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  • 2025 Formula 1 Grid Overview

    2025 Formula 1 Grid Overview

    The 20-car grid for the 2025 FIA Formula 1 World Championship season is officially set. It comes nearly two weeks after the conclusion of a competitive 2024 season that featured seven different competitors achieving at least one Grand Prix victory throughout the 24-race schedule, five teams finishing within 77 points of one another in the midfield region and a season-ending split celebration of the driver’s and constructor’s titles between two championship-winning teams.

    Within the 20-car grid for the 2025 season, three-tenths of the field will feature competitors who are set to embark on maiden full-time F1 campaigns. In addition, half of the entries will be occupied by new names as a bevy of familiar faces are set to embark on new beginnings with new teams to call home for next season. Lastly, all but two of the current 10 teams on the grid will feature at least one new name to their driver roster when a new season of racing commences.

    McLaren

    The team that currently reigns supreme among the remaining nine is the McLaren Formula 1 Team, which will retain its current driver lineup featuring Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri for a second consecutive season. Dubbed the second-best organization in F1, the papaya-colored team capped off the 2024 season as the top organization on the grid as it achieved its ninth constructor’s championship by 14 points over Ferrari. The championship, which was a first for McLaren since 1998, comes amid career-best years for Norris and Piastri, both of whom notched multiple Grand Prix victories throughout the season and notched a combined 666 points despite Norris falling short of claiming the driver’s championship by 63 points.

    Norris, a native of Bristol, England, who is coming off his sixth consecutive season as a McLaren F1 competitor, notched his maiden four Grand Prix victories that commenced by winning at Miami in May before he proceeded to win at the Netherlands in August, Singapore in September and the season-finale Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in December. He also recorded career-high stats in poles (eight), podiums (13), laps led (271), average-finishing result (4.3) and points (374). Meanwhile, teammate Piastri, a native of Melbourne, Australia, is coming off a second F1 campaign with McLaren as he notched his maiden two Grand Prix victories, where the first occurred at Hungary in July before he won at Azerbaijan nearly two months later. Piastri would also rack up eight podiums, an average-finishing result of 5.1, 292 points and a fourth-place result in the final driver’s standings.

    As for the future, Norris inked a multi-year contract extension with McLaren this past January while Piastri inked a multi-year contract extension in September 2023 that would keep him at the team through the 2026 season. Both enter the 2025 season with goals to defend McLaren’s constructor’s title and deliver the first driver’s championship for the team since 2008.

    Ferrari

    Despite ending up one points position shy of claiming a record 17th constructor’s title with a combined points tally of 652, the Scuderia Ferrari HP team scored a big silly season victory before the start of the 2024 season by acquiring seven-time champion Sir Lewis Hamilton to its driver roster for the 2025 season. Hamilton, a native of Stevenage, England, who initially signed a two-year contract extension to remain at the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team through the 2025 season in August 2023, ended up exercising a break clause in his contract by signing up for Ferrari on a multi-year basis this past February, which made the 2024 season his final campaign with Mercedes.

    Hamilton’s move to Ferrari will mark his maiden F1 campaign with a team that is not affiliated with Mercedes. This past season also marked Hamilton’s conclusion of a 12-year dynasty with Mercedes, a team where Hamilton won six of his record-tying seven driver’s championships and 84 of his current 105 Grand Prix race victories, including two in 2024 at Silverstone and Belgium. The pair of victories this past season also marked Hamilton’s first trips to the top of the podium since 2021. Amid the victories, he ended up in seventh place in the 2024 standings with 223 points, five podiums and an average-finishing result of 7.0.

    For the 2025 season, Hamilton, who continues his pursuit for a record eighth championship, will compete alongside new teammate Charles Leclerc, the latter of whom has been competing with the prancing horse organization since 2019 and inked a contract extension this past January to remain with the team beyond the 2024 season. This past season generated a strong season for Leclerc, a native of Monte Carlo who notched three Grand Prix victories (Monaco, Monza and Austin), a career-high 13 podiums and career-best average-finishing result of 4.5, which was enough to settle in third place in the driver’s standings with a career-high 356 points despite falling short of his maiden F1 title by 81 points. Both Hamilton and Leclerc will attempt to deliver the first driver’s and constructor’s titles for Ferrari since the 2007 and 2008 seasons, respectively, in 2025.

    Red Bull Racing

    The 2024 F1 season generated mixed results for Oracle Red Bull Racing, an organization that swept both the driver’s and constructor’s championships over the previous three seasons and had won all but one of the 22-race schedule in 2023. The good news for the organization was that Max Verstappen, a native of Hasselt, Belgium, managed to defend his series’ title for a fourth consecutive season as he also notched a season-high nine Grand Prix victories. Verstappen’s victories throughout this past season occurred at Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Japan, China, Italy’s Emilia Romagna, Canada, Spain, São Paulo and Qatar. Amid Verstappen’s fourth consecutive championship-winning season, the organization dropped to third place in the final constructor’s standings and was unable to reclaim the team title by 77 points.

    With a combined constructor points total of 589, 437 of the points were contributed by Verstappen, the latter of whom also notched a total of 14 podiums, while the remaining 152 were recorded by Sergio “Checo” Perez. Compared to his previous three seasons at Red Bull, Perez, a native of Guadalajara, Mexico, endured a difficult 2024 season where he went winless for the first time since 2019, finished on the podium four times and recorded an average-finishing result of 9.6, the latter category of which was his lowest since 2019. Perez settled in eighth place in the driver’s standings after being outscored by teammate Verstappen and after he struggling to keep pace to run up front for the majority of the season.

    Despite inking a two-year extension to remain at Red Bull this past June, Perez would depart the organization on December 18. Currently, Perez, who first competed in F1 in 2011 and is the winningest Mexican competitor in F1 with six through 281 career starts, remains uncertain of his racing plans for next season. A day after Perez’s exit, Red Bull announced the promotion of Liam Lawson to partner alongside Verstappen, the latter of whom is under contract with the team through 2028. Lawson, a native of Hastings, New Zealand, who spent the previous three seasons as a reserve driver for both Red Bull Racing and the Visa Cash App Racing Bulls F1 Team, also spent the previous two making a total of 11 starts for the latter organization, where he has notched three ninth-place results. He will become the 13th competitor overall to compete in an F1 Grand Prix event while representing Red Bull as both he and Verstappen strive to return the team atop the standings in both the driver’s and constructor’s categories.

    Mercedes

    With the departure of Sir Lewis Hamilton, the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team has elevated newcomer Andrea Kimi Antonelli to pilot Hamilton’s Mercedes entry for the 2025 season. Antonelli, a former champion in Italian F4 and Formula Regional’s European and Middle East series from Bologna, Italy, spent this past season competing in Formula 2 for Prema Racing, where he notched two victories and finished in sixth place in the standings. Having first joined Mercedes’ Junior Team in 2019 upon winning multiple events and titles in karts, Antonelli also participated in his first pair of free practice sessions in F1 at Italy and Mexico City midway into the 2024 season in preparation for the 2025 season, where he is set to become the sixth competitor to compete for Mercedes since the brand returned as a constructor in 2010 and the first Italian Grand Prix competitor since Antonio Giovinazzi competed in 2021.

    For his maiden F1 campaign, Antonelli will compete alongside George Russell, a native of King’s Lynn, England, who first joined Mercedes in 2022 and whose contract with the Silver Arrows organization runs through the conclusion of the 2025 season. After achieving his maiden Grand Prix victory at São Paulo in late 2022 before going winless in 2023 along with the Mercedes team, Russell rebounded by notching two Grand Prix victories in 2024 (Austria in June and Las Vegas in November). To go along with four podiums, four poles, a career-best average-finishing result of 5.6 and a career-high 138 laps led, he settled in sixth place in this past season’s standings with 245 points. He also contributed to Mercedes settling in fourth place in last year’s constructor’s standings with 468 points overall as the organization strives to return atop the standings in both the driver’s and constructor’s regions since the early years of the 2020’s era.

    Aston Martin Aramco

    For a third consecutive season, the Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team will retain its current driver roster that consists of Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll, both of whom notched a combined 94 points and contributed to the team settling in fifth place in the constructor’s standings for a second consecutive season.

    Alonso, a two-time F1 champion from Oviedo, Spain, is coming off his 21st season in competition, where he recorded an average-finishing result of 10.2, 70 points and settled in ninth place in the final standings. Despite recording zero podiums in 2024 compared to eight during his first season with Aston Martin in 2023 that was capped off with a fourth-place result in the driver’s standings, Alonso scratched his name off of the silly season picture by inking a multi-year contract extension with Aston Martin this past April that would keep him with the team through the 2026 season. Two months later, Stroll, a native of Montreal, Canada, who has been competing with the organization since 2019, inked a contract extension for himself to remain with the team through the 2026 season. Like teammate Alonso, Stroll is coming off a quiet 2024 campaign where he recorded an average-finishing result of 13.1 and 24 points, which relegated him to 13th place in the 2024 standings a year after ending up in 10th place.

    With Aston Martin recruiting Red Bull’s longtime global chief technical officer and designer Adrian Newey as its new managing technical partner, both Alonso and Stroll also continue to pursue the first championship between the driver’s and constructor’s categories for the team, which returned Aston Martin as a branded team in 2021 following a six decade-plus absence.

    Alpine

    After spending a majority of the 2024 season mired with mixed on-track results and multiple changes towards the team’s technical and management front while also hovering towards the bottom of the constructor’s standings, the BWT Alpine F1 Team rallied over the final four events on the schedule and capped off the season with momentum by muscling up to sixth place with 65 points achieved.

    The competitor who nailed the final set of points for Alpine to claim sixth place in the standings during the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was Pierre Gasly, who also managed to overtake Nico Hülkenberg for 10th place in the final driver’s standings by a single point. Gasly, a native of Rouen, France, who transitioned to Alpine from the Red Bull team in 2023, racked up an average-finishing result of 12.9 and he recorded 42 points. His lone highlight of the season was notching his fifth career podium during the São Paulo Grand Prix in November by finishing in third place and sharing the podium with his teammate and childhood rival Esteban Ocon. Like Gasly, Ocon’s lone highlight of the season was finishing in the runner-up position at São Paulo, which marked his fourth career podium result and first since finishing in third place during the 2023 Monaco Grand Prix. Amid Ocon’s podium, he only racked up 23 points and notched an average-finishing result of 13.7, which placed him in 14th place in the final driver’s standings.

    Compared to Gasly, Ocon, a native of Évreux, France, was not retained by Alpine for the 2025 season and he ended up being replaced by newcomer Jack Doohan during the finale in Abu Dhabi. Doohan, a native of Gold Coast, Australia, who spent the previous two seasons as Alpine’s reserve driver and notched six victories in Formula 2, is set to embark in his maiden campaign in F1 competition in 2025 as he will partner with Gasly, the latter of whom inked a multi-year contract extension this past June to remain at Alpine beyond 2025. Both Doohan and Gasly enter next season with equal attempts to deliver the first driver’s and constructor’s titles for Alpine, a team that was rebranded from Renault since 2021.

    Haas

    After plummeting to dead last in the 2023 constructor’s standings, the MoneyGram Haas F1 Team rallied by climbing three spots to seventh place in this year’s constructor’s standings and racking up its second-highest accumulated points to a season at 58 following a yearlong battle to nearly crack the top-six mark.

    The competitor who led the charge to Haas’ on-track success in 2024 was Nico Hülkenberg, who racked up 32 more points than his previous season at 41 and jumped five spots in the final driver’s standings to 11th place. The Emmerich am Rhein, Germany, native also recorded an average-finishing result of 11.6 and two season-best results of sixth-place runs in back-to-back Grand Prix events between Austria and Silverstone. Kevin Magnussen, Hülkenberg’s teammate from Roskilde, Denmark, who is coming off his sixth season as a Haas F1 competitor, managed to withstand a season where he was absent for two Grand Prix events (one for being suspended from Azerbaijan and another for being ill at Sao Paulo) to notch an average-finishing result of 13.4 and a total of 16 points, which was enough to climb up to 15th place in the standings and be four spots better from his previous season. Magnussen’s best result in 2024 was seventh, which occurred at Mexico City in late October.

    Amid a successful 2024 season, Hülkenberg and Magnussen have both parted ways with Haas as the former transitions to Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber while the latter joins BMW Motorsport to pilot a M Hybrid V8 entry in 2025. The competitors who will represent Haas for next season are Oliver Bearman and Esteban Ocon. Bearman, a native of Havering, England, is promoted to a maiden F1 campaign after he spent this past season competing in Formula 2 for Prema Racing and serving as a reserve competitor for both Haas and Ferrari, the latter of which he notched an impressive seventh place during the Saudi Arabia Grand Prix while substituting for Carlos Sainz. Meanwhile, Ocon joins Haas following a five-year campaign at Alpine.

    Visa Cash App Racing Bulls

    With a rebranded identity and a midseason swap of a veteran notable for the return of an eventual Red Bull-promoted driver, the Visa Cash App RB F1 Team, which is set to be labeled Racing Bulls in 2025, capped off the 2024 F1 season in eighth place in the constructor’s standings for a second consecutive season.

    The result comes with 46 points recorded as the organization spent the 2024 season flirting within the midfield section of the standings and challenging for sixth place in the constructor’s category. The competitor who led the team’s charge was Yuki Tsunoda, who nearly doubled his recorded points from his previous season at 30, notched a career-high nine top-10 results and claimed a new points result in the standings from 14th to 12th. Tsunoda, a native of Sagamihara, Japan, notched a season-best trio of seventh-place results in 2024, which occurred in Australia, Miami and São Paulo.

    Tsunoda spent the first 18 Grand Prixs competing alongside veteran Daniel Ricciardo, the latter of whom returned to the grid for seven events with Racing Bulls after initially losing his full-time seat at McLaren following the 2022 season. Ricciardo, an eight-time Grand Prix winner from Perth, Australia, who returned to the Red Bull team in 2023, spent the first 18-scheduled events recording three top-10 results and with goals of being promoted back up to Red Bull from Racing Bulls. After Ricciardo was released by the team following the Singapore Grand Prix and amid a difficult 2024 campaign where he struggled to keep pace with Tsunoda, Liam Lawson assumed Ricciardo’s seat at Racing Bulls as he campaigned in the remaining six events on the schedule. During the six-race stretch, he notched two ninth-place results, which was enough for him to be promoted to Red Bull over Tsunoda.

    In 2025, Visa Cash App Racing Bull’s lineup will consist of Tsunoda and Isack Hadjar, the latter of whom is Red Bull’s reserve competitor and is coming off a runner-up result in the final standings to the 2024 Formula 2 season while competing for Campos Racing. Next season is set to mark Hadjar’s maiden campaign in F1 competition as both he and Tsunoda strive to make Racing Bulls competitive alongside Red Bull and place the team to its first top-five result or higher in the constructor’s standings.

    Williams

    Coming off a strong 2023 season, the Williams Racing organization dropped two spots to ninth place in the 2024 final constructor’s standings amid a midseason swap of competitors and a final combined points tally of 17. Like the previous two seasons, the team’s front-runner was Alexander Albon, a Thailand competitor who settled in 16th place in the final driver’s standings in a season mired with only 12 recorded points and an average-finishing result of 14.5. Albon, who is coming off his third consecutive season driving for Williams, also recorded the team’s best finish of the season in seventh place, which occurred during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in September.

    Logan Sargeant, the team’s second competitor from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, spent 14 of the first 15-scheduled events competing as a Williams competitor, where he racked up a season-best 11th-place result at Silverstone Circuit in July. Sargeant was then replaced by Franco Colapinto, a Formula 2 competitor for MP Motorsport and a Williams Driver Academy competitor from Pilar, Argentina, prior to September and for the remaining nine-scheduled events. The change for Colapinto occurred as Sargeant had racked up an average-finishing result of 17.1 with no points recorded and was involved in two accidents in Japan and the Netherlands that cost the team financially in damages. During his nine-race stint, Colapinto finished in the top 10 twice and notched a season-best eighth place on the track in Azerbaijan, which was enough to claim 19th place in the driver’s standings with five points.

    In 2025, the organization welcomes Carlos Sainz, a native of Madrid, Spain, who departed Ferrari after four seasons and despite recording his maiden four Grand Prix victories over the previous three seasons, including two this season at Australia in March and at Mexico in October. The pair of victories were enough for Sainz to settle in fifth place in the 2024 driver’s standings with a career-best average-finishing result of 5.7 and career-high stats in points accumulated (290) and podiums (nine). Sainz is set to compete alongside Albon, the latter of whom inked a multi-year contract extension in May to remain at Williams through 2027, as both attempt to contend for the team’s first driver’s and constructor’s titles since 1997. Amid Sainz’s first entrance as a Williams competitor, Colapinto is left without an F1 ride for the 2025 season.

    Kick Sauber

    Rounding out the field is Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber that will feature a complete overhaul of its driver lineup in 2025. This past season, the team featured Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu as its drivers for a third consecutive season. The team’s lone highlight was notching four points during the Qatar Grand Prix that was made by Guanyu, who finished in eighth place. The points accumulated by Guanyu were enough for the Shanghai native to climb up to 20th place in the final driver’s standings. Meanwhile, Bottas, who first joined Kick Saber in 2022 following a seven-year campaign at Mercedes, concluded a season with no points for the first time in his F1 career. With a career-low average-finishing result of 15.8 and finishing no higher than 11th, which occurred at Qatar, Bottas settled in 22nd place in the 2024 driver’s standings.

    In 2025, the team’s driver lineup will consist of Nico Hülkenberg, who departed Haas after two seasons, and Gabriel Bortoleto, the latter of whom achieved both the 2024 Formula 2 championship and the 2023 Formula 3 championship. While Bottas returns to Mercedes as a reserve competitor, Gyanyu is left with uncertainties for next season.

    Like the previous season, the 2025 FIA Formula One World Championship season will feature 24 Grand Prix events that span across 21 countries and five continents in 10 months. The 2025 season commences with the Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne, Australia, that will occur on March 16.

  • Perez capitalizes for first Monaco Grand Prix victory

    Perez capitalizes for first Monaco Grand Prix victory

    In a season filled with trials, challenges and late misfortunes, Sergio “Checo” Perez capitalized through two rain delays and a well-executed pit strategy to earn his redemption after winning the rain-shortened Monaco Grand Prix at Circuit de Monaco on Sunday, May 29.

    The 32-year-old Perez from Guadalajara, Mexico, rolled off the grid in third place and with an intact Red Bull RB18 despite wrecking his car during Saturday’s qualifying session with Carlos Sainz. With the event red-flagged due to steady precipitation, the event commenced under a cautious pace before rolling under way on the third lap. In the early stages of the event, Perez raced in the top five while Leclerc dominated at his home track. 

    Then on Lap 18, Leclerc pitted before Perez pitted on Lap 23. This allowed Perez to cycle his way into the lead ahead of Sainz and Verstappen, who pitted during the same lap as Perez, while Leclerc was mired back in fourth place. Once the event was thrown under caution due to Mick Schumacher wrecking on Lap 27 in the Swimming Pool corner, which ripped the rear end of Schumacher’s Haas VF-22, the field was then brought back to pit road on Lap 30 to give the safety workers time to repair the barriers. 

    Once the event restarted on Lap 33 following another delay, Perez retained the lead ahead of teammate Verstappen and the two Ferraris, including Sainz. By then, the event was placed under a two-hour clock schedule for completion. Despite being challenged by Sainz in the final minutes of the scheduled clock, Perez was able to maintain the advantage and claim the checkered flag on Lap 64, 13 laps shy of the scheduled distance, for the win.

    With the victory, Perez notched his third career win in Formula One, thus becoming the most successful Mexican competitor in F1 competition. He also notched his first victory at Monaco and his first Grand Prix victory since winning at Azerbaijan’s Baku City Circuit in June 2021.

    “It’s a dream come true, as a driver you dream of winning here,” Perez said. “After your home race, there is no more special weekend. With the graining, to not make any mistakes, to keep Carlos behind was not easy. It’s a massive day for myself and my country.”

    “When we saw the rain coming, we knew that it was all important to make sure we delivered the race with no mistake and that was critical today for us as a team, as a group, to deliver the results that we did,” Perez added. “It was just extremely special.”

    Sainz, who made a bold save on Lap 24 and was challenging Perez for his first win in F1 while having issues finding a way to overtake Perez’s Red Bull RB18, finished in second place for the second time of this year, the second time in a row at Monaco and the fourth time of his career. 

    “It was, it was, we did everything we had to, my out-lap stuck behind a lapped car cost me the race win,” Sainz added. “You can understand my frustration, it’s how sport is sometimes. Checo was unlucky in Jeddah, today he drove a great race…I think we did all the right choices.”

    Verstappen backed up his recent victories at Iola, Miami and Spain by finishing in third place for his fifth podium result of the season a year after winning the Monaco Grand Prix, thus placing both Red Bull Racing competitors on the podium.

    “I think today as a team, we did a really good job in terms of executing that strategy,” Verstappen said. “That basically guided Checo [Perez] to the win and got myself on the podium. I’m pleased with that. If you would’ve told me yesterday that I would finish in front of Charles [Leclerc], I would’ve told you you’re crazy. That was an incredible team effort.”

    Leclerc, who led the first 17 laps and was bitter with the pit call, settled in a disappointing fourth place at his home track followed by Mercedes’ George Russell. Lando Norris, who set the fastest lap of the event, came home in sixth place followed by Fernando Alonso, Sir Lewis Hamilton, Vallteri Bottas and Sebastian Vettel.

    The first competitor to finish outside of the top-10 points-paying results was Pierre Gasly followed by Esteban Ocon, who crossed the finish line in ninth place but was given a five-second time penalty due to an on-track collision earlier in the event with Hamilton.

    Daniel Ricciardo settled in 13th followed by Lance Stroll, Nicholas Latifi and Guanyu Zhou while Yuki Tsunoda fell back to 17th after he went off the track twice in the closing minutes of the event. Alexander Albon retired in 18th place due to a mechanical issue.

    Following his vicious wreck on Lap 27, Mick Schumacher ended up in 19th place while teammate Kevin Magnussen retired due to a reliability issue.

    Results:

    1. Sergio Perez, 25 points

    2. Carlos Sainz, 18 points

    3. Max Verstappen, 15 points

    4. Charles Leclerc, 12 points

    5. George Russell, 10 points

    6. Lando Norris, nine points

    7. Fernando Alonso, six points

    8. Lewis Hamilton, four points

    9. Valtteri Bottas, two points

    10. Sebastian Vettel, one point

    11. Pierre Gasly

    12. Esteban Ocon

    13. Daniel Ricciardo

    14. Lance Stroll

    15. Nicholas Latifi, +1 lap

    16. Guanyu Zhou, +1 lap

    17. Yuki Tsunoda, +1 lap

    18. Alexander Albon – OUT, Retired

    19. Mick Schumacher – OUT, Retired

    20. Kevin Magnussen – OUT, Retired

    With his third-place result, Max Verstappen continues to lead the driver’s standings by nine points over Charles Leclerc, 15 over teammate Sergio Perez, 41 over George Russell, 42 over Carlos Sainz, 75 over Sir Lewis Hamilton and 77 over Lando Norris. 

    In addition, Red Bull Racing RBPT continues to lead the constructors’ standings by 36 points over Ferrari, 101 over Mercedes, 176 over McLaren Mercedes, 194 over Alfa Romeo Ferrari and 195 over Alpine Renault.

    Next on the 2022 Formula One schedule is Baku City Circuit for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, which will occur on June 12.

  • Verstappen assumes championship lead with Spanish Grand Prix victory

    Verstappen assumes championship lead with Spanish Grand Prix victory

    Making another emphatic statement in his quest to defend his world championship, Max Verstappen completed a late overtake on teammate Sergio “Checo” Perez before sprinting away to win the Spanish Grand Prix at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on Sunday, May 22.

    The 24-year-old Dutchman driving for Oracle Red Bull Racing rallied from a rocky start early in the event, where he got loose and slipped into the gravel trap in Turn 4 while running in second place on the ninth lap. Through pit strategy, Verstappen, who led seven laps midway into the event, spent the majority of the event battling against Mercedes’ George Russell and teammate Sergio “Checo” Perez towards the front. After making his final pit stop on Lap 45 to remain ahead of Russell in the runner-up spot behind Perez, the latter, under team orders, was told to let his teammate overtake him, which he did on Lap 49. From there, Verstappen, who led a total of 24 of 66 laps, muscled away to claim the victory by more than 13 seconds over teammate Perez.

    The victory at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya marked Verstappen’s second career win in the Spanish Grand Prix since 2016, where he claimed his maiden F1 victory in his first event driving for Red Bull Racing. It also marked his fourth victory of the season and the 24th of his Grand Prix career. With initial points leader Charles Leclerc retiring in last place due to a turbo issue, Verstappen emerged with the lead in the drivers’ championship standings for the first time this season.

    “It was a tricky one,” Verstappen said. “I don’t know why I went off on Turn 4. I braked at the same point and suddenly, I just completely lost the rear [tyres]…Nothing, really, was lost because I was fighting with George [Russell]. My DRS stopped working. That was very frustrating at the time. I was very upset, but at that point, you have to try to live with it. I tried to do the best I could. We opted to go with a different route with the strategy and I think that also made us win today because once I was in clean air, I could do my own lap times again and I could actually pull a big gap on the cars around me. That was very positive. We have to be realistic. Without Charles’ retirement, he probably would have won the race. We are lacking in bit of pace, so we have to make that we keep on working to try and improve the car.”

    Despite expressing his frustration over the team’s order to, Perez, who pitted for a final time for soft tyres on Lap 54, managed to claim an extra bonus point for logging in the fastest lap of the event as he finished in second place for the third time this season. With that, Oracle Red Bull Racing managed to claim its second 1-2 finish of the season.

    “It’s a difficult one to digest,” Perez, who led 12 laps, said. “It turned out to be that the three stop [strategy] was a better strategy. I think I didn’t have a very optimize two stop [strategy]. At the end of the day, it’s a great team result…I’m definitely here to win. I think if I was on the three stop [strategy], I should have won the race.”

    After spending the majority of the event battling against Verstappen, George Russell, who led four laps, completed the podium in third place for his second podium result in his first campaign with Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team

    “We’re not back just yet, but we’re definitely on the right path,” Russell said. “It’s been six races worth of problem solving. We finally found the solutions to our problems and now, we can focus on brining more performance. This is the start of our season. I don’t think we’ll make any major strides for next week, but I think we will do in the coming races.”

    Carlos Sainz rallied from spinning on the seventh lap to come home in fourth place in front of Sir Lewis Hamilton, who backed out of the throttle due to late overheating issues.

    Valtteri Bottas finished in sixth place for his fifth points-paying result in his first campaign with Alfa Romeo F1 Team Orlen followed by Esteban Ocon, Lando Norris, Fernando Alonso and Yuki Tsunoda.

    The first competitor to finish outside of the top-10 points-paying results was Sebastian Vettel followed by Daniel Ricciardo, Pierre Gasly, Mick Schumacher and Lance Stroll.

    Nicholas Latifi settled in 16th place, two laps behind the leaders, followed by Kevin Magnussen, whose strong start in the top 10 was spoiled by an opening lap collision with Hamilton that damaged his Haas VF-22. Alexander Albon, Latifi’s teammate at Williams Racing, ended up in 18th place after being hit with a five-second track limits penalty.

    Rookie Guanyu Zhou suffered his second consecutive DNF of the season after retiring in 19th place nearing the halfway mark of the event.

    Charles Leclerc, the championship leader who started on pole position, led the first 26 laps before falling off the pace and retiring in last place due to a turbo issue to his Ferrari F1-75.

    Results:

    1. Max Verstappen, 25 points

    2. Sergio Perez, 19 points

    3. George Russell, 15 points

    4. Carlos Sainz, 12 points

    5. Lewis Hamilton, 10 points

    6. Valtteri Bottas, eight points

    7. Esteban Ocon, six points

    8. Lando Norris, four points

    9. Fernando Alonso, two points, +1 lap

    10. Yuki Tsunoda, one point, +1 lap

    11. Sebastian Vettel, +1 lap

    12. Daniel Ricciardo, +1 lap

    13. Pierre Gasly, +1 lap

    14. Mick Schumacher, +1 lap

    15. Lance Stroll, +1 lap

    16. Nicholas Latifi, +2 laps

    17. Kevin Magnussen, +2 laps

    18. Alexander Albon, +2 laps

    19. Guanyu Zhou – OUT, Retired

    20. Charles Leclerc – OUT, Retired, 26 laps led

    With his victory, Max Verstappen leads the drivers’ standings by six points over Charles Leclerc, 25 over teammate Sergio Perez, 36 over George Russell, 45 over Carlos Sainz and 64 over Sir Lewis Hamilton. 

    Currently, Red Bull Racing RBPT leads the constructors’ standings by 26 points over Ferrari, 75 over Mercedes, 145 over McLaren Mercedes, 156 over Alfa Romeo Ferrari and 161 over Alpine Renault.

    Next on the 2022 Formula One schedule is Circuit de Monaco for the Monaco Grand Prix, which will occur on May 29.

  • Verstappen fends off Leclerc to win inaugural Miami Grand Prix

    Verstappen fends off Leclerc to win inaugural Miami Grand Prix

    Max Verstappen took another swing towards Charles Leclerc’s advantage in the drivers’ standings after fending off Leclerc during an 11-lap shootout to win the inaugural Miami Grand Prix at Miami International Autodrome on Sunday, May 8.

    The 24-year-old Dutchman, who qualified in third place behind Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, muscled his Red Bull Racing RB18 past Leclerc’s Ferrari F1-75 for the lead on Lap 9 of 57. From there, he made a one-stop pit strategy on Lap 26 work to his advantage as he led the remainder of the event. Despite the field being bunched for an 11-lap shootout following a Lap 41 on-track incident involving Pierre Gasly and Lando Norris, Verstappen managed to fend off Leclerc around the newly-designed 19-turn circuit around Hard Rock Stadium to etch his name as the first Formula One winner in Miami.

    The Miami victory marked Verstappen’s second consecutive victory in recent weeks after winning the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola Circuit in late April. It also marked his second F1 victory in the United States after he won the United States Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, last October. By winning for the third time in 2022 and for the 23rd time of his Grand Prix career, Verstappen, driving for Red Bull Racing, trails Leclerc and Ferrari by 15 points in the drivers’ standings in his pursuit to defend his world championship.

    “It was an incredible Grand Prix,” Verstappen said. “Very physical as well, but I think we kept it exciting until the end. I’m incredibly happy with winning here at Miami. It was an incredible Sunday for us. A race like this is incredibly satisfying. I really think we had good pace on the medium tyre. That basically made the race because that’s where I opened up my gap because once we got on the hard tyres, we were very evenly matched. We were always trading lap times. Of course, I was not very happy that the safety car came out, but of course, these things happen at the end. You cannot do anything about it…It’s been really good. We’re closing the gap [in the championship standings]. Just a shame of our retirements [at Bahrain and Australia]. I could’ve been a lot better already in the championship, but we’ll keep hunting.”

    Leclerc, who qualified on pole position on Saturday and led the first nine events of the event, settled in second place for the second time this season.

    “It was a very difficult race physically,” Leclerc said. “We struggled quite a bit with the medium tyres, especially in the first stint and got overtaken. [Verstappen] made our race a bit more difficult from that moment onwards. On the hard [tyres], we were very competitive and towards the end, I thought I could get Max at one point, but today, they had the advantage in terms of pace. It was fun…We need to keep pushing. Upgrades will be very important throughout the year and I hope now we can do a step up from next race onwards. It’s been tight since the beginning of the season and that’s what we like to see.”

    Meanwhile, Carlos Sainz rallied from sustaining back-to-back DNFs during the previous two Grand Prix events and from wrecking during Friday’s practice session by fending off Sergio “Checo” Perez for third place as he grabbed his third podium result of the season and the ninth of his career. Sainz’s result marked the third time this season where both Ferrari competitors stood on the podium at the conclusion of a Grand Prix event. Perez, who dealt with power issues throughout the event and who locked up his tyres on Lap 52 while trying to pass Sainz, settled in fourth place.

    “I had to manage it and I fought through it, especially with Checo [Perez] at the end on the medium tyre,” Sainz said. “It was very difficult to get behind, but we managed to keep the podium, which is a decent result. It wasn’t easy at all. It’s been a tough race with the tyres. The car was sliding a lot. At the end, we got what we deserved. We just had a decent P3 and we can built it up from here. I want more, but it’s not bad.”

    Finishing behind both Red Bull and Ferrari competitors were the Mercedes’ competitors of George Russell and Sir Lewis Hamilton, with Russell extending his string of top-five results through the first five scheduled Grand Prix events and in his first full-time season with the Silver Arrow team. Russell’s top-five result occurred after he managed to overtake teammate Hamilton on Lap 54.

    Valtteri Bottas, who was running in the top five throughout the event until he went wide in Turn 17, fell back to seventh place for his fourth result in the points as an Alfa Romeo competitor through the first five events. Alpine’s Fernando Alonso crossed the finish line in eighth place, but was penalized five seconds for making late contact with Pierre Gasly as he was demoted to 10th place. This elevated teammate Esteban Ocon, who also rallied from wrecking during Friday’s practice session and starting at the rear of the field when he did not post a qualifying time on Saturday, to eighth place. Meanwhile, Alexander Albon benefitted from the late 11-lap shootout and a series of carnages ensuing around him to finish in ninth place and collect a couple of points for Williams Racing.

    The first competitor who finished outside of the top-10 points-paying results was McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo followed by Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll, AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda and Williams Racing’s Nicholas Latifi.

    Mick Schumacher, who was in position to record his first points of the season during the 10-lap shootout, fell back to 15th place after making late contact against Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel, which sent Vettel airborne while Schumacher damaged the front wing of his Haas VF-22. Vettel, who started the event in pit lane along with teammate Lance Stroll due to fuel temperature issues, retired in 17th place.

    Kevin Magnussen, Schumacher’s teammate at Haas who was running outside of the top 10 in the closing laps, retired in 16th place on the final lap after making late on-track contact with Stroll.

    Lando Norris retired in 19th place after spinning and making contact with the barriers between Turns 8 and 9 following contact with Gasly’s AlphaTauri AT03 on Lap 40, which punctured Norris’ right-rear tyre drew a safety car on the track. Meanwhile, Gasly would also retire in 18th place prior to the 11-lap shootout and following his share of on-track contacts.

    Rookie Guanyu Zhou retired in 20th place, dead last, due to an early technical issue to his Alfa Romeo C42.

    Results:

    1. Max Verstappen, 26 points

    2. Charles Leclerc, 18 points

    3. Carlos Sainz, 15 points

    4. Sergio Perez, 12 points

    5. George Russell, 10 points

    6. Lewis Hamilton, eight points

    7. Valtteri Bottas, six points

    8. Esteban Ocon, four points

    9. Alexander Albon, two points

    10. Fernando Alonso, one point

    11. Daniel Ricciardo

    12. Lance Stroll

    13. Yuki Tsunoda

    14. Nicholas Latifi

    15. Mick Schumacher

    16. Kevin Magnussen, +1 lap

    17. Sebastian Vettel, +3 laps

    18. Pierre Gasly – Retired

    19. Lando Norris – Retired

    20. Guanyu Zhou – Retired

    With his runner-up result, Charles Leclerc continues to lead the drivers’ standings by 19 points over Max Verstappen, 38 over Sergio Perez, 45 over George Russell, 51 over Carlos Sainz and 68 over Lewis Hamilton.

    In addition, Ferrari continues to lead the constructors’ standings by six points over Red Bull Racing RBPT, 62 over Mercedes, 111 over McLaren Mercedes, 126 over Alfa Romeo Ferrari and 129 over Alpine Renault.

    Next on the 2022 Formula One schedule is Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya for the Spanish Grand Prix, which will occur on May 22.

  • Verstappen seals a dominant 1-2 victory for Red Bull Racing in the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix

    Verstappen seals a dominant 1-2 victory for Red Bull Racing in the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix

    Following his late retirement in Melbourne, Max Verstappen responded back with vengeance once again after grabbing a dominating victory in the third annual running of the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola Circuit on Sunday, April 24.

    The 24-year-old Dutchman started the weekend by taking care of business by winning the spring qualifying event on Saturday and claiming the pole position over points leader Charles Leclerc. From there, Verstappen outlasted the wet conditions to lead all 63 laps and claim the checkered flag by more than 16 seconds over teammate Sergio “Checo” Perez, thus sealing a 1-2 victory for Oracle Red Bull Racing. 

    The victory at Imola marked Verstappen’s second consecutive win at the circuit, the second of the 2022 season and the 22nd career victory for the Dutchman in his early quest to defend his world championship. By earning a total of 34 points for winning his sprint qualifying event and the overall event, Verstappen now trails points leader Charles Leclerc by 27 points.

    “Coming into the weekend, of course, I didn’t expect something like this,” Verstappen said. “As a team, I think we executed everything very well. That’s always hard to do. Yeah, very pleased. Of course, to score the maximum amount of points. Also had the whole race win from the start. To the right calls with the tyres and also one-two [finish] at the end. Super happy. A lot of points scored. We also needed the points, so we looked like we were a bit more back on track. We have to try and keep this going…We can enjoy this Sunday for now.”

    The runner-up result for Perez marked his second consecutive runner-up result and podium result of the season as he now trails the lead in the drivers’ standings by 32 points.

    “It was a good result,” Perez said. “I think the rule number one of this conditions is to finish. It was so easy to make a mistake throughout the race. Going into the slick tyre, the warm-up phase and so on. That was going to be difficult, but it was great to get that victory [for Red Bull]…I think, given the start of the season we’ve had, it’s a great result for everyone back home.”

    Meanwhile, Lando Norris benefitted from a late spin involving points leader Charles Leclerc to snatch the final podium result by finishing in third place. The result marked the second consecutive season where Norris achieved a podium result at Imola as he also achieved the first F1 podium result of the season for the McLaren F1 Team. 

    “I think we won a lot in the start,” Norris said. “I had a perfect start, honestly. Probably the best one I’ve had in the wet. That put me ahead of the carnage. We won a lot in the beginning and we just had really good pace throughout. Not as amazing as the guys ahead, but I just managed it like I needed to do ahead of George [Russell] and that’s the way I needed to do. It was good. Fourth would’ve been amazing, but to be P3, to make the most of Charles’ mistake was just the icing on the cake on the pretty amazing weekend we’ve had so far. Super happy.”

    George Russell came home in fourth place followed by Valtteri Bottas, who notched his first top-five result with Alfa Romeo Racing. 

    Charles Leclerc, who was poised for a podium spot until he spun on Lap 53, settled for sixth place while Yuki Tsunoda, Sebastian Vettel, Kevin Magnussen and Lance Stroll finished in the top 10. The top-10 results for Vettel and Stroll recorded the first five points of the season for Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team.

    Alexander Albon settled in 11th followed by Pierre Gasly and Sir Lewis Hamilton, who qualified 14th and was never in contention for the win. Esteban Ocon and rookie Guanyu Zhou finished in the top 15 while Mick Schumacher and Daniel Ricciardo were the last two competitors to finish.

    Fernando Alonso retired in 19th place due to a sidepod damage to his Alpine A522. 

    Carlos Sainz Jr., coming off a two-year contract extension with Ferrari, ended up in 20th place, dead last, for a second consecutive event after being involved in an opening lap collision with Ricciardo.

    Results:

    1. Max Verstappen, 34 points

    2. Sergio Perez, 24 points

    3. Lando Norris, 19 points

    4. George Russell, 12 points

    5. Valtteri Bottas, 12 points

    6. Charles Leclerc, 15 points

    7. Yuki Tsunoda, six points

    8. Sebastian Vettel, four points

    9. Kevin Magnussen, three points

    10. Lance Stroll, +1 lap, one point

    11. Alexander Albon, +1 lap

    12. Pierre Gasly, +1 lap

    13. Lewis Hamilton, +1 lap

    14. Esteban Ocon, +1 lap

    15. Guanyu Zhou, +1 lap

    16. Nicholas Latifi, +1 lap

    17. Mick Schumacher, +1 lap

    18. Daniel Ricciardo, +1 lap, three points

    19. Fernando Alonso – Retired

    20. Carlos Sainz Jr. – Retired, five points

    Despite finishing in sixth place, Charles Leclerc continues to lead the drivers’ standings by 27 points over Max Verstappen, 32 over Sergio Perez, 37 over George Russell, 48 over Carlos Sainz Jr. and 51 over Lando Norris. 

    In addition, Ferrari continues to lead the constructors’ standings by 11 points over Red Bull Racing RBPT, 47 over Mercedes, 78 over McLaren Mercedes, 99 over Alfa Romeo Ferrari and 102 over Alpine Renault.

    Next on the 2022 Formula One schedule is the inaugural running of the Miami Grand Prix at Miami International Autodrome in Miami Gardens, Florida, which will occur on May 8.

  • Leclerc dominates for second F1 victory of 2022 in the Australian Grand Prix

    Leclerc dominates for second F1 victory of 2022 in the Australian Grand Prix

    Charles Leclerc made another statement in his bid to win the 2022 FIA Formula One World Championship after grabbing a dominant victory in the Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park Circuit on Sunday, April 10, from pole position. 

    The 24-year-old Monegasque dominated from pole position despite being pressured by Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen from the start. When Verstappen fell out of the event due to a late mechanical issue, the race was all but wrapped up for Leclerc, who proceeded, defended his top spot through a number of safety car periods and cruised to the win over his rivals while also establishing the fastest lap of the event, thus claiming a single bonus point with the victory.

    The Australia victory marked Leclerc’s fourth Grand Prix career win in his 83rd F1 start and the second of the season as he extended his championship lead in the drivers’ standings from 12 to 34.

    “In Formula One, it’s the first [race] where we control a little bit the gap,” Leclerc said. “What a car today. I did a great job all weekend, but it was not possible without the car. This weekend, especially the race pace, we were extremely strong. The tyres felt great from the first lap to the last lap. We were managing the tyre really well. I’m just so happy. Incredible to win here. We are only at the third race, so it is difficult to think about the championship but we have a very strong car, a reliable car too. For now, we’ve always been there. Hopefully, it continues like this. If it does, we probably have chances for the championship. It’s great to be back in this position.

    Finishing in second place and more than 20 seconds behind Leclerc was Sergio “Checo” Perez, who notched his maiden podium result of the season after having potential podium results in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia evaporated.

    “[The start] was a bit tricky,” Perez said. “Getting my position, Lewis overtook me on the inside, he braked really late and had a really good Turn 1. My first stint was very poor in terms of degradation. We struggled quite a lot, but the hard, the Safety Car – we were unlucky where he lost two positions, which we recovered late there. It was a great result…Looking forward, we’ve been a bit unlucky the first two races.” 

    Settling in the third and final podium spot was George Russell, who fended off teammate Sir Lewis Hamilton to claim his second career podium result and first while driving for the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team.

    “We got to be in it to win it,” Russell said. “[We] Capitalized from other’s misfortunes. We got a little bit lucky today twice, but we’ll take it. There’s so much hard work going on to get us back to the front. To be standing on the podium, it’s special. We are never going to give up. We got to keep on fighting. We were a long way behind and yet here we are, on the podium. I think it’s gonna take some time until we can fight with these boys in red [Ferrari] and blue [Red Bull].  They look pretty exceptional at the moment, but it anyone can [fight them], Mercedes can.”

    McLaren’s Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo came home in fifth and sixth followed by Alpine’s Esteban Ocon. AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly settled in eighth place followed by Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas and William Racing’s Alexander Albon, who pitted for fresh tyres on the final lap to retain 10th place for a full circuit and record the first point of the season for himself and for Williams Racing.

    The first competitor to finish outside of the points was rookie Guanyu Zhou followed by Lance Stroll, who received a five-second time penalty for weaving earlier on the track to remain ahead of Bottas. Haas teammates Mick Schumacher and Kevin Magnussen finished 13th and 14th, leaving Haas with no recorded points for the day, followed by AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda. Nicholas Latifi, the second driver for Williams Racing, finished 16th followed by Fernando Alonso, whose opportunity to finish in the points evaporated late after he pitted for fresh tyres while being shuffled towards the rear of the field, an issue that also affected Magnussen’s run in the top 10.

    Following a dramatic victory in Saudi Arabia in late March, Max Verstappen suffered his second DNF through the first three scheduled events of 2022 after retiring on Lap 39 due to the engine on his RB18 catching on fire, where he was forced to park in Turn 2.

    Sebastian Vettel, who was making his first start of the 2022 season after being sidelined for the first two events due to COVID-19, retired on Lap 24 after he got loose and spun in Turn 4 before making contact with the wall and ripping off the front wing of his Aston Martin AMR22

    Coming off back-to-back podiums, Carlos Sainz Jr. retired in 20th place, dead last, after he lost his Ferrari F1-75 in Turn 9 on the second lap, where he then cut across the grass, slid off into the gravel and got stuck in the gravel as he was unable to continue despite being dodged by the field.

    Results:

    1. Charles Leclerc, 26 points

    2. Sergio Perez, 18 points

    3. George Russell, 15 points

    4. Lewis Hamilton, 12 points

    5. Lando Norris, 10 points

    6. Daniel Ricciardo, eight points

    7. Esteban Ocon, six points

    8. Valtteri Bottas, four points

    9. Pierre Gasly, two points

    10. Alexander Albon, one point

    11. Guanyu Zhou

    12. Lance Stroll

    13. Mick Schumacher, +1

    14. Kevin Magnussen, +1

    15. Yuki Tsunoda, +1

    16. Nicholas Latifi, +1

    17. Fernando Alonso, +1

    18. Max Verstappen – Retired

    19. Sebastian Vettel – Retired

    20. Carlos Sainz – Retired

    Following the third event of the 2022 F1 season, Charles Leclerc continues to lead the drivers’ standings by 34 points over George Russell, 38 over Carlos Sainz Jr., 41 over Sergio Perez, 43 over Lewis Hamilton and 46 points over Max Verstappen.

    In addition, Ferrari continues to lead the constructors’ standings by 39 points over Mercedes, 49 over Red Bull Racing RBPT, 80 over McLaren Mercedes and 82 over Alpine Renault.

    Next on the 2022 Formula One schedule is Imola Circuit for the third annual Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, which will occur on April 24.

  • Verstappen strikes back with a late victory in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

    Verstappen strikes back with a late victory in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

    Following a late mechanical retirement in the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix in Sakhir, Max Verstappen and Red Bull Racing struck back with vengeance and an early championship statement after claiming a late victory in the second annual Saudi Arabian Grand Prix at Jeddah Corniche Circuit on Sunday, March 27.

    The reigning Formula One champion, who qualified in fourth place and raced towards the front for the entire event, battled and overtook Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc on Lap 46 of 50 before proceeding to fend off the Monégasque over the final five laps to win by half a second under a safety car virtual caution and claim the first victory of the 2022 season for the Dutchman and Red Bull Racing.

    The victory was Verstappen’s 21st overall in Formula One competition and the first since winning the 2021 season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at Yas Marina Circuit, where he claimed his maiden F1 title.

    “[The battle] was a tough one,” Verstappen said. “It’s not easy, especially in the beginning. To follow was quite difficult. It was very easy to open up the tyre and then you have no performance anymore, but I think once we swapped to the hard tyre, it went well. I think we played the long game on the tyres, especially after the last VSC [Virtual Safety Car period]. We had good tyre grip. We could make the most from that. Yeah, tough battle. I really enjoyed it with Charles. It’s not easy to get past him. At the end, we did it. We can be very proud. I’m sure [me and Perez] have plenty of races to make up for that. Patience is always key, especially when you want to fight for the championship. You have to fight hard, but of course, I think you need to score some good points. That’s what we did today. We raced hard, but of course, we also want to score the points. ”

    “Great racing between all the drivers, but particularly, Max and Charles again,” Christian Horner, Team Principal of Red Bull Racing, added. “They did it last week in Bahrain. This weekend, more overtaking, more great close racing. A great motor race. You can see that they’re both great racers. That was absolute quality from two of the best guys out there. It was an enjoyable race. These cars, it does feel like you can follow a bit closer. The overtaking is a bit more possible. Max, he just played it cool, he waited for his moment and then, he struck and he made it stick. The season is very long. We need to be consistent. Today maybe, Red Bull was a tiny bit stronger, but we brought both cars home in good places. Good points for the team.”

    Leclerc, who notched a dominant victory at Bahrain a week ago, settled in second place after leading a race-high 30 of 50 laps. Despite falling one position short of the victory, Leclerc continues to lead the drivers’ standings over teammate Carlos Sainz Jr., who grabbed his second consecutive podium result in third place.

    “I really enjoyed [the battle with Verstappen], but obviously, disappointed with a second place,” Leclerc said. “We’ve been leading for the big part of the race and then to lose the lead at the end, it’s a shame, but it’s like this. We took a bit of a different approach this weekend with a bit more downforce compared to Max and Red Bull in general. It was extremely difficult for me to defend with the straight line speed they had. It’s like this, but it’s the way it is and now we need to keep working and hopefully, do a step forward in Melbourne.”

    Meanwhile, Sainz settled in third place for his eighth career podium in F1 competition as he was eight seconds behind the two leaders.

    “[It was] A better feeling with the car than in Bahrain,” Sainz said. “I think I did a step forward in the right direction. I also know exactly where I’m lacking and where I need to improve with the car. Apart from that, I think we are gonna get there. While I’m not feeling 100%, I’m still getting good points, finishing in the podiums. It’s coming. As soon as I put a car a bit more to my liking and I adapt a bit to my driving, I think [a win] will come and we are gonna be in a strong place.”

    Perez, who became the first Mexican competitor to start on pole position after claiming the top qualifying spot on Saturday and who led the first 14 laps before losing the lead during the first virtual safety car period for Latifi’s accident, settled in a disappointing fourth place with a potential podium and victory evaporating from his grasp while George Russell claimed his second consecutive top-five result of the season in fifth place.

    Esteban Ocon claimed sixth place in front of Lando Norris, who managed to secure the first points of the season for the McLaren F1 Team. Pierre Gasly, who finished dead last at Bahrain, came home in eighth place in front of Kevin Magnussen, who earned points in his first two events since reuniting to Formula One and with Haas.

    Meanwhile, Sir Lewis Hamilton, who qualified in 15th place but methodically carved his way into the top 10, settled in 10th place and collected a single point during the event after making a late pit stop following the second virtual safety car period.

    The first competitor to finish outside of the points was rookie Guanyu Zhou, who received two different penalties during the main event: the first for cutting a corner following an early battle with Albon and the second for failing to serve the penalty while pitting. Nico Hülkenberg, who filled in as an interim competitor for Sebastian Vettel and the Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team, finished 12th. Teammate Lance Stroll ended up in 13th place, the only competitor to finish a lap behind the leaders, after he was involved in a late on-track collision with Alexander Albon, who was unable to finish late in 14th place.

    Valtteri Bottas, Fernando Alonso and Daniel Ricciardo all retired in 15th, 16th and 17th due to mechanical issues along with 18th-place finisher Nicholas Latifi, who wrecked and retired on Lap 16.

    Prior to the event, there were two competitors who did not participate in the Grand Prix. The first was Yuki Tsunoda, who stalled his AlphaTauri during the formation lap and retired due to a suspected drivetrain issue. The second was Mick Schumacher, who was involved in a vicious accident during his qualifying session on Saturday and was flown to a local hospital, where he was evaluated without any serious injuries but resulted with Haas electing to field one car for Magnussen for the main event. 

    Results:

    1. Max Verstappen, 25 points

    2. Charles Leclerc, 19 points

    3. Carlos Sainz Jr., 15 points

    4. Sergio Perez, 12 points

    5. George Russell, 10 points

    6. Esteban Ocon, eight points

    7. Lando Norris, six points

    8. Pierre Gasly, four points

    9. Kevin Magnussen, two points

    10. Lewis Hamilton, one point

    11. Guanyu Zhou

    12. Nico Hülkenberg

    13. Lance Stroll, +1 lap

    14. Alexander Albon – Retired

    15. Valtteri Bottas – Retired

    16. Fernando Alonso – Retired

    17. Daniel Ricciardo – Retired

    18. Nicholas Latifi – Retired

    19. Yuki Tsunoda – Retired

    Following the second event of the 2022 F1 season, Charles Leclerc continues to lead the drivers’ standings by 12 points over teammate Carlos Sainz Jr., 20 over Max Verstappen, 23 over George Russell, 29 over Lewis Hamilton and 31 over Esteban Ocon. 

    Ferrari continues to lead the constructors’ standings by 40 points over Mercedes, 39 over Red Bull Racing RBPT, 62 over Alpine Renault and 66 over Haas Ferrari.

    Next on the 2022 Formula One schedule is the return of the Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne, Australia, which will occur on April 10.

  • Leclerc leads a 1-2 finish for Ferrari in 2022 Bahrain Grand Prix

    Leclerc leads a 1-2 finish for Ferrari in 2022 Bahrain Grand Prix

    Charles Leclerc and Ferrari commenced the 2022 FIA Formula One World Championship season with an emphatic statement after both captured a dominant victory in the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix at Bahrain International Circuit on Sunday, March 20.

    The 24-year-old Leclerc from Monte Carlo, Monaco, who qualified on pole position on Saturday, took off with the lead at the start, led all but two of the 57-scheduled laps and benefitted from three strong, strategic pit stops to remain ahead of his front-runners en route to a victory over teammate Carlos Sainz Jr. under caution as Ferrari captured a 1-2 finish to commence their bid for this year’s championship battle. 

    The victory at Bahrian was the third of Leclerc’s Formula One career and first since winning the Italian Grand Prix in September 2019. In addition, Ferrari captured its first Grand Prix victory since the 2019 Singapore Grand Prix in September with Sebastian Vettel.

    “It feel amazing,” Leclerc said. “It really feels amazing. After all the hard work, to do the pole yesterday felt good, but I had to finish the business today and to have a race win, especially with a one, two [finish] for the team, it feels absolutely incredible.”

    “A victory’s always very, very special,” Leclerc added. “I definitely feel much grown as a driver compared to my victory in 2019. Here today, everything felt a bit more under control and it felt nice. Obviously, there were some tense moments on track with Max [Verstappen] after the first stop, with the Safety Car restart after that, but everything was managed well. It’s great.”

    “So happy,” Mattia Binotto, Team Principal of Scuderia Ferrari, added. “I think we’re not expecting or hoping for such a good result at the end. It’s great to be here, to win and finally, a one, two [finish]. I think it has been, overall, a great team effort, great team result. Everyone worked very well. Both drivers did a fantastic race.”

    Behind, Sainz, who qualified in third place, commenced his eighth full-time season in F1 competition by tying his career-best result of second place.

    “I think it’s a great day for the team,” Sainz said. “It’s a massive day. I just need to say congratulations to everyone, to everyone back at the factory because you cannot imagine how much hard work there’s behind these results. These last two years, there’s been a lot of struggles, a lot of suffering and suddenly, to come back with a one, two, it’s something huge for Italy, for Ferrari. Great day. Time to celebrate and then, time to get our heads down and keep going.”

    Rounding out the podium was Sir Lewis Hamilton as the seven-time F1 champion, who never contended for the victory but settled quietly near the top five, settled in third place for his 183rd career podium in Formula One competition.

    “Honestly, I’m generally quite happy with today, given the struggle that we’ve had in the forms we’ve had,” Hamilton said. “I’m positive. I had a pretty decent lap in the end. I’m excited. I know it’s a long, long season. It’s easy to get down when you know that you can’t compete for wins, but just proud of the team. Proud of us all keeping our heads down. I know that this is the best team. We will huddle together, unite and fix whatever problems we have, and be back in the fight with these guys.”

    While Ferrari celebrated their strong start to the season, Red Bull Racing, the reigning champions, were left disappointed after both Max Verstappen and Sergio “Checo” Perez retired late due to late fuel pump issue. Verstappen, the reigning champion, retired on Lap 54 of 57 after he fell off the pace due to his mechanical issues while running in second place, thus retiring in 19th place. Meanwhile, Perez, who had third place locked up on the final lap, spun through the first turn and just in front of Hamilton as he was unable to continue. With his late issues, Perez settled in 18th place as both competitors failed to record points for Red Bull Racing one race into the new season and in their bids to defend the drivers’ championship.

    George Russell, Hamilton’s new full-time Mercedes teammate, came home in fourth place while Kevin Magnussen finished fifth in his return to Formula One competition following a one-year absence, thus scoring the first points for the Haas F1 Team since the Eifel Grand Prix in October 2020 with former F1 competitor Romain Grosjean.

    Valtteri Bottas earned a strong sixth-place result in his first event with Alfa Romeo F1 Team Orlen followed by Esteban Ocon, Yuki Tsunoda and Fernando Alonso. Rookie Guanyu Zhou for Alfa Romeo completed the top-10 points-paying results by capturing his maiden point in F1 with a 10th-place result.

    The first competitor to finish outside of the points was Mick Schumacher, who rallied from an early spin following contact with Ocon, in 11th place followed by Lance Stroll, Alexander Albon, Daniel Ricciardo and Lando Norris. Nicholas Latifi finished 16th while Nico Hülkenberg, who filled in as an interim competitor for Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel after Vettel tested positive for COVID-19, settled in 17th place.

    Pierre Gasly settled in 20th place, dead last, following a late overheating issue to his AlphaTauri-RBPT under the final 15 laps.

    Results:

    1. Charles Leclerc, 26 points, 55 laps led

    2. Carlos Sainz Jr., 18 points, two laps led

    3. Lewis Hamilton, 15 points

    4. George Russell, 12 points

    5. Kevin Magnussen, 10 points

    6. Valtteri Bottas, eight points

    7. Esteban Ocon, six points

    8. Yuki Tsunoda, four points

    9. Fernando Alonso, two points

    10. Guanyu Zhou, one point

    11. Mick Schumacher

    12. Lance Stroll

    13. Alexander Albon

    14. Daniel Ricciardo

    15. Lando Norris

    16. Nicholas Latifi

    17. Nico Hülkenberg

    18. Sergio Perez – Retired

    19. Max Verstappen – Retired

    20. Pierre Gasly – Retired

    Following the first event of the 2022 F1 season, Charles Leclerc leads the drivers’ standings by eight points over teammate Carlos Sainz Jr., 11 over Lewis Hamilton, 14 over George Russell, 16 over Kevin Magnussen and 18 over Valtteri Bottas. 

    In addition, Ferrari leads the constructors’ standings by 17 points over Mercedes, 34 over Haas Ferrari, 35 over Alfa Romeo Ferrari and 36 over Alpine Renault.

    Next on the 2022 Formula One schedule is Jeddah Corniche Circuit for the second running of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, which will occur on Sunday, March 27.

  • Formula One 2021-22 Silly Season Update

    Formula One 2021-22 Silly Season Update

    Thirteen races down and nine remain to a competitive 2021 FIA Formula One World Championship season highlighted with a new financial regulation and budget cap for every team, aerodynamic and technical changes to the current F1 cars, sporting regulations, race weekend and on-track activity changes, calendar and circuit changes amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and a series of on- and off-track, competitive exchanges between two organizations (Mercedes and Red Bull) vying to emerge as champions of 2021.  

    Mixed into the competitive 2021 season are a series of changes pinpointing a number of drivers and teams prior to the 2022 F1 season, with nearly all of the 20 seats on the grid being filled and a majority having guaranteed spots to remain with their current organizations while others are bound to move to a new home for the new season. 

    Here is a rundown of each team and their driver lineup for next season:

    For the first time since 2017, the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team, which entered this season as the reigning championship-winning team and currently leads this year’s constructors’ standings, will feature a new competitor to its two-car roster. That competitor is George Russell, who was named a Mercedes F1 driver for the 2022 season on September 7. Russell, a native from King’s Lynn, Norfolk, England, is currently competing in his third racing season with Williams Racing. Despite being mired back in 15th place in the drivers’ standings, he achieved his maiden podium result after qualifying and finishing second in the rain-shortened Belgian Grand Prix at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in late August. Russell will be a teammate to Sir Lewis Hamilton, the reigning seven-time F1 champion who has won four Grand Prix events this season and is runner-up in the current drivers’ standings. Hamilton, meanwhile, signed a two-year contract extension in early July to remain with Mercedes, a deal spanning to 2023, as he continues to his pursuit for a record-setting eighth Formula One title and 100 Grand Prix victories.

    Russell’s transition to Mercedes means that he will be replacing Valtteri Bottas, a native from Nastola, Finland, who has been competing with the silver arrow team since 2017 and has achieved nine career wins in F1. While he has yet to achieve his first Grand Prix victory of 2021, Bottas is up in third place in the drivers’ standings. The Finnish competitor, though, revealed on September 6 that he will be joining Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen on a multi-year basis, beginning in 2022. Bottas will be replacing Kimi Räikkönen, the 2007 F1 champion who announced his intention to retire from the sport on September 1. Alfa Romeo has yet to announce its full two-car driver lineup for next season, with the status of Antonio Giovinazzi, Alfa Romeo’s current second competitor and a third-year F1 driver from Martina, Italy, unconfirmed. 

    Like Mercedes, the Williams Racing team will feature a new competitor to its organization next season. That competitor is Alexander Albon, a former Red Bull Racing competitor who has competed under the Thai flag, as announced on September 8. Albon made his Formula One debut in 2019 while driving for Toro Rosso, now know as AlphaTauri. Midway into the season, he replaced Pierre Gasly to drive for Red Bull and continued to drive for the team through 2020, where he earned two podium results, before being demoted to the role of reserve and development for Red Bull this season. Albon will be a teammate to Nicholas Latifi, a native from Montreal, Quebec, Canada, who is in his second full-time season in F1 and will remain with Williams for the 2022 season. Latifi is currently in 16th place in the drivers’ standings, one spot behind his current teammate, George Russell, while the Williams team is up in eighth place in the constructors’ standings following four top-10 points-paying results.

    Meanwhile, Red Bull Racing Honda, which is runner-up in the constructors’ standings behind Mercedes, will be retaining its two-driver lineup for the 2022 season. Max Verstappen, the current championship leader who has won seven Grand Prix races this season, including the recent Dutch Grand Prix at Circuit Zandvoort, is guaranteed to be with the team through 2023 while Sergio “Checo” Perez, an 11-year racing veteran who won the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in June, signed a one-year contract extension on August 27 to remain as a Red Bull competitor for another season. Perez is ranked in fifth place in the drivers’ standings.

    Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda, a sister team to Red Bull Racing, will also feature the return of Pierre Gasly and rookie Yuki Tsunoda as the team’s two drivers for 2022, which was confirmed on September 7. Gasly, winner of the 2020 Italian Grand Prix, has achieved a podium result at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in June along with 12 top-10 points-paying results while Tsunoda, the 2018 F4 Japanese champion, a three-time Formula 2 winner and a newcomer to Formula One this season, has finished in the top-10 five times. Gasly is currently in eighth place in the drivers’ standings, five spots ahead of teammate Tsunoda, while AlphaTauri is ranked in sixth place in the constructors’ standings.

    Like the two Red Bull organizations, Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow, which is ranked in third place in the constructors’ standings, will feature no changes to its driver lineup for next season. Charles Leclerc, who has won his maiden two Grand Prix races since joining the historic organization in 2019 and is placed in sixth in the current drivers’ standings, is under contract with Ferrari through 2024 while Carlos Sainz Jr., the newest member of the organization who has achieved four podium results since 2019, is scheduled to retain his Ferrari seat for 2022. Sainz, currently, is a spot behind teammate Leclerc in the standings.

    Another team that will feature no changes to its driver lineup is the McLaren F1 Team, which is ranked in fourth place in the constructors’ standings. Lando Norris, who has achieved four podium results since 2020 and is in fourth place in the drivers’ standings, inked a fresh multi-year contract in May to remain as a McLaren F1 competitor for 2022 and beyond while Daniel Ricciardo, the team’s newest competitor and a seven-time Grand Prix winner, is slated to remain with the organization on a multi-year basis. Ricciardo is ranked in ninth place in the drivers’ standings, five spots behind his teammate, with nine top-10 results.

    Coming off their recent on-track successes, the Alpine F1 Team, which rebranded from Renault and is in fifth place in the constructors’ standings, will also feature no changes to its lineup for the 2022 season. Esteban Ocon, who won his maiden Grand Prix event in Hungary in early August and is 11th in the drivers’ standings, signed a contract extension in mid-June to remain with Alpine through 2024 while Fernando Alonso, a two-time F1 champion who returned to full-time competition following a two-year break, confirmed in late August that he will return to compete with Alpine next season. Alonso is currently a position ahead of teammate Ocon in the standings.

    Despite enduring an up-and-down season, the Aston Martin Cognizant F1 Team, which rebranded from Racing Point and is placed in seventh in the constructors’ standings, is expected to retain Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll as the team’s two drivers for next season. Vettel, a four-time Formula One champion who achieved his first podium result with the team at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in June, is in 12th place in the drivers’ standings, two spots ahead of teammate Stroll, who has achieved six top-10 points-paying results.

    Finally, the Uralkali Haas F1 Team, which sits in the bottom of the constructors’ standings and has yet to score a single point through 13 scheduled Grand Prix events, is also expected to retain its two-driver lineup for the 2022 season. Mick Schumacher, an F1 newcomer and the reigning Formula 2 champion who is the son of seven-time F1 champion, Michael Schumacher, is in a tie at the bottom of the drivers’ standings with his rookie teammate Nikita Mazepin, who finished in fifth place in the 2020 F2 standings with two victories and is the son of Dmitry Mazepin, a Russian businessman who is also the chairman and core shareholder of Uralchem Integrated Chemicals Company.

    With the 2022 Formula One full driver-team lineup yet to be determined, the 2021 F1 season is scheduled to resume at Monza Circuit for the Italian Grand Prix on September 12 followed by Sochi Autodrom for the Russian Grand Prix on September 26.

  • Hamilton achieves eighth victory at Silverstone following early collision with Verstappen

    Hamilton achieves eighth victory at Silverstone following early collision with Verstappen

    Only one victory separates Sir Lewis Hamilton from reaching a major milestone in his Formula One racing career after the reigning seven-time champion snapped a five-race winless drought to win the British Grand Prix at Silverstone Circuit on Sunday, July 18.

    The victory was Hamilton’s fourth of the 2021 F1 season, an all-time eighth victory at Silverstone and the 99th of his career, the most victories all-time in Formula One history.

    Hamilton’s victory, however, did not come without controversy following a first-lap collision between himself and title rival Max Verstappen in the first corner, where contact between the two sent Verstappen’s Red Bull Racing machine spinning and making hard contact against the infield tire barriers, knocking him out of the race and costing the Dutchman a bevy of points in the championship standings. Though he climbed out of his battered car, Verstappen, who retired in 20th place, was transported to a local hospital for further evaluation.

    Following the incident, Hamilton was given a 10-second penalty, which he served on Lap 28 of 52 while pitting. Falling back to fifth, the Stevenage, England, native, who is a hometown hero at Silverstone, was able to methodically work his way back to the podium spots and overtake Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc on Lap 50 to return to the lead. From there, Hamilton pulled away and was able to claim the checkered flag by nearly four seconds over Leclerc.

    With the turn of events and the collision between the two championship contenders, Hamilton, who started the event trailing Verstappen by 33 points, is behind by eight points as he continues his pursuit for an record-setting eighth F1 title.

    “I thought I was gonna have a heart attack, to be honest,” Hamilton, who shared the victory with his home crowd, said. “When I got out of the car, it was very emotional. The whole parade lap with the British flag, really proud moment for me. And the emotions just build up more and more as you come around to the end. And then, you just wanna go and hug everyone…What a beautiful day, what a blessing it is…Hopefully, [the win] brought some joy for England.”

    While addressing the incident with Verstappen, Hamilton withstood his ground and his focus to battle Verstappen and Red Bull Racing to the end for the title.

    “I’m open to [a conversation with Verstappen],” Hamilton said. “I don’t have any issues. I don’t know what really to say. Just game on. We’re just gonna keep on attacking. There needs to be respect on the track and if not, then this [incident] will happen more often. I’ve tried my hardest to stay as clean as possible.

    Verstappen was not available for comment, but Christian Horner, Red Bull Racing’s team principal, expressed his frustration towards Hamilton over the incident.

    “It’s disappointing for a driver that’s won seven world championships to make a desperate error like that,” Horner said. “We’re just lucky today that it didn’t have a worse consequence. I don’t think that Lewis can take any real satisfaction out of that victory today because it was unacceptable what he did to Max.”

    Behind Hamilton, Charles Leclerc, who led a race-high 49 of 52 laps compared to Hamilton’s three and who dealt with engine issues throughout the event, settled in the runner-up spot for his first podium result of the 2021 season and his first since last year’s British Grand Prix. Valtteri Bottas, Hamilton’s teammate, came home in third place for his sixth podium result of this season.

    “I don’t really know how I feel,” Leclerc said. “I’ve got 50 percent of me that is super happy, 50 percent of me that is extremely disappointed to lose the win so close to the end. If you look at the overall picture, coming to the weekend, we did not expect to be fighting for a win. I thought it was over in the first stint when he had those engine cuts…I gave 200 percent of me, and it was very, very close.”

    “We can take positives,” Bottas said. “I think, today, we worked well as a team. We got really good points, especially against Red Bull. So that is good.”

    McLaren’s Lando Norris, who had a slow pit stop on Lap 22, and Daniel Ricciardo finished in fourth and fifth followed by Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz. Fernando Alonso recorded a strong seventh-place result followed by Lance Stroll, Esteban Ocon and rookie Yuki Tsunoda.

    Pierre Gasly settled in 11th, the first competitor outside of the top-10 points-scoring positions, followed by George Williams. Antonio Giovinazzi came home in 13th followed by Nicholas Latifi and Kimi Räikkönen.

    Sergio “Checo” Perez, who started at the rear of the field and made a late pit stop for soft tyres, ended up in 16th followed by Haas drivers Nikita Mazepin and Mick Schumacher. Sebastian Vettel, who spun early, retired in 19th place.

    Results:

    1. Lewis Hamilton, 27 points

    2. Charles Leclerc, 18 points

    3. Valtteri Bottas, 16 points

    4. Lando Norris, 12 points

    5. Daniel Ricciardo, 10 points

    6. Carlos Sainz, eight points

    7. Fernando Alonso, six points

    8. Lance Stroll, four points

    9. Esteban Ocon, two points

    10. Yuki Tsunoda, one point

    11. Pierre Gasly

    12. George Russell, +1 lap

    13. Antonio Giovinazzi, +1 lap

    14. Nicholas Latifi, +1 lap

    15. Kimi Räikkönen, +1 lap

    16. Sergio Perez, +1 lap, one point

    17. Nikita Mazepin, +1 lap

    18. Mick Schumacher, +1 lap

    19. Sebastian Vettel, Retired

    20. Max Verstappen, Retired, three points

    Despite his early incident and exit from the event, Verstappen continues to lead the drivers’ standings by eight points over Hamilton. In addition, Red Bull Racing continues to lead the constructors’ standings by four points over the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team.

    Next on the 2021 Formula One schedule is Hungaroring for the Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday, August 1.