Racefans f1 driver rankings

Former Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone is convinced that Max Verstappen has already established himself as the greatest driver in the history of the series. Statistically Lewis Hamilton sits atop the Formula 1 mountain with most race wins, podiums and pole positions among his records, while he and Michael Schumacher are the only seven-time World Champions, though these days it is Verstappen schooling the field. After defeating Hamilton in the Abu Dhabi 2021 World Championship decider, Verstappen went on to comfortably retain his title, while his level of domination in F1 2023 has re-written the record books as the Red Bull driver homes in on World title number three. Bernie Ecclestone crowns Max Verstappen F1 GOAT Verstappen embarked on a record-breaking 10 race winning streak between the 2023 Miami and Italian GPs, while Red Bull overall were on a run of 15 in a row, both streaks snapped by Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz in Singapore. Verstappen though has returned to form in … [Read more...] about Bernie Ecclestone snubs Lewis Hamilton to hand F1 GOAT title to former title rival

The legendary father of Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz believes Fernando Alonso has earned the right to decide when he retires from F1. Despite turning 42 in July, Alonso has enjoyed his most competitive season in years in 2023 by claiming seven podium finishes with the Aston Martin team. However, Sainz was the one flying the flag for Spain at last weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix where the Ferrari star secured his second F1 victory with arguably the greatest drive of his career to date. Fernando Alonso praised by Carlos Sainz’s father Alonso, who became Spain’s first F1 World Champion in 2005, acted as something of a mentor to Sainz in his early career, though it has been claimed in 2023 that the relationship between them has suffered of late . Sainz’s father, Carlos Sainz Sr, is Spain’s original motorsport icon having won two World Rally Championships in the early 1990s. And having won the challenging Dakar Rally event as recently as 2020, the 61-year-old is in awe of … [Read more...] about Carlos Sainz’s father weighs in on Fernando Alonso F1 retirement debate

Qualifying day at the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka brought yet another fast-paced day of F1 news and views. Max Verstappen claimed his latest inevitable pole position and then had a message for the people who assumed Red Bull had been found out by the Singapore GP technical directive, while Mercedes were once again plunged into crisis with Lewis Hamilton airing his frustrations. Just another standard F1 2023 day, then. Here’s today’s roundup… Max Verstappen’s ‘to whom it may concern’ moment As bite backs go, Verstappen’s message to his doubters wasn’t quite on the level of Valtteri Bottas’s famous Australia 2019 radio call, but it was a juicy one nonetheless. There were more than a few who wanted to believe Red Bull had finally been found out in Singapore last weekend, but pole position by sixth tenths at Suzuka was an emphatic response. So what exactly was Max’s message to those people? “Go suck on an egg.” He went on to explain how the reaction to Red Bull’s poor … [Read more...] about Max Verstappen bites back as Mercedes crisis continues – F1 news roundup

Verstappen took pole at Suzuka by roughly six tenths ahead of McLaren duo Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris . Having both drivers in the top three was a huge result for McLaren, but at the same time, Stella felt it was humbling to see how much faster Verstappen was on the challenging layout, having hoped that his drivers would be closer to the Red Bulls. "We expected to be more competitive than Singapore," Stella said. "We were unsure as to whether this would have put us as second best team, or whether Mercedes and Ferrari would have been there with us. "We were pretty certain that Red Bull would have been the quickest car here, considering the track layout. "If you look at the overlays, Verstappen gains in every kind of speed range, so it's quite remarkable. It gives us again the measure about how much work we have ahead of us." He added: "In fairness, I would have expected to be a little closer. We are P2, P3, it's a good result for the team, but six tenths is a … [Read more...] about Stella: “Remarkable” Red Bull F1 gap highlights scale of McLaren’s work

Introducing TD039 at the Singapore Grand Prix, Anthony Davidson says he’s heard rumours some teams have been using their skid blocks to run their cars lower to the ground. And with Formula 1 running ground-effect aerodynamic cars, that means they were able to gain additional downforce. Last time out in Singapore, motorsport’s governing body introduced not one but two Technical Directives. Anthony Davidson: These rumours are out there, they don’t come from thin air The first technical directive was aimed at flexible wings, the FIA taking steps to clamp down on that, while the second related to the floors and eradicating the tricks teams are said to have been playing. In the latter, the FIA outlined specific points regarding the planks and skid blocks with suggestions some could be using insulating material between the chassis and the skid block while there was also talk of fastening screws that protrude slightly only to disappear into the plank when they come into contact … [Read more...] about Anthony Davidson reveals ‘skid block’ rumours the led to FIA floor TD

As Red Bull’s junior team, it’s unusual for AlphaTauri to give a new driver four consecutive seasons to prove themselves. Advert | Become a Supporter & go ad-free Whether in their current guise or previously as Toro Rosso, drivers either found themselves propelled upwards to Red Bull within a few seasons – as in the case of Max Verstappen , Sebastian Vettel and others – or quickly replaced, as Nyck de Vries discovered after less than half a season this year. The team has kept the faith with Yuki Tsunoda , however. This is despite a downward trend in his points-scoring which, of course, has more to do with the team’s decline in competitiveness than the quality of his efforts. Having scored 32 points on his debut in 2021 he took just 12 last year as the team fell behind several of its rivals in the first year knew technical regulations were introduced. That downward trajectory has continued so far this season, and Tsunoda has only scored three points from the … [Read more...] about The “big step” AlphaTauri saw from Tsunoda which earned him a new deal

Reports of Red Bull’s reign of dominance over the 2023 season coming to an end have been greatly exaggerated. Advert | Become a Supporter & go ad-free In a year when competition between their rivals behind has been as unpredictable as it has been gripping, Red Bull have routinely rocked up to paddocks across the globe only to crush all opposition with near-militaristic execution. Then, in Singapore, a rare stumble from the world champions offered hope that the Red Bull giant could indeed be toppled. Yet six days later, Red Bull and Max Verstappen reminded everyone just how powerful a combination they are when they stormed to pole position in Suzuka by one of the biggest margins of the season – and the largest for nearly 20 years at the famous Japanese circuit. Not that it was of any surprise to their opposition. “Our internal messaging was ‘expect them to be back out front when we get back to Suzuka’,” admitted Mercedes’ trackside engineering director Andrew … [Read more...] about Verstappen sitting pretty but unexpectedly hot track could cook up drama

George Russell said he’s “taken a step backwards” from Friday practice after qualifying eighth for the Japanese Grand Prix. Advert | Become a Supporter & go ad-free The Mercedes driver qualified three tenths of a second behind team mate Lewis Hamilton . The pair will share the fourth row of the grid, but were over a second away from pole position. Russell comfortably led his team mate in both Friday practice sessions at Suzuka. Yesterday he appeared to be in the hunt for second place behind eventual pole winner Max Verstappen , lapping close to the times set by the McLaren drivers and Charles Leclerc. However he admitted he didn’t get the best out of his car on Saturday. “There’s a sweet spot when it comes to circuits like this, which is very difficult to find and when you’re not there you can be quite far off the pace,” Russell explained. “We saw yesterday I was more competitive, we were much closer yesterday to the rest of the pack than we were today. … [Read more...] about Russell admits he “took a step backwards” after Friday practice

Carlos Sainz Jnr believes a late change to his car’s set-up compromised his qualifying result for the Japanese Grand Prix. Advert | Become a Supporter & go ad-free The Ferrari driver who took pole position for the last two rounds qualified sixth at Suzuka. His Q3 lap time was almost a second slower than that of pole winner Max Verstappen . After finishing Friday’s practice sessions second and fourth, Sainz attempted a different set-up for Saturday which affected his preparation on a circuit where he expected Ferrari would struggle. “We knew before coming here that this track would expose us a bit more with the high-speed characteristics,” said Sainz. “It was never going to be easy. I took the approach yesterday and this morning to try different things on the car. “By quali I saw it was not quite working, and we had to go back to a more basic set-up which in the end probably ended up compromising my quali preparation and my weekend in general.” Sainz was … [Read more...] about Sainz blames late set-up change for qualifying performance at Japanese GP