Jordan's Track Talk

Tag: Qualifying

  • Round 16- Turkey Quali

    Well what a qualifying that was, it could of been anyones going into it… But Mercedes once again dominated qualifying just like they have dominated the rest of the weekend.

    LH was fastest overall in qualifying but due to his 10 place grid penalty it means pole position goes to his team-mate Valtteri Bottas. The top 10 after penalties is the following: P1: Bottas, P2: Verstappen, P3: Leclerc, P4: Gasly, P5: Alonso, P6: Perez, P7: Norris, P8: Stroll, P9: Tsunoda and P10: Vettel, Lewis will be starting P11.

    I feel like the top 10 is quite mixed up with the top 5 being from 5 different teams, in which we haven’t seen that happen much, unlike last race weekend we saw it being 4 different teams in the top 4.

    One person who I have to mention after a BEAUTIFUL lap in Q1 is Mick Schumacher! He said he wanted it to rain today and it did, which left the track wet for Qualifying and it made him get into Q2 for the second time in his F1 career!

    ISTANBUL, TURKEY – OCTOBER 09: Mick Schumacher of Germany driving the (47) Haas F1 Team VF-21 Ferrari during qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Turkey at Intercity Istanbul Park on October 09, 2021 in Istanbul, Turkey. (Photo by Dan Istitene – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images)

    Pierre done very well today, after only qualifying P12 at the last race, he is back to being up near the top, where he has been for the majority of the year. It always seems like his in the right place at the right time, it’s just a shame to not see him in a top car and then we could see what he really does after having a confidence boost since being at AlphaTauri…

    Charles done well too! Being on the second row is just what him and Ferrari need, especially with his team-mate being at the back and one of the McLaren’s being near at the back too which will benefit Charles tomorrow. Another thing I have to mention is Ferrari’s strategy! First up they had Carlos push Daniel out of Q1 so he couldn’t get into Q2 and then Carlos went ahead of his team-mate in Q2 to give Charles a lovely slip-stream to boost him into getting into Q3.

    Bit of a down day for Russell and Ricciardo, obviously Ricciardo being knocked out of Q1 which is a shame but we know he can capitalise on other peoples mistakes tomorrow in the race! And for Russell he was set to get into Q3 with a really good time until he made a tiny error on his flying lap which didn’t see him improve and knocked out. But his in a good position to score some points tomorrow and he gets free tyre choice!

    Predictions for tomorrow-

    I’d say the win will go to Lewis! I have a feeling Mercedes will get his strategy just right! P2: Leclerc, P3: Bottas, P4: Norris and P5: Gasly. I think fastest lap will go to Bottas.

    You can’t count out Leclerc, Norris and Gasly tomorrow. I feel like these three will have a battle on track, even though Norris is a couple places behind them, he normally gets a good start either maintaining position or gains positions.

  • Round 15 – Sochi Quali

    WOW, what a day it has been for F1 today and what a qualifying it was… First up we didn’t even think we would have qualifying today because of the weather and having FP3 cancelled it was all just a waiting game…

    But now it all went in the way of Lando Norris as he is on pole position for tomorrow’s race, his first ever one in his F1 career! Joining him on the front row is his old team-mate Carlos Sainz and 3rd is Mr Saturday, George Russell, his second time getting into the top 3 this season!

    The rest of the top 10 are: P4: Hamilton, P5: Ricciardo, P6: Alonso, P7: Bottas, P8: Stroll, P9: Perez and P10: Ocon. We have Verstappen, Leclerc and Latifi all taking new power units this weekend so they will all be starting at the back of the grid…

    Honestly wow. I am in shock, I was watching with one eye open when George was the first to go onto the slicks but they honestly paid off for everyone apart from the Mercs and Red Bull.

    McLaren are on fire this season. Lando has been on top form and it’s so nice to see his finally getting rewarded for all his efforts. And Daniel qualifying in P5 after his win in Monza two weeks ago, he will definitely be one to watch tomorrow!

    The constructors leader, Mercedes didn’t get it right today, which is a shame but the points are awarded tomorrow and everyone knows how good they are at this track, and Lewis hasn’t got to worry about Max as his starting at the back…

    AlphaTauri had a really bad today, which is awful after what happened in Monza. It’s such a shame because Pierre always delivers week in and week out for the team, but I’m sure he can finish in the points tomorrow and it could go his way as he has free tyre choice.

    Predictions for tomorrow-

    My top five for tomorrow are: P1: Hamilton, P2: Norris, P3: Bottas, P4: Ricciardo and P5: Russell. I think fastest lap will go to Hamilton as-well…

    I do think that it will be very close between Norris and Hamilton, they both could win tomorrow. We all saw how difficult it is to get by the McLaren with their speed but I feel like strategy may come into play!

    Times for tomorrow-

    Race- 13:00pm (BST), 14:00pm (CEST). We also have F2 and F3 feature races tomorrow as-well!

  • F2 Sochi – Day 1

    We are back with F2 this weekend for round 6 out of 8. Can Oscar Piastri extend his championship lead? Or will Guanyu Zhou be victorious and take it all away from him?

    Free Practice-

    As usual, free practice up first and it saw UNI-Virtuosi take the lead with Felipe Drugovich finishing in P1 he led from, Ralph Boschung and Theo Pourchaire

    The session had a brief red flag as there was a spin by Alessio Deledda and his HWA had to be recovered by the marshals.

    The championship leader was all the way down in 10th, where as the other title contender, Guanyu Zhou was in 4th just in front of Juri Vips.

    Qualifying-

    Qualifying saw Oscar Piastri take his third police in a row! His joined by Johan Daruvala on the front row on Sunday! Lining up behind them on the second row is Pourchaire and Zhou.

    Reverse grid pole goes to Dan Ticktum for tomorrow’s first race, his joined by Vips next to him!

    Tomorrow is all to play for, it could be a very interesting race if it’s raining like it’s forecasted!

    Times for the rest of the weekend-

    Saturday- Sprint Race 1: 8:30am (BST), 9:30am (CEST). Sprint Race 2: 14:45pm (BST), 15:45pm (CEST).

    Sunday- Feature Race: 9:20am (BST), 10:20am (CEST)

  • Round 14- Monza Quali

    We now have our grid set for the Sprint Qualifying for tomorrow and the tension is building on the grid…

    We have a Mercedes 1-2!! Bottas leads from Hamilton locking out the front row to get those all important points tomorrow. We then have Verstappen starting P3 just behind both of the Mercedes.

    The rest of the top 10 are- P4: Norris, P5: Ricciardo, P6: Gasly, P7: Sainz, P8: Leclerc, P9: Perez and P10: Giovinazzi.

    Bottas done an absolutely beautiful lap, all purple sectors and it’s fully deserved! I do feel like its a bit of a strategy for tomorrow as he is starting at the back of the grid on Sunday so he will want to grab some points tomorrow.

    The two McLarens are on fire! They both look so comfy and confident in their cars and they could potentially grab a couple of points tomorrow only if they stay out of trouble though!

    I’m quite shocked by Perez, starting P9 isnt the best and the middle of field is always the scrappiest when starting on the grid so I could potentially see him not doing so well tomorrow.

    Both Aston Martins and Alpines out of the top 10 which I didn’t expect at all, but with Monza everyone is trying to get a tow and it doesn’t always play out in peoples favour.

    Predictions for tomorrow-

    I think Lewis will get P1, P2: Bottas and P3: Norris. Honestly I could see tomorrow just go mad, we could see a very different order for Sunday and maybe some surprises for the result too.

    Times-

    Free Practice 2- 11:00am – 12:00pm (BST), 12:00pm – 13:00pm (CEST). Sprint- 15:30pm – 16:00pm (BST), 16:30pm – 17:00pm (CEST).

  • F2 Monza- Day 1

    We are back racing once more with Formula Two as they have just had their first day in Monza done! We have had a couple of changes to the grid this week, we saw Jake Hughes returning to HWA Racelab following an injury to Jack Aitken, while David Beckmann had swapped Charouz Racing System for Campos Racing with Enzo Fittipaldi stepping up from Formula 3 to take his place.

    Free Practice-

    Ticktum topped the charts in the free practice session this morning and for the second round in a row, he done a lap of 1:33.042 ahead of Pourchaire and Daruvala. It was then Beckmann and championship leader Piastri who closed off the top 5.

    A Virtual Safety Car was needed with only 11 minutes on the clock as Roy Nissany had to pull onto the grass as he had smoke coming from the back of his DAMs, running however did resume with only five minutes left.

    Qualifying-

    Qualifying showed us Piastri is on fire and wants to keep his championship lead! He grabs pole for the Feature Race on Sunday with a 1:32.199 ahead of Jehan Daruvala and Guanyu Zhou.

    Somebody who shocked me was Ralph Boschung, he done an amazing lap in quali and he was near the top but with drivers doing more fast laps the order soon changed which pushed him down to P6.

    Another one who shocked me is Lundgaard his starting in P19, I thought he would off been closer to the top 10, but as this is a track where there are opportunities to over take he could easily claw some points in hopefully!

    As we have the results we now have our reverse grid for tomorrows first sprint race it see’s Beckmann on pole with Red Bull junior Juri Vips joining him on the front row.

    Times for tomorrow-

    Sprint Race 1- 7:50am (BST), 8:50am (CEST).

    Sprint Race 2- 13:45pm (BST), 14:45pm (CEST).

  • Round 13- Zandvoort Quali

    Well, well, well what a quali that was, at one point I didn’t know who would be where at one point!

    But Max Verstappen manages to get his first pole position of his home grand prix, with Lewis joining him on the front row and it was only 0.38s between the pair. Valtteri takes P3, which makes Max under pressure from both of the Mercedes, especially because of the strategy, Mercedes have both drivers in top 3, where as Max is on his own and his team-mate is no where to be seen…

    The rest of the grid are as follows- P4: Gasly, P5: Leclerc, P6: Sainz, P7: Giovinazzi, P8: Ocon, P9: Alonso, P10: Ricciardo, P11: Russell, P12: Stroll, P13: Norris, P14: Latifi, P15: Tsunoda, P16: Perez, P17: Vettel, P18: Kubica, P19: Schumacher and finally P20: Mazepin.

    I feel like the grid is a bit of a mix match this weekend, there some good results for some teams where as other teams its been quite disappointing…

    I said both Ferrari drivers need a good weekend and they’ve started it of good, but tomorrow is where it counts as thats where the points are dished out.

    Not a good day for Lando, his been a bit of the pace today, whether thats due to having under-estimated the track or just simply being caught out by the red flags in Q2. We all know what he can do, so i’m sure we will see him doing some brave over takes tomorrow to get some points!

    Not the best qualifying for Williams either, having both cars bring out two red flags isn’t the best but lucky for them they have free tyre choice with both cars and hopefully they can play a good strategy to get some points!

    Now onto Perez, who actually quite shocked me. Starting P16, on a track which isn’t known for over-taking but if you want to take risks which we saw some Formula Three drivers do earlier on in the day, they do pay off.

    Now onto the one who impressed me the most… It’s Antonio Giovinazzi starting P7, where did that pace come from in the Alfa Romeo!! You always want to do well on race weekends but even more so when a reserve driver stands in for your team-mate, but he has just excelled today! Could he possibly have a point to prove that maybe he deserves to stay in F1? All I know is that one performance like this isn’t going to cut it, but if he has now fount a good way with the car and use it tomorrow he could be in contention for some points!

    Predictions-

    My top five predictions for tomorrow are: P1- Hamilton, P2: Bottas, P3: Verstappen, P4: Gasly and P5: Alonso. Fastest lap I think will go to Bottas.

    I’d like to see the likes of Norris, Russell, Latifi in the top 10 and get some points but it’s all about the risk in overtaking here, are they willing to do it? I think tomorrow will be a very good race, no-one knows how these 72 laps are going to go but I am very excited!

    Times for tomorrow-

    The race starts at §4:00pm (BST), and 15:00pm (CEST). As well as Formula Three in the morning at 9:45am (BST) and 10:45am (CEST)

  • Round 12- Spa Quali

    WOW! What a quali… I don’t think anyone expected the results we got!

    Max takes another pole position! And next to him on grid will be Mr Saturday himself, George Russell and yes I know! No-one expected that but he had the pace their all qualifying! Hamilton will be starting P3! The rest of the top 10 are: P4- Ricciardo, P5- Vettel, P6- Gasly, P7- Perez, P8- Bottas, P9- Ocon and P10- Norris. Bottas has a 5 place grid penalty which sees him start 13th.

    The rest of the grid look like this (before penalties are added) P11- Leclerc, P12- Latifi, P13- Sainz, P14- Alonso, P15- Stroll, P16- Giovinazzi, P17- Tsunoda, P18- Schumacher, P19- Raikkonen, P20- Mazepin. Stroll also has a 5 place grid penalty which means he will start P20.

    Norris was so quick in Q1 and Q2, unfortunately in Q3 he had a big shunt which ended his qualifying and chance of pole. But the main thing is seeing him get out of the car okay! His being checked over as precautionary measures as usual, updates on him and his car will come as and when there is some. *UPDATE AS OF 22:00pm (BST) Lando has been given the all clear to race tomorrow which is good news, however he does get a 5 place grid penalty because for gearbox change so he will be starting P14*

    Bottas, didn’t have the birthday he was hoping for… qualifying in P8, I expected him to be up there in top 3 at least which is a shame but at the end of the day the points are awarded tomorrow and he has a lot of work to do in the race if he wants to score a decent amount. It does make me think now that George has got himself on the front row in a Williams, will this mean George gets the seat at Mercedes? The announcement should come soon!!

    Daniel Ricciardo starting P4 tomorrow which is amazing for him and the team, definitely shows his starting to get comfortable in the car which is brilliant for the constructors fight against Ferrari, lets hope Daniel gets a good amount of points tomorrow!

    Now I definitely didn’t see both Ferrari drivers starting out of the top 10. I think the team has a lot of work to do over night and figure out a good strategy so both drivers can score points.

    Predictions-

    My top five predictions for tomorrow are: P1- Hamilton, P2- Verstappen, P3- Ricciardo, P4- Vettel and P5- Russell. I think fastest lap will go to Hamilton.

    I think Latifi has a good chance at points again tomorrow, especially if Williams nail their strategy for him. Hopefully we see Bottas finish in the top 10 and not have an incident in the rain like Hungary and Imola.

    I’m very much looking forward to tommorrow, we should see some hard racing and maybe a surprise result!

    Times for tomorrow-

    The race starts at 14:00pm (BST) and 15:00pm (CEST). Don’t forget we also have an F3 race tomorrow as well.

  • Round 11- Hungary Qualifying

    What a Quali! 1-2 for the Mercedes boys with Max Verstappen joining them in P3… The rest of the top 10 are: P4- Perez, P5- Gasly, P6- Norris, P7- Leclerc, P8- Ocon, P9- Alonso and P10- Vettel

    This is what the Mercedes boys needed, it shows the upgrades they got at Silverstone are working a lot!

    Disappointing day for Ricciardo, only managed P11 after being knocked out of the top 10 by Vettel. It seems like something isn’t their with the car today, so hopefully they figure out for the race tomorrow and the fact they have free tyre choice plays into their hand.

    Aswell a disappointing day for Carlos Sainz, he crashed out in Q2 meaning he will start P15 after not being able to set a time. Hopefully he has a better day tomorrow…

    I’m not to sure if Red Bull can do much tomorrow… Verstappen is starting on the softs which won’t last long in the heat and with the race being 70 laps long it’s looking like they will do a two stop which won’t be good if Mercedes are on a one stop.

    Very disappointed for Russell, got knocked out in Q1 which is a shame but like the Brit said you can’t get it right every time!

    Predictions-

    My top five predictions for tomorrow are: P1- Hamilton, P2- Bottas, P3- Verstappen, P4- Gasly and P5- Norris. I think fastest lap will go to Verstappen, Red Bull are going to want to stop Hamilton and Mercedes from getting extra points…

    I’d love to see Ricciardo finish in the points, he has a good chance tomorrow so it’s all eyes onto tomorrow now!

  • Round 10- Silverstone Quali

    GET IN THERE LEWIS!!! Pole on his home track and no better way to do it! P2- Verstappen and P3- Bottas!

    The rest of the top 10 are- P4- Leclerc, P5- Perez, P6- Norris, P7- Ricciardo, P8- Russell, P9- Sainz, P10- Vettel.

    Honestly, WOW I’m so glad George got into Q3! He was definitely right about the crowd because when he got into Q3, the roars around the circuit was unbelievable!

    Big well done to Daniel as-well! Mega day for him and to be right next to his teammate is the performance we want to see from him!

    The Mercedes upgrade definitely seem to work very well so far and it’s about time they brought something, it’ll be very interesting to see their plan for the rest of the weekend

    Red Bull I feel like had a good afternoon but when it went to the qualifying session in the evening they kind of lost their form and that ended up with Max not being first…

    My Predictions-

    For Sprint qualifying I think P1 will go to Hamilton, P2- Bottas, P3- Norris, P4- Perez and P5- Ricciardo.

    I’m very much looking forward to seeing this Sprint Qualifying tomorrow and what drama it will bring to the track!

    Tomorrow we have Practice 2 at 12:00pm – 13:00pm (BST) and then Sprint Qualifying at 16:30pm – 17:00pm (BST)

  • Round 9- Austria Quali

    And what a qualifying that was! No Mercedes on the the front row and no Red Bull 1-2 either!

    Max Verstappen adds another pole to his collection with Lando Norris joining him on the front row for the first time ever. The rest of the top 10 are: P3- Perez, P4- Hamilton, P5- Bottas, P6- Gasly, P7- Tsunoda, P8- Vettel, P9- Russell and P10 to Stroll

    I am very impressed with George! Finally made an appearance in Q3 and what a man! Big well done to Williams and George for getting the car into a very good position.

    I can imagine that Norris is very happy with P2! I did not expect that this weekend and it’s very nice to see him getting the praise he should, every weekend he delivers for the team and it’s being recognised, unfortunately his team mate starts P13

    Both Alpha Tauri drivers in the top 10 and starting P6 and P7 which is very good for the team! I did think they would of got higher but tomorrow is where it counts

    Both Ferrari drivers missed out on the top 10 with Sainz starting P11 and Leclerc P12, they are both very good in the race here in Austria so it will be interesting to see what strategies they have

    Very shocked for Alonso, he didn’t manage top 10 due to an issue with Sebastian Vettel on his flying lap but his starting P14, Alonso will be another to watch tomorrow!

    My Predictions-

    My top 5 predictions are: P1- Hamilton, P2- Norris, P3- Bottas, P4- Perez and P5- Gasly. I think fastest lap might go to Bottas!

    I would love to see George in the points tomorrow, we saw how well he done last week until he had to retire, so I’m hoping he does well tomorrow!

    Ricciardo as-well I would like to see in the points, it’s so important for the constructors but the Ferrari are very strong in the race…

    Times for tomorrow are: 14.00 (BST) and 15.00pm (CEST)

  • Round 8- Styrian Quali

    That is another qualifying session down! And a very exciting one at that…

    Another pole position goes to Verstappen! Which is Red Bulls first ever pole at their home grand prix. P2 was Bottas but because of his three grid place penalty from FP2 its now Hamiltons, and P3 goes to Lando Norris… The updated top 10 are: P4- Perez, P5- Bottas, P6- Gasly, P7- Leclerc, P8- Alonso, P9-Stroll and P10- Russell.

    George Russell was only 8 thousandths away from being in Q3!! However, there may be a chance for Russell to start top 10 as there was an incident on track with Tsunoda and Bottas, which could mean Tsunoda gets a 3 grid place penalty, Russell will be able to have a free choice of tyres to start on too! *Update as of 17:05pm (BST) Tsunoda gets a 3 grid place penalty, meaning Alonso, Stroll and Russell will move up a place* For more information click the link below https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.tsunoda-hit-by-three-place-grid-drop-for-impeding-bottas-in-qualifying.4zBSUhPPvTvmoZ4wms2msU.html

    Norris should be very happy with P3, he really put it together in qualifying and thats where it counts (apart from the race), it is a shame that Ricciardo couldn’t join him in the top 10 but the points are scored tomorrow and with this track its easy to overtake and gain some places.

    A very good qualifying for Gasly and Tsunoda, both cars up in the top 10, it will be interesting to see how they finish tomorrow and what type of strategy Alpha Tauri will have.

    A not so good qualifying for Alpine driver Esteban Ocon, he only managed to qualify P17. It doesn’t seem like his having very good luck at the minute where as his team mate is, it seems that they have switched and taking it in turns, one to do good and one not to do good!

    Predictions-

    My top 5 predictions for tomorrow are P1- Hamilton, P2- Perez, P3- Norris, P4- Gasly and P5- Bottas. I think fastest lap will go to Hamilton as well. I am hoping we have some rain tomorrow and I think some of the drivers are too!

    I’d like to see Russel finish in the top 10, he was so close today and he does deserve it! I’d also like to see Ricciardo finish in the top 10 too.

    Times for tomorrow are 14.00pm (BST) and 15.00pm (CEST). Come back for all the action tomorrow!

    https://www.instagram.com/p/CQlhtTFivii/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

  • Round 7- France Quali

    Well well well what a qualifying that was it went right down to the last flying laps 😳

    Pole goes to Verstappen and behind him by two hundred tenths was Hamilton and joining the top 3 was Bottas 👏🏻, it’s very nice to see both Mercedes up there together again. The rest of the top 10 are: P4- Perez, P5- Sainz, P6- Gasly, P7- Leclerc, P8- Norris, P9- Alonso and P10- Ricciardo.

    Gasly will be very happy with P6, at his home circuit and in front of fans too, he will be wanting to score some points tomorrow. Sadly for the other frenchman it didn’t go his way today, Ocon starts in P11, again he will want to score points in front of his home crowd too.

    I feel gutted for Tsunoda, he crashed a few minutes in to Q1 meaning he will start last in tomorrows race… As well for Schumacher he got through to Q2 but wasn’t able to participate as he crashed at the end of Q1, they need to check the gearbox as it took a heavy hit when he crashed so he possibly might not be starting P15… As well I feel sorry for Stroll, his first lap time got deleted in Q1 for track limits and because of the crash at the end of Q1 he wasn’t able to put a time up on the board, so he will be starting at the back of the grid.

    My Predictions-

    My top 5 predictions for tomorrow is P1 for Hamilton, P2- Bottas, P3- Verstappen, P4- Gasly and P5- Sainz. Fastest lap I see going to possibly Bottas if Mercedes play their strategy right. There could possibly be a safety car tomorrow depends if it rains tomorrow or not😉

    I want to see Russell get closer to a top 10 finish tomorrow, I feel like it could happen! It would be nice to see Vettel finish in the points again.

    Times for tomorrow are 14.00pm (BST) and 15.00pm (CEST).

  • Round 6- Baku Quali

    Wow what a qualifying that was!! Baku did not disappoint and it’s not even the race yet!

    It’s back to back pole positions for Charles Leclerc! I don’t think many people expected him to put it there but he did, joining him on the front row is Lewis Hamilton, his managed to find some pace and put the car back to the front🔥

    We then have Max Verstappen in P3 who is then followed by Pierre Gasly in P4 which is his best ever qualifying performance. The rest of the top 10 are P5- Carlos Sainz, P6- Sergio Perez, P7- Yuki Tsunoda, P8- Fernando Alonso, P9- Lando Norris and P10 for Valtteri Bottas. Lando Norris got a 3 place grid penalty for not following red flag procedure. Yuki Tsunoda has had his best qualifying result as well and he put himself in the top 10 for the very first time!

    We had four red flags during the qualifying session! The first one was from Lance Stroll in Q1 then again another in Q1 which was from Antonio Giovinazzi, they both went into Turn 15 at two separate times. The third was from Daniel Ricciardo at Turn 3 in Q2 and then the fourth was from Yuki Tsunoda and Carlos Sainz for separate reasons but at the same corner in Q3.

    A couple of people I’m gutted for are Russell, Vettel and Ricciardo I felt like Russell could of put his car further up to the top 10 but the red flag ruined his chances and that goes for Vettel and Ricciardo too, they both had the pace to get into Q3 but Daniels red flag ruined there chances as well but it’s tomorrow what counts as that’s where the points are!

    My Predictions-

    P1 for Hamilton, P2- Carlos Sainz, P3- Pierre Gasly, P4- Max Verstappen and P5 for Lando Norris. There will be at least one safety car, could possibly be a red flag too depending on the crash and how many are involved.

    I’d love to see Tsunoda, Vettel and Ricciardo finish in the points tomorrow👏🏻 I feel like it will be a very crazy race so anything could happen so make sure you tune in!

    Times for tomorrow are: 13.00pm (BST) and 14.00 (CEST)

  • F2 Baku- Day 1

    We are back racing once again and we are in Baku! It will be interesting to see how the grid handles this track as for many of the drivers it is a first experience of the Baku City Circuit.

    Free Practice-

    Juri Vips topped the charts as he was finding the limits of Baku, he went seven-tenths faster than Ralph Boschung, and then we had race winner Theo Pourchaire finishing the top 3.

    Marino Sato skidded against the wall and destroyed his front right tyre. Where as Zendeli just got stuck in the run off area at Turn 16 which then brought out the virtual safety car.

    With only minutes to go it looked as if Boschung had it under control for topping the leader board however, Pourchaire and Vips found more time which made them go ahead of the Campos driver. However action was brought to a stop as Roy Nissany spun and struck the wall which ended out bringing the red flag and the session came to a close.

    Qualifying-

    The Hitech duo Liam Lawson and Juri Vips secured a 1-2 for Sunday’s feature race! It is Lawson’s first ever pole in Formula 2 and i’m sure it won’t be his last. Then in P3 we have Oscar Piastri.

    The rest of the top 10 look like this: P4- Pourchaire, P5- Ticktum, P6- Armstrong, P7- Boschung, P8- Zhou, P9-Daruvalva and P10- Shwartzman. This means Shwartzman will start P1 in tomorrows first Sprint Race👏🏻

    Roy Nissany had to sit out of Qualifying as he crashed out in free practice and because of the short turn around time they were unable to mend his car! He will be starting at the back of the grid tomorrow.

    After qualifying ended there were 3 penalties given out and one from before qualifying too they include- Marino Sato for creating a potential safety hazard for all other cars in free practice after his crash, he got a three place grid penalty which makes him start 20th after qualifying P19.

    Lundgaard, AItken and Samaia have all been handed three place grid penalties for tomorrows sprint race as they all impeded other drivers on push laps in qualifying. Lundgaard will start from P15, instead of P12. Aitken will now start P17 instead of P14 and Samaia will start P21 after qualifying 20th.

    The times for the rest of the weekend are the following: Sprint Race 1- Saturday at 8.25am (BST), 9.25am (CEST), Sprint Race 2- Saturday at 14.40pm (BST), 15.40pm (CEST) Feature Race- Sunday at 9.45am (BST), 10.45am (CEST).

  • Round 5- Monaco Quali

    WOW… All I can say is wow… what a qualifying! So much happened I felt like I was watching a race 😂 but that is the joys of a circuit like Monaco!

    To start we only had 19 drivers competing in qualifying today as Mick Schumacher took a heavy hit in FP3 and wasn’t able to compete in qualifying as there was chassis damage.

    The Ferrari’s are on fire this weekend! As it stands Leclerc is in pole position at his home grand prix! However he had a pretty big crash at the end of qualifying which could result in him having a new gearbox which would mean a 5 place grid penalty.

    The rest of the top 10 are the following, P2- Verstappen, P3- Bottas, P4- Sainz, P5- Norris, P6- Gasly, P7- Hamilton, P8- Vettel, P9- Perez and P10- Giovinazzii.

    I’m so mixed feelings about the top 10, obviously absolutely gutted for Hamilton, but at the end of the day it’s not like this is the last race of the season, theres lot more races to come🤞🏻… Vettel is back into Q3 which I think lots of people are happy about including himself! He does look more comfortable in the car now than on other weekends, lets hope him getting into Q3 is more regular now!

    Now onto Daniel Ricciardo, he didn’t manage to put the McLaren into Q3 as he missed the checkered flag, but and thats a very big but I feel like he could redeem himself tomorrow, his won at this circuit before which we all know as the “redemption” could he maybe get himself to finish in the points tomorrow?

    Someone who did shock me today is Perez, his starting in P9 I expected him to be a bit better than that as in FP3 he finished P5 and FP1 he finished P1 so it will be interesting to see what kind of strategy he has tomorrow and if it will be effective enough…

    Predictions:

    My predictions for the top 5 tomorrow are P1- Verstappen, P2- Bottas, P3- Sainz, P4- Norris and P5- Hamilton and also I think Hamilton will set the fastest lap🙌🏻

    Obviously I would love to see Vettel and Ricciardo finish in the points aswell! I do think its all too play for tomorrow, especially on a track like this where anything could happen😬

    The race starts a 14:00pm (BST) and 15:00pm (CEST), now all eyes onto tomorrow👀

  • F2 Monaco- Day 1 & 2

    Wow what a long break that was from the first race! I know we had testing in April but even with that what a long time! Anyways i’m happy to see the F2 cars back on track and even more so in Monaco!🤩

    Day 1-

    First up we had free practice heres what happened! First of all there was three stoppages in the opening 20 minutes of the session, where Marino Sato came to a halt on track which brought out a red flag. The second stoppage was required after Gianluca Petecof’s Campos went up into smoke. Then the final stoppage was because Bent Viscaal managed to clip the wall so the VSC was required.

    The results from free practice was Shwartzman first with a 1:22.041, he was followed by Ticktum with a 1:22.564 and then he was followed by Vips who had a 1:22.628!

    Now onto Qualifying, they had to split the grid up into two qualifying groups because it is standard for Monaco.

    The 17 year old, Theo Pourchaire will start the feature race in pole position on Saturday afternoon making him the Formula Two’s youngest ever pole sitter in Monaco! In P2 is Shwartzman who topped qualifying group B with a 1:21.403, behind him is Piastri in P3 with a 1:21.443.

    Day 2-

    Now onto day 2 which is just made up of one sprint race and its a reverse grid of how the top 10 qualified, meaning Zhou will start P1 and let me tell you I think he was very happy with that as thats where he finished at the end of the 30 laps.

    Robert Shwartzman didn’t have a lucky day today as he pushed too hard and whacked the wall of Casino Square, which forced him to retire after attempting to get back out. Lundgaard got away brilliant at the beginning however that all came to a crashing hault when he started to have smoke come from the back of his car, which brought him to a stop with a yellow flag. Petecof doesn’t seem to be having a good weekend here in Monaco as he collided with the wall and stopped on the track which brought out a full safety car which could of potentially changed the entire race… There was then a fourth retirement by Marino Sato as he put his car into the wall.

    It ended up being a 1-2 podium for UNI-Virtuosi and they was joined by Williams test driver Roy Nissany in his first Formula 2 podium. Starting in P1 for tomorrows second Sprint Race is Marcus Armstrong after pulling off a last minute and risky move on Daruvala, Armstrong will be next to Liam Lawson as he is starting P2 tomorrow and then Oscar Piastri in P3…

    The second sprint race tomorrow will be starting at 7:20am (BST) and 8:20am (CEST) and for the feature race it will be 16:15pm (BST) and 17:15 (CEST)

  • Round 4- Spain Quali

    Get in there!!! That is 100 poles for Lewis Hamilton 🙌🏻👏🏻 His closely followed by Verstappen and then Bottas…

    The two Ferrari boys seemed to be going good with Leclerc starting P4 and Sainz P6 they have definitely fount the pace…

    Ocon really surprised me he splits the Ferrari’s and obviously the improvements to the Alpine are working as Alonso starts in P10, not the best showing for his home race however😬

    I actually expected better from Perez… his starting in P8 as he spun at turn 13 earlier in Q3 which meant he could only set one time in the session, he will be on the hunt tomorrow…

    A team I haven’t mentioned recently is the Alpha Tauri’s, I feel like Gasly is doing well as usual but poor Tusonda his just gone down hill since the beginning of the season, hopefully we get to see him finish in the points tomorrow🤞🏻

    Predictions for tomorrow are P1 for Hamilton, P2 for Verstappen, P3 for Leclerc, P4 for Ricciardo and P5 for Norris😬, all eyes on to tomorrow👀🤞🏻

  • Round 2- Imola Quali

    What a Quali that was! I knew it would be tight between drivers but just wow!😳

    Top 3 for the starting grid for tomorrow are Hamilton, Perez and Verstappen… I really didn’t expect the Red Bulls to be as good as they were in Qualifying as they have had some reliability issues this weekend… Congratulations to Perez for qualifying front row for the first time in his career😁

    I am so happy for the Williams boys, both drivers got into Q2 👏🏻 Russell qualified P12 and Latifi P14. So unlucky for George though! So close to being into Q3 but he will get his chance 👏🏻

    I have to bring up Tsunoda, how gutting for him though being out of all the sessions due to going into the wall 💔 Let’s hope he can make up for it tomorrow as that’s where it counts!

    So shocked with Bottas P8! It’s not like him to be that far back from Lewis! I bet he is so gutted, he has some work to do tomorrow 😬 Lando had a disappointing end! He qualified for P2 until he got his lap time deleted for track limits, his now starting 7th just after his team mate…

    My predictions for the result tomorrow are P1 for Hamilton, P2 Perez and P3 Leclerc. I’d love to see either of the Williams in the points… I think we could possibly have a safety car tomorrow but who knows👀

    Starting times for tomorrow are 14:00pm (BST), 15:00pm (CEST). I’m looking forward to the race tomorrow, I think we’re in for an exciting one 🤩

  • Round 1- Bahrain Quali

    Oh what a fight the first Qualifying of 2021 was !! I was on the edge of my seat literally watching it🤣.

    MAX is on pole! Got to give it to him he deserves it massively, he topped all the time sheets of free practice as well as bringing the fight to Lewis whenever he topped his time in qualifying too. Follows him is both the Mercedes, and I am prepared to see the fight tomorrow👀

    A team I am shocked at is Ferrari, they have obviously sorted out their problems last year and improved quite a bit, however I don’t think I should be so quick to judge as it is only the first race weekend out of 23.

    Somebody I do have to mention is Tsunoda, his obviously a rookie but you wouldn’t think it how he drives the Alpha Tauri, he is on fire!!🔥 He is starting 13th on the gird however I think thats good for his first quali!

    Mr Saturday (George Russell) remains Mr Saturday as he out qualifies his team mate once again and starts 15th on the grid. I do feel like Williams have improved since last year and I hope to see them in the points at some point this year.

    One person I am gutted about is Vettel, his starting P18 on the grid tomorrow and thats because of a yellow flag as Mazepin spins in Q1 and messes up his lap, which is obviously unfortunate but its racing at the end of the day, however the real results are tomorrow!

    My predictions for the podium tomorrow is P1- Hamilton P2- Verstappen and P3- Gasly. I would like to see Tsunoda in the points and also see the two McLaren boys be in the top 10!