RXR are in with a chance of claiming their second Extreme E title this weekend as the off-road series heads to Chile for the penultimate round of the year.
RXR, who won the first Extreme E teams’ title last year, go into the weekend with a 32 point gap between them and closest rivals Chip Ganassi.
There are six other teams who are still mathematically able to win the title: Acciona Sainz, X44, Xite Energy, Andretti United, JBXE, and McLaren.
Credit: Extreme E
To win the title this weekend regardless of where their rivals finish, RXR need to finish the weekend on the top step of the podium – something they’ve done five out of the eight races in Extreme E’s history.
Here’s the minimum each team needs to stay in the title battle:
If RXR finish
Chip Ganassi Need
AccionaSainz Need
X44 Need
Xite EnergyNeed
AndrettiUnited Need
JBXE need
McLaren need
1st*
Out
Out
Out
Out
Out
Out
Out
1st
Out
Out
Out
Out
Out
Out
Out
2nd*
1st
Out
Out
Out
Out
Out
Out
2nd
1st or 3rd*
1st or 2nd*
1st or 2nd*
Out
Out
Out
Out
3rd*
1st
1st
1st
Out
Out
Out
Out
3rd
2nd or 4th*
2nd or 3rd*
1st or 3rd*
Out
Out
Out
Out
4th*
1st
1st
1st
Out
Out
Out
Out
4th
3rd or 5th*
3rd or 5th*
3rd or 4th*
1st*
1st*
Out
Out
5th*
2nd
2nd
1st
Out
Out
Out
Out
5th
4th or 6th*
3rd or 6th*
3rd or 5th*
1st*
1st*
Out
Out
6th*
3rd
2nd
2nd
Out
Out
Out
Out
6th
5th or 7th*
4th or 7th*
4th or 6th*
1st*
1st*
Out
Out
7th*
3rd
3rd
3rd
Out
Out
Out
Out
7th
6th or 8th*
5th or 8th*
5th or 7th*
1st
1st
1st*
Out
8th*
4th
4th
3rd
Out
Out
Out
Out
8th
7th or 10th*
6th or 9th*
6th or 8th*
1st or 2nd*
1st or 2nd*
1st*
1st*
9th*
5th
5th
6th
1st
1st
Out
Out
9th
8th or *
7th or *
7th or 10th*
1st or 3rd*
1st or 3rd*
1st*
1st*
10th*
6th
5th
5th
1st
1st
Out
Out
10th
8th or *
8th or *
7th or *
1st or 3rd*
1st or 3rd*
1st
1st*
DSQ
9th or *
8th or *
8th or *
2nd or 3rd*
2nd or 3rd*
1st
1st*
*Additional five points for fastest time through the Continental Traction Challenge
Legacy Programme:
In every location Extreme E visits a legacy programme is set up to help local communities who are impacted by climate change.
This weekend is no different, with the focus of the legacy programme for Chile being on tackling biodiversity loss.
Extreme E is set to work with National Santiago Zoo to prepare habitats and reintroduce the Loa Frog in Calama.
Big news of the weekend is that Marc Marquez (Honda) is finally back, after his surgery which was a complete success this time around. He had some work to do to try and get through to Q2 but, yellow flags hampered him and he narrowly missed out going through to Q2, meaning he would start 13th on Sunday.
It was also a warm welcome back to British racer Cal Crutchlow, who will be racing for the rest of the season in Andrea Dovisiozo’s place at Yamaha.
Good news for Ducati though as it was a lock-out on the front-row for them. Francesco Bagnaia took pole with an all-time lap record – 1:46.69, from current teammate Jack Miller and next year’s teammate Enea Bastianini.
Pole! Courtesy of: Moto GP website
Race:
Sunshine was beaming and the anticipation was bubbling along nicely.
It was all action from lights out – Bagnaia remained in the lead from Miller and Bastianini. While Marquez had made an impressive start and was up into 6th place by turn 2, when suddenly championship leader Fabio Quartararo rode into the rear wheel of Marquez, propelling him from his Yamaha and flying him across the track, lucky not to get caught up in other riders behind him, he recovered on the side of the track. (A medical update later revealed that he had numerous burns to his chest – we wish him a speedy recovery). With this one sudden moment, the championship was flung wide-open!
Fabio’s crash. Courtesy of: Moto GP footage
A few moments later Marquez was checking his Honda as there was some of Fabio’s Yamaha lodged in the rear of it when Takaaki Nakagami (Honda) nudged him, sending Nakagami also into the line of on-coming bikes and then into the gravel. Quick reactions from the riders behind meant no further collisions were caused. (Medical updates later confirmed Nakagami is doing well but has visited the medical centre, we wish him a speedy recovery also).
Nakagami incident. Courtesy of: Moto GP BT Sport footage
The action wasn’t over yet though as Marquez’s bike started to smoke from the rear, the Yamaha parts that had gotten lodged in the bike must have damaged his rear wheel. He was forced to retire from his first race back in 2022.
Back at the front, Bastianini went backwards to 4th place, but he had also taken fastest lap.
Bagnaia led Miller, Brad Binder (KTM) and Bastianini onto lap 3 of 23. Bastianini wasn’t hanging around though and soon re-took 3rd from Binder. He knew he couldn’t let the factory Ducati’s get away.
Bagnaia leads the way. Courtesy of: Moto GP wesbite
The race pace settled down after the excitement of the opening laps as Bagnaia created a lead of 0.457 seconds ahead of his teammate with 18 laps to go.
Bastianini had plans to thwart Bagnaia’s lead though and soon had passed Miller to take 2nd. The gap between himself and his future teammate was 0.700 seconds, knowing he had to hunt him down – he got to work.
Miller’s race meanwhile, was going from bad to worse as Binder also passed him as did Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia) moments after, putting him back to 5th place.
With 16 laps to go Bagnaia was still in control, leading Bastianini, Binder and Espargaro.
The gap between the two front Italians had decreased further to 0.412 seconds. Would Bastianini dare challenge Bagnaia for the lead? Ducati had announced prior to the race that their riders are “free to race” so what would he decide?
By lap 9 the gap between the pair had closed dramatically and Bastianini did indeed pass the Duke to take the lead. It was a short-loved lead though as he soon went wide, meaning Bagnaia could re-take the lead with ease. He then made a small mistake on the next corner, nearly letting Binder also take a place from him, fortunately he remained in second, but all his hard work had come undone. The gap between him and the leader was back to 0.786 seconds. He wasn’t going to be perturbed though.
Bastianini was on a mission, not letting the number 63 get away he started to claw the gap back. Meanwhile, behind him Binder was being hunted down by Espargaro.
By lap 16 of 23, gapping was appearing between the leading four riders: Bagania’s lead was 0.745 seconds ahead of Bastianini, who’s gap between him and Binder was 1.579 seconds, who’s gap between Binder and Espargaro was 0.405 seconds.
In 14th place – British Yamaha test-rider Cal Crutchlow was remaining in the points, currently higher than any place Dovi had managed to collect this year.
Cal Crutchlow. Courtesy of: Moto GP website
Back at the front the action was becoming tense. With only 6 laps until the chequered flag the gap between Bagnaia and “The Beast” had dropped and Bastianini was very close to the rear of Pecco.
With 4 laps till the end: Crutchlow passed Vinales to take 13th, Espargaro closed the gap between himself and Binder (to 0.193 seconds) and Bastianini started getting tempted to pass his future teammate.
Would he actually do it? Could he actually do it? There weren’t many laps left to make a decision.
The gap between the two Ducati’s was 0.193 seconds as Bastianini seemed to be testing a corner to pass Bagnaia on. Deciding against it, audiences had to hold their breath.
Espargaro though, decided enough is enough sitting behind Binder and passed him to take the last podium position.
The next lap Bastianini did another tempting move but again decided against it. Was he going to try a pass on Bagnaia?
Last lap:
Baganaia led Bastianini onto turn 1 –
turn 2 –
turn 3 –
turn 4 –
turn 5 and turn 6 but, turn 7 saw a surprise move from Bastianini which saw him re-take the lead at Aragon. Bagnaia had little response to it. The last corner/ the short start-finish straight was his last chance, but it was not to be.
Bastianini claimed his 4th victory for 2022, with Bagnaia extremely close behind.
Top ten finishers:
1st
E. Bastianini
2nd
F. Bagnaia
3rd
A. Espargaro
4th
B. Binder
5th
J. Miller
6th
J. Martin
7th
L. Marini
8th
J. Zarco
9th
A. Rins
10th
M. Bezzecchi
Surprising turn of events for round 15 sees the championship blow wide-open:
Top four championship standings:
1st
F. Quartararo
211 points
2nd
F. Bagnaia
201 points
3rd
A. Espargaro
194 points
4th
E. Bastianini
163 points
Now only 10 points between Fabio and Pecco and 17 points between Aleix and first place.
With a 1, 2 in the bag for this round, Ducati had more to celebrate as they became the 2022 Constructors World Champions!
Courtesy of: Ducati Course Twitter page
What could possibly happen next time in Motegi, Japan? Be sure to join in with the action on Sunday 25th September.
MONZA, ITALY – SEPTEMBER 11: Sergio Perez of Mexico driving the (11) Oracle Red Bull Racing RB18 on track during the F1 Grand Prix of Italy at Autodromo Nazionale Monza on September 11, 2022 in Monza, Italy. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images) // Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool // SI202209110582 // Usage for editorial use only //
Max Verstappen secured his fifth victory in a row and his eleventh this season to spoil the Ferrari party at Monza, despite starting in seventh after receiving an engine penalty.
The Red Bull driver and reigning champion was able to make his strategy work superbly, finishing ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Mercedes’ George Russell, with the race finishing behind the safety car after Daniel Ricciardo’s late retirement.
But once again the story at the front of the race was about the dominance of Red Bull and Max Verstappen. He was over 15 seconds ahead of Leclerc before the safety car was deployed, and now moves level with Nigel Mansell in joint-seventh on the all-time winners list with 31 victories. Verstappen is now 116 points ahead of Leclerc, and can now secure the championship at the next race in Singapore.
Verstappen started moving up the field straight away, getting a good start to take fifth into turn one, later overtaking Gasly into Ascari, and Ricciardo on the run down the start-finish straight to take third on lap two. George Russell tried to take the lead around the outside into the first chicane, but was never far enough alongside to make it work and had to take to the escape road.
It was clear Russell wouldn’t be able to hold onto second for long, and by lap five Verstappen had made his way up into second place. Things stayed that way until lap twelve, when a retirement for Sebastian Vettel caused a virtual safety car, and Ferrari gambled on bringing Leclerc in from the lead, putting him on to a new set of medium tyres.
The original plan was to keep him on these until the end of the race, but it became clear after Verstappen’s stop on lap 25 that Leclerc would not have the pace to take the victory on this strategy. Ferrari brought Leclerc in for fresh softs on lap 33, but had barely gained any time on Verstappen by the time the safety car was deployed for Ricciardo’s retirement.
The Australian had spent most of the race at the head of a DRS train, with the overtaking aid being relatively ineffective here due to the low-drag setups used by the teams. The only driver who seemed to be able to make any moves in the train in the opening stages was Carlos Sainz, overtaking cars lap after lap into the Rettifilo chicane to move into fourth by lap 20. Sergio Perez and Lewis Hamilton, who also started further back, didn’t have as much luck at moving through the field in the early stages. Mercedes’ lack of straight line speed meant Lewis spent many laps behind Yuki Tsunoda, whereas Perez pitted on lap seven for fresh hard tyres, with the Mexican’s brakes catching fire as he exited the pits. Thankfully though, he was able to continue.
Hamilton had much more luck overtaking in his second stint, with the Brit able to move onto the soft tyres rather than the hards after superbly looking after the mediums in the first half of the race. One particular highlight was a switchback on Lando Norris and Pierre Gasly out of the Rettifilo as the two cars focused on each other – a situation that Norris wouldn’t have found himself in if it wasn’t for a slow pitstop. Hamilton ended up fifth after Perez pitted late on for soft tyres, with the Red Bull coming home sixth with the fastest lap.
Norris ended up recovering to finish best of the rest once again in seventh place, as McLaren look to close in on Alpine for fourth in the championship. It was a bad day for the French outfit, with Esteban Ocon failing to score, and Fernando Alonso retiring on the day he equaled Kimi Raikkonen as the most experienced Formula One driver of all time. Haas and Aston Martin also failed to score points, with Stroll joining Vettel in retirement, whereas Haas once again struggled with pace on a low downforce circuit.
Pierre Gasly came home in eighth, with Nyck de Vries superbly holding on to tenth (which became ninth after Ricciardo’s retirement). The former F2 and FE champion soaked up the pressure that was being applied from Zhou Guanyu throughout the race – and perhaps gave Williams something else to think about as they look to lock in their driver line-up for 2023. It is possible that we will see de Vries again in Singapore, depending on how quickly Albon recovers from his appendectomy. Zhou did take the final point for tenth, scoring his and Alfa Romeo’s first points since the Canadian GP in June.
A season which promised so much in terms of a title battle seems to be ending in a dominant display. Verstappen will surely become a two-time world champion, and with regulations remaining stable until 2026, he could well add many more to that tally. Winning this season is obviously his main goal, but the record of thirteen wins in a season (currently held by Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel) has never looked more fragile.
The Superpole race saw Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha) claim the win, followed by Bautista (Aruba.it Ducati) and Rea (KRT Kawasaki) respectively.
With the track temperature nearing 40 degrees Celsius for race 2, the action on track would surely be heating up too.
Lights out for race 2, and it was Toprak with the hole shot into turn 1, followed closely by Bautista and Rea. As was the case in race 1, Bautista used the power of the Ducati to blast into the lead down the back straight, Toprak didn’t have an answer. Then Rea dived into 2nd place, looking aggressive early on. Lowes (KRT Kawasaki) got pushed out wide, and dropped down into 6th. Then massive drama as Rea took out the championship leader, sending Bautista flailing into the gravel. Rea caught him on the inside into turn 13, and the two bikes bumped into each other. There was nothing Bautista could do about that, and his race was over.
WorldSBK Magny Cours 11.09.2022 Picture courtesy of WorldSBK
Next lap and positions were as follows: 1. Toprak 2. Bassani (Motocorsa Ducati) 3. Rea 4. Rinaldi (Aruba.it Ducati) 5. Lowes. Then Bassani takes the lead making a great move on Toprak, and sets the new fastest lap of the race with a 1:37.000. Positions were changing, by numerous riders, every corner in a chaotic start to the race.
With 17 laps remaining, Rea got a long lap penalty for the incident with Bautista. Positions were as follows: 1. Bassani 2. Toprak 3. Rinaldi 4. Lowes 5. Rea 6. Redding (BMW Motorrad) 7. Baz (Bonovo Action BMW) 8. Locatelli (Pata Yamaha) 9. Gerloff (GRT Yamaha) 10. Lecuona (Honda HRC).
With 15 laps left, Bassani was having one of his best races of the season so far, and doing his best at keeping the world champion at bay behind in 2nd. The leading trio of Bassani, Toprak and Rinaldi had now pulled away from the rest. Rea took his penalty, and rejoined in 7th, in front of Baz 8th and Gerloff in 9th. The gap from Rinaldi in 3rd to Lowes in 4th was 1.2s, and Lowes held a gap of 1.4s to Redding behind in 5th. Rinaldi then makes an audacious move and moved from 3rd into the lead, taking both Bassani and Toprak. Toprak snapped back and took 2nd, while Bassani got forced into 3rd.
With 13 laps to go, Lowes had clawed his way back onto the leading group. Rea had moved up to 6th, and was in front of Locatelli in 7th.
Next lap and Vierge (Honda HRC), went down into turn 13, his race was over. Rinaldi was holding his own out in the lead, and so far was managing to keep Toprak at bay. Toprak however, was getting quicker lap by lap, and set a new fastest lap of 1:36.8. Bassani held a gap of 0.4s to Lowes behind in 4th. Meanwhile further back it was Mahias (Puccetti Kawasaki) 12th, and Nozane (GRT Yamaha) 14th.
Just over half race distance, and Redding in 5th held a gap of 1.7s to Rea in 6th. Bassani was struggling to keep contact with Rinaldi and Toprak, both had pulled away.
With 8 laps to go, Toprak eventually made his move, and came through on Rinaldi to retake the lead.
With 6 laps remaining, Toprak had pulled out the gap to 0.4s to Rinaldi, who then ran too hot into turn 11, the Chicane, running straight through, and losing time in the process. The gap to Toprak in the lead was now up to 0.8s.
Next lap and Rea moved up into 5th after Redding ran wide. Further back there was a three way battle for 7th between Locatelli, Gerloff 8th and Baz 9th.
With 3 laps to go, Toprak now held a gap of 0.7s to Rinaldi in 2nd, Bassani was in 3rd, Lowes 4th, and Rea in 5th.
WorldSBK Magny Cours 11.09.2022 Picture courtesy of WorldSBK
Last lap, and Toprak crossed the line to take his 2nd win of the weekend. Rinaldi took 2nd, and Bassani took 3rd, to claim his 2nd podium of the weekend. Lowes 4th, Rea 5th, Redding 6th, Locatelli 7th, Gerloff 8th, Baz 9th, and Lecuona 10th.
Charles Leclerc delighted the Tifosi to take his eighth pole position of the season at Monza, with George Russell securing a front-row start after penalties for other drivers.
Leclerc beats Verstappen to pole at Ferrari’s home race. Image courtesy of Pirelli F1 Media
Max Verstappen, Carlos Sainz, Sergio Perez and Lewis Hamilton rounded out the fastest five in qualifying, but penalties for the quartet behind Leclerc drop them to fourth, eighteenth, tenth and nineteenth respectively. This has promoted the British duo of George Russell into second and McLaren’s Lando Norris into third place, on what will be a poignant weekend for the many Brits associated with Formula One after the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
Leclerc took advantage of a tow from Norris to go fastest with his final run in Q3, setting a 1:20.161 for his second pole position at Monza, and his seventeenth overall. Verstappen was a tenth and a half behind but will be confident that the Red Bull’s superior race pace can take him to an eleventh victory of the season.
First qualifying started in baking hot conditions in Monza, and there were plenty of drivers struggling to find grip in the early stages, as Mick Schumacher and Lance Stroll both had to react quickly to prevent their cars from spinning on their first runs. It was Ferrari who set the early pace, but with degradation extremely low around a circuit with very-few high load corners, drivers could stay out there for lap after lap – with Max Verstappen eventually going quicker than the Ferraris on his fourth run.
Vettel out in Q1 again. Image courtesy of Aston Martin F1 media
Haas were left wishing they had time to get even more runs in, as both drivers struggled to stay on track in the latter stages of the session. Kevin Magnussen had two laps deleted for track limits as he qualified nineteenth (sixteenth after penalties), ahead of his teammate Mick Schumacher, who went straight on at the Rettifilo chicane. Joining the Haas’ on the sidelines for Q2 was Nicolas Latifi, whose chances of retaining his seat will have taken a knock after being out-qualified by Nyck de Vries on debut, and the Aston Martin pairing of Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll.
Due to the nature of the Monza circuit, no one wants to be out on track first and give the rest of the field a handy slipstream on their hot laps. Once cars began to make their way out onto the circuit, it was Ferrari who again set the pace, despite Leclerc needing a second lap on his first run after locking up at Turn One.
Alpha Tauri decided not to bother sending Yuki Tsunoda out in Q2, with the Japanese driver having multiple driving and power-unit penalties, consigning him to a back of the grid start tomorrow. Only Daniel Ricciardo managed to pull himself out of the bottom five after the first runs, securing his first Q3 appearance since the summer break.
Esteban Ocon, Valtteri Bottas, Nyck de Vries, Zhou Guanyu and Tsunoda were the drivers to miss out in Q2, with de Vries having a major moment on the brakes into the second chicane, on what was a promising debut for the Dutch driver. Starting eighth tomorrow, in a car that is notoriously slippery in a straight line, it wouldn’t be a major surprise to see him score points on his F1 debut.
De Vries made it into Q2 on his first qualifying outing in F1. Image courtesy of Pirelli F1 Media
The first runs in Q3 saw Carlos Sainz go fastest, with his teammate Leclerc slotting in just behind, as the drivers alternated who would get the benefit of the tow. This proved to be the decisive factor on the final laps, with Leclerc’s double slipstream from Sainz and Norris potentially giving him the edge.
Daniel Ricciardo was eighth fastest and will start from fifth around the circuit where he took victory twelve months ago. Pierre Gasly and Fernando Alonso will start sixth and seventh, having both been caught out with track limits in the final qualifying session and failing to get a time on the board.
Ferrari has removed some upgrades from their car for Monza, and these changes look to have had the desired effect, certainly in qualifying. However, Leclerc has failed to convert any of his last five pole positions into a victory, with the Monegasque driver needing to end this streak tomorrow if he wants to keep his slim championship hopes alive.
Superpole saw Rea (KRT Kawasaki) take top spot with an unbeaten time of 1:36.124, followed by Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha), and Redding (BMW Motorrad) in 2nd and 3rd respectively.
Conditions were perfect for Race 1, with Toprak opting to go with a harder front tyre, while most of the grid chose a softer option.
WorldSBK Magny Cours 10.09.2022 Bautista – Picture courtesy of WorldSBK
Lights out for race 1, and it was Toprak with the hole shot into turn one, followed by Redding, Rea and Bautista (Aruba.it Ducati). Lowes (KRT Kawasaki) in particular, was looking quite aggressive early doors. With his hard front tyre yet to get up to race temperature, Toprak ran wide and allowed Redding to come through and snatch the lead.
Next lap and both Toprak, and Rea came through on Redding, the Brit getting barged down into 3rd. And then in the space of a one lap, massive drama as first Rea goes down into the last chicane turn 17, looking like he clipped the curb on the exit. A few corners later, and Toprak appeared as if he could not get his Yamaha R1 stopped into turn 13, with the rear violently snapping around. It could have been a nasty crash, but with the skill of a world champ he was able to rejoin the race in 23rd. Rea was not as lucky, his ZX-10RR needed to have work done on it, and went back to the garage.
Bautista was now in 2nd behind Redding, and could no doubt scarcely believe his luck, with his two main title rivals both going out.
With 17 laps remaining positions were as follows: 1. Redding 2. Bautista 3. Baz (Bonovo Action BMW) 4. Rinaldi (Aruba.it Ducati) 5. Bassani (Motocorsa Ducati) 6. Lowes 7. Gerloff (GRT Yamaha).
Next lap and Bautista had closed the gap to Redding, and was looking for a way past. The gap behind to Baz in 3rd was now 1.4s. With the power, and in particular the aggressive acceleration of the Ducati, Redding was battling to keep Bautista at bay. The Spaniard does eventually come through on Redding, snapping under him to take over the lead. Further back it was the Honda HRC team mates of Lecuona and Vierge in 8th, and 9th respectively, Locatelli (Pata Yamaha) 12th, and Toprak was in 23rd.
On lap 9 of 21, Bautista ran wide, and allowed Redding to close the gap. Meanwhile behind in 3rd, Baz was struggling to keep contact with the leading two, and had now been caught by Bassani and Rinaldi.
Rea managed to get back out on track after his bike was repaired, and was obviously trying to get a few more laps of racing in, although any chance of scoring points was now out of the question. Meanwhile at the front, there was now a three way scrap for 3rd, with both Bassani and Rinaldi keen to claim a podium. Further back it was Gerloff and Lowes in 6th, and 7th respectively.
With 10 laps to go, Rinaldi made his move, and dived under Bassani to take 4th. And with the pressure mounting behind, Baz crashed out and into the gravel, his race was over. Meanwhile at the front, Bautista was now finding his groove, and set the new fastest lap of the race of a 1:36.715, increasing his lead over Redding to 1.2s.
With 8 laps remaining, Rinaldi over shot turn 1 and flew across the gravel, although he was able to stay upright and rejoin the race in 8th. Meanwhile at the front Bautista continued to increase his lead, with the gap now 1.5s to Redding. Incredibly, Toprak was now up to 14th, after scything through the back end of the field, and was in point scoring contention.
Next lap, and Bautista as usually happens on the Ducati, was finding extra pace in the second half of the race, and the gap had increased to 1.6s to Redding. Gerloff was having a decent race in 4th, as too was Lecuona further back in 6th.
With 4 laps to go, Locatelli had moved up from 12th, and was now in 9th. Gerloff was all over the back of Lowes in 4th, and looking for a way past, although the Brit was having a decent race himself, and rode aggressively as he had all race. Postions were as follows: 1. Bautista 2. Redding 3. Bassani 4. Lowes 5. Gerloff.
Next lap and Bautista was looking comfortable out in the lead, with a gap of now almost 3s to Redding. Vierge looked to be having some trouble as he was steadily losing places, and was now down in 13th.
Final lap, and Bautista crossed the line to take the win, followed by Redding who had one of his best races of the season so far. Bassani 3rd, Lowes 4th, Gerloff 5th, Rinaldi 6th, Locatelli 7th, Oettl (GoEleven Ducati), 8th, Lecuona 9th, Mahias (Puccetti Kawaski) 10th. Toprak 11th.
Rainy, damp conditions greeted the riders for their qualifying sessions on Saturday.
But, it was Ducati-man Jack Miller who took full advantage and secured pole, followed by Enea Bastianini and Marco Bezzecchi, making an all Ducati front-row. Second and third place were local-boys, hoping to shine bright at home.
The top two riders in the championship – Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha) and Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia) both qualified on the 3rd row.
Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) received a 3 place grid penalty which resulted in him starting in 5th, following on from slowing down on the racing line, after he assumed the chequered flag had been waved to end the session.
Race:
A wonderful tribute to the late Fausto Gresini would be done during the race, in the form of the Gresini Racing bikes having their livery changed to remember the 1987 125cc World Championship winning Garell bike that Gresini used. Whatever their outcome for the race, this was a wonderful surprise.
The livery! Courtesy of: Moto GP website.
The rain/ damp conditions had passed ready for Sunday with partly cloudy weather, the track temperature though had risen significantly to 43 degrees, come race time. Would this prove to be an issue?
It was finally lights out for the Moto GP race: Miller got a great start, as did Bagnaia. Miller led Bastianini and Bagnaia into the first corner. But behind it was disaster for; Johann Zarco (Ducati), Michele Pirro (Ducati) and Pol Espargaro (Honda), who all toppled out together. Hopefully, none were injured in the collision.
Crashing out. Courtesy of: Moto GP website.
After the news this week, that Bastianini had been confirmed he was to be Bagnaia’s teammate next year, there didn’t seem to be any future team orders between the pair. Bastianini soon passed Bagnaia to take 2nd place. But on the second lap Miller unexpectedly fell from first (turn 4), leaving ‘The Beast’ to lead the race.
Bastianini led Marini (VR46) and Bagnaia (Marini had also managed to pass Bagnaia to take 2nd). While one VR46 rider fortunes were in his favour, teammate Bezzecchi’s fortunes were not – crashing out also on lap 2.
The new race leader also almost toppled from first moments later, but managed to recover.
The excitement was far from over though. Lap 3 saw Bagnaia and Vinales both pass Marini, pushing him back to 4th, another yellow flag waved but this time for both Frankie Morbidelli (Yamaha) and Fabio DiGiannantonio (Ducati), Bagnaia passed Bastianini for the lead and ‘Top Gun’ passed ‘The Beast’ for 2nd.
Bagnaia led Vinales, Bastianini and Marini with Quartararo and Espargaro close behind.
Bagnaia took fastest lap (lap 5) but had mounting pressure in the form of Vinales, who was looking menacing behind.
In 5th place on lap 7, Espargaro made a small error, which Quartararo needed no invitation and passed him to gain another place. Meanwhile in 3rd Bastianini was pushing hard and took fastest lap (1:32.560 seconds).
Now in 5th spot, could Quartararo close the gap on the front 4 riders, their gap had increased to 0.826 seconds, with 21 laps still to go? He knew he had to try. Next lap he took fastest lap. Could he be in for a shout of a podium finish?
Fastest lap soon went to Bagnaia, but was beaten seconds later by 6th place rider Espargaro. Fighting for the championship, alongside Fabio, could Aleix catch him to reduce the points between them? He certainly kept the momentum going – with 16 laps till the end, he secured another fastest lap.
Track limits warnings were coming thick and fast: Vinales was the first to receive one, then Martin then Quartararo. But, Vinales didn’t seem perturbed by his warning and soon took 2 fastest laps in a row, all the while, eyeing up a pass on Bagnaia.
With 12 laps to go, Bastianini went slightly wide, letting Marini take 3rd, but Bastianini wasn’t having any of it and re-took the position straight back. The gap between number 23 and 12 was 0.615 seconds. Could Bastianini manage to catch up and if so fight for the win?
Setting fastest lap with only 10 laps to go he had managed to claw the gap down between himself and Maverick to 0.471 seconds. With Vinales still trying to get the perfect spot to pass Bagnaia for the lead. But, he had waited too long to make his move and 2 laps later Bastianini attacked and took 2nd place on turn one. Bagnaia now led Bastianini, Vinales and Marini.
Following closely. Courtesy of: Moto GP website.
The next track-limits warning went to Bastianini with 6 laps till the end.
But, more drama was about to unfold going onto the last lap:
Bastianini was all over the back of Bagnaia. Would he make a last lap lunge? Surely not – this would be his teammate next year and a championship contender this year. None of this was on his mind though as he went to make a move but had to abort it, in fear of crashing into Bagnaia, which in turn created a small gap between the pair. The gap was severely shrunk down on the start-finish line though making it a picture-finish. Bagnaia had the edge and claimed the victory (with only 0.034 seconds between them) and in the process made history: Being the first-time Ducati have won 4 races in a row!
Super close end. Courtesy of: Moto GP website.
A great ride from Vinales saw him finish on the last spot of the podium.
Top 10 race finishers:
1st
F. Bagnaia
2nd
E. Bastianini
3rd
M. Vinales
4th
L. Marini
5th
F. Quartararo
6th
A. Espargaro
7th
A. Rins
8th
B. Binder
9th
J. Martin
10th
A. Marquez
Top 4 Championship Standings:
1st
F. Quartararo
211 points
2nd
F. Bagnaia
181 points
3rd
A. Espargaro
178 points
4th
E. Bastianini
138 points
As seen above, there are some changes to the championship table.
The race was brilliant and had everyone on the edge of their seats. BUT, we can’t end there.
For the last 21 years there has been a consistent rider, one who we have had the pleasure to watch come through the ranks: winning the 125 championship, coming close to winning the 250 championship and coming runner-up many times in the Moto GP class.
Ever a gentleman off track but with the heart of a lion on track, he gave us many exciting battles and has raced against many big names in the sport. He won his first-ever race at Misano and decided to end his Moto GP career his way, at the very same track. He has won many fans over the years and the paddock will not be the same without him.
Thank you for the memories Andrea Dovizioso and Ciao! We wish you all the best wherever your future takes you.
Max Verstappen secured his tenth victory of the season and his fourth in a row with victory at the Dutch Grand Prix, to move even closer to his second world championship.
A late Safety Car had the potential to mix up the order, but Lewis Hamilton was powerless to stop the Dutchman overtaking on the restart, with victory at Zandvoort putting Verstappen 109 points ahead in the championship with seven rounds remaining. George Russell took second place to secure his best finish of the season, with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc coming home in third.
In the end, it was a fairly straightforward victory for Verstappen, but there was a real possibility that Mercedes could have taken their first win of the season, as Hamilton and Russell looked to make a one-stop work. However, a virtual safety car caused by the Alpha Tauri of Yuki Tsunoda made Verstappen a favourite for the win.
Hamilton leads Verstappen during the safety car period. Image courtesy of RedBull Content Pool
A safety car caused by Valtteri Bottas’ stricken Alfa Romeo looked like it might have brought Mercedes back into the fight for the win, as Hamilton and Russell both initially stayed out on their old mediums. Russell made the call to come in a lap later for a set of soft tyres, and this turned out to be crucial for the Brit. Hamilton stayed out on the mediums, with the seven-time champion fuming at the decision not to pit for fresh rubber.
At the start, Verstappen and Leclerc got away evenly, allowing the Dutchman to keep the lead into Turn One. Things were tighter behind as Carlos Sainz and Hamilton made slight contact at the apex, but both were able to continue. Further down the field, Kevin Magnussen made contact with the barrier on lap two, but the Haas was able to continue, albeit with a lot more paint on the sidewall on his rear-left tyre.
Most people expected the softs and the mediums to be the chosen race tyres, with a two-stop therefore being the only viable option. However, both Fernando Alonso and Lando Norris were able to make the white-walled tyres work to good effect opening up the possibility of a one-stop strategy. Mercedes took this gamble, and it looked as though it was going to be a fascinating end to the race, as Verstappen would have had to work his way past both Hamilton and Russell.
Ferrari not where they wanted to be today. Image courtesy of Pirelli F1 Media
Despite showing promising pace on Saturday and at the start of the race, Ferrari were clearly the third fastest car on race day, with Leclerc only taking third at the end thanks to the advantage of fresh soft tyres. His teammate had a much more eventful day, coming home eighth after being given a 5-second penalty for an unsafe release, forcing his compatriot Alonso to slam on the brakes. That wasn’t the only pit lane peril for Sainz, as he dropped back from third after Ferrari only had three tyres ready for his first stop, in yet another calamity for the Scuderia which will only add more pressure to beleaguered team boss Mattia Binotto. The Spaniard also came close to being penalised for overtaking under yellow flags, but it appeared he had already committed to the move on Esteban Ocon into Turn One before reaching the first yellow flag.
The main talking points of the race began on lap 46, as Yuki Tsunoda stopped at the side of the track, claiming his tyres weren’t fitted correctly. He was told to continue on, and the Japanese driver came back to the pits at a severely reduced pace, before having a long pit stop to seemingly refasten his seatbelts, which is certain to be investigated by the FIA. He was released on to the circuit only to stop a few corners later, bringing out the VSC which greatly benefitted Alpha Tauri’s sister team.
Verstappen’s victory was put in doubt by the later full safety car (due to Bottas’ retirement), but the speed and tyre advantage of the Red Bull meant Hamilton had no chance of stopping him. A furious Hamilton managed to hold on to finish in fourth place ahead of Sergio Perez, with whom he had had a fascinating battle in the middle of the race which got interrupted by Sebastian Vettel, who impeded the Brit and earned himself a five-second penalty in what was a weekend to forget for the Aston Martin driver.
Verstappen overtook Hamilton into turn 1 at the safety car restart. Image courtesy of RedBull Content Pool
Fernando Alonso came home in sixth ahead of Lando Norris, who looked for the majority of the race that he would finish best of the rest before losing out in the pitstops. Esteban Ocon was ninth, helping tighten Alpine’s grip on fourth in the championship, with Lance Stroll securing his fifth tenth place of the season to round out the points. Gasly, Albon, Schumacher, Vettel, Magnussen, Zhou, Ricciardo and Latifi were the rest of the finishers.
They say it’s not over until the fat lady sings, but her vocal cords must be warming up by now. It is surely a case of when, not if, Verstappen secures his second world championship, and in much less controversial circumstances than his first. The Italian GP at Monza is taking place next weekend, and you’d be a brave man to bet against the Dutchman spoiling Ferrari’s homecoming party.
Round 15 of the 2022 F1 World Championship sees the F1 circus return to Zandvoort for the Dutch GP, the home of World Champion and the Orange Army. After the summer break F1 returned to Spa in Belgium and the weekend was dominated by RedBull and Max Verstappen. This weekend is a completely different circuit and the field seems to be a lot closer after practice. Qualifying will be very important this weekend as overtaking is very difficult around the tight, twisty Zandvoort track.
As usual the 2 Haas cars enter the track first, all other teams seem happy to wait a little while before beginning their first runs. Magnussen was the quicker of the 2 Haas cars and they were followed by the 2 Williams of Albon and Latifi.
Russell making the most of the new found pace. Image courtesy of Mercedes Media
With 5 minutes of the session gone Max Verstappen left his garage to huge cheers from the Orange Army. If the crowd inspire him the way the British crowd used to inspire Nigel Mansell he could have pole by about 5 seconds today. His first timed lap is a 1.11.317, a second clear of his team mate in second. The two Ferraris then cross the line with Sainz in P2 nearly half a second behind and then Leclerc third over 0.8 seconds behind the Flying Dutchman. George Russell then puts his Mercedes into P2 with Lewis Hamilton right behind him in P3. The Mercedes seems to like the nature of the Dutch track with both drivers within a quarter of a second of the leading RedBull.
With 5 minutes remaining Leclerc puts the Ferrari into P2 just 0.126 from the fastest time so far. Only 3 cars are left on track as everyone pits for new fresh tyres and waits before they go out for their final run. Everyone crossing the line is improving with Tsunoda moving up to second in the Alpha Tauri just 0.110 behind Verstappen, he is then topped by Lewis Hamilton who is just 0.014 behind the RedBull. Out of Q1 are Bottas, Magnussen, Ricciardo, Vettel who went through the gravel on his quick lap and Latifi in the Williams.
As soon as Q2 begins the session is red flagged as a flare had been thrown onto the track. The race organisers had asked fans not to bring them into the circuit this weekend but obviously the free flowing Heinekken has got the better of one of the Orange Army.
Albon setting quick times again. Image courtesy of Pirelli F1 Media
As soon as the session resumes both RedBulls go out on track to get an early banker lap in. Verstappen does a 1.10.927, that’s 0.387 quicker than Perez in the sister RedBull. Lewis Hamilton then goes P2 with a time just 0.148 behind Verstappen. Russell is also in the top 4 with a time 3 tenths slower than his teammate. Alex Albon decides to start his final run earlier than everyone else and make use of a free track, he sets a time good enough for P10 currently.
With 2 and half minutes left everyone else decides now is the time to go out. 13 cars on track with just Albon and Verstappen staying in their garages. Charles Leclerc gets into the one-minute tens and moves to P2, once again most people are improving. Sainz moves to the top of the field with a 1.10.814 ahead of Russell by 0.010, they are followed by Verstappen, Leclerc, Hamilton, Norris, Perez, Stroll, Schumacher, and Tsunoda rounding out the top ten. Out after Q2 are Gasly, Ocon, Alonso who was complaining about traffic on his quick lap, Zhou and Albon.
And so to the shoot-out that is Q3, could we see a new pole sitter for this season, or does Max Verstappen have enough in hand to delight the home crowd? Verstappen is first out onto the circuit no doubt going for an early banker lap in case the session is interrupted by any incidents.
Norris going quickly. Image courtesy of Pirelli F1 Media
Verstappen sets a time of 1.10.515, Perez is half a second down on his teammate again but goes to P2. Norris in the McLaren goes P3 1.6 seconds behind the leading RedBull. Hamilton’s first timed lap is good enough for P2, just behind Verstappen, Leclerc then beats this in the Ferrari, 0.059 ahead of the RedBull. The top 10 after the first runs is Leclerc, Verstappen, Hamilton, Sainz, Perez, Russell, Norris, Tsunoda, Schumacher, and Stroll who is yet to set a time. The Canadian seems to have a technical issue with his Aston Martin and won’t be taking part in the rest of the session.
With exactly 3 minutes left the last runs are set to begin, Leclerc in his Ferrari first to the track. Another flare has been thrown onto the track but thankfully ran off the track so no delay to proceedings. As the drivers finish their laps, Verstappen moves to the top of the timings, Hamilton is on a quick lap but Perez has spun at the last corner but one and causes yellow flags meaning anyone behind on track won’t be able to improve. An anti-climax to the session end. The top ten was Verstappen, Leclerc, Sainz, Hamilton, Perez, Russell, Norris, Scumacher, Tsunoda and Stroll.
The top 6 are a lot closer than last week so we could be in for a very close race tomorrow. The home crowed will be leaving the circuit tonight very happy and expecting a win from their hero tomorrow.
The summer break is over and F1 returns and where better to start the second half of the season than Spa Francorchamps, possibly the greatest track in the world.
The new technical directive regarding Flexi floors seems to have affected the RedBulls the least and sees them with the biggest advantage anyone has had all season. However, with a host of penalties throughout the field the grid is mixed up and should give us a great race, could we see Max Verstappen use that huge advantage and make his way through the field from 14th, or could we see a new winner this season with both Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton on the second row today. The weather looks good, almost the complete opposite from last year’s farcical “race” where not a single racing lap took place.
Hamilton fly’s after contact with Alonso. Image courtesy of Mercedes media
Lights out and Perez makes a poor start, Hamilton makes a move on Alonso into Les Combes and they touch sending the Mercedes into the air, he makes it through another couple of corners before coming to a halt with damage to the car. Into lap 2 and Latifi spins causing Bottas to spin in avoidance bringing out the safety car. Verstappen has already made it up to P8 with Leclerc right behind him. Sainz leads from Perez, Russell, and Alonso.
Leclerc pits under the safety car and puts on fresh mediums but drops to P17. Pit radio confirms a tear-off was stuck in his brake ducts but was removed at the stop. The safety car pulls in and we begin lap 5, Sainz leads the field away.
Alonso tries to overtake Russell but the Mercedes driver breaks later and keeps P3. Verstappen moves to P7 and has his sights on Ricciardo in the McLaren. At the chicane Verstappen makes it passed and is into P6 already. Albon also makes it passed the McLaren and gets his Williams into P7. Verstappen is flying on his soft tyres and is already up to the gearbox of Vettels Aston Martin. Once again into the chicane, he makes it up to P5, next up is Alonso in the Alpine.
Verstappen making it past the Alpine. Image courtesy of RedBull content pool
The World Champion simply drives passed the Alpine as if it was in reverse. Now up to fourth and only 5.5 seconds behind Sainz in the Ferrari in first position. One lap later he overtakes Russell, the straight-line speed of the RedBull is unstoppable. Meanwhile, Leclerc has made his way up to 14th but is 15 seconds behind Verstappen already. On lap 9 Lando Norris makes his way up to P11 overtaking Magnussen into Les Combes.
Up at the front and Sainz leads Perez by 1.3 seconds who is 0.6 ahead of his teammate. Sainz pits at the end of lap 11, as he pits Verstappen overtakes Perez and takes the lead. Sainz returns to the track in P6 behind the McLaren of Ricciardo, have Ferrari made another strategic error?
At the end of the next lap, Ricciardo and Ocon also pit. The RedBull’s are staying out pulling clear of the field. Russell pits from P3 and returns to the track in P7, he was matching the times of Perez in front of him. Verstappen has now pulled a gap of 3.7 seconds, Perez in second pits at the end of lap 14, he comes out ahead of Leclerc. Perez moves to defend into Les Combes and keeps the position.
Verstappen pits. Image courtesy of RedBull content pool
The leader pits at the end of lap 15, as he comes out Perez is behind him followed by Leclerc and Russel. Sainz now leads by 4.8 seconds. Russell moves ahead of Leclerc and into P4, Leclerc down to P5 ahead of Alonso, Tsunoda, Albon, Vettel, Ocon, Ricciardo, Gasly, Norris, Stroll, Zhou, Magnussen, Schumacher, and Latifi.
Verstappen closes the gap to less than a second at the start of lap 18. He retakes the lead with another move at Les Combes. It looks like he will just check out now as he is putting laps in that are over 2 seconds quicker than the Ferrari can manage.
At half distance Verstappen lead from Perez as the Mexican overtakes Sainz, The lead is 6.5 seconds, Sainz is already 1.5 behind Perez, Russell is a further 7.5 seconds behind the Ferrari and he is 9 seconds ahead of Leclerc who appears to be on the usual Ferrari Plan Z strategy. The field seems to have settled before the inevitable second round of pitstops.
The second round of stops begins with Sainz on lap 26, he is followed by his teammate Leclerc. Sainz on the hards and Leclerc on the mediums, surely Leclerc is going to run out of tyres before the end of the race. Albon and Stroll pit on lap 27, They are now at the back of the field along with Latifi.
Perez stops a lap later and returns still in front of the Ferrari of Sainz. His teammate has made it back up to P6 with a move on Ocon in the Alpine. Next up for Leclerc is Vettel who is 3 seconds up the road.
Russell pits in the Mercedes as we start lap 30. He is still in a comfortable P4 in yet another impressive display from the young British driver. Verstappen ends lap 30 by pitting, a fresh set of mediums fitted and he leads his teammate by 8 seconds. The dominance of the Redbulls this weekend has been scary, They have 13 laps now to cruise to an easy 1-2.
RedBull is clearly in a league of their own. Image courtesy of RedBull content pool
As we begin the last 10 laps Russell is catching the Ferrari of Sainz and the gap is down to 4.2 seconds. Could he keep up the run of Mercedes podiums? Ocon moves up to P7 with a great move on both Vettel and Gasly, using the double slipstream to great effect and then outbraking the Alpha Tauri driver.
The gap between 10th and 15th is now just 4 seconds, the leader of the DRS train is Albon, followed by Stroll, Norris, Zhou, Tsunoda, and Ricciardo.
With just 5 laps to go, back at the front, Verstappen leads by 16.7 seconds ahead of Perez who is a further 9.7 seconds ahead of Sainz who is being followed by Russell a further 2.3 seconds behind.
Leclerc pits on lap 43 to go for the fastest lap point but Alonso makes it passed the Ferrari dropping him down to 6th. If he doesn’t get back past the Alpine, Ferrari has just thrown more points away. The Ferrari driver uses DRS to make it passed the Alpine but will he be able to get the fastest lap? He does a 1.49.984 which is over half a second slower than Max Verstappen’s quickest.
Verstappen wins. Image courtesy of RedBull content pool
Verstappen wins by a huge 17.8 seconds ahead of his teammate who started from the front row, a dominant performance over the driver who is now his closest challenger almost 100 points behind him. Third is Sainz ahead of Russell, Leclerc, Alonso, Ocon, Vettel, Gasly, and Albon collecting the final point of the weekend. Next up was Stroll, Norris, Tsunoda, Zhou, Ricciardo, Magnussen, Schumacher, and Latifi, The only two retirees were Bottas and Hamilton.
As the podium interviews began it was announced that Leclerc had been given a five-second penalty for speeding in the pitlane for the pitstop that wasn’t needed which dropped him behind Alonso and down to P6.
It’s now just a matter of time before Verstappen wraps up the title for this season, after a display like this weekend it wouldn’t be surprising to see RedBull repeat 2013 where they dominated the season after the summer break.
In just 5 days’ time, the F1 circus will return to Holland for the Dutch GP, Verstappen’s home race, who would bet against him once again dominating?
