Motorsport journalist and podcaster
Max Verstappen stormed to pole position ahead of Charles Leclerc at his home Dutch Grand Prix.
Leclerc had been the faster driver after the first laps of Q3 by half a tenth and looked set to send Verstappen’s home fans home disappointment, but the Dutchman rallied the second time around to challenge the Monegasque. Leclerc was fastest of all in the first sector, but a blisteringly quick second split was enough for Verstappen to nose ahead before they tackled the final part of the lap.
The Ferrari driver again improved on his time to record a purple sector at the final split, but it wasn’t enough to counteract the Red Bull Racing car’s impressive time in the middle of the lap, and a personal best for Verstappen as he crossed the line was good enough to take his second consecutive Dutch Grand Prix pole position.
Continue reading on RACERGeorge Russell topped first practice for the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort after Max Verstappen withdrew from the session with gearbox problems.
Verstappen was an early scratching from the hour-long session when his car ground to a halt at Turn 4. His Red Bull team then told him to park it as a precaution to protect the transmission, disappointing his throngs of home fans piled into the grandstands and causing a nine-minute red flag.
Red Bull said the problem wasn’t thought to be terminal, meaning the Dutchman will likely be back on track in FP2 later today.
Continue reading on RACERAustralians Daniel Ricciardo and Oscar Piastri are at the heart of one of the biggest Formula 1 ‘silly season’ stories in years. To make sense of a wild week of news on Ricciardo’s future and Piastri’s path to a full-time race seat, Scott Mitchell-Malm from the-race.com joins hosts Matt Clayton and Michael Lamonato to discuss where things unravelled for Ricciardo at McLaren (03:58), his options to race on or sit out in 2023 (07:09), McLaren’s role in the failed relationship (13:13), the pressure Piastri will face when he debuts (17:37), how Piastri declining an Alpine seat is seen in the paddock (20:26) and the impact of the contractual tug-of-war between Alpine and McLaren on his reputation (24:06).
Max Verstappen has dominated the Belgian Grand Prix with a storming drive from 13th on the grid to start the countdown to his second world title. Featuring Brazilian F1 correspondent Julianne Cerasoli.
With the F1 world championship all but over, we debate who will win the equally prestigious F1 gluten championship. Mercedes enters the Del Boca Vista stage of its decline.