Jordan's Track Talk

Author: jordanlhaynes

  • Round 8- Styrian Quali

    That is another qualifying session down! And a very exciting one at that…

    Another pole position goes to Verstappen! Which is Red Bulls first ever pole at their home grand prix. P2 was Bottas but because of his three grid place penalty from FP2 its now Hamiltons, and P3 goes to Lando Norris… The updated top 10 are: P4- Perez, P5- Bottas, P6- Gasly, P7- Leclerc, P8- Alonso, P9-Stroll and P10- Russell.

    George Russell was only 8 thousandths away from being in Q3!! However, there may be a chance for Russell to start top 10 as there was an incident on track with Tsunoda and Bottas, which could mean Tsunoda gets a 3 grid place penalty, Russell will be able to have a free choice of tyres to start on too! *Update as of 17:05pm (BST) Tsunoda gets a 3 grid place penalty, meaning Alonso, Stroll and Russell will move up a place* For more information click the link below https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.tsunoda-hit-by-three-place-grid-drop-for-impeding-bottas-in-qualifying.4zBSUhPPvTvmoZ4wms2msU.html

    Norris should be very happy with P3, he really put it together in qualifying and thats where it counts (apart from the race), it is a shame that Ricciardo couldn’t join him in the top 10 but the points are scored tomorrow and with this track its easy to overtake and gain some places.

    A very good qualifying for Gasly and Tsunoda, both cars up in the top 10, it will be interesting to see how they finish tomorrow and what type of strategy Alpha Tauri will have.

    A not so good qualifying for Alpine driver Esteban Ocon, he only managed to qualify P17. It doesn’t seem like his having very good luck at the minute where as his team mate is, it seems that they have switched and taking it in turns, one to do good and one not to do good!

    Predictions-

    My top 5 predictions for tomorrow are P1- Hamilton, P2- Perez, P3- Norris, P4- Gasly and P5- Bottas. I think fastest lap will go to Hamilton as well. I am hoping we have some rain tomorrow and I think some of the drivers are too!

    I’d like to see Russel finish in the top 10, he was so close today and he does deserve it! I’d also like to see Ricciardo finish in the top 10 too.

    Times for tomorrow are 14.00pm (BST) and 15.00pm (CEST). Come back for all the action tomorrow!

    https://www.instagram.com/p/CQlhtTFivii/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

  • Styrian GP

    We are now onto our second race out of our triple header and we are at the Red Bull Ring, the home Grand Prix of Red Bull.

    We have 71 laps on the Red Bull ring on Sunday, with ten corners and not one, not two but three DRS zones….

    Will Max Verstappen win at his teams race weekend? Or will Hamilton win on his rivals home race? Will Norris be able to get another podium like last year or will it be his team mate? It’s all to play for this weekend and I am very much so looking forward to it!

    Who needs a good weekend?

    I feel like I mention this driver every time we have a race weekend but Valtteri Bottas needs a good weekend. The weekend hasn’t barley started and his already got a 3 grid place penalty for spinning in the pit lane during free practice two… As well he needs to be there to support Mercedes and I personally just don’t think his there which is a shame but his the only one to blame!

    I think both Ferrari drivers need a good weekend, after what happened in France they both need a comeback! Also as they’ve lost a place in the Constructors to McLaren they will be itching to score some good points on Sunday.

    Track Limits-

    The track limits here always catch a lot of drivers out, meaning times will get deleted. Turn 9 will be monitored, any driver that sets a lap time by running out past the red and white kerb will have their lap time deleted. The same rule will apply to turn 10 with the same punishment.

    There has been a small change to the circuit at Turn 6 exit, the kerb has been reduced in width by half, meaning that the gravel is closer to the circuit.

    Predictions for Qualifying-

    Pole I think will be Verstappen, P2: Hamilton, P3: Ricciardo, P4: Perez and P5: Norris.

    I’m hoping we get to see Russell in Q3 this weekend! I just have a feeling about it, Russell’s highest qualifying position this year has been P11 so fingers crossed for the Brit!

    I’d like to see Tsunoda qualify top 10, I feel like now he should start being more in the top 10 as he hasn’t exactly got a bad car! But I do keep in mind when I say this that he is new to F1 so he will make some mistakes! I’d like to see Vettel qualify top 10 too, I feel like he is being more consistent now and should be a regular sight in the top 10.

    Times for Saturday sessions are: FP3: 11:00am (BST), 12:00pm (CEST). Qualifying: 14:00pm (BST) and 15:00pm (CEST)

  • Silverstone

    It’s been announced by Silverstone and F1 that this years British Grand Prix will have a full attendance of fans! It has became one of the the UK’s Government Event Research Programme.

    Silverstone will welcome a capacity crowd of 140,000 spectators on the weekend of the 16th-19th July, this crowd will be the largest for a sporting event since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

    Silverstone has confirmed that all ticket holders will be asked for either proof of a negative lateral flow test within 48 hours of arrival at the grand prix or proof if full vaccination, the second dose having been received at least 14 days prior to the first day of attending the grand prix.

    My opinion-

    I am very happy about this! I think it’s such a good way to get back to reality as for most of the population going it will be their first time going to an event with such a big scale (myself included). Also for F1 it’s very good! We have seen this season that there slowly getting more fans and now Silverstone get full capacity.

    If you want to find out more about the Grand Prix at Silverstone then click the link below…

    https://www.silverstone.co.uk/news/silverstone-welcome-full-crowd-2021-formula-1-british-grand-prix

  • Tyres for Styrian GP

    We are back racing this weekend and its our second race out of our triple header, and we are returning to the Red Bull Ring.

    Pirelli have announced their tyres for this weekend, they will be using the same as what they used a week earlier in France and they are: C2 (Hard), C3 (Medium) and C4 (Soft) compounds, which are the tyres in the middle of Pirelli’s range.

    It will be interesting to see what strategy the teams use for tyres, the winning strategy last year was softs to hards.

    After having two tyre blowouts in Azerbaijan, Pirelli have upped the minimum pressure on which teams could run their tyres in France by 2psi, in order to eliminate similar problems arising.

    However, Pirelli have now lowered their minimum running pressure in Austria compared to the races in 2020 by 3psi. This will increase the contact surface of the tyre on the track, which should lead to a higher grip levels.

  • Yas Marina Track Changes

    This years Abu Dhabi grand prix will take place on an improved layout, this comes as the Yas Marina Circuit announced the track will be modified in the time for this years season finale.

    The circuit first opened in 2009 and it held the first ever Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. It will under-go serious alterations over the next few months. The key changes are: – Eliminating the chicane and widening the hairpin at Turn 7 – Removing four sharp corners at Turns 11, 12, 13 and 14, it will be replaced by one long banked turn – Opening up the radius of four corners Turns 17, 18, 19 and 20 which will created a faster slowing section on the track.

    The re-design is intended to allow overtaking opportunities at the circuit where Mercedes won six times in a row between 2014 and 2019 until Max Verstappen took victory for Red Bull last year…

    My Opinion-

    To be honest I think its the right call from the circuit, the track was so limited to overtaking and for it to be the season finale we want excitement which it didn’t have! If the championship goes to the final race of the season then we want it to be exciting and there to be a chance of overtaking!

  • Stats VS Drivers

    We are now going into the 8th round out of 23 so I thought it would be a good idea to see the statistics for the eight drivers who have either changed teams or joined the grid.

    Sergio Perez:

    Qualifying vs team-mate: 1-6, Best qualifying result: 2nd Best race result: 1st, Race vs team-mate: 1-6 and he currently has 84 points (3rd). I feel like Perez has done an amazing job, he seems to have really settled in to the Red Bull seat, which we all know hasn’t been easy for some drivers!

    Daniel Ricciardo:

    Qualifying vs team-mate: 3-4, Best qualifying result: 6th Best race result: 5th, Race vs team-mate: 1-6, he currently has 34 points (9th). I personally think Ricciardo has now settled in McLaren and he will only get stronger from here! I’m looking forward to seeing how he gets on for the rest of the season, and lets hope there could be a few podiums for him somewhere!

    Sebastian Vettel:

    Qualifying vs team-mate: 4-3, Best qualifying result: 10th Best race result: 2nd, Race vs team-mate: 4-3, currently he has 30 points (10th) It’s nice to see Vettel back fighting for the points after a bad year at Ferrari, and you can see how well he is doing at his new team by the stats above, hopefully he can build on the points he currently has got.

    Fernando Alonso:

    Qualifying vs team-mate: 3-4, Best qualifying result: 9th Best race result: 6th, Race vs team-mate: 2-5, currently Alonso has 17 points (11th). Not going to lie I wasn’t too sure about Alonso coming back to F1 but to see him doing well is good, however there could be some improvement for him which would boost him and his team further up in the points.

    Carlos Sainz:

    Qualifying vs team-mate: 2:5, Best qualifying result: 4th Best race result: 2nd, Race vs team-mate: 2-5, currently Sainz has 42 points (7th) I think that Sainz has probably settled in the quickest out of everyone and it shows, he has the second highest point score out of everyone who has changed teams and also there hasn’t been a massive gap between him and Leclerc.

    Yuki Tsunoda:

    Qualifying vs team-mate: 0-7, Best qualifying result: 8th Best race result: 7th, Race vs team-mate: 1-6, currently Tsunoda has 8 points (14th). Now personally I don’t think Tsunoda has done that bad as a rookie… his scored points which go towards the constructors, and as his gaining experience in the Alpha Tauri, his likely to get stronger and more consistent.

    Mick Schumacher:

    Qualifying vs team-mate: 6-1, Best qualifying result: 15th Best race result: 13th, Race vs team-mate: 6-1, currently Schumacher has 0 points (18th) I think the statistics above show how talented Mick is as a driver, he keeps delivering in the car and to get possibly one of the worst cars on the grid to finish 13th is admirable, hopefully we get to see him get a few points this year…

    Nikita Mazepin:

    Qualifying vs team-mate: 1-6, Best qualifying result: 18th Best race result: 14th, Race vs team-mate: 1-6, currently Mazepin has 0 points (19th). It’s good to see that Mazepin has got the ability to do the over takes on other drivers and him finishing 14th is good for the team, one step closer to getting nearer to the points.

  • Round 7- France Race

    Well what a race! For once Paul Ricard wasn’t boring and we didn’t even have rain 😳

    Another win for Verstappen after a last minute over take on Hamilton, meaning Hamilton takes P2 and P3 to the other Red Bull driver Perez! Big congratulations to the drivers on and off the podium!

    The rest of the top 10 are P4- Bottas, P5- Norris, P6- Ricciardo, P7- Gasly, P8- Alonso, P9- Vettel and P10- Stroll. The fastest lap point goes to Verstappen!

    Can I just say McLaren have aced their race pace and with both drivers, Norris started P8 and Ricciardo started P10 and they have both managed to climb up places to score points and overtake Ferrari in the constructors!

    It was nice to see Bottas back up to the top 4 but Mercedes strategy today just didn’t work, it made Bottas loose a podium, Hamilton a win and potentially taking back the Constructors lead as well as the Drivers championship. I think they need to re-group and think about their strategy for the next two weeks at Austria… And also it’s not going very well for Bottas is it? I don’t think it will be long till we get an announcement saying his out of a seat (Sorry to Bottas’ fans😬)

    Another team who needs to re-think there strategy is Ferrari, Sainz started P5 and Leclerc P7 however Sainz finished 11th and Leclerc all the way down in 16th! Lets hope they figure out a better strategy soon as they will have a big gap between McLaren in the Constructors if this happens in the next few races..

    Big well done to both Aston Martin drivers as well! Both in the points! So they clearly had the right strategy, and mega drive from Stroll, having to start at back of the grid because he didn’t get a qualifying time to then finishing 10th!

    Russell done a good drive too! Finishing P12, the Brit is going to go places, putting the Williams in a place it really shouldn’t be but is! Not long till he will be scoring his first points for the British team🤞🏻

    Now we don’t have a long wait to go till the next race as its only a week away! We are back at the Red Bull Ring, Austria!! Can Mercedes beat Red Bull at their home track? Or will it be Red Bull taking another win? It’s all to play for and I for one am very excited!🤩

  • Round 7- France Quali

    Well well well what a qualifying that was it went right down to the last flying laps 😳

    Pole goes to Verstappen and behind him by two hundred tenths was Hamilton and joining the top 3 was Bottas 👏🏻, it’s very nice to see both Mercedes up there together again. The rest of the top 10 are: P4- Perez, P5- Sainz, P6- Gasly, P7- Leclerc, P8- Norris, P9- Alonso and P10- Ricciardo.

    Gasly will be very happy with P6, at his home circuit and in front of fans too, he will be wanting to score some points tomorrow. Sadly for the other frenchman it didn’t go his way today, Ocon starts in P11, again he will want to score points in front of his home crowd too.

    I feel gutted for Tsunoda, he crashed a few minutes in to Q1 meaning he will start last in tomorrows race… As well for Schumacher he got through to Q2 but wasn’t able to participate as he crashed at the end of Q1, they need to check the gearbox as it took a heavy hit when he crashed so he possibly might not be starting P15… As well I feel sorry for Stroll, his first lap time got deleted in Q1 for track limits and because of the crash at the end of Q1 he wasn’t able to put a time up on the board, so he will be starting at the back of the grid.

    My Predictions-

    My top 5 predictions for tomorrow is P1 for Hamilton, P2- Bottas, P3- Verstappen, P4- Gasly and P5- Sainz. Fastest lap I see going to possibly Bottas if Mercedes play their strategy right. There could possibly be a safety car tomorrow depends if it rains tomorrow or not😉

    I want to see Russell get closer to a top 10 finish tomorrow, I feel like it could happen! It would be nice to see Vettel finish in the points again.

    Times for tomorrow are 14.00pm (BST) and 15.00pm (CEST).

  • French GP

    We are back racing this weekend and we are starting our first triple header of the season! We’re in France after missing out last year :( It is also the home race of Pierre Gasly, Esteban Ocon and Alpine!

    The fight between Verstappen and Hamilton is still as tense round one, Verstappen still leads by 4 points after his DNF and Hamiltons no points in Baku… Where as the Constructors is a different story, Red Bull are leading by 26 points and the gap between 3rd- Ferrari and 4th- McLaren is only 2 points so its all to play for this weekend!

    Who needs a good weekend?

    The person who stuck out the most for me is Bottas, as the rumour mill is spinning quite a bit about him possibly loosing his seat to Russell at the end of the season, so if Bottas wants any chance of keeping his seat with Mercedes or finding another seat somewhere else he is going to need to start improving… Also he hasn’t had a very good start to the season at all his had 2 DNF and didn’t score any points in Baku…

    I’d say as-well Daniel Ricciardo his currently P10 in the championship and I know it doesn’t mean much as were only on round 7 out of 23 but when his team mate is in 4th it does… I’m hoping to see some improvement from him this weekend and then hopefully he can score some decent points.

    Track Limits-

    The FIA have outlined strict track limits this weekend at the Paul Ricard Circuit starting with Turn 1 and 2, any driver who fails to take Turn 2 correctly, passing on the right of the yellow bollard, will have to stick to the right and then re-join the track by driving through the two blocks in the run of area.

    Turns 3 to 5- If a driver fails to take Turn 4 correctly on track, going to the left of the bollard on the apex, they must then stay left and re-join the track by driving to the left of the block in the run-off area.

    Turns 8 & 9- Any driver going straight on at Turn 8 must re-join the track by driving through the four blocks in the escape road. As usual with track limits, drivers are permitted three off-track moments at the above points on track before being shown the black and white flag and being referred to the stewards.

    Predictions for Qualifying-

    My top 5 for qualifying are P1: Hamilton, P2: Bottas, P3: Verstappen, P4: Perez, P5: Gasly.

    I would to see Ocon and Alonso qualify in top 10 i’m hoping their car suits them around the Paul Ricard Circuit, as well as Pierre Gasly i’m hoping his still on a good streak from his podium at Baku so hopefully, we see something special from him this weekend.

    Times for Saturday sessions are: FP3- 11.00am (BST), 12.00pm (CEST) Qualifying- 14.00pm (BST), 15.00 (CEST).

  • Tyres for French Grand Prix

    This weekend we are back at the French Grand Prix after having a year off due to Covid-19 and Pirelli have announced their tyres for this weekend…

    We have the middle compounds in the Pirelli range which are C2 (Hard), C3 (Medium) and C4 (Soft), this is the same range what they had back in 2019, the winning strategy was a one-stop from mediums to hards. It will be interesting to see who will be on the same strategy and wether that is on the winning strategy from 2019 or if they change it up.

    The tyres what have been chosen are meant to be well suited to the different characteristics of the track, the new asphalt laid on nearly all 15 corners just before the 2019 race ensures a smooth surface for the tyres to work on.

    The tyre degradation at the Paul Ricard circuit is low, however Turn 13 is particularly demanding in terms of continuous energy demands on the tyre.

    Not only do we have F1 this weekend, we also have Formula Three for their second round of the year – only one tyre compound is nominated for each Formula 3 round and the Hard Tyre has been chosen for this weekend.

  • Ocon to stay with Alpine

    It’s been confirmed on the eve of the French Grand Prix, that Esteban Ocon will be staying with french team Alpine till the end of 2024.

    Ocon joined the team when they were known as Renault at the start of the 2020 campaign, he scored his maiden F1 podium in Bahrain. This season though he has outperformed his double world champion team mate Fernando Alonso by scoring points four times in six Grand Prix.

    The team’s CEO Laurent Rossi said: “We are very proud to retain Esteban as part of the Alpine family. Since returning to the team in 2020, Esteban has grown in confidence and stature to deliver consistently good results and help develop the car with the team. We have every confidence in Esteban to help drive the team and the brand to the next level and meet its long-term objectives. Esteban is an asset for us beyond F1 as he is deeply involved in the Alpine global project.”

    My Opinion-

    I had a feeling Ocon was going to re-sign with Alpine, as it now seems that his getting comfortable with the team and the car. I do think it’s a good move from both Ocon and Alpine, it seems they work well together and that they look towards the future and hopefully fighting for championships. Also I think it’s nice it got announced on the week of his and his teams home race too, especially as theres fans there it makes it all a bit more special.

  • Should we ban wind tunnels?

    The topic of wind tunnels is a very mixed one in the sporting world not just in F1, however they may not be in F1 at all soon…

    A modern wind tunnel is a necessity rather than a luxury in Formula One, the first ever team to own their own wind tunnel was Brabham F1 team run by Bernie Ecclestone and Gordon Murray.

    Formula 1 teams spend hours on end testing the aerodynamics of their car in the wind tunnel, however that time is now becoming more precious with the introduction of a sliding scale that means a team higher in the Constructors’ Championship is afforded less hours in the wind tunnel than those finishing below them.

    What is a wind tunnel?

    A wind tunnel is a tool which is used in the aerodynamic research to study the effects of air moving past solid objects, it consists of a closed tubular passage with the car to be tested mounted in the middle.

    Eight out of 10 teams favour scrapping wind tunnels…

    There is only two teams on the gird who still believe that wind tunnels still have a place in Formula One, the remaining eight are backing the idea of eliminating them from the sport within 10 years, so by 2030.

    Does every team have a wind tunnel?

    The answer is no, wind tunnels cost a lot to build, maintain and run so some teams share them and rent them out to other teams for however long they are allowed to have them in where they finished in the Constructors from the following year.

    My Opinion-

    I personally think wind tunnels do need to be scraped, but not right away so I agree with by 2030 and it looks more than likely they will with eight teams voting against them last year, I don’t think they would change their mind. However there will be some work needed to see what will replace it as in 2010 Virgin Racing produced the CR-01 which was the first F1 car designed entirely with computational fluid dynamics (CFD), which models air flows in a virtual way rather than using the tunnel, it unfortunately was not a success.

    So if F1 and the teams wants to scrap them they both need to get a lot of research in on what could replace the wind tunnel and what would work too, as we now have the budget cap involved in the sport, so it will be a very big change but I think it is one that needs to happen.

    Now I want to know your opinion, so vote down below!

  • Roberts to leave Williams

    The restructure of Williams is continuing… Simon Roberts was the Team Principle of the Grove team however he is leaving the team and Jost Capito takes on the team principle duties.

    Roberts joint the British team last June as Managing Director before taking over as Acting Team Principle when the Williams family sold the team last summer, the role was then made permanent before Christmas.

    After only 100 days of being in charge, Capito has decided to complete an internal reorganisation to the reporting structure, which now means Robert’s role no longer exists in the team.

    The trackside leadership duties which were held by Roberts is now being transferred to Technical Director, Francois-Xavier Demaison which puts him in charge of technical aspects across both factory and race track.

    “Simon has played an integral role in managing the transition over the last 12 months and I would like to thank him for his great contribution during that time,” said Capito.

    Roberts added: “It has been a pleasure to take on the role of Team Principal following the departure of the Williams family from the sport. However, with the transition well underway I am looking forward to a new challenge and wish everyone in the team well for the future.”

  • Pirelli tyres

    So following on from the weekend in Azerbaijian, during the race we have two high speed crashes from Lance Stroll and Max Verstappen because of tyre blowouts.

    Both drivers were on the hard tyre compound, Lap 30 of the race is when Stroll crashed and spun violently into the wall which could of been a lot worse! Verstappen was leading the race with only 5 laps to go and then he suffered the exact same.

    However, Pirelli’s Head of F1 and Car Racing didn’t believe that tyre wear had been the issue in either of the incidents Mario Isola told the media: “I don’t want to give any preliminary conclusions. But it seems that it is a cut due to debris, because as I said, it’s not the most stressed tyre… We had other cars with the same number of laps [on the] same tyres without any issue. So the preliminary investigation is that it is probably due to an external factor, or debris, or kerb or whatever.” Isola then went on to add “Another element was there was no sign, or any warning according to the teams, we have to receive the telemetry from them but what they told us was that there was no warning, no vibration nothing to seem that there would be something in the tyres.”

    Isola suggested that Verstappens crash could have been caused by running over debris from Stroll’s crash. Meanwhile Pirelli announced that they have also spotted a cut in the hard tyre of Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes, this was discovered when everyone pitted under the red flag.

    My Opinion:

    I personally have very mixed views on this, I think that Pirelli need to review there Hard compound tyre, I don’t think Stroll’s was due to debris as no one had crashed before him and to make that big of impact to the tyre and car you’d expect it to be a big piece of debris off a crash. Where as Verstappen’s could possibly be a bit of debris, when you watch the replay you can see no debris on the track big enough to cut the tyre but then again this isn’t the first time the hard tyre has had a blowout etc as last year at Silverstone’s first race, Bottas, Sainz and Hamilton all suffered tyre blowouts on the hard tyre.

    I’d love to know your view on this so I have added a poll and video below!

    Sky Sports Video on Youtube

  • Round 6- Baku Race

    Baku’s race today is the most craziest race I’ve seen in a while and it did not disappoint!

    Sergio Perez is now a two time race winner and Sebastian Vettel is back on the podium in P2 and P3 for Gasly! Big congratulations to all three on the podium, very well deserved!

    The rest of the top 10 are, P4- Charles Leclerc, P5- Lando Norris, P6- Fernando Alonso, P7- Yuki Tsunoda, P8- Carlos Sainz, P9- Daniel Ricciardo and P10 to Kimi Raikkonen!

    It’s very nice to see Tsunoda and Ricciardo in the points! Yuki has had a very strong weekend here and Ricciardo made up for the qualifying!

    Esteban Ocon had to retire from the race due to a sudden loss of power!

    Lance Stroll had a big crash halfway through the race, as he had a problem with his rear left tyre and the same happened for Max Verstappen, he was leading the race and then a problem occurred with his rear left and that was him out and that brought a red flag out and stopped the race! George Russell had to retire just before the restart which is sad to see!

    I have got to mention Mercedes, Hamilton looked like he was going to take P1 or P2 at the re-start but he made a mistake at turn 1 and ended up towards the back of the grid and out the of the points, meaning no Mercedes scored points and it’s a real shame :( Now onto Valterri Bottas I’m not to sure what he was doing today? He finished P12 which is just shocking you’d expect him to be up there in the points supporting his team mate and helping his team with strategy. He definitely is pushing himself away from getting another Mercedes contract and it’s all his own doing really…

    Going into round 7 we have Max Verstappen still leading the championship by only 4 points… In two weeks we have the start of our first triple header of the season and it’s the French Grand Prix on the 18th to 20th June!

  • F2 Baku- Day 2 & 3

    Honestly wow what a weekend! As always at Baku there was drama left, right and centre on the streets circuit! But here’s all the updates from day 2 and 3

    Day 2-

    Sprint Race 1-

    First up we had sprint race 1 where Robert Shwartzman won for the first time in 2021! Safe to say I think he is about to bounce back from a terrible start to his season. Followed him is Dan Ticktum in second and then Guanyu Zhou in third.

    The drama started on lap 1 where Jack Aitken spun at the start where as his team mate run wide and neither of them made it through to turn 2. We then had contact between Liam Lawson and Oscar Piastri after they had a tap from Felipe Drugovich, which resulted in Lawson and Piastri to retire and Drugovich was handed a 10 second time penalty.

    Sprint Race 2-

    Now onto sprint race 2 and the drivers wanted to get to the first two corners unscathed but that wasn’t the case. Zhou and Ticktum locked up and spun at the first corner, Ticktum got by and contiued with the race where as Zhou had to retire. Then Ralph Boschung got caught by Theo Pourchaire, he managed to contiue on in the race where as Boschung had to retire. The two retirements were then joined by Zendeli after going wide at Turn 2.

    Beckmann managed to ace his restart once the safety car returned to the pits but the same could not be said for Viscaal as he lost another position and fell back to third behind Vips. The saftey car didnt stay in the pits for long as Nissany went into the back of Richard Verschoor.

    Once again another restart and there was drama further back in the field as Drugovich caught Christian Lundgaard and he went into the wall at turn 1. We then had Armstrongs DAMS end up in the wall as well, it only required a VSC but with six retirements and three separate stoppages, it gave the grid a very big shake up- Lawson who started in 20th was in 8th and Tickutm was back up in sixth after dropping to last on the opening lap. But it was Juri Vips who took the win along side Beckmann and Darauvala!

    Day 3-

    Now onto todays Feature Race! And what a race it was! Juri Vips claimed a back to back win in Formula Two this weekend, he was joined by Prema team mates Oscar Piastri and Robert Shwartzman.

    Jack Aitken was the only driver to line up on the mediums however the driver ended up starting from the pit lane after stopping on track during formation lap, there was also similar problems for Campos driver Matteo Nannini but he couldn’t get going again.

    Just like the sprint races this weekned, we had a safety car on the first lap due to Dan Ticktum, Theo Pourchaire and Marcus Armstrong, unfortunatley Armstrong ended up in the wall and then Pourchaire had to retire from the pits. Ticktum got a 10 second time penalty for that which I personally think is very harsh.

    Liam Lawson was also handed a 10 second time penalty for forcing Pourchaire off the track at the beginning of the race. Liam ended up finishing P6 and Ticktum P8 with fastest lap.

    Now we have a little break until the next round, and we will be returning to Silverstone, on the 16th to 18th July!

  • Round 6- Baku Quali

    Wow what a qualifying that was!! Baku did not disappoint and it’s not even the race yet!

    It’s back to back pole positions for Charles Leclerc! I don’t think many people expected him to put it there but he did, joining him on the front row is Lewis Hamilton, his managed to find some pace and put the car back to the front🔥

    We then have Max Verstappen in P3 who is then followed by Pierre Gasly in P4 which is his best ever qualifying performance. The rest of the top 10 are P5- Carlos Sainz, P6- Sergio Perez, P7- Yuki Tsunoda, P8- Fernando Alonso, P9- Lando Norris and P10 for Valtteri Bottas. Lando Norris got a 3 place grid penalty for not following red flag procedure. Yuki Tsunoda has had his best qualifying result as well and he put himself in the top 10 for the very first time!

    We had four red flags during the qualifying session! The first one was from Lance Stroll in Q1 then again another in Q1 which was from Antonio Giovinazzi, they both went into Turn 15 at two separate times. The third was from Daniel Ricciardo at Turn 3 in Q2 and then the fourth was from Yuki Tsunoda and Carlos Sainz for separate reasons but at the same corner in Q3.

    A couple of people I’m gutted for are Russell, Vettel and Ricciardo I felt like Russell could of put his car further up to the top 10 but the red flag ruined his chances and that goes for Vettel and Ricciardo too, they both had the pace to get into Q3 but Daniels red flag ruined there chances as well but it’s tomorrow what counts as that’s where the points are!

    My Predictions-

    P1 for Hamilton, P2- Carlos Sainz, P3- Pierre Gasly, P4- Max Verstappen and P5 for Lando Norris. There will be at least one safety car, could possibly be a red flag too depending on the crash and how many are involved.

    I’d love to see Tsunoda, Vettel and Ricciardo finish in the points tomorrow👏🏻 I feel like it will be a very crazy race so anything could happen so make sure you tune in!

    Times for tomorrow are: 13.00pm (BST) and 14.00 (CEST)

  • F2 Baku- Day 1

    We are back racing once again and we are in Baku! It will be interesting to see how the grid handles this track as for many of the drivers it is a first experience of the Baku City Circuit.

    Free Practice-

    Juri Vips topped the charts as he was finding the limits of Baku, he went seven-tenths faster than Ralph Boschung, and then we had race winner Theo Pourchaire finishing the top 3.

    Marino Sato skidded against the wall and destroyed his front right tyre. Where as Zendeli just got stuck in the run off area at Turn 16 which then brought out the virtual safety car.

    With only minutes to go it looked as if Boschung had it under control for topping the leader board however, Pourchaire and Vips found more time which made them go ahead of the Campos driver. However action was brought to a stop as Roy Nissany spun and struck the wall which ended out bringing the red flag and the session came to a close.

    Qualifying-

    The Hitech duo Liam Lawson and Juri Vips secured a 1-2 for Sunday’s feature race! It is Lawson’s first ever pole in Formula 2 and i’m sure it won’t be his last. Then in P3 we have Oscar Piastri.

    The rest of the top 10 look like this: P4- Pourchaire, P5- Ticktum, P6- Armstrong, P7- Boschung, P8- Zhou, P9-Daruvalva and P10- Shwartzman. This means Shwartzman will start P1 in tomorrows first Sprint Race👏🏻

    Roy Nissany had to sit out of Qualifying as he crashed out in free practice and because of the short turn around time they were unable to mend his car! He will be starting at the back of the grid tomorrow.

    After qualifying ended there were 3 penalties given out and one from before qualifying too they include- Marino Sato for creating a potential safety hazard for all other cars in free practice after his crash, he got a three place grid penalty which makes him start 20th after qualifying P19.

    Lundgaard, AItken and Samaia have all been handed three place grid penalties for tomorrows sprint race as they all impeded other drivers on push laps in qualifying. Lundgaard will start from P15, instead of P12. Aitken will now start P17 instead of P14 and Samaia will start P21 after qualifying 20th.

    The times for the rest of the weekend are the following: Sprint Race 1- Saturday at 8.25am (BST), 9.25am (CEST), Sprint Race 2- Saturday at 14.40pm (BST), 15.40pm (CEST) Feature Race- Sunday at 9.45am (BST), 10.45am (CEST).

  • Azerbaijan

    We are back and in Baku after missing out last year! And the title fight is only just beginning as we go into our sixth round out of 23.

    Max Verstappen leads the championship for the first time ever in his career and only 4 points ahead of 7 time world champion Lewis Hamilton. Will Max be able to extend his lead or will trouble arise in Baku for the Red Bull driver? It’s all to play for…

    Daniel Ricciardo will be hoping for Baku to bring him some luck his way, and show all the doubters he has still got it!! His team mate Lando Norris will be wanting to carry on with his amazing results so far and he will want to extend his lead from Bottas.

    Talking about Bottas, he will be wanting to make up for Monaco after missing out on a podium due to a bad pitstop which caused him to DNF. I feel like it’s a tough one for Bottas, I personally don’t think his had the best start to the season this year, whether that be because his seat may be under threat by Russell? Or simply his just having a bad time but that doesn’t end well in a competitive sport like this…

    The Baku City Circuit is made up of 51 laps, 20 turns and two DRS zones and let me tell you I have missed Baku! I always look forward to this race as I feel like anything can happen here!

    Predictions for Qualifying:

    My top 5 for qualifying are P1: Hamilton, P2: Verstappen, P3: Norris, P4: Bottas and P5: Perez.

    I would like to see Ricciardo qualify top 10 as well as Vettel, I am hoping he carries on his streak from Monaco and hoping that it has gave him some confidence! I feel like Tsunoda may do well at this track? I’m not to sure why but I feel like he could redeem himself here from other race weekends where he hasn’t done too well. I’m sure the Ferrari boys will make it to the top ten but I don’t think it will be their strongest track this year!

    Times for Friday and Saturday sessions are: Friday- FP1- 9.30am (BST), 10.30am (CEST). FP2- 13.00pm (BST), 14.00pm (CEST). Saturday- FP3- 10.00am (BST), 11.00am (CEST). Qualifying- 13.00pm (BST), 14.00pm (CEST).

  • Petecof confirms F2 exit

    Gianluca Petecof took to social media last night and told his followers he will not be taking part in Baku this weekend for Campos racing, this comes as he has had to pull out due to budget limitations.

    Petecof hasn’t had the best start to a season, in the opening round in Bahrain his in-car fire extinguisher went off in the feature race which forced him to retire. We then go onto the second round, Monaco which Petecof had only managed 9 laps in free practice before his engine blew up, he then qualified 10th in his group but then crashed out of the sprint race on the Friday, that was then followed by another crash at the start of Saturdays sprint race and then a 16th place in the feature race despite showing pace. In the two rounds we have had he hasn’t managed to score a single point yet.

    However Campos Racing have now announced that they have singed Matteo Nannini for Round 3 this weekend. Nannini has experience in F2 as he drove for HWA Racelab in Round 1 of this season where he scored a point but he gave up his spot so he can focus on Formula 3 and Williams Formula 1 reserve Jack Aitken took his spot for Round 2 & 3.

    Could we possibly see Nannini stay in F2 this year and juggle F3 as well? Or could we see Petecof return? Will Jack Aitken stay? There is so many unanswered questions but it will be very interesting to see what happens after Azerbaijan as we could potentially have two seats up for grabs…

  • Tyres for Azerbaijan

    This weekend we will be back in Azerbaijan not just with Formula One but Formula Two also and Pirelli have announced which tyre compounds they are bringing to the race weekend.

    Unlike 2019, this years Azerbaijan Grand Prix will see the teams use the softest tyres in Pirelli’s F1 range C3 (hard) tyre, C2 (medium) tyre and C5 (soft) tyres. This is one step softer than the last Azerbaijan race weekend.

    For the third round of the season for Formula Two, they will be using 18-inch tyres, yellow striped medium and purple striped super soft tyres, making this the first time the mediums have been used in this season.

    With the Formula One race being 51 laps and Formula Two’s sprint race being 21 laps and the feature race 29 laps, it will definitely be an interesting and crazy race as always in Baku! All eyes onto the weekend🤩

    This weekend we are expected sunshine so no rain at the moment, however things can always change👀 look below to see more information on Pirelli and Azerbaijan.

  • Mugello ready for a return

    The Mugello circuit which is based in Tuscany in Italy have said they are ready to negotiate if Formula 1 wants them back in 2021…

    The circuit is owned by Ferrari and is a regular testing venue for the Scuderia, however they changed it up last year and welcomed the F1 teams for the first time as it hosted the Tuscan Grand Prix in 2020 and due to the pandemic the original calendar got abandoned but it went on to being a 17 race schedule and the Tuscan Grand Prix was round 9.

    Although 2021 hasn’t been had to much disruption yet there has been some major changes to the original calendar…

    The Australian Grand Prix is currently pushed back to November, whilst the Canadian Grand Prix has been cancelled. The Turkish Grand Prix was set to take its place however that was then cancelled, the French Grand Prix then moved a week forward to make way for a double header at Austria’s Red Bull Ring.

    I honestly would love to see Mugello back on the Calendar this year! Last years race was an interesting one as the Mercedes finished with a 1-2 but on the opening lap Verstappen was involved in a race ending collision with Gasly, Raikkonen and Grosjean. Lance Stroll also suffered a heavy crash later on in the race too.

    I don’t know if everyone would be happy if Mugello came back as this would be the second year Italy has 3 races but I suppose we will just have to wait and see 👀

  • Flexi wing saga

    Lately in the news of Formula One we have seen lots of talk about Red Bull using a “Bendy wing/ Flexi wing” since qualifying at the Spanish Grand Prix

    At the Spanish Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton brought up that Red Bull have a bendy wing which he said was worth an extra three tenths in performance to the Mercedes. After the Spanish Grand Prix the FIA then announced they would have new tests on the flexibility of F1 cars rear wing and will be in place from the 15th of June (ahead of the French Grand Prix)

    Then leading up to the race weekend in Monaco, it came out that McLaren strongly disagrees with the FIA’s current plant to eventually outlaw the ‘bendy wings’. However no matter how unhappy they are with the current plan, they are reluctant to start launching protests against other teams…

    Christian Horner said during the Monaco Grand Prix weekend that such a tweak to the regulations could cost his team “half a million dollars”  an expense they can do without now that Formula 1 teams are working with a budget cap. Alfa Romeo boss Frederic Vasseur, agrees with Horner and slammed the decision to move the goalposts mid-season as a “joke”.

    It has now gone onto that Mercedes and Red Bull could end up protesting each other ahead of the next round in Baku unless the FIA provide further clarification on the wing saga. Whilst Mercedes have drawn attention to Red Bulls rear wing, Red Bull have now brought up Mercedes flexing front wing from the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

    What are the regulations?

    Article 3.9.9 of F1’s Technical Regulations states: “The FIA reserve the right to introduce further load/deflection tests on any part of the bodywork which appears to be (or is suspected of) moving whilst the car is in motion.

    My opinion-

    Personally, I don’t think its right, if its illegal and doesn’t comply with the regulations then they should change it straight away not wait a month later, I understand it takes time etc but Red Bull could of easily got it done by the Monaco Grand Prix as they had a two week break between them or by Baku as that would be a four week break.

    I do think Red Bull are just trying to find anything on the Mercedes so they can protest back. I think Red Bull will be the ones looking silly at the end of this, they could of just saved their time and energy and changed it as soon as possible…

    I do see this going on for a little while so come back for some more updates as they happen!

  • Round 5- Monaco Race

    Well well well, we now have a new championship leader! Max Verstappen is leading the championship for the first time and by only 4 points!

    The Monaco curse continues for Charles Leclerc! He was meant to start on pole however he did not start due to an issue with the left driveshaft… however not all bad for the Ferrari team as his team mate Carlos Sainz finishes on the podium in second!

    Lando Norris on the podium again for the second time in 5 races! He is on fire, I am extremely happy for him🙌🏻 he had to defend from Perez towards the end of the race but he managed to hold him off and hold onto that podium!

    Now onto the Mercedes… not a very good weekend for them at all, Bottas was in second came in for a pit stop then a wheel nut got stuck meaning he couldn’t carry on… now onto Hamilton he started P7 and also finished P7 with fastest lap, they tried an undercut on Gasly with the pit stop but it just didn’t work unfortunately😣

    Somebody I have to mention is Sebastian Vettel! Could his luck be changing? He started P8 and finished P5! His team mate Lance Stroll also finished in the points in 8th, so could this possibly be a turning point for the team?

    Pierre Gasly as-well! What a man! Drove absolutely beautiful and no mistakes too! He finished in P6👏🏻

    Now we’ve got a 2 week break until the 6th round which is Azerbaijan! And that’s on the weekend of the 4th to 6th June🤞🏻Lots of drivers will be wanting to redeem themselves their so it’s all to play for once again 🔥

  • F2 Monaco- Day 3

    So on the last day for Formula Two we had Sprint Race 2 and the Feature race, heres how it went👀

    Sprint Race 2-

    Marcus Armstrong was meant to start P1 for the Sprint Race however he was forced to start from the pitlane due to not being able to join the starting grid… He then had to pull over with further issues. Petecof’s weekend is still going down hill as he had to retire from the race after clipping the barrier on the opening lap.

    The start was amazing, Piastri managed to nick P1 from Lawson however when the track started to dry Lawson knew his opportunities were lessening, however he managed an inside move at Rascasse which allowed him to scamper in front.

    Marino Sato and Christian Lungaard became the latest casualties of the Monaco circuit, Sato’s race ended early due to loosing his car at Turn 1, Lundgaard locked up and then ended up going into Mirebeau.

    The safety car then came out as Bent Viscall clipped the back of Beckmann’s car once the safety car went in, Lawson got a clean restart with only a minute left, he managed to pull an 8 second gap over Ticktum while Piastri held onto third.

    After the race it then got announced that Liam Lawson was disqualified and no longer took the win for the second sprint race, following an investigation after the race, the stewards fount that Lawson used a different throttle map at the race start which was a breach of technical regulations, Article 3.6.5. This now means Dan Ticktum got P1, Oscar Piastri P2 and Juri Vips P3.

    Feature Race-

    With drier conditions than the mornings race, it could mean Pourchaire enjoyed a dream start, he got a clean launch to pull away from Shwartzman who didn’t manage to challenge him.

    The front eight were all on the soft tyre as Shwartzman chased Pourchaire he managed to close the gap to under a second and within DRS range. Sprint Race winner 2 Dan Ticktum did have Juri Vips arriving in his rear view mirror, that was when Ticktum decided to get a move on and he managed to catch up with Piastri who was in P3. Carlin opted for the undercut and called Ticktum in for super softs which sent him back to P6, however the move didn’t work out as Piastri got called in the lap after and came out for P5 ahead of Ticktum.

    There was three VSC’s needed within the space of two laps, firstly for Marcus Armstrong as the DAMs driver went into the wall, then for Lirim Zendeli who also went into the wall. Then the third was for Ticktum as he braved a bold move on Piastri but ended up in the barrier as there was no room.

    With only six laps to go, Zhou was the only one who hadn’t pitted but also had 15 second gap over Pourchaire, but the ART driver was lighting up the time screens with purple sectors one after another. The championship leader eventually opted to head in at the end of Lap 37 returning in fifth behind Shwartzman.

    Pourchaire finished in P1 making him F2’s youngest ever race winner at 17 years old, we then had Piastri in P2 and P3 for Drugovich.

    What’s next?

    We now have two weeks until the next race weekend where we will be in Baku on June 6th-8th.

  • Round 5- Monaco Quali

    WOW… All I can say is wow… what a qualifying! So much happened I felt like I was watching a race 😂 but that is the joys of a circuit like Monaco!

    To start we only had 19 drivers competing in qualifying today as Mick Schumacher took a heavy hit in FP3 and wasn’t able to compete in qualifying as there was chassis damage.

    The Ferrari’s are on fire this weekend! As it stands Leclerc is in pole position at his home grand prix! However he had a pretty big crash at the end of qualifying which could result in him having a new gearbox which would mean a 5 place grid penalty.

    The rest of the top 10 are the following, P2- Verstappen, P3- Bottas, P4- Sainz, P5- Norris, P6- Gasly, P7- Hamilton, P8- Vettel, P9- Perez and P10- Giovinazzii.

    I’m so mixed feelings about the top 10, obviously absolutely gutted for Hamilton, but at the end of the day it’s not like this is the last race of the season, theres lot more races to come🤞🏻… Vettel is back into Q3 which I think lots of people are happy about including himself! He does look more comfortable in the car now than on other weekends, lets hope him getting into Q3 is more regular now!

    Now onto Daniel Ricciardo, he didn’t manage to put the McLaren into Q3 as he missed the checkered flag, but and thats a very big but I feel like he could redeem himself tomorrow, his won at this circuit before which we all know as the “redemption” could he maybe get himself to finish in the points tomorrow?

    Someone who did shock me today is Perez, his starting in P9 I expected him to be a bit better than that as in FP3 he finished P5 and FP1 he finished P1 so it will be interesting to see what kind of strategy he has tomorrow and if it will be effective enough…

    Predictions:

    My predictions for the top 5 tomorrow are P1- Verstappen, P2- Bottas, P3- Sainz, P4- Norris and P5- Hamilton and also I think Hamilton will set the fastest lap🙌🏻

    Obviously I would love to see Vettel and Ricciardo finish in the points aswell! I do think its all too play for tomorrow, especially on a track like this where anything could happen😬

    The race starts a 14:00pm (BST) and 15:00pm (CEST), now all eyes onto tomorrow👀

  • F2 Monaco- Day 1 & 2

    Wow what a long break that was from the first race! I know we had testing in April but even with that what a long time! Anyways i’m happy to see the F2 cars back on track and even more so in Monaco!🤩

    Day 1-

    First up we had free practice heres what happened! First of all there was three stoppages in the opening 20 minutes of the session, where Marino Sato came to a halt on track which brought out a red flag. The second stoppage was required after Gianluca Petecof’s Campos went up into smoke. Then the final stoppage was because Bent Viscaal managed to clip the wall so the VSC was required.

    The results from free practice was Shwartzman first with a 1:22.041, he was followed by Ticktum with a 1:22.564 and then he was followed by Vips who had a 1:22.628!

    Now onto Qualifying, they had to split the grid up into two qualifying groups because it is standard for Monaco.

    The 17 year old, Theo Pourchaire will start the feature race in pole position on Saturday afternoon making him the Formula Two’s youngest ever pole sitter in Monaco! In P2 is Shwartzman who topped qualifying group B with a 1:21.403, behind him is Piastri in P3 with a 1:21.443.

    Day 2-

    Now onto day 2 which is just made up of one sprint race and its a reverse grid of how the top 10 qualified, meaning Zhou will start P1 and let me tell you I think he was very happy with that as thats where he finished at the end of the 30 laps.

    Robert Shwartzman didn’t have a lucky day today as he pushed too hard and whacked the wall of Casino Square, which forced him to retire after attempting to get back out. Lundgaard got away brilliant at the beginning however that all came to a crashing hault when he started to have smoke come from the back of his car, which brought him to a stop with a yellow flag. Petecof doesn’t seem to be having a good weekend here in Monaco as he collided with the wall and stopped on the track which brought out a full safety car which could of potentially changed the entire race… There was then a fourth retirement by Marino Sato as he put his car into the wall.

    It ended up being a 1-2 podium for UNI-Virtuosi and they was joined by Williams test driver Roy Nissany in his first Formula 2 podium. Starting in P1 for tomorrows second Sprint Race is Marcus Armstrong after pulling off a last minute and risky move on Daruvala, Armstrong will be next to Liam Lawson as he is starting P2 tomorrow and then Oscar Piastri in P3…

    The second sprint race tomorrow will be starting at 7:20am (BST) and 8:20am (CEST) and for the feature race it will be 16:15pm (BST) and 17:15 (CEST)

  • Monaco

    Finally we are back racing again and we are also back at Monaco after not being here since 2019! This is the home grand prix of Charles Leclerc and lets hope its a good one…

    Whilst were on the topic of Charles Leclerc he will be wanting to have a good weekend as since his been in F1 he has never finished his home race… Really hoping he does well this weekend and let’s hope the past doesn’t come into it on race day🤞🏻

    The Monaco circuit is the toughest one out of all off them as its very narrow and known for not much overtaking. Sunday we are blessed with 78 laps of this beautiful circuit which has 19 turns and only one DRS zone.

    Now onto track limits (and yes I know who would of thought Monaco has track limits!😂) The FIA will be monitoring Turn 10 as F1 race director Michael Masi said: “A lap time achieved during any practice session or race by leaving the track and failing to negotiate Turn 10 by using the track will result in that lap time being invalidated by the stewards”

    Predictions for Qualifying:

    My top 5 for qualifying is P1: Hamilton, P2: Verstappen, P3: Leclerc, P4: Bottas and P5: Sainz…

    I would like to see Pierre Gasly get a good qualifying result too! His highest qualifying result this season has been P5 so I feel like maybe he could be the underdog of qualifying… Another driver i’d like to see get a good result is Vettel! I feel maybe this weekend could be his? He knows this track so well so hopefully he can pull something out of the bag on Saturday!

    Times for Saturday are: FP3- 11:00am (BST), 12:00pm (CEST) and Qualifying- 14:00pm (BST) and 15:00pm (CEST). Remember there is no free practices tomorrow as they were on today (Thursday) however tomorrow there is Formula Two on at 10:45am (BST) and 11:45am (CEST)

  • Lando signs multi year deal

    So today we had the first contract announcement of the season… and that was Lando Norris resigning for McLaren with a fresh multi year deal🤩

    His been with the McLaren family since 2017 and scored his first podium with them last year- now his onto his second podium and now sitting fourth in the drivers standing whilst also being on a run of nine successive points finishes.

    His new deal now matches his team mates Daniel Ricciardo’s meaning they will both be with the team until at least the end of 2023.

    This is honestly amazing news! I think Lando has definitely got a bright future ahead of him and it will be interesting to see what him and the McLaren team can do together! Also what brilliant timing for the announcement ahead of the Monaco Grand Prix this weekend where they are showing off their new livery! I actually didn’t expect a contract announcement so soon but somebody has to get the ball rolling!

    See below to see what Lando put on his social media for the announcement🙌🏻

  • McLaren’s special livery

    Last night it got announced on social media that McLaren have a one-off special livery for this weekend at the Monaco Grand Prix.

    McLaren are bringing back the iconic blue and orange colours of Gulf Oil back into Formula One. The British teams initial association with Gulf dates back to the days of team founder Bruce McLaren, when the companies use to work together in F1 and Can-Am racing in the late 60’s and early 70’s. They then renewed their relationship last July, when Gulf Oil came on board as a strategetic partner.

    Norris and Ricciardo have also got new racing suits and race team kits which match the new livery, they are also having new helmets for this weekend however they are a one-off bespoke retro helmet designs which will then be raffled off for the teams mental health charity partner, Mind.

    Personally, I absolutely love it! I just think it looks so clean and sharp and obviously it’s got history about it- I have seen lots of comments on social media about people wanting it to stay and I would like it to however I think the McLaren will go back to its normal colours for Azerbaijan.

    The action this weekend gets underway on Thursday so you get to see the new look for McLaren one day sooner😉