Tag Archives: Oscar Piastri

2024 F1 Grand Prix of Bahrain — Results & aftermath

Verstappen opens ’24 campaign with dominant win in Bahrain, Perez P2 as Red Bull remain car to beat; Sainz out-duels Ferrari teammate Leclerc for P3

If there were any illusions remaining from the preseason that another team and driver could truly challenge the Red Bull/Max Verstappen era of dominance that was ushered in with the ground effects spec in 2022, they were quickly shattered in Round 1 of 2024. With the 2024 season starting in Bahrain on Saturday, Verstappen simply picked up where he left off last year when he had one of the most supreme seasons in F1 history. The flying Dutchman led the race’s opening lap from the pole, holding off Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc into Turn 1, and then rapidly distanced the field in imperious fashion. By the time the 57 laps under the lights at Bahrain International Circuit were completed, he had led every lap, set the race’s fastest lap for the extra point and bested his second place teammate Sergio Perez by a whopping 22.457 seconds. With three consecutive Formula 1 World Championships under his belt, the smart money remains on Verstappen to rack up a fourth, which would tie Sebastian Vettel’s awesome title run with Red Bull from 2010 to 2013. While obviously you’ve got to hand it to a driver who is so superior to the rest of the field and so perfectly matched to his vehicle, another season of Verstappen and Red Bull crushing everyone without breaking a sweat is probably not what the Formula 1 brass — or the millions of viewers — really want to see. Still, with a new formula not scheduled to debut until 2026, it’s highly probable that, barring any sort of previously unforeseen reliability issues, it’s going to be the Max Verstappen show on most weekends the majority of the time. Get ready to hear a lot of the Dutch national anthem.

The real battles occurred for the places not on the top step and Perez was able to hold off Ferrari’s very game Carlos Sainz to make it a perfect Red Bull one-two on the day. The veteran Mexican pilot recovered from a subpar P5 qualifying effort to take the fight to George Russell’s Mercedes and the two Prancing Horses of Sainz and Charles Leclerc ahead of him. Despite running his final stint on the more delicate if faster Soft compound Pirellis, Perez was able to nurse his tires to the end and keep the Hard-shod Sainz behind him to earn second place. Nevertheless, it was a strong effort by the Spaniard as he embarks on his final season with Ferrari after being unceremoniously dumped by the Scuderia in favor of Lewis Hamilton for next year. Perhaps driving with a bit of chip on his shoulder from that surprising turn of events, Sainz made a couple off very aggressive passes on his teammate Leclerc, no team orders required, to secure that last spot on the podium. Despite being edged into fourth by his stablemate, Leclerc still had a solid effort in the newly redesigned Ferrari SF-24, particularly as he was plagued by brake or brake bias issues all race long that resulted in multiple lockups. These issues seemed to ease up for the Monegasque when he was not in the hot air of traffic and he was able to catch up and hound Russell into a mistake on Lap 46, overtaking as the Briton’s Silver Arrow slid off track at Turn 11, thereby locking down that P4 for keeps and the valuable 3-4 for Ferrari on the day.

Mercedes also had some technical issues related to overheating that dogged them early in the race in tight quarters but abated somewhat in clean air. Russell was able to keep Lando Norris’s McLaren behind him after Leclerc got by and came home a decent P5. Teammate Hamilton battled one or two gremlins of his own but improved on his poor P9 qualifying by two spots to take P7. Norris secured P6 and McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri slotted in behind Hamilton in P8, essentially confirming that, with Red Bull not really in reach, the battle for second in the Constructors’ points will likely be a three-way battle between Ferrari, Mercedes, and McLaren. At least in this earliest of going, it looks like Aston Martin will not really be privy to that elite competition. After their blistering start to last year, the team plateaued around midway through 2023 and seem to have failed to develop during the offseason. Despite looking fairly quick in pre-season testing and the first qualifying effort of the year on Friday, Fernando Alonso could only muster a fairly distant P9 result, with teammate Lance Stroll backstopping him in P10. Stroll does deserve special mention for that otherwise pedestrian result because he not only started from twelfth on the grid but also need up facing the wrong way on the opening lap after tangling with the Haas of Nico Hulkenberg. So, a good recovery drive from the young Canadian but still, a 9-10 is not exactly where Aston dreamed they’d be today.

Top 10 finishers of the Bahrain GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR LAPS TIME/RETIRED PTS
1 1 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT 57 1:31:44.742 26
2 11 Sergio Perez RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT 57 +22.457s 18
3 55 Carlos Sainz FERRARI 57 +25.110s 15
4 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 57 +39.669s 12
5 63 George Russell MERCEDES 57 +46.788s 10
6 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 57 +48.458s 8
7 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 57 +50.324s 6
8 81 Oscar Piastri MCLAREN MERCEDES 57 +56.082s 4
9 14 Fernando Alonso ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 57 +74.887s 2
10 18 Lance Stroll ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 57 +93.216s 1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race is in but a week’s time and it’ll be another Friday qualifying/Saturday race in Saudi Arabia to accommodate the upcoming Ramadan holiday. There won’t be any time to really upgrade the cars so, look for Red Bull & Verstappen to have another romp when the action in Round 2 gets underway, though the much tighter Jeddah Corniche Street Circuit could provide some more incidents than we saw in today’s Safety Car-free running. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2024 F1 Grand Prix of Bahrain — Qualifying results

Verstappen picks up where he left off with first pole of 2024 in Bahrain; Leclerc edges Russel for second fastest; Hamilton & Perez adrift

The 2024 Formula 1 season officially kicked off with highly similar results to last year’s campaign as Red Bull’s defending three-time champion Max Verstappen once again blistered the field to take a relatively easy pole at the Bahrain International Circuit. With qualifying taking place on a rare Friday for the first two rounds of the season due to Saturday race days to accomodate the upcoming Ramadan holiday in the hosting Muslim countries, all the posing and posturing of pre-season testing and pre-qualifying practice was replace by the true test of which cars had the real pace. Once again it was the Red Bull in Verstappen’s capable hands that proved the rabbit all the others will have to chase this season. Verstappen bested the P2 of Charles Leclerc by a little over two-tenths and the typically fast-starting Monegasque was able to stay in front of George Russell’s Mercedes for P2 by a whisper thin .078 seconds. The second Ferrari of Carlos Sainz, who was unceremoniously dumped for next year in favor of Lewis Hamilton in the offseason’s biggest shockwave, set the fourth fastest time, while Hamilton could muster no better than a lowly P9 on his final attempt. One wonders if all the upgrades will now go to Russell during the course of the season since Hamilton has one foot out the door and in archrival Ferrari’s camp.

As he did in the second two-thirds of 2023, Sergio Perez again rather badly trailed Verstappen for pure pace and could only manage a time good enough for fifth on tomorrow’s grid. The ageless Fernando Alonso was solid in the Aston Martin for P6 and the two McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri set the seventh and eighth fastest times respectively. Nico Hulkenberg’s Haas rounded out the the top ten qualifiers and will start form P10 on the grid, just as he did in last year’s Bahrain season opener.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Bahrain GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 1 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT 1:30.031 1:29.374 1:29.179 17
2 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 1:30.243 1:29.165 1:29.407 19
3 63 George Russell MERCEDES 1:30.350 1:29.922 1:29.485 17
4 55 Carlos Sainz FERRARI 1:29.909 1:29.573 1:29.507 18
5 11 Sergio Perez RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT 1:30.221 1:29.932 1:29.537 17
6 14 Fernando Alonso ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 1:30.179 1:29.801 1:29.542 14
7 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 1:30.143 1:29.941 1:29.614 15
8 81 Oscar Piastri MCLAREN MERCEDES 1:30.531 1:30.122 1:29.683 18
9 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 1:30.451 1:29.718 1:29.710 18
10 27 Nico Hulkenberg HAAS FERRARI 1:30.566 1:29.851 1:30.502 18

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race airs live beginning at 10 AM Eastern on ESPN. Hope to see you then to find out if anyone can match this new year’s edition of Verstappen and Red Bull in race trim — I have my doubts!

2023 F1 Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi — Qualifying results

Verstappen takes pole for final race in Abu Dhabi, earns 12th of season; Leclerc fights back for P2; Piastri best McLaren in P3 as Norris slides down to P5

Red Bull’s peerless Max Verstappen took the final pole of the season with aplomb during the last Saturday Qualifying of 2023 for tomorrow’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at Yas Marina Circuit. With nothing left to prove in his historically dominant World Championship campaign this year, Verstappen nevertheless outpaced the rest of the field to make it 12 total poles out of twenty-two race weekends. The flying Dutchman will go for his record-extending nineteenth victory of the season in Sunday evening’s Grand Prix under the futuristic light show of Yas Marina and it would be a brave man indeed who would bet against him.

The real battles in tomorrow’s race should be behind the now three-time champion, as Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc pulled a scorching lap out of the bag at the death of Q3 to set the second fastest time and earn the right to start alongside Verstappen on the front row. That makes it five front row starts in a row for the Monegasque, including three poles, as Leclerc looks not only to end his year on a high note with another podium but also help pull the Scuderia ahead of mighty Mercedes for P2 in the all-important Constructors’ standings. But both Ferrari and Mercedes had only one car progress into the final Quali session, as George Russell outpaced teammate Lewis Hamilton to the tune of P4 to P11, while the second Prancing Horse of Carlos Sainz had a disastrous effort that saw him bounced out in Q1 and starting tomorrow down in P16. Sainz had a heavy shunt in Free Practice 2 on Friday so perhaps his car is still ailing after the rebuild but certainly the Spaniard is also lacking for pace and confidence at this sneakily tricky track. Continue reading →

2023 F1 Grand Prix of Las Vegas — Results & aftermath

Verstappen aces out Leclerc for win in action packed Las Vegas GP; Leclerc salvages P2 with last lap pass on Perez

Red Bull’s peerless Max verstappen continued his historic season by taking the win in the return of the Las Vegas Grand Prix after an absence of 41 years. But it was hardly smooth sailing for the already-crowned World Champion on the brand new and quite high speed Las Vegas Street Circuit. While Verstappen made his typically superior getaway to pass the pole-sitting Ferrari of Charles Leclerc at the start of the race steaming into Turn 1, he was adjudged a tad too forceful in pushing Leclerc’s Prancing Horse off the track and was eventually handed a 5-second time penalty. Meanwhile behind the skirmish at the front, a number off cars made minor contact as they got away and compressed under braking and the debris left behind prompted a quick Virtual Safety Car for cleanup. Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez and Fernando Alonso both ducked into the pits under that VSC for new front wings as a result of all that contact, which started when Alonso spun out on the slick surface. The race resumed on Lap 3 but was quickly halted again when something failed on the McLaren of Lando Norris and he went flying into the barriers in the runoff area at Turn 11. It was a heavy hit that required a full Safety Car for repairs and retrieval. Norris was eventually taken to hospital for observation but thanks fully released not long after.

The race resumed again at the end of Lap 6, with Verstappen managing the restart with aplomb but being told about the stewards’ judgement against him. With his initial set of Medium Pirellis already going off, however, Leclerc was actually able to re-pass Verstappen for the lead on Lap 16 without needing those 5-seconds, prompting the Red Bull braintrust to call their main man into the pits on the subsequent lap for a switch to fresh Hards and the serving of his sanction. Following him in were the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton and the sole surviving McLaren of Oscar Piastri, who had just made contact with each other. Hamilton got the worst of the exchange and had to limp in with a puncture but Piastri also needed repairs (although the young Aussie chose to stay on Hard tires meaning he still owed a mandatory pit stop later in the race) and both drivers lost valuable track position due to the incident. Continue reading →

2023 F1 Grand Prix of Las Vegas — Qualifying results

Ferrari fastest in Vegas with Leclerc taking pole, Sainz P2; Verstappen off his usual pace in P3, as shiny new street circuit & cool nighttime temps scramble field

Ferrari were unquestionably the fastest team at the brand new Las Vegas Street Circuit during midnight Saturday qualifying for Saturday night’s Las Vegas Grand Prix. Despite not really being a similar circuit, the Scuderia harkened back to their superior pace at Singapore earlier in the season, outpacing the usually dominant Red Bull of Max Verstappen. With the only real question being which of the two Prancing Horses would take pole, it was Charles Leclerc who bested teammate Carlos Sainz by a minuscule 0.044 seconds, but over three-tenths ahead of Verstappen’s best effort in Q3. Unfortunately for Sainz and Ferrari, though, the Spaniard will be assessed a ten-place grid penalty for the race after he sucked up a drain cover earlier in Free Practice 1, resulting in heavy damage to his car and the need to take a new battery outside his allotment for the year. It seems unfair that Sainz should be penalized for something completely out of his control and due to the teething issues any new street circuit is prone to encounter, but them’s the rules, as they say, and no dispensation was given by the FIA despite Ferrari’s appeals. So that demotes Sainz down to P12 despite his superb quali effort and moves Verstappen to P2 alongside Leclerc on the front row. Continue reading →

2023 F1 Grand Prix of Sao Paulo — Results & aftermath

Verstappen sambas to record extending & record breaking victory in Sao Paulo; Norris takes another second place in breakout season; Alonso out-duels Perez in scintillating battle for P3

Hot on the heels of his Saturday Sprint win, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen continued his campaign of total dominance on Sunday, surviving early race chaos behind him to take yet another assured win at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix in Brazil. Despite a solid effort by eventual runner-up Lando Norris of McLaren, Vertsappen was never put under any real pressure during the 71-lap contest and simply managed the race and his tries from the point all day long. Verstappen bested Norris by a comfortable 8.277-seconds in notching his record-extending seventeenth win of the season, also breaking the 71-year old record for greatest percentage of wins in a season, previously held by the legendary Ferrari pilot Alberto Ascari. With his third consecutive F1 title in the bag several races ago, Verstappen simply keeps putting the pedal to the metal and, with only two more rounds remaining in the season, it’s hard to see the flying Dutchman lifting off the throttle and giving someone else a chance at the top step. Continue reading →

2023 F1 Grand Prix of Sao Paulo — Qualifying results

Verstappen takes pole for Sao Paulo GP in rain-shortened qualifying; Leclerc P2 for Ferrari, Stroll a surprise P2 for Aston, as McLaren get caught out

With qualifying for Sunday’s Sao Paulo Grand Prix taking place on Friday to accommodate the last Sprint Saturday of the season, some of the most ominous clouds imaginable rolled into Autódromo José Carlos Pace between Q2 & Q3. Sure enough, midway through that final quali session, it started chucking down rain onto the Interlagos circuit, bringing a premature end to the day’s efforts and scrambling the top ten for Sunday’s race. Of course, Max Verstappen and the Red Bull brain trust played things perfectly, getting their star pilot out as soon as the pit lane opens up for Q3. The Dutchman promptly set the fastest banker lap of what would be then only hot laps completed. Despite actually being a touch slower than his best effort in Q2, it was still good enough for pole when the session was Red Flagged and then quickly terminated. Charles Leclerc of Ferrari also did well to get out there and set a time good enough for P2 and a start on the grid right beside Verstappen. Aston Martin had a big rebound from their recent lackluster form and surprisingly it was the beleaguered Lance Stroll outpacing his more heralded teammate Fernando Alonso, P3 to P4 respectively. The Mercedes duo slotted in behind the Astons, with Lewis Hamilton wringing the neck of his unruly Silver Arrow to take the fifth fastest time of the session and George Russell* backstopping him in P7 [*Russell was later penalized two grid spots for “driving unnecessarily slowly and failing to follow Race Director’s instructions”.]

Losing out when the rains brought things to a premature end were team McLaren, which failed to put things together early in the going and were punished for it after showing what looked to be pole-challenging pace in Q1 and Q2. Lando Norris could manage no better than the seventh fastest time on the board, while Oscar Piastri had a spin on his only flying lap when the track just started to get wet and did not record a time. The impressive Australian rookie will be relegated to starting from tenth come race day, though look for both McLarens to aggressively fight their way towards the front with what should still be superior race pace to Mercedes and Aston Martin, and perhaps Ferrari, as well. Speaking of which, the second Ferrari of Carlos Sainz was a bit behind the eight ball all day long and could muster no better than a P8 time when all was said and done. Red Bull’s struggling Sergio Perez was similarly off his teammate’s pace and qualified back in P9. Perez will have his work cut out for him in the Grand Prix and must avoid being over-aggressive, as he was when he crashed out on Lap 1 in Mexico City last week. After fading so badly this year, Perez is frankly fighting to retain his Red Bull ride for 2024 and badly needs some sort of positive result from Sunday’s race.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Sao Paulo GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 1 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT 1:10.436 1:10.162 1:10.727 18
2 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 1:10.472 1:10.303 1:11.021 18
3 18 Lance Stroll ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 1:10.551 1:10.375 1:11.344 16
4 14 Fernando Alonso ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 1:10.557 1:10.237 1:11.387 18
5 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 1:10.604 1:10.266 1:11.469 21
6 63 George Russell* MERCEDES 1:10.340 1:10.316 1:11.590 21
7 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 1:10.623 1:10.021 1:11.987 13
8 55 Carlos Sainz FERRARI 1:10.624 1:10.254 1:11.989 20
9 11 Sergio Perez RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT 1:10.668 1:10.219 1:12.321 17
10 81 Oscar Piastri MCLAREN MERCEDES 1:10.519 1:10.330 DNF 15

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race airs live on ESPN2 beginning at Noon Eastern here in the States. Will more stormy weather play havoc with the Grand Prix or will it be simply smooth sailing for Verstappen as the flying Dutchman looks to extend his record win tally? Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2023 F1 Grand Prix of Japan — Qualifying results

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

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

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

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

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

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

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

2023 F1 Grand Prix of Singapore — Qualifying results

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

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

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

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

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

Top 10 qualifiers for the Singapore GP:

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

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

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

2023 F1 Grand Prix of Italy — Qualifying results

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

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

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

Top 10 qualifiers for the Italian GP:

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

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

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