Jordan's Track Talk

Tag: Qualifying

  • RND 14 – Zandvoort Qualifying

    Qualifying is now over and we most definitely had a few surprises along the way, lets take a look at how it went…

    Max Verstappen made it three pole positions in a row at the Dutch Grand Prix with another dominating display. The Dutchman managed to pull a stupendous final lap to beat Lando Norris and George Russell at the end of a crash-filled session.

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

    Just the result Max wanted, however I think it would of been better having his teammate with him in the top three, rather than 7th…

    A great result for Williams! Albon has his best qualifying result in F1 so far joining Russell on the 2nd row. Not only this, but Logan Sargeant got into his first Q3 session! Unfortunately he crashed which meant he couldn’t get no better than 10th.

    Not the best result for Lewis, qualifying 13th. Everyone was improving each lap and with Yuki impeding Lewis so he couldn’t get a decent lap in before the chequered flag so he was just a sitting duck waiting to be pushed down.

    A mixed result for Ferrari, both drivers in the top 10, but they would have been hoping to get a bit of a better result. Sainz starts 6th, and Leclerc 9th due to crashing out aswell, which put his session to an end aswell.

    Predictions-

    My top five predictions for the race are- P1: Verstappen, P2: Russell, P3: Alonso, P4: Norris and P5: Sainz.

    I feel like the race win we know who is going to grab it unless there’s a costly mistake which will never really happen. But the chaos behind him? Now that’s what is going to be entertaining.

  • RND 12 – Hungary Qualifying

    Qualifying this time was a bit different than normal, with Pirelli’s new ‘Alternative Tyre Allocation’ making its debut. Where Q1 drivers use hard tyre, Q2 the medium and Q3 soft.

    And this time, it was Max Verstappen or Red Bull taking pole position… It was in fact the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton who stormed to pole 104. Max was close behind in 2nd and Lando Norris rounded out the top three.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Hamilton, P2: Verstappen, P3: Norris, P4: Piastri, P5: Zhou, P6: Leclerc, P7: Bottas, P8: Alonso, P9: Perez and P10: Hulkenberg.

    A great result for Lewis managing to get pole, the only other team apart from Red Bull and Mercedes to get pole this season is Ferrari, so it’s good to see that teams are closing in on the Bulls.

    Obviously another great result for McLaren, starting P3 and P4, they’ll be looking at scoring big points this weekend and looking at the podium aswell.

    The star of qualifying, Zhou Guanyu and the whole Alfa Romeo team really as Zhou took 5th and Bottas 7th, they’ve had a rough season so far but they will be looking to optimise on others downfall tomorrow so they can score good points.

    An okay result for Perez, but he still isn’t where his meant to be, but at least he got into the top 10 this time. He has a bit of work to do during the race, and he will be hoping to stay out of trouble aswell.

    Now looking outside the top 10, Daniel Ricciardo on his return managed 13th for AlphaTauri, and outperformed his teammate Tsunoda in 17th.

    Predictions-

    My top five for the race are- P1: Hamilton, P2: Verstappen, P3: Piastri, P4: Alonso and P5: Perez.

    I feel like we might have a few surprises along the way in tomorrow’s race, maybe a strategy which hasn’t gone right or a bad pitstop or a badly timed safety car? Who knows what will happen, but one thing is for sure… Hamilton and Verstappen front row? Drama!!

  • F2 – RND 9 – Day 1

    Free Practice-

    DAMS’ Ayumu Iwasa kicked off Round 9 in style around Silverstone, laying down a 1:41.593 in the final minutes of a disrupted Free Practice to top the session by 0.060s from Victor Martins.

    Martins got the first competitive lap of the day on board after the first 10 minutes of the session. The ART driver put down a 1:42.690 put him five tenths ahead of Iwasa before improving further to a 1:42.067.

    Running stopped at the 24 minute mark, due to Juan Manuel Correa losing his rear of the Van Amersfoort Racing Car spinning off into the gravel at Copse which resulted in a red flag.

    With just over 15 minutes left, Martins quickly took advantage to leapfrog teammate Pourchaire for P2. The Alpine junior wasn’t done there as he improved to a 1:41.653, before the VSC made an appearance as Dennis Hauger suffered a spin at Brooklands and couldn’t get his car restarted.

    Qualifying-

    Victor Martins will start from P1 for the second time in the space of a week. The Frenchman was the man to beat once again in Qualifying, setting a 1:39.832 to secure the top spot around Silverstone.

    Kush Maini made a late improvement to jump up to P2 for Campos Racing late on, whilst Ayumu Iwasa moved himself up into third with his final effort.

    Practice pacesetter, Iwasa was quick to set the early benchmark with a 1:41.100 matched exactly by his teammate Arthur Leclerc to the thousandth.

    The first of two red flags came at the 19 minute mark after Amaury Cordeel spun off into the barriers at Copse. After the Invicta Virtuosi car had been recovered, a short green flag spell was broken by the second red flag.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Martins, P2: Maini, P3: Iwasa, P4: Doohan, P5: Bearman, P6: Fittipaldi, P7: Maloney, P8: Pourchaire, P9: Hadjar and P10: Vesti.

  • RND 11 – Silverstone Qualifying

    What a qualifying session we had yesterday, with changing conditions adding a bit of drama to it, which brought out a few surprises… good and bad!

    Max Verstappen made it five pole positions in a row and seven for the 2023 season so far, as he beat the McLaren pair, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri to the top spot.

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

    Obviously first few drivers I have to mention are McLaren! WOW, honestly being a McLaren, Norris and Piastri fan I’m so happy. We all saw how Lando did last weekend with the updated car, and now Oscar has it, McLaren have made a huge step forward!

    Really good results for Ferrari, nice to see them both there together, so they can push for more points today.

    Now Sergio Perez… he is starting 15th, not the place he wants to be that’s for sure, especially when there’s both drivers from three teams in the top 10. It’s his 5th exit not being able to make Q3, I think something needs to change on his side of the garage, whether it’s just bad luck or not.

    Valtteri Bottas got disqualified from qualifying as he starts in the race in P20. Bottas ground to a halt at the end of Q1, after bagging himself a spot in Q2.

    The FIA were unable to extract the stipulated one-litre fuel sample from the C43 machine, which lead to him being disqualified.

    Predictions for Qualifying-

    P1: Verstappen, P2: Leclerc, P3: Hamilton, P4: Norris and P5: Russell.

    I think we might have an entertaining race, we have Sergio Perez coming through the field, and will the McLaren’s be able to turn the qualifying pace into race pace and keep up with the likes of Ferrari and Mercedes.

  • F3 – RND 7 – Day 1

    Free Practice-

    Hitech Pulse-Eight’s Luke Browning started his and his team’s home event in fine form, setting a 1:45.794 to lead the way in Free Practice.

    With the Championship leader, Gabriel Bortoleto following closely in second position and Dino Beganovic in third making him the highest-placed PREMA driver.

    Sebastian Montoya got the weekend rolling with a 1:48.957 and the initial time to beat. Leonardo Fornaroli and then Franco Colapinto quickly beating that.

    There was contact between Kaylen Frederick and Zak O’Sullivan at Turn 16 as traffic began to build up and drivers searched for clean air. The Briton was able to continue in the session, but the ART Grand Prix driver was out after sustaining suspension damage and recovering to the pitlane.

    Browning continued to lap quickly, lowering his best time to a 1:45.946 before a Virtual Safety Car was deployed to recover debris left by the earlier contact.

    Back to green flag conditions with 12 minutes left, and there were very few improvements as Bortoleto moved himself up to second on a 1:46.075s.

    Qualifying-

    Leonardo Fornaroli headed up a Trident 1-2 around Silverstone, taking his maiden Formula 3 pole position with a 1:45.520.

    Fornaroli’s teammate, Oliver Goethe followed in second after making a late improvement, whilst Josep Maria Marti led the Campos Racing effort in third.

    Gabriele Mini set the early pace with a 1:46.619 which was swiftly beaten by teammate Luke Browning. The Tridents of Gabriel Bortoleto and Oliver Goethe crossed the line to split the two Hitech drivers, with the top three covered by just 0.120s.

    The track filled up once more after a swap to fresh tyres with less than 10 minutes remaining of Qualifying.

    Mini, Browning and Aron each improved on their next efforts but only the Estonian driver got to within a quarter of a second of Fornaroli’s provisional pole time.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Fornaroli, P2: Goethe, P3: Marti, P4: Mansell, P5: Bortoleto, P6: Aron, P7: Mini, P8: Browning, P9: Colapinto and P10: Barnard.

  • F2 – RND 8 – Day 1

    Free Practice-

    Enzo Fittipaldi kick started the second half of the season in great form as the Rodin Carlin driver topped the opening practice session in Spielberg. Setting a 1:15.216 before the halfway point, the Red Bull junior remained at the top of the pile throughout.

    With track temperatures approaching 40˚C at the Red Bull Ring, Roy Nissany set the initial pace, which put him ahead of Fittipaldi and Maloney by just 0.025s.

    The first Red Flag was thrown with 11 minutes left on the clock after Pourchaire spun out a Turn 4. The Frenchman dropped a wheel into the gravel, sending him into a pirouette and he was unable to restart the car.

    Green flag conditions resumed with six minutes to go. As the field jostled for track position behind him, Virtuosi Racing’s Amaury Cordeel spun off at Turn 1. With less than four minutes remaining, practice was red flagged once again and did not resume.

    Qualifying-

    Victor Martins threw down the gauntlet early on in Qualifying around the Red Bull Ring on his way to claim his second Formula 2 pole position of his rookie campaign.

    The ART Grand Prix driver led from his first flying lap, improving to a 1:14.643 on his third attempt to retain the top spot. Championship contenders Frederik Vesti and Theo Pourchaire had to settle for second and third.

    The full top 10 are: P1: Martins, P2: Vesti, P3: Pourchaire, P4: Maini, P5: Doohan, P6: Fittipaldi, P7: Cordeel, P8: Leclerc, P9: Daruvala and P10: Crawford.

    Heading the field out of the pits, Roman Stanek was the first driver to take a turn in the top spot, before Vesti put himself ahead with a 1:15.134.

    Meanwhile, Practice pace-setter Fittipaldi looked to continue that form as he moved up into second, before a track limit violation demoted him to the bottom of the timing sheets. But he wasn’t the only one to get caught out by track limits.

    After a lengthy stay in the pits, the field immediately scrambled for track position as they headed out with just 11 minutes left.

    Vesti tried to wrestle provisional pole away from the Alpine junior but couldn’t quite manage it, ending up a tenth down on Martins.

  • F3 – RND 6 – Day 1

    Free Practice-

    Gabriel Bortoleto hit the ground running in Spielberg, setting the track record with a 1:19.410 to top the free practice session for Trident.

    The Brazilian driver was 0.148s quicker than Jenzer Motorsport’s Taylor Barnad, while Gabriele Mini left it late to take third for Hitech Pulse-Eight.

    Once the tyre preparation laps were complete, Paul Aron set the initial benchmark to beat with a 1:21.998 on his first effort. The Estonian’s 1:21.205 was three-tenths quicker than PREMA Racing teammate Dino Beganovic, who had a heart-in-mouth moment shortly after.

    With just over 16 minutes remaining the red flags were out after Sebastian Montoya beached his Hitech car in the gravel trap on the outside of Turn 7.

    Once the session resumed with 12 minutes remaining, everyone returned to the track. ART Grand Prix’s Saucy was the first in the queue with prime track position and set a 1:20.306 for the rest to beat.

    Qualifying-

    ART Grand Prix’s Gregoire Saucy secured his first Formula 3 pole position in Spielberg after a dramatic qualifying session around the Red Bull Ring. PREMA Racing’s Paul Aron had ended the session fastest of all but dropped to P4 after exceeding track limits.

    His demotion moved Saucy up into P1 and PREMA teammate Dino Beganovic onto the front row. While Championship leader Gabriel Bortoleto secured third place in his Trudent.

    With patches of rain on the weather radars, everyone was out immediately at the green light. Caio Collet led the way as the rest jostled for Track position and the Van Amersfoort driver set the first time to beat.

    With 15 minutes gone, Beganovic headed up Aron, Gabriel Bortoleto, Josep Maria Marti and Gabriele Mini in the top five. After everyone returned to the pits to fit a fresh set of the soft Pirelli tyres, the track was busy once again with under 10 minutes remaining.

    There were improvements throughout the field, but nobody could leap ahead of either PREMA driver prior to the final two minutes of the session.

    The full top 10 are: P1: Saucy, P2: Beganovic, P3: Bortoleto, P4: Aron, P5: Collet, P6: O’Sullivan, P7: Colapinto, P8: Goethe, P9: Frederick and P10: Mansell.

  • RND 10 – Austria Qualifying

    Qualifying is now complete for the Austrian Grand Prix on Sunday, let’s take a look at what went down at the Red Bull Ring.

    Max Verstappen made it three pole positions in a row for the Austrian Grand Prix, getting the better of the Ferrari pair Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz in an action-packed session.

    Verstappen overcame deleted lap times in Q1 and Q2 – with plenty of drivers falling foul of the track limits – to make it into the top 10 shootout and deliver his pole-grabbing effort of 1m04.391s.

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

    Perez was absent from the Q3 battle, as he dropped out in the second phase of qualifying with successive deleted times. Not a good start to the weekend for the Mexican driver, with him starting 15th on Sunday his got a bit of work to do which isn’t needed for the team or himself.

    A good result for Lando, P4 for number 4! Hopefully he can turn it into a better result on Sunday as we all know he likes this track and does well here.

    Brilliant result for the Ferrari’s! Is it too early to say their back? Hopefully they can get at least a podium/ possibly two on Sunday and grab some important points for the team in the Constructors!

    Also a good result for both Nico Hulkenberg and Alex Albon who make it into the top 10 for another race weekend in a row, hopefully they can grab points when it matters.

    Predictions for race-

    My top five predictions for Sunday’s race are: P1: Verstappen, P2: Leclerc, P3: Hamilton, P4: Sainz and P5: Alonso.

    With a few drivers not in the right position it will be interesting to see how they will do and how well they will come through the field. One thing we have to look out for though is track limits, some drivers might be pushing and then result in a time penalty…

  • RND 9 – Canada Qualifying

    We had a very wet qualifying session, which brought out a few shocks both being good and bad.

    Red Bull’s Max Verstappen took pole position for the Canadian Grand Prix, as the wet weather dominated the session. Nico Hulkenberg was a surprise second for Haas due to a well-time effort, only to loose the position later on. Alonso rounds out the top three.

    Before any penalties are applied the full top 10 are- P1: Verstappen, P2: Hulkenberg, P3: Alonso, P4: Hamilton, P5: Russell, P6: Ocon, P7: Norris, P8: Sainz, P9: Piastri and P10: Albon.

    With penalties applied, the grid for today’s race is: P1: Vertappen, P2: Alonso, P3: Hamilton, P4: Russell, P5: Hulkenberg, P6: Ocon, P7: Norris, P8: Piastri, P9: Albon and P10: Leclerc.

    A good result for the Mercedes duo, second row start for both drivers so they’ll be looking to see if they can get a double podium again this weekend, or possibly for the win?

    McLaren’s duo done well also, both cars in the top 10, hopefully they can get a couple places up the grid and score some decent points.

    Sainz, Tsunoda, Stroll and Hulkenberg all have 3 place grid penalties, the first 3 drivers all for impeding other driver’s during qualifying. Hulkenberg fora red-flag infringement during qualifying.

    Not a good result for the Ferrari’s, Charles starting 10th and Carlos 11th, they will be hoping to grab some points this weekend and hope to make up for a disappointing session yesterday.

    Sergio Perez starting in 12th isn’t what he or his team wanted, his got some ground to work up in today’s race. I also think that Red Bull maybe getting a little annoyed with the Mexican, as he isn’t where his meant to be on the grid, especially as he started the season of so well.

    Predictions-

    My top five for the race are- P1: Verstappen, P2: Hamilton, P3: Alonso, P4: Russell and P5: Ocon.

    I feel like we might have some drama this race, quite a few drivers out of position so there might be a few clashes and safety cars which could change some drivers strategies.

  • F2 – RND 6 – Day 1 & 2

    Day 1-

    Ayumu Iwasa ended a frantic Free Practice session fastest of all as the DAMS man set a 1:22.081 to lead the grid. The Japanese driver got his best lap in prior to the third Red Flag of the incident session.

    Next to him was Victor Martins for ART Grand Prix, whilst Richard Verschoor ended up third for Van Amersfoort Racing but found himself in the barriers in the closing minutes.

    The first Red Flag came early into the session, as we saw contact between Ralph Boschung and Roman Stanek, with both cars having to be recovered.

    The second Red Flag of the session came out with just over 20 minutes remaining after Bearman lost the rear of his PREMA at Turn 8 and nosed into the barriers.

    Day 2-

    With Monte Carlo Qualifying split into two groups of 11, the random ballot allocated the even numbered cars into Group A and odd numbered cars going second in Group B.

    The first 16 minute segment began with several warm-up laps but it was Victor Martins who set the initial benchmark. But it didn’t stay that way for long as Richard Verschoor was next to hit the top spot just before a red flag was waved due to home-hero Arthur Leclerc who tagged the barriers and saw him out of the session.

    With a 1:21.231 to beat, group B headed out for their turn and Dennis Hauger laid down the first effort. His 1:22.979 was bettered by several, but it was Theo Pourchaire who went quickest overall.

    Plenty of personal bests followed but the ART Grand Prix man remained on top with a 1:21.354 ahead of Zane Maloney and Frederik Vesti by a tenth with less than five minutes to go.

    The Dane put in three purple sectors on his following attempt to go top with a 1:21.053 ensuring Group B was fighting for pole. It was enough for pole as on the final attempts, Clement Novalak hit the barriers at Portier to bring out the Red Flags, ending the session early.

  • RND 7 – Monaco Qualifying

    Monaco qualifying is complete and the grid is set for tomorrow’s Monaco Grand Prix, with a few shocks and surprises along the way.

    Max Verstappen took pole position for the first time in Monaco, he pipped out rival, Fernando Alonso in P2 and hometown hero Charles Leclerc in P3.

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

    But, things are never easy especially for Charles Leclerc, who has been given a 3 place grid drop for the race meaning he will start P6, which bumps up Ocon to P3, Sainz P4 and Hamilton P5.

    However, one Red Bull driver might have been on pole but the other… was down the other end of the grid. Sergio Perez will be starting in P20 due to crashing out in Q1.

    A really really good result for the Alpine’s P3 and P7, obviously it means they should be scoring some good points if they don’t loose out on strategies etc tomorrow.

    A good result to see Yuki in the top 10 also, some good pace there and for his teammate aswell who starts just outside the top 10 in P12, hoping to get his first points of the season…

    Not such a good result for Zhou Guanyu who is starting P19, the Alfa Romeo driver needing to score points but his teammate isn’t starting from the best place either in 15th, a lot of work to do if they want to get further up the constructors.

    Predictions-

    My top five for the race are: P1: Alonso, P2: Verstappen, P3: Sainz, P4: Hamilton and P5: Ocon.

    Obviously with such a mixed up grid it will definitely be interesting but it will be all about strategy and if it works out with safety cars etc, but i’m hoping it will be an exciting one.

  • F3 – RND 4 – Day 1 & 2

    Day 1-

    Gabriele Mini made the most of a drying Monte Carlo circuit to head the field in Formula 3’s first session around the Principality. The Hitech Pulse-Eight driver put his previous experience to good use, clocking in a 1:26.686 in the final jam packed seconds of Free Practice.

    Fellow returnees, Franco Colapinto and Gregoire Saucy benefited from a late switch to the slicks to round out the top three.

    Before the session started, a heavy downpour threw a curveball the drivers’ way, making the challenge of learning the Monaco streets even more difficult. Campos Racing’s Christian Mansell was the first to get a representative time on the board, but they continued to tumble with every lap of the 3.337km circuit.

    Although a dry line had begun to form, there were still plenty of areas to catch the field out. Browning brought the time to beat down to a 1:39.879 before the Red Flag appeared, a spin for Jonny Edgar left the British racer facing the wrong way and in need of recovery.

    Day 2-

    For the Championship’s first appearance in the Principality, the 30 car grid was divided into two groups with 16 minutes each. Group A consists of even-numbered cars and Group B the odd.

    Gabriele Mini put together a masterclass to claim his second pole position of his rookie Formula 3 season. Waiting until the last second of Group B, the Hitech Pulse-Eight driver wrestled pole away from Group A’s Dino Beganovic by over six tenths.

    The full top 10 for Sunday’s Feature race are: P1: Mini, P2: Beganovic, P3: Aron, P4: Browning, P5: Collet, P6: Montoya, P7: Bortoleto, P8: Colapinto, P9: Barnard and P10: Fornaroli.

  • RND 5 – Miami Qualifying

    Well, what a qualifying session that was… a few shock surprises and a very mixed up grid for the Miami Grand Prix later today! The top 10 shoot out saw seven teams represented!

    Sergio Perez took his third career F1 Pole Position for the 2023 Miami Grand Prix, as he avoided all the chaos behind him. Alonso will be joining him on the front row in P2, with Carlos Sainz rounding out the top three.

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

    A very mixed session for the Bull’s, it was no secret that Perez wasn’t happy with the car but they managed to do a few tweaks before qualifying which seemed to hook it up, where as Verstappen he had to abort his flying lap due to a snap of oversteer and was scrambling to set another lap…

    A mixed day for Ferrari aswell, a good result for Sainz, he is in the perfect spot to be in the mix for the podium today. But Charles… Whilst Leclerc was on a quick lap, he lost his car at Turn 4 and spun into the barriers, which brought out a red flag and that ended qualifying. A big mistake from the Monegasque, which is happening quite a bit recently, he just needs to get his head in the game and concentrate a bit more.

    Lewis Hamilton suffered his worst ever qualifying performance in the United States and first Q2 elimination since Monza last year with P13, having struggled with Sector 1 in the second segment of qualifying.

    Q1 saw both McLaren’s eliminated with Lando Norris 16th and team mate Oscar Piastri 19th, a lot of work for the papaya boy’s to do today if they want to score some points, could it be possible?

    Predictions-

    My top five are: P1: Perez, P2: Alonso, P3: Russell, P4: Verstappen, P5: Hamilton.

    I feel like it’s going to be a crazy race, a few safety cars and maybe even a red flag, and a possible shocks to come?

  • RND 4 – Azerbaijan Qualifying

    Charles Leclerc claimed pole position for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix after getting the better of reigning world champion, Max Verstappen in a thrilling qualifying session, with the Monegasque making it three poles on the bounce at the Baku City Circuit.

    Incredibly, Verstappen and Leclerc posted identical 1m 40.445s lap times during their first Q3 runs, only for Leclerc to step forward with a 1m 40.203s on the decisive final laps.

    The full top 10 for the race are: P1: Leclerc, P2: Verstappen, P3: Perez, P4: Sainz, P5: Hamilton, P6: Alonso, P7: Norris, P8: Tsunoda, P9: Stroll and P10: Piastri.

    Finally! The Ferrari’s are back fully (hopefully) a good result for Charles him taking pole position, which hopefully can be turned into a win on Sunday, not only this Carlos Sainz starts fourth aswell, so there’s a big opportunity for the entire team to score wekk.

    Shout out to Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri both in the top 10! A really good result for the McLaren team, hopefully they’ve turned things now and can continuously score points or be close to the points.

    A good result for Tsunoda aswell, starting P8 in the thick of it all, as we all know there’s always a bit of drama at Baku so some drivers like Tsunoda, Piastri etc they will be hoping to benefit of others downfall.

    Was a shock to see George Russell out of the top 10, but its all to play for on Sunday, and if he wants to score big points tomorrow then he will need to put in the work.

    Predictions-

    The top 5 predictions for the race on Sunday are: P1: Perez, P2: Leclerc, P3: Hamilton, P4: Sainz and P5: Norris.

  • RND 2 – Saudi Arabia Qualifying

    The second qualifying session of the season is now complete, with a few shocks along the way, not forgetting that going into Qualifying it’s already confirmed Charles Leclerc has a 10 place grid penalty…

    It was Sergio Perez who took his second pole position of his F1 career, at the same place he took his first! Charles Leclerc managed to grab second, but after his penalty is applied will be starting 12th. And to round out the top three is Fernando Alonso.

    The full top 10 are: P1: Perez, P2: Leclerc, P3: Alonso, P4: Russell, P5: Sainz, P6: Stroll, P7: Ocon, P8: Hamilton, P9: Piastri and P10: Gasly.

    Lando Norris is not having a good time at the moment, qualified P19… this however was not due to a reliability issue. He hit the wall on the last corner and it damaged the car. However, his teammate was on another level, Oscar managed to get into Q3 for the first time in only just two races, a much better place than they were last time out in Bahrain. But a big well done, to the Aussie.

    Now onto the bigger shock of qualifying, Max Verstappen out in Q2, and starting 15th. During Q2, Max had a driveshaft problem and that consequently ended his qualifying session, as there was only 5 minutes left and Red Bull were not able to fix/figure out the problem so quick.

    A better qualifying for the Alpine’s, Gasly starting 9th and Ocon 6th, hopefully they can capitalise on this and grab points, especially Ocon after not grabbing any in Bahrain.

    Predictions-

    My top five for the race are: P1: Perez, P2: Alonso, P3: Sainz, P4: Russell, P5: Stroll.

    It will be interesting to see how both Max and Charles will do going through the field working their way up, but will they both manage to stay out of trouble? And grab some points so its not as damaging for the later part of the season.

    I can see some safety cars happening this race as well as VSC, this may shake some things up depending on when they are in the race, so it could shake things up a little…

  • F2 – RND 2 – Day 1

    Round 2 is here for Formula 2, lets take a look at what went down in Free Practice and Qualifying!

    Free Practice-

    Oliver Bearman was quick out of the blocks in Jeddah, as he lead teammate Frederik Vesti in the opening session of the weekend. ART Grand Prix’s Victor Martins, was also proving that the rookies were having no problem getting acquainted with the ultra-high-speed circuit, finishing Free Practice in third.

    All the drivers were out on track early, eager to get their eye in around a slightly tweaked Jeddah Corniche Circuit.
    Martins claimed the top spot with 10 minutes gone, his 1:46.411 was 0.4s quicker than anyone else in the early phase of Practice.

    There was red flag thrown in Free Practice, as Amaury Cordeel suffered a spin out of Turn 13, ending up sideways on the track. With his car in need of recovering, the session then wasn’t resumed with only four minutes remaining.

    Martins set a 1:43.161, that would have put him on top but with the Red Flag cancelling his lap just before he could cross the line to finish it, Bearman topped practice instead.

    Qualifying-

    Victor Martins was a man on a mission as he claimed ART Grand Prix’s second consecutive pole position in a dominant fashion.
    The Frenchman put down a 1:41.326 to go a whopping 0.744s clear in the nick of time, as a late Red Flag denied the field a chance to get close to his efforts.

    Practice pace-setter, Oliver Bearman also proved that experience isn’t everything as the PREMA rookie secured second, Championship leader Theo Pourchaire made it two ARTs in the top three.

    Experiencing his first qualifying session around the Saudi Arabian track, Roman Stanek was the first to get a representative lap time on the board.
    However, the Trident driver’s time didn’t stay top for too long, being eclipsed immediately by Jack Doohan, Arthur Leclerc and Ayumu Iwasa.

    With 18 minutes remaining, improvements were stopped after Van Amersfoort Racing’s Richard Verschoor spun at Turn 22, bringing out the Red Flag.
    Frederik Vesti momentarily became the driver to beat when running resumed, before he was leapfrogged by his teammate, Bearman.

    However, not all drivers were able to take advantage of their fresh supersoft rubber, as the Red Flag was thrown once again, it wiped away Dennis Hauger’s personal best sectors, after Leclerc stopped on the exit of Turn 22. The session was then not resumed, allowing Martins to hold onto his maiden pole position.

    Bearman setttled for second, only 0.001s ahead of Pourchaire. Jack Doohan left it late to snatch fourth ahead of Daruvala. Hitech Pule-EIght, Jak Crawford rounded out the top 10 on his Jeddah debut, he will start on reverse grid pole for the Sprint Race today.

  • RND 1 – Bahrain Qualifying

    The first Qualifying session is complete at the Bahrain International Circuit, as it was an intense and hotly contested session under the Sakhir lights.

    Max Verstappen took pole position, with his teammate, Sergio Perez making it an all Red Bull front row lock out. Charles Leclerc rounds out the top three.

    The full top 10 are: P1: Verstappen, P2: Perez, P3: Leclerc, P4: Sainz, P5: Alonso, P6: Russell, P7: Hamilton, P8: Stroll, P9: Ocon and P10: Hulkenberg.

    Lando Norris missed out on Q3 by a couple of tenths as he started to make up for a tricky pre-season test. I think it will be interesting to see how he can do in the car whilst on race pace.

    Rookie, Logan Sargeant almost joined his teammate in Q2 for the first time of asking, but he set an identical time to 15th place Norris towards the end of Q1, as the American set it second it meant to he was out.

    Something I didn’t expect to see was Pierre Gasly out in Q1 but the Frenchman starting P20 on the grid, as he had a lap time deleted.

    A shoutout to Hulkenberg though, starting P10 on his first race back, he already looks comfortable in the car so if he can keep this going for not just the race this weekend but throughout the season, Haas shouldn’t have a problem with being in the midfield.

    Predictions-

    My top five predictions are: P1: Sainz, P2: Verstappen, P3: Alonso, P4: Sainz and P5: Hamilton.

    I feel like we all know roughly the four teams that are at the top for this first race, but we won’t get a true idea for race pace until later on.

    There’s always some drama on the first race so if some drivers are clever they will optimise on the misfortune of others.

  • F2 Abu Dhabi- Day 1

    Free Practice-

    Ayumu Iwasa, hit the ground running at Yas Marina ending Free Practice being quickest of all, 0.055s ahead of Theo Pourchaire. The DAMS driver strung together his best time early on and nobody could usurp him fro the top spot in the remainging time.

    Perfect conditions were presented to the drivers as the first session of the final weekend in 2022 got underway. Following plenty of installation laps, the times tumbled as the track ramped up and Marcus Armstrong put in the early benchmark with a 1:38.987.

    Juri Vips had been running in the top three but had a lucky escape, avoiding the barriers at Turn 14 after a snap of oversteer almost led him into the barriers.

    A red flag was thrown as the clock ticked underneath 10 minutes to go as Ralph Boschung spun into the barriers between Turns 13 and 14. The session got underway with 3 minutes to go, but nobody could improve over Iwasa’s 1:38.168.

    Qualifying-

    DAMS proved that its never over until the chequered flag in Formula 2, as Ayumu Iwasa stormed to his second pole position of the 2022 season. With his teammate Roy Nissany putting together an unbelievable lap, only 0.036s down on his teammate to bring home his first front row Feature Race. Theo Pourchaire will be starting 3rd.

    Unlike previous visits to the Yas Marina Circuit, the 30 minute session got underway in the blistering mid-afternoon sunshine rather than under the flood lights.

    Seven minutes into qualifying and with only half of the field having put a lap on the board, running came to a brief hault. Virtuosi’s Marino Sato suffered a spin underneath the hotel section between Turns 13 and 14 bringing out the red flag and forcing several drivers to abandon their laps.

    As predicted pre-session, Sector 3 would prove to e the undoing for several attempts.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Iwasa, P2: Nissany, P3: Pourchaire, P4: Drugovich, P5: Doohan, P6: Sargeant, P7: Hauger, P8: Codeel, P9: Lawson and P10: Verschoor.

  • Round 21- Sao Paulo Qualifying

    What. A. Qualifying. It started off a wet qualifying but with the track soon drying out, drivers were at risk of a potential shock exit.

    But, for the first time ever!!! KEVIN MAGNUSSEN is on POLE for the São Paulo Sprint!! With Max Verstappen joining him on the front row, and George Russell rounding out the top 3.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Magnussen, P2: Verstappen, P3: Russell, P4: Norris, P5: Sainz, P6: Ocon, P7: Alonso, P8: Hamilton, P9: Perez and P10: Leclerc.

    A very mixed top 10 for the sprint later today! Carlos Sainz has a 5 place grid penalty which will be added on after the Sprint.

    What a result for Haas! I don’t think anyone expected it at all and that’s what makes it so great! K-Mag had to wait 141 races to grab that all important pole position.

    Not the best qualifying for the top 3 teams, they all have one driver in the top 5 and then another driver at the back end of the top 10. Having the sprint today, will bring these drivers further up the grid especially if it’s wet…

    Alpine have a strong start for this weekend both drivers P6 & P7, which is needed as there battle with McLaren is still ongoing .

    Predictions-

    My top five for the sprint are: P1: Verstappen, P2: Russell, P3: Norris, P4: Magnussen and P5: Perez.

    If it rains and we have a wet track then it would most definitely be interesting and I can’t wait to see how K-Mag will do athletes the front!

    Timings-

    Saturday 12th-

    • Free Practice 2: 15:30pm – 16:30pm (GMT)
    • Sprint: 19:30pm – 20:30pm

    Sunday 13th-

    • Race: 18:00pm (GMT)

  • Round 20- Mexico Qualifying

    Qualifying is complete for the Mexico Grand Prix and it was a close call, as one team gets closer to the top team and another aren’t as close as previous weekends.

    It was Max Verstappen who took pole position, with George Russell lining up on the front row in P2, and Lewis Hamilton rounding out the top 3!!

    The full top 10 are- P1: Verstappen, P2: Russell, P3: Hamilton, P4: Perez, P5: Sainz, P6: Bottas, P7: Leclerc, P8: Norris, P9: Alonso and P10: Ocon.

    A great qualifying result for Mercedes – there best this season and they have a great shot at the win tomorrow. We all know what they say about starting 3rd here in Mexico, even 2nd might be worth it, but the most important thing is that long run down to turn 1.

    A great qualifying for Bottas, splitting the two Ferrari’s. He will be hoping for a good points finish, as he hasn’t scored since Canada!

    Only two drivers have penalties for tomorrow’s race those being Lance Stroll for causing a collision at the previous round and Magnussen 5 places for use of additional power unit elements.

    Predictions-

    My top five predictions for the race are – P1: Hamilton, P2: Verstappen, P3: Perez, P4: Russell and P5: Sainz.

    Going off the fact that for quite a few years now the person who takes pole position doesn’t win the race here… We saw last year Max starting P3 and he took the lead at Turn 1 so it could be a repeat again…

    Time for tomorrow-

    • Race – 20:00pm (GMT)

  • Round 19- Austin Qualifying

    Qualifying for the United States Grand Prix is complete, but penalties once again shake up the grid a bit, however its all about what happens during the race…

    It was Carlos Sainz who took pole position, with Charles Leclerc in 2nd making it at 1-2 for the Italian team and Max Verstappen in 3rd.

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

    However the starting grid is: P1: Sainz, P2: Verstappen, P3: Hamilton, P4: Russell, P5: Stroll, P6: Norris, P7: Bottas, P8: Albon, P9: Perez, P10: Vettel, P11: Gasly, P12: Leclerc, P13: Tsunoda, P14: Alonso, P15: Magnussen, P16: Ricciardo, P17: Ocon, P18: Schumacher, P19: Zhou and P20: Latifi.

    A good result for Mercedes, its what they’ve needed after a few tough qualifying’s as well as weekends so the Silver Arrows will be hoping to get a good result on the board.

    What a day for Carlos Sainz, his second pole position and he will be wanting to take the win and hope for his teammate to get further up the grid so they can carry on with the Constructors fight.

    A stand-out qualifying from Stroll, originally qualifying P7 but starting P5 due to others penalties, it will be interesting to see how he does during the race and to hope that Aston have a good strategy and capitalise on the points.

    Predictions-

    My top five predictions are- P1: Verstappen, P2: Sainz, P3: Hamilton, P4: Perez and P5: Russell.

    It is most definitely going to be an interesting race with Perez and Leclerc coming through the field. There will be some drivers hoping to capitalize on there starting positions and hopefully score as many points as possible with four races left.

  • Round 17- Singapore Qualifying

    Qualifying is now complete in Singapore and what a qualifying it was! A shock exit from Q2 from one of the top three teams, and pole swapping between 5 different drivers in the final few minutes of Q3.

    But, it was Charles Leclerc and Ferrari who got pole position for the Singapore GP, with it being Charles’ second in a row at Singapore. Sergio Perez joins him on the front row for the first time in Singapore aswell. And rounding out the top 3 is Hamilton, first top 3 in qualifying of the season.

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

    Great qualifying for Ferrari, both cars in top 4, that now gives them an advantage over Mercedes and RB. Can they turn it into a win and a podium? If not will a double podium be possible?

    Not the best qualifying for Russell, starting P11 just outside the top 10 hopefully the Mercedes driver can get back into the top 10 and grab some points.

    Now Max Verstappen was an absolute flyer of a lap, and looked like he was going to take pole from Leclerc but before he reached the finish line, Verstappen got told to pit for possibly not having enough fuel for when they do the scruiteneering later on.

    Predictions-

    My top five are- P1: Verstappen, P2: Hamilton, P3: Leclerc, P4: Sainz and P5: Alonso.

    I feel were going to get an exciting race today, Russell is starting from the back of the grid due to engine penalty, it will be interesting to see how he does, coming through the field. As well as Max, the dutchman starting 8th, and its not the easiest to overtake here.

  • Round 14- Spa Qualifying

    Before qualifying even started, it was confirmed that seven drivers, yes SEVEN are taking grid penalties… Max Verstappen, Charles Leclerc, Lando Norris, Esteban Ocon, Zhou Guanyu, Mick Schumacher and Valtteri Bottas.

    But after the penalties it will be Carlos Sainz starting on pole position, with Perez in 2nd and Fernando Alonso rounding out the top 3.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Sainz, P2: Perez, P3: Alonso, P4: Hamilton, P5: Russell, P6: Albon, P7: Ricciardo, P8: Gasly, P9: Stroll and P10: Vettel.

    A quick moment, and shoutout to Alex Albon, getting his first Q3 appearance of the season and grabbed P6 due to penalties. Hopefully he can get a good start in the race and try to avoid any lap 1 incidents.

    Verstappen and Leclerc have a lot of work to do tomorrow and they start on the same row, seeing both drivers coming through the field will be good to watch but the main battle will be between the two.

    Fernando Alonso will be hoping to capitalise on his qualifying position, he starts on the second row along side Hamilton, the Spaniard will be setting his eyes on a podium finish…

    Mercedes have a big chance in the race, both drivers in the top five and they only have one Red Bull and Ferrari car around their two, this could have an impact on the constructors aswell.

    Predictions-

    My top five predictions are- P1: Sainz, P2: Hamilton, P3: Russell, P4: Alonso and P5: Gasly.

    I think its going to be an interesting race, obviously a few drivers out of place for the race start, and they will be looking to not get in any incidents in the mid-pack.

    Times for the weekend-

    • Feature Race F3 – 07:50am (BST)
    • Feature Race F2- 09:20am
    • F1 Race- 14:00pm

  • F2 Spa – Day 1

    Free Practice-

    Ralph Boschung got his return to the Formula 2 season off to a positive start, as the Campos Racing driver topped Free Practice around Spa-Francorchamps.

    The weather proved to be a major headache with rainfall around the track, catching a few drivers out, but it was the Swiss driver who managed to clock in a 2:01.376 finish ahead of Amaury Cordeel and Ayumu Iwasa.

    Iwasa was the first driver to set a representative time. Flourishing in these conditions the DAMS driver set out to better his by 0.742s after the first two sectors, but it wasn’t to last, fighting the car through Stavelot ended in a huge spin across the gravel to bring out the Red Flag.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Boschung, P2: Cordeel, P3: Iwasa, P4: Armstrong, P5: Zendeli, P6: Sargeant, P7: Daruvala, P8: Beckmann, P9: Sato and P10: Vips.

    Qualifying-

    Championship leader, Felipe Drugovich put in a mighty lap to take pole position for the Spa-Francorchamps Feature Race ahead of Enzo Fittipaldi and Logan Sargeant.

    His closest rival in the Championship, Theo Pourchaire had to settle for eighth on the grid, meaning that the French driver will line up third on the grid for the Sprint Race.

    Juri Vips was the first to bring out a red flag due to a spin and not being able to keep his engine going. The session then resumed with 23 minutes to go and drivers got on track immediately.

    Ralph Boschung took provisional pole for Campos Racing but it was only for a moment. Jehan Daruvala and then Jack Doohan went quicker with track conditions ramping up in the closing stages.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Drugovich, P2: Fittipaldi, P3: Sargeant, P4: Doohan, P5: Beckmann, P6: Lawson, P7: Verschoor, P8: Pourchaire, P9: Daruvala and P10: Boschung.

  • F2 Budapest- Day 1 & 2

    F2 Budapest- Day 1 & 2

    Day 1-

    Jack Doohan ended Free Practice fastest of all ahead of Qualifying but there was almost nothing splitting him from Ayumu Iwasa, only 0.001s was the gap from the Virtuosi driver and the DAMS in P2. David Beckmann popped up into P3 for Van Amersfoort Racing, with the German driver being the only one to improve in the final 10 minutes.

    Track temperatures were quickly rising as cars took to the track. A brief yellow flag was shown for a hare dashing across the circuit on the main straight but things remained as normal with 38 minutes left.

    Birthday boy, Marcus Armstrong was the first to set a representative time to go fastest early on. That lasted until Theo Pourchaire and Frederik Vesti made it an ART Grand Prix 1-2.

    Ayumu Iwasa left the rest of the Formula 2 in the dust as he stormed his way to his first pole position in the Championship. A blistering quick 1:27.930 set in the final few minutes of qualifying allowed him to better his nearest rival HiTech Grand Prix’s Marcus Armstrong, by an astonishing 0.381s, while Felipe Drugovich narrowly pipped Theo Pourchaire.

    Few drivers improved on their second runs, as Logan Sargeant opted to peel into off into the pits rather than set a second time. Olli Caldwell was the sole driver to run in the gap. This seemed to be a smart strategy for the Campos driver who leapt up from P16 to P1.

    However, it was Iwasa’s final run on his second set of softs that proved to be the making of his weekend. Whilst Armstrong failed to improve, the Japanese rookie turned the timing screens purple.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Iwasa, P2: Armstrong, P3: Drugovich, P4: Pourchaire, P5: Sargeant, P6: Vips, P7: Vesti, P8: Hauger, P9: Fittipaldi and P10: Doohan.

    Day 2-

    Fittipaldi aced his launch from second to take the lead in the opening metres from Doohan. A huge lock up at Turn 2 though undid his hard work and allowed the Virtusoi Racing driver to snatch the lead back.

    Meanwhile, Dennis Hauger endured a poor getaway and went three wide with Drugovich and Sargeant. Contact between the MP Motorsport and Carlin pair nudged the American into Hauger on the outside, tipping the Norwegian around and out of the race at Turn 1. Sargeant was also out of the race as a result of the contact, retiring from the pits.

    The action resumed heading onto Lap 4, and Doohan bolted early to leave the rest behind. Theo Pourchaire had dropped down to 16th on the opening lap after having to avoid action from the Turn 1 melee around the outside of the corner.

    Jehan Daruvala reported that his front tyres were already gone by lap 11, and the pressure from Marcus Armstrong behind was proof of that. The Hitech Grand Prix dirver shaped for a move into Turn 1, but the PREMA driver slammed the door shut to hold sixth for the time being.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Doohan, P2: Vips, P3: Fittipaldi, P4: Drugovich, P5: Vesti, P6: Lawson, P7: Armstrong, P8: Iwasa, P9: Pourchaire and P10: Caldwell.

  • Round 13- Hungary Qualifying

    Round 13- Hungary Qualifying

    I think most of us expected a wet qualifying, and we didn’t have one but we definitely had a few shock surprises! A drivers first pole position, a Red Bull out in Q2 and much more…

    It was George Russell who took pole position, his first in Formula 1 and the first for Mercedes this season! His followed closely by Carlos Sainz in 2nd and Charles Leclerc in 3rd!

    The full top 10 are- P1: Russell, P2: Sainz, P3: Leclerc, P4: Norris, P5: Ocon, P6: Alonso, P7: Hamilton, P8: Bottas, P9: Ricciardo and P10: Verstappen.

    What a day for Mr Saturday!! I think the Hungaroring may be one of Russell’s favourite tracks! Scored his first points here as a Williams driver last year and now his on pole position for Mercedes a year later!

    A bad day for RB, Perez starts P11, he had a few lap times deleted and then he got knocked out of Q2. Now onto Max… he set a decent time in Q3 but when he went out for last few laps he was complaining of no power and wasn’t able to improve on his lap time which saw him be pushed down to 10th.

    A good day for McLaren both cars in the top 10 and Lando having qualified P4! Infront of the two Alpine’s which is where the fight will be for the British driver. Ricciardo will be hoping to move up a few positions or count on others misfortune, but he has two Bull’s behind him…

    This is what Ferrari needed! Both drivers basically starting next to each other, it gives the Italian team a big chance of points tomorrow, especially with the Bull’s a lot further down and its a track where overtaking isn’t the easiest.

    Alfa Romeo seemed to have a good day, Bottas back in the top 10 and Zhou Guanyu starting P12, a chance of scoring points tomorrow for both drivers!

    Predictions-

    My top five predictions are- P1: Russell, P2: Leclerc, P3: Hamilton, P4: Sainz and P5: Alonso.

    As I said above, it’s a hard track to overtake on, and there is meant to be some rain before the race starts and we all saw how last year went… Or we could get a ‘normal’ race but whats the fun in that!

    Times for the weekend-

    Feature Race F3- 09:05am (BST)
    Feature Race F2- 10:35am
    F1 Race- 14:00pm

  • F3 Budapest- Day 1

    Free Practice-

    F3 action resumed bright and early this morning, and it was Jak Crawford who hit the ground running almost immediately. Entering the weekend off the back of his first victory in the Championship last time out in Spielberg, the PREMA Racing driver left it to the last second to knock Zane Maloney off the top spot by a tenth of a second.

    Ideal conditions greeted the field of 30 at the Hungaroring. The session got underway with the field bolting on their sets of red-walled soft tyres, that they carried over form the previous round, and off the bat Josep Maria Marti got up to speed, laying down a 1:36.144.

    Times continued to tumble as David Vidales, Juan Manuel Correa, Gregoire Saucy and Zak O’Sullivan all took turns at the top of the order before Alexander Smolyar followed by Kush Maini put MP Motorsport up into P1.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Crawford, P2: Maloney, P3: Leclerc, P4: Hadjar, P5: Collet, P6: Smolyar, P7: Edgar, P8: Maini, P9: Stanek and P10: Villagomez.

    Qualifying-

    Alexander Smolyar secured pole position around the Hungaroring, avoiding a hectic conclusion to the session following a late red flag stoppage. Though time remained on the clock following a restart with three minutes to go, Zane Maloney was the closest anyone got to the MP Motorsport driver, ending the session second fastest 0.126s down.

    The track fell quiet with 10 minutes gone, Collet leading from Isack Hadjar and Victor Martins. Debutant, Oliver Goethe climbed up to P6 on his second flying lap for Campos Racing but lost his time for exceeding track limits at Turn 4 dropping him down to P10.

    None of the PREMA drivers had recorded a lap time in the opening half of the session due to deletions because of track limits violations. Purple sectors across the board from Arthur Leclerc which put him in P1 with a 1:32.912, whilst teammate Jak Crawford couldn’t quite match. Bearman meanwhile managed to go better than both to secure a PREMA 1-2-3.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Smolyar, P2: Maloney, P3: Bearman, P4: Leclerc, P5: Saucy, P6: Maini, P7: Crawford, P8: Martins, P9: Collet and P10: Hadjar.

  • Round 12- France Qualifying

    Round 12- France Qualifying

    Qualifying at Circuit Paul Ricard is now complete, and it was confirmed that Carlos Sainz and Kevin Magnussen will be both starting at the back of the grid due to taking extra power unit components.

    But it was Charles Leclerc who took pole position at Circuit Paul Ricard! Max Verstappen lines up on the front row with him in P2 and Sergio Perez rounds out the top 3 in P3.

    The full top 10 are: P1: Leclerc, P2: Verstappen, P3: Perez, P4: Hamilton, P5: Norris, P6: Russell, P7: Alonso, P8: Tsunoda, P9: Sainz and P10: Magnussen. But with the last two and them starting at the back Ricciardo and Ocon move up into the top 10.

    What a day for Leclerc! This is what he needed, and his teammate played the team game and gave Charles a tow and ensured him that he got pole position! But for Carlos he has a lot of work to do and I’m looking forward to seeing himself and Magnussen make their way up the field!

    Lando Norris, what a lap!! McLaren brought a lot of upgrades for this weekend and they are clearly paying off so far. It will be interesting to see if the car has the race pace tomorrow as if he wants to fight for a good amount of points he will be up against the Mercedes pair.

    Ahh so nice to see an Alpha Tauri in Q3, again they brought a few upgrades this weekend, not as many as McLaren but enough to get them further up the grid. Definitley be interesting to see how Tsunoda does and if he can capitalize on his qualifying position and score points tomorrow.

    Gutted for Mick, he was set for Q2, but he got his laptime deleted by the slightest of margins and he could of easily been in the top 10 with the pace he had. Be interesting to see how far he can get up the grid.

    Predictions-

    My top five are- P1: Leclerc, P2: Verstappen, P3: Perez, P4: Hamilton and P5: Russell.

    I don’t think there is going to be much change from the starting grid, but I feel like it will be a crazy and close race. If RB and Mercedes perfect their strategy Leclerc is going to struggle, especially being on his own and his teammate being no where near him…

    Timings for tomorrow-

    Feature Race F2- 08:35am (BST)
    Race- 14:00pm

  • F2 Le Castellet – Day 1

    Free Practice-

    Juri Vips became the driver to beat in the opening session in Le Castellet, clocking in a 1:46.501 to go over a tenth and a half clear of the pack in Free Practice. Ayumu Iwasa secured the second fastest time ahead of Frenchman, Theo Pourchaire.

    Although there are 167 different configurations of the Circuit Paul Ricard, the 22 car field took to the track to find the limit of it. However, that task is easier said than done as thermal tyre degradation left their rear wheel squealing for traction.

    Hauger got things underway with the first representative lap being laid down moments before Frederik Vesti brought a quick pause to proceedings. The ART GP driver, already experienced a delayed start to his running and shortly after getting out on track he came to a halt on the Mistral Straight.

    With 20 minutes left of the crucial 45 minute session, Pourchaire set his eyes on beating Iwasa to the fastest time. Despite the grid utilising the hard compound, keeping the tyres in their performance window proved a challenge especially in the final sector which saw several moments of oversteer.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Vips, P2: Iwasa, P3: Pourchaire, P4: Drugovich, P5: Daruvala, P6: Verschoor, P7: Armstrong, P8: Doohan, P9: Sargeant and P10: Fittipaldi.

    Qualifying-

    Logan Sargeant left it as late as possible to snatch pole position for the Feature Race in Le Castellet, narrowly edging out Ayumu Iwasa and Frederik Vesti by the slimmest of margins.

    Iwasa held provisional pole entering the final laps and Vesti couldn’t quite match him, ending up 0.023s down on the DAMS driver’s effort. Sargeant pulled out the time though, just 0.006s of it, but that was good enough for pole position Sunday.

    Drivers took extra care on their preparation laps to keep the soft compound as intact as possible for their flying laps with temperatures remaining high for the Qualifying session.

    Drivers boxed with 15 minutes remaining for the customary change of tyres. Enzo FIttipaldi didn’t join them though and was out of the car unable to take part in the final 10 minutes due to an issue on his car. Hauger joined the Brazilian on the sidelines shortly afters, as he came to a halt on the track and bringing out the red flags with just over seven minutes left of qualifying.

    The full top 10 are: P1: Sargeant, P2: Iwasa, P3: Vesti, P4: Doohan, P5: Pourchaire, P6: Drugovich, P7: Vips, P8: Armstrong, P9: Lawson and P10: Daruvala.

  • Round 11- Austria Qualifying

    Round 11- Austria Qualifying

    F1 really knows how to keep us on the edge of our seat, on a weekend where we have more drama than normal because of the Sprint, but to add to that we had an eventful qualifying session at the Red Bull Ring.

    Qualifying set the grid for the Sprint later on today, which will then set the grid for tomorrow’s Grand Prix. The top eight from the sprint will score points, so it’s a good way to get up the field a bit more.

    But it was Max Verstappen who took pole position infront of the Orange Army, but he was followed closely by the two Ferrari’s, Charles Leclerc in 2nd and our newest race winner, Carlos Sainz in third.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Verstappen, P2: Leclerc, P3: Sainz, P4: Russell, P5: Ocon, P6: Magnussen, P7: Schumacher, P8: Alonso, P9: Hamilton and P10: Gasly.

    Sergio Perez, actually qualified P4, but after qualifying, it came out that he breached track limits in his Q2 lap, the stewards deleted that time, alongside his Q3 laps so he will now be starting 13th! Not a good start to his weekend, but this is where the Sprint comes into play, it gives the drivers an opportunity to get a little further up the grid.

    Oh Mercedes… it was looking like pole for Lewis Hamilton, as he was strong in Q1 and Q2. But once again, things just don’t go that way in F1. Hamilton went into the barriers at Turn 7 to bring out a red flag in the middle of the session, leaving him 10th. George then thought he would add to the mix, with a spin and then crash at the final corner, however he had already put down a banker lap. Not a good start for the Mercs, but they can still have a good fight.

    Both Haas’ in the top 10!! Wow, the car so far seems to like the track, definitely big points on offer for them this weekend, and it will be interesting to see if they can get their strategy right and optimise on other peoples misfortune.

    Mr Alex Albon, starting P11 today, he only has to make up 3 places and he’ll score points… This is why part of me likes the Sprint, its for the teams who are close to scoring points on a normal weekend, but add the sprint into their they have more of a chance to score on Sunday.

    Predictions-

    My top five are- P1: Verstappen, P2: Leclerc, P3: Russell, P4: Hamilton and P5: Ocon.

    I feel like we are going to get a crazy sprint, later today and its going to cause carnage… But if it does happen, then we are in for a crazy race on Sunday.

    Times for the weekend-

    Saturday 9th-

    • Sprint Race F3- 09:35am – 10:20am (BST)
    • Free Practice 2 F1- 11:30am – 12:30pm
    • Sprint F1- 15:30pm – 16:30pm
    • Sprint Race F2- 16:55pm – 17:40pm

    Sunday 10th-

    • Feature Race F3- 07:35am (BST)
    • Feature Race F2- 09:05am
    • Race- 14:00pm