Max Verstappen won the double in the last sprint race format of the season, taking his 17th victory with Lando Norris in 2nd and a drag race to the finish sealed Fernando Alonso in 3rd.
Source: PlannetF1
Charles Leclerc had bad luck once again when there was a mechanical failure on the formation lap which caused him to crash into the barriers.
After the Ferrari was moved to a side road and the marshals were able to take the chance to get a picture with the car it was lights out and the race was briefly started.
Source: Reddit
Off the start line Alex Albon made contact with Nico Hulkenburg which caused the Williams driver to hit Kevin Magnussen. Daniel Ricciardo and Oscar Piastri also sustained damage on the start line.
The red flag was waved and when everyone entered the pits and the work started in AphaTauri and McLaren to make Ricciardo and Piastri’s car fit to race.
It was a standing start when the debris and cars had been cleared. Off the start line Verstappen lead Norris and Alonso was able to get past Lewis Hamilton.
Ricciardo and Piastri started from the pitlane a lap behind the rest of the grid as they had come into the pits while everyone else followed the safety car.
Source: Unknown
By lap 10 the top three had built a lead while a DRS train started behind them lead by Hamilton.
Both Mercedes were having problems and George Russell was told to retire and became the 6th car out of the race following Leclerc, Albon, Magnussen, Zhou Guanyu and Valtteri Bottas.
The battle for 3rd place between Sergio Perez and Alonso went down to the last lap with a drag race over the line with Perez 0.05s behind the Aston Martin driver.
Source: Sportskeeda
Lance Stroll finished 5th after a seemingly quiet race with Carlos Sainz in 6th and Pierre Gasly in 7th.
After struggling with his tyres throughout the race after his pitstop Hamilton finished 8th, Yuki Tsunoda finished 9th and Esteban Ocon took the last points place a lap behind the leader.
I just have one question after the British Grand Prix, and it is to all the McLaren fans reading this: How are you feeling?
Source: Evening Standard
British and McLaren fans went crazy when Lando Norris passed the checkered flag in his Papaya machine in 2nd place. The British driver had also led the race partly after overtaking Max Verstappen at the start.
McLaren hadn’t looked like one of the fastest teams during the practice sessions. Still, during qualifying they showed their strength when Norris qualified on the front row along with Verstappen in his dominant Red Bull and Oscar Piastri qualified behind him in P3.
Source: FIA.com
Mercedes looked to be having troubles with their new front wing after struggling throughout every session, George Russel started the race in P6 and his teammate Lewis Hamilton started in P7.
The Ferraris started close with Charles Leclerc in P4 and Carlos Sainz in P5 but didn’t have the best of races because of a combination of strategy and the safety car and finished the race in 9th and 10th.
Hamilton went off the track at some point during the first few corners which caused him to fall to 9th place but with a good strategy, skills, and the safety car he found himself in the last podium position.
Fans were treated to another Fernando Alonso and Hamilton battle as they fought for 7th place, the Aston Martins weren’t having a great weekend because of lost speed after their upgrades a couple of races before.
Source: Autosport
Alpine suffered a double DNF after Esteban Ocon retires with an engine problem near the start of the race and Pierre Gasly limped back to the garage after colliding with Lance Stroll. The Aston Martin driver received a 5-second penalty for the collision.
Sergio Perez was storming through the field after his terrible Saturday, the Mexican started 15th and finished 6th, the Red Bull driver’s skills were helped by his strategy and the safety car which bunched up the pack.
The safety car was caused by Kevin Magnussen’s Haas stopping on track after smoke and fire blew out of the back with what was presumed to be an engine problem.
Source: FIA.com
At the restart Verstappen stormed ahead leaving Norris and Hamilton to fight for 2nd place but the McLaren was too fast for the Mercedes to make the move.
Florence Pugh waved the checkered flag for Red Bull to take their 11th consecutive win and Verstappen his 6th successive win.
Norris was unsurprisingly voted driver of the day and after the fastest lap point, ping-ponged between the driver it settled on Verstappen.
A new format for sprint race weekends was agreed, which would take effect from the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Friday would see drivers participate in free practice 1 and qualifying for Sunday’s race. Saturday would be all about the sprint: the sprint shoutout was the qualifying session for the sprint race and mandated hard tyres for SQ1, medium tyres for SQ2 and soft tyres for SQ3 meant that some teams may have to prioritise qualifying for the main race.
Limited time in the only free practice session saw our usual trio of Verstappen, Leclerc and Perez. It was the beginning of a bad weekend for Pierre Gasly as his Alpine caught fire while Magnussen suffered a suspected fuel pressure problem.
Source: FormulaNerds.com
Friday’s qualifying session saw Charles Leclerc outpace the Red Bulls and claim pole position for Sunday’s race. In this qualifying session we witnessed Leclerc and Verstappen set identical times, as well as Stroll and Piastri. There were two red flags in the session when Gasly and De Vries were both caught out at separate occasions at Turn 3.
In the first part of the sprint shootout Sargeant had a run in with the barriers which ended his session early and disrupted it for others. The damage done to his car could not be repaired before the sprint race, so he did not participate.
Eliminated in SQ1: Zhou, Bottas, Tsunoda, Gasly, De Vries
Both Aston Martins were struggling during the sprint shootout with DRS issues but survived and made it to SQ3. Piastri was unlucky and justed missed out in 11th.
Eliminated in SQ2: Piastri, Hulkenberg, Ocon, Magnussen, Sargeant
The inaugural sprint shoutout saw Leclerc take his second pole position of the weekend, really showing his pace against the Red Bulls. The Monegasque driver hit the barriers as he went to improve his time on his final flying lap but managed to keep his pole as neither Red Bull could outdo the Ferrari driver.
Some key points from the sprint race were the coming together of Verstappen and Russell and Perez’s first win of the weekend, showing just why he’s been dubbed “King of the Streets”.
Norris and Bottas were the only two drivers to choose soft tyres for the sprint, this seemed like it could have been a genius move at the start of the sprint but later turned out to be the exact opposite.
Verstappen could be heard over the radio, furious with Russell. Meanwhile, Tsunoda and De Vries also came together, with the Japanese driver losing a wheel when he hit the wall at Turn 13. AlphaTauri sent Tsunoda back out after he trundled back to the pits but a full safety car was then deployed as his damage was severe.
Source: PlanetF1.com
On the restart, Perez didn’t wait too long to get past Leclerc but the Monegasque driver did a good job in keeping Verstappen at bay to hold onto P2. Fernando Alonso finished between Sainz and Hamilton as he was opportunistic after the restart and overtook the seven time world champion. Stroll made a move on Albon towards the end of the sprint, claiming the final point available.
Top 8: Perez, Leclerc, Verstappen, Russell, Sainz, Alonso, Hamilton, Stroll
Race Review
Sergio Perez made it 2/2 wins over the weekend when he saw the chequered flags at the end of Lap 57 of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. He held his cool when teammate Max Verstappen tried his best to hunt him down and kept a safe distance between them. Though Perez benefitted from the timing of the safety car and Verstappen didn’t, the Mexican made the most of the opportunity to cement his desire for a title charge.
Charles Leclerc claimed Ferrari’s first podium of the season with a P3 finish. Unable to keep up with the pace of the Red Bulls, Leclerc settled for third, finishing over 20 seconds behind them. Sainz was off the pace too, playing catch up to his teammate all weekend as he finished 5th.
Source: CP24.com
Aston Martin will be happy with their weekend. After suffering with DRS issues over the weekend, a 4th and 7th place finish would be a nice chunk of points to reward the team’s hard work. Alonso did try to chase down Leclerc in the latter stages of the race but was unsuccessful in this attempt.
It was a relatively quiet weekend for Mercedes. Hamilton drove a solid race on Sunday, the aim to close in on Sainz but he was unable to perform an overtake. Russell, starting lower than he would’ve liked because of a poor qualifying session on Friday, brought home some points in P8.
McLaren had a positive Azerbaijan GP. Although there is still room for improvement, the team from Woking can be proud of their step forward. The car upgrades saw Norris take P9 and Piastri, who was ill for the majority of the weekend finished P11. Both played the long waiting game behind Ocon and Hulkenberg who pitted late in the race.
Tsunoda completed a very strong race with a points finish in P10. De Vries retired from the race after he crashed into the wall at Turn 5. For Williams, Albon was among the pack that finished close together missing out on points and Sargeant was one of the last of the finishers. In the Haas team, it was similar to Williams; in what was quite an uneventful race, Magnussen was sandwiched between Albon and Gasly while Hulkenberg finished just above Bottas who had a race to forget.
Tune in again next week as we head to Miami for round 5 of the 2023 Formula 1 Season.
The British Grand Prix is a staple in the F1 calendar, especially at the historic Silverstone Circuit.
This year was extra special as it featured 3 British drivers in top teams capable of competing for a podium or for some even a win.
Russell and Hamilton being the only all British driver pairing on the grid with Mercedes went into the weekend hoping to continue the momentum created from an electrifying weekend in Montreal, while Norris looked to bring McLaren back to the top of the grid with the current “Big Three”.
The weekend started off well for Hamilton finishing P2 in FP1while Russell and Norris struggled running only a combined 6 laps and neither recording a time.
FP2 saw Hamilton continue his successes from earlier in the morning and finishing in P2 yet again, Norris found his stride to end Friday running in P3 while Russell would settle for a respectable P8.
Saturday is where the big show truly begins, and with all 3 drivers finishing FP3 in the top 10 it looked promising for the home crowd for qualifying.
Quali saw all three Brits make it to Q3 despite the tricky conditions, but a mistake by Russell in the closing stages saw him finish quali in only P8 while Hamilton and Norris qualified in P5 and P6 respectively with less than a tenth separating them.
Sunday is where the points are scored though, and all three were in a prime position to score some especially with more controlled conditions.
When the five lights went off, we saw a tale of three races for each driver. Hamilton got off the line brilliantly, jumping Alonso and Leclerc for 3rd, Norris got a decent start and was able to pass Alonso and battle Perez until an incident that leads me to the final British driver.
Russell got off the line incredibly poorly, falling back on Latifi and Zhou before clipping the wheel of Gasly and spinning off into Zhou sending Zhou into the gravel and catch fence upside down and suffering a puncture himself before stopping the car and getting out to assist in recovering Zhou.
Despite Russell’s belief that he could get the car back to the pits under its own power, the Marshalls opted to tow it back meaning an end to his race and an end to his incredible streak of P5 or better performances this season in devastating fashion.
The rest of the race would see Norris put up a brilliant effort to finish P6 throughout all the chaos and pandemonium.
For Hamilton, the race was one of highs and lows, but mostly highs. A slow pitstop would mean he would lose out on the lead and even a podium in some eyes, but there is a reason he is seen as one of the greatest to ever do it, he just finds a way.
A late safety car would allow Hamilton to pit for new softs with very little to lose. The restart would allow Lewis to have an excellent look at the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc who was running on much older hard tires, but with the raw pace of the Ferrari what would normally be a routine drs overtake would lead to some of the most brilliant racing we have seen in a very long time with the GOAT taking on the driver of tomorrow for a much-desired podium place. After about 7 laps of pure racing, Hamilton would get DRS and complete the move with enough time to pull away earning him a P3 in his home race to the delight of the amazing British fans.
Hope you enjoyed this piece about our lovely British drivers- make sure you show some love and tell us about your favourite moments of the drivers in the comment section.
I’ve been watching F1 for quite some long, but my favourite ones might be the recent ones.
Turkey 2020 -How can a Lewis Hamilton fan forget this one? Lewis getting his 7th world title and making history. I remember like it was yesterday when I sat on my living room floor and cried for hours because HE made it! Can’t forget Seb back on the podium and Lance’s first pole!
Source: Motorsportmagazine.com
Interlagos 2021 – The best race of the 2021 season! My home race was full of surprises as Lewis got 2 grid penalties, and made 25 overtakes and still won the race. It was simply magical. But besides the result, the memorable part was definitely when he grabbed the Brazilian flag like Senna used to do. I swear to god that even my parents, who were supporting other drivers, cried at that moment.
Source: Reuters.com
Monza 2021 -There are no words that can describe the feeling of seeing a McLaren driver on the highest place of the podium after 9 years. It brought us hope, a feeling that we thought we had lost with the last few years, but it was there, and I can say it is the best feeling in the world.
Source: fia.com
Baku 2018 – There’s nothing too special with this race other than the chaos with RedBull, but for some reason it was quite memorable for me!
Source: skysports.com
Hope you enjoyed this installation of our most memorable races. Stay tuned for more from The Fastest Sector and make sure to follow our social media while you wait for the next post!
Here is part two of the new series where we share our most memorable races with you guys.
I’ve been watching F1 for quite some time so the memorable races span over a long period of time. If only I could write about all of my memorable races, I’d have a very long list in that case. Nevertheless, these were some very special moments and I’m so glad I could share them with you guys.
Abu Dhabi 2010: These iconic radio moments will live with me forever: “Just you wait sunshine.” Or “Du bist weiltmeister!” As Sebastian Vettel made history, becoming the youngest ever F1 world champion, I remember the celebrations very clearly. Many counted him out and didn’t consider him a potential champion, but his fans never doubted him. As he crossed the line for the chequered flag and his team waited for confirmation for the final standings, the tensions were high, and nine year old me couldn’t contain my excitement when he was crowned world champion. This will probably be the most memorable race for me; because, although it was not the first race I watched, it was definitely the most significant. It marked the beginning of a reign I will never forget.
Source: edition.cnn.com
Brazil 2012: In what can be classified as one of his best drives in F1, Brazil 2012 was a day to remember as Sebastian came all the way to the back of the field to third place and clinched his third consecutive title in a row. A mix of emotions were felt through out the race, thoughts of “he might lose it” came up many times as he had to fight his way through and luck didn’t seem to be on his side. Irrespective of the difficulty, he did it. He brought it home.
Source: f1bias.com
Canada 2019: Everyone remembers this race for different reasons. One of the main reasons for me was the outrage I felt when Sebastian was given a five second penalty which many believed was quite harsh. The other reason was the pure shock and amusement I felt when I believed Sebastian would snub the podium ceremony and when he switch the number plates of first and second. A pretty tough moment to forget if you ask me.
Source: skysports.com
Austria 2020: The first race back in F1 after a break due to the outbreak of the coronavirus was a brilliant one. As a McLaren fan, all I wanted to see was a papaya car on the podium. We had high hopes for the season. Before the race started I joked, “Imagine if Lando got a podium.” This joke became a reality in one of the best ways possible. By just a tenth of a second, he clinched his first podium, a very special moment.
Source: thesportsrush.com
Monza 2021: It had been a long time since both McLaren cars had been on the podium together, and the new pairing of Lando and Danny Ric was yet to produce the fine fruits we knew it would, until that magical day in Monza. I couldn’t dream of a better way to celebrate the team than with a 1-2, the only one of the season. After Daniels tough start to the season, a win to silence the haters was perfect, followed by Lando, who took a career best finish. It was simply lovely.
Planetf1.com
I hope you enjoyed reading about my most memorable races! Comment what your most memorable races are— maybe we have some in common. In the meantime, make sure to keep up to date with everything on our social media.
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