Italian Grand Prix Tag

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer First seven rounds of the 2019 Formula One World Championship – underwhelming to the bordeom. Last seven rounds however – sheer utter chaos with minimal boredom. From the rise of Charles Leclerc at Spa and Monza to the beautiful rally by Max Verstappen at Hockenheim. There was a lot to digest during the second leg of the F1 campaign and it’s time to recap my seven most memorable moments. The Instant Classic That Was Hockenheim I’ve already said it awhile back, but the German Grand PrixRead More

By FIA Charles Leclerc handed Ferrari top spot on the grid for its home Italian Grand Prix, with the Monegasque drive taking his third career pole position at the end of what he later described as a “messy” qualifying session at Monza. Leclerc took top spot just 0.039s ahead of Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton with the Briton’s tea-mate Valtteri Bottas third. The Ferrari star claimed provisional pole with a time of 1:19.307 before a crash involving Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Räikkönen brought out the red flags early in Q1. Then, in theRead More

By FIA Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel beat Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen by just under four hundredths of a second to clinch top spot in a tight final practice session for the Italian Grand Prix that saw the top five drivers separated by just 0.270s. Track time in the session was abbreviated by 10 minutes as circuit works remove a kerb from the outside of the Parabolica curve and to repair fencing following an incident in the earlier FIA Formula 3 race in which Alex Peroni’s car had been flipped intoRead 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 Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Ferrari has confirmed that Kimi Raikkonen will step down from his current role following the 2018 Formula 1 season. In the midst of his second stint with the Maranello-based squad, the 38-year-old Finn has endured a fair amount of difficulties, having scored zero wins and 23 podiums in 93 races over that span. However, this season has seen a resurgence of sorts with nine podiums through the first 14 events, including a pole and runner-up finish in the most recent round – the Italian Grand PrixRead More

By FIA Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton took a sensational 68th career win at Monza, beating Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Räikkönen after starting third. Räikkönen was forced to settled for second place ahead of the second Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas after being passed by Hamilton nine laps from the flag. Vettel finished fourth after dropping to the back of the field following a coming together with title rival Hamilton on the opening lap of the race. At the start, pole position man Kimi Räikkonen held his advantage to take the leadRead More

By FIA Kimi Räikkönen edged team-mate Sebastian Vettel to head a front-row lock-out for Ferrari in qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix, with Lewis Hamilton finishing third ahead of Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas. Räikkönen, whose last pole came at the 2017 Monaco Grand Prix, set a time of 1:19.119 to not only take his 18th career pole position but also to shatter the Monza lap record set 14 years ago by Juan Pablo Montoya. The Finn set the early pace in Q1 with a time of 1:20.937, almost six tenthsRead More

By FIA Sebastian Vettel continued to set the pace in final practice for the Italian Grand Prix, but the Ferrari driver was pushed hard by title rival Lewis Hamilton who finished just eight hundredths of a second behind the German. Ferrari were quickly to the fore in the hour-long session, with Kimi Räikkönen setting the early pace with a time of 1:21.399. Vettel might have challenged that but he suffered a lock up in Turn 1 and was forced to abandon the attempt. He lapped again and set a timeRead More

By FIA Sebastian Vettel eclipsed Ferrari team-mate Kimi Räikkönen by almost three tenths of a second to top a second practice session for the Italian Grand Prix that saw a Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson emerge unhurt for a heavy, high-speed crash. Just two minutes after the green light had appeared at the end of pit lane to signal the start of the session, Ericsson crashed out. At the start of his first flying lap the Swede’s Sauber snapped to the left under braking on the approach to Turn 1 after hisRead More

By FIA Racing Point Force India driver Sergio Perez, topped a wet opening practice session for the Italian Grand, outpacing Ferrari’s Kimi Räikkönen by more than half a second. Perez’s team-mate Esteban Ocon took third place ahead of the Toro Rosso of Brendon Hartley on a timesheet given an unfamiliar look due to the conditions. After Räikkönen made a late improvement to take P1, Perez jumped to the top of the order with his final lap of the 90-minute session, as track conditions began to improve as the rain abated.Read More