Toto Wolff highlights Lewis Hamilton’s change this season in Max Verstappen battle.
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Tag Archives: Verstappen
Lewis Hamilton penalty expected by Red Bull chief to level Max Verstappen playing field
Red Bull chief Helmut Marko expected Lewis Hamilton to be hit with a penalty.
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Max Verstappen hands Lewis Hamilton Russian GP advantage as Red Bull hit with penalty
Max Verstappen will start from the back of the grid after being hit with a penalty ahead of Russian Grand Prix.
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Max Verstappen grid penalty may give Lewis Hamilton perfect chance to set new F1 milestone
With Red Bull’s Max Verstappen taking a grid penalty, this weekend’s Russian Grand Prix – a track dominated by Mercedes in the past – gives Lewis Hamilton a massive opportunity to win an unprecedented 100th race.
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Max Verstappen hits out at ‘hypocrisy’ over Lewis Hamilton crash ahead of Russian GP
Max Verstappen has hit out at the ‘hypocrisy’ over his reaction to his collision with Lewis Hamilton at Monza,
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Max Verstappen responds to Lewis Hamilton comments – ‘Clearly doesn’t know me’
Max Verstappen has responded to Lewis Hamiton’s comments ahead of the Russian Grand Prix.
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Lewis Hamilton has British Grand Prix sprint regret after Max Verstappen secures pole
Lewis Hamilton says he wishes he could ‘redo the start’ of Saturday’s sprint race after Max Verstappen secured pole position for Sunday’s British Grand Prix after victory during a historic inaugural qualifying race at Silverstone.
Verstappen jumped Hamilton at the start of the race with better drive off the line, despite the Dutchman’s front left brakes catching on fire while waiting for the lights to go out in front of the Briton’s home crowd.
However, despite Hamilton’s fight back, the championship leader gradually pulled out a comfortable lead from the 36-year-old, as he commanded the race and managed to pick up three important championship points, extending his lead to 33, and will now start on pole for the British Grand Prix.
The Briton was heard on the radio asking for more power from the team on lap 12, as he tried to claw back any time on the Red Bull driver, with blistering reported on Verstappen’s tyres.
But it wasn’t enough, and Verstappen extended his lead with victory on Saturday, with Hamilton finishing second, with two points added to his total, with his team-mate Bottas picking up a point from third.
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“I gave it everything today,” said Hamilton straight after the race. “First I’m gonna give a lot of love to all these fans, I can’t tell you the energy that I’m getting from everyone, that support means the world to me so I’m sorry I wasn’t able to get the win in sprint one but tomorrow we fight again.
“I hit target on my start, it’s not good what you lose from P1, but, we’ll try and try and turn negative into a positive tomorrow
“Every point counts, but I’m grateful to finish, they’re just so strong in the race, as he was pulling away there was nothing I could do to hold on to him.
“So we’ve really got to try and be in front somehow they’ve done a great job with their engine, their starts are really great, we’ve lost a bit of performance on our stuff so we’ve got to work a bit harder to try and improve that because losing positions is never a great thing.
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Hamilton’s poor start handed Verstappen the perfect opportunity to take the lead of the 17-lap race, and extend his lead in the championship.
“Wish I could redo the start again,” Hamilton rued. “But luckily we have tomorrow.
“I don’t know how it was to watch for the fans, I think this weekend’s been awesome, yesterday was such a fun day to have qualifying on a Friday, way more enjoyable.
“I don’t know whether that was the most exciting race or not, but we should do more like that, maybe a different version of it in future because this makes the weekend more enjoyable I think.
“But I need everyone to bring their energy again tomorrow and I’ll bring my A-game.”
Hamilton stunned on Friday in the evening’s qualifying session, beating Verstappen by just 0.075s in front of a jubilant British crowd.
It means Hamilton lined up ahead of his main title rival who started second, with Hamilton’s Bottas third.
The seven-time world champion was visibly emotional as the home crowd chanted his name, as he looks to add an eighth world title to his name this season.
Cheers echoed around Silverstone, as Hamilton climbed out of the car, with Union Jack flags fluttering in the Silverstone breeze, as the sun beamed down on the world champion, who thanked the fans for their input.
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This post originally posted here Daily Express :: Sport
Max Verstappen unfazed by Lewis Hamilton’s British GP pace – ‘It doesn’t mean anything’
Championship leader Max Verstappen was left frustrated as he starts from second on the grid for Saturday’s sprint qualifying race, as he battles it out with Lewis Hamilton for pole position for Sunday’s British Grand Prix
Hamilton heads up the grid as he was cheered on by thousands of home fans ahead of the main event at the end of the weekend, as he stunned around Silverstone.
Hamilton was looking to bounce back this weekend, a track he’s won at seven times, as Red Bull have dominated for the past five races.
Verstappen meanwhile was heard complaining on the radio of understeer, as the Dutchman struggle to find any grip in his Red Bull around the Northampton circuit.
Hamilton lit up the timing screens his final run, and was on course to better his time of a 1:26.7706s, but was hampered by a huge slide in the final sector.
Hamilton’s team-mate Valtteri Bottas will line up third on the grid tomorrow, in a 17 lap race that will decide Sunday’s grid for the British Grand Prix, with three Britons in the top ten.
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Yet, clearly frustrated, Verstappen, who had been fastest in the morning practice session, said he wasn’t at surprised by the pace of the Mercedes, who have struggled to hook it up for the past five races.
“No [I am not surprised by Lewis Hamilton’s pace], we need to look at ourselves.
“The car itself was handling quite well but there was a lot of understeer, so I couldn’t really attack too many corners.
“I was waiting for the front to grip up, but It was a weird feeling to drive.
“I don’t think it was set-up or front wing-related, it is what it is, we are still quite close”
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“It’s a bit of a weird feeling, to be honest, you do qualify and you go flat out and actually doesn’t really mean anything in terms of pole position, so we’ll see tomorrow.
“I think we have a strong race car just need to fix a bit the issues we had in qualifying.
“I’ve got confidence we can have a strong race.”
Sprint qualifying gets underway at 4:30pm tomorrow after a second practice session on Saturday morning, with the results deciding the grid for Sunday’s British Grand Prix.
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This post originally posted here Daily Express :: Sport
Superb Hamilton beats Verstappen in Qualy for F1 Sprint
Lewis Hamilton delights packed Silverstone grandstands by outqualifying Max Verstappen by a tenth of a second, and will head field for Saturday’s F1 Sprint; Sprint race – live on Sky Sports F1 at 4.30pm – will then set the grid for Sunday’s British GP
By Matt Morlidge
Last Updated: 16/07/21 7:28pm
1:17
Lewis Hamilton edged past Max Verstappen in British GP qualifying to start in first place for the debut F1 Sprint.
Lewis Hamilton edged past Max Verstappen in British GP qualifying to start in first place for the debut F1 Sprint.
Lewis Hamilton wrestled back some much-needed momentum from Max Verstappen by beating his rival in qualifying for the British GP, which will see the home favourite head the field for Saturday’s maiden F1 Sprint.
In an epic and unique Friday evening qualifying session that sets the grid for the short Saturday race – rather than Sunday’s showpiece Grand Prix – Hamilton delighted the packed grandstands with a customary Silverstone display, outqualifying Verstappen by a tenth of a second despite a last-lap error.
“That was an important statement,” bellowed Martin Brundle, with Hamilton having slipped 32 points behind Verstappen in the championship.
“This is down to the fans,” said a clearly moved Hamilton in front of 90,000 spectators.
“That first [Q3] lap was great. The second one was looking even better but just lost the back end in that last corner, so my heart was in my mouth as I crossed the line.
“But I could see the crowd and it was really reminiscent of my first pole here in 2007.”
While Hamilton is not credited with an eighth Silverstone pole – with that honour awarded for the winner of Saturday’s Sprint – he stopped Verstappen’s three-race streak of qualifying victories, and has put himself in the perfect position to land more blows to Red Bull over a bumper weekend.
The debut 17-lap F1 Sprint – live on Sky Sports F1 from 4.30pm on Saturday – will set the grid for Sunday’s British GP.
Valtteri Bottas qualified third and just a tenth off Verstappen in the other Mercedes, who have hit back at Red Bull with their upgraded package.
Perhaps critically, Sergio Perez could only manage fifth for Red Bull after having his last lap deleted for track limits, with an in-form Charles Leclerc instead taking a second-row start for the F1 Sprint.
Sky Sports F1’s new-look live British GP schedule
| Date and show | On Air | Session start |
|---|---|---|
| Saturday, July 17 | ||
| Practice Two | 11.30am | 12pm |
| F1 Sprint | 3.40pm | 4.30pm |
| Sunday, July 18 | ||
| The British GP | 1.30pm | 3pm |
Hamilton, meanwhile, was by no means not the only British driver to shine at Silverstone.
McLaren’s Lando Norris, after a incredibly difficult week, qualified sixth while George Russell was arguably the star of the show as he nailed his best-ever qualifying result, an astonishing eighth in the Williams.
Russell, a Mercedes junior, had the adoring home fans on their feet as he got through to Q3 for the second straight race, and did so again when outpacing Carlos Sainz and Sebastian Vettel in the final shootout.
British GP Qualifying: Top 10
1) Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
2) Max Verstappen, Red Bull
3) Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes
4) Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
5) Sergio Perez, Red Bull
6) Lando Norris, McLaren
7) Daniel Ricciardo, McLaren
8) George Russell, Williams
9) Carlos Sainz, Ferrari
10) Sebastian Vettel, Aston Martin
More to follow…
British GP shake-up explained: How the new format works
0:38 The Sky Sports F1 team explain what and when to watch live with us from Silverstone on Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the British GP
What is F1 Sprint, when is it and what are the rules?
Debuting at Silverstone, F1 Sprint is effectively a mini race run over 100km (300km is the usual GP distance) on Saturday afternoon, one day ahead of the Grand Prix.
Short, fast and without the strategic intricacies of Sunday’s big race, F1 Sprint is, as its name suggests, designed to be a flat-out sprint for drivers from start to finish. No pit stops are expected.
The first edition of F1 Sprint will take place on Saturday afternoon at 4.30pm.
The 20 drivers start in the order they qualified on Friday evening, and their finishing positions 100km later will be the positions they line up in for the start of Sunday’s Grand Prix.
If you win, you are starting Sunday’s race from pole position; if you are 10th, you start in that same spot one day later, while if you hit technical trouble or crash out, you will be at the back and left with it all to do.
The 100km distance will work out to be 17 laps of the 3.7-mile Silverstone circuit.
The Saturday sprint is therefore expected to last 25-30 minutes, with the condensed and stripped-down nature of the racing action designed to be part of the appeal to spectators and TV viewers.
Limited points are on offer – three for first place; two for second; one for third – but every place counts through the field as the finishing order will set the 1-20 grid for the usual Grand Prix on Sunday.
When’s the Grand Prix?
It’ll be the same British Grand Prix that you know and love on Sunday afternoon.
Fifty-two laps of Silverstone, with lights out this year at 3pm. Sky F1 build-up starts at 1.30pm.
The usual points apply for race day, that’s 25 for the victory (and a maximum of 26 if the winner nabs the fastest lap too) down to one point for 10th place.
The only difference is that drivers who start in the top 10 are not locked into starting on the tyre they set their best time in Q2 on. Everyone therefore has a free choice throughout the race, although the usual two-compound rules apply in a dry race which guarantees at least one pit stop per car.
No changes otherwise.
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This post originally posted here SkySports | News
Lewis Hamilton highlights Max Verstappen advantages ahead of British Grand Prix
Lewis Hamilton says he hopes to “close the gap” this weekend at the British Grand Prix, as the seven-time world champion hopes to cut the 32 point gap to Max Verstappen over the weekend.
Hamilton has seven wins to his name around the Silverstone circuit in Formula One, and also admitted recently he’s been putting in the hours on the simulator, something he’s admitted in the past to Express Sport he’s not a fan of.
To add to their advantages this weekend, Mercedes are also looking to bring an upgrade package for the W12, alongside the added bonus of Hamilton’s home fans descending on the circuit.
And Hamilton believes it could be a winning formula across the weekend.
“With all those elements, I hope and pray, yeah,” said Hamilton ahead of the British Grand Prix on Thursday
“Obviously we won’t know until tomorrow, and also another element is this sprint race that we have, this new format, of course, it’s easy for any of us to get it wrong.
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Bottas would need ‘different mindset’ to stay in F1 post-Mercedes
Mercedes have taken nine consecutive pole positions at Silverstone, to make it 10, Hamilton would have to win the sprint qualifying race on Saturday.
Yet Hamilton said it was a challenge he was embracing.
“Massively looking forward to it,” added Hamilton. “A lot of work has gone on over the past couple of weeks, so I’m hoping that coming back to a circuit that suits us a little better, hopefully, we can have a closer battle with the Red Bulls.”
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This post originally posted here Daily Express :: Sport