It seems that cooler heads have prevailed in the wake of the collision between Lando Norris and Max Verstappen at the Austrian Grand Prix.
The collision ended any chance at either driver capturing the victory at Red Bull Ring, and with emotions running high in the media pen after the race, there were concerns that the incident could drive a wedge between the friendly rivals. But now both drivers have had their say at the British Grand Prix, and it truly appears that Norris and Verstappen have turned the page.
Norris gave his views during the FIA Press Conference on Thursday, and speaking with Sky Sports F1 Verstappen shared his thoughts, leading with how quickly he reached out to Norris and how “upset” he was by the entire incident.
“That’s why I already said after the race, there’s no point to discuss it now. Emotions are running high and stuff like that,” began the Red Bull driver.
“I woke up already quite early because I wanted to talk to Lando but he already texted me, in the morning on Monday. I think the day after your emotions are a bit lower. I respected that a lot. And we are great friends. He’s a very nice guy, honestly. And of course I was also really upset and disappointed that we got together because naturally, of course on the track you race each other hard, but as a friend as well, you’re very disappointed that happened.
“But I think also quite quickly, when we were talking, we had the same opinion of we have to race each other hard because that’s what we like to do and that’s what we’ve always done. Not only in F1, even when we used to race together online and stuff like that, that’s what we really enjoyed about each other – battling hard, and that’s what we’ll continue to do.”
As Norris noted during the FIA Press Conference, Verstappen enjoyed the battle, despite the climactic conclusion that knocked both drivers out of contention at Red Bull Ring. Verstappen even noted how the two have battled both on-track, and in the virtual racing world.
“For me the only thing I cared about is maintaining my relationship with Lando because we are great friends. After the race I said we have to just things cool down because emotions run high. We immediately spoke on Monday and I think we came to the conclusion that we actually really enjoyed our battle,” said Verstappen.
“We both looked at the incident and it was such a silly little touch that had great consequences for both of us, and naturally a little bit more for Lando with how the puncture then evolved,” continued the Red Bull driver. ”We like to race hard. We have done this for many years, not only in Formula 1 even online racing where we had a lot of fun together. These things have to carry on because that’s what we like to do and that’s what we like to do as well.”
Verstappen indicated that he told Norris that the McLaren driver can “trust” Verstappen not to aim to “crash him out” the next time they tangle on the track.
“We agreed with 99 per cent of everything, which I think is quite a lot already. Naturally, I always said to Lando ‘when you go for moves on the outside or inside, you can trust me that I’m not there to crash you out of the way’. Same the other way around, because we spoke about that as well,” said Verstappen.
“Naturally, there’s always a human reaction when someone dives on the inside or outside that you have a reaction to it. But I felt everything I did was nothing massively over the top. Like how you design a car, you try to go to the edge of the rules, maybe find some grey areas here and there. That’s the same with how you race, otherwise you will never be a top driver or succeed in life.”
When Verstappen was asked about the reaction he might receive at Silverstone — a home race for the McLaren driver that is likely to have a very pro-Norris crowd — Verstappen conceded that one thing matters above all, and it is not the reception he will receive this week.
“The only thing that I care about in my life is that I’m getting on well with Lando,” said Verstappen.
While the speculation coming into the week centered on the incident, and how the two parties would move forward, it seems Norris and Verstappen have put this issue to bed.
Now we all wait to see their next battle on the track.
Heading into the British Grand Prix, the main topic on everyone’s mind in Formula 1 remained the previous race, last weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix. In particular, the moment where it seemed that everything changed, when Lando Norris and Max Verstappen collided on Lap 64, ending each driver’s chances at bringing home a victory.
Much was said and written — as well as debated — regarding that incident. Beyond the usual queries regarding fault and how the incident was handled by race stewards, many wondered if it would impact the relationship between the two drivers, who are friends away from the track.
At Thursday’s FIA Press Conference ahead of the British Grand Prix Norris addressed the incident, walking back some of his harsher comments in the post-race television pen as well as indicating that the drivers have spoken since the collision and that they are “happy” to just to racing again.
“Honestly, I don’t think he needed to apologize,” said Norris Thursday. “Some of the things I said in the pen after the race were more just because I was frustrated at the time, a lot of adrenaline, a lot of emotions and I probably said some things I didn’t necessarily believe in, especially later on in the week.
“It was tough. It was a pretty pathetic incident in terms of what ended both our races. It wasn’t like a hit, it wasn’t like an obvious bit of contact. It was probably one of the smallest bits of contact you could have, but with a pretty terrible consequence for both of us, especially for myself.”
Pressed on whether Verstappen needed to apologize for the incident Norris conceded that there was no need for an apology and that the two have spoken since the Austrian Grand Prix.
“He doesn’t need to. I don’t expect an apology from him. I don’t think he should apologise,” said Norris. “I thought it was, as reviewed, good racing, at times maybe very close to the edge, but like I said we’ve spoken about it and we’re both happy to go racing again.”
Norris also admitted that there are things he needs to do “slightly” differently in the future, but that he would not be changing his racing style dramatically in future battles with Verstappen.
Nor does he expect anything different from his Red Bull rival.
“I think yes, there are definitely things I need to do slightly differently but in the end of it, I don’t think he’s going to change too much, I don’t think I need to change too much,” said Norris. “Could we have avoided the crash? Definitely, because I easily could have used more kerb. But there’s things from both sides that I’m sure we wanted to do better or in a slightly different way.”
Bringing his comments to a close Norris outlined that more than anything else, he is excited to renew his fight with Verstappen on-track.
“It’s clear how he races. It’s tough, it’s on the limit. It’s what we love, it’s what I love,” Norris said. “I thoroughly enjoyed the whole fight I had with him. Of course it was a shame things ended the way they did. But apart from that, things are clear from what you see on TV and I’m excited to go racing again this weekend.”
One of the burning questions following the Austrian Grand Prix was whether Max Verstappen and/or Lando Norris would change their racing style following a dramatic late-race collision that ended both drivers’ chances of securing a victory.
According to Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner, Verstappen will not be changing a thing.
Speaking with Sky Sportsahead of the British Grand Prix the Red Bull boss backed his driver’s approach while noting that future incidents between Norris and Verstappen should be expected given how both drivers are performing at the moment.
“Certainly, from Max’s side, he’s not going to change,” said Horner.
“There’s an element, I think, of Lando learning how to race Max and they’re discovering that. Inevitably, there is going to be more close racing between the two of them as the cars look so close over the forthcoming races.
“Max is a hard racer – he’s probably one of the hardest racers on the circuit and everybody knows that if you’re going to race against Max, he’s going to give as good as he gets.”
Horner also addressed comments made by McLaren Team Principal Andrea Stella immediately after the race. Speaking with Sky Sports F1 analyst Ted Kravitz, Stella outlined how the reluctance of race stewards to intervene in the past — such as during the 2021 season when Verstappen was battling with Lewis Hamilton — led to moments like the incident in Austria.
As you might expect, Horner had a different view.
“He raced incredibly hard in 2021, he’s a tough racer, and he hasn’t really been racing anyone for two years because he’s been out front so much,” Horner said.
“The conflict between the two of them has been building over two, three, four races where they’ve been racing each other closely and hard, and at some point that was always going to spill over – and it did at Turn 3,” began Horner. “He was punished in 2021 if he did something wrong just as Lewis, who he was racing so hard that year, was for things he did wrong.
“I think it’s wrong and unfair to label a driver like that and I’m sure in the heat of the moment it was frustrating for Andrea, but that’s just tough racing. He worked with Michael Schumacher [at Ferrari] for so many years – he of all people should know that.”
During his discussion with Sky Sports, Horner also addressed another burning question following the Austrian Grand Prix: Have Norris and Verstappen discussed the incident?
According to the Red Bull boss, that chat has already happened.
“I understand they’ve spoken already, I don’t think there is any issue,” added Horner.
How the two drivers handle similar battles going forward will be a major storyline throughout the rest of the 2024 campaign. But one thing is clear:
The FIA Press Conference schedules for this weekend’s British Grand Prix — which have yet to be announced — could be fascinating.
As the Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix drew to a close, the fight was on.
A slow pit stop from Red Bull and Max Verstappen opened the door, and Lando Norris barged through the crack. When the two drivers came down pit lane for their final pit stops Verstappen enjoyed a lead of around seven seconds over his friend and rival, but problems on the left rear tire of Verstappen’s RB20 saw the stop last 6.5 seconds, an eternity in F1 terms.
McLaren answered with a stop of just 2.9 seconds, and as the two race leaders lumbered off of pit lane and back onto the track, Norris was within striking distance of Verstappen.
For over ten laps the two pushed themselves, and each other, to the limits. Norris briefly seized the lead for a moment, but with his overtake coming off the track he quickly surrendered the position back to Verstappen. As the two drivers were fighting on the track, they were taking their battle to the stewards via their teams, with both drivers griping about the conduct from their rival over the radio.
Finally, that simmering pot boiled over.
Norris got a run on Verstappen at the start of Lap 64 and seemed to have the edge heading into Turn 3, but as both drivers made the turn Verstappen looked to fend him off, and the two cars came together:
The result? A puncture for both drivers, and an opportunity for George Russell. The Mercedes driver seized the moment, taking the checkered flag for the second victory of his career, and was celebrating on the podium as both Norris and Verstappen licked their wounds.
Verstappen tumbled down to a fifth-place finish — a result that he maintained despite race stewards handing down a ten-second penalty for ruling that he caused the contact between the two — but Norris saw his race end, a bitter result given what seemed possible just moments prior.
Speaking after the race both drivers addressed the incident.
“I’m disappointed, nothing more than that, honestly,” Norris told Sky Sports F1. “It was a good race. I looked forward to probably I’d say just a fair battle, a strong fair battle. But I wouldn’t say that’s what it was in the end.
“Tough one to take. It was a mistake-free race from my side, and I feel like I did a good job but I got taken out of the race, so nothing more than that,” added Norris. “But it’s still a tough one to take when we’re fighting for the win and I’m trying to be fair from my side and he just wasn’t. That’s not what I’m thinking about. I don’t care about that now. I’m just gutted for the team.”
The McLaren driver also indicated that he expected stewards to intervene in the moments before the climactic collision.
“Yeah. I mean there’s a rule. You’re not allowed to react to the other driver and that’s what he did three times out of three. Two times I managed to avoid it and not lock up and run into him, and the third time he just ran into me,” continued Norris. “I was just trying to drive my race. He was clearly a lot slower at the end. He ruined his own race just as much as he ruined mine. There’s nothing more I can do. I did my best and it was good enough. Got ruined through not my own fault.”
On the other side of the clash the Red Bull driver offered his view of the incident.
“Of course from the outside it’s hard to see when I brake. I know in the past it was a bit of a complaint,” Verstappen told Sky Sports F1.
“Now I always move my wheel before I brake then you brake in a straight line trajectory. It’s always easy to say on the outside that I’m moving under the braking, but I think the guy in the car knows best what he’s doing,” continued Verstappen. “Everyone can have their own opinion but I’m the one driving. I’m in control. Of course, from the outside it’s easy to judge and comment but whatever, it’s what happens.”
Pressed on the incident, Verstappen indicated that he would speak with Norris to discuss the matter. “I need to look back at how or why we touched,” he said. “Of course, we will talk about it. It’s just unfortunate it happened.
“I felt like sometimes he dive-bombed so late on the brakes. One time he went straight. One time I had to go around otherwise we would have touched,” continued Verstappen. “I think it’s also the shape of the corner provides these kind of issues sometimes. I’ve had it also the other way around. It is what it is. It’s never nice to come together.”
The convergence at the front of the F1 grid these past few weeks has foreshadowed a moment like this between the two friends, who have now become rivals at the sharp end of the F1 Drivers’ Championship standings. And in many ways the struggle from Red Bull in the pits that opened the door to this climactic ending in Austria was foreshadowed in Miami by none other than Ferrari Team Principal Frederic Vasseur.
Speaking to the media, including SB Nation, in the Ferrari hospitality space in the hours after Lando Norris’ maiden F1 victory Vasseur noted how the increased pressure teams like Ferrari and McLaren were putting on Red Bull could lead to mistakes from the usually mistake-free operation.
“What is true is that compared to one year ago when we are able to do a good job and to put everything together, we are there, it means that we are putting [Red Bull] a little bit under pressure. They have to take to be a bit more aggressive with the strategy,” started Vasseur that Sunday night.
“They are not anymore in the comfort zone of last year when last year that doesn’t matter what’s happened after lap two, they were in front and it’s, I think it’s a game changer in the management of the race,” added Vasseur. “And this, it’s an opportunity for us because that if we are doing another small step, I think that we will be really in a position to fight with them every single weekend.”
Sunday’s slow pit stop from Red Bull, and the ensuing fight between Verstappen and Norris, is exactly what Vasseur was envisioning.
The incident between Norris and Verstappen will certainly be debated in the hours and days to come, but there is no rest for the weary as the grid heads to Silverstone for the British Grand Prix next weekend, the final race of a tripleheader. But what will be critical to watch over those coming hours and days will be how these two drivers respond going forward.
Will Sunday’s incident be just a flashpoint, or yet more foreshadowing of how the rest of the 2024 F1 season will unfold?
Early in the second segment of qualifying for the Austrian Grand Prix, the field was condensed at the front, with not much separating the drivers atop the timing sheets. To that point, the first segment of qualifying was the closest-ever Q1 since the sport implemented the three-segment qualifying format, a testament to just how compact the grid is this season.
Then Red Bull bolted on a fresh set of soft tires onto Max Verstappen’s RB20, and the three-time Drivers’ Champion posted a blistering lap that was almost five-tenths clear of the rest of the field, which remained condensed behind him.
While Lando Norris and company closed that gap in Q3 Verstappen delivered again in the final segment of qualifying, holding Norris off by over four-tenths of a second. Verstappen’s final run of the day was a stunning 1:04.314, another thunderous effort from the champion.
Formula 1 in 2024 has certainly seen the field more compact than ever, but one driver remains at the tip of the spear, and that is Verstappen. The Red Bull driver, hours after securing victory in the F1 Sprint Race despite challenges from Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, captured yet another pole position, setting himself up for another massive day on Sunday.
“No one is near Max Verstappen,” declared Alex Jacques on F1TV. “That was a masterclass.”
“The car felt a lot better for me today,” said Verstappen to Jolyon Palmer trackside after the session. “It’s a great feeling, I think this is a great statement.”
Here are the full results from qualifying, along with some more winners and losers.
Winner: Lando Norris
Lando Norris has answered a bell of his own so far this weekend. The McLaren driver arrived in Austria under the weather and has been battling himself in the cockpit all week long.
Still, he put himself on the front row for the F1 Sprint Race on Friday, and will again start alongside Verstappen in Sunday’s main event.
However, starting alongside Verstappen, while notable, does not finish the job. The real challenge that Norris faces is translating one of these starts next to Verstappen into something bigger.
His second F1 Grand Prix victory.
“Max was a league of his own,” said Norris to Palmer trackside. But can he catch Verstappen tomorrow?
“It’s tough, when you look at the pace it’s clear that we’re gonna have to give it a lot,” added Norris. “I’ll do a better job than this morning, that’s for sure.”
Norris has been brutally honest regarding his performances in recent weeks. He blamed himself for failing to pull out a win at the Spanish Grand Prix despite wrestling pole position away from Verstappen at the death. After Saturday’s F1 Sprint race, he referred to himself as an “amateur” when discussing an early-lap fight with Verstappen that opened the door for teammate Oscar Piastri to snatch P2 away from him. The young driver is his own biggest critic, an admirable quality in this sport.
Having answered one bell already this week, fending off his illness to put in some solid performances, Norris can massively answer another bell tomorrow if he can find a way to keep Verstappen in sight and deliver his second Grand Prix victory.
Losers: Aston Martin
Photo by Bryn Lennon – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images
At this point, it might be fair to ask what is wrong at Aston Martin.
To that point, that is exactly what Jolyon Palmer queried from the F1TV commentary box: “What on earth is going on with that team?” asked Palmer at the end of Q1.
While they were the darlings of the early 2023 F1 season, their fortunes have changed since then. While they arrived sitting sixth in the Constructors’ Championship and were just a few weeks removed from their best result of the season, which saw them bank 14 points at the Canadian Grand Prix thanks to double points from Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll, they finished with anything to show for their efforts in Barcelona, and look on track for something similar this weekend.
Both Alonso and Stroll were eliminated in SQ2 on Friday, and they finished outside the points in the F1 Sprint Race earlier in the day.
Qualifying for the Grand Prix was not much better.
Stroll was eliminated in Q1, placing 17th. Alonso squeaked into Q2, placing the 15th-fastest time in Q1, but his day ended there, as he will start the Austrian Grand Prix in 15th.
In the studio on F1TV Alex Brundle outlined how both Stroll and Alonso were dealing with balance issues on the AMR24. “You can see it really plowing through the middle of the corner,” described Brundle as he talked over replays from Q1 and Q2. “Nasty balance.”
It is fair to point out that during Friday’s FIA Press Conference team boss Mike Krack outlined how tracks such as Barcelona and Red Bull Ring might not suit the AMR24 given its current performance.
“We knew that Barcelona, Spielberg, Silverstone will be hard for us because we struggle in tracks where you have a large spread of corners and also where you have a lot of high-speed corners,” said Krack on Friday. “So it was not a surprise. We raced the same car two weeks before in Montréal, where we came away with the highest points score that we had this year. So it shows you how the situations can change quickly. And also, I think in Montréal, you then run in free air, which helps everything. And in Barcelona, you’re not. We had a lot of degradation in Barcelona and then things get just worse and worse and worse over the course and there’s not much you can do other than bring it home. and that is what we did.”
However, track layout is one thing, and many teams face the occasional track or two that do not suit their challenger. But the bigger question for Aston Martin at the moment is the lack of development. That was an issue for the team last year, as they followed their tremendous start with some mid-season development struggles.
Heading into 2024 the word from the team was that they needed to do a better job of upgrading their challenger throughout the campaign. “We’ve seen, particularly last season, but also the season before, the in-season development races is absolutely fierce, and we want to be as competitive in that as we have been going into the new season,” said Technical Director Dan Fallows at the launch of the AMR24. “So that’s what we’ve been really focussed on is to make sure that we’ve got a good, stable basis for us to go and develop the car and keep those updates coming and keep the performance coming.”
But the upgrades to date have not delivered in this department, as Krack admitted on Friday.
“I think you’re right,” said Krack when asked if the in-season development has stalled as it did a year ago. “I would not say stalled, but I think clearly others do a better job than we do, and that is something that we have to seriously put under scrutiny. There is never one thing in Formula 1, obviously.
“You always have several factors contributing, but I think we have to have a close look at aerodynamics because this is performance differentiator number one in F1 and also how we do how we do these things. So that’s something that is clearly being analysed thoroughly not only now over the last month and I think we have understood some of our issues and trying to solve them as quick as possible. But we still have a long way ahead.”
That long way ahead seems even longer today.
Winner: George Russell
The summer of progress continues at Mercedes.
For the third race weekend in a row, the Brackley-based team put a car into the top three of a Saturday qualifying session. George Russell started that streak with his stunning pole position at the Canadian Grand Prix, which Lewis Hamilton extended with his P3 in qualifying at the Spanish Grand Prix.
Russell continued that on Saturday, capturing P3 after Oscar Piastri’s best lap was deleted for exceeding track limits by the slightest of margins.
In this sport, every margin matters.
Now Mercedes has a chance to extend another streak, as the Silver Arrows have secured 27 points or more in each of the past two race weekends. Mercedes banked 28 points at the Canadian Grand Prix and added 27 more in Barcelona. They enter Sunday’s Austrian Grand Prix having already added eight points to their account, thanks to Russell’s P4 and Hamilton’s P6 in the F1 Sprint Race.
That puts them on a path to keep that streak alive tomorrow in the main event.
“The car’s feeling really great at the moment,” said Russell trackside. “It’s definitely going in the right direction for us.
“Three races in a row for us that we’re in the top three,” added the Mercedes driver.
While Russell conceded that Mercedes’ race is likely with the cars behind him, such as the Ferraris of Carlos Sainz Jr. and Charles Leclerc, as well as a lurking Piastri, the team has certainly made progress over these past few weeks.
That progress has translated into podiums, and with a little luck, it could start translating into something more for Mercedes.
Perhaps even a win.
Losers: Williams
“We know our limitations and these conditions isn’t it. Such a shame, man.”
That was the report from Logan Sargeant following the end of Q1, which saw both Sargeant and teammate Alexander Albon eliminated at the back of the field.
Williams arrived at Red Bull Ring hopeful that the layout would provide fertile ground for improved performance. But that hope has yet to materialize, as their struggles on Friday continued into Saturday. Both Albon and Sargeant — who out-qualified Albon for the first time in his F1 career when he advanced into SQ2 on Friday — were eliminated in Q1, and that left both drivers seeking answers.
However, those answers might not arrive in time for Williams to salvage anything this weekend.
Winner: Nico Hülkenberg
Photo by Bryn Lennon – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images
The last points result for Haas came in the F1 Sprint Race at the Miami Grand Prix. On that hot and humid Saturday afternoon Nico Hülkenberg came across the line seventh, adding a pair of points to the team’s account.
Since then Haas has been kept out of the points, and in that time they have seen Alpine leapfrog them in the Constructors’ Championship standings, thanks to a pair of double-points finishes from Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly over the last two race weekends.
This is a team that badly needed a positive result to answer that challenge, and they took a big step towards that result on Saturday. Both Hülkenberg and Kevin Magnussen advanced to Q2 in Saturday’s session, and while the Danish driver saw his session end there Hülkenberg advanced into Q3, and qualified ninth, matching his previous best this season.
While there is still work to be done, this is a result that the driver, and the team, truly needed.
Incomplete: Sergio Pérez
Sergio Pérez advanced into Q3 and qualified eighth for the Austrian Grand Prix, setting himself up for a solid day of points in Sunday’s main event.
But the Red Bull driver might face more questions than answers right now.
Pérez entered the 2024 F1 season facing questions about his future at Red Bull. With his contract due to expire at the end of the current campaign, Pérez came out firing on all cylinders to start the year, scoring podium finishes in four of the first five race weekends. At the Miami Grand Prix Pérez added another 18 points to his account over the F1 Sprint Race and the Miami Grand Prix itself.
It has been a much different story since then.
The Mexican driver has added just nine points to his account since Miami, and that includes the point he added earlier this morning with an eighth-place finish in the F1 Sprint Race at Red Bull Ring. His eighth-place result in qualifying today matches his best qualifying performance over this difficult stretch, which has also seen Pérez in Q1 twice (Monaco and Canada) and Q2 once, at Imola.
A year ago Pérez endured a similar mid-season swoon, one that effectively ended any thought of him challenging Verstappen atop the Drivers’ Championship standings. However, this mid-season swoon comes in a year where, as noted above, the field has caught the rear wing of Red Bull. Last year the Bulls were able to easily overcome the rest of the field and cruise to a second-straight Constructors’ Championship, even with Pérez’s mid-year struggles.
Could 2024 be a different story?
Improved form from Pérez might end that story, and see Red Bull again pull away from the field in the Constructors’ Championship. But the longer he continues this inconsistent form, the more that door remains open for a team like Ferrari or McLaren to barge through.
For the opening laps of Saturday’s F1 Sprint Race at the Austrian Grand Prix, Max Verstappen’s rear-view mirrors matched the color that filled the grandstands at the Red Bull Ring.
A whole lot of orange.
That orange in Verstappen’s rear-view mirrors, of course, was the color of both Oscar Piastri’s MCL38 and that of Piastri’s teammate, Lando Norris. Over the first few laps of the race Norris was right on Verstappen’s rear wing, and the British driver managed to overtake Verstappen for the lead.
But only for a moment, because Verstappen took the lead back, and the battle between the two friends opened the door for Piastri to execute his attack, and when the dust settled it was Verstappen up in P1, with Piastri in second ahead of his teammate Norris:
And that is how the field finished, with Verstappen pulling away from the two McLarens at the end to capture victory in the F1 Sprint at the Austrian Grand Prix.
Verstappen once again handled the challenges that the field offered up to him, specifically the dual MCL38s of Piastri and Norris, fending them off as he has done so many times before throughout his already legendary Formula 1 career. His effort on Saturday showed that Verstappen remains in control when it comes to the Drivers’ Championship, as he gained two more points on Norris, his closest challenger.
But when it comes to the Constructors’ Championship, as we will discuss in a moment this was a solid session for McLaren. Verstappen and Red Bull remain the favorites in that fight as well, but the Woking-based team is coming, and coming fast. As Norris noted when speaking trackside with Alex Wurz, they could have even more for Red Bull on Sunday. “We’re there, and we can definitely give them a fight tomorrow,” said Norris after the F1 Sprint Race.
Whether Verstappen and Red Bull can fend them off in that Constructors’ fight is a much more open question.
Here are some quick winners and losers, as well as the full results, from Saturday’s F1 Sprint Race at the Austrian Grand Prix.
Winners: McLaren
Lando Norris led Saturday’s F1 Sprint Race for a brief moment, but the big points are handed out on Sunday.
And given where McLaren finished today — with Piastri in second and Norris behind him in third — the team is primed for an even bigger Grand Prix after what Norris called a “good load of points” in the F1 Sprint Race.
Norris’ late lunge by Verstappen will give his friend and budding rival a lot to think about in the overnight hours, which could create even more opportunities should the two lock horns again in the Grand Prix. But perhaps more importantly for McLaren is the fact that both Norris and Piastri demonstrated impressive race pace throughout the F1 Sprint on Saturday. Getting both Piastri and Norris on the podium saw McLaren add another 13 points to their account, inching them closer to both Ferrari and Red Bull in the Constructors’ Championship.
Piastri noted that haul when speaking with Alex Wurz trackside after the sprint. “Yeah, some things to look out for this afternoon and for tomorrow’s race, but we’ll definitely take the points,” described Piastri. “A really good haul compared to the other teams around us.”
All told, the 13 points for McLaren moved them four points closer to Red Bull in the Constructors’ standings, and seven points closer to second-place Ferrari. Those might not seem like massive numbers — and again the big points are handed on on Sunday — but in an F1 season that is looking tighter than ever, every single point counts.
Losers: Alpine
Both Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly advanced to SQ3, and after a failure for Charles Leclerc in the closing minutes of that segment of F1 Sprint Qualifying, both Alpine drivers qualified ahead of Leclerc, putting Alpine in a position for points on Saturday.
They saw the session end without anything to show for their effort.
Both Alpines were shuffled back in the order, with Ocon coming across the line 11th and Gasly behind him in 12th. That might signal that when it comes to longer runs and race pace, Alpine still has some questions to answer.
In addition, there were a few close calls between the teammates as they wound around Red Bull Ring, moments that probably saw Team Principal Bruno Famin’s heart rate spike a bit, given what happened at the start of the Monaco Grand Prix just a few short weeks ago.
Those moments also led to the producers on F1TV cutting to Famin watching on … with Jack Doohan alongside him.
Make of that what you will.
Winner: Charles Leclerc
Starting tenth was not the way Charles Leclerc wanted to begin his F1 Sprint Race.
But given where he began, finishing seventh — and inside the points — was an impressive performance.
During the third segment of qualifying for the F1 Sprint Race on Friday, Leclerc’s SF-24 went into anti-stall along pit lane, costing him precious moments as the seconds ticked down. Leclerc was able to get his car rolling and onto the circuit, but he could not post a lap in time, and as a result, started outside the points on Saturday.
Despite that, Leclerc rocketed off the line after the lights went out, picking up multiple spots to work inside the top eight. Among those he was able to overtake? Sergio Pérez in the RB20.
That might speak volumes about what we see on Sunday.
As for what we might see this afternoon, however, a seemingly frustrated Leclerc hinted at some more aggression regarding the upcoming qualifying session:
Following the checkered flag in SQ3, it looked as if McLaren had locked out the front row. Oscar Piastri put his MCL38 on provisional pole with a banger of a lap, only to see Lando Norris nip him with a thunderous lap of his own.
But on the track, Max Verstappen was looming.
The Dutch driver was screaming around Red Bull Ring, pushing his RB20 to the ultimate edge. And as he cut the line with his own final push lap in SQ3, you did not need to look at the timing boards to see the result.
You just needed to hear the crowd.
The Red Bull-friendly crowd roared to life as Verstappen’s lap rocketed him to the top of the timing sheets, securing yet another pole position for one of the sport’s greatest drivers. The sea of orange in the crowd roared to life, and the orange flares overcame the mass of humanity watching on.
Their hero had done it yet again.
”Everything has been working really well. Good start to the weekend, I’m happy with today,” said Verstappen to Davide Valsecchi trackside.
Asked about the threat Norris could pose, Verstappen was his usual calm, cool, and collected self.
“I mean, we’ll find out tomorrow,” began Verstappen. “I’m not really too stressed about it. I’m gonna enjoy my eventing and we’ll try it again tomorrow.”
And if today’s performance from Verstappen is any indication, he might enjoy his day tomorrow as well.
Here are more winners and losers from F1 Sprint Qualifying at the Austrian Grand Prix, as well as the full results:
Winner: Logan Sargeant
Logan Sargeant was eventually eliminated in SQ2 and will start the F1 Sprint Race in P15. In addition, what might have been a lap that put him into SQ3 was deleted due to exceeding track limits. “I didn’t get T1 and T3 right,” admitted Sargeant after SQ2.
But this was still a win for the American driver, who is facing a very uncertain future in the sport.
Sargeant advanced into SQ2, ahead of teammate Alexander Albon. It was the first time in his F1 career that he qualified ahead of Albon, marking a personal achievement for the Williams driver.
This might not be enough to save Sargeant’s spot at Williams, given the speculation about options such as Carlos Sainz Jr. for the team starting in 2025, but this could be a sign that Sargeant is continuing to improve his racecraft. Performances such as this could see Sargeant emerge as an option elsewhere if Williams truly moves in a different direction for 2025 as is expected.
Loser: Daniel Ricciardo
Photo by Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Images
With the caveat that this is just F1 Sprint Qualifying and the big points are still to come this weekend, if you are Daniel Ricciardo this is not how you want the week to start.
The Austrian Grand Prix began with rumors swirling regarding Ricciardo’s future in the sport, with Dr. Helmut Marko outlining how the command could come from on high to put Liam Lawson into a seat at Visa Cash App RB F1 Team and noted F1 journalist Joe Saward speculating that such a move could happen this summer. That led to Ricciardo himself addressing his uncertain future during media day Thursday, with an acknowledgment that he needed improved performance to solidify his spot at VCARB.
Being eliminated in SQ1 — and seeing Yuki Tsunoda advance into SQ2 — is not the start to the weekend you want if you are Ricciardo.
Again, there is a lot of time left on the track this weekend, and the big points start coming on Saturday with qualifying for the Grand Prix. But Ricciardo needs to step up his game if he is going to keep his spot, something the driver himself admitted on Thursday.
Winners: Alpine
The progress continues over at Alpine.
Yet again both Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly advanced into the final segment of qualifying, with both drivers moving into SQ3 on Friday. While both Alpine drivers finished at the back of that group — with Ocon set to start the F1 Sprint Race in P8 and Gasly back in P9 — it is another sign that the team is moving in the right direction.
Sure, you can point to the fact that the only driver they beat in SQ3 was Charles Leclerc, who did not post a time due to a stall on pit lane shortly before the session ended, but you can also point to how close Ocon was to Sergio Pérez on merit. The Red Bull driver posted a 1:06.008 in SQ3, while Ocon posted a 1:06.101.
That is not a large margin at all.
Alpine has been talking about progress for weeks now, starting with their first point of the season at the Miami Grand Prix. But the progress is truly taking shape with their recent results, as they scored double-points finishes in each of the last two weekends. Given where Ocon and Gasly start tomorrow, they have a chance to keep that streak alive.
Something unimaginable when the season began, given how they started the 2024 campaign.
Loser: Charles Leclerc
Generally speaking, you want to put in your best push lap at the absolute end of a session, because the track will have “rubbered in” as much as possible, leading to the best possible time.
That led to an amusing situation during SQ3 as the session began, and the final ten waited in their respective garages. As the clock ticked down, some drivers, such as George Russell, started to get impatient, with Russell saying to his team “we need to get on with it” before the session came to a close.
Eventually the ten drivers lumbered out of the garage, but unfortunately for Charles Leclerc, his SF-24 went through an anti-stall as he rode down pit lane. While Leclerc was able to get his car going again, he could not get his push lap started before the checkered flag flew, and he ended up not posting a time.
That means he will start the F1 Sprint Race down in P10.
Leclerc can still make up some spots on the grid in the F1 Sprint Race itself, and perhaps salvage a result on Saturday. But he will be fighting at the back end of the points to start, and not up front where he wanted to be.
Winners: McLaren
Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images
Following the Monaco Grand Prix, it looked as if the potential fight at the top of the Constructors’ Championship was a two-way fight between Red Bull and Ferrari.
Since then, McLaren has crashed the party.
And then some.
Friday’s F1 Sprint Qualifying session showed again that McLaren has true pace this season, and for a moment it looked as if the front row would be all orange when the F1 Sprint Race began tomorrow. Lando Norris was on provisional pole, with Oscar Piastri right beside him.
As he has done so many times before Max Verstappen answered that challenge, rocketing to the top of the timing sheets, but when the lights go out tomorrow two McLarens will be at the front once more, with a chance to bring home some critical points in that three-way fight.
Furthermore, given where Ferrari finds themselves on the grid for tomorrow’s Sprint Race, McLaren has a chance to pull even closer to the Scuderia in the standings.
Zooming out for a moment, the pace from the MCL38 we have seen today illustrates that yet again, Norris could be primed to challenge Verstappen in the Austrian Grand Prix itself. That story has yet to be told, and tomorrow’s Qualifying session could provide more twists and turns, but McLaren has certainly put themselves in the mix given their recent form, and today’s F1 Sprint Qualifying session is just the latest evidence of that fact.
Losers: Sauber
The tough times roll on for Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu.
Both drivers were eliminated in SQ1 on Friday, with Bottas finishing P18 and Zhou at the back of the field, in P20.
Sauber is still seeking their first point of the 2024 F1 season, and given where they are set to start the F1 Sprint Race on Saturday, it seems apparent that the first result will not come in that event.
More worrisome might be the lack of pace they showed in both SQ1 as well as Friday’s only practice session, which saw Zhou in P14 and Bottas in P15. That was not enough to get them into SQ2, and that pace could see them struggle again in qualifying for the Grand Prix itself.
Immediately after qualifying on Saturday at the Spanish Grand Prix Lando Norris stated that it took a “perfect lap” to beat Max Verstappen. Norris pipped the Red Bull driver by two-hundredths of a second to capture the second pole position of his career, putting him in position to score his second victory of the season.
Moments later at the FIA Press Conference, the McLaren driver went even further, outlining how his final lap needed to be “balls out” to beat Verstappen.
“I mean, we’re always close. I don’t think any practice was split by more than a tenth between the top five,” described Norris. “So I was expecting the same as that, and I think it was. Probably Max was always two and a half tenths ahead of everyone, both Q1 and Q2 in the runs we did. And we did three laps, you know, we did three runs, four runs in the end altogether. So you do four laps throughout the whole of qualifying. But every time was like missing a little bit to Max and a lot of it was high speed.
“So I knew for the final lap, I’ve got to go balls out and do it, you know. And I managed to get that little bit, like that, you know, 200ths, 300ths, 400ths that I was needing to get out of Max I managed to get. So I’m happy the risks paid off and for all of it to come together when I needed it most was great.”
Norris elaborated on how good it felt to put together that kind of lap, in that moment and on that stage.
“I mean, I’m probably going to get back and Jarv [Andrew Jarvis], my engineer, is going to tell me that I’ve messed something up, but I think it’s so tricky nowadays, with the car and the [tires], and we’re pushing so much, just to put everything together,” outlined Norris. “You might be able to do half of it once and half of it another or mix it up, but to kind of put all of it right at that limit is very tricky and I’m sure every driver would say the same. So very rewarding when you do and when you do it and end up on pole because of it, it’s even sweeter.”
“It feels great, yeah. I mean, poles always feel good, and it’s the second one in my career. I mean, I’ve had two Sprint race poles, but I don’t regard that at all as a pole position. So, yeah, this is the second one of my career. It’s been a while since Sochi, all the way back then, so… Yeah, it feels great,” continued Norris. “I mean, it was an amazing lap.
“Honestly, it was my best lap by a long way. I pretty much put the whole lap together, so I got a nice slipstream. I think probably my best corner around the lap, every single part of it put together. Max was a bit ahead in Q1, Q2. I knew I had to kind of do something perfect in Q3 to do it. And that’s exactly what I did. So I’m pretty happy that I managed to pull off probably my best lap that I’ve done probably ever.”
As we outlined earlier today after diving into the data, Norris secured pole position with a strong performance in Sector 1 and into Sector 2. While Verstappen was stronger on the straights, particularly the long straight coming out of Turn 14 and back to the start/finish line, Norris built a lead during that earlier portion of the track, and Verstappen could not make up the difference.
Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images
Capturing pole position is one thing, but can Norris win on Sunday?
The McLaren driver certainly believes he can.
“I don’t have any concerns,” added Norris. “I mean I’m excited. It’s a long run down to Turn 1. It’s probably one of the places you don’t want to start on pole, but it’s an opportunity for us to go out and try and win a race you know.
“We’ve not done loads of long running. We’ve done a bit and I think we were close, as it always has been. I think tomorrow is not like this car is way quicker. I think between Mercedes, ourselves, Red Bull, Ferrari, there’s eight cars that could have probably been on pole today and that have a chance of probably winning the race tomorrow,” continued Norris. “So it’s about making the least mistakes, similar to today, and just trying to execute another good race that we normally do.”
He might need to go “balls out” yet again to pull off a win on Sunday.
Saturday’s qualifying session at the Formula 1 Spanish Grand Prix delivered one of the more thrilling hours in recent memory. A back-and-forth fight for pole position saw Max Verstappen put his RB20 on provisional pole in the closing seconds of Q3, but Lando Norris snatched P1 from his friend at the death, capturing pole position by just two-hundredths of a second.
How did Norris pull off the win, and what might Saturday’s results tell us about Sunday?
Let’s dive into the data a bit, thanks to our friends at F1-Tempo. First we can look at the “track dominance” map, highlighting where each car was faster on their final laps in Q3. As you might expect given recent history, the RB20 was faster on the straights — particularly the long straight coming out of Turn 14 and back to the start/finish line — while the MCL38 was quicker through some of the corners:
As you can see Norris — highlighted in the orange — was quicker particularly in Sector 1, which includes the initial chicane coming out of the long straight as well as the sweeping corner coming out of Turn 3 and heading into Repsol at Turn 4.
But on the straighter portions of the track, and the long straight itself, Verstappen was faster.
Verstappen also posted the highest speed on that long straight, a mark of 329 kilometers per hour. As you can see in this next image, that came near the end of the straight, heading into Turn 1. By comparison, Norris was 5 kph slower at that point:
Looking at the delta between the two cars at that point, Verstappen had an edge on the lap of 0.054 seconds per Norris at that point, coming out of that long straight:
Then as the cars hit Turn 1, Verstappen’s advantage was up to 0.125 seconds:
But as you can see from that above graph, Norris then built a lead as Sector 1 came to a close and Sector 2 began, and he held that lead throughout the rest of the lap, fending off a late challenge from Verstappen coming out of Turn 14 and back to the start/finish line (more on that in a second).
Norris built that lead through Turns 3, 4, and 5. As you can see from the initial “track dominance” map, Norris was quicker from Turn 3 into Turn 4, and while Verstappen had an edge from Turn 4 into Turn 5, Norris built a lead he would not give back. In fact, by the time both cars came out of Turn 5 Norris had gone from being 0.125 seconds down at one point, to being up 0.167 seconds on his friend and rival:
And if you look at the entire delta graph, while Verstappen was able to. close that gap over the rest of the lap, he could not make up the difference.
However, there is something to note regarding the final turn, Turn 14, as alluded to above. Take a look at the throttle data for that final turn:
As you can see, while Norris lifted just a bit heading into Turn 14, Verstappen was able to keep the hammer down through the final turn, giving him a huge run of momentum into the long straight and back to the start/finish line.
That has led to some believing that Verstappen is primed for an even bigger Sunday:
Turn 14 reveals Ferrari’s weakness (which is RedBull’s strength)
Ferrari has less downforce than the othersLEC lifted significantly (72% throttle, 267km/h)
HAM and NOR only needed a tiny lift… but VER remained full throttle! His superior downforce reveals a race-focused… pic.twitter.com/dKOF08O8AZ
— Formula Data Analysis (@FDataAnalysis) June 22, 2024
“Lando Norris with perhaps one of the finest laps he’s turned in a Formula 1 car.”
That was the description from Alex Jacques in the commentary box on F1TV after the checkered flag flew at the end of qualifying. And if Saturday’s qualifying session at the Spanish Grand Prix is any indication, the rest of this F1 season may be filled with tremendous drama.
Max Verstappen threw down the gauntlet throughout qualifying, and as the seconds ticked down it looked as if the Red Bull driver was going to fend off the challengers in the field. Verstappen was on provisional pole position, but there were still a few drivers on the track.
Including Norris.
The McLaren driver delivered what he described as a “perfect” lap, a thunderous performance that snatched P1 away from his friend and rival Verstappen at the death. While Verstappen was denied pole last time out at the Canadian Grand Prix despite setting the same time as George Russell, Norris finished two hundreds ahead of his friend.
It is the second pole position of the McLaren driver’s career.
Can he translate that into a victory?
Norris said that is the “plan.”
“Of course, I can,” said Norris trackside when asked he he can translate pole position into a victory. “That’s our target. But I know it’s gonna be tough against Max, against Lewis, anyone behind. But we’re to win now.
“So, that’s my plan.”
Norris and McLaren kick off our list of winners and losers during qualifying at the Spanish Grand Prix. Here are the full results, as well as some more winners and losers from a thrilling Saturday in Barcelona.
Losers: Williams
The last time Williams finished in the points at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya? That came back at the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix when both Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa came across the line in the top ten. Since then, Barcelona has been a points desert for the team.
That looks to continue this weekend.
Williams has been on the back foot all week, and that continued with qualifying on Saturday. Both Alexander Albon and Logan Sargeant were eliminated in Q1, and the team will face an uphill climb to try and secure points in Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix.
With their two drivers set to start alongside each other on the back row of the grid.
When the team launched their challenger for the 2024 season in New York City in February, the talk from the team was that the FW46 was going to be a more well-rounded car than last season’s challenger. A year ago you knew where the FW45 was going to be strong, particularly at high-speed circuits with lots of straights. Entering 2024, the team was hoping to find a more complete challenger.
While they may have achieved that goal, Barcelona remains tough sledding for the team.
“It’s been a painful weekend guys … I’ll keep trying my best,” reported Sargeant following Q1.
Williams will need something even better than that on Sunday if they are going to break their points-less Barcelona streak.
Winners: Sauber
Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images
Finally.
For the first time all season long, Sauber had a reason to work on both sides of the garage in Q2. Both Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu advanced out of Q1, for the first time this year. Bottas was 13th-fastest in Q1, with Zhou right behind him in P14.
While their days ended in Q2, as both Bottas and Zhou failed to advance, it was certainly a step forward for the team during a year that has seen Sauber struggle. The year began with frustration in the pits, as races where the team demonstrated good pace were undone by lengthy pit stops and a problem with cross-threading issues on the wheel nuts of the C44.
Those issues were finally resolved, and now they have their first weekend with both cars in Q2.
Can they translate that into points? With both drivers starting just on the outside of the top ten — with Bottas in P12 and Zhou in P15 — they certainly have a shot.
Losers: VCARB
Both Daniel Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda described Friday as a struggle for the Visa Cash App RB F1 Team.
Saturday was not much better.
Ricciardo and Tsunoda were both eliminated in Q1, and are set to start alongside each other on the penultimate row of the grid. Ricciardo posted the 18th-fastest time in Q1, with Tsunoda just ahead of him in P17.
VCARB brought a set of upgrades to Barcelona, like many teams, and the word from the team after Friday’s session was that the upgrades were working as expected. “The main upgrade we brought here is the floor, and with these cars, it’s such a big part of development,” reported Ricciardo in the team’s post-practice report Friday. “There’s still some optimism and once we dive into it tonight, we’ll find how it’s working and better ways to set up the car around it.”
“We’re happy with the numbers coming from the upgrade, all is working well and no issues there,” described Sporting Director Alan Permane. “The focus will be on the mechanical side of the car and improving the suspension setup.”
But judging by the results Saturday, the team is still looking for answers on the setup.
Winners: Alpine
Following Friday’s two practice sessions both Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly seemed surprised with the performance from Alpine. With both drivers finishing FP2 inside the top ten — and Gasly in P4 — the Alpine duo wondered if that result offered a true picture of how things stood. “To end the day with both cars in the top-10 is a little bit unexpected from where we thought we would be entering the weekend on this particular track,” said Ocon. “Obviously, we do not know what the others are doing but overall, it is a positive start to the weekend.”
Gasly described it as a bit of flattery.
“It’s been a positive Friday for us, especially Free Practice 2,” added Gasly. “The end result, finishing in fourth place, probably flatters us and it was certainly a surprise, but a pleasant surprise, and one that brings a smile to my face!”
Those pleasant surprises continued into Saturday.
Both Ocon and Gasly advanced into Q3, marking just the second time this season that both drivers lasted into the third segment of qualifying.
Gasly ended Q3 in P7, with Ocon in P9. But with Sergio Pérez between them in P8 — and facing a grid drop for a penalty handed down following the Canadian Grand Prix — Alpine enters Sunday’s Grand Prix in position for big points this weekend.
Along with perhaps some more flattery.
Losers: Aston Martin
“We do not know what we’re going to get at the start of every weekend,” reported Fernando Alonso at the start of the week, as relayed by Alex Jacques during the F1TV broadcast.
That seems to be the case at the moment with Aston Martin.
While Alonso and teammate Lance Stroll advanced out of Q2, both drivers saw their Saturday sessions end there. Alonso just missed out on Q3 and will start the Spanish Grand Prix in P11. As for Stroll, after avoiding a penalty for an incident with Lewis Hamilton in FP3 he could not avoid the drop at the end of Q2 and will start Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix in P15.
Returning to Alonso, speaking at the FIA Press Conference on Thursday the veteran driver outlined his current thoughts on the AMR24.
“About the car and the understanding: I think we have clear ideas of what we have to improve. Obviously I will not share here with everyone. I think it is quite obvious for everyone that qualifying has been our strength this year and race pace has been a little bit weak,” described Alonso on Thursday. “The straight-line speed and the DRS effect is quite strong also this year in our car but there are a lot of weaknesses as well that we are identifying now with the new package as well, so yeah I think we’re in a good place.”
That might not exactly be the case, given what we saw Saturday. Is this a track-specific issue for the team, or is something else happening at Aston Martin with their 2024 challenger?
Winners: Mercedes
Photo by Kym Illman/Getty Images
With all the accolades he has earned over a tremendous F1 career, Lewis Hamilton was seeking something on Saturday that was a bit outside the norm.
A start inside the top six.
Despite all the success he has enjoyed over his career, Hamilton had yet to qualify inside the top six this season. His best starting spot in a Grand Prix this year was seventh, something he had done three times: Japan, Monaco, and Canada.
Hamilton will start Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix not just inside the top six, but on the second row. A thunderous lap of his own late in Q3 saw the Mercedes driver secure P3, and with teammate George Russell qualifying fourth, the Silver Arrows have locked out the second row, putting them in position for another huge points weekend.
“I’m really happy,” shared Hamilton trackside after qualifying. “Firstly, thank you everyone. So, so happy to be here and super grateful to be up in the top three. It’s been quite a difficult year so [a] huge amount of work for me going back to the factory.
“And finally, we’re starting to see those incremental steps moving closer to the guys ahead. I didn’t expect us to be fighting for pole necessarily, but every now and then [it looks like with] little bits there and maybe we’ll be close. And so to be there, I’m just grateful.”
Hamilton also praised his teammate and believes that given their starting position, he and Russell can put some pressure on Verstappen and Norris up front.
“Yeah, we’ve made [a] huge step forwards and it’s really just down to every single individual back to the factory who’s pushing in design, pushing and making the new parts that we get to bring as early as possible to these races,” added Hamilton. “And slowly the car is crafting into a racing machine that we can hopefully fight the guys at the front.
“So, George did a great job as well today. So hopefully tomorrow we can apply pressure on the two cars ahead.”
The tremendous result for Mercedes comes at a fascinating time for the team. Not only are they on the cusp of Hamilton’s impending departure to Ferrari at the end of the season, but reports surfaced this week of an anonymous email sent to F1 journalists after the Canadian Grand Prix alleging disparate treatment between Hamilton and Russell by Mercedes. Team Principal Toto Wolff blasted that email during Friday’s FIA Press Conference, indicating that the matter had been referred to police and dismissing “conspiracy theorists and lunatics,” but this is a strange season for the team. One that began with Hamilton’s shocking announcement, and saw Mercedes begin the year on the back foot.
But recent upgrades, including a new front wing, have seen them move to the front the past few races. They are coming off their best result of the season in Montreal, and look primed for something even bigger tomorrow.
Winners: All of us
I honestly yelled.
Watching on my couch as Norris pipped Verstappen for pole position, I let out a shout in my living room … and regretted not making the trek across the pond to see this in person. But if you feel like we are witnessing a season that may go down in F1 history, you are not alone.
“This season is just delivering time and time again … this is the finest season of Formula 1 I can remember.”
Those were the words of David Coulthard in the F1TV commentary box, as Saturday’s qualifying session drew to a close. And the former F1 champion is not alone in this assessment. Take a spin through social media — a huge shoutout to my friends on F1 Threads — and you will see comment after comment about how exciting this season is, and what kind of finish we may be in store for.
When I spoke with McLaren’s Oscar Piastri following his tremendous second-place finish at the Monaco Grand Prix, the Australian driver informed me in no uncertain terms that neither championship — the Constructors’ Championship nor the Drivers’ Championship — was “done and dusted.” Yes, Red Bull remains the favorite in the Constructors’ title, and certainly Verstappen remains the favorite in the Drivers’ Championship. But neither title race has been put to bed.
Read that again, because we truly have a pair of title races upon us this season.
And while last year’s winners remain the favorites, if Red Bull and Verstappen are going to repeat as champions they will truly have earned it, as the field is throwing everything at them at the moment. Perhaps the biggest challenge to Red Bull and Verstappen came at last year’s Monaco Grand Prix when the Saturday qualifying session saw the driver pushed to the absolute limit. He answered the call that day, and throughout the rest of the season, similar challenges were few and far between.
Now? The challenges to Red Bull and Verstappen are not just happening week-to-week, they are almost happening on a lap-to-lap basis. There is almost no margin for error for Red Bull and Verstappen, and how they respond is going to be a tremendous story to follow throughout this campaign.
Whether they answer the call, or another team and/or driver delivers a stunning run to a title, will be fascinating to watch.
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