Jordan's Track Talk

Tag: Qualifying

  • 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
  • Round 10- Silverstone Qualifying

    Round 10- Silverstone Qualifying

    The UK is always unpredictable with weather, but you think July would be different? Well how wrong we are! We had a wet qualifying in Silverstone and it definitely brought out a few surprises, especially with a driver getting their first pole position!

    Going into qualifying and even during qualifying it looked like it was a six way battle for pole position with the Mercs joining in on the fun here at Silverstone, it didn’t end up that way in Q3…

    It was Carlos Sainz who finally took pole position, with it being his first one of his Formula 1 career! With Max Verstappen joining him on the front row, and Charles Leclerc making it a 1-3 for Ferrari.

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

    Can we just take a second, to appreciate, that Nicholas Latifi has got into the top 10 for the first time this year! The Williams driver was just putting in the lap times when it mattered and he finally got into Q3 let alone Q2!

    Carlos Sainz FINALLY gets pole position, his been close before and its been taken away in the last moment, but today was unexpected for the Spaniard but he deserved it!

    A good day for one of the McLaren’s this week its Lando in the top 10, throughout the weekend he has had lots of pace which has been good to see, especially in front of the home crowd.

    Another Q3 appearance for Zhou Guanyu, he seems to like this track and it looks like he keeps on putting it all together when it matters, I can’t wait to see what he does tomorrow.

    The Aston Martin struggles continue, both drivers out in Q1, Stroll P20 and Vettel P18. They’ve brought upgrades and at points during the past few weekends they look quite strong but when it matters they just don’t have it there as a package.

    Esteban Ocon, what went wrong there? P15… A lot of work to do in the race tomorrow, and its looking like it should be an entertaining one!

    Predictions-

    My top five are- P1: Verstappen, P2: Leclerc, P3: Hamilton, P4: Russell and P5: Norris. I definitely feel like the Mercs have got something, especially with race pace as they looked strong yesterday.

    There’s a few cars out of position for the start tomorrow, so will be interesting to see how they get through the field, and at the time of writing this there’s a 40% chance of rain at the start of tomorrow’s race aswell, so that could make for an interesting start…

    Timings-

    Feature Race F3- 08:35am (BST)
    Feature Race F2- 10:05am
    Race- 15:00pm

  • F2 Silverstone – Day 1

    F2 Silverstone – Day 1

    Free Practice-

    Returning to the track where he secured back to back pole positions in Formula 3 in 2020, Logan Sargeant once again laid down the gauntlet for his rivals in the Free Practice session.

    The Carlin driver narrowly leaped ahead of Championship leader Felipe Drugovich setting a 1:40.902 to go 0.037s clear. Jack Doohan was content with third position. However, executing the perfect lap at the British circuit proved to be easier said than done.

    Dennis Hauger, had a few nervous moments of his own with a major spin at Abbey, one of the quickest corners on the track. The PREMA driver managed to save it and avoid the barriers.

    Running ground to a halt with just under 16 minutes remaining of the 45 minute session, as Calan Williams found the barriers at the exit of Copse losing the Tridents rear-end at the mid-corner bringing out the red flag.

    A queue of drivers were eager to get back out as soon as the lights went green with seven minutes to go. An improvement for Sargeant was enough for the American to hold onto the top spot as the session concluded under red flag conditions after Virtuosi’s Marino Sato came to a halt at Luffield with three minutes remaining.

    Qualifying-

    Logan Sargeant made it two from two on Friday, sealing pole position for the Feature Race after topping the earlier Free Practice session. Frederik Vesti outqualified his teammate and ended up P2 with Championship leader Felipe Drugovich securing third place ahead of Pourchaire.

    Drugovich’s first attempt was over as quickly as it started, going deep at village after locking up and subsequently running wide off track. Vesti was quickest after the initial times filtered in a 1:39.611 was the time to beat by the Dane, three-tenths quicker than Jack Doohan in P2.

    Jehan Daruvala had remained on track during the lull in action and lifted himself up to P2 and within two-tenths of Sargeant’s fastest effort. With 12 minutes remaining, drivers filtered back out onto track as the sun breached the cloud cover above the circuit.

    A yellow flag for the stranded Van Amersfoort Racing car of David Beckmann prevented drivers from setting two consecutive fast laps and with under five minutes remaining of the session, there wasn’t enough time left on the clock to relaunch an attack on pole.

  • F3 Silverstone – Day 1

    F3 Silverstone – Day 1

    Free Practice-

    All three MP Motorsport cars were on track immediately to make the only practice session of the weekend. The track started to fill up slowly with just under half the field during the opening 10 minutes.

    Barcelona Sprint Winner, David Vidales traded the top sport with Van Amersfoort Racing’s Franco Colapinto during the initial stages as representative times filtered through.

    Championship leader, Victor Martins was pushing the limits at Copse corner, which saw him run wide and scraping the floor over the exit kerbs, loosing his laptime for exceeding track limits in the process.

    Entering the final 10 minutes of the session, drivers started to search for a slipstream for the final fast laps. Despite almost dropping the car through several corners in the final sector, Hadjar wrestled his car across the line to post a 0.25s improvement to lover the benchmark to a 1:45.116.

    But it was an MP Motorsport double punch as Kush Maini leading his teammate, Caio Collet first and second respectively. Kaylen Frederick managed to improve and push himself up in to 3rd.

    Qualifying-

    Zak O’Sullivan gave local fans an early celebration as he pushed it to the limit to secure his first pole position, as well as writing his name into Carlin history by securing the teams first pole in the championship. Meanwhile, Arthur Leclerc banished his qualifying woes to snatch second as Zane Maloney rounds out the top 3.

    Collet was quick out of the box, becoming the first driver to set a flying lap, MP Motorsport were on the pace from the start as Collet’s 1:45.602 was momentarily bested by his teammate Maini before he regained P1.

    Traffic and track limits coming in to play as Oliver Bearman set a blistering 1:44.873 which put him up in P1 before being deleted. Meanwhile, the Trident trio were on the charge as Maloney climbed up into third ahead of teammate Edgar, who was returning at his home race following a two-race absence.

    As the clock ticked down to zero, a flurry of fast laps once again switched up the order as Leclerc jumped up to P1 but nothing could stop O’Sullivan from pipping the PREMA. Almost identical times in the opening sector mean that there was virtually nothing between the pair who ended the session separated by only 0.027s.

    Lining up on reverse grid pole for Saturday’s Sprint Race, Maini has the perfect opportunity to secure a maiden rostrum finish in the opening race of the weekend.

  • Round 9- Canada Qualifying

    Round 9- Canada Qualifying

    Well well well, I think Canada thought they would make their comeback a rather good one, and so far it has been! We saw a wet qualifying today and it did not disappoint!

    Charles Leclerc and Yuki Tsunoda are starting at the back of the grid due to taking penalties for new power unit elements.

    But, Max Verstappen clawed his way to pole position as he made his way round the track without any costly mistakes. He is joined on the front row by Alpine’s, Fernando Alonso for the first time since the 2012 German Grand Prix. And Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz rounds out the top 3, making it count for the Italian team as his teammate has a penalty.

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

    Lets just take a moment to appreciate, Fernando Alonso, what a man and what a driver. I could see him battling for the win today and I honestly can’t wait, is this El Plan really coming to life now?…

    Haas deserve a round of applause what a qualifying session for them! Both drivers in the top 10 and also Mick’s best qualifying session ever! Big points on offer for the pair of them today, and a certain German driver needs to make it count…

    Ohhhhh Daniel Ricciardo! Top 10, that is what we like to see, and so far he has had a good weekend, and looks to be enjoying himself, could this be the comeback for him now? His teammate starts down in 14th due to an issue with the car, so Norris will be trying to get through the field.

    Zhou Guanyu, in Q3 and I am sure he is happy with that one! Things haven’t exactly gone his way in the past few races so his been quite unlucky, but with a good qualifying and starting ahead of his teammate he will have an extra boost of confidence for today.

    Predictions-

    My top five are- P1: Verstappen, P2: Alonso, P3: Hamilton, P4: Sainz, P5: Russell. I could see todays race be taken over by the more experienced drivers, Alonso, Hamilton, Ricciardo and Vettel, it looked like they were doing that yesterday during FP3 and Qualifying.

    I think seeing Charles Leclerc come through the field will be good, we get a feel for how that Ferrari actually is and lets hope we get to see some killer moves.

    Timings-

    Race- 19:00pm (BST)

  • Round 8- Azerbaijan Qualifying

    Round 8- Azerbaijan Qualifying

    The grid is all set for tomorrow’s Azerbaijan GP! With a mixed qualifying which saw a red flag, a stunning lap for a Ferrari driver and an Aston Martin driver in the top 10…

    But it was Charles Leclerc who took pole position once again, his 6th this year. He is joined by Sergio Perez who out qualifies his teammate for the second weekend in a row. Max rounds out the top 3.

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

    I am actually quite surprised at the McLaren’s it looked like both drivers had pace to be in the top 10 but things don’t always work out that way – they are in the middle of the pack which isn’t always the best but they could benefit by any first lap incidents and starting from 11th and 12th you can still get into the points, especially because it’s Baku and anything can happen!

    The Alpha Tauri’s WOW! They needed a good result and they got it, Gasly starting P6 which we love to see and takes us back to his great qualifying form from last year. And Yuki Tsunoda starting 8th is like a dream for the team. Hopefully both drivers can keep out of trouble and score a good amount of points and make up for this season!

    A driver who I expected to be in the top 10 was Bottas, his starting P15, behind his teammate so it will be interesting to see how both Alfa Romeo’s can get through the field…

    It feels good, this one. Obviously all pole positions feels good, but this one I probably did not expect it, because I thought Red Bull were stronger, especially in Q1 and Q2, I really struggled to see that we were faster, but then in the last lap, everything came together and I managed to do a good lap, so extremely happy… I’m really excited for tomorrow.

    Charles Leclerc on pole position in Baku!

    Predictions-

    My top fie for the race tomorrow is – P1: Leclerc, P2: Verstappen, P3: Perez, P4: Sainz and P5: Russell.

    I feel like we will have a crazy race tomorrow, no doubt that there will be a safety car which the teams will have a strategy for as they know how this circuit can be, but who will get that strategy right and will we see a surprise podium? Or something we didn’t expect…

    Times for tomorrow-

    Feature Race F2 – 08:05am (BST)
    F1 Race – 12:00pm

  • F2 Baku- Day 1

    F2 Baku- Day 1

    Free Practice-

    Juri Vips was the fastest man in the free practice session today, he set a 1:55.924 to end practice ahead of Lawson and teammate Marcus Armstrong.

    Strong winds kept the trees that line the circuit blowing as the drivers took to track for their initial laps. A dusty surface meant times were unrepresentative in the early phases of the session.

    Enzo Fittipaldi was the first to have a brush with the wall, the Charouz racing driver nudged the exit wall at Turn 4 but was able to continue without any visible concerns. Clement Novalak found himself facing the wall soon after in the first sector, bringing out the red flag.

    The session was back to green with 20 minutes, but it didn’t stay that way as Boschung’s joy at the top was short-lived as he was the next to find the wall – the Campos Racing man lost the rear end of his car on downshift and spun backwards into the barrier at Turn 5, bringing out the red flags for the second time.

    The full top were- P1: Vips, P2: Lawson, P3: Armstrong, P4: Doohan, P5: Vesti, P6: Daruvala, P7: Drugovich, P8: Boschung, P9: Verschoor and P10: Hauger.

    Qualifying-

    Mr Juri Vips narrowly missed out on pole position last year, but made amends this year as he stormed to P1 in a highly competitive qualifying session in Baku. The HiTech driver had been stuck down in 10th following his opening run, but a surprise burst of pace was enough to put him 0.163s clear of Lawson as Dennis Hauger made it an all Red Bull junior top three.

    As drivers started to back out with 11 minutes remaining, and the flying laps started they was brought to a hault due to Ayumu Iwasa who was determined to push his car to the limits- he carried to much speed into Turn 4 and collided with the barrier – he looked untouchable earlier on in the session as he was sitting comfortably on provisional pole.

    The Japanese driver’s mistake blew the fight for pole wide open as Richard Verschoor and Hauger both clocked in personal bests. But it was the final minute of the session that showed who had mastered the streets of Baku.

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

  • Round 7 – Monaco Qualifying

    Round 7 – Monaco Qualifying

    Well, another crazy qualifying in Monaco is complete, which saw a few surprise exits as well as a crash in Q3 which saw people not being able to complete their final laps.

    But it’s home boy hero, Charles Leclerc on pole position, with no-one being able to get close to him! Carlos Sainz makes it an all Ferrari front row. Sergio Perez, rounds out the top 3!

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

    A crash from Sergio Perez brought the final qualifying session to an end, as he lost the rear and went into the barrier, with Carlos Sainz doing the same- at the exact time aswell which caused there to be a traffic jam as drivers couldn’t get through.

    Gasly got knocked out in Q1 as he wasn’t able to get to the flag in time, he starts the race in P17, a what could’ve been today as it looked like he had really good pace so far but now onto tomorrow, what can he do from P17?

    Danny Ric out in Q2, and is starting P14- sandwiched between both Haas’ not a good day at all, which is a bit confusing as Lando Norris is starting P5!

    Someone I have to mention though, is Sebastian Vettel, starting P9! He done a mega lap in Q2 so he wouldn’t get knocked out, and he managed to get his Aston Martin into P9.

    A mixed day for Ferrari and Red Bull, for Ferrari its more of a good day obviously the pole for Leclerc, but the crash for Sainz once again has got to be hurting the team… Where as Red Bull more of a down day, Perez crashing which ruined his and his teammates lap, but as well as this it looks like Max isn’t comfortable in the car this weekend.

    Predictions-

    Well, these predictions I done before qualifying as I recorded my podcast- so I won’t change them (even though I want too!).

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

    There is an 80% chance of rain during the race tomorrow, so this may add some chaos to the Monaco race. Strategy is key here, the teams will be wanting to get the pit stops right * Flashback to last years Monaco GP, VB *

    Times for tomorrow-

    Feature Race F2- 08:50am (BST)
    F1 Race- 14:00pm.

  • F2 Monaco – Day 1 & 2

    Day 1-

    Championship leader, Felipe Drugovich led the way in the Free Practice session in Monte Carlo, he clocked in a 1:21.589, Drugovich’s effort was just enough to hold off Campos Racing’s Ralph Boschung.

    It was HiTech’s Marcus Armstrong, who set the first representative lap of the 45 minute session. However times quickly began to tumble as Boschung topped the sheets with a 1:26.741.

    Traffic once again proved to be a thorn in several drivers’ sides, including Drugovich who was forced to abandon several fast laps after coming across a train of cars at Turn 19.

    Running was constant throughout the session, with only Juri Vips and Marino Sato bringing out yellow flags in Sector 1, with both drivers suffering near-identical front lockups and headed into the run off at Turn 1, before swiftly getting going again.

    Day 2-

    Liam Lawson set the fastest time in qualifying around the streets of Monte Carlo, narrowly beating out Ayumu Iwasa by 0.059s. Championship leader Felipe Drugovich hit the wall on his final effort but remained third quickest in group A. Meanwhile, Theo Pourchaire topped the Group B with a 1:25.535.

    A slow burn in Group B followed, but a red flag in the final minute prevented any last-gasp improvements. A crash for Van Amersfoort Racing’s Jake Hughes, at the swimming pool chicane ended the session prematurely. It meant that Pourchaire’s penultimate attempt was good enough for the top spot in the second group.

    But, things never stay the same in F2! Liam Lawson, Ayumu Iwasa and Olli Caldwell all got post qualifying penalties.

    Lawson, had been fount guilty of failing to reduce his speed under a single-waved yellow flag. As a result, Lawson’s best time got deleted and as well as receiving a five place grid drop, dropping him down to P11 for tomorrows Sprint Race.

    Iwasa, has been awarded a 10 place grid penalty, after failing to abandon his flying lap whilst under a double waved yellow flag at the end of qualifying. His best lap time has been deleted, demoting him from P2 of his group. Iwasa’s second-best time now sees him classified in P7, and with the penalty applied he’ll start the sprint race from P20.

    Last but not least, Olli Caldwell has been fount guilty of impeding Marino Sato at Turns 2, 3 and 4 during Group B’s qualifying session, the Campos driver failing to let Sato through who was on a fast lap. As a result, Caldwell has been handed a three-place grid drop for his next race.

    The full top 10 for tomorrows sprint race is: P1: Hughes, P2: Hauger, P3: Daruvala, P4: Armstrong, P5: Fittipaldi, P6: Vips, P7: Doohan, P8: Pourchaire, P9: Drugovich and P10: Boschung.

  • Round 6 – Spain Qualifying

    Round 6 – Spain Qualifying

    What a qualifying we have just witnessed, from a Ferrari spinning, to a home town hero being knocked out in Q1, a lap time deleted which promoted a Haas into Q3 and a Red Bull loosing power on the final flying lap!

    But, it was Charles Leclerc who took pole position for the Spanish Grand Prix, with a spin on his first flying lap in Q3 he only had the chance to do one lap which he made count, we then have Max Verstappen joining him on the front row, as he wasn’t able to improve his final lap as he lost power before he even started it. Carlos Sainz makes it a 1-3 for Ferrari on his home turf, hoping to get the jump on the Red Bull at the start of the race.

    The full top 10 are- Pole: Leclerc, P2: Verstappen, P3: Sainz, P4: Russell, P5: Perez, P6: Hamilton, P7: Bottas, P8: Magnussen, P9: Ricciardo and P10: Schumacher.

    A big well done to Haas, not only have they got both cars into Q3, but they had to take apart Micks cars in FP3 due to a fire, and they managed to get it ready for qualifying! Big day tomorrow for both cars, as they have brought no upgrades and will be hoping both cars can score points.

    McLaren, mixed day for the Woking based team, good to see Danny Ric starting in the top 10, hopefully with the right strategy he can score a good amount of points, but for Lando, he got into the top 10 for Q3, but got his laptime deleted which sees him start P11. Which is not that bad considering his just outside the top 10, he will be hoping to stay out of trouble at the start tomorrow.

    Not the day for Fernando Alonso, and Alpine as a whole, we didn’t really see that pace their like we have done in recent rounds. The Spaniard is starting 17th, a lot of work to do at a track where overtaking isn’t major.

    A good day for Bottas, in the top 10 once again, he will be hoping to score points in tomorrows race. His teammate, Guanyu Zhou starts P15.

    Predictions-

    My top five are- P1: Leclerc, P2: Sainz, P3: Verstappen, P4: Hamilton and P5: Russell. If Leclerc and Sainz can look after their tyres in the race and the Ferrari team perfect the strategy and pit stops then I don’t see why they won’t get a double podium.

    Bottas, Magnussen and Ricciardo could all be battling for that 6th position in the race, if things go their way and they stay out of trouble in the opening laps.

    Times for tomorrow-

    Feature Race F3- 09:05am (BST)
    Feature Race F2- 10:35am
    Round 6- 14:00pm

  • F2 Barcelona – Day 1

    F2 Barcelona – Day 1

    Round 4 for Formula 2 this weekend, lets take a look at how the first day went.

    Free Practice-

    Felipe Drugovich led the way in free practice after multiple red flag stoppages. The MP Motorsport driver, was almost a full half-second clear of the pack, with Jehan Daruvala and Logan Sargeant his closest challengers.

    Olli Caldwell and Marcus Armstrong both brought out the red flags during the session, with the Campos Racing driver spinning and hitting the wall at Turn 9. Meanwhile Armstrong became beached in the gravel at Turn 4 as drivers struggled for grip.

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

    Qualifying-

    Before we start looking at the qualifying result, Ralph Boschung has withdrawn from this weekend as he is suffering from neck pain and wasn’t able to continue after the practice session.

    Virtuosi Racing’s Jack Doohan, left it last minute as he stormed to his second pole position in Formula 2, the Aussie managed to hold off an extremely late charge from HiTech’s Juri Vips which saw the Estonian driver leap up from last to second and ahead of ART’s Frederik Vesti in third.

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

    Drugovich was meant to be starting on pole position for today’s sprint race but, he has a 3 place grid penalty for impeding Theo Pourchaire, so he now will be starting 4th. That promotes Calan Williams to pole position and Jake Hughes onto the front row.

  • Round 5- Miami Qualifying

    Round 5- Miami Qualifying

    The craziness continues in Miami, we only had 19 drivers take part in qualifying as Esteban Ocon had a crash in FP3 where his chassis broke, and wouldn’t of been fixed in time.

    But it was Ferrari who came out on top for the first ever Miami Qualifying, Charles Leclerc took pole position for the third time this season! With his teammate making it an all Ferrari front row lock out.

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

    Bit of a mixed weekend for most teams really, some seem to improve a lot on Friday, but Saturday they went a little bit back down.

    Mercedes looked very strong in the two free practice sessions, so for GR to qualify out of the top 10 was bit strange, starting in the middle of the pack may not be good here, but it will be interesting to see if he can work his way up the field. Onto LH, much better weekend for him here, back in the top 10, and in a good position if anything happens today to make the most of it.

    Alpha Tauri, a big improvement for them as both drivers in the top 10, where as in Imola they were out in Q1! Lets see if they can keep it up today and score some good points for the team.

    McLaren had an okay day, Norris in the top 10 again, whereas 14th for Ricciardo. The Aussie had an issue with starting the car up in Q2, this then compromised his out lap as he was pushing to get heat in his tyres.

    Predictions-

    My top 5 for the race are- P1: Leclerc, P2: Sainz, P3: Perez, P4: Hamilton and P5: Norris.

    I feel like things aren’t going to go well for Max, his already had a few mechanical problems this weekend, so could this play apart?

    I’d love to see Mick get points, but with the track really only having 2 overtaking spots, can he make up 4 places as well as having to pit and then make up those positions again?…

    I could see a few DNF’s happening today, the track is so tight and there is no room for error, as we have seen from Ocon and Sainz both crashing.

    The race starts at 20:30pm (BST).

  • F2 Imola- Round Up

    F2 Imola- Round Up

    Day 1-

    Free Practice-

    Ralph Boschung ended the free practice session on top, setting a 1:41.996 with a heavily interrupted session with three red flags across the 30 minutes of on track action. Before Practice had even started there was drama, as the session had to be rescheduled from the morning until the circumstances improved.

    Once the session was underway, it wasn’t long until the first red flag was produced as Hitech’s Marcus Armstrong spun and hit the barrier before Turn 11. Once the session resumed, Juri Vips set the initial pace but after this another red flag came out and the action stopped, this time due to Logan Sargeant spinning and not being able to get his car going again.

    Boschung moved to the head of the pack before having a spin of his own in the final minute which brought out the 3rd red flag. Vips was in second and Jehan Daruvala was in third for PREMA.

    Qualifying-

    HiTech’s Juri Vips took his first ever pole position in his Formula 2 career as he mastered the difficult conditions and set a lap time of 1:40.221. More rain hit the track prior to the start of the session, forcing drivers to use the wet tyres.

    Ralpha Boshcung who set the pace in the afternoon practice session, was the first driver to lay down a marker but after the opening round o flaps were completed it was Clement Novalak who was the fastest driver. Jake Hughes then moved to the top of the timesheet before being replaced by Vips.

    Shortly after Vips completed his lap, the one and only red flag of the session was deployed as Olli Caldwell spun off the road in the first sector. As the session resumed, drivers returned to the circuit to prepare for the final push laps, with Boschung setting the benchmark even lower. However, with six minutes left, Vips closed out a lap which would not be beaten, despite several improvements int he top 10.

    Juri in P1 for the feature race, with Ayumu Iwasa in 2nd and 3rd. Sargeant took reverse grid pole as he finished 10th.

    Day 2-

    Sprint Race-

    Carlin’s Logan Sargeant started from pole, but the driver struggled to get off the line, his slow start allowed Armstrong into the lead, with the American driver dropping down to fifth by the end of the opening lap.

    David Beckmann spun on the opening lap, with Clement Novalak unable to avoid the Charouz car and picked up front wing damage, it saw Beckmann retire from the race where he joined Amaury Cordeel on the sidelines as the Belgian racer crashed on his way to the grid.

    Boschung became the latest retirement on Lap 9 as he was forced to pull over at the side with a problem, a virtual safety car was called which allowed Daruvala to close the gap on the leader, Marcus Armstrong.

    In the final few laps, Daruvala couldn’t pass Armstrong for the lead and had to settle for P2, with Hauger in P3, his best finish in Formula 2 so far.

    Day 3-

    Feature Race-

    Juri Vips headed the field from pole position as the lights went out, however it was Roy Nissany who started sixth who led the field into Turn 2. Behind there was instant contact between 2021 Formula 3 title rivals, Dennis Hauger and Jack Doohan, damage was inflicted on both cars and the pair were forced to retire.

    A safety car was called to clean up Haugers stricken car, but no sooner had it disappeared it was called upon again as pole-sitter Juri Vips crashed on the exit of Turn 6 after running wide. When the safety car went in, a series of drivers including Nissany, Boschung, Pourchaire and Fittipaldi peeled into the pit lane to switch to the medium compound tyres.

    As the laps ticked down the battles for position were not over, with Boschung and Sargeant scrapping for what could be second place. Sargeant moved ahead of Boschung, but soon dropped down the order moments after taking the position.

    It was Theo Pourchaire who took the Feature Race win, with Enzo Fittipaldi finishing 2nd, his best ever finish and first Formula 2 podium! Ralph Boschung finished in third.

    The Championship-

    We now have a new championship leader, that being Theo Pourchaire he leads with 52 points. Felipe Drugovich in 2nd with 50 points and then there is quite a gap between 2nd and 3rd. Jehan Daruvala in 3rd with 36 points, Liam Lawson in 4th with 35 points and then Richard Verschoor in 5th with 32 points.

    Looking at the teams, its a lot closer than the drivers… MP Motorsport out in front with 62 points, ART Grand Prix in 2nd with 60 points, we then have HiTech Grand Prix in 3rd with 58 points!

    We are back in a month for round 4 of the season, in Barcelona Spain on the 20th to 22nd of May!

  • Round 4- Imola Qualifying

    Round 4- Imola Qualifying

    A very mixed qualifying is now complete from a dry track to a red flag and then a wet track. Safe to say the Imola cat will be keeping dry in paddock.

    But with his first pole position of the year for the current world champion, Max Verstappen!

    The full top 10 are: P1: Verstappen, P2: Leclerc, P3: Norris, P4: Magnussen, P5: Alonso, P6: Ricciardo, P7: Perez, P8: Bottas, P9: Vettel and P10: Sainz.

    Not a good day for the home heros, both Alpha Tauri’s out in Q1 as they couldn’t manage to get through the next stage of qualifying. Lots of work for them to do in the sprint and the race if they want to score some points this weekend.

    Due to a red flag in Q2, caused by Carlos Sainz, the running stopped in qualifying completely even after the red flag went as the rain started to come down and the drivers had already set some laps so none of them were going to change.

    Mercedes did not have a good qualifying, you could put it down to Carlos’ crash as well as they are just having problems with the car also. Both drivers out in Q2 the first time a Mercedes car hasn’t been in Q3 since Japan 2012

    Williams having more and more problems as the weekends go on, this time for Albon as his breaks set a light whilst in Q1 and cause a stop to the session as there were debris from the brakes being on fire.

    A total of 5 red flags throughout qualifying. A lot for teams to work on. Disappointing that Perez could’ve been higher up and benefit on the fact that Ferrari only have one car at the top.

    A good showing from McLaren, hopefully we see some more good work from the pair throughout the rest of the weekend as well as Haas’ Kevin Magnussen!

    Predictions-

    My top 5 for the sprint is- P1: Verstappen, P2: Leclerc, P3: Norris, P4: Alonso and P5: Magnussen.

    If it is a dry sprint tomorrow, like expected then I can’t really see much happening. A couple of positions switch around in the top 10 but nothing major unless it’s mechanical issues…

    Times for tomorrow-

    Free Practice 2 F1- 11:30am – 12:30pm (BST)
    Sprint Race F1- 15:30pm – 16:30pm (BST)

  • F3 Imola- Day 1

    F3 Imola- Day 1

    Free Practice-

    Persistent heavy rainfall throughout the preceding night left the circuit drenched but the free practice session managed to begin on time, with the field of 29 eager drivers to check out the tricky conditions.

    Jenzer Motorsport’s Ido Cohen registered the first time, but his bench mark was beaten by HiTechs Kaylen Frederick as the drivers began exploring the limits. His stint though was short-lived as championship leader, Victor Martins move to the front with a time of 1:50.134s.

    Martins remained on top as a sequence of incidents started which caused a quick-fire run of red flags. Cohen spun off into the gravel at Tamburello whilst shortly after the restart David Schumacher who returns to Charouz for this week, slid off at Rivazza 1.

    Once the green flag was waved once more, it was only a couple of minutes before MP Motorsport teammates Caio Collet and Kush Maini suffered separate incidents at the Villeneuve chicane and Acqua Minerale respectively, whilst Campos Racing’ Hunter Yeany returned to the pits with damaged suspension. That caused a third stoppage and the decision was taken not to restart the session.

    PositionDriverLaptime
    1Victor Martins1:50.134
    2Isack Hadjar1:50.168
    3Roman Stanek1:50.959
    4Kaylen Frederick1:51.283
    5Rafael Villagomez1:51.324
    Top 5 Practice Session.

    Qualifying-

    Trident’s Zane Maloney claimed his maiden Formula 3 pole position during a frantic conclusion to Qualifying. On a circuit which was rapidly drying, Maloney vaulted to the front of the pecking order to register a lap that would not be beaten.

    All 29 drivers were eager to lay down a benchmark and the top spot exchanged multiple times with purple and green sector times dominating the timesheets. It all came to a juddering halt following a clash between Enzo Trulli and Arthur Leclerc that left the PREMA driver in the gravel at Rivazza 1. The incident brought out the red flag, which forced the drivers return to the pits with only five minutes on the clock.

    Once it was restarted there was a frantic jostle for track position and immediately lap times tumbled due to the rapidly improving track conditions.

    Qualifying determined the starting order for Sundays Feature Race but the Sprint Race line p is dictated by the top 12 being reversed. That means that the front row of the grid for the Sprint Race will consist of Franco Colapinto and Ido Cohen, who qualified 12th and 11th respectively.

    The Sprint Race is scheduled to begin tomorrow at 9:35am (BST) and the Feature Race on Sunday 7:50am (BST).

    PositionDriverLaptime
    1Zane Maloney1:41.180
    2Roman Stanek1:41.287
    3Jak Crawford1:41.296
    4Gregiore Saucy1:41.297
    5Oliver Bearman1:41.589
    Top 5 Qualifying.
  • Round 5- Rome E-Prix

    Round 5- Rome E-Prix

    We were back on track for the final day of the Rome double header is here. Lets take a look at what went down.

    FP3-

    All 22 cars made it out for the final practice session of the double-header. Leading the way was former two-time champion DS Techeetah’s Jean-Eric Vergne, who set the pace with 1m 38.608s, followed by standings leader Edoardo Mortara and Jaguar TCS Racing’s Sam Bird.

    Finishing fourth fastest, Dan Ticktum who posted a 1m 39.257s in his Nio 333. The rookie compared the Rome street circuit to the Macau Grand Prix circuit, of which his win twice in his career.

    With 22 minutes left of practice, Andretti’s Oliver Askew clipped the chicane on Turns 12 and 14, resulting in a red flag whilst his stricken car was collected from track.

    With rain overnight, the track was damp in some places, especially under the trees that line some of the circuit. The cooler conditions this morning caught out Nick Cassidy who spun going into Turn 4.

    The top 10 were: P1: Vergne, P2: Mortara, P3: Bird, P4: Ticktum, P5: Wehrlein, P6: Lotterer, P7: Evans, P8: Da Costa, P9: Frijns and P10: Di Grassi.

    Qualifying-

    DS Techeetah’s Jean-Eric Vergne, leads the way into the final race of the Rome E-Pric as he defeated Andretti’s Jake Dennis in a blistering head to head on the streets of the Eternal City.

    Vergne claimed his 14th pole in Rome ahead of Round 5 as the former champion posted a 1m 38.268. O.221s faster than Dennis. Both Mercedes-EQ drivers didn’t get into the Semi’s, Nycks qualifying ended in the groups not progressing onto the quarters. Where as Vandoorne got into the quarters and it stopped there not the best qualifying from the team.

    The top 10 were: P1: Vergne, P2: Dennis, P3: Lotterer, P4: Evans, P5: Bird, P6: Frijns, P7: Wehrlein, P8: Vandoorne, P9: Da Costa and P10: de Vries.

    Round 5 – Rome E-Prix

    Jaguar TCS Racing’s, Mitch Evans stormed to victory once again in Rome, matching his win yesterday with another superb victory. Marking his third Rome victory, the driver led Poleman Vergne in 2nd and Robin Frijns in 3rd.

    The action started, and Dennis lost second but at the top of the hill and Turn 7, Dennis managed to reclaim it with Lotterer back to third. There was a collision between Mahindra’s Alex Sims and Max Guenther, the German driver retired to the pits. For the home race hero, it wasn’t meant to be as he stopped on track between Turn 8 and 9.

    After a short Safety car period after recovering Mahindra’s Sims car was recovered as he spun at Turn 14. There was 5 minutes and 15s of extra time added on to extend the race. Saving his Attack Mode until the end of the race, Evans took the boost with less than eight minutes of the race remaining, he went for Lotterer in front of him before taking the lead on the hill up Turn 7.

    The top 10 were: P1: Evans, P2: Vergne, P3: Frijns, P4: Lotterer, P5: Vandoorne, P6: Wehrlein, P7: Turvey, P8: Di Grassi, P9: Buemi and P10: Ticktum.

    We are back with Formula E in a few weeks time for the Monaco E-Prix on the 30th April.

  • Round 4- Rome E-Prix

    Round 4- Rome E-Prix

    Round 4 of the Formula E season has took place today, so lets take a look at how it is gone.

    FP1-

    Championship leader, Edoardo Mortara led the way in the first practice session with a time of 1m 40.022s, whilst Jaguar’s Mitch Evans came close behind in second followed by reigning champion, Nyck de Vries in third.

    All 22 cars made it out for the session, while Nick Cassidy spent time in the pits after only competing two laps with a suspected driveshaft issue, the Brit made it out towards the end to complete 6 laps in total.

    With the cool morning temperatures impacting breaking, a lockup from Jake Dennis saw the Brit avoid a narrow miss through the chicane. With seconds to go, Rowland suffered damage after contact was made with Jean-Eric Vergne, sent him into the wall on the chicane through Turns 12 and 13.

    The top 10 were: P1: Mortara, P2: Evans, P3: de Vries, P4: Da Costa, P5: Frijns, P6: Vandoorne, P7: Lotterer, P8: Sims, P9: Bird, P10: Sette Camara.

    FP2-

    The DS Techeetah and former Rome winner, Jean-Eric Vergne topped the timesheets in the final practice ahead of qualifying with a 1m 39.082s. Ahead of Pascal Wehrlein in second and Sam Bird who went third fastest.

    More problems for Mahindra’s Oliver Rowland, as he wrestled with his car sliding through Turns 12 and 13- the same spot he crashed earlier on. That same chicane stopped the running of Andre Lotterer as he clipped the inside of Turn 13 causing him to stop on track before a red flag came out.

    The top 10 were: P1: Vergne, P2: Wehrlein, P3: Bird, P4: Dennis, P5: de Vries, P6: Evans, P7: Da Costa, P8: Mortara, P9: Vandoorne and P10: Frijns.

    Qualifying-

    Stoffel Vandoorne claimed his 7th Formula E pole, as he lined up against Robin Frijns. Heading down in Turn 3, Frijns lost time in the final, handing the lead to the Mercedes-EQ driver. Despite his best effort to catch him, Frijns failed to make up for lost time.

    The pole marks Mercedes-EQ third Pole in four rounds, as the Mercedes power train continues to prove its dominance in the electric series. Could Stoffel turn the pole into a win? He already has a win here in the Eternal City last year, so it could very much be possible.

    The top 10 are: P1: Vandoorne, P2: Frijns, P3: de Vries, P4: Da Costa, P5: Vergne, P6: Dennis, P7: Wehrlein, P8: Lotterer, P9: Evans and P10: Rowland.

    Round 4-

    Jaguar TCS Racing, Mitch Evans takes victory on the streets of Rome for the second time in his career. Evans dominated, pulling away from the field to lead Envision’s Robin Frijns in 2nd and Mercedes EQ’s Stoffel Vandoorne in third.

    Despite starting on pole, Vandoorne let his lead slip on the streets, giving way to a determined Mitch who stormed to victory after starting ninth. For the reigning champ, it wasn’t all good though, the Mercedes driver failed to finish the race, retiring after slowing on track and slipping down the order.

    Home here, Antonio Giovinazzi, finished 18th after a steady race at the back of the grid- still adjusting to the challenging nature of driving on street circuits, Giovinazzi will be looking to make more of an impact in tomorrows race.

    Nudged from behind early on in the race, Edoardo Mortara behind, Oliver Rowland hit the barrier on Turn 7, with the cars behind being backed up. Shortly after this, Max Guenther crashed into the barrier on Turn 11- the safety car was brought out whilst his car was recovered.

    Times for tomorrow-

    Free Practice 3: 07:30am – 08:00am (BST), Qualifying: 09:40am – 10:55am (BST), Round 5: 14:00pm – 15:00pm (BST).

  • Albon disqualified from Qualifying

    Alex Albon has been disqualified from the qualifying result, after his team were unable to provide the FIA with a sufficient fuel sample from the FW44.

    Albon qualified P16 in Melbourne, faring better than his teammate Nicholas Latifi, who was swiped by Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll into a heavy crash in Q1, for which Stroll received a three place grid penalty.

    Already with his own three place grid drop (ironically for his crash with Stroll), Albon had a lot of work to do coming into the weekend. Albon stopped on track after dropping out of Q1- with Williams later unable to provide the required 1.0 litre fuel sample to the FIA, as dictated by Artivle 6.5.2 of the FIA Formula 1 Technical Regulations. The driver was then disqualified from the results by the stewards.

    After qualifying, Car 23 had insufficient fuel to yield the required one litre sample.Given this situation, Car 23 is not in compliance with the requirements of Article 6.5 of the FIA Formula 1 Technical Regulations. According to Art. 6.5.2 competitors must ensure that a one litre sample of fuel may be taken from the car at any time. The procedure was followed however the one litre sample of fuel was unable to be taken. The stewards determine to apply the standard penalty for technical infringements. Therefore they took into account, that it shall be no defence to claim that no performance advantage was obtained. The stewards have received a request from Williams Racing to allow Car 23 to start the race. The stewards therefore grant permission for Car 23, Alex Albon to start the race.

    The Stewards statement.

    The late red flag in qualifying only gave drivers two minutes to cross the line from leaving the pitlane. That meant Albon had to queue at the end of the pitlane to gain track position ahead of the green light, and Williams head of vehicle performance Dave Robson believes that extended period out in the pitlane and the outlap “race” with fellow competitors may have contributed to Albon’s lack of fuel.

    We could see a problem as he came towards the pitlane at the end of that lap where something wasn’t quite right, so we opted to stop the car just to make sure we didn’t damage anything. I think the fact that we had to go and queue at the end of the pitlane after the red flag to get that lap in meant that the outlap was then a lot more aggressive than we had planned. So, I think that’s why we were a bit lower than we would’ve liked.

    Robson explained the verdict.