Wehrlein flew away from the second row of the grid to sweep around the outside of poleistter Guenther and P2 Barnard at the long, tightening right hander at Turn 1. Standings leader Rowland, meanwhile made up five spots on Lap 1 to find himself second, ahead of Guenther.
The leaders squabbled hard with positions swapping through Lap 2 before it all got a bit too close through the chicane with Cassidy coming off worst – spat out into a half spin and down to the back of the field – Rowland, Guenther and Hughes somehow unscathed amid the crunching carbon fibre to lead the pack on Lap 4.
Vandoorne was first to jump for the initial of his two 50kW four-wheel driver Attack Mode boosts and clambered up to the front of the field come Lap 6, taking advantage of some minor contact between Hughes and Rowland which saw both stumble.
Positions cycled as energy usage came to the fore through the first third of the race, and Attack Mode started to come into play. De Vries led di Grassi, Rowland, Guenther, Buemi, Vandoorne the top six on Lap 9 – while reigning champion Wehrlein slipped as far as 12th through the first round of Attack.
The Porsche driver made it back up to P5 come the end of his first 50kw boost, with Rowland and Guenther still to activate.
Rowland looked to be employing the same strategy as he did in Jeddah, during the first PIT BOOST race – going later for his first Attack to get to clear air out front before pitting, with leader de Vries covering that strategy off and matching the Brit up.
Mueller’s early leap for PIT BOOST left him well placed as he fired in the quick laps to go gain enough time on those yet to stop to leave him the net race lead as it stood. Rowland and Guenther had to put their foot down to counter, and they duly did – doing just enough on Lap 18 to emerge from their stops out front.
A lap later, and Wehrlein, who had put pressure on the leaders prior to his PIT BOOST stop, then split Guenther and Rowland to emerge P2.
On lap 19, Robin Frijns, who’d quietly found his way through the pack to fourth, made a move on Rowland for third, as it stood – 13 places gained.
Those yet to use their final Attack Mode, and had energy in-hand then chose to leap. Barnard jumped the lead group to slice by the front-runners through the final chicane and away from the pack to the tune of almost two seconds on Lap 21 the NEOM McLaren driver dropping Guenther, de Vries and Wehrlein.
Guenther had half a minute of Attack over Rowland himself, and pressured the Nissan through the final laps before making a move count on Lap 26 over the start/finish.
On lap 27, Barnard produced a storming move on Rowland for second – hanging it around the outside of Rowland to steal up the inside of the Nissan into the chicane, with Ticktum following in the melee to clamber onto the final step on the podium.
On the final lap, Guenther was home and dry out front but behind it was all kicking off. Ticktum pressured Barnard, with a dive into Turn 1 followed a move at the chicane. He leapt outside of Barnard while Vergne jumped inside the McLaren to bypass Ticktum in the process into second.
The full top 10 are- P1: Guenther, P2: Vergne, P3: Barnard, P4: Ticktum, P5: Rowland, P6: Nato, P7: Bird, P8: De Vries, P9: Buemi and P10: Frijns.
Roman Bilinski immediately covered off Martinius Stenshorne from the front row, but the Hitech TGR driver dived to the inside at Turn 1, while Tim Tramnitz opted for the outside line. The MP Motorsport driver collided with Stenshorne, spinning the Norwegian into the path of Bilinski.
All three were out as a result of the contact, while a great start for Ivan Domingues from sixth on the grid left the rookie with the lead.
The Safety Car was deployed for various incidents on the opening lap, including a collision between Tuukka Taponen and Rafael Camara. The ART Grand Prix suffered a slow getaway and the Trident driver was left unsighted, and with nowhere to go the pair made race-ending contact.
The Safety Car was withdrawn and the Sprint resumed entering Lap 5, with Domingues getting a good restart to lead Noah Stromsted and Laurens van Hoepen in the top three.
Alessandro Giusti had to avoid contact with teammate Tramnitz on the opening lap but his recovery from P10 started with a move on the other MP driver Bruno del Pino at Turn 4.
Van Hoepen fell back from the top two after the restart, but Ramos was right with the ART car, and with DRS on lap 9, the Mexican driver secured P3 into Turn 1.
Lap 12 and Theophile Nael looked to pull off a pass on James Wharton at Turn 1, the pair going wheel to wheel at Turn 1 that left the VAR driver taking to the escape road.
Onto Lap 13 and Van Hoepen lost another spot, this time to Campos’ Tsolov as the Bulgarian driver rounded the ART into Turn 1.
Giusti moved himself into seventh on Lap 15, using DRS to pass Wharton down the main straight. A few corners later, an opportunistic dive to the inside of Turn 5 gave Mari Boya 10th position in a great pass on compatriot del Pino.
Boya’s charge continued at the expense of Leon the following lap, a DRS pass for ninth into the first corner on the PREMA Racing driver putting him in eighth.
With five laps to go, Stromsted began to close back in on the race leader, lapping 0.3s quicker than Domingues and the Trident rookie was on the cusp of gaining DRS once more. But as the pair were about to begin Lap 18, the Dane suddenly slowed, pulling into the pitlane retiring from the race.
It left Domingues to lead home a 1-2 for VAR with Ramos second on a great day for the team, Tsolov was third for Campos.
The full top 10 are- P1: Domignues, P2: Ramos, P3: Tsolov, P4: van Hoepen, P5: Nael, P6: Giusti, P7: Boya, P8: Wharton, P9: Inthraphuvasak and P10: Leon.
Day 3-
Camara aced his start but Nikola Tsolov didn’t, he was slow to get up to speed and fell to eighth by the time they made turn 1.
The Championship leader retained the lead ahead of Laurens van Hoepen and Nael in second and third respectively as the top three built a comfortable gap to Tuukka Taponen in fourth by the end of the first lap.
Contact between Roman Bilinski and Jose Garfias brought out the Safety Car on Lap 3, the pair tangling at Turn 4 and coming to a halt. With their cars cleared, racing resumed going onto Lap 8 and after a great start from P10 on the grid, Martinus Stenshorne claimed P4 from Taponen at the first corner.
The Finn’s day was made worse on the following lap as he slowed and dropped to the back of the field.
Alessandro Giusti moved up into the top five as a result and that soon became fourth, with a pass on Stenshorne into the first corner on Lap 11.
The top three continued to break away from the chasing pack and were two seconds clear by Lap 14, as van Hoepen and Nael remained within DRS range in the lead battle.
Further back, Tsolov moved himself back into the top five with a DRS pass on Stenshorne on Lap 17. Ivan Domingues repeated the move on the following lap to demote the Hitech TGR driver to seventh position.
Lap 18 and contact between Nicola Lacorte and Brando Badoer resulted in the PREMA Racing driver getting stuck in the gravel trap at Turn 1, bringing out the Safety Car once more.
Racing resumed on Lap 21 and van Hoepen was under pressure from Nael in the podium battle. The Frenchman pulled off a brave overtake on the outside of turn 1 to move up to second.
Their fighting allowed Camara to escape up the road and out of DRS range and he went on to claim win number three of 2025 for Trident.
The full top 10 are- P1: Camara, P2: Nael, P3: Giusti, P4: Van Hoepen, P5: Tsolov, P6: Domingues, P7: Tramnitz, P8: Stromsted, P9: Stenshorne and P10: Voisin.
Oscar Piastri has further strengthened his championship lead by clinching a commanding victory in the Spanish Grand Prix, the Australian leading teammate Lando Norris in a McLaren 1-2 amid a dramatic end to the race.
Piastri made an excellent start from pole position, allowing the 24 year old to build an early lead from Verstappen who had overtaken Norris into Turn 1. Norris later retook the position – only for Verstappen to leapfrog both McLaren’s after the first pit stops, putting himself into P1.
This proved to brief, as the Dutchman pitted early for a second stop, handling the lead back to Piastri all of which triggered much intrigue over whether Verstappen would opt for a three stop strategy.
Verstappen did indeed embark on a three stop – but the whole picture was dramatically shaken up when a Safety Car was deployed in the latter stages after Kimi Antonelli’s Mercedes pulled off track with a mechanical issue prompting most of the frontrunners to pit again.
The full top 10 are- P1: Piastri, P2: Norris, P3: Leclerc, P4: Russell, P5: Hulkenberg, P6: Hamilton, P7: Hadjar, P8: Gasly, P9: Alonso and P10: Verstappen.
A lovely result from McLaren, a 1-2 for the Papaya team, I don’t think they had anything to worry about as their pace was just incredible. Piastri kept it cool, calm and collected as always and produced a lovely drive.
P3 for Leclerc, an unexpected podium for the Ferrari driver, but sometimes being there when another driver makes a mistake is sometimes a good thing. As for his teammate, Hamilton finished 6th he didn’t have the best race, he seemed to struggle a lot but still managed to get some decent points.
P4 for Russell, a good result for the Mercedes driver finally after two bad race weekends. Unfortunately for his teammate, it was a horrible weekend, he went into the gravel with a mechanical issue saw him out of the race.
P5 for Hulkenberg! A lovely result for him and the team, a massive points haul! Hulkenberg was pulling off some lovely overtakes and that result is very well deserved.
P7 for Hadjar, another points finish for the young driver. As for his teammate, Lawson was just outside of the top 10. He finished in 11th.
Points for Fernando Alonso finally! P9 on home soil for the Spanish driver. He was also the only Aston Martin car on the grid yesterday, so a good result for the team.
Now we have a little break after a triple header, for Round 10, we are heading to Canada!
Oscar Piastri has grabbed his fourth pole position of the season during Qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix, the championship leader beating McLaren teammate Lando Norris in the dying moment of the session.
After setting the pace across Q1 and Q2, Piastri lost out to Norris when the opening runs of Q3 took place, the Briton having snatched provisional pole. But it was advantage Piastri as the final flying laps came in, the Aussie putting in a 1m 11.546s to go 0.209s quicker.
Max Verstappen put in another solid performance to slot into third for Red Bull, while Mercedes’ George Russell set an identical lap time to the Dutchman but had to settle for fourth after crossing the line later.
The full top 10 are- Pole: Piastri, P2: Norris, P3: Verstappen, P4: Russell, P5: Hamilton, P6: Antonelli, P7: Leclerc, P8: Gasly, P9: Hadjar and P10: Alonso.
A lovely result for McLaren, a 1-2 finish in qualifying for the team, which is the best result they would of wanted going into this weekend. They will want to grab another 1-2 in the race today, but who is favoured to win? And will team orders come into play?
A great result for Verstappen, keeping himself in the top 3. The Dutchman will be keeping close going into Turn 1 to see if he can go into the lead and try and grab as many points as he can for both championships. As for his teammate, Tsunoda qualified 20th… not a good result at all and no where near his teammate either, this is going to really hurt Red Bull in the Constructors’ if he doesn’t score points.
Lewis Hamilton qualifies 5th, a good result for the Ferrari driver, in a decent position to score a good amount of points too, maybe even a possible podium depending on strategies. As for his teammate, Leclerc qualified 7th, could’ve been a lot better but still in the top 10.
Russell had a much better qualifying compared to last week in Monaco, P4 for the Brit, he will be aiming for a podium today. So watch out for the battles from the Mercedes driver.
P9 for Isack Hadjar, the rookie driver loves a top 10 start! I feel like this is just expected now from the Racing Bulls driver.
A little mention to Gabriel Bortoleto, qualified in his highest position so far in P12, hopefully (fingers crossed) he can score his first points this weekend.
Aston Martin have announced that Lance Stroll will not be taking part in the Spanish Grand Prix, with the Canadian set to undergo a medical procedure after experiencing pain in his hand and wrist.
After participating in qualifying at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya – a session he finished 14th – the team confirmed a few hours later that Stroll is set to miss the remainder of the weekend.
Stroll sustained fractures and a broken toe after a cycling accident during the 2023 pre-season, which led him to go for surgery as well as a rehabilitation process. He went on to make his return in time for the first race of the camapgin.
The 26 year old went on to finish that even – in sixth place, despite later revealing that his medical team had initially doubted whether he would be able to compete in the opening races of the season.
Ahead of the 2024 season, Stroll admitted that he had to adapt to a more cautious approach to his training programme.
The 2025 season has marked Stroll’s seventh season with the Aston Martin team, having joined the team in 2019, when it was running under the Racing Point guise. He currently sits 11th in the Drivers’ Championship on 14 points.
Over the course of the past six weeks Lance has been experiencing pain in his hand and wrist, which his medical consultant believes is in relation to the procedure he underwent in 2023. As a result his medical team have confirmed that he will not race tomorrow and he will undergo a procedure to rectify these issues before focusing on his recovery. A statement from the team.
Rafael Camara made a bright start to the Barcelona weekend, setting a 1:29.024 to finish up as the quickest driver in Free Practice for Trident.
The Brazilian logged his best effort on his attempt, and finished the session 0.3s quicker than closest challenger Alessandro Giusti of MP Motorsport. Home hero, Mari Boya was third for Campos Racing.
Teams looked to maximise their track time with relevant running in the only session ahead of Qualifying, so opted to wait before getting serious running underway.
With his first lap of the day, Camara set the time to beat with a 1:29.024 in the Trident, while Giusti slotted into second, 0.322s down on the Championship leader.
Boya made a strong start to his home weekend as he went third-quickest in his Campos, while Martinius Stenshorne and Tim Tramnitz rounded out the top five after the first round of laps.
Trident remained on track, while everyone returned to the pitlane with just over 10 minutes to go, and Charlie Wurz improved to go fourth on a 1:29.615.
With tyre life at a premium in hot conditions, there were very few improvements after the first set of laps in the closing minutes.
Qualifying-
Rafael Camara was in formidable form in Barcelona Qualifying, taking his fourth pole position in the opening five rounds of the 2025 season.
The Trident driver set a 1:28.761 for the top spot, 0.2s clear of Campos Racing’s Nikola Tsolov and ART Grand Prix driver Laurens van Hoepen in third.
The battle for track position started immediately as drivers sought the ideal place to gain a tow but avoid traffic ahead of them. Eventually Noah Stromsted won a place at the front of the queue with Trident teammate Rafael Camara right behind them.
The Trident pair completed their laps, but they were instantly beaten by Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak on a 1:29.433 who set the early benchmark.
Tuukka Taponen beat that on his first flying lap as ART Grand Prix opted to run their trio off sequence and later than the rest. The Finn pipped Inthraphuvasak by 0.042s, as teammate James Wharton slotted into third place.
Track limits became a big factor as drivers returned to the pitlane, with several drivers losing their original times for exceeding track limits. Tim Tramnitz was one of those along with Tsolov, leaving both without a lap going into the second runs.
Tsolov delivered a time good enough for P4 to kick off second round of laptimes, but Camara behind was flying.
A 1:28.671 put him on provisional pole ahead of the ART’s van Hoepen, while Alessandro Giusti and Tramnitz followed in third and fourth.
Into the final runs, Camara told his team he’d wait to head back out in order to get a clean track, while his rivals rejoined the circuit to try and dislodge him for P1.
But nobody could prevent Camara from sealing his fourth pole of the season. Tsolov and van Hoepen were his closest challengers in second and third after the Campos driver improved on his last attempt.
The full top 10 are- Pole: Camara, P2: Tsolov, P3: van Hoepen, P4: Nael, P5: Ramos, P6: Giusti, P7: Domingues, P8: Stromsted, P9: Taponen and P10: Tramnitz.
The second triple-header of the season concludes at another classic Formula 1 track, the Barcelona-Catalunya circuit that has hosted the Spanish Grand Prix every year since 1991.
It’s an eagerly awaited event as the track is one of the most complete in offering a full range of technical challenges. That’s why it was one of the most popular tracks for testing, on the basis if a car works well here it does everywhere else.
Since the inaugural race in 1991, the track has undergone several modifications, especially in the final part, with various attempts made to create overtaking opportunities.
In 2023, the original configuration was restored, with the final two corners linked so as to make for a much faster entry onto the pit straight, one of the longest on the calendar.
In the race, drivers tackle 66 laps of the 4.657 kilometre track with its 14 corners. The highest downforce corners are turns 3 and 9, both right handers.
Not only is the track challenging for the cars, it also places high demands on the tyres. After two consecutive rounds featuring the softest trio in the 2025 range, as usual Pirelli has chosen the hardest, namely the C1 (Hard), C2 (Medium) and C3 (Soft).
The forces exerted on the tyres are medium to high, because of the many fast corners, such as turn 3 and the final two, both of them righthanders. The corner of the car subjected to the greatest stress is the front left, as right hand turns are in the majority.
Even if the Barcelona-Catalunya circuit is no longer used for testing by the teams, because of the virtual elimination of in-season testing a reduction in pre-season work, it is still a very important test bench.
🔙 The hardest compounds return for the #SpanishGP! Pirelli selects C1 (Hard), C2 (Medium), and C3 (Soft) for the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, one of the most demanding tracks on the calendar. Read more here 👉 https://t.co/KwAcw1xZSQ#F1pic.twitter.com/9H0yIKjV2a
Haas have confirmed Ryo Hirakawa will replace Esteban Ocon during FP1 at the Spanish Grand Prix this weekend.
The Japanese driver will get his second first practice run out with the American team at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, having deputised for Ollie Bearman in Bahrain.
That came the week after Hirakawa stood in for Jack Doohan in the weekend-opening session at Suzuka, before promptly leaving Alpine early the following week to rejoin Haas, where he enjoyed test and reserve opportunities last season.
The 31 year old is expected to also compete in FP1 in Mexico and Abu Dhabi later this year, which will satisfy the team’s four rookie session requirements.
Hirakawa has strong links to the Banbury-based squad due to his ties to Toyota, which is a technical partner of the team.
Williams have confirmed that Victor Martins will participate in an F1 race weekend for the first time at the upcoming Spanish Grand Prix, by getting behind the wheel of the FW47 during Free Practice 1.
Martins who joined the Williams Driver Academy in March – is currently competing in his third Formula 2 season, during which he has so far scored a podium in the Saudi Arabia Feature Race as well as taking pole position in Melbourne.
The Frenchman previously won a closely-fought title fight in the 2022 Formula 3 campaign, beating drivers including Isack Hadjar and Ollie Bearman to take the crown at the Monza season finale.
Following his progression to F2, Martins helped the ART Grand Prix to secure their first F2 teams’ title in 2023 and went on to claim five podiums in 2024, which included a victory in Barcelona.
In preparation for his FP1 debut, Martins took part in the TPC (Testing of Previous Cars) programme in Monza earlier this year where he drove the FW45 alongside fellow Williams Racing Academy driver Luke Browning.
Martins’ FP1 appearance will mark the second of the team’s four mandated young driver sessions of the season, with Browning having previously been in action during first practice in Bahrain.
I’m super happy to be taking the wheel of the FW47 for the first time in Barcelona! It will be an incredible experience to drive for the team. I’m working hard to prepare as much as possible to maximise my time in the car and make it a valuable session for myself and the team. I’m hugely grateful to everyone at Atlassian Williams Racing for giving me this opportunity and I’m looking forward to enjoying every second of it! Martins on the news.
We’re proud that Victor will be taking part in his first Formula 1 session with Atlassian Williams Racing in Barcelona. He continues to demonstrate that he is a talented driver, and this session is an important step forward in his career as part of the Academy. His participation in our TPC programme and simulator work in Grove have prepared him well and we look forward to seeing him in the garage this weekend. Sven Smeets, Sporting Director at Williams.
It was a fast start from second for Stenshorne, but pole-sitter Alessandro Giusti had a slow getaway and dropped to fourth before reaching Turn 1.
Taponen was one of the beneficiaries of Giusti’s start as the ART driver went up to P2 ahead of his teammate van Hopen.
However, the Safety Car was deployed at the end of the opening lap as James Hedley, Nicola Lacorte, Santiago Ramos and Ivan Domingues collided at Turn 8, with all four drivers’ cars needing to be cleared up.
In a separate incident, Noel Leon and Callum Voisin made contact, forcing the PREMA Racing driver to stop on track with damage.
Back to racing conditions, Stenshorne was showing good pace out in front and had pulled out a one second gap to Taponen by the start of Lap 10, the rookie now coming under threat from van Hoepen.
Onto Lap 12, and the Norwegian’s lead was over 2.1s, while van Hoepen was less than two-tenths away from Taponen. However, by the end of the lap, the Finn driver reduced the gap to just 0.6s, while Charlie Wurz, in sixth, was now under pressure from his Trident teammate Rafael Camara.
Behind them, Mari Boya was under attack from Voisin, with his Rodin Motorsport teammates Louis Sharp and Roman Bilinski keeping a close eye on their battle.
Lap 15 of 23, Noah Stromsted reported a puncture after colliding with Brad Benavides. The damage forced the Trident rookie to retire after recovering to the pit lane.
Out in front, Stenshorne had built his lead back up to 1.3s clear by the end of Lap 17, with van Hoepen and Giusti right on the back of Taponen once again.
Onto the penultimate lap and Boya was having to hold off the Rodin trio for P8. Voisin then hit the rear of the Spaniard at the Nouvelle Chicane, causing him to have a slow exit, which allowed teammate Sharp to take ninth from him.
Back at the front, Stenshorne stormed off to win by 2.2s from Taponen, as van Hoepen rounded out the top three to achieve his first podium since the same race in 2024.
The full top 10 are- P1: Stenshorne, P2: Taponen, P3: van Hoepen, P4: Giusti, P5: Tramnitz, P6: Wurz, P7: Camara, P8: Boya, P9: Sharp and P10: Voisin.
Day 4-
It was a strong start for Tsolov, who got away well at lights out to keep the lead, but behind him the battle for a place in the top three got off to a fast start.
Bilinski immediately covered off Boya, but the Rodin driver was coming under attack from the Spaniard and his teammate Callum Voisin.
The Polish driver was able to keep the position, but Voisin then had a look to the inside of Boya at Turn 4, although the Campos #10 was able to shut the door.
The race settled down at the start of Lap 6, with Boya right on the back of Bilinski, just three-tenths separating the pair.
Behind them though and having overtaken Neol Leon at the start to go to fifth, Tim Tramnitz was closing in on the back of Vousun, who was also chasing down Boya for P3.
Lap 10 of 27 and Bilinski, having set the fastest lap on the previous tour, was within DRS range of Tsolov and built a 2.3s clear of Boya in third. Tsolov fought back on the next lap though, and by lap 13, the Campos driver had built his lead back up to two seconds.
Tsolov now 7.5s clear of Bilinski was the only driver in the top 10 lapping in the 1:26s. However, the Bulgarian’s big lead was taken away after the Safety Car was deployed on Lap 19, following Leon’s collision with the barrier at Portier.
His PREMA car was cleared and racing resumed on Lap 20, but there was a problem for Charlie Wurz. In P6, the Australian was running with a broken front wing.
Laurens van Hoepen made his way through at Tabac, but on the next lap, Wurz found the barrier Massanet, releasing the drivers behind him.
The Safety Car was soon out on track again with PREMA’s Brando Badoer stopped at Portier after a tangle with Nicola Marinangeli. The AIX driver was given a 10-second time penalty for causing the collision.
The action resumed on Lap 24 of 27 and it was more bad news for Trident, as Rafael Camara lost the rear right wheel on track, forcing him to retire from the race.
Out in front, Tsolov had marched off into the distance once more and was three seconds clear of Bilinski at the start of Lap 26.
Onto the final lap, and Voisin was fighting hard to get ahead of Boya, even brushing the barrier at Turn 1. Tsolov though had marched off into the distance and crossed the line to win for the fifth time in Formula 3.
The full top 10 are- P1: Tsolov, P2: Bilinski, P3: Boya, P4: Voisin, P5: Tramnitz, P6: van Hopen, P7: Taponen, P8: Stenshorne, P9: Sharp and P10: Giusti.
Lando Norris expertly converted pole position into victory during Sunday’s Monaco Grand Prix, leading home Ferrari rival Charles Leclerc and McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri.
Norris survived a massive lock-up at the first corner before working through Virtual Safety Car phases, spells of traffic and the mandated two-stop rule to score his second win of the season and slash Piastri’s championship lead.
Leclerc applied plenty of pressure at various stages of the race, including that initial run to Sainte Devote and late on when Verstappen backed the pack up, but ultimately had to settle for second with Piastri – now just three points clear of Norris in the standings – completing the podium.
Verstappen ran an off-set tyre strategy that saw the Red Bull driver go much longer across his stints, giving him the race lead into the very closing stages, but he dropped to fourth after completing his required second stop with a lap to go.
The full top 10 are- P1: Norris, P2: Leclerc, P3: Piastri, P4: Verstappen, P5: Hamilton, P6: Hadjar, P7: Ocon, P8: Lawson, P9: Albon and P10: Sainz.
What a result for Norris and McLaren!! This is exactly what Norris would’ve wanted this weekend, a win to boost his confidence as he has struggled in past weekends but this was a lovely drive by the Brit! As well, Piastri on the podium too, a big points haul for the Papaya team and boosting their lead in the Constructor’s Championship.
A lovely result for home hero, Charles Leclerc, P2! His second podium of the year too, it’s a shame he didn’t have that bit extra for the win, but McLaren are just so quick and its Monaco unfortunately there’s not many overtaking places where your not gonna risk it. As for his teammate, Hamilton finished P5, a good points haul for the Italian team which has now brought Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari all within 5 points of each other…
P4 for the reigning World Champion, he struggled with the car a lot this weekend, however he still managed to grab P4, a shame he didn’t get on the podium but a decent strategy from the team, it just didn’t pay off with the red flag they hoped for.
P6 for Isack Hadjar, what a lovely drive for the rookie, he stayed out of trouble and was rewarded with a decent amount of points! As for his teammate, Lawson also comes home with points finishing 8th, a decent weekend for the team overall.
P7 for Ocon in the Haas which we love to see! As for Bearman he made a few places up, finishing just outside the points in P12, but a decent effort from the Brit who started P20.
Now onto Mercedes, a horrible weekend for the team, both drivers out in Q2, they knew from there that it wasn’t their weekend, Russell finished 11th and Antonelli finished 18th.
Double point finish for Williams too, Albon 9th and Sainz 10th. The smaller teams have really benefited from both Mercedes not being in the top 10 this weekend, and honestly, this is what is going to matter closer to the end of the season when they’ve grabbed points as and when they can.
Now we don’t have to wait too long, as the next race is this week! For Round 9 we are headed to Barcelona for the Spanish Grand Prix!
Victor Martins was in a class of one on the opening day of running in Monte Carlo, logging a 1:21.715 to lead the way for ART Grand Prix.
The Frenchman was the only driver in the 1:21s in Practice, as Luke Browning and Leonardo Fornaroli followed in second and third places for Hitech TGR and Invicta Racing respectively.
With the first round of laps on the board, Championship leader Alexander Dunne set the pace on 1:25.666 for Rodin Motorsport.
Sami Meguetounif settled into second less than a tenth behind in the #22 Trident, with Gabriele Mini third for PREMA with 10 minutes gone.
Jak Crawford and then Martins brought the time to beat down, the ART driver took over P1 with a 1:24.014. The Frenchman then improved to go six-tenths clear, putting in a 1:23.230 on his next attempt.
Martins continued to fly, with the Williams Racing Academy talent improving onto a 1:22.623, with fellow Williams junior Browning in P2.
There was a brief lull as drivers returned to the pitlane for a fresh set of tyres before the final 15 minute spell of on-track running.
With Supersoft tyres fitted, Mini looked set to go quickest but a Red Flag was thrown after Amaury Cordeel nosed his Rodin Motorsport car into the Turn 1 barriers.
He was out of the car and the Rodin was recovered , leaving seven minutes of Free Practice left to run as things went back to green flag conditions.
There were several late improvements, with Mini resuming from where he left off prior to the temporary stoppage as he went quickest of all.
That was until Martins completed his Supersoft lap to go 0.7s clear of the pack with the fastest time of time of the day.
Browning and Fornaroli found a late improvement to go second and third quickest, splitting Martins and dropping Mini to fourth.
Day 2-
The even numbered cars kicked off the first segment and with warm up laps completed, Martins picked up his pace immediately to put in a 1:21.792 for the top spot by over a second.
Arvid Lindblad cut that gap down to just under three-tenths on his first effort for Campos Racing, going to second.
Into the final five minutes and Lindblad became the first driver to displace Martins from the top spot, going to provisional pole momentarily until Richard Verschoor secured P1 with a 1:21.520.
Martins had to abandon his second attempt after cutting the Nouvelle Chicane, but he moved back to provisional pole after a cool down lap, setting a 1:21.145.
On to the final attempts, Martins couldn’t improve but he had done enough to retain the top sport in Group A, finishing up 0.375s ahead of Verschoor in P2.
With the target set, the odd numbered cars followed out of the pitlane, and just as the first flying laps were set to get underway, the red flags were waving.
Rafael Villagomez found the barriers at the final corner after a squabble for track position with Alexander Dunne.
Once the Van Amersfoort Racing car was recovered, the stewards confirmed the incident would be investigated after the session.
Preparation laps complete, Dunne set the pace with a 1:21.781 to go to P1 ahead of Leonardo Fornaroli of Invicta Racing.
As the session ticked into the final three minutes, the next set of laps arrived and the Championship leader improved onto a 1:21.437. Sebastian Montoya found more time also.
With less than a minute to go, Dunne found a session-best first and second sector time and a final sector good enough to set a 1:21.142.
Fornaroli improved to second position, but third placed driver Montoya spun to bring out the yellow flags in the final sector.
The full top 10 overall is- P1: Dunne, P2: Martins, P3: Fornaroli, P4: Verschoor, P5: Montoya, P6: Lindblad, P7: Crawford, P8: Mini, P9: Browning and P10: Maini.
Nikola Tsolov ended Day 1 of running in Monte Carlo on top, as the Campos Racing driver led the way in Free Practice with a 1:25.622.
The Bulgarian driver beat MP Motorsport’s Tim Tramnitz to the top time by 0.219s, as Trident’s Charlie Wurz rounded out the top three.
The drivers were immediately out on track on the carry over Medium tyres from Imola, looking to get up to speed as quickly as possible, as Callum Voisin led the way early on.
The Rodin Motorsport driver’s 1:29.512 was the benchmark but as the times improved, Tramnitz overtook P1 with a 1:28.875, leading his rookie MP teammate Alessandro Giusti by 0.114s.
The German continued to set the pace, completing a 1:27.733, before going even quicker to a 1:27.459, wit Giusti in P2 once more, over half a second behind.
The MP pairing were setting the timesheets alight as Giusti crossed the line to go P1, but only briefly as Tramnitz completed a 1:27.092 to eclipse his teammate by 0.082s.
After 25 minutes of running, the teams swapped the Mediums for the Soft tyres, looking to give the drivers a feel for the compound they will be using for the rest of the weekend.
But as the drivers set off on their laps, Trident’s Noah Stromsted collided with the barrier at Turn 1, bringing out the Red Flags with less than 12 minutes to go in the session.
Green flag conditions returned with six minutes remaining, and it was Campos’ Mari Boya that took to the top on a 1:26.393.
However, as the chequered flag waved, the fastest time changed hands several times, before Tsolov ended the session on top with a 1:25.622.
Day 2-
The first 15 drivers headed out for Qualifying and after a few preparation laps, Tsolov went fastest on a 1:26.072, with PREMA Racing’s Noel Leon in P2, 0.261s behind.
Tsolov retained his place at the top with a 1:26.647 on his next push lap, but his gap to Leon on this occasion was 0.102s, as Brad Benavides went into the top three for AIX Racing.
The drivers had time for a couple more laps and the timesheets were being set alight as there were several personal best times being set.
Leon went quickest on a 1:25.502, but he was soon beaten by the other Campos of Mari Boya by 0.022s with Charlie Wurz in P3 for Trident, just 0.034s off provisional pole.
Tsolov was flying though, and he completed a 1:24.882 to take provisional pole. Wurz followed him across the line to go second, over half a second behind the Bulgarian.
But Boya was improving once again and set the fastest first sector of the session. However, the Spaniard just did not have enough to beat Tsolov, crossing the line to go P2, 0.127s off his teammate.
Leon’s late lap took him to P3 ahead of Wurz, with Tuukka Taponen in fifth for ART Grand Prix, as Martinius Stenshorne rounded out the top six for Hitech TGR.
With another 16 minutes on the clock, the second set of drivers went out on to the track with a 1:24.882 the time to beat. Trident’s Rafael Camara set the early pace with a 1:25.635, 0.123s quicker than Voisin in second.
On the next set of laps, Voisin’s 1:25.359 was now the benchmark for the rest of the field to beat, and Bilinski made it a Rodin one-two by going to within 0.104s off his teammate’s time.
However, as the drivers set off on their next laps, PREMA’s Brando Badoer hit the barrier at Turn 1, bringing out the Red Flags.
Green flags were waved and the drivers had only just three minutes and 21 seconds to try and get their best time of the day in.
Bilinski was one of the few that could improve though. His 1:25.332 put him in P1, but it was not enough to beat Tsolov’s pole-sealing time, giving Campos their first FIA F3 pole since Spa-Francorchamps in 2023.
The full top 10 are- Pole: Tsolov, P2: Bilinski, P3: Boya, P4: Voisin, P5: Leon, P6: Tramnitz, P7: Wurz, P8: Camara, P9: Taponen and P10: van Hoepen.
The Monaco Grand Prix is one of the most iconic and prestigious events on the Formula 1 calendar, not just because of its long history but also because of the mystique that surrounds it.
Narrow streets, tight turns, steep climbs and descents and the famous tunnel that leads onto the harbour are some of the defining characteristics that make Monaco a track like no other. It’s a place where precision is more important than power, with virtually no room for mistakes.
Winding its way through the streets of the Principality usually open to normal traffic, the track is 3.337 kilometres long and tackled 78 times in the race. Very narrow with 19 corners, some of them very tight, there are virtually no run-off areas and the barriers are so close that the drivers often brush up against them.
Around half the track has been resurfaced, specifically from Turn 12 to Turn 3, so that this section should now be as smooth as the rest of the circuit. This type of surface does not promote tyre grip and could lead to graining, especially in the first couple of practice sessions.
For a second consecutive race, Pirelli has selected the three softest compounds from the 2025 range. As in Imola last week, the C4 (Hard), C5 (Medium) and C6 (Soft), with the first two being the mandatory compounds for the race.
This weekend will see an important change to the regulations, specifically for this event only. During the race, two pit stops will be mandatory, the aim for this is to inject more excitement into a race that has often been very linear and predictable.
In the Monaco Grand Prix drivers usually pit just once to change tyres, but last year out of theoretical field of 20, only six drivers made an actual in-race pit stop.
That was because the race was red flagged on the opening lap so that all the drivers still in the race were able to immediately adhere to the rule that two different compounds must be used, with the nine who started on the medium switching to the hard and the remaining 11 doing the opposite.
Precision, glamour, heritage. The #MonacoGP is more than just a race — it's the purest expression of @F1.
Discover what makes Monte Carlo truly unique from a tyre point of view.
McLaren have revealed a special ‘Riviera-inspired’ livery enhancement that will run on their Formula 1 cars at the upcoming Monaco and Spanish Grand Prix.
In collaboration with team partner OKX, the livery change is a nod to McLaren’s iconic M7A race car, while “drawing inspiration from the elegance of the Riviera”.
The M7A was the car with which founder Bruce McLaren claimed the team’s first F1 victory at the 1968 Belgian Grand Prix – as well as being the machine that debuted their now legendary papaya livery.
McLaren’s new design will run on both MCL39s throughout the entirety of the Monaco and Spanish Grand Prix weekends, with drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri also sporting fresh overalls in Monaco.
It is not the first time McLaren have run a bespoke livery in Monaco, with the squad unveiling an Ayrton Senna-inspired design for last year’s Grand Prix on the streets of the Principality.
Before that, they ran a one-off ‘Triple Crown’ papaya, white and black livery at the 2023 event as part of their 60th anniversary celebrations and in 2021 they brought the blue and orange colours of then partner Gulf Oil back to F1.
We’re always proud to be able to celebrate our storied legacy. Working with OKX on this latest livery enhancement is a great way to not only celebrate this history, but also the innovation and forward-thinking nature that inspires both McLaren and OKX brands. I can’t wait to see the cars on track over the next two race weekends. Louise McEwen, Chief McLaren Officer at McLaren Racing.
Alexander Dunne started the Imola weekend on the front foot, topping Free Practice for Rodin Motorsport on a 1:27.907. Campos Racing’s Arvid Lindblad followed the Irish driver, just 0.009s down in P2, while DAMS Lucas Oil’s Kush Maini completed the top three.
Gabriele Mini led the pack after the opening 10 minutes of running and initial laps, a 1:30.416 put the Prema driver top of the pile just 0.07s ahead of Victor Martins in P2.
Lindblad was the next to deliver a substantial improvement as the Red Bull Junior lowered the time to beat down to a 1:29.031.
Times continued to tumble as the track improved, and the drivers continued to push on. Mini re-took top spot on his next attempt with a 1:28.526 while Dunne put Rodin second in the order.
Martins then put ART Grand Prix on top, going 0.027s quicker than Mini’s earlier lap to leave the four separated by just 0.060s as Luke Browning went fourth for Hitech TGR.
DAMS’ Maini had been P2 by just 0.027s but he found a sizeable improvement on his next attempt to go quickest, 1:28.022 the new benchmark effort.
Lindblad was the first into the 1:27s to re-take P1 for Campos. Rodin were back on top entering the final five minutes as Dunne pipped Lindblad by just 0.009s for top spot as the session wound down to a close.
Qualifing-
Dino Beganovic times his qualifying lap perfectly to beat the red flags and the rest of the field to earn his first pole position in Formula 2.
The Hitech TGR driver logged a 1:24.418 to lead PREMA Racing’s Sebastian Montoya and ART Grand Prix driver Victor Martins, with the top three separated by just 0.006s.
Arvid Lindblad got the ball rolling with a 1:28.175 to lead the pack but he was pipped by Martins and Alexander Dunne in short order, the Irishman continuing from where he was in practice.
The Rodin driver’s 1:27.827 was later beaten by Lindblad who moved back up to the top by going, 0.012s quicker on his next attempt.
After a brief spell back in the pitlane, drivers returned to the track with 10 minutes to go in the session and conditions improving.
Montoya hit the front next for PREMA, but his time was bettered by Beganovic by just 0.003s. The Swede got his 1:27.418 in just before the red flags were waving.
Kush Maini suffered a spin into the barriers at Taburello, with the clear up of the DAMS car not being able to be completed in time, the session was not resumed.
Day 2-
Pole sitter Ritomo Miyata lost the lead to Crawford at lights out on the run to Turn 2. Lindblad surged up to P3 from fifth on the grid ahead of Browning and Victor Martins in the top five, after the ART Grand Prix driver moved up from eighth.
By Lap 4, Crawford had managed to escape out of DRS range to Miyata behind, while despite having DRS to the car ahead, Lindblad couldn’t close in on the ART in front of him.
Browning managed to break away from Martins, leaving Miyata to fend off the British duo behind him in the fight for second, with Crawford building his lead back up to beyond a second by Lap 10.
Lindblad attempted to dive to the inside of Turn 2 on Lap 11, but Miyata defended well to retain second position. One lap later and the Red Bull Junior made the pass stick, clearing the ART before corner entry at Tamburello.
Lap 13 and Miyata had to defend from Browning to keep hold of third into the favoured passing area at Turn 2.
Hitech TGR’s Dino Beganovic looked to be lining up a move on Joshua Duerksen for the final points paying position, but a wide moment out of Variante Alta allowed Roman Stanek to go through for P9.
Browning finally cleared Miyata on Lap 14 into the second corner, with the Japanese driver losing the benefit of DRS. One lap later and it was Martins through on teammate Miyata into Turn 2 for fourth.
Stanek’s charge continued as he managed to commit to the outside of Duerksen at the second corner to take P8 from the AIX Racing driver.
Alexander Dunne had told the team he was playing the long game earlier in the race, and he moved into the top five with a pass on Miyata along the main straight.
Leonardo Fornaroli had to defend seventh from Invicta Racing teammate Stanek at Turn 2 as the Czech driver applied the pressure with six laps to go.
Lap 22 of 25 and Dunne managed to claw his way to within a second of Martins ahead, who in turn was catching Browning in the fight for the final podium position.
The trio were covered by 1.5s entering the penultimate lap, while in front of them, Lindblad had closed in on the race leader and was on the cusp of DRS to the DAMS driver.
Unfortunately for the Campos rookie, they entered the final lap separated by 1.2s and the American driver held on for his first win of the 2025 season.
Day 3-
Prior to lights out, Sebastian Montoya stalled on the grid at the beginning of the Formation Lap. It meant P2 was vacated as the PREMA Racing driver was forced to start from the pitlane.
Beganovic aced his launch at the race start, but it was Leonardo Fornaroli on the move, climbing to P2 as Victor Martins was the second staller of the day, the ART Grand Prix driver left stranded on the grid. Arvid Lindblad capitalised also, taking third ahead of Dunne having started behind the Rodin driver.
With DRS enabled, the top three closed back up and by Lap 6, Beganovic, Fornaroli and Lindblad were covered by less than a second.
The top four were in at the first opportunity to fit the soft tyres entering Lap 7. Fornaroli lost out in the pitstops, dropping to the back of the quartet, while Dunne gained two places, coming back out behind Beganovic.
Jak Crawford and Luke Browning responded on the following lap, pitting to fit the red-walled tyres and the Brit got the jump on the DAMS Lucas Oil driver to come out ahead.
The Hitech TGR driver rejoined with the effective race lead and right in front of teammate Beganovic, who had Dunne on his rear wing. The Swede attempted to go around the outside of Browning at Tosa, but ran out of room on corner exit, allowing Dunne to split the Hitechs and move up a position.
With DRS on Lap 9, Dunne made the move into Turn 2, clearing Browning into the first chicane to take effective race lead.
The early pitstops handed P1 over to Josep Maria Marti, who was fighting with AIX Racing’s Joshua Duerksen as the leading pair on the alternative strategy.
Lap 14 and Duerksen swept around the outside of the Spaniard to take the lead just before a Safety Car was deployed. Rafael Villagomez was left stranded at Turn 4 having sustained damage in a battle with Sami Meguetounif.
Gabriele Mini and John Bennett took the chance to make their mandatory stops and switch to the supersoft Pirelli tyres. The PREMA driver came out ahead of Lindblad in P11, with Bennett joining the queue just behind Crawford in P15.
The Safety Car was withdrawn entering Lap 19 and Duerksen held onto the lead. Behind them, Dunne was on the move immediately to pass the first of the leading pack yet to pit in Max Esterson.
Browning, made the pass into Piratella, but Dunne was through on teammate Amaury Cordeel at Turn 2 but once again, Dunne immediately put another car between them, passing Miyata into Tosa with a dive down the inside.
Lap 25 and Dunne was up another position, clearing Roman Stanek into the first chicane to move up to third on the road. The Rodin driver then cleared Marti on Lap 26 with the same move at Tosa to take second and he quickly closed on race leader Duerksen.
Across the line onto Lap 27, he used DRS to move into P1, with Browning still running fifth behind those yet to pit on the alternative strategy.
Browning moved up to fourth with a pass on Stanek at Turn 2 on lap 29, with teammate Beganovic passing Cordeel in the same place just behind. Lindblad was able to pounce on an error at Tosa by the Rodin driver to take seventh on the road later in the lap.
Duerksen pitted on lap 30, and Browning passed Marti at the first chicane to move up to second, but Dunne had escaped up the road to the tune of five seconds. The Irish driver had things under control and by the chequered flag, crossed the line to win his second Feature Race of the season by over six seconds to Browning and Beganovic.
The full top 10 are- P1: Dunne, P2: Browning, P3: Beganovic, P4: Lindblad, P5: Fornaroli, P6: Crawford, P7: Goethe, P8: Montoya, P9: Verschoor and P10: Meguetounif.
The Safety Car led the pack away amid soggy conditions, after some 25mm of rain fell over the course of the morning in the lead up to lights out.
After four laps, the field formed for a standing start and Rowland headed Mortara through the Turn 1 and 2 chicane, while Barnard aimed to get his car’s nose up the inside of the Mahindra through the opening left-hander.
A few drivers – the highest-placed of which being Sebastien Buemi – jumped for the first of their mandatory 50kW four-wheel drive Attack Mode boosts.
Even with 4WD, the Envision still looked a handful – the Swiss narrowly keeping his car out of the wall before dispatching Barnard for third at Turn 1 on Lap 7.
Of the leaders, Mortara and Barnard went next in Attack – the Mahindra driver taking full advantage to pinch P2 back from Buemi but finding himself three seconds shy of leader Rowland when his initial 50kW boost ended.
On Lap 10, Rowland found himself up on energy and three second clear out-front ahead of Mortara, Buemi, Barnard and de Vries rounding out the top 5.
Lap 13, saw Guenther’s car go red and grind to a halt, demanding a Red Flag so it could be cleared safely.
The pack were led round by the Safety Car to a standing start on Lap 15, with Rowland firing off the line once again to lead the pack through Turn 1 – flying to a two-second advantage once again.
Of the lead few, Barnard was first to move for PIT BOOST on Lap 18, with Vandoorne having gone first, pre-Red Flag – a god send for the Belgian, with the time lost during that stop immediately wiped out with the enforced restart.
As the stops began to shake out, Barnard managed to jump Mortara while Vandoorne did indeed hit what would be the front ahead of Rowland, Barnard, Mortara and Buemi.
At Turn 2 on Lap 28, Vandoorne ran wide before lighting the rear tyres up into a spin. With a 25 second lead over Rowland, though, it ultimately wouldn’t matter.
From there, it was a waltz to the flag for the Maserati MSG Racing driver, with the scrap in-behind the Belgian.
The full top 10 are- P1: Vandoorne, P2: Rowland, P3: Barnard, P4: Buemi, P5: Ticktum, P6: Mortara, P7: da Costa, P8: Vergne, P9: Frijns and P10: Cassidy.
It was as you were at the start, with pole-sitter del Pino keeping teammate Tramnitz behind, while Mari Boya stayed in third ahead of fellow Campos driver Tsolov in fourth.
In fifth, Noel Leon was coming under threat from PREMA Racing teammate Ugo Ugochukwu, as well Rodin Motorsport rookie Louis Sharp at the end of the opening lap.
Tramnitz made the DRS count at the start of Lap 3 to take the lead from del Pino at the entry of Turn 2.
Moments later, Ugochukwu overtook Leon at the same corner for fifth, but he soon dropped to sixth as Sharp completed a double overtake on both PREMA drivers at the exit of Turn 4.
A Virtual Safety Car soon turned into a full Safety Car on Lap 5, as AIX Racing’s Nicola Marinangeli stopped on track at the exit of Tosa with a wheel off his car.
Racing resumed at the start of Lap 9 of 18 and it was a good restart for the MP top two as they built up a 1.8s lead. Boya was struggling through and dropped from P3 to out of the points before another Safety Car came out.
The Spaniard retired to the pit lane, while the marshals cleared Matias Sagazeta’s DAMS Lucas Oil car from the gravel at Tamburello, following an incident with Callum Voisin.
Tramnitz once again had a good restart while del Pino held off Tsolov in the battle for second as Sharp kept a watching brief from P4.
The DRS was enabled at the start of Lap 14 of 18 and del Pino was using it, not only to pull away from Tsolov, but also to close in on Tramnitz down the main straight.
Leon had a scruffy lap as he ran wide at the exit of Turn 7 in a battle with Tuukka Taponen for seventh, dropping him to P9 behind Noah Stromsted.
Roman Bilinksi, now in P6, was showing tremendous pace, setting the fastest time of the race on Lap 15, which brought him right onto the back of Ugochukwu.
The Rodin driver was not close enough into Turn 2 to make a move, but behind him Stromsted was to take P7 from Taponen at the same corner. Onto the penultimate lap and Ugochukwu ran wide into the gravel at the entry to Acqua Minerali, dropping him from fifth to eighth.
Tramnitz though had managed the race perfectly and crossed the line to take victory in the Imola Sprint as del Pino made it a first one-two in Formula 3 for MP Motorsport.
The full top 10 are- P1: Tramnitz, P2: del Pino, P3: Tsolov, P4: Sharp, P5: Bilinski, P6: Tsolov, P7: Taponen, P8: Ugochukwu, P9: Leon and P10: Guisti.
Day 3-
It was a great start from Ramos, who got ahead of Camara on the run down to Turn 2, while Stromsted dropped to fifth after starting in P3, with Tuukka Taponen and Louis Sharp getting ahead.
Camara was told over the radio to stay with Ramos and on Lap 4, the Brazilian retook the lead from the Van Amersfoort Racing driver.
Trident was keen to make up for the start as Stromsted recovered one of the places he lost thanks to a nice move round the outside of Sharp on Lap 6 at Turn 2,
Onto Lap 8, and Ramos had managed to stay within DRS range of Camara. The pair were over two seconds clear of Taponen, who was coming under pressure from Stromsted.
The Dane got back to where he started after overtaking the ART Grand Prix driver into Turn 2. Just behind, Roman Bilinski overtook his Rodin Motorsport teammate Louis Sharp for fifth at the same corner.
Further behind, MP Motorsport were making moves as Tim Tramnitz overtook Noel Leon for ninth at Piratella, while Alessandro Giusti dived to the inside of Nikola Tsolov at the penultimate corner.
Boya was flying and moved past the Rodins on Lap 14 and 15, first Sharp an then Bilinski, both at Turn 2, putting him up to P5.
Sharp was beginning to fall through the field and lost out to Tramnitz and Guisti, and by Lap 18 of 22 was in ninth. Ramos was closer than ever to Camara now at the start of Lap 19, and his race long pressure finally paid off, going to the outside of the Trident driver.
Camara was in trouble now as he struggled on his tyres and after running wide at Acque Minerali, Stromsted was through to second.
It was a team effort for MP on the penultimate lap as both Tramnitz and Giusti went round the outside of Bilinski at Turn 2, promoting then to P6 and P7 respectively.
On to the final lap and Stromsted closed to within DRS range of Ramos, but the VAR driver held on to claim his first Formula 3 Feature Race victory.
The full top 10 are- P1: Ramos, P2: Stromsted, P3: Camara, P4: Taponen, P5: Boya, P6: Tramnitz, P7: Giusti, P8: Bilinski, P9: Tsolov and P10: van Hoepen.
Max Verstappen has surged to an impressive second victory of the season at the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, the Dutchman having snatched P1 at the start before holding his position ahead of the McLaren pair in an eventful afternoon.
The race got underway in an exciting fashion as polesitter, Oscar Piastri initially launched well off the line – only for Verstappen to make a stunning overtake through the Tamburello chicane, resulting in the World Champion going on to build a lead in the laps that followed.
Piastri then joined a number of drivers who made an early pit stop, having stopped for the hard compound on Lap 14, but the call did not seem to work out the Australian.
As questions persisted over whether a one-stop or two-stop strategy was the way forward – with around half of the field remaining out following that earlier flurry of action in the pits for the other half.
The full top 10 are- P1: Verstappen, P2: Norris, P3: Piastri, P4: Hamilton, P5: Albon, P6: Leclerc, P7: Russell, P8: Sainz, P9: Hadjar and P10: Tsunoda.
What a result from Max Verstappen, a cool, calm and collected drive from the Dutchman. His strategy was spot on, and he didn’t fall for McLaren pitting Piastri early. As for his teammate, Tsunoda made up some good places from starting in the pit lane to finishing P10 and coming home with a point.
A double podium for McLaren, P2 for Norris and P3 for Piastri. A lovely result for the team, it’s a shame it wasn’t a win for the Papaya team, but Verstappen just ran away with the lead and there was no chance of battling him for it. But still a very good points haul for the team.
A lovely result from Hamilton! P4 for the Brit and it was his first Italian race as a Ferrari driver and he made up for a bad qualifying session. As for Leclerc his race wasn’t the best, he ran into quite a few problems along the road but he still managed to finish P6. Overall a decent points haul for the team.
P5 for Albon! What a great result from him! At one point, it almost looked like he was nearing the podium. But the main thing to take from that great result is how much they have improved! Sainz finished P8 aswell, so a very good weekend for the team.
P7 for Russell, not the best weekend for him, he was struggling a bit during the race. As well for his teammate, it went from bad to worse, Antonelli pulled over to the side as he had an issue and had to retire from his first home race. A big shame for the young rookie but he will bounce back.
Now we don’t have to wait too long for the next race as we are at the second race weekend of a triple header and we are headed to Monaco!
Rafael Camara made a positive start to his Imola weekend by topping the timesheets in Free Practice. The Trident driver’s 1:33.091 proved the time to beat ahead of the MP Motorsport duo of Alessandro Giusti and Tim Tramnitz.
Domingues improved to a 1:34.891 but was followed across the line by PREMA Racing’s Noel Leon, who went fastest on a 1:34.740.
Nicola Lacorte set the pace at his home race with a 1:35.682 early on for DAMS Lucas Oil, before the Van Amersfoort Racing driver, Ivan Domnigues, pushed him down to P2 with a 1:35.564.
Track conditions continued to improve and the laps got faster still, and this time it was Brando Badoer on top for PREMA with a 1:34.162, a tenth quicker than his teammate Leon.
But then came the Championship leader, Camara, and he went fastest on a 1:33.433, the Trident driver over seven-tenths faster than Badoer. However, Camara was joined in the top two by Giusti. The MP rookie went to second, 0.245s behind, with Stenshorne third.
Camara continued to improve and lowered the time to beat to a 1:33.353. Tramnitz was right behind the Brazilian at the line and wound up 0.254s off P1.
After a quick trip to the pit lane, the drivers were back out on the track and Camara again improved to a 1:33.091. However, Giusti was even closer this time around, just 0.074s behind his Trident rival.
The Red Flags were out with less than three minutes to go, after Ugo Ugochukwu spun into the gravel at the exit of the Villeneuve chicane, before making slight contact with the barrier.
With not much time left, the session was not resumed with Camara fastest ahead of the MP pairing of Giusti and Tramnitz.
Qualifying-
Rafael Camara made it three consecutive pole positions to start the 2025 season after leaving it late to take the top spot from Van Amersfoort’s Santiago Ramos at a dramatic Imola Qualifying.
The Trident driver completed a 1:32.206 with his final lap of the day to take pole, beating Ramos by over two-tenths, with his teammate Noah Stromsted ending up thrd.
Camaraa picked up from where he left off in Free Practice to go up to P1 early on.
Several drivers were able to improve on their next flying attempts, but the majority of the grid opted to abort those laps, choosing to pit for a second set of medium tyres instead.
With just over 16 minutes remaining, the drivers returned to the track and there were improvements across the board, as several climbed up the timesheets.
But it was Badoer who went fastest on a 1:32.894, to eclipse Camara by just 0.015s. The Italian completed his lap at the right time as the Red Flags were waved moments later, with Campos Racing’s Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak stuck in the gravel at Acque Minerali.
Running resumed with just over 11 minutes to go and 25 out of remaining 29 drivers went out, as all three Trident drivers remained in the pit lane alongside Callum Voisin.
As the times came through, Ramos went fastest on a 1:32.442 for Van Amersfoort Racing, with Tuukka Taponen his closest challenger in P2, 0.092s.
But as they completed their laps, the quartet in the pit lane returned to the track, and Camara completed his final attempt to go to provisional pole with a 1:32.306.
The Brazilian beat Ramos by 0.236s to seal the first Aramco Pole Position Award as Stromsted also left it late to go to third.
The first quarter of the season is now done and dusted, apart from a brief interlude in Canada in mid-June, the European season starts now, and goes on until the Italian Grand Prix on 7th September.
The Emlia-Romagna e del made in Italy Grand Prix takes place at the Imola Circuit, named in memory of Enzo Ferrari and his son Dino.
Imola’s Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari is one of the most iconic and technical tracks on the Formula 1 calendar. Situated in the heart of Italy’s Motor Valley, it is 4.909 kilometres long, with 19 corners – ten to the left and nine to the right – and runs anti-clockwise, which puts it in the minority of race tracks worldwide.
It’s old school, rather narrow with high and aggressive kerbs, as well as several natural changes of elevation and corner sequences that alternate between requiring heavy braking and some flowing sections.
Tyre management is affected by the many acceleration and braking points, with tyres subjected to a low average load and limited degradation. However, the high kerbs can increase mechanical stress, especially on the suspension and tyres.
The new C6 compound is making its race debut in Imola, as Pirelli has chosen the softest trio of compounds in its 2025 range for this weekend, with the C4 (Hard), C5 (Medium) and C6 (Soft).
Last year, the one-stop strategy proved the most competitive. 15 drivers started the race on the Medium (C4), three on the Hard (C3) and two on the Soft (C5).
The harder compounds worked best, offering very consistent performance, with limited degradation. Those who started on the soft tyre had to make two stops.
Pirelli has chosen the softest trio of compounds in its 2025 range for this weekend: C4, C5 and C6. It will be the first time that drivers will run the C6 on this season’s cars as none of them used it in the Bahrain test. Read more here 👉https://t.co/6WLJ4glS4J#F1#ImolaGPpic.twitter.com/ds0aThNF50
Alpine have confirmed that Franco Colapinto will replace Jack Doohan for the next five race weekends, starting from this weekend’s Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, with the team deciding to “rotate” the race seat alongside Pierre Gasly.
The news comes following the confirmation that Alpine Team Principal Oliver Oakes had resigned with immediate effect. Executive Advisor Flavio Briatore will be covering the duties previously performed by the Brit.
Having previously served as a reserve driver for the Enstone based team, it was announced last summer that Doohan was set to be promoted to the main race squad for 2025.
The 22 year old was then given an earlier-than-expected debut at the 2024 season finale in Abu Dhabi, following the departure of Haas-bound Esteban Ocon.
After starting his first full-time campaign this year, Doohan has struggled to match teammate Gasly, and his troubles continued last time out in Miami, where he retired from the race following a lap 1 collision with Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson.
Now Alpine have announced that Doohan’s seat will be filled by Colapinto for the next five rounds with the Argentinian having been signed to the outfit as one of their roster of reserve drivers following his impressive nine-race run as a substitute for Williams in 2024.
As part of an on-going assessment of its driver line-up, the team has made the decision to rotate one of its race seats for the next five rounds of the 2025 FIA Formula One World Championship. BWT Alpine Formula One Team therefore announces that Franco Colapinto will be paired with Pierre Gasly from the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, ahead of a new evaluation before the British Grand Prix in July. Jack Doohan remains an integral part of the team and will be the first-choice Reserve Driver for this period of time. Alpine’s statement.
Firstly, I want to thank the team for giving me the opportunity to drive competitively for the next five races. I will work hard with the team to prepare for the next race in Imola and the upcoming triple-header, which will no doubt be intense and a big challenge for everyone. I have stayed sharp, and I am as ready as possible with the team’s race support testing programme, as well as on the simulator at Enstone. I will do my best to get up to speed quickly and give it my all to deliver the best possible results alongside Pierre. Colapinto on the news.
I am very proud to have achieved my lifelong ambition to be a professional Formula 1 driver and I will forever be grateful to the team for helping me achieve this dream. Obviously, this latest chapter is a tough one for me to take because, as a professional driver, naturally I want to be racing. That said, I appreciate the team’s trust and commitment. We have long-term goals as a team to achieve and I will continue to give my maximum efforts in any way I can to help achieve those. For now, I will keep my head down, keep working hard, watch with interest the next five races and keep chasing my own personal goals. Doohan on the news.
Following on from the Miami Grand Prix, Alpine have announced that Team Principal Oliver Oakes has resigned from the team with immediate effect.
Oakes joined Alpine in July 2024, the former racing driver, who also runs the Hitech Grand Prix squad – overseeing a strong end to the season that saw the team lift themselves to sixth in the Teams’ Championship.
Post-Miami, the team currently sits P9 in the Teams’ standings on seven points, only one point ahead of Kick Sauber, as Jack Doohan was still to score this season.
It remains to be seen who Alpine will look to replace Oakes with, but in the mean time Flavio Briatore will be taking the role of team principal too.
Oakes joins the likes of Otmar Szafnauer and Bruno Famin on the list of Alpine team bosses who have left the position in the previous two years.
BWT Alpine Formula One Team announces that Oliver Oakes has resigned from his role as Team Principal. The team has accepted his resignation with immediate effect. As of today, Flavio Briatore will continue as Executive Advisor and will also be covering the duties previously performed by Oliver Oakes. The team would like to thank Oliver for his efforts since he joined last summer and for his contribution in helping the team secure sixth place in the 2024 Constructors’ Championship. The team will not be making any further comment. The teams’ statement.
A lot has been said in the past 24 hours incorrectly associating the decision of Oli resigning to an alleged disagreement, or that we shared different views. This is completely false and far from the truth. Me and Oli have a very good relationship and had long-term ambitions to drive this team forward together. We respect Oli’s request to resign and have therefore accepted his resignation. The reasons are not related to the team and are of a personal nature. I will continue to be more and more involved with the team, together with the strong management we already have in place. We will work hard on improving our position this season and preparing for 2026. Flavio Briatore on the news.
It’s been a privilege to lead everyone at Enstone. What a team, what a place. It is a personal decision for me to step down. Flavio has been like a father to me, nothing but supportive since I took the role, as well as giving me the opportunity. Everyone is in place for 2026 and where this dream deserves to be! I believe in Enstone. Oakes on the news.
Formula 1 has announced that the Miami Grand Prix will remain on the calendar through 2041, following a 10 year extension to its existing agreement with the promoter South Florida Motorsports – a new deal that will make Miami the longest contract event on the F1 calendar.
Since joining Formula 1 in 2022, the Miami Grand Prix has established itself as one of the most desirable sporting events in the world, attracting fans from across the USA and around the globe with a perfect combination of thrilling racing on track and incredible entertainment off it.
The race has made a significant impact on the local economy and community, generating more than US $1 billion in economic impact across its fist three years. The race organisers have also established internship programmes, worked with local charities, and promoted home-grown businesses each year to ensure that the legacy of the race is felt in the local area.
The 2024 race saw a circuit record of 275,000 fans attend the Miami International Autodrome across the weekend to see McLaren’s Lando Norris take his first Grand Prix victory, as well as Abbi Pulling secure back-to-back race victories in F1 Academy.
The Grand Prix attracted the largest US television audience of all time, with 3.1 million viewers tuning in to follow the action.
In just three years, the Miami Grand Prix has established itself as one of the most important and spectacular events on our calendar, an extraordinary example of quality and vision that truly represents the spirit and ambition of Formula 1 in the United States. Extending this agreement until 2041 is a strategic milestone of enormous importance, which strengthens our presence in America and consolidates the ever-deepening bond with our fan base there, which is constantly growing and passionate like never before. Miami is not only an extraordinary city, but also a truly global sporting hub, energetic, dynamic and culturally vibrant. All this would not have been possible without the far-sighted vision and tireless commitment of Stephen Ross and Tom Garfinkel, to whom I extend my sincere gratitude for the leadership, support and dedication with which they have helped transform the Miami Grand Prix into a world-class event. Stefano Domenicali, President and CEO.
Securing a 10-year extension with Formula 1 through 2041 is an extraordinary milestone for all of us at South Florida Motorsports and a true testament to the hard work of our team, the strength of our partnerships, the support of our community and the growth of the sport in the United States. To have been granted this extension after only our third event speaks to what we have felt from the very beginning – the Miami Grand Prix is here to stay. I want to thank Stefano Domenicali and Formula 1 for believing in our vision, as well as Stephen Ross for his investment and commitment to growing this event. From day one, our goal has been to create a world-class race that also reflects the spirit of Miami — vibrant, inclusive and culturally significant. This long-term commitment allows us to continue innovating, investing in the fan experience and deepening our impact across South Florida. Tom Garfinkel, Managing Partner of Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix,
Formula 1 has announced that the Mexico City Grand Prix will remain on the calendar through 2028 as part of a new three-year extension starting from 2026.
Since its return to the sport in 2015, the Grand Prix has established itself as one of the standout events of the year with its passionate fans and electric atmosphere.
The Mexico City Grand Prix encapsulates the vibrancy and culture of the Mexican capital, where high speed racing meets Day of the Dead celebrations and incredible live music from world class acts.
The multi award winning event has become a favourite of fans, teams and drivers alike, with every event sold out since its return to the calendar. 405,000 people enjoyed the race weekend in 2024, setting a new record for the Mexico City Grand Prix.
Built in 1959, the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez circuit offers fans a spectacle like no other in motorsport. Sitting over 2km above seas level, both driver and car must battle the altitude as they tackle the 4.3km lap, which includes the iconic Estadio stadium section, where the drivers are met with a sea of more than 60,000 fans.
We are very excited to announce that the Mexico City Grand Prix will continue to be part of our calendar until 2028. Formula 1 is energy, passion and emotion, and every year the unique atmosphere created by our fans in Mexico City is one of the most incredible and energetic experiences of our championship. I want to express my sincere thanks to President Claudia Sheinbaum for her strong commitment to Formula 1, to the Head of Government Clara Brugada for her continued support and to Alejandro Soberón Kuri, whose leadership has been fundamental to the success of this event. I also want to thank the local stakeholders and businesses that share our vision and who make this event so special. We look forward to continuing this extraordinary collaboration together and seeing the incredible enthusiasm of the Mexican fans again in October. Stefano Domenicali, President and CEO of Formula 1.
We are very excited to announce that the Mexico GP will be held for three more years. We are deeply grateful for the invaluable support of the Government of Mexico City, from the Head of Government of Mexico City, Clara Brugada, to our President, Claudia Sheinbaum, as well as Stefano Domenicali from Formula 1, who have made it possible to continue bringing Formula 1 to our country. This not only contributes to the economic development of Mexico City, but also promotes our city, as well as our country, in a significant way worldwide. Together, we will continue to work hard to ensure that fans get the most out of an event that offers a unique live entertainment experience, and which for almost 10 years has shown the world the quality of the events we organise in this city. Alejandro Soberon Kuri, President and CEO of CIE.
McLaren has announced that they will be exiting Formula E at the end of the 2024/25 season, which ends in London in late July.
The Formula E team was spawned from the previous works Mercedes EQ entry in 2022 and entered the Gen3 era with majority backing from the NEOM ‘future city’ initiative in Saudi Arabia.
While the team will require rebranding for next season, the NEOM funding is in place until the end of 2026. But it is understood than an option for the NEOM title partnership to be extended for a further four years is not being taken up – which in turn has led McLaren to switch focus to its Le Mans hypercar programme.
Its powertrains have been provided by Nissan and this agreement is also in place for whatever the entry will run as next season.
McLaren finished eighth in its first season in 2023 and then improved to seventh last year, taking a win at the Sao Paulo E-Prix with Sam Bird.
They currently sit 5th in 2024-25 points standings, with full-season rookie Taylor Barnard in 4th in the drivers’ championship with two pole positions and three podium finishes from 7 races.
We have been on an incredible journey so far as a team and are rightly proud of our achievements. Since the start of season nine [2023] of the Formula E world championship, we have been extremely fortunate to have been an integral part of the McLaren Racing family. Although our McLaren Racing chapter comes to an end, we recognise the value and power of Formula E as a world championship and platform for positive change as the sport goes from strength to strength.Work is well under way to explore the best opportunities for the team to continue competing beyond season 11 [2024-25]. James on the news.
In response to recent reports, Formula E can confirm that, following changes to its sponsorship portfolio, McLaren has informed us of its intention to withdraw its brand from the customer team it currently operates in the Formula E world championship. While this may take effect at the end of the current season, there remains the possibility that the partnership could continue through the end of Gen3 in 2026. We recognise that the commercial landscape in motorsport is dynamic and often subject to change. Despite this development, the team, under the leadership of Ian James, is already engaged in positive discussions with potential partners and investors. We are confident the team will remain a strong presence in the championship, operating under a new identity if required. A spokesperson for Formula E.
Envision Racing’s Sebastien Buemi strode to a comfortable win in the 2-25 Monaco E-Prix, after starting eighth on the grid.
Rowland chopped over de Vries to lead up the hill towards Casino Square. Discipline was the watchword with the track still slick, and the pack made it around the opening lap cleanly.
Buemi, Ticktum and Dennis were the first to jump for the initial of their mandatory two doses of that 50kW, four wheel drive Attack mode boosts – sensible going early given the slick conditions on Lap 2.
Despite the pack behind taking Attack mode, Rowland managed to hold onto the lead until Lap 6. Vergne had found his way into P2 with Buemi following by de Vries, who had been running second. The DS PENSKE driver bypassed Rowland for the lead as it stood with that extra 50kW on tap, through the tunnel, and he steered to a four second advantage by Lap 6.
Di Grassi was running well on the cusp of the points but found himself falling foul of the condition and was in the wall at Portier on lap 6, which forced a full course yellow.
An overexuberent move for P8 from Ticktum on Cassidy saw the former down the escape road and shuffled down to 18th on Lap 10. Vergne led Rowland by three second on Lap 11, with De Vries, Guenther, Buemi, Da Costa, Vandoorne, Cassidy, Maloney and Dennis made the top 10.
The Safety Car was called upon on lap 14, for the recovery of Nico Mueller’s stricken Andretti in Casino Square after he slipped wide into the wall.
We were green once again on Lap 15 with Rowland sitting pretty, energy and two Attack Mode activations in-hand on leader Vergne. Buemi made two smart moves one around the outside of the hairpin and the other on the inside of the chicane on Da Costa then Guenther, respectively, to make up ground to P4 on Lap 16.
Rowland went for Attack on Lap 18, only losing a single spot – to Mahindra’s de Vries. The Brit failed with a move on the Mahindra at the chicane but over the start/finish he made that second place back and set about Vergne on Lap 19.
At the chicane Rowland pounced, but looked to have cut the chicane in try to pass JEV. In the ensuing melee and avoiding action, the double champion bogged down and cost himself a spot to de Vries, slipping from what was the race lead to third – although Rowland looked to be in trouble with the stewards.
Rowland took his opportunity having jumped for Attack number two to give track position back to Vergne for that earlier infraction. The overlap on Attack saw Rowland outdrag Vergne on the run to Tabac on Lap 23 – third place back in the hands of the standings leader. Up Beau Rivage on the next lap, he sliced by de Vries for second, too, Buemi was three seconds up the road.
Nick Cassidy in the Jaguar had brought himself into the reckoning with energy in hand up 11 spots from the start and now past de Vries into third.
Buemi looked to have it in-hand with the laps ticking down – able to hold a four second lead to Rowland as the field began to string out in the sprint to the finish with the track drying out. Duly he made it stick and took the chequered flag – four seconds clear of Rowland, while Cassidy followed in third.
The full top 10 are- P1: Buemi, P2: Rowland, P3: Cassidy, P4: Da Costa, P5: De Vries, P6: Vergne, P7: Wehrlein, P8: Guenther, P9: Dennis and P10: Vandoorne.
Nissan’s Oliver Rowland picked his way through a frenetic closing third of the 2025 Monaco E-Prix Round 6, to drive to a comfortable win over Mahindra Racing’s Nyck de Vries and Andretti’s Jake Dennis.
The Yorkshireman secured a first win around the inimitable streets of Monte Carlo and a third victory in six races of the 2024/25 season so far to extend his standings lead.
Barnard led Rowland and the rest of the field away two wide through Sainte Devote with de Vries jumping Ticktum for third. The early throes saw the pack bide their time with PIT BOOST to come.
On Lap 6, Ticktum skipped across the chicane, with race control deeming him to have gained an advantage as he was squeezed on the outside of de Vries. The CUPRA Kiro driver had to give up fourth to Wehrlein as a result.
Cassidy found himself sixth once he used his first ATTACK MODE, with good progress from 19th on the grid. Meanwhile, Ticktum, on Lap 8 had dropped to eighth after that trip over the chicane a couple of laps prior.
Lap 9 saw a full course yellow with da Costa into the wall at Anthony Nogues as he misjudged a lunge up the inside of Mortara’s Mahindra. Three laps later and we were green once again, as de Vries got caught napping, giving third to Dennis and fourth to Wehrlein before Rowland tried a dive up the inside of leader Barnard through the second half of the swimming pool.
A lap later, Rowland managed to make a move on the McLaren driver stick – outdoing him into the chicane for the lead with Barnard forced to give up the spot having jumped the kerbs.
On Lap 15, it was another full course yellow for Evans as he had a technical issue which brought his race to a premature end. A lap later, and we was back underway with Barnard heading Rowland and Dennis – with the man in second having taken ATTACK, which he used to hit the front over the start/finish as Lap 17 began.
At the end of the same lap, Barnard and Dennis jumped into the pits for their PIT BOOST, with Rowland, de Vries and Wehrlein able to stride away as the then-top three.
Mueller, who pitted early to repair a puncture, looked to be the man in the box seat – with the Andretti driver having taken PIT BOOST while having eight minutes and two activations of his Attack Mode power advantage in hand. He hit the net race lead on Lap 20 as Beckmann and Hughes headed for Pit Boost. Once the order began to shake out on Lap 22, Mueller had the lead from Cassidy – with both down on energy to third-placed Rowland.
Rowland crept by Cassidy on Lap 23 at the chicane, and Mueller, down on energy but still at the front, now had just three seconds in his pocket over Rowland.
The start of lap 25 saw de Vries pinch second from Rowland at Sainte Devote, with just two seconds between P1 and P7. The concertina effect spat Barnard out into the wall at Fairmont as the pole sitter skittled all the way down the order.
Mahindra’s de Vries followed up on his move for second with a strike for the lead at the chicane in the melee – shuffling Mueller to second, and then third behind teammate Dennis.
De Vries held fast but it was now Rowland the one to watch as the Nissan driver became the last of the leaders to jump through the Attack mode activation loop. He swooped by the Andretti’s on Lap 27 through Sector 1 and set about de Vries before dispatching the Mahindra driver through the tunnel for the lead with what looked like the decisive move.
The standings leader was able to stride to a 2.5 second lead and rounded the final few laps for a comfortable win in the end.
The full top 10 are- P1: Rowland, P2: De Vries, P3: Dennis, P4: Mortara, P5: Mueller, P6: Wehrlein, P7: Ticktum, P8: Frijns, P9: Vandoorne and P10: Guenther.
GM Performance Power Units LLC. – founded by TWG Motorsports and General Motors to build powertrains for the Cadillac Formula 1 Team – has officially been approved as an F1 power unit supplier starting in 2029 by the FIA.
With their entry recently being confirmed, the Cadillac Formula 1 Team will join the F1 grid in 2026 and use Ferrari power units until GM’s engines are homologated.
Cadillac have set up a European facility next to the Silverstone track, the home of the British Grand Prix, and are working on a new headquarters in Fishers, Indiana, within the American motorsport hub.
The FIA’s statement confirming the approval added that development and testing of the team’s F1 prototype engine technology is ongoing, while there are also plans to open a dedicated Performance Power Units LLC. facility at their US base in 2026.
With this approval from the FIA, we will continue to accelerate our efforts to bring an American-built F1 power unit to the grid. Russ O’Blenes, CEO of GM Performance Power Units LLC.
Welcoming GM Performance Power Units LLC. as an approved power unit supplier for the Championship starting in 2029 marks another step in the global expansion of Formula 1 and highlights the growing interest from world-class automotive manufacturers like General Motors. Their dedication to innovation, sustainability, and competition is fully aligned with the FIA’s vision for the future of our sport. It also strengthens our commitment to making motorsport more accessible and inclusive worldwide – welcoming new manufacturers, advancing technology, and connecting with a broader, more diverse fan base. FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem.
Oscar Piastri has strengthened his lead in the World Championship by clinching his fourth victory of the season at the Miami Grand Prix, the Australian leading home team mate Lando Norris making it a 1-2 for McLaren.
While Max Verstappen initially led away from pole, a battle with Norris saw the Briton run wide and drop down the order – letting Kimi Antonelli and Piastri through in the process. But as the laps ticked down – and Piastri overtook the Mercedes – Verstappen soon found himself under increasing pressure from the championship leader.
After Piastri eventually found a way past, a recovering Norris subsequently followed through into second, allowing the papaya cars to build up a sizeable gap at the front.
The full top 10 are – P1: Piastri, P2: Norris, P3: Russell, P4: Verstappen, P5: Albon, P6: Antonelli, P7: Leclerc, P8: Hamilton, P9: Sainz and P10: Tsunoda.
What a result for McLaren! A 1-2 for the papaya team, which is what they would’ve been aiming for, maybe not the order they expected but you’d rather it be your teammate than a rival. But one thing I will say is that Piastri has got pace this season, he is unstoppable at the moment, and if he carries on producing these results he will be a championship contender.
P3 for Russell! What a great result for the Mercedes driver, especially after his struggles this weekend, he came through the other side and managed to get the podium finish. As for Antonelli, he finished 6th, expected a little more from him to be honest, but still a very good weekend for the young driver.
P4 for Verstappen, a good result, however I did expect a podium from the Dutch driver, he was close to grabbing third from Russell towards the end of the race but it just wasn’t enough. As for Tsunoda, he finished the race in 10th, a point for Japanese driver, I did expect more from him to be fair and it’s a shame he wasn’t higher up in the points.
Now onto Williams, P5 for Albon! Beating a Mercedes, two Ferrari’s and a Red Bull! WOW, what a points haul aswell for Williams, it really is great to see them on the up.
A bit of a tough race for Ferrari, P7 for Leclerc and P8 for Hamilton, the latter having a somewhat disagreement on the radio with team orders, and in the end I think both drivers lost out on securing more points for the team.
Now onto the next race weekend, we have another weeks break and then we have another triple header where our first stop will be Italy for the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix!
Jordan's Track Talk 