Tag Archives: Toro Rosso

2018 F1 Grand Prix of Monaco — Qualifying results

Ricciardo seizes pole for Red Bull at Monte Carlo; Vettel P2, Hamilton P3

Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo blistered the field in Saturday qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix, laying down a track record fast lap of 1:10.810, easily good enough for pole over the other favorites. After his teammate Max Verstappen had a costly crash in free Practice 3 that ruined his gear box and kept the Dutchman out of qualifying entirely, Ricciardo saved Red Bull’s honor by running the fastest laps in every qualifying session including when it counted most. This was Riccairdo’s second career pole at the famed Monte Carlo street circuit and showed once again how dangerous Red Bull’s slippery chassis can be on this ultra-tight course. Now if only his team can remember to put tires out for him during the race the Aussie just might win the big prize on Sunday. It should also be worth the price of admission to see young Max attempt to fight his way back into contention from the very rear of the pack.

Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel was the best of rest, outperforming Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton for P2 to the Englishman’s P3 time. Likewise Vettel’s Scuderia stablemate Kimi Raikkonen bested Hamilton’s Silver Arrows wingman Valtteri Bottas P4 to P5 indicating the Prancing Horse may be better suited to this great old street course than the usually superior Mercedes. Force India did well to put both their drivers into the Top 10 on the grid with Esteban Ocon qualifying P6 and Sergio Perez P9, while Fernando Alonso willed his McLaren up to P7. Rounding out the front of the grid, Carlos Sainz will start P8 for Renault and Pierre Gasly will start P10 for Toro Rosso.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Monaco GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 3 Daniel Ricciardo RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 1:12.013 1:11.278 1:10.810 17
2 5 Sebastian Vettel FERRARI 1:12.415 1:11.518 1:11.039 21
3 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 1:12.460 1:11.584 1:11.232 22
4 7 Kimi Räikkönen FERRARI 1:12.639 1:11.391 1:11.266 22
5 77 Valtteri Bottas MERCEDES 1:12.434 1:12.002 1:11.441 25
6 31 Esteban Ocon FORCE INDIA MERCEDES 1:13.028 1:12.188 1:12.061 27
7 14 Fernando Alonso MCLAREN RENAULT 1:12.657 1:12.269 1:12.110 26
8 55 Carlos Sainz RENAULT 1:12.950 1:12.286 1:12.130 28
9 11 Sergio Perez FORCE INDIA MERCEDES 1:12.848 1:12.194 1:12.154 23
10 10 Pierre Gasly SCUDERIA TORO ROSSO HONDA 1:12.941 1:12.313 1:12.221 29

Complete qualifying results available via Forumla.com.

The 2018 edition of the classic Monaco GP airs live tomorrow starting at 9AM Eastern on ESPN here in the States. It kicks off the greatest day of the year for motorsports in typically classy Monagasque fashion before the Indy 500 roars into action later in the afternoon. Hope to see you yacht side and with bellinis in hand to see how it all goes down in Monte Carlo!

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 Bahrain — Results & aftermath

Vettel victorious for Ferrari in Bahrain but Raikkonen DNFs after pit lane mishap; Bottas P2, Hamilton P3 for Mercedes

Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel parlayed his pole-setting pace into a thrilling victory in the desert in Sunday’s action packed Bahrain Grand Prix. Vettel was able to hold off the hard charging Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas on worn rubber in the dying minutes of the race despite the Finn’s best efforts. Both drivers were on a one-stop strategy, Bottas by choice and Vettel by necessity, and the German 4-time world Champion was able to nurse his Soft compound Pirellis just long enough to keep him out front at the finish. Bottas, who was switched to Medium tires on his only pit stop exactly like his teammate Lewis Hamilton, had the better rubber at the end. But perhaps Mercedes waited to long in asking hime to turn up the wick. In the end, while Bottas took chunks of time out of the leading Ferrari he couldn’t make the pass for the win when needed on the very last lap. That made it one of the most satisfying victories in Vettel’s illustrious career and gave him a 17 point lead over, Hamilton, his nearest rival.

Hamilton had a reasonably good race despite starting from P9 due to a mediocre qualifying time with a gearbox penalty layered on top. He survived opening lap contact with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, passed the midfield runners forcefully and managed to make the best of a bad starting situation, taking the last step on the podium by finishing P3. Still, the reigning champion now trails Vettel by 17 points and things have definitely not gone Mercedes way in the first two races. So far Ferrari’s pace appears to be for real and Mercedes also seem to be lacking in strategic thinking and decisiveness, a mix that could lead to Maranello’s first Constructors’ Championship in a decade if mighty Mercedes cannot up their game.

Pics courtesy GrandPrix247.com

All was not sunshine and roses for Ferrari, however, as the team’s second car was the victim of a serious pit mishap that cost them not only valuable points but also severely injured one of their mechanics. When Kimi Raikkonen came in for his scheduled pit stop on Lap 37 all went awry. The Iceman, who had been within striking distance of a podium as well as acting as Vettel’s wingman against the Silver Arrows onslaught, got a false green light signal to go even though his rear left tire had not yet been changed. Raikkonen took off while a mechanic, Francesco Cigarini, was standing in front of the enormous rear tire and ran the poor fellow over, resulting in a badly broken leg for Cigarini. Raikkonen was then ordered to stop, as he now had illegal mismatched tires, and while the mechanic was being tended to in the pit box the team were unable or unwilling to pull his car back and complete the service, which would have been legal if done by hand. The result was a DNF for the second Ferrari and a 50,000 Euro fine to the team for an unsafe release. Despite the huge haul of points left on the table by the Scuderia the really good news is that the mechanic had surgery and is expected to recover despite the unsettling incident.

On the other end of the spectrum, there was absolute joy in the Toro Rosso garage when young Pierre Gasly drive his Honda-powered chassis to a remarkable P4 finish, a much needed boost for both the team and the besieged engine manufacturer. While his teammate Brendon Hartley finished outside the points in 17th after accruing a penalty for contact early in the race, Gasly drove a superb race. The 21-year-old Frenchman actually improved upon his already excellent P6 starting position, stayed out of trouble and showed real pace as he came home nearly 13 seconds ahead of Kevin Magnussen’s fifth-place Haas. A season after their acrimonious split from McLaren this was just the result that Honda was so feverishly working towards. Obviously in a very competitive F1 midfield Toro Rosso will take it, too. And a superb drive like that should also put Gasly in prime position for promotion to Red Bull when the time is right, as has happened to other talented young Toro Rosso trainees such as certain fellows by the name of Vettel and Verstappen.

Gasly was helped enormously by the surprising double DNFs of Toro Rosso’s parent team. After his first-lap tangle with Hamilton while trying to make up positions quickly after crashing out in qualifying the hyper-aggressive Verstappen’s Red Bull came off second best with a puncture to his left rear. While he was able to limp his machine back to the pits and run a few more laps his transmission was mortally wounded and the young Dutchman had to retire the car. His teammate Daniel Ricciardo also had a catastrophic race when his car suffered complete power failure on Lap 2 and switched off. All in all a disastrous day for Red Bull, which saw their race points scoring streak snapped at 38.

As mentioned above, Haas got good points from Kevin Magnussen who drive aggressively but survived to come home P5. Their other driver, Romain Grosjean, probably should have been black flagged as pieces of his car’s body work kept depositing themselves on the circuit but in any event the Frenchman finished a disappointing P13. Nico Hulkenberg was P6 for the Renault factory team and Renault-powered McLaren had an excellent double points day with Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne finishing P7 and P8 respectively despite both starting well outside the Top 10. Marcus Ericsson gave a much needed boost to perennial back markers Sauber with a somewhat stealthy P9, the Swede’s first points in 50 races. And Esteban Ocon was the lone Force India to score, coming home in the last points paying position at P10.

Top 10 finishers of the Bahrain GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR LAPS TIME/RETIRED PTS
1 5 Sebastian Vettel FERRARI 57 1:32:01.940 25
2 77 Valtteri Bottas MERCEDES 57 +0.699s 18
3 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 57 +6.512s 15
4 10 Pierre Gasly SCUDERIA TORO ROSSO HONDA 57 +62.234s 12
5 20 Kevin Magnussen HAAS FERRARI 57 +75.046s 10
6 27 Nico Hulkenberg RENAULT 57 +99.024s 8
7 14 Fernando Alonso MCLAREN RENAULT 56 +1 lap 6
8 2 Stoffel Vandoorne MCLAREN RENAULT 56 +1 lap 4
9 9 Marcus Ericsson SAUBER FERRARI 56 +1 lap 2
10 31 Esteban Ocon FORCE INDIA MERCEDES 56 +1 lap 1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race is but a week away at the Shanghai International Circuit in China. Can Ferrari & Vettel maintain their winning ways or will Mercedes turn up with the key to their first victory in 2018? 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!

2017 F1 Grand Prix of Singapore — Results & aftermath

Hamilton romps to victory after chaotic opening lap in rainy Singapore; Ricciardo survives to come home P2, Bottas P3; Vettel, Raikkonen & Verstappen crash out in Turn 1 melee

Mercedes ace Lewis Hamilton spoke of needing a miracle after qualifying a lowly P5 on Saturday in Singapore well behind the Ferraris and Red Bulls. On Sunday the weather and recklessness of his rivals gifted him a pivotal victory in the hunt for his fourth Drivers’ Championship. With a cloudburst hitting the already tricky Marina Bay Stret Circuit right before the start of the race, teams were forced to start on wet weather tires on a very slippery and now quite green track. But instead of feeling out conditions when the lights went out the Ferraris of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen and the Red Bull of Max Verstappen decided to fight it out on the greasy asphalt going into Turn 1. It wound up taking all three contenders out and seriously damaged pole-sitter Vettel’s championship aspirations.

Starting from P4 on the grid, Raikkonen launched well and made a power move to the outside of the P2-placed Verstappen. At the same time Vettel moved his line to the left, squeezing the young Dutchman directly into the path of Raikkonen’s Ferrari. That spun Raikkonen into his teammate Vettel’s side pod and sent the veteran Finn careening across the track. Verstappen likely had a broken front suspension anyway after being the meat in the Ferrari sandwich but ironically Raikkonen’s unsteerably out of control car found him again, smashing into his side and doing unquestionably terminal damage to his Red Bull chassis. McLaren’s Fernando Alonso, who had made a dynamite start of his own, was collected by the two combatants as an innocent bystander, sending his car vaulting through the air and forcing the Spaniard to retire later in the race. Despite being able to continue past the initial point of contact, Vettel’s car had radiator leakage that caused a hard spin into the wall up the road form the main accident. Just like that the 4-time World Champion was also bounced out of the race before one full lap had been completed.

Pics courtesy GrandPrix247.com

That meant that Hamilton, who avoided the carnage skillfully, was now the front runner at a circuit that generally ill-suits the longer wheel base Mercedes. Given such a gift, the English championship contender never relinquished that lucky lead and cruised home to a significant victory that saw him extend his advantage over Vettel to 28 points in the race for the title. Despite a representative drive from Ricciardo in the last remaining Red Bull, which finished P2, Hamilton was untouchable on wet tires and then dry rubber when the surface finally was ready for slicks. As the old saying goes, luck is the residue of design and while everything that could go right for Hamilton certainly did in Singapore he still kept his nose clean and let others make the unforced errors. Hamilton has now won the last three Grand Prix on the trot and must be extra confident claiming victory in a place where a podium would have been considered a very good result before the state of the race.

Hamilton’s Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas was also a big beneficiary of the melee up front, vaulting himself from a poor P6 start all the way to the last step of the podium with a P3 finish. That drove home just how disastrous a day it was for Ferrari on a track where they had aspirations of a 1-2 finish and instead got zero points. Because of the Scuderia’s untimely double DNF Mercedes extended their lead in the Constructors battle to a whopping 98 points.

Further back in the field, Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz also had good fortune when his future teammate Nico Hulkenberg’s Renault suffered race-ending hydraulic issues. The Spaniard drove a very smart and consistent race to take a terrific P4, showing his future French employers that they made the right choice in hiring him for 2018. Force India’s Sergio Perez also kept it clean and finished a solid P5. The man Sainz is replacing at Renault, Jolyon Palmer, had his best finish of the year with what must have been a bittersweet P6. The lone surviving McLaren of Stoffel Vandoorne also ran well with a valuable P7 for the beleaguered team form Woking. And Williams rookie Lance Stroll had a quietly remarkable race battling back from a lowly P18 starting position all the way up to P8. Romain Grosjean was P9 for Haas and Esteban Ocon took the last points-paying position at P10 in his Force India.

Top 10 finishers of the Singapore Grand Prix:

POS NO DRIVER CAR LAPS TIME/RETIRED PTS
1 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 58 2:03:23.544 25
2 3 Daniel Ricciardo RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 58 +4.507s 18
3 77 Valtteri Bottas MERCEDES 58 +8.800s 15
4 55 Carlos Sainz TORO ROSSO 58 +22.822s 12
5 11 Sergio Perez FORCE INDIA MERCEDES 58 +25.359s 10
6 30 Jolyon Palmer RENAULT 58 +27.259s 8
7 2 Stoffel Vandoorne MCLAREN HONDA 58 +30.388s 6
8 18 Lance Stroll WILLIAMS MERCEDES 58 +41.696s 4
9 8 Romain Grosjean HAAS FERRARI 58 +43.282s 2
10 31 Esteban Ocon FORCE INDIA MERCEDES 58 +44.795s 1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race is in two weeks time from Malaysia. Will Vettel and Ferrari overcome their dreadful disappointment at Singapore to get back into the championship hunt? Or will Hamilton’s winning ways continue for a stranglehold on the title? Hope to see you then to find out!

2017 F1 Grand Prix of Singapore — Qualifying results

Vettel seizes pole for Ferrari in Singapore; Verstappen P2 & Ricciardo P3 for Red Bull; Mercedes struggle

After showing subpar speed during all three practice sessions, Sebastian Vettel and his Ferrari shone brightest under the beautiful lights of the Marina Bay Street Circuit in Singapore when it mattered most. The German 4-time champion earned a dominant pole for tomorrow’s race with a blistering track record quali lap of 1:39.491. Vettel’s heroics came at Red Bull’s expense, as it seemed for a while that their wunderkind Max Verstappen might become the youngest F1 driver to earn a pole position. But Vettel, the man who set that record when he earned his first pole at the age of 21 years, 72 days in 2008 at Monza, spoiled the 19-year-old Vertstappen’s potential party on that count. Nevertheless Red Bull must be well pleased with their slippery chassis’ starting positions with Verstappen on the front row alongside Vettel in P2 and teammate Daniel Ricciardo right behind in P3. Vettel’s Ferrari stablemate Kimi Raikkonen came home fourth fastest so it should make for a very interesting opening lap in anger with the first two rows a combative Ferrari-Red Bull mix.

Further behind were the two Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas, who qualified P5 and P6 respectively. Though potentially damaging to Hamilton’s championship pursuit on a track where it is notoriously hard to overtake the subpar result was not altogether a surprise for the Silver Arrows. Mercedes even struggled at Singapore last year when they had no true competition in the Constructors’ fight. It is simply a track where their usual straight line speed advantage is nullified by the Marina Bay’s twisty nature and lack of long flat out sections and the fact that they are just not quite nimble enough without that power edge to make up the difference to their main rivals. Their best hope for tomorrow is to run clean and hope there is a damaging tangle between the Ferraris and Red Bulls up front. As unpredictable as Verstappen and Raikkonen can be that is not that bad a bet.

Nico Hulkenberg qualified a very solid P7 for Renault, while besieged McLaren had a rare bright moment with both of their cars getting into the top 10. Fernando Alonso was P8 while Stoffel Vandoorne was P9. Ironically it came on the same weekend that McLaren announced that they were divorcing their engine supplier Honda and switching to Renault power for 2018. But again horsepower is not the main thing in Singapore so it’s the McLaren chassis that really deserves the credit in this instance. Carlos Sainz had the tenth fastest time for Toro Roso and he also made news when it was announced that he will be loaned out to the Renault factory team for next season to partner Hulkenberg and replace Jolyon Palmer. Bringing the game of musical chairs full circle Toro Roso will switch to Honda power in place of their current Renault engines for 2018.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Singapore GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 5 Sebastian Vettel FERRARI 1:43.336 1:40.529 1:39.491 19
2 33 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 1:42.010 1:40.332 1:39.814 18
3 3 Daniel Ricciardo RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 1:42.063 1:40.385 1:39.840 18
4 7 Kimi Räikkönen FERRARI 1:43.328 1:40.525 1:40.069 18
5 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 1:42.455 1:40.577 1:40.126 17
6 77 Valtteri Bottas MERCEDES 1:43.137 1:41.409 1:40.810 16
7 27 Nico Hulkenberg RENAULT 1:42.586 1:41.277 1:41.013 18
8 14 Fernando Alonso MCLAREN HONDA 1:42.086 1:41.442 1:41.179 20
9 2 Stoffel Vandoorne MCLAREN HONDA 1:42.222 1:41.227 1:41.398 19
10 55 Carlos Sainz TORO ROSSO 1:42.176 1:41.826 1:42.056 20

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race airs live starting 8AM Eastern on NBC Sports here in the States. Can Mercedes battle back to relevance at their own personal bogey track? Will Ferrari and Vettel rule the day? Or will Red Bull come up aces under the lights? Hope to see you then to find out!

2017 F1 Grand Prix of Belgium — Results & aftermath

Hamilton too quick for Vettel at Spa as title rivals finish 1-2; Ricciardo an opportunistic 3rd

Mercedes ace Lewis Hamilton returned from the summer break refreshed and ready to fight for his fourth World Championship. Needing to recapture momentum that had recently swung to his nemesis at Ferrari, points leader Sebastian Vettel, Hamilton threw down the gauntlet with a dominant performance at the legendary Spa-Francorchamps circuit in the Ardennes forest, the first of two back-to-back European classics that kick off the business end of the championship. Starting from his record-tying 68th pole position, a time that also set the track record, Hamilton kept his lead when the lights went out on Sunday and managed to hold off a hard charging Vettel in the opening laps and pull out a DRS-proof lead on the Ferrari. And when the race got bunched up again for a restart after a Safety Car period later Hamilton kept his cool and managed the trick again despite Vettel being on softer, grippier tires. Perhaps Hamilton benefited from the aero disruption in close quarters of this year’s high downforce configuration chassis that seems to somewhat negate tire advantages between otherwise equally matched cars. And in the end Hamilton romped to victory in his 200th Grand Prix, his 3rd career win at Spa and the Englishman’s 58th victory overall. That cut Vettel’s championship lead back down to a mere 7 points. As the two team leaders head into Monza next weekend, which should be a frenzied sea of Ferrari red, it is clear that there is virtually nothing to choose between the Prancing Horses and the Silver Arrows. The key difference maker going forward will be the pilots. And with Hamilton and Vettel proving themselves superior to their teammates it is all but certain one of these superlative drivers will be the champion at season’s end.

Hamilton-BelgianGPSpa_2017

Another standout at Spa was Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo, who once again showed why he is likely the most opportunistic F1 driver in the paddock. Despite the RB13s lack of pure pace at this very fast and long circuit the Aussie took advantage of the post-Safety Car restart on Lap 34 to jump the Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas and hold off the Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen with a lovely, gutsy pass up the Kemmel Straight. So despite running quietly in P5 for the entirety of the first two thirds of the race Ricciardo’s brave move saw him vault up into a podium spot. He made it stick and kept his pursuers behind for the rest of the race earning that ever-valuable last step on the podium with a sparkling P3 finish. That makes six podium finishes this year for Ricciardo — including that serendipitous win at Baku —  who has displayed the kind of luck in the reliability department his teammate, Max Verstappen, has sorely lacked. Verstappen’s Red Bull mount once again betrayed him, this time on Lap 8 and in front of a huge throng of orange-clad fans from nearby Holland. The Dutch wunderkind has now failed to finish an astonishing 50% of the contests so far in 2017. Will he be looking for the exits and a more reliable ride for next year? Couldn’t blame him if he is.

Pics courtesy GrandPrix247.com

Pics courtesy GrandPrix247.com

Ricciardo’s ballsy pass meant Kimi Raikkonen had to settle for P4. But in truth the Iceman probably felt relieved by that result after having incurred an 10-second stop & hold penalty for failing to lift for the yellow flag brought out by Vertappen’s stalled Red Bull. Continue reading →

2017 F1 Grand Prix of Hungary — Results & aftermath

Ferrari rules the ‘Ring — Vettel wins from pole, Raikkonen second; Bottas P3 & Hamilton P4 for Mercedes

Ferrari dominated the last race weekend before the long summer break joyfully watching their ace, Sebastian Vettel, manage niggling problems on his car to somehow stay out in front and win the Hungarian Grand Prix from the pole. In a race that was more fascinating from a pit-wall strategy perspective than for actual on-track action, Vettel was able to maintain enough pace to forestall Ferrari team orders that might have forced him to hand the lead over to his teammate Kimi Raikkonen when it seemed like Vettel might not have the speed. But to their credit Ferrari never made that call and despite some sort of steering woes plaguing the 4-time Champion’s chassis, Vettel rewarded the Scuderia’s confidence and gamely guided his SF70H home to earn the top step of the podium. Despite his fears of being overtaken if he wasn’t let by Vettel Raikkonen was easily able to hold off the best efforts of Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton to take P2. And in the end Hamilton did the gentlemanly thing and ceded his third place position back to his Silver Arrows teammate, Valtteri Bottas, who had let the Englishman through earlier in the race to try to hunt down the Prancing Horses when Mercedes did play the team orders card. Hamilton could never manage to catch them despite some nervous moments for Maranello and, coming up short on the last lap, honorably re-payed Bottas by allowing him to finish P3 as the checkered flag flew and slipping back to come home P4. The strong 1-2 result for Ferrari meant that the team closed the deficit to Mercedes to just 39 points in the hunt for the all-important Constructors’ Title. Meanwhile, Vettel also increased his lead over Hamilton 202-188 in the Drivers’ Championship after they had been separated by a single point coming into the weekend. Looking back at their near-perfecr weekend at the tight and twisty Hangaroring Ferrari will be well pleased with the trajectory of their season-long performance improvements going into the break, while Mercedes will know they’ve got work to do to close the gap on other similarly short, tight circuits like upcoming Singapore and Brazil.

Pics courtesy GrandPrix247.com

Pics courtesy GrandPrix247.com

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen had a very eventful race on his way home to a solid P5 finish. That good result was somewhat tarnished when he and his senior teammate Daniel Ricciardo came together on the opening lap when Vertsappen locked up into Turn 2 while Ricciardo was on the outside of him. Verstappen’s right front wheel clouted Ricciardo’s radiator pod dealing the Aussie’s car terminal damage in the process and causing a multi-lap Safety Car period. The race stewards deemed Verstappen at fault and handed down a 10-second time penalty but the Dutch wunderkind stayed out extraordinarily long on his starting set of Pirelli Supersoft tires and only pitted for fresh rubber on Lap 42, far later than the other contenders. So even with the 10-second penalty he managed to come out just behind the Merc of Bottas. Despite looking very dangerous on fresher Soft tires, Bottas pushed hard and Vertsappen could never make it past the Finn on a track where passing is at a premium. It was another excellent drive by Verstappen and one has to wonder what might have been without the Ricciardo incident. For certain the team will be talking to their talented young charge about the risk-reward benefit of first lap heroics. Whether Ricciardo and Verstappen will be talking much any more is another story.

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Further back in the field McLaren had their best day of 2017. Veteran Fernando Alonso, who turned 36 on Saturday, drove aggressively all race long, dicing and scrapping with a car finally fast and reliable enough to compete with the other mid-pack runners. Alonso charged home to a P6 finish, which must have felt like a victory to the team and especially Honda, their beleaguered engine supplier. Alonso’s stablemate Stoffel Vandoorne took the last points paying position with a solid P10 marking the first time this year both McLarens finished in the points. Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz also gave maximum effort on his way to an impressive P7 finish. And the Force Indias of Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon overcame a lackluster qualifying effort to come home P8 and P9 respectively, another terrific points haul for one of F1’s smallest teams.

Top 10 finishers of the Hungarian GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR LAPS TIME/RETIRED PTS
1 5 Sebastian Vettel FERRARI 70 1:39:46.713 25
2 7 Kimi Räikkönen FERRARI 70 +0.908s 18
3 77 Valtteri Bottas MERCEDES 70 +12.462s 15
4 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 70 +12.885s 12
5 33 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 70 +13.276s 10
6 14 Fernando Alonso MCLAREN HONDA 70 +71.223s 8
7 55 Carlos Sainz TORO ROSSO 69 +1 lap 6
8 11 Sergio Perez FORCE INDIA MERCEDES 69 +1 lap 4
9 31 Esteban Ocon FORCE INDIA MERCEDES 69 +1 lap 2
10 2 Stoffel Vandoorne MCLAREN HONDA 69 +1 lap 1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The traditional F1 summer break is now upon us and the next race is a full four weekends away. Hope to see you at the legendary Spa-Francorchamps Circuit in Belgium to kick off the home stretch at the end of August!

2017 F1 Grand Prix of Hungary — Qualifying results

Ferrari lock out front row at Hungaroring — Vettel takes blistering pole, Raikkonen P2; Bottas P3 & Hamilton P4 for Mercedes

On the tight and twisty turns of the Hungaroring outside of Budapest, Hungary Rubens Barrichello’s 2004 lap record was bettered early and often during Saturday’s three rounds of knockout qualifying. In the end the fastest of this era’s machines at this tricky circuit were the blood red 2017 SF70H Ferraris. Team leader Sebastian Vettel led the way with an astonishing lap of 1:16.276 to seize the pole for tomorrow’s race. That time more than two seconds faster than Barrichello’s long-held lap record of 1:18.436, which the Brazilian set in the fantastic V10-powered Ferrari F2004. Vettel’s wingman Kimi Raikkonen was right behind him by two-tenths and laid claim to P2. That knocked Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas back to P3 while his Silver Arrows stablemate and championship contender Lewis Hamilton, desperate to tie the great Michael Schumacher’s all-time pole record, suffered from vibration issues and could manage no better than the fourth fastest time. After Ferrari’s bitterly disappointing run at Silverstone two weeks ago when late tire punctures cost Vettel a sure podium and Raikkonen had to scramble for his P3 the Prancing Horses seem to have found something in their downforce package to make them superior to Mercedes, at least on the relatively short and technical Hungaroring. But Hamilton, the victor at Silverstone, and Bottas, who came home P2 there, will both be hoping that their chassis can run better in the race than in the qualifying shootout because they had nothing for the Scuderia’s fine chargers on Saturday. They may also be hoping that perhaps bad luck again strikes Ferrari in what should be a hot & demanding contest come Sunday.

Red Bull was the best of the rest as both Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo were the only others able to log sub-1:17 laps for P5 and P6 on the grid respectively. Nico Hulkenberg was impressive in his Renault willing it all the way up to the seventh-fastest lap but it looks like he will unfortunately incur a 5-spot grid penalty for parts changes that will push him out of the top 10. McLaren had a rare excellent day and saw both of their drivers make it into Q3 — Fernando Alonso, celebrating his 36th birthday, earned P8 on the grid while his rookie teammate Stoffel Vandoorne will start P9. Carlos Sainz was able to get his Toro Rosso up to P10 though he was significantly slower than the other Q3 combatants.

Williams were forced to draft reserve driver Paul Di Resta as an emergency fill-in when their veteran pilot Felipe Massa came down with what is being loosely described as symptoms of vertigo. The Scottish DTM driver who last raced in F1 in 2013 for Force India got zero laps of practice and had never driven the 2017 car on track. Nevertheless, Di Resta put in a very credible effort out-qualifying Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson for P19 and was only three-quarters of a second slower than his teammate Lance Stroll. Depending on how things go in the race tomorrow, Di Resta may have opened some eyes and perhaps some doors for an opportunity to return to F1 full time.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Hungarian GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 5 Sebastian Vettel FERRARI 1:17.244 1:16.802 1:16.276 14
2 7 Kimi Räikkönen FERRARI 1:17.364 1:17.207 1:16.444 14
3 77 Valtteri Bottas MERCEDES 1:18.058 1:17.362 1:16.530 18
4 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 1:17.492 1:16.693 1:16.707 17
5 33 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 1:17.266 1:17.028 1:16.797 14
6 3 Daniel Ricciardo RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 1:17.702 1:17.698 1:16.818 14
7 27 Nico Hulkenberg RENAULT 1:18.137 1:17.655 1:17.468 14
8 14 Fernando Alonso MCLAREN HONDA 1:18.395 1:17.919 1:17.549 17
9 2 Stoffel Vandoorne MCLAREN HONDA 1:18.479 1:18.000 1:17.894 17
10 55 Carlos Sainz TORO ROSSO 1:18.948 1:18.311 1:18.912 19

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race airs live starting at 7:30 AM Eastern on NBC Sports here in the States. Will Ferrari have it all their way in the last contest before the summer break or can Mercedes fight back in race trim for the win? Hope to see you then to find out!

2017 F1 Grand Prix of Austria — Qualifying results

Bottas claims pole in Austria ahead of Vettel; Raikonnen to start P3 due to Hamilton penalty

Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas claimed pole at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, Austria on Saturday, outpacing Ferrai’s Sebastian Vettel by .04 seconds in a truncated Q3. When Romain Grosjean’s Haas came to a halt in Sector 2 and brought out the yellow flag with time running out in that third qualifying session no other drivers had the opportunity to better Bottas’ fast time. That included his Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton, who slotted in third fastest but was levied a 5-spot grid penalty for a pre-quali gearbox change and will therefore be pushed back to P8 on the grid. That is a blow to Hamilton’s aspirations of overhauling Vettel in the Dirvers’ standings, something he desperately wants to do after Vettel’s out-of-control antics two weeks ago in Azerbaijan. But the Englishman will be the only driver in the top 10 starting on the harder Supersoft Pirelli tires come race day so he and the team should have some strategic cards to play to help push his Silver Arrow back up to the sharp end of the field.

Vettel’s Ferrari stablemate Kimi Raikkonen was fourth quickest and moves up to P3 on the grid after Hamilton’s penalty. Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo also gained a spot and will now start P4, as did his teammate Max Verstappen who will now start from P5. Grosjean was boosted to P6 on the grid despite his car conking out late in Q3.But with Grosjean’s teammate Kevin Magnussen suffering a suspension failure during Q1 Team Haas may have some reliability concerns that could come back to bite them in the race at this rigorous, high-curbed circuit.

Rounding out the Top 10, Sergio Perez was Hamilton’s last beneficiary and is bumped up to P7 while his increasingly estranged teammate Esteban Ocon starts P9. Carlos Sainz will start from 10th on the grid for Toro Rosso. Neither McLaren, Williams or Renault could get a car into Q3 so look for a mad scramble from the midfield as those drivers desperately try to make up ground and get into the points paying positions.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Austrian GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 77 Valtteri Bottas MERCEDES 1:05.760 1:04.316 1:04.251 18
2 5 Sebastian Vettel FERRARI 1:05.585 1:04.772 1:04.293 17
3 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 1:05.064 1:04.800 1:04.424 17
4 7 Kimi Räikkönen FERRARI 1:05.148 1:05.004 1:04.779 17
5 3 Daniel Ricciardo RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 1:05.854 1:05.161 1:04.896 22
6 33 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 1:05.779 1:04.948 1:04.983 16
7 8 Romain Grosjean HAAS FERRARI 1:05.902 1:05.319 1:05.480 30
8 11 Sergio Perez FORCE INDIA MERCEDES 1:05.975 1:05.435 1:05.605 21
9 31 Esteban Ocon FORCE INDIA MERCEDES 1:06.033 1:05.550 1:05.674 22
10 55 Carlos Sainz TORO ROSSO 1:05.675 1:05.544 1:05.726 23

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race pre-coverage begins at 7:30 AM Eastern and will air live on CNBC here in the States. Watching Hamilton try and force his way to the front to do battle with Vettel, his fierce Ferrari rival, should be worth the price of admission. Hope to see you then!