F1 Racing

Red Bull is off to an astonishing start to the season. They have won the last six races in a row, and seven of the first nine races of the year. They only thing that has held them back is mechanical issues with either Max Verstappen’s car or Sergio Perez’s car. Unfortunately, after crashing out in qualification, Sergio Perez’s race day was scuttled when his engine shut down at the beginning of lap nine. Despite losing Perez, Verstappen went on to win the Canadian Grand Prix for Red Bull, extending their lead in both the drivers and constructor’s Championship.

Max Verstappen achieved his 66th podium and 25th victory in Formula One at the 2022 Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Though he has only managed one pole in eight races, he has won five races. In contrast, Charles Leclerc has achieved six poles this year and only won two races. Leclerc has DNF’d two out of the last three races, despite earning pole position in each of those races. Ferrari’s cars are fast but lack endurance. Meanwhile, Red Bull and company are sustaining consistent first and second place finishes over the first eight races of the season.

Ferrari were clearly the front runners coming into Sunday’s race. Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz finished P1 and P2 on Saturday, followed closely by Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen. Leclerc had yet to finish this race in his Formula 1 career. The stage was set for a great race on Sunday. Then, the rain came. Weather delayed the start of the race for over 45 minutes. The grid drove a few formulation laps and then they were red flagged. The drivers waited in the paddock watching the rain soak the track.

It was a Red Bull Day in Barcelona Spain on Sunday. As Red Bull finished one and two, Max Verstappen continues his remarkable streak of winning every race he finishes this season. However, as the race unfolded in the early stages, Verstappen’s streak was in serious jeopardy due to mechanical issues, the wind and a strong Ferrari. Charles Leclerc set a blistering pole time of 1:18.750 on Saturday. During the race he maintained a healthy lead on the opposition until lap 28. Leclerc’s Ferrari lost power and he did not finish the race despite being 11 seconds ahead of Verstappen.

Formula 1 is finally in Miami Florida! Miami’s race did not disappoint. There was plenty of drama heading into this race. Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen were tied at two race wins a piece coming into the 5th race of the season. Mercedes is struggling to maintain third place in the constructer’s championship. McLaren has struggled mightily in the first four races this year, while parity is ruling the rest of the field.

Red Bull clearly had the pace coming into qualification. However, on Verstappen’s last opportunity to secure pole, he made a mistake on the chicane and his time was negated forcing him to start in third place, behind Carlos Sainz and Leclerc respectfully. Finally, minutes before the race started, both Aston Martins were forced to start from pit lane due to a mechanical issue.

Max Verstappen’s results show he had the perfect weekend. However, he failed to dominate in the sprint race on Saturday. At the start, Charles Leclerc roared past Verstappen and led much of the sprint in his powerful Ferrari. In the wanning laps, Leclerc’s tire degradation became too great, and Verstappen was able to finally overtake him for the Sprint race win.

Charles Leclerc started on pole and ended in first place. His Ferrari has consistently been the strongest car on the track for the first three weeks. In Formula 1, strongest does not necessarily mean the fastest. One must finish the race. Formula 1 is about speed and endurance, and Ferrari is proving that they have both. Their only real issue as a team occurred this weekend when Carlos Sainz car spun out on lap three. There is some talk that there were some issues with the car in the first place given that he qualified ninth. When he spun out, he beached himself in the gravel and thus had to retire from the race. Despite his DNF, Carlos Sainz sits third in the championship standings.

This weekend looked like it was going to be a Red Bull weekend. However, Max Verstappen started fourth on the grid with his teammate, Sergio Perez (Checo), on pole for the first time in his career. Checo kicked the race off well by blasting ahead away from the grid and holding a two second lead on Charles Leclerc for the first fifteen laps of the race. Ferrari was knocked off their game plan during Perez’s launch into lap one, as he pushed Leclerc wide right, Carlos Sainz was also pushed wide right allowing Verstappen to undercut Sainz on the left and gaining third position. At lap 15 Red Bull made the unlucky decision to pit Sergio Perez. Under normal circumstances this was the right strategy. No one could have predicted that Nicholas Latifi would crash his Williams car into the wall during lap 16. This untimely crash allowed the rest of the field to pit under yellow leaving Checo in third place. Checo never recovered his pole position in the race.

Ferrari started their Bahrain weekend at the top of the pyramid. It became apparent during practice one, two and three that they had a strong engine. Every team, including Ferrari were working out kinks with their new cars during the practice runs. However, Ferrari showed that they had the pace and potential to have a great opening weekend. Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz qualified first and third on Saturday, while Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez qualified second and fourth respectfully. Mercedes has some catching up to do and qualified fifth and ninth respectfully. The surprise team of the year is Haas. Kevin Magnussen is back in a Haas seat, and he qualified seventh. It is worth noting that Haas is powered by Ferrari. In fact, four Ferrari powered cars qualified in the top seven. Valtteri Bottas qualified sixth in his Ferrari powered Alpha Romeo. McLaren disappointed in qualification and on race day. They were simply not a factor this weekend. They have a long way to go to become competitive this year.

Sunday’s race came down to the wire. The championship came down to the last lap! In a controversial year of racing, many believe the race