Max Verstappen topped opening practice at the Italian Grand Prix ahead of Carlos Sainz in a closely contested session between Red Bull Racing and Ferrari.
Verstappen undertook three stints on the hard tire on his way to a fastest time of 1m22.657s, pipping Sainz by just 0.045s, the Ferrari driver on a four-stint hard-tire plan.
Sergio Perez and Charles Leclerc followed, the pair respectively 0.177s and 0.309s off the pace, with George Russell completing a top five all exclusively on hards.
Continue reading on RACERMax Verstappen claimed a comfortable victory from sixth on the grid at the Belgian Grand Prix ahead of Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez.
Perez had started from the front row and snatched the lead from polesitter Charles Leclerc at the end of the Kemmel straight on the first lap control the race early on. But Verstappen was already up to fourth by then, behind Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, and the Dutchman was targeting the top step.
The championship leader bided his time to make his moves. On lap 6 he snatched third from Hamilton at the end of the Kemmel straight, and on three laps later he mugged Leclerc on the brakes to take second place around the outside of Les Combes.
Continue reading on RACERMax Verstappen has won his seventh successive grand prix in a masterclass performance at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
The victory was Red Bull Racing’s 12th in a row, eclipsing the previous record set by McLaren in 1988.
Verstappen started second on the grid alongside pole-getter Lewis Hamilton but wasted no time snatching the lead into the first turn. The Dutchman was daring on the brakes into the hairpin, defying a Hamilton squeeze to emerge from the apex with first place.
Continue reading on RACERMax Verstappen thinks his Saturday weakness could be a Sunday strength after missing out on pole by just 0.003s with chronic balance problems.
Since he first got in the car on Friday, Verstappen has looked uncomfortable with the set-up of his upgraded Red Bull Racing machine. He regularly radioed his team during practice to ask if there was a problem with his car to explain its seemingly random handling behavior, notwithstanding the weekend’s blustery conditions.
Budapest fans were subsequently treated to the rare sight of the Dutchman having to set a banker lap in Q2 after having an earlier lap deleted for exceeding track limits. RBR sent him onto the track out of sync with the rest of the field to ensure the lap was clean, an unusually cautious approach for the runaway championship leader.
Continue reading on RACERMax Verstappen led Red Bull Racing to a record-equaling 11th consecutive grand prix win with a straightforward victory at the British Grand Prix.
The triumphant streak, dating back to last year’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, matches McLaren’s legendary 1988 streak that saw the team win all but one race that season.
Verstappen was made to work for his win in the opening phase of the race, when he was jumped from pole by second-place starter Lando Norris.
Continue reading on RACERMax Verstappen secured pole for the British Grand Prix ahead of a surprise McLaren two-three led by Lando Norris.
The qualifying hour started in the damp, but grip ramped up rapidly as the sun broke through the clouds and dried the track into its optimum window by Q3.
The tricky conditions caught out Verstappen’s teammate, Sergio Perez, in Q1, delivering him his third bottom-five elimination of the season in another body blow to the Mexican’s campaign.
Continue reading on RACERMax Verstappen doubled down on his Friday practice advantage with another session-topping time in FP2 for the British Grand Prix.
Verstappen lowered his FP1 benchmark by more than half a second to string together his best time of 1m28.078s. But his advantage over the field was much reduced compared to the earlier session, with Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz lapping just 0.022s slower and pinching the fastest time in the final sector.
It was a promising result for the cautiously optimistic Italian team after applying a raft of upgrades to the car in recent rounds.
Continue reading on RACERMax Verstappen has started the British Grand Prix weekend in strong form, leading a foreboding Red Bull Racing one-two in the weekend’s first practice session.
Verstappen hammered in two times on softs quick enough to top the session, his best being a 1m28.600s set on used rubber. Teammate Sergio Perez’s second attempt at a flying lap got him to only within 0.448s of the leader.
Both drivers have been equipped with fresh power units for the weekend and enjoyed a clean hour of running, bar Perez running over a large piece of canvas that had found its way onto the Hangar straight. Verstappen also complained about a lack of grip on the hard tire at the start of the day, describing it as like driving on ice.
Continue reading on RACERMax Verstappen dominated the Austrian Grand Prix after seeing off an early strategic challenge from Charles Leclerc.
The Red Bull driver got away easily from pole, and after swatting away a pass attempt from Leclerc around the outside of Turn 3 and then Turn 4, Verstappen set about building a comfortable lead.
Leclerc’s biggest challenge quickly became holding off Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz, who radioed his team several times to suggest he be allowed to fight for second place, though he was rebuffed on each occasion.
Continue reading on RACERMax Verstappen won the Austrian Grand Prix sprint after a fraught dice with teammate Sergio Perez on the first lap.
Perez got the better start from second on the grid and used his position on the inside of the first turn to snatch the lead. But the Mexican ran slightly deep and onto the wet exit curb, which cost him momentum.
Verstappen cut underneath him on the run to the Turn 3, to which Perez responded by crowding him to the edge of the track, forcing him to dip his right wheels onto the grass.
Continue reading on RACERMax Verstappen lead a Red Bull front-row lockout ahead of Sergio Perez in qualifying for the Austrian Grand Prix sprint after the team’s chief rivals fumbled their way through the damp session.
Verstappen was in commanding form on the still-drying track following morning rain to beat Perez by 0.493s despite a wobble through Turn 3 that the team guessed cost him as much as 0.15s.
“The car was in a good window, good balance,” he said. “Very happy of course to be first.”
Continue reading on RACERMax Verstappen has dominated Austria’s sole practice session for Red Bull Racing ahead of qualifying later today.
Verstappen left his fastest lap until the final seconds of the hour-long session, setting a time of 1m05.742s to beat Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz by 0.241s.
The Dutchman set his time on the medium tire, whereas most of the rest of the field, including Sainz, used a set of softs in the closing stages of the session. The gap between the soft and medium compounds was around 0.4s at this circuit last season. If that difference in performance were to be replicated this weekend, it would suggest Verstappen has a formidable 0.6s advantage over the rest of the grid.
Continue reading on RACERMax Verstappen scored a rare grand slam victory at the Spanish Grand Prix, leading every lap from pole and logging the fastest lap of the race on his way to a commanding 24-second victory.
Verstappen’s win was only very briefly in doubt at the start of the race, when a strong launch by front-row starter Carlos Sainz had them running side by side into the braking zone at Turn 1. But the Dutchman had the inside line, which forced the Spaniard to yield and concede the place and consolidate second.
Verstappen was rarely spotted after that, building enough of a buffer to comfortably hold the lead after his two pit stops and stamp his authority all over the race, extending his championship lead to 53 points.
Continue reading on RACERMax Verstappen dominated the fight for pole position at the Spanish Grand Prix after Sergio Perez, Charles Leclerc and George Russell all failed to make it through to Q3.
Verstappen has been peerless all weekend at a circuit that has accentuated his Red Bull Racing car’s strongest qualities. The Dutchman was so good in qualifying that he didn’t bother to complete his final flying lap despite setting a purple middle sector. He still ended the day with a half-second advantage. After the first runs he had been 0.924s ahead of the pack.
“The car was really good,” he said after clocking 1m 12.272s for pole. “The car was on rails and was really enjoyable to drive today.
Continue reading on RACERMax Verstappen completed a clean sweep of Spanish grand prix practice after a rain-affected final practice session in Barcelona.
Dark clouds rolled over the circuit and lightning was striking in the distance as FP3 went green, and drivers were queued at the end of the pit lane on slick tires in a bid to validate overnight set-up changes before the forecast rain arrived.
Verstappen quickly rocketed to the top of the time sheet with a lap of 1m 13.664, and teammate Sergio Perez followed 0.25s further back, but the session was halted after just eight minutes when Logan Sargeant crashed his Williams at the final corner.
Continue reading on RACERMax Verstappen has swept Friday practice with another session-topping time in a close-run FP2 ahead of local favourite Fernando Alonso.
Verstappen lowered the day’s benchmark to 1m 13.907s with his single push lap on the soft-compound tire early in the session, and no-one who followed was able to better it.
Alonso, who had spent first practice earlier in the day evaluating car upgrades, got closest. The Spaniard strung together a lap just 0.17s shy of the Dutchman, including the fastest time in the final split.
Continue reading on RACERMax Verstappen set a sizzling pace to start practice at the Spanish Grand Prix at the top of the time sheet comfortably ahead of Red Bull Racing teammate Sergio Perez.
Verstappen used the soft tire to set a lap of 1m14.606s, besting Perez’s best by 0.768s. The Mexican, however, spent most of the session on the medium compound, whereas the Dutchman enjoyed a long stint in the middle of the hour on softs.
Both drivers were equipped with new power units for the weekend as well as revised floor edges and diffusers.
Continue reading on RACERMax Verstappen edged Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc to pole position at the Austrian Grand Prix after the Dutchman’s Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez failed to make it past Q2.
In a fraught qualifying hour defined as much by who could keep their car within the white lines of the track boundary as by who could go fastest around the circuit, Verstappen emerged supreme, topping every segment of qualifying on his way to pole.
Leclerc ran him close at the end, getting to within 0.048s after a gutsy attack on the track’s final sector, but Verstappen’s time of 1m04.391s couldn’t be beaten. The world champ will line up in pole position on Sunday afternoon following the standalone sprint on Saturday.
Continue reading on RACER