Fred Gamble

The Ferrari driver was one of nine drivers to choose to run on the red-walled rubber for the 24-lap race, with that number including eventual race winner Valtteri Bottas. <br>Sainz and Bottas both moved ahead at the start from their second and fifth place grid spots – with the latter getting alongside Max Verstappen’s first-place-starting Red Bull and in front into Turn 1, with the ...

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Hamilton had looked all set to finish behind leader Lando Norris in the closing stages of the Sochi race, before a late downpour turned the race on its head.<br>As the rain blew in, Norris elected to stay out on slicks while Mercedes convinced Hamilton to move over to inters – which ultimately proved to be the right choice.<br>Reflecting on why Mercedes got it right, on an afternoon that McLaren ...

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At Silverstone the consensus was that everyone would take the safe option and start on the medium tyre. Alonso opted to go with the soft instead, taking advantage of the extra grip on the first lap to jump up from 11th fifth, before falling back to seventh as quicker cars got past him.<br>The strategy caught the attention of rivals, and there’s no doubt that some will give it serious ...

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In contrast to a normal race weekend, when the top 10 drivers start the race on the tyres they progressed through from Q2 on while the rest of the grid has a free choice on which tyres to start on, none of the drivers are obliged to start the sprint on the tyres with which they qualified.<br>The consensus in the paddock in recent weeks has been that the medium compound would be the default choice ...

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Leclerc managed to convert Ferrari’s impressive practice pace into a first pole of the season in Monaco on Saturday, edging out Red Bull’s Max Verstappen by two-tenths of a second.<br>But the pole was secured in unusual fashion after Leclerc crashed at the exit of Swimming Pool late in Q3, bringing out a red flag that prevented any drivers for making further improvements.<br>Although Leclerc ...

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Pole-sitter Hamilton was passed by Verstappen at Turn 1 on the opening lap, and spent the first stint of the race trailing the Red Bull driver, ultimately falling 5.5 seconds behind after pitting.<br>Hamilton was then able to close up to Verstappen on the medium tyres, and was set to overtake before Mercedes called him in for a second pitstop. With Red Bull committing Verstappen to a one-stop ...

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Hamilton was able to edge out Red Bull rival Max Verstappen by 0.036 seconds in Q3 to clinch his second pole position of the season, and continue his perfect record of front row starts this year for Mercedes.<br><br>Read Also:<br><br>Spanish GP: Hamilton secures 100th F1 pole position<br>Hamilton: 100th F1 pole "feels like one of the first"<br><br><br>But the seven-time world champion initially ...

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Bottas led Mercedes to its 12th pole position in a row on Saturday after edging out teammate Hamilton and Red Bull's Max Verstappen in the final stage of qualifying at the Nurburgring.<br>Mercedes had looked set to qualify both Hamilton and Bottas on medium tyres at the start of Q2, only to switch them to softs for their final runs in the session.<br>Hamilton said after qualifying that he wanted ...

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Verstappen was the only driver to use the hard in Q2 at Silverstone and thus commit to using it in the first stint, and it paid off when the Dutchman scored a victory over the two Mercedes drivers in a dominant style that even his own team hadn't anticipated.<br>Horner said Verstappen and the team had to balance the pros and cons of doing something different, and in the end they decided to go for ...

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Perceptions change very quickly in the sport, and perhaps the biggest shift from the Austrian Grand Prix to the Styrian Grand Prix last weekend was the reality of just how quick Racing Point can be.<br>A hesitant first weekend out with its ‘Pink Mercedes’ left rivals convinced it had made a good step, but it was really only in the second Red Bull Ring race that the reality of its pace ...

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