Tag Archives: Sergio Perez

2018 F1 Grand Prix of Azerbaijan — Results & aftermath

Hamilton lucks into wild win at Baku as Bottas blows tire from lead; Raikkonen salvages P2 but Vettel misses out as Perez podiums; Red Bulls crash each other out

The Azerbaijan Grand Prix has quickly become one of the most entertaining and potentially consequential on the Formula 1 calendar. In only its third year on the schedule the tricky Baku City Circuit once again provided more than its fair share of twists, turns and nail-biting drama. Fortune seemed to change its favors on a whim as chaos reigned and the laps wound down on Sunday and it was Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton whom she finally chose to smile upon even as she turned her fickle back on his more deserving teammate. With Valtteri Bottas looking primed to win for the first time in 2018 due to clever pit strategy and (once again) the strangely permissive nature of F1’s pit rules under Safety Car the unlucky Finn ran over debris at high speed down the start-finish straight with only two laps to go, puncturing his rear right tire and dooming his race. As Bottas trundled despondently off the track and into a hard-luck DNF, second position Hamilton capitalized on his teammate’s misfortune to inherit the lead and the victory in short order. Amazingly it was the current World Champion’s first victory of the new season and gave the Englishman a much needed boost after a desultory start saw him a lackluster second in the championship. But if we’re all being honest Bottas has outdriven the 4-time champ Hamilton so far this season and Sunday was no exception. But for a better track cleanup under the long yellow flag periods it could have been the unlucky Finn celebrating at his teammate’s expense rather than the other way around.

Pics courtesy GrandPrix247.com

Despite leading both the Constructors’ and Drivers’ Championships so far this season and with a car that is obviously up for race wins every weekend Ferrari had another very mixed day. Their lead ace Sebastian Vettel controlled the first part of the race from pole but then the team seemed to get a bit too ambitious on tire strategy by running longer stints and allowing the Mercedes to erase Vettel’s hard fought time advantage on fresher rubber. Worse still when a major Safety Car came out on Lap 40 after a disastrous incident between the two Red Bulls it was the Merc of Bottas who made the first dive to the pits for the Ultrasoft Pirellis, the perfect rubber for the closing laps of this 51 lap street fight. Vettel, as well as Hamilton, were forced to react but that left Bottas in the lead with Vettel behind in P2 running seemingly endless laps behind the Safety Car on rapidly cooling tires. When the race finally got going again on Lap 48 Vettel pushed too hard to try to regain the top spot, locking up and running off line as first Hamilton and then his teammate Kimi Raikkonen passed him. The flat spots on his tires made his normally fantastic SF71H underivable and eventually even the Force India of Sergio Perez was also able to pass him. With Bottas’ unfortunate puncture that meant not only that Hamilton would earn the victory but also that Raikkonen and Perez would be on the podium at Vettel’s expense. After leading the most laps and looking  likely to duke it out for the win Vettel finished a disappointing P4. The German points leader and his team had to be wondering where it all went wrong on a day that started with so much promise.

Raikkonen had a saga of his own en route to that impressive if somewhat fortuitous P2 finish. Continue reading →

2018 F1 Grand Prix of Azerbaijan — Qualifying results

Vettel & Ferrari continue pole streak in Baku but Raikkonen slips to P6; Hamilton seizes front row spot in P2, Bottas primed to attack in P3

The good news for Ferrari and their lead driver Sebastian Vettel is that they both kept their pole streak alive at the mind blowingly difficult Baku street circuit in Azerbaijan in Saturday qualifying. Vettel showed once again that the Scuderia’s 2018 SF71H chassis has more than made up the speed defeicit to might Mercedes by taking his third consecutive pole and besting Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton & Valtteri Bottas in mano a mano combat. The bad news for Ferrari is that their Number 2, veteran Kimi Raikkonen, was once again maddeningly inconstant when it counted the most. On a flying lap in the dying moments of Q3 Raikkonen looked primed to pip Vettel for the top starting spot. Instead he pushed just that little bit too hard resulting in a wriggling tank slapper that the Finn quickly caught before smashing into the wall but that cost him valuable time. After that bobble Raikkonen ended up with only the 6th fastest time and therefore leaves his teammate potentially at the mercy of two hard charging Mercedes Silver Arrows on the opening lap.

Lewis Hamilton showed the fire that had been missing in the last couple of race weekends and tried very hard, coming up just short of Vettel in P2. His teammate Valtteri Bottas who has performed well so far and is a mere 5 points behind his more illustrious teammate in the Drivers’ Championship, put in a lap good enough for P3. That makes for intriguing starting positions for Mercedes and they are sure to harass Vettel with Raikkonen farther from the fight and perhaps try and get Lewis Hamilton his first win of the season here in its fourth round.

Red Bull might also find themselves in the mix even if they seem to lack the overall pace of the top two teams. Daniel Ricciardo, the winner of the last GP in China, parlayed that rediscovered confidence into a fine P4 start on the grid. His sometimes impulsive teammate drove within himself on this very challenging and at places super tight circuit to secure a P5 start. Behind Raikkonen, Force India’s Esteban Ocon did very well to come home with the seventh fastest time with his teammate and ofttimes archrival Sergio Perez just behind him in P8. The Renualts of Nico Hilkenber rounded out the top 10 qualifiers with Nico Hilkenberg in P9 and Carlos Sainz in P10 respectively. However, Hulkenberg will get dropped five spots with a gearbox penalty so Lance Stroll will be elevated to start tenth, a nice and much needed reward for struggling Williams.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Azerbaijan GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 5 Sebastian Vettel FERRARI 1:42.762 1:43.015 1:41.498 19
2 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 1:42.693 1:42.676 1:41.677 21
3 77 Valtteri Bottas MERCEDES 1:43.355 1:42.679 1:41.837 21
4 3 Daniel Ricciardo RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 1:42.857 1:43.482 1:41.911 20
5 33 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 1:42.642 1:42.901 1:41.994 19
6 7 Kimi Räikkönen FERRARI 1:42.538 1:42.510 1:42.490 20
7 31 Esteban Ocon FORCE INDIA MERCEDES 1:43.021 1:42.967 1:42.523 20
8 11 Sergio Perez FORCE INDIA MERCEDES 1:43.992 1:43.366 1:42.547 20
9 27 Nico Hulkenberg RENAULT 1:43.746 1:43.232 1:43.066 20
10 55 Carlos Sainz RENAULT 1:43.426 1:43.464 1:43.351 20

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race airs live at 8AM Eastern on ESPN2 here in the States. On this highly challenging and exciting street course expect Safety Cars and chaos. Hope to see you then to see who can keep it out of the walls and come home to victory!

2018 F1 Grand Prix of China — Qualifying results

Vettel edges Raikkonen for pole, leads Ferrari front row lockout in Shanghai; Bottas again quicker than Hamilton for Mercedes as Silver Arrows qualify P3 and P4

Ferrari displayed definitive pace over their arch-rivals Mercedes in Saturday qualifying at the Shanghai International Circuit in China indicating that they may well have shifted to the favorites to win the one or both of the F1 championships this season. Their ace Sebastian Vettel was able to dig deep and take pole from his teammate Kimi Raikkonen with a sterling lap in the dying seconds of Q3. The Iceman had been looking good for his first-ever top starting spot in China but Vettel once again saved his best fo last, thwarting the best laid plans of his Finnish teammate by a mere .09 seconds. It was Vettel’s fourth career pole in China and it also marked two consecutive front row lockouts for Ferrari, the first time the famed Italian team have achieved that feat since the great Schumacher-Barrichello years back in 2006. Three race weekends into 2018 the Prancing Horses appear to be for real and Mercedes have so far not been able to match Maranello’s significant performance improvements.

That deficit by the Silver Arrows to Ferrari was clearly evident when Mercedes’ ostensible number two, Valtteri Bottas, lagged behind Raikkonen’s P2 time by nearly half a second. Worse yet for the team, its reigning champion Lewis Hamilton botched his last attempt in Q3 and had to settle for the fourth best time over all. It was the second time in a row that Bottas out-qualified Hamilton, an uncommon circumstance to say the least. The only potential external excuse Mercedes may have had for their lack of pace was the unusually cold weather in Shanghai, where temperatures hovered only in the low teens Celsius/50s Fahrenheit. Mercedes will hope to make a good start behind the Ferraris with their dynamic duo and then ride some sort of tire strategy to a potential upset. However Ferrari are starting on the same Pirelli Soft tires as the Silver Arrows so it remains to be seen which team can really play an advantage via savvy pit calls.

Further down the grid Red Bull are hoping for a bounce-back result after a double DNF in Bahrain. Max Verstappen was able to secure P5 on the grid, while his teammate Daniel Ricciardo and his crew did yeoman’s work to take P6. The Ricciardo side of the garage just got the Aussie veteran’s machine out in Q1 fir one flying lap good enough to go through after a blown engine in the last practice session and then an under-built Renault replacement engine almost caused the team to miss quali completely.

Nico Hulkenberg and Carlos Sainz qualified P7 and P9 for the Renault factory team respectively. They were split by the improving Force India of Sergio Perez in P8. Romain Grosjean drove well in his Haas to take P10 on the grid, outperforming his teammate Kevin Magnussen in qualifying for the first time this season.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Chinese GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 5 Sebastian Vettel FERRARI 1:32.171 1:32.385 1:31.095 15
2 7 Kimi Räikkönen FERRARI 1:32.474 1:32.286 1:31.182 17
3 77 Valtteri Bottas MERCEDES 1:32.921 1:32.063 1:31.625 20
4 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 1:33.283 1:31.914 1:31.675 17
5 33 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 1:32.932 1:32.809 1:31.796 12
6 3 Daniel Ricciardo RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 1:33.877 1:32.688 1:31.948 12
7 27 Nico Hulkenberg RENAULT 1:33.545 1:32.494 1:32.532 15
8 11 Sergio Perez FORCE INDIA MERCEDES 1:33.464 1:32.931 1:32.758 13
9 55 Carlos Sainz RENAULT 1:33.315 1:32.970 1:32.819 18
10 8 Romain Grosjean HAAS FERRARI 1:33.238 1:32.524 1:32.855 19

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Sunday’s race airs live on ESPN2 starting at 2AM Eastern here in the States. So set that DVR or brew that late night pot of coffee because all six cars of the contending teams barreling into Turn 1 should alone be worth the price of admission!

2017 F1 Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi — Results & aftermath

Bottas wins last race of season going away, Hamitlon P2; Vettel a distant P3

Mercedes #2 Valtteri Bottas finished out the season in style by winning the Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi from the pole. His recently crowned 4-time World Champion teammate Lewis Hamilton came home a comfortable second and never seemed to push his Finnish wingman too hard for the victory, having secured the ultimate individual prize in Mexico some weeks back. Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel finished a distant P3, a fitting end to a fleetingly promising season for the fabled Scuderia from Maranello. Their once robust challenge to Mercedes supremacy all began to fall apart in the second half when a first lap shunt between teammates in Singapore started a death spiral of unreliability that ended any realistic chance of a genuine title run. Vettel’s stablemate Kimi Raikkonen finished P4 after a lackluster campaign, once again begging the question of just why Ferrari have re-signed the aging Iceman for next season when there is so much hot young talent out there.

Pics courtesy GrandPrix247.com

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen came home a decent P5, flying the flag for the team after Daniel Ricciardo suffered hydraulic failure on Lap 21. It was an unfortunate bookend to the affable Aussie’s season — he also DNF’d in the first race of the year way back in March at his home Grand Prix in Melbourne — and it seeded fourth in the Drivers’ points to Raikkonen. With better reliability Red Bull really would have challenged Ferrari for second overall and they’ll be hoping for just that next season, Further back in the pack Nico Hulkenberg overcame a 5-second time penalty for cutting a corner while passing his old Force India sparring partner Sergio Perez early in the race to take P6 for Renault. The result was doubly excellent for the veteran German in his first year with the squad, as it netted enough points to lift the factory Renault team into 6th in the Constructors’ standings ahead of struggling Toro Rosso. It was a very lucrative last race promotion that also bodes well for the French automotive giant’s chances next year.

Perez, whose incessant complaining about Hulkenberg’s unfair pass guaranteed the penalty from the stewards, could nevertheless not capitalize and finished P7. His Force India teammate Esteban Ocon was right behind in P8, wrapping up another excellent points haul for the little team from Silverstone and proving with that season-long consistency that their fourth place in the Constructors’ was no fluke. Two veterans rounded out the Top 10. Fernando Alonso took P9 for McLaren and will be looking forward to next year not only for a new Renault power unit but also for his double duty in sports cars at The Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona and in the WEC Championship for Toyota. And Felipe Massa finished up his 269th and final F1 race in the points in P10, capping a sterling 15-year career with crowd pleasing burnouts alongside the top two Mercedes as a massive fireworks display exploded around the dazzling Yas Marina circuit. It was a memorable and fittingly celebratory end to the little Brazilian’s outstanding Formula 1 career.

Top 10 finishers of the Abu Dhabi GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR LAPS TIME/RETIRED PTS
1 77 Valtteri Bottas MERCEDES 55 1:34:14.062 25
2 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 55 +3.899s 18
3 5 Sebastian Vettel FERRARI 55 +19.330s 15
4 7 Kimi Räikkönen FERRARI 55 +45.386s 12
5 33 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 55 +46.269s 10
6 27 Nico Hulkenberg RENAULT 55 +85.713s 8
7 11 Sergio Perez FORCE INDIA MERCEDES 55 +92.062s 6
8 31 Esteban Ocon FORCE INDIA MERCEDES 55 +98.911s 4
9 14 Fernando Alonso MCLAREN HONDA 54 +1 lap 2
10 19 Felipe Massa WILLIAMS MERCEDES 54 +1 lap 1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

Final 2017 Drivers Standings are here.

Final 2017 Constructors Standings are here.

2017 F1 Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi — Qualifying results

Bottas grabs pole at Yas Marina, Hamilton takes P2 for Mercedes front row lockout; Vettel third fastest for Ferrari

Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas made it two poles in a row to close out the season in good form, laying down a record fastest time at the beautiful day-into-night Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi on Saturday. Bottas bested his recently-crowned World Champion teammate Lewis Hamilton by .17 seconds to take the top starting spot for tomorrow’s Grand Prix, the finale of the exciting 2017 F1 campaign. Hamilton tried hard, his Silver Arrow squirming into the final turn at the very edge of adhesion as the checkered flag flew in Q3. But he couldn’t quite overcome his Finnish wingman’s earlier fastest lap and will line up in the #2 spot. Sebastian Vettel put in a typically sterling effort to elevate his Ferrari to P3 on the grid even if his Prancing Horse could never really match the pace of the Mercs at this flat, billiard table smooth and very speedy purpose-built track.

Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo split the Ferraris and also bested his teammate with a superlative final lap good enough for the 4th fastest time. That relegated Vettel’s teammate, Kimi Raikkonen, to the third row and P5 on the grid and Ricciardo’s stablemate, Max Verstappen, back to P6. Rounding out the Top 10, Nico Hulkenberg qualified P7 for Renault, Force India’s Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon were back-to-back in P8 and P9 respectively and Felipe Massa will start from 10th in what will be his 269th and last Formula 1 race after a distinguished 15-year career.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Abu Dhabi GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 77 Valtteri Bottas MERCEDES 1:37.356 1:36.822 1:36.231 18
2 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 1:37.391 1:36.742 1:36.403 19
3 5 Sebastian Vettel FERRARI 1:37.817 1:37.023 1:36.777 18
4 3 Daniel Ricciardo RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 1:38.016 1:37.583 1:36.959 16
5 7 Kimi Räikkönen FERRARI 1:37.453 1:37.302 1:36.985 17
6 33 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 1:38.021 1:37.777 1:37.328 19
7 27 Nico Hulkenberg RENAULT 1:38.781 1:38.138 1:38.282 14
8 11 Sergio Perez FORCE INDIA MERCEDES 1:38.601 1:38.359 1:38.374 17
9 31 Esteban Ocon FORCE INDIA MERCEDES 1:38.896 1:38.392 1:38.397 17
10 19 Felipe Massa WILLIAMS MERCEDES 1:38.629 1:38.565 1:38.550 18

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race airs live starting at 8:00 AM Eastern here in the States on NBC Sports. It is not only the last contest of the year but also NBC’s final broadcast with next year’s F1 rights going over to ABC/ESPN. So join Steve Matchett, David Hobbs & Leigh Diffy one final time to farewell not only Fomula 1 for the year but also a really excellent broadcast team who helped make F1 racing more approachable and enjoyable for the North American fans. Hope to see you then to see how the season ends!

2017 F1 Grand Prix of Brazil — Results & aftermath

Vettel victorious in Brazil, Bottas P2; Raikkonen finishes third while Hamilton roars back from the rear for P4

Sebastian Vettel and Scuderia Ferrari got a measure of redemption in Brazil on Sunday after coming up short in their quest for the Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championships. In the penultimate race of the season Vettel made a blinding start from P2, slipping past Mercedes pole-sitter Valtteri Bottas on the inside of Turn 1 and quickly pulling out a gap. Even after a multi-car melee behind the leaders led to a first-lap Safety Car Vettel was able to re-establish his advantage after the restart and control the race from the front, showing that for this weekend at least his Prancing Horse had the legs on the Silver Arrows. It all lead to a seemingly easy victory for the German 4-time World Champion, although Vettel claimed he had to be picture perfect in the middle sector all race long to hold Bottas off. It was also a much needed morale boost for the legendary team from Maranello after their second half swoon, which was fueled equally by unforced errors by drivers and engineering and ultimately resulted in their disappointing runner-up status. The victory at Interlagos also helped solidify Vettel’s number two position in the Drivers’ competition with his lead over Bottas ballooning to a very nearly insurmountable 22 points.

Despite a terrific qualifying effort that snatched pole from Ferrari on Saturday, Bottas’ Mercedes could not match Vettel’s race pace. The Finn made one or two vague challenges but essentially lost it at the start and had to settle for a relatively disappointing if comfortable P2. Likewise Vettel’s stablemate Kimi Raikkonen could never quite catch up to Bottas but drove a solid race to finish P3. Meanwhile Bottas’ teammate, newly-crowned 2017 champion Lewis Hamilton, had an amazing race to finish just off the podium in P4. Starting from pit lane after he shockingly binned his Merc early in the first round of qualifying, the team was able to break parc firmé and make several changes to the Englishman’s F1 W08. As well as aero tweaks Mercedes also installed a new power unit, which probably would have required grid penalties in the next race, the season finale in Abu Dhabi. Instead, despite his profound positional disadvantage, Hamilton tore through the field like a man possessed, slicing through back markers like a hot knife through butter. On an uncharacteristically sunny day in Sao Paolo with no aide from rain-induced strategy calls, Hamilton simply mustered the will to make it happen all on his own. In the end it showed once again why Lewis Hamilton is one of the all-time great F1 talents and truly deserving of his four world titles. Though Hamilton’s Super Soft Pirelli tires gave up at the end after a monster stint and he could not quite overtake Raikkonen for a podium his astounding fourth place must have felt nearly like a victory.

Behind the top four, Red Bull’s Max Vertsappen faded somewhat after a strong start where it looked like the young Dutch phenom might make the post-race champagne celebration. But the limits of his Renault power plant seemed to show themselves over the long run as the greater horsepower of the Ferraris and Mercedes pushed them out of his grasp. Verstappen had to settle for a distant P5, while his teammate Daniel Ricciardo did well to fight back after a first-lap spin to claim P6. Williams’ Felipe Massa earned an emotional P7 in his final home Grand Prix to the delight of the masses of his countrymen in the stands. The veteran Brazilian exited Sao Paolo with a clean and classy drive after tearfully crashing out during his rain-soaked false alarm last year.

Fernando Alonso continued McLaren’s upward ascent with a strong P8. Although next year will be extremely intriguing and demanding for the Spaniard with his plans to run not only the 24-Hours of Daytona in January but also at least a partial campaign for Toyota in the Prototype class of the World Endurance Championship, the two-time F1 champion has got to be looking forward to the switch to Renault engines to power what is seemingly a very competitive chassis. Unfortunately for McLaren, however, their second driver Stoffel Vanfoorne crashed out on the opening lap after getting tagged by Haas’ Kevin Magnussen, who also had to retire. Sergio Perez brought his Force India home to a P9 finish after his teammate Esteban Ocon had his race-finishing streak snapped via a collision with Romain Grojean of Haas, also on the opening lap. Grosjean got a 10-second penalty for the accident but was able to complete the race, albeit out of the points in P15. Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg landed the last points-paying position in P10 just getting the better of his teammate Carlos Sainz, who finished P11.

Top 10 finishers of the Brazilian GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR LAPS TIME/RETIRED PTS
1 5 Sebastian Vettel FERRARI 71 1:31:26.262 25
2 77 Valtteri Bottas MERCEDES 71 +2.762s 18
3 7 Kimi Räikkönen FERRARI 71 +4.600s 15
4 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 71 +5.468s 12
5 33 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 71 +32.940s 10
6 3 Daniel Ricciardo RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 71 +48.691s 8
7 19 Felipe Massa WILLIAMS MERCEDES 71 +68.882s 6
8 14 Fernando Alonso MCLAREN HONDA 71 +69.363s 4
9 11 Sergio Perez FORCE INDIA MERCEDES 71 +69.500s 2
10 27 Nico Hulkenberg RENAULT 70 +1 lap 1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next & final race is in two weeks time, the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at the gorgeous day-into-night Yas Marina Circuit. Hope to see you then to find out how the season ends!

2017 F1 Grand Prix of Brazil — Qualifying results

Bottas snatches pole from Vettel while Hamilton crashes out in Q1 during unpredictable quali at Interlagos; Raikkonen P3

In a stunning qualifying session for the penultimate race of the 2017 campaign in Brazil on Saturday newly crowned World Champion Lewis Hamilton crashed out on his opening lap in Q1. The Mercedes ace lost it speeding into Turn 7 at Interlagos, bashing his Silver Arrow heavily into the barriers sideways. While the Englishman was unhurt his pride probably wasn’t by the unforced error just two weeks after he claimed his fourth F1 title in Mexico City. It only proved that it can happen to the best of drivers but it opened up the chase for pole to his only true rivals this season, his teammate Valtteri Bottas and Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel. And while Vettel looked like the favorite after laying down a track record lap relatively early in Q3, Bottas showed his mettle by besting that seemingly supreme time even though a light drizzle was falling and the checkered flag was waving. The Finn lifted Mercedes’ pride across the line with him at the death with a remarkable 1:08.322, good enough to take the pole and break Ferrari’s hearts. Vettel will start beside Bottas in P2 and his teammate Kimi Raikkonen will be right behind the Mercedes in P3. Hamilton, on the other hand, will have to start towards the back of the grid and will have to battle his way to the front, although other drivers facing grid spot penalties may move him up a spot or two by the time Sunday rolls around. Right now, however, the current F1 champ is starting from a lonely and lowly P20 after his very uncharacteristic cock up. (In fact it has just been announced that Hamilton will start from pit lane tomorrow, as Mercedes have decided to make changes to the car after the crash.)

The two Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo qualified P4 and P5 respectively but that success was somewhat illusory for the team. Ricciardo is one of the drivers facing engine-change penalties, 10 spots in his case, and so the affable Aussie was pushed back to P15 on the grid. And though Verstappen was spared any such FIA demerits the young Dutchman, winner of the last Grand Prix in Mexico two weeks ago, was forced to retrofit old components onto his ailing Renault engine. Verstappen could be heard complaining about shifting issues during qualifying and can only hope that his bad luck, so frequent in the earlier part of the season, doesn’t return in the form of yet more mechanical failures costing him a race finish. Sergio Perez was the lone Force India to make it into Q3 and had the 6th fastest time, while McLaren’s Fernando Alonso continued the team’s late season upward trajectory by qualifying an impressive P7 at this very fast circuit. The yellow factory Renaults of Nico Hulkenberg and Carlos Sainz were back-to-back with the 8th and 9th fastest times respectively. And Felipe Massa set the 10th quickest lap in what should really be his final Brazilian GP after last year’s tearful false alarm. It looks like the fine Brazilian veteran, who has the 6th most starts in Formula 1 history, will actually hang it up for good after being drafted back into Williams when Bottas made the unexpected leap to Mercedes following Nico Rosberg’s surprise retirement at the end of 2016. We can only wish Massa, a classy and plucky competitor with 15 F1 campaigns to his credit, the very best at his final home race as he heads for the exits at season’s end after a superb career.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Brazilian Grand Prix:

POS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 77 Valtteri Bottas MERCEDES 1:09.452 1:08.638 1:08.322 22
2 5 Sebastian Vettel FERRARI 1:09.643 1:08.494 1:08.360 21
3 7 Kimi Räikkönen FERRARI 1:09.405 1:09.116 1:08.538 18
4 33 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 1:09.820 1:09.050 1:08.925 18
5 3 Daniel Ricciardo RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 1:09.828 1:09.533 1:09.330 19
6 11 Sergio Perez FORCE INDIA MERCEDES 1:10.145 1:09.760 1:09.598 21
7 14 Fernando Alonso MCLAREN HONDA 1:10.172 1:09.593 1:09.617 17
8 27 Nico Hulkenberg RENAULT 1:10.078 1:09.726 1:09.703 21
9 55 Carlos Sainz RENAULT 1:10.227 1:09.768 1:09.805 17
10 19 Felipe Massa WILLIAMS MERCEDES 1:09.789 1:09.612 1:09.841 16

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race airs live on NBC Sports starting at 11:00 AM Eastern here in the States. With wet weather always the wild card at Interlagos it could once again be the factor that shakes up the field and produces an unexpected result. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2017 F1 Grand Prix of Mexico — Results & aftermath

Hamilton & Vettel collide on opening lap but Hamilton still earns 4th World Title with P9 finish; Verstappen class of the field to win Mexican GP going away

With Sebastian Vettel stubbornly clinging to a mathematical improbability to keep his championship hopes on life support and Lewis Hamilton vowing to win the Mexican GP outright and seal his fourth career Drivers’ title something had to give on Sunday. Sure enough, both supremely talented drivers refused to compromise their hard-charging styles when the lights went out at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez. Starting from pole, Ferrari’s lead man faced an instant challenge from Red Bull’s upstart wunderkind Max Verstappen, who Vettel had just pipped in qualifying, as they streaked down the long front straight heading into Turn 1. Not content to play it conservatively and bide his time for the simple fifth-place or higher finish that would guarantee his championship no matter where Vettel finished, Hamilton shoved the nose of his Mercedes right in amongst the front two runners. The somewhat predictable result was 3-into-2 won’t go — when Verstappen made a power move to ward off Vettel’s Prancing Horse, damaging the German’s front wing as a result, Hamilton thought he saw an overtaking opportunity. But instead Vettel bounced back to the outside and sliced down Hamilton’s rear right tire with the now razor sharp remains of his wing endplate. In an instant the top two contenders had compromised their race and had to make first-lap pit stops. Hamilton’s fate was more severe, perhaps a just reward for tempting the racing gods with his ambitious hubris, as the Englishman had to limp his Merc around the length of the circuit at low speed with his deflated tire. After emergency service for both combatants Vettel rejoined in P18 and Hamilton dead last in P20.

Pics courtesy GrandPrix247.com

It also seemed the injuries to Hamilton’s car were more severe than Vettel’s simple wing change, perhaps due to damage to the Mercedes’ floor, as the former had a lot more trouble picking off back markers and making his way through the field than the Ferrari. While the situation must have seemed desperate to Lewis, who even asked at one point whether Vettel had hit him deliberately (which could be forgiven after Baku), it soon became clear that the biggest possible threat to Hamilton’s desire to wrap up the Championship in Mexico was the reliability of Verstppen’s power unit at the front of the field. Red Bull had to be quite nervous as they saw first Verstappen’s teammate Daniel Ricciardo’s brand new Renault engine (which necessitated a penalty that saw the Aussie start from the back of the grid) suffer turbo failure on just Lap 5. Then other Renault-powered runners Nico Hulkenberg and Toro Rosso’s new man Brendon Hartley also suffer terminal issues (Hulkenberg’s Renault teammate also retired but this was due to steering issues). If Verstappen’s engine also failed late in the race, Hamilton’s Mercedes wingman Valtteri Bottas would inherit the lead but more significantly Vettel’s Ferrari stablemate Kimi Raikkonen would be elevated to P2. That would certainly lead to the Iceman being given team orders to let Vettel through and provide the German contender the desperately needed position to keep his championship hunt alive for the next race in Brazil.

It didn’t happen. Verstappen’s lead over Bottas was so commanding that he was able to minimize the stresses on his Renault power plant and make it to the checkered flag unchallenged and without drama. In the end, the superlative Dutchman won the race by nearly 20 seconds. Bottas held his second for the honor of Constructors’ Champion Mercedes and Raikkonen salvaged third on a day that seemed to encapsulate the squandered promise of 2017 for the fabled Scuderia from Maranello. Vettel roared back for a valiant P4 but it wasn’t enough to prevent seeing his title hopes extinguished. Hamilton finished P9 and joined Vettel in the ultra-exclusive 4-time World Champions club alongside the great Alain Prost. Only Michael Schumacher with 7 and Juan Manual Fangio with 5 have more championships than Hamilton now. If it wasn’t quite the way he pictured himself taking the title in the end that will be a pure footnote. Hamilton did what he set out to do at the beginning of the season following his disappointment over coming second best to his now retired teammate Nico Rosberg last year. He has now won his fourth crown and has clearly marked himself as one of the top drivers of this or any other generation. Simply put, Lewis Hamilton is a Hall of Fame Formula 1 driver.

The rest of the field was pleasantly shuffled due to so many retirements (5 DNFs in all): Force India had another fantastic day, their best of the season in fact, that saw their talented young Frenchman Esteban Ocon come home an impressive P5 and local hero Sergio Perez take P7 in front of his adoring countrymen in the grandstands. That secured fourth in the Constructors’ points for the little team from Silverstone, a massive — and massively lucrative — achievement for this low budget team. Lance Stroll was back in the points for Williams, driving a smart and well-composed race to finish P6. That it came on his 19th birthday must have been all the sweeter. Kevin Magnussen also excelled for Haas at a track where the team really struggled because of the high altitude. Magnussen was able to bring his chassis home in the points in P8. And Fernando Alonso grabbed the last points-paying position for McLaren in P10, although the Woking-based team had to be a bit concerned by all of Renault’s unreliability in this race, as they are jumping to that engine manufacturer next year while ditching the increasingly steady Honda.

Top 10 finishers of the Mexican GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR LAPS TIME/RETIRED PTS
1 33 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 71 1:36:26.552 25
2 77 Valtteri Bottas MERCEDES 71 +19.678s 18
3 7 Kimi Räikkönen FERRARI 71 +54.007s 15
4 5 Sebastian Vettel FERRARI 71 +70.078s 12
5 31 Esteban Ocon FORCE INDIA MERCEDES 70 +1 lap 10
6 18 Lance Stroll WILLIAMS MERCEDES 70 +1 lap 8
7 11 Sergio Perez FORCE INDIA MERCEDES 70 +1 lap 6
8 20 Kevin Magnussen HAAS FERRARI 70 +1 lap 4
9 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 70 +1 lap 2
10 14 Fernando Alonso MCLAREN HONDA 70 +1 lap 1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race is in but two weeks time — the Brazilian Grand Prix at Interlagos, the penultimate contest on the 2017 F1 calendar. The big prizes may have already been awarded but with only two races left before the long, cold winter break best to tide yourself over with some more great Formula1 memories to carry you through those long, dark nights ahead. Hope to see you then!

2017 F1 Grand Prix of Mexico — Qualifying results

Ferrari’s Vettel bests Red Bull’s Verstappen for pole in Mexico City; Mercedes off the pace with Hamilton P3, Bottas P4

Showing the fight of a true champion, Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel laid down a track record lap of 1:16.488 for pole in the rarified air at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City on Saturday. Still mathemeaically alive in the Drivers’ Championship, albeit barely so, Vettel earned his 50th career pole by besting Red Bull’s ultra-quick wunderkind, Max Verstappen, by a scant .09 seconds. Verstappen had looked like the quicker man coming into Q3 but the young Ducthman, driving with a chip on his shoulder after being denied the podium by the stewards a week ago in Austin, couldn’t quite hook his laps up in the final qualifying round. Still, the Red Bull man was faster than both Mercedes, who struggled for outright pace against their usually inferior rivals a week after securing their fourth consecutive Constructors’ title. Points leader Lewis Hamilton, who can secure his fourth championship even if Vettel wins by finishing fifth or better on Sunday, could muster a time good enough for only P3 on the dusty, low-grip circuit. His wingman Valtteri Bottas vaulted himself to P4 on his only timed run in Q3 after a promising early attempt was spoiled by nearly colliding with a slowing Verstappen in the final sector (this tike Vertsappen escaped the stewards’ wrath). So for once in that proverbial blue moon the mighty Mercedes look like the third fastest cars on track, an unusual position to say the least and one that may be caused by the shortness of the circuit and the longness of their wheelbase. However the race could be a different proposition, particularly as the Silver Arrows are at least grouped to fight together while Vettel & Verstappen’s teammates are both separated from them further down the grid.

In fact, Ferrari #2 Kimi Raikkonen will start behind the two Mercs in P5, while the second Red Bull of Daniel Riciciardo looked a bit lost and could do no better than a P7 time. The affable Aussie saw himself bested by Force India’s Esteban Ocon, who qualified ahead in P6. The young Frenchman also outdid his teammate and archrival, Mexican national Sergio Perez, by a considerable margin. Perez could manage no better than P10 despite the passionate encouragement of his countrymen in the stands for his home Grand Prix. Rounding out the top 10, Nico Hulkenberg pipped his new Renault teammate Carlos Sainz, P8 to P9.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Mexican GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 5 Sebastian Vettel FERRARI 1:17.665 1:16.870 1:16.488 20
2 33 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 1:17.630 1:16.524 1:16.574 19
3 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 1:17.518 1:17.035 1:16.934 21
4 77 Valtteri Bottas MERCEDES 1:17.578 1:17.161 1:16.958 17
5 7 Kimi Räikkönen FERRARI 1:18.148 1:17.534 1:17.238 20
6 31 Esteban Ocon FORCE INDIA MERCEDES 1:18.336 1:17.827 1:17.437 19
7 3 Daniel Ricciardo RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 1:18.208 1:17.631 1:17.447 15
8 27 Nico Hulkenberg RENAULT 1:18.322 1:17.792 1:17.466 17
9 55 Carlos Sainz RENAULT 1:18.405 1:17.753 1:17.794 17
10 11 Sergio Perez FORCE INDIA MERCEDES 1:18.020 1:17.868 1:17.807 19

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race airs live on NBC at 3PM Eastern here in the States. Can Vettel live to fight another day or will Hamilton issue the coup de grâce and be crowned 2017’s champion? Might Verstappen steal the spotlight from both veterans by laying down a marker as next year’s man to beat? Hope to see you then to find out!

2017 F1 Grand Prix of the United States — Results & aftermath

Hamilton moves closer to title with dominant win in Texas as Mercedes clinch fourth straight Constructors’ Championship; Vettel salvages P2, Raikkonen third after Verstappen penalized

Mercedes’ ace Lewis Hamilton had a superb weekend for both himself and the team at an American track that has come to seem like a second home to the Englishman. Starting from pole at The Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, the championship points leader was able to overcome a fast start by the last remaining obstacle to the pursuit of his fourth Formula 1 crown, Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel. Vettel was quicker on the opening lap and got by Hamilton with authority. For a brief moment it seemed that Ferrari could put their miserable 3-race tailspin behind them and get back on level footing with mighty Mercedes. But Hamilton’s Silver Arrow proved the stronger car as the laps accumulated and the tires settled in. Hamilton closed down the German relentlessly and by getting to within DRS range was able to pass Vettel on Lap 6, taking a lead he would never really relinquish again.

Pics courtesy GrandPrix247.com

Perhaps because of Ferrari having to trim downforce off the car to match Mercedes’ pace at this long flowing track the Prancing Horses were not quite as good on their tires as they had been in other races. While Vettel had to stop for fresh rubber on Lap 17, Hamilton ran until Lap 20 (although one could argue this was a lap too late as he really hit the cliff by then). Hamilton was then able to run his Soft tires until the end of the race on his way to the victory, while Vettel threw the dice for a second tire change on Lap 39 of 56. It didn’t pan out for the Scuderia man — he had lost too much track position. In the end Hamilton won decisively by over 10 seconds while Vettel pushed his way back to the front and then was let through by his teammate Kimi Raikkonen for P2, keeping the Drivers’ Championship mathematically alive for another race weekend. Hamilton’s win in the States also helped earn the Mercedes factory team their fourth Constructors’ title on the trot. And to think that most people thought Hamilton was mad to jump from McLaren to Merc back in 2013. It was also Hamilton’s astounding fifth win at COTA in six attempts.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlnhuSGM_Mc

Raikkonen was awarded the last step on the podium in controversial fashion after Red Bull’s Max Verstappen made a stunning pass on him for P3 on the very last lap of the race. But the Dutch wunderkind who hurtled himself all the way up from a 16th place starting position after engine penalties, slicing through the field like a hot knife along the way, was deemed by the stewards to have exceeded track limits in gaining the advantage on Kimi. He was hit with a 5-second time penalty while waiting in the podium green room and had to give way to Raikkonen in shocking fashion. The 20-year-old phenom was justifiably livid at the decision in a race where track limits seemed to have been abused all day long with no similar consequences. In the end, though, the now fourth place Vertsappen could only take satisfaction in adding to his growing resume of superb overtaking drives, as well as signing a new multi-year contract with Red Bull, a smart move by the team in locking up such a prodigious if still maturing talent. Adding to the mixed feeling for Red Bull after the US Grand Prix their other driver, Daniel Ricciardo, suffered engine failure on Lap 16. It was a major disappointment for the Aussie after a roaring start from P4 on the grid and some hot and heavy wheel-to-wheel action with Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas.

Bottas lost ground late and finished P5 but it was still enough of a points haul to put Mercedes over the top for the title. Force India’s Esteban Ocon drove well despite battling the flu and finished P6, while his teammate and jousting partner Sergio Perez came home P8. That consolidated the team’s fourth place in the Constructors’ title, a remarkable result for the little Force India team. Carlos Sainz was extremely impressive in his maiden run for the factory Renault team, driving superbly to a P7 finish. Felipe Massa took P9 for underachieving Wiliams and Sainz’s old teammate Daniil Kvyat was P10 in his return to his Toro Rosso seat after a two-race enforced absence by the team.

Top 10 finishers of the US Grand Prix:

POS NO DRIVER CAR LAPS TIME/RETIRED PTS
1 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 56 1:33:50.991 25
2 5 Sebastian Vettel FERRARI 56 +10.143s 18
3 7 Kimi Räikkönen FERRARI 56 +15.779s 15
4 33 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 56 +16.768s 12
5 77 Valtteri Bottas MERCEDES 56 +34.967s 10
6 31 Esteban Ocon FORCE INDIA MERCEDES 56 +90.980s 8
7 55 Carlos Sainz RENAULT 56 +92.944s 6
8 11 Sergio Perez FORCE INDIA MERCEDES 55 +1 lap 4
9 19 Felipe Massa WILLIAMS MERCEDES 55 +1 lap 2
10 26 Daniil Kvyat TORO ROSSO 55 +1 lap 1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race is in but a week’s time, just south of the border from Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City. Can Sebastian Vettel prolong the inevitable or will Lewis Hamilton join the German in the elite 4-time F1 Champions’ club? Hope to see you then to find out!