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. 
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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)
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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.  
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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 

After a weekend of Pirelli's concerns over damage to the tyre compounds and track changes on Friday night to try and negate the tyre wall seperation issues, just hour before the race the grid was informed by the FIA and the tyre supplier that they would be setting a maximum lap life of 18 laps on all of the 3 compounds meaning the Grand Prix would be a minimum 3 stop race for all drivers. Also announced with little time to go before lights out was the withdrawal Carlos Sainz' Ferrari with a fuel leak that could not be fixed before the race started and that Perez would be starting the race from the pit lane after needing to replace parts on his Redbull due to the crash with Ocon and Hulkenberg the day before in the Sprint.

Lap 7 and Piastri had found is groove setting the fastest lap of the race so far, while next on the track Alonso had a big moment forcing him to make a great catch to carry on and retain his 3rd place blaming wind for the mistake. Stroll made a great move on Magnussen for 16th and Russel was up to 11th as he over took Zhou and Sargeant in quick succession
Lap 12 and Alonso was the first of the top 10 cars to pit for another set of mediums. He was forced to pit earlier than the the rest after starting on used Medium tyres with more laps on them than the cars around him but with the tyre run life restrictions it wasn't long before the others who also started on used tyres were forced to pit.

On to Austin in 2 weeks time........

Joanna Blackmore 
​Writer @f1journal.co.uk

Max Verstappen has won the 2023 World Championship title after finishing second in a very exciting Qatar Grand Prix Sprint Race. He joins Schumacher, Hamilton, Vettel and Fangio as a three time back-to-back world champions.

2023 will be known for Max and Red Bull's dominance, with an incredible 13 wins from Max in the season so far, only missing out on first-place Grand Prix finishes in Singapore (Sainz), Azerbaijan (Perez) and Saudi Arabia (Perez).

Max hasn't finished lower than 5th in any race in the season so far, with only the Qatar (tomorrow), United States (October 22), Mexican (October 29), Brazilian (November 5), Las Vegas (November 19) and Abu Dhabi (November 26) Grand Prix still to go.

Red Bull has already won the 2023 Constructors Championship, which they did at the Japanese Grand Prix during the last race.

Max's World Championship Journey:
Bahrain - 1st - 25 points
Saudi Arabia - 2nd - 19 points
Australia - 1st - 25 points
Azerbaijan - 2nd - 24 points (sprint)
Miami - 1st - 26 points
Monaco - 1st - 25 points
Spain - 1st - 26 points
Canada - 1st - 25 points
Austria - 1st - 34 points (sprint)
Great Britain - 1st - 26 points
Hungary - 1st - 26 points
Belgium - 1st - 33 points (sprint)
Netherlands - 1st - 25 points
Italy - 1st - 25 points
Singapore - 5th - 10 points
Japan - 1st - 26 points

Will Max continue his dominance for the rest of the season? How many races can he win? Only time will tell. Qatar full race to go, then four more races until Abu Dhabi in November.

Anny Wooldridge
​Writer @ F1 Journal

Its our first Sprint Saturday in Qatar and i don't think any team or driver felt truly assured of Pole for the Sprint race later in the day especially who just  hours before the Sprint Shoot out the Fia announced they had made changes to th track over night due to concerns Pirelli had with the tyres after for the Sunday Grand Prix. When analyzing the tyres Pirreli found 'separation in the side walls' of the tyres which was caused by 'high frequency' stress running over the Pyramid kerbs of turns 11, 12 & 13. It was because of this the kerbs and run off area of those corners was altered prior to the shoot out, which triggered the FIA to add a 10 minute Practice session before the Shoot out for the drivers to adjust to the new lay out.
This 10 minute session was largely uneventful, with noone damaging the cars before the sprint qualifying but we did see lots of cars take to the run off areas of the track including Charles Leclerc and Alex Albon.

It was a brilliant Qualifying and a well deserved front row lock out for the whole Woking based team and what is arguably the most talented line up in F1 currently.

What a cracking race! Well done to Oscar and the whole Mclaren team, from last to 1st in 2023 and scoring their 500th( & 501st) podiums here in Qatar on their 60th anniversary year.
But the credit really does go to Max Verstappen and the Redbull team what a season, the first people to surpass the 1988 Season for Mclaren, Senna & Prost in the MP4/4 in 35 years!!!
Lets see if Max can get the winning trophy on Sunday to replace the absent WDC trophy.

Joanna Blackmore
Writer @f1journal.co.uk

We are back in Qatar for the first time since 2021 where Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton dominated the weekend but times have changed and so has the format this weekend as we run our first Sprint weekend since back in Spa. Last time out in Qatar we saw the top 3 all finish on different strategies and so coming into the weekend the options are wide open for all the teams to make this weekend work for them.  

It was a chaotic Qualifying with all the track limits infringements, Sainz and Perez have it all to do on Sunday but can they do better in today's Sprint shootout and Sprint race? and let's  see if the Mclaren's can show their speed inside the lines and challenge the Redbull of Verstappen for Sprint Pole.

Joanna Blackmore 
​Writer @f1journal.co.uk

This weekend the F1 circus returns to Qatar for the 1st time since our first visit in the now infamous 2021 season and for the first Sprint Weekend since Belgium. The Lusail circuit was a last minute replacement for the 2021  Australian Grand Prix which was cancelled due to Covid-19 concerns. And what a brilliant choice it was, the top 3 all completed the race on different strategies with Hamilton on a 2 stop, Vestappen in 2nd who pit 3 times and Alonso managed to run the whole race on just 1 stop with Sergio Perez hunting him down to the very last lap. Hopefully we will see a similar range in strategy and race craft this weekend especially with the addition of the Sprint Weekend layout for 2023

Times Held- 1
First Held- 2021
Finishing Percentage- 90%
Pole Record- 1.20.827
Lap Record- 1.23.196 
Winners- 1
Pole Sitters- 1
Top 3 Finishers- 3
Most Driver Poles- HAM 1
Most Team Poles- Mercedes 1
Most Driver Wins- HAM 1 
Most Team Wins- Mercedes 1
Most Driver Podiums- HAM, VER & ALO 1
Most Team Podiums- Mercedes, Redbull       
                                        & Alpine 1
Times Wons From Pole- 1
Times Won From Front Row- 1
Lowest Starting
Position to Win- 1st HAM 2021 
Smallest Win Margin- 25.743 secs
Largest Win Margin- 25.743 secs 
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Joanna Blackmore 
Writer @ F1 Journal