Tag Archives: Yuki Tsunoda

2021 F1 Grand Prix of the United States — Qualifying results

Red Bull holding the aces in Texas as Verstappen claims pole over P2 Hamilton; Perez in support in P3

Formula 1 returned to the United States and the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas for the United States Grand Prix after a year’s hiatus due to the COVID pandemic and were greeted with hot weather and throngs of delighted fans in the stands. That energy was palpable at this beautifully flowing circuit just outside Austin when the 120,000 or so F1 faithful were treated to a scintillating Saturday Qualifying to determine the starting order for tomorrow’s GP. With Red Bull looking the best suited to COTA’s twists and turns all weekend long so far, Mercedes ace Lewis Hamilton tried to muscle his way onto the pole position with a very effective fast lap in the dying seconds of Q3 that put the English seven-time champion ever so briefly on the top of the timing pylon. But his arch nemesis this season and the current championship points leader, Red Bull’s superb Max Verstappen, hooked up a beautifully smooth final quali lap that saw the Dutch phenom leapfrog Lewis to claim pole for tomorrow’s race. His teammate Sergio Perez, who had held the provisional pole earlier in the session to the delight of his Mexican compatriots who made up a fair percentage of those in attendance, had to settle for P3. But he will certainly be in a position to support Max in his battle to get the better of Hamilton and keep his momentum going as the season dwindles down to a handful of races and perhaps take advantage should the two championship protagonists come to grief in the heat of battle.

That Verstappen-Perez 1-3 on the gird gave a decisive advantage to Red Bull because, despite the second Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas qualifying just back of Perez in P4, the veteran Finn will have to take a five-spot penalty come tomorrow due to one too many engine changes. That will promote the two Ferraris of Charles Leclerc after they were the best of the rest and set times in Q3 good enough for P5 and P6 respectively. Ferrari seems to have really found something in this last third of the season and they bettered their chief rivals for third in the all important Constructors’ Championship, the excellent McLaren duo of Daniel Ricciardo and Lando Norris, after the latter duo could only manage the seventh and eighth fastest time in quali respectively. Rounding out the top 10 qualifiers and in keeping with the Noah’s Ark theme, Pierre Gasly was P9 and teammate Yuki Tsunoda was tenth fastest, marking the second week in a row the Japanese rookie made it through to Q3, a sign that he may be figuring things out at this level after suffering a real midseason slump.

Top 10 qualifiers for the United States Grand Prix:

POS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 33 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING HONDA 1:34.352 1:33.464 1:32.910 16
2 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 1:34.579 1:33.797 1:33.119 16
3 11 Sergio Perez RED BULL RACING HONDA 1:34.369 1:34.178 1:33.134 19
4 77 Valtteri Bottas MERCEDES 1:34.590 1:33.959 1:33.475 15
5 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 1:34.153 1:33.928 1:33.606 17
6 55 Carlos Sainz FERRARI 1:34.558 1:34.126 1:33.792 15
7 3 Daniel Ricciardo MCLAREN MERCEDES 1:34.407 1:34.643 1:33.808 15
8 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 1:34.551 1:33.880 1:33.887 14
9 10 Pierre Gasly ALPHATAURI HONDA 1:34.567 1:34.583 1:34.118 17
10 22 Yuki Tsunoda ALPHATAURI HONDA 1:35.360 1:35.137 1:34.918 18

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race airs live beginning at 3PM Eastern on ABC here in the States. The winner at COTA has historically come from the front row of the grid. Hope to see you then to find out if Verstappen or Hamilton can keep that tradition alive!

2021 F1 Grand Prix of Turkey — Qualifying results

Hamilton quickest in quali but cedes pole to teammate Bottas on engine penalties; Verstappen third fastest

On an intriguing day of Saturday qualifying for tomorrow’s Turkish Grand Prix featuring rain at Intercity Istanbul Park just prior to the three knockout sessions commenced that then abated with consequent improvement to the grip levels by the time Q3 rolled around, Mercedes ace Lewis Hamilton unsurprisingly mastered the tricky conditions to set the day’s fastest lap. But while it was a new track record on this newly repaved circuit after last year’s spin-fest on much slicker, older tarmac, Hamilton’s triumph was rather pyrrhic because engine penalties robbed him of a  start from pole and the English points leader will have to line up on the grid down in P11. That gifted the actual pole to his Silver Arrows teammate, Valtteri Bottas, who will nonetheless have it all to do tomorrow to keep Red Bull’s Max Verstappen behind him when they line up together on the front row. With Hamilton’s lead in the Driver Standings over the Dutchman a minuscule two points going into this sixteenth round after Max’s remarkable recovery drive in Sochi two weeks ago, it will be imperative for Bottas to not allow Verstappen an easy overtake at the start the race, thereby giving Hamilton time to claw his way to the front. As he showed today, Lewis certainly has the car to fight for the win if he can get back on even terms with Verstappen’s lead Red Bull, so the Mercedes brain trust have got to bring their A strategy game to pick off a few positions in the pits. But then, as we have seen several times this unpredictable season, if the weather is as changeable as it was today it could well be anyone’s race and not just the two championship contenders at that.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc saved his best for last by setting the fourth fastest time while the checkers flew in Q3, just besting the solid P5 time of AlphaTauri’s excellent pilot, Pierre Gasly. Unfortunately for the Scuderia, however, the second Prancing Horse of Carlos Sainz will have to start from the rear after his own set of engine penalties this weekend. Savvy vet Fernando Alonso enjoyed the tricky damp-to-dry conditions and wheeled his Alpine up to the sixth fastest time when all was said and done, impressively one spot better than the second Red Bull of Sergio Perez, who could only manage a lackluster P7 effort. McLaren’s Lando Norris did decently to recover from his absolute heartbreaker of a race in Russia that saw him lose the lead with just two laps remaining and qualified P8. And Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and AlphaTauri’s second driver Yuki Tsuanoda rounded out the top ten in P9 and P10 respectively.  It was the first time the struggling Japanese rookie Tsunoda progressed into Q3 since way back in Round 8 in Austria.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Turkish GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 1:24.585 1:23.082 1:22.868 28
2 77 Valtteri Bottas MERCEDES 1:25.047 1:23.579 1:22.998 27
3 33 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING HONDA 1:24.592 1:23.732 1:23.196 25
4 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 1:24.869 1:24.015 1:23.265 30
5 10 Pierre Gasly ALPHATAURI HONDA 1:24.704 1:23.817 1:23.326 24
6 14 Fernando Alonso ALPINE RENAULT 1:25.174 1:23.914 1:23.477 24
7 11 Sergio Perez RED BULL RACING HONDA 1:24.963 1:23.961 1:23.706 24
8 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 1:25.138 1:24.642 1:23.954 25
9 18 Lance Stroll ASTON MARTIN MERCEDES 1:25.511 1:24.601 1:24.305 23
10 22 Yuki Tsunoda ALPHATAURI HONDA 1:25.409 1:24.054 1:24.368 24

Actual grid taking into account Hamilton’s penalty here.

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race airs live on ESPN2 beginning at 8 AM Eastern here in the States. With Hamilton having to fight to the front, Verstappen determined to gap Bottas early and more potential rain possible it should be another thriller in a season chock full of them. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2021 F1 Grand Prix of Hungary — Results & aftermath

Alpine’s Ocon earns shock victory in Hungary after first lap melee takes out five top contenders; Vettel finishes P2 for Aston Martin but DQ’d for fuel violation; Hamilton fights back to take P3 after early strategic error by Mercedes; Verstappen salvages P10 on disastrous day for Red Bull

Just a little bit of rain before the start of the Hungarian Grand Prix was enough to soak the Hungaroring and lead directly to a thoroughly scrambled race with some of the most unexpected results in a Formula 1 contest seen in years. With all the runners starting the GP on Intermediate wet weather Pirelli tires, the die was cast for massive unpredictability when Mercedes number two man, Valtteri Bottas, perhaps trying to make up for a poor start that saw the Finn lose several spots when the lights went out, badly misjudged his breaking point going into Turn 1 and plowed into the back of McLaren’s Lando Norris. That set off a chain reaction of mayhem and collisions amongst several top contenders that led to the retirement of not just Bottas and Norris but also the Red Bull of Sergio Perez, the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc and the Aston Martin of Lance Stroll when all were mauled too badly to continue. And while pole-sitter Lewis Hamilton was unaffected by his teammate’s blunder, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was not so lucky, as he was smashed into by Stroll when the Canadian attempted to reenter the track after taking evasive action prior. That led to major damage to Verstappen’s floor and barge board that was not able to be fully repaired even in the prolonged Red Flag period for cleanup that followed that massive first lap shunt, badly compromising the Dutchman’s race pace thereafter.

Meanwhile, Alpine’s Esteban Ocon and Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel, who started in P8 and P10 respectively, danced their way through the carnage and were able to emerge unscathed with the wreckage in their rearview and only Hamilton in front, with Ocon ascending to P2 and Vettel to P3 when first the Safety Car was deployed and then the race halted for the Red Flag. After the debris field had been cleaned up, Hamilton led the field back to the grid for a standing restart at the end of Lap 3. But the Englishman found himself starting completely alone on the track because the entirety of the other fourteen cars still able to participate dove into the pits to get off the wet tires and onto slicks, as the circuit had dried sufficiently for that maneuver and no more rain was forecast on the day. It was a bad miscalculation by the Mercedes brain trust, perhaps aggravated by the ban on team comms with the leader during the formation lap, because Hamilton was forced to plod around for an extra lap before he could get his own slick Medium Pirellis, while the entirety of the field zoomed around on that fresh racy rubber. By the time Hamilton emerged form the pits, the erstwhile race leader found himself dead last in P14 (Haas’ Nikita Mazepin having been taken out of the race by a pit lane collision with the unsafely released Alfa of Kimi Raikkonen). That strange strategic error by the usually nimble Mercedes pit wall saw Ocon take the lead of the race with only Vettel within shouting distance of the Frenchman. With Hamilton having it all to do to claw his way back into contention, Ocon controlled the race masterfully at the front and his Alpine team also aided him with a sterling pit stop at the end of Lap 37 nearly a second quicker than Vettel’s the lap prior. That proved to be the decisive edge that Ocon needed and the 24-year-old Frenchman was able to keep the 34-year-old and four time champion Vettel behind him until the very end no matter how much pressure the German veteran applied. When the checkers flew, Ocon took was 1.859 to the good ahead of Vettel to earn a stunning maiden Formula 1 victory that no oddsmaker would have given you 100-to-1 on at the beginning of the day.

Pics courtesy GrandPrix247.com

To make matters even more frustrating for the already frustrated Vettel, his Aston ran out of fuel on the cool down lap and then was unable to provide a liter’s worth of gas to the FIA, as required. Therefore, Vettel was disqualified and his terrific P2 result nullified. That meant that Hamilton, who fought like crazy, particularly with Ocon’s Alpine teammate, Fernando Alonso, in real multi-lap, wheel-banging ding dong battle, to will himself up to a P3 podium spot despite feeling dizziness and fatigue during the contest, was then promoted to P2 and earned 18 championship points, a net of three extra points due to Vettel’s infraction. Meanwhile, Verstappen struggled to make headway against normally inferior competitors in his badly damaged Red Bull and could only make it back up to P10, earning an addition point due to his promotion after the race. Continue reading →

2021 F1 Grand Prix of Hungary — Qualifying results

Hamilton beats Bottas to pole as Mercedes flex pace at Hungaroring; Verstappen qualifies P3

With the return to good old three-round knockout qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix after F1’s rather underwhelming Sprint Race format two weeks ago in Great Britain, the hunt for pole for tomorrow’s race was once again focused solely on one-lap pace. And with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton dueling for that coveted top starting spot after their on track collision left Verstappen out of the British GP on Lap 1 and the entire Red Bull team hopping mad at Hamilton, who incidentally went on to win, there was more tension in the air than even a normally nervy qualifying Saturday. But as the Q3 session expired with all the top contenders waiting until the last possible second to make their final runs, it was team Mercedes that outperformed team Red Bull on this day and rather comprehensively. Hamilton hooked up a near perfect lap on Soft Pirellis to grab pole with a blistering 1:15.419 time and his wingman Valtteri Bottas was very nearly as good, slotting in at P2 on the grid just a little over three-tenths slower than the pole time. Verstappen was about a tenth in arrears of Bottas and will find himself in the unfamiliar position of starting from the second row in P3, ending a run of four consecutive poles for the Dutchman. His teammate Sergio Perez could not make the line in time for a final flying lap but was still fourth fastest and will line up alongside Verstappen on the grid, which should make the opening lap more than a little interesting with the Mercedes and Red Bulls stacked back-to-back, as they will be.

AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly returned to form after a bit of a lost weekend at Silverstone a fortnight ago, setting the fifth fastest time and bettering the hard charging Lando Norris, who could only get up to P6 in his McLaren. That was still miles ahead of his teammate, Daniel Ricciardo, who got bounced in Q2 and will start down in P11. Likewise, Gasly’s AlphaTauri teammate, rookie Yuki Tsunoda, could not get to grips with the tricky and breezy Hungaroring and found himself knocked out in Q1 with just the sixteenth quickest time. Charles Leclerc will be the sole Ferrari to start in the top ten at P7 because his stablemate Carlos Sainz crashed out in lurid fashion entering the final corner on his last hot lap in Q2. The Spaniard will have his work cut out for him trying to fight back from way down in P15, as will the team in rebuilding the car overnight. On the other hand, Alpine saw both of their drivers make it into Q3 for the first time since Round 4 in Spain, with the struggling Esteban Ocon actually outpacing his double-World Champion teammate Fernando Alonso, P8 to P9. And four-time Champ Sebastian Vettel pulled his Aston Martin into P10 to line up alongside fellow wizened veteran Alonso on the fifth row.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Hungarian GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 1:16.424 1:16.553 1:15.419 19
2 77 Valtteri Bottas MERCEDES 1:16.569 1:16.702 1:15.734 18
3 33 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING HONDA 1:16.214 1:15.650 1:15.840 17
4 11 Sergio Perez RED BULL RACING HONDA 1:17.233 1:16.443 1:16.421 16
5 10 Pierre Gasly ALPHATAURI HONDA 1:16.874 1:16.394 1:16.483 15
6 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 1:17.081 1:16.385 1:16.489 17
7 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 1:17.084 1:16.574 1:16.496 17
8 31 Esteban Ocon ALPINE RENAULT 1:17.367 1:16.766 1:16.653 15
9 14 Fernando Alonso ALPINE RENAULT 1:17.123 1:16.541 1:16.715 15
10 5 Sebastian Vettel ASTON MARTIN MERCEDES 1:17.105 1:16.794 1:16.750 15

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race, Round 11 of the Championship., airs live on ESPN beginning at 9AM Eastern here in the States. Can Verstappen get his vengeance on Hamilton by coming from behind to win in this final round before the month-long summer break? Or was Max’s DNF via collision with Lewis in Britain the turning point of what was looking like a Championship season? Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2021 F1 Grand Prix of Austria — Qualifying results

Verstappen aces second consecutive pole at Red Bull Ring; Norris a surprisingly potent P2 for McLaren, Perez P3; Hamilton & Mercedes off the pace

A week after dominating the Styrian Grand Prix for an easy win, Red Bull’s championship-leading Max Verstappen was back to his imperious ways at the team’s home circuit, as the superlative Dutchman earned a second consecutive pole position at the Red Bull Ring, this time for tomorrow’s Austrian Grand Prix. On a track that suits him like a hand-tailored garment, Verstappen kept his positive momentum going on a day when his main championship rival, Mercedes ace Lewis Hamilton, took a step backwards. Not only did Verstappen earn the top starting spot in Saturday qualifying but instead of Hamilton or the second Merc of Valtteri Bottas nipping at his heels, Verstappen will have McLaren’s hard charging young star Lando Norris alongside him on the front row of the grid in P2. The 21-year-old Englishman maximized the superior straight-line speed of his Mercedes-powered MCL35M chassis to earn his best ever Formula 1 starting spot, setting a fast time just .048 behind the points leader and, alongside the 23-year-old Verstappen, will make up one of the youngest front rows in F1 history. Norris’ success came at the expense of the factory Mercedes drivers, as Hamilton could manage no better than a P4 time and Bottas slotted in at P5, with Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Perez bettering them both by setting the third fastest time in Q3. That leaves Checo in prime position to play the loyal Red Bull wingman during tomorrow’s race. It’s now fairly clear that this track no longer suits the Silver Arrows as it did a year ago and that other teams have improved their performance here at the Red Bull Ring enough in the interim to make Mercedes look positively mediocre. Toto Wolff and the AMG braintrust will have to figure out a way to minimize the potential damage from tomorrow’s race by finishing both cars well up in the points and then looking forward to better days at Silverstone in two weeks. Because realistically, the Mercs have very little shot at winning against the ascendent Red Bull of Verstappen and neither Hamilton or Bottas may see the podium tomorrow after the checkers fly.

AlphaTauri had a very nice day of qualifying, with Pierre Gasly slotting in at P6 and the somewhat erratic rookie Yuki Tsunoda coming home seventh fastest. Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel was solid in P8 but will have to start behind his teammate Lance Stroll, who qualified P10, after it was judged that Vettel had impeded Alpine’s Fernando Alonso during Q2, earning the veteran German driver a three-spot grid penalty. And another up-and-coming young Englishman, Williams’ George Russell, broke through into Q3 and set a time good enough for ninth fastest in that final quali session, an exciting milestone for both the rebuilding team and their ambitious and talented young pilot.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Austrian GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 33 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING HONDA 1:04.249 1:03.927 1:03.720 16
2 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 1:04.345 1:04.415 1:03.768 19
3 11 Sergio Perez RED BULL RACING HONDA 1:04.833 1:04.483 1:03.990 24
4 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 1:04.506 1:04.258 1:04.014 18
5 77 Valtteri Bottas MERCEDES 1:04.563 1:04.376 1:04.049 19
6 10 Pierre Gasly ALPHATAURI HONDA 1:04.841 1:04.412 1:04.107 21
7 22 Yuki Tsunoda ALPHATAURI HONDA 1:04.967 1:04.518 1:04.273 21
8 5 Sebastian Vettel ASTON MARTIN MERCEDES 1:04.846 1:04.493 1:04.570 20
9 63 George Russell WILLIAMS MERCEDES 1:04.907 1:04.553 1:04.591 15
10 18 Lance Stroll ASTON MARTIN MERCEDES 1:04.927 1:04.547 1:04.618 21

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race airs live on ESPN beginning at 9AM Eastern here in the States. With Verstappen having won three out of the last four contests and looking to pull away from Hamilton in the championship, the stars seem aligned for him to so at this favorite track barring unexpected drama. The real question is if Norris can keep Perez, Hamilton and Bottas behind him for a very special result. It’s a big ask but young Lando has been building up to that kind of breakthrough all season. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2021 F1 Grand Prix of Styria — Results & aftermath

Verstappen romps to victory in Styrian Grand Prix; Hamilton and Bottas P2 & P3, Perez P4

The Red Bull of Max Verstappen was completely untouchable in the first of two consecutive races at the Red Bull Ring, easily going from pole to victory in Sunday’s Styrian Grand Prix in the beautiful hills of Spielberg, Austria. Verstappen handily outclassed his main championship rival, Mercedes ace Lewis Hamilton, by over 35 seconds to take his second consecutive victory in this second of three back-to-back-to-back races. To be fair, Hamilton did make a penultimate lap second pit stop for new Soft Pirellis that enabled him to snatch away the extra point for fastest lap from the superlative Dutchman. Nevertheless, Verstappen increased his point lead over Hamilton, the seven-time and current reigning champion, to 18 with his second consecutive victory. The dominant win at Red Bull’s home circuit also highlighted just how far the RB16B chassis has come in a year’s time, with Verstappen gapping P2 Hamilton by just about the same margin Hamilton bested him by when Max finished P3 and Lewis was victorious in the second Austrian contest in what was Round 2 of the COVID-effected 2020 season.

Despite their glaring pace deficit to Verstappen’s Red Bull, It wasn’t all bad news for Mercedes on the day, as their beleaguered number two pilot, Valtteri Bottas, was able to hold of the hard charging second Red Bull of Sergio Perez for P3 and take the last spot on the podium. The Mexican simply ran out of laps as the 71 for today’s contest were just about the maximum for Bottas to keep that valuable position and perhaps restore some much needed confidence after an extremely demoralizing stretch for the Finn. In truth, it was solid drivel around for Bottas, as he was penalized for a sort of burnout in the pots during qualifying and had to start P5 instead of P2 where he qualified. Still, with Red Bull now consistently getting solid points results from Perez, the team now carries a 40-point lead over Mercedes in the all-important Constructors’ standings after eight rounds of the championship, which is roughly a third of the season.

McLaren’s Lando Norris was once again best of the rest and finished P5, as he has so often this season. The team were content to pull the talented young Englishman out of the top four’s elite fray and just run a steady pace to bring their man home fifth. However, the results were not so good for the second McLaren of Daniel Ricciardo, who failed to score after some sort of power issue caused the Aussie to drop like a stone just as he was making up positions early in the race and he thereafter could make no further progress, finishing down in P13. Ferrari, their closest rivals for third in the Constructors’, took full advantage of Ricciardo’s misfortune with the Prancing Horses rebounding nicely from a points shutout in France last week. Carlos Sainz overcame starting from twelfth on the grid to grab an impressive P6 finish and Charles Leclerc finished where he started in P7 but only after a lot of crazy contact with AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly on Lap 1 forced the Monegasque in for a new front wing. While Gasly suffered terminal suspension damage after getting a puncture out of the contretemps with Leclerc and then being ping ponged by nearly the entire field as he decelerated down the order, Leclerc went on to be voted Driver of the Day for his storming and determined performance. It was an honor that most decidedly did not receive Gasly’s vote.

Further down, Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll drove solid race to take P8, Alpine’s wise old head Fernando Alonso scored his third consecutive points finish in P9 and Yuki Tsunoda salvaged a single point for Alpha Tauri in P10 on a day when the team were surely hoping for more.

Top 10 finishers of the Styrian GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR LAPS TIME/RETIRED PTS
1 33 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING HONDA 71 1:22:18.925 25
2 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 71 +35.743s 19
3 77 Valtteri Bottas MERCEDES 71 +46.907s 15
4 11 Sergio Perez RED BULL RACING HONDA 71 +47.434s 12
5 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 70 +1 lap 10
6 55 Carlos Sainz FERRARI 70 +1 lap 8
7 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 70 +1 lap 6
8 18 Lance Stroll ASTON MARTIN MERCEDES 70 +1 lap 4
9 14 Fernando Alonso ALPINE RENAULT 70 +1 lap 2
10 22 Yuki Tsunoda ALPHATAURI HONDA 70 +1 lap 1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race is in but a week’s time and you don’t even have to make a new hotel reservation — it may be called the Austrian Grand Prix but it is at this exact Red Bull Ring next Sunday and for the same number of laps to boot. It’s doubtful that Mercedes can find the pace to challenge the supreme Verstappen here during that short window but stranger things have happened. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2021 F1 Grand Prix of Styria — Qualifying results

Verstappen grabs second consecutive pole to line up P1 for Styrian GP; hard luck Bottas betters Hamilton for P2 but will drop 3 spots due to penalty

The ascendent Max Verstappen, Red Bull’s top driver and the current points leader in the Championship after seven rounds, scored his second pole on the trot during Saturday qualifying to secure the top starting spot for tomorrow’s Styrian Grand Prix. Six days after winning at Paul Ricard in France, Verstappen earned even more satisfaction by setting the fastest time at his team’s home circuit, the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, Austria, and setting himself up nicely for potential back-to-back victories in this second race of a three-week “triple header” of consecutive contests (the third of which will be at this exact circuit next week). Verstappen got the better of both Mercedes drivers relatively easily and the day’s competition for starting spots saw Valtteri Bottas actually outclass his more lauded teammate, Lewis Hamilton, P2 to P3, after Hamilton had a very scruffy final lap in Q3. However, true to the Finn’s luck so far this season, Bottas will be penalized three grid spots for dangerous driving in the pits earlier in practice and will have to start back amongst the midfield runners in P5, elevating Hamilton to the front row alongside his archrival Verstappen.

Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Perez was well off the pace of his team leader and could only set the fifth fastest time, as he saw himself bettered by the theoretically inferior McLaren of Lando Norris, who crossed the line with a flying lap good enough for P4. AlphaTauri also looked strong here in Spielberg, with Pierre Gasly setting a time good enough for P6 and the erratic rookie Yuki Tsunoda coming home eighth fastest. Tsunoda will also be penalized three grid spots, though, after the stewards ruled that the young Japanese had impeded Bottas’ qualifying efforts during Q3. Ferrari had their pace deficit exposed again since leaving the slower street circuits behind them. A week after the team scored zero points in France, Charles Leclerc was only able to muster a P7 qualifying effort, while teammate Carlos Sainz really struggled and was knocked out in Q2 with only the eleventh fastest lap. One has to wonder what the Prancing Horses will really have come race day, where they seem to be at a pace disadvantage to teams like McLaren, AlphaTauri and even Alpine and Aston Martin over the long runs.

Speaking of those latter two teams, they rounded out the top ten qualifiers, with Alpine’s Fernando Alonso enjoying his day with a P9 quali effort and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll taking P10, well ahead of his teammate Sebastian Vettel, who underperformed after a run of good results and could only set a rather pokey P14 time in Q2.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Styrian GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 33 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING HONDA 1:04.489 1:04.433 1:03.841 20
2 77 Valtteri Bottas MERCEDES 1:04.537 1:04.443 1:04.035 23
3 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 1:04.672 1:04.512 1:04.067 25
4 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 1:04.584 1:04.298 1:04.120 17
5 11 Sergio Perez RED BULL RACING HONDA 1:04.638 1:04.197 1:04.168 21
6 10 Pierre Gasly ALPHATAURI HONDA 1:04.765 1:04.429 1:04.236 18
7 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 1:04.745 1:04.646 1:04.472 21
8 22 Yuki Tsunoda ALPHATAURI HONDA 1:04.608 1:04.631 1:04.514 21
9 14 Fernando Alonso ALPINE RENAULT 1:04.971 1:04.582 1:04.574 18
10 18 Lance Stroll ASTON MARTIN MERCEDES 1:04.821 1:04.663 1:04.708 18

Complete qualifying results and the penalty-effected starting grid available via Fomula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race airs live on ESPN beginning at 9AM here in the States. With Hamilton struggling on this short little circuit and Verstappen looking dominant as he should at the aptly named Red Bull Ring, look for some early aggression on Lewis’s part to try to pull himself back on even terms with the superlative Dutchman. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2021 F1 Grand Prix of Azerbaijan — Results & aftermath

Perez victorious at Baku after Verstappen loses sure victory with late tire failure; Vettel shows old form to take P2, Gasly holds off Leclerc for P3; Hamilton blows penultimate lap restart to tumble out of points

The return of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix to the Formula 1 calendar after a year’s hiatus provided the season’s most exciting race so far, as the ultra-challenging Baku City Circuit so often does. But this year’s drama hinged not on driver error but rather tire failure. With Red Bull’s Max Verstappen leading comfortably ahead of his teammate Sergio Perez and Mercedes ace Lewis Hamilton and poised to extend his championship lead, the unlucky Dutchman suffered a catastrophic failure of his left rear Hard Pirelli tire while steaming down the start-finish straight around 200 miles per hour at the end of Lap 47. As his car speared off and smashed nose first into the barriers on his right, victory was snatched from Verstappen with a mere four laps remaining in the contest. It was nearly identical to an incident that took Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll out of the race back on Lap 31 in another huge shunt that was almost certainly precipitated by an unexpected tire failure. The debris from and removal of Verstappen’s stricken mount caused a Red Flag to be thrown on Lap 48, as well as the race director’s desire that all teams should have the option of switching onto new Pirellis as a precaution once they were back stationary in the pits, which all in fact did.

Pics courtesy GrandPrix247.com

After a lengthy delay, it was decided the race was safe to resume from a standing start with just two laps remaining. Perez had inherited the lead due to Max’s misfortune and Hamilton was positively licking his chops just behind him in P2, keen to get the jump on the veteran Mexican and steal a victory. But Hamilton made a crucial error by leaving his “magic” on for the actual restart, a tool that helps warm up the Silver Arrows’ brakes prior to racing speeds being achieved. So as Perez sprinted away cleanly, Hamilton locked up heading into Turn 1 and straight-lined off into the escape area. The English seven-time champ suffered the ignominy of watching the entire field pass him before he could rejoin the track, not to mention the agony of knowing he would now score zero points on a day where he should have been poised to make up massive ground against his primary title rival Verstappen. It was another crazy twist of fortune on the streets of Baku, which has seen its fair share of them, and benefitting most from the woes of the top two title contenders were Perez, the remaining Aston Martin of Sebastian Vettel and the AlphaTauri of Pierre Gasly. Perez put his foot down and never looked back after Hamilton’s fateful off, showing that Red Bull’s faith in him was justified by earning a victory to somewhat salve the team’s wounds at seeing Verstappen crash out. Vettel was also brilliant all day, showing signs of his old form by making a longer run on his opening set of tires pay off, grabbing armfuls of track position and having fresher rubber to make passes during the critical laps prior to the Red Flag and come home an elated P2. It was a fantastic result for Vettel and the team on a day where Stroll thankfully also walked away from his frightening shunt.

And Gasly was tenacious in holding off the hard charging Ferrari of Charles Leclerc, who was desperate to get to the podium after starting from pole but frankly lacked the race pace to truly compete for the top spots. Gasly kept his elbows out and kept the Monegasque behind him to grab a terrific P3. It still wound up being a decent day for Ferrari, with Leclerc’s settling for a solid P4 and Carlos Sainz coming home a rather fortunate P8 after recovering from his own unforced error earlier in the race that saw the Spaniard have to take to the escape road and grab reverse to rejoin the race. Lando Norris also hung in doggedly with what seemed to be a difficult car to handle and when the dust had settled and the checkers flew the young English McLaren driver found himself with a very pleasing P5 result. Teammate Daniel Ricciardo likewise benefitted from the race’s attrition rate and bobbles by the favorites to add some more points for McLaren in P9. Alpine’s Fernando Alonso somehow managed to work his way up to a P6 result with a great restart on that penultimate lap after being mired well out of the points for most of the day. Gasly’s AlphaTauri teammate, rookie Yuki Tsunoda, also got a much needed boost of confidence by not only running a clean race but also taking his best F1 finish in P7, adding up to a bushel full of valuable points for the team.  And the venerable Kimi Raikkonen scored his first point of the year for Alfa Romeo by coming home in P10 on day where survival and a bit of good luck trumped pure pace and skill.

As bad as Red Bull felt about Verstappen’s DNF at least they could hang their hat on Perez’s victory. For Mercedes the news on Sunday was all bad because, in addition to Lewis’ uncharacteristic blunder, their second driver Valtteri Bottas was nowhere all day and finished out of the points in P12. One wonders if the Mercedes brain trust is not quite thinking through a two car strategy, as much of this weekend’s calls seemed to be solely designed to advantage Hamilton and not really deliver performance for Bottas. Either way, with the Silver Arrows now trailing team Red Bull by 26 points in the Constructors’ standings after six rounds of the Championship the pressure on Bottas to perform better or lose his seat has got to be hotting up.

Top 10 finishers of the Azerbaijan GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR LAPS TIME/RETIRED PTS
1 11 Sergio Perez RED BULL RACING HONDA 51 2:13:36.410 25
2 5 Sebastian Vettel ASTON MARTIN MERCEDES 51 +1.385s 18
3 10 Pierre Gasly ALPHATAURI HONDA 51 +2.762s 15
4 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 51 +3.828s 12
5 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 51 +4.754s 10
6 14 Fernando Alonso ALPINE RENAULT 51 +6.382s 8
7 22 Yuki Tsunoda ALPHATAURI HONDA 51 +6.624s 6
8 55 Carlos Sainz FERRARI 51 +7.709s 4
9 3 Daniel Ricciardo MCLAREN MERCEDES 51 +8.874s 2
10 7 Kimi Räikkönen ALFA ROMEO RACING FERRARI 51 +9.576s 1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race is in two weeks’ time from the very colorful and eccentric Paul Ricard Circuit in France. After two tight street circuits in a row, it’s about as different a track from Baku and Monaco as you could want. So look for the top contenders to refocus and compete at the highest level without fear of crashing into barriers. Let’s hope the drivers can also have full confidence in their Pirelli tires by then, as well. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2021 F1 Grand Prix of Azerbaijan — Qualifying results

Ferrari’s Leclerc nabs second consecutive pole in Red Flag-marred Baku qualifying; Hamilton salvages a P2 start, Verstappen P3 after Q3 ends early

Ferrari’s ace pilot Charles Leclerc secured his second consecutive pole position at the second consecutive street circuit on the calendar, this time through the very demanding boulevards and alleyways of the Baku City Circuit during Saturday qualifying for the return of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Two weeks after setting the fastest quali time in Monaco before crashing out, Leclerc survived today’s crash-laden affair and benefitted from setting a fine fast banker lap early in Q3. That held up very nicely when that final qualifying session was ended prematurely under a Red Flag due to rookie Yuki Tsunoda misjudging his breaking point and spearing his AlpahTauri into the barriers nose first. A collateral shunt by Leclerc’s teammate, Carlos Sainz, made certain that there was not enough time to clear the track and resume, so the Monegasque was therefore awarded the top starting spot. It will be something of a deja vu do-over for Leclerc and he will be desperate to forget his heartbreaking experience in Monte Carlo when his car was unable to start his home race despite earning the pole, likely due to his untimely Q3 shunt there. This time, Leclerc kept everything clean and he and  Ferrari will have as good a chance as any team and driver of taking victory tomorrow at this demanding and highly technical track.

The Red Flag may or may not have cost Mercedes ace Lewis Hamilton a shot at pole but in any event Lewis will line up beside Leclerc in P2 so he will likely try to wrest the lead from the Ferrari right when the lights go out. Hamilton was also pleased to start one spot better than the Red Bull of Max Verstappen, who was disappointed to have only the third fastest time on the board when the session was ended. After looking like he had the fastest car and Verstappen looking the fastest driver, the Monaco winner and current points leader will have to duke it out from P3 against the talented rivals ahead of him if he wants to keep his championship momentum going. The Dutchman’s Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez qualified a disappointing P7, which puts him out of position since he was very fast during practice sessions, so look for the savvy Mexican to make up places at a fairly rapid rate. And that was still miles ahead of Hamilton’s Silver Arrows partner Valtteri Bottas, who struggled for pace and grip once again and could only muster a lowly P10 time when Q3 ended. On the other hand, the second AlphaTauri of Pierre Gasly excelled by taking P4 on the grid, matching his career best qualifying performance. Sainz should line up in P5 if he did not damage his Prancing Horse too badly when he skidded and spun off into the barriers after locking up behind Tsunoda. Lando Norris qualified P6 in his McLaren, salvaging something for the team after Daniel Ricciardo crashed out heavily in Q2. But the young Englishman was later assessed a 3-spot grid penalty for not entering the pits promptly when a Red Flag came out in Q1, so that will drop him to P9 on tomorrow’s grid.

Despite his costly mistake, Tsunoda still had his best quali effort and set the eighth fastest time. And Alpine’s Fernando Alonso used the tow like a wise veteran should, managing to haul himself up to P9 by the time final session stopped after letting Hamilton’s Merc punch a whole in the air in front of him during his best flying lap.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Azerbaijan GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 1:42.241 1:41.659 1:41.218 19
2 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 1:41.545 1:41.634 1:41.450 21
3 33 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING HONDA 1:41.760 1:41.625 1:41.563 19
4 10 Pierre Gasly ALPHATAURI HONDA 1:42.288 1:41.932 1:41.565 18
5 55 Carlos Sainz FERRARI 1:42.121 1:41.740 1:41.576 18
6 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 1:42.167 1:41.813 1:41.747 20
7 11 Sergio Perez RED BULL RACING HONDA 1:41.968 1:41.630 1:41.917 18
8 22 Yuki Tsunoda ALPHATAURI HONDA 1:42.521 1:41.654 1:42.211 19
9 14 Fernando Alonso ALPINE RENAULT 1:42.934 1:42.195 1:42.327 20
10 77 Valtteri Bottas MERCEDES 1:42.701 1:42.106 1:42.659 21

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race airs live on ESPN2 beginning at 8AM Eastern here in the States. With the grid properly scrambled and the treacherous nature of this most entertaining and demanding of street circuits it should be a real doozy. Your guess is as good as mine as to who emerges victorious after 51 grueling laps in Baku so hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2021 F1 Grand Prix of Emilia Romagna — Qualifying results

Hamilton bests Red Bulls for pole at Imola as Perez surprises by out-qualifying Vertsappen

After a three-week layoff following the beginning of the 2021 season in Bahrain the anticipation couldn’t help but build for another showdown between Mercedes ace Lewis Hamilton and Red Bull phenom Max Verstappen at the fast and flowing Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, aka Imola. Saturday qualifying for tomorrow’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix offered the opportunity for the first real rematch of the young campaign after Verstappen seemed to have the faster car at the Sakhir Circuit during the first round but Hamilton still managed to pip the Dutchman for victory via superior strategy. It also meant a test of Mercedes’ ability to upgrade their cars in relation to Red Bull, a team they acknowledge has the pace advantage for now, by using those three weeks of tuning and analysis to potentially close that alleged gap. When it really counted, the latest results ended up in Mercedes’ favor, as Hamilton was able to put together a superb lap in Q3 that resulted in his astonishing 99th career pole. And while Hamilton just pipped the second Red Bull by a mere .035 seconds, it was new man Sergio Perez who ended up closest to the peerless Englishman, getting the better of his more favored teammate Verstappen by some five-one hundredths. It was a surprising result and should make for an intriguing start to tomorrow’s contest, with the veteran Mexican lining up alongside Hamilton on the front row and Verstappen eager to pounce from directly behind the Merc’s gearbox in P3. Perez will also be starting on the Soft Pirellis, which he felt needed to get through Q2 cleanly, while the other two top contenders will be on the favored, longer lasting Mediums. So look for a split Red Bull strategy to play its part in attacking Mercedes during the race, as well.

If Hamilton and Mercedes were nearly giddy at earning their hard fought pole position that joy was tempered more than a little by the subpar performance of their number two driver, Valtteri Bottas. Bottas struggled to match the pace of not only his multi-championship teammate and the aspiring Red Bulls but also a veritable hoard of other top ten contenders and could only set the eighth fastest time. With this year’s Merc looking not quite as dominant and several of the other non-“big two” teams having made significant improvements, the Finn will have his work cut out for him trying to get back in touch with the elite trio at the front of the field and be of some use in playing the team game to help Ham the Man fend off those hard charging Red Bulls. Taking advantage of Bottas’ mediocrity on the day was Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who slotted delightedly into P4 after a very solid qualifying effort on a short, flowing circuit that seems to suit this year’s improved Prancing Horse. Like Mercedes, though, it was a split result for the Scuderia because their other pilot, Carlos Sainz, got inexplicably bounced out in Q2. While Sainz will have that always valuable extra set of Pirellis to play with, the Spaniard was anything but thrilled to be starting from P11. He will also have to dig deep to try and salvage points against the very evenly matched field of competitors ahead of him.

Pics courtesy GrandPrix247.com

Pierre Gasly got a good result for AlphaTauri at was is essentially their home circuit with a strong lap good enough for P5 on the grid. It salvaged the day somewhat after their rookie driver Yuki Tsunoda, who scored on debut in Bahrain, crashed out in Q1 and essentially destroyed the back end of his AT02, giving the team mechanics a mountain of work to get the car repaired in time for tomorrow’s GP. The two McLaren’s also looked very fast all day, especially young Lando Norris. But at crunch time the veteran Daniel Ricciardo bested Norris P6 to P7 when the latter had a superior time deleted due to exceeding track limits, something that was an ongoing theme for many drivers throughout the day. Esteban Ocon did very well to handily out-qualify his more heralded Alpine teammate, Fernando Alonso, P9 to P15. And Lance Stroll also struck a blow for youth over experience by getting the better of four-time champion Sebastian Vettel P10 to P13 for an Aston Martin team that still seems to be struggling to come to grips with the 2021 rules changes. Concentrating on changes to the design of the floor f the cars, these appear to have hurt the aero of so-called low rake cars like Mercedes and Aston Martin (formerly Racing Point) and to the benefit of the rest of the more high rake cars on the grid like Red Bull and McLaren.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Emilia Romagna GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 1:14.823 1:14.817 1:14.411 23
2 11 Sergio Perez RED BULL RACING HONDA 1:15.395 1:14.716 1:14.446 18
3 33 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING HONDA 1:15.109 1:14.884 1:14.498 20
4 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 1:15.413 1:14.808 1:14.740 19
5 10 Pierre Gasly ALPHATAURI HONDA 1:15.548 1:14.927 1:14.790 21
6 3 Daniel Ricciardo MCLAREN MERCEDES 1:15.669 1:15.033 1:14.826 21
7 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 1:15.009 1:14.718 1:14.875 15
8 77 Valtteri Bottas MERCEDES 1:14.672 1:14.905 1:14.898 22
9 31 Esteban Ocon ALPINE RENAULT 1:15.385 1:15.117 1:15.210 20
10 18 Lance Stroll ASTON MARTIN MERCEDES 1:15.522 1:15.138 DNF 20

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race coverage begins at 9 AM Eastern on ESPN here in the States. Hope to see you then to find out if the two Red Bulls can hunt down Hamilton’s Silver Arrow and, if so, which driver can beat him for the win!