Nicholas Latifi took a shock top spot in a soaking-wet final practice session at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Latifi took the unlikely accolade with his final lap of the hour, when the previously saturated track was at its driest after a long break from the rain.
Running had been suspended for a little over five minutes to clear Sebastian Vettel’s crashed Aston Martin from the barriers at Turn 10 after aquaplaning on entry, sending his rear-right corner into the wall.
Continue reading on RACERCharles Leclerc beat Lando Norris to the top spot in second practice at the Hungarian Grand Prix. Leclerc guided his Ferrari to the top of the order with a best time of 1m18.445s with a fresh set of softs, pipping Norris by 0.217s.
The Monegasque’s only blip for the day was an engine complaint that forced him back to his garage late in the hour, but he was released without problem shortly afterwards — albeit after striking a jack while trying to leave his garage.
Norris’s best time had come slightly earlier in the session, the Briton being one of the first to lap on low fuel, and the lap proved quick enough to split the Ferrari drivers when time expired on the session, with Carlos Sainz a further 0.014s down in third.
Continue reading on RACERCarlos Sainz topped a busy first practice for Ferrari at the Hungarian Grand Prix ahead of Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen.
Ferrari’s SF-75 is expected to be the strongest car at the downforce-sensitive Hungaroring given its season-long cornering and acceleration advantage over the field, and Sainz put it to good use for a time of 1m 18.750s, beating Verstappen’s best effort by 0.13s. It was Sainz’s second hot lap on the one set of soft tires, hinting at greater reserves of pace.
Charles Leclerc was third and 0.289s slower than his teammate.
Continue reading on RACERMax Verstappen dominated qualifying at the Belgian Grand Prix but Carlos Sainz will start from pole after an intriguing Saturday afternoon at Spa-Francorchamps.
Verstappen, title rival Charles Leclerc and five other drivers started qualifying carrying heavy grid penalties for power unit changes that will send them to the back of the grid.
The battle for pole therefore came down to a fight between Carlos Sainz and Sergio Perez, but neither was on Verstappen’s level. The Dutchman beat his would-be rivals by 0.6s with his first lap. It was a large enough margin that he didn’t bother to set a second time.
Continue reading on RACERMax Verstappen set an imposing benchmark in second practice at the Belgian Grand Prix despite tricky slippery conditions.
The cool track, which had been sprinkled intermittently with rain throughout the day and endured another shower in the final 10 minutes, offered grip at a premium, but the Dutchman mastered the slick circuit to set a best time of 1m45.507s with his Red Bull. The only blot in his copybook was the stewards noting him for a potential practice start infringement when the cars lined up on the grid after the checkered flag, which at worst would likely lead to a reprimand.
Charles Leclerc was next quickest, but his Ferrari was 0.862s off the pace. The Monegasque’s only ameliorating excuse was that his car appeared to be making some unusual noises via the warning system that he asked the team to switch off.
Continue reading on RACERMax Verstappen scores an easy victory at the French Grand Prix after Charles Leclerc crashes out of the lead of the race. Featuring Jack Nicholls, BBC F1 commentator.
Scuderia AlphaTauri F1 driver Yuki Tsunoda joins hosts Matt Clayton and Michael Lamonato to talk about the beginnings of his European motorsport journey in 2018, adjusting to life far away from Japan, repairing his confidence after a challenging F1 rookie season, his relationship with teammate Pierre Gasly and that Silverstone crash and his excitement of F1 returning to Suzuka for this October’s Japanese Grand Prix, while we wrap up Sunday’s French Grand Prix won by Max Verstappen.
Michael and Rob wrap up the season-ending French Grand Prix that delivered Max Verstappen his second world championship.
Michael and Rob wrap up the season-ending French Grand Prix that delivered Max Verstappen his second world championship.
Max Verstappen cruised to an easy win at the French Grand Prix after polesitter Charles Leclerc crashed out of the race in a devastating blow to his title campaign.
Leclerc was in the lead of the grand prix, having fended off 10 laps of Verstappen advances, and was traversing Turn 11 when the rear stepped out in the middle of the corner.
His Ferrari swapped ends before going into the far barrier nose-first, ending his race on the spot.
Continue reading on RACERCharles Leclerc will start the French Grand Prix from pole after beating Max Verstappen to top spot at Circuit Paul Ricard.
Leclerc had the benefit of teammate Carlos Sainz providing a slipstream down the back straight to minimize Ferrari’s weekend-long top-speed disadvantage, allowing the Monegasque’s strong first and final sectors to make the difference.
Sainz will start from the back of the grid with a penalty for using too many power unit parts; the Spaniard progressed through qualifying only to benefit his teammate.
Continue reading on RACERMax Verstappen beat Carlos Sainz to top spot in final practice at the French Grand Prix.
Verstappen’s best lap of 1m 32.272s covered Sainz by a comfortable 0.354s margin, while Charles Leclerc struggled with degradation in third, 0.637s off the pace.
The Dutchman’s supremacy was such that even his quickest time on the medium compound would have put him second in the final order – and it would’ve been quick enough to keep top spot before Sainz set a second time on softs after two cool-down laps.
Continue reading on RACERFerrari dominated second practice at the French Grand Prix, with Carlos Sainz leading Charles Leclerc in the top two spots. Max Verstappen was more than half a second adrift in third.
Sainz, who will start the race no higher than 10th thanks to a power unit change penalty, set a session-best time of 1m 32.527s to edge his teammate by just 0.101s. The Spaniard set his quickest lap on his second flyer on the soft tire despite the sweltering track temperature of 131 degrees F.
Verstappen had no answer to Ferrari’s one-lap pace and elected to skip straight to his long-run work afterwards. He ended the hour 0.55s off the pace and complaining of understeer in his RB18, the same problem having afflicted him in the first session earlier in the day.
Continue reading on RACERCharles Leclerc topped first practice from title leader Max Verstappen at the French Grand Prix.
Leclerc’s Ferrari, equipped with a new floor along with its low-drag rear wing, looked most at home on the sizzling-hot Circuit Paul Ricard, where track temperatures soared to 140 degrees F. His best lap of 1m 33.930s was quick enough to pip Verstappen by 0.091s despite a slow middle sector — which is defined by the long back straight and chicane — losing him a couple of tenths.
Verstappen, however, appeared to have considerably more pace available to him. His fastest lap of soft tires comprised the fastest times through the first two sectors before he made a mistake in the final sector. The Dutchman’s Red Bull RB18, which was struggling with understeer all session, drifted wide at the long Turn 11, which probably cost him in the vicinity of 0.3s.
Continue reading on RACERMcLaren signs Rob and Michael to its driver roster but won’t say for which category. Mike Krack gets a visit from a mysterious Australian at 3am.
Rosberg X Racing extends its championship lead as its title rivals struggle for consistency over two tough rounds in Sardinia.
James, Freya and Michael wrap up the Neom Island X Prix double-header by debating what goes into a good Scandinavian breakfast, whether being flat is a real emotional state and who got stuck in the goo, which is a technical racing term.
Charles Leclerc is a winner for the first time in three months after dominating the race on Red Bull’s home turf at the Austrian Grand Prix. Featuring Scott Mitchell from The Race.
Fernando Alonso has the greatest race of his career, while Charles Leclerc also partakes in the grand prix.