Racetrackmasters

Maverick Viñales has gone fastest in a factory Yamaha one-two at the Catalunya post-race MotoGP test, while Jack Miller ended up 14th. Viñales’ late 1:39.400s saw him come out on top by 0.137s over championship-leading team-mate Fabio Quartararo, with LCR’s Takaaki Nakagami third at 0.302s off the pace. Nakagami was the early pace-setter on a 1:40.648s on a Honda, before SRT’s Franco Morbidelli clocked a 1:40.022s on his Yamaha during the second hour. Suzuki’s Joan Mir then set a 1:39.816s in the third hour, which remained fastest until the sixth hour, when Quartararo went to a 1:39.537s which would be his best of the day. Viñales, who was testing a carbon swingarm, lowered the benchmark twice in the final hour, initially to a 1:39.516s before finding another tenth-and-a-bit. There were four manufacturers represented in the top five, with Honda rider Nakagami followed on the timesheet by Suzuki’s Mir and Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia. Mir had made no improvement on that third-hour time while Bagnaia went as fast as a 1:39.866s, with both working mostly on set-up. The rest of the top 10 was Pol Espargaro (Honda), Johann Zarco (Pramac Ducati), Morbidelli, previous-day race winner Miguel Oliveira (KTM), and Valentino Rossi (SRT Yamaha). Encouragingly for Marc Marquez, his 87 laps was the biggest haul of anyone, and the 1:40.054s on the 52nd of those was good enough for 11th. Miller, fresh off a podium on the day prior, went as fast as a 1:40.242s to be 14th-fastest. The Australian was one of a handful to crash during the day and, like factory Ducati team-mate Bagnaia, that was at Turn 5. “The track was not in the best condition with the rain that we had last night, but all in all, it was a good test,” said Miller. “We went through a few items, and I was able to double-check a couple of things that we’d tried over the weekend. We’re ready to go on to Sachsenring [next round].” Pol Espargaro went down at Turn 6 while Avintia’s Luca Marini triggered a red flag when he went down on his Ducati during the first hour, but was not hurt. Morbidelli finished his day in the early afternoon while Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro sat it out altogether due to a problem for the arm that was operated on recently. Taking his place alongside Lorenzo Savadori was Matteo Baiocco, and they ended up 19th and 23rd respectively. Results: Catalunya Official Test Pos Num Rider Nat Team Bike Fastest lap Gap 1st/Prev 1 12 Maverick VIÑALES ESP Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha 1:39.400 78/85   2 20 Fabio QUARTARARO FRA Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha 1:39.537 69/79 0.137/0.137 3 30 Takaaki NAKAGAMI JPN LCR Honda IDEMITSU Honda 1:39.702 47/67 0.302/0.165 4 36 Joan MIR ESP Team SUZUKI ECSTAR Suzuki 1:39.816 25/65 0.416/0.114 5 63 Francesco BAGNAIA ITA Ducati Lenovo Team Ducati 1:39.866 44/48 0.466/0.050 6 44 Pol ESPARGARO ESP Repsol Honda Team Honda 1:39.877 71/72 0.477/0.011 7 5 Johann ZARCO FRA Pramac Racing Ducati 1:39.979 46/61 0.579/0.102 8 21 Franco MORBIDELLI ITA Petronas Yamaha SRT Yamaha 1:40.022 11/29 0.622/0.043 9 88 Miguel OLIVEIRA POR Red Bull KTM Factory Racing KTM 1:40.036 23/44 0.636/0.014 10 46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Petronas Yamaha SRT Yamaha 1:40.050 62/72 0.650/0.014 11 93 Marc MARQUEZ ESP Repsol Honda Team Honda 1:40.054 52/87 0.654/0.004 12 33 Brad BINDER RSA Red Bull KTM Factory Racing KTM 1:40.141 44/55 0.741/0.087 13 10 Luca MARINI ITA SKY VR46 Avintia Ducati 1:40.226 48/49 0.826/0.085 14 43 Jack MILLER AUS Ducati Lenovo Team Ducati 1:40.242 19/49 0.842/0.016 15 73 Alex MARQUEZ ESP LCR Honda CASTROL Honda 1:40.483 58/70 1.083/0.241 16 82 T KTM Test 1   KTM Test Team KTM 1:40.912 13/25 1.512/0.429 17 23 Enea BASTIANINI ITA Avintia Esponsorama Ducati 1:40.923 15/36 1.523/0.011 18 9 Danilo PETRUCCI ITA Tech 3 KTM Factory Racing KTM 1:40.937 53/61 1.537/0.014 19 32 Lorenzo SAVADORI ITA Aprilia Racing Team Gresini Aprilia 1:40.963 76/78 1.563/0.026 20 50 Sylvain GUINTOLI FRA Team SUZUKI ECSTAR Suzuki 1:40.994 71/72 1.594/0.031 21 81 T KTM Test 2   KTM Test Team KTM 1:41.053 5/7 1.653/0.059 22 27 Iker LECUONA ESP Tech 3 KTM Factory Racing KTM 1:41.205 22/71 1.805/0.152 23 15 Matteo BAIOCCO ITA Aprilia Racing Team Gresini Aprilia 1:46.571 55/66 7.171/5.366

Max Verstappen has pointed the finger at Pirelli for his “life-threatening” 190mph crash caused by a tyre blowout in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. The Dutchman escaped unharmed from an accident in which his Red Bull RB16B careered into the right-hand wall along the pits straight in Baku due to a left rear tyre failure. At the time, the 23-year-old looked all set for a third win of the season that would have extended his World Championship lead over Lewis Hamilton. Instead, he left the Azeri capital still four points ahead, following a Hamilton mistake after the race had been stopped and restarted due to the crash and which left the reigning World Champion finishing 15th. Although Pirelli have promised a full investigation into the incidents involving Verstappen and Lance Stroll, which were nearly identical, their F1 boss Mario Isola initially suspected the tyres had been cut by debris on track rather than suffered construction failures. However, in the aftermath of the race Verstappen did not agree, for Red Bull had seen nothing on their telemetry that told them the tyre was at risk – and he believed he had been lucky to walk away from the accident. That was partly due to the location of the crash, which happened after the pit-lane entry on the left which is separated from the track by a barrier that slants towards the circuit as the drivers approach it. “It is certainly life-threatening,” Verstappen told reporters after the race, thankful that his car had spun to the right. “I can also suddenly go left and then of course you end up in the wall at a completely different angle. “And a little further on, the speed is even higher. I was going about 305 kph (190mph) so nice and easy,” he added sardonically. Regarding the tyres, the 23-year-old added: “Pirelli will probably say it has to do with debris. You will never get the full answer to that.” He also rejected suggestions that he should have taken a different line along the straight to avoid any debris that may have caused Stroll’s crash. “You can say that, but everyone has already done that for a few laps before that,” added Verstappen. “So at some point the debris has to be gone. I don’t think it’s that, although Pirelli will of course give a different answer.” Verstappen’s father, ex-F1 racer Jos, was also immediately scathing about Pirelli after the incident, with a series of tweets that included comments of “no Pirelli for me” and “what a joke”.

Pirelli F1 boss Mario Isola believes the spectacular left rear tyre failures suffered by Max Verstappen and Lance Stroll in Sunday’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix were caused by debris on the track. Verstappen and Stroll were both running on the C3 hard compound when a sudden blow-out pitched them at high speed into the wall. The Canadian’s failure occurred on lap 29 while the Red Bull driver’s tyre blew off its rim on lap 46, just five laps from the checkered flag. The similarity of the incidents led to speculation that the failures were rooted in a structural issue, but Isola said that a deep cut found in the left rear tyre of Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes after the race was red-flagged suggested that debris may have caused the incidents. But Isola said that only a thorough forensic investigation will allow the manufacturer to identify the cause of the successive failures. “We found a cut on the inside shoulder of the rear left tyre used by Lewis Hamilton in the same stint, the cut was quite deep and bigger, probably six, seven centimetres, but not cutting the construction,” Isola told the media. “So the tyre was still in one piece. So just the tread is cut. And when there was the red flag and Lewis came to the pit lane and changed his set of tyres, we have been able to find the cut in the tyre. “The cut on Lewis’ tyre is clearly coming from debris. It is clear because the tyre is still in one piece and you can see that the cut is not following any the action, is a cut that is coming from outside. “Obviously we need to make an investigation, that is clear. What I have collected so far are just preliminary indications. It was sudden deflation both for Lance and for Max, without any warning. “It was on the rear left tyre, that is not the most stressed here, because it’s the rear right. And the other point if we talk about wear, the most worn tyre is the front right. So it is not a matter of wear.” An unhappy Verstappen made clear after Sunday’s event that he felt that a structural issue had caused his tyre failure, but that Pirelli would likely invoke “debris”. Isola insisted that all eventualities will be investigated. “It is almost impossible to design a tyre that is able to resist to any type of debris, if it is debris,” he said. “If it is not debris, we have to consider our counter actions. “But I fully understand that drivers crashing at that speed are worried, that is clear. I’m worried aware as well. “I believe it was debris, because they didn’t have any warning that there was something strange on the car, on the suspension, on the tyre, on the brake, nothing was giving any sign of failure. And it was a sudden failure. “So considering the rear left is not the most stressed tyre, the cut we found on Lewis’s tyre and so on, these are indications that are taking us in that direction. “But we don’t want to exclude anything because as Max said, these things shouldn’t happen.”

Lewis Hamilton’s hopes of winning the Azerbaijan Grand Prix were dashed during a standing restart, after he locked-up and went straight on at Turn 1. The Mercedes driver looked set to move back into the lead of the Formula 1 Championship after title rival Max Verstappen crashed out with a tyre failure. That prompted a red flag and a restart. Hamilton started from second, behind Verstappen’s Red Bull team-mate, Sergio Perez. Despite a good start to get ahead of the Mexican, Hamilton locked-up and went straight on, taking to the Turn 1 run-off before rejoining at the back of the pack. Hamilton apologised over team radio before mentioning the “magic”, referring to a button or switch Mercedes uses to warm its tyres and brakes more effectively during race starts. “Did I leave the magic on? I could have sworn I turned that off,” the Briton said. After the race, Hamilton explained that he had in fact turned it off, but knocked the switch, re-activating it, when he moved left to counter Perez’s defence at the restart, which moved the brake bias forwards, causing him to go off. “I’m not entirely sure, but I hit some sort of switch that caused only the front brakes to work,” he told media after the race. “There’s a button we have to help keep the front brakes up and, as Perez pulled over, I reacted and accidentally latched on the switch. It just locked up and I went straight on.” Hamilton would go on to finish outside of the points, meaning Verstappen retains his slim four-point championship lead, whilst Red Bull extended their Constructors’ lead thanks to Perez’s win.

Charles Leclerc led the opening stages of the Azerbaijan on Sunday, however the Ferrari driver revealed that a tree branch on track at Turn 15 opened the door for Lewis Hamilton to make his way past. The Monegasque driver started from pole, though unlike in Monaco he was able to make the grid this time out. Leclerc led for two laps before Hamilton found a way past down the main straight, with the Ferrari driver explaining how his attempts to avoid the fallen branch prompted him to cut the track and then back off. “It was starting to be quite ok in the first few laps,” Leclerc told the media. “Then there was something that I think hasn’t been seen on TV. There was part of a tree in the middle of Turn 15, and I actually lost quite a bit of time because I cut the track and I was a bit worried to gain time on Lewis behind that hadn’t cut the track. So I slowed down and then he overtook me. “From then on, it was quite difficult, because I was behind Lewis in dirty air, which I struggled a little bit. As soon as I lost the DRS, Max overtook me and then you are just in a vicious circle that is very difficult, because I had cars all around me that had a bit more pace than I did.” Leclerc finished just outside the podium after a late battle with Pierre Gasly, though he stated his race went as expected. “I really enjoyed the last part, but the first part wasn’t great,” Leclerc added. “Let’s say it was expected. “It wasn’t a huge disappointment. We knew that Max [Verstappen, the Red Bulls and Mercedes had quite a bit more pace than us on the long run. I tried not to fight them too much and focus on my race. “The two big surprises from today were the two Aston Martins that were flying and we need to understand that because they definitely did something right.”

Sergio Perez won a dramatic Azerbaijan Grand Prix after Max Verstappen crashed out from the lead with just five laps remaining following a horror tyre failure at 200mph and Lewis Hamilton threw away second place to finish 15th. Verstappen looked poised to race to the flag following a slow pit stop for Hamilton. But a terrifying rear-left puncture sent the Red Bull driver out of control and into the concrete wall on the right-hand side of the start-finish straight. Verstappen was able to walk away from the high-speed crash, kicking the tyre which had failed, with the safety car deployed. The race was then suspended on lap 49 of 51 after Red Bull sporting director Jonathan Wheatley urged FIA race chief Michal Masi to red-flag the event fearing another devastating puncture. Indeed, questions will now be asked of Formula One’s tyre supplier, Pirelli, after Lance Stroll also suffered a high-speed blowout on lap 31. The drivers were permitted to take on fresh rubber for what was effectively a two-lap race before Hamilton launched a gung-ho move on Perez for the win only to run down the escape road at the opening corner in a plume of tyre smoke. “I am so sorry, guys,” said the world champion. Sebastian Vettel rolled back the years to drive from 11th to second to claim Aston Martin’s best result of their return, with Pierre Gasly third for AlphaTauri. Hamilton’s late mistake means Verstappen remains four points ahead of the British driver after the opening six rounds. Hamilton started from second before taking the lead at the beginning of the third lap when he roared past pole-sitter Charles Leclerc on the start-finish straight. Verstappen and team-mate Perez followed suit on laps seven and eight to put the pressure on Hamilton, who had been unable to build a gap in a Mercedes which has largely been off the pace this weekend. Hamilton then made his sole stop on lap 11, but with Gasly pitting at the same time, the seven-time world champion’s release was delayed. The Mercedes driver’s pit-stop took 4.6 seconds, paving the way for Verstappen to take the lead of the race when he pitted for fresh rubber on the following lap. Hamilton’s slow stop also enabled Perez to leapfrog him. While Verstappen remained unchallenged at the front, Hamilton hustled Perez, but despite being faster than the Mexican in the final sector he was unable to find a way past. On lap 31, Stroll suffered the first terrifying puncture. The high-speed failure sent Stroll’s Aston Martin into the concrete wall on the left-hand side of the pit-straight, but while the Canadian sustained extensive damage to the front of his car he emerged unscathed from the horror crash. The safety car was deployed for five laps to clean up the debris, with Verstappen executing the perfect restart to leave Perez trailing. Behind, Vettel, who ran longer in his first stint to lead the race for a brief period, then fought his way past Leclerc and Gasly to move up to fourth. Verstappen was in complete cruise control – on course to move 16 points ahead of Hamilton – until the dramatic late turn of events on the Caspian Sea. The race was suspended for 30 minutes and ahead of the restart Hamilton told his team “you have to remember this is a marathon not a sprint”, seemingly content to take second and his 18-point haul. But the seven-time world champion sensed an opportunity to pass Perez and win the race at the first bend only to run off the circuit. 2021 F1 AZERBAIJAN GRAND PRIX – RACE RESULTS POS DRIVER NAT. TEAM TIME 1 Sergio Perez MEX Red Bull Racing 51 laps 2 Sebastian Vettel GER Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team +1.385s 3 Pierre Gasly FRA Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda +2.762s 4 Charles Leclerc MON Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow +3.828s 5 Lando Norris GBR McLaren F1 Team +4.754s 6 Fernando Alonso ESP Alpine F1 Team +6.328s 7 Yuki Tsunoda JPN Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda +6.624s 8 Carlos Sainz ESP Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow +7.709s 9 Daniel Ricciardo AUS McLaren F1 Team +8.874s 10 Kimi Raikkonen FIN Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen +9.576s 11 Antonio Giovinazzi ITA Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen +10.254s 12 Valterri Bottas FIN Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team +11.264s 13 Mick Schumacher GER Uralkali Haas F1 Team +14.241s 14 Nikita Mazepin RUS Uralkali Haas F1 Team +14.315s 15 Lewis Hamilton GBR Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team +17.668s 16 Nicholas Latifi CAN Williams Racing +42.379s DNF George Russel GBR Williams Racing 48 laps DNF Max Verstappen NED Red Bull Racing 46 laps DNF Lance Stroll CAN Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team 29 laps DNF Esteban Ocon FRA Alpine F1 Team 3 laps

Toto Wolff isn’t all that surprised that Red Bull performed better than Mercedes during practice on Friday, noting that their ability in the twisty parts of Baku and their flexible rear wing gives them the optimum combination. Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas were both well off the pace in FP2, finishing 11th and 16th respectively. Perhaps more worrying was the deficit to Red Bull, who finished atop both sessions, which stood at over a second. Wolff stated that Monaco and Baku are both tracks that don’t suit Mercedes, however Red Bull’s flexible rear wing has helped the Milton Keynes outfit make the gap that much bigger. “We knew that Monaco and Baku are not tracks that suit us,” Wolff told RacingNews365.com and other members of the media. “They [Red Bull] were very good in those twisty parts in Monaco so they are very good here too and Ferrari also. “Then on the straights if you have a wing that gives you this additional speed, you have the optimum combination, against us. So you just need to to take it on the chin for here and try to give it the best performance and collect the most points.” While Baku isn’t a track that Mercedes excels at, Wolff isn’t just willing to assume that their performance will simply return in two weeks time in France. “You can never take that assumption because neither Red Bull or Ferrari or any other team [will just] sleep,” Wolff added. “If we say it’s gonna be okay in France and in Austria, that can you can fall flat on your nose. It’s about learning here and trying to understand why these type of tracks don’t suit us.”

Valtteri Bottas has revealed that he has had no discussions with Mercedes over a new contract but that he expects such talks to take place soon. The Finnish driver sees his deal with the Silver Arrows come to an end at the conclusion of his campaign and there has, naturally, been speculation around his future because of that. Indeed, Mercedes product George Russell is being widely-touted as a future Merc driver and that could even come at the expense of Bottas, with 2022 potentially the year where the change happens. Ultimately, though, we do not know for sure as to how things are going to play out and Bottas admits that there hasn’t been much in the way of dialogue so far with the team, though he expects that to change in the coming weeks He said in his press conference ahead of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix: “We haven’t yet talked about anything, because this is being a pretty demanding championship and we know how much it matters to be able to work in peace, let’s say, when you can focus on the main thing, that is performance. “But that time will come, for sure, it hasn’t been yet, but for sure time flies, especially as we’re soon going to go to triple headers. So I would imagine that, naturally, over the next month or so you need to start to speak and I know from previous experiences that the sooner you can sort things out, the better for everyone. It will come soon, but not yet.”

The weather in Belgium is usually changeable, and there have been many wet races at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit. On Friday however, some very bizarre images surfaced: Spa was ravaged by a storm, resulting in a flooded circuit. At the moment the thunderstorm hit the circuit, the Spa Euro Race was ongoing and had to be stopped due to the circumstances. According to the organisation, the storm was so violent that it damaged the circuit. The circuit then turned into a swirling river, with flooding between La Source and Eau Rouge. An access tunnel was also flooded. Recently it was announced that the Belgian government wants to admit 75,000 fans at the Belgian Grand Prix, which is scheduled for August 29.

Good news for Belgian and of course many Dutch Formula 1 fans. The Belgian government has given the green light for major events today. That means good news for the Belgian Grand Prix. Today the Consultative Committee of the different governments is looking at new relaxations of the Covid-19 measures in Belgium and according to the VRT As of August 13, “large events could be held, with a maximum of 75,000 participants. These are events such as Pukkelpop, Tomorrowland or Formula 1.” The Belgian Grand Prix will take place from August 27-29 on the Spa-Francorchamps circuit. According to the new measures 75,000 visitors could come to the Ardennes. Previously around 265,000 visitors came to the Belgian Grand Prix over three days. However visitors to the race would have to be vaccinated or have a negative test.

The Singapore Formula One Grand Prix has been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On Friday organisers of the race confirmed this year’s event, slated for Oct. 3, would not take place. Last year’s event was also cancelled due to the pandemic. According to the BBC, F1 is weighing up several options as replacements for this year, including Turkey, China or a second race at Austin’s Circuit of the Americas, which is already hosting the U.S. Grand Prix on Oct. 24. Turkey was briefly on the calendar as replacement for the Canadian GP this month, but it had to cancel that event due to the pandemic. The Chinese GP postponed its 2021 event due to the pandemic. Both hoped a race at the tail-end of 2021 would be possible if circumstances change. Colin Syn, deputy chairman of the Singapore GP, said the decision had not been taken lightly. “We understand that our fans were looking forward to another edition of the Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix,” he said. “To cancel the event for a second year is an incredibly difficult decision, but a necessary one in light of the prevailing restrictions for live events in Singapore. “We would not be able to deliver a full event experience fans have come to expect over the years, while safeguarding the health and safety of our fans, contractors, volunteers and staff. Ultimately, we have to be responsible, cautious and prudent as safety is our number one concern.”

Mercedes were unsurpisingly not happy with the first Grand Prix day in Azerbaijan. The team were seventh and tenth in the morning session, and a few hours later they weren’t even in the top ten. Lewis Hamilton finished eleventh, while Valtteri Bottas was P16. It was a shocking day for the seven-time reigning double world champions. Friday’s running was a cause of great concern to team principal Toto Wolff who wanted to use the current weekend to regain first place in the world championship. With Sergio Pérez and Max Verstappen’s P1 and P2 finishes in the second practice session for Red Bull Racing, the opposite seems to have happened, and Wolff showed his displeasure. The team boss normally takes plenty of time to speak to the media after each session, but Friday afternoon was different. Although Sky Sports F1 were ready to talk to Wolff about where things were going wrong, he decided to head straight to the debriefing and not speak to the press for the time being. His frustration is evident, despite his lack of words to the media.