Jordan's Track Talk

Tag: Round 7

  • F1 Academy – Las Vegas – Day 1

    Practice-

    Doriane Pin made her title intentions clear, topping the timesheets in practice ahead of rival Maya Weug on the series’ first appearance around the Las Vegas Strip Circuit.

    The Standings leader posted a 2:07.967 to go two tenths clear of the Ferrari driver after a late running red flag denied them a chance to improve in the last 10 minutes of running.

    Lia Block was the first to post a time around the 6.2km circuit, steadily lowering the initial benchmark from a 2:19.431 to a 2:15.321. Track temperatures continued to fall below 17.6หšC as the action heated up, with Pin breaking into the 2:12s, followed by Tommy Hilfiger’s Alba Larsen.

    The Mercedes driver pushed on, remaining quickest on a 2:10.117. Meanwhile, Weug began to slowly bring her tyres up to temperature, moving into second, seven tenths off Pin’s effort.

    As the rest of the field picked up the pace, Alisha Palmowski rocketed to the top with the first 2:09s time of the day, only to be quickly beaten by Pin. Weug briefly moved to the top of the order on a 2:09.045, while both Rafaela Ferreira and Lia Block took separate tips to the run-off.

    Personal bests for Palmowski and Chloe Chambers elevated the Campos Racing pair to the top two, but it wouldn’t be long before Pin moved back out front on a 2:08.606, with Weug closing to within 0.050s.

    Pin managed to put over two tenths between herself and her title rival with a 2:07.967. Chambers moved back inside the top three, but the Red Bull Ford driver’s session would be brought to a premature end.

    With less than 10 minutes remaining, the American found the barriers after her front right suspension broke on the approach to Turn 1, necessitating a red flag. The clock continued to tick down and with only a minute remaining once the session resumed, no further improvements were possible.

    Qualifying-

    Red Bull Ford driver, Chloe Chambers sailed above the rest to secure pole position on home soil, beating rookies Alisha Palmowski and Alba Larsen around the spectacular Las Vegas Strip Circuit.

    In a shock to the remarkably close title battle, Chambers took the top spot in dominant fashion, leaving contenders Doriane Pin and Maya Weug down in P4 and P5 respectively after the American set a time of 2:06.538.

    Following a small delay to the start of the session, it came down to McLaren driver Ella Lloyd to set the first flying lap on a busy track, with everyone working to warm their tyres up in the chilly conditions.
    Her initial effort of 2:10.951 was quickly knocked off the top by title challenger Weug, who put in a purple sector 1 before getting caught behind Larsen.

    There was a possibility that the Tommy Hilfiger driver was attempting to give her MP Motorsport teammate a tow to propel Weug to provisional pole, but Pin managed to go 0.420s clear with 18 minutes of the session remaining.

    Larsen and Weug momentarily returned to the pits with plenty of improvements still to come – Chambers demoted Mercedes frontrunner Pin to P2, beating the fastest time set in practice in the process.

    Lap times tumbled as Pin and Chambers continued to exchange P1 on the timesheets, leaving the battle for pole position wide open as the drivers headed into the tense final third of qualifying.

    Meanwhile, Weug lingered down in sixth position before team tactics came into play and a successful tow from Larsen pushed her up to P2, just 0.044s behind Chambers.

    With a lap around the dazzling Las Vegas track taking over two minutes to complete, everyone had to time their final attempts to perfection in order to maximise the tyre temperature.

    Pin had previously been informed by her engineer that she needed a tow for Sector 3, but her PREMA Racing team mate Tina Hausmann did not make it easy to pass at the critical moment, leaving the Mercedes driver down in P4.

  • F3 – Silverstone – Day 1

    Practice-

    Campos Racing’s Nikola Tsolov topped Free Practice at Silverstone on a 1:45.847 to start his weekend on the front foot.

    The Bulgarian was the only driver into the 1:45s, as Charlie Wurz followed in second for Trident ahead of Tim Tramnitz of MP Motorsport in third.

    Nicola Lacorte led the way in the very early stages on a 1:49.859, while tyre preparation laps got underway for the rest of the field.

    Campos went 1-2 with under half an hour to go, as Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak led teammate Mari Boya on a 1:46.379, 0.3s quicker than the Spaniard in P2.

    Tramnitz moved MP up to P2, 0.037s down on the best effort until Ugo Ugochukwu put PREMA Racing top of the pile on a 1:46.277.

    Martinius Stenshorne and Wurz set personal bests to go second and third respectively, and within a tenth of the McLaren Development Driver in P1.

    After drivers returned to the circuit for a second run in the final 10 minutes, further improvements began to flow in.

    Rafael Camara set a time to go quickest but lost it to exceeding track limits. Moments later, title rival Nikola Tsolov broke into the 1:45s to take the top spot, while Stenshorne and Ugochukwu posted improvements of their own that put them second and third.

    Tramnitz closed the gap down to 0.291s as he went to P2 in the final five minutes. Camara posted a time good enough for P4 as the chequered flag waved to bring an end to Free Practice, but teammate Wurz went up the order once again to P2, 0.289s off Tsolov’s session-topping time.

    Qualifying-

    Nikola Tsolov fired in a late lap to take his second Aramco Pole Position Award in a row.

    The Campos Racing driver had been bettered by title contender Rafael Camara going into the final attempts, but one last improvement put the Bulgarian back to P1. He finished ahead of Ugo Ugochukwu, who wound up second for PREMA Racing, with Camara having to settle for third.

    With the tyre preparation laps complete, TRIDENT set the early pace with Camara going to the top on a 1:46.318, 0.2s ahead of teammate Noah Stromsted in second. Ugochukwu split them on his attempt, going to within 0.023s of the Brazilian’s effort.

    Tim Tramnitz delivered his first time to go top of the pile, but only briefly, as Tsolov followed to smash the time to beat with a 1:45.655, some 0.3s quicker than the MP driver in second.

    Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak made it a Campos 1-3, slotting into third with his initial attempt.

    Everyone returned to the pitlane for a fresh set of Hard tyres and returned to the track with just over 15 minutes of the session remaining.
    Tramnitz cut the gap down to 0.2s to Tsolov, while teammate Bruno del Pino slotted into third for the Dutch team.

    Behind them though, Camara delivered a 1:45.176 to surge to the top of the times, 0.479s quicker than Tsolov’s initial benchmark time.
    Stromsted put in an improvement also to go third overall with just over 10 minutes to go, while Charlie Wurz followed a few minutes later to go fourth.

    With five minutes left, the circuit got busy once again. Theophile Nael moved Van Amersfoort Racing up to second to cut the deficit to provisional pole sitter Camara down to 0.3s.

    Tramnitz followed that up to go second for MP, 0.296s behind the TRIDENT, but Tsolov returned to P1 with a 1:45.043 with less than half a minute to go.

    Ugochukwu then went to P2 with his final attempt and just 0.023s off the top spot. Camara had a poor middle sector on his last lap and could only manage third in the end.

    The full top 10 are- Pole: Tsolov, P2: Ugochukwu, P3: Camara, P4: Boya, P5: Tramnitz, P6: Wurz, P7: Stenshorne, P8: Van Hoepen, P9: Nael and P10: Leon.

  • R7 – Imola

    Max Verstappen has surged to an impressive second victory of the season at the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, the Dutchman having snatched P1 at the start before holding his position ahead of the McLaren pair in an eventful afternoon.

    The race got underway in an exciting fashion as polesitter, Oscar Piastri initially launched well off the line – only for Verstappen to make a stunning overtake through the Tamburello chicane, resulting in the World Champion going on to build a lead in the laps that followed.

    Piastri then joined a number of drivers who made an early pit stop, having stopped for the hard compound on Lap 14, but the call did not seem to work out the Australian.

    As questions persisted over whether a one-stop or two-stop strategy was the way forward – with around half of the field remaining out following that earlier flurry of action in the pits for the other half.

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

    What a result from Max Verstappen, a cool, calm and collected drive from the Dutchman. His strategy was spot on, and he didn’t fall for McLaren pitting Piastri early.
    As for his teammate, Tsunoda made up some good places from starting in the pit lane to finishing P10 and coming home with a point.

    A double podium for McLaren, P2 for Norris and P3 for Piastri. A lovely result for the team, it’s a shame it wasn’t a win for the Papaya team, but Verstappen just ran away with the lead and there was no chance of battling him for it. But still a very good points haul for the team.

    A lovely result from Hamilton! P4 for the Brit and it was his first Italian race as a Ferrari driver and he made up for a bad qualifying session.
    As for Leclerc his race wasn’t the best, he ran into quite a few problems along the road but he still managed to finish P6. Overall a decent points haul for the team.

    P5 for Albon! What a great result from him! At one point, it almost looked like he was nearing the podium. But the main thing to take from that great result is how much they have improved! Sainz finished P8 aswell, so a very good weekend for the team.

    P7 for Russell, not the best weekend for him, he was struggling a bit during the race. As well for his teammate, it went from bad to worse, Antonelli pulled over to the side as he had an issue and had to retire from his first home race. A big shame for the young rookie but he will bounce back.

    Now we don’t have to wait too long for the next race as we are at the second race weekend of a triple header and we are headed to Monaco!

  • RND 7 – Tyre Selection

    The first quarter of the season is now done and dusted, apart from a brief interlude in Canada in mid-June, the European season starts now, and goes on until the Italian Grand Prix on 7th September.

    The Emlia-Romagna e del made in Italy Grand Prix takes place at the Imola Circuit, named in memory of Enzo Ferrari and his son Dino.

    Imola’s Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari is one of the most iconic and technical tracks on the Formula 1 calendar.
    Situated in the heart of Italy’s Motor Valley, it is 4.909 kilometres long, with 19 corners – ten to the left and nine to the right – and runs anti-clockwise, which puts it in the minority of race tracks worldwide.

    It’s old school, rather narrow with high and aggressive kerbs, as well as several natural changes of elevation and corner sequences that alternate between requiring heavy braking and some flowing sections.

    Tyre management is affected by the many acceleration and braking points, with tyres subjected to a low average load and limited degradation.
    However, the high kerbs can increase mechanical stress, especially on the suspension and tyres.

    The new C6 compound is making its race debut in Imola, as Pirelli has chosen the softest trio of compounds in its 2025 range for this weekend, with the C4 (Hard), C5 (Medium) and C6 (Soft).

    Last year, the one-stop strategy proved the most competitive. 15 drivers started the race on the Medium (C4), three on the Hard (C3) and two on the Soft (C5).

    The harder compounds worked best, offering very consistent performance, with limited degradation. Those who started on the soft tyre had to make two stops.

  • RND 7 – Monaco E-Prix

    Envision Racing’s Sebastien Buemi strode to a comfortable win in the 2-25 Monaco E-Prix, after starting eighth on the grid.

    Rowland chopped over de Vries to lead up the hill towards Casino Square.
    Discipline was the watchword with the track still slick, and the pack made it around the opening lap cleanly.

    Buemi, Ticktum and Dennis were the first to jump for the initial of their mandatory two doses of that 50kW, four wheel drive Attack mode boosts – sensible going early given the slick conditions on Lap 2.

    Despite the pack behind taking Attack mode, Rowland managed to hold onto the lead until Lap 6.
    Vergne had found his way into P2 with Buemi following by de Vries, who had been running second.
    The DS PENSKE driver bypassed Rowland for the lead as it stood with that extra 50kW on tap, through the tunnel, and he steered to a four second advantage by Lap 6.

    Di Grassi was running well on the cusp of the points but found himself falling foul of the condition and was in the wall at Portier on lap 6, which forced a full course yellow.

    An overexuberent move for P8 from Ticktum on Cassidy saw the former down the escape road and shuffled down to 18th on Lap 10.
    Vergne led Rowland by three second on Lap 11, with De Vries, Guenther, Buemi, Da Costa, Vandoorne, Cassidy, Maloney and Dennis made the top 10.

    The Safety Car was called upon on lap 14, for the recovery of Nico Mueller’s stricken Andretti in Casino Square after he slipped wide into the wall.

    We were green once again on Lap 15 with Rowland sitting pretty, energy and two Attack Mode activations in-hand on leader Vergne.
    Buemi made two smart moves one around the outside of the hairpin and the other on the inside of the chicane on Da Costa then Guenther, respectively, to make up ground to P4 on Lap 16.

    Rowland went for Attack on Lap 18, only losing a single spot – to Mahindra’s de Vries. The Brit failed with a move on the Mahindra at the chicane but over the start/finish he made that second place back and set about Vergne on Lap 19.

    At the chicane Rowland pounced, but looked to have cut the chicane in try to pass JEV. In the ensuing melee and avoiding action, the double champion bogged down and cost himself a spot to de Vries, slipping from what was the race lead to third – although Rowland looked to be in trouble with the stewards.

    Rowland took his opportunity having jumped for Attack number two to give track position back to Vergne for that earlier infraction.
    The overlap on Attack saw Rowland outdrag Vergne on the run to Tabac on Lap 23 – third place back in the hands of the standings leader.
    Up Beau Rivage on the next lap, he sliced by de Vries for second, too, Buemi was three seconds up the road.

    Nick Cassidy in the Jaguar had brought himself into the reckoning with energy in hand up 11 spots from the start and now past de Vries into third.

    Buemi looked to have it in-hand with the laps ticking down – able to hold a four second lead to Rowland as the field began to string out in the sprint to the finish with the track drying out.
    Duly he made it stick and took the chequered flag – four seconds clear of Rowland, while Cassidy followed in third.

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

  • F3 – RND 7 Day 2 & 3

    Day 2-

    It was a great start for Lindblad, as the PREMA driver won out in a three way battle with pole-sitter Leon ans Zagazeta heading into Turn 1 to take the lead.

    Zagazeta initially got ahead of Leon, but the Van Amersfoort Racing driver fought back through at Maggotts and Becketts to move up to P2. The Jenzer Motorsport rookie them came under attack from Christian Mansell heading into Stowe but managed to stay ahead.

    Mansell though then lost a position on lap 3 as Rodin Motorsport’s Callum Voisin was showing strong pace to move past the ART Grand Prix driver for fourth at the entry to Luffield.

    The Virtual Safety Car was needed moments later after Santiago Ramos suffered a puncture following a slight collision with Tommy Smith, with a piece of his tyre needing to be cleared from the racing line near Copse.

    The action resumed on lap 5, but the safety car was almost immediately deployed after Max Esterson and Oliver Goethe collided on the entry to Copse, sending both through the gravel and into the barrier.
    Both drivers walked away from the incident, and they were back underway at the end of lap 7, however there was another collision as Tim Tramnitz and Luke Browning made contact going through the loop.

    Alex Dunne was on the move and got ahead of Charlie Wurz for P6 going down the inside at Stowe, before making his way past Mansell for fifth on lap 11.
    Onto the next lap, and Dunne had dropped back behind Mansell and Wurz to seventh and was looking to retake the position from the Jenzer rookie, but the collided on the Wellington Straight.

    Racing resumed on lap 14 with Lindblad two and a half seconds clear of Leon in the lead. Having resisted an earlier attack from Voision, Zagazeta was now outside DRS range of the British driver.

    Just behind in the battle for fifth, a DRS train had formed behind Mansell which included his ART teammate Nikola Tsolov, Gabriele Mini, Sami Meguetounif and Sebastian Montoya.
    Montoya though, having started P17, was on a mission and dived down the inside of Meguetounif for P8 at Turn 3.

    Onto the final lap, and Lindblad was now well over six seconds clear out in front as he crossed the line to win on home soil. Leon finished in second while Zagazeta achieved his first Formula 3 podium by finishing third.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Lindblad, P2: Leon, P3: Zagazeta, P4: Voisin, P5: Tsolov, P6: Mini, P7: Montoya, P8: Meguetounif, P9: Van Hoepen and P10: Fornaroli.

    Day 3-

    It was a dramatic start to the day as light rain prior to the race getting underway promoted 28 of the 30 drivers to switch to the wet tyres, with Rodin Motorsport’s Voisin and Piotr Wisnicki the only ones to stick to slicks.

    But as the cars rounded the track on the formation lap, the rain stopped causing several drivers to pit for Hards prior to lights out.

    Pole-sitter, Luke Browning made a strong start from pole on his wets, while Leonardo Fornaroli was on the charge as he made his way past Trident teammate Sami Meguetounif before going round the outside of Max Esterson at Maggots and Becketts for second.

    But a Safety Car was required as Cian Shields stopped by the side of the track at Turn 3, just as his HItech teammate Browning was told that more rain was expected.

    We were back racing on lap 3, as Voisin put his slick tyres to use, going round the outside of Esterson at Turn 3 before getting past Fornaroli down the Wellington Straight. He then took over the lead of the race from Browning on the run down to Copse corner.

    Voisin, who had a five second lead at one stage, was then handed a 10 second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage in his overtake on Esterson.

    But we were back racing on lap 8 and this time around it was the wet tyre runners making the moves with Browning and Fornaroli getting past Voisin in the first sector.
    Tramnitz was a major winner in this situation as having pitted for the wets he came from the back to P7 ahead of Hitech debutant James Wharton.

    Another Safety Car was required on lap 9 though after Joshua Dufek spun at the exit of Stowe, causing Alexander Dunne and Sebastian Montoya to crash into the barriers as they looked to avoid the AIX Racing car.

    We had now entered the final 15 minutes of the race and with the pack now bunched up together, PREMA came on the radio to tell Mini, now in P23, that the rain was stopping soon.

    As racing resumed, Browning extended his lead over Fornaroli to over one second, while Leon went round the outside of Esterson at Stowe to take P3.

    With 10 minutes to go, it looked like we had reached the crossover point with slick tyre runners Voisin, Lindblad and Mini slowly beginning to make their moves through the field.

    With seven minutes left, those on dry tyres started to make their moves with VAR telling Leon that they were quicker by one second a lap. Voisin was up to fourth, Lindblad was sixth and Mini was eighth.

    Entering the final five minutes, Voisin got past Browning down the Hangar Straight to take back the lead he had lost earlier. But with the penalty hanging over his head, Lindblad and Mini, who were fighting for P2 just behind him were effectively battling for the lead.

    The three drivers were flying at the front as Voisin crossed the line in P1, but with his penalty, he dropped to third. This promoted Lindblad to first giving him a clean sweep of wins, a Formula 3 first in which a driver has won every race during a single weekend with Mini in second.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Lindblad, P2: Mini, P3: Voisin, P4: Smith, P5: Wisnicki, P6: Goethe, P7: Fornaroli, P8: Browning, P9: Bedrin and P10: Leon.

  • F3 – RND 7 Day 1

    Free Practice-

    Jenzer Motorsport’s Max Esterson ended up with the fastest time in the Free Practice, leading HiTech Pulse-Eight Cian Shields in a rain-hit session.

    Esterson completed a lap of 2:00.153 to take top spot, eclipsing Shield’s previous benchmark time by just 0.114s as ART Grand Prix driver Nikola Tsolov ended up third.

    With the full wet tyres strapped on as rain continued to fall at Silverstone, MP Motorsport’s Tim Tramnitz was the early pacesetter thanks to his time of 2:02.391.

    However, the fastest time continued to change as home favourites Joseph Loake and then Arvid Lindblad went to P1 only for Campos Racing’s Mari Boya to go over a second quicker on a 2:00.873.

    Then came Tsolov in his ART car who then eclipsed Boya’s time by 0.323s while his teammate Christian Mansell went up to third, over half a second behind the Bulgarian driver.

    With 20 minutes left of practice, the teams brought their cars in and bolted on the slicks for the first time in the day, but just as they did the rain began to fall even harder.

    This meant that drivers did not improve on their best times, leaving Esterson fastest ahead of Shields, with Tsolov in third ahead of James Wharton, who has made a good start to his debut weekend with Hitech Pulse-Eight as Boya ended up fifth.

    Qualifying-

    Hitech Pulse Eight’s Luke Browning took a last gasp pole position at a rain-hampered qualifying in Silverstone ahead of Jenzer Motorsport’s Max Esterson and Trident’s Sami Meguetounif.

    The Championship leader left it late on a drying lap with a time of 1:44.992 to take top spot with Esterson following his P1 in practice to go within 0.045s off pole to seal a maiden front row start.

    Van Amersfoort Racing’s Noel Leon then set the initial time to beat with a lap of 1:45.475, Alexander Dunne moved up to second, just 0.070s off top spot, while Gabriele Mini settled into third for PREMA Racing.

    However, as most of the grid returned to the pitlane looking to strap on a new set of hards, the rain intensified. This left Dino Beganovic at the back after the Swede lost his initial time to a track limits violation, while Championship leader Luke Browning was demoted to P13 by Tim Tramnitz.

    But with all looking lost, the drivers ventured out on to the track aiming to do as much learning in mixed conditions before tomorrow’s sprint race.

    However, the track began to improve heading into the final minute, with Leonardo Fornaroli going fastest on a 1:45.265. This was bad news for the drivers in the pit lane like Leon and Dunne as the timing screens lit up with purple and green sectors.

    Browning then came across the line to complete a lap of 1:44.992 giving him pole position on home soil, as Esterson went second moments later.

    The full top 10 are- Pole: Browning, P2: Esterson, P3: Meguetounif, P4: Fornaroli, P5: Van Hoepen, P6: Wurz, P7: Mansell, P8: Tsolov, P9: Voisin and P10: Zagazeta.

  • F2 – RND 7 Round Up

    Day 1, Practice-

    Isack Hadjar was fastest of all in the Spielberg free practice session, after he completed a lap of 1:16.441 to set the pace ahead of qualifying.

    The Campos racing driver was over two-tenths clear out front of Hitech Pulse Eight’s Paul Aron in second and DAMS Lucas Oil’s Jak Crawford in third.

    It was PREMA Racing’s Oliver Bearman that led the way early on though thanks to a time of 1:17.011, putting him 0.076s clear of MP Motorsport’s Dennis Hauger in second.

    The fastest time continued to change hands and next to top the timesheets was Paul Aron. The Hitech driver’s time of 1:16.680 put him two-tenths in front of ART Grands Prix Victor Martins.

    Fresh from his Feature Race victory in Barcelona, Crawford looked to be continuing that fine form as he went up to second, 0.162s off Aron’s leading time.

    The Red flags were waved moments later after AIX Racing’s Taylor Barnard pulled over to the side of the road on the main straight.

    With the track then clear, the session resumed to green flag conditions and Crawford once again improved on his best effort.

    Campos’ Hadjar then took over at the top of the leaderboard on a 1:16.624 eclipsing Aron’s time by just 0.056s. The Frenchman then extended his lead out front on his next flying effort, this time setting a lap of 1:16.441.

    No one could improve late on, which left Hadjar with the fastest time ahead of Aron and Crawford.

    Qualifying-

    MP Motorsport’s Dennis Hauger sealed his second pole position of the season after a close battle with AIX Racing’s Joshua Duerksen in a dramatic Spielberg Qualifying.

    The Norwegian driver completed a lap of 1:15.487 to lead Duerksen by just 0.008s, as Invicta Racing’s Gabriel Bortoleto rounded out the top three.

    It was Campos Racing’s Isack Hadjar that led the way in the early stages though, an opening time of 1:15.828 put him over two-tenths clear of Hitech Pulse-Eight’s Paul Aron in second.

    While most went for cool down laps, others continued to push but no one could trouble the top two.
    Returning to the pitlane, Hadjar had smoke coming from the rear of his car, with the issue ruling him out the remained of the session.

    With five minutes left, the final few laps started and after leading the rest of the field around the track, Hauger went to the top of the timesheets with a 1:15.487.

    The Paraguayan improved further on his next flying lap to go within 0.008s of top spot, but in the end Hauger held on to pole position with Bortoleto in third.

    The full top 10 are- Pole: Hauger, P2: Duerksen, P3: Bortoelto, P4: Colapinto, P5: Aron, P6: Barnard, P7: Hadjar, P8: Marti, P9: Bearman and P10: Maini.

    Day 2-

    It was a superb start for Bearman as he took the lead from pole-sitter Kush Maini on the run up to Turn 1. The Invicta Racing driver then ost another place to Marti later in the lap.

    By the end of lap 3, Bearman was now over two seconds clear of Marti. The Spaniard was also out of DRS range of Maini in third who was coming under attack from Taylor Barnard, Paul Aron and his teammate Gabriel Bortoleto.

    At the start of lap 6, the gaps were starting to close, as Marti had moved to within a second a half of Bearman, while Maini was now within DRS range of the Campos rookie.

    Barnard though was beginning to loose touch with Maini in the battle for P3, and the AIX Racing driver then dropped down to fifth after Aron dived down his inside at Turn 3.
    Back at the front, Bearman’s margin had gone with Marti now within DRS range of the Briton, with Maini just behind as they started lap 9.

    At the halfway stage of the race, Joshua Duerksen made his way past his AIX Racing teammate Barnard after diving down his inside on the entry to turn 3.

    Maini was beginning to struggle on lap 20 and fell out of DRS range of Marti up ahead. The Invicta driver then lost his place on the podium to Aron at the exit of Turn 3 on the next lap, with teammate Bortoleto following the Estonian through at the next corner.

    But this allowed Bearman and Marti to escape on the road with Aron and Bortoleto now over a second away from the top two fighting for the final spot on the podium.
    The battles had also started further back as Duerksen lost P7 to Hauger on lap 24.

    By the end of lap 26, Bearman had extended his lead to over one second to Marti while Bortoleto was all over the back of Aron. Just behind them, Maini lost out to the two MP drivers Colapinto and Hauger and dropped to seventh.

    Onto the final lap, and Bearman extended his lead to nearly two seconds before crossing the line to take victory ahead of Marti, while Aron held off Bortoleto to take his seventh podium of the year.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Bearman, P2: Marti, P3: Aron, P4: Bortoleto, P5: Hauger, P6: Crawford, P7: Maini, P8: Duerksen, P9: O’Sullivan and P10: Martins.

    Day 3-

    There was drama before the lights even went out, as pole-sitter Dennis Hauger at the start of the formation lap, alongside Kush Maini and Jak Crawford, forcing the three drivers to start from the pitlane.

    This then left Duerksen as the lead car on the grid and he made a fast start ahead of Bortoleto with Colapinto in third and Championship leader Paul Aron in fourth.

    Colapinto was the lone driver in the top five to start on the softs and he was coming under pressure from Aron and Isack Hadjar who were on supersofts.
    Further up the road, Duerksen and Bortoleto were now battling for the lead with the Brazilian making the move down the inside at Turn 4 on Lap 4.

    On lap 6, Josep Maria Marti lost P6 to sprint race winner, Oliver Bearman, the Prema racer getting past at the exit of turn 3.
    Moments later, the Virtual Safety Car was deployed with Zane Maloney stopping on track. After his Rodin Motorsport car was cleared, racing resumed with a number of supersoft runners then pitting for the softs.

    That included Marti, Duerksen, Bortoleto, Taylor Barnard, Richard Verschoor and Andrea Kimi Antonelli – with the latter stalling in the pitlane dropping him to the back of the field.

    Onto lap 18 and Aron had now got past Duerksen, and further up the road, Bortoleto was now right on the back of Marti in the battle for what would turn out to be the lead of the race.
    The Brazilian driver dived down the inside of his fellow rookie at Turn 3 to take the position.

    Enzo Fittipaldi was having a strong day as he made his way past his Van Amersfoort Racing teammate Rafael Villagomez and Trident’s Roman Stanek with Duerksen his next target in P9.

    The battle between the two Campos drivers then resumed on lap 32, just as the leader Colapinto made his mandatory pit stop. The MP rookie came back out in P8 behind a squabbling Fittipaldi and Duerksen.
    But he quickly overtook both of them at Turns 3 and 4 on lap 35, putting him up to fifth and just under three seconds behind Aron.

    Out front, Bortoleto’s lead over Hadjar was over three and a half seconds, with the Frenchman coming under pressure from Marti, Aron and a flying Colapinto.

    The Argentine took P4 from Aron at Turn 4 on Lap 38, before moving past Marti on the next tour. Onto the final lap, he overtook Hadjar for second but there was no catching Bortoleto, who crossed the line to take his first Formula 2 victory.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Bortoleto, P2: Colapinto, P3: Hadjar, P4: Fittipaldi, P5: Aron, P6: Durksen, P7: Cordeel, P8: Barnard, P9: O’Sullivan and P10: Crawford.

  • RW 7 – Emilia-Romagna

    Max Verstappen has returned to winning ways by taking victory in the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, with the Dutchman holding off a late charge from McLaren’s Lando Norris.

    A thrilling end to the event ensued as Norris continued to cut into Verstappen’s advantage, but a snap of oversteer seemed to take further life out of the McLaren’s tyres, allowing the Red Bull to hold onto P1 by just 0.725s as the chequered flag was waved.

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

    What a result for McLaren, off the back of Lando’s win the other week in Miami, to then be challenging for another win and coming home with P2 is not bad at all! It makes you think if Piastri didn’t have the 3 place grid drop would he of got McLaren’s first double podium of the year?

    Obviously a very good result for Max after a tough weekend, even after qualifying the car wasn’t 100% where he would like it but he made the most of it.
    A bit of a poor race from Perez, obviously he started P11, and finished P8, it’s a hard track to over take on so he knew from the beginning of the race it wasn’t going to be easy.

    A good result for Ferrari on home turf, P3 and P5, I think we all expected much more from them in the race, but they didn’t have a terrible day so they will take it as a win two very good points positions with decent strategies aswell.

    A decent result for Mercedes! P6 for Lewis and P7 for Russell, as well as an extra point for fastest lap. Obviously the upgrades they’ve brought this weekend have improved the car a little bit but we will have to wait and see fully at another track!

    Points for Tsunoda!! His fourth time scoring points this season, the Japanese driver sits 10th in the Drivers’ standings so far.

    Not a good result for Aston Martin at all, especially for Fernando Alonso. He spent pretty much all afternoon at the back of the pack after a challenging qualifying. He then retired his Aston Martin in the latter stages of the race.

    Now we don’t have to wait too long for the next race, as it’s only next week and we head to one of the classics! The Monaco Grand Prix is Round 8, will it be Max Verstappen or can McLaren and Ferrari take home another win?

  • RW 7 – Emilia-Romagna Qualifying

    Max Vertappen added to his run of pole positions by claiming P1 on the grid for the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, with the Dutchman narrowly triumphing over his rivals with an unbeatable lap in Imola.

    Verstappen first set a strong benchmark during the initial runs of Q3 and then improved even further during his final effort, pumping in a time of 1m14.746s in the Red Bull.
    This put him 0.074s clear of Australian driver, Oscar Piastri – who has now been penalised with a 3 place grid drop for impeding the Haas of Kevin Magnussen – and McLaren teammate Lando Norris in third.

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

    A very good result for McLaren P2 and P3 effectively, but even with Oscar’s penalty it is still a very good result, and they will want this going into the race, and challenge for the win again and maybe get a podium too.

    Ferrari have some pace too, P4 and P5 for Leclerc and Sainz, all they need now is a good strategy in the race and they could be fighting for podiums.

    A decent result for Mercedes! P6 for Russell and P8 for Hamilton, which is roughly where they thought they would be. The team will be wanting to score some points today as they are trailing behind in the constructors compared to last year.

    A very good result for RB! Both Tsunoda and Ricciardo in the top 10 with there upgrades clearly working, now they will be wanting to capitalise on their performance and grab some all important points!

    A shock in qualifying was Sergio Perez, not making Q3! He didn’t manage to improve on his final lap in Q2, which means the Red Bull driver has a lot of work to do in the race…

    Another shock I’d say is Fernando Alonso out in Q1! He will be lining up P19, so far this weekend the Spaniard has had a shocker of a weekend! It will be interesting to see what he can do in the race.

  • RW 7 – Tyre Selection

    Formula 1 returns to Europe after eight months on from the previous Grand Prix to be held on the old continent and in the same country, Italy.

    This weekend’s race is only the fourth edition of the Gran Premio Del Made in Italy E dell’Emilia Romagna, previously held from 2020 to 2022 as last year’s event had to be cancelled because of floods that hit large parts of the region.

    For the seventh round of the season, Pirelli has decided to go with the softest trio of tyre compounds: C3 (Hard), C4 (Medium), C5 (Soft).
    It will be the first time this trio will be put to the test at the Emilian track, although it was to have been the choice for last year’s cancelled event.

    Imola is one of the oldest fixtures on the championship calendar, known for being a technical track which highlights the skills of the drivers who have to tackle quite complex combinations of corners and braking zones.

    The track is not particularly hard in terms of the forces exerted on the tyres, even if the asphalt is still relatively abrasive, despite the fact that the last time resurfacing work was carried out on 70% of its almost five kilometre length dates back to 2011.

    With 19 corners and a significant 30 metre elevation change from the highest point to the lowest, the track is rather narrow and there is only one DRS zone, making overtaking far from easy.

    On paper, having the three softest compounds could produce more options in terms of pit stop strategy in a race that usually would require just on tyre change, especially as time lost in the pit lane is one of the highest of the year.
    There is also the strong possibility of the race being neutralised at some point, something that has happened in over 70% of races run at Imola to date.

  • RND 7 – Misano E-Prix

    FP3-

    Despite having Round 6 already and collecting lots of data, practice makes perfect as the grid headed back out for another session.

    All drivers got lap times in, but Mahindra Racing’s Nyck de Vries slowed whilst he was on the track, he managed to make his way back to the garage and got out later on in the session to finish ninth.

    ABT CUPRA’s Nico Mueller, topped the timesheets for a while in the middle of the 30 minute session, with the team looking to get more points on the board this weekend.

    However, it was Robin Frijns who managed to go quickest. The Envision driver crossed the finish line in last and 18th Saturday, but moved up to 17th after post-race sanctions were applied.

    Qualifying-

    NEOM McLaren’s Jake Hughes achieved the third Julius Baer Pole Position of his Formula E career, as he took on two-time champion Jean-Eric Vergne in the final of the qualifying Duels.

    It’s a great result for Hughes, especially given he was demoted to the back of the grid for not having his car’s fire extinguisher armed during the session.

    During the final Hughes had the advantage in sector one, but Vergne claimed it back in the second sector. However the Brit, ended up two-tenths ahead at the chequered flag.

    Things went from bad to worse for Antonio Felix da Costa, as he had his lap time deleted in the final stages of the group in 11th. Misano not quite going his way after the disqualification.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Hughes, P2: Vergne, P3: Wehrlein, P4: Mueller, P5: Bird, P6: Vandoorne, P7: Frijns, P8: Cassidy, P9: Dennis and P10: Rowland.

    Round 7-

    Pole sitter Hughes led cleanly away with Vergne and Wehrlein plus the rest of the pack following close behind, with the top three as they’d left the gird at the end of Lap 1.

    Drivers jostled to find space and clean air over the early laps – desperately trying to avoid the pinch points at Turn 8 & 9 and fall foul of contact.
    On Lap 4, Hughes and Vergne were the first to jump for Attack Mode. From there, Hughes ceded the race lead to the DS Driver, having led until that point while Wehrlein and Cassidy then jumped for Attack Mode and occupied P1 and P2 respectively at the end of Lap 5.

    ABT CUPRA’s Nico Mueller was next to lead, with the top 10 pretty much level on usable energy remaining on Lap 7, while Robin Frijns caught his wing in contact, sending him straight on and into gravel, requiring the Safety Car to be deployed for his recovery.
    On lap 9, the race went green once again with Mueller leading Wehrlein and Cassidy away, while most of the pack leapt for Attack Mode activations.

    On Lap 11, thing went from bad to worse again for Antonio Felix da Costa after as he got contact at Turn 1 which required his front wing to be replaced which then pushed him down the order.

    Mueller hit the front again on lap 13, with Wherlein behind, while Rowland picked his moment to push – taking third from Wehrlein before moving into the race lead, as Mueller was shuffled first ot third by the Nissan then reigning champion Jake Dennis.

    Wehrlein looked to be in the box seat with 10 laps to go – the Porsche driver with a massive 2% usable energy in hand on those around him.
    On lap 18, the German driver leapt to the front of the field with enough in-hand to punch his way through the air out front to the finish.

    Rowland took the lead through Sector 1 on Lap 20, looking to gain track position with five tours to go. The German’s engineer was over the radio to his driver to make a move for P1 with four laps to run with the lead pair pulling two seconds on third-placed Dennis.

    Wehrlein seemed powerless, though with his battery derating – overheating – heading into the final lap. Drama though saw Wehrlein swoop by the Nissan as Rowland slowed to a crawl, running out of usable energy long before the flag.
    Dennis followed him home with Cassidy pipping Mueller on the line for third position – heartbreakingly close to silverware for the ABT CUPRA squad.

    The full top 10 are – P1: Wehrlein, P2: Dennis, P3: Cassidy, P4: Mueller, P5: Fenestraz, P6: Sette Camara, P7: Vergne, P8: Hughes, P9: Daruvala and P10: Bird.

  • F3 – RND 7 – Day 2 & 3

    Day 2-

    As rain began to fall before lights out, all bar Gregoire Saucy started on slicks. Pole sitter Sebastian Montoya kept the lead from pole, while Taylor Barnard surged up to second as he passed Jonny Edgar around the outside of Turn 1.

    Colapinto then passed both in one move, diving down the inside at Village to go from fourth to second. A scruffy run through Maggotts and Becketts allowed Barnard to slot back into second.

    With DRS enabled, Bortoleto was able to put pressure on Mini ahead in fifth position, the Brazilian driver was through on the Hitech driver as he forced a lock-up from the Italian driver into the Vale Chicane.

    The heavy rain arrived on lap 8 and the Safety Car was deployed with all the drivers running slick tyres. Dino Beganovic took the opportunity to pit for wet tyres whilst the rest of the grid remained on track.

    With positions one to 10 still on dry tyres and those behind on wets, the Safety Car was withdrawn entering lap 13, with Barnard right on the rear wing of Montoya, the pair made contact at Turn 1.

    After his spin, Montoya was back into the points and eighth, as he passed both of the PREMAs down the Hangar Straight with three laps to go.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Colapinto, P2: Bortoleto, P3: Mansell, P4: Collet, P5: Mini, P6: Barter, P7: Fornaroli, P8: Montoya, P9: Cohen and P10: Marti.

    Day 3-

    Fornaroli covered off his teammate to retain the lead into Turn 1 while Gabriel Bortoleto made immediate progress up to fourth position, going around the outside of Mansell into Turn 3.

    Further ahead, Marti cleared Goethe to take second position, albeit briefly. The Trident driver was able to retake the place with a great pass around the outside of Stowe later on.

    Luke Browning made contact with Hugh Barter out of the final corner, leaving the Hitech driver with a broken suspension. It resulted in his retirement from the race and brought out the Safety Car. Edgar was also out of his home event on lap 1 after contact with Collet on the opening lap.

    On lap 17, rain began to fall and Robert Faria went off into the barriers at Woodcote. He was out of the car ok and the Safety Car came back out. As the rain intensified, Tommy Smith was the only taker for wet tyres with three laps remaining, rejoining in 28th position.

    Van Amersfoort Racing’s Collet was able to make great progress despite running the slick hard tyres, taking multiple positions on the penultimate lap to rise up to the points positions.
    Teammate Smith was able to take full advantage of conditions on the wets, going from 28th to 12th in the space of a lap and a half.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Goethe, P2: Fornaroli, P3: Marti, P4: Aron, P5: Mansell, P6: Bortoleto, P7: Mini, P8: Colapinto, P9: Saucy and P10: Montoya.

  • F3 – RND 7 – Day 1

    Free Practice-

    Hitech Pulse-Eight’s Luke Browning started his and his team’s home event in fine form, setting a 1:45.794 to lead the way in Free Practice.

    With the Championship leader, Gabriel Bortoleto following closely in second position and Dino Beganovic in third making him the highest-placed PREMA driver.

    Sebastian Montoya got the weekend rolling with a 1:48.957 and the initial time to beat. Leonardo Fornaroli and then Franco Colapinto quickly beating that.

    There was contact between Kaylen Frederick and Zak O’Sullivan at Turn 16 as traffic began to build up and drivers searched for clean air. The Briton was able to continue in the session, but the ART Grand Prix driver was out after sustaining suspension damage and recovering to the pitlane.

    Browning continued to lap quickly, lowering his best time to a 1:45.946 before a Virtual Safety Car was deployed to recover debris left by the earlier contact.

    Back to green flag conditions with 12 minutes left, and there were very few improvements as Bortoleto moved himself up to second on a 1:46.075s.

    Qualifying-

    Leonardo Fornaroli headed up a Trident 1-2 around Silverstone, taking his maiden Formula 3 pole position with a 1:45.520.

    Fornaroli’s teammate, Oliver Goethe followed in second after making a late improvement, whilst Josep Maria Marti led the Campos Racing effort in third.

    Gabriele Mini set the early pace with a 1:46.619 which was swiftly beaten by teammate Luke Browning. The Tridents of Gabriel Bortoleto and Oliver Goethe crossed the line to split the two Hitech drivers, with the top three covered by just 0.120s.

    The track filled up once more after a swap to fresh tyres with less than 10 minutes remaining of Qualifying.

    Mini, Browning and Aron each improved on their next efforts but only the Estonian driver got to within a quarter of a second of Fornaroli’s provisional pole time.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Fornaroli, P2: Goethe, P3: Marti, P4: Mansell, P5: Bortoleto, P6: Aron, P7: Mini, P8: Browning, P9: Colapinto and P10: Barnard.

  • F2 – RND 7 – Day 1

    Free Practice-

    Frederik Vesti started the Barcelona weekend where he left off in Monte Carlo, ending the opening session of the weekend P1 for PREMA.

    The Dane set a 1:26.722 to lead from Oliver Bearman, as the Italian team looked comfortable around the circuit. Jehan Daruvala was third for MP Motorsport, 0.3s down on Vesti’s session topping effort.

    A red flag was thrown with just over 20 minutes to go following a spin for Victor Martins coming out of Turn 10. The ART Grand Prix driver lost the back end of the car and couldn’t get going again.

    Enzo Fittipaldi made a late improvement to jump up into third position until he lost his time for exceeding track limits, his next lap put him into the top five.

    Qualifying-

    Oliver Bearman denied Enzo Fittipaldi pole position by just 0.077s with a 1:23.546 in the final moments of Qualifying. The Rodin Carlin provisionally held the top spot until the PREMA Racing driver’s late effort was just good enough to beat the Brazilian. Jack Doohan will be hoping to realign his season, going from P3 on the feature race.

    Victor Martins led the field out of the pitlane as the light went green to get Qualifying underway. The Frenchman set the initial benchmark but that was swift beaten by those behind.

    PREMA Racing opted to run both of their drivers in the gap after the first efforts were complete, joined on track by only the MP Motorsport drivers. Hauger took the sport with a 1:23.923 while Jehan Daruvala lifted himself up to third.

    With 10 minutes left, the next flurry of laptimes arrived and it was Theo Pourchaire who went to the top of the times. That was until Enzo Fittipaldi set a 1:23.623 to put himself P1 once again.

    The full top 10 are: P1: Bearman, P2: Fittipaldi, P3: Doohan, P4: Iwasa, P5: Pourchaire, P6: Hauger, P7: Martins, P8: Vesti, P9: Crawford and P10: Amaury Cordeel.

  • RND 7 – Monaco Grand Prix

    Round 7 is now complete and we had some late drama in the race due to a rain shower where chaos ensued.

    Max Verstappen kept Red Bull’s 2023 winning record intact by keeping his cool overcoming the rain and the chaos in the final stages of the race. Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso came home in P2 and on the final step of the podium is Esteban Ocon in P3!

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

    A really good day for Mercedes, and I think the upgrades for the W14’s have improved a little bit, but we won’t know how well until we get to another circuit. With Russell’s five second time penalty for clashing with Sergio Perez when he rejoined the track from an off in the slippery conditions not affecting his finishing position.

    A really good result for Alpine, finally what they need and it’s a podium aswell, which makes it even better for the team. Hopefully this is them on the up as they had pace all weekend and they can keep the good results coming.

    Obviously a bad day for Sergio Perez, started plum last due to his crash in qualifying and we all knew it was going to be a hard race for him. Which means the gap between Max and Sergio in the Drivers standings has gotten bigger.

    A decent day for the McLaren boys, both in the points, but they still have a lot of work to do if they want to be close to Alpine.

    Now we don’t have to long to wait, as the next race is this weekend! We are in Spain for Round 8 the home grand prix of Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz!

  • RND 7 – Monaco Qualifying

    Monaco qualifying is complete and the grid is set for tomorrow’s Monaco Grand Prix, with a few shocks and surprises along the way.

    Max Verstappen took pole position for the first time in Monaco, he pipped out rival, Fernando Alonso in P2 and hometown hero Charles Leclerc in P3.

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

    But, things are never easy especially for Charles Leclerc, who has been given a 3 place grid drop for the race meaning he will start P6, which bumps up Ocon to P3, Sainz P4 and Hamilton P5.

    However, one Red Bull driver might have been on pole but the other… was down the other end of the grid. Sergio Perez will be starting in P20 due to crashing out in Q1.

    A really really good result for the Alpine’s P3 and P7, obviously it means they should be scoring some good points if they don’t loose out on strategies etc tomorrow.

    A good result to see Yuki in the top 10 also, some good pace there and for his teammate aswell who starts just outside the top 10 in P12, hoping to get his first points of the season…

    Not such a good result for Zhou Guanyu who is starting P19, the Alfa Romeo driver needing to score points but his teammate isn’t starting from the best place either in 15th, a lot of work to do if they want to get further up the constructors.

    Predictions-

    My top five for the race are: P1: Alonso, P2: Verstappen, P3: Sainz, P4: Hamilton and P5: Ocon.

    Obviously with such a mixed up grid it will definitely be interesting but it will be all about strategy and if it works out with safety cars etc, but i’m hoping it will be an exciting one.

  • Monaco Grand Prix

    Shall we try this again? It’s Race week and we are in Monaco for Round 7! Obviously last week was meant to be race week but due to the flood in the Emilia-Romagna region it got cancelled, so drivers will be wanting to get the best position possible this weekend.

    We all know qualifying is the most important part of the weekend at the circuit as we know you can’t really overtake on this track…

    It’s Charles Leclerc’s home race this weekend, but will he finally end the Monaco curse he has and take the win?

    Who needs to shine?

    The Alfa Romeo’s need to do a bit of work, they had a better start to last year’s season than this year’s so they will be wanting to get the ball rolling and score some more points as soon as possible.

    McLaren, rough season so far for the team but this weekend they will be hoping to get some points in the bag especially if other teams/drivers have a close moment through the tight corners of Monaco.

    Alpine still have a bit of work to do in the next couple of races, they currently sit 6th in the Constructors’ but tied on points with McLaren who sits in 5th on 14 points. That’s both team’s main competitor at the moment until other teams start scoring a bit more and making a mid field fight.

    Predictions for Qualifying-

    My top five for qualifying are- Pole: Perez, P2: Leclerc, P3: Verstappen, P4: Alonso and P5: Hamilton.

    As I said at the beginning of the post qualifying matters, so drivers will be going even more full out and getting the best position available. In the top 10 it will be the top 4 teams, unless we have a few shock appearances…

  • McLaren to run one-off livery

    McLaren will be running a one-off ‘Triple Crown’ papaya, white and black livery in this weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix as part of their 60th anniversary celebrations.

    The special livery, which will also adorn the MCL60 at the following race at Spain’s Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, is a nod to McLaren’s achievement of winning motorsport’s three most known races, known as the Triple Crown, which includes F1’s Monaco race, Indycar’s Indy 500 at Indianapolis and the endurance showpiece – the Le Mans 24 Hours.

    The rear of the car which is driven by Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri – will be bedecked in papaya, to celebrate the team’s maiden INdy 500 – winning M16C/D that Jonny Rutherford guided to victory in 1974.

    The centre of the car is what the team call “sharp ice white” from Alain Prost’s 1984 Monaco Grand Prix win, running a red and white colour scheme on the MP4/2 that became synonymous with McLaren in F1.

    The front end of the car is black, in tribute to the McLaren F1 GTR that won the 1995 Le Mans 24 Hours with JJ Lehto, Yannick Dalmas and Masanori Sekiya in McLaren’s first attempt at the endurance race.

    Having achieved the greatest accomplishment in motorsport by completing the Triple Crown, we are proud to celebrate the rich history of McLaren Racing with a special livery at the 2023 Monaco Grand Prix. In line with our 60th anniversary celebrations and honouring the legacy of Bruce McLaren, the unique livery pays homage to the three victories which form the Triple Crown accolade.

    Zak Brown, McLaren CEO.

    Itโ€™s a privilege to be involved in McLaren Racingโ€™s 60th anniversary celebrations and to combine three iconic race-winning McLaren liveries into one for the 2023 Monaco Grand Prix is going to be a special moment for the whole team. McLaren have an impressive record in Monte Carlo and on a personal level to have experienced a podium at the 2021 race was a huge honour. Weโ€™ll be racing hard in a great looking car to celebrate Bruce McLaren and the teamโ€™s amazing legacy.

    Lando Norris added.

    The Triple Crown livery looks incredible, and I canโ€™t imagine a better way to experience my first Monaco Grand Prix as a Formula 1 driver with McLaren Racing. Bruce McLaren was a winner in Monte Carlo in 1962 and the McLaren team have such rich history at the Monaco Grand Prix. I will feel incredibly proud lining up on the grid in the MCL60, carrying the same colours as the three Triple Crown-winning race cars.

    Piastri added.
    https://www.instagram.com/reel/Csl24BZIk-4/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

  • Monaco Tyre Selection

    The tyres have been chosen for this weekend’s Grand Prix, where we are in Monaco, where qualifying really matters…

    The three softest compounds in the Pirelli F1 range have been chosen, those being: C3 (Hard), C4 (Medium) and C5 (Soft).

    The total length of this historic track is just 3.337 kilometres with 68 races having taken place and the most successful driver (in terms of wins) being Ayrton Senna.

    Monaco has the lowest average lap speed of the whole championship, which is around 150kph. With very little grip and limited wear. The softer compound offer a good level of adhesion when it comes to traction but mechanical grip is limited.

    All types of tyre brought to Monaco were used in the variable weather of last year’s grand prix: Blue full wet, Green intermediate, and all three slick compounds. On a dry race track, the race is nearly always a one-stopper for everybody but last year most drivers stopped three times.

    Weโ€™re heading to a Monaco Grand Prix thatโ€™s somewhat different to what we expected. It should have been the second race of a European triple-header but instead itโ€™s going to be the first due to the cancellation of Imola. Those images of devastation are still fresh in our minds and we want to express our solidarity once more with the families of the victims, as well as all those who have suffered such huge losses. 
    Monaco has written its own chapter in the history of Formula 1. The characteristics of this unique circuit, largely unaltered for more than 60 years, make it a true one-off that has often sprung surprises. No other track can allow a driver to compensate for any technical shortcomings of their car in the same way, and just one incident can shake things up entirely. The difficulty of overtaking can sometimes detract from the spectacle in the race, but that only makes Saturdayโ€™s qualifying all the more exciting, as grid position assumes a particular importance to the final result on Sunday. As is often the case on street circuits, Pirelli has nominated the softest tyres in the range. One of the peculiarities of Monaco is the fact that the track is opened to normal traffic every evening, which means that it’s very hard for rubber to build up on the racing line, making the surface even more slippery. With Imola having been scrubbed, Monaco could now become the debut for the new Cinturato Blue full wet without tyre blankets, obviously depending on weather conditions: another potential random factor this weekend.

    Mario Isola, Motorsport Director.

  • Round 7 – Berlin E-Prix

    FP1-

    DS PENSKE’s Stoffel Vandoorne set the early pace in Free Practice 1 at the SABIC Berlin E-Prix. The reigning Drivers’ World Champion popped in a 1m 05.803s at the Tempelhof Airport Circuit which has held the most races in Formula E history.

    A second split the top 20 drivers, with the top nine being separated by only three tenths!

    Behind Vandoorne, it was Avalanche Andretti’s Jake Dennis in second place, with Maserati MSG Racing’s Maximilian Guenther in third.

    The Maserati of Edoardo Mortara brought out a brief yellow flag around ten minutes into the session as his Gen3 car went into the barriers. Later on in the session, Robin Frijns went for a little spin in his ABT Cupra.

    FP2-

    Maserati MSG Racing continued to look strong at the SABIC Berlin E-Prix, as Maximilian Guenther delighted his home crowd by going fastest in Free Practice 2 with the quickest time seen around the circuit – 1m 05.301s.

    Behind Guenther was Envision Racing’s Nick Cassidy in second who is currently on a streak of three consecutive podiums. Double Formula E Champion, Jean-Eric Vergne slotted into third.

    Edoardo Mortara, almost had a repeat of his FP1 incident yesterday. However, only moments later Mahindra Racing’s Oliver Rowland sent his M9Electro into the barriers after a hefty lock up at Turn 1.

    Qualifying-

    Envision Racing’s Sebastien Buemi took a Formula E record 16th, and second Julius Baer Pole Position of the season, much to surprise after making two mistakes on his final qualifying lap and dealing with a recently broken bone in his hand.

    With both Buemi and Bird being powered by the Jaguar I-TYPE 6, it was always going to be close, but it was Buemi who snatched pole by over a tenth to second place Sam Bird.

    NIO 333’s qualifying went from strength to strength after Dan Ticktum joined his teammate into Quarters, who have never had both their cars in Duels stage since it was introduced at the start of Season 8.

    For home heroes, TAG Heuer Porsche, Antonio Felix da Costa ended Group A in 10th, his worst performance in the Groups this year. His teammate, Pascal Wehrlein, could only manage eighth in Group A too – the same he did last time out in Brazil.

    Round 7-

    Jaguar TCS Racing played a blinder with their race strategy to seal a Mitch Evans, Sam Bird one-two in a beautifully chaotic SABIC Berlin E-Prix Round 7 that saw 190 overtakes and a record 20 at the line lead changes and eight different race leaders.

    Throughout the entire race distance, some 43 laps, the field never mind the top 10, proved to be completely inseparable. Dan Ticktum had launched himself into the lead in style with a stunning move around the outside of Turn 1 right by Sebastien Buemi, Sam bird and Stoffel Vandoorne.

    Glancing at the timing screens yielded a different race leader at almost every stage as positions changed left and right, with the first of two spells under the Safety Car compounding things further and seeing the field split by just over five seconds at a little over the halfway stage.

    The Jaguar pair and Buemi then clambered to fill out the top three spots after Guenther had briefly taken P1 as the race headed into its closing stages. The Jaguar powered cars went on to stretch their legs, with Guenther looking to pick up the pieces as the front three squabbled for the race lead.

    The full top 10 are: P1: Evans, P2: Bird, P3: Guenther, P4: Buemi, P5: Cassidy, P6: Wehrlein, P7: Vergne, P8: Lotterer, P9: Mortara and P10: Rowland.

  • F3 Spa- Day 2 & 3

    F3 Spa- Day 2 & 3

    Day 2-

    Zak O’Sullivan retained the lead from pole into La Source with teammate Benavides attempting to wrestle second from Juan Manuel Correa. With the two on the Kemmel Straight, the ART driver turned defence into attack, taking the lead but only momentarily.

    Title rival, Victor Martins meanwhile had made his way up to 16th by the time the Safety Car was deployed but had jumped the start, he was handed a drive-through penalty as a result.

    A wide moment, from Oliver Goethe heading into Stavelot left the Campos driver under pressure from the Trident duo of Roman Stanek and Zane Maloney. Stanek was able to clear the Monegasque driver for fifth but contact on the exit of Blanchimont between Goethe and Maloney resulted in a big crash for the pair, but thankfully both drivers were able to walk away from their cars.

    Leclerc’s charge continued at the expense of Benavides, another DRS pass down the Kemmel Straight moved him up to fifth position and within range of Edgar as a result of the latter’s pending time penalty.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Bearman, P2: Stanek, P3: Smolyar, P4: Edgar, P5: Leclerc, P6: Alatalo, P7: Vidales, P8: Benavides, P9: Hadjar and P10: Collet.

    Day 3-

    Having become the seventh different driver to take pole this season, Collet lined up on the front row along side Maloney whilst four of the top five in the Championship found themselves starting P20 or lower.

    Maloney’s time out front didn’t last long as he was ordered to give the place back by his team. In the mean time, Goethe had gotten past Collet for P2, forcing the Trident to drop down to third behind the MP in order to return the position.

    Disaster soon struck for title contender, Martins. The ART Grand Prix driver found himself collected in chaos ahead as Kush Maini overshot the corner sending him into the side of Pizzi, tagging Ido Cohen and Martins.

    No sooner than the action resumed did the safety car return to the track after Gregoire Saucy and Josep Maria Marti touched wheels, resulting in the early retirement of a second ART car.

    Having been handed a five second penalty for rejoining the track unsafely, Collet knew it was time to be strategic as he battled with Stanek for second.

    As the penultimate lap began, it was Bearman’s time to strike as Goethe went too deep into Turn 1, the pair flew up side-by-side into Eau Rouge, but the Prema Racing driver cautiously decided to back out and go again one lap later.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Maloney, P2: Stanek, P3: Bearman, P4: Goethe, P5: Edgar, P6: Collet, P7: Vidales, P8: Alatalo, P9: Smolyar and P10: Ushijima.

    We don’t have long to wait till the next round, we are back next weekend and are in Zandvoort for Round 8, we only have two rounds left now…

  • F2 Spa – Day 1

    Free Practice-

    Ralph Boschung got his return to the Formula 2 season off to a positive start, as the Campos Racing driver topped Free Practice around Spa-Francorchamps.

    The weather proved to be a major headache with rainfall around the track, catching a few drivers out, but it was the Swiss driver who managed to clock in a 2:01.376 finish ahead of Amaury Cordeel and Ayumu Iwasa.

    Iwasa was the first driver to set a representative time. Flourishing in these conditions the DAMS driver set out to better his by 0.742s after the first two sectors, but it wasn’t to last, fighting the car through Stavelot ended in a huge spin across the gravel to bring out the Red Flag.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Boschung, P2: Cordeel, P3: Iwasa, P4: Armstrong, P5: Zendeli, P6: Sargeant, P7: Daruvala, P8: Beckmann, P9: Sato and P10: Vips.

    Qualifying-

    Championship leader, Felipe Drugovich put in a mighty lap to take pole position for the Spa-Francorchamps Feature Race ahead of Enzo Fittipaldi and Logan Sargeant.

    His closest rival in the Championship, Theo Pourchaire had to settle for eighth on the grid, meaning that the French driver will line up third on the grid for the Sprint Race.

    Juri Vips was the first to bring out a red flag due to a spin and not being able to keep his engine going. The session then resumed with 23 minutes to go and drivers got on track immediately.

    Ralph Boschung took provisional pole for Campos Racing but it was only for a moment. Jehan Daruvala and then Jack Doohan went quicker with track conditions ramping up in the closing stages.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Drugovich, P2: Fittipaldi, P3: Sargeant, P4: Doohan, P5: Beckmann, P6: Lawson, P7: Verschoor, P8: Pourchaire, P9: Daruvala and P10: Boschung.

  • F3 Spa – Day 1

    Free Practice 1-

    Reece Ushijima left the rest well adrift after his 2:05.172s put him above anyone else on the grid. The Van Amersfoort Racing driver ended the session over a second clear of anybody else, with Campos enjoying a 2-3-4.

    Jenzer Motorsport’s William Alatalo set the first representative time on a 2:09,590s but that was bettered by Carlin driver Brad Benavides with the American setting a 2:09.421s soon after.

    Roman Stanek came to a halt on the Kemmel Straight with just over 10 minutes remaining of the session, briefly bringing out yellow flags before the Trident driver was able to get his car restarted to continue.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Ushijima, P2: Goethe, P3: Vidales, P4: Marti, P5: O’Sullivan, P6: Stanek, P7: Hadjar, P8: Maloney, P9: Edgar and P10: Bearman.

    Qualifying-

    Caio Collet, put his foot to the floor to storm his way to his first Formula 3 pole position, mastering the wet to drying conditions in Spa-Francorchamps to become the seventh different driver to take pole in as many rounds.

    There was no shortage of contenders in the fight for P1 in the fight for P1 as last-minute improvements mixed up the order but it was the MP Motorsport driver who reigned supreme, over two tenths clear of Maloney.

    Downpours during the break between Practice and Qualifying forced the whole field to bolt on the wet weather Pirelli tyres and given the conditions it was no surprise that the track was immediately full of action.

    The session soon ground to a halt with 19 minutes on the clock, as Jak Crawford found himself facing the wrong way. In his attempt to sprint his car around, the driver got caught out by the gravel trap and was forced into a frustratingly early end.

    Even the appearance of the chequered flag didn’t mean that the order was final. Maloney leaped half a second clear of his teammate but there was nothing he could do to stop Collet’s final effort of 2:11.289.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Collet, P2: Maloney, P3: Pizzi, P4: Goethe, P5: Stanek, P6: Edgar, P7: Smolyar, P8: Bearman, P9: Colapinto and P10: Benavides.

  • F2 Silverstone – Day 2 & 3

    F2 Silverstone – Day 2 & 3

    Day 2-

    After two formation laps behind the Safety Car, it gave drivers a sight of the conditions they would be starting in. Jehan Daruvala led comfortably when the race did get going, as most drivers played it safe on the opening lap, apart from Jake Hughes who was the only one to capitalise and gain a place.

    Vesti and Drugovich went into combat on lap 2 and the pair were side by side through Village, banging tyres through the loop onto the Wellington Straight. But into Brooklands, Vesti dived to the inside and claimed eighth place from the MP driver.

    As the track continued to dry, some drivers started to complain of overheating wet tyres, but Doohan was finding a rhythm. He took from Juri Vips into Village on Lap Five, diving down the inside and claiming the place. Daruvala had already been complaining of graining rear tyres and Fittipaldi took full advantage.

    Once more, Doohan was on the move through the Village – Loop section, this time taking the lead from Fittipaldi on lap seven after the Brazilian went deep at Village. Meanwhile, Liam Lawson was struggling massively having sustained front wing damage, he was soon passed by both ART GP along with Drugovich to drop him to 9th. Carlin then pitted him for repairs that dropped him down to last at the end of the lap.

    But it was Jack Doohan who took his first F2 victory and the teams home win aswell. Iwasa came home to finish second and he was joined by Fittipaldi to round out the podium.

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

    Day 3-

    The first American on pole in Formula 2 history, Sargeant nailed a perfect getaway at the lights went out, but the same couldn’t be said for Vesti who joined the pole man on the front row. Meanwhile his ART teammate Pourchaire dived down the middle to leap up from fourth to second off the line…

    There were changes up and down the top 10, as Lawson shot up into third from fifth, with fellow Red Bull junior, Iwasa slotting up into fourth having started sixth. Drugovich lost out to drop down to fifth, as Armstrong hopped up into the points-scoring places in P9.

    Their momentum, was stopped on Lap 2, as contact between Dennis Hauger and Roy Nissany brought out the safety car. Going wide into the Club chicane, Nissany dived back on to track and into the path of the PREMA, cutting back the DAMS driver tagged Hauger, launching the Norwegian driver over the top of his car. Luckily, both drivers got out of the car okay, and that’s the main thing! The Halo is doing its job once again…

    As the race drew towards its conclusion, time was of the essence to make moves stick. Vips got the better of his teammate for sixth. But on the cusp of his maiden victory, Sargeant’s work wasn’t over yet on the penultimate lap. Pourchaire was breathing down his neck as the ART had closed right within the one-second DRS window.

    But it was Logan Sargeant who was victorious at Silverstone, Pourchaire finished 2nd a good amount of points for the championship, and to make it an even better day for Carlin, Liam Lawson finishes 3rd!

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

    We are back next week, for round 8 in Austria, as we have now reached the halfway point of the season! Who will be victorious at the Red Bull Ring?…

  • Round 7- Monaco GP

    Round 7- Monaco GP

    Did we just have a chaotic and interesting Monaco GP?? I think we did! There was a threat of rain for today’s race, going into the weekend and boy did we get it!

    Sergio Perez wins the Monaco GP, him now being the most successful Mexican F1 Driver as he took his third career win. Carlos Sainz finishes in 2nd, two years in a row! And Max Verstappen rounds out the podium, another great weekend for Red Bull!

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

    To start, we had a delayed race and wasn’t sure why at first but it turned out to be a power problem. But it had been raining, and whilst we was waiting for the race to start the rain got heavier… We saw the cars go round on formation laps but it was just too wet to start.

    Eventually we got racing, and without a safety car also, but it was all about strategy and who would get it right…

    Lap 27 came around, and it saw Mick Schumacher spun and crash at the swimming pool section which then brought a red flag, 3 laps later- the crash saw the gearbox and rear suspension detach from his Haas. His teammate also retired due to a system water pressure loss.

    A what could’ve been day for Charles, as he finally finishes a home race for the first time. He got told to pit, and then his team came on the radio to tell him not to pit but it was too late… This compromised the Monegasques race, but he bounced back from not scoring any points last week.

    Disappointing race for Haas, both drivers DNF, the first time this year and the team won’t be happy about it. Hopefully we see them bounce back in Baku next time out.

    A good race for one McLaren, Mr Lando Norris – he didn’t want it to rain, but he didn’t seem to mind it in the end after finishing 6th and looked like he was closing in on GR in the final few laps.

    Now onto the Silver Arrows, another good race for Russell, he maintains the top 5 finishes for this season! Now onto Hamilton, he got stuck behind a slow Fernando Alonso who looked like he settled for 7th, which compromised the 7 time world champions race as he had a lot more pace.

    The Championship-

    Max Verstappen is still leading the championship, but Charles Leclerc is sitting in 2nd only 9 points away, Perez is now closing in on the pair as he is 6 points away from the Ferrari driver. Russell remains in fourth, and Sainz is in fifth but there is one point between the two drivers.

    Looking at the teams, Red Bull lead the Constructors on 235 points, Ferrari are in 2nd on 199 points. We then have a big gap to third which is Mercedes on 134 and then another gap to fourth, which is McLaren on 59 points. Alfa Romeo are in fifth but Alpine is just one point behind them.

    We are back in two weeks and we have another double header! We go to Azerbaijan on the 10th to 12th June, and then we return to Canada a week later on the 17th to 19th June!

  • Round 7 – Monaco Qualifying

    Round 7 – Monaco Qualifying

    Well, another crazy qualifying in Monaco is complete, which saw a few surprise exits as well as a crash in Q3 which saw people not being able to complete their final laps.

    But it’s home boy hero, Charles Leclerc on pole position, with no-one being able to get close to him! Carlos Sainz makes it an all Ferrari front row. Sergio Perez, rounds out the top 3!

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

    A crash from Sergio Perez brought the final qualifying session to an end, as he lost the rear and went into the barrier, with Carlos Sainz doing the same- at the exact time aswell which caused there to be a traffic jam as drivers couldn’t get through.

    Gasly got knocked out in Q1 as he wasn’t able to get to the flag in time, he starts the race in P17, a what could’ve been today as it looked like he had really good pace so far but now onto tomorrow, what can he do from P17?

    Danny Ric out in Q2, and is starting P14- sandwiched between both Haas’ not a good day at all, which is a bit confusing as Lando Norris is starting P5!

    Someone I have to mention though, is Sebastian Vettel, starting P9! He done a mega lap in Q2 so he wouldn’t get knocked out, and he managed to get his Aston Martin into P9.

    A mixed day for Ferrari and Red Bull, for Ferrari its more of a good day obviously the pole for Leclerc, but the crash for Sainz once again has got to be hurting the team… Where as Red Bull more of a down day, Perez crashing which ruined his and his teammates lap, but as well as this it looks like Max isn’t comfortable in the car this weekend.

    Predictions-

    Well, these predictions I done before qualifying as I recorded my podcast- so I won’t change them (even though I want too!).

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

    There is an 80% chance of rain during the race tomorrow, so this may add some chaos to the Monaco race. Strategy is key here, the teams will be wanting to get the pit stops right * Flashback to last years Monaco GP, VB *

    Times for tomorrow-

    Feature Race F2- 08:50am (BST)
    F1 Race- 14:00pm.

  • Monaco Grand Prix

    The most prestigious motor race is here, we are in Monaco for Round 7 of the 2022 F1 Season! It is also the home GP of Charles Leclerc, will he finally have a good race result here and make up for scoring no points last week? Or will Max Verstappen continue with his charge?

    With overtaking not really possible here, qualifying is everything, so will we see some good performances from drivers to get further up the grid?

    Who needs a good weekend?

    Charles, even before what happened last week, he needs a good home GP. Last year, he qualified on pole before crashing, but if he does the same again (without the crashing part), there’s no reason why he shouldn’t win this race.

    Daniel needs a good weekend, he qualified well last week, but he just went backwards in the race and ended up finishing outside the points, which McLaren wouldn’t have wanted.

    Pierre Gasly, he got out performed by his teammate last week, and he managed to get into the points also. Pierre will be hoping to have a good qualifying and then he can go from their and see what he can do.

    I think Aston Martin need a good weekend also, they brought basically a new car last week so it will be interesting to see how the car does around different tracks, but more importantly this week.

    Predictions for qualifying-

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

    As I said earlier, qualifying is everything, so everyone will be pushing to improve their laps, but no mistakes can be made, its Monaco after all and it’s can bite at any point and ruin the drivers’ lap.

    Times for the weekend-

    Friday 27th

    • F2 Qualifying Group A- 10:40am – 10:56am (BST)
    • F2 Qualifying Group B- 11:04am – 11:20am
    • Free Practice 1 F1- 13:00pm – 14:00pm
    • Free Practice 2 F1- 16:00pm – 17:00pm

    Saturday 28th

    • Free Practice 3 F1- 12:00pm – 13:00pm (BST)
    • Qualifying F1- 15:00pm – 16:00pm
    • Sprint Race F2- 16:40pm – 17:25pm

    Sunday 29th

    • Feature Race F2- 08:50am (BST)
    • F1 Race- 14:00pm.

  • Monaco tyre allocation

    It’s race week once again, and we are in Monaco for Round 7, and the most famous street circuit of all! Let’s take a look at the tyre allocation.

    The softest compounds have been selected for the Monaco GP, C3 (Hard), C4 (Medium), C5 (Soft).

    Like Barcelona, Monaco is extremely well-known to the teams, with it being just one of three circuits still on the calendar that originally appeared in the inaugural 1950 Formula 1 season. Unlike the other two (Spa and Silverstone), the track hasn’t changed shape significantly since then, which means that it has the lowest average speed of any track and very little run-off, making it hard to overtake.

    The slippery street asphalt, and slow speeds mean that the energy going through the tyres is low with minimal wear and degradation, but quite a high degree of track evolution each day.

    This means that a one-stopper is the normality, but there’s quite a wide pit stop window and the timing of the stops can be influenced by safety cars, which are very likely around the tight circuit.

    The cars run a special high-downforce configuration for Monaco in order to maximise grip at low speeds. This weekend is obviously the first time for the new 18 inch tyres have race at Monaco, so the teams will have a lot to learn about how they react in the conditions.

    Monaco is often described as one of the most unpredictable races of the year, but the truth is that qualifying takes on a particular significance as track position is key here. As a result of that, understanding how to maximise the softest C5 compound – which has only raced at one event so far this year, in Australia – will be a vital part of free practice. With the previous rule requiring drivers to start the race on their fastest Q2 tyre now abolished, we might see some different strategies this year, with some drivers picking harder compounds to begin the race to target running a long first stint, given the difficultly of overtaking. Others may choose a more traditional approach by starting on the softest compound, at a race where strategy can make a real difference.

    Mario Isla, Motorsport Director.

    Formula 2

    Formula 2 will also be racing in Monaco this weekend, with the softest available compounds: the Soft tyre and the Supersoft tyre. This is the same nomination from 2021 and prior years, although the supersoft is a revised compound for 2022.

  • Round 7- Berlin E-Prix

    FP1-

    Mahindra Racing’s Oliver Rowland, set the early pace with a 1m 06.270s ahead of Lucas di Grassi, with current World Champion leader, Stoffel Vandoorne back in third.

    Edoardo Mortara, placed his ROKiT Venturi Racing Silver Arrow 02, fourth to make it two in the top four for the Monegasque team. The top 20 runners sat within eight and a half tenths of a second of one another, come the chequered flag on the session.

    Full top 10 were: P1: Rowland, P2: Di Grassi, P3: Vandoorne, P4: Mortara, P5: Dennis, P6: Wehrlein, P7: Vergne, P8: Buemi, P9: Da Costa and P10: Frijns.

    FP2-

    Andre Lotterer put in a late lap to top the timesheets of Free Practice 2, ahead of Edoardo Mortara in 2nd and Sebastien Buemi in 3rd.

    After the first free practice having 20 drivers split by just over 0.850s and this time, 21 drivers were separated by under three quarters of a second. Lap times aren’t the only focus in practice though, as drivers and engineers will be working flat out to understand things like energy management and setup ahead of qualifying and the race.

    The top 10 were: P1: Lotterer, P2: Mortara, P3: Buemi, P4: Wehrlein, P5: Frijns, P6: Evans, P7: Dennis, P8: Da Costa, P9: Rowland and P10: Vandoorne.

    Qualifying-

    Edoarado Mortara, fired to a maiden Julius Baer Pole Position ahead of Round 7, as the ROKiT Venturi driver hung it all on the line to beat Alexander Sims to the mark.

    But, it wasn’t all smooth sailing for Mortara, as he looked to be compromised by a Turn 1 error, the Swiss-French-Italian running wide and opening the opportunity for Sims to capitalise.

    The highlight of qualifying though was the Semis between Jean-Eric Vergne and Alexander Sims, having dived deep into Turn 1, but not as much as Vergne did- Vergne fell back by 0.150s.

    As the lap continued, the gap gradually kept coming down as JEV was fighting hard. Vergne continued to reel the Brit in and as the Frenchman flew across the start/finish line he’d exactly matched Sims’ effort, the pair setting an identical lap time down to the thousandth of a second.

    The top 10 were: P1: Mortara, P2: Sims, P3: Da Costa, P4: Vergne, P5: Lotterer, P6: Wehrlein, P7: Sette Camara, P8: Vandoorne, P9: Evans and P10: Buemi.

    Round 7-

    Edoardo Mortara, produced a complete drive to seal victory in the Berlin E-Prix, Round 7 heading home Jean-Eric Vergne and Stoffel Vandoorne.

    But, nothing is that simple as Mortara had all to do as a fiesty looking Vergne back and the decisive moment came on Lap 37 as the Venturi driver went on the defensive at Turn 6, luring JEV into a move – the Frenchman diving too deep and fall back 1.5s.

    Vandoorne produced one of the drives of the day, as he shuffled down the order to 12th at the end of Lap 12, the Belgian driver had slipped by six by the halfway point and looked as good a bet to take the race win. But, he had to settle for third after a back and forth with Vergne.

    The full top 10 were: P1: Mortara, P2: Vergne, P3: Vandoorne, P4: Lotterer, P5: Evans, P6: Wehrlein, P7: Bird, P8: Da Costa, P9: Sims and P10: De Vries.

    Times for tomorrow-

    Sunday 15th May

    • Free Practice 1 โ€“ 06:15am โ€“ 06:45am (BST)
    • Free Practice 2 โ€“ 08:00am โ€“ 08:45am (BST)
    • Qualifying โ€“ 09:40am โ€“ 11:00am (BST)
    • Round 8 โ€“ 14:00pm (BST)