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Tag: Formula One
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Oscar Piastri takes his second pole of 2025 ahead of George Russell: Bahrain GP
Bahrain, 12 April 2025: McLaren’s Oscar Piastri took his second pole position of 2025 with a dominant performance in qualifying for the FIA Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix in which he finished almost two tenths tenth of a second ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell and three clear of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc as championship-leading team-mate Lando Norris could only manage sixth and Japanese GP winner Max Verstappen was seventh.
At the start of Q1, Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso set the early pace with a lap of 1:32.362. Verstappen was on track soon after and looked set to ease past the Spaniard with his first flyer, but he locked up in Turn 15 and immediately abandoned the lap. He headed back to the pits saying, “something wrong with the car”.
At the top of the table Norris took over, with the McLaren driver posting a lap of 1:31.107, two tenths of a second ahead of Piastri who was over three tenths ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.
With a little under three minutes remaining, and with no time on the board, Verstappen needed a strong final flyer. His 1:31.303 lifted him from P19 to P3, just 0.196 off Norris’s earlier table topper, behind Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton and ahead of Piastri, while a conservative 1:31.751 took Yuki through to Q2 in 14th place.
However, there was no way through to Q2 for Williams’ Alex Albon who went out in P16 along with Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson who had a DRS problem on his final run, Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto, Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and Haas’ Oliver Bearman.
Q2 was disrupted after just four minutes when Esteban Ocon lost control of his Haas in Turn 2 and slid backwards into the barriers in Turn 3. After an eight-minute delay to retrieve the Frenchman’s car the session got underway once more. Piastri quickly set the pace at 1:30.454, a tenth ahead of Norris, but further back Verstappen, still struggling with understeer and brake issues, abandoned his lap.
Team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was similarly disadvantaged and for the second session in a row the Red Bull drivers were restricted to a single lap to try to get through to the next stage.
Once again, they were up to the task, but the pair had to endure nervous moments at the end of the session as they slid to the edge of the top 10. In the end, as Piastri took P12 ahead of Norris with Alpine’s Pierre Gasly taking third ahead of both Mercedes cars,
Verstappen made it through in ninth place just one hundredth behind Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton while Tsunoda scraped through in P10 just two hundredths of a second ahead of Alpine’s Jack Doohan.
Eliminated along with Doohan were Racing Bulls driver Isack Hadjar, Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg, Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso and the unfortunate Ocon.
At the start of Q3 Piastri took provisional pole with a lap of 1:30.233, two tenths clear of Mercedes’ George Russell and with Norris third. And the Australian McLaren driver made sure of his second pole of the season with a final run of 1:29.84, with Russell a couple of tenths behind and with Leclerc in third. Kimi Antonelli took fourth for Mercedes but both Mercedes drivers could lose out having been summoned for leaving their garages ahead of a confirmed restart time in Q2.
Pierre Gasly took fifth place for Alpine ahead of a below par Norris while Verstappen hauled his uncooperative RB21 to seventh with a time of 1:30.423, almost six tenths off pole. Carlos Sainz was eighth for Williams ahead of Hamilton, and Tsunoda took 10th place with his final flyer of 1:31.303.
2025 Fia Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix – Qualifying
1 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 11:29.841 – –
2 George Russell Mercedes 11:30.009 0.168 0.187
3 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 11:30.175 0.334 0.372
4 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 11:30.213 0.372 0.414
5 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 11:30.216 0.375 0.417
6 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 11:30.267 0.426 0.474
7 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 11:30.423 0.582 0.648
8 Carlos Sainz Williams/Mercedes 11:30.680 0.839 0.934
9 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 11:30.772 0.931 1.036
10 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull/Honda RBPT 11:31.303 1.462 1.627
11 Jack Doohan Alpine/Renault 11:31.245 1.404 1.563
12 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 11:31.271 1.430 1.592
13 Nico Hülkenberg Sauber/Ferrari 11:31.783 1.942 2.162
14 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 11:31.886 2.045 2.276
15 Esteban Ocon Haas/Ferrari – – –
16 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 11:32.040 2.199 2.448
17 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 11:32.165 2.324 2.587
18 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber/Ferrari 11:32.186 2.345 2.610
19 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 11:32.283 2.442 2.718
20 Oliver Bearman Haas/Ferrari 11:32.373 2.532 2.818 -
Oscar Piastri tops FP2 as Lando Norris completes McLaren 1-2 at Bahrain
Sakhir (Bahrain), 11 April 2025: Oscar Piastri led a McLaren one-two in the second practice session for the 2025 FIA Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix, with the Australian finishing 1500ths of a second clear of team-mate Lando Norris.
The pair used the hour-long session to forge a strong advantage over the rest of the field, with Mercedes’ George Russell half a second off the pace in third place and with Japanese Grand Prix winner Max Verstappen in P7 and over eight tenths of a second adrift of top spot.
In the session’s opening quarter, Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton set the early pace with a lap of 1:32.157 on Mediums. Soft tyre-shod Kimi Antonelli slotted into second, +0.141 off the man he replaced at Mercedes, while George Russel was third on the same tyre, almost four-tenths off his former team-mate. Max Verstappen then moved ahead of Russell with a lap of 1:32.376 on Soft tyres after the Red Bull driver had earlier complained about his car ride, which was bumping around the track.
There was a bigger problem, though, for Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso who had an issue with his steering wheel and returned to the garage to fit a new one.
Just after the quarter-hour mark Russell moved in the 1m31s bracket and to the top of the timesheet as he outpaced Hamilton by two-tenths of a second.
Hamilton then bolted on a set of Soft tyres and thanks to a purple middle sector he moved back to P1 with a lap of 1:31.915, still almost two seconds off Verstappen’s 2024 pole time.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was the next to get a spell in P1 as he also used Soft tyres to move the benchmark to 1:31.729. The Monegasque’s time at the top was all too brief, however, as Williams’ Alex Albon posted a time of 1:31.696 to slip past and then Verstappen found almost four-tenths more to claim P1 with a lap of 1:31.330.
The McLaren pair of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri had spent much of the opening half of the session running Hard compound Pirelli tyres but as the midpoint approached both moved to Soft tyres and Piastri took top spot on 1:30.505, just 0.0154 ahead of Norris. The Mercedes pair also moved ahead of Verstappen with Russell in third, half a second off Piastri, with Antonelli two-tenths further back.
With a little over 20 minutes left in the session, Leclerc split the Mercedes, 0.013s off Russell, but there was no upward movement for Verstappen who complained that he had no brakes in the final corner as he stalled in P7 behind stablemate Isack Hadjar who was the highest placed of the Red Bull-owned cars with a time of 1:31.238 set on Medium tyres. Verstappen, however, was working his way through a longer run on Softs, as was team-mate Yuki Tsunoda, who was down on 17th place.
With long runs now the order of the evening, the times settled and with the McLarens of Piastri in the top two spots ahead of Russell and Leclerc, with Antonelli in fifth place. Hadjar took sixth for Racing Bulls, with Verstappen in seventh and still complaining of brake issues in the final corner. Hamilton took eighth place for Ferrari, just 0.008s ahead of Haas’ Oliver Bearman who put in a strong performance to finish ahead the Williams pair of Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon.
2025 FIA Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix – Free Practice 2
1 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1:30.505 26 215.272
2 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:30.659 0.154 25 214.906
3 George Russell Mercedes 1:31.032 0.527 22 214.025
4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:31.045 0.540 24 213.995
5 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:31.227 0.722 24 213.568
6 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 1:31.238 0.733 21 213.542
7 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:31.330 0.825 24 213.327
8 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:31.576 1.071 20 212.754
9 Oliver Bearman Haas/Ferrari 1:31.584 1.079 24 212.735
10 Carlos Sainz Williams/Mercedes 1:31.623 1.118 25 212.645
11 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1:31.696 1.191 26 212.476
12 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 1:31.706 1.201 24 212.452
13 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber/Ferrari 1:31.772 1.267 22 212.300
14 Jack Doohan Alpine/Renault 1:31.788 1.283 24 212.263
15 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:31.825 1.320 16 212.177
16 Esteban Ocon Haas/Ferrari 1:31.870 1.365 23 212.073
17 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 1:31.947 1.442 24 211.895
18 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:32.024 1.519 21 211.718
19 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:32.382 1.877 24 210.898
20 Nico Hülkenberg Sauber/Ferrari 1:32.496 1.991 20 210.638 -
Max Verstappen grabs stunning Suzuka pole ahead of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri: F1
Suzuka (Japan) 5 April 2025: Max Verstappen took a stunning first pole position of 2025 for the Japanese Grand Prix and claimed the outright lap record of Suzuka as he hauled his tricky RB21 ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris by just one hundredth of a second. Oscar Piastri claimed third for McLaren with the top three covered by just 0.040s.
In the final runs of Q3 Norris looked to have done enough to secure pole when he crossed the line in 1:26.995. His main rival looked to be Piastri, who was midway through his lap, but no Verstappen, who had struggled for balance all weekend.
The Dutchman had clearly not read the script, however and after “sending it and hoping it would stick” the Red Bull Racing driver secured his first pole since last year’s Austrian Grand Prix and the 41st of his career.
“We tried the best we could to get the best possible balance with the car, but it wasn’t easy, even in qualifying,” said the Dutchman afterwards. “But every session we just kept on making little improvements. I think that’s what made the difference. And yeah, the last lap was just flat out. I mean, around here being on the limit – or maybe even a bit over in places – is incredibly rewarding.”
At the start of Q1, it was Piastri who led the way, with the Australian setting the early benchmark at 1:28.143. Verstappen’s opening flyer, two tenths down on P1, left him fourth on the timesheet. Norris then went for an early second attempt and dropped the P1 time into 1m27s bracket with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc mirroring the strategy to climb to second place, a tenth behind the McLaren on 1:27.920.
In the final runs, Piastri reclaimed top spot, posting a lap of 1:27.687 to beat Mercedes’ George Russell by 0.156s. Norris was third ahead of Leclerc and Verstappen progressed to Q2 in sixth place with a time of 1:27.943, just 0.001s behind Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton.
Headed for the exit after Q1, in P16 and P17 respectively, were Nico Hülkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto and the Sauber pair were followed out by Haas’ Esteban Ocon, Alpine’s Jack Doohan and in last place Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll, who had an off in the ‘Esses’ on his final lap.
Verstappen was first out of the pit lane at the start of Q2 and the Dutchman upped his pace from Q1 to stop the clock at 1:27.502. It was good enough to split the McLaren’s with Norris taking top sport on 1:27.146, while Piastri could only manage 1:27.613, to sit a tenth off Verstappen. Russell then jumped to P2. Running halted there, however, as a grass fire at 130R brought out the red flags just as the first runs concluded.
The session resumed after an eight-minute delay and both Norris and Russell elected to sit out the final runs. Verstappen ventured out but with little threat coming from further behind he abandoned the attempt and headed into the pits.
Ruled out at the end of Q2 were Alpine’s Pierre Gasly in P11 with the French driver followed out by Williams’ Carlos Sainz, Aston Martins’ Fernando Alonso, Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson and Red Bull Racing’s Yuki Tsunoda.
In the opening runs of the top-10 shootout it was Piastri who claimed provisional pole, with the McLaren driver setting the target at 1:27.052. Verstappen put in a strong Q3 opener of 1:27.278 to take P2 and keep Leclerc and Russell at bay, while Norris’s opener was four tenths slower than his Q2 best and he slotted into fifth place ahead of the final runs.
Russell was one of the first out for his final flyer and a mistake in the Esses put paid to his thoughts of pole. Norris was next across the line and with a time of 1:16.995 it looked like the championship leader had done enough. Verstappen had other ideas, however, and in a track record time the four-time champion once again proved why he’d been on pole 40 times.
“A lot of happiness when I crossed the line,” he said. “The whole qualifying, we just kept on trying to improve the situation a bit. And the final lap, honestly, it was very good. I had a lot of fun out there, being fully committed everywhere. Some places, not sure if I was actually going to keep it or not, but yeah, it was really nice. And yeah, it was great for the team as well.”
2025 FIA Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix – Qualifying
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:26.983 – –
2 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:26.995 0.012
3 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1:27.027 0.044
4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:27.299 0.316
5 George Russell Mercedes 1:27.318 0.335
6 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:27.555 0.572
7 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 1:27.569 0.586
8 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:27.610 0.627
9 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1:27.615 0.632
10 Oliver Bearman Haas/Ferrari 1:27.867 0.884
11 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 1:27.822 0.839
12 Carlos Sainz Williams/Mercedes 1:27.836 0.853
13 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:27.897 0.914
14 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 1:27.906 0.923
15 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:28.000 1.017
16 Nico Hülkenberg Sauber/Ferrari 1:28.570 1.587
17 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber/Ferrari 1:28.622 1.639
18 Esteban Ocon Haas/Ferrari 1:28.696 1.713
19 Jack Doohan Alpine/Renault 1:28.877 1.894
20 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:29.271 2.288 -
Piastri tops disrupted FP2 in Japan as Doohan suffers heavy crash: Japanese GP
McLaren’s Oscar Piastri set the quickest time of a heavily disrupted second free practice session for the 2025 FIA Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix that featured four red flags, including one for a huge crash involving Alpine driver Jack Doohan.
After sitting out FP1 in favour of reserve driver Ryo Hirakawa, Doohan was out on track early in the second session to maximise time on a circuit he last raced at in his time in the Asian F3 Championship in 2019. However, after putting just four laps on the board the Australian lost control of his Alpine on the entry to Turn 1. He immediately spun off at high speed and hit the barriers hard, causing severe damage to left side and rear of his car. He quickly pronounced himself unhurt but with the barriers needing major repairs the session was red flagged for over 20 minutes.
When running resumed it did so only briefly. Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso beached his car in the gravel at Turn 8 and once again the red flags came out. The session would be halted twice more before the end of the hour as dry areas of grass at the side of the track caught fire, presumably due to sparks from cars bottoming out, and marshals had to attend the incidents with extinguishers.
It meant that running was heavily disrupted, and it was the McLaren duo of Piastri and Lando Norris that topped the session. Th Australian set a best time of 1:28.114 to take P1 half a tenth clear of Norris with Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar in third place, four tenths off Piastri.
Lewis Hamilton was fifth for Ferrari ahead of the second Racing Bulls car of Liam Lawson and George Russell was sixth for Mercedes. Many drivers failed to get in a quali sim on Soft tyres, however, leaving the timesheet inconclusive.
2025 FIA Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix – Free Practice 2
1 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1:28.114 13 237.251
2 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:28.163 0.049 12 237.119
3 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 1:28.518 0.404 12 236.168
4 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:28.544 0.430 14 236.099
5 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 1:28.559 0.445 13 236.059
6 George Russell Mercedes 1:28.567 0.453 13 236.038
7 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:28.586 0.472 14 235.987
8 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:28.670 0.556 9 235.764
9 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 1:28.757 0.643 13 235.532
10 Carlos Sainz Williams/Mercedes 1:28.832 0.718 9 235.334
11 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1:29.023 0.909 11 234.829
12 Nico Hülkenberg Sauber/Ferrari 1:29.062 0.948 12 234.726
13 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber/Ferrari 1:29.335 1.221 13 234.009
14 Esteban Ocon Haas/Ferrari 1:29.507 1.393 13 233.559
15 Oliver Bearman Haas/Ferrari 1:29.654 1.540 10 233.176
16 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:29.733 1.619 13 232.971
17 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:29.978 1.864 5 232.336
18 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:30.625 2.511 12 230.678
19 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:30.845 2.731 12 230.119
20 Jack Doohan Alpine/Renault 1:31.659 3.545 4 228.075 -
Oscar Piastri wins Chinese Grand Prix; both Ferraris disqualified
Shanghai, 23 March 2025: Oscar Piastri took a controlled third career victory in Shanghai, managing a tactical tyre-focused race expertly to win the Chinese Grand Prix from pole ahead of team-mate Lando Norris who overcame late-race brake woes to complete the McLaren 1-2 ahead of third-placed George Russell of Mercedes.
When the lights went out for the start, polesitter Piastri got away well to take the lead ahead of Norris and Russell. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, got away slowly from fourth place on the dusty side of the grid, where earlier in the day oil had been deposited along the pit straight during a support race, and the Dutchman lost two places as he was passed by the Ferraris of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc. But both Ferraris were later disqualified for technical infringements.
Disqualified
Ferrari drivers Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton have both been disqualified from the final classification of the Chinese Grand Prix, with Alpine’s Pierre Gasly also excluded after all three were found to have infringed technical regulations.
In the case of Hamilton who crossed the line in P6, the thickness of the plank assembly was below the permitted minimum thickness of 9mm, by 0.4mm on the left side and centreline and by 0.5mm on the right side. The Stewards determined that Article 3.5.9 of the FIA Formula 1 Technical Regulations had been breached and “therefore the standard penalty of a disqualification needs to be applied for such an infringement”.
In the cases of fifth across the line Leclerc and 11th-placed Gasly, both cars were found to be 1kg under the minimum 800kg weight and this time the Stewards determined that Article 4.1 of the FIA Formula 1 Technical Regulations had been breached, which again comes with a standard penalty of disqualification.
On his way through to P5, however, Leclerc was clipped by Hamilton. With the left side of his front wing dropping and the end plate missing, he was told by his team that he had lost 30 points of downforce. Leclerc told his team he could manage the loss and in a superb drive, the Monegasque showed great pace from there on.
Ahead of the first pit stop window Piastri managed to build a small two-second gap to team-mate Norris, with Russell a further 2.7s behind. Behind the fourth and fifth-placed, however, Max was losing touch with the leaders and on lap 13 the Dutchman was 5.5s adrift of Leclerc.
At the end of lap 13 the Team brought Max in to shed his opening Medium tyres, and the champion bolted on a set of Hards in a 2.2 second halt. He rejoined in P11, behind Hamilton who had pitted on the same lap.
Race leader Piastri made his stop at the end of lap 14, along with Russell, while Norris and Leclerc made their switch to Hard tyres at the end of the following tour. And after the first round of stops was complete, Piastri resumed in the lead. Norris was briefly undercut by Russell, but the McLaren driver swiftly closed in and under DRS at the start of lap 18 he swept past to reclaim the position.
Hamilton though was struggling for pace, and the Briton was told to swap places with Leclerc, who despite holding on to his broken wing in his pit stop, was flying. Max, meanwhile, was still in sixth place, three seconds behind the Ferraris.
The Hard tyre proved to be more durable and pacier than anticipated and soon after the second stint had begun, teams began to target a one-stop race, with all of the eventual top 10 opting for a single visit to the pit lane.
As the race entered its final third, Verstappen began to close in on Hamilton, and with the Dutchman showing good pace, Ferrari chose to back out of the brewing battle, and pitted Hamilton for a new set of tyres in order to make a late charge. The seven-time champion emerged a little under 19 seconds behind Verstappen who was 4.5s behind Leclerc.
The Red Bull driver began to slowly reel in the lead Ferrari and on lap 52 he was withing DRS range. Leclerc tried to defend but the champion had too much pace and as they crossed the line to start the following lap, Verstappen passed the Ferrari around the outside of Turn 2 to take a fourth place he held to the flag.
At the front, Piastri took the third win of his career ahead of Norris who managed an ever-lengthening brake pedal in the closing laps to stay ahead of Russell. Leclerc took fifth ahead of Hamilton. Esteban Ocon put in a good performance to take six points for Haas. Andrea Kimi Antonelli finished eighth for Mercedes, while birthday boy Alex Albon took two points for Williams and Haas earned a double points finish with tenth place.
2025 FIA Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix – Race
1 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 56 1:30’55.026
2 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 56 1:31’04.774 9.748
3 George Russell Mercedes 56 1:31’06.123 11.097
4 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 56 1:31’11.682 16.6565 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 56 1:31’18.237 23.211(both disqualified later)
6 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 56 1:31’20.407 25.3815 Esteban Ocon Haas/Ferrari 56 1:31’44.995 49.969
6 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 56 1:31’48.774 53.748
7 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 56 1:31’51.347 56.321
8 Oliver Bearman Haas/Ferrari 56 1:31’56.329 1’01.303Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 56 1:32’02.221 1’07.195(disqualified later)
9. Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 56 1:32’05.230 1’10.204
10 Carlos Sainz Williams/Mercedes 56 1:32’11.413 1’16.38
11 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 56 1:32’13.901 1’18.875
12 Liam Lawson Red Bull/Honda RBPT 56 1:32’16.173 1’21.147
13 Jack Doohan Alpine/Renault 56 1:32’23.427 1’28.401
14 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber/Ferrari 55 1:31’05.782 1 lap /10.756
15 Nico Hülkenberg Sauber/Ferrari 55 1:31’15.252 1 lap /20.226
16 Yuki Tsunoda Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 55 1:31’18.537 1 lap /23.511
Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 4 7’25.574 Retirement -
Norris takes pole in Abu Dhabi as McLaren lock out front row ahead of Sainz
McLaren edged a step close to the F1 Constructors’ title as Lando Norris took pole position ahead of Oscar Piastro to complete a front-row lock out for the team. Carlos Sainz took third place for Ferrari but the Scuderia’s hopes of challenging for a first title in 16 years were dealt a blow when Charles Leclerc qualified 14th.
In the final top-10 shootout, 2024 Drivers’ champion Max Verstappen claimed provisional pole with a strong first run that was hampered by a slide in the final corner, but while the Red Bull driver had run with new Soft tyres, Norris, just 0.004s off, and Piastri, had run with used tyres on their opening runs.
And with new rubber on board for the final runs, the McLaren pair showed a clean pair of heels to their rivals with Norris taking his eighth pole of the year thanks to a time of 1:22.595, two tenths ahead of Piastri and Sainz.
Nico Hülkenberg grabbed a shock fourth place on the grid for Haas with a superb lap of 1:22.886, while Verstappen failed to improve on his first time of Q3 and was forced to settle for fifth place and the front of row three.
Behind the top five Pierre Gasly kept Alpine’s hopes of staying ahead of Haas in the battle for P6 in the Constructors’ Championship alive as he took sixth place, while George Russell was seventh for Mercedes ahead of Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso, surprised ninth-place qualifier Valterri Bottas of Kick Sauber, and the second Red Bull of Sergio Pérez.
The major absence from Q3 was Leclerc. The Monegasque driver looked to have comfortably secured his spot in Q2 by posting a time that took him to the top of the timesheet in the closing stages of Q2. But within moments of crossing the line the Ferrari man’s time was deleted for exceeding track limits in Turn 1 at the start of his final flyer. And as the order shook out following the chequered flag, Leclerc dropped to 14th. The Ferrari driver is already facing a 10-place grid drop for taking a third Energy Store of the season, so is set to start from the rear of the field.
Also eliminated at the end of Q2 were RB’s Yuki Tsunoda and Liam Lawson in 11th and 12th respectively, Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll in P13 and Haas’ Kevin Magnussen in 15h place.
The major faller as the first hurdle was Lewis Hamilton. The seven-time champion, taking part in his last qualifying session with Mercedes, looked to be improving on his final flying lap. However, he managed to run over a bollard dislodged by Magnussen and with the debris trapped under this car, Hamilton’s pace dropped and he was eliminated in P18 behind Williams’ Alex Albon and Kick Sauber’s Zhou Guanyu and ahead of the second Williams of Franco Colapinto and Alpine’s Jack Doohan.
2024 FIA Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – Qualifying
1 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1’22.595
2 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1’22.804 0.209
3 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1’22.824 0.229
4 Nico Hülkenberg Haas/Ferrari 1’22.886 0.291
5 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1’22.945 0.350
6 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 1’22.984 0.389
7 George Russell Mercedes 1’23.132 0.537
8 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 1’23.196 0.601
9 Valtteri Bottas Sauber/Ferrari 1’23.204 0.609
10 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1’23.264 0.669
11 Yuki Tsunoda RB/Honda RBPT 1’23.419 0.824
12 Liam Lawson RB/Honda RBPT 1’23.472 0.877
13 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1’23.784 1.189
14 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1’23.833 1.238
15 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 1’23.877 1.282
16 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1’23.821 1.226
17 Zhou Guanyu Sauber/Ferrari 1’23.880 1.285 1.556
18 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1’23.887 1.292
19 Franco Colapinto Williams/Mercedes 1’23.912 1.317
20 Jack Doohan Alpine/Renault 1’24.105 1.510 -
Norris on pole for Sprint ahead of Russell and Piastri: F1 Qatar GP
Qatar, 29 Nov. 2024: McLaren’s Lando Norris will start the Sprint at the Qatar Grand Prix from the front of the grid with the McLaren driver beating Mercedes’ George Russell to top spot by just 0.063s in a tight Sprint qualifying session at Lusail Circuit. Oscar Piastri took third in the other McLaren as Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc finished fourth and fifth respectively.
At the start of the session, in SQ1, Norris topped the timesheet, posting a lap of 1:21.356 to beat Sainz by almost half a second, with Russell third ahead of Verstappen.
At the wrong end of the order, Sergio Pérez once again failed to match the pace of his Red Bull team-mate and he exited the session in P16, just over a hundredth of a second behind Williams’ Alexz Albon. Pérez Red Bull stablemate Yuki Tsunoda was another surprise faller and the RB driver, who complained of a “rushed” final run finished in P17, 0.04s behind the Mexican. Esteban Ocon was eliminated in 18th place ahead of Kick Sauber’s Zhou Guanyu and last place Williams driver Franco Colapinto.
Verstappen set the opening pace of S2 with a time of 1:22.188, but that was quickly eclipsed by Leclerc who went five hundredths of a second quicker to take P1 and by Norris who slotted into second place 0.015s ahead of the Dutchman. Piastri was going quicker than all three, however, and he claimed top sport with a lap of 1:22.050.
Norris’s second run was even quicker and the Briton moved to the top of the order with a lap of 1:21.231 that put him ahead of Russell who climbed to second thanks to a lap of 1:21.4988. Piastri went again but time lose when he went wide late in the lap saw him take third place just over three tenths off his team-mate. Hamilton took fourth ahead of Verstappen and Sainz, with Leclerc in P7 ahead Haas’ Nico Hülkenberg, Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and RB’s Liam Lawson.
However, there was no place in the top-10 shootout for Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso who exited in P11, just four hundredths of a second off Lawson’s time. Also eliminated at the end of SQ2 were Williams’ 12th-placed Alex Albon who went out ahead of Kick Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas, Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and Haas’ Kevin Magnussen.
Norris was in imperious form in the opening runs of SQ3. The McLaren driver set a blistering lap of 1:21.012 on his first attempt on Soft tyres, more than 0.015s clear of team-mate Piastri and almost three tenths ahead Russell.
Norris pushed more on his second run but the Briton clipped the gravel at Turn 2 and he backed out the attempt. That left the door slightly but while no one could go quicker, Russell close to within a tenths and Piastri ended the session just 0.159s off his team-mate.
Sainz will start the Sprint from fourth ahead of Leclerc, with Verstappen in sixth place. Hamilton was seventh fastest, half-a-second clear of Gasly. Hülkenberg was ninth ahead of Liam Lawson, who had a better lap deleted for a track limits violation.
2024 FIA Formula 1 Qatar Grand Prix – Sprint Qualifying
1 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:21.012 – –
2 George Russell Mercedes 1:21.075 0.063 0.078
3 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1:21.171 0.159 0.196
4 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:21.281 0.269 0.332
5 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:21.308 0.296 0.365
6 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:21.315 0.303 0.374
7 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:21.474 0.462 0.570
8 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 1:21.978 0.966 1.192
9 Nico Hülkenberg Haas/Ferrari 1:22.088 1.076 1.328
10 Liam Lawson RB/Honda RBPT 1:22.577 1.565 1.932
11 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:22.433 1.421 1.754
12 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1:22.526 1.514 1.869
13 Valtteri Bottas Sauber/Ferrari 1:22.538 1.526 1.884
14 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:22.599 1.587 1.959
15 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 1:22.738 1.726 2.131
16 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:22.718 1.706 2.106
17 Yuki Tsunoda RB/Honda RBPT 1:22.722 1.710 2.111
18 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 1:22.906 1.894 2.338
19 Zhou Guanyu Sauber/Ferrari 1:22.948 1.936 2.390
20 Franco Colapinto Williams/Mercedes 1:23.423 2.411 2.976 -
Max Verstappen Clinches Fourth Consecutive F1 Title in Las Vegas
Las Vegas (US), 24 Nov. 2024: Max Verstappen secured his fourth consecutive Formula One Drivers’ Championship with a fifth-place finish at the Las Vegas Grand Prix. The Dutchman now joins legends Alain Prost and Sebastian Vettel with four titles, trailing only Juan Manuel Fangio (5), Lewis Hamilton (7), and Michael Schumacher (7).
Mercedes’ George Russell won the Las Vegas Grand Prix, having led the race from pole position, with teammate Lewis Hamilton coming home second. Ferrari’s Carlo Sainz Jr rounded out the podium, edging out teammate Charles Leclerc who finished in fourth.
Verstappen arrived in Nevada following a remarkable comeback win at the São Paulo Grand Prix, where he charged from 17th on the grid to victory. In Las Vegas, his task was clear: finish ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris to clinch the championship. Starting fifth, one position ahead of Norris, Verstappen expertly managed his race, crossing the finish line in fifth, while Norris placed sixth.
With this milestone, Verstappen becomes only the fifth driver in F1 history to win four consecutive titles—an achievement surpassed only by Schumacher’s unprecedented five.
Christian Horner, CEO and Team Principal of Oracle Red Bull Racing, praised Verstappen’s dominance:
“Max has been in a league of his own this year. With eight Grand Prix wins—more than double anyone else—his consistency, teamwork, and sheer determination have been extraordinary. He’s handled the pressure with the poise of a true champion.”
Oracle Red Bull Racing’s Sergio Pérez delivered a gritty performance, climbing from 16th on the grid to 10th, securing a vital championship point.
Meanwhile, in a strong showing for Visa Cash App RB, Yuki Tsunoda impressed with a ninth-place finish, securing vital points for the team, with Liam Lawson finishing 16th.
With two races remaining in the season, Verstappen has cemented his status as one of Formula One’s greatest drivers. The spotlight now shifts to the remaining battles on the grid, where teams and drivers fight for crucial points to close out the 2024 season.
Find out more about Max Verstappen’s winning mentality by listening to the world champion speak in the Mind Set Win podcast HERE.
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Max seals 4th F1 title; Russell wins at Las Vegas, Hami makes it 1-2 for Mercedes
Las Vegas (US) 24 Nov. 2024: Max Verstappen coolly sealed his fourth consecutive FIA Formula One World Drivers’ Championship title with a measured drive to fifth at the end of a Las Vegas Grand Prix won in commanding style by George Russell. Lewis Hamilton made it a 1-2 for Mercedes, while the final podium place went to Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz.
Red Bull driver Verstappen only needed to finish ahead of sole remaining title rival Lando Norris to take the crown and after fending off a challenge from the McLaren driver at the start of the race, the Dutchman stretched away to rise as high as second in the race. And with Norris lodged in sixth for the bulk of the race Verstappen was comfortable enough to drop behind Hamilton, Sainz and the second Ferrari of Charles Leclerc in the closing stages.
“What a season. Four times. Thank you, guys,” Verstappen said on the radio after crossing the line. “Thank you to everyone. I mean, it was a little bit more difficult than last year, but we pulled through and we gave it all.”
At the start, polesitter Russell got away well to take the lead but it was Leclerc who best reacted to the lights and as the field went through Turn 1 the Ferrari driver slipped past third-place starter Pierre Gasly and Sainz to take P2.
Behind the top four, Verstappen and Norris got away well from fifth and sixth, but going into Turn 1, Norris drew alongside on the inside. Verstappen held a wide line, however, and emerged from Turn 2 ahead.
On lap four Verstappen closed right up to Gasly and on the way into Turn 14 the Dutchman muscled his way past the Frenchman to take fourth place. Further ahead, Leclerc, who had been pushing hard to get past Russell, began to struggle for grip and after being passed by team-mate Sainz, the Monegasque fell back towards Verstappen who wasted no time in dispatching the Ferrari driver on lap 8 to claim a podium position. Behind him Norris made his way past Gasly to take fifth place but the gap to Verstappen was growing.
On lap 10 both Leclerc and Norris were called to the pits for fresh tyres and both took on Hard tyres. On the following lap Sainz was also called in but Verstappen was already past and into second place.
The Red Bull driver then made his own pit stop on lap 12 and after bolting on a set of Hard tyres I just two seconds he rejoined in sixth place, in backmarking traffic, but crucially ahead of both Ferraris and ahead of Norris.
As the Medium-tyre starters began to flood into pit lane, Verstappen again rose to third place, behind Hard-tyre starting team-mate Sergio Pérez. At the front, Russell was now stretching away and in such control that he was comfortably able to put and emerge in the lead.
Verstappen was soon past Pérez who then began to drop back before his own stop. Verstappen then made his second stop on lap 28, taking on another set of Hard tyres. Behind him, Sainz went to pit ahead of Hamilton, but at the last second Ferrari told him to stay out. The Spaniard was already across the white line of the pit entry and he had to swerve right to stay on track.
The second round of stops then began to play out and when the order shook out once again Russell still led, 11 seconds clear of hard-charging team-mate Lewis Hamilton with Max in third ahead of Sainz, Leclerc and Norris.
At the front, Hamilton, showing dazzling pace, began to reel in Verstappen and after easily passing the Dutchman, who offered little resistance, the seven-time champion set off in pursuit of Russell.
The younger Mercedes driver was now in management mode, however, and though Hamilton closed the gap to five seconds at one point, Russell was always in control and after 50 laps crossed the line with seven seconds in hand over Hamilton to seal his third career win.
Behind the Mercedes pair, Verstappen was also playing a sensible game. With a dozen seconds in hand over sixth-placed Norris, the Dutchman didn’t resist when Sainz and Leclerc closed in. On lap 42 he allowed Sainz to ease through and five laps later, Leclerc made his way past to drop the champion elect to fifth place.
He crossed the line more than 24 seconds clear of Norris, who had made a late stop for fresh tyres and to seal the point for fastest lap, and claimed his fourth title.
“It’s been a long season,” Max reflected afterwards. “Of course, we started off amazing. It was almost like cruising, but then we had a tough run. But as a team, we kept it together. We kept working on improvements. And yeah, we pulled over the line. I’m incredibly proud of everyone, what they have done for me. And to stand here as a four-time world champion is of course something that I never thought was possible. So yeah, at the moment, just feeling relieved in a way, but also very proud”.
2024 FIA Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix – Race
1 George Russell Mercedes 50 1:22’05.969
2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 50 1:22’13.282 7.313
3 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 50 1:22’17.875 11.906
4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 50 1:22’20.252 14.283
5 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 50 1:22’22.551 16.582
6 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 50 1:22’49.354 43.385
7 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 50 1:22’57.334 51.365
8 Nico Hülkenberg Haas/Ferrari 50 1:23’05.777 59.808
9 Yuki Tsunoda RB/Honda RBPT 50 1:23’08.777 1’02.808
10 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda RBPT 50 1:23’09.083 1’03.114
11 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 50 1:23’15.164 1’09.195
12 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 50 1:23’15.772 1’09.803
13 Zhou Guan Yu Sauber/Ferrari 50 1:23’20.054 1’14.085
14 Franco Colapinto Williams/Mercedes 50 1:23’21.141 1’15.172
15 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 50 1:23’30.071 1’24.102
16 Liam Lawson RB/Honda RBPT 50 1:23’36.974 1’31.00
17 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 49 1:22’08.029 1 lap /2.060
18 Valtteri Bottas Sauber/Ferrari 49 1:22’17.254 1 lap /11.285
Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 25 42’12.021 Power Unit
Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 15 25’36.973 Power Unit -
Lando Norris takes pole at Austin GP: Formula 1
Austin, 19 October 2024: McLaren’s Lando Norris took his sixth pole of 2024 in a US Grand Prix qualifying session that was disrupted by a late crash for Mercedes’ George Russell that prevented many drivers, including second-placed Red Bull driver Max Verstappen, from finding an improvement on their final runs of Q3. Carlos Sainz took third place for Ferrari.
In the first runs of the final top-10 shootout Norris set the pace with a standout lap of 1:32.330 that he later branded “the best of my career”. Verstappen, meanwhile, had overcooked his entry to Turn 19 and as the final runs approached lay in second place 0.031s behind the McLaren driver.
Verstappen responded by going clear of Norris in the first part of his final flyer but the Dutchman’s hopes of a first pole since the Austrian Grand Prix were dashed when Russell lost control of his Mercedes in Turn 19 and crashed, bringing out yellow flags. Verstappen and a number of others were forced to back out of their final laps leaving Norris with pole thanks to this first run.
“It was probably the best lap of my career,” said Norris afterwards. “It was just a very nice lap. I kind of set the bar too high because on my second lap, I was like, ‘guys, I don’t think I’m going to improve much here’. I got everything out of the car.”
Verstappen, who gelt that he had “had a really good shot” was left with P2 ahead of Sainz, with Charles Leclerc in fourth in the other Ferrari. Norris’ team-mate Oscar Piastri will line up in fifth place, while the unfortunate Russell will start sixth. Pierre Gasly put in a strong performance in the upgraded Alpine A524 to take seventh place ahead of Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso and Haas’ Kevin Magnussen, while Red Bull’s Sergio Pérez, who had his opening run of Q3 deleted for a track limits infringement.
In Q2, Yuki Tsunoda was the first driver eliminated in P11, with the Japanese driver being joined at the exit by Haas’ Nico Hülkenberg, the second Alpine of Esteban Ocon, Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and in 15th place, RB’s Liam Lawson.
The major faller in the opening segment of qualifying was Lewis Hamilton. The Mercedes driver lost a significant amount of time in the middle sector of his final flyer and as better times from rivals flowed in the seven-time champion dropped to P19 just ahead of Kick Sauber’s Zhou Guanyu. The Williams pairing of Alex Albon and Franco Colapinto were eliminated in P16 and P17 respectively ahead of Valtteri Bottas in the other Kick Sauber.
2024 FIA Formula 1 United States Grand Prix – Qualifying
1 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1’32.330 – –
2 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1’32.361 0.031 0.034
3 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1’32.652 0.322 0.349
4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1’32.740 0.410 0.444
5 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1’32.950 0.620 0.672
6 George Russell Mercedes 1’32.974 0.644 0.697
7 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 1’33.018 0.688 0.745
8 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 1’33.309 0.979 1.060
9 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 1’33.481 1.151 1.247
10 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda RBPT – – –
11 Yuki Tsunoda RB/Honda RBPT 1’33.506 1.176 1.274
12 Nico Hülkenberg Haas/Ferrari 1’33.544 1.214 1.315
13 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 1’33.597 1.267 1.372
14 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1’33.759 1.429 1.548
15 Liam Lawson RB/Honda RBPT –
16 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1’34.051 1.721 1.864
17 Franco Colapinto Williams/Mercedes 1’34.062 1.732 1.876
18 Valtteri Bottas Sauber/Ferrari 1’34.152 1.822 1.973
19 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1’34.154 1.824 1.976
20 Zhou Guanyu Sauber/Ferrari 1’34.228 1.898 2.056
