Baku grand prix qualifying

Pictures from practice for the 2023 Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park. Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free More images will be added here F1 pictures 2023 Australian Grand Prix practice in pictures First pictures from the 2023 Australian Grand Prix weekend 2023 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in pictures 2023 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix qualifying day in pictures 2023 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix practice in pictures View more F1 pictures 2023 Australian Grand Prix Red Bull discovered “habits” Ricciardo picked up from other cars’ “limitations” No Mercedes upgrades before Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix Second qualifying session under consideration for F1’s Baku sprint round 2023 Australian Grand Prix practice in pictures Alonso leads Leclerc as rain interrupts second practice session Browse all 2023 Australian Grand Prix articles … [Read more...] about 2023 Australian Grand Prix practice in pictures · RaceFans

Formula 1 is considering a change to the format of the first sprint race weekend of the year in Baku. Advert | Become a Supporter & go ad-free The series’ CEO Stefano Domenicali said earlier this week he wants more competitive sessions to take place during weekends. The sprint race format which was introduced at limited rounds in 2021 was one step towards achieving this. Under its current sprint weekend structure, F1 holds a qualifying session on Friday which sets the starting order for Saturday’s short race, which in turn decides the grid for the grand prix. However F1 is considering a revised format under which a second qualifying session would be held to decide the starting order for the sprint race. “In Baku we are talking about having a second qualifying in the moment,” Haas team principal Guenther Steiner explained. “We don’t know how we do it and if we do it.” One criticism of the sprint race format has been that it makes the second practice session on … [Read more...] about Second qualifying session under consideration for F1’s Baku sprint round · RaceFans

Listen to this article The basic idea is for the sprint event and the grand prix to have their own qualifying sessions, and for the result of the sprint not to impact the grid positions for the main event. The plan was announced by F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali at the last F1 Commission meeting, where it received widespread support from team bosses. It was then presented to the teams' sporting directors at a recent meeting of the Sporting Advisory Committee, where rules are fine-tuned with the FIA. It's understood that the sporting directors asked the FIA to come back with a definitive set of rule updates for further consideration. Discussions have continued within the FIA over the Australian GP weekend and the final details have yet to be decided. One plan is for Friday's FP1 session to be followed by a qualifying session for Sunday's main race. On Saturday, the previously redundant and unpopular FP2 session would be replaced by qualifying for the sprint later that … [Read more...] about F1 in race to finalise standalone Saturday sprint rules for Baku

Daniel Ricciardo has made some telling changes to his driving style during the four years he spent away from Red Bull, according to team principal Christian Horner. Advert | Become a Supporter & go ad-free The eight-times grand prix winner has returned to the team he raced for between 2014 and 2018. Ricciardo spent two years at Renault (now Alpine) and two more at McLaren in the interim. His McLaren spell ended in disappointment, as the team cut short his contract by a year due to poor performance. Ricciardo subsequently agreed to return to Red Bull in a test and reserve driver role and has already returned to work in their simulator. The Australian driver is attending his country’s round of the world championship with the team. “It’s great to have him back in blue,” said Horner in today’s FIA press conference at the track. “This is the first grand prix he is attending this year,” Horner continued. “He’s really throwing himself into it, sitting in all the … [Read more...] about Red Bull discovered “habits” Ricciardo picked up from other cars’ “limitations” · RaceFans

Fernando Alonso was quickest in a rain-interrupted second practice session in Melbourne ahead of Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen. Advert | Become a Supporter & go ad-free The Aston Martin driver set the fastest time early in the session before rain began to fall around the 15 minute mark, which put a stop to any further improvements on the timing screen. Alonso’s 1’18.887 put him almost half a second quicker than Leclerc’s Ferrari. With clouds drifting over Albert Park threatening rain before the session began, the temperature had dropped significantly compared to the opening hour of practice as the second hour of running got underway. With a 40% risk of rain expected, there was a rush of cars onto the circuit as the green light appeared at the end of the pit lane, drivers dicing for track position over the first two sectors of the lap to secure a clear track to start their runs. Carlos Sainz Jnr won the race to start the first flying lap and he duly set the … [Read more...] about Alonso leads Leclerc as rain interrupts second practice · RaceFans

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff says the time will not be bringing any significant upgrades to improve their W14 until the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix at Imola in late May. Advert | Become a Supporter & go ad-free The team are fighting to catch up to rivals Red Bull after being out-performed by the champions over the opening two rounds. The Mercedes drivers were also beaten by Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin in the first two races. Having admitted Mercedes will likely have to abandon the fundamental design concept of its W14 car which inherited the concept of its predecessor from last year, Wolff has previously accepted that Mercedes’ scope for extracting significantly more performance from its 2023 car in its current guise remains limited. While the team will work on upgrades for the W14 this season, Wolff admits there will be no performance-focused upgrades on their car until Imola. “The next three races, we won’t be adding any performance,” he told Sky after … [Read more...] about F1: No Mercedes updates before Emilia-Romagna GP · RaceFans

Does Formula 1 really need three hours of unrestricted practice on a grand prix weekend? Advert | Become a Supporter & go ad-free In F1’s endless meandering between whatever contentious topic is currently dominating discussions in the media pen as well as backroom meetings in the paddock, it’s now the turn of Friday’s free practice sessions to come under scrutiny. Regardless of how traditionalists may feel, it seems the era of three unrestricted hours of running each race weekend may not be long for this world. It’s ironic, then, that despite two sessions taking place around Albert Park on Friday, there is such little meaningful data to use to paint a true picture of how the rest of the Australian Grand Prix weekend is likely to play out. Through a tumultuous blend of a green track, GPS glitches causing traffic problems, plus red flag disruptions and rainfall, teams found themselves more unsure than usual about their performance after Friday’s practice day. Fast … [Read more...] about Ferrari enjoy “most positive” Friday yet but don’t expect to challenge Red Bull · RaceFans

Max Verstappen says Formula 1’s experiments with changes to its race weekend format could lead him to leave the sport. Advert | Become a Supporter & go ad-free The series introduced a sprint race format two years ago which will form a larger part of this year’s world championship. Six of the 23 rounds will include sprint races, up from three last year. F1 is considering changes to the sprint format which could come into play as early as the first sprint weekend of the season in Baku in four weeks’ time. Haas F1 team principal Guenther Steiner said today the sport is considering holding a dedicated qualifying session for the sprint race . This comes as F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali reiterated his desire to reduce the amount of practice which takes place at grand prix weekends and increase the number of competitive sessions. However Verstappen made it clear he prefers the traditional grand prix weekend format. “I’m happy with just the main race,” he told … [Read more...] about Verstappen “won’t be around too long” if F1 keeps changing race weekend format · RaceFans

Listen to this article Gasly departed the Red Bull stable, swapping AlphaTauri for Alpine to replace Aston Martin-bound Fernando Alonso as part of the 2022 driver market 'silly season'. The 2021 Italian Grand Prix victor kicked off his Alpine tenure by qualifying last for the Bahrain opener after exceeding track limits but recovered to ninth in the race. He repeated that result in Saudi Arabia to finish one place behind team-mate Esteban Ocon . Alpine F1 boss Otmar Szafnauer has now revealed Gasly then requested patience while the driver improves his understanding of car set-up and the engineering team. Speaking on the Friday of the Australian GP weekend, Szafnauer said: "He's new and it takes time. "He's enjoying the team, he likes his engineering team and the mechanics, and we like him. "He's fast but it will take time at the margin to eke every little bit out of the car and he's still getting comfortable with us. "I talked to him after the last race [in … [Read more...] about Gasly has asked Alpine F1 team for more time to adapt