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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 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.

  • Hamilton retains championship hopes with a comeback victory in the São Paulo Grand Prix

    Hamilton retains championship hopes with a comeback victory in the São Paulo Grand Prix

    Sir Lewis Hamilton rallied from a difficult start to a racing weekend by persevering in a late battle with championship rival Max Verstappen and winning the São Paulo Grand Prix at Interlagos Circuit on Sunday, November 14.

    The reigning seven-time F1 champion’s weekend started off on a rough note when he was penalized five grid spots when his team decided to change engines to his Mercedes. Then he was disqualified from starting on pole position for the F1 Sprint qualification event on Saturday, November 13, due to a technical infringement involving his rear wing and DRS system on his Mercedes. The disqualification relegated Hamilton to start in last place for the Sprint, which he made up for the misfortune by finishing in fifth place. With the five-place penalty grid still intact, Hamilton fell back to 10th place on the starting grid for the main event.


    Rolling off the grid just inside the top 10, Hamilton, who methodically carved his way to the front, spent the majority of the main event battling towards the front with his teammate and pole-sitter Valtteri Bottas along with Red Bull Racing’s Verstappen and Sergio “Checo” Perez.

    Then on Lap 48 of 71, Hamilton made a move to the outside of on Verstappen for the lead entering Turn 4. Entering the turn, however, both title contenders ran off the circuit as Verstappen retained the lead without being penalized.

    Eleven laps later, Hamilton, who made another move to the outside of Verstappen in Turn 4, moved his Mercedes into the lead. From there, Hamilton pulled away and was able to cross the finish line more than 10 seconds ahead of the Dutchman to grab the victory.

    The victory was Hamilton’s sixth of the season, third at the Interlagos Circuit and the 101st of his F1 career. With the victory and the points he earned, Hamilton decreased his deficit to Verstappen by five, from 19 to 14, with three Grand Prix events remaining to the schedule as he pursues his quest to win a record-setting eighth F1 title.

    “It was one of the most fun races I’ve had in a long time,” Hamilton said. “Just a great start and just really bounced throughout. I definitely didn’t know whether or not that I would be able to overtake [Verstappen]. [The Red Bull competitors] are working as well as the team. It was just kind of crazy to think that where we started yesterday, last, and then, I got up to fifth yesterday, and then I realized I got to go back another five places, and then thinking, ‘By the time I even get there, Max will be gone.’ He wasn’t that far ahead when I finally got there. I just keep thinking what a great team I have behind me. We continue to push, continue to raise a bar and not say no to any answers really. From this weekend, we’ve been thrown a lot at us and it was easy to get down and not be positive and not do our job well. They did a remarkable job this weekend. 

    “Success always feel sweeter when you face adversity,” Hamilton added. “Yes, when you start first and have success, there’s a journey to get there, of course, but it’s far, far greater. This is one of the most beautiful feelings I’ve had in a win, knowing that I’ve had all of those pushbacks, setbacks. We never let it stand in our way…I was gonna get [Verstappen] at some stage. That was how my mindset was. I’m coming for you. That’s where we’re headed.”

    Like Hamilton, Verstappen rallied from a difficult start to the weekend when he was fined €50,000 for examining and touching Hamilton’s rear wing in Parc Ferme following Friday’s qualification session for the F1 Sprint. He rallied by finishing second in the F1 Sprint behind Bottas and took command of the lead right from the start, where he dominated the event and was eventually overtaken by Hamilton late in the run.

    Despite coming up one position shy of notching his third consecutive Grand Prix victory in recent weeks, Verstappen, who won at Interlagos in 2019, continues to lead the driver’s championship standings by a respectable margin over Hamilton as he closes in towards his first F1 World Championship.

    “I knew it was gonna be difficult, but I tried everything I could,” Verstappen said. “Clearly, we were just lacking a bit today. Also, top speed wise, it was really tough to defend. You could clearly see when they take a fresh engine, it gives them a bit more power. So hopefully in the coming races, that will die down slowly. At least it was fun. Of course, I would’ve liked to win, but realistically, I think this was a good result. I think it was good, hard racing. That’s how it should be.”

    Meanwhile, Bottas, who won the F1 Sprint on Saturday and started on pole position, ran a consistent event to finish in third place, one position ahead of Perez, who managed to clock in the fastest time of the event at 218.453 kph on the final lap. The third-place result marked Bottas’ 10th podium result of the season as he is down to his final three races with the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team before transitioning to Alfa Romeo in 2022.

    “Lap 1 was quite disappointing,” Bottas said. “We had a very average start. Max had a good one and then, I tried to defend Checo [Perez] and went wide, but I tried. We’ll have a look at what happened. After that, I, obviously, kept pushing and we took the opportunity with the virtual safety car. I think the pace was actually OK today, so it was good to be there till the end. It was very close and was actually pretty close to Max…Really good points. That’s something to be happy about.”

    Finishing behind the two Mercedes and Red Bull competitors were the Ferrari duo of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz Jr., with both competitors being the last of six competitors finishing on the lead lap. The top-six results for Leclerc and Sainz were enough to stabilize Ferrari’s positioning of third place in the constructor’s standings.

    Pierre Gasly, the first competitor a lap down, finished in seventh followed by Alpine’s Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon. Lando Norris, meanwhile, rallied from an opening lap puncture following contact with Sainz, to complete the top 10 on the track.

    Sebastian Vettel was the first competitor to finishing outside of the top-10 points-paying results in 11th followed by Kimi Räikkönen, George Russell, Antonio Giovinazzi and rookie Yuki Tsunoda, who damaged his car following an early collision with Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll.

    Nicholas Latifi settled in 16th followed by Haas’ Nikita Mazepin and Mick Schumacher, who lost his front wing following an on-track collision with Räikkönen’s Alfa Romeo.

    Daniel Ricciardo retired in 19th place due to losing power in his McLaren, which marked his first retirement since the 2020 Austrian Grand Prix.

    Lance Stroll rounded out the field in 20th place following his early collision with Tsunoda.

    Results. 

    1. Lewis Hamilton, 25 points

    2. Max Verstappen, 20 points

    3. Valtteri Bottas, 18 points

    4. Sergio Perez, 13 points

    5. Charles Leclerc, 10 points

    6. Carlos Sainz, eight points

    7. Pierre Gasly, six points, +1 lap,

    8. Esteban Ocon, four points, + 1 lap

    9. Fernando Alonso, two points, +1 lap

    10. Lando Norris, one point, +1 lap

    11. Sebastian Vettel, +1 lap

    12. Kimi Räikkönen, +1 lap

    13. George Russell, +1 lap

    14. Antonio Giovinazzi, +1 lap

    15. Yuki Tsunoda, +1 lap

    16. Nicholas Latifi, +1 lap

    17. Nikita Mazepin, +2 laps

    18. Mick Schumacher, +2 laps

    19. Daniel Ricciardo – Retired

    20. Lance Stroll – Retired

    Max Verstappen continues to lead the drivers’ standings by 14 points over Lewis Hamilton. The Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team continues to lead the constructors’ standings by 11 points over Red Bull Racing Honda thanks to the strong performances from Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas.

    With three races remaining to the schedule, the 2021 Formula One season will continue at Losail International Circuit for the inaugural Qatar Grand Prix on Sunday, November 21.

  • Bottas claims the Turkish Grand Prix; snaps yearlong winless drought

    Bottas claims the Turkish Grand Prix; snaps yearlong winless drought

    While the drivers’ championship battle took another swing, Valtteri Bottas made his yearlong return to the top of the podium after winning the Turkish Grand Prix from pole position on Sunday, October 10.

    The Finnish veteran, who originally posted the second-fastest lap in qualifying, started on pole position after his teammate, Sir Lewis Hamilton, was hit with a 10-place grid penalty for competing with a newly installed Mercedes engine in his car. After launching away from the field at the start and on damp conditions, Bottas led the first 37 laps. He returned to the lead on Lap 47 of 58, which he would keep for the remainder of the event as he beat runner-up Max Verstappen by more than 14 seconds.

    With the victory, Bottas, who also set the fastest lap of the event, became the sixth different winner of this year’s F1 season as he achieved his 10th Grand Prix career win. Bottas, who remains in third place in the drivers’ standings, is down to his final six events with the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team, a team he joined in 2017 and went on to record his maiden Grand Prix victory. He is set to join Alfa Romeo Racing for the 2022 season.

    “It feels awesome,” Bottas said. “It feels good. I don’t know. Almost like a relief to actually win a race this year. It’s been a while and it was not an easy race win. With these conditions, just needed like full focus, non-stop and couldn’t do any mistakes. The pace I had was really good and I was confident with the car. I feel like since Monza, things have been going quite well and quite nicely. There’s not pressure about anything, so I can just really enjoy, focus on the driving and that seems to work.”

    Trailing Bottas to the finish line were Red Bull Racing’s two competitors, Max Verstappen and Sergio “Checo” Perez, both of whom sported a special silver Honda tribute scheme to pay homage to Honda’s final season as a power unit in F1. Verstappen finished in second place for his 12th podium result of the season and reassumed the lead in the drivers’ championship standings by six points over Lewis Hamilton. Perez, meanwhile, settled in third and achieved his first podium result since finishing third at Circuit Paul Ricard for the French Grand Prix in June.

    “I think we had, in general, a decent race,” Verstappen said. “I think we maximized the result. Valtteri was a little bit faster, but of course this whole weekend, we were a bit behind in pace compared to Mercedes. This race was all about just managing the tyres through a certain lap. As a team, to finish second in Turkey was a very good result. I wish I had a bit more pace in the car so it would’ve been a bit easier. We are in the fight. We’ll keep fighting and we’ll see in the coming races how competitive we are going to be.”

    “It’s been a while since I’m not on the podium,” Perez said. “Unfortunately, I think the last couple of races, we’ve been simply so unlucky. Today’s a special podium because it’s one of those days that I wasn’t fully comfortable with the car, especially on that first stint. It made it very tricky. It was good to get that podium. I think I learned a lot from my first stint to apply to my second one and how I bring the tyre in. That made a good difference. I really hope that from Austin onwards, we can be stronger than [Mercedes].”

    While Charles Leclerc finished fourth after leading nine laps, Hamilton, who was able to methodically work his way to the front, ended up in fifth place after opting to pit for tyres with eight laps remaining while battling for a podium spot. The result left Hamilton furious with his team over the late decision to pit.

    “I feel like I should’ve stayed out,” Hamilton said. “My gut feeling was to stay in and I that’s what I feel like I should’ve done. So frustrated in myself in not following my gut, but I work as a team. [I] Did the best I could with the advice I was giving…That’s life.”

    Pierre Gasly, who qualified in the top five for the sixth time this season, rallied from a five-second penalty for colliding into Fernando Alonso on the opening lap to finish sixth followed by Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz, who started at the rear of the field while competing in a new power unit to his Ferrari. As a result of his drive from the rear of the field, Sainz was named ‘Driver of the Day.’ Lance Stroll and Esteban Ocon completed the top 10 on the track.

    Antonio Giovinazzi settled in 11th followed by teammate Kimi Räikkönen, Daniel Ricciardo, rookie Yuki Tsunoda and George Russell. Fernando Alonso ended up in 16th ahead of Nicholas Latifi and Sebastian Vettel, who slipped off the course twice in the opening lap and later spun while trying to enter pit road. Rounding out the 20-car field in the running order were Haas’ Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin.

    Results:

    1. Valtteri Bottas, 26 points, 49 laps led

    2. Max Verstappen, 18 points

    3. Sergio Perez, 15 points

    4. Charles Leclerc, 12 points

    5. Lewis Hamilton, 10 points

    6. Pierre Gasly, eight points

    7. Lando Norris, six points

    8. Carlos Sainz, four points

    9. Lance Stroll, two points

    10. Esteban Ocon, one point, +1

    11. Antonio Giovinazzi, +1

    12. Kimi Räikkönen, +1 lap

    13. Daniel Ricciardo, +1

    14. Yuki Tsunoda, +1

    15. George Russell, +1

    16. Fernando Alonso, +1

    17. Nicholas Latifi, +1

    18. Sebastian Vettel, +1

    19. Mick Schumacher, +2

    20. Nikita Mazepin, +2

    Max Verstappen leads the drivers’ standings by six points over Lewis Hamilton. Meanwhile, Mercedes continues to lead the constructors’ standings by 36 points over Red Bull Racing Honda.

    With six races remaining to the schedule, the 2021 Formula One season will be taking a one-week break before returning to Circuit of the Americas for the United States Grand Prix in Austin, Texas, on Sunday, October 24.

  • 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 wins the Dutch Grand Prix; reassumes championship lead

    Verstappen wins the Dutch Grand Prix; reassumes championship lead

    Max Verstappen launched himself back into the lead in the championship standings after claiming a dominating win in the Dutch Grand Prix at Circuit Zandvoort on Sunday, September 5, and to the delight of his home crowd.

    Verstappen, who started on pole position and who won last weekend’s bizarre, rain-shortened Belgium Grand Prix at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, led all 72 scheduled laps and crossed the finish line by nearly 21 seconds ahead of Sir Lewis Hamilton to grab his seventh Grand Prix victory of the season and the 17th of his career at his home track, which sent the crowd overjoyed and lighting up orange smoke to celebrate with the Dutchman.

    The 2021 Dutch Grand Prix was a first for the event since 1985, which was last won by the late three-time F1 champion Niki Lauda. Verstappen’s victory all but elevated him back to the lead in the drivers’ standings over Hamilton as he continues his pursuit for his first F1 championship.

    “Incredible feeling, of course,” Verstappen said. “I know the fans expect a lot going into the weekend, but it’s never easy to fulfill that. This weekend has been great. Also the race, Lewis was putting on the pressure a lot. It was basically 72 laps of pushing to try and stay ahead. It was a good one with all the people and fans here supporting you. It was just an incredible sight.”

    Hamilton, who pitted late for fresh tires, settled in second place for his ninth top-two result of this season as he claimed the fastest lap of the race followed by teammate Valtteri Bottas, who did not pursue the fastest lap on soft tyres in the final laps but moved up to third place in the drivers’ standings.

    “Today was [a] killer,” Hamilton said. “[Verstappen and Red Bull] were so fast today. That’s the quickest, I think, they’ve been all year. But I gave it everything, anyways. I think today, being that we weren’t quick enough, we needed everything to really work out for us like traffic, which didn’t. We needed pit stops to be perfect, which wasn’t. We needed strategy to be on point, and it wasn’t quite perfect. Even then, if all that was perfect, it would’ve still been hard to get by [Verstappen]. We gave it everything. Long way to go.”

    “I committed to one stop [pit stop] quite early on in the race,” Bottas said. “It meant I definitely had to more [tyre] management that Lewis and Max were doing. I think one stop was quite a way off of two stop today. The tyre wear and the vibrations were quite tricky. In the end, I still stopped just for safety. It was like a mix of one or two stop for me, not early.”

    Pierre Gasly came home in a strong fourth place followed by Charles Leclerc. Fernando Alonso overtook fellow Spaniard Carlos Sainz on the final lap to place in sixth followed by Sergio “Checo” Perez. Esteban Ocon, winner of the Hungarian Grand Prix in early August, finished ninth while Lando Norris claimed the 10th and final points-paying result.

    Daniel Ricciardo was the first competitor to finish outside of the points in 11th followed by Lance Stroll, Sebastian Vettel, Antonio Giovinazzi and Robert Kubica, who returned to F1 since 2019 and filled in for Kimi Räikkönen after the Finnish competitor tested positive for COVID-19 earlier in the weekend.

    Nicholas Latifi finished 16th while George Russell, who is coming off his maiden podium result at Spa, retired in 17th. Rookie Mick Schumacher concluded his race in 18th followed by Yuki Tsunoda and Nikita Mazepin, both of whom retired in 19th and 20th.

    Results:

    1. Max Verstappen, 25 points, 72 laps led

    2. Lewis Hamilton, 19 points

    3. Valtteri Bottas, 15 points

    4. Pierre Gasly, 12 points, +1 lap

    5. Charles Leclerc, 10 points, +1 lap

    6. Fernando Alonso, eight points, +1 lap

    7. Carlos Sainz, six points, +1 lap

    8. Sergio Perez, four points, +1 lap

    9. Esteban Ocon, two points, +1 lap

    10. Lando Norris, one point, +1 lap

    11. Daniel Ricciardo, +1 lap

    12. Lance Stroll, +2 laps

    13. Sebastian Vettel, +2 laps

    14. Antonio Giovinazzi, +2 laps

    15. Robert Kubica, +2 laps

    16. Nicholas Latifi, +2 laps

    17. George Russell – Retired

    18. Mick Schumacher, +3 laps

    19. Yuki Tsunoda – Retired

    20. Nikita Mazepin – Retire

    Verstappen leads the drivers’ standings by three points over Hamilton. Meanwhile, Mercedes leads the constructors’ standings by 12 points over Red Bull while Ferrari trails by 163 points.

    Next on the 2021 Formula One schedule is Monza Circuit for the Italian Grand Prix, which will occur on Sunday, September 12.

  • 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.