Jordan's Track Talk

Tag: Round 3

  • F3 – Imola – Day 2 & 3

    Day 2-

    It was as you were at the start, with pole-sitter del Pino keeping teammate Tramnitz behind, while Mari Boya stayed in third ahead of fellow Campos driver Tsolov in fourth.

    In fifth, Noel Leon was coming under threat from PREMA Racing teammate Ugo Ugochukwu, as well Rodin Motorsport rookie Louis Sharp at the end of the opening lap.

    Tramnitz made the DRS count at the start of Lap 3 to take the lead from del Pino at the entry of Turn 2.

    Moments later, Ugochukwu overtook Leon at the same corner for fifth, but he soon dropped to sixth as Sharp completed a double overtake on both PREMA drivers at the exit of Turn 4.

    A Virtual Safety Car soon turned into a full Safety Car on Lap 5, as AIX Racing’s Nicola Marinangeli stopped on track at the exit of Tosa with a wheel off his car.

    Racing resumed at the start of Lap 9 of 18 and it was a good restart for the MP top two as they built up a 1.8s lead.
    Boya was struggling through and dropped from P3 to out of the points before another Safety Car came out.

    The Spaniard retired to the pit lane, while the marshals cleared Matias Sagazeta’s DAMS Lucas Oil car from the gravel at Tamburello, following an incident with Callum Voisin.

    Tramnitz once again had a good restart while del Pino held off Tsolov in the battle for second as Sharp kept a watching brief from P4.

    The DRS was enabled at the start of Lap 14 of 18 and del Pino was using it, not only to pull away from Tsolov, but also to close in on Tramnitz down the main straight.

    Leon had a scruffy lap as he ran wide at the exit of Turn 7 in a battle with Tuukka Taponen for seventh, dropping him to P9 behind Noah Stromsted.

    Roman Bilinksi, now in P6, was showing tremendous pace, setting the fastest time of the race on Lap 15, which brought him right onto the back of Ugochukwu.

    The Rodin driver was not close enough into Turn 2 to make a move, but behind him Stromsted was to take P7 from Taponen at the same corner.
    Onto the penultimate lap and Ugochukwu ran wide into the gravel at the entry to Acqua Minerali, dropping him from fifth to eighth.

    Tramnitz though had managed the race perfectly and crossed the line to take victory in the Imola Sprint as del Pino made it a first one-two in Formula 3 for MP Motorsport.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Tramnitz, P2: del Pino, P3: Tsolov, P4: Sharp, P5: Bilinski, P6: Tsolov, P7: Taponen, P8: Ugochukwu, P9: Leon and P10: Guisti.

    Day 3-

    It was a great start from Ramos, who got ahead of Camara on the run down to Turn 2, while Stromsted dropped to fifth after starting in P3, with Tuukka Taponen and Louis Sharp getting ahead.

    Camara was told over the radio to stay with Ramos and on Lap 4, the Brazilian retook the lead from the Van Amersfoort Racing driver.

    Trident was keen to make up for the start as Stromsted recovered one of the places he lost thanks to a nice move round the outside of Sharp on Lap 6 at Turn 2,

    Onto Lap 8, and Ramos had managed to stay within DRS range of Camara. The pair were over two seconds clear of Taponen, who was coming under pressure from Stromsted.

    The Dane got back to where he started after overtaking the ART Grand Prix driver into Turn 2. Just behind, Roman Bilinski overtook his Rodin Motorsport teammate Louis Sharp for fifth at the same corner.

    Further behind, MP Motorsport were making moves as Tim Tramnitz overtook Noel Leon for ninth at Piratella, while Alessandro Giusti dived to the inside of Nikola Tsolov at the penultimate corner.

    Boya was flying and moved past the Rodins on Lap 14 and 15, first Sharp an then Bilinski, both at Turn 2, putting him up to P5.

    Sharp was beginning to fall through the field and lost out to Tramnitz and Guisti, and by Lap 18 of 22 was in ninth.
    Ramos was closer than ever to Camara now at the start of Lap 19, and his race long pressure finally paid off, going to the outside of the Trident driver.

    Camara was in trouble now as he struggled on his tyres and after running wide at Acque Minerali, Stromsted was through to second.

    It was a team effort for MP on the penultimate lap as both Tramnitz and Giusti went round the outside of Bilinski at Turn 2, promoting then to P6 and P7 respectively.

    On to the final lap and Stromsted closed to within DRS range of Ramos, but the VAR driver held on to claim his first Formula 3 Feature Race victory.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Ramos, P2: Stromsted, P3: Camara, P4: Taponen, P5: Boya, P6: Tramnitz, P7: Giusti, P8: Bilinski, P9: Tsolov and P10: van Hoepen.

  • F3 – Imola – Day 1

    Practice-

    Rafael Camara made a positive start to his Imola weekend by topping the timesheets in Free Practice.
    The Trident driver’s 1:33.091 proved the time to beat ahead of the MP Motorsport duo of Alessandro Giusti and Tim Tramnitz.

    Domingues improved to a 1:34.891 but was followed across the line by PREMA Racing’s Noel Leon, who went fastest on a 1:34.740.

    Nicola Lacorte set the pace at his home race with a 1:35.682 early on for DAMS Lucas Oil, before the Van Amersfoort Racing driver, Ivan Domnigues, pushed him down to P2 with a 1:35.564.

    Track conditions continued to improve and the laps got faster still, and this time it was Brando Badoer on top for PREMA with a 1:34.162, a tenth quicker than his teammate Leon.

    But then came the Championship leader, Camara, and he went fastest on a 1:33.433, the Trident driver over seven-tenths faster than Badoer.
    However, Camara was joined in the top two by Giusti. The MP rookie went to second, 0.245s behind, with Stenshorne third.

    Camara continued to improve and lowered the time to beat to a 1:33.353.
    Tramnitz was right behind the Brazilian at the line and wound up 0.254s off P1.

    After a quick trip to the pit lane, the drivers were back out on the track and Camara again improved to a 1:33.091. However, Giusti was even closer this time around, just 0.074s behind his Trident rival.

    The Red Flags were out with less than three minutes to go, after Ugo Ugochukwu spun into the gravel at the exit of the Villeneuve chicane, before making slight contact with the barrier.

    With not much time left, the session was not resumed with Camara fastest ahead of the MP pairing of Giusti and Tramnitz.

    Qualifying-

    Rafael Camara made it three consecutive pole positions to start the 2025 season after leaving it late to take the top spot from Van Amersfoort’s Santiago Ramos at a dramatic Imola Qualifying.

    The Trident driver completed a 1:32.206 with his final lap of the day to take pole, beating Ramos by over two-tenths, with his teammate Noah Stromsted ending up thrd.

    Camaraa picked up from where he left off in Free Practice to go up to P1 early on.

    Several drivers were able to improve on their next flying attempts, but the majority of the grid opted to abort those laps, choosing to pit for a second set of medium tyres instead.

    With just over 16 minutes remaining, the drivers returned to the track and there were improvements across the board, as several climbed up the timesheets.

    But it was Badoer who went fastest on a 1:32.894, to eclipse Camara by just 0.015s.
    The Italian completed his lap at the right time as the Red Flags were waved moments later, with Campos Racing’s Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak stuck in the gravel at Acque Minerali.

    Running resumed with just over 11 minutes to go and 25 out of remaining 29 drivers went out, as all three Trident drivers remained in the pit lane alongside Callum Voisin.

    As the times came through, Ramos went fastest on a 1:32.442 for Van Amersfoort Racing, with Tuukka Taponen his closest challenger in P2, 0.092s.

    But as they completed their laps, the quartet in the pit lane returned to the track, and Camara completed his final attempt to go to provisional pole with a 1:32.306.

    The Brazilian beat Ramos by 0.236s to seal the first Aramco Pole Position Award as Stromsted also left it late to go to third.

  • F2 – Saudi Arabia – Day 2 & 3

    Day 2-

    Pole-sitter Verschoor has a great start to retain the lead while Marti jumped ahead of Gabriele Mini to take second after lining up in P3, going around the outside of the PREMA driver at Turn 1.

    Lindblad also had a good first lap for Campos, going from sixth on the grid to fourth, and he was right on the back of Mini going into the final corner of the first lap.

    However, the Brit’s progress was briefly halted as the Virtual Safety Car was deployed with the marshals having to clear Cian Shields’ car from the track.
    Racing resumed on Lap 3 and both Campos drivers were flying. First Lndblad used the DRS to get ahead of Mini going into the final corner.

    His teammate Marti then went around the outside again at Turn 1 to start Lap 4, this time on Verschoor to take the lead of the race.
    Verschoor though returned the favour on the next lap, pulling off a similar move on the Campos driver to retake the position.

    Crucially though, his overtake later earned him his five-second time penalty after being judged to have forced Marti off track to complete the move.

    Onto Lap 6 and the race began to settle down as the drivers looked to manage their medium tyres.
    Out in front, Verschoor had pulled out a 1.5s gap on Marti, who was now coming under pressure from Lindblad.

    The change for P2 came on Lap 8 as Marti ran wide at Turn 8, giving Lindblad the position. The Spaniard went off line again at the final corner and this time it was Mini who overtook him.

    However, the Campos driver retook the position with the help of DRS down the main straight. Mini then lost fourth place to Stanek at Turn 27, but their battle allowed Dunne to close in.
    The trio went three-wide into Turn 1, and the Rodin Motorsport driver came out on top to take 4th.

    As Lap 15 got underway, Jak Crawford used DRS to get ahead of Leonardo Fornaroli into Turn 1, pushing the DAMS Lucas Oil driver up to seventh.

    The American was flying and was right on the back of Mini through the entirety of the lap. He looked to make another move into Turn 1 but collided with the PREMA driver before spinning into a stoppage, bringing out the Safety Car.

    Action resumed on Lap 18 and Verschoor stayed ahead of Lindblad, but Mini’s struggles continued, as Fornaroli overtook him for P6 down the main straight.

    DRS was enabled on Lap 19, but Verschoor was 1.2s ahead of Lindblad as they approached the second sector.

    On to the final lap, and Verschoor’s penalty was confirmed meaning that while the MP driver crossed the line first, Lindblad followed and claimed P1,, making him the youngest winner in the Championship’s history.

    The points finishers are- P1: Lindblad, P2: Marti, P3: Dunne, P4: Verschoor, P5: Stanek, P6: Mini, P7: Fornaroli and P8: Martins.

    Day 3-

    Crawford covered off Martins from the front row, while Sprint Race winner Arvid Linblad lost fifth to Alexander Dunne at Turn 4 after losing a battle with Luke Browning for P4 at the opening chicane.

    Josep Maria Marti then relegated Lindblad to seventh on Lap 2, passing around the outside at Turns 1 and 2 as the Campos Racing teammates kept itc clean going wheel-to-wheel.

    Having been cooped up underneath the rear wing of the Invicta Racing driver for several laps, Browning used DRS along the main straight to take third from Leonardo Fornaroli on Lap 6.
    Dunne made a late dive to bump the Italian down another position into Turn 1.

    Fornaroli, Marti and Gabriele Mini were in on Lap 7 for their mandatory pitstops and switched to the Medium tyres.
    It promoted Verschoor into free air in fifth, the MP driver in the highest placed car on the alternative strategy having started on the yellow-walled compound.

    Leader Crawford pitted on the following lap, as did Browning and Dunne from the top five, they then rejoined in 11th, 12th and 13th respectively.

    Dunne and Browning went side by side into Turn 1 but the Rodin driver went deep into the corner and rejoined, baulking Browning and allowing Fornaroli to sneak by both for 11th on the road.

    The Virtual Safety Car was then deployed to recover debris on track just before Martins and Crawford reached the first DRS zone of the lap, allowing the ART driver some respite with his tyres not yet up to racing temperature.

    The VSC was withdrawn towards the end of Lap 19 and Crawford on the rear wing of the effective race leader.
    The DAMS driver used DRS to get alongside the Frenchman into Turn 1, and the duo went side by side all the way to Turn 4.

    Crawford got a great exit from Turn 27 to set up the pass on the following lap, taking ninth on the road from Martins with DRS along the main striaght.

    Behind them, Browning had Dunne, Marti and Mini for close company and the Spaniard made the first move, diving to the inside of the Rodin rookie at Turn 27 to P13.

    Race leader, Verschoor was carrying on nicely. He had a comfortable gap back to second placed Kush Maini and continued to lap quicker than Crawford, with several purple sector times and fastest laps approaching 10 laps to go.

    By Lap 24, the Dutch driver had a 26.8s gap over Crawford and the MP driver was into the pitlane for his switch to Supersofts. With a clean stop, he rejoined behind Crawford but crucially ahead of Martins in P4.

    With four laps to go, Verschoor was three seconds back from Crawford. Across the line into the final three laps, it was down to 2.5s and onto the penultimate tour, the Dutch driver cut the deficit to 1.3s.

    Through the first sector on Lap 27 and Verschoor was into DRS range on the DAMS driver ahead. Out of Turn 27 and he was right underneath the rear wing and across the line with DRS, Verschoor surged by for the race lead on the final lap.

    The Dutch driver claimed victory with a redemption drive.
    Crawford was second ahead of Martins, who held off Fornaroli for the final spot on the podium.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Verschoor, P2: Crawford, P3: Martins, P4: Fornaroli, P5: Marti, P6: Browning, P7: Lindblad, P8: Dunne, P9: Mini and P10: Maini.

  • F2 – Saudi Arabia – Day 1

    Practice-

    Victor Martins made a positive start to Round 3, ending up fastest for ART Grand Prix in Free Practice. A 1:45.671 was the time to beat in a session that got quicker with every lap completed.

    Roman Stanek started positively too for Invicta Racing, finishing second ahead of Dino Beganovic, who made a late improvement to go third for Hitech TGR.

    After the tyre preparation laps, Joshua Duerksen set an early benchmark with a 1:49.034 for AIX Racing.

    The times fell with every subsequent lap as Martins put ART on top with 10 minutes run on a 1:47.735, until Kush Maini pipped him by 0.012s.
    Stanek was next to go quickest, a 1:47.689 by the Invicta driver meant the top three was separated by just 0.046s.

    The trio improved once again but this time it was Maini who led the way, 1:46.437 for the DAMS Lucas Oil driver leaving his 0.3s clear ahead of Stanek and F2’s latest Feature Race winner, Alexander Dunne.

    Jak Crawford put in an improved to cut the deficit to teammate Maini to just 0.013s, but Martins went back to the top shortly afterwards.

    Duerksen returned to P1 with 15 minutes to go of the session as the Paraguayan set a 1:46.387, leaving the top five separated by less than a tenth of a second.

    Stanek then restored Invicta to the top of the pile as he moved onto a 1:46.217. Crawford cut the gap to 0.031s as he improved to second as Martins then went third and 0.087s off the top.

    Gabriele Mini took P1 for PREMA Racing, but only briefly, as a storming lap by Stanek resulted in a 1:45.820 and the fastest time once again.

    Into the final five minutes, and times continued to fall, Martins laid down the marker of a 1:45.671 to go back ahead of Stanek.
    A last minute improvement from Beganovic put him third ahead of Duerksen.

    Qualifying-

    DAMS Lucas Oil’s Jak Crawford left it to his last lap of the day to take pole position in Jeddah, beating ART Grand Prix rival Victor Martins for the top spot by just 0.022s in a fascinating qualifying session.

    Martins had looked set for pole after completing his first flying lap, but Crawford’s 1:43.579 was enough to take the top spot, as Invicta Racing’s Leonardo Fornaroli rounded out the top three.

    Martins set the early pace after the first set of laps, the Frenchman completing a 1:44.559 to lead Rodin Motorsport’s Alexander Dunne by 0.323s.

    The drivers though were able to push on for a second attempt on their Supersoft tyres, and on this occasion, it was Arvid Lindblad on top thanks to a 1:44.250.
    Martins kept his place in the top two though, albeit 0.073s off the Campos Racing rookie.

    Several drivers, including Lindblad, then set off for a third flying lap. However, they aborted those attempts to head into the pit lane for a new set of tyres.

    With just over 11 minutes to go in the session, the drivers came back out on the track on their new sets of tyres.

    Gabriele Mini used that fresh rubber to rocket up to the top of the timesheets, only for Luke Browning to quickly drop him down in P2.

    As the rest of the field looked to complete their laps though, the red flags were waved following John Bennett’s crash into the barrier at Turn 17.

    Once the car was cleared from the track the session resumed with 5 minutes remaining, which led to a flurry of activity with only enough time for one flying lap.

    Crawford rose to the top with a 1:43.579, beating Martins by just 0.022s to give DAMS their first pole since Melbourne in 2023.

    The full top 10 are- Pole: Crawford, P2: Martins, P3: Fornaroli, P4: Browning, P5: Lindblad, P6: Dunne, P7: Marti, P8: Mini, P9: Verschoor and P10: Stanek.

  • R3 – Japan

    Max Verstappen scored his first victory of the 2025 season with a masterful drive to P1 in the Japanese Grand Prix, the World Champion holding off the McLaren pair of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri to claim his fourth consecutive win at the Suzuka Circuit.

    After making a strong start from pole position, Verstappen held a decent lead over the McLaren’s throughout the early stages.
    Drama then ensued during the pit stop phase when the Dutchman’s slightly slow stop saw Norris – who had pitted on the same lap – try to go side by side at the pit exit, resulting in the McLaren man having to take to the grass while Verstappen remained ahead.

    While both drivers voiced their unhappiness about the incident over the team radio, the stewards opted not to investigate and Verstappen remained ahead of Norris as the race progressed, building a gap back to the Briton.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Verstappen, P2: Norris, P3: Piastri, P4: Leclerc, P5: Russell, P6: Antonelli, P7: Hamilton, P8: Hadjar, P9: Albon and P10: Bearman.

    What a great result from Verstappen and Red Bull! Their first win of the season and it all started from a lovely qualifying lap on Saturday and then the Dutchman just put everything together on Sunday to secure the win!
    As for his new teammate, Tsunoda, he finished 12th, just outside the points.

    A lovely result from McLaren, P2 for Norris and P3 for Piastri a very strong weekend for both drivers, they were bringing the heat to Verstappen but it wasn’t enough to grab the win.

    P4 for Leclerc! A lovely result for the Ferrari driver, especially after their horrible weekend in China, it’s unfortunate they couldn’t get on the podium but it was close enough. It was P7 for Hamilton, not too bad but definitely not the worse and still some points in the bag for the team.

    P5 for Russell and P6 Antonelli, a decent weekend for the Mercedes boys. Antonelli seems to be settling in comfortably at the Silver Arrows, and is rewarded with points once again!

    P8 for Hadjar! What a start of a season for him in his rookie campaign! He is doing well and I’m looking forward to seeing what he can do for the rest of the season.

  • R3 – Tyre Selection

    The Suzuka track is one of the most spectacular and demanding on the calendar, as well as being the only circuit of the season with a figure of eight layout.
    Located in the Mie Prefecture, the venue is owned by Honda whose Suzuka factory, built in 1960 is one of its main sites in Japan.

    The track is regarded as being demanding for both car and driver, 5.807 kilometres in length, it is made up of 18 corners, some of which are part of motor racing history, such as the Esses in the first sector.

    The C1, the hard compound of the 2025 range, makes its season debut at this the third round, joined as usual by the C2 (Medium) and C3 (Soft).
    That’s because Suzuka is one of the toughest tracks on the calendar when it comes to tyres and Pirelli has therefore always selected the hardest trio of compounds.

    Something new for this year is the fact that a large part of the track has been resurfaced, from the exit of the last chicane to the end of the first sector.
    This is an important section, as it features medium and high speed corners, some of them long ones, such as the first two after the start-finish straight, where tyres come under a lot of stress.

    As already mentioned, the three hardest compounds in the range will be available. It is worth noting that, of the three, the C1 is the one that most closely resembles its 2024 iteration, while the C2 especially and the C3, have undergone the most changes in terms of performance, being softer than last year.

    In 2024, the race was won by Max Verstappen, followed home by Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez and the then Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz.
    The field was split pretty fairly evenly between the Medium and Soft for the first stint, with 12 choosing the C2 and eight the C3.

    But the race strategy was then influenced by the race being red flagged following a collision between Albon and Ricciardo, with seven drivers changing compounds for the restart off the grid.

  • Red Bull unveil special livery for Japanese GP

    Red Bull have revealed a special one-off livery that will adorn the RB21 during the Japanese Grand Prix weekend, with the team running a striking white and red design to honour the final year of their partnership with Honda.

    In an event that will see Yuki Tsunoda step up as Max Verstappen’s new team mate in front of his home crowd – following the decision to swap the Japanese driver with Liam Lawson the latter returning to Racing Bulls – Red Bull’s challenger will pay tribute to Honda by sporting a design inspired by the RA272, which gave the engine manufacturer its inaugural win back in 1965.

    The livery recreates the RA272’s Japanese flag motif, featuring the ‘H’ logo on the nose and the simple Honda logo on the rear of the bodywork, while a special logo commemorating the 60th anniversary of Honda’s debut victory will be displayed on the Red Bull and Racing Bulls cars during the weekend.

    This is not the first time that Red Bull have raced in white, with the squad having previously run a special livery at the 2021 Turkish Grand Prix.

    Our relationship with Honda deserves celebration, it has been one of continued success and brought the team one of the most triumphant and dominant periods in our history. Max has won four world titles with a Honda power unit, and the team have lifted two Constructors’ titles. In addition, Honda’s reliability enabled it to complete the most successful season in the sport’s history in 2023. This livery is a tribute to Honda’s success in the sport and the final year of what has been a thoroughly enjoyable partnership. I am looking forward to seeing it out on track.
    Horner on the special livery.

    It is quite moving to see the RA272 tribute livery on the latest Red Bull Racing machine, in the final year of Honda and Red Bull’s partnership. Our successful path will continue to shine in the history of F1.
    Koji Watanabe, President of Honda Racing Corporation (HRC).

  • Haas reveal livery for Japanese Grand Prix

    The Haas F1 team has revealed a beautiful new livery for the upcoming Japanese Grand Prix, celebrating the iconic cherry blossom of the country.

    The pink livery, which lays over the traditional 2025 livery of the American team celebrates the connection that’s growing between Haas and Japan.

    The team has transformed its VF-25 car with a cherry blossom inspired livery, “paying homage” to the natural beauty of the Sakura. This will feature across both cars over the weekend.

    There’s more to this change than just aesthetics. A strong relationship between the team and the country has formed over the past year, after a multi-year technical partnership with Toyota was confirmed in October 2024, seeing the manufacturer return to the sport for the first time since 2009.

    This will see Toyota Gazoo Racing working with Haas on design, technical and manufacturing services, something that will help the team build their capabilities under new leadership from team principal Ayao Komatsu.

  • RND 3 – Jeddah E-Prix

    FP1-

    Formula E’s most recent race winner continued his strong pace and topped the timesheets for FP1 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

    Nissan’s, Oliver Rowland was quickest in the Free Practice session in Jeddah, with his teammate Norman Nato taking second.
    It’s a promising start for the Nissan powertrains, especially with McLaren’s Sam Bird finishing the season in fourth.

    There was early drama between Pascal Wehrlein and Oliver Rowland as the two came close to contact as they scoped out the circuit.

    Jake Hughes set a great lap halfway into the session, going over a second and a half quicker than Rowland who was in P1 before the Maserati MSG Racing driver knocked him off the top spot.

    Zane Maloney and Lucas di Grassi received a drop of 20 grid positions for breaking the seal on their respective MGUS after Lola Yamaha ABT sought permission to perform checks and resolve a technical issue post round 2.

    FP2-

    TAG Heuer Porsche’s Antonio Felix da Costa was quickest in the Free Practice 2 in Jeddah, as the grid prepared for the first qualifying session at the new Saudi Arabian circuit.
    Maximilian Guenther finished second for DS PENSKE and Maserati MSG Racing’s Jake Hughes third.

    Just under 10 minutes in, and it was Lola Yamaha ABT’s Lucas di Grassi who was top of the timesheets with a 1m17.150s.
    However, the session was brought to a brief halt after Robin Frijns was forced to come to a stop at Turn 13. The Dutchman mentioned troubles with rear brakes on team radio with yellow flags deployed for his Envision, which became a red flag.

    Once the session got going again, it was Maximilian Guenther and his DS PENSKE who was quickest, taking a second a half out of di Grassi’s previous lap.

    With 10 minutes to go, da Costa had set the benchmark with a 1m15.470s. His time wasn’t beaten after another red flag was deployed in the final minutes of the session due to a clash with Mahindra’s Nyck de Vries and Maserati’s Stoffel Vandoorne coming together.
    The former teammates had a misunderstanding on track, with de Vries on a faster lap clipping Vandoorne’s car and ending up in the barrier.

    Qualifying-

    Maximilian Guenther achieved his first Julius Baer Pole Position since singing for his new team DS PENSKE, as he lined up alongside TAG Heuer Porsche’s Pascal Wehrlein.

    Taylor Barnard had a fantastic session for NEOM McLaren as he started on the second row of the grid next to Nissan’s Oliver Rowland.

    The full top 10 are- Pole: Guenther, P2: Wehrlein, P3: Rowland, P4: Barnard, P5: Evans, P6: De Vries, P7: Hughes, P8: Ticktum, P9: Cassidy and P10: Vergne.

    Mahindra Racing’s Edoardo Mortara failed to set a time after a technical failure, so he had a lot of work to do in the race, apart from that there wasn’t too much drama in the qualifying session.

    Round 3-

    Polesitter Guenther led the field away through the tight left right of Turns 1 & 2 while Rowland edged by Wehlrein at Turn 4 with the Porsche slipping wide of the apex.

    Things would go from bad to worse soon afterwards for the reigning champion as the front wing of Mitch Evans’ Jaguar came into contact with Wehrlein’s rear tyre.

    With the debut of PIT BOOST and the 10% additional energy that brings, the field spaced out – Guenther racing to a two second lead come Lap 4 over Rowland.

    Guenther started to save energy as he brought the four behind him into play, all running in a pack with a gap back to Vergne in 6th.
    However, on Lap 8, the safety car bunched everyone back up together again.

    The German led the field away again on Lap 9 as things were. De Vries made moves for third at Turn 14 on Taylor Barnard on Lap 10.
    A lap later and Guenther ceded the race lead on track to Rowland at the same corner – the DS PENSKE driver looking to save up some energy having led from the front.

    Lap 14 brought about the first ever PIT BOOST stops. Hughes, Barnard and da Costa were the first to make the leap – looking to undercut with some flat out laps under ATTACK MODE following their 10% energy boosts.

    Rowland headed the way by some four seconds in had with less than 10 laps to go, from de Vries, Guenther, Hughes, Barnard, Mortara, Vergne, da Costa, Dennis and Buemi.

    De Vries drew that gap to Rowland down to two seconds by Lap 26, though as the leaders set about their second and final 50kW ATTACK MODE boosts and it was Guenther that leapt into second to spearhead the charge after the lead Nissan.

    From there, it was four lap duel to the chequered flag for the win but Barnard joined the fun on the final tour having dispatched de Vries a lap earlier.

    Guenther jumped Rowland on the way into the final chicane, energy in had with Rowland having to back off. The lead four fired to the line which was led by the German for his first win since Tokyo last season.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Guenther, P2: Rowland, P3: Barnard, P4: De Vries, P5: Hughes, P6: Vergne, P7: Mortara, P8: Bird, P9: Da Costa and P10: Vandoorne.

  • F3 – RND 3 Day 2 & 3

    Day 2-

    Polesitter Kacper Sztuka had Leon tucked intot he slipstream from lights out and with the tow, the Mexican rounded the MP rookie to take the lead into the first chicane.
    Tramnitz followed through on his teammate to take second place before Goethe then moved himself up to third, having started sixth on the grid.

    Contact for Campos’ Mari Boya left the Spaniard spinning at Turn 6 and in the gravel. That brought out the Safety Car before the opening lap was even completed.

    Leon led the restart entering lap 4, with a comfortable buffer over Tramnitz in second and the VAR driver’s lead was 1.2s after the first lap under racing conditions.

    The Safety Car came back out on lap 5, after Callum Voisin found the barriers on the exit of Turn 7.
    Contact with the Jenzer Motorsport car belonging to Charlie Wurz bounced the Rodin Motorsport driver wide and then into the wall.

    Leon didn’t get the same launch as first time around as racing got back underway on lap 8, but despite his best efforts, Tramnitz couldn’t find room to pass into the first chicane.

    Further back, Sami Meguetounif went spinning into the gravel after the slightest of touches with the rear of Dino Beganovic’s PREMA ahead of him into Turn 2.
    The Trident driver was left beached in the gravel and out of the race, requiring another Safety Car.

    Gabriele Mini had been tucked up behind the ART Grand Prix car of Laurens van Hoepen, but the Italian driver finally cleared him into Turns 5 & 6 with a brave pass into the chicane.

    There was a fourth Safety Car deployed on lap 13, but it was quickly withdrawn, and racing resumed on lap 15.
    Once again, Leon managed the restart perfectly to keep hold of the lead as the top three broke clear of the chasing pack.

    Beganovic was able to pass Sztuka for fourth with two laps to go, as the Swede made his way by the MP rookie into the first chicane. Browning tried to follow the PREMA through but suffered contact with the Polish driver that broke his front wing and left him in the gravel at Turn 7.

    The brief Virtual Safety car which was withdrawn on the final lap allowed Goethe to catch Leon unaware and take the lead out of Turn 15. The German led through the final corners to earn the Imola Sprint victory.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Goethe, P2: Tramnitz, P3: Leon, P4: Beganoivc, P5: Sztuka, P6: Mini, P7: van Hoepen, P8: Lindblad, P9: Bedrin and P10: Ramos.

    Day 3-

    Santiago Ramos perfected his start and led the trio of Tridents flying in formation to the first chicane, Fornaroli and Meguetounif with tows close behind.

    Sprint race winner, Oliver Goethe was following the Prema of Arvid Lindblad in the battle for fourth after climbing up three spots on the opening lap. The Campos driver was able to find a route through on the second lap to take P4 from the Briton.

    Onto Lap 3 and Fornaroli had the tow with DRS to sweep into the lead of the race into the first chicane.
    Further back, Goethe took third from Meguetounif while Luke Browning made a move on the Prema of Dino Beganovic into the same corner.

    With DRS, Goethe was by the pole sitter Ramos at Turn 2 on lap 5, brave on the brakes to sweep around the outside of the Mexican for P2.
    One lap later and the Red Bull Junior had the lead of the race after an issue for Fornaroli on the main straight put him down to fifth position.

    Trident teammates Ramos and Meguetounif were in battle on lap 12 as the Frenchman cleared taking second position into Turn 2. Goethe meanwhile had built up his advantage in the lead and was ahead by 2.5s at the halfway point.

    Fornaroli’s fightback continued at the expense of Ramos on lap 14, clearing his teammate to take third. Browning moved ahead of the Mexican driver on the next lap to move himself into P4 to keep title rival Fornaroli in sight.

    Up ahead, Meguetounif had slowly closed down the gap on race leader Geothe and moved to within DRS range going into lap 17, just 0.7s behind across the line.

    With five laps to go, the Frenchman rounded the Campos driver to take the lead at the first chicane, though Fornaroli was catching the pair with a lap over a second quicker that the top two.

    The Italian was into DRS range of Goethe on lap 19 but couldn’t find a way to pass the Campos driver before the end.
    This left Meguetounif to take his maiden Formula 3 race win on Trident home soil ahead of Goethe and Fornaroli.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Meguetounif, P2: Goethe, P3: Fornaroli, P4: Browning, P5: Beganovic, P6: Mini, P7: Lindblad, P8: Ramos, P9: Boya and P10: Montoya.

  • F3 – RND 3 Day 1

    Free Practice-

    Campos Racing’s Oliver Goethe was the man to beat in Free Practice around Imola, with the German driver’s 1:32.047 the time to beat in the opening session of the weekend.
    Hitech Pulse-Eight’s Luke Browning finished in P2, 0.3s down on the top time while Mari Boya made it two Campos cars in the top three.

    A very quiet opening 10 minutes gave way to some early laptimes, and it was Joseph Loake that went quickest for Rodin Motorsport. His 1:36.795 put him fastest in the initial stages before the rest of the field ventured out.

    PREMA Racing’s Arvid Lindblad lowered the benchmark to a 1:33.784 on his first lap, with ART Grand Prix driver Christian Mansell slotting into P2, 0.2s down.

    There was a red flag with 24 minutes of the session to go after Campos Racing’s Sebastian Montoya found the barriers at the exit of Turn 15, running resumed with 18 minutes left.

    Wurz’s teammate Max Esterson was next to take over in P1, before Browning put in a 1:32.367 to go comfortably quickest with just over 10 minutes to go.

    Goethe closed the gap down to the leader to just under a tenth of a second before then going to the top of the times on his next effort.
    A 1:32.047 put him 0.3s clear of the pack with five minutes left.

    A second red flag quickly followed after Piotr Wisnicki slid into the barriers at Turn 9, with little time left, the session wasn’t restarted.

    Qualifying-

    Santiago Ramos saved his best for last to lead teammates Leonardo Fornaroli and Sami Meguetounif in an exciting Imola Qualifying session.
    The Mexican’s 1:31.767 put him on pole in the final moments to top a Trident 1-2-3 result!

    With tyre preparation laps completed, PREMA Racing’s Gabriele Mini led the way on a 1:32.598 ahead of compatriot Fornaroli. ART Grand Prix rookie Laurens van Hoepen filtered through in third, 0.172s down on the top effort.

    There was a red flag with 10 minutes gone after Rodin Motorsport’s Callum Voisin spun into the gravel at Turn 4.
    The session resumed and Oliver Goethe took over at the top. The Campos Racing driver carried on his form from Practice to pip Mini and to take provisional pole by 0.081s.

    Most drivers returned to the pits with just under half of the qualifying session remaining, but Fornaroli stayed on track and put in his personal best to go 0.3s clear in P1 on a 1:32.159. MP Motorsport’s Alex Dunne followed suit and move himself up to second, 0.141s behind with 12 minutes to go.

    Dino Beganovic was the first to improve, just 0.003s quicker than Fornaroli’s earlier time. Teammate Arvid Lindblad then took over with a 1:32.109.

    Into the final two minutes and there were green and purple sectors throughout the field. Fornaroli restored himself onto provisional pole to go 0.2s quicker than Lindblad.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Ramos, P2: Fornaroli, P3: Meguetounif, P4: Lindblad, P5: Beganovic, P6: Mini, P7: Goethe, P8: Van Hoepen, P9: Browning and P10: Tramnitz.

  • F2 – RND 3 Day 2 & 3

    Day 2-

    A slow getaway from the front row gave Hadjar the momentum to take the lead, but as the Frenchman moved to pass pole-sitter Stanek, he tapped teammate Josep Maria Marti who collided with Gabriel Bortoleto.

    Victor Martins was a big winner of lap 1, where he climbed eight places from P21 to 13th in the space of half a lap.

    After five laps behind the Safety Car, racing got underway entering lap 7, but Zane Maloney had a tough restart, dropping from fifth position to 10th after running into the gravel out of Turn 6.

    The fight for second was a five-car battle headed by Stanek, with the chasing pack bunched up behind closely. Going into Turn 12 on lap 10, a spin for Andrea Kimi Antonelli sent Richard Verschoor spinning also, while Paul Aron sustained front wing damage in the process.
    The PREMA and Trident drivers were out on the spot and the Safety Car was called upon.

    Back to racing, Hadjar got the jump on Stanek once again to establish a comfortable lead. A fastest lap with seven to go gave him a lead of three seconds over the Trident driver, who was defending hard from Maini behind.

    Onto the penultimate lap and Hauger finally got the move done on Maini to take third, sweeping around the outside of the Invicta driver at Turn 9 to take the place.

    Hadjar had disappeared into the distance after the final Safety Car and crossed the line to win by over six seconds.
    However, Isack Hadjar has been handed a 10 second time penalty after the race as he was found to cause a collision at the start of the race. Which means he loses his victory and drops down to sixth.

    So the top 10 is- P1: Stanek, P2: Hauger, P3: Maini, P4: Colapinto, P5: Miyata, P6: Hadjar, P7: Martins, P8: O’Sullivan, P9: Crawford and P10: Maloney.

    Day 3-

    Dennis Hauger got the perfect start to lead Andrea Kimi Antonelli into Turn 1. Contact further back in the pack between Zak O’Sullivan and Roman Stanek left the sprint winner spinning and put him last in the order.

    Further around the first lap, Antonelli made a dive to the inside of the polesitter to secure P1 at Turn 11, but the MP driver responded on the following tour to retake the lead at Turn 9.

    There was a brief virtual Safety Car on Lap 7 to recover Joshua Duerksen’s car following contact with O’Sullivan at Turn 13.
    Racing was resumed and Maini was on the move, he took the lead from Hauger on Lap 9 before the Norwegian led Antonelli and the first leaders in for mandatory stops, filtering back out just outside of the top 10.

    The polesitter’s day was over shortly afterwards though, as he crashed at Turn 6 to bring out the Virtual Safety Car on lap 11.
    Isack Hadjar made his mandatory stop before the VSC was deployed to come back out ahead of Antonelli on the road in 8th.

    Hadjar cleared the yet to stop Taylor Banard for sixth to put a car between himself and his closest rival. The Frenchman was on the move on the following lap, taking fifth from Enzo Fittipaldi at Turn 9.
    The Campos driver’s charge continued at the expense of Stanek on Lap 20, easing by the Trident driver with DRS on the back straight.

    Having cleared teammate Ritomo Miyata, Maloney was next to pass Barnard to move himself up to ninth position and he set off in pursuit of the PREMA driver further ahead.

    Lap 24, and with Stanek battling to stay ahead of Fittipaldi, the VAR driver ran out of room at Turn 4 to allow Aron, Antonelli and Maloney through.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Hadjar, P2: Aron, P3: Maloney, P4: Antonelli, P5: Miyata, P6: Verschoor, P7: Colapinto, P8: Villagomez, P9: Martins and P10: Bearman.

    However, Colapinto has been disqualified from the race as he was found to have not engaged the race start set up procedure at the start of the race in breach of technical regulations. The Argentinian loses P7 with Jak Crawford moving up into the final points position.

  • RW 3 – Australia

    Well Australia always provides some drama in the race and we certainly got some of that!

    Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz took his and the team’s first win of the season, taking advantage of Max Verstappen’s technical trouble which resulted in the first non-Red Bull win of the season.

    Bidding for a record-equalling 10th victory in a row, Verstappen converted his pole position advantage as the race got under way but soon reported issues, with a compromised second lap which opened the door for Sainz to take the lead.
    From there, Verstappen’s brake-related woes got worse and with plumes of smoke exiting the rear of his RB20 he then returned to the pits and retired for the first time in two years.

    Carlos Sainz was followed closely by his teammate, Charles Leclerc making it a 1-2 for the Italian team! And rounding out the podium places is Mr Lando Norris, his first of the season.

    The full top 10 is- P1: Sainz, P2: Leclerc, P3: Norris, P4: Piastri, P5: Perez, P6: Alonso, P7: Stroll, P8: Tsunoda, P9: Hulkenberg and P10: Magnussen.

    What a drive from Carlos Sainz, who is still not feeling 100% performed a drive which should really secure him a seat next year!

    Obviously very gutting for Max Verstappen, it’s very rare for him to have a DNF due to something wrong on the car, I had no doubt he would of been fighting for the win if it didn’t happen, but it’s racing that is just the way it goes sometimes.

    Points for Tsunoda!! He pretty much stayed in the top 10 all race unless he pitted, the team and Japanese driver will be happy with that after their start to the season.

    Double points for Haas aswell! They had a really good race today, good pit stops and it benefited them as they were there incase anything happened within the top teams which it did.

    A disappointing day for Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton had a mechanical issue which saw him pull over to the side and then on the last lap George Russell was chasing Fernando Alonso down for P6 and ended up spinning and crashing which was a nasty crash but luckily he is all okay.
    Mercedes will be wanting to forget this weekend and just move onto the next race.

    However due to the crash with Russell, Fernando Alonso has been given a 20 second time penalty ( drive through) as the stewards determined the Spanish drivers driving was “potentially dangerous” which has dropped the driver down to P8.

    Now looking onto Round 4, we head to Japan for the Japanese Grand Prix from the 5th to 7th of April!

  • F2 – RND 3 Day 1

    Practice-

    Dennis Hauger ended practice fastest of all for MP Motorsport, recording a 1:29.654 to hit the ground running in Melbourne. Isack Hadjar followed in P2, the Campos driver just 0.001s down on the fastest laptime while Andrea Kimi Antonelli led the PREMA Racing charge in third.

    Not long after the green light, Amaury Cordeel brought out an early Red Flag after running deep at Turn 1 and becoming beached in the gravel trap.

    Once the Hitech Pulse-Eight car was clear, the top spot changed hands multiple times, but Victor Martin led the way for ART Grand Prix after he set a 1:32.359, 0.074s clear of teammate Zak O’Sullivan.

    That was swiftly beaten by Gabriel Bortoleto as he moved up to P1 on a 1:31.043. Rodin Motorsport’s Zane Maloney went second-quickest until Antonelli closed the gap to the Brazilian to just 0.130s.

    The track continued to improve rapidly as Bortoleto improved on his next lap to lower the time to beat to a 1:30.373.
    Hauger bettered that by 0.070s shortly afterwards, while Martins went third overall a further 0.008s further back from the Norwegian.

    The MP driver then went to the top himself, a 1:29.654 leaving him 0.4s quicker than Antonelli, who moved up to second with over 15 minutes to go.

    Paul Aron suffered a similar spin at Turn 1 as his teammate but was able to recover to the circuit and continue on his way.
    There was a few more improvements in the latter stages of the session, though Hadjar was able to move himself up to second.

    The second red flag of the session came with three minutes remaining, as Van Amersfoort Racing’s Rafael Villagomez spun and came to a stop at Turn 2 which brought an early end to the session.

    Qualifying-

    Dennis Hauger made it a Friday sweep for MP Motorsport, taking pole position in Melbourne after topping Practice timesheets.

    The Norwegian beat PREMA Racing’s Andrea Kimi Antonelli to the top spot with his final flying lap to record a 1:28.694. Richard Verschoor made a late improvement to end up third overall.

    Before any laps were on the board, the red flags were waved after ART Grand Prix’s Victor Martins came to a half at Turn 7 after a spin on corner exit. He managed to avoid the barriers, but his session was over and his car was recovered.

    Once action resumed, Kush Maini set the initial benchmark with a 1:30.359.
    Hitech Pulse Eight’s Paul Aron then took over P1 with a 1:29,984 while Hauger was just 0.031s down on that effort in second.

    With 14 minutes left, cars returned to the pits for fresh supersoft tyres heading into the final runs of the session

    Once back on track, Maloney took to the top spot with a 1:29.374 just prior to the second red flag of the session. Jak Crawford lost his DAMS Lucas Oil car and hit the barriers at Turn 12.

    Qualifying got back underway with 4:14 left on the clock and the top four were separated by less than a tenth of a second.
    Bortoleto was set to make an improvement but ran off the road at Turn 12.

    The full top 10 are- Pole: Hauger, P2: Antonelli, P3: Verschoor, P4: Maini, P5: Maloney, P6: Aron, P7: Marti, P8: Hadjar, P9: Bortoleto and P10: Stanek.

  • RW 3 – Australia Qualifying

    Max Verstappen claimed an assured pole position in qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix with Carlos Sainz following closely behind in second and Sergio Perez in third.

    After setting a time of 1m 16.048s in the first runs of Q3, the Dutchman improved on his effort in his final laps with a 1,15.915s. This put him 0.270s clear of Sainz, who looked impressive in his first qualifying since returning following surgery for appendicitis two weeks ago.

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

    However, Sergio Perez has been handed a three place grid penalty for impeding Hulkenberg. So he will now be starting from P6, and Lando Norris, Charles Leclerc and Oscar Piastri all move up a place.

    A great result from Carlos Sainz, just what the Spanish driver needed especially after missing the previous race, plus his also on a search for a seat for next season so a great performance from him.

    Yuki Tsunodaaaa, in Q3! Great result from him, him and the team will be wanting to score some points this weekend and that means capitalize on his great qualifying position. However for his teammate, not a great day at all, Daniel Ricciardo qualifying P18 at his home race, he will be wanting to make up as many positions as possible.

    A decent result from George Russell, unfortunately for Lewis Hamilton, he was pushed out of the top 10 in the final moments of Q2 and will be starting P11 tomorrow, which isn’t the worst place but he is in the middle of the pack so he will want to take it easy and not get in any trouble.

    Esteban Ocon got into Q2 and qualified P15, after he brushed the wall in Q1. Another little mention to Valtteri Bottas a keen fan of Australia will be starting from P13.

    The McLaren duo had a good qualifying aswell, they will be looking to score a podium this weekend, especially because of Oscar Piastri a podium at home? Any driver would want that!

  • Albon to take over Sargeant’s car after FP1 crash

    Williams have announced that Alex Albon will be taking over the car of his teammate Logan Sargeant for the remainder of the 2024 Australian Grand Prix weekend, following his crash in Free Practice 1.

    Towards the end of FP1, Albon lost control of his Williams FW46 at the exit of Turn 6 at Albert Park, running over the kerbs and then spinning out into the wall on the other side of the track.

    Luckily Albon was unharmed but he was forced to sit out of Free Practice 2 as Williams confirmed they have no third chassis available this weekend so they had to assess the damage to the car.

    With that damage to have been too significant to continue using the chassis, the team made the call for Albon to take over the car of teammate Sargeant.
    The Thai driver, last season claimed 27 of the team’s 28 points helped the team to finish P7 in the constructors’ championship.

    For Logan, he will now sit on the sidelines for the rest of the weekend, as Albon jumps into the American’s chassis from Free Practice 3 onwards.

    Due to the extensive damage sustained, [Williams are] forced to withdraw the chassis for the remainder of the Grand Prix. This chassis will be returned to the team’s HQ at Grove for repair. Due to the fact that a third chassis is unavailable, the team can confirm it has taken the decision for Alex to compete for the remainder of the weekend in the chassis that Logan Sargeant drove in FP1 and FP2.

    Statement from Williams.

    We are hugely disappointed that the damage sustained to the chassis has meant we need to withdraw it from the weekend. It’s unacceptable in modern day Formula 1 not to have a spare chassis, but it is a reflection of how behind we were in the winter period and an illustration of why we need to go through significant change in order to get ourselves in a better position for the future. As a result, we have had some very difficult decisions to make this afternoon. While Logan should not have to suffer from a mistake that he did not make, every race counts when the midfield is tighter than ever, so we have made the call based on our best potential to score points this weekend. This decision was not made lightly, and we cannot thank Logan enough for his graceful acceptance, demonstrating his dedication to the team; he is a true team player. This will prove a tough weekend for Williams, and this situation is not one that we will put ourselves in again.

    James Vowles, Team Principal on the news.

    I have to be totally honest and say that no driver would want to give up his seat. I would never want anything like this to happen. Logan has always been a consummate professional and a team player from day one, and this won’t be an easy one for him to take. At this point though, I cannot dwell on the situation and my only job now is to maximise our potential this weekend and work with the whole team to make sure we do the best job possible.

    Albon on the news.

  • Ferrari provide update on Carlos Sainz

    Ferrari have provided an update on Carlos Sainz’s health ahead of the Australian Grand Prix, after the Spanish driver was forced to miss the previous race in Jeddah.

    Sainz was withdrawn from the F1 weekend at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, with the two-time race winner forced to undergo surgery after being diagnosed with appendicitis.

    Ollie Bearman stepped into his place as Ferrari’s reserve driver, who caused a sensation with a P7 in the race.

    However, ahead of the Australian Grand Prix, Ferrari confirmed that Sainz was looking likely to return to the cockpit of the SF-24 with Bearman remaining on call as reserve driver, alongside his Formula 2 duties with PREMA racing in Melbourne this weekend.

    Should he not be required to step in for Sainz, Bearman will be keen to kick-start his F2 campaign, with the Brit currently on zero points after failing to score in Bahrain, before being withdrawn from the event in Jeddah.

    Fred Vasseur, Ferrari team principal, predicted that Ferrari would be “front runners” at the Australian circuit, with the team having provided the sternest challenge so far to Red Bull having been able to grab two podiums in the first two races.

    Carlos Sainz is expected to be back in the car, having had to miss Jeddah with appendicitis. He and team mate Charles Leclerc will most likely be fighting at the front of the field, as they have done in the first two rounds.

    The team in a pre-race statement.

    I’ll let you know tomorrow when I get back in the car and the G-forces throw me around a bit. But I feel ready. I’ve done as much as possible to recover and you cannot imagine the effort and logistics that I have done to be fit for this race. Progress, I’m very happy with the progress I’ve made and now, as I said, it’s time to jump in the car and see how I feel.

    Sainz on how much of a challenge it would be to get back in the car.

  • RW 3 – Tyre Selection

    Pirelli’s C5 tyre – the softest of the five compounds – will make its debut this weekend at the Australian Grand Prix. This has been nominated alongside the C4 and the C3.

    This is a softer selection compared to last year, when the C2, C3 and C4 were chosen. But it’s not the first time that the softest compound has been seen in Melbourne as back in 2022 Pirelli brought the C5 to Albert Park.

    The decision to go with a softer compound was taken after analysing last year’s race which centred around the C2 tyre. The C2 tyre last year was used for 46 out of 58 laps by 10 drivers, and three drivers running it for more than 50 laps.
    The Grand Prix last year was characterised by numerous stoppages which included three safety car and three red flag with two restarts and a rolling start aswell.

    The Albert Park track is made up of 14 corners, having recently been redesigned to make it more flowing. Historically, a one-stop strategy has been the favoured option but the move to a softer tyre may change that.
    The track isn’t too hard on tyres, with degradation being a bigger factor than wear. In Australia currently it’s the beginning of autumn and there could be some weather-related surprises, with temperature swings and rain having made their mark on the race weekend in the past.

    We also have a packed programme as Formula 2 and Formula 3 are supporting F1 this weekend.

  • RND 3 – Australian Grand Prix

    What a race that was yesterday… from red flags and safety cars to a rookie getting his first points, teammates taking each other out and a great recovery drive by a certain Mexican.

    But it was Max Verstappen who won the Australian Grand Prix for the first time in his career, Lewis Hamilton claimed Mercedes and his first podium of the year in P2, and Fernando Alonso takes P3 (which is not a surprise anymore).

    The full top 10 are: P1: Verstappen, P2: Hamilton, P3: Alonso, P4: Stroll, P5: Perez, P6: Norris, P7: Hulkenberg, P8: Piastri, P9: Zhou and P10: Tsunoda.

    George Russell of the United Kingdom drives the Mercedes alongside Max Verstappen of the Netherlands who drives the Red Bull Racing during the 2023 Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park in Melbourne on the 2nd of April, 2023. (Photo by Morgan Hancock/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

    First up, Mercedes! A strong weekend overall for them, and it looks like they definitely have made an improvement to the car. But it wasn’t all happy, after Russell and Hamilton overtook Verstappen at the start of the race, Russell ended up on Lap 18 pulling over to the side on the start/finish straight as he had flames from the back of the Mercedes which brought out a VSC.

    On the first lap there was contact between Lance Stroll and Charles Leclerc, which saw the Ferrari driver go off into the gravel and him out of the race. A quick stewards’ investigation and they settled on no further action. Poor Charles though, not having the best start this season and he only has 6 points to his name…

    A good race for the McLaren duo, obviously Oscar’s first points in F1 and what a place to do it at his home race! Norris aswell scored points, so hopefully this is a turning point for McLaren now and we can see them near the top 10 and getting points in the races.

    A good recovery for Perez, he originally was meant to start 20th but ended up starting in the pitlane due to taking some elements. But he did damage limitation, as he climbed all the way up to 5th so grabbed some good points, especially if he wants to fight for the championship this season.

    The Championship-

    Max Verstappen leads the Drivers on 69 points, with his teammate just behind on 54 points. Fernando Alonso is 3rd on 45 points and is followed closely by Lewis Hamilton whose in 4th on 38 points. To round out the top five is Carlos Sainz who is on 20 points.

    Looking at the Constructors, Red Bull is leading on 123 points, Aston Martin are in 2nd on 65 points so a big gap between 1st and 2nd already… 3rd is Mercedes on 56 points, so not too far away from Aston. Now there is a 30 point gap between Mercedes and Ferrari, the Italian team with just 26 points so far this season. And rounding out the top five is McLaren who have 12 points so far.

    All ten teams have now scored points already this season! I can see the order changing quite a bit this season, so keep your eyes peeled. On the drivers side of thing, 18 have scored points and its only Logan Sargeant and Nyck de Vries who are seeking their first points of the season.

    Now, we have a few weeks break until Round 4, which see’s the first sprint race of the season, and it is happening for the first time at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on the 28th April – 30th.

  • Australia Tyre Selection

    The tyres have been selected for Round 3, where we go down under at Albert Park. Where Formula 2 and 3 join us this weekend making their debut!

    But more importantly the tyres which have been selected are: C2 (Hard), C3 (Medium), C4 (Soft).

    The FIA has confirmed four DRS zones at Albert Park. So this year could feature the fastest even seen in Melbourne, which in theory could reach 340kph.

    The Albert Park street circuit, was resurfaced in 2022 with some metallic elements included in the aggregate, improving the grip from the tyres. The asphalt is smoother than other tracks on the championship, with peak grip only achieved after several sessions of on track running.

    The energy demands on the tyres at the Grand Prix are about average for the season. The new layout inaugurated last year favours overtaking, especially in the second sector.

    We’ve made the same tyre choice as we did back in 2019 for the Australian Grand Prix. Following a two-year absence from the calendar due to the Covid pandemic, we went for a gap in the nominated compounds last year: selecting the C2, C3 and then the softest C5 compound. That race was a one-stopper won by Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, with all the teams using the hard and the medium tyre, while the soft was just used for qualifying. This weekend, the teams will have the C2, C3, and C4 at their disposal, which means that they have more options for the race in terms of strategy: on paper at least. We’re expecting a high degree of track evolution throughout the weekend, as is normally the case in Melbourne, while the energy demands on the tyres are about average for the season. It’s a flowing track with corners that are faster following last year’s modifications, which benefit overtaking as well as the overall spectacle.

    Mario Isola, Motorsport Director.

  • Diriyah Preview

    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.

    diriyah-track-map-details

    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.

    Weekend Schedule-

    Thursday 26th-

    • Free Practice 1- 14:55pm – 15:45pm (GMT)

    Friday 27th-

    • Free Practice 2- 10:25am – 11:15am
    • Qualifying- 12:40pm – 13:55pm
    • Round 2- 17:03pm – 18:30pm

    Saturday 28th-

    • Free Practice 3- 10:25am – 11:15am
    • Qualifying- 12:40pm – 13:55pm
    • Round 3- 17:03pm – 18:30pm

  • Van der Linde to step in for Frijns

    Kelvin van der Linde will be making his debut in the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship in Diriyah, with the 26 year-old set to replace Robin Frijns as the Dutchman begins his recovery from an injury to his hand.

    Frijns suffered fractures to his left hand in a collision on the first lap of the Hankook Mexico City E-Prix and underwent surgery that same evening in Mexico.

    Since the decision, van der Linde, who also lives in Kempten, has spent every day from morning until late evening at ABT, on data analysis and countless hours in the simulator.

    The South African competed for ABT in DTM in 2021 and 2022 and was a title contender right up to the finale in his debut season.

    He first got a taste of Formula E, at the 2020 rookie test in Marrakesh and is supporting ABT Cupra in simulator preparation this season too.

    Kelvin has been part of the ABT family for years in a variety of roles. He has been involved since the beginning of our comeback project and was intended as Reserve Driver right from the start – so it was immediately clear to us that he would take over from Robin. We are in constant contact with Robin and wish him a speedy recovery. Even though everyone in the team misses him a lot, we’re giving him all the time he needs to fully recover from the injury – that’s our absolute priority. The task and challenge for Kelvin to start in a World Championship without any testing is of course gigantic but he is highly motivated, works hard and the whole team will support him without any pressure.

    Thomas Biermaier, Team Boss.

    To compete in Formula E is a dream of mine – but of course I wanted the circumstances of my debut to be different. I’m very sorry for Robin and I hope he’ll be fit again quickly. I am happy about the trust and the challenge. Now I have a few long days ahead of me and then I will do my best to stand in for Robin as well as possible.

    Kelvin van der Linde, on him stepping in.
  • F3 Barcelona – Day 1

    F3 Barcelona – Day 1

    We are back at Barcelona for Round 3 of the Formula 3 2022 Championship, lets take a look at how the first day has gone.

    Free Practice-

    For the second round in a row, ART Grand Prix’s Victor Martin set the pace during practice, clocking in a 1:32.196. With the cooler early morning temperatures, it was somewhat leisurely start to running as the 30 car field, turned their focus towards the end of the session.

    Initially, the Carlin trio led the way with the Williams Racing Academy driver, Zak O’Sullivan setting a benchmark of 1:35.420. 15 minutes in and Van Amersfoort Racing’s Reece Ushijima leaped to the top of the timesheets, becoming the first driver to break the 1:34s barrier.

    Title contenders Arthur Leclerc and Victor Martins were nip and tuck on track with less than a tenth between them. The PREMA Racing driver went quickest, only for Championship leader Victor Martins to go 0.076s quicker.

    Martins ended the session fastest, ahead of Leclerc. Stanek slotted into third, just over half a second behind the leading time. Jak Crawford was fourth ahead of Imola Sprint Race winner Franco Colapinto and pole-sitter last time out Maloney. Oliver Bearman made it three PREMAs inside the top seven ahead of Kaylen Frederick.

    Qualifying-

    Roman Stanek left it late but secured himself pole position ahead of Victor Martins. The Trident driver had made an early error in the session but rebounded brilliantly to take pole position in the final moments of the day.

    Alex Smolyar followed ahead of Isack Hadjar and Arthur Leclerc, who will have to make up places to fight with his championship rivals ahead. Meanwhile Juan Manuel Correa made it inside the top 10 on his return.

    The full top 10 are: P1: Stanek, P2: Martins, P3: Smolyar, P4: Hadjar, P5: Leclerc, P6: Bearman, P7: Collet, P8L Frederick, P9: Crawford and P10: Correa.

    Times for tomorrow-

    Sprint Race- 10:00am – 10:40am (BST).

  • Zendeli replaces Schumacher

    Lirim Zendeli will be returning to the Formula 3 Championship this weekend, as he replaces David Schumacher with Charouz Racing System.

    Schumacher himself replaced Ayrton Simmons in the Barcelona test and second round at Imola, but this weekend he has other commitments as he races in DTM for Mercedes-AMG Team Winward.

    Zendeli is no stranger to the team as he has taken the ADAC Formula 4 title with the Czech team, they then stepped up together to FIA F3 under the Sauber Junior team by Charouz in 2019.

    After moving to Trident for the 2020 season, the German driver scored his only victory in the category in the feature race at Spa-Francorchamps.

    Zendeli then went on to Formula 2 last year, but it fell short due to a lack of budget, he has not raced since Sochi.

    I’m really happy to be back and drive again. We have to be realistic, I haven’t been in a car for ten months and it will not be easy having only have 45 minutes of practice before quali, but I’ll do my best and try to help the team as much as possible.You can never leave out some surprises but let’s focus on the weekend and get the best possible result.

    Lirim Zendeli on racing this weekend.
  • F2 Imola- Round Up

    F2 Imola- Round Up

    Day 1-

    Free Practice-

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

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

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

    Qualifying-

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

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

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

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

    Day 2-

    Sprint Race-

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

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

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

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

    Day 3-

    Feature Race-

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

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

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

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

    The Championship-

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

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

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

  • Bolukbasi not to race in Imola

    Bolukbasi not to race in Imola

    Cem Bolukbasi will not be racing this weekend in the third round of the 2022 Formula 2 season after picking up an injury during the in-season test at Barcelona last week.

    David Beckmann will be taking Bolukbasi’s place in the Charouz car, last week Beckmann was called up by the team to contest the last of the F2 in-season test, with Bolukbasi having flown home for medical attention after a crash on the opening day.

    Beckmann is already well known with the team, having already driven for the team for the first half of the 2021 season, before family business commitments contributed to him leaving. He then stayed in F2 for two more rounds, as he joined Campos Racing.

    The German driver, ended his rookie season down in 15th in the standings after missing the final two rounds but he did manage to claim two sprint race podiums and was quick to get back up to speed in the car.

    Since not racing since September, Beckmann has had a busy 2022 so far as he has picked up the reserve and development driver for Andretti Autosport in Formula E, with his first track-side work having been at the Rome E-Prix event which took place just a few days before he was summoned by Charouz.

    At the moment, it is a one-off return to F2 for Beckmann, with it having been publicised in Europe that Bolukbasi will be back racing by round six of the season in Baku on the 10th to 12th June, but before then are two rounds in May at Barcelona and Monaco where his participation has not been confirmed yet.

  • Round 3- Australian GP

    Round 3- Australian GP

    What a race we have all just seen, this season is truly unknown but it is looking more unknown for Red Bull… Before the race started it looked like another Charles and Max battle, and it was during the race until just over half way through.

    Charles Leclerc wins the Australian Grand Prix, his second win this season and extends his championship lead! Sergio Perez takes P2 and makes the day a bit better for RB. And Mr Saturday is now Mr Sunday, George Russell takes P3!

    The full top 10 are: P1: Leclerc, P2: Perez, P3: Russell, P4: Hamilton, P5: Norris, P6: Ricciardo, P7: Ocon, P8: Bottas, P9: Gasly and P10: Albon.

    Well reigning World Champion, Max Verstappen looked like he was going to take P2 after Charles ran away with the lead of the race, but it wasn’t meant to be. He had to retire the car after being asked by his engineer to stop at Turn 2, so Max’s 2nd DNF in 3 races. In that aspect it does not look good for Red Bull with their reliability, if this continues its going to damage their season massively. But Red Bull have to look at the positive with Perez scoring some good points especially after their first round.

    Carlos Sainz, you have to feel sorry for… It didn’t go his way yesterday in qualifying with the Red flag and then his engine not turning on. He started the race in P9, but his race only lasted for 3 laps, as the Spanish driver spun and got stuck in the gravel in which he couldn’t get his car out of.

    McLaren, are they back? Both drivers scoring good points which is good to see especially Daniel at his home race. I don’t think it could’ve gone better for the team. It will be interesting to see where the car will be after they bring upgrades.

    Another good weekend for Mercedes, a second podium for the team this year and a first podium for George with Merc. It looks like the Silver Arrows have a very reliable car, but they still have a few problems, but once those problems are unlocked, could it be a three team constructor fight?

    One person I have to mention is Alex Albon, what a drive! Starting P20 after being disqualified from qualifying- the driver finished P10, his first point for Williams and the first for the team this year. Albon lasted 56 laps on the hard tyre!

    More problems for Aston Martin again, they didn’t have the best weekend and it got worse when Seb crashed into the wall and pulled over to the side to a stop, on lap 24. Will it get any better for the team?

    The Championship-

    Charles extends his championship lead to 34 points, he is sitting top with 71 points. George Russell is in 2nd with 37 after his podium today. Even though he didn’t finish today, Sainz is in P3 with 33 points. Max drops to 6th still with 25 points, with Ocon behind him with a gap of 5 points.

    Looking at the Constructors, Ferrari is in the top spot with 105 points and Mercedes are sitting in 2nd with 65 points, so quite a gap between the two. Red Bull are in 3rd which is quite good considering the races so far. McLaren have done a big leap and now in 4th, where they finished last year.

    We now have a break before our next round, we will be returning to Italy for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix on the 22nd to 24th April, it’s a home race for the Scuderia team and the Sprint race returns also, for the first time this year! Formula 2 and 3 return in Imola also.

  • Albon disqualified from Qualifying

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

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

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

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

    The Stewards statement.

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

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

    Robson explained the verdict.
  • Round 3- Australia Qualifying

    Round 3- Australia Qualifying

    Well, qualifying in Australia is now complete and what an interesting one it was with two red flags disrupting the sessions.

    But through all of it, Charles Leclerc takes his second pole position of the season, and Ferrari’s first pole in Australia in 15 years! With Max Verstappen in 2nd with his teammate, Sergio Perez joining him in 3rd. Just a note in case anything changes, Perez has to go to the Stewards on an alleged breach of not respect single waved yellow flags.

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

    Shall we start off on something good? Both McLaren’s in the top 10!! What an improvement they have made since the first race and its nice to see them back where they should be! Let’s hope tomorrow will be even better for the team.

    Moving on, Stroll and Latifi touched in Q1 after Latifi let him through and then decided to overtake him a few seconds which saw the pair touch and their qualifying come to an end, as Latifi hit the wall in which will cost Williams a lot of money. Strolls qualifying also came to an end there aswell, both starting at the back of the grid.

    Magnussen got out qualified by his teammate for the first time this year so far. Magnussen starting P17 and Schumacher p15. Both Haas cars have got a lot of work to do tomorrow if they want to get into the points.

    Fernando Alonso looked like he was on a flyer and potentially be up in the top 3 until he crashed in Q3 at Turn 11 putting his qualifying to an end.

    Valtteri Bottas run of 103 consecutive Q3 appearances came to an end today as he only managed to go P12 in Q2.

    Predictions-

    Top 5 are: P1: Leclerc, P2: Verstappen, P3: Hamilton, P4: Norris and P5: Russell. I feel like this is quite mixed up, especially if Leclerc won as recent years in the Australian Grand Prix the pole sitter does not win from pole.

    Sainz has a lot of work to do, starting 9th whilst his teammate is up in 1st. It will be interesting to see the way the Ferrari works its way through the field.

  • Australian Grand Prix

    We are back in Australia after a long awaited return! Round 3 and it is Danny Ric’s home Grand Prix, but since we was last here in 2019, the track has changed quite a bit with it now having four DRS zones…

    Will it be a good weekend for the home hero? Can Mick finally get those all important points his been waiting for? Seb is back, what can he now do in the Aston? So many unanswered questions, and I can’t wait till we get some answers for them!

    The newbies who have come into F1 will be racing in Australia for the first ever time! Those being, Nicholas Latifi, Mick Schumacher, Yuki Tsunoda and Zhou Guanyu.

    Who needs a good weekend?

    I would say the Aston Martin of Lance Stroll needs a good weekend, he has finished outside of the points in both races this year and it seems like the Aston has better race pace, rather than one lap pace. With Sebastian being back its now Stroll’s time to shine, but the question is, can he?

    Yuki needs a good weekend, after not even being able to race last time out, he will want to do the best he can, even more so because of the track, he has a fresh start here as none of the drivers have drove on this track with the new cars and since its changed.

    Perez, will be wanting to be on that podium this weekend, first race was a DNF, and finishing 4th in Saudi Arabia was a good comeback but with Ferrari having both drivers on the podium in the first two rounds, and with the Mexican having a good car underneath him, he knows he can get on their, its just a matter of if he can.

    Predictions for qualifying-

    My top 5 are: Pole- Leclerc, P2: Verstappen, P3: Carlos, P4: Perez, P5: Hamilton. If Red Bull have brought upgrades to Aus, then I could see them running away with it all this weekend.

    It would be nice to see if McLaren can get at least one car in the top 10 for qualifying. Someone else who will be hoping to get into the top 10, is Mr Mick Schumacher, he has seen what this car can do, finishing in the points in both races for his teammate, so the German will be wanting to qualify in that top 10, to hopefully get those points!

    Times for the weekend-

    Friday 8th-

    Free Practice 1: 04:00am – 05:00am (BST), Free Practice 2: 07:00am – 08:00am (BST).

    Saturday 9th-

    Free Practice 3: 04:00am – 05:00am (BST), Qualifying: 07:00am – 08:00am (BST).

    Sunday 10th-

    Australian Grand Prix: 06:00am (BST).