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Tag: George Russell
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Oscar Piastri takes controlled Bahrain win ahead of George Russell and Lando Norris: F1
Sakhir, 13 April 2025: Oscar Piastri handed McLaren its first Bahrain Grand Prix win with a controlled drive from pole position that saw the Australian finish 15 seconds clear or Mercedes’ George Russell while Lando Norris recovered from a starting grid penalty to battle through to third at the flag.
At the start of the race, polesitter Piastri got away well to take the lead. Alongside him, however, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was slow off the line and he was passed by Mercedes’ George Russell and the second McLaren of Lando Norris. Further back Max Verstappen also had a tricky start and Red Bull driver was passed by Williams’ hard-charging Carlos Sainz. Verstappen slotted into eighth place ahead of Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton.
As Piastri took control of the first stint, Sainz charged up to sixth, but he was soon passed by Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli and Verstappen followed the Italian driver at the hairpin to reclaim seventh. Sainz then slipped back and on lap 9 both Hamilton and Yuki Tsunoda in the second Red Bull charged past the Williams driver.
Norris was in trouble, however. The McLaren driver has stopped short on the grid and in trying to move he put his car beyond the grid slot. He was handed a five-second time penalty.
The Soft tyres many had started on quickly began to fade and at the end of lap 10 Norris was the first to shed them. He dived into pits, served his time penalty and made a switch Mediums.
Sixth-placed Pierre Gasly and Verstappen were next in for a change, but the champion’s switch to the Hard compound Pirellis was a slow 4.7 seconds and when he emerged, he found himself three seconds back from Gasly and with backmarkers between them.
At the front, Medium-tyre starters Leclerc and Hamilton took over as the lead pair, ahead of Piastri and Russell. Norris was now fifth ahead of Gasly and Haas’ Esteban Ocon, while Verstappen was down in P8.
Ferrari completed a stacked stop at the end of lap 17 and while Leclerc slotted into the pack in fifth and soon passed Gasly, Hamilton emerged in P11. With fresher tyres on board, he soon made his way past Tsunoda.
On lap 20 Verstappen was ambushed by Antonelli who got past in Turn 4. Struggling with “everything overheating” Max was then passed by Hamilton who was gradually hauling his way forward.
At the front, Piastri was slowly stretching away from Russell and on lap 24 he was five seconds clear of the Mercedes. Norris was third but being pressured by Leclerc who almost made his way past in Turn 1 only to go too deep. The Monegasque driver wasn’t done, however, and on the following lap he powered past the McLaren in Turn 4 to steal third place.
With the second pit stop window now open, Tsunoda climbed to P7 but on lap 31, he tangled with Sainz. The Red Bull driver slid sideways into the Williams man’s car and the Spaniard’s car was damaged. With debris strewn across the track the Safety Car was deployed, and the pit lane was quickly flooded with drivers taking advantage of the caution.
Behind the SC, Piastri led ahead of Russell, Leclerc, Norris and Hamilton. Gasly was now sixth ahead of Ocon and Max, with Alpine’s Jack Doohan next ahead of Sainz and Tsunoda.
The Safety Car left the track at the end of lap 35 and Piastri held the lead ahead of Russell and Leclerc. Hamilton and Norris tussled but after swapping position twice the McLaren driver forged ahead. Verstappen, too, was on the move and he dived past Ocon to claim P7.
In a tight closing third of the race, battles throughout the order. Norris pressured Leclerc for a dozen laps and although the Ferrari driver was initially able to resist, eventually his defence faded and on lap 52 the McLaren driver got past. Further back, Verstappen closed up to Gasly and on the final lap of the race the champion was able to power past to take sixth place.
At the front, Piastri was in control and after 57 laps he took his second win of the year ahead of Russell who was set for investigation for a DRS infringement late in the race due to technical problems with his car. Norris finished third ahead of Leclerc and Hamilton finished in fifth place ahead of Verstappen. Gasly ended up sixth ahead Ocon while Tsunoda took his first points for Red Bull Racing with ninth place ahead of the second Haas of Bearman.
2025 FIA Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix – Race
1 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 57 1:35’39.435
2 George Russell Mercedes 57 1:35’54.934 15.499
3 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 57 1:35’55.708 16.273
4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 57 1:35’59.114 19.679
5 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 57 1:36’07.428 27.993
6 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 57 1:36’13.830 34.395
7 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 57 1:36’15.437 36.002
8 Esteban Ocon Haas/Ferrari 57 1:36’23.679 44.244
9 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull/Honda RBPT 57 1:36’24.496 45.061
10 Oliver Bearman Haas/Ferrari 57 1:36’27.029 47.594
11 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 57 1:36’27.451 48.016
12 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 57 1:36’28.274 48.839
13 Nico Hülkenberg Sauber/Ferrari 57 1:36’32.907 53.472
14 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 57 1:36’35.749 56.314
15 Jack Doohan Alpine/Renault 57 1:36’37.241 57.806
16 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 57 1:36’39.775 1’00.340
17 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 57 1:36’43.870 1’04.435
18 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 57 1:36’44.924 1’05.489
19 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber/Ferrari 57 1:36’46.307 1’06.872
Carlos Sainz Williams/Mercedes 45 1:17’36.543 Retirement -
Russell quickest on day three, but Sainz takes ‘pole’: F1 test 2025
Sakhir, 28 February 2025: The curtain has come down on the only official test session prior to the start of the 2025 season. Three busy days saw all 20 race drivers on track, able to work on development of their new cars more or less uninterrupted. In total there were 25 hours of track time, with 3,896 laps completed, equivalent to 21,090,564 kilometres.
Quickest today was George Russell, the Englishman stopping the clocks in 1’29”545. Next up was Max Verstappen who, on the same C3 compound as the Mercedes driver was just 21 thousandths slower. Alex Albon was third on a set of C4s with which he lapped in 1’29”650. It’s worth noting that today’s top eight drivers represented eight different teams. Behind the top three came the McLaren of Oscar Piastri (1’29”940), Pierre Gasly in the Alpine (1’30”040), the Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton (1’30”345), Yuki Tsunoda for Racing Bulls (1’30”497) and Esteban Ocon in the Haas (1’30”728).
Russell’s time today was not enough to give him the nominal pole position for the test, that honour going to Carlos Sainz with his time of 1’29”348 set yesterday in the Williams. He thus repeats his performance of last year when at the wheel of a Ferrari. Further confirmation of how closely matched were the top teams at this test, three different drivers from three different teams topped the time sheet each day, the only one not mentioned so far being Lando Norris on the first day.
“We’ve had three rather unusual testing days here in Bahrain,” commented Pirelli’s Director of Motorsport, Mario Isola. “For years now, Formula 1 has chosen this circuit for the only pre-season test because the weather is usually very favourable, but that was not the case this week, especially the first two days. Low temperatures, considerably lower than at this time of year in previous years, and strong wind affected the teams’ work and made it even harder than usual to interpret the results, with no previous reference points on this track at such low temperatures.
“From our side, the most data came from the C3 and the C2 and, slightly less so from the C1: that was entirely to be expected, given that these are the compounds usually chosen for the Bahrain Grand Prix. Only a few laps were completed with the C4, while the C5 and C6 never appeared on track, to be expected as only Ferrari and Williams had opted to include these in their allocation. From what we could see, the C2 behaved as expected, confirming that it was further from the C1 than last year and therefore closer to the C3. The hardest compound struggled a bit in these temperatures, while the C3 proved to be the most versatile of the range.
We did not see any real performance runs, which would have allowed us to fully evaluate the performance difference between the compounds. As for degradation of the three hardest compounds, it’s clear that because of the low temperatures, it was minimal, even if it increased slightly today when it was a bit warmer, but not in any significant fashion. Now we head home with plenty of data to study as we prepare for the opening round of the season, the Australian Grand Prix. In Melbourne, we will bring the same compounds in terms of nomenclature, as last year, namely the C3 as Hard, the C4 as Medium and the C5 as Soft, so we will have a first meaningful look at the softer compounds.”
With testing of the 2025 cars now complete, Pirelli stays at the Sakhir track for a further two days of testing on Sunday 2nd and Monday 3rd March. On the agenda, development of the 2026 tyres, working with Alpine and Williams. The French team will run its two test drivers, Paul Aron and Ryo Hirakawa, while the English squad is giving its race drivers Alexander Albon and Carlos Sainz more time on track.
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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 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 -
Hamilton takes victory after Russell was disqualified: F1
Spa, 28 July 2024: George Russell has been disqualified from the Belgian Grand Prix after his Mercedes W15 was below the 798kg minimum weight, handing victory to team-mate Lewis Hamilton.
Russell took a sensational win at Spa with a well-worked one-stop strategy, but following the race the FIA Technical Delegate reported that while Russell’s car was initially weighted it met the minimum weight of 798.0 kg. However, when “fuel was drained out of the car and 2.8 litres of fuel were removed” to get the required sample, the car was weighed again and “the weight was 796.5 kg… 1.5 kg below the minimum weight requested in TR Article 4.1”.
The matter was referred to the Race Stewards and after hearing from a Mercedes team representative that there were no mitigating circumstances and that it was a genuine error by the team, the Stewards determined that Article 4.1 of the FIA Formula 1 Technical Regulations had been breached and Russell was disqualified from the race result.
The ruling means that Lewis Hamilton inherits his 105th win in Formula 1, with McLaren’s Oscar Piastri moving up to second place. Charles Leclerc claims a 36th career podium finish with P3. With the rest of the field also moving up a place, RB’s Daniel Ricciardo claims his third points finish of the season with 10th place.
Surprise by Russell
Earlier, George Russell springs a strategic surprise at Spa, making a one-stop strategy work to snatch a third career grand prix victory from under the nose of long time race leader Lewis Hamilton who finished a little over half a second ahead behind his Mercedes team-mate and 0.6s clear of third-placed McLaren driver Oscar Piastri.
At the start of the race, Ferrari polesitter Charles Leclerc got away well to take the lead. Behind him fellow front-row starter Sergio Pérez was slower off the line and into La Source he was passed by Hamilton. Behind them McLaren’s Lando Norris took a wide line and on the exit of Turn 1 dipped a wheel onto the gravel. That allowed Piastri, Russell and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz to power past as the quartet went into Eau Rouge.
Further back, from P11 on the grid, Max Verstappen got away well and on lap one the Dutchman kicked off what was expected to be a rapid charge through the field by passing Alpine’s Esteban Ocon and Williams’ Alex Albon and then on lap 2 he picked off Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso to close in on Norris who was now seventh.
On the next lap, with DRS in play, Hamilton closed up to Leclerc through Eau Rouge and on the long Kemmel straight the Mercedes driver powered past the Ferrari to take the lead. Behind them Pérez held on to third under pressure from Piastri with Russell in fifth ahead of Sainz.
Behind them, Verstappen was bottled up behind Norris and Red Bull opted to pit the Dutchman on lap 10 hoping for an undercut. That sparked a flood of stops among the frontrunners and after the pit visits had played out, Hard tyre starter Sainz rose to P1 ahead of Hamilton and Leclerc. Pérez, though, emerged from his stop behind the slower Aston Martin of Lance Stroll and that allowed Piastri to close in. Stroll exited the picture when Aston called him to the pits, but Piastri was now right behind Pérez and on the run to Les Combes, aided by DRS, the Australian flew past to take P4.
Norris was the last of the frontrunners to pit, five laps after Max, and when the McLaren driver rejoined on Hard tyres, Verstappen was well ahead and beginning to close on Russell and Pérez who was now fifth.
The Mexican was struggling for pace on the straights, however, and he was soon passed by Russell. That put the Pérez directly in the path of Verstappen and with the Dutch driver bottled up, Norris on fresher tyres began to close on both. That prompted Red Bull to put Pérez early and the Mexican faced a long, hard slog on Hard tyres to the end of the race.
Leclerc sparked the final round of stop at the end of lap 25 and when the tyre changes had played out, Russell, who had eschewed new rubber and had suddenly decided that a one-stop was viable, led the race ahead of Hamilton and Leclerc, with Piastri in fourth. Verstappen was now in P5, under a second clear of Norris and behind them Pérez lay seventh.
On lap 36 Piastri, after one failed attempt at passing Leclerc, closed up to the Ferrari on the exit of La Source. Leclerc defended hard as the pair entered the braking zone for Les Combes but Piastri hung on around the outside and then firmly shut the door on Leclerc as they exited the chicane to take third place, 5.6s behind Hamilton.
On lap 39, Pérez came under pressure from Sainz and though the Mexican defended as best he could on ageing tyres, Sainz muscled his way past on the Kemmel straight to demote the Red Bull driver to P8.
Over the final five laps, all of the frontrunners closed in on Russell but remarkably the Mercedes driver was able to keep his fading Hard tyres alive to keep Hamilton and Piastri at bay and at the end of the 44 laps Russell took his third career win just half a second ahead of Hamilton with Piastri a tenth further back in third.
Leclerc clung on behind them, just six tenths ahead of Verstappen who took fifth place, another half second ahead of Norris. Sainz finished in seventh and Pérez ended the race in eighth. However, with more than half a minute in hand over Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso, the Mexican made a late stop for Soft tyres and banked an extra point with a fastest lap of 1:44.701 in the final laps. Tenth place went to Ocon who edged RB’s Daniel Ricciardo out of the points-paying positions in the closing stages.
2024 FIA Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix – Race
1 George Russell Mercedes 44 1:19’57.040
2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 44 1:19’57.566 0.526
3 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 44 1:19’58.213 1.173
4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 44 1:20’05.589 8.549
5 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 44 1:20’06.266 9.226
6 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 44 1:20’06.890 9.850
7 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 44 1:20’16.835 19.795
8 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda RBPT 44 1:20’40.235 43.195
9 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 44 1:20’47.003 49.963
10 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 44 1:20’49.592 52.552
11 Daniel Ricciardo RB/Honda RBPT 44 1:20’51.966 54.926
12 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 44 1:21’00.051 1’03.011
13 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 44 1:21’00.691 1’03.651
14 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 44 1:21’01.405 1’04.365
15 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 44 1:21’03.671 1’06.631
16 Valtteri Bottas Sauber/Ferrari 44 1:21’07.678 1’10.638
17 Yuki Tsunoda RB/Honda RBPT 44 1:21’13.777 1’16.737
18 Logan Sargeant Williams/Mercedes 44 1:21’23.097 1’26.057
19 Nico Hülkenberg Haas/Ferrari 44 1:21’25.873 1’28.833
Zhou Guanyu Sauber/Ferrari 5 11’00.351 Hydraulics -
George Russell takes pole at home Grand Prix ahead of Hamilton: F1
Silverstone, 6 July 2024: George Russell led an all-British top three in qualifying for the British Grand Prix with the Mercedes driver beating team-mate Lewis Hamilton by just under two tenths of a second as Lando Norris took third for McLaren. Drivers’ Championship leader Max Verstappen will start fourth after his qualifying was compromised by floor damage sustained in an early off.
At the start of Q1, on a damp track and on Intermediate tyres, Verstappen took top spot with a lap of 1:37.518, with Norris a tenth off in P2. They were soon shuffled back by Mercedes George Russell who took top spot with his second flyer, but the track was rapidly drying and Charles Leclerc quickly headed back to the pits for a set of slick Soft tyres.
That prompted Red Bull’s Sergio Pérez to make the same switch but on a still slippery track he suffered a snap of oversteer going into Copse corner and though he managed to save that he lost control in the run-off and slid backwards into the gravel where he exited the session and the red flags came out.
After a nine-minute halt the session resumed with all drivers on Softs. But as McLaren’s Oscar Piastri took P1 with a lap of 1:30.895, Verstappen almost suffered the same fate as his team-mate. A snap in Copse sent the Red Bull driver off track and though he was able to keep going, a thumping trip through the gravel trap caused floor damage that would have a major impact on the rest of his session.
With improvements flooding in elsewhere, the Dutch driver sank down the order and with the clock counting down he had to immediately make another attempt and as Hamilton took top spot ahead of Russell, Leclerc and Sainz, the world champion limped through in a relatively lowly P11 thanks to a lap of 1:31.242.
Out, though went Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas in P11 ahead of Haas’ Kevin Magnussen, Alpine’s Esteban Ocon, Checo, in P19, and last placed Pierre Gasly in the second Alpine.
In the early exchanges of Q2 it was Norris who took top spot, with the McLaren driver posting a lap of 1:27.432 to sit a tenth clear of Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz. Verstappen, meanwhile, was again suffering and after claiming fourth with a time of 1:27.799 he soon slid back to 10th as drivers stayed out and improved. It was a similar story after his second flyer and after initially rising to third he dropped to an eventual sixth as Norris took P1 ahead of Russell and Alonso.
However, while Verstappen avoided becoming the major casualty of Q2, Leclerc was unable to avoid that fate and battling porpoising in his Ferrari, the Monegasque driver was ruled out in P11 ahead of Williams’ Logan Sargeant, RB’s Yuki Tsunoda, Sauber’s Zhou Guanyu and the second RB of Daniel Ricciardo.
In the opening runs of Q3 Russell led the way by just 0.006s over Norris, as Hamilton and Piastri were both within touching distance in the battle for pole and with Verstappen down in fifth it was shaping up to be a duel between Mercedes and McLaren.
Neither Hamilton nor Russell improved on their first sectors, but both improved later in the lap and, first across the line, Hamilton jumped to top spot with 1:25.990s. Russell was finding more time, however, and when Norris made a mistake in Turn 14, Russell’s improved time of 1:25.819 was enough to clinch his third F1 pole.
Norris preserved his place in that top three, but couldn’t improve on his final run and ceded one position to Hamilton to lead the second row alongside Verstappen. Behind the Red Bull man, Piastri qualified fifth ahead of Hülkenberg, while Sainz took seventh ahead of Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll, Williams’ Alex Albon and the second Aston of Fernando Alonso.
2024 FIA Formula 1 British Grand Prix – Qualifying
1 George Russell Mercedes 1:25.819 – –
2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:25.990 0.171
3 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:26.030 0.211
4 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:26.203 0.384
5 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1:26.237 0.418
6 Nico Hülkenberg Haas/Ferrari 1:26.338 0.519
7 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:26.509 0.690
8 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:26.585 0.766
9 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1:26.640 0.821
10 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:26.917 1.098
11 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:27.097 1.278
12 Logan Sargeant Williams/Mercedes 1:27.175 1.356
13 Yuki Tsunoda RB/Honda RBPT 1:27.269 1.450
14 Zhou Guanyu Sauber/Ferrari 1:27.867 2.048
15 Daniel Ricciardo RB/Honda RBPT 1:27.949 2.130
16 Valtteri Bottas Sauber/Ferrari 1:32.431 6.612
17 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 1:32.905 7.086
18 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 1:34.557 8.738
19 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:38.348 12.529
20 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 1:39.804 -
George Russell wins Austrian GP; Verstappen, Norris collide
Spielberg, 30 June 2024: George Russell took a surprise Austrian Grand Prix victory after a dramatic late-race clash between long-time race leader Max Verstappen and arch-rival Lando Norris dumped the McLaren driver out of the race and dropped championship leader Verstappen to fifth at the flag.
After seizing the lead from pole at the start, Verstappen looked comfortable for the bulk of the race as he built an eight-second gap back to Norris, with Russell in third. However, the gap narrowed in the closing stages as Verstappen suffered with tyre degradation and when the champion suffered a slow final pit stop, Norris closed in.
Verstappen repelled several assault into Turn 3 on the inside but on lap 64 Norris went for broke around the outside and when Verstappen reacted there was contact. Both suffered punctures and while the Red Bull driver was able to pit for Soft tyres and shrug off a 10-second penalty for causing the collision to eventually finish fifth, Norris’ damage was too severe and he had to retire.
The incident handed the lead to Russell and the Mercedes driver seized the opportunity with both hands to take his second career win. In the final laps Piastri managed to get past Sainz to take second and the Spaniard was left with the final podium place.
At the start, Verstappen powered into the lead ahead of Norris who was forced to defend against a challenge from Russell and Sainz.
Sainz then became embroiled in a tussle with Lewis Hamilton and on the run up to Turn 3 the Mercedes driver managed to get ahead to steal P4. Further back, there was contact in Turn 1 between Piastri and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and as both went wide, Red Bull’s Sergio Pérez swept past both to claim sixth.
At the front, Verstappen began to eke out a gap to Norris. Russell and Hamilton were battling however and on lap three Hamilton powered past, only to be passed once again by Russell in Turn 4. Hamilton, though, was under investigation for leaving the track and gaining an advantage during his pass of Sainz and the seven-time champion was forced to hand back the place won at the start. Pérez and Piastri were also battling, and on lap 7 the Australian pounced in Turn 6 to muscle his way around the outside to drop Checo back to seventh. Verstappen, meanwhile, was drawing away and on lap 14 he had built up a five-second gap to Norris, who was a little under four seconds clear of Russell.
On lap 22 Hamilton and Pérez were the first of the frontrunners to pit and both moved to Hard tyres. Russell and Sainz made their way in at the end of the following tour and then on lap 24 Verstappen made his first stop, for Hard tyres. Norris came in on the same lap and when Piastri finally made his first tyre switch on lap 26, Verstappen returned to lead with 6.7s in hand over Norris with Russell two seconds further back in third. Sainz held fourth ahead of Hamilton, but the Mercedes driver was quickly handed a five-second time penalty for crossing the white line at the pit entry. Piastri emerged from his pit stop in sixth place.
Midway through his second stint, Verstappen looked comfortable, eight seconds clear of over Norris. However on lap 40 the Dutchman reported that his Hard tyres suddenly felt “really bad”. Over the following laps Norris began to chip away at the gap and by lap 46 the Red Bull driver’s advantage had shrunk to a little over 6.5s.
Russell then sparked the second round of stop on lap 47 but when Verstappen made his stop an issue with the rear right kept him stationary for over six seconds and when he and Norris rejoined, the McLaren driver was just 1.7s behind.
Norris was able to haul his way into DRS range of the Red Bull driver, and on lap 55 the McLaren driver attacked into Turn 3. Verstappen defended well to hold the lead but with three DRS zones available to Norris the attacks kept coming. And on lap 64 the McLaren driver made his fateful move.
The clash left Vestappen with a punctured rear left and though Norris got past Verstappen’s stricken RB20 his own right rear tyre let go and the pair limped back to the pits. Verstappen was fitted a set of Soft tyres and released again, into P5, but Norris damage was too severe and the Briton was forced to retire.
The dramatic incident handed the lead the Russell, ahead of Piastri who had managed to pass Sainz, with Hamilton in fourth and moment after a flurry of final laps, the Mercedes driver took his second career grand prix win.
Further back, Max held on to fifth behind Hamilton, despite being handed a 10-second penalty for causing the collision with Norris Hülkenberg took Haas’ best finish of the season so far after passing Pérez on the final tour and the Mexican was left with seventh place ahead of the second Haas of Kevin Magnussen, RB’s Daniel Ricciardo and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, who took the final point.
2024 FIA Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix – Race
1 George Russell Mercedes 71 –
2 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 71 1.906
3 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 71 4.533
4 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 71 23.142
5 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 71 37.253
6 Nico Hülkenberg Haas/Ferrari 71 54.088
7 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda RBPT 71 54.672
8 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 71 1’00.355
9 Daniel Ricciardo RB/Honda RBPT 71 1’01.169
10 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 71 1’01.766
11 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 71 1’07.056
12 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 71 1’08.325
13 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 70 – 1 lap
14 Yuki Tsunoda RB/Honda RBPT 70 – 1 lap
15 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 70 – 1 lap
16 Valtteri Bottas Sauber/Ferrari 70 – 1 lap
17 Zhou Guanyu Sauber/Ferrari 70 – 1 lap
18 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 70 – 1 lap
19 Logan Sargeant Williams/Mercedes 69 – 2 laps
Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 64 – Retirement -
Carlos Sainz takes pole followed by George Russell: Singapore Grand Prix
Singapore, 16 Sept. 2023: In a close-fought qualifying session at the Marina Bay Street Circuit, Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz took pole position for the Singapore Grand Prix, beating Mercedes’ George Russell and the second Ferrari of Charles Leclerc as championship leader Max Verstappen and Red Bull team-mate Sergio Pérez were dumped out in Q2.
In the final runs of Q3, Sainz and Leclerc looked to have handed Ferrari a front-row lockout, with Sainz, on a 1:30.984, 0.079s ahead of his team-mate but Russell, one of the last on track at the end of a dramatic session put in a lap of 1:31.056 to edge ahead of Leclerc by just seven thousandths of a second and take a first front-row place since the Australian Grand Prix.
McLaren’s Lando Norris took fourth place in the session, just under three tenths off the pace, with Lewis Hamilton fifth in the second Mercedes. Kevin Magnussen handed Haas a positive result with sixth place while Fernando Alonso out Aston Martin seventh, after the Silverstone-based team had earlier seen Lance Stroll crash heavily at the end of Q1. Esteban Ocon was eight for Alpine ahead of Haas’ Nico Hülkenberg and the final top-10 spot was taken by AlphaTauri’s impressive Liam Lawson.
There was no place in the top-10 shootout for either Red Bull, however. Max Verstappen endured a torrid session, struggling for grip throughout and branding his RB19 “shocking’ after Lawson beat him to P10 by the tiny margin of 0.007s. The Dutchman’s misery was compounded by being placed under investigation for two separate incidents, first for apparently impeding in the pit lane during Q1 and then for a possible block of AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda during the middle segment.
Verstappen’s team-mate Sergio Pérez was also ruled out at the end of Q2 with the Mexican driver spinning late in the session and qualifying in P13 behind Alpine’s Pierre Gasly. Alex Albon qualified 14th for Williams, while Tsunoda ended the night in 15the place.
Earlier at the end of Q1 Stroll brought out the red flags when he crashed heavily at the final corner while attempting to drag himself out of the drop zone as the track rapidly improved at the end of the session.
Tsunoda had hauled himself to an unlikely P1 with Pérez climbing to P2 ahead of Haas’ Nico Hülkenberg and it looked like progress to the next segment would in part be defined by when drivers crossed the line. That led to queuing at the end of prep laps and Race Officials indicated that the potentially dangerous traffic jam would also be looked at after the session.
Stroll’s crash meant that Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas was knocked out in P16 ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, Williams’ Logan Sargeant and Zhou Guanyu in P19 in the second Alfa. The unfortunate but uninjured Stroll qualified in 20th place.
2023 FIA Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix – Qualifying
1 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:30.984 – –
2 George Russell Mercedes 1:31.056 0.072
3 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:31.063 0.079
4 Lando Norris McLaren 1:31.270 0.286
5 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:31.485 0.501
6 Kevin Magnussen Haas 1:31.575 0.591
7 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1:31.615 0.631
8 Esteban Ocon Alpine 1:31.673 0.689
9 Nico Hülkenberg Haas 1:31.808 0.824
10 Liam Lawson AlphaTauri 1:32.268 1.284
11 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:32.173 1.189
12 Pierre Gasly Alpine 1:32.274 1.290
13 Sergio Pérez Red Bull 1:32.310 1.326
14 Alexander Albon Williams 1:33.719 2.735
15 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri – – –
16 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo 1:32.809 1.825
17 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:32.902 1.918
18 Logan Sargeant Williams 1:33.252 2.268
19 Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo 1:33.258 2.274
20 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1:33.397 2.413
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George Russell all praise for Max Verstappen, fans, team;
Barcelone, 22 May 2022: The top three winning drivers who attended the post-race FIA press conference are Max VERSTAPPEN (Red Bull Racing), Sergio PÉREZ (Red Bull Racing) and George RUSSELL (Mercedes).
TRACK INTERVIEWS were conducted by Pedro de la Rosa:
Q: George, what a race, man! Back on the podium. Can we say that Mercedes is back now?
George RUSSELL: I’d love to say that but today was very tough. I gave it everything I could to hold Max off, he did an amazing job, and we are so proud to be standing here. The guys have worked so hard, so this is for everyone back in Brackley and Brixworth, thank you.
Q: We heard at one point that you were having overheating issues and you couldn’t push as much as you wanted. I mean how much did it hamper you?
GR: I heard it was a lot to be honest, but when I had the Red Bulls in my mirrors all I was doing was my maximum to keep them behind and it was an enjoyable, good couple of laps and I’m just pleased to be able to bring it home in P3. A lot of points on the board for us. So yeah, well done to Max, he did a great job.
Q: Well done, man. Tell us about the last few laps? Could you push full or did the car still have overheating issues, because we saw with Lewis that he had to back off.
GR: Yeah it was very difficult in the last few laps. It was a survival race, when we knew we had the gap, and as I said, just proud to bring it home in P3 and thanks to all the fans here, they have been amazing all weekend, and the support… Formula 1, at the moment, is in an incredible place so it’s great to be here at the moment.
Q: Well done, you did so well. Max, well done, your first victory again since 2016 here in Spain. We saw you having issues in Turn 14, with the DRS, tell us about it?
Max VERSTAPPEN: Yeah, I mean of course I went off. I suddenly had a lot of tailwind, so I just lost the rear, went off and then, of course, I was in the train and I tried to pass, but my DRS was not always working. So, yeah, that made it very tough but we managed, due to the strategy, to get ahead again and do our own race and eventually win the race. So, a difficult beginning but a good end.
Q: And you switched to a three-stopper. I mean without DRS or with a DRS not working that well, I mean, how did you manage to overcome that?
MV: Yeah, I tried to stay focused. Of course, it’s not nice when stuff like that happens. And yet of course very happy to win and also very happy for Checo. It was a great result for the team.
Q: Your pace with soft tyres was amazing. I mean, at one point you were the fastest by a country mile. Did the soft tyres work very well with your car?
MV: Yeah, I think so. I think the behaviour of the car was good on the soft but also on the medium. I think it was working out quite well.
Q: And on the fight with George. I mean, we saw you a bit of frustrated at one point. I mean, he was closing the door he was changing direction a bit too late.
MV: Yeah, it was more for because of my DRS you know, but yeah, at the end, we managed to get ahead.
Q: Checo, you are Mexican but we’re here in Spain. So are you half-Spanish now? Can we say that?
Sergio PÉREZ: Yeah, definitely. I mean, you already have very two good drivers but I’ve been feeling a lot of support this weekend, so I’m extremely happy to be on the podium for the first time in the Spanish Grand Prix.
Q: A one-two for Red Bull here in Spain. Amazing to be here in the podium. You could have won though.
SP: Yes, I think it was close. But at the end it is a great team result and I’m happy for that.
Q: We heard you on the radio at one point saying ‘let me attack George, I can get through’. I mean were you a bit frustrated at that point?
SP: Yeah, we were on different tyre strategies at the time. I let Max by in the beginning, then I thought at the time that I could I could go by and not lose crucial seconds, you know, to make my strategy work, but anyway, it’s a good team result.
PRESS CONFERENCE
Q: xMax, many congratulations, Barcelona was the scene of your first Formula 1 win and you’ve done it again. However, you had to do it the hard way today. Just how satisfying is this victory?
MV: Yeah, a bit of a race with two halves, because the first 30 laps were very frustrating for me, after I went off in Turn 4 first of all, which really caught me by surprise, because I didn’t feel like I was actually braking later or throwing more speed into the corner. But it was very gusty out there today. Like, one lap it felt all stable and then the next lap suddenly you could have more oversteer in places. So probably that caught me out, by surprise. So that was not ideal, of course. But then, of course, I dropped back behind George and Checo. Checo was so kind to let me by to try to attack George because I think already we were planning to do two different strategies as a team, at the time. But then as soon as I was attacking George, my DRS stopped working all the time on the main straight. So that was extremely painful. Like, sometimes it would open, like, almost halfway on the straight or not at all. So yeah, that made me stuck behind George for 20 laps solid. So it was a tough one.
Q: Couple of things to pick up on there. Was there any damage after running through the gravel at Turn 4?
MV: Didn’t feel like it. I mean, there is, of course, gravel there. But I didn’t feel like I damaged the car, because once I was back on the track, the car felt like normal. So I was lucky there, of course.
Q: And the DRS problem? Is there anything you can do in the cockpit to try and improve the situation?
MV: No, because I mean, I’m pressing the button, but the system is not opening. So this is not working. So we really have to fix that.
Q: We haven’t seen you and George battle on track wheel-to-wheel in Formula 1. Just how much did you enjoy the fight with him?
MV: I was a bit frustrated at the time, because I couldn’t get him because of the DRS issues. But the fight itself, I think was really cool. Also, I think that lap where I did go on the inside and then George went around the outside, but then I was on the outside of Turn 3 again, I think that was a really cool fight. Yeah, I look back at it and I’ll smile now. At the time, of course, I was a little bit frustrated. But it was a really good and tough battle, I think.
Q: Sergio, coming to you. Well done, your third podium of the season. You’re first here in Spain. Just how good was it on the podium when so many people were chanting your name?
SP: Yeah, it was great. My first podium here in Spain. They obviously have their two very good drivers, Spanish drivers, but I can say that I’m probably the third one in terms of support here because every year it’s been amazing. And to be on the podium for the first time, it’s nice, and great team result as well. We took our opportunities and very pleased with that.
Q: Great team result, as you say, but you did say over the radio on the slowdown lap that you do want to talk to the team about tactics. Did you feel the win was on today?
SP: Well, on the first stint, when I let Max by, I was told that I was going to get it back. And we knew we were on different strategies. So when I was back on it, I felt like I could have gone through and probably given a better shot at my strategy, to make it work. But at the end of the day, it turned out to be the three-stop the way to go today.
Q: Just tell us a little bit about the tyres and deg. How unpredictable was it out there today?
SP: Not very unpredictable. I think we kind of expected it to be this bad. So, it was not a surprise today.
Q: George, second podium of the many congratulations. First up. How good does this result feel?
GR: It feels great to be on the podium and I think it goes to show the hard work and effort that’s gone on back at a factory, both in Brackley and Brixworth. We’ve always said that you got to be there at the end to pick up the pieces, and pick up points and especially on days like today it was incredibly tough out there for the cars, for the drivers. But I feel like we’re making progress. And I think we, as a team, have turned a page. I feel like this is probably the start of our season now.
Q: You’re on the podium back in Australia. But does this feel closer? Do you feel closer to the guys sat next to you?
GR: Yeah, definitely. I feel like this was more genuine. I think we probably have probably halved the gap to those front runners, compared to the rest of the season. And I think we know there’s probably more performance to find. It’s been a season of problem solving, as opposed to trying to find more performance and bring more performance to the car. And I think we’ve now finally solved our issue. And we can now focus on bringing more performance. So yeah, we’re six races behind but there’s no reason why we can’t claw this back.
Q: And George, can we get a word from you on that battle with Max?
GR: Yeah, it was enjoyable. I mean, it’s… I think Max and I first raced each other back in 2011. So it was nice to have the opportunity to fight with him. And, you know, I’m here to win, I’m here to fight and I obviously wasn’t going to make it easy. I felt bad for him, because he obviously had the DRS issues and he was clearly the faster man today. But still, I think it was hard, fair racing. And that’s what we would like to see, and expect, in Formula 1.
Q: How much were you having to manage temperatures throughout the race? Or was it just at the end?
GR: No, it was definitely when I was battling with Max, I was managing tyres, the engine was overheating, then trying to go as fast as possible to keep them behind. You’re juggling so many things. And then in the last five, six laps, it was literally just bring it home, get it to the end of a race, because we were right on the limit throughout the whole race. But the team did a great job to not allow us to go over that limit and have to retire the car. Nobody enjoys these challenging races with really difficult temperatures but that can make a difference. And if you do a better job, you’re there to see the rewards, so proud of everybody to bring this home.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Ronald Vording – Motorsport.com) It’s a question to Max. Max, today has been a great day for you in the Championship. Congratulations on that. But are you worried in any way by what you’ve seen from Ferrari, before the Leclerc DNF? They seem to have made a significant step this weekend. And it’s not only one-lap pace anymore, but also on tyre deg and race pace.
MV: It’s a bit too early to say about the full race. Of course tyre deg, because he did pull away from me a little bit at the time, but there were races also before where this has happened a bit. I mean, I’m not saying that I’m not looking at it, for sure they had a really strong weekend and we definitely need to improve. We need to be better over one-lap performance, especially. But I think we were so early on in the race that it was a bit difficult to tell how big the margin was exactly. Because I don’t even know what lap I went off but it was very early on and then we never really had a reference anymore, right. We always have to improve, but for sure, after this weekend, it shows that with all the upgrades they brought I think they definitely took a step forward. So now it’s up to us, of course to try and close that gap down again.
Q: (Joost Niederpelt – NU.nl) Max at some point, the team was giving you instructions on how to handle the DRS button. What did they tell you to do? And what did you do before that?
MV: There was not… I mean, I could have shouted back on the radio something, but there is nothing you can do because I mean, I’m not stupid, once you get the light and the activation beep, then you press the paddle. If it doesn’t open, there’s clearly an issue. I’ve spammed it like 50 times at one point on the straight and it’s just not opening, so there was clearly an issue. I mean, I tried all different kinds of things, stay off the kerb, on the kerb, open it a tiny bit later but it was just broken – or like malfunctioning. So yeah, we clearly have an issue there on this wing.
Q: (Matt Kew – Autosport) Max, in the cooldown room you’re talking to George about what a great battle that was so does it worry you the review that the stewards took note of it and were looking into it to see if there’s any foul play, or if you both thought it was it was a really solid battle?
MV: I think maybe they were looking at the moving a bit, the weaving… ah, Turn 3, because of leaving one car width? Yeah, luckily nothing happened. I mean, there was a bit of grip on the outside, so I’m okay with it. I think it was hard racing. And of course, I went around the outside but I’m also in the blind spot of George, so I think he didn’t even really notice where I was exactly, right? Well, for sure you knew that I was there, but it’s always hard to fully give a car’s width there because it’s a fast corner, you’re drifting wide. So if I was in George’s position, I would have probably done the same, so it’s just how we are, I think.
GR: Yeah, I think it’s important that we are allowing this hard, fair racing and the rule is to give a car’s width and that was what was done and I think there was still a wheel on the track from Max. But yeah, it’s a little bit difficult at the moment. I think there’s a lot of… We’ve obviously got the new stewards in and it’s very difficult for everybody, and trying to understand each other, what we feel like is required from the driver’s side, and what they expect from us as well, and it will just need this open dialogue. But I wasn’t even aware they were looking into it, to be honest, I thought it was hard and fair racing.
Q: (Adrian Rodriguez Huber – Agence EFE) Checo, congratulations, you’ve proven a long time ago that you’re a very good driver but you’ve proven over the last two seasons that you’re a great team player, but I kind of believe you have your own heart and you want to win. When do you think this, your third victory, can come and if you have to put it on a balance, Red Bull gives you a chance to make lots of podiums, but it doesn’t look easy to gain victory. So how can you comment on that?
SP: Well, I think today… I think what was clear was that the three-stop was a better race, race time, and the various strategies, so I think if I went in that direction, I would have won the race. And it worked out for Max. I think that was something we discussed. It was good, because we didn’t know at the time which strategy was going to be the best one. I only felt that in the first stint when I gave the position to Max, that I was told that I was going to get it back and when I was on the two-stop I felt that I could have gone through Max and George a bit earlier to try and make the strategy work, but probably it wouldn’t have been enough. But it still is a great team result, the season is still very young and, yeah, I think the momentum in the team is great. So we just have to discuss a few things internally. But yeah, there’s nothing that I’m concerned of. If anything, I can say that the atmosphere in the team, the momentum we’re carrying, it is tremendous, like no other team, so I’m pleased with that.
Q: (Carlo Platella – FormulaPassion.it) Max did you expect already this morning with the team that this race would have been on three stops?
MV: We had a lot of options to look at because it was very difficult to judge how the deg was going to be so we were just trying to be very flexible. And yeah, during the race, you make that decision, right? They put me early on, because of being stuck, having my DRS issue, I think we decided to be a little bit on a different, more aggressive strategy, because if I wouldn’t have had that DRS issue, I could have cleared George earlier and I would have, let’s say, opened the gap again. And then you’re in a different situation where maybe then we do a different strategy, right, but we had to improvise a bit because of that. And it worked out well because the tyres were very difficult. Even in my last stint, like the last few laps. Of course, I had the margin in the back, but the tyres also they didn’t feel let’s say amazing anymore.
Q: (Ronald Vording – Motorsport.com) Max, in Miami, you said that Red Bull made the weekends too complicated for themselves. This weekend wasn’t straightforward, either, if you look at the DRS issue. Is that execution and fighting those small technical issues still a concern for you going forward?
MV: Well, it’s just things we can improve, right? That issue with the DRS, of course, was quite costly but at the end, we still won the race, so as a team we are quite flexible. We adapt quickly if we have issues and we try to work around it, even during the race, so that’s good. But, yeah, of course, we tried to make sure that that doesn’t happen again. But we didn’t retire which other teams did. So that’s already a good improvement and you can see, it completely swings the championship around again. So from our side, yeah, we just have to try and be really consistent and try not to make too many mistakes. I mean, you’re not a robot, I mean mistakes will happen. But yeah, we’ll try to minimise it.
Q: (Pilar Celebrovsky – Paddock Magazine) Max, we have seen that Leclerc had to retire. Do you have the feeling that these cars are less reliable than the previous years’ cars?
MV: It shouldn’t be really car related because like the engines and stuff are pretty much the same. Of course, the fuel has changed a little bit, but it’s a bit weird. Yeah. also from our side, of course, we had already two retirements where before we were always really strong on reliability, so it’s a bit difficult to tell. It’s also not major issues that we had. I don’t know, of course, about Ferrari, but from our side it’s little things and yeah, we are trying to be on top of that, but I don’t think it’s specifically car related.
Ends
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Max Verstappen on pole; Hami p3 at Spa
Spa Francorchamps, 28 August 2021: Max Verstappen claimed his ninth career pole position in a rain-affected Belgain Grand qualifying session ahead of surprise front-row starter George Russell of Williams and third-placed Lewis Hamilton. Sergio Pérez will meanwhile start from seventh on the grid.
After a short delay due to heavy rain in the run-up to Qualifying, Q1 got underway on a wet track and most teams sent their drivers out on full wet Pirelli tyres. The exception was Williams which sent George Russell and Nicholas Latifi out on intermediate tyres.
Initially the times set on the two compounds were comparable but when Verstappen took P1 with a time of 2:07.574 and was quickly beaten by Russell to the tune of five full seconds it became clear that intermediates were the right choice. Drivers immediately returned to the pits to switch to the green-banded tyres and with the conditions improving but rain forecast, the session then became one of endurance as drivers stayed out to try to catch the best of the conditions.
In the end it was Lando Norris who made the most of the intermediate tyres in Q1. The McLaren driver crossed the line after the chequered flag to take top spot with a lap of 1:58.301. Verstappen eased through to Q2 in second place with a lap of 1:58.717.
Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi was the first driver eliminated, in P16, and the Italian was followed out of the session by AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda, Haas’ Mick Schumacher, the second Alfa of Kimi Räikkönen and the second Haas of Nikita Mazepin.
Though rain was forecast for Q2, the track stayed dry and the remaining drivers took to the track on inters. That meant progress was relatively straightforward for the Bulls, with Max posting a lap of 1:56.559 to secure fifth place at the flag. Checo, meanwhile, went through in seventh place.
Mercedes made heavy work of claiming Q3 berths, however. The team sent Hamilton and Bottas out on old intermediates but neither driver could make them work and they abandoned their runs to pit for new green-banded tyres. Again both struggled and a final set was called for.
In the drop zone in the closing moments Hamilton and Bottas needed big laps to jump to safety and both delivered. Hamilton jumped to P2 with a lap of 1:56.229 and Bottas erased any worries in the Mercedes camp by claiming P3 with a tour of 1:56.295.
The final moments weren’t as kind to Ferrari, however. Charles Leclerc was eliminated in P11, with team-mate Carlos Sainz exiting in P13. The man in the Ferrari sandwich was Williams’ Nicholas Latifi, while Alpine’s Fernando Alonso was ruled out in P14 ahead of Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll.
The expected rain began to fall in the minutes leading up to the start of Q3 and by the time the lights went green conditions had substantially deteriorated. The risk became clear when Norris lost control of his McLaren at the start of his first push lap of the segment and crashed heavily at Raidillon. The red flags were immediately displayed.
A long delay followed and when the final eight minutes of the session got underway rain was still falling. Red Bull opted for intermediate tyres and after his first lap Verstappen was in P2 but a second off provisional pole sitter Hamilton.
The conditions were improving rapidly, however, as evidenced by Russell suddenly putting in purple sector times. The Williams driver’s timing was good and his final lap was enough to put him ahead of Lewis Hamilton by 0.013s.
Verstappen’s timing was marginally better, however, and when the Dutch driver crossed the line he was the only man to dip below the two-minute mark with a lap of 1:59.765 that secured him his ninth career pole and Red Bull’s first at this circuit since 2011.
Behind the top three McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo will start fourth ahead of Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel. Pierre Gasly quaklified sixth and Checo secured seventh place on the grid. Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas placed eighth but will take a five-place grid penalty tomorrow. Esteban Ocon qualified ninth for Alpine with Norris tenth after failing to set a time.
2021 FIA Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix – Qualifying
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda 1:59.765 6 210.532
2 George Russell Williams/Mercedes 2:00.086 0.321 0.268 7 209.969
3 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 2:00.099 0.334 0.279 6 209.946
4 Daniel Ricciardo McLaren/Mercedes 2:00.864 1.099 0.918 6 208.617
5 Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin/Mercedes 2:00.935 1.170 0.977 7 208.495
6 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri/Honda 2:01.164 1.399 1.168 6 208.101
7 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda 2:02.112 2.347 1.960 6 206.485
8 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 2:02.502 2.737 2.285 6 205.828
9 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 2:03.513 3.748 3.129 7 204.143
– 4 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 2
11 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:57.721 1.696 1.462 8 214.187
12 Nicholas Latifi Williams/Mercedes 1:58.056 2.031 1.750 8 213.579
13 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:58.137 2.112 1.820 7 213.433
14 Fernando Alonso Alpine/Renault 1:58.205 2.180 1.879 8 213.310
15 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:58.231 2.206 1.901 7 213.263
16 Antionio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 2:02.306 4.005 3.385 9 206.158
17 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri/Honda 2:02.413 4.112 3.476 9 205.978
18 Mick Schumacher Haas/Ferrari 2:03.973 5.672 4.795 9 203.386
19 Kimi Räikkönen Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 2:04.452 6.151 5.199 9 202.603
20 Nikita Mazepin Haas/Ferrari 2:04.939 6.638 5.611 8 201.813
