Welcome to the very first Las Vegas F1 Journal Round Up, I wish I cold sayy it went to plan but unfortunately there were issues on and off the track. Calling them teething problems might be minimizing them slightly but lets have a look at the events of today and you can decide for yourselves.......

1 LEC        2 HUL
3 MAG       4 VER
​5 OCO       6 RUS
7 SAI          8 TSU
9 PER       10 BOT
11 GAS     12 HAM
13 RIC      14 ZHO
15 NOR
No time set 
16 STR      17 PIA
18 ALB       19 ALO
20 SAR

Pierre Gasly received a Black and White Flag for crossing the line at the Pit entry as Alex Albon jumped up the times to split the Ferrari's in 3rd and Norris went 7th with his first flying lap after his 'limp mode' problem forced him to box. At the end of the first half an hour of running  Leclerc and Max had a cheeky little battle around the chicane section while Sainz set the fastest time of the session so far on his Soft tyres. Logan Sargeant also got a black and white flag for crossing the line at the pit entry. 

20 minutes to go Verstappen just didn't have the pace down in 6th, but the Ferrari's just kept getting faster, Leclerc pumped in another brilliant lap of 1.35.265, 0.517 faster than his team mate Sainz. 
As the session started to close the teams took advantage of having the addition tyres granted to them after missing the running in FP1 and we saw some really interesting data collection with some cars choosing to do their long runs on both the soft and medium tyres as well as a few Qualifying simulations. George Russell went off at turn 14 but escaped the run off unscathed but down in 12th with 9 minutes on the clock. Lance Stroll was having a good session in 8th. Sainz again beat Alonso's time to go 2nd fastest but was still half a second down on his team mate, Verstappen chose a used set of softs to do his final runs but didn't improve on his time and stayed 6th. 

Let's hope tomorrow is a better day for F1, Liberty, the Las Vegas track and most importantly for the track side fans, who got really let down today!! On to Practice 3 and our first Las Vegas Qualifying.

​Joanna Blackmore
​Write @f1journal.co.uk

Lando Norris has finished the last five out of six races on the podium, with a second-place finish in Singapore, a second-place finish in Japan, a third-place finish in Qatar, a second-place finish in COTA (after Lewis was disqualified), a fifth-place finish in Mexico and a second-place finish in Brazil. If he continues this trend for the next two races, he could finish in fourth place in the Drivers Standings.

Norris is currently in fifth place in the standings list after jumping ahead of Carlos Sainz by three points and Charles Leclerc by 25 points after Brazil. With 195 points after Brazil, he is just 3 points away from Fernando Alonso, who is in fourth place.

With only Las Vegas and Abu Dhabi left until the end of the season, Norris could potentially finish in 4th place if he finishes ahead of Charles, Fernando and Carlos in the next few races.

Fernando Alonso finished third in Brazil, although this came on the back of significant issues with his car for the last few races, with a DNF in COTA and Mexico, a six-place finish in Qatar, an eight-place finish in Japan and a 15th-place finish in Singapore. He has only scored 29 points in the last six races. Similarly, in the previous six races, Charles scored 49 points, and Carlos scored 68 points after his win in Singapore. In comparison, Lando has scored 98 points since Singapore.

If Lando gets a race win, continues his podium dominance, and finishes ahead of Carlos and Alonso, he will be well on the way to moving up the Drivers Standings.

Although Lando has openly suggested that the next few races aren't suited to the car as much as previous races, such as Qatar with its high-speed corners. In COTA, he said, "Do I think our best chances have gone? I would say yes," Norris said, although this was followed up by a second-place finish in Brazil.

He added: "I don't think they're any good ones for us coming up. I think our best have gone. I just want to be hopeful that we can do good results, and I think we can still fight for podiums, but these guys are too quick for me."

Speaking after the Brazil Grand Prix, he said: "I don't think we were expecting to be as competitive here as we have been, so we're still surprising ourselves", "everyone just guesses and presumes, but no one knows until we get on track."

Although Las Vegas is an unknown for everyone, with the cold temperatures, high-speed straights and slow corners, it could be anyone's game.​

Lando's Race Results This Season So Far:
Bahrain: 17 | +2 laps
Saudi Arabia: 17 | +86.445s
Australia: 6 | +3.701s
Azerbaijan: 9 | +80.376s
United States: Miami: 17 | +87.717s
Monaco: 9 | +1 lap
Spain: 17 | +1 lap
Canada: 13 | +68.363s
Austria: 4 | +26.327s
Great Britain: 2 | +3.798s
Hungary: 2 | +33.731s
Belgium: 7 | +73.719s
Netherlands: 7 | +13.232s
Italy: 8 | +45.449s
Singapore: 2 | +0.81s
Japan: 2 | +19.387s
Qatar: 3 | +5.969s
United States: Austin: 2 | +10.73s
Mexico: 5 | +33.26s
Brazil: 2 | +8.77s

​Mclaren's rise to fourth place in the Constructors Standings has been a comeback that people will talk about for years to come.

​Anny Wooldridge​
Writer @ F1 Journal

Welcome to the Sprint Saturday Round Up were we recap all the events of the Sprint Saturday action....... lets go!

Lap 5 and Norris had caught Russell, the Mclaren was finding its pace finally, quickly overtaking the Mercedes and headed off in the hunt for 1st place Max Verstappen. A lap later Alonso still couldn't pass the HAAS of Hulkenberg into turn 1 but did get the move made 4 corners later, this was the beginning of a backwards trend for Hulk as Ocon & Stroll also made their way past him in the next lap. While Alonso set off to catch the sister HAAS of Magnussen. 
Lap 7 Piastri had caught but could not pass Ricciardo who was on brilliant form in the Alpha Tauri & Alex Albon reported oil coming out of the back of Bottas' Alfa Romeo before overtaking him.

Lap 13 started and both Aston Martin's were looking to over take the Alpine cars ahead of them, Alonso had caught Gasly and despite going into turn 5 side by side at the end of the DRS zone Gasly retained his position while Stroll had a good go at overtaking Ocon into the 1st turn but got the move finished into turn 5 were his team mate had failed. 
Ricciardo had another look around the outside of turn 1 on Sainz but couldn't make the move stick and let an aggressive Oscar PIastri get to close and lost his 9th place to the rookie Australian. Alonso & Gasly continued their battle out of the final corner with Alonso getting past the Alpine on the start finish straight but Gasly pulled ahead into turn 1 and kept 11th from the Aston Martin until Alonso got the move done into turn 5 and pulled away from the Frenchman finally and just 2 laps(lap 18) later Stroll did the same overtaking Gasly for 12th.

Hope you enjoyed guys onto the Grand Prix later today.

Joanna Blackmore 
​Writer @f1journal.co.uk

Welcome to the Friday Round up for the Brazilian Sprint Weekend. Its always an exciting weekend at Interlargos and for the 3rd consecutive year its hosts the last Sprint Weekend of the year. Lets have a look at today's action.

Russell was the next man to set a time on the Medium tyres and went over a second faster than 2nd place man Verstappen(still on the hard tyres) and a recovered Alonso went 2nd with 31 minutes on the clock beating Max on the Hard tyre by 0.200 on the same tyre. 
As the 2nd half of the session began last years Pole man Kevin Magnussen put the Soft tyres on and jumped from last in the times to 3rd only slower than Russell & Alonso,  as his team mate Nico Hulkenberg(also on the Soft tyre) made contact with the flying Mclaren of Norris, appearing oblivious to Lando coming and turning in on him, making contact with his right sidepod. 
Gasly & Ocon found some pace going upto 8th & 9th as the wind started to really pick up and the Ferrari's of Leclerc and Sainz found themselves down in 12th & 13th as Nico Hulkenberg put his HAAS ahead of his team mate and up to 2nd in the timings on his soft tyres. 

Mclaren split their cars running by having Norris on the Medium and Piastri run the Soft on his first weekend racing at this track and although going purple in sector 1 & 2 he bailed into the pits as the rest of the grid began their Medium tyre running except the 2 Redbull's, Alonso and Leclerc who continued their Hard tyre running. Stroll jumped up to 4th on his mediums, followed by Gasly on the same tyre. ​

Welcome 1 and all to arguably the best Grand Prix Weekend of the year. This Track, the races we have seen since it joined the calendar and the on and off track drama we have seen at Interlargos can only be rivaled by the likes of Silverstone, Montreal and Monza. This weekend is the last Sprint of the year and the 3rd in a row at this circuit. Its  track that we see unlikely pole sitters such as both HAAS drivers Hulkenberg in the Williams in 2010 and just last year Magnussen. 
We at F1 Journal couldn't be more excited for this weekend!!!!

Times Held- 39
First Time Held- 1973 
Finishing Percentage-64%
Pole Record- 1.07.281 HAM 2018
Lap Record- 1.10.450 BOT 2018
Winners-25
Pole Sitters-24
Podium Finishers-48 
Most Driver Poles- 3 SEN,HAK, BAR, MAS & HAM
Most Team Poles- 9 Mclaren  
Most Driver Wins- 4 SCH 
Most Team Wins- 9 Ferrari
Most Driver Podiums- 10 SCH  
Most Team Podiums- 28  Ferrari 
Most Fastest Laps(Driver)- 5 SCH
Most Fastest Laps(Team)- 8 Mclaren
Most Consecutive Wins(Driver)- 2 HAK, SCH, FIT, MON & ROS
Most Consecutive Wins (Team)- 3 Ferrari, Benetton
Mclaren, Redbull & Mercedes
Times Won From Pole- 17/39
Times Won from Front Row-30/39
Lowest Starting Position to Win- 10th HAM 2021
Smallest Win Margin- 0.588secs SCH 2002
Largest Win Margin- + 1 lap SCH 1994
Most Cars to Finish- 23 2010
Least Cars to Finish- 7 1977
Safety Cars- 13 of the last 21 races
Red Flags- 1974, 1997, 2003 & 2016

Joanna Blackmore 
​Writer @f1journal.co.uk

Its Mexican Grand Prix weekend and you can already feel the buzz of excitement for what can only be described as the most intoxicating atmosphere of the year. The Mexican crowd make this race one of the most anticipated of the year and with their man Sergio Perez being on the podium multiple times here they have every reason to be in optimistic high spirits. 

Times Held- 22
First Time Held- 1963
Finishing Percentage- 65%
Pole Record- 1.14.758 VER 2019
Lap Record- 1.17.774 BOT 2021
Winners- 15
Pole Sitters- 16
Podium Finishers- 29
Fastest Lap Holders-15
Most Driver Poles- Jim Clark 4
Most Team Poles- Lotus 6
Most Driver Wins- Verstappen 4
Most Team Wins- Redbull 4
Most Driver Podiums- Hamilton 5
Most Team Podiums- Ferrari 11
Most Fastest Laps (Driver)- Clark 3
Most Fastest Laps (Team)- Ferrari 5
Most Consecutive
Driver Wins -Vertsappen  2 
Most Consecutive Team Wins- Redbull  2 
Times Won from Pole- 10
Times Won from Front Row- 14
​Lowest Start Position to Win- 13th Prost 1990
Smallest Win Margin- 1.336 seconds Patrese 1991
Largest Win Margin- 101.1 seconds Clark 1963
Most Cars to finish a Race- 21 2016
Least Cars to Finish- 8   1965/66
Virtual Safety cars- 1 2017, 2018 & 2019
​Safety Cars- 1 2015, 2016 & 2021
Red Flags- The race has not been a Red Flag since 1989 ​

Joanna Blackmore 
Writer @f1journal.co.uk

Welcome to the Official F1 Journal Race Round Up for the US Grand Prix. The day started with the news that the 2 HAAS cars and both Aston Martins would start the race from the pit lane after making changes to their cars over night, promoting the Williams cars to 13th & 14th on the grid. The weather was perfect, the crowd and atmosphere was electric and everyone was ready for the usual fantastic  racing we have see previously at COTA. All drivers started on the Medium tyres with the exception of Hulkenberg and Stroll

Norris took full advantage of the clear air ahead of him and at the start of lap 2 he already had a 2 second lead on Leclerc and was lapping 7 tenths faster than the Ferrari. 
Hamilton was chasing down Sainz for 3rd and on lap 4 made the move on the Ferrari at turn 12 beginning his hunt for Leclerc and his best chance of win this year. Verstappen was closely following Hamilton and just a lap later he to made his move on the Ferrari of Sainz. Daniel Ricciardo had made his way forward from 14th -12th and at the end off lap 6 Norris has extended his lead to over 3 seconds over 2nd place man Leclerc who had rear view mirrors full of Lewis Hamilton on a charge forward. The 7 time world champion got the move done into turn 1,and took 2nd place in the Grand Prix but Leclerc could relax just yet because Max Verstappen was now the man on his tail looking to take his 3rd position. 

Lap 12 and Leclerc defence from Verstappen came to an end when the Redbull man made his move into turn 1, both cars going deep into the corner and off the track, Leclerc fought back but the Ferrari was no match for Verstappen's car and the Pole man now found himself in 4th.
The gap from Norris to Hamilton was now 2.9 seconds and falling as Hamilton set the fastest lap of the race while Logan Sargeant was battling to get pasts HAAS's Kevin Magnussen in front of his home fans finally getting past him on lap 14. 
​
 

Mercedes stayed out and discussed with both drivers the possibility of  extending their stints to push for a one stop race but neither driver was happy with that option due to high tyre degradation and Hamilton finally pit on lap 21 for the Hard tyre, bringing him back out in 5th. 
After his stop Hamilton had a lot of work to do to catch the 2 leading cars but was helped by Verstappen catching Norris, lap 26 Max was in DRS range but it took 2 more laps to get the move done on Norris, Max came from behind with a great lunge, going late on the brakes, Norris fought back through the next 2 corners but ultimately had to accept he could not re take the lead and from there stayed with the Redbull man not letting him get more than a second in front for the next few laps. 

Lap 42 and despite a fair few track limits warning Albon was on the move, over taking Ricciardo as Hamilton set theFastest lap of the race and was on the back of Chalres Leclerc who had given a 1 stop his best go but it was becoming clear that strategy was never going to pay off, with 13 laps to go his tyres had massively passed their prime. 

6 laps to go and the gap from Verstappen to Hamilton was 4.9 and closing. Leclerc was told by the team to let team mate Sainz passed as the Scuderia saw an opportunity for the Singapore winner to catch and pass a struggling Norris for 3rd and Fernando Alonso sadly had to retire his car form inside the points with what he thought was a suspension failure.
5 to go Albon gets a 5 second penalty for track limits and Perez passed a very unhappy Leclerc for 5th place. 
lap 54 the gap from Hamilton was down to 3.6 and still closing but the Mercedes man was running out of time as Tsunoda saw the opportunity to steal the fastest lap and the team pit for Soft tyres( the only set of softs we saw in the race)
​

I was a very jovial podiums despite the large amount of boo's for Verstappen, Hamilton was over the moon with the performance of his car and the job the team had done with the latest update. But that happiness was short lived as just hours after the race, we got word that his and Charles Leclerc cars had been disqualified from the race after failing to comply with regulations. The skip board on the bottom of both cars had been excessively worn during the race and was considered to have been a possible advantage over other competitors so Hamilton had his 2nd place taken away and Leclerc was removed from his 6th place. Promoting Norris to 2nd, Sainz to 3rd and Albon & Sargeant onto the points meaning Sargeant scored his first points in Formula 1 at his home race.  

Welcome to the F1 Journal Sprint Saturday Round Up. It was the 5th of 6 Sprint Saturdays for the season and COTA did not disappoint. The weather was perfect, the crowd on top form and the teams were ready to capitalize on extra points available from the Sprint 'Race'.
Over night and almost completely covertly the FIA made changes to the track after drivers raised concerns in the post qualifying drivers meeting. The white lines that define the track limits where made thicker on the exit Turns 9, 12 & 19, making it easier for drivers to stay within them, not a popular move among fans and pundits when the changes were noticed during the Sprint Shootout with Sky Sports F1's Martin Brundle likening the changes to widening the goal in a football match because the players complained they kept hitting the post but ultimately we saw just as many track limits infringements despite the changes. 

Lap 2 Hamilton was holding onto Verstappen, keeping him within DRS range as Charles Leclerc began to drop back from the leading pair. Piastri continued a strong defense in front of Perez with Russell rapidly catching the pair, until Perez managed to pass the Mclaren at the end of lap 3 and set off to try catch Piastri's team mate Norris and potentially the Ferrari of Sainz when his Soft tyres had passed their prime. Russell & Gasly also quickly followed Perez past Piastri but when Russell did so he went off the track and  was handed a 5 second penalty for over taking off the track which was added to his time at the end of the race with the absence of pit stops in the Sprint. 

Just 2 laps later Perez also passed Sainz for 5th place and it was becoming clear that the Soft tyre gamble had not paid off as Russell(on a mission to gain as much time as possible after his 5 second penalty) was coming fast to try and take his now 6th position. 
Magnussen made a brilliant move on Zhou further down the field for 16th, as Gasly keen to stay as close to Russel as possible without the need to overtake, had followed Russell on to the rear wing of Sainz. But it soon became clear that while the soft was not the best tyre for this race the Medium was also struggling and after doing his own fair share of tough racing Rusesll just didnt seem to have the grip to get past the ailing Ferrari despite getting the move done into turn 1 on lap 14 before Sainz managed to come back at him through turns 2 & 3 keeping his 6th place. This battle had also meant that Alex Albon was within reach of stealing the last of the 8 points paying places from Russell after his 5 second penalty was applied post the race and with 3 laps to go Albon with Russell stuck behind  slow Ferrari Albon set about trying to gain the 2.1 seconds  he needed to take 8th from R​ussell. 

Perez followed the pair home in 5th, Sainz did a mighty job to hold of George Russell for 6th, who after his penalty was applied finished in 8th behind Pierre Gasly who drove a great race to pick up 2 points and sadly Albon just missed out on that 5 second window of Russell and  the final points of the day.  
​

Joanna Blackmore 
​Writer @f1journal.co.uk

We are back in the USA and its to the brilliant COTA circuit. The credible, respectable big brother to the 2 new American Grand Prix. With F1 making 3 stops in the US this year we return to Cota for the 11th time but unlike the 2 newer races that seem to prioritize the show over the racing, COTA managers to provide equal amounts of both, putting on a true 'Stars & Stripes' show with genuinely brilliant racing only to be made better by addition of the Sprint Weekend this year, giving COTA the chance to really show off it potential as a power house track on the F1 calendar.
Also this weekend the F1 Academy join the grid for their first race to be shown live on Sky sports F1. If you haven't had the chance to watch the series live we at F1 Journal cant recommend it more. Its a brilliant way to watch the stars of the future both on and off the track and enjoy some really close, intense racing in the Spec car series. 

Times Held- 10
First Year Held- 2012
Finishing Percentage- 82.5%
Pole Record- 1.32.029 BOT 2019
Lap Record- 1.36.169 LEC 2019
Winners- 5
Pole Sitters- 6
Podium Finishers- 12
Most Driver Poles- HAM 3
Most Team Poles- Mercedes 6
Most Driver Wins- HAM 5
Most Team Wins- Mercedes 6
Most Driver Podiums- HAM 9
Most Team Podiums- Mercedes 12
Most Consecutive Driver Wins- HAM 4  2014-2017 
Times Won From Pole- 5
Times Win From Front Row- 10
Lowest Staring Position to Win- 2nd 
Smallest Win Margin- 0.675 Hamilton 2012
Largest Win Margin- 10.143 Hamilton 2017
Most Cars to Finish- 22
Least Cars to Finish- 12 

Joanna Blackmore 
Writer @ F1 Journal

The Paddock head to Austin for the 10th time since it took over the United states Grand Prix in 2012, missing 2020 due to covid.

​Haas reveal a special livery for their home race as Stars and stripes cover the VF-23 with the tag line “We the people” printed across the side honouring the US constitution. This livery pairs with their one-off race suit for the weekend that was released on Saturday. One of the stars, bright yellow on the rear wing, will represent Haas’ partnership with the Starlight Children’s foundation – working with over 800 children’s hospitals to deliver happiness to seriously ill children and their families.

​More will be revealed as MoneyGram celebrate their one-year anniversary with the team on Thursday 19th October.

The outside of the car isn’t the only thing to be different as HAAS F1 Team head to COTA with an almost completely revised bodywork, the VF-23 has received an aerodynamic heavy update package, improving the floor, engine cover, padding gills, quarter panel, sidepods and their inlets.

Haas positive as they aim to collect points in front of a home crowd, with only 4 points separating them from Alfa Romeo and 8th place in the constructors standings. Hulkenberg stands in 15th, one point behind Alfa Romeos' Valtteri Bottas while Magnussen sits in 18th matching points with Alpha Tauri's Yuki Tsunoda. 
 
Austin is one of three American Grand Prix's this season, Las Vegas will make its debut in November. The team left Miami, in May, disappointed after both drivers fell down the grid throughout the race. Magnussen picked up 1 point for him and the team after losing 6 positions, finishing in 10th. While Hulkenberg lost 3 positions to end in 15th. 

Bronwen Jones 
writer @ F1 Journal