Formula One

[Buddahaid]

Wow! LeClerc has the race bagged then loses power and finds a DNF costing him the championship lead. Hamilton and Magnussen bump early on finding themselves bringing up the rear and Lewis radio calls essentially giving up. The team says work with it and he almost takes fourth but has to cede a position to save fuel winding up fifth. Mercedes upgrades are working and the team is now competing at the sharp end. A race without a safety car finally as well.

[Jimbuna]

Max Verstappen fought back from an early spin to win the Spanish Grand Prix after title rival Charles Leclerc retired from a dominant lead.

It was Verstappen's fourth victory in six races this year, helped by Red Bull imposing team orders on Sergio Perez.

It gives him the championship lead for the first time in 2022 and he heads to Monaco next weekend with a six-point advantage over Leclerc.

Mercedes' George Russell took a strong third after a long and valiant attempt to hold Verstappen at bay early in the race.

And his team-mate Lewis Hamilton fought back to fifth place following a first-lap collision with Kevin Magnussen's Haas, which gave the seven-time champion a puncture and dropped him to the back of the field.

Hamilton moved into fourth behind Russell with a move on Ferrari's Carlos Sainz around the outside of Turn One with six laps to go.

But Hamilton lost the position again after being told to slow down because he had a coolant leak, and could not use full throttle.

Russell received the same message to lift-and-coast at the end of the race. In his case, his car was overheating throughout the grand prix.

[Jimbuna]

[Jimbuna]

Sergio Perez won an incident-packed, wet-dry Monaco Grand Prix after his Red Bull team outfoxed rivals Ferrari.

The Mexican rose from third to the lead during a part of the race in wet conditions after the start was delayed for an hour after a downpour of rain.

Red Bull's strategy also vaulted Max Verstappen from fourth to third, behind Ferrari's Carlos Sainz but ahead of the Dutchman's title rival Charles Leclerc.

As a result, Verstappen extended his championship lead to nine points.

[Jimbuna]

[Jimbuna]

Max Verstappen won the Azerbaijan Grand Prix and took control of the World Championship after an engine failure on Charles Leclerc's Ferrari.

Leclerc's second engine-related retirement from the lead in three grands prix leaves him trailing Verstappen by 34 points, despite six pole positions in eight races.

And it continues the impression that Ferrari's season is falling apart after such a promising start, as Leclerc's team-mate Carlos Sainz also failed to finish following a hydraulic failure.

Verstappen led team-mate Sergio Perez to a Red Bull one-two, as George Russell took third for Mercedes, with team-mate Lewis Hamilton fighting back to finish fourth.

[Jimbuna]

[Buddahaid]

After a fascinating wet and drying qualifying, Max takes pole with the Alpine of Alonso on P2. Race day Max takes the lead in the first corner and remains in control of the lead for the whole race and a win. This time Red Bull has the DNF with Perez dropping out early. LeClerc starting from last makes it to P5 with the two Mercedes in P4 (Russell) and P3 (Hamilton) ahead. Sainz dogs Max for the last twelve laps, or so, but has to settle for P2. Fun and clean race with only Tsunoda dropping out for hitting a wall at turn one, er two, exiting the pit with new tires.... The Mercs were almost up with Red Bull and Ferrari for pace.

[Jimbuna]

Red Bull's Max Verstappen held off a late challenge from Ferrari's Carlos Sainz to win the Canadian Grand Prix.

The two started the final 15 laps nose to tail after a late safety car but, despite heavy pressure from Sainz, Verstappen held on with older tyres.

Lewis Hamilton and George Russell took third and fourth for Mercedes as Ferrari's Charles Leclerc recovered to fifth from the back of the grid.

[Jimbuna]

[Jimbuna]

Lewis Hamilton "doesn't seem to be bothered about losing" and could be replaced at Mercedes by "fed up" chief Toto Wolff, according to Bernie Ecclestone.

Hamilton, 37, is enduring one of the toughest seasons of his career with Mercedes unable to compete with Red Bull and Ferrari at the front of the grid. Instead, he and new team-mate George Russell are scrapping for podiums whenever a quicker car has a mechanical issue.

Russell has impressed by finishing in the top five of all nine races so far this season, while Hamilton's form has been slightly more erratic. Former Formula 1 supremo Ecclestone is unimpressed by that from the seven-time world champion, and believes Mercedes chief Wolff could end his £40m-per-year contract early.

"Lewis might sell his position to Toto," the 91-year-old suggested to the Daily Mail. "This is how much I am getting, I'll step down and give me half of what I would get. Toto can go and do one of his magic deals, offer someone less money and keep £20m.

"Nobody needs to tell Toto this because he has already thought of it. Lewis would probably stop under those circumstances. I don't know what he is doing dressing up in all those funny clothes. Has he a deal to it? Is it to get noticed? Maybe that's it."

He continued: "I didn't think [Russell] was that good but he has done an excellent job. I'm surprised. Or is it a case of Lewis doing a bad job? A bit of both. Toto is getting a bit fed up with Lewis. I don't think he's trying, do you? Let's put it another way, Lewis doesn't seem bothered about losing.

"It's not like him. He has a competitive nature but he's taking losing a bit easy for my liking. I don't think he is actively helping George. I don't think he's doing anything. I don't think he cares too much. He's not prepared to put the effort into winning that he did."

Ecclestone went on to suggest Hamilton had been faking the back pain that he demonstrated after climbing out of his Mercedes at the end of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. The Briton had talked about the agony that had been caused by the car's porpoising, but this was dismissed as "bull****".

"George is taller and if it was going to happen to anyone it would have happened to him," Ecclestone added. "There was a bit of Nigel Mansell about it. At least with Nigel, he would get out of the car and rub his left leg as if he had broken it. Next moment, it would be his right leg."
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/sport/moto...a21e07a93b46d9

[Jimbuna]

Ferrari's Carlos Sainz took his first Formula 1 victory at the end of an extraordinary British Grand Prix packed full of incident and drama.

The Spaniard benefited from questionable strategy calls from Ferrari, which cost his team-mate Charles Leclerc the win and a chance to revive his title hopes.

Lewis Hamilton was in the battle for victory but finished third behind Red Bull's Sergio Perez after a frantic final final nine laps following a late safety car.

Leclerc could finish only fourth and Ferrari missed the opportunity to make up significant ground in the title race on a bad day for championship leader Max Verstappen.

The Red Bull driver finished only seventh, his car slowed by floor damage caused by running over debris, but lost only six points to Leclerc as a result of Ferrari's race management.

Verstappen leads Perez in the championship by 34 points, with Leclerc a further nine adrift.

The race was delayed for an hour after a huge pile-up at the first corner caused a red flag, which took attention away from environmental protesters who had invaded the track after the start.

Alfa Romeo's Zhou Guanyu vaulted the barriers at the first corner after sliding upside down across the gravel trap, but was freed from the car by paramedics and declared uninjured after a check-up at the medical centre.

Williams driver Alex Albon was flown to Coventry Hospital for precautionary checks after he was involved in a separate accident, Aston Martin's Sebastian Vettel punting him into the pit wall.

Zhou's accident was triggered when Mercedes' George Russell and Pierre Gasly's Alpha Tauri touched, spinning Russell into the side of Zhou.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/62030429

[Jimbuna]

[Buddahaid]

Congrats to Sainz in a very exciting race. It's amazes me how accidents still find ways of circumventing safety barriers in new and interesting ways.

[Jimbuna]

Lewis Hamilton says he disagrees with fans at the British Grand Prix booing his rival Max Verstappen, saying: "We're better than that."

The Dutchman received jeers from a section of the crowd while he did his interview after qualifying second to Ferrari's Carlos Sainz at Silverstone.

Hamilton, who was booed by Verstappen fans during their title fight last year, said: "I would say we don't need to do that.

"No booing. We've got such great fans. Our sporting fans feel emotions up and down, but I definitely don't agree with booing."
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/62022394