Category: Motor Racing

Lewis Hamilton won the Mercedes duel from Valtteri Bottas in qualifying to record his 66th career pole at the Baku Street Circuit.

This latest achievement in Formula 1 means Hamilton is just two poles away in equalling Michael Schumacher’s record of 68. The form that Hamilton is on, the triple champion can surpass this and record more.

Hamilton was the only driver to lap under one minute, 42 seconds in Q1 and was comfortably fastest with a single run in Q2 as well.

He let Bottas get briefly ahead during the initial runs in Q3, after locking up and running wide at Turn 16 near the end of his quickest lap, before Daniel Ricciardo’s Red Bull hit the wall at the Turn 6 right-hander, bringing out the red flags and spoiling a potentially faster lap for Hamilton.

That incident turned the session into a one flying lap dash once the Red Bull was cleared, and Hamilton pulled out an awesome effort on his final run to claim pole by almost half a second from Bottas.

Both Ferraris struggled in qualifying, with Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel taking to the escape road at Turn 3 during their first runs.

Raikkonen recovered best to claim third on the grid, but over six tenths of a second down on the Mercedes of fellow Finn Bottas.

Vettel was fourth in the sister Ferrari, fractionally ahead of the surviving Red Bull of Max Verstappen.

Sergio Perez pipped Force India team-mate Esteban Ocon by less than a tenth of a second to complete the top six, while Lance Stroll narrowly outqualified Williams team-mate Felipe Massa for the first time to claim a career-best eighth on the grid.

Ricciardo ended up slowest in Q3 following his crash.

The pace of the top five teams ensured there wasn’t much of a fight to make it through to Q3.

The Toro Rossos of Daniil Kvyat and Carlos Sainz weren’t fast enough to challenge the Williams and Force Indias, but were comfortably quick enough to outpace Kevin Magnussen’s Haas (even with the benefit of an aerodynamic tow from Sainz), Nico Hulkenberg’s Renault – which lost power after only one run in Q2 – and Pascal Wehrlein’s Sauber, which the Mercedes junior driver heroically dragged into the top 15.

A last-ditch effort from Magnussen ensured a Haas made it through to Q2 at the expense of Fernando Alonso’s McLaren-Honda, which ended up P16, fitted with a ‘spec 2’ engine, and just 0.017 seconds shy of beating Wehrlein’s Sauber into Q2.

Alonso is set to drop to the rear of the grid thanks to his 40-place grid penalty for various engine component changes, which will promote Romain Grosjean’s Haas and the Sauber of Marcus Ericsson.

Stoffel Vandoorne was slowest of those that ran in qualifying, 0.235 seconds adrift of Ericsson, and will also cop a hefty grid penalty – including five places for an unscheduled gearbox change after final practice.

Jolyon Palmer was classified last in qualifying, without a lap time. He sat out the session after a high-pressure fuel leak caused his Renault to cook itself during the early stages of practice three.

The speed advantage from Mercedes was highly impressive in qualifying. The long, home straight really showcase the power and to be over a second clear from rival Ferrari underlines the dominance of this hybrid era of Formula 1.

The Azerbaijan Grand Prix is going to be fascinating on Sunday. Can Hamilton reduce the points gap to Sebastian Vettel? What can Valterri Bottas do? Is he able to challenge for victory? Bring on the race.

Qualifying positions, Baku:

1    Lewis Hamilton    Mercedes    1m40.593s
2    Valtteri Bottas    Mercedes    1m41.027s
3    Kimi Raikkonen    Ferrari    1m41.693s
4    Sebastian Vettel    Ferrari    1m41.841s
5    Max Verstappen    Red Bull-Renault    1m41.879s
6    Sergio Perez    Force India-Mercedes    1m42.111s
7    Esteban Ocon    Force India-Mercedes    1m42.186s
8    Lance Stroll    Williams-Mercedes    1m42.753s
9    Felipe Massa    Williams-Mercedes    1m42.798s
10    Daniel Ricciardo    Red Bull-Renault    1m43.414s
11    Daniil Kvyat    Toro Rosso-Renault    1m43.186s
12    Kevin Magnussen    Haas-Ferrari    1m43.796s
13    Nico Hulkenberg    Renault    1m44.267s
14    Pascal Wehrlein    Sauber-Ferrari    1m44.603s
15    Carlos Sainz    Toro Rosso-Renault    1m43.347s
16    Romain Grosjean    Haas-Ferrari    1m44.468s
17    Marcus Ericsson    Sauber-Ferrari    1m44.795s
18    Fernando Alonso    McLaren-Honda     1m44.334s*
19    Stoffel Vandoorne    McLaren-Honda     1m45.030s*
20    Jolyon Palmer       Renault –

*Grid penalties for power unit change

Lewis Hamilton scored a dominant lights-to-flag victory at the Canadian Grand Prix, significant reducing the points lead to title rival Sebastian Vettel.

The Mercedes driver lead away from pole position and remained unchallenged for most of the 70-lap race to cross the line 19.7 seconds clear of his  team-mate Valtteri Bottas.

Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo completed the podium, with Vettel recovering to fourth position having dropped to last after sustaining damage at the start.

That happened when Max Verstappen made a storming getaway from fifth, going around the outside of Vettel at Turn 1 to take second behind Hamilton.

But with Bottas simultaneously attacking Vettel on the inside, the Ferrari found itself squeezed and damaged its front wing on Verstappen’s left-rear wheel.

Vettel continued initially but was soon forced to pit when part of the front wing broke off, dropping him to P18 and last.

The race had been neutralised on the opening lap, when the safety car was called into action following a collision between Carlos Sainz and Romain Grosjean.

Sainz appeared to move across on Grosjean on the straight after Turn 2, causing contact that pitched the Toro Rosso into a spin approaching Turn 3.

The out-of-control Sainz violently collected an innocent Felipe Massa. Both were out but unhurt, while Grosjean had to pit for a new front wing.

Hamilton held off an attack from Verstappen at the safety car restart but that challenge ended very soon when the Red Bull pulled off track at Turn 2 with a mechanical problem, prompting a virtual safety car.

Bottas was promoted to second place but was unable to provide a challenge to his team-mate. Hamilton had this race in his control and recorded his third win of the season and sixth in Canada.

He moved to within 12 points of championship leader Vettel as Mercedes achieved its first one-two of the 2017 campaign.

While the Mercedes had a trouble-free race with a one-stop strategy, Ferrari made a mid-race switch to a two-stopper for its out-of-position drivers.

Kimi Raikkonen had dropped behind Sergio Perez’s Force India when he made a mistake in the early laps.

Vettel made rapid progress through the midfielders and was closing on his team-mate into the second half of the Canadian Grand Prix when their strategies changed.

Raikkonen was first to make an extra stop and initially stayed ahead of Vettel, only to run off-track at the final chicane when his car developed brake problems that left him limping to the finish.

That left Vettel clear to chase down a podium battle in which Ricciardo was hanging on ahead of the Force Indias.

Esteban Ocon was catching Perez after making a later pitstop, prompting Force India to ask them to swap places.

Perez insisted the team let them race and it proved costly as their wheel-to-wheel fight allowed Vettel to get a run and dive down the inside of Ocon into the first corner in a bold move.

While Ocon sliding over the run-off, Vettel continued his chase after Perez, running off track briefly at Turns 8 and 9 but then making a pass stick at the final chicane for fourth.

Despite an angry Ocon’s best efforts, Perez clung on to fifth position.

Raikkonen nursed his Ferrari home in seventh, just ahead of Nico Hulkenberg’s Renault.

Lance Stroll scored the first points of his Formula 1 career with ninth in front of his home crowd.

The Williams driver earned that by battling through the midfield after a relatively early stop.

A late pitstop meant Fernando Alonso ran as high as fourth, despite losing ground taking to the grass to avoid the Sainz and Massa collision on lap one.

Even after being passed by Stroll’s more powerful Williams, Alonso stuck with the rookie and was on course to score McLaren-Honda’s first point of 2017 only to retire with yet another Honda problem on the penultimate lap.

While Alonso climbed into the grandstand to meet fans, his retirement elevated the recovering Grosjean to the final point – just ahead of Jolyon Palmer and Kevin Magnussen – who lost ground with a penalty for overtaking Stoffel Vandoorne under virtual safety car conditions.

Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat had a crazy race – failing to get away for the formation lap, then being given a drive-through penalty for regaining his grid slot, a further time penalty as the race stewards deemed their first sanction was “incorrect” and then having a chaotic pitstop just after complaining of vibrations. He ultimately retired from last place.

This was the perfect weekend for Lewis Hamilton. Equalling his hero’s qualifying achievement with 65 pole positions and scoring a grand slam in the race by leading every lap and setting the quickest time. Just 12 points separate the two title rivals. It’s game on for the championship.

Canadian Grand Prix, race results after 70 laps:
1    Lewis Hamilton    Mercedes    1h33m05.154s
2    Valtteri Bottas    Mercedes    19.783s
3    Daniel Ricciardo    Red Bull-Renault    35.297s
4    Sebastian Vettel    Ferrari    35.907s
5    Sergio Perez    Force India-Mercedes    40.476s
6    Esteban Ocon    Force India-Mercedes    40.716s
7    Kimi Raikkonen    Ferrari    58.632s
8    Nico Hulkenberg    Renault    1m00.374s
9    Lance Stroll    Williams-Mercedes    1 Lap
10    Romain Grosjean    Haas-Ferrari    1 Lap
11    Jolyon Palmer    Renault    1 Lap
12    Kevin Magnussen    Haas-Ferrari    1 Lap
13    Marcus Ericsson    Sauber-Ferrari    1 Lap
14    Stoffel Vandoorne    McLaren-Honda    1 Lap
15    Pascal Wehrlein    Sauber-Ferrari    2 Laps
16    Fernando Alonso    McLaren-Honda    Engine
–    Daniil Kvyat    Toro Rosso-Renault    Wheel
–    Max Verstappen    Red Bull-Renault    Battery
–    Carlos Sainz    Toro Rosso-Renault    Collision
–    Felipe Massa    Williams-Mercedes    Collision

Drivers’ standings:
1    Sebastian Vettel    141
2    Lewis Hamilton    129
3    Valtteri Bottas    93
4    Kimi Raikkonen    73
5    Daniel Ricciardo    67
6    Max Verstappen    45
7    Sergio Perez    44
8    Esteban Ocon    27
9    Carlos Sainz    25
10    Felipe Massa    20
11    Nico Hulkenberg    18
12    Romain Grosjean    10
13    Kevin Magnussen    5
14    Pascal Wehrlein    4
15    Daniil Kvyat    4
16    Lance Stroll    2
17    Jolyon Palmer    0
18    Marcus Ericsson    0
19    Fernando Alonso    0
20    Antonio Giovinazzi    0
21    Stoffel Vandoorne    0

Constructors’ standings:
1    Mercedes    222
2    Ferrari    214
3    Red Bull-Renault    112
4    Force India-Mercedes    71
5    Toro Rosso-Renault    29
6    Williams-Mercedes    22
7    Renault    18
8    Haas-Ferrari    15
9    Sauber-Ferrari    4
10    McLaren-Honda    0

Lewis Hamilton beat his Formula 1 title rival Sebastian Vettel to pole position for the Canadian Grand Prix and equal his hero’s achievement of 65 pole positions.

Ferrari had set the pace in practice, but when it mattered in qualifying Hamilton produced the result. The Mercedes driver lapped below one minute, 12 seconds for the first time this weekend in Q1 and never looked back.

Hamilton was fastest of all in Q2 before setting a new lap record at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve to claim pole in Q3.

Hamilton took provisional pole with a one minute, 11.791 seconds lap on his first run, before Vettel attempted to respond, falling short by just 0.004 seconds thanks to a wild moment coming out of the Turn 6/7 chicane.

Hamilton then lowered his own benchmark with one minute, 11.459 seconds on his second run to seal pole, before Vettel shaved 0.006 seconds off his own best time.

This allowed the Ferrari driver to beat Hamilton’s earlier Q3 best, but still left Vettel 0.336 seconds short of taking the top spot.

Valtteri Bottas was third fastest. He was fractionally quicker than his Mercedes team-mate in Q1 and not far behind in Q2, but was well beaten in Q3, finishing over seven tenths of a second down.

Friday pacesetter Kimi Raikkonen brushed the wall in Q1 and ended up fourth fastest overall for Ferrari, complaining of a “really shit” first corner on his quickest lap.

The Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo claimed row three of the grid, separated by 0.154 seconds, with Verstappen lapping within two tenths of the second.

Felipe Massa was seventh fastest for Williams and the only other driver to lap below one minute, 13 seconds, ahead of Force India pairing Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon, and impressive Renault driver Nico Hulkenberg, who rounded out the top ten.

Neither Toro Rosso driver made it through to Q3, after a messy session that featured a spin for Carlos Sainz at Turn 1 and Daniil Kvyat glancing the wall at Turn 9 and picking up a puncture.

Kvyat wound up P11, 0.284 seconds shy of the cut, while Sainz was P13.

Fernando Alonso split the Toro Rossos by lapping his McLaren-Honda in P12, only 0.003 seconds shy of beating Kvyat and despite initially complaining of having less power available from the engine than he’d enjoyed in Q1.

Romain Grosjean struggled with a lack of grip from his final set of ultra-soft Pirelli tyres, saying they gave him “absolutely nothing” as he wound up P14.

Jolyon Palmer was P15 in the second of the two works Renaults, also complaining of “no grip”. He was within two tenths of team-mate Hulkenberg in Q1, but struggled badly in Q2, including suffering a brief off at Turn 1.

A crash for Pascal Wehrlein’s Sauber at the same corner ended Q1, as it forced several drivers to abandon late efforts to improve.

Having complained about being used by his team-mate ‘unfairly’ for a tow in the second half of the session, Sainz managed to squeak into Q2.

Sainz lapped 0.131 seconds clear of Stoffel Vandoorne’s McLaren-Honda, which was eliminated in Q1 for the sixth time in seven attempts this season.

Lance Stroll also failed to escape the bottom five in qualifying for his home race, the Williams rookie finishing the session 0.027 seconds behind Vandoorne in P17.

Kevin Magnussen complained of encountering traffic “every single lap” as he wound up only P18, less than two tenths clear of Marcus Ericsson’s Sauber.

Wehrlein lapped slowest of all, 0.315 seconds down on Ericsson, and ended up with his Sauber missing its rear wing after he approached Turn 1 on too wide a line and lost the rear of the car under braking.

So a fantastic qualifying result for Lewis Hamilton. The triple champion received a race worn helmet presented by the Ayrton Senna family as a honour for equalling the great driver’s record of 65 pole positions. The emotions from Hamilton said it all.

Qualifying positions, Canadian Grand Prix:

1    Lewis Hamilton    Mercedes    1m11.459s
2    Sebastian Vettel    Ferrari    1m11.789s
3    Valtteri Bottas    Mercedes    1m12.177s
4    Kimi Raikkonen    Ferrari    1m12.252s
5    Max Verstappen    Red Bull-Renault    1m12.403s
6    Daniel Ricciardo    Red Bull-Renault    1m12.557s
7    Felipe Massa    Williams-Mercedes    1m12.858s
8    Sergio Perez    Force India-Mercedes    1m13.018s
9    Esteban Ocon    Force India-Mercedes    1m13.135s
10    Nico Hulkenberg    Renault    1m13.271s
11    Daniil Kvyat    Toro Rosso-Renault    1m13.690s
12    Fernando Alonso    McLaren-Honda    1m13.693s
13    Carlos Sainz    Toro Rosso-Renault    1m13.756s
14    Romain Grosjean    Haas-Ferrari    1m13.839s
15    Jolyon Palmer    Renault    1m14.293s
16    Stoffel Vandoorne    McLaren-Honda    1m14.182s
17    Lance Stroll    Williams-Mercedes    1m14.209s
18    Kevin Magnussen    Haas-Ferrari    1m14.318s
19    Marcus Ericsson    Sauber-Ferrari    1m14.495s
20    Pascal Wehrlein    Sauber-Ferrari    1m14.810s

Sebastian Vettel clinched victory in the Monaco Grand Prix over his Ferrari team-mate Kimi Raikkonen. While Formula 1 title rival Lewis Hamilton finished down in seventh.

Pole-sitter Kimi Raikkonen led the opening part of the race, but Vettel stayed out five laps longer before his pit-stop, and rejoined ahead of his team-mate.

Raikkonen could not respond with Vettel stretching his lead before the safety car was called into action when Jenson Button collided with Pascal Wehrlein at Portier, pitching the Sauber onto its side against the barrier.

But once the Monaco Grand Prix got back under way, Vettel was able to build a gap and crossed the finishing line 3.1 seconds clear of his team-mate to secure Ferrari’s first win at Monte Carlo since 2001.

Daniel Ricciardo, who survived hitting the wall at Sainte Devote after the race restart, also ran a long first stint, enabling him to jump the Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas and his own Red Bull team-mate of Max Verstappen to take third place.

Hamilton, who started P14, was the last driver to pit, switching from ultra-softs to super-softs and rejoining seventh.

The three-time world champion pressured Carlos Sainz in the closing stages, but could not find a way past, which means he leaves Monaco 25 points adrift of Vettel in the drivers’ championship.

Raikkonen made a brilliant getaway to lead away from pole, with Vettel fending off a half-hearted attack from Bottas to retain second.

The Iceman built a gap of around 2.1 seconds, but Vettel began closing that down and was within a second before Raikkonen was called into the pits.

Vettel pumped in a series of quick laps ahead of his stop and rejoined around a second clear of his team-mate, with Raikkonen seemingly giving up on the win from there.

Verstappen was furious when he found out Ricciardo had jumped him, labelling the situation a disaster, and though he pressured Bottas for much of the second stint, he couldn’t find a way past.

With 18 laps to go, Button, who was filling in at McLaren while Fernando Alonso competes at the Indianapolis 500, tried an ambitious pass on Wehrlein into Portier.

The two, who had run nose-to-tail for the entire race, made contact, with Wehlein’s Sauber flipped onto its side against the barrier, while Button pulled over at the exit of the tunnel with the front-left corner of the car heavily-damaged.

Wehrlein climbed out of the car, once it was righted onto its wheels, and was able to walk away unaided but went to the medical centre for precautionary checks.

It was a frustrating day for Sauber, with Marcus Ericsson carrying too much speed into Sainte Devote and hitting the wall when trying to pass the safety car to unlap himself.

Romain Grosjean finished eighth for Haas, ahead of Felipe Massa with Kevin Magnussen completing the top ten.

Stoffel Vandoorne was set to finish in tenth position and score McLaren’s first point of the season but he slid off at Sainte Devote when Sergio Perez attacked down the inside.

Perez, who had his race compromised when he was forced to pit early with a damaged front wing, then tried a bold pass on Daniil Kvyat at Rascasse for ninth.

The pair made contact, with Kvyat retiring and Perez pitting for another front wing, bringing to an end his 15-race point-scoring streak.

Jolyon Palmer was the sole finishing Renault in P11 with his team-mate Nico Hulkenberg retiring with a gearbox problem when running tenth.

So not the greatest Monaco Grand Prix. After an exciting qualifying session in which the sport’s most popular driver was on pole position, the main event was a let down. Kimi Raikkonen’s race was screwed over due to Ferrari’s pit-stop strategy and that allow Sebastian Vettel to benefit the most. Victory and 25 points in the championship.

Monaco Grand Prix, race results after 78 laps:
1    Sebastian Vettel    Ferrari    78    1h44m44.340s
2    Kimi Raikkonen    Ferrari    78    3.145s
3    Daniel Ricciardo    Red Bull-Renault    78    3.745s
4    Valtteri Bottas    Mercedes    78    5.517s
5    Max Verstappen    Red Bull-Renault    78    6.199s
6    Carlos Sainz    Toro Rosso-Renault    78    12.038s
7    Lewis Hamilton    Mercedes    78    15.801s
8    Romain Grosjean    Haas-Ferrari    78    18.150s
9    Felipe Massa    Williams-Mercedes    78    19.445s
10    Kevin Magnussen    Haas-Ferrari    78    21.443s
11    Jolyon Palmer    Renault    78    22.737s
12    Esteban Ocon    Force India-Mercedes    78    23.725s
13    Sergio Perez    Force India-Mercedes    78    39.089s
14    Daniil Kvyat    Toro Rosso-Renault    71    Collision
15    Lance Stroll    Williams-Mercedes    71    7 Laps
–    Stoffel Vandoorne    McLaren-Honda    66    Spun off
–    Marcus Ericsson    Sauber-Ferrari    63    Spun off
–    Jenson Button    McLaren-Honda    57    Collision
–    Pascal Wehrlein    Sauber-Ferrari    57    Collision
–    Nico Hulkenberg    Renault    15    Gearbox

Drivers’ standings:
1    Sebastian Vettel    129
2    Lewis Hamilton    104
3    Valtteri Bottas    75
4    Kimi Raikkonen    67
5    Daniel Ricciardo    52
6    Max Verstappen    45
7    Sergio Perez    34
8    Carlos Sainz    25
9    Felipe Massa    20
10    Esteban Ocon    19
11    Nico Hulkenberg    14
12    Romain Grosjean    9
13    Kevin Magnussen    5
14    Pascal Wehrlein    4
15    Daniil Kvyat    4
16    Jolyon Palmer    0
17    Lance Stroll    0
18    Marcus Ericsson    0
19    Fernando Alonso    0
20    Antonio Giovinazzi    0
21    Stoffel Vandoorne    0

Constructors’ standings:
1    Ferrari    196
2    Mercedes    179
3    Red Bull-Renault    97
4    Force India-Mercedes    53
5    Toro Rosso-Renault    29
6    Williams-Mercedes    20
7    Renault    14
8    Haas-Ferrari    14
9    Sauber-Ferrari    4
10    McLaren-Honda    0

Kimi Raikkonen claimed his first Formula 1 pole position since 2008 in qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix for Scuderia Ferrari.

This has been a long time coming for The Iceman. Formula 1 has gone through so many sport regulations such as groove tyres, KERS, DRS and now hybrid power units. Raikkonen has been in this game for a while so it’s refreshing to see Kimi back on top.

Raikkonen’s Ferrari team-mate Sebastian Vettel had set the pace in practice (in FP2 and FP3), but Raikkonen moved ahead in Q2 and stayed there, eventually claiming the top spot by just 0.043 seconds as Vettel just fell short in Q3.

Valtteri Bottas was third in the best of the Mercedes, just 0.002 seconds behind Vettel, while team-mate Hamilton was forced to watch from the sidelines.

Lewis Hamilton struggled for speed throughout Q1 and Q2, and almost crashed twice after losing the rear end of his Mercedes at Massenet and Casino Square.

The triple world champion was down in P14 in Q2, as Ferrari set the pace, but looked on a lap good enough to make Q3 before Stoffel Vandoorne crashed his McLaren-Honda at the Swimming Pool.

That forced Hamilton to abandon his lap and means he will have a challenging Monte Carlo race in the midfield.

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen qualified fourth in Hamilton’s absence, a big advantage over team-mate Daniel Ricciardo.

A late improvement from Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz in Q3 lifted him to a season’s best sixth, ahead of Sergio Perez’s Force India and Romain Grosjean’s Haas.

Jenson Button qualified ninth on his return to Formula 1 in place of Fernando Alonso, but Button’s McLaren-Honda will drop to the back of the grid thanks to a 15-place penalty for engine component changes ahead of final practice.

Button’s team-mate Vandoorne rounded out the top ten, though he failed to participate in Q3 after that Q2 crash.

He will drop three places on account of a penalty for clashing with Felipe Massa at the previous race in Spain.

Vandoorne’s shunt also prevented the Toro Rosso of Daniil Kvyat from improving at the end of Q2, so one of the stars of Thursday practice wound up only P11 in qualifying.

Nico Hulkenberg’s Renault was P12, ahead of Kevin Magnussen’s Haas (which wasn’t affected by the yellow flags), Hamilton and the Williams of Massa, who also hadn’t set a representative time before having to abort his final flying lap thanks to the Vandoorne incident.

A last gasp effort from Grosjean knocked Esteban Ocon out in Q1.

Grosjean spun at Mirabeau in the early stages of that session, but ultimately did enough to progress.

Force India repaired Ocon’s car following a final practice crash in time to complete the final ten minutes of Q1, and Ocon looked safely through to Q2 until Grosjean’s late show.

Ocon missed the cut by 0.202 seconds but was well clear of the second Renault of Jolyon Palmer, who complained of too much understeer as he struggled to P17.

Lance Stroll’s Williams was almost two tenths slower in P18, the Canadian having to cut short his run thanks to a hydraulic leak.

He ended up ahead of only Sauber pairing Pascal Wehrlein and Marcus Ericsson, who clouted the barrier at the Nouvelle chicane on his final Q1 lap and had to pull off into the escape road with a broken left-rear wheel.

So a fantastic result for Scuderia Ferrari. An all red front row with the sport’s most popular driver in pole position. Overtaking in Monaco Grand Prix is very difficult and Kimi Raikkonen has a good chance of scoring that long overdue victory.

Qualifying results, Monaco Grand Prix:

1    Kimi Raikkonen    Ferrari    1m12.178s
2    Sebastian Vettel    Ferrari    1m12.221s
3    Valtteri Bottas    Mercedes    1m12.223s
4    Max Verstappen    Red Bull-Renault    1m12.496s
5    Daniel Ricciardo    Red Bull-Renault    1m12.998s
6    Carlos Sainz    Toro Rosso-Renault    1m13.162s
7    Sergio Perez    Force India-Mercedes    1m13.329s
8    Romain Grosjean    Haas-Ferrari    1m13.349s
9    Daniil Kvyat    Toro Rosso-Renault    1m13.516s
10    Nico Hulkenberg    Renault    1m13.628s
11    Kevin Magnussen    Haas-Ferrari    1m13.959s
12    Stoffel Vandoorne    McLaren-Honda    No time*
13    Lewis Hamilton    Mercedes    1m14.106s
14    Felipe Massa    Williams-Mercedes    1m20.529s
15    Esteban Ocon    Force India-Mercedes    1m14.101s
16    Jolyon Palmer    Renault    1m14.696s
17    Lance Stroll    Williams-Mercedes    1m14.893s
18    Pascal Wehrlein    Sauber-Ferrari    1m15.159s
19    Marcus Ericsson    Sauber-Ferrari    1m15.276s
20    Jenson Button    McLaren-Honda    1m13.613s*

*Grid penalties for the McLaren drivers. Stoffel for crashing into Massa at Spanish Grand Prix. Button with a change to power unit.

Lewis Hamilton won a thrilling battle with Sebastian Vettel to win the Spanish Grand Prix and close the points gap to his rival in the Formula 1 drivers’ standings.

Hamilton recovered from losing the lead to Vettel at the start by reclaiming first place on track in a final-stint battle that included the two champs banging wheels.

Mercedes driver Hamilton crossed the line 3.4 seconds clear of Vettel’s Ferrari, with Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo completing the podium.

Valtteri Bottas, who won the previous race in Russia, was on course to finish third, but retired when his Mercedes power unit expired with a third of the race to go.

Bottas had earlier triggered the exits of last year’s Spanish Grand Prix lead players of Max Verstappen and Kimi Raikkonen, when he tagged Raikkonen into the first corner of the race and sent the Ferrari sideways into Verstappen’s Red Bull.

While Bottas continued, Raikkonen and Verstappen were out with heavy damage.

Ahead of that incident, Vettel had made a sensational getaway from second on the grid to move ahead of Hamilton into Turn 1.

Vettel went about gradually increasing his lead before pitting for another set of softs at the end of lap 14 of 66 and suffering a minor delay on the front left.

Mercedes decided to keep Hamilton out, and he immediately pumped in the fastest lap of the race and stretched his stint by an extra five laps.

When he did come in, Hamilton took on the medium tyres – and he was helped by Bottas staying out even longer and holding Vettel up for a spell until a bold pass in which Ferrari jinked from one side of the pits straight to the other and brushed the grass before completing the move.

The race swung back to Hamilton when Mercedes pitted him just as a virtual safety car – caused when Stoffel Vandoorne ended up in the gravel at Turn 1 after banging wheels with Felipe Massa – ended.

Hamilton rejoined on soft tyres, 24 seconds behind Vettel.

Ferrari immediately pitted Vettel for mediums on the next lap, but Hamilton was alongside as he rejoined.

Hamilton kept his foot in and tried to go around the outside but Vettel squeezed him and they touched, with Hamilton taking to the run-off.

The three-time world champion regrouped, got back on the attack and five laps later – on lap 44 no less –  the move was done with DRS help around the outside into Turn 1.

Hamilton then controlled the gap to Vettel behind to take his second victory of the 2017 season.

Behind the lonely Ricciardo, Force India continued its impressive start to the season with Sergio Perez fourth and Esteban Ocon a career-best fifth.

Nico Hulkenberg secured his best result for Renault with sixth.

A brilliant drive on a unique one-stop strategy brought Pascal Wehrlein up to seventh on the road for Sauber.

Although a five-second time penalty for failing to stay to the correct side of the pit entry bollard meant he lost that position to Carlos Sainz, Wehrlein’s late burst of speed meant he still secured eighth rather than falling right out of the points as initially seemed likely.

Sainz spent most of the race in a spectacular battle with Kevin Magnussen, who lost a likely point when contact with Daniil Kvyat left him with a puncture.

Kvyat and Romain Grosjean completed the top ten.

After his heroic qualifying performance, Fernando Alonso immediately fell back from his seventh place having made contact with Felipe Massa at the first corner.

While Massa had to pit with a puncture, Alonso continued in P11 but his pace faded later on before a late third stop for fresh softs allowed him to charge back to P12 – his first race finish of 2017.

Overall, a fantastic result for Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton. That wheel-to-wheel duel with Sebastian Vettel was entertaining and I look forward to the next race as the two champions fight for title honours.

Spanish Grand Prix, race results after 66 laps:

1    Lewis Hamilton    Mercedes    1h35m56.497s
2    Sebastian Vettel    Ferrari    3.490s
3    Daniel Ricciardo    Red Bull-Renault    1m13.978s
4    Sergio Perez    Force India-Mercedes    1 Lap
5    Esteban Ocon    Force India-Mercedes    1 Lap
6    Nico Hulkenberg    Renault    1 Lap
7    Pascal Wehrlein    Sauber-Ferrari    1 Lap
8    Carlos Sainz    Toro Rosso-Renault    1 Lap
9    Daniil Kvyat    Toro Rosso-Renault    1 Lap
10    Romain Grosjean    Haas-Ferrari    1 Lap
11    Marcus Ericsson    Sauber-Ferrari    2 Laps
12    Fernando Alonso    McLaren-Honda    2 Laps
13    Felipe Massa    Williams-Mercedes    2 Laps
14    Kevin Magnussen    Haas-Ferrari    2 Laps
15    Jolyon Palmer    Renault    2 Laps
16    Lance Stroll    Williams-Mercedes    2 Laps
–    Valtteri Bottas    Mercedes    Power Unit
–    Stoffel Vandoorne    McLaren-Honda    Collision
–    Max Verstappen    Red Bull-Renault    Collision
–    Kimi Raikkonen    Ferrari    Collision

Drivers’ standings:

1    Sebastian Vettel    104
2    Lewis Hamilton    98
3    Valtteri Bottas    63
4    Kimi Raikkonen    49
5    Daniel Ricciardo    37
6    Max Verstappen    35
7    Sergio Perez    34
8    Esteban Ocon    19
9    Felipe Massa    18
10    Carlos Sainz    15
11    Nico Hulkenberg    14
12    Pascal Wehrlein    6
13    Romain Grosjean    5
14    Kevin Magnussen    4
15    Daniil Kvyat    4
16    Marcus Ericsson    0
17    Lance Stroll    0
18    Fernando Alonso    0
19    Antonio Giovinazzi    0
20    Jolyon Palmer    0
21    Stoffel Vandoorne    0

Constructors’ standings:

1    Mercedes    161
2    Ferrari    153
3    Red Bull-Renault    72
4    Force India-Mercedes    53
5    Toro Rosso-Renault    19
6    Williams-Mercedes    18
7    Renault    14
8    Haas-Ferrari    9
9    Sauber-Ferrari    6
10    McLaren-Honda    0

Lewis Hamilton beat his Formula 1 championship rival Sebastian Vettel to pole position for the Spanish Grand Prix by less than one tenth of a second after a thrilling qualifying duel.

Ferrari had set the pace in final practice at the Circuit de Catalunya-Barcelona, but Hamilton’s Mercedes held the advantage in qualifying after the first runs in Q3, setting a time of one minute, 19.149 seconds that would eventually became pole when Hamilton failed to improve on his second run.

Vettel suffered from a de-rating of his Ferrari’s energy recovery system during his first Q3 run, and was a distant fourth quickest as a result, but he was lapping comfortably faster than Hamilton’s pole time on his final run before locking up at the final chicane.

Vettel eventually cut the timing beam in one minute, 19.200 seconds, half a tenth down on Hamilton, apologising to Ferrari on the radio for the mistake.

Russian Grand Prix winner Valtteri Bottas was third fastest, recovering from a wild slide exiting the chicane on his first Q3 run to ultimately lap 0.173 seconds slower than Vettel with a small improvement on his second run.

Bottas described his performance as “not good enough”, but it was enough to beat his fellow countryman, Kimi Raikkonen to fourth.

The Ferrari driver suffered an oversteer moment at Turn 12 on his first Q3 run and lost time in sector two on his final effort.

Max Verstappen was well clear of Daniel Ricciardo in the private battle between Red Bulls to be fifth, while Fernando Alonso produced an awesome performance to haul McLaren-Honda into Q3 for the first time this season and qualify seventh fastest.

The home crowd favourite had a difficult start in practice with an oil leak. Alonso was so fed up with this McLaren-Honda technical issue that he returned back to hotel to play tennis! Come qualifying, Fernando produced miracles to qualify in seventh place.

Force India got both its cars into the top ten again, sandwiching Felipe Massa’s ninth placed Williams.

Sergio Perez was eighth and Esteban Ocon tenth, Ocon feeling his lost two tenths after failing to engage DRS at a crucial moment.

Kevin Magnussen missed out on making the top ten by less than a tenth, while Haas team-mate Romain Grosjean wound up down in P14 after losing the rear end of his car and going off at Turn 13 and the chicane on his final Q2 lap.

Carlos Sainz looked in excellent shape through Q1 and the initial runs in Q2, where he was always inside the top ten, but he only found 0.015 seconds on his final Q2 run so ended up P12.

The Toro Rosso driver felt he extracted the maximum from the heavily updated car, finishing just ahead of Nico Hulkenberg’s Renault, which failed to make Q3 for the first time since the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, provoking an angry response from Hulkenberg on team radio.

Pascal Wehrlein’s Sauber was P15, having done very well to win a tight scrap to escape Q1.

Less than a second covered 14 cars in that fight, with Perez’s Force India the only car outside the top six not required to make a second run.

Wehrlein edged out Sauber team-mate Marcus Ericsson by just 0.005 seconds to make the cut, while Jolyon Palmer’s Renault, Lance Stroll’s Williams, Stoffel Vandoorne’s McLaren and Daniil Kvyat’s Toro Rosso all missed out.

Congratulations to Lewis Hamiltonn in recording pole position but the star of qualifying is Fernando Alonso. Seventh position in the McLaren-Honda is remarkable and fingers crossed the car stays reliable in the race.

Qualifying positions, Spanish Grand Prix:

1    Lewis Hamilton    Mercedes    1m19.149s
2    Sebastian Vettel    Ferrari    1m19.200s
3    Valtteri Bottas    Mercedes    1m19.373s
4    Kimi Raikkonen    Ferrari    1m19.439s
5    Max Verstappen    Red Bull-Renault    1m19.706s
6    Daniel Ricciardo    Red Bull-Renault    1m20.175s
7    Fernando Alonso    McLaren-Honda    1m21.048s
8    Sergio Perez    Force India-Mercedes    1m21.070s
9    Felipe Massa    Williams-Mercedes    1m21.232s
10    Esteban Ocon    Force India-Mercedes    1m21.272s
11    Kevin Magnussen    Haas-Ferrari    1m21.329s
12    Carlos Sainz    Toro Rosso-Renault    1m21.371s
13    Nico Hulkenberg    Renault    1m21.397s
14    Romain Grosjean    Haas-Ferrari    1m21.517s
15    Pascal Wehrlein    Sauber-Ferrari    1m21.803s
16    Marcus Ericsson    Sauber-Ferrari    1m22.332s
17    Jolyon Palmer    Renault    1m22.401s
18    Lance Stroll    Williams-Mercedes    1m22.411s
19    Stoffel Vandoorne    McLaren-Honda    1m22.532s
20    Daniil Kvyat    Toro Rosso-Renault    1m22.746s

The McLaren racing orange made its first public appearance at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway as double world champion Fernando Alonso steps behind the wheel of the Andretti Autosport-run Dallara-Honda in prepartion for the Indy 500.

Alonso will compete in IndyCar’s major race at the famous 2.5-mile oval instead of the Monaco Grand Prix, which is on the same weekend.

The McLaren and Andretti Autosport’s IndyCar is entirely bedecked in traditional orange colours, as used when it last won the Indianapolis 500 with Johnny Rutherford in 1976, bar a silver strip at the front of the nose section.

Alonso conducted a rookie orientation programme in preparation for the Indy 500. The Formula 1 racer completed a series of runs, steadily improving his speed as Fernando gained confidence on the oval.

Event rookies have to complete laps within prescribed speed ranges to be eligible for participation in the 500 and before they are allowed to run at full pace.

Alonso’s target was to cover ten laps at 205-210mph, 15 laps at 210-215mph, and then 15 laps between 215mph and 220mph.

He achieved this over a total of 51 laps spread across four runs in his first hour on track in his McLaren/Honda/Andretti-entered Dallara, posting a fastest average lap speed of 219.654mph.

Speaking after completing the rookie programme, Alonso said: “It was fun, it’s a good way to start, to build the speed.

“It was probably a little bit difficult in the beginning to reach the minimum [speed], but then on the next stages it felt good.

“Now hopefully we can put some laps in and start feeling the car – at the moment the car is driving myself, I am not driving the car.

“I do feel more comfortable, just because with 30 laps, 40 laps in the pocket you can fine tune the lines, which gear to use in which corner.

“At the moment everything looks good, but now starts the real thing.”

So a good first day feeling after a series of runs. It’s going to be a challenge for Alonso to qualify and then race in the Indianapolis 500. Best of luck Fernando.

Ladies and gentlemen, introducing our 2017 #Indy500 challenger, the #McLarenHondaAndretti #29. #McLarenIndy #RaceOfTwoWorlds pic.twitter.com/smEpPoGQsw

— McLaren Indy (@McLarenIndy) May 3, 2017

Valtteri Bottas fended off a late charge from four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel to secure his first Formula 1 victory in the Russian Grand Prix at Sochi.

The Mercedes driver crossed the line just 0.617 seconds ahead of Vettel’s Ferrari with Kimi Raikkonen taking his first podium of the season with third.

Lewis Hamilton finished a disappointing fourth position.

Bottas made a storming start from third on the grid, benefiting from a slow-starting Raikkonen and then passing Vettel on the run to Turn 2 to take the lead.

The race was then neutralised shortly after when the safety car was deployed following a collision between Romain Grosjean and Jolyon Palmer at Turn 2.

At the restart, Bottas put the hammer down and gradually went about building up a lead over Vettel that grew to just over four seconds.

Bottas caught traffic ahead of the pitstops, allowing Vettel to cut the gap to 2.5 seconds before Mercedes called Bottas in at the end of lap 27 of 52 to swap ultra-softs for super-softs.

Vettel stayed out for an extra seven laps, with his pace remaining competitive, and rejoined just over four seconds adrift of Bottas following his stop for the super-softs.

Championship leader Vettel slowly chipped away at that, getting the gap down to just under a second at one stage to set up a grandstand finish.

But Bottas, who asked for “less talking” on the team radio in the closing laps, kept his composure to fend off Vettel and take his first victory in his 81st Formula 1 start.

Hamilton had a frustrating race, making a good start initially but struggling in the second phase of acceleration as he stayed in fourth.

The three-time world champion complained consistently that his car was overheating in the first half of the race and after the pit-stops, he was unable to catch Raikkonen and ended up a distant fourth position.

Max Verstappen was out on his own, too, in fifth, well adrift of the leading quartet but comfortably ahead of Sergio Perez.

Verstappen’s Red Bull team-mate Daniel Ricciardo retired with an early rear brake problem.

Force India scored points with both cars for the fourth race in succession as Esteban Ocon took seventh behind team-mate Perez.

Nico Hulkenberg was eighth, with Felipe Massa on-course for sixth before he was forced to make a second pit-stop late on because of a slow puncture that dropped him to ninth.

Carlos Sainz completed the top ten.

Williams racer Lance Stroll finished his first race, just missing out on a point in P11 after a first-lap spin.

It was a miserable weekend for McLaren, with Fernando Alonso failing to start the race after stopping his car at the entry to the pits on the formation lap.

Honda suspects the loss of power was down to an ERS issue, but is still investigating.

The other McLaren of Stoffel Vandoorne was P14, ahead of the two Saubers of Marcus Ericsson and Pascal Wehrlein.

So not a thrilling Russian Grand Prix, with a lack of overtaking. Valtteri Bottas takes a well deserved race victory and resisting the huge pressure from a four-time champion was impressive.

Russian Grand Prix race results, after 52 laps:

1    Valtteri Bottas    Mercedes    1h28m08.743s
2    Sebastian Vettel    Ferrari    0.617s
3    Kimi Raikkonen    Ferrari    11.000s
4    Lewis Hamilton    Mercedes    36.320s
5    Max Verstappen    Red Bull-Renault    1m00.416s
6    Sergio Perez    Force India-Mercedes    1m26.788s
7    Esteban Ocon    Force India-Mercedes    1m35.004s
8    Nico Hulkenberg    Renault    1m36.188s
9    Felipe Massa    Williams-Mercedes    1 Lap
10    Carlos Sainz    Toro Rosso-Renault    1 Lap
11    Lance Stroll    Williams/Mercedes    1 Lap
12    Daniil Kvyat    Toro Rosso-Renault    1 Lap
13    Kevin Magnussen    Haas-Ferrari    1 Lap
14    Stoffel Vandoorne    McLaren-Honda    1 Lap
15    Marcus Ericsson    Sauber-Ferrari    1 Lap
16    Pascal Wehrlein    Sauber-Ferrari    1 Lap
–    Daniel Ricciardo    Red Bull-Renault    Brakes
–    Romain Grosjean    Haas-Ferrari    Collision
–    Fernando Alonso    McLaren-Honda    Not started
–    Jolyon Palmer    Renault    Collision

Drivers’ standings:

1    Sebastian Vettel    86
2    Lewis Hamilton    73
3    Valtteri Bottas    63
4    Kimi Raikkonen    49
5    Max Verstappen    35
6    Daniel Ricciardo    22
7    Sergio Perez    22
8    Felipe Massa    18
9    Carlos Sainz    11
10    Esteban Ocon    9
11    Nico Hulkenberg    6
12    Romain Grosjean    4
13    Kevin Magnussen    4
14    Daniil Kvyat    2
15    Pascal Wehrlein    0
16    Lance Stroll    0
17    Antonio Giovinazzi    0
18    Jolyon Palmer    0
19    Stoffel Vandoorne    0
20    Fernando Alonso    0
21    Marcus Ericsson    0

Constructors’ standings:

1    Mercedes    136
2    Ferrari    135
3    Red Bull-Renault    57
4    Force India-Mercedes    31
5    Williams-Mercedes    18
6    Toro Rosso-Renault    13
7    Haas-Ferrari    8
8    Renault    6
9    Sauber-Ferrari    0
10    McLaren/Honda    0

Four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel claimed Scuderia Ferrari’s first pole position of the 2017 Formula 1 season, as both he and team-mate Kimi Raikkonen defeated the Mercedes drivers in a competitive Russian Grand Prix qualifying battle.

Ferrari had led the way throughout the three practice sessions, but trailed rival Mercedes through Q1 and Q2, when both Vettel and Raikkonen made an extra run compared to Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas in the latter segment.

And yet Scuderia turned things around in Q3, when Raikkonen sat on provisional pole after the initial runs, just ahead of Bottas and Vettel, with Hamilton trailing in fourth position after twice snatching the inside front brake on his hot lap.

The Iceman looked set to claim his first pole since the French Grand Prix of 2008, which was coincidently the last race Ferrari locked out the front row, but went wide at the final corner on his last lap so failed to improve.

That allowed Sebastian to snatch pole by just 0.059 seconds with a last-gasp effort of one minute, 33.194 seconds.

Bottas also failed to find time on his final qualifying run, but his earlier lap was still good enough for third position on the grid, just 0.036 seconds adrift of Raikkonen – albeit slower than he went in Q2.

Hamilton’s first run in Q3 was compromised by a track position with Nico Hulkenberg’s Renault. Hamilton improved on his final run, but dropped a lot of time in the final sector and ended up almost half a second slower than his team-mate Bottas.

Daniel Ricciardo was fifth for Red Bull, but over a second slower than Hamilton, while Felipe Massa scored a sixth for Williams, just 0.051 seconds ahead of Max Verstappen.

Hulkenberg was eighth for Renault, just over a tenth further back, while the Force Indias of Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon completed the top ten.

Both Force Indias made Q3 for the first time this season, with Ocon claiming the final spot in the top ten shootout by 0.219 seconds from the Toro Rosso of Carlos Sainz, who complained of a “very strange” lack of grip on his final set of tyres.

The Williams of Lance Stroll split Sainz from his Toro Rosso team-mate Daniil Kvyat, as all three drivers lapped within 0.020 seconds of each other.

Kevin Magnussen’s Haas was less than half a tenth further back inP14, well clear of the underpowered McLaren-Honda of Fernando Alonso, who maintained his remarkable record of getting McLaren-Honda into Q2 at every race so far this season.

Renault’s Jolyon Palmer missed the cut by less than a tenth, but had already failed to improve on his final run before crashing heavily at Turn 4 after clipping the inside kerb.

Stoffel Vandoorne, who will start last after a grid penalty, found time on his final run but it was nowhere near enough to escape Q1. His time was only P17 fastest and six tenths away from the Q2 cut off.

Pascal Wehrlein was P18 for Sauber and was lucky to survive a spin unscathed at Turn 13 at the end of Q1.

Team-mate Marcus Ericsson was just under two tenths further back, while Romain Grosjean’s Haas brought up the rear of the grid.

Grosjean struggled with the brakes and balance of his car throughout free practice, and was also unhappy at the start of qualifying, but was on a better lap before Palmer’s crash.

So a fantastic result for Ferrari after so many countless Grands Prix. An all-red front row thanks to the talent of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen. It’s going to be interesting to see who will win the Scuderia battle on race day at Sochi. Game on.

Qualifying positions, Russian Grand Prix:

1    Sebastian Vettel    Ferrari    1m33.194s
2    Kimi Raikkonen    Ferrari    1m33.253s
3    Valtteri Bottas    Mercedes    1m33.289s
4    Lewis Hamilton    Mercedes    1m33.767s
5    Daniel Ricciardo    Red Bull-Renault    1m34.905s
6    Felipe Massa    Williams-Mercedes    1m35.110s
7    Max Verstappen    Red Bull-Renault    1m35.161s
8    Nico Hulkenberg    Renault    1m35.285s
9    Sergio Perez    Force India-Mercedes    1m35.337s
10    Esteban Ocon    Force India-Mercedes    1m35.430s
11    Lance Stroll    Williams-Mercedes    1m35.964s
12    Daniil Kvyat    Toro Rosso-Renault    1m35.968s
13    Kevin Magnussen    Haas-Ferrari    1m36.017s
14    Carlos Sainz    Toro Rosso-Renault    1m35.948s
15    Fernando Alonso    McLaren-Honda    1m36.660s
16    Jolyon Palmer    Renault    1m36.462s
17    Pascal Wehrlein    Sauber-Ferrari    1m37.332s
18    Marcus Ericsson    Sauber-Ferrari    1m37.507s
19    Romain Grosjean    Haas-Ferrari    1m37.620s
20    Stoffel Vandoorne    McLaren-Honda    1m37.070s*

*Grid penalty for changing power unit