Lewis Hamilton pipped Max Verstappen to the top spot in twilight first practice at the Singapore Grand Prix, with Charles Leclerc in third.
Mercedes driver Hamilton waited until the final five minutes to set his best time on soft tires, his best lap of 1m43.033s topping Verstappen’s Red Bull by just 0.084s.
Track evolution is usually very high around the Singapore street circuit as the track rubbers in and the sun begins to set, which played into the Briton’s hands given his lap came around 15 minutes after Verstappen’s best effort.
Continue reading on RACEROscar Piastri re-joins us on In The Fast Lane to discuss his rollercoaster of emotions on being named as a McLaren driver for 2023 (01:39), what it means to be joining a team with McLaren’s history of success and champion drivers (06:29), how having a start date for his F1 race career has sharpened his focus (09:36), what he’s expecting from new teammate Lando Norris (12:35), getting a call from Daniel Ricciardo after he was named as his compatriot’s successor at McLaren (14:16) and his excitement for his first true home grand prix at Albert Park next April (16:07).
In this episode of Off Track the championship lives on to the final round of the season, Michael tries to find the windscreen wipers and James gives out his own dropped flag penalties.
On this episode of Keel of Fortune we discuss why we never remember the heroes of boating.
It’s the fourth round of the Extreme E championship, and Off Track previews the Copper X Prix. Championship driver Fraser McConnell joins James to preview the track, while Michael and Freya take a look at the championship so far, consider why we’re racing in Chile and suggest other extreme places for the series to race in the future.
Alpine cracks the shits and Sebastian Vettel issues a rare public service announcement.
F1® is desperate for an American driver to help boost the sport’s popularity in the States. But should the rules be bent to allow Colton Herta onto the grid without a superlicence? F1 journalist and broadcaster Chris Medland joins hosts Matt Clayton and Michael Lamonato to talk through the background to the Herta story (02:10), what Nyck De Vries’ debut for Williams at Monza tells us about the depth in European talent (10:14), if Jack Doohan is a chance to race for Alpine if Pierre Gasly sticks with AlphaTauri (17:31), and suggests ways to fix the grid confusion caused by mass engine and gearbox penalties (20:36).
Charles Leclerc started on pole at Ferrari’s home race but Max Verstappen sent the Italian fans home disappointed by claiming another easy win. Featuring Lewis Larkam, F1 editor, Crash.net.
If the Italian national anthem is played but no-one can hear it, did the Italian Grand Prix really happen?
Max Verstappen romped to an easy victory at the Italian Grand Prix after Ferrari gambled away Charles Leclerc’s lead on a two-stop strategy.
Leclerc had got away from pole position easily to control the first part of the race while Verstappen worked to recover from seventh on the grid. The Dutchman dispatched the task rapidly, rising to third after two laps and second on lap 5, but he couldn’t close down Leclerc for the lead. Both drivers were on the soft tire, on which their cars were equally suited.
The pit window was expected to open at around lap 18 for an early one-stop strategy, but on lap 12 Sebastian Vettel’s Aston Martin expired in a puff of smoke, forcing the German to park by the side of the road.
Continue reading on RACERCharles Leclerc has taken a popular pole position at the head of a jumbled grid at the Italian Grand Prix.
Ferrari had the single-lap pace on both laps, with Carlos Sainz taking provisional top spot ahead of Leclerc at the end of the first runs despite carrying a back-of-grid penalty for the race.
Max Verstappen rebounded in his second run to put himself within striking distance of pole with a fastest middle sector.
Continue reading on RACERMax Verstappen has the pace in third practice for the Italian Grand Prix, beating Charles Leclerc by 0.347s seconds.
Verstappen’s best time of 1m 21.252s came late on the soft tire, but his previous quickest lap on the medium compound would still have been quick enough for third, just behind teammate Sergio Perez’s best soft-compound lap and ahead of Carlos Sainz.
Leclerc, however, remains favorite for pole position given Verstappen, Perez and Sainz will all serve grid penalties on Sunday – though Verstappen’s drop is worth only five places, keeping him comfortably in victory contention.
Continue reading on RACERCarlos Sainz topped second practice at the Italian Grand Prix despite incurring an additional grid penalty for Sunday’s race.
The Spaniard went quickest with fresh softs after a brief red-flag suspension at the half-hour mark to collect Mick Schumacher’s stopped Haas, which was parked by the side of the road at the Roggia chicane with an engine problem. The Spaniard’s best time, a 1m21.664s, was 0.143s quicker than Max Verstappen’s fastest effort, the Dutchman’s top time coming shortly before the suspension.
Both drivers will take penalties, with Sainz being sent to the back of the grid thanks to a new control electronics system installed between practice sessions, while Verstappen will lose just five places, as has already been confirmed.
Continue reading on RACERCharles Leclerc led a Ferrari top-two sweep in first practice at the Italian Grand Prix as several drivers had grid penalties confirmed for taking new engine parts, including title leader Max Verstappen.
Leclerc’s fastest lap of 1m 22.410s was enough to edge Carlos Sainz by just 0.077s on their respective fresh soft-tire runs. For Sainz, however, the weekend program will fast change to long-run setup, with the Spaniard due to serve a penalty of at least 20 grid places for taking some new engine parts and a fresh gearbox.
Sainz also drew the ire of George Russell — who was third in the order and 0.279s off the pace — when he appeared to slow down through the Roggia chicane with the Briton closing at rapid speed from behind him, although they avoided contact.
Continue reading on RACEROur resident F1 expert and F1 journalist joins Sportsday.
Max Verstappen wins again at his home Dutch Grand Prix after a well-timed safety car ruins Lewis Hamilton’s bold victory gamble. Featuring Nate Saunders from ESPN.
NO COLLUSION. CROOKED WITCH HUNT. MAKE DANIEL RICCIARDO GREAT AGAIN.
Max Verstappen took victory in the Dutch Grand Prix after pinching victory from Lewis Hamilton in a late-race safety car restart.
The first 48 laps of the 77-lap race had been a tense strategic duel between Hamilton and Verstappen, with Mercedes putting the Briton on a one-stop strategy to take track position from the pole-winnng Dutchman, who led the race early thanks to a great start.
The Red Bull Racing car had the better pace, but with passing so difficult around the tight Zandvoort circuit and with George Russell acting as a buffer between them, the tactics should have given Mercedes its best shot at a win so far this year.
Continue reading on RACER