Max Verstappen claimed victory in the Australian Grand Prix after a farcical late-race red-flag restart generated mass carnage through the field.
Verstappen had been cruising to a dominant second win of the season when Kevin Magnussen lost his rear-right tire after tapping the outside barrier at Turn 2 on lap 53, triggering a brief safety car and then the second red flag of the afternoon.
After a 15-minute delay the cars lined up on the grid for a restart, with Verstappen on pole alongside Lewis Hamilton, for a two-lap dash to the finish.
Continue reading on RACERMax Verstappen will start the Australian Grand Prix on pole after a last-gasp flying lap from the Red Bull driver rescued top spot from Mercedes.
Verstappen was sixth after making a mistake at the penultimate corner on his first lap, and though a second push lap on the same set of tires put him on provisional pole, it was with a tenuous margin of only 0.009s over the field.
And with the soft compound struggling to come up to temperature on a cool, overcast day in Melbourne, the Dutchman was on the back foot without the time to complete the two preparation laps the tire needed to be in its optimum window.
Continue reading on RACERMax Verstappen has topped final practice at the Australian Grand Prix as Red Bull Racing teammate Sergio Perez struggled with apparent car issues.
Verstappen saved his soft-tire run until late, setting a best time of 1m17.565s to pip Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso by 0.162s. Esteban Ocon completed the top three for Alpine, a further 0.211s adrift.
Teammate Perez endured a nightmare session with car problems that have left him underdone ahead of qualifying.
Continue reading on RACERFernando Alonso topped a rain-affected second practice session at the Australian Grand Prix ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.
After a sunny and reasonably warm first practice hour, Melbourne turned cool and overcast in time for the final session, and light rain drops as pit lane opened made clear the threat of rain.
The ambient temperature was just 61 degrees F, with the track barely warmer at 80 degrees F, and both were dropping as the weather changed.
Continue reading on RACERMax Verstappen dominated a frenetic twice-suspended first practice session at the Australian Grand Prix that saw several driver in the gravel.
Verstappen set the early pace after opening the hour with a set of soft tires and never lost top spot, eventually lowering the benchmark to 1m18.790s on worn rubber.
It wasn’t completely smooth running for the Dutchman, however, who complained of gearbox problems early in the session before later clambering over the curb at the exit of Turn 4 and spinning across the track, coming perilously close to nosing the barrier. The Red Bull’s tires ruined, he returned to pit lane and ended his session.
Continue reading on RACER‘Round 1’ and ‘Australian Grand Prix’ just seem to go together — or they did, anyway.
For almost its entire tenure to date Melbourne has hosted the opening race of the Formula 1 season, with the motorsport world descending on Albert Park for a sunny sporting festival to kick off the battle for racing’s biggest prize.
It took a pandemic to break the tradition. The wealthier races in the Middle East have muscled in, and with pre-season testing now tending to take place in the warmer climes of Bahrain, the sport has decided it’s just easier to open proceedings in the desert rather than Down Under.
Continue reading on FOX SPORTS