Max Verstappen completed a practice clean sweep at the Turkish Grand Prix in a soaking wet FP3 in Istanbul.
The Red Bull Racing driver’s best effort was a 1m48.48s, enough to be 0.945s quicker than Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and 1.5s ahead of teammate Alex Albon, but times meant little at the end of the barely representative hour of running that featured precious few flying laps.
Drizzle had set in at Istanbul Park 40 minutes before the start of final practice and intensified as the session progressed, turning conditions treacherous.
Continue reading on RACERMax Verstappen consolidated his place at the top of the time sheet in a greasy afternoon practice session at the Turkish Grand Prix.
The Dutchman topped FP1 earlier in the day when the freshly laid tarmac was treacherously slippery, but with more rubber laid into the Istanbul Park circuit he was able to lower the bar to a more representative 1m28.330s.
He was 0.4s quicker than Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and almost 0.6s quicker than Mercedes’s Valtteri Bottas, the last title challenger still in contention to overhaul championship leader Lewis Hamilton, who was a further 0.3s adrift in fourth.
Continue reading on RACERMax Verstappen was quickest in Formula 1’s return to Turkey in a shockingly slippery first practice at Istanbul Park.
The Dutchman took his Red Bull Racing car to the top of the time sheet in the final minutes of the morning session, his 1m35.077s a quarter of a second faster than teammate Alex Albon and 0.4s quicker than Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.
Lewis Hamilton, aiming to seal his seventh title this weekend, finished in 15th after completing only three laps, while his only title challenger, teammate Valtteri Bottas, finished ninth with four tours.
Continue reading on RACERRed Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen set the fastest time of Friday practice at the Belgian Grand Prix while Ferrari-powered cars continued to struggle at the back of the field.
Continue reading on RACER“I didn’t see it coming!” a gleeful Max Verstappen said after winning the Formula One 70th Anniversary Grand Prix at Silverstone. And he wasn’t the only one.
Mercedes had been utterly dominant in qualifying on the previous day, having locked out the front row by almost a full second. On Saturday night another one-two finish seemed a certainty.
But unbeknownst to the paddock, the German marque was harbouring a critical weakness.
Mercedes’s tyres and Sebastian Vettel’s Ferrari relationship engage in a race to see which can dissolve faster. Lawrence Stroll kidnaps himself.
I review the action from the 2020 70th Anniversary Grand Prix with Jack Nicholls from BBC F1.
Max Verstappen has broken Mercedes hearts with a perfectly judged strategy at a sizzling Silverstone to snatch his first win of the season.
Verstappen qualified fourth on the grid behind an all-Mercedes front row, but poleman Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton’s races came undone when their Mercedes car struggled to keep its tyres alive in the heat.
All three got good starts — Verstappen scythed past Racing Point’s Nico Hulkenberg to take third on the first lap — but Mercedes immediately fell into a rhythm of tyre management to make sure the medium-compound rubber both drivers started on would make it to the first pit stop window.
Verstappen had no such troubles, starting on the hard after an astute qualifying gamble. He was free to close in on the two leaders unimpeded while both Bottas and Hamilton complained of severe blistering.
By lap 14 — barely one-quarter distance — both Mercedes cars had switched onto the hard, but while they had a momentary boost in grip, before long the more durable rubber too started to expire on their rims.
Verstappen, having inherited the lead, was suddenly able to build an advantage over the stricken black cars, and Red Bull Racing smelt opportunity.
Waiting until lap 26 to make his first stop, he raced with Bottas for the lead as he exited pit lane and dispatched the Finn. He matched the times of the Mercedes cars behind, and when he and Bottas stopped on lap 32 and rejoined the race in the same order, Verstappen was able to gallop away and secure victory.
“I didn’t see it coming!” Verstappen said. “An incredible result to win here.
“We had a lot of pace in the car. We didn’t really have a lot of tyre issues at all we just kept pushing.
“Everything worked out well — we had the right strategy, everything was running smooth.”
The victory took Verstappen up to second in the drivers championship, 30 points behind title leader Hamilton.
Hamilton had been left in first place after Verstappen’s final stop, but his tyres were badly damaged. After considering and dismissing an unlikely defence of the lead without another set of tyres, he dived into pit lane for fresh rubber on lap 40.
But catching Verstappen was never going to happen, with 12 seconds to make up in as many laps. Instead Hamilton’s final stop allowed him to fight with teammate Bottas for second.
The Finn was at a nine-lap tyre disadvantage and could offer little defence, the Briton cutting past him with two laps to spare to consolidate second place.
“It was a massive challenge,” he said. “Definitely unexpected to have the blistering as hardcore as we experienced it, but I’m really grateful to have progressed and manage my way through the race.
“I’m sure the team will be working as hard as its can because we’ve not had that before.”
It left Bottas to trail home a disconsolate third, now third in the title standings and 34 points behind his teammate. … Continue reading
Max Verstappen pushed Mercedes to its limits in the heat of Silverstone to clinch victory in the F1 70th Anniversary Grand Prix.
Continue reading on RACERMax Verstappen opened the British Grand Prix with the fastest time in first practice despite the Red Bull Racing drivers expecting a difficult weekend at Silverstone.
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.
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Max Verstappen dominated a chaotic Brazilian Grand Prix to lead an unlikely Honda one-two ahead of Toro Rosso’s Pierre Gasly.
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