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Jehan Daruvala opens European Formula 3 season with podium at Pau
Photo courtesy Jehan’s twitter handle @DaruvalaJehan Pau (France) 14 May 2018: Sahara Force India Academy racer Jehan Daruvala began his 2018 campaign in the FIA Formula 3 European Championship with a podium in Race 3 of the season opener. Jehan created history last year, when he became the first Indian ever to win a race in the FIA F3 European Championship when he dominated and won at Nuremburg in Germany.
The first round of the 2018 season was held on the famous street circuit of Pau in southern France. Jehan, the 19-year old from Mumbai and driving for Carlin team, qualified just 0.29 seconds off the quickest, but the extremely competitive grid meant that he would start seventh.
In the next qualifying session, Jehan was supremely quick. He was all set to bag pole position, but a slower car in front of him meant Jehan was blocked and he qualified down in seventh and fifth for the remaining races.
The highlight of Jehan’s weekend was when he made a brilliant start from fifth on a completely wet circuit in Race 3. The Indian teenager climbed two places before corner 1 and thereafter made no mistakes in the treacherous conditions around the tight street circuit.
Jehan was comfortable in third, when the race was stopped 13 minutes before schedule due to the un-driveable wet conditions, sealing Jehan’s podium.
Jehan Daruvala (Carlin) in action at Pau, France Jehan said: “At the start, I was able to move up from fifth to third place. Initially, the two drivers in front of me were faster and were able to pull a gap. Later on, I made a mistake: I hit a kerb and from then on, I was afraid that my suspension could break. That had happened to me in the first race already and it was always in the back of my mind. Therefore, perhaps it was good for me that the race was stopped, because nobody was able to take third place away from me.”
Earlier in the weekend, Jehan had a poor start for Race 1 and lost a couple of places before climbing up to seventh. A mechanical failure with the suspension due to no fault of his own saw Jehan retire from the race. In Race 2, Jehan started seventh and ultimately finished sixth after another racer crashed.
Jehan’s podium in Race 3, popularly known as the Pau Grand Prix, was the highlight of his weekend which was otherwise compromised due to situations beyond his control. His pace has been right up there in the series which is arguably one of the most important steps to Formula 1 and certainly one of the most competitive.
“I made a mistake in the first qualifying which cost me pole. In the second qualifying, I was unfortunately held up which again cost me pole position. I am very happy with my pace, especially in the wet. I am now much more confident and up there. After all the things that went wrong, I am relieved with the podium this weekend. It’s time to put this behind me and continue working hard for the rest of the season,” said Jehan.
The second of the 10-round championship will be held at the Hungaroring F1 circuit in Hungary on June 2-3.
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A big win for Rajini Krishnan in Race 1: Malaysian SBK 1000cc Open Class
India’s Rajini Krishnan holds aloft the winner’s trophy. Sepang (Kuala Lumpur), 14 May 2018: Indian racer Rajini Krishnan won the opening round Race 1 of the Pirelli Malaysian Superbike series Round 1 of the 2018 season at Sepang International Circuit here on Sunday.
Krishnan started from P3, but the 2015 Malaysia Super bike champion in the 1000cc open class, took the lead early by Lap 2 and won with ease for a big win in almost one year.
The Indian talent suffered a high slide and fell on Lap3 while in second position and fell back to 18th place. However, he managed to race hard to climb back into the fifth place and had to be content with the same position in Race 2 for some valuable points.
The RACR Team also had racers taking part in the Super 250 , 600cc Supersport and the Superbike 1000cc open categories.
Another talented racer, Vishwadev Muralidharan finished 8th in Race 1 of the Super 250cc category and improved to 7th place in the second race in the evening.
In the Supersport 600cc class, Abhijith Prasad came 5th in Race 1 while another RACR racer Ritesh Sapre came 11th. Prasad, however, could only finish 9th in Race 2 while Sapre ended up 18th.
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Bengaluru’s Ruhaan Alva finishes 9th in Round 3 of Easykart Italia championship
Lonato (Italy), 14 May 2018: India’s Ruhaan Alva did well to finish ninth (100cc category) in the third round of the Eastkart Italian Championship at the famed South Garda karting circuit here on Sunday.In the 18-lap final, Ruhaan, the 11-year old schoolboy from Bengaluru, supported by Play Factory and Birel Art, started ninth on the 25-kart grid. He made two places to seventh by the end of the second lap, but could not make further progress and eventually finished ninth.
Earlier, starting ninth in the pre-final, Ruhaan, who opted for the more competitive Easykart 100 category after finishing second runner-up in the Cadet class last season, did well to jump four spots to fifth, with sights trained on a possible podium finish. However, a shunt from the back saw him slip to 11th before fighting back to finish ninth.
Ruhaan will next take part in the fourth round of the championship scheduled for June 2-3 at the International Circuit 7 Lakes in Castelletto.
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Hamilton leads Mercedes 1-2 in a dominant victory; Perez takes 2 points
Hamilton celebrates with Verstappen (right) after winning the Spanish GP on Sunday. An FIA image Barcelona, 13 May 2018: Lewis Hamilton powered to a dominant Spanish Grand Prix win as Mercedes scored its first 1-2 finish of the season, with Valtteri Bottas finishing ahead of Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen as Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel dropped from second place to fourth after a mid-race pit stop the fifth round of the Formula One FIA World Championship here on Sunday. Force India Sergio Perez managed to take a last-gasp ninth place for two points while his teammate had to drop out due to mechanical issues.
Vettel had stolen second place from Bottas in a dramatic start to the race, but the German then pitted early to change to medium tyres. Red Bull’s chasing drivers meanwhile went deep into the race before taking on fresh tyres and when a Virtual Safety Car was deployed after Force India’s Esteban Ocon stopped at the side of the track, Ferrari elected to pit Vettel for more tyres.
He ceded position to Bottas and Verstappen but in the late stages of the race he couldn’t find a way back past the Red Bull and he was forced to settle for fourth.
When the lights went out for the start, Vettel got away well and using the slipstream created by the Mercedes ahead the German rounded Valtteri Bottas on the outside to steal P2. Further back, Haas’ Kevin Magnussen had to correct in mid-corner in Turn 3 and directly behind his team-mate Romain Grosjean was forced to brake hard. The Frenchman went into a spin, sliding off the track and then back on – into the path of Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg and Toro Rosso’s Pierre Gasly. The collision was significant, though all three drivers escaped unhurt.
With debris scattered across the track and three cars requiring removal, the Safety Car was called into action and stayed on track until the end of lap six.
On the re-start the frontrunners all held their position, with Hamilton leading Vettel ahead of Bottas, Räikkönen and the Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo, Further back McLaren’s Fernando Alonso was the only driver to make a significant gain in the re-start, passing Force India’s Esteban Ocon to claim the final points position of tenth.
The race then settled until Vettel triggered the pit stops at the end of lap 17. The German took on mediums and rejoined in P7 ahead of SAI. Mercedes responded, pitting Bottas, who also took mediums, but a slow stop, allied to Vettel blasting past Magnussen into Turn meant the Finn could no pass the Ferrari.
Räikkönen caused the next shift in the order on lap 24. Verstappen, who was right behind the Finn reported that the Ferrari had some kind of engine problem and within moments Räikkönen slowed dramatically.
Verstappen and Ricciardo blasted past the Ferrari as Räikkönen was told the stop the car but the Finn eventually brought his car back to pit lane where he retired from the race.
Ahead Hamilton pitted at the end of lap 25, taking on medium tyres and slotting into P2 behind new leader Verstappen, though the Red Bull and third-placed team-mate Ricciardo needed to pit.
The Australian was the first of the Red Bulls to pit, at the end of lap 33, with Verstappen pitting a lap later. Both took on medium tyres to go to the end of the race. The order now saw Hamilton lead Vettel by 10 seconds with Bottas third ahead of Verstappen and Ricciardo. The Red Bulls though had much fresher rubber than either Vettel or Bottas, both of whom had made early stops for new tyres.
On lap 41 Esteban Ocon pulled over at the side of the track and the VSC was deployed. During the cautionary period Ferrari responded to the Red Bull threat and decided to pit Vettel for new mediums. The German rejoined in fourth place between the two Red Bulls as Bottas moved into P2 ahead of Verstappen.
The Dutch driver hit trouble after the VSC withdrew, however. He clipped the back of Lance Stroll’s Williams as he attacked the backmarker and damaged his front wing. That might have given Vettel hope but with Verstappen told that his wing was “structurally OK” despite end-plate damage, the gap widened, with Verstappen stretching his advantage over Vettel to 2.1s by lap 49.
The pair repeatedly traded personal bests over the following laps but Vettel could find no way to close in on Verstappen and Ferrari were left to rue ceding track position to Mercedes and Red Bull.
At the front, Hamilton was untouchable, powering to his 64th career win with more than 18 seconds in hand over his second-placed team-mate. Despite Vettel’s attentions, Verstappen was faultless over the final laps and claimed Red Bull Racing’s 150th podium finish with 0.7s seconds in hand over the sole remaining Ferrari.
Ricciardo added 10 points to Red Bull’s haul with fifth place, while Kevin Magnussen finished sixth for Haas ahead of Renault’s Carlos Sainz. McLaren’s Fernando Alonso took his fifth points finish of the season with eighth place ahead of Force India’s Sergio Pérez. Tenth place went to Sauber’s Charles Leclerc who scored points for the second race in a row.
2018 Spanish Grand Prix – Race
1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes –
2 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 20.593
3 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing 26.873
4 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 27.584
5 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing 50.058
6 Kevin Magnussen Haas 1 lap
7 Carlos Sainz Renault 1 lap
8 Fernando Alonso McLaren 1 lap
9 Sergio Perez Force India 2 laps
10 Charles Leclerc Sauber 2 laps
11 Lance Stroll Williams 2 laps
12 Brendon Hartley Toro Rosso 2 laps
13 Marcus Ericsson Sauber 2 laps
14 Sergey Sirotkin Williams 3 laps
Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren
Esteban Ocon Force India
Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari
Nico Hulkenberg Renault
Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso
Romain Grosjean Haas. -
Aitken clinches first F2 victory in Barcelona sprint; Arjun finishes 13th
British driver masters difficult conditions to claim maiden winJack Aitken (ART Grand Prix), Alexander Albon (DAMS), Lando Norris (Carlin) on the podium in the sprint race on Sunday. An FIA image Barcelona, 13 May 2018: Jack Aitken managed a flurry of virtual safety car periods to collect his first FIA Formula 2 Championship victory in the Sprint Race in Barcelona, Spain, assuming the lead at the start of the race and holding on to claim ART Grand Prix’s second win of the weekend, ahead of DAMS’ Alexander Albon and Carlin’s Lando Norris.
Although the circuit was damp following overnight rain and a short spell of drizzle in the morning, all driver started on medium-compound slicks as no further downpours were expected throughout. Polesitter Artem Markelov had a poor start, dropping down the order as Aitken darted to the front of the pack ahead of Sergio Sette Camara, clearing a wild first lap behind them as Nyck de Vries went wide at turn 4 before Roberto Merhi went sideways on the exit of the same corner.Keeping his head cool, Aitken had found a 3.3s advantage over Sette Camara after the opening lap, the British driver setting the early quick laps before the first Virtual Safety Car period was introduced for de Vries’ stopped car, the Prema driver spinning at turn 10 before coming to a halt. At the return of green flag running, Sette Camara went wide at the same corner to allow Albon and Norris through, while Aitken had managed the restart to perfection to assume a gap of 11.7s over the Thai driver.A full safety car period emerged shortly after, as Japanese duo Tadasuke Makino and Nirei Fukuzumi tangled at turn 3 which eradicated Aitken’s lead as the two cars were cleared from the barrier. Aitken handled the restart adeptly, goading Albon into getting close before accelerating away to retain his lead, leaving the DAMS driver in the clutches of the chasing Norris.Albon and Norris proceeded to draw nearer to Aitken after the ART driver briefly ran wide, while Luca Ghiotto nestled in behind the leading trio to pick up any pieces. Recomposing himself, Aitken hit back with a series of fastest laps to keep Albon out of DRS range, leaving Norris to occupy his mirrors. Behind them, Sette Camara had fallen some way behind and the Brazilian fell victim to Feature Race winner George Russell before subsequently pulling over at the side of the road with a mechanical issue – requiring a second VSC period to remove the lifeless Carlin.Aitken increased his gap over Albon at the lap 15 restart, with Norris falling back dangerously close to Ghiotto. The Italian driver grabbed DRS on the following lap, but was too far back to seriously challenge for third place. Behind, Russell was hunting the pair down, bringing himself into DRS range of Ghiotto – delicately tucking his car down the inside of the Campos driver at the start of the 20th lap to claim fourth.With Albon having his hands full trying to keep Norris away, Aitken was able to scamper up the road with a 2.8s lead before a third virtual safety car, called to clear the parked MP Motorsport car of Ralph Boschung after the Swiss driver sustained a heavy lock-up trying to pass Santino Ferrucci, puncturing his front-left tyre in the process. The race resumed with three laps left, Aitken surging ahead once more, but the Brit lost a full second to Albon on the penultimate lap. Dusting himself off, Aitken found time on his final lap to sweep home for his first F2 win, 1.5s clear of Albon in second.Norris took third, some five seconds ahead of Russell who collected the fastest lap on the final tour of the circuit, while Ghiotto was further back. Sean Gelael produced an impressive overtaking display to grab sixth ahead of Antonio Fuoco. Nicholas Latifi fought tooth and nail with Markelov for the final point, even making contact in the penultimate corner, leaving the Canadian to hang on to eighth.Leaving Barcelona with the championship lead, Norris sits on 80 points, 13 points clear of second-placed Albon as Russell is five points further back with 62. Carlin lead the Teams’ Championship with 126 points, 21 points ahead of ART Grand Prix as DAMS have 88 points to sit third.The next FIA Formula 2 round will take place in Monaco from the 24-26 May, and the Principality’s famously tough street course will provide a unique challenge to the drivers as they seek to navigate Monte Carlo’s close barriers and tight corners.2018 FIA Formula 2 Championship Round 3 Sprint Race – Barcelona, SpainDriverTeam1Jack AitkenART Grand Prix2Alexander AlbonDAMS3Lando NorrisCarlin4George RussellART Grand Prix5Luca GhiottoCampos Vexatec Racing6Sean GelaelPertamina Prema Theodore Racing7Antonio FuocoCharouz Racing System8Nicholas LatifiDAMS9Artem MarkelovRussian Time10Louis DeletrazCharouz Racing System11Santino FerrucciTrident12Maximilian GuntherBWT Arden13Arjun MainiTrident14Roy NissanyCampos Vexatec Racing–Roberto MerhiMP Motorsport–Ralph BoschungMP Motorsport–Sergio Sette CamaraCarlin–Tadasuke MakinoRussian Time–Nirei FukuzumiBWT Arden–Nyck de VriesPertamina Prema Theodore RacingFastest Lap: George Russell (ART Grand Prix) – 1:30.987 -
Russell prevails in action-packed feature race; Arjun Maini crashes out: F2
Barcelona, 12 May 2018: George Russell claimed victory in a thrilling FIA Formula 2 Championship Feature Race while Indian racer crashed into the wall on the exit of turn 5 here on Saturday.Russell, the ART Grand Prix driver took the lead from a fast-starting Nyck de Vries before holding on throughout four virtual safety car periods for the win, keeping the Pertamina Prema Theodore Racing racer at bay as Carlin’s Lando Norris followed the pair home for third.Heavy clouds loomed over the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, with sporadic spots of drizzle peppering the start-finish straight at the start of the race. The rain held off, and a flurry of activity at the race start resulted in de Vries wresting control of the lead after polesitter Alexander Albon endured a slow getaway, which also allowed Russell and Luca Ghiotto to filter through. Immediately, a virtual safety car was called for Maximilian Gunther’s beached BWT Arden machine at turn 2, neutralising the race before the action resumed on lap 4.Albon sought redemption for his slow start and overtook Ghiotto a lap later, cruising past on the inside of turn 1 as Norris closed down on the pair. Ahead, de Vries and Russell were battling hard for the lead, with the British driver snatching a tow from the leader before making a move down the inside of the first corner at the opening of the sixth lap – taking the lead.The virtual safety car (VSC) emerged again as a tussle between the two MP Motorsport drivers boiled over – Roberto Merhi and Ralph Boschung made contact in their scrap for 12th place, with the Swiss driver ending his day in the tyre barrier as Merhi retreated to the pits with damage. The race returned to full-speed action on lap 8 as the race restarted, and de Vries soon found himself under pressure from Albon – who fired his way up into to second place two laps later.The Thai driver then went in pursuit of Russell, but any charge was halted by a third VSC period after Trident’s Arjun Maini found the wall on the exit of turn 5. The running resumed on the 14th lap, and soon after, the drivers on soft tyres were making their mandatory stops as the threat of rain appeared to subside.All wearing medium sets of tyres, the leading trio continued to push on with Albon the first to hit the stages of tyre degradation, losing second to de Vries once more as the Dutchman sought to get back on level terms with Russell. With Albon out of the picture shortly after, having pitted to fall behind Norris and Jack Aitken, the front-running pair came into the pitlane nose to tail, Russell maintaining his position by fractions.De Vries opened lap 27 with an assault on Russell, but the Brit held firm before the PREMA driver’s teammate Sean Gelael had contact with Louis Deletraz on the next lap, bringing out a fourth VSC with Artem Markelov and Nirei Fukuzumi leading – and yet to stop.The pair pitted at the end of lap 32 once the race was restarted, which went down to the clock as the slower speeds had resulted in a longer race time. De Vries almost collected the lead at the restart, trying a move down the inside of Russell at turn 5, but braked too deeply and conceded the place. With Norris looming larger in the pair’s mirrors, having converted his alternate strategy into a top three berth, Russell refused to be drawn into a battle and edged ahead of de Vries, opening the taps enough to seal his second F2 win.Despite Norris’ best efforts to snatch second in the final stages, de Vries held on by 0.7s ahead of the Carlin driver. Ghiotto emerged ahead of Albon once more to take fourth place, as Aitken’s alternate strategy helped him to sixth ahead of Sergio Sette Camara. Markelov recovered from a lowly 19th on the grid to take eighth, swiping the reverse-grid pole slot from teammate Tadasuke Makino on the last lap, as Antonio Fuoco completed the top 10.Markelov also swiped the points available for the fastest lap and, having completed 32 laps on his medium compound tyres, will be a formidable opponent from pole in tomorrow’s Sprint Race – which promises to deliver plenty of excitement once more.2018 FIA Formula 2 Championship Feature Race Provisional Classification – Barcelona, SpainDriverTeam1George RussellART Grand Prix2Nyck de VriesPERTAMINA PREMA Theodore Racing3Lando NorrisCarlin4Luca GhiottoCampos Vexatec Racing5Alexander AlbonDAMS6Jack AitkenART Grand Prix7Sergio Sette CamaraCarlin8Artem MarkelovRUSSIAN TIME9Tadasuke MakinoRUSSIAN TIME10Antonio FuocoCharouz Racing System11Nirei FukuzumiBWT Arden12Roy NissanyCampos Vexatec Racing13Roberto MerhiMP Motorsport14Nicholas LatifiDAMS–Sean GelaelPERTAMINA PREMA Theodore Racing–Louis DeletrazCharouz Racing System–Arjun MainiTrident–Ralph BoschungMP Motorsport–Maximilian GuntherBWT Arden–Santino FerrucciTridentFastest Lap: Nicholas Latifi (DAMS) – 1:30.039 -
Masterful Rea wins Imola WorldSBK Race 1
Jonathan Rea wins WorldSBK first race on Saturday in the Pata Round. A WorldSBK image Imola (Italy), 12 May 2018: Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) took his first win at Imola since 2015 with a dominant performance at the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari di Imola, controlling the race from the start and not giving anyone on the track any opportunities. His teammate Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) completed the second consecutive KRT one-two of the season, with Marco Melandri (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) returning to the podium in third.
The Kawasaki riders shot out from the lights, quickly opening up distance with the riders behind. That gap would increase to 3-4 seconds between the British pair at the halfway point, with both riders leading the race from that point forwards. Rea is now just one win away from the all-time win record in MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship history, and opens up a 42-point lead at the top of the standings.
Sykes too gave no option to the rest of the field, showing that his Assen pace was no fluke and that, when he’s got room in front, his ZX-10RR’s pace is almost unparalleled. It will be interesting to see how the rider from Yorkshire fares starting from 8th in Race 2, given the issues that have plagued him in the past. He now moves up to fourth in the championship.
The first two laps were a nightmare for Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati), looking for his fifth consecutive win here. Following his crash in the Superpole 2, the Welshman struggled at the lights, falling back from third to seventh. After climbing back to fourth, Davies went straight through the Variante Bassa chicane, losing several positions along the way and any chance of a victory. He later redeemed himself with two wonderful passes at that same turn 21, but by then the podium was out of sight, thanks to the fantastic rhythm shown by Marco Melandri (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) in front of his home fans. The Italian equaled his best WorldSBK result here in third, while Davies’ fourth will at least have the consolation prize of starting from P1 tomorrow.
Behind the two teams that have dominated proceedings throughout the weekend, Xavi Fores (Barni Racing Team) repeated his 2017 Race 1 finish with fifth place, finding the pace to hold off Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team) in sixth. The Dutchman will however be pleased at his performance, after starting from the back of row 4.
Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Junior Team) had an extraordinary start to Race 1, moving up to third in lap one. He fell back as the race progressed, but his seventh-place finish equals his best result in WorldSBK. Just behind, Lorenzo Savadori (Milwaukee Aprilia) completed his best finish of the season in eighth.
Leon Haslam (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) finished a successful return to the WorldSBK paddock in ninth, pipping ahead at the line of fellow Brit Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team). Haslam beat his teammate for this weekend in Toprak Razgatlioglu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing), whose WorldSBK Imola debut finished with him in eleventh.
P1 – Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK)
“It was a perfect race, I was able to take a step back and enjoy that race. It was difficult compared to the beginning of the day, we lost a bit in the race so it’s something to work on for tomorrow, I ran into some issues with the temperature. I’m super happy with the way the team have been working and I just want to try and do it again tomorrow.”P2 – Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK)
“Its always nice to come home first, but I was running very strong and very consistent. But I was missing a few tenths per lap which is a lot less than I was expecting. But we worked hard yesterday with tyre and set up information and we will try and fix the bike a bit tomorrow, and push again and try and go one better.”P3 – Marco Melandri (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)
“It was very difficult race today, this was as good as I could get at the beginning, as with a full tank it was hard to get the bike into the turn. But in the end with less fuel the bike was a lot better, but it was too late to get a good pace. I hope to get back tomorrow at the beginning of the race but we will need to make a good start because, its important to get good start at Imola.”#ImolaWorldSBK at Autodromo Internazionale Enzo d Dino Ferrari di Imola: Race 1
1. Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK)
2. Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) +3.755
3. Marco Melandri (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +6.906 -
Hamilton takes pole ahead of Bottas, Vettel: Spanish GP
Hamilton celebrates after taking the Spanish GP pole on Saturday. An FIA image Barcelona, 12 May 2018: Lewis Hamilton powered his Mercedes to top spot in qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix, the fifth round of the Formula One World Championship here on Saturday.
It is the Briton’s first pole position since the season-opening Australian Grand Prix ahead of team-mate Valtteri Bottas and the Ferraris of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Räikkönen.
In Q1, after the early pace was set by Kimi Räikkönen, Vettel then raised the bar considerably with a lap of 1:17.031 that put him four tenths of a second ahead of the Finn, with Hamilton third. Red Bulls drivers then disrupted things with Daniel Ricciardo jumping ahead of Hamilton and Max Verstappen recovering from an FP3 electrical problem to vault to P2 with a time of 1:17.411.
In the drop zone as the final runs began were Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson, William’s Lance Stroll and Sergey Sirotkin, as well as Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg and Toro Rosso’s Brendon Hartley.
After crashing heavily in FP3 Hartley and causing extensive damage to the rear of his Toro Rosso, Hartley was never going to figure in the session, but Hulkenberg, who had qualified in seventh place three times this season, was an unlikely candidate for the drop.
The German suffered with a fuel pressure issue early in the session but Renault managed to get their driver out for the final runs. His lap, though, was not stellar and in P14 after his run he was still in danger.
And the danger in the end came from McLaren’s Stoffel Vandoorne whose final lap was good enough to push Hulkenberg out of the session in P16. Eliminated behind the German were Ericsson and Sirotkin. Out, too, went Stroll whose session was ended both by poor performance and by a crash at the very end of the session. The Canadian lost control in Turn 13 and slid off into the gravel trap and out of the session ahead of Hartley.
In Q2 the frontrunners went out on soft tyres at the start of the session and Hamilton laid down what looked like a solid marker with a lap of 1:17.166. That was swiftly eclipsed by team-mate Bottas and then demolished by Vettel, who became the first man under 1m17s with a lap of 1:16.802. The lap put him 0.269 clear of team-mate Räikkönen.
Behind Mercedes and Ferrari, Verstappen looked secure in fifth but Ricciardo had not put in the perfect lap and as the final runs began Red Bull chose to send out again, on supersofts, as they did with Verstappen and as Mercedes did with Hamilton.
In the end, though, Ricciardo’s passage to Q3 was never in doubt as rivals behind failed to find the time necessary to dislodge him and the Australian was eventually told to back of in third sector to preserve his soft tyre lap as his quickest of the session. Thus, like the Ferraris and Mercedes and Verstappen, he will start on the soft tyres.
Out, though, went Vandoorne in 11th place with the Belgian finishing ahead of Toro Rosso’s Pierre Gasly, Force India’s Esteban Ocon, Sauber’s Charles Leclerc and the second Force India of Sergio Pérez.
In the first runs of Q3, it was Hamilton who set the pace with a time of 1:16.491, but while it might have been expected that Vettel would respond, the German’s opening time of the final segment was not good and his lap of 1:17.255, slower than his Q1 time, left him fifth.
Red Bull, meanwhile, found more pace and Verstappen set a time of 1:18.816 to sit just over three tenths behind Hamilton. Ricciardo took third with a time of 1:16.818 ahead of Bottas and Vettel.
An in the final runs Hamilton converted his advantage, setting blistering pace to claim his 74thcareer pole position and his first since the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.
Bottas joined his team-mate on the front row, just four hundredths of a second behind his team-mate and Vettel, who made a significant improvement to 1:16.305 finished third ahead of team-mate Räikkönen who used soft tyres to climb from P8 after the first run to P4.
The third row was annexed by Red Bull with Verstappen taking fifth with time of 1:16.816. Like Räikkönen, team-mate Ricciardo gambled that the soft tyre might provide more lap time but in the end he only improved by four hundredths of a second to finish just 0.002 behind his team-mate.
Kevin Magnussen was seventh for Haas, while Fernando Alonso took Renault powered McLaren ahead of Renault works driver Carlos Sainz. Tenth place was taken by Romain Grosjean in the second Haas.
2018 Spanish Grand Prix – Qualifying
1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:16.173
2 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:16.213 0.040
3 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:16.305 0.132
4 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1:16.612 0.439
5 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing 1:16.816 0.643
6 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing 1:16.818 0.645
7 Kevin Magnussen Haas Ferrari 1:17.676 1.503
8 Fernando Alonso McLaren 1:17.721 1.548
9 Carlos Sainz Renault 1:17.790 1.617
10 Romain Grosjean Haas 1:17.835 1.662
11 Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren 1:18.323 2.150
12 Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso 1:18.463 2.290
13 Esteban Ocon Force India 1:18.696 2.523
14 Charles Leclerc Sauber 1:18.910 2.737
15 Sergio Perez Force India 1:19.098 2.925
16 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 1:18.923 2.750
17 Marcus Ericsson Sauber 1:19.493 3.320
18 Sergey Sirotkin Williams 1:19.695 3.522
19 Lance Stroll Williams 1:20.225 4.052
20 Brendon Hartley Toro Rosso Honda. -
Albon takes pole position in Barcelona; Arjun Maini to start P18
Barcelona, 12 May 2018: Alexander Albon held on from a flurry of last-minute flying laps to secure pole position in the FIA Formula 2 Championship Qualifying session, his 1:28.142 good enough to withstand an onslaught from Pertamina Prema Theodore Racing’s Nyck de Vries and Campos Vexatec Racing’s Luca Ghiotto.Meanwhile, Indian racer Arjun Maini of Trident could only manage P18 in the qualifying session. Earlier, Maini got the session underway at the green flag under warm and breezy conditions, leading out Sean Gelael (Prema) and ART Grand Prix’s Jack Aitken, before Gelael snatched track position for the first push lap of the session. Aitken briefly went quickest, before de Vries and Maini found even more time before having to quickly concede control of the timesheets as the pace continued to drop.Nicholas Latifi of DAMS was first to beat the morning’s practice pace set by Albon, who then ended the first phase of hot laps on top after setting a pair of purple opening sectors. Running then hit a brief hiatus at the midpoint of the session after Trident’s Santino Ferrucci hit the wall at turn 11, bringing out a red flag.DAMS got the session back underway at the restart with both drivers, taking advantage of the empty track. Latifi got within a tenth of Albon’s best time, before the Thai driver beat his own personal best by 0.3s to go further clear at the top of the timings. The circuit then met a flurry of activity, with plenty of drivers threatening to go even quicker.Aitken split the DAMS pair, before George Russell took second from his teammate shortly after. De Vries then bumped the ART pair down to the second row, but was ultimately unsuccessful in his overtures for pole, allowing Albon hang on and secure consecutive pole positions in F2.Ghiotto grabbed third at the last moment and will start alongside Russell, as Aitken and Latifi will occupy the third row of the grid. Tadasuke Makino (Russian Time) took seventh ahead of Carlin’s Lando Norris, as MP locked out row five with Ralph Boschung and Roberto Merhi.With plenty of championship contenders all at the sharp end, tomorrow’s Feature Race should be hotly contested – with all having to blend strategy and speed to secure an all-important victory.2018 FIA Formula 2 Championship Round 1 Qualifying – Barcelona, SpainDriverTeamTimeLaps1Alexander AlbonDAMS1:28.142112Nyck De VriesPERTAMINA PREMA Theodore Racing1:28.369113Luca GhiottoCampos Vexatec Racing1:28.400114George RussellART Grand Prix1:28.524115Jack AitkenART Grand Prix1:28.579116Nicholas LatifiDAMS1:28.605117Tadasuke MakinoRUSSIAN TIME1:28.620118Lando NorrisCarlin1:28.923109Ralph BoschungMP Motorsport1:28.9701110Roberto MerhiMP Motorsport1:29.0811111Antonio FuocoCharouz Racing System1:29.1301212Louis DelétrazCharouz Racing System1:29.1361113Maximilian GuntherBWT Arden1:29.1431214Sergio Sette CamaraCarlin1:29.256515Roy NissanyCampos Vexatec Racing1:29.2841116Sean GelaelPERTAMINA PREMA Theodore Racing1:29.3071117Nirei FukuzumiBWT Arden1:29.3761218Arjun MainiTrident1:29.4071119Artem MarkelovRUSSIAN TIME1:29.5851120Santino FerrucciTrident1:30.4406 -
A productive day despite some tricky conditions, says Force India’s Szafnauer
Perez during Free Practice on Friday. A Sahara Force India image Barcelona, 11 May 2018: Sahara Force India, the only Indian outfit in the Formula One World Championship, who finished fourth consecutively for the last two years, to head the midfield, and punching above their weight in terms of resources when compared to the top teams, have begun 2018 on a sober note. But with Sergio `Checo’ Perez, finishing on the podium in the last round, the team is buoyed with the third place as the F1 bandwagon moves to the European leg starting with the Spanish GP at the Circuit de Barcelona.
Perez who failed to score in the first three races, bounced back with a his 8th podium, the 5th with Force India. And the 15 points garnered in Azerbaijan in the last round and along with Esteban’s one point from his 10th in Bahrain, brought back Force India into the 6th place with a total of 16 points, 20 behind McLaren, who are currently in fourth place and 19 behind Renault who are in fifth place, just one point behind McLaren.
SERGIO PEREZ – VJM11-02
FP1 1:20.924 P13 36 laps FP2 1:19.962 P10 28 laps Sergio: “I think we’ve made a lot of progress throughout the day. We have some good information and we have learned about the new parts on the car; we have made a step forward. The balance is still not ideal so there is the potential to find more performance tomorrow. The track was very green this morning, but it improved this afternoon even though it was very windy.”
ESTEBAN OCON – VJM11-03
FP1 1:21.144 P16 27 laps FP2 1:20.024 P11 38 laps Esteban: “It was a solid day and a big effort by the team to try so many different things on the car in the first session. We managed to complete most of the big jobs and now we need to do more homework to understand everything. I think there is still a lot more to come because we are not exactly where we want to be with the car. Track conditions were not easy for anybody because it was very windy and difficult to put together a clean lap and stay on the track.”
OTMAR SZAFNAUER
CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER“It’s been a productive start to our weekend, despite some tricky conditions. Our work today was mostly aimed at evaluating new aero parts – floor, barge boards and front wing – as well as gathering data about the tyre compounds. The wind was reasonably high and it caught a few drivers out but we managed to collect all the critical data we needed to help our preparations for the weekend. There was a small problem with Sergio’s left front wheel at the end of the session, the cause of which we are investigating, but it only cost us a minimal amount of track time. We are in pretty good shape ahead of the weekend with plenty of data to analyse tonight so that the team can make the right decisions for qualifying and the race.”
Lonato (Italy), 14 May 2018: India’s Ruhaan Alva did well to finish ninth (100cc category) in the third round of the Eastkart Italian Championship at the famed South Garda karting circuit here 
