Latest news with #Monegasque
TimesLIVE
9 hours ago
- Sport
- TimesLIVE
Piastri wins Spanish GP to stretch his F1 lead, Verstappen demoted
Formula One leader Oscar Piastri won the Spanish Grand Prix from pole position in a McLaren one-two with Lando Norris on Sunday while Max Verstappen was demoted from fifth to 10th for a late collision with George Russell's Mercedes. Piastri beat teammate and title rival Norris by 2.471 seconds for his fifth win in nine races this season, and McLaren's seventh, to stretch his championship lead to 10 points. Ferrari's Charles Leclerc completed the podium after passing Verstappen's Red Bull six laps from the end of a race that saved the drama to the end. 'It's a nice way to bounce back from Monaco. A superb weekend,' said Piastri, who finished third last weekend in a race won from pole by Norris. Verstappen, who made four stops in total and ended up fighting on the slower hard tyres against rivals with softs, collided with Leclerc and then twice with Russell after a safety car restart with six laps to go. 'I've seen those sort of manoeuvres before on simulator games and go-karting but never in F1,' said Russell, who has had clashes before with four-times world champion Verstappen. 'I don't really know what was going through his mind.' Penalty points Nico Rosberg, Mercedes 2016 world champion and now a pundit for Sky Sports television, said Verstappen should have been black-flagged for what looked to him like intentional retaliation for the earlier contact. The 10-second penalty was added to Verstappen's time post-race, with the driver also given three penalty points to take his total tally to 11 for the 12 month period — one step from a one-race ban. Verstappen and Leclerc also faced a post-race investigation for their clash. 'I tried to push him to the left, there was a bit of contact but fortunately no consequences,' said Leclerc. Verstappen claimed the Monegasque had rammed into him and should have given back the place. Russell finished fourth after eventually being let through by Verstappen, who was incensed to be told to do so but reluctantly obeyed. Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg finished a surprising and morale-boosting fifth for the future Audi team after passing Ferrari's seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton on the penultimate lap. Hamilton was a disappointing sixth, Isack Hadjar seventh for Racing Bulls and Pierre Gasly eighth for Renault-owned Alpine. Ferrari moved up to second from fourth in the constructors' standings, now 197 points behind McLaren. Verstappen remained third in the drivers' championship but now 49 points behind Piastri in what is becoming a McLaren battle. First points Home hero Fernando Alonso scored his first points of the season with Aston Martin, who had only one car on the grid due to Lance Stroll's withdrawal through injury after Saturday's qualifying. Piastri led away at the start with Verstappen seizing second from Norris while Hamilton and Leclerc moved up to fourth and fifth as Russell lost out. Hamilton let Leclerc through on lap 10 of 66 after the two Ferraris had run nose to tail. Norris took back second place from Verstappen on lap 13, the Dutch driver making no attempt to defend against the quicker McLaren and pitting in the next lap for fresh tyres. Verstappen took the lead again on lap 23 after Piastri pitted, with Norris making his first stop on lap 21 and coming out behind the Red Bull, but that lasted only until Verstappen pitted for a second time on lap 30. He came in for a third stop on lap 47 but Norris pitted the lap after to defend second place. A safety car deployment on lap 55, after Italian rookie Kimi Antonelli beached his Mercedes in the gravel, bunched up the field and triggered a rash of stops. The McLarens came in together for fresh tyres, double-stacking and resumed ahead of Verstappen, who questioned the switch to a set of hards but was told that was the only option available. 'That safety car just came at the wrong time,' he said. 'On the straight, I got driven into already and then into Turn One as well. Then they told me to give the position back.'
Daily Mirror
a day ago
- Automotive
- Daily Mirror
Lewis Hamilton responds to surprise result and eyes historic first for Ferrari
Ferrari hope to rely on their race pace after Lewis Hamilton qualified fifth and Charles Leclerc seventh for the Spanish Grand Prix, with both chasing podium honours Lewis Hamilton is eyeing a first Grand Prix podium with Ferrari today after a rare qualifying performance with which he was "really happy". The Brit struggled throughout practice in Barcelona but found the pace he needed to out-qualify team-mate Charles Leclerc for only the second time this year. He starts fifth today and believes Ferrari might have the race pace to be best of the rest behind the McLarens. Hamilton said: "Friday started off fun, but we had some problem with the floor in FP2 and I was losing a lot of downforce. "But we fixed it for today and the car was much more driveable, much more enjoyable. We clearly have made an improvement going into qualifying to get into Q3 when it's so close and to be in the top five, I'm really happy with that." Hamilton has so often cut a frustrated figure after qualifying in recent times but it was an upbeat seven-time Formula 1 champion who declared he was actually looking forward to the race. Sign up to our free weekly F1 newsletter, Pit Lane Chronicle, by entering your email address below so that every new edition lands straight in your inbox! He added: "I did get a bit of a long run yesterday [in practice] and it's definitely going to be close between everybody. It's amazing how close everybody is in qualifying and how half a tenth can put you from sixth down to 11th. That's pretty mad. "The long run is going to be challenging tomorrow for everybody. I think most people have mostly softs and one medium, Charles and a couple of other people have two mediums. "Which tyres are the best? Which strategy is the best? We'll see. They key is going to be getting a good start. My goal is to get a podium - I haven't had a podium in God knows how long, so that's my target for tomorrow." Leclerc starts two places behind in seventh, having gone against Ferrari advice and saved tyres for Sunday's race. The Monegasque also hopes that risk will pay off in the form of back-to-back podiums after he finished second in Monaco last week. Leclerc said: "We were one of the only cars to have only four sets of softs for qualifying, all the others around us had five new softs, so I knew it was going to be difficult. "I wanted to use only three softs which made our lives a lot more difficult. I take responsibility for it as the team had pushed for a different way. "But I'm quite happy with my choice. Yes, I sacrificed today, but I hope it will pay off tomorrow. If it doesn't then it's my fault. [I'm hoping to get on] the podium. I think the race pace is strong, so it all depends on how much we are going to overtake. We'll see."
The Star
a day ago
- Automotive
- The Star
Motor racing-Piastri on pole as McLaren lock out front row in Spain
Formula One F1 - Spanish Grand Prix - Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain - May 30, 2025 McLaren's Oscar Piastri during practice REUTERS/Albert Gea BARCELONA (Reuters) -Formula One leader Oscar Piastri seized pole position from teammate and title rival Lando Norris by a hefty margin as dominant McLaren locked out the front row in Spanish Grand Prix qualifying on Saturday. Red Bull's Max Verstappen, last year's winner, qualified third fastest in the same time as Mercedes' George Russell, who will start fourth because the reigning champion finished his lap first. Piastri had set a target time of one minute and 11.836 seconds in the top 10 shootout but Norris went 0.017 quicker thanks to an opportunistic aerodynamic tow, with McLaren still in a league of their own despite stricter front wing flex tests. Norris, winner in Monaco from pole last Sunday to close the gap at the top to three points, managed to improve further to 1:11.755 before Piastri clinched pole with a brilliant final lap of 1:11.546 -- 0.209 seconds quicker around the Circuit de Catalunya. The pole was the Australian's fourth in nine races so far this season. "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," said Piastri, who said over the radio that Norris' slipstream was 'cheeky'. "I'm very happy with all the work we've put in." Norris said he had the pace but made a couple of small mistakes. "Just a couple of little mistakes. Turn One, where you don't want to make a mistake because it harms the tyres for the rest of the lap. A couple of little squiggles there. And Turn Four as well," he explained. "A good result for the team, a nice one-two and an interesting start for tomorrow," added the Briton, who started on pole last year but finished second. Seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton, winner a record-equalling six times in Spain, qualified fifth for Ferrari and ahead of team mate Charles Leclerc for the second time this season. Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli was sixth fastest, with Leclerc seventh after doing only one flying lap because he had run out of tyres. "I think we were one of the only cars to have only four new sets of softs for the whole of qualifying. All the others around us had five new softs," said the Monegasque. "I sacrificed today, I hope it will pay off tomorrow. If it doesn't, it's my fault." Alpine's Pierre Gasly will start eighth and Isack Hadjar ninth for Racing Bulls. McLaren team boss Andrea Stella said the team had not been at all concerned by the flexi-wing saga, which rivals had hoped might slow the defending constructors' champions. "It entertained to have this kind of debate but our simulations said everything was very small. We weren't concerned from this point of view," the Italian told Sky Sports television. Spain's double world champion Fernando Alonso, yet to score a point this season, completed the top 10 for Aston Martin in front of his home crowd. Verstappen's team mate Yuki Tsunoda struggled again and qualified last with Alpine's Argentine rookie Franco Colapinto also on the back row after a problem pulling away from the pit lane exit at the end of the opening phase. Sauber's Brazilian rookie Gabriel Bortoleto did well to qualify 12th. (Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Christian Radnedge and Toby Davis)
Straits Times
a day ago
- Automotive
- Straits Times
Piastri on pole as McLaren lock out front row in Spain
Piastri on pole as McLaren lock out front row in Spain BARCELONA - Formula One leader Oscar Piastri seized pole position from teammate and title rival Lando Norris by a hefty margin as dominant McLaren locked out the front row in Spanish Grand Prix qualifying on Saturday. Red Bull's Max Verstappen, last year's winner, qualified third fastest in the same time as Mercedes' George Russell, who will start fourth because the reigning champion finished his lap first. Piastri had set a target time of one minute and 11.836 seconds in the top 10 shootout but Norris went 0.017 quicker thanks to an opportunistic aerodynamic tow, with McLaren still in a league of their own despite stricter front wing flex tests. Norris, winner in Monaco from pole last Sunday to close the gap at the top to three points, managed to improve further to 1:11.755 before Piastri clinched pole with a brilliant final lap of 1:11.546 -- 0.209 seconds quicker around the Circuit de Catalunya. The pole was the Australian's fourth in nine races so far this season. "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," said Piastri, who said over the radio that Norris' slipstream was 'cheeky'. "I'm very happy with all the work we've put in." Norris said he had the pace but made a couple of small mistakes. "Just a couple of little mistakes. Turn One, where you don't want to make a mistake because it harms the tyres for the rest of the lap. A couple of little squiggles there. And Turn Four as well," he explained. "A good result for the team, a nice one-two and an interesting start for tomorrow," added the Briton, who started on pole last year but finished second. Seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton, winner a record-equalling six times in Spain, qualified fifth for Ferrari and ahead of team mate Charles Leclerc for the second time this season. Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli was sixth fastest, with Leclerc seventh after doing only one flying lap because he had run out of tyres. "I think we were one of the only cars to have only four new sets of softs for the whole of qualifying. All the others around us had five new softs," said the Monegasque. "I sacrificed today, I hope it will pay off tomorrow. If it doesn't, it's my fault." Alpine's Pierre Gasly will start eighth and Isack Hadjar ninth for Racing Bulls. McLaren team boss Andrea Stella said the team had not been at all concerned by the flexi-wing saga, which rivals had hoped might slow the defending constructors' champions. "It entertained to have this kind of debate but our simulations said everything was very small. We weren't concerned from this point of view," the Italian told Sky Sports television. Spain's double world champion Fernando Alonso, yet to score a point this season, completed the top 10 for Aston Martin in front of his home crowd. Verstappen's team mate Yuki Tsunoda struggled again and qualified last with Alpine's Argentine rookie Franco Colapinto also on the back row after a problem pulling away from the pit lane exit at the end of the opening phase. Sauber's Brazilian rookie Gabriel Bortoleto did well to qualify 12th. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Free Malaysia Today
3 days ago
- Automotive
- Free Malaysia Today
Leclerc fastest in Monaco practice as Hamilton crashes
Charles Leclerc is the only driver to dip below one minute and 11 seconds. (AP pic) MONACO : Charles Leclerc completed a hattrick of perfect practice runs on Saturday when he topped the times for Ferrari at the Monaco Grand Prix, as Lewis Hamilton crashed into the barriers. Leclerc, who, last year became the first Monegasque winner of his home event in the Formula One era, clocked a best lap of one minute and 10.953 seconds – the only driver to dip below one minute and 11 seconds – to beat Max Verstappen by 0.280 seconds. Ferrari and Leclerc are hoping for a repeat of their emotional 2024 triumph, but their mood was spoiled when the Monegasque's teammate Hamilton crashed on entry to Casino Square to end the session with a red flag. He was unhurt, but it was an uncharacteristic setback for the Briton who had looked fast and strong. Hamilton was running in the turbulent air behind Kimi Antonelli of Mercedes and Esteban Ocon of Haas when he lost downforce and hit the barriers. Lando Norris was third fastest for McLaren ahead of teammate and championship leader Oscar Piastri, Hamilton and Williams' Alex Albon. Liam Lawson of Racing Bull was an impressive seventh ahead of Carlos Sainz in the second Williams, Yuki Tsunoda of Red Bull and Antonelli. After a slow start the session burst into life by the halfway mark with Hamilton, Norris and Leclerc trading fastest laps before Verstappen took control. To the delight of the local audience, Leclerc regained top spot in 1:11.179 on his softs and then went even quicker to move two-tenths clear before the session stopped for a red flag when Hamilton smacked the barriers at Massenet, damaging his right front and rear wheels. He was unhurt and climbed clear. 'Sorry guys, I've hit the wall,' said Hamilton, hoping his car could be repaired in time for qualifying later on Saturday. Witness football history in Malaysia as Manchester United take on the Asean All-Stars – it's the clash you can't afford to miss. Book your seat now at before they're gone!
