Max Verstappen snatched pole position for the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix from Charles Leclerc in a chaotic qualifying session that featured five red flags and several bands of rain.
The Dutchman had just snatched to spot in Q3 with a time of 1m27.999s when the penultimate of those red flags was thrown, for Valtteri Bottas’s stopped Alfa Romeo car at Variante Alta with just under three minutes remaining.
The suspension proved decisive. Drivers had been needing multiple push laps to generate tire temperature on a track that was struggling to reach 60 degrees F, and a new band of rain arrived just minutes before Q3 was set to resume.
Continue reading on RACERMax Verstappen pinched victory from Charles Leclerc in a tense conclusion to the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
The Dutchman launched his bid for victory late, with Leclerc having controlled most of the race until the final 10 laps.
Leclerc inherited the lead from poleman and erstwhile leader Sergio Perez, who had been managing the pace until his first pit stop, on lap 15.
Continue reading on RACERSergio Perez has taken his first F1 pole position in an elongated qualifying session at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix after a major crash for Mick Schumacher delayed the completion of Q2.
Schumacher ran deep onto the curb at Turn 10 which unsettled his car and spun it backwards in a shower of sparks. It slammed sideways into the concrete barrier at the exit of Turn 11, ripping both right-hand wheels from the chassis, and was catapulted further down the track, eventually coming to rest at Turn 12.
The German was reported to be conscious and talking but had to be extricated from the car by the medical team, after which he was transported by ambulance to the medical center. Haas said afterwards that he appeared physically fine but would be airlifted to hospital for precautionary checks.
Continue reading on RACERMax Verstappen topped final practice for the Bahrain Grand Prix ahead of Charles Leclerc in a difficult-to-read session.
The Dutchman was just 0.096s quicker than Leclerc, though both drivers dropped time on their final soft-tire runs. Verstappen locked up at the first turn and opted to abandon the lap for a second attempt, while Leclerc said he was missing performance in the final sector.
Leclerc appeared to be closer to the limit in his Ferrari generally, having spun off the track at turn 11 as he tried to power over the curbs. The gravel trap saved him from a crash with the barriers by feet.
Continue reading on RACERMax Verstappen has lit up second practice at the Bahrain Grand Prix, putting Red Bull Racing at the top of the time sheet ahead of both Ferraris.
Verstappen, who was quickest at this track at the end of preseason testing, lowered the benchmark from earlier in the day to 1m31:936s. But he was pursued closely by Charles Leclerc, whose Ferrari was just 0.087s slower.
Leclerc’s best time was set on five-lap old tires and the fifth lap of a qualifying simulation run, suggesting that the C3 compound is holding its own in Bahrain this season. Indeed, the majority of the field completed competitive long-run simulations on the red-walled rubber in the second half of the session, with Verstappen’s race pace in particular looking strong.
Continue reading on RACERMax Verstappen enjoyed a well-deserved break as the new world champion during the off-season, but there’s clearly been no such rest for his lawyers.
Before a wheel had been turned in anger in 2022, Red Bull Racing and its new world champion announced they’re extending terms until 2028.
Reports from the Netherlands place the value of the deal at around $A75 million per year — Lewis Hamilton-tier cash for a driver almost 13 years the Briton’s junior.
Continue reading on FOX SPORTSMax Verstappen is the 2021 world champion after a chaotic and controversial single-lap dash with Lewis Hamilton to win the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Max Verstappen has beaten Lewis Hamilton to the 2021 world championship in the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, but Mercedes is protesting the outcome after a last-lap safety car restart turned the race on its head.
Max Verstappen passed Lewis Hamilton on the final lap to win the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and sensationally claim the 2021 Formula 1 world championship.
The Dutchman had been on course for a sound defeat to Hamilton, who jumped Verstappen off the line and controlled the race, until five laps from the finish, when a safety car was deployed to clean up Nicholas Latifi’s wrecked Williams, which had come to a crashed end in the barriers at Turn 14.
Hamilton didn’t have the margin on Verstappen to make a safety stop, gifting the Dutchman a free switch to a set of softs to combat the Briton’s badly worn hard rubber.
Continue reading on RACERMax Verstappen has snatched the all-important pole position from championship rival Lewis Hamilton in qualifying for the title-deciding Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Max Verstappen stunned championship rival Lewis Hamilton by taking a comfortable pole position for the season-deciding Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Hamilton started qualifying as the favorite after a strong series of practice sessions, whereas a lackluster Saturday practice left the Dutchman as the underdog, the Red Bull Racing car apparently off the pace.
Matters seemed to get only worse for Verstappen in Q2, when a lock-up on what should have been his race-starting set of medium tires forced him to switch to softs and what is thought to be an inferior strategy for the grand prix.
Continue reading on RACERMax Verstappen claimed top spot in first practice at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix after Lewis Hamilton had his best time deleted for exceeding track limits.
The Dutchman used two sets of soft-compound tires to set a time of 1m 25.009s, pipping Valtteri Bottas by 0.196s despite complaining of a right-leaning steering wheel during the first half of the session.
Lewis Hamilton had taken second spot with a fresh set of softs of his own to trail Verstappen by just 0.033s, but the time was erased for running wide exiting the last corner, dropping him to third and 0.346s short of his title rival. Sergio Perez completed the top four just 0.008s further adrift.
Continue reading on RACERMax Verstappen led the way in Formula 1’s arrival at Qatar’s Losail International Circuit, while Lewis Hamilton endured trouble with a damaged car and a lack of power.
The title leader looked comfortable around the sandy track on his way to the fastest time, a 1m23.723s, to beat AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly by 0.437s, the Frenchman rising through the order with a late lap on softs.
Mercedes followed in third and fourth, with Valtteri Bottas 0.471s adrift and Lewis Hamilton a further 0.351s off the pace.
Continue reading on RACERA career-best drive from Lewis Hamilton not only won him the Sao Paulo Grand Prix against the odds, but it threatened to change the complexion of the final stint of the championship.
Max Verstappen is closing in on his first Formula 1 world championship, and with a dominant performance in the Mexico City Grand Prix the Dutchman and Red Bull Racing stamped their authority on the 2021 season.
Max Verstappen has dealt a blow to Lewis Hamilton’s title chances with a comfortable 16-second victory in the Mexico City Grand Prix.
Max Verstappen turned third on the grid into an easy victory at the Mexico City Grand Prix to extend his championship lead over Lewis Hamilton.
The Dutchman used the powerful slipstream on the 880-yard run from the start to the first braking zone to sweep effortlessly around the outside of polesitter Valtteri Bottas and into a lead he would relinquish only during the pit stop window.
It was a sweet start for Red Bull Racing but a disaster for Mercedes. Bottas and Hamilton had shared the front row, but Bottas’s limp defense at the first turn had him passed by his teammate and left him exposed to contact on the Turn 1 apex with Daniel Ricciardo, who had attempted to reserve the space for his McLaren.
Continue reading on RACERSergio Perez consolidated Red Bull Racing’s stranglehold on the Mexico City Grand Prix weekend with the fastest time of Saturday practice, while Mercedes struggled to hit the sweet spot ahead of qualifying.
The Mexican ratcheted up expectations among his fanatical home crowd with a lap of 1m17.024s late in the session on a used set of medium tires, taking a 0.193s advantage over the sister car.
Verstappen set only one flying lap in the final four minutes of the hour, — having been waylaid in his garage for apparent damage at the rear of the car — and it was messy, the Dutchman complaining of an unexpected lack of grip.
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