Charles Leclerc Tag

By FIA Mercedes locked out the front row of the grid for the sixth time this season as Lewis Hamilton beat team-mate Valterri Bottas to pole position for the French Grand Prix by almost three tenths of a second. Charles Leclerc was the dominant team’s closest rival, finishing more than six tenths of a second behind championship leader Hamilton. Bottas was in control in the opening segment, the Finn setting a session-best time of 1:30.550 to edge Hamilton by 0.059s and when the chequered flag came out the Mercedes duoRead More

By FIA Valtteri Bottas edged team-mate Lewis Hamilton by four hundredths of a second to take top spot in final practice for the French Grand Prix, as Mercedes once again dominated the timesheets at the Circuit Paul Ricard. Bottas went quickest in the first half of the session using soft tyres. The Finn set a best time of 1:30.853 to lead Hamilton by two tenths of a second before the pair retreated to the Mercedes garage to prepare for their qualifying simulations. And when they bolted on a fresh set ofRead More

By FIA Valtteri Bottas maintained Mercedes’ hold on top spot of the timesheets in free practice for the French Grand Prix, with the Finn beating team-mate Lewis Hamilton, who went quickest in the morning session, by more than four tenths of a second. Bottas, who goes into the weekend second in the Drivers’ standings, set the pace early in the second session on medium compound tyres and following a move to softs for a performance run he lowered the benchmark to 1:30.937. Hamilton might have been expected to challenge thatRead More

By FIA Lewis Hamilton beat team-mate Valtteri Bottas to the top of the timesheet at the Circuit Paul Ricard as Mercedes set the pace in the first practice session for this weekend’s French Grand Prix. FIA Formula One World Championship leader Hamilton took P1 more than three tenths of a second over third-placed Charles Leclerc of Ferrari. Apart from brief spells when rivals bolted on new tyre before them, the Mercedes pair largely monopolised the top two spots from early in the session. Hamilton and Bottas traded fastest time as theyRead More

By FIA Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton took a record-equalling seventh Canadian Grand Prix but only after Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel was handed a five-second time penalty for re-entering the track unsafely following a mistake with 22 laps remaining. Leading from the start, Vettel had only relinquished control of the race during his solitary pit stop on lap lap 26 of the 70-lap race. However, on lap 48, under heavy pressure from second-placed Hamilton, Vettel made a mistake. He lost control of the rear of his car on entry to the Turn3/4 chicaneRead More

By FIA Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel claimed his first pole position of the 2019 Formula 1 season, beating championship leader Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes by two tenths of a second to secure top spot on the grid for tomorrow’s Canadian Grand Prix. Charles Leclerc took third place ahead of Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo. In Q1 Sebastian Vettel topped the timesheet with a lap of 1:11.200. That left him 0.014s ahead of Ferrari team-mate Leclerc and 0.029s in front of third-placed Valtteri Bottas of Mercedes. Max Verstappen progressed to Q2 with a timeRead More

By FIA Sebastian Vettel led the way in the final practice for the Canadian Grand Prix beating Charles Leclerc to the top of the timesheet by 0.139s as Ferrari claimed the top two spots ahead of Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas. After a slow start to the session, the Ferrari drivers quickly moved to the top of the times when the action properly got underway after some 20 minutes. Leclerc initially took control with a time of 1:11.596 but Vettel then edged past that with a lap of 1:11.557.Read More

By FIA Charles Leclerc beat Ferrari team-mate Sebastian Vettel to the top of the timesheet in the second free practice session for this weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix, as reigning FIA F1 Champion crashed out. Hamilton who had shown good pace in the morning session to edge team-mate Valtteri Bottas by a tenth of a second and to gap his Ferrari rivals by almost a second, was also quickest also quickest in the opening exchanges of FP2. A little under half an hour into the session the Briton swapped medium tyresRead More

By FIA Lewis Hamilton topped the opening practice session for the Canadian Grand Prix, the championship leader setting a best time of 1:12.767, to end the session just 0.147s clear of Mercedes team-mate Bottas. After a first half hour in which Max Verstappen went quickest on what he branded “an insanely dirty” track, Hamilton and Bottas took to the track and the Finnish driver immediately jumped to the top of the order with a time of 1:14.160. The pair then traded fastest times until Bottas seized control with a lapRead More

By FIA Lewis Hamilton successfully managed to keep severely worn tyres alive to keep his close rivals at bay in Monaco and take his third win in the Principality ahead of Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel and Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas. Early in the race Hamilton pitted for medium tyres during a Safety Car period sparked by local hero Charles Leclerc shedding debris across the track following a puncture. With the cars directly behind targeting a long stint until the end of the race having taken on hard tyres, Hamilton was leftRead More