A very mixed qualifying is now complete from a dry track to a red flag and then a wet track. Safe to say the Imola cat will be keeping dry in paddock.
But with his first pole position of the year for the current world champion, Max Verstappen!
The full top 10 are: P1: Verstappen, P2: Leclerc, P3: Norris, P4: Magnussen, P5: Alonso, P6: Ricciardo, P7: Perez, P8: Bottas, P9: Vettel and P10: Sainz.
Not a good day for the home heros, both Alpha Tauri’s out in Q1 as they couldn’t manage to get through the next stage of qualifying. Lots of work for them to do in the sprint and the race if they want to score some points this weekend.
Due to a red flag in Q2, caused by Carlos Sainz, the running stopped in qualifying completely even after the red flag went as the rain started to come down and the drivers had already set some laps so none of them were going to change.
Mercedes did not have a good qualifying, you could put it down to Carlos’ crash as well as they are just having problems with the car also. Both drivers out in Q2 the first time a Mercedes car hasn’t been in Q3 since Japan 2012
Williams having more and more problems as the weekends go on, this time for Albon as his breaks set a light whilst in Q1 and cause a stop to the session as there were debris from the brakes being on fire.
A total of 5 red flags throughout qualifying. A lot for teams to work on. Disappointing that Perez could’ve been higher up and benefit on the fact that Ferrari only have one car at the top.
A good showing from McLaren, hopefully we see some more good work from the pair throughout the rest of the weekend as well as Haas’ Kevin Magnussen!
Predictions-
My top 5 for the sprint is- P1: Verstappen, P2: Leclerc, P3: Norris, P4: Alonso and P5: Magnussen.
If it is a dry sprint tomorrow, like expected then I can’t really see much happening. A couple of positions switch around in the top 10 but nothing major unless it’s mechanical issues…
Max Verstappen has unveiled his own racing team ‘Verstappen.com Racing’ which he has launched with full support from Red Bull.
The World Champion, is well known to be a fan of racing in both the virtual and real worlds and his new team will bring the two together, with the drivers running under the moniker in real life and on screen.
His father, Jos Verstappen will compete with the Verstappen.com Racing team when he takes part in the Belgian Rally Championship, whilst young Dutchman Thierry Vermeulen will race with the team’s support in the ADAC GT Masters series this year.
Looking at the virtual aspect of it, Verstappen.com Racing is going to be represented by Team Redline- the team in which Verstappen has won races with in the Virtual Le Mans 24 Hours in the past.
Racing has always been my biggest passion in life, from the moment I first stepped into a go-kart until today. Besides my own Formula 1 career, racing is what I dedicate most of my time to. I am truly happy that, with the Verstappen.com Racing team, I can share the love for racing with drivers and teams I feel closely connected to. Apart from the fun it brings me, I can also share my racing knowledge with them, which hopefully helps everybody to improve themselves. After agreeing upon a long-term deal with Red Bull Racing earlier this year, I am very happy to be part of the Red Bull family for many years to come. T he close partnership with Red Bull as a company is also reflected in the fact that they are supporting the Verstappen.com Racing team for the coming years, which makes me very proud. I can’t wait to get started and keep pushing flat out.
Powered by Red Bull, this initiative will fuel my passion in the virtual & real world of racing together with the teams & drivers I feel closely connected to 🤝 pic.twitter.com/Z4fWPw7N0b
What a great race, these new cars are definitely providing such closer racing which we have been waiting to see!
The battle between Leclerc and Verstappen does not seem to be slowing down any time soon and I think we are all looking forward to seeing how it goes between the two great drivers.
But it was Max Verstappen who took the win in Saudi Arabia, with Charles Leclerc finishing 2nd and Ferrari having another great weekend with Carlos Sainz taking the final podium spot.
The full top 10 are: P1: Verstappen, P2: Leclerc, P3: Sainz, P4: Perez, P5: Russell, P6: Ocon, P7: Norris, P8: Gasly, P9: Magnussen and P10: Hamilton.
An okay weekend for Alpha Tauri, Pierre Gasly managed to get some points after his disapointing race last weekend, but unfortunatley it was Yuki Tsunoda who had the bad luck this week as he didn’t even start the race as he stopped on track on the way to the grid.
Not a good weekend for Williams, as Nicholas Latifi crashed during the early stages of the race which brought out safety car. Towards the end of the race, Stroll and Albon made contact which brought Alex’s race to an end.
Ricciardo looked like he had an engine problem at the end as he stopped at the pit entry, the same with Alonso but it looking like an overheating issue instead.
Another good race for Russell, another good amount of points helping the Mercedes team, great way to start the season. Also a great race for Norris too, starting P11 and finishing 7th, which makes it the first points for McLaren this year.
The Championship-
Leclerc leads from his teammate by 12 points, with Max 8 points behind Sainz and George in 4th with 22 points. Ferrari leads the constructors by 40 points from Mercedes with Red Bull just 1 point behind them.
We are back in less than two weeks and we are returning to Australia for the first time since 2019, for round 3!
World champion, Max Verstappen has signed a bumper five year contract extension with Red Bull, which keeps him with the team until at least the end of 2028.
The Dutchman took the victory on the final lap of Abu Dhabi in which he clinched his maiden world championship, after a spectacular season fight with Lewis Hamilton.
Red Bull, now enter a new era this year, as the team departed from engine partner, Honda and have taken over the intellectual property for the engine and set up their own division on their campus in Milton Keynes.
Verstappen’s previous deal ran until the end of next season (2023), but both Max & Red Bull were keen to extend a successful partnership.
The new contract is said to be worth in the region of €40-50m (£33.3 – 41.7m) a year, which would make it among the most lucrative in the history of F1.
Verstappen said: “I really enjoy being part of Red Bull Racing, so choosing to stay to the 2028 season was an easy decision. I love this team and last year was simply incredible. Our goal since we came together in 2016 was to win the championship and we have done that, so now it’s about keeping the number one on the car long-term.”
Red Bull boss Christian Horner added: “To have Max signed with Red Bull through to the end of ‘28 is a real statement of intent. Our immediate focus is on retaining Max’s world championship title, but this deal also shows he is part of the team’s long-term planning. With the Red Bull Powertrains division working towards the new engine regulations for 2026 we wanted to make sure we had the best driver on the grid secured for that car.”
My Opinion-
After, Max winning the championship last year we all knew a new contract would happen and to add 5 years on to his exisiting contract shows how much both Max & Red Bull have faith and trust in each other.
I cannot see Max going to another team, as all his known is Red Bull, having been brought up by the junior team in his career, to then move to Toro Rosso and then RB, they seem like the perfect fit.
Sebastian Vettel has said he will not race in the Russian Grand Prix if Formula 1 still visits there later in the year, following the countries invasion of Ukraine.
F1 said today that it was monitoring the situation after Russia commenced a major military assault on Ukraine on Thursday morning after months of tension building.
It has been reported that UEFA plans to strip St Petersburg of the Champions League final in June in reaction to the invasion, an has put F1’s plans for the grand prix in Sochi in the limelight.
The four-time world champion is a GPDA director and has been one of the grids most vocal figures on social matters and human rights in recent years, while Vettel said he could not speak on behalf of the GPDA as the drivers had not discussed the issue yet, he revealed that his own mind was already made up and would not race in Russia.
“In my personal opinion, obviously I woke up again after this morning’s news, shocked” Vettel said. “I think it’s horrible to see what is happening. Obviously if you look at the calendar, we have a race scheduled in Russia. For myself, my own opinion is I should not go, I will not go. I think it’s wrong to race in that country. I’m sorry for the people, innocent people who are losing their lives, getting killed for stupid reasons under a very strange and mad leadership. I’m sure it’s something we will talk about, but as I said as GPDA, we haven’t come together yet.”
Max Verstappen also added: “When a country is at war, it is not right to race there.”
My Opinion-
First of all round of applause to Seb and Max, I completely agree with what both have said, and I think some other drivers will agree too. It will be interesting to see what the drivers association will say when they come together.
For F1 to say they are ‘monitoring’ the situation closely I find wrong, its a simple yes or no if they are going to race there or not, they have plenty of time to find a replacement as it set to be in September.
The RB18 is officially launched! The four-time world champions are the second team to launch their car, the RB18 will be the car Max Verstappen will drive to defend his maiden World Championship title.
Verstappen will run the number one on his car for his defence, with his team mate Sergio Perez returning for a second season with the team.
The car looks good, nice and clean- not too much has changed which is a known for Red Bull. I don’t know if it is because of the new car but both of the cars which have launched so far look really clean. Obviously, Honda is no longer on the car now and where it was placed on the rear wing has been replaced by ‘Red Bull’
But one thing which stands out the most is the new title partner- Oracle. The team based in Milton Keynes, will now be officially Oracle Red Bull Racing. Building on last year’s success the team’s 2022 season will feature expanded use of Oracle Cloud across its most significant areas of operation which includes analytics-based race strategy, optimized engine development, AI and machine learning-powered driver training and a tailored fan experience.
Speaking ahead of the new season, which he enters as the defending World Champion, Max said: “I’m feeling recharged and ready to get driving again, I feel good and it’s important that you prepare yourself in the best way possible physically, particularly when things are changing with the shakeup in regulations. In terms of the car, we don’t know what to fully expect so I’m excited to see how the car behaves on the track for the first time. The biggest adaptation this season will be the new regulations, we’ll need some time to get used to the car, it is not like you just jump in and it’s an upgrade from last year. The rest is pretty straightforward, I don’t feel any extra pressure this season, I will just do what I do all the time because I don’t think there is any reason to be different. Now I just I can’t wait for that first moment when I drive out of the pit lane in the RB18.”
Ready to take on his second year with the team, Checo said: “I am so excited to start the new season and I cannot wait to be on track with the new RB18. All of us on the grid are starting from zero this season so it is set to be an exciting year. Last year, we gave it our all until the very last lap and we are ready to do the same in 2022. The new regulations are said to improve the competition on track, so I hope that for us as drivers we can compete more, race more and follow each other more closely. There will be a lot of things we need to learn and adapt to but these new regulations are set to make everything very interesting. One thing I can’t wait for this season is to see more fans back at the track, Formula One is growing so much all over the world so I can’t wait to feel that atmosphere again. I hope that we can give the fans great entertainment and great racing.”
Red Bull have announced when they will be realising their car for this season, the RB18 which is on the 9th February, nine days before rivals Mercedes launch their W13.
Max Verstappen will be hoping the new car will be worthy of defending for the world title- in hopes of going for a second. Sergio Perez will be wanting to fight for the title too, but will also be wanting to help RB get the Constructors title.
Honda, decided to leave the sport at the end of 2021, so the newly established Red Bull Powertrains will oversee the RB18’s power unit for 2022- although following a deal made towards the end of the last season, that power unit will use the Honda intellectual property.
We now only have one more date remaining and that being the team of Williams.
To start firstly I just want to say what an amazing season we have had from all 20 drivers, lots of drama in all 22 races, and its been amazing to see! It’s truly one of the best seasons I have witnessed and I hope we can have more like this soon.
We do however have some drivers leaving F1 today, Kimi retiring and Antonio Giovinazzi going to Formula E. We also have some driver changes, Bottas to Alfa Romeo, George to Mercedes. We also have the returning Alex Albon who will be joining Williams and we also have Guaynu Zhou who will be making a step up from Formula 2 to join Alfa Romeo.
Wow, I have no clue what to say in the race we just watched… Just a note before hand I try and keep my blog neutral, so that I don’t favour a driver or a team and just go off pure predictions and how I feel at that time and whenever I state my opinion I make it clear, so thats what I am going to do now.
MY OPINION-
I don’t get how the FIA can make their own rules up during the race. Going against their own rule book is insane it doesn’t present itself well to Formula One fans in general. I think this is what Mercedes fans are most upset about, which I do get. The FIA states in the sporting regulations that:
48.12 If the clerk of the course considers it safe to do so, and the message “LAPPED CARS MAY NOW OVERTAKE” has been sent to all Competitors via the official messaging system, any cars that have been lapped by the leader will be required to pass the cars on the lead lap and the safety car. This will only apply to cars that were lapped at the time they crossed the Line at the end of the lap during which they crossed the first Safety Car line for the second time after the safety car was deployed. Having overtaken the cars on the lead lap and the safety car these cars should then proceed around the track at an appropriate speed, without overtaking, and make every effort to take up position at the back of the line of cars behind the safety car. Whilst they are overtaking, and in order to ensure this may be carried out safely, the cars on the lead lap must always stay on the racing line unless deviating from it is unavoidable. Unless the clerk of the course considers the presence of the safety car is still necessary, once the last lapped car has passed the leader the safety car will return to the pits at the end of the following lap. If the clerk of the course considers track conditions are unsuitable for overtaking the message “OVERTAKING WILL NOT BE PERMITTED” will be sent to all Competitors via the official messaging system.
In my opinion when cars are allowed to un-lap themselves its normally all the cars which are lapped and not the four in-between the two championship contenders. And I get why Mercedes are appealing it, because it clearly states above that lapped cars can overtake- but to make it even more confusing Masi decided that the lap cars would not over-take on the safety car and then decided a little while later they can!
No-one wanted the championship to go this way, with it being taken to get looked at by the FIA, but rules are rules at the end of the day and I feel like Lewis should’ve won this race.
The Race-
Congratulations to Max Verstappen for being Champion, a hard season for both contenders but neither gave up, it saw Lewis coming home in 2nd and Carlos Sainz grabbing one more podium to end the year, he finished P3.
The full top 10 are as follows: P1: Verstappen, P2: Hamilton, P3: Sainz, P4: Tsunoda, P5: Gasly, P6: Bottas, P7: Norris, P8: Alonso, P9: Ocon and P10: Leclerc.
We had 5 DNF’s, first one being Kimi we didn’t want to see him retire on his last race but some things are just out of his control, the next being Russell with a gearbox issue which isn’t the way he wanted his final race with Williams to go.
Giovinazzi was the next to DNF as he had a problem with his car too, Perez had to retire too due to a problem with his car. Then Latifi, crashed which caused the safety car to come out, thankfully Latifi was okay after the his crash.
Lewis Hamilton got off the line just superbly starting P2 on the mediums made it think that Mercedes picked wrong as everyone else around Lewis was on softs, but he took the lead on the first lap! And led the majority of the race, with having stopped quite early on people started to doubt the 7 time world champ with tyres and him struggling towards the end.
WOW, Yuki Tsunoda finishing P4! Making that his best ever finish!! What a way to finish his first year in F1, I cant wait to see how he does next year.
The Championship-
Sainz managed to grab P5 of both Norris and Leclerc, with him finishing on the podium which saw Ferrari clinch 3rd in the Constructors! Norris finished 6th ahead of Leclerc by ONE point.
Mercedes won the constructors by 28 points, it helped having both Mercedes finish and Red Bull only having one car finish the race. Ferrari obviously clinched P3 with McLaren in P4 and Alpine coming home in 5th.
Well! I don’t think anyone expected that result from qualifying…
We have Max Verstappen on pole here in Abu Dhabi for the second year running, with Lewis Hamilton joining him on the front row and Mr Lando Norris starting P3!
What a way to close off the final qualifying of 2021, the top 6 are just wow!
Lando Norris WHAT A LAP! I don’t think nobody expected him to put it on the 2nd row but clearly him having his family and friends with him in Abu Dhabi helps!
Brilliant lap from Max too, they used the tow brilliantly and it shows as his on pole. But the thing which gets me is why choose the Softs to start the race on for both drivers… was they forced into the decision? Will it work in their favour tomorrow, it’s all to play for.
The top 10 are as follows: P1: Verstappen, P2: Hamilton, P3: Norris, P4: Perez, P5: Sainz, P6: Bottas, P7: Leclerc, P8: Tsunoda, P9: Ocon and P19: Ricciardo.
Tomorrow is going to be absolutely insane, Max on softs, Lewis on mediums, throw Lando into the mix who is also on softs, we will definitely have an interesting opening lap tomorrow.
This is one of Lewis’ strongest circuits everybody knows that so Mercedes need to get there strategy absolutely perfect and they may even try and go for a one-stop as the medium goes longer than the soft.
Predictions-
Oh this is so tough, as whoever wins out of Lewis and Max tomorrow is going to be champion and either way they both deserve it, they both have had really good races but I will do my top 5…
I’m going to say P1 will go to Hamilton, P2: Verstappen , P3: Norris, P4: Bottas and P5: Perez. I think Verstappen will get fastest lap too!
It has been announced today, that the appeal Mercedes put in on Tuesday has been rejected by the Stewards.
The stewards have heard from both Mercedes and Red Bull on Thursday in Qatar, then deliberated overnight before reaching a decision on Friday after the first free practice session.
Their denial of requests means the full race result on Sunday still stands, and Verstappen is not at any risk of a penalty.
After announcing their decision the stewards explained: “There will always be some angles of video footage, because of limits in both technology and bandwidth, that are unavailable at the time. Whether or not stewards’ decisions are considered to be right or wrong, and just as with referees’ decisions in soccer, it does not seem desirable to be able to review any or all such in‐race discretionary decisions up to two weeks after the fact and the stewards therefore seriously doubt that the intent of the Right of Review in the ISC [International Sporting Code] is to enable competitors to seek a review of such discretionary decisions that do not follow on from a formal inquiry by the stewards and do not result in a published document.”
The verdict was made public when Toto Wolff and Christian Horner was in a press conference together. The Mercedes boss says: “Completely expected,” he said. “I think we wanted to trigger a discussion around it, because probably it will be a theme in the next few races. I think our objective is achieved; we didn’t really think it would go any further.”
Horner added: “I think it’s obviously the right decision, because it would have opened Pandora’s Box regarding a whole bunch of other incidents that happened in that race. I think the most important thing now is to focus on this Grand Prix.”
Mercedes have announced that they are seeking a ‘Right of Review’ of the incident which occured during the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, which saw Max Verstappen defend Lewis Hamilton and see both drivers run wide.
But yesterday, the onboard footage of Max Verstappen got released, and Mercedes felt like with the new evidence which was unavailable to the stewards at the time of decision feel that it is enough for a right of review.
Max Verstappen 🆚 Lewis Hamilton: Wheel to wheel ⚔️
Hamilton started P10 on Sunday, and had been closing on Max for quite some time and finally he attepmted a pass on Lap 48 at Turn 4 but both drivers run wide when rejoining Max was still in the lead.
The stewards noted the incident but decided soon afterward that no investigation was necessary, 11 laps later and Lewis went on to take the win. But with Mercedes taking to social media, yesterday afternoon they want to review the Turn 4 incident. The stewards will meet with representatives from the team to assess the new evidence.
My Opinion-
I’m not surprised by Mercedes wanting to do this, as a key video wasn’t available at the time of the incident they let it slide but now its come to surface they want to see if they can get something out of it. Which I think is fair enough considering that Lewis did get pushed of the track more than necessary.
Let me know in the poll below if you think this is the right decision by Mercedes!
Well what a 24 hours it has been! What has not happened since qualifying wow…
First of all Lewis Hamilton got called to the stewards last night about his rear wing it had been deemed that it was not in the regulations for the DRS, but the stewards couldn’t come to a close last night so it resumed at 10.30am this morning…
Max also got called to the stewards this morning an hour before Mercedes due to him touching the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton’s in Parc Ferme after qualifying.
Only now have they come to an answer to both of them. First up Max got a €50,000 fine for obviously touching the Mercedes which isn’t allowed at all and it states that in the regulations so that seems a fair conclusion I’d say.
Now onto Lewis he has been disqualified from qualifying yesterday which means he obviously won’t be starting the sprint race from pole instead Max Verstappen will.
Both Mercedes and the stewards came to the conclusion that Max didn’t have anything to do with the DRS infringement on Lewis Hamilton‘s car…
Merc and the stewards came to agreement that there was an unintentional fault with the rear wing and no obvious reason which has led to the disqualification.
This means that Lewis Hamilton will be starting the sprint race from P20 meaning all drivers move up one place, where ever he finishes today he will obviously qualify but he also has a 5 place grid penalty for a new ICE which will be put on after the Sprint.
Now with only two hours to go to till the final sprint of the season all eyes are on Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes to see how well they can do before the 5 place grid penalty comes into play could he somehow get into the top 10 who knows!
If you was unsure whether Mexico was an Red Bull track or Mercedes, its safe to say RB stole the show today! Max Verstappen WINS the Mexican GP, with Lewis Hamilton in 2nd and Sergio Perez coming home in 3rd making him the first ever Mexican on the podium at his home race!
It was not Bottas’ day today which is a massive shame after that pole position lap yesterday. Lap one incident which saw him drop down the grid and then a slow pit stop and being held up by Ricciardo. But he did do the second driver role of taking the fastest lap point away from Max Verstappen which helps his team-mate out massively in the championship battle.
The top 10 are- P1: Verstappen, P2: Hamilton, P3: Perez, P4: Gasly, P5: Leclerc, P6: Sainz, P7: Vettel, P8: Räikkönen, P9: Alonso and P10: Norris. The fastest lap of the race goes to VB but due to not being in top 10 he doesn’t get that extra point.
Pierre drove brilliantly, it seems that Alpha Tauri had got their strategy right with pitstops as he pitted at the right time and kept hold of P4 for the majoritiy of the race! The same can’t be said with his team-mate Tsunoda, another first lap incident which saw him get hit which caused him to DNF. I was quite looking forward to seeing some good overtakes from him, but these things happen!
Not a good race for Daniel, obviously being apart of the lap 1 incident was the main cause which saw him loose his front wing… he done brilliant defending and his late breaking from Bottas kept the Mercedes up for a long time! Norris done quite well considering he started 18th due to penalty, he done a very long stint on the mediums which saw him work his way up the order and sit in P7 until he pitted which saw him drop down to 10th which he still managed a point!
Good day for both Ferraris, coming home in P5 and P6 which gives them a very strong start to the triple header, if they keep this up McLaren may be in trouble for P3 in the championship here…
MEXICO CITY, MEXICO – NOVEMBER 07: Third placed Sergio Perez of Mexico and Red Bull Racing celebrates in parc ferme during the F1 Grand Prix of Mexico at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez on November 07, 2021 in Mexico City, Mexico. (Photo by Lars Baron/Getty Images)
The Championship-
Max now leads with a 19 point gap over Lewis, which in reality isn’t anything when we have four races to go and a sprint race too. I don’t think this battle will be over anytime soon…
Mercedes are still leading the constructors with a 1 point lead over RB, so if Valtteri didn’t get that fastest lap and Max did RB would be leading the constructors! Ferrari are now in third with their big points haul this weekend, they really capitalised on Ricciardo working his way down the order on first lap…
Now onto the next race, we are returning to Brazil for round 19! We don’t have to wait long as its only next week and we are also having the third and final sprint race of this season too!
Now we only have 5 races left this season so lets take a closer look into them and see what could potentially happen in the next 6 weeks and see who could come out on top at each track…
Mexico:
First up starting our triple header we have Mexico, this is a track which both Max and Lewis has won at twice each and Lewis being the last one to win their back in 2019. But that doesn’t mean its going to go his way as the Honda engine thrives in thinner air which favours the high-downforce nature of the car.
Favourites to win: Red Bull.
Brazil:
Again like above it applies to the race at Sao Paulo. Last time we raced here in 2019, Red Bull dominated with Verstappen taking pole and the race win, and if Albon wasn’t hit RB would of took a 1-2.
RB have a far more competitive car, compared to previous years and this appears to be one of Verstappen’s best tracks. But with the power of the Mercedes engine on what we saw at Austin it could make things interesting.
We also have the last sprint race of the season here, so this could change things up and we could get a very different result…
Favourites to win: Red Bull.
Qatar:
Now coming into races we have never raced and no past results to look at it makes it difficult to predict who will leave on top. All we can do is guess which car will suit the circuit layout more.
Looking at it I am more leaning towards Mercedes, as they will gain a lot of time on the Red Bulls due to the 1km main straight and thats only the most possible overtaking spot. But it all depends on track position, qualifying will play a massive part of the Qatar weekend, and as well as this, set up’s, tyre strategy will also play a big part.
Favourites to win: Mercedes.
Saudi Arabia:
Again, the Jeddah Street Circuit is unknown for F1 and the teams so we will be looking at the circuit itself.
When the words street circuit you initially think of “Red Bull to dominate” but its a completley different circuit to what we are use to. It features some long straights and some high speed sweeping corners, which will benefit the Mercedes more.
As well as this, Hamilton is known to thrive on street circuits (apart from Monaco this year), where as Verstappen’s aggressiveness has cost him (again apart from Monaco.)
Favourites to win: Mercedes
Abu Dhabi:
Now onto the season finale, Mercedes have dominated here winning every race in the hybrid era, however that changed last year when Max won. But with that being said Mercedes, struggled with their car setups all weekend and had engine issues to add to the problem.
With the changes coming to the circuit this year as well, making it possible for more overtakes it could change the race completely and we could see both Merc’s having a really good weekend especially if they figure out what set up is the best one.
Favourites to win: Mercedes.
I’m very much looking forward to these next 5 races, it will be entertaining to see who comes out on top and as well the fight between Ferrari and McLaren.
WHAT. A. RACE! Wow… Max Verstappen WINS the US Grand Prix!! No-one knew how this race was going to go, but it did not disappoint!
The battle between Max and Lewis was something else, first Lewis taking the lead and then the possibility of Red Bull stopping early but it seemed that Max looked after his tyres really really well! Both drivers drove amazing and definitely put on a show…
The top 10 are- P1: Verstappen, P2: Hamilton, P3: Perez, P4: Leclerc, P5: Ricciardo, P6: Bottas, P7: Sainz, P8: Norris, P9: Tsunoda and P10: Vettel. Fastest lap goes to Hamilton.
The battles between McLaren and Ferrari this race was something else! It seemed like Leclerc just wanted to get away and he did! He didn’t really have many battles in the race but he fully deserved the 4th position!
At one point, Alonso was providing us with the battles and when they eventually stopped we had Alpine and the FIA communicating about the second one and how it was not fair etc.
Personally, I feel like Bottas didn’t do much. In his first stint I felt like it took a while for his tyres to kick in and then afterwards the gap was too big to other drivers and the only way he went up the grid was due to pit stops.
We sadly had 3 retirements this race, first up being Pierre Gasly, and then both Alpine’s for different reasons.
The championship…
So Max now has a 12 point lead over Lewis, but things can change very quickly… Perez is now into P4 but only by one point so Lando will be looking to get back into that spot.
The gap between Mercedes and Red Bull is only 23 points, so having Perez be in P3 for race really boosted them up higher!
Now onto the next! Only 5 remaining now and the next time we are back we have a triple header…
We’re starting in Mexico on the weekend of the 5th November, who will come out on top?
Well well well… we have Max Verstappen starting on pole position for tomorrow’s race! With Lewis Hamilton lining up next to him on the grid.
This is the 7th time the championship pair have been in the front row together this season… Who will come out on top after the first lap?
The top 10 is as follows: P1: Verstappen, P2: Hamilton, P3: Perez, P4: Bottas, P5: Leclerc, P6: Sainz, P7: Ricciardo, P8: Norris, P9: Gasly and P10: Tsunoda. Bottas will be starting P9, so Leclerc to Gasly all move up a place for tomorrow’s race!
It’s good to see Tsunoda in Q3 for the second race weekend in a row! Could this be down to Alex Albon coaching him? This will really benefit Alpha Tauri with the constructors if he is able to score good points in these last few races…
Both McLaren and Ferrari in top 10! I feel like whatever team comes on top tomorrow is due to strategy with when to pit. A downfall on Ferrari is that they have Sainz starting on the soft tyre which will see some degrading quite quickly compared to other tyres.
Some drivers have a penalty for the race, which will see them start at the back of the grid: Russell, Alonso and Vettel. Bottas has a five place grid penalty…
Predictions for tomorrow:
My top five predictions are- P1: Hamilton, P2: Verstappen, P3: Leclerc, P4: Perez and P5: Norris.
I think Charles can do really well tomorrow, he finished P4 here in 2019 and he seems to have a lot of pace and confidence in his Ferrari today.
Times-
The times for tomorrow’s race is as follows: 20:00pm (BST), 21:00pm (CEST).
Well… Max Verstappen wins on his home turf and now leads the championship again, he drove a superb race!
Hamilton finished in P2 with fastest lap as-well which we all know is major in the championship this year as its so close and then Bottas in P3 which now makes Mercedes have a 12 point advantage over Red Bull in the championship!
The rest of the top 10 are- P4: Gasly, P5: Leclerc, P6: Alonso, P7: Sainz, P8: Perez, P9: Ocon and P10: Norris. We knew the order wouldn’t of changed too much so I honestly am not surprised by this order at all!
It does make some changes to the Championship though, which is what we like to see and makes the future races more exciting! Norris is down to P4 as Bottas’ podium means he move us to P3, but I can imagine they will keep swapping round.
Alonso done very well today, from starting in P9 and finishing in P6 which is a good points haul for the Alpine and Alonso! Gasly, done absolutley mega today, kept his P4 which went un-noticed yesterday but he made it count today and this is where it counts.
Ferrari had a very good day today, which means a good lot of points for the Italian team, and they will want to excel on their performance this week going into the Italian Grand Prix next weekend!
We had 3 DNF’s and they were Mazepin, Tsunoda and Russell. All cars retired to pit lane, the reasons are unknown at this time but will be updated later on.
Now onto the second Red Bull, I don’t think Perez has had the best weekend, he obviously qualified P16 and then Red Bull done a very clever move and changed his power unit which meant he starts from the pit-lane but even then it didn’t exactly go the way they wanted it to. He started on hard tyres and then had to pit on the 10th lap to change to mediums as there was flat-spots. They did however manage to claw some points for Perez. It did make me think imagine if he was on the mediums to start what would of happened? Could we off seen him top 5?
Now all eyes onto next weekend as we have our second sprint race of the season and we are back at Monza for the Italian Grand Prix!
Well, well, well what a quali that was, at one point I didn’t know who would be where at one point!
But Max Verstappen manages to get his first pole position of his home grand prix, with Lewis joining him on the front row and it was only 0.38s between the pair. Valtteri takes P3, which makes Max under pressure from both of the Mercedes, especially because of the strategy, Mercedes have both drivers in top 3, where as Max is on his own and his team-mate is no where to be seen…
The rest of the grid are as follows- P4: Gasly, P5: Leclerc, P6: Sainz, P7: Giovinazzi, P8: Ocon, P9: Alonso, P10: Ricciardo, P11: Russell, P12: Stroll, P13: Norris, P14: Latifi, P15: Tsunoda, P16: Perez, P17: Vettel, P18: Kubica, P19: Schumacher and finally P20: Mazepin.
I feel like the grid is a bit of a mix match this weekend, there some good results for some teams where as other teams its been quite disappointing…
I said both Ferrari drivers need a good weekend and they’ve started it of good, but tomorrow is where it counts as thats where the points are dished out.
Not a good day for Lando, his been a bit of the pace today, whether thats due to having under-estimated the track or just simply being caught out by the red flags in Q2. We all know what he can do, so i’m sure we will see him doing some brave over takes tomorrow to get some points!
Not the best qualifying for Williams either, having both cars bring out two red flags isn’t the best but lucky for them they have free tyre choice with both cars and hopefully they can play a good strategy to get some points!
Now onto Perez, who actually quite shocked me. Starting P16, on a track which isn’t known for over-taking but if you want to take risks which we saw some Formula Three drivers do earlier on in the day, they do pay off.
Now onto the one who impressed me the most… It’s Antonio Giovinazzi starting P7, where did that pace come from in the Alfa Romeo!! You always want to do well on race weekends but even more so when a reserve driver stands in for your team-mate, but he has just excelled today! Could he possibly have a point to prove that maybe he deserves to stay in F1? All I know is that one performance like this isn’t going to cut it, but if he has now fount a good way with the car and use it tomorrow he could be in contention for some points!
Predictions-
My top five predictions for tomorrow are: P1- Hamilton, P2: Bottas, P3: Verstappen, P4: Gasly and P5: Alonso. Fastest lap I think will go to Bottas.
I’d like to see the likes of Norris, Russell, Latifi in the top 10 and get some points but it’s all about the risk in overtaking here, are they willing to do it? I think tomorrow will be a very good race, no-one knows how these 72 laps are going to go but I am very excited!
Times for tomorrow-
The race starts at §4:00pm (BST), and 15:00pm (CEST). As well as Formula Three in the morning at 9:45am (BST) and 10:45am (CEST)
Well… I don’t think anyone expected it to go the way it did today…
First of all I just want to say a big well done to the fans at Spa, I admire every single one of you for for sticking it out in the rain all day to see some racing however, the rain wasn’t holding off today.
As we done two laps behind the safety car, half points are awarded to drivers in top 10 and I think some teams and drivers will be happy that there is at least some points awarded this weekend!
George Russell got his first podium in F1 today and some may think its not deserved etc but in my opinion I believe it is, the way he pulls out everything from the Williams is something else. He managed to get it to start on the front row of the grid which I cant imagine isn’t easy but he very much deserves these points, trophy and a better seat…
Big shame for Red Bull today, when Perez was going to the grid for the start of the race he crashed, and we didn’t think he was going to be able to race due to damage but the FIA said yes but only if they could get all four tyres on in time and to be honest they did it in plenty of time, however because we didn’t have any overtakes etc because of the safety car being out Perez didn’t score any points. They had a chance at free points and close down the gap in the constructors too, but it just wasn’t there day.
The top 10 are as following: P1- Verstappen, P2- Russell, P3- Hamilton, P4- Ricciardo, P5- Vettel, P6- Gasly, P7- Ocon, P8- Leclerc, P9- Latifi and P10- Sainz.
Hamilton now leads the championship by only 3 points, so these next two races will mean a lot to both Hamilton and Verstappen. Norris, Bottas and Perez do not move any where in the drivers championship as none of them scored points today…
One bonus is the fact we don’t have to wait too long for the next race, we’re back next week at Zandvoort!!
WOW! What a quali… I don’t think anyone expected the results we got!
Max takes another pole position! And next to him on grid will be Mr Saturday himself, George Russell and yes I know! No-one expected that but he had the pace their all qualifying! Hamilton will be starting P3! The rest of the top 10 are: P4- Ricciardo, P5- Vettel, P6- Gasly, P7- Perez, P8- Bottas, P9- Ocon and P10- Norris. Bottas has a 5 place grid penalty which sees him start 13th.
The rest of the grid look like this (before penalties are added) P11- Leclerc, P12- Latifi, P13- Sainz, P14- Alonso, P15- Stroll, P16- Giovinazzi, P17- Tsunoda, P18- Schumacher, P19- Raikkonen, P20- Mazepin. Stroll also has a 5 place grid penalty which means he will start P20.
Norris was so quick in Q1 and Q2, unfortunately in Q3 he had a big shunt which ended his qualifying and chance of pole. But the main thing is seeing him get out of the car okay! His being checked over as precautionary measures as usual, updates on him and his car will come as and when there is some. *UPDATE AS OF 22:00pm (BST) Lando has been given the all clear to race tomorrow which is good news, however he does get a 5 place grid penalty because for gearbox change so he will be starting P14*
Bottas, didn’t have the birthday he was hoping for… qualifying in P8, I expected him to be up there in top 3 at least which is a shame but at the end of the day the points are awarded tomorrow and he has a lot of work to do in the race if he wants to score a decent amount. It does make me think now that George has got himself on the front row in a Williams, will this mean George gets the seat at Mercedes? The announcement should come soon!!
Daniel Ricciardo starting P4 tomorrow which is amazing for him and the team, definitely shows his starting to get comfortable in the car which is brilliant for the constructors fight against Ferrari, lets hope Daniel gets a good amount of points tomorrow!
Now I definitely didn’t see both Ferrari drivers starting out of the top 10. I think the team has a lot of work to do over night and figure out a good strategy so both drivers can score points.
Predictions-
My top five predictions for tomorrow are: P1- Hamilton, P2- Verstappen, P3- Ricciardo, P4- Vettel and P5- Russell. I think fastest lap will go to Hamilton.
I think Latifi has a good chance at points again tomorrow, especially if Williams nail their strategy for him. Hopefully we see Bottas finish in the top 10 and not have an incident in the rain like Hungary and Imola.
I’m very much looking forward to tommorrow, we should see some hard racing and maybe a surprise result!
Times for tomorrow-
The race starts at 14:00pm (BST) and 15:00pm (CEST). Don’t forget we also have an F3 race tomorrow as well.
Jordan's Track Talk 