Max Verstappen and George Russell topped the timesheets in Free Practice One and Free Practice Two, respectively. With many teams bringing upgrades to their cars, it was an important day for every team. Unfortunately, Canada didn't bring luck to Charles Leclerc and Lance Stroll, who both ended their sessions with crashes. Leclerc crashed in FP1, and the team was unable to get the car up and running again for FP2, so he missed the session. Free Practice OneTop Ten Results 1) Max Verstappen 1:13.193 2) Alex Albon +0.039 3) Carlos Sainz +0.082 4) George Russell +0.342 5) Lewis Hamilton +0.427 6) Isack Hadjar +0.438 7) Lando Norris +0.458 8) Liam Lawson +0.544 9) Pierre Gasly +0.624 10) Charles Leclerc +0.692 Max Verstappen topped the timesheet for Free Practice One at the Canadian Grand Prix in mild, dry conditions. A queue of cars formed in the pit lane, with Esteban Ocon leading the drivers out onto the track. Haas marked their 200th Grand Prix with a retro livery to mark the occasion. McLaren, among other cars, have added upgrades to their car this weekend, with McLaren adding 'mermaid tails' to the front wing endplate. During the session, both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri were seen with aero rakes on their cars and fluro paint. Franco Colapinto had an early spin, bringing out the yellow flags as he faced the wrong way at Turn 2. Colapinto wasn't the only one to have a moment. Norris and Antonelli also had brief moments early in the session. Charles Leclerc brought out the red flags after ending up in the wall at Turn 4. He locked up and hit the corner on the left before ricocheting into the opposite barrier. Albon and Bortoleto had a close call when Albon tried to move out of the way of Bortoleto, only for Albon to end up right in his path. Four drivers ran the C5 medium tyre, with the majority sticking with the C6 soft tyre compound. Verstappen topped the timesheet as the clock stopped, with Albon and Sainz close behind him. Free Practice TwoTop Ten Results 1) George Russell 1:12.123 2) Lando Norris +0.028 3) Kimi Antonelli +0.288 4) Alex Albon +0.322 5) Fernando Alonso +0.335 6) Oscar Piastri +0.439 7) Carlos Sainz +0.508 8) Lewis Hamilton +0.530 9) Max Verstappen +0.543 10) Liam Lawson +0.628 It was George Russell who topped the timesheet for the last practice session of the day in Montreal. Ahead of the session, Fred Vasseur revealed that Charles Leclerc would not appear in the session due to damage his car sustained in FP1. Lewis Hamilton was the first out on track as the session began gathering as much data as he could for Ferrari. Within five minutes of the session, Lance Stroll made contact with the barrier and snapped the suspension on his car, forcing him to park his car with a dislodged front-left wheel, ending the session for the Aston Martin driver. The majority of drivers opted for the C5 medium tyre for this session instead of the soft compound they ran earlier. Both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri appeared to struggle, with both drivers missing the final chicane and taking to the run-off area. Franco Colapinto found himself on track all by himself for a short duration but could only set a time good enough for P17. He also did his second spin of the day. At the halfway mark, George Russell was at the top of the timesheet, over fifth-tenths quicker than Hamilton. The rest of the drivers complained about traffic, with Colapinto, Liam Lawson and Alex Albon all narrowly avoiding colliding in two separate incidents. As the session came to a close, the drivers picked up some valuable information for the race, and the top three remained unchanged. Written by Anny Wooldridge
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George Russell secured pole position for the Canadian Grand Prix, after beating Verstappen and Piastri to pole in a thrilling qualifying session under the Canadian sun. Earlier in the day Lando Norris topped the timesheet in Free Practice Three. Yuki Tsunoda picked up a ten place grid penalty for the next race after overtaking Piastri under red flag conditions. Free Practice ThreeTop Ten Results 1) Lando Norris 1:11.799 2) Charles Leclerc +0.078 3) George Russell +0.151 4) Lewis Hamilton +0.251 5) Max Verstappen +0.273 6) Fernando Alonso +0.448 7) Kimi Antonelli +0.549 8) Oscar Piastri +0.720 9) Carlos Sainz +0.720 10) Alex Albon +0.774 Lando Norris topped the timesheets in the third and final practice session of the weekend. The pleasant afternoon in Montreal was marked by sunshine and rising temperatures. Leclerc made it back out on track after crashing out 45 minutes into FP1 and missing the entire FP2 session, as the team had to change the chassis. There were questions about whether the soft or medium compound tyre would be the preferred tyre for qualifying. Due to this, drivers used a range of run plans for FP3. Lance Stroll also had some work to do after an early crash in FP2. Leclerc led the way 15 minutes into the session with a lap time of 1m 12.843s on the medium compound tyre, ahead of Alonso and Stroll, who were on the soft tyres. Piastri and Hulkenberg both had moments at the final chicane, with Piastri tagging the wall and picking up a puncture and Hulkenberg completing a full spin. Bringing out the red flags. Russell topped the timesheet with a 1m 11.950s lap time on soft tyres. Norris set a lap time of 1m 11.799s, topping the timesheet, a tenth clear of Russell's FP2 time. QualifyingQ1Out in Q1 16) Gabriel Bortoleto 17) Carlos Sainz 18) Lance Stroll 19) Liam Lawson 20) Pierre Gasly Verstappen set the pace early in the opening runs of Q1 after Sainz led the way out in the session. Drivers opted for a mix of soft and medium compound tyres, with Antonelli, Colapinto and Gasly all running the medium compound tyres. Alonso also ran the medium compound tyres and slotted into fourth in his first run. With six minutes to go, Albon's Williams lost his engine cover down the straight, with debris flying all over the track and bringing out the red flag. With 5:30 minutes left on the clock, drivers headed back out on track. Norris was under pressure down in P12 but put in a good lap to top the timesheet, with Piastri behind, followed by Hamilton and Alonso. Bortoleto, Sainz, Albon, Bearman and Hulkenberg were in danger. Sainz runs wide and gets impeded by Hadjar, leaving him out in Q1, along with Bortoleto, Stroll, Lawson and Gasly. After the session, Hadjar received a three-place grid penalty for the race. Q2Out in Q2 11) Yuki Tsunoda 12) Franco Colapinto 13) Nico Hulkenberg 14) Ollie Bearman 15) Esteban Ocon With 15 minutes on the clock, Verstappen headed out onto the track on medium compound tyres. Norris and Piastri were out on soft tyres. Mercedes was last to set a lap time with eight minutes to go. Russell moved into P6 and Antonelli into P8 for their first runs, dropping Colapinto and Hadjar into the elimination zone. Leclerc tops the timesheet 0.012s ahead of Verstappen on soft tyres with four minutes to go. Meanwhile, Alonso, Colapinto, and Russell were all running medium-compound tyres. With two minutes to go, Tsunoda, Bearmand, Hadjar, Ocon, and Hulkenberg were in the drop zone. Russell topped the timesheet, with Norris in second. Tsunoda, Colapinto, Hulkenberg, Bearman and Ocon were eliminated. Q3Starting Top 10 1) George Russell 1:10.899 2) Max Verstappen +0.160 3) Oscar Piastri +0.221 4) Kimi Antonelli +0.492 5) Lewis Hamilton +0.627 6) Fernando Alonso +0.687 7) Lando Norris +0.726 8) Charles Leclerc +0.783 9) Isack Hadjar +0.968 10) Alex Albon +1.008 Mercedes; George Russell, who claims back-to-back pole positions in Canada: "Today was awesome in front of this amazing crowd as well to get the pole. "That last lap was probably one of the most exhilarating laps of my life. "On my steering wheel you’ve got the delta and I just saw every corner I was just going one-tenth quicker and I got into the last corner and I was six-tenths off so I knew the lap was mighty. Crossing the line and seeing we were P1 was a real surprise but I was so chuffed with it." On starting alongside Max Verstappen: "We’re mates so it’s all good. I’ve got a few more points on my license to play with so yeah let’s see." Written by Anny Wooldridge
Oscar Piastri won the Spanish Grand Prix with Lando Norris finishing P2, with Charles Leclerc in P3, after a late safety car mixed the race up. Oscar Piastri started on pole with Lance Stroll pulling out of the race due to a hand and wrist injury and Yuki Tsunoda started from the pit lane after a set up change. Alex Albon and Kimi Antonelli were both forced to retire their cars due to power unit issues as Fernando Alonso finished in 9th and gained his first two points of the season. Nico Hulkenberg finished in 5th after Max Verstappen received a ten-second time penalty after an incident with George Russell. Max Verstappen is now one penalty point away from a race ban with two points expiring on June 30th but the next two don't expire until October 27th. Race Facts
Oscar Piastri started on pole position as Lance Stroll pulled out of the race after qualifying due to injury and Yuki Tsunoda started from the pit lane due to set-up changes. All the drivers started on the soft tyre compound except Tsunoda, who started on medium tyres. The McLaren and everyone from Lawson backwards started on new soft tyresand everyone else started on used ones. Oscar Piastri started on pole and remained the race leader into Turn 1, however, behind him, Norris had a poor start and got overtaken by Verstappen, who moved into P2. Hamilton got ahead of Russell and moved into P4. It didn't take long for the other Ferrari to pass Russell either, with Leclerc moving into P5, forcing Russell into P6. Verstappen stuck with Piastri through the opening stages before Piastri put 1.3 seconds between him and the Australian. Just 4.2s covered the top three, with Lando being told to push and get past Verstappen. Hamilton was told to let Leclerc pass, which he did at Turn 1, as Leclerc was running considerably quicker. Lando Norris was within 0.7s of Verstappen and eventually passed him for P2 with DRS down the inside of Turn 1 with 4.3s between Norris and Piastri. Verstappen pitted for another set of soft tyres and quickly passed Antonelli around the outside of Turn 12 and then Russell on the inside of Turn 7, making his way back through the pack and back into P3. Alonso went off track at Turn 5 and dropped two places into P11. There was contact between Lawson and Albon with debris at Turn 2 as Albon picked up damage to his end plate. Albon received a ten-second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage. He served the penalty and then returned to the pits to retire the car. Verstappen pitted from the lead of the race for a set of medium tyres and looked to be on a three-stop strategy, with the McLarens opting for a two-stop. He returned on track and started lapping 1.5s quicker than the McLaren. Russell closed in on Hamilton for P5, with the Mercedes showing a strong race pace. Verstappen overtook Leclerc and moved into P3, 9.5s off Piastri and closing in, with the top three all needing to make one more stop. The top three were covered by seven seconds, with Norris just 2.3s behind Piastri. Piastri started to pull away from Norris once again, widening the gap out in front, with just 3.9s covering the top three. The McLarens pit one lap after the other, coming back out in the same positions as before, with Verstappen closing to the back of Norris for P2. Antonelli has a power unit issue with his car, which ends his race and brings out a full safety car. All of the top running car pit with everyone returning to the track on the soft compound tyre, except Verstappen, who angrily heads out on track with a new set of hard compound tyres - in a very confused state. During the safety car restart, Piastri pulls away from Norris, and Verstappen struggles with his hard tyres, nearly dropping it out of the last corner. Verstappen and Leclerc touch as Leclerc gets ahead and moves into P3. Verstappen was under threat from Russell, who he also touches with, and had to bail out running wide. He rejoins the track ahead of Russell. Hulkenberg meanwhile made his way into P7 and was within a second of Hamilton in P6 with Bortoleto in P11. Alonso made his way through the pack and was running in P10 after overtaking three cars in six laps. Verstappen received a radio message to let Russell through, but backs off to let him pass and runs into the Mercedes again. Hulkenberg overtook Hamilton, moving into P6 and picking up a good haul of points for Sauber this weekend, as Alonso finished in P10. Verstappen received a ten-second time penalty for the incident with Russell and was demoted to tenth place, moving everyone else up a position. Oscar Piastri wins the Spanish Grand Prix with Lando Norris in P2 and Charles Leclerc in P3. Full Race Classification1) Oscar Piastri 2) Lando Norris +2.471 3) Charles Leclerc +10.455 4) George Russell +11.359 5) Nico Hulkenberg +13.648 6) Lewis Hamilton +15.508 7) Isack Hadjar +16.022 8) Pierre Gasly +17.882 9) Fernando Alonso +21.564 10) Max Verstappen +21.826 11) Liam Lawson +25.532 12) Gabriel Bortoleto +25.996 13) Yuki Tsunoda +28.822 14) Carlos Sainz +29.309 15) Franco Colapinto +31.381 16) Esteban Ocon +32.197 17) Oliver Bearman +37.065 DNF) Kimi Antonelli DNF) Alex Albon DNS) Lance Stroll McLaren’s Oscar Piastri wins the Spanish Grand Prix: "It was a bit of a surprise to see Max Verstappen try a three-stop and it nearly worked for him, so yeah it was a great weekend overall though. "The overall pace was really good and we could turn it on when we needed to and just very proud of the work we’ve done this weekend. "It wasn’t the best first practice and then we got our stuff together, it’s a nice way to bounce back from Monaco, it’s been a superb weekend." On it being the fifth win of the season: "Hard to complain, it has been a great year and this weekend has been exactly the kind of weekend I was looking for, we executed everything we needed to when it counted and that’s all we could ask for. "The team gave me a great car once again, it’s a lot of fun winning races at the moment and I’ve been enjoying it and I hope the team are too." On the restart: "My restart was OK from a time point of view, I’m not sure my rear tyres were very happy though, I think I was wheel-spinning in sixth gear so not the cleanest of restarts but it was good enough. "Just getting used to how much grip there was on low fuel, it was like being back in qualifying so that was a bit of an adjustment, but very well managed." Written by Anny Wooldridge
Oscar Piastri took pole position for the Spanish Grand Prix, with Lando Norris starting in P2 and Max Verstappen in P3. The Australian continued his run of setting the fastest lap in the session after topping the timesheet in Free Practice Three earlier in the day. Franco Colapinto almost caused an issue in Q1 after stopping in the pit lane with the other cars panicking to get around him and back out on track with only a few minutes left in the session. Free Practice ThreeTop Ten Results 1) Oscar Piastri 1m 12.387 2) Lando Norris +0.526 3) Charles Leclerc +0.743 4) George Russell +0.752 5) Max Verstappen +0.988 6) Isack Hadjar +0.995 7) Kimi Antonelli +1.018 8) Fernando Alonso +1.027 9) Lewis Hamilton +1.140 10) Liam Lawson +1.250 Oscar Piastri set the pace during the final practice session in Barcelona, with Lando Norris in second and Charles Leclerc in third. Franco Colapinto was the first driver to head out in the last practice session after trying to make up for the time he lost with a hydraulic issue in FP1. Gabriel Bortoleto and the Aston Martin duo headed out onto the track next. Yuki Tsunoda was the first to top the timesheet with a lap time of 1m 14.851 on medium tyres, but his time was quickly beaten by Lando Norris, who went three-tenths clear. Carlos Sainz topped the timesheet on the soft compound tyres, but George Russell quickly went faster by 0.473s with a sea of red-walled tyres out on track at the halfway mark. Liam Lawson dipped a wheel over the white line, kicking up some gravel during a flying lap, and had to head straight into the pits. The final quarter of the session was all about qualifying simulations, with Norris having a snap of oversteer, forcing him to bail out by driving onto the run-off area. Oscar Piastri put together a clean lap and set the fastest lap time in the session with a 1m 12.387s lap, half a second ahead of Norris. QualifyingQ1Out in Q1 16) Nico Hulkenberg 17) Esteban Ocon 18) Carlos Sainz 19) Franco Colapinto 20) Yuki Tsunoda After three busy practice sessions, qualifying got underway at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. The session was increasingly hot and humid, with the track reaching 48 degrees and the air temperature sitting at 29 degrees. The drivers stayed in the garage until the lights went green in the session, with all the drivers heading out onto the track within a few minutes. Piastri set the benchmark time with a 1m 12.551s lap time, two-tenths clear of Max Verstappen, with Lando Norris just 0.001s behind him. Hulkenberg, Ocon, Sainz, Tsunoda and Bortoleto were in the drop zone, with Stroll and Lawson in 14th and 15th. A queue formed in the pit lane ahead of the final minutes of the session; however, Colapinto reported an issue and was stuck in the pit lane, leaving the rest of the drivers having to overtake the Alpine in a frantic rush to get out on track. Hulkenberg, Ocon, Sainz, Colapinto and Tsunoda were knocked out in the session. Q2Out in Q2 11) Alex Albon 12) Gabriel Bortoleto 13) Liam Lawson 14) Lance Stroll 15) Oliver Bearman A number of drivers headed out on track early in Q2, with Verstappen setting the initial pace before Norris beat him by three-tenths. The picture changed again as Piastri went 0.058s ahead of Norris. Bortoleto, Lawson, Albon, Stroll and Bearman were the first drivers at risk. As the session entered its final minutes, Antonelli was amongst those who headed back out on track. None of the top five headed back out onto the track. Stroll couldn't improve, and neither could Bearman nor Bortoleto. Albon, Bortoleto, Lawson, Stroll and Bearman were all knocked out in Q2. Q1Starting Top 10 1) Oscar Piastri 1m 11.546 2) Lando Norris +0.209 3) Max Verstappen +0.302 4) George Russell +0.302 5) Lewis Hamilton +0.499 6) Kimi Antonelli +0.565 7) Charles Leclerc +0.585 8) Pierre Gasly +0.653 9) Isack Hadjar +0.706 10) Fernando Alonso +0.738 McLaren’s Oscar Piastri will start in pole position: "I’m very happy, it’s been a good weekend so far. It didn’t start off in the best way, we were struggling a little bit but last night we found some pace and the car has been mega.
"I feel like I was able to put in some fast laps as well so thank you to the team for all the hard work. "This was a pretty miserable scene 12 months ago so to have turned it around in the best way is a great result." On finding pace: "I mean I improved quite a lot in Turn One actually and there were a couple of other places in the lap where I’ve been struggling a bit all day. "I don’t know if I necessarily did better but it all just came to me mainly in the first half of the lap and the second half I could just hang on. "It wasn’t the perfect lap but I think around here with the tyres going off so much through the lap it’s very tough to do that. I’m very happy with all the work we’ve put in." On the race: "It’s going to be an interesting one tomorrow, I’m pretty glad that I’m starting from pole. Obviously it’s a long run to Turn One so I’ve got to make sure I get a good start tomorrow, but I’m very proud of the work we’ve done today and starting in the best spot." McLaren remains supreme in Free Practice One and Two with Lando Norris topping the timesheets in FP1 and Oscar Piastri topping the timesheet in FP2. Due to the change in technical regulations, lots of teams headed to the track at the very start of each session, making the most of running and testing. Free Practice OneTop Ten Results 1) Lando Norris 1m 13.718 2) Max Verstappen +0.367 3) Lewis Hamilton +0.378 4) Charles Leclerc +0.52 5) Oscar Piastri +0.576 6) Liam Lawson +0.621 7) Oliver Bearman +0.879 8) Isack Hadjar +0.887 9) Yuki Tsunoda +0.925 10) Pierre Gasly +1.028 Lando Norris topped the timesheet in Free Practice One, ahead of Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton. The session started at 13:30 local time, in the sunshine, with F2 driver Victor Martins first out on track for FP1, conducting a rookie session in Alex Albon's Williams. Ryo Hirakawa also participated in FP1 as the Haas reserve driver. Due to the change in technical regulations, lots of teams headed to the track at the very start of the session on the hard compound tyres to get a feel and test the front wing loads. During the first quarter of the session, Lando Norris set the fastest time with a 1m 15.259s lap time, ahead of Fernando Alonso by 0.221s. Drivers continued to gather data throughout the session, with numerous laps completed and the switching of tyre compounds. George Russell was the first to switch to the medium compound tyre and topped the timesheets with a 1m 14.751s lap time. Nico Hulkenberg was the first driver to switch to the soft compound tyres, which for this weekend are the C3 compound, with other drivers following suit. Lando Norris topped the timesheet, with Oliver Bearman and Liam Lawson appearing in the top ten at the end of the session. Free Practice TwoTop Ten Results 1) Oscar Piastri 1m 12.760 2) George Russell +0.286 3) Max Verstappen +0.31 4) Lando Norris +0.31 5) Charles Leclerc +0.5 6) Kimi Antonelli +0.538 7) Fernando Alonso +0.541 8) Pierre Gasly +0.625 9) Isack Hadjar +0.64 10) Liam Lawson +0.734 Oscar Piastri topped the timesheet with the fastest time during the final Free Practice session of the day, three-tenths ahead of George Russell and Max Verstappen. Drivers headed out onto the track at 17:00 local time in hot and humid conditions. Esteban Ocon was the first driver to head out on track after handing over his car to Ryo Hirakawa in FP1. Franco Colapinto headed out early with the Alpine team fixing a hydraulic issue from FP1. All the drivers headed out onto the track very early in the session, with the majority running on the C2 medium tyres. Lando Norris set an early benchmark as Oliver Bearman spun through the gravel at Turn 3, with him then spending some time in the garage. Traffic was a major factor in the session, with Isack Hadjar and Fernando Alonso both complaining about getting their laps disrupted. George Russell and Kimi Antonelli lead Mercedes to a 1-2 during the first part of the session, with Russell setting a time of 1m 13.046s. Around the halfway point, drivers started their qualifying simulation runs, with Norris and Verstappen both lapping at the exact same time with a 1m 13.070. But it didn't last long as Piastri set the fastest lap time in the session with a 1m 12.760s. Drivers then continued their longer runs in the final stage of the session. Written by Anny Wooldridge
Round 9 of the 2025 Formula 1 heads to Barcelona for last in the European triple header. The Spanish Grand Prix takes place at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. After the lack of overtakes in Monaco last weekend, this race track is very familiar to all the drivers, with them all having spent a lot of time there testing and in the junior series. The circuit is fast flowing with long corners through Turn 3 to 4 and Turn 9. Overtaking can still be tough, with Turn 1 being the predominant spot for overtaking. This weekend a new FIA technical directive comes into play, to do with the flexibility of the wings, which could have an effect on some team's cars and their performances. Spanish Grand Prix Past Records
Track Stats
Race Weekend Timing (UK)Friday May 30
Written by Anny Wooldridge
Lando Norris won the Monaco Grand Prix, with Charles Leclerc in P2 and Oscar Piastri in P3. In a race filled with team games, strategy and two pit stops, Lando Norris won the Monaco Grand Prix after pressure from Charles Leclerc right up until the last moment. Oscar Piastri still leads the World Championship over Lando Norris by just three points. Race Facts
Lando Norris started on pole position for the Monaco Grand Prix, with Charles Leclerc lining up beside him. On a bright and sunny day in Monte Carlo and with a mandatory two-stop incoming, the pit stops and tyre strategy were very unknown. Tsunoda was the sole driver to start on the soft tyre compound, with Norris, Leclerc, Piastri, Hadjar, Ocon, Lawson, Albon, Hulkenberg, Bortoleto, Gasly, and Bearman starting on the medium compound tyres. Verstappen, Alonso, Hamilton, Sainz, Russell, Antonelli, Colapinto, and Stroll all started on hard tyres. Lando Norris started on pole and, despite a big lockup at Turn 1, managed to stay ahead into the first corner and around the first lap. Further back, Piastri managed to hold off Verstappen, as the top 12 remained unchanged after the first lap. Bortoleto and Kimi swap places, but Bortoleto gets into trouble and hits the wall at Portier, but gets going again, briefly bringing out the Virtual Safety Car as Tsuonda, Gasly and Bearman head straight into the pit lane for their first pit stops. Norris was holding back out in front, lapping a 1:18:470 as Bearman laps a 14:855 at the back, with Liam Lawson holding up the back of the pack to create a gap from his teammate. Gasly crashed into the back of Tsunoda at the Nouvelle Chicane, nearly wiping out Colapinto in the process and, in turn, breaking his front left corner and brakes. He drove his car back into the pits, leaving debris all around the track. He managed to stop in the pit lane but not in his box, so the pit lane was closed during the Virtual Safety car. This was investigated after the session. The track was clear, and the pit lane was reopened with Verstappen all over the back of Piastri. Hadjar was the first of the front runners to pit from P5. With his teammate Lawson holding everyone back, Hadjar emerges from his pit stop in P8 and in clean air. Alonso and Ocon also pit and take advantage of the gap created by Lawson and they both manage to come back out ahead of Lawson. Norris pulled 3.5s clear of Leclerc, with Piastri holding back further behind to create a pit window. Hamilton stops for a set of hard compound tyres and comes back out on track in P5, ahead of Alonso and Hadjar. Norris headed into the pits from the race lead and emerged ahead of Piastri, as Leclerc took the race lead and did the fastest first sector. Lawson's gap allowed Hadjar to stop for a second time and came out ahead of his teammate once again in P8. Leclerc pits from the lead, with Verstappen taking over P1; Piastri wasn't a threat to Leclerc as he had a slow pit stop. Verstappen got caught up in the back markers and headed into the pits from the lead, allowing Norris to retake the race lead. Verstappen rejoins the track behind Piastri but ahead of Hamilton in P4. Fernando Alonso had to retire his car after an overheating issue. However, he picked a good spot to retire, with the car off the track, bringing out a very brief yellow flag before the track went green once again. Norris was told to use more pace with Leclerc just five seconds behind him, just as Norris laps Ocon. Alex Albon made his second pit stop after Carlos Sainz held up the entire field behind him, allowing his teammate to make his two pit stops. Then Sainz passed Albon, and they swapped positions, with Carlos racing ahead and Albon holding everyone up. During this time, Lawson managed to stop twice, along with Ocon and Hadjar, who was running in P6. Russell complained that Albon was driving dangerously slow. Piastri pitted for a second time as Russell got ahead of Albon by cutting the chicane, blaming Albon for driving erratically. Still, Russell said he would rather take the penalty than stay behind Albon. Russell was investigated and given a drive-through penalty. Norris took a while to get through the backmarkers but stopped for a second time, as did Leclerc, with Verstappen leading the race, having only stopped one, followed by Norris, Leclerc, Piastri and Hamilton, with the rest of the drivers being over a minute behind Hamilton. Sainz made a second stop as Russell took his drive-through penalty and both drivers came back out ahead of Albon. 1.8s covered the top three, with 7.6s covering the top four, with Piastri closing down the leading pack. Verstappen struggled with his tyres as he slowed down to put pressure on Norris with Leclerc behind him, trying to force a mistake. Antonelli created a gap to allow Russell to pit twice before pitting himself and emerging at the back of the pack before pitting for the second time. With five laps to go, Hamilton was too far behind the race leaders to make a difference, with Verstappen still out front praying for a red flag. Verstappen eventually pitted and rejoined the track in P4. Lando Norris wins the Monaco Grand Prix, with Charles Leclerc in second and Oscar Piastri in third. Full Race Classification1) Lando Norris 2) Charles Leclerc +3.131 3) Oscar Piastri +3.658 4) Max Verstappen +20.572 5) Lewis Hamilton +51.387 6) Isack Hadjar +1 Lap 7) Esteban Ocon 8) Liam Lawson 9) Alex Albon +2 Laps 10) Carlos Sainz 11) George Russell 12) Oliver Bearman 13) Franco Colapinto 14) Gabriel Bortoleto 15) Lance Stroll 16) Nico Hulkenberg 17) Yuki Tsunoda 18) Kimi Antonelli DNF) Fernando Alonso DNF) Pierre Gasly McLaren's Lando Norris who won the Monaco Grand Prix: "It feels amazing. It's a long, gruelling race, but good fun. We could push for quite a lot of the race. The last quarter, I was a little nervous with Charles behind and Max ahead, but we won in Monaco. It doesn't matter how you win, I guess. An amazing weekend, with pole, with today. "This is what I dreamed of when I was a kid, so I achieved one of my dreams. I think it was you [Jenson Button], I saw you in front of my car before the start and I thought, if JB's here now, he's my good luck charm. Is 'Monaco, baby', yours? I apologise. "The worst bit was the end. I felt quite under control the whole race but Max was ahead and was backing it up a little bit and I knew Charles had opportunity. I tried to back off Max so I could push when I needed to and chill when I needed to. I'm very happy, my team are very happy. Therefore we're going to have a wonderful night!" By Anny Wooldridge
Lando Norris takes pole position for the Monaco Grand Prix, with Charles Leclerc lining up in P2 and Oscar Piastri in P3. Both Mercedes drivers were out of qualifying in Q2 after Antonelli hit the wall in Q1 and Russell lost power in the tunnel. Max Verstappen, Liam Lawson and Isack Hadjar all made it into Q3, with Yuki Tsunoda being the only Red Bull drivers not to make it through. Charles Leclerc was the fastest man on track for all three practice sessions after the topped the timesheet in Free Practice Three. Free Practice ThreeTop Ten Results 1) Charles Leclerc 1m 19.953 2) Max Verstappen +0.280 3) Lando Norris +0.294 4) Oscar Piastri +0.445 5) Lewis Hamilton 6) Alex Albon +0.715 7) Liam Lawson +0.861 8) Carlos Sainz +0.940 9) Yuki Tsunoda +0.999 10) Kimi Antonelli +1.060 Charles Leclerc made it three out of three, topping the timesheet in all three Free Practice sessions in Monaco. His lap time in FP3 was his quickest yet, with a 1m 19.953s lap time. The drivers were slow to get out onto the track with Franco Colapinto and Liam Lawson running on track alone for the first part of the session. They were joined by Alonso, Hamilton, and Hadjar, who all did single laps to scrub the tyres. After 15 minutes of running, Leclerc, Norris, Hamilton, Albon, and Hulkenberg were all out on track. However, a yellow flag was briefly brought out because Hulkenberg ran down the escape road. Hamilton, Hulkenberg, Verstappen, Norris and Leclerc all take turns at the top of the leaderboard as the track started to ramp up. Drivers were out on a mix between medium and soft tyre compounds, with strategy being a major factor in this now mandatory two-stop race. In the last few moments of running, a red flag was brought out, and the session ended early as Lewis Hamilton crashed into the wall in the first sector and parked up at Casino Square. The incident was investigated after the session, and Antonelli and Ocon were noted for blocking Hamilton on the racing line. Colapinto and Sainz were also investigated for a red flag infringement but it was ruled no further action. QualifyingQ1Out in Q1 16) Gabriel Bortoleto 17) Oliver Bearman (has a ten-place grid penalty) 18) Pierre Gasly 19) Lance Stroll (has a one-place grid penalty) 20) Franco Colapinto Qualifying started at 16:00 local time on a sunny afternoon in the Mediterranean city with the crystal blue ocean in the background. The cars were lining up, waiting for the lights to go green in the session, letting their tyres cool down before the session started. As the timer counted down, all the drivers were out on track, with Alpine running medium tyres and everyone else on softs, with Albon putting the first time on the board. The bottom five with eight minutes to go were Hadjar, Hulkenberg, Colapinto, Stroll, and Gasly, who were in the drop zone, as track evolution played a big part in the session. An impeding incident between Gasly and Stroll was investigated after the session. As was an incident between Verstappen and Hamilton. The Alpine's switched to the soft tyres in the second part of the session, as both cars were running in the drop zone with four minutes to go. Kimi Antonelli hit the wall in the last few moments of the session, bringing out a yellow flag and then a red flag. This means Bortoleto, Bearman, Gasly, Stroll and Colapinto were all knocked out in Q1, with Leclerc the fastest in the session. Q2Out in Q2 11) Carlos Sainz 12) Yuki Tsunoda 13) Nico Hulkenberg 14) George Russell 15) Kimi Antonelli 14 cars were out on track in Q2, with Kimi Antonelli making it through to the session but not running after hitting the wall in Q1. The drivers started lining up over three minutes before the session started, to get track position. The drivers had a mix between soft and medium tyre compounds for this session, with Ferrari, Mercedes and Williams running the medium tyre compound at the start of the session. George Russell came to a standstill in the tunnel and a red flag was brought out, stopping the session with ten minutes to go. He tried to restart the car and fire it up but it didn't manage to get it restarted, due to lost power out of Turn 1, with an electrical problem. The session got restarted and Tsunoda, Ocon and Hulkenberg were at risk with four minutes to go. As Norris topped the timesheet with a lap time of 1m 10.570 on used soft tyres. The medium tyre running didn't seem to work as well as planned with all the drivers except Alonso opting back onto soft tyres. Hulkenberg, Tsunoda and Sainz were knocked out in the session, along with both Mercedes drivers, with Norris topping the timesheets. Q1Starting Top 10 1) Lando Norris 1m 09.954 2) Charles Leclerc +0.109 3) Oscar Piastri +0.175 4) Lewis Hamilton +0.428 5) Max Verstappen +0.715 6) Isack Hadjar +0.969 7) Fernando Alonso +0.970 8) Esteban Ocon +0.988 9) Liam Lawson +1.175 10) Alex Albon +1.259 Lando Norris takes pole position for the Monaco Grand Prix, beating Charles Leclerc by 0.109 who will line up in P2, with Oscar Piastri in P3, in a very close qualifying session. McLaren’s Lando Norris will start in pole position in Monaco: "It’s been a long time coming, I feel good, I don’t think you realise how good this feels with quite a few struggles over the last couple of months, especially here in Monaco, it’s a beautiful place and the hardest track probably to do it. "Up against the home town hero, I’m very proud of the whole team, we’ve worked a lot over the last few months to get to a day like today so I’m very pleased." On the run plan: "No risk from our side. It’s what we believed was best before qualifying and proven to be the best after so we stuck to what we believed in. "The team have done a fantastic job so thank you to everyone here and back at the factory. These days don’t come easy. I’m proud to give something back to them." On the mentality: "That’s the tricky part and to consistently find a lap time because you know it’s what the others are going to be doing and improving more and more. "You’ve got to take a similar amount of risks but when you get to Q3, the final lap is just about who can risk a little bit more and commit a little bit more. "It was a nice and well put together lap and it feels very good when you cross the line and you know it’s all paid off." On the two-stop: "Honestly at the minute I have no idea, I’m going to enjoy today and I’ve worked hard for today. I’m happy with qualifying and I’m going to live the moment a little bit and then I will focus on tomorrow." By Anny Wooldridge
The Monaco Grand Prix is one of the most prestigious on the race calendar. With glitz, glamour and an iconic street circuit, Monaco is the one all the drivers want to win. The second race in the triple header has everything to play for, will the McLaren's shine on the streets of Monte-Carlo or will Charles Leclerc shine bright in his home race and build upon his historic and iconic win in 2024. Monaco Grand Prix Past Records
Track Stats
Race Weekend Timing (UK)Thursday May 22
Written by Anny Wooldridge
Max Verstappen won the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, with Lando Norris in P2 and Oscar Piastri in P3. Lewis Hamilton finishes in fourth, his best result with Ferrari and both Williams drivers finishing in the top ten with Albon in fifth and Sainz in eighth. Race Facts
Oscar Piastri started in pole position for the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, with Yuki Tsunoda starting from the pit lane after a huge crash in qualifying. Everyone started on medium tyres except for Hamilton, Antonelli, Hulkenberg, Bearmand and Tsunoda, who all started on the hard tyre compound. Oscar Piastri started on pole position but was overtaken by Max Verstappen on the first lap outside of Tamburello. Piastri had a good start but was clear into the breaking zone, but Verstappen aces the brakes and overtook on the outside. Hamilton and Antonelli were fighting over P12, but Antonelli held on and stayed ahead of the Ferrari, who he overtook at the race start. Ocon headed straight into the pits for a set of hard tyres. Pierre Gasly headed into the gravel at Piratella and dropped to P14, after a battle with Leclerc, as Verstappen led by 1.6s. There was a DRS train from Russell in P3 back to Hamilton in 12th. Norris gets DRS on Russell in third and tries to overtake but runs wide and off the track and into the grass, trying to pass Russell out of Tamburello, with Russell doing a great job of keeping him behind. Both cars were 5.5s behind Piastri in second. Finally Norris managed to pass Russell around the outside of Villeneuve chicane but ended up seven seconds behind Piastri. Russell, Leclerc, Sainz and Lawson all pit, hinting at a two-stop race. Leclerc got ahead of Russell with the undercut. Piastri pits, but it was a slow 3.6s stop with an issue with the right front tyre, and he heads back out in 12th place. Piastri was only taking 0.3s out of Verstappen with Verstappen staying out on track. Piastri caught up to the back of Tsunoda, as Red Bull told Tsunoda to keep Piastri behind him for as long as possible. Tsuonda tried to hold up with the McLaren driver, backing right up. Still, Piastri stayed close and used DRS to overtake and move into P10 around the outside under braking for Tamburello. Sainz cleared Alonso for P14, both having already pitted. Sainz was told that Albon's lap time is 0.6s slower than his in third place, hinting at a one-stop. Verstappen, Norris, Albon and Hadjar all started on mediums and were the top four in the race on lap 21, but kept going and settled into a decent pace. Piastri managed to overtake Hulkenberg and Hamilton and moved into fifth, but was still over a pit stop behind the Red Bull driver. Norris pitted as Verstappen stays out. Ocon stopped on the track, bringing out the virtual safety car, which worked perfectly for Verstappen, who pits and loses way less time, rejoining the track in the lead. Albon also pitted. The order after the first pit stops was Verstappen, Piastri, Norris, Albon, Hadjar, Antonelli, Hamilton, Alonso, Stroll and Leclerc. Russell had a disaster and was in P12 with Sainz in P15. Finally, Norris managed to pass Russell around the outside of Villeneuve chicane but ended up seven seconds behind Piastri. Russell, Leclerc, Sainz and Lawson all pit, hinting at a two-stop race. Leclerc got ahead of Russell with the undercut. Piastri pits, but it was a slow 3.6s stop with an issue with the right front tyre, and he heads back out in 12th place. Piastri was only taking 0.3s out of Verstappen with Verstappen staying out on track. Piastri made a second pit stop and emerged behind Norris and Albon. Leclerc quickly cleared Stroll and Alonso for P8, just behind Hamilton in P7. Hamilton was putting pressure on Antonelli and managed to overtake moving into P6. Hamilton's run continued as he overtook Hadjar for P5 around the outside of Tamburello, just 5.2s behind Piastri, who was within four seconds of Albon in P3. Verstappen held the race lead by over 18.7s, with Norris in P2 and Albon over 10s behind him. Piastri then overtook Albon moving into P3 but was 12.7s behind Norris. Further behind, Leclerc overtakes Antonelli and moves up to P7, with Hadjar just over 1.5s in front of him. Hulkenberg passes Alonso, moving into the top ten with Sainz close behind him. Albon was noted for a yellow flag infringement but was quickly cleared. Leclerc clears Hadjar and moves within two seconds of Hamilton, with Leclerc on hards and Hamilton on mediums. Both Ferrari drivers closed up onto the back of Albon to within half a second a lap, with a gap of 7.2s. Antonelli had a problem with his Mercedes and parked it close to where Ocon parked his car, bringing out a full safety car because the crane required clearing the car away as he was further up the hill than Ocon was. Mercedes said Antonelli had lost throttle control. Verstappen and Norris both pit under the safety car, with Piastri now ahead of Norris, but the cars were bunched up. Hamilton and Albon also pitted for a second time. At the safety car restart, Verstappen leads, with Piastri, Norris, Leclerc, Albon, Russell, Hamilton, Sainz, Hadjar, and Hulkenberg all behind him. As the safety car is cleared with ten laps to go, Verstappen had a good restart with Piastri under significant pressure from Norris behind. Both Norris and Albon were noted for safety car infringements, but it was ruled no further investigation. Verstappen sped ahead, nearly three seconds ahead of Piastri, with Norris a further half a second behind. Hamilton passed Russell for P6 using DRS, moving just three seconds behind Albon, with Albon close behind Leclerc. Sainz, Hadjar and Tsuonda rounded out the top ten. Lando Norris overtakes Oscar Piastri around the outside at Tamburello, moving into P2. Leclerc defends from Albon at Tamburello, with Albon getting pushed into the gravel, allowing Hamilton to get through and into fifth. Hamilton moved into P4 after clearing Leclerc, as Leclerc let Albon go through as they were under investigation for Leclerc forcing Albon off track. Max Verstappen wins the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, with Lando Norris in P2, Oscar Piastri in P3 and Lewis Hamilton in P4. Full Race Classification1) Max Verstappen 2) Lando Norris +6.109 3) Oscar Piastri +12.956 4) Lewis Hamilton +14.356 5) Alex Albon +17.945 6) Charles Leclerc +20.774 7) George Russell +22.034 8) Carlos Sainz +22.898 9) Isack Hadjar +23.586 10) Yuki Tsunoda +26.446 11) Fernando Alonso +27.25 12) Nico Hulkenberg +30.296 13) Pierre Gasly +31.424 14) Liam Lawson +32.511 15) Lance Stroll +32.993 16) Franco Colapinto +33.411 17) Oliver Bearman +33.808 18) Gabriel Bololeto +38.572 DNF) Kimi Antonelli DNF) Esteban Ocon Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who wins for the fourth time in a row in Imola: "The start itself wasn’t particularly great but I was still on the normal line and I thought I would try and send it round the outside and it worked really well.
"That then unleashed our pace because once we were in the lead, the car was good and I could look after my tyres, we had very good pace on today. "It’s a massive improvement from Friday and I’m very pleased for that. That virtual safety car was quite handy to pit, even on the hard compound our pace was very strong, but then there was a safety car so the field was back together. Even on the restart we managed it really well and brought it home. "I’m incredibly proud of everyone, it’s been a very important week for us and the car has performed really well and also I think the execution of the whole race was very good." On the next race in Monaco: "I like driving and racing in Formula 1, next week it’s a completely different kind of track in Monaco and that’s also going to be very challenging but for the moment I just want to enjoy today and take it in." On the fans: "It’s always fantastic to be in Italy, proper passion for motorsport so it’s fantastic to see all these fans out here the whole weekend, so thank you for coming." |
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