Tag: Mercedes

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F1 2023 Season

Saudi Arabia 2023- Perez All The Way

Race week review

A strong start to the season for Redbull and Aston Martin had their rivals scrambling to catch up and there was a lot of pressure on Ferrari and Mercedes. Emerging news during the week was that Leclerc would be using new control electronics for his PU meaning he would be serving a 10 place grid penalty for the race.

From the very beginning it was clear that Redbull and Aston Martin were leaders. We were starting to see a pattern with our top 3. What used to be a familiar top 3 of Verstappen, Perez and Leclerc, was now a top 3 of Verstappen, Perez and Alonso ( with Stroll close behind). In all 3 sessions, those were the front runners, with some variation.

Source: Luca Bruno via Reuters

When it got to qualifying, the question was: would anyone be able to stop Max Verstappen? The answer; no one was quite so sure about.

Qualifying did not go to plan for Sargeant, who spun at Turn 22/23 and saw his lap time deleted for track limits; and neither was it any better for Norris, who made a mistake on his first run and hit the wall, ending his qualifying early. Tsunoda, Albon and DeVries also failed to escape elimination in Q1.

Probably the most surprising news of the weekend was the shock exit of Verstappen in Q2. The Dutchman told his team about an engine problem and he dragged his car back to the pits but did not continue the session as there was not enough time to solve the problem. Both Alfa Romeos and both Haas cars all failed to set times quick enough to see them into the top 10 shootout. Piastri impressed in his McLaren as he slotted his car into the top 10.

Perez took pole position for the second year running in Jeddah, ahead of Leclerc (who would drop down to 12th because of his penalty), meaning Alonso would start alongside the Mexican. Russell would be joined by Sainz on the second row. Stroll, Ocon, Hamilton (having a disappointing qualifying in 8th), Piastri and Gasly rounded out the top 10.

Source: motorsport.com

Race Report

Sergio Perez lost his lead at lights out to Alonso but overtook the Spaniard soon enough, he then charged ahead away from the others and survived the pressure from Verstappen towards the end, taking the victory in Jeddah. Verstappen had an impressive race himself, climbing through the midfield (one of the few cars that benefitted from the safety car) and grabbing himself P2 and fastest lap – keeping him on top of the championship standings.

Fernando Alonso, once again showing how strong he is in this new Aston Martin car, drove a strong race to finish P3. He was given a post-race 10 second penalty for not serving his penalty correctly (the original penalty for a starting procedure infringement) but this decision was then reversed when Aston Martin appealed it and he kept his P3 and claimed his 100th podium in F1. Lance Stroll unfortunately had his race cut short when he was told to stop out on track in the earlier part of the race which brought out the safety car.

Source: CNN.com

Mercedes, who were not as close to the front runners as the wished, briefly inherited P3 from Alonso’s penalty but the celebration was cut short when the decision was reversed. Aside from that, both Mercedes who were 4th and 5th in the final classification had decent races but were left with a fair amount of catching up to do.

Ferrari were no match for their rivals, their pace apparently seven tenths per lap slower than last year at this circuit. Sainz finished P6 ahead of Leclerc who made his way through the field after his 10 place grid penalty. The Italian team will need to rethink their approach for the upcoming races.

Source: news.italy24.press

It was a solid race for Alpine who had both cars scoring points in 8th and 9th. For a second race running, Gasly was in the top 10; and Ocon, who had a DNF in the season opener, scored his first points of the season.

Haas grabbed a last minute point when Magnussen overtook Tsunoda for 10th place. The pair produced a great battle that left the Dane the happier of the two. Hulkenberg wasn’t too far behind in 12th.

Zhou finished further up the field than his teammate in P13, Bottas struggled with technical issues during the race and was the last of the finishers.

Tsunoda was very frustrated at the end of the race as he missed out on points due to Magnussen’s overtake. De Vries, who started 18th, crossed the line in P14.

Source: Lars Baron/Getty Images

Another disappointing weekend for McLaren saw Piastri finish ahead of Norris in P15, as the more experienced driver brought the car home in P17. The team from Woking will have a lot of reflecting to do to understand what is going wrong.

Sargeant, after being passed by Piastri on the last lap, crossed the line in P16; while Albon retired from the race due to brake problems.

We race in Australia next, a track known for brilliant season openers. It will be Oscar Piastri’s first home GP in Formula 1, will McLaren turn their luck around in time for the rookie? Will Red Bull’s rivals close the gap?

Make sure to follow The Fastest Sector on all of our social media to stay updated with the latest news of the F1 world.

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Flashback Friday

Flashback Friday: 2018 Australian Grand Prix-F1 Meets Halo

While 2018 may not seem like that long ago to us today, the 2018 Australian Grand Prix and the innovations that came with it are nearing their 5th birthday!

2018 saw the birth of the Halo to F1 and all the controversy that came with it, many thought of the halo as some ugly useless feature with no telling just how valuable it would become for the sport.

We as fans were first introduced to this halo on track in Australia, but aside from the halo, let’s look back on that race from the track perspective.

We started the weekend off as yet another beautiful weekend in Melbourne with FP1 seeing the Mercedes reigning supreme taking a 1-2 followed by Verstappen’s Red Bull and the Ferrari duo of Kimi and Seb rounding out the top 5. The bottom 5 for the session saw Checo and Magnussen followed by Hartley and the Sauber duo of Ericsson and Leclerc.

Source: themirror.co.uk

FP2 followed a similar outcome with Lewis still topping the timing sheets followed by Verstappen and Bottas and then the Ferrari duo keeping the structure in the top 5.

Saturday saw a change of pace in more ways then one, with the Ferrari’s finding the speed they very much needed Friday with a 1-2 in FP3 and the Sauber of Ericsson taking 3rd, IN A SAUBER. When it came to qualifying, the Hamilton powered Mercedes would take pole followed by Raikkonen and Vettel to set up for a fun start to Sunday’s festivities.

Sunday’s race saw the Ferrari’s chase down Hamilton without help from Bottas who would lull down in 8th. The Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel would eventually catch up and overtake Hamilton for the lead and from there it was finished. Vettel would take the flag to come home P1 with Hamilton taking 2nd followed by Raikkonen in 3rd.

Source: f1-fansite.com

For the low-lights, the HAAS duo of K-Mag and Grosjean would both DNF in their dumpster fires of cars.

Danny Ric would have himself a great Sunday finishing ahead of his teammate with a respectable P4.

Overall, the weekend was the beginning of a fun and exciting season in F1 and brought along technologies that would change the history of the sport and the safety of its participants and for that, it may go down as one of the most important seasons in the sports history.

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F1 2023 Season

F1 Crews: James Vowles

“Valtteri it’s James”

F1 fans know when James comes on the radio, there’s gonna be strategy and there’s gonna be people listening to it, understanding the next tactical move from Mercedes. 

James Vowles has been widely known in the F1 world as the brains behind the winning strategy of the Mercedes AMG F1 Team. However the 8 Constructors and 7 Drivers Championships didn’t come straight into his career. 

Born on the 20th of June, 1979. James took his master’s degree in Motorsport Engineering and Management. The Brit who also fancied himself behind the wheel, with him competing in the Asian Le-Mans series 2022 in the GT class with the Garage59 team.

He started his motorsport journey with British American Racing. Putting in the work through the years, as the team changed its name and progressed up and down the field. In 2009, when Honda exited F1 and this sudden move put Brawn GP on the grid, James was sitting in the Race Strategist chair on the pitwall. His leadership and abilities put out race-winning and eventually championship winning strategies over the season. 

So when Mercedes bought out the private team, he found himself on the opportunity that F1 staff hoped for. He along with the pitwall of Ron Meadows, Simon Cole, and Andrew Shovlin made the best of this time and led the Mercedes domination in the Turbo-Hybrid era. His tenure at Mercedes as its Motosport Strategy Director ended early 2023, when he was called up to become the team principal of the Williams F1 team.

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Flashback Friday

Flashback Friday – China 2012

A decade ago, round three of the 2012 F1 season saw the teams and drivers arrive at the Shanghai International Circuit. Tensions were high because of the long discussions about Mercedes front wing F duct’s legality, said legality being argued by Mercedes competitor’s.

Source: Maxf1.net

Notably, Hamilton, who at the time was looking to add another championship to his name, was to serve a five place grid penalty for changing the gearbox of his McLaren.

Over the three practice sessions, Mercedes and McLaren showed their speed on track by hosting their cars in the top 3 of all of the sessions. Hamilton topped FP1 and FP3, while seven time world champion Schumacher split the young Brit’s dominance and topped FP2.

Qualifying

When it came to qualifying, it was a different ball game. Red Bull and Mercedes were confident in their car; both leaving it late to do runs in Q1, but both teams were safe with that bold move. The usual suspects were out in Q1 such as Vergne, Kovalainen, Petrov, Glock, De la Rosa and Karthikeyan.

In Q2, probably the most unexpected event at the point during the weekend, was the exit of two time world champion Sebastian Vettel for Red Bull. Both Mercedes, Hamilton and Raikkonen stayed in the pits while others did their final runs in attempt to escape elimination. This eventually dumped Vettel out of Q2, he was joined by Massa, Maldonado, Senna, di Resta and Ricciardo.

The top 10 shootout was full of excitement as it could have been anyone’s pole position for the taking. First to set a lapped time was Rosberg, punching a 1:35.1 on the clock, half a second faster than his team mate Schumacher, Hamilton and Webber. With confidence in his time, he stepped out of the car with two minutes left on the clock; but there was no one who could stop Rosberg from claiming his first pole position in Formula 1. Hamilton ended up P2 but would later drop back to P7 for his gearbox penalty.

Starting grid: Rosberg, Schumacher, Kobayashi, Raikkonen, Button, Webber, Hamilton, Perez, Alonso, Grosjean

Source: autoexpress.co.uk

Race

Finally, the much anticipated race day came along and Vergne was to start in the pitlane after changes to his car before the race.

Most of the grid started on soft tyres, but starting medium tyres were Massa, Senna and both Toro Rossos. Good starts from the Mercedes pair saw them avoid trouble but Kobayashi and Webber fell backwards in order and found themselves in a tight pickle, with Webber behind Alonso. An early stop by Webber led the others to follow his actions shortly after.

The only retirement of the race came from a mistake in the pitlane by Mercedes when Schumacher went to make his first pitstop. A possible podium finish turned into a nightmare for the German team. With the round of pitstops completed the lead was Rosberg, Button, Hamilton, Webber and Raikkonen.

Webber was the first to pit again for new tyres on Lap 22; Button and Hamilton followed his lead. Raikkonen stopped later and ended up losing many places after the pitstop. By Lap 30, the different strategies were more clear cut: Rosberg, Vettel and Raikkonen were all on two stop strategies while Button, Hamilton and Webber were doing three stops.

After Rosberg’s final stop Button took the lead but would still have to make another stop himself. But when Hamilton, Alonso and Button pitted, it was not smooth sailing for Button as there was an issue with his rear left tyre which delayed his stop giving the lead back to Rosberg. When Massa pitted, it left Raikkonen behind the leading Rosberg but there was a train of cars behind him.

With five laps to go Button, Hamilton and Webber overtook Vettel with their much fresher tyres for 2nd, 3rd and 4th. Nico Rosberg held his own and took good care of his tyres to see himself victorious in F1 for the first time in his career. He was joined by a double McLaren podium in Button and Hamilton.

Top 10 points scorers: Rosberg, Button, Hamilton, Webber, Vettel, Grosjean, Senna, Maldonado, Alonso, Kobayashi

Rosberg’s win moved him to P6 in the championship standings but it was McLaren’s Hamilton and Button who were first and second.

Source: makformula1.blogspot.com

Hope you enjoyed that Flashback Friday, we will be back in the new year with lots more to share!

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Flashback Friday

Flashback Friday- Russia 2017

We’re back with another installation of flashback Friday to keep you occupied during the summer break. This time we look at Valtteri Bottas’ first F1 win which he claimed at Sochi in 2017.

The three practice sessions before qualifying were topped by the usual Ferrari and Mercedes, who were far ahead of the rest of their competitors.

Source: thenewswheel.com

Qualifying

When it came to qualifying there were a couple of crashes from Palmer and Wehrlein which disupted the sessions. But in Q1, that duo failed to reach Q2, along with Vandoorne, Ericsson and Grosjean.

In Q2, Lance Stroll was looking for the opportunity to make Q3 for the second time but failed to do so. The Force India pair of Perez and Ocon were solid enough to find themselves in the top 10. But the struggles continued for McLaren as Alonso could only take P15. Following him out of Q2 were Sainz, Stroll, Kvyat and Magnussen.

Source: motorauthority.com

There were only really four cars in contention for pole. The two Ferrari and the two Mercedes. On provisional pole was Kimi Raikkonen who was ahead of Valtteri Bottas, his Finnish counterpart. Meanwhile, Vettel and Hamilton were third and fourth after first runs.

It was to be Vettel’s day as he claimed his first pole position since Singapore 2015. Next to him was Raikkonen, getting Ferrari their first front row lock out since 2008 in France. The Mercedes of Bottas and Hamilton had to settle for P3 & P4.

The top 10 was: Vettel, Raikkonen, Bottas, Hamilton, Ricciardo, Massa, Verstappen, Hulkenberg, Perez, Ocon.

Race

Source: Express.co.uk

An extra formation lap was needed at the start of the race as Fernando Alonso’s McLaren stopped on track before lights out. A great start from Bottas saw him jump Raikkonen but some more amazing race craft from the Finnish driver then saw him take the lead of the race going into the first corner ahead of Vettel.

The deployment of the safety car came about when Grojean and Palmer tangled up together. Lap 4 saw them get back to racing but immediately Ricciardo reported that his brakes were on fire for and had to retire for the second time in the season.

A pitstop for Bottas on Lap 28 saw him drop to second place, with Ferrari doing the opposite with Vettel and staying out for longer. Vettel stopped on Lap 34 while Bottas went wide in Turn 13, majorly flat spotting his tyres. This gave Vettel the solid belief that he could really hunt Bottas down for the win, with just three laps to go.

Source: syndication.bleacherreport.com

Running into traffic on his final lap, giving him DRS, allowed Bottas to keep his distance from the Ferrari. Vettel was unable to clear Massa in the Williams fast enough, giving Bottas the breathing space he needed.

Bottas secured his first F1 win in Russia that day, proving he could cope under an intense amount of pressure. His brilliant start and composed attitude throughout the race got him the victory.

Although Vettel had to settle for second place, Raikkonen’s third place gained Ferrari a nice chunk of points with a double podium.

Source: thetelegraph.co.uk

Elsewhere, Hamilton took fourth, over half a minute behind his teammate. Verstappen, after his good start took fifth, finishing ahead of the Force Indias in sixth and seventh who claimed a double top 7 finish for the first time since Belgium the year before. Hulkenberg, Massa and Sainz completed the top 10.

“I knew I could do these results, I always trusted my ability, but this result confirms it.”

Valtteri Bottas

If you enjoyed that Flashback Friday be sure to stick around for more; and if you have any requests you’d like to see of the page, be sure to drop a comment below!

Don’t forget to follow us on all socials @Thefastestsector to keep up to date with all that’s happening in the F1 community.

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F1 2022 Season

France 2022- Racing in Paul Ricard

On the back of a long awaited win, Charles Leclerc and Ferrari looked strong against a bold Red Bull coming into the weekend of the French GP. One may have considered it a very important race in the fight for the title: a step closer for Verstappen towards that second crown; or a possible fighting chance for Leclerc to claim his first.

Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly, at their home Grand Prix had the aim to impress; with Gasly hoping to change his recent misfortune.

Practice

Soon enough, Mercedes learned that the gap between themselves and the top two teams may have been too large to close down. A familiar three names we’re becoming accustomed to seeing showed up as our top 3 in all three sessions, with only the positions varied.

Source: racingnews365.com

FP1 saw Leclerc lead his rival Verstappen, not even a tenth of a second between them. Russell, the leading Mercedes in P4, a further nine tenths back from third placed Carlos Sainz. Mercedes used this practice session to give Nick De Vries, the teams reserve driver, the opportunity to run in the W13.

Although he would start from the back of the grid due to penalties received for new car components (caused by his engine issue in Austria), Sainz showed he was just as good as the two front runners with a fine lap, a tenth ahead of his teammate. Verstappen was a further half a second back from the lead and the two Mercedes took up forth and fifth position.

Source: autosport.com

Many teams used the opportunity to collect as much data as possible with the new updates, testing how much of a difference they made. AlphaTauri, Mercedes and McLaren were teams with sizeable upgrades coming into the weekend.

Verstappen finally topped the charts ahead of Ferrari in FP3 and he did it with notable gap between himself and the prancing horses. Hamilton put his Mercedes in the top 4, ahead of Perez who had been around a second behind his teammate in all three practice sessions.

Upgrades for the Williams saw them in P8 and P12, a positive sign for the team. Meanwhile at Haas, Kevin Magnussen would be joining Sainz at the back of the grid with an engine penalty and Mick Schumacher sandwiched at the back in 19th between the two Aston Martins— Vettel missed out on some of the session due to floor damage.

Qualifying

All eyes were on the Ferrari- Red Bull battle for the top spot. A little bit of wind meant that certain drivers may have been fought off guard, surprise eliminations a possibility.

The front runners set their times, while others struggles- and some others struggled even more. Although Sainz and Magnussen were taking grid penalties, both escaped elimination from Q1. Schumacher had set a final flying lap time promoting him to P11 but it was instantly deleted, bringing him back down to P19. Gasly, unfortunately didn’t have the pace to take him through to Q2 in his home GP, setting a lap good enough for 16th.

Source: LAT Images via pitpass.com

Out in Q1: Gasly, Stroll, Zhou, Schumacher, Latifi

Speedy Sainz set a blistering time that left him nine tenths of Verstappen on first runs, but Leclerc closed that gap on his second run to just a tenth of a second. Sebastian Vettel, who made in out of Q1, was unable to replicate that pace to get his car into Q3 and took P14. Ocon, in 12th— the other Frenchman, was also not fast enough to get his car into the top 10 like his teammate.

And again, Sainz and Magnussen saw their times, good enough for Q3— Sainz with the opportunity to provide a tow to his teammate who was fighting for pole.

Out in Q2: Ricciardo, Ocon, Bottas, Vettel, Albon

Teamwork makes the dream work as they say— it did so for Ferrari. A provisional pole for Leclerc, with the help of a tow from Sainz saw him 0.008s ahead of Verstappen, who did not have the benefit of a tow on his lap.

Another tow from Sainz to Leclerc on the final flying lap saw the Monegasque driver put a larger gap between himself and Verstappen, and most importantly— it got him pole position. Perez took P3, a tenth of a second behind his teammate. Lewis Hamilton took a decent P4 for Mercedes, continuing his fine form, while Lando Norris stuck himself in a Mercedes sandwich and got himself P5 for McLaren.

Top 10: Leclerc, Verstappen, Perez, Hamilton, Norris, Russell, Alonso, Tsunoda, Sainz, Magnussen

Source: Picasa via Grand Prix 24/7

Race Report

The French Grand Prix this year was by far one of the most interesting in recent years. It was Max Verstappen who finished on the top step of the podium after taking the lead from Charles Leclerc, with Lewis Hamilton finishing in second place on the weekend of his 300th Grand Prix start. Hamilton’s Mercedes teammate George Russell finished in third place, an excellent finish for the Mercedes team.

Source: dailymail.co.uk

After starting in third place, Red Bull driver Sergio Perez finished in fourth, after being overtaken by Russell in the closing stages of the race and being unable to fight back.

After starting in 19th place due to a number of power unit-related changes, Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz finished in fifth place, picking up an extra point for the fastest lap, as well as the Driver of the Day award along the way. Unfortunately it was not as good a day for Charles Leclerc, who made a critical mistake while leading the race which resulted in a DNF, his third of the season.

Source: sportsillustrated.com

It was another strong outing for the Alpine team in their home race, with Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon (who was also celebrating his home race) finishing the race in 6th and 8th place respectively. With McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo finishing in seventh and ninth place, this was a crucial race for Alpine in the fight between the two Constructors.

Source: motorsportweek.com

It was a similarly strong day for the Aston Martin duo of Lance Stroll and Sebastian Vettel, who finished in tenth and eleventh place, a good result for the team considering they have not fought at the front of the midfield this season.

Sadly, it was another disappointing weekend for home hero Pierre Gasly, who failed to score points for Alpha Tauri at his home Grand Prix. Teammate Yuki Tsunoda suffered from a DNF due to contact early on in the race, meaning that the Italian team leave France with no points gained.

Source: TWSN.com
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F1 2022 Season

Austria 2022- The Leclerc Way

Spielberg would be home to the second sprint race of the season. Leclerc went into the weekend aiming to rectify what could’ve been a podium in Silverstone, he hoped to close to Verstappen who seemed to running away with the championship.

Meanwhile, his teammate, Sainz, on the back of his first victory in Great Britain in part one of the double header, looked to show he was also a force to be reckoned with and would not take the back seat.

Source: F1destinations.com

Practice

In practice one and two over the Friday and Saturday, Verstappen and Sainz topped the charts in the sessions respectively.

The Mercedes boys, showed a continued improvement with some real pace in practice one with Russell taking P3 and Hamilton P5, within four and six tenths of a second to the leading Red Bull. It was not a Friday McLaren wanted to remember, Norris with issues to his car and Ricciardo struggling to find pace with his car.

In practice two, Leclerc was just pipped by Sainz with a faster time, but the real surprise was the impressive pace of the Alpines, who looked like they could cause some damage to the others as they took P4 and P5. Mercedes did manage to fix both cars before the end of the second practice session after both cars suffered crashes in qualifying on the Friday which left the teams with some work to do. But they did it! And were able to claim 7th and 9th.

Source: skysports.com

Qualifying

Eliminated in Q1: Vettel, Latifi, Zhou, Stroll, Ricciardo

Eliminated in Q2: Norris, Tsunoda, Perez*, Bottas, Albon

* Originally qualified 4th but a post-session investigation for track limits saw all of his Q3 times deleted, leaving him in 13th.

Top 10: Verstappen, Leclerc, Sainz, Russell, Ocon, Magnussen, Schumacher, Alonso, Hamilton, Gasly.

Source: LAT Images via F1chronicle.com

Sprint race

Verstappen took the maximum eight points available from the sprint race win, benefiting greatly from the scrapping Ferraris who were fighting for position and allowing him to pull away.

There has been the question of when team orders will come to play for certain teams, for Red Bull, it has been made clear that Verstappen is the main man. For Ferrari, although the focus is on Leclerc, team orders have not yet been directly given; and this cost them the chance to fight Verstappen as both red cars concentrated on each instead of their rival.

Source: Ferrari.com

But Leclerc made the move stick on his team mate and began to close in on Verstappen towards the final few laps.

Before the sprint began, Alonso’s race was over as he was unable to take part in the formation lap- ending his sprint race early. A similar issue occurred with Zhou Guanyu but he was able to get his car to start, but it would be from the pits.

Russell and Perez finished fourth and fifth respectively, the Red Bull driver making up many places after a 13th place start due to his Q3 lap times being deleted.

The remainder of the top ten was Ocon, Magnussen, Hamilton, Schumacher and Bottas.

It was 11th and 12th for the papaya team, and 13th for Alex Albon who was given a five second time penalty for forcing Norris off the track.

Vettel was the only other retiree in the sprint race, his race crumbled after contact with Albon.

Race

Charles Leclerc took the victory at the Red Bull Ring, showing his rival that it was still all to play for, cutting the gap to 38 points between the pair. The Monegasque driver made some impressive moves to overtake for the lead. Unfortunately, in the other Ferrari, Sainz, who looked to be closing in on Verstappen for a 1-2 finish, suffered an engine issue, his car going up into flames- a scary incident for the Spaniard.

Source: fresh-trending.com

Verstappen, who looked threatening this weekend, struggled to keep up with the Ferraris and had to settle for second place. Perez on the other hand, who had made up many places from the sprint race, retired from the race early after first lap contact with Russell ultimately led to the end of his race.

Mercedes looked to be back in shape, several straight podiums for the team; and Lewis Hamilton did what he does best— got his car where it needed to be. Although he fortunately benefited from Sainz’s DNF, the Brit drove a solid race, putting him in the right place at the right time and earned him a 4th podium in 2022. Russell, who fell to the back of the grid after his first lap incident and five second time penalty, also drove a stunning race, finishing behind his teammate in P4.

Source: sportingnews.com

Rarely spoken about, but definitely deserving of praise, Ocon brought his Alpine home to fifth place, earning him his highest finish of the season. Alonso, was the last of the point scorers, a good result for the team indeed.

On the back of his first points finish, Mick Schumacher, impressing all weekend, was even more impressive during the race, at times pulling off some stunning defences against other drivers. He was voted driver of the day for his best finish in 2022. Kevin Magnussen finished P8, securing a back-to-back double points finish for the team.

McLaren were back to their points scoring ways, both cars ending in the top ten, in P7 and P9; a much needed result for the Surrey-based team. Both cars took part in some intense midfield battles, treating us to a spectacle.

Aston Martin continued with their struggle as Stroll finished in 13th, and the unlucky Vettel was involved in another tangle on his search for points for the second time this weekend, this time with Gasly, who was later penalised.

Speaking of the AlphaTauris, both cars ended the race outside the top 10 yet again, another team struggling to find form, especially in comparison to last year. Gasly placed 15th and Tsunoda 16th, the Italian team will be looking to turn their hopes around in France.

Albon picked up P12 for Williams and Latifi retired from the race, while Bottas made the most of all that happened with 11th place after starting from the Pitlane and his teammate Zhou Guanyu in P14, a reasonable result considering his accident at Silverstone.

After a week’s break we head to Paul Ricard for round 12 of the 2022 F1 season at the French Grand Prix. See you then! Meanwhile, follow The Fastest Sector to keep you updated and occupied while you wait.

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F1 2022 Season

Great Britain 2022 – Sainz is Supreme in Silverstone

Race weekend review

The iconic British GP in Silverstone has always been one of entertainment; from winning the race with only three wheels to a heavy crash at Copse. This weekend was no different.

Many stars filled the paddock once again, from YouTube, Hollywood and football— everyone wanted to know, who would it be this year? Sir Lewis? Looking for a record breaking victory? Or Max Verstappen? Aiming to keep his mighty championship hunt going.

Practice

The weather conditions made it tricky to assume anything all weekend. FP1 saw rain, and lots of it, so there was minimal running on the track. At a later stage, it began to dry out and certain drivers changed for slick tyres.

Valterri Bottas, Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz ended the session as the top three, while Lance Stroll ended up on the gravel with only a few seconds to spare, ending the session early.

Source: TFS

No more rain for FP2 meant that drivers could finally go out on track to get the data they needed. Some teams were collecting data from new upgrades —Williams and Aston Martin being two of them.

Carlos Sainz finished the session on top, followed by Hamilton and Norris. Championship rivals Verstappen and Leclerc were P4 and P5 respectively.

Source: TFS

Red Bull came back on a charge in FP3, displaying their recent domination in full effect. Verstappen took P1 and Perez P2, ahead of the Ferrari of Leclerc and both Mercedes, who had been showing great pace throughout the weekend.

Qualifying

Some rain fell just before the session began so everyone was on intermediate tyres, ready to go as soon as the lights turned green.

Verstappen, who was ahead for the majority of the session, set a time that would keep him ahead of Leclerc. Surprisingly, the heavily upgraded Williams was the one eliminated in Q1, Albon not happy about the strategy the team used in the session. Both Haas and Aston Martin lost both of their drivers in the first round of qualifying.

Eliminated in Q1: Albon, Magnussen, Vettel, Schumacher, Stroll

Even more rain came down as we edged further into the session, causing all sorts of problems for drivers who didn’t get an early lap in.

A still struggling Ricciardo didn’t set a time fast enough to help him escape elimination, along with Ocon too who was in P15. AlphaTauri lost both drivers but considering it had been a difficult weekend for them, it seemed like it would be just fine.

For the first time ever, Latifi had made it to the top 10 shootout in Q3.

Eliminated in Q2: Gasly, Bottas, Tsunoda, Ricciardo, Ocon

While out in Q3, in the midst of setting a flying lap time like he had been doing, Verstappen spun coming out of Stowe but his composure allowed him to keep control and managed that 360 degree turn beautifully.

It looked like Verstappen had it in the bag, with Hamilton and Leclerc behind him but just as the clock hit zero, Sainz set a stunning lap time to put him first for Ferrari— A Leclerc spin would solidify a first pole position for the Spaniard as the Monegasque and Dutch ended the laps they were on.

Source: FIA.com

It was a first for Sainz, finally a pole sitter in Formula 1. He would start alongside Verstappen and in front of his teammate Leclerc.

Top 10: Sainz, Verstappen, Leclerc, Perez, Hamilton, Norris, Alonso, Russell, Zhou and Latifi

Source: news.postuszero.com

Race Report

Silverstone 2022 was without a doubt one of the most memorable races so far this season. We saw a returning star on the podium as well as a new race winner, and plenty of action inbetween.

After taking pole position on Saturday, Carlos Sainz was able to take his first win in Formula One, a monumental moment which will not be forgotten. However, another incident in the series of Ferrari’s issues meant that teammate Charles Leclerc was only able to finish in fourth, on a day when he should have been able to achieve much more.

Source: Clive Mason via Getty images

It was a good day for Red Bull in comparison, with Mexican Sergio Perez finishing in second place, despite an early tussle with Charles Leclerc. However, teammate and championship leader Max Verstappen was only able to finish in seventh place after sustaining damage from debris on track. Despite this, the team lost minimal points in the championship battle.

Returning to the podium was home hero Lewis Hamilton in third place, much to the delight of the Mercedes team. However, George Russell’s home race was ended just as it began following a heavy and serious crash with Zhou Guanyu which resulted in a lengthy red flag.

Source: Lewis Hamilton via Instagram

This was only the start of Alfa Romeo’s issues on Sunday – Zhou’s crash left the Chinese driver in the medical centre and unable to capitalise on what could have been an excellent race for him, whereas Valtteri Bottas retired from the race due to a gearbox issue.

It was an equally disappointing day for the Alpha Tauri team, with Pierre Gasly having to retire from the race following contact between the two teammates, and Yuki Tsunoda only able to finish in fourteenth, despite avoiding severe damage at the first race start.

It was a much better afternoon for the McLaren team, with Lando Norris finishing in sixth place at his home race in front of an adoring crowd. However, it was another struggle of a race for Daniel Ricciardo, with the Australian driver only able to finish the race in thirteenth place.

An excellent start to the race for Nicholas Latifi saw him battling the faster cars on the grid in the Williams, eventually finishing in twelfth place. The team was, although, unable to test the new upgrades they had brought along as Alex Albon was another victim of the first lap contacts, resulting in a DNF and hospital trip for the Thai/British driver. We hope for a speedy recovery, Alex!

An excellent weekend for Haas saw both drivers finish in the points for the first time in a long time – after an excellent on track battle with Max Verstappen, Mick Schumacher was able to finish in eighth place, the highest of his career, with Kevin Magnussen in tenth place.

Source: Mick Schumacher via Instagram

Join us this weekend to follow the Austrian GP in Spielberg to see who comes out on top! Catch everything on The Fastest Sector social media!

Categories
F1 2022 Season

Hamilton, Russell, Norris, and Silverstone: A Full English

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.

Categories
Flashback Friday

Flashback Friday: 2000 British GP

The Fastest Sector is back with Flashback Friday, here’s the need-to-know with a brief article about the British Grand Prix.

The 2000 British GP at the iconic Silverstone Circuit saw round four of the 50th season in Formula One.

The weekend saw an interesting qualifying grid with Rubens Barrichello taking pole while his Ferrari teammate the great Michael Schumacher only qualified fifth. The shock of qualifying was Heinz-Harold Frentzen qualifying second in his Jordan Honda only 0.003 seconds off pole with the two McLarens of Coulthard and Hakkinen occupying the second row.

The race started with Frentzen and Barrichello getting off evenly while Schumacher fell from fifth to eighth falling behind the BAR of Villeneuve and both Williams’.

Barrichello would hold the lead for 30 laps before Coulthard would pull of a move around Stowe. Coulthard would pit on the end of lap 32 granting the Brazilian the lead back as he would stay out an extra two laps. When Barrichello pitted, Schumacher took the lead of the race until lap 38 when he pitted himself.

After the first set of stops, a spin caused by a gearbox malfunction would see the end of Barrichello’s race and Frentzen would take the lead with the McLaren of Coulthard closing in on the German.

As Frentzen pulled into the pits for his second stop Coulthard would take the lead again where he would stay until the checkered flag waved on lap 60 despite some late race gearbox issues.

Coulthard’s win snapped a three-race win streak for Schumacher who would finish 3rd behind both McLarens and ahead of his brother Ralf.

The 2000 British GP gave some spice to an otherwise uncompetitive championship and added to the list of classics held at the iconic Silverstone circuit.

Source: via IMDb

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