Your basket is currently empty!
Blog
-
Stunning lap gives Hamilton his 101st career pole
Budapest, 31 July 2021: Lewis Hamilton will start tomorrow’s Hungarian Grand Prix from the front of the grid after he grabbed an emphatic 101st career pole position at the Hungaroring beating Mercedes’ team-mate Valterri Bottas by three tenths of ahead with championship leader Max Verstappen over four tenths of a second off the pace in third in the 11th round of the Formula 1 World Championship qualifying session here on Saturday.
At the beginning of the hour-long qualifying session the expected frontrunners were quickly into action, with Bottas taking an early P1 with a lap of 1:16.610. However, he was soon demoted by Hamilton who stole top spot thanks to a lap of 1:16.424. Verstappen wasn’t far behind the Mercedes pair on track, though, and the Red Bull driver jumped ahead of both with his opening push lap of 1:16.214.
Verstappen’s team-mate Sergio Pérez looked to be struggling, however. The Mexican opened with a lap of 1:17.300 but as better laps flooded in he soon dropped to ninth place. He opted for a second attempt but only improved to 1:17.233 and still held ninth ahead of the final runs.
Despite the risk to Pérez, Red Bull chose to keep both drivers in the garage for the final runs. And it proved the right choice as there were few improvements in the final moments and Verstappen held top sport as Pérez progressed in P11.
Eliminated at the end of the first session were AlphaTauri’s Tsunoda in P16, Williams’ George Russell and Nicholas Latifi in P17 and P18 respectively and Haas’ Nikita Mazepin in P19. The Russian’s team-mate, Mick Schumacher, didn’t make it out on track in the session with Haas unable to repair his car following an earlier crash in FP3.
At the start of Q2, Hamilton set the pace on medium tyres with a lap of 1:16.553. Verstappen also opted for mediums and slotted into P2 with a time of 1:16.769. However, the Dutchman was pushed to P3 as Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, on soft tyres, set an impressive time of 1:16.725.
The session was then halted as Carlos Sainz lost control of his Ferrari in the final corner and slid into the barriers. The red flags were quickly displayed.
After a short delay the action resumed and both Red Bulls mopved to soft tyres. Verstappen jumped to the top of the timesheet with a lap of 1:15.650 while Pérez went through to Q3 in P4 thanks to an improved time of 1:16.443. Both Mercedes drivers opted to back out of their final laps and after progressing in P6 and P8 will start on medium tyres.
Eliminated at the end of Q2 were 11th placed Danile Ricciardo of McLaren, Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll, Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Räikkönen and Antonio Giovinazzi and the unfortunate Sainz.
In the first runs of Q3, Hamilton laid down a tough marker with an opening time of 1:15.419. Bottas followed on 1:15.734 and Max sat in P3 with an opening time of 1:15.984. Verstappen then improved on his final run but the tenth of a second he found was not enough to trouble Hamilton and the Mercedes driver claimed pole position with Bottas second and Vrestappen third.
Pérez claimed fourth place on the grid with his opening run time, while Pierre Gasly put in an impressive lap of 1:16.483 to take fifth place on the grid ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris. Leclerc will start seventh for Ferrari with Alpine’s Esteban Ocon and Fernando in eighth and ninth. The final top 10 position went to Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel.
2021 FIA Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix – Qualifying
1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:15.419 6 209.119
2 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:15.734 0.315 0.418 6 208.249
3 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda 1:15.840 0.421 0.558 6 207.958
4 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda 1:16.421 1.002 1.329 5 206.377
5 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri/Honda 1:16.483 1.064 1.411 6 206.210
6 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:16.489 1.070 1.419 6 206.194
7 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:16.496 1.077 1.428 6 206.175
8 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 1:16.653 1.234 1.636 6 205.753
9 Fernando Alonso Alpine/Renault 1:16.715 1.296 1.718 6 205.586
10 Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:16.750 1.331 1.765 3 205.493
11 Daniel Ricciardo McLaren/Mercedes 1:16.871 1.221 1.614 6 205.169
12 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:16.893 1.243 1.643 6 205.110
13 Kimi Räikkönen Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1:17.564 1.914 2.530 6 203.336
14 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1:17.583 1.933 2.555 3 203.286
– Carlos Sainz Ferrari 2
16 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri/Honda 1:17.919 1.705 2.237 8 202.410
17 George Russell Williams/Mercedes 1:17.944 1.730 2.270 8 202.345
18 Nicholas Latifi Williams/Mercedes 1:18.036 1.822 2.391 8 202.106
19 Nikita Mazepin Haas/Ferrari 1:18.922 2.708 3.553 9 199.837 -
Valtteri Bottas tops FP2 ahead of Hamilton: Hungarian GP
Hungaroring (Budapest, Hungary), 30 July 2021: Valtteri Bottas went quickest in the second practice session for Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix, shading team-mate Lewis Hamilton by two hundredths of a second as championship leader Max Verstappen finished three tenths of a second off the pace after struggling with handling issues.
Earlier, Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen went quickest in the opening practice session for the Hungarian Grand Prix, outpacing Mercedes Valtteri Bottas by six hundredths of a second with Lewis Hamilton a further tenth of a second back in third place in the other Mercedes.
In FP2, after an opening period in which Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc held way on medium tyres, Bottas moved to the front on the same compound with a lap of 1:18.376. Hamilton then moved into P2 three tenths of a second. Verstappen then emerged for his first run of the afternoon and he immediately split the Mercedes, with team-mate Sergio Pérez slotting into fourth place.
Hamilton then found a solid gain ands rose to the top of the order with a lap of 1:18.140 that remained the quickest lap before the field began to switch to soft tyres for their qualifying simulations.
Bottas bolted on a set of the red-banded tyres close to the half hour mark and he jumped to a time of 1:17.012 that remained the benchmark for the rest of the session.
Hamilton almost bested his team-mate but though the seven-time champion was quicker in the final sector good work early on from Bottas gave him a slim edge on the timesheet.
Verstappen, meanwhile, was busy trying to dial out persistent understeer but try as he might the championship leader couldn’t find a sweet spot with his RB16B and he had to settle for third place.
Alpine’s Esteban Ocon have the Anglo-French squad hope of a good weekend with a lap of 1:17.759 that was good enough for fourth place ahead of Pérez who finished with a best time of 1:17.824.
Pierre Gasly was sixth for AlphaTauri ahead of Fernando Alonso in the second Alpine while Sebastian Vettel put his Aston Martin in eighth place ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris and Aston Martin team-mate Lance Stroll.
2021 FIA Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix – Free Practice 2
1 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:17.012; 29 204.794
2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:17.039; 0.027 27 204.722
3 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda 1:17.310; 0.298 24 204.004
4 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 1:17.759 0.747 29 202.826
5 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda 1:17.824 0.812 23 202.657
6 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri/Honda 1:18.113 1.101 31 201.907
7 Fernando Alonso Alpine/Renault 1:18.169 1.157 27 201.762
8 Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:18.228 1.216 31 201.610
9 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:18.313 1.301 25 201.391
10 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:18.320 1.308 30 201.373
11 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:18.370 1.358 30 201.245
12 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:18.441 1.429 32 201.063
13 Daniel Ricciardo McLaren/Mercedes 1:18.737 1.725 26 200.307
14 Kimi Räikkönen Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1:19.277 2.265 21 198.942
15 George Russell Williams/Mercedes 1:19.292 2.280 29 198.905
16 Nicholas Latifi Williams/Mercedes 1:19.479 2.467 30 198.437
17 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri/Honda 1:19.671 2.659 3 197.959
18 Mick Schumacher Haas/Ferrari 1:19.817 2.805 29 197.597
19 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1:20.186 3.174 28 196.687
20 Nikita Mazepin Haas/Ferrari 1:21.881 4.869 28 192.616.Free Practice 1
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda 1:17.555 21 203.360
2 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:17.616 0.061 26 203.200
3 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:17.722 0.167 25 202.923
4 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:18.115 0.560 24 201.902
5 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri/Honda 1:18.181 0.626 27 201.731
6 Fernando Alonso Alpine/Renault 1:18.385 0.830 26 201.206
7 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:18.391 0.836 23 201.191
8 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda 1:18.466 0.911 20 200.999
9 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:18.649 1.094 26 200.531
10 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:18.755 1.200 25 200.261
11 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 1:18.765 1.210 26 200.236
12 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri/Honda 1:18.770 1.215 18 200.223
13 Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:18.989 1.434 22 199.668
14 Daniel Ricciardo McLaren/Mercedes 1:19.265 1.710 27 198.973
15 George Russell Williams/Mercedes 1:19.724 2.169 24 197.827
16 Nicholas Latifi Williams/Mercedes 1:19.824 2.269 24 197.579
17 Mick Schumacher Haas/Ferrari 1:20.383 2.828 26 196.205
18 Robert Kubica Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1:20.639 3.084 23 195.582
19 Nikita Mazepin Haas/Ferrari 1:20.992 3.437 23 194.730
20 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1:21.889 4.334 5 192.597. -
Indian National anthem sounds sweet as Lynn delivers victory for Mahindra Racing
London, 25 July 2021: Alex Lynn was disappointed to finish third in yesterday’s London E-Prix after starting from pole position; just under 24 hours later, the Mahindra Racing ace made amends in fine style, racing from third on the grid to his maiden ABB FIA Formula E World Championship victory on home soil. The sweet victory for the Indian outfit saw that the Indian National anthem, Jana, Gana mana… played at the London e-prix and the Indian flags were proudly displayed.
Watch the video clip here courtesy twitter @anandmahindra
As pole-sitter Stoffel Vandoorne (Mercedes-EQ) led away in the early stages, Lynn initially conceded a place to the Belgian’s team-mate Nyck de Vries – the Dutchman damaging his steering in the process.
Undeterred, Lynn subsequently reclaimed the spot with the dual benefit of FANBOOST and ATTACK MODE, going on to seal his first win in his 40th start in the all-electric single-seater series. In so doing, he completed a popular British double, following countryman Jake Dennis’ triumph for BMW i Andretti Motorsport yesterday around the ExCel circuit in the heart of London’s historical docklands district.
Right from the outset, this was a race that had a bit of everything. Up until mid-distance, Vandoorne looked odds-on to secure his second victory of the 2020/21 season as he established a small gap over the chasing pack and mastered a brace of safety car interventions, but a lock-up from Oliver Rowland at the hairpin resulted in contact that put both cars in the barriers, incurring the Nissan e.dams driver a five-second penalty.
That drama promoted de Vries to a net lead, pursued by Lynn – net, because Lucas Di Grassi (Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler) had driven through the pit-lane during the second safety car period to controversially vault to the front of the field.
Whilst the Brazilian would go on to take the chequered flag first, he was disqualified for having not brought his car to a complete standstill on his passage through the pits and then failing to serve a drive-through penalty handed down for the indiscretion.
The duel for honours, therefore, was between de Vries and Lynn, with the Mahindra man taking advantage of a later second ATTACK MODE to steal the initiative. Di Grassi’s post-race penalty left Lynn celebrating his breakthrough series success, whilst the runner-up spoils were sufficient to vault de Vries into a six-point championship lead with just two rounds of the season left to run.
Behind the top two, Mitch Evans produced an inch-perfect defence to tally his fourth third-place finish of the campaign, artfully fending off first Maximilian Günther (BMW i Andretti Motorsport) and then Envision Virgin Racing rival Robin Frijns to reach the bottom step of the rostrum for Jaguar Racing, despite nursing some damage and losing time when he missed the activation zone for his second ATTACK MODE and had to try again the following lap.
Frijns took fourth to keep the pressure on in the title fight, impressively battling past Günther with a bold round-the-outside move. TAG Heuer Porsche’s Pascal Wehrlein would similarly demote his compatriot before the flag fell as the pair wound up respectively fifth and sixth, while Envision Virgin Racing rookie Nick Cassidy continued his recent strong run in seventh from all the way down in 18th on the grid.
Dragon / Penske Autosport’s Sérgio Sette Câmara troubled the scorers for the first time since Diriyah in eighth, with Saturday star Dennis placing ninth. Joel Eriksson in the sister Dragon / Penske Autosport entry claimed his first Formula E point in tenth.
António Félix da Costa was also in the wars, the defending champion displaying fast and feisty form as he hauled himself almost into the points-paying positions from the penultimate row of the grid, until contact with André Lotterer’s TAG Heuer Porsche sent him crashing out of contention and earned the German a drive-through penalty.
In much the same fashion, Sam Bird – championship leader entering the E-Prix – was on the cusp of the top ten from a lowly 21st starting slot when a coming-together with ROKiT Venturi Racing’s Norman Nato in the closing moments propelled both drivers into the wall, dropping the Briton to equal-third in the overall table alongside Dennis, some 14 points adrift of de Vries.
The season will conclude in the German capital of Berlin on 14/15 August, where at the end of a truly thrilling and unpredictable title scrap, the seventh Formula E champion – and the series’ first world champion – will finally be crowned.
Alex Lynn – Mahindra Racing
“It’s hard for words to be honest. It’s as special as it gets. I’ve never felt something like this. Formula E has been a difficult one for me so to win is very special. I’ve got a huge crew behind me that I have to thank. I get the pleasure of driving around their hard work, and I can tell you there isn’t a group of guys and girls that stay longer and wake up earlier than them. I honestly can’t believe this has happened. It’s incredible.”
Nyck de Vries – Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team
“I have to admit I’m a bit disappointed with P2. First of all, I feel sorry for my team mate (Stoffel Vandoorne), he deserved the win today if it wasn’t for Oliver Rowland taking him out. We were a bit unlucky with the safety car when we just activated the attack mode, that made me a little bit vulnerable after the re-start. And then Lucas Di Grassi was there which I was surprised to see because he shouldn’t have been there. At the end, the energy targets were so high, so I wasn’t able to get alongside him. I made quite a lot of mistakes trying to push but the targets were too high to ever be in a position to make a move.”
Mitch Evans – Jaguar Racing
“A bit of an unexpected podium for me. At parts I actually thought I was out the race. I didn’t have a clean first few laps, and after the Rowland and Vandoorne incident I made a mistake, Günther got me and I made a stupid move into him and broke my front wing, and I thought I would be out the race. But with a bit of luck the wing flew off and I was able to continue. I missed my second attack mode which I couldn’t believe. I thought I gifted it to Frijns, but lucky I was able to activate it later and make good move on him and bring it home. A bizarre race and I’m a bit surprised to be on the podium, but roll on Berlin.”
-
Arjun Maini shows speed but forced to retire in Race 1: DTM
Lausitz (Germany), 25 July 2021: Mercedes-AMG racing star Arjun Maini made significant progress during the second weekend of the 2021 DTM season with the Indian topping Free Practice 1 and qualifying sixth for the first race before ultimately retiring due to damage sustained from a racing incident.
The Omega Seiki Mobility and J.K.Tyre backed driver made the most of his knowledge of the Lausitzring circuit, placing his Mercedes AMG GT3 race car in first and fourth during the two practice sessions on Friday before qualifying sixth for Race 1. While this represented a marked improvement from his weekend at Monza, the Bangalore-based driver had to take his place at the rolling start on the outside, meaning he had faced a distinct disadvantage heading into Turn 1.
The competitive nature of the DTM championship meant there was an intense battle for position at the start with Maini sandwiched between two drivers with his Mercedes being forced off the race circuit going into Turn 3. The Indian and his GetSpeed racing team had a mountain to climb and while their efforts did yield some success, Maini’s race was once again curtailed with the team having to retire him with ten minutes to go as they were worried about damage sustained to his brakes and potential engine issues after the incident on the first lap.
Sunday was just as eventful, with the Mercedes-AMG driver showing his speed once again. The Indian missed out on a potential front-row start after a mistake in sector three lost him valuable time, meaning he had to contend with a ninth place on the starting grid for Race 2. The former Le Mans’ driver spent a large chunk of the race battling Red Bull F1 reserve driver Alex Albon, with their intense squabble hampering both drivers and costing Maini his shot at scoring his first points in the series.
Speaking about the weekend Maini stated, “Despite the final result, I’m reasonably happy with how the weekend progressed. I think it’s important to remember that there are some very experienced drivers on this grid and racing wheel to wheel with them is both challenging and exciting.
“While we ultimately failed to score our first points of the season, I definitely feel like this weekend was a huge step-forward over Monza. My objective is to keep improving and hopefully, both the team and I can get our first points at next round in Zolder.”
With the likes of Timo Glock, Marco Wittmann, and Mike Rockenfeller now racing bumper to bumper with Maini, the Indian certainly has his work cut out for him. However, based on current pace and growing experience with just 4 races under his belt it is safe to say that a good result is just around the corner for the Mercedes-AMG man.
The third round of the 2021 DTM championship will take place on the weekend between August 6-8th at the Zolderrace circuit in Belgium.
Note: Updated on 26th July 2021 at 8pm
-
Rea claims 13th victory at Assen in curtailed Race 1
Rea prevails in WorldSBK title fight as he becomes the first rider in history to win at one track 13 times
Assen, 24 July 2021: As the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship returned to the TT Circuit Assen, a titanic three-way battle for the podium welcomed fans back to the circuit as Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) continued to make history with his 13th victory in Race 1 at the Prosecco DOC Dutch Round.
It means Rea becomes the first rider in WorldSBK history to win 13 times at a single circuit, having converted pole position into a win after he held off the challenge from his nearest rivals to claim more WorldSBK history. The race was Red Flagged with just a few of the scheduled 21 laps following a crash for Jonas Folger (Bonovo MGM Action) at Turns 6 and 7; after the German rider was on course for a career best WorldSBK result. Folger was conscious and taken to the medical centre for a check-up following the crash. The German rider will be transported to Assen Hospital for further assessments and has been declared unfit for the remainder of the round.Rea fended off the challenge from both Scott Redding (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) and Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with BRIXX WorldSBK) throughout the duration of the race, with the trio battling each other throughout various stages of the race. Nothing could separate the three as the race entered the second half of the race, although a mistake from Redding allowed Razgatlioglu through for second place, but it also allowed Rea to jump ahead by a couple of seconds ahead of the battling duo, with Razgatlioglu and Redding continue to fight until the end; Redding finishing the race in second place ahead of Razgatlioglu after passing the Turkish star on Lap 16 to secure second place.
P1 Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK)
“I felt good from the get-go. Just a little bit of battling with Toprak. I wanted to get a clear track and do my rhythm because I knew that I could be a little bit faster and try to push away. At the end, I just had to manage a little bit as the rear tyre was dropping. I already took the best performance out of it. So happy, so happy to have these guys here in the grandstands. Looking forward to tomorrow. Now we have almost 21 laps under our belt because of the Red Flag. I hope the guy that went down is okay. Come back tomorrow with more info and try again.”
P2 Scott Redding (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)
“First of all, it’s great to have all the fans back here. It really gives emotion when you battle, you really feel the adrenaline, you push for every centimetre on the track. I hope you guys were entertained. I struggled a little bit in the beginning and then I got my pace. Then I started to fight Toprak and we gave Jonathan the time to go away. I felt I had the pace to close the gap but because I was fighting, I used a lot of the tyre. We ended up P2 and I’m happy with that. It’s good to be back on the podium and great to be here in Assen.”
P3 Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with BRIXX WorldSBK)
“Normally, in the race, I was waiting until the last lap because I can follow Scott and see which corners he is slower in. I was waiting until the last lap, but we saw the Red Flag. I am not happy because in the first laps I was feeling good, but after the front tyre was destroyed and it wasn’t possible to follow Jonny. Tomorrow, we will see.”WorldSBK TT Circuit Assen – Race 1
1. Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK)
2. Scott Redding (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +3.093s
3. Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with BRIXX WorldSBK) +3.214s
4. Michael van der Mark (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) +4.478s
5. Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha with BRIXX WorldSBK) +6.139s
6. Garrett Gerloff (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) +7.901sChampionship Standings (after Race 1, Round 5)
1. Jonathan Rea (GBR) Kawasaki (206 points)
2. Toprak Razgatlioglu (TUR) Yamaha (199 points)
3. Scott Redding (GBR) Ducati (137 points) -
Arjun Maini hoping to build on his experience before DTM Round 2
Lausitz (Germany), 23 July 2021: Mercedes AMG racing driver Arjun Maini is looking to secure his first points of the season as the DTM visits the popular Lausitzring track for the second round of the 2021 championship.
The Omega Seiki Mobility and J.K.Tyre backed driver had a baptism of fire, having had limited testing in the lead up to the first race of the season and a DNF ultimately ending his weekend prematurely. Nevertheless, Maini gained valuable experience over the course of the race weekend, and with his GT debut now firmly in the rearview mirror, the Indian will be looking to build on his experience as looks to secure his first points of the season.
Speaking about this weekend’s event Maini stated, “I’m looking forward to this race. The track is going to be interesting because going into Turn 1 we will be using the oval banking while the rest of the track remains the standard GP layout.
“The set-up will be key as everyone will have to compromise somewhere, though I am confident the boys at GetSpeed will be able to work around any constraints. Obviously pre-season testing here went well for me, however, with the new layout, which is challenging for everyone, it will be interesting to see how the weekend progresses.
“As always I’d like to thank my partners OSM, J.K.Tyre and Mercedes AMG who are all playing a crucial role in helping me build my experience in the DTM, as the days progress I am feeling more confident in the Mercedes AMG GT3 race car and I am confident that a strong result is right around the corner.”
As touched on by Maini, the Lausitzring track is famous for its banked turn 1, which is reminiscent of the final turn at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The weekend is set to get underway this Friday, July 23, with the qualifying and races themselves taking place on Saturday, July 24, and Sunday, July 25.
The sessions will be broadcasted live in India on https://www.youtube.com/user/autocarindia1.Saturday
Qualifying1: 14:00
Race 1: 17:00
Sunday
Qualifying 2: 13:40
Race 2: 17:00 -
Hamilton claims fourth win as on-track collision ends Verstappen race
Lewis Hamilton achieved his fourth win of the season overcoming a penalty received after a on track collision with title rival Max Verstappen. Charles Leclerc got his first podium of the season after leading the majority of the race ahead of third place man Valtteri Bottas in the Mercedes.
This was the first experimental weekend where Formula 1 trialed the F1 Sprint qualifying. A 100-kilometer race to determine the grid positions for the Grand Prix on Sunday.
New Delhi, 19 July 2021: Lewis Hamilton took his 99th career victory and first one since the Spanish Grand Prix in May, overcoming a 10-second time penalty for a on track coming together with Max Verstappen which resulted in the Dutchman not finishing the race. Charles Leclerc led the majority of the race bar 3 laps from the end as he got his first podium since the 2020 Formula 1 70th Anniversary Grand Prix. Valtteri Bottas capitalised on a slow pitstop for Lando Norris to finish P3, with the Briton finishing P4. Norris’ teammate Daniel Ricciardo finished a strong P5, holding of Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz for more than half of the race as the Spaniard finished in P6, just 0.8s behind.Alpine’s Fernando Alonso finished P7 and teammate Esteban Ocon crossed the line in P9 helping the Anglo-French squad to achieve a double points finish. Sandwiched between them was Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll in P8. Japanese rookie Yuki Tsunoda rounded of the top 10.
AlphaTauri teammate Pierre Gasly finished P11 ahead of Williams’ George Russell in P12 and Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi in P13. Nicholas Latifi brought home his FW43B in P14 ahead of Kimi Raikkonen in P15 who spun around late on in the race after getting tangled with Red Bull’s Sergio Perez, who could only manage P16. Nikita Mazepin outraced his Haas teammate Mick Schumacher as they finished P17 and P18 respectively. Sebastian Vettel retired late in the race after suffering a spin early on and circulating at the back of the grid.
Title protagonists Verstappen and Hamilton started on the front row for the fourth time this season with both wanting to lead the race and the end of lap 1 to control the rest of the race. As the race got underway, both were wrestling for P1 but keeping it clean. Hamilton tried to overtake through the Wellington straight into Brooklands corner, but Verstappen swept ahead and maintained the lead. Hamilton got a better exit out of Luffield and went on the inside of Verstappen onto the old start-finish straight. As they approached the high-speed turn 9 Copse corner, they made contact and Verstappen hit the outside barriers at high speed. Fortunately, he was able to escape on his own. The damage to the car and the barrier caused a red flag. Behind, Leclerc had got a good start overtaking Bottas in the process. He passed Hamilton for the lead when the Briton lost momentum after making contact with the Red Bull.
With the red flag period over, race was to begin with standing start procedure. This time Leclerc in P1, Hamilton maintaining P2 and so did Bottas in P3. Both front row cars got off well as Hamilton tucked behind Leclerc. Bottas behind had another slow start and lost a position to Norris with unable to find a way past him. Vettel too had made a good start and was running in the top 10, but he got on the throttle too early on the exit of luffield and spun, falling to the back of the grid and ending any hope of points.
Hamilton was unable to find a way past Leclerc who to his credit was matching the Mercedes’ pace. The Monegasque was also managing an engine software issue which was resolved a few laps later. Hamilton who was running in the Ferrari’s hot air decided to back off as he was unable to pass and was circulating around 2s behind the leader. By this time the FIA had issued the Briton a 10-second time penalty for causing a collision with Verstappen as well.
Ricciardo was the first one to pit amongst the front runner on lap 20 for a set of hard tyres. As Bottas had been unable to pass Norris, McLaren brought him in to protect from Bottas’ undercut on lap 21. But, a slow stop for Norris meant he lost crucial time to the Mercedes and Bottas duly pitted on lap 22 to emerge ahead of the McLaren. Sainz was running in P3 but he had not pitted. Hamilton complained on the radio of his tyres having no grip and pitted on lap 27, serving his 10-second time penaltyand emerging behind Norris. Sainz pitted on lap 28 and the Ferrari crew had a miserable pit stop as he was stationary for 12-seconds in the box. He lost positions to Hamilton and Ricciardo. Ferrari brought in race leader Leclerc last of any runners and served an error free pitstop to release him in the lead again.
Hamilton was charging through the field as he quickly caught up to Norris and passed him in the Copse corner on lap 31, same place where Verstappen and Hamilton had entangled. Next up was Bottas who was instructed to let his teammate through and dutifully he did so, playing the team game. Behind Sainz was running within a second of Ricciardo but could not find a way past the Australian. The McLaren driver making his car as wide as possible and holding off the Spaniard.
Hamilton was running in P2 with 12 laps to go and 9s behind race leader Leclerc. It seemed difficult for the Briton to achieve a record eighth home victory. Hamilton kept up the pace as on average he lapped 1s faster than his Ferrari rival. The only doubt being would he be able to keep up this pace as everyone’s tyres were suffering from blistering issues. By lap 50 Hamilton was within a second of Leclerc as he had been able to manage the tyre wear and pace. Whole Silverstone erupted in delight as Hamilton once again passed Leclerc into Copse corner where he had touched Verstappen.
Ultimately Hamilton was too quick for the Ferrari and achieved a record eighth British Grand Prix victory as he cruised on the last two laps. Another dramatic chapter concludes as title rival Verstappen failed to score points and Hamilton maximised his. With both Drivers’ and Constructor’s championship very close it is game on!
Mercedes were arguably the faster car in qualifying as shown by Hamilton’s pole position on Friday. Arguably he could have gone even faster had he not made the mistake in the final chicane. Mercedes seemed on par with Red Bull regarding race pace as Saturday’s sprint race showed that whoever had the early advantage was able to maximise their lead. The W12 was kinder to its tyres as well compared to the RB16B as seen in the sprint race. Mercedes brought a significant upgrade package with new bargeboards, side pod endplates and a new floor. All aimed at greater downforce generation to bring them closer to Red Bull’s performance and numbers show the performance has converged, similar to start of the season. Red Bull had a miserable race with Verstappen out on lap 1 and Perez scoring no points. Unlike past races they were not the dominant car but had the pace to win the race as seen in the sprint race on Saturday. Red Bull arrived with a new floor to aid their charge for the championship.
Ferrari have made great strides especially in race pace. Keeping a Mercedes behind for the first stint was a big improvement for the Italian squad. They also did not struggle for tyre wear especially on the fronts as they had in some past races, notably France. One of the major improvements they have made with SF21 is the set-up. Ferrari can optimise their set-up better compared to start of the season which has unlocked race pace. McLaren similarly showed great race and qualifying pace. Slow pitstop for Norris meant they were unable to challenge for the podium. They could have beaten Leclerc and potentially won the race if not for the slow pitstop.
Alpine had their strongest weekend in terms of race pace according to Alonso, as they achieved a double points finish. The Alpine cars were able to hold off the Aston Martin and Alpha Tauri cars. Alpine too brought minute aerodynamic upgrades to optimise their car. Aston Martin once again showed better race pace than qualifying pace. Had Vettel not spun during the start, a double points finish for the Silverstone based team could have been on the cards. AlphaTauri struggled throughout the weekend as they had mediocre qualifying pace compared to their rivals. They were unable to make it to the top 10. Due to a lower starting position, they could not make up positions in sprint race or the grand prix. Admittedly Gasly was running in points position before a late puncture forced him to pit and eventually finish outside the points. Tsunoda scored a solitary point.
Russell made it to Q3 for the second consecutive race but admitted the car outqualified its own performance as they did not have the race pace to fight for the points. Mediocre starts only added to his problem as he lost positions on both the race starts. Alfa Romeo once again had the pace to be on the fringes of top 10 but not threaten them. Raikkonen complaining on the radio about the need for upgrades to make the car faster if points are to be achieved. Haas’ Mazepin had a positive race as he beat his teammate Schumacher who struggled for tyre management at a hot British Grand Prix.
Sprint Qualifying Results were:
P1: Max Verstappen- 33 (Red Bull) P2: Lewis Hamilton- 44 (Mercedes) P3: Valtteri Bottas- 77 (Mercedes) P4: Charles Leclerc- 16 (Ferrari) P5: Lando Norris- 4 (McLaren) P6: Daniel Ricciardo- 3 (McLaren) P7: Fernando Alonso- 14 (Alpine) P8: Sebastian Vettel- 5 (Aston Martin) P9: Esteban Ocon- 31 (Alpine) P10: Carlos Sainz- 55 (Ferrari) P11: Pierre Gasly- 10 (AlphaTauri) P12: George Russell- 63 (Williams) P13: Kimi Raikkonen- 7 (Alfa Romeo) P14: Lance Stroll- 18 (Aston Martin) P15: Antonio Giovinazzi- 99 (Alfa Romeo) P16: Yuki Tsunoda- 22 (AlphaTauri) P17: Nicholas Latifi- 6 (Williams) P17: Mick Schumacher- 47 (Haas) P19: Nikita Mazepin- 9 (Haas) P20: Sergio Perez- 11 (Red Bull) Note: Russell was penalised three grid places for causing a collision during sprint qualifying. Perez required to start from the pit lane, as car modified whilst under Parc Ferme conditions.
-
Hamilton takes 8th British GP win despite penalty for Verstappen collision
Silverstone, 18 July 2021: Lewis Hamilton overcame a penalty for causing a lap one collision with Max Verstappen that ended the Red Bull driver’s race to take an eighth British Grand Prix win ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas in the Round 10 of the Formula 1 World Championship here on Sunday.
Verstappen started the race from pole position and at the start the Dutchman made a good getaway to take the lead as the field streamed through the first corner. Hamilton, though, was quickly on the attack and though Verstappen resisted, the Mercedes driver attacked once again on the high-speed run to Copse. He went down the inside of the Red Bull and as Verstappen turned in the Mercedes clipped the right-rear wheel of the Dutchman’s car.
Verstappen was sent off track at high speed and he hit the tyre barriers hard, severely damaging his car. Fortunately, Verstappen was able to climb out of his wrecked car and was taken to the medical centre and later to a nearby hospital for precautionary checks.
With the tyre barrier severely damaged the race was soon red flagged and the race stewards quickly placed the incident under investigation.
Under the red flag, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was in first place, the Ferrari driver having passed Hamilton on track in the immediate aftermath of the lap one incident. And after a 35-minute stoppage the cars formed up on the grid once again.
When the lights went out, Leclerc made a good getaway from pole position to take the lead ahead of Hamilton, with Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas third ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris.
At the back, Sergio Pérez took the restart from 19th place on the grid but he was quickly on the march and within a handful of laps he had climbed to 12th-place and was chasing down AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly, though his progress was halted as he joined a DRS train containing 10th-placed Kimi Räikkönen and 11th-placed Pierre Gasly.
At the front, meanwhile, Hamilton was handed with a 10-second time penalty by the race stewards. Leclerc was now experiencing difficulties with his engine and that gave Hamilton hope that he might attack for the lead but the Ferrari driver managed to solve the issues with the aid of his pit wall.
Hamilton then made his way to the pit lane on lap 28. He served his time penalty and then switched to a set of hard tyres and rejoined in fifth place. Leclerc made his stop soon after and he was able to resume in the lead.
Further back, as the pit stops played out, Pérez rose to ninth but once again in a train of cars he was unable to salvage anything better for Red Bull. The result was that Sergio pitted again on lap 39 for another set of mediums and dropped back to P17.
At the front, Hamilton had overcome his penalty with relative ease and he was pushing to catch Leclerc. The Monegasque driver resisted as hard as he could but with two laps remaining Hamilton, armed with fresher tyres and more pace, powered past to claim the lead and then the race win.
With Hamilton holding fastest and the point associated with it, the gap to Verstappen in the Driver’s standings would have been narrowed to just seven points. Red Bull therefor sacrificed Pérez’s hopes of clawing his way back to the points and pitted the Mexican for
soft tyres. And in the closing moments he grabbed the fastest lap of the race to deny Hamilton and Mercedes.
Behind Hamilton and Leclerc, Bottas took third place ahead of Norris, with Daniel Ricciardo fifth in the second McLaren. Carlos Sainz fought back from a slow pit stop to finish sixth in the second Ferrari, while Fernando Alonso took seventh place for Alpine. Lance Stroll finished eighth for Aston Martin ahead of Esteban Ocon and the final point was taken by AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda.
2021 FIA Formula 1 British Grand Prix – Race
1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 52 1:58’23.284
2 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 52 1:58’27.155 3.871
3 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 52 1:58’34.409 11.125
4 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 52 1:58’51.857 28.573
5 Daniel Ricciardo McLaren/Mercedes 52 1:59’05.908 42.624
6 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 52 1:59’06.738 43.454
7 Fernando Alonso Alpine/Renault 52 1:59’35.377 1’12.093
8 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 52 1:59’37.573 1’14.289
9 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 52 1:59’39.446 1’16.162
10 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri/Honda 52 1:59’45.349 1’22.065
11 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri/Honda 52 1:59’48.611 1’25.327
12 George Russell Williams/Mercedes 51 1:58’23.643 1 lap /0.359
13 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 51 1:58’28.035 1 lap /4.751
14 6 Nicholas Latifi Williams/Mercedes 51 1:58’29.618 1 lap /6.334
15 Kimi Räikkönen Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 51 1:58’30.736 1 lap /7.452
16 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda 51 1:58’35.676 1 lap /12.392
17 Nikita Mazepin Haas/Ferrari 51 1:59’29.823 1 lap /1’06.539
18 Mick Schumacher Haas/Ferrari 51 1:59’31.393 1 lap /1’08.109
Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin/Mercedes 40 1:41’35.184 Retirement
Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda 0 Collision -
Verstappen wins F1’s first Sprint Race to qualify on pole
Silverstone, 17 July 2021: Max Verstappen made history by winning the first Sprint Qualifying of the FIA Formula One World Championship Round 10 at Silverstone after he beat title rival Lewis Hamilton off the line in a thrilling fight to the flag that left Hamilton with second place ahead of Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas. However, the new format was tough on Verstappen’s team-mate Sergio Pérez who spun off early on. He dropped to 19th place and then retired his car just before the chequered flag.
Verstappen’s win was secured at the race start and he took the pole for the main race on Sunday ahead of Hamilton. From his P2 grid slot the Red Bull driver made a superb getaway to power ahead of Hamilton as the frontrunners roared towards Turn 1. Behind them, Bottas settled into third place ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and the Alpine of Fernando Alonso who also made a great start, climbing from 11th place to fifth at the end of the opening lap.
Behind them, though, Pérez dropped back. He quickly fought back to seventh place but then, on lap six, as he pushed to close in on McLaren’s Lando Norris, he lost control and spun off. He managed to keep his car out of the wall but he rejoined in P19.
At the front Verstappen was beginning to build a gap and on lap eight he had two seconds in hand over title rival Hamilton. Bottas was a further three seconds back with Leclerc fourth, while Norris was now fifth after managing to get past Alonso.
The Alpine driver, who had started on soft tyres, was trying to hang on but Norris’ team-mate Ricciardo was next to attack and the Australian muscled his way past the Spaniard on lap nine.
With three laps to go, Verstappen was firmly in control and despite noticeable blistering on his front right medium compound tyre, the Dutchman was a comfortable 2.3 seconds clear of the Mercedes driver who was also suffering with tyre wear.
Towards the rear of the field Pérez was struggling. He had climbed to P18 but in the final moments his team told him to retire from the Sprint and he thus qualified for the race in last place behind the Haas cars of Mick Schumacher and 19th-placed Nikita Mazepin.
Eventually, after 17 exciting laps, Verstappen crossed the line 1.4s ahead of Hamilton to claim the eighth pole position of his career in a novel manner.
In a reverse to the front row after qualifying yesterday, Hamilton will start second, while Bottas will line up at the front of row two alongside Leclerc. McLaren locked out row three, with Norris ahead of Ricciardo and Alonso took seventh ahead of Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettell, Williams’ George Russell and the second Alpine of Esteban Ocon.
2021 FIA Formula 1 British Grand Prix – Sprint Qualifying
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda 17 25:38.426
2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 17 25:39.856 1.430
3 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 17 25:45.928 7.502
4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 17 25:49.704 11.278
5 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 17 26:02.537 24.111
6 Daniel Ricciardo McLaren/Mercedes 17 26:09.385 30.959
7 Fernando Alonso Alpine/Renault 17 26:21.953 43.527
8 Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin/Mercedes 17 26:22.865 44.439
9 George Russell Williams/Mercedes 17 26:25.078 46.652
10 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 17 26:25.821 47.395
11 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 17 26:26.224 47.798
12 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri/Honda 17 26:27.189 48.763
13 Kimi Räikkönen Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 17 26:29.103 50.677
14 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 17 26:30.605 52.179
15 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 17 26:31.651 53.225
16 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri/Honda 17 26:31.993 53.567
17 Nicholas Latifi Williams/Mercedes 17 26:33.588 55.162
18 Mick Schumacher Haas/Ferrari 17 26:46.639 1:08.213
19 Nikita Mazepin Haas/Ferrari 17 26:56.074 1:17.648
20 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda 16 25:09.289 Not running -
Hamilton takes pole for F1’s first Sprint Race ahead of Verstappen
Silverstone, 16 July 2021: Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton will start Formula 1’s first sprint qualifying race from the front of the grid after he beat Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen in Friday qualifying at the British Grand Prix. Hamilton’s team-mate Valtteri Bottas will start third ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.
In the opening phase of Q1 it was Verstappen who set the pace, with the Dutchman jumping to the top of the timesheet thanks to a lap of 1:16.751, despite a nervous moment in the final corner. That put the championship leader four tenths of a second ahead of Hamilton, with Bottas almost four tenths further back in third.
Verstappen stayed in the garage for the final run, but team-mate Sergio Pérez headed out for a second attempt as his opening time left him in P13 in the final moments of the segment. However, the Mexican put in an excellent final lap of 1:27.121 to jump to P4 at the flag, just behind Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. Hamilton also went for a final run and his 1:26.786, just 0.015s slower than Verstappen showed that the session would be hard fought.
Eliminated at the end of Q1 were AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda in P16 ahead of Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Räikkönen, Williams’ Nicholas Latifi and the Haas cars of Mick Schumacher and 20th-placed Nikita Mazepin.
Verstappen was again on top at the end of the opening run of Q2. Hamilton set the early benchmark with a lap of 1:26.602 but within moments Verstappen was across the line just under a tenth clear of the Mercedes driver. Bottas lay in third place after the first runs almost two tenths behind his Mercedes team-mate, while Pérez was fourth, two tenths further back.
On his final run of the session Hamilton lit up the timesheet with purple times in every sector and he took P1 with a time of 1:26.023. Verstappen improved too, but he settled for P2 with a final flyer of 1:26.315.
Ruled out at the end of the middle segment though were Alpine’s Fernando Alonso in P11 ahead of AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly, the second Alpine of Esteban Ocon, Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll.
Hamilton took P1 in the first run of Q3 thanks to a lap of 1:26.134, 0.172 ahead of Verstappen, who complained that his car was suffering from “oversteer to the moon”. The balance issues heaped pressure on the Dutchman in the final run and though Hamilton went wide in Sector 3 on his final flying lap, the Dutch driver couldn’t wrestle enough time out of his RB16B on his final flying lap and he was forced to settle for P2, between the two Mercedes cars.
Pérez’s final flyer put him into fourth place behind Bottas but the Mexican’s time was deleted for a track limits violation. That meant he was leapfrogged by Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and the Red Bull driver will start the Sprint at the front of row three, in fifth place.
Pérez will be joined on the third row of the grid by Lando Norris. The McLaren driver took sixth place just 0.002s ahead of team-mate Daniel Ricciardo. George Russell gave Williams hope of a good starting place for Sunday’s race by claiming seventh place on the Sprint grid, ahead of Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and the final top-10 place was taken by Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel.
2021 FIA Formula 1 British Grand Prix – Qualifying
1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:26.134
2 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing 1:26.209 0.075
3 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:26.328 0.194
4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:26.828 0.694
5 Sergio Perez Red Bull Racing 1:26.844 0.710
6 Lando Norris McLaren 1:26.897 0.763
7 Daniel Ricciardo McLaren 1:26.899 0.765
8 George Russell Williams 1:26.971 0.837
9 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:27.007 0.873
10 Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin 1:27.179 1.045
11 Fernando Alonso Alpine 1:27.245 1.111
12 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri 1:27.273 1.139
13 Esteban Ocon Alpine 1:27.340 1.206
14 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo 1:27.617 1.483
15 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1:27.665 1.531
16 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri 1:28.043 1.909
17 Kimi Raikkonen Alfa Romeo 1:28.062 1.928
18 Nicholas Latifi Williams 1:28.254 2.120
19 Mick Schumacher Haas 1:28.738 2.604
20 Nikita Mazepin Haas 1:29.051 2.917
