Tag: Formula 1 News

Formula 1 FP1 and FP2 results: Verstappen outside top 5 both sessions

Despite Verstappen’s placings, there’s also reason to believe that Red Bull may not have turned up their engines for the first two practice sessions Thursday.

While Max Verstappen and the Red Bulls are still favored to top the grid for Formula 1’s first race in Bahrain, it was all Mercedes for Thursday’s practice sessions.

Verstappen has been all the rage since testing showed Red Bull’s prowess, but he only landed 6th in both free practice sessions in Bahrain Thursday. In the first session, former Red Bull driver and current Visa Cashapp RB driver Daniel Ricciardo topped the session with a 1:32.869, coming ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri and then his own teammate Yuki Tsunoda. Here’s what FP1 classifications looked like:

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FP2 was all Mercedes. It was Lewis Hamilton who topped the charts, with his 1:30.374 coming in just 0.206 seconds faster than his teammate George Russell in second. Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso kept it close in both sessions, finishing fifth in FP1 and third in FP2. The VCARB cars didn’t perform nearly as well this time around, with Ricciardo placing 12th and Tsunoda 15th:

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While some may be looking for some competition on Saturday’s race day with Verstappen not topping either chart, it may not be wise to get your hopes up. When taking a look at the telemetry data from the free practice sessions, it appears as if Red Bull (and Ferrari, for that matter) have yet to fully unleash their engine during practice.

FP3 will take place at 7:30 a.m. EST on Friday, while Q1 of qualifying will be at 11:00 a.m. The race will begin at 10:00 a.m. Saturday.

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How every rookie fared in FP1 at the 2023 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

11 rookies took place in FP1 on Friday in Abu Dhabi, and you can see how they did here:

Free Practice 1 of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix took place on Friday, and there may have been a few names you didn’t recognize coming out on the track.

There were 11 rookies that took place in the proceedings, as is a normal tradition for what will be the last F1 race of the year. Many of these drivers will also take part in Formula 1 testing at Abu Dhabi next Tuesday, so it’s good for teams to make sure their young participants get some seat time before then and get them used to the car.

Here are all 11 rookies that took part in FP1, ranked from fastest to slowest during the session:

Las Vegas Grand Prix: Verstappen finishes first, Leclerc second in thriller

A race full of action saw the inevitable Max Verstappen claim victory in Sin City.

It was a hectic road to get there, but Formula 1 delivered under the lights in fabulous Las Vegas.

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen took the win in Sin City on what started as Saturday in their time zone and bled into Sunday, with polesitter Charles Leclerc coming in behind him and other Red Bull driving Sergio Perez finishing third. The race was filled with overtakes, battles and drama, and it all started on the first turn.

Verstappen and Leclerc battled at the start, with Verstappen running Leclerc wide in Turn 1 — Verstappen was only given a five-second time penalty, and while that seemed a small punishment, Leclerc was able to stay patient and wait for Verstappen to wear his tires down before passing him after around 15 laps. Leclerc then took a huge lead after Verstappen served his penalty, but he fortune took a turn for the worse in Vegas after Lando Norris’ McLaren car crashed out. This allowed Perez, who been in the lead with one less pit stop, to come in and get fresh tires to fight Leclerc.

The middle-to-final frame of the race was filled with exciting battles between the three podium drivers, with Perez besting Leclerc, Leclerc getting the position right back and then Verstappen coming from third to dispatch both late in the race. It seemed as if Leclerc could possibly hold on for second, but he ran wide in Turn 12 in the final frame and allowed Perez to pass him. Then, on the last lap, Leclerc was able to pounce on Perez in a great overtake at the end of the lap to earn second place in the dying embers.

Here’s how the points turned out in Las Vegas:

  1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
  2. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
  3. Sergio Perez (Red Bull)
  4. Esteban Ocon (Alpine)
  5. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
  6. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)
  7. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
  8. George Russell (Mercedes)
  9. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)
  10. Oscar Piastri (McLaren)

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