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Author: Darshan Chokhani
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Monaco GP: Perez goes fastest in FP3 from Leclerc by 0.041s
Red Bull’s Sergio Perez pipped Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc by 0.041s to lead FP3 of F1 Monaco GP, with Carlos Sainz in third.
It started off a cleaner FP3 session in F1 Monaco GP but by the end of it there were impeding and incidents but not enough to cause any red flags. The Turn 1 caught out the likes of Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz.
Stroll was also involved in impeding case with Sainz, while the Canadian also brushed the barrier and damaged his front wing in the Swimming Pool section. It ended his session, while teammate Sebastian Vettel was impeding by Sainz too.
He was hugely upset at the case with Alfa Romeo’s Guanyu Zhou also on the impeding list against Red Bull’s Max Verstappen. Another late impeding case was between Mercedes’ George Russell and Red Bull’s Sergio Perez where the latter was the guilty party.
The Mexican managed to set the pace in FP3 of F1 Monaco GP with a late 1m12.76s lap where he pipped Leclerc by 0.041s after his late lap of 1m12.512s. Behind, Sainz (1m12.846s) slotted in third with Verstappen only fourth.
AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly continued his fine Monaco GP run in fifth with McLaren’s Lando Norris in sixth ahead of Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton who managed to bring down the deficit to under a second. Teammate Russell was ninth behind Haas’ Kevin Magnussen.
The Top 10 was rounded out by Alpine’s Fernando Alonso with AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda in 11th from Haas’ Mick Schumacher, Aston Martin’s Vettel, Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas and Williams’ Alexander Albon in the Top 15.
McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo returned after a crash in FP2 but was only 16th after facing brake issues, with Alpine’s Esteban Ocon not having a great time in 17th from Stroll, Zhou and Williams’ Nicholas Latifi to round out the 20 drivers.
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Monaco GP: Leclerc remains on top in FP2 from Sainz by 0.044s
Charles Leclerc stayed in front in FP2 of F1 Monaco GP in a Ferrari 1-2 with Carlos Sainz second, with Red Bull’s Sergio Perez in P3.
The FP2 session in F1 Monaco GP saw multiple offs during the session with AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda going off at Turn 1 to cause a yellow flag. There was a red flag for McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo midway in the session to cause a red flag.
He had a moment coming into Swimming Pool section where he lost the rear and touched the wall and rammed onto the tyre barrier. Post the brief stoppage, the drivers had their qualifying trim where Ferrari ended up with a 1-2 finish.
Charles Leclerc was fastest in FP2 of F1 Monaco GP with a 1m12.656s lap as Carlos Sainz slotted in second with a 1m12.700s lap – only 0.044s behind – while a late lap from Sergio Perez (1m13.035s) put him in third ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.
McLaren’s Lando Norris popped up into fifth despite his health issue but he was called into the pits after a small brush in the final corner. Mercedes’ George Russell slotted in sixth from AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly, who had a lock-up exiting the tunnel.
Alpine’s Fernando Alonso had a better FP2 to be eighth with Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel in ninth from AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda. The Japanese driver set a good time even though he complained of balance issues all-session long.
Haas’ Kevin Magnussen was 11th where both are under investigation for unsafe re-joining at Turn 10. He led Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton who had a lock-up to go off as well, with Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas lotting in 13th after putting in a new MGU-K.
Teammate Zhou Guanyu was 15th behind Williams’ Alexander Albon, with Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll in 16th. Haas’ Mick Schumacher was 17th after the team put in a new MGU-K and a gearbox after issues faced in FP1, much like Bottas did.
Alpine’s Esteban Ocon’s difficult run in F1 Monaco GP continued with the Frenchman only 18th, while Williams’ Nicholas Latifi was 19th and McLaren’s Ricciardo classified in 20th. Both Norris and Stroll also had offs at Turn 1 towards the end of the session.
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Monaco GP: Leclerc sets pace in FP1 from Perez in a hectic session
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc ended up quickest in FP1 of F1 Monaco GP with Carlos Sainz third behind Red Bull’s Sergio Perez.
It was not a clean FP1 session in F1 Monaco GP with multiple offs for multiple drivers. The Swimming Pool section caught out many along with Turn 1 where Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Haas’ Kevin Magnussen caused for yellow flag after going off.
His teammate Mick Schumacher had a gearbox problem and stopped at the pitlane entry to cause a red flag. There was more trouble for Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas too, with the Finn only completing two laps due to gearbox problem.
The bouncing issue was similar all across barring few cars, as Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc set the pace in FP1 of F1 Monaco GP with a 1m14.531s lap with teammate Carlos Sainz (1m14.601s) in third behind Red Bull’s Sergio Perez (1m14.570s).
Perez also had a yellow flag moment at Turn 1 like his teammate Verstappen who ended up fourth. McLaren’s Lando Norris was fifth despite his weakened health which he is carrying on from Spanish GP. He missed the FIA press conference due to that.
His teammate Daniel Ricciardo put in a late lap to be seventh behind AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly, who had a much better FP1 than the previous races. Mercedes’ George Russell was eighth with Lewis Hamilton 10th behind Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel.
The other AlphaTauri of Yuki Tsunoda was 11th from the other Aston Martin of Lance Stroll where both the Silverstone-based outfit’s drivers set their best time on the soft compound. The only others to do that were the Williams pair in 15th and 18th.
The likes of Alpine and Haas did not have a best of the sessions, with Fernando Alonso only 13th and Esteban Ocon 16th, while Kevin Magnussen was 14th and Schumacher in 19th. Williams’ Alexander Albon was 15th with Nicholas Latifi in 18th.
Alpine’s Esteban Ocon slotted in 16th after complaining of bouncing with Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu in 17th and his teammate Bottas classified 20th but with no laps done.
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Spanish GP: Leclerc takes pole despite spin; Verstappen faces issues
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc took pole in F1 Spanish GP despite a spin with teammate Carlos Sainz third behind Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.
Q1:
The first part in F1 Spanish GP qualifying saw an unsafe release at the start between McLaren’s Lando Norris and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll which will be investigated after the session. On track, it was Ferrari 1-2 with Charles Leclerc leading Carlos Sainz.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was third but teammate Sergio Perez was eighth after an off moment in the gravel. The knockout zone saw a big casualty in Alpine’s Fernando Alonso (1m21.043s) who was only 17th behind Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel (1m20.954s).
The German was not happy to miss out on a Q2 spot, while replays showed a possible impeding between Norris and Alonso which was cleared by the stewards. The other Aston Martin of Stroll slotted in 18th after a 1m21.418s lap.
The final row on the grid saw Williams pair of Alexander Albon (1m21.645s) and Nicholas Latifi (1m21.915s) in 19th and 20th.
Q2:
The second part in F1 Spanish GP went smoothly mostly with no incidents as a late lap from Red Bull’s Verstappen put him on top from Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and Mercedes’ George Russell with both the Haas drivers in the Top 10.
McLaren’s Norris (1m20.471s) initially finished inside the Top 10 but his lap time was deleted due to track limits which helped Mick Schumacher to make it inside. The Brit eventually finished 11th with Alpine’s Esteban Ocon (1m20.638s) in 12th.
The two AlphaTauri pair followed with Yuki Tsunoda (1m20.639s) ahead of Pierre Gasly (1m20.861s) in 13th and 14th, while Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu (1m21.094s) was 15th.
Q3:
The third part in F1 Spanish GP saw a bit of shock start for Ferrari’s Leclerc who had a spin at Turn 14 which ruined his first flying lap as he dived into the pitlane. Red Bull’s Verstappen took provisional pole with a 1m19.073s lap.
Ferrari’s Sainz slotted in second with Red Bull’s Perez in third. The game changed in the second run where Leclerc smashed the standings with a 1m18.750s lap to take pole in F1 Spanish GP with Verstappen ending up second due to power issues (which was later clarified to be a DRS issue).
He couldn’t improve his lap time but remained second, with Sainz (1m19.166s) in third from Mercedes’ Russell (1m19.393s) as he demoted Red Bull’s Perez (1m19.420s) to fifth and Mercedes’ Hamilton (1m19.512s) to sixth.
Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas (1m19.608s) was seventh where he beat the Haas pair with Kevin Magnussen (1m19.682s) in eighth and Schumacher (1m20.386s) 10th behind McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo (1m20.297s).
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Spanish GP: Leclerc again tops FP3 from Verstappen by 0.072s
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc made it three in a row to top FP3 in F1 Spanish GP as he led Red Bull’s Max Verstappen with Mercedes’ George Russell in third.
The FP3 in F1 Spanish GP also ran with any major trouble apart from Haas’ Mick Schumacher’s rear-left brakes catching fire in a dramatic fashion. The German managed to bring the car in the pits before it could blew like seen with Williams before.
His session ended early while AlphaTauri found an issue on Pierre Gasly’s car which led him to miss the whole of FP3. At the front though, it was Ferrari’s Leclerc again with a 1m19.772s lap with Red Bull’s Verstappen (1m19.844s) only 0.072s behind.
The two title contenders were well ahead of their teammates with Mercedes duo slotting in between them where Russell (1m19.920s) was again ahead of Lewis Hamilton (1m20.002s). The latter faced DRS issue in the session but it was fixed soon.
Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz (1m20.129s) slotted in fifth after the team broke curfew to change his chassis, with Red Bull’s Sergio Perez (1m20.260s) in sixth from McLaren’s Lando Norris (1m20.03s) who popped in a late quick lap. He also had a new chassis after floor damage.
The Top 10 saw Haas’ Kevin Magnussen (1m20.646s) in eighth, Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas (1m20.781s) in ninth and Alpine’s Esteban Ocon (1m20.882s) 10th. The Frenchman fitted a new ES and CE after the end of the second practice session.
His teammate Fernando Alonso did not set a good time to be only 13th behind McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo and Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel. Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu was 14th with AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda in 15th from Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll.
The Williams pair slotted in 17th and 18th with Alexander Albon ahead of Nicholas Latifi whereas Schumacher was 19th without a soft tyre run.
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Spanish GP: Leclerc remains on top in FP2 from Mercedes duo
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc stayed on top in FP2 of F1 Spanish GP with Mercedes duo of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton doing a better job in second and third.
Much like how FP1 was, the FP2 session in F1 Spanish GP was sedate as well with Ferrari’s Leclerc leading the standings after setting a 1m19.670s lap. He led the two Mercedes duo in a surprise finish with Russell (1m19.787s) second and Hamilton (1m19.874s) third.
Leclerc’s teammate Carlos Sainz (1m19.990s) slotted in fourth with the first of Red Bull of Max Verstappen (1m20.006s) in fifth whereas his teammate Sergio Perez (1m20.632s) was seventh behind Alpine’s Fernando Alonso (1m20.203s).
The Mexican had his first chance this weekend after Juri Vips got his chance in FP1. After a difficult first part Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel (1m20.703s) was eighth from Alpine’s Esteban Ocon (1m20.745s) and Haas’ Mick Schumacher (1m20.757s) in the Top 10.
The German’s teammate Kevin Magnussen was 12th behind AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly with his teammate Yuki Tsunoda in 14th behind Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll. McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo slotted in 15th with Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas in 16th.
The Finn though couldn’t see-through the season due to engine issue as he stopped on track causing a Virtual Safety Car. He was ahead of his teammate Guanyu Zhou as he led Williams pair of Alexander Albon and Nicholas Latifi.
The Thai racer is under investigation for impeding Sainz earlier in the session. The standings was rounded out by McLaren’s Lando Norris whose off moment damaged his floor and for that he couldn’t do more than three laps in the session.
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Spanish GP: Leclerc leads Sainz by 0.079s in FP1
Ferrari led the way in FP1 of F1 Spanish GP with Charles Leclerc ahead of Carlos Sainz, whereas Red Bull’s Max Verstappen slotted in third.
After the trip to Miami, the F1 circus returned to Europe with the Spanish GP where a lot of teams brought certain updates with Aston Martin having a ‘second car’ which looked very similar to the Red Bull especially the sleak sidepod area.
It was a relatively smooth session with couple of impeding charges, both of which will be looked after the session. The first one was between Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton and Alpine’s Fernando Alonso, with the second one between a Red Bull and Mercedes’ George Russell.
In terms of the standings, Ferrari led the way with Leclerc setting the fastest time of 1m19.828s which was 0.079s faster than Sainz’s time of 1m19.907s. Red Bull’s Verstappen slotted in third with a 1m20.164s lap, which was 0.3s behind.
Mercedes’ Russell (1m20.590s) was fourth with Alpine’s Alonso (1m20.768s) in between the two Mercedes cars where Hamilton (1m20.811s) was sixth. The FIA document confirmed that both the Mercedes drivers took a new ICE, TC, MGU-H and MGU-K.
McLaren’s Lando Norris (1m21.279s) was seventh where AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly (1m21.422s) was in a sandwich with Daniel Ricciardo (1m21.737s) in ninth. The Top 10 was then rounded out by AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda (1m21.814s).
Alpine’s Esteban Ocon was 11th from Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll, with Alfa Romeo’s Robert Kubica in 13th who filled in for Guanyu Zhou in FP1. The Chinese racer took a new MGU-K alongside the two Mercedes drivers. The Haas pair followed in 14th and 15th.
Kevin Magnussen was ahead of Mick Schumacher with Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel – with a new ES – slotted in 16th from Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas. The first of the young drivers to fulfill the mandated session was Nyck de Vries for Williams in 18th.
He led teammate Nicholas Latifi, while Red Bull’s young driver Juri Vips was 20th, who replaced Sergio Perez.
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DTM: Maini has a difficult start to 2022 season in Portimao
Arjun Maini kick-started his 2022 DTM campaign with Haupt Racing Team (HRT) last weekend at Portimao driving the #36b Mercedes-AMG GT3 machine alongside teammate Luca Stolz.
Starting the weekend, Maini finished 22nd and 24th in the two practice sessions, where he was 15th in Qualifying 1 and 22nd in Qualifying 2. It was a difficult qualifying for the Indian which left him in a difficult spot in races.
In Race 1, he dropped places at the start and managed to recover to 17th in the end, while in Race 2, he had a better run to move from outside of Top 20 to finish 13th eventually but out of points.
“Overall, it was a difficult weekend for me,” said Maini. “But we had strong pace, just that not everything came together. In Qualifying 1, we had few issues which didn’t allow me to improve on the second set.
“In Race, once again, the pace was good but I was in a few unlucky positions and I lost a lot of positions on start and re-starts. In Qualifying 2, the car was very good but unfortunately we got blocked on the fastest lap.
“After that we had no tyres, so we had to start Race 2 from the back. Also, we had a penalty from the previous day. We started P25, the car was mega, the guys did a really good job in the pit stops, so we finished P13.
“In the end, that was the best we could do but pace is there, we just need everything to come together now, massive thanks to whole HRT team and Mercedes for giving me a strong car.”
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MotoGP: Bagnaia beats Quartararo to take pole in Spanish GP
Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia beats Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo to MotoGP Spanish GP pole, with Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro in third.
Q1:
The first part of MotoGP qualifying in Spanish GP at Jerez saw Suzuki’s Alex Rins lead the way provisionally from Honda’s Pol Espargaro but the latter came back to take the lead as KTM’s Brad Binder stood third for most part of the session.
The second run saw VR46’s Marco Bezzecchi take the top spot before falling down. He looked all set to take it away but for the late charge from Pramac Ducati’s Johann Zarco who set a 1m37.003s lap to set the pace and make it into Q2.
Despite his fall, Bezzecchi’s 1m37.135s lap was enough for a Q2 spot as Honda’s Espargaro missed out in third by 0.003s. He is to start the Spanish MotoGP race from 13th ahead of Suzuki’s Rins with Binder in 15th after one of his laps was deleted due to track limits.
Yamaha’s Franco Morbidelli slotted in 16th from Gresini Ducati’s Fabio di Giannantonio as Tech 3 KTM’s Remy Gardner ended up 18th even though he crashed at Turn 5. VR46’s Luca Marini was 19th from Honda’s wildcard entrant Stefan Bradl.
Late run from KTM’s Miguel Oliveira saw him only 21st with LCR Honda’s Alex Marquez in 22nd, RNF Yamaha’s Andrea Dovizioso 23rd, Aprilia wildcard entrant Lorenzo Savadori 24th and RNF’s Darryn Binder in 25th.
Q2:
The second part in MotoGP qualifying in Spanish GP saw early crash for Pramac’s Jorge Martin, who had to rush into the pits to switch onto the second bike. On track, Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo set the pace provisionally from Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia.
Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro slotted in third from Ducati’s Jack Miller and Honda’s Marc Marquez before they all ventured out for their final run. As they set out, Suzuki’s Joan Mir and Gresini’s Enea Bastianini both had separate crashes at different corners.
That certainly ruled them out of contention as Bagnaia went quickest with a 1m36.170s lap which was enough to hand him MotoGP pole in Spanish GP as Quartararo couldn’t improve on his final attempt to be second, with Espargaro regaining third in his final attempt.
Miller and Marquez stayed fourth and fifth as Zarco slotted in sixth from LCR’s Takaaki Nakagami, Bezzecchi, Mir, Martin, Bastianini and Aprilia’s Maverick Vinales in the Top 12.
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MotoGP: Quartararo dominates Portuguese GP; late crash for Miller/Mir
Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo takes dominant Portuguese GP win in MotoGP from Pramac’s Johann Zarco and Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro.
The MotoGP Portuguese GP started off well for Suzuki’s Joan Mir who immediately took the lead from Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo and Ducati’s Jack Miller, as pole-sitter Johann Zarco onboard his Pramac Ducati dropped to fourth from LCR Honda’s Alex Marquez.
KTM’s Miguel Oliveira made up ground to sixth as Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro dropped to seventh from brother Pol on his Honda. Pramac’s Jorge Martin was ninth from Suzuki’s Alex Rins who climbed from 23rd to 10th in the opening couple of laps.
As Mir led the way, Quartararo started to press on the Suzuki rider and eventually passed him at Turn 1 to take the lead in MotoGP Portuguese GP. Zarco passed Miller to third as Marquez stood fifth from Espargaro, Oliveira and Rins in the Top 8.
There was a gap then to the group of Espargaro, Marquez, Gresini Ducati’s Enea Bastianini and KTM’s Brad Binder in the fight for ninth. Marquez won the battle for the time being from Espargaro, Bastianini and Binder with LCR’s Takaaki Nakagami a bit off in 13th.
Aprilia’s Maverick Vinales made his way to 14th from Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia in the Top 15. The Italian had a slow start due to his qualifying crash, but slowly got into a rhythm to claw his way up, although not at the same pace as Rins was doing.
He got into a tussle against Marquez, Espargaro and Oliveira for fifth. He got through them at one point but Espargaro got fifth to keep him behind where Marquez dropped to eighth behind Olivera. While Zarco started to press Mir, teammate Martin crashed out.
Another to crash was MotoGP points leader Bastianini, with Nakagami clouting the back of Binder to fall but managed to continue. Amid all this, Quartararo led the way from Mir who regained second after a brief attack from Zarco as Miller was stagnant in fourth.
Espargaro was fifth from Rins with Oliveira seventh ahead of A Marquez, M Marquez and P Espargaro in the Top 10. Binder was 11th from Bagnaia with Vinales 13th, VR46 Ducati’s Luca Marini 14th and Yamaha’s Franco Morbidelli 15th.
At the front, Quartararo checked himself out with the fight on between Mir, Zarco and Miller. The Frenchman tried couple of times but made it stick on Mir to take second as the Suzuki rider then came under pressure from Miller, Espargaro and Rins.
The drama only intensified when Miller crashed out taking Mir with him at Turn 1. The Australian tried to take the inside line but slipped taking the Suzuki rider with him. Zarco got a breathing space in second but Espargaro and Rins started to press him on.
Oliveira moved to fifth after his teammate Binder crashed out, with A Marquez sixth ahead of M Marquez as Espargaro was eighth from Bagnaia and Vinales in the Top 10. There was another retirement with Gresini’s Fabio di Giannantonio shutting shop due to an issue.
At the front, Quartararo dominated once in lead to win MotoGP Portuguese GP as Zarco made it French 1-2 as Espargaro completed the podium from Rins and Oliveria in the Top 5. M Marquez won the fight against his brother Alex in a solid fight for sixth.
Bagnaia got eighth from Espargaro on the line with Vinales in 10th from RNF Yamaha’s Andrea Dovizioso, Marini, Morbidelli, Tech 3 KTM’s Remy Gardner and VR46’s Marco Bezzecchi in the Top 15 and points position.
Nakagami recovered to 16th from RNF’s Darryn Binder and Aprilia’s Lorenzo Savadori who was the last classified finisher where Tech 3’s Raul Fernandez did not start after his Warm-Up crash. DNF: Di Giananntonio, Mir, Miller, Binder, Bastianini, Martin.
