Verstappen Wins from Pole in Canada

Max Verstappen secured his 6th win out of 8 races this season today at the Canadian Grand Prix. Verstappen has finished on the podium in every race this season providing him with a 69 championship point lead as we conclude coverages of Round 9 of 23 this year. The win also marked the 100th win for Red Bull and Verstappen ties Ayrton Senna’s total win record at 41 wins. The Red Bulls have be dominant this season as Red Bull Racing has won every race in 2023 between Verstappen and Sergio Perez. The team currently holds a 154 point lead over Mercedes in second place.

The fairytale continues for Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin). Alonso secured his 6th podium of the 2023 season this weekend drawing him closer to approaching the second place spot in the championship. Alonso is currently 9 points behind Sergio Perez due to Perez having less than stellar results the last three races. Perez was able to save one point by securing the fastest lap of the race as a consolation.

Improvement from Mercedes

Mercedes seems to have worked out some of the kinks with Lewis Hamilton’s car W14. As reported by PlanetF1.com after the race Hamilton stated, “Well, firstly, quite an honor to be up there with two World Champions. I was really excited to be third and just trying to be in that mix. But unfortunately, we didn’t have the pace today. We knew that this weekend, this wouldn’t be our strongest circuit as we struggle in the lower speed corners particularly, and that’s really where I was losing to Fernando and to Max – just on traction out of Turn 2, out of pretty much every corner.”

“But we’ve got a lot of work to do just to add rear downforce to the car, and a little bit more efficiency, but we’re chipping away as I said, and I do believe we will get there at some stage. Max was a little bit gone, but I think our paces were a little bit closer today so we’re going in the right direction. It’s honestly been a great weekend for us. I think we’re slowly chipping away, I think the Astons took a little bit of step ahead this weekend when they had the upgrades but we’re working on bringing some more moving forwards.”

No Luck for Russell and Sargeant

There were two drivers that didn’t finish the race. The first being Logan Sargeant who has not found a groove since making the jump to F1 and Mercedes driver George Russell who had to retire the car on lap 55 of the race. Sargeant was told that there was a critical error with his car and was told to retire. It was later revealed that the team spotted oil leaking from the car and without knowing the extent of damage they retired the car to live to fight another day.

Sargeant had the following words, “We had a really good start to the race with a car we could fight with. I had the AlphaTauri ahead under quite a bit of pressure and I felt quick. Unfortunately, I got the message to stop the car as soon as possible due to an issue which ended my race. I’ve learned a lot this weekend from using the full wet tires, driving in the wet, and driving on the inters on a drying track. Honestly in the dry, I feel like we’ve been pretty quick. It didn’t work out today, but we can be positive going to Austria.”

For more Formula 1 coverage be sure to check out F1.com.

Max Verstappen (Red Bull) continues his dominance by securing yet another pole position in Canada. The Canadian Grand Prix Qualifying session took place in wet conditions which served as the great equalizer amongst drivers. The driver that benefitted the most from the weather was Nico Hulkenberg 9Haas). At the end of Q3 Hulkenberg had secured what seemingly was a typo on the session results. P2 in qualifying for a Haas car is not something an F1 fan sees everyday. Unfortunately for Nico Hulkenberg that triumph would be cut short quickly as the FIA stewards found him guilty of a speeding violation under a red flag. The finish is still a promising one. It is the highest Nico Hulkenberg has qualified all season. The full report can be view below:

One driver that can’t seem to shake the misfortune recently is Sergio Perez (Red Bull). Perez stated to the media, “Definitely not feeling great, not going through a great moment,” after qualifying P12 in Canada. The second place championship point sitter has not been in great form for the last two races and Red Bull was hoping that things might turn around in Canada during qualifying. That change did not come however. Perez will have to fight tooth and nail to move up into the podium places. The worst of the weather seems to have come and passed. More dry conditions are expected tomorrow.

After the session championship points leader Max Verstappen stated, “I do think the car improved to drive. It was super slippery out there, but we made all the right calls so, of course, I’m very happy to be on pole here. Maybe it’s dry tomorrow, but we have a good race car.” Full qualifying results after all penalties were applied are below.

F1 2023 Canadian Grand Prix Qualifying Results

Located in Montreal, Canada, Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve is the home to the 2023 Canadian Grand Prix. The circuit is a 2.71 mile course. The man-made Notre Dame Island in the middle of the St Lawrence River was created for the 1967 Expo 67 World’s Fair. Once the expo and the ensuing 1976 Montreal Summer Olympics had left town, the locals decided to make a race track out of the island’s roads. The Circuit Ile Notre-Dame(1978–1982), or Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve (Present) was born. The track features multiple stop go sections where heavy braking and high acceleration extremes creating multiple over take situations. There are 3 Drag reduction system zones at the circuit between turns 7 and 8, turns 11 and 13 and turns 13 and 2.

In 2022 the race saw heavy rain conditions which threw a curve ball in the plans for the weekend for many racers. Verstappen won the race last year Max Verstappen and enters the weekend at the top of the drivers’ championship with 170 points – 53 points ahead of teammate Sergio Perez.

2023 Canadian Grand Prix weekend weather forecast

Friday, June 16 – FP1 and FP2
Conditions: Expected to be a dry morning but expect an unsettled afternoon with rain highly likely to fall in FP2. FP1: 71.6°F // FP2: 68°F
Maximum temperature expected: 72 Fahrenheit
Minimum temperature expected: 57 Fahrenheit
Chance of rain: 60%

Saturday, June 17 – FP3 and Qualifying
Conditions: A cloudy and rainy day expected with a chance of intense showers along with light winds at various times. FP3: 63°F // Q: 66°F
Maximum temperature expected: 68 Fahrenheit
Minimum temperature expected: 57 Fahrenheit
Chance of rain: 80%

Sunday, June 18 – Race Weather
Conditions: Sunday is expected to be much improved but expect a mix of showers and some sunny spells throughout the day. Race: 73°F
Maximum temperature expected: 73 Fahrenheit
Minimum temperature expected: 57 Fahrenheit
Chance of rain: 40%

More Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve Race Information

The race will run for 70 laps. The current lap record holder is Valtteri Bottas who set a 1:13.078 in 2019 during his stent with Mercedes. Coverage for the race weekend begins at 1:30pm EST in the USA for Free Practice 1 on ESPN.

Full event schedule can be found here: Formula 1 German Grand Prix Weekend Schedule

For more information on the circuit visit : Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve

Team Principal at Red Bull spoke wth F1.com regarding the recent success of Max Verstappen and the woes his teammate Sergio ‘Checo’ Perez has faced. Specifically Perez has failed to make it to Q3 in the last two races. This failure to qualify in the top 10 greatly impacted his ability to compete for podiums. It also reduced the amount of championship points acquired while Verstappen has maximized his point advantage from Monaco and Spain.

Christian Horner Comments on Perez

When speaking to F1.com Horner stated, “He has nothing to lose now, and I think he just needs to relax, he can breathe out, and just drive like we know he’s capable of, like he did in Azerbaijan and some of the early races this year. Being Max Verstappen’s team mate… Take nothing away, there’s not a driver out there today, I believe, that would have beaten Max in that car today,” Horner continued. “He’s up against a driver that is at the top of his form, and that’s very tough. Checo, mentally, it’s a really tough thing to deal with. But as I say, I think now, there is that separation in the points, that may actually take the pressure off him a little, and the expectation he’s putting on himself, he needs to let go of that now and just be free to drive.”

While Horner offered these words it is unlikely that Perez will welcome the sympathy. The 2023 season is the first chance Checo has had at a title run in his F1 career. At the age of 33 it may also be his last opportunity in a top team car. Red Bull did give Perez a new two-year deal until end of 2024. However, with Verstappen’s form seemingly improving week by week its hard to imagine a scenario where Checo can remain competitive.

Currently Max Verstappen leads the championship by 53 points.

Full F1 Championship Points Standings

For more coverage on Formula 1 check out F1.com

The 2023 F1 Spanish Grand Prix has concluded and championship leader Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing) continued his dominance by securing his fifth win on the season in seven races. Verstappen has finished on the podium in every race this season. Verstappen extends his season total to 170 points; 53 points clear of his teammate. However, the story in Spain is with the improvements seen by Mercedes. Lewis Hamilton led the team to a P2 finish. His second of the year. Teammate George Russell finished P3. This result comes after Mercedes has had a few weeks to work out the kinks with their newest upgrades. It appears that work has paid off. Verstappen stated after the race, “It’s a big pleasure to drive with a car like this, “A win here, it’s incredible. It was a strong weekend from myself, from the team. Hopefully we can keep this up!”

Sergio Perez (Red Bull Racing) bounce back form his Q2 exit and finished 4th which is a positive result given running into the gravel in qualifying in Spain and crashing in qualifying last weekend in Monaco. While his grip on a possible title run is dwindling he remains in second place in the drivers championship by 18 points ahead of Fernando Alonso.

There were no retirements during the race.

Full Race Results

Check out F1.com for video coverage of the Spanish Grand Prix.

Max Verstappen (Red Bull) secured his first Spanish GP Pole today. Verstappen ran 0.5 seconds faster than Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) in Q3. Verstappen stated, “The car was really good. Qualifying started off a bit tricky with the weather, but by Q3 the car was on rails. It was very enjoyable to drive today. I love the track, I love the fans and I have some great memories here.” Lando Norris (McLaren) was able to find pace that he hasn’t had all season to secure P3 for McLaren. Teammate Oscar Piastri also made it to Q3 and finished 10th. This is the fourth time both McLarens qualified in the top 10 in 2023 which offers a glimpse of positivity for the camp. Pierre Gasly finished 4th but was handed 2 separate 3 place grid penalties for impeding Verstappen and Sainz during qualifying dropping him to P10.

Multiple drivers had issues with patches of slickness as the rain created pockets of wetness on the track. There were multiple slide outs and spins as the drivers chose to remain on slicks because the conditions did not warrant intermediates. Sergio Perez (Red Bull) once again fell victim to qualifying after running wide into the gravel at turn 5 in Q2. The mistake ended his qualifying.

Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) was able to carve out a P5 start ahead of teammate George Russell who failed to make it out of Q2. Both Aston Martins finished Q3 securing another double top 10 qualifying for the Aston Martin side this year.

Full Qualifying results are below

F1 Spanish GP Qualifying Results

Action for the Spanish GP gets started tomorrow. For more coverage on the events leading up to the race visit F1.com

Formula 1 lands in Spain this weekend for the Spanish Grad Prix at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. It’s a fast turn around for the teams. The teams just finished racing in Monaco this past Sunday. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) continues his push for the 2023 championship. After his last win in Monaco Verstappen is clear 39 points ahead of teammate Sergio Perez who had a nightmare race in Monaco. Perez will be looking to bounce back in Spain to ensure his teammate doesn’t end his championship hopes.

Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) continues to show fans why he’s been in the sport for 20+ years. Alonso currently sits in third ahead of the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton in fourth and George Russell in fifth. Ferrari drivers Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz are still looking for answers to the start of the 2023 season. The team has shown glimpses of promise in qualifying and practice but those events have not led to race results for the Scuderia. Ferrari will be looking to change this pattern in Spain this weekend.

Team Principal Frédéric Vasseur spoke to F1.com regarding Ferrari upgrades for the weekend. “There are a lot of questions, the first one is about package. I think it’s not just about potential, and package and upgrades, but we also have to operate the package in a better window. The first target for us is not just to put downforce on the car, it’s to have the car a bit more consistent, and on top of the update we have a big room for improvement with the current car in terms of performance.

Vasseur Continued Discussing A Car Redesign

“Do we have to restart from scratch on the group on the car? I would say that, as long as I’m convinced we can improve on the current car, it would be a mistake during the season to change completely the target. The introduction of a package, you are not doing 100% of the usage of the package the first race. It will be an opportunity for us to continue to develop the car with this base and I hope we will do a step forward in Barcelona for sure, but it won’t be the end of the development of the car, we have updates for the next 2-3 races coming in after this one.”

The race weekend schedule can be found here:
2023 Formula 1 Spanish Grand Prix Schedule

Broadcast Details can be found here

World Broadcast Details

Check out F1.com for more exclusive coverage of the Spanish Grand Prix throughout the weekend.

Max Verstappen won the 2023 Monaco Grand Prix by a commanding 27 seconds. Verstappen led the race for the entire distance after starting from pole position. The victory marks his 39th career win. With a surprise mid-race downpour, the circuit conditions deteriorated quickly. After 51 laps, the rain led to multiple drivers losing grip. Monaco is a tight turned circuit that doesn’t offer many opportunities for forgiveness when losing grip.

Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) finished in second, where he started behind Verstappen. Esteban Ocon (Alpine) secured his first podium of the year, finishing 3rd. The Mercedes team found pace early in the race to catapult Lewis Hamilton and George Russell into fourth and fifth place, rounding out the top 5 and securing a large chunk of points for the Mercedes team.

Hometown driver, Charles Leclerc, finished 6th, which will be a disappointing race for him after losing out on his qualifying position due to the three place grid penalty from which he never recovered. The woes continued for the Ferrari team as Sainz fell victim to the rain and had a spin out that caused him to slide into one of the track run offs. He was able to recover the car and finish in 8th place.

Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate was not able to finish in the points after crashing in qualifying.

Max Verstappen Offered His Thoughts on the Race

After the race Verstappen stated to F1.com, “It was quite a difficult one because we were on the medium initially and Fernando was on the hard tire. We didn’t want to go that long, but we had too. The rain was coming, and we didn’t know really what was going on. The tires were graining and then took a few laps to get through that graining phase and the pace picked up a little bit, but it was still very tricky to drive. Then it started to rain lap by lap, and then we had to make the call to go on to the inters.”

He continued, “It was incredibly slippery. When you are that far in the lead you don’t want to push too hard, but you don’t want to lose too much time, so it’s quite difficult in that scenario. I clipped the walls a few times, it was super difficult out there, but that’s Monaco!”

You can find more coverage on the race at F1.com.

Full Monaco Grand Prix Results

The 2023 Monaco Grand Prix qualifying session ended earlier today with Max Verstappen (Red Bull) snatching pole position away from Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin). Verstappen edged out the top finish by one tenth of a second. Charles Leclerc finish third but will received a 3 place grid penalty for impeding Lando Norris (McLaren) during the session. Vertsappen’s teammate Sergio Perez had an unfortunate crash in Q1 which will see him start from the back of the grid. ON a circuit like Monaco improving from this position will almost guarantee that Perez will start on the hard compound tires and hope for a safety car or another on track incident to help him fight through the field. Monaco is not know for producing many over takes so Perez will have his work cut out for him.

The Mercedes upgrades for the W14 do not seem to have had the boost Lewis Hamilton was looking for. He was able to muster a P6 finish in qualifying with teammate George Russell in P8. Esteban Ocon (Alpine) had a phenomenal qualifying finishing a season highest P4 for the Alpine side. Oscar Piastri showed vast improvement finishing P11 for McLaren) Full qualifying results are below.

Full Monaco Qualifying Results

Day 1 of the Monaco Grand prix weekend has concluded with championship leader Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing) on top of the table ahead of Charles Leclerc (Ferrari). Lando Norris (McLaren) ran 5th fastest which is an improvement based on recent form. If he can carry this success into qualifying he may be able to secure a result for the side. McLaren has had a disappointing season to say the least so the team will be looking for any positives for this weekend. Mercedes brings their first round of upgrade for the W14. There did not seem to be a drastic improvement in pace but we will stay tuned for qualifying to determine their true pace come race time.

Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) ran 3rd fastest before crashing; causing a red flag. The session was restarted with 12 minutes left. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) made a late charge after Verstappen but the dutchman held on to the top spot. FP3 and qualifying are tomorrow morning. For now check out the full results for FP2 below.

FP2 Results

For more coverage be sure to check out F1.com.