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Author: INDIAinF1 Desk
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Kush Maini highest ranked rookie as he garners 8 valuable points: F2
Monaco, 28 May 2023: Indian racing star Kush Maini of Campos Racing who garnered eight valuable points in the Feature Race finishing sixth is currently standing fourth in the FIA F2 championship ans the Indian champion is the highest ranked Rookie. Meanwhile, compatriot Jehan Daruvala, who came 2nd in the Sprint Race earlier on Saturday took eight points and remain on 40 as he failed to get into points on Sunday in the Feature race and is behind Kush Maini, who has 49 points.
Kush Maini got lucky with the safety car period and finished sixth after a poor starting position. Jehan Daruvala came 13th.
Vesti wins Feature Race
Frederik Vesti claimed a commanding Feature Race victory in Monte Carlo and the lead of the Drivers’ Championship with it. The Prema Racing driver led every lap of Sunday’s event after a Safety Car and Red Flag to take his second victory of the 2023 season.
Théo Pourchaire crossed the line second after teammate Victor Martins was handed a mid-race drive-through penalty. Zane Maloney rounded out the podium in third position for Rodin Carlin, his second podium of the year.
AS IT HAPPENED
Vesti maintained the lead from lights out, but Pourchaire had to defend third from a fast-starting Jack Doohan into Turn 1. Isack Hadjar squeezed his way past Jehan Daruvala for P9 on the way up the hill to make up a place in the initial phase.
Starting on the option tyres, Oliver Bearman made great progress in the first few corners from 16th on the grid. A move at the Turn 6 hairpin earned him 13th position from Clément Novalak and he wasn’t done there. Into Turn 12, a dive to the inside of Amaury Cordeel gave him P12 on a busy opening lap for the PREMA Racing man.
Daruvala was the first from the top 10 to make their mandatory stop, swapping supersofts for softs and rejoining in 16th place. Juan Manuel Correa also pitted, releasing Bearman who had been cooped up behind the Van Amersfoort Racing #23.
Iwasa and Hadjar were in from P8 and P9 on Lap 13 for their stops, while Bearman pitted on Lap 15 and rejoined the circuit ahead of Iwasa. The DAMS was right on his gearbox though and into the Turn 5 hairpin, the Japanese driver dived to the inside to make a crucial pass.
Enzo Fittipaldi’s race came to an end on Lap 19, with the Rodin Carlin pulling to the side of the track at Turn 12, bringing out the Virtual Safety Car. The VSC was withdrawn on Lap 21 to get back to racing with Vesti leading Martins by 5.2s.
That advantage was swiftly wiped away after Doohan hit the barriers at Turn 4 on Lap 22, resulting in a Safety Car. That brought the leaders in for their mandatory stops. Vesti rejoined in the lead with Martins second and Pourchaire third. Maloney managed to narrowly avoid Doohan’s stricken car on the racing line and made his mandatory stop along with Verschoor in fourth and fifth places.
Dennis Hauger was a big winner, making his mandatory stop and serving a five-second time penalty for gaining an advantage on the opening lap by cutting the track. The Norwegian rejoined in P6. Kush Maini, Roman Stanek, Jak Crawford and Iwasa completed the top 10 just as the Red Flag was thrown on Lap 24 in order to complete barrier repairs.
The race got back underway with a rolling restart entering Lap 27 as Vesti held the lead from the pair of battling ARTs behind. That battle was changed entirely after Martins was assigned a drive-through penalty for failing to slow under yellow flags behind the Safety Car. He was in to serve the sanction on Lap 31, coming back out in P8.
Following the Red Flag, the race went to time and Vesti completed Lap 33 to win the Monte Carlo Feature Race by 2.5s from Pourchaire.
Maloney finished a lonely third on the road ahead of Richard Verschoor in fourth, with Hauger an impressive fifth having started from 17th on the grid. Maini secured more points in P6 ahead of Stanek, who made up 15 places for Trident. Martins, Crawford and Iwasa in rounded out the top 10.
KEY QUOTE – Frederik Vesti, PREMA Racing
“P1 in the Feature Race in Monaco. What a day this is and what a weekend, pole position as well which is nice! We are leading the Championship as well, which is also nice. I want to thank Mercedes and PREMA for the support, the car is mega. Now, it’s time to keep pushing, we have a race weekend already next week in Barcelona. Let’s continue the form and continue pushing.”
THE CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
Vesti’s victory moves him to the top of the Drivers’ Championship, rising to 89 points. Pourchaire stays within touching distance, now on 84 points in second. Iwasa falls to third having led the standings ahead of the Feature Race. The DAMS driver now has 69 points. Kush Maini remains as the highest-placed rookie so far this year, climbing to 49 points, one ahead of Dennis Hauger who is now fifth.
PREMA Racing extends its lead in the Teams’ Standings, now on 130 points. ART Grand Prix moves up to second with 108 points while DAMS is now third on 103.
UP NEXT
FIA Formula 2 returns right away with Round 7 from the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Spain from 2-4 June.
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Roberto Merhi to race for Mahindra Racing at Jakarta
Mumbai / Banbury, May 28, 2023: Mahindra Racing today announces that Roberto Merhi will join its Formula E team as race driver for next weekend’s ABB FIA Formula E World Championship races in Jakarta.
Roberto will race the #8 Mahindra M9Electro alongside Lucas Di Grassi in the #11.
A mutual agreement has been reached between Oliver Rowland and the team for him to step aside for the next seven races. Roberto will race in Jakarta, enabling him to gain valuable race experience.
Roberto, who raced for Manor Marussia F1 Team during the 2015 season, joins the Banbury based outfit after his first taste of electric racing at the Rookie Test in Berlin last month. A successful single-seater career saw the Spaniard win races across Formula Renault, Spanish F3, British F3 and Formula Renault 3.5 Series before progressing into Formula One, first as a test driver and then a competing driver. He has also raced in DTM and FIA Formula 2, before advancing into sports car and endurance racing, finishing third in the Asian Le Mans Series Drivers’ Championship in 2020.
Roberto Merhi said: “It’s a huge honour for me to step in and represent Mahindra Racing for the races in Jakarta. I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunity and I’m determined to make the most of it. I had a chance to drive the M9Electro at the rookie test in Berlin but Formula E is very different to any of the other series I’ve raced in so the learning curve will be steep. But I feel ready, excited and up for the challenge.”
Mahindra Racing CEO, Frederic Bertrand, said: “We are delighted to welcome Roberto to the Mahindra Racing team. Roberto has impressive experience in top-level racing and a good track record in major championships. He had a great run with us at the Rookie Test in Berlin last month and we could see he had the potential to become a great asset for the Mahindra Racing team. It’s not easy to jump in mid-season, but Roberto has experience of working with the team, so I’m sure he will slot into the team brilliantly.”
The double-header Jakarta E-Prix takes place next weekend on Saturday 3rd and Sunday 4th June.
Mahindra Racing has a strong set of partners, including Official Powertrain Partner ZF and e-fluids partner Shell. Maurice Lacroix, the luxury Swiss watchmaker, continues as the Official Timekeeper.
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Max Verstappen conquers rain and Monaco: F1 Round 7
Monte Carlo, 28 May 2023: Max Verstappen survived a long stint on fading tyres, late rain and tricky conditions to win the 2023 FIA Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix, the Round 7 of the FIA Formula One World Championship, ahead of Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso here on Sunday. Alpine’s Esteban Ocon took a well-worked first podium of the year for the French team.
At the start of the race Verstappen got away well from pole position to take the lead ahead of Alonso and over the opening phase of the race, the Dutchman built a solid lead over his Spanish rival. By lap 25 the championship leader had carved out an almost 12-second advantage at the front, though having started on medium tyres, the Dutchman knew that his lead would come under threat as Alonso went deeper into the race on hard tyres.
Behind the leading pair Ocon was proving to be the cork in a bottle containing Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton and the second Ferrari of Charles Leclerc and all three chose to pit for medium tyres to try to escape the lengthening train.
The skies above Monaco were darkening, however, and at the front Verstappen was now facing a dilemma. Alonso, running on hard tyres, could hold station and wait for the rain to arrive before making a sole pit stop. By contrast, Verstappen was finding the going increasingly difficult on his starting mediums. If the rain held off and he was forced to pit for new hard tyres he would be at the mercy of Alonso should the rain then fall.
The Red Bull driver was told to stay out as long as he could but with his front left tyre looking increasingly angry, he radioed his team to say he didn’t know how long he could go on.
As the race edged towards its final 20 laps, though, the Dutchman’s prayers were answered. Rain began to fall at the top of the circuit and soon began to drift towards the harbour.
Alonso chose to pit on lap 54, but crucially, the Spaniard opted to switch his hard tyres for a set of mediums. It proved to be the wrong choice and as the rain intensified Verstappen was finally called in to shed his ragged mediums for a set of intermediate Pirellis.
Alonso was forced to return to the pits for a set of the green-walled tyres and when he emerged he was more than 20 seconds behind Verstappen and despite the treacherous conditions the Dutchman was firmly in control.
Alonso tried to close in but eventually Verstappen took the flag almost 28 seconds ahead of the Aston Martin driver at the chequered flag.
Behind them Ocon converted his third-place start into a third F1 podium, despite coming under heavy pressure from Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton in the wet closing stages of the race.
Hamilton finished fourth ahead of team-mate George Russell, who was handed a five-second penalty by the race stewards for rejoining the circuit unsafely at Mirabeau.
Despite the penalty Russell was still able to clinch fifth ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. Pierre Gasly was seventh for Alpine ahead of the second Ferrari of Carlos Sainz and the McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri rounded out the points positions.
2023 FIA Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix – Race
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 78 1:48’51.980
2 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 78 1:49’19.901 27.921
3 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 78 1:49’28.970 36.990
4 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 78 1:49’31.042 39.062
5 George Russell Mercedes 78 1:49’48.264 56.284
6 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 78 1:49’53.870 1’01.890
7 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 78 1:49’54.342 1’02.362
8 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 78 1:49’55.371 1’03.391
9 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 77 – 1 lap
10 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 77 – 1 lap
11 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 77 – 1 lap
12 Nyck de Vries AlphaTauri/Honda RBPT 77 – 1 lap
13 Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 77 – 1 lap
14 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 77 – 1 lap
15 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri/Honda RBPT 76 – 2 laps
16 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda RBPT 76 – 2 laps
17 Nico Hülkenberg Haas/Ferrari 76 – 2 laps
18 Logan Sargeant Williams/Mercedes 76 – 2 laps
19 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 70 – Not running
Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 53 – Retirement -
Max Verstappen tops FP2 ahead of Charles Leclerc: Monaco Grand Prix
Monaco, 27 May 2023: Formula 1 Drivers’ Championship leader Max Verstappen topped the second practice session for this Sunday’s 2023 FIA Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix, beating Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc by just under seven hundredths of a second. Third place went to Leclerc’s team-mate Carlos Sainz but the Spanish driver crashed in the final part of the session, bringing out the red flags.
In the early stages of the second hour of practice it was Verstappen who led the way with the Red Bull driver taking P1 thanks to a lap of 1:13.985. Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton briefly supplanted the title leader by the slimmest of margins before the Dutchman resumed control with a time of 1:13.857.
Verstappen improved again to lower the benchmark to 1:13.312 as the early running on medium compound Pirelli tyres came to an end.
When the field began to move to soft tyres it was Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso who made the first major move. The two-time champion jumped ahead of Verstappen with a lap of 1:12.786, which stood as the best time of the session for more than 10 minutes before Sainz made his soft-tyre leap with a lap of 1:12.569.
Verstappen slotted into third with his first effort on soft tyres, but then moved ahead with his next run of 1:12.462.
Leclerc then jumped to P2, marginally ahead of his Ferrari team-mate but that brought an end to significant improvements as Sainz then brought out the red flags. The Spanish driver clipped the barrier on the inside as he went to exit the Swimming Pool section.
The contact broke a suspension arm on the front right of his car and he slid into the barriers at the exit, causing further damage to the right side of his Ferrari.
Once his car and the debris had been cleared running resumed with 12 minutes left on the clock but there were few improvements.
Verstappen therefore took top spot ahead of the Ferrari duo, with Alonso fourth fastest ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris. Hamilton finished sixth for Mercedes, while Sergio Perez was seventh in the second Red Bull RB19. Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas ended the session in P8 ahead of the Alpines Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon.
2023 FIA Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix – Free Practice 2
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing 1:12.462 30 165.786
2 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:12.527 0.065 33 165.637
3 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:12.569 0.107 22 165.541
4 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1:12.682 0.220 32 165.284
5 Lando Norris McLaren 1:12.906 0.444 18 164.776
6 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:12.960 0.498 29 164.654
7 Sergio Pérez Red Bull Racing 1:12.991 0.529 30 164.584
8 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo 1:13.050 0.588 33 164.451
9 Pierre Gasly Alpine 1:13.089 0.627 28 164.363
10 Esteban Ocon Alpine 1:13.162 0.700 30 164.199
11 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1:13.185 0.723 31 164.148
12 George Russell Mercedes 1:13.191 0.729 32 164.134
13 Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo 1:13.354 0.892 32 163.770
14 Kevin Magnussen Haas 1:13.457 0.995 28 163.540
15 Nico Hülkenberg Haas 1:13.520 1.058 33 163.400
16 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri 1:13.641 1.179 22 163.131
17 Nyck de Vries AlphaTauri 1:13.663 1.201 34 163.083
18 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:13.673 1.211 30 163.061
19 Alexander Albon Williams 1:14.217 1.755 10 161.865
20 Logan Sargeant Williams 1:14.238 1.776 33 161.820 -
Vamcy Merla backs Rally of Whangarei, Pacific Cup winners: APRC
Whangarei (New Zealand), 11 May 2023: The 12-14 May running of the 2023 International Rally of Whangarei is underway with teams now doing pre-event reconnaissance.
“There is prize money of NZ$3,000 for the winning APRC entrant, $2,000 for second and $1,000 for third, provided by Indian businessman and promoter Vamcy Merla,” said the organisers about the contribution of Merla, who is taking forward the legacy of his later father, Merla Chandrasekhar Rao of Kalyani Group in Andhra Pradesh.
Preparation for the return of the international level to the Whangārei region comes after numerous weather events and successive years hiatus through COVID-19 restrictions.
Organisers are now looking ahead following Tuesday’s rain downpour – focussing on delivering the event as planned, with currently only one minor alteration to the timetable.
Scheduled to be contested over 18 special sections of closed road, that has now been reduced to 16.
“On the Sunday we’ve removed the Tangihua road from the timetable – which was to be used twice,” said Mr Steve Foster, chairman of the organising committee.
“Following the weather front that passed through we’ve had to ask and been asked the question as to the usability of some roads. Inspection has confirmed It only affected one section of road where there have been slips that are yet to be cleared. While it’s expected to be open again this afternoon we’ve opted to remove it from our schedule.”
At 14.40km long it will reduce the overall competitive distance from 254.60km to 225.80km.
Foster says Pohe Island is now the current focus. The William Fraser Memorial Park is to host Saturday’s publicity section: “Current conditions make it marginal for hospitality to setup at Pohe Island – we’re working on an alternate option while remaining optimistic the clearer weather mean we can run as planned.”
With light rain expected during the Thursday, weather for the next few days is clear.
“It’s possible a few showers could pass through later on Sunday however that’s a few days out and unlikely to affect anything,” added Foster.
The event brings 48 teams to the region – 11 of them contesting the FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) category. Top-seed drivers include Hayden Paddon and Shane van Gisbergen.
Seven cars are offshore entries, including the Cusco Toyota C-HR of Michael Young. Others include Eugene Creugent and Pierre-Henri Brunet from New Caledonia, Julien Lenglet and Nelson Law from Vanuatu, Stewart Reid and Glen Alcorn from Australia.
Activity starts from 1pm Friday with shakedown testing at William Fraser Memorial Park’s Pohe Island. Drivers will then be at the Cameron St Mall from 4:45pm for a signing session ahead of the 5:30pm ceremonial start.
The competitive section begins Saturday morning with four special stage tests to the north of Whangārei. They return from 11:42am for a service stop before repeating the journey in the afternoon. The day concludes with a double run of the Pohe Island 1.15km spectator stage.
Sunday uses four road stage sections to the south – repeated after the 10:39am service break. The remaining teams return for the ceremonial finish at the Pūtahi Park – Town Basin, Whangārei, from 3pm.
Spectator tickets start at $10 for the rural stages for the Saturday or Sunday, or $20 for the Pohe Island stage. Full ticketing information can be found on the website. https://www.rallywhangarei.co.nz/spectators/
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Max Verstappen wins from P9; Red Bull 1-2: Miami GP
Miami (USA), 7 May 2023: Max Verstappen powered his way through from ninth on the grid to win the Miami Grand Prix, passing team-mate Sergio Pérez in the closing stages of the 57-lap race as Red Bull Racing sealed its fourth one-two finish of the season. Fernando Alonso scored his fourth podium finish of the season so far with third place for Aston Martin.
When the lights went out, Pérez got away well and took the lead ahead of Alonso and the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz. Behind them, Haas’ Kevin Magnussen made a poor start and dropped back to seventh as Pierre Gasly moved to fourth ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.
Meanwhile, Verstappen, on Hard tyres, lost out at the start when Alfa Romeo’s Valterri Bottas made a good start and rose to eighth. However, the Dutchman quickly moved past Alpine’s Esteban to take back P9.
That became P8 on the next lap and then at the end of lap 3 the Dutchman closed up behind the duelling pair of Leclerc and Magnussen and when the Haas driver tried to fight back after Leclerc had overtaken him, Verstappen moved to inside and powered past both under DRS as they crossed the line.
The Red Bull driver closed up to Russell on lap nine and passed the Mercedes driver under braking into Turn 17. He chose the same place to muscle past Gasly on the next lap and then on lap 14 he passed the Spaniard under DRS into Turn 11. His next target was Alonso, and with pace to spare he eased past the Aston Martin driver, who offered little resistance, on the following lap.
The medium-tyre starters now began to pit and Pérez made his stop at the end of lap 20. The Mexican switched to Hard tyres in 2.2 seconds and rejoined in fourth place behind Alpine’s Esteban Ocon who had started on Hard tyres. Verstappen, still on his starting Hards, now led the race.
After Pérez reclaimed P2 from Ocon shortly before half distance the race became a tactical battle between Pérez, on fresh Hard tyres, and Verstappen on ageing Hards and with a stop for Mediums to come.
Pérez, 16 seconds behind his team-mate pushed to close the gap while also trying to protect his tyres for the inevitable fight at the end of the race, but as Verstappen continued to put in strong lap times despite the age of his tyres it soon became clear that the Mexican was fighting a losing battle.
After an exceptional final phase of his long opening, during which he set a cluster of fastest lap times, Verstappen made his sole stop of the race on lap 45 and took on Medium tyres. He emerged just 1.6 seconds behind his team-mate and on lap 47 he closed up to his team-mate and attacked into Turn 17.
Pérez defended well but on the run to Turn 1 at the start of the next lap he drew alongside and after a brief tussle got past to take the lead and ultimately the win.
And 10 laps later Max crossed the line five seconds ahead of Pérez to take a second consecutive Miami Grand Prix and his third win of the season. Alonso, capped a lonely race with a fourth podium finish of the year ahead of Russell and Sainz, who had five seconds added to his time at the flag for an earlier pit lane speeding offence.
Sixth place went to Hamilton, with Charles Leclerc seventh for Ferrari. Gasly was eighth for Alpine ahead of team-mate Ocon and the final point went to Magnussen.
2023 FIA Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix – Race
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing 57 1:27’38.241
2 Sergio Pérez Red Bull Racing 57 1:27’43.625 5.384
3 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 57 1:28’04.546 26.305
4 George Russell Mercedes 57 1:28’11.470 33.229
5 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 57 1:28’20.752 42.511
6 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 57 1:28’29.490 51.249
7 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 57 1:28’31.229 52.988
8 Pierre Gasly Alpine 57 1:28’33.911 55.670
9 Esteban Ocon Alpine 57 1:28’36.364 58.123
10 Kevin Magnussen Haas 57 1:28’41.186 1’02.945
11 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri 57 1:28’42.550 1’04.309
12 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 57 1:28’42.995 1’04.754
13 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo 57 1:28’49.878 1’11.637
14 Alexander Albon Williams 57 1:28’51.102 1’12.861
15 Nico Hülkenberg Haas 57 1:28’53.191 1’14.950
16 Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo 57 1:28’56.681 1’18.440
17 Lando Norris McLaren 57 1:29’05.958 1’27.717
18 Nyck de Vries AlphaTauri RBPT 57 1:29’07.190 1’28.949
19 Oscar Piastri McLaren 56 – 1 lap
20 Logan Sargeant Williams 56 – 1 lap -
Mahindra Racing Formula E team continue to make progress in Monaco
Mumbai / Banbury, May 8, 2023: Mahindra Racing Formula E team leaves round nine of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship feeling positive with their race pace after a storming start to the Monaco E-Prix by Oliver Rowland.
Oliver lined up in 13th place on the iconic Monaco grid after an improved performance in qualifying earlier in the day. After passing seven cars in the first two laps, he dropped back a few places due to taking attack mode early. Unfortunately, during the hectic race, he made contact with the back of Mortara’s Maserati, injuring his hand. He was also hit on the side by another competitor causing a puncture, meaning he had to pit the #8 for both a nose change and a left rear wheel change. Towards the later stages of the race, Oliver was struggling too much with the pain in his hand, so he and the team decided to retire the car to stop Oliver suffering any more pain.
Racing on his home streets, Lucas Di Grassi also made up seven places throughout the 29-lap race, crossing the line in P13 after starting in 20th place. His qualifying session was hampered by a crash in FP1, the nature of the Monaco race weekend meaning all sessions are held on one day and started towards the back of the grid. After a relatively quiet race, Lucas crossed the line in 13th place, but was promoted to 12th position after a penalty for another competitor.
Retiring from the race with an injured hand, Oliver Rowland said: “I made a great start. I passed seven cars over the first two laps and even managed to save energy at the same time as well, so it was looking positive. I dropped back a couple of spots after using my attack mode early on, but from then on, I was purely focused on moving back up the field again. Unfortunately, I made contact with Mortara, which subsequently hurt my hand when the steering wheel bashed it. I then got hit by Rast and got a puncture so had to pit for a wheel and a front nose change which put us to the back of the pack. Once I returned to the track, I tried to carry on, but I ended up having to retire the car because I was in quite a bit of pain. Luckily no broken bones so we look ahead to Jakarta next.”
Reflecting on his second home race, Lucas Di Grassi said: “We had a tough day, starting with FP1 with a crash making us lose critical time in the first few laps of learning the track. Then we were playing catch up. In qualifying we made some improvements, managing the first set of tyres. I lost a set of tyres because of the crash so in qualifying the first part was actually quite good. Then in the race, we started P20 and we did a good race with a very good strategy and energy saving. I managed to pass seven cars making it up to 13th, but that was the best we could do, especially with the late safety car at the end which really hurt our chances.”
Mahindra Racing CEO, Frederic Bertrand, said: “Oliver had such a fantastic start, passing multiple cars in the opening laps, so it is frustrating that he ended up having to retire the car, but of course it is much more important that he gets his hand looked at immediately. Lucas also had a good race, he made up places to finish 13th, but the late safety car ruined any chance of us making up any more positions to score those points we are aiming for. The qualifying session was again disappointing, but it just goes to show that starting further up the grid, like Oliver did, makes it easier for us to attempt our points finishing target. We move onto Jakarta next.”
The next race for the team is the Jakarta E-Prix double header on 3-4 June.
Mahindra Racing has a strong set of partners, including Official Powertrain Partner ZF and e-fluids partner Shell. Maurice Lacroix, the luxury Swiss watchmaker, continues as the Official Timekeeper.
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Sergio Perez takes pole; Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc crashes
Miami (USA), 6 May 2023: Sergio Pérez will start the 2023 FIA Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix from the front of the grid after the Red Bull driver’s first flying lap of Q3 proved good enough for pole position due to a crash for Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc on his final run of the top-10 shootout. The incident brought out the red flags and the session wasn’t resumed meaning no driver managed to get in a final lap. Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso qualified in P2 ahead of Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, while championship leader Max Verstappen will start from ninth place on the grid.
In Q1, Vertstappen took P1 with his first lap of the session, thanks to a lap of 1:28.424. The champion was soon beaten by Pérez who set a time of 1:28.306. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc then split the Red Bull pair with a lap of 1:28.422, just 0.002 ahead of Verstappen and a little over a tenth off Pérez .
Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, meanwhile, was heading back to the pit lane. The Mercedes driver came across the slow Haas of Kevin Magnussen and to avoid a collision, Hamilton had to swerve and clip the wall. He was soon back on track, however, with no serious damage detected.
Verstappen was on another hot lap, though, and he took over at the top with a lap of 1:27.363. Pérez also improved and moved back to second place, 0.350s behind his team-mate and more than a tenth ahead of Leclerc. In the final moments, Sainz moved 0.003s ahead of Pérez with Leclerc fourth ahead of Magnussen, while Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, who had needed a good final lap, jumped from last to fifth with his last effort.
Ruled out at the end of the first segment were McLaren’s Lando Norris in P16, followed by AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tusnoda, Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll, McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and local hero Logan Sargeant of Williams.
Verstappen and Pérez were first on track at the start of Q2 with both on new soft tyres. Verstappen was first across the line with a lap of 1:27.100. Pérez was right behind his team-mate on track and he followed Max on the timesheet too, slotting into P2, just over two tenths off the champion.
Once again, Sainz split the Red Bull drivers on the first runs, 0.038s behind Max and just under two tenths ahead of Pérez. Alonso was fourth, with Leclerc in fifth.
With a minute left on the clock Leclerc jumped up to P1 with a final lap of 1:26.964. Verstappen was, however, setting personal bests across his final lap and the Red Bull driver returned to P1 with a lap of 1:26.814. Alonso took third behind Leclerc, with Sainz in fourth. Pérez eased through to the top-10 shootout in fifth place.
There was no place in the final segment of Qualifying for Lewis Hamilton. The Mercedes driver was ruled out in P13. Also out were Williams’ Alex Albon in P11 followed by Haas’ Nico Hülkenberg , with Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu behind Hamilton and AlphaTauri’s Nyck de Vries in P15.
At the start of the top-10 shootout Verstappen was forced to abandon his first flying lap after making a mistake in Turn 5. That left the door open for Pérez and the Mexican took provisional pole with a lap of 1:26.841.
In the final runs, Verstappen led his team-mate out of the garage but neither would get a chance at a final flyer. Ahead of the Red Bulls, Leclerc began his final flyer, but the Monegasque driver lost control in Turn 6 and spun backwards across the run-off and into the barriers. With just 1m36s left on the clock and no time for drivers to complete a warm-up lap if the clock was restarted, Race Control ended the session and Pérez took the third pole position of his career and his second of 2023.
Behind the Mexican, Alonso claimed his second front row start of the year with second place and Sainz took third. Magnussen profited from the misfortunes around him to take a surprise fourth place ahead of Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, Mercedes’ George Russell and Leclerc. Max, meanwhile, will launch a fight back towards the front from ninth place on the grid behind the Alpine of Esteban Ocon.
2023 FIA Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix – Qualifying
1 Sergio Pérez Red Bull Racing 1:26.841
2 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1:27.202 0.361
3 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:27.349 0.508
4 Kevin Magnussen Haas 1:27.767 0.926
5 Pierre Gasly Alpine 1:27.786 0.945
6 George Russell Mercedes 1:27.804 0.963
7 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:27.861 1.020
8 Esteban Ocon Alpine 1:27.935 1.094
9 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing
10 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo
11 Alex Albon Williams 1:27.795 0.954
12 Nico Hulkenberg Haas 1:27.903 1.062
13 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:27.975 1.134
14 Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo 1:28.091 1.250
15 Nyck de Vries AlphaTauri 1:28.395 1.554
16 Lando Norris McLaren 1:28.394 1.553
17 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri 1:28.429 1.588
18 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1:28.476 1.635
19 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:28.484 1.643
20 Logan Sargeant Williams 1:28.577 1.736 -
Max Verstappen quickest in FP2 after Russel top FP1:
Max Verstappen set the fastest time of the second free practice session for the 2023 FIA Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix but Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc brought running to a halt when he crash late in the session.
Ferrari driver Leclerc and team-mate set the early pace, but the first really representative time came from Red Bull’s Sergio Perez who set a time of 1:30.757 and then by his team-mate Max Verstappen who stopped the clock at 1:30.146.
Sainz then posted a lap of 1m30.128s, and Leclerc became the first driver to get under 1m30s with a lap of 1:29.497.
Verstappen put in another quick lap that edged him close to the Monegasque driver and then with his next attempt he finally pushed through to the top of the order with a 1:29.380.
All of the early P1 times had been set on medium compound Pirelli tyres but McLaren’s Lando Norris then emerged on soft tyres and the Briton jumped to top spot with a lap of
1:28.741. Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso moved to P2 before being supplanted by Sainz, but Norris’ time proved good enough to stand for some time.
It was Verstappen who eventually toppled the McLaren driver, the Dutchman posting a 1:28.255. The champion then lowered the benchmark to 1:27.930 as drivers began to switch to longer runs.
Ten minutes from the end of the session the red flags came out when Leclerc crashed at Turn 7. The incident resulted in a five-minute stoppage as the damaged Ferrari was rescued. When running resumed it was solely to get more running on the harder compounds and there were no significant improvements in lap time.
Behind Verstappen. Sainz finished second with Leclerc third. Pérez ended the session in fourth, almost half a second behind his team-mate.
Alonso was left with fifth place with the Spaniard having moved past Norris just before Leclerc’s crash. Lewis Hamilton finished seventh ahead of Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll, as Esteban Ocon and Alex Albon completed the top 10.
2023 FIA Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix – Free Practice 2
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing 23 1:27.930
2 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 26 1:28.315 0.385
3 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 20 1:28.398 0.468
4 Sergio Perez Red Bull Racing 24 1:28.419 0.489
5 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 25 1:28.660 0.730
6 Lando Norris McLaren 24 1:28.741 0.811
7 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 23 1:28.858 0.928
8 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 23 1:28.930 1.000
9 Esteban Ocon Alpine 25 1:28.937 1.007
10 Alex Albon Williams 26 1:29.046 1.116
11 Pierre Gasly Alpine 22 1:29.098 1.168
12 Kevin Magnussen Haas 22 1:29.171 1.241
13 Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo 27 1:29.181 1.251
14 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo 26 1:29.189 1.259
15 George Russell Mercedes 21 1:29.216 1.286
16 Oscar Piastri McLaren MCL60 McLaren 24 1:29.339 1.409
17 Nico Hulkenberg Haas VF-23 Haas 22 1:29.393 1.463
18 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri AT04 AlphaTauri 25 1:29.613 1.683
19 Nyck de Vries AlphaTauri AT04 AlphaTauri 25 1:29.928 1.998
20 Logan Sargeant Williams FW45 Williams 27 1:30.038 2.108 -
Bagnaia pips Binder as the stunner goes to wire: MotoGP
Ducati and KTM test the limits of awesomeness in Jerez, with some sideways poetry, pitch-perfect defence, and a dash of chaos for some big names
Two KTMS, one Ducati, and one hell of a race. Reigning Champion Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) pounced in style to deny Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) the spoils at the Gran Premio MotoGP Guru by Gryfyn de España, but it went right to the wire – and was far from a two-man show. Jack Miller (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) was right up in the mix as the podium battle-tested out the adage rubbing is racing, but the Australian said it himself: “I love this so much.” And so do we!
It wasn’t without a dash of chaos, drama and, for some, bad luck, however, with former points leader Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) losing that moniker as he slid out. And before the race – that counts – even got going, the first start was Red Flagged after a crash for Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) and Miguel Oliveira (CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP Team), with Bezzecchi also “involved”, or rather the rider just to the inside of both. The Portuguese rider was a completely innocent party as he got caught up on the outside, and suffered a dislocated shoulder since treated at the Medical Centre. Quartararo? For the team he was certainly innocent of anything more than racing and running out of space. For the FIM MotoGP™ Stewards the Frenchman deserved a Long Lap…
He was fine to restart though, and as it had been on take one, take two was another KTM show from lights out as they slotted into a 1-2, with Binder leading Miller as Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) slotting into third. Polesitter Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) lost out once again, with Bagnaia also past and into fourth, and he didn’t waste time attacking Martin either. A stylish swoop around Martin at Pedrosa corner and he was through.
It didn’t take long for Miller to decide he was heading through either, sliding down the inside of teammate Binder at the final corner on his mission for Sunday glory. The KTMs then got the hammer down in tandem too, starting to pull away, before Binder returned the favour and Bagnaia set the fastest lap so far to start reeling them in.
Once on the scene, Bagnaia wasted no time in getting past the Aussie, putting his factory Ducati in the tiniest of gaps at Pedrosa corner to sit up the KTM and making a little contact in the process. He raised his hand to apologise, Miller raised his to say pfff. The number 43 was then under attack from Martin as well but snapped straight back at the final corner. That pushed the Pramac well well wide, but no contact there as he slotted back in just behind Aleix Espargaro into fifth…
One lap later, and more penalty drama. Bagnaia was forced to drop one position after that earlier contact though, and the Italian dropped anchor to let Miller back past. It was a KTM one-two once again, but Martin soon got back past Aleix Espargaro to start bothering Miller again.
Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac Racing) then crashed out from behind Martin, joining earlier faller Alex Rins (LCR Honda Castrol) as a DNF. And Bezzecchi was just about to join them, the Italian sliding out at Pedrosa, rider ok but ceding that points lead.
Back at the front, Binder was now six-tenths ahead of Bagnaia, but as the final few laps dawned the Ducati was gaining, gaining and gaining. At the final corner with four to go, Pecco pounced to perfection and headed over the line with three to go in the lead. Could Binder respond?
At first, it seemed like a no, but the number 33 dragged the speed from somewhere. He closed back in, and by the final lap, it looked plausible if not likely that Binder would get close enough. By the final sector, it looked like one motorcycle was in the lead, and the last Lorenzo corner was coming.
The stage was set for a lunge, but Bagnaia was having none of it. The reigning Champion was incredibly strong on the brakes and shut the door to perfection, leaving Binder to have a brief look but find no way through. Split by just two-tenths over the line, it was fitting it went to the wire after a stunning race.
Miller took third place and that’s now premier class podiums with three different bikes, as well as his first GP rostrum visit with KTM. Martin takes fourth place and was fuming at the Australian for his move, and Aleix Espargaro completed the top five.
Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) took sixth in a close, close finish with KTM wildcard and MotoGP™ Legend Dani Pedrosa (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing). The number 26 was thousandths off but took another top ten after an incredible weekend on his return to competition. Behind them, Alex Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP™) took eighth ahead of Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu). One bit of late drama saw Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing) lose out on that as a technical problem caused him a last-lap DNF.
On Quartararo’s watch, the Frenchman was classified tenth after even more drama. He made progress, did the Long Lap but actually didn’t quite stay in the lines, and then had to do another Long Lap. So the comeback into the top ten was something to write home about. Will we see Yamaha make a statement about the penalty as they did after Assen last season? It seems a story likely to roll on.
With the Championship plot ever-changing in MotoGP™, there’s no telling what the next chapter holds as the paddock moves to the SHARK Grand Prix de France on the 12th – 14th of May. It’s no ordinary race weekend either: it’s the 1000th Grand Prix in history. Home heroes Quartararo and Zarco may have had different ideas of how they’d want to arrive into the weekend, but anything can happen – we’ve already had 10 riders on the GP podium this season and they’re both among them. It’s a date with destiny and history, and you don’t want to miss it!
