Motorsport journalist and podcaster
Mercedes may have a new all-black livery, but its superiority over the field remains stubbornly unchanged, as Valtteri Bottas’s dominant pole so aptly illustrated at the season-opening Austrian Grand Prix.
Not even a trip through the gravel and a clumsy spin on the grass in his second run could keep Bottas from pole and a new track record with a time of 1 minute 2.939 seconds. It was enough to pip teammate Lewis Hamilton by just 0.012 seconds.
The margin between the quickest Mercedes and the next-best car, Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen, was a foreboding 0.538 seconds. The Dutchman said the gap was exacerbated by balance problems aboard his RB16, but even was forced to admit the Mercedes is simply in a different league.
Lewis Hamilton has put on a masterclass of wet-weather driving with a dominant pole position in saturated Styrian Grand Prix qualifying.
The superlative driving spectacle almost didn’t happen, with heavy rain cancelling Saturday practice and threatening to write off qualifying in the deluge.
But fortunately the rain eased enough to allow the track to drain sufficient to get the session underway after only a 46-minute delay, allowing Hamilton to put on a show of wet-weather excellence.
Lewis Hamilton dominated a soaking wet qualifying session for the Styrian Grand Prix, topping the time sheet in the treacherous conditions by a massive 1.2s margin.
Continue reading on RACERQualifying for the Formula 1 Styrian Grand Prix is in jeopardy after Saturday morning practice was called off due to persistent rain.
Continue reading on RACERMax Verstappen topped Friday afternoon practice for the Styrian Grand Prix in a tightly contested three-way battle between Red Bull Racing, Mercedes and Racing Point.
Continue reading on RACER