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  • French GP

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

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

    Who needs a good weekend?

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

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

    Track Limits-

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

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

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

    Predictions for Qualifying-

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

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

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

  • Tyres for French Grand Prix

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

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

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

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

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

  • Ocon to stay with Alpine

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

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

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

    My Opinion-

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

  • Should we ban wind tunnels?

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

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

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

    What is a wind tunnel?

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

    Eight out of 10 teams favour scrapping wind tunnels…

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

    Does every team have a wind tunnel?

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

    My Opinion-

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

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

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

  • Roberts to leave Williams

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

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

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

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

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

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

  • Pirelli tyres

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

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

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

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

    My Opinion:

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

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

    Sky Sports Video on Youtube

  • Round 6- Baku Race

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  • F2 Baku- Day 2 & 3

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

    Day 2-

    Sprint Race 1-

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

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

    Sprint Race 2-

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

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

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

    Day 3-

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

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

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

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

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

  • Round 6- Baku Quali

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

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

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

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

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

    My Predictions-

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

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

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

  • F2 Baku- Day 1

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

    Free Practice-

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

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

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

    Qualifying-

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

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

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

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

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

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

  • Azerbaijan

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

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

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

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

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

    Predictions for Qualifying:

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

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

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

  • Petecof confirms F2 exit

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

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

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

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

  • Tyres for Azerbaijan

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

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

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

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

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

  • Mugello ready for a return

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

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

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

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

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

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

  • Flexi wing saga

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

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

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

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

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

    What are the regulations?

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

    My opinion-

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

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

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

  • Round 5- Monaco Race

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  • F2 Monaco- Day 3

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

    Sprint Race 2-

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

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

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

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

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

    Feature Race-

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

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

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

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

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

    What’s next?

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

  • Round 5- Monaco Quali

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Predictions:

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

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

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

  • F2 Monaco- Day 1 & 2

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

    Day 1-

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

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

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

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

    Day 2-

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

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

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

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

  • Monaco

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

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

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

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

    Predictions for Qualifying:

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

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

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

  • Lando signs multi year deal

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

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

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

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

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

  • McLaren’s special livery

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

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

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

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

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

  • Turkey Cancelled…

    After lots of speculation that Turkey may be cancelled due to Covid-19 travel restrictions its now been announced today that we won’t be racing there on the 11th-13th of June. It only got announced a fortnight ago that Turkey was in the calendar again as it replaced the Canadian Grand Prix.

    However, the French Grand Prix has now moved a week earlier than planned to June 18th-20th and we now have a second race in Austria- the Styrian Grand Prix on the 25th-27th June.

    This now creates a France-Styria-Austria triple header, with the original Austrian Grand Prix staying in its original slot, meaning that there is now a two week break from the second Austrian Grand Prix to the British Grand Prix.

    I was really looking forward to seeing Turkey back on the calendar again this year as last years race was good, i’m hoping F1 might keep it as a back up just like China incase other races get cancelled later on in the year… I’m not to sure if having two Austrian races is the right call but its all about sticking to the Covid restrictions in each country, however saying this i’m glad we still have the 23 races.

  • Hamilton to stay?

    7 time world champion Lewis Hamilton has said he wants to negotiate a contract earlier this year, as the contract for this year went over to winter break and he said it had “ruined” his time off… The Brit didn’t manage to sign the contract till early February, just over one month away from the pre-season testing and it only being a one year extension.

    Lewis volunteered to test the new 18″ Pirelli tyres for the 2022 season and after being asked why he volunteered at Imola, he replied back saying he plans to be here next year. You can see why he wants to be here next year as obviously after testing the new tyres he knew it wasn’t his time to leave the sport yet and he feels good about them…

    The question everyone is wondering is will he have a new teammate next year? And if he wins the 8th title this year, meaning he will break Michael Schumacher’s record, could he be aiming for his 9th?👀

    To be honest, I want him to stay and I don’t think his ready to leave for at least a few years yet! You can tell how happy and passionate he is in the sport and when his winning/making history.

  • Round 4- Spain Race

    And what a race that was!! I didn’t expect too much to happen but wow😳

    Lewis Hamilton extends his lead in the championship after finishing first, Verstappen finished second after not being able to hold of Lewis after his second pit stop… Verstappen also ended up taking fastest lap too and then we have Bottas who ended up finishing 3rd.

    P4 goes to Leclerc and P5 to Perez who was followed by Daniel Ricciardo. Whatever Ricciardo has done this weekend is obviously working, the only way is up from here🤞🏻

    There was a yellow flag earlier on in the race due to Tsunoda stopping at Turn 10 making his race stop earlier than expected :(

    I definitely thought that the Aston Martins might pull something out of the bag this weekend as both drivers have now got the upgrades but maybe it wasn’t the track for them 🤷🏻‍♀️

    Next up we have Monte Carlo on the weekend off 20th to 23rd May, it’s the race that everyone wants to win, so tune in for more details across the race weekend🤩

  • Round 4- Spain Quali

    Get in there!!! That is 100 poles for Lewis Hamilton 🙌🏻👏🏻 His closely followed by Verstappen and then Bottas…

    The two Ferrari boys seemed to be going good with Leclerc starting P4 and Sainz P6 they have definitely fount the pace…

    Ocon really surprised me he splits the Ferrari’s and obviously the improvements to the Alpine are working as Alonso starts in P10, not the best showing for his home race however😬

    I actually expected better from Perez… his starting in P8 as he spun at turn 13 earlier in Q3 which meant he could only set one time in the session, he will be on the hunt tomorrow…

    A team I haven’t mentioned recently is the Alpha Tauri’s, I feel like Gasly is doing well as usual but poor Tusonda his just gone down hill since the beginning of the season, hopefully we get to see him finish in the points tomorrow🤞🏻

    Predictions for tomorrow are P1 for Hamilton, P2 for Verstappen, P3 for Leclerc, P4 for Ricciardo and P5 for Norris😬, all eyes on to tomorrow👀🤞🏻

  • Spanish Grand Prix

    We are now onto our fourth race out of twenty-one!! This weekend in we are in Barcelona, Spain. It is the home race of Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz.

    The McLaren boys will want to keep up their streak of being the only team which has finished in the points in all the races👀 Bottas will also want to show the world that he deserves the seat his currently in and stop the speculation too😬

    We have 66 laps on Sunday of the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya with 16 corners in total and a restructured turn 10 this year👏🏻

    Overtaking chances? Is there any or is it restricted? Well… at the end of the two DRS zones into tight corners are the best opportunity for the drivers, this would be at the end of the back straight and the pit straight.

    Predictions over the weekend: Well considering we’re only three races in it’s so tight already and not just for the Championship. I don’t think anyone has currently got the upper hand over anyone else, I’d say if anything we may see that happening in the next few races.

    This weekend will be more familiar and normal to the drivers including the newbies. Given the fact that the teams usually test here we should see a real indication to how the teams are shaping up and improvements etc.

    My top 5 predictions for tomorrow for qualifying is: P1- Hamilton, P2- Bottas, P3- Perez, P4- Norris and P5-Vertsappen

  • Grosjean’s special return

    It got announced today that Romain Grosjean is making a special return to F1 with a one off Mercedes test. Seven months on from his horrific crash at the Bahrain Grand Prix and he was determined that his final time in an F1 car wouldn’t be the crash.

    When Grosjean was recovering in the hospital he had received a promise of an F1 test with Mercedes from the main man Toto Wolff… And Toto kept that promise, Grosjean will drive Lewis Hamilton’s 2019 championship winning W10 in a full day test at the French Grand Prix venue Circuit Paul Ricard on June the 29th, he will also pilot the car for a series of demonstration laps ahead of his home race at the same venue two days earlier.

    After an amazing stint of 10 seasons in F1, Romain is now on a new chapter of his racing career, as he is now competing in IndyCar for Dale Coyne Racing.

    I think its such a remarkable and amazing thing to do after such a horrifying crash! It made me so happy when I saw the announcement today, Grosjean is definitely an inspiration to everyone! I didn’t have a doubt in my mind that Mercedes or Toto wouldn’t go through with the promise! 🙌🏻

    If you wasn’t planning on watching the French Grand Prix, I think you should change that! Going to be an emotional one on the 27th of June❤️

  • Round 3- Portimao Race

    And that’s another win for Lewis!! Making him have an 8 point advantage on Verstappen🙌🏻👏🏻 We then had Verstappen 2nd and Bottas 3rd, Bottas also managed to get fastest lap after Max originally got it but he exceeded track limits so it got deleted👀

    Another amazing drive for Lando Norris, unfortunately no podium for him this time around but he did manage to finish P5 and also Daniel Ricciardo from starting at P16 to finishing in the points at P9👏🏻 Amazing drive from the Aussie!

    We had one safety car this race as predicted and that was for Kimi Raikkonen when trying to over take his team mate early on in the race which means Kimi’s race ended quicker than expected😬

    Perez seemed to be on form today more than Verstappen anyway👀, unfortunately he missed out on the podium just but done his best finish with the Red Bull team!

    The Alpine pair were on fire today Ocon finished P7 and Alonso P8, Alonso done some amazing overtakes towards the end of the race trying to get more points for the team!

    We only have to wait a week till the next race and we are in Barcelona 🇪🇸 all eyes onto then👀

  • Round 3- Portimao Quali

    And that is a 1-2 for the Mercedes boys 👏🏻🙌🏻they fully deserve it this weekend they’ve been so strong throughout all the sessions, gutted Lewis didn’t get his 100th pole but there’s plenty more opportunities😉

    At least my predictions are more on point this week!!🤣🤣 It was a bit touch and go whether the McLaren’s would get into the top 10 but Norris managed it and will be starting at P7 tomorrow! Poor Ricciardo starting in P16 absolutely gutted for him his got some work to do tomorrow…

    Mr Saturday (aka George Russell) starting P11!! Just missing out on Q3 😖let’s hope he has an amazing race tomorrow and maybe even score some points👀 Also Vettel too!! Finally back into Q3 and I am so happy to see it! Let’s see what he can do tomorrow.

    I feel like this track doesn’t suit the Red Bulls especially on the mediums… it’s all too play for tomorrow and Verstappen isn’t going to give up on the title fight🤩

    Predictions for tomorrow are… P1 for Hamilton, P2 for Sainz and P3 for Lando, I’d love to see two former teammates on the podium. Once again would love to see Russell get some points and Vettel too🙌🏻. I feel like there may be at least one safety car as the winds affect this track quite a bit as we’ve seen over the past 2 days…