#Leclerc crashes and Perez takes pole

[f1]

HIGHLIGHTS: Watch the qualifying action from Miami as Hamilton drops out in Q2 Leclerc crashes and Perez takes pole

Miami played host to an action-packed qualifying session on Saturday afternoon, with Lewis Hamilton dropping out in the Q2 phase, Charles Leclerc crashing out in Q3 and Sergio Perez ultimately taking pole position. Leclerc lost control of his Ferrari with a couple of minutes left on the clock in the top 10 shootout, bringing out the red flags that ended the session there and then, with drivers not having enough time to complete another lap from the pit lane. READ MORE: Leclerc spin leaves Perez in pole and Verstappen starting P9 for Miami Grand Prix That meant pole went to Sergio Perez in another fresh twist for the 2023 title race, with Red Bull team mate Max Verstappen only ninth after a mistake on his first lap. Fernando Alonso capitalised to take second for Aston Martin, with Carlos Sainz third in his Ferrari. Before the pole showdown, there was drama for Hamilton when he had to take evasive action behind a slow-moving Kevin Magnussen and tapped the wall in Q1, before the Mercedes man dramatically dropped out of the Q2 phase. There were also early baths for McLaren’s Lando Norris and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll, who both fell at the first hurdle, while Williams rookie Logan Sargeant had a tricky debut home qualifying session en route to 20th and last. Check out the action from qualifying in Miami in the video player above. Watch the Miami GP live with F1 TV Pro For the Miami Grand Prix, F1 TV Pro is offering a 7-day free trial so you can test drive the service for free in selected countries (USA, Canada, Netherlands and Brazil). Jump in. Start your 7-day free trial now.* *Renews to full price unless cancelled. Web and app only. Excludes previous free trialists. T&cs apply. via Formula 1 News https://www.formula1.com

[thepersonnamedsam]

hiii, love your stuff<33 could I maybe request a gen z reader blurb where after getting in a crash due to a mechanical issue everyone worries about her and she’s pissed because she felt seen as weak and vulnerable?? THANK U SO MUCH

life goes on

pairing: genz!driver x '23!grid and some seb cameo

summary: see request :)

word count: 2.1k

warnings: crash, blood, injury, anger issues, tears (idk if that’s a warning), media talks bad about genz!driver, foul language

note: thank you so much for the request!! i am not quite sure if i should write the genz!driver stories in a you pov or a she/her pov, what would you prefer, please let me know, ty :))

masterlist / taglist

It started with a bad day. FP1 was shit, FP2 was also not great. Her day was just not great. Free practice 3 was better, the car had finally responded to her again. In the first two laps, everything went smooth. She was already singing Smooth Operator in her head. But suddenly the car stirred, luckily she saved herself and didn’t crash, but she did retire from the session.

Her engineer and her sat together for Qualifying. She told him everything she noticed whilst driving.

„I feel like the steering wheel is not responding on time. It’s like it’s two seconds delayed, which is not good.“

He nodded and wrote it down on a notepad. „I feel like there’s nothing we can do, I can check with the mechanics, but qualifying is in two hours, which may not be enough time“, her race engineer told her. She sighed. The last two days were bad for y/n, she hasn’t slept good for at least four days. She nodded and told him that she’d be in her drivers room.

As qualifying started, she only got in one good lap before she had to retire. She was right, her steering wheel indeed had a slight delay. Which made turning corners very hard. She ended Q1 in P19, her worst result in qualifying yet. She was disappointed, in herself and in the car.

Her mechanics tried to fix the issue until the race started, but with no hope. She prepared herself for the race, knowing it would not be an easy one. She was scared, like scared shitless. She tried to call Sebastian during Q2, but he did not pick up. Opting for a quick text, she asked him to call her back as soon as possible.

Lewis heard what happened to y/n car during Q1 and wanted to comfort the young driver. With long strides he went to her motorhome. Her engineer just pointed to her drivers room as soon as he saw Lewis approach him. Three short knocks. Her head snapped up as the door opened. Lewis was standing there, looking pitiful and held his arms out.

„Are you okay, darling?“, he asked her as she nuzzled her head in his shoulders. She let her tears fall freely. Shaking her head she told him how she felt. „The steering wheel is delayed, which is so difficult to drive with and also dangerous. But my mechanics can’t fix it, they don’t know why it’s happening and a whole reboot of the system would take too long! I’m scared, Lewis. I don’t know what to do.“

His hand firm on her backside, he just held the young woman. Telling her to retire to not cause a crash would’ve been the best thing. Tell her to refuse to race. But he didn’t, knowing the girl and her ambitions. She would race, no matter what. She didn’t want to be seen as weak or even worse, girly.

She was girly, but not in the sense of racing. She was just as ‚manly‘ as the other drivers.

„I know that you will make the right decision about the whole situation“, Lewis told her. Oh, how wrong he was.

Q3 was finished with Verstappen on pole, as always, Perez on P2 and Leclerc on P3. Happy to see Charles starting this high, she went into the race with somewhat a good feeling. The first three laps were okay, she sank down to P20, DeVries overtook her with ease on the second corner, as she slowed down as much as possible to control the car. But the longer the race was, the more angry she got. It was not fair, the steering wheel was just not responding.

On lap 24 y/n’s car crashed. In corner eight, her steering wheel stopped working. Instead of a turn, the car just went straight into the pit wall. The front wing smashed against the wall, squashing it against her own car. Her head was spinning. What just happened?

„Red flag, the FIA just announced a red flag in corner eight. Seems like y/l/n crashed. Let’s hope she’s fine.“

Several team radios went through.

„Charles, y/n crashed in corner eight, there’s a red flag, be careful.“

„Lewis, there is a red flag.“

„Be careful, Max. You are approaching corner eight where y/n has had a crash.“

And many more. Everyone was concerned. What has happened? What did she do to crash her car like that. Was she responsive? Responsible? What was going on?

„y/n, please respond. The race has been stopped. What happened?“, her race engineer tried to speak to her, she was non-responsive.

„What the fuck, what happened?! Is she responsive? Are the medics on their way?“, Lewis was the first to address the situation. „We don’t know, we don’t see any medics yet, Lewis.“

And as Max pulled up to corner eight he hopped out of his car. He ran towards hers and yelled for her, to show him a sign that she was still alive, without a response. He was worried, he was always worried when someone crashed, but he was extra worried when she did.

„y/n! What happened? Are you okay? Please give me a sign!“, he tried it again, with no luck. He saw her helmet move, the flashy colours moving from side to side. „Ach godzijdank Ah, thank god“, he mumbled.

The medics arrived and ushered Max to the side. Taking her out of the car and laying her on a spinal board. Transporting her into the ambulance.

She was devastated. It was not her fault she crashed. But the media didn’t know that. They would accuse her of crashing yet another car. That she wasn’t good enough to be in Formula 1. They would report about her as if she wasn’t a human being and just something they could play with. They would talk about her like a doll. It was not fair.

Meanwhile on the paddock the talking began. Lewis was the most worried, he should’ve just told her to refuse racing. What if she suffered a serious injury? Like a neck or spine injury and couldn’t race anymore. It was his fault, that’s what he thought.

Lando was worried too, not really knowing what happened, he was just worried. She could be injured. The minutes went by without any news from her. They were hard for Lando.

Even Checo, who wasn’t usually a companion of y/n, was worried. He didn’t see what happened, but he heard from Max how the crash looked - bad, it looked bad.

„We hear from the medics; y/n is okay. At least that. Let’s hope the race will continue without another crash.“

Lewis released a breather, not knowing he heals so much air in his lungs. He was glad y/n was okay. He still felt bad, always feeling responsible for her. And now that she crashed, his head was spinning with gut wrenching thoughts and worry.

The FIA announced the green flag and the race continued without y/n. When she got back to her garage, her motorhome, she expected a angry team principal, angry mechanics and engineers, expect she was greeted with relieved sighs and shoulder droppings. Her engineer was the first one to embrace her. He told her how sorry he was and how everything was definitely not her fault.

She was still angry, no points, no race, no happy ending for that day. Everything was shit. She had a shit day that race. And it was not even her own fault.

Her team principal came towards her, gripping her shoulders hard and said: „I know this seems bad, it is, but we can fix it. I wish I could send you home, but media still awaits.“

So she waited, she waited lap after lap until eventually Max won the race. She waited until her PR got her out of the drivers room and took her to the media pen, where the post race conferences will be held.

Sky Sports interviewed the todays winner. So, y/n waited for Max to finish. She hoped he would never finish, that she would never have to face the camera and talk about the incident.

But that didn’t happen.

„Hello y/n, how do you feel? Everything okay, no pain?“, the nice interviewer asked her. „Uh, yeah, everything is fine“, she struggled with her answer, not believing herself that everything was fine.

„Can you tell me what happened? We just saw you crashing?“ - „Uhm, yeah“, she looked towards her media PR, what was she allowed to say? She shook her head - no bad words about her team. „I-, uh, I lost control of my steering wheel.“

The interviewer nodded. „We saw you retire from the race after Q1, having struggled already in FP1 and 2. Did you have problems with your steering wheel during them as well?“

She sighed. She was tired, her neck ached and she just wanted to be in her bed.

„I mean, kind of, yeah you could say I struggled with it during free practice.“

If she told the interviewer that she struggled with it during the whole yesterday and today, she would’ve bad mouthed the team.

„Last question for today, y/n. We asked Twitter for some comments, would you be so kind to make a statement to some of them?“

She really didn’t want to, knowing exactly what most of them had to say; women don’t belong in motorsports, etc.

„Sure“, she sighed. Her PR nodded, happy that y/n decided not to refuse.

„Alright, @motodports_2 said: That’s the second time this season that y/n crashed her car and we are only on the 7th race. What do you have to say to that?“

She closed her eyes, the headache creeping in like a madman with a desire to kill. „That’s true, that was the second crash of the season. And I am sorry for that, my team doesn’t deserve me crashing that many times during the season. I apologise.“

Sebastian was sitting at home, watching the race from his couch. He couldn’t believe what she was saying. The team doesn’t deserve a driver that crashes so much? Bullshit.

He missed her calls earlier that day, he wished he would’ve picked up his phone or at least called her back. But what she was telling to that interviewer was absolute bull.

Charles, who was next in line, also couldn’t believe the stuff you were telling Sky Sports.

„Okay, @maydrive says: The way y/n is throwing away her career in F1 with those shenanigans. Get a grip, will you?“, the interviewer read from the screen in front.

Charles was shocked, he never had to respond to any comments like that. How was she experiencing something like that?

„Uh yeah, thank you @maydrive for that. I will try to get a grip, and you are right, I am throwing away my F1 career like that, but I don’t want that, that’s why I will keep trying to get better“, her eyes were starting water. Just don’t let those tears fall, y/n. They want to see her cry, don’t give them the satisfaction of it.

„Thank you, y/n. Rest up and good evening!“

Her PR pulled her away and onto the next interview. After all that, she was exhausted. Exhausted and angry. How could they be asking her questions like that? Not fair.

Back in her garage, she let the emotions flow. Tears were streaming down her face, sobs were heard and her body was shaking. Her PR handed y/n her phone, leaving her again with a gentle pat to the shoulder.

Seb was calling her.

„Before you say anything, don’t let them treat you like that ever again. Not your fault, if you had problems with the steering wheel, it is not your place to apologise“, Seb interrupted her, before she could even sob into the phone. He heard sniffles. „Don’t cry, liebes dear. You did nothing wrong today.“

„Seb, I wish you’d be here“, she sobbed into the phone. It broke his heart. Comforting someone over the phone was hard, much more if the person being comforted was a teenager.

„It’s gonna be okay, life goes on, okay?“, he told her. „I just feel so weak and vulnerable. They hate me, they always find something wrong with my driving.“

„You are not weak! Who told you that?“, a voice from behind her sounded from the dark. Fernando Alonso stepped out of the shadow. Seb instantly recognised the older spaniards voice over the phone. Glad y/n was not alone in a time like this.

Fernando embraced her. Hugging her tight and firmly. He felt her heartbeat against his chest, beating like crazy. „Breathe with me, y/n.“

They were standing in her motorhome, embraced in one another. If a camera had noticed, headliners would say: Alonso and y/l/n dating confirmed? But there was no camera around.

She had her family here in F1. She belonged here, just as much as any other driver. She was not at fault. She was not weak or vulnerable. She was strong.

°°°

taglist: @ironmaiden1313 , @topguncultleader , @missskid , @gulabjamooon , @lovelyy-moonlight , @peachyplumsss , @mistrose23

[leclerc-s]

i did something bad - part two

THE CHARLOS BREAK UP

masterlist//previous//next

BRAZIL 2023

daniel ricciardo please tell me charles did not get into an argument with carlos.

teagan horner charles did not get into an argument with carlos. carlos got into an argument with him, two very different things.

max verstappen what was the argument even about?

charles leclerc doesn't matter it was bullshit.

mark webber clearly not, if you two came to blows.

pierre gasly carlos said he was shit driver and and that he only had the red bull seat because he was 'fucking horner's slut daughter' or that was the tailend of what i heard.

pierre gasly not to mention he punched teagan in face because she stood in front of charles hoping to stop the situation.

alex albon well i'll be damned.

yuki tsunoda so we all follow that one gossip account? because i know none of you were near when this happened.

liam lawson i do. how else am i supposed to find out that fernando alonso was visited by taylor swift last week in austin? daniel ricciardo it's fun to follow them. one time they said max and i were hooking up, we weren’t, but i liked the tweet to fuel them more. pr was not happy that week.

mark webber christian's been awfully quite this entire time.

max verstappen we're planning on how to torpedo into carlos in brazil. i'm the sacrifice because i've already won the championship. checo perez he supposed to fail at getting pole position in quali next week to end up behind carlos. sebastian vettel pulling a kvyat i see, i respect it max verstappen the only time i'll do something like kvyat. yuki tsunoda HE PUNCHED TEAGAN?! WHAT THE HELL?? WHERE IS THIS MAN?!

liam lawson yuki, think about your actions. charles is getting fined for what you’re thinking about doing (i think)

yuki tsunoda do i look like i give a fuck?

pierre gasly we ride at dawn!

mark webber you two are perfect for each other

sebastian vettel YOU’RE IN A MEETING GET OFF YOUR PHONE GASLY!!!

yuki tsunoda that should be your sign gasly, come back to alpha tauri! daniel can take your seat at alpine

daniel ricciardo hell no. i saw what they did to my fellow aussie, oscar. do you think i wanna get sued by them?

teagan horner we’re back, carlos is still pissed but so is my dad.

mark webber how’s your face after that punch?

teagan horner i have a sick black eye. i look like i got in a bar fight. i got the proper texas experience. christian horner this isn't a laughing matter teagan. you could've been seriously hurt. sebastian vettel he's right teagan, it could've escalated to something worse. max verstappen so is the plan still on to crash into carlos or not?

charles leclerc not, i want to do it. who gives a fuck on where i end up in the drivers championship, i'm already p7. let me do it brocedes style.

daniel ricciardo ah, 2016 spainsh grand prix, those were good days.

sebastian vettel you got p4 and max won daniel ricciardo they were good days because both mercedes dnf'd

max verstappen he won't do it

sergio perez i'll gladly help, we can have a repeat of yesterday.

charles leclerc deal and sorry about that, again.

sergio perez it could've happened to anyone, besides it was my fault

alex albon so...talk about a dramatic brazilian gp

lewis hamilton why is it always thing 1 or thing 2 starting the awkward conversations? lando norris they have nothing better to do alex albon listen here you muppet!

logan sargeant (i'm so sorry lewis) it's giving brocedes 2.0

nico hulkenberg be grateful you weren't around then sargeant. those were dark times.

lewis hamilton i feel like you're being a little dramatic about it.

kevin magnussen we aren't. everyone walked on eggshells because of you two. toto could never seem to catch a break.

fernando alonso it seems you're the old one lewis, if your memory is failing already.

lando norris kinda surprised it took this long for those two to go at it a la brocedes

charles leclerc i was sandwiched, what was i supposed to do? crash into checo for the second time in a row?

carlos sainz not crash into me. you had no problem crashing into sergio last week.

charles leclerc well, checo is the one retiring this year, not you. you'll have plenty more races.

carlos sainz since when do you call him checo?

carlos sainz and i was on pole! i could've won!

max verstappen at charles' expense no less

george russell "horrified looks from everyone in the room"

daniel ricciardo i don't know if i should be impressed that you know taylor swift lyrics lance stroll coming from the guy who sang our song in an interview word for word last month. daniel ricciardo at least i wasn't the one spamming the groupchat with taylonso memes

lewis hamilton how did this become the mess it has?

fernando alonso this is the only time i will ever wish sebastian was still driving. at least he could control these baboons.

nico hulkenberg who are you calling a baboon, nando?

fernando alonso if the shoe fits, nico, if the shoe fits

LAS VEGAS 2023

pierre gasly i will be throwing hands with fred and the rest of ferrari’s f1 team, starting with carlos.

alex albon but we gotta give charles credit, defying team orders the way he did in vegas? respect, it further proves ferrari would keep sacrificing his race even if he was on pole and leading the majority of the race.

liam lawson what did we expect? it's ferrari, and that strategy was a shit one, even i know that. charles had been leading for 35/50 laps and they wanted him to let carlos through? who was down in p6? yuki tsunoda ferrari has shit for brains pierre gasly and it's not like carlos would've been able to make it past checo, oscar, danny, and max to get the win. in the end, lando and alex overtook him, alex who's in a williams! you would've given me a few more laps and i could've overtaken him.

daniel ricciardo also, rumor has it that piero ferrari is like super pissed they let charles go.

mark webber of course he’s pissed, charles was their golden boy, he won monza. the first to do so since 2010 when fernando had won.

liam lawson i think the biggest fuck you to ferrari would be having charles win both monza and imola

sebastian vettel i like this kid, where did christian find you?

pierre gasly outside of yuki’s home. he picked him up by the scruff of his neck and said, “i want you to be our reserve driver at alpha tauri” liam lawson he found me in a dumpster outside of his home. sebastian vettel i hate both of you

teagan horner i thank god everyday that there is only one race left until the season is over

¡leclerc-s speaks! would carlos ever act like this? probably not, doesn't mean i'm going to stop writing it this way. i think people react in different ways when they're hurt and unfortunately in this fic carlos is lashing out. don't worry, i'm going to fix their relationship, just not for now, i like drama. would any of these events happen irl, no way, but what's the fun in fanfic if you can't exaggerate events at least a little?

¡disclaimer! this is in no way making assumptions about the people involved in this story, this is all fake. it is a fanfiction please don't take any of what is said seriously. this is all for entertainment purposes and as a creative outlet for me. enjoy!

[anonduck07]

QUALI RECAP: Chinese GP 2024

Ft. Nico Rosberg quotes because he's commentating again (scroll to the bottom bit)

Out in Q1

P20: Logan Sargeant, who spun out and caused a yellow flag

P19: Yuki Tsunoda, whose DRS wasn't working until the last 6 minutes of Q1

"I mean, there's definitely something going on, I can't be fucking 19. Honestly, the lap was pretty good." - Yuki Tsunoda, Team radio

P18: Lewis Hamilton goes too aggressively in his final lap and exits Q1 for the first time since Jeddah 2022

"When I was making the set-up changes I was like, it can't get any worse surely- and it did." - Lewis Hamilton

P17: Kevin Magnussen

P16: Zhou Guanyu, who placed an impressive P9 for the sprint, gets knocked down and out by Charles Leclerc, to the frustration of his home city

Out in Q2

P15: Pierre Gasly, who makes it into Q2 for the first time this year

P14: Alex Albon, who has exited Q2 in every race this season

P13: Esteban Ocon

P12: Daniel Ricciardo made it into Q2, out-qualifying Tsunoda for the first time this year. He had a minor setback when he reported smoke coming from his breaks in Q1, and wasn't able to advance to Q3

P11: Lance Stroll

Q3 results

P10: Valterri Bottas, who is on an absolute roll with his pace in China, qualifying P9 during the sprint

P9: Nico Hulkenberg, also managing to pull the HAAS to decent results

P8: George Russell

P7: Carlos Sainz, who crashed in Q2 (red flag) but came back on track in time to place third fastest, apparently struggling in Q3

P6: Charles Leclerc, who struggled a bit as well during Q3

P5: Oscar Piastri

P4: Lando Norris, who got pole for the sprint only to finish an unfortunate P6

P3: Fernando Alonso, oversteering a little in his final lap and just getting knocked down by Perez

P2: Checo Perez, making yet another front row lock-out for Red Bull

P1: Max Verstappen, taking Red Bull's 100th pole position, his first pole in China, and becoming the first driver to qualify P1 in all 5 starting races of the calender since Mika Hakkinen.

Bonus Nico Rosberg Commentary

"It's a super difficult one isn't it, for Mercedes. Lewis has put them into quite the difficult position there." (About what Mercedes will do after Lewis leaves)

"Lewis, you know, the 7 time world champion. That's a mistake probably that should be avoidable."

"Lewis tends to say we have so different set-ups and such a big car difference and that's kind of his excuse this year…and he's gone again for that"

"I'm happy to appear on a statistic. I don't appear much very often anymore 'cause it's so long ago." (The statistic being previous poles in Shanghai)

"I know that because he [Fernando Alonso]'s my rival in those statistics. That's why I know his numbers."

[isawthesainz]

Race Recap 16: Monza, Italy

Sunday 1st September 2024

Build-Up:

On 26th August, Uralkali confirm that they have received payment from Haas and Haas are now allowed to leave the Netherlands

Also on 26th August, Helmut Marko reports that Liam Lawson is likely to replace Logan Sargeant at Williams for Monza

On 27th August, Williams announce that Franco Colapinto will be replacing Logan Sargeant for the remainder of the 2024 season

Also on 27th August, it is reported thag Liam Lawson was Williams number 1 choice to replacing Logan Sargeant, but Red Bull wanted a deal where they could recall Lawson at any moment, in case they wanted to replace a driver at VCARB or Red Bull. Williams couldn't agree to these terms so chose Colapinto instead

On 29th August, the safety car crashes into the wall at Parabolica during test laps around the circuit

On 30th August, Kimi Antonelli - driving George Russell’s car - crashes into the wall 10 minutes in to FP1

Also on 30th August, it is reported that Valtteri Bottas is currently the favourite for the 2nd seat at Sauber/Audi next season. He has reportedly been offered a one year contract extension, but is ideally looking for a 1+1 deal. If Bottas’ deal falls through, Gabriel Bortoleto would then be Saubers next option

Also on 30th August, Kevin Magnussen crashes in FP2

On 31st August, Mercedes confirm that Kimi Antonelli will be replacing Lewis Hamilton at the team from 2025

Also on 31st August, McLaren is fined €10,000 for an unsafe release in the pit lane into the path of Max Verstappen during qualifying

On 1st September, it is announced that Ferrari’s sponsorship deal with Santander will come to an end at the end of 2024. Santander says they will look elsewhere for a new deal, with Williams a possible destination

Race Highlights:

Lando Norris makes a good start from pole, maintaining his lead ahead of teammate Oscar Piastri into Turn 1

George Russell locks up into Turn 1 trying to avoid Piastri’s car and runs off the track, conceding places in the run-off area

Piastri overtakes Norris for the lead on the exit of Turn 2, and Norris also loses P2 to Charles Leclerc

Sergio Perez complains that Russell’s car had suffered damage to the front wing end plate and that it would be potentially dangerous

On Lap 4, Daniel Ricciardo and Nico Hulkenberg are noted by Race Control for causing a collision at Turn 8

Hulkenberg also runs into the side of Yuki Tsunoda’s car into Turn 1, damaging his front wing and causing Tsunoda to use the run-off area

On Lap 8, Tsunoda is told to box and retire the car

Ricciardo is given a 5-second time penalty for the incident with Hulkenberg

On Lap 15, McLaren tells Norris to put to undercut Leclerc. Norris hits the speed entry board as he locks up across the pit entry line

Leclerc completes a 2.5-second pit stop but rejoins the race behind Norris

Ricciardo is given a 10-second penalty for failing to serve his time penalty correctly. The replay shows that a RB mechanic touched the car when Ricciardo came into the pits

On Lap 25, McLaren reminds Norris about ‘papaya rules’ on the radio, suggesting that Norris would need to cover and assist Piastri to maintain his lead

On Lap 22, Max Verstappen suffers a slow pit stop of 6.2 seconds due to the right rear tyres struggling to come off

On Lap 25, Kevin Magnussen is handed a 10-second time penalty for an incident with Pierre Gasly

On Lap 31, Norris locks up, extending the gap to Piastri to 4.8 seconds

Norris pits on Lap 33. McLaren asks Piastri if he thinks a one-stop is possible, and he responds that he doesn’t think so

Norris manages to overtake Verstappen on Lap 41

Carlos Sainz is overtaken by Piastri on Lap 45 followed by Norris on Lap 48

Leclerc crossed the line to take victory at Ferrari’s home race

Race Results:

1st Place: Charles Leclerc

2nd Place: Oscar Piastri

3rd Place: Lando Norris

[chequeredandreas]

The Italian Grand Prix '24

Highlights

1. Yuki Tsunoda's Unlucky Streak

Tsunoda's bad luck in Monza continues as he was forced to retire his car by Lap 8.

2. Daniel Ricciardo And His Penalties

As if his teammate unable to race wasn't enough, Ricciardo received multiple penalties throughout the race.

3. Kevin Magnussen Unable To Race In Azerbaijan GP

K. Mag is given a one-race ban after his collision with Gasly.

4. Franco Colapinto's F1 debut

The Logan Sargeant rookie replacement finished in an impressive P12 for his F1 debut.

5. Multiple Race Leaders

We saw 3 teams with 6 drivers leading throughout this race but only one came in first— Charles Leclerc wins in Monza once again!

Race Recap

First Lap Chaos

It's a Papaya 1-2 as the Mclarens lead the race with Norris as pole-sitter, they are followed by Russell in third position. Behind him, the Ferraris.

Russell goes off into the run off area and the Ferraris go through with Leclerc taking 3rd position. They are followed by Hamilton as Russell attempts to get back on track. His car is damaged.

Piastri makes a swift move on Norris into T4 by slipstreaming and becomes the new race leader. Norris then opens up a door, Leclerc takes the opportunity and overtakes. The Monegasque takes 2nd position.

Norris gets behind Leclerc, behind him Sainz.

First Penalty For Ricciardo

Ricciardo makes contact with Hülkenberg in Lap 5. Ricciardo is later given a 5-second penalty.

Tsunoda's Unlucky Streak

Hülkenberg collides with Yuki Tsunoda, damaging the car which causes Tsunoda to retire his car at Lap 8. Hülkenberg receives a 10-second penalty.

It's Box Time For #4

Lando Norris pits by the end of Lap 14 and drops into 7th from 3rd position before getting behind Ocon towards T1 in Lap 15. Norris doesn't back out and gains back the position before T4.

Another 'Box, Box!'

Leclerc drops into 7th position in Lap 16 as a result from entering the pit lane.

Yet Another Race Leader...

Piastri boxes at the end of Lap 16. Sainz then takes the lead, with the Red Bulls behind him. The Red Bulls are tailed by the former race leaders and Leclerc by Lap 18.

Sainz leads from Laps 17 to 19. The Red Bulls lead by Lap 20 as Sainz pits and drops to 6th position. Verstappen becomes the new race leader.

Adding Salt There!

Ricciardo receives a 10-second penalty for failing to serve his first penalty right.

K. Mag's Inchident With Gasly

Looks like VCARB isn't the only one feeling the Monza blues as Haas drivers have gotten into unfortunate incidents throughout the race too. Magnussen and Gasly collides in Lap 21's T4, later earning the Dane a one-race ban keeping him from racing in Baku this year. The last person to receive this penalty was Romain Grosjean back in 2012 after causing a multi-car crash in the Belgian GP.

Passing The Crown To Checo

Verstappen boxes at lap 23 letting Perez lead, followed by the Mclarens and Ferraris.

Didn't Last Long, I Guess

Perez pits by the end of Lap 23 letting Piastri lead once more in Lap 24 followed by his teammate, and Leclerc.

The Mclaren garage sends out a message stating their drivers are free to race.

Ric v. Gas

Ricciardo and Gasly fight for position in Lap 28. Gasly eventually lets the Aussie through.

Halfway There...

Norris pits in Lap 33, giving way to the Ferraris. It is now Piastri against the Ferraris, followed by the Red Bulls. Norris gets behind the Red Bulls.

44 v. 55

I guess we could say it's a Ferrari vs Ferrari in Lap 37 as Hamilton and Sainz are fighting for fourth position with the Spaniard leading.

Another Ferrari Up-Front!

Piastri boxes at Lap 39, The Ferraris now lead with Leclerc on the front. Piastri ends up just ahead of Verstappen and Norris who are fighting for position.

DRS For Norris

Norris gets DRS in Lap 41 and overtakes Verstappen. Verstappen pits by Lap 42.

Classic 55 v. 81

Sainz did a great job keeping the Mclarens behind. He defends against Piastri up until T8 of Lap 45 as the Mclaren manages to overtake the Ferrari. Job well done to Sainz for defending against the rocket ship.

Norris Gets Through

Norris manages to overake Sainz into T1 of Lap 48, earning the third position.

Father-Son Bonding

Piastri tries to gain position and races against Leclerc for the top spot in the podium.

Piastri gets faster each lap but Leclerc defends, despite the graining on his tyres.

He Wins In Monaco, He Wins In Monza!

Leading from Lap 39 onwards, Charles Leclerc pushes through to the end with the Mclarens behind him and wins the Italian Grand Prix for the second time after four years in front of the Tifosi! Victory to the Prince of Monaco, the Chosen One of Maranello!

For more content like this, please follow me on Tumblr as @chequeredandreas. I am also on Instagram and Threads as @chequeredandreas.

[letsgolando-4]

Formula 1 explained (I think)

Here is a not-so-brief explanation of some of the important things in formula 1. Enjoy!

Free Practice

Free practice is drivers remembering how to not suck before they have to go and not suck in front of a lot of people with a lot more cameras. Whoever goes fastest gets people to momentarily hope (on the rare occasion that it is not Verstappen) that someone other then Verstappen will win a race. To put things into perspective, this never happens. Takes place on a Friday.

Qualifying

Qualifying is like a race but not a race. It’s short and if you suck in qualifying, unless you’re god (or again, Verstappen) you’re gonna suck in the race as well because however you finish is however you start in the actual race. If you manage to finish first in qualifying your on pole. Unfortunately, it no longer matters if anyone other than Verstappen is one pole because the guy somehow manages to clinch a race win anyway. Takes place on a Saturday.

Grand Prix (the actual race)

Finally, we have reached the actual race. There’s a lot of panic and stress for nothing and they make a big show of five lights going out and then people race. A lot of people go out in turn 1 so try to keep your head screwed on for the first few laps. If Williams are higher than P20 and P19, look outside because the world may be ending. Alfa Romeo disappear out of the points and tend to just suck in general. McLaren will either do really shit or really good but they can never actually WIN a race, just get onto the podium. Ferrari will occasionally let their fans sniff the air in P1 before either crashing or getting taken out by Verstappen. One of the two. The Mercedes will probably be nice and comfy having not moved from their cemented P4 and P5, and the Redbulls? Well, Checo doesn’t really get a lot of limelight but the aforementioned Verstappen will be winning. Not a negotiable fact. The other teams will be somewhere in between. Takes place on a Sunday.

Sprint Races

Occasionally the FIA are feeling quirky and they decide to have a sprint race which is like a race but not a race. It’s short so you don’t need to pit. Sometimes when they decide they don’t want blood on their hands they’ll stop a race halfway through if the conditions are dangerous and then resume it when the weather dies down. These are also technically little sprint races. They do regular qualifying on a Friday and then on Saturday they have what the FIA like to call a ✨sprint shootout✨ which is qualifying for a sprint race. Same rules apply. Then they have some fun with a sprint race and when they’ve calmed down a bit, have a normal race on Sunday.

Teams And Drivers

The current formula 1 grid has 20 drivers, two drivers per team, and in case you suck at maths, that makes 10 teams. Teams have first and second driver. This is a way of saying who is shit and who is not without hurting their feelings. These teams and their drivers are as follows:

Redbull: Max Verstappen (first driver) and Sergio “Checo” Perez (second driver)

Ferrari: Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz. No first driver because the team principal likes Leclerc more but Sainz’s father realised this.

Mercedes: Lewis Hamilton (first driver) and George Russell (second driver)

McLaren: Lando Norris (first drivers) and Oscar Piastri (second driver)

Alpine: Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly. Again, no first driver because the French civil war is too intense. At least I think.

Alfa Romeo: Valtteri Bottas (first driver) and Zhou Guyanu (second driver)

Alpha Tauri: Yuki Tsunoda (first driver) and Daniel Ricciardo (second driver) although Ricciardo had a bad crash and broke his arm so as of October 2023 Liam Lawson from F2 is stepping in.

Aston Martin: Fernando Alonso (first driver) and Lance Stroll (second driver)

Haas: Kevin Magnussen (first driver) and Nico Hulkenberg (second driver)

Williams: Alexander Albon (first driver) and Logan Sargeant (second driver)

So that’s the low-down on the bare bones of an F1 race. Tell me if I’ve missed anything or got anything wrong!

Danny out.

[boxboxblog]

2024 Interlagos Q3 (The Big One)

Okay, so big shock was of course Verstappen missing out on Q3 due to a last minute red flag. This is on top of a five place grid penalty he will take for a power until replacement, so Verstappen will start in 17th at the race later today. It was simply terrible timing, as Verstappen was almost finished with his lap when the red flag was called. We have seen him climb up a wet race field from the back before, so I would not count him out.

The other big shock is that out of the big boys, only McLaren has their full team out on track. Sainz is out, Hamilton is out, and Both Red Bulls are out.

Great timing for Norris though, as he finished his lap almost seconds before the red flag was called, which sent him up to the top of the field. Echoes the good timing of yesterdays VSC for McLaren, which allowed them to swap right before the race ended under the VSC.

Cars lined up. McLaren seems to believe best conditions will be in first five minutes, so they will try to get flyings on the board fast.

Green light! Everyone on inters right now.

Ocon, Albon, and Piastri out on laps. So far Piastri going on the fastest lap, and puts it to the top. Norris on flying as well, and goes by his teammate. Tsunoda jumps up and splits the McLarens., and Leclerc jumps up to 4th. Ocon jumps to 1st, and Russel goes to 3rd. Piastri finishes lap and jumps to pole, Norris takes 1st and Albon pushes Piastri to 3rd.

Red flag! Alonso goes into the barriers. I feel pretty bad for the Aston Martin engineers, as now they have two cars to repair before the race, which is only in a couple of hours.

This could be massive, as rain is just projected to get worse. This could be our starting line up for the race today if the rain gets too bad.

I will say the FIA's handling of flags/safety cars lately has been terrible. Yesterdays late safety car, todays late red flag after Stroll went off. It puts drivers in danger, and is deeply disappointing to see. But I digress.

Green light.

Session restarts with slightly under seven minutes left.

All of the big boys are on outlap. Interesting battles will be Russell vs Leclerc v McLaren for pole, Lawson vs Tsunoda for the higher position, and Ocon vs everyone. He has looked fantastic today, so we could see a surprise pole sitter.

Norris, who is currently 1st, is on flying. He does not improve time but he's 1st so its no big deal right now. Yellow flag interrupts Leclerc lap as Tsunoda spins, and he has to abort it.

Red flag! Albon has gone into the wall. 3 minutes left. Officially that is five red flags, and they have matched Imola's record for the most red flags in a qualifying. Not a great record to have.

Jesus, that is five cars crashed out today (Stroll, Alonso, Colapinto, Sainz,and Albon), and that doesn't even include all of the many cars who have spun. I'm not sure how safe these conditions will be to race in later, where mistakes are plenty and racing is tighter. As a wet race enjoyer, I hope it goes ahead (safely) but as someone with eyes, I think it is beyond unsafe in these conditions (which are only projected to get worse). It would definitely result in multiple crashes, and in race these crashes will be even more violent than the ones we have seen this morning.

Green light.

If anyone wants to challenge Norris for pole, they need to get a lap in and fast. They are all on inters and the rain is starting to fall harder. This is very dangerous.

Norris cannot be challenged. But Lawson, Ocon, and Tsunoda jump up to their highest finishes yet. Russell jumps right behind Norris, a great result for the way Mercedes has been struggling. Leclerc cannot improve on time and stays in lower end of the group, same with Piastri.

Starting Grid for Race:x

Norris

Russell

Tsunoda

Ocon

Lawson

Leclerc

Albon

Piastri

Alonso

Stroll

Bottas

Perez

Sainz

Gasly

Hamilton

Bearman

Verstappen

Colapinto

Hulkenberg

Zhou

With all of the fixed needed, no doubt there will be some shakeup later today in this order.

Insane quali everyone. I will see you later for the race. Hopefully not, if these conditions remain as they are or get worse.

Cheers,

-B

[f1]

Miami Grand Prix - F1 qualifying RECAP: Sergio Perez takes pole after late Charles Leclerc crash

By Sam Brookes For Mailonline Published: 20:00 BST, 6 May 2023 | Updated: 20:01 BST, 6 May 2023 Advertisement Follow Mail Sport's live blog for coverage of qualifying at the Miami Grand Prix.   Share or comment on this article: Miami Grand Prix - F1 qualifying LIVE: Updates as Lewis Hamilton looks to challenge Max Verstappen via Formula One | Mail Online https://www.dailymail.co.uk?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490

[bunnytalksf1]

not bad, for a number two driver

McLaren hands down have one of the best problems in the paddock, right now, and that's having two incredibly evenly matched, young and hungry drivers in their car, which is now capable of winning a championship in both the drivers' and the constructors'.

Despite all claims that McLaren favours neither driver, any fan who's been paying attention knows, that to some extent, this is not true. Whilst, contractually, Piastri is no Sergio Perez, he's not on equal ground to Norris. Across the season, Norris has gotten every upgrade first. This is a common approach, and it doesn't surprise me, given that for now, Norris is the stronger driver in both race and quali. To some extent, this is a "natural" 1-2 setup, like Leclerc-Sainz or Albon-Sargeant: Norris, was, at the beginning of the season, anyway, consistently qualifying higher and getting more points. In Mercedes, even though most agree that Hamilton is on average the better driver, Russell has been recieving upgrades first because he's higher in the standings.

Regardless, McLaren is the first team in a while to be in this position. The last time something like this happened was probably with Verstappen-Ricciardo in 2016-18, and even that didn't come to a head as quickly as this has because Verstappen, as a young driver rushed into F1, made his fair share of stupid mistakes throughout those two first seasons. Piastri hasn't been rushed into F1 like Verstappen was, and is one of three drivers on the current grid to win F3 and F2 back-to-back (the other two are Leclerc and Russell), which is a huge achievement and demonstrates a level of consistency. So far, he also seems much less phased by pressure than Norris is, which is one of Norris' biggest weaknesses - just look at his starts.

McLaren haven't had two evenly matched drivers in a long time, even without a championship-worthy car, making this a very new issue, and one that they seemingly haven't figured out how to manage yet. After two years of having very little challenge to Red Bull (Verstappen's) dominance of the sport, the fans, media and seemingly the FIA itself is hungry for a title battle. The British media that dominates F1's news cycle would love for that challenge to come from Norris - and from McLaren, as a British team. Except Norris has folded under the pressure of having the fastest car, and so has McLaren, who have struggled time and again to manage both drivers at the top of the field and keep peace within the team - Silverstone, Hungary, and Monza were all winnable races for them, with a little hindsight.

In Monza, the two cars qualified 1-2, and were allowed to race each other. Then, the ridiculous "papaya rules" - basically, don't crash out. Norris kept his pole past turn one for the first time in his career, and Piastri snatched it at turn four, opening the door for Leclerc behind. That moment, in my opinion, wasn't what lost them the race (or the 1-2), it was not realising how bad the graining would be on the front tyres, and underestimating Leclerc, who has always been strong on his tyres. To some degree, the Ferrari was also the better car that day: kinder to its tyres. Either way, they secured a double podium.

Contention for the result comes in when you look at the margins: Leclerc won by around two seconds, time which could have easily been lost in the first stint. But ultimately it was racing, and Piastri is not looking to roll over to Norris when he can drive at a very similar, if not sometimes superior, level to him. The two second margin is sort of meaningless since Piastri would have also had to PASS Leclerc, something which he hadn't managed to do with a tyre offset in Zandvoort.

The (reminder: majority British) media then created a storm out of this result: a lost win and potential one-two for McLaren, a lost opportunity to take the lead in the constructors', and being beaten to the line by a "slower" car. Eager to have fingers to point, the blame came down on Piastri in lap one, and on Stella and Brown's management of their drivers. In particular, Buxton was incredibly heated about it, and Norris fans seemed to, by and large, agree with him: Piastri needed to support Norris more, and McLaren need to throw their weight behind the right driver.

So when the circus arrived in Baku, all eyes were on McLaren, their two drivers, and on the driver management issue, where Stella had admitted if the two drivers were close, they'd favour Norris (which is actually nothing new - Piastri always got kind of mid strategy calls, even before the team were contenders).

Then Norris got knocked out in Q1.

Granted, it wasn't his fault: an unlucky yellow flag forced him to lift, and the team's strategy meant that he hadn't gotten a good enough banker lap in. But there it was: Piastri in P2, Norris in P17. The week the team had decided to throw its weight behind Norris, and this happens. Not a great look, regardless of the reasons behind it.

After qualifying, the general feeling was that Ferrari was the fastest car, with Leclerc making it look a little like a rocketship by putting three tenths on Piastri and four tenths on his teammate, but come race day, this didn't hold up, and an incredible overtake by Piastri gave them the win.

As a side note, the rear wing "mini-DRS" effect definitely gave McLaren an edge. Leclerc (or any driver) should NOT have struggled that much in the DRS, but there are very few drivers on the grid who could have held off Leclerc under pressure for pretty much the entire second stint as well as Piastri did, regardless of the advantage given by the car. For now I'll regard the mini-DRS as a clever usage of an FIA loophole.

The week after McLaren was ready to throw its weight behind Norris, Piastri showed a level of calibre that made the media sit up and take notice, much like Leclerc the weeks before in Zandvoort and Monza. The performance was brilliant, and the point was drilled home: Piastri is a championship contending driver NOW, not in the future. In his second season he's rivalling and causing problems for a Veteran Norris, and with it, the team, who to some extent favour him. Piastri's one weakness compared to Norris is the race pace / tyre management, which he's already improved greatly this season.

It would be interesting to draw paralells in this dynamic to Vettel-Webber, but I won't. Red Bull politics are hard to compare anywhere, and it's not quite the same, but given Webber is now Paistri's manager, it's an interesting thing to think about.

Unless Norris steps up under pressure, or McLaren team management implicitly picks a no1 driver, the team is going to have the best kind of headache next year when it is in a position to contend for the drivers' from the very first race.

The rest of this season, too, is going to be difficult: the two drivers have the potential to, between them, win EVERY remaining race on this calendar, and are likely to be evenly matched through all of it, as Norris scrabbles for a chance at the drivers' and the team tries to preserve its championship lead and its "we're a family" branding that seems to be hurting them more than helping them, these days.

And that's a narrative I'm excited for, because Piastri is only improving.

[a-week-of-formula-1-reviews]

Round IX - Montreal, Canada 🇨🇦

Bonjour et bienvenue au Canada!

We have jumped back over the Atlantic (God knows why) to take a break from the European leg for the Canadian Grand Prix, arguably the best race of the season so far.

Max Verstappen returned to his winning ways this week, following an identical lap time with George Russell in qualifying, the second time in history after Jerez 1997. Both men weren't even a year old then. Despite his electrical issues at the beginning of the weekend, the Dutchman was able to minise his mistakes in the race, and was helped out by the safety car, the reverse of what he experienced in Miami last month. This brings him his 60th career win, his 50th in 75 races. He also extended his lead in the championship to 56 points following Charles Leclerc's DNF.

However, his teammate didn't have the same fortune. Sergio Perez described his qualifying as a "total disaster", and whilst the celebrations of his new contract quickly fizzled out, he couldn't perform as a Ted Bull should. Out in Q1, contact with Pierre Gasly on lap 1, a retirement following a crash *and* a grid penalty in Spain meant the Mexican probably couldn't have left Canada quick enough.

Following a turbulent season start, it was onwards and upwards for Mercedes, in particular, George Russell. Starting on pole for the second time in his career, he gave the German team their first podium of the season. Thanks to the upgrades the team brought to Montreal, George was able to be in the thick of the four way fight with Max, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri for most of the race. With this new confidence, hopes are probably high heading to Barcelona...

...where we will be in two weeks time. As the season progresses, it is still all to play for, and nothing is guaranteed. Expect for exciting track action. Until Spain,

Au revoir pour le moment!

[bohnsky]

My favorite drivers 2 months and 3 weeks into liking F1:

1. Alex Albon

Nothing changed here. Albono is probably the love of my life. I even had a dream about him in which I was more or less friends with him and had the biggest crush on him. He just seems like such a nice, fun and genuine guy and I would give (almost) everything I own to be friends with him.

The weekend wasn't optimal for Williams, but it wasn't the worst and as long as Alex is fine, I'm happy.

Also I finally started to appreciate Lily the way she deserves. I know it's toxic af, but I always find myself having problems with the wags just because of pure jealousy, especially when it comes to people like Alex (I just love him so much). But I try my best not to. I've always liked Lily as a person and now I finally also like her as Albono's wag. She seems to be good to him and they both deserve to be happy.

2. Sergio Perez

Yes he's still up here, I'm still obsessed. And I'm still sad that there seem to be very few people who don't constantly make fun of him. Bless everyone who is nice to him.

I am soooo insanely happy that both quali and race went well for him for once. But the sprint race sucked. And for some reason my brother felt the need to make fun of him for DNFing. Like he didn't even watch it, he has no idea what happened, but felt the need to rub that in my face. But I guess that's what a brother is there for.

I've been reading tons of Chestappen fics lately. I'm really sad that I got into f1 too late and missed their honeymoon phase. I joined after the divorce. Which is probably for the better, because it would've hurt too much seeing the divorce in real time.

Seeing them on the podium together was greath tho :)

I just wish they would hug :(

3. Charles Leclerc

Charles on Pole and P3 in the race!!!! I was so happy for him!! P1 or 2 would've been better of course, but there is no stopping Red Bull so it's basically a win and I love that for him.

Also is it just me or is it super awkward when the Red Bulls are basically ignoring Charles when spraying Champagne on the podium? He deserves some attention as well😭😭

Honerable mentions:

Sophia Flörsch. She's not in F1 but F3, but I just need to mention her. The first woman to score points, I'm so proud of her😭😭

And damn what a race starting from P24 to P7. She deserves way more attention than she's getting, so please take this as your sign to go support Sophia!

Max. As always, his hair. And him in civil clothing is going to kill me someday. It's not like I'm seeking Max content (except for Chestappen or Lestappen stuff), but when I see it I usually like it. His smile is the sweetest and the hug he shared with Christian after the race made me melt.

And I feel like I need to say again that even if I don't like this total domination that's going on, Max totally deserves it. He just is that good.

Lance. I need simply need more Lance content, preferably Strollonso content, thank you very much. Lance just seems like a sweetheart to me. I usually don't like giving celebs, or people I don't personally know pet names, but Lance is such a baby girl, the princess of kitty town.

Saturday drove me crazy. I felt so bad for Lance crashing because he changed to slicks and basically destroying not only his and Fernandos chance of getting into Q3, but also the Williams. He must've felt so bad. I know I would've.

But hey, we got stroints.

Esteban. It's the same with Charles and Pierre. I started liking Pierre mainly because he's close to Charles and now I start paying more attention to Esteban. And he's a really good driver. I love that for him.

Fernando. My mom, who doesn't know anything about f1 or the drivers, randomly said that she likes Fernando the most. When I asked why she said because of the f1 intro. She thinks he looks likable and I think that's funny.

Also big F for him, I hope he got to enjoy his birthday despite all the shit that was going down in Aston that day.

Pierre. I was so happy for him! It was "only" a sprint race, but podium is podium.

Also I've been reading many Yukierre fics lately for some reason.

Yuki. Like I said, I've been reading a lot of Yukierre. But also, Yuki got points :D

And my brother said something against Yuki, which made me mad (he likes to dislike the things I like, honsetly I'm just glad he doesn't shit on Alex)

Carlos. The team really made him drive half the race with a broken car. It sucks so bad, I just want my vroom vroom boys to be happy :(

Also Carlando are just so cute, I can't with them.

Oscar. Same as Carlos. Oscar just had such a good weekend and then he has to retire after the first turn. That was really sad!

So that's it for now, hope everyone gets to relax a bit during summer break :)

[racing-is-passion]

The Qualifying for the GP of Monaco was one of the best in this season. For some time there were four drivers with times of 1:11.7 at the same time. Also there are 4 different teams in the first four places.

Max Verstappen claimed the pole position in the last second, he was just 0.084 seconds faster than Alonso, who had more than 0.2 seconds advantage to Verstappen after the second sector. But Verstappen was the fastest in the last sector in every single lap, so it was clear that it will be a very close one. In third place came Charles Leclerc with a 0.106 seconds deficit to Verstappen. Leclerc will start from 6th. place, because he got a penalty for holding up Lando Norris during the Qualy.

My prediction for the race win, Sergio Perez, most probably won't win the race, because he crashed in Sainte Devote in Q1 and will start from last place.

The McLaren crew did a great job as Lando Norris broke his front left suspension as he touched a wall at the exit of the Nouvelle Chicane near the end of Q2. They repaired it quick enough for Lando to take part in Q3. Great job!

Here's the starting grid fortodays race:

Max Verstappen (Red Bull)

Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)

Esteban Ocon (Alpine)

Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)

Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)

Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)

Pierre Gasly (Alpine)

George Russell (Mercedes)

Yuki Tsunoda (Alpha Tauri)

Lando Norris (McLaren)

Oscar Piastri (McLaren)

Nyck de Vries (Alpha Tauri)

Alex Albon (Williams)

Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)

Valtierri Bottas (Alfa Romeo)

Logan Sargeant (Williams)

Kevin Magnussen (Haas)

Nico Hülkenberg (Haas)

Guanyu Zhou (Alfa Romeo)

Sergio Perez (Red Bull)

[anonduck07]

The race weekend so far

Missed the qualifying session for Jeddah? Can't watch it? Here's a summary of what happened:

Q1 + Pre-Quali

Zhou Guanyu will start P20 after a crash in FP3. Although the car was fixed with a minute to go in Q3, he didn't manage to pass the checkered flag and set a lap-time.

Carlos Sainz gets appendicitis, manages to get P7 in FP2 but takes a break for FP3 and Quali (and the GP too).

Ollie Bearman, who takes pole in F2 after qualifying P19 in Bahrain, gets called in as his replacement for the weekend and manages to get into Q2!

Verstappen sets fastest sector 1 in Q1, Stroll sets fastest middle sector and Bearman sets fastest sector 3.

Eliminated: Bottas, Ocon, Gasly, Sargent, Zhou (a repeat of Bahrain, basically)

Q2

Alex Albon, the only driver in Q2 without a teammate, on used softs

Hulkenberg loses power and stops by the track, a yellow flag is called

Alonso Fastest sector 1 and 2, Verstappen fastest sector 3 (both on new, soft tires)

Tsunoda outqualifies Ricciardo by half a second

Bearman, Albon, Magnussen, Ricciardo and Hulkenberg are eliminated, setting P11-15 for the GP in that order

Q3

Tsunoda and Leclerc without teammates in Q3

Verstappen fastest sector 1, 2 AND 3

Leclerc says the car "feels weird on new tires...difficult to drive"

Max Verstappen takes pole position again, his first ever pole at Jeddah but not likely to be his last. It's also his 34th pole ever.

Leclerc three-tenths behind him gets to start the race in P2. They share pole-P2 in qualifying for the fifth race in a row.

Perez comes in third fastest, Alonso fourth

5-10th fastest is set by Piastri, Norriss, Russell, Hamilton, Tsunoda and Stroll (in that order)

[isawthesainz]

Race Recap 13: Hungary

Sunday 21st July 2024

Build-Up:

On 12th July, rumours emerge that Valtteri Bottas is in negotiations with Williams

On 18th July, it is announced that Kevin Magnussen and Haas will part ways at the end of 2024

Charles Leclerc crashes at Turn 4 during FP2, briefly bringing out the red flag

Sergio Perez crashes at Turn 8 during Q1, hitting the barriers and bringing out the red flag. The session restarted with only 5 minutes to go

Late laps from Kevin Magnussen and Valtteri Bottas mean that both Sergio Perez and George Russell are knocked out in Q1 and will start from 16th and 17th respectively

Yuki Tsunoda crashes at Turn 6 with just 2 minutes left of Q3. The race restarts but only Daniel Ricciardo is able to improve his time

Lando Norris achieves his third career pole, with Oscar Piastri locking out the front row for McLaren for the first time in 12 years

Race Highlights:

The two Mclarens and Max Verstappen run wide into Turn 1. Piastri takes the lead and Verstappen rejoins the track in P2

Verstappen is noted by race control for leaving the track and gaining an advantage due to not conceding the place

Red Bull tells Max to give the place back to Norris, which he does on Lap 4

On Lap 34, Alpine tells Pierre Gasly to retire the car

Norris pits on Lap 46, rejoining the race in P4. Piastri pits on Lap 47, rejoining in P3 behind his teammate

On Lap 48, Piastri runs wide into the gravel. The McLaren Race Engineers advise Norris that they want to re-establish the same order as before the pit stops and to allow Piastri to pass. Norris agrees to give the place back once Piastri catches up to him, but would not slow down to let him past

On Lap 55, Norris is told to save his tyres and stop pushing to allow Piastri through

On Lap 57, McLaren informs Norris that his is still pushing the tyres too hard, saying ‘We’re sure you’ll do the right thing’

By Lap 61, Norris has build up a gap of 5 seconds to Piastri

At the start of Lap 63, Verstappen tries to overtake on the inside of Hamilton and passes the Mercedes driver. However, he locks up into Turn 1 going across the path of Hamilton, hits his front tyre and gains air before going off the track. He manages to rejoin the race but loses a place to Leclerc

Both Norris and Verstappen exchange some tense words with their Race Engineers, with Gianpiero Lambiase (Verstappen’s Race Engineer) telling him that it was ‘childish’ to argue on the radio

Norris slows down and allows Piastri to pass at the start of Lap 63

Piastri achieves his first F1 win in only his second season, with Norris finishing in second place for a McLaren 1-2. Hamilton finishes in third, taking his 200th podium

Race Results:

1st Place: Oscar Piastri

2nd Place: Lando Norris

3rd Place: Lewis Hamilton

[rickybaby]

again – those were three races in an absolutely ridiculous season of attrition that gave them opportunities under exceptional circumstances, not the pure team performance, which is what norris is referring to.

the other races norris could have won would also have been in exceptional circumstances; that he was even in the conversation for the pole (and sort-of race win) in belgium was because it was a wet qualifying session, which puts less of the onus on the car's capabilities and strengths. and then there wasn't even a race.

and in sochi, no matter how you feel about how it ended, he put it on pole in wet-to-dry qualifying conditions (where, again, the onus is less on the car) and also had other front runners messing up (lewis hamilton in quali, had to come back in the race, perez not performing well) or taking engine penalties (verstappen, bottas post-quali, even leclerc in similarly-rated machinery).

sochi was a day where everything didn't go right – for both norris and daniel. yes, some of norris' inexperience showed at the end (see from the interview: “We want to continue with the improvements that we’ve made so far, maximise our opportunities and make a couple fewer mistakes from both my side and the team's"), but similarly the team were floundering and didn't know how to interpret the oncoming weather clearly enough and communicate to someone being driven down by lewis hamilton himself – but they also gave daniel a poor strategy and pitstop that likely cost him a higher position by the end of it.

you can debate about monza and how close the two were on pace there, and daniel did not win just because of the strategy and pitstops, but they, alongside the circumstances of the weekend, opened the window of opportunity for daniel's own performance. yes, he likely would have won without verstappen and hamilton crashing, but that still doesn't take away the exceptional circumstances pre race. without rear gunners in perez and bottas, neither of the top teams had much to play with strategy wise – which is where mclaren got it right.

daniel had a nearly flawless weekend; and norris just about had one or two things not quite go his way (namely getting crowded out at the sprint race start, which had a knock-on effect across the weekend due to how big your pace advantage must be to overtake both with those regulations and at monza), but he was still there, right behind.

under those three weekends, norris was (even just slightly) in the conversation for the win – but similarly they were all under exceptional circumstance, not "regular" race weekends.

to be able to win on a "regular" race weekend, from the get-go, week in week out, is what mclaren and norris want, are working towards, and are seeing the evidence of progress for.

as norris said in the interview:

"...in the past there were always times when the hopes were raised, but we didn’t continue on some of the improvements we made,"

immediately after sochi, in turkey, they were nowhere near winning. and they never came close again for the rest of the season, the following season or even up until silverstone this year.

from silverstone till now, the progress mclaren have made as a result of seidl moving on, key being fired, and the technical restructure happening means they are closer than they have been in a long, long time to being consistent front-runners. to qualify top 3 in multiple weekends and have actual podium-running race pace without it just being down to others having a penalty, the weather, or some other unfortunate circumstance like someone going bowling and taking out half the field.

strategy and pitstops are a part of this progress too – their pitstops have improved dramatically since 2021, and while their strategy still is their stumbling block, having all these other building blocks in place makes strategy easier as well. to make sure they don't need the perfect strategy, pitstop or circumstances. to be able to win consistently.

that is all that is meant.

sorry for the long message, but hopefully you still read it through.

babes, mclaren has been on a supposedly upward progression since Lewis left, but they do the whole one step forward, two steps back dance every second season

funny how you talk about a win on a ‘regular’ weekend and a win on an ‘exceptional’ weekend. A win is a win. Shouldn’t all f1 drivers have the belief they can win if someone else stumbles in the race, even if their car is not the best car in f1 history? I guess you need to have that killer instinct to be able to grab these kind of opportunities and not leave a win on the table