Tag Archives: Williams

2025 F1 Grand Prix of Bahrain — Qualifying results

McLaren’s Piastri rockets to dominant pole in Bahrain but teammate Norris fumbles final effort en route to P6; Mercedes’ Russell and Antonelli qualify P2 & P4 but penalized one spot each for pit infractions; Leclerc elevated to second on grid; Verstappen and Red Bull nowhere

A week after being thoroughly outperformed by Red Bull’s Max Verstappen at the Japanese Grand Prix, the McLaren duo of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri were keen to reassert their dominance during Saturday Qualifying for the Bahrain Grand Prix. But it ended up only Piastri who flew the Papaya flag by laying down a stunning marker here at the very tricky and twisty 5.4 kilometer Bahrain International Circuit, blasting his way to a dominant pole position, some two-tenths ahead of his closest pursuer, Mercedes’ George Russell. Meanwhile, Piastri’s normally superlative McLaren teammate, Lando Norris, failed to get the best out of his MCL39 and to come to grips with the windy conditions in the desert and could only manage P6 on his final flier in Q3, over four-tenths behind his pole-sitting teammate. While it is certainly more possible to pass here than at what ended up a stagnant Suzuka circuit last week, Piastri will have a major advantage getting away from the point while Norris has to fight his way through a quartet of fairly fast drivers to get back on terms for a win. Piastri will certainly be looking to maximize that advantage and take a victory that would vault him ahead of Norris for the points lead. Game on.

Mercedes were impressive and were definitely the next best team on pace here, just ahead of Ferrari and well ahead of the struggling Red Bull duo. But, while Russell was hyper-competitive with a P2 effort and rookie teammate Kimi Antonelli excelled to slot in at P4, the team were penalized for a pit lane infraction under Red Flag conditions after Haas’s Esteban Ocon had a major crash earlier in Q2. Both drivers were docked a grid place for the team’s error in sending them info the fast lane prematurely while the medical car was still driving to the front of the pits after Ocon had been dropped off for examination, big no-no. That elevated Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc to second on the grid and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, who had a genuinely superb qualifying effort regardless, up to the second row and P4. Meanwhile, a week after their surprise victory in Japan, Red Bull were nowhere in Bahrain, with both Verstappen and Tsunoda struggling mightily with balance and breaking. It all ended up with a humbling P7 effort for last week’s winner Verstappen, with Tsunoda at least making it to Q3 for the first time in tow tries, albeit with only the tenth fastest time.

Carlos Sainz appeared to finally get the handle on his Williams with a very solid P8 result, but Lewis Hamilton again struggled in his Prancing Horse and could manage no better than an underwhelming P9.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Bahrain GP:

POS

NO

DRIVER

CAR

Q1

Q2

Q3

LAPS

1

81

Oscar Piastri

McLaren Mercedes

1:31.392

1:30.454

1:29.841

15

2

63

George Russell

Mercedes

1:31.494

1:30.664

1:30.009

20

3

16

Charles Leclerc

Ferrari

1:31.454

1:30.724

1:30.175

16

4

12

Kimi Antonelli

Mercedes

1:31.415

1:30.716

1:30.213

20

5

10

Pierre Gasly

Alpine Renault

1:31.462

1:30.643

1:30.216

19

6

4

Lando Norris

McLaren Mercedes

1:31.107

1:30.560

1:30.267

18

7

1

Max Verstappen

Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT

1:31.303

1:31.019

1:30.423

17

8

55

Carlos Sainz

Williams Mercedes

1:31.591

1:30.844

1:30.680

19

9

44

Lewis Hamilton

Ferrari

1:31.219

1:31.009

1:30.772

18

10

22

Yuki Tsunoda

Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT

1:31.751

1:31.228

1:31.303

17

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

The adjusted grid after Mercedes’ penalties are factored in is here. 

After a raft of overnighters to start the season, tomorrow’s race airs at the perfectly decent time of 11AM Eastern on ESPN2 here in the States. With a supreme advantage over his teammate and the rest of the field, Piastri will be looking to both stamp his authority on the race from the get go and then vault himself ahead of Norris in the Championship by dint of the victory. But do the Mercedes duo of Russell and Antonelli have anything to spring an upset when the lights go out, even from their slightly demoted positions? Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2025 F1 Grand Prix of Japan — Qualifying results

Verstappen stuns McLaren duo at Suzuka with surprise pole; Norris out-duels teammate Piastri for P2; Tsunoda fails to impress after promotion to Red Bull for home race

Saturday qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix at the storied Suzuka Circuit looked for all the world like a battle for pole between McLaren teammates Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. With Norris taking victory in Piastri’s backyard to open the season in Melbourne and Piastri getting the better of Norris for the win in China two weeks ago, all eyes were on the Papaya duo to see who would emerge as the fastest qualifier. But all eyes were on the wrong team and drivers. Reigning champion Max Verstappen proved he is not ready to go gently into that good night this early in 2025, with a blistering final lap that knocked a stunned Norris off the pole and relegated Piastri to P3 and the second row. With Verstappen’s Red Bull trimmed to the limit for maximum straight line speed even though Suzuka has many more twisty bits than straights, the Flying Dutchman was able to hustle his RB21 to the tune of a track record 1:26.983, a mere one hundredth ahead of Norris. It was not only a nice moment for Verstappen after a challenging first two rounds of the season but also for Red Bull engine supplier Honda at their home circuit. However, new Red Bull Number Two Yuki Tsunoda did not fare much better on the day than most of Verstappen’s other wingman of recent vintage. The young Japanese driver, opting for a much more downforce heavy setup, ended up a desultory P15 despite the enthusiastic urgings of his countrymen in the stands. Liam Lawson, the driver Tsunoda replaced at the big team just three races into the season, out-qualified him in P14 driving his own former Racing Bull. That was probably not what Tsunoda or Red Bull had envisaged when they made the switch and this race weekend began.

Behind the elite top three, Charles Leclerc bettered by some margin his Ferrari teammate Lewis Hamilton, P4 to P8.  Mercedes’ George Russell had a fairly ragged final effort in Q3 and could not improve his P5 position when the scoring was over, while rookie Silver Arrows teammate Kimi Antonelli made impressive leaps throughout the three difficult sessions to wind up a surprisingly strong P6. Fellow rookie Isack Hadjar was able to overcome a persistently painful too-tight lap belt situation to pull himself all the way up to an quite solid  P7, while Williams’ Alexander Albon and Haas’s Oliver Bearman, yet another rookie, filled out the rest of the top ten in P9 and P10 respectively.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Japanese Grand Prix:

POS

NO

DRIVER

CAR

Q1

Q2

Q3

LAPS

1

1

Max Verstappen

Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT

1:27.943

1:27.502

1:26.983

17

2

4

Lando Norris

McLaren Mercedes

1:27.845

1:27.146

1:26.995

15

3

81

Oscar Piastri

McLaren Mercedes

1:27.687

1:27.507

1:27.027

18

4

16

Charles Leclerc

Ferrari

1:27.920

1:27.555

1:27.299

21

5

63

George Russell

Mercedes

1:27.843

1:27.400

1:27.318

17

6

12

Kimi Antonelli

Mercedes

1:27.968

1:27.639

1:27.555

18

7

6

Isack Hadjar

Racing Bulls Honda RBPT

1:28.278

1:27.775

1:27.569

18

8

44

Lewis Hamilton

Ferrari

1:27.942

1:27.610

1:27.610

23

9

23

Alexander Albon

Williams Mercedes

1:28.218

1:27.783

1:27.615

20

10

87

Oliver Bearman

Haas Ferrari

1:28.228

1:27.711

1:27.867

21

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.,com.

Tomorrow’s race airs overnight here in the States beginning at 1 AM Eastern Sunday morning on ESPN. With Verstappen in his preferred spot — up front and in clean air — we’ll have to see if McLaren’s long run pace can pull the Red Bull back into their clutches of if the four-time Champ is only beginning to show that he’s a serious contender to earn his fifth on the trot despite all predictions to the contrary. Hope to see you then to find out how it all plays out!

2025 F1 Grand Prix of China — Qualifying results

Piastri earns first F1 pole with blistering lap in Shanghai; Russell splits McLarens at the death with stunning P2 effort, relegating Norris to P3, Verstappen to P4

McLaren’s second of two young phenoms, Oscar Piastri, got the better of his ostensible team number one, Lando Norris, during Saturday qualifying for the Chinese Grand Prix at Shanghai International Circuit, earning the young Aussie his first career Formula 1 pole position. In what is shaping up to be an intrateam battle for the ages, Piastri earned the top starting spot ahead of a competitive Norris and regained some momentum for his own championship aspirations a week after Norris’s spectacular win in a rain-soaked Melbourne, where Piastri could do no better than P9. Adding insult to injury for Lando, he was pipped for P2 at very death of Q3, when Mercedes’ George Russell put in a stonking lap to nab second on the grid. Russell’s excellent effort also dropped Red Bull’s Max Verstappen to P4, extending the Dutch Master’s pole-less streak in Grand Prix to 15 races dating back Austria last year.

After an exhilarating and redemptive win in the Sprint race earlier on Saturday, Ferrari’s new signing,  seven-time champ Lewis Hamilton, was brought back down to earth a bit and could only record the fifth fastest time in Quali. Still, he was faster than teammate Charles Leclerc and the Monegasque could only muster a fast lap good enough for P6. The two young Racing Bulls showed excellent pace, with rookie Isack Hadjar putting the heartbreak of his formation lap crashout in Australia behind hime with an outstanding effort good enough for P7 on the grid and his senior teammate Yuki Tsunoda taking P8. They sandwiched the second Merc of Kimi Antonelli in P8, while Alex Albon rounded out the top ten starters in P10 for Williams. Worth noting, the second Red Bull of Liam Lawson had a torrid time once again in his second race weekend with the big team and was plum last in Q1. He’s fated to start from the rear in P20 tomorrow if no one else has any woes prior. The curse of Max Verstappen’s wingman seems to be fully upon the Kiwi and one has to wonder how long Dr. Helmut Marko and the Red Bull braintrust will stick with the rookie, especially with Tsunoda looking very racy and more than ready in the junior team.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Chinese GP:

POS

NO

DRIVER

CAR

Q1

Q2

Q3

LAPS

1

81

Oscar Piastri

McLaren Mercedes

1:31.591

1:31.200

1:30.641

20

2

63

George Russell

Mercedes

1:31.295

1:31.307

1:30.723

22

3

4

Lando Norris

McLaren Mercedes

1:30.983

1:30.787

1:30.793

17

4

1

Max Verstappen

Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT

1:31.424

1:31.142

1:30.817

15

5

44

Lewis Hamilton

Ferrari

1:31.690

1:31.501

1:30.927

21

6

16

Charles Leclerc

Ferrari

1:31.579

1:31.450

1:31.021

21

7

6

Isack Hadjar

Racing Bulls Honda RBPT

1:31.162

1:31.253

1:31.079

20

8

12

Kimi Antonelli

Mercedes

1:31.676

1:31.590

1:31.103

22

9

22

Yuki Tsunoda

Racing Bulls Honda RBPT

1:31.238

1:31.260

1:31.638

19

10

23

Alexander Albon

Williams Mercedes

1:31.503

1:31.595

1:31.706

20

Complete qualifying results available via  Formula1.com.

Sunday’s race from Shanghai International Circuit airs live beginning at 3 AM Eastern on ESPN here in the States. So set your DVR or brew some coffee to find out if Piastri can convert pole into victory or if someone else in the mega-talented top six can beat him to the checkered flag!

2025 F1 Grand Prix of Australia — Results & aftermath

McLaren and Norris begin championship hunt with impressive win at tricky, rain-affected Aussie GP; Red Bull’s Verstappen stays calm amidst carnage to salvage P2, Russell earns final podium position with solid effort; Piastri and Ferrari lose out

Round 1 of the 2025 season kicked off in chaotic fashion on Sunday at the Australian Grand Prix from the Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne, where persistent rain caused havoc throughout the field. In a true drive to survive, McLaren’s Lando Norris kept his cool throughout the race long carnage, including a late mistake by teammate Oscar Piastri amidst a renewed downpour, converting pole position into his first win of the year in what the young Briton hopes will be his first World Championship-winning campaign. With his car obviously slightly inferior to the McLarens coming out of the offseason, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen made the best of a bad hand and put himself in position to pounce on P2 when Piastri slid off the track and into some very wet grass late in the going. The unlucky Aussie elicited cries of dismay from his countrymen in the stands but was at least able to salvage P9 after determinedly — and very slowly! — backing onto the tarmac when he looked to be stranded and en route to an embarrassing DNF. And Mercedes, who have been flying somewhat under the radar amidst all the McLaren-Red Bull-Ferrari hype leading into this opening round, made the right strategy calls when it counted most to boost their drivers, veteran George Russell and rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli, to P3 and P4 respectively. Both Silver Arrows pilots were impressive in the wet, with Russell bettering his P4 starting position to reach the podium after many other cars around him crashed out — there were a whopping six DNFs by the time the checkers flew — and Antonelli using a bit of luck, skill and good strategy to overcome  a clearly out of position P16 start after the young Italian damaged his car by clouting one too many curbs in Saturday qualifying. 

Williams Alexander Albon was another standout driver on the day, surviving and thriving to take an impressive fifth place. Others scoring improbably good points by dint of keeping their cars on the black stuff and staying steady during the frequently  very greasy conditions were Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and Kick Sauber’s wise old hand Nico Hulkenberg, who placed P6 and P7 respectively. But there was not much to cheer for Ferrari after they gambled and lost by keeping Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton out on slick tires a lap too long and then bringing the duo in for the much needed Inters after the other contenders had already made the much needed switch. The Prancing Horses went from a potential 1-2 finish to Leclerc holding on for P8 and the game but forlorn Piastri relegating Hamilton to P10 on the last lap of this eventful 57-lap contest.

What does such a rain-affected contest really tell us about who’s got the pace overall in 2025? Not much except that McLaren and Verstappen looked quick in any and all conditions. And Mercedes could be further along in their development than initially suspected, especially with new Red Bull number two Liam Lawson having a horror show weekend the ended with him crashing out and scoring zero points in Melbourne. Meanwhile, Antonelli acquitted himself admirably on his debut drive for Mercedes in highly challenging circumstances. As for Ferrari, they’ll be looking forward to the quick turnaround in China next weekend to be able to hopefully show their true pace under more predictable conditions. Hamilton, in particular, seemed to struggle to fully get to grips on the technical side with his new mount after so many years with Mercedes, and his relationship with his new race engineer, Riccardo Adami, is clearly still a work in progress after working hand in glove with Pete Bonnington over the course of the prior dozen years.

Top 10 finishers of the Australian GP:

POS

NO

DRIVER

CAR

LAPS

TIME/RETIRED

PTS

1

4

Lando Norris

McLaren Mercedes

57

1:42:06.304

25

2

1

Max Verstappen

Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT

57

+0.895s

18

3

63

George Russell

Mercedes

57

+8.481s

15

4

12

Andrea Kimi Antonelli

Mercedes

57

+10.135s

12

5

23

Alexander Albon

Williams Mercedes

57

+12.773s

10

6

18

Lance Stroll

Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes

57

+17.413s

8

7

27

Nico Hulkenberg

Kick Sauber Ferrari

57

+18.423s

6

8

16

Charles Leclerc

Ferrari

57

+19.826s

4

9

81

Oscar Piastri

McLaren Mercedes

57

+20.448s

2

10

44

Lewis Hamilton

Ferrari

57

+22.473s

1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race is in but a week’s time, as F1 hits the ground running for the Round 2 Chinese Grand Prix from the Shanghai International Circuit. It’ll also be the first Sprint weekend of the season, with all the extra angst that entails for the teams, especially with such a short turnaround. Norris will be looking to make it two in a row, Verstappen will be looking to take him down a peg, and Piastri will be seeking redemption, as will so many other drivers who had disappointing or even disastrous days in Australia. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2025 F1 Grand Prix of Australia — Qualifying results

McLaren lay down marker in Melbourne to start season, as Norris grabs pole, Piastri P2; Verstappen settles for P3; Ferrari underwhelm

The highly anticipated 75th season of Formula kicked off properly during Saturday Qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix at the Albert Park GP Circuit in Melbourne when McLaren picked up were they left off in 2024 by locking out the front row ahead of Red Bull’s peerless ace Max Verstappen. Lando Norris bested his teammate and home race hero Oscar Piastri to take pole with a final do or die flying lap after having his only earlier Q3 time deleted for a track limits violation. The dynamic Papaya duo exceeded Verstappen’s best effort, relegating the Dutchman and reigning four-time consecutive champ to the second row and P3 on the grid. Mercedes’ George Russell put in a superlative effort to nail down P4 and, with some serious rain predicted for tomorrow’s race despite dry conditions to start the weekend, put himself in position to contend with the elite three ahead of him. Both Yuki Tsunoda, who was passed over for promotion to the senior Red Bull team and is inexplicably fighting for his F1 life, and the massively improved Williams of Alexander Albon, outperformed the much more heralded Ferrari duo of Charles Leclerc and new Scuderia recruit Lewis Hamilton. Tsunoda qualified P5 and Albon P6, while Leclerc could do no better than set the seventh fastest lap and Hamilton, who struggled mightily with the balance of his Prancing Horse and spun in Q2, was only good enough for P8 on the grid in his Ferrari debut. Pierre Gasly got the most out his Alpine in P9 and the second Williams of Carlos Sainz secured P10 on his first real effort in anger with his new team.

What all that will really mean if the heavy rains that are predicted to soak Albert Park on Sunday is anyone’s guess. But there were some less than promising signs for several young drivers at this tricky track. Verstappen’s latest wingman, New Zealander Liam Lawson, replacemnt for the long suffering Sergio Perez, struggled mightily with both mechanical issues and a shaky feel for the pointy dynamics of the RB21 and was unceremoniously bounced out in Q1 with only the eighteenth fastest lap. Likewise, Mercedes’ pick to replace seven-time champ Hamilton, rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli, damaged his car by running over too many curbs and qualified down in P16. And while Haas’s new pilot Oliver Bearman had a miserable start to the year and was unable to get a lap in quali due to numerous crashes and the resulting mechanical issues those caused, the rookies Jack Doohan of Alpine and Gabriel Bortoleto of Kick Sauber fared somewhat better in P14 and P15 respectively.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Australian GP:

POS

NO

DRIVER

CAR

Q1

Q2

Q3

LAPS

1

4

Lando Norris

McLaren Mercedes

1:15.912

1:15.415

1:15.096

20

2

81

Oscar Piastri

McLaren Mercedes

1:16.062

1:15.468

1:15.180

18

3

1

Max Verstappen

Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT

1:16.018

1:15.565

1:15.481

17

4

63

George Russell

Mercedes

1:15.971

1:15.798

1:15.546

21

5

22

Yuki Tsunoda

Racing Bulls Honda RBPT

1:16.225

1:16.009

1:15.670

18

6

23

Alexander Albon

Williams Mercedes

1:16.245

1:16.017

1:15.737

21

7

16

Charles Leclerc

Ferrari

1:16.029

1:15.827

1:15.755

20

8

44

Lewis Hamilton

Ferrari

1:16.213

1:15.919

1:15.973

23

9

10

Pierre Gasly

Alpine Renault

1:16.328

1:16.112

1:15.980

21

10

55

Carlos Sainz

Williams Mercedes

1:16.360

1:15.931

1:16.062

21

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race airs on ESPN beginning  at midnight Eastern Sunday here in the States. With rain predicted, expect a wet a wild mashup of a race after only dry running so far this weekend. Can McLaren prevail against the modern Rain Meister Verstappen or will a dark horse from further down the grid spring a surprise? Hope to see you the to find out how it all shakes out in Round 1 Down Under!

2024 F1 Grand Prix of the United States — Results & aftermath

Ferrari ambush rivals in Austin as Leclerc surges to victory, Sainz P2; Verstappen holds off Norris for last podium spot to extend Championship lead

After being flummoxed and frustrated by their lack of pace in Saturday’s Sprint race and Grand Prix Qualifying, Ferrari unlocked what they thought they had all along in Sunday’s United States Grand Prix at the beautiful, flowing Circuit of the Americas. Charles Leclerc came from P4 on the grid to overtake both the pole-sitting McLaren of Lando Norris and the P2 Red Bull of Max Verstappen, as well as his P3 teammate Carlos Sainz, on the exit of the steeply uphill Turn 1. Norris and Verstappen, with the tunnel vision of the two main Drivers’ Championship contenders, took their personal battle out wide there, with Norris taking evasive action into the runoff, allowing Leclerc to scamper through the open space unimpeded and instantly take the lead of this 56-lap contest on the opening lap. Verstappen recovered enough to keep Sainz at bay and maintain P2 but Norris lost enough momentum to relegate him to P4 behind the Spaniard’s Prancing Horse. The frantic action continued until not long after DRS was enabled  when Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, starting on the Hard Pirelli tires after a poor qualifying result saw him mired down in P17 on the grid, lost it heading into Turn 18 and beached his Silver Arrow in the gravel trap there. In an abrupt instant, the seven-time champ’s day came to a premature end and a Safety Car was deployed to retrieve the stricken Mercedes.

When racing resumed towards the end of Lap 5, Leclerc was just able to keep Verstappen’s charging Red Bull behind him and then attempt to build a gap from the point utilizing his SF24’s superior performance at this track. The car worked like a charm for the Monegasque and by Lap 20 he had pulled a whopping 8-second lead over the Dutch Master. The Ferrari pit wall then pulled their own successful strategy maneuver by calling in Sainz on Lap 22 for his first pit stop for fresh Pirellis, a swap off the opening-stint Mediums onto the durable Hards. The Scuderia braintrust were hoping the undercut here in Austin would be as powerful as their simulations, with Red Bull waiting until Lap 26 to pull Verstappen in. Indeed, it worked a treat for Sainz when Verstappen’s now Hard-shod car came out behind the Spaniard, Sainz having been able to put in some impressive laps on fresh rubber to build his advantage in the intervening laps. With enough of a cushion and perhaps anticipating that Verstappen might not be their main challenger this day, Leclerc came in a lap later for his own fresh Hards, emerging from the pits in P3, still ahead of his teammate and behind the yet-to-pit McLaren duo of Norris and Oscar Piastri .

McLaren continued to stay out over the next several laps, hoping that track position and running longer than their key rivals would give them the decisive fresh tire advantage in the race’s closing stanza. But when Leclerc made easy work of Piastri for P2 on Lap 31 Team Papaya new that it was time to pull the pin. Continue reading →

2024 F1 Grand Prix of Azerbaijan — Qualifying results

Leclerc claims pole in chaotic Baku qualifying; Piastri edges Sainz for P2 but Norris knocked out in Q1 shocker; Perez out-qualifies Verstappen for once, P4 to P6

On a fascinating and chaotic day of Saturday qualifying for the Azerbaijan Gran Prix at the always challenging Baku City Circuit it was Ferrari’s Chalres Leclerc who carried the momentum from his dream win at Monza two weeks ago and converted it into pole position for Sunday’s Grand Prix. The Monegasque’s excellent run of qualifying form at Baku also continued, as he earned his fourth consecutive pole here. Leclerc, however, has never concerted those into wins in Azerbaijan, something he will be more than eager to do come race day tomorrow. McLaren’s Oscar Piastri slotted in alongside the lead Ferrari with a time good enough for P2, while Leclerc’s Scuderia stablemate Carlos Sainz laid down the third fastest lap in Q3. Unfortunately for McLaren and their highest placed driver, Lando Norris was unceremoniously bounced out of Q1 after some confusion over lifting for a yellow flag that appeared in actuality to be the “slow down” white flag. Starting from a lowly P16, Norris and his brain trust will have it all to do tomorrow to try and keep his points pursuit of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen on track. The young English contender will likely need help from a Safety Car and /or Red Flag, plus some canny strategy calls from the pit wall to get a decent result.

Speaking of Red Bull and Verstappen, it was another bewildering day for the Dutch master, as teammate Sergio Perez firmly bested him in quali, P4 to P6. It was the first time this season that the Mexican veteran, who is fighting to stay in his Red Bull seat after a massive midseason slump, has out-qualified his championship-leading teammate. Mercedes’ George Russell split the Red Bull’s with the fifth fatstest time, clinching the season’s qualifying battle with his highly decorated teammate Lewis Hamilton, 13 to 4. Hamilton could only muster P7 on the day, though the seven-time World Champion has a habit of coming good in the races. Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso over-performed his rather tepid mount to the tune of a P8 starting spot, while raw rookie Franco Colapinto go the better of his senior Williams teammate Alex Albon in only his second F1 effort, P9 to P10. Colapinto, who was drafted into the team to replace the struggling American Logan Seargeant at Monza, has looked impressive throughout the weekend at this rather daunting circuit. He was also helped by Albon not being able to get a final lap due to inexplicably leaving the pits with the airbox fan still attached. It remains to be seen if Albon will face any penalties for tomorrow’s race due to that obvious unsafe release.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Azerbaijan GP:

POS

NO

DRIVER

CAR

Q1

Q2

Q3

LAPS

1

16

Charles Leclerc

Ferrari

1:42.775

1:42.056

1:41.365

20

2

81

Oscar Piastri

McLaren Mercedes

1:43.033

1:42.598

1:41.686

19

3

55

Carlos Sainz

Ferrari

1:43.357

1:42.503

1:41.805

23

4

11

Sergio Perez

Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT

1:43.213

1:42.263

1:41.813

15

5

63

George Russell

Mercedes

1:43.139

1:42.329

1:41.874

20

6

1

Max Verstappen

Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT

1:43.097

1:42.042

1:42.023

20

7

44

Lewis Hamilton

Mercedes

1:43.089

1:42.765

1:42.289

22

8

14

Fernando Alonso

Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes

1:43.472

1:42.426

1:42.369

19

9

43

Franco Colapinto

Williams Mercedes

1:43.138

1:42.473

1:42.530

20

10

23

Alexander Albon

Williams Mercedes

1:42.899

1:42.840

1:42.859

19

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race aires live on ESPN beginning at 7 am Eastern here in the States. With the grid jumbled and a lot of drivers out of position, it should be an action packed start that Leclerc and Piastri will look to stay ahead of in pursuit of victory. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2024 F1 Grand Prix of Italy — Results & aftermath

Leclerc rides audacious one-stop strategy to take surprise victory at Monza for jubilant Ferrari; Piastri out-duels McLaren teammate Norris for P2

With McLaren looking the dominant team heading into the Italian Grand Prix on Sunday, it was Ferrari that stunned Formula 1 by pushing their man Charles Leclerc to first place with an audacious, contrarian one-stop strategy and taking a sweet victory at the storied Scuderia’s home race. Lacking the outright pace of the McLaren’s, Ferrari nevertheless capitalized when the pole-sitting Lando Norris scrapped with his teammate Oscar Piastri on the opening lap and was then passed by the young Aussie for the race lead heading into the second chicane. In that tussle, the Prancing Horse of Leclerc was also able to get by the recovering Norris, setting the wheels in motion on Ferrari’s pit wall to come up with a strategy that would enable Leclerc to fight it out with Piastri for the top step of the podium. But few would have guessed that when Leclerc was undercut by Norris on Lap 15 of this 53-lap contest at the ultra-fast Autodromo Nazionale Monza that the fabled team from Maranello would figure out a way to actually win. Leclerc himself was irate at his race engineer & strategist for losing a place to Norris when he stopped a lap later, both drivers making the switch off their opening set of Medium Pirellis onto the more durable Hard compound tires. It seemed more likely that McLaren had set up a duel between their two drivers for the win, with Piastri destined to re-inherit the race lead and Norris P2 after the opening round of pit stops were completed.

But a funny thing happened on the way to that expected McLaren 1-2. With all the front running teams appearing to run the two-stopper as the best way to finish the race, Piastri made his second pit stop from the lead on Lap 39 and Norris in P2 ran a bit longer to Lap 41. But both Leclerc and Sainz stayed out and it suddenly dawned on the paddock that Ferrari were going to run the risky one-stop strategy despite the waning performance from their aging Hard tires. Leclerc’s lead was such that he was more than full pit stop ahead of the P5 Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton, meaning that the worst that could happen to Leclerc and Sainz if they absolutely had to bail in the race’s final few laps would be a likely third and fourth place finish respectively. On the other hand, now McLaren had to try to reclaim the top two spots by making overtakes on the Ferrari duo with time running out. Piastri did close down Sainz and passed the game Spaniard for P2 on Lap 45, with Norris managing the same feat three laps later. But Leclerc was able to maintain enough of a lead that the laps ran out before the desperate Piastri could even get into position to try for a pass. When the checkered flag flew, Leclerc came home some 2.66-seconds to the good of Piastri to the delight of the happily stunned tifosi in the stands, who happily stormed the field for the post-race ceremonies, as is tradition here. It was an emotional win for the Monegasque, who earlier in the season won his home race in Monaco and now has won for Ferrari at Monza, the dream of every Formula 1 driver who drives for the Prancing Horse. And it showed that the much maligned braintrust at the Scuderia could take a gamble that actually paid off for a change, leaving them still in the hunt for the Constructors’ Championship when many had already written them off this year.

With higher expectations after locking out the front row in qualifying, Piastri and Norris finished a somewhat disappointed P2 and P3 respectively, while Leclerc’s teammate Sainz claimed P4 after running a fine race of his own for himself and the team, especially in defense of Leclerc as the laps ran down. Hamilton ended up the highest placed Silver Arrow in P5 after teammate George Russell, who started from P3 on the grid, sustained opening lap damage to his front wing amidst the chaos that is the first chicane here, necessitating a premature and lengthy early pit stop for a wing change in addition to tires that set the young Briton on his back foot for the rest of the race. Russell rallied to finish P7 but it wasn’t the race he envisioned when he woke up on Sunday morning. Likewise, Hamilton was left hoping for more when the Mercedes W15 had looked so strong until the final quali session on Saturday. Team Red Bull were also more than happy to put Monza in the rearview, with points leader Max Verstappen only able to advance one spot from his starting position, finishing a relatively lowly P6, while Sergio Perez  was overtaken late by Russel and had to settle for P8. The team will be hoping that the very tricky and specific compromises needed to succeed at Monza were to blame rather than a lasting problem with the RB20’s development, as they uncharacteristically looked like merely the fourth quickest team here in Italy all weekend long.

Williams’ Alexander Albon and Haas’s Kevin Magnussen also rode the one-stopper to some level of success and points, with Albon finishing P9 and Magnussen taking the final point in P10 despite a 10-second penalty for colliding with the RB of Yuki Tsunoda early in the race, which wound up ending the Japanese driver’s day.

Top 10 finishers of the Italian GP:

POS

NO

DRIVER

CAR

LAPS

TIME/RETIRED

PTS

1

16

Charles Leclerc

Ferrari

53

1:14:40.727

25

2

81

Oscar Piastri

McLaren Mercedes

53

+2.664s

18

3

4

Lando Norris

McLaren Mercedes

53

+6.153s

16

4

55

Carlos Sainz

Ferrari

53

+15.621s

12

5

44

Lewis Hamilton

Mercedes

53

+22.820s

10

6

1

Max Verstappen

Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT

53

+37.932s

8

7

63

George Russell

Mercedes

53

+39.715s

6

8

11

Sergio Perez

Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT

53

+54.148s

4

9

23

Alexander Albon

Williams Mercedes

53

+67.456s

2

10

20

Kevin Magnussen

Haas Ferrari

53

+68.302s

1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race is in a fortnight, the always exciting Azerbaijan Grand Prix from the challenging Baku City Circuit, so the teams will get a little breather after the back-to-back rounds coming out of the summer break. For Ferrari and Leclerc and all of Italy, it will mean an extra week to savor an improbable win. For the other contenders, it’ll be trying to figure out how to get back into victory lane in this highly unpredictable season. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2024 F1 Grand Prix of the Netherlands — Qualifying results

Norris claims authoritative pole over Verstappen at Zandvoort as F1 kicks back into gear; Piastri P3, Russell P4

Formula 1’s long summer break has come and gone, as the circus reopened for Round 15 of the 2024 World Championship at the small but technical Zadvoort Circuit amidst the dunes along the coast of the Netherlands. After nothing but wet practices on Friday and Saturday morning, Qualifying itself was dry and the cars finally got to show their speed. Looking tan, ready and rested, McLaren’s Lando Norris continued his run of good form by laying down a dominant lap to earn pole position during Qualifying for tomorrow’s Dutch Grand Prix, some four-tenths to the good of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, the current points leader in the Drivers standings. Despite the throngs of orange-clad countrymen willing on the Dutch master from the stands, it was the papaya orange of Norris’s McLaren setting the pace when push came to shove. Adding to McLaren’s satisfaction, Oscar Piastri set the third fastest time, while Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Perez could only muster P5. Mercedes’ George Russell split those two and will line up alongside Piastri on the second row after claiming P4. But Silver Arrows teammate Lewis Hamilton, winner of two of the last three races prior to the break, had a bit of a disastrous day. First, the seven-time champion was bounced in Q2 after only being twelfth fastest in that session; then he was assessed a three-place grid penalty after being found guilty of impeding Perez in Q1. On a circuit where track position is king, Hamilton will really have to pull something out of the bag come race day now starting from a lowly fourteenth.

Charles Leclerc was the only Ferrari to make it into Q3 and will start P6 on Sunday, as teammate Carlos Sainz struggled with handling en route to an initial P11 grid spot. But Williams’ Alexander Albon, who had been looking good with the eighth fastest time at the end of quali, was DQ’d after the session due to a technical infraction on the floor of his car. That elevated not only Sainz into the top ten, but also promoted Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll to P8 on the grid, alongside his P7 teammate Fernando Alonso, and lifted Alpine’s Pierre Gasly up to P9.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Dutch GP:

POS

NO

DRIVER

CAR

Q1

Q2

Q3

LAPS

1

4

Lando Norris

McLaren Mercedes

1:11.377

1:10.496

1:09.673

14

2

1

Max Verstappen

Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT

1:11.393

1:10.811

1:10.029

14

3

81

Oscar Piastri

McLaren Mercedes

1:11.541

1:10.505

1:10.172

16

4

63

George Russell

Mercedes

1:11.049

1:10.552

1:10.244

18

5

11

Sergio Perez

Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT

1:11.006

1:10.678

1:10.416

17

6

16

Charles Leclerc

Ferrari

1:11.370

1:10.689

1:10.582

24

7

14

Fernando Alonso

Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes

1:11.493

1:10.845

1:10.633

16

DQ

23

Alexander Albon

Williams Mercedes

0

8

18

Lance Stroll

Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes

1:11.518

1:10.661

1:10.857

19

9

10

Pierre Gasly

Alpine Renault

1:11.718

1:10.815

1:10.977

20

10

55

Carlos Sainz

Ferrari

1:11.327

1:10.914

18

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Revised grid taking into account multiple penalties is here.

Tomorrow’s race amidst the dunes airs live on ESPN tomorrow starting at 9 am Eastern here in the States. Hope to see you then to find out of Norris can hold off Verstappen for another win and tighten up the championships even further and we fly into the second half of the season!

2024 F1 Grand Prix of Monaco — Results & aftermath

Leclerc finally breaks through at home GP to take victory in Monaco; Piastri P2, Sainz P3 & Norris P4 in all-Ferrari vs McLaren competition

After years of bad luck, self-inflicted mistakes and ever-building pressure, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc finally broke through to take a comprehensive victory at his home race at the Monaco Grand Prix on Sunday. The Monegasque ran from pole to the checkers, maintaining first place the whole while on this legendarily difficult to overtake street circuit, where the top cars in the world have been racing since 1929. With qualifying of supreme importance here, it became a two team battle between Ferrari and McLaren, with the four drivers finishing where they started — Leclerc in P1 and his Scuderia stablemate Carlos Sainz in P3 and the two McLarens of Oscar Piastri in P2 and Lando Norris in P4. Red Bull were uncharacteristically not a factor here, as Max Verstappen held station to also come home where he started in P6. His unlucky teammate Sergio Perez was wiped out on the opening lap in a contretemps with the overly ambitious Haas of Kevin Magnussen that also took out the other Haas of Nico Hulkenberg when the melee had concluded.

That large multi-car shunt led to a lengthy Red Flag period necessitated by an extensive cleanup of the rather large debris field of broken Red Bull and Haas bits strewn across the entirety of Beau Rivage. It also enabled Sainz, who suffered a puncture after wheel to wheel contact dicing with Piastri at the start, to save his race. The Ferrari mechanics were able to perform repairs to the Spaniard’s car with no time penalty and the restart would be in the exact order of the race start due to the Red Flag being thrown without even a full first sector being run. Unfortunately, it also gave all the teams a free change of tires, which negated any future requirement to pit for a change of Pirelli compounds, as per the rules. This meant that the front four could run a slow, tire management pace without consequences or need for any strategy calls that might have spiced up the action. But that’s Monaco — a race that is usually greater on pageantry, pomp, historical significance and prestige than in actual racing action. Nevertheless, no one can take away the pure joy of Leclerc’s boyhood dream coming true in front of his hometown fans, including Prince Albert II and Princess Charlene, who both participated in the ebullient, champagne-drenched podium ceremonies for the local boy made good.

As he was after qualifying, Dutch points leader Verstappen ended up sandwiched between the two Mercedes, with George Russell coming home in P5 and Lewis Hamilton in P7. Even with both Verstappen and Hamilton being tow of the very few to pit to get off the Mediums and back onto the Hards for their final stints, it did nothing to really shake up their respective races. Rounding out the top ten, Yuki Tsunoda claimed P8 for RB Honda, Alexander Albon was P9 for Williams and Pierre Gasly claimed his first point of the year in P10. Gasly finishing at all was impressive considering he came together with teammate Esteban Ocon on the opening lap. Ocon went airborne and was knocked out of the race, earning the wrath of his team boss in an unusually harsh public rebuke.

Top 10 finishers of the Monaco GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR LAPS TIME/RETIRED PTS
1 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 78 2:23:15.554 25
2 81 Oscar Piastri MCLAREN MERCEDES 78 +7.152s 18
3 55 Carlos Sainz FERRARI 78 +7.585s 15
4 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 78 +8.650s 12
5 63 George Russell MERCEDES 78 +13.309s 10
6 1 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT 78 +13.853s 8
7 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 78 +14.908s 7
8 22 Yuki Tsunoda RB HONDA RBPT 77 +1 lap 4
9 23 Alexander Albon WILLIAMS MERCEDES 77 +1 lap 2
10 10 Pierre Gasly ALPINE RENAULT 77 +1 lap 1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race is in a fortnight’s time, as the teams cross the Atlantic again and return to wide open racing with the Canadian Grand Prix. Can Red Bull and Verstappen get their mojo back on the high speed straights of Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve or have Ferrari and McLaren truly made inroads to make this a genuine three-team championship battle? Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!