Qualifying grand prix today

Fernando Alonso is pleased that his Aston Martin seems to “behave well” around Albert Park, but a lack of laps left him with “jobs to do” in FP3 to prime himself for qualifying and the race this weekend. Alonso went fastest in a rain-interrupted FP2 session in Melbourne on Friday, with the wet weather hitting before the drivers put on soft tyres for their standard qualifying simulations could take place. This hampered the field for the most part, though the likes of rookie McLaren driver Oscar Piastri were able to experience intermediate tyres for the first time this season and, in the case of the new home hero in Australia, the first time in his Formula 1 career. But the rain was not much use to Alonso and Aston Martin, with the team looking to reel in Red Bull as best it can this weekend in dry conditions. As a result, the double World Champion said the team will be left with more to do in FP3 to get themselves in the right window come qualifying. “It was good, obviously … [Read more...] about Fernando Alonso left with ‘jobs to do’ after FP2 running cut short by rain

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc cut a chipper figure after practice at Albert Park, feeling the Scuderia had made a clear step in the right direction on Friday. While Leclerc finished second on the timesheets in second practice in Australia, it was a largely unrepresentative FP2 session as rain arrived to compromise on-track running. Leclerc had finished the first practice session in fifth, half a second behind the pace-setter Max Verstappen, and just over a tenth clear of Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz. Despite the restricted running, which wasn’t helped by a red flag during FP1 due to circuit GPS data failing, Leclerc felt Ferrari had made a step forward with the time put in on Friday after evaluating different setup options. Charles Leclerc: It was our most positive practice of the season “Quite a bit, I think we did quite a lot of scans in terms of setup direction again,” he said, when asked about his workload on Friday. “I feel like the feeling is a bit better than the other … [Read more...] about Charles Leclerc hails progress made at Ferrari after ‘most positive’ practice of 2023

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

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 Mixed Melbourne weather and Formula 1 data systems trouble resulted in frustratingly truncated first practice running for the 2023 Australian Grand Prix, where Red Bull led the way but faced rare issues. Max Verstappen topped the times in the only fully-dry session on Friday at Albert Park in FP1, but had off-track moments and a dramatic spin late that session, while team-mate Sergio Perez also had struggled to keep his RB19 on the road. Rain massively reducing running in FP2 meant the teams missed the usual long-run data-gathering that can help influence race predictions, but nevertheless there was plenty seen and unseen at Albert Park that could still impact the rest of the event. Here's everything we learned on Friday at the 2023 Australian Grand Prix. The story of the day In FP1, the pack had to contend with two invisible factors that set the story of that session. The first was a strong wind blowing across the cars as they turned in for … [Read more...] about What we learned from Friday practice at F1’s 2023 Australian GP

Ferrari have confirmed Charles Leclerc will start his home grand prix from pole position after deciding not to replace the gearbox in his SF21 following his crash in the final moments of qualifying. Advert | Become a Supporter & go ad-free The team confirmed in a statement they were satisfied Leclerc’s gearbox survived the crash without incurring significant damage. “Following further in-depth checks this morning, no apparent defects were found on Charles Leclerc’s gearbox, therefore the Monegasque driver will start today’s race from pole position, as per the qualifying result,” the team announced. Leclerc was on provisional pole position with less than half a minute remaining in Q3 when he clipped the inside barrier on the exit of the Swimming Pool chicane, breaking his suspension and crashing into the outside barrier, bringing out the red flags. With no time left for his rivals to improve their own times, the incident secured pole position for the Ferrari … [Read more...] about Leclerc’s pole confirmed as Ferrari opt not to change gearbox · RaceFans

Max Verstappen secured pole position for the Australian Grand Prix ahead of the two Mercedes of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton as Sergio Perez went off early in Q1. The Red Bull driver took half a second out of his own provisional pole time on his final run in Q3 to secure the top spot on the grid while the Mercedes drivers secured second and third with Fernando Alonso fourth. Perez will start last on the grid for tomorrow’s race, barring any penalties, after he skidded off track on his first push lap in Q1. Q1 Advert | Become a Supporter & go ad-free A brief rain shower less than 20 minutes before the start of qualifying had threatened to affect the opening phase. But all of the cars that waited at the end of the pit lane for the green light to appear queued up on slick tyres. The Williams FW45s of Alexander Albon and Logan Sargeant led the field away as Q1 began, while the five teams in the top half of the constructors’ championship opted to remain in … [Read more...] about Verstappen beats Mercedes drivers to pole after Perez slips up in Q1 · RaceFans