Brendan Lines October 20, 2020

Valtteri Bottas was quickest in FP1 at the Portugese Grand Prix sparring with Merecedes teammate Lewis Hamilton to go fastest, as Formula 1 visits the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve in Portimao, hosting Portugal’s first Grand Prix since 1996.

It’s a thumbs up from the drivers as the cars turned a wheel in anger for the first time, the last time Formula 1 visited the Portimao circuit was for testing in 2009.

Mercedes were quick to adapt its cars to the unknown levels of grip around the undulating high-speed layout, laden with blind corners at Turn 6 and Turn 11. Bottas set the bar some -12.0s below the previous lap record, with a fastest lap of 1:18.410s on Medium tyres.

“It was quite slippery out on track, it reminded me a lot of when we went to Sochi or Austin for the first time, and we drove on the new tarmac there,” Bottas said after FP1.

“This type of tarmac is tricky in terms of getting grip. Once you lose the grip, you can drop the car quite quickly, and I think that’s the reason why we have seen so many spins today.”

“The track was evolving lap by lap, and it got better throughout the day, but maybe it was reset slightly in between the two sessions.”

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen session was without incident after a spin, the Dutchman said his venture off-track was due to an aerodynamic ‘imbalance,’ his time of 1:19.191s for P3 was just over +.708s from Bottas. Red Bull teammate Alex Albon was three tenths off Verstappen finishing P4.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was the surprise performance of the session in P4, his SF1000 was fitted with a new front-end aero package, the Monegasque was just shy of Verstappen by a tenth. Teammate Sebastian Vettel however finished just outside the top-ten in P11.

Carlos Sainz was the fastest of the McLaren’s in P6, his MCL35 seemed be carrying less niggles out if the box than teammate Lando Norris who complained of steering rack issues, finishing some six tenths behind Sainz for P12.

Sergio Perez said finding race pace could leave some ‘compromised,’ adapting to many of Portimao’s unknowns, but the Mexican made a solid start taking P6, ahead of his teammate Lance Stroll some +2.5s off the pace in P15.

Kimi Räikkönen was the quiet achiever slotting his Alfa Romeo into P8, the sister Alfa of Antonio Giovinazzi had a slight off earlier in the session ending up P16.

Daniel Ricciardo was the best of the Renault cars, Ricciardo completed his fastest lap of 1:20.058s l.p. on Mediums with teammate Esteban Ocon sticking solely to the Harder compound tyre.

Rounding out the top ten was Alpha Tauri’s Pierre Gasly, opting to run only on the Hard tyres, his best time of 1:20.124 was +1.71s off Bottas in P1, but just a tenth up on teammate Daniil Kyvat in P13.

Brendan Lines October 12, 2020

Lewis Hamilton has secured his 91st victory in Formula One – his seventh of the 2020 season and second at the Nürburgring from Max Verstappen in P2 and Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo in P3.

Hamilton now equals Michael Schumacher’s record for the most race wins in F1, The Brit was presented with one of Michael’s helmets, by Michael’s son Mick, in Parc fermé in celebration of the significant win.

“It was beyond my wildest dreams to be equalling his number of race wins and it just shows that dreams can come true. It’s an incredible honour and something that will take some time to sink in. But I couldn’t have done it without this incredible team, everyone pushing so hard,” Hamilton said after the race.

“Max was right behind me and I knew I had to have a strong restart to keep him behind. I managed to catch him out which is always nice and that gave me the jump I needed. But you can see the pace Red Bull had at the end, so we’ve got a serious fight on our hands.”

From a front row lock-out start both Mercedes cars pulled away into Turn 1, Hamilton took advantage of a wide moment by teammate Valterri Bottas, Bottas held off the attack coming out in front after the jostling — surprisingly the squabbling cars behind the Mercedes lead by Max Verstappen didn’t take advantage of the jostling struggling for grip on cold tyres to close in.

Bottas drove away into the lead in the opening phase of the race, opening up an average lead of +1.0s. On Lap 13 degrading on Bottas’ Soft-shod Mercedes caused a front right wheel lock-up into Turn 1 allowing Hamilton to sweep past into the lead.

That was just the beginning of a tough day for the Fin, who then fell into the clutches of Verstappen’s Red Bull who was right on Mercedes’ pace — Bottas slipped back to P3.

Hamilton might have thought all his Christmases had come at once with Bottas aside, George Russell parked-up his Williams after damage sustained from an incident with Kimi Räikkönen, Hamilton was able to pit under yellow flags to fit Medium tyres to pull away to a four second lead over Verstappen now in P2.

Bottas, Hamilton’s nearest world championship points rival, slipped back to +21.0s off Hamilton’s lead, but the day was done on Lap 18 when Bottas radioed power loss from his engine and retired his W11 on Lap 19.

That offered clear air to Hamilton and Verstappen back to the field, McLaren’s Lando Norris had clawed his way into P3 without a pit stop, but Racing Point’s Sergio Perez and Daniel Ricciardo were hot on Norris’ heels on fresh rubber.

While things were looking up for Ricciardo, his teammate Esteban Ocon retired the sister Renault on Lap 23 with hydraulic failure. Red Bull’s Alex Albon soon followed the same fate retiring with a terminal issue to his Honda power unit.

With the attrition rate on the rise opportunities were wide open in the midfield to progress.

Nico Hülkenberg, Racing Point’s super sub rocketed from P20 on the grid to finish P8, parachuting into the team for Saturday’s qualifying replacing the ill Lance Stroll.

Hülkenberg proving himself still worthy of a full-time F1 drive, helping Racing Point snatch third place in the constructors standings off McLaren.

Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi backed up qualifying P14 finishing in a well earned P10.

The third step on the podium was still anyone’s at the pointy end of the field.

Norris tried to defend from Perez despite losing power, the McLaren team radioed instructions to stop the power losses for Norris’ car, but on Lap 30 the Brit took a pitstop in an attempt to cover Perez’s taking Medium tyres to make race distance.

Daniel Ricciardo was the benefactor staying out on his Medium tyres slotting into P3. Perez despatched Leclerc’s Ferrari on Lap 35 to begin a charge on Ricciardo, the Mexican catching Ricciardo by seven tenths a lap matching Hamilton’s pace out front.

Norris’ eventual retirement on Lap 44 would bookend to the final stanza, bringing out the safety car.

The leaders took pitstops on offer under the safety car. Perez, now P3, gave himself track position over Ricciardo but the Aussie would be on fresh Soft tyres for the re-start on Lap 50 — it would be a sprint race to the finish line.

Hamilton and Verstappen both radioed their frustration as the long safety car period exacerbated their tyre cooling issues, Verstappen still weaving frantically to get heat into his Soft tyres, leaving himself wide open for Riccirado to make a dive around the outside of Turn 1.

The skirmish let the pair fall back into the clutches of Perez in P4, but Ricciardo let the quicker Red Bull go to consolidate a well earned podium finish, his first since 2018.

“Oh wow, it feels like the first time I ever got a podium. These emotions and that feeling you get when you get out the car, hug the team, the mechanics slapping you on the helmet, it’s just amazing and I am so happy we did it!” Ricciardo said.

Hamilton pumped in some of the fastest laps of the Grand Prix to claim the point for fastest lap in his way to a record win, only to have Verstappen take fastest lap honours on the final lap — the only blemish on a momentus day for Hamilton.

Brendan Lines October 11, 2020

Valtteri Bottas has snatched pole from the clutches of teammate Lewis Hamilton on a flying final lap in Q3, the Finn taking his third pole of the 2020 season and first at the Nurburgring for the Eifel Grand Prix, completing Mercedes’ eighth front row lockout of the season, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen will start from P3.

The big news of the session was the inclusion of super sub Nico Hülkenberg, who was parachuted in to drive for Racing Point with just minutes to spare before qualifying replacing the ill Lance Stroll.

Hülkenberg had been scheduled for a broadcasting appearance for Sunday’s race, but was rushed to the circuit from some 50km away. Although the haste of his arrival was impressive, the German had it all in front of him with no time to prepare, any progress past Q1 would’ve been a miracle, but the sub will start from P20 — though a respectable 1.7s off Bottas’ time.

With just an hour of track time in FP3 after Friday’s washout, Bottas put on a barnstorming final lap in Q3 of 1.25:269s lighting up the timing charts with all three purple sectors after the session was mostly dominated by Hamilton and Verstappen.

“It feels great to be on pole position here and I really enjoyed that session,” Bottas said after qualifying.

“It’s such a nice feeling when you get it with your last chance in Q3. That final lap was spot on.

“I was struggling a little in the first sector beforehand, but I managed to get it right in the end.

“Obviously, it was pretty tricky with just one practice session and the cold conditions, so getting the tyres in the sweet spot on the outlap was really important and I managed to get them in the window.

“It’s a new day tomorrow and is going to be an interesting race, especially with the lack of running we’ve had here and the temperatures.

“I’ve only got one goal for tomorrow, so hopefully I can have a good start and we’ll see what happens from there.”

A surprise performance came from Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, his P4 was pay-off from some significant aero upgrades to his SF1000’s floor and bargeboards. The Monegasque’s time of 1.26:053s was just over a tenth faster than Red Bull’s Alex Albon in P5.

Conversely, Leclerc’s Ferrari teamate Sebastian Vettel didn’t enjoy the same rewards, the German eliminated after Q2 and will start from P11.

Daniel Ricciardo was the fastest of the Renault cars in P6, his fastest time in Q3 was just over a tenth faster edging his teammate Esteban Ocon back to P7. The result puts the Renault drivers ahead of both its rivals in the constructors championship, Racing Point and McLaren.

P8 went to McLaren’s Lando Norris though his MCL35 looked pinned to the track the McLaren’s top speed looked a little down, his teammate Carlos Sainz finished in P10 some two and a half tenths down on Norris.

Parked right between the McLarens is Sergio Perez’s Racing Point, having carried all the teams expectations for qualifying the Mexican will start from P9.

The Eifel Grand Prix starts 10:40pm ACDST tonight.

Full qualifying results:

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Q1	Q2	Q3	Laps
1	77	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	1:26.573	1:25.971	1:25.269	19
2	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1:26.620	1:25.390	1:25.525	18
3	33	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing Honda	1:26.319	1:25.467	1:25.562	15
4	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	1:26.857	1:26.240	1:26.035	18
5	23	Alexander Albon	Red Bull Racing Honda	1:27.126	1:26.285	1:26.047	15
6	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Renault	1:26.836	1:26.096	1:26.223	18
7	31	Esteban Ocon	Renault	1:27.086	1:26.364	1:26.242	20
8	4	Lando Norris	McLaren Renault	1:26.829	1:26.316	1:26.458	18
9	11	Sergio Perez	Racing Point BWT Mercedes	1:27.120	1:26.330	1:26.704	17
10	55	Carlos Sainz	McLaren Renault	1:27.378	1:26.361	1:26.709	20
11	5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	1:27.107	1:26.738		16
12	10	Pierre Gasly	AlphaTauri Honda	1:27.072	1:26.776		16
13	26	Daniil Kvyat	AlphaTauri Honda	1:27.285	1:26.848		16
14	99	Antonio Giovinazzi	Alfa Romeo Racing Ferrari	1:27.532	1:26.936		14
15	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas Ferrari	1:27.231	1:27.125		16
16	8	Romain Grosjean	Haas Ferrari	1:27.552			10
17	63	George Russell	Williams Mercedes	1:27.564			9
18	6	Nicholas Latifi	Williams Mercedes	1:27.812			9
19	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Alfa Romeo Racing Ferrari	1:27.817			8
20	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Racing Point BWT Mercedes	1:28.021			10

Q1 107% time – 1:32.361

Note – Practice 1 and 2 were abandoned due to poor weather conditions.

Brendan Lines October 8, 2020 02:07am

Mercedes confirmed on Thursday a team member has tested positive for COVID-19 ahead of this weekend’s Eifel Grand Prix at the Nurburgring, Germany.

Mercedes said it would not reveal the identity of the person affected, but it is neither of the team’s drivers Lewis Hamilton or Valtteri Bottas.

A spokesperson said to BBC.com the positive case is “being handled in line with FIA protocols, working closely with the FIA”, ensuring the weekend at the Nurburgring can proceed.

In July, the 2020 F1 restarted under the guidance of extensive Return To Racing protocols set out by the FIA minimising the risks of COVID-19 to personnel.

The protocols include keeping teams isolated from each other, and teams to operate in ‘bubbles,’ while observing social distancing mandatory mask wearing in the paddock, and regular testing.

The positive case comes as the FIA and F1 confirmed that there had been 10 positive cases out of 1,822 tests completed as of last Friday after the Russian Grand Prix in September, which fans were allowed to attend, but in Russia minimal social distancing and mask wearing is required.

German authorities from the Ahrweiler district council has allowed up to 20 000 fans to attend this weekend’s race at the Nurburgring.

A recent decision of the German government allows: “Up to 20% of stadium capacity for major sports events if infection figures are inconspicuous and the public infrastructure allows for social distancing rules to be met,” Ahrweiler district council said.

On Thursday 4,058 new confirmed infections — a jump of more than 1,200, compared to the 2,828 cases on Wednesday were recorded in Germany, the highest amount of cases since the height of the pandemic in March.

Brendan Lines September 27 2020

Lewis Hamilton scored his 96th career pole position despite a red flag threatening his elimination in Q2 and a stewards inquiry, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen split the Mercedes cars taking P2 from Valtteri Bottas in P3.

Hamilton’s chances looked dashed when Saturday’s Q3 was red-flagged with just 2 minutes 15 left, as Sebastian Vettel’s Ferrari left the track at Turn 4 smashing into the barriers thwarting Hamilton’s current lap, the Brit unable to improve on P15, drivers Lance Stroll, Alex Albon, Charles Leclerc and George Russell were also left compromised at the stoppage.

Ferrari’s day could not get any worse with Vettel dropping out, teammate Charles Leclerc had to evade the debris from Vettel’s stricken Ferrari, Leclerc then had to chew through a set of Soft tyres to improve, but couldn’t get out of Q2.

When the session was green-lit it was a frantic race for the drivers at risk of elimination to make Q2’s cut-off time, Hamilton made it with just a 1.25 seconds to go, his Q2 lap was enough for P4.

The Brit lit up the middle sector around the Sochi Autodrom to post a Q3 lap of 1:31.304 to take pole, Hamilton was later called to the stewards along with Romain Grosjean, Kevin Magnussen and Nicholas Latifi for not following ‘race directives’ rejoining the track at Turn 2 after running slightly wide, but no penalty was given to any drivers.

Sky Sports published a statement from FIA stewards that read:

“The driver accepted that he had not followed the instructions and further he accepted that in a race there would be a penalty. The Stewards determined that there was no advantage, as the relevant lap time was deleted according to Doc 27.“

The Stewards also said its decision was consistent with other previous decisions from the 2018 Spanish Grand Prix and the 2019 Canadian Grand Prix.

Hamilton now takes his eighth pole of the 2020 F1 season and second at the Russian GP.

“That was one of the toughest Qualifying sessions I can remember, proper heart in your mouth the whole way. But I feel super grateful for everyone keeping their cool as it could have been a lot, lot worse,” Hamilton said after qualifying.

“Q2 was hugely challenging, my first attempt was taken away for going over the track limits at the final corner.

“The team brought me in for refuelling and to fit new tyres but when I was on my second lap, the red flag came out.

“After that, it was very close to still get that final lap in – I overtook a few cars in the last sector but then lost time behind a Renault.

“I just heard Bono say ‘go, go, go’, so I was gunning it to get across the line. There was so much going on and I had to just calm down and find my centre.”

The big surprise was Max Verstappen who pulled out a blinding lap of 1:31.867 to pip Bottas by a tenth of second for P2, Verstappen has made himself the cat amongst the pigeons in the prime position to slipstream Hamilton through the opening corners of the race.

“P2 was very unexpected and I don’t say this often but I think this was one of my best ever qualifying laps and it felt really good,” Verstappen said.

“I was struggling a bit in Q1 and Q2 with the balance of the car and we made some small improvements to stabilise everything and in Q3, especially on the second run, they worked and the lap was good.

“Of course we want to fight for pole and wins but this year it is not possible all the time, so then to be able to split the two Mercedes cars is very satisfying and I’m happy to be on the front row here. 

“I’m starting on the dirty side of the grid which does make a difference with the initial launch but I’m also on the medium tyre which is the best way for us.

“If we can have a decent start, the tow effect is very big so who knows what can happen into Turn Two.”

Sergio Perez weaved some final lap magic to put his Racing Point on to P4 of the grid, his final luge was enough to nose Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo by five hundredths. Ricciardo however now equals his best qualifying result at Sochi since 2017 taking P5.

Carlos Sainz was the fastest of the McLaren cars in P6 his lap of 1:32.550s was enough to beat Renault’s Esteban Ocon by just under a tenth in P7, the Renault driver sandwiched between the McLarens as Lando Norris makes up P8.

Alpha Tauri’s Pierre Gasly bounced back from some disappointing pace in the practice sessions to secure P9, while Alex Albon struggled for pace in his final run, the Thai driver now has it all ahead of him starting from P10.

The Russian Grand Prix begins 10:40pm ACST tonight.

Qualifying full results:

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Q1	Q2	Q3	Laps
1	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1:32.983	1:32.835	1:31.304	19
2	33	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing Honda	1:33.630	1:33.157	1:31.867	21
3	77	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	1:32.656	1:32.405	1:31.956	19
4	11	Sergio Perez	Racing Point BWT Mercedes	1:33.704	1:33.038	1:32.317	15
5	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Renault	1:33.650	1:32.218	1:32.364	15
6	55	Carlos Sainz	McLaren Renault	1:33.967	1:32.757	1:32.550	15
7	31	Esteban Ocon	Renault	1:33.557	1:33.196	1:32.624	20
8	4	Lando Norris	McLaren Renault	1:33.804	1:33.081	1:32.847	19
9	10	Pierre Gasly	AlphaTauri Honda	1:33.734	1:33.139	1:33.000	21
10	23	Alexander Albon	Red Bull Racing Honda	1:33.919	1:33.153	1:33.008	19
11	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	1:34.071	1:33.239		10
12	26	Daniil Kvyat	AlphaTauri Honda	1:33.511	1:33.249		16
13	18	Lance Stroll	Racing Point BWT Mercedes	1:33.852	1:33.364		11
14	63	George Russell	Williams Mercedes	1:34.020	1:33.583		11
15	5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	1:34.134	1:33.609		11
16	8	Romain Grosjean	Haas Ferrari	1:34.592			7
17	99	Antonio Giovinazzi	Alfa Romeo Racing Ferrari	1:34.594			6
18	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas Ferrari	1:34.681			8
19	6	Nicholas Latifi	Williams Mercedes	1:35.066			5
20	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Alfa Romeo Racing Ferrari	1:35.267			5

Q1 107% time – 1:39.141

Brendan Lines 26 Sept, 2020

Valtteri Bottas was fastest again in Friday’s FP2 at Sochi the Fin out-gunning teammate Lewis Hamilton in successive sessions, as Daniel Ricciardo continued his impressive pace finishing P3 for the session.

Bottas’ time of 1:33.519s was two and a half tenths faster than Hamilton who improved to P2 from the morning session, but the Fin has it all in front og him to close in on Hamilton’s 55-point lead in the drivers championship.

“Second practice was better, and we managed a lot of laps, but I still didn’t quite get all the sectors right. The first two sectors felt really good, but the car was a bit too nervous in sector three.

“I was doing some rally-style drifting at times, which probably isn’t the fastest way around, so there’s still a lot of time to find. But we’re in good shape and I’m sure we can make improvements ahead of tomorrow,” he said.

Hamilton’s session got off to a rough start with another brake lock-up that nearly put the Brit into the wall at Turn 13, but despite the shaky start Mercedes are finding an edge around the power-hungry Sochi circuit enjoying a just over an eight-tenth buffer over its nearest rival.

That man is Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo, who continued his consistent Friday pace to finish P3, an encouraging sign for the Aussie who said: “It’s a circuit I’ve not had too much success or confidence on before, so it definitely gives me a boost.” Ricciardo’s teammate Esteban Ocon didn’t improve in the afternoon session settling for P9.

The McLaren’s of Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris were back in the top ten, lead by Sainz who was just two tenths down on Ricciardo on P4, while Norris survived a lock up and a trip through the Turn 2 run off area to finish P5 just over a tenth from Sainz.

Sergio Perez was gain the best of the Racing Point cars in P5, his teammate Lance Stroll lost the rear end of his RP20 through Turn 13, but fortunately no damage was done to the Canadians car, only his lap time suffered finishing P19 some two seconds off the lead time.

Max Verstappen spun at Turn 14 on Medium tyre, a surprise as this weeks softer tyre compounds on paper seem to suit the Honda-powered Red Bull, Vertsappen finished P7 for the session with teammate Alex Albon in P12.

Charles Leclerc was the best of the Ferrari’s as he got his SF1000 in to the top ten for the first time this weekend finishing P8, while Sebastian Vettel rounded out the top ten a tenth down on his teammate.

Pierre Gasly just missed the top ten by two hundredths of a second from Vettel, his teammate Daniil Kyvat finished P13 for Alpha Tauri.

Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Raikkonen finished the session P14 ahead of the Williams pairing of Nicholas Latifi and George Russell of whom ended the session in P15 and P16 respectively.

Haas’ Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean finished P18 and P20 with Alfa’s Antonio Giovinazzi splitting the teammates for P19.

FP3 and Qualifying start from 6:30pm ACST tonight.

FP2 full results:

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Time	Gap	Laps
1	77	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	1:33.519		37
2	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1:33.786	+0.267s	33
3	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Renault	1:34.577	+1.058s	27
4	55	Carlos Sainz	McLaren Renault	1:34.723	+1.204s	36
5	4	Lando Norris	McLaren Renault	1:34.847	+1.328s	33
6	11	Sergio Perez	Racing Point BWT Mercedes	1:34.890	+1.371s	35
7	33	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing Honda	1:35.048	+1.529s	30
8	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	1:35.052	+1.533s	35
9	31	Esteban Ocon	Renault	1:35.139	+1.620s	28
10	5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	1:35.183	+1.664s	35
11	10	Pierre Gasly	AlphaTauri Honda	1:35.210	+1.691s	35
12	23	Alexander Albon	Red Bull Racing Honda	1:35.242	+1.723s	31
13	26	Daniil Kvyat	AlphaTauri Honda	1:35.461	+1.942s	37
14	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Alfa Romeo Racing Ferrari	1:35.516	+1.997s	33
15	6	Nicholas Latifi	Williams Mercedes	1:35.563	+2.044s	31
16	63	George Russell	Williams Mercedes	1:35.575	+2.056s	30
17	18	Lance Stroll	Racing Point BWT Mercedes	1:35.627	+2.108s	34
18	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas Ferrari	1:35.729	+2.210s	32
19	99	Antonio Giovinazzi	Alfa Romeo Racing Ferrari	1:36.053	+2.534s	36
20	8	Romain Grosjean	Haas Ferrari	1:36.858	+3.339s	32

Brendan Lines 26 Sept, 2020 06:00am

Mercedes’ Valterri Bottas topped the timing charts in Friday’s FP1 at the Sochi Autodrome ahead of a charging Daniel Ricciardo, surprisingly the sister Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton slipped back to P19 struggling for a timed lap.

Bottas revealed during the week he visited a church in search of devine intervention after his fortunes in Mugello, the Fin’s prayers may have been heard as Bottas was right on the pace while others struggled adapting to the evolving Sochi track — once known to have little to no tyre degradation.

“There’s definitely more to come but overall, it was a positive first day of running. Conditions were quite tricky out there and that’s why there were so many drivers making mistakes. There were a few interruptions and that meant we were a bit limited with running, and I also had a big lock-up, which destroyed a set of tyres,” he said.

In a rare hiccup to his so far dominant 2020 season, Lewis Hamilton chewed through his Soft and Hard tyres with early lock-ups compromising the Brit’s session, as Hamilton’s best time was +2.793s off Bottas’ pace.

Australia’s Daniel Ricciardo continued his consistent run of top three finishes in Friday practice with a personal best P2, the Aussie’s best time was +0.507s shy to the Fin, but just over a tenth and a half clear of his nearest rival Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.

Behind Verstappen, the Racing Point cars ran line a stern with Sergio Perez in P4 and Lance Stroll in P5, Perez surprisingly lead the duo despite his RP20 not carrying the same aero upgrades afforded to Stroll for this race.

Esteban Ocon rounded out the top six falling just short of the 1:35.000s mark, his best time of 1:36.021 was just two tenths quicker than Alpha Tauri’s Daniil Kyvat in P7 who ran exclusively on Medium tyres.

Red Bull’s Alex Albon was just two hundredths behind Kyvat on the Soft tyre, but finished ahead of Sebastian Vettel P9 and Pierre Gasly in P10.

A rare spin for Carlos Sainz brought out the first stoppage to the session within the first 30 minutes, the Spaniard left the track at Turn 7 slamming his McLaren’s rear wing into the barriers leaving a trail of debris, enough to warrant yellow flags as Sainz limped back to the pits.

Sainz managed to hold P12 for the session ahead of Lando Norris’ sister McLaren in P13, from the Alfa Romeo’s of Antonio Giovinazzi and Kimi Räikkönen in P14 and P15 respectively.

Later, Nicholas Latifi went off similarly to Sainz at Turn 10, but his Williams suffered far more damage, red-flagging the session.

Latifi’s teammate George Russell managed P17, the Brit sandwiched between the Haas cars of Kevin Magnussen in P16 and Romain Grosjean P18.

Brendan Lines 14 Sept, 2020

Lewis Hamilton has secured the 90th victory of his career, his sixth of the 2020 season ahead of teammate Valtteri Bottas and Red Bull’s Alex Albon in a double red-flagged race of high attrition at the Tuscan Grand Prix.

Formula 1’s much anticipated debut visit to the revered Tuscan Hills track marked Ferrari’s 1000th Grand Prix start and the season’s most drama filled race so far, a first lap DNF for Max Verstappen was followed by scenes of carnage at the race re-start.

Carlos Sainz collides with Kevin Magnussen – Image: Motorsport.com

“Today was one of the most challenging days, physically and mentally, I’ve experienced. I’m pretty exhausted to be honest, but it feels fantastic to win such a crazy race,” Hamilton said.

“It’s all a bit of a daze and felt like three races in one day. It was incredibly tough out there, this track is phenomenal and Valtteri was pushing me hard, so it wasn’t easy at all.

“With all the restarts and the focus that was required, it was really hard. The first start wasn’t great and I lost the place to Valtteri, but then the second start was better and I got the place back.

“I had a comfortable advantage after that point but then there was another red flag. Anything could have happened on those restarts but fortunately on the last one, I got my best start of the day and was able to maintain my position.”

The field had barely made it into Turn 3 on the opening lap, when Max Verstappen’s slowing Red Bull had lost power off the line, the Dutchman fell down the pack and was squeezed by Pierre Gasly’s Alpha Tauri on the outside, an evading Kimi Räikkönen had nowhere to go but into the Red Bull, the incident saw both Verstappen and last week’s Italian GP winner Gasly out of the race on the first lap.

Bottas then lead the field behind the safety car until a re-start on Lap 9, the Fin’s restrained to get back on the throttle causing confusion further back as the field compressed in a high speed concertina effect that sent McLaren’s Carlos Sainz into a triple rear-end collision with Haas’ Kevin Magnussen, Williams’ Nicholas Latifi and Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi, the spectacular carnage brought out the first red flag for the race.

With less than a kilometer raced under green the field reset back to the pitlane, during the 25-minute stoppage, Renault’s Esteban Ocon retired with over heating brakes, brining the field back to 12.

Hamilton used the slipstream from Bottas to pip the sister Mercedes for the lead into Turn 1 on the restart.

Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari tenuous hold on P3 was under fire from Racing Point’s Lance Stroll, in Lap 18 Stroll got the move done, Daniel Ricciardo and Alex Albon soon followed to pass Leclerc unable to defend from his rivals DRS advantage.

On Lap 31 Bottas radioed in his request to take whatever tyres Hamilton wasn’t on, Mercedes fit Bottas with a set of Hard tyres, but the Fins call was countered by Mercedes later pitting Hamilton for his own Hard tyres, Bottas was stuck inntrafgic and Hamilton opened the gap out to 0.7s.

Ricciardo opted to undercut Stroll during the pit stop phase to take third place, as Racing Point’s Stroll sandwiched Albon into P5 with the sister Racing Point of Sergio Perez in P6.

Red Bull’s Alex Albon on the podium – Image: Redbullcontentpool

It wasn’t smooth sailing for Mercedes out front, as the team radio it’s drivers to stay off the kerbs — much like the instruction given at Silverstone.

Effectively holding station, there wasn’t much Bottas could do to reign in Hamilton, the Fin radioed to his team “A safety car would be nice right now.”

On Lap 43 Bottas got his wish, albeit at the expense of Stroll, who left the track at the high speed second Arrabiata turn. Stroll reported a puncture, that most likely caused by a piece of body work seen breaking off his car mid-corner, his Racing Point slammed into the barrier left to ruin as Stroll walked away unscathed.

Stroll’s incident triggered the second red flag, the race re-start would effectively be a 12 lap sprint to the end.

Bottas was gifted a golden opportunity to take the win from Hamiltin on the re-start, but instead couldn’t get his Mercedes swiftly off the line, Ricciardo slipped past and into second place — Albon also slipped back behind Perez into P5.

But P2 was cold comfort for Ricciardo, with no DRS to defend on the re-start the Australian fell ill to the superior speed of Bottas’ Mercedes, his Renault then fell into the clutches of Albon who had accounted for Perez.

Hamilton amassed a four second gap as Bottas clawed back P2, the Mercedes cars powered on to the end taking the teams 100th 1-2 victory, while Albon took his maiden podium finish in P3.

Brendan Lines 13 Sept, 2020 08:00am

Lewis Hamilton has scored his 95th pole position in Formula One, his seventh of the 2020 F1 season and first at the Tuscan Grand Prix, teammate Valtteri Bottas missed out on pole by just 0.059s, securing P2 on the grid having aborted his final Q3 lap after a double yellow flag in the first sector, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen will start the race from P3.

Hamilton’s time on of 1:15.144s on
the Soft tyre sets a new record at Mugello, the Brit posted his fastest lap on his first run in Q3.

“I’m so happy to be up here. It’s been a tough weekend, to be honest. This is a phenomenal track and it’s very challenging,” Hamilton said.

“You’re going through Turns 6, 7, 8 and 9 at around 275 to 285 km/h and the g-forces we’re pulling through there is just insane.

“Valtteri has been quicker than me all through the weekend, so I’ve been working hard in the background to try and improve my lines and set-up. And finally, I got the lap together that I needed in Q3.

“The wind picked up a bit for the second lap, which is why I wasn’t able to go any quicker, but the first lap was good enough.

“Valtteri did a great job and has been pushing me really hard, so I’m glad I could pick up the pace once I got to Qualifying. I’m looking forward to tomorrow, it’ll be difficult on such a high-speed track but that should also make it pretty interesting.

It has been a recurring case for Bottas who had been fastest in every session, gaining the upper-hand only to have Hamilton snatch ascendancy back in a clutch moment.

“It’s disappointing to miss out on pole, especially by such a small margin and after I had to abort my final lap,” Bottas said.

“The yellow flags definitely hampered my Qualifying, as I still had more to come with the last lap and was just waiting for the time to get it all right.

“Coming into the weekend, we thought it would be nearly impossible to overtake here but during practice, we’ve seen how wide the track is and the different lines you can take through the corners.

“So, I’m hopeful I’ll be able to take the fight to Lewis tomorrow and have a good battle. There’s a long run to Turn 1 as well, so we’ll see what happens.

Red Bull lock-out the second row of the grid with Max Verstappen just two tenths adrift of Bottas, teammate Alex Albon put in a career best effort qualifying P4.

“As a Team I think we did a very good job the whole weekend and from the start the car was in a good window which meant it was more about fine tuning,” Verstappen said.

“We are the closest we have been to Mercedes in qualifying so we can be happy about that and also the gap to the competition behind us is bigger.

“I have good hopes for the race and it is always difficult to predict whether we can fight for the win but I feel a bit more confident than some other weekends.

“We have quite decent top speed which I think is good around here and although it won’t be easy to pass at least the last few corners are quite wide and long so you can take a few different lines if you have the pace to follow.

“Strategy wise as it is a new track we will find out a lot during the race, especially about the tyres as track temperatures are going to be quite high tomorrow. A Mercedes is never easy to overtake but we will give it all we have and I love this track so I’m really looking forward to the race.”

Charles Leclerc pulled off an astonishing result in P5, qualifying within a second of Hamilton with a time of 1:16.698s, a rare moment of celebration, just in time for the Scuderia’s 1000th Grand Prix start.

Sergio Perez heads up the Racing Point cars qualifying P6 despite not having the aero upgrades to his RP20, they went to teammate Lance Stroll who took P7 some four hundredths slower than Perez.

Australia’s Daniel Ricciardo will line up P8, the Aussie says he had the pace for a potential P5 having saved two sets of Softs from Q2, but teammate Esteban Ocon’s spin at Borgo San Lorenzo in Q3 thwarted any hopes of improvement for most of the field.

McLaren’s Carlos Sainz would have to settle for P9, sandwiched between the two Renaults.

The Tuscan Grand Prix begins 10:40pm tonight.