Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz topped second practice at the British Grand Prix ahead of a resurgent Mercedes in the hands of Lewis Hamilton.
The Spaniard was lucky to keep his best time, however, of 1m28.942s after running wide at Copse thanks to a combination of his bouncing car and a tailwind down the old pit straight, though he arguably lost time in the second sector as a result anyway.
The lap time being allowed to stand, Sainz ended the session 0.163s quicker than home hero Lewis Hamilton in an encouraging result for Mercedes and its latest major update package.
Continue reading on RACERCarlos Sainz beat world championship leader Max Verstappen to claim his first career Formula 1 pole position in a drenched top-10 shootout at the British Grand Prix.
Rain set in just was the grid-setting hour was set to begin and intensified dramatically just before Q3, soaking the circuit to the point where the intermediate tire was at the limit of its capabilities.
It turned the shootout into a lottery, with times improving with every lap as the standing water was cleared from the track and the rain subsided again.
Continue reading on RACERValtteri Bottas topped a very quiet hour of practice at the British Grand Prix in which only 10 drivers set a lap time.
Heavy rain doused the middle sector of the Silverstone circuit just as the hour-long session started, leaving the track unsuitable for either intermediates or slicks. The entire field nonetheless embarked on at least one installation lap on intermediate rubber, but most did no more than another lap or two before returning to their garages.
Hamilton was the lone exception, rejoining the circuit with 10 minutes remaining to entertain the crowd, clocking up a session-high 10 laps and some very limited aero data for Mercedes’s new upgrade package.
Continue reading on RACERCharles Leclerc needs to win. It sounds reductive and simplistic, but at 49 points down on Max Verstappen on the championship table, he can’t worry about his deficit, his car’s chronic unreliability or anything else. He just has to win one race after another.
George Russell scored the first pole position of his career by charging to the top spot in the final seconds of qualifying at the Hungarian Grand Prix, after points leader Max Verstappen was forced to withdraw from Q3 with engine problems.
Mercedes had looked out of sorts all weekend, with poor balance on Friday and chronic tire temperature issue during wet Saturday practice, but the W13 switched it on in time for dry qualifying.
Russell wielded the machine to perfection. His first lap split the fancied Ferrari drivers for a provisional front row, but a sublime second lap shaved 0.6s off his personal best to pip Carlos Sainz to top spot by 0.044s, all without having set a single purple sector.
Continue reading on RACERAustralian Formula 2 racer Calan Williams joins hosts Matt Clayton and Michael Lamonato to talk about the step up from Formula 3 with Trident, the high level of competition in F2, his standout showing in just his third race in Saudi Arabia, experiencing Monaco for the first time, the chance to race in F2 at the Australian Grand Prix in 2023 and his goals for the rest of the season.
We decode the WhatsApp Whisper® from (Sir) Jackie Stewart about (Sir) Lewis Hamilton. Robstradramus makes another prediction.
The British Grand Prix at the historic Silverstone Circuit beckons for Formula 1 at the start of a jam-packed month of racing, and Mercedes is eyeing its first victory of the season against the run of play in the championship.
With the news that the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix will remain in Melbourne until 2035, Australian Grand Prix Corporation Chief Executive Andrew Westacott joins us to discuss the unprecedented length of the new extension, the upcoming first visits by Formula 2 and Formula 3 to the event, Australia’s place as one of the opening races of the season and the competition between cities for the right to host F1, while we review the return of F1 to Canada and Max Verstappen’s tense victory for Red Bull Racing in Montreal.
If you can think of a car, Tanner Foust has almost certainly driven it, almost certainly sideways and probably on camera. So presented with the opportunity to drive the Spark Odyssey 21, there was only ever going to be one answer.
The rallycross and Formula Drift champion, X Games gold medallist, Top Gear host, decorated stunt driver — we could go on — sat down with Off Track to talk about his on and off-track career, turning nerves into speed and his role in Ken Block’s Gymkhana series.
James, Freya and Michael also recap the start of the 2022 season ahead of the double-header in Sardinia.
Max Verstappen wins again to blow out his championship lead after Charles Leclerc recovers from 19th to fifth with an engine penalty. Featuring Alex Jacques, Channel 4 F1 commentator.
Fernando is 100 times faster than you. And is the 2022 season in big trouble?
Max Verstappen has fended off a fast-finishing Carlos Sainz to win the Canadian Grand Prix and grow his championship lead.
Verstappen had led Sainz for much of the race after acing his getaway from pole, while the Spaniard lost crucial early seconds stuck behind Fernando Alonso.
Unable to recover the difference on track, the race turned into a potentially strategic grandstand finish when Verstappen made a second pit stop on lap 43, his hard tires aching from a 34-lap stint after an ambitiously early lap 8 stop during a virtual safety car.
Continue reading on RACERMichael previews this weekend’s race in Canada where Fernando Alonso will start on the front row for the first time since 2012, while both Haas drivers are on the third row.
Max Verstappen has mastered treacherous conditions in Montreal to take pole position ahead of an outstanding Fernando Alonso at the Canadian Grand Prix.
Verstappen was in a class of his own all afternoon as the track transitioned from soaking wet to almost dry enough for slick rubber.
The Dutchman reeled off three quick laps on intermediate tires, lowering the benchmark by 1.2s through the 12 minutes. Either of his last two would have locked him in for pole, but the final one — a 1m21.299s — got the job done with a 0.645s buffer over Alonso.
Continue reading on RACERFernando Alonso has beaten Pierre Gasly to top spot in a soaking-wet final practice at the Canadian Grand Prix.
After a dry and warm Friday, Formula 1 woke up to a drenched circuit on Saturday morning. Only the wet tire would do for the first 45 minutes of FP3.
With an ambient temperature of just 53 degrees F and the track temperature barely 10 degrees higher, the blue-marked rubber was taking three to four laps to come up to temperature and deliver lap time.
Continue reading on RACERMax Verstappen has pipped Charles Leclerc to top spot in FP2 to sweep Friday practice at the Canadian Grand Prix.
Verstappen looked comfortable immediately on his short run to set the benchmark at 1m14.127s.
Leclerc, who spent the entire session on the soft compound, built up to his ultimate time before clocking in just 0.081s behind.
Continue reading on RACERMax Verstappen topped a blustery first practice session at the Canadian Grand Prix.
Red Bull’s world champion ended the session 0.246s clear of the field after a couple of minor niggles through the hour. The first was an apparent anti-rollbar misconfiguration halfway through the session that required him to pit after three-wheeling over some curbs, and near the end of practice he complained that his power unit’s electrical deployment was clipping at the end of the straights.
Carlos Sainz was next in the order for Ferrari, just 0.1s ahead of Alpine’s Fernando Alonso — whose car was rapid in the flat-out third sector, which comprises just the hairpin and the final chicane. The Spaniard also used the medium tire for his fastest lap, while the rest of the field set their best times on softs.
Continue reading on RACER