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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.

  • 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.

  • Hamilton scores 100th Grand Prix win in Russia Grand Prix

    Hamilton scores 100th Grand Prix win in Russia Grand Prix

    History was made under a stormy afternoon in Sochi, Russia, after Sir Lewis Hamilton took advantage of Lando Norris’ late race misfortune to lead the final three laps and win the Russian Grand Prix at Sochi Autodrome on Sunday, September 26, for his 100th career win in Formula One.

    Hamilton, who started the weekend by wrecking twice during qualifying session and knocked one of his Mercedes crew members on pit road during the second practice session before lining up in fourth place on the grid, remained competitive throughout the event and methodically worked his way towards the front while Norris dominated in his McLaren.

    While the event started on dry conditions, rain fell on the circuit in the second half of the event and would produce slick conditions on the circuit for the remainder of the event. As Hamilton, who was battling Norris late, pitted for intermediate tyres in the closing laps, Norris elected to remain on the circuit on slick tyres. Then on Lap 51 of 53, Norris slipped and Hamilton capitalized to take the lead. From there, Hamilton was able to power his Mercedes home to the win.

    With his fifth Grand Prix victory of 2021, fifth in Russia and first since winning at Silverstone Circuit in July, Hamilton became the first competitor to reach F1’s winning centurion at 100. In addition, Hamilton extended Mercedes’ winning streak in Russia to eight consecutive seasons.

    Overall, Hamilton, who came into Russia trailing Max Verstappen by five points, leads the drivers’ championship standings by two points as Verstappen settled in second place following a slow start to the weekend.

    “It’s incredible,” Hamilton said. “Firstly, I just have to say a big, big thank you to my team. Without them, even today, fantastic on the pit stops, amazing with strategy and just continuing to not give up in this incredibly tight battle. I was really, really grateful for them just continuing to push. It’s taken a long time just to get that one win [100]. Our competitors are super fast as you can see, but nonetheless, I’m really grateful. I was pushing so hard. I had a difficult day yesterday, so I was like, ‘I’ve got to redeem myself somehow.’ Flat out. It’s a great, great feeling. I’m glad that I brought it home.”

    Norris, who achieved his maiden pole position on Saturday and who led a race-high 30 of 53 laps, settled in seventh after slipping on the wet circuit, pitting twice in the final laps and having a maiden F1 victory slip out of his reach in the final laps.

    “I could have won the race and I didn’t,” Norris, who was emotional but earned the Driver of the Day honors, said. “It’s the way it is, it’s the way it went. I made the decisions I made. They were, obviously, wrong at the end of the day. Tough one, but on the positive side, I guess I got a couple points and [teammate] Daniel [Ricciardo] did a good job as well for the team. It was a decent day.”

    Meanwhile, Verstappen rallied from a rough start of the weekend, where he was penalized three places on the grid for igniting a collision between himself and Hamilton in Italy in mid-September and penalized again after Red Bull Racing exceeded their power units use per season by installing a fourth Honda engine unit to Verstappen’s car ahead of this weekend’s event in Russia. Dropped to the rear of the field, Verstappen methodically worked his way to the front following a midway tyre change from hards to mediums and he ended up in second place for his 11th top-two result of 2021.

    “Super happy to be second,” Verstappen said. “If you would’ve told me this morning that I would come second today, I wouldn’t believe you. Luckily, the call to go from the slicks to inters was the perfect one at the right lap. That gave me the positions and keep the car on the track. Super pleased with this. It could’ve been a lot worse in terms of how many points I would lose. To come away with second here was, for us, very important.”

    Behind, Carlos Sainz Jr., who started on the front row, led 12 laps in his Ferrari before settling in third place and achieving his third podium result of this season.

    “It’s mainly [a] happy [podium result],” Sainz said. “I think as a team, as Ferrari, we need to keep analyzing and keeping seeing what we can do better with tyres, with fuel, top speed, to make sure that the next time a Ferrari’s leading a Grand Prix, we’re not overtaken so easy as it happened today. In general, it was a very strong race.”

    Daniel Ricciardo, winner of the previous Grand Prix event in Italy, finished fourth followed by Valtteri Bottas, who rallied from starting at the rear of the field after his Mercedes team elected to install a new power unit in his car.

    Fernando Alonso finished sixth ahead of Norris while Kimi Räikkönen returned from a two-race absence to settle in eighth. Sergio “Checo” Perez finished ninth and George Russell, who started in the top three, claimed the 10th and final points-paying result on the track.

    Aston Martin teammates Lance Stroll and Sebastian Vettel finished 11th and 12th followed by Pierre Gasly, Esteban Ocon and Charles Leclerc. Antonio Giovinazzi finished 16th while rookies Yuki Tsunoda and Nikita Mazepin ended up 17th and 18th.

    Nicholas Latifi retired in 19th while Mick Schumacher suffered his first retirement of the season due to a hydraulics leak, thus finishing 20th.

    Results.

    1. Lewis Hamilton, 25 points, three laps led

    2. Max Verstappen, 18 points

    3. Carlos Sainz Jr., 15 points, 12 laps led

    4. Daniel Ricciardo, 12 points

    5. Valtteri Bottas, 10 points

    6. Fernando Alonso, eight points

    7. Lando Norris, seven points, 30 laps led

    8. Kimi Räikkönen, four points

    9. Sergio Perez, two points

    10. George Russell, one point

    11. Lance Stroll, +1

    12. Sebastian Vettel, +1

    13. Pierre Gasly, +1

    14. Esteban Ocon, +1

    15. Charles Leclerc, +1

    16. Antonio Giovinazzi, +1 lap

    17. Yuki Tsunoda, +1

    18. Nikita Mazepin, +2 laps

    19. Nicholas Latifi – Retired

    20. Mick Schumacher – Retired

    Following the 15th Grand Prix event of 2021, Lewis Hamilton leads the drivers’ standings by two points over Max Verstappen. On the other hand, the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team continues to lead the constructors’ standings by 33 points over Red Bull Racing and 163 over McLaren.

    Next on the 2021 FIA Formula One World Championship schedule is Istanbul Park for the Turkish Grand Prix on Sunday, October 10.

  • Ricciardo leads a 1-2 victory for McLaren in Italian Grand Prix

    Ricciardo leads a 1-2 victory for McLaren in Italian Grand Prix

    While championship contenders Max Verstappen and Sir Lewis Hamilton were left fuming towards one another with wrecked race cars following a midway collision, Daniel Ricciardo rose to the occasion and snapped winless droughts for himself and the McLaren F1 Team by winning the Italian Grand Prix at Monza Circuit on Sunday, September 12.

    The 32-year-old veteran from Perth, Australia, started the weekend by sharing the front row with former teammate Verstappen following a third-place result in the Italian Grand Prix F1 Sprint that occurred on Saturday, September 11. After leading the first 21 laps, Ricciardo returned to the lead on Lap 27, which he kept for the remainder of the event as he led a 1-2 finish across the line with teammate Lando Norris settling in a career-best runner-up result.

    With his eighth career victory in Formula One and first driving for McLaren, Ricciardo’s Italian win snapped a three-year winless drought that spans back to the 2018 Monaco Grand Prix. In addition, McLaren achieved its first victory in F1 since the 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix and its first 1-2 finish since the 2010 Canadian Grand Prix.

    “It’s definitely been crazy, it’s been a whirlwind, for sure,” Ricciardo said. “Definitely, there’s been days where it’s been the most challenging of my career to date. To come back to this point, to win, this result feels unbelievable. I’m certainly like overwhelmed and I’m on cloud 9 right now, but I’m not surprised. There was something in me that I knew that if we had a chance this week, we were gonna take it, whether a win or a podium. It was time to make the comeback.”

    Teammate Norris, who is still pursuing his first victory in F1, settled in second for his fourth podium result of the season. Still, there was nothing but a beaming smile across the Bristol, England’s face with the team victory.

    “Of course I’m happy,” Norris said. “I’m happy with my result, but [I’m] even happier knowing the fact that Daniel was first and as a team, we had a one-two, which I don’t think we would’ve ever believed coming into this season and even coming into this race. I’m so happy for everyone, for the mechanics, engineers, for [CEO] Zak [Brown] and the owners. It makes the race special. It makes the hard work and the pain worthwhile. When you are rewarded like this weekend and have a result like we did, it makes it so much worthwhile.”

    While the McLaren F1 Team celebrated, Verstappen and Hamilton were left fuming over one another following another on-track incident that resulted with both remaining in a tight draw for the championship battle. 

    The incident occurred on Lap 26 of 53 when Hamilton had just exited pit road and was blending back on the track at full speed. While Norris got by Hamilton, Hamilton then batted dead even with Verstappen through the first turn when Verstappen, who went to the outside of Hamilton’s Mercedes, bumped the curbs while off the course and ended up on top of Hamilton’s car, sending both competitors into the gravel trap and out of the race.

    “We saw that it was gonna be tight into Turn 1,” Verstappen said. “Lewis also realized that, so after the white line, he moved to the left on the braking. I already had to move on to the green side next to the track. Nevertheless, I thought we were gonna have a nice fight into Turn 1 through Turn 2, but as soon as I was next to him, he just kept squeezing me more and more to the left. Unfortunately, he ran me a bit too much out of road and then, I clipped the sausage curb and that’s why we touched.”

    “I was ahead going into the corner and the next thing you know, I guess Max went over the second curb or something like that,” Hamilton said. “He, obviously, knew at that point that he wasn’t going to make the corner and drove into me. The next thing you know, his [car’s] on top of me. Definitely unfortunate. We’ll speak to the stewards after this, for sure.”

    Following the event and the review of the incident, Verstappen was given a three-place penalty for the next scheduled Grand Prix event in Russia by the stewards. Nonetheless, Verstappen retained his lead in the drivers’ standings by five points over Hamilton.

    Behind the McLarens, Sergio “Checo” Perez, Red Bull’s second competitor, crossed the finish line in third place, but he was penalized five seconds for overtaking Charles Leclerc while off the course in the event. As a result, Valtteri Bottas, who won the Italian Grand Prix Sprint qualifying event on Saturday but started Sunday at the rear of the field due to an engine penalty, was promoted to third place as he claimed his eighth podium result of the season.

    Leclerc, driving for Ferrari, finished fourth while Perez fell back to fifth. Carlos Sainz Jr. came home in sixth followed by Lance Stroll, Fernando Alonso, George Russell and Esteban Ocon.

    Finishing outside the top-10 points-paying positions were Nicholas Latifi, Sebastian Vettel, Antonio Giovinazzi, Robert Kubica and Mick Schumacher. Giovinazzi rallied from an opening lap spin while Kubica filled in as an interim competitor for Kimi Räikkönen for a second consecutive Grand Prix event.

    Rookie Nikita Mazepin retired in 16th, just ahead of Hamilton and Verstappen. Pierre Gasly, who claimed his maiden Grand Prix victory at Monza a year ago, could only complete the first couple of corners in the event before retiring after running into the rear of Ricciardo, losing his front wing and going dead straight into the barriers, which knocked him out of the event. Teammate Yuki Tsunoda did not even take the grid or compete in the event due to a mechanical issue, thus placing him in 20th place.

    Results:

    1. Daniel Ricciardo, 27 points, 48 laps led

    2. Lando Norris, 18 points, one lap led

    3. Valtteri Bottas, 18 points

    4. Charles Leclerc, 12 points, one lap led

    5. Sergio Perez, 10 points

    6. Carlos Sainz Jr., eight points

    7. Lance Stroll, six points

    8. Fernando Alonso, four points

    9. George Russell, two points

    10. Esteban Ocon, one point

    11. Nicholas Latifi

    12. Sebastian Vettel

    13. Antonio Giovinazzi

    14. Robert Kubica

    15. Mick Schumacher

    16. Nikita Mazepin – Retired

    17. Lewis Hamilton – Retired, two laps led

    18. Max Verstappen – Retired, two points, one lap led

    19. Pierre Gasly – Retired

    20. Yuki Tsunoda – Did not start

    Following an eventful Italian Grand Prix, Max Verstappen continues to lead the drivers’ standings by five points over Hamilton. With Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas finishing third, two spots ahead of Red Bull’s Sergio Perez, Mercedes continues to lead the constructors’ standings by 18 points over Red Bull Racing with McLaren trailing by 147 points.

    The Formula One competitors will be taking a one-week break before returning to action at Sochi Autodrom for the Russian Grand Prix on Sunday, September 26.

  • 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.

  • Verstappen sweeps Austria, extends championship lead

    Verstappen sweeps Austria, extends championship lead

    The recent momentum and domination for Max Verstappen and Red Bull Racing continued in Spielberg, Austria, after the 23-year-old Dutchman scored his fifth Grand Prix victory of the season in the Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring, the ninth Grand Prix event of the 2021 Formula One season, as he also completed a two-race season sweep at the circuit.

    Verstappen, who started on pole position for the fourth time this season, dominated the second Austrian Grand Prix event of the season as he led all 71 laps, a similar feat he made when he won last weekend’s Styrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring. With a huge advantage over the field, he even made a pit stop with 10 laps remaining for four fresh tyres, which allowed him to pull away from runner-up finisher Valtteri Bottas and establish the fastest lap of the event before claiming the checkered flag.

    With his 15th career victory in Formula One, third in a row in recent weeks after winning the French and Styrian Grand Prix events, Verstappen extended his lead in the drivers’ championship standings to 32 over Sir Lewis Hamilton.

    “Yeah, it was really, really good today,” Verstappen said. “I expected it to be good, but not this good. Really, really happy with how the whole race went. You don’t get these races often. You have to take it and enjoy it. When you feel good in the car, you have a good balance and [the crew does] not mention your lap times, which is exactly what you want, and that’s why we could extend our gap like this.”

    “[Verstappen] was in a league of his own these last two weekends,” Christian Horner, Red Bull Racing’s team principal, said. “I think he’s pretty much led every single lap that we’ve done here. A phenomenal performance by him and the team, and extending both leads in the drivers’ and constructors’ championships. I think [Verstappen]’s just taking things session by session, race by race. He’s not letting his concentration drift. We’ve had a phenomenal start, we’ve built some great momentum and we’ve got to carry that on, but there are some big races coming up.”

    Behind Verstappen, Valtteri Bottas notched a strong runner-up result for his fifth podium result of the season while Lando Norris, who started on the front row, came home in third place for his third podium result of this season, fourth of his career and second in Austria. The podium result for Norris occurred after he rallied from a five-second penalty for forcing Sergio “Checo” Perez off the course and into the gravel.

    “I think it was a strong race,” Bottas said. “Definitely, starting fifth and ending up second was the maximum today we could get. We need to keep working. We have two weeks to try and find more pace, but also, we have some upgrades planned for Silverstone, so hopefully, they will help. Hopefully, we can carry this good momentum. I just try to look ahead.”

    “Whether or not, we can keep this up at every race track,” Norris said. “This is one of the tracks we’ve done well every single year, qualifying and the race. It’s always been one of our best circuits of the season, so I think the main thing is we don’t get too complacent and think this is where we are now because just last weekend, where we didn’t have two weeks to nail everything, the car wasn’t good enough, so yeah, we had a great day today and we’ve been fast all weekend, but I don’t expect to be like this every single weekend throughout the rest of the season. I think there’s gonna be much tougher again and not so much glory, so we’ll see.

    Meanwhile, Sir Lewis Hamilton, fresh off a two-year contract extension with the Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team, ended up in fourth place after slipping in the final laps due to sustaining aerodynamic damage from running over the curbs.

    Behind, Sergio “Checo” Perez, coming off a podium result in France and a fourth-place result in Styria, finished in fifth. Perez, however, was hit with a pair of time penalties as a result of forcing Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc off the course and into the gravel on two separate occasions. As a result, Carlos Sainz, who crossed the finish line in sixth, was promoted to fifth place while Perez was penalized to sixth place.

    Daniel Ricciardo rallied from a 13th-place result last weekend during the Styrian Grand Prix to finish in seventh while Charles Leclerc, Pierre Gasly and Fernando Alonso rounded out the top-10 points-finishing positions.

    George Russell, who was battling Alonso for the final points-finishing result, settled in 11th as he has yet to record the first points of the season for himself and the Williams Racing team. Rookie Yuki Tsunoda settled in 12th followed by Lance Stroll, Antonio Giovinazzi and Nicholas Latifi.

    Kimi Räikkönen and Sebastian Vettel ended up in 16th and 17th after both collided and wrecked on the final lap while Haas F1 drivers, Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin, settled in 18th and 19th.

    Esteban Ocon ended his race in 20th, last place, following an opening lap incident with Giovinazzi and picking up damage to his Alpine machine.

    Results:

    1. Max Verstappen, 26 points, 71 laps led

    2. Valtteri Bottas, 18 points

    3. Lando Norris, 15 points

    4. Lewis Hamilton, 12 points

    5. Carlos Sainz, 10 points

    6. Sergio Perez, eight points

    7. Daniel Ricciardo, six points

    8. Charles Leclerc, four points

    9. Pierre Gasly, two points

    10. Fernando Alonso, one point, +1 lap

    11. George Russell, +1 lap

    12. Yuki Tsunoda, +1 lap

    13. Lance Stroll, +1 lap

    14. Antonio Givinazzi, +1 lap

    15. Nicholas Latifi, +1 lap

    16. Kimi Räikkönen, +1 lap

    17. Sebastian Vettel – DNF

    18. Mick Schumacher, +2 laps

    19. Nikita Mazepin, +2 laps

    20. Esteban Ocon – DNF

    Max Verstappen continues to lead the drivers’ standings by 32 points over Lewis Hamilton, 78 over teammate Sergio Perez, 81 over Lando Norris and 90 over Valtteri Bottas. Red Bull Racing continues to lead the constructors’ standings by 44 points over Mercedes, 145 over McLaren and 164 over Ferrari.

    Next on the 2021 Formula One schedule is Silverstone Circuit for the British Grand Prix on Sunday, July 18.

  • Verstappen wins the 2021 Monaco Grand Prix

    Verstappen wins the 2021 Monaco Grand Prix

    There is a new championship leader in the Formula One standings, and it is Max Verstappen after the Red Bull Racing driver claimed a dominating victory in the Monaco Grand Prix at Circuit de Monaco for his second Grand Prix victory of the season and the 12th of his F1 career.

    The 23-year-old competitor competing under the Dutch flag started in first place after Charles Leclerc, who was scheduled to start on pole position, was unable to take the grid due to a gearbox issue as a result of wrecking his car during qualifying session but opting to not have the gearbox changed as his Ferrari crew deemed it cleared to race and to not have a five-place penalty grid.

    With Leclerc out of contention from the race due to the gearbox issue, Verstappen and Valtteri Bottas started on the front row. When the race started, Verstappen was able to maintain the lead through the first turn and remain out in front for the entirety of the event as he claimed his first triumph in Monaco and made another championship statement. With this victory in Monaco, though, Verstappen and Red Bull Racing were able to emerge in first place with both the Driver and Constructor standings.

    “It’s so special around here, to win and for me, first time on the podium here,” Verstappen said. “An amazing race, it’s a lot of laps around here. You really have to keep your focus, but yeah, it’s really cool…I was pretty much in control.”

    Leclerc, who was initially scheduled to start on pole position in his home event, was the first retiree of the event following his mechanical issues.

    Finishing less than nine seconds behind Verstappen was Carlos Sainz, who tied his career-best result in Formula One and claimed his maiden podium result as a Ferrari driver along with his first podium result since the 2020 Italian Grand Prix. Coming home in third place was McLaren’s Lando Norris, who also tied his career-best result in F1 and his second podium result of the season (third of his career).

    “If you would’ve told me before coming to Monaco that I would finish second, I would’ve definitely take it,” Sainz said. “It’s just the whole circumstances of this weekend, having Charles on pole, me missing out in qualy yesterday, it’s just maybe there are some things that could have had should, but I’m sure that when I reflect back on the weekend, I will be very happy and proud of the weekend.”

    “I don’t know what to say,” Norris said. “I didn’t think I’d be here today. It’s always a dream to be on the podium here. It’s just special. I didn’t think it was gonna happen. A bit of luck…a good car all weekend. We’ve had a strong weekend.”

    Sergio “Checo” Perez, the second Red Bull Racing driver, finished in fourth place for his fourth top-five result through the first five F1 races while Sebastian Vettel, driving for Aston Martin Racing, rallied from a difficult start to this season to finish in fifth place. As a result, Vettel was voted ‘Driver of the Day’ by the fans.

    Pierre Gasly finished in sixth place followed by Lewis Hamilton, who established the fastest lap of the day but was unable to march his way to the front after starting in sixth place and coming off his Grand Prix victories in Portugal and Spain. Lance Stroll finished in eighth place followed by Esteban Ocon and Antonio Giovinazzi.

    Finishing outside of the top-10 points positions was Kimi Räikkönen followed by Daniel Ricciardo, Fernando Alonso, George Russell and teammate Nicholas Latifi. Rookie Yuki Tsunoda settled in 16th place followed by Haas drivers Nikita Mazepin and Mick Schumacher, all of whom were making their first F1 starts in Monaco.

    Valtteri Bottas, who was having a strong result in the making, retired in 19th place following a pit stop misfortune on Lap 31, where the right-front tire on Bottas’ Mercedes F1 W12 car could not be removed despite numerous efforts.

    Results.

    1. Max Verstappen, 78 laps led, 25 points

    2. Carlos Sainz, 18 points

    3. Lando Norris, 15 points

    4. Sergio Perez, 12 points

    5. Sebastian Vettel, 10 points

    6. Pierre Gasly, eight points

    7. Lewis Hamilton, seven points

    8. Lance Stroll, four points, +1 lap

    9. Esteban Ocon, two points, +1 lap

    10. Antonio Giovinazzi, one point, +1 lap

    11. Kimi Räikkönen, +1 lap

    12. Daniel Ricciardo, +1 lap

    13. Fernando Alonso, +1 lap

    14. George Russell, +1 lap

    15. Nicholas Latifi, +1 lap

    16. Yuki Tsunoda, +1 lap

    17. Nikita Mazepin, +3 laps

    18. Mick Schumacher, +3 laps

    19. Valtteri Bottas, retired

    20. Charles Leclerc, retired

    Following the 2021 Monaco Grand Prix, Verstappen leads the Drivers’ standings by four points over Hamilton, with Norris trailing by 49 points, Bottas by 58, Perez by 61, Leclerc by 65, Sainz by 67, Ricciardo by 81, Gasly by 89 and Ocon by 93.

    In the Constructors’ standings, Red Bull Racing Honda leads Mercedes by a single point, with McLaren Mercedes trailing by 69, Ferrari by 71, Aston Martin Mercedes by 130, AlphaTauri Honda by 131, Alpine Renault by 132, Alfa Romeo Racing Ferrari by 148, Williams Mercedes and Haas Ferrari by 149.

    The 2021 Formula One World Championship season will continue on June 6 at Baku City for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

  • Verstappen wins the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, secures first F1 victory of 2021

    Verstappen wins the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, secures first F1 victory of 2021

    Following his loss to Sir Lewis Hamilton in Bahrain, Max Verstappen responded back with vengeance after winning an eventful Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola Circuit for his first Grand Prix victory of the season and the 11th of his Formula One career.

    The 23-year-old Verstappen, who started in third place, wasted no time carving his way to the front at the start of the event, where he went on to dominate, leading all but two of the 63-scheduled laps, and claim the checkered flag by 22 seconds over Hamilton, as he and Red Bull Racing continued to display their early strengths for this year’s championship. 

    Verstappen also survived an event that was highlighted with wet, slick conditions and a high-speed crash involving Valtteri Bottas and George Russell past the midway section of the event.

    “It was very tricky conditions out there,” Verstappen said. “But, I think we managed it well. It was important to get that good start after [the] line, so very pleased with that. Very, very tricky out there. To make the right call, to go from intermediates to slick tires…It just shows you that it’s so tricky out there with cold tires, even in the wet, it’s super easy to make a mistake with these cars. Overall, we did a good job. Very pleased with that. It’s very close [with Hamilton], but it’s exciting like that.”

    Hamilton, who started the day on pole position for the 99th time in his career, endured a wild moment on Lap 31 when he locked up his tires and went off the course in the gravel at Tosa (Turn 7), where he also made light contact with the wall. Despite the incident and being pinned a lap behind, the reigning seven-time Formula One champion made a miraculous comeback in the second half to charge all the way up into second place behind Verstappen.

    With his runner-up result and by setting the fastest lap of the event, Hamilton retained the lead in the drivers’ championship standings by a point over Verstappen. 

    “Considering I was facing the barrier at one stage, a lap down, etc., it was a difficult day in that regard,” Hamilton said. “Max did a fantastic today. Congratulations to him. I had some really good pace in the rain and was catching, but just a little bit impatient with the back markers and caught me out. I’m unhuman, these mistakes happen. I’m grateful that I was back in the race and I could hunt down and get back to second…We got a great battle on our hands. Game on.”

    Unlike Hamilton, teammate Valtteri Bottas was left disappointed and strapped with a DNF following his on-track accident with Williams driver George Russel, where both competitors collided at over 200 mph entering Tamburello (Turns 2 and 3) before colliding into the barriers and coming to rest with destroyed race cars. Both competitors emerged uninjured, but upset at one another over the incident. As a result of the crash, the race went under an extensive red flag period before continuing.

    Behind Verstappen and Hamilton, Lando Norris emerged as a victor after the 20-year-old native from Bristol, England, started seventh and finished in third place and secured the first podium result for himself and for the McLaren F1 Team. The podium result was Norris’ first since the 2020 Austrian Grand Prix as he was also named Driver of the Day.

    “For myself, to repay the favor for the team, but most importantly do myself proud, I feel like I’ve accomplished something,” Norris said. “I feel like I gave it everything and we did the best we could. Definitely, we did that today. I tried hanging on for P2 at the end. Lewis was definitely too quick than us, but I’m definitely a happier guy than what I was yesterday, but just rightly so.”

    Ferrari teammates Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz came home in fourth and fifth followed by McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo. 

    Lance Stroll, Pierre Gasly and Kimi Räikkönen finished seventh, eighth and ninth followed by Esteban Ocon, who recorded the first point of the season for the Alpine F1 Team.

    Fernando Alonso finished 11th followed by Sergio “Checo” Perez, who started on the front row but was penalized 10 seconds for overtaking the safety car under caution and spun late.

    Rookie Yuki Tsunoda, who started at the rear of the field after wrecking during qualifying session a day earlier, finished 13th after he spun on Lap 35.

    Antonio Giovinazzi finished 14th while Sebastian Vettel, making his second start with the Aston Martin Cognizant F1 Team, settled in 15th after retiring in the final laps due to a gearbox issue.

    Haas F1 drivers Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin finished 16th and 17th, both two laps behind, following a difficult start, where Schumacher lost his front wing and slamming into the barriers while warming his tires and Mazepin was involved in an incident with Nicholas Latifi, who was trying to recover from a spin, past the opening lap in Turn 14.

    Latifi, who crashed into the wall, finished 20th, dead last, with a DNF.

    Results: 

    1. Max Verstappen, 25 points, 61 laps led

    2. Lewis Hamilton, 19 points, two laps led

    3. Lando Norris, 15 points

    4. Charles Leclerc, 12 points

    5. Carlos Sainz, 10 points

    6. Daniel Ricciardo, eight points

    7. Lance Stroll, six points

    8. Pierre Gasly, four points

    9. Kimi Räikkönen, two points

    10. Esteban Ocon, one point

    11. Fernando Alonso

    12. Sergio Perez

    13. Yuki Tsunoda

    14. Antonio Giovinazzi, +1 lap

    15. Sebastian Vettel, DNF

    16. Mick Schumacher, +2 laps

    17. Nikita Mazepin, +2 laps

    18. Valtteri Bottas, DNF

    19. George Russell, DNF

    20. Nicholas Latifi, DNF

    Hamilton continues to lead the drivers’ standings by a single point over Verstappen, with Norris trailing by 17 points, Leclerc by 24, Bottas by 28 and Sainz by 30. In addition, the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team remains as the leader in the constructors’ standings by seven points over Red Bull Racing, 19 over McLaren and 26 over Ferrari.

    The next Formula One event on the 2021 schedule is Algarve International Circuit for the Portuguese Grand Prix on Sunday, May 2.

  • Hamilton prevails over Verstappen to win the Bahrain Grand Prix

    Hamilton prevails over Verstappen to win the Bahrain Grand Prix

    Sir Lewis Hamilton commenced the 2021 Formula One World Championship season in epic fashion by holding off a late challenge from Max Verstappen to win the 17th running of the Bahrain Grand Prix at the Bahrain International Circuit.

    The reigning seven-time Formula One champion started on the front row alongside Red Bull Racing’s Verstappen, who won his fourth career pole position in F1 a day prior to the main event. Through the pit stops and the on-track battling, Hamilton and Verstappen took turns dominating the event over one another and the field. By Lap 40 of 56, though, Hamilton was out in front by more than eight seconds over Verstappen.

    On Lap 53, Verstappen, who was able to methodically decrease his deficit to Hamilton, drew himself alongside Hamilton’s Mercedes on the outside lane through Turn 3 and entering Turn 4. Though Verstappen was able to reassume the lead from Hamilton, he went wide and off the track during the process. In doing so, he had to relinquish the lead back to Hamilton to avoid a penalty.

    Despite keeping the pressure on Hamilton, the Dutchman was unable to gain another run to close back towards Hamilton, who had enough power to claim the checkered flag in first place by 0.745 seconds over Verstappen.

    The victory was Hamilton’s fifth at Bahrain and the 96th of his Formula One career as Hamilton begins his quest for a record-setting eighth F1 World championship. Hamilton also recorded his 75th victory with Mercedes and the 300th Grand Prix victory for a competitor from the United Kingdom. Prior to his victory at Bahrain, Hamilton established another record in the history books by surpassing Michael Schumacher’s record for the most laps led in F1 history with 5,126.

    “I’m so happy,” Hamilton said. “I really, really am absolutely over the moon just to see the response from the team, knowing how difficult today really was. It was so tough. For the first race, I was not expecting to be in that position, being able to keep up with [Verstappen] in the first stint. I was really grateful for that…We knew this weekend and through testing that we were gonna be on the back foot and there’s been a lot of worrying in the team, but we pulled it through…I knew [Verstappen] was catching me massively. I couldn’t do the laps he was doing and I guess in my mind, I was thinking, ‘OK, if I can just hold on to these tyres, make no mistakes, maybe just keep him at harm’s length out of my DRS, which wasn’t necessary in this case,’…it was so hard.”

    The runner-up result was one that left Verstappen with mixed emotions, disappointment in not winning the season-opening event but pleased and confident in challenging Hamilton and Mercedes for this year’s championship.

    “It is what it is,” Verstappen said. “I gave the position back and then, I tried again, but I didn’t have the tyres anymore. Of course, I had newer tyres, but as soon as you get within one and a half seconds, it also degrades very quickly and it’s super hard to follow with these cars, especially with how the wind was today. It was really not helping out of Turn 1, Turn 2 and all critical corners where you want to stay close. It was hurting even more. Of course, I’m disappointed about today, but last year, we would be super happy with a race like this. It also shows how much we have grown. It’s still a positive start to the season and it’s still a long season ahead. I see it as only seven points dropped, and we’ll try to do better next time.”

    Rounding out the podium in third place was Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas, who trailed teammate and race winner Hamilton by more than 37 seconds to claim his 57th career podium result in F1 despite encountering a slow pit stop past the midway point of the event. Bottas also recorded the fastest lap of the event.

    McLaren’s Lando Norris finished in fourth place while Sergio “Checo” Perez, who started the race on pit lane after losing engine power during the formation lap, recovered to record a strong fifth-place result in his first start with Red Bull Racing. With his recovery and stellar drive back to the front, Perez was voted Driver of the Day.

    Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc crossed the finish line in a decent sixth place followed by Daniel Ricciardo, who completed his first event with McLaren, and Carlos Sainz Jr., who completed his first event with Ferrari.

    Yuki Tsunoda, one of three newcomers in this year’s Formula One season, finished in ninth place driving for AlphaTauri while Lance Stroll completed the points-awarded results on the track in the top 10 by finishing 10th, thus recording a single point for the newly formed Aston Martin Cognizant F1 Team.

    The first competitor to finish outside of the points in 11th place was Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Räikkönen followed by teammate Antonio Giovinazzi, who finished a lap behind the leaders.

    Esteban Ocon settled in 13th place following an on-track incident with Sebastian Vettel on Lap 46, where Vettel, who had been overtaken by Ocon entering Turn 1, locked up his tires and ran into the rear of Ocon’s Alpine machine in Turn 1, sending both competitors around. Vettel finished in a disappointing 15th place in his first race with Aston Martin Racing and right behind Williams driver George Russell.

    Mick Schumacher, another newcomer in F1 this season driving for the Haas F1 Team, finished 16th after spinning early followed by Pierre Gasly, who damaged his front wing early in the race following contact with McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo and never recovered.

    Nicholas Latifi, the second Williams Racing competitor, settled in 18th place after retiring just shy of the finish due to a boosting system issue.

    In his return to F1 competition since retiring in 2018, Fernando Alonso, who had a decent run in the making with Alpine, retired in 19th place due to brake issues.

    Nikita Mazepin, the second Haas F1 competitor and the third F1 newcomer of this season, ended his race in 20th place and as the first retiree of the event after being involved in an opening lap wreck in Turn 3, where he slid sideways entering the turn while running at the rear of the field and made hard contact against the barriers, thus sustaining heavy damage to his Haas machine.

    Results:

    1. Lewis Hamilton, 27 laps led, 25 points

    2. Max Verstappen, 29 laps led, 18 points

    3. Valtteri Bottas, 16 points

    4. Lando Norris, 12 points

    5. Sergio Perez, 10 points

    6. Charles Leclerc, eight points

    7. Daniel Ricciardo, six points

    8. Carlos Sainz Jr., four points

    9. Yuki Tsunoda, two points

    10. Lance Stroll, one point

    11. Kimi Räikkönen

    12. Antonio Givinazzi, +1 lap

    13. Esteban Ocon, +1 lap

    14. George Russell, Williams Mercedes, +1 lap

    15. Sebastian Vettel, +1 lap

    16. Mick Schumacher, +1 lap

    17. Pierre Gasly, AlphaTauri Honda, DNF

    18. Nicholas Latifi, Williams Mercedes, DNF

    19. Fernando Alonso, Alpine Renault, DNF

    20. Nikita Mazepin, Haas Ferrari, DNF

    Following the first Grand Prix event of the 2021 season, Hamilton leads the drivers’ standings by seven points over Verstappen, nine over Bottas, 13 over Norris and 15 over Perez. In addition, Mercedes leads the constructors’ standings by 13 points over Red Bull Racing, 23 over McLaren and 29 over Ferrari.

    With the 2021 Formula One season underway, the next event on the schedule is Imola Circuit for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix on Sunday, April 18.

  • 2021 Formula One season preview

    2021 Formula One season preview

    With new names on the grid, new stakes on the line and a new start on the horizon for all teams, the 2021 FIA Formula One World Championship season is hours away from commencing.

    Formula One is coming off one of its bizarre seasons to date, a season that was delayed until July and featuring a total of 17 Grand Prix events in 14 circuits due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. With multiple Grand Prix events across several countries being canceled, the sport took on a new approach to the 2020 season by competing in familiar circuits like Silverstone Circuit and Bahrain International Circuit twice in two weekends while returning to historic circuits like Mugello Circuit and the Nürburgring. In the midst of a scrambling season, the highs and the lows experienced for every team and competitor during race weekends and the rivalry sparked between the teams both on and off the track, the sport was able to etch another season in the record books when the final checkered flag flew at Yas Marina Circuit in December.

    Now with 23 Grand Prix events slated on the 2021 schedule, featuring the return of many countries, the Formula One teams and competitors strive to display every amount of power, speed and competitiveness towards one another to win it all and complete the entire season as scheduled.

    With another pair of championships added to the team’s stable, the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team enters the 2021 season with a continuous goal to extend their on-track dominance and leave their rivals in the dust for an eighth consecutive season. Having recorded the seventh drivers’ and constructors’ title for Mercedes, Sir Lewis Hamilton also made history on the track in 2020 by winning 11 Grand Prix events, becoming the all-time Grand Prix wins leader at 95 and tying Michael Schumacher for the most F1 championships in history with seven. While Hamilton sets his sights on winning his record-setting eighth F1 title in his 15th season in competition, teammate Valtteri Bottas, who won twice in 2020 and concluded the season in the runner-up position, aims to overtake Hamilton and leap into the spotlight with his first F1 title in his ninth season in competition. The 2021 F1 season will mark the fifth consecutive season where Hamilton and Bottas will represent Mercedes’ driver lineup as both fight with and against one another for the top spot on the grid and in the championship standings.

    After concluding the 2020 Formula One season as victors in the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and as the championship runner-up in the constructors’ standings, Red Bull Racing Honda enters the 2021 season with a simple goal of dethroning Mercedes from their dominance and reclaim their glory as champions since 2013. Leading the way for the team is Max Verstappen, who won twice in 2020 and concluded the season in third place in the final standings. Entering his seventh season in F1, Verstappen will continue his ongoing pursuit to intimidate his fellow competitors and become the next F1 champion. New to the team for this upcoming season is veteran Sergio “Checo” Perez, who is coming off a career-best season in F1 competition where he claimed his maiden Formula One victory at Bahrain in December 2020 and became the first Mexican F1 winner in five decades. Having been released from Racing Point despite a productive 2020 season that nearly brought his racing career to a halt, Perez was picked up by Red Bull Racing, replacing Alexander Albon, and has been given an opportunity to extend his on-track momentum and become a potential championship contender in his 11th season in competition.

    Another team on the rise following a productive, consistent 2020 season is the McLaren F1 Team. With a third-place result in the constructors’ standings, their highest since 2012, McLaren aims to return as race winners for the first time since 2012 and as world champions since 1998. Returning for a third full-time season with the team and of his career is Lando Norris, who claimed his maiden podium result in the 2020 season-opening Austrian Grand Prix and went on to finish in ninth place in the drivers’ standings, though he strives to become the 20th competitor from the United Kingdom to win in Formula One this upcoming season. Like Red Bull Racing and a majority of teams on the grid, McLaren will feature a new face to its stable, this season being veteran Daniel Ricciardo, who spent the previous two seasons with Renault and recorded two podium results in 2020. Entering his 10th full-time season in Formula One, Ricciardo aims to return as a race winner for the first time since 2018.

    Coming off a season surrounded with controversy off the track but an abundant of success on the track, Aston Martin Cognizant F1 Team, rebranded from Racing Point, aims to take the next step from their fourth-place result in the 2020 constructors’ standings by becoming a regular contender for victories and the overall title in years to come. After claiming two podium results and a career-best 11th-place result in the drivers’ standings in 2020, Lance Stroll returns for a fifth full-time season in Formula One as he strives to become the third Canadian competitor to win in Formula One. New to the team is Sebastian Vettel, four-time F1 champion who spent the previous six seasons with Ferrari. After finishing 13th in the drivers’ standings in 2020. Vettel, who enters his 14th full-time season in Formula One, looks to rejuvenate his career and return to the top of the competition since winning his last title in 2013.

    Next is the Alpine F1 Team, rebranded from Renault, a team that earned three podium results and concluded the 2020 season in fifth place in the constructors’ standings. Returning for a second full-time season with the team and fourth of his career is Esteban Ocon, who claimed his maiden podium result in the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix and finished in 12th place in the drivers’ standings, though he aims to become the 14th French competitor to win in Formula One. Joining Ocon as a teammate at Alpine this season is two-time champion Fernando Alonso. Regarded as one of the sport’s well-accomplished competitors, Alonso will also be making a triumphant return to the sport since retiring in 2018 and to Alpine, the team where he claimed his two Formula One championships in 2005 and 2006.

    Following their worst recorded season in nearly four decades that was highlighted with on-track issues with speed and capped off with a sixth-place result in the 2020 constructors’ standings, the Scuderia Mission Winnow Ferrari team enters the 2021 season with a return to the top of the competition being the central focus. Remaining at Ferrari for a third full-time season is Charles Leclerc, who won his first two F1 career races in 2019 but only recorded two podium results in 2020. With Leclerc returning, Ferrari welcomes Carlos Sainz Jr. to its stable for the 2021 season. A rising star in Formula One, Sainz enters his seventh full-time season in F1, having spent the previous six seasons competing for teams like Toro Rosso, Renault and McLaren, and will attempt to become the second competitor from Spain to win in Formula One.

    The Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda team is coming off its first full-time season since being rebranded from Toro Rosso, where the team emerged victorious in the 2020 Italian Grand Prix and settled in seventh place in the final constructors’ standings. The competitor who recorded the team’s first victory since being rebranded was Pierre Gasly, who became the first French winner in Formula One in over two decades and notched a 10th-place result in the 2020 drivers’ standings. The 2021 season will mark Gasly’s fourth full-time season in the sport as he aims to repeat the on-track success he experienced the previous season. New to the team and in F1 for this season is Yuki Tsunoda, a 20-year-old native from Sagamihara, Kanagawa, Japan, who settled in third place in the 2020 Formula 2 standings while competing for Carlin and replaces Daniil Kvyat as a rookie Formula One competitor.

    Ending up in eighth place in the constructors’ standings last season and for a second consecutive season was the Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen team, which was rebranded from Sauber since 2019. Despite standing as a bottom mid-field team, Alfa Romeo is one of three teams retaining its driver lineup from the previous season for this upcoming season, featuring Kimi Räikkönen and Antonio Giovinazzi. Räikkönen, the 2007 Formula One champion, will enter his 21st season in F1 competition in 2021 while Giovinazzi will be making his third full-time season start in Formula One.

    Compared to a majority of Formula One teams that will feature one change to a two-driver lineup, Uralkali Haas F1 Team will enter the 2021 F1 season with a completely new driver lineup with hopes of being competitive and becoming a top midfield team on the grid. Following a ninth-place result in the 2020 constructors’ standings, Haas dropped the hammer by releasing fellow competitors Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean. Replacing them for 2021 will be Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin, both of whom will also be making their inaugural presence in Formula One. Schumacher, the son of seven-time F1 champion Michael Schumacher, is coming off a Formula 2 championship-winning season with Prema Racing while Mazepin, the son of Dmitry Mazepin, Chairman of Uralchem Integrated Chemicals Company, won two 2020 F2 races with Hitech Grand Prix before settling in fifth place in the final standings.

    After concluding the 2020 season with zero recorded points, the 2021 Formula One season will mark the first full-time season that Williams Racing will compete under Dorilton Capital and without founder/co-owner Frank Williams and deputy team principal Claire Williams. Despite a new ownership, the Williams team retains its driver lineup for the 2021 F1 season, featuring George Russell and Nicholas Latifi. This upcoming season will mark the third full-time season in F1 competition for both Russell and Latifi.

    With 10 teams and 20 competitors on the grid, the 2021 Formula One season is set to commence on Sunday, March 28, at Bahrain International Circuit for the 17th running of the Bahrain Grand Prix.