Tag Archives: Pierre Gasly

2019 F1 Grand Prix of Mexico — Results & aftermath

Hamilton seizes victory in Mexico City, holds off P2 Vettel for Mercedes’ 100th F1 win; Bottas stays alive with P3 finish; pole-sitter Leclerc undone by poor pit stop

Mercedes’ ace Lewis Hamilton edged closer to his amazing 6th Drivers’ Championship with a decisive win at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City on Sunday. Utilizing a daring one-stop strategy, Hamilton pitted on Lap 24 of this 71-lap contest, shucking off his original Medium Pirellis for a set of durable but pokey Hard tires. With 47 laps left to run Hamilton could be heard over the radio agonizing over that strategy and second-guessing the team’s timing. But even without the calming precense of his usual race engineer Pete Bonnington, who is on medical leave for the next few races, the Silver Arrow braintrust was able to collectively nurse Hamilton through his moments of doubt. Then they were rewarded by watching their ace driver easily hold off the pursuing Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel as the laps wound down. With the current Formula 1 spec being particularly ill-suited to close pursuit due to brake overheating issues and the ambient temperature at this extremely high altitude circuit close to 80 degrees Fahrenheit, the top 5 drivers had to essentially hold station during the last third of the Grand Prix. And so Hamilton was able to convert a P3 start, as well as surviving some opening lap wheel-banging with Red Bull’s Max Vertsappen, into Mercedes’ 100th overall F1 victory. It also left the English superstar just 4 points shy of his sixth title and all but guaranteed secure that milestone next week in Austin, Texas.

For archrival Ferrari it was day of missed opportunities. After being gifted a front row lockout when Verstappen was stripped of his pole position for inexplicably failing to slow under a waved yellow flag on the last lap of Saturday qualifying the legendary Scuderia decided to split their tire strategy between their two drivers, the pole-sitting Charles Leclerc and P2 starter Sebastian Vettel. Vettel would attempt the one-stopper, matching Hamilton but running deeper on his opening stint, and Leclerc went Medium to Medium tires on his first stop on Lap 16 , which meant he would definitely have to stop again. When Vettel finally pitted on Lap 37 after being held up by a battle between midfield runners Carlos Sainz of McLaren and Pierre Gasly of Toro Rosso, he switched from his starting set of Medium tires onto the Hard compound to finish the race. But he also emerged in P4, well behind his teammate Leclerc, who now led the race, as well as Hamilton’s P2 Mercedes and the third place Red Bull of Alexander Albon. A little over halfway through, it appeared the race was now Leclerc’s to lose.

But Ferrari managed to lose it for him. When Leclerc made his second stop for the mandatory switch to a second tire compound, for the Hards like the other front runners, the Prancing Horse pit crew uncharacteristically botched the tire change at the rear left, making for a 6.2 second stop, about four fat seconds longer than the other contenders. That shuffled Leclerc back behind Bottas in P4 and that was where he would finish the race. Vettel came home P2 behind the voctorius Hamilton and Bottas drove effectively after his big qualifying shunt to come home P3 after starting from sixth on the grid. That podium finish meant that Bottas also delayed the inevitable Hamilton coronation at least until the United States GP next week.

Albon drove arguably his best race since going the senior Red Bull team mid-season, keeping his nose clean and showing impressive race craft for a rookie to take P5. Albon’s teammate Verstappen saw his self-inflicted demotion from pole compounded by tangling with both Mercedes during the opening laps. The Dutch wunderkind lost positions after coming together with Hamilton going into Turn 1 and being bounced off track. He then suffering a total tire de-lamination while dicing with Bottas on Lap 5 when the Finn’s front wing contacted the Red Bull’s right rear. After crawling around the circuit en route to the pit lane for critically needed fresh rubber Verstappen emerged dead last. But he had a typically superb recovery drive to will his way all the way back up to P6 as the checkered flag waved. But Verstappen had to be rueing what might have been had he only used a bit more common sense throughout his ragged weekend in Mexico.

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2019 F1 Grand Prix of Mexico — Qualifying results

Verstappen takes lightning pole in Mexico City but faces investigation; Leclerc P2 & Vettel P3 for Ferrari, Hamilton P4 but P6 Bottas crashes heavily for Mercedes

Red Bull’s Max Vertsappen avenged last year’s disappointment when he was mere hundredths of second shy of pole position in Mexico City to outclass all other competitors and grab the top starting spot for tomorrow’s Mexican Grand Prix. However, Verstappen also set his fastest lap time as a yellow flag was being waved at the end of Saturday qualifying for tomorrow’s race after Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas crashed heavily while approaching the final turn. The Dutchman inexplicably failed to slow at all through the yellow zone despite already having a mega-fast banker lap that no one else could top. And so the stewards are investigating and Verstappen may face a penalty that once again denies him pole at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez.

The pace of the Red Bull in Verstappen’s supremely skilled hands must have been a shock to Ferrari after dominating in all practices so far. But when it came time for the lap times to count and determine the grid rising star Charles Leclerc found himself about half a second behind the pole-sitting Red Bull despite absolutely throwing his Prancing Horse into corners and ostensibly starting alongside him in the front row at P2. Leclerc’s senior teammate Sebastian Vettel was third fastest while Mercedes seemed to struggle in the thin air of this high altitude venue and their ace Lewis Hamilton could do no better than P4. While Bottas was heavily winded by the harsh deceleration of his Silver Arrow’s impact head-on with a protruding Techpro barrier and was examined after sustaining such heavy G-forces he appeared unhurt. Such was not the case for his badly mauled Mercedes and while his initial time in Q3 before the shunt was good enough for a P6 start it’s possible the necessary rebuild might require enough parts replacements to push him to the back down the order or even force a start from the put lane come Sunday.

Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate Alexander Albon again showed his promise to qualify P5, while the improving McLaren team had another strong outing in their bid to lay claim to being “the best of the rest” with Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris taking P7 and P8 respectively. Daniil Kvyat was P9 and an ailing Pierre Gasly was P10 for Toro Rosso to round out the top 10 starters in Mexico.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Mexican GP:

POSNODRIVERCARQ1Q2Q3LAPS
133Max VerstappenRED BULL RACING HONDA1:15.9491:16.1361:14.75816
216Charles LeclercFERRARI1:16.3641:16.2191:15.02418
35Sebastian VettelFERRARI1:16.6961:15.9141:15.17018
444Lewis HamiltonMERCEDES1:16.4241:15.7211:15.26220
523Alexander AlbonRED BULL RACING HONDA1:16.1751:16.5741:15.33618
677Valtteri BottasMERCEDES1:17.0621:15.8521:15.33818
755Carlos SainzMCLAREN RENAULT1:17.0441:16.2671:16.01419
84Lando NorrisMCLAREN RENAULT1:17.0921:16.4471:16.32220
926Daniil KvyatSCUDERIA TORO ROSSO HONDA1:17.0411:16.6571:16.46922
1010Pierre GaslySCUDERIA TORO ROSSO HONDA1:17.0651:16.6791:16.58622

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race will be broadcast live on ABC starting at 2:30 PM Eastern here in the States. We’ll have to wait till then to find out whether Verstappen keeps his coveted number one grid spot or faces sanctions from the stewards for not slowing under yellow that push him further back in the field to start the race. Hope to see you then!

2019 F1 Grand Prix of Japan — Results & aftermath

Bottas cruises to victory in Japan after Vettel fumbles start; Hamilton P3 as Mercedes lock up 6th consecutive Constructors’ title

After being bested by Ferrari in a rare, Typhoon-necessiated Sunday morning Qualifying that saw the Prancing Horses of Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc start the Japanese Grand Prix 1-2, Mercedes proved once again that when the points are really on the line they are still the team to beat in Formula 1. Vettel bogged down as the lights went out to start the race Sunday afternoon at the Suzuka Circuit, nearly but not quite jumping the start, and the Silver Arrow of Valtteri Bottas, quicker than his teammate Lewis Hamilton all weekend, pounced. The Finn launched beautifully to easily pass not just Vettel but also the P2 Leclerc, who quickly found himself wheel banging with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen going into turn one. As Bottas sailed away, the Monegasque Ferrari man lost adhesion trying to defend while turning and smashed into Verstappen’s side pods, sending the Red Bull off track and causing damage that would eventually force the Dutchman to retire on Lap 15. That kerfuffle, which led to Leclerc being penalized and demoted after the race, also held up Hamilton, who had to brake to avoid the incident and was nearly side-swiped himself by the oncoming McLaren of Carlos Sainz. Those crucial delays back in the lead pack left Bottas free to fly with Vettel recovering enough to plant himself in a not very threatening P2, and the front-running Merc quickly built up a healthy lead that he would never really relinquish.

Pics courtesy GrandPrix.com

Meanwhile Leclerc was circulating with a damaged wing after the coming together with Verstsappen and spewing carbon fiber all over the track, as well as onto the pursuing Hamilton’s helmet and visor. Leclerc inexplicably defied calls to pit for a new wing until Lap 4, an impetuous decision that earned him yet another time penalty after the race. Meanwhile, when Vettel pitted at the end of Lap 16 for a second set of Soft Pirellis it became obvious that Ferrari would be running a 2-stop strategy for him. Bottas pitted a lap later for Medium tires, fulfilling the requirement to use at least two compounds, but the team also told him he would be running a 2-stopper eventually to match Ferrari’s lead man, while they would try to split strategy and run Hamilton on a one-stopper. That gave the intra-team advantage to Bottas, as the Suzuka circuit proved to be very tough on tires. So while Hamilton stayed out nominally leading the race until Lap 21 he was unable to gain any advantage whatsoever with his degraded rubber and in fact lost bucketloads of time relative to Bottas and Vettel on their fresh tires. The English points leader came out P3, well behind Vettel, and could be heard second-guessing his team as to why they hadn’t just put him on the Hard tires to try to make it to the end on a one-stop after all. But apparently the performance disadvantage of the Hards was just too great for Mercedes to take that gamble whatever their potential longevity advantage.

In the end Bottas came home for a relatively easy victory. A disappointed Vettel was able to hold off the furious late-race charge of Hamilton on fresh Soft tires by a mere four-tenths for P2. But while Hamilton was intensely frustrated by his third place finish and how the day played out to his teammate’s advantage, big picture-wise everyone at Mercedes had to be ecstatic with the double podium at Suzuka. That massive points haul secured the team’s unprecedented sixth consecutive Constructors’ Championship. Hamilton will have to wait a race or two to potentially clinch his own remarkable sixth Drivers’ title but Mighty Mercedes had done it again despite an increasingly effective second half challenge from Ferrari that simply came too late in the season.

The surviving Red Bull of Alexander Albon had a brilliant run to come home P4 and somewhat salvage the day for the team after Verstappen’s disappointing DNF.

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2019 F1 Grand Prix of Singapore — Results & aftermath

Ferrari outfox Mercedes in strategic Singapore GP as Vettel bests teammate Leclerc for win; Vertsappen P3

In a tense and highly strategic Singapore Grand Prix on Sunday, where track position was king on the extremely tight Marina Bay Street Circuit, resurgent Ferrari made the right calls while Mercedes gambled and lost. Sebastian Vettel, who has had a run of poor races recently and been eclipsed by the rising star of his younger teammate Charles Leclerc, was called to the pits on Lap 20 to respond to the similarly timed pit stop of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen. While Leclerc was at that time leading the race and controlling the pace of the field from the front while nursing his tires, the Monegasque phenom had just passed the pit entrance when Ferrari’s brain trust saw that Verstappen’s crew were laying out tires for the Dutchman. Vettel, running just in front of Verstappen, happened to be right at the pit entrance, however, and fortuitously for him it was he who got the call to go for the undercut and ditch his Soft Pirelli’s for fresh Hard compound tires to hopefully get to the end of the race with only that one stop. It proved to be just the luck that Vettel, a four-time World Champion who frankly looked as if he had lost his touch in 2019, needed to get back to the top step of the podium and take a much-needed win to sooth his battered ego.

Pics courtesy GrandPrix247.com

While Vettel rejoined the race in P10 he emerged in front of Verstappen, plus all of the cars in front him had yet to pit, including his teammate Leclerc and the two Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas. When Leclerc came in for his own set of Hard tires a lap later Vettel’s pace on fresh rubber on his out lap was good enough get him in front of his formerly front running teammate. The now irate Leclerc was now doomed to look at Vettel’s gearbox for the rest of the race and he complained bitterly about the team’s decision making, which had essentially switched him from P1 to second place. Meanwhile Mercedes rolled the dice with Hamilton, who now led the race. While they ran Bottas only until Lap 23 until pitting him they kept Hamilton running at the front despite ever declining pace in regards to the two Ferraris and Verstappen’s Red Bull. It slowly became apparent that the Mercedes pit wall was either hoping for a Safety Car to provide them with a cheap and quicker pit stop than the usual 27-second delta under green flag conditions or they were trying to calculate the precise moment when the twin Ferraris would run into the slower traffic in front of them, thereby making a standard pit stop not as costly to Hamilton’s track position when he blended back in. But in the end it didn’t pay off.

There was no Safety Car at this time — in fairness there would be a raft of them later in the race — so Hamilton pitted on Lap 26 and was only stationary for 2.4 seconds as his Hards went on. But the Ferrari’s were barely impeded by the traffic in front of them and when Hamilton emerged he was behind not only Vettel and Leclerc but also Verstappen’s Red Bull. He did beat his teammate out for P4 but this was somewhat engineered by team orders to Bottas to hang back and cede Hamilton that position. The Englishman’s only hope of getting back to a podium finish after starting from P2 on the grid was that he had newer tires than his rivals that would enable him to make some passes at the end of the grueling 61-lap contest. But three Safety Car periods in the last 25 laps put paid to that hope and while the elite cars in the top five could pass inferior machines in twisty old Marina Bay none of the elite top five could pass each other. Vettel controlled his post-Safety Car restarts masterfully and kept his hungry and angry young teammate behind him to come away with his first F1 win since Belgium last year, a much needed salve to his frayed confidence. Leclerc had to settle for a somewhat hard-luck P2 and saw his win streak end at two. But it was an outstanding day for the famed Scuderia from Maranello, as they showed that the Prancing Horses could be fast not only on the wide open country tracks of Europe but also a high downforce street circuit like Singapore.

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2019 F1 Grand Prix of Belgium — Results & aftermath

Leclerc scores maiden F1 win as Ferrari bests Mercedes in Belgium; Hamilton P2 & Bottas P3 for Silver Arrows

In the first race back from the summer break and on a sunny Sunday at Spa-Francorchamps that was dimmed by the tragic death of up and coming Formula 2 driver Anthoine Hubert in the feature race on Saturday, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc made good on the flashes of brilliance he has so often shown this season to score his maiden Formula 1 victory at one of the most legendary circuits on the calendar. The Prancing Horses finally put together their pace advantage with enough aero efficiency and reliability to best the normally supreme Silver Arrows of Mercedes. Leclerc started from pole and his senior teammate Sebastian Vettel began in P2 after Ferrari locked out the front row in Saturday qualifying, forcing Mercedes to play catch-up with their drivers Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas starting in P3 and P4 respectively. Hamilton was able to better Vettel late in the race to seize P2 and then did an outstanding job closing the gap to Leclerc. But the Englishman ran out of laps and had to settle for a second place finish, which hardly did his massive points lead in the Drivers’ Championship any harm whatsoever. Bottas, who was re-signed by Mercedes for another year during the break, finished P3.

Despite finishing off the podium in P4 Vettel did yeoman’s work for his team. After being the first of the top runners to pit on Lap 16 and doffing his starting Soft Pirelli’s for the more durable Mediums, Vettel inherited the lead when first his teammate, then Hamilton and then Bottas pitted on the successive laps of 21, 22 and 23. But rather than fighting to keep the lead Vettel played the good solider and gifted P1 back to Leclerc on Lap 26. The proud German 4-time champion then played a superb rear gunner role for Leclerc’s benefit holding up Hamilton for several laps before finally being passed on the Kimmel Straight on Lap 32. It was an unusual show of selflessness for any F1 driver let alone Vettel and must have been appreciated by the team. But having pitted so early, with the team perhaps banking in a late Safety Car that never materialized, Vettel was doomed to stop again for fresh rubber on Lap 34 while the top 3 sailed away from his grasp.

Pics courtesy GrandPrix247.com

The race got off to a choppy start with a nasty tangle between Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Raikkonen and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen going into Turn 1 at La Source. The result was floor damage for Raikkonen but a catastrophic steering failure for Verstappen that sent the Dutchman spearing off into the barriers at the top of the hill. Thankfully Verstappen was uninjured but his day was over almost before it began, putting an end to a superb recent run that saw him win two of the previous four contests, as well as his finishing streak of 25 consecutive top 5 finishes. The ensuing Safety Car period was too early to benefit anyone strategically and only lasted until the end of Lap 4.

Outside of the elite Top 4 and with Verstappen and Raikkonen’s misfortunes blowing the points positions wide open McLaren’s Lando Norris looked to score a massive P5 result after his teammate Carlos Sainz suffered a breakdown on Lap 3. But Norris’s car died on the start finish straight on the last lap of this 44 lap tilt. So the heartbroken rookie could only watch as car after car was able to finish in front of him and he slid down the order and out of the points in P11. The main beneficiary of Norris’s agony was Alexander Albon, making his debut for Red Bull after being promoted from Toro Rosso during the summer break. Albon gladly took that P5 position, while Racing Point’s Sergio Perez and Toro Rosso opportunistically grabbed P6 and P7 respectively.  Nico Hulkenberg salvaged at least a little something for struggling Renault with an eighth place finish despite the fact that he will not be returning to the factory team next year. The second Toro Rosso of Pierre Gasly, who was demoted back down from Red Bull to make room for Albon, soothed his injured pride just a little bit with a P9 result. And the second Racing Point of Lance Stroll took the last points paying position by coming home in P10 after wheel banging his way past Haas’ Romain Grosjean late in the race.

Top 10 finishers of the Belgian Gran Prix:

POS NO DRIVER CAR LAPS TIME/RETIRED PTS
1 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 44 1:23:45.710 25
2 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 44 +0.981s 18
3 77 Valtteri Bottas MERCEDES 44 +12.585s 15
4 5 Sebastian Vettel FERRARI 44 +26.422s 13
5 23 Alexander Albon RED BULL RACING HONDA 44 +81.325s 10
6 11 Sergio Perez RACING POINT BWT MERCEDES 44 +84.448s 8
7 26 Daniil Kvyat SCUDERIA TORO ROSSO HONDA 44 +89.657s 6
8 27 Nico Hulkenberg RENAULT 44 +106.639s 4
9 10 Pierre Gasly SCUDERIA TORO ROSSO HONDA 44 +109.168s 2
10 18 Lance Stroll RACING POINT BWT MERCEDES 44 +109.838s 1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race is in but a week’s time at the similarly legendary Autodromo Nazionale Monza circuit right in Ferrari’s backyard. With the Scuderia on the ascent that high speed circuit should suit the Prancing Horses’ straight line advantage and the tifosi will be looking for an even better result from their pilots at the expense of mighty Mercedes. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2019 F1 Grand Prix of Hungary — Results & aftermath

Hamilton redeems Mercedes’ 2-stop gamble by hunting down Verstappen Red Bull for victory late in the game; Ferrari’s Vettel & Leclerc P3 & P4 but miles off the pace

The last race before the summer break turned into a thrilling affair in Hungary on Sunday, with Red Bull’s Max Vertsappen seeking to win his first race from pole and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton looking for redemption after a disastrously sloppy run at a rainy Hockenheim a week ago. It all came down to a crucial strategy call by the Silver Arrows braintrust that even the supremely skilled Hamilton was uncertain would succeed. With an insurmountable lead to the trailing Ferraris behind him and having wrung the life out his Hard Pirellis chasing down Verstappen in the lead for 18 laps, his best attempts to pass all thwarted, Mercedes gambled and called Hamilton back in for a fresh set of Medium tires on Lap 49. The strategists had worked the sums and believed that Hamilton’s fresher and better performing rubber would be able to make up huge chunks of time on the Dutchman, who was running a conventional one-stopper and had switched to the Hards off of Mediums way back on Lap 25. While it took several laps to begin paying off and Hamilton voiced his doubts about the call during that limbo period the maneuver finally started coming good on Lap 59 when the delta between Hamilton’s tire performance increase and Vertsappen’s aging Pirrellis’ drop off began to intersect.

At first it crept up to over a second a lap pace advantage for Hamilton. By Lap 65 the English defending champion was more than 2 seconds a lap faster than the struggling Vertasppan, who could do nothing to avert his fate at the front of the race. With the Red Bulls’ tires completely shagged, Hamilton made an easy pass down into Turn 1 on Lap 67 to take the lead with three laps remaining at the Hungaroring. Verstappen subsequently dove to the pits on Lap 68 to change to Soft tires and set the fastest lap for the bonus point but it was cold comfort for the surging prodigy, who was looking for his third victory in the last four GP, as well as running then table in Hungary after his first-ever career pole position. But Verstppen was a victim of his success to a degree and the team were unwilling to roll the dice on throwing away his front-running track position with a like-for-like stop when Hamilton hit the pits for his second stop. So Hamilton rewarded team Mercedes’ excellent strategy gamble with qualifying lap after qualifying lap to take the win and restore what the 5-time champ will certainly see as the natural pecking order of F1 in 2019. But one thing is for certain — Verstappen in the intpoving Red Bull versus Hamilton in the on-the-limit Mercedes is the fight that every Formula1 fan has been anticipating for some time now. If the second half of the season is going to be anything like these last several tight races that battle is going to be epic.

Pics courtesy GrandPrix247.com

It was certainly not all good news for Mercedes, or Red Bull for that matter. Their second driver, Valtteri Bottas, who appears to be genuinely at risk for keeping his factory Merc seat, had just the start he didn’t need after out-qualifying Hamilton in P2. Continue reading →

2019 F1 Grand Prix of Hungary — Qualifying results

Verstappen finally grabs maiden pole at Hungaroring for ascendent Red Bull; Bottas bests Hamilton P2 to P3; Ferrari trails

Red Bull’s phenom Max Verstappen finally came good with his first career pole position during Saturday qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix. Despite having seven F1 GP victories already under his belt by the age of 21 pole position has eluded him in this Mercedes dominated era. Not any more. The Dutch wunderkind blistered the Hungaroring to the tune of 1:14.572, shattering the lap record and besting the next closest competitor, Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas, by a slim .018. Although it may be too late to do anything about Mercedes hegemony after their mostly dominant first half this year Verstappen and Red Bull are showing signs of challenging the inconsistent Ferrari for second in the Championships. Young Max has won two of the last three Grand Prix, including his masterclass at the rain-soaked Hockenheimring last weekend, and the RB15 with him behind the wheel is clearly on the ascent. Ferrari and Mercedes had better watch out.

Bottas’ P2 was a welcome respite after whispers have begun about his future at the Mercedes factory team after crashing out in Germany last week. That he grabbed the second spot on the front row at the expense of his teammate Lewis Hamilton, who could do no better than a P3 start on the grid, was all the more satisfying for the Finn. Hamilton will line up in Row 2 alongside the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc, who recovered after spinning his Prancing Horse firmly into the barrier on the exit of the last turn in Q1 to qualify in P4. Leclerc is another star driver who, like Hamilton and Bottas, will be looking for redemption after a miserable time of it in Germany last race. Leclerc’s teammate Sebastian Vettel, who conversely had a terrific run from last to P2 in Hockenheim, could do no better than the fifth fastest lap in qualifying. The second Red Bull of Pierre Gasly was once again well behind his team leader in P6. But McLaren’s Lando Norris out-performed expectations with a very solid P7 time.

The other McLaren of Carlos Sainz was P8, proving that the team have finally found consistent pace for the first time in years. Rounding out the top 10 qualifiers, Romain Grosjean drove his older-spec Haas up into P9 and the Alfa-Romeo of Kimi Raikkonen will start P10.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Hungarian GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 33 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING HONDA 1:15.817 1:15.573 1:14.572 16
2 77 Valtteri Bottas MERCEDES 1:16.078 1:15.669 1:14.590 19
3 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 1:16.068 1:15.548 1:14.769 22
4 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 1:16.337 1:15.792 1:15.043 17
5 5 Sebastian Vettel FERRARI 1:16.452 1:15.885 1:15.071 18
6 10 Pierre Gasly RED BULL RACING HONDA 1:16.716 1:16.393 1:15.450 19
7 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN RENAULT 1:16.697 1:16.060 1:15.800 18
8 55 Carlos Sainz MCLAREN RENAULT 1:16.493 1:16.308 1:15.852 20
9 8 Romain Grosjean HAAS FERRARI 1:16.978 1:16.319 1:16.013 21
10 7 Kimi Räikkönen ALFA ROMEO RACING FERRARI 1:16.506 1:16.518 1:16.041 20

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race, the last before the big summer hiatus, airs live on ESPN2 beginning at 9AM here in the States. Hope to see you then to find out of Verstappen can once again take it to the Formula 1 super powers and drive Red Bull back into the conversation when we talk about elite teams.

2019 F1 Grand Prix of Germany — Qualifying results

Hamilton takes advantage of Ferrari mechanical woes to grab opportunistic pole in Hockenheim; Vertsappen bests Bottas for P2 on the grid

After looking like the fastest cars throughout the three practice sessions for the German Grand Prix Ferrari’s 2019 bad luck resurfaced once again in Saturday qualifying. First Sebastien Vettel’s Prancing Horse took ill with a turbo issue in front of his home fans before he could even set a flying lap in Q1. Then his talented young teammate Pierre Gasly’s mount suffered a fuel system issue that forced the Monegasque to end his Q3 pole effort before it really even began. Ferrari’s woes were all the invitation Mercedes Lewis Hamilton needed to take advantage and set the quickest lap of the day for pole for tomorrow’s GP. Even though the Silver Arrows could not match the Ferraris on pure pace during their reliability once again won the day when it counted. The fabled Scuderia from Maranello will have it all to do come race day with Leclerc starting from P10 and Vettel all the way in the back row. Weather may also play a part as rainy skies are forecast for Sunday.

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen continued his excellent run in the rapidly improving RB15 and was able to best the second Merc of Valtteri Bottas for P2 on the grid alongside Hamilton. Verstappen’s teammate will start alongside the P3 Bottas in the second row after a solid P4 qualifying time. And veteran Kimi Raikkonen did yeoman’s work in his Alfa Romeo to hoist it all the way up P5 putting him in the ironic position of starting well in front of both the factory Ferraris, his former employer until this year.

Top 10 qualifiers for the German GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 1:12.852 1:12.149 1:11.767 19
2 33 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING HONDA 1:12.593 1:12.427 1:12.113 17
3 77 Valtteri Bottas MERCEDES 1:13.075 1:12.424 1:12.129 19
4 10 Pierre Gasly RED BULL RACING HONDA 1:12.991 1:12.385 1:12.522 15
5 7 Kimi Räikkönen ALFA ROMEO RACING FERRARI 1:13.066 1:12.519 1:12.538 18
6 8 Romain Grosjean HAAS FERRARI 1:13.146 1:12.769 1:12.851 20
7 55 Carlos Sainz MCLAREN RENAULT 1:13.221 1:12.632 1:12.897 21
8 11 Sergio Perez RACING POINT BWT MERCEDES 1:13.194 1:12.776 1:13.065 15
9 27 Nico Hulkenberg RENAULT 1:13.186 1:12.766 1:13.126 15
10 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 1:12.229 1:12.344 9

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race airs live at 9AM Eastern on ESPN here in the States. Hope to see you then to see how it all shakes out!

2019 F1 Grand Prix of Great Britain — Results & aftermath

Hamilton continues mastery at Silverstone with lucky win, hard-luck Bottas P2 after missing out during Safety Car; Leclerc salvages P3 for Ferrari as Vettel collides with Verstappen

In a barnburner of a British Grand Prix on Sunday Mercedes ace Lewis Hamilton took advantage of a mid-race Safety Car period to duck into the pits for his one and only tire change and gain an advantage on the race leader and his teammate, Valtteri Bottas. Worse still for Bottas, he had already stopped for a like-for-like tire switch for another set of Medium Pirellis, meaning the Finn would definitely have to stop again for the mandatory second tire compound. So Hamilton not only got a relatively “free” pit stop under the greatly reduced Safety Car-induced speeds of his competitors but also gained the race lead via that maneuver. It was one he would never relinquish as both Mercedes pulled away from the field when the Safety Car was withdrawn at the end of Lap 23. The pole-sitting Bottas was doomed to make another stop on Lap 46 for fresh rubber during fully green flag track conditions costing him in the neighborhood of 20 seconds as Hamilton, who had shrewdly gambled on holding out for a one-stopper, raced around the course. And even though Bottas went onto the Soft Pirrelli’s Hamilton still maintained that gap of over 20 seconds and even set the fastest lap for the extra point on his won Hard tires en route to his record 6th British GP victory at Silverstone. Once again, the fact that Formula 1 does not immediately close the pits and force the drivers to bunch up together before the pits do open when a full course caution occurs like so many other top series do — IndyCar, IMSA, NASCAR — led to a driver at a fortuitous position on the track gaining a major advantage over his competitors. Bottas will feel hard done by the way his strategy failed to play out amidst the roulette-like luck of the Safety Car deployment. But Hamilton and his home fans were jubilant as the victorious Englishman grabbed a Union Flag from one of the marshals after finishing first, happily driving it around and wearing it proudly on the podium for all to see.

Safety Car shenanigans aside, the race itself was undoubtedly one of the best of the season with battles all over the field and fierce whee-to-wheel jousting. While Mercedes eventually showed their clear superiority, the battle between the Ferraris and Red Bulls was race-long and decidedly intense. Ferrari’s Chalres Leclerc and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen renewed their door-banging acquaintance of two weeks ago in Austria for lap after lap to open this race. They even took it into the pits with Verstappen muscling his way past Leclerc after both cars had been serviced on Lap 14 for a momentary advantage. But Verstappen struggled with grip on exit and Leclerc immediately passed the Dutchman back on track, maintaining his P4 position with authority. When Alfa-Romeo’s Antonio Giovinnazi beached it in a gravel trap on Lap 20 bringing out that fateful Safety Car Leclerc pitted again for Hard tires but still emerged in front of Vertsappen. But once the race went green again Verstappen was able to dispatch Leclerc and his own teammate Pierre Gasly, who was finally running a competitive race, for P4. This puts him directly behind the Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel and Verstappen set about hunting the German down. In short order Vertsappen was on the Prancing Horse’s tail and on Lap 36 he made a forceful pass for P3 streaking into Stowe. But as Verstappen decelerated for the upcoming corner, Vettel, certainly keen to retake the position, failed to slow enough and rammed into the back of the Red Bull bouncing Vertsppen’s car off the track with some force. Amazingly Vertsppenn’s mount was intact and able to continue. Vettel, however, was forced to pit for a new nose due to his miscalculation, a race-destroying own goal by the 4-time champion that saw him drop from a possible podium to a lowly P16 finish. Once again the formerly peerless Vettel committed an unforced error with dire consequences for his championship aspirations.

Pics courtesy GrandPrix247.com

Leclerc was able to take advantage of the Verstappen-Vettel melee and zip on by both cars to inherit the P3 position that the Monegasque would never relinquish. It was Leclrec’s fourth consecutive podium finish and the young driver is surely looking like the future at Ferrari. Gasly also took advantage of his teammate’s misfortune to seize P4, the young Frenchman’s best finish of the season. The stricken car of Verstappen was badly wounded but still managed to drive home P5. If Red Bull can stay this close to Ferrari on performance for the remainder of the year there should be plenty more great battles to come between these four closely matched drivers.

Further back in the top 10 McLaren’s Carlos Sainz stayed out fo trouble and patiently worked his way up to a solid P6 finish. The two Renaults of Daniel Ricciardo and Nico Huilkneberg both finished in the points in P7 and P10 respectively. And the veteran Kimi Raikkonen showed his savvy and skill at Silverstone by willing his overmatched Alfa Romeo up to P8, while Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat also did well to come home P9.

Top 10 finishers of the British GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR LAPS TIME/RETIRED PTS
1 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 52 1:21:08.452 26
2 77 Valtteri Bottas MERCEDES 52 +24.928s 18
3 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 52 +30.117s 15
4 10 Pierre Gasly RED BULL RACING HONDA 52 +34.692s 12
5 33 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING HONDA 52 +39.458s 10
6 55 Carlos Sainz MCLAREN RENAULT 52 +53.639s 8
7 3 Daniel Ricciardo RENAULT 52 +54.401s 6
8 7 Kimi Räikkönen ALFA ROMEO RACING FERRARI 52 +65.540s 4
9 26 Daniil Kvyat SCUDERIA TORO ROSSO HONDA 52 +66.720s 2
10 27 Nico Hulkenberg RENAULT 52 +72.733s 1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race is in two weeks time — the German Grand Prix at the Hockenheimring. Hopefully the action at the British Grand Prix is a harbinger of good things to come as the battle between Ferrari and Red Bull heats up even more. And of course Bottas will be looking for retribution against his championship leading teammate Hamilton. Hope to see you then to see how it all shakes out!

2019 F1 Grand Prix of Great Britain — Qualifying results

Bottas steals Hamilton’s thunder for pole at Silverstone; Leclerc to start P3, Vettel P6 for perplexing Ferrari

Seeking to add to his record 6 pole positions at the venerable Silverstone Circuit, Lewis Hamilton was instead thwarted in Saturday Qualifying by his Silver Arrows’ teammate, Valtteri Bottas, who bested the Englishman in front of his home crowd by a minuscule .006 seconds. Atypically, the last flying laps were not the quickest of the session and neither Hamilton or Bottas could better their times from earlier in Q3. So the Finn’s quickest attempt held up against Hamilton’s and the entire top 10’s best efforts to better it and gave him the top spot on the grid for Sunday’s race. It also marked a bit of a resurgence for Bottas, who closed the points gap with Hamilton by out-finishing him P3 to P5 in red hot Austria two weeks ago on what was an off weekend for both Mercedes as a whole and Lewis specifically. But the Silver Arrows looked back on form at cool and overcast Silverstone so we’ll see which of the teammates can prevail if that return to the usual Mercedes supremacy holds true in tomorrow’s GP.

Ferrari had a confusing day in the saddle after looking blindingly fast in the practices leading up to Qualifying. It seemed the longer everybody ran and rubbered in the rather green track with its newly re-paved surface the more the Prancing Horses slowed. After looking like the fastest man at various points throughout the day and going purple/fatstest in the first two sectors on his final flying lap Charles Leclerc had to settle for the third fastest time overall, about 8-tenths behind P2 Hamilton’s pace. Worse still for the legendary Scuderia, Sebastian Vettel’s pace never really presented itself and the German 4-time champion could muster no better than a P6 qualifying lap. Vettel’s mystifying drop off will be of serious concern and is another headache in an already challenging season. Both he and the team have less than 24-hours to pinpoint the issues and try to get more out the car to be competitive in tomorrow’s race.

Red Bull’s Max Vertsappen was also slower than he would have liked and apparently suffered from a fairly rare turbo lag issue. The winner in Austria two weeks ago qualified in P4. His teammate Pierre Gasly had perhaps his best all around qualifying effort of the season slotting in just behind the heralded Verstappen in P5. Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo will line up behind Vettel in P7 and he seriously out-qualified his teammate Nico Hulkenberg, who could do no better than the tenth fastest time. Lando Norris continued his strong run by placing his McLaren up in P8 on the grid and Toro Rosso’s Alexander Albon, another rookie, also did well to set the ninth fastest time. Both young drivers were well ahead of their more experienced teammates, Carlos Sainz and Daniil Kvyat respectively.

Top 10 qualifiers for the British GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 77 Valtteri Bottas MERCEDES 1:25.750 1:25.672 1:25.093 21
2 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 1:25.513 1:25.840 1:25.099 17
3 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 1:25.533 1:25.546 1:25.172 18
4 33 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING HONDA 1:25.700 1:25.848 1:25.276 21
5 10 Pierre Gasly RED BULL RACING HONDA 1:26.273 1:26.038 1:25.590 21
6 5 Sebastian Vettel FERRARI 1:25.898 1:26.023 1:25.787 19
7 3 Daniel Ricciardo RENAULT 1:26.428 1:26.283 1:26.182 21
8 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN RENAULT 1:26.079 1:26.385 1:26.224 21
9 23 Alexander Albon SCUDERIA TORO ROSSO HONDA 1:26.482 1:26.403 1:26.345 24
10 27 Nico Hulkenberg RENAULT 1:26.568 1:26.397 1:26.386 21

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race airs live beginning at 9AM Eastern on EPSN2 here in the States. Can Bottas give Hamilton a run for his money at a circuit where the Englishman has always felt at home? Or will Leclerc earn his first ever F1 win at Mercedes’ expense? Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!