Formula 1

Honda admits that Max Verstappen’s engine failure at the start of the Tuscan Grand Prix was ‘not small’ and the biggest impact that saw him pull out of the race was ‘a very bad situation’ after Verstappen had a good launch at the start of the race and later on lost power and fell back to the midfield by the first turn. He turned onto his rear around the first turn Chicane as 3 cars followed the RB16 and later slid off to the gravel as he ranted over the radio. The Red Bull driver was well aware that he would be retiring from the race due to the technical problem as Honda F1 technical director Toyoharu Tanabe said the peroblem occured because something went wrong in the formation lap and then escalated itself in a very bad way at the start of the race at Mugello. This was not new to Verstappen as he had also retired from the race a week earlier during the Italian Grand Prix, but his suggestion was that a completely different caused the Mugello race retire. “We’re now investigating the cause of the issue,” Toyoharu Tanabe said. “At the moment I cannot tell you if we could continue, or we had to retire, But the issue is not small. The impact was big. So, it was a very bad situation.” Honda will be conducting the physical examination of the RB16 engine itself while the R&D department in Sakura Japan will be analysing the race statistics. Tanabe also added that they have not put a plan to recorrect the problem as they have to first assess the cause and the damage that has been done. Verstappen’s car has spare engine components to switch to if Honda resolves to introduce another engine for the next race in Russia he will not be incurring a grid penalty. A second race retirement has been slowing Verstappen’s top 3 lead in the drivers’ standings but however Redbull continued to show its dominance in the podium streaks. Alexander albon in the sister RB16 was able to finish third in the Mugello race, being his maiden podium finish. This shows the Honda-powered car is still strong as the car has achieved top three finishes in the 2020 season apart from the season opener.

Lewis Hamilton stands up for his teammate Valtteri Bottas who was the race leader after the race restart which caused multi-car crashes. Nicolas Latifi, Kevin Magnussen, Antonio Giovinazzi and Carlos Sainz are among the drivers who crashed on the race race restart and could be heard complaing about Bottas who was the race leader at the moment. Sebastian Vettel also went ahead to complain about the Bottas move being the main cause of the accident on the track. “It is simply unnecessary. As the leader, you have to be aware of such things,” Vettel said.  “If you want to wait, you should wait a long time and then step on the gas, but don’t stop and go… If you want to wait, you should wait a long time and then step on the gas, but don’t stop and go.” Lewis Hamilton came to Bottas’ defence saying FIA was the one to blame as he said, “It is absolutely not Valtteri’s fault. It is the policymakers, they are clearly trying to make things more exciting, but today you have seen that that puts people in danger. Maybe they should reconsider that rule.” “They turned off the safety car lights later and later. We are fighting for positions. Especially when you deserve that position, like Valtteri deserved to be in the lead,” the six-time world champion concluded.

Over half of the grid has been issued with warnings over their actions during the race restart in the Tuscan Grand prix after there were multiple crashes involving several cars. Carlos Sainz, Nicolas Latifi, Kevin Magnussen and Antonio Giovinazzi were all involved inthe crash as there were preparations for race restart, the four drivers retired from the race as the stewards called upon Magnussen, Latifi and Daniil Kvyat to help them in understanding the situation. The stewards came up with an official warning to 12 drivers after analysing the incident. The twelve drivers were: Daniel Ricciardo, Sergio Perez, Lando Norris, Esteban Ocon, George Russell, Antonio Giovinazzi, Carlos Sainz, Kevin Magnussen, Daniil Kvyat, Nicolas Latifi, Alexander Albon and Lance Stroll. “The Stewards conclude that the root cause of this incident was the inconsistent application of throttle and brake, from the final corner along the pit straight, by the above drivers,” read a statement.” “The Stewards acknowledge the challenges the location of the Control Line presents at this circuit and the desire of drivers to take advantage of the restart.” “However this incident demonstrates the need for caution to be exercised in the restart situation and note that there was an extreme concertina effect which dramatically increased as it moved down the field. We also note that some drivers might have avoided being involved in the incident had they not followed directly behind the car in front.” “By doing so they effectively blocked off all visibility of what was happening immediately in front of the preceding car.” “A warning has been imposed as it is the view of the Stewards that no one driver was wholly or predominantly to blame.” Valtteri Bottas, who was leading the race as the crash happened, was cleared of any wrongdoing. “It was further noted that the driver of Car 77 (Valtteri Bottas) and the other drivers involved in the restart not mentioned above, complied with the regulations,” they confirmed. “Car 77 had the right under the regulations to dictate the pace.”

Lewis extended his lead in winning the seventh Formula 1 championship after winning the Tuscan Grand Prix which was rather hectic and filled with crashes at Misano as the race was interrupted by two red flags and three safety car. Hamilton went ahead to lead a 1-2 Mercedes lead followed by Valtteri Bottas as Redbull’s Alexander Albon finnished third being his maiden podium finish in a race that saw 8 cars off the track. The Mercedes racer was able to take back the race leadership from his teammate Bottas following the first red-flag session and continued on to dominate in his race wins, he will be leading in the F1’s Drivers Championship with 55 points after picking the bonus point for the fastest lap. This comes as there are only 8 races remaining in the 2020 Formula 1 season. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc moved up to third as Max Verstappen reported a lack of power as the race cars approached turn 1, but Verstappen lasted only one more turn as AlfaRomeo’s Kimi Raikkonen hit him from the back sending the Redbull RB16 car to the gravel and out of the race. AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly was also a victim as Kimi Raikkonen as they clashed on turn two just prior with the contact with Verstappen, putting the AlphaTauri driver out of the race. This resulted to the deployment of the safety car as also Romain Grosjean were involved in the contact but were able to progress with the race. As the cars were cleared, the safety car was called in at the end of lap 6, only to be called in again later following a series of crashes on the pit straight as Bottas tried to slow the following F1 cars which caused many of the drivers misjudging on when to accelerate. The error caused Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi to ram into Kevin Magnussen’s rear. The series of crash also caught up with Mclaren’s Carlos Sainz and Williams’ Nicolas Latiffi forcing all the four cars out of the race. A red flag was out following the crash and later a 25-minute wait to resume the race on lap 10, the race resumed from a standing start on the grid with only 13 cars on the line-up after Renault’s Esteban Ocon pulling out of the race due to a brake issue. Hamilton’s W11 was also smoking at the race restart but was able to take on his teammate Bottas around turn one and take the lead. Charle’s Leclerc was able to maintain third position but soon faced pressure from the other cars as he was slower on the straights. Later on he was overtaken by Lance stroll, and later on lose places to Daniel Ricciardo, Alexander Albon and Sergio Perez to end up seventh and later pit for a set of hard tyres. Bottas was able to hold steadily to the gap with his teammate Hamilton, but the gap increased following the wear on his front tyres. The finn went ahead to pit at the end of lap 31 to change his tyres in a bid to close the gap between him and the sister W11. Hamilton also headed to the pit one lap later to also change into hard tyres and was able to exit with a gap of 6 seconds as the race leader. Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo was able to beat Lance stroll after pitting at the end of lap 27 and Racing point tried to beat him later after three laps but the Renault proved to be unbeatable also taking Redbull’s Alex Albon to take the 3rd position. Albon dropped to fifth. The Mercedes drivers were warned to keep off the kerbs and look after their tyres but five laps later a safety car was deployed after Lance Stroll’s RP20 crashed at turn 9, going into the tyre barrier after it slid off the kerb. The car was left nwith heavy damage but Stroll was able to get out and walk away from the wreck. The safety car was again deployed as the drivers took the opportunity to pit and Hamilton was able to still hold his lead aver Bottas who came in one lap later. But the race was again red-flagged for the second time on lap 45 for the tyre barriers to be re-installed around turn 9 with only 12 cars remaining in the race. Alexander Albon was able to close up on Daniel Ricciardo two laps later to take 3rd and also tried to catch up on Bottas as the race concluded. The Mercedes driver crossed the line 2nd as Albon maintained the 3rd position. Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo finished 4th which was just shy of winning his bet with his boss Cyril Abiteboul. Perez finished fifth for the Racing point after a long battle with Mclaren’s Lando Norris who was sixth. Daniil Kvyat recorded his best for the season by coming in 7th place followed by Charles Leclerc in 8th finishing the 1000th race for Ferrari. Raikkonen finished 9th after receiving a five-second time penalty for crossing the white line at pit entry . Sebastian Vettel finished 10th earning his first points since the Spanish Grand Prix as George Russel finished 11th just very close to winning his maiden points in F1, it was his best result ever. Romain Grosjean finished 12th in the Haas F1 car

Ineos could be moving from team sponsor to team owner with reports saying that the company is close to signing £700 million deal to buy the Mercedes Formula 1 team. It was earlier this year that Ineos, which is the world’s largest chemical producer signed a five-year sponsorship deal with Mercedes, but at that time Ineos boss Jim Ratcliffe and Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff preferred to call it a ‘partnership’ and not a sponsorship in the deal that involved £110 million. Now all this seems like it was just a lead that Ineos was making in buying the Formula 1 team. Ineos will be buying out 70% of the shares in the German Formula 1 team which is on the high road in winning the seventh consecutive Formula 1 championship. “The ownership of the team is going to be taken over by Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Ineos,” Jordan told the British tabloid. “The Ineos name is already on the side of the car anyway and they have this technological partnership so this is a nice way out for Mercedes.” Former F1 team boss Eddie Jordan said. “The team will be called Ineos but it will still be run from the factory in Brackley and Mercedes will retain a 30 per cent share in it…It will not be known as Mercedes any more and Toto Wolff, the team principal, will no longer be in charge.” “It has become difficult for them. How can they keep winning? How can they improve on what they have already done? They can’t.” Jordan added. “Toto’s reputation as one of the great team leaders in the history of the sport is already secure. What he has achieved at Mercedes puts him in the same league as Ron Dennis at McLaren and Jean Todt at Ferrari but all good things come to an end.” Rumours had been going around for months that Mercedes was considering letting go of its Formula 1 team as the rumors still claimed that the parent company, Daimler with its success in the F1 the company feels it has nothing more to achieve in Formula 1. Mercedes has been denying the rumors and insisted it was sticking around. Before the beginning of the 2020 F1 season the team statement once read,” “our clear intention to continue competing in Formula 1 as a Mercedes-Benz works team in the years to come, and to do so with our managing partner, Toto Wolff.” The team has also signed the 2021-2025 F1 Concorde Agreement but this does not guarantee the team will be running under current ownership.

Red Bull’s boss and team principal Christian Horner said he was looking at other driver options for the team’s driver line-up for the 2021 Formula 1 season. Max Verstappen is the leading driver who is firmly under contract with the team as he continues to impress with pure talent on the track, on the other hand his teammate Alexander Albon has been struggling to keep up with the ‘flying dutchman’ although he managed to get the fourth pole behind his teammate in Saturday’s qualifying session. “We know that he is quick when everything goes normally,” said Dr Helmut Marko, the architect of Red Bull’s driver program. “I hope that all of the talk will finally be quiet now. As long as Alex continues to develop and he meets our expectations, he is our candidate.” The same scenario happened to Pierre Gasly last season as he was dropped from Red Bull Racing team back to the junior team AlphaTauri after being unable to match up to Max Verstappen. The talks will continue going on as there are strong drivers such as Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez in the driver market and Dr Helmut Marko insisted that Alexander Albon was still their candidate as he continued to develop and meet the team’s expectations. “There are a couple of strong drivers on the market… Nico Hulkenberg too.” Christian Horner said “But our priority is Alex,” he insisted. “It’s part of my job to know what other options are available, but we are determined to support Alex in realising his potential.” As for the practice at Mugello circuit Verstappen was happy to shave off a few tenths of a second within the leading Mercedes W11 after the ‘party mode’ was banned. “In the end, Mercedes turned up the power in qualifying but it was nowhere near as blatant as when the party mode was available,” said Marko. “I expect it to be a lot closer in the race. We should definitely have a chance.”

Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas took a sweep at FP3 of the Tuscan Grand Prix after recording the fastest lap during the third and the final practice ahead of qualifying later in the day. The finnish driver recorded 1m16.530s topping the final practice session. Redbull’s Max Verstappen came 2nd as he followed closely to Bottas with only 0.017 seconds denying him the fastest lap in the session, with Mercedes sister car steered by Lewis Hamilton coming third just 0.083 seconds behind Verstappen’s RB 16. The conditions at the Ferrari owned track, Mugello circuit were warm and sunny as the Formula 1 cars set to the circuit. Lewis Hamilton looked ready to beat his teammate when he led on the first time split, only to fall back in the second and third sectors.Redbull’s Max Verstappen then went out for one last run late in the session on the red walled soft tyres and split the two Mercedes in an encouraging sign for Red Bull on a circuit which has very fast corners. Racing Point’s Lance Stroll did an impressive job as he came in fourth registering 1m17.112s as AlphaTauri Monza winner Pierre Gasly came in fifth, however he had experienced a moment when he oversteered through the Scarperia-Palagio chicane third sector of the track. Sergio Perez(Racing Point) was sixth as he was closely Followed by Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc as Alexander Albon came in eighth which was a job well done as he had moved from 18th position in the previous lap, however he ran wide through the exit of Correntaio catching dust and grass but he was able to recover his RB16. Daniil Kvyat was the second AlphaTauri coming 9th as Haas Romain Grosjean rounded up the top ten even after missing much of FP3 due to a technical issue. Both Renaults driven by Esteban Ocon and Daniel Ricciardo finishing 11th and 17th respectively. Mclaren also did not have a good session as Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris were P12 and P19 respectively. Sebastian Vettel(Ferrari) finished P18 as Williams George Russel recorded no time as he suffered a suspected brake by wire failure and reporting on the radio that his pedal went “completely to the floor” on his installation lap, which was the only tour he managed in the session as a result of the issue.

Valtteri Bottas topped the afternoon practice session in the inaugural Tuscan Grand Prix ahead of Lewis Hamilton as Mercedes continues to show the superiority of their W11 car. After an intense 1st Practice session in the morning the drivers rolled out in the afternoon under clear skies and strong sun to gain experience on the Mugello circuit which is Ferrari owned. Haas’ Romain Grosjean was the first to register a timed lap recording a time of 1m 19.257s but was quickly subdued by Mclaren’s Lando Norris with 1m 18.658s on the C2 medium compound tyres, however the Mclaren racer had experienced technical issues with his car on lap 5 which forced him to pit. Ferrrari’s Charles Leclerc experinced a spin on his second lap which also forced him to pit although he had a chance to fight if he continued to race. His teammate Vettel on the other hand was complaining over the radio about tyre overheating and went further to say even a single cool-down lap was not enough between the timed laps as the tyres do not cool down enough. Mercedes’ drivers were the last to head to the track in the afternoon session and it did not take long for the Mercedes W11 car to prove its dominance on the track as Valtteri Bottas topped with 1m 18.019s on the medium compound tyre as Hamilton in the sister W11 came in second, six tenths of a second slower on the hard compound tyre. On their second timed laps, Bottas was able to achieve a time of 1m 17.997s which was an improvement as his teammate Hamilton was able to improve by four tenths of a second compared to his previous lap. Sebastian Vettel was the first to complete the qualifying simulation as he did 1m 18.498s on his last timed lap which was over half a second slower than Bottas’ time that he had recorded earlier running on medium compound tyres. His teammate Leclerc didn’t do much well either on the soft tyres as he was only able to beat Vettel by only a tenth of a second. Mclaren’s Lando Norris did not experience a good afternoon as he span and crashed into the wall on turn 3 after touching the gravel trap which saw him lose control of his car, the MCL 35 was on red walled soft compound tyres. The session ended up being red-flagged. When the timed racing resumed Bottas improved to 1m 19.989s beating Hamilton with 0.207s while Redbull’s Max Verstappen and Alexander Albon finished third and fourth respectively having a gap of only seven tenths of a second. Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Raikkonen also span at the San Donato corner after he was tagged by Racing Point’s Sergio Perez, after the mexican left the pit and was unable to slow down driving into the back of the Alfa, this made the session to be halted as the front wing of the RP20 was left on the track.

The last few days has seen a turn of events in the Formula 1 teams as there are new signings and talks undergoing to change the drivers’ lineup for the 2021 Formula 1 Season. This comes as Sergio Perez leaves Racing point and Sebastian Vettel is set to replace him as the team will be rebranded as Aston Martin Racing in 2021. The new signings and reshuffles do not just end there as Sergio Perez may switch to Alfa Romeo as he announced he is not yet ready to leave Formula 1. Perez will be back to Alfa Romeo where he kick-started his Formula 1 career back when the team was named Sauber. He will be joined by Mick Schumacher who is the son to 7-time Formula 1 champion Michael Schumacher, Mick was in support of Ferrari to make his transition from Formula 2 to Formula 1. This leaves Raikkonen and Giovinazzi out of the Alfa Romeo team. Haas F1 drivers, Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean have to fight for their seats for the 2021 season as Robert Shwartzman is eager to join the Formula 1 community and Ferrari are making sure that he gets his wishes soon, but Grosjean and Magnussen might be bidding farewell to their seats as Nico Hulkenberg is set to take a seat in the American team as its alleged that Shwartzman will be his teammate. AlphaTauri’s Daniil Kvyat may be also set to leave the team as Yuki Tsinoda will be replacing him as Honda has been wishing to have a Japanese driver on the Formula 1 grid again. Carlos Sainz as mentioned in the last couple of weeks will be taking Sebastian Vettel’s seat in Ferrari as the current Ferrari driver goes to Racing Point, Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo will be switching to Sainz’s seat at Mclaren. This leaves Ricciardo’s seat open and there are speculations that Fernando Alonso might be making a return in Formula 1.

Four-time Formula 1 world champion Sebastian Vettel is set to join Aston Martin Racing which is currently Racing point as it announced on Thursday. The 33-year old will be replacing Sergio Perez who announced that he will be leaving the team at the end of the 2020 Formula 1 season on wednesday night. Vettel will be driving alongside Lance Stroll who is the son of the team’s major investor Lawrence Stroll. Although it has not been yet specified on how long the contract with the current Ferrari driver will last but the team said that Vettel will be joining the team for 2021 and even beyond. Sebastian Vettel had been informed by the Ferrari in May that his contract will not be renewed beyond the 2020 season and the racer had announced that he was considering his options to stay in the sport or not. “It’s a new adventure for me with a truly legendary car company,” Vettel said in a statement. “I have been impressed with the results the team has achieved this year and I believe the future looks even brighter. “The energy and commitment of Lawrence [Stroll] to the sport is inspiring and I believe we can build something very special together…I still have so much love for Formula 1 and my only motivation is to race at the front of the grid. To do so with Aston Martin will be a huge privilege.” Racing point has been highly collaborating with Mercedes Formula 1 as its power unit and other components of the Mercedes 2019 F1 car are evident in Racing Point’s RP20 and the team was even penalised a few weeks back in August with a fine amounting to 400,000 euros and 15 point penalty for copying Mercedes’ 2019 car’s brake ducts. The collaboration with the Mercedes F1 team have certainly helped Racing Point as it boasts current rankings being position 4 in the Constructors’ Championship being above big teams such as as Ferrari and Renault. The team has also been improving over the previous years and well, we will be expecting more.

Ferrari has revealed its 1000th celebratory livery for its 1000th Grand Prix which will be at Mugello this weekend. Both Ferrari SF1000 cars driven by Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel will have a burgundy shade that was used by Ferrari 125 F1 cars which raced for the team in its debut in 1950 at the Monaco Grand Prix which is some seventy years ago. Both Ferrari racers(Leclerc and Vettel) will also have special suits for this race weekend matching in with the classic livery which will have a retro numbering and a logo written ‘1000 GP’ written on the engine cover. Ferrari also plans to mark the 1000th race with celebrations in nearby Florence on Saturday night which will also feature a demonstration run of Michael Schumacher’s Ferrari F2004 which won the 2004 Formula 1 Championship on Sunday, the race day with Schumacher’s son, Mick Schumacher at the wheel. Ferrari is the only team that has participated in all the 71 Formula 1 seasons managing to win 238 of the overall events making it the team with the highest number of victories than any other team in the history. Ferrari owns the Mugello circuit and the Tuscan Grand Prix with be the first race 2020 that the fans will be allowed to attend as close to 3,000 tickets will be available for the event. “Scuderia Ferrari’s 1000th Grand Prix is a very important milestone, therefore it had to be marked in a special way,” said Piero Ferrari, the vice-chairman of Ferrari. “That’s why we decided to run a unique livery on the cars for this event, with the SF1000s taking to the track at the Mugello Circuit in the Burgundy colour first seen on the 125, the first racing car to carry the Ferrari name.” “Even the look of the race numbers on Charles’ and Sebastian’s cars will reflect the tradition of the past, giving the impression of being hand painted onto the bodywork, while the drivers’ race suits will also match the car colour.” Pierro Ferrari added. “It’s a tribute to our origins, to our starting point for the amazing Ferrari story, characterised by an endless desire to compete, alongside the will to build road cars that are exceptional in terms of technology and design.” “Ferrari is unique in the world, because the company has the soul of a car manufacturer and of a racing team, an inseparable link that is never questioned. Only a few months ago, no one could have imagined that our thousandth race could take place at our own Mugello circuit. I am pleased that in the Grand Prix official name, Formula 1 chose to pay tribute to Ferrari, the only team that has always been present in the sport’s seventy one year history.” As an honour to Ferrari 100th Grand Prix ,Mercedes has decided to paint The Formula 1 Safety Car which is a Mercedes AMG GTR road car from silver to red.

Racing point’s driver Sergio Perez has announceds that he will be leaving the team at the end of 2020 Formula 1 season. The mexican joined the team in 2014 when it was under the name Force India and also remained as a key factor for the survival of the team after it was taken over by a company headed by Lawrence Stroll naming it Racing Point up to date. Sergio Perez exit clears the way for Sebastian Vettel to join the team as he has been heavily linked with the team which will be rebranded Aston Martin Racing after the owner(Lawrence Stroll) invested in the British car company. Perez had signed a three year contract with Racing Point last year and it seems it was in the best of his interests to terminate the contract after 2020. It is not yet known what the 30-year-old plans after 2020 but he wishes to remain in Formula 1 for the 2021 season. It is believed that Alfa Romeo might be seeking for his sevices as the Haas Formula 1 team yet to determine its driver line-up for 2021. “Everything in life always has a beginning and an end, and after seven years together, my time with the team will come to an end after this season,” said Sergio Perez in a statement released on Wednesday. “It hurts a bit as I bet on the team during very rough times; we managed to overcome obstacles and I am very proud of saving the jobs of several of my team-mates…I’ll keep the memories of the great moments lived together, the friendships and the satisfaction of always giving my all.” “I will always be grateful for the opportunity given to me by Vijay Mallya, who believed in me in 2014 and allowed me to continue my F1 career with Force India. To the current administration led by Lawrence Stroll, I wish nothing but the best in the future, specially with the upcoming Aston Martin project.” Added perez. “I don’t have a plan B. My intention is to continue racing here, but that would depend on finding a project that motivates me to continue giving my 100 percent in each lap…I want to thank each one of you who have been with me throughout these 10 years. To my family, who has always been there to support me despite anything.” “To all the sponsors who believed in my project, to my staff, and mainly God, who blessed me with the opportunity to live this incredible adventure called F1…I hope I can give you some good news real soon, but for now, let’s enjoy together the next races. I carry you in my heart” The 30-year-old has scored eight podiums so far, five of them being with Racing Point.

Lewis Hamilton announced that he will launch his own Extreme Racing team that will be participating Extreme E off-road series. The Formula 1 champion’s team will be branded x44, containing the number 44 which is currently his race number for the Mercedes Formula 1 team. The new team is set to make its debut early next year for the next Extreme E off-road season but however the superstar will not be directly participating in the series due to his current Formula 1 racing career. Extreme E is a race series featuring electric monster trucks racing through regions at risk from climate change. These massive vehicles will be driving around glaziers, through rainforests and over deserts, helping preserve their fragile ecosystems for future generations. The vehicle itself is built by Spark Racing Technology, the French company that built Formula E’s first and second-generation cars. “Extreme E really appealed to me because of its environmental focus,” said Hamilton, and it means so much to me that I can use my love of racing, together with my love for our planet, to have a positive impact.” Hamilton said.The 35-year-old also announced that X44 would be built around the values of “sustainability and equality,” and will commit to Formula E’s existing plan to have one woman and one man driver tackling half of each race.

Mike O’Driscoll who was the CEO Williams racing announced his intentions to departure from the team following its sale to the Dorilton Capital company. Mike O’Driscoll joined the Formula 1 team in 2011 and later in 2013 he was handed the role of CEO for the Williams team, since then he has been the CEO but the role was coming to an end with the team announcing the 64 year old is bound to retire. His biggest role was to oversee the team’s long term strategy and also supporting sir Frank Williams and Claire Williams. O’Driscoll had also been among the board of directors for the team but it announced on Tuesday the new composition of directors who include Matthew Savage and Darren Fultz who are the co-founders of the Dorilton capital. James Matthews who is a former racing driver was also mentioned among the new board of directors. “It has been and remains a huge privilege to be part of this great team. I am proud to have played my part in securing the long-term future of Williams and look forward to working closely with Matthew and his team, to ensure a smooth transition and the best possible trajectory for the team’s future success,” the former CEO commented on his retirement from the Williams team. Williams new chairman Matthew Savage also went ahead to commend and congratulate O’Driscoll on his departure from the team. “Mike has made a huge contribution as CEO, working alongside theWilliams family since the IPO in 2011, he has steered the corporate side of the group admirably through challenging timesand has been invaluable in preparing Williams for the next exciting phase.” Matthew Savage said. This marks a major development in the Williams team following the exit of Sir Frank Williams who was the team founder and his deputy Claire Williams. It appears a major reorganisation in the team is underway.

A turn of events took place at Monza when AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly emerged the first in the Sunday afternoon’s race. This is after a fierce battle on the track with Carlos Sainz(Mclaren) and Lance Stroll(Racing Point) who were also eyeing for the win. This comes after Lewis Hamilton who was the polesitter was penalised for a safety car infraction. The Sunday afternoon’s race was turned around after a safety car was brought out after Charles Leclerc(Ferrari) had a crash at the Parabolica,Leclerc was able to get out his car and head to the medical centre for precautionary checks.This comes as Kevin Magnussen’s Haas had to be recovered after grounding to a halt as it was approaching the pitlane,the race marshals had to push it to the pit. Lewis Hamilton was handed the penalty after driving into the pitlane while it was closed, AlfaRomeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi was also penalised for doing the same. Pierre Gasly remained in the lead as he had pitted before the safety car came out and held on to the top position. This comes as Carloz Sainz closely followed and Lance Stroll came in third to complete the podium. Lando Norris came fourth in the sister Mclaren as Valtteri Bottas ranked 5th being the first Mercedes. This comes after the Mercedes’ driver had a poor start which saw him dropping to the 6th position at the end of lap 1. Daniel Ricciardo took the 6th position as Hamilton came in 7th after getting the penalty, Esteban Ocon came in as the second renault at the 8th position as Daniil Kvyat(AlphaTauri) and Racing point’s Sergio Perez came in 9th and 10th rounding out the points for the Sunday afternoon’s event. Both Ferraris retired from the race in their homeground, Charles Leclerc crashed at the Parabolica as Sebastian Vettel suffered a brake failure on lap 6. Redbull’s Max Verstappen also retired on lap 31 as he did not have a great race which had seen him drop from among the top to p15. Verstappen’s teammate Alexander Albon came in 15th despite nearly clashing with Pierre Gasly at the initial first corner in an incident that was never investigated.

Lewis Hamilton lead Mercedes’ one-two ahead of Valtteri Bottas closely followed by Lando Norris who ended up P3 in the second qualifying session at Monza. This comes as Daniel Ricciardo lost the third position due to track violations. Under cloudless skies and temperatures exceeding 28 degrees, Lewis Hamilton finished with a time of 1m 20.192s beating Leclerc’s time set last year in the same session with a 0.786s gap. Hamilton also lead his teammate Bottas with 0.262s making him top in the practice session. Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo lost his third position after running too wide at the exit of the Parabolica meaning Mclaren’s Lando Norris came in third despite missing in on the middle part of the practice session due to a power unit problem, but it was solved after changing to the soft slicks giving the british racer P3 just 0.897s behind Hamilton. Pierre Gasly(AlphaTauri) took P4 being the fastest Honda runner just a tenth of a second quicker than Max Verstappen(Redbull Racing) who came in 5th despite spinning into the wall during first practice at Ascari after driving wide at the exit of Lesmo 1. Carlos Sainz came in 6th with a time of 1m 21.313s being in the second Ferrari as the sister AlphaTauri driven by Daniil Kvyat came in 7th. Lance Stroll(Racing Point) came in 8th as Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was able to get to the top ten after finishing 9th, this was good news for Ferrari who had been struggling this season despite Sebastian Vettel finishing out of the top ten, being 12th but this was an improvement compared to Spa although he too experienced a spin at the exit of Lesmo 1. 10th position was taken by Sergio Perez(Racing Point) bringing into question why the likes of Alex and Ricciardo were missing from the top ten. This is because their laps were deleted(same case happened to Vettel too) due to track infringements at the Parabolica. Alexander albon(Redbull) and Daniel Ricciardo ended up ranking 14th and 15th respectively. Antonio Giovinazzi finished 13th in his AlfaRomeo C39 as his teammate Kimi Raikkonen who is a polesitter at Monza came in 17th, as Kevin Magnussen(Haas) came before him in 16th. Romain Grosjean came in 18th being the second Haas. The 19th and 20th positions were taken by Williams’ Nicholas Latifi and George Russel respectively.