Charles Leclerc Tag

By FIA Lewis Hamilton set a new Monaco track record on his way to his 85thcareer pole position, with the five time world champion setting a lap of 1:10.166 to edge Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas by 0.086s. Max Verstappen took third place for Red Bull Racing ahead of Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel. There was a disastrous miscalculation on the other side of the Ferrari garage, however, as the team kept Charles Leclerc in the garage in the final runs of Q1. The Monegasque driver plummeted down the timesheet as the finalRead More

By FIA Charles Leclerc topped the final practice session for his home Monaco Grand Prix, with the Ferrari driver beating Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas by just five hundredths of a second, with Lewis Hamilton third. There was trouble for Leclerc’s team-mate Sebastian Vettel who crashed out early in the session. With 17 minutes on the clock Vettel was third on the timesheet as drivers worked their way into session. The German was winding out for another quick lap on soft tyres but he locked up into the Sainte Devote right-hander atRead More

By FIA Mercedes powered away from its rivals in second practice for the Monaco Grand Prix, with Lewis Hamilton setting a time of 1:11.118 to top the timesheet 0.081s ahead of team-mate Valtteri Bottas. The Silver Arrows’ closes rival in the session was Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel who finished more than seventh tenths of a second behind Hamilton. Hamilton and Bottas set the early pace in the session, using medium compound Pirelli tyres, but were dislodged when Vettel bolted on a set of softs for his performance runs. The German wasRead More

By FIA Formula 1 World Championship leader Valtteri Bottas beat Mercedes team-mate and defending champion Lewis Hamilton by more than six tenths of a second at to claim pole position for the Spanish Grand Prix, his third in a row so far this season. Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel was third quickest in the session ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen. In the opening session, Vettel and Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc set the early pace before Verstappen moved to the top of the order with a time of 1:17.244. Bottas then moved toRead More

By FIA Lewis Hamilton showed impressive pace to top the final practice session for the Spanish Grand Prix timesheets, beating Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas by over half a second. Bottas and Leclerc were the first to head out for qualifying simulations with just under 20 minutes left in the session. Bottas took top spot with a lap of 1:17.291, but was immediately dislodged by the Ferrari youngster who set a good time of 1:17.099. Hamilton and the second Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel were just starting theirRead More

By FIA After finishing fastest in the first practice session for the Spanish Grand Prix, Valtteri Bottas again set the pace in the afternoon, outpacing team-mate Lewis Hamilton by 0.049s as Mercedes pulled away from Ferrari. Charles Leclerc was third for the Scuderia, three tenths of a second behind Bottas. Bottas went a tenth quicker than Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel in the opening practice session but in the afternoon both Bottas and Hamilton opened a healthy gap to the Italian squad during the performance runs. Vettel and Leclerc were the firstRead More

By FIA Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas set the pace in the opening practice session for the Spanish Grand Prix, beating Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel and Charles by a narrow margin before an oil leak ended the Finn’s session early. After an early spell on medium tyres World Championship leader Bottas set his best lap of the 90 minutes on the C3 Pirelli compound nominated as this weekend’s soft tyre. He opened his account on the softs with a lap of 1:17.990s, but then shaved a little under four hundredths of a secondRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Four rounds completed and it’s safe to say that Scuderia Ferrari are nowhere near title contenders. Not because they’ve just had rotten luck, but they’ve been out beat when it matters most, the grand prix races. It shows as they only have 99 points in the Constructor’s Championship to Mercedes-AMG F1’s 173 and have swept the first two steps of the podium in every grand prix thus far. Sure, the duo of Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc have been fierce in the free practice sessions, butRead More

By FIA There was payback in Baku for Valtteri Bottas as the Finn won the Azerbaijan Grand Prix one year on from being denied almost certain victory in the city due to a late-race puncture. There was no repeat of that kind of drama in today’s fourth F1 race at the notoriously tricky street circuit and after resisting pressure off the starting line from team-mate Lewis Hamilton, Bottas delivered a faultless performance in a largely incident-free race to take the fifth F1 win of his career. Second place for Hamilton ahead of Ferrari’sRead More

By FIA Charles Leclerc went quickest in final practice for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, as both he and second-placed Ferrari team-mate Sebastian Vettel eclipsed their rivals by more than a second. In the qualifying simulations at the end of the third practice session at the Baku City Circuit, Leclerc set a time of 141.604 to take top spot. Vettel, who had languished some way off his young team-mate’s pace during the session, then delivered his own telling lap to take P2 just 0.198s behind the young Monegasque driver. The emphaticRead More