Jordan's Track Talk

Tag: Qualifying

  • F2 – RND 9 – Day 1

    Practice

    Dino Beganovic secured top spot in Free Practice for DAMS Lucas Oil. The Swede put in a 1:30.720 to wind up fastest, just 0.015s ahead of MP Motorsport’s Gabriele Mini. Nico Varrone completed a tight top three, 0.021s off P1 for Van Amersfoort Racing.

    Hitech’s Colton Herta set the early pace on a 1:33.077 in the opening 10 minutes of the session.

    Teammate Ritomo Miyata then took over P1, with a 1:32.053 the new time to beat. Rafael Camara delivered a 1:31.484 to then go to the top for Invicta Racing by over half a second.

    Sebastian Montoya and then Herta cut that down to four-tenths on their next laps, before Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak went P2 for ART Grand Prix, 0.219s off top spot with less than half an hour to go.

    Martinius Stenshorne got closer still, moving himself up into P2, 0.102s off Camara’s time. That was before the Brazilian delivered an improvement of his own to move onto a 1:31.144.

    Montoya and Mini then followed across the line to go second and third respectively.

    Rafael Villagomez went to fourth place for Van Amersfoort before the Red Flag was out after Mari Boya found the barriers at Turn 1 following a big lock-up.

    Mini dethroned Camara at the top of the times as he set a 1:30.744 to go four-tenths clear of anyone. Nikola Tsolov went P2 0.388s off the Italian’s effort.

    Top spot changed hands again as the clock approached 10 minutes to go, with Beganovic going fastest. Tsolov then went quicker but lost his time for exceeding track limits.

    That left the Swede top of the pile on a 1:30.720, with Nico Varrone right behind in P2, 0.021s off. Mini then managed to split the two on his next attempt, going second and just 0.015s behind Beganovic.

    Qualifying

    Kush Maini took his second pole of the 2026 FIA Formula 2 season , setting a 1:28.896 for the Aramco Pole Position Award in Budapest.

    The ART Grand Prix driver beat title contender Rafael Camara by over a tenth of a second, with the Invicta Racing driver narrowly ahead of Campos Racing’s Noel Leon in P3.

    With the green light displayed, everyone headed out for their opening attempts, and it was a heart-in-mouth moment for Joshua Duerksen as he reached the penultimate corner. The Invicta driver had to catch a big slide on entry to keep his car out of the barriers.

    Nikola Tsolov set the pace with his first lap on a 1:29.601 to take top spot provisionally, 0.193s quicker than title rival Gabriele Mini who went to P2.

    Leon opted to run later than the majority and he delivered a 1:29.486 to go quickest just ahead of the halfway stage.

    Camara had done his outlap on Mediums before pitting and putting on the softs, so his first lap came slightly later too. The Brazilian went P1 on a 1:29.380.

    Maini was one of those to set a lap slightly offset to the early runners too, and he filtered into third, 0.215s off top spot.

    Camara went again on the same set of Softs and he improved his time to take the benchmark effort down to a 1:29.323.
    With less than 10 minutes to go, the early group headed back onto the circuit once more, and Tsolov set a 1:29.313 to pip his title rival to top spot.

    Mini went to third place until Duerksen went to P1 on a 1:29.106, but Maini improved. He was the first underneath a 1:29s to lead the field. Teammate Inthraphuvasak made his own improvement to go third quickest entering the final five minutes.

    As those drivers filed back into pitlane, Camara headed back onto track with three minutes to go.

    Laurens van Hoepen went up to fourth ahead of Tsolov with the Bulgarian back in the pits, while Alexander Dunne could only manage P15 on his final lap.

    With the clock at zero, the final laps filtered through. Leon went to second place until Camara displaced the Mexican driver for a front row start, but nobody could beat Maini.

    https://x.com/formula2/status/2080663378557554733?s=46&t=aXLQ2Py0qaT52rhG6u6Lig

  • F3 – RND 7 – Day 1

    Practice

    Freddie Slater ended the Budapest Free Practice at the top of the timesheets with a 1:33.947.

    The Trident driver led the way by over a tenth from Bando Badoer, with his Rodin Motorsport teammate just behind in third.

    Woohyun Shin was the first driver out on track in the early stages. He completed a 1:36.471 but that time was deleted after he exceeded track limits at Turn 9.

    10 minutes into the session and the rest of the field – apart from the three Rodin Motorsport cars – made their way out of the pitlane.

    Ugo Ugochukwu set the pace with a 1:34.798 eclipsing title rival Slater in P2 by just 0.052s.

    With 26 minutes left, Rodin released their drivers out on track, while Matteo De Palo returned to the pitlane with damage after going off at the exit of Turn 7.

    Moments later, Salim Hanna found the barrier at Turn 5 bringing out the Red Flags.

    The session resumed with 12 minutes to go and once again Ugochukwu led the way with a 1:34.522, with Slater in P2, 0.180s behind.

    On his next lap, Hitech’s Jin Nakamura took over at the top with a 1:34.360.
    However, Slater went back to P1 with a 1:33.947, eclipsing Rodin’s Brando Bardoer time by 0.135s.

    It was not all good news for Trident however, as Noah Stromsted stopped on the run to Turn 12, bringing out the Red Flags.

    That brought the session to a close with Slater on top for a fourth consecutive practice session, ahead of Badoer and Pedro Clerot.

    Qualifying

    Tuukka Taponen left it late to take his first ever Aramco Pole Position Awards, sealing top spot with a 1:33.411.

    The MP Motorsport driver left it until the final lap of the day to take the top time by 0.042s over Slater, with teammate Mattia Colnaghi rounding out the top three – 0.072s away from Taponen.

    There was a mixture of strategies to start the session, with PREMA Racing, ART Grand Prix , DAMS Lucas Oil and Hitech all sending their drivers out later than the rest.

    But after the first set of times it was Theophile Nael on top after a 1:33.533, with Taponen his closest challenger 0.019s behind in second.

    In the battle between the top two drivers in the championship, Slater was seventh, while Ugo Ugochukwu was ninth after a huge lock up at Turn 1.

    The drivers returned to the track with 18 minutes to go on new Medium tyres.

    Slater then went quickest on a 1:33.451 with Nicola Lacorte just behind him in second, 0.064s behind, ahead of Brando Badoer in third. Critically in the title fight, Ugochukwu wad down in P12.

    The drivers returned to the pitlane to strap on another set of Mediums for their final laps of the day.

    On this occasion, Slater could not improve as Colnaghi went up to second, 0.024s off the top time.
    The Trident driver looked set for pole until Taponen snatched P1 with a 1:33.411, eclipsing Slater by just 0.040s.

  • F3 – RND 6 – Day 1

    Practice-

    Trident’s Freddie Slater wound up fastest overall in the Spa-Francorchamps Free Practice session, setting a 2:06.311 to lead the pack.
    Theophile Nael was second for Campos Racing, with Pedro Clerto third for Rodin Motorsport.

    With preparation laps complete, Nael set the early time to beat with a 2:08.335. That was quickly beaten by compatriot Alessandro Giusit, who lowered the benchmark to a 2:06.895.

    MP Motorsport teammate Tukkka Taponen then usurped him to go to P1 with a 2:06.622, with Slater moving up to second, just 0.093s behind the Finn.

    Maciej Gladysz put ART Grand Prix top of the pile on his next attempt, before Clerot and then Slater beat his time. The Briton went to P1 with a 2:06.311, 0.239s ahead of the Brazilian.

    Drivers returned to the pitlane with over 10 minutes to go to wait for more optimal track conditions.

    With the cars back on track and the session ticking into the final five minutes, drivers went for their next flying laps, but there were few improvements in the field

    Nael rebounded from an earlier setback in the session to move himself up to P2. Taito Kato was another to find time, jumping up to eighth place, 0.274s off Slater’s earlier effort.

    Into the final minute and there was plenty of scrapping for track position in the third sector as drivers fought to get one last run in, but nobody could find any more time on their well-worn Pirelli Hard tyres.

    Slater ended up fastest ahead of Nael and Clerot, with Gladysz and Ernesto Rivera rounding out a top five that was covered by a quarter of a second.

    Qualifying-

    Freddie Slater earned his second Aramco Pole Position Award Pole Position Award, setting a 2:05.150 on his first attempt in a rain and Red Flag-affected session.

    The Trident driver finished ahead of Tuukka Taponen, who earned P2 for MP Motorsport, while Hiyu Yamakoshi wound up third, although the Van Amersfoort Racing driver was involved in the session-ending Red Flag incident.

    The session began with rain beginning to fall and drivers were desperate to get their times in early in case the intensity increased.

    Louis Sharp was at the head of the field and delivered a 2:06.864, but he was bettered immediately by teammate James Wharton.

    Pedro Clerot then went to the top until Yamakoshi went quicker still. Taponen beat the Japanese driver by 0.088s to take provisional top spot.

    But Slater went quickest overall on a 2:05.150, a quarter of a second ahead than the Finn in P2 with everyone’s first laptimes on the board.

    Drivers pushed on immediately for a second attempt as the rain increased, with Fionn McLaughlin informed over team radio that heavy rain was five minutes away.

    Noah Stromsted went up to fourth on his second lap ahead of Ernesto Rivera in fifth with 22 minutes to go.

    Drivers then backed off to prepare for another flying lap which kickstarted the battle for track position, with everyone eager for a slipstream to avoid leading the field from the very front.

    Some drivers opted to pit at the end of the lap while those that continued and opened a third attempt found that track conditions had deteriorated enough to prevent any improvements. They all boxed at the end of the lap with 17 minutes left of the session.

    Cars re-emerged from the pitlane with just under half of the session remaining and with several drivers in search of an improvement. Championship leader Ugo Ugochukwu sat ninth as his closest rival in the Standings retained provisional pole.

    There was more battling for track position heading into the final 10 minutes but this time, several cars made contact. Stromsted collided with Yevan David, who tagged Jose Garfias, while Yamakoshi was involved.

    It caused a Red Flag with 9:38 left on the clock with the Trident, AIX Racing and Van Amersfoort Racing cars needing to be cleared away.

    With the rain increasing, the session was not resumed. It left Slater on top ahead of Taponen and Yamakoshi.

  • Round 10 – Spa Qualifying

    Kimi Antonelli has added a sixth pole position to his season tally after setting the fastest lap in Qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix, fending off challenges from Max Verstappen and Lando Norris.

    The Mercedes driver took time to find a rhythm during the hour-long session, but his final effort of 1m 44.361 was enough to seize P1 by three-tenths from Verstappen, who suffered a near miss with Isack Hadjar on his last lap, having been given a tow by his Red Bull team mate.

    Norris – who will drop to P13 thanks to a 10 place grid penalty for exceeding his power unit components allocation – had initially set the fastest time after the opening runs in Q3, but could not find enough to beat Antonelli.

    The full top 10 are- Pole: Antonelli, P2: Verstappen, P3: Norris, P4: Russell, P5: Leclerc, P6: Hamilton, P7: Piastri, P8: Lindblad, P9: Bortoleto and P10: Hadjar.

    However with Norris’ penalty taking effect everyone moves up one. As well Hadjar will be tumbling back to the end of the grid due to his 20 place grid penalty.

    A great result for Antonelli, exactly what he would want going into this weekend, now he will be looking for the win! Antonelli has not won since Monaco back on the 7th June! So he will be looking to get those 25 points over his teammate.
    As for George a good result for him, he will be wanting to go for the win, his had a couple of good race weekends in a row now and will be carrying that momentum.

    A good result for Verstappen! He will be very happy with a front row start and he will be wanting to go for the win, his not a four time World Champion for no reason! A little note, that Hadjar done a great job giving the tow to help Verstappen to P2!

    A semi decent result for the Ferrari’s, great for the team to get Hamilton out for Qualifying after his crash in FP3 – a really good job. They can do a lot from starting 4th and 5th – battling for the win won’t be out of the question for these two drivers.

    A shame for Lando to have the 10 place grid penalty when he qualified so well – but the reason they did it at this track is because you can overtake here.
    As for his teammate an okay result for Piastri, starting 6th but qualified 7th.

    A really good effort by Bortoleto, he seems to be getting more and more comfortable with the car and putting these results in – which sometimes seem to be going unnoticed.

    It’s great to be on pole. Was not a very straightforward session, the track changed a lot but we were able to improve lap by lap and bring home pole which was nice. Of course, tomorrow is another day. I have Max starting next to me so it’s going to be important to get a good start and then try to be ahead into Turn 5.
    Antonelli on pole position.

  • F3 – RND 5 – Day 1

    Practice-

    Freddie Slater was on it from the green light at Silverstone, setting a 1:46.161 to end Free Practice fastest overall for Trident.

    The Briton set his first flying lap time, and his benchmark remained unbeaten throughout, as he was followed by Campos Racing’s Ernesto Rivera and teammate Matteo De Palo in third.

    Tuukka Taponen set the initial benchmark time to beat early on, logging a 1:47.652 inside the opening 10 minutes before the track got busier.

    Jin Nakamura was next to lead the way, 1:47.337 putting him ahead of Taponen’s initial effort with 30 minutes to run.

    Slater was flying from the first lap of his weekend as he went to the top on a 1:46.161, over a half second quicker than next-best Rivera.

    The Mexican driver cut the deficit to 0.266s on his next flying lap, with de Palo a further two-tenths back in third place with over 20 minutes to go.

    Both Rivera and De Palo delivered improvements with 12 minutes to go, but neither could better Slater’s initial time, closing the gap down to 0.15s and 0.212s respectively whilst staying P2 and P3.

    Van Amersfoort Racing teammates Hiyu Yamakoshi and Enzo Deligny continued the team’s impressive performances of late, slotting into fourth and fifth at the midway stage.

    Campos Racing teammates Theophile Nael and Ugo Ugochukwu looked set to deliver an improvement in the final five minutes, but a Virtual Safety Car test meant they had to abandon their laps.

    Qualifying-

    Freddie Slater delivered when it mattered, earning his maiden Aramco Pole Position Award in the Championship and Trident’s first of the 2026 season.

    Theophile Nael wound up to P2 with a late lap under pressure having been down in P29 ahead of the final run. Louis Sharp secured third place on the grid for PREMA Racing.

    Tyre prep complete and it was an early PREMA 1-2-3 headed by Jose Garfias, but the Trident’s of Slater and Matteo de Palo topped the times after several improvements from others.

    The home driver lost his effort though for exceeding track limits at Copse corner to leave the Italian P1 on a 1:46.383, with Ernesto Rivera 0.096s behind in P2.

    After a short stint in the pitlane, the drivers returned to the track and De Palo improved to a 1:46.334. But that was shortly beaten by Rivera, who went 0.031s clear to go to provisional pole.

    The fast times were coming in thick and fast, as Maciej Gladysz took over at the top with a 1:46.293. But a few moments later Slater beat that time by just 0.061s to take P1.

    In the fight for the championship, once again Ugo Ugochukwu and Nael lost their times for breaching track limits, leaving them at the back ahead of their final lap of the day.

    With the pressure laps underway, Nael and Slater found time, but it was De Palo who went purple through the first sector.

    Through Sector 2 and Slater delivered a session-best middle sector. Nael crossed the line first to go provisional pole, until Slater delivered a 1:45.620 to take top sot on home soil.

  • Round 7 – Barcelona-Catalunya Qualifying

    George Russell has secured pole position for the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix in a close fought Qualifying hour, beating Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Antonelli after Charles Leclerc crashed out of the session.

    Bouncing back from a frustrating round in Monaco, the Mercedes driver was consistently one of the quickest throughout Qualifying and his spectacular effort of 1m 14.679s was unbeatable, earning him a third pole position of the season.

    Hamilton made his return to the front row in style with a last-gasp attempt, demoting Antonelli to third place to make the Italian’s lowest Grand Prix Qualifying result so far this season.

    The full top 10 are- Pole: Russell, P2: Hamilton, P3: Antonelli, P4: Norris, P5: Verstappen, P6: Hadjar, P7: Piastri, P8: Lawson, P9: Hulkenberg and P10: Leclerc.

    What a result for Russell, back on pole position, he definitely needed that after the disaster of a weekend last week, now to get the win surely??!! As for his teammate, another great result in third! Antonelli is always lurking around ready to pounce.

    Another great result for Hamilton, for a minute it looked like he was going to get pole position! But still an excellent result for the Ferrari driver. As for his teammate, not a good qualifying session, Leclerc will be looking at staying out of trouble at the start of the race.

    A good result for Norris! Makes up for an awful weekend last weekend, hopefully he can turn it into a decent result and get those points he missed out on last weekend.

    5th and 6th for the Red Bull boys, a semi decent result – Verstappen was looking like he couldn’t really hook the car up when it mattered, will be interesting to see how they get on in the race and what there strategies are going to be.

    Another good result for Liam Lawson in 8th, he will be looking for another points finish.

    Hulkenbergggg in the top 10! We love to see it, hopefully the Audi driver can turn it into a decent points finish for the team.

    It’s been a great weekend so far – I kind of feel like my old self again, where every lap I’m doing my job and always fighting in those top positions. Obviously the last few races, for numerous reasons haven’t quite been on our side, but I came into this weekend with just a clean slate, felt good and, yeah, just good to be on pole.
    Russell on pole position.

  • F2 – RND 5 – Day 1

    Practice-

    Laurens van Hoepen ended Free Practice on top for Trident, logging a 1:26.776 to narrowly beat DAMS Lucas Oil’s Roman Bilinski.
    Rodin Motorsport driver Alexander Dunne wound up just under a tenth of a second shy in third place.

    With plenty of data already accumulated around the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, it was a subdued start to the session before Nikola Tsolov set the first time to beat on a 1:27.136.

    Several drivers including Alexander Dunne, Sebastian Montoya, Kush Maini, Martinius Stenshorne and Nico Varrone got within a tenth of the Bulgarian’s time, but the benchmark fell once again.

    Van Hoepen bettered the Campos driver’s time and put in a 1:26.776 to lead as the first driver under the 1:27s.

    Dunne improved on his next lap to get within 0.070s of the top time, but Bilinski edged ahead of the Irishman to go second quickest, 0.051s down on van Hoepen.

    The Red Flags were waving with 12 minutes to go after a spin for Noel Leon left the Mexican driver beached in the gravel.

    Once the Campos was cleared away the session resumed with three minutes remaining but there were no further improvements.

    It meant that after van Hoepen, Bilinksi and Dunne in the top three, Rafael Villagomez finish fourth with Stenshorne fifth.

    Qualifying-

    Rafael Camara made it two Aramco Pole Positions in a row with top spot in Barcelona, leading an Invicta Racing 1-2 in Qualifying.
    The Brazilian set a 1:24.810 to lead the pack, with Duerksen second and Alexander Dunne third for Rodin Motorsport.

    Dunner went to the top with the early time to beat and a 1:25.528. That was beaten three times over, with Colton Herta taking spot on a 1:25.387 after his FP1 exploits with Cadillac.

    Laps by Duerksen and Hitech teammate Ritomo Miyata left the top three separated by 0.056s in the opening eight minutes.

    Half the field opted to wait before setting their first attempts, and Nikola Tsolov took top spot next on a 1:25.222.
    Kush Maini went within 0.042s of the Bulgarian’s time but Rafael Camara crossed the line and delivered a 1:24.810 to go fourth tenths clear of anybody at the halfway stage.

    The final set of laps started with only five minutes left and there were plenty of personal bests coming through.
    Rafael Villagomez rocketed up to P2 for Van Amersfoort Racing, and Gabriele Mini followed moments later to displace the Mexican driver in the order.

    Dunne whose earlier time was deleted for exceeding track limits, was able to go second fastest and just over two-tenths off Camara, until Duerksen put Invicta 1-2 moment later.

    The Red Flag then brought the session to a halt with Miyata spinning off through the gravel and into the barriers on exit of the final corner.
    The Japanese driver was out of the car and OK, and once his car was cleared, qualifying resumed with 3:41 on the clock.

    Several drivers were in need of an improvement, but nobody could challenge Camara’s time and he claimed his second consecutive pole position ahead of his teammate Duerksen.

    https://x.com/formula2/status/2065443621063499880?s=46&t=aXLQ2Py0qaT52rhG6u6Lig

  • Round 6 – Monaco Qualifying

    Kimi Antonelli has clinched pole position for the Monaco Grand Prix in a thrilling conclusion to qualifying, the Mercedes driver storming to the top of the timesheets ahead of Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton.

    After Antonelli set the pace during the initial runs of Q3, the likes of Charles Leclerc and Verstappen subsequently toppled him as the session headed towards its close – but the Italian displaced Verstappen in P1 on a lap of 1m 12.051s, marking his maiden Monte Carlo pole.

    Verstappen has to settle for second place in the Red Bull, his effort being only 0.043s adrift of Antonelli’s, while Hamilton was just over two tenths away for Ferrari in third.

    The full top 10 are- Pole: Antonelli, P2: Verstappen, P3: Hamilton, P4: Leclerc, P5: Hadjar, P6: Russell, P7: Piastri, P8: Norris, P9: Gasly and P10: Lawson.

    What a result for Antonelli! He put it all on the line when it mattered and got the job done! As for his teammate, not a very good result at all as Russell is starting sixth, not really much he can do from there apart from waiting for other people’s mistakes.

    A great qualifying for Verstappen, especially as the team was having issues the majority of the weekend, hopefully they can keep it up in the race. A great result for Hadjar, P5 for the Red Bull driver, a decent result after an eventful start to the weekend.

    The Ferrari’s have had a great weekend so far! Hamilton starts third and home-town hero Leclerc starts fourth, I think if he didn’t hit the wall on his last flying lap he would be looking at a front row start if not pole, very unfortunate for him.

    An okay result for the McLaren’s 7th and 8th, not good at all, it will be hoping drivers in front have problems for them to get further up the field and all about pit stop strategy!

    Gasly starting ninth, another good result for the French driver, he will be looking to score points this weekend! And the same goes for Liam Lawson looking for another points finish.

    It was one of those laps we call the magic lap. I was able to put [it] all together and it was such a close Qualifying with Max – I think in the first run of Q3 there was just one millisecond between us, but I knew the last lap was good and was just hoping that it would be enough. It was very close and I’m very happy with that. Massive thanks to the team because yesterday we struggled a little bit and today we were able to improve massively.
    Antonelli on pole.

  • F2 – RND 2 – Day 1

    Practice-
    Colton Herta got his home weekend in Miami off to the perfect start, topping Free Practice for Hitech on a 1:40.320.

    Kush Maini followed in second for ART Grand Prix ahead of TRIDENT’s Laurens van Hoepen.

    Installation laps were interrupted early on after a spin for Noel Leon at Turn 7 brought out the Virtual Safety Car, with his Campos Racing car needing to be recovered.

    The return to green flag conditions didn’t last long as teammate and Championship leader Nikola Tsolov also stopped on track, bringing out the Red Flags.

    Running resumed with 25 minutes to go and everyone was eager to get out on track to maximise the remaining time.

    Van Hoepen had led the way initially but Alexander Dunne delivered a 1:40.999 to go fastest for Rodin Motorsport with more laps on the board.

    Gabriele Mini usurped his Alpine Academy stablemate, going quickest briefly before a flurry of further improvements put van Hoepen back on top with a 1:40.480.

    Maini then put ART P1 on the leaderboard with a 1:40.336, 0.144s ahead of the TRIDENT driver in second with a little over 10 minutes remaining.
    Herta then moved himself into the top three, just a fraction slower than van Hoepen, but then went quickest of all in the final two minutes on a 1:40.320.

    Nobody could find a better effort, and a yellow flag late on for van Hoepen, who went off the track at Turn 8 prevented any more changes in the order.

    Qualifying-

    ART Grand Prix driver Kush Maini came out on top of a tightly fought Miami Qualifying, taking the Aramco Pole Position Award ahead of Rafael Camara and Martinius Stenshorne.

    Maini completed a 1:39.888 with his final lap of the day to beat Camara to the top spot by just 0.033s with Rodin Motorsport’s Martinius Stenshorne in P3.

    It was Camara that set the pace early with a 1:40.411, the Invicta Racing driver over a tenth ahead of the Rodin’s Alexander Dunne and Stenshorne in P2 and P3 respectively.

    Several drivers were able to push on and improve on their second laps with the supersoft tyres, including Rafael Villagomez, who went from eighth to fourth ahead of Maini in fifth.

    While the majority of the field pushed on for a third attempt, many chose to return to the pitlane for a new set of tyres ahead of their final laps of the day.

    The drivers returned to the track with just over 11 minutes to go, and once the flying laps begun, the fastest time changed several times.

    But it was ultimately Maini that was quickest on a 1:39.888 with the top three, including Camara and Stenshorne covered by just 0.050s.

    ART opted to bring Maini back into the pitlane as the rest of the field continued looking to improve their times.

    But those runs were curtailed by a yellow flag at Turn 16, with Stenshorne having pulled over to with an issue, leaving Maini on pole ahead of Camara.

    Dunne wound up in P4 for Rodin behind Stenshorne, with Gabriele Mini in fifth for MP Motorsport.

  • Round 4 – Miami Qualifying

    Kimi Antonelli has clinched pole position for the Miami Grand Prix in style, setting a magnificent lap to edge out Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc to the honour.

    The Mercedes driver was consistently towards the top of the times throughout qualifying and, although he couldn’t improve on his final lap, an earlier effort proved to be unbeatable as he ended the session on a time of 1m 27.798s.

    Verstappen looked close to piping Antonelli to pole position at the last second with rapid sectors at the Miami International Autodrome, but he ultimately lost out by just over a tenth and will line up on the front row ahead of Leclerc.

    The full top 10 are- Pole: Antonelli, P2: Verstappen, P3: Leclerc, P4: Norris, P5: Russell, P6: Hamilton, P7: Piastri, P8: Colapinto, P9: Hadjar and P10: Gasly.

    A lovely result for Antonelli, Pole for the Italian, just what he would’ve wanted, he will be looking to go for the win without any challenges. As for Russell, a little further back, his got his work cut out as he has Hamilton just behind and Norris just infront.

    A great result for Verstappen, seems like the Red Bull has improved since last time out, which we like to see as it brings the fight closer together and more action on track.

    A decent result for the Ferrari’s with Leclerc in the mix in third, he will be wanting to fight the Red Bull and McLaren for a podium and get those all important points needed.

    McLaren qualified 4th and 7th for Norris and Piastri, a decent result for them, a bit more work to do for Piastri having to pass through some drivers for better points.

    A really good result the Alpine’s, Colapinto in 8th, he has started to become more consistent this season, hopefully he can turn that P8 start to some good points. His teammate, Gasly starts in 10th, so will be looking for a double points finish.

    No real surprises out of qualifying, so will be an interesting race if anything happens, weather wise which can change strategies.

    The race has moved forward due to potentially having a storm coming in, so start time is now 6pm (BST).

    It’s been an amazing day, to be on pole again. It was obviously a difficult start of the day with the Sprint, where it didn’t go our way, but I’m super happy with the recovery. It was a good Qualifying. I got a little bit too excited on the last lap of Q3, but the first lap was good enough, and I’m really happy with that.
    Antonelli on pole.

  • F1 Academy – RND 1 – Day 1

    Practice-

    Alisha Palmowski started the 2026 F1 Academy season in style as she confidently set the pace in the sole Free Practice session around the Shanghai International Circuit.

    Despite having the lowest lap count on the board, the Red Bull Racing driver sealed the top spot with a time of 2:04.550 to eke out an advantage of 0.467s over Alba Larsen.
    Rookie Peyton Westcott completed the top three for Mercedes, only 0.024s off the Ferrari junior.

    Amid a gradual start to the 40 minute session, it came down to Ferrari’s Larsen to kick off the action as she set one of the first flying laps with a 2:07.132.
    With just one practice on offer in Shanghai, both experienced and rookie drivers – with 11 making their full time debut in the series – had limited running to learn the track ahead of qualifying.

    The Danish driver quickly bettered her own effort, becoming one of the few to brave the dusty conditions while PUMA driver Rachel Robertson found herself just over two tenths adrift of the lead.

    Larsen’s hold on P1 didn’t last long as Robertson then went half a second faster to break into the 2:05s, with Nina Gademan sat in third place at the halfway point.

    As the traffic increased, the gaps began to narrow, with Emma Felbermayr the next to set the fastest lap of the session before Mercedes’ Westcott immediately shot into first on a 2:05.319.

    McLaren driver Ella Lloyd entered the contest, taking P2 before she was demoted by fellow second-year racer Palmowski, with the top four covered by just 0.071s.

    Palmowski went five tenths clear on her next attempt and set a benchmark of 2:04.699, which she then improved on in the final minutes to end with a rapid time of 2:04.550.

    Elsewhere, the drivers continued to explore the limits with Shi Wei triggering a brief Yellow Flag appearance after spinning at Turn 1 before being able to rejoin.

    Palmowski’s Campos Racing teammate Rafaela Ferreira was fourth behind Larsen and Westcott, with Lisa Billard settling in as the second quickest rookie in P5.

    Qualifying-

    Alisha Palmowski conquered qualifying in Shanghai to claim her long-awaited maiden pole position, starting her second year in the series on a high.

    After coming close to pole on numerous occasions last season, the Red Bull Racing driver was untouchable as she continued to better her own efforts, finishing with a rapid time of 2:04.182.
    Ferrari’s Alba Larsen settled for second place, making her first front row start in F1 Academy, with fellow sophomore driver Emma Felbermayr lining up in third.

    Following a short delay to the start, the drivers were keen to hit the track and build temperature in their tyres as they adapted to the changed grip levels.

    Aston Martin’s Mathilda Paatz jumped to the top of the timings early on, with her teammate Payton Westcott – tucking in just behind her.
    However, the rookies’ times were quickly eclipsed by Palmowski and Felbermayr as the Audi driver set the pace with a time of 2:05.362.

    Palmowski’s next effort showed that there were plenty of improvements still to come as she took P1 before Larsen leapt from fifth to first, building a buffer of over two tenths to the Briton.

    At the halfway mark, the Ferrari driver was firmly on provisional pole while all of the drivers returned to the pits to bolt on a set of fresh tyres, preparing for more runs. But before anyone could find a major improvement, the Red flags were waved as Haas’ Kaylee Countryman slowed to a halt.

    She soon got going again and joined her competitors in the pitlane, but the temporary disruption meant that everyone had to complete another out lap with less than 10 minutes to go, adding another element of pressure to the proceedings.

    Palmowski was the first to set her eyes on pole position and despite a small mistake, she drove the fastest lap of the session so far, albeit by less than a tenth to Larsen.
    Westcott, meanwhile demonstrated that her pace in Practice wasn’t a fluke as she began to challenge for the top spot.

    The Mercedes driver couldn’t improve in Sectors 2 and 3 and remained in third place, but it was a different story for Palmowski as she extended her advantage to four tenths over Larsen.

    Her lap proved to be impossible to beat in the final seconds and she held onto pole ahead of Larsen and Felbermayr, who improved late on to demote Rafaela Ferreira to fourth.

  • F2 – RND 1 – Day 1

    Practice-

    Gabriele Mini started off his Melbourne weekend on the front foot, ending the Practice session quickest of all.
    The MP Motorsport driver set a 1:29.137 to take top spot ahead of Noel Leon and Rafael Camara in second and third places for Campos Racing and Invicta Racing respectivly.

    Sebastian Montoya led the way in the early stages for PREMA Racing on a 1:33.093, but that time was then bettered by Joshua Duerksen. The Invicta driver delivered a 1:31.939 to lead the field with 10 minutes gone.

    Dino Beganovic was able to post an improvement soon after, going top on a 1:31.505 despite catching traffic in the final sector.

    Duerksen responded on his subsequent attempt to restore his advantage at the top and became the first driver to dip into the 1:30s.

    MP’s Mini secured the top spot before Nikola Tsolov then set the quickest effort for Campos. The Bulgarian’s 1:30.178 came just before the Red Flags were waving after a spin into the wall for Colton Herta on the exit of Turn 10.

    Once the Hitech was recovered, the session resumed with 20 minutes left of practice.
    Mini returned to the top of the times on his following lap, going narrowly ahead by just 0.017s before Leon usurped him by 0.018s.

    Tsolov then went to the top on a 1:29.668 though Mini had been ahead before he lost his lap for exceeding track limits at Turn 6.

    Into the final 10 minutes and Leon pipped his teammate by a tenth to go quickest until Mini secured top spot once again, this time on a 1:29.137.
    A second red flag was thrown after a spin into the gravel for Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak at Turn 12.

    With the ART Grand Prix car cleared away, running resumed with three minutes to go, enough time for the majority to get back around for one final flying lap. Though there were several improvements, nobody could take P1 away from Mini.

    Qualifying-

    Dino Beganovic left it to the final lap to secure the first Aramco Pole Position Award of 2026, setting a 1:28.695 for the top spot.

    The DAMS Lucas Oil driver delivered an improvement in his final attempt to beat Rodin Motorsport’s Martinius Stenshorne and Alexander Dunne to pole, the pairing finishing second and third respectively.

    Beganovic laid down the initial benchmark and a 1:29.953, 0.094s quicker than Joshua Duerksen in P2 and his Invicta Racing teammate Rafael Camara in third.

    Stenshorne took over in provisional pole until Nikola Tsolov delivered an improvement of his own to go P1 with a 1:29.381.

    The Red Flags were out following a snap for Mari Boya at Turn 12 that left the PREMA Racing driver in the barrier. He was out of the car and OK, and the session resumed soon after.

    Qualifying resumed with 20 minutes left but after filtering back out onto the track, drivers returned to the pitlane for a fresh set of Pirelli tyres without posting improvements.

    Drivers rejoined the circuit once more with 12 minutes to go, but before any times could be posted, Gabriele Mini pulled to the side of the track with an issue on his car, bringing out the Red Flags once again.

    Due to the delays, the session ran to time, leaving just three minutes on the clock as qualifying resumed, enough time for just one final lap.

    Provisional pole changed hands three times over in the final seconds but it was Beganovic that found the improvement to take top spot for DAMS on a 1:28.695.

    He pipped the Rodin Motorsport teammates Stenshorne and Dunne, who both in turn had taken the top spot prior to the Swedes’ final attempt.

    Noel Leon secured forth ahead of Tsolov, who fell to fifth by the chequered flag. Camara was sixth ahead of Kush Maini, Oliver Goethe, Duerksen and Inthraphuvasak in P10.

  • Round 1 – Australia Qualifying

    George Russell sealed pole position for the first race of the season in Australia, beating Kimi Antonelli and Isack Hadjar’s efforts while Max Verstappen suffered an unexpected early exit.

    The Mercedes driver established his spot at the top early on, dominating throughout each segment of qualifying before positing a stunning final lap of 1m 18.518s to establish a major advantage over the rest of the field.

    Antonelli was second to polish off a superb day for the Brackley team, while Hadjar shone on his Red Bull debut to claim third.

    The full top 10 are- Pole: Russell, P2: Antonelli, P3: Hadjar, P4: Leclerc, P5: Piastri, P6: Norris, P7: Hamilton, P8: Lawson, P9: Lindblad and P10: Bortoleto.

    What a result for the Mercedes boys! Going into this weekend and the season Russell and Mercedes are the favourites at the minute and this has just proved it! He now needs to go win this race tomorrow and it will be a brilliant start to the season. As for Antonelli, Mercedes done a masterpiece getting his car ready for Q1 but they did it and Antonelli done the driving where it mattered.

    P3 for Hadjar! Just what he would’ve wanted going into his first race with Red Bull. I think it makes it even better as the team has at least one good result where as in the past if Max went out early (which is rare) the teammate wouldn’t do as good. But Hadjar is in the perfect place to score points, and maybe even a podium!
    As for Verstappen, an unfortunate qualifying for him, crashed out of qualifying before even being able to set a lap time! His got a lot of work to do, to just get into the points.

    Good result for Leclerc, P4 for the Monegasque, probably in the right place if you look at the results from the practices. It will be interesting to see how Ferrari do in the race, especially with strategies, can they get on the podium in the first round??
    As for Lewis Hamilton, a decent result in 7th, was just beaten by the McLaren’s but it was very close between himself and Norris!

    As for the McLaren’s 5th and 6th, not a bad result for them at all. They will be hoping to get at least one driver on the podium, so that battle could be interesting…

    P8 for Lawson, a good result for him! And for the team as Lindblad qualified P9 in his first qualifying! Points would be an excellent way to start his rookie season, so let’s see if he gets them!

    Bortoleto rounds out the top 10, a very good result for the Audi team as Hulkenberg is just behind his teammate in 11th, points will be wanted this weekend.

    It was a great day. We knew there was a lot of potential in the car, but until you get to this first Saturday of the season you never know. It really came alive this afternoon, especially when the track temp cooled – we know we sort of tend to favour those conditions. I’m also really happy to have Kimi here next to me as well because it’s been such a hard job from all the team to deliver this car and they did an amazing job in the garage as well today, so all in all a really good day.
    Russell on pole.

  • F2 – Saudi Arabia – Day 1

    Practice-

    Victor Martins made a positive start to Round 3, ending up fastest for ART Grand Prix in Free Practice. A 1:45.671 was the time to beat in a session that got quicker with every lap completed.

    Roman Stanek started positively too for Invicta Racing, finishing second ahead of Dino Beganovic, who made a late improvement to go third for Hitech TGR.

    After the tyre preparation laps, Joshua Duerksen set an early benchmark with a 1:49.034 for AIX Racing.

    The times fell with every subsequent lap as Martins put ART on top with 10 minutes run on a 1:47.735, until Kush Maini pipped him by 0.012s.
    Stanek was next to go quickest, a 1:47.689 by the Invicta driver meant the top three was separated by just 0.046s.

    The trio improved once again but this time it was Maini who led the way, 1:46.437 for the DAMS Lucas Oil driver leaving his 0.3s clear ahead of Stanek and F2’s latest Feature Race winner, Alexander Dunne.

    Jak Crawford put in an improved to cut the deficit to teammate Maini to just 0.013s, but Martins went back to the top shortly afterwards.

    Duerksen returned to P1 with 15 minutes to go of the session as the Paraguayan set a 1:46.387, leaving the top five separated by less than a tenth of a second.

    Stanek then restored Invicta to the top of the pile as he moved onto a 1:46.217. Crawford cut the gap to 0.031s as he improved to second as Martins then went third and 0.087s off the top.

    Gabriele Mini took P1 for PREMA Racing, but only briefly, as a storming lap by Stanek resulted in a 1:45.820 and the fastest time once again.

    Into the final five minutes, and times continued to fall, Martins laid down the marker of a 1:45.671 to go back ahead of Stanek.
    A last minute improvement from Beganovic put him third ahead of Duerksen.

    Qualifying-

    DAMS Lucas Oil’s Jak Crawford left it to his last lap of the day to take pole position in Jeddah, beating ART Grand Prix rival Victor Martins for the top spot by just 0.022s in a fascinating qualifying session.

    Martins had looked set for pole after completing his first flying lap, but Crawford’s 1:43.579 was enough to take the top spot, as Invicta Racing’s Leonardo Fornaroli rounded out the top three.

    Martins set the early pace after the first set of laps, the Frenchman completing a 1:44.559 to lead Rodin Motorsport’s Alexander Dunne by 0.323s.

    The drivers though were able to push on for a second attempt on their Supersoft tyres, and on this occasion, it was Arvid Lindblad on top thanks to a 1:44.250.
    Martins kept his place in the top two though, albeit 0.073s off the Campos Racing rookie.

    Several drivers, including Lindblad, then set off for a third flying lap. However, they aborted those attempts to head into the pit lane for a new set of tyres.

    With just over 11 minutes to go in the session, the drivers came back out on the track on their new sets of tyres.

    Gabriele Mini used that fresh rubber to rocket up to the top of the timesheets, only for Luke Browning to quickly drop him down in P2.

    As the rest of the field looked to complete their laps though, the red flags were waved following John Bennett’s crash into the barrier at Turn 17.

    Once the car was cleared from the track the session resumed with 5 minutes remaining, which led to a flurry of activity with only enough time for one flying lap.

    Crawford rose to the top with a 1:43.579, beating Martins by just 0.022s to give DAMS their first pole since Melbourne in 2023.

    The full top 10 are- Pole: Crawford, P2: Martins, P3: Fornaroli, P4: Browning, P5: Lindblad, P6: Dunne, P7: Marti, P8: Mini, P9: Verschoor and P10: Stanek.

  • R4 – Bahrain Qualifying

    McLaren driver, Oscar Piastri grabbed pole position during Qualifying for the Bahrain Grand Prix, getting the better of Mercedes rival George Russell and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in a thrilling conclusion.

    Practice pace-setter McLaren had been in control through the Q1 and Q2 phases but had to work hard to remain at the top of the timesheets in Q3 – Piastri’s final 1m 29.841s lap putting him a couple of tenths up on Russell. Leclerc was another tenth and a half back in third.

    The full top 10 are- Pole: Piastri, P2: Russell, P3: Leclerc, P4: Antonelli, P5: Gasly, P6: Norris, P7: Verstappen, P8: Sainz, P9: Hamilton and P10: Tsunoda.

    What a lovely result from Piastri! Pole for the McLaren man, just what he would’ve wanted as he will be looking to grab his second win of the season.
    As for Norris, a bit of a shocker in 6th, however, he hasn’t lost out too much as he will be lining up next to Verstappen…

    P2 and P4 for the Mercedes boys! A really strong finish from Russell and Antonelli, it is a track both drivers know well. However, they are going to be investigated after qualifying for a potential rule breach.

    P3 for Leclerc, a much better result from the Monegasque and Ferrari, hopefully they can keep up the good result and turn it into a good points haul / a podium.
    As for Hamilton, he qualified, 9th, a semi-decent result for the Brit, could’ve been better for sure, especially as Leclerc qualified third but a decent result.

    A mixed result for Red Bull, Verstappen 7th, he was complaining about brake issues throughout the session. As for Tsunoda he qualified 10th, not too bad, but a position where he can improve and grab some points.

    P8 for Carlos Sainz, a lovely result for the Spanish driver, his best result in the Williams so far! Hopefully he can get some points this weekend.

    One driver I haven’t mentioned is Mr Pierre Gaslyyyy, putting his Alpine in P5! A lovely result from him and the team, they definitely seem to have improved from last season. Hopefully a good points haul from the Frenchman to help in the Constructors.

  • RW 24 – Abu Dhabi Qualifying

    Lando Norris will be starting from pole position for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the Brit leading teammate Oscar Piastri to secure a McLaren front row lockout on a weekend where the team are hoping to clinch the Constructors’ title.

    After Max Verstappen initially set a time strong enough for provisional pole during the first runs of Q3, it was Norris who surged ahead during the decisive final laps on an effort of 1m 22.595s, putting him 0.209s clear of Piastri.

    The full top 10 are- Pole: Norris, P2: Piastri, P3: Sainz, P4: Hulkenberg, P5: Verstappen, P6: Gasly, P7: Russell, P8: Alonso, P9: Bottas and P10: Perez.

    However, Hulkenberg has received a three place grid drop for failing to follow the race director’s instructions by overtaking two cars on the pit exit road.
    He is now demoted to seventh, meaning Verstappen is fourth, Gasly 5th and Russell 6th. However it’s still a good result for the team and his main target is Gasly and Alpine as there are only 5 points between them in the Constructors.

    What a lovely result for McLaren, Norris on pole and Piastri second, this is what the team would’ve of wanted going into the weekend, having both drivers in those positions will help massively with the Constructors’ all they can hope is that they score enough to win it!

    As for Ferrari, they’ve had a good result with Sainz in P3 so he is their main contender to score points for the team. As Charles Leclerc has got a 10 place grid penalty so will be starting the race from 19th, so the Monegasque driver will have a lot of work to do to grab some points for the team in an all important battle.

    A decent result for Verstappen, even though he has the championship wrapped up he would like to finish the season on a high and grab a decent result! His teammate, Sergio Perez qualified 10th which obviously isn’t the best as it’s middle of the pack but I suppose its not the worst position this year for him.

    A bit of a mixed qualifying for Mercedes, P7 for Russell, not the best result but not the worst he could still get some good points for Mercedes.
    As for Hamilton, it was a bit of a shocker, qualifying 18th, but after some penalties, he starts 16th. This was due to hitting a loose bollard that had been knocked onto the track by Magnussen.

    A perfect day for us. Probably a little bit tougher than we were hoping for – we’ve been very quick all weekend so we’re pleased with a 1-2, but it was just a bit trickier than what we would have liked. My lap in the end was strong, and just how we wanted to end today.
    Norris on pole position.

  • RW 22 – Las Vegas Qualifying

    Mercedes driver George Russell, stormed to pole position for the Las Vegas Grand Prix, edging out Ferrari rival Carlos Sainz and the flying Alpine of Pierre Gasly in Friday night’s pulsating qualifying session.

    Having topped final practice and led the way after the first Q3 runs, Russell posted a time of 1m 32.312s on his final lap to secure the top spot and end a run of Ferrari and McLaren poles stretching back to his P1 at Silverstone in July.

    Sainz was a tenth of a second back, while Pierre Gasly and Alpine built on their sensational double podium finish last time out at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix to deliver another eye-catching result in third place.

    The full top 10 are- Pole: Russell, P2: Sainz, P3: Gasly, P4: Leclerc, P5: Verstappen, P6: Norris, P7: Tsunoda, P8: Piastri, P9: Hulkenberg and P10: Hamilton.

    A lovely little result for Russell and Mercedes, especially as they have been having good results all weekend so far in the practice sessions. It’s a shame for Lewis to have a lap time deleted as it looked like he would of been top 3 if he carried on the way the practice sessions went.

    What a result for Mr Pierre Gasly!! They have clearly brought upgrades before Brazil and they clearly work or it’s just their car suiting these last few tracks. Who knows but they may aswell keep enjoying it!

    A good qualifying for Ferrari! P2 for Sainz and P4 for Leclerc. They will be hoping for a good result for both drivers as they have got the Constructors’ fight to think about..

    A not so good result for both Verstappen and Norris, P5 and P6 respectively. It will be an interesting race, as Verstappen can win his fourth world championship this weekend! Norris will need to pull something special out the bag in the race to keep the fight going for another week!

    A good result for Tsunoda! P7, what a lovely result! As well as Hulkenberg who qualified P9 too, they will both be wanting to grab some points this weekend!

    A disappointing result for Perez who has qualified in P16, this isn’t what the team needs unfortunately, they are going to be losing so much ground in the Constructors’ with these awful results… He needs to get in the points this weekend to make it a better weekend.

    Awful qualifying for Aston Martin, P20 for Stroll and P17 for Alonso, I still don’t understand to this day how they done so well last year compared to how bad they’ve done this year, it’s just so strange.

    It feels incredible to be back on pole. We’ve been so quick all weekend and I just knew coming into that last Q3 lap… that’s going to be the one that counts. It doesn’t matter what’s happened before then. I had a bit of a moment on my first run and we had to change the front wing, so there was a moment when I thought we weren’t going to make the flag. I’m just so happy. We’ve got to do some deep diving to understand why we’ve been so quick so far this weekend because it was a real surprise.
    Russell on pole.

  • New start times for rescheduled Sao Paulo Grand Prix

    The FIA and Formula 1 have confirmed rescheduled timings for both qualifying and the Sao Paulo Grand Prix itself after Saturday’s qualifying session was postponed due to poor weather conditions.

    The session had been due to run at 1500 local time on Saturday afternoon at the Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace, but the start of Q1 was postponed when torrential rain – along with thunder and lightning – arrived, resulting in pools of water forming on the track.

    With the session unable to take place on Saturday, it has now been confirmed that qualifying will take place today at the new time of 7:30 local time (10:30am GMT) and the Sao Paulo Grand Prix itself brought forwards to 12:30 local time (15:30pm GMT).

    Following the conditions in São Paulo today the decision was taken not to proceed with Qualifying due to poor visibility, standing water on the track and fading light. Safety is always the paramount consideration in such circumstances and while as much time as possible was given to allow conditions to improve they sadly did not. We have huge appreciation for all the fans that stayed at the circuit in hope of seeing cars on track today. Therefore the decision has been taken, after consultation with the stewards, to schedule Qualifying for 07:30 local time on Sunday morning ahead of the Grand Prix at 12:30 local. This will ensure we maximise the chances of providing the fans with a day of racing action, given the ongoing weather forecast for tomorrow afternoon, and both the FIA and Formula 1 believe this time change is necessary and the right thing to do for all our passionate fans. We thank everyone for their patience today including the fans, drivers, teams, marshals, circuit staff and media and hope to give everyone an exciting event on Sunday.
    An FIA and Formula 1 statement.

  • RW 20 – Mexico City Qualifying

    Carlos Sainz has taken a stunning pole position for the Mexico City Grand Prix, with the Ferrari driver going fastest from Max Verstappen and Lando Norris during what had been a dramatic qualifying session featuring a red flag and two shock exits in Q1.

    While Verstappen looked like he initially sealed provisional pole in the first runs of Q3, the time was deleted due to track limits, which promoted Sainz up into the top spot.
    And when it came to the second runs, the Spaniard went even quicker by pumping in an impressive 1m 15.946s.

    Verstappen claimed P2, the Red Bull man’s time 0.255s back from Sainz, while Norris took third after previously setting the pace in Q1 and Q2 for McLaren.

    The full top 10 are- Pole: Sainz, P2: Verstappen, P3: Norris, P4: Leclerc, P5: Russell, P6: Hamilton, P7: Magnussen, P8: Gasly, P9: Albon, P10: Hulkenberg.

    A lovely result for Ferrari, especially coming off the back of last weekend aswell! It’s Carlos’ best ever qualifying at Mexico and his first pole position of this season, which makes Ferrari the only team with both drivers on pole this season.
    Leclerc starting fourth aswell, which is a good result, he will be hoping to grab a podium at least. As coming into this weekend, Ferrari look like they are the team to win again.

    A good result for Max, he had some struggles over the weekend in practice so to turn it around in qualifying is good, now to just hope that it all goes okay in the race.
    Perez made a bit of a shock Q1 exit at his home grand prix, starting 18th, which is a shame as no one wants to perform badly at home, but this is unfortunately just normal now…

    McLaren have had a bit of a mixed result, Norris qualifying third, which is I believe the best place out of the top three to qualify here, as it is quite a long run down to turn one.
    His teammate qualified in P17, which was a shock, and his run of Q3 appearances comes to an end. He has a lot of work to do if he wants to score some points for the constructors championship.

    A good result for Mercedes, P5 and P6, hopefully they can capitalise on it during the race and score some good points, maybe even score a podium if they are lucky.

    A good result for Haas, P7 and P10, there having really good results at the moment, due to the upgrades they have brought, if they keep having good results and scoring points this is going to help their battle in the Constructor’s championship fight with VCARB…

    I’m very happy. A great couple of laps. A lot of times around Mexico you always have the feeling like you cannot put a lap together and it’s extremely difficult with how much sliding there is, but today honestly my two laps of Q3 were pretty much identical, almost perfect. I just put two really solid laps in Q3, enough for pole, and I’m very happy because that’s not normally the case around Mexico with how tricky it is.
    Carlos Sainz on pole.

  • RW 19 – United States Qualifying

    Lando Norris has grabbed pole position for the United States Grand Prix, with the McLaren driver’s solid first effort in Q3 ultimately unable to be beaten as the session was brought to an early end following a crash.

    Norris had initially taken P1 during the opening runs with his effort of 1m32.330s, disrupting Max Verstappen’s run at the top through Q1 and Q2.
    And while the Brit’s second lap was slower, nobody was able to improve when the double yellows made an appearance due to Russell who hit the wall at Turn 19.

    That confirmed Norris is on pole, with Verstappen 0.031s back in second and Carlos Sainz for Ferrari rounded out the top three.

    The full top 10 are- Pole: Norris, P2: Verstappen, P3: Sainz, P4: Leclerc, P5: Piastri, P6: Russell, P7: Gasly, P8: Alonso, P9: Magnussen and P10: Perez.

    A lovely result for Norris, a lot better than Friday’s qualifying. I know Norris said he feels lucky, but luck does play a part in F1, so I think he should be happy about it, as it is the best place for him.
    For his teammate a much better position, Piastri has qualified P5, a decent qualifying for the Australian.

    Obviously a good result for Verstappen, it is definitely one of his better weekends of recently, he will want this win today so it’s just a wait and see what happens tonight…
    Perez had a slightly better qualifying, but still not amazing he will be starting P10, right smack bang in the middle of it all.

    Another good qualifying for the Ferrari duo, P3 for Sainz and P4 Leclerc. I feel like this weekend they are the team which has got it all together, both drivers are qualifying well, and they scored double points in the Sprint. Let’s hope the team’s strategy is good, so they can grab a podium.

    A bit of a 50/50 qualifying for Mercedes, Hamilton was out in Q1 and will be starting 18th, which was a bit of a shocker but I have a feeling he is a man on a mission this race. And for George he qualified P6 which isn’t bad, however he ended qualifying early by crashing out, which isn’t the best.

    A decent result for Gasly, P7 for Alpine, which is a lovely step forward! Now the team needs to have the right strategy for Gasly to score some points.

    Another good result from Magnussen for Haas this weekend, the team will be wanting to score more points for the constructors’ championship.

    It was a beautiful lap. I was not going to go much quicker than what I did. You know when you just do a lap and you think it’s going to be tough to beat that, but I put everything out on the line. It’s all we needed to do. We’ve been on the back foot pretty much the whole weekend. We’ve not had the pace of the Ferraris or the Red Bulls so I had to do something, and today I did that. A cool lap and a nice way to start the race tomorrow.
    Norris on pole position.

  • F1 Academy – RND 5 Day 1

    Practice-

    Alpine’s Abbi Pulling started as she means to go around the Marina Bay Street Circuit, ending Free Practice fastest of all.
    The only driver to set a time inside the 2:03s, the standings leader kept building a gap over the pack.

    The 16 drivers made the most out of every second of the 30 minute session as they began acclimatising to both the track and humidity.

    Doriane Pin set the early benchmark with a 2:11.332 whilst Wild Card Ella Lloyd brought out a brief yellow flag after stopping momentarily on track.

    As the track rubbered in, times continued to tumble. Pin went fastest once more, but only momentarily as PREMA Racing teammate Maya Weug utilised the tow to pull out an advantage of over one second.
    The trio traded personal best efforts and Weug responded quickly.

    Drivers were all finding the limit and discovering how the Singaporean streets punish mistakes. A spin from Jessica Edgar saw the American Express driver tap the barrier at Turn 8.

    Inside the final 12 minutes, Pulling became the first driver to go below the 2:04s mark, going over four tenths faster than Weug.

    Track evolution allowed the field to push until the end, as purple and green sectors littered the timing screens. As Pulling went fastest again on a 2:04.648, Marti climbed up into second.

    Pin returned to the top spot in the final minute, but it would be Pulling who’d take the chequered flag first and leapfrog the Mercedes driver into P1, setting a 2:03.993.

    Qualifying-

    Abbi Pulling overcame a three-way fight with Maya Weug and Doriane Pin to seize both pole positions on offer around the Singaporean streets.

    The trio traded personal bests throughout the session, but it was the Alpine driver who emerged triumphant, posting an unbeatable 2:03.631 with five minutes left on the clock.

    Nerea Marti opened qualifying on a 2:06.806 but the Tommy Hilfiger driver’s initial exploration was swiftly beaten by Pulling.

    The Brit’s pace continued to build, as her second flying lap of a 2:04.662 launched her almost five tenths clear.
    Weug and Pin each demoted her in turn, before Pulling responded with a 2:04.335 to go top by 0.040s.

    As the Campos Racing and ART trio led the field peeling into the pits, there was a nervous moment for Amna Al Qubaisi as the RB driver span over the run-off in Sector 1.

    Fining more grip on their second set of tyres, personal bests flooded in inside the final five minutes. Pulling re-emerged out in front posting a 2:03.631, whilst Weug became her nearest competitor.

    Pulling couldn’t improve on her final attempts, but nobody could answer her previous attempt as Weug and Pin had to settle for second and third, 0.238s and 0.256s back, respectively.

    A storming last gasp effort for Lia Block promoted her to fourth, her best qualifying result of the season so far!

    The full top 10 are- Pole: Pulling, P2: Weug, P3: Pin, P4: Block, P5: H Al Qubaisi, P6: Chambers, P7: Marti, P8: Lloyd, P9: Bustamante and P10: Schreiner.

  • RW 16 – Monza Qualifying

    Lando Norris has continued his promising run of form by taking a stunning pole position for the Italian Grand Prix with the Brit and McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri locking out the front row.

    After initially claiming P1 during the first runs of Q3, Norris secured his place by pumping in a time of 1m19.327s just 0.109s ahead of Piastri.

    While the Woking team came out on top, the first six cars were all covered by less than two tenths of a second, with George Russell the closest in P3.

    The full top 10 are- Pole: Norris, P2: Piastri, P3: Russell, P4: Leclerc, P5: Sainz, P6: Hamilton, P7: Verstappen, P8: Perez, P9: Albon and P10: Hulkenberg.

    A lovely result for the McLaren team a 1-2 in qualifying, which is just what they wanted but now its all eyes to the race as they will want to copy and paste and take another victory this season.

    A good result from George, it was so close to pole but not close enough unfortunately, however he will be looking to fight for the win against Norris and Piastri and its not going to be easy.
    Lewis qualified 6th, it could’ve been better but he wasn’t that far away from pole, the top 6 are just so bunched up. He will be looking to

    A very good result for Ferrari at their home grand prix, P4 and P5 for Leclerc and Sainz, I know their not overly happy with it but when you’ve got six drivers fighting for pole you would be disappointed with 4th and 5th. Their aim today will be to get a podium at home, maybe fight for the win depending on their set ups against the other teams.

    Now onto Red Bull, it’s not looking good for the team this weekend. Verstappen qualified 7th and Perez 8th. There is something just not right, Verstappen is saying it, Horner is saying it and no one knows really where to go from here.
    It’s going to get to the point if they carry on like this and Norris / McLaren keeps on being consistent there championships will be under threat…

    A good result for Alex P9! He will be looking for some points this weekend. As well as Nico Hulkenberg who qualified P10, so far the Haas driver has been on fire this weekend his got so much pace!

    Fernando Alonso just missed out on Q3 by one hundredth of a second, which would be quite frustrating for the Spanish driver he will be starting 11th. His teammate Lance Stroll had a bit of shocker being out in Q1 where he will start P17.

    Now to talk about our newest F1 driver, Franco Colapinto, he will be starting his first F1 race 18th, but he did make a slight mistake which could of possibly seen him higher up but his done well so far, it will be interesting to see how he goes in the race!

  • RW 15 – Netherlands Qualifying

    Lando Norris has secured pole position for the Dutch Grand Prix in triumphant style, with the Briton pumping in a time over three tenths of a second clear of nearest challenger Max Verstappen.

    After he put himself on provisional pole during the initial runs in Q3, Norris bettered that effort by setting a sensational lap of 1m09.673s in the McLaren.

    The full top 10 are- Pole: Norris, P2: Verstappen, P3: Piastri, P4: Russell, P5: Perez, P6: Leclerc, P7: Alonso, P8: Stroll, P9: Gasly and P10: Sainz.

    A good result for McLaren, pole for Lando and P3 for Piastri, just what the team would of wanted coming back from the summer break, they will be wanting to go for the win today.

    A good result for Max Verstappen, he would of wanted to get pole position as it is his home race this weekend, but Norris has now broken that chain. Perez has had a good qualifying too! P5 for the Mexican will be interesting if he can improve on that position.

    A very good result for Aston Martin, P7 and P8 for the team, which is very good as before the summer break they were struggling or pretty much all season have been struggling compared to last season…

    A somewhat of a decent result for Ferrari, P6 for Leclerc, however for Sainz he failed to get into Q3 and ended up in 11th but he will start 10th due to a disqualification.

    A good result for George Russell, P4! He will be wanting to get on the podium today, so watch out for that battle. Hamilton didn’t have a very good qualifying, out in Q2 in 12th and to makes matters worse, he has been given a three place grid penalty for impeding Perez.

    Alex Albon has been disqualified from qualifying after being P8, due to a breach of the technical regulations, the stewards’ conclusion read: The floor body of Car 23 was found to lie outside the regulatory volume mentioned in Article 3.5.1 a) of the FIA Formula One Technical Regulations. The team did not dispute the calibration of the FIA measuring system and the measurement of the car, but stated that their own measurements have produced different results. The Stewards determine that the result of the measurement conducted with the FIA system in Parc Ferme is the relevant one and the due process prescribed by the regulations has been followed. Therefore the standard penalty for such an infringement is applied.

    And to makes matters worse, Logan Sargeant didn’t participate in the qualifying session at all, due to a heavy crash in FP3, despite the best efforts of the crew trying to fix the car.

    An amazing day. It’s nice to be back and start with a pole. It was a nice lap, honestly. The qualifying was always pretty smooth and I put in some good laps, especially the one at the end, which is always the most important. A great job by the team and I’m happy with today. I’m excited for tomorrow. I’m sure it’s going to be tough. Max has been quick all weekend. I know we got him today, but he’s still second and he’s going to be putting up a good fight, specially at his home race. I’m looking forward to it.
    Norris on claiming pole position.

  • RW 13 – Hungary Qualifying

    Lando Norris has taken pole position for the Hungarian Grand Prix after a bit of a dramatic qualifying which featured wet-dry conditions, two red flags and a frantic dash to the line.

    After the McLaren driver set an impressive provisional pole time of 1m 15.227s during the opening runs of Q3, the on track action was brought to a halt when Yuki Tsunoda suffered a heavy crash in the RB. As such, the session resumed with just over two minutes remaining.

    Given the changing weather, most of the field were unable to improve and Norris retained P1, ahead of team mate Oscar Piastri by just 0.22s. Max Verstappen who opted not to go for another lap in the final moments finished P3.

    The full top 10 are- Pole: Norris, P2: Piastri, P3: Verstappen, P4: Sainz, P5: Hamilton, P6: Leclerc, P7: Alonso, P8: Stroll, P9: Ricciardo and P10: Tsunoda.

    A lovely result for McLaren, really can’t get better than a 1-2! Both Norris and Piastri will be wanting to go for the win tomorrow, and for the Australian will be wanting to grab his first win in Formula 1, but will Norris allow him to pass?

    A decent result for Verstappen P3, not the worst position to be in for the Dutchman, no doubt he will enjoy himself doing some overtakes.
    However for his teammate, again it wasn’t the best qualifying session where he was out in Q1 where he crashed out and hit the barriers and was unable to continue…

    A good result for Sainz! I feel like he has slipped under the radar in P4, the Spaniard will be aiming for the podium or even try and challenge for the win. His teammate Charles Leclerc had a decent qualifying session to in P6.

    Lewis Hamilton will be starting 5th, and he will be wanting to go for that win again wanting to make it two in a row, will it be in his favour? He won’t have his team mate near him to help out as Russell qualified in P17, who has a lot of work to do to get into the points…

    A decent result for Aston Martin and VCARB, both drivers in the top 10, Ricciardo will be wanting to grab some points this weekend, as he is yet to have a contract for next season…

    I’m very, very happy. Not an easy qualifying, difficult conditions like you said, but always ending up on top is the best part of it also. Happy, especially for the team, a one-two is even better to see, so congrats to the team. It does give us confidence, but we’ve already got confidence so it’s not like we need a lot more of it, or we’re searching for it. We’ve come into this weekend and the last few happy and confident we can do a good job, and we’ve got a good car to fight for pole and that’s exactly what we did today, so like I said a great job by the team; we’ve been improving every weekend, so to end up on pole today is sweet.
    Pole-sitter Norris.

  • RW 10 – Spain Qualifying

    Qualifying is done in Barcelona and we now have had four different drivers on pole in the last four races…

    McLaren driver, Lando Norris secured the second pole position of his Formula 1 career after coming out on top in an epic battle with rival Max Verstappen.

    Norris, who was last on pole at the Sochi Autodrom back in 2021, had trailed Verstappen after the opening Q3 rounds, but produced a stunning final lap of 1m 11.383s to outpace the Dutchman by two hundredths of a second.

    The full top 10 are- Pole: Norris, P2: Verstappen, P3: Hamilton, P4: Russell, P5: Leclerc, P6: Sainz, P7: Gasly, P8: Perez, P9: Ocon and P10: Piastri.

    What a lovely result from McLaren and Lando Norris! Pole position! So far this weekend they have looked really strong so it’s no surprise seeing them up there.
    Piastri starts 10th, obviously it’s not the best place for Aussie. He will be wanting to stay out of trouble at the start of the race and make as many moves as possible as he can.

    Lovely result for Max, I don’t think there was many complaints from him, his teammate finished 8th in qualifying, however he won’t be starting 8th as he has a three place grid penalty from Canada so will be starting 11th.

    A lovely result for both Mercedes! A second row lockout for the team, we saw how they improved last time out in Canada, and it definitely looks like it wasn’t a one-off which is nice to see. Let’s see how well Hamilton and Russell do in the race!

    An okay result for Ferrari, it definitely could’ve been better for the Italian team, it will be all to play for in the race, as Leclerc will be looking to bounce back from an awful Canadian Grand Prix. And Carlos Sainz will be wanting a good home grand prix.

    A decent result for Alpine! Both cars in the top 10 which is good to see, it seems like the improvements they have made to the car recently has helped a little bit.

    Aston Martin are having a bit of trouble at the moment, not the best results for the team lately. Alonso qualified 11th but will be starting 10th and Stroll will be starting 14th…

  • RW 9 – Canada Qualifying

    Qualifying for Round 9 is complete, and there was a few shock surprises with a couple of early exits in Q1 and Q2 which led to some other drivers making an appearance in Q3!

    George Russell has taken pole position for the Canadian Grand Prix in an impressive session for the Mercedes driver, with the Brit beating Max Verstappen despite the Dutchman setting the exact same lap time!

    Russell had provisionally secured P1 following the initial runs in Q3 with a lap of 1m12.000s and while Verstappen improved on his own effort in the decisive final laps, the Red Bull driver could only equal Russell’s time.

    The full top 10 are- Pole: Russell, P2: Verstappen, P3: Norris, P4: Piastri, P5: Ricciardo, P6: Alonso, P7: Hamilton, P8: Tsunoda, P9: Stroll and P10: Albon.

    What a result for George Russell! The Mercedes have been showing some strong pace this weekend and that obviously has been shown. Hamilton starts in 7th, as everyone seemed to improve on their laps.

    A very good result for McLaren, P3 and P4, it makes you think what could they do from there? Battle for the win or battle for both podium spots? It will be all to play for!

    A lovely result from VCARB! Both drivers in the top 10 with Daniel Riccairdo in 5th and Tsunoda 8th. The team will be wanting to capitalise on this result in the race and get a decent points haul.

    A tough day for Ferrari as they qualified out of the top 10, Leclerc in 11th and Sainz in 12th. Not the day the Italian team would of wanted, they now have a lot of work to do in the race, as well as staying out of trouble in the midfield…

    A bit of a shock to see Perez out in Q1 again! He will be starting the race in 16th. Which isn’t what the Mexican driver would of been hoping for especially after renewing his contract this week! He has a lot of work to do if he wants to score some points.

    A decent result for both Aston Martins aswell! P6 for Alonso and P9 for Stroll. The team will be wanting to score some big points this weekend as they currently sit 5th in the Constructors and only on 44 points…

  • RW 8 – Monaco Qualifying

    Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc charged his way to a wonderful pole position for the Monaco Grand Prix with a stunning display on home soil.
    He managed to get the better of McLaren rival Oscar Piastri and Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz in the all important grid deciding session.

    Leclerc avoided any slip-ups to safely make it through Q1 and Q2 before he unleashed his full potential in Q3.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Leclerc, P2: Piastri, P3: Sainz, P4: Norris, P5: Russell, P6: Verstappen, P7: Hamilton, P8: Tsunoda, P9: Albon and P10: Gasly.

    A great result for Ferrari! A Pole and a third, they will be looking to grab the win tomorrow, especially as it’s Leclerc’s home race, so they are probably hoping to break the Monaco curse.

    The same goes to McLaren a 2nd and 4th! Qualifying around Monaco is always important, as it pretty much gives the finishing position for the race without strategies coming into play. So McLaren will want to be on their pit-stops and strategies tomorrow to see if they can secure their second win this season.

    A decent result for Mercedes too, the team have definitely made an improvement as George starts 5th and Lewis in 7th. Lewis has pretty much been on the pace all weekend aswell, so it’s looking like a hopeful turn round for the Mercedes team.

    A bit of a shocker for Verstappen and Sergio Perez, the Dutchman starts P6, which means his consecutive 8 poles in a row has stopped at that for now. Perez qualified 18th but will be starting 16th due to both Haas’s getting disqualified. Not a good weekend at all for Perez, it’s very unlikely he will be scoring points tomorrow.

    A good result for both Alex Albon and Pierre Gasly both drivers getting into Q3 and hoping to score their first points of the season!

    Both Aston Martins didn’t have the best qualifying, Alonso out in Q1 and Stroll out in Q2, the Silverstone based team have dropped down the order quite a bit compared to last season where Fernando Alonso started 2nd.

  • F3 – RND 3 Day 1

    Free Practice-

    Campos Racing’s Oliver Goethe was the man to beat in Free Practice around Imola, with the German driver’s 1:32.047 the time to beat in the opening session of the weekend.
    Hitech Pulse-Eight’s Luke Browning finished in P2, 0.3s down on the top time while Mari Boya made it two Campos cars in the top three.

    A very quiet opening 10 minutes gave way to some early laptimes, and it was Joseph Loake that went quickest for Rodin Motorsport. His 1:36.795 put him fastest in the initial stages before the rest of the field ventured out.

    PREMA Racing’s Arvid Lindblad lowered the benchmark to a 1:33.784 on his first lap, with ART Grand Prix driver Christian Mansell slotting into P2, 0.2s down.

    There was a red flag with 24 minutes of the session to go after Campos Racing’s Sebastian Montoya found the barriers at the exit of Turn 15, running resumed with 18 minutes left.

    Wurz’s teammate Max Esterson was next to take over in P1, before Browning put in a 1:32.367 to go comfortably quickest with just over 10 minutes to go.

    Goethe closed the gap down to the leader to just under a tenth of a second before then going to the top of the times on his next effort.
    A 1:32.047 put him 0.3s clear of the pack with five minutes left.

    A second red flag quickly followed after Piotr Wisnicki slid into the barriers at Turn 9, with little time left, the session wasn’t restarted.

    Qualifying-

    Santiago Ramos saved his best for last to lead teammates Leonardo Fornaroli and Sami Meguetounif in an exciting Imola Qualifying session.
    The Mexican’s 1:31.767 put him on pole in the final moments to top a Trident 1-2-3 result!

    With tyre preparation laps completed, PREMA Racing’s Gabriele Mini led the way on a 1:32.598 ahead of compatriot Fornaroli. ART Grand Prix rookie Laurens van Hoepen filtered through in third, 0.172s down on the top effort.

    There was a red flag with 10 minutes gone after Rodin Motorsport’s Callum Voisin spun into the gravel at Turn 4.
    The session resumed and Oliver Goethe took over at the top. The Campos Racing driver carried on his form from Practice to pip Mini and to take provisional pole by 0.081s.

    Most drivers returned to the pits with just under half of the qualifying session remaining, but Fornaroli stayed on track and put in his personal best to go 0.3s clear in P1 on a 1:32.159. MP Motorsport’s Alex Dunne followed suit and move himself up to second, 0.141s behind with 12 minutes to go.

    Dino Beganovic was the first to improve, just 0.003s quicker than Fornaroli’s earlier time. Teammate Arvid Lindblad then took over with a 1:32.109.

    Into the final two minutes and there were green and purple sectors throughout the field. Fornaroli restored himself onto provisional pole to go 0.2s quicker than Lindblad.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Ramos, P2: Fornaroli, P3: Meguetounif, P4: Lindblad, P5: Beganovic, P6: Mini, P7: Goethe, P8: Van Hoepen, P9: Browning and P10: Tramnitz.

  • RW 6 – Miami Qualifying

    Max Verstappen has claimed his seventh consecutive pole position by taking P1 on the grid for the Miami Grand Prix, despite failing to improve during his final flying lap.

    The Dutchman had provisionally put himself into pole in the first runs of Q3 having set a time of 1m 27.241s and this proved to be enough to maintain the position. Charles Leclerc will join the red bull driver on the front row, with his teammate Carlos Sainz rounding out the top three.

    The full top 10 is – P1: Verstappen, P2: Leclerc, P3: Sainz, P4: Perez, P5: Norris, P6: Piastri, P7: Russell, P8: Hamilton, P9: Hulkenberg and P10: Tsunoda.

    A good result for Max once again, it was just a copy and paste for him! Perez one position down than compared to sprint qualifying, but it’s not the end of the world for the Mexican.

    A very good result from Ferrari, I can see them challenging for the win as they have had quite good pace this weekend. If not they will want to try their hand at a double podium.

    A good result from McLaren P5 and P6, Lando will be wanting to make up for a disappointing sprint where he DNF’ed. The McLaren’s have brought some upgrades this weekend and they seem to be working, so they have got pace this weekend which could see some potential for a podium…

    A much better result for Mercedes, both cars in the top 10, P7 for Russell and P8 for Hamilton. They will be wanting to capitalise on that as much as they can.

    Hulkenberg and Tsunoda had a good qualifying both in the top 10, both drivers will be wanting to score once again in the race.

    A bit of a shocker qualifying for Aston Martin. Both drivers not in the top 10, Stroll starts P11, which is okay but his in the middle of the pack which isn’t the best place. And Alonso starts P15 which is not good at all.

    Ricciardo had a bit of a bad qualifying, a bit of a different one to the sprint qualifying… He starts P18, he needs to have a really good drive and do some lovely overtakes to make up for the qualifying position.

  • RW 4 – Japan Qualifying

    Qualifying is over for the Japanese Grand Prix and it was Max Verstappen continued his run of pole positions in 2024 as he took P1 on the grid for the Japanese Grand Prix.

    The Dutchman was joined by teammate Sergio Perez in 2nd, making it a 1-2 in qualifying for Red Bull, the team will want to do a copy and paste situation tomorrow and make up for last time out in Australia. Joining them in the top tree is McLaren’s Lando Norris!

    The full top 10 are- Pole: Verstappen, P2: Perez, P3: Norris, P4: Sainz, P5: Alonso, P6: Piastri, P7: Hamilton, P8: Leclerc, P9: Russell and P10: Tsunoda.

    A lovely result for Red Bull, starting as they mean to go on! It was good to see Perez get closer to Verstappen aswell, only ending up 0.066 away from the champion.

    A nice result for McLaren aswell, Lando starting on the second row! Himself and the team will be aiming for a podium tomorrow but anything could happen… Oscar Piastri in P6 a decent result from him aswell.

    Mercedes had an okay result P7 for Hamilton and P9 for Russell, not the best result for the team, but with the track always improving someone has to be worse off.

    Yuki Tsunodaaaa P10 for the Japanese driver, and infront on his home crowd as well!! He will be aiming for points, but with him going P10 he did knock out his teammate Daniel Ricciardo who will be starting P11.

    Quite a big shock i’d say is Lance Stroll being knocked out in Q1, he will be starting P16 quite a big difference between him and Alonso who starts P5. The Canadian has a lot of work to do in the race to be able to score some points.