Belgian Grand Prix Tag

By FIA Charles Leclerc topped the timesheet in the second free practice session for the Belgian Grand Prix, eclipsing Ferrari team-mate Sebastian Vettel by more than six tenths of a second and running more than eight tenths quicker than the third placed Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas. After being edged out of P1 by Vettel in the morning session Leclerc quickly moved to the top of the order in the afternoon, going quickest in the early phases run on medium-tyres. Vettel was the first to move to soft tyres and attemptRead More

By FIA Sebastian Vettel outpaced team-mate Charles Leclerc by two tenths of a second to head a Ferrari one-two in the opening practice session for this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix. Ferrari, which won here last year courtesy of Vettel, are again tipped as potential winners of this race and four-time champion Vettel established the team’s credentials midway through the morning session at Spa-Francorchamps, edging out Leclerc after the Monegasque racer had earlier displaced Red Bull’s Max Verstappen from top spot. Vettel’s 1:44.574 was 0.210 clear of Leclerc’s best time andRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer PORTLAND, Ore. – Marcus Ericsson has been given the nod to be Alfa Romeo Racing’s reserve driver in Formula One for the Belgian Grand Prix, forgoing IndyCar’s Grand Prix of Portland. With the sudden news coming out of left field, ARROW Schmidt Peterson Motorsports issued a brief statement regarding Ericsson’s absence at Portland. “Following a request from Alfa Romeo Racing of Marcus Ericsson to be on the ground at this weekend’s Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix, ARROW Schmidt Peterson Motorsports has granted Marcus a release fromRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Red Bull Racing are no strangers of making midseason changes to promote a Scuderia Toro Rosso driver. Despite rumors of both teams retaining their drivers for the duration of 2019, that all went out the window Monday with a bombshell announcement. RBR confirmed during the summer break that Alexander Albon has been promoted to the team. This meant Pierre Gasly’s tenure with the team ends after 12 rounds as he’ll head back to STR for the final nine rounds. “Red Bull are in the unique positionRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Fourteen rounds done, seven to go, and since my first installment, there’s been so many changes across all 10 Formula 1 constructors and its 20 drivers. A few would-be contenders have gone by the wayside like Fernando Alonso and Red Bull, and others have flourished after a quiet or abysmal opening leg such as Kimi Raikkonen and Haas F1. We even saw a hot mess behind closed doors, resulting a new constructor and have so far been tremendous. In my latest installment of “Heptagon Viewpoints,”Read More

By FIA Sebastian Vettel closed the gap on championship leader Lewis Hamilton with a controlled drive to the flag after overtaking the championship leader on a chaotic first lap defined by a Turn 1 collision that took out Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg, McLaren’s Fernando Alonso and Sauber’s Charles Leclerc. Max Verstappen took the final podium spot Red Bull Racing. At the start, Vettel got away well to immediately put pole-sitter Hamilton under pressure. But behind chaos was unfolding. Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg, starting fro P18, locked up massively on the approach toRead More

By FIA Lewis Hamilton took his 77th career pole position at Spa-Francorchamps, making the most of difficult wet conditions in the final Q3 segment of qualifying to beat Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel and surprise third-placed qualifier Esteban Ocon of Racing Point Force India to the front of the grid for the Belgian Grand Prix. In the early stages of Q1, Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen led the way using soft tyres to set a time 1:42.585. He was joined on the yellow-banded rubber by team-mate Vettel, who slotted into P2, and the Mercedes drivers.Read More

By FIA Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel topped the timesheet in final practice for the Belgian Grand Prix, finishing just six hundredths of a second ahead of team-mate Kimi Räikkönen in a session that was interrupted by a late crash for local hero Stoffel Vandoorne. The McLaren driver was on the hot lap of his qualifying simulation when he came across the slower Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas at the Raidillon corner. As Bottas took a wide line as he moved onto the Kemmel Straight, just as Vandoorne moved to pass the MercedesRead More

By FIA Sebastian Vettel went quickest in opening practice for the Belgian Grand Prix, edging Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen by just over a tenth of a second, with championship leader Lewis Hamilton three tenths off the pace in third place. As the first half hour of the 90-minute session came to a close Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas rose to the top of the order with a time of 1:44.998s, set on soft tyres. Hamilton then moved ahead of that mark by more three tenths of a second and that timeRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer The FIA have approved the mid-season entry of Racing Point Force India Formula 1 Team ahead of this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps. The colors remain the same, however, the change in names also means that Sahara Force India is loses all its constructors points and is prohibited from competing in the Formula 1 World Championship. A rebirth prevented that threat, as the Lawerence Stroll-led and newly branded Racing Point Force India is set to make their Formula 1 debut, bearing the colors pink,Read More