月: 2023年4月

Polesitter Leclerc was passed by Max Verstappen and eventual Baku victor Sergio Perez come only lap six of 51, with the Ferrari driver opting not to fight the Red Bulls to preserve his Pirelli tyres.
The Monegasque eventually finished 21 seconds adrift of Perez but held off Aston Martin driver Alonso by 0.8s to end the two-time champion’s run of consecutive podiums at the start of the …Keep reading

Alongside Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg, Alpine driver Ocon had completed the entire race on the hard tyre, hoping for a late red flag to give him a free, mandatory swap to a different compound.
When that red flag didn’t arrive, Ocon waited until the start of the final lap to dive into the pits and pick up soft tyres.
But with race leader Sergio Perez about to cross the line to take the win in Baku …Keep reading

Friday and Saturday qualifying topper Leclerc had launched cleanly to comfortably hold off front-row rival Verstappen into Turn 1 at the race start.
But the Ferrari driver was then left vulnerable as DRS was activated at the start of lap three of 51, with the chasing defending champion cutting the 0.4-second gap before using the overtaking aid to pass over the line.
A compliant Leclerc was …Keep reading

Perez led Verstappen home after a tepid Azerbaijan Grand Prix, but his afternoon nearly came undone when on lap 34 he clipped the outside wall on the entry to Turn 15.
The Mexican came away unscathed but afterwards admitted his error led to a hard thump on the right-front corner of his Red Bull RB19.
“Really hard,” he said about the hit. “I had a bit of luck, especially with the front right …Keep reading

Perez benefited when team-mate Max Verstappen pitted just before a safety car, which cost him two places.
Before that, Verstappen had passed Ferrari’s pole-winner Charles Leclerc to take the lead at the start of lap four and pulled away. A safety car was called after Verstappen made his pitstop, dropping him to third as his rivals pitted under yellow.
Despite quickly repassing Leclerc …Keep reading

The Mexican driver took advantage of a pitstop under the safety car to emerge in the lead after Verstappen had led the early phases of the race from polesitter Charles Leclerc.
Leclerc led away at the start line from Verstappen and, without DRS being made available in the opening series of laps, was able to hold a scant lead over the two-time champion.
But at the end of the third lap …Keep reading

The multiple incidents at the Australian Grand Prix highlighted issues that drivers were having getting temperatures into their tyres on the way to standing restarts, when they were obliged to initially follow the safety car until it turns its light out.
The subject was discussed at length in Friday’s drivers’ briefing in Baku, and on Saturday morning the FIA canvassed teams before confirming a …Keep reading

Russell muscled ahead of Max Verstappen at the start of Saturday’s sprint event, but after a resumption following a safety car period, the Dutchman passed him on the run down to Turn 1.
Although that move was achieved with DRS not yet activated, Red Bull’s speed on the straight when it is open has been a focus of attention for rivals all season.
“We know what the speed difference is,” said …Keep reading

In the end the team had nothing to gain by so doing and the anomaly in the regulations is set to be addressed before the next sprint event in Austria.
McLaren could potentially have gained an advantage because Norris had used up all of his soft tyres in FP1 and regular qualifying on Friday. The rules state that on Saturday drivers can only use new medium tyres in SQ1 and again in SQ2, and then …Keep reading

The German was due to start from 16th on the grid, following Alpine’s decision to start Esteban Ocon from the pitlane in both the sprint and grand prix, amid a difficult qualifying performance.
Hulkenberg’s fortunes improved in the sprint shootout where he qualified 12th, but fell back through the 17-lap race having endured severe rear tyre graining throughout and he finished 15th.
Haas has …Keep reading