Lewis Hamilton edged Max Verstappen by just 0.088s in final practice for the Hungarian Grand Prix after the session was suspended following a heavy crash by Mick Schumacher.
The title rivals set their times in a frantic final nine-minute dash for qualifying-representative times after teams lost eight minutes to Schumacher’s crash with a quarter of an hour remaining.
Schumacher had been embarking on a final qualifying simulation of his own when he lost the rear of his Haas car at the right-hand Turn 11, sliding off the circuit and smacking heavily sideways into the tire barrier.
Continue reading on RACERValtteri Bottas edged teammate Lewis Hamilton to the best time of FP2 at the Hungarian Grand Prix on a strong afternoon for Mercedes.
The Finn’s fastest time on the soft tire — a 1m17.012s — was just 0.027s quicker than Hamilton’s best effort thanks to purple splits in the first two sectors, surrendering time only in the final third of the lap.
Title leader Max Verstappen was third and 0.298s off the pace. The Dutchman struggled badly with balance in his Red Bull Racing machine with both the soft and the medium compounds.
Continue reading on RACERThe dust may have settled on the dramatic on-track action of the British Grand Prix, but Red Bull Racing is still ratcheting up the tension in this tightening title fight.
Lewis Hamilton emerged from the controversial British Grand Prix with a greatly reduced title deficit, but his crash with Max Verstappen has changed more than just the title arithmetic.
A rivalry for the ages. Max Verstappen ends up in the wall but Lewis Hamilton is back in the hunt after an unforgettable British Grand Prix.
Featuring ESPN F1 editor Laurence Edmondson.
The titanic Lewis Hamilton-Max Verstappen championship tussle took a controversial turn at the British Grand Prix, where Hamilton emerged victorious despite a penalty for putting Verstappen out of the race on the first lap.
Lewis Hamilton has controversially won the British Grand Prix punting title rival Max Verstappen into a 51G crash on the first lap.
Lewis Hamilton took victory in the British Grand Prix in a thrilling late dash after crashing into title leader Max Verstappen in a huge first-lap crash at Silverstone.
The two championship contenders touched as they went side by side into Copse, but the Dutchman came off worst, sent spearing over the gravel and into the barriers in a 51G smash. He emerged seemingly unhurt from the crash, but Red Bull Racing confirmed during the race that he has been taken to a nearby hospital for precautionary checks.
The crash was the culmination of a half-lap of intense battling between pole-getter Verstappen and Hamilton, who started alongside him on the front row.
Continue reading on RACERLewis Hamilton has topped his first qualifying session in five races in a nailbiting hour at the British Grand Prix.
Lewis Hamilton will start F1’s first-ever sprint race from the front of the grid after edging title leader Max Verstappen in a tense qualifying session at the British Grand Prix.
Hamilton was unfancied to top the session after Mercedes showed poorly in opening practice, but the Briton built his way into the session until his first lap in Q3 put him convincingly in provisional P1 by more than 0.15s ahead of Verstappen.
And there was more to come from the reigning world champion, although his afternoon almost came undone through the final turns. Spurred by his boisterous home fans, he set two more purple sectors on his final flying lap but lost the rear of the car in Vale, losing all the time he’d gained.
Continue reading on RACERLewis Hamilton reasserted Mercedes’s credentials at the top of the time sheet with the fastest lap of second practice at the Austrian Grand Prix.
Hamilton struggled to string together a competitive time without exceeding track limits during the morning session, but with a fresh set of softs in the afternoon the Briton logged a time of 1m04.523s. His teammate, Valtteri Bottas, followed 0.189s behind, while Max Verstappen, quickest in FP1, was third and 0.217s off the pace.
The unsettled weather that has dominated the Red Bull Ring since Formula 1 arrived in Austria last week threatened to break shortly after the Dutchman set his quickest time a little after halfway through the 60-minute session, with rain affecting particularly in the first two sectors.
Continue reading on RACERA comfortable victory from pole, an extended championship lead and no signs of slowing down: Max Verstappen is Formula 1’s new championship favourite.
Lewis Hamilton broke Max Verstappen’s practice streak by topping the final session ahead of qualifying at the Styrian Grand Prix.
Hamilton’s best time of 1m04.369s was 0.204s quicker than Verstappen’s best effort, although the Dutchman’s final flying lap, attempted in the final 10 minutes when the circuit was at its fastest, was hamstrung by traffic at Turn 3, leaving him 0.155s down in the first sector.
The bulk of Verstappen’s advantage over the weekend to date has been in the power-sensitive first sector, where his Honda power unit is best able to stretch its legs.
Continue reading on RACERValtteri Bottas opened the French Grand Prix with the fastest time of first practice, but his Mercedes team was fuming about high curbs damaging his car.
Bottas had a 0.335s advantage over teammate Lewis Hamilton, but he was an early victim of the aggressive curbs dotted around the track, incurring damage to his front wing and requiring his first spare to be fitted just minutes into the session.
Circuit Paul Ricard has had a series of narrow, tall “baguette” curbs installed just beyond the regular red and white strips to deter drivers from running wide over the track’s vast expanses of asphalt, but they proved to be car destroyers based on the first hour of running.
Continue reading on RACERLewis Hamilton has pulled off a daring dash to pinch victory from Max Verstappen and extend his championship lead.
Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes-Benz beat Max Verstappen and Red Bull to victory at the Spanish Grand Prix with a strategic masterstroke after losing the lead on the first lap.
Pole winner Hamilton started alongside Verstappen on the front row of the grid, but the Dutchman got the better start to go side by side into the first turn. He had the inside line and used the full width of the track to force Hamilton to yield or risk damage to his front wing to seize first place.
The news got worse for Mercedes. Valtteri Bottas, starting from third, slipped to fourth behind Charles Leclerc, the Ferrari driver sweeping around the Finn’s outside through the long Turn 3 in a beautiful first-lap move to split him from the front-runners.
Continue reading on RACERLewis Hamilton has pipped Max Verstappen to claim his 100th pole position in Formula 1 in a tight qualifying hour at the Spanish Grand Prix.
Lewis Hamilton scored his 100th Formula 1 pole position with a fine-margins victory over Max Verstappen ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix.
Hamilton needed only one lap in Q3 to claim his record-extending pole. His first time of 1m16.741s put him at the head of the grid and ahead of title rival Max Verstappen by just 0.036s, and neither he nor the Dutchman was able to improve with their second attempts.
The Briton paid tribute to Mercedes, with which he’s scored 74 of his pole ton of poles since joining the team from McLaren.
Continue reading on RACER