Jordan's Track Talk

Tag: Round 4

  • F1 Academy – Canada – Day 2 & 3

    Race 1-

    Mercedes’ Doriane Pin steered clear of trouble in Montreal to deliver her third win in six races and snatched the lead of the Drivers’ Standings.

    The French racer had a front-row view to contact between polesitter Chloe Chamber and her teammate Alisha Palmowski, taking advantage of the contact to seize the lead and withstanding a Safety Car restart to take home the win.

    Ella Lloyd also capitalised on the chaos, turning a P7 start into a P2 finish, whilst Kick Sauber’s Emma Felbermayr put together a mature performance to earn her first F1 Academy podium.

    Chambers aced her launch at lights out, allowing her to keep her teammate Palmowski behind on the run down to Turn 1.
    Pin and Nobels went side-by-side but it was Lloyd on the move, going almost three-wide with Nobels and Felbermayr to get through to fourth.

    Benefitting from the tow, Palmowski piled the pressure on Chambers. Refusing to give up, the Red Bull Racing driver gambled on a move inside of Turn 1, which didn’t pay off.
    Locking up on entry, the two collided, sending Palmowski into a spin and leaving Chamber leading, albeit with a broken front wing.

    Pin capitalised on the incident, sailing past the stricken Red Bull Ford car and into the lead.
    Chambers fought back valiantly to hit the front again momentarily until her front wing detached, with the American driver forced to pit for repairs.

    Making the most of the clear air, Pin escaped down the road, building up a gap of over a second to Lloyd by Lap 6.

    Meanwhile, Maya Weug’s Montreal weekend went from bad to worse, as the Ferrari driver made multiple trips to the pits as an issue continued to plague her car.

    Trying to salvage some points from the race, Palmowski clawed her way back into the top 10.
    Attempting to make her way through on Chloe Chong, the Brit found the door firmly shut until Lap 10. After Palmowski lunged up the inside of the hairpin at the last second, Chong utilised the slipstream to repay the favour.

    Missing the final corner, the Charlotte Tilbury driver had to give the place back as behind the pair, Wild Card driver, Matilda Paatz hit the wall and triggered the Safety Car.

    With Pin’s 1.8 second lead wiped away, the Mercedes driver bunched the pack together as she brought them back up to racing speed heading into Lap 15.
    Catching Lloyd off guard, Pin pulled clear of the McLaren driver, who had to fend off an attack from her Rodin teammate.

    Further back, Rafaela Ferreira and Alba Larsen battled over P6. A huge lock-up for the Racing Bulls driver forced to take the escape road.
    Carrying too much speed on the exit, the Brazilian collided with the side of Chong. Meanwhile. contact between Joanne Ciconte and Courtney Crone sent the Haas spinning off at the hairpin, bringing out the Safety Car again.

    With only two laps remaining, Pin drew the race to a close behind the Safety Car to take a 24 point lead in the standings.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Pin, P2: Lloyd, P3: Felbermayr, P4: Gademan, P5: Block, P6: Larsen, P7: Hausmann, P8: Palmowski, P9: Chamber and P10: Anagnostiadis.

    Race 2-

    After being disqualified from her first F1 Academy podium earlier on in the day, Emma Felbermayr avenged the result during Race 2 in Canada, sealing a maiden victory in a frenetic final lap sprint to the chequered flag.

    Nina Gademan came within half a lap of victory, but a late Safety Car left the Alpine driver vulnerable and she couldn’t hold on as Felbermayr and Ella Lloyd snuck past to deliver a 1-2 finish for Rodin Motorsport.

    Reverse grid pole sitter, Chloe Chong initially held firm off the line as Gademan stuck close behind in second.
    Felbermayr, Lloyd and Tina Hausmann almost went three-wide at the start after the Kick Sauber driver squeezed across to the right, with Lloyd managing to slip into third.

    Spotting her opportunity a few corners later, Gademan dived up the inside of Chong who left the door open long enough to enable Lloyd and Felbermayr to follow through.

    Felbermayr made up another place on Lap 2, utilising the sliptstream to swoop past Lloyd, who had no time to fight back as she tried to fend off Doriane Pin.
    At the same time, Chambers risked a move of her own on the Mercedes driver on Lap 5.
    Going side-by-side into Turn 2, the Red Bull Ford driver spun across the run-off and tumbled down to P14.

    Pin then tried to overtake Lloyd at the final chicane, but both cut the corner. Although, the Mercedes emerged out in front, Pin was ordered over the radio to give the position back to Lloyd. Behind them, Tommy Hilfiger’s Alba Larsen made a move stick on Alisha Palmowski for fifth.

    Out front, Gademan had built a comfortable 1.4 second-gap over Felbermayr, but was shown the black and white flag for track limits.

    After swapping positions with Lloyd on the next lap, Larsen tried to take advantage with a late-braking move into the hairpin.
    Tapping the rear right of Pin’s car, the Mercedes driver was lucky to hold on to fourth, with the Dane shown the black and white flag for the contact.

    Fortunately her MP Motorsport teammate Maya Weug, was able to pull off the lunge on Aurelia Nobels in eighth. The Puma driver fought back with the slip stream but didn’t have enough room, banging wheels into the final chicane and sending Nobels skidding over the run-off.

    Lloyd and Pin’s battle continued, with the Mercedes driver skipping over the final corner and emerging out in front. Yielding the place back to the Mclaren driver left her vulnerable to Larsen, who pounced at the same corner one lap later to snatch fourth away.

    Gademan’s lead out front was steadily being chipped away by Felbermayr to under eight tenths until contact between Hitech TGR teammates Nicola Havrda and Aiva Anagnostiadis necessitated a Safety Car on Lap 14.

    Left with one racing lap, Gademan went early in her sprint to the line. Sticking with her, Felbermayr dived to inside of the Dutch driver at Turn 9 to take the lead, while Lloyd followed through snatching second at the hairpin.

    With only a few turns to go, Felbermayr was in a race against time. Bouncing over the kerb at the final corner, the Austrian managed to keep her foot to the floor to take the chequered flag first.

    Race 3-

    Chloe Chambers stayed in full control in Canada to convert pole position into her first victory of the 2025 season. Fending off McLaren’s Ella Lloyd, the Red Bull Ford driver mastered two Safety Car restarts to deliver a lights-to-flag win.

    Lloyd secured her third consecutive second place finish in Montreal, whilst Pin recovered from a tricky opening lap to secure third.

    The Campos Racing duo of Chambers and Palmowski once again lined up on the front row, with polesitter Chambers holding firm off the line.
    A rapid start from fourth placed Lloyd put her alongside Palmowski through the first chicane.

    The pair banged wheels on the run to Turn 3, sending Palmowski spinning.
    Pin narrowly avoided being collected despite a knock to her front wing but dropped down to P5 behind PREMA teammates Hausmann and Gademan.

    Contact ensued further back after Wild Card Mathilda Paatz lost it out of Turn 7 and crashed into the path of Aiva Anagnostiadis necessitating a Safety Car by the end of the lap.
    Returning to green flag conditions on Lap 8, Chambers floored it into the final chicane to put space between herself and Lloyd.
    Pin fired her way past Hausmann on the restart, going later on the brakes at Turn 3.

    Race 2 winner, Emma Felbermayr was also making moves, pulling off a quick dive past Chloe Chong for P6.

    Lloyd kept the pressure on Chambers, setting the fastest lap heading into lap 9. Fighting over the podium, Pin got the tow on Hausmann to breeze past the Aston Martin driver for third, whilst Maya Weug sought to salvage a result from her unlucky weekend.

    Another Safety Car was called after Lia Block misjudged her braking into Turn 8 as she tried to get past Rafaela Ferreira for the final point on Lap 10.

    Chambers pulled off a near identical restart on Lap 13, but Lloyd has sussed it out already and stayed close to the American.

    Larsen tried to go round the outside of Chloe Chong for P5, but the Tommy Hilfiger driver left the door open for Weug. Banging wheels at Turn 3, it was the Ferrari driver who emerged in front as Larsen dropped down to 8th.

    Palmwoski then pounced, demoting Larsen down another place before diving past Gademan at Turn 10 for seventh.

    The Safety Car would make a third and final appearance after contact on Lap 14 between Courtney Crone and Felbermayr under braking left the Haas car facing the wrong way.

    As the race approached the 30 minute mark, there was not enough time to get back to green flag racing, allowing Chambers to take the chequered flag for the win with Lloyd and Pin completing the podium.

  • F1 Academy – Canada – Day 1

    Practice-

    Red Bull Racing;s Alisha Palmowski made the most of her first appearance at the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve, topping Round 4’s one and only Free Practice session with a 1:38.898.

    Campos Racing kept a firm hold on the top spot as Palmowski and teammate Chloe Chambers traded personal bests, before the Briton’s final attempt nudged her in front by 0.074s at the chequered flag.

    Larsen was the first driver to get a feel for the 4.361 km circuit, with her initial impression clocking in at 1:55.428. Steadily getting up to speed, the Tommy Hilfiger driver set the time to beat at 1:42.647 to go three tenths ahead of Ella Lloyd.

    Only four drivers had times on the board after 10 minutes of running. Lloyd was next to go fastest on a 1:43.277, despite the McLaren driver going too deep into the final chicane and over the run off.

    Beginning to make her presence known, Chambers posted a 1:41.701 to go a tenth quicker than Palmowski at the top of the timesheets.
    Although the Red Bull Ford driver then improved by a further two tenths, her hold would be brief as Palmowski broke clear on her next attempt, putting an eight-tenths buffer between herself and P2.

    Chambers was the first into the 1:39s to re-take the time to beat, only to be pushed back down to second by just 0.079s to Palmowski.
    Pin sat in third at the halfway mark, 0.237s off the benchmark.

    The Campos duo showed little sign of slowing, with Chambers crossing the line to regain best time of the session, before Palmowski set the timesheets alight with a 1:39.315.

    Five tenths off the pace in third, Larsen narrowly avoided a trip to the barriers, carrying too much speed into the chicane and spinning onto the grass.
    A red flag put running to a halt with less than 10 minutes remaining after a fan detached from Pin’s car following her exit from the pits.

    Improvements were still to be found once Green Flag conditions resumed. Even with the tyres being well past their peak, Chambers posted the first 1:38s time of the day.
    However, it was Palmowski who ended the session on top, snatching the fastest effort by setting a 1:38.898 at the chequered flag.

    Qualifying-

    Chloe Chambers threw down the gauntlet to her title rivals, conquering Qualifying in Montreal to seal her third consecutive pole position of the season.

    Locked in a back and forth battle with teammate Alisha Palmowski, it was the Red Bull Ford driver who stamped her authority on the top spot, setting a 1:38.125 in the final minutes.
    Palmowski completed a 1-2 for Campos Racing, with Mercedes’ Doriane Pin finishing four tenths back in third.

    Without a time to her name following an electrical issue in practice, every lap mattered for Maya Weug.
    After a burst of initial laps, Chambers set the early benchmark of a 1:45.283.
    Improving into the 1:41s on her next attempt, the American was swiftly beaten by a 1:40.910 from Alba Larsen.

    Times quickly tumbled, with Lia Block, Ella Lloyd and Palmowski all going fastest in turn, before Larsen moved back up to the top and into the 1:39s.
    In a class of her own in the first phase, Larsen continued to beat her personal best, with a 1:39.246 putting nine tenths between herself and Lloyd in P2.

    With 17 minutes to go, the PREMA trio headed out and Pin immediately broke into the top three, albeit six tenths off Larsen.

    Reminiscent of Free Practice, Chambers would be the one to demote her teammate going over a tenth quicker.
    In response, Palmowski posted the fastest time of the day with a 1:38.749 with Chambers settling for second on her next attempt.

    The Red Bull Ford driver then reinstated her hold on the top of the timesheets by 0.059s only for Palmowski to find an extra 0.039s.

    With less than six minutes to go, Chamber responded with a 1:38.125, eclipsing her teammate by over five tenths.

    Pin then hit the front row, splitting the Campos duo, but one final lap at the chequered flag was enough for Palmowski to regain second.
    However, Chambers’ earlier effort proved enough for her to seal pole position by three tenths to Palmowski, as Pin wound up third.

  • Third race added to Round 4 F1 Academy

    F1 Academy has confirmed that a third race will be added to the schedule for Round 4 of the 2025 season in Montreal.

    The amended schedule will see Free Practice and Qualifying take place on Friday. Two races will follow on the Saturday and the third race taking place on Sunday.

    The grid for Race 1 will be established using the final starting grid for Race 2 in Miami, with the wild card driver for round 4 will be permitted to start the race from the back of the grid.

    Race 2’s starting grid will be set by reversing the top eight drivers from Qualifying in Montreal.
    Each driver’s fastest Qualifying lap will set the grid for Race 3, which will take place on Sunday, with all three races lasting for 30 minutes plus one lap.

    One point will be awarded to the driver who achieves the fastest lap in Race 1 and Race 3, provided she classifies in the top ten. Additionally, one point will be awarded to the driver who achieves the fastest lap in Race 2, provided she finishes in the top eight.

  • F3 – Monaco – Day 3 & 4

    Day 3-

    It was a fast start from second for Stenshorne, but pole-sitter Alessandro Giusti had a slow getaway and dropped to fourth before reaching Turn 1.

    Taponen was one of the beneficiaries of Giusti’s start as the ART driver went up to P2 ahead of his teammate van Hopen.

    However, the Safety Car was deployed at the end of the opening lap as James Hedley, Nicola Lacorte, Santiago Ramos and Ivan Domingues collided at Turn 8, with all four drivers’ cars needing to be cleared up.

    In a separate incident, Noel Leon and Callum Voisin made contact, forcing the PREMA Racing driver to stop on track with damage.

    Back to racing conditions, Stenshorne was showing good pace out in front and had pulled out a one second gap to Taponen by the start of Lap 10, the rookie now coming under threat from van Hoepen.

    Onto Lap 12, and the Norwegian’s lead was over 2.1s, while van Hoepen was less than two-tenths away from Taponen.
    However, by the end of the lap, the Finn driver reduced the gap to just 0.6s, while Charlie Wurz, in sixth, was now under pressure from his Trident teammate Rafael Camara.

    Behind them, Mari Boya was under attack from Voisin, with his Rodin Motorsport teammates Louis Sharp and Roman Bilinski keeping a close eye on their battle.

    Lap 15 of 23, Noah Stromsted reported a puncture after colliding with Brad Benavides. The damage forced the Trident rookie to retire after recovering to the pit lane.

    Out in front, Stenshorne had built his lead back up to 1.3s clear by the end of Lap 17, with van Hoepen and Giusti right on the back of Taponen once again.

    Onto the penultimate lap and Boya was having to hold off the Rodin trio for P8. Voisin then hit the rear of the Spaniard at the Nouvelle Chicane, causing him to have a slow exit, which allowed teammate Sharp to take ninth from him.

    Back at the front, Stenshorne stormed off to win by 2.2s from Taponen, as van Hoepen rounded out the top three to achieve his first podium since the same race in 2024.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Stenshorne, P2: Taponen, P3: van Hoepen, P4: Giusti, P5: Tramnitz, P6: Wurz, P7: Camara, P8: Boya, P9: Sharp and P10: Voisin.

    Day 4-

    It was a strong start for Tsolov, who got away well at lights out to keep the lead, but behind him the battle for a place in the top three got off to a fast start.

    Bilinski immediately covered off Boya, but the Rodin driver was coming under attack from the Spaniard and his teammate Callum Voisin.

    The Polish driver was able to keep the position, but Voisin then had a look to the inside of Boya at Turn 4, although the Campos #10 was able to shut the door.

    The race settled down at the start of Lap 6, with Boya right on the back of Bilinski, just three-tenths separating the pair.

    Behind them though and having overtaken Neol Leon at the start to go to fifth, Tim Tramnitz was closing in on the back of Vousun, who was also chasing down Boya for P3.

    Lap 10 of 27 and Bilinski, having set the fastest lap on the previous tour, was within DRS range of Tsolov and built a 2.3s clear of Boya in third.
    Tsolov fought back on the next lap though, and by lap 13, the Campos driver had built his lead back up to two seconds.

    Tsolov now 7.5s clear of Bilinski was the only driver in the top 10 lapping in the 1:26s. However, the Bulgarian’s big lead was taken away after the Safety Car was deployed on Lap 19, following Leon’s collision with the barrier at Portier.

    His PREMA car was cleared and racing resumed on Lap 20, but there was a problem for Charlie Wurz. In P6, the Australian was running with a broken front wing.

    Laurens van Hoepen made his way through at Tabac, but on the next lap, Wurz found the barrier Massanet, releasing the drivers behind him.

    The Safety Car was soon out on track again with PREMA’s Brando Badoer stopped at Portier after a tangle with Nicola Marinangeli. The AIX driver was given a 10-second time penalty for causing the collision.

    The action resumed on Lap 24 of 27 and it was more bad news for Trident, as Rafael Camara lost the rear right wheel on track, forcing him to retire from the race.

    Out in front, Tsolov had marched off into the distance once more and was three seconds clear of Bilinski at the start of Lap 26.

    Onto the final lap, and Voisin was fighting hard to get ahead of Boya, even brushing the barrier at Turn 1. Tsolov though had marched off into the distance and crossed the line to win for the fifth time in Formula 3.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Tsolov, P2: Bilinski, P3: Boya, P4: Voisin, P5: Tramnitz, P6: van Hopen, P7: Taponen, P8: Stenshorne, P9: Sharp and P10: Giusti.

  • F3 – Monaco – Day 1 & 2

    Day 1-

    Nikola Tsolov ended Day 1 of running in Monte Carlo on top, as the Campos Racing driver led the way in Free Practice with a 1:25.622.

    The Bulgarian driver beat MP Motorsport’s Tim Tramnitz to the top time by 0.219s, as Trident’s Charlie Wurz rounded out the top three.

    The drivers were immediately out on track on the carry over Medium tyres from Imola, looking to get up to speed as quickly as possible, as Callum Voisin led the way early on.

    The Rodin Motorsport driver’s 1:29.512 was the benchmark but as the times improved, Tramnitz overtook P1 with a 1:28.875, leading his rookie MP teammate Alessandro Giusti by 0.114s.

    The German continued to set the pace, completing a 1:27.733, before going even quicker to a 1:27.459, wit Giusti in P2 once more, over half a second behind.

    The MP pairing were setting the timesheets alight as Giusti crossed the line to go P1, but only briefly as Tramnitz completed a 1:27.092 to eclipse his teammate by 0.082s.

    After 25 minutes of running, the teams swapped the Mediums for the Soft tyres, looking to give the drivers a feel for the compound they will be using for the rest of the weekend.

    But as the drivers set off on their laps, Trident’s Noah Stromsted collided with the barrier at Turn 1, bringing out the Red Flags with less than 12 minutes to go in the session.

    Green flag conditions returned with six minutes remaining, and it was Campos’ Mari Boya that took to the top on a 1:26.393.

    However, as the chequered flag waved, the fastest time changed hands several times, before Tsolov ended the session on top with a 1:25.622.

    Day 2-

    The first 15 drivers headed out for Qualifying and after a few preparation laps, Tsolov went fastest on a 1:26.072, with PREMA Racing’s Noel Leon in P2, 0.261s behind.

    Tsolov retained his place at the top with a 1:26.647 on his next push lap, but his gap to Leon on this occasion was 0.102s, as Brad Benavides went into the top three for AIX Racing.

    The drivers had time for a couple more laps and the timesheets were being set alight as there were several personal best times being set.

    Leon went quickest on a 1:25.502, but he was soon beaten by the other Campos of Mari Boya by 0.022s with Charlie Wurz in P3 for Trident, just 0.034s off provisional pole.

    Tsolov was flying though, and he completed a 1:24.882 to take provisional pole. Wurz followed him across the line to go second, over half a second behind the Bulgarian.

    But Boya was improving once again and set the fastest first sector of the session. However, the Spaniard just did not have enough to beat Tsolov, crossing the line to go P2, 0.127s off his teammate.

    Leon’s late lap took him to P3 ahead of Wurz, with Tuukka Taponen in fifth for ART Grand Prix, as Martinius Stenshorne rounded out the top six for Hitech TGR.

    With another 16 minutes on the clock, the second set of drivers went out on to the track with a 1:24.882 the time to beat.
    Trident’s Rafael Camara set the early pace with a 1:25.635, 0.123s quicker than Voisin in second.

    On the next set of laps, Voisin’s 1:25.359 was now the benchmark for the rest of the field to beat, and Bilinski made it a Rodin one-two by going to within 0.104s off his teammate’s time.

    However, as the drivers set off on their next laps, PREMA’s Brando Badoer hit the barrier at Turn 1, bringing out the Red Flags.

    Green flags were waved and the drivers had only just three minutes and 21 seconds to try and get their best time of the day in.

    Bilinski was one of the few that could improve though. His 1:25.332 put him in P1, but it was not enough to beat Tsolov’s pole-sealing time, giving Campos their first FIA F3 pole since Spa-Francorchamps in 2023.

    The full top 10 are- Pole: Tsolov, P2: Bilinski, P3: Boya, P4: Voisin, P5: Leon, P6: Tramnitz, P7: Wurz, P8: Camara, P9: Taponen and P10: van Hoepen.

  • F2 – Imola – Round-Up

    Day 1-

    Alexander Dunne started the Imola weekend on the front foot, topping Free Practice for Rodin Motorsport on a 1:27.907.
    Campos Racing’s Arvid Lindblad followed the Irish driver, just 0.009s down in P2, while DAMS Lucas Oil’s Kush Maini completed the top three.

    Gabriele Mini led the pack after the opening 10 minutes of running and initial laps, a 1:30.416 put the Prema driver top of the pile just 0.07s ahead of Victor Martins in P2.

    Lindblad was the next to deliver a substantial improvement as the Red Bull Junior lowered the time to beat down to a 1:29.031.

    Times continued to tumble as the track improved, and the drivers continued to push on.
    Mini re-took top spot on his next attempt with a 1:28.526 while Dunne put Rodin second in the order.

    Martins then put ART Grand Prix on top, going 0.027s quicker than Mini’s earlier lap to leave the four separated by just 0.060s as Luke Browning went fourth for Hitech TGR.

    DAMS’ Maini had been P2 by just 0.027s but he found a sizeable improvement on his next attempt to go quickest, 1:28.022 the new benchmark effort.

    Lindblad was the first into the 1:27s to re-take P1 for Campos.
    Rodin were back on top entering the final five minutes as Dunne pipped Lindblad by just 0.009s for top spot as the session wound down to a close.

    Qualifing-

    Dino Beganovic times his qualifying lap perfectly to beat the red flags and the rest of the field to earn his first pole position in Formula 2.

    The Hitech TGR driver logged a 1:24.418 to lead PREMA Racing’s Sebastian Montoya and ART Grand Prix driver Victor Martins, with the top three separated by just 0.006s.

    Arvid Lindblad got the ball rolling with a 1:28.175 to lead the pack but he was pipped by Martins and Alexander Dunne in short order, the Irishman continuing from where he was in practice.

    The Rodin driver’s 1:27.827 was later beaten by Lindblad who moved back up to the top by going, 0.012s quicker on his next attempt.

    After a brief spell back in the pitlane, drivers returned to the track with 10 minutes to go in the session and conditions improving.

    Montoya hit the front next for PREMA, but his time was bettered by Beganovic by just 0.003s. The Swede got his 1:27.418 in just before the red flags were waving.

    Kush Maini suffered a spin into the barriers at Taburello, with the clear up of the DAMS car not being able to be completed in time, the session was not resumed.

    Day 2-

    Pole sitter Ritomo Miyata lost the lead to Crawford at lights out on the run to Turn 2. Lindblad surged up to P3 from fifth on the grid ahead of Browning and Victor Martins in the top five, after the ART Grand Prix driver moved up from eighth.

    By Lap 4, Crawford had managed to escape out of DRS range to Miyata behind, while despite having DRS to the car ahead, Lindblad couldn’t close in on the ART in front of him.

    Browning managed to break away from Martins, leaving Miyata to fend off the British duo behind him in the fight for second, with Crawford building his lead back up to beyond a second by Lap 10.

    Lindblad attempted to dive to the inside of Turn 2 on Lap 11, but Miyata defended well to retain second position.
    One lap later and the Red Bull Junior made the pass stick, clearing the ART before corner entry at Tamburello.

    Lap 13 and Miyata had to defend from Browning to keep hold of third into the favoured passing area at Turn 2.

    Hitech TGR’s Dino Beganovic looked to be lining up a move on Joshua Duerksen for the final points paying position, but a wide moment out of Variante Alta allowed Roman Stanek to go through for P9.

    Browning finally cleared Miyata on Lap 14 into the second corner, with the Japanese driver losing the benefit of DRS. One lap later and it was Martins through on teammate Miyata into Turn 2 for fourth.

    Stanek’s charge continued as he managed to commit to the outside of Duerksen at the second corner to take P8 from the AIX Racing driver.

    Alexander Dunne had told the team he was playing the long game earlier in the race, and he moved into the top five with a pass on Miyata along the main straight.

    Leonardo Fornaroli had to defend seventh from Invicta Racing teammate Stanek at Turn 2 as the Czech driver applied the pressure with six laps to go.

    Lap 22 of 25 and Dunne managed to claw his way to within a second of Martins ahead, who in turn was catching Browning in the fight for the final podium position.

    The trio were covered by 1.5s entering the penultimate lap, while in front of them, Lindblad had closed in on the race leader and was on the cusp of DRS to the DAMS driver.

    Unfortunately for the Campos rookie, they entered the final lap separated by 1.2s and the American driver held on for his first win of the 2025 season.

    Day 3-

    Prior to lights out, Sebastian Montoya stalled on the grid at the beginning of the Formation Lap. It meant P2 was vacated as the PREMA Racing driver was forced to start from the pitlane.

    Beganovic aced his launch at the race start, but it was Leonardo Fornaroli on the move, climbing to P2 as Victor Martins was the second staller of the day, the ART Grand Prix driver left stranded on the grid.
    Arvid Lindblad capitalised also, taking third ahead of Dunne having started behind the Rodin driver.

    With DRS enabled, the top three closed back up and by Lap 6, Beganovic, Fornaroli and Lindblad were covered by less than a second.

    The top four were in at the first opportunity to fit the soft tyres entering Lap 7. Fornaroli lost out in the pitstops, dropping to the back of the quartet, while Dunne gained two places, coming back out behind Beganovic.

    Jak Crawford and Luke Browning responded on the following lap, pitting to fit the red-walled tyres and the Brit got the jump on the DAMS Lucas Oil driver to come out ahead.

    The Hitech TGR driver rejoined with the effective race lead and right in front of teammate Beganovic, who had Dunne on his rear wing.
    The Swede attempted to go around the outside of Browning at Tosa, but ran out of room on corner exit, allowing Dunne to split the Hitechs and move up a position.

    With DRS on Lap 9, Dunne made the move into Turn 2, clearing Browning into the first chicane to take effective race lead.

    The early pitstops handed P1 over to Josep Maria Marti, who was fighting with AIX Racing’s Joshua Duerksen as the leading pair on the alternative strategy.

    Lap 14 and Duerksen swept around the outside of the Spaniard to take the lead just before a Safety Car was deployed.
    Rafael Villagomez was left stranded at Turn 4 having sustained damage in a battle with Sami Meguetounif.

    Gabriele Mini and John Bennett took the chance to make their mandatory stops and switch to the supersoft Pirelli tyres.
    The PREMA driver came out ahead of Lindblad in P11, with Bennett joining the queue just behind Crawford in P15.

    The Safety Car was withdrawn entering Lap 19 and Duerksen held onto the lead.
    Behind them, Dunne was on the move immediately to pass the first of the leading pack yet to pit in Max Esterson.

    Browning, made the pass into Piratella, but Dunne was through on teammate Amaury Cordeel at Turn 2 but once again, Dunne immediately put another car between them, passing Miyata into Tosa with a dive down the inside.

    Lap 25 and Dunne was up another position, clearing Roman Stanek into the first chicane to move up to third on the road.
    The Rodin driver then cleared Marti on Lap 26 with the same move at Tosa to take second and he quickly closed on race leader Duerksen.

    Across the line onto Lap 27, he used DRS to move into P1, with Browning still running fifth behind those yet to pit on the alternative strategy.

    Browning moved up to fourth with a pass on Stanek at Turn 2 on lap 29, with teammate Beganovic passing Cordeel in the same place just behind.
    Lindblad was able to pounce on an error at Tosa by the Rodin driver to take seventh on the road later in the lap.

    Duerksen pitted on lap 30, and Browning passed Marti at the first chicane to move up to second, but Dunne had escaped up the road to the tune of five seconds.
    The Irish driver had things under control and by the chequered flag, crossed the line to win his second Feature Race of the season by over six seconds to Browning and Beganovic.

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

  • R4 – Bahrain

    Oscar Piastri has become the first multiple race winner of the 2025 season by taking a sublime victory in the Bahrain Grand Prix, the Australian driver putting in a cool and collected drive to seal P1 on his 50th start in F1 as well as marking McLaren’s first triumph in Sakhir.

    After making a strong start from pole position – despite a close call from George Russell when the Mercedes driver locked up into Turn 1 – Piastri built a solid lead throughout the laps that followed.

    While there was early trouble for team mate Lando Norris – who was hit with a five second time penalty for being out of position in his grid box – the McLarens again looked impressive as the race played out with the Brit working his way forwards.

    And while the Australian’s position potentially looked under threat when a Safety Car emerged, the 24 year old made a clean getaway at the restart and went on to rebuild a gap in the laps that followed, eventually crossing the line with a 15 second lead.

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

    What a drive from Oscar Piastri, that was such a strong drive from the Australian and a thoroughly deserved win! As for Norris, he bounced back from qualifying 6th to finish on the podium, I think he would’ve got 2nd if he didn’t have the 5 second penalty.

    P2 for Russell, a lovely result from the Mercedes man! Another podium added to his tally which makes three podiums out of four races, making it his best ever start to a season. As for his teammate Antonelli finished just outside of the points in P11, during the race he was running in the points so hard luck for the rookie to not get any.

    A good result for Ferrari, 4th for Leclerc and 5th for Hamilton. Unlucky for Leclerc to just miss out on the podium but the Ferrari is no match for the McLaren just yet… But it is still a good points haul for both drivers! I’m sure the podiums will come soon enough.

    P6 for Verstappen, not the best result for the Dutch man, but he had a bit of a rubbish weekend. He struggled with the car a lot and it didn’t help that he had issues at both of his pit stops either. As for Tsunoda he finished ninth, first points for the Japanese driver in the Red Bull team.

    P7 for the GAS Man, points on the board for the Alpine driver! Which is deserved after such a strong weekend for the team. This now means all teams have scored points already this season.

    A double points finish for Haas, which is good to see, this now boosts the team up to 5th in the Constructors. So the team will be wanting to score as many points as possible as the constructors is very close.

    Now for the next race week, we are on our third week of the triple header, where we head to Saudi Arabia for Round 5 of 24!

  • R4 – Bahrain Qualifying

    McLaren driver, Oscar Piastri grabbed pole position during Qualifying for the Bahrain Grand Prix, getting the better of Mercedes rival George Russell and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in a thrilling conclusion.

    Practice pace-setter McLaren had been in control through the Q1 and Q2 phases but had to work hard to remain at the top of the timesheets in Q3 – Piastri’s final 1m 29.841s lap putting him a couple of tenths up on Russell. Leclerc was another tenth and a half back in third.

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

    What a lovely result from Piastri! Pole for the McLaren man, just what he would’ve wanted as he will be looking to grab his second win of the season.
    As for Norris, a bit of a shocker in 6th, however, he hasn’t lost out too much as he will be lining up next to Verstappen…

    P2 and P4 for the Mercedes boys! A really strong finish from Russell and Antonelli, it is a track both drivers know well. However, they are going to be investigated after qualifying for a potential rule breach.

    P3 for Leclerc, a much better result from the Monegasque and Ferrari, hopefully they can keep up the good result and turn it into a good points haul / a podium.
    As for Hamilton, he qualified, 9th, a semi-decent result for the Brit, could’ve been better for sure, especially as Leclerc qualified third but a decent result.

    A mixed result for Red Bull, Verstappen 7th, he was complaining about brake issues throughout the session. As for Tsunoda he qualified 10th, not too bad, but a position where he can improve and grab some points.

    P8 for Carlos Sainz, a lovely result for the Spanish driver, his best result in the Williams so far! Hopefully he can get some points this weekend.

    One driver I haven’t mentioned is Mr Pierre Gaslyyyy, putting his Alpine in P5! A lovely result from him and the team, they definitely seem to have improved from last season. Hopefully a good points haul from the Frenchman to help in the Constructors.

  • R4 – Tyre Selection

    The Sakhir circuit boasts several layouts, with two different ones used for the races in 2010 and 2020, but the current one is 5.412 kilometres in length and features 15 corners, 9 to the right and 6 to the left.

    The track is one of the toughest on the calendar when it comes to tyres, especially in the braking areas and when traction is required.
    The aggregate used for the asphalt at the Bahrain International Circuit is still very abrasive despite it being quite old now.

    Temperature will be a very important variable when it comes to tyre management at the fourth race of the year.
    As was the case in Suzuka, the teams will have a choice of the three hardest compounds in Pirelli’s range.

    The C1 (Hard), C2 (Medium) and the C3 (Soft), however, the Sakhir track characteristics and indeed the temperatures, will require a different approach to that adopted last week in Japan.

    All the teams, will have a good baseline from which to start work, given that in the last week the circuit hosted the only pre-season test. Which means everyone will have plenty of data to work with when it comes to setting up the cars and choosing the best strategies for qualifying and the race.

    Bahrain is the one Grand Prix where a two stop strategy would seem to be a given, and that was the case last year.
    All drivers made at least two stops, whilst some even stopped three times.
    The Soft and Hard tyres are the preferred compounds, with the vast majority opting to start on the C3.

  • F3 – RND 4 Day 3 & 4

    Day 3-

    Tsolov got the launch he needed to retain first, but Tramnitz was able to leapfrog the ART of van Hoepen to take second into Turn 1.

    Further back and coming through Casino Square, contact between the third ART of Christian Mansell and PREMA Racing’s Arvid Lindblad put both into the wall.
    Their clash left the AIX Racing car of Joshua Dufek, MP Motorsport driver Alex Dunne and Hitech Pulse-Eight’s Cian SHields unable to avoid a collision behind.

    It brought out the Safety Car before the first lap was completed, but with five cars needing to be cleared a red flag followed.

    Racing got back underway entering lap 4 with a rolling start and Tsolov retained his lead comfortably over Tramnitz.

    The gaps fluctuated between those in the top 10 in the early phases of green flag racing, as Tsolov was able to repel Tramnitz thereby preventing the MP driver from gaining the DRS advantage.

    Lap 13, the race was run for Kacper Sztuka, who stopped on the inside of Turn 1 with a puncture after contact with Var’s Sophia Floersch, bringing out a Safety Car once again.
    It was a short interruption and racing action then resumed going onto Lap 16, and Tsolov re-launched into a decent lead.

    Over the line to start lap 20, the gap was up to 3.5s over Tramnitz, who had van Hoepen and Leon charging and within a second in the fight for the podium positions.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Tsolov, P2: Tramnitz, P3: Van Hoepen, P4: Leon, P5: Loake, P6: Boya, P7: Beganovic, P8: Browning, P9: Fornaroli and P10: Goethe.

    Day 4-

    Mini got a good launch to hold onto the lead over Mansell into Turn 1 as Browning followed the pair in third position.
    Further round the opening lap, Jenzer Motorsport driver Charlie Wurz was left in the barriers at Portier after contact with Rodin Motorsport’s Piotr Wisnicki to bring out a Safety Car.

    Racing got back underway entering lap 3, with Mini retaining the lead over the chasing pack but with Mansell was right in his wheel tracks.

    Joseph Loake proved overtaking was possible around the Principality, diving to the inside of Mari Boya’s Campos Racing car at La Rascasse on lap 6.

    With the opening third of the race run, Mini still had Mansell for company in second, unable to break out of DRS range to the Australian driver, while Browning had dropped several seconds back in third.

    ART’s Laurnes van Hoepen was on the move next, making a brave dive to the inside of Van Amersfoort’s Noel Leon at Mirabeau to move into 10th.

    Lap 20, and there was three-car collision at Turn 5 involving Leon, ART driver Nikola Tsolov and Sami Meguetounif.
    The Trident driver was left out of the running, the other pair rejoined but not before the safety car was deployed.

    Tsolov had attempted a pass on the inside but tagged the VAR driver into a spin, leaving Meguetounif nowhere to go in avoidance.
    The Safety Car was withdrawn entering lap 23, and Mini got a good enough restart to keep Mansell behind him.

    Loake attempted another pass on Boya, but with the door firmly shut on him at the Turn 6 hairpin, MP Motorsport’s Tim Tramnitz profited to seize eighth position.

    Mini repelled the last gasp challenge from Mansell to secure his first victory of the season and his second Feature Race triumph on the streets of Monte Carlo.

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

  • F3 – RND 4 Day 1 & 2

    Day 1-

    PREMA’s Gabriele Mini led the opening session of the Monte Carlo weekend on a 1:27.400 in a session heavily disrupted by Red Flags.

    Overcast conditions gave way to rain, ensuring the Italian’s early laptime remained quickest ahead of Leonardo Fornaroli and teammate Dino Beganovic.

    There were rumbles of thunder as the session got underway though the drops of rain didn’t warrant a move away from dry tyres.
    Rodin Motorsport’s Joseph Loake was the first driver of the weekend to use the run-off area at Sainte Devote before rejoining the track.

    But moment’s later, AIX Racing’s Tasanapol Inthraphyvasak went off into the barriers at the same place to bring out an early Red Flag.
    With running resumed 32 minutes remaining of the session.

    However, another Red Flag quickly followed as Rodin’s Callum Voisin repeated the same incident as the first red flag at Turn 1 to half the session.

    The field went back out onto track with 24 minutes remaining as Mini still led the way with a 1:27.400 for PREMA.
    Rain began to fall though just as the first flying laps began and it was Sami Meguetounif that this time found the barriers.

    With 13 minutes left of practice, the green light was back on and drivers ventured back out fitted with wet Pirelli tyres as the rain intensified, preventing any further improvements.

    Day 2-

    Group A-

    The even numbered cars hit the track first with Oliver Goethe of Campos Racing leading the first 15 runners out onto the circuit.

    P2 in the championship, Luke Browning set the first benchmark to beat laying down a 1:26.170. That was bettered by championship leader Leonardo Fornaroli right away, as he put in a 1:25.963 in the Trident.

    Browning went quicker as the track continued to improve, recording a 1:24.532 on his next effort to return to P1. Whilst Fornaroli couldn’t get back on terms as he filtered through half a second down on the Brit’s lap.

    With three minutes to go Browning found more pace to bring the time to beat down to a 1:24.230, Having gone purple in sector one, Gabriele Mini moved up into P2.

    Under a minute left of qualifying and Boya was pushing to the absolute limit and tagged the inside wall at Turn 15, undoing his effort having gone fastest in sector one.

    Browning had been up on his time and a fastest middle sector put him on course for an improvement. But exiting Turn 16 he tapped the wall, damaging his suspension and forcing him to abandon his lap.

    Mini obliged and set the provision pole time moments later on a 1:23.942, 0.288s quicker than Brownings earlier time.

    Group B-

    Just at the flying laps were about to get underway, the Jenzer Motorsport car of James Hedley went into the barriers at Turn 1, losing his front win and bringing out the red flags.

    Once the session resumed, it was Dino Beganovic that laid down the initial time to beat a 1:25.569, 0.249s quicker than next-best Mansell in the ART car.

    Further improvements from the PREMA duo of Beganovic and Arvid Lindblad took the pace down to a 1:24.9 in the Briton’s favour, that was until Mansell leapfrogged the pair with a 1:24.921.

    Joseph Loake popped his Rodin Motorsport car up to P2 as the drivers began to push the limits further approaching the closing stages.

    Into the final two minutes of qualifying and Lindblad went quickest of all in the first sector, while teammate Beganovic was purple in the middle sector.
    Just before the Swede could finish his lap, the Red Flags were out as Sebastian Montoya and Charlie Wurz were off at Turn 1.

    The full top 10 overall is – P1: Mini, P2: Mansell, P3: Browning, P4: Lindblad, P5: Fornaroli, P6: Beganovic, P7: Boya, P8: Loake, P9: Leon and P10: Tramnitz.

  • F2 – RND 4 Round-Up

    Practice-

    Hitech Pulse-Eight driver Paul Aron was the fastest of all during the Imola Free Practice session, setting a time of 1:28.852 to top the timesheets.
    He finished ahead of Invicta Racing’s Gabriel Bortoleto and Rodin Motorsport’s Zane Maloney.

    It was a busy start to the session as Trident’s Roman Stanek set the early pace, competing a lap of 1:30.784 to lead Campos Racing’s Isack Hadjar by just 0.028s.

    The Frenchman then lowered the time to beat to a 1:29.805, edging out his nearest rival in Invicta Racing’s Kush Maini by just 0.040s.

    The fastest time continued to change hands and Dennis Hauger was the next driver to top the leaderboard. His lap of 1:29.539 put him clear of Championship leader Maloney by 0.088s.

    As the session entered its final stages, Hitech Pulse-Eight’s Paul Aron eclipsed Bortoleto’s time by 0.071s to take the top spot, before Maloeny crossed the line to go up third.

    There was a late red flag waved after PREMA Racing’s Oliver Bearman crashed into the barrier at the exit of Turn 4, and with little time remaining the session was not restarted.

    Qualifying-

    Gabriel Bortoleto earned pole position in an action-packed Imola Qualifying, a session impacted by track limits violations.
    The Invicta Racing driver completed a lap of 1:27.056 to take the top spot ahead of PREMA Racing’s Oliver Bearman and Campos Racing’s Isack Hadjar.

    With tyre preparation done, the early times started to filter through, and it was Bortoleto that led the way thanks to a alp of 1:28.044 edging out Hadjar by just 0.026s.

    The Invicta Racing driver then lowered the time to beat on his next flying effort, completing a 1:27.739 on this occasion.
    Also improving was Zane Maloney, with the Rodin Motorsport driver moving up to second, albeit 0.271 off the leading time.

    After returning to the pitlane for a new set of the Pirelli Supersoft tyres, the drivers returned to the track with 12 minutes left and this time it was Bearman who rocketed to the top of the timesheets.

    The PREMA driver’s 1:27.111 put him on top briefly pushing his teammate Andrea Kimi Antonelli down to second. Hadjar split the pair moments later as he went back up to P2.
    But then came Bortoleto on his final flying lap, and the Invicta rookie set a time of 1:27.056 to snatch pole position.

    Bearman and Antonelli did have their final laps provisionally deleted track limits, although the Stewards reinstated their times, along with several others, following the conclusion of the session.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Bortoleto, P2: Bearman, P3: Hadjar, P4: Antonelli, P5: Durksen, P6: Maloney, P7: Stanek, P8: Aron, P9: Colapinto and P10: Cordeel.

    Day 2-

    Aron made a fast start from P3, getting ahead of Colapinto and teammate Amaury Cordeel to take the lead into Turn 3. But the Safety Car was immediately required following contact between Roman Stanek and Isack Hadjar that led to several other incidents.

    We were back to racing on lap 6 as Aron extended his lead over his teammate Cordeel. A lap later, the Belgian went wide at the penultimate corner giving Colapinto the chance to overtake him for P2 down the main straight.

    By lap 9, Colapinto was beginning to close the gap to Aron while Cordeel, having dropped back from the top two, was coming under pressure from Zane Maloney, Oliver Bearman and Gabriel Bortoleto.

    On lap 12, Colapinto was now within DRS range of Aron, while Maloney was beginning to attack Cordeel. However, both Hitech’s were proving difficult to pass.

    After biding his time behind the Hitech car, Maloney finally made his move past Cordeel around the outside at Turn 3 on lap 22, putting him on course for his fourth podium of the year.

    On the penultimate lap and having dropped back from the leader, Colapinto closed on Aron once more before making a last lap move past his fellow rookie around at the outside at Tamburello.

    The move earned the MP driver his first victory in Formula 2, while Aron took second place ahead of Maloney.
    The full top 10 are- P1: Colapinto, P2: Aron, P3: Maloney, P4: Cordeel, P5: Bearman, P6: Bortoleto, P7: Verschoor, P8: Maini, P9: O’Sullivan and P10: Antonelli.

    Day 3-

    Pole-sitter Bortoleto suffered a slow getaway and dropped down to fourth at the start giving Oliver Bearman the lead of the line. This promoted Hadjar up to second, while Duerksen went to P3 from fifth on the grid.

    The conclusion of lap 6 brought the first pit stops, with Hadjar and Duerksen swapping their supersofts for the Mediums. Also coming into the pitlane was Zane Maloney and Roman Stanek, the latter jumping ahead of the Rodin Motorsport driver during the exchange.

    Bearman then led a gaggle of cars including Bortoleto, Colapinto and Aron into the pitlane on the next lap. The Prema driver stalled twice as he tried to pull away, handing Hadjar the effective race lead.

    Back in the battle for the effective race lead, Bortoleto was closing the gap to Hadjar. The Campos driver’s two second lead now just 1.3s by the end of lap 16.

    Further back, there was frustration for Maloney, who was being held up by Stanek and on lap 17, the Championship leader could see Jak Crawford, Richard Verschoor and Dennis Hauger closing in on his wing mirrors.

    Maloney was beginning to struggle and after giving the Bajan driver the hurry up on the radio Crawford made the move past him at the exit of Turn 7.

    By lap 30, the drivers on the alternative strategy were beginning to pit, but it was two bad stops for Cordeel and Marti, as both drivers had tyres come off their cars as they looked to come back out on track, ruling them out of the race.

    Back on track, Bortoleto had closed right up to Hadjar, but the Frenchman was proving tough in defence.
    The Red Bull Junior did just enough in the end to take his second feature race victory in F2, with Bortoleto settling for second, while Duerksen ran a strong race to finish third and making him the first driver from Paraguay on the podium in F2.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Hadjar, P2: Bortoleto, P3: Duerksen, P4: Antonelli, P5: Colapinto, P6: Aron, P7: Crawford, P8: Correa, P9: Martins and P10: Verschoor.

  • RW 4 – Japan

    Round 4 is complete, with a lot of different strategies going on and it all started because of a red flag early on in the race.

    But it was Max Verstappen who took the chequered flag first and bounced back after retirement in Australia! His teammate followed behind in 2nd, making it another 1-2 for Red Bull and rounding out the podium is Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz.

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

    A dominating display by Red Bull for both drivers, a third successive pole-to-victory conversion for the Dutchman, while also marking a third win from four races in 2024, boosting his lead in the drivers’ championship.

    A very good result for Ferrari aswell, P3 and P4 for Sainz and Leclerc. A good team effort, especially with Leclerc’s strategy as him and Sainz were on alternate strategies to get the best situation.

    A good result for Fernando Alonso, I don’t think anyone doubts he wont be in the points each race unless it’s something which isn’t his fault. I think people need to start looking at his teammate a bit more aswell, finishing 12th and then moaning about the car, when his teammate scored points? Doesn’t make sense really.

    For Mercedes it was a better weekend than Australia, they at least had both cars finish and both cars in the points. But they really are struggling at the moment, whether it’s strategy or just the car they need to make some improvements as soon as possible.

    A point for Yuki Tsunoda on his home turf. His doing the right thing to get a seat for next year, and making himself look more like a number one driver which is interesting…
    However for his teammate, Daniel Ricciardo and Alex Albon had a little coming together, which sent both cars across the gravel and into the barriers at speed, which cause the red flag due to the damage of the tyre barriers. Luckily both drivers were okay, but it’s not what Daniel needed as he knows he needs to prove himself at the moment.

    Haas had a strong showing, just missing out on points with Hulkenberg in P11 and Magnussen in P13. I think the team is just taking every race as it comes at the moment, and will try and capitalise on others misfortune.

    We don’t have long to wait till round 5, as we finally make a return to China, for the Chinese Grand Prix, in two weeks time on the 19th to 21st April.

  • RW 4 – Japan Qualifying

    Qualifying is over for the Japanese Grand Prix and it was Max Verstappen continued his run of pole positions in 2024 as he took P1 on the grid for the Japanese Grand Prix.

    The Dutchman was joined by teammate Sergio Perez in 2nd, making it a 1-2 in qualifying for Red Bull, the team will want to do a copy and paste situation tomorrow and make up for last time out in Australia. Joining them in the top tree is McLaren’s Lando Norris!

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

    A lovely result for Red Bull, starting as they mean to go on! It was good to see Perez get closer to Verstappen aswell, only ending up 0.066 away from the champion.

    A nice result for McLaren aswell, Lando starting on the second row! Himself and the team will be aiming for a podium tomorrow but anything could happen… Oscar Piastri in P6 a decent result from him aswell.

    Mercedes had an okay result P7 for Hamilton and P9 for Russell, not the best result for the team, but with the track always improving someone has to be worse off.

    Yuki Tsunodaaaa P10 for the Japanese driver, and infront on his home crowd as well!! He will be aiming for points, but with him going P10 he did knock out his teammate Daniel Ricciardo who will be starting P11.

    Quite a big shock i’d say is Lance Stroll being knocked out in Q1, he will be starting P16 quite a big difference between him and Alonso who starts P5. The Canadian has a lot of work to do in the race to be able to score some points.

  • McLaren unveil bespoke livery

    McLaren have unveiled a bespoke livery that will adorn Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri’s car across the Japanese Grand Prix weekend.

    Designed by Japanese artist MILTZ, the livery highlights the Driven by Change campaign, which returns for its fourth F1 season. The campaign celebrates emerging creatives through the global motorsport platform, providing opportunities to showcase their innovative artwork to the world.

    For McLaren’s special design, MILTZ’s artwork is inspired by Edomoji, a traditional Japanese calligraphy, which he fuses with modern art and culture.
    On the McLaren MCL38 he has used this to represent the speed of a Formula 1 car in the form of a dragon racing through the clouds.

    When I first became a freelance artist, I never thought an opportunity like this was possible – this is the biggest international project I have ever done! As I continue to build my profile as an artist, I want my artwork to champion the rich traditions of Japanese writing culture, such as Edomoji, but with a modern twist. From my work with local businesses in Japan to the McLaren Formula 1 Team, there are so many beautiful stories to tell through art.

    MILTZ on the livery.

  • RW 4 – Tyre Selection

    Formula 1 returns to Japan just over six months after its last visit to the country, with this years Japanese Grand Prix takes place in April for the first time in history.
    Normally, Suzuka has frequently crowned world champions – both drivers’ and manufacturers’ standings. The last two years have been no exceptions, in 2022 Max Verstappen sealed his second title at the venue and last year Red Bull were crowned constructors’ champions.

    Suzuka is a true classic with the 5.807 kilometre track testing every driver’s talent with a demanding layout characterised by a figure-eight layout which is unique in Formula 1.

    The track also tests the tyres both in terms of wear as well as the forces and loads to which they are subjected throughout the variety of corners that make the lap.
    As usual Pirelli has selected the hardest trio of compounds: C1 (Hard), C2 (Medium), C3 (Soft).

    A two-stopper is the most common strategy due to the energy gong through the tyres and the stress to which they are subjected. However, lower temperatures might mean a one-stop strategy become possible.
    Not only this, a one-stopper also decreases the effectiveness of the undercut, which is usually very useful at Suzuka.

  • RND 4- Sao Paulo E-Prix

    Free Practice 1-
    Mitch Evans started his Sao Paulo weekend in the best way possible, as the Jaguar TCS Racing driver topped the first free practice session of the weekend.

    The Jaguar team come into the weekend as the favourites after dominating the race result here last season. The British manufacturer achieved their first 1-2-3 result here as a powertrain supplier, and will look to replicate it again.

    This 2.93km street circuit is home to the longest straight in Formula E, and will certainly be a prime overtaking spot.
    ERT’s Dan Ticktum was using the session to find the limits, going off at the entry into the first chicane and having to rejoin the track down at Turn 3 where ATTACK MODE is.

    With halfway through the session, Stoffel Vandoorne was fastest on track. However, track evolution meant the times kept tumbling. Edoardo Mortara of Mahindra Racing went second just 0.028s off Mitch Evans. Ticktum slot into third with less that two minutes to go.

    Free Practice 2-
    NEOM McLaren’s Sam Bird topped the timesheets for the second and final free practice in Sao Paulo, as the grid prepare for qualifying. The Brit, who stood on the podium here last year, set a time of 1:12.773s in a session that was impacted by a red flag.

    Jaguar TCS Racing’s Mitch Evans also suffered an unlucky mechanical issue which limited the running time for him. Team Principal, James Barclays confirmed that the problem was with the car’s front driveshaft but the team were quick to try and fix it.

    Maximilian Guenther went quickest 10 minutes into FP2, but despite the German’s rapid pace he will be starting toward the back of the grid as he picked up a 20 place grid penalty for changing his gearbox before FP2.

    Double waved yellows were waved with nine minutes of practice left to go, after Edoardo Mortara received a warning on the steering wheel of his Mahindra Racing telling him to stop the car.
    The six time race winner pulled his car over to the side off the track just after Turn 3, and brought out the red flags as his car needed to be recovered.

    The session did get back to green flag racing for the last minute, but left no time for setting fast laps. Instead, the grid completed some practice starts ahead of the race.

    Qualifying-

    TAG Heuer Porsche’s Pascal Wehrlein managed to grab a second Julius Baer Pole Position of the season, beating DS Penske’s Stoffel Vandoorne but just 0.002s – the second closest pole margin in Formula E history.

    It was a dramatic session for the Jaguar powertrain cars, with Evans being the highest placed car in fourth. Nick Cassidy, who leads the championship, failed to make it through to the Duels and will start ninth, with both Envision cars down in 17th and 18th.

    DS Penske had a very strong qualifying, as Vandoorne starts second and Jean-Eric Vergne just behind him in third. A great result for new Deputy Team Principal Phil Charles.

    Nico Muller made a surprise appearance in the Duels, but an earlier incident meant he wasn’t able to make it to the track in the Quarter finals.

    Maserati’s Maximilian Guenther will start from the back of the pack due to the grid-drop penalty mentioned earlier – the German’s penalty also incurring a stop/go penalty on the race.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Wehrelin, P2: Vandoorne, P3: Vergne, P4: Evans, P5: Bird, P6: Mortara, P7: Muller, P8: Da Costa, P9: Cassidy and P10: Dennis.

    Round 4-

    Sam Bird sealed one of the most dramatic victories in Formula E history in the Sao Paulo E-Prix Round 4, with a stunning final lap move on former teammate Mitch Evans to secure NEOM McLaren’s first victory in the World Championship and his first with the team.

    Wehrlein started sharply to lead with Vandoorne following as you were into Turn 1 in second, with Evans jumping Verge for third. Porsche’s da Costa made a demon launch, gaining two spots to sixth off-the-line and defending hard from Mortara’s Mahindra to hold that spot over lap 1.

    The lead group squabbled constantly as each looked to maximise their energy consumption while keeping pace with leader Bird. Evans had briefly took third before losing it at Turn 1 on lap 6 to Wehrlein.

    A Safety Car was required for the recovery of a rogue Andretti front wing as Nato hit Di Grassi as the pack squeezed through the first chicane. The Brazilian also lost his front wing while standings leader Cassidy gave the front of his car a nudge into the same corner at the start of lap 8.

    More lead changes happened once green flag conditions continued, as Da Costa and Evans hit the front then dropped back into the mix with their second attack mode activations- but Jake Dennis had been quietly working his way through from 10th at the start to lead on lap 12.

    Lap 16 saw a huge moment, with Drivers’ World Championship leader Cassidy’s three-race podium streak coming to an end as the Jaguar driver smashed into the wall through Turn 9 as he slid wide at speed – his front wing falling loose beneath his front wheels.

    Through the clamour before the Safety Car, Bird managed to retake the lead and had half a percent of usable energy in hand over Evans, now in second.
    Lap 20, saw the green flag fly again with Bird leading Evans, Wehrlein, Dennis, Da Costa, Vergne, Rowland, Vandoorne, Guenther and Buemi in the top 10.

    As the laps ticked down, Bird and Evans continued to hold the advantage. Despite Dennis in third, keeping 1.5% usable energy in hand, his car was running too hot to capitalise.
    Inside the final seven laps, including three added on for those periods under the Safety Car, Evans appeared to have done enough with a move around the outside of Bird at Turn 3 for P1.

    However, the McLaren driver was not done. He could not resist a last-ditch manoeuvre on his old teammate. Bird went all the way around the outside of Turn 10 is last chance to make something stick and hung on to take the inside line and the lead into Turn 11, steering to the win with Evans just half a second back.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Bird, P2: Evans, P3: Rowland, P4: Wehrlein, P5: Dennis, P6: Da Costa, P7: Vergne, P8: Vandoorne, P9: Guenther and P10: Buemi.

    We don’t have to wait too long till the next race, as it’s less than two weeks away on the 30th March and we head to Japan for the Tokyo E-Prix!

  • F3 – RND 4 – Day 3 & 4

    Day 3-

    Marti maintained the lead off the line to break away from Fornaroli, who found himself forced to go on the defensive from Taylor Barnard.

    The Safety Car was deployed on the first lap following contact into the opening corners at Sainte Devote where Jonny Edgar got sent into the barriers. His MP Motorsport teammate Mari Boya also suffered Turn 1 contact, resulting in retirement also.

    Out front, Marti looked untroubled, steadily building his advantage lap-by-lap. The Spaniard pulled over five seconds clear in six laps through the middle phase of the race. This left Fornaroli driving on his mirrors as Saucy closed up to the back of him, with Colapinto staying close to the Swiss driver also.

    As the chequered flag flew, Marti secured victory by an impressive 8.1s margin to Fornaroli with Saucy third. Colapinto made up one place to take fourth as Barnard added more points to his rookie tally with his best ever finish in fifth.

    Bortoleto hold on to sixth ahead of the HiTech Pulse-Eight duo of Montoya and Browning. Collect earned two points in ninth and Aron rounded out the top 10.

    Day 4-

    After earning his first Formula 3 podium in the Sprint Race, Leonardo Fornaroli didn’t get the chance to bring home more points again after the Trident driver stalled on the grid on the formation lap.

    When the five lights went out, Mini got a decent launch off the line to keep Beganovic behind. Fifth placed Collet immediately tried to put the pressure on Browning, but the Van Amersfoort Racing driver had to ease off as he ran out of tarmac.

    Ido Cohen lost his Rodin Carlin on entry to Turn 12, whilst battling with his teammate Oliver Gray and ended up in the barriers, triggering the Safety Car.

    Sebastian Montoya’s attempts at shaping for a move on Collet for fifth ended in heartbreak for both. With the Brazilian suffering from tyre degradation, the Red Bull Junior had great traction out of Turn 1 but made contact with Collet’s rear left tyre on the run up the hill.

    The final stages saw Beganovic pull back into Mini’s one second DRS window, but there was nothing the Swede could do to stop him holding on to claim a maiden victory.

    Despite Browning closing to within three tenths on the final lap, Aron managed to secure his second F3 podium. Bortoleto strengthened his hold on the Championship lead in fifth ahead of Colapinto and Zak O’Sullivan. Barnard’s penalty demoted him to eighth ahead of Marti and Greogoire Saucy, who rounded out the top 10.

  • F3 – RND 4 – Day 1 & 2

    Day 1-

    Gabriele Mini made the most of a drying Monte Carlo circuit to head the field in Formula 3’s first session around the Principality. The Hitech Pulse-Eight driver put his previous experience to good use, clocking in a 1:26.686 in the final jam packed seconds of Free Practice.

    Fellow returnees, Franco Colapinto and Gregoire Saucy benefited from a late switch to the slicks to round out the top three.

    Before the session started, a heavy downpour threw a curveball the drivers’ way, making the challenge of learning the Monaco streets even more difficult. Campos Racing’s Christian Mansell was the first to get a representative time on the board, but they continued to tumble with every lap of the 3.337km circuit.

    Although a dry line had begun to form, there were still plenty of areas to catch the field out. Browning brought the time to beat down to a 1:39.879 before the Red Flag appeared, a spin for Jonny Edgar left the British racer facing the wrong way and in need of recovery.

    Day 2-

    For the Championship’s first appearance in the Principality, the 30 car grid was divided into two groups with 16 minutes each. Group A consists of even-numbered cars and Group B the odd.

    Gabriele Mini put together a masterclass to claim his second pole position of his rookie Formula 3 season. Waiting until the last second of Group B, the Hitech Pulse-Eight driver wrestled pole away from Group A’s Dino Beganovic by over six tenths.

    The full top 10 for Sunday’s Feature race are: P1: Mini, P2: Beganovic, P3: Aron, P4: Browning, P5: Collet, P6: Montoya, P7: Bortoleto, P8: Colapinto, P9: Barnard and P10: Fornaroli.

  • F2 – RND 4 – Recap

    Formula 2 was back at the weekend for Round 4, lets take a look at how the weekend went/

    Day 1, Practice-

    Oliver Bearman wasted no time getting up to speed on his first visit to Baku, topping the opening session of Formula 2 weekend and ending Free Practice fastest of all.

    The PREMA driver went quickest late on gaining a nice slipstream down the main straight to set a 1:54.063. Fellow rookies, Isack Hadjar and Kush Maini followed in second and third places respectively.

    The early laps in the session were tricky with the freshly resurfaced circuit offering little grip. Ralph Boschung was the first driver underneath the two minute barrier, but times continued to fall with every lap on the board as the surface continued to clean up.

    With just over one minute left of practice, Arthur Leclerc spun in his DAMS out of the first corner, bringing out the Red Flags and ending the session early.

    Qualifying-

    Oliver Bearman turned his fortunes around in the final seconds of a tense Qualifying session in Baku to claim his first Formula 2 pole position. Utilising the slipstream from the train of cars ahead, the PREMA Racing rookie stole first from Rodin Carlin’s Enzo Fittipaldi by just 0.012s at the chequered flag.

    Less the a tenth of a second separated the front-runners, as Theo Pourchaire and Frederik Vesti benefitted late on to seal their spots in third and fourth.

    After a delayed start to running, an early Red Flag halted the session inside the opening seven minutes before any representative laps could be put on the board. Brad Benavides overshot the entry to Turn 1 and planted the PHM Racing by Charouz car into the barriers.

    With the tow around the Baku City Circuit proving so powerful, drivers squabbled for track position entering the final stages. Punching in a 1:53.271, Vesti went 0.085s clear of Pourchaire on his penultimate lap, just as PREMA Racing teammate Bearman brushed the barriers at the exit of Turn 2, bending his steering in the process.

    Day 2, Sprint Race-

    Oliver Bearman demonstrated that to finish first in Baku – first you have to finish, as the British rookie claimed his first Formula 2 victory in a dramatic Sprint Race.

    Off the back of his maiden pole position, he lined up 9th on the grid and carved his way through the field to snatch the win from teammate Frederik Vesti.

    A late restart with only three laps to go brought drama, as race leader Dennis Hauger and second-placed Victor Martins crashed out. The PREMA pair were there to pick up the pieces as the race concluded behind the third and final Safety Car. HiTech Pulse-Eight’s Jak Crawford also kept himself out of trouble to take his second podium in third.

    Reserve pole sitter Verschoor didn’t hold the lead for long. Contact with the wall at Turn 1 left the Van Amersfoort Racing driver with damage and forced to retire.

    After making his way up into the points, Ralph Boschung’s race came to an end on Lap 3, clipping the inside wall at Turn 11. His retirement triggered an early Safety Car appearance.

    Locking up his front left tyre, on the approach to Turn 15, Roy Nissany found the wall on the exit, which brought out the Safety Car once again.

    The full top 10 are: P1: Bearman, P2: Vesti, P3: Crawford, P4: Maini, P5: Fittipaldi, P6: Correa, P7: Novalak, P8: Stanek, P9: Cordeel and P10: Benavides.

    Day 3, Feature Race-

    Oliver Bearman made it a clean sweep in Baku, adding the Feature Race victory to his Sprint win from Saturday. The PREMA Racing driver put together a controlled race at the front, managing the gap to rivals behind him after losing the lead briefly early on,

    Enzo Fittipaldi secured his first rostrum visit of 2023 for Rodin Carlin with second place, pulling off a move around the outside of Theo Pourchaire in the closing stages.

    Martins’ charge continued as Frederik Vesti became the first driver to peel into the pits and swap the supersofts for mediums on Lap 7. He was followed in by Jehan Daruvala, Arthur Leclerc and Ralph Boschung, kicking off the first of the mandatory pitstops.

    The Virtual Safety Car was deployed briefly after Brad Benavides found the barriers at Turn 4. His PHM Racing by Charouz car was quickly recovered and racing resumed on Lap 11.

    There was a few close calls for Bearman during the middle phase of the race, almost scraping the wall at Turn 15 on multiple laps as he began to drop Pourchaire to the tune of 2.3s by Lap 20.

    The full top 10 are: P1: Bearman, P2: Fittipaldi, P3: Pourchaire, P4: Vesti, P5: Maini, P6: Hauger, P7: Hadjar, P8: Verschoor, P9: Crawford and P10: Leclerc.

  • RND 4 – Azerbaijan Grand Prix

    Round 4 is complete, lets take a look at how it went.

    Sergio Perez took victory on the streets of Baku, adding to his Sprint race triumph and being the only driver to win twice at the Azberaijan Grand Prix.

    Max Verstappen made it a 1-2 for Red Bull Racing, and Charles Leclerc rounded out the top three, grabbing his first podium of the season.

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

    It wasn’t the usual Azerbaijan Grand Prix, as normally we expect a bit more drama than what we had, there was only one safety car during the race, which was for Nyck de Vries who stopped on track at Turn 5 as he hit the wall, which caused terminal damage.

    Esteban Ocon and Nico Hulkenberg both started from the pit lane to hold points-paying positions for most of the race as they extended their first stints on hard tyres but the late mandatory pit stops meant they were banking on another Safety Car to get an easier pit stop.

    It was an important win for Checo as it now puts him in the title fight and only 6 points away from Max who is the Championship leader, both drivers have a big gap to Alonso in third so nothing to worry about too much.

    Looking further at the Driver standings, Leclerc and Russell are equal on points with the Monegasque being 6th and Russell 7th, they also have Stroll behind them who is in 8th one point behind…

    Looking at the Constructors, Red Bull obviously are in the lead, almost 100 points clear of Aston Martin who are in P2 but the Silverstone based team need to watch out for Mercedes as they are only 11 points away from them. Ferrari are close behind in 4th on 62 points, still a bit of work to do for the Italian team.

    We don’t have to wait too long until the next race, as Round 5 is only next week and we are back in the US, for the Miami Grand Prix.

  • RND 4 – Azerbaijan Sprint

    Sergio Perez claimed the first Sprint race victory of the season at the Baku City Circuit on Saturday afternoon, where he beat Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen to the chequered flag.

    With F1’s Sprint format being revised for 2023, a new ‘Shootout’ qualifying session set the grid for the 17 lap dash.

    One driver did not take part, it was Logan Sargeant as he crashed during the Shootout and was withdrawn from the Sprint due to significant damage.

    Meanwhile, the grid was another car lighter after Alpine made suspension changes on Esteban Ocon’s car under parc ferme conditions.

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

    A good result for Perez, he took Charles Leclerc spot for the lead and didn’t look back, and left the drama behind him too.

    There was a little tangle between Russell and Verstappen on lap 1. With the pair going side by side through the opening sequence of corners, before the Mercedes nosed ahead of the Red Bull at Turn 3.

    Verstappen was not happy though, as he jumped on the radio and accused Russell of barging his way through – replays confirmed contact and a thump of the wall for reigning two-time world champion.

  • RND 4 – Azerbaijan Qualifying

    Charles Leclerc claimed pole position for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix after getting the better of reigning world champion, Max Verstappen in a thrilling qualifying session, with the Monegasque making it three poles on the bounce at the Baku City Circuit.

    Incredibly, Verstappen and Leclerc posted identical 1m 40.445s lap times during their first Q3 runs, only for Leclerc to step forward with a 1m 40.203s on the decisive final laps.

    The full top 10 for the race are: P1: Leclerc, P2: Verstappen, P3: Perez, P4: Sainz, P5: Hamilton, P6: Alonso, P7: Norris, P8: Tsunoda, P9: Stroll and P10: Piastri.

    Finally! The Ferrari’s are back fully (hopefully) a good result for Charles him taking pole position, which hopefully can be turned into a win on Sunday, not only this Carlos Sainz starts fourth aswell, so there’s a big opportunity for the entire team to score wekk.

    Shout out to Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri both in the top 10! A really good result for the McLaren team, hopefully they’ve turned things now and can continuously score points or be close to the points.

    A good result for Tsunoda aswell, starting P8 in the thick of it all, as we all know there’s always a bit of drama at Baku so some drivers like Tsunoda, Piastri etc they will be hoping to benefit of others downfall.

    Was a shock to see George Russell out of the top 10, but its all to play for on Sunday, and if he wants to score big points tomorrow then he will need to put in the work.

    Predictions-

    The top 5 predictions for the race on Sunday are: P1: Perez, P2: Leclerc, P3: Hamilton, P4: Sainz and P5: Norris.

  • Azerbaijan Tyre Selection

    We are back with another race week, but this time we are going around the street of Baku! Where Formula 2 will also be joining us.

    The tyres which have been selected are: C3 (Hard), C4 (Medium), C5 (Soft.

    This is the softest trio of compounds in Pirelli’s range, which are well suited to the tight corners on this city circuit as well as the long straights where the cars can reach a maximum speed of 340kph.

    The most common strategy for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix is a one stopper, although some teams stopped twice last year to take advantage of a virtual safety car before the chequered flag.

    The race was held at the beginning of June in 2022, with thermal degradation becoming a factor due to the high asphalt temperature.

    With having such technical sections, especially around the famous Turn 9 in the old city centre. The teams tend to go for a low to medium downforce set up in Baku.

    NominationsAZ-EN

  • Hyderabad Preview

    The 2022/23 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship will be making an historic debut in India this weekend, with the city of Hyderabad playing host to Round 4 of Season 9.

    After a pair of storming night races in Diriyah produced a new standings leader and an overtaking masterclass across the second and third rounds of the season. The Hyderabad E-Prix Round 4 provides the next instalment of the Gen3 era and becomes the series’ 30th race location.

    The fourth race of the season, will be held on what is billed as India’s first street circuit, around the shores of the Hussain Sagar lake and by the NTR Gardens.

    A lap of the Hyderabad Street Circuit starts with a high speed lakeside run along the heart-shaped Hussain Sagar lake, before heading towards the first of the key overtaking sports at the Turn 3 hairpin.

    From here the track loops back round from Lumbini Park, where a quick right-left flick launches the pack down a short straight to a sharp left-hander that feeds into a tricky tree-lined series of turns. The final sector sees a short run into a 90-degree right-left chicane, then it’s just a right at the roundabout before the run to the finish line.

    hyderabad-track-map

    The passionate support will have home team, Mahindra Racing to cheer on, with 2017/17 Formula E Champion Lucas di Grassi and teammate Oliver Rowland in the cockpit for the Indian squad.

    It is important for us to have a good race in India – not only for the fans, but for the championship as well. It’s a new track for us, as it is for everyone up and down the grid. It needs to be a good weekend for us. We are going to try very hard and push to the limit to get the best out of the car. We can’t wait to see all the Indian fans out in force to support us and we want to give them a good show.

    Di Grassi on this weekend.

    Heading into Hyderabad we know where we need to improve following a difficult weekend in Diriyah. Having the home fans behind us will add to the motivation we have racing on the team’s home ground. We know they will be fully behind us and supporting us, which will give us the extra push to perform well.

    Added Rowland.

    Weekend Schedule-

    Friday 10th-

    • Free Practice 1- 10:55am – 11:45am (GMT)

    Saturday 11th-

    • Free Practice 2- 02:35am – 03:25am
    • Qualifying- 05:10am – 06:25am
    • Round 4- 09:33am – 11:00am
  • F3 Silverstone – Day 2 & 3

    F3 Silverstone – Day 2 & 3

    Day 2-

    Holding his nerve until the final few minutes of the race, Isack Hadjar took the victory out of Victor Martins hands, with a breath-taking lunge around the ART Grand Prix driver on the penultimate lap was enough to secure his second Formula 3 win in his rookie season.

    Martins was forced to settle for second after sustaining pressure from rookie, Reece Ushijima in the final few laps, a brilliant effort from the Van Amersfoort Racing driver, who started on reverse grid pole, paid off to seal his maiden F3 podium in third.

    12th placed qualifier, Reece Ushijima had a little bit longer to wait to get off the line in his highest ever starting position. Ushijima had to led the field for a second formation lap after an issue for a slow Brad Benavides led to an aborted start.

    Determined to make up for a disappointing Fridays, Martins wasted no time driving up the inside of Ushijima to snatch the lead of the race and the VAR racer found himself under a bit of pressure from Maini going side-by-side in the opening sectors.

    But the full top 10 are- P1: Hadjar, P2: Martins, P3: Ushijima, P4: Maini, P5: Frederick, P6: Stanek, P7: Maloney, P8: Leclerc, P9: Bearman and P10: Crawford.

    Day 3-

    Zak O’Sullivan covered off Arthur Leclerc to retain the lead in the opening corners. Jak Crawford fought with Zane Maloney for third but was squeezed out by the Trident driver, allowing PREMA teammater Ollie Bearman to gain a run onto the Wellington Straight. The Briton tried to hang it around the outside, but Maloney made his Trident as wide as possible, heading into Luffield, Bearman didn’t back out which resulted in contact which spun the Bajan off track and down the order.

    Looking at the front of the gird, Leclerc had fought back and with a two down Hangar Straight, swept around the outside of O’Sullivan into Stowe. Just as the move happened the Safety Car was deployed and Leclerc relinquished the position to the Brit.

    O’Sullivan got a good restart, but Leclerc had clung with him and with DRS enabled on Lap 6, the Monegasque made a move and led the race. Hadjar and Crawford were fighting for fifth and the pair came to blows on Lap 8. Side-by-side out of the final corner and down the main straight, the duo entered Abbey with Crawford on the outside but just ahead, Hadjar narrowly clipped the rear right tyre of the PREMA driver, sending him off track and down to P8.

    A slight collision between Gregoire Saucy and Roman Stanek required both to pit at the end of lap 9 for repairs. The ART GP driver was able to re-join but the Trident driver was out of the race. Another Safety car was deployed, following a crash for Rafael Villagomez at Copse. Contact with Nazim Azmna resulted in the front wing becoming stuck underneath the VAR driver’s car, sending him straight into the barriers.

    With just three laps remaining, the top five was separated by just 1.5s, Bearman had been shaping up a move on Collet for several laps and finally made a lunge into Brookland on the penultimate lap for third.

    However, Leclerc was untroubled and secured his third victory in F3 and his first of the 2022 season! O’Sullivan came home to finish 2nd, his first podium in F3 and infront of his home crowd. And Ollie Bearman finished the podium places, in front of his home crowd aswell.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Leclerc, P2: O’Sullivan, P3: Bearman, P4: Collet, P5: Hadjar, P6: Crawford, P7: Martins, P8: Edgar, P9: Vidales and P10: Ushijima.

    We don’t have long to wait until we see F3 cars back on track, we are returning next week for Round 5 at Spielberg, Austria from the 8th to 10th July!

  • F3 Silverstone – Day 1

    F3 Silverstone – Day 1

    Free Practice-

    All three MP Motorsport cars were on track immediately to make the only practice session of the weekend. The track started to fill up slowly with just under half the field during the opening 10 minutes.

    Barcelona Sprint Winner, David Vidales traded the top sport with Van Amersfoort Racing’s Franco Colapinto during the initial stages as representative times filtered through.

    Championship leader, Victor Martins was pushing the limits at Copse corner, which saw him run wide and scraping the floor over the exit kerbs, loosing his laptime for exceeding track limits in the process.

    Entering the final 10 minutes of the session, drivers started to search for a slipstream for the final fast laps. Despite almost dropping the car through several corners in the final sector, Hadjar wrestled his car across the line to post a 0.25s improvement to lover the benchmark to a 1:45.116.

    But it was an MP Motorsport double punch as Kush Maini leading his teammate, Caio Collet first and second respectively. Kaylen Frederick managed to improve and push himself up in to 3rd.

    Qualifying-

    Zak O’Sullivan gave local fans an early celebration as he pushed it to the limit to secure his first pole position, as well as writing his name into Carlin history by securing the teams first pole in the championship. Meanwhile, Arthur Leclerc banished his qualifying woes to snatch second as Zane Maloney rounds out the top 3.

    Collet was quick out of the box, becoming the first driver to set a flying lap, MP Motorsport were on the pace from the start as Collet’s 1:45.602 was momentarily bested by his teammate Maini before he regained P1.

    Traffic and track limits coming in to play as Oliver Bearman set a blistering 1:44.873 which put him up in P1 before being deleted. Meanwhile, the Trident trio were on the charge as Maloney climbed up into third ahead of teammate Edgar, who was returning at his home race following a two-race absence.

    As the clock ticked down to zero, a flurry of fast laps once again switched up the order as Leclerc jumped up to P1 but nothing could stop O’Sullivan from pipping the PREMA. Almost identical times in the opening sector mean that there was virtually nothing between the pair who ended the session separated by only 0.027s.

    Lining up on reverse grid pole for Saturday’s Sprint Race, Maini has the perfect opportunity to secure a maiden rostrum finish in the opening race of the weekend.

  • F2 Barcelona- Day 2 & 3

    F2 Barcelona- Day 2 & 3

    Day 2-

    Felipe Drugovich made up for the post-qualifying penalty by winning the Sprint Race. Demoted to fourth on the grid, he seized the lead at Turn 1.

    The MP Motorsport driver led every lap from that point and victory moved him to the top of Formula 2 Drivers Championship. Ayumu Iwasa and Logan Sargeant were able to secure their maiden F2 podiums, finishing second and third.

    The Sprint Race was not good for Juri Vips, as he spun at Turn 4 in which he beached himself in the grave and it saw the Safety Car come out.

    The full top 10 are: P1: Drugovich, P2: Iwasa, P3: Sargeant, P4: Daruvala, P5: Pourchaire, P6: Doohan, P7: Vesti, P8: Fittipaldi, P9: Lawson and P10: Armstrong.

    Day 3-

    Felipe Drugovich, made it two wins from two in Barcelona, winning the Feature Race after his Sprint Race success on Saturday. The MP Motorsport driver made it look simple from 10th on the grid, extending his stint on the soft tyres longer than anyone else before catching and passing Jack Doohan for the win.

    The Virtuosi Racing driver did everything right, but his early pit stop left him on tyres five laps older than the Brazilian’s. His first podium of the 2022 F2 season will offer some comfort heading into Monaco. Frederik Vesti made his best F2 qualifying result count and the ART Grand Prix driver completed the podium.

    The full top 10 are: P1: Drugovich, P2: Doohan, P3:Vesti, P4: Sargeant, P5: Novalak, P6: Fittipaldi, P7: Armstrong, P8: Pourchaire, P9: Lawson and P10: Nissany.

    The Championship-

    Drugovich’s dominance in Barcelona has helped him into a 26 point lead, as Pourchaire remains second with an okay weekend. Daruvala is narrowly ahead of Lawson and Armstrong who moved himself up into the top five.

    MP Motorsport made the tyres work fo rboth drivers, which has extended their points tally at the top of the Teams’ Standings to 108 points. ART remain in second with 85 and Carlin sit in third with 73 points.

    We don’t have long to wait till the next round, as we are back next week for Round 5, in Monaco!

  • F2 Barcelona – Day 1

    F2 Barcelona – Day 1

    Round 4 for Formula 2 this weekend, lets take a look at how the first day went.

    Free Practice-

    Felipe Drugovich led the way in free practice after multiple red flag stoppages. The MP Motorsport driver, was almost a full half-second clear of the pack, with Jehan Daruvala and Logan Sargeant his closest challengers.

    Olli Caldwell and Marcus Armstrong both brought out the red flags during the session, with the Campos Racing driver spinning and hitting the wall at Turn 9. Meanwhile Armstrong became beached in the gravel at Turn 4 as drivers struggled for grip.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Drugovich, P2: Daruvala, P3: Sargeant, P4: Doohan, P5: Lawson, P6: Vips, P7: Iwasa, P8: Pourchaire, P9: Hauger and P10: Williams.

    Qualifying-

    Before we start looking at the qualifying result, Ralph Boschung has withdrawn from this weekend as he is suffering from neck pain and wasn’t able to continue after the practice session.

    Virtuosi Racing’s Jack Doohan, left it last minute as he stormed to his second pole position in Formula 2, the Aussie managed to hold off an extremely late charge from HiTech’s Juri Vips which saw the Estonian driver leap up from last to second and ahead of ART’s Frederik Vesti in third.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Doohan, P2: Vips, P3: Vesti, P4: Daruvala, P5: Sargeant, P6: Iwasa, P7: Pourchaire, P8: Hughes, P9: Williams and P10: Drugovich.

    Drugovich was meant to be starting on pole position for today’s sprint race but, he has a 3 place grid penalty for impeding Theo Pourchaire, so he now will be starting 4th. That promotes Calan Williams to pole position and Jake Hughes onto the front row.

  • Round 4- Emilia Romagna GP

    Round 4- Emilia Romagna GP

    It was a mixed conditions type race today, and it’s safe to say its one for Red Bull to remember but one to forget for Ferrari!

    Max Verstappen wins the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, with his teammate, Sergio Perez coming home in second to make it Red Bull’s first 1-2 of the year! Lando Norris took the final podium spot, for a second year running, a first for the young Brit!

    The full top 10 are- P1: Verstappen, P2: Perez, P3: Norris, P4: Russell, P5: Bottas, P6: Leclerc, P7: Tsunoda, P8: Vettel, P9: Magnussen and P10: Stroll.

    Lets start with Ferrari, another DNF for Carlos, 2 in 2 races not good for him or the team… Himself and Ricciardo made contact on the first lap which saw Carlos not being able to move out of the gravel trap (again). Maybe Miami will be good for him? Now onto the Championship leader… he looked set to take P3, he pitted on lap 50 to try and get the fastest lap point and once he did this, both Bulls followed suit… Lap 54 was where it went wrong though as he went into the barriers at the chicane and dropped down to P9.

    Now onto McLaren, another up and down day! After the collision, Ricciardo just couldn’t get back up anywhere. But for Norris, what a day! Sometimes keeping out of trouble and not pushing tyres is good (like how we saw with Russell in Aus), the podium was well deserved for all at McLaren from where they started to where they are now!

    Mercedes, well a good race by Russell and some amazing defending by him to stop Bottas getting past, but for Hamilton I think his race was done when Ocon got released early in the pitlane and pushed Hamilton… A regroup needed for the Silver Arrows for Miami.

    Aston Martin! All the teams have now scored points after AM had both drivers score points today which I didn’t expect to see especially after Australia. But it was good to see and quite a mixed top 10.

    Points for Tsunoda, a very good weekend for him, he started P16 yesterday for the sprint and finished P7 today! Hopefully we see this happening more often throughout the year now.

    The Championship-

    Leclerc is still on the top spot and leading with 86 points, but its now the reigning world champion in second and now with 59 points! His teammate is close behind, Perez has 54 points. We then have Russell in that battle aswell in 4th i’d say, his consistent race finishes are helping with the fight.

    We then have Carlos rounding out the top 5 with 38 points, 11 away from Russell. Norris moves up to P6 with 35 points.

    Now looking at the Constructors, Ferrari still lead with 124 points, but Red Bull have closed in massively with 113 points. Then there is quite a gap between RB and Merc, the silver arrows are sat in third with 77 points. McLaren are 33 points of Mercedes so another gap and then Alfa Romeo are fifth with 25 points so its quite spaced out…

    We are back in two weeks, for the first ever Miami Grand Prix and the round number 5, on the weekend of 6th to 8th May, where the battle between RB and Ferrari continues!