Your basket is currently empty!
Blog
-
MotoGP: Bagnaia secures Dutch GP pole after breaking lap record
Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia breaks lap record to secure MotoGP pole in Dutch GP qualifying from Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo and Pramac’s Jorge Martin.
Q1:
It was cloudy but the track was dry in first part of MotoGP qualifying in Dutch GP at Assen, as KTM pair of Miguel Oliveira and Brad Binder led the way after the first runs with Suzuki’s Joan Mir in third from RNF Yamaha’s Andrea Dovizioso and Tech 3 KTM’s Remy Gardner.
It was a late start for Gresini Ducati’s Enea Bastianini, whose bike stopped at the pit exit. He had to rush back into the pits where the mechanics had to work quickly on the second bike. His run plan had to be changed with a late run for the Italian.
There was a small fall for Mir on his second run but managed to get going. Meanwhile, the second run saw KTM’s Binder go up on his teammate with a 1m32.485s lap to make it into Q2 as Oliveira also went through in second with a 1m32.550s lap.
VR46 Ducati’s Luca Marini was third after a late lap to start Dutch GP from 13th as Mir ended up 14th despite a late dash. Gresini pair of Fabio di Giannantonio was 15th from Bastianini with Dovizioso slotting in 17th from Honda’s Stefan Bradl.
Tech 3’s Gardner dropped to 19th with Yamaha’s Franco Morbidelli in 20th from LCR Honda’s Alex Marquez as Aprilia’s wildcard rider Lorenzo Savadori was 22nd from Tech 3’s Raul Fernandez and RNF’s Darryn Binder.
Q2:
Rain stayed away in the second part of MotoGP qualifying in Dutch GP as Pramac Ducati’s Jorge Martin led the way with a 1m31.708s lap where Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo was only 0.010s off, while Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia was third.
It was a record lap already from Martin, as Quartararo had a small wide moment onto the gravel but was not harmed. The second run saw an early lap from Bagnaia of a 1m31.504s to secure MotoGP pole in German GP from Quartararo who had a wild moment.
On his way to his final lap, Quartararo almost had a crash but managed to save himself. Martin ended up third despite his fall at Turn 5 which brought out the yellow flag. VR46’s Marco Bezzecchi was fourth from Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro.
Ducati’s Jack Miller ended up sixth after his late fall at Turn 6 which irritated Aprilia’s Maverick Vinales. Post session, the Australian went to the Spaniard’s box to apologise, who ended up 11th after both his laps were disrupted by yellow flags.
Pramac’s Johann Zarco was seventh from KTM’s Oliveira with teammate Binder in 10th behind Suzuki’s Alex Rins, while LCR’s Takaaki Nakagami was 12th. He was one of the three Honda riders after Pol Espargaro pulled out due to wrist injury.
-
Daruvala speaks positive about his first-ever F1 test with McLaren
Jehan Daruvala was pleased with his first-ever F1 test at Silverstone with McLaren as he is now eligible for superlicense points.
Red Bull junior Daruvala completed his first-ever F1 test at Silverstone circuit on Tuesday and Wednesday with McLaren where he drove the MCL35M – the team’s 2021 car. The Indian driver completed 130 laps across the two days of running.
It was a trouble-free run for the Indian. Physically it was hard but manageable from his end, as Daruvala completed a mix of high-fuel and low-fuel run on different compounds. “I really enjoyed my first time driving a Formula One car,” he said, with the car featuring a plain McLaren livery with the sticker of Mumbai Falcons.
“I felt immediately at home and while it was physically more demanding than anything I have driven in the past, I didn’t have any issues with my fitness. As a result, we were able to work through the run plan well and complete everything we had mapped out. We did a mixture of high-fuel long runs and as well as shorter, low-fuel runs on different tyre compounds.
“That gave me a good understanding of how teams operate on an F1 weekend. Overall, I’m very pleased with how the two days went, how I coped and the mileage we were able complete. I felt I was able to push closer to the limit with every lap and I can’t wait to drive one of these cars again,” summed up Daruvala.
-
FR Team Hyderabad Blackbird gets Vijay Deverakanda in their crew
Mumbai, 25 June 2022: Indian Racing Festival roped in well-known Telugu actor and entrepreneur Vijay Deverakonda to support Hyderabad Blackbirds, a team in the Racing Promotions (RPPL) franchise model racing league.
The actor’s association is expected to help promote RPPL’s vision for motorsports in India. The festival which begins from the weekend of November 11 will bring in multiple franchisee teams into the format and run on weekends in multiple cities including on a street circuit.
According to Akhilesh Reddy, Director, MEIL and Chairman, RPPL (Racing Promotions Pvt Ltd) said: “India has a lot of sporting potential, but there aren’t enough opportunities for it to shine. Our vision is to take an all-Indian team to F1 in the next 5-7 years and an all-Indian women team to F2 in the next 10-12 years. We are excited to have the support of Vijay Deverakonda who is not only hugely popular amongst the youth due to his successful movies but is also known for his entrepreneurship ventures and philanthropic activities.”
Well known Actor and Entrepreneur, Vijay Deverakonda, said: “I’m very thrilled to be part of this league which is committed to provide new opportunities to sports enthusiasts across the country. Racing in India is now pivoted for its due place.”
RPPL recently announced the dates for its biggest formula racing event in India – ‘Indian Racing league’featuring FIA-certified ‘Formula 4 and Formula Regional Indian Championship in Nov-Dec 2022’ and looks forward towards an extravagant event with races all-across Indian metropolitan cities like Hyderabad, Greater Noida, Coimbatore and Chennai. Garnering the global attention and helping India become leading motorsports destination in the world.
About RPPL
Racing Promotions Pvt Ltd (RPPL) is owned by two multi-billion-dollar businesses MEIL and Gadhoke Group. In 2021, Indian racers Aditya and Armaan, along with their partners at RPPL- with Akhil Reddy as the Chairman, launched the Formula Regional Indian Championship as well as the F4 Indian Championship that will run along with the all new Indian Festival League in 2022 across 4 cities over 5 weekends.
-
Racing Promotions takes India to GoodWood festival of Speed
Mumbai, 22 June 2022: Racing Promotions (RPPL), organisers of the revolutionary India Racing Festival announced recently will be present at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, the world’s greatest celebration of motorsport and car culture at West Sussex, UK from June 23.
With the Indian motorsports scene coming into the limelight, RPPL has taken the baton to bring India on the global playing field through various racing events this year.
The Festival at the stunning parkland around Goodwood House, West Sussex, starting tomorrow is motorsport’s ultimate summer garden party, an exhilarating celebration of the world’s most spectacular sport. It brings forth an assembly of auto experts, racers and veterans from the industry experts from all around the world.
Akhilesh Reddy, Director MEIL and Chairman, RPPL (Racing Promotions Pvt Ltd) said, “Goodwood Festival is a huge opportunity for us to represent the Indian Racing Festival on a global scale. It will help in attracting more spotlight and exposure for the Indian racing scene, and will play an important role in spreading awareness amongst motorsports enthusiasts for the races happening this winter.”
Indian Racing Festival will set up stall to represent at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, showcasing the legendary Wolf Racing’s GB08 Thunder, a roaring racing machine, at its tent.
Giovanni Bellarosa, General Manager, Wolf Racing Car said, “It is really a great satisfaction to see our Wolf GB08 Thunder at the start in the Indian Racing League, we strongly believe in the organizational skills of our Indian partners, and we were immediately very impressed by the work. made by the top management of IRL, we are convinced the Championship will have great visibility and will bring many spectators to the racetracks for the 5 events and we also expect to see some very young drivers succeed in making a name for themselves in Motorsport thanks to this series. Presenting the program and the car at Goodwood is something truly perfect and in line with the ambitions of the project.”
RPPL recently announced the dates for its biggest formula racing event in India – ‘Indian Racing league’featuring FIA-certified ‘Formula 4 and Formula Regional Indian Championship in Nov-Dec 2022’, and looks forward towards exhibitions and interactions on an international level, garnering the global attention to the possibilities of how India can become a leading motorsports destination in the world.
About RPPL
Racing Promotions Pvt Ltd (RPPL) is owned by two multi-billion-dollar businesses MEIL and Gadhoke Group. In 2021, Indian racers Aditya and Armaan, along with their partners at RPPL- with Akhil Reddy as the Chairman, launched the Formula Regional Indian Championship as well as the F4 Indian Championship that will run along with the all new Indian Festival League in 2022 across 4 cities over 5 weekends.
-
McLaren Formula 1 Test for Jehan Daruvala at Silverstone
Mumbai, 20 June 2022: Mumbai Falcons is proud to announce that Indian racer Jehan Daruvala will take part in a test with world championship-winning team McLaren this week in their 2021 Formula 1 car. Jehan will drive the MCL35M car at the Silverstone circuit in England.
“For a dream that has been over 13 years in the making, this is a huge milestone. Jehan, as with all recent F1 recruits, will be testing a previous year’s car as part of the process of getting to Formula 1. He will test last year’s McLaren to begin with, at the Silverstone circuit. Jehan will however continue to remain part of the Red Bull Academy,” said an excited Rayomond Banajee, who is credited with spotting and nurturing Jehan in his early days leading to the karting lad’s selection to the Kingfisher one-in-a-billion dream that kick-started the Mumbai talent’s road to to the top.
The test will give Jehan, who is currently third in the Formula 2 standings, his first taste of driving a Formula 1 car. It marks an important step in his aim to become only the third Indian to race in Formula 1.
Jehan continues to remain a part of the Red Bull Junior Team which he became part of in 2020.
Mumbai Falcons, who are the driving force behind making the motorsport ecosystem in the country more accessible to young Indians and are also supporting Jehan in Formula 2. “Jehan has been the leading figure in Indian motorsport for the past 10 years and is just one step away from every Indian’s dream of having a competitive Indian driver in Formula 1. Our mission at Mumbai Falcons is to showcase the best of Indian motorsport talent to the world. We are proud supporters of Jehan’s 2022 Formula 2 title bid and are just as excited about the testing opportunity being given to him by McLaren. This is a huge moment for Indian motorsport fans and of course for Jehan himself as working with a prestigious team like McLaren will help him take the next step in his development towards becoming only the 3rd Indian to compete in Formula 1,” said a Mumbai Falcons representative through a Press Release.
Jehan said, “I’m incredibly grateful to be getting this opportunity. Testing in Formula 1 is extremely limited and opportunities like these are not easy to come by, especially with a championship-winning team like McLaren. It will be my first experience in a Formula 1 car, which I’m sure will be special. The support that I have received from the Red Bull Junior Team, my family and sponsors like Mumbai Falcons, coupled with this opportunity that McLaren have given me will enable me to prepare myself better to achieve my childhood dream of competing in Formula 1.”
-
Canadian GP: Verstappen fends off late pressure from Sainz to win
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen took a good win in F1 Canadian GP after late pressure from Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz with Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton in third.
It was all dry for F1 Canadian GP as Red Bull’s Max Verstappen led the way comfortably at the start from Alpine’s Fernando Alonso and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, as Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton and Haas’ Kevin Magnussen were wheel-to-wheel for few corners.
Hamilton stayed ahead of Magnussen as Alpine’s Esteban Ocon and Mercedes’ George Russell made up places to be sixth and seventh, with Haas’ Mick Schumacher dropping to eighth from McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo and Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu in Top 10.
After few laps behind, Sainz finally got ahead of Alonso for second as Guanyu got past Ricciardo for ninth. There was dismay for Haas when Magnussen was shown the black and orange flag after his front wing’s endplate started moving around.
He dropped to the back of the field as AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly was advised to manage a technical issue. Both he and Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel went for an early stop. Amid this, Red Bull’s Sergio Perez slowed to retire due to a potential gearbox issue.
He lost drive as Virtual Safety Car was deployed when Verstappen pitted along with Hamilton. It gave Sainz the lead of F1 Canadian GP from Alonso, with the Dutchman slotting in third from Russell and Hamilton in the Top 5.
Hamilton had to pass Ocon to gain track position as Schumacher in seventh had Zhou to defend, while Ricciardo ran ninth from Williams’ Alexander Albon in the Top 10. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was up to 12th in his recovery drive post the VSC period.
As Sainz continued to lead, Verstappen was second after passing Alonso. At the fag end of the Top 10, Albon was defending hard from Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas and Leclerc but eventually lost to both of them when the VSC was deployed again.
It was for Schumacher who slowed to retired due to a mechanical issue as Sainz pitted along with Russell and Ocon, which put Verstappen into the F1 Canadian GP lead. The Spaniard was back up to second when Alonso did not pit again.
He was third but not for long as Hamilton passed him for third, with Alonso in fourth from Russell and Ocon in the Top 6. Leclerc was up to seventh after a brave move on Bottas, with his teammate Zhou stuck behind Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll in fight for ninth.
The Canadian was another one to stay out for long. Replays, meanwhile, showed a slow stop from McLaren for Ricciardo when they were double-stacking for Norris. The team were not ready with the tyres for the Brit, which eventually cost him chunk of time and places.
Alpine eventually pitted Alonso for one stop as he dropped behind Leclerc, who was in chase of Ocon without stopping. The Monegasque finally pitted on Lap 43 to drop to 12th as Verstappen pitted one lap later and dropped back to third behind Hamilton.
He didn’t wait long and passed him in the chase of Sainz. The F1 Canadian GP got interesting after AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda crashed into the barrier after coming out of the pit stop which resulted in the deployment of the safety car.
Verstappen took the F1 Canadian GP lead from Sainz, who decided to stop during the safety car period. Hamilton was third from Russell with Ocon in fifth from Alonso, Leclerc, Bottas, Vettel and Zhou in the Top 10 behind the safety car.
The re-start worked well for Verstappen but Sainz hung on his tail for lone as the two left off Hamilton a bit behind and Russell a bit far off from them. Leclerc got himself to fifth after passing both Ocon and Alonso with Bottas joining the fight.
Guanyu and Ricciardo was in the Top 10, but the Australian had a threat from late-stopper Stroll and the Canadian eventually passed him for the last point. At the front, meanwhile, Verstappen managed well to defend the pressure from Sainz in the closing stages.
Verstappen took a good F1 Canadian GP win from Sainz by just around a second as Hamilton registered his second podium of the 2022 season with Russell in fourth from Leclerc. The team orders saw Ocon in fifth from Alonso, who was quite frustrated with it.
Bottas was a close eighth with Guanyu in ninth and Stroll rounding the Top 10. Ricciardo was 11th from Vettel, Albon, Gasly, Norris, Williams’ Nicholas Latifi and Magnussen.
DNF: Tsunoda, Schumacher, Perez.
UPDATE: Alonso was handed a 5s penalty for changing direction for more than once against Bottas between Turns 10 and 12 on the penultimate lap. The Finn had to lift at one point which caused him lose momentum. The penalty drops the Spaniard to ninth whereby Bottas and Zhou end up gaining a place to seventh and eighth.
“The Stewards heard from the driver of car 14 (Fernando Alonso), the driver of car 77 (Valtteri Bottas) and team representatives and examined video evidence and telemetry from car 77. Between turns 10 and 12, on the penultimate lap of the race, car 14 made repeated changes of direction to defend against car 77 who had to lift at one point and briefly lost momentum.
“Whilst noting the driver’s point that at no stage was any point of car 77 alongside car 14, the Stewards consider this to be a clear breach of the above regulation. The Stewards therefore impose a 5 seconds time penalty in line with that imposed for a similar incident in Australia 2022,” stated the stewards.
On the other side, the stewards had no further action for Vettel for safety car infringement. “The Stewards heard from the driver of car 5 (Sebastian Vettel) and the team representative, and examined GPS evidence. After initially closing up to the car in front under the Safety Car procedure, for a period of time car 5 did not maintain the 10-car length rule.
“However, towards the end of the Safety Car period re-closed the gap and then maintained the required position until the race resumption. The Stewards also note that there were other drivers who also failed to keep to the 10-car lengths at different times during the procedure but that all were compliant at the end of the Safety Car period. Therefore the Stewards conclude that a penalty for car 5 is not appropriate in these circumstances,” stated the stewards.
-
Supercross Nationals: Jinan reclaims title-lead with a grand double
Coimbatore, 19 June 2022: Evergreen rider from Kerala, CD Jinan of Petronas TVS Racing captured both the motos in the Feature event to reclaim the Championship lead in the third round of the MRF MoGrip fmsci National Supercross Championship 2022 at the CODISSIA ground which attracted over 15,000 crowd, here on Sunday. TVS hoisted their flag winning all the podium places in both the motos and Jinan bagged the Rider of the Day honours.
Jinan won Moto1 of the prestigious SX1 Foreign Open class in the morning and backed it up winning Moto2 too, making clever use of the Joker lane and put paid to the hopes of youngster Rugved Burguje, who got boxed and tipped over a berm midway through the 8-lap Moto2.
However, the Pune champion quickly recovered and joined back to take the final place on the podium redeeming some valuable points. But it was Jinan’s day as the 46-year old multiple National champion bagged a grand double on his factory-prepared TVS RTR 300on a track that saw the return of Jokerlane this year. The Kerala star began on the left side and was found wanting as Barguje took the hole shot in the second Moto but after the initial dilly-dally, he took the lead and later had an easy outing with Barguje suffering a fall. Making the most of the fight between the table-toppers, Prajwal Vishwanath, the talented youngster bagged a creditable second place to pool in good points with a double podium. Prajwal earlier came third behind Satara’s Ikshaan Shanbagh who exhibited fine riding skills in the first moto.
“With the nature of the track prompted me to be careful and was very cautious. I managed to take the lead and later on I just had to bring the bike home,” said the veteran rider. Earlier in the morning, the current championship leader Barguje could only finish fourth and that paved the way for Jinan to take back the lead which he enjoyed after the first round.
Another youngster from Pune, fresh from 2w Road Racing last week, Sarthak Chavan, also clinched a grand double in the SX2 class while another Pune talent Akshat Hupale, continued his dominance in the Junior SX2, winning both the races.
Petronas TVS Racing made a clean sweep of the Indian Experts class with Imran Pasha taking a fine victory beating teammate from Mizoram Banteilang J while Nataraj R, also from TVS, had to be content with a third place. In Class 4 for Locals, Karankumar M won with Asaruddin S in second followed by Shailesh Kumar in third.
Promoters GodSpeed Racing pulled off another successful round with a huge crowd witnessing the popular event and seven-time National champion Shyam Kothari who spread out a technical track for the Coimbatore round was immensely happy. “Supercross remains ever popular and the crowds today are a testimony. Safety is our first priority and we are happy to finish another successful round,” he concluded.
Provisional Results – Round 3:
Class 1: SX1 Moto1: 1. CD Jinan (Petronas TVS Racing-RTR300); 2. Ikshaan Shanbagh (Petronas TVS Racing-RTR300); 3. Prajwal V (Petronas TVS Racing-RTR300).
Class 1: SX1 Moto2: 1. CD Jinan (Petronas TVS Racing-RTR300); 2. Prajwal V (Petronas TVS Racing-RTR300); 3. Rugved Barguje (Petronas TVS Racing-RTR300).
Class 2: SX2 Moto1: 1. Sarthak Chavan (KX250F- Pune); 2. Shlok Ghorpade (KTM150- Satara); 3. Jinendra Sangave (KX250F- Ichalakaranji);.
Class 2: SX2 Moto2: 1. Sarthak Chavan (KX250F- Pune); 2. Jinendra Sangave (KX250F- Ichalakaranji); 3. Ajay Srinivas (KX250F- Bengaluru).
Class 3: Novice Upto 260cc: 1. Jinendra Sangave (TVS Racing – RTR200); 2. Sachin D (TVS Racing – RTR 200); 3. Arun T (Impulse – Privateer/ Hassan).
Class 4: Locals: 1. Karan Kumar M; 2. Asaruddin S; 3. Sailesh Kumar (All on Impulse from Coimbatore).
Class 5: Indian Experts: 1. Imran Pasha; 2. Banteilang J; 3. Nataraj R (All from TVS on RTR 200).
Class 6: Private Experts: 1. Karan Kumar M (Cbe); 2. Arun T (Hassan); 3. Asaruddin (Cbe). All on Impulse.
Class 7: Junior SX1 Moto1: 1. Sarthak Chavan (Pune); 2. Shlok Ghorpade (Satara); 3. Jinendra Sangave (Ichalakaranji).
Class 7: Junior SX1 Moto2: 1. Sarthak Chavan (Pune); 2. Shlok Ghorpade (Satara); 3. Jinendra Sangave (Ichalakaranji).
Class 8: Junior SX2 Moto1: 1. Akshat Hupale (KTM85 -Pune); 2. Yash Shinde (KTM85 -Pune); 3. Sujan J (KTM65- Coimbatore).
Class 8: Junior SX2 Moto2: 1. Akshat Hupale (KTM85 -Pune); 2. Aleena Shaikh (Husqvarna -Bengaluru); 3. Agastya (KTM65 – Bengaluru).
-
MotoGP: Quartararo eases to German GP win as Bagnaia crashes
Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo took the MotoGP German GP win from Pramac’s Johann Zarco and Ducati’s Jack Miller.
Fabio Quartararo assumed lead of MotoGP German GP in his Yamaha from pole-sitter Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia on Lap 1, as Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro was third from Pramac Ducati’s Johann Zarco with Gresini Ducati’s Fabio di Giannantonio in fifth.
Ducati’s Jack Miller was sixth with Aprilia’s Maverick Vinales up to seventh from VR46 Ducati’s Luca Marini, Pramac’s Jorge Martin and LCR Honda’s Takaaki Nakagami in the Top 10. The fight for lead kicked-off between Quartararo and Bagnaia.
The Italian almost got into lead at Turn 1 but Quartararo held it. The second time when they came around in the first corner, Bagnaia lost control and crashed out which further troubled his world championship chances. Suzuki’s Joan Mir crashed at the same corner.
A lap later LCR’s Nakagami also crashed to make it three riders out from the grand prix. Quartararo, meanwhile, continued to lead with Zarco taking second from Espargaro who had his teammate Vinales on his tail in the fight for the final spot on the podium.
Di Giannantonio was fifth from Martin as Miller was sixth after taking a Long Gap Penalty, while KTM’s Brad Binder and teammate Miguel Oliveira stepped into the Top 10. While Quartararo continued to lead from Zarco, the fight for third was on.
Espargaro had Vinales on his tail for long but a problem for the latter forced him into retirement, as Miller then started to pressure on the Aprilia rider. He climbed back after serving his penalty, with Martin slotting in fifth from Marini and Binder.
Di Giannantonio dropped to eighth from Oliveira, with Gresini’s Enea Bastianini was up to 10th. Up front, Quartararo eased to win German GP to extend his MotoGP points lead as Zarco cruised to a second place ahead of a fighting Miller and Espargaro.
Both had moments at Turn 1 but the one from Espargaro allowed Miller to sneak through to take third. Marini passed Martin to fifth as Binder was seventh from di Giannantonio, Oliveira and Bastianini rounded the Top 10 with Bezzecchi was 11th.
Tech 3 KTM’s Raul Fernandez was 12th from Yamaha’s Franco Morbidelli, RNF Yamaha’s Andrea Dovizioso and Tech 3’s Remy Gardner in the Top 15 points position. Honda’s Stefan Bradl was the only other finisher in 16th.
DNF: Pol Espargaro, Vinales, Nakagami, Alex Marquez, Darryn Binder, Bagnaia, Mir.
-
Canadian GP: Verstappen takes pole in damp conditions from Alonso
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen took F1 pole in Canadian GP in damp condition from Alpine’s Fernando Alonso and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz.
Q1:
Post the FP3 session, rain continued to lash down at Montreal to start the F1 Canadian GP qualifying with everyone using the full wet tyres. It was indeed a tricky situation as every lap counted for the drivers in the situation where the track remained damp.
AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda (1m36.575s) seemingly took a back seat with the engine penalty he had. Having set a lap earlier, he decided to remain in the pits as he ended up last with a lap. Surprisingly, there was only one yellow flag moment in all of the session.
Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz went off at Turn 1 but managed to continue as he was put under investigation along with Charles Leclerc and Williams’ Alexander Albon for driving unnecessarily slowly despite the conditions they were in.
The replays also showed a moment between Sainz and Alpine’s Esteban Ocon, when the Spaniard rejoined the track after his off. It was a disaster for AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly (1m34.492s) after he failed to make it out of Q1 along with his teammate.
It was same for Aston Martin where Sebastian Vettel (1m34.512s) was 17th from Lance Stroll (1m35.532s), with both the German and the Frenchman frustrated on the radio. Williams’ Nicholas Latifi (1m35.660s) was 19th from Tsunoda.
At the front, it was Red Bull’s Max Verstappen on top with a 1m32.219s lap as Alpine’s Fernando Alonso (1m32.277s) slotted in second with Ferrari’s Sainz (1m32.781s) in third.
Q2:
Just as the second part in F1 Canadian GP started, the FIA noted that Sainz’s rejoin incident from Q1 resulted in no further action from the stewards. Already ahead of the running, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc decided to not take part in qualifying.
Once the session got going, Williams’ Alexander Albon had a small off to cause a yellow flag, but he managed to rejoin. Moments later, Red Bull’s Sergio Perez had a moment at Turn 1 which resulted in a red flag after he couldn’t reverse out of the situation.
This left both Leclerc and Perez out of the session whereas during the red flag, McLaren’s Lando Norris complained of power unit issues. This kept him in the pits on green flag as drivers had the intermediate tyres in use with dry line appearing at certain spots.
Despite Norris making it out for a lap, he eventually bailed out of it due to the power unit issue which left him 14th behind Perez and ahead of Leclerc. Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas (1m26.788s) was one of the two cars to be knocked out in 11th from Albon (1m26.858s).
At the front, it was Red Bull’s Verstappen (1m23.746s) again on top with Alpine’s Fernando Alonso slotting in second from Mercedes’ George Russell after the times started to tumble towards the end.
Q3:
It was getting dry in the third part of the F1 Canadian GP qualifying but the Top 10 drivers decided to use the intermediate tyres for their first run still. Naturally, Red Bull’s Verstappen led the way provisionally with a 1m22.701s lap.
He headed Ferrari’s Sainz and Alpine’s Alonso before they started their second run. The gamble of the slick tyres was taken by Mercedes’ George Russell with the Brit switching to the soft tyres but his first run ended in an off at Turn 1 after a small moment.
Verstappen went quicker still with a 1m21.299s lap to take pole in F1 Canadian GP as a late push lap from Alonso (1m21.944s) put him in second and on the front row, pushing Sainz (1m22.096s) to third after the Spaniard had a small moment in the final corner.
Hamilton (1m22.891s) was fourth in his best qualifying of 2022, with the Haas pair of Kevin Magnussen (1m22.960s) and Mick Schumacher (1m23.356s) slotting in fifth and sixth in a good show as Ocon (1m23.529s) was seventh from Russell (1m23.557s), whose soft tyre gamble didn’t work as well.
The Top 10 was rounded out by McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo (1m23.749s) and Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu (1m24.030s), with the Chinese driver securing his first Q3 result.
UPDATE: The post-session stewards results saw Gasly and Guanyu get a driving reprimand for failing to adhere to the Race Directors’ note at Turn 9. At the same time, the likes of Leclerc, Sainz and Albon were let go for driving unnecessarily slowly.
For Sainz, it stated: “At the start of Qualifying 1 car 55 slowed on the approach to turn 13 to create a gap to start a fast lap. The driver says that he had to slow significantly behind other cars, who were also doing the same, in order to create a safe gap due to the very poor visibility caused by the weather conditions.
“Further, he says that it would have been unsafe to try to overtake the other cars in front as they would not have been expecting such a manoeuvre at this point. The Stewards consider this to have created a potentially dangerous situation but, given that many drivers ended up queueing at this part of the circuit, they determine that too many drivers contributed to the situation and therefore the driver concerned is not fully to blame.”
For Albon, it stated: “At the start of Qualifying 1 car 23 slowed on the approach to turn 13 to create a gap to start a fast lap. The driver says that he had to slow significantly behind other cars, who were also doing the same, in order to create a safe gap due to the very poor visibility caused by the weather conditions.
“Further, he says that it would have been unsafe to try to overtake the other cars in front as they would not have been expecting such a manoeuvre at this point. The Stewards consider this to have created a potentially dangerous situation but, given that many drivers ended up queueing at this part of the circuit, they determine that too many drivers contributed to the situation and therefore the driver concerned is not fully to blame.”
And for Leclerc, it stated: “At the start of Qualifying 1 car 16 slowed on the approach to turn 13 to create a gap to start a fast lap. The driver says that he had to slow significantly behind other cars, who were also doing the same, in order to create a safe gap due to the very poor visibility caused by the weather conditions.
“Further, he says that it would have been unsafe to try to overtake the other cars in front as they would not have been expecting such a manoeuvre at this point. When the driver was informed by his team that car 77 (Bottas) was approaching very quickly on a fast lap, he slowed even further and stayed off-line to the right before the entry to turn 13 to ensure he did not impede car 77.
“The Stewards accept that Leclerc did everything possible at that point to avoid impeding Bottas. However, they consider the situation to have been potentially dangerous but, given that many drivers ended up queueing at this part of the circuit, they determine that too many drivers contributed to the situation and therefore the driver concerned is not fully to blame.”
-
MotoGP: Bagnaia beats Quartararo to German GP pole by 0.076s
Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia took MotoGP pole in German GP from Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo by 0.076s with Pramac’s Johann Zarco in third.
Q1:
The first part in MotoGP German GP qualifying saw Gresini Ducati’s Fabio di Giannantonio in a good position to lead the way with a strong 1m20.307s lap as Honda’s Pol Espargaro then slotted in second for a spot in Q2 which had several riders in the tussle.
VR46 Ducati’s Marco Bezzecchi, LCR Honda’s Alex Marquez and Gresini’s Enea Bastianini were in the chasing pack for a spot in Q2. The final run saw di Giannantonio hold his lap to make it into Q2 as Bezzecchi made it in after displacing Espargaro.
The Spaniard’s final attempt saw him finish third to start 13th, missing Q2 by just the 0.004s margin. KTM’s Miguel Oliveira did well to move up to 14th with teammate Brad Binder slotting in 15th from Marquez and Bastianini, who was hugely frustrated.
Honda’s Stefan Bradl was 18th from RNF Yamaha’s Andrea Dovizioso, as Yamaha’s Franco Morbidelli was 20th from Tech 3 KTM pair of Remy Gardner and Raul Fernandez as RNF’s Darryn Binder rounded the 23 runners where Suzuki’s Alex Rins pulled out due to his wrist injury.
Q2:
The second part in MotoGP German GP at Sachsenring saw Ducati lead provisionally with Francesco Bagnaia ahead of Jack Miller after a 1m20.098s lap, as Pramac Ducati’s Jorge Martin was third from Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro.
Among them, Miller was still under investigation for a yellow flag infringement from FP4 session. The second run changed the order a bit, with Bagnaia upping his pace to a 1m19.931s lap to take MotoGP pole in German GP where he ended his session early.
After an early trouble, Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo fought back to second with Pramac’s Johann Zarco upping his pace to be third. Aprilia’s Espargaro was fourth as Gresini’s di Giannantonio slotted in fifth after coming through from Q1.
Miller dropped to sixth from VR46’s Luca Marini as Martin was only eighth after early Top 3 pace, with Aprilia’s Maverick Vinales in ninth, LCR’s Takaaki Nakagami 10th, Bezzecchi 11th and Suzuki’s Joan Mir 12th. The Japanese rider caused a late yellow flag after crashing in Sector 1.
