lap 55 to clean up the debris field & haul away the stricken Haas, as well as preserve a few precious final racing laps and not end under yellow. The stewards then made the momentous decision to restart the race from the grid once again, rather than a more conventional rolling start behind the Safety Car, thereby turning the Down Under GP into a 2-lap shootout.

This backfired rather spectacularly when the cars sped off in anger again, as first the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz got into Alonso’s Aston Martin, spinning his fellow Spaniard around amidst a pack of snarling F1 cars. Directly or indirectly, that had the knock-on effect of forcing the Alpine of Pierre Gasly across the road and into the front left tire of his teammate Esteban Ocon, wrecking both of their cars in the process and robbing the team of a certain double-points finish. As a result of all that mayhem, another Red Flag was thrown with no chance of any more competitive laps being left to run. Now the debate within the FIA race directors and rules experts was on how to classify the field for the final ceremonial restart. After another long delay, it was decided that the order would be determined by the positions upon the prior restart, as the field had not even completed one sector before the last Red Flag had come out. That was great news for Alonso and Aston teammate Lance Stroll, the latter having also lost a ton of spots outbreaking himself amidst the mayhem. And while it seemed to be good news for the lone surviving Ferrari of Carlos Sainz in P4, that joy was extremely short lived when the stewards handed down a 5-second penalty to Sainz for the earlier contact with Alonso. With the twelve cars surviving to take the checkered flag all bunched together behind the Safety Car and no racing on the final lap, that saw the disconsolate Sainz dropped out of the points to dead last of the runners in P12. It made for a miserable, pointless day for the fabled Scuderia, which also suffered the ignominy of seeing their other pilot, Charles Leclerc, crash out and beach himself on the very first lap while  going into Turn 1 after contact with Stroll. To say Ferrari and their drivers are seriously in trouble in their championship pursuits after just three rounds would be an understatement.

Possibly lost in all that drama and incident was Verstappen’s first win in Australia and second of the season. And while it didn’t look as if Hamilton or Alonso really had anything for the Dutch points leader, particularly in the face of the Red Bull’s seemingly invincible advantage while using DRS, it was still an excellent race for both veterans, who joined Verstappen on the podium to make it three World Champions taking home trophies when the GP finally ended. Hamilton withstood Alonso’s best efforts and kept it clean to maintain a solid P2, even briefly taking the lead from Verstappen early in the race. That gives some hope and momentum to the Silver Arrows in their quest to creep closer to the imperious Red Bulls. It was also doubly important that Hamilton scored big points on the day because teammate George Russell was forced to retire on Lap 18 when something in his engine caught on fire. For Alonso, who looked like he had been punted out of the points by Sainz, it was another sweet day on what is turning out to be a 2023 renaissance. With his P3 restored after the collision with Sainz and teammate Stroll promoted back up to P4 after Sainz’s penalty, it was also a banner day for Aston Martin, which have made themselves a genuine fourth powerhouse team in F1. Spare a kind word for Sergio Perez, as well. The second Red Bull had to start from the pits after a disastrous qualifying and some engine tweaks while in parc fermé. But the talented Mexican, who excels at driving through the field, patiently worked his way up to P7 at the time of the penultimate Red Flag. And, while he went dirt tracking through the mayhem on that fateful final proper restart, losing several spots in the process, between the ruling on the actual race positions reverting to prior to that start, the double DNF of the Alpines and the penalty to Sainz, that pulled Checo all the way up to a very respectable and hard-earned P5.

If Alpine had a disaster with their late race shunt between teammates and subsequent double DNF, team McLaren finally caught a break after a dismal zero-points start to this year’s campaign. Lando Norris was able to finish in P6 and rookie teammate & Melbourne native Oscar Piastri got a fairy tale P8 in his literal hometown Grand Prix.  Alfa Romero’s Zho Guanyu and AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda also capitalized on the carnage to come home safely in P9 and P10 respectively.

Top 10 finishers of the Australian GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR LAPS TIME/RETIRED PTS
1 1 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT 58 2:32:38.371 25
2 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 58 +0.179s 18
3 14 Fernando Alonso ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 58 +0.769s 15
4 18 Lance Stroll ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 58 +3.082s 12
5 11 Sergio Perez RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT 58 +3.320s 11
6 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 58 +3.701s 8
7 27 Nico Hulkenberg HAAS FERRARI 58 +4.939s 6
8 81 Oscar Piastri MCLAREN MERCEDES 58 +5.382s 4
9 24 Zhou Guanyu ALFA ROMEO FERRARI 58 +5.713s 2
10 22 Yuki Tsunoda ALPHATAURI HONDA RBPT 58 +6.052s 1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

Somewhat suitably after this epic, bizarre and frankly exhausting contest in Australia, the next race is in three weeks time — the equally unpredictable Azerbaijan Grand Prix on the perilous streets if Baku. So rest up and I’ll hope to see you then for what should be even more crazy F1 action!

2022 F1 Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi — Qualifying results

Red Bull lock out front row for Abu Dhabi season finale with Verstappen on pole, Perez P2; Leclerc P3 & Sainz P4 for Ferrari as Mercedes struggle for pace

‘Looking to end their double championship season in style, Red Bull locked out the front row for Sunday’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix after Saturday’s three-rounds of knockout qualifying. 2022’s Drivers’ Champion Max set down a blazingly quick lap time of 1:23.824, making him the only driver to get into the 1:23s at any point in the day. The Dutch master accomplished this even while somewhat playing the team game, as opposed to last week’s inexplicable fit of pique in Sao Paulo, by helping teammate Sergio Perez with a tow in the first sector of their final flying laps, which enabled the Mexican to outpace Ferraris’ Charles Leclerc for the second fastest time in Q3 and P2 on the grid. Leclerc, who is tied with Perez on points for second in the Drivers’ standings, will start P3 come Sunday but still leads Perez if all things stay equal by virtue of having won more races this year. Leclerc’s Scuderia stablemate Carlos Sainz took P4, outpacing both Mercedes, which struggled for pace under the lights at the high-abrasion Yas Marina Circuit. Lewis Hamilton was able to better his teammate George Russell, last week’s race winner in Brazil, but the Silver Arrows duo could muster no better than P5 and P6 respectively after showing more promising signs of performance improvement in the prior three rounds.

McLaren’s Lando Norris, returned to good health after feeling ill in Brazil a week ago, put in a stout effort to claim P7 on the grid, with outgoing teammate Daniel Ricciardo good enough for P10 in his last race for McLaren. They sandwiched Esteban Ocon’s Alpine in P8 and the Aston Martin of Sebastian Vettel in P9. The German four-time champion had an inspired quali and got the absolute most from his Aston as he prepares to ride off into the sunset after tomorrow’s race.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Abu Dhabi GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 1 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING RBPT 1:24.754 1:24.622 1:23.824 17
2 11 Sergio Perez RED BULL RACING RBPT 1:24.820 1:24.419 1:24.052 18
3 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 1:25.211 1:24.517 1:24.092 17
4 55 Carlos Sainz FERRARI 1:25.090 1:24.521 1:24.242 16
5 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 1:25.594 1:24.774 1:24.508 21
6 63 George Russell MERCEDES 1:25.545 1:24.940 1:24.511 20
7 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 1:25.387 1:24.903 1:24.769 17
8 31 Esteban Ocon ALPINE RENAULT 1:25.735 1:25.007 1:24.830 17
9 5 Sebastian Vettel ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 1:25.523 1:24.974 1:24.961 18
10 3 Daniel Ricciardo MCLAREN MERCEDES 1:25.766 1:25.068 1:25.045 15

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race airs live on ESPN2 beginning at 8AM Eastern here in the States. Will Verstappen really be ready to help Perez in his quest for second in the Drivers’ or will the return of Me-Me-Me Max rear its ugly head if he sniffs a win? Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out as we close out the 2022 F1 season!

2022 F1 Grand Prix of Sao Paulo — Results & aftermath

Russell takes first F1 win in Sao Paulo, Hamilton P2 to extend Mercedes’ late season surge; Sainz P3 for Ferrari ahead of Leclerc; Verstappen vociferously refuses to help teammate Perez

Mercedes up and coming young driver George Russell made good on the team’s constant faith in his talents and earned his first Formula 1 victory at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix on Sunday. Spearheading a late season charge by the Silver Arrows, Russell started first on the grid after winning Saturday’s Sprint race and then survived an incident-filled 71-laps on the short and tricky Interlagos circuit to break his duck and claim his maiden F1 win. Better still for Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton was able to survive early contact with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen to come home P2, proving that the recent improved showing by the W13 were not just flukes due to the thinner atmosphere in Mexico City or a unique synergy between driver and track after Hamilton’s excellent showing at COTA in the USGP. After struggling mightily with porpoising to begin the campaign under the new aero specs and then being simply too draggy to compete with Red Bull and Ferrari until really the latter third of the season, Mercedes’ advancements might be too little too late for this year but bode well for a more competitive, possible 3-team competition in 2023. Hamilton and Verstappen also collided after a Safety Car restart on Lap 7, with neither car badly damaged but Verstappen requiring a new front wing and receiving a 5-second penalty as the guilty party, there were certainly shades of last year’s epic tense and testy season-long duel. Let’s hope it’s foreshadowing for next year.

Behind the top two Mercs there was a ton of tension and intrigue. Ferrari managed to come home with Carlos Sainz in P3 and Charles Leclerc in P4 after somehow recovering from a Lap 7 coming together with McLaren’s Lando Norris just after the Hamilton-Verstappen kerfuffle. It was an impressive rally from the Monegasque, whose Prancing Horse at first looked to be in real trouble after spearing into the barriers. While both Leclerc and his F1-75 proved resilient as they fought their way forward, less impressive was his repeated requests to the Ferrari pit wall to tell Sainz to let him by for the extra points. While it’s understandable that Leclerc would want every available advantage to try and secure second in the Drivers’ championship, bumping his teammate from a podium was never going to fly and simply made Leclerc seem a little whiny and desperate.

But that was nothing compared to what went down late race at team Red Bull. With Verstappen’s race compromised because of that early clash with Hamilton, it seemed that Perez might have the best opportunity to spoil Mercedes’ day. But the team had kept Perez out on Medium tires late in the race and the Mexican was forced to defend rather than attack, as Sainz came upon him after another Safety Car period ended on Lap 59 on fresher and superior Soft tire. Despite his best efforts, the veteran Mexican was easy meat for Sainz, the Spaniard making the overtake on Lap 63, a lap after DRS had been re-enabled. Worse still, Leclerc followed suit a lap later and the Alpine of Fernando Alonso also scooted by him on Lap 65. At this point, Verstappen had caught also up to Perez and the team somewhat curiously told Perez to let Max through to “take some points off Alonso and Leclerc”. But, despite the fact that Verstappen couldn’t make anything happen with that theory and stayed stuck in P6, the current World Champion then inexplicably refused direct team orders to hand the place back to Perez to finish out the race. That proved pivotal in the Drivers’ Standings, because while Leclerc salvaged P4 after his stressful adventures on the day, Perez sank to P7 behind his not-very-team oriented teammate Verstappen. The resultant points scoring on the day put Leclerc and Perez into a tie with 290 points, but Leclerc would earn the tiebreaker if it remained that way because he has more wins on the season. It remains to be seen if Verstappen, who many are theorizing still holds a grudge for Perez bringing out the Red Flag way back at Monaco qualifying to deny the Dutchman pole, will feel he’s made his point and go back to aiding Perez’s quest for P2 in the Championship at the last race in Abu Dhabi. However things turn out at Yas Marina next week, Verstappen’s diva-like behavior in Sao Paulo will likely not be forgotten by the popular Perez or by his legions of Mexican and non-Mexican fans. Frankly, there’s no putting that particular toothpaste back in the tube and it could cast Perez’s continued membership on the Red Bull team into some serious doubt.

With the two Alpine’s of Alonso and Esteban Ocon playing reasonably nice for a change, the team had a very good day at the races. First and foremost was Alonso’s most impressive drive. Staring from P17 on the grid behind Ocon after the pair had tangled multiple times in the Sprint race, the Spanish two-time World Champ put in a brilliant effort to come home all the way up in P5 and ahead of both Red Bulls. Combined with Ocon’s solid P8 and a double DNF for McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo, who knocked out Haas’ Kevin Magnussen along with himself on the opening lap, and Lando Norris, whose car died on Lap 52 bringing out the final Safety Car, it made for a 19-point lead for Alpine over McLaren for P4 in the all-important Constructors’ points with only the one race remaining. Valtteri Bottas also scored decent points for Alfa Romeo with a ninth-place finish and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll took the final point in P10.

Top 10 finishers of the Sao Paulo GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR LAPS TIME/RETIRED PTS
1 63 George Russell MERCEDES 71 1:38:34.044 26
2 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 71 +1.529s 18
3 55 Carlos Sainz FERRARI 71 +4.051s 15
4 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 71 +8.441s 12
5 14 Fernando Alonso ALPINE RENAULT 71 +9.561s 10
6 1 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING RBPT 71 +10.056s 8
7 11 Sergio Perez RED BULL RACING RBPT 71 +14.080s 6
8 31 Esteban Ocon ALPINE RENAULT 71 +18.690s 4
9 77 Valtteri Bottas ALFA ROMEO FERRARI 71 +22.552s 2
10 18 Lance Stroll ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 71 +23.552s 1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

In one week’s time, it’s the final race of the 2022 season — the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix from the futuristic and colorful Yas Marina Circuit. The last of the prizes will be claimed and it will be more than a little interesting to see if Verstappen can overcome his bizarre fit of pique and actually help his teammate Perez to prevail over Leclerc for P2 in the Drivers’ standings. Likewise, can Mercedes finish on another high and keep the good vibes flowing into the off season? Stay tuned & hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out as Formula 1 draws to close for the year!

2022 F1 Grand Prix of Mexico City — Results & aftermath

Red Bull’s Verstappen cruises to victory in Mexico City; Hamilton out-duels teammate Russell P2 to P4 in strong showing for Mercedes; Perez P3, Ferrari far off the pace

2022 Formula 1 Champion Max Verstappen continued his winning ways at Sunday’s Mexico City Grand Prix, setting a new record  with his 14th victory of the season and doing so with relative ease. With the peerless Red Bull ace starting from pole, the now two-time champ lead the field from the moment the lights went out in this 71-lap contest at Autódromo Hermanos Rodriguez and never really looked back. Verstappen made the most of a one-stop Soft-to-Medium Pirelli tire strategy on a day where tire degradation was less than expected and Mercedes appeared to guess wrong by betting on the Hard tires for their second stint after starting on the Mediums. With Verstappen’s Mediums holding up well despite being swapped out on Lap 25, it was really all over but the shouting as both Lewis Hamilton and George Russell were left to lament lack of performance on their Hards in their radio calls back to the Mercedes pit wall while the lead Red Bull disappeared into the distance. Hamilton had executed a flawless pass for P2 on stablemate Russell on the opening lap, forcing his junior teammate to ride the curbs off the racing line and seizing P2 from Russell, but the English seven-time champ was left over 15-seconds adrift of Verstappen by the time the checkers flew.

That opening lap tussle with his Silver Arrows teammate cost Russell not only a position to Hamilton but also a podium, as the second Red Bull of Sergio Perez was able to capitalize on that pivotal loss of momentum and take P3 from Russell shortly thereafter on Lap 1 to the delight of his countrymen in the stands. The veteran Mexican pilot then followed suit on tire strategy to his teammate, having come in two laps earlier on Lap 23 for the same Soft-to-Medium switch. Perez used that tire advantage to run away from Russell and secure a satisfying P3 podium finish at his home race. Further back of the top four, Ferrari had a majorly off day and were never seriously in contention. Perhaps dialing back their engines to save them for another day or perhaps just struggling at the high altitude and thin atmosphere of this Mexico City circuit, the Prancing Horses never really looked like contenders. Carlos Sainz struggled to a P5 finish some 9-seconds behind Russell and Charles Leclerc, who seems to have lost a bit of the fire since his championship dreams were extinguished a few races back, muddled through to P6. One can only hope that Ferrari put up more of a fight once back at sea level for the next race in Brazil in a couple of weeks.

Rounding out the Top 10, McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo drove his best race of the season, making a slew of aggressive overtaking maneuvers after wheel banging contact with AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda on Lap 51. Despite being handed a 10-second time penalty as a result of the contretemps, the affable Aussie drove like a man possessed to secure P7, making the most of a final stint on Soft tires to maximize the McLaren’s performance and dust his midfield competitors. Teammate Lando Norris was for once overshadowed by Ricciardo and could only muster a P9 finish, still adding up to solid points for McLaren in their battle with Alpine for fourth in the Contractors Championship. They were aided in that quest by Alpine’s increasing reliability issues, which saw Fernando Alonso retire with an engine issue with just six laps to go. That left Esteban Ocon as the lone Alpine to score, coming home P8, and it will be all to play for for the big fourth-place payout between the French team and McLaren in the final two rounds. Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas hung on for the last point in P10, not really having the race pace in his C42 despite qualifying P6.

Top 10 finishers of the Mexico City GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR LAPS TIME/RETIRED PTS
1 1 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING RBPT 71 1:38:36.729 25
2 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 71 +15.186s 18
3 11 Sergio Perez RED BULL RACING RBPT 71 +18.097s 15
4 63 George Russell MERCEDES 71 +49.431s 13
5 55 Carlos Sainz FERRARI 71 +58.123s 10
6 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 71 +68.774s 8
7 3 Daniel Ricciardo MCLAREN MERCEDES 70 +1 lap 6
8 31 Esteban Ocon ALPINE RENAULT 70 +1 lap 4
9 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 70 +1 lap 2
10 77 Valtteri Bottas ALFA ROMEO FERRARI 70 +1 lap 1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race is in a fortnight’s time — the Sao Paolo Grand Prix at Interlagos in Brazil. Can Mercedes maintain their improved performance back t sea level and possibly grab a win off of Red Bull or will Verstappen continue to add to his race-win record? Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2022 F1 Grand Prix of Mexico City — Qualifying results

Red Bull’s Verstappen pips Russell for first pole in Mexico City, Hamilton P3 as Mercedes show late season strength; Ferrari adrift at high altitude Autódromo Hermanos Rodriguez

After struggling for grip at the always tricky high altitude/thin air Autódromo Hermanos Rodriguez, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen hooked up a lap to perfection when it counted most, as he so often has this championship season. Trailing the suddenly resurgent Mercedes duo of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell late in Q3, Verstappen was able to lay down an untouchable final fast lap at the death during Saturday qualifying to secure pole for Sunday’s Mexico City Grand Prix. With the Red Bulls struggling for grip in the hot, high altitude conditions and Mercedes paying less of a penalty for what has been a draggy car this season, it seemed that Hamilton might snatch his first pole of 2022. But it was not to be, as the English seven-time champion ultimately fell short not only of the flying Dutchman’s pace but also his teammate Russell, who will slot in alongside Verstappen on the front row with Hamilton settling for P3. Despite that momentary disappointment, this could be Mercedes best chance to win that elusive first race of the already 19-round-old campaign. In addition to Hamilton’s recent personal resurgence and Russell’s slowly improving consistency, if they can keep their tires under them for the duration of the GP, Mercedes may actually have the pace under these conditions to best Verstappen for once.

While Verstappen’s teammate and local hero Sergio Perez struggled to a P4 qualifying effort in front of his home fans, it was worse for Ferrari. The Prancing Horses seemed unmoored at high altitude, with Carlos Sainz only setting the fifth best time in the final quali session and stablemate Charles Leclerc even further off the pace in P7. The loss of downforce here really seemed to effect the F1-75 when putting power down through the low speed corners, of which there are many at this twisty 4.3 kilometer circuit. Such were their struggles that Valtteri Bottas, representing Ferrari’s secondary team Alfa Romeo, split Sainz and Leclerc with a superb P6 effort. Rounding out the top ten qualifiers, McLaren’s Lando Norris was eighth quickest and the Alpines of Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon qualified P9 and P10 respectively.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Mexico City GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 1 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING RBPT 1:19.222 1:18.566 1:17.775 16
2 63 George Russell MERCEDES 1:19.583 1:18.565 1:18.079 18
3 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 1:19.169 1:18.552 1:18.084 19
4 11 Sergio Perez RED BULL RACING RBPT 1:19.706 1:18.615 1:18.128 18
5 55 Carlos Sainz FERRARI 1:19.566 1:18.560 1:18.351 17
6 77 Valtteri Bottas ALFA ROMEO FERRARI 1:19.523 1:18.762 1:18.401 18
7 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 1:19.505 1:19.109 1:18.555 18
8 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 1:19.857 1:19.119 1:18.721 19
9 14 Fernando Alonso ALPINE RENAULT 1:20.006 1:19.272 1:18.939 15
10 31 Esteban Ocon ALPINE RENAULT 1:19.945 1:19.081 1:19.010 18

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Sunday’s Mexico City Grand Prix airs live on ESPN beginning at 4PM Eastern here in the Sates. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2022 F1 Grand Prix of Japan — Qualifying results

Verstappen survives stewards after contretemps with Norris to keep pole at Suzuka; Leclerc P2 & Sainz P3 for Ferrari

Inching ever closer to his second consecutive Formula 1 World Championship, Red Bull’s Dutch master Max Verstappen set the fastest lap during Saturday qualifying for the return of the Japanese Grand Prix after a two year hiatus. Verstappen held off not only the hard charging Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz but also survived a stewards inquiry into his leisurely weaving through 130R during Q3, forcing McLaren’s Lando Norris to take evasive action at full chat to avoid the out of shape Red Bull. While Verstappen received a reprimand, he was not penalized and so will start from pole for tomorrow’s race, where he will have the best possible chance of clinching the title with both a win and the bonus point for fastest lap no matter where his rivals finish. Ferrari’s Leclerc, starting alongside Max on the front row in P2, and Sainz in P3, as well as his Red Bull teammate and last race’s winner in Singapore, Sergio Perez, lining up in P4, will all surely give their best efforts to deny the Dutchman that most coveted motorsport prize, if only for one more race.

Outside that elite top four, Alpine’s Esteban Ocon out-qualified his more heralded teammate, Fernando Alonso, P5 to P7 respectively, while Lewis Hamilton got the better of his Mercedes teammate George Russell, P6 to P8. Sebastian Vettel willed his Aston Martin into Q3 and P9 on the grid in the last F1 qualifying effort of his illustrious career at his favorite Suzuka Circuit. And Norris could do no better than P10, perhaps due to the limitations of his McLaren chassis and perhaps as a result of being thrown off rhythm from his earlier hairy encounter with Verstappen.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Japanese GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 1 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING RBPT 1:30.224 1:30.346 1:29.304 13
2 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 1:30.402 1:30.486 1:29.314 13
3 55 Carlos Sainz FERRARI 1:30.336 1:30.444 1:29.361 13
4 11 Sergio Perez RED BULL RACING RBPT 1:30.622 1:29.925 1:29.709 15
5 31 Esteban Ocon ALPINE RENAULT 1:30.696 1:30.357 1:30.165 18
6 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 1:30.906 1:30.443 1:30.261 20
7 14 Fernando Alonso ALPINE RENAULT 1:30.603 1:30.343 1:30.322 15
8 63 George Russell MERCEDES 1:30.865 1:30.465 1:30.389 19
9 5 Sebastian Vettel ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 1:31.256 1:30.656 1:30.554 15
10 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 1:30.881 1:30.473 1:31.003 18

Complete qualifying results available via Fomrula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race airs live on ESPN2 beginning at 1AM Estern here in the States. So set your DVR or brew that extra pot of coffee to find out of Verstappen can clinch the title in Japan or if Leclerc, Sainz or Perez can spoil his day!

2022 F1 Grand Prix of Singapore — Results & aftermath

Perez delivers masterclass on slippery streets of Singapore, survives Safety Car infraction to take victory; Leclerc a game P2, Sainz a distant P3, as Verstappen rallies to P7 in incident-filled race

Red Bull’s Sergio Perez bookended his magnificent Monaco win in late May with an even more impressive drive to victory on the slick and slippery streets of Singapore on Sunday. With the entire field starting on Intermediate wet weather Pirelli tires after a late afternoon downpour dampened the streets of the ultra-tight Marina Bay Street Circuit, Perez started from P2 but made quick work of the pole-sitting Ferrari of Charles Leclerc to take the lead on the opening lap. Meanwhile, Leclerc’s Scuderia teammate Carlos Sainz pushed his way past Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton to take P3, while the second Red Bull of Max Verstappen, starting from P8 after the team botched his fuel calculations during qualifying, bogged down at the start and dropped even further to P12. By Lap 3, the Dutch points leader had recovered somewhat to P10 but he had his work cut out for him on a track that is more than a little difficult to overtake on.

Pics courtesy GrandPrix247.com

The first of many incidents that would complicate this intriguing contest throughout the day occurred on Lap 7 when the Williams of Nicholas Latifi banged into the Alfa Romeo of Zhou  Guanyu, damaging both cars and necessitating the deployment of a Safety Car in order to safely retrieve the stricken Alfa. With the track not drying quickly in the sultry tropical conditions, nobody chose to risk changing to the slick tires at that juncture. The field had another opportunity to gamble when Fernando Alonso’s Alpine came to an abrupt stop with engine failure on Lap 21 of this ostensible 61-lap GP. This time, Mercedes’ George Russell, mired in the rear of the pack after a poor quali and subsequently taking engine change penalties, rolled the dice and dove into the pits under Virtual Safety Car conditions for a swap off of Inters and onto Medium slick tires. When Russell emerged and began tiptoeing around the circuit as if driving on ice it became apparent that for those with a real shot at winning on the day it was still far too soon to risk taking off the wet weather rubber.

After two more brief VSC periods due to a crash by Williams Alex Albon on Lap 26 and the second Alpine of Esteban Ocon also suffering an engine failure on Lap 28 during which no one else opted to make the switch to slicks, Hamilton had a crash of his own Lap 33 that, though it did not end his race, damaged his front wing and severely compromised the remainder of it when he was forced to pit for the requisite lengthy nose change. Simultaneous to that, Russell finally began setting the fastest sector times, signaling that the crossover point had been achieved and the time was now for dry weather tires. One by one, drivers dove to the pits for slicks, with the P2 Leclerc coming in on Lap 35 and suffering a slow-ish 5.3 seconds stationary stop, while the race -leading Perez came in a lap later and benefitted from a typically spiffy 2.8-second effort by the Red Bull crew. Between the difference between their respective time in the pits and the difficult nature of getting the tires up to temp on the out lap, Perez came out comfortably ahead of Leclerc, the undercut not paying off for Ferrari on this day. No sooner had that all cycled out than Yuki Tsunoda promptly crashed his AlphaTauri, leading to yet another Safety Car and also meaning that the race would now be timed to two hours total upon the restart due to all the delays,

When the race finally got underway again with 34:40 remaining, Leclerc took advantage of the compressed gap to Perez under the Safety Car to mount a fierce challenge. The Ferrari man harried the veteran Mexican for several laps, their cars both squirming around at the edge of adhesion when they put the power downcoding out of the still-wet corners. When DRS was finally enabled by race control with just 27-minutes remaining it seemed the Prancing Horse might have a shot. But with passing so difficult in the slow speed corners and Leclerc forced to run so closely behind to even have a chance of an overtake, the Monegasque seemed to take the life out of his tires and his car lost its fine edge in handling. As Leclerc sawed away at his wheel and Perez began disappearing up the road, Ferrari were now left hoping that a race control investigation into Perez for getting too far behind that final Safety Car would lead to a results-altering penalty at the end. The Red Bull pit wall urged Checo to push and build a penalty-proof gap and he obliged, with Leclerc fading to an over seven-second deficit to the P1 Perez when the checkers finally flew in this enthralling tilt. Such was Perez’s excellence on the day and particularly in that final push that he was able to cling to the victory even after being assessed a 5-second penalty for that Safety Car infringement. That drive in the return of the Singapore Grand Prix after a two-year Covid-induced hiatus will go down as one the best in F1 history and proves that Red Bull not only have the best car this year but also, in Verstappen and Perez, the two best drivers in 2022.

Top 10 finishers of the Singapore GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR LAPS TIME/RETIRED PTS
1 11 Sergio Perez RED BULL RACING RBPT 59 2:02:20.238 25
2 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 59 +2.595s 18
3 55 Carlos Sainz FERRARI 59 +10.305s 15
4 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 59 +21.133s 12
5 3 Daniel Ricciardo MCLAREN MERCEDES 59 +53.282s 10
6 18 Lance Stroll ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 59 +56.330s 8
7 1 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING RBPT 59 +58.825s 6
8 5 Sebastian Vettel ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 59 +60.032s 4
9 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 59 +61.515s 2
10 10 Pierre Gasly ALPHATAURI RBPT 59 +69.576s 1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

After the first race in three weeks, the F1 hustle is back on and the next race is in but a week’s time — the Japanese Grand Prix from venerable Suzuka. Hope to see you then to find out if the second Far East GP in-a-row can rival the thrills from Singapore!

2022 F1 Grand Prix of Italy — Results & aftermath

Red Bull’s Verstappen recovers from P7 start to take victory at Safety Car-shortened Italian GP; Ferrari’s Leclerc P2, Mercedes’ Russell P3

Red Bull’s peerless Max Verstappen continued his relentless march to a second consecutive World Championship on Sunday, recovering from a penalty-influenced P7 start on the grid to surge to victory at the Italian Grand Prix, relegating the pole-sitting Ferrari of Charles Leclerc to runner-up status in the process. In somewhat anticlimactic fashion, the tifosi at the jam-packed Autodromo Nazionale Monza were denied a potential late race shootout when the McLaren of Daniel Ricciardo came to a stop between the Lesmo curves on Lap 47 of this 53-lap contest. Hoping for a potential Red Flag to compress Verstappen’s large lead over  Leclerc, the race officials instead allowed the race to peter out behind the Safety Car in non-competitive fashion, despite the fact that extracting the McLaren its parking place required the use of a crane on the track while the cars were circulating behind the SC Nevertheless, Verstappen was clearly the class of the field on this day, as he has been for the majority of the season, and there was little reason to believe that Leclerc could have matched the Red Bull’s pace in a three or four-lap shootout. For Verstappen, it was his first career victory at Monza but his fifth win in a row and astonishing eleventh victory in the 16 rounds of the F1 season so far. Now with a seemingly unassailable 116-point lead over Leclerc in the Drivers’ standings it looks like all but a formality that the Dutch master will wear his second Formula 1 crown when the twenty-second and final round is run at Abu Dhabi in late November.

While Ferrari tried to give Leclerc every strategic advantage, pitting the Monegasque early and cheaply during a brief Virtual Safety Car on L13 to try and gain time on Verstappen in the pits, the on-track pace of the Red Bull was simply too much for the Prancing Horses to handle. Before that final Safety Car, Verstappen’s advantage to Leclerc was some eighteen seconds with only the six laps remaining, an impossible deficit for the P2 Ferrari to overcome under green flag conditions. The second Ferrari of Carlos Sainz did well to haul himself up to a P4 finish after being forced to start from P18 due to engine component penalties, a major issue for not only Verstappen and Sainz but many contenders throughout the field. Mercedes’ George Russell was able to better Sainz for the last spot on the podium in P3 despite running a long stint on the rather poorly performing Hard tires, while Lewis Hamilton drove an outstanding race to recover from a penalty-induced P19 start to a solid P5 finish. Hamilton ran an exceptionally long 34-lap first stint on Medium Pirellis before switching to the faster Soft tires and then carved his way through the midfield and back up to that impressive P5.

Pics courtesy GrandPrix247.com

The second Red Bull of Sergio Perez started P13 and finished P6, although he might have done better had the team not been concerned about possible tire failure and called the Mexican in for a late change on Lap 43. Still, Perez was able to nick the point for fastest lap of the race due to that fast and fresh rubber. With Riccardo out after looking like scoring good points, the sole remaining McLaren of Lando Norris salvaged P7 for the team on a day where their closest rivals in the Constructors’ standings, Alpine, scored zero points. AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly had a positive P8 finish in what has been a nightmare season for the team that has the talented young Frenchman eyeing a move to the more competitive Alpine team for next season. Rookie Nyck De Vries not only made his F1 debut in the Williams, subbing on short notice for the ailing Alexander Albon who was stricken with appendicitis overnight on Saturday, but the young Dutch Mercedes reserve driver scored points in his first F1 GP by coming home in P9. He showed enough talent and poise to warrant another race start sometime soon and skillfully kept the Alfa Romeo of Zho Guanyu behind him and relegating the Chinese rookie to P10.

Top 10 finishers of the Italian GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR LAPS TIME/RETIRED PTS
1 1 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING RBPT 53 1:20:27.511 25
2 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 53 +2.446s 18
3 63 George Russell MERCEDES 53 +3.405s 15
4 55 Carlos Sainz FERRARI 53 +5.061s 12
5 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 53 +5.380s 10
6 11 Sergio Perez RED BULL RACING RBPT 53 +6.091s 9
7 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 53 +6.207s 6
8 10 Pierre Gasly ALPHATAURI RBPT 53 +6.396s 4
9 45 Nyck De Vries WILLIAMS MERCEDES 53 +7.122s 2
10 24 Zhou Guanyu ALFA ROMEO FERRARI 53 +7.910s 1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

After a grueling stretch of three races in a row coming out of the summer break, the next tilt is in three weeks’ time — the return of the dazzling nocturnal Singapore Grand Prix street race after a two-year Covid-induced absence. While nobody seems able to stop Verstappen these days, the tricky and ultra-tight Marina Bay Street Circuit always throws up it’s fair share of surprises. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!