INDIA in F1

Author: David Bodapati

  • Bengaluru schoolboy Sohil Shah clinches Formula LGB 1300 National title

    • Prabhu champion in IJTC category
    • Easy wins for Nayan Chatterjee, Arjun Balu

    Chennai, September 8: Sohil Shah, a 17-year old schoolboy from Bengaluru, scripted a fairytale finish to his debut season by emerging champion in the highly competitive Formula LGB 1300 category in the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Racing Championship at the MMRT here on Saturday.

    Joining Sohil as a National champion was Prabhu AS (Arka Motorsports) from Namakkal who took the title in the Indian Junior Touring Cars class. In the decisive final race today, Prabhu finished second behind his title rival Chrys D’Souza (Unimek Racing) from Goa, but the latter was docked a 30-second penalty “for causing collision” which pushed him to third while Surat’s Nikunj Vagh (Team N1) was elevated to second spot. Prabhu finished the championship with 103.5 points to D’Souza’s 95.5.

    Meanwhile, Raghul Rangasamy moved a step closer to his dream of winning the MRF F1600 championship as he finished second behind Mumbai’s Nayan Chatterjee and took his tally of points to 152 which put him 14 clear of Goutham Parekh who finished third in today’s race. The Championship, whose winner becomes eligible to participate in the Mazda Road To Indy Shootout in the United States later this year, will be decided tomorrow when two more races are run with a maximum of 50 points available.

    Later, Arjun Balu (Race Concepts) moved within 13 points of leader Ashish Ramaswamy (Arka Motorsports) from Bengaluru by winning the premier Indian Touring Cars class race with surprising ease. Balu, hailing from Coimbatore and returning to racing after a five-year break, made capital of his pole position start to win by nearly 13 seconds with Ramaswamy finishing second after getting past team-mate Arjun Narendran who slowed down considerably in the last lap due to “handling issues”, as he put it. It meant, going into tomorrow’s last race, Ramaswamy leads Balu 149-136 with 25 points on offer.

    Sohil (M Sport) finished second in the race behind Balaprasath (DTS Racing) but the 18 points he thus earned saw him finish on top in the category with 154 points, just four clear of Chennai’s 19-year old Ashwin Datta (Momentum Motorsport) in the final championship standings. Sohil, who led Ashwin 136-135 after yesterday’s Race 1, made sure he finished ahead of his rival in today’s outing to secure the championship.

    “This is my first season in a National Championship and to win a title, it feels fantastic. In today’s race, I knew I had to finish in front of Ashwin (Datta) to seal the championship, but it was tough. I had some issues with the engine and Ashwin was catching up with me, but I managed to stay in front,” said Sohil, a 12th standard student of Delhi Public School, Bengaluru.

    The MRF F1600 race saw Chatterjee off to a good start and gradually pulling away from the chasing pack. Through the eight laps of the race, Chatterjee maintained steady pace to won by a handsome margin, while Rangasamy, with an eye on the championship, was content to come in second ahead of his arch-rival Parekh.

    INDIANS DOMINATE CATERHAM QUALIFYING

    Three Indian entries, B Vijayakumar (Coimbatore), Vicky Chandhok and MR Dastur, both from Chennai, qualified in that order for tomorrow’s Race 1 in the in the Caterham 7 Asia Zonal Championship double-header while a fourth home driver, Kasha Sai (Salem) took the sixth spot on the grid. Sandwiched between the home entrants were Sri Lankans Sheran Fernando and Andrew Jude Choksy. Incidentally, it was the maiden drive in the Caterham cars for Vijayakumar, Dastur and Sai while Chandhok had two podium finishes in the previous round last weekend.

    POLE FOR FRENCHMAN GHIRETTI

    France’s Alessandro Ghiretti, winner of two of the three races last weekend, warmed up for tomorrow’s triple-header in the Formula 4 South-East Championship by grabbing pole position ahead of Muizz Musyaffa (Malaysia) and Kane Shepherd (UK).

    The results (Provisional):

    MRF F1600 (Race-1): 1. Nayan Chatterjee (Mumbai) (13mins, 33.003secs); 2. Raghul Rangasamy (Mamallapuram) (13:36.349); 3. Goutham Parekh (Chennai) (13:39.932).

    Formula LGB 1300 (Race-2): 1. A Balaprasath (DTS Racing) (15:41.318); 2. Sohil Shah (M Sport) (15:42.943); 3. S Ashwin Datta (Momentum Motorsports) (15:43.479). Champion: Sohil Shah (154 points).

    Indian Touring Cars (Race-1): 1. Arjun Balu (Race Concepts) (15:12.890); 2. Ashish Ramaswamy (Arka Motorsports) (15:35.313); 3. Arjun Narendran (Arka Motorsports) (15:35.990). Turbo: 1. Karthick Tharani (VW Motorsport) (15:37.110); 2. Rayomand Banajee (VW Motorsport) (15:48.091); 3. Ishaan Dodhiwala (VW Motorsport) (15:50.365).

    Super Stock (Race-2): 1. Srinivas Teja (Performance Racing) (16:53.173); 2. Deepak Ravikumar (Infinite Piston) (17:10.342); 3. Kasha Sai (Arka Motorsports) (17:12.346). Champion: Srinivas Teja (118.5 points).

    Indian Junior Touring Cars (Race-2): 1. Prabhu AS (Arka Motorsports) (17:27.309); 2. Nikunj Vagh (Team N1) (17:38.045); 3. Chrys D’Souza (Unimek Racing) (17:43.479). Champion: Prabhu AS (103.5 points).

    Esteem Cup (Race-2): 1. Raghul Rangasamy (Performance Racing) (16:50.288); 2. Jagadeesh Raj (Arka Motorsports) (17:03.421); 3. Lea Daran (Performance Racing) (18:59.539). Champion: Raghul Rangasamy (118 points).

    Qualifying – Formula 4 South-East Asia Championship: 1. Alessandro Ghiretti (France) (01:37.757); 2. Muizz Musyaffa (Malaysia) (01:38.039); 3. Kane Shepherd (UK) (01:38.041).

    Caterham 7 Asia Zonal Championship: 1. B Vijayakumar (Coimbatore) (01:54.589); 2. Vicky Chandhok (Chennai) (01:54.975); 3. MR Dastur (Chennai) (01:56.275).

  • Srinivas Teja, Raghul Rangasamy seal respective championship title

    Srinivas Teja, Raghul Rangasamy seal respective championship title

    • Two wins for Deepak Ravikumar
    • Pole for Nayan Chatterjee in MRF F1600

    Chennai, September 7: Srinivas Teja from Chennai and Mamallapuram’s Raghul Rangasamy, both from Performance Racing team, sealed the titles in their respective categories with a race to spare in the fifth and final round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Racing Championship at the MMRT, here on Friday.

    Deepak Ravikumar (25) on way to winning the Formula LGB 1300 race on 7 Sept 2018. Photos by Anand Philar

    A second-place finish behind Deepak Ravikumar (Infinite Piston) ensured the title for 25-year old Teja in the Super Stock class of saloon cars category as he took his tally to an unbeatable 106. Ravkumar moved to second position in the championship with 76.5 points, ahead of Bengaluru’s Varun Anekar (Race Concepts, 75) and the duo will be fighting it out in the second race tomorrow. Anekar, who enjoyed a huge lead, in today’s race, retired when the throttle cable snapped in the sixth lap.

    Srinivas Teja (left) and Raghul Rangasamy who won the National championship in the Super Stock and Esteem Cup categories

    “Today, my focus was on complete the race without any mishap as I needed to finish second or third to pick up enough points to seal the championship. This is my first season in the Super Stock category and I am very happy that I was able to win the title,” said Teja.

    Rangasamy, a versatile racer though just 25, capped another fine season by sealing the title in the Esteem Cup, taking an insurmountable lead after scoring his seventh win in 10 starts this season. Rangasamy had won the Super Stock and Formula LGB 1300 titles in 2016 besides finishing second runner-up in the MRF F1600.

    With Teja and Rangasamy annexing the championship, Ravikumar’s “double” of winning the Super Stock and the Formula LGB 1300 races was somewhat overshadowed. However, the title fight in the LGB 1300 class is between Ashwin Datta (Momentum Motorsports, 136 points) and Sohil Shah (M Sport, 135) who finished fourth and fifth, respectively, going into tomorrow’s Race 2.

    POLE FOR NAYAN CHATTERJEE

    Mumbai’s Nayan Chatterjee qualified for pole position in the MRF F1600 category with a hot lap of 01minute, 39.432seconds, ahead of Raghul Rangasamy (Mamallapuram) and Chennai’s Goutham Parekh. The winner of the championship which concludes on Sunday earns a ticket to the Mazda Road to Indy Shootout in the United States later this year.

    Meanwhile, Arjun Balu (Race Concepts) snatched the pole position in the premier Indian Touring Cars class, driving a car that went through a few subtle aero changes since the previous round . His arch-rival Arjun Narendran, also from Coimbatore, and Arka Motorsports team-mate Ashish Ramaswamy, the championship leader from Bengaluru, qualified second and third respectively for tomorrow’s race that promises another close contest.

    “We made a few aero changes to the car and it reflected in our lap timings. I could have gone a bit more quicker, but got caught up in traffic during a flying lap,” said Balu, who has returned to racing after a gap of five years.

    THREE INDIAN ENTRIES FOR CATERHAM RACES

    Meanwhile, veteran racers Vicky Chandhok (Chennai), who scored two podiums during last week in the Caterham 7 Asia Zonal Championship, and B Vijayakumar (Coimbatore), besides Salem’s Kasha Sai are the three Indian entries in this weekend’s double-header. In today’s Free Practice session, Sri Lankan Sheran Fernando was the quickest, followed by Vijayakumar, Chandhok, Andew Jude Choksy (Sri Lanka) and Kasha Sai.

    The fourth round of the Formula 4 South-East Asia championship also got underway with a free practice session that leader Alessandro Ghritetti (France) topped.

    The results (Provisional, all 8 laps unless mentioned):

    Formula LGB 1300 (Race-1): Deepak Ravikumar (Chennai) (15mins, 42.479secs); 2. A Balaprasath (Coimbatore) (15:43.087); 3. Sai Sanjay (Salem) (15:48.496).

    Super Stock (Race-1): 1. Deepak Ravikumar (Infinite Piston) (16:41.287); 2. Srinivas Teja (Performance Racing) (17:02.783); 3. Kasha Sai (Arka Motorsports) (17:05.700).

    Indian Junior Touring Cars (Race-1): 1. Chrys D’Souza (Unimek Racing) (17:11.446); 2. Prabhu AS (Arka Motorsports) (17:27.207); 3. Nikunj Vagh (Team N1) (17:54.575).

    Esteem Cup (Race-1): 1. Raghul Rangasamy (Performance Racing) (16:42.575); 2. Lea Daran (Performance Racing) (18:00.485).

    Qualifying – MRF F1600: 1. Nayan Chatterjee (Mumbai) (01:39.432); 2. Raghul Rangasamy (Mamallapuram) (01:39.523); 3. Goutham Parekh (Chennai) (01:39.623).

    Indian Touring Cars : 1. Arjun Balu (Race Concepts) (01:52.311); 2. Arjun Narendran (Arka Motorsports) (01:52.668); 3. Ashish Ramaswamy (Arka Motorsports) (01:53.922). Turbo: 1. Karthik Tharani (Chennai) (01:54.179); 2. Rayomand Banajee (Mumbai) (01:55.560); 3. Ishaan Dodhiwala (Hyderabad) (01:56.312).

  • Final round of National Racing Championship (4W) set for a grand finale; F4 cars add colour

    Final round of National Racing Championship (4W) set for a grand finale; F4 cars add colour

    File photo of MRF 1600 cars in action by Anand Philar

    Chennai, 5 Sept 2018: The MRF Indian National Racing Championship 2018 organised by Madras Motor Sports Club (MMSC), is set for a grand and thrilling finale as the fifth and final round of the National Racing Championship for four-wheelers commences at the Madras Motorsports Race Track (MMRT) under the aegis of Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (fmsci) here on Friday.

    With titles up for grabs in all categories, the busy weekend will also see races in Formula 4 South-East Asia Championship and the Caterham 7 Asian Zonal Championship with drivers from Europe and Asia on the show.

    Chairman of the Meet Vicky Chandhok said: “It has been a long season, starting in February this year. We are pleased that the number of entries has shown a significant upward trend, especially in MRF Formula 1600, Super Stock and the Formula LGB 1300. We are indebted to MRF Tyres who have added muscle in more ways than one to our efforts to attract more youngsters to racing.

    “This is the biggest positive for us at the MMSC apart from the appreciation we have received from competitors and spectators alike for the upgrades we carried out at the MMRT over the past one year. We plan to build on this to provide better and safer racing environment as we go along.”

    Of special interest, this weekend would be the triple-header in the MRF Formula 1600 class where four drivers – Raghul Rangasamy (134 points), Goutham Parekh (123), Sandeep Kumar (115) and Ashwin Datta (110) – are in contention for the championship with a maximum of 75 points on offer.

    The Championship winner will earn the right to contest in the Mazda Road To Indy shootout as part of MMSC’s initiative to provide Indians an international platform to further their racing careers. The shootout, whose winner is eligible for a scholarship of USD 200,000, will be held in the United States later this year.

    The race for titles is as tight in the premier Indian Touring Cars class where a maximum of 50 points is up for grabs over two races. Bengaluru’s Ashish Ramaswamy of Arka Motorsports (131 points) and veteran Arjun Balu (Race Concepts) from Coimbatore (111) are the front-runners.

    Not far behind them are two others from Coimbatore and Arka Motorsports team-mates Nikanth Ram (98) and defending champion Arjun Narendran (93) who missed the first two rounds, but covered a lot of ground by winning three races from four starts, besides a second-place finish.

    The three other saloon car categories which have two races apiece with 50 points at stake, are also poised for a close finish. Chennai’s Srinivas Teja (Performance Racing) heads the Super Stock class with 97 points, ahead of Varun Anekar (75) of Race Concepts, Bengaluru, with Chennai’s Deepak Ravikumar (64) of Infinite Pistons and RP Rajarajan (63.5) of Performance Racing in tow.

    Raghul Rangasamy (93, Performance Racing) of Mammallapuram and Erode’s Vinod Subramaniam (82.5, Team N1) top the Esteem Cup while it is a straight fight between Namakkal’s Prabhu AS (82, Arka Motorsports) and Goa’s Chrys D’Souza (75.5, Unimek Racing) in the Indian Junior Touring Cars class.

    Only nine points separate the top three of Sohil Shah (126, MSport) from Bengaluru, and Chennai lads Ashwin Datta (123, Momentum Motorsports) and Nabil Hussain (117, MSport) in the popular Formula LGB 1300 category that has attracted the most number of entries this season.

  • Hamilton stuns Vettel with a fantastic drive in Ferrari’s home race: Italian GP

    Monza, 2 Sept 2018: Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton took a sensational 68th career win at Monza, beating Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Räikkönen after starting third in the Heinekan Italian GP of the Formula One World Championship on Sunday.

    Räikkönen was forced to settle for second place ahead of the second Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas after being passed by Hamilton nine laps from the flag. Vettel finished fourth after dropping to the back of the field following a coming together with title rival Hamilton on the opening lap of the race.

    At the start, pole position man Kimi Räikkonen held his advantage to take the lead through the opening two turns. Behind him, though, Ferrari team-mate Sebastian Vettel, who started from P2, was being pressured by title rival Lewis Hamilton and there was brief contact in Turn 1.

    Hamilton continued to press and launched an attack around the outside of Vettel’s Ferrari into the second chicane. There was minimal room for manoeuvre and the pair collided, with Vettel being sent into a spin.

    Hamilton was able to continue in second place ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who had muscled his way past the second Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas as the start, but Vettel dropped to the back of the field.

    At the back of the order there was also a collision at the start between Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson and Toro Rosso’s Brendon Hartley. The New Zealander suffered a blown tyres and he was forced to pull over at the side of the track.

    That brought out the safety car and under the caution Vettel pitted for soft tyres.

    Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo also pitted, taking on supersofts, and the pair were soon making their way through the field, with Ricciardo initially to the fore.

    When the Safety Car left the track, Hamilton made the most of the re-start and passed Räikkönen into Turn 1. The Mercedes’ driver’s hold on the lead was brief, however, as Räikkönen fought back in the second chicane and muscled his way back to the front.

    In the midfield, Vettel passed Ricciardo at the start of lap nine and by lap 17 he had hauled himself up to ninth place, but he was now 27.3s behind leading team-mate Räikkönen

    Räikkönen made his sole stop, for soft tyres, on lap 20. Mercedes feinted a stop on the following lap but with his pace good Hamilton was told to stay out.

    Behind them, Ricciardo’s race came to an end on lap 24 when smoke began to pour from the rear of his Red Bull. The Australian quickly pulled over and retired, his latest spec Renault engine appearing to let him down.

    Ahead, Hamilton made his stop on lap 28, taking on soft tyres, but he emerged behind Räikkönen. Bottas was yet to pit, however, and as Hamilton rejoined over two seconds behind Räikkönen, Bottas was told to keep his fellow Finn behind him.

    Bottas finally made his pit stop at the end of lap 35. He took on soft tyres and emerged some 3.5s behind Verstappen. Räikkönen now led again but with worn tyres that were beginning to cause the Finn problems. Hamilton, just half a second behind the Ferrari driver, was on much fresher rubber and began to exert heavy pressure.

    Vettel, meanwhile, was busy making his way back towards the leaders after a second pit stop, for supersoft tyres, and on lap 39 he claimed fifth place. He was now 13.4s behind Bottas with 14 laps to go and lapping much quicker than the Mercedes man who was battling to get past Verstappen.

    At the front, Hamilton made the decisive move on lap 45. He tucked in behind the Finn on the pit straight and then darted around the outside of the Finn’s Ferrari into Turn 1 to take a lead he would not relinquish.

    Behind Räikkönen, third-placed Verstappen Max was now coming under pressure from Bottas. The Finn went to pass in Turn 1 but Verstappen took a very wide line and there was contact, with Bottas being forced to cut the chicane.

    The incident was placed under investigation and Max was subsequently handed a five-second time penalty for causing the collision.

    After Hamilton took his 68th career win ahead of Räikkönen, Verstappen crossed the line in third, but with Bottas and Vettel within five seconds of the Dutchman, the Red Bull man was classified in fifth place, from where he started the race.

    Romain Grosjean took sixth place for Haas, while Racing Point Force India took their second double points finish in a row, with Esteban Ocon seventh and Sergio Pérez eighth. Ninth place was taken by Renault’s Carlos Sainz and the final point on offer went to Williams’ Lance Stroll.

    2018 Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix – Race 
    1 Lewis Hamilton  Mercedes –
    2 Kimi Raikkonen  Ferrari 8.705
    3 Valtteri Bottas  Mercedes 14.066
    4 Sebastian Vettel  Ferrari 16.151
    5 Max Verstappen  Red Bull Racing 18.208
    6 Romain Grosjean  Haas 56.320
    7 Esteban Ocon  Force India 57.761
    8 Sergio Perez  Force India 58.678
    9 Carlos Sainz Renault 1:18.140
    10 Lance Stroll  Williams 1 lap
    11 Sergey Sirotkin  Williams 1 lap
    12 Charles Leclerc  Sauber 1 lap
    13 Stoffel Vandoorne  McLaren 1 lap
    14 Nico Hulkenberg  Renault 1 lap
    15 Pierre Gasly  Toro Rosso 1 lap
    16 Marcus Ericsson  Sauber 1 lap
    17 Kevin Magnussen  Haas 1 lap
    Daniel Ricciardo  Red Bull Racing 30 laps
    Fernando Alonso  McLaren 44 laps
    Brendon Hartley  Toro Rosso

  • Ghiretti on top at MMRT but Shepherd ready to challenge next week

    Ghiretti on top at MMRT but Shepherd ready to challenge next week

    Formula 4 cars in action for the first time in Inida at MMRT. An F4 image.

    Chennai, 2 Septr 2018: In the Formula 4 South East Asia (F4SEA) fueled by Petron it was an interesting weekend at the Madras Motor Race Track as a bizarre turn of events saw the same three winners as the previous event in Sepang but that led to a completely different event championship.

    • First Formula 4 Race in India
    • Double-header means the action isn’t over yet – Event 4 next week 7-9 September
    • International grid from France, Thailand, Malaysia, Japan, Belgium, Ireland and Australia
    • Three races covering 180 kms
    • All races live-streamed to Facebook

    Alessandro Ghiretti walked away with the Event 3 champion trophy. After having two very unlucky weekends in Sepang where he narrowly missed out on the weekend honours, Ghiretti pulled everything together at Madras and flew off the line, with 71 points for his efforts at the end of Event 3.

    Ever present in Ghiretti’s rear view mirror was the blue number three car of Kane Shepherd. Thailand’s Shepherd managed to secure three second places with his consistent driving style netting him 54 points just behind the Frenchman.

    Malaysia’s Muizz Musyaffa drew cheers from his nation’s mechanics when he won the final race of the weekend. Driving the yellow car number 23, he was always in the middle of the action, but some bad luck in the first two races landed him with 50 points, third overall, just four points behind Kane.

    Irishman Luke Thompson has been steadily improving and now in his second year he’s starting to challenge for podiums doing well enough to bag 30 points and finish fourth on the leaderboard.

    Alister Yoong returned to the championship for the Indian legs. Son of the famous Malaysian F1 driver Alex Yoong, Alister has clearly inherited his father’s flare for race craft, and put on an impressive show when he started from the front of the grid, doing well enough to earn 28 points and an overall P5.

    Belgium’s Antoine Potty had a fantastic drive in the first race, finishing third overall. But he had less-than-perfect starts in Races two and three, ending his weekend in sixth place, with 23 points. But we’ve seen great things from Potty and we expect him to be back on the podium for the next event.

    Hailing from Japan, Ryo Komikado returned to contest Event 3 where he put in several personal bests and showed how much he has improved. With great potential for the next event, Ryo ended this weekend in P7 with 22 points.

    The F4 team had a fantastic weekend at Madras and saw some great racing. But the action’s not over yet and the show will go on next week, back at the Madras Motor Race Track, for one more event before the contingent ships out to Thailand.
    Pos Driver # Nat Pts
    1) Alessandro Ghiretti (R) 28 France 71
    2) Kane Shepherd 3 Thailand 54
    3) Muizz Musyaffa (R) 23 Malaysia 50
    4) Luke Thompson 42 Ireland 30
    5) Alister Yoong (R) 22 Malaysia 28
    6) Antoine Potty (R) 66 Belgium 23
    7) Ryo Komikado (R) 46 Japan 22
    8) Aidan Wright 7 Australia 18

    Leading from the first

    Race 1 kick-started this Sunday morning bright and early at 9am. The drivers lined up in their positions from qualifying with Ghiretti on pole, followed by Shepherd and Muizz. As the lights went out, Ghiretti took us down the main straight into Turn 1, diving up the inside to block Shepherd, before returning to the racing line.

    But Thompson had a better start than the Malaysian Muizz Musyaffa whom he got past coming into T1 just behind the race leaders, putting France, Thailand, Ireland and Malaysia in 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th positions for a short time.

    Muizz knocked on Luke’s door for several laps, but coming out of turn 3 the Malaysian lost his rear and spun round just missing the Australian behind him; fortunately he made a good recovery and returned in P6. From there Ghiretti looked set to take the win with Kane and Luke following suit, but when a safety car was called out, everyone got bunched back up.

    Ghiretti had a fantastic restart, pulling away from Shepherd, perhaps due to his qualifying strategy which ensured him fresher tyres than the Thai driver behind him – his main competition for the 2018 driver’s championship. But Luke

    Thompson in the pink car number 42 had a terrible turn of events when Ozzie Aidan Wright found a way past him on the first turn. Antoine Potty then piled past on his way up to turn 2, opening the door for Muizz to jump through the inside lane at turn 2. Luckily the Irishman managed to regain the position from Muizz, but dropping from third to fifth in the space of two corners was disheartening and his day wasn’t over yet.

    Muizz continued to chip away at Luke’s heels and eventually found a way past. As the chequered flag waved an end to the first F4 race on Indian soil, Alessandro Ghiretti, having led from lap 1, stood at the top of the podium with Kane Shepherd in second and Antoine Potty – who had found his pace during the race – finishing a well-deserved third.

    Ghirtetti also bagged the rookie title followed by Potty and Muizz.

    Race 1 Results

    Pos Driver # Nat Time Fast Stat
    1) Alessandro Ghiretti (R) 28 France 00:25:42.565 1:37.901
    2) Kane Shepherd 3 Thailand 00:25:44.594 1:37.969
    3) Antoine Potty (R) 66 Belgium 00:25:52.451 1:38.657
    4) Aidan Wright 7 Australia 00:25:53.105 1:38.520
    5) Muizz Musyaffa (R) 23 Malaysia 00:25:53.404 1:38.748
    6) Luke Thompson 42 Ireland 00:25:57.030 1:38.758
    7) Alister Yoong (R) 22 Malaysia 00:26:26;144 1:40.49
    8) Ryo Komikado (R) 46 Japan 00:26:28.960 1:40.685

    Ghiretti & Shepherd Two for Two

    Race 2 saw Alister Yoong in P2 of the reverse grid, just behind Japan’s Ryo Komikado. The Malaysian made a good start jumping up to first, while Irishman Luke Thompson displayed his skill with an amazing start! Moving from third to challenge Yoong for the lead through the first few corners, Luke had to deal with Muizz following right on his tail. Unfortunately for the Malaysian there just wasn’t enough space as Aidan Wright made a move around the outside, and Muizz ended up going through the grass as Alessandro Ghiretti went around Shepherd.

    Thompson challenged Yoong for the lead over the next few laps, as the Race 1 winners carved their way through the pack to catch up with the Malaysian and Irishman. Luke tried several moves but couldn’t make anything stick on the rookie driver in front of him and the battle had allowed the blue cars behind them to catch up. So now Thompson had Ghiretti breathing down his neck.

    It wasn’t long before the Frenchman made a spectacular move on Luke up the inside of turn 6 and they fought side-by-side through the sweeping right-hand U-turn of curve seven, where Ghiretti pushed Luke off the racing line into the grass and halting his challenge. Car number 42 was airborne for a brief moment, but Luke recovered and rejoined the race behind Shepherd.

    Six down, one to go, Ghiretti set his sights on Alister Yoong. The Race 1 winner is ridiculously fast around Madras, and as our driver coach Sandy Stuviq says:

    “Alessandro is really really strong under braking. Kane has the better exit in some corners, but Alessandro is really pushing the limit with his braking and that’s where he’s finding the time.”

    So it wasn’t long before Ghiretti found a way past the yellow car in front of him. The Frenchman carried a lot more speed through the first corner and got down the inside through turn two, where we’ve seen a lot of overtaking, went through Turn 3 side-by-side with Kane, and Aidan Wright tried a move at the kink.

    Alister managed to defend himself and resisted the challenge from Australia’s Aidan Wright that time around. After a stellar drive defending from more experienced drivers, the Malaysian ultimately had to settle for P5 as the chequered flag waved Ghiretti the winner once again ahead of Shepherd and Musyaffa.

    Race 2 Results

    Pos Driver # Nat Time Fast Stat
    1) Alessandro Ghiretti (R) 28 France 00:25:07.949 1:38.713
    2) Kane Shepherd 3 Thailand 00:25:10,144 1:38.722
    3) Muizz Musyaffa (R) 23 Malaysia 00:25:22.789 1:39.411
    4) Luke Thompson 42 Ireland 00:25:27.006 1 :39.163
    5) Alister Yoong (R) 22 Malaysia 00:25:38.169 1:40.417
    6) Ryo Komikado (R) 46 Japan 00:26:18.261 1:40.852
    7) Aidan Wright 7 Australia 00:15:26.352 1:39.356 DNF
    8) Antoine Potty (R) 66 Belgium 00:06:37.730 1:41.268 DNF

    Muizz Victorious for Malaysia

    Muizz had a fantastical start at the beginning of Race three, somehow jumping from fourth to second. The Malaysian rookie started on the right side of the grid, which put him on the inside line, setting him up perfectly as the pack went three maybe four wide through Turn 1, pushing Thompson out.

    Ryo Komikado did well to hold his position from the fastest drivers on the track, but the tag team of Ghiretti and Shepherd was too much for any man to handle. While Muizz was busy trying to find a way past Alister Yoong, who had come out of the sector on top, the duo sliced past Ryo up the inside through Turn 5 and then again side-by-side for the second time through Turn 7.

    Alister was doing well not giving Muizz an inch, but at the end of the lap he ran a little wide coming out of Turn 12. That was all Muizz needed and carrying more speed down the main straight he blitzed past his Malaysian compatriot with Ghiretti in tow. The French driver also tried to make it three for three up the inside of turn one, but didn’t have the space and was forced onto the grass, letting Alister scoop back up second place.

    Alessandro managed to recover his car without any fuss, but the time he lost was enough to give his ever-present rival Kane Shepherd the opening he had been looking for all weekend and he danced his way into third, immediately setting his sights on Alister Yoong.

    The excitement at the front of the pack produced some sensational racing, and the intense battle for sixth ended with a beached car and double yellows. The Safety Car was deployed just after Kane jumped past Alister, bunching the duo back up and effectively walling off Ghiretti.

    But the Frenchman wasn’t going to be stopped and as the chequered flag waved it was Malaysia, Thailand, France – Musyaffa, Shepherd, Ghiretti – First, Second and Third!

    Race 3 Results

    Pos Driver # Nat Time Fast Stat
    1) Muizz Musyaffa (R) 23 Malaysia 00:26:55.151 1:38.639
    2) Kane Shepherd 3 Thailand 00:26:55.612 1:38.698
    3) Alessandro Ghiretti (R) 28 France 00:26:56.800 1:38.199
    4) Alister Yoong (R) 22 Malaysia 00:27:16.582 1:39.686
    5) Luke Thompson 42 Ireland 00:27:17.008 1:39.481
    6) Antoine Potty (R) 66 Belgium 00:27:17.556 1:39.553
    7) Aidan Wright 7 Australia 00:22:42.309 1:38.696 DNF
    8) Ryo Komikado (R) 46 Japan 00:0l:52.058 1:48.299 DNF

  • Russell holds off Markelov for Monza Sprint Race win; Trident’s Arjun Maini 9th

     Russel, the British driver extends championship advantage with Italy triumph
    George Russell secured victory in the FIA Formula 2 Championship Sprint Race at Monza, Italy, capitalising on an Artem Markelov lock-up into turn 1 to bag his first race win since Austria. Markelov followed the ART Grand Prix driver home, albeit one second adrift to collect a successive second place finishes. Sergio Sette Camara factored in the battle for the win, and the Carlin driver ended the race in third position.
    After a slow getaway, polesitter Ralph Boschung immediately trickled back through the order as Nicholas Latifi – starting from the second row – surged into the lead with Russell and Markelov falling into order behind him. Sette Camara and Carlin teammate Lando Norris also enjoyed strong starts, but were unable to capitalise early on; the Brazilian dropped behind Alexander Albon, while Norris made contact in the opening corners and fell behind Luca Ghiotto and Feature Race winner Tadasuke Makino.
    The order over the opening laps was relatively stagnant, and Markelov was given the order to close in on Russell to take advantage of DRS. Meanwhile, Norris moved up the order after Makino endured a large lock-up into turn 1 after just two laps, prompting the Japanese driver to pit for new tyres on the following tour of the circuit.
    Russell had caught Latifi on the fourth lap, and looked to pass the Canadian with DRS on their next visit to the start/finish straight. Cruising past with apparent ease, Russell snatched at his brakes and let Latifi back past, while Markelov seized the opportunity to steal through into second place. The Russian then took the lead on the following lap, barrelling past on the straight to give his RUSSIAN TIME team the chance of securing back-to-back wins.
    Having failed to come back at Markelov, Latifi was now under attack from Russell, who had Sette Camara for company after the Brazilian had dispatched Albon earlier on. Russell launched his attack on Latifi on lap 9, while Sette Camara found it far tougher to dispatch the DAMS driver, eventually making his way past as Albon came under attack from Norris behind them.
    No sooner had Sette Camara steamed through into third place, Markelov ahead of them had locked up at the first chicane, taking the escape road which allowed Russell to streak past to assume control of the race. However, the lock-up hadn’t compromised Markelov’s pace and he immediately began to put Russell under pressure – with Sette Camara catching up to the pair to challenge for the lead. At the same time, Albon fell victim to Norris’ pass at Curva Grande, before dropping back with reported technical issues.
    Markelov was a constant presence in Russell’s mirrors, but was unable to capitalise on his position with DRS to launch a serious assault on the British driver. A number of opportunities after the median point of the race came to nothing, and Markelov instead elected to drop back to preserve the life in his tyres. This left him under fire from Sette Camara, but the Carlin driver was also unable to find a way past.
    With some breathing space, Russell was able to start managing the gap to the cars behind him, especially as Markelov was now occupied by Sette Camara’s advances. Further down the road, Latifi was embattled by Norris, but was inch-perfect in his defense of fourth and refused to concede a further position.
    Into the closing stages, Markelov was able to manage the gap to Sette Camara, but was unable to launch a late effort on Russell in a final play for the lead; the championship leader had opened the gap to beyond DRS range, cruising home to clinch victory and extending his championship advantage over Norris to 22 points. Markelov held onto second ahead of Sette Camara, while Latifi absorbed pressure from Norris to secure fourth. Ghiotto took sixth to grab double-points finishes from his home round, while Dorian Boccolacci took his first F2 points with seventh – as Jack Aitken beat Arjun Maini to eighth.
    Russell stands at the top of the championship with renewed vigour, his 219 points shading Norris’ haul of 197. Albon remains third with 176. Carlin have 339 points in the teams’ standings, with ART on 281 and DAMS on 249 ahead of the next round in Sochi from the 28-30 September.
    2018 FIA Formula 2 Championship Round 10 – Monza, Italy – Sprint Race Provisional Classification
    Driver
    Team
    1
    George Russell
    ART Grand Prix
    2
    Artem Markelov
    RUSSIAN TIME
    3
    Sergio Sette Camara
    Carlin
    4
    Nicholas Latifi
    DAMS
    5
    Lando Norris
    Carlin
    6
    Luca Ghiotto
    Campos Vexatec Racing
    7
    Dorian Boccolacci
    MP Motorsport
    8
    Jack Aitken
    ART Grand Prix
    9
    Arjun Maini
    Trident
    10
    Antonio Fuoco
    Charouz Racing System
    11
    Louis Deletraz
    Charouz Racing System
    12
    Alessio Lorandi
    Trident
    13
    Nirei Fukuzumi
    BWT Arden
    14
    Tadasuke Makino
    RUSSIAN TIME
    15
    Roy Nissany
    Campos Vexatec Racing
    16
    Maximilian Gunther
    BWT Arden
    17
    Nyck de Vries
    PERTAMINA PREMA Theodore Racing
    Not Classified
    Alexander Albon
    DAMS
    Ralph Boschung
    MP Motorsport
    Sean Gelael
    PERTAMINA PREMA Theodore Racing
    Fastest Lap: Sergio Sette Camara (Carlin) – 1:34.896
  • Kimi sets a blistering lap to take Monza pole ahead of Vettel, and Hamilton

    Kimi sets a blistering lap to take Monza pole ahead of Vettel, and Hamilton

    Kimi Raikkonen takes pole at Monza on 1st Sept 2018. An FIA image

    Monza, 1 Sept 2018: Kimi Räikkönen edged team-mate Sebastian Vettel to head a front-row lock-out for Ferrari in qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix, with Lewis Hamilton finishing third ahead of Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas.

    Räikkönen, whose last pole came at the 2017 Monaco Grand Prix, set a time of 1:19.119 to not only take his 18th career pole position but also to shatter the Monza lap record set 14 years ago by Juan Pablo Montoya.

    The Finn set the early pace in Q1 with a time of 1:20.937, almost six tenths of a second clear of team-mate Vettel. The Ferraris were then split by Hamilton, who posted a time of 1:21.321.

    Vettel though then moved to the front with a time of 1:20.758 and on a second attempt worked his way down to a time of 1:20.542 to head the session, in front of Räikkönen who also made an improvement and Hamilton.

    Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo, who is facing a series of PU-related penalties for tomorrow’s race, completed just a single late run in the session, but it was enough to see the Australian through to Q2 in fourth place ahead of the second Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas and Red Bull team-mate Max Verstappen.

    At the other end of the order, in the drop zone as the session drew to a close were Williams’ Lance Stroll, McLaren’s Stoffel Vandoorne, the twin Toro Rossos of Brendon Hartley and Pierre Gasly and Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg, who is also facing engine-related penalties tomorrow.

    And it was the Renault driver who managed to drag himself furthest up the order with a time good enough for 10th. Gasly and Stroll also hauled themselves out of danger with the Toro Rosso driver finishing in P12, four thousandths of a second ahead of the Williams man.

    Racing Point Force India’s Sergio Perez was eliminated in P16 ahead of Sauber’s Charles Leclerc, Hartley, the second Sauber of Marcus Ericsson and McLaren’s Vandoorne.

    At the start of Q2 is was Hamilton who set the early pace, the Briton becoming the first man to break into the 1m19s bracket with a lap of 1:19.798. Räikkönen slotted into P2, four tenths behind.

    Vettel, though, was again running faster than both and the German drew a huge cheer from the partisan crowd when he jumped to the top of the order with a first run time of 1:19.785, edging Hamilton by just over a hundredth of a second. Behind them, Bottas slotted into fourth ahead of Verstappen, Ocon, Renault’s Carlos Sainz, the Haas cars of Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen and the Toro Rosso of Gasly.

    Vettel tightened his hold on top spot with his second run, this time lapping in 1:19.629 to make it into Q3 0.169s ahead of Hamilton, with Räikkönen third ahead of Verstappen who edged Bottas by just under a tenths of a second.

    Lance Stroll put in a good lap to make it into Q3 in P8, the first time he had appeared in Q3 since the Italian GP of 2017.

    Pierre Gasly, too, delivered an excellent final lap of the segment to make it through in P10.

    That meant that eliminated in 11th place was Magnussen, with Sirtoking exiting in P12 ahead of McLaren’s Fernando Alonso. Hulkenberg and Ricciardo failed to set times and were eliminated in P4 and P15 respectively.

    Vettel stranglehold on top spot ended in the first run of Q3 however. The German crossed the line in 1:19.497. Räikkonen was right behind him on track, however, and he edged past the German by four hundredths of a second. Hamilton though was running even faster and he claimed provisional pole with a time of 1:19.390.

    There was no stopping Ferrari on home soil, however, though it wasn’t Vettel who made jumped to the top, but Räikkonen.

    As Vettel dropped a wheel into the dirt on his lap, the Finn delivered a note-perfect performance on his final lap to shatter Juan Pablo Montoya’s absolute lap record for Monza of 1:19.525 set in 2004. Räikkönen’s pole, his first since Monaco 2017, was achieved with a lap of 1:19.199.

    Vettel completed a Ferrari front-row lock-out with his final lap of 1:19.280 while Mercedes will start from row two with Hamilton third ahead of Bottas. Verstappen took fifth place for Red Bull Racing ahead of Grosjean, Sainz, Ocon, Gasly and Stroll.

     

  • Jagan Kumar leads 1-2 finish for TVS Racing: Super Sport 165cc race

    Jagan Kumar leads 1-2 finish for TVS Racing: Super Sport 165cc race

    Prabhu Arunagiri, Shruthi Nagarajan, Mithun Kumar excel on Saturday

    Jagan Kumar (No.3), winner of the Super Sport Indian (165cc) race at MMRT on Saturday. Photos by Anand Philar

    Chennai, 1 Sept 2018: Defending champion Jagan Kumar finally got his campaign on track as he notched his first win of the season in five starts while leading a 1-2 finish for TVS Racing along with KY Ahamed in the premier Super Sport Indian 165cc class of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship at the MMRT, here on Saturday.

    While TVS Racing team celebrated, arch-rivals Idemitsu Honda Ten10 Racing had to be content with a third-place finish through Mathana Kumar as pole-sitter Sarath Kumar retired barely 50 metres after the start with a broken gear lever and championship leader Rajiv Sethu crashed in the back sweep in the very first lap.

    However, there was some cheer for the Honda camp as Mithun Kumar scored a his first of the current season in the Pro-Stock 165cc class with RACR’s Naresh Babu and Sivanesan of TVS Racing following him over the finish line.

    Earlier, pole-sitter Prabhu Arunagiri (Team Alisha Abdullah) fought his way to a close win over Gusto Racing’s Amarnath Menon and Satyanarayana Raju in the Pro-Stock 301-400cc class with less than one second separating the trio while Chennai’s Shruthi Nagarajan (Apex Racing Academy) recorded her first-ever win in the Girls (Stock 165cc) category.

    Jagan had to work hard for today’s victory as he was stretched to the limit by his younger team-mate Ahamed who put in the fastest lap of the race, but eventually eschewed risk for championship points to settle for second place ahead of Mathana Kumar.

    The win took Jagan’s tally to 87 points, followed by Ahamed (76) and Rajiv Sethu (70) ahead of tomorrow’s second race.

    For 23-year old Shruthi Nagarajan, it was a memorable day while chalking up her maiden win in the National Championship. Starting third on the grid, Shruthi made it to the front on the last lap after easing past leader Alisha Abdullah (Team Abdullah) for a thrilling win. Alisha came in second ahead of Ryhana Bee (Sparks Racing). Pole-sitter and championship leader Ann Jennifer retired after a crash in the second lap, but retained her top position on the leaderboard with 50 points, albeit just two ahead of Shruthi.

    Shruthi Nagarajan

    “I am very happy to score my first-ever win in the National Championship after a few podium finishes in the past. I started third and gradually moved to the front after overtaking Alisha,” said a delighted Shruthi.

    It was a dramatic win for Prabhu Arunagiri in the six-lap race that he along with Menon and Raju dominated. After the trio pulled away from the rest of the field, Arunagiri and Menon, the championship leader in this class, swapped lead. In the last lap, Arunagiri made a decisive pass to claim victory ahead of Menon and Raju.

    Championship leader Anish Shetty (Idemitsu Honda Ten10 Racing), despite failing to score any points after starting the race from the pit-lane due to an ECU problem, continued to lead with 90 points, 33 clear of Kevin Kannan (Rockers Racing) who too drew blank today.

    The results (Provisional, all 6 laps unless mentioned):

    Pro-Stock (301-400cc) – Race-1: Prabhu Arunagiri (Team Alisha Abdullah) (11mins, 37.278secs); 2. Amarnath Menon (Gusto Racing India) (11:37.392); 3. Satyanarayana Raju (Gusto Racing India) (11:39.378).

    Super Sport Indian (165cc) – Race-1: 1. Jagan Kumar (TVS Racing) (11:46.715); 2. KY Ahamed (TVS Racing) (11:46.807); S Mathana Kumar (Honda Ten 10 Racing) (11:50.406).

    Pro-Stock (165cc) – Race-1: 1.Mithun Kumar (Idemitsu Honda Ten 10 Racing) (12:09.580); 2. Naresh Babu (RACR) (12:10.041); 3.Sivanesan S (TVS Racing) (12:19.089).

    Girls (Stock 165cc) (5 laps): 1. Shruthi Nagarajan (Apex Racing Academy) (11:28.978); 2. Alisha Abdullah (Team Alisha Abdullah) (11:29.648); 3. Ryhana Bee (Sparks Racing) (11:29.901).

    MMSC One-Make Championship (Novice) – TVS (Apache RTR 200) Race-1: 1. Karthik Mateti (Hyderabad) (13:44.310); 2. Anand R (Chennai) (13:49.157); 3. Suhail Ahmed (Chennai) (13:49.298).

    Girls (5 laps): 1. Ann Jennifer (Chennai) (11:52.938); 2. Ryhana Bee (Chennai) (11:53.005); 3. Lani Zena Fernandez (Puducherry) (12:43.126).

    Idemitsu Honda India Talent Cup (CBR 150) – Race-1: 1.Mohamed Mikail (Chennai) (12:54.158); 2. Kartik Vasant Habib (Gadag) (13:04.798); 3.Anandhu KK (Chennai) (13.23.689).

    Race-2: 1. Mohamed Mikail (Chennai) (13:03.204); 2. Anandhu KK (Chennai) (13:21.196); 3. Kartik Vasant Habib (Gadag) (13:28.357).

     

  • Vettel fastest; Ericsson emerges safe after a heavy crash in FP2

    Vettel fastest; Ericsson emerges safe after a heavy crash in FP2

    Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson survives a huge crash and escapes unhurt in FP2 session on Friday. An FIA image

    Sebastian Vettel eclipsed Ferrari team-mate Kimi Räikkönen by almost three tenths of a second to top a second practice session for the Italian Grand Prix that saw a Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson emerge unhurt for a heavy, high-speed crash.

    Just two minutes after the green light had appeared at the end of pit lane to signal the start of the session, Ericsson crashed out. At the start of his first flying lap the Swede’s Sauber snapped to the left under braking on the approach to Turn 1 after his DRS failed to close.

    His car spun into the barrier and then dug into the grass at the edge of the track. That sent him into a frightening barrel roll. Ericsson’s car eventually came to rest the right way up and he was able to climb out. He was swiftly taken to the medical centre where he was later given the all-clear.

    The crash brought out the red flags and there was a 20-minute delay as Ericsson’s wrecked car was removed and the debris cleared from the track.

     

    When running resumed, Vettel was quickly to the fore, the German posting a time of 1:21.716s on supersofts. That put him 0.157s ahead of head team-mate Kimi Räikkönen who was using soft compound Pirelli rubber.

    When the field undertook their qualifying simulations, Vettel, who was forced to abandon his first hot lap after running wide at Parabolica, was outpaced by Räikkönen who took top spot with a lap of 1:21.375.

    Vettel continued to push and on his fourth attempt jumped ahead of his team-mate to take the P1 slot with a time of 1m21.105s. Räikkönen finished the session 0.270s behind his team-mate.

    Third place in the session went to Vettel’s title rival Lewis Hamilton. The championship-leading Mercedes driver finished just 0.017s behind Räikkönen, with the Briton’s team-mate, Valtteri Bottas, four tenths of a second further back.

    Fifth and sixth places the session were taken by Red Bull Racing drivers Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo, with Dutchman Verstappen edging his Australian team-mate by 0.142s. Both men were over a second off the pace set by Vettel.

    Behind Ricciardo there was then a gap of more than six tenths of a second to best of the rest Racing Point Force India driver Esteban Ocon. The Frenchman finished the session 1.825s off the pace and 0.012s ahead of eighth-placed teammate Sergio Pérez.

    Sauber’s Charles Leclerc claimed ninth place with a late qualifying sim after his session was delayed by similar DRS problems to those suffered by his team-mate. Leclerc conducted two tests of his car’s drag reduction system after the restart but on both occasions the wing failed to work correctly. Sauber eventually rectified the problem and in all he was able to complete 20 laps. Tenth place in the session went to Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg.

    2018 Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix – Free Practice 2
    1 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 27 1:21.105
    2 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 31 1:21.375 0.270
    3 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 31 1:21.392 0.287
    4 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 35 1:21.803 0.698
    5 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing 28 1:22.154 1.049
    6 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing 28 1:22.296 1.191
    7 Esteban Ocon Force India 30 1:22.930 1.825
    8 Sergio Perez Force India 32 1:22.942 1.837
    9 Charles Leclerc Sauber 20 1:22.965 1.860
    10 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 30 1:23.063 1.958
    11 Romain Grosjean Haas 31 1:23.077 1.972
    12 Carlos Sainz Renault 32 1:23.193 2.088
    13 Kevin Magnussen Haas 28 1:23.233 2.128
    14 Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso 34 1:23.402 2.297
    15 Sergey Sirotkin Williams 28 1:23.514 2.409
    16 Brendon Hartley Toro Rosso 16 1:23.531 2.426
    17 Lance Stroll Williams 29 1:23.566 2.461
    18 Fernando Alonso McLaren 23 1:23.741 2.636
    19 Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren 30 1:24.084 2.979
    20 Marcus Ericsson Sauber 2

  • Perez heads rain-affected FP1

    Monza, 31 Aug 2018: Racing Point Force India driver Sergio Perez, topped a wet opening practice session for the Italian Grand, outpacing Ferrari’s Kimi Räikkönen by more than half a second. Perez’s team-mate Esteban Ocon took third place ahead of the Toro Rosso of Brendon Hartley on a timesheet given an unfamiliar look due to the conditions.

    After Räikkönen made a late improvement to take P1, Perez jumped to the top of the order with his final lap of the 90-minute session, as track conditions began to improve as the rain abated. The Mexican’s late lap prevented Hartley and Honda-powered Toro Rosso from setting the fastest time of the session.

    The session began in heavy rain, but both Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo and Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg were quick to take to the track. Ricciardo, though, was quickly back to the garage, complaining of low power. The Australian spent a short spell in the garage as his team checked for issues and he was able to rejoin the action shortly after the half hour mark and he would eventually climb to fifth on the timesheet behind Hartley and 1.2s adrift of Perez’s P1 time.

    As the session headed towards the half way point conditions began to improve and the times began to tumble, with the Mercedes cars of Lewis Hamilton and then Valtteri Bottas sitting at the top of the order.

    Max Verstappen then moved ahead of the Mercedes duo with a lap of 1:35.665. The Dutchman’s time, on a drying track, was good enough to allow him to hold onto top spot until Hartley arrived with a lap of 1:35.024 in the closing minutes, with teasm-mate Pierre Gasly slotting into P2.

    Ricciardo then split the Toro Rossos, with a lap of 1:35.207, before Räikkönen, Ocon and Perez demoted Hartley with last gasp laps on track that while still not dry enough for slicks, appeared to be rapidly approaching the crossover point from intermediate tyres.

    2018 Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix – Free Practice 1
    1 Sergio Perez Force India 18 1:34.000
    2 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 28 1:34.550 0.550
    3 Esteban Ocon Force India 17 1:34.593 0.593
    4 Brendon Hartley Toro Rosso 17 1:35.024 1.024
    5 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing 13 1:35.207 1.207
    6 Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso 19 1:35.438 1.438
    7 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing 10 1:35.665 1.665
    8 Carlos Sainz Renault 15 1:35.995 1.995
    9 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 15 1:36.107 2.107
    10 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 8 1:36.238 2.238
    11 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 6 1:36.546 2.546
    12 Charles Leclerc Sauber 10 1:36.648 2.648
    13 Kevin Magnussen Haas 13 1:37.066 3.066
    14 Fernando Alonso McLaren 14 1:37.426 3.426
    15 Romain Grosjean Haas 13 1:37.683 3.683
    16 Marcus Ericsson Sauber 11 1:37.790 3.790
    17 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 4 1:37.867 3.867
    18 Sergey Sirotkin Williams 10 1:37.929 3.929
    19 Lance Stroll Williams 8 1:38.253 4.253
    20 Lando Norris McLaren 9 1:38.282 4.282