Jordan's Track Talk

Tag: Sprint Qualifying

  • R23 – Qatar Sprint Qualifying

    Oscar Piastri claimed a crucial pole position for the Qatar Sprint, beating George Russell and McLaren team mate Lando Norris to the top spot.

    The Australian set the pace when it mattered most in Friday’s SQ3, sitting at the top of the times after both his flying laps, with his final benchmark of 1m 20.055s leaving him just 0.032s clear of Mercedes’ Russell.

    Norris who holds a 24 point lead over Piastri and Max Verstappen ahead of the Qatar Grand Prix, which means he can claim a maiden Formula 1 title this weekend, finished two-tenths further back after running wide at the last corner on his final effort.

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

    What a result for Piastri! Exactly what he would’ve wanted going into this weekend, this will give him the momentum to continue the weekend strongly.
    A very good result for his teammate, Norris in P3, they both did well to beat Verstappen.

    As for the Dutchman, he had been out-qualified by Tsunoda. The four time world champion qualified 6th and Tsunoda finished 5th. A decent result, but still a lot of work to do for Verstappen.

    A great result for Russell, P2 for the Mercedes man, as for his team mate 7th for Antonelli, not the best result for the Italian but still a good enough result to get some good points!

    P4 for Alonso! A great result for the Aston Martin driver, some good performances from Aston Martin over the past few race weekends!

    A day to forget for Ferrari, Leclerc qualified 9th and Hamilton 18th. A horrible result for Hamilton, a lot of work for the Brit to do, whereas for Leclerc still in a good position to make some moves and be rewarded with points.

    It’s been a good day, which is nice for a change. It’s been a day where things have clicked from the start and I think the Sprint Qualifying session went really well. I had a pretty big moment on my lap but it was just enough in the end so thanks to the team – it’s a great car and it’s looked really good this weekend so far. I’m pretty happy with that.
    Piastri on pole position.

  • R21 – Sao Paulo Sprint Qualifying

    Lando Norris put in an impressive lap to take pole position during Sprint Qualifying at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, the Brit beating Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli and the other McLaren of Oscar Piastri to seal P1.

    After setting a benchmark with his banker lap during SQ3, Norris went even quicker with his final effort of 1m 09.243, a time that proved unbeatable to his rivals. Antonelli was the closest challenger, the Silver Arrows racer 0.097s behind as he took the other spot on the front row.

    Despite showing good pace during Friday, Piastri had to settle for third, while George Russell added to a decent day for Mercedes in fourth.
    The full top 10 are- Pole: Norris, P2: Antonelli, P3: Piastri, P4: Russell, P5: Alonso, P6: Verstappen, P7: Stroll, P8: Leclerc, P9: Hadjar and P10: Hulkenberg.

    A lovely result for Norris! Just what he would’ve wanted going into this weekend and the best place to start considering the ever changing weather at São Paulo. As for Piastri, a decent result in P3 still lots to play for!

    P2 for Antonelli!! Love to see it! The Mercedes is known for being good around this track so it’s not that surprising but a great result for the Italian! George Russell added to their great result with a P4! They will be looking to score big points and a few podiums this weekend.

    P5 for Alonso! I didn’t expect that going into this weekend, but with the past few cars I’ve mentioned, they’ve all got one thing in common… Mercedes Powertrains. So clearly they are doing very well, and have good performance at the minute.

    Not the best result for Verstappen but still in the fight, P6 for the Dutchman a little bit further back than his title contenders but anything can happen at São Paulo!

    Not the best day for the Ferrari’s, Leclerc P8 and Hamilton P11. It was said that they have set their car up differently to more focus on overall performance and not just one lap.

  • R6 – Miami Sprint Qualifying

    Kimi Antonelli has clinched his debut pole position after delivering a stunning lap during Sprint Qualifying at the Miami Grand Prix, the Italian holding off the challenge from both McLaren’s to become the youngest polesitter ever – in any race format – in F1.

    A thrilling conclusion to SQ3 saw the name at the top of the timesheets change more than once, with Max Verstappen initially beating George Russell’s benchmark – only for Antonelli to surge through with an effort of 1m 26.482s at the wheel of the Mercedes.

    Oscar Piastri fell short by just 0.045s in second, while fellow McLaren driver Lando Norris had to settle for third.

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

    What a result from Antonelli! First ever pole position and what a way to do it! A great result for the Italian and a promising start to the weekend! Hopefully he can turn it into a Sprint win.
    As for his teammate, Russell qualified 5th, not a bad result as it was very close between the top 6.

    A good result for McLaren P2 and P3. They’ve got a good opportunity for the sprint race, this should boost Norris’s confidence a bit more now, as he has seem to struggled this season.

    A decent result for Verstappen, P4 for the four time world champion! As for his teammate Tsunoda was out in SQ1 after failing to make it to the line to start a lap, very unfortunate for him.

    A decent result for Ferrari, 6th for Leclerc and 7th for Hamilton, a good result for the team and potential for some points today in the sprint race.

    A good result for Albon, P8! I think this is now just the normal for Williams, a familiar face in the top 10’s now.

    P10 for Alonso, nice to see him making an appearance in the top 10, he will be looking to see if the Aston Martin car can get into the points.

  • R2 – China Sprint Qualifying

    Ferrari driver, Lewis Hamilton delivered a stunning performance to secure pole position during Sprint Qualifying at the Chinese Grand Prix, narrowly getting the better of Red Bull rival Max Verstappen and McLaren’s Oscar Piastri.

    Hamilton posted a time of 1m 30.849s during the decisive SQ3 phase to pip Verstappen to the top spot by 0.018s with Piastri and the other Ferrari of Charles Leclerc not much further back in an ultra-close session.

    Hamilton’s benchmark was a new lap record around the Shanghai International Circuit and when informed of his pole over the radio the seven time World Champion could not believe it at first.

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

    What a result from Hamilton and Ferrari, very surprising but also very welcomed! It seems that Ferrari may have sorted out some of their issue from last week, plus Lewis absolutely loves this track so I wouldn’t be surprised if that helped a little bit.

    A very nice result from Verstappen, P2, it feels like we’ve gone back 4 years and its Max VS Lewis all over again! The Dutchman took the gamble with a one lap gamble and it paid off with a worthy front row result.
    As for his team mate, Liam Lawson qualified in 20th, he has just struggled so far this weekend, which is so tough to see.

    Now onto McLaren a bit of a mixed bag, Piastri qualified third which is a lovely result and Norris qualified 6th, which definitely could of been better, but they made the call of doing two laps instead of the rest of the top 10 and it didn’t pay off in the end as everyone else was improving on their lap times.

    An okay result for Mercedes, Russell, P5, which could’ve been better but still a decent result. As for Antonelli a much better qualifying for him so far this weekend, it will be interesting to see how the rookie goes this weekend in his first Sprint weekend.

  • RW 19 – United States Sprint

    Sprint Qualifying-

    Max Verstappen has clinched pole position for the Sprint at the United States Grand Prix, the Dutchman having beaten Mercedes’ George Russell in Sprint Qualifying by just 0.012s.

    After Russell set the benchmark by going out early on track in SQ3, the likes of Lando Norris and the Ferrari pair of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz – who had been looking strong earlier on – tried to better this. All were unable to do so, but Verstappen left it late to put his Red Bull into P1.

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

    A great result for Verstappen, it’s good to see him back on pole position but it doesn’t surprise me as he loves a sprint race and always excels on them.
    Perez didn’t have the best of days compared to his teammate he will be starting the Sprint from 11th… Obviously the top 8 score points in the Sprint so he has to make some decent moves to get valuable points.

    A lovely result from Russell, P2! The Mercedes so far seems like it has got some pace, which will be good for the Silver Arrows in the fight for moving up in both Championships. Obviously there is still a long way to go this weekend, so we will see how the team gets on…
    Lewis qualified 7th, isn’t the worst place to be, and I expect him to move up the grid a bit.

    Now onto the Ferrari’s, a very good sprint qualifying from both drivers, Leclerc in P3 and Sainz P5, a good opportunity for the team to score some valuable points as they edge closer to Red Bull who are in 2nd in the Constructors.

    A very good result for Haas, both drivers in the top 10! Hulkenberg P6 and Magnussen P8, a great way to start their home race weekend, the next step would be double points, they have two chances for that to happen!

    A very good result from Colapinto getting into the top 10! For Williams its their best Sprint Qualifying of the year so far. But I have to say it seems like Colapinto is pulling all the right moves to keep his name mentioned to be in contention for a seat next year.

    Sprint-

    Max Verstappen has returned to winning ways in the Sprint at the United States Grand Prix, the Dutchman taking an assured win from pole position to add to his points tally as Championship rival Lando Norris lost P2 to Carlos Sainz in the final moments…

    After Verstappen made a strong launch from P1 on the grid, Norris also impressed by getting ahead of both Ferrari cars and George Russell to put himself second.

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

    A good Sprint race for Max, this is what he would’ve set out to achieve after he got pole position for it. His teammate made some moves too, hopefully more points can be scored for the team over the weekend.

    A very good result for Ferrari! A P2 and P4, shame it wasn’t a P2 and P3 but sometimes its the way it is in racing. But points are points at the end of the day and they have scored a few so far…

    Somewhat of a decent result for Norris, P3 for the Brit, however he will be kicking himself for loosing P2 in such a tense title fight, however he can redeem himself.

    A very good result for Haas, they capitalised on their performance in qualifying to score points in the Sprint, now to copy and paste again for a successful home grand prix.

  • RW 11 – Austria Sprint

    Sprint Qualifying-

    Max Verstappen will be lining up in pole position for the Sprint in Austria, after he stormed to the top of the timesheets ahead of McLaren teammates Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.

    With every driver in SQ3 posting just one flying lap in the final minutes, the pressure was on to deliver a decent time.
    And that’s what Verstappen did, pumping in a time of 1.04.686s.

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

    A lovely result for Max Verstappen, it would be just what he wanted and he will want to turn this into victory.

    A very good result for McLaren P2 and P3, both drivers will be wanting to try and win the sprint as well as get on the podium and get a good points haul before the race.

    Ferrari had a semi decent result with Carlos Sainz in P5, however not the best result with Charles Leclerc. He failed to set a time after he stopped in the pitlane before being unable to cross the line before the chequered flag, leaving him in 10th.
    He has a lot of work to do in the race, especially as he is in the middle of the pack and will want to stay out of trouble.

    A decent result from Mercedes, P4 and P6, not the worst for the Silver Arrows but also not the best from the team. They still have a bit of work to do if they want to consistently be battling with the McLaren’s etc…

    Not the best result from Perez, but at least he qualified in the top 10, I really cant work out how he has these bad qualifying’s and then go on to the race and not really make a massive difference…

    Sprint Race-

    Red Bull driver, Max Verstappen converted pole position into victory in the Sprint Race at the Austrian Grand Prix, overcoming the McLaren’s of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris.

    While Verstappen held his lead at the start, Norris soon closed in and briefly moved in P1 with a bold overtake, only for the reigning world champion to reclaim the position moments later in a squabble that enabled Piastri to pass his team mate.

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

    A wonderful result from Max, turning sprint pole into sprint victory! That makes it 3 sprint victories out of 3 so far this year. His team mate, Sergio Perez, finished in the final points paying position in 8th which isn’t the best result the Mexican driver has had.

    A lovely little result from McLaren, both cars finishing the podium in P2 for Piastri and P3 from Norris, just what the team expects from their drivers. They also had quite a good battle with Max at the beginning and it was good to see how close the top 3 was at times.

    Russell finished P4 which isn’t bad and Hamilton P6 so where they both started. To be honest most drivers don’t really risk it too much in the sprint as they have qualifying later on and don’t want to risk damaging their cars.

    Leclerc moved up a few spots which is good, the Ferrari’s clearly have a bit of pace under their cars this weekend, so they will be wanting a better qualifying session for the race.

    Magnussen finished P9! Just outside the points unfortunately but all he needs to do is repeat the same again tomorrow for the race.

    Gasly and Ocon didn’t have the best race, they started in the top 10 and finished 11th and 12th…

  • RW 6 – Miami Sprint Qualifying

    Max Verstappen will be starting from pole for the Sprint in Miami after storming to P1, while an earlier challenge from McLaren seemed to fall away.

    With every driver opting for just one flying lap in SQ3, Verstappen went quickest of all with a 1m 27.641s. The Red Bull driver will be joined on the front row by Leclerc, who was only 0.108s away. Rounding out the top three is Sergio Perez.

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

    A great result from Red Bull both drivers, Max on pole, even though he didn’t have a very good lap… and also a very good performance from Perez aswell.

    A very good result from Leclerc, P2 especially after him not running in FP1 as he caused a red flag to recover his Ferrari after getting stuck on the track. So considering not much running for the Monegasque its a decent result.

    Now the standout for me, Mr Daniel Ricciardo, P4!! In an RB aswell, he will be wanting to capitalise on this result as much as he can. And the team will be wanting him to do that aswell. But this is what the Australian driver needed to prove he deserves a seat next season whether its in the Red Bull or the RB car…

    A decent result for Aston Martin both cars in the top 10, just what the team wants, but especially for Lance Stroll, whose had some up and down performances.

    A shock in sprint qualifying was both Mercedes out in SQ2, not at all what the team wants. They had some decent pace in free practice and made a few little changes but they were not the right ones clearly. They have three more chances this weekend so hopefully something will go right.

  • RW 5 – China Sprint Qualifying & Race

    Sprint Qualifying-

    The first sprint qualifying of the year is complete, and it was quite entertaining with both rain and fire, yes FIRE..

    But it was Lando Norris who claimed pole during Sprint Qualifying at the Chinese Grand Prix, however it wasn’t easy for the Brit as originally he had his lap time deleted but it was reinstated.
    In the top three joining him, is another Brit, Mr Lewis Hamilton flew to P2, looking like he was going to get pole at one point. Finishing the top three is Fernando Alonso.

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

    A great qualifying from Lando Norris, he excelled in the wet and put it on pole when he needed to. His teammate with a decent result aswell starting in P8.

    Verstappen was struggling a little as he skidded off the track a few times too, but with starting P4 his still got plenty to give, and will no doubt make up positions in no time. His teammate also isn’t too far behind him in P6.

    A great result for Kick Sauber! Especially for Zhou as it’s his first ever home grand prix and to have both drivers in the top 10 is a great result, they will want to score points in the Sprint to put towards the constructors championship.

    There was quite a shock for Yuki Tusonda as he was eliminated in SQ1 where he will start down in 19th, his teammate had a decent qualifying in 14th even though he abandoned his final attempt amid the rainfall.

    We also had George Russell who was forced to abort his flying lap in SQ2 with the rain starting to fall during the final moments which means he will be starting P11.

    Sprint Race-

    Red Bull driver, Max Verstappen move back to the top of the pecking order during Saturday’s Sprint race at Shanghai International Circuit as he turned his low-key P4 into a commanding victory.

    Verstappen slowly made moves up the order across the 19 lap race, benefitting from pole-sitter Lando Norris running off the track during the first lap and then set his eyes on Alonso and Hamilton.

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

    A good result from Verstappen to claim the Sprint victory, I think there was no doubt about it from the Dutchman he was going from strength to strength. His teammate has got a good result aswell P3 for Perez.

    A great result for Hamilton in P2, a lovely result from the Mercedes driver, a decent points haul aswell. Russell managed to grab the final points position in P8, a decent recovery drive from him.

    Fernando Alonso was the only DNF in the sprint. Sainz attacked Alonso heading Turn 6, with a strong exit from Ferrari seeing them go through Turn 7, where the two Spaniards made contact.
    Alonso dropped back with a puncture from that contact, losing several places in the last sector.

    A decent result for the Ferrari pair, they also had a very close fight at the final hair pin after the Alonso incident, which caused an angry message from the Monegasque.

    Zhou was close to the points! P9 for the Chinese driver, it’s a shame he couldn’t get any at his home race but sometimes that’s just racing…

  • RND 10 – Austria Sprint

    Sprint Shootout-

    Max Verstappen secured pole position for the Sprint Shootout at the Austrian Grand Prix with a stunning display at the end of a damp-dry session.

    He headed Red Bull teammate, Sergio Perez and McLaren’s Lando Norris in third.

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

    A good result for the Red Bull team, finally seeing Perez up there with his teammate, but ideally it should be for the race on Sunday as theirs not much points on offer today.

    Big result from number 4, Lando Norris again, like I said yesterday he likes this track a lot.

    The Haas duo both done well both in the top 10, so they will be hoping to score some points this weekend.

    Not such a good result for Mercedes, neither driver in the top 10, Hamilton had a shock SQ1 exit, as the times just kept on improving which dropped him down and then he had traffic on his final lap so couldn’t improve.

    Whereas for George Russell he got into SQ2 but, he had a hydraulic problem and subsequently confirming that he would be taking no further part in the session.

    Sprint-

    Max Verstappen emerged victorious in an action packed Sprint race at the Austrian Grand Prix, where he survived some early drama to claim an ultimately dominated win on Red Bull’s home soil.

    He was followed by Perez in 2nd and Sainz rounding out the top three in third.

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

    Verstappen lost the lead to teammate Sergio Perez as the start but quickly fought back and settled into a rhythm up front, cruising away from the competition.

    A change in the starting order saw Charles Leclerc demoted from sixth to ninth – which then promoted the Aston Martin pair and Alpines, Esteban Ocon.

    Lando Norris was a big loser at Turn 3 of lap 1 as he got caught behind the squabbling Bull’s and then suffered a slow exit – where he fell from 4th to 10th.

    With eight laps, to go, Russell reported that conditions were not far off slicks and moments after making that call, he headed for the pits.

    The start was not ideal, a bit of wheelspin, but after that, after Lap 1, once we got back in the lead, it was good. We were just managing the tyres, knowing that if it wasn’t going to rain anymore, then you know 24 laps on an intermediate is quite a lot, but they were hanging in there. I think of course the last five laps the slicks were quite a bit faster, but I think for us, so far in the lead, it didn’t make sense to pit. We just hung in there with the inters which worked well.

    Verstappen on winning the Sprint.

  • Round 19- Brazil Sprint

    Valtteri Bottas is on POLE position for the Sáo Paulo GP! He beats Max Verstappen to it after taking the lead on the first lap!

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

    We all knew Hamilton would be on a charge today, but to get up 15 places in 24 laps, the reigning world champion is on fire! It makes you think, what could he do with 71 laps tomorrow starting P10? Maybe a win is on the cards…

    Not a good start for Ricciardo or Gasly, Ricciardo finished out of the top 10 so he will most definitely be on the charge tomorrow to claw some points. Pierre started the Sprint in 4th and finished in 8th, even thought he will be starting the race in P7 he will be hoping to get a better start tomorrow.

    Amazing start for Sainz, finished P3 after starting 5th, he managed to hold of Perez too both of them starting on the 2nd row tomorrow so that will be entertaining to see the battle between the two.

    Predictions-

    I think Lewis will take the win, I think his hungry for it and he knows he can get it too. He wants to show everyone his still in this title fight by the moves he does on track!

    The rest of my top 5 predictions are- P2: Bottas, P3: Verstappen, P4: Norris and P5: Perez.

    Tomorrow will be a very entertaining race, 71 laps of overtaking and strategies taking place. If you wasn’t planning on watching the race I’d change your plans!

    5PM (GMT) lights go out, come back for all the details after the race!

  • Round 14- Monza Sprint

    That was our second sprint of this year done, and honestly i’m quite surprised in what happened!

    Bottas got a lovely start away and honestly I don’t think he looked back, where as his team-mate who started second went all the way back to 5th after a slow start.

    The top 10 results are- P1: Bottas, P2: Verstappen, P3: Ricciardo, P4: Norris, P5: Hamilton, P6: Leclerc, P7: Sainz, P8: Giovinazzi, P9: Perez and P10: Stroll.

    So you would think Bottas gets pole as his finished first etc, but he does not as he is actually starting at the back of the grid because of a new engine, so he will be on a charge tomorrow to get in the points. So that means, all the drivers move up a place, we now have Max and Daniel on the front row, with Norris and Hamilton just behind and then both Ferrari’s making the third row.

    Pierre Gasly, crashed in the sprint as he made contact with a McLaren at Turn 1 his front wing went underneath his front wheels which saw him speed into the gravel and hitting the wall, this now will see him start P19 tomorrow. But I wouldn’t say Gasly’s out of contention for some points tomorrow, as last year he started P10 and then went on to win the race so anything could be possible…

    Who needs a good day tomorrow-

    I’d definitely say Gasly and Bottas, they both will want to be on the charge and make sure they get in the points, which is possible as anything can happen at Monza. If they both have good strategies I can’t see them not scoring…

    Hamilton, he has a bit of work to do tomorrow which I know people think his only in fourth, but if Max gets a good lead from the start he could be in a bit of trouble. Lewis knows Red Bull have a good car so I think his main objective tomorrow is to beat Verstappen.

    I’d also say Perez, he finished the Sprint in the same place he started, which isn’t ideal at all. I thought he would of done some risk overtakes to get higher up so he can be closer to his team-mate but obviously he didn’t want to risk starting at the back of the grid.

    Predictions-

    My top 5 predictions for tomorrow are- P1: Verstappen, P2: Hamilton, P3: Ricciardo, P4: Norris and P5: Sainz. I think fastest lap will go to Hamilton.

    I’d like to see both Aston Martins finish in the top 10, Stroll is already starting from P9 and Vettel P11. So again if they get their strategy right then hopefully we could see them finish in a good position.

    Times for tomorrow-

    The times for the race are: 14:00pm (BST) and 15:00pm (CEST). We also have F2 in the morning and that will be starting at 9:25am (BST) and 10:25am (CEST).

  • Round 10- Silverstone Sprint Quali

    Well that is the very first F1 Sprint Quali done and what a 17 laps they were!

    Max got a very good start and took the lead from Lewis but the Brit wasn’t giving up that easy and kept pushing Max! However it wasn’t enough and Verstappen took P1, Hamilton- P2 and Bottas- P3!

    The rest of the top 10 are: P4- Leclerc, P5- Norris, P6- Ricciardo, P7- Alonso, P8- Vettel, P9- Russell and P10- Ocon.

    It wasn’t Perez’s day as he spun on lap 5 and fell all the way down to P19, and then he eventually had to retire the car meaning he now starts the race tomorrow in P20. This shows how important the F1 sprint is, one little mistake and it could be all over for you and then you would have to do a lot of making up to do tomorrow in the race.

    There was an incident on lap 1 with Russell and Sainz, where they made a bit of contact and Sainz dropped back to P18, this is set to be looked at by the stewards afterwards, so hopefully more information coming soon! *UPDATE* – George Russell has a 3 grid place penalty drop for tomorrow’s race meaning he will now start P12. Ocon, Sainz and Gasly all move up one place!

    Predictions for tomorrow:

    My top 5 for tomorrow are, P1- Hamilton, P2- Bottas, P3- Norris, P4- Ricciardo and P5- Leclerc, with the fastest lap going to Hamilton.

    I’m going to predict that Russell will finish P7! Don’t know if that’s too out there but I’m very hopeful and his got the home crowd to cheer him on!

    All eyes onto tomorrow now and I’m very much looking forward to it!!

  • How Silverstone will work

    This coming weekend we have the British GP, and this year is a little different than others… It’s the first weekend of this season to be trialling the sprint qualifying.

    Below is in detail of how it is set out across the weekend and the times for it. The only day which stays the same is Sunday.

    Friday- In the afternoon (as usual) we have a 1 hour free practice session. In the evening we then have the normal qualifying which is usually on a Saturday afternoon. The qualifying will give us the starting grid for Sprint Qualifying.

    Saturday- In the afternoon we have a 1 hour free practice session. Then in the later part of the afternoon/ early evening we have the new Sprint Qualifying, this will usually run for 100km so roughly 30 minutes. The top three finishers will be awarded points, 1st = 3points, 2nd = 2 points and 3rd = 1 point. The results from this will then be the starting grid for Sundays race. During the sprint qualifying, pit-stops and tyre changes are not mandatory however the pit lane is open, if drivers want to change tyres.

    The times for this weekend are: Friday: FP1- 14:30pm till 15:30pm (BST), Qualifying- 18:00pm till 19:00pm (BST). Saturday: FP2- 12:00pm till 13:00pm (BST), Sprint Qualifying- 16:30pm till 17:00pm (BST). Sunday: Race- 15:00pm till 17:00pm (BST)

    I’m very lucky to be there this weekend, and to see the new layout. It will be interesting to see how it could possibly change up the order, and with there a few points up for grab this could mean quite a bit to both the Drivers and Constructors.

  • Green light for Sprint Quali…

    Today its been announced that Sprint Qualifying will be happening this year and at three Grand Prix’s, two European venues and one non-European, these will be announced in due course. Sprint Qualifying will see the drivers battle it out over 100km on Saturday afternoons of the selected Grand Prix’s.

    Fridays Qualifying will see the starting grid for the Saturday Sprint Qualifying, then the result from Saturdays Sprint Qualifying will then decide the starting grid for Sundays race.

    The schedule for race weekend will be the following:

    Friday- 60 minute first practice in the morning and Normal Qualifying format in the afternoon.

    Saturday- 60 minute second free practice in the morning and 100km Sprint Qualifying in the afternoon.

    Sunday- Full distance Grand Prix as normal

    It has been decided, that the top three finishers in Saturdays Sprint Qualifying will receive points- three for first place, two for second and one point for third.

    I think its a good idea that they are only doing it at 3 race weekends to kind of trial it before bringing it to different circuits. I also think this could make it even more exciting (if thats possible) between Hamilton and Verstappen for the title as they will both want to fight for more points on the Saturday as well as the Sunday, I know its only 3, 2 or 1 points but looking at the points now theres only 1 between them and thats due to Hamilton’s fastest lap. I do think people should give this a chance before judging too quick, no one knows how its going to go👏🏻