Max Verstappen threw down the gauntlet at the British Grand Prix with the fastest time of the only practice session of the weekend before qualifying.
Verstappen’s best time of 1m28.035s, set on the soft compound that will enjoy exclusive use in the qualifying hour, was 0.779s faster than McLaren’s Lando Norris, whose best time was set on the slower medium tire.
Lewis Hamilton, trailing the Dutchman by 32 points in the title standings, was third and 0.78s off the pace, with teammate Valtteri Bottas fifth and a further 0.182s adrift.
Continue reading on RACERCan anyone stop Max Verstappen from marching to a maiden title? Defending champion Lewis Hamilton has his doubts.
Max Verstappen is on a roll. With pole, victory, every lap led and the fastest lap of the race, the Dutchman has taken total control of the title.
Featuring Matt Clayton, co-host of In the Fast Lane and F1 freelance journalist.
Max Verstappen’s third straight win was his easiest yet, his lights to flag victory with fastest lap, having never ceded the lead, delivering him his first grand slam of his career.
Max Verstappen has won back-to-back races in Austria to blow out his title lead over Lewis Hamilton.
Max Verstappen extended his championship lead over Lewis Hamilton to more than the value of a full race win after a comfortable victory at the Austrian Grand Prix.
Verstappen was completely unchallenged at the Red Bull Ring, leading every lap from pole and taking a point for fastest lap to grow his title lead to 32 points over Hamilton, who finished an ineffectual fourth.
The die was cast for Hamilton in the first 20 laps, when he struggled to pass Lando Norris, who started second on the grid and drove superbly to hold his own among the front-runners.
Continue reading on RACERMax Verstappen will start on pole for the third race in a row after pipping surprise front row starter Lando Norris at the Austrian Grand Prix.
Max Verstappen beat a sensational Lando Norris to score a third straight pole position, while Lewis Hamilton qualified fourth on an unpredictable Saturday afternoon at the Austrian Grand Prix.
Verstappen started the hour as pole favorite after dominating last weekend’s Styrian Grand Prix at the same circuit, and the Dutchman took provisional pole after the first runs of Q3l but his second lap was poor, and he failed to improve.
Norris, wringing the maximum from his McLaren car, was on the attack just behind the Dutchman and benefiting from the slipstream. The Briton was already second after his first pole attempt and went purple at the first split with his final flyer to project himself onto pole.
Continue reading on RACERMax Verstappen returned Red Bull Racing to the top of the time sheet in a warm final practice at the Austrian Grand Prix. The Dutchman’s best time of 1m 4.591s around the Red Bull Ring beat Valtteri Bottas’s best by 0.538s to put him in the box seat for pole later today.
Lewis Hamilton was third and 0.686s off the pace after having his best lap on fresh softs deleted for exceeding track limits exiting the final corner, but even that lap would have put his Mercedes around 0.4s behind Verstappen’s benchmark, just ahead of Bottas.
The soft compound was in almost universal use through the 60-minute session ahead of qualifying. Pirelli is using its most delicate tire, the C5, as this weekend’s soft compound, and with warm weather rolling in after a mild Friday and track temperatures nudging 120 degrees F, rubber preparation for a flying lap will be key to executing a clean qualifying lap.
Continue reading on RACERMax Verstappen topped first practice ahead of both Ferrari drivers at the Austrian Grand Prix.
The Dutchman, winner of last weekend’s Styrian Grand Prix at the same circuit, set his best time of 1m05.143s on the soft compound to go 0.266s quicker than Charles Leclerc, who was just 0.022s faster than Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz despite complaining of several right-front lock-ups.
Valtteri Bottas was 0.3s behind in the lead Mercedes, while Lewis Hamilton was more than half a second off the pace in seventh after repeatedly falling foul of track limits.
Continue reading on RACERIt was a race, but there was no competition: Max Verstappen was dominant in the Styrian Grand Prix, leaving Lewis Hamilton to wonder how he can get back on level terms.
Featuring Christian Menath, F1 managing editor, motorsport-magazin.com.
We apologise on behalf of Sky Sports for the weekend’s many BBW references. Michael’s mum stops listening to the podcast. We launch a hot new conspiracy theory that doesn’t involve Lindsay Fox.
Max Verstappen won a comfortable victory at the first of two races at the Red Bull Ring, and the ease with which he dominated the Styrian Grand Prix had all the hallmarks of a decisive moment in the championship fight.
Max Verstappen has clinically dispatched Lewis Hamilton to claim a dominant victory at the Styrian Grand Prix and steal a march in the championship standings.
Max Verstappen easily accounted for championship rival Lewis Hamilton with a straightforward victory at the Styrian Grand Prix to grow his points lead.
The Dutchman’s victory was effectively sealed with his perfect getaway from pole. He kept the Mercedes driver at bay into the first turn and built a 1.5s buffer in the first three laps, ensuring the Briton couldn’t use DRS to follow him away from the field.
The gap was gently stretched throughout the first stint until Hamilton made the first stop of the pair, on Lap 29, for a set of hard tires. Verstappen had no trouble covering the move, the undercut being far less effective around the short Red Bull Ring.
Continue reading on RACERMax Verstappen took pole for the 2021 Styrian Grand Prix with a confident performance that had all the hallmarks of a title favourite.
Max Verstappen will aim for a third win in four races after claiming a comfortable pole at Austria’s Red Bull Ring for the Styrian Grand Prix.