Verstappen's Early Red Bull Rush Takes Pole in Bahrain

 

Photo Credit: FIA Pool/LAT Images/Pirelli

An all-new season for Formula 1 has arrived with a slew of pre-season storylines set to be explored as engines turn over for the 2021 Bahrain Grand Prix.

A consistent source of astonishment and a fair level of distain of competitors is the dominance of the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team. A constant fore-runner since the series’ adoption of the current turbo/hybrid power unit format, Mercedes-AMG with Valtteri Bottas as well as seven-time and reigning Formula 1 World Drivers’ Champion Lewis Hamilton continued to have winning pace last season. However, the 2020 season gave glimpses that Red Bull Racing could potentially achieve the enviable task of matching the performance of the German factory team. Max Verstappen’s Honda-powered race car frequently had the pace to fill the mirrors of Bottas and Hamilton last year, At the 2020 season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Verstappen and Red Bull Racing put on an impressive showcase taking pole along with the race win convincingly. Though just one event, Red Bull Racing’s performance on the Yas Marina Circuit gives reason to consider 2021 may present Mercedes-AMG with battle unlike any experienced since their seven consecutive Constructors’ championship-winning seasons.

Ahead of Formula 1's season-opening 57-lap event, the 5.412-kilometer Bahrain International Circuit hosted Saturday qualifying to set the grid for the Bahrain Grand Prix. Setting fastest time in the Q1 session, Max Verstappen and his Red Bull Racing team became concerned with the underside of his #33 RB16B race car after the Dutch driver rode a track curb. Though he was bettered on pace in Q2, Verstappen valiantly fought to take pole for the Bahrain Grand Prix late in Q3. Shortly after Lewis Hamilton grabbed the top spot with a 1-minute, 29.385-second lap time, the Honda-powered Red Bull flew across the start/finish line setting the pole of 1 minute, 28.997 seconds. Accounting for his top grid position at Formula 1'a last race of 2020, Verstappen has become the first non-Mercedes driver to score back-to-back poles since Charles Leclerc accomplished the feat during the 2019 campaign.

Though Max Verstappen provided Red Bull Racing with a major reason to celebrate after Bahrain Grand Prix qualifying, the second car driven by new team driver Sergio Perez had a less successful outing. Perez will start 11^th after attempting to advance beyond Q2 on medium compound Pirelli tires.

Photo Credit: Sebastian Kawka for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix ltd.

Lewis Hamilton starts second for tomorrow’s Bahrain Grand Prix as the defending winner of the event. Setting a top time in the Q3 session that was 0.589 seconds short of Max Verstappen’s benchmark, Hamilton’s Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas will launch from third on the second row of the race grid alongside Charles Leclerc. Leclerc and his new teammate Carlos Sainz Jr. gave Scuderia Ferrari and their Tifosi to cheer taking the top two spots in the Q2 session aided by the use of soft compound tires. Sainz will start the Bahrain Grand Prix in eighth place.

Pierre Gasly’s Honda-powered AlphaTauri race car was fifth fastest in Formula 1 qualifying and will start the race beside Daniel Ricciardo who is making his debut with McLaren. McLaren’s return to Mercedes-Benz power showed promise for the squad through Friday practice and contributed to a sixth place after qualifying for Ricciardo and seventh for Lando Norris.

Photo Credit: Mark Sutton/LAT Images/Pirelli

Two-time Formula 1 drivers’ champion Fernando Alonso’s return to Formula 1 racing after a two-year hiatus sees the Spaniard in ninth place ahead of Sunday’s main event driving for Renault’s rebranded Alpine F1 Team. Aston Martin Racing, the rebranded entity that was known as Racing Point last year, starts 2021 with a top qualifying effort coming from Canada’s Lance Stroll who will roll off the grid in tenth place. Stroll’s high-profile new teammate Sebastian Vettel will start the Bahrain Grand Prix in 17^th place after being impeded by local yellow flags in his Q1 session run.

The 2021 Formula 1 season opener is scheduled for Sunday at 6 p.m. local time or 11 a.m. Eastern time.

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2021 Formula 1

Bahrain Grand Prix

Qualifying Results

Pos #	Car #	Driver	Team	Engine
1	33	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing	Honda
2	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team	Mercedes-Benz
3	77	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team	Mercedes-Benz
4	16	Charles Leclerc	Scuderia Misson Winnow Ferrari	Ferrari
5	10	Pierre Gasly	Scuderia AlphaTauri	Honda
6	3	Daniel Ricciardo	McLaren F1 Team	Mercedes-Benz
7	4	Lando Norris	McLaren F1 Team	Mercedes-Benz
8	55	Carlos Sainz Jr	Scuderia Misson Winnow Ferrari	Ferrari
9	14	Fernando Alonso	Alpine F1 Team	Renault
10	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin Cognizant F1 Team	Mercedes-Benz
11	11	Sergio Perez	Red Bull Racing	Honda
12	99	Antonio Giovinazzi	Alfa Romeo Racing	Ferrari
13	22	Yuki Tsunoda	Scuderia AlphaTauri	Honda
14	7	Kimi Raikkonen	Alfa Romeo Racing	Ferrari
15	63	George Russell	Williams Racing	Mercedes-Benz
16	31	Esteban Ocon	Alpine F1 Team	Renault
17	6	Nicholas Latifi	Williams Racing	Mercedes-Benz
18	5	Sebastian Vettel	Aston Martin Cognizant F1 Team	Mercedes-Benz
19	47	Mick Schumacher	Uralkali Haas F1 Team	Ferrari
20	9	Nikita Mazepin	Uralkali Haas F1 Team	Ferrari

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1 Racing Mind's 2017 Formula 1 Summer Break Report Card: McLaren Honda

Photo Credit: Zak Mauger/LAT Images

Team Grade: F

Driver Grades
Fernando Alonso: C (possible B- weighing Indy 500 effort on mark)
Stoffel Vandoorne: C-

The second oldest active Formula 1 team, McLaren has captured 182 grand prix victories and 8 constructor titles. Historic successes of the McLaren team are completely detached from the 2017 incarnation of the race team. Collecting only 11 points, McLaren Honda is enduring a year where their hybrid power unit’s development appeared to have taken a step backwards from 2016 and a obviously disgruntled veteran driver.

Team drivers Fernando Alonso and Steffel Vandoorne have both registered a non-start due to a mechanical problem. Alonso, a two-time Formula 1 World Champion, has vocally spoke out on the team’s poor performance this season. The widely-publicized choice to run the 2017 Indianapolis 500 instead of the Monaco Grand Prix with McLaren also spoke volumes on the Spaniard’s discontent after three seasons with the once top team. A native of Belgium, Vandoorne is contesting his first full Formula 1 season after debuting last season as a substitute for an injured Fernando Alonso for the Bahrain Grand Prix. At the beginning of the season, Stoffel Vandoorne’s performance on a race weekend sadly almost goes unmentioned lacking either speed or reliability. His efforts have shown improvements in recent races leading up to the summer break with a point-scoring finish of 10th coming at the Hungarian Grand Prix. Heading into the Belgian Grand Prix,

In late 2015, Red Bull Racing who was dissatisfied with their Renault power units was rumoured to have been in discussions with Honda but was apparently blocked into signing an agreement by McLaren. Instead of providing Honda with double the race cars to collect data, McLaren appears to have immersed themselves in development quicksand.

Thoughts of Team for Remainder of 2017:

If McLaren Honda finds some reliability in the final 9 races, the team can mainly focus on scoring points on the lower part of the top 10 grand prix results. A frustrating 2017 season has led to wild speculation relating to the McLaren operations for 2018. McLaren’s return to Mercedes-Benz power has been suggested since June. There’s also much uncertainty surrounding Fernando Alonso’s plans for next season whether his future will involve the team in Formula 1 or could possibly seek a longer visit to IndyCar. Vandoorne can take solace in the knowledge that McLaren Honda has confirmed his return for the 2018 season.

Recovered Fernando Alonso Rejoins McLaren Team for Malaysia

Photo Credit: Pirelli Photo Service

Good news has come for the McLaren Honda team and major motor racing fans in time for the second race of the 2015 Formula 1 tour. Having missed the first race of the season, Spain's Fernando Alonso has been given a clean bill of health for the trip to the Sepang International Circuit for March 29th's Malaysian Grand Prix. Alonso will belt himself into the #14 Honda-powered McLaren MP4-30 race car amid several early season concerns.

At the end of the 2014 Formula 1 season, it was fair to say that the McLaren team was looking forward to what 2015 will bring thanks to two major components. Power their 2015 effort would result from a partnership with a resurrected Honda presence in the grand prix tour. Taking an additional year to iron-out their new gasoline/hybrid racing powertrain, Honda was placing complete attention on the single team for new year rebranded as McLaren Honda. The second element was a driver line-up for which 2009 Drivers' champion Jenson Button would be joined by two-time Formula 1 champion Fernando Alonso. A Ferrari driver from 2010 to 2014, Spain's Alonso has been actively hunting for a third championship title and the move to McLaren Honda was seen as a bridge to that goal.

In open testing prior to the beginning of the new Formula 1 season, the latter ingredient to McLaren Honda's idyllic 2015 was placed in jeopardy. During the second day of testing in Barcelona on February 22nd, Fernando Alonso's McLaren collided hard with the wall in turn 3. An area where vehicle speeds were estimated at around 150 miles per hour, the driver suffered a serious concussion and resulted in the loss of consciousness. It was also confirmed that Alonso suffered temporary retrograde amnesia when the Spaniard regained consciousness leaving him unable to recall events past 1995. This 20-year memory gap appears to have been quickly recollected. Alonso has since remembered a testing crash leading to him being sidelined remembering sensing "heavy" steering before the hit.

While the biggest concern regarding the crash was Alonso's health, the McLaren Honda team also appeared to have had their pre-season preparations thrown off kilter. Judging solely from the first race of the 2015 season, the year spent preparing the Honda powerplant for competition may not have amounted to the advantage McLaren was planning to obtain. For the opening race in Australia, test driver Kevin Magnussen returned to competition as a replacement to Alonso but was unable to start the event when smoke erupted from his MP4-30 vehicle. The remaining vehicle driven by Jenson Button was better than Magnussen's but still came up short. Though Button's car finished the race (two laps down to the winning Mercedes AMG of Lewis Hamilton), its 11th place finish made it the only car to complete the Australian Grand Prix without scoring championship points.

McLaren is clearly anticipating the arrival of Fernando Alonso will represent a second chance to start the 2015 Formula 1 in their intended form.

Dominant Performance for Vettel's First Canadian GP Win

Photo Credit: Pirelli Photo Service

Competing in his sixth full season in Formula 1, Germany's Sebastian Vettel has claimed three championships and 28 race wins heading into the 2013 Canadian Grand Prix event weekend. However, with all of the success Vettel has enjoyed in a career that has recently crossed 100 starts, he was denied victory at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. That was until this year's running of the Grand Prix of Canada.

From the pole, the 2013 edition of the race was dominated by the German Red Bull Racing driver. Sebastian Vettel utilized dry racing conditions and a solid start over the Mercedes AMG car of Lewis Hamilton to sail into an immediate lead. The #1 Red Bull-Renault conceded the lead of the race for only two pit stops quickly replacing himself at the top of the field on both occasions.

Photo credit: Pirelli Photo Service

While the polesitter of the 2013 Canadian Grand Prix circulated precisely with no immediate pressure, the top-five was very much active. After mustering a hard-fought third-fastest time in the Q3 time trial session, Valtteri Bottas found it difficult to keep his Williams-Renault at the front during race conditions. Tire degradation and a drive-through penalty for an incident with Force India's Adrian Sutil had Bottas settling for 14th place. The second Williams-Renault driven by Pastor Maldonado also suffered from a lack of grip on softer tires. Unable to find the speed of other teams, Maldonado was relegated to a 16th place finish. The Williams F1 Team still lacks a 2013 constructor point after seven completed races.

Lewis Hamilton handily operated in the second place position in the Mercedes AMG car. Though unable to catch Vettel, Hamilton would have the challenge of Fernando Alonso's Ferrari as the race progressed.

The second Red Bull Racing entry of Mark Webber had podium contending speed for much of the Canadian Grand Prix. Itching to be at least on the podium with teammate Sebastian Vettel, Webber's efforts were impeded during the midpoint of the 70-lap race. A minor collision in the infamous Circuit Gilles Villeneuve hairpin with the Caterham-Renault of Giedo van der Garde damaged the front wing of Mark Webber's Red Bull-Renault. The incident resulted in a penalty against van der Garde (who later retired from the grand prix) and Webber's car being hindered. Able to survive the race without needing to make an emergency stop to repair the damage to his race car, Mark Webber carried on to finish a distant fourth place. In a surreal development for the tough and challenging race track, only three cars would be classified as out of the Canadian Grand Prix.

After 70 laps, the checkered flag for the 2013 Canadian Grand Prix flew for the Red Bull-Renault of Sebastian Vettel. Despite finishing 14.4 seconds in the lead without a major foe forcing him to defend his position, Vettel's win was not mistake-free effort. In lap 10 and lap 52, the German make minor bobbles requiring him to hold on tightly to his Red Bull-Renault. Nonetheless, Sebastian Vettel was not to be denied his 29th career Formula 1 race win. Claiming his first career Canadian Grand Prix victory, Vettel has won 18 distinct grand prix events.





Photo Credit: Pirelli Photo Service

For second place, a fierce fight between Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso decided the order of the remaining two spots on the race's podium. Near the end, Alonso's Ferrari was fast enough to close a 10-second gap. On the late laps, it was Fernando Alonso who triumphed over the Mercedes driver. A valuable second-place honour for the Spaniard, Alonso takes second spot in the Formula 1 drivers' standings from Lotus driver Kimi Raikkonen. However, with the leader of the points standing winning the Canadian Grand Prix, the deficient over Vettel grows by seven points. After the Montreal race, Sebastian Vettel at a 36-point advantage.

Despite losing second place, Hamilton was content with the third-place effort. "It would have been nice to have kept second place of course but Fernando was very quick today and it was difficult to keep him behind. I got close to taking the place back but he was just that little bit too fast." said Hamilton in post-race comments. Lewis Hamilton's finish in addition to a fifth-place result for Nico Rosberg gave the Mercedes GP team a solid third place in the constructers' points standing closing to within 11 points to Ferrari.





Photo Credit: Pirelli Photo Service

While rookie Bottas suffered a massive backslide through the course of the Canadian Grand Prix, the veterans were able to thrust their way into the top-10 finishers. Having topped the leaderboard in a wet practice session on Friday, the Force India-Mercedes of Paul di Resta climbed from a lackluster qualifying effort of 17th place. Netting a seventh result, the effort for di Resta and Force India was aided greatly by a one-pit stop strategy after starting on medium compound tires. Starting 16th, the second Ferrari of Felipe Massa sealed a double-point race for the Italian team. While Red Bull Racing is pulling away in the constructors' points, Alonso and Massa scoring points minimized Ferrari's loss to five markers.   

It was a disappointing outing for the McLaren-Mercedes race cars. The winning team of the previous three Canadian Grand Prix events, McLaren's Sergio Perez and Jenson Button was no where near the race contender of earlier years. In fact, with an 11th place finish for Perez and a 12th place result for Button, the McLaren-Mercedes cars were unable to score a single point. Heading to Silverstone, McLaren will want to greatly remove their fortunes in front of what is considered a hometown crowd for the 50-year old motorsport organization.

Set for June 30th, the British Grand Prix comes with a brief recovery period for drivers and a window for car development for teams.


2013 Formula 1
Canadian Grand Prix
Race Results

Pos #	Car #	Driver	Team	Engine
1	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull	Renault
2	3	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	Ferrari
3	10	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes AMG	Mercedes-Benz
4	2	Mark Webber	Red Bull	Renault
5	9	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes AMG	Mercedes-Benz
6	18	Jean-Eric Vergne	Scuderia Toro Rosso	Ferrari
7	14	Paul di Resta	Force India	Mercedes-Benz
8	4	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	Ferrari
9	7	Kimi Raikkonen	Lotus	Renault
10	15	Adrian Sutil	Force India	Mercedes-Benz
11	6	Sergio Perez	McLaren	Mercedes-Benz
12	5	Jenson Button	McLaren	Mercedes-Benz
13	8	Romain Grosjean	Lotus	Renault
14	17	Valtteri Bottas	Williams F1	Renault
15	19	Daniel Ricciardo	Scuderia Toro Rosso	Ferrari
16	16	Pastor Maldonado	Williams F1	Renault
17	22	Jules Bianchi	Marussia	Cosworth
18	20	Charles Pic	Caterham	Renault
19	23	Max Chilton	Marussia	Cosworth
20	12	Esteban Gutierrez	Sauber	Ferrari
21	11	Nico Hulkenberg	Sauber	Ferrari
22	21	Giedo van der Garde	Caterham	Renault

Alonso Has Competitors Seeing Red After Friday Canadian Grand Prix Practice

Photo Credit: Pirelli Photo Service

The first 2013 Formula 1 race taking place in the Americas, 4.361-kilometer Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on Montreal's Île Notre-Dame is hosting the Canadian Grand Prix this weekend. Sunday's race will be the 50th Canadian Grand Prix held and the 34th visit for Formula 1 to the track named after a famous Canadian driver. Gilles Villeneuve's career was best remembered for his stint on the Ferrari team where he won all six of his grand prix races. The inaugural Canadian Grand Prix held on Île Notre-Dame in 1978 was one of those victories driving a red Ferrari. Nearly 35 years since that feat, practice for the 2013 race has a modern Ferrari organization looking good heading into qualifying and the main event.

In what turned out to be the fastest of the two Friday practices, the afternoon session saw Fernando Alonso post the quickest time on the day. On Pirelli supersoft tires, Alonso piloted his Ferrari F138 around Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in 1 minute, 14.818 seconds. The fastest time for the Spaniard was a mere 12/100ths of a second better than the effort of the Mercedes AMG driver Lewis Hamilton. Roughly a quarter of a second off the fastest lap of Hamilton was Romain Grosjean's effort in a Lotus-Renault.

Teams and drivers posted their fastest times in the second practice largely due to morning showers that dampened the Montreal race course. Plagued by a wet track, the first practice took place on intermediate treaded Pirelli tires. Despite posting a rather short 10-lap effort through the Friday morning session, Paul di Resta and the Force India team prevailed as the fastest under wet conditions. The 1 minute, 21.020 second time for di Resta was a far cry from the afternoon times posted later in the day. Alonso was fourth fastest in the wetter morning practice for Ferrari. In the afternoon, Paul di Resta's Force India-Mercedes could only muster a 13th quickest time. 

A surprise in both practice sessions was the lack of performance from the constructors' championship leading Red Bull Racing squad. Red Bull-Renault race cars driven by Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber had been trailing in the lower half of the top 10 throughout Friday until Mark Webber posted a 1 minute, 15.212 second lap time in the second practice. Ninth fastest in the morning session and seventh-place on the afternoon time chart, Sebastian Vettel reported the day as "tricky".

With Friday presenting drivers and teams one practice in the wet and on a dry circuit, the mix of weather is expected to influence the remainder of the Canadian Grand Prix weekend. There's a probability for rain during Saturday afternoon's qualifying and the 70-lap race on Sunday.



2013 Formula 1
Canadian Grand Prix
Friday Practice Session #2 

Pos #	Car #	Driver	Team	Engine
1	3	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	Ferrari
2	10	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes AMG	Mercedes-Benz
3	8	Romain Grosjean	Lotus	Renault
4	2	Mark Webber	Red Bull	Renault
5	9	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes AMG	Mercedes-Benz
6	4	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	Ferrari
7	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull	Renault
8	15	Adrian Sutil	Force India	Mercedes-Benz
9	5	Jenson Button	McLaren	Mercedes-Benz
10	19	Daniel Ricciardo	Scuderia Toro Rosso	Ferrari
11	7	Kimi Raikkonen	Lotus	Renault
12	6	Sergio Perez	McLaren	Mercedes-Benz
13	14	Paul di Resta	Force India	Mercedes-Benz
14	16	Pastor Maldonado	Williams F1	Renault
15	18	Jean-Eric Vergne	Scuderia Toro Rosso	Ferrari
16	17	Valtteri Bottas	Williams F1	Renault
17	12	Esteban Gutierrez	Sauber	Ferrari
18	11	Nico Hulkenberg	Sauber	Ferrari
19	22	Jules Bianchi	Marussia	Cosworth
20	20	Charles Pic	Caterham	Renault
21	23	Max Chilton	Marussia	Cosworth
22	21	Giedo van der Garde	Caterham	Renault

Spanish Dancer: Ferrari's Alonso Takes Home Grand Prix

Photo source: Ferrari North America

The first European race of the 2013 Formula 1 season, the Spanish Grand Prix takes place three weeks after Sebastian Vettel commandingly captured the last event in Bahrain. With the lead Red Bull Racing driver holding onto a tight early lead in the driver's standings following four grand prix races, Formula 1 could still be regarded as a wide-open fight between the drivers with four teams. Kimi Raikkonen with the Lotus F1 Team, Fernando Alonso driving for Scuderia Ferrari as well as the Mercedes AMG team cars of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg demonstrated podium-quality pace in the season.

In qualifying for the 2013 Spanish Grand Prix, Nico Rosberg registered the best lap allowing him to start from pole in his Mercedes AMG F1 W04 race car around the 4.655-mile race course in Barcelona. Lewis Hamilton joined his teammate for a front row dominated by the Mercedes-Benz factory Formula 1 team. When Sunday's 66-lap main event at the Circuit de Catalunya started, Rosberg showed the way early. Hamilton's start was troublesome as Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso both skated around the Mercedes AMG car by turn three on the opening lap. Vettel climbed from third on the starting grid to second but was unable challenge Nico Rosberg for the lead.




Photo source: Mercedes AMG

The Barcelona race track proved abrasive on the Pirelli medium and hard compound rubber competitors rode on for the afternoon. The race's first pit stops came between lap 7 and lap 10 for the leaders. Red Bull Racing's Mark Webber pitted on lap 7 following by the Ferrari cars of Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso on later laps. Last of the leaders into the pit for new tires were Nico Rosberg, Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel. Coming into their stalls on lap 10, the pit stop proved momentous for Alonso and disappointing for Rosberg. Riding on warm Pirelli racing slick tires, Fernando Alonso was able to zoom by the Mercedes AMG car to assume the Spanish Grand Prix's lead.

Retirements from the Spanish Grand Prix was limited to three drivers. Thanks to a largely clean standing start on the Circuit de Catalunya, attrition in the event resulted through unfortunate component failures on race cars. Lotus-Renault driver Romain Grosjean incurred rear suspension failure early leading to the Frenchman finishing last. Giedo van der Garde was out of the race after 21 laps due to a rear wheel spinning off his Caterham-Renault. Also a recipient of issues with the rear portion of his Formula 1 car, Scuderia Toro Rosso's Jean-Eric Vergne would retire from the Spanish Grand Prix short 14 laps to the checkered flag.   

Photo source: Pirelli Photo Service

Catching many people off-guard was the tire strategy for the 2013 Spanish Grand Prix. While Pirelli predicted a three-stop plan would be the course of the front-runners, a majority of competitors chose to make an extra stop. Red Bull Racing, Ferrari, Force India and the lone remaining Lotus-Renault fielding Kimi Raikkonen elected to make the Spanish Grand Prix a busy time for pit crews.

Since taking the lead, Fernando Alonso outran the entire field in his Ferrari to win the 2013 Spanish Grand Prix. Finishing 9.3 seconds ahead of Kimi Raikkonen's Lotus-Renault, Alonso stated in post-race, “Even if this is the third time I’ve won a home race, the emotion is still very strong, as if it had never happened before. It’s nice to be able to give the whole of Spain this win, especially at a time when the country is in crisis and for many people, it’s not possible to come here to bring their support." As a Spaniard, Alonso savoured winning his home grand prix for the first time since he accomplished the feat in 2006 with Renault. Fernando Alonso had also won the European Grand Prix in 2012 held on the Valencia street course.




Photo source: Pirelli Photo Service

Finishing in second place, the Lotus-Renault vehicle of Kimi Raikkonen was uncontested at the end owned a 16.7-second gap over the third place car. This runner-up position is the fourth podium for the Finnish driver in five 2013 Formula 1 events. In the third spot and the final podium position, Alonso's Ferrari teammate Felipe Massa drove a race almost as masterful as the Spanish Grand Prix winner. Alonso climbed from fifth place on the start to win while Massa earned a third-place spot after a ninth place position on the starting grid.   

Following the impressive qualifying performance for the Mercedes AMG team, the 66-lap distance was a different experience for Rosberg and Hamilton. Both Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton struggled to maintain the speed of Ferrari, Red Rull-Renault and Lotus-Renault race cars. Using the less common three-stop strategy, Nico Rosberg crossed the finish line in sixth place. Encountering a lack of tire grip throughout the Spanish Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton adopted a four-stop plan that concluded with the #10 Mercedes AMG finishing 12th. The Spanish Grand Prix was the first race in 2013 where Hamilton failed to collect championship points.   

Taking fourth place in a mediocre outcome in his Red Bull-Renault, Sebastian Vettel continues to hold the lead in the Formula 1 driver's standings. However, Kimi Raikkonen draws within 4 points of Vettel. Scoring maximum points with the grand prix victory, Fernando Alonso gained on Sebastian Vettel but stands 17 points behind heading into the Monaco Grand Prix.

A historic race set for the streets of Monte Carlo, the Monaco Grand Prix will be the next event on the 2013 Formula 1 calendar for May 26th.



2013 Formula 1
Spanish Grand Prix
Race Results

Pos #	Car #	Driver	Team	Engine
1	3	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	Ferrari
2	7	Kimi Raikkonen	Lotus	Renault
3	4	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	Ferrari
4	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull	Renault
5	2	Mark Webber	Red Bull	Renault
6	9	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes AMG	Mercedes-Benz
7	14	Paul di Resta	Force India	Mercedes-Benz
8	5	Jenson Button	McLaren	Mercedes-Benz
9	6	Sergio Perez	McLaren	Mercedes-Benz
10	19	Daniel Ricciardo	Scuderia Toro Rosso	Ferrari
11	12	Esteban Gutierrez	Sauber	Ferrari
12	10	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes AMG	Mercedes-Benz
13	15	Adrian Sutil	Force India	Mercedes-Benz
14	16	Pastor Maldonado	Williams F1	Renault
15	11	Nico Hulkenberg	Sauber	Ferrari
16	17	Valtteri Bottas	Williams F1	Renault
17	20	Charles Pic	Caterham	Renault
18	22	Jules Bianchi	Marussia	Cosworth
19	23	Max Chilton	Marussia	Cosworth
20	18	Jean-Eric Vergne	Scuderia Toro Rosso	Ferrari
21	21	Giedo van der Garde	Caterham	Renault
22	8	Romain Grosjean	Lotus	Renault

Alonso Achieves Awesomeness with Win in China

Photo credit: Pirelli Photo Service

Running on the 3.387-mile Shanghai International Circuit, qualifying has set up a very interesting scenario. Seeking to defend their historic race victory, the factory team Mercedes AMG car of Lewis Hamilton acquired the top grid position for the 2013 Chinese Grand Prix. Pole winner of the previous two Formula 1 races Sebastian Vettel was ninth starting the Chinese Grand Prix. Fellow Red Bull-Renault Mark Webber was 14th fastest in qualifying but was excluded when he ran low of gasoline on-track during a Q2 run. Since the team was unable to provide a one-liter fuel sample as required by Formula 1 rules, Webber's time was excluded and he would start the race in China from the pit lane. This is the first grand prix since Vettel's infamous pass on his Red Bull teammate at the Malaysian Grand Prix.

When the lights went out, Lewis Hamilton launched to an early lead. However, Hamilton's front row companion Kimi Raikkonen suffered from excessive wheel spin. For the Ferrari F138 race cars of Fernando Alonso and Felipe Masssa, the slower-moving Raikkonen provided ample opportunity to take improve their positions. Into the first turn, the Mercedes AMG car led while the Ferraris gain pursuit.

Lewis Hamilton had an Initial advantage in the Chinese Grand Prix but would soon fall victim to the second and third place Ferraris. By lap 3, the DRS zones were enabled on the Shanghai International Circuit giving Alonso and Massa an chance to pass the Mercedes. Since Hamilton was unable to build a one-second interval over his challengers, the pair whizzed by the Mercedes on lap 4. Lewis Hamilton was able to fight back on the following lap ahead of early pit stops.

In the early laps of the 2013 Chinese Grand Prix, several incidents of contact on the Shanghai International Circuit. On lap 6, the Sauber-Ferrari driven by Esteban Gutierrez speared Adrian Sutil's Force India-Mercedes. Leaving a shower of carbon fiber debris, Gutierrez's damaged car was parked off-track. Sutil was able to continue to the pit lane but the rear wing structure would not allow the car to stay in the event. A collision with the McLaren of Sergio Perez and Kimi Raikkonen's Lotus-Renault was a potentially race-defining move. Suffering some noticeable damage to the front nose of the Lotus-Renault race car, Raikkonen and his team would be fortunate not to require a replacement front section.

One lap prior to the Perez-Raikkonen collision, the Red Bull-Renault of Mark Webber and the Toro Rosso-Ferrari piloted by Jean-Eric Vergne made contact. The Red Bull race car attempted to make a late-braking move on the Toro Rosso but Vergne arced in while Webber attempted to pass. Resulting in damage to Mark Webber's front wing, the race would get worse for the Australian. Already experiencing a difficult race weekend based on qualifying, Webber's awful 2013 Chinese Grand Prix ended on the 15th turn when the right rear wheel of his Red Bull-Renault fell off on lap 17, shortly after a pit stop. Mark Webber's retirement concluded an unpleasant weekend for the Red Bull Racing driver.


Photo Credit: Ferrari North America

While many cars started on soft compound Pirelli tires, much of the field opted to stick to medium compound slick tires following their first pit stop. The latter stage of the event was decided with the timing of pit stops. On lap 43 of the 2014 Chinese Grand Prix, Sebastian Vettel lost the lead to Fernando Alonso. Vettel was running on tires 10 laps older than the now race-leading Ferrari. Once in the lead, Alonso's Ferrari quickly built up a lead expanding to over five seconds in just four laps. Losing ground to Fernando Alonso, the second-place Red Bull-Renault of Sebastian Vettel came in for the soft compound tires on lap 51.

With Vettel unable to contend with the Ferrari in the late laps, Fernando Alonso sailed to victory with a 10.1-second lead over the Lotus-Renault of Kimi Raikkonen. Prevailing in his first 2013 grand prix, Alonso joins Lewis Hamilton as the only two-time winners of the Formula 1 race at the Shanghai International Circuit. The win is also Alonso's 31st career race victory coming on his 200th grand prix start.

The second and third place finishing race cars for the 2013 Chinese Grand Prix both encountered challenging races. Kimi Raikkonen's uncharacteristically poor launch and early contact were not enough to prevent a podium result for the Lotus F1 Team driver. Raikkonen recaptured his starting spot for his second podium result in the opening three races of the 2013 Formula 1 tour. Worn tires and some lapped traffic in the latter stage of the 2013 Chinese Grand Prix almost cost Lewis Hamilton the final podium spot for Mercedes AMG. After the chaotic scene with his win in Malaysia, Red Bull Racing's Sebastian Vettel recovered from ninth on the starting grid to settled with a fourth place finish in China. Vettel just barely missed the podium as a last lap bobble on one corner cost him the momentum to take third away from Lewis Hamilton.

Photo credit: Pirelli Photo Service

With one exception, the top-10 finishers used three stops over the 56-lap distance of the 2013 Chinese Grand Prix. Having started the race on medium Pirelli slick tires, Jenson Button held on to fifth place as him and his McLaren team opted with a two-stop strategy. Making his first pit stop on lap 23, Button ended the race on soft compound tires. McLaren also tried a two-stop plan with Sergio Perez but it resulted with the Mexican placing outside of the points.

The second Ferrari driven by Felipe Massa finished sixth more than 40 seconds behind Alnoso. Daniel Ricciardo piloting a Ferrari-powered Toro Rosso finished a career-high seventh place. Paul di Resta collected his second eighth place result in 2013 crossing the finish line 2.4 seconds ahead of Romain Grosjean. After a turbulent 2012 season with Lotus F1 Team, Grosjean has collected points on all three races starting off this season. Nico Hulkenberg grabbed the final point available by driving his Sauber-Ferrari to the checkered flag in tenth spot.

Next race on the 2013 Formula 1 racing calendar is the Bahrain Grand Prix on April 21st.

 

2013 Formula 1

Chinese Grand Prix

Race Results

Pos #	Car #	Driver	Team	Engine
1	3	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	Ferrari
2	7	Kimi Raikkonen	Lotus	Renault
3	10	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes AMG	Mercedes-Benz
4	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull	Renault
5	5	Jenson Button	McLaren	Mercedes-Benz
6	4	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	Ferrari
7	19	Daniel Ricciardo	Scuderia Toro Rosso	Ferrari
8	14	Paul di Resta	Force India	Mercedes-Benz
9	8	Romain Grosjean	Lotus	Renault
10	11	Nico Hulkenberg	Sauber	Ferrari
11	6	Sergio Perez	McLaren	Mercedes-Benz
12	18	Jean-Eric Vergne	Scuderia Toro Rosso	Ferrari
13	17	Valtteri Bottas	Williams F1	Renault
14	16	Pastor Maldonado	Williams F1	Renault
15	22	Jules Bianchi	Marussia	Cosworth
16	20	Charles Pic	Caterham	Renault
17	23	Max Chilton	Marussia	Cosworth
18	21	Giedo van der Garde	Caterham	Renault
19	9	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes AMG	Mercedes-Benz
20	2	Mark Webber	Red Bull	Renault
21	15	Adrian Sutil	Force India	Mercedes-Benz
22	12	Esteban Gutierrez	Sauber	Ferrari

Aqua Mastery in Germany GP Qualifying Nets Pole for Alonso

Photo credit: Pirelli Photo Service

Staging the 2012 Formula 1 season's German Grand Prix, the 4.574-kilometer Hockenheimring supplied some tricky conditions weather-wise for the 24 cars competing this weekend. On Friday, one practice session took place in dry conditions while a second transpired on wet pavement. Saturday's qualifying for the Grand Prix of Germany would make experience from both Friday sessions crucial.

Q1 was started on a dry Hockenheim race track with the Lotus-Renault of Kimi Raikkonen posting a top time of 1-minute, 15.693-second lap. As rain began to fall, Raikkonen's time would be the quickest in qualifying but the several stage time trial layout of Formula 1 meant that slower times in the Q2 and Q3 sessions on wet weather Pirelli tires would shape the German Grand Prix grid.

Almost 22 seconds slower than Kimi Raikkonen's Q1 time, the Q2 session was led by Lewis Hamilton driving his McLaren-Mercedes followed by the Mercedes GP team's Michael Schumacher. In 1995, Schumacher became the first German driver to win the German Grand Prix since its inclusion on the modern Formula 1 circuit.

In the final Q3 session, the 10-car field fighting for the pole position Friday continued to jet around the Hockenheimring on wet weather tires. Recording a 1-minute, 40.621-second lap time, Fernando Alonso took the pole for Sunday's German Grand Prix. The last German Grand Prix at the Hockeneimring was won by Fernando Alonso in a most controversial fashion in 2010. When Alonso was able to pass Ferrari teammate Felipe Massa for the lead on the race track, it was highly expected team orders came into play for the finish.

In second and third place at the end of Q3 was the Red Bull Racing pair of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber. While Red Bull Racing has won the German Grand Prix at the Nurburgring, the team has yet to win at the Hockenheimring track. German drivers Micheal Schumacher for Mercedes GP and Nico Hulkenberg for Force India-Mercedes rounded out the top-5 in Formula 1 qualifying at the Hockenheimring.

The Grand Prix of Germany is set for Sunday at 8 am Eastern time (2pm local time).

2012 Formula 1
German Grand Prix
Qualifying Results

1	5 Fernando Alonso Ferrari
2	1 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault
3	2 Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault
4	7 Michael Schumacher Mercedes GP
5	12 Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes
6	18 Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault
7	3 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes
8	4 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes
9	11 Paul di Resta Force India
10	9 Kimi Raikkonen Lotus-Renault
11	16 Daniel Ricciardo Scuderia Toro Rosso-Ferrari
12	6 Felipe Massa Ferrari
13	15 Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari
14	14 Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari
15	10 Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault
16	19 Bruno Senna Williams-Renault
17	8 Nico Rosberg Mercedes GP
18	17 Jean-Eric Vergne Scuderia Toro Rosso-Ferrari
19	20 Heikki Kovalainen Caterham-Renault
20	21 Vitaly Petrov Caterham-Renault
21	25 Charlie Pic Marussia-Cosworth
22	24 Timo Glock Marussia-Cosworth
23	22 Pedro de la Rosa HRT F1
24	23 Narain Karthikeyan HRT F1