Barnard started off well and forced Buemi into defensive manoeuvres in order to keep a hold of P1. The Swiss looked to have done just that but outbraked himself into Turn 1 gifting the DS PENSKE driver the lead – with the Envision finding himself all the way down in 18th.
Wehrlein, down in P8, was the first to jump for his initial of two mandatory 50kW all wheel driver ATTACK MODE boosts.
Meanwhile, on lap 5, Mortara put the pressure on Barnard for the lead into Turn 1, with Mueller able to follow.
Wehrlein led Mortara, Mueller, Dennis, Barnard, Guenther, Evans, Ticktum, Rowland and da Costa on Lap 6.
Da Costa and Maloney, 10th and 17th respectively, were next to take ATTACK on Lap 8 – the rest of the pack still held on. Meanwhile, Mueller slipped by Mortara for second into Turn 1 on Lap 9 and dispatched his teammate for P1 at the hairpin.
Lap 11 and the pace began to pick up. Jake Dennis, Sao Paulo’s winner sat seventh with 0.5% energy in hand on the rest of the top 10.
Mortara hit the front again, with Mueller, Ticktum, Wehrlein, Barnard, da Costa, Dennis, Guenther, Evans and Rowland the top 10 – and ominously, four Porsche powered cars in the top five positions.
The scrap on the edge of the points-paying positions lit up at the half way stage as impatience looked to be building. Three-wide won’t work all that often through the hairpin.
A full course yellow was required with Nyck de Vries Mahindra needing recovery – leaving Rowland’s Attack Mode ticking to zero under caution, as Jaguar’s Da Costa avoided Barnard and swerved in front of the Brit and onto the grass at the hairpin.
The race was back green on Lap 22 with Mueller, Mortara, Wehrlein, Dennis, Evans, Ticktum, Da Costa and Rowland the top 10.
Several drivers came to blows at the hairpin as the field squeezed. Vergne, da Costa and Guenther looked to be the ones most entangled on Lap 26.
Dennis was next to make moves, on Lap 32. He was told he had a lap’s energy to the good on the lead few by his engineer and was able to make it as far as third.
From there, it looked like Cassidy’s to lose – the Kiwi having gained 12 spots from his grid slot. Mortara was his closest competition with two minutes more ATTACK MODE to use to hunt the Citroen driver down.
With the top 10 all in ATTACK, reigning champion Rowland made it by Mueller and Dennis in one swoop for third at Turn 1 on Lap 35, only for Dennis to return the favour half a lap later.
The whole top five were within half a second of each other through the stadium on Lap 36 – Rowland squeezed back by Dennis the final podium spot.
Cassidy held on in style to lead Mortara and Rowland home for the French giant Citroen’s first Formula E victory in their second outing.
Maya Weug got Round 2 off to a strong start as the Ferrari driver snatched the fastest time away from Alisha Palmowski with a last-gasp effort as the chequered flag was flown.
It was nip and tuck at the top of the timing sheets, with the leading duo separated by 0.030s followed by Standings leader Doriane Pin in third.
With 40 minutes to get reacquainted with both the low-grip and the scorching temperatures, the field headed out for their installation laps. It would take 10 minutes before Nicole Havrda got the first time of the day on the board with a 2:11.374.
Pin would immediately lower the early benchmark to a 2:07.687 before moving into the 2:06s. Weug was next to go quickest on a 2:06.286 and then clocked in an improved time to put a six tenths buffer between herself and Pin, with Lia Block a further two tenths back in third.
Palmowski was the next driver to move into second, reducing the gap out front to four tenths. Exploring the limits, Farah AlYousef brought out the yellow flags with 15 minutes remaining after the Wild Card driver spun on to the run-off into the final corner.
Into the final three minutes, Pin seized the P1 spot on a 2:05.610, pipping Wug by 0.06s. However the times weren’t done falling yet as Weug restored herself to the top of the order moments before the chequered flag came out.
A last second improvement to 2:-5.387 from Palmowski seemed to get the job done by 0.052s, but Weug had one final push remaining to regain the fastest lap of the session with a 2:05.357.
Qualifying-
Chloe Chambers lit up the Jeddah Corniche Circuit to claim her first pole position in F1 Academy, winning out in a late three-car battle in qualifying.
The Red Bull Ford driver stamped her mark on the timesheets with three minutes to go and nobody’s final attempts could touch her 2:04.320. Doriane Pin was her closest rival in second, two and a half tenths back as Maya Weug completed the top three.
Bolting on a fresh set of Pirelli tyres for Qualifying under the floodlights, Ella Lloyd got the first time on the board, posting a 2:06.550 with a big lock-up from the McLaren driver into the final corner. Despite improving to a 2:06.307 on her next attempt, she was demoted to P2 by practice pace-setter Weug, who went 0.480s clear of Lloyd and her Rodin Motorsport teammates Chloe Chong and Emma Felbermayr.
Their early rhythm would be interrupted by the Red Flag at the 23 minute mark as Lia Block clipped the inside wall into the final corner and crashed into the barrier.
Once running resumed, the drivers squabbled over track position but Lloyd took advantage of her clean air to go top on a 2:05.635. This was only for Weug to once again eclipse her by 0.051s ahead of Alba Larsen who moved her Tommy Hilfiger can into the top three.
Another flying lap complete and Alisha Palmowski was next to go fastest, but the Red Bull Racing driver’s hold would be brief. Chambers rose to the top of the timing screens, three tenths clear of Larsen.
Whilst several of her rivals pitted around the halfway point, Chambers pushed on, becoming the first driver into the 2:04s. Her Campos Racing teammate Palmowski who also improved, closing to within 0.063s of the American.
Palmowski wasn’t done there, going fastest of all on a 2:04.864. Pin, who languished down in P11, then shot up to the top of the order by 0.048s. Benefitting from the tow behind Lloyd, Chambers threw down the gauntlet with a 2:04.320 to take provisional pole.
Pin’s final two attempts weren’t enough to deny Campos their second pole position in F1 Academy, although the Mercedes driver did reduce the deficit down to two tenths.
Weug’s last-gasp improvement at the chequered flag was enough for third, with the rest of the top six holding firm. The top 10 are- Pole: Chambers, P2: Pin, P3: Weug, P4: Palmowski, P5: Larsen, P6: Hausmann, P7: Llloyd, P8: Felbermayr, P9: Gademan and P10: Chong.
Day 2, Race 1-
Ella Lloyd claimed a masterful maiden F1 Academy victory around the Jeddah Corniche Circuit as she seized the lead from her Rodin Motorsport teammate Emma Felbermayr at the first corner to win race 1.
Despite a tantalising Safety Car restart, and immense pressure from Ferrari’s Maya Weug, the McLaren driver maintained first position all the way to the chequered flag.
Although Felbermayr started on reverse grid pole, it was Lloyd who got the better launch at lights out as she sailed into the lead of the race, quickly establishing a sturdy gap back to her teammate. There was another great start for Palmowski down in P5 – she charged through to break into the top three, surviving an additional challenge from Alba Larsen before she masterfully took P2 on the road from Felbermayr.
The drivers jostled for position across the field throughout the opening laps, with Mercedes’ Doriane Pin getting stuck into an intense battle with Tina Hausmann as Weug improved to P3 just ahead.
Further back, disaster struck for Lia Block, who failed to qualify for a second round in a row – the American crashed out of the session.
Whilst fighting to progress up the order, Block was tagged from behind by Haas driver Courtney Crone, spinning her car to face in the wrong direction on track. She managed to get going once again, but it was a different story for Chloe Chong, whose car was damaged as she tried to take avoiding action in the incident.
The chaos triggered an appearance by the Safety Car to neutralise the pack, putting Lloyd under pressure to execute a flawless restart.
Meanwhile, Felbermayr lost out for a second time as she dropped two positions to Pin and Hausmann. The Mercedes driver, and leader in the Drivers’ standings, then set out to hunt down Larsen in P4, with the two battling around the circuit until Pin finally claimed the spot with a superb overtake down the inside on Lap 9.
A flurry of penalties were dealt out on the next lap – Wild Card driver Farah AlYousef received a five-second penalty for a false start, while Crone was handed a 10 second penalty for causing a collision with Block.
Back at the front, there was no time to take a breath even as Race 1 neared its end. On Lap 12 of 13, Ferrari driver Weug skilfully snatched P2 from Palmowski, leaving the latter at the mercy of Pin.
Despite Lloyd’s earlier dominance, Weug was just half a second behind on the final lap, filling the British racer’s mirrors as the two fought in a drag race to chequered flag. Just one-tenth separated the duo over the line, but Lloyd held on brilliantly to secure her first victory in the series.
Maya Weug battled relentlessly to claim her first win of the season ahead of Chloe Chambers, with the Red Bull Ford driver finishing first on the road before being demoted to due to a penalty that arose for her intense on track contest with the Ferrari driver.
It was a flawless getaway for first-time polesitter Chambers despite the pressure of Doriane Pin lining up alongside her, who dominated in Jeddah last season. The American executed a strong launch while Pin lost her P2 spot to the charging Weug.
Focusing on keeping the gap to Chambers as small as possible, the Ferrari driver kicked off a thrilling wheel-to-wheel battle for first place on the track – an attempted overtake round the outside of the American resulted in Weug taking a trip onto the run-off area.
But the fight at the front was far from over as Weug rattled over the kerb to send her car momentarily into the air, once again forcing her to drive wide and allowing Chambers to reclaim the lead.
Chambers began to build a small lead over her rivals, getting up to over a second for a short period, but her hopes of clinging onto the lead were dashed as she was handed a five second time penalty for forcing Weug off the track at Turn 22 during their tantalising battle.
With the field settling into a rhythm and three laps remaining, Chambers continued to extend her advantage at the front in order to salvage a potential podium.
The American racer needed a lap of qualifying speed to minimise her penalty and only drop her to P2, resulting in a fight on the timing sheets between her and Pin – the two were ultimately split by less than one tenth at the chequered flag, meaning that Chambers lost just one position.
She may have crossed the line in second the road, but the penalty promoted Weug to victory, making her the first Ferrari driver to win at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit.
The full top 10 are- P1: Weug, P2: Chambers, P3: Pin, P4: Palmowski, P5: Larsen, P6: Hausmann, P7: Gademan, P8: Lloyd, P9: Ciconte and P10: Chong.
Farah AlYousef will make her F1 Academy debut this weekend, as the Saudi Motorsport Company, the Promoter of the Formula 1 STC Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2025, have announced that she has been selected as the Wild Card entry for Round 2 in Jeddah.
AlYousef follows in the footsteps of Reema Juffali, who became the series’ first Wild Card driver when she competed at the opening round last year. The 22 year old will be getting behind the wheel of the #4 car operated by Hitech TGR.
After being crowned champion at the Saudi Women’s Karting Championship in 2022, AlYousef secured 26th place at the Karting World Finals and is set to represent Saudi Arabia at the FW Nations Cup Finals in Dubai this May.
In preparation for her F1 Academy debut, she has also race in the F4 Middle East Championship and has completed extensive testing at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit, including three days of in-season testing in F1 Academy machinery.
Nominated by SMC, AlYousef, a rising talent in Saubi motorsport, was selected as part of a continued commitment from the promoter to empower local talent and create new opportunities for Saudi women to compete and thrive at the highest levels of international motorsport.
Racing as a Wild Card entry in the F1 ACADEMY on home soil here in Jeddah is truly a dream come true. Motorsport has been my passion for as long as I can remember, and to line up alongside some of the most talented young drivers in the world at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit is an incredibly proud moment. I hope my participation inspires young girls across Saudi Arabia to believe in themselves and chase their dreams. The journey hasn’t always been easy, but moments like this remind me why I love racing. I’m ready to give it my all and represent my country with pride. The Saudi driver on the news.
Pole-sitter Duerksen got the start he needed to retain the lead, but Victor Martins was squeezed on the approach to Turn 1. He was off the road into the polystyrene boards, leaving him with front wing damage and at the back.
Sebastian Montoya’s race was also over early as he was pointed the wrong way and out of the running on the opening lap. That brought out the Safety Car as his PREMA Racing car was recovered and Turn 1 was cleared up.
The Safety Car was in at the end of the lap and Duerksen retained the lead ahead of Beganovic and Rafael Villagomez. Verschoor had closed to within DRS range of Villagomez ahead and with a switchback out of Turn 4, seized third position on Lap 10.
Up Ahead, the leading pair of Duerksen and Beganovic were three seconds clear of the pack, but the Swede was sticking with the race leader closely. Onto Lap 11 and with DRS up the hill to Turn 4, Beganovic moved to the inside and claimed the race lead.
As many settled into tyre preservation mode, Dunne was on the move again with a dive at Turn 1, passing Villagomez for fourth on lap 13.
The Safety Car was back out on lap 16 after Max Esterson came to a stop in his Trident car. It brought several drivers into the pit lane for a stop.
Back to racing conditions on Lap 19, Beganovic ran slightly wide at the final corner, inviting pressure from Duerksen behind. The Paraguyan re-took the top spot at Turn 1 while behind them, a four car scrap for third went the way of Verschoor, but Marti was able to pass Dunne for fourth a few corners later.
The Rodin driver made slight contact with Browning and fell behind the Hitech TGR driver on Lap 20. An attempt to re-pass Browning at the first opportunity into Turn 8 opened the door for Arvid Lindblad to take seventh from the Irishman on corner exit.
Lap 22 of 23 and Beganovic drew alongside Duerksen, but he couldn’t make the pass stick at Turn 4. That gave Verschoor the chance to take second, but Marti got the switchback on both of them out of Turn 8 to seize second for himself.
On the final lap and Marti’s charge continued and with DRS he claimed the lead into Turn 1. The AIX driver couldn’t fight back and had to defend from Verschoor, but his running wide at Turn 11 allowed the MP driver to gain second just a handful of corners from the finish.
Marti earned his first win of the year in some style, ahead of Verschoor and Duerksen. However, after the race Duerksen was disqualified as he breached the Technical Regulations. It promotes everyone up one position, with Dino Beganovic taking the final podium position.
Day 3-
Fornaroli aced his start but wheelspin for Martins dropped him down to seventh by Turn 1. Dunne seized second ahead of Roman Stanek and Rafael Villagomez. The Mexican driver was able to sneak his way by for third at Turn 10, while Josep Maria Marti had charged up to fifth from P11 on the grid on soft Pirelli tyres.
Those running in the top eight were all fitted with the softer compound, Joshua Duerksen in P9 leading those on the white-walled hard tyres on the alternative strategy. That was until lap 5 when Luke Browning took ninth from the AIX Racing driver out of Turn 4.
After Marti had passed Stanek, Martins was on the move up ahead, taking fifth from the Czech driver at the Turn 8 hairpin.
Having trailed by over a second in the early laps, Dunne closed to within DRS range of race leader Fornaroli approaching the pit window opening, half a second back in P2.
With DRS on Lap 7, Dunne took the lead of the race into Turn 1 from Fornaroli, who’d reported his tyres were beginning to fall away from him. Marti mirrored that move for third position a few metres behind the leading pair, while Martins took advantage himself, getting the run into Turn 4 to take fourth from Villagomez.
Lap 10 and Stanek was able to re-pass Villagomez with DRS into Turn 4 to move himself back into the top five.
Martins was the first of the leaders to pit for hard compounds tyres, rejoining in P17. Stanek, Browning and Duerksen were all in on the following lap for their pitstops, coming back out behind Martins but ahead of Verschoor.
Fornaroli and Marti pitted at the start of Lap 16 for their mandatory stops, and left as they entered, rejoining the track between seventh placed Martins and Browning in P10.
Browning was the lead driver on Softs and moved himself up to fourth at Turn 4 with a pass on Martin on Lap 18. The Hitech driver’s charge continued, and he was onto the back of Fornaroli on lap 21. He used DRS to take third down the main straight to maintain his progress up the order.
Martins wasn’t able to repel his fellow Williams Racing Driver Development talent as on Lap 23, the Brit took second from the ART driver wit DRS into Turn 1.
Browning’s progress stalled out however, as the leader extended his advantage in the following phase of the race to over six seconds.
Fornaroli’s hopes of a podium weren’t over, as he was able to close in on Martins in third, He was told his pace through the last corner was a strength and he used it to good effect to get a run on Martins to take the place with five laps to go.
One lap later and Marti was through on the Frenchman and into fourth with a 1.4s deficit to Fornaroli ahead. He cut into DRS range entering the final lap and with DRS into Turn 4, Marti had the momentum but some stout defence by Fornaroli kept the Italian ahead.
Neither could catch Dunner though, who earned his maiden F2 win by over eight seconds from Browning!
The full top 10 are- P1: Dunne, P2: Browning, P3: Fornaroli, P4: Marti, P5: Martins, P6: Verschoor, P7: Beganovic, P8: Lindblad, P9: Mini and P10: Duerksen.
It was a terrific start for the pole-sitter Joshua Dufek who kept a hold of the lead, but AIX’s Slater got ahead of Martinius Stenshorne for P2 at Turn 4 after starting third.
Behind them, Tsolov got ahead of Alessandro Giusti for P4, while Championship leader Rafael Camara had a slow start from P12 and dropped to the back of the field.
Onto lap 2, Slater closed in on Dufek before making a move for the lead at Turn 1. Behind them, Tsolov continued his fine start, overtaking Stenshorne for third at the same corner.
The Safety Car was called upon at the start of Lap 4, PREMA Racing’s Ugo Ugochukwu stopped at Turn 2 after colliding with his teammate Brando Badoer, who pitted with a puncture.
Racing then resumed on lap 7 and Tsolov was flying once again, diving to the inside of Dufek for P2 at Turn 1. The battles intensified on lap 9 as Tsolov again dived to the inside at Turn 1, this time on Slater for the race lead. However, the Campos driver went in too deep allowing the Briton to retake the lead.
Just behind the pair, the battle for P3 was heating up as Dufek, Stenshorne and Taponen almost went three-wide into Turn 4. The latter two eventually made their way past at Turn 10 and 11, with Giusti following them through a few corners later at Turn 1.
Further up the road, Slater and Tsolov were going wheel to wheel once more. The Bulgarian dived down the AIX driver at Turns 4 and 8, but on both occasions, the debutant retook the lead.
However, Tsolov eventually made a move stick with the help of DRS and dived down the inside at Turn 1 again. Behind them, Taponen was now ahead of Stenshorne for P3.
At the start of lap 13 of 19, the top three had begun to separate themselves out in front, while Stenshorne was coming under attack from Giusti and Callum Voisin for P4.
Giusti then went side by side with Stenshorne into Turn 6 and 7, but the MP Motorsport driver had the door closed, putting him into the clutches of Voisin, who made a move past at Turn 11.
On lap 15 of 19, the Safety Car was called upon, with Dufek and Ivan Domingues colliding at Turn 1, causing both drivers to stop by the side of the road.
We returned to green flag conditions at the start of Lap 18, and Slater was right on the back of Tsolov, but the Campos driver resisted all his overtaking attempts. Onto the final lap, Taponen looked to make a move on Slater into Turn 1 but could not make it stick. Tsolov though was able to pull away out in front and went on to claim a record-equalling fourth victory in FIA Formula 3.
The full top 10 are- P1: Tsolov, P2: Slater, P3: Taponen, P4: Voisin, P5: Stenshorne, P6: Tramnitz, P7: Giusti, P8: Ho, P9: Wurz and P10: Stromsted.
Day 3-
It was a great start for Voisin who got ahead of Camara on the brakes at Turn 1, while Charlie Wurz kept a hold of third ahead of DAMS Lucas Oil’s Christian Ho.
Tuukka Taponen was also on the move for ART Grand Prix. From sixth, he got ahead of Bruno del Pino at the start, before overtaking Ho for fourth into Turn 4 on Lap 2.
Onto Lap 3, Camara and Wurz had closed in on the back of Voisin, with the former using DRS to get ahead into Turn 1. However, the Rodin driver’s switchback move got him back ahead at Turn 4.
Camara eventually got ahead on Lap 5, making the same move on Voisin at Turn 1, the Brit unable to get ahead at Turn 4 this time despite his attempts to do so. Wurz and Taponen were now battling for P3, allowing Voisin and Camara to disappear up the road.
Further behind, Alessandro Giusti got himself ahead of Noel Leon for P11 at the same corner. He made a similar move at Turn 1 on the following lap on another PREMA Racing driver, Brando Badoer for P10.
Trident then came on the radio to tell Wurz to stay with Taponen, but at the same time, his teammate Noah Stromsted was coming under threat from Ho and Tramnitz for P5.
The Dane fended off Ho, before the DAMS driver ran wide at Turn 2. This opened the door for Tramnitz to get ahead on the run to Turn 4. On the next lap, the Singaporean lost another position to Nikola Tsolov at the next corner.
Another driver showing tremendous pace was Mari Boya. The Campos driver overtook Badoer for P11 after starting the race down in 20th. Tramnitz and Tsolov then got ahead of Stromsted for fifth and sixth, while Giusti overtook his MP teammate del Pino for P9.
As lap 14 of 22 started, Camara was three and a half seconds clear of Voisin, who was 2.4s in front of Taponen. A DRS train had now formed behind the ART driver, with Wurz, Tramnitz, Tsolov and Stromsted all in the fight for the podium.
After trying for several laps to get ahead of Wurz, Tramnitz eventually got ahead of the Trident driver by going round the outside at Turn 4 on Lap 17.
Taponen had been able to pull out a one second advantage due to the fighting behind him, but Tramnitz closed the gap before pulling off another move round the outside at Turn 4 on lap 19 for third.
Wurz had now dropped to P6 after being overtaken by Tsolov, and was coming under attack from his teammate, Stromsted.
Out in front though, Camara was over six seconds clear across the line as he went on to win his second feature race of the season. Voisin finished in P2 and Tramnitz ended up third for MP.
The full top 10 are- P1: Camara, P2: Voisin, P3: Tramnitz, P4: Taponen, P5: Tsolov, P6: Stromsted, P7: Giusti, P8: Boya, P9: Del Pino and P10: Ho.
Oliver Goethe got the Sakhir race weekend off to a great start for MP Motorsport, leading teammate Richard Vershoor in Free Practice around the Bahrain International Circuit.
The Red Bull Junior driver saved his best effort for the final minutes, a 1:47.789 leaving him fastest going into Qualifying. Campos Racing’s Josep Maria Marti rounded out the top three.
Joshua Duerksen got the ball rolling in the session, recording a 1:48.954 as the early benchmark time for AIX Racing. DAMS Lucas Oil’s Jak Crawford went second in the opening 10 minutes, just 0.022s down on the Paraguayan.
Marti moved to P1 as the clock ticked into the final 20 minutes. He set a 1:48.379 for Campos, 0.008s quicker than Victor Martins who moved up to P2 in his Williams liveried – ART Grand Prix car.
Much of the remaining laps were dedicated to race running, though Goethe surged to the top in the final two minutes with a 1:47.789 for MP.
Qualifying-
It was a direct fight between Leonardo Fornaroli and Victor Martins for top spot, with the former earning his first Formula 2 pole position in the end.
The Invicta Racing driver secured P1 with a 1:44.008 to pip the Frenchman by over a tenth, while Hitech TGR’s Luke Browning earned third position at the chequered flag.
After several build laps, ART’s Martins set the early pace and benchmark to beat, going to the top with a 1:45.110.
Rodin Motorsport driver, Alexander Duune was just 0.002s down on that effort to go second but they were both blown out of the water by Fornaroli, who laid down a 1:44.642 for the top.
Half of the field opted to wait and as the first 11 returned to the pitlane, the others joined the circuit for their first attempts. Josep Maria Marti was the quickest of the second group, going up to P2 for Campos Racing and 0.223s down on the provisional pole sitter.
With eight minutes remaining, everyone rejoined the circuit for their final attempts. Martins improved to re-take the top spot with a 1:44.163 and he was comfortably clear, but Fornaroli denied him once more, going back to P1 to earn his maiden F2 pole position.
The full top 10 are- Pole: Fornaroli, P2: Martins, P3: Browing, P4: Dunne, P5: Stanek, P6: Verschoor, P7: Meguetounif, P8: Villagomez, P9: Beganovic and P10: Duerksen.
Trident’s Rafael Camara picked up where he left off in Melbourne to set the pace in the opening session in Sakhir, his 1:50.984 the fastest time of Free Practice.
The Brazilian driver eclipsed Nikola Tsolov’s early benchmark time by 0.127s to end up fastest ahead of his Campos Racing rival, while ART Grand Prix rookie Tuukka Taponen rounded out the top three.
Van Amersfoort Racing’s Ivan Domingues had the track to himself early on as the rest of the field waited in the pit lane. He set a 1:52.776 to complete the first push lap of the session.
Action started to ramp up with 15 minutes to go as one by one all 30 cars started to head back out onto the circuit. After the first set of push laps, it was Tsolov that set the pace with a 1:51.111, with Rodin Motorsport rookie Roman Bilinski 0.312s behind in P2.
However, Tsolov was down to second as Camara went top on a 1:50.984, putting the Brazilian 0.127s clear in front.
Fellow rookie Taponen went third for ART, over two-tenths back from the leading time, as Van Amersfoort Racing’s Santiago Ramos jumped up to fourth.
The drivers continued to set their best times up until the chequered flag as MP Motorsport’s Alessandro Giusti ended up in P5 ahead of Charlie Wurz and Bilinski.
Qualifying-
Rafael Camara was the one to beat once again, as the Trident driver took his second consecutive pole position of the season, beating out Callum Voisin in an action packed Sakhir Qualifying.
A closely fought encounter between the pair, the Brazilian’s late 1:49.214 was enough for P1, while the Rodin Motorsport driver ended up 0.156s down in second, with Trident’s Charlie Wurz in third.
It was Nikola Tsolov that set the early benchmark though of 1:50.506, putting the Campos Racing driver 0.169s clear of DAMS Lucas Oil’s Christian Ho, with James Wharton just behind in P3.
The entire field was back in the pit lane with 18 minutes left in the session, but after a quick change of tyres, they were out on track for the second set of push laps on their new rubber.
There were plenty of improvements and on this occasion, it was Voisin on provisional pole, thanks to a 1:49.882, putting him just 0.023s ahead of MP Motorsport’s Alessandro Giusti.
Camara went to third ahead of Tsolov this time around, before the drivers returned to the pit lane to put on another new set of tyres.
Setting his lap earlier than the rest of the field, Camara went to P1 with a 1:49.214. Voisin set the fastest first sector but could not overhaul the Trident driver and ended up second, 0.156s down.
The full top 10 are- Pole: Camara, P2: Voisin, P3: Wurz, P4: Ho, P5: del Pino, P6: Taponen, P7: Stromsted, P8: Tsolov, P9: Giusti and P10: Slater.
Oscar Piastri bounced back from the disappointment of his late-race mistake at last week’s 2025 season opener in Australia by converting pole position into an assured victory during the Chinese Grand Prix – leading home team mate Lando Norris for a McLaren 1-2.
Piastri controlled Sunday’s 56 lap race at the Shanghai International Circuit from start to finish, never putting a foot wrong in a much calmer second race of the season that centred around whether drivers would complete one or two pit stops.
As it transpired, the first five finishes and the vast majority of the field only visited the pits once, with Piastri building and managing a gap back to Norris across their two stints to take the chequered flag and kick off his challenge for the title.
The full top 10 are- P1: Piastri, P2: Norris, P3: Russell, P4: Verstappen, P5: Leclerc, P6: Hamilton, P7: Ocon, P8: Antonelli, P9: Albon and P10: Bearman.
However, after the race there was drama from the FIA, they have disqualified Leclerc and Gasly for their cars being found to be underweight in post-race checks. Not only this Hamilton has also been disqualified for his rear skid block which was found to be under the minimum thickness.
This means that the new top 10 is- P1: Piastri, P2: Norris, P3: Russell, P4: Verstappen, P5: Ocon, P6: Antonelli, P7: Albon, P8: Bearman, P9: Stroll and P10: Sainz.
What a result for McLaren, a lovely 1-2 finish for the team, that is what they would’ve wanted last weekend but either way it’s a massive points haul for the team. Piastri had a dominating weekend anyway, P2 in the Sprint Race, Pole and then Win. Norris had a good race, made up for the Sprint. He pretty much had a smooth race apart from the brake problems at the end but he kept it cool, calm and collected.
Russell had a lovely race, P3! He pretty much kept out of trouble and was putting pressure on Lando towards the end which is good to see. As for his teammate, Antonelli finished 6th by the time disqualifications come into it, another decent points haul for him and more learning.
A good race for Verstappen, he lost quite a few places at the start, but after switching tyres and during the second half of the race, the Dutchman put pressure on the Ferrari’s and managed to make some ground back up.
It was a decent race for Ferrari, P5 and P6, but after the race just ruined their weekend. A DSQ for both drivers so they come away from the Grand Prix with no points (apart from Sprint). Let’s hope they learn from this and don’t let it happen again as they’ve missed out on decent points…
A double points finish for Haas!! P5 for Ocon and P8 Bearman, this amount of points so early on will make a big difference to the end of the season as the mid-field is going to be so close!
Again double points for Williams, which means Sainz’s first point for the team. He had a bit of a rough weekend for the team, still struggling with the car but at least it’s better than last weekend.
Now onto the next race weekend, we have a break now but we are back for Round 3 in Japan on the 4th – 6th of April and it will be a triple header!
Lewis Hamilton has claimed victory in the first Sprint of the 2025 season at the Chinese Grand Prix, the Ferrari driver putting in an assured drive to add to his tally of wins in Shanghai and claim his debut P1 for the Scuderia.
After a strong start when the lights went out, Hamilton went on to build a commanding lead and while it was not entirely smooth sailing, his SF-25 experiencing graining on the tyres at one stage – the seven time World Champion looked in stunning form across the 19 lap event.
Max Verstappen spent much of the Sprint running in second but lost out to McLaren’s Oscar Piastri with a few laps to spare, putting the Red Bull third.
The full top 10 are- P1: Hamilton, P2: Piastri, P3: Verstappen, P4: Russell, P5: Leclerc, P6: Tsunoda, P7: Antonelli, P8: Norris, P9: Stroll and P10: Alonso.
A wonderful Sprint result from Lewis Hamilton, just what he would’ve set out to achieve after securing pole. It seems like the Ferrari has got some pace behind it as the Brit managed to finish the Sprint with just under a seven second lead.
A good result for Piastri, made up a move in the race, which makes up some of the lost points from last weekend. As for his teammate, Lando Norris, he finished P8, he had a wide moment early on in the Sprint which cost him places and he just managed to get back up into the points scoring position.
Good result for Verstappen, P3, he has got pace in the Red Bull, but I think with other teams around him they have just got that extra bit more than Red Bull. But we all know Max can drag stuff out of the car to keep him in the top 3.
Yuki Tsunoda finished sixth, which is a lovely result, it seems like the Racing Bull car has got pace, as displayed last week in Australia but they just lucked out and didn’t score points. However the Japanese driver has managed it this weekend and it is only the sprint.
I woke up feeling great today. I really do feel a lot of people underestimated the really steep climb it is to get into a new team, to become acclimatised within a team, understanding and communication, all sorts of things. From Lap 1 here this weekend, really feeling on it. We’ve done a great job – the engineers have done a great job, mechanics have done a great job to really finetune the car and it felt great today. I got a good start and then there’s so much grip on this new tarmac. It’s really hard to look after these tyres but I think everyone was struggling the same. Hamilton on Sprint Victory.
Ferrari driver, Lewis Hamilton delivered a stunning performance to secure pole position during Sprint Qualifying at the Chinese Grand Prix, narrowly getting the better of Red Bull rival Max Verstappen and McLaren’s Oscar Piastri.
Hamilton posted a time of 1m 30.849s during the decisive SQ3 phase to pip Verstappen to the top spot by 0.018s with Piastri and the other Ferrari of Charles Leclerc not much further back in an ultra-close session.
Hamilton’s benchmark was a new lap record around the Shanghai International Circuit and when informed of his pole over the radio the seven time World Champion could not believe it at first.
The full top 10 are- Pole: Hamilton, P2: Verstappen, P3: Piastri, P4: Leclerc, P5: Russell, P6: Norris, P7: Antonelli, P8: Tsunoda, P9: Albon and P10: Stroll.
What a result from Hamilton and Ferrari, very surprising but also very welcomed! It seems that Ferrari may have sorted out some of their issue from last week, plus Lewis absolutely loves this track so I wouldn’t be surprised if that helped a little bit.
A very nice result from Verstappen, P2, it feels like we’ve gone back 4 years and its Max VS Lewis all over again! The Dutchman took the gamble with a one lap gamble and it paid off with a worthy front row result. As for his team mate, Liam Lawson qualified in 20th, he has just struggled so far this weekend, which is so tough to see.
Now onto McLaren a bit of a mixed bag, Piastri qualified third which is a lovely result and Norris qualified 6th, which definitely could of been better, but they made the call of doing two laps instead of the rest of the top 10 and it didn’t pay off in the end as everyone else was improving on their lap times.
An okay result for Mercedes, Russell, P5, which could’ve been better but still a decent result. As for Antonelli a much better qualifying for him so far this weekend, it will be interesting to see how the rookie goes this weekend in his first Sprint weekend.
We are back once again as we return to China, which is the first Sprint race weekend of the season.
The Shanghai track is 5.451 kilometres long and its layout is based on the Chinese character “shang” meaning “upwards” or “above”. The circuit features several slow corners, such as the first three, turn 6 and 14 and high speed corners like the combination from 7 to 8.
There are two long straights, the one that crosses the start-finish line and another between turns 13 and 14, which is over a kilometre in length.
Last summer, a new surface was laid down on the track and the pit lane at the Shanghai International Circuit. It has only been used a few times towards the end of 2024 and should be smoother than before, but it’s logical to expect the track to evolve very quickly.
The trio of compounds chosen are the same as last year, C2 (Hard), C3 (Medium) and C4 (Soft). The last two were in use in Melbourne last weekend, while the first as run extensively during the three day test in Bahrain.
Another important factor to consider this weekend will be the temperatures. It’s the first time that Shanghai hosts the Grand Prix in March when average temperatures rarely exceed 18°C.
There were three interruptions last year – one VSC and two Safety Cars – which significantly influenced the outcome of the race, both in terms of the number of stops and the sequence in which the compounds were used.
Three of the drivers who finished in the top ten made just one stop, six pitted twice and one even three times. The majority of the drivers opted to line up on the grid on the medium tyre, which also completed the most stints.
The 18th running of the #ChineseGP, the second round of the season, immediately throws up some special challenges, not just for the teams and drivers, but also for Pirelli, starting with a completely resurfaced track. Read more 👉https://t.co/BVLmzwRaxXpic.twitter.com/q6AjhxJafR
Drivers’ Standings leader Abbi Pulling ran the show in Qualifying, going from strength to strength to secure both F1 Academy pole positions on offer in Miami.
Her hold onto P1 was unrelenting, with a time of 1:58.507 in the final minutes of the session putting her over five tenths clear of Doriane Pin and Hamda Al Qubaisi. The Alpine driver will have different company for race 2, as Bianca Bustamante’s consistency was rewarded for P2, four tenths off, ahead of Pin in third.
With only 30 minutes on the clock, there was not a lot of time to lose as the field flooded out as the lights went green. Having set the pace in Free Practice 2, laid down the initial benchmark at 1:59.882.
Ferrari’s Maya Weug took over the top spot heading into the halfway mark, going 0.024s faster than Pulling’s latest attempt.
Benefitting from the track evolution, Bustamante pushed on, deposing Pulling momentarily with a 1:59.122, whilst Pin moved inside the top three. Pulling immediately responded with a 1:58.714.
As Pin improved to just over three tenths off, one flying lap solidified Pulling’s place at the top of the timing sheets, where she broke 0.574s clear of the Mercedes driver.
Hamda Al Qubaisi’s late burst of pace elevated her to third for Race 1 ahead of McLaren driver Bustamante.
The full top 10 for race 1 are- P1: Pulling, P2: Pin, P3: Hamda Al Qubaisi, P4: Bustamante, P5: Weug, P6: Marti, P7: Chambers, P8: Nobels, P9: Hausmann and P10: Lovinfosse.
The full top 10 for race 2 are- P1: Pulling, P2: Bustamante, P3: Pin, P4: Hamda Al Qubaisi, P5: Marti, P6: Weug, P7: Nobels, P8: Chambers, P9: Edgar and P10: Hausmann.
Race 1-
Controlling the race from pole, the Alpine driver led every lap and never looked back, taking the chequered flag with a 5 second advantage over second-placed Doriane Pin. Chloe Chamber gave her home crowd something to celebrate, battling hard to go from P7 to her first podium in the series.
Acing her getaway at lights out, Pulling kept Pin at bay into Turn 1 and immediately set out creating a 1 second buffer to the Mercedes driver in the space of a lap.
At the tail end of the top 10, Tina Hausmann’s race came to an early end after contact with Aurelia Nobels sent the Aston Martin driver off into the wall at Turn 8. Nobels would later be handed a 10-second penalty for the incident.
A three car battle for fourth saw Weug forced to go on the defensive heading into lap 3, as Nerea Marti attempted to move around the outside of Turn 1. Just behind, Chambers sat patiently, waiting to pounce when the opportunity arrived one lap later.
Marti found her way past Weug on lap 6, but a mistake undid all her work and allowed the Ferrari driver and Nobels to slip through momentarily.
Bustamante continued to make up lost ground, diving to the inside of the final corner with a move on Amna Al Qubaisi. Going side-by-side with RB driver, Bustamante managed to eke out ahead, but received a 5 second penalty for going off track and gaining an advantage a few laps earlier.
Out front, Pulling’s mirrors were clear as she crossed the line to win by 5.2s to Pin and Chambers. The full top 10 are- P1: Pulling, P2: Pin, P3: Chambers, P4: Marti, P5: H Qubaisi, P6: Weug, P7: Edgar, P8: A Qubaisi, P9: Bustamante and P10: Lovinfosse.
Day 2- Race 2-
Abbi Pulling made it two for two as she brought home her second win on the streets of Miami. Bianca Bustamante righted her wrongs from Race 1, fending off a late push from Doriane Pin to earn her first podium for McLaren in second.
Pole sitter Pulling was instantly on the defensive from Bustamante as the lights went green, locking up slightly into Turn 1, managing to outbreak the ART car, she managed to hold the lead.
Chambers was once again on a charge after her race 1 podium. A storming start from P8 for the Haas driver saw her slide past Aurelia Nobels, Nerea Marti and Maya Weug in turn through the opening corners and moved to fifth.
Behind her, Tina Hausmann found herself out on the opening lap for the second race in a row. Locking up into Turn 1, Lola Lovinfosse tagged the Aston Martin car ahead, forcing her to retire with a puncture. Lovinfosse later received a 10 second time penalty.
On lap 5, Weug dispatched the Hamda Al Qubaisi, but found her mirrors full of a train of cars behind from P6 to P13. Two laps later, Lovinfosse gambled on another move as Nobels left the door open, with the two running side-by-side.
Bustamante’s hold over P2 had a momentary scare, as Pin closed right in on her tail. However, the Filipina racer kept up her pace to break the slipstream advantage to the Mercedes driver behind.
At the tail end of the top 10, Block hunted down her first points of her F1 Academy campaign. Eyeing a move on Carrie Schreiner in 10th, the Williams went in too deep, allowing Emely De Heus to capitalise and overtake the American driver.
Jessica Edgar was on the march as she overtook Marti for seventh. However, the Spainard wasn’t giving up, diving up the inside of Turn 1 but she overshot the corner and allowing the American Express driver to cutback through. However, Edgar’s race unravelled a few corners later, losing the rear through Turns 6 and 7 and spinning wide over the runoff.
Completing her 27th tour of the Miami circuit, Pulling brought home a comfortable second win of the season. The full top 10 are- P1: Pulling, P2: Bustamante, P3: Pin, P4: Chambers, P5: Weug, P6: H Qubaisi, P7: Marti, P8: A Qubaisi, P9: Schreiner and P10: Block.
Now we have a little wait till the next round, which is Round 3 and we head to Barcelona on the 21st to 23rd of June.
F1 Academy has announced that American racer Courtney Crone will join the grid as the Wild Card entry for Round 2 of the F1 Academy season in Miami, in a deal that will see her team up with reigning Teams’ Champions PREMA Racing and shoppable entertainment retailer QVC.
The Wild Card initiative, introduced to help strengthen the talent pool in the regions where F1 Academy races, sees Wild Card entries presented by partners at select rounds of the calendar.
Crone will take to the track at the Miami International Autodrome in a QVC-branded livery and race suit as the series takes its place alongside Formula 1.
The 23 year old driver’s preparation for the entry began two weeks ago in Zandvoort as she got behind the wheel of an F1 Academy car for the first time as part of a two-day Official test event.
Hailing from California, Crone started racing karts at 3 year old and has achieved success in multiple racing disciplines including Sprint Cars, LMP3 prototypes, speedway motorcycles, and most recently Lamborghini Super Trofeo.
The Wild Card entries are designed to promote regional talent and show young women in all our race locations that there is a clear pathway into our sport for anyone who is committed and talented. We’ve had a huge amount of interest in the Wild Card since it was introduced in Jeddah and I’d like to thank QVC for supporting our vision and joining us to present our Wild Card entry, Courtney Crone, for the second round of our season alongside Formula 1 at the Miami Grand Prix. Susie Wolff, MBE, F1 Academy Managing Director.
It’s a huge opportunity that F1 ACADEMY is giving drivers through Wild Card entries, especially in America. It can be difficult for young girls from outside Europe to know how to get into international series like this, and the support that I’ve been given by F1 ACADEMY, and the PREMA Racing team, has been hugely positive for me. I’d also like to say thank you to QVC for their support of the Wild Card initiative here in Miami. I think this is an amazing opportunity to grow both this series and the sport. Courtney Crone, speaking about being the F1 Academy Wild Card.
QVC is a leader in live shoppable entertainment, bringing our customers — largely women over the age of 50 — to unexpected places to discover new finds and experiences. Our new Age of Possibility campaign is all about supporting our customers to live their best and most empowered lives. F1 has been innovating and influencing live sports for more than 70 years. The launch of the all-female driver category, F1 ACADEMY, is a testament to their commitment of elevating women in the sport and we are proud to support this vision and Courtney Crone in the race. Annette Dunleavey, VP, Brand Marketing from QVC said.
The top five remained the same at the start with pole-sitter van Hoepen covering off Stenshorne to retain the lead. His ART teammate and home favourite Christian Mansell stayed in third ahead of the Red Bull-liveried cars of Oliver Goethe and Lindblad.
However, van Hoepen and Stenshorne quickly became embroiled in a multi-lap battle for the lead on lap 3. But this battle brought the rest of their rivals into play, with the top 10 only covered by three seconds.
On lap 6, Mansell was now coming under attack from Lindblad with the PREMA driver taking P3 at Turn 9. Just behind the pair, Goethe lost P5 to his Campos teammate Mari Boya at the same corner.
In the battle for points, Dino Beganovic was on the move in other PREMA car and quickly dispatched Fornaroli at Turn 12 for 9th, the Trident driver then ran wide onto the gravel, dropping him to 15th.
Back at the front, Stenshorne had built a gap of over two and a half seconds to van Hoepen, but the ART driver was then overtaken by Lindblad. As the race moved past the halfway stage, Beganovic was now coming under attack from Sebastian Montoya. The Campos driver made the move past on the run down to Turn 1, with the Swede then losing another position to Charlie Wurz two corners later.
Van Amersfoort Racing’s home hero Tommy Smith collided with the rear of Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak at Turn 1. The Thai racer was out of the car and the race whilst the Australian continued on.
Back to green flag racing, Beganovic made the move past Wurz for P8 at the popular Turn 9. The Austrian ran wide at corner exit, losing further positions to drop him down to 13th.
The full top 10 is – P1: Stenshorne, P2: Lindblad, P3: Van Hoepen, P4: Boya, P5: Goethe, P6: Mini, P7: Dunne, P8: Montoya, P9: Fornaroli and P10: Mansell.
Day 3-
Fornaroli led away from pole, staying ahead of the PREMA pair of Mini and Beganovic. But there was plenty of action at the back of the pack as MP Motorsport’s Tim Tramnitz suffered a puncture after colliding with Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak.
The PHM AIX Racing driver then hit Sophia Floersch and despite both being able to continue to the pitlane, they were both forced to retire with damage.
We were back to green flag conditions, with the top three remaining the same, Luke Browning and Arvid Lindblad rounded out the top five with the pair pouncing on the PHM AIX’s Nikita Bedrin to move up the order.
On lap 11, there was more bad news for the Australian fans as Christian Mansell lost two places at Turn 11, with Jenzer Motorsport’s Charlie Wurz and Campos’ Sebastian Montoya overtaking the ART Grand Prix driver.
Beganovic after being given the all clear to overtake Mini for second, and he did just that on lap 12, making his way past at Turn 9. The PREMA driver then quickly got within DRS range of Fornaroli.
Mini’s struggles continued as by the end of Lap 13, he lost another position at Turn 9. A lap later, Beganovic took the lead from Fornaroli at the same corner. Elsewhere, Campos Racing teammates Mari Boya and Sebastian Montoya quickly got past Bedrin, moving them up to fifth and sixth.
The top three were now covered by just a second a half with Fornaroli well within DRS range of Beganovic as the drivers set off on lap 18. Mini was however beginning to show strong pace and closed in on Browning for third.
The full top 10 is: P1: Beganovic, P2: Fornarolli, P3: Mini, P4: Browning, P5: Wurz, P6: Montoya, P7: Boya, P8: Bedrin, P9: Goethe and P10: Mansell.
PREMA Racing’s Gabriele Mini set the early pace in Melbourne as the Italian topped timesheets in Free Practice ahead of Qualifying thanks to a time of 1:33.225.
Mini proved to be the one to beat for the majority of the morning session with compatriot Leonardo Fornaroli his nearest challenger, ending up three-tenths off his time. PREMA teammate Dino Beganovic wound up third.
But at the start of proceedings it was an all-PREMA top three as Mini hit the ground running with a lap of 1:34.874, leading Beganovic by three tenths, as Arvid Lindblad tucked into third.
Soon after, Hitech Pulse-Eight’s Cian Shields spun into the barrier at the final corner, bringing out the Red Flags after 15 minutes of running. The drivers were back out on track with half of the session remaining and once again it was Mini who set the pace, strengthening his grip on P1.
With three minutes left in the session, another Red Flag was waved after ART Grand Prix driver Nikola Tsolov collided with MP Motorsport’s rookie Alex Dunne. The Irishman ended up in the barriers, and the session was not resumed.
Qualifying-
Trident’s Leonardo Fornaroli took his second Formula 3 pole position, beating rival Gabriele Mini to take the top spot in Melbourne thanks to his time of 1:33.044.
Mini had provisional pole until the final flying laps and wound up just 0.019s off the top spot, but sealed a front row start for the Feature Race, with his teammate Dino Beganovic in third.
After the first set of laps Fornaroli set the pace thanks to his time of 1:33.882 with Free Practice timesheet-topper Mini over four-tenths back of his compatriot in second. The Trident driver could not improve on his next attempt, but the PREMA racer did and closed the gap to 0.020s. Hitech Pulse-Eight’s Luke Browning then went up to third, two-tenths back of Fornaroli’s time.
With only five minutes left in the session, Sami Meguetounif crashed his Trident into the barrier at the exit of the final corner bringing out the red flags. Moments prior, Mini had gone up to P1 with a 1:33.505.
The lights went green, which left the drivers with four and a half minutes to set their final laps, and it was Fornaroli who took pole position.
The full top 10 are – P1: Fornaroli, P2: Mini, P3: Beganovic, P4: Bedrin, P5: Browning, P6: Tsolov, P7: Lindblad, P8: Goethe, P9: Mansell and P10: Stenshorne.
The second race week is complete! And when you think about it we’ve had a bit of a crazy week including Carlos Sainz being ruled out of the Grand Prix meaning Ferrari Academy Driver Oliver Bearman stepping in to make his debut!
But Max Verstappen remained dominant to make it two from two victories so far as he enjoyed a strong start from pole, with an early Safety Car making an appearance aswell. Sergio Perez makes it a second consecutive one-two result for Red Bull, however it wasn’t all smooth sailing as he was handed a five-second time penalty for an unsafe release. And Charles Leclerc rounding out the top three.
The full top 10 are- P1: Verstappen, P2: Perez, P3: Leclerc, P4: Piastri, P5: Alonso, P6: Russell, P7: Bearman, P8: Norris, P9: Hamilton and P10: Hulkenberg.
A great result from Piastri! P4, the Australian driver had spent a significant portion of the race trying to get past the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton.
P7 on debut for Mr Ollie Bearman! What a drive from the Brit, definitely one to be proud of. Hopefully this will be the drive to show teams what he can do for an F1 seat next year…
A good result from Fernando Alonso! However his teammate had been the cause of the Safety Car as he crashed into the barriers on Lap 7 unable to continue in the race.
Points for Haas! Hulkenberg scored their first points of the season, he was helped out by Magnusssen as he kept a pack of drivers at bay behind in order to give Hulkenberg space when returning to the track from his pit stop. It’s nice to see a bit of teamwork from the two drivers.
Alpine, Esteban Ocon finished in P13, however Pierre Gasly race was practically over before it started. The Frenchman retired soon after the start, as he reported a gearbox issue on the formation lap.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen made it two pole positions from two in 2024, as rookie Oliver Bearman impressed on his debut as a stand in for Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz.
Championship leader Verstappen has looked in complete control so far, with his best lap time being a 1:27.472s which was 0.3s clear of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. With Sergio Perez rounding out the top three.
The full top 10 is- Pole: Verstappen, P2: Leclerc, P3: Perez, P4: Alonso, P5: Piastri, P6: Norris, P7: Russell, P8: Hamilton, P9: Tsunoda and P10: Stroll.
First of all we have to mention Ollie Bearman, he qualified P11 after only having one practice session. Obviously he would be disappointed himself after being so close to Q3 but I think everyone is really impressed with him, as it’s no easy job filling in the Ferrari seat! Hopefully he could potentially score some points in the race…
A good result from Alonso, starting on the second row, he will be hoping to turn that into some good points this weekend. However his teammate starting 10th, an improvement from last week but still not very good.
A decent result from the McLaren boys, and just behind them is both Mercedes’ who failed to improve on their second runs. So with those four drivers that will be an interesting battle when the lights go out.
A little shoutout to Yuki Tsunoda, P9! Makes up for a frustrating end to the Bahrain Grand Prix last week, the team will be looking to see if they could score some points this weekend.
Looking a bit further back, Nico Hulkenberg couldn’t replicate what he done last week, due to a power issued which ended his session early, his set to start the race 15th.
Alpine’s struggled continue as both drivers exited Q1, with no improvement from the week before. The team will be hoping upgrades will soon come…
MP Motorsport driver Dennis Hauger made a solid start to this weekend’s action in Jeddah setting the fastest time in free practice.
Hauger led the way for most of the session but completed a lap of 1:43.793 late in the proceedings to lead his nearest rival, Kush Maini by over a tenth.
The Norwegian and the rest of the 21 drivers were quickly out on track setting fast laps on the medium tyre as they looked to get up to speed around Jeddah in the 45 minutes of practice time ahead of Qualifying.
With 15 minutes of running in the books, Hauger had set the benchmark time thanks to his lap of 1:45.558 with Enzo Fittipaldi in second 0.197s behind. Moments later Fittipaldi’s Van Amersfoort Racing teammate Rafael Villagomez brought out the Red Flags after the Mexican driver crashed into the barriers at Turn 17.
The drivers were back on track setting laps with a quarter of the session remaining. The track was now offering more grip which Hauger used to his advantage to improve on his pace-setting efforts twice, before completing a final lap of 1:43.793 to end the quickest of all.
The full top 10 are- P1: Hauger, P2: Maini, P3: Martins, P4: Bearman, P5: Crawford, P6: Verschoor, P7: Correa, P8: Maloney, P9: Antonelli and 10: Bortoleto.
Qualifying-
Oliver Bearman had been targeting a rebound from Sakhir and secured pole position in style in a head-to-head against Kush Maini. The PREMA driver set a 1:42.217 to beat the Invicta Racing driver to pole by just 0.025s. Jak Crawford made a late improvement to secure third on the grid for DAMS Lucas Oil.
At the start, two preparation laps gave way to the first flying efforts, and it was Bearman who set the pace to beat with a time of 1:43.207. Despite having two purple sectors in one and two, Kush Maini filtered through in P2.
There was a larger gap after the top two, with Richard Verschoor leading the next group of runners. The Dutchman set a decent first effort in his Trident as his time of a 1:43.774 saw him go third-fastest.
A return to the pits for fresh tyres gave way to more fast laps and Roman Stanek of Trident was the first to record an improvement, taking provisional pole with a 1:42.747.
Aron then provided the next best effort, lowering the time to beat until Bearman delivered a 1:42.217 to take the top spot. Into the final three minutes and the drivers began their next set of push laps. Crawford lifted his DAMS into third. Bearman bailed on his final lap leaving Maini to finish just 0.020s down.
The full top 10 is – P1: Bearman, P2: Maini, P3: Crawford, P4: Martins, P5: Fittipaldi, P6: Antonelli, P7: Hauger, P8: Hadjar, P9: Verschoor and P10: Aron.
However… Ollie Bearman has now been withdrawn from F2 this weekend as he makes his F1 debut for Ferrari to replace Carlos Sainz who has appendicitis.
Just a few days on from the opening race of the season, Formula 1 has decamped from Bahrain to Saudi Arabia for round 2. From a track with a very abrasive asphalt, where degradation is high and stability under braking and traction are key factors, we now move to a track with quite a smooth surface and very high speeds.
At 6.174 kilometre in length, it is the second longest track on the calendar with 27 twisty corners, the most of any circuit and the drivers will tackle it 50 times on Saturday.
Based on the experience of the previous three races here, Pirelli has chosen its three mid-range compounds, the C2 Hard, C3 Medium and C4 Soft. In Jeddah, it is quite possible to have a one-stop race with the drivers swapping between Medium and Hard depending on their grid positions.
As this is a street circuit, there are not many run-off areas and so the risk of accidents is quite high, aswell as seeing the Safety Car on track or even having the race red flagged. Overtaking here is pretty tricky, with the best opportunity coming on the entry to Turn 1.
Not only this but of course with a street circuit, track evolution can be very high and in qualifying it will be crucial to choose the right moment to go out on track to set a good time.
Nissan’s Oliver Rowland went quickest in the Diriyan desert, as the grid prepared to take on the first double header of the season.
Track evolution meant that the times kept tumbling, although the session was brought to a brief halt as the Envision Racing car of Sebastien Buemi stopped on track.
Jean Eric-Vergne for DS PENSKE finished the session in second 0.165s behind Rowland, with his teammate Stoffel Vandoorne popping into third.
The Envision Racing duo of Sebastien Buemi and Robin Frijns were the first to set the lap times, but quickly the rest of the grid followed. Reigning champion, Jake Dennis was the last to get a time in, but it didn’t impact his session as he finished in the top five.
Just over halfway through the session, double yellow flags were waved as Buemi came to a stop on the circuit between Turns 3 and 4. He made his way back to the garage, but his car was in a red condition which meant extra precautions had to be taken to remove it from the track. As a result of the delay, the session was extended by 12 minutes by the FIA to make sure the drivers got as many laps on the board as possible.
FP2-
Andretti’s Norman Nato topped the timesheets in the second Free Practice session, as the drivers took to the epic Diriyah track in the midday sun. His teammate, Jake Dennis finished third, with Maserati MSG Racing’s Maximilian Guenther sandwiched between the two in second.
Teams and drivers headed out in the midday sun to get as much track time and data as they could. Track evolution continues to be rapid here, as the dirt and dust from the desert is kicked up by the grid as they fly around this 2.49km circuit.
Jake Dennis topped the timesheets with a 1m15.067s as he set the three fastest sectors with 18 minutes to go, and continued to keep locking in faster laps over the session.
Both Mahindras were looking rapid, with Edoardo Mortara and Nyck de Vries going first and second with 13 minutes left on the clock. De Vries has won here twice before and Mortara has had some amazing overtakes.
Qualifying-
DS PENSKE’s Jean Eric-Vergne sealed Julius Baer Pole Position and jumped up to the top of the Drivers’ standings.
Vergne went up against the Jaguar TCS Racing of Mitch Evans as both drivers and teams were fighting for their first pole at this circuit.
Group A, was packed with lots of familiar favourites. However it was Cassidy, Dennis, Wehrlein and Evans who made it through. Last year’s polesitter Jake Hughes looked an early favourite, as he pushed his McLaren to the limit and even clipped the wall slightly to get himself half a second clear. However, a second attempt at a fast lap led to Hughes making a mistake and not doing enough to improve on his time to finish fifth in the group.
Group B, the next group took to track shortly after, with plenty of big names trying to make it through to the Duels.
In the end it was Vergne who went to the top when the chequered flag fell with a 1m 12.856s. Joining him in the Semi’s was Sette Camara who got ERT’s first Duels appearance of the year, Guenther in third and Nato in fourth.
The biggest shock of the Group Stages were Antonio Felix da Costa as he finished Group B in ninth. The season 6 champion hasn’t looked completely comfortable in his Porsche so far this weekend, so will hope he can make up some good positions.
The full top 10 from qualifying are- P1: Vergne, P2: Evans, P3: Dennis, P4: Sette Camara, P5: Nato, P6: Wehrlein, P7: Cassidy, P8: Guenther, P9: Bird and P10: Hughes.
Round 2-
Reigning champion, Jake Dennis bounced back from disappointment in the Mexico City season-opener to win by more than 13 seconds in the first round of the Diriyah double-header!
Polesitter, Jean Eric Vergne had bolted off the line to hold an early lead and was forced into fending off the Jaguar TCS Racing pair of Mitch Ecans and Nick Cassidy as the race reached its climax.
A last lap lunge from Evans, running third at the time but with second in his sight, cost the Kiwi a podium as he overcooked the stop into Turn 18, handing third to his teammate Cassidy. Cassidy, took his own direction on strategy of the leaders, opting to take his two mandatory Attack Mode boosts late on as he clambered through from seventh on the grid at the start.
The full top 10 are- P1: Dennis, P2: Vergne, P3: Cassidy, P4: Bird, P5: Evans, P6: Nato, P7: Guenther, P8: Wehrlein, P9: Sette Camara and P10: Frijns.
Franco Colapinto was victorious in an event-filled Sprint Race, winning from P6 on the grid. The MP Motorsport driver put an impressive move on pole-sitter Sebastian Montoya at Turn 9 to take the lead early on.
Zak O’Sullivan made a late-race pass on reverse pole-sitter Montoya to take second. The Hitech Pulse-Eight driver held on for a podium in third as the race ended under the Safety Car.
But after the race was complete, Franco Colapinto lost the Melbourne Sprint Race victory following a post-race inspection found a technical infringement on his car.
Pieces of bodywork were found to be outside of the regulatory limits, contravening Articles 1.2 and 2.5 of the Technical Regulations. Modifications to the geometry of the parts in question are prohibited by the rules outside of basic repairs.
MP Motorsport drivers, Mari Boya and Jonny Edgar have also been disqualified from the race for the same technical infringement as was found on Colapinto’s car.
It means that PREMA Racing’s Zak O’Sullivan inherits the victory, promoting Hitech Pulse-Eight’s Sebastian Montoya to 2nd and Paul Aron to 3rd.
The full top 10 after the disqualifications are: P1: Sullivan, P2: Montoya, P3: Aron, P4: Mini, P5: Beganovic, P6: Bortoleto, P7: Fornaroli, P8: Saucy, P9: Mansell and P10: Frederick.
Day 3-
Gabriel Bortoleto made it two Feature Race wins in Formula 3 out of two, keeping Gregoire Saucy at bay for his second victory of the year. The Trident driver led every lap from pole position, leading through two safety car restarts in what was a measured performance.
Saucy was on the podium for ART Grand Prix for the first time this season in second, finishing just 0.5s down on the winner. Gabriele Mini was third for HiTech Pulse-Eight.
On Lap 2, Franco Colapinto claimed seventh from Luke Browning on the run to Turn 3 but his joy was short-lived. The MP Motorsport driver made brief contact with the Brit completing the move and sustained a puncture, which sent him into the barriers at Turn 5 and out of the race.
Josep Maria Marti was on a charge, he went from 30th to 21st on the first lap alone and he was battling Campos Racing teammate Mansell for 12th.
Contact between Ido Cohen and Rafael Villagomez out of Turn 4 the following lap spun the Rodin Carlin man into the barriers, bringing out the Safety Car once more. The Van Amersfoort Racing man was handed a 10 second time penalty for the incident.
Once we went back to racing conditions on Lap 16 and Marti was on the move again clearing Goethe into Turn 4 to take 11th position, that then became 10th on Lap 18 after he put a brave move on Jonny Edgar going around the outside at Turn 9.
The full top 10 are: P1: Bortoleto, P2: Saucy, P3: Mini, P4: Fornaroli, P5: Sullivan, P6: Aron, P7: Marti, P8: Browning, P9: Barnard and P10: Mansell.
Formula 3 is not back now until the 19th to 21st May for Round 3 in Imola. However they do have in-season testing on the 13-14th April in Barcelona.
Formula 3, is in Australia for the very first time. Let’s take a look at how Day 1 went.
Free Practice-
Zak O’Sullivn hit the ground running in Melbourne, topping the opening session of the weekend for PREMA Racing, the Brit set a 1:33,470 at the end of the session.
MP Motorsport’s Mari Boya, leapt up the timing sheets late on with a 1:33.528 putting him second ahead of Gregoire Saucy, who bounced back from an off-track moment.
Saucy had an off-road excursion at Turn 4, running through the gravel on corner exit before rejoining in his ART Grand Prix car. The red flag was out with just over half an hour remaining following a crash for Jonny Edgar.
Practice resumed with 20 minutes of the session to go. A brief yellow flag for Campos Racing’s Hugh Barter was thrown at the final corner after he ended up sideways.
Qualifying-
Gabriel Bortoleto left it as late as possible to take pole for the FIA Formula 3 Feature Race. The Trident driver had been on provisional pole until several late efforts demoted him, but the Brazilian rebounded to seal P1 on his final attempt.
Gregoire Saucy ended up second for ART Grand Prix, while Gabriele Mini had to settle for third in his HiTech Pulse-Eight car.
With all 30 cars out of the pitlane, it was a busy Albert Park Circuit but only temporarily. A shunt for Josep Maria Marti brought out the red flags with six minutes gone.
The second red flag of the session came with four and a half minutes to go. ART Grand Prix’s Kaylen Frederick hit the wall out of the corner, but the American was okay afterwards. Back to green and with time for one final attempt, everyone was immediately back out for one final attempt.
What a race! I think before Verstappen’s problem in qualifying, we expected a pretty standard race with not much happening but it was the other way round.
Sergio Perez managed to convert pole position into victory at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, as his teammate recovered from P15 to P2, which makes it a second 1-2 for the Red Bull team in two races. Fernando Alonso put his Aston Martin on the podium again, before he was stripped of P3 and then having it reinstated after a stewards’ review.
The Mexican driver, overcome an attack from Alonso at the start of the race, a nervy Safety Car period and Verstappen’s charge from the midfield to make up for the potential win he lost at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit a year ago – kick starting his championship hopes in the process.
The full top 10 are: P1: Perez, P2: Verstappen, P3: Alonso, P4: Russell, P5: Hamilton, P6: Sainz, P7: Leclerc, P8: Ocon, P9: Gasly and P10: Magnussen.
McLaren are having a tough time at the moment, after an early front wing change for Piastri who clashed with Gasly at the start and Norris who hit the debris, saw them at the back of the grid. Piastri ultimately crossed the line in P15, after clearing Sargeant on the final lap. Norris narrowly avoided repeating as he settled for 17th, with Valtteri Bottas the last of the finishers amid apparent technical trouble in his Alfa Romeo.
Alex Albon and Lance Stroll were the two retirements from the race; Albon encountering terminal brake problems aboard his Williams and Stroll being told to stop his Aston Martin in the early stages.
All eyes turn to Australia in just under two weeks time, where it will be Piastri’s first home race, but most importantly will it be the battle of the Bull’s? Or can Fernando Alonso grab the win?
The second qualifying session of the season is now complete, with a few shocks along the way, not forgetting that going into Qualifying it’s already confirmed Charles Leclerc has a 10 place grid penalty…
It was Sergio Perez who took his second pole position of his F1 career, at the same place he took his first! Charles Leclerc managed to grab second, but after his penalty is applied will be starting 12th. And to round out the top three is Fernando Alonso.
The full top 10 are: P1: Perez, P2: Leclerc, P3: Alonso, P4: Russell, P5: Sainz, P6: Stroll, P7: Ocon, P8: Hamilton, P9: Piastri and P10: Gasly.
Lando Norris is not having a good time at the moment, qualified P19… this however was not due to a reliability issue. He hit the wall on the last corner and it damaged the car. However, his teammate was on another level, Oscar managed to get into Q3 for the first time in only just two races, a much better place than they were last time out in Bahrain. But a big well done, to the Aussie.
Now onto the bigger shock of qualifying, Max Verstappen out in Q2, and starting 15th. During Q2, Max had a driveshaft problem and that consequently ended his qualifying session, as there was only 5 minutes left and Red Bull were not able to fix/figure out the problem so quick.
A better qualifying for the Alpine’s, Gasly starting 9th and Ocon 6th, hopefully they can capitalise on this and grab points, especially Ocon after not grabbing any in Bahrain.
Predictions-
My top five for the race are: P1: Perez, P2: Alonso, P3: Sainz, P4: Russell, P5: Stroll.
It will be interesting to see how both Max and Charles will do going through the field working their way up, but will they both manage to stay out of trouble? And grab some points so its not as damaging for the later part of the season.
I can see some safety cars happening this race as well as VSC, this may shake some things up depending on when they are in the race, so it could shake things up a little…
Round 2 is here for Formula 2, lets take a look at what went down in Free Practice and Qualifying!
Free Practice-
Oliver Bearman was quick out of the blocks in Jeddah, as he lead teammate Frederik Vesti in the opening session of the weekend. ART Grand Prix’s Victor Martins, was also proving that the rookies were having no problem getting acquainted with the ultra-high-speed circuit, finishing Free Practice in third.
All the drivers were out on track early, eager to get their eye in around a slightly tweaked Jeddah Corniche Circuit. Martins claimed the top spot with 10 minutes gone, his 1:46.411 was 0.4s quicker than anyone else in the early phase of Practice.
There was red flag thrown in Free Practice, as Amaury Cordeel suffered a spin out of Turn 13, ending up sideways on the track. With his car in need of recovering, the session then wasn’t resumed with only four minutes remaining.
Martins set a 1:43.161, that would have put him on top but with the Red Flag cancelling his lap just before he could cross the line to finish it, Bearman topped practice instead.
Qualifying-
Victor Martins was a man on a mission as he claimed ART Grand Prix’s second consecutive pole position in a dominant fashion. The Frenchman put down a 1:41.326 to go a whopping 0.744s clear in the nick of time, as a late Red Flag denied the field a chance to get close to his efforts.
Practice pace-setter, Oliver Bearman also proved that experience isn’t everything as the PREMA rookie secured second, Championship leader Theo Pourchaire made it two ARTs in the top three.
Experiencing his first qualifying session around the Saudi Arabian track, Roman Stanek was the first to get a representative lap time on the board. However, the Trident driver’s time didn’t stay top for too long, being eclipsed immediately by Jack Doohan, Arthur Leclerc and Ayumu Iwasa.
With 18 minutes remaining, improvements were stopped after Van Amersfoort Racing’s Richard Verschoor spun at Turn 22, bringing out the Red Flag. Frederik Vesti momentarily became the driver to beat when running resumed, before he was leapfrogged by his teammate, Bearman.
However, not all drivers were able to take advantage of their fresh supersoft rubber, as the Red Flag was thrown once again, it wiped away Dennis Hauger’s personal best sectors, after Leclerc stopped on the exit of Turn 22. The session was then not resumed, allowing Martins to hold onto his maiden pole position.
Bearman setttled for second, only 0.001s ahead of Pourchaire. Jack Doohan left it late to snatch fourth ahead of Daruvala. Hitech Pule-EIght, Jak Crawford rounded out the top 10 on his Jeddah debut, he will start on reverse grid pole for the Sprint Race today.
The second race of the season is here and we return to Jeddah for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
Will Ferrari have any luck with reliability this time round? Leclerc already has a penalty this weekend, so are they already out of luck? Will Red Bull be making it a second 1-2 in a row?
Can Alonso, grab another podium? Will Mercedes be any closer to the front and potentially get a podium aswell? Or will they optimise on Leclerc’s penalty, and try and take as many points away from the Italian team?
Who needs to shine?
McLaren will be hoping to have a better weekend, as having Lando Norris battle problems throughout the Grand Prix and Oscar Piastri having to retire didn’t start them off well.
Esteban Ocon, will be hoping for a better weekend as he retired last time out in Bahrain. Not only this his new teammate Pierre Gasly finished in the points so, Ocon will be wanting to hit the ground running this weekend.
I think Ferrari as a team just need a better weekend, hopefully better reliability as a whole and then the points can be scored as Leclerc is also on catch up.
Mercedes will also be hoping for a better weekend, as we all know they aren’t were they thought they’d be or want to be, I think the determination is there for the Silver Arrows team, and they’ll be pushing to be up further on the grid for the race.
Predictions for Qualifying-
My top five for qualifying are- Pole: Verstappen, P2: Leclerc, P3: Perez, P4: Alonso and P5: Hamilton. (Before penalties)
I think it will be the same teams fighting for pole as last time out, obviously Leclerc has a penalty so, other teams might benefit off that.
I could see an Alfa Romeo and a Haas be in the top 10 for qualifying, maybe the Williams of Albon aswell? With Jeddah being such a tight circuit, drivers have to be somewhat careful as they are on the limit for the majority of the lap.
Charles Leclerc will be having his work cut out in this weekend’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix after his Ferrari team were forced to fit another control electronics power unit component which in turn triggers a grid penalty.
Ferrari replaced the Energy Store and Control Electronics on Leclerc’s engine before the season opening Bahrain Grand Prix. The Monegasque then retired when in contention for a podium behind the two Red Bulls.
As teams are only permitted to use two control electronics components per season without penalty, Leclerc’s move to a third for race two in Jeddah ensures he will have at least a 10 place grid drop this Sunday. And potentially more if they replace any other parts and increases the chances of him taking a further penalty later in the season.
After Baku, last year Ferrari were forced to run their engine at a lower power to reduce the risk of failure. However a lot of work went into durability over the winter and while they encountered problems in Bahrain.
Leclerc heads into the weekend’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 25 points adrift of championship leader Max Verstappen – and while he was understandably down after failing to score in the season opener, Vasseur said he has no worries about the Monegasque’s mindset and motivation.
On Sunday, we had two different issues. The first one was on the Sunday morning, when we did the fire up, and the second one was in the race. Unfortunately, it was two times the control unit, the ECU. It’s something that we never experienced in the past. I hope now it’s under control, but we have a deep analysis on this. Unfortunately, we’ll have to take the penalty in Jeddah, because we have only a pool of two control units for the season. Charles was with us after the tyre test day on Tuesday, was at the factory on Wednesday morning. We had a speech with the employees, where we were all together on stage. It’s obvious Charles is motivated, we have done one race of 23. He’s full push with the team, trying to get the best for everyone. The penalty is not good news, but it’s not the end of the season. Let’s see what happens in Jeddah, and what could be the outcome, even with the penalty, but don’t imagine for half a second he could be demotivated. He’s fully convinced, he’s working with us, pushing the team, pushing everybody in a positive way. And nothing else.
The tyres have been chosen for the second round out of 23, lets take a look.
For the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, the middle of the range has been picked which are: C2 (Hard), C3 (Medium), C4 (Soft).
Jeddah is the fastest street circuit of the year, with the track having been designed three years ago and has continually been improved since.
This year, there are some new rubble strips on the escape roads whilst some of the kerbs have been smoothed. A number of the walls have been repositioned, such as those at Turn 8 and 10 to improve visibility and Turn 23 to slow the corner down.
The circuit offers a medium level of grip but the sand blown onto the surface can influence this on low-abrasion asphalt. The track, is not especially demanding in terms of traction and braking with lateral forces predominantly affecting the tyres.
For the rapid Jeddah track, we have confirmed the same compound choices as last year as they showed very good consistency throughout the race weekend. In the two races held up to now, the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix has been quite unpredictable because of the frequent safety cars and neutralisations, being a typical street circuit. A one-stopper was the fastest option in 2022, when a safety car led to an early pit stop for most of the drivers, who went on to finish the race on the hard tyre. Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc fought hard on this strategy thanks also to the durability of the tyres, with the Red Bull driver winning by less than a second at the end of a great race. The teams will also have to work hard on car setup because they will only have free practice to fine-tune the balance on this track with the latest tyres. The first race in Bahrain was all about traction and braking but Jeddah instead focuses on lateral forces, with completely different characteristics to Sakhir.
Round 2 is complete, lets take a look at all the action from our first race of the double header.
FP1-
A little bit of rain didn’t dampen an action-packed Free Practice 1, with Jaguar TCS Racing’s Sam Bird topping the timesheets.
Less than a second split the top 10 runners, with DS PENSKE’s Jean-Eric Vergne slotting himself into second and his teammate Stoffel Vandoorne placing himself in fourth. Mitch Evans crossed the line third to make it a one-three result for team.
There was early drama as Rast was attempting to pass the reigning champion, but ended up making contact with Vandoorne’s car.
FP2-
Dan Ticktum led the pack with a time of 1m 10.099s – the first time he’s topped a Formula E session. The Briton also made an impressive 0.202s gap to Envision Racing’s Sebastien Buemi in second place behind.
The Jaguar TCS Racing powertains looked strong, Mitch Evans crossed the chequered flag third, and teammate Sam Bird followed in fifth.
Unfortunately for the ABT CUPRA of Nico Mueller, his session was brought to a half after whacking his Gen3 machine into a barrier. The heavy damage, which was sustained to the rear left of the car, saw him immediately forced to pull over and come to a stop.
Qualifying-
Envision Racing’s Sebastien Buemi fired to Julius Baer Pole Position for his 100th Formula E race at the CORE Diriyah E-Prix – Round 2, as he beat rookie, Jake Hughes at the last minute.
Hughes was told to push harder on his outlap to get the temperature up to a more optimal temp, he earlier pipped third-placed Dan Ticktum in the NIO 333 and Lucas Di Grassi (in the quarters).
Hughes hung it all out on his hot lap and over the half way point of the lap there was nothing between either driver… The McLaren racer pulled it out of the bag over the final sector to fend of a determined Buemi but the Swiss bit back, as he went ahead with a perfect Sector 3.
Round 2-
Pascal Wehrlein stormed from ninth to the race win in the 2023 Diriyah E-Prix Round 2, with standings leader Jake Dennis following home in second after working his way through the pack aswell.
The move for the lead came on Lap 30 at Turn 16, with Bird unable to hold back Wehrlein – both driver and car looking monstrous for a second race on the spin.
Dennis in the Porsche-powered Avalanche Andretti took the fight all the way to the line all the way back in 11th on the grid but he couldn’t find a way past the race leader.
Sam Bird was overjoyed to make the podium for the first time since winning in New York City back in Season 7 – calling it a ‘mini victory’ for himself and Jaguar after a tough Season 8 for the Brit.
The full top 10 are: P1: Wehrlein, P2: Dennis, P3: Bird, P4: Buemi, P5: Rast, P6: Cassidy, P7: Vergne, P8: Hughes, P9: Lotterer and P10: Evans.
The ABB FIA Formula E World Championship heads to Diriyah for Rounds 2 and 3 of Season 9 as we have a pair of night races in Saudi Arabia this weekend.
The Diriyah Street Circuit, just outside of the Saudi capital, Riyadh, forgoes the permanent circuit layout of the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City for a full street circuit – snaking the historic city’s walls at the UNESCO World Heritage site.
Its a second new challenge in as many weeks with the snaking, bumpy bobsleigh run of the Diriyah track a favourite of the drivers – and it’s one of the most demanding circuits on the calendar for balancing energy management and outright pace, through drivers have never found overtaking a problem.
With 21 twists and turns, the 2.495km Diriyah Street Circuit skirts around the historic World Heritage site. The Drivers face a challenging lap from the finish line as a technical first sector leads into the snaking Bobsleigh Run at Turn 6, a series of fast changes in quick succession.
Last year’s visit to Diriyah saw De Vries win Round 1, as well as his teammate making a 1-2 for the Mercedes EQ team and Edoardo Mortara then won Round 2.
Jordan's Track Talk 