Lewis Hamilton wins 2020 Turkish GP and clinches the 2020 Formula 1 world title, equalling the record of Michael Schumacher
Lewis Hamilton claimed the record equalling seventh drivers title with a stunning win in a wet and wild Turkish Grand Prix. Starting from sixth on the grid, Hamilton with his gut instincts and dominating driving shown the world how champions are made. After leading the race for most of the laps the pole sitter Lance Stroll couldn’t convert his P1 to a race win and eventually ended his race in ninth position. Behind Hamilton, Sergio Perez and Sebastian Vettel claimed their first podium of the season. A dramatic last lap saw Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc overtook Perez for P2, but got it wrong at Turn 12, with Perez retaking second as Vettel made it through on his team mate and finished third.
Leclerc crossed the line in fourth position ahead of the McLaren of Carlos Sainz. Red Bull on their 300 race start only managed P5 and P6 with Max Verstappen leading his team mate Alex Albon at the flag. Max and Alex who was in podium places during the first stint on race later got it wrong during the tricky second pit stop time, assisted with multiple spins. The second McLaren of Lando Norris finished P7 after a brave drive with multiple brave overtaking manoeuvres. The Renault duo Riccardo and Ocon behind Norris in P10 and P11.
Daniil Kvyat and Pierre Gasly of Alfa Tauri crosses the line next in P12 and P13 ahead of Valtteri Bottas, who had a terrible race with multiple spins. Kimi Räikkönen and Geroge Russel in P15 and P16 rounds off the classified drivers in 2020 Turkey GP. Both Haas drivers Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean after suffering mid race collisions and multiple spins forced them to retire the race along with William’s’ Nicholas Latifi. Giovinazzi is the fisrt person to retire the race due to a mechanical issue which bought two-lap Virtual Safety Car out on Lap 13, surprisingly was the only VSC/SC incident of the race.
Lance Stroll secures an incredible maiden pole for Racing Point at 2020 Turkish GP
Stroll takes an exhilarating maiden pole in a chaotic wet qualifying at the Intercity Istanbul Park for Turkey GP. Racing Point's jubilation got doubled as Sergio Perez finished third as it was their their first-ever pole under this banner, just four races before they become Aston Martin, and their first since Giancarlo Fisichella took P1 at the 2009 Belgian Grand Prix when the team was racing as Force India. But a disappointed Max Verstappen manged front grid position as he clean swept all the practice sessions with P1 and looked good for his third P1 spot. But it was Sergio Perez who set the time sheets on fire with a blistering lap on the intermediate tyres, while all others were battling on wets to set a time. Inspired by the pace of Perez, the rest of grid start opting for intermediates; but none except Red Bulls could manage a better time as Albon goes fourth.
Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo slotted into fifth for the second consecutive race on wets, ahead of championship leader Lewis Hamilton. Daniel’s teammate Esteban Ocon managed seventh on wets as Renault dint opt for the gambling on intermediates. The next big surprise was from Alfa Romeo, as the team managed to slot bot their cars in Q3 with Kimi Raikkonen in P8 with team mate Antonio Giovinazzi 10th marking Alfa Romeo’s best qualifying performance since Brazil 2019, on the occasion of Sauber’s 500th Grand Prix. The second Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas only managed P9, as Mercedes seems to be struggling throughout in the wet conditions.
Both the McLarens of Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz couldn’t promote themselves to Q3 as they finished in P11 and P13 sandwiching Sebastian Vettel in P12. His Ferrai team mate Charles Leclerc, who had blistering practice session couldn’t replicate the performace in the wets and ended up in P14. The AlphaTauri’s of Pierre Gasly and Daniil Kvyat also struggled in damp conditions as they only managed P15 and P17 respectively. Kevin Magnussen in Haas, who had issues with mist in helmet only managed P16 as his team mate Romain Grosjean in P19. The Williams duo of George Russell and Nicholas Latifi classified P18 and P20 as Russell will be required to start his race from the back for using additional power unit elements.
FP3 session interrupted by heavy rain as Verstappen goes quickest with Leclerc in second and Albon in third
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen heads the timesheets in the rain intervened FP3 session as many drivers failed to perform the quali like simulations. Some of the drivers only managed few out laps with only 3 drivers could make more than 10 laps in the final practice session. Ferrari’s Charles Leclarc managed secons as Max’s teammate Alex Albon finished in third with his 5 hands laps in the session. Renault’s Esteban Ocon who tipped Leclerc causing him to spin in early session, finished fourth fastest with McLaren’s Lando Norris finished fifth. The second Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel managed P6 as he managed the most mileage in his SF1000 in the FP3 session with 14 laps. Sergio Perez became the best of the Racing Points with seventh place finish.
The best of Mercedes was Valtteri Bottas who managed 4 laps 1 better than his teammate Lewis Hamilton who failed to post a meaningful time in the session classified last in the leaders chart. Bottas is followed by Kevin Magnussen in Hass and Lance Stroll in the second Racing Point with P9 and P10 positions. Daniel Ricciardo of Renault managed eleventh who is the last driver in 10 second margin from the leader. The second McLaren of Carlos Sainz finished P12 as Antonio Giovinazzi of Alfa Romeo finished P13.
Pierre Gasly was the highest-placed AlphaTauri, just behind Giovinazzi while his team mate Daniil Kvyat was 17th, who spun numerous times. And was the last driver to cross the linen with wets. Romain Grosjean who remarked to run rental cars on track for laying some rubber on the surface on Friday night, that’s exactly what happened, albeit in vain thanks to the deluge that followed this morning finished P15. Kimi Räikkönen in Alfa Romeo managed the second best mileage of 13 laps corssed the line on P16 with the Williams Duo George Russell and Nicholas Latifi only managed one installation lap also couldn’t post a meaningful time.
As there are predictions for rain in qualifying sessions in the evening which will big implications for the re-laid circuit, since drivers were finding it even difficult to get the best grip out of the slicks. It looks like the drivers will be doubtful for unleashing the full wrath of the modern hybrid f1 cars on Saturday afternoon.
Verstappen quickest in FP1 with Albon in second and Leclerc in third as drivers find the resurfaced Istanbul Park “icy”
F1 is back in Turkey since 2011, as the new “Hybrid” Formula 1 cars struggles to find the grip in the recently re-laid asphalt at Turkey’s Istanbul Park. RedBulls’s Max Verstappen takes the P1 spot with his teammate Alex Albon come home in second making Red Bull one-two. Surprisingly both Mercedes cars couldn’t find the top 5 spots in a session, which is quite rare. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc finished P3 as his team mate Sebastian Vettel in P5 sandwiching AlfaTauri’s Pierre Gasly in P4. Daniil Kvyat in the second AlfaTauri finished P6 bringing all the Honda powered in top 10 list.
Birthday boy Lando Norris managed P7 in Mclaren with Antonio Giovinazzi surprised every one with P8 performance in P8. The best of Merecdes was Valtteri Bottas who crossed the line in P9 with Esteban Ocon inn P10 for Renault rounding off the top 10 list. Nicholas Latifi impressed everyone with P11 with the Racing Point duo Sergio Perez and Lance Stroll in P12 and P13 respectively. Romain Grosjean for Hass comes next with current world champion Lewis Hamilton only scrapped P15.
Kimi Räikkönen and Kevin Magnussen follows in P16 and P17 as Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo only managed P18. McLaren’s Carlos Sainz had to park his MCL35 in the green as the team discovered a small electrical issue with his power unit. George Russell rounded off the list in P20. But the session charts do not represent the actual performances of the cars/drivers as the re-laid track along with the wetness made the session tricky. More over the session was briefly red-flagged after Charles Leclerc knocked over a bollard. However, the lack of grip down in part to the surface having only been re-laid a few weeks ago and Pirelli bringing their hardest tyre compounds, the Sunday race might bring some surprises.
Verstappen clean sweep the Friday sessions with Leclerc in second and Bottas in third
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen heads the FP2 session in Istambul park, as Formula 1 revisits Turkey, RedBull’s one of the favourite circuits since 2011 Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc good run continues as he finised P2 after having finished P3 this morning highlighting the Ferrari’s come back. The best Mercedes was Valtteri Bottas which is 0.575s adrift of Verstappen but ahead of Lewis Hamilton in P4.Having let the timesheets for most of the time in FP2, Red Bull’s Alex Albon, eventully finished in P5, the Thai driver finishing ahead of the AlphaTauri pair of Daniil Kvyat and Pierre Gasly in sixth and seventh, as the Italian team once again confirmed the strong performance in an AT01 for which the team have brought new barge boards and a new floor this weekend.
Sebastian Vettel in second Ferrari once again slotted in top ten list as he finished P8 ahead of Lance Stroll and Lando Norris in Racing Point and McLaren. Sergio Perez in the second Racing Point was P11 with Esteban Ocon in Reanult once again out performed his teammate on Friday. Antonio Giovinazzi comes next in P13 with Carlos Sainz in second McLaren in P14. Daniel Ricciardo for Reanult only managed P15 as he finds it difficult to find the sweet spot in his R.S.2.0.
Veteran Kimi Räikkönen comes next at P16 in the second Alfa Romeo ahead of George Russell in Williams. The Haas duo Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen finishes P18 and P19 ahead of the second Willams of Nicholas Latifi who completes the list. As both the sessions in Friday comes to an end, it is advantage to Red Bull. The return of Ferrari to the top ten list indicates the upgrades are finally working for them and the prospect of the Ferrari coming back to the “best of the rest” battle in constructor standings. But the biggest surprise was from the second Italian team, AlfaTauri as they could slot both their car in top ten list.
Hamilton wins in Imola as Mercedes clinches their seventh straight constructors' championship
Mercedes claims their record seventh consecutive constructors’ title at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, as Lewis Hamilton wins in Imola with his team mate Valtteri Bottas finishing second ensuring Mercedes 1-2 on the historic day for F1. Meanwhile Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo secured the second podium of the season for Renault as Red Bull’s Max Verstappen retired from P2 after a tyre issue on lap 51. AlphaTauri’s Daniil Kvyat, who is yet to confirm a seat in 2020 surprises every one with a brilliant fourth with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in fifth. Along with a better team strategy and a brilliant drive helped Charles to hold off the Racing Point of Sergio Perez, who missed the trick with a late stop under the Safety Car.
The McLaren and Alfa Romeo duos rounded of the top ten list with Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris claimed P7 and P8, Kimi Raikkonen leading Antonio Giovinazzi in P9 and P10. Aided by a brilliant strategy with an extended 49-lap stint medium tyre management from Kimi helped Alfa Romeo took their first double points finish of the year. Nicholas Latifi finished eleventh agonisingly close to points for Williams. Struggling Sebastian Vettel, thanks to a horrible pit stop by Ferrari spoiled the race for him and only could manage a disappointing twelfth. Lance Stroll, after the first lap tangle and a broken front wing managed thirteenth spot in the list.
Romain Grosjean for Hass crossed the line in fourteenth while his team mate, Kevin Magnussen had to retire the race in lap 50 after a terrible head ache. Alexander Albon disappoints again for Red Bull after a silly driver error forced the Thai driver to spin towards the last stint on the race became the last person of the finished drivers. An unusual mistake from George Russell, forced him spinning and ending up on the barriers as he tries to warm his tyres during the safety car. Esteban Ocon in the second Renault forced to park his car on the green in lap 29 with a a suspected gearbox issue. Meanwhile, after a brilliant qualification on Saturday, AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly suffered a coolant leak that forced him to retire from the race on Lap 8. With Mercedes wrapping up the constructors’ title of 2020 it is now matter of time to decide on the drivers’ championship as it is looks like another Mercedes driver to crown the champion in 2020.
Bottas snatches pole from Hamilton at Imola with Verstappen in third
Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas beats Hamilton to take a sensational pole position at Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari (Imola) Circuit for the Emilia Romagna GP. Bottas with only a slender lead of 0.097s just managed to out class his team mate and rival Lewis Hamilton in his final run in qualifying. Max Verstappen, after surviving Q2 scare took 3rd which was incidentally more than half a second behind the silver cars. Red Bull mechanics once again rose to the occasion, as they turn around an improbable solution after encountering a power unit/spark plug issue in Q2 within few minutes. The home runners Alfa Tauri impressed the most with both cars in Q3. Pierre Gasly, who was in scintillating form finished fourth to equal his career best start ahead of Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo in fifth.
Alexander Albon with having many laps deleted throughout the qualifying session, but found a way to slot his car into top six, which is 0.4s adrift of team mate Verstappen. Charles Leclerc who seemed unhappy with the car, only managed seventh with Daniil Kvyat making a rare appearance in Q3 for AlphaTauri. Even though both the McLarens qualified to Q3, didn’t have the pace to compete in the final shootout, with Lando Norris edging ahead of team mate Carlos Sainz to complete the top 10. Sergio Perez missed out Q3 and finished eleventh as both racing Points struggled to reach Q3. Esteban Ocon in the second Renault also missed out in Q2 finished twelfth.
George Russell continues his Saturday form and qualified again for Q2, eventully finishe din thirteenth ahead of struggling Sebastian Vettel in Ferrari. Lance Stroll finishes in 15th also missed the final top ten shoot out. Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen in Haas finished P16 and P17 respectively ahead of Kimi Räikkönen in Alfa Romeo. Kimi, after his impressive drive in Q1 with the best time good for Q2 qualification, got deleted for track limit infringements. Nicholas Latifi inn the second Williams finished P19 with Antonio Giovinazzi in second Alfa Romeo rounded up the 20 drivers list.
Hamilton leads the solitary Imola practice session with Verstappen in P2 and Bottas in P3
Merecedes’ Lewis Hamilton heads the timing chart in the only practice session of Emilia Romagna Grand Prix as F1 returns to Imola for the first time since 2006. Since it is a two day race weekend at Imola, with no Friday practices, the teams and drivers had only 90 minute session before qualifying to get to know about the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari (Imola) Circuit. Red Bull's Max Verstappen became the second quickest driver after leading the session for the early part on medium and hard componds. Valtteri Bottas in the second Mercedes crossed the line third. Pierre Gasly finished an impressive fourth towards the end of the session ahead of Charles Leclerc in Ferrari.
Renault duo Daniel Ricciardo and Esteban Ocon finished in P6 and P7 respectively with Gasly’s team mate Daniil Kvyat in a strong eight who never has qualified inn top ten in this season. Alex Albon disappoints again in the second Red Bull only could manage P9 which was, 1.335s off Hamilton's pace. Lance Stroll and Sergio Perez in Racing Point follows in tenth and eleventh. The struggling Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel managed 12th, which was over a second slower than his teammate Charles. Romain Grosjean for Haas finished 13th ahead of McLaren's Carlos Sainz.
Antonio Giovinazzi, who earlier in the weekend got confirmed by Alfa Romeo crossed the line in 14h ahead of Lando Norris in the second McLaren, as his fastest lap on the softs got deleted for overstepping track limits toward the end of the session. Last week’s firt lap hero, Kimi Räikkönen, who also got retained by Alfa Romeo for 2020 season finished P17. George Russell in Williams finished 18th as his team mate Nicholas Latifi spend much time in pits with a brake-by-wire failure with around an hour remaining, but emerged again to take for 20th overall. Haas's Kevin Magnussen crossed the line P19. So after the one and only practice session of Emilia Romagna Grand Prix completed, teams and drivers will have enough information for the Qualifying which is scheduled for the evening.
Hamilton triumphant at Portimao and breaks the record of 92 victories, becoming the most successful driver with most wins in Formula 1
Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes secures his 92nd race win in Formula 1 career and became the most successful driver in terms of victories in Formula 1 history, at Portimao in Portuguese GP. Although started from pole position, Hamilton got passed by both Bottas and McLaren’s Carlos Sainz after a dramatic opening lap, as the Mercedes team mates struggled to get their medium tyres working. By the next lap Sainz took lead from Bottas promising a interesting race ahead. Verstappen also had issues in the first lap, as he got tangled with Sergio Perez and sending the Mexican spinning, forcing Racing Point to take an early pit stop. Meanwhile Mercedes duo quickly re-passed Sainz who eventually ended his race in sixth, once the tyres are back to the working temperature. Later Verstappen crossed the line third and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc impressed again with fourth place, cementing the comment from his team mate Vettal “Monegasque is currently in another league”. Pierre Gasly finished a fantastic fifth with lots of action packed overtakes throughout the race. A humongous effort from Perez’s put him to fifth but ended his race in seventh, as the Mexican got passed in the final stages by both Gasly and Sainz.
Even though, the Renault duo Esteban Ocon and Daniel Ricciardo struggled, they crossed line in a decent eighth and ninth respectively at chequered flag. Sebastian Vettel in the second Ferrai rounded of the points with a tenth place finish. Veteran Kimi Räikkönen once gain amazed with his performance and narrowly missed the point finish. The agony for Alexander Albon continues as he only could manage a P12 place which means his seat in Red Bull will be questioned again by the critics and by the Red Bull management.
Lando Norris has a bad race after the collision by Racing Point’s Lance Stroll only managed a thirteenth place. However, the Canadian received a 5 second penalty for causing the collision and another 5 second penalty for track limits infringements, before Racing Point retired his car. George Russell in Williams finished in fourteenth after showing the glimpses of his performance during the race. The second Alfa Romeo of Antonio Giovinazzi crossed the line in 15th place ahead of both Haas drivers Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean. The second Williams of Nicholas Latifi finished in 19th ahead of Daniil Kvyat in AlphaTauri rounded of the classified driver list. The return of Portuguese Grand Prix will be remembered for the moment which Lewis Hamilton became Formula 1’s most successful driver of all time in terms of victories, a mighty record from the six-time World Champion in F1.
Hamilton grabs Portuguese GP pole from Bottas on Medium sets with Verstappen in third
Lewis Hamilton delivered his best lap when it matters and grabs last-gasp Portuguese GP pole. Valtteri Bottas on a different strategy could not match his Mercedes team mate in qualifying pace. Mercedes opted for a unique strategy for the final runs, swapping the so called faster Red walled softs to the Yellow walled medium tyres on both cars. However, Hamilton opted to head out early for two flying laps on that compound, while Bottas went for one. For a short instant it seems like the Finn will beat Hamilton with his lap, but the defending world champion made it count to take his 97th career pole position, pushing Bottas to second spot, in an all-Mercedes front row. Max Verstappen took third on the usual soft tyres, as Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc finished an impressive fourth. A splendid performance from Racing Point’s Sergio Perez helped him to finish fifth.
Alex Albon in the second Red Bull finished sixth which was half a second slower than his team mate Verstappen, while Carlos Sainz became the leader driver for McLaren as Lando Norris finished eight which was only just 0.005s slower than his team mate. Pierre Gasly could not keep up his impressive Q1 and Q2 performances and ended up in ninth. Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo completed the top 10 list, albeit without setting a timed lap as he ran off the track at the end of Q2 damaging his rear end of R.S.2.0. His teammate Esteban Ocon finished 11th as Lance Stroll, who got recovered from COVID 19 in the second Racing Point only managed P12. Daniil Kvyat in the second AlphaTauri finished P13.
Mr. Saturday, George Russel of Williams, impressed gain with his Q1 performance and finished P14 ahead of Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel who once again failed to get into Q3 as his time got deleted for exceeding track limits on his last run. Both Alfa Romeo’s followed their engine supplier with Kimi Räikkönen once gain finished ahead of his teammate Antonio Giovinazzi. The Haas of Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen crossed the line in P17 and P18 respectively with Nicholas Latifi in the second Williams completes the list. The conditions in Portugal looks perfect for Mercedes as they could wrap up the constructors title if they finish first and second in this round.
Bottas clean swept all the practice sessions at Portuguese GP ahead of Hamilton and Verstappen
Bottas leads the final practice at Portimao and made it a hat-trick of fastest laps in Portuguese GP practice weekend. His Mercedes team mate Lewis Hamilton finished second just ahead of Red Bull's Max Verstappen in third place. Although track limits have been revised after Friday's running, numerous lap times got deleted at Turns 1 at 4 including max and his teammate Albon, which might have changed the top 3 list. AlphaTauri's Pierre Gasly impressed with P4 performance from his fire engulfed car in FP2 which is just a tenth off former team mate Verstappen as he was sandwiched between the Red Bulls on the leader board. Alex Albon also had a good session for Red Bull with fifth place, which was only 0.3s off his team mate. Meanwhile the session ended one minute early after a drain cover got uplifted by Vettel who ran over the drain cover at Turn 14, which brought out the red flags. This raised the eyebrows of the stewards regarding the safety of the track and will be inspected after the practice session.he stewards regarding the safety of the track and will be inspected after the practice session.
Ferrari continues to impress the Portugal GP as Charles Leclerc finished sixth reflecting the positive signs from the upgraded Ferrari SF1000. But team mate Sebastian Vettel only could manage 11th but shows signs of improvement. McLaren's Carlos Sainz finishe din P7, who took a new engine, turbo and MGU-H. Sergio Perez took P8 for Racing Point, as the second McLaren of Lando Norris crossed the line in ninth. Esteban Ocon rounded the top ten list for Renault.
Daniil Kvyat in second AlphaTauri finised 12th, with Alfa Romeo's Kimi Raikkonen in P13. Renault's Daniel Ricciardo's only could manage P14 as his R.S.20 suffered a DRS failure towards the meid of seesion. But later Ricciardo emerged from pit lane for one final go in FP3 but that red flag towards the end of session aborted his lap. George Russell impressed with P15 for Williams as Racing Point’s Lance Stroll only manged P16. Earlier both Lance and Max got cleared of any penalty for the incident in FP2. Antonio Giovinazzi finished 16th in the second Alfa Romeo with Haas drivers Haas Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean sandwiched Nicholas Latifi of Williams rounded of the list.
Bottas tops an eventful FP2 session at Portimao circuit with Verstappen in P2 and Norris in P3
Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas leads the multiple red flag disrupted second practice session on the Friday of the Portuguese Grand Prix. The session got suspended twice after Pierre Gasly’s AlphaTauri caught fire, and an spectacular crash of Max Verstappen and Lance Stroll in Turn 1. But Max Verstappen managed P2 for Red Bull as McLaren’s Lando Norris slotted into P3 towards the end of the session. Both Bottas and Norris was on set of red Softs for their respective fastest laps, while Max set his fastest lap on the medium tyre. Charles Leclerc once again impressed with P4 with the latest updates to the SF1000 proves to be in the right direction for Ferrari. Carlos Sainz finished in P5 near the end of the session in the second McLaren, with 1.173s off Bottas’ pace, as Sebastian Vettel finished encouraging sixth, which is around three-tenths off Leclerc’s pace.
Gasly finished managed P7 before his car was on fire bringing the red flag halfway through the hour and a half session. Galsly pulled up his AlphaTauri AT01 on the side of the track at the exit of Turn 13 only to start splitting flames with the marshals eventually putting the blaze out after it had been burning for around a minute. The reigning champion Lewis Hamilton, who didn’t appear to be happy with his W11 only manage P8 which is 1.368s adrift of his team mate. Top 10 were rounded out by Renault’s Esteban Ocon and the second Red Bull of Alex Albon, as they had their multiple laps got deleted for track limit infringements at Turn 4. George Russell was P11 ahead of the Racing Point of Sergio Perez in P12. Daniel Ricciardo was hampered on his penultimate attempt at a flying lap by a Williams exiting the pits, only managed P13.
Nicholas Latifi in second Williams finised in P14 as Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Raikkonen crossed the line in P15. Kevin Magnussen finished in 16th with AlphaTauri’s Daniil Kvyat finished in 17th after a spin earlier in the session. Romain Grosjean managed P18 as Stroll only could finish in P19. It was indeed a dramatic moment, with 29 minutes left to go as drivers keen to get their qualifying simulation laps in, Verstappen and Stroll, on a flying lap, dragged down the main straight as the pair collided at Turn 1, with Stroll appearing not to register Verstappen’s presence on the inside of the corner. The stewards set to investigate the incident which brought the second red flag of the session. Antonio Giovinazzi rounded of the list in P20.
Bottas leads Hamilton and Verstappen as Formula 1 revisits Portugal soil since 1996
Friday King Valtteri Bottas became the fastest driver in FP1 at Portimao circuit in the first Portuguese Grand Prix weekend since 1996. Championship leader Lewis Hamilton comes home in P2 as Red Bull’s Max Verstappen crossed the line P3. Most drivers opted for the hardest component tyres in the first practice session on the resurfaced Portimao circuit. Towards the end of the session both Mercedes drivers fitted with Yellow Medium tyres traded the places on the top of the grid, eventually Bottas pipped Hamilton at the chequered flag. Meanwhile Verstappen stuck with white Hard component tyres, concentrated mostly in long runs. Charles Leclerc in the updated Ferrari SF1000 crossed the line in P4 ahead of Alex Albon in the second Red Bull.
McLaren's Carlos Sainz who completed most laps on Friday morning, finished in sixth ahead of Sergio Perez, who took P7 for Racing Point. Veteran Kimi Raikkonen crossed the line in P8 in the dying moments for Alfa Romeo as Renault's Daniel Ricciardo finished P9. Pierre Gasly had a mechanical problem towards late in the session on his AlphaTauri yet managed a stellar P10, ahead of Vettel in second Ferrari in P11.
McLaren's Lando Norris finished in P12 just behind Vettel while Daniil Kvyat had a spun towards the end of the session and finished 13th for AlphaTauri. Kevin Magnussen in Haas finished in P14 ahead of 15th place Lance Stroll, who looks recovered from the effects of Covid-19. Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi crossed the line in P16 as Romain Grojsean took P17 in second Haas. Williams drivers George Russell finised in 18th and Nicholas Latifi in 20th splitted by Renault's Ocon. Esteban Ocon’s session ended with a worrying mechanical issue, when smoke was seen coming from the back of his car just as the chequered flag was flying.
Even though there was some spots of rain and the sky was dark during the session, the second practice session is predicted to be a clear sky session. The first 30 minutes of Free Practice 2 might be utilised by Pirelli for a blind tyre test of the company’s 2021 prototype compounds. This means the laps set using the hard and medium tyres in FP1 session might echo the running simulation for the race day. One this is sure that the relatively new resurfaced race track together with the chances of rain will spice up the 2020 Portuguese Grand Prix on Sunday.
Hamilton wins Eifel GP and takes record equalling 91st victory as Ricciardo claims his first podium with Renault
Mercedes’s Lewis Hamilton has paralleled win record of Michael Schumacher with his 91st F1 victory at Eifel GP 2020 as his pole sitting team mate Valtteri Bottas had to retire his W11 due to a loss of power, which is incidentally Mercedes’s first DNF of 2020. As part of the immediate post-race interviews, Hamilton was presented with one of Michael Schumacher’s race helmets by Mick Schumacher, who congratulated him on the historic achievement. “I’m so honoured. I really appreciate that,” Hamilton told Mick Schumacher after being handed the red Mercedes helmet. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen crossed the line in P2 with the fastest lap point on his lat last towards the chequered flag. Meanwhile Daniel Ricciardo secured his first podium for the Renault team, since his win for Red Bull at Monaco in 2018. This also the first podium for Renault since returning to the sport in 2016.
Racing Point’s Sergio Perez came home in P4 after a tough battle with Daniel for the final podium place. Carlos Sainz of sole remaining McLaren finished P5 had a stealthily brilliant race from AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly saw him take P6 after a late pass on Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. The second Racing Point of super sub Nico Hulkenberg, who did a fine cameo job in place of Lance Stroll to jump from P20 to P8. With such short notice, that he couldn't even take part in practice on Saturday, joined the team few minutes before the qualifying did an awesome race which earned the driver of the day. Romain Grosjean of Haas secured his first points of the season finished in P9, while Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi claimed the final points paying position, just holding off the Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel.
Sebastian Vettel in the second Ferrari disappoints again with a pointless finish in P11 ahead of Kimi Räikkönen of Alfa Romeo who broke the record with 323rd start. Kevin Magnussen in second Hass crossed the line in P13 with Nicholas Latifi in Williams in p14 and Daniil Kvyat inn second Alpha Taruri rounded of the drivers who completed the race. Earlier George Russell had to retire his car after colliding with Kimi followed by Valtteri Bottas who retired due to a power loss. Later Bottas was joined by the Renault of Esteban Ocon, the Red Bull of Alex Albon, and the McLaren of Lando Norris due to meachanical issues. Now all eyes turns to Renault team boss Cyril Abiteboul who is getting a tattoo as Riccardo announces that “It's real; It's going to happen” during the postrace interviews.
Bottas grabs pole for Mercedes with Hamilton in P2 and Verstappen in P3 as Hulkenberg replaces unwell Stroll
Russian GP winner Valtteri Bottas beats Hamilton to Eifel GP pole as Mercedes continued their 100% pole position record for 2020 at the Eifel Grand Prix. Lewis Hamilton finished P2 which is 0.256s behind his team mate, while Red Bull’s Max Verstappen secured P3 slot on the grid, but just 0.037s off Hamilton. Though Max was in provisional pole before the last stint of Q3, he couldn’t match the pace of Mercedes as he couldn’t find the sweat spot of grip in his last run. The breaking news of Nico Hulkenberg replacing sick Lance Stroll just came few minutes before the Qualifying, as the German was been in town for broadcast work before getting the call up to drive ahead of the session.
Probably the second big surprise in Qualifying was from Ferrari, as Charles Leclerc splits the two Red Bull cars and finished P4. The performance upgrades to the floor and bargeboards of SF1000 seems to be working for Charles as his team Mate Sebastian Vettel narrowly misses Q3 and could only manage P11. The second Red Bull of Alex Albon finished in P5, ahead of tho reanults of Daniel Ricciardo and Esteban Ocon. McLarens of Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz finishes in eighth and 10th, sandwiching Sergio Perez in the updated RP20 in P9.
The Alpha Tauris of Pierre Gasly and Daniil Kvyat also misses out Q2 and could only manage P12 and P13 respectively. Antonio Giovinazzi out classed his team mate for the first time in 2020, as he participated in his maiden Q2 in this season, crossed the line in P14. Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean in Haas follows the Alfa Romeo in P15 and P16 respectively as George Russell in Williams only could manage P17. Nicholas Latifi in the second Williams finishes in P18 ahead of Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Räikkönen in P19.
But it was a mega effort from Hulkenberg who has been in the car for just 10 minutes managed a time of 1:28.021 which was only 0.4 seconds slower than the Q2 time and only 0.2 seconds from his near rival. Later Hulkenberg revealed that “It was even wilder and crazier than last time,” “I was in Cologne which is an hour from here. I was due to come here this afternoon anyway, I was going to do some TV stuff from RTL tomorrow. I was sat with a friend having a coffee at 11am when I see that Otmar [Racing Point Team Principal] rings me and says ‘Hulkenberg, hurry we need you here’. he said.
Bottas leads FP3 from Hamilton and Leclerc with Vettel in P5, as unwell Stroll misses the session
Valtteri Bottas for Mercedes leads the only practice session at the Nurburgring for the Eifel Grand Prix on Saturday from his teammate Hamilton in P2 and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in P3. Having lost both the practice sessions of Friday due to fog and mist, the field made ample use of the final practice session with most of the drivers clocking more than 20 laps. Even though it was a much busier than normal FP3 sessions, the drivers and cars featured a much greater variety of different programmes with several drivers performing multi-lap runs. Meanwhile one driver missed all the actions of FP3 was Lance Stroll. Racing Point revealed that Stoll is unwell and will not be participating FP3, just before the session, which raises question marks about whether he will be able to take part in qualifying. It is not confirmed that Nico Hulkenberg is to make yet another last-minute return to as he was drafted in to replace an unwell Lance Stroll at Racing Point for the remainder of the Eifel Grand Prix weekend.
Max Verstappen only managed P4 after topping the time sheets in the early part of the session. Sebastian Vettel finished P5 in the second Ferrari, which is one of the most encouraging practice showings for the team in some time. McLarens’ Lando Norris finished P6 ahead of Sergio Perez, the Sole Racing Point driver . Daniel Ricciardo finsied P8 in the Reanult, as Alex Albon in the second Red Bull was ninth quickest with Pierre Gasly in AlphaTauri rounded of top 10. Esteban Ocon in the second Renault finished P11 with the second Alpha Tauri of Daniil Kvyat in P12. McLaren’s Carlos Sainz finished P13.
Kimi Raikkonen in the Alfa Romeo took P14, as he becomes the most experienced F1 driver ever this weekend with his 323rd start. Haas duo, Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen finished 15th and 16th respectively. William’s George Russell managed P17 ahead of Antonio Giovinazzi in the second Alfa Romeo who finished in 18th. Nicholas Latifi in the second Williams finished P19 as he spun late on at the final corner and made a hash of rejoining, rounded of the drivers who participated in FP3. The fog that had hung over the circuit all day on Friday had lifted, but conditions were still chilly when the pit lane exit opened for the first time at this race weekend. It is expected to rain on Sunday, but not during the race, so expecting a clean sunny Sunday race.
Eifel Grand Prix FP1 and FP2 cancelled due to bad weather at Nurburgring
The start of the Round 11 of the 2020 season from the Nurburgring, Germany has been called off due to the weather. This means the Eifel Grand Prix weekend will be delayed till FP3. Due to a fog and misty condition at the Nurburgring on Friday morning, it looked too bad for the medical helicopter to be able to fly in case needed, which means that the Race Control would not allow cars on track. Even though the FP1 session did technically start at 11am local time, the Race Control advised the teams that the pit lane would remain closed. After waiting for 60 more minutes in both sessions, the race control informed that the pit lane would remain closed as the conditions were not changing. With rain expected throughout the day, attention will now turn to Free Practice 3 and whether conditions of the race weekend.
"With the fog that's come in, the medical helicopter is not able to take off and fly to the hospital," FIA race director Michael Masi said during the session. "The distance by road is too far, should something occur. "With the region that we're in, it's probably not dissimilar to Austria earlier in the year when we had a similar situation. It's just the nature of the area and the location. "The fog's come in, and it's all been going up slightly but coming down more dramatically, so we'll just judge at the time [if it is safe to start]. "From an FIA perspective, the safety of all the participants and the drivers hopefully going out is paramount, and that's not something we will compromise."
The cancellation of FP1 will be particularly disappointing for Mick Schumacher and Calum Ilott, the Ferrari junior drivers who were set to make their F1 free practice debuts in this session for Alfa Romeo and Haas respectively. Mick Schumacher, the 21-year-old F2 title leader, was due to drive the Alfa Romeo in place of Antonio Giovinazzi, while Ilott due to run with Haas in place of Romain Grosjean. Currently both are members of the Ferrari Driver Academy and both are potential candidates for a seat in F1 next season.
How is the driver's market shaping up at mid of 2020 season
As the 2020 season proceeds to the second half, the driver’s market is shaping up interestingly. Most of the teams has already finalized the driver line up for 2020 and beyond, some teams are yet to wrap up their decision. Archive54 teams like Mercedes, Ferrari, Red Bull, Renault, McLaren Racing point and Williams already published their 2020 drivers, teams like Haas, Alpha Tauri and Alfa Romeo are yet to announce their final selection. Teams like Mercedes, Red Bull and Williams will be moving along with the same line up, some teams like Renault, McLaren and Racing Point decided to retain one of their two drivers along with a new driver in their lineup. Now the focus shifts to the teams who is yet to announce their 2020 driver line up.
Alfa Romeo is one of the team to finalize their drivers for 2021, they have some interesting precepts to consider. Alfa Romeo team boss Frederic Vasseur says the team’s first choice of driver for 2021 season is Kimi Raikkonen, if the Finn wants to continue. With his two-year contract at Alfa Romeo expiring at the end of this season, there’s a big question mark over whether the Finn, as the oldest and most experienced driver on the grid, has any desire to continue racing as the team are struggling to escape the lower midfield. Asked whether the team would keep him on if Kimi indicates he wants to stay, Vasseur said: “Yeah, sure, but if we are all interested to collaborate and the collaboration is good, it will make sense to continue.” Meanwhile, Antonio Giovinazzi, whose contract also concludes by the end this year, is under threat from the rising stars of the Ferrari Driver Academy as Formula 2 championship leader Mick Schumacher is rumored to be set for Alfa tests and is a possible shoe-in for a race seat.
Haas is yet another team to anounce their 2020 drivers, the prospect of availability experienced drivers like Sergio Perez, Nico Hulkenberg etc. and the young F2 drivers like Mick Schumacher, Callum Ilott and Robert Schwartzman put the team in an interesting situation. “Everybody who is on the market is considered,” said Steiner of his 2021 plans. “We lay everything on the table and then we see what we want. But it’s a general question. What do we want to do? Do we want to keep the drivers that we’ve got? Do we want experienced drivers? Do we want to start with young drivers? Do we do a mix of it? Everything is on the table. Nothing changes. As Haas move into sixth campaign, they could retain the current drivers or they could recruit experience with Sergio Perez now available along with his former team mate Nico Hulkenberg. Even they could work with Ferrari as is the case over at Alfa Romeo, they could opt for young blood from F2 and use one or two of the Ferrari Academy drivers and try a new reign in the midfield.
Alpha Tauri, is another team to announce their team line up. As it seems Red Bull has kind of finalized their team line up, the sister team is not expecting any big surprises. The race victory of Pierre Gasly at Monza, cements his place in the team. Now the only decision pending is about Daniil Kvyat. As like Haas, the Italian team too have multiple options either to stick rather than twist with the currents set of drivers or go with a new driver line up. If they are planning for a change in driver line up they could either go with experienced drivers like Sergio Perez or young F2 drivers like Yuki Tsunoda from Red Bull Junior Team. So, it will be interesting to see how second half of 2020 season will progress as this will help teams and drivers to finalize their destination for the 2021 season and the 2022 season with significant changes in the sport's technical regulations.
Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas wins in Sochi with Verstappen in Second and Hamilton in third
Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas claimed his second victory of 2020 at the Russian Grand Prix, as a ten second penalty for the pole setter Lewis Hamilton forced him to third. Meanwhile, Max Verstappen scored Red Bull’s first ever podium at Sochi in P2. Hamilton started the race with the investigation on for a pair of practice start infringements on his laps to the grid. Later 5 seconds penalty for each incident was handed to Hamilton during mid-race, ruling him out of contention for the win. Incidentally, Hamilton will get a licence penalty point for each of the two time penalties received in this race. This will take his penalty tally to 10,two short of a race ban. Earlier, Bottas had passed Verstappen for second at the race start, and Verstappen himself plunged to fourth later recovered to third from where both enjoyed a trouble free race to the chequered flag. This would have been an confidence booster for Bottas, who needs to be fighting for the championship with Hamilton and Verstappen too after two DNFs.
Racing Point’s Sergio Perez came home with fourth behind the podium positions. Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo, after a 5 second penalty had enough pace in hand to maintain P5 at the flag, ahead of the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc in sixth. Esteban Ocon in the second Renault, who let his team mate pass in race after failing to overtake Leclerc, crossed the line in P7. Home hero Daniil Kvyat impressed in his AlphaTauri with P8 finish ahead of his teammate of Pierre Gasly. Pierre Gasly himself had a personal moment in the race with the Red Bull of Alex Albon, who came home P10, having started P15 after receiving a five-place penalty for changing his gearbox.
Antonio Giovinazzi in Alfa Romeo crossed eleventh ahead of Kevin Magnussen in Haas. Sebastian Vettel in the second Ferrari disappoints again with a P13 finish who had few interesting battles with two Renault cars in between the race. Behind Vettel, Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Raikkonen finished P14 as he matched Rubens Barrichello’s tally of 322 F1 starts. This means the Finn is set to make a record his own at the upcoming Eifel Grand Prix at Germany. Lando Norris in McLaren on could manage P15 as Willams’ Nicholas Latifi finished in P16. Romain Grosjean in the second Haas and George Russell in the second Willams rounded off the race finishers. Meanwhile, McLaren’s Carlos Sainz who ripped the front right corner off his car while trying to re-join the track at Turn 3, and Racing Point’s Lance Stroll who was tagged by Charles Leclerc at Turn 4, are the two DNFs of the race. These two events invoked the safety car in the first lap which were the only incidents, otherwise a trouble free race event, after the double red flagged races in Italy.
Hamilton grabs pole in Sochi, with Verstappen in P2 and Bottas in P3
Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton claimed his 96th pole position, as he was within a matter of seconds of being knocked out of Q2 in a dramatic qualifying session at Sochi. Hamilton was in the verge of getting knocked out in Q2 as his first time got deleted for a track limits infringement leaving him in the drop zone when Vettel crashed at Turn 4 with just over two minutes left of the session, bringing out the red flags. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen finished second with 0.563s from the leader as Valtteri Bottas had to settle for P3. Sergio Perez running in an update-less Racing Point RP20 finished an excellent fourth behind the top three. Reanult’s Daniel Ricciardo could not replicate his practice form and had to settle for fifth, the highest the Australian will ever have started in Sochi. Carlos Sainz’s McLaren finished in P6 which was 1,246s off Hamilton’s pace ahead of the second Renault of Esteban Ocon.
Lando Norris in the second Mclaren crossed the line in Eight, with the AlphaTauri of Pierre Gasly P9 and Alex Albon in the second Red Bull in 10th. The Thai driver couldn’t impress and was 1.704s off the pace will have start in the mid field at Sochi where the overtaking opportunities will be less. Ferrai’s Charles Leclerc only managed a frustrating P11 as his run was interrupted by Vettel’s crash and subsequent red flags. The home racer, Daniil Kvyat will start in P12 as the second racing point of Lance Stroll was unable to go for a last run due to a mechanical issue saw him drop out in Q2, will start in Thirteenth. Mr. Saturday, George Russell impresses again with his Williams with another Q2 performance will start in P14. Meanwhile the former world champion Sebastian Vettel had a big crash in Q2 while he was setting his pace, from which the German emerged unhurt, but gave his mechanics a long night of repairs ahead of the race day.
Romain Grosjean in Haas shows some glimpses of improvements but couldn’t get in to Q2, finished in P16 ahead of Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi. Kevin Magnussen finished in P18 in the second Haas with Nicholas Latifi of Willams and Kimi Räikkönen of Alfa Romeo rounding of the list.
Hamilton finishes P1 in final practice with his Mercedes teammate Bottas in P2 and Sainz in P3 for McLaren
Lewis Hamilton tops the final practice and looks well set for qualifying as his teammate Valtteri Bottas only could manage a P2 0.776s slower after topped both practice sessions on Friday for Mercedes. McLaren’s Carlos Sainz impressed with a late flyer, finished third 0.817s off the lead time narrowly behind Bottas and more than a tenth ahead of Renault’s Esteban Ocon. Racing Point’s Sergio Perez within a second of Hamilton rounded off top 5. Max Verstappen for Red Bull only could manage P6 after spending most of the session on soft tyres had to slow down by traffic on his last flying lap. Sebastian Vettel ended seventh for Ferrari with a brilliant flying effort, but damaged his floor going wide on the last corner.
Lance Stroll in the second Racing Point finished P8 just behind Vettel after a difficult FP2 on Friday afternoon. Daniil Kvyat impressed for Alpha Tauri as he finished ahead of his teammate in P9 which is 1.5s slower than the lead driver. Renault's Daniel Ricciardo, only manage Tenth as he was slowed by a problem with his right wing mirror. Pierre Gasly in second Alpha Tauri finished P11, only after spinning early on and then encountering traffic late in the session. Charles Leclerc managed P12, as he couldn’t match his Ferrari team mate Vettel.
George Russell of Williams finished in P13 ahead of Romain Grosjean in Haas who had a late spin at Turn 15, but ended the session a solid 14th for Haas despite repeated radio calls to him engineer complaining of problems with the car. His team mate Kevin Magnussen took 16th with Williams’ Nicholas Latifi between them on the board. The Alfa Romeo pair followed Magnussen on the timesheets with Antonio Giovinazzi leading his teammate Kimi Raikkonen. Alex Albon had his fastest time deleted for overstepping track limits, leaving him down in 19th, ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris who was unable to get a clean lap in through the session. Since the Practice sessions are wrapped up, now all eyes will be in Qualifying to know the pole sitter, who subsequently have won every Russian Grand Prix since the race’s inauguration in 2014.
Bottas heads FP2 with Mercedes 1-2 as Hamilton finishes second with Ricciardo in an impressive third
Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas has a clean sweep on Friday at the Sochi Autodrom, as he finishes top in FP2, 0.267s ahead of his team mate Lewis Hamilton in second. Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo finished third for Renault as the Australian thinks the Sochi was one of the tracks on the calendar where he had the most room for improvement. But after taking P2 in FP1 this morning, the Australian followed it up with an impressive third in FP2, which was 1.058s off Bottas, but a tenth and a half up on his next closest competitor, McLaren’s Carlos Sainz who crashed into the barriers in FP1, His team mate Lando Norris in P5 rounded of top 5. Sergio Perez finished sixth in the old spec Racing Point RP20. Max Verstappen had disappointing session as he clunked the kerb at the exit of Turn 2 on his fastest lap and run wide, leaving him P7, and 1.529s off the lead time.
Ferrari with new updates shows improvements as Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel ending up eighth and 10th respectively. The second Renault of Esteban Ocon splits the Ferrari in P9, who continued to look less comfortable in the R.S.20 than his team mate Ricciardo. Alex Albon in second Red Bull slid wide at the exit of Turn 14 earlier in the session only could manage P12 as he got sandwiched, with the sister Red Bull of two AlphaTauris. Pierre Gasly finished in P11 ahead of home racer Daniil Kvyat in P13. Kimi Räikkönen in Alfa Romeo finished in P14 who was the last driver in 2sec range from the leader.
Nicholas Latifi after a poor FP1session pipped his team mate George Russell to P15 by 0.012s, with Russell P16, ahead of the second Racing Point of Lance Stroll, who spun innocuously at Turn 13 early in the session, before failing to string a representative qualifying simulation lap together. Kevin Magnussen finished in P18 with his teammate Romain Grosjean in P20 for Haas, with the second Alfa Romeo of Antonio Giovinazzi in P19 as he suffered a big lock-up at the tricky Turn 13 during the session.
Traditionally at Sochi circuit, the pole sitter have won every Russian Grand Prix since the race’s inauguration in 2014, Mercedes guarantee a top spot in Sochi. Meanwhile, It is looking good for a race victory for Bottas, as he favours Sochi track, where he scored his first win in 2017, which will boost his confidence and will help him to keep track of the championship battle for 2020.
Bottas leads first practice in Sochi ahead of Ricciardo and Verstappen, while championship leader Hamilton finished the session in P19
Friday practice champion, Valtteri Bottas continues his Friday brilliance with sixith top position in FP1 session at Sochi for Mercedes. half a second faster than runner-up Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo finised second with half a second slower than the leader and 0.6s quicker than third-place Red Bull’s Max Verstappen. The Racing Points were just behind the Red Bull with Sergio Perez in P4 and Lance Stroll P5. The Racing Points once again spotted running two different spec cars in the weekend as in Mugello as they have delayed updates for Perez’s car as Stroll's crash in the last Grand Prix have delayed Racing Point's development, meaning only the Canadian has the new parts this weekend.
Renault's Esteban Ocon finished in Sixth, with home racer Daniil Kvyat taking P7 for AlphaTauri. Kvyat was the fastest driver of the session on medium tyres, as all of the top six have set their fastest laps on softs. Alex Albon on soft tyres finished Eighth for Red Bull, just ahead of Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel in P9 and over three-tenths faster than medium-shod AlphaTauri driver Pierre Gasly, who rounded-out the top 10. Charles in second Ferrari finished P11 with 2 second slower than the leader.
The session was interrupted twice by two crashes. The first was by Carlos Sainz as he spun backwards into the Turn 7 barriers, leaving his McLaren's rear wing hanging off precariously. He finished 12th quickest in the session with his teammate Lando Norris in P13. Thirty minutes later, Nicholas Latifi went similarly sideways into the Turn 10 barriers and his Williams' rear wing suffered the same fate as Sainz's. This time, a red flag was brought out while the car was recovered. Alfa Romeo duo, led by Antonio Giovinazzi (P14) over Kimi Raikkonen (P15), who is on the verge of becoming the joint-most experienced F1 driver, along with Rubens Barrichello, this weekend with his 322nd start. Kevin Magnussen finished P16 with Latifi's team mate George Russell finished 17th. Romain Grosjean, who struggled with his car's balance and spun at Turn 13 with a tailwind, finished 17th as championship leader Lewis Hamilton finished the session down in P19. Hamilton's session was compromised by early lock-ups both on the softs and the hards, which flat-spotted his rubber and ruined his chances of setting any quick lap times – as evidenced by his fastest being 2.793s slower than his team mate's.
After two red flag stoppages at Mugello, Hamilton wins the first ever Tuscan GP with Bottas in second as Alex Albon secures his maiden podium.
Lewis Hamilton take victory at Mugello in an absolute thriller with Mercedes team scored yet another Merceres 1-2 in Ferrari’s 1000 GP race. The action-packed race witnessed multi-car crashes within the first 10 laps, two red flag stoppages and an exciting sprint race like finish helped Alex Albon score his first F1 podium. Valtheri Bottas for Mercedes only could manage a second, after a great start in the be first stint and eventually finised +4.880s behind Hamilton. Meanwhile, Albon pulled off a fantastic move on Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo in the last part of the race to claim an important third for Red Bull, after his team mate retired the race in the first lap incident. Ricciardo come home in fourth, tantalisingly close to his first podium with Renaultas Sergio Perez finished fifth for Racing Point.
Lando Norris finished in sixth for McLaren, ahead of the AlphaTauri of Daniil Kvyat in P7. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc classified eighth at the team’s 1000th GP. Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Raikkonen crossed the line in eighth but classified as ninth after receiving a five-second race penalty for crossing the line at pit entry. The second Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel finished in points rounding out the top 10. Williams’ George Russell finished in 11th, agonizingly close to the team’s first point finish of the year, as he was running ninth in the last restart after the second red flag of the race. Haas’ Romain Grosjean finished 12th of the 12 runners classified.
Racing Point’s Lance Stroll went off at Arrabbiata 2 while holding fourth place on lap 43 and crashed into the tyre barriers which brings out the Safety Car and later red flagged as the barriers needs to be checked and repaired. Replays show that Stroll may have picked up a rear tyre puncture, the Canadian helpless as the rear slides away and he flies through the gravel and into the barriers. Earlier, in the beginning of the race Verstappen dropped back after just a poor start, and behind Gasly was squeezed between a Raikkonen and Grosjean sandwich. Those three battling came up to the Red Bull to punt him out the race. Last week’s race winner Gasly also had to retire early after the incident with Max as he too wound up in the gravel. This brings the first safety car and the race restarted on 7 as Sainz, Giovinazzi and Magnussen have all collided and are parked up on the main straight on the restart brining red flags. Replays show that Magnussen was going very slowly at the restart. Giovinazzi was straight in the back of him, and then those two collected Sainz and Latifi. Esteban also had to retire his car due to brake overheating during red flag period.
Hamilton grabs pole in Tuscan GP, as Bottas has to abort his fast lap run due to yellow flags
Mercedes Lewis Hamilton beats his team mate Valtteri Bottas with a lap record time of 1:15.144 to snatch the pole position for the inaugural Tuscan Grand Prix at Mugello. Meanwhile Bottas had to abort his last flying lap due to yellow flags prohibiting a clean sweep of the weekend runs. Bottas was +0.059s off Lewis’ pace but three tenths ahead of third place Max Verstappen of Red Bull. Max Verstappen was nearly 0.5s clear of his Red Bull team mate Alex Albon who finished fourth. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc got lucky ahead of Ferrari’s 1000 GP, as he was able to cross the line before the yellow flags came out, and finished fifth on the grid. The Racing Point duo of Sergio Perez and Lance Stroll finished P6 and P7 respectively, despite the fact that Perez is running the old spec car compared to Stroll’s new updated package which includes a slick new sidepod arrangement and new brake ducts. However, Perez will start in P7 as he has to serve a grid place penalty for his collision with Kimi Raikkonen in practice session.
Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo went eighth quickest, ahead of McLaren’s Carlos Sainz and teammate Esteban Ocon in P10 rounding out the top 10. But Ocon couldn’t set a time in Q3 as he got it all wrong on his flying lap, spinning and bringing out the yellow flags. Lando Norris in second McLaren misses out Q3 and finished P11 ahead of AlphaTauri’s Daniil Kvyat. Kimi Räikkönen in Alfa Romeo once again out performed his old team mate in Ferrari Sebastian Vettel, finishing P13 and Vettel in P14. Romain Grosjean of Haas also couldn’t continue his impressive practice runs, only managed a non-impressive P15.
Perhaps the most surprising news from Mugello was, the Italian Grand Prix race winner Pierre Gasly suffered a shock Q1 exit. He misses out Q2 by five hundredth of a second and finished P16. Antonio Giovinazzi finised in P17 ahead of both Williams of George Russell in P18 and Nicholas Latifi in P19. Kevin Magnussen of Hass finished in the last spot for the inaugural Tuscan Grand Prix at Mugello.
Bottas with the fastest lap time leads final practice with Verstappen splitting Mercedes duo at Mugello
Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas leads FP3 and cleaned all the practice sessions at the Tuscan Grand Prix in the top position. Bottas set the fastest lap of 1:16.530 which is just +0.017s from Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and +0.083s from his team mate Lewis Hamilton in third. Racing Point's Lance Stroll finished an impressive P4 after last week podium performance. He was 0.582s off the leader and nearly one-tenth ahead of Italian Grand Prix winner Pierre Gasly in his AlphaTauri. Racing Point's second car finished sixth without the bargeboards updates as his team mate Stroll has got the new parts for this weekend. Charles Leclerc, within a second off Bottas pace finished P7 for Ferrari ahead of their landmark 1000th GP.
Red Bull’s Alex Albon finished P8, only to get improve his time after the chequered flag had flown which is over a second off from the top spot. AlphaTauri's Daniil Kvyat took P9 as Romain Grosjean rounded off the top 10 for Haas ahead of the Renault of Esteban Ocon in 11th . McLaren's Carlos Sainz took 12th and Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi finished P13. Kimi Räikkönen could not keep his peak performance from the first two practice sessions, only could manage P14.
Kevin Magnussen crossed the line at P15 in the second Hass ahead of the Williams of Nicholas Latifi who had a better session than his teammate. The Renault of Daniel Ricciardo finished inP17 as the Renault cars spent most of the session on mediums. Sebastian Vettel disappoints again in his Ferrari with P18, which is apparently the worst place by a Ferrari powered car in the session. Lando Norris only could manage P19 in his McLaren with Williams' George Russell finished last with a brake-by-wire issue keeping him in the garage after a one out lap.
That marks the end of practice sessions for the inaugural Tuscan Grand Prix at Mugello. As we heads for the qualifying, the only question remains is can Bottas convert the form from practice sessions into pole, or will Hamilton find some speed to nail his 95th pole?
Bottas heads FP2 with Mercedes 1-2 as Raikkonen becomes the fastest of the Ferrari-powered cars
Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas leads FP2 with his teammate Lewis Hamilton in second and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in third. Bottas better his time from FP1 as he crossed the line in 1m16.989s becoming the only driver to break the 1m 16second barrier nearly a second faster than his session-leading time from this morning. Hamilton finished +0.207s off Bottas’ pace with Max Verstappen 0.039s further back. Alex Albon finished fourth which was over seven-tenths off Max’s time. Behind the pairs of Mercedes and Red Bull, both Renaults slotted into P5 and with Daniel Ricciardo narrowly ahead of Esteban Ocon which was over a second slower than the lead driver Bottas.
Sergio Perez of Racing Point finished in seventh, ahead of Monza winner Pierre Gasly in eighth for AlphaTauri. Kimi Raikkonen impressed with ninth spot for Alfa Romeo, as he become the best of the Ferrari powered cars. Meanwhile, there was a bizarre incident involving Raikkonen and Perez happened as the two drivers collided at Turn 1 just as Perez was leaving the pit lane, bringing out the red flag for cleaning the debris. The incident was later set to be investigated after the session. Charles Leclerc of Ferrari only could manage tenth place with 1.4 seconds behind the leader. Lance Stroll in second Racing Point finished P11 with the second Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel in P12. Both Ferrari drivers suffered spins at the Correntaio corner during the session with Vettel's power unit cut out at the end of the session, and he had to park his car on the track.
McLaren drivers couldn’t impress as they could only finish P13 and P14 with Carlos Sainz leading Lando Norris. Norris had a hairy moment during mid-session who ran off the track at the exit of Turn 3, only to spin into the wall and crashing the front wing off his MCL35, bringing out the red flags and session stops for 10 minutes. Daniil Kvyat fininsed in 15th in the second AlphaTauri, while George Russell finised 16th for Williams. The second Alfa Romeo of Antonio Giovinazzi slotted into 17th spot as the second Williams of Nicholas Latifi finised in 18th. The two Haas cars of Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean rooted to the last spots as Grosjean missed much of the session with an electrical issue.
Bottas leads FP1 from Verstappen and Leclerc at Mugello
Valtteri Bottas continues his top form in Friday with fifth consecutive top position in FP1 session at Mugello for Mercedes. In the first ever FP1 session at Mugello Red Bull’s Max Verstappen finished second and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in third, as Scuderia Ferrari celebrates their 1000th World Championship race in this weekend's Tuscan Grand Prix. All the top drivers set their fast time on soft tyres and it was Bottas who was the first person to cut the 1m 17m barrier, set his fastest time of 1m17.879s which was just 0.048s quicker than Verstappen’s. Meanwhile retro-liveried Ferrari of Leclerc, managed to lap faster than Lewis Hamilton who finished fourth, managed to take third spot in an encouraging session for the Italian team ahead of their anniversary race. Leclerc finished 0.307s off Bottas’s table-topping time and Hamilton was half a second behind his team mate. Last week’s Italian Grand Prix winner AlphaTauri ‘s Pierre Gasly took fifth who was 0.797s off the top rounded top5 list.
Esteban Ocon for Renault finished sixth with the second AlphaTauri of Daniil Kvyat was Seventh who was the last driver within a second of Bottas. Best of McLaren was Lando Norris, finished Eighth, just under a tenth ahead of Red Bull’s Alex Albon. Daniel Ricciardo rounded out the top 10 in his Renault. Kimi Raikkonen, who is celebrating the 20th anniversary of his maiden F1 test at this very track, finished in 11th who was in third position for a brief moment, fastest of all the Ferrari-powered cars. Romain Grosjean for Haas finished in 12th and Sebastian Vettel of the second Ferrari crossed the line in 13th with more than 1.3s slower than his team mate.
Last week’s podium finisher Carlos Sainz was 15th for McLaren as Sainz’s MCL35 was testing a new design with a new nose in FP1. Williams’ George Russell finished in P16 as he was the only driver to set his fastest lap on medium tyres. Kevin Magnussen in the second Haas , who has a new engine for the weekend crossed the line in P17. The Racing Point pair of Lance Stroll and outgoing Sergio Perez were P18 and P19 respectively, as their fastest laps were set on hard tyres, concentrating on race like simulation in FP1. Williams’ Latifi had a late spin and was the only yellow flag in the session, finished last.
Vettel to join rebranded Aston Martin team in 2021 as Perez announces Racing Point F1 exit
Four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel will remain in Formula 1 and confirmed his switch to Racing Point, rebranded as Aston Martin Racing Formula 1 team for the 2021 season. This move has been suspected for a while, but it’s now been confirmed by Racing Point that Sebastian Vettel will join them for next season.“I am pleased to finally share this exciting news about my future.” said Vettel as he looks to the future with a new team after six years with Ferrari. He’ll team up with Lance Stroll, son of team owner Lawrence Stroll, for the team’s rebrand to Aston Martin after Stroll’s purchase of the British car manufacturer. Meanwhile, the tenure of Vettel’s contract has not yet been revealed.
Earlier on Wednesday evening, Sergio Perez has revealed that he will be moving out of Racing Point, formerly Force India at the end of this season. In the statement he said: "Everything in life always has a beginning and an end, and after seven years together, my time with the team will come to an end after this season. The Mexican driver said the 2020 season would be his last with racing Point team despite the fact that he signed a three-year contract just last year. He also added that he has no "Plan B" in terms of a drive for 2021, and "It hurts a bit as I bet on the team during very rough times; we managed to overcome obstacles and I am very proud of saving the jobs of several of my team mates."
Moreover, Lance Stroll, son of team owner Lawrence, likely to be in the team, it was anyone’s guess that Vettel did join, Perez could be the one who has to make the way. Team Principal Otmar Szafnauer said “Everybody at Silverstone is hugely excited by this news. Sebastian is a proven champion and brings a winning mentality that matches our own ambitions for the future as Aston Martin F1 Team. "On a Saturday or Sunday afternoon, Sebastian is one of the best in the world, and I can’t think of a better driver to help take us into this new era. He will play a significant role in taking this team to the next level.”
But the real question is “has Racing Point/Aston Martin really done the right thing in ditching Perez for 2021, as Vettel continues to struggle in 2020 season?” Vettel is currently 13th in the drivers’ championship, with just 16 points and a best finish of sixth in eight races this year as he has struggled for pace in what has been an uncompetitive Ferrari. Meanwhile Sergio Perez is in eleventh position with more than double the points of Vettel and two races less done. The signing of a four-time world champion is further proof that Racing Point means business. It is a definite fact that Vettel will bring a wealth of experience and financial aids to the new team. But Perez has frequently proven himself to be one of the best in F1 in the front end or in the mid field. He has been an instrumental figure in making Racing Point from the ashes of Force India to what it is today. As such, while Vettel joining what will become Racing Point’s huge leap for a team that was originally established as Jordan in 1991, it is also a chance for Vettel to rebuild his reputation in a new environment.
Italian GP set sparks to revisit reverse grid sprint race plans
AlphaTauri driver Pierre Gasly scored his first F1 victory in the dramatic Italian Grand Prix at Monza on Sunday, readdresses new thoughts for reverse grid sprint race plans instead of Saturday qualifying to make F1 more interesting. Formula One's managing director, Ross Brawn believes reverse grid sprint races will be considered, as it glimpses how fascinating reverse grid qualifying races could be. The idea was proposed as an alternative to qualifying at select races in 2020, but Mercedes knock off the move as it required unanimous approval.
The idea of sprint race like qualifying was to line up the cars in reverse championship order for a short qualifying race on Saturday and use the finishing order of that race to determine the grid for Sunday's full-length grand prix. But there won’t be any points awarded for the qualifying race, but the hope was that it would create unpredictable results, more excitement and a break from the existing race weekend format. The idea needed unanimous support from all 10 teams to be introduced this year, but reigning champions Mercedes made clear it would block the proposal. F1 accepted Mercedes' objections and did not put the idea to a vote, but said it would continue to analyze the idea for future seasons.
Writing in a column on the official F1 website, Brawn said Sunday's Italian Grand Prix, which was stopped midway through and saw Pierre Gasly emerge as an unlikely winner after Lewis Hamilton was hit with a stop-go penalty, is proof that reverse-grid racing could be exciting. He said that Sunday's race(Italian GP) proved the kind of excitement a mixed-up order could offer, and that it was the perfect opportunity to revisit the proposal for the future. "Monza was a candidate for a reverse grid sprint race when we were considering testing the format this year," Brawn said. "Unfortunately, we could not move forward with it, but the concept is still something we and the FIA want to work through in the coming months and discuss with the teams for next year. "We believe that yesterday's race showed the excitement a mixed-up pack can deliver and with next year's cars remaining the same as this year - our fans could be treated to the similar drama we saw this weekend at Monza. "Of course, with a reverse grid sprint race, teams will set their cars up differently. Right now, Mercedes set their cars up to achieve the fastest lap and then to control the race from the front. "If they know they have to overtake, they will have to change that approach. "We will continue to evaluate new formats with the aim of improving the show but always maintaining the DNA of Formula 1." "It was astonishing how such a dominant car struggled in traffic. It's why we believe the new generation of revolutionary cars, set to arrive in Formula One in 2022, will be so much better for close racing."
But Brawn believes that there are still difficulties for some cars to overtake due to multiple factors like engine modes, track behavior, track configuration, etc. which will not be solved until F1's new rules package is introduced in 2022. He also said "What was fascinating was watching how the Mercedes -- with such superior aerodynamics over its rivals -- had such difficulties overtaking," he added. "You could see Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas' performance was compromised by being out of position in the pack. "It was astonishing how such a dominant car struggled in traffic. It's why we believe the new generation of revolutionary cars, set to arrive in Formula One in 2022, will be so much better for close racing."
Pierre Gasly for Alpha Tauri takes his maiden win in “Sprint Race” like Italian GP with Sainz in second and Stroll in third
AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly claim his maiden Formula 1 victory at an eventful 2020 Italian Grand Prix. In one of the most remarkable F1 races ever had, McLaren’s Carlos Sainz finished second, with Racing Point’s Lance Stroll completing the podium. The eventful scenes of Italian Grand Prix started by a Safety Car brought out as Kevin Magnussen retired his car just outside the pit lane. Meanwhile Lewis Hamilton and Antonio Giovinazzi dived into the pit lane when it was closed, whereas rest of the drivers stayed in the race. Later Hamilton and Giovinazzi was handed stop and go penalty. This helped Gasly at the head of the field, as he had pitted just before the Safety Car was brought out. But on Lap 24, Charles Leclerc had a huge crashed at the Parabolica, which brought 25-minute red flag period. Leclerc was able to climb from his car for every one’s relief. But when the race got underway with a second start, the Frenchman hold his place brilliantly to take a sensational maiden win in Formula 1 at AlphaTauri’s home race.
Lando Norris finished a brilliant fourth for McLaren, holding off the leading Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas in P5, The Finn had a poor start that left him sixth at the end of Lap 1. Ricciardo for Renault took sixth ahead of Hamilton, who recovered well from his penalty to take P7 from the last spot. The Second Renault of Esteban Ocon crossed eight,as the second AlphaTauri of Daniil Kvyat in P9 and the Racing Point of Sergio Perez rounding out the top 10. Nicholas Latifi finished just outside the points in P11. There were high emotions in the Williams garage ahead of the Italian Grand Prix, as outgoing Deputy Team Principal Claire Williams, on her family’s final race with their historic team waves out Nicholas Latifi into the pit lane before the race.
Romain Grosjean for Haas finished 12th ahead of Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Räikkönen, who was at P4 during restart after the red flag, while having been P3, Raikkonen fell as far as 13th by the end of the race. George Russell in second Williams finished P14. Alexander Albon was the sole RedBull finisher, only could manage P15 as he was handed a five-second race penalty for squeezing Romain Grosjean’s Haas into Turn 1. The second Alfa Romeo of Antonio Giovinazzi rounded off the finishers list in P16. As both Ferraris had to retire from their home race, RedBull’s Max Verstappen also forced to retire on Lap 31, as the team spotted an issue on the PU. So, the 2020 Italian GP has become the first race in the turbo-hybrid era that a Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari hasn’t finished on the podium.
Mercedes dominates Monza without “Party” modes as Lewis Hamilton’s breaks the lap record for P1 from Bottas and Sainz
Lewis Hamilton grabs pole position with a new track record at Monza in the Italian Grand Prix qualifying ahead of Valtteri Bottas claiming yet another 1-2 for Mercedes. It was a private affair for pole position at Monza between the two Mercedes cars as Lewis Hamilton, leading his team mate Valtteri Bottas only by 0.069s as Ferrari failed to get a car in the top 10 at their home race for the first time in 36 years. Carlos Sainz for McLaren was the best of the rest with an impressive third, which was McLaren’s third of the season, with Sergio Perez in the Racing Point at fourth. It’s also McLaren’s first top-three start at Monza since they locked out the front row in 2012. Perez will start fourth for the eighth time in his F1 career, with Max Verstappen pushed down to fifth. Since the turbo hybrid era began in 2014, this is for the first time Red Bull have failed to start on the front two rows of the grid at Monza.
The second McLaren of Lando Norris crossed the line in sixth with Daniel Ricciardo in seventh. Lance Stroll in the second Racing point finished eighth and Alexander Albon, who had three laps deleted for exceeding track limits finished in ninth. AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly rounded out the top 10 as his teammate Daniil Kvyat finished 11th. Meanwhile, Esteban Ocon had to settle for P12 as he got knocked out despite running behind teammate Ricciardo early in his final Q2 lap to try and take advantage of the tow. But, Ricciardo made a mistake and put his left-side wheels off into the gravel as he was exiting the second chicane and he later slowed and abandoned his lap, with Ocon not improving his final flyer in Q2.
Charles Leclerc of Ferrari ended up in P13, calling his Q2 lap "the best I can do", as Ferrari was again exposed by its straightline speed issues with the SF100. Kimi Raikkonen for Alfa Romeo and Kevin Magnussen for Haas made it through to Q2, but Magnussen ran very wide into the gravel as he flew through the second Lesmo, which ruined his final lap in the middle segment as they finished 14th and 15th respectively. The second Haas of Romain Grosjean ended up in P16, ahead of Vettel, who abandoned his final Q1 run, as there were race-like scenes on the final runs in the opening segment, where backing-up at the Parabolica meant several drivers including Vettel fought for space at the right-hander and down the main straight. Behind Vettel came Antonio Giovinazzi and George Russell, who criticized his Williams team over his radio for getting involved in the chaotic scenes. Meanwhile the second Williams driver Nicholas Latifi, who was also involved, was the only driver to set a personal best, although he still ended up 20th and last.
Mercedes’s Valtteri Bottas top FP3 ahead of the McLarens of Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris, with Daniel Ricciardo’s Renault in fourth
Valtteri Bottas topped the third practice session as McLaren’s Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris finishes in P2 and P3 respectively as Hamilton narrowly avoided a heart stopping accident at speeds approaching 200mph towards the end of session from the slow-moving traffic, which is going to be a big issue during Qualifying. The Mercedes was denied of a clean sweep of 1-2s as the session red flagged intermittently when Ricciardo was forced to pull over at the side of the track with a mechanical issue just after setting the fourth quickest time. The Australian already has taken a new power unit for this weekend; with 10 minutes remaining as he crawled to a halt after the Della Roggia chicane. Lewis Hamilton finished fifth behind Ricciardo after failing to set a time on the first lap on his final run on the soft tyres as the third practice session was full of slipstreaming action.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen managed sixth on medium tyres, as he is the only driver to do so in the session. Alex Albon took sixth on softs behind his Red Bull team mate, with the second Renault of Esteban Ocon crossed the line in seventh. The Racing Points rounded up top 10 with ninth and 10th ahead of last year's Italian GP winner Charles Leclerc in the final seconds of the session. Even though they had impressed on Friday, the AlphaTauris were down in 12th and 13th in FP3, with Pierre Gasly narrowly ahead of Daniil Kvyat. All the top 13 cars were only separated by 0.9s from the leader Bottas, the qualifying will be so close with lots of slipstreaming and tow blagging action reminiscing of last year qualifying.
Romain Grosjean of Haas beat Ferrari's Sebasitan Vettel to 14th. Meanwhile the problems for Sebastian Vettel continues as his pace nowhere near to the top drivers, sparking fears for his participation in Q2 nad Q3 sessions of qualifying. Kevin Magnussen in the second Haas took 16th, just behind Vettel, while Kimi Raikkonen was 17th for Alfa Romeo. The two Williams drivers led by George Russell in 18th, his team mate Nicholas Latifi 19th, spitted the Alfa Romeos, as Antonio Giovinazzi rounded off the standings two seconds off top spot. With the “party” modes now outlawed from this weekend and a heavy Monza traffic as drivers look for a tow, we’re set for a captivating shootout for pole in qualifying. 'It's going to be a nightmare' – Hamilton indicated based on last year’s qualifying session at Monza’s ended in bizarre circumstances as most of the drivers missed the chance of a final run in Q3 as they were caught in traffic for position in a bid to get in line for a tow.
Team-mate battles in 2020 after 6 races!!!
Mercedes - Lewis Hamilton Vs Valtteri Bottas
Qualification
Hamilton(4)Bottas(2)Race
Hamilton(5)Bottas(1)Winner
Lewis Hamilton
Red Bull - Max Verstappen Vs Alex Albon
Qualification
Verstappen(6)Albon(0)Race
Verstappen(5)Albon(0)Winner
Max Verstappen
Racing Point - Lance Stroll Vs Sergio Perez
Qualification
Stroll(2)Perez(2)Race
Stroll(2)Perez(2)Winner
Too close to call
McLaren - Carlos Sainz Vs Lando Norris
Qualification
Sainz(2)Norris(4)Race
Sainz(2)Norris(4)Winner
Lando Norris
Ferrari - Sebastian Vettel Vs Charles Leclerc
Qualification
Vettel(2)Leclerc(4)Race
Vettel(2)Leclerc(3)Winner
Charles Leclerc
Renault - Daniel Ricciardo Vs Esteban Ocon
Qualification
Ricciardo(5)Ocon(1)Race
Ricciardo(3)Ocon(2)Winner
Daniel Ricciardo
AlphaTauri - Pierre Gasly Vs Daniil Kvyat
Qualification
Gasly(6)Kvyat(0)Race
Gasly(2)Kvyat(2)Winner
Pierre Gasly
Alfa Romeo - Kimi Raikkonen Vs Antonio Giovinazzi
Qualification
Raikkonen(2)Giovinazzi(4)Race
Raikkonen(4)Giovinazzi(2)Winner
Antonio Giovinazzi
Haas - Romain Grosjean Vs Kevin Magnussen
Qualification
Grosjean(2)Magnussen(4)Race
Grosjean(2)Magnussen(3)Winner
Kevin Magnussen
Williams - George Russell Vs Nicholas Latifi
Qualification
Russell(6)Latifi(0)Race
Russell(5)Latifi(1)Winner
George Russell
"One-stop races are making F1 boring" - Christian Horner
Red Bull boss Christian Horner has joined Lewis Hamilton in revealing one-stop races could be a reason why Formula 1 is becoming boring. Formula 1 needs to move away from one-stop races if it is to avoid boring spectacles like 2020 Belgian Grand Prix. The early safety car period turned 2020 Belgian GP in to a tyre management phenomenon once drivers were forced to switch to the hard compound. Eventually, the Belgian GP followed the Spanish GP became another dull display dominated by Hamilton, who led from start to finish each time. Race winner Lewis Hamilton and podium finisher Max Verstappen later said that they had a "pretty boring" owing to tyre management for the cockpit, as they had to focus more on keeping their tyres alive rather than real racing.
Horner thinks that races where the one-stop is the fastest strategy inevitably lead to situations where drivers go into tyre conservation mode which is not good for entertainment. Red Bull team principal Horner has also weighed in on the matter after his driver Max Verstappen, who finished third at Spa, described the race as “boring” and “not enjoyable”. "I think one stop races are always boring," said Horner. "I think that you need to have two to three-stop races. I think that mixes the order up, it mixes the strategy up. “I think we’ve always seen that one-stop races, where drivers are driving under the tyre, trying to conserve the tyre, it’s very tough. “I think you need some more variability of strategy in order to create offsets between the cars, and that the most fundamental thing we need to do is to increase the amount of strategies that you can go into a race with. “Pretty much everyone elected to take a one-stop strategy in Belgium and that’s never going to produce an exciting grand prix.” Horner said.
Quoting if the best way to achieve what he wanted was with Pirelli being more aggressive with its tyre compound choices, Horner said: "In an ideal world. I think the most fundamental thing that we need to do is to increase the amount of strategies that you can go into a race with. F1 race director Michael Masi is also not as convinced one-stops are necessarily the cause of the problem though. "I think it's probably a bit harsh connecting one-stop races and boring races, because I think we've seen some exciting one-stop races," he said. "We've also seen some boring two-stop races and some exciting two-stop races. So I think from that perspective, that is not a notion I would support. "But having said that, the FIA together with Pirelli, F1, the teams and obviously the input of the drivers work together to try and fulfil a number of criteria each year, and it's no secret that Pirelli have been working closely with all of those parties.
Hamilton leads the Second Practice session from Bottas and Norris
Lewis Hamilton tops FP2 with Mercedes’ second one-two of the day as Valtteri Bottas crossed the line +0.262s behind Hamilton . Hamilton finished FP2 with a best time of 1m 20.192s which is 0.786s faster than Charles Leclerc’s leading time from the session last year. Lando Norris, of McLaren put himself in an impressive P3 which is nine-tenths in the qualifying like simulations. Earlier, Lando Norris’ session was hampered by a power unit, but a late effort on the soft compound was good enough for P3. AlphaTauri's Pierre Gasly impressed as the best Honda runner, ending up P4 and just over a tenth quicker than Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.
Carlos Sainz finished in sixth in the second McLaren. Daniil Kvyat of AlphaTauri’s crossed the line in seventh, ahead of the Racing Point of Lance Stroll who was in P8. Meanwhile Ferrari had a better afternoon with a top 10 finish as Leclerc took P9 which is 1.311s off Hamilton’s time. Although both drivers struggled with Vettel spinning and Leclerc had a short journey through gravel and described the car as “so hard to drive”. The top 10 was rounded out by Sergio Perez in the second Racing Point. Renault’s Esteban Ocon crossed the line in P11 with the second Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel finished in P12, who had a late spin at the exit of Lesmo 1, seemingly caught out by his SF1000’s low-downforce set-up.
Antonio Giovinazzi was Alfa Romeo’s fastest driver in 13th, as Alex Albon and Daniel Ricciardo ended up in 14th and 15th respectively, only after the best laps deleted for track limit infringements at the Parabolica. The deleted lap times of both drivers was worthy of top 5 finish which looks promising for a better qualifying time on Saturday. Kevin Magnussen took 16th for Haas, ahead of 2018 polesitter Kimi Raikkonen and the second Haas of Romain Grosjean in 18th. Nicholas Latifi finished as the fastest Williams in 19th, while George Russell was 20th on his first session of the weekend as Roy Nissany took his car in FP. But both drivers complained that his car was “feeling horrific” on his high fuel runs raising eye brows of many including the Clare Williams who will have a farewell weekend at Williams team at Monza.
So, with or without party mode, Mercedes still has a significant advantage at the “Temple of Speed”. Even though, Lewis Hamilton fears there will be a repeat of traffic "nightmare" from 2019 in qualifying at Monza tomorrow, hopefully there’ll be no repeats of the tow dramas on Saturday Qualifying this time. Meanwhile, FIA race director Michael Masi issued a warning about drivers running too slowly, and indicated that there would be a minimum out lap time in FP3 and qualifying.
Bottas tops the First Practice session of 2020 Italian GP from Hamilton and Albon
Valtteri Bottas leads the first practice session at Monza with a Mercedes’ one-two. Lewis Hamilton crosses the line in P2 which was 0.245s slower than the lead driver. Red Bull’s Alex Albon finished third while his team mate Max Verstappen crashed and lost his front wing at the Ascari Chicane. Max spun while approaching into the exit of the chicane, careered over the kerbs, through the gravel and hit the barriers nose-first, causing a brief red flag. After swift repairs to his Red Bull, the Dutchman finished fifth on softs. Daniil Kvyat for AlphaTauri impressed with Fourth on medium tyres, which was 0.8s off the top and ahead of Verstappen by a tenth.
AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly finished six for, as he was the last driver within a second of Bottas, also was on medium tyres. Later the Frenchman spun at the Turn 4 chicane at the end of the session, rolling backwards into the gravel as the chequered flag was waving. Racing Points disappoints again as in Belgium. Sergio Perez only could manage a P7, which was exactly the same time as McLaren’s Lando Norris in P8 both on soft tyres. Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo was behind them in P9 and the second McLaren of Carlos Sainz rounded out the top 10, with under a tenth of a second covering Sainz to Perez. Last year’s winner Charles Leclerc was eleventh with mediums for his fastest lap to go ahead of Renault’s Esteban Ocon who was in 12th. Lance Stroll settled for 13th as he couldn’t get a clean run on soft tyres. Stroll did his fastest lap on hards which was 1.428s slower than the leader.
Both Haas drivers, Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen managed to get soft-tyre flying runs in for P14 and P15. But Magnussen has to end his session early as Haas investigated a cooling issue on his car. Meanwhile the famous traffic at Monza hampered a number of drivers’ laps with the drivers constantly complaining about “blind” drivers in the front. Both Alfa Romeo has a clean run with Italian Antonio Giovinazzi finishing ahead of his team mate Kimi Räikkönen in P16 and P17 respectively. It was yet another punishing session for Sebastian Vettel in Ferrari's home race. The three-time Italian Grand Prix winner could only split the Williams in P19, losing his control at Turn 6, showing just how much the four-time champion is struggling. Roy Nissany, Williams' FP1 stand-in was the lead driver for the team as he finished P18 with Nicholas Latifi in the second Williams was last in the standings. George Russell will return back in place of Nissany for FP2, later for the evening.
Hamilton dominates and wins his fourth win at Spa with Mercedes 1-2 finish as Verstappen finished in third
Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton from the pole. leading every lap, took fifth victory of the season at the Belgian Grand Prix. Meanwhile his team mate Valtteri Bottas couldn’t overcome the first lap slipstreaming contest down to Les Combes, only to cross the line in second as Red Bull’s Max Verstappen took third to maintain his record of finishing on the podium in each race of 2020 season. Bottas finished eight seconds behind his team mate, with Verstappen a further seven seconds in P3.
Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo finished fourth which was the team’s best of the year, crossed the line under four seconds behind Verstappen with the last lap fastest lap point. His team mate Esteban Ocon also impressed by overtaking the struggling Red Bull of Alex Albon on the final lap to take fifth. Albon could hold onto sixth from the McLaren of Lando Norris who finished under 1 second from the Red Bull car. An impressive drive aided with a good strategy helped Pierre Gasly to take eighth for AlphaTauri. Meanwhile the Spa specialists Racing Points, could only manage P9 and P10 with Lance Stroll leading Sergio Perez rounded top 10.
The second Alpha Tauri of Daniil Kvyat finished eleventh with Kimi Räikkönen of Alfa Romeo in twelfth. Notably Kimi finished ahead of both the Ferrari drivers Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc who finished out of the points in P13 and P14 respectively. It was a extremely frustrating Spa weekend for ferrari with tough qualifying followed up by an equally burdensome race, with the team’s cars coming home in the positions they’d started in, but Sebastian Vettel having moved ahead of Charles Leclerc. Both Haas drivers crossed the line in 15th and 17th with Romain Grosjean leading his team mate Kevin Magnussen. Nicholas Latifi of Williams spitted the Haas drivers and finished 16th. McLaren’s Carlos Sainz was unable to take the race start after a power unit issue, Meanwhile a big crash for Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi ended his race in lap 11, with Williams’ George Russell arriving on the scene and hitting Giovinazzi’s wheel, which forced his own retirement. Luckily both drivers emerged unhurt.
Check out the positions of Top-5 drivers at the time Hamilton crossing the finish line.
Hamilton set the lap record in Qualifying leads Bottas and Verstappen
Lewis Hamilton continued his form set the fastest time in Qualifying of the Belgian Grand Prix with his Mercedes team mate Bottas in P3 and RedBull’s Max Verstappen in P3. All the drivers set their fastest laps in soft compound. Hamilton ended up 0.5s clear of team mate Valtteri Bottas, to secure his sixth pole at Spa and fifth of the season. Bottas only managed second to give Mercedes their first front row lock out in Belgium since 2015, finishing just 0.015s adrift in third. Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo carried his impressive Friday pace through to qualifying as he ended up a brilliant fourth fastest, his best-ever qualifying at Spa ahead of Red Bull’s Alex Albon who continued his improved form with his most accomplished qualifying performance of the year.
Esteban Ocon finished in six for the first time since Monza last year, while Carlos Sainz starts seventh, his best Spa qualifying, beating the two Racing Points. Sergio Perez and Lance Stroll finised in eighth and ninth respectively. McLaren’s Lando Norris completed the top 10. Alphatauri’s Daniil Kvyat and Pierre Gasly slotted in 11th and 12 respectively with Kvyat out performing Gasly for the first time in 2020.
Ferrari disappoints in qualifying, lacking their pace in all three sectors couldn’t manage to slot into Q3. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel finished in 13th and 14th respectively with the red cars 1.048s slower than the dominant pace at Spa last year. This was the first time since Silverstone 2014 that a red car took no part in Q3. George Russell of Williams could manage Q2 but only managed 15th place in the end. Alfa Romeo’s Kimi and Giovinazzi in finished in 16th and 18th with Grosjean of Haas splitting the two Alfa Romeos. The second Williams of Latifi managed 19th with the second Haas of Kevin Magnussen finished in the last spot.
Hamilton leads final practice from Ocon and Norris as Ferrari's Vettel deep-rooted at last spot
Lewis Hamilton set the fastest time in the final practice session of the Belgian Grand Prix with Renault’s Esteban Ocon P2 and McLaren’s Lando Norris in P3. Meanwhile at the rear end Ferrari’s struggles continued at Spa with Sebastian Vettel posted the slowest time and Charles Leclerc managed 17th. Hamilton set his fastest time of 1m43.255s, but his team mate Valtteri Bottas sliding at La Source on his way only managed P5, 0.558s off the pace. Notably, Bottas had set the pace on medium tyres with a fastest time of 1m43.813s on medium tyres.
Second-place Renault driver Esteban Ocon ed 0.230s off Hamilton with a fast first sector to and ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris, with Redbull’s Alex Albon in fourth. His teammate, Max Verstappen was second-fastest on medium tyres but when he switched to softs, he could only manage sixth, 0.641s off the pace. The second Renault of Daniel Ricciardo only could manage P7 under a tenth slower to finish P7. Lance Stroll, eighth, with 0.733s off the pace and 0.02s faster than McLaren’s Carlos Sainz, who split the Racing Points in ninth. Sergio Perez was 10th on softs having made a mistake on his final flying effort. Later Perez was summoned to the stewards and given a warning for impeding Romain Grosjean.
The AlphaTauris were competitive on mediums with Pierre Gasly and Daniil Kvyat lining up 11th and 12th, respectively, ahead of Williams’ Nicholas Latifi in P13. Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean finished 14th and 15th, Magnussen 0.003s faster than Grosjean. Ex-Belgian Grand Prix winner Kimi Raikkonen finished 16th for Alfa Romeo.The Ferrari of Charles Leclerc, the winnner the 2019 Belgian Grand Prix only could manage 17th. The last year champions' tumble is desolate. Williams’ George Russell and Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi both finished ahead of Vettel in 18th and 19th.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen tops in Free Practice 2 with Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo taking a surprising P2, just ahead of the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton
Verstappen become P1 inn FP2 with a time of 1m 43.744s around the 7.004km Spa-Francorchamps track. Surprisingly the Renault of Ricciardo crossed the line in second place, while Hamilton took third, just 0.096s behind Verstappen, due to a slight error at the final chicane on his fastest push lap. However, Ricciardo joy was short lived as an issue which forced him to park up his R.S.20 on the Kemmel Straight with 20 minutes of the session left to run, his Renault suffering a loss of hydraulic pressure
Once again, the second Red Bull of Alex Albon wasn’t quite able to match the one-lap pace of his team matebut put in a decent effort to go fourth, 0.390s off Verstappen, and just 0.003s up on the Racing Point of Sergio Perez in fifth. Birth day boy Valtteri Bottas was sixth for Mercedes, while Lando Norris overcame an early power unit worry to take seventh for McLaren. The second Renault of Esteban Ocon finished eighth with Carlos Sainz of McLaren finished ninth while AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly completes the top 10 list.
The second Racing Point of Lance Stroll was 11th on mediums, having failed to improve on his time on his soft tyre run, while the second AlphaTauri of Daniil Kvyat was 12th. Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi and Kimi Räikkönen finishes 13th and 14th respectively ahead of the best Ferrari of Charles Leclerc. George Russell of Williams finishes ahead of second Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel at 16th with Vettel in 17th. Nicholas Latifi in second Williams finishes ahead of two Haas cars. Following their failure to set a lap this morning in FP1 after unrelated power unit issues struck both cars, Haas’ Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen could join the Belgian GP weekend after 55 minutes into the session, having both had engine changes, ended up P19 and P20.
Bottas celebrates his birthday by leading the first practice session from Hamilton and Verstappen
Bottas managed the top spot in the tight battle from his Mercedes team mate Lewis Hamilton by just 0.069s with Red Bulls’s Max Verstappen finished third, just 0.012s behind Hamilton. The Finn who turned 31 today set the fastest lap of 1m 44.493 on soft tyres. The same compound was used by every driver in the top-10 to set their respective flying laps. Meanwhile Hamilton couldn’t match Bottas’s time due to a mistake in sector three. Verstappen had a very impressive run with just 0.012s behind the second Mercedes of Hamilton.
Sergio Perez was the faster Racing Point driver, with 0.136s off Bottas and finished fourth. Team mate Lance Stroll was another two-tenths off Perez, rounding out the top five. Alex Albon, who made his debut for Red Bull at this track finished P6 with just over half a second off his team. Renault and McLaren rounded the top 10 list with Esteban Ocon in P7, six tenths off top spot. Behind him was McLaren’s Carlos Sainz, who shrugged off a brief DRS issue finished P8. Daniel Ricciardo finishes in P9 and Lando Norris in P10.
AlphaTauri duo Daniil Kvyat and Pierre Gasly were 11th and 12th, respectively, with Alfa Romeo's Kimi Raikkonen an impressive 13th. Ferrari had a worrying session only managed 14th and 15th. Charles Leclerc won this race for the Scuderia last year, but today he could only manage 1.266s off P1. His team mate Sebastian Vettel was 1.686s off top spot , ahead only of the two Williams who set a representative lap time in the session. Williams’ Nicholas Latifi finished 16th, his team mate George Russell just behind in 17th and over two-seconds off P1. Neither Haas drivers could set a time after Romain Grosjean encountered power issues on his early out lap. Both he and Kevin Magnussen were kept in the garage without setting a time in FP1 as Haas examined their Ferrari power units. Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi also didn’t set a time either, with unexplained issues, as dark clouds loomed over Spa-Francorchamps on Friday.
Concorde Agreement signed; All teams commit to F1 until 2025
After months and months of deliberations and discussions, all 10 Formula 1 teams have signed up to the new Concorde Agreement that will cover 2021-2025. The Concorde Agreement binds the teams, commercial rights holder Liberty Media and the FIA together and formalises the governance of Formula 1, also effectively committing the teams to continuing in the world championship for another five years.
A statement from Formula 1 remarks: "The agreement will secure the long-term sustainable future for Formula 1 and combined with the new regulations, announced in October 2019 that come into force in 2022, will reduce the financial and on track disparities between the teams, helping to level the playing field, creating closer racing on the track that our fans want to see more of. "With closer racing we will attract more fans to our sport, benefitting every team, and continue to increase the global growth of Formula 1." Chase Carey, F1's Chairman and CEO, said: “This year has been unprecedented for the world and we are proud that Formula 1 has come together in recent months to return to racing in a safe way.
Despite some concerns by Mercedes in recent weeks over where negotiations stood, most teams confirmed during the Spanish Grand Prix weekend they were close to being in a position to sign the new agreement. Later Ferrari, McLaren and Williams on Tuesday they had signed up to the new Concorde Agreement, confirming their places on the grid for next year. The FIA and F1 announced on Wednesday morning that all 10 teams have met the early-sign deadline, completing the Concorde Agreement arrangements for the 2021-25 period. With the 10 teams signed up for the next five years, and the regulations and cost cap defined, Formula 1 can finally embark on a new era.
Williams announces the sale of F1 team to US investment company;
US based private investment firm Dorilton Capital has acquired Williams Racing, the former formula 1 champions, marking the end of an era for the family-owned team. It will continue to race and compete under the Williams brand and with an unchanged chassis name, and the team says there are no plans to relocate from its headquarters from deep-rooted Grove base.
The iconic British constructor Sir Frank Williams, who has remained team principal, and Sir Patrick Head, Founded Williams Racing in 1977. Williams have won nine constructors' titles and seven drivers' championships, the most recent coming through Canadian Jacques Villeneuve in 1997.
In May, Williams began a formal sale process as part of a new company strategic review and immediately entered preliminary discussions regarding potential investment. On Friday, just after signing the new Concorde Agreement” for 2021 the team said Dorilton Capital would be their new owners, stated "This marks the beginning of an exciting new era in the history of Williams, which with its new owner is well positioned to capitalise upon the sweeping rule changes coming into Formula 1 with the new Concorde Agreement." It said the decision for the acquisition of Williams Racing was supported unanimously by the board, including 78-year-old founder Frank Williams. "This is the end of an era for Williams as a family-owned team, but we know it is in good hands," deputy team principal Claire Williams said. "It ensures the team's survival but importantly provides a path to success." Importantly, the team said the private investment firm “recognises and appreciates the importance of respecting and retaining Williams’ heritage and culture and is committed to maintaining its identity”.
Will the ban of "party mode" really slow down Mercedes and end the F1 Monotony?
What are Qualifying engine modes or "Party Modes" ? Qualifying modes or the “part modes” is essentially tuning up of engine with extra engine revs and using the hybrid system differently so as to improve the ability to run without harvesting power and diverting it to the battery, thereby allowing maximum deployment of energy recovered via the two energy recovery systems. Sometimes the party modes use aggressive ignition timing and fuel mixture, there by pushing the power unit to its absolute best yield. A homogeneous system is also used for overtaking during the racing. Previously the qualifying and overtake modes would have a time limit per event imposed upon them by the engine manufacturer, so as to keep the power unit within its usage limit.
What are the proposed Qualifying engine modes changes? A letter sent to the teams at Barcelona and were informed that Technical Directive wants to have only one mode in use for both qualifying and the race with the details to be confirmed by a technical directive that will be issued before the Belgian GP at the end of August. To assist policing, the FIA has to regulate a number of power unit parameters through very detailed data analysis which will help officials monitor what teams are doing with their power units. Noting the “multitude and complexity of modes being used, it is extremely difficult for the FIA to monitor compliance with all the PU-related regulations and provisions in selected critical moments of the event.” The letter also cited Article 27.1 of the sporting regulations, which references drivers being required to drive the car alone and unaided, and specified that “the changes to ICE modes that are currently in force could potentially mean that the driver does not drive the car alone and unaided.”
What are the expected outcomes? The clampdown, which is set to be formalized as a technical directive, will blunt the dominant Mercedes’ edge in qualifying there by levelling the Formula 1 field by ceasing the huge advantage enjoyed during on Saturday afternoon qualifying sessions. This will also regulate the teams using the “overtake modes” used during racing for easy and seamless overtaking. The same is used by Lando Norris during Austrian GP, towards the end of the race for overtaking and accomplish the fastest lap. The new regulations, however is set to stop all these scenarios.
Will it benefit any teams? Yes. The new regulation would save expensive development programs for Honda, Renault and Ferrari at a time when the FIA is very actively trying to close down cost drivers. The party mode ban is supposed to shrinks that gap of Mercedes with other teams during the qualification and there by balancing the rest of the grid, which will diminish any chances supremacy. Moreover, the new regulation will improve the engine lifespan and reliability of the power unit, which will inherit extra cost benefits.
Will it really benefit the F1 and fans? No. The ban of qualifying mode is primarily focused to tame Mercedes’ massive advantage during the qualifying, but this will ultimately work in favor of Mercedes’ advantage in the race, as the other teams will not have the special modes during racing . On the contrary, the banning of the special modes means, other teams will not have any access to the “overtake modes” used during the race for easy overtakes and the strategy calls for under cuts and over cuts. This will result in more boring races with car trains all over the race tracks and the driver in back needs to rely only on the mistakes by the driver in front for overtakes. Even though the intention of ban is to level up the race field, but this will neutralize the race and the race will be predicable based on the qualification or start grid.
What do the drivers and teams think of this new regulations? Lewis Hamilton commented that it’s “not a surprise” that an advantage Mercedes and their customer teams have could potentially be quashed. “It’s not a surprise, they’re always trying to slow us down,” Hamilton added: “ Just going back to the fact, at the end of the day, the guys at our team have done such a great job with the engine. “As I told you, it’s obviously to slow us down, but I don’t think it’s going to get the result that they want. So, it’s totally fine if they do it,” he said. Team mate Valtteri Bottas added, “If that’s the regulation that comes it’s the same for everyone. It’s not up to us but we’ll take it if it comes.”
Max Verstappen commented “Maybe it’s good because we are not really allowed to touch the car after qualifying except… engine modes, so probably if you want to go down that route then I think it’s good that you maybe get rid of as well,”
“For us we don’t have anything different from quali to the race, so for us it won’t change anything,” said Charles Leclerc. Vettel added, “As Charles said, it doesn’t affect us this season so let’s wait and see. It always depends what you are able to pull off, I guess. If you have something developed or on your engine that you can probably run a certain amount of mileage with more power or more stress on the engine then it’s probably not the best news.
George Russell said “Yeah, I’d be disappointed to see it lost,” he said. “I think for every engine manufacturer you’ve got a boost for qualifying when you’re within the car, you’ve got the lowest amount of fuel you have for the whole weekend, you’ve got the fastest engine mode, you’re the most pumped up and ready you are for that lap you’re about to approach. “Everything feels like that little bit extra that allows you to extract that little bit more from the car and it’s such an exciting part of the weekend.”
Mercedes Formula 1 boss Toto Wolff believes the upcoming ban on engine modes in qualifying will potentially give the team more performance in races. “I think we don’t lack performance on Saturdays. We had until now quite a margin. We struggled in some of the races where we were quite limited in powerful engine modes, and if F1 were to ban in-season certain power unit modes, then I think it will actually help us in the race.
Red Bull's Christian Horner suggests all teams will be affected by the engine mode ban, but believes the FIA's initiative is "a healthy thing" for the manufacturers."It will affect all teams, the question is how much," Horner said on Friday. "I think that these qualifying modes have been pushed and developed over the years.
Ferrari Team boss Mattia Binotto says that, “It’s not the last Directive, certainly, it’s even not the first technical directive on power units, showing how complex and difficult is that set of regulations.”.
Hamilton dominates and wins his fifth Spanish GP win with Verstappen in P2 splitting Mercedes
Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, after leading every lap from pole to finish completed his fifth Spanish Grand Prix win, and his fourth victory of the 2020 season with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen coming home ahead of the sister Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas. After having a good start, Hamilton stormed in to first turn and never looked back executed a near perfect race even calling the (best) strategy to put mediums while his engineers opted for red softs. Verstappen also had a great start, jumped to second at the getaway, but could not challenge Hamilton as he finished 24s adrift. But Bottas had a poor start dropping him from P2 to P4 off the line, before eventually recovering to third in the beginning of the race without causing any issues. But a wrong strategy of using a set of used softs couldn’t help him catch Verstappen as he was pushed into traffic after the first pit stop. Eventually Bottas finished +44.752s behind his teammate.
Racing Point’s Sergio Perez crossed the line in fourth but forced to as a five-second penalty for ignoring blue flags, promoting Lance Stroll P4. Perez eventually slotted into fifth, ahead of the McLaren of Carlos Sainz who maintained his 100% record of finishing in the points at his home race. This time Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel was in the points, as his late call on the one-stop strategy helped him to cross the line in seventh. The second Red Bull of Alexander Albon only managed eight as his strategy of pitting early for hards never paid off and more over spoiled his chances as he was pushed into the traffic after the first pitstop, raising eye brows again for a bad strategy call. Pierre Gasly of AlphaTauri had a good race with some impressive moves in the mid field finished in ninth spot ahead of second McLaren of Lando Norris, this time no last lap magic rounded top 10 list.
Unfortunately, the two Renault drivers disappoints as they failed to materialize the expected strong race pace on race day as Daniel Ricciardo finished 11th with Esteban Ocon 13th. The alternate strategy of one pit stop also not helped the yellow and black cars as the both cars couldn’t finish in points. The second AlphaTauri of Daniil Kvyat, after a five-second penalty for ignoring blue flags, as like Sergio, splits the two Renaults and finished 12th outside the points. Kimi Räikkönen finished in 14th the same spot he started the race from. In between Kimi Raikkonen breaks record for most miles driven in sport’s history after completing lap 37 of the Spanish Grand Prix on Sunday. The Finn has raced over 50,000 miles – more than twice the circumference of the Earth.
Kevin Magnussen of Haas finished fifteenth ahead of the second Alfa Romeo of Giovinazzi who finished in 16th. The two Williams of George Russell and Nicholas Latifi finished P17 and P18. The second Haas of Grosjean Romain Grosjean was classified 19th and last after a half-spin at Turn 8 on the penultimate lap. Also, he might have some explaining to do in the next Grand Prix Drivers’ Association meeting, after he once again executed a late defensive move on Raikkonen. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, the only driver to retire from the race, after suffering an electrical issue at the halfway point that pitched him into a spin at Turn 15, before eventually retiring his SF1000.
Hamilton with his 92nd pole tops the qualifying with Bottas in P2 and Verstappen in P3
Mercedes’ domination in the practice sessions reflects in qualifying with Lewis Hamilton heading his team mate Valtteri Bottas by just +0.059s. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen qualified third by 0.708s down on leader, ahead of the Racing Point's of Sergio Perez and Lance Stroll. Verstappen just crossed ahead of Perez for third, as he failed to improve on his final run, with Perez setting a personal best but still being unable to get ahead of the Red Bull. Lance Stroll was sixth ahead of Alex Albon in the other Red Bull in sixth, with Carlos Sainz leading his team mate Lando Norris who only made into Q3 by 0.002s, in seventh and eighth for McLaren. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri) rounded out the top 10.
Gasly's late improvement towards the end of Q2 knocked out Sebastian Vettel, and the second Ferrari will start 11th for the second race in a row. To make things worse It is for the third time this season he has not made it into the Q3 in qualifying. Daniil Kvyat, finishes 12th 12th ahead of Daniel Ricciardo who will face a post-qualifying investigation for an incident with Kevin Magnussen at the second corner in Q1. Kimi Raikkonen scored his best qualifying result so far in 2020 with 14th, as Esteban Ocon finished as the slowest driver in Q2.
Kevin Magnussen managed to outqualify Romain Grosjean despite being behind in all three practice. George Russell did not make it into Q2 for the first time since the season opener, but he maintained his 100% qualifying record over Nicholas Latifi and Williams. Antonio Giovinazzi finished last in Q1, almost a second slower than his teammate with his best time, after earlier running heavily over the kerb at the exit of the final corner on his penultimate flying effort.
Mercedes completes a clean sweep in practice sessions with Hamilton leads from Bottas and Verstappen in FP3
Mercedes domination fulfilled in the free practice sessions as they registered their “Hat Trick” one-two finish at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, with Lewis Hamilton heading team mate Valtteri Bottas by +0.151s in Free Practice 3, and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen third. Verstappen improved his performance with jut +0.515s adrift of Hamilton for Red Bull. McLaren’s Carlos Sainz could gather back his rhythm as he finished P4 with Sergio Perez of Racing point in an impressive P5 on his comeback after the Covid 19 recovery.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc who was a tenth slower than Racing Point finised P6 with his Team mate Sebastian Vettel , running a new chassis this weekend could not improve his form, but finished P12 which was half a second off Leclerc, having expressed some optimism after a solid Friday. AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly was the final driver who was under a second away from Hamilton’s time finishes in P7, with the second Racing Point of Lance Stroll narrowly behind for P8. Alexander Albon in the second Red Bull only managed P9 with 0.634s slower than his team mate Max. Daniel Ricciardo of Renault couldn’t keep up his performance of FP2 rounds the top 10 list.
Ocon ended up 11th quickest before his crash, over 0.2s behind team mate Daniel Ricciardo. Ocon found himself darted into a slow-moving Kevin Magnussen on the run-up to Turn 4.Romain Grosjean took a new engine after a failure at the end of FP2 but couldn’t replicate his impressive form and ended up 13th, just ahead of Kimi Raikkonen who improved very late in the session for P14 in his Alfa Romeo. Lando Norris could only manage 15th, ahead of AlphaTauri's Daniil Kvyat and Kevin of Haas.
Some interesting thoughts on Racing Point Verdict by FIA
On Friday morning, just before 70th anniversary GP weekend, the FIA stewards issued their verdict on the Racing Point case, which was based on the protests lodged by Renault at the Styrian, Hungarian and British GPs regarding the legality of Racing Point’s brake ducts. Renault believes that the front and rear brake ducts of the RP20 has been “copied” from the championship winning Mercedes design, which would not be allowed as per the rules governing listed parts. After upholding Renault's protest over its controversial car FIA fined Racing Point €400,000 and deducted 7.5 world championship points per car, but is allowed to keep using the same duct design for the rest of the season.
In its statement, the FIA concluded that Racing Point's s brake duct design was in breach of F1's design rules although the team had taken delivery of a complete set of Mercedes 2019 brake ducts on 6 January. FIA accept Racing Point's argument of front brake duct design, which had been an evolution of what the team used last year. Whereas the stewards rejected that notion regarding the rear brake ducts which was conceived using CAD drawings of the brake ducts on Mercedes’ W10 car stating "Since the RP20 RBDs [rear brake ducts] were not run on the RP19 in 2019 and since the Stewards believe that the design effort expended by Racing Point in adapting the RBDs originally designed by Mercedes for the W10 pales in comparison to the significance of the original Mercedes work, the Stewards conclude that the principal designer of the RP20 RBDs was Mercedes, not Racing Point."
Since the verdict finds Racing Point guilty at the same time allows the team to continue use those parts, the rival teams are obviously not happy and plans to lodge protest against the judgement. Half the grid has already said they intend to appeal against the decision to punish Racing Point for illegally copying Mercedes parts. Meanwhile it was confirmed that Racing Point had signaled their intent to appeal the verdict; which means the six of the ten teams will be protesting the judgement and the final verdict/resolution awaits as the season progresses.
But looking in broad sense, “is copying the championship car” such a big crime? Considering the fact that Racing Point Formula 1 team posted a loss of £116m in its first year of operation, which was closer to £25m while taking over the Force India team from bankruptcy, this looks not a big crime. The budget and the earnings of the primary 5 teams Mercedes, Ferrari, Red Bull, Renault and McLaren accommodate around 75% of the entire F1 consortium, small teams like Racing Point with small budget and low infrastructure can’t expect to be in top 3 during races. So probably the only option for smaller teams to be in racing contention with other top teams is being getting inspired or so-called “tracing”. Take the case of Ferrari, one of the top team in F1, with all budget and infrastructure the team is struggling only for the CEO himself came to say that it will take another 2 years for them to be in title contention or for winning races on regular basis. So how could we expect a team of Racing Point’s caliber to be in the racing contention if a huge team like Ferrari can’t do it in a smaller time phase.
It is not a secret that F1 is the considered to be a competition of exploring the loop holes of the rules and regulations. In the past many teams have succeeded doing so, the current Formula One managing director, motor sports and technical director, Ross Brawn being the classical example with Brawn GP. So, if the rules and regulations are not well written nor the administration allows the discovery of ambiguities no one can be made accountable for such issues nor claims. More over F1 is a sporting completion where teams should have similar grounds or have a platform to become competitive, or else people will lose interest in such events. Just check the 2020 season, we have only a single race winning team and the rest are struggling to get somewhere near to the team. So, it not a big deal to predict the certain winner of the race. Probably 2020 season will be on only season in last decade to have a championship winner even before the season opening, which is a disaster.
It is undeniable that F1 is/will be boring and losing the fans or spectators if the event is not competitive. Either the rules and regulations needed to be transparent or the teams should be given similar grounds to become aggressive so as to have a better, dynamic and un-predictable races.
Hamilton leads from Bottas and Verstappen with Ricciardo and Grosjean in P4 and P5
Mercedes dominated the Friday practice as they registered their second one-two finish at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, with Lewis Hamilton heading team mate Valtteri Bottas by 0.287s in Free Practice 2, and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen third. Verstappen was the best non-Mercedes runner, 0.821s adrift of Hamilton for Red Bull. Daniel Ricciardo reconfirming Renault’s strong one-lap pace recently by going fourth fastest, 0.164s off Verstappen and Romain Grosjean’s Haas went one better in FP2, ending up fifth position.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc finished P6 as his team mate Sebastian Vettel struggled more in FP2, ending up in P12. to Leclerc’s P6, although the pair were only separated by 0.257s in FP1. Carlos Sainz was P7 for McLaren in his new MCL35 chassis while Sergio Perez was P8 on his first day back at the wheel of his Racing Point RP20 after testing negative for Covid-19. The second Renault of Esteban Ocon, who complained about a lack of rear stability on his R.S.20 before finishing ninth, while Pierre Gasly for AlphaTauri, finished P11 rounding out the top 10.
The second Racing Point of Lance Stroll crossed the line in P11 whereas Alex Albon in P13 after having made a mistake out of Turn 5 on his fastest lap. Behind Vettel and Albon, Lando Norris finished 14th for McLaren, ahead of the second AlphaTauri of Daniil Kvyat and the second Haas of Kevin Magnussen. Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi had a better performance from the last race with P17 and P18 finishes, while Nicholas Latifi was the leading Williams driver as George ended up 2.508s off the ultimate pace in P20 as he felt his car was“driving on ice”.
Bottas leads from Hamilton and Verstappen in Spanish GP first practice session at Barcelona
A familiar grid for first practice at the Spanish Grand Prix as Mercedes dominated with a 1-2 as Valtteri Bottas crossed the line fastest in the first practice session with Lewis Hamilton finished second with just 0.039s behind and Max Verstappen in third with 0.9s after the leader. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc finished fourth with 1.185s off Bottas and just 0.011s faster than team mate Sebastian Vettel, who received a new chassis for this weekend after discovering a “small fault” on his chassis and he looked to be more comfortable with the new chassis as he was able to finish closer to his team mate than he managed at the last race weekend. Romain Grosjean was a surprise sixth for Haas, 1.506s off the pace.
Racing Point’s Sergio Perez, who returns after missing the two races in Britain following a positive Covid-19 test, on mediums finished seventh, and he was 0.180s off Haas’s Grosjean. Alex Albon finished eighth for Red Bull with the other Haas of Kevin Magnussen just a hundredth off him in P9 and the second Racing Point of Lance Stroll rounding out the top 10 list.
Carlos Sainz of McLaren with a new chassis for this weekend finished P11 in FP1, while team mate Lando Norris finished 13th quickest. Renault’s Esteban Ocon finished 12th. The AlphaTauri drivers finished 14th and 17th with Pierre Gasly faster than his team mate Daniil Kvyat. Alfa Romeo drivers Antonio Giovinazzi and Kimi Raikkonen, finished P15 and P16 respectively with Daniel Ricciardo in the second Renault finished18th in this session, 2.445s off the leader. Nicholas Latifi was 19th and Williams junior Roy Nissany finished last in his first-ever F1 FP1 session.
Max Verstappen defeats Mercedes at Silverstone and wins Formula 1's 70th Anniversary Grand Prix.
Max Verstappen has become the first non-Mercedes driver to win a race in 2020 F1 season aided with incredible driving and a brilliant strategy by the team. The interesting choice of tyres made by the F1 for the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix produced an action-packed racing throughout the grid, encouraging teams to try out wide variety of strategies. Verstappen being the only driver in the top 10 to begin the race on the hard tyres. quickly passed the Racing Point of Nico Hulkenberg in P3 and he managed his pace brilliantly throughout the race, pressuring the Mercedes and forcing them to take alternative strategies secures his first victory since Brazil last year and Red Bull’s first win at Silverstone since 2012.
Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes accomplished a late-race surge on his team mate Valtteri Bottas with two laps to go into Brooklands to claim second place there by equaling the number of podiums finishes by Michael Schumacher. Meanwhile Bottas, probably the biggest looser of race, second time in three years that has failed to convert a Silverstone pole into a win, as he has to settle with third only after a questionable strategy performed by Mercedes team backing Hamilton to perform better in the last stint of the race.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc with a one-stop work to claimed P4, while his team mate Sebastian Vettel could only manage P12, due to an early spin at the first corner of the race. Alex Albon took an impressive fifth in the second Red Bull, passing the Racing Point of Lance Stroll with a lap to go. Both Racing point drivers could not keep up the qualifying performances in the race as Stroll finished P6 ahead of stand-in team mate Nico Hulkenberg, who stopped very late on for soft tyres, later clarified that the Nico has reported a significant vibration towards the end of the race. Renault’s Esteban Ocon finished P8, ahead of the McLaren of Lando Norris in P9 and the AlphaTauri of Daniil Kvyat in P10, despite of his lower starting position, finished ahead of his team mate Pierre Gasly.
The second Mclaren driver Carlos Sainz finished 13th and the Renault of Daniel Ricciardo who had spun battling Sainz in the middle phase of the race could only manage a disappointing P14, who started 5th. Kimi Räikkönen of Alfa Romeo finished P15 from the last place of the start grid as his team mate Antonio Giovinazzi finished 17 just behind the Hass of Romain Grosjean who finished 16th. Both Williams drivers disappoints as they got rooted in the back of the grid with George Russell in 18th and Nicholas Latifi in 19th. Kevin Magnussen, the only non-finisher had to retire the car towards the end of the race.
Bottas beats Hamilton to 70th Anniversary GP pole as Hulkenberg finished stunning third!!!
Valtteri Bottas celebrated his extension of contact at Mercedes with top position in qualifying and thereby beating Mercedes team mate Lewis Hamilton who finished just 0.063s behind. The super sub Nico Hulkenberg took a astounding third for the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix at Silverstone. It should be noted that both Mercedes drivers crossed the line in medium while Nico did his fastest lap on soft. The German was one tenth of a second clear of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen. Meanwhile Daniel Riccardo on mediums finished an impressive fifth, equaling Renault’s best performance in the season completes top 5.
The second Racing point of Stroll finished P6 with Pierre Gasly continuing his brilliant start to the 2020 campaign with a stunning P7 for AlphaTauri. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc only managed P8, which is Ferrari’s worst performance at Silverstone since 2014, with team mate Sebastian Vettel failing to qualify Q2, who eventually finished at a disappointing 12th. Red Bull’s Alexander Albon could make through Q3 comfortable, this time and ended up half a second behind team mate Verstappen. McLaren’s Lando Norris rounded out the top 10 list.
Esteban Ocon of Renault finished eleventh ahead of Sebastian Vettel who had engine leakage issues in practice session; Later Esteban Ocon has been handed a three-place grid penalty after blocking George Russell during qualifying on Saturday. Second McLaren of Carlos Sainz only managed thirteenth spot in the starting grid just ahead of Haas’ Romain Grosjean who made it to Q2. Williams’ George Russell was again impressive on Saturday with a Q2 promotion but only managed fifteenth position in the grid. Second Williams car of Nicolas Latifi managed p18 while both Alfa Romeos struggled again in qualifying with both cars routed to rear end of the qualifying list. Kimi Räikkönen finished 20th with his team mate Antonio Giovinazzi out preforming again in Saturday Qualifying.
Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton topped final practice from his team mate Valtteri Bottas and Lando Norris.
Mercedes embraces yet another 1-2 in the final practice session for the 70th Anniversary GP displaying their dominance in this season. Hamilton's lap of 1m26.621s was on soft tyres which was 0.163s ahead of Bottas as Mercedes completed a clean sweep of fastest times in all practice sessions. Lando Norris, who briefly topped the times, finished in third, over half a second off Hamilton's best time on medium tyres. Lando predominantly was on mediums while rest of the pack were testing the red striped softs which was last weeks mediums.
Both Racing Points were strong and finished in top 5 with Nico Hulkenberg leading Lance Stroll by just 0.007s. Meanwhile the RP20s are still the point of talk at off-track after the FIA confirmed five teams intend to appeal the stewards' verdict allowing Racing Point to use offending parts on their cars and Racing Point too confirmed their intention to appeal brake duct protest verdict after FIA on deducting 15 points and fining them €400,000.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc finished 6th and his team mate Sebastian Vettel, who ended the session in P13, took brand new engines, turbos and MGU-H units ahead of FP3 as Vettel’s Ferrari power unit having issues and leakage at the end of FP2 on Friday. According to Ferrari, the change on Leclerc's car was done “as a precaution”, with no penalty incurred for either of the drivers since they are still within their allocation for the season.
The Red Bull driver Max Verstappen only could finish P7, ahead of team mate Alex Albon in P8 since Max had to abort his first flying lap on new soft tyres only to a slow-going Stroll through Maggotts/Becketts. Renault's Esteban Ocon managed a ninth-place finish over McLaren’s Carlos Sainz, while Daniel Ricciardo, who was third quickest in FP2 on Friday only finished 14th overall as his final flying laps too were hampered by traffic. Pierre Gasly beat his AlphaTauri team mate by a tenth of a second to finish P11, with Daniil Kvyat P12 ahead of Vettel's Ferrari.
Will 2020 F1 season have a 'Non-Mercedes' race winner???
Just after the initial three races, the picture for 2020 season is revealing itself. Again, it will be another Mercedes domination; with only question left who (Hamilton or Bottas) going to be the campion. It is getting clearer that neither Ferrari nor Red bull can offer serious treats for Mercedes. Ironically even after 3 races, both teams are still dealing with the design and performance issues, only then Ferrari chairman admits that they don’t expect any F1 wins until 2022. But Red Bull is still confident to clean up the problems and will be competitive soon enough to challenge Mercedes for the championship.
What would stop Mercedes’ Midas touch? Checking some (improbable) possibilities;
- More wet race weekends
- Red Bull fast tacking its updates
- Ferrari finding a miraculous solution
- Mclaren becoming more powerful
- Racing Point getting cleared of allegations and finding the sweat spot for the performance
- But the easiest but unlikely option will be Hamilton/Bottas/Mercedes making mistakes or having some setbacks
But the season is getting interesting for “best of the rest”, with Ferrari joining the middle pack. After strong performance in first 3 races, Racing Point is making all headlines. Mclaren is also getting stronger when compared to their engine supplier team, Renault. But none of the drivers in the “best of the rest” pack is expected to be anywhere near the first three places in the 2020 season.
Also, it looks like the tail end won’t have a big change, but the casual performance of Alpha Tauri and the improved performance of Williams makes the life of Ferrari powered Haas and Alfa Romeo unstable. Hopefully the rest of season will bring some entertainment.
Mercedes clings yet another 1-2 finish; Lewis Hamilton tops FP2 from Valtteri Bottas and Daniel Ricciardo finishes third.
Under cloudy skies over hot Silverstone, Lewis Hamilton set the fastest lap of the second free practice session for the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix, ahead of his team mate Valtteri Bottas who was fastest in FP1. Hamilton was 0.176s quicker than the Finn, with Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo finished an impressive third with 0.815s off Hamilton’s time.
Meanwhile Red Bull’s Max Verstappen only managed fourth while his team mate Alex Albon finished 11th behind Renault’s Esteban Ocon. Renault were the only team to run the hard tyre for long periods on Friday afternoon as others focused on long runs using medium and soft tyres. Both Racing points finished in top 5 with Lance Stroll ahead of Nico Hulkenberg.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc managed 32 laps to go seventh-fastest with both McLaren drivers Lando Norris sand Carlos Sainz finished in P8 and P9 with Norris just a tenth faster than Sainz. Clarles’ team mate Vettel's stoppage was the notable incident from the session as he pulled over at Turn 9, his SF1000 leaking oil on the track surface, which triggered a Virtual Safety Car, later red flagging the session. Before his issue, he had only managed the 14th
Romain Grosjean of Hass finished 15 while his team mate Kevin Magnussen only could manage 18th. Williams’ George Russell was again quicker than his team mate Nicholas Latifi and both Alfa Romeos, ending the day 16th quickest ahead of Kimi Raikkonen in 17th . Latifi only could manage 19th place with Antonio Giovinazzi in the last place after taking the wheel from Kubica who drove in FP1. Antonio Giovinazzi’s car stopped on the run off at the Maggotts-Becketts complex in the last few minutes of the session with what appeared to be an engine issue, which brought out the red flags to end the day's running.
Mercedes' Valtteri Bottas leads team mate Lewis Hamilton by 0.138s and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen by 0.727s in first practice session
Valtteri Bottas acknowledged the contract extension for Mercedes by heading the first Free Practice session of the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix weekend with a time of 1m 26.166s. Lewis Hamilton finished second on a sunny Silverstone circuit characterized by pleasantly warm weather, with air temperature up around 28 degrees Celsius.
Meanwhile Verstappen’s crossed the line with a third, which was just 0.049s quicker than Racing Point’s Nico Hulkenberg, with Hulkenberg confirmed as Sergio Perez’s replacement for this weekend two hours before the session start after another positive Covid-19 test for the Mexican. But his team mate Lance Stroll could only manage P8. Earlier Renault’s protest against Racing Point’s RP20 was upheld in the lead-up to FP1, costing the team €400,000 and 15 constructors’ championship points.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was fifth, ahead of Red Bull’s Alex Albon and the second Ferrari of ‘ucomfortable’ Sebastian Vettel. Daniil Kvyat was ninth for AlphaTauri, ahead of the Renault of Esteban Ocon wrapped top 10 for the session.
McLaren disappointed with both drivers couldn’t finish in the top 10 in FP1, Lando Norris finished P12, while Carlos Sainz was P14, with Romain Grosjean of Haas separated the team mates. Williams once again had a good session with George Russell lead his Williams partner and finished in P15, Nicholas Latifi in P16. The other disappointing performance was from Renault's Daniel Ricciardo, as the Australian could only manage P17.
Both Alfa Romeo’s struggled again to get a grip over the session finished in P18, ahead of Robert Kubica, who took over the C39 of Antonio Giovinazzi this morning. Kevin Magnussen of was to finish last, after the Dane went off at Vale.
L"ucky” Hamilton wins seventh British Grand Prix with a punctured tyre; Verstappen finishes second and Leclerc in third after a last lap tyre drama
Lewis Hamilton completes a hat trick win in 2020 season and accomplishes his seventh victory in the British Grand Prix in spite of his left-front tyre letting go in the last lap. Before taking the chequered flag, Mercedes were dominant and lead the race with 1-2 till 51st lap out of 52 laps. On lap 50, then second-placed Valtteri Bottas suffered a uncommon tyre puncture costing him second place and finished 11th. Hamilton suffered the same issue half a lap still to go, but was able to complete the race with the punctured tyre without losing any places. However, "lucky and unlucky" Verstappen who pitted a few laps from the end for claiming fastest lap, crossed the line five seconds (which was around 35 seconds on final lap) behind of limping Hamilton. Charles Leclerc finished an unlikely third, after a lonely race in his Ferrari with nearly 13 seconds behind Max.
Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo claimed fourth as McLaren’s Carlos Sainz, who was set to finish fourth, had a similar tyre issue which dropped him P13. The other McLaren of Lando Norris crossed the line in fifth as he was able to keep up his reputation of overtaking at least 1car in the last lap. Renault’s Esteban Ocon finished sixth who had a race-long personal battle with the Racing Point of Lance Stroll, with Pierre Gasly finished seventh for AlphaTauri. Stroll was only able to finish 9th with Alex Ablon overtaking him in the last lap. Meanwhile Albon finished eighth for Red Bull, after recovering from a Lap 1 tussle with the Haas of Kevin Magnussen and a 5 second penalty (for causing the accident with Kevin). Sebastian Vettel finished 10th after holding off a late charge from the recovering Mercedes of Bottas, who finished 11th.
George Russell of Williams finished an impressive 12th with Carlos Sainz on his tail. Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi finishes 14th with his team mate, Kimi Räikkönen with a struggling and damaged car in plum last. The lone ranger, Nicholas Latifi finished 15th and the man with alternate statergy Romain Grosjean of Haas finished a fighting 16th. AlphaTauri's Daniel Kvyat suffered that misfortune just 13 laps into Sunday’s British Grand Prix, as his car snapped sideways through the left-handed swoop and speared into the barriers. Kevin Magnussen after his tussle with Alex also could not complete his race. Meanwhile, Nico Hulkenberg could not even start his race as the Racing Point team discovered a technical issue on the RP20 that he'd taken over from Sergio Perez on Friday.
Lewis Hamilton with a new lap record storms to pole position for British Grand Prix with Bottas in P2 and Max Verstappen in P3.
Mercedes dominates Qualifying in British GP with over 1sec faster than any other car on the track. Reigning world champion, Hamilton who have not led a single session in the weekend, miraculously recovers from a spin in Q3 to take record seventh Silverstone pole. Bottas who led Q1 and Q2, was nearly two tenths up on Hamilton in the first sector on his first attempt in the pole shootout, yet gave up his advantage over the rest of the lap, ending up a tenth and a half behind Hamilton’s 1m24.616s.Max Verstappen finished third for Red Bull, around one second adrift of Hamilton. They black(silver) arrows were 0.7s quicker than 2019, whereas Red Bull and Ferrari are both slower than they were in Q3 this time last year.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, missed only by a fraction finished fourth fastest and will start alongside Max Verstappen on the second row, who did not improve on his final run in Q3. Lando Norris of McLaren wearing a cute helmet design created by a six-year-old female fan for the weekend, continues his strong qualifying pace was placed fifth beating Racing Point’s Lance Stroll. The Second McLaren of Carlos Sainz was 0.2secs slower than team mate finishes Seventh. Both Renaults made it into Q3, with Daniel Ricciardo edging out Esteban Ocon finishing Eighth and Ninth. Sebastian Vettel took the final top 10 spot nearly a second adrift of team-mate Leclerc after losing significant amounts of track time through the weekend owing to a series of reliability problems.
Earlier in Q2, AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly got knocked out even though he set exactly the same time as Stroll in P10 but, crucially, after the Canadian had done so. But the real shock of Q2 was Red Bull’s Alex Albon, who seemed to struggle since his crash in FP2 yesterday and could only manage 12th. Racing Point’s Nico Hulkenberg who will be racing for Sergio Pérez, who tested positive for covid 19 just before FP1 will start 13th, ahead of George Russell of Williams and Daniil Kvyat of AlphaTauri – who has a five-place grid penalty anyway. Meanwhile Russell is under investigation for failing to slow for yellow caution flags and will drop three places if he is found guilty.
Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean of Haas, Antonio Giovinazzi and Kimi Raikkonen of Alfa Romeo and Nicholas Latifi of Williams fails to qualify for Q2. Kevin finished 16th with Antonio Giovinazzi and Kimi in 17th and 18th . Grosjean only could manage 19th whereas Nicholas Latifi spun on his final attempt and will start last.
The Mercedes cars, once again remains the favorites for the weekend race and expected to fly around the high-speed Silverstone and will finish miles ahead of other teams. The black/silver arrows sweep another P1 with the six-time champion saw him claim a record seventh home pole at Silverstone. Hamilton's pole was his fifth at Silverstone in six years and he is aiming to extend his record of home victories to seven on Sunday. In the post qualifying interview Hamilton said “In actual fact it really wasn’t a nice qualifying session for me,” He added “I made some changes going into qualifying, and it was worse… I had this inconsistency with the balance of the car and I was struggling. “Obviously it’s a relatively big gap between us and third place, but it doesn’t matter,” he added. “Valtteri’s been pushing me all weekend, he’s incredibly quick here. I think I had a tenth and a half advantage to him after the first lap.
Bottas leads Hamilton and Verstappenin FP3; Stroll leads Albon and Bottas in FP2; Verstappen quickest from Hamilton and Stroll in FP1 as Hulkenberg shines in FP1 nad FP2 on his 'RETURN'
Valtteri Bottas set the fastest time in final free practice session with Lewis Hamilton just behind him as Mercedes grabbed 1-2 for the first time this weekend. Bottas set his fastest time of 1m25.873s ahead of Hamilton (0.138s) and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen (0.300s).
Lance Stroll of Racing Point, who was top in FP2 finished 0.703s off Bottas in P4, while Sergio Perez's stand-in Nico Hulkenberg was 0.999s off the lead in P9. Carlos Sainz the McLaren driver finished P5 and his team mate Lando Norris in P7. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc split the McLarens finsished P6 which was 0.898s off P1. Daniel Ricciardo of renualt finishes P8 and Pierre Gasly rounds top 10.
Racing Point’s Lance Stroll leads FP2 ahead of the Red Bull of Alex Albon and the Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas. The session got disrupted due to a crash for Albon as he was rounding the fast Stowe corner when he lost the back end of his car only to snap his car the other way and careened into the barriers, bringing out a red flag. Despite Albon clambering out of the car himself, he was taken to the Medical Centre after his g-force sensor was triggered, but the team later confirmed he had been cleared by the medics.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc finished an impressive P4, and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, the six-time Silverstone winner completes the top 5 spots. McLaren’s Carlos Sainz was sixth, ahead of the impressive Nico Hulkenberg, who finished the session seventh, 0.636s off FP2 leader Stroll. Pierre Gasly finished P8, ahead of Daniel Ricciardo and Kimi Raikkonen completes top 10.
Max Verstappen bags the P1 in the first practice session of the 2020 British Grand Prix for Red Bull, as Nico Hulkenberg returns to F1 for replacing Sergio Perez at Racing Point. Earlier Sergio Perez tested positive for Covid-19 ahead of this race, only for the German, the ex-Renault and Force India was called up at the last minute to for a unlikely seat in Racing Point.
Verstappen shown blistering pace for Red Bull, setting a time 0.474s quicker than Lewis Hamilton and +0.582s quicker than third-place Lance Stroll in racing Point. Verstappen's time of 1m27.422s was a full seven-tenths faster than his team mate's, as Alex Albon who finished fourth. Hamilton had a new MGU-K fitted to his W11 this weekend in a precautionary move by Mercedes, but he will not take a grid penalty as he is still within his allowance for the season. Verstappen and stroll set their best time with softs, but Hamilton set his best time on mediums.
Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel couldn’t participate in FP1 as his SF1000 car was having an intercooler issue and completed no timed laps, while team mate Charles Leclerc rounded out the top-five with a 0.799s deficit to Verstappen. Valtteri Bottas with over a second off Verstappen’s place mainly focused on long runs on the hard compound tyres for Mercedes. The Renault teammates finished behind Bottas with Esteban Ocon seventh, just under 0.020s faster than eighth-place Daniel Ricciardo. Hulkenberg, running in an FP1 session for the first time since last year, was just 0.6s behind his team mate Stroll. Daniil Kvyat completes top 10 list with +1.446s behind leader.
How teams Performed after 3 races - A quick look back
Mercedes:- Mercedes had a outstanding first three races with race wins in all three races, including a 1-2 finish at Styrian GP. Lewis Hamilton had 2 wins one fourth place (demoted from second to fourth place after a penalty) finishes and Valtteri Bottas has 1 win and second and third finishes in last two races. Even though team had a good car, it was not free from problems. Car performance was affected with frets on the Mercedes pit wall about disturbing the sensors on the cars’ gearboxes, which was sorted eventually. Currently Merecedes unbeatable with strong qualifying and racing performances. The team is miles ahead of the other competitors and future looks optimistic for the silver arrows.
Red Bull:- Red bull had disastrous start to the season with zero points in the Austrian GP. It was a nightmare race for Max Verstappen who experienced a loss of power after just 11 laps While his team mate Albon appeared to suffer a similar problem just two laps from the end. The Thai driver then looked pacey in the beginning but spun into the gravel after a contact with Hamilton costing a shot at a podium. But Red Bull fought back in with a P3 and P4 finish in Styrian GP and P2 and P5 finish in Hungarian GP. Red Bull continues to struggle with the "Anomalies" causing 2020 F1 car to "misbehave" which causes drivers to get a grip of their car’s tricky characteristics. Red Bull is optimistic with great deal of work is going into understanding the issues and addressing that for the future races.
McLaren:- McLaren had mixed results in the first three races with a strong race in Austrian GP and a decent race in Styrian GP but a disappointing race in Hungry. McLaren scored a podium with a P3 finish for Lando Norris in Austrian GP, handing the driver his first podium. Both drivers seem to have similar phenomenon like their cars with good and bad performances in the first three races. Even though the McLaren is doing much better than the engine supplier team, Renault, they need to peak up their performance to keep up with the top teams.
Racing Point:- Racing Point had its the best season since their emergence in F1. Racing point is currently poised at fourth in the constructor’s standings. But this glory is currently under scrutiny, after Reanult’s complaint against the team for infringements of rules and regulations while adopting the car design. Racing Point already admitted that they have “copied” last year’s championship winning car of Mercedes, but made sure that the design is with the confinement of rules. Keeping the allegations aside, Racing point has evolved to become one of the top teams from the ‘best of the rest’ which makes the season more interesting.
Ferrari:- Despite a podium (P2 by Charles Leclarc) finish in Austrian GP, Ferrari had an awful season so far. The car is nowhere near the top cars in pace and performance. Ferrari is trying their maximum to stay in the hunt by fast-tracking the updates to the Hungarian GP, but not helping their course. Ferrari is currently in 5th position with nearly 100 points deficit to Mercedes, which is their worst performance in the current era. But speaking at Maranello following the team’s return from the Hungarian Grand Prix, team chief, Binotto is clear that now is the time for strengthening its organisation and helping people, rather than conducting a staff cull. The focus at the factory now is in understanding what has gone wrong with the current design, with Binotto suggesting that a full-scale overhaul may be required.
Renault:- Similar to Ferrari, another team to struggle after the first races is Reanult. Even though the team has a decent package of drivers and cars, the team is finding it difficult to get the sweet spot to perform. The prime driver Daniel Riccardo is doing his best to get the best possible results, his team mate Esteban Ocon is not obtaining the best performance from his RS2.0. The team has atleast one driver in top 10 in each race, but this not good enough for them to stay in the hunt with the top teams or the best of the rest. The team has to get strong performances in the next few races or else they will be pushed back to the back of the grid which will raise serious questions for the England based French team.
Alpha Tauri:- Alpha Tauri had a disappointing start to the season with both drivers out of top ten places after 3 races. Pierre Gasly is currently vanquishing in 12th position while his team mate in 15th position. Alpha Tauri performed better in Qualifying but couldn’t replicate the same form in the races. To make things worse, both cars has atleast 1 DNF in the first 3 races.
Alfa Romeo:- Alfa Romeo is yet another team who failed to make the mark in the first three races. The team only could achieve ‘one’ point finish, which was in Austrian GP featuring high attrition. The team struggles in both qualifying and race. Already struggling through the first two races with a largely uncompetitive car, Raikkonen has lamented his miserable performance in the Hungarian Grand Prix, and urged his team to do better.
Haas:- Apart from the brilliant pre-race call(later penalized for the call) for changing tyres to slicks Haas had a ‘decent outing with two DNFs and one-point finish. The team is having glimpses of a bright future with some impressive driving from both drivers, moreover the drivers never collided with themselves and with other drivers. They are planning for some upgrades for the next few races, if worked the American team could get upgraded themselves to best of the rest battle.
Williams:- Williams is the team under lime light for this year after Mecedes conforming their role in Williams team. After an impressive qualifying round at Hungarian GP, team failed to capitalize their form in race. The team has shown vast improvements in their performance for the current season. Hopefully the new upgrades with the better performance helps the team to get into points and bring back their glory days.
Ferrari restructures Formula 1 technical department
Ferrari announced a restructuring of their Formula One technical department on Wednesday after struggling in the first three races of the 2020 season. Ferrari is planning to set up a new performance development department that will be the bedrock of its car development, which will address the poor Formula 1 form of SF1000 and team.
Binotto will remain as Team Principal, with Enrico Gualtieri in charge of the Power Unit department, Laurent Mekies as Sporting Director also in charge of trackside activities and Simone Resta continues as the Chassis Engineering department. The inception of the Performance Department which will be overseen by Enrico Cardile featuring input from Rory Byrne who played a significant role at Ferrari as Chief Designer in the early 2000s who is one of the key architects of the Michael Schumacher era of Ferrari dominance . Earlier in 2016, Enrico Cardile has moved from Ferrari’s GT department, and now holds the role of Head of Aerodynamics and Vehicle Project Manager.
The changes was induced after Ferrari started this season with more than a second a lap slower than that of the world champions and front runners Mercedes. The idea is to create a more vertical organisation and clearly assign responsibility. Ferrari said in a statement they were "instituting a chain of command that is more focused and simplified and provides the heads of each department the necessary powers to achieve their objectives".
As per Binotto, “As hinted at a few days ago, we are making changes to the technical side of the organisation so as to speed up the design and development on the car performance front,” “A change of direction was needed to define clear lines of responsibility and working processes, while reaffirming the company’s faith in its technical talent pool. "The department run by Enrico Cardile will be able to count on the experience of Rory Byrne and established engineers such as David Sanchez. It will be the cornerstone of the car’s development. “We believe Ferrari personnel are of the highest level and we have nothing to envy about our main competitors in this respect, but we had to make a decisive change, raising the bar in terms of the responsibilities of the department heads.” “We have started to lay the foundations of a process which should lead to a new and enduring winning cycle,” he added.
Binotto added "It will take some time and we will suffer setbacks like the one we are experiencing right now in terms of results and performance. However, we must react to these shortcomings with strength and determination to get back to being at the very top of this sport as soon as possible. This is what we all want and what our fans all over the world expect of us."
How Triple-header races impact 2020 season
F1 is all set to begin its second triple-header of the season at Silverstone, after running races on three consecutive weekends in Austria and Hungary earlier this season. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the F1 season is currently planned to have 13 races including multiple triple headers. This includes the season opener races with two races in Austria and one in Hungary, which is now followed by a week off, with a second leg to begin this week with two races at Silverstone, followed by the Spanish GP.
After the first triple-header in F1 history in 2018, F1 consciously decided that it would be better if they don't try it again. But the current scenario forced the F1 to rethink this strategy and decided to have multiple triple header races. But this time they have a difference with two races in the triple headers will be hosted in one venue which helps the teams and the officials altogether and most importantly being able to bring something cheerful to people around the world during this worse condition.
Meanwhile McLaren team principal Andreas Seidl has alerted that triple-header races should not become the new routine for Formula 1’s future calendars. Although Seidl welcomes the financial boost they provide during the pandemic], but he insists they are not worth since it take serious toll on the people who are part of F1 like officials, team members, drivers, support staff etc. “We’re going now into the triple-header with these two races in the UK, which is obviously for the UK teams is not as bad as for some other teams,” said Seidl. “At least we have the possibility to arrive at the track as late as possible with only a short travel, and having a break between these two Silverstone races. “Then we go into another triple-header, and then at the moment I think on the schedule there is another triple-header later on, which I think then is tough. Given the special circumstances we are in this year, it’s something we simply have to get through this year. “But at the same time, this cannot be the new standard going forward also in future seasons.”
In some instances, the new approach has made life a bit easier. As per Tom Clarkson, there was a certain degree of the old days about the new ways. The inability for excess had led to a stripped down and simple version of the sport, one that many of us remembered as a distant memory from our past and some had only ever heard about in dinner tales or grumbles from their more experienced colleagues.
But under normal circumstances three races back-to-back would be been tough enough for drivers teams and crews as well. Still considering the current scenario, it would be quite unpredictable whether the season could have enough races or no races in 2020, it will be better to have as much races as possible rather than waiting for everything to get settle.
Hamilton clinches his 'EIGHTH' Hungarian Grand Prix win, with Verstappen in second and Bothas in third
Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton wins eighth Hungarian Grand Prix victory and he is now tied with Michael Schumacher’s record for most number of wins at a single venue. Starting from pole, Hamilton quickly build a comfortable lead in the early laps. He miraculously managed the medium tyres and his pace over his rivals in the race at the Hungaroring. At the chequered flag he was having a comfortable 8.7s lead to Verstappen and sealed his hat-trick win at Hungaroring.
Verstappen had an embarrassing crash into the Turn 12 wall on his lap to the grid that required some urgent repairs. But an extraordinary effort by his crew, completed the full repair in time made Max feel the car as 'Brand New'. ‘Second feels like a win’ says Verstappen at post race as he had to recover from the crash and the Dutchman had to hold off the vicious attack by third place Valtteri Bottas in the final stages of the race.
Racing Point’s Lance Stroll couldn’t convert his P3 grid position into the team’s first podium of the year as he came home a distant fourth. His teammate Perez also coudn't keep the second row start, but only able to finish at 7th after a poor start. The rejuvenated Red Bull’s Alex Albon late pass on the Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel gave Albon P5, who started who started 13th. although Red Bull were summoned to the stewards after the race for allegedly drying Albon’s grid spot ahead of the race start. Vettel finished at P6 and hold off the second Racing Point of Sergio Perez in the final laps of the race.
Renault's Daniel Ricciardo had an impressive P8 with a remarkable tyre managed race. An inspired strategy from Haas helped Kevin Magnussen take the team’s first points of the year, with Magnussen and Romain Grosjean pitting for slicks at the end of the formation lap as their rivals started on intermediates on the drying track. Kevin finished P9 and Grosjean P15. Best of the McLarens was Carlos Sainz who finished P10, thanks to a late-race pass on the Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, who ended up 11th. His teammate Lando Norris, only could manage P13.
Alpha Tauri's Daniil Kvyat finished P12 with his teammate Pierre Gasly had to retire his car with smoking engine, who was the sole retirement of the race.
Renault's Esteban Ocon finished P14 with two Alfa Romeos finishing at P16(Kimi)and P17(Giovinazzi). Williams could not replicate the majestic form in the qualifying, finished a disappointing 18th and 19th, with George leading his teammate Latifi.
Hamilton P1 with the lap record set the fastest time in Qualifying and Bottas in P2 with two Racing Points in P3 and P4
Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc finished P5 and P6 with Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing only could manage a P7, who was last years pole sitter. McLaren teammates Lando Norris Carlos Sainz McLaren trails Ferrai at P8 and P9 only able to finish just above AlphaTauri's Pierre Gasly who couldn't participate Q3 due to ongoing power unit issues.
Renault's Daniel Ricciardo only could manage P11 with today's suprise with George Russell of Williams at P12 with a stromg performance. Alexander Albon of Red Bull Racing was furious with his team for leaving him in traffic and only coud manage P13 highlighting RedBull's poor form in Hungry. Esteban Ocon finished P14 and Nicolas Latifi finished P15 with both Williams cars in Q2 after a long period of time.
Two Haas cars finished 15th and 17th with Kevin Magnussen leading his team mate Romain Grosjean. AlphaTauri 's Daniil Kvyat finished a disappointing 16th. Both Alfa Romeo Racing cars was glued to the last spot with Antonio Giovinazzi in 19 and 40 year old veteran Kimi Räikkönen in 20th spot.
Bottas leads the final practice session in Hungary with Hamilton and Perez in P2 and P3
Mercedes scored another 1-2 in the final practice session for the Hungarian Grand Prix under cloude sky. Valtteri Bottas' time of 1m15.437s set on soft tyres which was just 0.042s quicker than Hamilton. The Racing Points were impressive again with just 0.161s off Hamilton. His team mate Lance Stroll was fifth in a top five split by 0.596s behind Charles Leclerc who was in P4.
Red bull's poor form continues as the Red Bull cars struggled to get to grips with their car. Max Verstappen finished sixth and his team mate Alex Albon was 12th after Friday's running. Best of the McLaren was Lando Norris (0.756s off Hamilton) who finished seventh with his team mate Carlos Sainz at 11th after Friday practice.
FP2 leader Sebastian Vettel was eighth overall. He was just ahead of ninth-place Pierre Gasly of AlphaTauri, whose team mate Daniil Kvyat was down in P17. The top ten list complted with Daniel Ricciardo with a late effort and his team mate Esteban Ocon was 13th. Williams' George Russell was just behind Ocon with an impressive P14. Two Haas cars finished 15th and 16th with Romain Grosjean leading his team mate Kevin Magnussen.
Vettel leads the timesheets in Hungarian GP Second Practice under wet conditions
Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel set the fastest time in Free Practice 2 for the 2020 Hungarian Grand Prix with a 1m 40.464s, 0.272s ahead of the Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas.
McLaren of Carlos Sainz finishes in third and the two Racing Points of Lance Stroll and Sergio Perez occupies the remaining top 5 spots. AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly being the first driver out in the session on full wets only could manage just seven laps only to complain a smell of burning in his AT01 right at the end of the session, as he ended up in P6.
With only 13 drivers setting a time, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was seventh, 2.3s behind Vettel, but ahead of the Haas of Romain Grosjean. Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Raikkonen complained of having “zero grip” and endured a number of off-track excursions, but complted the most number(16) of laps in FP2. Kimi finished in P9, one place in front of Charles Leclerc, who also complained of lack of rear grip on his Ferrari as he finished 10th, ahead of Antonio Giovinazzi, Lando Norris and Daniil Kvyat.
Mercedes dominates FP1 - Hamilton leads the timesheets in Hungarian GP first practice
Lewis Hamilton leading a dominant Mercedes one-two ahead of Valtteri Bottas. Hamilton set his fastest time - a 1:16.003 - on the hardest tyre available which is incredible. Mercedes' close rival, Red Bull had a low start to the weekend with P8 and P13 for Max Verstappen and Alex Albon respectively; while Ferrari again finished well behind of the practice pace setters in P6 and P7.
Racing Point's Sergio Perez was third, 0.527secs adrift, and 0.437secs ahead of team-mate Lance Stroll. Renault's Daniel Ricciardo took fifth. Lando Norris and Esteban Ocon rounded out the top 10 for McLaren and Renault, with Norris’s McLaren team-mate Carlos Sainz Jr close behind in 11th. Sebastian Vettel was the lead driver for the Ferarri on a 1m17.238s and Charles Leclerc was 0.166s behind his team-mate. Romain Grosjean was 14th, ahead of Williams’ Nicholas Latifi.
The session was affected by intermittent light rain. But the drivers was not affected as they continued the session using dry-weather 'slick' tyres.
Styrian Grand Prix - How team sees the teammates battles?
Ferrari - After started the race 10th(Vettel) and 14th(Leclerc) respectively, Ferrari’s Styrian Grand Prix lasted just three corners before Charles Leclerc lost control of his SF1000, wiping out his team mate Sebastian Vettel’s rear wing and causing race-ending damage to himself. Ferrari Team Principal Mattia Binotto alo blammed the car performance as much as his drivers for the crash. ‘We can’t hide behind the collision’ says Binotto after ‘worst conclusion to a very bad weekend’
Racing Point -Driver of The Day Sergio Perez, from P17 on the grid to P6 at the flag, pulled off a masterful recovery drive in the Styrian Grand Prix. Later Perez admitted that he was 'very lucky' to only lose one position on final lap after Albon clash apologised to the team over the radio, saying “sorry guys”. In the end Stroll drag-raced him to the line with only 0.066s split the two racing point drivers.
McLaren - “Great teamwork between the two drivers swapping on track when it was needed,” said McLaren Team Principal Andreas Seidl after the race. “Carlos didn’t give up and did a great job securing the fastest lap – the second time in a row for us. McLaren Racing CEO, Zak Brown, has said the team will keep the relationship “healthy” between Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris.
Renault - Daniel Ricciardo believes the Renault Formula 1 team would have told Ocon to let him by. After several laps stuck behind Ocon, Ricciardo communicated his engineer that he was faster than the cars ahead, but no attempt was made to swap positions before Ricciardo made his own move. "I asked a bit of a general question," said Ricciardo. "As I was, I felt, being held up by by that group. So I just said, 'Look, guys, I'm quite a bit quicker at the moment.'
Haas - Steiner pleased to see Haas drivers cooperating and remarked ‘It took a few years too long and a few crashes too many’. Haas boss Guenther Steiner said he was encouraged to see Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean fight for position at the Styrian Grand Prix without incident. The pair fought for position at the Styrian Grand Prix without contact, with Magnussen eventually finished at 12th place.
Red Bull expects to be more competitive at Hungarian GP
Red Bull believes the Hungarian Grand Prix to be more intense.They believe that the car will be better suited for Hungarian Grand Prix as Hungaroring has greater emphasis on cornering speed which should make Red Bull more competitive.
Red Bull's team boss Christian Horner indicated that "Their(Mercedes') straight line speed is impressive," said Horner. "There is not much there in cornering speed. "There are some corners we are better, some where we are not quite as good. But certainly on this track their straight line speed has been very impressive so they've made a good step over the winter." “I hope that we’ll be more competitive in Hungary, it’s a different type of venue,” he said. “Mercedes are very strong and just the distance that the three guys [Hamilton, Bottas and Max Verstappen] were ahead of the rest was enormous today. Max did well to keep up as well as he did.”
Meanwhile, Red Bull says it is mystifying to see the pace drop off for Alex Albon’s car in longer stints, after his disappointing Styrian Grand Prix. Although he finished fourth, 44 seconds behind race winner Hamilton, the pace is no match with Max Verstappen. Just few days ago, Albon had a chance of winning the season opener in Austria before a collision with Lewis Hamilton, the Thai driver find it difficult to match the pace of the cars ahead of him.
Red Bull believes that the cooler conditions on Sunday helped the cooling concerns the German car manufacturer in Austria. Indicating on the fact that Mercedes triumphed at a circuit where it has struggled in recent years, Horner said: “Mercedes have underperformed in recent years. They struggled in the heat, they struggled in the heat here on Friday. It’s been very cool and they’ve performed well here. They were the best team today and we’re going to be working even harder to try and catch them.”
Chief engineer Paul Monaghan said: "Hungary is a different sort of circuit isn't it? It's got a trivial straight, and lots of twisty bits. The speed of the corners is lower than this place. They're all the same speed. So I think, typically, Hungary is usually less afflicted by variable weather compared with being in the Alps."
What Vettel and Perez think about 2021 Aston Martin F1 seat???
Sources indicated that the Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel is considering a deal to join the Aston Martin Formula 1 team for the 2021 season. Vettel has no competitive seats available for 2021 season and looking for options to stay on the grid next season.
Earlier Mercedes retained Valtteri Bottas as a first priority to partner Lewis Hamilton , Red Bull represented the only leading option for Vettel. But Red Bull Formula 1 boss Christian Horner has ruled out Sebastian Vettel returning to the team, saying it is a “definite no” and Vettel is “aware of that”. With McLaren and Renault also already confirming their lineups for 2021, the only option left for him, is Racing Point, soon to become Aston Martin F1.
As indicated by the german media a deal has been agreed upon by the Racing Point F1, courtesy of team owner Lawrence Stroll. The four-times world champion is understood to have been offered a contract by Lawrence Stroll, who is planning to build the strongest possible team for the rebranding of the team to Aston Martin.
Assuming the report is accurate, it will be intresting to see how the team will make room for Vettel as Racing point already has imperative drivers like Sergio Perez, who brings substantial sponsorship money to the team and Stroll’s son Lance Stroll, both under contract until 2022.
Meanwhile Perez revealed that he has been contacted from a rival team amid Vettel to Racing Point rumours. For the time being Perez is under contract with Racing Point until the end of 2022. “I think I'm with the team as far as I know,” said Perez. “I have a contract. I think the answer to these questions, you will learn them in time. We will see what happens in the next weeks. "I know that during the week there were obviously the rumours that came out and we actually got contacted by a team in the paddock. “I think it's just part of the game,” he added “The team has taken a big step forward so it's good to have big names related to the team because that means that we're making a good job, we're making progress and I think the team should be proud of it. And the rest? In Formula 1 you never know.”
2020 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, which takes place over 55 laps of the 5.554-kilometre Yas Marina Circuit on Yas Island on Sunday, December 13.
Circuit Facts ( Yas Marina Circuit)
Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Facts
1:39.283 (2019)
1:34:21.295
1:36:28.645
+15.976s
+18.415s
1:35.246
1:35.271
1:35.332
| Pos | Driver | Time | Pit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Max Verstappen (Red Bull) | 1h 36m 28.645 | 1 |
| 2 | Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) | +15.976s | 1 |
| 3 | Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) | +18.415s | 1 |
| 4 | Alexander Albon (Red Bull) | +19.987s | 1 |
| 5 | Lando Norris (McLaren) | +60.729s | 1 |
| 6 | Carlos Sainz (McLaren) | +65.662s | 1 |
| 7 | Daniel Ricciardo (Renault) | +73.748s | 1 |
| 8 | Daniil Kvyat (AlphaTauri) | +89.718s | 1 |
| 9 | Esteban Ocon (Renault) | +101.069s | 1 |
| 10 | Lance Stroll (Racing Point) | +102.738s | 1 |
| Pos | Driver | Lap time | Tyre |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Max Verstappen (Red Bull) | 1:35.246 | S |
| 2 | Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) | +0.025s | S |
| 3 | Lewis Hamilton(Mercedes) | +0.086s | S |
| 4 | Lando Norris (McLaren) | +0.251s | S |
| 5 | Alex Albon(Red Bull) | +0.325s | S |
| 6 | Carlos Sainz (McLaren) | +0.569s | S |
| 7 | Daniil Kvyat (Alpha Tauri) | +0.717s | S |
| 8 | Lance Stroll (Racing Point) | +0.800s | S |
| 9 | Charles Leclerc(Ferrari) | +0.819s | S |
| 10 | Pierre Gasly (Alpha Tauri) | +0.996s | S |
| Driver | Points |
|---|---|
Lewis Hamilton | 347 |
Valtteri Bottas | 223 |
Max Verstappen | 214 |
Sergio Perez | 125 |
Daniel Ricciardo | 119 |
Carlos Sainz | 105 |
Alexander Albon | 105 |
Charles Leclerc | 98 |
Lando Norris | 97 |
Pierre Gasly | 74 |
| Team | Points |
|---|---|
Mercedes | 573 |
Red Bull | 319 |
McLaren | 202 |
Racing Point | 195 |
Renault | 181 |
Ferrari | 131 |
AlphaTauri | 107 |
Alfa Romeo | 8 |
Haas | 3 |
Williams | 0 |
2020 Sakhir Grand Prix, which takes place over 87 laps of the Bahrain International Circuit's 3.543-kilometre Outer Track layout, on Sunday, December 6.
Circuit Facts ( Bahrain International Circuit - Outer Circuit)
Sakhir Grand Prix Facts
1:31:15.114
+10.518s
+11.869s
53.377
53.403
53.433
2020 Bahrain Grand Prix, which takes place over 57 laps of the 5.412-kilometre Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir on Sunday, November 29.
Circuit Facts ( Bahrain International Circuit )
Bahrain Grand Prix Facts
1:31.447 (2005)
1:34:21.295
2:59:47.515
+1.254s
+8.005s
1:27.264
1:27.553
1:27.678
2020 Turkish Grand Prix, which takes place over 58 laps of the 5.338 km (3.317 mi) Intercity Istanbul Park circuit on Sunday, November 15.
Circuit Facts ( Intercity Istanbul Park )
Turkish Grand Prix Facts
1:24.770 (2005)
1:30:17.558
1:42:19.313
+31.633s
+31.960s
1:47.765
1:48.055
1:49.321
2020 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, which takes place in Imola, over 63 laps of the 4.959-kilometre Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, former home of the San Marino GP, on Sunday, November 1.
Circuit Facts ( Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari )
Emilia Romagna Grand Prix Facts
1:28:32.430
+5.783s
+5.783s
1:13.609
1:13.706
1:14.176
2020 Portuguese Grand Prix, which takes place over 66 laps of the 4.653 km (2.891 mi) Autodromo Internacional do Algarve on Sunday, October 25.
Circuit Facts ( Autódromo Internacional do Algarve )
Portugal Grand Prix Facts
1:29:56.828
+25.592s
+34.508s
1:16.652
1:16.754
1:16.904
2020 Eifel Grand Prix, which takes place over 60 laps of the 5.148 km(3.199 mi) Nurburgring, former host of the German Grand Prix, on Sunday, October 11th.
Circuit Facts ( Nürburgring Autodrom )
German Grand Prix Facts
1:29.468 (2004)
1:41:14.711
1:35:49.641
+4.470s
+14.613s
1:25.269s
1:25.525s
1:25.562s
2020 Russian Grand Prix, which takes place over 53 laps of the 5.848Km (3.634Mi) Sochi Autodrom on Sunday, September 27.
Circuit Facts ( Sochi Autodrom )
Russian Grand Prix Facts
1:35.761 (2019)
1:33:38.992
1:34:00.364
+7.729s
+22.729s
1:31.304
1:31.867
1:31.956
2020 Tuscan Grand Prix, Ferrari's 1,000th F1 race, which takes place over 59 laps of the 5.245km Autodromo Internazionale del Mugello in Italy on Sunday, September 13.
Circuit Facts ( Autodromo Internazionale del Mugelloa )
Tuscan Grand Prix Facts
2:19.35.060
+4.880s
+8.064s
1:15.144
1:15.203
1:15.509
2020 Italian Grand Prix takes place over 53 laps of the 5.793-kilometre Autodromo Nazionale Monza on Sunday, September 6.
Circuit Facts ( Autodromo Nazionale Monza )
Italian Grand Prix Facts
1:21.046 (2004)
1:15:26.665
1:47:06:056
+0.415s
+3.358s
1:18.887
1:18.956
1:19.695
2020 Belgian Grand Prix, which takes place over 44 laps of the 7.004-kilometre Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps on Sunday, August 30.
Circuit Facts ( Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps )
Spanish Grand Prix Facts
1:46.286 (2018)
1:23:45.710
1:24:08.761
+8.448s
+15.455s
1:41.252
1:41.763
1:41.778
2020 Spanish Grand Prix takes place over 66 laps of the 4.655-kilometre Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on Sunday, August 16.
Circuit Facts ( Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya )
Spanish Grand Prix Facts
1:18.441 (2018)
1:35:50.443s
1:31:45.279s
+24.177
+44.752
1:15.584
1:15.643
1:16.292
70th Anniversary Grand Prix 2020 takes place over 52 laps of the 5.891-kilometre Silverstone Circuit on Sunday, August 9.
Circuit Facts ( Silverstone )
British Grand Prix Facts
1:27.097 (2020)
1:19:41.993
+11.326s
+19.231s
1:24.303
1:24.616
1:25.325
2020 British Grand Prix 2020 takes place over 52 laps of the 5.891km Silverstone, Northamptonshire England, United Kingdom on Sunday, August 2 2020
Circuit Facts ( Silverstone )
British Grand Prix Facts
1:27.369 (2019)
1:22:01.822
1:28:01.283
+5.856s
+18.474s
1:24.303
1:24.616
1:25.325
2020 Hungarian Grand Prix takes place over 70 laps of the 4.381km Hungaroring in Budapest on Sunday, July 19 2020
Circuit Facts ( Hungaroring )
Hungarian Grand Prix Facts
1:17.103 (2019)
1:36:12.473
+8.702s
+9.452s
1:13.447
1:13.554
1:14.377
2020 Styrian Grand Prix takes place over 71 laps of the 4.318km Red Bull Ring in Spielberg on Sunday, July 12 2020.
Circuit Facts ( Red Bull Ring )
Austrian Grand Prix Facts
1:05.619 (2020)
1:22:01.822
1:22:50.683
+13.719s
+33.698s
1:19.273
1:20.489
1:20.671
2020 Austrian Grand Prix takes place over 71 laps of the 4.318-kilometre Red Bull Ring in Spielberg on Sunday, July 5.
Circuit Facts ( Red Bull Ring )
Austrian Grand Prix Facts
1:05.619 (2020)
1:22:01.822
1:30:55.739
+2.7s
+33.698s
1:02.939
1:02.951
1:03.477