HiTech Pulse-Eight driver Luke Browning left it until the final moments of the session to top the Spa-Francorchamps Free Practice that started with rainy conditions before ending in the dry.
Browning completed a lap of 2:15.570 with his last lap on the slick tyres to finish 0.030s ahead of Van Amersfoort Racing’s Noel Leon, with ART Grand Prix driver Christian Mansell in third.
A wet Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps greeted the drivers with Browning the early pacestter on a 2:22.089, putting him 0.683s clear of his ART title rival Mansell in second.
As the drivers rounded the track, they began to find more grip and pace, but no one could quite match Browning’s time with VAR’s Leon going closest.
But the Hitech driver continued to be the benchmark, and later completed a lap of 2:21.310 to improve on his earlier effort, as AIX Racing’s Nikita Bedrin followed him across the line to finish 0.620s off the top time.
With 20 minutes left, the sun had started to come through and the track was drying out. The teams then started sending their drivers out for some exploratory laps on the slicks.
But it wasn’t until the final six minutes that a dry line began to appear with MP Motorsport’s Alexander Dunne using that to great effect to go fastest with 2:20.474.
Times continued to tumble as the track conditions improved with Sebastian Montoya, Santiago Ramos, Leon, Arvid Lindblad, Leonardo Fornaroli and Tramnitz all topping the timesheets within the span of five minutes.
The drivers running was then hampered by a yellow flag in the final sector following Ramos’ spin at the bus stop chicane, while his Trident teammate Sami Meguetounif would run wide at the same corner.
Qualifying-
Rodin Motorsport’s Callum Voisin took his first ever Formula 3 pole position after coming out on top in a frenetic Spa-Francorchamps qualifying session.
The British driver completed a lap of 2:04.321 to beat MP Motorsport’s Alexander Dunne to pole by 0.123s, with Trident’s Leonardo Fornaroli taking third place.
But after the first set of laps, it was the ART Grand Prix cars that set the pace, with Laurens van Hoepen completing the early benchmark time of 2:05.507 to lead Mansell by just 0.011s.
Hitech Pulse-Eight chose a different strategy by sending their drivers out early on the second set of tyres, giving them an empty track. However, it did not work for Luke Browning as he ran wide at Pouhon after losing the rear, leaving him down in P18.
His teammate Martinius Stenshorne was one of several to lose their first laps for exceeding track limits but on the latest attempt he went to P11, while Cian Shields jumped to P14.
The Hitech trio ducked into the pitlane while the rest of the field emerged on to the track with 10 minutes to go. But then came the rest with first Sebastian Montoya, then Fornaroli and later Dunne going fastest before Voisin went to the top with a 2:04.321.
However, as the drivers prepared for their final laps there was huge queue heading into the final chicane, meaning that the like of Fornaroli and Leon did not get to the line in time to set off another attempt.
Some drivers did improve in the first sector, but they were so close to each other there were no improvements through the technical middle sector.
The full top 10 are- Pole: Voisin, P2: Dunne, P3: Fornaroli, P4: Montoya, P5: Leon, P6: Esterson, P7: Browning, P8: Meguetounif, P9: Tramnitz and P10: Ramos.
Haas have signed Alpine’s Esteban Ocon on a multi-year contract to partner rookie Ollie Bearman in 2025.
The team announced last week that Kevin Magnussen would be leaving at the end of the season, leaving a vacant seat that was widely believed to have been allocated to 27 year old Ocon.
On Thursday in Belgium, ahead of the final race before the break and at the track where Ocon first made his F1 debut in 2016. Haas announced Ocon would become the first Grand Prix winner to race one of their cars since they entered the sport in 2016.
Ocon has 146 career starts under his belt and has driven for Manor, Force India, Renault and Alpine – scoring 425 points in that period including three podiums, one of which was his maiden win in Hungary in 2021.
The Frenchman has know Haas Team Principal, Ayao Komatsu a while, as the Japanese boss engineered Ocon in his first F1 test back in 2014, with Lotus (which now operates under the Alpine banner) at Valencia.
I’m delighted we’ve secured Esteban Ocon’s services for Haas. I’ve obviously been aware of his talents for a long time and our personal history dates back to Esteban’s maiden run in a Formula 1 car – I was his race engineer that day with Lotus. He displayed his talents back then coming off the back of strong performances in the junior categories – he’d just won the 2014 European Formula 3 Championship. Esteban’s gone on to become an established talent in Formula 1 and of course a Grand Prix winner. The experience he brings, not just from his own talent base but also from working for a manufacturer team, will be advantageous to us in our growth as an organisation. It was vital we had a driver with experience in beside Oliver Bearman next year, but Esteban’s only 27 – he’s still young with a lot to prove as well. I think we have a hungry, dynamic driver pairing and I look forward to welcoming Esteban into Haas for 2025. Ayao Komatsu on the news.
It was important to me that we have a driver with a known pedigree in Formula 1, and as a Grand Prix winner, Esteban undoubtedly fits that brief. Esteban’s proved himself in the teams he’s raced for as someone who’s continually in the mix and scoring points – it’s that continuity we’re keen to capitalise on as we look for increased performance gains on-track. We have a blend of youth and experience in our future driver line-up and I’m excited to see the results. Owner, Gene Haas on the news.
I’ll be joining a very ambitious racing team, whose spirit, work ethic, and undeniable upward trajectory has really impressed me. I’d like to thank Gene Haas and Ayao Komatsu for their trust and support, and for our honest and fruitful discussions these last few months. On a more personal note, I’m very happy to be working with Ayao again, as he’s been a part of my debut when I first stepped into a Formula 1 car during my Lotus Junior days more than 10 years ago. Haas has exciting plans and clear targets for the future, and I’m very much looking forward to working with everyone in Kannapolis, Banbury and Maranello, and being part of this great project. Ocon on the news.
Alpine will be racing with a special red and black livery for this weekend’s Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix to celebrate the release of Deadpool & Wolverine.
Alpine will drop its usual black, pink and blue livery for a one-off Deadpool vs Wolverine – inspired livery.
The livery features the red and black of Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool character as well as yellow slashes as a nod to Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine. The team’s mechanics will also wear Deadpool red at Spa.
Esteban Ocon will recreate the red Deadpool mask with his helmet, while Gasly will sport a yellow and black Wolverine design. Ocon first used a similar design as one-off at the Las Vegas Grand Prix last year.
Reynolds was a part of the investment group that acquired a 24% stake in Alpine’s F1 team in June last year.
This is far from the first film-inspired F1 livery and its fair to say there’s been mixed results over the years. The fact it was Red Bull’s first podium made its one-off Superman Returns livery at the 2006 Monaco Grand Prix and driver capes all the more iconic.
But there hasn’t been a properly good film tie-up that’s fully committed to it in the way that Alpine has. To ditch its traditional Renault colours and go with red – about as un-Renault-like as you can get.
The last Grand Prix before the summer break takes place at Spa-Francorchamps, one of the most awe-inspiring race tracks in the world.
Eau Rouge, Raidilon, La Source, Kemmel, Stavelot and Malmedy are just some of the names that have made the venue for the Belgian Grand Prix famous around the world.
There’s been racing in the Ardennes for over a century with the first race, for motorcycles, taking place in 1921. The first Belgian Grand Prix was held the following year on a road circuit making use of three sides of a triangle which joined the towns of Spa-Francorchamps, Malmedy and Stavelot.
Pirelli has already been able to assess the new asphalt, a month ago during the 24 Hours of Spa, the classic GTWC race for which the Italian company is the sole tyre supplier.
For this, the 14th round of the season, Pirelli has chosen the same trio of compounds as used for the last two years, C2 (Hard), C3 (Medium) and C4 (Soft).
In terms of stress on the tyres, it is one of the tracks with the highest average levels, even if it does not reach the peaks seen at Silverstone and Suzuka.
The track features all corner types, linked by very fast sections, which makes it difficult for the teams to identify the ideal aerodynamic compromise. In fact, it is not unusual to see cars that are very strong in the fastest first and third sectors, struggling in the second slower one or vice versa.
If there is a single venue on the motor racing calendar, not just F1, where variable weather can play a role, it is this one. not only can conditions change from one day to the next, but also grip levels can be dramatically different at various points on the track at the same time. Furthermore, because it is such a long lap, the slightest little mistake in judging the right moment to switch from dry to wet tyres or vice versa can carry a severe penalty in the race and even more so in qualifying.
Nico Mueller won’t be racing for the ABT CUPRA from Gen3 Evo onwards, as the German team shared the news of his departure ahead of the London race weekend.
Mueller, who currently sits 14th in the standings has been a part of the team since Season 9. He experienced a season best result of fourth in Misano earlier this year, narrowly missing out on the podium, and finished in fifth and sixth respectively in Portland last time out.
Nico Mueller, has been a part of the ABT family for a long time, driving for them in DTM from 2016 until 2020, and was twice runner-up in the championship.
He then joined ABT CUPRA for Season 9, as the all-electric championship embarked on its Gen3 era.
Nico has decided to take on a new motorsport challenge and leave the team. It was our wish to keep Nico in the team and to be successful with him again. Now we have to accept his decision and wish him all the best for the future. On behalf of the whole team, I would like to thank Nico for his commitment and dedication. Of course we would all have liked to have seen more success, but even in these difficult times he has always led the way and shown strong performances. Nico remains part of the ABT family and is always welcome here. Thomas Biermaier, ABT CEO and Team Principal.
This is going to be a very special weekend for me. On the one hand I’m looking forward to the location, the track and the fans. On the other hand, I feel melancholy and a lot of gratitude after two years in this team. It was an extremely challenging time, but it also brought us closer together. We’ve always pulled together and I’m sure this is what we will be doing in London for the last time. We want to give it our all with the whole team, enjoy the days and try to get two good results. London is a cool track – very tight, with indoor and outdoor sections and walls, as we know from Formula E. I will give everything to make the team proud again one more time. Mueller on the news.
Audi have announced former Ferrari Team Principal, Mattia Binotto is returning to Grand Prix racing as the new leader of their Formula 1 project.
Earlier this year German car maker Audi took full ownership of the Sauber team, which will be run under the Audi banner from 2026, with an all-new power unit currently being developed in-house in Germany.
Binotto, 54, will assume leadership of the operation on August 1st, as Chief Operating and Chief Technical Officer based at the Sauber factory in Hinwil, Switzerland and will report directly to the board of directors.
As part of a restructure, former McLaren Team Principal Andreas Seidl – who joined Sauber in January 2023 and was CEO of the Audi team – is leaving alongside Audi executive Oliver Hoffmann, who was overseeing the project.
Binotto was Chief Technical Officer at Ferrari until being promoted to Team Principal in 2019. He left Maranello in 2022 after three years in the job, and having been with the Scuderia since the mid-1990s.
The first driver confirmed to be part of Audi’s new F1 project is Nico Hulkenberg, who will make the switch to Kick Sauber from Haas at the end of the season in what the German described as an “interesting” and “very exciting” move.
Finnish driver Valtteri Bottas and Chinese racer Zhou Guanyu have represented the Hinwil team since 2022, but the futures of both drivers are unknown beyond the end of the current campaign.
I am delighted that we have been able to recruit Mattia Binotto for our ambitious Formula 1 project. With his extensive experience of more than 25 years in Formula 1, he will undoubtedly be able to make a decisive contribution for Audi. Our aim is to bring the entire Formula 1 project up to F1 speed by means of clear management structures, defined responsibilities, reduced interfaces, and efficient decision-making processes. For this purpose, the team must be able to act independently and quickly. I would like to thank Oliver and Andreas for their important work in establishing our entry into Formula 1 and their commitment in preparing it. Audi CEO, Gernot Dollner.
Temperatures were much cooler for the Sprint compared to Friday’s Qualifying and there was a mix of tyres on the gird, with 12 cars fitted with the Softs while the rest chose Hards.
Two of those drivers on the Hards were pole-sitter Verschoor and his fellow front starter Maini, and while they made good starts, Andrea Kimi Antonelli had fired up his tyres from P4 and went round the outside of the Invicta car at Turn 2 to take second.
His fellow drivers on the red tyres were also flying as Gabriel Bortoleto and Enzo Fittipaldi moved up to P6 and P7 respectively by overtaking Isack Hadjar.
By the end of Lap 5, Antonelli was over two seconds clear out front, while Maini was beginning to close in on Verschoor for P2, with Martins just behind.
On to Lap 7, and Fittipaldi was showing strong pace in his Van Amersfoort Racing car and overtook his fellow option tyre runner Bortoleto for P6, going round his compatriot’s outside at Turn 1.
But as the drivers set of on lap 11, what had been a lead of over two second for Antonelli had now been close to 1.6s. Further back, Maini had also created a gap of over two seconds to Martins, who was now defending from Dennis Hauger in the battle for P4.
Verschoor was now right on the back of Antonelli as they started lap 16, but the PREMA driver was resisting each attack. However, he could not hold on much longer, running wide at the final corner before locking up into Turn 1 allowing both Verschoor and Maini through.
Unfortunately for Antonelli, his lock up had proven costly as he was falling through the field with Martins, Fittipaldi, Hauger and Hadjar all making their way past before PREMA made the call to pit him for a set of Hards.
Back in the midfield, Paul Aron was looking to make up the positions he lost at the start as one of the prime tyre runners and went round the outside of Jak Crawford at Turn 2 for P12, despite the American’s attempts to take back the position at T4.
But as the Hitech Pulse-Eight driver was battling to get back into the points, his Championship rival Hadjar was up to fourth after overtaking Fittipaldi and Hauger on lap 21.
Fittipaldi was also struggling on his softs and after losing out to Hauger and Colapinto, he suffered a puncture on his left front tyre forcing him to pit.
By the final lap, Verschoor had built a two-second gap out front and crossed the line to take his fourth Formula 2 victory ahead of Maini, with Martins taking the final podium spot.
However… Richard Verschoor has been disqualified from the results, as the plank on his car was below the minimum thickness required and lost the race win.
So the new full top 10 are- P1: Maini, P2: Martins, P3: Hadjar, P4: Hauger, P5: Colapinto, P6: Aron, P7: Barnard, P8: Correa, P9: Crawford and P10: Bearman.
Day 3-
It was a slow start for pole-sitter, Paul Aron, made worse by his lock up that forced him to go deep at Turn 1, dropping him to seventh. But it was an outstanding getaway from Martins, who was in the lead before approaching the opening corner after starting fifth.
The Hitech Pulse-Eight rookie’s hope of eating into Isack Hadjar’s 20-points championship lead took an early dent despite the Campos Racing driver being forced to start from the pit lane after leaving for the grid late.
Martins was under pressure from front row starter, Enzo Fittipaldi with Invicta Racing’s Gabriel Bortoleto just behind them, with Hard tyre runners Zane Maloney and Antonelli in fourth and fifth respectively.
A Safety Car was required moments later when Aron, looking to dive down the inside of Hauger, carried too much speed into Turn 2 and went into the back of Maloney, causing both drivers to spin into a stop.
This allowed several of the soft tyre runners, such as Martins, Bortoleto, Fittipaldi, Hauger, O’Sullivan, Bearman and Hadjar to pit for hards and complete their mandatory stop.
The action resumed on lap 8 with Antonelli leading the way ahead of Verschoor and Kush Maini, the trio yet to pit. The Italian was in good form though, building up a lead of over three seconds to Verschoor by lap 13.
Just behind, Martins now on the better tyre in P4 and putting pressure on Maini. The ART driver was up to third on lap 15, going down the inside of the Invicta driver at Turn 1, with Bortoleto doing the same moments later on Amaury Cordeel for P6, Fittipaldi following through shortly afterwards.
Martins’ next target was Verschoor, and he was within DRS range of the Trident by lap 18 and dived down his inside at Turn 1 to move up to P2. But as he looked to close the six and a half second gap to Antonelli, the Safety Car was called upon with Cordeel having crashed at Turn 4.
Racing resumed on lap 27 of 37, with Martins leading away Bortoleto but they were quickly under pressure from Antonelli who got past both Hauger and Fittipaldi before reaching Turn 3.
Following the Safety Cars, the race became one against the clock and with under nine minutes to go, Antonelli used the DRS to his advantage and passed Martins on the main straight to take the lead.
Further behind, Verschoor was also on the charge and went round the outside of Hauger at Turn 2 to take P5 before getting past Fittipaldi on the next lap at Turn 1.
Onto the final lap, Antonelli had built up a lead of 12s before crossing the line to take his first Feature Race victory of the season, with Martins in second place. Verchoor made a last lap overtake on Bortoleto to take P3 with Fittipaldi.
The full top 10 are- P1: Antonelli, P2: Martins, P3: Verschoor, P4: Bortoleto, P5: Fittipaldi, P6: Hauger, P7: Maini, P8: Miyata, P9: Barnard and P10: Villagomez.
The half hour session at the unique indoor-outdoor ExCeL Circuit in the afternoon heat in London saw all 22 drivers take to the track to prep ahead of the all-important finale double-header.
Of the title contenders, Evans placed best with the fourth fastest time, just 0.065s shy of Vergne’s session benchmark. The Kiwi’s compatriot, teammate and standings leader Nick Cassidy wound up almost four-tenths back from the ultimate pace and 11th.
Form man and reigning champion Jake Dennis – the man with by far the best record in London – find himself down in 15th with plenty to work through to get his Andretti up the grid come qualifying.
FP2-
Robin Frijns in his Envision Racing machine was at the top of the times for Free Practice 2, as the Jaguar TCS Racing powertrain looks strong. Fresh from his back-to-back podiums in Portland, Frijns will be hoping to make it three in a row.
Brit, Oliver Rowland was second, with Sebastien Buemi in third. The Envision team claimed the Teams’ Championship at this race last year and look strong around this circuit.
The session saw all the drivers pushing their cars to the limit, with drivers coming so close to the walls and riding over the kerbs.
The last 10 minutes to the practice session saw Nissan’s Oliver Rowland, have a spin on entry into the ExCel building, but was able to get back on track in style.
Qualifying-
Jaguar TCS Racing’s Mitch Evans achieved the Julius Baer Pole Position and closes the championship gap to his teammate Nick Cassidy to nine points.
The championship fight has got even closer, as the Jaguar of Mitch Evans managed to achieve pole and the three additional points whilst his teammate Nick Cassidy, struggled and will line up in 17th on the grid.
As well as a shocking result for Cassidy who leads the Drivers’ World Championship with 167 points and two races to go, there was also big results up and down the grid.
TAG Heuer Porsche’s Antonio Felix da Costa will be starting ninth, with Pascal Wehrlein in third at a circuit which can prove challenge to overtake on.
The top 10 for qualifying are- Pole: Evans, P2: Buemi, P3: Wehrlein, P4: Nato, P5: Vergne, P6: Muller, P7: Rowland, P8: Frijns, P9: Da Costa and P10: Dennis.
Round 15-
Mitch Evans got off to a strong start with Buemi close behind, but it was Norman Nato who pushed his way into third after a cautious Pascal Wehrlein took things easy.
However, there was drama further back as Jake Dennis squeezed out Robin Frijns which sent him into the wall and out of the race. The incident also picked up Sam Bird, and resulted in a Safety Car.
Things got back underway by Lap 5, and saw the pack start to take their Attack Modes. One notable activation belonged to Nick Cassidy who missed one of the sensors and had to try again, losing crucial time.
Oliver Rowland was getting his elbows out, fighting and trying to pass Jean-Eric Vergne but delivered a move up the inside. That wasn’t the only on-track battle for two-time champ JEV, as he also found himself getting tangled with Dennis and the two cars resting on top of each other for a brief moment.
Fighting for position, ROwland ended up clashing with Antonio Felix da Costa at the final corner and causing the two to come to a stop. For Rowland he was able to get going again but it was game over for da Costa as he limped back to the pits.
Buemi passed Evans for the lead on lap 10 in a lovely tidy move up the start-finish straight. Meanwhile, Dennis was out causing more trouble as he banged wheels with championship leader Cassidy.
Cassidy was also smacked into the wall as he fought Stoffel Vandoorne, but was able to continue. He also complained of his beacons not working and missed Attack Mode again when he tried to take the mandatory power boost.
Evans complained of energy issues, and was eventually passed by Maximilian Guenther for second place, yet disaster struck when his car suffered a problem and saw him drop down the order and eventually stop on track in the final stages of the race.
Norman Nato and Sacha Fenestraz added to the accident damage as they came together in the last moments of the race. But Pascal Wehrlein kept his cool up in front to take his third victory of the season, with Evans behind in second and Sebastien Buemi in third.
The full top 10 are- P1: Wehrlein, P2: Evans, P3: Buemi, P4: de Vries, P5: Mortara, P6: Muller, P7: Cassidy, P8: Bird, P9: Vandoorne and P10: Nato.
Oscar Piastri has taken his debut Grand Prix victory in Hungary after team drama played out, with Norris belatedly responding to an order to hand back the lead to the Australian…
After the duo went three wide with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen off the line, it was Piastri who emerged as the leader into Turn 1 and from there led much of the Grand Prix. However, when Norris was pitted first during the second round of stops – seemingly to cover off Hamilton – the Brit was the one to emerge ahead.
This then prompted the team to make several calls to Norris to give the position back but it took until lap 68 of 70 for Norris to comply.
The full top 10 are- P1: Piastri, P2: Norris, P3: Hamilton, P4: Leclerc, P5: Verstappen, P6: Sainz, P7: Perez, P8: Russell, P9: Tsunoda and P10: Stroll.
Obviously a great result for Piastri, his first win in F1! And it was well deserved in my opinion, and a good result for Norris too, with a 1-2 finish which obviously helps with the constructors. But I do think Piastri’s win has been downplayed a little just because of the situation on the radio with Norris and not wanting to let his teammate pass etc. As everyone knows if it was roles reversed Piastri would do it for Norris, so I have no doubt it will be an awkward debrief for the team.
A very good result for Hamilton, another podium which makes it 200 career podiums for the seven time world champion. He had a bit of drama with Verstappen in the closing stages of the race where they collided and the Dutchman went up in the air and leaving the track which then dropped him down to fifth. Hamilton will be looking towards the next race now, seeing what they can improve on in qualifying to get closer to the McLaren’s and Verstappen and then the race too.
Charles Leclerc had a good race, finished in P4, a step in the right direction for the team, hopefully they will get back on the podium some time soon… His teammate Carlos Sainz finished 6th which isn’t too bad but from starting P4 he would’ve preferred to finish higher but sometimes it doesn’t always go your way.
Obviously we have spoke about Verstappen, but I want to touch on him a little bit more. He was having a good race, not the best but he was struggling a little before the collision with Hamilton, he couldn’t quite catch up to the McLaren’s, so those upgrades Red Bull brought so far aren’t working… And the radio fights with his team, they were quite shocking and he just didn’t want to drop it. Whilst we are talking about Red Bull, Sergio Perez, obviously started 16th but he finished 7th which is a decent recovery drive from him, but the Mexican still has a lot of work to do if he wants to keep his seat for the remainder of this season and next…
Things keep going from bad to worse for Alpine, Pierre Gasly retired after suffering a hydraulic leak, his 2nd retirement in two races and Ocon finished P18…
Not long to wait until the next race as we head to Spa-Francorchamps this weekend!
Pole sitter Beganovic covered off Bedrin on the run to Turn 1 but the AIX driver was undeterred and rounded the Swede at Turn 2 to take the lead away. Inthraphuvasak followed in third position ahead of Callum Voisin and Christian Mansell.
The ART Grand Prix driver was under attack though on lap 2 from Tim Tramnitz and his MP Motorsport rival repeated the move of Bedrin into Turn 3 to take P5 from the Australian.
The Virtual Safety Car was then deployed to neutralise the race in order to recover Matias Zagazeta’s car after contact on the opening lap left him on the sidelines.
Back to racing conditions and the top four were covered by less than a second in the lead battle. As the quartet fought, Tramnitz and Mansell joined the train after the opening exchanges, getting to within DRS range by Lap 6.
Onto lap 10 and Beganovic made a late move on Bedrin into Turn 2 but caught the grass on the inside of the corner in the process. It sent his PREMA car sideways and while he was able to catch the slide, it dropped him down to third.
Into the Turn 6 and 7 chicane, Tramnitz squeezed his way alongside Voisin, who skipped across the chicane to keep hold of fourth. The Rodin Motorsport driver was told to concede the place to Tramnitz, seeing off any potential review. One lap later, and Mansell was through on the Brit at Turn 1 for fifth.
Out in front though, Bedrin was in full control after resisting the pressure of Beganovic and crossed the line to earn his first FIA F3 victory, leading home an AIX Racing 1-2 ahead of Inthraphuvasak, a result that means all teams have now stood on the podium in 2024.
The full top 10 are- P1: Bedrin, P2: Inthraphuvasak, P3: Beganovic, P4: Tramnitz, P5: Mansell, P6: Voisin, P7: Fornaroli, P8: Browning, P9: Van Hoepen and P10: Meguetounif.
Day 3-
Van Hoepen got wheelspin in the second phase of the start and had to defend hard from his teammate Tsolov off the line. The Dutch driver ran deep at Turn 1, allowing the Bulgarian through along with VAR’s Noel Leon.
With DRS enabled, Van Hoepen began to close in on Tsolov and was within half a second on lap 3, while Leon dropped to beyond a second back from the ART duo.
Christian Mansell moved his ART up to fifth with a late dive to the inside of Santiago Ramos at Turn 1 on lap 4.
As the opening laps ticked by, Van Hoepen radioed into his team to relay his tyres were beginning to overheat in the wake of teammate Tsolov.
By the midway point of the race, the top six were covered by four seconds with Santiago Ramos some 9.6s clear of Rodin Motorsport’s Callum Voisin who was running in P7.
In the fight for the final points places, Oliver Goethe pulled off a late dive to pass Dino Beganovic and secure himself ninth position, while behind Gabriele Mini cleared Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak to move up into 11th.
Into the final three laps and after a phase of tyre management, van Hoepen began to apply the pressure on Tsolov once again in the lead fight.
Boya’s battle with Mini resumed and the Spaniard found a gap at Turn 2 to take 11th position. Contact between Arvid Lindblad and Matias Zagazeta resulted in a late-race Safety Car on Lap 21, with the PREMA driver stopped at Turn 4.
With little time to clear both cars, it was not possible to resumed racing in time for a final lap shootout. Tsolov took his third race win of 2024 and his first F3 Feature Race victory.
The full top 10 are- P1: Tsolov, P2: Van Hoepen, P3: Leon, P4: Fornaroli, P5: Mansell, P6: Ramos, P7: Voisin, P8: Bedrin, P9: Goethe and P10: Beganovic.
Lando Norris has taken pole position for the Hungarian Grand Prix after a bit of a dramatic qualifying which featured wet-dry conditions, two red flags and a frantic dash to the line.
After the McLaren driver set an impressive provisional pole time of 1m 15.227s during the opening runs of Q3, the on track action was brought to a halt when Yuki Tsunoda suffered a heavy crash in the RB. As such, the session resumed with just over two minutes remaining.
Given the changing weather, most of the field were unable to improve and Norris retained P1, ahead of team mate Oscar Piastri by just 0.22s. Max Verstappen who opted not to go for another lap in the final moments finished P3.
The full top 10 are- Pole: Norris, P2: Piastri, P3: Verstappen, P4: Sainz, P5: Hamilton, P6: Leclerc, P7: Alonso, P8: Stroll, P9: Ricciardo and P10: Tsunoda.
A lovely result for McLaren, really can’t get better than a 1-2! Both Norris and Piastri will be wanting to go for the win tomorrow, and for the Australian will be wanting to grab his first win in Formula 1, but will Norris allow him to pass?
A decent result for Verstappen P3, not the worst position to be in for the Dutchman, no doubt he will enjoy himself doing some overtakes. However for his teammate, again it wasn’t the best qualifying session where he was out in Q1 where he crashed out and hit the barriers and was unable to continue…
A good result for Sainz! I feel like he has slipped under the radar in P4, the Spaniard will be aiming for the podium or even try and challenge for the win. His teammate Charles Leclerc had a decent qualifying session to in P6.
Lewis Hamilton will be starting 5th, and he will be wanting to go for that win again wanting to make it two in a row, will it be in his favour? He won’t have his team mate near him to help out as Russell qualified in P17, who has a lot of work to do to get into the points…
A decent result for Aston Martin and VCARB, both drivers in the top 10, Ricciardo will be wanting to grab some points this weekend, as he is yet to have a contract for next season…
I’m very, very happy. Not an easy qualifying, difficult conditions like you said, but always ending up on top is the best part of it also. Happy, especially for the team, a one-two is even better to see, so congrats to the team. It does give us confidence, but we’ve already got confidence so it’s not like we need a lot more of it, or we’re searching for it. We’ve come into this weekend and the last few happy and confident we can do a good job, and we’ve got a good car to fight for pole and that’s exactly what we did today, so like I said a great job by the team; we’ve been improving every weekend, so to end up on pole today is sweet. Pole-sitter Norris.
Rodin Motorsport’s Zane Maloney made a strong start to his Budapest weekend by going fastest of all in Free Practice thanks to his time of 1:32.668.
Maloney was in fine form throughout the session and ended up over a tenth faster than DAMS Lucas Oil’s Jak Crawford in second with Van Amersfoort Racing’s Enzo Fittipaldi in third.
It was Maloney who led the way after the first set of laps, as his time of 1:33.556 put him on top, with Trident’s Richard Verschoor crossing the line to go to second, 0.390s behind.
PREMA’s Andrea Kimi Antonelli then went up to second, only for Invicta Racing’s Gabriel Bortoleto to jump ahead of him moments later, the Brazilian just 0.188s off Maloney.
The Virtual Safety Car was briefly deployed after Campos Racing’s Josep Maria Marti spun and made slight contact with the barrier at Turn 11.
Martins though was showing good pace and on his next flying effort beat Maloney’s time by just 0.002s, sending him to the top. But he would not hold that position for much longer with Hauger going fastest on a 1:33.100.
With less than four minutes to go, the drivers started to push on their tyres once more and Maloney went back to the top of the leaderboard with a lap of 1:32.668.
Qualifying-
Paul Aron sealed his second pole position of the season after edging out Van Amersfoort Racing’s Enzo Fittipaldi to the top spot in a tightly contested Budapest Qualifying session.
The Hitech Pulse-Eight driver completed a late lap of 1:30.028 to beat Fittipaldi to first by just 0.068s with Campos Racing’s Isack Hadjar over a tenth back in third.
But it was Free Practice table-topper, Zane Maloney who led the way early on clocking a time of 1:30.515 to lead his ART Grand Prix rival Victor Martins by over a tenth.
Then came Invicta Racing’s Gabriel Bortoleto setting the fastest times in the first two sectors before going to the top of the leaderboard with a 1:30.269, beating Malone by 0.246s.
A few drivers went on to try go for a second push lap on their first set of tyres, one of those being Aron, but as he came across the line he went up to P7, the Red Flags were waved.
Josep Maria Marti spun at the exit of Turn 11 and while he managed to stay out of the barrier, he stopped by the side of the road meaning the marshals had to wheel his car away.
With under 10 minutes remaining in the session, the drivers returned to the track after strapping on a new set of softs, led by Fittipaldi. This meant that the Brazilian was the first to set a timed lap on his second set and went up to provisional pole.
However, his time was quickly beaten by Aron, as the Hitech rookie went just 0.068s clear of the Brazilian with a 1:30.028.
The full top 10 are- Pole: Aron, P2: Fittipaldi, P3: Hadjar, P4: Bortoleto, P5: Martins, P6: Hauger, P7: Antonelli, P8: Maloney, P9: Maini and P10: Verschoor.
Mari Boya started his Budapest weekend on the front foot, winding up quickest for Campos Racing with a 1:34.236 in practice. The Spaniard led Hitech Pulse-Eight teammates Martinius Stenshorne and Luke Browning, who completed the top three.
After a quiet start to the session, drivers headed out onto the circuit with 15 minutes gone. Following tyre preparation laps, Alex Dunne set the first time to beat with a 1:34.986 which was swiftly bettered by Gabriele Mini.
His PREMA Racing teammate Dino Beganovic had been on a strong lap just ahead of him but a snap of oversteer at the penultimate corner cost the Swede time, crossing the line almost a second down in fifth.
Sebastian Montoya had been inside the top five earlier in the session but lost his first effort to track limits. The Campos Racing driver bounced back right away though to go second overall, 0.117s off Leon’s time.
Teammate Boya beat the pair of them shortly afterwards, going well clear of the rest on a 1:34.236 with just over 10 minutes left of the session.
Hitech Pulse-Eight teammates Martinius Stenshorne and Browning then moved themselves into the top positions, the former going second and the Briton fourth. On his final lap, the latter was able to find the time to lift himself up one more spot to take third at the chequered flag.
Qualifying-
ART Grand Prix’s Laurens van Hoepen earned his first pole position in FIA Formula 3, with a 1:33.995 coming in the nick of time. The Dutch driver finished the session on top and ahead of teammate Nikola Tsolov in P2, while title contender Leonardo Fornaroli took third for Trident.
There was a late red flag as another contender Luke Browning spun into the barriers on his final attempt, ending the session early.
With tyre preparation laps complete, AIX Racing’s Joshua Dufek set the initial pace with a 1:34.414 ahead of teammates Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak and Nikita Bedrin in a 1-2-3 for the team.
There was more vying for track position ahead of the second attempts but this time it was van Hoepen that took over at the top, setting a 1:34.316 until Van Amersfoort Racing’s Noel Leon secured P1 with a 1:34.174.
Further back and with clear track, Fornaroli was next to go quickest but it was very closely run. The Italian driver went just 0.001s quicker than Leon to secure provisional pole.
Van Hoepen returned to the top as the first into the 1:33s ahead of teammate Tsolov in P2. Fornaroli put himself in third just as the red flags came out as title rival Browning found the barriers at Turn 11, bringing the session to a conclusion and those behind unable to improve.
The full top 10 are- Pole: Van Hoepen, P2: Tsolov, P3: Fornaroli, P4: Leon, P5: Ramos, P6: Dufek, P7: Mehuetounif, P8: Browning, P9: Tramnitz and P10: Mansell.
Kevin Magnussen will vacate his race seat with Haas when the Dane’s contract expires at the end of the season – although boss Ayao Komatsu says he hopes they can “find a way to keep working together in some capacity.”
Magnussen is currently in his seventh season with Haas, split across two spells 2017 – 2020 and 2022 – 2024 and has scored five points to team mate Nico Hulkenberg’s 22 this season.
The former McLaren and Renault driver secured a career-high ninth in the standings for Haas back in 2018 when he scored points in 11 of the 21 races that season, as the American team finished a best-ever fifth in the constructors’ championship.
Just weeks after Haas announced Ollie Bearman would make his full-time racing debut with the team in 2025, and on the eve of the Hungarian Grand Prix in Budapest they have revealed Magnussen will not be partnering him.
Some sources say that Esteban Ocon is favourite to join the team – though Haas have made no reference to their plans for the second seat.
I’d like to thank Kevin for everything he’s given us as a team – both on and off the track. He’s truly been a bedrock of our driver line-up over the years. Nobody’s driven more races for us and we’ve had some memorable highlights together – not least a remarkable fifth place finish at the Bahrain Grand Prix in 2022 when Kevin returned to start his second spell with the team. He wasn’t expecting to be driving a Formula 1 car that weekend, but he put in a remarkable performance that was a tremendous boost to the entire organization and once again showcased his own talents behind the wheel. There’s plenty of racing to go this year so I’m looking forward to seeing what else we can achieve with Kevin as we push together in the championship. Beyond that, and with Kevin’s special relationship with the team, I’m hoping we can find a way to keep working together in some capacity. We can hopefully define that in the near future, but his extensive experience in Formula 1 and knowledge of our working operations are undoubtedly of value in our on-going growth and development. Komatsu on the news.
I’d like to extend my thanks to everyone at MoneyGram Haas F1 Team – I’m proud to have raced for such a great team of people these last few years. In particular I’d like to thank Gene Haas for his commitment to me, notably in bringing me back once again in 2022 when I thought, at that time at least, my time in Formula 1 had ended. I’ve enjoyed some great moments with this team – memories I’ll never forget. While I’m looking forward to the next chapter of my racing career, I remain fully focused on giving everything I’ve got for the rest of 2024 with MoneyGram Haas F1 Team. Magnussen on leaving Haas.
It’s one last push before Formula 1’s summer break, with a double-header on two tracks that could not be more different from one another, the Hungaroring and Spa-Francorchamps.
Cars must run with a high level of aerodynamic downforce this weekend, which is almost on par with Monaco. The Hungaroring is very twisty with only one real straight that includes the start-finish line. It provides the most likely if not the only overtaking opportunity.
There are 14 corners, six to the left and eight to the right, some of them being 180 degree turns. The track climbs and drops its 4.381 kilometres make it one of the shortest on the calendar.
In terms of the forces exerted on the tyres, the Hungaroring is not particularly severe. Pirelli has chosen the same three softest compounds as last year, with them picking the C3 (Hard), C4 (Medium), C5 (Soft).
Traction is one of the most important factors, especially across the rear axle. Degradation can be high, especially when it is very hot and the forecast for this weekend is definitely not favourable in this regard.
The Hungaroring is a permanent race track, but it does not get that much use, which is why grip levels increase significantly the more it gets rubbered-in. That will be even more likely this year as there was no track activity for a longer time than usual while the facility was modernised.
Max Verstappen won here last year at the end of the race when the entire field opted for a two-stop strategy. Medium and Hard were the most popular choices for the start, although four drivers opted for the soft, intending to make use of the extra grip off the line.
The Hungaroring is very twisty with only one real straight that includes the start-finish line. It provides the most likely, if not the only, overtaking opportunity. There are 14 corners, six to the left and eight to the right, some of them being 180° turns. #HungarianGP#F1pic.twitter.com/eo8YgB6Nl1
Haas F1 Team have confirmed the extension of their technical partnership with Ferrari through 2028, meaning they will be powered by the Italian manufacturer into the sport’s next era of engine regulations.
Haas’s relationship with Ferrari dates back to their debut F1 season in 2016, with the two parties contesting 178 Grands Prix together since then.
F1’s new for 2026 power unit will see the current 1.6-litre, V6 turbocharged hybrid Internal Combustion Engine complemented by increased electrical power and fully sustainable fuels.
Haas rose to a person best of fifth in the F1 constructors’ standings in 2018, and hold seventh at the halfway stage of the 2024 campaign.
The team also recently announced that they will be giving Oliver Bearman his full-time F1 debut in 2025, with Nico Hulkenberg heading to Kick Sauber and Kevin Magnussen’s future yet to be confirmed.
I’m thrilled to extend our relationship with Scuderia Ferrari until 2028. As an organisation we’ve only ever raced with Ferrari power units and to have that continued stability moving into the next set of power unit regulations is a key part of our on-going development. The relationship with Scuderia Ferrari has always been a special one to us – they were instrumental in the genesis of the program back in the early days and have continued to be a valuable technical partner to us throughout the past nine seasons. I’m delighted we now have more seasons ahead and my thanks go to [Ferrari team boss] Fred Vasseur and many others at Scuderia Ferrari for continuing to show faith in our project. This announcement is just another example of the long-term ambition of MoneyGram Haas F1 Team – our investment and growth in the sport continues. Ayao Komatsu, Team Principal of Haas F1 Team.
Red Bull’s Formula 1 advisor, Helmut Marko has hinted that Liam Lawson could replace Daniel Ricciardo at RB in 2025.
RB’s announcement early last month that Yuki Tsunoda will be remaining with the team next season which has guaranteed that either Ricciardo or Lawson will miss out on a seat.
While Ricciardo currently races for the team, the Australian driver has failed to extract consistent results and lies 9 points behind his teammate this season. So his struggles this year have dashed his chances of a dream return to the senior Red Bull team as Sergio Perez has been handed a multi-year contract extension.
RB has admitted that retaining Ricciardo with Tsunoda would be its preference, but Marko has revealed that Red Bull shareholders are angling to see youth integrated.
Lawson has completed several F1 outings as he deputised at five rounds last season when Ricciardo was sidelined with a broken metacarpal from a crash at Zandvoort.
The New Zealander, who has been linked to Sauber, will be allowed to chase a move elsewhere should Red Bull not promote him, indicating Marko is referencing 2025.
So, who will it be? Liam Lawson or Daniel Ricciardo in the VCARB… time will only tell.
Formula 1 and the FIA have today announced the venues that will be hosting F1 Sprint events during the 2025 season, with six circuits set to play host to the 100km dash.
In 2025 – a year that will mark the 75th anniversary of the FIA Formula 1 World Championship and the fifth season of the Sprint – Sao Paulo will keep up its run of hosting the Sprint every year since 2021, while Belgium returns for the first time since 2023.
Shanghai and Miami are set to host the Sprint for the second consecutive year, and Austin and Qatar return to the calendar for a third time.
The format has sometimes delivered excellent racing in the past four season and multiple winners from across the grid including Max Verstappen, Valtteri Bottas, George Russell, Sergio Perez and Oscar Piastri.
The F1 Sprint has consistently proven its popularity since its introduction in 2021, with the format delivering some strong numbers across all traditional broadcast, digital and social platforms, as well as providing extra and exciting racing that promoters can offer to the fans and bringing large attendances on the Friday of a Sprint weekend.
Date
Country
Venue
March 21st – 23rd
China
Shanghai
May 2nd – 4th
USA
Miami
July 25th – 27th
Belgium
Spa-Francorchamps
October 17th – 19th
USA
Austin
November 7th – 9th
Brazil
Sao Paulo
November 28th – 30th
Qatar
Lusail
The Sprint has been a great success for Formula 1, bringing all our fans more action and racing on the track. We are seeing the proof of this in our audience data, fan attendance on Fridays and from the promoters and partners. As we prepare to celebrate our 75th anniversary in 2025 we will always celebrate our incredible history, but we must always be looking ahead, innovating, and improving to deliver the best for our growing and diverse fanbase. The Sprint is a great example of bringing new elements to our sport in a way that is respectful of the Championship, and I want to thank the six venues that will host the Sprint in 2025 and look forward to those incredible events throughout the season. Stefano Domenicali, President and CEO of Formula 1.
As the FIA Formula One World Championship celebrates its 75th anniversary in 2025, the Sprint will also enter its fifth year as part of the competition. Over that time, and through our strong collaboration with Formula 1 and with the input of all the teams, it has been through several different iterations and the regulations and format have evolved to give us the exciting and popular Sprints we have today. The six events for 2025 once again take in an interesting range of circuits and are sure to provide fans with plenty of additional action across the season. Mohammed Ben Sulayem, President of the FIA.
Aston Martin have signed former Mercedes power unit chief Andy Cowell as their Group Chief Executive Officer, replacing Martin Whitmarsh.
Cowell oversaw the production of the V6 hybrid power units that won six consecutive double world titles for Mercedes in his role before leaving his role as Managing Director in the summer of 2020.
He will be joining Aston Martin on October 1st with current Group CEO Martin Whitmarsh handing over responsibility “before the end of the year”.
The news comes as Aston Martin continue their bid to become a World Championship-winning team, with owner Lawrence Stroll pumping huge resource into a state of the art facility, that will include a new wind tunnel.
Engine guru Cowell’s arrival is timely as the team are set to embark on a works partnership deal with Japanese manufacturer Honda from 2026, when the new Power Unit regulations that include the use of 100% sustainable fuels will be introduced.
I would like to thank Martin who has been instrumental in our growth phase as a business. In the last three years, he has developed the team and has helped us achieve some significant milestones, including fostering our relationship with Honda and delivering our state-of-the-art AMR Technology Campus at Silverstone. I am delighted to welcome Andy to our team at a crucial time. Together with our works partnership with Honda, the commitment from our title partner Aramco and Andy’s leadership we are on track to become a world championship winning team. Andy has my full backing and will have every resource available to win. Lawrence Stroll on the news.
I am thrilled to join Lawrence’s exciting project and look forward to working with the talented group of people that has been assembled. F1 has always been my competitive passion, and I am joining Aston Martin Aramco at an exciting time with the imminent completion of the AMR Technology Campus and our transition in 2026 to a full works team with our strategic partners Honda and Aramco. Cowell on joining Aston Martin.
I have known Andy for many years and brought him to Mercedes HPP in 2004 where he became Managing Director between 2013 and 2020, achieving huge success in the business and sport. He will be an incredible asset to Aston Martin Aramco and will make a significant contribution to the execution of our strategy going forward. Andy’s arrival in October and the completion of the AMR Technology Campus will allow me to step away and focus on other projects in my life, knowing that the foundations have been established with an impressive team, inspiring vision and advanced facilities to achieve success in F1. Whitmarsh on the news.
Aston Martin Aramco Formula One Team announces Andy Cowell as Group Chief Executive Officer.
Find out more below.
— Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team (@AstonMartinF1) July 2, 2024
Alpine have bolstered their technical team with a plethora of new employees, including three senior personnel with recent experience at rivals Red Bull and Ferrari.
Michael Broadhurst and Vin Dhanani return to Enstone as Chief Aerodynamicist and Head of Vehicle Performance respectively, while Jacopo Fantoni takes on the role of Deputy Chief Engineer.
Broadhurt – who spent seven years at Enstone earlier in his career – was Principal Aerodynamicist at Red Bull during a period when they won two constructors’ titles and previously worked at McLaren as Deputy Head of Aerodynamics.
Dhanani joins after seven years at Red Bull, most recently as Vehicle Performance Team Leader. Before that, he spent around five years at Sauber and around the same time at Lotus.
Fantoni has been on gardening leave since leaving Ferrari, where he spent 13 years – most recently as Head of Simulation in the design office alongside David Sanchez who has since joined Alpine.
The trio started working at Enstone on 1st July and slot into Alpine’s three-pillared technical structure, centred around aerodynamics, performance and engineering.
Alpine are in the midst of a rebuild following a suite of senior staff leaving the team over the last year or so – including their CEO, Chief Technical Officer, Technical Director, Sporting Director and Head of Aerodynamics.
Alpine announced in Austria that Pierre Gasly had agreed a deal to stay until at least the end of 2026 – with the team now focused on securing the return of Carlos Sainz for the second seat.
Williams have unveiled a bolstered technical structure that features 26 new recruits from rival Formula 1 teams, including former Alpine Technical Director, Matt Harman.
Team Principal, James Vowles has been working with Chief Technical Officer Pat Fry to reshape and reinforce a team that was once one of the dominant forces in F1.
On the Thursday of the Austrian Grand Prix, the team announced the fruits of their significant recruitment drive – with the influx of 26 personnel in total joining from Mercedes, Ferrari, Red Bull and Alpine. Between them, they have worked on cars and power units that have secured 12 constructors’ titles and 13 drivers’ championships.
Harman joins the team after the summer shutdown as Design Director. He left Alpine earlier this year and brings with him a wealth of experience collected during a 24 year career in F1.
Fabrice Moncade joins as Chief Engineer, Computing Science on July 1st – having previously worked as Head of Performance Analytics at Ferrari.
Juan Molina will become Chief Aerodynamicist, reporting to Head of Aerodynamics Adam Kenyon and will start on July 15th, he was previously at Haas and Red Bull.
Steve Winstanley will be Chief Engineer, Composites and Structures, with a focus on leading and transforming the structures department within the design office, he has 22 years of experience in F1 including 14 with Red Bull.
Richard Frith is to become Head of Performance in 2025. He was formerly Head of Performance at Alpine and has 25 years of experience in sport, including working with Jordan, Force India, Sauber, Marussia and McLaren.
Of the 26 hires in total, 11 are in the aerodynamics team and 13 in the design office.
I am delighted to welcome these six incredible people to Williams. We are on a mission to fight our way back to the front and being able to attract experienced, Championship-winning talent from other teams demonstrates huge belief in the journey we are on. Williams is investing in what it takes to win, and this is just the start as we prepare to welcome more new faces from across the grid in the months ahead. James Vowles on the news.
BREAKING: Williams unveils top tech recruits from across the grid 💪
Joshua Duerksen set the pace on the wet weather tyres in free practice, ending the session quickest of all for AIX Racing. The Paraguayan set a 1:58.064 to finish the session on top, with Josep Maria Marti second for Campos and teammate Taylor Barnard in third.
Championship leader, Paul Aron was the first underneath the two-minute mark, setting a 1:59.526 on the wet tyres to go fastest in the opening 10 minutes.
Zak O’Sullivan and DAMS Lucas Oil’s Jak Crawford then set identical times, though the ART Grand Prix driver recorded his 1:59.884 first to claim P2, with the American third.
With just over 15 minutes remaining of the session, Andrea Kimi Antonelli went to the top briefly before teammate Oliver Bearman took over, going quickest after setting a 1:59.474 leaving the top three separated by just 0.052s.
Franco Colapinto prompted plenty of drivers to return to the track on slick hard tyres, though they all struggled with the surface still damp around most of the circuit.
All that tried the white-walled tyre struggled to find the necessary grip, with late yellow flags courtesy of O’Sullivan running through the gravel at Stowe before rejoining the track, with Marti repeating the off just moments later.
Qualifying-
Isack Hadjar took a hugely important pole position at Silverstone, as the Campos Racing driver led the pack on a 1:39.368, capitalising on an error by title rival and championship leader Paul Aron that left the Hitech Pulse-Eight driver down in 12th following a spin.
ART Grand Prix’s Victor Martins making it an all-French front row , while Dennis Hauger found a late improvement to secure P3 with his final lap.
Home favourite Oliver Bearman, recorded the initial time to beat, 1:40.918 putting him a tenth clear of Invicta Racing’s Kush Maini in the early running, until Aron split the pair to go P2, 0.040s down on the PREMA.
Hauger was next go quickest, 1:40.554 but that was beaten twice over. Zane Maloney slotted into P2 just behind Maini who moved up to first on his next lap. Aron then found time to go fastest on a 1:40.181 with 20 minutes remaining.
Getting his first lap on the second set of tyres underway, Aron suffered a spin at Turn 1 which left him with major flatspots as everyone else improved. Title rival Hadjar leapt up to provisional pole with a 1:39.368 in the Campos car.
Having been inside the top 10, Maloney lost a time for track limits to leave Aron in P10, but an improvement from Ritomo Miyata in the Rodin Motorsport car bumped the Championship leader out of the top 10.
Hadjar peeled into the pitlane with a minute and a half to go while the majority continued on their way for a final attempt. Maloney put himself back into the top 10 on his final attempt, going ninth-fastest for Rodin, though he was one of the only improvements in the final minute.
The full top 10 are- P1: Hadjar, P2: Martins, P3: Hauger, P4: Colapinto, P5: Bearman, P6: Bortoleto, P7: Crawford, P8: Maini, P9: Maloney and P10: Antonelli.
Day 2-
After a formation lap behind the Safety Car, racing got underway with a rolling start with heavier rain closing in quickly. Antonelli retained his lead but teammate Oliver Bearman was battling Gabriel Bortoleto in the opening corners and the pair made slight contact, leaving the Brit with a broken front wing.
Bortoleto was undeterred and rounded Jak Crawford on the outside of Copse and into Maggots with a brave move for P4. Torrential rain arrived to close out the first lap as Antonelli built up a 2.5s lead over Maloney in second.
With damage to his front wing, Bearman dropped down the order, losing places to Franco Colapinto, Dennis Hauger and Victor Martins in the space of half a lap. A virtual safety car was then deployed on lap 3 to recover the endplate of Bearman.
As racing resumed, Paul Aron caught his title rival napping to secure P10 from Isack Hadjar on the approach to Maggotts and Becketts. Zak O’Sullivan relegated the Frenchman to 12th into Abbey at the end of the lap, before Hadjar then ran off the road at Turn 1.
After a brief pause in action to allow the rain to ease off, racing resumed entering lap 7, with another rolling start and once again, Antonelli kept hold of the lead.
On lap 8, contact between Marti and Championship leader Aron left both out of the race, while in a separate incident, Hadjar found himself in the gravel following a spin at Copse. This then brought out another Safety Car.
Racing got back underway on lap 13 with Antonelli leading comfortably once more while Bearman made a pass on Hauger at Turn 4 to secure eighth. Colapinto then moved ahead of Hauger into Brooklands and cleared Bearman after the Briton ran through the gravel at Copse dropping him to 18th.
O’Sullivan was on the move next on lap 14, rounding Colapinto on the outside of Copse for seventh position to continued his charge through the pack. Onto lap 16, and the Brit was attacking his teammate but contact between the pair at the loop left Martins spinning O’Sullivan with damage, putting them both out of the race.
Back to racing conditions again and Roman Stanek had been had been hustling Miyata for eighth and the Trident driver secured P8 from the Rodin driver with three laps to go.
Heading into the penultimate lap, Colapinto looked to have cleared Crawford for fifth around the outside of Stowe, but the DAMS Lucas Oil driver fought back into Abbey to retake the spot.
Onto the final lap and the all-Invicta battle for the last spot on the podium could hardly be split, the pair almost colliding several times on a frantic final tour.
Up ahead though, Antonelli was uncatchable and the Italian won his first F2 race by over eight second to Zane Maloney in second.
The full top 10 are- P1: Antonelli, P2: Maloney, P3: Bortoleto, P4: Maini, P5: Colapinto, P6: Crawford, P7: Hauger, P8: Stanek, P9: Barnard and P10: Miyata.
Day 3-
Wheelspin for Hadjar allowed ART Grand Prix’s Victor Martins to take the lead while Oliver Bearman got a perfect launch in his PREMA car to rise up to second from fifth on the grid. Both MP Motorsport drivers fell back however, dropping from third and fourth to eighth and ninth, Franco Colapinto leading Dennis Hauger.
Crawford profited to take those two spots for P4, as Gabriel Bortoleto took fifth around the outside of Maloney at Copse corner. That move came just before a lap 1 safety car for the stranded Andrea Kimi Antonelli, stationary at Turn 3 after a spin in the opening exchanges following contact with Kush Maini.
Racing then resumed on Lap 3, but the Safety Car was back out almost immediately after a spin for Joshua Duerksen coming through Woodcote.
Fighting Championship leader Paul Aron for position, the AIX Racing driver got onto the grass that left him spinning into the gravel, but he tagged the right rear of the Hitech en route, which left the Estonian with a puncture and forced to pit.
Hadjar had been close to Bearman’s rear wing, and he got the move done for second place with DRS down the Hangar straight on lap 8. Both pitted at the end of the lap for their switch to the hard tyres.
After a flurry of pitstops, Hadjar closed down compatriot Martins and the ART driver was under serious threat from the Campos behind him. With DRS on lap 12, Hadjar almost pulled off a pass around the outside of Stowe but had to concede the place after running wide over track limits.
Ending lap 18, Hadjar went side-by-side with Martins through the Vale chicane in an attempt to pass but couldn’t get the move done. The Alpine Academy Junior ran wide at the final corner to re-open the door and then went off at Turn 1 to allow Hadjar through.
The ART driver then lost places to Crawford and Maloney in the process as he rejoined at Turn 3, while the American profited from their battle to take the lead of the race from Hadjar entering the Wellington Straight.
Onto Lap 25, Bortoleto was able to clear Bearman into Stowe for eighth position as the fight for the points continued.
Colpainto was back ahead of Martins and into sixth with five laps remaining but his progress stalled out with three to go as those ahead pushed on in pursuit of Crawford.
Despite his best efforts, the American couldn’t pull the gap to Hadjar, who claimed his third victory in 2024 and the lead of the Drivers’ Championship with it.
The full top 10 are- P1: Hadjar, P2: Maloney, P3: Crawford, P4: Colapinto, P5: Martins, P6: Bortoleto, P7: Bearman, P8: Fittipaldi, P9: Hauger and P10: Marti.
Ferrari junior Ollie Bearman has secured a full-time seat in Formula 1 from 2025 after agreeing a multi-year deal with American team Haas.
The 19 year old impressed the world of Formula 1 when he stood in at late notice for the unwell Carlos Sainz at Ferrari in Saudi Arabia. The Brit scored points on debut with a superb drive to seventh.
Bearman is currently competing in F2 with PREMA and took his first win of the season and fourth of his career a few weekends ago in Austria in the Sprint Race.
He dovetails those duties with his role as reserve drivers for Haas and Ferrari in Formula 1. He is also completing six FP1 appearances with Haas this year, the third of which was at Silverstone last weekend.
With Nico Hulkenberg departing for Sauber/Audi next year and Kevin Magnussen’s contract expiring at the end of 2024, that leaves seat still up for grabs at Haas.
Alpine’s Esteban Ocon is a leading contender for the seat, with Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas also believed to be under consideration. However, Magnussen could also fight his way into contention to keep his seat if he can consistently repeat performance like his one in Austria.
t’s hard to put into words just how much this means to me. To say out loud that I will be a Formula 1 driver for Haas F1 Team makes me so immensely proud. To be one of the very few people who get to do the thing what they dreamed of as a child is something truly incredible. To Gene [Haas, team owner], Ayao [Komatsu, Haas Team Principal] and everyone at Haas, thank you for believing in me and for trusting me to represent your team. I’ve really enjoyed working with everyone since the first time we met in Mexico and I can’t wait to enjoy this moment with them and hopefully many more in the future. To everyone at the Scuderia Ferrari Driver Academy, quite simply, I wouldn’t be here without you. Thank you for preparing me since F4 for this incredible opportunity and know I will give it everything I have. Bearman on the news.
It’s an exciting thing to be able to give a young driver as talented as Oliver Bearman his first full-time seat in Formula 1. He’s developed into an incredibly mature driver under the guidance of the Scuderia Ferrari Driver Academy and the world saw that for themselves when he was called in at the last minute to compete at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. Oliver proved he was more than ready for the task, and we’ve seen that for ourselves running him in the Haas cars in our FP1 sessions over the past two seasons. We’re looking forward to further developing him as a driver and reaping the benefits of his talent – both inside and outside of the car. Oliver’s a great guy and a very welcome addition to the team when he joins us for the FP1 weekends. Now we know that relationship is going to be longer-term, it’s a positive thing for all concerned. Haas Team Principal, Komatsu.
It was a great start for Lindblad, as the PREMA driver won out in a three way battle with pole-sitter Leon ans Zagazeta heading into Turn 1 to take the lead.
Zagazeta initially got ahead of Leon, but the Van Amersfoort Racing driver fought back through at Maggotts and Becketts to move up to P2. The Jenzer Motorsport rookie them came under attack from Christian Mansell heading into Stowe but managed to stay ahead.
Mansell though then lost a position on lap 3 as Rodin Motorsport’s Callum Voisin was showing strong pace to move past the ART Grand Prix driver for fourth at the entry to Luffield.
The Virtual Safety Car was needed moments later after Santiago Ramos suffered a puncture following a slight collision with Tommy Smith, with a piece of his tyre needing to be cleared from the racing line near Copse.
The action resumed on lap 5, but the safety car was almost immediately deployed after Max Esterson and Oliver Goethe collided on the entry to Copse, sending both through the gravel and into the barrier. Both drivers walked away from the incident, and they were back underway at the end of lap 7, however there was another collision as Tim Tramnitz and Luke Browning made contact going through the loop.
Alex Dunne was on the move and got ahead of Charlie Wurz for P6 going down the inside at Stowe, before making his way past Mansell for fifth on lap 11. Onto the next lap, and Dunne had dropped back behind Mansell and Wurz to seventh and was looking to retake the position from the Jenzer rookie, but the collided on the Wellington Straight.
Racing resumed on lap 14 with Lindblad two and a half seconds clear of Leon in the lead. Having resisted an earlier attack from Voision, Zagazeta was now outside DRS range of the British driver.
Just behind in the battle for fifth, a DRS train had formed behind Mansell which included his ART teammate Nikola Tsolov, Gabriele Mini, Sami Meguetounif and Sebastian Montoya. Montoya though, having started P17, was on a mission and dived down the inside of Meguetounif for P8 at Turn 3.
Onto the final lap, and Lindblad was now well over six seconds clear out in front as he crossed the line to win on home soil. Leon finished in second while Zagazeta achieved his first Formula 3 podium by finishing third.
The full top 10 are- P1: Lindblad, P2: Leon, P3: Zagazeta, P4: Voisin, P5: Tsolov, P6: Mini, P7: Montoya, P8: Meguetounif, P9: Van Hoepen and P10: Fornaroli.
Day 3-
It was a dramatic start to the day as light rain prior to the race getting underway promoted 28 of the 30 drivers to switch to the wet tyres, with Rodin Motorsport’s Voisin and Piotr Wisnicki the only ones to stick to slicks.
But as the cars rounded the track on the formation lap, the rain stopped causing several drivers to pit for Hards prior to lights out.
Pole-sitter, Luke Browning made a strong start from pole on his wets, while Leonardo Fornaroli was on the charge as he made his way past Trident teammate Sami Meguetounif before going round the outside of Max Esterson at Maggots and Becketts for second.
But a Safety Car was required as Cian Shields stopped by the side of the track at Turn 3, just as his HItech teammate Browning was told that more rain was expected.
We were back racing on lap 3, as Voisin put his slick tyres to use, going round the outside of Esterson at Turn 3 before getting past Fornaroli down the Wellington Straight. He then took over the lead of the race from Browning on the run down to Copse corner.
Voisin, who had a five second lead at one stage, was then handed a 10 second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage in his overtake on Esterson.
But we were back racing on lap 8 and this time around it was the wet tyre runners making the moves with Browning and Fornaroli getting past Voisin in the first sector. Tramnitz was a major winner in this situation as having pitted for the wets he came from the back to P7 ahead of Hitech debutant James Wharton.
Another Safety Car was required on lap 9 though after Joshua Dufek spun at the exit of Stowe, causing Alexander Dunne and Sebastian Montoya to crash into the barriers as they looked to avoid the AIX Racing car.
We had now entered the final 15 minutes of the race and with the pack now bunched up together, PREMA came on the radio to tell Mini, now in P23, that the rain was stopping soon.
As racing resumed, Browning extended his lead over Fornaroli to over one second, while Leon went round the outside of Esterson at Stowe to take P3.
With 10 minutes to go, it looked like we had reached the crossover point with slick tyre runners Voisin, Lindblad and Mini slowly beginning to make their moves through the field.
With seven minutes left, those on dry tyres started to make their moves with VAR telling Leon that they were quicker by one second a lap. Voisin was up to fourth, Lindblad was sixth and Mini was eighth.
Entering the final five minutes, Voisin got past Browning down the Hangar Straight to take back the lead he had lost earlier. But with the penalty hanging over his head, Lindblad and Mini, who were fighting for P2 just behind him were effectively battling for the lead.
The three drivers were flying at the front as Voisin crossed the line in P1, but with his penalty, he dropped to third. This promoted Lindblad to first giving him a clean sweep of wins, a Formula 3 first in which a driver has won every race during a single weekend with Mini in second.
The full top 10 are- P1: Lindblad, P2: Mini, P3: Voisin, P4: Smith, P5: Wisnicki, P6: Goethe, P7: Fornaroli, P8: Browning, P9: Bedrin and P10: Leon.
Lewis Hamilton has claimed a long-awaited and record-breaking ninth British Grand Prix victory in a thrilling race at Silverstone!
While pole sitter, George Russell had led away from Hamilton as the event got underway, an exciting battle soon unfolded between the two Mercedes cars and the McLaren pair of Norris and Oscar Piastri amid changing weather conditions.
The lead changed hands as the field began to switch to intermediate tyres after the opening phase of the race, before the skies later became dry and Hamilton capitalised from pitting for slicks on lap earlier than Norris – who also face a slow pit stop.
While Russell retired with a water system issue, and Max Verstappen snatched P2 from Norris in the latter stages – Hamilton held his position to clinch an emotional victory, a record ninth win in a single Grand Prix and his first P1 since the 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
The full top 10 are- P1: Hamilton, P2: Verstappen, P3: Norris, P4: Piastri, P5: Sainz, P6: Hulkenberg, P7: Stroll, P8: Alonso, P9: Albon and P10: Tsunoda.
WOWWW! What a result from Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes! His first win of the season, and he done it in style, this really does show you how much Mercedes have put so much into getting their car into a race winning way again and it hasn’t been easy but they’ve done it! Obviously unfortunate for Russell, as he could’ve easily been on the podium if he didn’t have to retire but I’m sure he will bounce back next race.
A great result for Max Verstappen, it wasn’t the easiest of races for the world champion and that showed a few times as even himself wasn’t sure where he would finish the race, but it was a good recovery back to P2. However his teammate didn’t make massive moves in the race… He finished 17th… and was two laps down aswell. Not good at all, when is it time for Red Bull to rethink the second seat?
A decent result for McLaren, P3 for Norris and P4 for Piastri. I think the team threw away a victory here, they definitely left Oscar out for too long when it was raining as they could’ve double stacked like Mercedes did and giving Norris options for slick tyres instead of picking him a certain set. I think the team has to iron out a few little problems as this won’t win them more races…
Ferrari, P5 for Carlos Sainz, a decent drive for him, didn’t really see much from the Spanish driver but a decent point haul from him. As for the other Ferrari, Charles Leclerc didn’t have the best race either it was a disappointing outcome for him after he made places up at the beginning of the race and then slipped backwards after making an early switch to intermediate tyres.
Another great result for Hulkenberg! P6, he is on fire at the moment, Haas really have pulled it out of the bag recently and it just seems to be working at the moment!
A decent result for Aston Martin, a double points finish for the team which is good to see after their recent struggles.
Albon in the points aswell for the teams home grand prix which is good! His teammate, Logan Sargeant just missed out on points in P11, unfortunate for the American but a decent drive by him.
Alpine didn’t have the best of weekends, Pierre Gasly didn’t even get to start the race he went into the pits on the formation lap due to a gearbox problem and that was him done for the day. As for his teammate, Esteban Ocon, finished 16th.
Now the triple header is over, and we have a little break before a double header which starts on the 19th to 21st July and its the Hungarian Grand Prix
Jenzer Motorsport’s Max Esterson ended up with the fastest time in the Free Practice, leading HiTech Pulse-Eight Cian Shields in a rain-hit session.
Esterson completed a lap of 2:00.153 to take top spot, eclipsing Shield’s previous benchmark time by just 0.114s as ART Grand Prix driver Nikola Tsolov ended up third.
With the full wet tyres strapped on as rain continued to fall at Silverstone, MP Motorsport’s Tim Tramnitz was the early pacesetter thanks to his time of 2:02.391.
However, the fastest time continued to change as home favourites Joseph Loake and then Arvid Lindblad went to P1 only for Campos Racing’s Mari Boya to go over a second quicker on a 2:00.873.
Then came Tsolov in his ART car who then eclipsed Boya’s time by 0.323s while his teammate Christian Mansell went up to third, over half a second behind the Bulgarian driver.
With 20 minutes left of practice, the teams brought their cars in and bolted on the slicks for the first time in the day, but just as they did the rain began to fall even harder.
This meant that drivers did not improve on their best times, leaving Esterson fastest ahead of Shields, with Tsolov in third ahead of James Wharton, who has made a good start to his debut weekend with Hitech Pulse-Eight as Boya ended up fifth.
Qualifying-
Hitech Pulse Eight’s Luke Browning took a last gasp pole position at a rain-hampered qualifying in Silverstone ahead of Jenzer Motorsport’s Max Esterson and Trident’s Sami Meguetounif.
The Championship leader left it late on a drying lap with a time of 1:44.992 to take top spot with Esterson following his P1 in practice to go within 0.045s off pole to seal a maiden front row start.
Van Amersfoort Racing’s Noel Leon then set the initial time to beat with a lap of 1:45.475, Alexander Dunne moved up to second, just 0.070s off top spot, while Gabriele Mini settled into third for PREMA Racing.
However, as most of the grid returned to the pitlane looking to strap on a new set of hards, the rain intensified. This left Dino Beganovic at the back after the Swede lost his initial time to a track limits violation, while Championship leader Luke Browning was demoted to P13 by Tim Tramnitz.
But with all looking lost, the drivers ventured out on to the track aiming to do as much learning in mixed conditions before tomorrow’s sprint race.
However, the track began to improve heading into the final minute, with Leonardo Fornaroli going fastest on a 1:45.265. This was bad news for the drivers in the pit lane like Leon and Dunne as the timing screens lit up with purple and green sectors.
Browning then came across the line to complete a lap of 1:44.992 giving him pole position on home soil, as Esterson went second moments later.
The full top 10 are- Pole: Browning, P2: Esterson, P3: Meguetounif, P4: Fornaroli, P5: Van Hoepen, P6: Wurz, P7: Mansell, P8: Tsolov, P9: Voisin and P10: Zagazeta.
George Russell clinched an impressive pole position in qualifying for the British Grand Prix, with the Mercedes team locking out the front row after Lewis Hamilton claimed second place.
Having set the initial pace during the first runs of Q3, Russell improved further on his final effort by pumping in a time of 1m 25.819s, putting him 0.171s clear of Hamilton, while Lando Norris followed in third for McLaren to complete an all British top three.
The full top 10 are – Pole: Russell, P2: Hamilton, P3: Norris, P4: Verstappen, P5: Piastri, P6: Hulkenberg, P7: Sainz, P8: Stroll, P9: Albon and P10: Alonso.
What a result for the Mercedes duo! Honestly I was hoping for a Brit to be on pole and I really didn’t mind who, but it just makes it even more special that Mercedes have managed to qualify P1 and P2 at their drivers home grand prix! They will be pushing for a double podium, so it’s going to be an interesting race!
Lando in the top three aswell, making it 3 Brits in the top 3 which we love to see! But he will be bringing the battle to the Mercedes drivers, as he will want this home win more than anything. His teammate, Oscar Piastri starts P5 which isn’t too bad, he will have the hard job of overtaking Max Verstappen.
A really good result for Hulkenberg, P6! He will be hoping for a good result in the race and grab some more points for the team.
Verstappen didn’t have the best of qualifying, it just didn’t seem to be all hooked up for the Dutch driver. But starting P4 isn’t all too bad, he can easily make up places. However, his teammate starting all the way down in 19th… not a good day for the Mexican driver, he got beached in the gravel and that was his session over in Q1.
Not the best result for Ferrari, Carlos Sainz had the better qualifying session finishing in 7th, whereas his teammate Charles Leclerc is starting P11 after he got pushed into the elimination zone of Q2, so a lot of work to do for the Monegasque driver.
F2 racer Isack Hadjar will turn out for Red Bull in FP1 at the British Grand Prix weekend, taking over Sergio Perez’s RB20.
The Red Bull junior currently sits second in the 2024 F2 standings in what has been an impressive campaign so far for the 19 year old, with feature race victories in Melbourne and Imola particular highlights.
The French driver’s upcoming appearance in first practice at Silverstone is his latest outing with F1 machinery, having made two FP1 appearances in 2023 – one for AlphaTauri in Mexico and one for Red Bull in Abu Dhabi.
He will be joining some of his other F2 colleagues in FP1 with Franco Colapinto turning out for Williams, while Ollie Bearman will also be making another practice appearance for Haas. Alpine reserve driver, Jack Doohan, who race in F2 last year and finished third, will also be getting behind the wheel of Pierre Gasly’s car as he pushes for a seat on the 2025 grid.
With a packed schedule over the British Grand Prix weekend, Hadjar will have to dovetail FP1 duties with Red Bull alongside his F2 duties for Campos Racing but it’s a chance he will surely relish.
Under F1’s current regulations, each team must run a rookie in two FP1 sessions each campaign.
The British Grand Prix marks the midpoint of the 2024 FIA Formula 1 World Championship and round 12 of 24 takes place where it all began 74 years ago.
5.861 kilometres long, the track is the fifth longest on the Calendar after Spa-Francorchamps, Jeddah, Las Vegas and Baku. It features 18 corners and is one of the most exciting and also one of the most demanding for the car-tyre package.
Some corner combinations, such as those from 10 to 14 – Maggotts, Becketts and Chapel – are taken at high speed and generate lateral forces on the tyres and drivers of over 5g. This along with other technical aspects, mean that as is always the case at Silverstone the chosen compounds are: C1 (Hard), C2 (Medium), C3 (Soft).
The weather in England in the summer can be changeable, a further factor which is to be taken into consideration, especially as conditions can change very rapidly.
Last year the entire race was run in the dry, with the soft somewhat a surprising protagonist, with only two teams not using it. However, the most used compound was the medium, which was used to complete half the overall mileage. The great majority of drivers went for a one-stop strategy, even if in the past, a two-stop had been the popular choice.
Silverstone is one of the most exciting circuits and also one of the most demanding for the car-tyre package. As is often the case here, the compounds chosen for this round are the hardest in the range, i. e. C1, C2 and C3. Discover everything here: https://t.co/rWgz2F3JKu 👇 pic.twitter.com/Z8cAf5vO6d
Alpine have confirmed that Jack Doohan will make his second FP1 outing of the Formula 1 season at the British Grand Prix weekend.
Doohan previously drove Esteban Ocon’s A524 in FP1 in Canada, but was only able to complete three laps – without setting a time – due to the wet weather seen in Montreal that day. But the Australian will get a second chance behind the wheel – this time Pierre Gasly’s car – during FP1 at Silverstone.
A former FIA Formula 3 runner-up and the third-placed driver in last year’s F2 standings, with the 21 year old continuing to push for a drive with Alpine on next year’s F1 grid.
The team currently have one seat vacant for 2025 following the confirmation, in the run-up to the Austrian Grand Prix that Pierre Gasly has committed his future to the team with a new multi-year extension. With Ferrari driver, Carlos Sainz still to decide on his future, and Alpine reported to be interested in securing his services, Doohan’s Silverstone opportunity gives him another chance show his talent.
In addition to his FP1 outings and simulator duties at Enstone, Doohan – son of former 500cc motorcycle world champion Mick – has also completed several test sessions with Alpine over the last couple of years in his quest to become a full time member of the F1 grid.
Jordan's Track Talk 