Ugo Ugochukwu was the one to beat in the final Practice session of the season, the PREMA Racing driver’s last lap of the session putting him on top of the timesheets.
The American’s 1:38.473 was quickest of all, over a tenth clear of Campos Racing’s Nikola Tsolov and PREMA teammate Noel Leon.
The session got underway with Theophile Nael setting a 1:41.780, putting him over a tenth ahead of home favourite Brando Badoer. But then came the Italian’s teammate Ugochukwu and Leon, with the former going to P1 on a 1:40.455, while the latter settled for second, 0.229s behind.
Nael then took P1 back with a 1:40.084, eclipsing Leon’s improved time by 0.116s as MP Motorsport’s Alessandro Giusti rounded out the top three.
However, with nearly 20 minutes gone in the session and after setting the fastest first sector, Roman Bilinski spun into the barrier at the Ascari chicane, bringing out the Red Flags.
Running resumed with 16 minutes to go and there were several changes near the top of the field as Rafael Camara went fastest on a 1:39.346, with Martinius Stenshorne following him across the line to end up 0.242s off the 2025 Champion.
The Hitech TGR driver then improved to a 1:39.189 on his next lap to go fastest. But just as he did that, many of the teams opted to bring their drivers into the pitlane to swap the carry-over Medium tyres to the Softs.
On the first runs it was Callum Voisin that went fastest on a 1:38.721, with Nael and Nikola Tsolov in second and third all within a tenth of the Rodin Motorsport driver.
But they were able to push on for another lap on the Softs and this time it was Ugochukwu that took P1 on a 1:38.473, beating Tsolov by 0.128 with his teammate Leon in third.
Qualifying-
Group A
Nikita Johnson and Roman Bilinski were the first ones out of the pitlane at the green light, with the rest of the field joining them out on track with over five minutes to go.
Rafael Camara’s only lap put him P1 with a 1:38.520, just 0.093s clear of Ugo Ugochukwu, with Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak in third.
Alessandro Giusti, Tim Tramnitz and Callum Voisin, having been at the front of the field, were the only ones able to continue on for a second lap. But just as they did that, Camara’s time was deleted for exceeding track limits at Turn 5.
Giusti then completed his lap to go P4 ahead of his MP Motorsport teammate, while Voisin wound up 10th in the group.
This let Ugochukwu on top of the group and on provisional pole with a 1:38.613. Inthraphuvasak was 0.013s behind in second, with Bilinski third.
Group B
The next set of 15 made their way out on track immediately at the green light with 1:38.613 the time to beat for pole.
Noah Stromsted was quickest after the first set of laps on a 1:38.647, just 0.014s ahead of PREMA’s Noel Leon with Theophile Nael in P3.
Mari Boya then went to P1 but was quickly beaten by Charlie Wurz and then Tuukka Taponen, who was on provisional pole with a 1:38.502s, as Martinius Stenshorne went 0.058s behind in P2.
The Hitech TGR driver was the only member of the field not able to push on for a third lap and there were several improvements, before Benavides took a second pole of the season with a 1:38.120s.
Leon was second in the group ahead of Nikola Tsolov, and Matias Zagazeta, as Taponen and Stenshorne slipped to fifth and sixth respectively.
George Russell has clinched Mercedes’ first victory of the season in the Canadian Grand Prix, a race that ended in dramatic style after a collision between McLaren team mates Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris that saw the latter crash out.
It had been a strong start from pole position for Russell, the Briton launching away cleanly to hold the lead from Max Verstappen. What followed was a race of different strategies across the pack, with some opting for a two-stop plan while others tried to nurse their tyres on a one-stop.
Most of the front runners executed a two-stop strategy, setting up for a thrilling finale as the gaps amongst the top five cars became increasingly close in the closing stages. While Russell was leading from Verstappen, Piastri was trying to catch Kimi Antonelli for third – but the Australian also had Norris hot on his tail.
The McLaren pair then engaged in a feisty battle and contact occurred between them after Norris hit the back of Piastri’s car, resulting in Norris parking up at the side of the track.
The full top 10 are- P1: Russell, P2: Verstappen, P3: Antonelli, P4: Piastri, P5: Leclerc, P6: Hamilton, P7: Alonso, P8: Hulkenberg, P9: Ocon and P10: Sainz.
What a result for the Mercedes duo, their first win of the 2025 season and done in style by Russell and it makes up from last year’s Canadian Grand Prix. As for Antonelli, his first podium in F1 in his rookie season! It makes him the third youngest podium sitter.
A very good result for Verstappen, I think he would have liked the win, but with different strategies going on up and down the field it was a difficult one to grasp. As for his teammate, Tsunoda finished outside of the points in P12, after starting from 18th… Not a very good weekend for him.
P4 for Piastri, a shame he didn’t get on the podium as he was closing in on Antonelli, but sometimes it’s not meant to be. However, it wasn’t a smooth sailing race for the McLaren’s, late on in the race Norris was closing in on Piastri and it all came to blows, after Norris went for a very tight gap which he shouldn’t of gone for and clipped the back of Piastri wheel which saw Norris’ front wing come off and damage the front axel skidding himself along the pit wall and out of the race. Piastri was okay to carry on and finish the race as he had no damage at all. A gutting end to the weekend for Norris, but it was a mistake which he owned up to straight away and took full responsibility, he will be looking towards the next race weekend.
A decent result for the Ferrari’s, but still not amazing. P5 for Leclerc and P6 for Hamilton, the latter was no where in the race as he suffered damage to his Ferrari early on in the race.
Points for Alonso again, a good display of the improvements Aston Martin are making, every point scoring finish for the Silverstone based team will be vital at the end of the season.
Hulkenberg also was in the points again for the second race weekend in a row, lots of improvements made from the Stake team and it is great to see.
Now we have a little break before the next race weekend and it’s a double header starting in Austria on the 27th – 29th June!
The Canadian Grand Prix is the tenth round of the season, the second in North America after Miami. Montreal is one of the staples on the calendar, for many years the only round in this part of the world.
The Gilles Vileneuve Circuit is a semi-permanent facility built on the manmade island of Notre Dame, on the saint Lawrence river, which was home to the Expo ’67 World’s Fair and some events in the 1976 Olympic games.
The track was completely resurfaced last year, but it has retained its low abrasiveness and reduced grip that has always been one of its characteristic features.
4.361 kilometres long, it features a sequence of straights and tight chicanes, with 14 corners (six to the left and eight to the right). It’s a real stop n go track where stability under braking and efficient traction are vital.
Overtaking is possible, partly down to the three DRS zones. The best bet has always been the braking point at the end of the straight that takes the drivers back to the start. The following chicane, where drivers cant still use DRS from the previous activation zone, has often seen some spectacular accidents, which has led to it being known as the “wall of champions” after no fewer than three world champions, Damon Hill, Michael Schumacher and Jacques Villeneuve all crashed into it during the 1999 race.
For the third time this season, the softest trio of compounds will feature on the track. It’s the first time after appearing in Imola and again in Monaco the C6 (Soft), C5 (Medium) and C4 (Hard).
This weekend, when using the new C6, teams and drivers will be able to make the most of the information and data gathered at its two previous appearances.
The Gilles Villeneuve Circuit is a track where the lateral forces exerted on the tyres are medium to low, while the longitudinal ones are a bit more severe, although not particularly high, because of the cars being subjected to strong deceleration followed by sharp acceleration.
Wehrlein flew away from the second row of the grid to sweep around the outside of poleistter Guenther and P2 Barnard at the long, tightening right hander at Turn 1. Standings leader Rowland, meanwhile made up five spots on Lap 1 to find himself second, ahead of Guenther.
The leaders squabbled hard with positions swapping through Lap 2 before it all got a bit too close through the chicane with Cassidy coming off worst – spat out into a half spin and down to the back of the field – Rowland, Guenther and Hughes somehow unscathed amid the crunching carbon fibre to lead the pack on Lap 4.
Vandoorne was first to jump for the initial of his two 50kW four-wheel driver Attack Mode boosts and clambered up to the front of the field come Lap 6, taking advantage of some minor contact between Hughes and Rowland which saw both stumble.
Positions cycled as energy usage came to the fore through the first third of the race, and Attack Mode started to come into play. De Vries led di Grassi, Rowland, Guenther, Buemi, Vandoorne the top six on Lap 9 – while reigning champion Wehrlein slipped as far as 12th through the first round of Attack.
The Porsche driver made it back up to P5 come the end of his first 50kw boost, with Rowland and Guenther still to activate.
Rowland looked to be employing the same strategy as he did in Jeddah, during the first PIT BOOST race – going later for his first Attack to get to clear air out front before pitting, with leader de Vries covering that strategy off and matching the Brit up.
Mueller’s early leap for PIT BOOST left him well placed as he fired in the quick laps to go gain enough time on those yet to stop to leave him the net race lead as it stood. Rowland and Guenther had to put their foot down to counter, and they duly did – doing just enough on Lap 18 to emerge from their stops out front.
A lap later, and Wehrlein, who had put pressure on the leaders prior to his PIT BOOST stop, then split Guenther and Rowland to emerge P2.
On lap 19, Robin Frijns, who’d quietly found his way through the pack to fourth, made a move on Rowland for third, as it stood – 13 places gained.
Those yet to use their final Attack Mode, and had energy in-hand then chose to leap. Barnard jumped the lead group to slice by the front-runners through the final chicane and away from the pack to the tune of almost two seconds on Lap 21 the NEOM McLaren driver dropping Guenther, de Vries and Wehrlein.
Guenther had half a minute of Attack over Rowland himself, and pressured the Nissan through the final laps before making a move count on Lap 26 over the start/finish.
On lap 27, Barnard produced a storming move on Rowland for second – hanging it around the outside of Rowland to steal up the inside of the Nissan into the chicane, with Ticktum following in the melee to clamber onto the final step on the podium.
On the final lap, Guenther was home and dry out front but behind it was all kicking off. Ticktum pressured Barnard, with a dive into Turn 1 followed a move at the chicane. He leapt outside of Barnard while Vergne jumped inside the McLaren to bypass Ticktum in the process into second.
The full top 10 are- P1: Guenther, P2: Vergne, P3: Barnard, P4: Ticktum, P5: Rowland, P6: Nato, P7: Bird, P8: De Vries, P9: Buemi and P10: Frijns.
Campos Racing’s Mari Boya started the Monza weekend on top, setting a 1:38.172 to lead the pack in Free Practice.
The Spaniard saved his best time for last, able to pip Christian Mansell and Callum Voisin who wound up second and third for ART Grand Prix and Rodin Motorsport respectively.
Gabriele Mini was the first driver to put down a laptime, setting a 1:41.324 to lead early on. The Italian lowered his personal best shortly afterwards to a 1:40.583 with the opening 10 minutes gone.
Teammate and title rival Arvid Lindblad had a minor off track excursion at Lesmo 2 as the PREMA driver ran wide and through the gravel but was able to rejoin.
A Virtual Safety Car was deployed with just over half an hour to go after Kacper Sztuka came to a halt ahead of the Parabolica.
With the car cleared, green flag running resumed but a Red Flag followed with 25 minutes remaining. Several drivers ran through the gravel at the Variante della Roggia chicane to leave the track covered in gravel.
Into the final 15 minutes and the times rolled in, with Boya putting his Campos car at the head of the field on a 1:39.998 before Noel Leon beat that for Van Amersfoort Racing by 0.139s.
Luke Browning then put his first time on the board to go quickest of all by almost three-tenths of a second on a 1:39.574. Leon returned to P1 on his next lap to lower the benchmark time to a 1:39.470 heading into the final 10 minutes of running.
Mini then restored himself to the top spot with a 1:38.998, 0.4s quicker than Leon’s effort and comfortably fastest of the title contenders. Mansell lifted himself up the order with a 1:39.153 to go second-fastest for ART Grand Prix inside the final five minutes.
Boya then displaced the Australian to go within 0.031s of Mini’s time until the Italian finished off his final effort to improve one last time.
Qualifying-
Group A- The even-numbered cars lined up to get on track first, including the top three in the Drivers’ Championship.
There was just one time on the board with just over five minutes to go, though Max Esterson’s 2:10.419 was not a push lap as everyone began to play for track position.
Contact between Laurens van Hoepen and Kacper Sztuka out of Lesmo 1 left debris on the track and both with damage, leading to a red flag.
The first segment resumed with five minutes to go and everyone else was straight back out onto the circuit.
Esterson headed out the queue without a tow and recorded the first proper lap to beat with a 1:40.558 but that was beaten immediately.
Luke Browning went quicker but his time was bettered by Mari Boya and Joshua Dufek, with the latter taking provisional top spot with a 1:38.287
Championship leader Leonardo Fornaroli wound up seventh on his first attempt, seven-tenths down on the time to beat. The Italian reset and on his second and final effort, he recorded a 1:38.287 to go quickest of all while title rival Gabriele Mini moved himself up to second at the chequered flag.
Group B-
The odd-numbered half of the grid followed suit in waiting before getting out on track for their first attempts.
ART Grand Prix were the first to blink and sent Nikola Tsolov and Christian Mansell out in front, with the rest of the pack trailing the pair out of the pitlane.
Mansell had overtaken his teammate but then backed off in hopes of gaining a tow as the clock ticked to three minutes remaining. With nobody obliging, the Australian headed up the train for the first attempts but backed off before he completed the lap as others followed suit.
Martinius Stenshorne wasn’t one of them though and recorded the first time to beat on a 1:39.273. That was beaten by fellow McLarn Driver Alex Dunne, who went provisionally quickest in Group B with a 1:38.818.
Everyone had time for one final attempt but nobody could beat the MP driver’s effort, though no one was close to Fornaroli’s time from Group A.
With the results aggregated together, Fornaroli will line up on Pole for Sunday’s Feature Race ahead of Dunne on the front row in P2. Mini will go from third with Meguetounif in P4. Ramos rounded out the top five.
Day 2 Sprint Race-
Before the lights could go out, title contender Christian Mansell radioed into his ART Grand Prix that he was stuck in third gear. A second formation lap was required but the Australian was able to get off the grid, though he had to start from the pitlane for causing the delay.
At the race start, reverse grid pole sitter Tramnitz covered off Dino Beganovic on the run to Turn 1 before going wheel to wheel with Montoya, who had to skip over Turn 2 but settled into second after passing the PREMA driver.
A Safety Car was deployed on lap 2 after Noel Leon and Nikita Bedrin wound up in the gravel after contact at Turn 2 with Tommy Smith, requiring the former cars to be cleared away/
Racing got back underway entering lap 6 but a big snap through Parabolica put Montoya under immediate pressure from Beganovic. However, the Colombian held onto the second into the first chicane.
Joseph Loake and Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak ran through the gravel at Turn 4, allowing Lindblad and Fornaroli to move up into the points in ninth and 10th places respectively, with Browning and Mini followed directly behind.
With DRS on the run to Ascari, Fornaroli battled by Lindblad on lap 7 to secure ninth position from the PREMA driver. Teammate Ramos meanwhile was able to move ahead of Beganovic to take third place, and he was quickly onto the rear wing of Campos’ Montoya.
Lap 10 and after two previous unsuccessful attempts, Browning passed Lindblad for 10th position to move into the points. Meanwhile Fornaroli’s charge continued as he passed Mari Boya for seventh.
Montoya stuck with Ramos after being passed and re-took second into the first corner on Lap 12, while teammate Sami Meguetounif was able to move ahead of Beganovic at the same spot. Alex Dunne meanwhile relegated Beganovic to sixth just before the second Safety Car of the race.
Max Esterson and Piotr Wisnicki had collided at the first chicane and were out of the running. Both drivers were OK, but their cars needed clearing away.
Tramnitz retained the lead but further back, Browning cleared Fornaroli into Turn 1 to take eighth place. The leader held on from Montoya and Ramos, while Dunne and Beganovic rounded out the top five.
Meguetounif cleared Boya after the Campos driver ran through the gravel at Ascari, a mistake that allowed Browning to move up one place further to earn seventh.
The full top 10 are- P1: Tramnitz, P2: Ramos, P3: Dunne, P4: Beganovic, P5: Meguetounif, P6: Browning, P7: Boya, P8: Fornaroli, P9: Mini and P10: Stenshorne.
Day 3 Feature Race-
Fornaroli covered off Alex Dunne immediately at lights out and retained his lead into the first chicane, with MP Motorsport following ahead of Mini in third.
Into Parabolica the Irish driver was down the inside of the Championship leader to take first. Just behind, teammate Sami Meguetounif took third from Mini with a slipstream into the first corner going into Lap 2.
Further back, Luke Browning was up to 11th from 13th on the grid after the opening lap, but dropped to 12th after compatriot Joseph Loake was able to get the tow on Lap 3.
Battling into Ascari, Browning was side-by-side with Nikola Tsolov but spun on corner entry, Several drivers then made contact in a separate incident further on in the corner to bring out a Safety Car with Shields, Floersch and Zagazeta left out of the running with damage. Browning was able to continue but was down in 26th position.
Back to racing conditions entering Lap 7, Dunne kept hold of the lead ahead of Fornaroli, but Mini dropped down to fifth after Christian Mansell got ahead into the first corner.
Fighting for the lead into Ascari, Fornaroli went wide mid-corner and took a trip through the gravel, dropping him down to fifth position and crucially behind Mini.
Up ahead, Meguetounif moved ahead of Dunne at Turn 1 under braking to take the lead on Lap 10. Mansell was on the move on the following lap, rounding Dunne at the Roggia chicane to take second place in ART.
Onto Lap 15 and Fornaroli was in the DRS of Dunne and through for third position at Turn 1 to put a car between himself and Mini. The PREMA driver put a pass on Dunne himself on the following lap to move into fourth position and keep Fornaroli in his sights.
Lap 18 and Fornaroli was on the move again, this time taking second position from Mansell at the first corner despite a sizeable lock-up. Mini followed through later on in the lap at Ascari to remain within a second of the championship leader.
Another lock-up on Lap 20 at Turn 1 for Fornaroli allowed Mini to close right onto the back of the Trident.
Onto the penultimate lap and Mini got the move down to pass his title rival who then had Mansell attacking into the Roggia chicane and the ART driver got ahead, tipping the title battle in favour of the PREMA driver.
Onto the final lap and Mini was desperate to keep Mansell behind and worked hard to break the tow. Fornaroli was in the wheel tracks of the ART out of the first chicane and tried to get a late-braking move done but had to skip across the second chicane, forcing him to hand the place back.
Meguetounif was clear to take his second win in F3 ahead of Mini, but with a final corner lunge on Mansell, Fornaroli cleared the Australian taking P3 and sealing the title.
The full top 10 are- P1: Meguetounif, P2: Fornaroli, P3: Mansell, P4: Dunne, P5: Stenshorne, P6: Tramnitz, P7: Leon, P8: Van Hoepen, P9: Beganovic and P10: Dufek.
After the conclusion of the Feature Race, several drivers have been given post-race penalties, while Gabriele Mini has been disqualified as the car had not met the minimum requirement with regards to its tyre pressures.
Consequently this promotes Leonardo Fornaroli to second and Christian Mansell to third.
Isack Hadjar started the Spa-Francorchamps weekend on the front foot for Campos Racing, narrowly heading up ART Grand Prix driver Victor Martins with a 1:58.730, just 0.010s quicker than his compatriot. PREMA Racing driver, Andrea Kimi Antonelli was able to improve to third late on in the practice session to complete the top three.
There was no rush to get time on the board but once the first laps of the session were completed, Juan Manuel Correa led the way for DAMS Lucas Oil on a 2:02.634.
A red flag arrived with just over 23 minutes to go as Rafael Villagomez hit the barrier out of Turn 9. He was ok but the Van Amersfoort Racing needed clearing up before the session was resumed.
Practice got back underway with 14 minutes left, and this time there was a rush to get some running in compared to earlier in the session. Martins took over at the top for ART Grand Prix as the clock ticked into the final 10 minutes, setting a 2:00.773.
The track continued to improve lap after lap and Dennis Hauger became the first driver below the two-minute mark with a 1:59.682 on his next effort.
Martins restored himself at the top until Hadjar secured P1 for Campos Racing with a 1:58.761 to lead by 0.026s. The French duo could hardly be separated once again on their final laps, but it was Hadjar who recorded the fastest time of the session.
Qualifying-
It was Paul Aron that claimed an important pole position for Hitech Pulse-Eight around Spa-Francorchamps, his 1:56.959 putting him on top ahead of his title rivals.
Gabriel Bortoleto was closest to the Estonian, 0.168s back in P2 while Championship leader Isack Hadjar wound up third on the grid, 0.2s down on his nearest rival.
Before anyone could record a timed lap, there was a Red Flag as the ART Grand Prix car belonging to Victor Martins slowed to a half at the start of sector three.
The session resumed with 24 minutes on the clock, and when the first time filtered through, Hadjar set the pace with a 1:57.803 just 0.102s ahead of title rival Aron in P2.
Kush Maini and Franco Colapinto were one of the few that opted to put a second lap in on their first set of Soft tyres and the pair improved to fifth and sixth respectively.
Drivers then returned to the track with 10 minutes left of the session on a fresh set of tyres for their next attempts and there were improvements everywhere.
Aron improved his time to take provisional pole with three minutes to go on a 1:56.959. Hadjar couldn’t beat that and went second until Bortoleto went quicker still.
The full top 10 are- Pole: Aron, P2: Bortoleto, P3: Hadjar, P4: Crawford, P5: Antonelli, P6: Maloney, P7: Colapinto, P8: Verschoor, P9: Hauger and P10: O’Sullivan who will be starting on reverse grid pole for Sprint Race.
The Spanish Grand Prix is officially over, and it was Max Verstappen who was victorious in Barcelona, after he held off pole-sitter Lando Norris to take his seventh win of the season.
The Red Bull driver first took the lead of the race on lap 3 after the Mercedes of George Russell who started fourth, made the most of his electric start as the lights went out to lead early on.
The full top 10 are- P1: Verstappen, P2: Norris, P3: Hamilton, P4: Russell, P5: Leclerc, P6: Sainz, P7: Piastri, P8: Perez, P9: Gasly and P10: Ocon.
A lovely result for Max! Another win in the bag for the reigning Champion, he had a bit of a challenge from Norris, not making it easy but the Dutchman knew what he needed to do to secure the win. His teammate, Sergio Perez didn’t have the best of races, starting P11 and he finished P8, not a major improvement, and he will be hoping for better next weekend in Austria.
A decent result for Norris, I know he wanted the win and felt like he should’ve got it but it is racing sometimes, but the team and Norris should be proud of how far they’ve come, especially the past couple of races.
A wonderful result for Mercedes, Hamilton back on the podium! And George in P4, a very good points haul for the team and a great race in general with the pace of the car and how it has improved. I think next for them would be a double podium or a win.
An okay race for the Italian team P5 for Leclerc and P6 for Sainz. The drivers had a bit of a clash in the race, where now they are not agreeing on whose fault it is, which will make debriefs in Maranello a bit awkward. The team will be looking to see what’s going on as they were not really fighting too much with the top 4.
Both Alpine drivers in the points again, not really too much to say on them apart from the fact they’re improving week on week and it is good to see.
A decent drive from Hulkenberg to P11, so close to the points but not close enough, that will be a good point to take away from the race for Haas.
No Aston Martin’s in the points, I don’t think I was surprised to see this, it’s a shame for the team but at this moment in time they are going backwards and not forwards.
Qualifying is done in Barcelona and we now have had four different drivers on pole in the last four races…
McLaren driver, Lando Norris secured the second pole position of his Formula 1 career after coming out on top in an epic battle with rival Max Verstappen.
Norris, who was last on pole at the Sochi Autodrom back in 2021, had trailed Verstappen after the opening Q3 rounds, but produced a stunning final lap of 1m 11.383s to outpace the Dutchman by two hundredths of a second.
The full top 10 are- Pole: Norris, P2: Verstappen, P3: Hamilton, P4: Russell, P5: Leclerc, P6: Sainz, P7: Gasly, P8: Perez, P9: Ocon and P10: Piastri.
What a lovely result from McLaren and Lando Norris! Pole position! So far this weekend they have looked really strong so it’s no surprise seeing them up there. Piastri starts 10th, obviously it’s not the best place for Aussie. He will be wanting to stay out of trouble at the start of the race and make as many moves as possible as he can.
Lovely result for Max, I don’t think there was many complaints from him, his teammate finished 8th in qualifying, however he won’t be starting 8th as he has a three place grid penalty from Canada so will be starting 11th.
A lovely result for both Mercedes! A second row lockout for the team, we saw how they improved last time out in Canada, and it definitely looks like it wasn’t a one-off which is nice to see. Let’s see how well Hamilton and Russell do in the race!
An okay result for Ferrari, it definitely could’ve been better for the Italian team, it will be all to play for in the race, as Leclerc will be looking to bounce back from an awful Canadian Grand Prix. And Carlos Sainz will be wanting a good home grand prix.
A decent result for Alpine! Both cars in the top 10 which is good to see, it seems like the improvements they have made to the car recently has helped a little bit.
Aston Martin are having a bit of trouble at the moment, not the best results for the team lately. Alonso qualified 11th but will be starting 10th and Stroll will be starting 14th…
The Spanish Grand Prix takes place at the Barcelona-Catalunya Circuit, which is one of the most technically demanding tracks for the cars and also the tyres.
Therefore it’s no surprise that once again for this event, Pirelli has chosen its three hardest tyre compounds, C1 (Hard), C2 (Medium), C3 (Soft), the same three selected for the opening round of the year in Bahrain.
The track is one of the most complete of any circuit in the world, in terms of the challenges it presents. Apart from its straights, it boasts every possible type of corner, with some of them such as turn 3 and the combination of 13 and 114 which lead onto the main straight, taken at very high speeds.
The lateral forces exerted o the tyres, especially on the lefthand side of the car are particularly high, partly because nine of the 14 turns are to the right.
For many years, this circuit was home to winter testing for the teams and also marked the start of the European part of the season, which also signified the arrival of the first major upgrades of the year. Recently, changes to pre-season testing and the calendar mean this is no longer the case, but Barcelona is still a probing test.
In 2023, the original configuration, used since 1991 when this track first appeared on the Formula 1 calendar, was reinstated. It was changed in 2007 with the insertion of a chicane before the final corner, with the aim of creating another overtaking opportunity but this did not materialise. With the removal of the chicane, combined with the aerodynamic configuration of the current cars have seen an increase in overtaking.
This year’s race takes place three weeks later than 2023, so it could be hotter and that could add another factor to tyre management. In terms of strategy, a two-stop should be the quickest option with all compounds possibly coming into play. If degradation is higher, then even a three-stop might be feasible.
Another consideration at the Barcelona-Catalunya Circuit is the importance of qualifying. In no fewer than 24 races here, the pole sitter has gone on to be first past the chequered flag and adding to the importance of this statistic is that on four other occasions the driver who was quickest in qualifying retired from the race.
The Barcelona-Catalunya Circuit is one of the most technically demanding tracks for the cars and also for the tyres. Therefore, it’s no surprise that once again for this event, Pirelli has chosen its three hardest 2024 dry tyre compounds: C1 as Hard, C2 as Medium and C3 as Soft. pic.twitter.com/ejvgKnrBGj
Haas team boss Ayao Komatsu has confirmed that Oliver Bearman will make his next practice outing with the squad at this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix, adding to a recent run out in Imola.
Ferrari-backed Bearman is one of the hottest prospects in the paddock at present, having underlined his junior credentials with a starring stand-in performance for Ferrari at this year’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
A previous Italian and ADAC F4 Champion, and third-place finisher in F3, the 19 year old Brit is now tackling F2 alongside official F1 reserve driver duties for Ferrari and Haas.
While his current F2 campaign has been a rollercoaster ride so far, leaving him 13th in the standings after five rounds, however Bearman continues to impress when given the opportunity in F1 machinery.
He first appeared in FP1 for Haas at the 2023 Mexican and Abu Dhabi Grands Prix and sampled the VF-24 during the recent Emilia Romagna Grand Prix weekend.
Bearman, who is set to complete four more FP1 runs with Haas as the season goes on, will replace Nico Hulkenberg for the opening 60 minute session at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
Haas are yet to confirm either of their two drivers for next season, with Hulkenberg heading to KIck Sauber and Kevin Magnussen attempting to extend his latest stint at the team into what would be a fourth campaign since returning to Haas in 2022.
Thanks to top-10 finishes in Saudi Arabia, Australia and China, Haas sit seventh in the constructors’ standings after nine of this year’s 24 scheduled rounds, 21 points behind RB and two ahead of Alpine.
Of course we are evaluating him. If he is not [under] consideration, we wouldn’t be running him in FP1, and the next time he’s going to be in the car is in Barcelona.
I don’t particularly have a timeframe, it’s more about getting the right driver for our team. We are still a pretty small team. To have somebody experienced, somebody who’s got a really good work ethic, to integrate with the team well and really push the team forward… that’s what we’re looking for, so we’re talking with several different drivers. Komatsu on the drivers market and Ollie Bearman.
TAG Heuer Porsche’s Pascal Wehrlein was the fastest person on track in the third and final free practice for the 2024 Sun Minimeal Berlin E-Prix.
Just behind Wehrlein was Round 9 winner, Nick Cassidy of Jaguar TCS Racing. DS PENSKE’s Stoffel Vandoorne finished in third.
ABT’s Lucas di Grassi continued his quick pace that he showed topping the session early on. Ten minutes into the session, rookie Paul Aron was quickest.
There was an unusual moment between Antonio Felix da Costa and Sergio Sette Camara during the third practice where the two drivers made minor contact.
Drivers were pushing their cars to the limit in the final practice session of the weekend, with the likes of Jean-Eric Vergne experiencing some snaps of oversteer and understeer on one of his laps.
Qualifying-
Andretti’s Jake Dennis achieved his first Julius Baer Pole Position since Rome last season. It was a huge turnaround for Jake Dennis, as he managed to secure his first pole of the season having voiced his concerns over the Andretti’s qualifying pace.
It was the first time that the Semi-Finals have been two pairs of teammates in the three years of the duels format – Jaguar versus Jaguar and Andretti versus Andretti.
The full top 10 are- P1: Dennis, P2: Cassidy, P3: Nato, P4: Evans, P5: Guenther, P6: Wehrlein, P7: Mortara, P8: Vandoorne, P9: Vergne and P10: Da Costa.
Round 10-
Antonio Felix da Costa sealed the title of Berliner Meister with a record third win at Tempelhof to hand Porsche a first win on home soil in Formula E.
Cassidy jumped Dennis into Turn 1 with Nato following, before Wehrlein was able to fire his Porsche into second come the end of lap 2.
A tour later and Cassidy decided to take his first of two mandatory 50kW Attack Mode power boosts, dropping him to third and promoting Wehrlein to the lead before the rest of the lead pack made the jump.
Da Costa made his first trip through the Attack Mode activation loop on lap 8, leaving Wehrlein to take the lead although again, only for a short spell as the Porsche team swapped their drivers around on track leaving da Costa to attack Cassidy.
Another shunt for Maximilian Guenther left him pointless on home soil and the Safety Car on track while the pieces were picked up. On the restart lap 15, da Costa and Wehrlein led the pack away in the Porsche’s with Evans, Rowland, Cassidy, Dennis, Nato, Mortara, Vergne and Fenestraz the top 10.
Lap 20 and the lead group were running millimetres apart in a constant battle with remaining energy levels looking even – it was anybody’s game at just over the half way stage.
The safety car was required again as Nato and Fenestraz came to blows towards the back end of the points-paying positions. The Nissan was left in the wall requiring recovery, while Nato found himself shuffled well down the order.
Evans gained track position on lap 31, moving by teammate Cassidy and then leader da Costa though the Kiwi was yet to take his final Attack Mode boost. Dennis and Wehrlein’s scrap continued at the hairpin – the Andretti driver nudging the Porsche, damaging his front wing in the process.
Cassidy made his claim for third with a move up the inside of Evans at Turn 9 on lap 39, before setting about Rowland and leader da Costa. Into the hairpin, Cassidy made further progress, dispatching Rowland, but da Costa had more than a second in-hand out front.
The full top 10 are- P1: Da Costa, P2: Cassidy, P3: Rowland, P4: Wehrlein, P5: Dennis, P6: Evans, P7: Daruvala, P8: Barnard, P9: Eriksson and P10: Vergne.
Envision Racing have announced a changed line-up for the Berlin race weekend – Round 9 & 10 on the 11th to 12th May, with Joel Eriksson and Paul Aron stepping into the seats.
A calendar clash with the FIA World Endurance Championship rules Sebastien Buemi and Robin Frijns out of Round 9, with the FIA regulations preventing them competing in Round 10 on the Sunday – with the two races being considered as the same event. Both Buemi and Frijns will be on-site in support of the team.
Eriksson, 25 is the current Jaguar TCS Racing test, simulator and reserve driver and has been released by Jaguar and will race for the team. The Swede who tested with Envision back in 2018, has already competed in eight Formula E races to date and is very familiar with both Gen3 and the Jaguar powertain.
Aron, 20 is currently competing in FIA Formula 2 and sits second in the current standings for his rookie campaign, deeming himself one of the most exciting young prospects in single-seater racing. He has already grabbed three podium finishes this season.
Aron will embark on an intensive simulator programme with the team to get him prepared for Berlin as well as taking part in Free Practice 0 at Misano.
This is a very unusual situation for us as a team, and we are obviously frustrated that the calendar clash could not be resolved by the FIA and FEO. However, we have to make the best of the situation, and I believe with both Joel and Paul we have two very exciting and competitive drivers.
Sylvain Filippi, Managing Director and CTO at Envision Racing.
It’s a great opportunity to race for Envision Racing in Berlin. I’m very much looking forward to experiencing Formula E for the first time and working with the team. We’ll be working hard up until the race to prepare for the event, starting with the rookie session this week in Misano.
Aron on the news.
It’s a fantastic opportunity for me to be racing in Formula E again, this time with Envision Racing. After taking part in my first ever Formula E test with Envision, it’s great to be racing for them in Berlin, and we’ll be working hard together to have a successful weekend.
Promoted to the reverse grid front row, Boya took full advantage with a lightning launch off the line to get the better off Colapinto for the lead.
The slightest of contact between Caio Collet and Aron on the run down to Turn 1 left the PREMA driver with a puncture. The Estonian spun and collected both Edgar and Marti.
In the battle for third, ART GP teammates Gregoire Saucy and Nikola Tsolov made contact, forcing the Bulgarian to defend from Taylor Barnard behind. The Jenzer driver managed to make it through to fourth as the Safety Car was deployed at the end of the opening lap.
Having dispatched of Tsolov, Bartoleto made his own move on the Australian ahead. With the benefit of DRS, the Trident driver went down the inside into Ascari for sixth. Oliver Goethe was on a charge from P22, clearing teammate Leonardo Fornaroli and Tsolov in one corner for eighth.
Colapinto took charge on lap 10, passing Boya for the lead into the first corner. Dueling over third, O’Sullivan and Saucy made contact out of Turn 1, leaving the Swiss driver with a puncture and falling down the order.
Out front, Colapinto brought home back-to-back Sprint Race victories at Monza. Bortoleto’s patience behind Boya paid off, as the Brazilian claimed second with a move into Turn 4 on the last lap.
Day 3, Feature Race-
Drama had already began to unfold before the 21 laps of racing had even got underway. Pole sitter, Oliver Goethe pulled off the grid reporting a broken throttle, leading to an extra formation lap.
Once the five lights went out, Collet covered off the inside to hold the lead, third-placed Paul Aron immediately tried to take advantage of the space in front but lost out to Edgar.
The Safety Car was deployed on the opening lap after Sprint Race winner, Franco Colapinto stopped on track after contact at Turn 5. After racing had resumed on lap 4, Edgar was back on the attack diving past Collet at Turn 1. Three-wide with Aron and O’Sullivan in the battle for third, Bortoleto went too deep and was forced to go down the escape road dropping down to P6.
Another off-track excursion for Brazilian at Turn 4 gave Nikola Tsolov the opportunity to attack, allowing Barnard and Mari Boya to also come through and demote Bortoleto to P9. Saucy tried the same but contact between the pair left the ART Grand Prix driver with a puncture sending him sailing off into the barriers.
The leading battles were fierce as Collet slid past Edgar to regain the lead on lap 12, whilst Barnard lunged at O’Sullivan to claim third through the first chicane. Undeterred, Edgar made full use of the slipstream, carrying enough overspeed to breeze past the Brazilian back up to the front of the field one lap later.
Another Safety Car interruption to running came after Sebastian Montoya got stuck in the gravel at Turn 5 having been tagged by Hitech Pulse-Eight teammate Gabriele Mini.
With a last lap shootout to overcome, Edgar went early to break clear on the restart. O’Sullivan was slow to react. Collet tried the switchback out of the Della Roggia chicane to take second but it was Barnard who made his move stick, swooping through on the Brazilian to secure the final podium spot which made it three Brits on the podium.
Oliver Goethe was straight back into action at Monza, going fastest of all in Free Practice with a 1:38.677. The Trident driver secured his lap just moments before a second session ending Red Flag, finishing just over a tenth clear of PREMA’s Paul Aron and Gabriele Mini for Hitech.
Rodin Carlin set the early benchmark with Oliver Gray putting in a 1:41.612 on his initial effort around the Temple of Speed.
As the 30 minute mark approached, the track got busier as queues of cars formed, all eager to get that all important slipstream. Home hero, Leonardo Fornaroli took charge, dipping into the 1:39s before Jenzer’s Taylor Barnard went over two tenths clear of the Trident.
The first Red Flag was brought out by Nikita Bedrin as the second Jenzer stopped on track. The clock continued to tick down and running resumed with 16 minutes left.
Gregoire Saucy took ART up into the top spot on the restart, clocking in a 1:39.276 to go eight thousandths faster than Fornaroli. Piecing together a perfect lap was far from easy.
Mini then broke into the 1:38s but the Hitech driver was immediately beaten by Goethe and Aron. The flurry proved to be the final attempts of the morning, as MP Motorsport’s Mari Boya spun off into the barriers at Turn 11 inside the final six minutes.
Qualifying-
Oliver Goethe secured his first pole position of the season at Monza for Trident confirming teammate Gabriel Bortoleto as the 2023 Formula 3 Drivers’ Champion in the process.
Running in the gap as one of two drivers on track after the second of three red flag appearances, the German driver posted a 1:38.909 to go less than a tenth clear of Van Amersfooort Racing’s Caio Collet and Paul Aron in third.
It was all about the waiting game in the early phase of running as everyone tried to avoid being the first to jump. Aron led a train of cars out on track at the green light but the field swiftly filtered back into the pits following installation laps.
Queues immediately formed around the track at the 23 minute mark. Situated right in the middle of a train of cars out of the Lesmo chicane, Ido Cohen was sent spinning after Rodin Carlin teammate Oliver Gray hit the rear of the car bringing out the first Red Flag.
Once running resumed, there was no time to waste. Hungry to keep his title hopes alive, Aron went fastest of all with a 1:39.043. The PREMA driver’s effort didn’t stay top for long, as Collet leapfrogged him into provisional pole but there was little to separate the top three with 0.054s covering Collet, Aron and Goethe.
The session was Red Flagged again seconds later, after a spin for Joshua Dufek left the Campos Racing driver stuck in the gravel trap at Variante della Roggia.
When the session resumed with 15 minutes left, Goethe and Bortoleto were the only two cars to gamble on a run without the benefit of a slipstream. It served well as Goethe managed to improve on his earlier effort to go top.
Opting for another attempt, the Trident driver went off into the barriers at Turn 7 with a third and final red flag deployed, nobody got an opportunity to improve as the session was not resumed. As Championship contenders, Aron and Josep Maria Marti were unable to secure the two points awarded for pole, Bortoleto’s job was done to claim the title.
Hauger gained the run he needed on the way to Turn 1 to take the inside line and lead away from Kush Maini. Iwasa surged around the outside of the Campos driver at Turn 2 to take second from fifth on the grid, while Bearman was looming large in Maini’s mirrors for third.
Victor Martins also got in on the action, moving up to seventh from P9 on the grid, rounding Isack Hadjar at Turn 12 to end a busy opening lap.
Frederik Vesti tried to pass Hadjar at Turn 1 on lap 2 but was forced to take to the runoff. It allowed Jack Doohan enough momentum to go around the outside of the Championship leader and take ninth from the Dane at Turn 2.
A DRS train formed in the first 10 laps which started from second down to 21st as drivers looked to save tyre life for later in the race.
The formation running ended on lap 12 after a lock up by Clement Novalak into Turn 1 put the Trident driver on a collision course with Ralph Boschung. It left both drivers out of the running and brought out a brief VSC.
With 11 laps to go, Iwasa was given the all clear from the team to push, and the action ramped up once again as everyone upped the pace. The DAMS driver closed up to Hauger by eight tenths of a second on the following lap, with the gap at 1.9s entering the final 10 laps.
With five laps left, Pourchaire made the dive at Turn 1 on Maini having been stuck to the rear wing of the Campos. Bearman was next on the attack, taking fourth position from the Indian driver at the next corner, going all the way around the outside.
Down to three laps remaining and this time Bearman was the one making the late dive to the inside at Turn 1, forcing his way through on Pourchaire to take P3 from the french driver.
The full top 10 are- P1: Hauger, P2: Iwasa, P3: Bearman, P4: Pourchaire, P5: Daruvala, P6: Maini, P7: Martins, P8: Hadjar, P9: Vesti and P10: Doohan.
Day 3-
Doohan got a great launch from pole to lead into Turn 1 while third placed Vesti went wheel to wheel with Martins into the first corner. On the run to Turn 2, the PREMA Racing driver got the move done to seal second position.
Oliver Bearman started on mediums from seventh, but the Briton fell back to ninth on the opening lap, passed by Dennis Hauger and Enzo Fittipaldi who were both on the softs. Juan Manuel Correa made an electric start to move up five places to P10.
Zane Maloney was the first of those on soft tyres to make a mandatory stop on Lap 8. The Rodin Carlin driver rejoined in 21st but his stopped dragged a few more in on the following lap.
Isack Hadjar was the first of the top five to stop on Lap 13 from fifth and Theo Pourchaire responded one lap later, both swapping to the mediums. The ART Grand Prix driver rejoined in 14th to remain ahead of his compatriot, but both were caught up behind Amaury Cordeel on old medium tyres.
Vesti made the swap to mediums lap 23, rejoining in fourth position just 1.4s ahead of title rival Pourchaire. Martins pitted on the following lap and filtered out on cold tyres ahead of Vesti. The Mercedes junior breezed back through to take the place on the run to Turn 2.
While his rivals scrapped on track, Doohan made his stop on Lap 25, rejoining with the lead of the race and 8.7s ahead of closest challenger Vesti in second. Iwasa was onto the back of Pourchaire quickly with his soft tyres fired up. The Japanese driver got the switchback out of Turn 1 to take fifth position on Lap 26.
The full top 10 are- P1: Doohan, P2: Vesti, P3: Martins, P4: Iwasa, P5: Hadjar, P6: Pourchaire, P7: Hauger, P8: Fittipaldi, P9: Correa and P10: Verschoor.
Ayumu Iwasa was quickly up and running around the Hungaroring, ending the first session of the weekend fastest of all for DAMS. The Japanese driver traded the top spot with Championship leader, Frederik Vesti throughout Practice. He ended up top of the timesheet with a 1:28.882, 0.149s quicker than the Dane. Martins rounded out the top three.
The ART Grand Prix driver set the initial pace with a 1:30.839 to lead the way from Roman Stanek and Jack Doohan in the opening 10 minutes.
Iwasa bettered the Frenchman’s effort before Vesti took the top spot, setting a 1:29.360 after losing a previous attempt for exceeding track limits. Martins immediately moved back to P2, 0.060s down on the best time from the PREMA Racing driver.
Doohan was looking set to challenge the top three, setting a purple middle sector but his efforts were soon undone with a lock-up and wide moment at Turn 12.
Qualifying-
Jack Doohan claimed his first FIA Formula 2 pole position of the year with a last-gasp effort in a closely fought session. The Invicta Virtuosi Racing driver’s 1:27.676 prevented a third consecutive pole position for Victor Martins with the ART Grand Prix driver second in the end. Frederik Vesti, held provisional pole for much of the session, but couldn’t find a late improvement, settling for third.
After the early warm up laps, Vesti set the benchmark to beat on a 1:28.334 to lead the way. Doohan popped his car into second early on, 0.2s back from the Dane with Martins third.
Improvements by Enzo Fittipaldi, Ayumu Iwasa and Dennis Hauger put them fourth, fifth and sixth respectively, bumping Doohan down to P7 before a red flag appears.
Trident’s Roman Stanek caused the stoppage after spinning into the barriers at Turn 11, with just under 20 minutes of Qualifying left.
With 12 minutes to go, the drivers switched to new soft tyres. With Pourchaire next to go top by just 0.001s ahead of his title rival until Vesti retook P1. Teammate, Oliver Bearman cracked the top five on his next lap to go fourth fastest ahead of Jehan Daruvala, who leapt up to fifth for MP Motorsport.
Martins had made an error on an earlier effort but with a purple middle sector, took provisional pole by 0.039s but this time Vesti couldn’t respond.
The full top 10 are- P1: Doohan, P2: Martins, P3: Vesti, P4: Pourchaire, P5: Hadjar, P6: Iwasa, P7: Bearman, P8: Daruvala, P9: Hauger and P10: Maini.
The Austrian Grand Prix is now complete, lets take a look at how race number 10 went!
Max Verstappen make its 5 wins in a row, and a clean sweep of wins and poles across this jam-packed weekend as he showed a dominant display today, he led home Ferrari driver, Charles Leclerc and teammate Sergio Perez in third.
The full top 10 are- P1: Verstappen, P2: Leclerc, P3: Perez, P4: Sainz, P5: Norris, P6: Alonso, P7: Hamilton, P8: Russell, P9: Gasly and P10: Stroll.
Great results for Red Bull, finally Sergio Perez having a decent result! Only thing is to see if he can do the same next weekend including a good qualifying result too.
Good result for Ferrari also, nice to see Leclerc back on the podium aswell. They needed a strong weekend as a whole for both drivers and they finally got it. So let’s hope this happens again and we see some closer battles.
A really good result for Lando Norris too, the new upgrades clearly work so hopefully we can see both McLaren boys up in the points more often now!
Not the best weekend for Mercedes, the car just did not like this track. Lewis struggled turning round corners which resulted in him getting a 5 second penalty for track limits. And then George, had to work his way through some of the pack because he didn’t have the best qualifying result on Friday.
However, not everything stays the same. A new classification for the race has been released after the FIA handed out penalties to eight drivers following the conclusion of the race.
Aston Martin had lodged a protest over the provisional classification shortly after the 71 lap encounter.
The eight drivers are: Sainz, Hamilton, Gasly, Albon, Ocon, Sargeant, De Vries and Tsunoda all being hit with penalties.
The new top 10 are- P1: Verstappen, P2: Leclerc, P3: Perez, P4: Norris, P5: Alonso, P6: Sainz, P7: Russell, P8: Hamilton, P9: Stroll and P10: Gasly.
We haven’t got long to wait till the next race as it’s just around the corner, where we race at Silverstone for the British Grand Prix next weekend!
Max Verstappen secured pole position for the Sprint Shootout at the Austrian Grand Prix with a stunning display at the end of a damp-dry session.
He headed Red Bull teammate, Sergio Perez and McLaren’s Lando Norris in third.
The full top 10 are: P1: Verstappen, P2: Perez, P3: Norris, P4: Hulkenberg, P5: Sainz, P6: Leclerc, P7: Alonso, P8: Stroll, P9: Ocon and P10: Magnussen.
A good result for the Red Bull team, finally seeing Perez up there with his teammate, but ideally it should be for the race on Sunday as theirs not much points on offer today.
Big result from number 4, Lando Norris again, like I said yesterday he likes this track a lot.
The Haas duo both done well both in the top 10, so they will be hoping to score some points this weekend.
Not such a good result for Mercedes, neither driver in the top 10, Hamilton had a shock SQ1 exit, as the times just kept on improving which dropped him down and then he had traffic on his final lap so couldn’t improve.
Whereas for George Russell he got into SQ2 but, he had a hydraulic problem and subsequently confirming that he would be taking no further part in the session.
Sprint-
Max Verstappen emerged victorious in an action packed Sprint race at the Austrian Grand Prix, where he survived some early drama to claim an ultimately dominated win on Red Bull’s home soil.
He was followed by Perez in 2nd and Sainz rounding out the top three in third.
The full top 10 are: P1: Verstappen, P2: Perez, P3: Sainz, P4: Stroll, P5: Alonso, P6: Hulkenberg, P7: Ocon, P8: Russell, P9: Norris and P10: Hamilton.
Verstappen lost the lead to teammate Sergio Perez as the start but quickly fought back and settled into a rhythm up front, cruising away from the competition.
A change in the starting order saw Charles Leclerc demoted from sixth to ninth – which then promoted the Aston Martin pair and Alpines, Esteban Ocon.
Lando Norris was a big loser at Turn 3 of lap 1 as he got caught behind the squabbling Bull’s and then suffered a slow exit – where he fell from 4th to 10th.
With eight laps, to go, Russell reported that conditions were not far off slicks and moments after making that call, he headed for the pits.
The start was not ideal, a bit of wheelspin, but after that, after Lap 1, once we got back in the lead, it was good. We were just managing the tyres, knowing that if it wasn’t going to rain anymore, then you know 24 laps on an intermediate is quite a lot, but they were hanging in there. I think of course the last five laps the slicks were quite a bit faster, but I think for us, so far in the lead, it didn’t make sense to pit. We just hung in there with the inters which worked well.
Qualifying is now complete for the Austrian Grand Prix on Sunday, let’s take a look at what went down at the Red Bull Ring.
Max Verstappen made it three pole positions in a row for the Austrian Grand Prix, getting the better of the Ferrari pair Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz in an action-packed session.
Verstappen overcame deleted lap times in Q1 and Q2 – with plenty of drivers falling foul of the track limits – to make it into the top 10 shootout and deliver his pole-grabbing effort of 1m04.391s.
The full top 10 are- P1: Verstappen, P2: Leclerc, P3: Sainz, P4: Norris, P5: Hamilton, P6: Stroll, P7: Alonso, P8: Hulkenberg, P9: Gasly and P10: Albon.
Perez was absent from the Q3 battle, as he dropped out in the second phase of qualifying with successive deleted times. Not a good start to the weekend for the Mexican driver, with him starting 15th on Sunday his got a bit of work to do which isn’t needed for the team or himself.
A good result for Lando, P4 for number 4! Hopefully he can turn it into a better result on Sunday as we all know he likes this track and does well here.
Brilliant result for the Ferrari’s! Is it too early to say their back? Hopefully they can get at least a podium/ possibly two on Sunday and grab some important points for the team in the Constructors!
Also a good result for both Nico Hulkenberg and Alex Albon who make it into the top 10 for another race weekend in a row, hopefully they can grab points when it matters.
Predictions for race-
My top five predictions for Sunday’s race are: P1: Verstappen, P2: Leclerc, P3: Hamilton, P4: Sainz and P5: Alonso.
With a few drivers not in the right position it will be interesting to see how they will do and how well they will come through the field. One thing we have to look out for though is track limits, some drivers might be pushing and then result in a time penalty…
We are back racing this week, as we have a jam packed month coming up and it starts off with a double header, where we head to Austria this weekend, where it’s Red Bull’s home race.
Can Red Bull make it a 1-2 on home turf? Or will another team take the win and end RB’s streak?
With the Sprint back this weekend, there’s more opportunity for our drivers to score more points, will some take risks? And will they work out?
Who needs to shine?
Sergio Perez, there has been some talk about if he doesn’t keep performing well, he may loose his seat, as we all know what Red Bull are like. His had a couple of rough races, from qualifying to the actual race, he just needs a clean weekend this weekend and get some good points so he can build a gap back to Alonso whose third in the drivers championship.
Lance Stroll, with his teammate performing so well this season grabbing podiums and qualifying on the front row, it’s a bit bittersweet for the team if they have one driver starting 2nd and then the other in 7th for example, yes it’s still a good result but why can’t it be 2nd and 3rd? So Stroll has a bit more work to do as he needs to score points to get further up the standings also.
The Alfa Romeo boys, they’ve had a bit of a rough start to the season so far this year, with Bottas only scoring in Bahrain and Canada and Guanyu Zhou in Australia and Spain, they’ve still got a lot of work to do.
We are back racing this week and Pirelli have chosen the tyres for this weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix, which is Round 10 of 23.
The tyres which are available for the teams are: C3 (Hard), C4 (Medium) and C5 (Soft), just like last time out in Montreal.
This weekend will be the second grand prix on the calendar featuring an F1 Sprint. With the Sprint Shootout deciding the grid for the Sprint, and only having three short sessions that make up the Shootout. Teams will have to fit new tyres and use the medium compound for Q1 and Q1 and only in Q3 the soft compound will be used.
The Red Bull Ring has only 10 corners, with the shortest lap time of any track on the championship, with the lap record being held by Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, with a time of 1m05.619s in the 2020 Styrian Grand Prix.
Most drivers made two stops last year, starting on the medium tyre ahead of two stints on the hard. There was plenty of overtaking, particularly in the midfield, with five cars competing for the places just off the podium.
The elevation changes at the Red Bull Ring put it second only to Spa-Francorchamps in terms of variation. There’s a change of more than 60 metres between the lowest point on the track – just before Turn 1 – and the highest point, after Turn 2.
The Red Bull Ring is a circuit where tyres get no rest. The cars race through the track’s 10 corners in a lap time of just over a minute, and the few straights mean that there is little reprieve for the tyres. The asphalt has a fairly high micro and macro roughness, due to the age of the surface, while grip is high at the start of the lap. Traction and braking are key elements, while particular attention will have to be paid to managing tyre overheating. Drivers who manage not to cool their tyres properly may find it difficult to defend against attacks from rivals, especially in the first and last sectors. An important factor in this will be ambient temperature, with weather conditions traditionally somewhat variable. Last year’s race was largely a two-stopper using the medium and hard compounds, but a one-stopper could also be an option this year if degradation is not too high.
Maximilian Guenther (Maserati MSG Racing) heads the way in Jakarta from teammate Edoardo Mortara, with the German well inside the fastest race lap set here last year.
Guenther’s late lap was 0.8 seconds up on the fastest time from the race last year of a 1m 09.786s. His teammate was almost 0.2 seconds back in second spot. Reigning champion, Stoffel Vandoorne also did well on the dusty track as he slotted in third.
Current Drivers World Championship leader and form man, Nick Cassidy (Envision Racing) finds himself down in 17th with work to do.
FP2-
Maserati MSG Racing’s Maximilian Guenther made it two in a row, as he topped second practice ahead of qualifying for the Gulavit 2023 Jakarta E Prix, Round 10.
Championship contender, Jake Dennis finished in second with the Jaguar TCS Racing of Sam Bird who ended up in third.
Maserati have been on form so far, until this free practice as Edoardo Mortara made one of the first mistakes of the weekend when he whacked his Gen3 car into a wall whilst on a lap. Due to the damage on the wheel rim he was forced to abandon his only lap and sit out the rest of the session.
Championship leader, Nick Cassidy also brought out the yellow flags as he suffered a lack of grip towards the end of the session and had a little spin.
Qualifying-
Maserati MSG Racing’s Maximilian Guenther achieved his maiden Formula E pole position, dominating every session he’s taken part in so far.
Having looked quick in FP2, Avalanche Andretti’s Jake Dennis finished his group quickest. The DS PENSKEs of Vergne and reigning champion Vandoorne also go through into the Quarter of the Duels.
Maserati continued their streak as Guenther and Mortara made it through to the quarters alongside Wehrlein and Rene Rast.
The full top 10 are- P1: Guenther, P2: Dennis, P3: Wehrlein, P4: Vergne, P5: Vandoorne, P6: Mortara, P7: Frijns, P8: Rast, P9: Muller and P10: Cassidy.
Round 10-
Long time standings leader, Pascal Wehrlein, lost top spot in the table last time out in Monaco but stamped his authority on the Gulavit Jakarta E-Prix, Round 10 with a controlled victory.
With the TAG Heuer Porsche driver, leading Jake Dennis (Avalanche Andretti) and Maximilian Guenther (Maserati MSG Racing).
Porsche’s Wehrlein started third and traded places for the lead with polesitter, Maximilian Guenther over the opening third of the E-Prix having first made his way by his compatriot on Lap 4.
Dennis started second and finished second, with not quite enough in his Avalanche Andretti car to overpower the factory Porsche 99X Electric of Wehrlein out-front. His charge wasn’t helped by a late push by Guenther, who was trying to hassle the Brit for second.
The full top 10 are- P1: Wehrlein, P2: Dennis, P3: Guenther, P4: Vandoorne, P5: Vergne, P6: Mortara, P7: Cassidy, P8: Da Costa, P9: Frijns and P10: Hughes.
The ABB FIA Formula E World Championship turns to Asia and Jakarta, Indonesia this weekend for the 2023 Gulavit Jakarta E-Prix rounds 10 & 11.
The trip to Jakarta marks Formula E’s second outing in Indonesia, home to 273 million people – a huge contingent of motorsport fanatics eager for another taste of the leading electric racing series as the city centre once again plays host on motorsport’s world stage after a more than memorable first visit to the nation in 2022.
Last time out in Jakarta, it was uncharted territory for the championship’s grid of 22 drivers. Mitch Evans fended off the close attentions of Jean-Eric Vergne and Edoardo Mortara to take his third win of Season 8.
The Circuit-
The 2.37km, 18 turn circuit kicks off with a tight opening sector after a long run down the start/finish straight. There’ll be plenty of room for manoeuvre into the right hander at Turn 1 before drivers head into a flowing series of turns that swoop by Ancol Beach City.
The final sector is a tricky complex following a fast right-hander at Turn 12 and another long straight into what will no doubt be a busy turn 13 hairpin come the race. An awkward left-hander at Turn 18 rounds out the lap with a strong slingshot required down that long home straight.
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.
It is safe to say, the British GP did not disappoint, once again! So much chaos happened I have no clue where to start, but one main thing is that the halo is once again doing the job it’s meant to do, very glad to see Zhou Guanyu okay after the first lap crash!
A first lap incident which saw Gasly touch Russell on the start saw him spin and hit Zhou when then saw Zhou flip round and then get flipped round again and hit the barrier, getting his car stuck between the two. Another incident on the same lap, was Alex Albon getting hit from behind by Vettel and going head on into the pit wall. Alex has since sent to the hospital for precautionary checks but is okay.
However, Carlos Sainz is an F1 WINNER!!!! Finally!! Sergio Perez comes home to make it P2, and Lewis Hamilton takes P3 on home turf!
The full top 10 are- P1: Sainz, P2: Perez, P3: Hamilton, P4: Leclerc, P5: Alonso, P6: Norris, P7: Verstappen, P8: Schumacher, P9: Vettel and P10: Magnussen.
Carlos Sainz, what a man, what a driver, he lost a position to Max at the start but got it back for the re-start and then his teammate was faster so they switched round. But Carlos got an opportunity with the safety car and got new softs, and it all just went right for him there, he overtook his teammate and just went into the lead and didn’t look back.
Sergio Perez aswell, getting hit on the first lap and had front wing damage which then saw him have to pit for a new front wing – which saw him drop down the order and then he fought his way back up, and then managed to grab a podium after it looked like it was going to Ferrari and Lewis.
What a day for the Haas pair, I didn’t think they would get points today because of where they qualified yesterday but, good things come to those who wait and boy was Mick Schumacher patient… His first points in F1 and it comes witha double points finish for Haas.
I kind of expected Daniel Ricciardo to do a bit more, he ended up finishing 13th… we only had 14 drivers finish the race… I really don’t know what to say about it, there was drivers who had damage and quite a bit of it who managed to score points so where was Daniel in all of this?
A really strong day for Lewis, the Mercedes definitely has some race pace so they just need to work on a few bits and straight line speed a bit more than they should consistently be fighting with Ferrari and Red Bull for the wins.
The Championship-
Max still leads, and he still has a decent gap between him and Perez who is in 2nd. Charles remains in third and only 9 points of Perez. Sainz now goes ahead of Russell after the Brit didn’t score, Sainz is only 11 points away from his teammate now. Hamilton has now also closed down the gap a little to his teammate, he sits on 93 and Russell 111.
Red Bull still have a comfortable lead with 328 points, Ferrari with a strong day today have closed it down a little but more points are need for the Italian team. Mercedes are now starting to get into the fight aswell, they remain in third on 204 points. McLaren remain fourth on 73 points and Alpine are starting to close on them with 67 points and in fifth.
Not long to wait until the next race week, as we return to Austria for Round 11 out of 22, we are almost at our halfway mark!
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…
We are back racing once again, with Formula E and we are in Marrakesh, Morocco for Round 10 of Season 8, where the championship is heating up as its a four way battle for the Drivers’ title.
Mercedes-EQ Stoffel Vandoorne, still leads the way in the drivers championship with a five point lead over nearest challenger and double champion, Jean-Eric Vergne. Edoardo Mortara sits in third and the winner last time out at the inaugural Jakarta E-Prix, Mitch Evans rounds out the top four, with him being 12 points away from the lead of the championship.
The Circuit-
The Atlas mountains provide a stunning back drop, with it being Formula E’s fifth trip to the city’s centuries-old Agdal district with Marrakesh first being featured in 2016.
The track follows the form the circuit International Automobile Moulay El Hassan – named after the Crown Price of Morocco – before spilling out onto the streets of Marrakesh’s hotel district.
Renowned for being an energy zapping circuit, the fast and highly technical track features 12 turns, three straights and a series of bends completing a track length of 2.971km.
Once again it’s race week, and we have another double header upon us, with our first stop being at Silverstone for Round 10! The question is how will the British boys do this weekend?
Can Max make it his seventh win of the season? Or will Ferrari have something up there sleeve? What can Mercedes do with their new upgrades, its going to be an interesting one for sure!
Who needs a good weekend?
The McLaren boys need a good weekend, Lando currently sits in 7th in the championship and Daniel in 13th. But I’d probably say Daniel more, as his only scored in 3 races this season… The Papaya team knows they can score good points this weekend if they qualify well, and hopefully put on a good show for all their fans attending and watching from home!
Alfa Romeo will be looking to get another double points finish this weekend as they try and close down the gap to Alpine, who are just 6 points ahead of them.
Ferrari’s Leclerc will be looking to take the win this weekend, and hopefully jump Perez in the standings, with the pair separated by three points. Leclerc, done well in Canada considering he started at the back of the grid and managed to finish 5th, what can he do this weekend…
Predictions for qualifying-
My top five for qualifying are- Pole: Leclerc, P2: Verstappen, P3: Sainz, P4: Perez and P5: Hamilton.
Charles still keeps it consistent in qualifying, but I do feel like it might be closer this weekend. You can also never count out Lewis, especially at Silverstone, but another person not to count out is Russell, his on top form at the moment and he will be wanting to make up for his mistake in Canada’s qualifying.
Hopefully we see a mixed top 10, with Alpine, McLaren, Alfa Romeo and maybe a Haas thrown in there to shake it all up and which will make for an interesting race on Sunday.
It’s race week once again, and we have another double header! But this week we are going to Silverstone, the race which caused so much controversy last year…
But, we have the tyre allocation for this weekend, with Pirelli choosing the hardest in the range C1 (Hard), C2 (Medium) and C3 (Soft).
Ultra-rapid and high-energy corners such as Maggotts and Becketts complex aren’t the only challenge, as the weather can be extremely variable from bright sunshine to heavy rain.
Last year’s race was won with two tyre changes: one of them being taken under an early red flag period following the Max and Lewis collision. Nearly all the drivers competed two stints on the medium plus a final one on the hard.
This year, the compounds and structures are different, and there’s no sprint qualifying either – which was a factor in last year’s strategy.
The British Grand Prix was where the new show car for the 2022 season was displayed last year, to highlight the future direction of the sport that we have embarked on from this season. The latest aerodynamic regulations are designed to allow drivers to follow each other more closely for longer to give more chance of overtaking, as we saw in Canada, while the tyres are designed to provide less overheating, more stability, and increased driveability within a wider working window. All these aspects will be tested this weekend, on one of the most challenging tracks for tyres of the year.
Mario Isla, Motorsport Director
Formula 2-
The hard and Soft tyres are nominated for this weekend at Silverstone, a change from last year when the hard and medium were used. The extra step between the compounds will provide additional one-lap performance and more strategic variability in the races.
Formula 3-
The hard tyre is nominated as the single compound: the third appearance in four rounds. The nomination is the same as Formula 3’s previous visits to Silverstone in 2019 and 2020.
It’s race week, as @F1 heads to Silverstone for the #BritishGP! 🇬🇧
Formula E and the FIA have announced that Marrakesh will be hosting Round 10 of the ABB FIA Formula E Championship, on Saturday the 2nd July.
The 2022 Marrakesh E-Prix will once again be held at the Circuit Automobile International Moulay El Hassan street circuit with the support of local authorities, restores the schedule of 16 races in Season 8 after the Vancouver E-Prix was postponed.
It will be the fifth time the Moroccan city of Marrakesh will host an E-Prix, subject to the FIA World Motor Sport Council and ASN approval, following the Season 3 debut in November 2016 and further races in 2018, 2019 and 2020.
Formula E seems to have remained tight lipped on the specific reasons for the Vancouver postponement but it is known that a permit was not issued for the race after issues between the city council and local promoters, the OSS Group.
The Circuit Automobile International Moulay El Hassan, was at one stage going to feature on the 2022 calendar, as a replacement for a planned race in China. But Formula E officials decided instead to swallow a seven-week gap between the Mexico City and Rome races instead.
This isn’t the first time Formula E has had issues with calendars delivery, before the pandemic with a variety of political and commercial problems scuppering plans for races that ranged from Brussels, Rio de Janiero and Cape Town, the latter of which was postponed from this February due to a variety of complications.
Jordan's Track Talk 