INDIA in F1

Tag: Lewis Hamilton

  • Hamilton delivers superb come-back drive

    Hamilton delivers superb come-back drive

    Sao Paulo, 14 Nov 2021: Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton completed a stunning recovery from disqualification in qualifying and an engine-related grid penalty to win the São Paulo Grand Prix ahead of Red Bull’s championship leader Max Verstappen. Valtteri Bottas completed a podium double for Mercedes with third place ahead of Sergio Pérez, who rescued a point back from Hamilton with the fastest lap on the final tour of the race. 

    When the lights went out at the start both Red Bulls got good starts and Verstappen was able to pull alongside pole sitter Bottas and the muscle his way past in Turn 1. Pérez profited from a poor start by Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz to slip through from fourth on the grid to third place. Sainz was then tagged by Norris who passed the Spaniard around the outside, with the result that Charles Leclerc advanced to fourth. 

    Further back Hamilton was on a march. On Saturday morning the Briton had been disqualified from qualifying for a rear wing irregularity but powered through the pack in the Sprint to claim fifth place. That left him with a 10th-place grid spot due to an penalty for taking a new ICE ahead of the weekend. 

    The set-backs were no obstacle to the Mercedes driver however and after the start he picked up four places on the first lap. By lap four he was up to fourth after passing Leclerc and that became third as Bottas eased off at the start of the next tour and Hamilton swept around the outside into Turn 1 to take third place. 

    He then was allowed to close right up to Pérez when the race was briefly neutralised. AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda collided with Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and the Japanese driver lost his front wing. With debris at the side of the track the Safety Car was deployed and the field bunched. 

    When the track was green-flagged again at the start of lap 10, Verstappen and Pérez resisted a challenge from Hamilton to hoid the top two positions ahead of the Mercedes, with the Ferraris of Leclerc and Sainz in fifth and sixth respectively.

    Soon after, however, the Virtual Safety Car appeared when Mick Schumacher’s Haas shed its front wing and more debris was deposited on the track. When the caution ended the Red Bulls once again held their positions, though this time Pérez was under more pressure from Hamilton.

    And at the end of lap 17 the Mexican driver could resist no more. Hamilton closed through the final corner and under DRS passed the Red Bull driver around the outside to take P3. 

    However, in doing so, the Briton went slightly wide and got a poor exit. Pérez closed in on the long run to Turn 4 and retook the position with a good move. Hamilton was also not in the mood to give up and he closed one more time to pass the Red Bull for the final time and take second place. 

    Mercedes went for the undercut at the end of lap 26. Hamilton arrowed into the pit lane and took on hard tyres in a 2.4s stop. Red Bull responded by bringing Verstappen in at the end of the next lap and when he had taken on hard tyres he was just able to rejoin ahead of Hamilton whose progress was being hampered by 

    McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo. The gap between the front pair was now just 1.7s. 

    Pérez pitted soon after for hard tyres but just after his stop the VSC was deployed again when elements from the rear of Stroll’s car broke off. That allowed Mercedes to pit Bottas and with the caution requiring the Red Bull to run slowly, Bottas was able to steal third place.

    Max soon radioed through to ask the team to avoid an undercut in the next stop and just 14 laps after his first visit to pit lane the Dutchman headed in for another set of hard tyres. Bottas pitted on the next tour, followed by Pérez and then, at the end of lap 43, Hamilton made his final stop, taking on hard tyres but when he emerged Verstappen was again ahead. 

    Hamilton began to close in, however, and on lap 48 having got a good exit out of the final corner and drawn close into Turn 1, the Mercedes driver attacked into Turn 4. He drew alongside Max but the Dutchman braked later and just held on. Both cars went off into the run off area but resumed safely. The stewards noted the incident but quickly ruled that no investigation was necessary. 

    Hamilton attacked again on lap 58. This time Max was forced to defend more robustly and though he held the lead he was later given a black and white flag for weaving. Next time round, though, there was no way to hold off the challenge and with another good exit out of the Senna S Hamilton used DRS to power past the Dutch drive as they approached Descido do Lago. 

    And there the battle was decided. Armed with greater straight line speed Hamilton quickly built a lead as Max backed off in the final laps, settling for second place and damage limitation.

    However, with Hamilton holding the fastest lap, Red Bull used Perez’s substantial advantage to fifth-placed Leclerc to pit the Mexican and go for the fastest lap. And the Mexican duly posted a time of 1:11.010 to steal the precious championship point from Hamilton.

    Behind Leclerc, sixth place at the flag went to Sainz, with AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly seventh. Alpine’s Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso were eighth and ninth respectively and the final point on offer went to McLaren’s Lando Norris.

    In the battles for the titles, Max now leaves Brazil with his lead in the Drivers’ cut to 14 points, while in the Constructors’ championship Mercedes now lead by 11 points. 

    2021 FIA Formula 1 São Paulo Grand Prix – Race 
    1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 71 1:32’22.851 
    2 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda 71 1:32’33.347 10.496
    3 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 71 1:32’36.427 13.576
    4 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda 71 1:33’02.791 39.940
    5 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 71 1:33’12.368 49.517
    6 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 71 1:33’14.671 51.820
    7 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri/Honda 70 1:32’27.043 1 lap /4.192
    8 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 70 1:32’43.369 1 lap /20.518
    9 Fernando Alonso Alpine/Renault 70 1:32’43.860 1 lap /21.009
    10 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 70 1:32’46.857 1 lap /24.006
    11 Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin/Mercedes 70 1:32’48.145 1 lap /25.294
    12 Kimi Räikkönen Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 70 1:32’53.939 1 lap /31.088
    13 George Russell Williams/Mercedes 70 1:33’20.939 1 lap /58.088
    14 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 70 1:33’23.413 1 lap /1’00.562
    15 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri/Honda 70 1:33’27.652 1 lap /1’04.801
    16 Nicholas Latifi Williams/Mercedes 70 1:33’31.663 1 lap /1’08.812
    17 Nikita Mazepin Haas/Ferrari 69 1:32’58.069 2 laps /35.218
    18 Mick Schumacher Haas/Ferrari 69 1:33’35.425 2 laps /1’12.574
         Daniel Ricciardo McLaren/Mercedes 49 1:06’27.514 Power Unit
         Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 47 1:04’21.731 Retirement

  • Red Bull manages to capitalise on aggressive strategy

    Red Bull manages to capitalise on aggressive strategy

    By Malhaar Khaladkar

    Max Verstappen took his first win since the 2021 Dutch Grand Prix in early September as chief title rival Lewis Hamilton chased the dutchman but could only manage P2 ahead of the second Red Bull of Sergio Perez- his second consecutive podium after the 2021 Turkish Grand Prix.

    London, 27 October 2021: Max Verstappen won the US Grand Prix after being chased down by Lewis Hamilton the whole race as the Briton had to settle for P2, finishing just 1.3s behind the Red Bull driver. Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Perez finished on the podium again to help Red Bull close the gap in the constructor’s championship as Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas could only manage P6 after starting P9, taking another new Internal Combustion Engine (ICE). Charles Leclerc crossed the line in an impressive fourth (P4) in his Ferrari ahead of McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo in P5. Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz finished in P7 ahead of ex-teammate Lando Norris in P8. Japanese rookie Yuki Tsunoda finished in P9 for AlphaTauri and Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel rounded of the points paying positions.

    Italian driver Antonio Giovinazzi finished in P11 ahead of Alfa Romeo teammate Kimi Raikkonen in P13, sandwiched between them was Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll in P12. Williams duo of George Russell and Nicholas Latifi finished in P14 and P15 respectively as did the Haas duo of Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin in P16 and P17, albeit two laps down from the leaders. Alpine suffered a double DNF with Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso as AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly retired as well with a suspected suspension damage at the rear of the car.

    Title protagonists Verstappen and Hamilton started on the front row with the 7-time world champion getting a better start, keeping his car on the inside of turn 1. As they exited the corner, Hamilton emerged in the lead with Verstappen settling in P2 ahead of teammate Perez. Behind, there was a three way fight going on for P5 between Ricciardo, Sainz and Norris.

    Max Verstappen of the Netherlands driving the (33) Red Bull Racing RB16B Honda during the F1 Grand Prix of USA at Circuit of The Americas on October 24. Photo Jared C Tilton/Getty

    It was evident that the Red Bull was the superior car as Hamilton was unable to extend his lead over Verstappen as the Dutchman stayed in and around 1s behind Hamilton. Red Bull made an aggressive strategy call to undercut Hamilton by pitting Verstappen on lap 10 for a set of hard tyres. The strategy appeared to work as Hamilton finally pitted on lap 13 for hard tyres and emerged around 6s behind Verstappen. Behind them, Perez was running his own race in P3, ahead of Leclerc in P4 and Ricciardo still maintaining P5, keeping Sainz at bay.

    As Hamilton started chasing Verstappen, before the Mercedes driver could get close enough, Red Bull pitted Verstappen again for a set of hard tyres on lap 29. Seemingly too early at that stage of the race. Hamilton carried on for another eight extra laps, pitting on lap 37 and emerging around 8s behind Verstappen, albeit on fresher hard tyres.

    Hamilton started to chase Verstappen as his lead diminished lap by lap. With only ten laps to go Hamilton was within 3s of the Dutchman and closing in rapidly. Hamilton was hovering around 1.5s with five laps to go as Verstappen was able to defend and not let the Mercedes driver close up, making full use of the dirty air characteristics of these turbo-hybrid cars.

    Verstappen held on to victory by just 1.3s ahead of Hamilton, who even with fresher tyres found it difficult to close up and get past his title rival. With this win Verstappen extended his championship lead to 12 points over Hamilton with five races to go in the 2021 season.

    Red Bull had the upper hand over Mercedes throughout the weekend as they triumphed in qualifying and the race. Even when Hamilton took the lead on lap 1, Verstappen was able to stick within 1s of the Mercedes and was able to make the undercut work. With a double podium Red Bull also closed the gap in constructor’s championship to Mercedes in first place. Mercedes lacked both qualifying and race pace. Their highly optimised rear suspension which drops the car at high speed to improve straight line speed had less effect on this circuit, owing to the circuits high speed corners where downforce is required. Mercedes also have reliability issues to deal with regarding their internal combustion engine, as Bottas took his sixth of the year and there is a possibility that Hamilton might have to take one more. The next two races coming up are Mexico and Brazil, which on paper suit the Red Bull more than the Mercedes. With the wind in Red Bull’s sails, it looks like they currently hold the upper hand in the championship.

    Ferrari once again had the superior pace compared to McLaren with Leclerc finishing in P4, 24s ahead of McLaren rival Ricciardo in P5. Their new power unit has played a key role in their ascendency over McLaren as the two team are separated by just 3.5 points for the fight for P3 in the constructor’s championship. McLaren did not have the pace to fight with Ferrari this weekend, themselves admitting that the Italian rivals have now got the upper hand in the battle going into the last five races of the season.

    Alpine and AlphaTauri are in a close fight for P5, separated by just ten points. Alpine had a disastrous race with both cars suffering DNF’s in the grand prix, so did AlphaTauri’s Gasly. A positive to take for the team from Faenza is that rookie Tsunoda scored points to help them close up to Alpine in the constructor’s championship. Aston Martin had a dismal qualifying as neither car made it to Q3 and Vettel’s power unit penalty meant he started from back of the grid. They struggled to find the race pace as well with Vettel just managing to scrape P10 after Raikkonen spun in the late stages of the race.

    Alfa Romeo once again showed improved race pace compared to qualifying pace, with Raikkonen running in the points until a mistake and spin saw him finish in P13. Giovinazzi too was on the fringes of points paying position as he finished P11. Williams once again lacked the race pace to fight for points with both cars only beating the Haas cars.

    Saturday’s Qualifying results were:

    P1: Max Verstappen- 33 (Red Bull)P2: Lewis Hamilton- 44 (Mercedes)
    P3: Sergio Perez- 11 (Red Bull)P4: Valtteri Bottas- 77 (Mercedes)
    P5: Charles Leclerc- 16 (Ferrari)P6: Carlos Sainz- 55 (Ferrari)
    P7: Daniel Ricciardo- 3 (McLaren)P8: Lando Norris- 4 (McLaren)
    P9: Pierre Gasly- 10 (AlphaTauri)P10: Yuki Tsunoda- 22 (AlphaTauri)
    P11: Esteban Ocon- 31 (Alpine)P12: Sebastian Vettel- 5 (Aston Martin)
    P13: Antonio Giovinazzi- 99 (Alfa Romeo)P14: Fernando Alonso- 14 (Alpine)
    P15: George Russell- 63 (Williams)P16: Lance Stroll- 18 (Aston Martin)
    P17: Nicholas Latifi- 6 (Williams)P18: Kimi Raikkonen- 7 (Alfa Romeo)
    P19: Mick Schumacher- 47 (Haas)P20: Nikita Mazepin- 9 (Haas)

    Note – Bottas drops 5 grid places for taking on a new ICE after exceeding his allocation. Vettel, Alonso and Russell start from the back of the grid after taking on new PU components.

    Caption: Max Verstappen of the Netherlands driving the (33) Red Bull Racing RB16B Honda makes a pitstop during the F1 Grand Prix of USA at Circuit of The Americas on October 24, 2021 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)

  • Hamilton quickest but Bottas will start on Pole; Max on P2

    Hamilton quickest but Bottas will start on Pole; Max on P2

    Istanbul, 9 October 2021: Lewis Hamilton set the fastest lap of Qualifying for the 2021 FIA Formula 1 Turkish Grand Prix, but it’s team-mate Valtteri Bottas who will claim pole position for the race after Hamilton takes a 10-place grid penalty for taking a fourth ICE of the year. Hamilton’s chief title rival Max Verstappen will start alongside Bottas on the front row after qualifying third.

    Ahead of Q1 the weather forecast predicted rain early in the opening session and desperate to bank an early dry tyre time, drivers formed a long queue at the pit exit in the final minutes before the green lights started the session.

    The expected rain began to fall close to five minutes into the session but never with the steadiness predicted and as a result the 18-minute proved to be frantic as drivers pushed to get the best from their soft tyres, balancing extended running in case of running with tyre wear and the risk of pitting for new rubber.

    In the end it was Hamilton who topped the opening session, with the Briton beating Verstappen who required a late flyer to climb from P12 to P2 thanks to a lap of 1:24.592. AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly took third place ahead of the second Red Bull of Sergio Pérez and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.  

    In the crucial final moments it was Daniel Ricciardo who lost out. The McLaren driver looked less than comfortable in the session but appeared to be safe when the chequered flag was flown. However, despite a guaranteed back of the grid start due to PU penalties, Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz put in a full session, completing 12 laps, and his final flyer bounced Ricciardo out of the session in P16 along with Nicholas Latifi of Williams, Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi and Kimi Raikkonen and Haas’ Nikita Mazepin.

    In the second segment, the bulk of the field opted for medium tyres, looking to start the race on that compound. Hamilton was again to the fore with the Mercedes driver posting a best time of 1:23.082. Bottas again took second place, almost half a second behind his team-mate, while Verstappen was again third with a lap of 1:23.732. Gasly continued to impress with fourth place ahead of Leclerc, while Alpine’s Fernando Alonso also caught the eye with fifth place.

    Eliminated at the end of the middle segment were Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel, Alpine’s Esteban Ocon, Williams’ George Russell, Haas’ Mick Schumacher and Sainz who completed just a single out lap in Q2.

    In the first runs of Q3, Hamilton was first on track, a full five minutes before the end of the session, with the Briton targeting multiple flying laps as he sought to minimise the damage caused by his impending penalty.

    He found most time on his second flier to take P1 with a time of 1m22.868. Bottas was 0.005s ahead of Hamilton by the end of the second sector, but he lost time in the final third and wound up 0.13s behind his team-mate. Verstappen also lost time in the final corners and finished 0.328s down on Hamilton’s benchmark time.

    Leclerc delievered a fine final flyer to rise to fourth place a little over five hundredths of a second ahead of Gasly. Alonso continued his good form with sixth place ahead of Perez. Eighth place in qualifying went to McLaren’s Lando Norris with Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll ninth ahead of the AlphaTauri of Yuki Tsunoda.

    2021 FIA Formula 1 Turkish Grand Prix – Qualifying
    1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes  1:22.868  8 231.896
    2 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes  1:22.998 0.130 0.157 6 231.533
    3 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda  1:23.196 0.328 0.396 6 230.982
    4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari  1:23.265 0.397 0.479 8 230.790
    5 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri/Honda  1:23.326 0.458 0.553 6 230.621
    6 Fernando Alonso Alpine/Renault  1:23.477 0.609 0.735 6 230.204
    7 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda  1:23.706 0.838 1.011 6 229.574
    8 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes  1:23.954 1.086 1.311 6 228.896
    9 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes  1:24.305 1.437 1.734 6 227.943
    10 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri/Honda  1:24.368 1.500 1.810 6 227.773
    11 Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin/Mercedes  1:24.795 1.713 2.062 9 226.626
    12 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault  1:24.842 1.760 2.118 8 226.501
    13 George Russell Williams/Mercedes  1:25.007 1.925 2.317 8 226.061
    14 Mick Schumacher Haas/Ferrari  1:25.200 2.118 2.549 8 225.549
    15 Carlos Sainz Ferrari  1
    16 Daniel Ricciardo McLaren/Mercedes  1:25.881 1.296 1.532 10 223.760
    17 Nicholas Latifi Williams/Mercedes  1:26.086 1.501 1.775 10 223.227
    18 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo/Ferrari  1:26.430 1.845 2.181 11 222.339
    19 Kimi Räikkönen Alfa Romeo/Ferrari  1:27.525 2.940 3.476 11 219.557
    20 Nikita Mazepin Haas/Ferrari  1:28.449 3.864 4.568 10 217.264

  • Hamilton’s century feat at Drama-filled Sochi autodrome

    Hamilton’s century feat at Drama-filled Sochi autodrome

    By Malhaar Khaladkar

    Lewis Hamilton achieved his 100th Formula 1 career victory at a drama filled Sochi autodrome- a feat that no driver has achieved before, as Max Verstappen finished P2 from starting last and Carlos Sainz completed the podium. Lando Norris who had lead majority of the race finished in P7 after a strategic error.

    London, 26 Sept. 2021: Lewis Hamilton won a formula 1 race for the record 100th time as he continued Mercedes’ dominance of never being beaten at the Russian Grand Prix since 1913. Max Verstappen finished P2 as he limited his points damage to Hamilton after starting last due to an engine penalty, and former Toro Rosso teammate Carlos Sainz finished in P3, his third podium this season with Ferrari. McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo was classified in P4 ahead of Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas in P5 and Alpine’s Fernando Alonso in P6- the Spaniard finishing in the same position he started the race. Lando Norris who looked favorite for McLaren’s consecutive race win eventually finished P7 after the weather interfered and a wrong strategy call to sit out on slick tyres. Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Raikkonen finished in P8, his best finish of the season as he returned from Covid-19 illness. The second Red Bull of Sergio Perez looked on for a podium but had to settle for P9 after rain came into play. George Russell has scored points in last four out of five races for Williams as he crossed the line in P10.

    Lance Stroll finished P11 as he had a coming together with Aston Martin teammate Sebastian Vettel and AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly, earning himself a 10-second time penalty for his troubles. Vettel finished in P12 and Gasly in P13. Alpine’s Esteban Ocon finished in P14 ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in P15, Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi in P16 and AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda in P17. Haas’ Nikita Mazepin was last of the finishers in P18. Williams driver Nicholas Latifi and Haas rookie Mick Schumacher were two retirees from the race.

    News broke before the race that Bottas would be starting P16 after taking another engine penalty with Leclerc and Verstappen already starting P19 and P20 respectively due to taking new engines outside of their allocation. There was a 70% chance of rain during the start of the race, but it did not materialise.

    Norris starting from pole got good start, but Sainz caught the McLaren’s slipstream and was ahead at braking zone of turn 2. Behind Hamilton lost positions as he fell to P7 from P4. Russell maintained his position in P3. Stroll had an amazing start leapfrogging to P4 from P7. At the back of the grid Verstappen made up a couple of positions, as did Bottas while Leclerc jumped from P19 to P12.

    Hamilton dispatched Alonso but got stuck behind the Mercedes powered DRS train of Russell, Stroll and Ricciardo. Behind, Verstappen passed Bottas for P14 with the Finn barely putting up a defense. Sainz was leading with Norris chasing the Ferrari and both were pulling away from Russell. Hamilton who had been the favorite before the start was losing time to the leaders and his chances of victory slimming lap by lap.

    The tyres were graining and subsequently losing grip in cold conditions. Aston Martin decided to trigger the undercut with Stroll on lap 12 as he pitted from P4 for a set of hard tyres. Norris caught up to Sainz and passed him for the lead on the inside of turn 12. Russell and Sainz followed suit at the end of lap 13 and 14 respectively. Meanwhile, Hamilton was still held up behind Ricciardo unable to overtake him as the McLaren runs the Mercedes power unit too.

    Ricciardo pitted on lap 22 for hard tyres, releasing Hamilton into free air who was around 12 seconds behind Norris. After consecutive fastest laps by the Mercedes driver, the team decided to pull in Hamilton for a set of medium tyres and capitalise on Ricciardo’s slow pit stop. Hamilton emerged behind Stroll and Gasly, dispatching them quickly by lap 31. Meanwhile Norris responded to Hamilton and pitted on lap 28, emerging in P4 behind yet to pit Leclerc, Alonso and Perez. Verstappen had pitted on the same lap as his championship rival, albeit for medium tyres but was stuck behind Ricciardo.

    Leclerc pitted on lap 35 with Alonso and Perez following him in on lap 37. This meant that Norris lead the race with Hamilton some 8 seconds behind and rapidly catching. The tension built up as Hamilton was around a second behind Norris for consecutive laps. With five laps remaining the heavens opened up, andumbrellas and raincoats came out with the majority of rain focused around turn 5 and 7. Both Norris and Hamilton stayed out resisting the call to pit for intermediate tyres. As the rain worsened Mercedes were adamant to pit Hamilton and the Briton listened, pitting on lap 49. He was now around 25 seconds behind Norris but the gap shrinking rapidly has the track was properly wet. It was heartbreak for Norris as he decided to stay out on slick tyres on a wet track and slid off of it on the penultimate lap with Hamilton taking the lead. Norris limped back to pits for inters as he could only manage P7 in the end.

    It was gutting for the young Briton, Norris as he almost controlled the race from start to finishonly to lose the lead on the penultimate lap. But the headlines belonged to Hamilton who became the first driver to reach a century of victories and with that retaking the championship lead as Mercedes extended their constructors championship lead too.

    Mercedes once again had the fastest car of the grid in Russian but failed to capitalise in qualifying due to weather and partly driver error. Eventually they managed to win thanks to a good strategy call in the dynamic conditions. Even Bottas who was running in P14 before rain arrived, managed to gain nine positions and finish in P5. The German squad are currently leading both championships. Red Bull chose to bite the bullet for Verstappen and take an engine penalty. He achieved the best possible result of P2 with Hamilton winning to limit the damage. It is difficult to judge Red Bull’s pace this weekend due to Verstappen not taking part in qualifying and both cars running in traffic in the race.

    McLaren were the best of the rest as Norris managed to pass Sainz’s Ferrari with ease. They even had the pace to hold up both Mercedes and Red Bull behind owing to their straight-line speed and evident by Hamilton being unable to pass Ricciardo and Norris, and Verstappen being caught behind Ricciardo. Strategy error meant they lost the chance to win a second consecutive race. Ferrari showed decent pace as they held a podium position with Sainz before the late rain drama begin. Even with the conditions changing the Italian team kept a cool head and Sainz achieved his fourth podium of the season. Both Alpine and Aston Martin showed good race pace to hold high top 10 positions but ultimately failed to capitalise due to the interference of weather. Only Alonso being able to finish in P6 as both Aston Martin cars and Ocon failed to score points.

    AlphaTauri had a mediocre race as both cars finished outside of points. Gasly had a chance to finish in points as the conditions changed but entanglement with Stroll meant that his chances were all but over of scoring points. Alfa Romeo capitalised on the weather as they got the season’s best finish of P8 with Raikkonen. Williams and Russell scoredpoints in four races out of five. Arguable the Grove squad should have scored higher points as Russell started from P3 but a wrong strategy call meant he was stuck in traffic after the first round of pitstops. Both Haas cars had their highest starting positions of the season owing to a lot of grid penalties but were unable to challenge for points.

    Saturday’s Qualifying results were:

    P1: Lando Norris- 4 (McLaren)P2: Carlos Sainz- 55 (Ferrari)
    P3: George Russell- 63 (Williams)P4: Lewis Hamilton- 44 (Mercedes)
    P5: Daniel Ricciardo- 3 (McLaren)P6: Fernando Alonso- 14 (Alpine)
    P7: Valtteri Bottas- 77 (Mercedes)P8: Lance Stroll- 18 (Aston Martin)
    P9: Sergio Perez- 11 (Red Bull)P10: Esteban Ocon- 31 (Alpine)
    P11: Sebastian Vettel- 5 (Aston Martin)P12: Pierre Gasly- 10 (AlphaTauri)
    P13: Yuki Tsunoda- 22 (AlphaTauri)P14: Nicholas Latifi- 6 (Williams)
    P15: Charles Leclerc- 16 (Ferrari)P16: Kimi Raikkonen- 7 (Alfa Romeo)
    P17: Mick Schumacher- 47 (Haas)P18: Antonio Giovinazzi- 99 (Alfa Romeo)
    P19: Nikita Mazepin- 9 (Haas)P20: Max Verstappen- 33 (Red Bull)

    Note – Verstappen penalised 3 grid places for causing a collision at the previous round. Leclerc, Verstappen and Latifi required to start from the back of the grid for use of additional power unit elements. Bottas penalised 15 grid places for use of additional power unit elements. Giovinazzi penalised 5 grid places for an unscheduled gearbox change.

  • 100th Victory for Lewis Hamilton; Late rain spoils Lando Norris dreams

    100th Victory for Lewis Hamilton; Late rain spoils Lando Norris dreams

    Sochi, 26 Sept. 2021: Lewis Hamilton took a record 100th Formula 1 victory in a Russia Grand Prix that ended in dramatic fashion as rain in the final laps saw McLaren’s Lando Norris slide out of the race lead and out of contention for his maiden F1 win and which allowed Max Verstappen to rise to second place after starting the race in last place on the grid. The final podium position was taken by Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz.

    At the race start Norris got away well from pole position, but behind him Sainz got the benefit of a strong slipstream on the long run towards the first two corners and as they went through the complex the Ferrari driver powered past the McLaren man to take the lead as third-on-the-grid George Russell held third place.

    Hamilton made a solid start from fourth place but got boxed in on the inside as the field went into Turn 1 and he was passed by Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and soon after by Daniel Ricciardo in the second McLaren.

    At the rear of the field Verstappen made a good start and quickly began to work his way through the pack. By the end of lap five he was up to 15th place and was closing in on Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas who had taken an overnight 15-place penalty for changing power unit elements and started from P16. Verstappen soon made his way past the Finn on lap six, powering down the inside of the Mercedes into Turn 13 to steal P14. He then caught Pierre Gasly and two laps later employed the same move to push past the AlphaTauri driver.

    There was a nervous moment for the Red Bull driver soon after, though. Ahead of him Charles Leclerc was attacking Sebastian Vettel. And seeking to profit from the battle Verstappen dived to the right of the Ferrari driver. But fighting for position, Leclerc was unsighted and almost pushed the Dutch driver into the wall. Verstappen escaped and when Leclerc outbraked himself into the next corner, he pounced to claim P12. Vettel was next in his sights and once again the Red Bull driver made the move into Turn 13 .

    At the front, Norris was closing up to Sainz and on lap 13 he tucked into the slipstream and powered past the Ferrari driver on the run to Turn 13 to claim the lead.

    Versatppen was on a march and as Sainz, Stroll and Russell pitted ahead of him he rose to sixth place behind Alpine’s Fernando Alonso and found himself just four seconds behind third-placed Hamilton.

    Hamilton and Verstappen made their sole visit to the pit lane at the end of lap 22. Hamilton rejoined in P9 on hard tyres with his title rival in 12th place. Hamilton began to make his way through the pack and by lap 30 he was back up to P5 as Verstappen laboured more behind Ricciardo in P10.

    At the front, Sergio Perez, still running on his starting hard tyres, now led the Russian Grand Prix. Behind him, Alonso was in P2 ahead of Leclerc, who also needed to pit. Norris was now fourth ahead of Hamilton, Gasly and Sainz.

    Leclerc pitted on lap 35 but a slow stop dropped him down the order. Perez then pitted from the lead at the end of lap 36 but the switch to medium tyres was hampered by a stuck rear left wheel and when he rejoined the action he was behind Ricciardo who was now fourth behind Sainz, Hamilton and race leader Norris.

    Verstappen’s progress had halted, however. The Red Bull driver’s medium tyres were beginning to fade and he dropped to seventh behind Alonso. Ahead Perez managed to get past Ricciardo to sit in fourth place and as the race entered the final 10 laps and gaps appeared secure it looked like the order might solidify.

    However, on lap 46 rain began to fall and as the umbrellas went up in the grandstands the race was suddenly thrown into chaos.

    With rain predominantly falling just in the final two sectors, both Norris and Hamilton initially elected to remain on track on slicks. And for a lap it looked like both had made the right choice. But after a brief lull the rain suddenly intensified and Hamilton dived for the pit lane for intermediate tyres, matching a call being made throughout the order. With just four laps left Norris gambled on slicks.

    It proved to be the wrong call. Hamilton quickly chased down the McLaren driver and when Norris slid wide in the final sector, Hamilton flew past to take his 100th career F1 win.

    Verstappen though, read the conditions just right. The Dutchman made the switch to intermediate tyres at the right time and after emerging from the pit lane he scythed through the field to claim second place when Norris eventually pitted for inters.

    Behind him Sainz took third place, with Ricciardo claiming fourth. Fifth place went to Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas, despite the Finn spending the bulk of the race outside the points. Alonso took sixth, while Norris was left with seventh place. Eighth place at the flag went to Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Raikkonen and Perez, who had also chosen to stay on slick tyres for too long, finished ninth. The final point on offer went to Williams’ George Russell.

    2021 FIA Formula 1 Russian Grand Prix – Race
    1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 53 1:30’41.001 
    2 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda 53 1:31’34.272 53.271
    3 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 53 1:31’43.476 1’02.475
    4 Daniel Ricciardo McLaren/Mercedes 53 1:31’46.608 1’05.607
    5 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 53 1:31’48.534 1’07.533
    6 Fernando Alonso Alpine/Renault 53 1:32’02.322 1’21.321
    7 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 53 1:32’08.225 1’27.224
    8 Kimi Räikkönen Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 53 1:32’09.956 1’28.955
    9 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda 53 1:32’11.077 1’30.076
    10 George Russell Williams/Mercedes 53 1:32’21.552 1’40.551
    11 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 53 1:32’27.199 1’46.198
    12 Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin/Mercedes 52  1 lap
    13 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri/Honda 52  1 lap
    14 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 52  1 lap
    15 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 52  1 lap
    16 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 52  1 lap
    17 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri/Honda 52  1 lap
    18 Nikita Mazepin Haas/Ferrari 51  2 laps
    19 Nicholas Latifi Williams/Mercedes 47  Not running
         Mick Schumacher Haas/Ferrari 32  Retirement

  • Delightful win for Ricciardo after 3 years; McLaren’s first win since 2010

    Delightful win for Ricciardo after 3 years; McLaren’s first win since 2010

    Monza, 12 Sept 2021: Daniel Ricciardo took his first Formula 1 in more than three years and McLaren’s first since 2012 at the end of a dramatic Italian Grand in which a collision involving Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton saw both title contenders exit the race. With Lando Norris following Ricciardo home to hand McLaren it’s first one-two finish since 2010, Valtteroi Bottas claimed third after a battling driver from the back of the grid.

    The pre-race script had front-row starter Ricciardo as a character actor in the drama to be played out between pole sitter and championship leader Max Verstappen and title rival Lewis Hamilton who was starting from fifth.

    But as soon as the lights went out at the start Ricciardo rose to a starring role. Verstappen got a poor getaway and Ricciardo surged forward to claim the lead as the field went into the first chicane. Verstappen slotted into second and Hamilton, who had made a good start, took third place.

    As the leaders streamed towards the second chicane the Mercedes driver and the Red Bull were side by side. But in the tight confines of the corner both were forced wide. And while Verstappen managed to keep second, Hamilton cut the corner and conceded third place to Norris.

    Behind them a collision between Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz brought out the Virtual Safety Car. Sainz managed to hold sixth place but as Giovinazzi limped back to the pit lane Sergio Perez climbed to seventh.

    The Mexican soon began to pressure his Spanish rival and on lap 9 he got close enough to plot a move. As the pair approached the Variante della Roggia he pulled across and drew alongside the Ferrari. He managed to get a nose in front on the entry to the corner and emerged with sixth place in the bag.

    At the front, despite applying intense pressure neither Verstappen nor Hamilton could get past the McLarens, both of which were running in clear air, and on lap 18 Verstappen was still a second back from Ricciardo and five seconds clear of Norris who had a second in hand over Hamilton.

    With his tyres fading, Ricciardo dived for the pits at the end of lap 22. Verstappen was released into the lead and clean air but with his tyres also wearing out the Dutchman headed for the pit lane at the end of the following lap.

    And there the championship leader’s race began to quickly unravel. A problem with the front-right wheel saw the Red Bull driver sit in his pit box for almost 11 seconds and he emerged in ninth position, behind Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll.

    Behind him, Hamilton managed to get past Norris and took the race lead. The Mercedes driver then made his first p[it stop, but bizarrely the Briton also suffered a slow stop and when he emerged from the pit lane it was into the path of Verstappen.

    The title contenders went into the first chicane almost side by side and just as with their lap one clash neither backed out. This time though the battle resulted in a collision as V erstappen hit the kerbs and then the driven left wheel of Hamilton’s car. The Red Bull was launched into the air and landed on top of the Mercedes, with the result that both ended up in the gravel and out of the race.

    The Safety Car was released and that resulted in a flood of cars heading for the pit lane for a free stop. Perez was among those taking on new tyres and he emerged in fourth place behind race leader Ricciardo, Norris and Leclerc.

    When racing resumed and the McLaren’s held the top two spots Perez went on the attack and on lap 34 he muscled past the Ferrari as they went through the first chicane. He got the job done by rattling across the kerbs, however, and was soon handed a five-second time penalty for gaining a lasting advantage. Behind the Mexican, Bottas also passed Leclerc and began to apply pressure on the Red Bull. Perez defended well, however, and managed to hold on to the place.

    At the front, Ricciardo marched on and after 53 laps he took a surprise but well-earned win ahead of McLaren team-mate Lando Norris. Checo crossed the line third but with his time penalty applied he dropped to fifth behind third-placed Bottas and Leclerc. Sixth place went to Sainz, with Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll seventh ahead of Alpine’s Fernando Alonso, Williams’ George Russell and the second Alpine of Esteban Ocon.

    2021 FIA Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix – Race
    1 Daniel Ricciardo McLaren
    2 Lando Norris McLaren 1.747
    3 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 4.921
    4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 7.309
    5 Sergio Perez Red Bull Racing 8.723
    6 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 10.535
    7 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 15.804
    8 Fernando Alonso Alpine 17.201
    9 George Russell Williams 19.742
    10 Esteban Ocon Alpine 20.868
    11 Nicholas Latifi Williams 23.743
    12 Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin 24.621
    13 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo 27.216
    14 Robert Kubica Alfa Romeo 29.769
    15 Mick Schumacher Haas 51.088
         Nikita Mazepin Haas
         Lewis Hamilton Mercedes
         Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing
         Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri
         Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri

  • Bottas on pole for Sprint ahead of Hami, Verstappen

    Bottas on pole for Sprint ahead of Hami, Verstappen

    Monza (Italy), 10 Sept. 2021: Valtteri Bottas will start tomorrow’s sprint qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix from the front of the grid after he beat Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamlton by a tenth of a second. Formula 1 Drivers’ Championship leader Max Versatappen will start third.

    The opening segment of qualifying in Formula 1 Heineken Gran Premio D’italia, the 14th of the 22-round F1 World Championship, which was run at frenetic pace on Friday, with traffic proving a constant issue as drivers sought the best window for their laps. Verstappen was one of those to suffer and after posting an opening time of 1:22.108 his second flyer, aimed at raising him from P10, the Dutchman was hampered by three slow-running cars ahead and was forced into a third attempt. He made no mistake on his final flying lap, however, and vaulted to third, behind Hamilton and Bottas.

    The 2021 Italian Grand Prix, which takes place over 53 laps of the 5.793-kilometre Autodromo Nazionale Monza on Sunday, September 12.

    Further back there was a close call at the end of the session for 2022 Mercedes signing George Russell. The Williams driver look set to be eliminate in 16th place after failing to make the most of his final flying lap, but the Briton was granted a reprieve when AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda fell foul of track limits and the Japanese driver’s time was deleted.

    It meant that Russell’s team-mate Nicholas Latifi was the first to exit the session in P16, followed by Tsunoda, Haas’ Mick Schumacher, Alfa Romeo’s Robert Kubica and the second Haas of Nikita Mazepin.

    In Q2 Hamilton seized control of P1 with his first flyer of the segment, with the Mercedes driver setting a target of 1:19.936. Verstappen struggled to get close to that time and at the end of the opening runs he sat in sixth place with a lap of 1:20.710, over seven tenths of a second adrift of his title rival.

    Verstappen’s team-mate Sergio Perez was at even greater risk and ahead of the final runs he lay in 10th place, just a couple of hundredths of a second clear of Alpine’s Esteban Ocon. Perez led his team-mate out of the pit lane for the final runs, aiming to give Verstappen a tow and that meant the Mexican would endure a nervy end to the session.

    While his assist helped Vesrtappen to jump to an eventual fourth place behind Hamilton, Bottas and McLaren’s Lando Norris, Perez’s final lap of 1:20.882 was only good enough to raise him to eighth as the final laps came in. He began to slide back but his luck held and his fall halted in a safe P10 .

    Eliminated at the end of Q2 in 11th and 12th place respectively were Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll with the Aston Martin drivers being followed out of the session by the Alpine cars of Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon and the Williams of George Russell.

    If the second segment had suggested that Red Bull were struggling for pace at power sensitive Monza then Verstappen dispelled that notion in the first run of Q3. Hamilton set the pace with a lap of 1:19.949 but thanks to a tow from team-mate Perez, Verstappen was able to put in a lap just 0.017s behind the Mercedes driver to a provisional front-row berth.

    It looked like being a close call between the two title contenders in the final runs but in the end it was Bottas who took the spoils. Profiting from a tow from Hamilton, the Finn powered to top spot with a lap of 1:19.555. Hamilton, a tenth behind, took second and Verstappen, who failed to improve on his final flyer, qualified third.

    Fourth place went to Norris, with McLaren team-mate Daniel Ricciardo in fifth ahead of the AlphaTauri of Pierre Gasly. Carlos Sainz narrowly beat team-mate Charles Leclerc as Ferrari finished seventh and eighth and Perez who had again aided Verstappen with a tow ended up in ninth place just ahead of Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi.

    The F1 Sprint Race will be telecast by Star Sports Select 2 from 8pm (IST) to 8.30 pm in India.

    2021 FIA Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix – Qualifying
    1 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes  1:19.555 
    2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes Mercedes  1:19.651 0.096
    3 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing 1:19.966 0.411
    4 Lando Norris McLaren  1:19.989 0.434
    5 Daniel Ricciardo McLaren  1:19.995 0.440
    6 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri  1:20.260 0.705
    7 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:20.462 0.907
    8 Charles Leclerc Ferrari  1:20.510 0.955
    9 Sergio Perez Red Bull Racing 1:20.611 1.056
    10 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo  1:20.808 1.253
    11 Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin  1:20.913 1.358
    12 Lance Stroll Aston Martin  1:21.020 1.465
    13 Fernando Alonso Alpine  1:21.069 1.514.

  • Verstappen claims popular home victory; beats Hami

    Verstappen claims popular home victory; beats Hami

    Zandvoort (The Netherlands) 5 Sept 2021: Max Verstappen delivered a faultless drive in front of a packaged Zandvoort to take a hugely popular home victory in the Dutch Grand Prix, the 13th of the 22-round FIA Formula 1 World Championship here on Sunday. He beat title Lewis Hamilton by more than 20 seconds after the Mercedes driver made a late pit stop to salvage the point for fastest lap. Third place went to Valtteri Bottas in the second Mercedes.

    At the start of the race, pole sitter Verstappen made a superb getaway to take the lead. Hamilton also made a good start but as he and Bottas jostled for position through the first two corners Verstappen was allowed to power ahead and by the end of the opening lap the Dutch drivers has established a 1.7s gap to Hamilton.

    Behind the top three, AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly got away well to hold fourth place ahead of the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz. At the back of the field Sergio Pérez in the second Red Bull was forced to start from the pit lane after an overnight engine change but as he passed the Haas of Nikita Mazepin in the early laps he flat-spotted a tyres and had to pit for an early switch to medium tyres. It was the start of an impressively long first stint for the Mexican driver as he launched a recovery drive.

    At the front the order was stable, with Verstappen holding a 3.5s lead over Hamilton. Bottas began to drift off the front pair, however, and by lap 18 he was more than seven seconds adrift of his team-mate. 

    Then, at the end of lap 20, Hamilton dived for the pits and made the switch to medium tyres. Red Bull responded by pitting Versatppen on the next lap and he saw off the undercut to rejoin two seconds ahead of Hamilton.

    Pérez, meanwhile, was making stealthy progress through the pack and by lap 25 he was up to 14th place. His progress picked up two laps later when Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll, Williams’ George Russell and Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi pitted ahead of him. He rose to P11 and began to hunt down McLaren’s Lando Norris. He swiftly closed up to the McLaren, but having started on medium tyres, Norris was going long and he was able to match the Red Bull driver’s times. 

    As the race passed half distance Verstappen was once again told to push as it became clear that Mercedes were plotting a second attempt at undercutting the Dutchman. Hamilton pitted at the end of lap 39 for a set of medium tyres but thanks to a set of potent laps Verstappen was able to make his own pit stop, for hartd tyres, of lap 40 and once againm he emerged with a clear gap to his championship rival.

    Further back, Norris finally made his sole stop for tyres on lap 43 and Pérez could race into clear air.

    The Mexican made his sole visit to the pit lane at the end of lap 48 and took on a set of soft tyres. He rejoined in P12 and quickly passed Russell to relaunch his assault on the points positions.  He soon began to exert pressure on McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo and on lap 56 passed the Australian to claim P9. 

    His next target was the Australian’s team-mate, Norris, and over the next 10 laps he turned a sizeable deficit into a gap of just half a second before again passing on the around the outside of Turn 1. His final mission was to get past Alpine’s Esteban Ocon and in the final laps the Red Bull driver passed the Frenchman to claim eighth place.

    In those closing stages Hamilton closed to within 1.5 seconds of the lead RBR16B but with his tyres fading and Max expertly managing the gap, the Mercedes driver eventually abandoned his pursuit of victory and pitted for soft tyres. 

    Hamilton took the fastest lap point on the final tour of Zandvoort, but Verstappen’s seventh win of the season puts him back on top of the Drivers’ Championship standings with 224.5 points to Hamilton’s 221.5. In the Constructors’ Championship Mercedes still top the standings with 244.5 points, 12 ahead of Red Bull Racing. 

    With Bottas third at the flag, fourth place went to AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly. The French driver also put in an impressive drive to finish ahead of the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc and the Alpine of Fernando Alonso. Seventh place went to Carlos Sainz in the second Ferrari and with Checo in P8 the final two points places went to Ocon and Norris. 

    2021 FIA Formula 1 Dutch Grand Prix – Race
    1 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda 72 1:30’05.395
    2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 72 1:30’26.327 20.932
    3 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 72 1:31’01.855 56.460
    4 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri/Honda 71 1:30’17.183 1 lap /11.788
    5 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 71 1:30’22.175 1 lap /16.780
    6 Fernando Alonso Alpine/Renault 71 1:30’50.864 1 lap /45.469
    7 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 71 1:30’52.896 1 lap /47.501
    8 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda 71 1:30’53.479 1 lap /48.084
    9 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 71 1:30’54.465 1 lap /49.070
    10 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 71 1:30’57.725 1 lap /52.330
    11 Daniel Ricciardo McLaren/Mercedes 71 1:31’10.322 1 lap /1’04.927
    12 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 70 1:30’22.717 2 laps /17.322
    13 Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin/Mercedes 70 1:30’24.941 2 laps /19.546
    14 Anotnio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 70 1:30’33.172 2 laps /27.777
    15 Robert Kubica Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 70 1:31’05.853 2 laps /1’00.458
    16 Nicholas Latifi Williams/Mercedes 70 1:31’07.745 2 laps /1’02.350
    17 George Russell Williams/Mercedes 69 1:29’55.249 3 laps
    18 Mick Schumacher Haas/Ferrari 69 1:31’08.196 3 laps /1’02.801
         Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri/Honda 48 1:02’36.678 Transmission
         Nikita Mazepin Haas/Ferrari 41 54’07.352 Hydraulics

  • Max Verstappen beats Hamilton to put his Red Bull on pole

    Max Verstappen beats Hamilton to put his Red Bull on pole

    Zandvoort (The Netherlands), 4 Sept 2021: Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen beat Formula 1 championship rival Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes by just three hundredths of a second to claim pole position for his home race the 2021 FIA Formula 1  Dutch Grand Prix. Valtteri Bottas finished third for Mercedes, while AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly put in an impressive performance to claim fourth place on the grid.

     At the start of the Q1 Red Bull’s Sergio Pérez set the early benchmark with a lap of 1:10.700. Verstappen was close behind on track, however, and he powered past his team-mate’s time to reset the bar at 1:10.036.

    Mercedes, meanwhile, sent both its drivers out on medium tyres and Pérez dropped to fourth place as as Hamilton took second place ahead of Bottas. Pérez extended his run, but despite getting down to 1:10.530 he dropped to P7 as better times came in. And the Mexican’s failure to set a secure time early in the session ended up being his undoing.

    Knowing that the track was ramping up massively, Red Bull readied the Mexican for a final run. However, seeking a workable gap on the short track, drivers began to form a solid queue at the end of pit lane and Pérez’s exit was slowed. Thus he failed to make it across the line before the chequered flag and as rivals posted improvements the Mexican fell down the order and he was eliminated in P16 ahead of Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel, Alfa Romeo’s Robert Kubica and the Haas cars of Mick Schumacher and Nikia Mazepin. 

    Verstappen was straight into action at the start of Q2 and he posted a tough target at the top of the timesheet with a lap of 1:09.071. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc got closest to that time ahead of the final runs, with the Monegasque setting a time of 1:09.437 to take P2 ahead of AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly, Hamilton and Bottas. 

    Williams’ George Russell was one of the first out on track for the final runs of the second segment but at the end of his flying lap he carried too much speed into the penultimate corners and slid off into the barriers. The red flags were quickly displayed and the clock was stopped with just under four minutes remaining. 

    However, when the session eventually resumed it lasted less than two minutes as on his flying lap Nichola Latifi lost control in Turn 8 and the second Williams went into the barriers hard. The red flags were again shown and Race Control quickly indicated that the session would not be resumed. It meant that eliminated after the middle segment were Russell in 11th place followed Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll, Norris, Latifi and AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda. 

    In Q3 Verstappen again went out early to stake his claim to pole and he claimed provisional pole with an impressive lap of 1:08.923. Neither Mercedes driver had an initial response and Bottas took P2 0.099s behind the Red Bull, with Hamilton just under five hundredths of a second further back in third place. 

    In the final runs Verstappen proved unbeatable. Hamilton found more time but in the end it was only enough to match the Red Bull driver’s earlier lap and Verstappen secured pole for his home grand prix with a stunning lap of 1:08.885.

    Bottas was left with third place, while Gasly shone in claiming fourth spot on the grid ahead of the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz. Giovinazzi was seventh, while Esteban Ocon took eighth place ahead of Alpine team-mate Fernando Alonso and McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo. 

    Rakkonen test COVID positive

    The FIA, Formula 1 and Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN can on Saturday confirm that during onsite PCR testing for the 2021 FIA Formula 1 Dutch Grand Prix, Kimi Räikkönen has tested positive for COVID-19. In accordance with COVID-19 protocols he will take no further part in this Event. All contacts have been declared.
    The procedures set out by the FIA and Formula 1 will ensure no wider impact on the Dutch Grand Prix.


    2021 FIA Formula 1 Dutch Grand Prix – Qualifying
    1 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda 1:08.885  7 222.579
    2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:08.923 0.038 0.055 7 222.456
    3 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:09.222 0.337 0.489 7 221.496
    4 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri/Honda 1:09.478 0.593 0.861 6 220.679
    5 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:09.527 0.642 0.932 6 220.524
    6 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:09.537 0.652 0.947 6 220.492
    7 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1:09.590 0.705 1.023 6 220.324
    8 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 1:09.933 1.048 1.521 6 219.244
    9 Fernando Alonso Alpine/Renault 1:09.956 1.071 1.555 6 219.172
    10 Daniel Ricciardo McLaren/Mercedes 1:10.166 1.281 1.860 6 218.516
    11 George Russell Williams/Mercedes 1:10.332 1.261 1.826 5 218.000
    12 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:10.367 1.296 1.876 5 217.891
    13 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:10.406 1.335 1.933 5 217.771
    14 Nicholas Latifi Williams/Mercedes 1:11.161 2.090 3.026 7 215.460
    15 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri/Honda 1:11.314 2.243 3.247 4 214.998
    16 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda 1:10.530 0.701 1.004 9 217.388
    17 Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:10.731 0.902 1.292 7 216.770
    18 Robert Kubica Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1:11.301 1.472 2.108 9 215.037
    19 Mick Schumacher Haas/Ferrari 1:11.387 1.558 2.231 11 214.778
    20 Nikita Mazepin Haas/Ferrari 1:11.875 2.046 2.930 10 213.32

  • Lewis Hamilton fastest in FP1 as F1 back at Zandvoort

    Lewis Hamilton fastest in FP1 as F1 back at Zandvoort

    Zandvoort (The Netherlands), 3 Sept 2021: FIA Formula One World Championship leader Lewis Hamilton went quickest in an opening practice session for the Dutch Grand Prix that was heavily disrupted by suspected engine failure for Sebastian Vettel. Local hero Max Verstappen took second place on the timesheet ahead of Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz.

    Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc established an early lead with a hard-tyre time of 1:17.919 but he was swiftly usurped as drivers began to get to grips with the unfamiliar circuit, which is returning to the schedule for the first time since 1985.

    AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly lowered the benchmark to 1:15.301 before McLaren’s Lando Norris stole P1 with a lap of 1:13.751. Verstappen then delighted the packed grandstands by taking top spot with a hard-tyre lap of 1:13.045. He was briefly dislodged by Mercedes’ Valterri Bottas but returned to P1 with the a lap of 1:12.850. Norris then restaked his claim to supremacy thanks to a lap of 1:12.679 just before Vettel brought running to a halt when his Aston Martin expired at the pit exit with a suspected power unit failure.

    The German driver has reported a problem on his installation laps and had returned to the pits for checks. But when he emerged again he again hit trouble on his first timed lap and pulled over at the pit exit.

    Vettel quickly climbed out of his car and fetched a fire extinguisher but after struggling to activate it he sought help from a track marshal who also appeared to have difficulty with the equipment. Eventually the extinguishers were engaged but Vettel’s car seeming to be in an electrically unsafe state there was a long delay as it was made safe.

    The delay meant that when the green flags were shown there were just six minutes left in the session.

    Leclerc posted a lap of 1:12.288 to take top spot but he was quickly ousted by Sainz and Bottas. Hamilton then powered past all of his rivals with a lap of 1:11.500. Verstappen got closest to the Briton with a lap of 1:11.597, 0.097s off Hamilton’s best time. slower than his title rival – the Dutch driver having to dodge traffic at several points after setting what was at that stage the fastest time in the first sector.

    Sainz took third 0.101s behind Hamilton with Leclerc fourth ahead of Bottas and the Alpine cars of Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon. Antonio Giovinazzi was eighth ahead of Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and the final top-10 place went to Gasly.

    There was trouble for the Frenchman’s AlphaTauri team-mate Yuki Tsunoda. however.

    The Japanese driver completed just three laps in the opening phase of the championship after he spun getting at Turn 10. He returned to the pit lane but took no further part int hr session.

    2021 Dutch Grand Prix – Free Practice 1
    1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:11.500 17 214.439
    2 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda 1:11.597 0.097 18 214.148
    3 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:11.601 0.101 19 214.136
    4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:11.623 0.123 18 214.070
    5 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:11.738 0.238 18 213.727
    6 Fernando Alonso Alpine/Renault 1:12.158 0.658 18 212.483
    7 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 1:12.231 0.731 17 212.268
    8 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1:12.359 0.859 18 211.893
    9 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:12.431 0.931 18 211.682
    10 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri/Honda 1:12.515 1.015 19 211.437
    11 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:12.679 1.179 18 210.960
    12 Nicholas Latifi Williams/Mercedes 1:12.907 1.407 16 210.300
    13 Kimi Räikkönen Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1:13.053 1.553 20 209.880
    14 Daniel Ricciardo McLaren/Mercedes 1:13.081 1.581 18 209.800
    15 George Russell Williams/Mercedes 1:13.181 1.681 15 209.513
    16 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda 1:13.328 1.828 18 209.093
    17 Nikita Mazepin Haas/Ferrari 1:13.516 2.016 14 208.558
    18 Mick Schumacher Haas/Ferrari 1:13.847 2.347 17 207.623
    19 Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:15.984 4.484 6 201.784
         Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri/Honda  3

    Graphic courtesy Twitter @CFmagIndia