Jordan's Track Talk

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  • United States GP

    After a two year absence we are now back in the US and at the Circuit of the Americas. All eyes are looking at who will come out on top… Could Mercedes be dominant like last time out? Or will Red Bull be looking to bring their success on from Turkey?

    Who needs a good weekend?

    I feel like Sebastian needs a good weekend after what happened in Turkey, with going onto Mediums, hopefully the team and Seb can get good points to carry on the fight with Alpha Tauri as Aston Martin are currently sat behind them by 31 points in 7th…

    I think that Daniel will want to put on a show this weekend, not only because he loves the US but to make up for Turkey. Hopefully we see a masterclass from him this weekend.

    I’m quite looking forward to seeing what Yuki does, it’s a new track for him so either he will get the hang of it quickly or he will not have a good weekend and Alpha Tauri doesn’t need that if they want to fight Alpine for these final 6 races.

    Predictions for Qualifying-

    My top five predictions are- P1: Hamilton, P2: Verstappen, P3: Bottas, P4: Norris and P5: Leclerc. (Before penalties applied)

    I’m hoping we see both Williams in top 10 but if we don’t I’m hoping at least one! We see the pace on the Williams in qualifying and it’s no longer a one off when they get into Q3.

    I hope we see Mick get into Q2 again, he is constantly tries to get everything out of the Haas and it feels like his finally getting some recognition for doing so!

    Times for the weekend-

    Friday 22nd- FP1: 17:30pm – 18:30pm (BST), 18:30pm – 19:30pm (CEST). FP2: 21:00pm – 22:00pm (BST), 22:00pm – 23:00pm (CEST).

    Saturday 23rd- FP3: 19:00pm – 20:00pm (BST), 20:00pm – 21:00pm (CEST). Qualifying: 22:00pm – 23:00pm (BST), 23:00pm – 00:00am (CEST).

    Sunday 24th- 20:00pm (BST), 21:00pm (CEST).

  • Lundgaard joins IndyCar

    Christian Lundgaard has joined Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing team in IndyCar full-time for 2022 onwards as he has signed a multi-year deal.

    Lundgaard made a big impression in his debut in August as he qualified 4th and finished 12th at Big Machine Spiked Coolers Grand Prix on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.

    Lundgaard who is apart of the Alpine academy is currently sitting 11th on 43 points in the drivers championship in F2, he still has a reaming six races left (2 rounds) before his focus switches to IndyCar.

    The 20 year old said: “I’m very excited to join Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing in IndyCar. They are a fantastic team who made me feel very welcome earlier this year when I made my debut in the series. They are the perfect choice and I’m happy to join them on this next chapter in my career. I was very much open minded when I raced at Indianapolis in August and the experience then only grew my hunger to give it another go, so to have the opportunity as a full-time professional racing driver is a privilege.”

    “I can only thank Bobby, Piers and the team, as well as my investors and Alpine for putting it all together. I’m determined to repay that faith with on-track performances beginning when the season starts in February. For now, though, my focus is on finishing the Formula 2 Championship before fully committing to taking on IndyCar. I can’t wait for the experience to begin.”

    Bobby Rahal, the co-owner of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing said: “I’m very pleased that Christian will be joining us for the next several years. His performance on the road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway certainly surprised everybody. For him to do the job he did was tremendous and certainly beyond our expectations. With a little more time under his belt, I think the performance would have been even stronger. Everyone within the team was very pleased and it created a lot of excitement and positive reactions from the fans on social media and online as well as a positive buzz in the paddock.”

    My Opinion-

    This is a great move for Christian, he done very well in his debut, and i’m looking forward to see what he can do next year in IndyCar and future years after that. I won’t be surprised if other F2 drivers go this way in the future as their isn’t enough spots to facilitate all of the drivers who come through the feeder series.

  • Herta to F1?

    There is currently lots of gossip going round about the last seat available for next year in the Alfa Romeo and it seems now that IndyCar driver, Colton Herta is now a possibility…

    This comes as Michael Andretti is getting ready to purchase Alfa Romeo, and the link between Andretti and Herta is that Herta drives for his IndyCar team.

    Andretti hasn’t kept it a secret that if the ‘right opportunity’ came along to buy a team he would and that team is supposedly Alfa Romeo. Herta’s main sponsor Gainbridge would join Andretti Autosport to “take over” the F1 team, which pushes Herta in line for the seat even more.

    Who is Colton Herta?

    Looking back in Colton’s career he has won the Pacific Formula F1600 in 2013, in 2015 he finished 3rd in the MSA Formula Championship. 2016 was a year for him as he joined Carlin for the Euroformula Open Championship and finished 3rd, he also competed in the Spain Formula 3 Championship and finished 2nd.

    LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA – SEPTEMBER 26: IndyCar driver Colton Herta driving the #26 car, wins the 2021 Acura Grand Prix Of Long Beach on September 26, 2021 in Long Beach, California. (Photo by Greg Doherty/Getty Images)

    In 2017 and 2018 he competed in Indy Lights and finished 3rd in 2017, 2018 he finished 2nd. Since 2018 he has been competing in IndyCar, with him finishing 3rd in 2020 and 5th this year. Colton is the youngest-ever winner in IndyCar history at the age of 18.

    Danica Patrick has said that now F1 is becoming more popular in the US, with having an American F1 team, and Netflix series Drive To Survive. There just missing an American driver. She thinks that having an driver like Herta would only make it more popular.

    Pato O’Ward also believes that Herta has ‘everything to be successful’ in Formula One. “He is a very talented, very fast individual, and I think he’ll have no problem. He’s going to be fighting up there, if he is given the right car. There’s no doubt in my mind. Not that it’s going to be a struggle, but everything has its path of learning, but given the right time, he’ll be just fine.” Pato said.

    The only thing stopping Colton Herta from having that f1 seat is his super licence, he needs at least 40 points and his currently got 32… Could this be a possible move for him in 2023? His only 21 so his still got a long way to go in his career…

  • Tyres for Austin

    We have F1 back on our screens this weekend and this means that Pirelli have announced their tyres for the weekend…

    The chosen ones are the middle of the compound C2 (Hard), C3 (Medium) and C4 (Soft). This nomination is the same as what it was two years ago when we last was at the track.

    At this time of year in Texas, the weather is quite unpredictable, with the chosen compounds they should be quite adaptable to a variety of temperatures, although this years race is being held earlier in the season compared to last time.

    The circuit has been resurfaced in a few places starting with the start/finish straight (including the pit lane exit) to the end of Turn 1. The exit of Turn 9 through to Turn 10, the exit of Turn 11 through to 12 and then Turn 15 through to Turn 19.

    The winning strategy back in 2019 was a two stopper medium-hard-medium from Valtteri Bottas, where as his team-mate Lewis finished second on a one stop medium-hard.

    With the track only being resurfaced last year and not much track action either, the track on Friday will be lowest grip, however with having Formula 4 and also W series so by Saturday we should have more rubber laid down.

  • F2, F3 announce ’22 calendar

    So with Formula One announcing their calendar for next season, Formula Two and Three have announced theirs!

    Formula Two will have a total of 14 rounds, which will see two races each round, so a total of 28 races, it will make the most sizeable calendar since the launch of the championship in 2017.

    The season will kick off in Bahrain on the weekend of 18th March and with it finishing on the weekend of 18th November in Abu Dhabi. F2 will be going to two new tracks which are Imola and Zandvoort.

    CEO Bruno Michel said: “I am pleased to present the largest calendar we have ever had in Formula 2, with 14 rounds and 28 races. This results from a strong will from our stakeholders to have F2 race alongside as many Formula 1 Grand Prix as possible.”

    F3 will have a total of nine rounds, which makes it an 18 race championship. Again F3 will start in Bahrain on the same weekend as F1, it will end on the weekend of 9th September in Monza, just like this year. Also F3 will be at two new circuits next year and they are Zakhir, Bahrain and Imola, Italy.

    CEO Bruno Michel said: “Our 2022 Formula 3 season will start at the Bahrain International Circuit, at the opening round of the FIA Formula 1 World Championship and the new Formula 2 campaign. It will be very exciting to start all together.”

    My Opinion-

    I’m very much looking forward to both F2 and F3 next year, especially with both series racing at new tracks and both of them being on the same weekends as F1.

    With F2 this year there has been pretty big gaps, the season started end of March and then the next race weekend was 20th May. And then again currently we are on our 4th week of a 10 week break until the season comes back for the last two rounds. So they have planned it well so there isn’t as big of breaks.

    With F3 they started quite late this year compared to next, they started in May where as next year they will be starting in March. They have been able to bring a couple more races in to make the season a bit longer without big gaps.

  • 2022 F1 Calendar

    Formula One has finally revealed the 2022 calendar, with a record-breaking 23 Grand Prix schedule.

    The season will begin in Bahrain on 20th March, for the second year in a row it is the season opener. The season will end in Abu Dhabi as usual but its been brought forward to the 20th November.

    With the ongoing pandemic conditions, China is not included in the 2022 calendar, however it will be restored to the calendar as soon as the conditions allow it to.

    “The 2022 season follows an unprecedented two years for Formula 1 in which the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in revised calendar of 17 races in 2020 and 22 races in 2021 – a huge achievement given the international nature of the sport,” said F1 in a statement.

    President and CEO of Formula 1 Stefano Domenicali (above) said: “We are excited to announce the 2022 calendar as we prepare to enter a new era for the sport with brand new regulations and cars for next year that are designed to create closer racing. This season has been incredible so far with great battles on the track, large audiences tuning in and fans returning to the races after the impact of the pandemic. We look forward to welcoming more fans back next season and hope 2022 feels more normal than the life we have all experienced in the past two years.”

    My Opinion-

    I’m looking forward to seeing how next season goes with the new changes etc, but also the new tracks which are being brought into F1 next year. It will be a tough season considering we are starting mid-March and finishing mid-November, but considering we are currently having a 22 race season, even though some of the races having a two week break, its still a long and hard season for everybody involved in the sport.

    I am sure there are many tracks waiting to jump in if some races are cancelled due to Covid e.g Turkey, Mugello and many others.

  • F3 reveal teams for 22-24

    Formula Three has announced 10 teams which have been selected for the 2022-2024 seasons. Nine out of the ten are the same outfits which competed in 2021, and the newcomers Van Amersfoort Racing have been chosen to join the F3 grid.

    The full chosen 10 are: ART Grand Prix, Campos Racing, Carlin, Charouz Racing System, HiTech Grand Prix, Jenzer Motorsport, MP Motorsport, PREMA Racing, Trident and Van Amersfoort Racing.

    As usual each team will enter three cars, making it a 30-car field as seen in previous years.

    FIA Formula 3 CEO Bruno Michel said: “For the next three-year cycle, we have decided to renew our trust in nine of our current teams. They have been with us for many years now, and they have proven their value, expertise, and professionalism. I would like to welcome Van Amersfoort Racing to the list of selected teams. Their success in other categories make them a nice addition to our grid. I am confident that they will adapt quickly to the demands and challenges of our championship.”

    “Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to thank HWA RACELAB for their commitment to Formula 3 for the past three seasons, during which they claimed four wins and 10 podiums.”

    The Netherlands based team has been running for over 40 years, throughout those years they have had Jos Verstappen, Max Verstappen, Charles Leclerc, Mick Schumacher, Dennis Hauger and many others come through VAR.

  • Round 16- Turkey Race

    And Valtteri Bottas WINS the Turkish Grand Prix, making it his 10th win in his career and his first since Russia in 2020! Joining him on the podium is both Bulls, Verstappen in P2 and Perez in P3.

    The rest of the top 10 are: P4: Leclerc, P5: Hamilton, P6: Gasly, P7: Norris, P8: Sainz, P9: Stroll and P10: Ocon. Fastest lap goes to VB as well.

    This means that Max is now back in the lead for the Championship, having a 6 point gap between him and Lewis, neither driver has led the championship for two weekends in a row in 7 races… This is getting closer and closer as we get to the last few races!

    Lap 1 in the wet wasn’t as chaotic as Hungary, but we did have Alonso spin. He started P5 and then went down to P16. Gasly got a 5 second penalty for causing the spin… Hamilton managed to gain two places in the first lap which put him up to P9, that was the start of the classy overtakes.

    ISTANBUL, TURKEY – OCTOBER 10: Yuki Tsunoda of Japan driving the (22) Scuderia AlphaTauri AT02 Honda leads Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain driving the (44) Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team Mercedes W12 during the F1 Grand Prix of Turkey at Intercity Istanbul Park on October 10, 2021 in Istanbul, Turkey. (Photo by Bryn Lennon/Getty Images)

    I’ve got to say and acknowledge, Yuki Tsunoda. It seemed like he put up a really good fight against the 7 time world champ, which not many other people did, he wasn’t afraid to defend from him.

    I think Mercedes had a tough choice with the strategy today, you don’t have to have a mandatory pit when on intermediates and Hamilton was very happy to stay on them tyres. But Mercedes decided to pit him with only 7 laps to go when he was running in the podium places…

    The fight between Perez and Hamilton was something else! My heart was in my mouth at one point just how close it was, but both drivers have massive respect for each other and left enough space so they didn’t touch. It shows a lot of people what Perez can do in the Red Bull when he is in that situation.

    Carlos Sainz. Wow, what a drive, started P19, finished P8. I think some people will overlook this as he isn’t in the best car, which is true but to get the Ferrari in the points after being on the back row is amazing, fully deserves driver of the day!

    I think Aston Martin might have had a bit of the moment sending Sebastian Vettel out on the Mediums… He lasted a lap on them and it quickly sent him down the order and then he pitted for Inters.

    So now onto a closer look at the championship! We have Max now leading Lewis by 6 points, Bottas, Norris and Perez all stay in the same places. Sainz still in 6th position from Leclerc but there is only a gap of 0.5 between the pair…

    In the constructors Mercedes are still in the lead and by 36 points! McLaren have managed to hold onto P3 and by only 8 points as Ferrari are now starting to close in on them.

    So we now have a two week break till the next race, but we will be returning to the Circuit of The Americas after two years for round 17, in this thrilling championship battle!

  • Round 16- Turkey Quali

    Well what a qualifying that was, it could of been anyones going into it… But Mercedes once again dominated qualifying just like they have dominated the rest of the weekend.

    LH was fastest overall in qualifying but due to his 10 place grid penalty it means pole position goes to his team-mate Valtteri Bottas. The top 10 after penalties is the following: P1: Bottas, P2: Verstappen, P3: Leclerc, P4: Gasly, P5: Alonso, P6: Perez, P7: Norris, P8: Stroll, P9: Tsunoda and P10: Vettel, Lewis will be starting P11.

    I feel like the top 10 is quite mixed up with the top 5 being from 5 different teams, in which we haven’t seen that happen much, unlike last race weekend we saw it being 4 different teams in the top 4.

    One person who I have to mention after a BEAUTIFUL lap in Q1 is Mick Schumacher! He said he wanted it to rain today and it did, which left the track wet for Qualifying and it made him get into Q2 for the second time in his F1 career!

    ISTANBUL, TURKEY – OCTOBER 09: Mick Schumacher of Germany driving the (47) Haas F1 Team VF-21 Ferrari during qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Turkey at Intercity Istanbul Park on October 09, 2021 in Istanbul, Turkey. (Photo by Dan Istitene – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images)

    Pierre done very well today, after only qualifying P12 at the last race, he is back to being up near the top, where he has been for the majority of the year. It always seems like his in the right place at the right time, it’s just a shame to not see him in a top car and then we could see what he really does after having a confidence boost since being at AlphaTauri…

    Charles done well too! Being on the second row is just what him and Ferrari need, especially with his team-mate being at the back and one of the McLaren’s being near at the back too which will benefit Charles tomorrow. Another thing I have to mention is Ferrari’s strategy! First up they had Carlos push Daniel out of Q1 so he couldn’t get into Q2 and then Carlos went ahead of his team-mate in Q2 to give Charles a lovely slip-stream to boost him into getting into Q3.

    Bit of a down day for Russell and Ricciardo, obviously Ricciardo being knocked out of Q1 which is a shame but we know he can capitalise on other peoples mistakes tomorrow in the race! And for Russell he was set to get into Q3 with a really good time until he made a tiny error on his flying lap which didn’t see him improve and knocked out. But his in a good position to score some points tomorrow and he gets free tyre choice!

    Predictions for tomorrow-

    I’d say the win will go to Lewis! I have a feeling Mercedes will get his strategy just right! P2: Leclerc, P3: Bottas, P4: Norris and P5: Gasly. I think fastest lap will go to Bottas.

    You can’t count out Leclerc, Norris and Gasly tomorrow. I feel like these three will have a battle on track, even though Norris is a couple places behind them, he normally gets a good start either maintaining position or gains positions.

  • Turkish GP

    And we are back this weekend racing in Turkey for Round 16 out of 22. We return to the track for the second year as it fills in for Japan.

    Could we see an amazing drive from the 7 time champ? Or will Max take away a victory from him? Can McLaren make it 3 good race weekends in a row? It’s all to play for this weekend!

    Who needs a good weekend?

    I think that Pierre and Yuki need a good weekend in Turkey, they both haven’t had a couple of weekends recently. Not to sure if its just a team thing etc with the strategy going wrong or they are just going through a rough period. For the last two races Pierre hasn’t scored any points, he had a DNF in Italy and the finished 13th in Russia. With Yuki the last three races haven’t been good a DNF in Netherlands, Italy was a DNS and Russia he finished 17th. With grid penalties set to play a role in this weekend hopefully they can capitalise on it.

    I’d say both Aston Martins too, obviously we all saw Lance’s pole lap last year so we know he can do well here and also Seb ended on the podium last year here with Ferrari so he likes the track too. So hopefully they can be strong in the AM to get a good amount of points.

    I’d also say Perez too, I feel like he hasn’t been there to back up Max much recently apart from Italy. He done well here last year too, as he finished on the podium but I feel like his lost a bit of his drive.

    Predictions for Quali-

    My top five for predictions are (before penalties): P1: Hamilton, P2: Norris, P3: Ricciardo, P4: Bottas, P5: Verstappen. If its meant to be a wet qualifying like predicted I could see both McLaren’s doing well.

    As well I think Russell would do well as he likes qualifying in the wet as he normally gets quite high up! Hopefully Latifi will make an appearance into Q3… Hopefully Charles will do well this weekend, as I feel he needs some luck thrown his way!

    Times for the weekend-

    Saturday 9th- FP3: 10:00am – 11:00am (BST), 11:00am – 12:00pm (CEST). Qualifying: 13:00pm – 14:00pm (BST), 14:00pm – 15:00pm (CEST).

    Sunday 10th- Race: 13:00pm (BST), 14:00pm (CEST).

    ISTANBUL, TURKEY – OCTOBER 08: George Russell of Great Britain driving the (63) Williams Racing FW43B Mercedes during practice ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Turkey at Intercity Istanbul Park on October 08, 2021 in Istanbul, Turkey. (Photo by Bryn Lennon/Getty Images)

  • Hamilton to take grid penalty

    Lewis Hamilton, who is currently leading the 2021 championship by only two points is receiving a 10 place grid penalty for Sundays Turkish Grand Prix.

    His W12 has been fitted with a new internal combustion engine (ICE) and exhaust but the driver has only exceeded his allocations of new ICEs.

    It was expected for this to happen before the weekend, as Turkey is a strong track for Mercedes and Lewis even though he has never been on pole here. There was lots of rumours going around that Mercedes would take a penalty in the next couple of races.

    His rival, Max Verstappen took a full new power unit at Sochi which saw him start 20th and then finish on the podium in 2nd.

    Last year, at the Turkish GP it saw Lewis starting sixth to then win the race, it wasn’t an easy race in the wet either.

    My Opinion-

    I didn’t really see them taking the penalty anywhere else to be honest, and its good the fact its not at the back of the grid either, so he does have some work to do but not as much as we expected. If Mercedes get there strategy right and the rain comes into play then this may be Mercedes and Lewis’ weekend…

  • Tyres for Turkey

    We are back racing this weekend and we are returning to Turkey for the second year in a row as this year it fills in for Japan.

    The tyres which have been chosen for this year is the middle of the range which are: C2 (Hard), C3 (Medium) and C4 (Soft). This is one step softer than last year when the Turkish GP was held in November.

    The decision to go one step softer was due to the data which was collected last year, the track demonstrated average levels of abrasion and low grip which resulted in an extremely slippery surface. The track was entirely re-asphalted just before the grand prix last year, since then the asphalt may have matured slightly as well its been completely cleaned with a high-pressure jet.

    The most well known corner at the Istanbul track is Turn 8, which is very long (640 metres) and it gets taken at high speed. We didn’t get to see full effect of Turn 8 last year due to the rain…

    Turkey, is quite a tough track for the tyres, with lots of force going through them, the cars run higher downforce here to help push the tyres ontp the ground. As well as this there are many corners which put demands on the tyres. Turn 1 is approached with a significant descent before heading uphill. The back straight also contains a swooping uphill kink which is nicknamed ‘Faux Rouge’.

    This years weather is a big question mark, the race is obviously being held a month earlier than last year, but with the rain dominating the weekend the teams don’t have much relevant tyre data.

    The winning tyre strategy last year which brought Lewis Hamiltons 7th title was one-stopped as he was on eight laps with the full wet tyres and then followed by 50 laps on the intermediate tyres. Lewis was one of only four drivers to pit once, the majority of the drivers stopped twice.

  • RB and AT to run special livery

    Red Bull and Alpha Tauri are set to run a special livery this weekend at the Turkish Grand Prix as a special tribute to Honda.

    If the Japanese GP was going ahead it would of been this weekend, which means Honda’s last home grand prix, unfortunately due to Covid-19 restrictions means that they will miss out.

    The RB16Bs of both Max and Sergio will run in a predominantly white livery which is inspired by the pain scheme of the Honda RA272 where Richie Ginther raced to victory at the 1965 Mexican Grand Prix.

    Where as Pierre’s and Yuki’s AlphaTauri’s will feature the word ‘arigato’ which is the Japanese word for ‘thank-you’ this is aimed to be on the rear wings of the AT02.

    Red Bull’s partnership with Honda launched back in 2018, since then Honda have helped both Red Bull and AlphaTauri reach the top step of the podium, with Red Bull scoring 13 victories to date and AlphaTauri taking hone a memorable win on home turf in Italy 2020. In total Red Bull and Honda have together scored 35 podium finishes and 11 pole positions.

    Team Principle and CEO of Red Bull Racing Honda, Christian Horner said: “We had all been looking forward to giving Honda’s Japanese fans a chance to celebrate our extremely successful relationship in Formula One, on home soil at Suzuka. With the race falling victim to the pandemic, we just couldn’t let the weekend pass without paying tribute to Honda and its amazing home fans by bringing a little bit of its heritage to Istanbul. The livery chosen for our cars pays homage to Honda’s remarkable F1 journey and hopefully we can give fans another victory in those legendary colours this weekend.”

    My Opinion-

    It’s a lovely gesture from RB and AT however I cant comment too much on what it looks like as all we have is a little teaser video below, but from what I can see it looks good…

  • 2022 Calendar set for 23 races

    So with only 7 races left of this season, the talks for next season has started on how it will look calendar wise.

    For 2022 they are expecting and wanting to run a 23 race calendar, starting in mid March and finishing in mid November. Where as currently this season started end of March and finishing in mid December.

    Even though Covid-19 has changed the calendar quite a bit this year for the second year in the row, this years championship is still set for its longest ever season, with 22 races on the calendar and 15 already completed, F1 wants to go one better next year.

    The 2022 Calendar is set to revealed later this month. Some races have already confirmed when they will be holding their event, as newcomers Miami have confirmed the weekend of 6-8 May for their first F1 Race.

    “I can anticipate that, for sure, the calendar will be done with 23 races,” said Domenicali in an interview with Sky Sports “Of course we will be very respectful towards the Covid regulations issued around the world from the different governments. But that is our aim that F1 can give this sign of hope and to go to normal things to enjoy.”

    “The idea is to make sure there is the right rhythm to the calendar,” he said. “There are of course considerations related to periods to make sure logistically the flow has to be right. “One thing I can tell you, without discovering too many things is that next year the season will start in the middle of March and will finish in the middle of November.”

    This year F1 introduced the Sprint format, in three different weekends, the first being at Silverstone, the second in Monza and the third which is yet to come in Brazil. In Stefano Domenicali’s interview he has said that: “I can say we will not go everywhere with the Sprint format. It is something we want to keep for one third of the races more or less and to connect with a certain different way of giving rewards and points and to connect with specific circuits that as you know would make the difference.”

    So its looking roughly like about 7/8 race weekends next year with the Sprint format, after positive feedback from promoters.

    My Opinion-

    I’m 50/50 on the Sprint format, it gives you three full days of action which I and everyone loves but its not the traditional F1. Being at the first weekend they trialled it at was good, the atmosphere was amazing all weekend, and it was so busy, it definitely attracted more people to come for the full weekend!

    But with them adding it to 7/8 races next year i’m a bit sceptical about, I think personally they need to try it at either 3 different tracks next year, to see how it goes their. Or do it at Silverstone and Monza, then either one/two completely new ones as-well.

  • Norris announces own karting team

    During the week of last week it saw Lando Norris announce something very special, his own karting team. He has collaborated with the OTK Kart Group to launch his own kart, LN Racing Kart.

    Lando won a world championship on OTK’s FA Racing Kart back in 2014 and he was the youngest to ever do it, OTK and Lando have kept a good relationship since to then have his own kart to be used by them!

    The LN Racing Kart will soon be on track, making its debut in international competitions in 2022, under the direction of Ricky Flynn Motorsport. The drivers, not yet announced, will compete in all the WSK and FIA Karting international events. LN Racing Kart products, available for MINI, Junior/Senior single-speed and shifter categories, will soon be available in the official worldwide sale network.

    Lando took to his social media and said: “Karting is where it all started for me, I won my first world championship on OTK’s FA Racing Kart and I can’t wait for the day when someone wins their first championship on the LN Racing Kart. Bring on the future talent! Let’s do this @LNRacingKart, OTK & RFM.”

    I think this is such a good thing to do, not many F1 drivers can say they have their own kart especially with the people who they kart with when they were younger! It must feel special for him to do this as its going back to a part of his child hood! I wouldn’t be surprised if we see a few more things come from Lando in the future and I can’t wait to see what he does!

  • Qatar joins ‘21 Calendar

    We finally have confirmation on which track will be filling in for Australia this year and that is Qatar…

    Qatar is set to make an appearance on the weekend of the 19th of November, making it its first ever F1 Grand Prix!

    The Qatari circuit is most famous for its association with two wheel racing, with it having hosted the Moto GP since 2004.

    The race is the last of the triple header, with Mexico and Brazil before hand, it should be an exciting weekend considering no-one has raced there so it could go either way!

    It also got announced that Qatar will permanently be on our race calendar from 2023 for 10 years!

    A statement from F1 said: “There was a strong will from Qatar to be helpful to F1, and in the course of this process, the vision for a longer partnership was discussed and agreed for 10 years. The step from the gesture to be helpful to F1 in 2021 to a long term strategy was short and simple and the vision for F1 to be the showcase for Qatar after the FIFA World Cup in 2022 was the driving force behind this long term agreement.”

  • 2022 Race Format

    A change is coming to Formula 2 and 3 next year as over the weekend it got announced a new format is coming in 2022, for both Formula Two and Formula Three.

    The weekend will be made up of one sprint race and one feature race. Friday will stay the same with a free practice session and then qualifying later on. Saturday will have one sprint race and then on the Sunday the feature race which stays the same.

    Formula Three will join Formula Two when they race, which they will both be racing on the same weekend as F1! The number of events for F2 and F3 next year will be announced in due course.

    Stefano Domenicali, President and CEO of Formula 1, said: “We are pleased to announce the changes to the weekend format for Formula 2 and 3 for next season and I am grateful to Bruno and the teams for their efforts to make this happen.”

    FIA Formula 2 and FIA Formula 3 CEO Bruno Michel commented: “In 2021, we introduced a new race weekend format and chose to have F2 and F3 race separately, mainly for costs reasons, and it proved to be quite efficient.”

    Why have they changed it?

    Bruno Michel said that there was too much time between each event. Which isn’t ideal for the teams, drivers and the fans.
    Which is true considering we are currently on a 10 week break from F2, and it doesn’t return until December. We saw what happened when F2 returned to Monza after a 8 week break from Silverstone, it was a crazy first sprint race!

    My Opinion-

    I think this is a good idea, the 2 sprint races and feature race are good but i feel as if that having one sprint and a feature is better because theres a lot more focus onto the feature. Having F2 and F3 on the same weekend is really good because it gives a lot of racing over the weekend and it gives F1 fans the chance to watch it too and potentially bring new fans to F2 and F3.

    I can imagine having both series with F1 they may look at putting more races on the calendar for both F2 and F3, even more so that the amount they race over the weekend would have gone down by one race.

  • Round 15- Sochi Race

    GET IN THERE LEWIS! Lewis wins the Russian Grand Prix and its his 100th win! He re-takes the lead of the championship once again. Joining him on the podium is Max Verstappen in P2 and Carlos Sainz in P3.

    The rest of the top 10 are: P4: Ricciardo, P5: Bottas, P6: Alonso, P7: Norris, P8: Raikkonen, P9: Perez and P10: Russell. Fastest lap went to Lando Norris.

    Absolute heartbreak for Lando and McLaren, he led the majority of the race and done so well doing it. But when it started raining in the last few laps, he insisted on staying on his hard tyres rather than going to intermediates, he the dropped down the order after having to pit to change tyres. But I have no doubt for the fact that Lando will bounce back and get his first win this year, he has 7 more races to do it!

    Finally Lewis gets his 100th win! He has kept the Mercedes reign at Sochi alive after it being under threat by McLaren. This is fully deserved in my opinion! It wasn’t an easy race with him dropping down the order at the start and having to fight his way through, and Lewis said he wouldn’t of been able to over-take Lando if it stayed dry.

    Carlos Sainz, drove wonderful today started P2 and took the lead from Lando Norris in the first lap. And he done very well to end in P3, and its good amount of points for Ferrari in the Constructors.

    The rain definitely played into the hands of Max Verstappen and Valtteri Bottas. Max started P20 to finish P2 is amazing, and its all because of the rain he managed so! The same with Bottas he started P16 due to taking an new power unit, but before the rain hit and before he pitted he was out of the points and then he pitted and managed to finish in P5 as they expected earlier on in the race.

    Daniel finishing P4 gives McLaren extra points as well for the Constructors, two great races for him in a row and I am honestly quite looking forward to see what he does at the next race.

    Now the next race is on 10th of October and we are returning to Istanbul Park Circuit for round 16 and its where Lewis took his 7th Championship last year…

  • F2 Sochi- Day 2 & 3

    Day 2-

    To start the second day of the F2 weekend where we normally have two sprint races, the second one was cancelled because of the weather… we had the first sprint race moved to the afternoon.

    So onto the only sprint race of the weekend… we had Dan Ticktum starting in pole and he managed to have a cool, calm and collected race and turned it into the race win!

    Joining him on the podium was Red Bull Junior, Juri Vips in P2 and in P3 was Robert Shwartzman.

    I can imagine Shwartzman is very happy about P3, it’s his home race and being on the podium must’ve meant a lot to him! Also he is closing in on Piastri and Zhou in the championship!

    The drama started before the lights even went out, when on the way to the grid Felipe Drugovich made heavy impact with the wall and could not start the race. And the other UNI-Virtuosi driven by Guanyu Zhou spun on his way to the grid but stalled his car and unable to take part in the start of the race.

    Somebody I have to mention is Jake Hughes! He has stepped in for Jack Aitken in the HWA Racelab car and he was fighting Shwartzman for his first podium in F2 and first points finish, he run in fourth for the majority of the race after Liam Lawson retired.

    Day 3-

    The championship leader, Oscar Piastri wins the Feature race, his now got back to back feature race wins and extends his championship lead even more! Joining him is Theo Pourchaire in P2 and Jehan Daruvala in P3!

    What a drive from Oscar Piastri! Well deserved in my opinion. Looking forward to seeing what he does in the last 2 rounds of the season in December.

    Dan Ticktum made his way up from 10th to 5th scoring more points for Carlin and himself as he currently sits in P4 in the championship. His team mate done very well securing Carlin with another trophy this weekend and a good amount of points!

    Definitely not Guanyu Zhou’s weekend… obviously didn’t start Sprint Race 1 and then Sprint Race 2 cancelled, and then the Feature Race, he finished in 6th… couldn’t put pressure on Dan Ticktum in 5th.

    We now have a big gap till the next race, but when we are back we’re being treated to a double header! We will see you in Saudi Arabia on the 3rd to 5th of December!

  • Round 15 – Sochi Quali

    WOW, what a day it has been for F1 today and what a qualifying it was… First up we didn’t even think we would have qualifying today because of the weather and having FP3 cancelled it was all just a waiting game…

    But now it all went in the way of Lando Norris as he is on pole position for tomorrow’s race, his first ever one in his F1 career! Joining him on the front row is his old team-mate Carlos Sainz and 3rd is Mr Saturday, George Russell, his second time getting into the top 3 this season!

    The rest of the top 10 are: P4: Hamilton, P5: Ricciardo, P6: Alonso, P7: Bottas, P8: Stroll, P9: Perez and P10: Ocon. We have Verstappen, Leclerc and Latifi all taking new power units this weekend so they will all be starting at the back of the grid…

    Honestly wow. I am in shock, I was watching with one eye open when George was the first to go onto the slicks but they honestly paid off for everyone apart from the Mercs and Red Bull.

    McLaren are on fire this season. Lando has been on top form and it’s so nice to see his finally getting rewarded for all his efforts. And Daniel qualifying in P5 after his win in Monza two weeks ago, he will definitely be one to watch tomorrow!

    The constructors leader, Mercedes didn’t get it right today, which is a shame but the points are awarded tomorrow and everyone knows how good they are at this track, and Lewis hasn’t got to worry about Max as his starting at the back…

    AlphaTauri had a really bad today, which is awful after what happened in Monza. It’s such a shame because Pierre always delivers week in and week out for the team, but I’m sure he can finish in the points tomorrow and it could go his way as he has free tyre choice.

    Predictions for tomorrow-

    My top five for tomorrow are: P1: Hamilton, P2: Norris, P3: Bottas, P4: Ricciardo and P5: Russell. I think fastest lap will go to Hamilton as-well…

    I do think that it will be very close between Norris and Hamilton, they both could win tomorrow. We all saw how difficult it is to get by the McLaren with their speed but I feel like strategy may come into play!

    Times for tomorrow-

    Race- 13:00pm (BST), 14:00pm (CEST). We also have F2 and F3 feature races tomorrow as-well!

  • F2 Sochi – Day 1

    We are back with F2 this weekend for round 6 out of 8. Can Oscar Piastri extend his championship lead? Or will Guanyu Zhou be victorious and take it all away from him?

    Free Practice-

    As usual, free practice up first and it saw UNI-Virtuosi take the lead with Felipe Drugovich finishing in P1 he led from, Ralph Boschung and Theo Pourchaire

    The session had a brief red flag as there was a spin by Alessio Deledda and his HWA had to be recovered by the marshals.

    The championship leader was all the way down in 10th, where as the other title contender, Guanyu Zhou was in 4th just in front of Juri Vips.

    Qualifying-

    Qualifying saw Oscar Piastri take his third police in a row! His joined by Johan Daruvala on the front row on Sunday! Lining up behind them on the second row is Pourchaire and Zhou.

    Reverse grid pole goes to Dan Ticktum for tomorrow’s first race, his joined by Vips next to him!

    Tomorrow is all to play for, it could be a very interesting race if it’s raining like it’s forecasted!

    Times for the rest of the weekend-

    Saturday- Sprint Race 1: 8:30am (BST), 9:30am (CEST). Sprint Race 2: 14:45pm (BST), 15:45pm (CEST).

    Sunday- Feature Race: 9:20am (BST), 10:20am (CEST)

  • Whitmarsh returns

    Former McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh is returning to Formula 1 this year, in a new role with Aston Martin.

    Whitmarsh became one of the biggest figures in Formula One, having been in the sport for 25 years with McLaren. His worked with some of the most famous drivers from Ayrton Senna, Mika Hakkinen and 7 time world champ, Lewis Hamilton.

    He left McLaren in 2014 and has since then been working outside the sport. He will now return to F1 as Group Chief Executive Officer of Aston Martin Performance Technologies, a role which will oversee the Formula 1 team, as well as looking into way to use the brands technical know-how in different industries.

    Aston Martin, haven’t kept it a secret that they want to reach the front of the grid, to fight for wins, podiums and championships more often and this is just another step in that direction for the Silverstone based team.

    Whitmarsh said: “I have known and admired Lawrence [Stroll, Aston Martin Executive Chairman] for many years, and I have always been extremely impressed by his formidable business acumen and his seemingly inexhaustible ambition. Equally, I have always respected ‘Team Silverstone’, if I can call it that, which has often punched above its weight under its various previous incarnations, and which now has the weight with which to punch harder than ever before.”

  • Haas retain both drivers

    It has officially been announced that Haas has retained both Nikita Mazepin and Mick Schumacher for the 2022 season!

    Both drivers joined the team last year for the 2021 season, with it being their rookie year.

    Mick won the 2020 F2 Championship with Prema and he is also part of the Ferrari Driver Academy. His first year in F1 has been consistent, with his highest finish being in 12th and that was at the Hungarian GP. We’ve seen some lovely battles from Mick on track this season, and I can’t wait to see what else he does!

    Mazepin who finished 5th in the 2020 F2 Championship, hasn’t been as consistent as his team-mate. His highest finish is 14th at Azerbaijan, it always looks like he struggles with the car a lot more than Mick does. So hopefully this gives him the experience for future years in his racing career…

    My Opinion-

    I think this is a good move from Haas, I didn’t see any new drivers coming in and taking one of the rookies spots at Hass. Obviously there was speculation that Mick could potentially move to Alfa Romeo, but obviously that was speculation.

    This now gives Haas a solid line up for 2022, where they can learn all about the new regulations with team-mates who know the team and the 2021 car too.

  • Russian GP

    We are back racing this weekend and we could be in for a treat! Sochi, isn’t one of the most liked tracks of the season by us fans, but if the weather stays the same as what its predicted we could see Sochi in a very different way on Saturday or Sunday.

    Mercedes are the only team to win at the Russian GP, so could we potentially see them be dethroned? Or will they be victorious once again…

    Who needs a good weekend?

    The two title contenders need a good weekend, I was actually looking forward to what the outcome was going to be at the Italian GP but to have both of them crash out together I don’t think anyone saw it coming including themselves! Lewis will be wanting to get ahead of Max in the championship, and I think he knows that this could be the track to get ahead at. Where as Max, knows this isn’t one of his strongest track and with a 3 place grid penalty he will be putting the work in on Sunday to make sure Lewis doesn’t get ahead in the title fight.

    Ferrari, also need a good weekend once again. They obviously didn’t do too well at Monza compared to their closest rivals but I do see they are pulling everything out of the car so it’s just luck wasn’t on their side in Monza. But hopefully there will be some luck with them this weekend.

    Pierre Gasly needs a good weekend, he obviously had a disappointing Italian GP but hopefully this time off from the triple header has refreshed him and he will be back up fighting in P4 and can get AlphaTauri more points in the Constructors!

    Predictions for Quali-

    My top five predictions are: P1: Hamilton, P2: Norris, P3: Bottas, P4: Verstappen, P5: Ricciardo. I do think both McLaren’s might bring the fight this weekend, and will just excel for the rest of the season now! With Max’s grid penalty he can’t start no further up than 4th, hence the reason his fourth in my predictions.

    If it is a wet qualifying, I think we could see Mr Saturday, George Russell in the top 10. He knows what he can do in the Williams car in the wet in qualifying now, so he will be pushing to get higher up the grid.

    Times for the weekend-

    Friday 24th- FP1: 09:30am – 10:30am (BST), 10:30am – 11.30am (CEST). FP2: 13:00pm – 14:00pm (BST), 14:00pm – 15:00pm (CEST).

    Saturday 25th- FP3: 10:00am – 11:00am (BST), 11:00am – 12:00pm (CEST). Qualifying: 13:00pm – 14:00pm (BST), 14:00pm – 15:00pm (CEST).

    Sunday 26th- Race: 13:00pm (BST), 14:00pm (CEST).

  • Tyres for Sochi

    Its race week once again, after being off for a week we are returning to Sochi, Russia this weekend for Round 15.

    Pirelli have chosen their tyres and they are the softest of the compounds, C3 (Hard), C4 (Medium), C5 (Soft), this is the first time these have been picked since Austria, it is also the same nomination which was made last season.

    This circuit, is generally all about traction and breaking, the corners are mostly slow to medium speed but the most demanding corner is turn 3, which is a multi-apex left hander.

    Sochi, isn’t used much for the rest of the season so its often seen to be slippery towards the start of the weekend, this can then sometimes cause tyres to slide rather than grip especially during the two free practice sessions on the Friday.

    Russia is normally a one-stop race, last year the top two finishers used a medium to hard strategy but there was a variation down the rest of the grid.

    This weekend, we just don’t have Formula One, we are also joint by Formula Two for round six and by Formula Three for their last round of the season and its the first time they will be in Russia since 2019.

    F2 have been nominated, the Mediums and the Purples (Ultra-soft) which was the same as last year. F3 have been nominated the Hard tyre for their final 3 races of the 2021 season.

  • Gio to stay or go?

    So the big talking point now, is who will fill the Alfa Romeo seat as its not been confirmed yet! Could Giovinazzi re-sign? Or will they have a rookie?

    Only time will tell… but looking into it theres so many ways they could go with this! As Alfa Romeo came out with something which i’m not sure if many people picked up on… When they signed Bottas I saw a comment by Frédéric Vasseur saying that the Finn will have the responsibility of leading Alfa Romeo forward as he will no longer “be in the shadow” of Lewis Hamilton.

    This tells me that Bottas has the number one role, which is fair play to him, he deserves to have a role like that due to his experience etc. BUT if Alfa Romeo was retaining Antonio Giovinazzi surely you would want someone who knows the car and team well to lead it? And as well wouldn’t Giovinazzi want be step up and bring the team forward, theres so many unanswered questions!

    Alfa Romeo Team Principal Fred Vasseur, along with his shareholders, is ultimately responsible for who will partner Bottas in 2022. But Vasseur was keeping tight-lipped on which drivers were in the running – although he did confirm that Chinese F2 racer Guanyu Zhou was “on the list”, while adding that reigning Formula E champion Nyck de Vries’ links to Mercedes complicated the Dutch driver’s case.

    So who could potentially fill the seat?

    Well first up would be their current driver Antonio Giovinazzi. Personally, I don’t see him staying and I would actually be pretty shocked if they announce him. Obviously his talented otherwise he wouldn’t of got the chance to be in F1 but I personally think that he hasn’t really grabbed this opportunity properly, I think he knows his at risk of potentially not racing in F1 next year and normally you would see drivers doing there everything to stay and yeah his got into Q3 in the last two races but that doesn’t really matter if your then not scoring points on the Sunday.

    The second option is Guanyu Zhou who is currently 2nd in the Formula Two championship and is also part of the Alpine Academy. Zhou seems like the favourite for the second seat at Alfa Romeo. Zhou has had a very good campaign in F2 this year, with 3 wins to his name, and 5 podiums.

    Next up in the long list is Championship leader Oscar Piastri, who is currently sat ahead of Zhou by 15 points… Oscar who is also with the Alpine Academy and managed by Mark Webber, is on fire… 2019 he won the Formula Renault Eurocup and then 2020 winning the F3 Championship with Prema. He is definitley F1 material and it doesn’t seem like he is in contention for the last seat which I think is a shame, but what will he do then? He can’t do another year in F2 as he has too many points on his super licence, so maybe the route of going down the test & reserve driver…

  • AM confirm ’22 line up

    Aston Martin have confirmed their line up for the ’22 season and it is unchanged, so both Lance Stroll and Sebastian Vettel will be in the racing green next year!

    Aston Martin came back to F1 this year, after Lawrence Stroll was fighting for it to make its return to the sport and he succeeded.

    Both Stroll and Vettel have done well this year, even more so Seb as its a new car and team for him to adapt too, so all eyes were on him to see how he would perform and he has had a bit of an up/down season, first four races he didn’t score any points then he went on to have two podiums but got disqualified so effectively got one took away from him.

    Lance Stroll said: “Next season I will be embarking on my sixth year in Formula One, alongside my team-mate Sebastian. We started this Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One™ Team campaign together and I greatly look forward to continuing the journey with him next year. We have not achieved what we set out to do this year, but that has only amplified our hunger and drive for success next season.”

    Sebastian Vettel said: “I am really looking forward to racing the new generation of Formula One cars. Their look is very different and the new technical regulations should give us cars that can race much more closely than recently. More exciting racing will be great for the drivers as well as for the fans.”

    My Opinion-

    I believe this is the right call, I didn’t see Stroll going anywhere because of his dad owning the team… And I thought it would be silly to get rid of Vettel as he has performed very well in the car and no doubt is going to give some pointers for helping with the 2022 car.

  • Round 14- Monza Race

    WOW… what didn’t happen in that race! Honestly where do I start…

    Daniel Ricciardo is a race winner again for the first time since 2018 and his first with McLaren and joining him is his team-mate, Lando Norris making it his best finish for the team and finally a 1-2 for the papaya team! Joining them on the final step of the podium goes to Bottas after starting P19!

    The rest of the top 10 are: P4: Leclerc, P5: Perez, P6: Sainz, P7: Stroll, P8: Alonso, P9: Russell and P10: Ocon.

    Max and Lewis collided which ended up with Max’s car on top off Lewis’s and Max’s rear tyre was sitting on Lewis’ helmet… So all i’ve got to say is thank god for the halo, because I wouldn’t of liked to seen what happened without it.. I’m very happy both drivers got away safely, it is set to go to the stewards after the race. This collision will be a big talking point for the next few weeks just like it was at Silverstone. *UPDATE* Max Verstappen has been given a 3 grid place penalty for the next race and two penalty points. In my opinion I think this is the right decision, Lewis gave enough space and everyone knows the sausage curbs make you go up in the air. Now Max has got to suffer the consequences which I can imagine he isn’t very happy about it.

    Daniel Ricciardo was on fire today, he took the lead from as soon as the lights went out and honestly he deserves this win so much, he also got the fastest lap too.

    George Russell turned into Mr Sunday today as he finished P9 and score some points! For the third time this season, if people didn’t realise before they do now that George is a very talented driver and serves his Mercedes seat next year!

    Perez, surprised me today, he was running in third position but he got a 5 second penalty due to passing Charles Leclerc off track. He then ended up fifth once the penalty was added on.

    I feel gutted for the AlphaTauri’s, I felt like they both could of been very strong today, Yuki didn’t even start the race due to a mechanical issue which was fount on the way to the grid and wasn’t able to be fixed, and Pierre had to retire due to a problem which is unknown at this time.

    That is the end of our triple header! But I think this break is needed for everyone (including us fans) after the drama of the past 3 race weekends. We will be back racing again in two weekends time and we will be in Sochi, Russia, where we will be joined by F2 and F3! See you all then.

  • F2 Monza- Day 2 & 3

    Day 2-

    Sprint Race 1-

    Theo Pourchaire took his second win of the season, he started in fourth and was on the charge from the get go. He was joined in P2 by title contender Guanyu Zhou who made up six places to finish on the podium and third goes to my driver of the sprint race 1, Christian Lundgaard. He started 19th to finish on the final podium spot.

    Juri Vips stole the lead from from reverse pole sitter, David Beckmann. However they struggled with tyre degradation and they both finished in eight and tenth.

    There was a lot of drama for the first race back after a two month break. Dan Ticktum locked up and missed his braking point. Then he was tagged by Felipe Drugovich and spun round which was meant he was the first one out of the race. Then the VSC made an appearance due to Drugovich he lost his Virtuosi car at Ascari and skidded into the gravel.

    Then Roy Nissany, spun to a stop on track which brought out the second safety car which then brings our tally off 3 out of the race. Zendeli’s race finished with three laps to go as he pulled his car over to a stop at the side of the road.

    Sprint Race 2-

    Carlin’s, Jehan Daruvala took the second sprint race win and his first victory of the season. He was joined by Bent Viscaal and Robert Shwartzman who took his fourth podium of the year.

    This race was quite quiet compared to the mornings race. A VSC was needed when HWA Racelab team-mates collided which left Jake Hughes’ car in the wall. Guilherme Samia also had to pull his car to a stop at the pit entry.

    Day 2-

    Feature Race-

    The feature race was quite chaotic, it saw Oscar Piastri win, with his title rival Guanyu Zhou coming in second and a late charge by Dan Ticktum saw him finished 3rd.

    We had a total of 7 drivers not finish the race… First up was Guilherme Samaia, who lost it our of Lesmo 2 which at first brought out a VSC then a full safety car. Once the racing resumed it was all going on with a slow stop for Boschung who dropped to the back off the pack.

    Then a full safety car was deployed due to contact between Ticktum and Vips at the second chicane, Vips was pulling over with a problem when Ticktum made contact with his left rear but somehow managed to escape without damage. This then led to most of the grid to pit.

    Sato was running in P2, when he was forced to retire on lap ten as their was a loss of electrical power. Deledda then suffered damage on lap 13 after banging wheels with Enzo Fittipaldi.

    The Safety car was then needed for Liam Lawson on lap 222 as he suffered a fault with his fire extinguisher and had to ground to a halt, which was a shame for him as he was looking very strong in the race.

    And finally the last safety car came on the final lap as there was contact between Beckmann and Viscaal at the first chicane which saw one car in the wall and the other stranded on track…

    What does this mean for the championship?

    So going into this weekend, Oscar Piastri was leading the championship and luckily for him, coming out of this weekend he will still be leading it. Guanyu Zhou will follow him closely behind not giving up on the title fight.

    Our next race is in two weeks and we are in Sochi, Russia from the 24th to the 26th of September, where the title fight will continue!

  • Round 14- Monza Sprint

    That was our second sprint of this year done, and honestly i’m quite surprised in what happened!

    Bottas got a lovely start away and honestly I don’t think he looked back, where as his team-mate who started second went all the way back to 5th after a slow start.

    The top 10 results are- P1: Bottas, P2: Verstappen, P3: Ricciardo, P4: Norris, P5: Hamilton, P6: Leclerc, P7: Sainz, P8: Giovinazzi, P9: Perez and P10: Stroll.

    So you would think Bottas gets pole as his finished first etc, but he does not as he is actually starting at the back of the grid because of a new engine, so he will be on a charge tomorrow to get in the points. So that means, all the drivers move up a place, we now have Max and Daniel on the front row, with Norris and Hamilton just behind and then both Ferrari’s making the third row.

    Pierre Gasly, crashed in the sprint as he made contact with a McLaren at Turn 1 his front wing went underneath his front wheels which saw him speed into the gravel and hitting the wall, this now will see him start P19 tomorrow. But I wouldn’t say Gasly’s out of contention for some points tomorrow, as last year he started P10 and then went on to win the race so anything could be possible…

    Who needs a good day tomorrow-

    I’d definitely say Gasly and Bottas, they both will want to be on the charge and make sure they get in the points, which is possible as anything can happen at Monza. If they both have good strategies I can’t see them not scoring…

    Hamilton, he has a bit of work to do tomorrow which I know people think his only in fourth, but if Max gets a good lead from the start he could be in a bit of trouble. Lewis knows Red Bull have a good car so I think his main objective tomorrow is to beat Verstappen.

    I’d also say Perez, he finished the Sprint in the same place he started, which isn’t ideal at all. I thought he would of done some risk overtakes to get higher up so he can be closer to his team-mate but obviously he didn’t want to risk starting at the back of the grid.

    Predictions-

    My top 5 predictions for tomorrow are- P1: Verstappen, P2: Hamilton, P3: Ricciardo, P4: Norris and P5: Sainz. I think fastest lap will go to Hamilton.

    I’d like to see both Aston Martins finish in the top 10, Stroll is already starting from P9 and Vettel P11. So again if they get their strategy right then hopefully we could see them finish in a good position.

    Times for tomorrow-

    The times for the race are: 14:00pm (BST) and 15:00pm (CEST). We also have F2 in the morning and that will be starting at 9:25am (BST) and 10:25am (CEST).