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.
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.
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.
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 RACERFeaturing Matt Clayton, freelance motorsport journalist and In the Fast Lane host. Max Verstappen wins easily in Baku to extend his title lead after another DNF cruels Charles Leclerc’s championship chances.
Two-time Formula 1 champion, 14-time Grand Prix winner and double Indianapolis 500 victor Emerson Fittipaldi joins us to discuss his trailblazing move from Brazil to Europe in the late 60s, the tragic and dramatic story behind his maiden F1 win in 1970, his influence on the establishment of the Brazilian Grand Prix, the Fittipaldi motorsport dynasty and the 2022 F1 season, while we wrap up last Sunday’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku won by Max Verstappen.
We play our own original game ‘Well Done or Not Well Done’ but immediately forget the rules. Ferrari is no good and we forget to talk about Max Verstappen.
Max Verstappen empathized with title rival Charles Leclerc’s crippling run of engine failures but says that his team has done a better job of improving his car’s reliability.
Verstappen opened the season with two engine failures in the first three rounds and has suffered a variety of more minor technical niggles throughout his campaign, but he’s yet to finish off the podium when he’s seen the flag, collecting five victories and a third place.
Leclerc, on the other hand, has seen his rock-solid early-season reliability melt away, with two engine retirements of his own in the last three weekends as well as a strategy misstep that cost him victory in Monaco.
Continue reading on RACER