Jordan's Track Talk

Tag: Round 14

  • R14 – Hungary

    Lando Norris won the Hungarian Grand Prix after holding off a thrilling late-race challenge for the lead from McLaren team mate Oscar Piastri, the Briton having made an alternative strategy work in his favour to take the victory.

    Polesitter Charles Leclerc had made a strong start to hold P1 when the race got underway, allowing the Ferrari driver to build up a steady lead over Piastri in P2 during the opening stages of the race – a position he maintained amid the first round of pit stops, despite Piastri’s attempt to undercut his rival.

    However, the picture started to evolve as different strategies played out amongst the frontrunners, with Leclerc and Piastri – both on two-stop plans – finding themselves behind the one-stopping Norris in the final phase of the race.

    While Leclerc’s pace fell away in the latter stages, a fast Piastri set about chasing down Norris for the lead – leading to a gripping conclusion as the Australian was hot on the tail of his team mate in the final laps.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Norris, P2: Piastri, P3: Russell, P4: Leclerc, P5: Alonso, P6: Bortoleto, P7: Stroll, P8: Lawson, P9: Verstappen and P10: Antonelli.

    What a result for Norris, he would’ve set out to achieve this, but him taking a charge of his strategy with the one-stop effectively won him the race which resulted in a lovely race for the Brit.
    A good result for Piastri, I think he was annoyed a bit by Norris’ strategy as it worked out perfectly for the Brit. The gap between teammates is now down to 9 points as we head into the summer break.

    A lovely result for Russell, P3 for the Mercedes driver, a good result for him, after a few bad weekends they had a good result and back on the podium since Canada.

    A decent result for Leclerc, unfortunate he didn’t get a podium but Ferrari sometime’s doesn’t have the best strategy in the races… However, still a really positive weekend for Leclerc.
    A weekend to forget for Lewis Hamilton, out in Q2 for Qualifying and then finished 12th in the race. Hopefully the summer break will give him some to recover and get back to the Lewis we know!

    A lovely result for Alonso, P5 for the Spanish driver, a really good weekend for Aston Martin overall as Lance Stroll finished P7. A good points haul for the team, they will be wanting to continue on this form back from the summer break.

    P6 for Bortoleto, another good result for the Brazilian, his been lapping up the good results lately and he gets rewarded with decent points.

    A race to forget for Verstappen too, he finished P9. Definitely not the result he would’ve wanted at all.

    Now we are into the summer break officially, the next race is Round 15 and it is the Dutch Grand Prix on the 29th – 31st August!

  • R14 – Tyre Selection

    The Hugaroring provides the backdrop to the last few days of Formula 1 track action prior to the summer break.

    This weekend’s race will be the fortieth anniversary of the Hungarian Grand Prix and the Hungaroring track will also be in use on the Tuesday and Wednesday 5th and 6th of August, when Pirelli is running a 2026 tyre development test.

    The Hungaroring facility is currently undergoing a major transformation. Firstly, the paddock area was refurbished and this year, the main changes relate to the pit lane and the main straight, as well the pit complex and the main grandstand.

    Usually, track evolution over the weekend is very high here, especially during the first two days. Graining could put in an appearance during Friday free practice, before gradually decreasing the more the track gets rubbered-in.

    The trio of slick tyre compounds is the same as last year: C3 (Hard), C4 (Medium) and C5 (Soft).

    Up until last year, these would have been the softest tyres of all, but this year, the C6 was introduced.
    However, the new compound would be too extreme a choice for a track that exerts this level of energy density on the tyres for every lap.

    The most popular strategy was the two-stop last year, running various combinations of the C3 and C4. The Medium performed best and 13 drivers chose it for the start.
    Of the remaining seven, four went with the Soft and three with the Hard.

  • RW 14 – Belgium

    Lewis Hamilton has won the Belgian Grand Prix after team mate George Russell, who had originally come home in first, was disqualified following the race for an underweight car.

    The Mercedes duo had engaged in a thrilling late chase, with two-stopper Hamilton charging down his one-stopping team mate, but he was unable to pass on track for the victory, with McLaren’s Oscar Piastri finishing third.

    However, following the conclusion of the Grand Prix, a technical delegate’s report stated that Russell’s car had been found to be underweight, with the matter referred to the stewards.
    The Brit was subsequently disqualified from the results with Mercedes acknowledging a “genuine error” by the team.

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

    Obviously gutting for George Russell, he did a wonderful drive and made a very good call for the one-stop. But sometimes this is racing… So Lewis now inherits the win, which he did somewhat deserve, he led quite a bit of the race, it makes the Brit the second driver to win two races so far this season!

    A very good race for Piastri, he stuck with the Mercedes duo quite a bit during the race. He did overshoot his pitbox, which meant he lost a couple of seconds doing so, so it makes you think, what if he didn’t would the Australian be celebrating his second win?

    And Leclerc, a very good race for him, unlucky for the Monegasque not to get the win, but he and the team should be very happy with the 3rd place. Sainz, didn’t have the best race he finished 6th but he seemed like he lost time if anything as Leclerc had pace?

    An okay race for Verstappen, again he didn’t really make any massive steps forward apart from the start where he climbed a couple of places. The same also goes for his teammate, he finished P7 after starting P2, this isn’t good for the Mexican as he really needed to be on the podium this race to prove he should be in the Red Bull, so time will only tell what happens next…

    A decent race for Alonso, back in the points again, which is probably is exactly what the Spanish driver would want going into the summer break.

    Now, we have a bit of a wait for the next race, as it is the summer break which means we are not racing for quite a few weeks. But we are back on the 23rd to 25th August for Round 15 of 24 which is the Dutch Grand Prix.

  • RW 14 – Belgium Qualifying

    Max Verstappen set the fastest time in qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix, but the Dutchman has a 10 place grid penalty for making a power unit change, so Charles Leclerc will inherit pole position.

    Verstappen looked impressively quick as the qualifying session progressed and set an unbeatable lap of 1m53.159s in the Red Bull, half a second clear of Ferrari’s Leclerc.

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

    A good result for both Red Bull cars! A pole is always what you want when you have a 10 place grid penalty looming over your head. Verstappen could quite easily get on the podium here, but I don’t think its going to be easy. His teammate Sergio Perez will be there to help him out if it comes to it, as he starts on second, which is a great qualifying from him!

    A really good qualifying result for Charles Leclerc, I even think he was surprised himself, he will want to win this race, he will now have the confidence with the car, the only trouble is the drivers behind him have also got very quick cars…

    Hamilton in P3! Again a good result for the 7 time world champion, he will be pushing everything to win here. It is going to be an interesting race as so many drivers will be wanting to go for the win.

    A good result for McLaren, P4 for Norris and P5 for Piastri, hopefully this race we see a bit more team work from the drivers and work together to get further up the grid and onto those podium places.

    A decent result for Esteban Ocon he will be starting 9th! The French driver will be wanting to score some valuable points, as Williams are only 5 behind them, and there’s still a long way to go this year.
    Gasly done quite well, he will be starting 12th, so improvements have been made with the car!

    Lance Stroll is starting in 15th, not the best result for the Canadian driver, especially when his teammate is starting in 8th. But Stroll was lucky to be in this qualifying session as he had quite a crash in Free Practice 3.

    That was a nice qualifying. Luckily the weather was ok – it was raining a little bit but at least we could do a decent qualifying. Everything worked well, every tyre set that we were on we could do good lap times and I was also of course thinking about Q3, not knowing if it was going to dry out so was trying to keep two new sets for Q3 and luckily we escaped Q1 and Q2. So, yeah, very happy. The car was working quite well in the wet so I could just do my laps and try to do clean lap times in the wet which is always quite tricky. But tomorrow I know it’s going to be quite a different day. It’s going to be warmer, normally no rain, so it’s all about tyre degradation and we just need to make sure we’re good on that. But of course I have to start 10 places back so this is the best I could do today and then go from there. I don’t know how quick we’re going to be, I hope we can be in the mix to try and move forward.
    Verstappen on going fastest in qualifying.

  • RW 14 – Tyre Selection

    The last Grand Prix before the summer break takes place at Spa-Francorchamps, one of the most awe-inspiring race tracks in the world.

    Eau Rouge, Raidilon, La Source, Kemmel, Stavelot and Malmedy are just some of the names that have made the venue for the Belgian Grand Prix famous around the world.

    There’s been racing in the Ardennes for over a century with the first race, for motorcycles, taking place in 1921. The first Belgian Grand Prix was held the following year on a road circuit making use of three sides of a triangle which joined the towns of Spa-Francorchamps, Malmedy and Stavelot.

    Pirelli has already been able to assess the new asphalt, a month ago during the 24 Hours of Spa, the classic GTWC race for which the Italian company is the sole tyre supplier.

    For this, the 14th round of the season, Pirelli has chosen the same trio of compounds as used for the last two years, C2 (Hard), C3 (Medium) and C4 (Soft).

    In terms of stress on the tyres, it is one of the tracks with the highest average levels, even if it does not reach the peaks seen at Silverstone and Suzuka.

    The track features all corner types, linked by very fast sections, which makes it difficult for the teams to identify the ideal aerodynamic compromise.
    In fact, it is not unusual to see cars that are very strong in the fastest first and third sectors, struggling in the second slower one or vice versa.

    If there is a single venue on the motor racing calendar, not just F1, where variable weather can play a role, it is this one.
    not only can conditions change from one day to the next, but also grip levels can be dramatically different at various points on the track at the same time.
    Furthermore, because it is such a long lap, the slightest little mistake in judging the right moment to switch from dry to wet tyres or vice versa can carry a severe penalty in the race and even more so in qualifying.

  • F2 – RND 14 – Day 2 & 3

    Day 2-

    Getting a better launch off the line, Vesti stole the inside line into Turn 1 and went side by side with Fittipaldi, though the Rodin Carlin driver emerged out of Turn 3 ahead.

    Capitalising on their duel, Hadjar and Verschoor made it four wide down the back straight. Both managed to slip past either side of Vesti and demote the title contender to fourth. In contrast, Championship leader Pourchaire was already on the cusp of points, climbing from P14 to ninth.

    The Safety Car was deployed at the end of the opening lap after Juan Manuel Correa spun at Turn 3. Victor Martins found himself caught up in it leaving him with nosecone damage and forcing him to pit for repairs.

    Back to racing conditions on lap 6, Fittipaldi aced his restart, immediately pulling half a second clear of Hadjar. Vesti wasted no time making up for lost ground, squeezing up alongside Verschoor down to Turn 6 to snatch third.

    On the fringes of the points, Jack Doohan steadily made his way up from P10, swooping ahead of Ayumu Iwasa after the DAMS driver went wide out of Turn 9. Meanwhile Pourchaire was trying to put together a charge of his own, going late on the brakes to wrestle eighth from Kush Maini and nosing his own way past Iwasa for 7th.

    Told to push for the fastest lap, Vesti began hunting down Hadjar and was on the Hitech Pulse-Eight driver’s tail by the time they reached Lap 10. Hadjar opted to go early on the defence but couldn’t stop the Mercedes junior’s charge, as Vesti took third around the outside of Turn 9.

    Vesti loomed large in Fittipaldi’s mirrors and was eyeing up moves for the lead. A lock up by the Rodin Carlin car handed Vesti a chance, but he too locked up through the Turn 5 hairpin. Fittipaldi tried to break the tow, but another mistake at the same corner three laps later was the moment for Vesti.

    Benefitting from better grip, he dived up the inside of the Brazilian into Turn 6 to snatch the lead. Instantly breaking free of Fittipaldi behind, Vesti pulled out of the DRS window and reached the chequered flag a comfortable 3.8 seconds clear of the Red Bull Junior.

    Day 3-

    Doohan held the lead comfortably at lights out while Kush Maini cleared Martins to take second, with the latter opting for mediums for the start. Further back, Vesti was up to eighth at Turn 1, passing Richard Verschoor having also started on the yellow-walled tyres.

    Starting on the softs, Pourchaire was on the cusp of the points by the end of the opening lap, but an opportunistic Oliver Bearman snatched 10th from the ART driver to leave him 11th going into lap 2.

    Those on softs nursed their tyres in the early stages, and Iwasa was in as soon as the pitstop window opened on lap 7, he was joined by Pourchaire both swapping to the medium compound tyres and rejoining in 19th and 20th respectively.

    Zane Maloney, Isack Hadjar and Dennis Hauger made their way to the pits on lap 9 for their mandatory stops, but a slow release for the Hitech driver dropped him behind the Norwegian on pit exit.
    Pourchaire was ahead of all three after a dive to the inside of Hauger at Turn 5 as he continued to make the most of his fresh rubber.

    Having led from the start, Doohan relinquished the lead on lap 10 to fit the mediums. The Australian was back out in 12th position, three seconds clear of Maini, who found himself under pressure from Iwasa.

    Now in clear air, Vesti set about closing the gap to new leader Martins who was six seconds up the road. That gap was down to four seconds by lap 15 as the PREMA driver took a minimum of two-tenths of a second per lap out of the Alpine Junior’s advantage.

    After forcing Iwasa to depend one lap earlier, Maloney was pressuring the Dams for P5 on the road as the Japanese driver desperately attempted to keep him back. The Rodin Carlin man fought his way by at Turn 6 and was late on the brakes at Turn 9 in his efforts to keep the position, but Iwasa bravely fought back around the outside to hold on.

    On lap 26, Vesti managed to pass Pourchaire into Turn 6 and once again, Pourchaire slipstreamed his way past by Turn 9. It was third time lucky for Vesti as he waited for DRS out of Turn 8 to clear his championship rival and claim fifth position.

    Entering the final lpa of the season, Vesti drew to within DRS range of Maloney in the fight for third. The Bajan driver went defensive into Turn 6 opening up the chance for Vesti on the run to Turn 9. The pair banged wheel on corner exit, sending Maloney into a spin and leaving the PREMA driver in third.

    Doohan secured a comfortable victory by 3.8s from Martins with Vesti rounding out the podium, but it was Pourchaire and ART Grand Prix’s day, as they secured the double with the Drivers’ and Teams’ titles.

  • F2 – RND 14 – Day 1

    Free Practice-

    Victor Martins left it until the last minute but was the man to beat in the final Free Practice of the 2023 Formula 2 season.
    The ART Grand Prix driver ended the first session of the weekend on top after setting a 1:37.389.

    Zane Maloney put Rodin Carlin second with a late effort of his own while Theo Pourchaire kicked off a potentially title-winning weekend as third quickest. Title rivals Ayumu Iwasa and Frederik Vest finished seventh and ninth respectively.

    Newcomers Paul Aron and Franco Colapinto were on the track early to get some mileage under their belts ahead of their debut. The latter suffered a spin coming through the right-hander of turn 11 in the early running but was able to avoid the barriers and continue on his way.

    After a relatively quiet start to the session, the circuit filled up quickly approaching half an hour remaining as the majority of the field headed onto track. Nissany lowered the time to beat to a 1:38.492 on his next flying lap to lead by 0.6s from Maloney.
    The red flags were out soon after as Arthur Leclerc came to a halt in his DAMS between turns 1 and 2.

    Doohan briefly went to P1 after running resumed, but it was beaten in quick succession. Pourchaire was pipped by teammate Martins by 0.022s with the rookie setting a 1:38.219 to take the spot from the Championship leader.

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

    Qualifying-

    Invicta Virtuosi Racing’s Jack Doohan secured the final pole position of the season with a 1:35.567, beating out Alpine Academy drivers Victor Martins and Kush Maini.

    In the title fight, Theo Pourchaire has a difficult weekend ahead of him after missing the top 10 and ending qualifying down in 14th position. Direct rival, Frederik Vesti will start tomorrow’s Sprint Race from the reserve grid front row after ending the session in ninth.

    Trident’s Roman Stanek was the first to get a time on the board with a 1:37.591. His effort didn’t stay top for long as Ayumu Iwasa went quickest with a 1:37.181, three tenths ahead of Amaury Cordeel.

    Martins jumped straight back into things after topping Free Practice, launching himself 0.489s clear of the DAMS’ driver on a 1:36.692. Doohan sliced the ART Grand Prix driver’s advantage to two tenths, as Ralph Boschung and Maini slotted both Campos Racing cars inside the top four.

    After a brief break in the pitlane, the field were back out with 16 minutes remaining. Iwasa regained the fastest time on a 1:36.085, and Martins’ response left him 0.008s adrift of the DAMS driver.

    However, Doohan was on a charge, breaking into the 1:35s and rocketing up into provisional pole, two tenths ahead of Maini. Martins and Iwasa tried to find an answer for the Australian but couldn’t.
    Doohan showed no signs of slowing down, bettering his previous effort to snatch pole by over two tenths.

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

  • RND 14 – Dutch Grand Prix

    Round 14 is over, as we now take a look at a very action-packed and rain hit race.

    Max Verstappen stormed to victory for a third year in a row at the Dutch GP, making it 9 victories in a row, equalling Vettel’s. Fernando Alonso was back on the podium in P2 and Pierre Gasly, yes that’s right brought it home in P3.

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

    Fernando Alonso, back on the podium? We love to see it! He also bagged driver of the day, so hopefully himself and the team are recharged and ready to fight for some more podiums!

    Piereeeee Gaslyyyyy, P3! Wow, if you asked me if I thought he’d be on the podium I’d say no, but I wasn’t expecting an overly crazy race. His first podium with Alpine, and Alpine’s second one this year. The team will be hoping for one or two more so they can bring the fight to McLaren in the Standings.

    Now a mixed day for the Ferrari boys, Carlos finishing 5th so a decent amount of points. But Charles… first was the pit stop where there were no tyres ready for him? (Are we surprised? No.) And then he had to retire the car due to floor damage. When will they get a break?

    Not a good day for Sargeant, started in the top 10 which is good! However… it didn’t stay that way, the American lost control of his Williams at the exit of Turn 8 and slammed into the barriers which prompted a VSC and then a full Safety Car.

    Now looking at a certain New Zealanders Debut… what a brilliant drive from Liam Lawson! He finished 13th, ahead of Tsunoda, which say’s a lot.

    We don’t have long to wait, as it’s race week again, and we head to Monza!

  • RND 14 – Zandvoort Qualifying

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Predictions-

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

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

  • Lawson replaces Ricciardo after injury

    Daniel Ricciardo has been ruled out of the Dutch Grand Prix due to a broken hand sustained in a crash during Free Practice 2, which hands his spot to Liam Lawson as he has his F1 Debut with Alpha Tauri.

    Ricciardo followed Oscar Piastri into the barriers at Zandvoort’s Turn 3 in the early stages of FP2, which automatically put him out of the session.

    Replays later showed Ricciardo’s hands being thrown around in the cockpit due to him still holding the steering wheel when he impacted the wall, with the Australian visibly in discomfort when he stepped out of the car.

    Having been taken to the medical centre and then a local hospital, news then came from AlphaTauri that Ricciardo broke a metacarpal on his left hand, and will not be able to take part in what would have been the third race since his F1 comeback.

    In his place steps Lawson, the 21 year old reserve driver for Red Bull and Alpha Tauri who has been competing in the Japan-based Super Formula championship this year.

    Lawson sits second in the Super Formula standings ahead of October’s season finale double header at Suzuka, with the break in the calendar leaving him free to substitute for the Australian driver.

    He is set to become the 10th New Zealander to contest a Grand Prix, with the most recent being Brendon Hartley raced for Torro Rosso.

    With the Italian Grand Prix directly following this weelend’s round at Zandvoort, it also casts doubt over Ricciardo’s ability to contest the Monza event.

  • Dutch Grand Prix

    The summer break is officially over and we are headed for Round 14, where it is the home Grand Prix of Max Verstappen so be prepared for lots of orange this weekend!

    Will it be another Red Bull and Max Verstappen dominated weekend? Or will Mercedes and Aston Martin or even McLaren bring the fight this weekend?

    Who needs to shine?

    Sergio Perez has a lot to prove this second half of the season. He has had a rough season so far, and with rumours always going round about the Red Bull seat he will be wanting to have a impressive second half to show he should keep the seat.

    Ferrari as a whole need a good weekend with some big points there fourth in the constructors and Aston Martin are only ahead by 5 points, so the fight will be on between the two teams.

    Another interesting fight is between Williams and Haas as they are currently tied on points in 7th and 8th respectively, not only this but Alfa Romeo are in 9th with just only 9 points, two points away from the teams above.

    Predictions for qualifying-

    My top five for qualifying are- P1: Verstappen, P2: Hamilton, P3: Norris, P4: Russell and P5: Piastri.

    I still think McLaren are still going to be on form, hence why both drivers are in my top five. At the time of writing this aswell, it is meant to rain tomorrow so we all know how Lando likes the rain!

  • Shwartzman to take on FP1 outings

    Frederic Vasseur, Ferrari Team Principal has revealed that reserve driver Robert Shwartzman will get behind the wheel of the SF23 in both the team’s allocated rookie FP1 sessions this year – starting with the Dutch GP this weekend.

    Shwartzman has been a part of the Ferrari Driver Academy since 2017, and since leaving Formula 2 at the end of 2021 – where he finished runner-up to McLaren’s Oscar Piastri – he has been serving as Scuderia’s reserve driver.

    Ferrari’s decision comes of the back of the rule that was introduced at the start of 2022 that requires all 10 teams to give a minimum of two FP1 sessions to a young driver throughout the season.

    Shwartzman has plenty of experience in F1 machinery, having taken part in both FP1 sessions for Ferrari last year, as well as having driven in the post-season young test for the team in 2022 and 2021 – where he also drove for Haas.

    And with Ferrari having two academy drivers in Formula 2 – Oliver Bearman and Arthur Leclerc – Vasseur explained why the decision was made not to give either a run out in F1 machinery this year instead of Shwartzman, due to wanting the drivers to focus on the championship.

    Robert will do Zandvoort in Carlos’ car, and he will do another one – probably Abu Dhabi in Charles’ car. Because (Zandvoort) was the choice of the driver. I gave them the choice to do it, where they want to do it. I know that it is not an easy situation but Carlos… it’s not so easy to decide. Because for sure you can’t do it in Singapore, in Japan, in Las Vegas. Also, you have some Sprint events in Austin, Qatar, also that you can’t do it. Then you have the races with tyre allocation, a bit different, so it is also tricky to do it, meaning at the end of the day you don’t have so many options.

    Vasseur on Shwartzman FP1 outings.

  • Zandvoort Tyre Selection

    We are back racing this week and we head to Zandvoort for the Dutch Grand Prix and the tyres have been selected!

    The chosen compounds are: C1 (Hard), C2 (Medium) and C3 (Soft). This is the same choice as the last two years (since it returned) with the difference being that the current C1 compound is softer than its predecessors.

    There has been 32 Formula 1 Grands Prix held at Zandvoort since 1952, with F1 returning to the track in 2021 after a 35 year absence.
    With the most successful team at the track being Ferrari with eight wins while the driver with the most is Jim Clark with four.

    Most drivers made three pit stops last year. On paper, the best and fastest strategy is a two-stopper, but it’s possible to stop just once with careful tyre management.

    Overtaking is quite tricky because of the narrow track and constant sequence of corners. This makes qualifying even more important in terms of the end result.

    The second half of the season gets underway with a unique race. The Dutch Grand Prix takes place in Zandvoort: one of the most traditionally demanding tracks on the calendar that returned to the Formula 1 schedule three years ago on the wave of all the local support for Max Verstappen, who repaid his fans amply with a pair of victories from the last two races. It’s a very twisty track with two banked corners – Turn 3 and Turn 14 – that are steeper than Indianapolis, by way of comparison. On corners like this the stress on the tyres is greater than it would be through normal corners, as the vertical forces increase with the much higher speeds due to the banking. We’ve brought the same tyres as 2022, at least as far as the names are concerned: C1, C2, and C3. However, the current C1 is actually a new compound for this year, positioned between the C2 and the previous C1, which is now called the C0. Last year, in a race that was characterised by two neutralisations, no fewer than 14 drivers – including the top three – used all three compounds, underlining the wide variety of options available to the strategists on the pit wall.

    Mario Isola – Motorsport Director.

  • Round 14 – Rome E-Prix

    FP3-

    Jaguar TCS Racing’s Mitch Evans continued his Rome dominance, as he topped the timesheets in the final Free Practice session of the Rome double header.

    Saturday’s winner, who achieved his third consecutive victory in the Italian capital, set a time of 1m37.561s. Envision’s Sebastien Buemi, who had to have his car rebuilt after a big crash in Round 13, slotted into second. Joining him in the top tree was Maximilian Guenther who set a completely identical time to Buemi.

    Nissan’s Sacha Fenestraz, wasn’t able to take part in FP3, being forced to watch from the sidelines, reportedly he had a battery problem.

    Maserati’s Maximilian Guenther had a small impact with the wall at Turn 7, going into the barriers after bailing the corner.
    Minutes later, Roberto Merhi (Mahindra Racing) narrowly avoided a big shunt, as he had a very close call with the wall at Turn 13/14.

    Qualifying-

    Avalanche Andretti’s Jake Dennis kept his cool in the scorching Rome heat to start the Hankook Rome E-Prix from the Julius Baer Pole Position. It’s his second pole of the season and has helped him clinch an extra three points to close up the gap to Championship leader, Nick Cassidy to just two points.

    Cassidy will start on the front row of the grid alongside the driver closest to him in the standings Dennis, with championship contender Mitch Evans starting in fourth.

    Dennis has never finished lower than second when starting from his previous four pole positions. Round 14 will be crucial in the title battle and it’s set up perfectly.

    In the Semi’s it was a Kiwi showdown, as Round 13 winner Mitch Evans took on Cassidy. Both cars are equipped with Jaguar powertrains, it was Cassidy who made it through and guaranteed himself a spot on the front row.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Dennis, P2: Cassidy, P3: Nato, P4: Evans, P5: Bird, P6: Guenther, P7: Ticktum, P8: Buemi, P9: Mortara and P10: Da Costa.

    Round 14-

    Jake Dennis took full advantage of his rival’s misfortune to hammer his authority home on the 2022/23 ABB FIA Formula E World Drivers’ Championship with a stunning first Grand Slam of the Gen3 era.

    Dennis led away from pole and just about kept himself out of the absolute disaster that struck his closest title rivals Nick Cassidy and Mitch Evans behind on just the second lap of the race.

    As the former took a look at Dennis for the lead into the braking zone at Turn 7, Evans lost the rear of his Jaguar in the compression, clipped the leader’s Andretti and spectacularly launched over the top of Cassidy’s Envision.
    Dennis took full advantage of Evans’ damage proved terminal while Cassidy could only recover to 14th come the end of the race.

    The result means Dennis takes a 24-point advantage over Cassidy into the season finale double-header in London – home soil and a circuit he’s strong at as a two-time winner.
    Evans is 44 points back in third, while TAG Heuer Porsche’s Pascal Wehrlein retains a slim mathematical hope, 49 points shy of top spot with 58 points available.

    Joining Dennis in the top three were Norman Nato in P2, who managed to hold off Sam Bird for the duration despite suffering early damage to his front wing in P3.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Dennis, P2: Nato, P3: Bird, P4: Mortara, P5: Buemi, P6: Guenther, P7: Wehrlein, P8: Vandoorne, P9: Ticktum and P10: Muller.

  • Rome Preview

    The ABB FIA Formula E World Championship is back this weekend as we return to Rome for Round 13 & 14, it’s also the penultimate race weekend of Season 9 with the standings top four all sat within striking distance.

    Formula E makes its way back to the Eternal City for the fifth season and its seventh race in the Italian capital city at the Circuito Cittadino dell-EUR.

    Four drivers representing four teams two marques, Jaguar and Porsche are split by just 32 points – well inside the total on offer over the two races in Rome.

    Last time here in 2022, we had a double winner, Mitch Evans who has been the most successful here in Rome with three wins to his name. He looks like he will be one of the strongest drivers this weekend due to his speed this year and the Rome record.

    The Circuit-

    As one of the longest tracks on the calendar, the Circuito Cittadino dell’EUR races around the Obelisco di Marconi, against the backdrop of the iconic Colosseo Quadrato.

    The Rome circuit features plenty of challenges for the drivers with undulations, lots of elevation changes, uneven surface and that jump – it’s a technical and fast track with long straights and a host of passing opportunities in the Eternal City.

    The 19 turn 3.385km Circuito Cittadino Dell’EUR is among Formula E’s longest and takes in the city’s Palazzo dei Congressi, Piazzale Marconi and the iconic Palazzo della Civilta Italiana, also known as the “Square Coliseum” while Ninfeo Park skirts the track.

    It’s a perfect mix of high speed runs and tight, complex sections and undulations with plenty of opportunities for overtaking at the hair pin and some 90 degree bends – peak Formula E and a big favourite of the drivers.

    rome-track-map-details

  • F2 Abu Dhabi- Day 2 & 3

    Day 2-

    It was a frenetic start to the final sprint race of the 2022 season, but not for Verschoor who calmly kept his rivals behind him to retain the lead off the line.

    Jehan Daruvala and Enzo Fittipaldi collided and hit the barriers at Turn 3 and bringing out the Red Flag as the end of the opening lap. Slotting back into position for the rolling restart on Lap 3, Verschoor got a good getaway to hold the lead.

    The cooler early evening conditions left the field struggling to light up their tyres. After being passed by Frederol Vesti for P11, Ayumu Iwasa attempted to go round the outside of the Dane at Turn 9.

    Out front, Verschoor was unable to pull out of Lawson’s DRS window. It wouldn’t take long for Lawson to pounce on Lap 10 – going late on the brakes to catch the Trident driver by surprise and snatch the lead.

    A lock up for VAR driver Cordeel, allowed Drugovich to slot his way through into third and left Cordeel at the mercy of Hauger, who made his own move on the Belgian into Turn 6. Missing the corner, Hauger tactically gave the place back into Turn 10, in order to avoid losing out to Sargeant and Doohan behind.

    Lawson, had extended his advantage lap-by-lap and drove off into the distance to claim victory by a whopping 7.9s ahead of Verschoor and Drugovich.

    Day 3-

    Iwasa moved to cover off his teammate immediately at the start bu Roy Nissany had the momentum. The duo remained side-by-side into Turn 2 until the Red Bull junior claimed the lead heading down the hill into the hairpin.

    Drugovich made the move for P3 immediately as Theo Pourchaire went wide in the first corner and fell back to fifth as a result.

    At Turn 6, the Carlin teammates were fighting for position, with Lawson overtaking Sargeant out of the chicane for sixth. Into Turn 9, Ralph Boschung spun and couldn’t get going again, bringing out the Virtual Safety Car.

    There was a close call for Drugovich on Lap 13, into the Turn 6 braking zone, the MP driver thought about a late dive but had to bail on the move. He narrowly avoided running into the back of the DAMS driver and dropped to over a second behind Iwasa.

    Doohan finally pitted on Lap 26 after running further than everyone else barring Enzo Fittipaldi. He looked to be re-joining fifth on the road but after filtering back out on track, lost his front left tyre, forcing him out of the race.

    Onto the final lap and the gap for the win stood at just 0.5s. Drugovich, forced Iwasa to go on the defensive into Turn 6 and had DRS once again into Turn 9. Iwasa just about held Drugovich at bay to take his second win in F2. Lawson closed up at the end to make it two podiums from two in the final weekend.

  • Round 14- Belgian GP

    Going into the race today, we was hoping for an interesting race seeing some of the field come through the grid, but was it too easy for some of them?

    But it was Max Verstappen who took the victory at his first home Grand Prix of the season, Sergio Perez comes home in 2nd to make it Red Bull’s fourth 1-2 of the season! Carlos Sainz finished in 3rd after starting on pole.

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

    What a drive from Max Verstappen! Starting P14, and finishing 1st is great! He flew through the field with no problems, Ferrari wasn’t a problem for the Dutchman and didn’t have anyone challenging him for the win.

    Not a good day for Hamilton, a DNF for the Brit his first of the season. A Lap 1 incident between Hamilton and Alonso saw the Mercedes driver go airborne and retire on track after the team telling him to stop…

    A good finish for Vettel, Gasly and Albon all in the points which they all needed this weekend, Gasly started from the pitlane so he made up quite a lot of ground to finish 9th.

    Now Ferrari, Carlos had a good race but Charles obviously had to start at the back of the grid, he done well getting himself up the field but Ferrari thought theyd pit him on the last lap to take away the fastest lap point from Max, we’ve seen it a lot of times over the year but this time it didn’t work out. Not only didn’t it work out, Charles got a 5 second penalty for speeding in the pitlane which dropped him down to P6.

    We now look towards the next race, next week which is the second out of the triple header and we will be heading to the Netherlands for Round 15! Can Max take another victory on home soil?

  • Round 14- Spa Qualifying

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Predictions-

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

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

    Times for the weekend-

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

  • Belgian Grand Prix

    We are back racing this weekend, and we are at Spa-Francorchamps for Round 14, where last year we saw a Williams stick it on the front row in qualifying, for the race then to be delayed and then cancelled due to the rain.

    Lets hope this year will be a step better than lasts… The weather could play a part in who qualifies where so could potentially mix the grid up. But will Ferrari get their strategy right? What can Mercedes do? They have been getting closer to get that race win, could that be this weekend?

    Who needs a good weekend?

    I think Ferrari as a whole need a really good weekend, they’ve thrown away a few race wins down to strategy and if they want to fight for this championship they need to up their game, whether that’s reliability or strategy.

    McLaren again as a whole need to sort themselves out this half of the season, Alpine have now overtook the papaya team in the standings. So both Norris and Ricciardo need to be on top of their game this weekend and the rest of the season to get further up the standings.

    Haas will be wanting to start off this second half with a bang, especially for a certain Mick Schumacher as his contract is not confirmed for next year and the only way contract talks will start are by “scoring more points”.

    Predictions for qualifying-

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

    The weather is never certain in Belgium so it can surprise at the most important times, so it could make an appearance during qualifying and through a few shock surprises in there and a mixed up grid.

    Times for the weekend-

    Friday 26th-

    • Free Practice F3- 09:25am – 10:10am (BST)
    • Free Practice F2- 10:35am – 11:20am
    • Free Practice 1 F1- 13:00pm – 14:00pm
    • Qualifying F3- 14:30pm – 15:00pm
    • Free Practice 2 F1- 16:00pm – 17:00pm
    • Qualifying F2- 17:30pm – 18:00pm

    Saturday 27th-

    • Sprint Race F3- 09:35am – 10:20am (BST)
    • Free Practice 3 F1- 12:00pm – 13:00pm
    • Qualifying F1- 15:00pm – 16:00pm
    • Sprint Race F2- 17:00pm – 17:45pm

    Sunday 28th-

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

  • Spa Tyre Allocation

    We are back racing this week, and we are in Belgium! Pirelli have chosen the tyres for the Belgian Grand Prix, with Formula 2 and Formula 3 joining us aswell this weekend.

    The middle of the range has been chosen: C2 (Hard), C3 (Medium), C4 (Soft).

    The asphalt is new between Turns 2 and 4, and Turns 8 and 9, with the bumps removed as well as increased grip. Gravel traps have been added close to the track at Turns 1, 6, 7 and 9. The gravel features sharp stones as well as some sharp edges close to the concrete kerbing.

    Spa is one of the most demanding circuits for tyres on the calendar, featuring particularly high later loads. The famous Eau Rouge-Raidilon complex is just one of the places where the tyres are subjected to multiple forces.

    Variable weather is always a famous hallmark of Spa *flashback to last year*, making an outing for the Intermediate or full Wet tyres a distinct possibility.

    Formula 2-

    The medium and soft tyres have been nominated for this weekend, three medium and two soft. The sprint race lasts 18 laps and the Feature Race lasting 25 laps.

    Formula 3-

    Drivers have three new sets to use of the Medium tyres across the weekend, plus another set of mediums carried over from the previous round for use in free practice. The sprint race is 15 laps and the feature race 18 laps.

  • Round 14- London E-Prix

    Round 14- London E-Prix

    Free Practice 3-

    Envision Racing’s Nick Cassidy fired to the top of the timesheets in Free Practice 3, ahead of the SABIC London E-Prix Round 14 with a 1m 12.933s the weekends quickest time so far, pipping Antonio Felix da Costa and Robin Frijjns.

    Cassidy had cut through the field to fourth yesterday before a penalty for Nyck de Vries for his defence towards the end of the race elevated the Envision driver to a spot on the podium. He would be encouraged by his pace to carry over today as will the team as Frijns was all but matching him by 0.093s back in third.

    Track conditions were tricky out there, with both Venturi’s spinning – Mortara finding the Tecpro barriers at the chicane, the Swiss got away without any amjor damage but it was illustrative of the challenge offered up at the ExCeL.

    Qualifying-

    Jake Dennis sealed a second consecutive Julius Baer Pole Position in as many days in London, as the Brit set off in search of a SABIC London E-Prix Round 14 win and a potential Grand Slam.

    Dennis steered to an astonishing 1m12.535s lap in the Final Duel with yet another amazing performance behind the wheel of his Avalanche Andretti. Lucas di Grassi was his opponent but the ROKiT Venturi Racing driver had made a mistake on his flying lap as well as struggling with Dennis’ pace.

    Antonio Giovinazzi made his first ever duels appearance and will more than certainly be thrilled with the third fastest time of the session – by far his best this season.

    Standings leader, Stoffel Vandoorne failed to make the cut in the Groups, though none of his closest rivals progressed to the duels either- leaving the title fight to play out via a battle from the midfield. Stoffel secured 13th, Mitch Evans his closest rival in one spot back, whilst Edoardo Mortara sits 17th and Jean-Eric Vergne is best placed out of the top four.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Dennis, P2: Di Grassi, P3: Giovinazzi, P4: Da Costa, P5: De Vries, P6: Buemi, P7: Cassidy, P8: Askew, P9: Gunther and P10: Vergne.

    Round 14-

    Lucas di Grassi took his maiden win for ROKiT Venturi Racing in the SABIC London E-Prix Round 14, after overcoming home hero and pole sitter, Jake Dennis over a hard-fought and strategic 38 lap battle in the UK capital.

    Di Grassi, emerged through his last of three mandatory Attack Mode activations with enough in hand to ensure he’d make it by Dennis, when the Brit jumped for his last 30kW boost. The Brazillian then stretched his advantage over the final few laps, and into added time to take the chequered flag first.

    Nyck de Vries, came home third, whilst his Mercedes-EQ teammate and standings leader clambered to fourth from 13th on the grid. His closest title rival Mitch Evans had made his way as high as fourth from 14th at the start of the race, but a late technical problem put-paid to his Round 14 and deal a hammer blow to his title challenge, with retirement from proceedings and a non-score.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Di Grassi, P2: Dennis, P3: De Vries, P4: Vandoorne, P5: Da Costa, P6: Buemi, P7: Frijns, P8: Bird, P9: Sette Camara and P10:

  • A look into London

    We are now onto the final stretch of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship with the 2022 SABIC London E-Prix taking place this weekend at the ExCeL in the city’s historic docklands.

    Formula E made its first trip to the venue last season, and in a first for an international race series raced on an indoor/outdoor circuit layout which offered up a completely unique challenge for drivers and teams.

    The top four, are only split by fewer points than are on offer in any single Formula E round, and with the two races in London followed by a double-header in Seoul still to come, the season may be heading towards its climax but there’s still time for it to change…

    There will be a strong British presence both when the cars line up on the grid and in the garages supporting them. Six of the 22 drivers will be competing on home soil, with a full complement of fans in the grandstands for the first time after COVID restrictions affected the Season 7 event.

    The Circuit-

    We’re heading back to East London’s historic docklands and the ExCeL exhibition centre and circuit designed by British architect, Simon Gibbons in collaboration with the FIA and Motorsport UK.

    The 2,141km, 22 turn track is tight and twisty with a slicker, less grippy surface indoors and asphalt outside, with plenty of elevation changes. Regen is high with the new for Season 8 chicane complex between Turns 10 and 13 replacing last year’s double hairpin, and there is plenty of opportunity for overtaking.

    16x9-01

    Times for the weekend-

    Friday 29th July-

    • Free Practice 1: 17:15pm (BST)

    Saturday 30th July-

    • Free Practice 2: 09:00am (BST)
    • Qualifying: 10:40am
    • Round 13: 15:00pm

    Sunday 31st July-

    • Free Practice 3: 08:30am (BST)
    • Qualifying: 10:40am
    • Round 14: 15:00pm.

  • Round 14- Monza Race

    WOW… what didn’t happen in that race! Honestly where do I start…

    Daniel Ricciardo is a race winner again for the first time since 2018 and his first with McLaren and joining him is his team-mate, Lando Norris making it his best finish for the team and finally a 1-2 for the papaya team! Joining them on the final step of the podium goes to Bottas after starting P19!

    The rest of the top 10 are: P4: Leclerc, P5: Perez, P6: Sainz, P7: Stroll, P8: Alonso, P9: Russell and P10: Ocon.

    Max and Lewis collided which ended up with Max’s car on top off Lewis’s and Max’s rear tyre was sitting on Lewis’ helmet… So all i’ve got to say is thank god for the halo, because I wouldn’t of liked to seen what happened without it.. I’m very happy both drivers got away safely, it is set to go to the stewards after the race. This collision will be a big talking point for the next few weeks just like it was at Silverstone. *UPDATE* Max Verstappen has been given a 3 grid place penalty for the next race and two penalty points. In my opinion I think this is the right decision, Lewis gave enough space and everyone knows the sausage curbs make you go up in the air. Now Max has got to suffer the consequences which I can imagine he isn’t very happy about it.

    Daniel Ricciardo was on fire today, he took the lead from as soon as the lights went out and honestly he deserves this win so much, he also got the fastest lap too.

    George Russell turned into Mr Sunday today as he finished P9 and score some points! For the third time this season, if people didn’t realise before they do now that George is a very talented driver and serves his Mercedes seat next year!

    Perez, surprised me today, he was running in third position but he got a 5 second penalty due to passing Charles Leclerc off track. He then ended up fifth once the penalty was added on.

    I feel gutted for the AlphaTauri’s, I felt like they both could of been very strong today, Yuki didn’t even start the race due to a mechanical issue which was fount on the way to the grid and wasn’t able to be fixed, and Pierre had to retire due to a problem which is unknown at this time.

    That is the end of our triple header! But I think this break is needed for everyone (including us fans) after the drama of the past 3 race weekends. We will be back racing again in two weekends time and we will be in Sochi, Russia, where we will be joined by F2 and F3! See you all then.

  • Round 14- Monza Sprint

    That was our second sprint of this year done, and honestly i’m quite surprised in what happened!

    Bottas got a lovely start away and honestly I don’t think he looked back, where as his team-mate who started second went all the way back to 5th after a slow start.

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

    So you would think Bottas gets pole as his finished first etc, but he does not as he is actually starting at the back of the grid because of a new engine, so he will be on a charge tomorrow to get in the points. So that means, all the drivers move up a place, we now have Max and Daniel on the front row, with Norris and Hamilton just behind and then both Ferrari’s making the third row.

    Pierre Gasly, crashed in the sprint as he made contact with a McLaren at Turn 1 his front wing went underneath his front wheels which saw him speed into the gravel and hitting the wall, this now will see him start P19 tomorrow. But I wouldn’t say Gasly’s out of contention for some points tomorrow, as last year he started P10 and then went on to win the race so anything could be possible…

    Who needs a good day tomorrow-

    I’d definitely say Gasly and Bottas, they both will want to be on the charge and make sure they get in the points, which is possible as anything can happen at Monza. If they both have good strategies I can’t see them not scoring…

    Hamilton, he has a bit of work to do tomorrow which I know people think his only in fourth, but if Max gets a good lead from the start he could be in a bit of trouble. Lewis knows Red Bull have a good car so I think his main objective tomorrow is to beat Verstappen.

    I’d also say Perez, he finished the Sprint in the same place he started, which isn’t ideal at all. I thought he would of done some risk overtakes to get higher up so he can be closer to his team-mate but obviously he didn’t want to risk starting at the back of the grid.

    Predictions-

    My top 5 predictions for tomorrow are- P1: Verstappen, P2: Hamilton, P3: Ricciardo, P4: Norris and P5: Sainz. I think fastest lap will go to Hamilton.

    I’d like to see both Aston Martins finish in the top 10, Stroll is already starting from P9 and Vettel P11. So again if they get their strategy right then hopefully we could see them finish in a good position.

    Times for tomorrow-

    The times for the race are: 14:00pm (BST) and 15:00pm (CEST). We also have F2 in the morning and that will be starting at 9:25am (BST) and 10:25am (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).

  • Italian GP

    This weekend, we will be in Monza for the Italian Grand Prix. Last year it saw Pierre Gasly take his first ever win in F1 and he was joined on the podium with Lance Stroll and Carlos Sainz.

    Could we see a very different outcome this year? Well who knows… We have the second sprint qualifying this weekend so we could possibly see a very different grid for Sundays race.

    Does Max have the edge over Lewis? Will Ferrari be successful? Or could McLaren beat Ferrari on home turf? It’s going to be an exciting one thats for sure!

    Who needs a good weekend?

    I’d love for Ferrari to do well this weekend, as its their home grand prix and we all know how much Charles Leclerc likes this track and the same for Carlos Sainz, he will be wanting to do well as its his first team home race at Monza.

    I also think Nicholas Latifi, he really needs to show Williams he can come back after a set back, even more so now his contract has been renewed. He needs to show the team he can take charge etc, if he wants to stay at Williams long term.

    I’d like to see the two McLaren’s do better as-well, they’ve been on a bit of a downward slope since Hungary, so i’m hoping they can pull something special out of the bag!

    I would also say Lewis, if he wants to take the championship lead this weekend, he will need to be on his A game. He has a chance to score some extra points on Saturday and the highest amount may only be 3 but with the championship being so close this year, they really do mean everything, even more so since thats what is only separating him and Max coming into this weekend…

    Predictions for Quali-

    My top five predictions for qualifying are- P1: Hamilton, P2: Verstappen, P3: Bottas, P4: Gasly and P5: Norris. I’d love to see Ricciardo up their with Norris especially with sprint qualifying on the Saturday, they may want to take the risk in getting further up the grid for the Sunday as-well. I want to see Williams up there in the top 10, if they keep pushing their car then they could hopefully make it a regular thing!

    Times for the weekend-

    Friday 10th- FP1: 13:30pm – 14:30pm (BST), 14:30pm – 15:30pm (CEST). Qualifying: 17:00pm – 18:00pm (BST), 18:00pm – 19:00pm (CEST).

    Saturday 11th- FP2: 11:00am – 12:00pm (BST), 12:00pm – 13:00pm (CEST). Sprint: 15:30pm – 16:30pm (BST), 16:30 – 17:30pm (CEST).

    Sunday 12th- Race: 14:00pm (BST), 15:00pm (CEST).

  • Tyres for Monza

    Well, we are on our final race week out of our triple header and we are back at Monza for the Italian Grand Prix! Pirelli have also chosen their tyres for the weekend…

    We have the middle of the range this time around which are: C2 (Hard), C3 (Medium) and C4 (Soft). These are the same compounds which were selected for the last two years at Monza which offer a good balance for the demands on the track.

    Monza is the second race this year which will host the sprint qualifying format. The usual tyre format has changed, rather than 13 sets for a weekend their will only be 12. During Friday qualifying, only the soft tyre can be used, where as in sprint qualifying you can use any tyres and their is no mandatory pit stop.

    Monza is known for its flat out straights, followed by heavy braking areas, but with some slower than others and then some technical sections adding into it. The long straights as well makes the tyres cool down which then can affect the position of turning.

    We also have Formula Two with us this weekend in Monza, returning for round 5! The tyres selected for them are the mediums and the softs. This is the first and only time that this selection will be made this year.