Jordan's Track Talk

Author: jordanlhaynes

  • Round 7 – Monaco Qualifying

    Round 7 – Monaco Qualifying

    Well, another crazy qualifying in Monaco is complete, which saw a few surprise exits as well as a crash in Q3 which saw people not being able to complete their final laps.

    But it’s home boy hero, Charles Leclerc on pole position, with no-one being able to get close to him! Carlos Sainz makes it an all Ferrari front row. Sergio Perez, rounds out the top 3!

    The full top 10 are- P1: Leclerc, P2: Sainz, P3: Perez, P4: Verstappen, P5: Norris, P6: Russell, P7: Alonso, P8: Hamilton, P9: Vettel and P10: Ocon.

    A crash from Sergio Perez brought the final qualifying session to an end, as he lost the rear and went into the barrier, with Carlos Sainz doing the same- at the exact time aswell which caused there to be a traffic jam as drivers couldn’t get through.

    Gasly got knocked out in Q1 as he wasn’t able to get to the flag in time, he starts the race in P17, a what could’ve been today as it looked like he had really good pace so far but now onto tomorrow, what can he do from P17?

    Danny Ric out in Q2, and is starting P14- sandwiched between both Haas’ not a good day at all, which is a bit confusing as Lando Norris is starting P5!

    Someone I have to mention though, is Sebastian Vettel, starting P9! He done a mega lap in Q2 so he wouldn’t get knocked out, and he managed to get his Aston Martin into P9.

    A mixed day for Ferrari and Red Bull, for Ferrari its more of a good day obviously the pole for Leclerc, but the crash for Sainz once again has got to be hurting the team… Where as Red Bull more of a down day, Perez crashing which ruined his and his teammates lap, but as well as this it looks like Max isn’t comfortable in the car this weekend.

    Predictions-

    Well, these predictions I done before qualifying as I recorded my podcast- so I won’t change them (even though I want too!).

    My top five are- P1: Verstappen, P2: Sainz, P3: Hamilton, P4: Perez and P5: Russell.

    There is an 80% chance of rain during the race tomorrow, so this may add some chaos to the Monaco race. Strategy is key here, the teams will be wanting to get the pit stops right * Flashback to last years Monaco GP, VB *

    Times for tomorrow-

    Feature Race F2- 08:50am (BST)
    F1 Race- 14:00pm.

  • F2 Monaco – Day 1 & 2

    Day 1-

    Championship leader, Felipe Drugovich led the way in the Free Practice session in Monte Carlo, he clocked in a 1:21.589, Drugovich’s effort was just enough to hold off Campos Racing’s Ralph Boschung.

    It was HiTech’s Marcus Armstrong, who set the first representative lap of the 45 minute session. However times quickly began to tumble as Boschung topped the sheets with a 1:26.741.

    Traffic once again proved to be a thorn in several drivers’ sides, including Drugovich who was forced to abandon several fast laps after coming across a train of cars at Turn 19.

    Running was constant throughout the session, with only Juri Vips and Marino Sato bringing out yellow flags in Sector 1, with both drivers suffering near-identical front lockups and headed into the run off at Turn 1, before swiftly getting going again.

    Day 2-

    Liam Lawson set the fastest time in qualifying around the streets of Monte Carlo, narrowly beating out Ayumu Iwasa by 0.059s. Championship leader Felipe Drugovich hit the wall on his final effort but remained third quickest in group A. Meanwhile, Theo Pourchaire topped the Group B with a 1:25.535.

    A slow burn in Group B followed, but a red flag in the final minute prevented any last-gasp improvements. A crash for Van Amersfoort Racing’s Jake Hughes, at the swimming pool chicane ended the session prematurely. It meant that Pourchaire’s penultimate attempt was good enough for the top spot in the second group.

    But, things never stay the same in F2! Liam Lawson, Ayumu Iwasa and Olli Caldwell all got post qualifying penalties.

    Lawson, had been fount guilty of failing to reduce his speed under a single-waved yellow flag. As a result, Lawson’s best time got deleted and as well as receiving a five place grid drop, dropping him down to P11 for tomorrows Sprint Race.

    Iwasa, has been awarded a 10 place grid penalty, after failing to abandon his flying lap whilst under a double waved yellow flag at the end of qualifying. His best lap time has been deleted, demoting him from P2 of his group. Iwasa’s second-best time now sees him classified in P7, and with the penalty applied he’ll start the sprint race from P20.

    Last but not least, Olli Caldwell has been fount guilty of impeding Marino Sato at Turns 2, 3 and 4 during Group B’s qualifying session, the Campos driver failing to let Sato through who was on a fast lap. As a result, Caldwell has been handed a three-place grid drop for his next race.

    The full top 10 for tomorrows sprint race is: P1: Hughes, P2: Hauger, P3: Daruvala, P4: Armstrong, P5: Fittipaldi, P6: Vips, P7: Doohan, P8: Pourchaire, P9: Drugovich and P10: Boschung.

  • Monaco Grand Prix

    The most prestigious motor race is here, we are in Monaco for Round 7 of the 2022 F1 Season! It is also the home GP of Charles Leclerc, will he finally have a good race result here and make up for scoring no points last week? Or will Max Verstappen continue with his charge?

    With overtaking not really possible here, qualifying is everything, so will we see some good performances from drivers to get further up the grid?

    Who needs a good weekend?

    Charles, even before what happened last week, he needs a good home GP. Last year, he qualified on pole before crashing, but if he does the same again (without the crashing part), there’s no reason why he shouldn’t win this race.

    Daniel needs a good weekend, he qualified well last week, but he just went backwards in the race and ended up finishing outside the points, which McLaren wouldn’t have wanted.

    Pierre Gasly, he got out performed by his teammate last week, and he managed to get into the points also. Pierre will be hoping to have a good qualifying and then he can go from their and see what he can do.

    I think Aston Martin need a good weekend also, they brought basically a new car last week so it will be interesting to see how the car does around different tracks, but more importantly this week.

    Predictions for qualifying-

    My top five are- Pole: Leclerc, P2: Verstappen, P3: Sainz, P4: Hamilton and P5: Russell.

    As I said earlier, qualifying is everything, so everyone will be pushing to improve their laps, but no mistakes can be made, its Monaco after all and it’s can bite at any point and ruin the drivers’ lap.

    Times for the weekend-

    Friday 27th

    • F2 Qualifying Group A- 10:40am – 10:56am (BST)
    • F2 Qualifying Group B- 11:04am – 11:20am
    • Free Practice 1 F1- 13:00pm – 14:00pm
    • Free Practice 2 F1- 16:00pm – 17:00pm

    Saturday 28th

    • Free Practice 3 F1- 12:00pm – 13:00pm (BST)
    • Qualifying F1- 15:00pm – 16:00pm
    • Sprint Race F2- 16:40pm – 17:25pm

    Sunday 29th

    • Feature Race F2- 08:50am (BST)
    • F1 Race- 14:00pm.

  • Monaco tyre allocation

    It’s race week once again, and we are in Monaco for Round 7, and the most famous street circuit of all! Let’s take a look at the tyre allocation.

    The softest compounds have been selected for the Monaco GP, C3 (Hard), C4 (Medium), C5 (Soft).

    Like Barcelona, Monaco is extremely well-known to the teams, with it being just one of three circuits still on the calendar that originally appeared in the inaugural 1950 Formula 1 season. Unlike the other two (Spa and Silverstone), the track hasn’t changed shape significantly since then, which means that it has the lowest average speed of any track and very little run-off, making it hard to overtake.

    The slippery street asphalt, and slow speeds mean that the energy going through the tyres is low with minimal wear and degradation, but quite a high degree of track evolution each day.

    This means that a one-stopper is the normality, but there’s quite a wide pit stop window and the timing of the stops can be influenced by safety cars, which are very likely around the tight circuit.

    The cars run a special high-downforce configuration for Monaco in order to maximise grip at low speeds. This weekend is obviously the first time for the new 18 inch tyres have race at Monaco, so the teams will have a lot to learn about how they react in the conditions.

    Monaco is often described as one of the most unpredictable races of the year, but the truth is that qualifying takes on a particular significance as track position is key here. As a result of that, understanding how to maximise the softest C5 compound – which has only raced at one event so far this year, in Australia – will be a vital part of free practice. With the previous rule requiring drivers to start the race on their fastest Q2 tyre now abolished, we might see some different strategies this year, with some drivers picking harder compounds to begin the race to target running a long first stint, given the difficultly of overtaking. Others may choose a more traditional approach by starting on the softest compound, at a race where strategy can make a real difference.

    Mario Isla, Motorsport Director.

    Formula 2

    Formula 2 will also be racing in Monaco this weekend, with the softest available compounds: the Soft tyre and the Supersoft tyre. This is the same nomination from 2021 and prior years, although the supersoft is a revised compound for 2022.

  • F1 set to group races by region

    Formula 1 is planning to group races by region in 2023 in an effort to improve its sustainability credentials by reducing freight movements and personnel travel.

    The strategy was revealed by F1 boss, Stefano Domenicali during the Spanish GP weekend, with a meeting with the team principals.

    In 2019, Liberty announced a plan to make F1 carbon neutral by 2030, and rationalising the calendar is seen as a key part of that ongoing commitment. At the same time, a more efficient schedule will tackle the dramatic rise in freight costs that has impacted both the F1 organisation itself and the teams.

    Whilst some races have traditionally been grouped together, there are anomalies in the calendar in the way some flyaway races are placed. This season, Miami was a standalone race involving a North American trip for just one race weekend, whilst the upcoming races in Baku and Montreal in June are back to backs but far apart geographically.

    Although, Domenicali did not go into extensive detail in the meeting of what could change, its understood that Baku could be grouped in a run of races with Shanghai and Suzuka. One complication that F1 still faces is the COVID-19 situation in China still remains unclear, and moving it towards the end of the season creates some extra breathing space.

    Another option that could potentially happen, is to pair Miami and Montreal, which means that one or the other will have to move from its 2022 date by a month. Monaco’s traditional end of May date reduces F1’s flexibility at that time of year.

    The Middle Eastern races could also be paired together, with Bahrain and Saudi Arabia together at the start of the year, and Qatar and Abu Dhabi towards the end of the season.

    My Opinion-

    About time they did this, it doesn’t make sense for us to go from Italy to the US and then to Spain. As well as the cost, you’ve got to think of the teams, as F1 wants a big calendar grouping races together will make it easier for teams.

  • Round 6- Spanish GP

    Round 6- Spanish GP

    WOW! A chaotic race in Spain, saw us with a new championship leader… A race which is normally a two stop turned into a 3 stop, and there was a risk of a 4 stop also.

    Max Verstappen WINS the Spanish GP, he now moves into the lead of the Championship, his teammate comes home to make it a 1-2, with team orders taking a play which Perez wasn’t very happy about… But the final podium spot goes to George Russell, the new minister of defence!

    The full top 10 are: P1: Verstappen, P2: Perez, P3: Russell, P4: Sainz, P5: Hamilton, P6: Bottas, P7: Ocon, P8: Norris, P9: Alonso and P10: Tsunoda.

    A mixed day for Ferrari, Carlos spun and went into the gravel trap earlier on, which saw him drop down out of the top 10. But Leclerc looked like he wrapped up the race from early on, but it never stays that way in F1, as he lost power which saw his race come to an end as he retired in the pits.

    A great day for the Mercedes team, especially Lewis, he had contact on the first lap which saw him drop down to the bottom and then pit for new tyres as he had a slow puncture, he then fought his way up to the top five! Mr George Russell aswell, round of applause for him, mostly fought the Red Bulls today and held of Max for a long time! Safe to say the Mercedes upgrades have worked.

    What a drive from Fernando Alonso, started P20 and finished in P9, great damage limitation from him. And his teammate finishing in P7, a good points haul for Alpine.

    A mixed day again for Alfa Romeo, mechanical issues again for Guanyu Zhou, his race ending earlier than usual, but for VB a big points haul in P6.

    The Championship-

    Max, now leads the championship by 6 points! Everybody in the top 10, apart from Max and Charles, have stayed in the same position. Perez now has 85 points in third, Russell sat behind him in 74 points, and Carlos Sainz has 65 points and he rounds out the top 5.

    Red Bull lead the Constructors, with 195 points and Ferrari are in 2nd with 169 points. Mercedes sit comfortably in third with 120 points a 70 point gap between them and McLaren who are in 4th. Alfa Romeo are in fifth with 39 points, slowly catching the papaya tomorrow.

    We will be back next week for the second race of our double header, Round 7 in Monaco, the home Grand Prix of Charles Leclerc.

  • F2 Barcelona- Day 2 & 3

    F2 Barcelona- Day 2 & 3

    Day 2-

    Felipe Drugovich made up for the post-qualifying penalty by winning the Sprint Race. Demoted to fourth on the grid, he seized the lead at Turn 1.

    The MP Motorsport driver led every lap from that point and victory moved him to the top of Formula 2 Drivers Championship. Ayumu Iwasa and Logan Sargeant were able to secure their maiden F2 podiums, finishing second and third.

    The Sprint Race was not good for Juri Vips, as he spun at Turn 4 in which he beached himself in the grave and it saw the Safety Car come out.

    The full top 10 are: P1: Drugovich, P2: Iwasa, P3: Sargeant, P4: Daruvala, P5: Pourchaire, P6: Doohan, P7: Vesti, P8: Fittipaldi, P9: Lawson and P10: Armstrong.

    Day 3-

    Felipe Drugovich, made it two wins from two in Barcelona, winning the Feature Race after his Sprint Race success on Saturday. The MP Motorsport driver made it look simple from 10th on the grid, extending his stint on the soft tyres longer than anyone else before catching and passing Jack Doohan for the win.

    The Virtuosi Racing driver did everything right, but his early pit stop left him on tyres five laps older than the Brazilian’s. His first podium of the 2022 F2 season will offer some comfort heading into Monaco. Frederik Vesti made his best F2 qualifying result count and the ART Grand Prix driver completed the podium.

    The full top 10 are: P1: Drugovich, P2: Doohan, P3:Vesti, P4: Sargeant, P5: Novalak, P6: Fittipaldi, P7: Armstrong, P8: Pourchaire, P9: Lawson and P10: Nissany.

    The Championship-

    Drugovich’s dominance in Barcelona has helped him into a 26 point lead, as Pourchaire remains second with an okay weekend. Daruvala is narrowly ahead of Lawson and Armstrong who moved himself up into the top five.

    MP Motorsport made the tyres work fo rboth drivers, which has extended their points tally at the top of the Teams’ Standings to 108 points. ART remain in second with 85 and Carlin sit in third with 73 points.

    We don’t have long to wait till the next round, as we are back next week for Round 5, in Monaco!

  • F3 Barcelona – Day 2 & 3

    F3 Barcelona – Day 2 & 3

    Day 2-

    Campos Racing’s David Vidales, held his nerve to achieve his first victory in Formula 3 at both his and his team’s home race. The rookie coped under pressure from the start, getting a strong start from reverse-grid pole and managed to keep a charging Jak Crawford back, the PREMA driver had to settle for second.

    Meanwhile, there was a battle behind the top 2, for the final podium spot as Juan Manuel Correa fought hard on his return to F3 after an injury. However the ART driver’s tyres faded and he was overtaken by Caio Collet and Arthur Leclerc, to finish fifth.

    The full top 10 are: P1: Vidales, P2: Crawford, P3: Collet, P4: Leclerc, P5: Correa, P6: Smolyar, P7: Frederick, P8: Stanek, P9: Ushijima and P10: Hadjar.

    Day 3-

    Victor Martins put the disappointment of an early retirement in the Sprint Race behind him, after putting on a dominant display to secure his second win of the Formula 3 season. The ART Grand Prix driver, seized the lead into the opening corner and didn’t look back even with controlling the pace during two Safety Car restarts.

    Pole-sitter, Roman Stanek, put up a strong defence to keep Isack Hadjar at bay for second.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Martins, P2: Stanek, P3: Hadjar, P4: Smolyar, P5: Bearman, P6: Crawford, P7: Collet, P8: Colapinto, P9: Frederick and P10: Correa.

    The Championship-

    Victory promotes Victor Martins back into the lead of the Drivers’ Championship. Another solid weekend of results, moves Roman Stanek up into second, six points clear of Red Bull junior Jak Crawford. Isack Hadjar is in fourth, and Arthur Leclerc rounds out the top five.

    PREMA Racing, retain their hold at the top of the Teams’ Championship on 120 points, ART Grand Prix remain second ahead of Trident. Hitech Grand Prix are fourth and MP Motorsport sit in fifth.

    Formula 3 will be back in July, and we will have 3 rounds across the month, but the first round is Silverstone on the 1st to 3rd.

  • Round 6 – Spain Qualifying

    Round 6 – Spain Qualifying

    What a qualifying we have just witnessed, from a Ferrari spinning, to a home town hero being knocked out in Q1, a lap time deleted which promoted a Haas into Q3 and a Red Bull loosing power on the final flying lap!

    But, it was Charles Leclerc who took pole position for the Spanish Grand Prix, with a spin on his first flying lap in Q3 he only had the chance to do one lap which he made count, we then have Max Verstappen joining him on the front row, as he wasn’t able to improve his final lap as he lost power before he even started it. Carlos Sainz makes it a 1-3 for Ferrari on his home turf, hoping to get the jump on the Red Bull at the start of the race.

    The full top 10 are- Pole: Leclerc, P2: Verstappen, P3: Sainz, P4: Russell, P5: Perez, P6: Hamilton, P7: Bottas, P8: Magnussen, P9: Ricciardo and P10: Schumacher.

    A big well done to Haas, not only have they got both cars into Q3, but they had to take apart Micks cars in FP3 due to a fire, and they managed to get it ready for qualifying! Big day tomorrow for both cars, as they have brought no upgrades and will be hoping both cars can score points.

    McLaren, mixed day for the Woking based team, good to see Danny Ric starting in the top 10, hopefully with the right strategy he can score a good amount of points, but for Lando, he got into the top 10 for Q3, but got his laptime deleted which sees him start P11. Which is not that bad considering his just outside the top 10, he will be hoping to stay out of trouble at the start tomorrow.

    Not the day for Fernando Alonso, and Alpine as a whole, we didn’t really see that pace their like we have done in recent rounds. The Spaniard is starting 17th, a lot of work to do at a track where overtaking isn’t major.

    A good day for Bottas, in the top 10 once again, he will be hoping to score points in tomorrows race. His teammate, Guanyu Zhou starts P15.

    Predictions-

    My top five are- P1: Leclerc, P2: Sainz, P3: Verstappen, P4: Hamilton and P5: Russell. If Leclerc and Sainz can look after their tyres in the race and the Ferrari team perfect the strategy and pit stops then I don’t see why they won’t get a double podium.

    Bottas, Magnussen and Ricciardo could all be battling for that 6th position in the race, if things go their way and they stay out of trouble in the opening laps.

    Times for tomorrow-

    Feature Race F3- 09:05am (BST)
    Feature Race F2- 10:35am
    Round 6- 14:00pm

  • F2 Barcelona – Day 1

    F2 Barcelona – Day 1

    Round 4 for Formula 2 this weekend, lets take a look at how the first day went.

    Free Practice-

    Felipe Drugovich led the way in free practice after multiple red flag stoppages. The MP Motorsport driver, was almost a full half-second clear of the pack, with Jehan Daruvala and Logan Sargeant his closest challengers.

    Olli Caldwell and Marcus Armstrong both brought out the red flags during the session, with the Campos Racing driver spinning and hitting the wall at Turn 9. Meanwhile Armstrong became beached in the gravel at Turn 4 as drivers struggled for grip.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Drugovich, P2: Daruvala, P3: Sargeant, P4: Doohan, P5: Lawson, P6: Vips, P7: Iwasa, P8: Pourchaire, P9: Hauger and P10: Williams.

    Qualifying-

    Before we start looking at the qualifying result, Ralph Boschung has withdrawn from this weekend as he is suffering from neck pain and wasn’t able to continue after the practice session.

    Virtuosi Racing’s Jack Doohan, left it last minute as he stormed to his second pole position in Formula 2, the Aussie managed to hold off an extremely late charge from HiTech’s Juri Vips which saw the Estonian driver leap up from last to second and ahead of ART’s Frederik Vesti in third.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Doohan, P2: Vips, P3: Vesti, P4: Daruvala, P5: Sargeant, P6: Iwasa, P7: Pourchaire, P8: Hughes, P9: Williams and P10: Drugovich.

    Drugovich was meant to be starting on pole position for today’s sprint race but, he has a 3 place grid penalty for impeding Theo Pourchaire, so he now will be starting 4th. That promotes Calan Williams to pole position and Jake Hughes onto the front row.

  • F3 Barcelona – Day 1

    F3 Barcelona – Day 1

    We are back at Barcelona for Round 3 of the Formula 3 2022 Championship, lets take a look at how the first day has gone.

    Free Practice-

    For the second round in a row, ART Grand Prix’s Victor Martin set the pace during practice, clocking in a 1:32.196. With the cooler early morning temperatures, it was somewhat leisurely start to running as the 30 car field, turned their focus towards the end of the session.

    Initially, the Carlin trio led the way with the Williams Racing Academy driver, Zak O’Sullivan setting a benchmark of 1:35.420. 15 minutes in and Van Amersfoort Racing’s Reece Ushijima leaped to the top of the timesheets, becoming the first driver to break the 1:34s barrier.

    Title contenders Arthur Leclerc and Victor Martins were nip and tuck on track with less than a tenth between them. The PREMA Racing driver went quickest, only for Championship leader Victor Martins to go 0.076s quicker.

    Martins ended the session fastest, ahead of Leclerc. Stanek slotted into third, just over half a second behind the leading time. Jak Crawford was fourth ahead of Imola Sprint Race winner Franco Colapinto and pole-sitter last time out Maloney. Oliver Bearman made it three PREMAs inside the top seven ahead of Kaylen Frederick.

    Qualifying-

    Roman Stanek left it late but secured himself pole position ahead of Victor Martins. The Trident driver had made an early error in the session but rebounded brilliantly to take pole position in the final moments of the day.

    Alex Smolyar followed ahead of Isack Hadjar and Arthur Leclerc, who will have to make up places to fight with his championship rivals ahead. Meanwhile Juan Manuel Correa made it inside the top 10 on his return.

    The full top 10 are: P1: Stanek, P2: Martins, P3: Smolyar, P4: Hadjar, P5: Leclerc, P6: Bearman, P7: Collet, P8L Frederick, P9: Crawford and P10: Correa.

    Times for tomorrow-

    Sprint Race- 10:00am – 10:40am (BST).

  • Spanish Grand Prix

    It is race week once again, but this time it’s the start of a double header! We are in Barcelona for the Spanish Grand Prix which is Round 6 out of 22. It is also the home grand prix of Carlos Sainz and Fernando Alonso!

    The drivers have a lot of knowledge of this track with it being one of the test tracks but how will the new cars/tyres and upgrades fair here? It is all to play for once again…

    Who needs a good weekend?

    Daniel Ricciardo, plain and simple, seems like since Australia his not that comfortable int he car compared to Lando, if McLaren are bringing upgrades this weekend could be his turning point and get a better grip of the car.

    The Haas pair, I feel like I haven’t spoke about them together yet… But last time out in Imola it looked like they were both set for points but it didn’t end that way. So both drivers will be wanting to get points on the board this weekend and give the team a good result.

    Alpha Tauri, need a good weekend not just for one driver either, they need it as a team. Last time we was racing, Pierre Gasly had the incident with Lando Norris so scored no points and Yuki finished just outside the points also too.

    Predictions for qualifying-

    My top 5 are: Pole: Verstappen, P2: Leclerc, P3: Sainz, P4: Perez and P5: Norris. We all know the battle for pole is going to be between Ferrari and Red Bull, but Ferrari are bringing big upgrades to this weekend grand prix.

    But the battle for 4th/ 5th and 6th will be the most interesting though, as McLaren are said to brought upgrades as well as Mercedes and Alfa Romeo have a strong car. McLaren and Mercedes will be hoping to get both their drivers in the top 10.

    Times for the weekend-

    Friday 20th-

    • Free Practice 1 F1- 13:00pm – 14:00pm (BST)
    • Qualifying F3- 14:30pm – 15:00pm
    • Free Practice 2 F1- 16:00pm – 17:00pm
    • Qualifying F2- 17:30pm – 18:00pm

    Saturday 21st-

    • Sprint Race F3- 10:00am – 10:40am (BST)
    • Free Practice 3 F1- 12:00pm – 13:00pm
    • Qualifying F1- 15:00pm – 16:00pm
    • Sprint Race F2- 16:40pm – 17:25pm

    Sunday 22nd-

    • Feature Race F3- 09:05am (BST)
    • Feature Race F2- 10:35am
    • Round 6- 14:00pm

  • Juri Vips gets FP1 outing

    Red Bull junior driver, Juri Vips will be making his Formula 1 race debut when he steps into the cockpit of the RB18 for the first practice session at this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix.

    The Estonian driver will be behind the wheel of Sergio Perez’s car at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

    Vips, who currently competes in Formula 2 and is sat in eighth in the championship has been apart of the Red Bull Junior Team since 2018, and previously drove an F1 car at last year’s post season test in Abu Dhabi.

    The opportunity for Vips is Red Bull fulfilling one of their two mandated young driver sessions for the year.

    My Opinion-

    Ahh Juri! I love this new rule, it gives young drivers the opportunity to get a handle on an F1 car in a free practice session. I could see Juri being a contender for an F1 seat next year, he has said before that Red Bull haven’t said he needs to win the F2 championship, just show you want it, so it will definitely be interesting to see how he does!

    I imagine as Juri is in the Red Bull, we will see Liam Lawson in the Alpha Tauri for the FP1 outing.

  • Le Castellet added to F2 Calendar

    Formula 2 has announced that they will be racing at the French Grand Prix alongside F1, following the cancellation of the Sochi round.

    Yesterday, Formula 1 confirmed that they will not be replacing the cancelled Russian Grand Prix on its schedule, F2 had also been set to race at Sochi until the September event was cancelled in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. However Formula 2 had indicated it intended to replace its lost round.

    The French Grand Prix had been the only European round where no Formula 2 or Formula 3 races were billed, but F2 will now join W Series as the support categories.

    With the new round added, it means F2 will have four double header rounds in the space of five weeks. Starting off with Silverstone from 1st to 3rd July, the Spielberg round from 8th to 10th, Le Castellet then two weeks later on the 22nd to 24th and the Budapest from the 29th to 31st.

    The last time F2 was at Circuit Paul Ricard was in 2019. The feature race was won by that years eventual champion and now Formula E Champion and driver, Nyck de Vries. The sprint victory was taken by French driver, Anthoine Hubert, his final win before the Spa crash.

    Since it was announced that we would drop one event, we have been working on finding a venue to replace it, keeping in mind the costs. Le Castellet came out as the best option, and we are really pleased to return to the Circuit Paul Ricard. With this added round, we go back to fourteen events as announced before the start of the season. This means that the 2022 season calendar is the most sizeable one we have had since the start of the FIA F2 back in 2017. It will be a very busy month of July for the teams and the drivers, but a very exciting one for the fans and everyone involved in F2.

    Bruno Michel, FIA Formula 2 CEO on the latest round.

  • Zendeli replaces Schumacher

    Lirim Zendeli will be returning to the Formula 3 Championship this weekend, as he replaces David Schumacher with Charouz Racing System.

    Schumacher himself replaced Ayrton Simmons in the Barcelona test and second round at Imola, but this weekend he has other commitments as he races in DTM for Mercedes-AMG Team Winward.

    Zendeli is no stranger to the team as he has taken the ADAC Formula 4 title with the Czech team, they then stepped up together to FIA F3 under the Sauber Junior team by Charouz in 2019.

    After moving to Trident for the 2020 season, the German driver scored his only victory in the category in the feature race at Spa-Francorchamps.

    Zendeli then went on to Formula 2 last year, but it fell short due to a lack of budget, he has not raced since Sochi.

    I’m really happy to be back and drive again. We have to be realistic, I haven’t been in a car for ten months and it will not be easy having only have 45 minutes of practice before quali, but I’ll do my best and try to help the team as much as possible.You can never leave out some surprises but let’s focus on the weekend and get the best possible result.

    Lirim Zendeli on racing this weekend.

  • F1 to host 22 races in 2022

    The 2022 Formula 1 calendar will now run 22 races rather than the originally planned 23, following the decision not to replace the Russian Grand Prix.

    The Russian GP was due to be the 17th race of the season on September 25th but was cancelled back in February following the country’s invasion of Ukraine.

    F1 had planned to fill the slot to keep a record 23 race calendar with Qatar and Turkey as options. The sport already has a tight calendar for the rest of the season and the Russian GP was set to kickstart one of the two triple headers after the summer break, instead it will now be a weekend break before a Singapore-Japan double header.

    One of the reasons for there being no replacement despite plenty of options, is that European round would not have been possible because of logistical issues around EU freight rules.

    As well as this, a fly-away race also could have had complications; a Qatar round for example would’ve been in the soaring heat in September and also just two months before the nation hosts the World Cup.

  • Barcelona tyre allocation

    We are back in Europe this week, as we head to Spain for Round 6 for the F1 season. We also have Formula 2 and 3, joining us this weekend to carry on their season.

    Pirelli has decided to bring the hardest tyres in the 2022 range, C1 (Hard), C2 (Medium), C3 (Soft). It’s a pretty straight forward choice, which is the same as last year albeit using a brand-new family of tyres.

    The teams were at Barcelona as recently as February, for pre-season testing, however there are three big differences to consider since last being there:

    • The teams concentrated on testing compounds in the middle of the range, rather than the hard.
    • The weather conditions were much cooler.
    • The new cars were in their most basic launch specification, the cars have since moved on considerably since then.

    With the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya being a very well-used circuit, there will not be much track evolution expected over the weekend, thanks to a busy schedule of support races also.

    Last years winning strategy was a two stopper, the traditional approach to Barcelona, with Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton triumphing a pole to a win using a soft-medium-medium strategy. Soft-medium-soft was used by all the finishers from P2 to P8.

    It’s hard to say much about Barcelona that hasn’t been said already, as it’s possibly the best-known circuit on the calendar for the drivers, with its wide-ranging layout making it a perfect testing venue. It has a bit of everything, with the very technical final sector being particularly important when it comes to looking after the tyres. As a result, the teams will have a good opportunity to assess the progress they have made with their cars since the start of the season, although the weather conditions will be much warmer and there will probably be a lot more running on the hard tyre than there was in testing, which will perhaps be the key to the race. In the past, Barcelona has traditionally been a two-stopper, so it will be interesting to see if the new generation of tyres this year leads anyone to target a one-stopper.

    Mario Isola, Motorsport Director.

    Formula 2

    The Hard and Soft tyres have been nominated for Round 4 in Spain. This is the same nomination as the championship’s last raced at the circuit in 2020, and one which has already been seen this year at Bahrain and at the in-season test in Barcelona last month.

    Formula 3

    The Hard tyre is nominated for the third round of the season. Drivers will have three sets of the hard compound plus one set of Medium tyres which are carried over from the previous round in Imola, these are to be used in free practice only.

  • De Vries gets FP1 run with Williams

    Mercedes reserve driver, Nyck de Vries will be making his Formula 1 race weekend debut, this weekend in Spain as he carries out driving duties for Williams in the first practice session.

    The reigning Formula E World Champion, will be borrowing Alex Albon’s FW44 for the 60 minute session at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

    De Vries, shares the Mercedes reserve role with Stoffel Vandoorne, who is also his teammate in Formula E for Mercedes EQ. The Dutchman previously tested F1 machinery when he drove the Silver Arrows in last year’s post-season Abu Dhabi Grand Prix test.

    His appearance for Williams fulfils one of the British team’s two mandated young driver sessions, which is a new rule introduced for this season.

    We are looking forward to having Nyck de Vries in the car for FP1 as it is always good to work with a new driver and get a fresh opinion on the car’s strengths and weaknesses. Nyck’s experience and professionalism will be crucial on Friday as he will complete some of the key engineering tests in FP1 before he hands the car back to Alex for FP2.

    Dave Robson, Head of Vehicle Performance at Williams.

    Firstly, I’d really like to thank Williams for the opportunity to run in FP1. It’s great for me to get to know the team and drive the FW44, and also to get myself out on track during a Formula 1 weekend. Preparation for the test is going well so far and the team have been incredibly supportive of me. I’m very much looking forward to the whole experience in Spain now.

    Nyck de Vries, on the FP1 session for Williams.

    My Opinion-

    Well, one of the teams had to take the bullet and go first… All jokes aside, I’m glad that Nyck is getting a chance, he definitely deserves a seat in F1 and maybe this is his chance to get out there and impress Williams or maybe some other teams?

    Nyck has been rumoured to the Williams seat, not just last year but also this year, all eyes onto Friday now to see how he does!

  • McLaren to enter Formula E

    McLaren Racing has confirmed that they will be competing in the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship from next season, the start of the Gen3 era.

    McLaren, has long committed to competing with the best teams, at the leading edge of technology on the world’s biggest stages. The latest addition to the iconic teams’ racing portfolio is also squarely aimed at accelerating McLaren Racing’s understanding of EV technology as part of their sustainability journey whilst reaching a new, more diverse audience.

    The McLaren Formula E Team will be formed through the acquisition of the Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team, expected to be complete later this year, following an agreement between both teams, that will see the reigning Formula E Word Championship team transfer into the McLaren family.

    Ian James, Team Principle of Mercedes EQ Formula E Team, will continue to lead the team, enabling a smooth transition as the team prepares to feature on the grid, under the iconic McLaren name.

    The name McLaren is among the greatest names in motorsport, since the team’s foundation by Bruce McLaren in 1963, and its Formula 1 debut in 1966, it has amassed 20 Formula 1 World Championship titles, more than 180 Grand Prix wins, three Indianapolis 500 victories and won the Le Mans 24 Hours at their first attempt.

    McLaren Racing always seeks to compete against the best and on the leading edge of technology, providing our fans, partners and people with new ways to be excited, entertained and inspired. As with all forms of the sport we participate in, Formula E has racing at the centre but will be strategically, commercially and technically additive to McLaren Racing overall. I firmly believe that Formula E will give McLaren Racing a competitive advantage through greater understanding of EV racing, while providing a point of difference to our fans, partners and people, and continuing to drive us along our sustainability pathway.

    Zak Brown, McLaren Racing CEO.

    My Opinion-

    Ahhhh finally!! After it being spoke about and rumours flying around, its finally confirmed. Good news for McLaren, now in another championship and they are overtaking the current World Champions.

    It will be interesting to see how the transition goes and who they decide on their driver line-up, could Stoffel Vandoorne be making a return to McLaren?…

    https://www.instagram.com/p/Cdh0uRDoAJc/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
  • Round 8- Berlin E-Prix

    Round 8- Berlin E-Prix

    FP1-

    Round 7 winner, Edoardo Mortara set the benchmark once again in FP1 as he set a 1m 06.373s at the reverse, clockwise layout of the Tempelhof Airport Circuit. Overnight work was carried out to switch from the traditional track to the anti-clockwise version, giving drivers a whole new circuit to get used to.

    Mortara adapted the quickest, with Porsche’s Andre Lotterer was up there once again on home soil. Avalanche Andretti’s Jake Dennis came home third. Pascal Wehrlein and front row qualifier, Alexander Sims rounded out the top five.

    The full top 10 are: P1: Mortara, P2: Lotterer, P3: Dennis, P4: Wehrlein, P5: Sims, P6: Vergne, P7: De Vries, P8: Di Grassi, P9: Da Costa and P10: Bird.

    FP2-

    ROKiT Venturi’s pace was still unbeatable in Free Practice 2, as Lucas di Grassi and Edoardo Mortara led the way with the first and second quickest times of the day.

    Di Grassi’s 1m 06.133s was two tenths quicker than his teammate managed in FP1 and 0.150s quicker than Mortara in FP2. The pair then lead Oliver Rowland, who went quickest in the first session ahead of Round 7.

    The full top 10 are: P1: Di Grassi, P2: Mortara, P3: Rowland, P4: Vandoorne, P5: Wehrlein, P6: Dennis, P7: Vergne, P8: Frijns, P9: Turvey and P10: Da Costa.

    Qualifying-

    ROKiT Venturi Racing’s Edoardo Mortara, held his own in qualifying as he grasped a second consecutive Julius Baer Pole Position in two days, he only had to wait 5 years and two came along at once!!…

    The shock of qualifying for Round 8 was seeing the top 3 in the championship not start higher than 7th… Vandoorne who came into the weekend leading the championship only managed P8, Vergne who is in 2nd in the Championship was behind the leader and the same for Mitch Evans also, who had been on a role until now.

    The full top 10 are: P1: Mortara, P2: Frijns, P3: De Vries, P4: Lotterer, P5: Da Costa, P6: Cassidy, P7: Di Grassi, P8: Vandoorne, P9: Vergne and P10: Evans.

    Round 8-

    Mercedes EQ driver and reigning champion Nyck de Vries, powered to a comfortable, managed drive to the race win, where he won the Season 7 title triumph. Mortara following 2.5s back, with Vandoorne making it two Mercedes EQ cars on the podiums and three Mercedes EQ powertrains in the top three. The Belgians third place finish also extended his silverware streak to three races.

    Lucas di Grassi came home fourth to extend that to four Mercedes powered cars in the top four in a dominant outing. Oliver Rowland made good progress from 10th to an eventual seventh. A bit of a weird weekend for DS Techeetah as Jean-Eric Vergne finished 9th…

    We’ve had a bit of a difficult ride the past three races. So, honestly I’m just very pleased to be here and to be back. Obviously it’s a bit of an emotional one for me. It was the perfect way to come back after a difficult day yesterday and the work put in with my engineers to find positives. Edo (Mortara) has been very strong all weekend so we definitely had to keep it clean, but the team managed very well on their side and I executed it, so I’m very pleased.

    Nyck de Vries on winning Round 8.

    The full top 10 are: P1: De Vries, P2: Mortara, P3: Vandoorne, P4: Di Grassi, P5: Frijns, P6: Da Costa, P7: Rowland, P8: Lotterer, P9: Vergne and P10: Evans.

    We now have just under 3 weeks until we are back for Round 9, for the Jakarta E-Prix on the 4th June!

  • Round 7- Berlin E-Prix

    FP1-

    Mahindra Racing’s Oliver Rowland, set the early pace with a 1m 06.270s ahead of Lucas di Grassi, with current World Champion leader, Stoffel Vandoorne back in third.

    Edoardo Mortara, placed his ROKiT Venturi Racing Silver Arrow 02, fourth to make it two in the top four for the Monegasque team. The top 20 runners sat within eight and a half tenths of a second of one another, come the chequered flag on the session.

    Full top 10 were: P1: Rowland, P2: Di Grassi, P3: Vandoorne, P4: Mortara, P5: Dennis, P6: Wehrlein, P7: Vergne, P8: Buemi, P9: Da Costa and P10: Frijns.

    FP2-

    Andre Lotterer put in a late lap to top the timesheets of Free Practice 2, ahead of Edoardo Mortara in 2nd and Sebastien Buemi in 3rd.

    After the first free practice having 20 drivers split by just over 0.850s and this time, 21 drivers were separated by under three quarters of a second. Lap times aren’t the only focus in practice though, as drivers and engineers will be working flat out to understand things like energy management and setup ahead of qualifying and the race.

    The top 10 were: P1: Lotterer, P2: Mortara, P3: Buemi, P4: Wehrlein, P5: Frijns, P6: Evans, P7: Dennis, P8: Da Costa, P9: Rowland and P10: Vandoorne.

    Qualifying-

    Edoarado Mortara, fired to a maiden Julius Baer Pole Position ahead of Round 7, as the ROKiT Venturi driver hung it all on the line to beat Alexander Sims to the mark.

    But, it wasn’t all smooth sailing for Mortara, as he looked to be compromised by a Turn 1 error, the Swiss-French-Italian running wide and opening the opportunity for Sims to capitalise.

    The highlight of qualifying though was the Semis between Jean-Eric Vergne and Alexander Sims, having dived deep into Turn 1, but not as much as Vergne did- Vergne fell back by 0.150s.

    As the lap continued, the gap gradually kept coming down as JEV was fighting hard. Vergne continued to reel the Brit in and as the Frenchman flew across the start/finish line he’d exactly matched Sims’ effort, the pair setting an identical lap time down to the thousandth of a second.

    The top 10 were: P1: Mortara, P2: Sims, P3: Da Costa, P4: Vergne, P5: Lotterer, P6: Wehrlein, P7: Sette Camara, P8: Vandoorne, P9: Evans and P10: Buemi.

    Round 7-

    Edoardo Mortara, produced a complete drive to seal victory in the Berlin E-Prix, Round 7 heading home Jean-Eric Vergne and Stoffel Vandoorne.

    But, nothing is that simple as Mortara had all to do as a fiesty looking Vergne back and the decisive moment came on Lap 37 as the Venturi driver went on the defensive at Turn 6, luring JEV into a move – the Frenchman diving too deep and fall back 1.5s.

    Vandoorne produced one of the drives of the day, as he shuffled down the order to 12th at the end of Lap 12, the Belgian driver had slipped by six by the halfway point and looked as good a bet to take the race win. But, he had to settle for third after a back and forth with Vergne.

    The full top 10 were: P1: Mortara, P2: Vergne, P3: Vandoorne, P4: Lotterer, P5: Evans, P6: Wehrlein, P7: Bird, P8: Da Costa, P9: Sims and P10: De Vries.

    Times for tomorrow-

    Sunday 15th May

    • Free Practice 1 – 06:15am – 06:45am (BST)
    • Free Practice 2 – 08:00am – 08:45am (BST)
    • Qualifying – 09:40am – 11:00am (BST)
    • Round 8 – 14:00pm (BST)

  • Avalanche Andretti to be powered by Porsche

    Avalanche Andretti Formula E took to social media to announce that they will be joining forces with Porsche from the start of Season 9.

    Porsche will provide the powertrains and other support services for the Andretti team, under a long-term agreement.

    The agreement will bring the Andretti name and Porsche brand together for the first time since 2008, when the late John Andretti carried the Porsche emblem for the Daytona 24 Hours.

    The manufacturer and family share a storied past, which includes a run at Le Mans that saw the father-son pairing of Mario and Michael Andretti as teammates for one of motorpsort’s most iconic races.

    Our Formula E journey began with Season 1 and we’re very proud to now be looking ahead to the next generation of the sport. Avalanche Andretti FE has an ambition to win, and with the support of Porsche, we have full confidence in our performance and growth. The agreement is an important step in our future and commitment to our sport, partners, and fans. Our history with Porsche as two historic racing teams means this collaboration was a natural fit, and we look forward to a new chapter starting in 2023.

    Michael Andretti, CEO and Chairman Andretti Autorsport.

    Season 9 will be an important year for our team and the series. It was vital that we made a strong choice in our powertrain provider in preparation for this new chapter and exciting generation of car – and we have that in Porsche. We are looking forward to starting Gen3 as a formidable competitor. We remain focused on the rest of this season, we continue our powertrain relationship with BMW, who have been a valued partner to our team and will support us until the end of this season. We’ve had many successes together through the years and thank them for both their partnership and friendship.

    Roger Griffiths, Team Principle Avalanche Andretti Formula E.

    It’s important for us to support a customer team that demonstrates the same passion and professionalism in Formula E as we do. Avalanche Andretti has raced in Formula E since the inaugural 2014 season. For us, it’s a huge vote of confidence that one of the most experienced teams has chosen to work alongside Porsche from Season 9 onwards and wants to field two Porsche 99X Electric racers. Porsche and Andretti are united by a long tradition, and it all started when Mario and Michael made their Le Mans debuts in a Porsche 956 in 1983. We’re delighted that the tradition is continuing in Formula E, and we hope our partnership will be just as successful.

    Thomas Laudenbach, Vice President of Porsche Motorsport.

  • A look into Berlin

    We are back for Formula E this weekend with a double header in Berlin for Round 7 and 8, which marks our halfway point of Season 8.

    Formula E’s 11 teams and 22 drivers return to the German capital – a fixture which has been on the calendar since 2014/15 to tackle an anti-clockwise and clockwise variation of the circuit.

    With Vandoorne currently leading the Championship, will he be victorious in Berlin? His teammate definitely needs a good weekend, de Vries currently sits in 8th on 39 points, he needs another win to kick start to defend his Championship title.

    What can Mitch do? His came off the back of two very good weekends, so he will be raring to go once again and get on that podium.

    The Circuit-

    Back for the eight year, the race takes place on the giant apron section of the historic Berlin Tempelhof Airport. The drivers can expect a challenge with two circuits over two days, as the Sundays race will see the return of the reversed NILREB circuit for Round 8.

    Drivers should also be aware of the challenge of the concrete being high grip which can take its toll on energy levels and race strategies. Saturday will see the driver tackle the circuit traditionally in anti clockwise, where as Sunday is clockwise.

    Mitch Evans currently holds the Berlin Lap Record with a 1:08.350 (2020). Lucas di Grassi holds the NILREB Lap Record with a 1:08.305 (2021).

    Timings-

    Saturday 14th May

    • Free Practice 1- 06:15am – 06:45am (BST)
    • Free Practice 2 – 08:00am – 08:45am (BST)
    • Qualifying – 09:40am – 11:00am (BST)
    • Round 7 – 14:00pm (BST)

    Sunday 15th May

    • Free Practice 1 – 06:15am – 06:45am (BST)
    • Free Practice 2 – 08:00am – 08:45am (BST)
    • Qualifying – 09:40am – 11:00am (BST)
    • Round 8 – 14:00pm (BST)

  • Marrakesh to host Round 10

    Formula E and the FIA have announced that Marrakesh will be hosting Round 10 of the ABB FIA Formula E Championship, on Saturday the 2nd July.

    The 2022 Marrakesh E-Prix will once again be held at the Circuit Automobile International Moulay El Hassan street circuit with the support of local authorities, restores the schedule of 16 races in Season 8 after the Vancouver E-Prix was postponed.

    It will be the fifth time the Moroccan city of Marrakesh will host an E-Prix, subject to the FIA World Motor Sport Council and ASN approval, following the Season 3 debut in November 2016 and further races in 2018, 2019 and 2020.

    Formula E seems to have remained tight lipped on the specific reasons for the Vancouver postponement but it is known that a permit was not issued for the race after issues between the city council and local promoters, the OSS Group.

    The Circuit Automobile International Moulay El Hassan, was at one stage going to feature on the 2022 calendar, as a replacement for a planned race in China. But Formula E officials decided instead to swallow a seven-week gap between the Mexico City and Rome races instead.

    This isn’t the first time Formula E has had issues with calendars delivery, before the pandemic with a variety of political and commercial problems scuppering plans for races that ranged from Brussels, Rio de Janiero and Cape Town, the latter of which was postponed from this February due to a variety of complications.

  • South African GP to return?

    With the F1 calendar forever changing, and with a record-breaking 23 races this season is it time to bring some old races back? Especially now with Miami, Zandvoort, Jeddah and Las Vegas signing deals in recent years taking up spots on the calendar.

    It definitely makes me think are there some places missing? One which has been spoken about recently, is the South African Grand Prix, which F1 hasn’t hosted a race there since 1993, with 13 drivers on the 2022 grid not being alive the last time it featured on the calendar…

    Based near Johannesburg, the Kyalami Circuit has previously held 21 out of 23 GP’s in Africa from 1967 to 1993. But we may have to wait a few more years till its return.

    A lot of work is needed to upgrade the circuit to meet the FIA Grade 1 status required to host an F1 race, the circuit was redesigned in 2014 but still requires improvements, including extra run off areas and TecPro barriers.

    Max Verstappen has backed Lewis Hamilton’s calls for F1 to return to South Africa, the reigning world champion said “I’d like to race in Africa, so Kyalami would be a cool addition.”

    On top of America, on top of China, I think there is a potential also to be in Africa soon. There is a lot of interest there. For sure that’s another area that so far is missing in the geography of our calendar.

    F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali stated his desire to add a GP, talking to Sky Sports F1.

    The one I really want to see is South Africa. That’s the one I want to hear announced next. We’re pretty much on every other continent, so why not? Ultimately, my ancestors are from there so that’s why it is important for me personally. I think it’s important for the sport to go there. If they’re in every other continent, why not?

    Lewis Hamilton on a race in Africa.

    My Opinion-

    I’d very much like to see the South African GP back on the calendar, as much as these new tracks are great, there are other tracks around and in different countries which are waiting to have their turn.

    Hopefully we get to hear something soon on whether this will happen!

  • Round 5- Miami GP

    Round 5- Miami GP

    The first Miami Grand Prix is officially over, and what a race it was! No-one really knew how it was going to go from tyres/pitstops to weather to VSC and Safety Cars, it was all unknown.

    But, Max Verstappen wins the Miami Grand Prix after getting the lead from Charles Leclerc early on in the race. 2nd place went to Charles Leclerc and the final podium spot going to Carlos Sainz, a good haul of points for Ferrari.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Verstappen, P2: Leclerc, P3: Sainz, P4: Perez, P5: Russell, P6: Hamilton, P7: Bottas, P8: Ocon, P9: Alonso and P10: Albon.

    There was quite a lot of overtakes throughout the race, but Mr Russell, seemed to make them stick as he was charging up the field after starting 12th! He took full advantage of going long and waiting for a VSC/Safety Car, and it ended up paying off.

    There was a few DRS trains during the race, but one which caused some drama, was where Pierre Gasly went wide, which allowed some cars to go through, but Lando Norris and Gasly made contact as Norris went to over take the Alpha Tauri driver. Lando’s race was therefore over, which caused a VSC and then a full safety car, Gasly retired into the pits just as the Safety Car went in.

    Another bit of contact late on in the race, was between Mick and Seb, both running in the points but as they made contact it saw the pair fall down the order, Seb retiring in the pitlane and Mick having to get a new front wing…

    An okay day for Alfa Romeo, they had Bottas score some points, and it could’ve been more if he didn’t go wide and have both Mercedes sat right behind him. But Guanyu Zhou had a technical issue which saw his race come to an end rather early.

    McLaren and Ricciardo are not having a good time at the moment, second race in a row, finishing outside the top 10. The Woking team now have time to the next race to understand a few things out about the car, as I’m sure they are not the only team who will be doing so.

    The Championship-

    Leclerc still leads the Championship by 19 points, the gap just keeps on coming down now… Max still in 2nd on 85 points, his teammate in third on 66 points. we then have Russell in 4th on 59 points and then Sainz rounding out the top 5 on 53 points.

    The gap between the top two teams are closing, Ferrari still leads with 157 points but Red Bull are just 6 points away from them. Mercedes sat comfortably in third on 95 points, with McLaren in 4th after not scoring any this weekend, and Alfa Romeo in 5th on 31 points.

    We are back again in two weeks, but this time we have a double header. Our first stop being to Barcelona, Spain on the 20th to 22nd May, the home Grand Prix of Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz!

  • Round 5- Miami Qualifying

    Round 5- Miami Qualifying

    The craziness continues in Miami, we only had 19 drivers take part in qualifying as Esteban Ocon had a crash in FP3 where his chassis broke, and wouldn’t of been fixed in time.

    But it was Ferrari who came out on top for the first ever Miami Qualifying, Charles Leclerc took pole position for the third time this season! With his teammate making it an all Ferrari front row lock out.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Leclerc, P2: Sainz, P3: Verstappen, P4: Perez, P5: Bottas, P6: Hamilton, P7: Gasly, P8: Norris, P9: Tsunoda, P10: Stroll.

    Bit of a mixed weekend for most teams really, some seem to improve a lot on Friday, but Saturday they went a little bit back down.

    Mercedes looked very strong in the two free practice sessions, so for GR to qualify out of the top 10 was bit strange, starting in the middle of the pack may not be good here, but it will be interesting to see if he can work his way up the field. Onto LH, much better weekend for him here, back in the top 10, and in a good position if anything happens today to make the most of it.

    Alpha Tauri, a big improvement for them as both drivers in the top 10, where as in Imola they were out in Q1! Lets see if they can keep it up today and score some good points for the team.

    McLaren had an okay day, Norris in the top 10 again, whereas 14th for Ricciardo. The Aussie had an issue with starting the car up in Q2, this then compromised his out lap as he was pushing to get heat in his tyres.

    Predictions-

    My top 5 for the race are- P1: Leclerc, P2: Sainz, P3: Perez, P4: Hamilton and P5: Norris.

    I feel like things aren’t going to go well for Max, his already had a few mechanical problems this weekend, so could this play apart?

    I’d love to see Mick get points, but with the track really only having 2 overtaking spots, can he make up 4 places as well as having to pit and then make up those positions again?…

    I could see a few DNF’s happening today, the track is so tight and there is no room for error, as we have seen from Ocon and Sainz both crashing.

    The race starts at 20:30pm (BST).

  • Alonso to replace Vettel?

    Acording to a report, Fernando Alonso is on Aston Martin’s radar again to potentially to replace Sebastian Vettel for 2023.

    Vettel’s seat is probably one of the most talked about this year, he doesn’t give anything away with what he will be doing next year.

    Alonso is now into his second season, since returning to Formula 1 last season with Alpine, he has had an strong start to the 2022 capmaign even though his result do not show that…

    Bad luck has played a part in the Spaniard’s season, such as a retirement in Saudi Arabia and then a hit from Mick Schumacher at Imola later forced Alonso to retire because of a large chunk of his sidepod went up in the air… As well as this, at the Australian GP it looked like Alonso was a contender for pole, but a hydraulic problem caused him to crash in Q3.

    Aston Martin have ambitions to become title contenders within the next five years, but early in 2022 they find themselves as one of the slowest cars on the grid. Vettel and Stroll scored their first points of the year at Imola.

    But with Aston Martin having a lot of work to be able to be a contender to challenge the top teams right now, it is suspected that Vettel could leave the team. F1-Insider.com report that Alonso is on AM’s radar, having first been linked to a move to the Silverstone based team ahead of the 2022 season, when Vettel’s future was also not clear.

    My Opinion-

    We all know Alonso wants to keep on driving in F1, whether thats with Alpine, or Aston Martin I don’t think he will mind. If this happens, then I could see Alpine getting in Piastri, which a lot of people will want to see!

    But will Seb retire or will he find another seat? It’s a tough one, Seb says his still got a few more years in him, but does he actually want to stay?…

  • Miami Grand Prix

    The first Miami Grand Prix weekend is here! And what a crazy couple of days we’ve seen and there hasn’t even been any racing yet… A sign of things to come?

    Being at a new track, it is a fresh start for everyone but going into the weekend there is a lot of unknown aswell. Who will come out on top this weekend, Ferrari or Red Bull? Or will Mercedes new upgrades put them further up the field…

    Who needs a good weekend?

    Mercedes, even though George has been having a consistent season so far, they will be wanting both drivers to be doing well. Once they unlock the problems on the W13, they should have a decent car…

    Carlos will be wanting a good weekend, his been caught up in a few incidents which hasn’t been his fault. But it does seem like the pressure may be getting to him, he knows his got a car which can perform and he will want to get his first win and help the team get those points up for the Constructors.

    Alonso as well will be wanting a good weekend, another DNF in Imola which wasn’t his fault meant he hasn’t scored points in 3 out of 4 races. The Alpine has got pace so it should be up in that top 10 fighting for points with the McLaren and Mercedes.

    Mick, will he be getting his first points? It’s needed and the Haas does have pace, will be interesting to see how he handles the car on this track.

    Predictions for qualifying-

    My top 5 are- Pole: Verstappen, P2: Leclerc, P3: Perez, P4: Sainz and P5: Alonso. This track is a bit unknown on whose car it will suit, but we all know the battle will be between Ferrari and Red Bull for pole.

    A battle i’m not sure on is Mercedes, McLaren, Alpine and probably Haas, they all have strong cars which could make that final top 5 place, but it should be a good battle between the teams.

    Times for the weekend-

    Friday 6th-

    • Free Practice 1- 19:30pm – 20:30pm (BST)
    • Free Practice 2- 22:30pm – 23:30pm (BST)

    Saturday 7th-

    • Free Practice 3- 18:00pm – 19:00pm (BST)
    • Qualifying- 21:00pm – 22:00pm (BST)

    Sunday 8th-

    • Race- 20:30pm (BST).

  • DTS Season 5 & 6 confirmed

    Netlifx and Formula 1 have confirmed that the popular series, Formula 1: Drive To Survive has been renewed for a fifth and sixth season on Netflix.

    DTS first debuted on Netflix in early 2019, in which they covered the 2018 season with 10 episodes pers series focusing on teams and drivers.

    The series, has grown more popular over time, with Season 4 attracting the biggest audience to date, with it breaking into the weekly Top 10 in 56 countries!

    The series offers unprecedented access, with the new season once again taking fans behind the scenes to witness first hand how the drivers and teams prepare to battle it out for the 2022 and 2023 championship.

    It is said, this is the reason why Formula 1 has broke America, and seeing more American races on the calendar, this year us having two and next year three, with Las Vegas joining the calendar.