Jordan's Track Talk

Tag: Round 9

  • F3 – Hungary – Day 2 & 3

    Day 2-

    Inthraphuvasak immediately moved to cover off James Hedley at lights out and he retained the lead into the first corner, while Brando Badoer moved ahead of Alessandro Giusti to take P4.

    Hedley tried a move at Turn 10 to take the lead, but that allowed James Wharton a chance at second though the AIX Racing driver retained P2 as they entered the final sector.

    Just behind them and entering the penultimate corner, Giusti had contact with Ugochukwu which damaged his suspension and left him heading into the barriers, bringing out the Safety Car.

    The Safety Car was in at the end of Lap 3 with Inthraphuvasak leading Hedley, Wharton, Badoer and Ugochukwu in the top five.

    The American was able to find a pass on his teammate at Turn 13 to take fourth on Lap 5 and he was immediately harrying Wharton for third position.

    With DRS on Lap 7, the PREMA driver set up a switchback out of Turn 1 to move up to third place, and by Lap 8 he was onto the back of Hedley, as the Briton remained within half a second of the race leader.

    A wide moment at Turn 4 for Hedley on Lap 11 opened the door to the McLaren Development Driver, Ugochukwu moved up to second and set about closing the one-second gap to Inthraphuvasak.
    Lap 14 and he had closed in on the leader and was into DRS range of the Campos driver.

    In the fight for the final podium spot, Hedley had fallen five seconds away and had Wharton glued to his gearbox, but an opportunistic pass by Wurz at Turn 3 gave the Trident driver P4.

    Moments later, Noel Leon and Theophile Nael ran off at Turn 4 as they fought for position and made contact as they rejoined, leaving the PREMA driver out of the running and bringing out the Safety Car.

    It was withdrawn with a lap to go, leaving Inthraphuvasak to fend off Ugochukwu for the victory in a one-lap shootout.

    Wurz was on the move behind them as he dived down the inside of Hedley to take third position at Turn 1.
    Inthraphuvasak held on though, earning his second Sprint Race victory of the year ahead of Ugochukwu and Wurz.

    Day 3-

    The race got underway with a rolling start and Camara retained the lead comfortably from pole ahead of Boya and Taponen in second and third places.

    Tim Tramnitz’s slender hopes of remaining in title contention took a blow early on as he spun at Turn 7 to fall down the order having started P16.

    Ugo Ugochukwu was making quick progress having gone from seventh on the grid, and he claimed P5 on Lap 2 with a pass around the outside of Theophile Nael at the second corner.

    While the conditions remained damp, DRS was enabled on Lap 3 and Boya remained within a second of the race leader and his title rival, as the top two began to pull away from the rest of the pack.

    The Campos driver piled the pressure on with the fastest lap of the race, and he attempted a move into Turn 2 but couldn’t find the traction to make it stick.

    The Safety Car was deployed on Lap 4 with AIX Racing driver Brad Benavides in the tyre wall at the exit of Turn 13 following contact with Rodin Motorsport’s Roman Bilinksi.

    Racing got underway entering Lap 7, and Camara retained the advantage out in front while teammate Charlie Wurz moved himself up to P6 at Turn 1 pass on Nael.

    Ugochukwu looked set to complete an overtake on Gerrard Xie for P4 at Turn 5 but was tagged into a spin by the Hitech TGR driver. It brought out the Safety Car once again with both suffering race-ending damage and stopping on track.

    The Safety Car was in at the end of Lap 10, and once again Camara got a clean restart to head the field.

    Nikola Tsolov was on a charge, going from P13 to P10 on the first racing lap back to green. He got the switchback out of Turn 1 on Noah Stromsted to improve to P9 on Lap 12, and then passed James Wharton to take eighth position.

    The Australian then slipped back to 10th on Lap 13, as a wide moment aat Turn 13 allowed teammate Laurens van Hoepen by.

    Up ahead, Tsolov was on the move once again and he improved to P7 into Turn 1 with a pass on Alessandro Giusti. Before the end of the lap, he passed Brando Badoer at Turn 14 to secure P6.

    The Bulgarian closed the gap down to Nael ahead and by Lap 20, he was within a second of the Van Amersfoort Racing driver in the fight for P5.

    They soon caught up to the podium battle as they joined Wurz in harrying Taponen for third position, as the clock ticked into two minutes remaining of the Feature Race following the earlier Safety Car periods.

    In front of them though, nobody could prevent Camara taking a crowning victory and the 2025 Drivers’ Championship with it.

    The full top 10 are – P1: Camara, P2: Boya, P3: Taponen, P4: Wurz, P5: Nael, P6: Tsolov, P7: Badoer, P8: Van Hoepen, P9: Giusti and P10: Inthraphuvasak.

  • F3 – Hungary – Day 1

    Practice-

    Rafael Camara kicked off the weekend in which he could clinch the title in the perfect way, topping Free Practice for Trident with a 1:33.888.

    Brad Benavides and Roman Bilinski were two late improvers to wind up second and third quickest, before a late Red Flag for title contender Nikola Tsolov, who came to a halt in his Campos Racing car, ending the session.

    After waiting for improved track conditions, the majority of cars took to the track with 10 minutes gone and it was Gerrard Xie that led the way on a 1:36.476 for Hitech TGR.

    Tim Tramnitz lowered the benchmark to a 1:34.619 for MP Motorsport with under half an hour to go, as Mari Boya settled into second 0.2s down on that.

    Camara then leapt to the top of the times on a 1:34.138 to go 0.481s clear of anybody with his first flying lap of the day, before title rival Tsolov moved up to second, cutting the gap to 0.3s.

    Ugo Ugochukwu lifted PREMA Racing up to third with just over 20 minutes to go, slotting in behind Tsolov. Charlie Wurz was the next to break into the top five, putting TRIDENT 1-2 as he went within 0.263s of his teammate.

    The next set of improvements came with 10 minutes left on the clock, with Camara lowering the time to beat to a 1:33.888. Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak went to P2 in his Campos, 0.4s off the Brazilian’s P1 time, with Noah Stromsted third a further 0.015s down.

    Into the final six minutes and Bilinski cut the deficit to Camara to 0.2s, before Benavides went to P2 for AIX Racing, just 0.064s off the top spot.

    The Red Flags were then deployed after Tsolov came to a halt ahead of Turn 12. With three minutes left of practice, the session was not resumed.

    Qualifying-

    Rafael Camara took a big step towards the 2025 Drivers’ Championship, taking his fifth Aramco Pole Position Award of the season.

    Under pressure heading into the final attempts of the day, the Trident driver delivered a 1:32.510 to go less than a hundredth clear of his Campos Racing rival Mari Boya in second. Tuukka Taponen finished third for ART Grand Prix after a late improvement of his own.

    Ugo Ugochukwu laid down the time to beat early on, setting a 1:33.436 on his first attempt for PREMA Racing. Noah Stromsted beat that shortly after to go quicker on a 1:33.054, with Laurens van Hoepen going up to second for ART, 0.055s down on the TRIDENT driver’s time.

    Camara had been P5 after his first laptime of the session, but his time was deleted for exceeding track limits at Turn 4. He immediately returned to the pitlane complaining of too much understeer around the entirety of the lap.

    Campos opted to hold their drivers back to run in the gap on an empty track. It looked to pay off them in their first runs, with Boya going to the top of the times on a 1:33.013. Teammates Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak followed by going P2, 0.3s down, while Nikola Tsolov went to fourth after their first laps.

    The trio returned to the pit lane while the rest of the field headed back out for their second set of attempts with half the session remaining.

    Brando Badoer put PREMA to the top and teammate Noel Leon followed to go P2 momentarily. MP Motorsport’s Alessandro Giusti then posted a time to go quickest, until Charlie Wurz restored TRIDENT top of the pile on a 1:32.737. Ugochukwu followed across the line to go second, losing out on P1 by just 0.001s.

    After the second flurry of laps, the top four were separated by just 0.089s, with Camara fifth, 0.110s off his teammate’s leading time.

    The Campos trio then delivered their second attempts with Boya returning to P1 on a 1:32.653. Inthraphuvasak went to eighth 0.241s down on the Spaniard, but Tsolov was left P15 going into the final eight minutes of the session.

    Into the final attempts and Gerrard Xie delivered an improvement to go up to second for Hitech TGR, 0.010s off Boya’s earlier effort. Theophile Nael went to third a further thousandth behind the Chinese driver, but Tuukka Taponen then went to provisional pole by the same margin, 1:32.652 putting him 0.001s clear of Boya in second.

    Camara and Boya then set their final laps, and the Brazilian delivered pole position for the fifth time in 2025 on a 1:32.510, 0.008s clear of Boya who improved one final time to go second again.

    The full top 10 are- Pole: Camara, P2: Boya, P3: Taponen, P4: Xie, P5: Nael, P6: Wurz, P7: Ugochukwu, P8: Badoer, P9: Giusti and P10: Wharton.

  • R9 – Spain

    Oscar Piastri has further strengthened his championship lead by clinching a commanding victory in the Spanish Grand Prix, the Australian leading teammate Lando Norris in a McLaren 1-2 amid a dramatic end to the race.

    Piastri made an excellent start from pole position, allowing the 24 year old to build an early lead from Verstappen who had overtaken Norris into Turn 1.
    Norris later retook the position – only for Verstappen to leapfrog both McLaren’s after the first pit stops, putting himself into P1.

    This proved to brief, as the Dutchman pitted early for a second stop, handling the lead back to Piastri all of which triggered much intrigue over whether Verstappen would opt for a three stop strategy.

    Verstappen did indeed embark on a three stop – but the whole picture was dramatically shaken up when a Safety Car was deployed in the latter stages after Kimi Antonelli’s Mercedes pulled off track with a mechanical issue prompting most of the frontrunners to pit again.

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

    A lovely result from McLaren, a 1-2 for the Papaya team, I don’t think they had anything to worry about as their pace was just incredible. Piastri kept it cool, calm and collected as always and produced a lovely drive.

    P3 for Leclerc, an unexpected podium for the Ferrari driver, but sometimes being there when another driver makes a mistake is sometimes a good thing.
    As for his teammate, Hamilton finished 6th he didn’t have the best race, he seemed to struggle a lot but still managed to get some decent points.

    P4 for Russell, a good result for the Mercedes driver finally after two bad race weekends. Unfortunately for his teammate, it was a horrible weekend, he went into the gravel with a mechanical issue saw him out of the race.

    P5 for Hulkenberg! A lovely result for him and the team, a massive points haul! Hulkenberg was pulling off some lovely overtakes and that result is very well deserved.

    P7 for Hadjar, another points finish for the young driver. As for his teammate, Lawson was just outside of the top 10. He finished in 11th.

    Points for Fernando Alonso finally! P9 on home soil for the Spanish driver. He was also the only Aston Martin car on the grid yesterday, so a good result for the team.

    Now we have a little break after a triple header, for Round 10, we are heading to Canada!

  • R9- Spain Qualifying

    Oscar Piastri has grabbed his fourth pole position of the season during Qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix, the championship leader beating McLaren teammate Lando Norris in the dying moment of the session.

    After setting the pace across Q1 and Q2, Piastri lost out to Norris when the opening runs of Q3 took place, the Briton having snatched provisional pole.
    But it was advantage Piastri as the final flying laps came in, the Aussie putting in a 1m 11.546s to go 0.209s quicker.

    Max Verstappen put in another solid performance to slot into third for Red Bull, while Mercedes’ George Russell set an identical lap time to the Dutchman but had to settle for fourth after crossing the line later.

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

    A lovely result for McLaren, a 1-2 finish in qualifying for the team, which is the best result they would of wanted going into this weekend. They will want to grab another 1-2 in the race today, but who is favoured to win? And will team orders come into play?

    A great result for Verstappen, keeping himself in the top 3. The Dutchman will be keeping close going into Turn 1 to see if he can go into the lead and try and grab as many points as he can for both championships.
    As for his teammate, Tsunoda qualified 20th… not a good result at all and no where near his teammate either, this is going to really hurt Red Bull in the Constructors’ if he doesn’t score points.

    Lewis Hamilton qualifies 5th, a good result for the Ferrari driver, in a decent position to score a good amount of points too, maybe even a possible podium depending on strategies. As for his teammate, Leclerc qualified 7th, could’ve been a lot better but still in the top 10.

    Russell had a much better qualifying compared to last week in Monaco, P4 for the Brit, he will be aiming for a podium today. So watch out for the battles from the Mercedes driver.

    P9 for Isack Hadjar, the rookie driver loves a top 10 start! I feel like this is just expected now from the Racing Bulls driver.

    A little mention to Gabriel Bortoleto, qualified in his highest position so far in P12, hopefully (fingers crossed) he can score his first points this weekend.

  • Stroll to miss Spanish Grand Prix

    Aston Martin have announced that Lance Stroll will not be taking part in the Spanish Grand Prix, with the Canadian set to undergo a medical procedure after experiencing pain in his hand and wrist.

    After participating in qualifying at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya – a session he finished 14th – the team confirmed a few hours later that Stroll is set to miss the remainder of the weekend.

    Stroll sustained fractures and a broken toe after a cycling accident during the 2023 pre-season, which led him to go for surgery as well as a rehabilitation process.
    He went on to make his return in time for the first race of the camapgin.

    The 26 year old went on to finish that even – in sixth place, despite later revealing that his medical team had initially doubted whether he would be able to compete in the opening races of the season.

    Ahead of the 2024 season, Stroll admitted that he had to adapt to a more cautious approach to his training programme.

    The 2025 season has marked Stroll’s seventh season with the Aston Martin team, having joined the team in 2019, when it was running under the Racing Point guise.
    He currently sits 11th in the Drivers’ Championship on 14 points.

    Over the course of the past six weeks Lance has been experiencing pain in his hand and wrist, which his medical consultant believes is in relation to the procedure he underwent in 2023. As a result his medical team have confirmed that he will not race tomorrow and he will undergo a procedure to rectify these issues before focusing on his recovery.
    A statement from the team.

  • R9 – Tyre Selection

    The second triple-header of the season concludes at another classic Formula 1 track, the Barcelona-Catalunya circuit that has hosted the Spanish Grand Prix every year since 1991.

    It’s an eagerly awaited event as the track is one of the most complete in offering a full range of technical challenges. That’s why it was one of the most popular tracks for testing, on the basis if a car works well here it does everywhere else.

    Since the inaugural race in 1991, the track has undergone several modifications, especially in the final part, with various attempts made to create overtaking opportunities.

    In 2023, the original configuration was restored, with the final two corners linked so as to make for a much faster entry onto the pit straight, one of the longest on the calendar.

    In the race, drivers tackle 66 laps of the 4.657 kilometre track with its 14 corners. The highest downforce corners are turns 3 and 9, both right handers.

    Not only is the track challenging for the cars, it also places high demands on the tyres.
    After two consecutive rounds featuring the softest trio in the 2025 range, as usual Pirelli has chosen the hardest, namely the C1 (Hard), C2 (Medium) and C3 (Soft).

    The forces exerted on the tyres are medium to high, because of the many fast corners, such as turn 3 and the final two, both of them righthanders. The corner of the car subjected to the greatest stress is the front left, as right hand turns are in the majority.

    Even if the Barcelona-Catalunya circuit is no longer used for testing by the teams, because of the virtual elimination of in-season testing a reduction in pre-season work, it is still a very important test bench.

  • Haas confirm Hirakawa for FP1

    Haas have confirmed Ryo Hirakawa will replace Esteban Ocon during FP1 at the Spanish Grand Prix this weekend.

    The Japanese driver will get his second first practice run out with the American team at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, having deputised for Ollie Bearman in Bahrain.

    That came the week after Hirakawa stood in for Jack Doohan in the weekend-opening session at Suzuka, before promptly leaving Alpine early the following week to rejoin Haas, where he enjoyed test and reserve opportunities last season.

    The 31 year old is expected to also compete in FP1 in Mexico and Abu Dhabi later this year, which will satisfy the team’s four rookie session requirements.

    Hirakawa has strong links to the Banbury-based squad due to his ties to Toyota, which is a technical partner of the team.

  • F3 – RND 9 Day 2 & 3

    Day 2-

    It was an all-PREMA front row with Beganovic on pole, though it was teammate Mini who made the better start to take the lead into Turn 1.

    Just behind them, Tim Tramnitz had gotten ahead of Santiago Ramos for P3, while Arvid Lindblad made a fast start from P27 and was already up to 16th by the end of Lap 1.

    But a Safety Car was required with Jenzer Motorsport’s Max Esterson having slowly spun into the barrier at Eau Rouge. The American driver was okay, and the field were back racing at the end of Lap 3.

    The battles were well and truly on as Beganovic got ahead of Mini at the end of the Kemmel Straight just after the restart, while Leon took back the P5 spot he had lost to Luke Browning.

    Lap 5 and Tramnitz was coming under pressure from Ramos and Leon and while he was able to hold on to P3, Browning was struggling and lost sixth position to Sebastian Montoya having ran wide at Turn 4.

    The top six from Beganovic to Montoya were covered by just two and a half seconds as they started lap 9 of 12, with Mini told by his race engineer to keep the pressure on his teammate.

    But making the moves was Leon as he got ahead of Ramos for P4 at the end of the Kemmel Straight, with Lindblad now up to 12th after getting past Rodin Motorsport’s Joseph Loake.

    DRS had now been made available, as Mini came under pressure from Tramnitz for second. He was able to hold off the MP driver but as they squabbled, it meant Beganovic was able to pull out a one second gap.

    As they started the penultimate lap of the race, Mini had closed back in on Beganovic while Tramnitz had fallen into the clutches of Leon.
    This was playing into the hands of Meguetounif, Browning and Leonardo Fornaroli in seventh, eighth and ninth place, as they close up to the top six.

    The final lap started, with Beganovic and Mini having pulled out a two second gap to the rest of the field. But in the battle for the final podium place Leon got ahead of Tramnitz at the Kemmel Straight.

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

    Day 3-

    It was a great start from pole-sitter Voisin as he kept hold of the lead, but the big gainer was Montoya as he was up to second from fourth.

    Front row starter Alexander Dunne had a slow start and dropped to fourth while Fornaroli maintained third place.

    But behind them, there was a huge moment in the title race as Gabriele Mini fell to the back of the field following a collision with Oliver Goethe. The contact left the PREMA Racing driver turned around at the back of the field, while the Campos was forced to pit with a puncture.

    As they started lap 2, Voisin locked up heading into Turn 1, with both Montoya and Fornaroli right on the back of his Rodin car. He was able to keep the position, but Noel Leon could not do the same, losing P5 to Sami Meguetounif down the Kemmel Straight.

    The Safety Car was then required on Lap 3 when Martinius Stenshorne spun at Stavelot. ART Grand Pric debutant Tuukka Taponen was having his own separate incident coming into the corner as he collided with Joshua Dufek before spinning into the side of the Hitech.

    We were back racing on Lap 7 and Voisin had a great restart ahead of Montoya and Fornaroli, while Meguetounif’s charge continued as he overtook Dunne for fourth down the Kemmel Straight.
    But another Safety Car was soon deployed after Sophia Floersch and Joseph Loake collided and spun off at Turn 9.

    The race restarted on Lap 10 of 15 and once again Voisin had a good start, but Dunne was struggling once more, dropping from P5 to P10.

    A third Safety Car was needed after Christian Mansell hit the rear of Arvid Lindblad, sending the PREMA Racing driver into the gravel at Turn 9.

    At the same time, Charlie Wurz touched the rear right tyre of Mari Boya, giving the Campos Racing driver a puncture, before he went into the barrier at Turn 11. The Austrian was then forced to come into the pit lane to replace a damaged front wing.

    Voisin led the pack away on Lap 14 as we returned to green flag conditions, with Montoya and Fornaroli staying behind him. However, Leon dived down the inside of Meguetounif into Turn 7 to take back P4.

    Onto the final lap and Voisin had built up a lead of nearly one second as he crossed the line to take the victory, with Montoya in second, while Fornaroli finished third to take the lead of the Drivers’ Championship.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Voisin, P2: Montoya, P3: Fornaroli, P4: Leon, P5: Meguetounif, P6: Browning, P7: Esterson, P8: Ramos, P9: Tramnitz and P10: Dunne.

    Even without scoring, the result means PREMA Racing take an unassailable lead into the final round in Monza, making them the 2024 FIA Formula 3 Team Champions.

  • F3 – RND 9 Day 1

    Practice-

    HiTech Pulse-Eight driver Luke Browning left it until the final moments of the session to top the Spa-Francorchamps Free Practice that started with rainy conditions before ending in the dry.

    Browning completed a lap of 2:15.570 with his last lap on the slick tyres to finish 0.030s ahead of Van Amersfoort Racing’s Noel Leon, with ART Grand Prix driver Christian Mansell in third.

    A wet Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps greeted the drivers with Browning the early pacestter on a 2:22.089, putting him 0.683s clear of his ART title rival Mansell in second.

    As the drivers rounded the track, they began to find more grip and pace, but no one could quite match Browning’s time with VAR’s Leon going closest.

    But the Hitech driver continued to be the benchmark, and later completed a lap of 2:21.310 to improve on his earlier effort, as AIX Racing’s Nikita Bedrin followed him across the line to finish 0.620s off the top time.

    With 20 minutes left, the sun had started to come through and the track was drying out. The teams then started sending their drivers out for some exploratory laps on the slicks.

    But it wasn’t until the final six minutes that a dry line began to appear with MP Motorsport’s Alexander Dunne using that to great effect to go fastest with 2:20.474.

    Times continued to tumble as the track conditions improved with Sebastian Montoya, Santiago Ramos, Leon, Arvid Lindblad, Leonardo Fornaroli and Tramnitz all topping the timesheets within the span of five minutes.

    The drivers running was then hampered by a yellow flag in the final sector following Ramos’ spin at the bus stop chicane, while his Trident teammate Sami Meguetounif would run wide at the same corner.

    Qualifying-

    Rodin Motorsport’s Callum Voisin took his first ever Formula 3 pole position after coming out on top in a frenetic Spa-Francorchamps qualifying session.

    The British driver completed a lap of 2:04.321 to beat MP Motorsport’s Alexander Dunne to pole by 0.123s, with Trident’s Leonardo Fornaroli taking third place.

    But after the first set of laps, it was the ART Grand Prix cars that set the pace, with Laurens van Hoepen completing the early benchmark time of 2:05.507 to lead Mansell by just 0.011s.

    Hitech Pulse-Eight chose a different strategy by sending their drivers out early on the second set of tyres, giving them an empty track. However, it did not work for Luke Browning as he ran wide at Pouhon after losing the rear, leaving him down in P18.

    His teammate Martinius Stenshorne was one of several to lose their first laps for exceeding track limits but on the latest attempt he went to P11, while Cian Shields jumped to P14.

    The Hitech trio ducked into the pitlane while the rest of the field emerged on to the track with 10 minutes to go.
    But then came the rest with first Sebastian Montoya, then Fornaroli and later Dunne going fastest before Voisin went to the top with a 2:04.321.

    However, as the drivers prepared for their final laps there was huge queue heading into the final chicane, meaning that the like of Fornaroli and Leon did not get to the line in time to set off another attempt.

    Some drivers did improve in the first sector, but they were so close to each other there were no improvements through the technical middle sector.

    The full top 10 are- Pole: Voisin, P2: Dunne, P3: Fornaroli, P4: Montoya, P5: Leon, P6: Esterson, P7: Browning, P8: Meguetounif, P9: Tramnitz and P10: Ramos.

  • F2 – RND 9 Day 2 & 3

    Day 2-

    Temperatures were much cooler for the Sprint compared to Friday’s Qualifying and there was a mix of tyres on the gird, with 12 cars fitted with the Softs while the rest chose Hards.

    Two of those drivers on the Hards were pole-sitter Verschoor and his fellow front starter Maini, and while they made good starts, Andrea Kimi Antonelli had fired up his tyres from P4 and went round the outside of the Invicta car at Turn 2 to take second.

    His fellow drivers on the red tyres were also flying as Gabriel Bortoleto and Enzo Fittipaldi moved up to P6 and P7 respectively by overtaking Isack Hadjar.

    By the end of Lap 5, Antonelli was over two seconds clear out front, while Maini was beginning to close in on Verschoor for P2, with Martins just behind.

    On to Lap 7, and Fittipaldi was showing strong pace in his Van Amersfoort Racing car and overtook his fellow option tyre runner Bortoleto for P6, going round his compatriot’s outside at Turn 1.

    But as the drivers set of on lap 11, what had been a lead of over two second for Antonelli had now been close to 1.6s.
    Further back, Maini had also created a gap of over two seconds to Martins, who was now defending from Dennis Hauger in the battle for P4.

    Verschoor was now right on the back of Antonelli as they started lap 16, but the PREMA driver was resisting each attack. However, he could not hold on much longer, running wide at the final corner before locking up into Turn 1 allowing both Verschoor and Maini through.

    Unfortunately for Antonelli, his lock up had proven costly as he was falling through the field with Martins, Fittipaldi, Hauger and Hadjar all making their way past before PREMA made the call to pit him for a set of Hards.

    Back in the midfield, Paul Aron was looking to make up the positions he lost at the start as one of the prime tyre runners and went round the outside of Jak Crawford at Turn 2 for P12, despite the American’s attempts to take back the position at T4.

    But as the Hitech Pulse-Eight driver was battling to get back into the points, his Championship rival Hadjar was up to fourth after overtaking Fittipaldi and Hauger on lap 21.

    Fittipaldi was also struggling on his softs and after losing out to Hauger and Colapinto, he suffered a puncture on his left front tyre forcing him to pit.

    By the final lap, Verschoor had built a two-second gap out front and crossed the line to take his fourth Formula 2 victory ahead of Maini, with Martins taking the final podium spot.

    However… Richard Verschoor has been disqualified from the results, as the plank on his car was below the minimum thickness required and lost the race win.

    So the new full top 10 are- P1: Maini, P2: Martins, P3: Hadjar, P4: Hauger, P5: Colapinto, P6: Aron, P7: Barnard, P8: Correa, P9: Crawford and P10: Bearman.

    Day 3-

    It was a slow start for pole-sitter, Paul Aron, made worse by his lock up that forced him to go deep at Turn 1, dropping him to seventh.
    But it was an outstanding getaway from Martins, who was in the lead before approaching the opening corner after starting fifth.

    The Hitech Pulse-Eight rookie’s hope of eating into Isack Hadjar’s 20-points championship lead took an early dent despite the Campos Racing driver being forced to start from the pit lane after leaving for the grid late.

    Martins was under pressure from front row starter, Enzo Fittipaldi with Invicta Racing’s Gabriel Bortoleto just behind them, with Hard tyre runners Zane Maloney and Antonelli in fourth and fifth respectively.

    A Safety Car was required moments later when Aron, looking to dive down the inside of Hauger, carried too much speed into Turn 2 and went into the back of Maloney, causing both drivers to spin into a stop.

    This allowed several of the soft tyre runners, such as Martins, Bortoleto, Fittipaldi, Hauger, O’Sullivan, Bearman and Hadjar to pit for hards and complete their mandatory stop.

    The action resumed on lap 8 with Antonelli leading the way ahead of Verschoor and Kush Maini, the trio yet to pit.
    The Italian was in good form though, building up a lead of over three seconds to Verschoor by lap 13.

    Just behind, Martins now on the better tyre in P4 and putting pressure on Maini. The ART driver was up to third on lap 15, going down the inside of the Invicta driver at Turn 1, with Bortoleto doing the same moments later on Amaury Cordeel for P6, Fittipaldi following through shortly afterwards.

    Martins’ next target was Verschoor, and he was within DRS range of the Trident by lap 18 and dived down his inside at Turn 1 to move up to P2.
    But as he looked to close the six and a half second gap to Antonelli, the Safety Car was called upon with Cordeel having crashed at Turn 4.

    Racing resumed on lap 27 of 37, with Martins leading away Bortoleto but they were quickly under pressure from Antonelli who got past both Hauger and Fittipaldi before reaching Turn 3.

    Following the Safety Cars, the race became one against the clock and with under nine minutes to go, Antonelli used the DRS to his advantage and passed Martins on the main straight to take the lead.

    Further behind, Verschoor was also on the charge and went round the outside of Hauger at Turn 2 to take P5 before getting past Fittipaldi on the next lap at Turn 1.

    Onto the final lap, Antonelli had built up a lead of 12s before crossing the line to take his first Feature Race victory of the season, with Martins in second place.
    Verchoor made a last lap overtake on Bortoleto to take P3 with Fittipaldi.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Antonelli, P2: Martins, P3: Verschoor, P4: Bortoleto, P5: Fittipaldi, P6: Hauger, P7: Maini, P8: Miyata, P9: Barnard and P10: Villagomez.

  • F2 – RND 9 Day 1

    Practice-

    Rodin Motorsport’s Zane Maloney made a strong start to his Budapest weekend by going fastest of all in Free Practice thanks to his time of 1:32.668.

    Maloney was in fine form throughout the session and ended up over a tenth faster than DAMS Lucas Oil’s Jak Crawford in second with Van Amersfoort Racing’s Enzo Fittipaldi in third.

    It was Maloney who led the way after the first set of laps, as his time of 1:33.556 put him on top, with Trident’s Richard Verschoor crossing the line to go to second, 0.390s behind.

    PREMA’s Andrea Kimi Antonelli then went up to second, only for Invicta Racing’s Gabriel Bortoleto to jump ahead of him moments later, the Brazilian just 0.188s off Maloney.

    The Virtual Safety Car was briefly deployed after Campos Racing’s Josep Maria Marti spun and made slight contact with the barrier at Turn 11.

    Martins though was showing good pace and on his next flying effort beat Maloney’s time by just 0.002s, sending him to the top. But he would not hold that position for much longer with Hauger going fastest on a 1:33.100.

    With less than four minutes to go, the drivers started to push on their tyres once more and Maloney went back to the top of the leaderboard with a lap of 1:32.668.

    Qualifying-

    Paul Aron sealed his second pole position of the season after edging out Van Amersfoort Racing’s Enzo Fittipaldi to the top spot in a tightly contested Budapest Qualifying session.

    The Hitech Pulse-Eight driver completed a late lap of 1:30.028 to beat Fittipaldi to first by just 0.068s with Campos Racing’s Isack Hadjar over a tenth back in third.

    But it was Free Practice table-topper, Zane Maloney who led the way early on clocking a time of 1:30.515 to lead his ART Grand Prix rival Victor Martins by over a tenth.

    Then came Invicta Racing’s Gabriel Bortoleto setting the fastest times in the first two sectors before going to the top of the leaderboard with a 1:30.269, beating Malone by 0.246s.

    A few drivers went on to try go for a second push lap on their first set of tyres, one of those being Aron, but as he came across the line he went up to P7, the Red Flags were waved.

    Josep Maria Marti spun at the exit of Turn 11 and while he managed to stay out of the barrier, he stopped by the side of the road meaning the marshals had to wheel his car away.

    With under 10 minutes remaining in the session, the drivers returned to the track after strapping on a new set of softs, led by Fittipaldi.
    This meant that the Brazilian was the first to set a timed lap on his second set and went up to provisional pole.

    However, his time was quickly beaten by Aron, as the Hitech rookie went just 0.068s clear of the Brazilian with a 1:30.028.

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

  • RW 9 – Canada

    Max Verstappen and Red Bull bounced back from their Monaco struggles as they returned to winning ways in an action-packed Canadian Grand Prix!
    The reigning champions had to overcome rain showers, multiple Safety Car periods, restart and a stern challenge from a couple of drivers.

    Verstappen followed pole-sitter George Russell in the wet early stages of the race until a charging Norris overhauled them both amid improving conditions, only for an ill-timed Safety Car which ruined Lando’s chances of winning.

    While Verstappen surged towards the chequered flag, Norris took second via a fierce mid-race battle with Russell, and the latter settling for third after some late scrapping with teammate Lewis Hamilton and the other McLaren of Oscar Piastri.

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

    A lovely result for Max! Just what he wanted, he had a bit of an up and down weekend but came out on top.
    However, it wasn’t a weekend to remember for Red Bull team, as Sergio Perez had a horrible weekend, qualifying 16th and he ended up spinning off the track and damaged his rear wing, which forced him to retire in the pits.
    Not only this, it went from bad to worse, as he has now been given a 3 place grid penalty for the Spanish GP after he drove to the pits with a significantly damaged car.

    A good result for McLaren, P2 and P5 the team is closing in on Ferrari in P2! Unlucky for Lando with the safety car situation as he was leading and had a lovely gap but that is just racing sometimes…

    Mercedes! Probably the most improved team this weekend, they’ve pretty much had pace all weekend, unlucky for them to only get one driver on the podium as it was looking likely it could’ve been both at one point in the race. But the team will look at this positively and the upgrades are working and they’ve managed to grab their first podium of the year.

    Ferrari.. where to start, Charles had problems from the start with his engine problem, which then led the Monegasque to retire later on in the race.
    Not only this, Carlos Sainz who was pushing for points came together with Alex Albon at Turn 7 in unusual circumstances. Where the Spaniard spun at the exit of the corner, and despite his best efforts, Albon’s Williams collected the Ferrari. Which led to both Ferrari’s out, both Williams out and a Red Bull…

    A good result for the Aston Martin’s and the Alpine’s both getting double points which was needed especially for the latter after their rough time in Monaco. And for Daniel Ricciardo aswell a points finish, he had quite a good weekend a lot of pace from him.

    A bit of a disappointing race for Haas after such a good start to the race, both drivers were in the top 10 after they started on wets, but that didn’t last long as when Magnussen pitted on lap 8 his mechanics were not ready for him and then the team left Hulkenberg out for too long and once he pitted he went to the bottom of the grid… This led the team to score no points.

  • RW 9 – Canada Qualifying

    Qualifying for Round 9 is complete, and there was a few shock surprises with a couple of early exits in Q1 and Q2 which led to some other drivers making an appearance in Q3!

    George Russell has taken pole position for the Canadian Grand Prix in an impressive session for the Mercedes driver, with the Brit beating Max Verstappen despite the Dutchman setting the exact same lap time!

    Russell had provisionally secured P1 following the initial runs in Q3 with a lap of 1m12.000s and while Verstappen improved on his own effort in the decisive final laps, the Red Bull driver could only equal Russell’s time.

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

    What a result for George Russell! The Mercedes have been showing some strong pace this weekend and that obviously has been shown. Hamilton starts in 7th, as everyone seemed to improve on their laps.

    A very good result for McLaren, P3 and P4, it makes you think what could they do from there? Battle for the win or battle for both podium spots? It will be all to play for!

    A lovely result from VCARB! Both drivers in the top 10 with Daniel Riccairdo in 5th and Tsunoda 8th. The team will be wanting to capitalise on this result in the race and get a decent points haul.

    A tough day for Ferrari as they qualified out of the top 10, Leclerc in 11th and Sainz in 12th. Not the day the Italian team would of wanted, they now have a lot of work to do in the race, as well as staying out of trouble in the midfield…

    A bit of a shock to see Perez out in Q1 again! He will be starting the race in 16th. Which isn’t what the Mexican driver would of been hoping for especially after renewing his contract this week! He has a lot of work to do if he wants to score some points.

    A decent result for both Aston Martins aswell! P6 for Alonso and P9 for Stroll. The team will be wanting to score some big points this weekend as they currently sit 5th in the Constructors and only on 44 points…

  • RW 9 – Tyre Selection

    Formula 1 returns to North America after two European rounds in Imola and Monaco. The Canadian Grand Prix therefore means a change of continent.

    The race in Montreal will be the third in a row to feature the three softest compounds in the 2024 range, the C3 (Hard), C4 (Medium), C5 (Soft).

    The 4.361 kilometre track is named in honour of Gilles Villeneuve and features six lefthand corners and eight to the right and it has one of the lowest average speeds of the season.
    Stability under braking and traction coming out of the chicanes and the slowest corners, which include the hairpin leading onto a very long straight.

    Unlike the previous race weekend in Monaco, overtaking here is possible, especially at the end of the straight leading to the final chicane, the exit to which features the “Wall of Champions” thus named after three world champions, Damon Hill, Michael Schumacher and Jacques Villeneuve, all ended their races there in 1999, crashing into the wall on the outside of the turn.

    The entire track has been resurfaced for this year and the kerbs have been replaced. On paper, the track’s existing characteristics of low abrasiveness and therefore reduced grip should remain the same.
    For most of the year, the track is only used by people on foot or cyclists and so lap times generally drop significantly as the cars rubber-in the surface.

    Setting a quick time in qualifying involves getting very close to the barriers and walls, while making the best use of the kerbs, so it’s also important for the driver to do as many laps as possible to gain confidence.

    In last years race, all three dry compounds came into play with a mix of strategies with some drivers, including the three who finished on the podium, going for a two-stop while others pitted just the once.
    They also have to take into consideration that the Safety Car is a frequent visitor and that a longer first stint therefore offers the best chance of minimising time lost changing tyres.

  • RND 9 – Berlin E-Prix

    FP1-

    TAG Heuer Porsche’s Antonio Felix da Costa was the quickest guy on track for the first Free Practice Session for the 2024 Sun Minimeal Berlin E-Prix.

    Getting to grips with the new layout at the iconic Tempelhof Airport Street Circuit, with the Season 6 champion joined by ERT’s Sergio Sette Camara and the DS PESNKE of Stoffel Vandoorne in the top three.

    There was also some early drama as championship leader Pascal Wehrlein came to a dramatic halt a few minutes into the session.
    The German was forced to jump out of the car before even setting a time, not the ideal start to his and the team’s home race weekend.

    The super substitutes made the most of the running, with Joel Eriksson being the fastest of the bunch, who has experience in Formula E with eight race starts to his name.

    Ten minutes was left of the session, and the grid was separated by a second from Dennis to McLaren’s Taylor Barnard.

    FP2-

    Maserati MSG Racing’s Maximilan Guenther was top of the timesheets in the final free practice session before qualifying.

    Guenther was able to set a time of 1m 02.177s in the final moments of the 30 minute session to give his home crowd something to cheer about.
    Just behind him was the ABT of Lucas di Grassi, and Porsche’s Pascal Wehrlein in third after a technical issue in FP1.

    Making the most of the last practice session before qualifying, drivers were pushing their cars to the limits. Yet, one going a bit too much was Envision’s Joel Eriksson who clipped the wall on one of his runs.

    With ten minutes left on the clock, a brief red flag was deployed to collect a rogue advertising banner, however teams were quickly sent back out again.

    Qualifying-

    Edoardo Mortara sparked delight in the Mahindra Racing garage, as the Swiss-French-Italian steered to Julius Baer Pole Position and the team’s first points of the season.

    Nothing split Mortara and Vandoorne over more than half of the lap at the reconfigured Tempelhof circuit.
    Two thirds of the lap were down before the two could be separated – with the Mahindra Racing driver pulling out a couple of tenths over the DS racer.

    Some big names were knocked out in the Groups, including Antonio Felix da Costa, Mitch Evans, Jake Dennis and Nick Cassidy.

    The full top 10 are- Pole: Mortara, P2: Vandoorne, P3: Vergne, P4: Sette Camara, P5: Guenther, P6: Wehrlein, P7: Daruvala, P8: Di Grassi, P9: Da Costa and P10: Cassidy.

    Round 9-

    Jaguar TCS Racing’s Nick Cassidy produced a stunning comeback drive having slipped to 21st at the half-way stage, to take the chequered flag first and the race win.

    Mortara covered off Vandoorne into Turn 1 as the pack filtered through unscathed – only Sette Camara of the top six made moves, passing Vergne for third at the final corner but only temporarily.

    Once the first round of Attack Mode shook out, Vergne led Vandoorne, with the DS pair working in tandem to maximise efficiency while keeping track position. The Porsche pair of Wehrlein and da Costa followed.

    At a quarter race distance, Vergne led Vandoorne, Wehrlein, Mortara, da Costa and Sette Camara the top six while Joel Eriksson’s Envision was recovered under a full course yellow then a safety car – the Swede clipping the wall and breaking his right-rear suspension.

    On lap 17, the race went green once again, with the lead a fluid concept between any of four cars out front as the second round of attack mode activations began.

    Mortara hit the front once again as the race hit lap 22, before being passed again by early leaders Vergne and Wehrlein, with da Costa third on lap 24.
    Jake Dennis, meanwhile had clambered from the back of the pack to eighth with as much as six percentage points of energy in-hand on some of the leaders.

    Less than a second split the top eight with 27 laps down. Wehrlein and da Costa were the current leaders, though things were changing by the sector.

    Guenther’s forward foray came to an abrupt end, as contact with Hughes on lap 30 speared the Maserati into the wall and out of the race- which then required a second appearance for the Porsche Safety Car.

    Evans led things away on lap 34, with Wehrlein holding off Rowland before the Yorkshireman fired it up the inside of the Porsche and Evans for the lead at the hairpin before da Costa sliced by just a turn later.

    Dennis ran deep into the hairpin on lap 36, losing four spots and ultimately having to pit due to a right-front puncture having come into close contact with da Costa’s Porsche.
    With six laps left and energy in-hand, having driven from 20th on the grid, it proved to be a super costly coming together.

    Six laps were added for those spells under caution, and Evans headed the way from Vergne – having taken his remaining Attack Mode.

    Every corner seemed to be three-wide for the lead and beyond as the laps ticked away.
    Cassidy meanwhile, had come for nowhere – 21st on lap 21, having slipped down from ninth – to take second from Rowland with just three laps left to run and hit the front.

    From there, he bolted – the Jaguar driver some 1.5 seconds quicker than Vergne behind and striding to a two-second advantage out-front as second to eighth squabbled.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Cassidy, P2: Vergne, P3: Rowland, P4: Evans, P5: Wehrlein, P6: Da Costa, P7: Vandoorne, P8: Mortara, P9: Fenestraz and P10: Barnard.

  • Eriksson & Aron step in at Envision for Berlin

    Envision Racing have announced a changed line-up for the Berlin race weekend – Round 9 & 10 on the 11th to 12th May, with Joel Eriksson and Paul Aron stepping into the seats.

    A calendar clash with the FIA World Endurance Championship rules Sebastien Buemi and Robin Frijns out of Round 9, with the FIA regulations preventing them competing in Round 10 on the Sunday – with the two races being considered as the same event. Both Buemi and Frijns will be on-site in support of the team.

    Eriksson, 25 is the current Jaguar TCS Racing test, simulator and reserve driver and has been released by Jaguar and will race for the team.
    The Swede who tested with Envision back in 2018, has already competed in eight Formula E races to date and is very familiar with both Gen3 and the Jaguar powertain.

    Aron, 20 is currently competing in FIA Formula 2 and sits second in the current standings for his rookie campaign, deeming himself one of the most exciting young prospects in single-seater racing. He has already grabbed three podium finishes this season.

    Aron will embark on an intensive simulator programme with the team to get him prepared for Berlin as well as taking part in Free Practice 0 at Misano.

    This is a very unusual situation for us as a team, and we are obviously frustrated that the calendar clash could not be resolved by the FIA and FEO. However, we have to make the best of the situation, and I believe with both Joel and Paul we have two very exciting and competitive drivers.

    Sylvain Filippi, Managing Director and CTO at Envision Racing.

    It’s a great opportunity to race for Envision Racing in Berlin. I’m very much looking forward to experiencing Formula E for the first time and working with the team. We’ll be working hard up until the race to prepare for the event, starting with the rookie session this week in Misano.

    Aron on the news.

    It’s a fantastic opportunity for me to be racing in Formula E again, this time with Envision Racing. After taking part in my first ever Formula E test with Envision, it’s great to be racing for them in Berlin, and we’ll be working hard together to have a successful weekend.

    Eriksson on the news.

  • F2 – RND 9 – Day 2 & 3

    Day 2-

    Reserve pole sitter, Vesti got things underway with a rolling start, pulling well clear of Isack Hadjar, Pourchaire and Bearman, who dispatched Enzo Fittipaldi with a brave move around the out of Becketts.

    Further down the order, Brad Benavides spun off at the loop after being tagged by Clement Novalak, as the pair tried to avoid a slowing Ayumu Iwasa.

    Once the safety car went in on Lap 3, Vesti once again nailed his getaway steadily began building his advantage out front. Teammate Bearman wasted no time dispatching two cars in one lap.

    Fittipaldi and Victor Martins were locked in battle over sixth. From the loop, the pair were side-by-side until the Rodin car was able to sweep into Copse to keep the position.

    As conditions slowly improved, Doohan caught Bearman on lap 11 to set up fight for the remaining laps. Up ahead, Pourchaire utilised his better traction out of Club to snatch second from Hadjar on Lap 12.

    Doohan and Bearman then resumed their battle on lap 17. Desperate to keep the place after Doohan got alongside him out of Stowe, Bearman locked-up into Vale and ended running up into the gravel.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Vesti, P2: Pourchaire, P3: Doohan, P4: Fittipaldi, P5: Hadjar, P6: Bearman, P7: Martins, P8: Leclerc, P9: Nissany and P10: Maloney.

    Day 3-

    Ayumu Iwasa got a lightning start from third, immediately getting the better of pole sitter Martins off the line. However, the ART Grand Prix instantly fought it back, diving up the inside of the loop to retake the lead.

    Meanwhile, second-place Kush Maini got bogged down off the line, allowing Oliver Bearman to move up into third and Enzo Fittipaldi dived up past Jack Doohan for fourth.

    Martins already had a 4.5s advantage before the first Safety Car arrived on Lap 7 following a spin for Amaury Cordeel at Stowe. The ART driver and the top six soft tyre runners took the opportunity to complete their mandatory stops.

    Racing resumed on lap 11, Hadjar was able to put a gap between himself and Leclerc, while Doohan lost out to both Maloney and Pourchaire.
    Further back, Championship leader Frederik Vesti was caught up in a crash at Vale, tagged from behind by Dennis Hauger. The contact knocking him straight into Roman Stanek’s Trident, triggering a second Safety Car.

    On Lap 17, Martins was handed a five-second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage just as the Safety Car made a third appearance of the day.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Martins, P2: Maloney, P3: Pourchaire, P4: Doohan, P5: Iwasa, P6: Daruvala, P7: Fittipaldi, P8: Bearman, P9: Leclerc and P10: Crawford.

  • F2 – RND 9 – Day 1

    Free Practice-

    DAMS’ Ayumu Iwasa kicked off Round 9 in style around Silverstone, laying down a 1:41.593 in the final minutes of a disrupted Free Practice to top the session by 0.060s from Victor Martins.

    Martins got the first competitive lap of the day on board after the first 10 minutes of the session. The ART driver put down a 1:42.690 put him five tenths ahead of Iwasa before improving further to a 1:42.067.

    Running stopped at the 24 minute mark, due to Juan Manuel Correa losing his rear of the Van Amersfoort Racing Car spinning off into the gravel at Copse which resulted in a red flag.

    With just over 15 minutes left, Martins quickly took advantage to leapfrog teammate Pourchaire for P2. The Alpine junior wasn’t done there as he improved to a 1:41.653, before the VSC made an appearance as Dennis Hauger suffered a spin at Brooklands and couldn’t get his car restarted.

    Qualifying-

    Victor Martins will start from P1 for the second time in the space of a week. The Frenchman was the man to beat once again in Qualifying, setting a 1:39.832 to secure the top spot around Silverstone.

    Kush Maini made a late improvement to jump up to P2 for Campos Racing late on, whilst Ayumu Iwasa moved himself up into third with his final effort.

    Practice pacesetter, Iwasa was quick to set the early benchmark with a 1:41.100 matched exactly by his teammate Arthur Leclerc to the thousandth.

    The first of two red flags came at the 19 minute mark after Amaury Cordeel spun off into the barriers at Copse. After the Invicta Virtuosi car had been recovered, a short green flag spell was broken by the second red flag.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Martins, P2: Maini, P3: Iwasa, P4: Doohan, P5: Bearman, P6: Fittipaldi, P7: Maloney, P8: Pourchaire, P9: Hadjar and P10: Vesti.

  • RND 9 – Canadian Grand Prix

    Round 9 is now complete, with a few retirements in the 70 lap race, and a driver who showed a dominant drive.

    Max Verstappen made it six victories from eight races, with a dominant display, he lead home the Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, as Red Bull maintain their 100% winning record for the season so far.

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

    Verstappen’s lights to flag triumph also gave Red Bull their 100th victory in the sport, 18 years on from the team’s debut, whilst the Dutchman made more history by drawing level with legend, Ayrton Senna on 41 wins.

    A good result for both Alonso and Hamilton, would’ve been interesting to see if Alonso could battle Max for the win if he didn’t have a rear brake issue which he was nursing, and if Lewis would’ve joint in to?

    Mr George Russell, he had a crash early on in the race which caused some damage to his car and dropped him to the bottom of the order, with the Safety Car coming out which lead to some split strategies.

    A good haul of points from Ferrari, I think we were all unsure on their strategy when they didn’t pit during the Safety Car but it worked out in the end, but I don’t know if not swapping Leclerc and Sainz around was the right idea, we might’ve seen Sainz show his pace he thought he had during the race.

    A good result for Alex Albon, he battled hard to keep his position and he deserves the points he got today! Whereas for his teammate it wasn’t meant to be, Sargeant had to retire as he was asked to park his car in the early stages of the race.

    Now, Round 10 isn’t for two weeks, so not too long to wait but it will be a double header. Our first stop will be in Austria on the 30th June to 2nd July.

  • RND 9 – Canada Qualifying

    We had a very wet qualifying session, which brought out a few shocks both being good and bad.

    Red Bull’s Max Verstappen took pole position for the Canadian Grand Prix, as the wet weather dominated the session. Nico Hulkenberg was a surprise second for Haas due to a well-time effort, only to loose the position later on. Alonso rounds out the top three.

    Before any penalties are applied the full top 10 are- P1: Verstappen, P2: Hulkenberg, P3: Alonso, P4: Hamilton, P5: Russell, P6: Ocon, P7: Norris, P8: Sainz, P9: Piastri and P10: Albon.

    With penalties applied, the grid for today’s race is: P1: Vertappen, P2: Alonso, P3: Hamilton, P4: Russell, P5: Hulkenberg, P6: Ocon, P7: Norris, P8: Piastri, P9: Albon and P10: Leclerc.

    A good result for the Mercedes duo, second row start for both drivers so they’ll be looking to see if they can get a double podium again this weekend, or possibly for the win?

    McLaren’s duo done well also, both cars in the top 10, hopefully they can get a couple places up the grid and score some decent points.

    Sainz, Tsunoda, Stroll and Hulkenberg all have 3 place grid penalties, the first 3 drivers all for impeding other driver’s during qualifying. Hulkenberg fora red-flag infringement during qualifying.

    Not a good result for the Ferrari’s, Charles starting 10th and Carlos 11th, they will be hoping to grab some points this weekend and hope to make up for a disappointing session yesterday.

    Sergio Perez starting in 12th isn’t what he or his team wanted, his got some ground to work up in today’s race. I also think that Red Bull maybe getting a little annoyed with the Mexican, as he isn’t where his meant to be on the grid, especially as he started the season of so well.

    Predictions-

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

    I feel like we might have some drama this race, quite a few drivers out of position so there might be a few clashes and safety cars which could change some drivers strategies.

  • Canadian Grand Prix

    We are back racing this weekend after a week break, and we are heading to Canada, for Round 9 of 23, where it’s Lance Stroll’s home grand prix.

    Will it be another win for Max this weekend? Or can Sergio Perez make a mark on this weekend and get a win on the board after a few rough weekends for the Mexican driver.

    Or can Aston Martin and Mercedes get that win they’ve been looking for this season?

    Who needs to shine?

    Charles Leclerc will be wanting to get in the points this race 2 DNF’s and a finish outside the points, where as if you look at his teammate, the only time he hasn’t scored in in Australia…

    Even though Alonso is having a really really good season, last time out in Spain isn’t what he thought he’d get, he finished 7th and his now more determined not to have another race without a podium…

    With Guanyu Zhou scoring points back in Spain, this means now that Alfa Romeo and Haas are equal on 8 points each and considering both teams always start around each other, all four drivers will be wanting to push themselves even more so they can grab points for the Constructors and put them ahead.

    Times for this weekend-

    Friday 16th-

    • Free Practice 1: 18:30pm – 19:30pm (BST)
    • Free Practice 2: 22:00pm – 23:00pm

    Saturday 17th-

    • Free Practice 3: 17:30pm – 18:30pm
    • Qualifying: 21:00pm – 22:00pm

    Sunday 18th-

    • Race: 19:00pm

    Predictions for qualifying-

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

    To be honest it could go any different way in Canada, but I reckon it will be close between Verstappen and Alonso for pole. There is rain forecasted for Qualifying tomorrow at the moment, so that could bring a few different possibilities into qualifying.

  • Canada Tyre Selection

    We’re back with another race week and the tyre compounds have been chosen by Pirelli for this weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix. Those being: C3 (Hard), C4 (Medium) and C5 (Soft).

    The Gilles Villeneuve circuit is a 4.361-kilometre semi-permanent track built on the artificial Notre Dame island in the middle of the St. Lawrence River, close to Montreal. Outside of the grand prix its used as a leisure facility for cycling, roller skating and walking.

    The first Canadian Grand Prix held on this track was in 1978, with Gilles Villenuve emerging as the winner. The track was renamed in memory of the Canadian driver a few weeks after his tragic death in 1982.

    The race runs for 70 laps, consisting of six left turns and eight right turns with three straights. Average speed is relatively low, thanks to the frequent changes of direction caused by the close succession of corners, with continuous braking.

    The softer compound is usually seen only in qualifying, as was the case last year when just the medium and hard compounds were used in the race. The strategy preferred by most drivers was two-stop strategy but some opted for a one-stopper with a very long initial stint on hard.

  • Round 9 – Monaco E-Prix

    FP1-

    Jaguar TCS Racing’s Mitch Evans went fastest in the first session of the day, with a time of 1m13.361s. Stoffel Vandoorne was 0.126s behind him. Maximilian Guenther finished in third.

    The session was quickly under yellow flags as the Avalanche Andretti of Andre Lotterer had an unusual off at Mirabeau. The car and driver were unharmed, all Porsche-powered cars were grounded for the first half of the session, which quickly got resolved.

    Regular running resumed most of the session, with the drivers wanting to get as much track time as possible around the iconic circuit.

    However, Mahindra Racing’s Lucas di Grassi brought out yellow flags as he spun at Sainte-Devote. As well as locking up and damaging his front wing, di Grassi struggled to get going but eventually limped back to the garage.

    FP2-

    Maximilian Guenther kept Maserati MSG Racing’s home crowd happy in the final session before qualifying. With a time of 1m.29.269s, which was already six-tenths quicker than Mitch Evans times needed for the Julius Baer Pole Position here last year.

    Behind Guenther was Evans, who topped the timesheets in FP1 the +0.007s difference just shows how tight the competition is. Avalanche Andretti’s Jake Dennis finished in third.

    Unlike Free Practice 1, all cars were quickly out on track for the day’s second session. Berlin race winner, Nick Cassidy had limited running after he complained about massive vibrations under braking on the radio. He eventually got back out on track but finished the session in 21st.

    Qualifying-

    It was a battle of the rookies for the finals, as Fenestraz and Hughes went up against each other for Julius Baer Pole Position. It was Sacha Fenestraz who grabbed pole as the McLaren driver made a mistake coming out of the tunnel, but the Nissan driver had his lap time cancelled for power usage, so Jake Hughes will be starting on pole position.

    The DS Penske duo of Jean Eric Vergne and Vandoorne went quickest at the start of Group A. However, both were placed under investigation for a technical infringement and pitted soon after. In the end, neither of them made it through to the Duels and eventually their lap times were all cancelled as a result of a tyre pressure violation.

    Porsche’s Antonio Felix da Costa, the winner here in Monaco in Season 7 had a disastrous start to his session, after reporting front left damage, which resulted in him making a quick stop in his teams garage.

    The full top 10 are: Pole: Hughes, P2: Fenestraz, P3: Nato, P4: Guenther, P5: Ticktum, P6: Evans, P7: Mortara, P8: Sette Camara, P9: Cassidy and P10: Lotterer.

    Round 9-

    Nick Cassidy, Envision Racing fired to the top of the ABB FIA Formula E World Champiosnhip with a storming drive from ninth on the grid to the race win in an absorbing 2023 Monaco E-Prix.

    Cassidy led home Mitch Evans (Jaguar TCS Racing) having fended off his countryman until a late race Safety Car made the win certain for the Envision racer. Jake Dennis (Avalanche Andretti) couldn’t quite live with the lead pair, but he drove from 11th on the grid to grab the final podium spot.

    Long time Drivers’ World Championship leader, Pascal Wehrlein could only improve to 11th from 12th at the outset – the Porsche 99X Electric still has the performance within but unlocking it consistently over a lap and in qualifying appears to be an ongoing and potentially costly issue.

    With 21 laps in the books, Guenther’s car came to a halt at Casino Square – Ticktum having moved to defend in front of the Maserati MSG Racing driver and the German driver running squarely into the back of the NIO 333.

    The full top 10 are: P1: Cassidy, P2: Evans, P3: Dennis, P4: Fenestraz, P5: Hughes, P6: Ticktum, P7: Vergne, P8: Buemi, P9: Vandoorne and P10: Bird.

    We now have a little wait until the next race, with just under 4 weeks till the Jakarta E-Prix for Round 11 & 10 on the 3rd and 4th of June.

  • Monaco Preview

    The ABB FIA Formula E World Championship makes its sixth visit to the most iconic street circuit in motorsport, we are in Monaco this weekend for Round 9.

    The streets of the Principality have played host to some of the biggest moments in motor racing history and Formula E itself has arguably showcased the best of motorsport in Monte Carlo since it switched to the Grand Prix circuit a couple of years ago.

    Season 6 champion Antonio Felix da Costa claimed victory in season 7 in an absolute classic – undoubtedly one of the most exciting races in the history of Formula E, capping a first outing on the full Monaco circuit with an audacious overtake at the exit of the tunnel on the final lap of the race for the win. The race saw 28 overtakes between the top six runners alone, with the lead changing six times.

    If this season is anything to go by, with almost 400 overtakes over the Berlin double header weekend, and a record eight different race leaders in Round 7, then we’re in for a classic…

    The Circuit-

    La Rascasse, Casino Square and Grand Hotel Hairpin – there are few corners that evoke motorsport legend than the winding streets that line the Monaco circuit, its steeped in motorsport tradition and all-electric street racing is made for these streets.

    For the last two seasons, the field has put on a stunning display around the Principality. We’ve seen overtakes galore, battles right up the finish line and some spectacular passes in unexpected locations, passing within inches of each other up the hill at Beau Rivage.

    Take in the energy zapping hill by Mirabeau and the famous Casino Square, round the Grand Hotel Hairpin and through the inimitable Monaco tunnel ahead of the harbourfront chicane. The full 3.3km with its steep hill and high speed sections will again put the field’s energy management skills to the test.

    monaco-track-map-details
  • F2 Le Castellet – Day 2 & 3

    F2 Le Castellet – Day 2 & 3

    Day 2-

    Daruvala got a great start from pole position but Lawson lagged behind him, the Carlin driver fell down the order into Turn 1, losing second to Armstrong and third to Drugovich momentarily, but a wide moment on corner exit left the MP Motorsport driver in the hands of Pourchaire.

    Lawson kept in touch with Armstrong ahead and made a late lunge into Turn 1 on lap 4. The pair battle through the first sector and somehow avoided contact, just millimetres apart at Turn 4. After making the move, the gap to race leader Daruvala stood at 2.2s but Lawson set about hunting him down, to cut it down by 1.6s by Lap 6 and by Lap 8 the Carlin driver broke into DRS range.

    The Safety Car offered a brief pause in action, deployed on Lap 9 following contact between Robert Merhi and the recovering Enzo Fittipaldi. The pair had been fighting for 15th position but a slide and spin in the North Chicane on the Mistral Straight left the Charouz in the middle of the track. Amaury Cordeel behind couldn’t avoid him and made contact, putting both out of the race.

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

    Pourchaire, Vips, Armstrong and Fittipaldi have all been penalised, Pourchaire originally crossed the line in P3.

    Day 3-

    After warmer temperatures played havoc earlier on in weekend, the field would have been thankful to have been greeted by cooler morning conditions in Le Castellet – allowing the grid to split their strategies.

    The top five opted to get things underway on the softer compound, but that didn’t help Logan Sargeant, who suffered wheel spin off the line and dropped down to third. There were contrasting fortunes at the front of the pack, as Doohan got a blistering start to streak into the lead in the opening two corners. However, the Australian driver had company in the form of Iwasa, who immediately put him under pressure.

    The Safety Car was swiftly deployed as the marshals picked up both Armstrong, and the stricken Marino Sato, who’s race ended early in the run-off section. Firing up his tyres early, Iwasa streaked ahead of Doohan on the restart, as Lawson boldly dived to the inside of Drugovich to take seventh.

    The pit stop was the undoing of Sargeant’s day as well on Lap 13. The Carlin driver was unable to pull away from his pit box and was forced to retire, having looked solidly in the fight for a podium spot.

    But it was Ayumu Iwasa who took the win and his first Formula 2 win! Theo Pouchaire cmae home to finish 2nd, and his teammate Frederick Vesti rounded out the podium in P3, a double podium for the ART GP team.

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

    We are back next weekend and we are in Hungary for Round 10, our last before summer break!

  • Beckmann replaces Hughes

    Van Amersfoort Racing took to social media to announce that Jake Hughes will not be racing the next two rounds due to having a positive covid test. David Beckmann will be replacing him for the double header in France and Hungary.

    As France and Hungary are consecutive race weekends, Hughes won’t be able to recover in time and will miss both rounds.

    After finishing sixth in Formula 3 in 2020, Beckmann has yet to compete in a full season of Formula 2, budget issues saw him dropped by Charouz halfway through the 2021 season, despite taking two podiums for the team.

    These rounds will be Beckmann’s third and fourth this season, having already been a stand-in already this season. In Imola, he replaced Cem Bolukbasi after his injury in the previous round. Then Beckmann took Amaury Cordeels spot, as he had to serve a race ban after acquiring 12 penalty points on his license.

    Beckmann has managed to grab points already this season, but another four points could easily bump him up to 19th in the standings, which is very impressive considering he’ll have only competed in four out of ten rounds.

    Also still driving as a substitute for the next two rounds in Roberto Merhi, who is replacing Ralph Boschung until he recovers from his neck injury.

    Wishing Jake Hughes well and we will see him back on the grid soon!

  • Round 9- Canadian GP

    Round 9- Canadian GP

    What a race! The Canadian Grand Prix has come back with a bang, and I can honestly say it’s good to have it back!

    Max Verstappen stormed his way to victory making it Red Bull’s sixth in a row, can they get past Vettel’s 9 with the team? Carlos Sainz comes home to finish 2nd after he had a last minute battle for the win but it wasn’t meant to be this time. Lewis Hamilton joins them on the podium in P3, his second of the season!

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

    Red Bull, now I was excited to see what Perez could do and see some nice overtakes from him but this weekend really wasn’t his, he ended up DNF’ing quite early into the race and I think there are some question marks coming up about RB’s reliability after they had seemed to sort it quite early on.

    A good weekend for Ferrari overall, especially Charles, him starting P19 after his penalties for him to finish 5th is good, and it’s even better for them that only one Red Bull finished…

    Now onto Merc, very different pace compared to Friday, maybe a sign of things to come? A great drive from both drivers, obviously George had a bit of work to do after qualifying 8th but he kept it consistent and finished in the top 5 once again. Lewis, seemed a lot happier this race, less bouncing and he just loves this track which makes this podium even better!

    Now Alpine, I kind of expected a bit more from Alonso, we’ve seen before in the past he defends like a lion but today I didn’t see that much and heard that there fight wasn’t with the Bulls or Ferrari but both Alpines ended up behind the Mercs?

    Alfa Romeo! Double points finish, they had good pace throughout and done some nice overtakes, happy for Zhou though as he has had it rough with mechanical DNF’s so this weekend as a whole should boost his confidence going into the next round!

    Now Haas, I think we expected at least one car to finish in the top 10… but they didn’t. Mick suffered a PU issue, after doing well to stay in the top 10 at the beginning of the race. Where as for Magnussen, had a bit of contact on lap 1 and then got shown the black and orange flag to pit for a new front wing, which saw him tumble to the bottom…

    McLaren, wasn’t really anywhere today which is a shame as they looked promising with their pace yesterday, Ricciardo finished 11th and Norris 15th…

    The Championship-

    Theres no change at the top, as Max Verstappen still leads and extending his lead now on 175 points. His teammate is still in 2nd but that gap between them grew due to the DNF. Charles Leclerc is sat in third on 126 points, closing in on Perez as there is just 3 points between the pair. Russell stays in 4th on 111 points and Carlos is on 102 points now and in fifth, so it’s getting closer as the races keep on coming.

    Red Bull lead the Constructors still, with 304 points, Ferrari closed down the gap a little but they are sat on 228 points, 76 points between the two teams… Mercedes sit comfortably in third and with their big points haul over the past two weekends are starting to close in on Ferrari as they sit on 188 points.

    McLaren are still sat in 4th on 65 points, but points are needed soon as Alpine are coming to hunt them down. They are currently sat in 5th and are on 61 points…

    We are back in two weeks for the British Grand Prix! Round 10 of 22 and we all remember what happened last year at Silverstone? Will Max get the victory this year? Or can Charles get the win? Where will Mercedes be, and will their new upgrades see them fighting with the front two teams? It’s all to play for!

  • Round 9- Canada Qualifying

    Round 9- Canada Qualifying

    Well well well, I think Canada thought they would make their comeback a rather good one, and so far it has been! We saw a wet qualifying today and it did not disappoint!

    Charles Leclerc and Yuki Tsunoda are starting at the back of the grid due to taking penalties for new power unit elements.

    But, Max Verstappen clawed his way to pole position as he made his way round the track without any costly mistakes. He is joined on the front row by Alpine’s, Fernando Alonso for the first time since the 2012 German Grand Prix. And Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz rounds out the top 3, making it count for the Italian team as his teammate has a penalty.

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

    Lets just take a moment to appreciate, Fernando Alonso, what a man and what a driver. I could see him battling for the win today and I honestly can’t wait, is this El Plan really coming to life now?…

    Haas deserve a round of applause what a qualifying session for them! Both drivers in the top 10 and also Mick’s best qualifying session ever! Big points on offer for the pair of them today, and a certain German driver needs to make it count…

    Ohhhhh Daniel Ricciardo! Top 10, that is what we like to see, and so far he has had a good weekend, and looks to be enjoying himself, could this be the comeback for him now? His teammate starts down in 14th due to an issue with the car, so Norris will be trying to get through the field.

    Zhou Guanyu, in Q3 and I am sure he is happy with that one! Things haven’t exactly gone his way in the past few races so his been quite unlucky, but with a good qualifying and starting ahead of his teammate he will have an extra boost of confidence for today.

    Predictions-

    My top five are- P1: Verstappen, P2: Alonso, P3: Hamilton, P4: Sainz, P5: Russell. I could see todays race be taken over by the more experienced drivers, Alonso, Hamilton, Ricciardo and Vettel, it looked like they were doing that yesterday during FP3 and Qualifying.

    I think seeing Charles Leclerc come through the field will be good, we get a feel for how that Ferrari actually is and lets hope we get to see some killer moves.

    Timings-

    Race- 19:00pm (BST)

  • Leclerc to take 10 place grid penalty

    After much speculation, it has been confirmed that Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc will drop 10 places on the Canadian Grand Prix grid for taking new control electronics.

    With the Ferrari power unit that let go in Baku last week whilst Leclerc was leading got deemed ‘beyond repair’ the team and driver arrived this weekend and was surrounded by talk of potential grid penalities.

    Initially it appeared that this would not be the case, Leclerc having received a new Internal Combustion Engine, MGU-K, MGU-H and Control Electronics, though none of those components took him over the imits for the season.

    Obviously, we are not in the best situation possible. For the power unit change I think there are still ongoing discussions, we’ll try to push (back) as much as possible the decision. For now, no decisions are taken. But it’s not the best situation for me. It’s up to us to choose the best track where you want to get a penalty – if you get a penalty. And this is one of the tracks where it’s actually quite easy to overtake. But there are also some of the tracks in the next three or four races where it’s easier to overtake too. We’ll discuss and try and take the best decision from there.

    Charles Leclerc on the possible penalty

    But, the FIA confirmed another new Control Electronics for Leclerc, taking him to three for the season and thus pushing him over the permitted number of components. As such, he drops 10 places on the grid for the first Canadian GP to be held since 2019.

    A new Control Electronic has been fitted to Charles’ car prior to FP2. It is the third of these elements used so far this season – only two are permitted – therefore Charles takes a grid penalty.

    Ferrair’s statement.

    This now gives Red Bull’s Max Verstappen a major boost in the race for the 2022 Drivers title, the reigning world champ comes into this weekend with a 34 point buffer over Leclerc.

  • Canadian Grand Prix

    We are back in Canada, after not being here since 2019! It’s a new track to some of the drivers, as well as being the home Grand Prix of both Nicholas Latifi and Lance Stroll.

    Will Ferrari bounce back after their double DNF last weekend? Or will Red Bull continue on their run of race wins? Can Mercedes have another strong weekend? It’s all to play for this weekend…

    Who needs a good weekend?

    Ferrari for sure, they need to be worried about the power unit and what effect it could have on the championship. A big points haul is needed for the Italian team and in the past at Canadian GP, Ferrari does like it here so hopefully they can turn things around here?

    Alfa Romeo, need a good weekend for both of their drivers, Bottas was no where in Azerbaijan and Guanyu Zhou had to retire in the pits which is unlucky for him as it could of been a ‘what if he continued’ situation.

    Magnussen needs a good weekend, 3 DNFs in the last four races isn’t good for Haas. Hopefully this weekend will be a different story for the American team!

    Predictions for qualifying-

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

    At this moment in time, Charles is the best qualifier, only qualifying 1st and 2nd so far this season, he seems to put it all together when it counts. Where as for his teammate, he does a few little mistakes on his lap, which could and has knocked him down a few places.

    I could see a McLaren getting in the top 10, and possibly Bottas? If Alfa Romeo sort out their car in qualifying whilst on the soft tyre there will be no problem, but at the moment we don’t know what were going to get from them!

    Times for the weekend-

    Friday 17th-

    • FP1- 19:00pm – 20:00pm (BST)
    • FP2- 22:00pm – 23:00pm

    Saturday 18th-

    • FP3- 18:00pm – 19:00pm
    • Qualifying- 21:00pm – 22:00pm

    Sunday 19th-

    • Race – 19:00pm