Max Verstappen landed a major boost to his championship campaign with a peerless drive to victory in the Belgian Grand Prix.
Verstappen started the race from 14th on the grid but made scintillating progress from lights out. He made five positions up on the first lap alone and continued scything through the field after a brief safety car intervention to clear the stricken cars of Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas.
By the end of lap 8 – just five racing laps into the race – he was up to third and had victory in his sights.
Continue reading on RACERCarlos 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 RACERCharles Leclerc edged George Russell to top spot in final practice at the Dutch Grand Prix, while Max Verstappen recovered from Friday woes to take third.
Leclerc consolidated Ferrari’s lead from Friday evening to set a time of 1m11.632s to pip Russell by just 0.066s. The Mercedes driver was quicker than the Ferrari driver in the final sector, which is mostly flat out after Turns 11 and 12, but lost the bulk of the difference through the high-speed bends of the second split.
Verstappen’s return to competitiveness was the session’s biggest talking point, however. Red Bull Racing struggled with setup on Friday thanks to track time lost through mechanical issues, but the team bounced back on Saturday morning to put Verstappen into the pole fight ahead of qualifying.
Continue reading on RACERMax Verstappen won the Hungarian Grand Prix and extended his championship lead again after a Ferrari strategy blunder cost Charles Leclerc another victory.
Verstappen started 10th but made strong progress in the opening stint to run fifth after 15 laps in time of the first pit stop window, when he undercut his way past Lewis Hamilton into fourth and within striking distance of the podium.
Meanwhile, at the front of the field pole-getter George Russell’s lead came under siege from the Ferrari drivers, with Carlos Sainz leading Charles Leclerc.
Continue reading on RACERNicholas Latifi took a shock top spot in a soaking-wet final practice session at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Latifi took the unlikely accolade with his final lap of the hour, when the previously saturated track was at its driest after a long break from the rain.
Running had been suspended for a little over five minutes to clear Sebastian Vettel’s crashed Aston Martin from the barriers at Turn 10 after aquaplaning on entry, sending his rear-right corner into the wall.
Continue reading on RACERCharles 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 RACERCarlos 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 RACERMax 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 RACERMax Verstappen set an imposing benchmark in second practice at the Belgian Grand Prix despite tricky slippery conditions.
The cool track, which had been sprinkled intermittently with rain throughout the day and endured another shower in the final 10 minutes, offered grip at a premium, but the Dutchman mastered the slick circuit to set a best time of 1m45.507s with his Red Bull. The only blot in his copybook was the stewards noting him for a potential practice start infringement when the cars lined up on the grid after the checkered flag, which at worst would likely lead to a reprimand.
Charles Leclerc was next quickest, but his Ferrari was 0.862s off the pace. The Monegasque’s only ameliorating excuse was that his car appeared to be making some unusual noises via the warning system that he asked the team to switch off.
Continue reading on RACERMax Verstappen cruised to an easy win at the French Grand Prix after polesitter Charles Leclerc crashed out of the race in a devastating blow to his title campaign.
Leclerc was in the lead of the grand prix, having fended off 10 laps of Verstappen advances, and was traversing Turn 11 when the rear stepped out in the middle of the corner.
His Ferrari swapped ends before going into the far barrier nose-first, ending his race on the spot.
Continue reading on RACERCharles 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 RACERMax Verstappen beat Carlos Sainz to top spot in final practice at the French Grand Prix.
Verstappen’s best lap of 1m 32.272s covered Sainz by a comfortable 0.354s margin, while Charles Leclerc struggled with degradation in third, 0.637s off the pace.
The Dutchman’s supremacy was such that even his quickest time on the medium compound would have put him second in the final order – and it would’ve been quick enough to keep top spot before Sainz set a second time on softs after two cool-down laps.
Continue reading on RACERFerrari 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 RACERCharles 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 RACERCharles 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 RACERMax Verstappen dominated the Austria sprint race ahead of the squabbling Ferrari drivers to inch open his world championship lead.
Verstappen got away cleanly from the line, while Carlos Sainz followed him into the first corner from third on the grid, jumping teammate Charles Leclerc, who started on the front row.
The Spaniard attempted to challenge the Dutchman into Turn 3 but went deep, and Leclerc took his opportunity to cut down his inside and get the better exit. The Monegasque was later on the brakes on the inside of Turn 4 and took the place back, demoting his teammate to third.
Continue reading on RACERCarlos 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 RACERMax Verstappen will start the Austrian Grand Prix sprint race from pole after pipping Charles Leclerc to top spot by just 0.029s. British Grand Prix winner Carlos Sainz qualified third and just 0.082s off the pace.
Verstappen left his best until last. Not only was the Red Bull driver one of the last across the line, but his first two sectors weren’t improvements on his previous laps, with the fine difference all coming at the final split.
“At the end it was a very tight qualifying,” he said. “It’s a very challenging track as well to get everything right.
Continue reading on RACER