Kimi Antonelli in tears of joy amid chaos and controversy of Chinese GP
Kimi Antonelli in tears of joy amid chaos and controversy of Chinese GP Source link
All posts tagged: F1 live
Kimi Antonelli makes history with Chinese GP pole after George Russell’s issues
But nor should Antonelli’s achievement be diminished. The Italian’s new record – he is 19 years and 212 days old – smashed the previous record held by Sebastian Vettel, who was 21 years and 72 days old when he took his maiden pole position at the 2008 Italian Grand Prix. And he deserves immense credit for it. That crash last weekend, which Wolff joked made his drive look like “a Lego F1 car”, smashed into a million pieces, would have destroyed some drivers. As would the crash at Monza a few laps into his first free practice session a couple of years ago. But Antonelli clearly has something special. Yes, his debut season was raw. Very raw at times. Antonelli went on a run of four non-finishes in six rounds at one point last year, plus an 18th in Monaco, going into a bit of a tailspin. The scenes in the latest series of Drive to Survive, in which he admits to feelings of self-doubt and shows incredible vulnerability and humility, are some of the …
Fears F1 season will be cakewalk as Mercedes blow everyone away
George Russell and Kimi Antonelli annihilated the opposition in the one and only practice session ahead of Sunday’s Chinese Grand Prix, suggesting Mercedes will be as dominant here in Shanghai as they were in Melbourne last weekend. There is now no time for teams to refine their setups before the first competitive session of the weekend, qualifying for Saturday’s sprint race, which takes place at 7.30am UK time. Russell pipped team-mate Antonelli by 0.120sec in cool, sunny conditions in Shanghai on Friday morning. But the championship leader was a massive 0.545sec clear of the first driver not in a Mercedes, McLaren’s Lando Norris. McLaren’s Oscr Piastri and then Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc were next fastest, with Ferrari’s much-anticipated “Macarena” rear wing, which flips upside-down, not immediately flipping the script. Lewis Hamilton was sixth fastest in the second Ferrari, 1.388sec off the pace, although the seven-time world champion did set his time earlier in the session on older tyres after an early spin wrecked his set of medium tyres. Elsewhere, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was down in …
George Russell storms to Australian GP pole after Max Verstappen crashes
Interestingly, given he defended the new rules at testing in Bahrain last month, Norris now appears to be of the same opinion as Verstappen. That they are awful. “The problem is you have to look at the steering wheel every three seconds to see what’s going to happen, otherwise you’re going to end up off the track,” the world champion said, adding that was the reason he had not seen Antonelli’s cooling fan. “We’ve come from the best cars ever made in Formula One, and the nicest to drive, to probably the worst. It sucks, but you have to live with it and just maximise what you get given.” After Norris came the second Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton, who was the last driver to get within a second of Russell. Hamilton was actually quite upbeat afterwards, saying he had felt “solid” all weekend until Q2 when some energy deployment issues threw them. But he admitted Mercedes were in another league, accusing the Brackley team of sandbagging all weekend, and of having “two tenths or more” …
Mercedes are ominously fast, say rivals after Australian GP practice
Mercedes are streets ahead of the pack going into Sunday’s season-opening Australian Grand Prix, according to Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. Although it was McLaren’s Oscar Piastri who finished day one of practice top of the timesheets, just ahead of the Mercedes duo of Kimi Antonelli and George Russell, Leclerc said it was obvious which team had the quickest car. That is good news for George Russell, the bookmakers’ favourite for the title. “I think Mercedes are slowly showing a bit more of what they have, and in FP2 we are starting to see where we are lacking compared to them,” said Leclerc. “They are clearly very strong, especially in terms of race pace. “I don’t know how much margin they still have on qualifying pace, but in the race pace they seem to be very strong compared to us.” Mercedes’ pace in FP2 was a reversal from the first session of the day when all four Mercedes-powered teams – Mercedes, McLaren, Alpine and Williams – struggled. A sign, perhaps, of just how sensitive and capricious these …
I agree with Max Verstappen – F1 risks fans turning off with these new rules
I agree with Max Verstappen – F1 risks fans turning off with these new rules Source link
Max Verstappen throws F1 future into doubt over ‘anti-racing’ rules
Asked whether these new rules might hasten his departure from the sport, or whether winning races in this formula might get him to change his mind, the 28-year-old gave a response which will concern the sport’s rulers. “Winning, for me… that doesn’t matter. It needs to be fun to drive as well, I think, at this stage of my career. “I mean, I am of course also exploring other things outside of Formula One to have fun at. Yeah I mean, I know that we’re stuck with this regulation for quite a while. So, yeah. Let’s see.” Organisers of the Nürburgring 24hrs (May 16–17) have already tweaked their calendar to allow Verstappen to take part in one of the early season Nürburgring Endurance Series (NLS) rounds, bringing NLS2 forward by a week to avoid a clash with the Japanese Grand Prix. Verstappen said he appreciated the effort and hoped to drive in both that round and the main event in May, most likely at the wheel of a Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG. “I mean, looking at …
Toto Wolff claims Red Bull have ‘one-second’ advantage
Toto Wolff has installed Red Bull as the new “benchmark” team for 2026, claiming Max Verstappen was able to go “a-second-a-lap” faster than everyone else on the straights on the opening morning of testing in Bahrain on Tuesday. Mercedes had been widely considered the favourites for the forthcoming season based on the fact their power unit was said to be best in class, thanks to exploiting a “loophole” in compression ratio rules. However, while the argument over those rules continues to rage – Wolff on Wednesday called on the FIA and FOM, who have to sign off on any changes, to avoid siding with the “gamesmanship” of rival manufacturers – the Austrian said he had revised his opinion on the pecking order, describing Red Bull as “very much the benchmark”. Speaking during the lunch break in Bahrain testing, after Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Mercedes’ George Russell had engaged in a long-run head-to-head on the opening morning, Wolff said the compression-ratio loophole was worth no more than “a few horsepower, maybe 2-3bhp”. Red Bull’s superior …
First F1 title is Lando Norris’ to lose after dominant Brazil GP
Verstappen took full advantage of the chaos. A slow puncture forced him to stop early in the race, switching from hard tyres to mediums. But he made it work for him, surging through the field on the favoured compound. By lap 18 he was in the top 10. And by the time Norris pitted at the end of lap 30, Verstappen was up to fourth. At one stage it looked as if he might even be able to fight Norris for the win. But he eventually had to stop, bolting on a set of soft tyres which set up a grandstand finish as he used his fresh rubber to pick off first George Russell and very nearly Antonelli too. Up ahead, Norris eased to victory by 10 seconds. The 25-year-old now has one hand on the title. Not that he will admit it. “It was a great win but to be honest seeing how quick Max was today, I’m pretty disappointed we weren’t quicker,” he said. “That is where my mind is at the minute, …