Valtteri Bottas beat Max Verstappen to the top spot in first practice at the Portuguese Grand Prix.
The Finn, who is 28 points off the championship lead thanks to his retirement from the previous race in Imola, bolted on a set of soft tires onto his Mercedes in the second half of the session to rocket to the top of the time sheet.
Red Bull Racing’s Verstappen was next best with just a 0.025s deficit despite the Dutchman complaining of severe vibrations on his soft tires. He was offered the chance to return to the garage but chose instead to set a single flying lap before withdrawing from the run. “I’ll just visit the dentist after the weekend,” he replied before coming close to toppling Bottas from the head of the time sheet.
Continue reading on RACERFour-time champion Red Bull Racing is poised to become a fully fledged engine builder to cement its return to the front in Formula 1.
Lewis Hamilton leads Max Verstappen by a single point – can either establish a championship lead in May? I preview the upcoming Portuguese and Spanish grands prix with last year’s podcast guests Racer’s Chris Medland and F1.com’s Lawrence Barretto.
Haas F1® team principal Guenther Steiner reflects on the American team’s debut in Australia in 2016, explains why he’s looking ahead to the 2022 Formula 1® regulation changes, assesses rookie drivers Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin, and talks about his increased profile from the ‘Formula 1: Drive To Survive’ Netflix series.
In the lead-up to the Portuguese Grand Prix we talk cheap pancakes, cheap hotel razors and cheap Racing Point merchandise. Plus: what’s your piss-weak F1 stat unusual?
Join James and Tommy as they chat with fellow Aussie F1 podcast host Michael Lamonato.
Max Verstappen levelled the victory tally with Lewis Hamilton at one race apiece, but the Briton didn’t take his loss lying down in his charge to second.
Episode 33 presented by Gulf Oil features Imola Grand Prix podium finisher Lando Norris, who joins us to discuss McLaren’s new fight at the front of the grid, reminisce on his 2019 F1® debut in Australia, talk about his connection to the fans through streaming, and test his knowledge of new teammate Daniel Ricciardo.
Featuring The Race’s Edd Straw. Max Verstappen dominates in Imola, but Lewis Hamilton fights back from ninth to second to keep himself at the top of the title table. What made the difference between these two title-contending cars?
Host & editor, Strategy Report, Michael Lamonato joined Sports Breakfast to chat a big week of F1.
Max Verstappen dominates Imola, Italy dominates the national anthem world championship and George Russell dominates the paint.
Max Verstappen survived deluge and debris to claim his first win of the season in his championship battle with Lewis Hamilton.
Max Verstappen won a manic wet race in Imola in which pole winner Lewis Hamilton recovered from a lap down to finish on the podium, while Valtteri Bottas and George Russell emerged unscathed from a high-speed crash at Tamburello.
The Dutchman was close to flawless in depriving Hamilton of the lead on the first lap and controlling the race thereafter, dominating the field to claim a comfortable 22-second victory.
Hamilton, on the other hand, lost touch with the lead through a rare clumsy mistake in the damp on slick tires, running through the gravel and plummeting down the order, but a trademark charge through the field in the second half of the race brought the Briton back up to a commendable second place.
Continue reading on RACERIf qualifying at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix were further evidence of the fight between Mercedes and Red Bull Racing being posied on a knife edge, seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton proved that he could be the difference between success and failure.
Lewis Hamilton squeaked to pole position by less than half a tenth ahead of Red Bull Racing’s Sergio Perez at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
The Briton took his 99th pole despite failing to improve his first banker lap with his second attempt, leaving him vulnerable to Max Verstappen, who then was trailing by only 0.091s.
But the Dutchman found only 0.004s on his own second attempt. Instead Perez was the biggest gainer, finding almost a quarter of a second to come within a minuscule 0.035s of Hamilton’s still-standing benchmark.
Continue reading on RACERMax Verstappen reasserted Red Bull Racing’s qualifying credentials with a dominant one-lap display in Saturday morning practice for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
Verstappen had several laps deleted for exceeding track limits before setting a flying lap on fresh soft tires late in the hour and logging an unbeatable time of 1m14.982s, almost half a second quicker than anyone else.
But the competitive picture ahead of qualifying remains uncertain, with Lewis Hamilton the quickest Mercedes in third and 0.557s off the pace, the front-running pair separated unexpectedly by McLaren’s Lando Norris after a late flier of his own.
Continue reading on RACERLewis Hamilton has snatched his 99th F1 pole position from Sergio Perez in a nailbiting qualifying hour at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
Valtteri Bottas completed a Friday clean sweep by topping second practice at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix after Max Verstappen retired from the session with a drive problem.
The Finn set his quickest time of 1m15.551s on the medium compound early in the session, and though he undertook a subsequent three-lap qualifying simulation with the grippiest soft tire, he was unable to improve.
He was followed closely by teammate Lewis Hamilton, who was able to fractionally improve on his medium-tire time with the softs, though only enough to close to within 0.01s.
Continue reading on RACER