Max 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 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 RACERCharles Leclerc scored a crucial victory over Max Verstappen at the Austrian Grand Prix to spark new life in his title campaign.
Ferrari enjoyed a dominant afternoon and was on track for a decisive one-two finish, but Carlos Sainz retired with a spectacularly exploding power unit 11 laps from the finish.
Sainz’s fiery retirement came as he attempted to pass Verstappen for second place and secure the team a much-needed reprieve from a run of bumbling performances. Instead his burnt-out wreckage in the run-off zone at Turn 4 triggered a virtual safety car that enlivened what had looked like a commanding Leclerc victory.
Continue reading on RACERMax Verstappen dominated the Austria sprint race ahead of the squabbling Ferrari drivers to inch open his world championship lead.
Verstappen got away cleanly from the line, while Carlos Sainz followed him into the first corner from third on the grid, jumping teammate Charles Leclerc, who started on the front row.
The Spaniard attempted to challenge the Dutchman into Turn 3 but went deep, and Leclerc took his opportunity to cut down his inside and get the better exit. The Monegasque was later on the brakes on the inside of Turn 4 and took the place back, demoting his teammate to third.
Continue reading on RACERCarlos Sainz narrowly edged Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc to top final practice at the Austrian Grand Prix. The Spaniard’s fastest lap, a 1m08.610s, was just 0.05s quicker than Leclerc’s best effort, both on the soft tires. Pole-getter for today’s sprint, Max Verstappen was third and 0.168s off the pace.
The Ferrari teammates were among the most prolific lap-setting teams despite the fundamentally dead-rubber nature of the hour run under parc ferme conditions, accumulating 82 laps between them, or more than a race distance in total.
Verstappen’s session was somewhat more subdued, the Dutchman completing only 32 laps mostly on medium tires, on which his quickest time was set. He broke out a used set of softs at the end of the hour but got caught in traffic and opted against pursuing a flying lap.
Continue reading on RACERMax Verstappen will start the Austrian Grand Prix sprint race from pole after pipping Charles Leclerc to top spot by just 0.029s. British Grand Prix winner Carlos Sainz qualified third and just 0.082s off the pace.
Verstappen left his best until last. Not only was the Red Bull driver one of the last across the line, but his first two sectors weren’t improvements on his previous laps, with the fine difference all coming at the final split.
“At the end it was a very tight qualifying,” he said. “It’s a very challenging track as well to get everything right.
Continue reading on RACERMax Verstappen led a disrupted first practice session at the Austrian Grand Prix ahead of qualifying later today.
Verstappen looked comfortable at the head of the field for much of the crucial hour and ended his program 0.255s quicker than Charles Leclerc, with a best lap of 1m 6.302s. But no driver squeezed their complete programs into the 60-minute session thanks to two red flags that interrupted running.
The first was for Lando Norris, who parked his McLaren at the side of the road after reporting smoke emanating from beneath his seat, ending his session.
Continue reading on RACERCarlos Sainz won the first Formula 1 race of his career in a sensational British Grand Prix.
Sainz endured a roller-coaster afternoon to claim his maiden win. He started on pole and held the lead with a robust defense on Max Verstappen at the first turn, but he didn’t have the Dutchman’s pace early in the race, and a mistake on lap 10 at Becketts gifted Red Bull Racing first place.
He got the lead back just two laps later when Verstappen dropped deep into the midfield with a puncture and bodywork damage, but now his teammate, Charles Leclerc, was the one applying pressure, with the Monegasque desperate to get past before the charging Lewis Hamilton caught them.
Continue reading on RACERFerrari’s Carlos Sainz topped second practice at the British Grand Prix ahead of a resurgent Mercedes in the hands of Lewis Hamilton.
The Spaniard was lucky to keep his best time, however, of 1m28.942s after running wide at Copse thanks to a combination of his bouncing car and a tailwind down the old pit straight, though he arguably lost time in the second sector as a result anyway.
The lap time being allowed to stand, Sainz ended the session 0.163s quicker than home hero Lewis Hamilton in an encouraging result for Mercedes and its latest major update package.
Continue reading on RACERCarlos Sainz beat world championship leader Max Verstappen to claim his first career Formula 1 pole position in a drenched top-10 shootout at the British Grand Prix.
Rain set in just was the grid-setting hour was set to begin and intensified dramatically just before Q3, soaking the circuit to the point where the intermediate tire was at the limit of its capabilities.
It turned the shootout into a lottery, with times improving with every lap as the standing water was cleared from the track and the rain subsided again.
Continue reading on RACERValtteri Bottas topped a very quiet hour of practice at the British Grand Prix in which only 10 drivers set a lap time.
Heavy rain doused the middle sector of the Silverstone circuit just as the hour-long session started, leaving the track unsuitable for either intermediates or slicks. The entire field nonetheless embarked on at least one installation lap on intermediate rubber, but most did no more than another lap or two before returning to their garages.
Hamilton was the lone exception, rejoining the circuit with 10 minutes remaining to entertain the crowd, clocking up a session-high 10 laps and some very limited aero data for Mercedes’s new upgrade package.
Continue reading on RACERCharles Leclerc needs to win. It sounds reductive and simplistic, but at 49 points down on Max Verstappen on the championship table, he can’t worry about his deficit, his car’s chronic unreliability or anything else. He just has to win one race after another.
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 RACERThe 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.