Slater aced his start to keep hold of the lead into Turn 1 ahead of Stromsted along the Kemmel Straight, the Hitech TGR driver defended into Les Combes, with Bruno del Pino and Wurz following in third and fourth behind them.
Lap 2 and Wurz was able to pass the MP Motorsport driver to make it a Trident 2-3, though the leading pair had escaped out of DRS range to those behind.
Across the line on the following lap, Stromsted had the gap to Slater down to 0.4s and along the Kemmel Straight, the Dane swept into the lead with DRS.
Ugochukwu was on the move, having overtaken Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak and del Pino to get to P4 by Lap 3, he cleared Wurz around the outside into Les Combes to take third on Lap 4.
Onto Lap 6 and Martinius Stenshorne put himself into fifth with a DRS pass on del Pino into Turn 5 and set his sights on Wurz, who was less than a second ahead.
Having lost the lead earlier on, Slater fell out of DRS range to Stromsted and Ugochukwu moved himself into second with a DRS pass along the Kemmel Straight on Lap 7.
Just behind them, Inthraphuvasak and del Pino went into battle at Turn 5, and the Campos Racing driver won their fight as the MP driver dipped a wheel into the gravel at Turn 6. That allowed Nikola Tsolov to sneak through for seventh as well.
Wurz was able to take third from Slater on the following tour, while Championship rivals Rafael Camara and Mari Boya passed del Pino into Les Combes to take eighth and ninth places respectively.
Entering Lap 9, Inthraphuvasak fell to eighth in a five-car battle as Stenshorne along with title rivals Tsolov, Camara and Boya fought by Slater.
The Bulgarian passed Stenshorne for fourth place going into Lap 10 to put a car between himself and the Championship leader, but only briefly. Camara used DRS along the Kemmel Straight to break into the top five himself, going ahead of the Hitech driver at Turn 5.
Crucially in the title picture, Boya was hit with a five-second time penatly on the pre-penultimate lap for exceeding track limits. The Spaniard was running in eighth position, but had several other drivers within that window going onto Lap 11 of 12.
Onto the final lap and Inthraphuvasak passed Stenshorne to take sixth place, but teammate Boya couldn’t find a route past at Les Combes to follow.
Up front, Stromsted went untroubled after taking the lead and dominated to earn his first F3 win by six seconds.
The full top 10- P1: Stromsted, P2: Ugochukwu, P3: Wurz, P4: Tsolov, P5: Camara, P6: Inthraphuvasak, P7: Stenshorne, P8: Del Pino, P9: Badoer and P10: Slater.
Day 3-
The formation lap began behind the Safety Car, but still in torrential conditions. James Headley spun at Eau Rouge after aquaplaning off the road, while up ahead, Brando Badoer ran into the back of Tim Tramnitz. It left the PREMA Racing driver with race-ending damage and brought out the Red Flags.
After waiting for conditions to improve, the race resumed under the Safety Car but there was more action as Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak spun in avoidance of his teammate Nikola Tsolov ahead of Turn 8.
The Thai driver tried to rejoin but found himself beached on a kerb, requiring his car to be recovered. The race was then Red Flagged once again, and the announcement that it would not be resumed followed shortly afterwards.
Due to no racing laps being completed before the final stoppage, no points were assigned.
Mari Boya got his weekend off to the best possible start by topping a rescheduled Free Practice session at 2:06.111.
The Campos Racing driver was immediately out front on his first attempt as everyone looked to make the most of the shortened 30 minute session.
Boya set the early pace on a 2:06.111, 0.4s ahead of teammate Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak in an early 1-2 for the Spanish team.
Ugo Ugochukwu disrupted that on his second attempt, moving up to second, 0.3s down on the best effort, but there were plenty more improving behind him.
Martinius Stenshorne went second soon after and to within 0.121s of Boya’s earlier effort, while MP Motorsport’s Bruno del Pino moved himself up to third just over a tenth adrift of the Spaniard.
After a brief spell in the pit lane, the track got busy once again inside the final 10 minutes. There were several personal bests logged but nobody could dislodge Boya from the P1 spot.
Stenshorne and del Pino finished second and third ahead of Ugochukwu, with Inthraphuvasak completing the top five.
Qualifying-
AIX Racing’s Brad Benavides earned his and the team’s maiden FIA Formula 3 Aramco Pole Position Award late on in a thrilling Qualifying session.
The American found time on his final attempt to record a 2:04.253 and beat Championship leader and TRIDENT driver Rafael Camara to the to spot, with Rodin Motorsport’s Callum Voisin in third.
With the first runs in the books, Camara hit the front with a 2:05.557 to set the pace ahead of Ugo Ugochukwu by 0.234s.
Practice pace-setter Mari Boya had been in the top five but lost his opening effort to exceeding track limits after running over the white line at Pouhon.
Drivers remained on circuit for another attempt on their first set of tyres and there were improvements in the top 10. Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak closed the gap to Camara in second, with Alessandro Giusti third on his next attempt for MP Motorsport.
Everyone returned to the pit lane with half the session remaining for a fresh set of the Pirelli Medium tyres.
One of the drivers to go early on the second run was Theophile Nael, who went fastest on a 2:05.508. Van Amersfoort Racing Teammate Santiago Ramos improved to third, 0.172s down on the Frenchman’s laptime.
With the rest of the grid back out for their next set of laps, Boya led the train and put in a personal best, but track evolution was huge, leading to a massive improvement in times.
Benavides delivered a 2:04.253 for the provisional top spot with three minutes to go. Camara also made an improvement but could not better the time of the American driver, settling 0.106s behind in second.
A squabble for track position ended when Ugochukwu moved to the head of the queue for the final attempts with less than 30 seconds to go and with almost the entire grid looking to start their final lap as late as possible.
However, nobody could find an improvement, leaving Benavides with pole for the Feature Race on Sunday, his and AIX’s first in the championship.
The top 10 are- Pole: Benavides, P2: Camara, P3: Voisin, P4: Bilinski, P5: Stenshorne, P6: Ugochukwu, P7: Tsolov, P8: Inthraphuvasak, P9: Wurz and P10: Del Pino.
Lando Norris expertly converted pole position into victory during Sunday’s Monaco Grand Prix, leading home Ferrari rival Charles Leclerc and McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri.
Norris survived a massive lock-up at the first corner before working through Virtual Safety Car phases, spells of traffic and the mandated two-stop rule to score his second win of the season and slash Piastri’s championship lead.
Leclerc applied plenty of pressure at various stages of the race, including that initial run to Sainte Devote and late on when Verstappen backed the pack up, but ultimately had to settle for second with Piastri – now just three points clear of Norris in the standings – completing the podium.
Verstappen ran an off-set tyre strategy that saw the Red Bull driver go much longer across his stints, giving him the race lead into the very closing stages, but he dropped to fourth after completing his required second stop with a lap to go.
The full top 10 are- P1: Norris, P2: Leclerc, P3: Piastri, P4: Verstappen, P5: Hamilton, P6: Hadjar, P7: Ocon, P8: Lawson, P9: Albon and P10: Sainz.
What a result for Norris and McLaren!! This is exactly what Norris would’ve wanted this weekend, a win to boost his confidence as he has struggled in past weekends but this was a lovely drive by the Brit! As well, Piastri on the podium too, a big points haul for the Papaya team and boosting their lead in the Constructor’s Championship.
A lovely result for home hero, Charles Leclerc, P2! His second podium of the year too, it’s a shame he didn’t have that bit extra for the win, but McLaren are just so quick and its Monaco unfortunately there’s not many overtaking places where your not gonna risk it. As for his teammate, Hamilton finished P5, a good points haul for the Italian team which has now brought Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari all within 5 points of each other…
P4 for the reigning World Champion, he struggled with the car a lot this weekend, however he still managed to grab P4, a shame he didn’t get on the podium but a decent strategy from the team, it just didn’t pay off with the red flag they hoped for.
P6 for Isack Hadjar, what a lovely drive for the rookie, he stayed out of trouble and was rewarded with a decent amount of points! As for his teammate, Lawson also comes home with points finishing 8th, a decent weekend for the team overall.
P7 for Ocon in the Haas which we love to see! As for Bearman he made a few places up, finishing just outside the points in P12, but a decent effort from the Brit who started P20.
Now onto Mercedes, a horrible weekend for the team, both drivers out in Q2, they knew from there that it wasn’t their weekend, Russell finished 11th and Antonelli finished 18th.
Double point finish for Williams too, Albon 9th and Sainz 10th. The smaller teams have really benefited from both Mercedes not being in the top 10 this weekend, and honestly, this is what is going to matter closer to the end of the season when they’ve grabbed points as and when they can.
Now we don’t have to wait too long, as the next race is this week! For Round 9 we are headed to Barcelona for the Spanish Grand Prix!
The Monaco Grand Prix is one of the most iconic and prestigious events on the Formula 1 calendar, not just because of its long history but also because of the mystique that surrounds it.
Narrow streets, tight turns, steep climbs and descents and the famous tunnel that leads onto the harbour are some of the defining characteristics that make Monaco a track like no other. It’s a place where precision is more important than power, with virtually no room for mistakes.
Winding its way through the streets of the Principality usually open to normal traffic, the track is 3.337 kilometres long and tackled 78 times in the race. Very narrow with 19 corners, some of them very tight, there are virtually no run-off areas and the barriers are so close that the drivers often brush up against them.
Around half the track has been resurfaced, specifically from Turn 12 to Turn 3, so that this section should now be as smooth as the rest of the circuit. This type of surface does not promote tyre grip and could lead to graining, especially in the first couple of practice sessions.
For a second consecutive race, Pirelli has selected the three softest compounds from the 2025 range. As in Imola last week, the C4 (Hard), C5 (Medium) and C6 (Soft), with the first two being the mandatory compounds for the race.
This weekend will see an important change to the regulations, specifically for this event only. During the race, two pit stops will be mandatory, the aim for this is to inject more excitement into a race that has often been very linear and predictable.
In the Monaco Grand Prix drivers usually pit just once to change tyres, but last year out of theoretical field of 20, only six drivers made an actual in-race pit stop.
That was because the race was red flagged on the opening lap so that all the drivers still in the race were able to immediately adhere to the rule that two different compounds must be used, with the nine who started on the medium switching to the hard and the remaining 11 doing the opposite.
Precision, glamour, heritage. The #MonacoGP is more than just a race — it's the purest expression of @F1.
Discover what makes Monte Carlo truly unique from a tyre point of view.
The Safety Car led the pack away amid soggy conditions, after some 25mm of rain fell over the course of the morning in the lead up to lights out.
After four laps, the field formed for a standing start and Rowland headed Mortara through the Turn 1 and 2 chicane, while Barnard aimed to get his car’s nose up the inside of the Mahindra through the opening left-hander.
A few drivers – the highest-placed of which being Sebastien Buemi – jumped for the first of their mandatory 50kW four-wheel drive Attack Mode boosts.
Even with 4WD, the Envision still looked a handful – the Swiss narrowly keeping his car out of the wall before dispatching Barnard for third at Turn 1 on Lap 7.
Of the leaders, Mortara and Barnard went next in Attack – the Mahindra driver taking full advantage to pinch P2 back from Buemi but finding himself three seconds shy of leader Rowland when his initial 50kW boost ended.
On Lap 10, Rowland found himself up on energy and three second clear out-front ahead of Mortara, Buemi, Barnard and de Vries rounding out the top 5.
Lap 13, saw Guenther’s car go red and grind to a halt, demanding a Red Flag so it could be cleared safely.
The pack were led round by the Safety Car to a standing start on Lap 15, with Rowland firing off the line once again to lead the pack through Turn 1 – flying to a two-second advantage once again.
Of the lead few, Barnard was first to move for PIT BOOST on Lap 18, with Vandoorne having gone first, pre-Red Flag – a god send for the Belgian, with the time lost during that stop immediately wiped out with the enforced restart.
As the stops began to shake out, Barnard managed to jump Mortara while Vandoorne did indeed hit what would be the front ahead of Rowland, Barnard, Mortara and Buemi.
At Turn 2 on Lap 28, Vandoorne ran wide before lighting the rear tyres up into a spin. With a 25 second lead over Rowland, though, it ultimately wouldn’t matter.
From there, it was a waltz to the flag for the Maserati MSG Racing driver, with the scrap in-behind the Belgian.
The full top 10 are- P1: Vandoorne, P2: Rowland, P3: Barnard, P4: Buemi, P5: Ticktum, P6: Mortara, P7: da Costa, P8: Vergne, P9: Frijns and P10: Cassidy.
Pole sitter Beganovic covered off Bedrin on the run to Turn 1 but the AIX driver was undeterred and rounded the Swede at Turn 2 to take the lead away. Inthraphuvasak followed in third position ahead of Callum Voisin and Christian Mansell.
The ART Grand Prix driver was under attack though on lap 2 from Tim Tramnitz and his MP Motorsport rival repeated the move of Bedrin into Turn 3 to take P5 from the Australian.
The Virtual Safety Car was then deployed to neutralise the race in order to recover Matias Zagazeta’s car after contact on the opening lap left him on the sidelines.
Back to racing conditions and the top four were covered by less than a second in the lead battle. As the quartet fought, Tramnitz and Mansell joined the train after the opening exchanges, getting to within DRS range by Lap 6.
Onto lap 10 and Beganovic made a late move on Bedrin into Turn 2 but caught the grass on the inside of the corner in the process. It sent his PREMA car sideways and while he was able to catch the slide, it dropped him down to third.
Into the Turn 6 and 7 chicane, Tramnitz squeezed his way alongside Voisin, who skipped across the chicane to keep hold of fourth. The Rodin Motorsport driver was told to concede the place to Tramnitz, seeing off any potential review. One lap later, and Mansell was through on the Brit at Turn 1 for fifth.
Out in front though, Bedrin was in full control after resisting the pressure of Beganovic and crossed the line to earn his first FIA F3 victory, leading home an AIX Racing 1-2 ahead of Inthraphuvasak, a result that means all teams have now stood on the podium in 2024.
The full top 10 are- P1: Bedrin, P2: Inthraphuvasak, P3: Beganovic, P4: Tramnitz, P5: Mansell, P6: Voisin, P7: Fornaroli, P8: Browning, P9: Van Hoepen and P10: Meguetounif.
Day 3-
Van Hoepen got wheelspin in the second phase of the start and had to defend hard from his teammate Tsolov off the line. The Dutch driver ran deep at Turn 1, allowing the Bulgarian through along with VAR’s Noel Leon.
With DRS enabled, Van Hoepen began to close in on Tsolov and was within half a second on lap 3, while Leon dropped to beyond a second back from the ART duo.
Christian Mansell moved his ART up to fifth with a late dive to the inside of Santiago Ramos at Turn 1 on lap 4.
As the opening laps ticked by, Van Hoepen radioed into his team to relay his tyres were beginning to overheat in the wake of teammate Tsolov.
By the midway point of the race, the top six were covered by four seconds with Santiago Ramos some 9.6s clear of Rodin Motorsport’s Callum Voisin who was running in P7.
In the fight for the final points places, Oliver Goethe pulled off a late dive to pass Dino Beganovic and secure himself ninth position, while behind Gabriele Mini cleared Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak to move up into 11th.
Into the final three laps and after a phase of tyre management, van Hoepen began to apply the pressure on Tsolov once again in the lead fight.
Boya’s battle with Mini resumed and the Spaniard found a gap at Turn 2 to take 11th position. Contact between Arvid Lindblad and Matias Zagazeta resulted in a late-race Safety Car on Lap 21, with the PREMA driver stopped at Turn 4.
With little time to clear both cars, it was not possible to resumed racing in time for a final lap shootout. Tsolov took his third race win of 2024 and his first F3 Feature Race victory.
The full top 10 are- P1: Tsolov, P2: Van Hoepen, P3: Leon, P4: Fornaroli, P5: Mansell, P6: Ramos, P7: Voisin, P8: Bedrin, P9: Goethe and P10: Beganovic.
Mari Boya started his Budapest weekend on the front foot, winding up quickest for Campos Racing with a 1:34.236 in practice. The Spaniard led Hitech Pulse-Eight teammates Martinius Stenshorne and Luke Browning, who completed the top three.
After a quiet start to the session, drivers headed out onto the circuit with 15 minutes gone. Following tyre preparation laps, Alex Dunne set the first time to beat with a 1:34.986 which was swiftly bettered by Gabriele Mini.
His PREMA Racing teammate Dino Beganovic had been on a strong lap just ahead of him but a snap of oversteer at the penultimate corner cost the Swede time, crossing the line almost a second down in fifth.
Sebastian Montoya had been inside the top five earlier in the session but lost his first effort to track limits. The Campos Racing driver bounced back right away though to go second overall, 0.117s off Leon’s time.
Teammate Boya beat the pair of them shortly afterwards, going well clear of the rest on a 1:34.236 with just over 10 minutes left of the session.
Hitech Pulse-Eight teammates Martinius Stenshorne and Browning then moved themselves into the top positions, the former going second and the Briton fourth. On his final lap, the latter was able to find the time to lift himself up one more spot to take third at the chequered flag.
Qualifying-
ART Grand Prix’s Laurens van Hoepen earned his first pole position in FIA Formula 3, with a 1:33.995 coming in the nick of time. The Dutch driver finished the session on top and ahead of teammate Nikola Tsolov in P2, while title contender Leonardo Fornaroli took third for Trident.
There was a late red flag as another contender Luke Browning spun into the barriers on his final attempt, ending the session early.
With tyre preparation laps complete, AIX Racing’s Joshua Dufek set the initial pace with a 1:34.414 ahead of teammates Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak and Nikita Bedrin in a 1-2-3 for the team.
There was more vying for track position ahead of the second attempts but this time it was van Hoepen that took over at the top, setting a 1:34.316 until Van Amersfoort Racing’s Noel Leon secured P1 with a 1:34.174.
Further back and with clear track, Fornaroli was next to go quickest but it was very closely run. The Italian driver went just 0.001s quicker than Leon to secure provisional pole.
Van Hoepen returned to the top as the first into the 1:33s ahead of teammate Tsolov in P2. Fornaroli put himself in third just as the red flags came out as title rival Browning found the barriers at Turn 11, bringing the session to a conclusion and those behind unable to improve.
The full top 10 are- Pole: Van Hoepen, P2: Tsolov, P3: Fornaroli, P4: Leon, P5: Ramos, P6: Dufek, P7: Mehuetounif, P8: Browning, P9: Tramnitz and P10: Mansell.
Joshua Duerksen set the pace on the wet weather tyres in free practice, ending the session quickest of all for AIX Racing. The Paraguayan set a 1:58.064 to finish the session on top, with Josep Maria Marti second for Campos and teammate Taylor Barnard in third.
Championship leader, Paul Aron was the first underneath the two-minute mark, setting a 1:59.526 on the wet tyres to go fastest in the opening 10 minutes.
Zak O’Sullivan and DAMS Lucas Oil’s Jak Crawford then set identical times, though the ART Grand Prix driver recorded his 1:59.884 first to claim P2, with the American third.
With just over 15 minutes remaining of the session, Andrea Kimi Antonelli went to the top briefly before teammate Oliver Bearman took over, going quickest after setting a 1:59.474 leaving the top three separated by just 0.052s.
Franco Colapinto prompted plenty of drivers to return to the track on slick hard tyres, though they all struggled with the surface still damp around most of the circuit.
All that tried the white-walled tyre struggled to find the necessary grip, with late yellow flags courtesy of O’Sullivan running through the gravel at Stowe before rejoining the track, with Marti repeating the off just moments later.
Qualifying-
Isack Hadjar took a hugely important pole position at Silverstone, as the Campos Racing driver led the pack on a 1:39.368, capitalising on an error by title rival and championship leader Paul Aron that left the Hitech Pulse-Eight driver down in 12th following a spin.
ART Grand Prix’s Victor Martins making it an all-French front row , while Dennis Hauger found a late improvement to secure P3 with his final lap.
Home favourite Oliver Bearman, recorded the initial time to beat, 1:40.918 putting him a tenth clear of Invicta Racing’s Kush Maini in the early running, until Aron split the pair to go P2, 0.040s down on the PREMA.
Hauger was next go quickest, 1:40.554 but that was beaten twice over. Zane Maloney slotted into P2 just behind Maini who moved up to first on his next lap. Aron then found time to go fastest on a 1:40.181 with 20 minutes remaining.
Getting his first lap on the second set of tyres underway, Aron suffered a spin at Turn 1 which left him with major flatspots as everyone else improved. Title rival Hadjar leapt up to provisional pole with a 1:39.368 in the Campos car.
Having been inside the top 10, Maloney lost a time for track limits to leave Aron in P10, but an improvement from Ritomo Miyata in the Rodin Motorsport car bumped the Championship leader out of the top 10.
Hadjar peeled into the pitlane with a minute and a half to go while the majority continued on their way for a final attempt. Maloney put himself back into the top 10 on his final attempt, going ninth-fastest for Rodin, though he was one of the only improvements in the final minute.
The full top 10 are- P1: Hadjar, P2: Martins, P3: Hauger, P4: Colapinto, P5: Bearman, P6: Bortoleto, P7: Crawford, P8: Maini, P9: Maloney and P10: Antonelli.
Day 2-
After a formation lap behind the Safety Car, racing got underway with a rolling start with heavier rain closing in quickly. Antonelli retained his lead but teammate Oliver Bearman was battling Gabriel Bortoleto in the opening corners and the pair made slight contact, leaving the Brit with a broken front wing.
Bortoleto was undeterred and rounded Jak Crawford on the outside of Copse and into Maggots with a brave move for P4. Torrential rain arrived to close out the first lap as Antonelli built up a 2.5s lead over Maloney in second.
With damage to his front wing, Bearman dropped down the order, losing places to Franco Colapinto, Dennis Hauger and Victor Martins in the space of half a lap. A virtual safety car was then deployed on lap 3 to recover the endplate of Bearman.
As racing resumed, Paul Aron caught his title rival napping to secure P10 from Isack Hadjar on the approach to Maggotts and Becketts. Zak O’Sullivan relegated the Frenchman to 12th into Abbey at the end of the lap, before Hadjar then ran off the road at Turn 1.
After a brief pause in action to allow the rain to ease off, racing resumed entering lap 7, with another rolling start and once again, Antonelli kept hold of the lead.
On lap 8, contact between Marti and Championship leader Aron left both out of the race, while in a separate incident, Hadjar found himself in the gravel following a spin at Copse. This then brought out another Safety Car.
Racing got back underway on lap 13 with Antonelli leading comfortably once more while Bearman made a pass on Hauger at Turn 4 to secure eighth. Colapinto then moved ahead of Hauger into Brooklands and cleared Bearman after the Briton ran through the gravel at Copse dropping him to 18th.
O’Sullivan was on the move next on lap 14, rounding Colapinto on the outside of Copse for seventh position to continued his charge through the pack. Onto lap 16, and the Brit was attacking his teammate but contact between the pair at the loop left Martins spinning O’Sullivan with damage, putting them both out of the race.
Back to racing conditions again and Roman Stanek had been had been hustling Miyata for eighth and the Trident driver secured P8 from the Rodin driver with three laps to go.
Heading into the penultimate lap, Colapinto looked to have cleared Crawford for fifth around the outside of Stowe, but the DAMS Lucas Oil driver fought back into Abbey to retake the spot.
Onto the final lap and the all-Invicta battle for the last spot on the podium could hardly be split, the pair almost colliding several times on a frantic final tour.
Up ahead though, Antonelli was uncatchable and the Italian won his first F2 race by over eight second to Zane Maloney in second.
The full top 10 are- P1: Antonelli, P2: Maloney, P3: Bortoleto, P4: Maini, P5: Colapinto, P6: Crawford, P7: Hauger, P8: Stanek, P9: Barnard and P10: Miyata.
Day 3-
Wheelspin for Hadjar allowed ART Grand Prix’s Victor Martins to take the lead while Oliver Bearman got a perfect launch in his PREMA car to rise up to second from fifth on the grid. Both MP Motorsport drivers fell back however, dropping from third and fourth to eighth and ninth, Franco Colapinto leading Dennis Hauger.
Crawford profited to take those two spots for P4, as Gabriel Bortoleto took fifth around the outside of Maloney at Copse corner. That move came just before a lap 1 safety car for the stranded Andrea Kimi Antonelli, stationary at Turn 3 after a spin in the opening exchanges following contact with Kush Maini.
Racing then resumed on Lap 3, but the Safety Car was back out almost immediately after a spin for Joshua Duerksen coming through Woodcote.
Fighting Championship leader Paul Aron for position, the AIX Racing driver got onto the grass that left him spinning into the gravel, but he tagged the right rear of the Hitech en route, which left the Estonian with a puncture and forced to pit.
Hadjar had been close to Bearman’s rear wing, and he got the move done for second place with DRS down the Hangar straight on lap 8. Both pitted at the end of the lap for their switch to the hard tyres.
After a flurry of pitstops, Hadjar closed down compatriot Martins and the ART driver was under serious threat from the Campos behind him. With DRS on lap 12, Hadjar almost pulled off a pass around the outside of Stowe but had to concede the place after running wide over track limits.
Ending lap 18, Hadjar went side-by-side with Martins through the Vale chicane in an attempt to pass but couldn’t get the move done. The Alpine Academy Junior ran wide at the final corner to re-open the door and then went off at Turn 1 to allow Hadjar through.
The ART driver then lost places to Crawford and Maloney in the process as he rejoined at Turn 3, while the American profited from their battle to take the lead of the race from Hadjar entering the Wellington Straight.
Onto Lap 25, Bortoleto was able to clear Bearman into Stowe for eighth position as the fight for the points continued.
Colpainto was back ahead of Martins and into sixth with five laps remaining but his progress stalled out with three to go as those ahead pushed on in pursuit of Crawford.
Despite his best efforts, the American couldn’t pull the gap to Hadjar, who claimed his third victory in 2024 and the lead of the Drivers’ Championship with it.
The full top 10 are- P1: Hadjar, P2: Maloney, P3: Crawford, P4: Colapinto, P5: Martins, P6: Bortoleto, P7: Bearman, P8: Fittipaldi, P9: Hauger and P10: Marti.
Round 8 out of 24 is complete, and we had a different winner this season!
Charles Leclerc has finally taken his victory in the Monaco Grand Prix, having enjoyed a mostly serene drive to P1 in front of his home crowd. He led home McLaren’s Oscar Piastri in P2 and his teammate Carlos Sainz rounding out the top three.
The red flags were thrown before the first lap of the iconic event had even been completed after a huge collision which involved 3 cars!
But before we get into that the full top 10 are- P1: Leclerc, P2: Piastri, P3: Sainz, P4: Norris, P5: Russell, P6: Verstappen, P7: Hamilton, P8: Tsunoda, P9: Albon and P10: Gasly.
A VERY good result for Ferrari, Charles finally done it! He kept it cool calm and collected to secure this very needed win! A fab result for Ferrari in general as Sainz finished 3rd, a really good points haul for the team, they will be looking to do the same quite a few more times this year.
The same goes to McLaren a very good result, Oscar getting his first podium this year in P2, and Norris in P4, a good points haul again for the team.
Max Verstappen finished 6th, not a thrilling race from the world champion, but then again what else did we expect from Monaco… The Dutchman will be looking forward to the next race after this horrible weekend. Now onto his teammate, Perez had a shocker in qualifying so would of wanted to at least have a decent race… well he didn’t, he was involved on the lap 1 incident which saw him being tagged by Magnussen up the inside, before he ricochet across the track and then collecting Hulkenberg back past. This put all three drivers out of the race immediately, all drivers were okay thankfully. But Perez will also be looking forwards to the next race weekend as well.
A decent result for Mercedes, both cars in the top 10 and finishing where they started so not a bad result at all for the team.
First points of the season for Alex Albon and Pierre Gasly! It was touch and go with the Alpine at the beginning of the race due to have a dramatic collision with his teammate, as Ocon tried to overtake him, which caused the driver to bounce into the air following contact, who then later retired.
Now we have a little wait till the next race, the next grand prix weekend is the 7th – 9th June and it’s the Canadian Grand Prix!
Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc charged his way to a wonderful pole position for the Monaco Grand Prix with a stunning display on home soil. He managed to get the better of McLaren rival Oscar Piastri and Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz in the all important grid deciding session.
Leclerc avoided any slip-ups to safely make it through Q1 and Q2 before he unleashed his full potential in Q3.
The full top 10 are- P1: Leclerc, P2: Piastri, P3: Sainz, P4: Norris, P5: Russell, P6: Verstappen, P7: Hamilton, P8: Tsunoda, P9: Albon and P10: Gasly.
A great result for Ferrari! A Pole and a third, they will be looking to grab the win tomorrow, especially as it’s Leclerc’s home race, so they are probably hoping to break the Monaco curse.
The same goes to McLaren a 2nd and 4th! Qualifying around Monaco is always important, as it pretty much gives the finishing position for the race without strategies coming into play. So McLaren will want to be on their pit-stops and strategies tomorrow to see if they can secure their second win this season.
A decent result for Mercedes too, the team have definitely made an improvement as George starts 5th and Lewis in 7th. Lewis has pretty much been on the pace all weekend aswell, so it’s looking like a hopeful turn round for the Mercedes team.
A bit of a shocker for Verstappen and Sergio Perez, the Dutchman starts P6, which means his consecutive 8 poles in a row has stopped at that for now. Perez qualified 18th but will be starting 16th due to both Haas’s getting disqualified. Not a good weekend at all for Perez, it’s very unlikely he will be scoring points tomorrow.
A good result for both Alex Albon and Pierre Gasly both drivers getting into Q3 and hoping to score their first points of the season!
Both Aston Martins didn’t have the best qualifying, Alonso out in Q1 and Stroll out in Q2, the Silverstone based team have dropped down the order quite a bit compared to last season where Fernando Alonso started 2nd.
The Monaco Grand Prix is one of the classics on the Formula 1 calendar and this year it reaches am impressive milestones as its the 70th edition of the race!
As usual, Pirelli choice of slick tyre compounds falls to the three softest available this year, which means the C3 (Hard), C4 (Medium) and C5 (Soft), As is generally the case on street circuits the track has a particularly smooth surface, given it is in daily use for road cars so the tyres must provide as much grip as possible.
In Monaco, the tyres are subjected to some of the lowest forces of the whole season as the average speed over the 3.337 kilometre-long track is very slow with some corners taken at less than 50 km/h, while the cars are only at full throttle for 30% of the lap.
On a track where the margin for error is pretty much non-existent, one factor which affects how quickly a driver’s lap times come down is the confidence they gradually gain, regardless of how well they know the track, as they tackle its 19 corners and all the other hazards it harbours.
The driver must work towards finding the best lines, getting ever close to the barriers, often brushing them with the shoulder of the tyres. The skill is in doing this without breaking anything on the car and it is the key to securing a good grid position. Which is essential in a race where overtaking is pretty much impossible, even when there is a performance gap between cars that can run into seconds.
On a track like this, an appearance from the Safety Car is almost inevitable with past experience rating it at 77% probable, on average almost twice per races. Although curiously, last year’s race ran smoothly with no neutralisation periods.
For the Monaco Grand Prix, Pirelli’s choice of slick tyre compounds falls to the three softest available this year, which means the C3 as Hard, the C4 as Medium and the C5 as Soft.#F1#MonacoGPpic.twitter.com/yA0il8LERS
Jaguar TCS Racing’s Mitch Evans was top of the timesheets for Formula E’s first session in Monaco this season, as the Kiwi looks for his first Formula E win here around the principality.
With a time of 1m30.414s he was almost three tenths clear of Envision’s Robin Frijns. Close behind Frijns was Evans’ teammate Nick Cassidy in third.
Track evolution here was big, as time kept tumbling, and the Jaguar powertrains looked like they show some pace, as well as Sebastien Buemi.
The session was Red Flagged around half way through the session as there was debris on the track, which was easily rectified as things went back to normal and underway.
NEOM McLaren’s Sam Bird, had a big moment down into Turn 1 with less than ten minutes of the session. He suffered a huge lock up going into Saint Devote, despite his best efforts, he made contact with the barriers on the right-hand side of his Gen3 car.
FP2-
Mitch Evans was on a roll, as he managed to go quickest in Free Practice 2 aswell. Not only that, but the top 2 remained the same, with Robin Frijns sticking his Envision car in second. With Pascal Wehrlein rounding out the top 3.
The biggest story though, was ahead of FP2, and it was Taylor Barnard making his Formula E race debut with NEOM McLaren! As Sam Bird had to miss the rest of the day, after fracturing his hand after the incident in FP1.
The Jaguar cars were continuing on with being fastest early on in the sessions, as Sebastien Buemi split the two/
Mahindra’s Edoardo Mortara set a lovely lap to go top of the timesheets, with a 1m30.452s. However he was pushing too hard with a few minutes left of the session and ended up going to wide at Turn 1 and hit the barriers.
Qualifying-
It was a dramatic end to Group A qualifying, with lots of favourites hoping for their chance to progress into the Duels. Mitch Evans continued his trend of finishing every Monaco session so far and was joined by Pascal Wehrlein, Maximilian Guenther and Antonio Felix da Costa. Envision’s Robin Frijns was knocked out by just 0.002s!
In Group B there were plenty of drivers improving on their lap time during the final flying laps, including Stoffel Vandoorne who managed to go quickest in his group. He progressed through to Quarter Finals, as well as his teammate Jean-Eric Vergne. Joining them was Nick Cassidy and Sebastien Buemi.
Both Jaguar drivers, failed to make the Duel finals. For Evans he had a lap time deleted for exceeding track limits, and Cassidy made a rare mistake where he clipped the wall.
But it was Pascal Wehrlein who took his third Julius Baer Pole Position of Season 10, where he navigated the challenging streets of Monaco!
The full top 10 are- P1: Wehrlein, P2: Vandoorne, P3: Cassidy, P4: Evans, P5: Vergne, P6: Buemi, P7: Da Costa, P8: Gunther, P9: Frijns and P10: Daruvala.
Round 8-
Wehrlein leapt away with a textbook launch to head Vandoorne and Cassidy through Sainte Devote, though by the end of Lap 1 Evans had made it past his Jaguar stablemate for third.
On lap 3, Vergne was able to make a move stick on Wehrlein for fourth, late on the brakes into the chicane. Meanwhile on lap 4, Wehrlein’s teammate da Costa got caught in the melee at the hairpin with an ERT clattering Buemi, which blocked the Porsche as the pack backed up.
Edo Mortara hit the wall in a big way a lap later. The Mahindra was squeezed out of position at the chicane, before Ticktum drew alongside through Tabac. The Swiss-French-Italian wouldn’t give the spot up easily, looking to hand on to the ERT around the swimming pool but he caught a bucket of understeer and found the wall with some force.
The Green flag was flown on Lap 8, with Vandoorne leading Evans. On Lap 10, Rowland made super use of attack mode to jump from ninth to sixth.
Reigning champion, Jake Dennis was making great ground, ninth on lap 10. However, his progress would come to a swift end in contact with Frijns in the Tunnel – an unusual accident. A broken front wing required a pit stop, demoting Dennis to the back of he pack.
Jaguar’s strategy looked clear on lap 11, Evans bolted to a three-second gap, with Cassidy sitting in and backing up the pack, allowing Evans to take attack mode and extend his advantage to four seconds come lap 12.
On lap 16, Vandoorne and Vergne looked to be up to a similar scheme – the pair working through their ATTACK MODE activations while looking to hold track position.
Da Costa made more progress on lap 21, aggressively squeezing by Rowland for sixth at Mirabeau. As the laps ticked down, the energy advantage was with the leader, some 0.5% up on Cassidy.
A late shunt for ABT CUPRA’s Nico Mueller at Rascasse saw the Safety Car make an appearance, with a couple of added laps to come to take us to a total of 31 and the green flag flying again came on lap 27.
Jaguar had plenty in their pocket to hold off the DS’ behind as Evans finally made it stick in Monaco heading home his teammate.
The full top 10 are- P1: Evans, P2: Cassidy, P3: Vandoorne, P4: Vergne, P5: Wehrlein, P6: Rowland, P7: Da Costa, P8: Fenestraz, P9: Gunther and P10: Nato.
In his first front row start of Formula 3, Nikita Bedrin didn’t let inexperience fail him, as he nailed his getaway and gave him the run he need to swoop around the outside and take the lead out of Turn 1.
Bortoleto tried to execute the same move on Mansell for third, but the Trident driver couldn’t keep it within the white lines, going across the run-off.
Further back on the grid, Tommy Smith and Sebastian Montoya made contact on the opening lap, with Van Amersfoort Racing driver pitched into the air and across the gravel.
Having been waiting for a time to make the right move, Bortoleto pounced for third on lap 7. Utilising the DRS, the Trident driver sailed from a long way back down the inside of the Campos at Turn 1. Aron tried to do the same two laps later, with a great run out of the final corner but couldn’t make the late move stick and ended up running wide.
Attempting to find his way through on Tsolov, O’Sullivan tried moves left, right and centre as the Bulgarian driver got his elbows out to defend eighth. Looking up at the apex, the PREMA car tagged the rear of the ART forcing O’Sullivan to box.
Montoya came to a halt between Turns 12 and 13, which triggered a Virtual Safety Car which was quickly converted into a full Safety Car.
Once racing resumed on lap 17 the field faced a three-lap sprint to the line. Aron instantly forced Mansell onto the defensive for fourth position, having been unable to get past at Turn 1, the Estonian got the job done around the outside of Turn 3.
The full top 10 are- P1: Mini, P2: Bortoleto, P3: Bedrin, P4: Aron, P5: Goethe, P6: Mansell, P7: Colapinto, P8: Edgar, P9: Saucy and P10: Beganovic.
Day 3-
O’Sullivan wasted no time breaking clear out front, as he bolted off the line to cover off his teammate Beganovic on the run down into Turn 1.
Oliver Goethe tried to swoop around the outside of Colapinto, but the MP Motorsport driver fought back to cling on to fourth. Having lost P6 off the line, Paul Aron muscled his way past Jonny Edgar through Turn 3.
After a disappointing Qualifying, Josep Maria Marti was on a redemption charge from 13th on the grid. The Spanish driver moved up into the points, where he quickly dispatched his teammate Mansell along with Edgar on Lap 8 to move into 8th position.
Championship rivals Bortoleto and Marti squared off against each other for seventh. The Campos car tried to pass the Brazilian at Turn 1, but a huge lock-up sent him sailing wide across the run-off area.
Edgar began hounding Mansell at the tail end of the points. Mansell suffered a lock up into Turn 1 on Lap 18, allowing the Briton to breeze through, with his MP teammate Mari Boya taking advantage to demote him out of the top 10.
The full top 10 are- P1: O’Sullvian, P2: Beagnovic, P3: Colapinto, P4: Goethe, P5: Aron, P6: Marti, P7: Bortoleto, P8: Edgar, P9: Fornaroli and P10: Boya.
Not long to wait until round 9 as it’s this week! We only have two rounds remaining of the Formula 3 2023 Championship, who will be our new champion?…
Zak O’Sullivan was the driver to beat in the opening Free Practice session in Budapest. The PREMA Racing driver clocked in a 1:32.701 to take the top spot during the first half of the session.
Mari Boya started MP Motorsport weekend strong in second, three-tenths off the #3 car and Paul Aron secured third moments before the session ended early due to a red flag.
On his debut at the Hungaroring, Max Esterson took advantage of every opportunity to learn the track. Setting the initial time to beat with a 1:35.804s.
Williams Academy junior, Luke Browning took the lead with a 1:33.726 putting the Hitech Pulse Eight car 0.792s clear of Nikola Tsolov. Jenzer Motorsport’s Nikita Bedrin joined Browning inside the 1:33s as the remained of the field slowly peeled out of the pits.
PREMA Racing assumed the top of the timing sheets. Dino Beganovic went fastest with a 1:33.186 which was immediately beaten by O’Sullivan’s 1:32.702 and Aron joined his teammates inside the top three.
Rafael Villagomez brought out the Red Flag with six minutes remaining, the Van Amersfoort driver spun and crashed into the barriers at Turns 11 and 12.
Qualifying-
PREMA Racing’s Zak O’Sullivan stormed his way to his second FIA Formula 3 pole position and secured his and the Italian squad’s first pole position of the 2023 season.
Dino Beganovic couldn’t quite get close enough to his teammate’s 1:31.091 and had to settle for second, 0.403s off the Briton’s pace. Leonardo Fornaroli led Trident’s charge as he secured third.
After a dry and humid free practice, conditions changed for Qualifying and the field faced a slippery albeit drying Hungaroring. With drivers getting in banker laps early, with Fornaroli setting the early pace.
The red flag brought the session to a pause with 22 minutes on the clock. Oliver Gray got caught out around the slippery track, hitting the barriers out of Turn 3 but managed to crawl his way back to the pitlane.
As the clocked ticked down, so did the lap times. Hugh Barter went quickest momentarily with a 1:33.784, before Boya, Mini and Mansell all found even more margin out front.
O’Sullivan responded, going fastest in all three sectors to lay down a 1:31.091 with four minutes to go. As the medium tyres faded away, few could improve and the Williams junior’s time remained untouchable.
The full top 10 are- P1: O’Sullivan, P2: Beganovic, P3: Fornaroli, P4: Colapinto, P5: Goethe, P6: Aron, P7: Tsolov, P8: Edgar, P9: Bortoleto and P10: Mansell.
Light rain ahead of the race meant half the field opted to start on the wet tyres. Utilising the dry soft tyres, reverse polesitter Crawford held the lead through the opening corners, but it was Arthur Leclerc who made the most of his choice to start on wets.
Jehan Daruvala spinning off into the gravel at Turn 7 brought out an early Safety Car at the start of Lap 2.
Out front, Leclerc opted to stay out and held the lead at the restart on Lap 4. Second-place Richard Verschoor dropped a wheel over the sausage kerb and spun off at the exit of Turn 1, which resulted in another Safety Car.
Another beneficiary of the soft tyres, Novalak had already made up 16 places after dispatching Isack Hadkjar for fourth and soon caught Correa. A spin for Fittipaldi between Turns 3 and 4 after catching the grass led to the Virtual Safety Car.
Clement Novalak crossed the line in P3 but got disqualified after the race as his cars rear tyre pressure were below the limit required.
The full top 10 are- P1: Crawford, P2: Martins, P3: Hadjar, P4: Correa, P5: Stanek, P6: Hauger, P7: Doohan, P8: Bearman, P9: Vesti and P10: Nissany.
Day 3-
From second on the grid, Vesti got the better launch at lights out, immediately snatching the lead from polesitter Victor Martins. The ART driver also lost out to teammate Theo Pourchaire by Turn 1 and his early struggles continued.
After making up five places alone on the opening lap, Iwasa was up to ninth on Lap 6. Amaury Cordeel squeezed Dennis Hauger onto the grass exiting Turn 1, leaving the door wide open for Iwasa to overtake them both.
Pourschaire was the first of the leading pack in for his mandatory stop on Lap 8, followed in by Maini and Jehan Daruvala. Doohan and Martins swiftly joined them in a lap later, whilst Vesti extended his opening stint for another lap before handing the lead over to Fittipaldi.
Arthur Leclerc and Oliver Bearman were both in for supersofts on Lap 27. While the PREMA Racing driver rejoined at the tail end of the order in 18th, the Monegasque driver was forced to pull off to the side of the track shortly after his pitstop, triggering a Virtual Safety Car.
Converted to a full Safety Car on Lap 29, the alternate strategy runners capitalised, with Verschoor completing his mandatory stop and coming out in fifth.
The full top 10 are- P1: Verschoor, P2: Iwasa, P3: Vesti, P4: Doohan, P5: Bearman, P6: Fittipaldi, P7: Pourchaire, P8: Crawford, P9: Martins and P10: Daruvala.
Enzo Fittipaldi kick started the second half of the season in great form as the Rodin Carlin driver topped the opening practice session in Spielberg. Setting a 1:15.216 before the halfway point, the Red Bull junior remained at the top of the pile throughout.
With track temperatures approaching 40˚C at the Red Bull Ring, Roy Nissany set the initial pace, which put him ahead of Fittipaldi and Maloney by just 0.025s.
The first Red Flag was thrown with 11 minutes left on the clock after Pourchaire spun out a Turn 4. The Frenchman dropped a wheel into the gravel, sending him into a pirouette and he was unable to restart the car.
Green flag conditions resumed with six minutes to go. As the field jostled for track position behind him, Virtuosi Racing’s Amaury Cordeel spun off at Turn 1. With less than four minutes remaining, practice was red flagged once again and did not resume.
Qualifying-
Victor Martins threw down the gauntlet early on in Qualifying around the Red Bull Ring on his way to claim his second Formula 2 pole position of his rookie campaign.
The ART Grand Prix driver led from his first flying lap, improving to a 1:14.643 on his third attempt to retain the top spot. Championship contenders Frederik Vesti and Theo Pourchaire had to settle for second and third.
The full top 10 are: P1: Martins, P2: Vesti, P3: Pourchaire, P4: Maini, P5: Doohan, P6: Fittipaldi, P7: Cordeel, P8: Leclerc, P9: Daruvala and P10: Crawford.
Heading the field out of the pits, Roman Stanek was the first driver to take a turn in the top spot, before Vesti put himself ahead with a 1:15.134.
Meanwhile, Practice pace-setter Fittipaldi looked to continue that form as he moved up into second, before a track limit violation demoted him to the bottom of the timing sheets. But he wasn’t the only one to get caught out by track limits.
After a lengthy stay in the pits, the field immediately scrambled for track position as they headed out with just 11 minutes left.
Vesti tried to wrestle provisional pole away from the Alpine junior but couldn’t quite manage it, ending up a tenth down on Martins.
Round 8 is now complete, where we had quite a civilised race with no safety cars/ yellow flags or red flags and no retirements again!
Max Verstappen was victorious once again, as he controlled the race from lights out to the chequered flag making it his fifth win of the season. He led home the Mercedes of both Lewis Hamilton and George Russell making it their first double podium of the season.
The full top 10 are: P1: Verstappen, P2: Hamilton, P3: Russell, P4: Perez, P5: Sainz, P6: Stroll, P7: Alonso, P8: Ocon, P9: Zhou and P10: Gasly.
A great drive from both Sergio Perez and George Russell, both starting from outside the top 10. Damage limitation that drive was and a good haul of points for both drivers.
Not a good race for Leclerc, just an overall bad weekend for the Monegasque. Finishing 11th after starting 19th, which is a good move up but no points aren’t good, so hopefully he will have some good luck soon.
Two points for Guanyu Zhou, which is fully deserved. He had a good race, some nice overtakes and his rewarded by getting points.
Now, lets move on to Yuki Tsunoda, he was having a good race running in the points, making a few moves… And then it all went wrong, he got a 5 second time penalty for forcing Guanyu Zhou off track when he was overtaking. This dropped Yuki out of the points and finished 12th.
With Round 8 now complete, we have to wait a little while till the next race, where we head to Canada for Round 9 on the 16th June to 18th June.
What a qualifying session, we have a very mixed up grid for the race but that’s what will make it all more exciting seeing a few driver’s battle their way through the field.
Max Verstappen took his first pole position for the Spanish Grand Prix by comfortably getting the better of Ferrari rival Carlos Sainz and McLaren’s Lando Norris.
The full top 10 are: P1: Verstappen, P2: Sainz, P3: Norris, P4: Gasly, P5: Hamilton, P6: Stroll, P7: Ocon, P8: Hulkenberg, P9: Alonso and P10: Piastri.
Some bad news for Alpine, as Pierre Gasly may have qualified 4th but he won’t be starting 4th… He impeded both Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz where he was given 3 place grid penalty, twice, so he will be starting the race in 10th.
Now looking a little further down the grid… Charles Leclerc is starting 19th as he dropped out of Q1 due to car complaints.
Sergio Perez was another shock, as he got knocked out of Q2 due to taking a trip through the gravel, so he is due to start just outside the top 10 in 11th.
We also have George Russell who is outside of the top 10, starting just behind Sergio Perez in 12th. During Q2 he had a bizarre incident with his teammate Lewis Hamilton, with the latter progressing on into the top 10.
Predictions-
My top five predictions are- P1: Verstappen, P2: Sainz, P3: Hamilton, P4: Ocon, P5: Alonso.
I think the top five for tomorrow’s race will be mixed depending if there will be any safety cars/ red flags and who will optimise on others down fall.
It’s race week once again! And this time were at the Spanish Grand Prix for Round 8, the home Grand Prix of Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz.
Will Mercedes upgrades really show what their made of this weekend or will it be another RB dominated weekend?
Can Fernando Alonso get that win he keeps talking about at his home race? And can Sergio Perez make up for what he did last time out this weekend?
Who needs to shine?
The Ferrari boys need a good weekend, yes they were in the points last weekend at the Monaco GP but they need to work as a team if they want to be further up in the drivers/constructors championship.
McLaren will be wanting to do better, especially now Alpine have a podium under there belt and means the gap between them and McLaren is now bigger…
Lance Stroll will be needing a better weekend, a DNF in Monaco, Miami scored no points as he finished in 12th and then looking back to the second race it was a DNF in Saudi Arabia too. With Alonso qualifying on the front row and finishing on the podium, he ideally needs his teammate there with him so they can make an impact on the Championship standings.
Predictions for Qualifying-
My top five for qualifying are- Pole: Verstappen, P2: Alonso, P3: Perez, P4: Hamilton, P5: Russell.
I don’t think it will be a mixed up qualifying session, only if someone crashes which means there out of Q1 or if someone gets knocked out of Q1, but I find that hard to believe.
The tyres have been chosen for this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix.
The teams will have the C1 (Hard), C2 (Medium), C3 (Soft) at their disposal in Barcelona.
The Montmelo track has undergone a major modification this year. The final chicane, Turns 14 and 15 that was introduced in 2007 has now been removed, with the track reverting to its original configuration.
This key change to the final sector will make it more flowing and less severe for the tyres in terms of traction. The left-handed corners are mainly taken at low speed, while the right-handers tend to be flat out.
Last year, Red Bull’s race winner Max Verstappen used a three-stop strategy like most of his rivals, alternating between soft and medium. With the introduction of the new hard tyre, this now adds another strategic factor into the mix.
Traditionally, Barcelona has been one of the most popular venues for testing: both for cars and tyres. It’s a complete track, featuring several different types of speeds and corners, and it also has a very long straight. As a result, aerodynamic efficiency is key to being competitive. The final sector has been modified for this year, reverting to the original layout without a final chicane. This makes it a much more flowing track now and also adds to the entry speed onto the main straight. There are two corners, Turn 3 and Turn 9, which are particularly demanding in terms of lateral forces exerted on the tyres. We’ve chosen the same three types of tyre as the season-opener in Bahrain, but it’s important to remember, when comparing to last year, that this year’s C1 is an entirely new compound, specifically designed to bridge the gap between the hardest tyre in the range (now called the C0) and the C2. In theory, this should hand the teams a wider range of strategic choices, given that the hardest available compound last year wasn’t used at all in the race. Another novelty is the chance that the drivers will have during the first two free practice sessions to try out two additional sets of hard tyres that feature the new construction that will be used from the British Grand Prix onwards. Apart from the use of some new material, which has already been homologated following an extensive test programme, the latest specification is identical to the previous version. Initially this was scheduled for 2024, but its introduction has now been brought forward to make the structure more resistant to fatigue, as the loads generated by the current cars have already reached the targets set for the end of the season after only a few races. This new construction has no impact though on the technical parameters or performance of the tyres. We also continue our 2024 testing campaign after the race, with Mercedes and Ferrari running over two days as we develop the compounds and constructions for next year.
Mitch Evans led the way in a wet Free Practice 3 ahead of the SABIC Berlin E-Prix Round 8, with Gen3 seeing its first outing in rainy conditions, with Saturday’s race winner on it right away.
Rain fell overnight with a light drizzle in the morning creating a slick track surface for the 22 car field to contend with.
NEOM McLaren’s Rene Rast required recovery early on with technical issues, other than that brief Red Flag stoppage, it was a valuable, busy session as teams gathered data.
Mitch Evans put in a 1m 15.955s – some 10 seconds down on FP1’s dry pace – with teammate Sam Bird down in 12th. More encouragement for Jaguar TCS Racing, with its car looking quick in all conditions.
Qualifying-
Robin Frijns and ABT CUPRA pulled off one of the shocks of Season 9 so far in Berlin as the Dutchman headed an all-ABT front-row lockout in the first wet qualifying session.
We saw the ABT CUPRA cars hook it up and finally find their feet, with the stunning front-row lock out in front of the team’s home support. That was Frijns’ second ever Julius Baer Pole Position and a first for the team since its return to the series as well as for partners CUPRA.
Sam Bird couldn’t replicate his pace from yesterday and failed to make it through to the Duels – a big change from being on the front row the day before.
Maximilian Guenther also had a poor result, and will start his race towards the back of the grid after finishing last in the Group B qualifying. With it being the first time in five races that he has failed to progress into the qualifying Duels.
Round 8-
Envision Racing’s Nick Cassidy picked his moment to hit the front and went on to seal the race win in the SABIC Berlin E-Prix Round 8, as he got the best of a tight field to clamber from eighth to the top set of the podium.
The unique Berlin Tempelhof Circuit threw up a second intensely tactical race in as many days, brimming with overtakes – 172 in total making for 362 over the weekend.
The Kiwi started eighth and hit the front on Lap 25, he drove supremely to stay there – setting the pace, given the okay from his engineer on Lap 33, and mastering Formula E’s tightrope of ultimate pace, racecraft and energy.
Jake Dennis was in striking distance come the chequered flag, just half a second back at the flag but not close enough to topple Cassidy – who now has four podiums on the spin and draws to within four points of standings leader Pascal Wehrlein.
Wehrlein started sixth, in a stronger position than recent races having complained of poor one-lap pace in qualifying. He did lead a couple of times – the first on Lap 15 – but ultimately couldn’t live with the leader and found himself shuffled to seventh at the race’s end.
The standout drive was arguably Maximilian Guenther’s from 21st on the grid. The Maserati MSG Racing driver followed up on securing the team’s first podium in Round 7 with a sixth a day later – climbing 15 positions through the pack.
The full top 10 are: P1: Cassidy, P2: Dennis, P3: Vergne, P4: Evans, P5: Da Costa, P6: Guenther, P7: Wehrlein, P8: Vandoorne, P9: Muller and P10: Ticktum.
We are back racing in just under two weeks, with our next race being in Monaco on the 6th May for Round 9!
Dominating the front row were two black and white ART Grand Prix cars, as Correa lined up on reverse grid pole ahead of teammate Saucy, whilst O’Sullivan and Collet lay in the second row.
In his Formula 3 race, Sebastian Montoya found himself sitting in P6 meanwhile title protagonists could be found up and down the field, with Hadjar in seventh ahead of Stanek and Crawford in ninth and tenth. The third ART of Martins lined up P11, whilst PREMA Racing’s Oliver Bearman and Arthur Leclerc started in P13 and P20.
Collet, was ready for his opportunity to pounce on Lap 4 and take the race lead from Correa. Attempting to make the move stick around the outside of Turn 1, the Brazilian dipped his wheels across the kerbs into Turn 3.
Things began to settle down towards the mid point of the race as the medium Pirelli compounds began to fade, leaving those who managed the yellow-walled tyres the best with the upper hand towards the latter end of the 21 lap sprint race.
Approaching the final seven laps, Bearman’s defence came un-done with a wobble into Turn 4. The Ferrari Academy driver went over the kerbs and across the grass , dropping him behind Stanek.
The full top 10 are- P1: Collet, P2: Correa, P3: O’Sullivan, P4: Edgar, P5: Saucy, P6: Hadjar, P7: Martins, P8: Montoya, P9: Crawford and P10: Stanek.
Day 3-
Martins would have been rubbing his hands with glee as the ART GP driver nailed his getaway off the line, immediately going side-by-side with Maloney up the inside of Turn 1. The Trident driver attempted to cover him off but went wide soaring over the kerbs.
Futher back, Bearmans day went from bad to worse. A poor start saw the Ferrari Academy driver junior loosing three places at lights out, allowing Leclerc to close in on his teammate.
With the battles showing no sign of settling down, it wasn’t long until the Safety Car made its first appearance of the weekend Lap 4. Brad Benavides was caught out by William Alatalo’s braking point into Turn 2 and sending both into the gravel and then retire.
There was no doubt Martins was beginning to struggle. A rough looking left front tyre left him vulnerable to Colapinto behind but the Van Amersfoort driver couldn’t get past him.
The full top 10 are- P1: Maloney, P2: Martins, P3: Colapinto, P4: Stanek, P5: Hadjar, P6: Crawford, P7: Collet, P8: Montoya, P9: Edgar and P10: Bearman.
We now only have one round remaining next weekend, and we are in Monza, will we be finding out who is going to be our Formula 3 2022 Champion!
Victor Martins’ effort to reignite his fight for the title after a difficult weekend last time out in Spa, were given a boost after the ART Grand Prix driver led the way during the opening session in Zandvoort.
Laying down a benchmark of 1:25.688 ahead of the all-important qualifying, he went nearly four-tenths clear of the MP Motorsport duo, Caio Collet and Alexander Smolyar.
It was a leisurely start to the session with only five drivers setting a time during the opening 12 minutes, as Francesco Pizzi set a 1:18.014 to go half a second clear of his teammate David Schumacher.
Brand Benavides didn’t have the ideal start to the weekend off the back of his maiden points finish in Spa-Francorchamps, going off into the gravel at Turn 9 to bring out the Virtual Safety Car.
Qualifying-
Zane Maloney exuded confidence as he claimed his second pole position of his rook rookie season, whilst Victor Martins reignited his title hopes by securing a spot on the Feature Race front row.
After two virtual safety car appearances in practice, it was no surprise that a queue of cars formed along the pit lane as the lights went green, with the whole field eargely heading out early and try to get a banker lap in.
As the clock started to tick down to 16 minutes, it seemed the perfect time for Caio Collet and the rest of the field to head back out on track. But off the back of his maiden victory last time out in Spa, Maloney set about claiming his spot on the front row for the third consecutive race.
Lining up on reverse grid pole, Juan Manuel Correa will be hungry for his first podium finish of the 2022 season in Sprint Race. He’ll have familiar company on the front row in the form of ART teammate, Gregoire Saucy.
The full top 10 are- P1: Maloney, P2: Martins, P3: Crawford, P4: Stanek, P5: Colapinto, P6: Hadjar, P7: Montoya, P8: Edgar, P9: Collet and P10: O’Sullivan.
Van Amersfoort Racing’s Jake Hughes set the pace in Free Practice, ending up fastest of all by four-tenths. The Briton’s 1:15.038 was a late effort that put him clear of the pack, followed by ART Grand Prix teammates, Theo Pourchaire and Frederik Vesti. Just 0.230s separated second position from 10th as the short layout of the circuit closed the gaps between all drivers.
Overnight rain had cleared by the time Free Practice got underway in Spielberg, but the task at hand was far from simple. With such a short lap around the Red Bull Ring, traffic was a challenge almost immediately.
Calan Williams stranded Trident brought out the Virtual Safety Car as he stopped on the side of the road beyond Turn 3.
Now onto Qualifying, Frederik Vesti put his qualifying issues that plagued his start to the season firmly to bed, claiming his first pole position in Formula 2. It all came down to his second run after a track limit violation saw his time deleted, plummeting the ART Grand Prix driver to the back of the order at the halfway point.
Juri Vips was unable to pip the Dane at the last minute and the two were separated by three-thousandths of a second. Logan Sargeant put himself firmly in the fight at the front with third, as Ayumu Iwasa blazed up to fourth with a last gasp attempt at the chequered flag.
Day 2-
As the sun beamed down on the Red Bull Ring, Marcus Armstrong was ready to shine lining up on reverse grid pole. Seizing the opportunity with both hands the New Zealander aced his start to keep Pourchaire behind. However, his getaway wasn’t a patch on Drugovich’s. The orange MP Motorsport car launched right inbetween Verschoor and Doohan when the lights went green, but the Brazilian had no room to squeeze through.
Whilst the rest of the field got away cleanly, elbows were already out in the fight for the podium. Banging wheels into Turn 1, Doohan managed to make his way past Verschoor and sent the Trident driver back into Drugovich’s clutches.
Track limit warnings were looming over several drivers heads as they fought to keep their cars within the white line. The arrival of DRS saw a four-car battle to form for fifth, as Verschoor, Vips, Sargeant and Iwasa formed a train along the Spielberg straights.
The full top 10 are: P1: Armstrong, P2: Pourchaire, P3: Doohan, P4: Drugovich, P5: Vips, P6: Verschoor, P7: Sargeant, P8: Fittipaldi, P9: Hauger and P10: Iwasa.
Day 3-
There was a mix of strategy on the grid, with half the grid starting on slicks and the other half on the full wets. A dry line was beginning to form on the track surface, but the rooster tails remained on the formation lap.
Vips soared into the lead at lights out as pole-sitter Frederick Vesti bogged down and lost second to Iwasa. At Turn 4 the ART GP driver took the place back, finding grip on the wet patches of track ahead of him while Iwasa was left to run over the dry line.
The sprint winner, Marcus Armstrong didn’t get close to repeating his victory from the previous day. He came to a halt at Turn 3, bringing out the Safety Car. Vips led comfortably at the restart, but Pourchaire was on the move, cleaning Doohan into Turn 3 at the first time of asking.
Meanwhile, Felipe Drugovich tumbled down the order, falling from within the top 10 to 18th on his overheating wet tyres. Those on slicks were comfortably quicker than on the wet tyres. Verschoor and Daruvala cleared Sargeant and Iwasa with ease in the space of one corner onto the seventh lap. The trident driver then secured the lead with Daruvala and Merhi close in tow.
Merhi was enjoying his deputising role and was up to second on Lap 11, sliding down the inside of Daruvala into Turn 3, up 19 positions from where he started the race.
It was Verschoor who crossed the line in P1, but he got disqualified from the Feature Race after the Trident team were unable to provide the required post-race fuel sample for scrutineering. Jehan Daruvala had also received a post-race driver through penalty, which has been converted to a 20-second penalty in the final classification. The stewards found that the PREMA racing team had attempted to dry the track surface at his grid slot ahead of the race commencing. It drops down the PREMA driver, down to 12th after corssing the line to finish 2nd.
The full top 10 after penalties are- P1: Sargeant, P2: Fittipaldi, P3: Merhi, P4: Hauger, P5: Hughes, P6: Caldwell, P7: Iwasa, P8: Vips, P9: Nissany and P10: Lawson.
Formula 2 is back next week for Round 9, on the 22nd to 24th July at Circuit Paul Ricard!
Former Formula 1 driver, Roberto Merhi will be returning to the Formula 2 grid once more at the Red Bull Ring this weekend in place of Campos Racing’s injury-stricken Ralph Boschung.
Boschung has been plagued by neck pain over recent rounds, which have forced him to withdraw in the middle of three of the last four race weekends, including last week at Silverstone. He will now skip the upcoming events to allow his injury to heal.
His seat in Austria will be taken by Merhi, the 31 year old making his first F2 start since the end of 2018.
It’s been tough few last months, since after Imola the neck has dominated my every day and professional life, it’s very difficult to leave the team mid-season like this but I really need to recover from this injury and I thank my sponsors and the team for being fully supportive.
Ralph Boschung on not racing this weekend.
After racing in F1 with the Manor team in 2015, Roberto Mehri made his F2 debut with Campos at Barcelona in 2017 as team-mate to Boschung before making three further appearances with Rapax at the end of the season.
He then did the first eight rounds of the 2018 season with MP Motorsport, and raced for Campos for the final two rounds of the year. As well as this, he tested for Campos before the start of the 2019 season, and with HWA at the end of 2020, whilst his racing exploits have been focused on sportscars in Europe, Australia and most recently Japan.
I will try my best to achieve strong results to respond to the trust that Ralph, his sponsors and Campos Racing have placed in me. I drove a F2 car in 2018 for the very last time with Campos Racing, with whom stepped onto the podium at Yas Marina. I really like Spielberg circuit, a good place to come back.
Roberto Mehri, on making the return this weekend.
Unfortunately Ralph won’t be able to contest Spielberg as his season turned into a nightmare after Imola and we haven’t delivered our full potential yet. I feel very confident because he will work a lot to be back with us as soon as possible and at his 100 per cent. Besides, I would like to extend a warm welcome to Roberto, who will be temporarily replacing Ralph. We expect a quick adaptation and let’s complete a positive weekend together.
Another Azerbaijan GP complete and we definitely had a few shock surprises along the way!
Max Verstappen takes his 5th win of the season, with his team mate joining him making it Red Bull’s third 1-2 of the season also. George Russell’s keeping it consistent as he finished in P3!
The full top 10 are- P1: Verstappen, P2: Perez, P3: Russell, P4: Hamilton, P5: Gasly, P6: Vettel, P7: Alonso, P8: Ricciardo, P9: Norris and P10: Ocon.
What a weekend for the Bull’s! Both drivers are making it count at the moment and you can see that when there driving. Perez seems like his got so much more confidence in the car, since his win and signing a 2 year deal!
This isn’t what Ferrari wanted or needed, Charles had a power unit issue and Carlos with a hydraulic issue – no points for either driver and it’s having some effects to the drivers and constructors standings…
What a weekend for Mercedes! Being there when it matters is key and that’s what they keep on doing. Both drivers in top 5 and another podium to add George’s tally! A quick side note- I hope LH is okay considering he couldn’t barley move after the race and getting out of the car was a struggle!
Gasly back in the top 5 is nice to see, and at a track he done well at last year makes it even better, let’s hope Baku is a turning point for Alpha Tauri now!
Someone else who needs a mention is Seb! P6 finish after going straight on in one of the run off areas and then having to spin round (which was beautiful) and then climb his way back up to get those all important points.
Now onto the Papaya team, I said they had an opportunity to score points, and they did – a double points finish for Lando and Daniel! Again maybe this is the start of turning things around, especially for Daniel.
The Championship-
Max Verstappen still leads the championship with 150 points, his teammate is close behind him in 2nd with 129 points and then its Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in third on 116 points. But, Leclerc needs to watch himself as Mr Consistency is making moves, Russell finds himself in fourth on 99 points – just 17 points between the pair. We then have Carlos Sainz in fifth on 83 points.
Red Bull remain in the top spot and extend their lead as they sit comfortably on 279 points, then it’s Ferrari in 2nd of 199 points, with the Silver Arrows coming at them rather quickly, they are on 161 points. We then have a big gap to 4th, which is McLaren who are on 65 points and then Alpine are now in fifth on 47 points after a double points finish today.
The grid is all set for tomorrow’s Azerbaijan GP! With a mixed qualifying which saw a red flag, a stunning lap for a Ferrari driver and an Aston Martin driver in the top 10…
But it was Charles Leclerc who took pole position once again, his 6th this year. He is joined by Sergio Perez who out qualifies his teammate for the second weekend in a row. Max rounds out the top 3.
The full top 10 are- P1: Leclerc, P2: Perez, P3: Verstappen, P4: Sainz, P5: Russell, P6: Gasly, P7: Hamilton, P8: Tsunoda, P9: Vettel and P10: Alonso.
I am actually quite surprised at the McLaren’s it looked like both drivers had pace to be in the top 10 but things don’t always work out that way – they are in the middle of the pack which isn’t always the best but they could benefit by any first lap incidents and starting from 11th and 12th you can still get into the points, especially because it’s Baku and anything can happen!
The Alpha Tauri’s WOW! They needed a good result and they got it, Gasly starting P6 which we love to see and takes us back to his great qualifying form from last year. And Yuki Tsunoda starting 8th is like a dream for the team. Hopefully both drivers can keep out of trouble and score a good amount of points and make up for this season!
A driver who I expected to be in the top 10 was Bottas, his starting P15, behind his teammate so it will be interesting to see how both Alfa Romeo’s can get through the field…
It feels good, this one. Obviously all pole positions feels good, but this one I probably did not expect it, because I thought Red Bull were stronger, especially in Q1 and Q2, I really struggled to see that we were faster, but then in the last lap, everything came together and I managed to do a good lap, so extremely happy… I’m really excited for tomorrow.
Charles Leclerc on pole position in Baku!
Predictions-
My top fie for the race tomorrow is – P1: Leclerc, P2: Verstappen, P3: Perez, P4: Sainz and P5: Russell.
I feel like we will have a crazy race tomorrow, no doubt that there will be a safety car which the teams will have a strategy for as they know how this circuit can be, but who will get that strategy right and will we see a surprise podium? Or something we didn’t expect…
The Azerbaijan GP is here once again, and it hosts Round 8 out of 22! After an unexpected race here last year, what could happen this year and will Max settle his unfinished business here after last year’s retirement?
Just like Monaco, the Baku City Circuit has areas where mistakes can’t be made, but unlike in Monaco there is more overtaking chances, especially down the straight.
Who needs a good weekend?
The Ferrari boys need a good weekend, the last 4 races a Red Bull has won, which has led them to lead both championships and have Perez close in on Charles in 2nd. Sainz needs to get a good amount of points on the board as he is 27 points away from Perez who is in 3rd. Either way a Ferrari needs to win this weekend to get back on form which we saw in the early few races.
Both Haas’ will also be wanting to do well this weekend, as they look to try and score double points (fingers crossed). After having both cars DNF last time out, Haas will be wanting to score to get further up in the constructors, they currently sit in 8th just two points away from Alpha Tauri in 7th.
Guanyu Zhou will be hoping for a good weekend, having scored a point in his first ever F1 race, it hasn’t all gone his way this year, finishing just outside the points in both Saudi Arabia and Australia, he then finished 15th in Imola and had two DNF’s in Miami and Spain, he then bounced back to finish 16th in Monaco. In F2 last year, he finished 3rd in Sprint Race 1 – hopefully he can put that to good use and get in the points this weekend!…
Predictions for qualifying-
My top five are- Pole: Verstappen, P2: Leclerc, P3: Perez, P4: Sainz and P5: Hamilton.
I feel like the battle for 5th will be between both Mercs, Lando Norris and Valtteri Bottas – all have very good cars and it looks like McLaren and Alfa Romeo have unlocked a bit more than Mercedes at this moment in time.
After a weeks break, we are back racing once again as we have another double header, with our first destination being Azerbaijan this weekend.
Pirelli have chosen the tyres for this weekend those being the softest tyres in the range, C3 (Hard), C4 (Medium), C5 (Soft). This is the same selection as last year’s Azerbaijan GP.
Baku’s street circuit has a personality of its own, combining rapid straights with some narrow and technical sections, especially around Turn 9 in the old city centre. As a result, the high downforce setups which the teams used in Monaco won’t be used here, teams prefer to go for a low to medium downforce set up.
The weather can be warm in Baku, with the track temperature in excess of 50 degrees, but the tight confines of the building around the circuit mean that there are areas around the track with light and shade, varying the track temperature quite a bit around the lap.
The winning strategy last year was effectively a one-stopper (although the race was red flagged close to the end). The favoured strategy was soft to hard, with the soft tyre being fitted for the last three laps.
Until Jeddah came along, Baku was the fastest street circuit of the year. But the demands of this city track are still relatively low, as none of the corners take a huge amount of energy out of the tyres due to the low levels of abrasion and contained lateral loads – which means that we can have the same nomination as Monaco. Having said that, the high speeds in Azerbaijan still place a certain demand on the tyres. The main point is all about traction, with finding the right balance between front and rear axles being the key challenge for all the teams: you need to have enough heat in the front tyres to generate grip, despite the long straights that cool them down, but not too much heat at the rear, otherwise it’s easy to overheat them in the traction zones. Track temperature is also inconsistent in Baku, so all in all it’s quite a specific track with a few different technical challenges, which are nonetheless the same for everyone.
Mario Isla, Motorsport Director.
Formula 2
The Medium and Supersoft tyres have been chosen for this weekend in Baku for Formula 2. This is the same nomination as previous years, even though the supersoft is a new compound for 2022. But the same compounds have already been seen this season at Imola.
We head to Baku this weekend for the #AzerbaijanGP! A street circuit with its own personality, it combines rapid straights with narrow and technical sections.
Round 7 winner, Edoardo Mortara set the benchmark once again in FP1 as he set a 1m 06.373s at the reverse, clockwise layout of the Tempelhof Airport Circuit. Overnight work was carried out to switch from the traditional track to the anti-clockwise version, giving drivers a whole new circuit to get used to.
Mortara adapted the quickest, with Porsche’s Andre Lotterer was up there once again on home soil. Avalanche Andretti’s Jake Dennis came home third. Pascal Wehrlein and front row qualifier, Alexander Sims rounded out the top five.
The full top 10 are: P1: Mortara, P2: Lotterer, P3: Dennis, P4: Wehrlein, P5: Sims, P6: Vergne, P7: De Vries, P8: Di Grassi, P9: Da Costa and P10: Bird.
FP2-
ROKiT Venturi’s pace was still unbeatable in Free Practice 2, as Lucas di Grassi and Edoardo Mortara led the way with the first and second quickest times of the day.
Di Grassi’s 1m 06.133s was two tenths quicker than his teammate managed in FP1 and 0.150s quicker than Mortara in FP2. The pair then lead Oliver Rowland, who went quickest in the first session ahead of Round 7.
The full top 10 are: P1: Di Grassi, P2: Mortara, P3: Rowland, P4: Vandoorne, P5: Wehrlein, P6: Dennis, P7: Vergne, P8: Frijns, P9: Turvey and P10: Da Costa.
Qualifying-
ROKiT Venturi Racing’s Edoardo Mortara, held his own in qualifying as he grasped a second consecutive Julius Baer Pole Position in two days, he only had to wait 5 years and two came along at once!!…
The shock of qualifying for Round 8 was seeing the top 3 in the championship not start higher than 7th… Vandoorne who came into the weekend leading the championship only managed P8, Vergne who is in 2nd in the Championship was behind the leader and the same for Mitch Evans also, who had been on a role until now.
The full top 10 are: P1: Mortara, P2: Frijns, P3: De Vries, P4: Lotterer, P5: Da Costa, P6: Cassidy, P7: Di Grassi, P8: Vandoorne, P9: Vergne and P10: Evans.
Round 8-
Mercedes EQ driver and reigning champion Nyck de Vries, powered to a comfortable, managed drive to the race win, where he won the Season 7 title triumph. Mortara following 2.5s back, with Vandoorne making it two Mercedes EQ cars on the podiums and three Mercedes EQ powertrains in the top three. The Belgians third place finish also extended his silverware streak to three races.
Lucas di Grassi came home fourth to extend that to four Mercedes powered cars in the top four in a dominant outing. Oliver Rowland made good progress from 10th to an eventual seventh. A bit of a weird weekend for DS Techeetah as Jean-Eric Vergne finished 9th…
We’ve had a bit of a difficult ride the past three races. So, honestly I’m just very pleased to be here and to be back. Obviously it’s a bit of an emotional one for me. It was the perfect way to come back after a difficult day yesterday and the work put in with my engineers to find positives. Edo (Mortara) has been very strong all weekend so we definitely had to keep it clean, but the team managed very well on their side and I executed it, so I’m very pleased.
Nyck de Vries on winning Round 8.
The full top 10 are: P1: De Vries, P2: Mortara, P3: Vandoorne, P4: Di Grassi, P5: Frijns, P6: Da Costa, P7: Rowland, P8: Lotterer, P9: Vergne and P10: Evans.
We now have just under 3 weeks until we are back for Round 9, for the Jakarta E-Prix on the 4th June!
Jordan's Track Talk 