Charles Leclerc topped the final practice session at the Singapore Grand Prix after heavy rain reduced running to less than 30 minutes.

The session officially started on time, but race control kept pit lane closed for the first 30 minutes given the circuit was waterlogged after two hours of torrential downpour.

The safety car lapped in the first 10 minutes of the suspension, after which marshals entered the track to sweep away some excess standing water.

Continue reading on RACER

Carlos Sainz led Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc in the second practice session at the Singapore Grand Prix, but the results were inconclusive as both Red Bull Racing drivers struggled for mileage.

After some early trading of quick times, Sainz took control of the session once the soft-tire runs started with a time of 1m42.587s. Leclerc joined the session late after his Ferrari team changed his floor, leaving him almost 10 laps down on Sainz by the end of the hour and without a representative long-run simulation.

After a short stint on mediums, the Monegasque switched to a set of softs in the final six months, but he struggled to get the best from them, improving his fastest lap by less than 0.1s He ended the hour 0.208s adrift of the sister car.

Continue reading on RACER

Charles 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 RACER

Carlos 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 RACER

Charles 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 RACER

Charles Leclerc edged teammate Carlos Sainz to record a Ferrari one-two in second practice for the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort. Home hero Max Verstappen struggled to eighth on a difficult day for Red Bull Racing in front of the Dutchman’s home crowd.

Leclerc started his qualifying simulation a lap later than most of the rest of the field to pip Sainz, hitherto at the top of the table, by just 0.004s before embarking on his high-fuel runs.

Ferrari is expecting to perform strongly at Zandvoort, where the twisting, undulating circuit will boost its car’s downforce strengths and the lack of long straights will ameliorate its efficiency weakness.

Continue reading on RACER

Carlos Sainz bested Charles Leclerc to the top spot in a damp first practice session at the Belgian Grand Prix, that was overshadowed by six drivers being confirmed as having back-of-grid starts for Sunday.

Just 0.069s split the Ferrari teammates, with title leader Max Verstappen 0.2s adrift in third for Red Bull. The hour-long session started on a damp and drying track but ended with sudden heavy showers in the final 10 minutes.

Leclerc, however, won’t be contending for pole, having taken new power unit parts and a new gearbox, sending him to the back of the grid. Verstappen, who holds an 80-point advantage over the Monegasque, will join him at the back with several new engine parts of his own.

Continue reading on RACER

Charles Leclerc beat Lando Norris to the top spot in second practice at the Hungarian Grand Prix. Leclerc guided his Ferrari to the top of the order with a best time of 1m18.445s with a fresh set of softs, pipping Norris by 0.217s.

The Monegasque’s only blip for the day was an engine complaint that forced him back to his garage late in the hour, but he was released without problem shortly afterwards — albeit after striking a jack while trying to leave his garage.

Norris’s best time had come slightly earlier in the session, the Briton being one of the first to lap on low fuel, and the lap proved quick enough to split the Ferrari drivers when time expired on the session, with Carlos Sainz a further 0.014s down in third.

Continue reading on RACER

Carlos Sainz topped a busy first practice for Ferrari at the Hungarian Grand Prix ahead of Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen.

Ferrari’s SF-75 is expected to be the strongest car at the downforce-sensitive Hungaroring given its season-long cornering and acceleration advantage over the field, and Sainz put it to good use for a time of 1m 18.750s, beating Verstappen’s best effort by 0.13s. It was Sainz’s second hot lap on the one set of soft tires, hinting at greater reserves of pace.

Charles Leclerc was third and 0.289s slower than his teammate.

Continue reading on RACER

Max Verstappen dominated qualifying at the Belgian Grand Prix but Carlos Sainz will start from pole after an intriguing Saturday afternoon at Spa-Francorchamps.

Verstappen, title rival Charles Leclerc and five other drivers started qualifying carrying heavy grid penalties for power unit changes that will send them to the back of the grid.

The battle for pole therefore came down to a fight between Carlos Sainz and Sergio Perez, but neither was on Verstappen’s level. The Dutchman beat his would-be rivals by 0.6s with his first lap. It was a large enough margin that he didn’t bother to set a second time.

Continue reading on RACER

Charles 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 RACER

Ferrari 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 RACER

Charles 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 RACER

Charles 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 RACER

Carlos 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 RACER

Carlos 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 RACER

Ferrari’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 RACER

Carlos 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 RACER