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British Grand Prix: Toto Wolff and Lewis Hamilton hail ‘fairytale’ victory british,grand,prix,toto,wolff,and,lewis,hamilton,hail,fairytale,victory,sbnation,com,front-page,formula-one

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It was a win almost 1,000 days in the making.

On a challenging Sunday at Silverstone, Lewis Hamilton captured victory for the first time since the 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, finally reaching the top step of a Formula 1 podium for the first time since that epic campaign.

And the fact that it came on Hamilton’s final race at Silverstone for Mercedes was not lost on Team Principal Toto Wolff.

“Today’s win is like a fairytale,” emphasized Wolff in the team’s post-race report. “It is our last British Grand Prix together with Lewis and what a way to sign off. It is such a great feeling to be able to achieve victory in front of the British crowds with the most iconic, and most successful British driver in a Mercedes.”

Hamilton’s emotions matched the moment. The legendary British driver was choked up as he took the checkered flag, and that continued as he was handed a Union Jack at Becketts Corner during his cooldown lap. When he finally brought his W15 to a stop he shared a long, emotional embrace with his father before paying tribute to the thousands of fans cheering their hero.

Hamilton then shared his immediate thoughts with Jenson Button.

“Yeah, I can’t stop crying,” admitted the seven-time champion.

“I think, you know, since 2021, I’m just every day getting up, trying to fight, to train, to put my mind to the task and work as hard as I can with this amazing team and this is my last race here, the British Grand Prix, with this team so I wanted to win this so much for them, because I love them, I appreciate them so much, all the hard work they’ve been putting in over the years,” continued Hamilton.

“I’m forever grateful to everyone in this team, everyone at Mercedes, and all of our partners. And I just want to say thank you to all of you for being here with us today. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. And then otherwise to all our incredible fans,” added the Mercedes driver, “I could see you lap by lap as I was coming around, and there’s just no greater feeling as to finish at the front here.”

Hamilton’s tributes to the crowd as Silverstone continued into the FIA Press Conference.

“I mean, the car’s so loud, so hard to hear, but I could see it, and I really could feel [the crowd noise],” described Hamilton. “You know, when you go through Turn 7, it’s a long, long corner, and you see the guys on the left, or through the last couple of corners, you can also see this incredible crowd, or into Turn 15. It’s really, really an unbelievable feeling to be on that track. This is the best track for me, personally. I think this is the best track in the world. But it’s the fans also, the whole place, the wind direction that you have going into Stowe. That corner is incredible.”

In response to a question from the brilliant Luke Smith from The Athletic, Hamilton talked about the emotions he felt, particularly in that extended post-race embrace with his father, and whether this win felt any different than his previous 103 F1 victories.

“Yeah, it really does, because I think, you know, I’ve had my parents come to a race here and there,” began Hamilton.

“We’ve had, you know, my mom was there when we won a championship. My dad’s been there when we won a championship. It’s always been just at a different point of life. First World Championship, you know, was incredible, but it was really difficult to absorb it all at the age I was at. I think this weekend, I think just within life, you know, your parents are getting older, you know, we’re traveling so much.

“Time with family is a constant challenge. My niece and nephew are growing up and growing out their cuteness,” continued the driver. “But I’ve had them here this weekend, and I think they’ve all… We all try to be there for each other, even at a distance. But to have them there and… I mean, I know I’ve always had their support, but to be able to see them there and share this experience, they wanted to be at my last race, the last British Grand Prix with this team that have been so incredible to us. I mean, Mercedes obviously supported me since I was 13. So it’s definitely meant the most today to have them there and to be able to share it with them.”

While there was a downside for the team, as pole-sitter George Russell retired early on a day that could have seen him on the podium as well, Hamilton’s victory marked two wins in a row for Mercedes, extending their run of impressive form.

Hamilton addressed what this recent form means for the team going forward.

Yeah, I think hugely, hugely grateful to everyone in the team. I think this is just hats off to everyone. Niki [Lauda] would definitely take his hat off, but everyone that’s continued to work hard, everyone in the garage that’s continued to show up each weekend and not get downbeat by results,” said Hamilton. “I think George’s win last week was amazing, but it wasn’t on pure pace and I think this weekend was the first time we did it on pure pace. [With] qualifying on the front row. And then after that, even pulling in that first stint, both of us pulling away from everybody else. And then ultimately, I think with the conditions today, the drivers able to make a bit of a difference.”

Hamilton also admitted that the time between victories meant this win was even sweeter, along with the admission that for the first time in 104 victories, tears finally fell after a win.

“Absolutely. It feels different to previous races and particularly races where you’re having race after race after race or seasons where you’re having multiple wins,” said Hamilton. “I think with the kind of the adversity I would say that we’ve gone through as a team and that I personally felt, that I’ve experienced, those challenges, the constant challenge like we all have to get out of bed every day and give it our best shot. And, you know, there’s so many times where you feel like your best shot is just not good enough.

“And the disappointment sometimes that you can feel, you know, and we live in a time where mental health is such a serious issue. And I’m not going to lie, that I have experienced that. And there’s definitely been moments where you know, the thought that this was it, that that was never going to happen again,” continued Hamilton. “So to have this feeling come across the line, I think, honestly, I’ve never cried coming from a win. It just came out of me. And it’s a really, really great feeling. I’m very, very grateful for it.”

A fairytale Sunday, in what is shaping up to be a fairytale season for the Silver Arrows.

Teaser trailer released for ‘F1’ starring Brad Pitt and produced by Lewis Hamilton teaser,trailer,released,for,f,starring,brad,pitt,and,produced,by,lewis,hamilton,sbnation,com,front-page

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Earlier this week racing fans learned the title of the upcoming movie set in the world of Formula 1 starring Brad Pitt and produced in part by Lewis Hamilton.

Those same fans have now been treated to their first glimpse of the upcoming feature.

In the hours ahead of the British Grand Prix the teaser trailer for F1 was released, giving fans their first look at the upcoming movie, which has been filmed at various locations throughout the F1 schedule. Eagle-eyed fans will notice some familiar faces in the trailer along with Pitt and Damson Idris, who plays his teammate at the fictional F1 team APXGP:

That’s right, there is former Haas Team Principal Guenther Steiner, as well as the two APXGP drivers standing alongside current drivers Max Verstappen, Sergio Pérez, Fernando Alonso, and more ahead of a race.

There is also a lot of racing action, including one view from the cockpit as cars charge up the legendary hill known as Eau Rouge at historic Spa-Francorchamps, site of the Belgian Grand Prix.

F1 hits theaters next summer.

Charles Leclerc and Ferrari looking for answers to a ‘slow’ car at British Grand Prix charles,leclerc,and,ferrari,looking,for,answers,to,a,slow,car,at,british,grand,prix,sbnation,com,front-page,formula-one

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Charles Leclerc struggled to find the right answers, but not many are on offer at the moment for Ferrari.

Speaking with the official Formula 1 channel following a surprising elimination in Q2, the Ferrari driver lamented a frustrating state of play for the team at the moment. Leclerc has endured a difficult stretch of performances in the weeks since his victory at the Monaco Grand Prix which saw the Monegasque driver finally break through with a win at home, despite Ferrari bringing a series of upgrades to the SF-24. He finished out of the points in the Canadian Grand Prix and after a fifth-place finish in Barcelona, Lecler brought home only two points from Austria, both of which came from a seventh-place finish in the F1 Sprint Race at Red Bull Ring.

That run may continue on Sunday, as Leclerc will start in P11 in what he calls a “slow” car.

We are just slow. We are just really slow at the moment and we have a lot of inconsistencies with the car,” said Leclerc to F1TV. “I don’t think it quite helps that we are trying to also… we are trying to just assess the situation we are in at the moment and try to understand which are the directions in which we need to push into.”

The driver noted that the team tried some different configurations in practice, to try and unlock the answer to the questions they faced with the SF-24. While Leclerc noted that the decision offered some potential solutions for Ferrari, it was not enough to unlock the time he needed to reach Q3.

“I felt like yesterday, by splitting the cars [with pre and post-Barcelona configurations], we understood a good amount to use for the future,” described Leclerc. “However, that means that maybe you don’t optimise your whole weekend as you are focused on just trying to learn, and when you are speaking about a tenth to go to Q3, it’s all about small details. So at the moment we are just struggling with the situation we are in, and I hope we can bounce back as soon as possible.”

Leclerc compared the strategy to a similar decision Ferrari made a year ago. Last season saw the Scuderia struggling during the summer, and trying different configurations at the Dutch Grand Prix helped the team improve down the stretch.

“I think last year we did that in Zandvoort, where it was really a turning point of the season and we did well,” said Leclerc. “We shouldn’t over-panic, but it is true that now this difficult time has been there for longer than last year, so we’ve really got to react now and I hope that from next race onwards we can re-optimise the weekend like we did at the beginning of the season.”

Things were a bit better for teammate Carlos Sainz Jr., who advanced to the third segment of qualifying and will start Sunday’s British Grand Prix up in seventh, but Ferrari seems on the back foot compared with some of their rivals at the moment.

Perhaps adding to the frustration is that this weekend may present a missed opportunity for the Scuderia. With Sergio Pérez starting at the back of the grid, and Max Verstappen set to start fourth, Ferrari could have taken a big step towards Red Bull at the front of the grid.

Instead, they are still looking for answers to what Leclerc calls a “slow” race car.

British Grand Prix qualifying: A ‘sketchy’ decision pays off for Nico Hülkenberg and Haas british,grand,prix,qualifying,a,sketchy,decision,pays,off,for,nico,h,lkenberg,and,haas,sbnation,com,front-page

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As the minutes ticked down in the first qualifying segment at the British Grand Prix, 19 of the 20 drivers wound their way around historic Silverstone circuit in wet conditions, relying on the green intermediate tires.

Nico Hülkenberg was that 20th driver, who remained in the garage waiting for the track to dry out, and the right moment to join the fight.

Hülkenberg had to wait through a red flag, brought out by Sergio Pérez. The Red Bull driver was one of the first to switch to the slicks, with just over seven minutes remaining in the session, but quickly paid a steep price. Pérez slid into the gravel and could not get moving again, ending his session early.

Ultimately, Hülkenberg had just one shot at a flying lap and he made it stick, doing just enough to get into Q2.

But when the dust settled and the checkered flag flew at the end of Q3 Hülkenberg was up in sixth on the timing sheets, and he will start on the third row in Sunday’s British Grand Prix.

That stands as not just the best qualifying result for Hülkenberg this season, but for the team as well.

However, the approach taken by Haas made for some nervy moments for both the driver and the team.

“I managed to take the momentum from last race into this week, plus I think the updates we brought to the car yesterday really had an impact and I felt a gain with them straightaway,” said Hülkenberg in the team’s post-qualifying report. “That’s good news and it’s not always the case, so a big well done to the team. Quali was good; Q1 was a bit too close for comfort with only one lap.

“With the red flag, we got a little out of sync and maybe it was a bit sketchy, but otherwise it was a good, clean session. I feel good confidence in the car which means I can produce the laps, even if it’s just one.”

Team Principal Ayao Komatsu hailed an “amazing” result for the team, but outlined how Haas needs to review their “tricky” approach.

“It’s been a pretty eventful day with pretty tricky conditions, but in FP3 I think we made progress learning about car behavior on the intermediates. In Q1 we decided not to run on the inters because we expected it to be dry, so that’s what we did,” described Komatsu. “It was very tricky, we need to review what we did and how we can do it better because we just got through with Nico. Kevin didn’t get through Q1 because he went off but with Nico, we didn’t give ourselves enough margin, so that’s something we need to improve.”

Komatsu outlined how it could have been even better for Hülkenberg.

“Moving into dry conditions with Nico, what a fantastic result with P6, and that could’ve been better. He made a mistake on his flying lap in one of the corners so it’s really pleasing with all the hard work from the team getting this upgrade on and it paying off well,” added the Haas boss. “It’s an excellent position to start tomorrow, so we’ll see what we can do, but for now, I’m happy for the team – amazing work from everyone.”

While Kevin Magnussen failed to advance out of Q1 and will start at the back of the field, Hülkenberg’s starting position gives Haas a tremendous chance to bring home solid points on Sunday. The team enters the British Grand Prix sitting seventh in the Formula 1 Constructors’ standings, 11 points behind Visa Cash App RB F1 Team.

But with both Daniel Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda starting outside the points — and behind Hülkenberg — Haas is in position to cut into that lead Sunday.

Despite a “sketcky” Saturday.

George Russell and Lewis Hamilton lock out front row, Sergio Pérez falters at British GP george,russell,and,lewis,hamilton,lock,out,front,row,sergio,p,rez,falters,at,british,gp,sbnation,com,front-page,formula-one

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Given where the Formula 1 grid is this week, the three cars at the front of the grid simply feel right.

The British trio of George Russell, Lewis Hamilton, and Lando Norris will start up front in Sunday’s British Grand Prix, with Russell on pole position as Mercedes locked out the front row during Saturday’s qualifying session. Norris, looking to rebound after a bitter result last week at the Austrian Grand Prix, will start third alongside Max Verstappen, who qualified fourth.

According to F1TV, it marks the first time the top three drivers on the grid at the historic Silverstone circuit are British drivers.

But the story is Mercedes.

This Silver Arrows got off to a slow start this season, but a series of upgrades the team began rolling out at the Miami Grand Prix have certainly delivered the improved performance they were seeking. Mercedes has been the hottest team over the last three race weekends — having scored 100 points over that stretch — and since Miami only McLaren has scored more points, 144 to the 132 posted by Mercedes.

That hot streak looks to continue this weekend.

“Nice one team,” exclaimed Russell as he crossed the line having put his W15 on pole position, knowing he and Hamilton had locked out the front row. “Race to win tomorrow.”

Whether the Silver Arrows can deliver a win tomorrow remains to be seen, and the fight at the front looks fascinating between the McLarens, the Mercedes duo, and an ever-lurking Verstappen starting fourth.

But make no mistake, Mercedes are back, and if they keep their streak of results alive on tomorrow, it could set things up for a fascinating second half of the season.

Here are the full results, as well as more winners and losers from a thrilling qualifying session at the British Grand Prix

Winners: McLaren

In terms of the big picture, Saturday was another strong day for McLaren.

Norris is set to start the British Grand Prix on the third row, right behind pole-sitter Russell in P3. When the lights go out tomorrow he will have a friendly face right behind him, as teammate Oscar Piastri qualified fifth and will be in Norris’ rear-view mirror at the start tomorrow.

Those starting positions give McLaren a tremendous chance to bring home another big haul of points in the British Grand Prix.

When I spoke with Oscar Piastri following his podium finish in the Monaco Grand Prix, the second-year driver told me in no uncertain terms that the F1 Constructors’ Championship is far from over, and that McLaren is in the fight.

“The Constructors’ [Championship] I would say is still open. We’re still a third of the way through the year. So it’s definitely still all to play for,” said Piastri to me back at the end of May.

“I think in the position I’m in in the driver’s standings, [I’m] probably not gonna win the Championship unless I really take it up a notch again. But I think in the Constructors’, we’re not out of contention for winning that,” added Piastri.

“So, that’s definitely the aim of the team.”

Much has been said and written about how Norris would respond following the late-stage incident with Verstappen at the Austrian Grand Prix. While their wheel touch ended Norris’ chances at a win at Red Bull Ring, Piastri’s ability to finish on the podium — combined with results from the F1 Sprint Race the day before — saw McLaren pull a few points closer to Red Bull in that potential title fight.

And with both Norris and Piastri starting inside the top five — while Verstappen will be alone at the front of the grid when the lights go out Sunday — McLaren is primed to do that again tomorrow.

Loser: Sergio Pérez

With just over seven minutes to go in Q1, the red flag flew.

Sergio Pérez was in the gravel.

The Red Bull driver was the first victim of the tricky conditions, as teams and drivers alike performed the cost-benefit analysis of slick tires versus the intermediates. While the track was drying out and there was a dry racing line taking shape, Pérez was one of the first drivers to make the change to slicks.

As he was winding his way around Silverstone on that set of slicks, he ran wide at Copse and found the gravel.

Despite his protests and pleas for a push, the crane eventually came out, and the driver reluctantly climbed out of his RB20, as a chagrined Christian Horner looked on from the pit wall.

On F1TV Jolyon Palmer summed it up as “nightmare” stuff for Pérez and Red Bull. “Oh no for Sergio Pérez,” said Palmer. “That is nightmare stuff for team and driver … this is off the back of what Christian Horner was saying yesterday they need a second driver in the fight … this is tough times for Sergio Përez.”

Complicating matters for the team when it comes to the Constructors’ Championship is that Verstappen could only qualify fourth, and will start alongside Norris and behind the Mercedes duo. That could mean Red Bull sees their rivals inch even closer in the Constructors’ standings by the time the checkered flag flies on Sunday.

But that is a team issue, returning to Pérez, the early end to his day comes at a critical time for the driver.

As Palmer and Ben Edwards noted, the incident comes as Pérez is under renewed pressure regarding his seat with the team. Not only has his mid-season swoon come as teams such as McLaren, Ferrari, and Mercedes have pulled closer to Red Bull in the standings, but this week brought renewed speculation about a potential driver change at Red Bull, despite Pérez’s new contract.

To the point about the standings, as we outlined earlier in the week Pérez has secured just 15 points since the Miami Grand Prix, miles off the 101 points added by Max Verstappen during that stretch. Pérez is dead last among the eight drivers from the top-four teams in the standings during that period of the calendar:

Driver Points Since Miami Grand Prix

Driver Points since Miami
Driver Points since Miami
Max Verstappen 101
George Russell 74
Lando Norris 73
Oscar Piastri 71
Charles Leclerc 62
Lewis Hamilton 58
Carlos Sainz Jr. 52
Sergio Pérez 15

Pérez is set to start P19 in Sunday’s Grand Prix, thanks to a massive grid penalty handed down to Pierre Gasly for changing components.

But at this point, he might have bigger problems than a start at the back of the grid.

Winners: Williams

This was a week that Williams truly needed, and their best qualifying session of the 2024 campaign.

Alexander Albon advanced into Q3, posting the ninth-fastest time in the second segment of qualifying. He ended his third segment of qualifying in that position as well, and he will start inside the top ten on Sunday. Putting the team on track to bring home some much-needed points in Sunday’s main event.

“Yes very happy,” said Albon after qualifying.

As for Albon’s teammate Logan Sargeant, the lone American driver on the grid took to the track over the Fourth of July weekend sporting a Union Jack on his FW46 and facing continued speculation about his F1 future. But Sargeant advanced into Q2 for just the second time this season, and while he was eliminated in Q2 and is set to start P12, it was another positive sign for the young driver.

And perhaps of note, it marked the third time in the past five grands prix that he out-qualified Sergio Pérez.

It might not be enough to save his seat for next season, and interestingly enough Williams Team Principal James Vowles even opened the door to replacing Sargeant at some point this season earlier in the week. “We’re continually evaluating it,” said Vowles on Friday when asked about a potential mid-season change. “What we’ve said to Logan is it’s a meritocracy. You have to make sure you earn your place in the sport continuously. That’s been the same message that has been for 18 months really for him. And we are open-minded to things.”

Sargeant’s performance on Saturday might not save his seat for 2025, but it could keep him in the FW46 for a little while longer.

But for Williams, who are seeking their first points since Albon’s P9 at the Monaco Grand Prix, Saturday was a massive step in that direction.

Losers: Alpine

This was going to be a bad weekend at least for Pierre Gasly.

But things got worse for Alpine on Saturday.

Gasly’s British Grand Prix got off on the wrong foot as the team changed components on his A524. The team added the fifth Internal Combustion Engine, the fifth Turbo Charger, the fifth Motor Generator Unit – Heat, the fifth Motor Generator Unit – Kinetic, and the third Control Electronics.

As all five components were more than the allowed number per season under the Sporting Regulations, Gasly was hit with a ten-place grid drop, for a total penalty of 50 places on the grid.

As a result, he was locked into starting at the back of the grid on Sunday no matter what happened today.

That means if the team was to salvage something this weekend, their hopes likely rested with Esteban Ocon.

Who was eliminated in Q1.

Ocon perhaps fell victim to circumstances, as he noted after the checkered flag flew at the end of Q1 that his one push lap came just as the rain fell near the end of the segment, which threw the session into chaos. But he could not find the time he needed and is set to start at the back of the grid near his teammate.

Alpine has made substantial progress throughout this season, given where they began the 2024 F1 campaign. Recent results have pulled the team out of the basement, and into P8 in the Constructors’ Championship standings. They entered the British Grand Prix having scored points in four straight races, and five of the last six.

But given how their Sunday is shaping up, that streak is likely to end tomorrow.

Winner: Nico Hulkenberg

“[Nico] Hülkenberg is driving a blinder this weekend.”

That was the description from Jolyon Palmer from the F1TV commentary box, as the Haas driver stormed into Q3 and put his VF-24 onto the third row, as Hülkenberg qualified sixth for the British Grand Prix.

It is his best qualifying result of the 2024 season, as well as the best result for Haas this year.

Hülkenberg starting sixth gives the team a legitimate chance at carving into the advantage Visa Cash App RB F1 Team currently holds over them in the Constructors’ Championship standings. VCARB sits sixth in the Constructors’ standings entering the British Grand Prix, with 30 points on the season. Haas, meanwhile, is in seventh, 11 points adrift of VCARB in the Constructors’ table.

But, hypothetically, should Hülkenberg manage to finish where he starts tomorrow, a P6 would see Haas add eight points to their account, bringing their season total to 27. With both Daniel Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda starting outside the top ten, that would pull Haas to within three points of VCARB for sixth.

Which would be a massive result for the team.

Of course, there is a long way to go before points are handed out at Silverstone, but this was a tremendous day for Hülkenberg, and Haas.

Loser: Charles Leclerc

Ferrari has been on the back foot all week, and that continued on Saturday.

Charles Leclerc bore the brunt of things, as he failed to advance into Q3 and is slated to start the main event alongside Logan Sargeant in P11.

Ferrari has struggled in the wake of Leclerc’s breakthrough victory at the Monaco Grand Prix, which saw the driver finally reach the top of the podium at his home race. Leclerc has scored just 12 points since that win at home, and the upgrades the team introduced following the Monaco Grand Prix have yet to deliver the improved performance Ferrari was seeking. While Carlos Sainz Jr. advanced to Q3 at Silverstone and scored a podium last week in Austria, Ferrari has slipped away from Red Bull in the Constructors’ Championship standings since Monaco.

Starting from 11th Leclerc can certainly work his way into the points, but that is a small-picture issue. The bigger-picture question facing Leclerc — and Ferrari — is whether they can find the answers they need to the upgrades to the SF-24 introduced following Monaco.

Speaking with the media on Friday Leclerc indicated that the upgrades are doing what they expected, but it is a matter of getting the SF-24 into the right operating window to maximize the package. “We are still trying to work out where we need to set up the car in order to maximise the potential of those upgrades,” Leclerc told media on Friday. “Because, as I’ve said many times, the [performance] numbers that we were expecting from this upgrade is there.

“The upgrade is working the way it should be, but it’s more about where you run the car to optimise those numbers that we see that for now, we haven’t quite managed to do that. So we are still working on that.”

That work continues …

Daniel Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda hoping to rebound after ‘tricky’ start to British Grand Prix daniel,ricciardo,and,yuki,tsunoda,hoping,to,rebound,after,tricky,start,to,british,grand,prix,sbnation,com,front-page,formula-one

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At the Austrian Grand Prix Daniel Ricciardo rebounded from a slow start in the first practice session to ultimately finish ninth in the main event, delivering two hard-earned points for Visa Cash App RB F1 Team and quelling — for the moment at least — rampant rumors about his F1 future.

After a “tricky” Friday at Silverstone, he will need a similar rebound to finish in the points at the British Grand Prix.

Ricciardo finished in P13 during Friday’s first practice session and was at the back of the grid in P19 in FP2. Things were not too much better on the other side of the garage, as teammate Yuki Tsunoda’s spin in FP1 cut his session short with him down in P20. Tsunoda came back for FP2 and improved a bit on his time, posting the 16th-fastest time of the session.

Both drivers are hoping for more on Saturday.

“It was a tricky day,” admitted Ricciardo in the team’s post-practice report. “We found some answers for that trickiness in FP2 due to a few issues on the car in terms of load. It was a bit of a bummer because obviously you still try to do what you can, but it was a bit inconclusive on what our true pace is. In general, we’ll be trying to work on a few weaknesses we’ve seen and getting it better for tomorrow.

“We’ll try to find the course once we look at the data, but I’m confident it’s nothing too weird,” Ricciardo added. “It’s going to be a tough circuit this year, but we should be able to clean that up and be further up the grid than we were today.”

Tsunoda referred to his spin in FP1 as a less than “ideal” way to start the weekend.

“I didn’t have the ideal start to the race weekend with FP1 and lost some valuable track time, but we managed to collect plenty of data in FP2. I think we know where we’re at now,” said Tsunoda. “We didn’t expect to struggle as much as we did in FP2, but there’s more time to come from us and I’m sure we can find a couple more tenths for tomorrow and fight for Q3. It doesn’t seem our car quite suits these track characteristics with the long high-speed corners, but others just seem to be stepping it up. They’re doing a good job, so we’ll continue working and fighting for more.”

VCARB Racing Director Alan Permane echoed the team’s drivers, calling Friday a “challenging” start.

“A challenging day for us, starting with Yuki’s spin, which cost him almost all of the first session. This meant he wasn’t as prepared as he could have been for FP2 and didn’t get the most out of things. He’s generally happy with the car though,” added Permane. Daniel struggled with some instability at the rear and it’s clear we’ve got work to do overnight to find some low-speed performance which is costing lap time. We will have one eye on the weather as rain is forecast for both days over the weekend and we will take this into account with our setup choices. We need to get everything perfect to give our drivers a shot at Q3 tomorrow.”

As with the Austrian Grand Prix, Friday brought even more wild rumors on the Ricciardo front. While Red Bull Ring was abuzz with talk that Ricciardo could be facing the drop at VCARB, Friday’s rumors included a wild swing in the opposite direction, with speculation that the recent run of poor form from Sergio Pérez — and Ricciardo’s upward trend in recent weeks — could open the door to a swap between the drivers.

German outlet Auto Motor und Sport reported on Friday that performance clauses in Pérez’s and Ricciardo’s contracts could make such a swap possible next season. Reportedly, Red Bull is hoping to see improvement from Pérez in Budapest and Spa.

As is often the case, Dr. Helmut Marko fanned the flames even more, telling Auto Moto und Sport “[w]e’ll know more by the summer break,” while not dismissing the reports.

Tricky, indeed.

The Houston Astros are once again alive and well in the AL West the,houston,astros,are,once,again,alive,and,well,in,the,al,west,sbnation,com,front-page,mlb

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It wasn’t all that long ago when I was using this space to talk about how the Houston Astros had yet to really lift off this season and were spinning their wheels in the mud. With most of their rotation dropping left-and-right and their hitters underperforming while combined with the strong start from the Seattle Mariners, it was getting to the point where there were already rumors that the Astros could be considering selling once they got to the trade deadline. It was that rough.

Well, here we are a month later and all of a sudden the questions have changed. Instead of wondering whether or not the Astros are going to fall off and start selling, the question now is whether or not the Mariners can hang on to what was once the largest divisional lead in the AL West. Houston has gone 20-10 over their last 30 games and are now three games over .500 and right in the thick of things in the playoff race while Seattle has gone 16-14 in their last 30 and 3-7 in their last 10 to be specific.

As a result of this sudden change in fortune, the Astros are now only two games behind the Mariners in the AL West and FanGraphs’ Playoff Odds reflect this as well — Houston now has a 60 percent chance of making the Postseason with a 45 percent shot at winning the division again. This is after the Astros finished June 5 with a 40 percent chance of returning to the playoffs with only a 24 percent shot at winning the division. The Astros are even being given more of a shot to end up with a first-round bye (10 percent) than the Mariners currently are (8.3 percent). The boogeyman of this division is well and truly alive once again, to the point where the word “destiny” is being bandied about around here.

So what’s behind this sudden shift in form for both teams? Part of this can be attributed to the natural ebb-and-flow of the long marathon that is baseball’s regular season but at the same time, for things to change this quickly for both teams is still a bit whiplash-inducing. Usually it takes a while to see a shift like this and maybe it would warrant more attention had this shift happened in say, September instead of in June and July. With that being said, it’s still very fascinating to see just how quickly the Astros managed to turn things around and conversely it’s a bit concerning to see this getting away from the Mariners like it appears to be.

The fuel that’s been propelling the Astros back towards the top of the AL West has been the fact that their offense has stepped up their game. I mentioned that the offense wasn’t the reason why they were struggling last month but there was still room for improvement for Houston when it came to hitting the ball. Unsurprisingly, Houston’s lineup did eventually revitalize itself and has been hitting .274/.329/.445 as a collective since June 1. Additionally, they’ve put together a .335 wOBA and a team wRC+ of 119 since the start of June, which is tied for the seventh-best number in all of baseball during that period.

The main man pushing Houston’s revitalization has been Yordan Álvarez, who has absolutely unleashed fury upon opposing pitchers since the start of last month. For the season, Yordan has 2.8 fWAR — however, he’s produced 2.0 of that fWAR since June 1 alone. Álvarez has been hitting .366/.466/.796 since that aforementioned date with a wOBA of .513, 10 home runs over 118 plate appearances and a wRC+ of 240. Folks, that’s Gunnar Henderson territory. Shoot, that’s Aaron Judge territory. It also helps that the usual suspects like José Altuve (152 wRC+ since June 1) and Alex Bregman (128 wRC+ in that same span) have stepped up and are hitting like most baseball observers would expect them to do so. The Astros are a tough team to deal with at the plate but that’s always been the case since their rebuild from the mid-2010s started to pay off.

What makes this return to form for Houston’s offense so impressive is that it’s happening without Kyle Tucker. Tucker went on the IL with a shin contusion back in early June and to let you know just how rough things were going for the rest of the Astros, he’s missed every game since June 3 and he’s still Houston’s leader in On-Base Percentage, Slugging Percentage, wOBA, xwOBA and wRC+ and he’s also still the joint leader in home runs and joint-second place in stolen bases.

Tucker has been the best player in the lineup for the Astros this season and losing him could’ve been a death knell for Houston’s lineup if the rest of the Astros continued to limp along at the plate. Instead, players have been stepping their game up left-and-right in Tucker’s absence and now Astros fans are surely dreaming of what this lineup will look like once Tucker returns and gets this offense working at full strength again.

Houston’s pitching during this span has been intriguing to say the least. This should definitely be the position that is weighing down the Astros since they’ve lost two of their starters for the season and have another one who is currently on the shelf and could potentially lose out on their vesting option in 2025. Instead, the Astros have kind of just kept it pushing in that regard and Hunter Brown’s performances since June 1 has somewhat reflected what the Astros have done on the mound during that span.

As a staff since the start of June, the Astros have an incredible ERA- of 85 — tied for the third-best in all of baseball! Weirdly enough, Houston’s FIP- during that same span has been 104, which is clearly middle-of-the-road. Then you look at what Hunter Brown has been doing during that time and suddenly his ERA- of 25 and a FIP- of 73 since June 1 suddenly makes a little more sense. Combine his performance with Framber Valdez and Ronel Blanco doing their best to keep the rotation afloat and Houston’s rotation is definitely coming together to produce something that’s greater than the sum of their parts at the moment. They’re making it happen and their return to the good side of .500 has made that clear.

While it’s not exactly time to say that the Astros are “back,” they’re absolutely alive and definitely kicking again. General Manager Dana Brown’s faith in his squad is being repaid and suddenly his confidence that Houston would be buying at the deadline is looking clairvoyant instead of simply being the right thing to say in GM-speak. While it’s never really wise to call time on any team’s season during the first half, this is also a bit of a reminder that when it comes to teams like the Astros, the time to count them out doesn’t come until they’ve actually been mathematically eliminated.

Speaking of GM’s, the onus is now on Mariners GM Jerry Dipoto to help revive the Mariners. While their pitching staff is doing just fine, it is plainly obvious that Seattle needs hitting. With guys like Julio Rodriguez, Jorge Polanco, J.P. Crawford, Mitch Haniger and even the “Big Dumper” himself Cal Raleigh all currently doing some serious underperforming at the plate, their lineup needs multiple sparks and they need it in the worst way. Seattle’s pitching should still be good enough to help keep them in the playoff conversation but if they keep struggling at the plate like they have, it won’t be long before the boogeyman from Space City catches them for good.

British Grand Prix: Lando Norris, and Oscar Piastri flex McLaren’s muscles on Friday british,grand,prix,lando,norris,and,oscar,piastri,flex,mclaren,s,muscles,on,friday,sbnation,com,front-page,formula-one

British Grand Prix Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri flex McLarens
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A major story this Formula 1 season centers on how the chasing pack behind Red Bull has caught the 2023 Constructors’ Champions, setting up a vision of a title fight as the season enters its second half. Chief among that group? McLaren, as the darlings of last year’s second half have shown tremendous pace this year.

And if Friday is any indication at the British Grand Prix, that will continue this weekend.

Lando Norris topped the timing sheets in both FP1 and FP2, with teammate Oscar Piastri on his heels in both sessions as the Australian driver was third-fastest in FP1, and second-fastest in FP2. While practice results often tell a fraction of the full story, what should give McLaren comfort is that all teams — including Red Bull — used the softest compound available in FP2.

Both drivers, as well as Team Principal Andrea Stella, viewed Friday as a “solid” first day.

“It’s been a solid day. We’ve done a good amount of running and some nice laps, so I feel reasonably comfortable. We’ve made some changes over the morning which helped me get into a good rhythm, which is super important around such a high-speed track like this,” said Norris in the team’s post-practice report.

“I think we’ve got a few more to tweaks to make, but it’s difficult with the challenges of wind and rain. It’s been a clean two sessions, and that’s a good start to the weekend, so I’m happy with that.”

Piastri, who capitalized on the late-race incident between Norris and Max Verstappen to score a podium finish in the Austrian Grand Prix, hailed the results on Friday while cautioning that weather could throw teams a curveball the rest of the weekend.

“That’s Friday done. It’s been a decent day for the team, especially in FP2. We’ve got a few things to sort out overnight to make it a bit better on my side, but I think it’s been a solid first day at Silverstone,” said Piastri.

“Going into tomorrow, I think we’re in a reasonable position, however we’re probably going to get very wet which can change things. I’m looking forward to getting back on track.”

The McLaren boss took a similar approach.

“Today at Silverstone we had two productive sessions. There was an ever-present risk of rain, but it only materialised towards the end of the second session, which gave us enough time to go through our run plan and set-up work,” said Stella. “In general, we got encouraging information – but conditions were very particular today, so we’re not looking too much at the lap times themselves. We’re now just focusing on tomorrow, when we need to be ready for whatever the weather brings.”

Diving into some of the telemetry data, courtesy of F1-Tempo highlights Norris’ strength on Friday when compared with Verstappen. Here is a look at both driver’s fastest lap in FP2, with both drivers on the softest compound:

Whether this is a matter of setup or engine mode, of course, remains to be seen.

But certainly, this was a strong first day for McLaren at the British Grand Prix.

Golf Talk Today: The simple do’s and don’ts of July 4th golf fashion golf,talk,today,the,simple,do,s,and,don,ts,of,july,th,golf,fashion,sbnation,com,front-page,golf,golf-pga-tour,golf-opinions

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Welcome to Playing Through’s morning ritual — Golf Talk Today.

Each morning will feature a Golf Talk Today, where the crew will discuss various elements throughout the PGA Tour, LPGA, LIV Golf, and more.

First off, Happy Fourth of July!

As we all celebrate our patriotic freedom today, today’s topic is Fourth of July golf fashion. With the John Deere Classic starting today, we wanted to give a July 4th fashion guide — the Do’s and Do not’s.

A patriotic outfit can quickly go from trendy to loud, so let’s examine what works and does not for your Fourth of July golf round.

The Do’s of Patriotic Golf Fashion

Stick to the basics

Solid-color pants or polos are a great choice. Red, White and Blue are three great primary colors for building outfits.

Patterns are still fine; I’m not saying to avoid them, but just be smart about it.

Many pieces from the J. Lindeberg Team USA line are perfect options for the Fourth of July.

Before everyone freaks out about the bright pattern, the red polo is the classic approach I am talking about. The navy pants are also great.

Let the Pattern be the moment

If an American flag or any kind of pattern is what you want to wear, let it be the moment. Wear a more neutral pair of pants and shoes to match. Try to tie it together by matching the hat to the pants or to one of the colors in the pattern.

Don’t be so predictable

Yes, it is America’s Day of Freedom, but that does not mean American flags must be all over the clothing. Red, White, and Blue are iconic colors that people recognize as patriotic. There are some nice patterns out there that are great for the holiday, but remember, less can be more for days like the Fourth of July.

The Do not’s of Patriotic Golf Fashion

There is only one thing to avoid for golf fashion on the Fourth of July.

Please do not wear the American flag pattern all over

Less is more, especially when it comes to patriotic patterns. Wearing an American flag top and bottoms is way too much. Opt for the flag shirt and solid bottom or vice versa.

Most patriotic pants are too tacky, so avoid those at all costs.

John Daly is likely the only person who can wear those pants and pull them off because he is that confident.

That does not mean you can purchase one American flag item instead of the entire outfit.

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Savannah Leigh Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. For more golf coverage, follow us @_PlayingThrough on all major social platforms. You can also follow her on Twitter @SportsGirlSL and Instagram @savannah_leigh_sports.

A.I. tried to recreate gymnastics and gave us a Lovecraftian nightmare of unimaginable terror a,i,tried,to,recreate,gymnastics,and,gave,us,a,lovecraftian,nightmare,of,unimaginable,terror,sbnation,com,front-page,olympics

AI tried to recreate gymnastics and gave us a Lovecraftian
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Gymnastics is a stunningly gorgeous sport. A perfect harmony of strength, flexibility, and athleticism that causes us to marvel at what the human body is capable of. Ask a computer to try and parse it’s nuances and you get one of the most terrifying things the world has ever seen. I’m sorry to show you this.

A.I. was prompted to recreate some footage of gymnastics, and it spat out something that’s a mixture of Guillermo del Toro’s wildest nightmares, and a future sequel to The Human Centipede. Contorted human forms become a bizarre mass of flailing limbs, heads vanish into thin air, then a butt with eight legs is performing on the balance beam.

ALL HAIL OCTOBUTT!

I think it’s actually pretty impressive that by just asking A.I. about gymnastics you get some creations that are more terrifying than anything dreamed up by H.P. Lovecraft.

Cthulhu has nothing on Octobutt.