Essere Ferrari II

[foggy locust]

Well, after a bit of a rain delay it is time to go racing here in Austin. Round 4 of the 2028 Formula 1 World Championship goes Stateside, and it has been a drizzly, dreary Sunday here in Texas, but the rain has let up for now, and we are finally about to go racing. 56 laps around this 5.513km Circuit, the two long DRS Zones will come into play albeit briefly, 20 turns and one of the longest laps of the season. More rain expected throughout this race, how will that affect our weekend?

Yuki Tsunoda takes a pitlane start after a collision with Isack Hadjar in free practice, due to said collision Hadjar drops to the back of the grid. Franco Colapinto begins P20, while Alex Albon, who hasn't gotten out of Q1 so far this season, is 19th. Gabriel Bortoleto begins his second race for one of America's teams in 18th and Pato O'Ward, familiar with this circuit, is just 17th. Esteban Ocon starts his first Haas race on American soil 16th, just 15th for Andrea Kimi Antonelli. 14th for Sergio Perez and Théo Pourchaire lines up 13th, then it's Lando Norris, a surprising Q2 exit in 12th and Liam Lawson 11th. Ollie Bearman starts inside the top ten for the first time this season, Daniel Ricciardo lines up ninth in his return to F1 in the USA after a year here for IndyCar. Max Verstappen lines up 8th with Pierre Gasly 7th, his highest start of the season so far. George Russell beginning 6th and 5th for Valtteri Bottas, Colton Herta begins his home race from 4th, his second time in a row starting P4, and it's 3rd for Oscar Piastri, and Carlos Sainz lines up on the front row for the first time since his shock Pole in Sao Paulo, and he's beside his former teammate. Four Poles from Four for defending World Champion Charles Leclerc.

Let's go racing in Texas!

Formation lap done, One light, two, three, four, five...AND IT'S LIGHTS OUT AND AWAY WE GO

Leclerc is away well, Piastri gets ahead of Sainz quickly and it is a Ferrari 1-2 already! Herta keeps P4, then Russell, Gasly, Bottas, Ricciardo ahead of Verstappen, Lawson ahead of Bearman, both Subarus have had a bad start! Norris drops behind Pourchaire and Antonelli ahead of Perez!

Yuki Tsunoda already having issues with his car as he draws outside the pitlane! Looking like Engine trouble from that incident with Hadjar!

Ocon runs wide, but doesn't lose much time!

PIASTRI

Piastri flying in this early going, and he makes the move to overtake Leclerc!!

COLTON HERTA WITH A FANTASTIC MOVE ON SAINZ, AND THE FANS GO WILD FOR THAT ONE! He's currently running P3!!

(LEC) "Ahh."

(BOZ) "We will take it back, stay sharp, keep going."

Leclerc retakes the lead on Lap 4!

(BON) "Happy with your surface management at the moment."

(PIA) "Yep, okay."

Albon's really difficult start to the season continues, as he spins on turn 4! He's able to get back on track, but is running a distant last right now.

Sainz and Herta go wheel to wheel, and Sainz takes P3 back! Some really good racing here!

Leclerc and Piastri about six seconds up on Sainz and Herta here.

Norris in the rear wing mirrors of Lawson for that final point right now!

Bottas with a lock-up!!! That's a disaster for the British Racing Green, who also have Tsunoda with a struggling engine, as he falls from P6 to P19!!

Norris ahead of Lawson and up into the points.

Daniel Ricciardo by the way is running P6.

(BOZ) "Class 3 rain in about 3 laps or so."

(LEC) "Good, Softs aren't holding up too well right now"

(BON) "Rain on. That's the rain on."

(BOZ) "Box Charles, box this lap. Box for inters."

(LEC) "Copy, box."

(BON) "We'll need you to increase just a fraction to allow for the pitstop."

(PIA) "Copy."

PITSTOPS: Every single driver bar the two Ferraris have now pitted for the Ints!! Ferrari trying to arrange the double stack to their favour now!!

PITSTOPS: Leclerc in, Piastri in! It's a clean double stop, as Leclerc goes in for 2.431, Piastri for 2.256! Leclerc retains P1, but Piastri out of the pitlane in P4!

Pato O'Ward locks up the tyres and he drops from P13 to P15!

(BON) "Make sure and keep these tyres in good nick."

(PIA) "Copy."

(BON) "Let's go for it."

(BOZ) "This is a good pace, keep it up."

(LEC) "Lot of rain now."

SAINZ RUNS WIDE, AND HERTA GOES FOR THE OVERTAKE, AND THEY BUMP WHEELS!!! BOTH CARS TAKE A LITTLE BIT OF DAMAGE FROM THAT!!!

5 SECOND PENALTY - CAR 13 (HERTA) - CAUSING A COLLISION

I can't say I agree with that decision. Herta was in his rights to go for that, and he's gotten a pretty unfair penalty. A heartbreaker on home soil.

Lap 14: Leclerc, Herta , Sainz, Piastri, Norris, Verstappen, Gasly, Russell, Pourchaire, Ricciardo, Tsunoda, Antonelli, Bottas, Bearman, O'Ward, Lawson, Ocon, Bortoleto, Perez, Hadjar, Albon, Colapinto

Worth noting that Pourchaire has fought his way into the points since the pitstops.

A bit of stat watching for you - Leclerc is 5.6 ahead and looking favourite to win his fourth race in a row at the start of the season. The current record of most wins from the start of the season - five. Nigel Mansell in 1992 and Michael Schumacher in 2004. If Leclerc wins today, he'll be looking to equal that record in Canada and break it in Imola.

Herta seems to have fallen back after that collision, and is currently within the 5 of Piastri in P4 - Piastri finds himself 3.7 behind Herta. Although I imagine more pitstops are coming.

(PIA) "Struggling a tiny bit for pace right now."

(BON) "All good, do what you can here."

(PIA) "It's raining heavier here."

(LEC) "The seat is full of water. Full of water."

(BOZ) "Must be the...water"

(LEC) "...Let's add that to the words of wisdom"

(OOC: You knew I was gonna do this eventually!)

Lap 20: Leclerc, Sainz, Herta , Piastri, Norris, Verstappen, Russell, Gasly, Tsunoda, Pourchaire, Antonelli, Ricciardo, Bottas, Bearman, O'Ward, Lawson, Bortoleto, Ocon, Hadjar, Perez, Albon, Colapinto

Ricciardo with a big lock-up! He's dropped two spots to P14, as Bottas and Bearman move past him.

(BOZ) "Herta currently 4.3 ahead. Keep him within 5 seconds please Oscar, he has that penalty"

Norris overtakes Piastri for P4! Piastri struggling a lot in the rain here.

Herta is third on track, but with that penalty, would fall to fifth, and Verstappen is closing in sixth.

(LEC) "It's raining more and more"

Herta's damaged Mercedes starting to hurt his chances here, as Norris has him in his sights, and Piastri and Verstappen closing in. Norris goes down the inside of Herta and Norris is up to P3!!

Lap 30: Leclerc, Sainz, Norris, Herta , Piastri, Verstappen, Russell, Pourchaire, Gasly, Antonelli, Tsunoda, Bottas, Bearman, Ricciardo, O'Ward, Lawson, Bortoleto, Albon, Hadjar, Perez, Ocon, Colapinto

(BON) "The rain looks like it is fizzling out, rain seems to be stopping"

(PIA) "Yeah, understood."

(BON) "Should be better on the slicks here."

(BOZ) "Rain is going off here, it will be getting drier from here."

(LEC) "Copy, copy. Let me know when to box"

Piastri putting the pressure on Herta for P4 as the track seems to be drying up a little bit now!

🌥️ Looks like the rain is going off, at least for now.

Lawson with a lock-up! He takes a trip through the grass but Leeds it going and returns in P16, where he left off.

Herta defending position very well from Piastri here!

(BON) "So we'll box box, box onto the slicks."

(PIA) "Yeah, box"

(BOZ) "Okay so now, box box, box box"

(LEC) "Copy box"

PITSTOPS: Piastri in and he takes Mediums, Herta takes his penalty and a new front wing! Gasly and Bearman in too, most the back markers are coming in as well!

PITSTOPS: Leclerc in from the lead! 2.531 stop from the Champion and he will keep the lead. PEREZ HAS A DELAY! They couldn't get that back left tyre on!

PITSTOPS: RED BULL DOUBLE STACK. It's a disaster though! The team delay Sainz, meaning Norris also takes a delay! Verstappen gets out clean, as do Russell and Antonelli!

More on that Red Bull pitstop. Looks like Sainz had to get his front wing taken off, hence the delay. But in that case, why not pit Norris a lap earlier or later?

(BOZ) "Temps look good, you can probably afford to push a little bit more."

Norris gets Piastri for P3! Piastri has been struggling a little for pace today, surprisingly.

Heartbreakingly for Pourchaire, he has now dropped out of the points.

Norris meanwhile started P12 and is onto the podium as it stands. He's had a very good drive today.

Norris overtakes Sainz for P2!!! Lando Norris into second here!

Sainz however gets DRS and retakes position on Norris!

(BON) "And push, Oscar. Close that gap."

(PIA) "Yeah, okay"

(BON) "Let us know what you think of these tyres, Oscar?"

(PIA) "Yeah, they're okay. Struggling a bit for pace at the moment though."

(BON) "Just do what you can here."

Piastri has a Max Verstappen sized problem to deal with, as that Subaru is now very much in the DRS of the Australian!

VIRTUAL SAFETY CAR CALLED!!!

It is a massive, massive off for Gabriel Bortoleto!!! He slides off the circuit and into the wall! Thankfully he's OK, but that's the end of his race!

Lap 57, under VSC: Leclerc, Sainz, Norris, Piastri, Verstappen, Herta, Russell, Gasly, Bottas, Antonelli, Bearman, O'Ward, Pourchaire, Lawson, Tsunoda, Ricciardo, Albon, Hadjar, Ocon, Perez, Colapinto. Bortoleto out of the race.

(BON) "So it's Hammer Time"

(PIA) "Yep, copy. Let's do this"

Pourchaire goes down the inside of O'Ward, and clips wheels with him!! Pourchaire takes P12, but we wait to see if there's any penalty for that!

Piastri chasing Norris for P3, but Verstappen is right in his sights for P4! Just six laps to go here!

Piastri has fought his way into Norris' DRS range! Can he get the move done and steal a podium?

PIASTRI DOWN THE INSIDE OF NORRIS AND UP TO P3!

Still four laps to go and Piastri is on the more worn tyres though! Work to do for the Australian to get on that podium!

Two laps remaining here!

Norris retakes position, but Piastri hanging in with the DRS and he takes it back!!

FINAL LAP

(PIA) "The tyres are gone, they're completely gone"

(BON) "It's okay, one lap to go. You can do this"

Piastri with another brilliant defence of that position!

MEANWHILE ROUNDING THE FINAL CORNER IS CHARLES LECLERC, THE WORLD CHAMPION GOES FOUR FROM FOUR, WHAT A START TO HIS TITLE DEFENCE THIS IS, CHARLES LECLERC WINS THE UNITED STATES GRAND PRIX BY A COUNTRY MILE. UNBELIEVABLE PERFORMANCE.

(BOZ) "And P1, that's yet another win, incredible, incredible! What a performance Charles!"

(LEC) "Let's goooooo! Yesssss!!! Good job guys, amazing once more. Car was brilliant, I could not ask for more. Amazing."

(BOZ) "Well done Charles."

(LEC) "Thank you Bryan!"

Piastri still defending Norris, BUT NORRIS STEALS POSITION ON THE LINE!!!! SAINZ P2, NORRIS P3, PIASTRI P4. WOW. There just wasn't enough for Piastri at the end there!

(BON) "And P4 today, Oscar. P4. Unlucky at the end there, great effort."

(PIA) "Yep. Tyres went at the end, and I just didn't have the pace today. Sorry. Thanks guys for the effort."

(BON) "Head up mate, still a good performance, we'll learn from this."

Verstappen P5, Herta takes P6 on home soil!! Gasly P7, Russell P8, Antonelli steals P9 from Bottas at the end!

[foggy locust]

2028 UNITED STATES GRAND PRIX
RACE CLASSIFICATION

1. Charles Lsclerc 01.37.14
2. Carlos Sainz +43.492
3. Lando Norris +6.794
4. Oscar Piastri +0.187
5. Max Verstappen +0.187
6. Colton Herta +14.208
7. Pierre Gasly +1.889
8. George Russell +0.360
9. Andrea Kimi Antonelli +1.004
10. Valtteri Bottas +0.036
11. Oliver Bearman +6.744
12. Pato O'Ward +11.510
13. Yuki Tsunoda +1.237
14. Théo Pourchaire +0.185
15. Liam Lawson +0.195
16. Daniel Ricciardo +1 lap
17. Alex Albon +1 lap
18. Isack Hadjar +1 lap
19. Esteban Ocon +1 lap
20. Sergio Perez +1 lap
21. Franco Colapinto +1 lap
22. Gabriel Bortoleto DNF

DRIVER OF THE DAY: CHARLES LECLERC

This race did not look anywhere in doubt after the first rain pitstops, as Charles Leclerc absolutely ran away with it, with his most convincing win of the four so far. A truly dominant performance, and the World Champion is your Driver of the Day!

Top Five: Leclerc, Norris, Antonelli, Herta, Sainz

2028 FIA FORMULA 1 WORLD DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP

🇲🇨 Leclerc 106
🇦🇺 Piastri 68
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Norris 44
🇪🇸 Sainz 42
🇳🇱 Verstappen 31
🇲🇽 O'Ward 24
🇯🇵 Tsunoda 24
🇺🇸 Herta 22
🇮🇹 Antonelli 20
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Russell 14
🇫🇮 Bottas 7
🇫🇷 Gasly 6
🇳🇿 Lawson 2
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Bearman 1
🇲🇽 Perez 1
🇹🇭 Albon 0
🇫🇷 Hadjar 0
🇫🇷 Pourchaire 0
🇦🇺 Ricciardo 0
🇧🇷 Bortoleto 0
🇫🇷 Ocon 0
🇦🇷 Colapinto 0

2028 FIA FORMULA 1 WORLD CONSTRUCTORS CHAMPIONSHIP

Ferrari 174
Red Bull-Ford 86
Mercedes 42
Subaru-Honda 32
Aston Martin-Honda 31
McLaren-Mercedes 30
Williams-Ferrari 14
Alpine-Renault 3
Audi 0
Andretti-Ferrari 0
Haas-Ford 0

2028 FIA FORMULA 1 WORLD TYRES CHAMPIONSHIP

Bridgestone 237
Pirelli 119
Goodyear 56

DHL FASTEST PITSTOP COMPETITION 2028

Red Bull 105
Ferrari 67
McLaren 57
Williams 40
Andretti 40
Subaru 31
Aston Martin 26
Mercedes 22
Alpine 14
Audi 2
Haas 0

[foggy locust]

2028 CANADIAN GRAND PRIX
WEEKEND PREVIEW

We head to Canada for Round 5 and the first Sprint weekend of the season, as the man-made Island upon Montreal, the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve welcomes the 2028 Formula 1 season. After four wins from four and a 38 point lead, Charles Leclerc looks dominant so far - can anyone catch the Champion?

LAST TIME AROUND

It was a dominant display by Charles Leclerc in a rain soaked race in Austin, Texas, as he finished over 43 seconds ahead of Carlos Sainz in P2. Lando Norris overtook Oscar Piastri on the line to take the final step on the podium, while Max Verstappen was fifth and Colton Herta took P6 on home soil. Pierre Gasly scored his first points of the year, George Russell added four for an underperforming Williams, while Andrea Kimi Antonelli beat out Valtteri Bottas for P9.

THE CIRCUIT

The Circuit Gilles Villeneuve is a 4.361 km circuit that resides on the Notre Dame Island in the Saint Lawrence River in Montreal, Quebec, immediately east to Saint Helen's Island, combined making up the Parc Jean-Drapeau. The namesake, Gilles Villeneuve, won the first Formula 1 race held here in 1978 for Ferrari, and the Circuit was named for him in 1982. It has held the Canadian Grand Prix every year bar 1987, 2009, 2020 and 2021 since then. Almost half of the track, from the hairpin turn until just after the pitlane, runs alongside the Olympic Basin, created for the rowing and canoeing events of the 1976 Olympic Games. Known for the numerous invasions of the local Groundhogs, and the Wall of Champions, which Oscar Piastri found himself inaugurated into during the Sprint last year, and was named as such due to the 1999 race, where former World Champions Michael Schumacher, Damon Hill and Jacques Villeneuve all crashed into the wall over the course of the weekend. It has seen several Champions crash into it - World Champion Charles Leclerc and former Champions Sebastian Vettel and Jenson Button have all fallen victim to the wall before.

FIVE STORYLINES WE ARE WATCHING THIS WEEKEND

CAN ANYONE CATCH LECLERC THIS SEASON?

Charles Leclerc has been so far utterly dominant over the course of this season so far - the Champion has claimed all four Pole Positions, and won all four races so far this season - three of them by over 20 seconds, two of them by over 30, and won in Austin last time around by 43 seconds. It has been a stunning start by Leclerc, who is hunting a second consecutive title and fourth overall, and he is once again the heavy favourite coming into this weekend. Leclerc seeks history this weekend - a win on the Sunday would mean that he would equal Nigel Mansell in 1992 and Michael Schumacher in 2004 with the most race wins in a row at the start of the season - five. Both Mansell and Schumacher went on to clinch the World Drivers Championship that year. Five from five would be an ominous sign of Leclerc's fourth title. Oscar Piastri and the two Red Bulls of Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris look the most likely challengers - but all three were far back in Austin. Work to do for the chasing pack.

CAN SUBARU FIND A WINNING FORMULA FOR VERSTAPPEN?

Max Verstappen took Subaru's first podium in their history at Shanghai a couple of months back, but Verstappen has not won a race since the final race to be held in Qatar in the penultimate race of 2026, a race that saw him take five wins in a row - including Sprints in Brazil and Qatar. Since then, it has been nine race podiums but none of them have found the Dutchman on the top step - something that would've been unthinkable during his dominant 2023 run. Could Verstappen be regretting leaving Red Bull after their return to form as the second quickest after Ferrari this year? It’s believed Verstappen moved to Subaru with 2029 in mind and the belief that they can challenge for a World Championship - but it already seems a big ask of the team.

CAN ALBON REFIND HIS FORM?

We've been asking a lot of “can” questions (appropriate for Canada?), but this might be the biggest one outside of the title picture. Alex Albon has been struggling mightily in a Williams that was expected to compete this year and has so far underperformed, and Albon in particular has struggled a lot this season. Albon has yet to score a single point and yet to find himself getting out of Q1 in what has been a very rough season for himself and the Grove team, and questions might end up being asked of his future in not only Williams, but potentially the sport itself in what is a contract year for him. It has been a tough start to the season, and he will need to turn it around, and quickly, to get anything out of this year - and keep himself in the transfer market, as well as help his team challenge for that coveted third spot.

WHO WILL WIN THE BATTLE OF THE UPPER-MIDFIELD?

Speaking of third spot - behind Ferrari and Red Bull, the battle between Mercedes, Subaru, Aston Martin and McLaren is heating up - just 12 points separate Mercedes in third from McLaren in sixth, and Subaru are just two points ahead of McLaren, Aston Martin one point adrift of Subaru and ahead of McLaren. It's still very early in the season but the battle for third already looks the most interesting in the Constructors field. Mercedes have looked revitalised this season as the young lineup of Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Colton Herta is paying dividends, and they may have a fight on their hands to keep both talented drivers at the team this year. Subaru have picked up after Max Verstappen's introduction to the team, but still need more from Ollie Bearman, who's added a single point. Aston Martin seem to be finally getting the best out of both drivers, a long time coming. And McLaren saw Pierre Gasly add his first points of the season, but need to stop having drivers exit in Q1 if they're going to challenge at the top - Gasly has gone out in two Q1s, teammate Pato O'Ward in one. How will this weekend shake out for the four teams currently fighting for third?

THE SPRINT FORMAT AND THE RAIN

One final very interesting point of this weekend - it is expected to rain on both Friday and Saturday, and for the first Sprint of the season, that could mean a mixed up grid and a fascinating Sprint format. The Sprint made its Canadian debut last year and was deemed a success - in fact, it was the only race to not have a Ferrari 1-2 until the Belgian Sprint several months later. That Streak has already been broken this year, but it should be a very entertaining race - especially with the rain. Sunday's race should be dry, but no doubt there'll still be some of that traditional Chaos in Canada.

Sprint, Groundhogs and the Wall of Champions. Should be quite the weekend. One thing is for sure, you won't want to miss it.

FP1 Reserves: Bennett (Gasly), Araya (Antonelli), Staněk (Russell), Aron (Hadjar), Shwartzman (Bearman)

FP1: LEC PIA BEN

Leclerc fastest in Friday's sole practice session ahead of Piastri, then McLaren reserve John Bennett P3! The session was interrupted by rain midway through which limited running. Bottas 4th ahead of Norris, with Tsunoda 6th and Sainz 7th. Herta, Verstappen and Audi reserve Paul Aron complete the top ten.

Welcome to Montréal and to the Sprint Shootout, the rain will make this a very intriguing Friday afternoon session here. Anyone's game in the rain, Ferrari went quickest in a washed out FP1, but the great leveller is in play. Let's see how we go here.

OUT IN SQ1: Albon, Bortoleto, Bearman, Hadjar, Ocon, Colapinto
Bubble: Ricciardo
Top Five: PIA, LEC, NOR, OWA, SAI

Albon's Williams crisis deepens, as he exits again in SQ1. Bearman had the unfortunate task of going first and got hit hard by the rain, he's out, while former F2 title rivals Bortoleto and Hadjar both exit, and the two Haas drivers will be on the back row. Piastri quickest from Leclerc, then Norris, O'Ward and Sainz.

OH MY GOD IT IS A RED FLAG

(BON) "Are you okay, Oscar?"

(PIA) "I'm ok. S---. Lost the car. Sorry guys."

(BON) "It's okay, important thing is you are okay."

PIASTRI IN THE WALL. He locks up and crashes into the barrier! It's not the Wall of Champions this time, but his curse at Montreal continues. He'll take no further part in Sprint Qualifying!

TSUNODA HITS THE WALL! He went aquaplaning and clips the wall, but is able to continue!

OUT IN Q2: Ricciardo, Norris, Gasly, Lawson, Tsunoda, Piastri (no time)
Bubble: Antonelli
Top Five: SAI, HER, LEC, BOT, PER

Piastri crashed out in Q2 and caused a Red Flag, meaning one of the Ferraris is out! Tsunoda went aquaplaning and lost his momentum so he drops out, with Ricciardo, Norris, Gasly and Lawson all missing out too. Sainz quickest from Herta and Leclerc, Bottas 4th and Perez fifth. Pourchaire, Russell, O'Ward, Verstappen and Antonelli also through.

Q3: Leclerc, Sainz, Verstappen, Russell, Pourchaire, Antonelli, O'Ward, Herta, Bottas, Perez

Sprint Pole for Charles Leclerc, but by just 0.057 ahead of Carlos Sainz. Verstappen was 7 tenths off the front two, with Russell fourth, and Pourchaire took a huge P5 for Audi. Antonelli P6 ahead of O'Ward and Herta, and Bottas and Perez complete the top ten.

OSCAR PIASTRI TO TAKE PITLANE START IN SPRINT

Oscar Piastri will start from the pitlane in tomorrow's Sprint Race after his Q2 crash.

Piastri locked up and hit the barrier, and was thankfully okay after the crash, but due to component damage, Ferrari and Piastri have opted to take all new parts, and the Australian will start the Sprint race from the pitlane.

Piastri didn't set a Q2 time and was originally ranked P16.

2028 CANADIAN GRAND PRIX
SPRINT GRID

LEC SAI

VER RUS

POU ANT

OWA HER

BOT PER

RIC NOR

GAS LAW

TSU ALB

BOR BEA

HAD OCO

COL

PITLANE START - PIA

Back in a bit to Sprint!

[humble totem]

It will be nice if you post records
For example
Leclerc
Age 28
Poles 50
Wins 70
Championship 3
Then you compare him to the record holders

[foggy locust]

I'd need to compile the Pole records but I have the win records to hand

Hamilton - 119 wins, 8 Championships
Verstappen - 77 wins, 3 Championships
Leclerc - 53 wins, 3 Championships
Piastri - 7 wins
Sainz - 4 wins
Norris - 1 win

That's pre-2024 and the save combined

In the meantime, let's Sprint

It is a busy and rainy Saturday ahead, it has been pouring all morning here in Montreal and we are about to go Sprinting in the Rain. Round 5 brings our first Sprint of the season, the first of five, Canada, Britain, Belgium, Bahrain and Brazil will host Sprints, for now, it's 23 laps around this 4.361km circuit, and we expect it to rain through. Will there be chaos? Probably.

Oscar Piastri starts from the pitlane after his Q2 crash, it's Franco Colapinto on the back row alone, Esteban Ocon moves up one row and is alongside Isack Hadjar, then Ollie Bearman and Gabriel Bortoleto on row nine. Alex Albon had another Q1 exit but moves up to 16th with Piastri's pitlane start, Yuki Tsunoda went aquaplaning in Q2 so he starts 15th. Liam Lawson and Pierre Gasly on row seven, then Lando Norris beside former McLaren teammate Daniel Ricciardo on the sjxth row. Sergio Perez starts tenth and it's ninth for Valtteri Bottas, Colton Herta begins from P8 and Pato O'Ward P7 in an all North American fourth row on Canadian soil. Andrea Kimi Antonelli directly in front of his teammate and what an opportunity it is for Théo Pourchaire from P5. George Russell and Max Verstappen share the second row, then Carlos Sainz starts P2 alongside former teammate, the man who's started every race from Pole so far this year, Charles Leclerc.

Formation lap done, we are ready to go here...AND IT'S LIGHTS OUT AND AWAY WE GO

Leclerc away well from Sainz, Verstappen stays ahead of Russell, Antonelli ahead of Pourchaire! Herta also moves ahead of O'Ward, Bottas then Perez as the green light goes on for Oscar Piastri to exit the pitlane!

(BON) "The gap is 5.3. Let's go for it here Oscar, do what you can."

LECLERC

(BOZ) "Plenty of opportunities to push the tyres here, do what you can to build a gap to the pack."

Piastri has caught up to the pack, but time is not on his side here. He's behind Colapinto, and the points is a long way off.

Leclerc now has opened the gap up to Sainz, about 1.1 ahead.

One down for Piastri, he has negotiated Colapinto.

Antonelli and Herta are both past Pourchaire and are pushing Russell now.

PIASTRI

Leclerc isn't quite shaking Sainz here! The clean air and the weather is keeping the tyres cool, but Sainz is keeping in range.

(BON) "Temps have peaked. Keep trying to keep the tyres as cool as you can here."

(PIA) "Yeah, copy."

O'Ward and Bottas fighting hard for that final point here.

Piastri fighting his way through the pack, the Australian driver now up to P17, having just gotten past Albon.

(LEC) "F---. Yeah, I'm okay."

(BOZ) "Keep going, we can recover this."

LECLERC GOES AQUAPLANING!!! A huge spin off by the Champion and he concedes the lead, dropping from P1 to P7!!!

(LEC) "I don't know what went wrong there. F---"

Carlos Sainz has inherited the Sprint lead here, and he's about 1.5 up on Verstappen!

Leclerc finds himself about 8.3 back. Long way back now for the Champion.

Lap 8: Sainz, Verstappen, Russell, Antonelli, Herta, Pourchaire, Leclerc, Bottas, O'Ward, Perez, Ricciardo, Norris, Gasly, Lawson, Tsunoda, Piastri, Bortoleto, Albon, Hadjar, Bearman, Ocon, Colapinto

A real opportunity now for Sainz, Verstappen and Russell, as all three are pushing for this race lead!

This could be a Monumental day for the Japanese team. Verstappen is chasing his first win of any kind with Subaru, and his first for over a year.

Leclerc overtakes Pourchaire and is back up to P6! About four seconds between Leclerc and the two Mercs.

Piastri working his way through the pack, and he's up to P13, ahead of Gasly.

ANTONELLI UP TO P3! He gets ahead of Russell and this is big for the young Merc driver!

A lock-up by Ricciardo and he drops down to P16!

ANTONELLI GOES PAST VERSTAPPEN FOR P2!!! This could be the beginning of a superstar right here!

Russell also takes P3 away from Verstappen!

Piastri up into the top ten - points aren't completely unrealistic for him at this point!

Leclerc's recovery continues as he is up ahead of Herta!

(LEC) "It's drying up a lot here."

(BOZ) "We think more Class 1 rain is coming. Stay out."

Herta regains P5 from Leclerc!!!

Both Andrettis having brake issues as Bortoleto goes off!!

Piastri now up ahead of Norris!

Piastri goes down the inside of Bottas and is up into the points!

It's P5 again for Leclerc as he overtakes Herta.

Antonelli retakes P2, but can he catch Sainz?

Leclerc's back in play!! He overtakes Verstappen for P4!

Lap 17: Sainz, Antonelli, Russell, Leclerc, Verstappen, Herta, Pourchaire, Piastri, Bottas, Perez, Norris, O'Ward, Gasly, Lawson, Tsunoda, Ricciardo, Albon, Hadjar, Bearman, Ocon, Bortoleto, Colapinto

Russell back up to P2 with DRS on Antonelli!

Piastri up to 7th - what a drive he's had today.

(LEC) "Quite a bit of a DRS train forming here."

BEARMAN BARRELS INTO HADJAR!!! Both drivers take damage and they slows up both men!

Leclerc has fought his way out of the DRS train - he's up to P2! Can he catch Sainz?

Pourchaire now under a lot of pressure to keep that final point ahead of Norris!

Norris up to P8 and stealing that final point away from the Audi, Pourchaire has DRS and tries for it but Norris holds him off for now!

(LEC) "Antonelli is quite quick here"

Antonelli takes P2 back from the World Champion! THE TWO GO WHEEL TO WHEEL AND LECLERC COMES OUT ON TOP, but that might have bought Sainz the time he needs to win this Sprint!

FINAL LAP

(BOZ) "Last Lap. Give it everything you can."

CARLOS SAINZ GOES DOWN THE FINAL STRAIGHT, HE ROUNDS THE FINAL CHICANE, PAST THE WALL OF CHAMPIONS, AND CARLOS SAINZ WINS THE CANADIAN SPRINT!!! CHARLES LECLERC SETTLES FOR P2, ANTONELLI P3, RUSSELL P4, VERSTAPPEN P5, HERTA P6, PIASTRI AN INCREDIBLE RECOVERY FOR P7, NORRIS HOLDS OFF POURCHAIRE FOR P8.

(BOZ) "And P2, P2. Fantastic recovery, you've done well today."

(LEC) "Yeah. Sorry about the spin, I misjudged it, we'd have had that otherwise. Aaaah. Good job, good job. We'll get them tomorrow."

(BOZ) "Great effort today."

(BON) "And P7, P7. All things considered, that's a really good result today Oscar. Well done."

(PIA) "Thanks, struggled a lot with the tyres and with the position at the start. We'll take it and go onto tomorrow."

(BON) "No disadvantage tomorrow. We'll see what we can do then."

2028 CANADIAN GRAND PRIX
SPRINT CLASSIFICATION

1. Carlos Sainz 00.30.48
2. Charles Leclerc +1.731
3. Andrea Kimi Antonelli +0.649
4. George Russell +0.539
5. Max Verstappen +0.494
6. Colton Herta +0.714
7. Oscar Piastri +3.698
8. Lando Norris +6.444
9. Théo Pourchaire +0.663
10. Valtteri Bottas +1.648
11. Pato O'Ward +0.170
12. Pierre Gasly +0.291
13. Sergio Perez +1.476
14. Liam Lawson +5.999
15. Yuki Tsunoda +0.495
16. Alex Albon +9.576
17. Esteban Ocon +0.350
18. Oliver Bearman +1.005
19. Daniel Ricciardo +0.275
20. Gabriel Bortoleto +1.012
21. Franco Colapinto +4.730
22. Isack Hadjar +3.302

2028 FIA FORMULA 1 WORLD DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP

🇲🇨 Leclerc 113
🇦🇺 Piastri 70
🇪🇸 Sainz 50
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Norris 45
🇳🇱 Verstappen 35
🇮🇹 Antonelli 26
🇺🇸 Herta 25
🇲🇽 O'Ward 24
🇯🇵 Tsunoda 24
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Russell 19
🇫🇮 Bottas 7
🇫🇷 Gasly 6
🇳🇿 Lawson 2
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Bearman 1
🇲🇽 Perez 1
🇹🇭 Albon 0
🇫🇷 Hadjar 0
🇫🇷 Pourchaire 0
🇦🇺 Ricciardo 0
🇧🇷 Bortoleto 0
🇫🇷 Ocon 0
🇦🇷 Colapinto 0

2028 FIA FORMULA 1 WORLD CONSTRUCTORS CHAMPIONSHIP

Ferrari 183
Red Bull-Ford 95
Mercedes 51
Subaru-Honda 36
Aston Martin-Honda 31
McLaren-Mercedes 30
Williams-Ferrari 19
Alpine-Renault 3
Audi 0
Andretti-Ferrari 0
Haas-Ford 0

2028 FIA FORMULA 1 WORLD TYRES CHAMPIONSHIP

Bridgestone 250
Pirelli 128
Goodyear 70

No time to waste as we go into qualifying for the feature race on Sunday, and after Carlos Sainz took the victory in the Sprint, a renewed feeling of anyone's game in the rain. Especially considering that many of those intermediate tyres will have been used up already - this could be hugely intriguing here in Montreal.

OUT IN Q1: Hadjar, Ricciardo, Ocon, Lawson, Gasly, Colapinto
Bubble: Bortoleto
Top Five: PIA, LEC, POU, NOR, SAI

Gasly again out in Q1 as his early season struggles continue. Ocon and Colapinto both exit again, as do Hadjar, Ricciardo and Lawson. Bad day for former Red Bull drivers. Albon makes Q2 for the first time this season, at least on the former Red Bull front, as Piastri goes quickest from Leclerc, and what a performance from Pourchaire in P3.

OUT IN Q2: Bottas, Bortoleto, Pourchaire, Bearman, Albon, Perez
Bubble: Tsunoda
Top Five: PIA, HER SAI, LEC, NOR

Pourchaire couldn't turn P3 in Q1 into a Q3 Appearance, as Bottas misses out to his teammate Tsunoda by 0.098. Bortoleto in P12 and Bearman in P14, while more former Red Bull drivers drop out in Albon and Perez. Piastri quickest from Herta, Sainz, Leclerc and Norris - Verstappen, O'Ward, Russell and Antonelli also through.

Q3: Piastri, Leclerc, Sainz, Norris, Herta, Tsunoda, Antonelli, Russell, O'Ward, Verstappen

Piastri gets his first Pole of the season at the fifth attempt, beating out teammate Leclerc by four tenths. Sainz P3 ahead of Norris, as Herta takes 5th and Antonelli 7th for Mercedes. Tsunoda splits the Mercs, while Russell will start from 8th, O'Ward 9th, and just 10th for Verstappen.

2028 CANADIAN GRAND PRIX
STARTING GRID

PIA LEC

SAI NOR

HER TSU

ANT RUS

OWA VER

BOT BOR

POU BEA

ALB PER

RIC OCO

LAW GAS

COL

PITLANE START - HAD QUAL P17

Pausing for now, race later later.

[humble totem]

Nice
Charles is still a very long way to Go

[foggy locust]

Just the 66 wins to catch Lewis haha

Well, it is time for the main event of the weekend. After a rain soaked Sprint, two qualifying sessions, we finally have dry weather for the first time all weekend. 70 laps of this 4.361km circuit on the man made Notre Dame Island, and of course, groundhogs have been spotted a plenty around here. The circuit runs alongside the Olympic Basin, and that Wall of Champions is always there to catch out the unsuspecting driver.

Isack Hadjar takes a pitlane start so Franco Colapinto starts alone on the back row, Pierre Gasly begins from row ten and Liam Lawson alongside him. It's Daniel Ricciardo and Esteban Ocon on row nine, Alex Albon got out of Q1 for the first time this year but not much further as he starts 15th just ahead of Sergio Perez. Ollie Bearman begins P14 while Théo Pourchaire was P3 in Q1 but ten places lower in Q2, so he starts P13. Gabriel Bortoleto is 12th and Valtteri Bottas begins from P11, Max Verstappen down in tenth alongside Pato O'Ward. It's Andrea Kimi Antonelli alongside George Russell on row four, the third row sees Colton Herta P5 and Yuki Tsunoda P6. Red Bull lock out the second row, Carlos Sainz outqualifies Lando Norris for the fourth time in a row, and Ferrari lock out the front row. Charles Leclerc starts for the first time this season not on Pole, he's P2, it is the first Pole of the season for Oscar Piastri.

[humble totem]

Yeah it will be difficult considering the fact piastri will only get better every year and Charles growth is kinda capped already

[foggy locust]

Yeah, that's the challenge for him going forward

Let's race!

One light, two, three, four, five...AND IT'S LIGHTS OUT AND AWAY WE GO

Piastri away well, so is Leclerc, Sainz following, then Norris, Herta, Tsunoda, Russell ahead of Antonelli, Verstappen and Bortoleto have gotten ahead of O'Ward!!

LECLERC

Leclerc is going for the lead early here and the World Champion is into the lead of this race!

Piastri has DRS and Piastri is back in front on the second lap!

PIASTRI

(BON) "We'll drop back a little, normal pace now."

(PIA) "Yep, copy."

Russell up to P6, taking position from Tsunoda!

Leclerc back into the lead now!

Sainz and Norris very much keeping DRS range of the two Ferraris however!

Colton Herta takes position off Lando Norris! The American up to P4!

Verstappen ahead of Antonelli and up to eighth!

Piastri with the DRS once again leads the Canadian GP!

As the Ferraris are fighting for the lead, COLTON HERTA GOES DOWN THE INSIDE OF SAINZ, LECLERC AND PIASTRI IN QUICK ORDER. COLTON HERTA LEADS IN CANADA!!!

OCON SPINS OFF!

Piastri ahead of Herta and back into the lead!

Leclerc now up ahead of Herta and into P2!

Leclerc once again leads on Lap 13!

Norris pushing now, and gets Herta, Piastri and Leclerc in quick succession, and Lando Norris leads on Lap 14! This has been an incredibly eventful start in Montreal!

Herta back ahead of the two Ferraris on Lap 20!

PITSTOPS: O'Ward, Ricciardo and Colapinto all the first to stop today. O'Ward and Colapinto onto Softs, Ricciardo Mediums. Verstappen, Russell and Sainz come in afterwards!

PITSTOP: Pourchaire with a pitstop issue, and that may cost his points ambitions this weekend!

Leclerc back up ahead of Herta, and closing on teammate Piastri!

Leclerc up to P2! He and Piastri are closing the gap to Norris now!

(BON) "Let us know what you think of the tyres"

(PIA) "They are struggling quite a bit"

(BOZ) "Good job Charles, that was a good lap, keep it up"

(BON) "So, box box, box box"

(PIA) "Yep, box"

PITSTOP: Piastri in on Lap 30! He takes the Hard tyres, and this looks like a one stop to the end!

(BOZ) "And box Charles, box to overtake"

(LEC) "Box"

PITSTOP: Leclerc in, and it's a 2.271 stop! Hards as well, the Champion is going to the end here!

PITSTOP: Colton Herta stops and takes the Mediums! With over half the distance to go, that's a gamble by Mercedes!

POURCHAIRE

PITSTOP: Norris in and onto the Hards! This is also going to the end, and Verstappen leads, Norris rejoins all the way down in P6!

(LEC) "Sainz pushed me wide"

(BOZ) "We saw it, we are on it"

LECLERC

We're having some slight technical issues here, so we will continue very soon

[foggy locust]

Piastri ahead of Sainz for P2, but Norris gets Leclerc for P4!

(BON) "Keep the pressure on Verstappen, we can do this. Sainz now 0.7 behind, keep plugging away."

Piastri takes the lead of the race! Sainz into P2 ahead of Verstappen!

Leclerc up ahead of Norris for P4!

[sterile breach]

1997 Hungarian Grand Prix 2.0

[foggy locust]

(LEC) "Struggling so much for pace. So, so much."

PIASTRI RETAKES THE LEAD! Can he open up the gap to Verstappen and Sainz?

PITSTOPS: O'Ward and Bottas both in for fresh Softs. O'Ward P14, Bottas P17.

(BOZ) "Let's push and see if we can break DRS here."

PITSTOP: Sainz in from P2, and he's onto the Softs. 21 seconds behind Piastri with 19 laps to go. Big ask now.

Lap 54: Piastri, Leclerc, Norris, Herta, Verstappen, Sainz, Russell, Antonelli, Tsunoda, Perez, Bearman, Pourchaire, Albon, Gasly, O'Ward, Bottas, Ricciardo, Bortoleto, Lawson, Ocon, Hadjar, Colapinto

PITSTOP: That's a very late stop for Russell, who rejoins in P9 on new Softs.

PITSTOP: That's a very late stop for Russell, who rejoins in P9 on new Softs.

PITSTOP: Perez also pitting very late for Softs and that's taken him right out of the points.

Herta steals second off Leclerc and Norris!!

Sainz is back in play and has stolen second back from Leclerc and Herta!

Verstappen now pushing Leclerc and Verstappen snatches the third step of the podium from the Champion!

Tsunoda with a lock-up!

(BOZ) "And three laps remaining"

(PIA) "Copy"

Verstappen throwing everything at Leclerc for P3, Leclerc defending valiantly right now!

Piastri meanwhile is coasting to his first win of the 2028 season. Game on in the title race?

FINAL LAP

Verstappen nudges in front of Leclerc briefly but Leclerc takes it right back, this is fantastic wheel to wheel racing!

OSCAR PIASTRI ENTERS THE FINAL CHICANE, GOES PAST THE WALL OF CHAMPIONS AND CROSSES THE LINE TO WIN THE CANADIAN GRAND PRIX!!! PIASTRI'S FIRST WIN OF THE SEASON!

(BON) "You've done it! First win of the season, amazing job! Get in there, Oscar!"

(PIA) "Yes!! Very lovely stuff, great job everyone! I think that went pretty well, not going to lie!"

(BON) "First win of many this year. Well in mate."

Sainz comes in P2

Verstappen snatches P3 from Leclerc. Leclerc P4. Norris P5, Herta P6, Antonelli P7, Russell P8, Tsunoda P9, Bottas P10.

(BOZ) "P4, Charles. P4. You did your best, unlucky today."

(LEC) "Yeah. That's all I had, that's all the car had today. Sorry guys. Tough weekend."

(BOZ) "We'll bounce back next time."

CANADIAN GRAND PRIX 2028
RACE CLASSIFICATION

1. Oscar Piastri 01.29.31
2. Carlos Sainz +9.768
3. Max Verstappen +3.469
4. Charles Leclerc +0.620
5. Lando Norris +0.193
6. Colton Herta +9.184
7. Andrea Kimi Antonelli +11.640
8. George Russell +0.140
9. Yuki Tsunoda +2.601
10. Valtteri Bottas +20.736
11. Oliver Bearman +2.739
12. Pato O'Ward +0.155
13. Pierre Gasly +2.730
14. Daniel Ricciardo +10.365
15. Liam Lawson +1.085
16. Sergio Perez +1 lap
17. Gabriel Bortoleto +1 lap
18. Théo Pourchaire +1 lap
19. Esteban Ocon +1 lap
20. Alex Albon +1 lap
21. Isack Hadjar +1 lap
22. Franco Colapinto +1 lap

DRIVER OF THE DAY: MAX VERSTAPPEN

The three time Champion took his Subaru from P10 to the podium, snatching it away from Charles Leclerc on the final lap. A well earned podium, Max Verstappen is your Driver of the Day!

Top Five: Verstappen, Piastri, Sainz, Herta, Bottas

FASTEST LAP AWARD:
Max Verstappen 1.12.024

DHL FASTEST PITSTOP AWARD
Lando Norris 2.234s

2028 FIA FORMULA 1 WORLD DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP

🇲🇨 Leclerc 125
🇦🇺 Piastri 96
🇪🇸 Sainz 68
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Norris 55
🇳🇱 Verstappen 51
🇺🇸 Herta 33
🇮🇹 Antonelli 32
🇯🇵 Tsunoda 26
🇲🇽 O'Ward 24
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Russell 23
🇫🇮 Bottas 8
🇫🇷 Gasly 6
🇳🇿 Lawson 2
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Bearman 1
🇲🇽 Perez 1
🇹🇭 Albon 0
🇦🇺 Ricciardo 0
🇫🇷 Hadjar 0
🇫🇷 Pourchaire 0
🇧🇷 Bortoleto 0
🇫🇷 Ocon 0
🇦🇷 Colapinto 0

2028 FIA FORMULA 1 WORLD CONSTRUCTORS CHAMPIONSHIP

Ferrari 221
Red Bull-Ford 123
Mercedes 65
Subaru-Honda 52
Aston Martin-Honda 34
McLaren-Mercedes 30
Williams-Ferrari 23
Alpine-Renault 3
Audi 0
Andretti-Ferrari 0
Haas-Ford 0

2028 FIA FORMULA 1 WORLD TYRES CHAMPIONSHIP

Bridgestone 307
Pirelli 156
Goodyear 88

DHL FASTEST PITSTOP COMPETITION

Red Bull 130
Ferrari 82
McLaren 61
Andretti 56
Williams 41
Alpine 34
Subaru 31
Aston Martin 26
Mercedes 22
Audi 22
Haas 0

F2 RESULTS, MONTREAL

F2 SPRINT:

1. Kasper Sztuka
2. Gabriele Minì
3. Doriane Pin
4. Dennis Hauger
5. Rafael Câmara
6. Taylor Barnard
7. Arthur Leclerc
8. Zane Maloney

F2 FEATURE RACE:
Pole Position: Kasper Sztuka

1. Kasper Sztuka
2. Doriane Pin
3. Gabriele Miní
4. Dennis Hauger
5. Taylor Barnard
6. Arthur Leclerc
7. Rafael Câmara
8. Zane Maloney
9. Ritomo Miyata
10. Zak O'Sullivan

F2 and F3 will now run at every race between now and Sakhir, where F3 concludes. F2 will then have two more rounds at Yas Island and Jeddah

[foggy locust]

EMILIA-ROMAGNA GRAND PRIX
WEEKEND PREVIEW

We head to the Gran Premio del Made in Italy E Dell'Emilia-Romagna - or better known as, Imola. The first Italian race of the season and one of the homes of Ferrari, as well as Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who will have a whole lot of support not far from his home.

LAST TIME AROUND

It was P1 for Oscar Piastri as he made a statement win at Montreal, and Carlos Sainz took a P2 on the Sunday and won the first Sprint of the season, while Max Verstappen stole the podium off Charles Leclerc on the final straight to take P3. Leclerc settled for P4 just ahead of Lando Norris. It was double points for Mercedes and Aston Martin, with George Russell splitting the two teams.

THE CIRCUIT

The European leg of the F1 world tour begins once more, going from Italy to Italy, with Monaco, Hungary, Britain, Austria, Belgium and Netherlands in between. And we start at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix - or as we better know it, Imola. The Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari is named for Ferrari’s principal founder and his son, is a 4.909 km circuit, and is one of the few major international circuits to run anti clockwise. Featuring one DRS zone and 19 turns, overtaking is a bit more difficult here, and tyre degradation is kind - it is almost certainly a one-stop, and that one stop will be absolutely crucial.

THE STORYLINES WE ARE WATCHING THIS WEEKEND

CAN PIASTRI CONTINUE THE CHALLENGE TO LECLERC?

Oscar Piastri took his first win of the 2028 season, after four straight victories for Charles Leclerc to begin the year. The gap after Canada now sits at just 29 points after Leclerc's P4 in Canada, and Piastri's consistency has been superb, even with Leclerc's sensational form. So, do we have a potential title fight on between the two Ferrari drivers? The Tifosi will be there in full support at Imola for both drivers, but can Piastri lay down the challenge to his World Champion teammate at one of the homes of this famous team?

CAN SAINZ, VERSTAPPEN OR NORRIS CHALLENGE THE TWO FERRARIS THIS WEEKEND?

Outside of Leclerc and Piastri, Carlos Sainz, Lando Norris and Max Verstappen all impressed in Canada. Sainz took the first Sprint win of the 2028 season, while Max Verstappen snatched a podium behind Sainz and Lando Norris was a close fifth. The two Red Bull drivers and the former figurehead of the Red Bull team have been the most likely to win a race thus far outside of the Champions, but can any of them challenge and snatch victory away from the Scuderia on their home soil?

WHAT CAN ANTONELLI DO AT HIS HOME RACE?

Andrea Kimi Antonelli was born in and grew up in Emilia-Romagna, in Bologna. For the second time, he will race around this famous circuit 45.5km away from his home city. Last year, he just missed out on the points, taking P11 in his first race at home. This season however he is off to a superb start, sitting Seventh in the Championship, having scored points in every race bar one, and on 32 points. And now he comes home with an opportunity to take more points for Mercedes, and potentially even a chance at a podium. Mercedes are bringing upgrades to this circuit with the hopes of big points for Antonelli and teammate Colton Herta this weekend. What can they do here?

CAN McLAREN SOLVE THEIR EARLY SEASON WOES?

It has been a tough opening for a McLaren side who were tipped to potentially be Ferrari's biggest challengers this season. McLaren have had 30 points and a single podium in Mexico, an emotional one at home for Pato O'Ward, but that has accounted for half of their points this season in the first five races. Pierre Gasly has struggled, particularly in qualifying, and McLaren missed the points entirely in Canada. The team, like Mercedes, are bringing big upgrades to Imola with the expectations of challenging at the front this weekend, but they'll need more particularly from Gasly, who has struggled in the first five races this season. Can Gasly, and McLaren, put it right and push up the order in a packed midfield?

HOW WILL QUALIFYING COME INTO PLAY?

Imola is not a circuit renowned for overtaking - like Monaco and Hungary that follows. This might be three races in a row that could be crucial for qualifying, and could be fascinating to follow on the Saturday. The pure qualifying pace, and FP2, may be something to follow as teams look to make it up as high on the grid as possible.

So we head to Imola, with a potential title battle brewing, a close chasing pack, and a tight midfield. No rain expected this weekend, so it should be a weekend on pure pace. And one thing's for sure - you will not want to miss it.

FP1 Reserves: Grant (Sainz), Araya (Herta), Wharton (Antonelli), Shwartzman (Verstappen), Gademan (Bearman)

FP1: LEC PIA GAS

Good start for the Scuderia as Leclerc goes quickest from Piastri, with Gasly P3. Bortoleto a surprising 4th ahead of Lawson, then Mercedes junior Araya. Norris 7th, with Pourchaire 8th, Shwartzman 9th and Pérez 10th.

FP2: LEC NOR ANT
PIA P10

Leclerc quickest in FP2 ahead of Norris and home hero Antonelli. Pato O'Ward P4, with Perez 5th and Tsunoda 6th. Ricciardo took 7th ahead of Pourchaire and Sainz, with Piastri just 10th.

A disastrous campaign for Albon has just gotten worse, as he crashes into the barrier! He's okay, but a VSC has been called and he won't take any further part in this session. Work for the Williams garage to do before qualifying!

FP3: ANT VER LEC
PIA P4

Antonelli quickest in the final practice before qualifying at his home race, while Verstappen pips both Leclerc and Piastri to P2. Pourchaire takes 5th ahead of Herta, with Norris ahead of Gasly and O'Ward. Hadjar rounds off the top ten.

Well, here we go. The European leg of the 2028 Formula 1 season begins, Round 6 of this fascinating season thus far, and we are in the heartland of Europe, Italy. The support for Ferrari, and for Kimi Antonelli too, has been massive, and both Ferrari and Antonelli have topped practice sessions, so there is a good feeling in the air for the home support. McLaren, Red Bull and Subaru have all impressed though, so it could be anyone's game today.

OUT IN Q1: Gasly, Hadjar, Ocon, Bearman, Albon, Colapinto
Bubble: Norris
Top Five: LEC, PIA, HER, VER, SAI

Gasly and Albon again out in Q1 as their qualifying struggles continue. Bearman struggled again with qualifying, as Hadjar misses out, and the two Haas drivers also exit. Norris just makes it to Q2, meanwhile it was a Ferrari 1-2, with Herta third ahead of Verstappen and Sainz.

OUT IN Q2: Bortoleto, Russell, Antonelli, Perez, Lawson, Ricciardo
Bubble: Norris
Top Five: LEC, PIA, VER, OWA, SAI

Antonelli misses out on Q3, as Russell also drops out. Norris sneaks through again on the Bubble, with both Alpines and both Andrettis also out. Leclerc quickest once again from Piastri, with Verstappen, O'Ward and Sainz following.

OH MY GOD IT IS A SESSION ENDING RED FLAG

Sainz, currently P2 is in the wall!! He's brought the session to an early end!! He will take P2, but will he actually start there?

Q3: Leclerc, Sainz, O'Ward, Tsunoda, Verstappen, Herta, Piastri, Norris, Pourchaire, Bottas

Sainz's Red Flag crash at the end of Q3 brought the session to an early end, as Leclerc takes his fifth Pole of the season. Sainz will clinch P2, but he may not start there. O'Ward ahead of Tsunoda, while Verstappen and Herta take the third row. Piastri didn't get too clean of a first lap and will now start P7 beside former teammate Norris, with Pourchaire and Bottas completing the top ten.

2028 EMILIA-ROMAGNA GRAND PRIX
STARTING GRID

LEC SAI

OWA TSU

VER HER

PIA NOR

POU BOT

BOR RUS

ANT PER

LAW RIC

GAS HAD

OCO BEA

ALB COL

Going to take a break for now and do the race later on!

[foggy locust]

It is time to go racing here in Emilia-Romagna, not far from Bologna we find the Imola circuit. Steeped in history, the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari, named for Ferrari's founder and his son, opens the European part of the season. 63 laps of this old-school, narrow 4.909km circuit. It's the home team on Pole, but plenty of work to do today to secure that victory.

Franco Colapinto is at the very back of the grid and he's alongside Alex Albon, then it's Oliver Bearman and Esteban Ocon on row ten. Isack Hadjar starts 18th and Pierre Gasly failed to get out of Q1 for the fourth time this season, he's P17. Daniel Ricciardo alongside Liam Lawson on row eight, then it's Sergio Perez and Emilia-Romagna's own Kimi Antonelli who begins on P13 for his home race. George Russell outside the top ten and his lowest start of the year in P12, Gabriel Bortoleto's strong qualifying form sees him P11 today. Valtteri Bottas begins from P10 and it's P9 for Théo Pourchaire who's in search of his first points since Saudi Arabia last year, Lando Norris bubbled twice and ended up P8, with Oscar Piastri just P7 after his last lap was wrecked by a Red Flag. Colton Herta starts ahead of his home teammate in P6 and it's P5 for Max Verstappen who's won here plenty in the past, Yuki Tsunoda's fantastic start to the season continues as he starts P4 and Pato O'Ward begins alongside him in P3, Carlos Sainz caused that Red Flag with a late Q3 crash but his car is able to take up that P2, and it is the fifth Pole in six races this year for Charles Leclerc.

Okay, let's go racing!

LATE NEWS. SAINZ TAKES A PITLANE START AT THE LAST MINUTE

Formation lap done, one light, two, three, four, five...

AND IT'S LIGHTS OUT AND AWAY WE GO

Leclerc holds firm and holds the lead, O'Ward up to P2 now, Tsunoda P3, then Verstappen, Piastri ahead of Herta, Pourchaire up ahead of Norris, Bottas then Bortoleto!

That McLaren is looking very very quick and Pato O'Ward is already giving Charles Leclerc a lot to think about!

(BON) "Keep the tyres in a good window Oscar, this is a good start. Let's go for it."

(PIA) "Yep."

O'Ward with the DRS and he goes past Leclerc for the lead!!!

Leclerc rounds the outside of O'Ward and retakes position, that was a lovely move by the Champion!

Verstappen moves past Tsunoda and up to P3!

O'WARD

Verstappen gets ahead of O'Ward and that was brilliant driving!

Piastri going for the move down the inside of Tsunoda and Tsunoda has to concede!

O'Ward retakes position from Verstappen!

Verstappen gets ahead of O'Ward and that was brilliant driving!

Piastri going for the move down the inside of Tsunoda and Tsunoda has to concede!

O'Ward retakes position from Verstappen!

(BOZ) "O'Ward within 3, we need you to push a little."

(LEC) "Yeah, can do"

Piastri ahead of Verstappen!

Tsunoda also gets the move done on Verstappen!

Verstappen is struggling for pace and plummeting! He drops down to P6 behind his former teammate Norris!

Hadjar’s having issues with his car! Looks like a gearbox issue!

Lap eight and Leclerc's lead has grown to four seconds. The Champion already close to checking out here.

Piastri takes P2 away from O'Ward! Can he now make a challenge to his teammate?

Herta has been struggling with his car already and has already dropped to the back of the pack!!

Norris up ahead of Tsunoda and into P4!

Make that P2! Norris gets ahead of O'Ward and Piastri in short order!

Lap 12: Leclerc, Norris, Piastri, O'Ward, Verstappen, Tsunoda, Bottas, Pourchaire, Gasly, Antonelli, Perez, Russell, Lawson, Bortoleto, Ricciardo, Bearman, Hadjar, Ocon, Sainz, Albon, Colapinto, Herta

NORRIS

Norris has taken advantage of the Piastri v O'Ward battle and opened up a huge gap to P3! He's still 6 seconds off Leclerc, though.

(PIA) "Yep, move of a World Champion, that one"

O'Ward overtakes Piastri again for P3!

Verstappen has pushed back up and retaken position, and goes past Piastri for P4! It looks like he pushed the Australian wide to do so!

Verstappen gets O'Ward for P3!

Bottas is the latest to take position from the O'Ward-Piastri battle!

(BON) "So, it's Hammer Time"

(PIA) "Copy"

Piaatri now gaining on Bottas, as Tsunoda goes ahead of O'Ward!

Lap 20: Leclerc, Norris, Verstappen, Bottas, Piastri, Tsunoda, O'Ward, Pourchaire, Gasly, Antonelli, Russell, Perez, Lawson, Bearman, Ricciardo, Bortoleto, Hadjar, Sainz, Ocon, Albon, Herta, Colapinto

BEARMAN

(BOZ) "How are the tyres?"

(LEC) "They're OK, they're ok"

(BON) "Try and drop temp a little bit if you can"

(PIA) "Yeah, copy"

Verstappen still ahead of Bottas, who is putting pressure on him. Piastri closing on both with DRS!

Piastri takes position on Bottas for P4

(BON) "Box, box"

(PIA) "Copy, box"

PITSTOPS: The first pitstops of the day go to Sainz and Herta, who are both onto the Hards, likely to the end.

PITSTOP: Piastri in for Ferrari, and a 2.145 stop! Great stop for the Ferrari pit crew! He takes the Hards and rejoins P17. Lawson and Hadjar also in and onto the Hards.

PITSTOPS: ASTON MARTIN DOUBLE STACKING. A slight delay for Tsunoda, but not the worst attempt we've seen!

Piastri catches Bottas cold after that stop and overtakes him for P11.

PITSTOP: Pourchaire in from P4! A good stop by the Audi team, but he'll rejoin P13.

(BOZ) "Box Charles. Box this lap"

(LEC) "Copy, box this lap"

PITSTOPS: A 2.263 stop for Leclerc! The pitlane getting very busy behind the Champion, as Verstappen is in, so is Gasly, and Russell, Ricciardo and Bearman for a Subaru double stack!

SAINZ

PITSTOPS: Norris and Antonelli in from 1-2! Both onto the Hards and both back out - Norris now P5, Antonelli P11!

Lap 32: Leclerc, Piastri, Bottas, Verstappen, Norris, Tsunoda, Gasly, Pourchaire, O'Ward, Lawson, Antonelli, Russell, Perez, Sainz, Colapinto, Bearman, Ricciardo, Herta, Hadjar, Albon, Bortoleto, Colapinto

Every single driver has now pitted

TSUNODA

GASLY

Verstappen gets Bottas for P3! He's now putting the pressure on Piastri for that second spot!

Verstappen up ahead of Piastri and into P2!!

O'Ward now up ahead of Pourchaire and into P8!

"Papaya Rules" is very much in play now, as O'Ward overtakes teammate Gasly for P7!

There's an intriguing four car battle now forming between Verstappen, Piastri, Bottas and Norris for those two podium spots behind Leclerc, who is absolutely running away with it at this point.

Piastri ahead of Verstappen!

Bottas however snatches position from Piastri and Verstappen!

And now Norris ahead of Verstappen too, this is how quickly it cam change here!

BOTTAS

(LEC) "I think I saw a cat"

(BOZ) "Is the engine okay?"

(LEC) "Cat, not cut"

Well, the Champion is keeping himself entertained here. A cat just ran on track in front of him, but he was far enough away that it's made it to safety. Wonder if its any relation to Formulino?

Leclerc currently 17 seconds ahead of the chasing pack.

Both Piastri and Norris have gotten ahead of Bottas! They're currently battling for P2 and P3.

Verstappen up ahead of Bottas and into P5.

Russell has a fight on with Antonelli for P10! Antonelli is pressuring for that final point!

What a move by Théo Pourchaire to take P8 from Pierre Gasly there! He's then taken P7 off O'Ward in quick sucession! Could be a big day for the Audi team and for Pourchaire!

Piastri trying to open up a big enough gap to P3, but hasn't managed it on this run. Norris will get DRS on this lap.

So will Verstappen, who takes P3 from Norris!

Verstappen going for P2 and takes P2 from Piastri, but Piastri pushes back and retakes position!

(BON) "And we can drop the lift and coast for now, pick it up later"

Piastri now having to defend Verstappen and Norris, this is a thrilling battle for P2 and P3!

Antonelli ahead of Pourchaire! Pourchaire at risk of missing out on the points entirely!

Gasly up to P6, ahead of Tsunoda and O'Ward. What a comeback drive he's had today.

Lap 60: Leclerc, Piastri, Verstappen, Norris, Bottas, Gasly, Tsunoda, O'Ward, Antonelli, Pourchaire, Russell, Sainz, Perez, Herta, Bearman, Lawson, Ricciardo, Hadjar, Albon, Bortoleto, Ocon, Colapinto

LAWSON OFF AT TURN 15!!! The Variante Alta catches out the New Zealander and he hits the barrier! He's kept the car going, but has seriously damaged that Alpine!

PITSTOP: Lawson into the pitlane and replaces his worn tyres after that incident. He rejoins P21 - he could be on for a potential FL here.

NORRIS GETS PIASTRI WITH DRS FOR P2!

VIRTUAL SAFETY CAR CALLED!!

There's a Williams in the barrier at Tosa!!! Heartbreakingly that's Alex Albon, he spun off and lost the car, hitting the barrier, and his day is over four laps early!! An awful start to the season gets even worse for him.

(BOZ) "Albon in the wall. VSC."

(LEC) "He's okay?"

(BOZ) "Yeah, he's okay, he's out of the car."

FINAL LAP

We are going to get one more racing lap, the VSC is ending!

(BON) "VSC ending. Give it everything."

It's been an easy day though for Charles Leclerc, a very relaxing Sunday drive, as he rounds Rivazza, AND COMES HOME TO WIN THE EMILIA-ROMAGNA GRAND PRIX!!!

(BOZ) "AND P1! P1 in Italia, grande, grande! Amazing job. Amazing."

(LEC) "YESSSSS!!! SI SI SI!!! LET'S GOOOOO! Ahhhhh, YESSSS! Always nice to win here. Always. It never gets old. It never gets old."

(BOZ) "Fantastic. You drove brilliantly, well done today!"

Norris being chased by Piastri for P2, can Piastri make this a Ferrari 1-2, NORRIS HOLDS HIM OFF FOR P2, NORRIS P2, PIASTRI P3! VERSTAPPEN IN P4.

(BON) "And that's the chequered flag, so P3 mate. P3."

(PIA) "Very lovely drive, thanks guys. Another podium, not bad."

(BON) "You drove very well, we were unlucky not to get the P2 in the end. Good result and another podium."

Bottas P5, O'Ward beats Gasly to P6, Gasly P7, Tsunoda P8, Antonelli P9, Pourchaire P10, his first points of the season!

[foggy locust]

2028 EMILIA-ROMAGNA GRAND PRIX
RACE CLASSIFICATION

1. Charles Leclerc 01.22.41
2. Lando Norris +22.834
3. Oscar Piastri +0.360
4. Max Verstappen +1.383
5. Valtteri Bottas +4.879
6. Pato O'Ward +1.147
7. Pierre Gasly +2.712
8. Yuki Tsunoda +0.585
9. Andrea Kimi Antonelli +5.004 10. Théo Pourchaire +4.262
10. George Russell +2.259
11. Carlos Sainz +4.351
12. Sergio Perez +0.729
13. Oliver Bearman +0.464
14. Colton Herta +0.474
15. Daniel Ricciardo +1 lap
16. Isack Hadjar +1 lap
17. Gabriel Bortoleto +1 lap
18. Esteban Ocon +1 lap
19. Liam Lawson +1 lap
20. Franco Colapinto +1 lap
21. Alex Albon DNF (+4 laps)

DRIVER OF THE DAY: ANDREA KIMI ANTONELLI

An emotional day for Antonelli, fighting his way through the pack after a tough qualifying, to take a superb P9 and his first ever points on home soil. Andrea Kimi Antonelli is your Driver of the Day!

Top Five: Antonelli, Leclerc, Bottas, Norris, Bottas

FASTEST LAP AWARD:
Valtteri Bottas 1.14.586

DHL FASTEST PITSTOP AWARD:
Oscar Piastri 2.145s
(1-2 for Ferrari in the DHL!)

2028 FIA FORMULA 1 WORLD DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP

🇲🇨 Leclerc 151
🇦🇺 Piastri 111
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Norris 73
🇪🇸 Sainz 68
🇳🇱 Verstappen 63
🇮🇹 Antonelli 34
🇺🇸 Herta 33
🇲🇽 O'Ward 32
🇯🇵 Tsunoda 30
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Russell 23
🇫🇮 Bottas 19
🇫🇷 Gasly 12
🇳🇿 Lawson 2
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Bearman 1
🇲🇽 Pérez 1
🇫🇷 Pourchaire 1
🇹🇭 Albon 0
🇦🇺 Ricciardo 0
🇫🇷 Hadjar 0
🇧🇷 Bortoleto 0
🇫🇷 Ocon 0
🇦🇷 Colapinto 0

2028 FIA FORMULA 1 WORLD CONSTRUCTORS CHAMPIONSHIP

Ferrari 262
Red Bull-Ford 141
Mercedes 67
Subaru-Honda 64
Aston Martin-Honda 49
McLaren-Mercedes 44
Williams-Ferrari 23
Alpine-Renault 3
Audi 1
Andretti-Ferrari 0
Haas-Ford 0

2028 FIA FORMULA 1 WORLD TYRES CHAMPIONSHIP

Bridgestone 375
Pirelli 189
Goodyear 90

DHL FASTEST PITSTOP COMPETITION

Red Bull 155
Ferrari 125
McLaren 69
Andretti 60
Alpine 46
Williams 41
Subaru 31
Mercedes 29
Aston Martin 26
Audi 22
Haas 2

F2 SPRINT:

1. Arvid Lindblad
2. Doriane Pin
3. Kacper Sztuka
4. Rafael Câmara
5. Paul Aron
6. Arthur Leclerc
7. Dayton Coulthard
8. Pepe Marti

F2 FEATURE RACE

Pole: Rafael Câmara

1. Arvid Lindblad
2. Rafael Câmara
3. Kacper Sztuka
4. Doriane Pin
5. Arthur Leclerc
6. Paul Aron
7. Dayton Coulthard
8. Jak Crawford
9. Richard Verschoor
10. Pepe Marti

Table:
Sztuka 70
Camara 69
Pin 44
Lindblad 35
Maloney 26
Aron 24
Hauger 23
Miní 23
A. Leclerc 23
Tramnitz 28
Coulthard 18
Barnard 17
Beganovic 16
E. Fittipaldi 11
Crawford 4
Miyata 2
Verschoor 2
Marti 2
O'Sullivan 1
Stanĕk 1
Maini 0
Browning 0

F3 SPRINT

1. Rafael Villagómez
2. Alexander Dunne
3. Noel León
4. James Wharton
5. Laurens van Hoepen
6. Daiane Alfonso
7. Maxwell Esterson
8. Martinihus Stenshorne
9. Vincenzo Testa
10. Joshua Dürksen

F3 FEATURE RACE
Pole Position: Joshua Dürksen

1. James Wharton
2. Chloe Grant
3. Joshua Dürksen
4. Vincenzo Testa
5. Martinius Stenshorne
6. Noel León
7. Nikola Tsolov
8. Rafael Villagómez
9. Alexander Dunne
10. Maxwell Esterson

F3 Table:
Dunne 40
Dürksen 35
Wharton 34
Stenshorne 32
Grant 29
Villagómez 23
Bennett 20
Leon 17
Arnold 16
Testa 14
Araya 13
Bedrin 10
Gademan 10
Tsolov 6
van Hoepen 6
Esterson 5
Afonso 5
Boya 5
Goethe, Montoya, Mansell, Cordeel, Abadi, Loake, Wurz, Fornaroli, Meguetounif, Manuel Correa, Pulling, Voisin 0

NORRIS HOLDING CONTRACT TALKS WITH RED BULL AMID McLAREN RETURN RUMOURS

Christian Horner has today said that Red Bull have opened talks with Lando Norris about a new contract in the midst of rumours of a potential return to McLaren.

Norris is out of contract at the end of the season, and after losing Max Verstappen to Subaru, Red Bull have made Norris' new contract "a top priority".

However, Zak Brown has admitted there is "significant interest" in potentially reuniting with Norris for next season, saying the team "should never have let him go."

It will be intriguing to see where Lando lands next season.

[foggy locust]

MONACO GRAND PRIX 2028
WEEKEND PREVIEW

We head to Monte Carlo for Round 7 of the 2028 Formula 1 season, and it is the Crown Jewel of the Formula 1 season, the Monaco Grand Prix. With Monaco's own Charles Leclerc having won every race held here since 2024, can he make it five home wins in a row this weekend?

LAST TIME AROUND

It was another dominant win for Ferrari and another dominant win for Charles Leclerc, as he took his fifth win of the season at Imola. After an early battle with McLaren's Pato O'Ward, Leclerc checked out quickly and ran away with it. A four car race for second place broke out between Oscar Piastri, Lando Norris, Max Verstappen and Valtteri Bottas, with Norris winning that particular battle, as Alex Albon found the barrier late. Andrea Kimi Antonelli took P9 to secure his first F1 points on home soil and Théo Pourchaire got his first point of the season.

THE CIRCUIT

The Circuit de Monaco is a street circuit held in the Principality of Monaco, with the narrow course being one of the most difficult and dangerous races of the season. The barriers lurk around each section of this circuit and the slightest of errors can end your race in an instant, and bring out the Safety Car or the Red Flag. Qualifying is crucial due to how difficult it is to overtake here, making it the most important Saturday of the season. Traditionally occurring the same day as the Indianapolis 500 and the Coke 600, this race is the only Grand Prix that doesn't adhere to the 305km rule in F1 - at 78 laps of the 3.337 km circuit, it is the shortest race of the season.

STORYLINES WE ARE WATCHING THIS WEEKEND

CAN LECLERC MATCH SENNA?

Charles Leclerc has won the last four races held in Monaco, and has won five of the six races held this season. If he can continue this form, he will match Aryton Senna's record of five wins in a row around the streets of Monaco, between 1989 and 1993. Senna also won the race here in 1987, meaning his record of six is safe for at least another year, but a Leclerc win would match “Mr. Monaco” Graham Hill and Ferrari legend Michael Schumacher - lofty heights for the current Champion. Leclerc is of course from Monaco and his first win here was an emotional one - he's taken three more since, and two of them being Grand Slams. You'd be tough pressed to bet against the Monegasque driver making more history on home soil this weekend. And to think, from 2017 to 2023, he was thought of to have a home race curse. How times have changed.

THE CHASING PACK

Behind Leclerc, Piastri and Ferrari, there's quite a battle forming in both Championships. Piastri sits 40 points behind Leclerc and still has time.to mount a challenge, but the battle between the two Red Bulls of Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz and the Subaru of Max Verstappen looks incredibly intriguing. Norris and Sainz are separated by five points, Verstappen a further five back. Andrea Kimi Antonelli is a point ahead of Mercedes teammate Colton Herta and two up on McLaren's Pato O'Ward, with Aston Martin's Yuki Tsunoda a further two back. In the Constructors, once again it looks like third is the most intriguing battle - but between two different teams this time, with Mercedes three points ahead of Subaru. Aston Martin are four ahead of McLaren, and 15 behind Subaru. Williams are a further 21 off McLaren. There's a lot to play for this weekend.

CAN OLIVER BEARMAN START PICKING UP POINTS TO HELP SUBARU IN FIGHT FOR THIRD?

Oliver Bearman had a successful first season, working well with Ayumu Iwasa to take Subaru to Seventh in the Constructors. However, while Iwasa on Sunday is preparing for the Indianapolis 500, Bearman has a single point to his name alongside new teammate Max Verstappen, who has 63 to his. Teaming up with Verstappen has always proven difficult across the years - Daniel Ricciardo was his last teammate to finish above him in 2017, and Pierre Gasly, Alex Albon, Sergio Perez, Fernando Alonso and Lando Norris have tried, and failed to match him. It's a big ask for the second year Englishman, but getting more points on the board would help him massively - both in terms of helping Subaru's quest for third in the Championship, and helping secure his place on the grid for next year. Monaco would be a good place to start for that.

WITH NORRIS IN DEMAND, CAN HE CHALLENGE FOR THE WIN THIS WEEKEND?

Lando Norris took second away from Oscar Piastri this past weekend at Imola, and made a statement towards his future in Formula 1. Norris wants to challenge for the World Championship, and both Red Bull and his former team McLaren are on notice as teams that could potentially challenge Ferrari ahead of the new regulations coming into play next season. Zak Brown stated that “McLaren made a mistake letting Norris go” while Red Bull and Christian Horner have already entered contract talks with their driver about his future with the team. With Norris in demand, can he push for the win this weekend?

ALEX ALBON LOOKING FOR ANSWERS AFTER DIFFICULT START

It has been a tough start to the 2028 season for Alexander Albon - he's yet to make Q3, only gotten out of Q1 once and yet to score a single point - and he ended Imola in the barrier last weekend. Albon has struggled to get to grips with the FW50, as has his teammate George Russell - but Russell has 23 points to Albon's nil, and Williams, who were expected to kick on and push for potential wins this year, are currently languishing in Seventh in the Constructors. Albon simply needs to find answers to his problems - with several young promising drivers waiting in the pipeline, can a struggling Albon do enough to prove his place in Formula 1 for next year?

And so we head to the Principality with history on the line for their Local Hero, while the chasing pack looks to put a dampner on the party and bring themselves back into contention. One thing is for sure - you won't want to miss it.

FP1 Reserves: Grant (Norris), Sztuka (Sainz), Araya (Herta), Wharton (Antonelli), Miní (Lawson), Chambers (Ricciardo)

[foggy locust]

FP2: LEC PIA SAI

Leclerc quickest again in FP2 ahead of Piastri and Sainz. Norris P4 with Bottas and Herta following, then Verstappen and Gasly. Hadjar P9 with Tsunoda P10.

FP3: LEC PIA TSU

Leclerc goes 3 for 3 for P1 in practice, with Piastri and Tsunoda following. Antonelli and Bearman P4 and P5, while Lawson, Gasly and Verstappen follow. Norris 9th and Perez 10th.

It is time to go qualifying around the streets of Monaco, once said to be "like riding your bicycle around your living room". Testing the very limits of these streets and those barriers are the best drivers in the world, but one slight judgement of error can be catastrophic for your chances. The most important Saturday of the season with how difficult overtaking is around here - it is time to qualify.

[foggy locust]

OUT IN Q1: Hadjar, Ocon, Ricciardo, Colapinto, Albon, O'Ward
Bubble: Pérez
Top Five: LEC PIA SAI, NOR, HER

McLaren and Williams once again flattering to deceive, as O'Ward shockingly misses Q2, and Albon's woes this season continues. Former winner around here Ricciardo drops out in Q1, as does Hadjar and both Haas drivers. Pérez just makes it through, as does Antonelli who was at risk as well at the end. Leclerc fastest from Piastri, Sainz and Norris, then Herta.

OUT IN Q2: Pourchaire, Gasly, Pérez, Norris, Lawson, Bearman
Bubble: Tsunoda
Top Five: LEC, PIA, SAI, ANT, BOT

Disaster for Norris and Red Bull as they drop out in Q2, with Gasly also exiting for McLaren. Bearman can't make Q3 either as the Alpines miss out and Pourchaire just misses out by 0.041. Leclerc again quickest from Piastri, with Sainz, Antonelli and Bottas following. Russell, Herta, Verstappen, Bortoleto and Tsunoda all make it through as well.

Worth noting that it's Bortoleto's third Q3 of the season. If he can get his race pace to match, he might be onto something here.

Q3: Leclerc, Piastri, Sainz, Herta, Verstappen, Bottas, Tsunoda, Antonelli, Russell, Bortoleto

Leclerc snatches Pole at home once again, beating out the challenge of teammate Piastri by 0.096, as Piastri looked like he had it at the end. Sainz P3 ahead of Herta who takes a sensational 4th, Verstappen in 5th ahead of the two Astons of Bottas and Tsunoda. Antonelli settles for 8th, with Russell 9th and Bortoleto 10th.

2028 MONACO GRAND PRIX
STARTING GRID

LEC PIA

SAI HER

VER BOT

TSU ANT

RUS BOR

POU GAS

PER NOR

LAW BEA

HAD OCO

RIC COL

ALB OWA

Well, here we go again. The Jewel in the Crown of Formula 1, Round 7 of the 2028 Formula 1 season, the Monaco Grand Prix. And their home hero is starting with the opportunity to equal one of the greatest of all time in terms of consecutive victories on F1's most historic patch. Charles Leclerc goes for five in a row on home soil, but he'll have to beat the challenge of his teammate on the front row, and the chasing pack. 78 laps of this 3.337km circuit, 19 turns, some of the most famous turns on the F1 calendar, and it is the shortest of the season by some distance. It won't be an overtaking fest, but danger lurks at every turn around here.

Pato O'Ward starts at the very back after a shocking qualifying, Alex Albon is alongside him, then it's Franco Colapinto in P20 and Daniel Ricciardo, ten years since he won this famous race, in P19. Esteban Ocon lines up P18 just behind Isack Hadjar, Ollie Bearman down in P16 and Liam Lawson 15th. Lando Norris begins today from 14th with Sergio Pérez, another former winner back in 2022, in 13th. It's a P12 start for Pierre Gasly and Théo Pourchaire, just off his first points of the year at Imola, starts just outside them today. P10 for Gabriel Bortoleto, his third Q3 appearance but yet to score an F1 point, George Russell starts down in P9. Andrea Kimi Antonelli begins today from 8th and it's 7th for Yuki Tsunoda, immediately behind teammate Valtteri Bottas in P6. Max Verstappen won this race in 2023 and he's beginning P5 today, it's 4th for Colton Herta on his second Monaco GP appearance, Carlos Sainz starts today from 3rd, then the traditional Ferrari front row lock-out. Oscar Piastri P2 to begin today, and it is a sixth Pole of the season in seven rounds for home hero Charles Leclerc, who looks for his fifth win in a row on home soil.

Let's go racing at Monaco!

Formation lap done. All carss slotting into place now.

One light, two, three, four, five...AND IT'S LIGHTS OUT AND AWAY WE GO

Leclerc has gotten away well here and Piastri follows, Sainz then Herta, Verstappen, Bottas, Tsunoda, Antonelli, Russell and Bortoleto stay in position!

PIASTRI

(BOZ) "Keep the tyres cool, defend position, control the pace. You know what to do here."

(LEC) "Yep, copy, leave me to this"

Norris already mentioning losing power! That could be a problem for him going forward in this race!

(BON) "You're free to race here, but no major risks, use your best judgement."

(PIA) "Yep, copy."

We have our first overtake of the day going into Lap 5! Bortoleto up to P9, ahead of Russell!

Some overtakes further down the pack now. Perez up ahead of Gasly into P12!

Isack Hadjar has fought his way up to P15, ahead of Lawson and Bearman!

Albon runs slightly wide just after the Piscine, but he's gained time if anything doing that.

Verstappen with a lovely move down the Hairpin to Herta, and he's up to P4!

SAINZ

Piastri having a look down the inside of Leclerc but Leclerc holds position for now.

SAFETY CAR CALLED

IT IS CARLOS SAINZ. SAINZ IS IN THE WALL!!! Going out of the tunnel he locked up and bounced off two barriers!!! His race is over!!!

(BOZ) "Safety Car, Safety Car. Sainz in the wall."

(LEC) "Is Carlos okay?"

(BOZ) "He's okay, he's uninjured."

(LEC) "Do we box?"

(BOZ) "We're staying out. Stay out."

(BON) "Safety Car, Oscar, Safety Car. Sainz in the wall."

(PIA) "Saw that in my mirrors, yep. He's okay?"

(BON) "He is okay and out of the car. And we are staying out."

Lap 13, under SC: Leclerc, Piastri, Herta, Verstappen, Bottas, Tsunoda, Antonelli, Bortoleto, Pourchaire, Russell, Gasly, Pérez, Norris, Lawson, Hadjar, Bearman, Ocon, Albon, Colapinto, O'Ward, Ricciardo. Sainz out of the race.

Bortoleto mentioning some power issues. Could that undermine his best chances of points so far this season?

Lap 17 and we are back underway and racing!

Tsunoda having some issues with engine breaking!

LECLERC

Leclerc's set a new lap record around here by about 4 tenths. Incredible lap off the restart.

Herta now currently holding off Verstappen for, as it stands, the podium, which would be his first in Formula 1. Long way to go though.

Russell with the overtake on Bortoleto! Those power issues could well be on their way to costing the Andretti driver his first F1 points!

Leclerc about 7 tenths ahead of Piastri now, as Oscar has closest the gap right back up!

(BON) "This is brilliant stuff Oscar, keep it up."

Bortoleto's engine really struggling now, and this is a heartbreaker for the Brazilian.

Gasly up ahead of the ailing Bortoleto and into the points! Pérez meanwhile also goes ahead of him! Disaster for Andretti!

Piastri again trying for the overtake and Leclerc again defends position!

Verstappen takes position back at Saint-Devote! He's up to third!

PITSTOP: We have our first pirstop of the day, Haas being in Franco Colapinto for Mediums. That's a gamble to the end, now. Is it one they had to make?

(BOZ) "Thoughts on Plan C?"

(LEC) "A bit risky, already some graining here"

PITSTOPS: Herta going for the undercut on Verstappen! He, Pérez, Bearman and Albon all take Hards, and that's likely to the end.

PITSTOPS: Oh that's risky by Aston, they're double stacking Bottas and Tsunoda...and to be fair to them, they've nailed it. Bottas out of the box as Tsunoda enters it. Both onto Hards.

PITSTOP: Antonelli in! He takes the Hards to the end now and will rejoin P13, just behind O'Ward, who is yet to pit.

PITSTOP: Pourchaire next in, from P4.

BOTTAS CLIPS THE BARRIER ON THE FINAL CORNER!!!

AND A RED FLAG HAS INDEED BEEN CALLED, BUT NOT FOR BOTTAS

ANTONELLI IS IN THE WALL!!! He crashed out and that is a disaster for him and Mercedes!!! It's also hurt his teammate big time, who had already pit!

Leclerc, Piastri, Verstappen, Russell, Gasly, Norris, Lawson, Ocon and O'Ward now all pit for free.

Lap 38, restart order: Leclerc, Piastri, Verstappen, Russell, Gasly, Norris, Lawson, Herta, Pourchaire, Ocon, Bottas, O'Ward, Tsunoda, Ricciardo, Pérez, Hadjar, Bearman, Albon, Bortoleto, Colapinto. Antonelli and Sainz out of the race.

We are lined up for the restart...AND IT'S LIGHTS OUT AND AWAY WE GO AGAIN

THIS TIME PIASTRI HAS GOTTEN THE BETTER START AND OSCAR PIASTRI LEADS THE MONACO GRAND PRIX!!! WOW! LECLERC P2, VERSTAPPEN P3, THEN RUSSELL, GASLY, LAWSON UP AHEAD OF NORRIS, POURCHAIRE HAS OVERTAKEN HERTA, THEN O'WARD!!

Bottas pulling into the garage and the damage was too much to overcome! He's out of the race!

VERSTAPPEN

The Champion has work to do now. The Grand Slam is gone, Piastri now leads the race. Can Leclerc take position back?

(LEC) "Struggling a little to get into the rhythm now"

(BOZ) "Keep up your pace, long way to go here"

Piastri now 1.9 seconds ahead of Leclerc, and this could be a huge step for Piastri in a potential title fight this year!

TSUNODA LOCKS UP GOING OUT OF THE TUNNEL! Thankfully he avoids the barrier, but that was far too close for comfort!

NORRIS AND HERTA MAKE CONTACT!!! Both drop out of the points after that collision! Herta tried for an overtake and it did not go to plan!

CAR 13 (HERTA) - 5 SECONDS

What was looking to be the best day of his F1 career so far has turned to an absolute nightmare for Colton Herta. That five second penalty will drop him down the order, and it looks likely for no points for Mercedes, or Red Bull for that matter, at all today!

O'Ward, who started at the very back, just overtook Ocon for P8! What a performance by the McLaren!

Russell testing track limits, but seems to have gotten away with it.

PITSTOP: Tsunoda in for fresh Hards, and that might cost him any real chance of points now today.

Verstappen now closing on Leclerc and Piastri! He's come out of nowhere here!

(BOZ) "Okay, we need a bit of a push now."

(LEC) "Copy."

PITSTOP: Ocon rejoins in P17, having stopped for Mediums. Long way back for Haas and the points, now.

Colapinto lets Ocon through. That's one slot back at least.

Ocon is making a fight of this. He's gotten Bortoleto, Tsunoda and Albon in quick sucession.

Herta currently 8 seconds up on Norris, so that five second penalty won't mean anything right now.

(BOZ) "How's the tyres right now?"

(LEC) "Okay, they're fine"

PITSTOP: Late stop for Pérez who's taking on Softs. He rejoins P17.

VERSTAPPEN

Verstappen just broke that fastest lap record.

Lap 68: Piastri, Leclerc, Verstappen, Russell, Gasly, Lawson, Pourchaire, Herta, O'Ward, Norris, Ricciardo, Bearman, Ocon, Tsunoda, Hadjar, Pérez, Albon, Bortoleto, Colapinto. Bottas, Antonelli and Sainz out of the race.

LECLERC

1.10.951. Leclerc's just obliterated that record.

Pato O'Ward in position to inherit P8 from Herta. He's within 5 seconds as it stands.

Lap 75: Piastri, Leclerc, Verstappen, Russell, Gasly, Pourchaire, Lawson, Herta , O'Ward, Norris, Ocon, Ricciardo, Bearman, Tsunoda, Pérez, Hadjar, Albon, Colapinto, Bortoleto

(BON) "Three laps when we cross the line"

(PIA) "Copy"

2.747 between Piastri and Leclerc. Leclerc giving it everything, but it's Oscar's day here in Monaco.

LAST LAP

What a day for Oscar Piastri to add his name to the legends that have won this famous motor race, he won it on the restart after the Red Flag and has controlled the pace afterwards, it's been a brilliant performance that will potentially kick-start his title challenge, OSCAR PIASTRI ROUNDS THE FINAL CORNER AND OSCAR PIASTRI HAS WON THE MONACO GRAND PRIX!!!!!!

(BON) "And Oscar Piastri, you are the winner of the Monaco Grand Prix!!! Get in there!!!)

(PIA) "Mega, mega, mega. Winner of Monaco! That's pretty cool! Yeah, brilliant performance guys, can't thank you enough."

(BON) "Amazing job today. Well done mate."

It won't be five wins in a row, but it is another podium on home soil for Charles Leclerc, he comes home P2!

(BOZ) "And P2, Charles. P2 on home soil, brilliant effort. You did everything you could today."

(LEC) "Yeah, good job. Thank you guys. Can't say I'm not gutted not to win here, but yeah. It's like this. Oscar deserved it on the day, congrats to him. Podium's not bad at all, especially here, but...yeah."

(BOZ) "Amazing effort, and we'll be back here to try again next year."

Verstappen takes P3! GASLY AHEAD OF RUSSELL FOR P4!! POURCHAIRE P6, LAWSON P7, O'WARD INHERITS P8 FROM HERTA, NORRIS P10 and was lapped, Ocon would've probably had him at P11 if they'd been on the lead lap.

[foggy locust]

2028 MONACO GRAND PRIX
RACE CLASSIFICATION

1. Oscar Piastri 01.38.02
2. Charles Leclerc +1.793
3. Max Verstappen +28.926
4. Pierre Gasly +29.819
5. George Russell +0.221
6. Théo Pourchaire +0.994
7. Liam Lawson +1.040
8. Pato O'Ward +6.005
9. Colton Herta +0.326
10. Lando Norris +1 lap
11. Esteban Ocon +1 lap
12. Daniel Ricciardo +1 lap
13. Oliver Bearman +1 lap
14. Yuki Tsunoda +1 lap
15. Sergio Pérez +1 lap
16. Isack Hadjar +1 lap
17. Alex Albon +1 lap
18. Franco Colapinto +1 lap
19. Gabriel Bortoleto +1 lap
20. Valtteri Bottas DNF
21. Andrea Kimi Antonelli DNF
22. Carlos Sainz DNF

DRIVER OF THE DAY: PATO O'WARD

A sensational performance from Pato O'Ward to go from P22 on the grid to taking P8. A brilliant result and a well deserved Driver of the Day award for the Mexican superstar!

Top Five: O'Ward, Gasly, Pourchaire, Piastri, Ocon

2028 FIA FORMULA 1 WORLD DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP

🇲🇨 Leclerc 171
🇦🇺 Piastri 136
🇳🇱 Verstappen 78
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Norris 74
🇪🇸 Sainz 68
🇲🇽 O'Ward 36
🇺🇸 Herta 35
🇮🇹 Antonelli 34
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Russell 33
🇯🇵 Tsunoda 30
🇫🇷 Gasly 24
🇫🇮 Bottas 19
🇫🇷 Pourchaire 9
🇳🇿 Lawson 8
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Bearman 1
🇲🇽 Pérez 1
🇫🇷 Ocon 0
🇹🇭 Albon 0
🇦🇺 Ricciardo 0
🇫🇷 Hadjar 0
🇧🇷 Bortoleto 0
🇦🇷 Colapinto 0

2028 FIA FORMULA 1 WORLD CONSTRUCTORS CHAMPIONSHIP

Ferrari 307
Red Bull-Ford 142
Subaru-Honda 79
Mercedes 69
McLaren-Mercedes 60
Aston Martin-Honda 49
Williams-Ferrari 33
Audi 9
Alpine-Renault 9
Haas-Ford 0
Andretti-Ferrari 0

2028 FIA FORMULA 1 WORLD TYRES CHAMPIONSHIP

Bridgestone 435
Pirelli 220
Goodyear 102

2028 DHL FASTEST PITSTOP COMPETITION

Red Bull 155
Ferrari 125
McLaren 69
Williams 66
Andretti 61
Alpine 58
Audi 55
Aston Martin 40
Mercedes 39
Subaru 35
Haas 4

MONACO F2 SPRINT:

1. Taylor Barnard
2. Roman Stanĕk
3. Jak Crawford
4. Kacper Sztuka
5. Richard Verschoor
6. Zane Maloney
7. Paul Aeon
8. Rimoto Miyata
9. Dennis Hauger
10. Dayton Coulthard

MONACO F2 FEATURE RACE:
Pole Position: Dennis Hauger

1. Dennis Hauger
2. Rimoto Miyata
3. Tim Tramnitz
4. Zane Maloney
5. Taylor Barnard
6. Kacper Sztuka
7. Richard Verschoor
8. Jak Crawford
9. Dayton Coulthard
10. Arvid Lindblad

MONACO F3 SPRINT

1. Nina Gademan
2. Abbi Pulling
3. Maxwell Esterson
4. Joshua Dürksen
5. Laurens van Hoepen
6. Alexander Dunne
7. Héctor Araya
8. Udo Arnold
9. Christian Mansell
10. Juan Manuel Correa

MONACO F3 FEATURE RACE
Pole Position: Nikita Bedrin

1. Christian Mansell
2. Nikita Bedrin
3. Héctor Araya
4. Delane Afonso
5. Rafael Villagómez
6. Alexander Dunne
7. Laurens van Hoepen
8. Maxwell Esterson
9. Abbi Pulling
10. Nina Gademan

[foggy locust]

CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD WINS INDIANAPOLIS 500

Christian Lundgaard has won the 112th running of the Indianapolis 500 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway this afternoon.

In a tight battle between Lundgaard and former winner Josef Newgarden, Lundgaard came out on top, taking the flag and the celebratory bottle of milk by just under 3 seconds.

Last year's winner Louis Foster joined Lundgaard and Newgarden on the podium, while it was a P4 for Felix Rosenqvist and current IndyCar Champion Álex Palou was P5. Nico Hülkenberg marked his debut in the Indy 500 with a 6th placed finish.

However it was Lundgaard who was celebrating as he adds his name to the illustrious list of winners of this great race.

[foggy locust]

COLTON HERTA RENEWED BY MERCEDES FOR 2029 SEASON

A huge bit of breaking news coming from the Hungaroring, as Mercedes have announced a one-year extension for Colton Herta.

Herta has impressed throughout this season already, his second in Formula 1, and Mercedes have seen enough to extend his deal through to the end of 2029.

Herta sits Seventh in the Drivers' Championship, and will remain a Mercedes driver for the 2029 season. The first piece of the 2029 transfer window jigsaw puzzle has already been filled.

2028 Grid - contract lengths:

Ferrari:
Leclerc (2032)
Piastri (2032)

Red Bull:
Norris (2028)
Sainz (2030)

Subaru:
Verstappen (2031)
Bearman (2028)

Mercedes:
Herta (2029)
Antonelli (2028)

McLaren:
O'Ward (2028)
Gasly (2029)

Aston Martin:
Bottas (2028)
Tsunoda (2029)

Williams:
Russell (2028)
Albon (2028)

Audi:
Pourchaire (2028)
Hadjar (2028)

Alpine:
Pérez (2031)
Lawson (2029)

Haas:
Ocon (2031)
Colapinto (2029)

Andretti:
Ricciardo (2030)
Bortoleto (2029)

[foggy locust]

Might be a few days before I can continue the save! Busy weekend ahead.

[foggy locust]

HUNGARIAN GRAND PRIX 2028
WEEKEND PREVIEW

And so to Round 8. After Monaco last time out, we head to “Monaco without the barriers”. It's “the Go-Kart Track”, it's the Hungaroring, and here we go.

LAST TIME OUT

It was a dramatic Monaco GP that was changed on the course of a Red Flag. After a crash by Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Oscar Piastri overtook home hero Charles Leclerc and took his first win around the streets of Monaco, denying the Monegasque driver a historic fifth consecutive victory around his home circuit. Max Verstappen took another Subaru podium, Pierre Gasly got his best result of the season so far in fourth, while George Russell was fifth and Théo Pourchaire got big points for Audi. Pato O'Ward had a Driver of the Day performance from P22 to P8, while Colton Herta was looking on for his first F1 podium before getting caught out by that Red Flag, ironically caused by his teammate.

THE CIRCUIT

The 4.381im circuit at Mogyoród has been on the calendar since the 1986 season, but the original Hungarian Grand Prix happened in Népliget, a park in Budapest, featuring three cars from Mercedes, Auto Union (now Audi) and the Alfa Romeo backed Ferrari. However it was 50 years before Grand Prix racing returned to Hungary, when it returned to the calendar in 1986, and has held a race every year since. It has the distinction of being the first race held behind the Iron Curtain. The Hungaroring is a dusty track that doesn't see much use throughout the year, making it difficult for passing - another weekend where qualifying is very important. Like Monaco, it features mostly a mix of slow and medium speed cornering, but has 2 DRS Zones to Monaco's one. With 14 corners and 70 laps, a two stop is almost certain around here, although a one stop is possible.

FIVE STORYLINES WE ARE WATCHING THIS WEEKEND

IS PIASTRI'S TITLE CHARGE ON?

Oscar Piastri took his second victory of the season in Monaco and added his name to the list of Drivers who have won that famous, historic race - and took his first leg of Motorsport's Triple Crown. It's unknown whether he'll ever attempt the other two legs, for now, he has Formula 1's most famous race to his name. He also denied his teammate Charles Leclerc a fifth consecutive win on home soil, and reduced the title gap to 35 points. It has to be said that Leclerc mitigated the damage to five points as he took both the fastest lap and the Pole Position bonus points. Piastri has a momentous challenge on his hands, particularly in qualifying - where he's down 6-1, although it has to be said that one was a Pole, the other six were Leclerc Poles - however, those Pole points do up, as does Leclerc's five wins to Piastri's two. Piastri needs to start beating his teammate more regularly, but with Leclerc in the form he's in, that's a big ask. The Australian however has also been incredibly consistent - this could be a really fun Championship battle this season. A Piastri win in Hungary would go a long way for his chances.

ASTON LOOK TO BOUNCE BACK AFTER MONACO BLANK

Aston Martin have dropped to Sixth in the Constructors, and outside of Haas and Andretti, were the only team not to score points last weekend. Yuki Tsunoda finished 14th after being plagued with reliability issues, while Bottas hit the barrier and had to retire immediately after a Red Flag was called. In such a packed midfield, blank scores will absolutely hurt you, and third to Seventh is incredibly tight across the board, with Williams in 7th starting to come back into contention, while McLaren and Subaru were the big scorers outside of Ferrari's 1-2-Pole-FL maximum. Aston aren't bringing upgrades this weekend, so it might not be a weekend they're targeting for big points - any points they can get will be a bonus. Valtteri Bottas will have some support from the Finnish fanbase who regularly make their way to the Hungaroring - could that spur him onto some much needed points?

CAN McLAREN KICK ON AND CHALLENGE FOR THE TOP THREE?

Ferrari and Red Bull look pretty set at 1 and 2 for the time being, but as mentioned, 3rd to 7th is close. McLaren have closed the gap to Subaru to 19 points (and to be fair, they are 82 off Red Bull with a long way of this season to go). Pierre Gasly found his best result of the season in Monaco, taking a much needed fourth, while Pato O'Ward recovered from a poor qualifying to take 8th. The MCL42 is a car that looks good on race pace, but has somewhat lacked in qualifying trim and over one lap, and this is something McLaren will need to recover, but the Hungaroring suits them, and then some. Gasly and O'Ward got good results in Monaco - they'll need a better qualifying here, and then who knows from there?

CAN AUDI CONTINUE THEIR STEP FORWARD?

Audi have kickstarted their season with successive points for Théo Pourchaire - after a P10 in Imola, he took a huge P6 and launched Audi up to 8th in the Championship, ahead of Alpine on countback. A huge boost for a team that had to wait to Round 19 in Saudi Arabia for their first points last year. However, Pourchaire and teammate Isack Hadjar are both out of contract next year and under huge pressure to perform and ensure their places on the grid next year. With a new Team Principal in Oliver Oakes wanting to put his own stamp on the team, and seemingly starting to move Audi in the right direction - how will that affect Pourchaire and Hadjar, and can they step up to the challenge?

PRESSURE MOUNTING ON SUBARU'S OLIVER BEARMAN

Oliver Bearman has had a tough start to his second season in Formula 1, not in the least bit due to his new teammate outscoring him by 78 points to 1. To be fair, that new teammate is three time World Champion Max Verstappen, and Subaru currently sit third in the Constructors as a result. However, Bearman's race pace has been strong - he's gained positions in five of the seven races this season - but his qualifying has been letting him down so far this year. Bearman has made a single Q1 thus far in seven rounds, while Verstappen has made five in seven, and is 6-1 up in qualifying. It is a tough task for the second year Englishman to outperform the former Champion, for sure, but he does need to up his qualifying and get some more points on the board. To be fair, Bearman has been said to be learning well from Verstappen, and the team cannot praise him enough for his mentality - but the points matter at the end of the day. Can Bearman help Subaru continue their fight for third with points this weekend?

And so we head to Hungary and Round 8. With no rain expected, it should be an intriguing weekend ahead. And one thing's for sure. You won't want to miss it.

Turns out my day has freed up, so let's go

CAMARA, COULTHARD TO RUN FP1

Ferrari have opted to give another FP1 opportunity to Rafael Câmara and Dayton Coulthard in Hungary.

Câmara will run Leclerc's car for the session, and Coulthard will run Piastri's.

The two F2 drivers have been charged with helping with the setups, as well as gaining valuable experience ahead of their own F2 qualifying session.

FP1 Reserves: Câmara (Leclerc), Coulthard (Piastri), Bennett (Gasly), Grant (Sainz), Araya (Herta), Miní (Pérez), Shwartzman (Verstappen)

FP1: OWA CÂM ANT
COU P7

In a session filled with rookies, Pato O'Ward beat out Ferrari junior Rafael Câmara to top spot. Antonelli was ahead of Lawson and Shwartzman, with Norris just P6, and Coulthard 7th. Pourchaire, Bortoleto and Tsunoda round off the top ten.

Pourchaire with a big spin off at Turn 9!! His session, and his Friday, is officially over!

FP2: LEC PIA NOR

Leclerc quickest from Piastri, with Norris and Gasly following. Verstappen in 5th ahead of Russell, with Bottas, Sainz, Lawson and O'Ward in the top ten. Pourchaire crashed out the session early.

FP3: LEC PIA SAI

Leclerc quickest from Piastri and Sainz, while Norris took fourth and Verstappen fifth. Gasly 6th ahead of Lawson and O'Ward, Tsunoda 9th, Pourchaire recovered from his crash yesterday for 10th.

It's time to go qualifying here in Hungary, and qualifying remains important in Hungary, for this "Monaco without the barriers" circuit. Ferrari looked quickest and remain the team to beat, but McLaren, Red Bull and even Mercedes have shown flashes of potential. Let's see what today brings, shall we?

OUT IN Q1: Bortoleto, Pourchaire, Hadjar, Colapinto, Albon, Ricciardo
Bubble: Norris
Top Five: LEC, PIA, VER, GAS SAI

Lando Norris lucky to make Q2 as Isack Hadjar couldn't quite get the lap time right to make it, both Audis are out and Bortoleto just misses out, with Ricciardo last. Colapinto out again and Albon's struggles continue. Leclerc quickest from Piastri, with Verstappen, Gasly and Sainz following.

RED FLAG IN Q2!!!

A massive off for Esteban Ocon, as he loses it at the final corner and hits the wall! He's okay, but his session is over!

OUT IN Q2: Verstappen, Bottas, Russell, Gasly, Antonelli, Ocon (no time)
Bubble: Pérez
Top Five: LEC, PIA, SAI, NOR, HER

Verstappen is the shock Q2 exit as he went too early and was knocked out by O'Ward! O'Ward's teammate Gasly also exits, as did Russell, Antonelli and Bottas. Ocon didn't set a time due to his early Q2 crash that drew a Red Flag. Leclerc quickest again from Piastri, with Sainz and Norris 3 and 4. Herta's through, as Bearman will start ahead of Verstappen for the second time this season. Tsunoda also through, and the two Alpines have both made Q3.

Q3: Piastri, Leclerc, Sainz, Norris, O'Ward, Tsunoda, Pérez, Lawson, Herta, Bearman

Oscar Piastri snatches Pole from Charles Leclerc, taking his second Pole (and second Pole bonus point) of the season! Just 0.053 between Leclerc and Piastri, with Sainz and Norris both a further 3 tenths back. O'Ward takes 5th from Tsunoda in 6th, while Pérez and Lawson are P7 and P8. Herta 9th and Bearman 10th.

2028 HUNGARIAN GRAND PRIX
STARTING GRID

PIA LEC

SAI NOR

OWA TSU

PER LAW

HER BEA

VER BOT

RUS GAS

ANT BOR

POU HAD

COL ALB

RIC

PITLANE START - OCO QUAL P16

It is time to go racing around the Hungaroring. Round 8 of the 2028 Formula 1 World Championship sees us arrive in Budapest, and in Mogyoród to be precise. The 4.381km circuit, "Monaco without the barriers" is one of the shortest of the season with just 14 turns, but an extra DRS zone over Monaco. We've had many famous wins including one by Esteban Ocon back in 2021, and Damon Hill's near miss in 1997.

Speaking of Esteban Ocon he will start today in the pitlane, a long way back from that famous win, after a Q2 crash. Daniel Ricciardo starts on the back row alone while it's Alex Albon and Franco Colapinto on row ten. The two Audis have the ninth row to themselves, Théo Pourchaire outqualifies Isack Hadjar for the sixth time this season. Two former F2 Champions on row eight, Gabriel Bortoleto starts behind his immediate predecessor Andrea Kimi Antonelli. Pierre Gasly begins P14 and George Russell P13, then it's Valtteri Bottas in 12th and Max Verstappen a surprising 11th. Ollie Bearman starts ahead of his former Champion teammate for just the second time this season, Colton Herta lines up in 9th. It's the two Alpines on row four, and the fifth time Sergio Pérez has outqualified Liam Lawson. Yuki Tsunoda in 6th, he crashed out here 12 months ago and hopes to do better today, Pato O'Ward starts from 5th. Lando Norris behind teammate Carlos Sainz in qualifying for the Seventh time in eight races, the two Red Bulls are on row two, and then it's Charles Leclerc not on Pole just for the second time this season, he starts P2, and he won here 12 months ago. A second Pole Position of the season for Oscar Piastri who won last time around in Monaco and seeks his third win of the season.

(LEC) "And radio check, Bryan?"

(BOZ) "Radio check is okay, Charles. We'll be starting on the Soft, not expecting any rain today, let's get a good start off the line and into turn 1, okay?"

(LEC) "Yeah, copy."

(PIA) "Radio check, Bono?"

(BON) "Radio check is okay. We're on the Softs to begin with, keep it tidy to begin the lap. Hold position and go from there."

(PIA) "Copy."

Let's go racing in Budapest!

Formation lap done, time to begin...one light, two, three, four, five...AND IT'S LIGHTS OUT AND AWAY WE GO!

Piastri is away well, Leclerc hasn't gotten away off the line well and drops behind Sainz and Nprris who have gotten off to a flier!! O'Ward 5th, then Tsunoda, Pérez stays 7th, Herta 8th, Lawson 9th, Verstappen into the points, Bearman has dropped to 14th as he's had a shocker of a statt!

(LEC) "I got an awful start there"

(BOZ) "Head up, a lot of racing to do. Let's work from what we have here."

(BON) "Great start Oscar, let's get into the rhythm and keep these tyres as cool as possible."

(PIA) "Copy"

PIASTRI

Leclerc has quickly made positions back up, overtaking Norris then Sainz in quick succession! He's got 2 seconds to claw back to his teammate though!

Tsunoda with a lovely move to take P5 from O'Ward!

Colton Herta climbing the rankings and he's up to P7, ahead of Pérez!

Norris overtakes Sainz, but in the Red Bull infighting, both have lost ground to Leclerc!

Verstappen moves ahead of Pérez and is up to P9!

Albon with a lock-up at Turn 5, and he drops to P22 and last!!

Bearman is struggling with a car issue, he has dropped all the way from P10 to the back of the pack here!

Leclerc has dropped the gap to 1.9 - we could have a race on here!

(BOZ) "Last lap, 20.674, Oscar 20.799. This is good work, keep it up"

Lap 10: Piastri, Leclerc, Norris, Sainz, Tsunoda, Herta, O'Ward, Verstappen, Lawson, Amtonelli, Pérez, Russell, Pourchaire, Bottas, Gasly, Bortoleto, Ricciardo, Colapinto, Ocon, Hadjar, Bearman, Albon

LAWSON LOCKS UP! He slides off at turn 12 and concedes 9th to Antonelli!

Hadjar struggling with his ERS and gearbox! Problems again for Audi!

Bearman makes the overtake on Albon, AND THEY MAKE CONTACT!!! That was a risky move from Bearman and it didn't pay off for either driver!

CAR 87 (BEARMAN) - CAUSING A COLLISION

That move definitely didn't pay off for Bearman, who lands himself a penalty for his efforts.

PITSTOP: Antonelli the first to make the journey into the pitlane! He takes on Mediums, and you feel a S/M/H may be in play here!

PITSTOP: Lawson is in from P9, and he's also going onto the Mediums.

PITSTOP: A massive delay for Albon! His season is going from bad to worse here. An 8.384 stop, and he's already been lapped. Ooft.

Pérez is having issues with that Renault engine (where have we heard that one before), and could that scupper their points hopes for today?

(BON) "So box, box"

(PIA) "Yeah, box box box"

Piastri has had a snap of understeer and Albon has unlapped himself, and is now slowing Piastri down!!

(PIA) "I'm not sure what Albon was doing there, but it wasn't productive"

PITSTOPS: Piastri into the pitlane from the lead! He's onto the Mediums, a 2.305, and rejoins P2. Norris also in for the Mediums!

(BOZ) "Box this lap, Charles, box this lap"

(LEC) "Copy box"

HERTA

PITSTOP: Leclerc in from the lead! A 2.550 stop for the Champion, Piastri retakes the lead and a 2.4 advantage is restored.

(BON) "Just think about the management, you can increase it just a tiny fraction."

(PIA) "Copy."

PITSTOP: DISASTER FOR McLAREN. O'Ward has a long delay as they can't get the car off the jack properly!!! An 8.565 stop.

Lap 22: Piastri, Leclerc, Sainz, Norris, Tsunoda, Herta, Russell, Antonelli, Verstappen, Pourchaire, O'Ward, Lawson, Bottas, Pérez, Gasly, Ricciardo, Bortoleto, Ocon, Colapinto, Hadjar, Albon, Bearman

ANTONELLI TRYING TO OVERTAKE RUSSELL, AND IT DOESN'T PAY OFF! RUSSELL CLOSES THE DOOR, AND BOTH PICK UP SOME SLIGHT DAMAGE FROM THAT!

Albon's day has gone from bad to worse, as he spins off in some style there!

Piastri keeping the gap to Leclerc to 2 seconds here.

Pourchaire having a phenomenal drive, moving up to P9 ahead of Antonelli, who's now under pressure from O'Ward!

(BOZ) "That was an excellent lap, keep this kind of pace up"

Leclerc has pushed on and now closed the gap to 1.3 to his teammate!

PITSTOPS: Sainz in and onto the Mediums! Antonelli also coming in, and he gets a front wing change and fresh Softs! Surprising from Red Bull, as they will have to go a long way on those Mediums or stop again, while it was seemingly enforced for Antonelli?

PITSTOPS: Tsunoda, Gasly, Herta and Bortoleto all in! Tsunoda and Gasly onto the Hards, Herta has taken Softs so it was maybe by design for Mercedes, while Bortoleto is onto the Mediums. Three stoppers inbound?

Herta has taken used Softs...just, what are you doing Mercedes?

Leclerc reducing the gap to 1.1 and he is keeping Piastri honest here! We might have a race on for the win here!!

For the first time today, Piastri has to defend Leclerc! Leclerc has DRS ob his teammate!

PITSTOP: Verstappen and Bottas both in!

Leclerc tries to go down the inside of Piastri, but Piaatri defends position and holds the lead!!

Leclerc going for P1 down the pit straight, Leclerc snatches P1 from Piastri! What a move by Charles Leclerc!

(BON) "Charles is the car ahead. Gap 1.1. Pace is still good here Oscar, keep it up."

(PIA) "Yeah, Copy. These lapped cars are getting in the way a bit here."

LAWSON

Leclerc already pushing into the distance now and finds himself about 2.6 up on Piastri.

Norris finding himself under pressure from Sainz and Sainz grabs third from his teammate!

(BON) "Box this lap, Oscar."

(PIA) "Yeah, box. Tyres are gone"

PITSTOPS: Piastri in for Mediums, and a 2.409 stop for him! He'll comfortably rejoin in P2! Norris also in and he's onto Hards to the end.

(BOZ) "Box Charles, Box this lap."

(LEC) "Box box"

PITSTOP: 2.455 stop for Leclerc and will he retain the lead, he does! But Piastri now just 1.6 behind him!

VIRTUAL SAFETY CAR CALLED!!

POURCHAIRE IN THE WALL AT TURN 9!! Pourchaire was running so well this afternoon, and it's all slipped away, as he put a tyre on the kerb and spun into the barrier. Heartbreaker for him.

PITSTOP: Antonelli takes on Hards under the VSC, but a slight stop delay means any VSC advantage was likely wiped out.

Lap 47, under VSC: Leclerc, Piastri, Sainz, Norris, Tsunoda, Herta, O'Ward, Verstappen, Lawson, Bottas, Russell, Gasly, Ocon, Pérez, Bottas, Antonelli, Bearman, Ricciardo, Colapinto, Albon, Hadjar. Pourchaire out of the race.

BEARMAN

We are racing again on Lap 48! We have a race on now between Leclerc and Piastri as the two are separated by just 0.8!

PIASTRI

PITSTOP: Sainz in for the third time today! He takes on Hards and will drop to P5.

Piastri has a look down the inside of Leclerc for position but Leclerc holds him off for now!

PITSTOP: Bearman in for a fresh set of Softs. Taking the gamble here.

Sainz moves ahead of Tsunoda and up into P5!

PIASTRI GOES DOWN THE INSIDE AND LECLERC HAS TO YIELD! PIASTRI BACK INTO THE LEAD!

Herta locks up and loses time, if not position. Still P10.

PITSTOP: O'Ward in for Softs and down to P11.

Leclerc back into the lead!! Fantastic move on Piastri, brilliant racing from the top two in the Championship!

Piastri regains the lead and this battle may go all the way to the chequered flag!

PITSTOP: Tsunoda in for Softs and he's now P6.

Leclerc regains P1! What a race this is up front!

PITSTOPS: Late stops for Verstappen and Gasly, and both have been lapped. Verstappen P9, Gasly P13.

PITSTOP: Lawson follows in a lap later, and he's down to P12.

Lap 63: Leclerc, Piastri, Norris, Sainz, Tsunoda, Verstappen, O'Ward, Herta, Russell, Bottas, Antonelli, Lawson, Gasly, Pérez, Bortoleto, Ocon, Bearman, Ricciardo, Albon, Colapinto, Hadjar

Leclerc gained on the lap there but Piastri stays within DRS and he's staying in touching distance of the leader!

Another lock-up for Albon who drops to P20.

VERSTAPPEN

Piastri will get another go at this with the DRS, AND HE GETS THE MOVE DONE!! PIASTRI LEADS AGAIN!

Four laps to go, Piastri defending this position well, Leclerc throwing everything at him now!

LECLERC GOES DOWN THE INSIDE, PIASTRI BLOCKS, LECLERC DOES THE SWITCHBACK AND TAKES POSITION AND LEADS ONCE MORE!

Piastri going for the move again, but Verstappen, a lap down, gets in the way of it!!

(PIA) "Yep, not sure what Verstappen was doing there"

LAST LAP

Leclerc holding position, Piastri isn't in range and at this point we don't know if he will get another shot at it, Piastri threw everything at him today but Leclerc is holding on, he rounds the final corner, and CHARLES LECLERC, NARROWLY, WINS THE HUNGARIAN GRAND PRIX!!! OSCAR PIASTRI HAS TO SETTLE FOR P2! What a race here, and only five cars will finish on the lead lap!!

(BOZ) "You've won it!! P1, amazing job. Amazing."

(LEC) "LET'S GO, COME ON!!! YESSSS!!!! Ahhhh, yessss! Ah, fantastic, fantastic guys. Amazing job. What a job you've done with the car, I can't thank you enough. Great job today."

(BOZ) "Brilliant effort. Bring it into the pitlane, see you on the podium."

(LEC) "Full credit to Oscar as well, he pushed me all the way there. Great race."

(BON) "And you've taken the flag, that's P2 mate, Oscar. Fantastic effort, nearly got Charles at the end there. Awesome job."

(PIA) "Yeah, thank you everyone! That was a lot of fun, shame not to take it at the end but we did well. Congrats to Charles today as well."

(BON) "Really good job mate."

Norris takes the podium, Sainz P4, Tsunoda P5 are the only ones on the lead lap. Verstappen 6th, O'Ward 7th, Herta 8th, Lawson 9th, Bottas 10th.

[foggy locust]

2028 HUNGARIAN GRAND PRIX
RACE CLASSIFICATION

1. Charles Leclerc 01.33.29
2. Oscar Piastri +0.881
3. Lando Norris +46.461
4. Carlos Sainz +3.427
5. Yuki Tsunoda +19.157
6. Max Verstappen +1 lap
7. Pato O'Ward +1 lap
8. Colton Herta +1 lap
9. Liam Lawson +1 lap
10. Valtteri Bottas +1 lap
11. Pierre Gasly +1 lap
12. Andrea Kimi Antonelli +1 lap
13. George Russell +1 lap
14. Esteban Ocon +1 lap
15. Gabriel Bortoleto +1 lap
16. Oliver Bearman +1 lap
17. Sergio Pérez +2 laps
18. Daniel Ricciardo +2 laps
19. Alex Albon +2 laps
20. Franco Colapinto +2 laps
21. Isack Hadjar +2 laps
22. Théo Pourchaire DNF

DRIVER OF THE DAY: CHARLES LECLERC

A brilliant drive from P2 and a phenomenal battle with teammate Oscar Piastri to take his sixth win of the season, it was a superb performance from Charles Leclerc, your Driver of the Day!

Top Five: Leclerc, Piastri, Norris, Ocon, Bottas

FASTEST LAP AWARD:
Max Verstappen 1.15.807

DHL FASTEST PITSTOP AWARD:
Lando Norris 2.147s

2028 FIA FORMULA 1 WORLD DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP

🇲🇨 Leclerc 196
🇦🇺 Piastri 155
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Norris 89
🇳🇱 Verstappen 87
🇪🇸 Sainz 80
🇲🇽 O'Ward 42
🇯🇵 Tsunoda 40
🇺🇸 Herta 39
🇮🇹 Antonelli 34
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Russell 33
🇫🇷 Gasly 24
🇫🇮 Bottas 20
🇳🇿 Lawson 10
🇫🇷 Pourchaire 9
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Bearman 1
🇲🇽 Pérez 1
🇫🇷 Ocon 0
🇹🇭 Albon 0
🇦🇺 Ricciardo 0
🇫🇷 Hadjar 0
🇧🇷 Bortoleto 0
🇦🇷 Colapinto 0

2028 FIA FORMULA 1 WORLD CONSTRUCTORS CHAMPIONSHIP

Ferrari 351
Red Bull-Ford 169
Subaru-Honda 88
Mercedes 73
McLaren-Mercedes 66
Aston Martin-Honda 60
Williams-Ferrari 33
Alpine-Renault 11
Audi 9
Haas-Ford 0
Andretti-Ferrari 0

2028 WORLD TYRES CHAMPIONSHIP

Bridgestone 499
Pirelli 355
Goodyear 106

2028 DHL FASTEST PITSTOP COMPETITION

Red Bull 198
Ferrari 131
Andretti 76
McLaren 73
Williams 66
Alpine 61
Aston Martin 60
Audi 55
Mercedes 49
Subaru 35
Haas 4

HUNGARY F2 SPRINT

1. Dayton Coulthard
2. Zane Maloney
3. Gabriele Miní
4. Arvid Lindblad
5. Doriane Pin
6. Rafael Câmara
7. Paul Aron
8. Jak Crawford
9. Tim Tramnitz
10. Arthur Leclerc

F2 FEATURE RACE

Pole: Arvid Lindblad

1. Arvid Lindblad
2. Doriane Pin
3. Paul Aron
4. Dayton Coulthard
5. Tim Tramnitz
6. Gabriele Miní
7. Zane Maloney
8. Jak Crawford
9. Arthur Leclerc
10. Kacper Sztuka

HUNGARY F3 SPRINT

1. Chloe Grant
2. John Bennett
3. Rafael Villagómez
4. Joshua Dürksen
5. Alexander Dunne
6. Martinius Stenshorne
7. Joseph Loake
8. Vincenzo Testa
9. Laurens van Hoepen
10. Abbi Pulling

F3 FEATURE RACE

Pole Position: Abbi Pulling

1. Abbi Pulling
2. James Wharton
3. Joshua Dürksen
4. Martinius Stenshorne
5. Rafael Villagómez
6. John Bennett
7. Alexander Dunne
8. Joseph Loake
9. Vincenzo Testa
10. Chloe Grant

F2 CHAMPIONSHIP TABLE

Sztuka 84
Câmara 72
Lindblad 68
Pin 67
Maloney 55
Hauger 53
Tramnitz 45
Aron 43
Coulthard 43
Miní 37
Barnard 37
A. Leclerc 25
Miyata 21
Crawford 19
Beganovic 16
Verschoor 12
E. Fittipaldi 11
Staněk 9
Marti 2
O'Sullivan 1
Maini 0
Browning 0

F3 CHAMPIONSHIP TABLE

Dunne 65
Dürksen 65
Wharton 52
Villagómez 51
Stenshorne 49
Pulling 40
Grant 40
Bennett 37
Araya 32
Bedrin 30
Mansell 27
Gademan 21
Van Hoepen 20
Arnold 19
Testa 19
Afonso 17
León 17
Esterson 17
Loake 8
Tsolov 6
Boya 5
Manuel Correa 1
Goethe, Montoya, Fornarolli, Cordeel, Abadi, Wurz, Meguetounif, Voisin 0

[foggy locust]

VOWLES HOLDS CRISIS TALKS WITH ALBON AT WILLIAMS

It's emerging that James Vowles has held crisis talks with Alex Albon at Williams, and told him up front - his performances must improve to be retained next season.

Albon's contract is up at the end of the 2028 season, and admist growing rumours that he's unhappy with his performances, Vowles has offered supportive but stern talks.

Albon has yet to secure a single point this season, and has been said to be cutting a demoralised figure at the team due to his performances.

Work for Albon to do to improve at Williams and keep his place on the grid ahead of his defacto home Grand Prix.

BRITISH GRAND PRIX 2028
WEEKEND PREVIEW

We head to the historic Silverstone for Round 9 of the 2028 Formula 1 season, in time for the second Sprint weekend of the year. How will this one play out?

LAST TIME AROUND

It was a Ferrari 1-2 as Charles Leclerc and Oscar Piastri had a superb battle for the race win, with Leclerc just coming out on top for his sixth victory of the season, extending his World Championship advantage to 41 points. Lando Norris took his fourth podium of the season as Red Bull remain the confirmed second force and took himself two points above Max Verstappen in the Drivers Championship table. Subaru, Mercedes, McLaren and Aston Martin all bagged points, Williams went scoreless, while Alpine went above Audi.

THE CIRCUIT

Home of the original Formula 1 World Championship race in 1950, the British Grand Prix has remained a staple of the calendar, and along with the Italian Grand Prix, is one of two that has been held every single season in Formula 1. Silverstone has been the sole home to the British Grand Prix since 1987 and will remain so for several years to come, having first held the race before the days of the F1 World Championship back in 1948, then rotating with Aintree and then Brands Hatch over the years until taking over permanently in 1987. The 5.891km hosts some of the most famous F1 corners of the season, including Copse and that run down to Stowe at turn 1. There is also the Hamilton straight, of course named for now retired Eight Time World Champion Lewis Hamilton, who famously won his last race around here back in 2026, and went on to win his Eighth and Final title before retiring. 2 DRS Zones and plenty of overtaking opportunities.

FIVE STORYLINES WE ARE WATCHING THIS WEEKEND

HOW WILL THE HOME HEROES DO?

There remains three English drivers on the Formula 1 grid - Lando Norris, George Russell and Oliver Bearman. F2 and F3 sees plenty of English talent, alongside neighbours Scotland and the Republic of Ireland being represented as well. Norris seems the most likely of the three in F1 to challenge for a potential victory this weekend, but can Red Bull push up and challenge Ferrari this weekend? As for George Russell, Williams had looked to kick on and challenge at the front of the pack this year, but a disappointing season so far sees Williams Seventh, and Russell tenth - can he get some good points this year as his future looks like it could be away from Williams? It has been a tough second season for Oliver Bearman, with just a single point to his name and being overshadowed at Subaru by Max Verstappen - points on home soil would go a long way towards helping his cause.

HOW WILL THE HOME GRAND PRIX AFFECT THE TEAMS?

Three teams on the Formula 1 grid have an English racing licence - McLaren, Aston Martin and Williams, and all three are in direct competition with each other in the middle of the table. Several other teams have a base on this island - namely Red Bull, Mercedes and Alpine - but the focus for the home teams will be McLaren, Aston and Williams, and there will be a lot of direct competition for positioning in the table. With McLaren just six points ahead of Aston, and seven behind Mercedes for fourth, it is incredibly packed in the midfield. Williams meanwhile could do with a big result to get up the table. Williams and McLaren have the problem that one driver is outperforming the other by some distance - at the Papaya, Pato O'Ward has 42 points to Pierre Gasly's 24, and most of Gasly's points came from one podium. Meanwhile for the Grove team, George Russell has all of Williams’ 33 points. Can either get both scoring, or can Aston capitalise on this?

THE SCUDERIA TITLE FIGHT - CAN PIASTRI CLOSE ON LECLERC?

Charles Leclerc came out on top last time around against teammate Oscar Piastri, as Ferrari's inter-team title fight occurred for a second year in a row - and a third in four years, with Max Verstappen's involvement in 2024's and 2026's title race being the only non Ferrari driver to challenge for the Championship over the course of a season since 2023. This year however the SF-28 has been clear again of the pack, although maybe not quite as dominant as the SF-27, but Ferrari have still got five 1-2s in the first eight rounds. So it's likely that the main challenger for Leclerc's title defence will be Piastri once again. Leclerc has six wins to Piastri's two, and six Poles to Piastri's two - Piastri needs to start racking up the wins.

CAN ALBON STEP UP TO VOWLES’ CHALLENGE?

Alex Albon and James Vowles held crisis talks ahead of the British Grand Prix, as it has been a difficult season for the Williams driver - with him yet to score a single point this season, and looking towards a potential future away from the grid as a result. Albon had a particularly difficult Hungarian Grand Prix, with plenty of mistakes and lock-ups during the Grand Prix, and he looks to improve going into one of his home races. The expectations were high coming into this season, and thus far, Williams have not delivered on that. Can Albon step up and help Williams get their season back on track? There'd be no better place to do it.

HOW WILL THE SILVERSTONE SPRINT PLAY OUT?

It is of course a Sprint weekend, and while there's no rain expected this weekend, it should still make a fascinating Friday and Saturday for the Sprint qualifying and race respectively. Only one practice means a lot of pressure to get those setups right early, while of course it means more points on the board this weekend, too. How will that play out for the teams and their preparation going into this weekend?

So no rain, but a lot to play for this weekend at the home of British motorsport. One thing’s for certain - you won't want to miss it.

FP1 Reserves: Grant (Norris), Sztuka (Sainz), Mini (Lawson), Stânek (Albon), Chambers (Ricciardo)

FP1: HER LEC TSU
PIA P8

Colton Herta tops FP1 ahead of Charles Leclerc and Yuki Tsunoda. Red Bull reserve Sztuka P4 as he prepares for F2, while Russell and Pérez follow. Ocon 7th ahead of Piastri in 8th, with Bearman and Mini following.

Well, it is Sprint Shootout time at Silverstone. The second Friday qualifying of the season, Carlos Sainz won the first Sprint back in Canada, Ferrari enter as favourites today though, but Colton Herta did top practice. Anyone's game? Should be a very intriguing Friday afternoon at the iconic Silverstone.

OUT IN SQ1: Bottas, Colapinto, Ocon, Albon, Norris, Herta
Bubble: Verstappen
Top Five: LEC, BEA, OWA GAS, ANT
PIA P8

Traffic played havoc with the first Sprint qualifying session, as Colton Herta, who topped FP1, got caught out and will start last, with Lando Norris not even getting round for his final lap. Alex Albon went wide on last last lap and he goes out as well as Valtteri Bottas and the two Haas drivers. Max Verstappen just makes SQ2, while Leclerc was quickest from Bearman, O'Ward, Gasly and Antonelli. Pérez and Sainz ahead of Piastri.

OUT IN SQ2: Russell, Lawson, Ricciardo, Bearman, Bortoleto, Verstappen
Bubble: Antonelli
Top Five: SAI, LEC, PIA, GAS, OWA

All three English drivers are out, as Russell and Bearman join Norris on the sideline. Verstappen also a shock SQ2 exit, as Ricciardo locked up and goes out, with Boetoleto and Lawson also dropping out. Sainz quickest ahead of Leclerc and Piastri, while Gasly and O'Ward followed. Pérez, Tsunoda, both Audis of Pourchaire and Hadjar, and Antonelli into SQ3.

SQ3: Piastri, Leclerc, Pérez, Tsunoda, Pourchaire, Sainz, Antonelli, O'Ward, Hadjar, Gasly

Piastri beats Leclerc to the second Sprint Pole by 0.067, it was very close between the Ferraris. Pérez takes a stunning P3 while Tsunoda used the last man on track to his advantage to snatch 4th. Pourchaire 5th ahead of Sainz, while Antonelli and O'Ward will share the fourth row. Hadjar 9th, Gasly 10th.

2028 BRITISH GRAND PRIX
SPRINT GRID

PIA LEC

PER TSU

POU SAI

ANT OWA

HAD GAS

RUS LAW

RIC BEA

BOR BOT

COL OCO

ALB NOR

HER

PITLANE START - VER QUAL P16

Customary Friday to Saturday break - back in a bit for Sprint and Qualifying!

[foggy locust]

It is Formula 1 Silverstone Sprint Saturday. Try saying that three times fast. 17 laps of this 5.891km circuit and it is a pure adrenaline Sprint to the line, 100.147km ahead of us and it should be a very entertaining race ahead, the third Sprint to happen here.

Max Verstappen has elected for a pitlane start so it's Colton Herta who starts alone on the back row, Lando Norris starts his home Sprint from P20 after failing to do a final lap in Sprint qualifying, Alex Albon is alongside him, then it's the two Haas of Esteban Ocon and Franco Colapinto. Valtteri Bottas promoted to P16 despite not getting out of SQ1, beside Gabriel Bortoleto, Ollie Bearman starts his home Sprint alongside Daniel Ricciardo on row seven. Liam Lawson and George Russell on row six, a P11 start for Russell, the highest English driver on the grid. Pierre Gasly lines up 10th with Isack Hadjar 9th, it's 8th for Pato O'Ward and 7th for Andrea Kimi Antonelli. Carlos Sainz starts 6th and Théo Pourchaire just ahead in 5th, then Yuki Tsunoda in 4th and Sergio Perez has his highest start since his return to the grid. Championship leader Charles Leclerc starts from P2, and it is Sprint Pole for Oscar Piastri.

Let's go Sprinting at Silverstone!

One light, two, three, four, five...AND IT'S LIGHTS OUT AND AWAY WE GO

Piastri gets away well, Leclerc follows, Pérez holding off Tsunoda, then Pourchaire, Sainz, Antonelli, HADJAR INTO THE TOP EIGHT!

Leclerc pushing for the lead here and Charles Leclerc is into the lead of the Sprint!!

Tsunoda up to P3, taking it from Pérez!

Piastri on the attack and Piastri takes the position back from Leclerc!

But Leclerc retakes P1 from Piastri!

VERSTAPPEN

Piastri back in front at the front!

(BOZ) "You're doing well here Charles, keep pushing"

Leclerc retakes position at Copse! What a move that was! Piastri coming back at him though!

(PIA) "Overtaking Charles proving very difficult here"

(BON) "Keep plugging away"

Both McLarens push past Hadjar! O'Ward into the points! Brilliant double team move by the Papaya!

Lap 5: Leclerc, Piastri, Tsunoda, Pérez, Sainz, Pourchaire, Antonelli, O'Ward, Gasly, Hadjar, Russell, Ricciardo, Lawson, Bearman, Bortoleto, Bottas, Ocon, Albon, Herta, Norris, Verstappen, Colapinto

Tsunoda, Pérez and Sainz are keeping the pressure on the two Ferraris at the front, it has to be said!

The lead switches again as Piastri takes P1 back!

Russell overtakes Hadiar and is into the top ten, but can he push for the points?

A lovely move by Sainz takes P4 off Pérez!

🕐 It was an 11.30am start here, for the record. Very early race here at the home of British motorsport.

Russell locks up and Hadjar retakes P10!

[sterile breach]

I've had an Abu Dhabi sprint start at 2:30 PM and a Singapore sprint start at 4:30 or 5:30 PM, the drivers must be thankful they're not in that blazing heat.

[foggy locust]

Charles Leclerc retakes the leas! He has about four cars in his mirrors to deal with!

Russell spins off!!! Williams are just having a nightmare weekend thus far!

[foggy locust]

Absolutely. Both would be brutal

How is Singapore for a Sprint? I've done Abu Dhabi before on a stream save

Pérez up to P3 and putting pressure on the two Ferraris up front! Piastri meanwhile has the lead back!

(BOZ) "Piastri, Pérez, Tsunoda, Sainz all have DRS"

(LEC) "Anyone else have it?"

[sterile breach]

Still the same Singapore shenanigans with brighter skies and searing heat. Have had it for 3 seasons at this point, 2 of them have had a red flag

[foggy locust]

Leclerc leads once more, but as Bryan Bozzi has told him, there's a few behind him with DRS.

FOUR CARS GO ABREAST HERE!!! SERGIO PEREZ COMES OUT WITH THE LEAD, YUKI TSUNODA P2. WOW!

[foggy locust]

Worth doing as a Sprint?

Piastri ahead of Leclerc and then Tsunoda, Pérez has broken DRS for now! Could we be on for a shock here?

[sterile breach]

Probably, depending on how many red flags you get at the track and in general. Bound to be at least 1 crash from my experience.

[foggy locust]

It doesn't last as Piastri retakes the lead!! Leclerc ahead of Tsunoda for P3! Sensational racing at Silverstone!

Pérez regains position at the front! What a Sprint this is turning into!

[foggy locust]

I see! Might consider it for the future!

Lap 11: Pérez, Piastri, Leclerc, Tsunoda, Sainz, Antonelli, Pourchaire, O'Ward, Gasly, Lawson, Hadjar, Ricciardo, Bottas, Bearman, Bortoleto, Ocon, Albon, Russell, Verstappen, Herta, Norris, Colapinto

(PIA) "I was not expecting the Alpine to be that quick!"

(BON) "Yeah they're showing some pace"

(PIA) "...Still wouldn't drive for them though"

And with that, Piastri retakes position and the lead of the Sprint, and Leclerc is pushing for P2, and makes the move work!

Sainz up to P4!

Pérez's tyres starting to struggle and Sainz takes 3rd from him!

(BON) "Okay Oscar, four laps to go, we are happy for you to pick up the pace here"

Sainz going for 2nd and Sainz gets ahead of former teammate Leclerc!

(LEC) "Tyres are struggling a little bit graining wise"

(BOZ) "Keep pushing, still some life in them"

Leclerc gets ahead of Sainz, and Piastri has used the opportunity to break away here!

Gasly ahead of O'Ward for the final point!

FINAL LAP

Piastri has cleared the pack here, Leclerc clearing Sainz, Tsunoda up ahead of Perez!

It's been a superb drive from Oscar Piastri as he's rounding the last few corners, he's going to take the second Sprint of the year, OSCAR PIASTRI WINS THE SILVERSTONE SPRINT!!! IT IS P2 FOR CHARLES LECLERC, SAINZ 3RD, TSUNODA 4TH, PEREZ 5TH, ANTONELLI 6TH, POURCHAIRE IS SLOWING!!!! BOTH McLARENS GET POURCHAIRE AT THE END FOR DOUBLE POINTS!!!

(BON) "And that's the chequered flag, so that's a Sprint win! Well done Oscar, amazing drive today!"

(PIA) "Wow wee! Thanks, that was a lot of fun! Good job today guys, mega, mega job!"

(BON) "Great result and great start to our weekend."

(BOZ) "And that's P2 Charles, great job. Great effort to hold Sainz off on the line there."

(LEC) "That's all I had. Thanks guys, good job! Management was incredible, we'll go on from this and see if we can win tomorrow."

(BOZ) "You've done really well."

2028 BRITISH GRAND PRIX
SPRINT CLASSIFICATION

1. Oscar Piastri 00.25.45
2. Charles Leclerc +3.487
3. Carlos Sainz +1.592
4. Yuki Tsunoda +6.621
5. Sergio Pérez +0.213
6. Andrea Kimi Antonelli +0.295
7. Pierre Gasly +0.197
8. Pato O'Ward +0.345
9. Théo Pourchaire +0.344
10. Daniel Ricciardo +3.738
11. Liam Lawson +1.203
12. Isack Hadjar +0.250
13. Valtteri Bottas +1.862
14. Oliver Bearman +0.469
15. Esteban Ocon +6.555
16. Alex Albon +0.572
17. Colton Herta +0.191
18. Lando Norris +0.220
19. Max Verstappen +0.304
20. Gabriel Bortoleto +1.428
21. Franco Colapinto +8.850
22. George Russell +3.882

2028 FIA FORMULA 1 WORLD DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP

🇲🇨 Leclerc 203
🇦🇺 Piastri 163
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Norris 89
🇳🇱 Verstappen 87
🇪🇸 Sainz 86
🇯🇵 Tsunoda 45
🇲🇽 O'Ward 43
🇺🇸 Herta 39
🇮🇹 Antonelli 37
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Russell 33
🇫🇷 Gasly 26
🇫🇮 Bottas 20
🇳🇿 Lawson 10
🇫🇷 Pourchaire 9
🇲🇽 Perez 5
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Bearman 1
🇫🇷 Ocon 0
🇹🇭 Albon 0
🇦🇺 Ricciardo 0
🇫🇷 Hadjar 0
🇧🇷 Bortoleto 0
🇦🇷 Colapinto 0

2028 FIA FORMULA 1 WORLD CONSTRUCTORS CHAMPIONSHIP

Ferrari 366
Red Bull-Ford 175
Subaru-Honda 88
Mercedes 76
McLaren-Mercedes 69
Aston Martin-Honda 65
Williams-Ferrari 33
Alpine-Renault 15
Audi 9
Haas-Ford 0
Andretti-Ferrari 0

2028 WORLD TYRES CHAMPIONSHIP

Bridgestone 519
Pirelli 368
Goodyear 109

It's Super Saturday here at Silverstone, and after this morning's Sprint win by Oscar Piastri and an exciting race, plus some F2 and F3 Sprint action, we head to the all-important Qualifying. Traffic may be less of an issue than in Sprint Qualifying, it may still be an issue though, something to watch out throughout this. Will we get any shocks like earlier? And can anyone stop Leclerc or Piastri taking Pole?

OUT IN Q1: Bearman, Hadjar, Colapinto, Russell, Bottas, Albon
Bubble: Verstappen
Top Five: LEC, SAI, PIA, HER, LAW

Disaster for both Williams and the fans here, as both Russell and Albon, as well as Bearman, exit! Bottas has struggled all weekend and goes out in Q1, along with Hadjar and Colapinto. Verstappen just makes it to Q2, as Leclerc quickest from Sainz and Piastri, Herta 4th, Lawson 5th.

OUT IN Q2: Ocon, Norris, Pérez, Bortoleto, Lawson, Pourchaire
Bubble: O'Ward
Top Five: LEC, PIA, SAI, HER, GAS

Norris exits in Q2 meaning no English drivers make Q3 for the second time this weekend. Pérez, who did so well in the Sprint, is also out in Q2, as is his teammate Lawson. Ricciardo put a late lap together to knock Ocon out, Ricciardo's teammate Bortoleto also drops out as does Pourchaire. Leclerc fastest from Piastri and Sainz, Herta and Antonelli put late laps together to make the top ten, Gasly through and O'Ward just makes it. Verstappen and Tsunoda also into Q3.

Q3: Leclerc, Herta, Gasly, Verstappen, Sainz, Piastri, Antonelli, O'Ward, Ricciardo, Tsunoda

Leclerc takes Pole for the seventh time this season, but it's Colton Herta on the front row that's the big surprise! Pierre Gasly P3, his highest start of the season with Verstappen 4th, and Sainz 5th. Piastri just 6th and with some work to do, while Antonelli and O'Ward share the fourth row again. Ricciardo and Tsunoda round off the top ten.

2028 BRITISH GRAND PRIX
STARTING GRID

LEC HER

GAS VER

SAI PIA

ANT OWA

RIC TSU

OCO NOR

PER BOR

LAW POU

BEA HAD

COL RUS

BOT ALB

Break for dinner and the like, back later for race!

[foggy locust]

Welcome to Round 9 and to Silverstone on this sunny Sunday in the middle of June. Earlier than usual, same as last year, it is time to go racing at the home of the original F1 race. 52 laps around this 5.891km circuit, 18 of some of the most famous turns of the season, always a highlight of the F1 calendar.

Alex Albon will start at the very back alongside Valtteri Bottas, while George Russell lines up for his home race in 20th beside Franco Colapinto. Isaac Hadjar begins today a little further back from where he started the Sprint in 18th, Oliver Bearman starts his home race from 17th. It's 16th for Théo Pourchaire and Liam Lawson lines up 15th, while Gabriel Bortoleto starts today from 14th and Sergio Perez begins 13th. It's a 12th place start on home soil for Lando Norris, beside Esteban Ocon, Yuki Tsunoda lines up 10th while it's Daniel Ricciardo's joint highest start of the season in 9th. Pato O'Ward lines up beside Andrea Kimi Antonelli for the second time this weekend, Sprint winner Oscar Piastri starts from 6th with some work to do, 2022 winner around here Carlos Sainz begins 5th. Max Verstappen is another former winner here and he starts 4th while Pierre Gasly lines up 3rd, his highest start on a Sunday since Austria last year. Colton Herta has his first ever front row start in Formula 1, while it is Pole number seven of the season for Charles Leclerc.

Let's go racing at Silverstone!

Cars slotting into place, we're ready to race at Silverstone

One light, two, three, four, five...AND IT'S LIGHTS OUT AND AWAY WE GO

Leclerc is away very well, Herta holds P2, Verstappen ahead of Gasly, Piastri challenging and gets ahead of Sainz, Piastri has gotten Gasly as well!! Antonelli P7, then Ricciardo ahead of O'Ward, Ocon into the top ten!!

(PIA) "Sweet!"

(BON) "You did a great job in the start mate. Keep it up."

(BOZ) "So P1, Herta in P2, 0.489 behind. Oscar P3."

(LEC) "Copy, understood."

Bearman having issues with his Subaru, and never something you like to see happen to anyone at their home race!

PIASTRI

Piaatri has had an incredible start here. He's gotten ahead of Herta and is already in the DRS of Leclerc!

Verstappen moves up to 4th ahead of Gasly!

Leclerc retakes position on his teammate, returning the DRS favour!

Between Leclerc in P1 and Antonelli in P7, there's a train of seven cars stretching back about 3 seconds. One of the joys of racing at Silverstone is it usually provides entertaining races and here we are again.

Piastri takes charge of that DRS train and takes the lead, Leclerc attacking him back, tries going round the outside and then the inside but Piastri's defence holds!

Ocon up to P8! He's overtaken O'Ward!

WE GO THREE ADRIFT INTO STOWE, AND HERTA TAKES THE LEAD. COLTON HERTA LEADS HERE AT SILVERSTONE!

It doesn't last though as Oscar Piastri regrabs P1!

Sainz up to P4 ahead of Verstappen!

Lap 8: Piastri, Herta, Leclerc, Sainz, Verstappen, Antonelli, Gasly, Ocon, Norris, O'Ward, Tsunoda, Pérez, Ricciardo, Lawson, Bearman, Bortoleto, Pourchaire, Hadjar, Russell, Bottas, Albon, Colapinto

Tsunoda ahead of Ocon and O'Ward in quick succession!

Leclerc takes P2 off Herta, and then Verstappen snatches third!

Antonelli ahead of Sainz for fifth!

Leclerc has now resumed going after Piastri and the lead of this race, and he takes it back!!!

Piastri having to fend off Verstappen for P2, but he's done so for now!

Leclerc retakes P1 from Piastri!

Mercedes are letting Antonelli and Herta race, and Antonelli is up to P4! What's the Mercedes version of Papaya Rules, anyway?

Norris overtakes Tsunoda and is up to 8th!

Colapinto with a lock-up!

PITSTOP: Colapinto is immediately into the pitlane and onto the Mediums.

Piastri back in front on Lap 15!!

PITSTOPS: Tsunoda, Brarman and Bottas all in! Aston are double stacking!

(BON) "Box Oscar, box this lap."

(PIA) "Box box"

A RARE VERSTAPPEN ERROR! He misjudged the corner coming out of Becketts and spins at Chapel! Verstappen drops from P3 to P7!

Means currently Antonelli and Herta are fighting over the podium.

PITSTOPS: Piastri is in! 2.280, but he's held up on release as Gasly is also coming in! Audi are double stacking!

(BOZ) "Box Charles, box this lap"

(LEC) "Yeah, happy to box"

All three English drivers might be cursed today. Norris having issues with his car, along with Russell and Bearman! Norris' might be worse though!

PITSTOPS: Leclerc in from the lead, and that means Colton Herta once again leads the race! 2.379 for Leclerc who goes onto the Mediums. O'Ward and Ocon both in too! O'Ward onto Softs, as is Ocon! Leclerc rejoins P7, ahead of Piastri in P11!

(BON) "Let's go for it"

PITSTOPS: Antonelli in from P3 and Norris from P4!

Albon runs wide, but didn't lose too much time in the process.

(LEC) "What is the gap to Oscar?"

(BOZ) "About four seconds, Charles. 3.8 to be exact."

Piastri trying to clear traffic, has gotten past his compatriot Ricciardo, who has yet to pit.

Leclerc now six seconds ahead of Piastri for the net lead, as Piastri finally clears Pérez.

PITSTOPS: Verstappen and Lawson coming in! Verstappen onto the Hards, he might be one stopping!

ANTONELLI HAS COLLIDED WITH TSUNODA!!! Antonelli takes the position but has some mild damage due to it!

CAR 12 (ANTONELLI) - 5 SECONDS - CAUSING A COLLISION

Antonelli held accountable for that move on Tsunoda, and will have to serve a five second penalty. He could've been on for a really good result here as well.

Sainz has overtaken Herta for the lead, but both are still yet to stop, and are likely one stopping.

Gasly, who has stopped, ahead of Ricciardo, who has yet to.

PITSTOP: And speaking of which, Ricciardo is in and onto the Hards. The one stop in play now.

Pourchaire, running P12, seemingly having some issues with the car!

Herta overtakes Sainz for the lead, but they have Leclerc to deal with now, too!

PITSTOPS: Or not, in Sainz's case, as he pits for Hards, and that'll likely be his sole stop. Bortoleto also in for the Hards.

Leclerc goes ahead of Herta for the lead!!

PITSTOP: Herta pits on Lap 25! This is likely the one stop, he's onto Hards and that was a good clean stop!

SAINZ RADIO "No hydraulics, I think"

Lap 26: Leclerc, Piastri, Gasly, Antonelli , Verstappen, Tsunoda, Sainz, Bearman, Herta, Pourchaire, O'Ward, Bottas, Norris, Ocon, Hadjar, Lawson, Pérez, Albon, Bortoleto, Ricciardo, Russell, Colapinto

Tsunoda with a lovely move to take P5 from Antonelli!

Bortoleto runs a little wide there! He drops behind teammate Ricciardo!

Tsunoda gets Verstappen for fourth! What a great drive he is having!

(BOZ) "That's fastest lap so far Charles, keep it up, you're doing a good job"

LECLERC

BORTOLETO

LAWSON

Not sure what's happened with Williams this season, but they've dropped off dramatically. Currently running P20 and P21.

PITSTOPS: Bottas and Albon in, both taking Mediums to the end. Bottas P19, Albon P21, neither is likely getting points today.

PITSTOPS: O'Ward and Hadjar in on Lap 32, both taking Mediums to the end. O'Ward P17, Hadjar P19.

(BON) "Let's keep seeing if we can reduce this gap."

(PIA) "Copy."

PITSTOP: Pourchaire in, but a mistake by Audi as they cannot get the front right off! A bit of a delay and he rejoins P18.

O'Ward with a big lock-up! Could that have cost him any shot at the points today?

PITSTOPS: Bearman in, and Haas are double stacking Ocon and Colapinto! Bearman onto Mediums, and Ocon in after Colapinto - Colapinto is a lap down. Ocon P18, Bearman P15 - Bearman has a shot at the points here on home soil.

(BOZ) "We are boxing at the end of this lap, Oscar. Box box, box box"

(PIA) "Copy, box"

VERSTAPPEN

PITSTOP: Piastri in from P2 on Lap 35! A 2.561, slower than he'd have liked here. He rejoins P7.

(BOZ) "And box Charles, we are boxing now"

(LEC) "Yeah, box"

BEARMAN RADIO "I've got no power"

Bearman having power issues and it looks like that could cost him the points today!

PITSTOPS: Leclerc in from the lead, a 2.328 stop as he takes on the Mediums, and he retains the lead! Gasly in for Mediums, Norris gambling on the Softs!

POURCHAIRE

Piastri overtakes Tsunoda and he's now up to 5th!

Make that 4th! Piaatri with a lovely move on Verstappen to improve to fourth on the road!

Piastri goes round Herta going into Vale and he's up to P3!

I stand corrected on Bottas, he's just overtaken Antonelli for 10th! Antonelli struggling on his tyres and still has that penalty hanging over him as well!

PITSTOP: Tsunoda with a late stop, have Aston left it too late? He's taking Mediums...interesting choice considering how late in the race we are, and he rejoins P9.

Piastri goes down the inside of Sainz, lovely move that and he made it look easy! Piastri back to P2!!

Herta gains position on Verstappen there!

Lap 42: Leclerc, Piastri, Sainz, Herta, Verstappen, Gasly, Lawson, Pérez, Tsunoda, Bottas, Antonelli , Bortoleto, Ricciardo, Pourchaire, Bearman, Ocon, Hadjar, O'Ward, Norris, Albon, Russell, Colapinto

PITSTOP: A late stop for Bortoleto, and he's onto the Softs. Probably too late to see him trouble the points at this stage.

Pérez and Lawson seem to be squabbling over P7, and both are on their radios complaining about the others...in fact Pérez moved past Lawson and that looked like Lawson gave him the finger!

We were wondering when the Alpine drama would escalate between these two - it just escalated. Guenther Steiner, you have your work cut out for you.

VIRTUAL SAFETY CAR CALLED!!

IT HAS BEEN UPGRADED TO A FULL SAFETY CAR

IT IS A FULL RED FLAG. WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED

OH MY GOD. IT LOOKS LIKE HADJAR AND BEARMAN MADE CONTACT, BEARMAN WAS SENT FLYING INTO THE BARRIERS, AND HADJAR COLLECTED POURCHAIRE ON THE WAY BACK ONTO THE TRACK. OH MY GOD.

(LEC) "What happened?"

(BOZ) "Red Flag, Red Flag. Ollie in the barriers, Hadjar and Pourchaire all out of the race."

(LEC) "Are they okay?"

(BOZ) "Yeah, all three have confirmed they're okay"

[sterile breach]

I can just picture his rant to Grosjean and Magnussen after the, what was it 2019 Spanish GP? The one where he says 'He does not fok smash my door' after the rant

[foggy locust]

Chaos. We thankfully have confirmation that all three of Hadjar, Bearman and Pourchaire are unhurt, but that was lucky that they weren't. A big off, particularly for Bearman who hit the barrier at some speed there.

[foggy locust]

Hahaha this was exactly what I was thinking of

Restart order on Lap 46: Leclerc, Piastri, Sainz, Herta, Verstappen, Gasly, Pérez, Lawson, Bottas, Tsunoda, Ricciardo, Antonelli , Ocon, O'Ward, Norris, Bortoleto, Albon, Russell, Colapinto. Pourchaire, Hadjar and Bearman out of the race.

Guenther Steiner might have some work to do with the relationship of his two drivers, but they might have just lucked into double points here.

Antonelli is in trouble - that penalty will not be wiped out now.

This race looked like Leclerc's - Piastri might be right back in the conversation now!

Let's go racing again!

AND IT'S LIGHTS OUT AND AWAY WE GO AGAIN

POURCHAIRE - 10s (MAJOR COLLISION CAUSED)

Looks like it was Pourchaire who clipped Bearman and sent him into the barrier. He'll serve a grid penalty at Austria.

Leclerc holds firm at the restart, Piastri drops behind Sainz though! Herta still fourth ahead of Verstappen, Pérez up ahead of Gasly! Lawson, Bottas and Ricciardo now ahead of former teammate Tsunoda!

Sainz now holding off Piastri and attacking Leclerc, SAINZ DOWN THE INSIDE OF LECLERC AND SAINZ LEADS!!!

SAINZ

Leclerc however has DRS and drags himself AND Piastri, who follows him down the inside, to P1 and P2!

Piastri fancies that win himself though, and Piastri now moves up into P1!!

Tsunoda back ahead of Ricciardo and into the points! Ocon now ahead of Ricciardo too!

Herta up ahead of Sainz!! He's into the podium places!

What a moment for Pérez who gets ahead of Verstappen for 6th!

Tsunoda gets Lawson for P9!

Leclerc going for the lead into Club and he's up to the lead!!

Two laps remain here!

Bottas up past both Pérez and Verstappen!!!

Leclerc holds off Piastri going into the final lap!!

FINAL LAP

Leclerc about seven tenths ahead, Piastri trying everything now to get ahead of his teammate, Piastri having a go at this, into Stowe and it's now or never, THE FERRARIS ARE WHEEL TO WHEEL COMING INTO THE FINAL CORNER, AND LECLERC HOLDS ON TO WIN THE BRITISH GRAND PRIX!!! DRAMA AT THE END, BUT THE CHAMPION HOLDS ON FOR WIN NUMBER 7 ON THE YEAR!

IT IS A BRITISH GP PODIUM FOR COLTON HERTA, CARLOS SAINZ P4, BOTTAS HAS GONE 16 PLACES TO TAKE P5, WHAT A DRIVE BY HIM. PÉREZ P6, VERSTAPPEN P7, TSUNODA P8, GASLY AND LAWSON TAKE THE FINAL POINTS.

(LEC) "Did we get it? Did we take the win?"

(BOZ) "WE GOT IT! P1!"

(LEC) "YESSSSS! YES YES YES! LET'S GOOOOO!

(BOZ) "Brilliant driving. Brilliant result. Well done Charles. Well done."

(LEC) "Thank you Bryan. Thank you...to everybody. Amazing work today."

(BON) "And that's the flag, nearly, so very nearly at the end. Amazing job. So that's P2."

(PIA) "That was close, that was close. Best we could've gotten today, so nearly more. Thank you, thank you guys."

(BON) "Great effort, we nearly got it at the end."

2028 BRITISH GRAND PRIX
RACE CLASSIFICATION

1. Charles Leclerc 01.17.51
2. Oscar Piastri +0.391
3. Colton Herta +3.259
4. Carlos Sainz +0.633
5. Valtteri Bottas +0.248
6. Sergio Pérez +0.327
7. Max Verstappen +0.379
8. Yuki Tsunoda +1.385
9. Pierre Gasly +0.424
10. Liam Lawson +0.286
11. Esteban Ocon +2.353
12. Daniel Ricciardo +0.527
13. Lando Norris +8.773
14. Pato O'Ward +8.778
15. Gabriel Bortoleto +0.537
16. Alex Albon +0.073
17. Andrea Kimi Antonelli +4.123
18. Franco Colapinto +3.559
19. George Russell +0.404
20. Isack Hadjar DNF
21. Oliver Bearman DNF
22. Théo Pourchaire DNF 🔟

DRIVER OF THE DAY: VALTTERI BOTTAS

After his second pitstop, the commentary team remarked that Valtteri Bottas was unlikely to take points today. Not only did he take points, he took fifth, ahead of Pérez and Verstappen. A 16 place gain on position, and a deserved Driver of the Day award.

Top Five: Bottas, Pérez, Leclerc, Piastri, Herta

FASTEST LAP AWARD:
Carlos Sainz 1.25.598

DHL FASTEST PITSTOP AWARD:
Pierre Gasly 2.150s

2028 FIA FORMULA 1 WORLD DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP

🇲🇨 Leclerc 229
🇦🇺 Piastri 181
🇪🇸 Sainz 99
🇳🇱 Verstappen 93
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Norris 89
🇺🇸 Herta 54
🇯🇵 Tsunoda 49
🇲🇽 O'Ward 43
🇮🇹 Antonelli 37
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Russell 33
🇫🇮 Bottas 30
🇫🇷 Gasly 28
🇲🇽 Perez 13
🇳🇿 Lawson 11
🇫🇷 Pourchaire 9
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Bearman 1
🇫🇷 Ocon 0
🇦🇺 Ricciardo 0
🇹🇭 Albon 0
🇫🇷 Hadjar 0
🇧🇷 Bortoleto 0
🇦🇷 Colapinto 0

2028 FIA FORMULA 1 WORLD CONSTRUCTORS CHAMPIONSHIP

Ferrari 410
Red Bull-Ford 188
Subaru-Honda 94
Mercedes 91
Aston Martin-Honda 79
McLaren-Mercedes 71
Williams-Ferrari 33
Alpine-Renault 24
Audi 9
Haas-Ford 0
Andretti-Ferrari 0

2028 WORLD TYRES CHAMPIONSHIP

Bridgestone 583
Pirelli 292
Goodyear 124

DHL FASTEST PITSTOP COMPETITION

Red Bull 216
Ferrari 145
McLaren 98
Andretti 88
Aston Martin 72
Williams 66
Alpine 61
Audi 59
Subaru 50
Mercedes 49
Haas 5

STEINER INSISTS "ALL IS FINE" BETWEEN ALPINE DRIVER PAIRING

Guenther Steiner has spoken to the media about the incident involving his two drivers, Sergio Pérez and Liam Lawson, after Lawson appeared to make a gesture towards Pérez after an overtake during the British Grand Prix.

Steiner has said that Pérez and Lawson have spoken after the race and cleared the air, "after a lot of swearing, most of which was by me".

Alpine ended up getting double points and now sit within nine points of Williams and Seventh in the Championship.

POURCHAIRE "ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY" FOR RACE-ENDING INCIDENT WITH HADJAR AND BEARMAN

Théo Pourchaire has "accepted the responsibility" of the incident between himself, his teammate Isack Hadjar, and Subaru's Oliver Bearman, which ended all three men's British Grand Prix.

Pourchaire appeared to lock up and clipped Bearman, sending the English driver into the barrier in a heavy crash, which thankfully Bearman was uninjured in. He then lost the car and caught his Audi teammate Isack Hadjar, causing the end of the race of both men.

Pourchaire apologised to both Bearman and Hadjar, as well as Audi Team Principal Oliver Oakes, for the incident and said he needed to do better and have better control of the car.

Oakes has defended his driver to the media, saying that Pourchaire accepted responsibility and cleared the air with his teammate and Bearman, and no ill will has come of the collision.

Pourchaire will serve a grid penalty and has been given a €50,000 fine, as well as three penalty points on his licence as a result of the crash.

[foggy locust]

2028 AUSTRIAN GRAND PRIX
WEEKEND PREVIEW

Round 10 of the 2028 Formula 1 season is upon us, and we head to Austria and Spielberg to the home of Red Bull. With Ferrari having nine wins from nine so far this season, can Red Bull strike back this weekend?

LAST TIME AROUND

It was a close and dramatic race to the line at Silverstone between Charles Leclerc and Oscar Piastri for the second weekend in a row, but Leclerc came out on top for his seventh win in nine races this season. Piastri completed the sixth one-two for the Scuderia this year, while Colton Herta secured a sensational podium for Mercedes, just beating out Carlos Sainz. Valtteri Bottas had a Driver of the Day performance going from 21st on the grid to 5th, while Alpine took double points, Verstappen, Tsunoda and Gasly rounded off the points, and a nasty three car incident saw both Audis and Ollie Bearman crash out, thankfully all three being unhurt. Théo Pourchaire will take a grid penalty this weekend as a result, though.

THE CIRCUIT

One of the shortest laps of the season, the Red Bull Ring, residing in Spielberg, Styria, was founded as the Österreichring, and hosted the Austrian Grand Prix from 1970 to 1987, before returning to the calendar as the A1 Ring between 1997 and 2003. The race returned as its current iteration, the Red Bull Ring, in 2014 and has remained on the calendar ever since. In 2020 and 2021, it hosted the Styrian Grand Prix in addition to the Austrian Grand Prix due to the shortened calendar and other races having to be cancelled, and begun the shortened 2020 season as the opener, taking over from Australia. The current layout sits at 4.318km, and has just ten corners, but with three DRS Zones and a good mix of low and high speed corners, it makes for a lot of overtaking around here.

FIVE STORYLINES WE ARE WATCHING THIS WEEKEND

AS RED BULL ENTER THEIR HOME RACE, IS LANDO ON HIS WAY OUT?

As they head into the team’s home race, Lando Norris and Red Bull Racing may be heading for a split, as Norris hasn't grown accustomed to the environment at the Austrian team, and while Norris will have plenty of suitors for next season - his old team McLaren as well as Aston Martin, Williams and Mercedes have all been linked to Norris - Red Bull will also be analysing to see who will potentially take Norris’ seat at the team should he leave. George Russell seems to be the top name on the radar, but they could also make a play for Mercedes’ Andrea Kimi Antonelli or McLaren’s Pato O’Ward, both of whom are out of contract at the end of the season and performing well at their respective teams. If they wanted an experienced driver outside of Russell, Aston Martin’s Valtteri Bottas could also be an option, and there's always the chance they promote from within - Red Bull juniors Kacper Sztuka and Arvid Lindblad are first and second in the F2 Championship, and will be racing this weekend as well. A lot to analyse for the home team this weekend.

CAN PIASTRI TAKE THE FIGHT TO LECLERC AGAIN?

Oscar Piastri has run Charles Leclerc close the last two weekends, and finished within a second of his teammate at both Budapest and Silverstone, having won his teammate’s home race at Monaco, as well as Montreal earlier in the season. However, Leclerc still has a comfortable Championship advantage, increasing his title lead to 48 points after his win at Silverstone. Leclerc seeks his fourth World Title as Piastri is challenging for his maiden crown, however as close as the races have been this year - Leclerc still has the advantage of seven wins to two. Ferrari are undoubtedly the favourites to make it ten wins out of ten - can Piastri take his third win of the year and reduce that gap in the title race?

HOW DOES HERTA BUILD ON THAT SILVERSTONE PODIUM?

Colton Herta took a superb podium at Silverstone, his first in Formula 1, and Mercedes’ first podium of the season. Herta was the first American driver to take a podium in Formula 1 since Michael Andretti in 1993, taking third for McLaren in Italy, and ironically enough, Herta left Andretti's team to do it. Herta has been a breakout star of the 2028 season and currently sits sixth in the Championship, but the question is, how does he build on this? Can Herta potentially challenge for a race win, becoming the first American to win in Formula 1 since the 1978 Dutch Grand Prix - 50 years ago? It might come too soon at Austria for that, but you never know.

WHAT NOW FOR WILLIAMS?

It was a disastrous home Grand Prix for Williams as both George Russell and Alex Albon struggled with a difficult car, and James Vowles has admitted the season has not gone as planned. Williams are bringing big upgrades to Spielberg - a new chassis and new floor - with the hopes of potentially turning their season around, and they need it. Having been last season's surprise package in fourth, they currently sit seventh, and have a resurgent Alpine chasing them for that spot, with the French team just nine points behind, and Williams 38 behind McLaren. Williams need a big result this weekend - can they get it?

HOW WILL THE RAIN AFFECT THE ORDER?

One final caveat of course could be the incoming rain - it is expected to be a wet weekend at Spielberg, with both qualifying on Saturday, and the race itself on Sunday, affected by the weather. The intermediates or even the wets could be in play this coming weekend - how will that change the outcome of this race weekend? The rain is known as “the great leveller” in Formula 1 - could this be an opportunity for some backmarker points?

So we head to Spielberg with plenty to play for, and plenty to keep an eye on. One thing's for certain - you won't want to miss it.

FP1 Reserves: Fornaroli (Ocon), Chadwick (Bortoleto), Shwartzman (Bearman)

FP1: NOR PIA LEC

On a weekend where there's a lot of talk about his future, Lando Norris goes quickest in FP1, ahead of Piastri and Leclerc. Pérez takes P4 ahead of Herta, with Hadjar 6th and Russell 7th. Gasly 8th, with Shwartzman 9th and Bottas 10th.

FP2: LEC VER GAS
PIA P10

Leclerc quickest in FP2, ahead of Verstappen and Gasly. Norris and Sainz 4th and 5th, while Tsunoda was just ahead of Albon in P6 and P7. Bottas 8th, with Russell 9th, and just 10th for Piastri.

FP3: PIA LEC RIC

In a rain soaked FP3, Piastri went quickest from Leclerc, with Ricciardo P3. Albon 4th ahead of the Astons of Tsunoda and Bottas, while Gasly followed in 7th. Verstappen, Norris and Herta complete the top ten.

As the rain clouds gather on the Green Hills of Austria, it is time for Qualifying, and it feels like anyone's game really this weekend. Tyre choice is going to be fascinating here - with it expected to rain tomorrow, how will teams preserve tyres, and will some focus on the race itself or qualifying? Anyone's game here.

RED FLAG IN Q1!!

Lawson, running P10, spins off at turn 1 and is in the wall! He'll make it to Q2 but won't take any further part in qualifying! Thankfully the Alpine driver is unhurt.

OUT IN Q1: O'Ward, Bearman, Pourchaire, Colapinto, Sainz, Hadjar
Bubble: Albon
Top Five: LEC, PIA, HER, BOR, VER

With the rain pouring down, it was expected a few shockers would drop out and so it proved, with Sainz the biggest casualty on Red Bull's home turf. O'Ward also misses out as does Bearman, with Colapinto and both Audis also exiting. Albon into Q2 for just the second time this season, bubbling here. Leclerc quickest from Piastri and Herta, with Bortoleto a surprising 4th, Verstappen 5th. Lawson caused a Red Flag due to a crash midway through Q1.

OUT IN Q2: Ocon, Pérez, Albon, Ricciardo, Lawson, Lawson (no time)
Bubble: Tsunoda
Top Five: LEC, VER, HER, ANT, BOT
PIA P8

Ocon just misses Q3 again in 11th, while Pérez drops out and Albon will have his highest start of the year so far in 13th. Ricciardo and Bortoleto also exit, and Lawson didn't set a time due to his Q1 crash. Leclerc quickest from Verstappen and the two Mercedes, Bottas and Gasly follow. Piastri down in 8th, Russell into Q3, and Norris and Tsunoda also through.

Q3: Leclerc, Piastri, Verstappen, Herta, Gasly, Tsunoda, Bottas, Antonelli, Norris, Russell

Leclerc takes Pole once again in the rain, his seventh of the season, while Piastri completed a Ferrari front row lock out. Verstappen best of the rest on his former team's patch, while Herta was fourth, with Gasly ahead of former teammate Tsunoda on row three. Bottas and Antonelli on four, Norris and Russell on row five.

AUSTRIAN GRAND PRIX 2028
STARTING GRID

LEC PIA

VER HER

GAS TSU

BOT ANT

NOR RUS

OCO PER

ALB RIC

BOR LAW

OWA BEA

COL SAI

HAD POU

Five Place Grid Penalty for Pourchaire - QUAL P20

Going to have a nap, back middle of the afternoon for the race!

[foggy locust]

Well here we go. Round 10 of the 2028 Formula 1 season and we are approaching the halfway point of this season. The rain is pouring down here in Austria, and the rain is of course the great leveller in Formula 1. This 4.318km lap around the Green Hills of Austria is one of the shortest and quickest of the season, just 10 corners but we'll take it 71 times. Ferrari locked out the front row in qualifying, more of the same today, or a challenge ahead at the home of Red Bull?

Théo Pourchaire takes a five place penalty for that incident at Silverstone so he drops to the back of the grid, alongside Isack Hadiar. Carlos Sainz was a shock Q1 exit so he's 20th at his team's home race and he is alongside Franco Colapinto, Ollie Bearman starts from 18th and Pato O'Ward is 17th. Liam Lawson, a former Red Bull driver begins beside Gabriel Bortoleto. Daniel Ricciardo just ahead of his teammate, it's Alex Albon's highest start of the season in 13th while Sergio Pérez returns to his former team's home for the first time as an Alpine driver, he's 12th with Esteban Ocon, a former teammate of his, 11th. George Russell begins 10th and Lando Norris, who's considering his future potentially away from Red Bull, 9th. Kimi Antonelli 8th while Valtteri Bottas starts 7th, just behind teammate Yuki Tsunoda who's alongside old friend and former AlphaTauri teammate Pierre Gasly. Colton Herta is fresh off a podium last time out and fourth, then it's Max Verstappen, for the first time at Red Bull's home but not as a Red Bull driver, who begins third. A Ferrari front row lockout once more - Oscar Piastri starts 2nd, and it is Pole number seven on the year for Charles Leclerc.

The rain has let up here and it might be a two stopper here in Austria!!

Cars in place, formation lap done...

One light, two, three, four, five...AND IT'S LIGHTS OUT AND AWAY WE GO

Leclerc is away well, Verstappen has gotten Piastri at the start though for P2! Herta 4th, then Gasly, Tsunoda, Bottas, Antonelli, Norris, then Pérez, both Williams have gained places, O'Ward is P16, Sainz P17!

Piastri struggling a little at the start and Herta jumps ahead of him for third!

(LEC) "Breaking DRS from Max is going to be very very difficult here"

Piastri is up ahead of Herta again for third!

Verstappen overtakes Leclerc, but Leclerc performs a switchback to take the lead again! Shades of 2022!

(BON) "Temps are good, you can probably afford to push a little bit more."

(PIA) "Vibrations are quite bad here, they're really bad"

(BON) "We can see that on data Oscar. Just do what you can, a bit of lift and coast to relieve the pressure for now"

Piastri back ahead of Verstappen, but he seems to be having issues with his gearbox and that could be a problem for the Australian!

Gasly is also struggling and has dropped down to 8th!!

Tsunoda also struggling with technical issues! He's down to P10!

Verstappen challenging Piastri for second, Piastri holding him off for now!

Russell with a lovely move to get P7 away from Gasly!

Fantastic battle occurring for second between Verstappen and Piastri! Verstappen has just taken position, but in this, Leclerc is extending his advantage!

(BON) "Use the overtake. Let's get back into this."

Piastri down the inside of Verstappen and up to 2nd!

PITSTOP: Valtteri Bottas and Aston Martin first to blink here, they go onto the Hards and that's likely until the expected rain later on!

Russell up to P5! Are those Williams upgrades working? Albon is struggling down in P15, however, so, hard to say.

PITSTOPS: Herta and Russell into their respective garages and Herta has kept position on Russell! Herta P15, Russell P19.

(BOZ) "Box, box"

PITSTOP: Leclerc in from the lead of the race! A bit of a delay from the team however with the jack and he's had a 4.293 stop!!

(LEC) "Perfect"

(BOZ) "Sorry about this. Jack wasn't attached properly"

(LEC) "This needs to change, it really does"

PITSTOPS: Verstappen in, and he rejoins in P6, behind Leclerc who is P4. Looks like the slow stop didn't hurt Leclerc too much. Gasly in, Ricciardo having a delay on the tyre!

PITSTOP: Sainz now in and he switches from Medium to Medium!

(BON) "Let us know what you think of the tyres"

(PIA) "Still okay, a little graining"

(BON) "Just use the tyres here, Oscar"

Leclerc overtakes Antonelli and is up to P2!

Lap 22: Piastri, Leclerc, Antonelli, Verstappen, Bottas, Herta, Albon, Russell, Pérez, Gasly, Hadjar, Ocon, Bearman, Tsunoda, Norris, Sainz, Pourchaire, O'Ward, Bortoleto, Lawson, Colapinto, Ricciardo

(BON) "So, box box"

(BOZ) "Antonelli keeping DRS, you need to shake him here"

(LEC) "Copy that"

PITSTOP: Piastri in! A 2.313 stop and he's onto the Softs! Piastri rejoins P5, behind Herta!

Piastri gets the slingshot effect though and he's up to P4! He's got the problem of dealing with Herta and Bottas on cold tyres though!

Antonelli is on the Hards and he might be as well staying out and trying to catch the rain on a one stop!

PITSTOP: Just go ahead and throw that out the window, Mercedes. Antonelli pits and he's returning on Softs to P10.

Albon locks up the tyres! It's another mistake by a very under pressure driver, and he falls to P22 and last!

Herta tries to overtake Piastri, HERTA GOES WIDE AND BOTTAS OVERTAKES BOTH MEN!

(PIA) "It's getting worse, gearbox is getting worse"

(BON) "Yeah, we see it. Keep doing your best for now, we're monitoring it"

Piastri is having major, major problems with the gearbox!! This could be a massive blow to his Championship aspirations!!

Herta putting the pressure on Piastri for fourth, but Piastri holding on for now...Herta gets DRS down the main straight, he takes position! PIASTRI MAKES THE OVERTAKE AND THERE WAS SLIGHT CONTACT!!!

(PIA) "I misjudged that a little"

(BON) "No harm done, doesn't look like any damage on your car or his"

INVESTIGATING INCIDENT BETWEEN CAR 81 (PIASTRI) AND CAR 13 (HERTA)

Herta coming back at Piastri, and retakes position, and Antonelli goes ahead of him as well! Piastri really struggling with those gearbox issues!

:FIA: NO FURTHER INVESTIGATION INTO INCIDENT BETWEEN CAR 81 AND CAR 13

Neither Piastri nor Herta will get a penalty for that near miss there.

Antonelli however moves ahead of Herta for P4!

It was brief however as Herta retakes position from his teammate!

Piastri still fighting for position here and he's ahead of Herta into P5, even with the struggling gearbox!

(PIA) "Some drops of rain, turns 3 and 4"

(BON) "Okay copy"

PITSTOPS: The rain piratops are starting! Bottas, Antonelli, Sainz, Russell, Gasly and O'Ward all in! Pérez stays out another lap!

(BOZ) "Box for inter, box for inter, we think inter is the best choice now"

(LEC) "Yeah, I agree, box"

(BON) "So Oscar, we will box box for the inter."

(PIA) "Copy box"

PITSTOPS: Leclerc in and gets a much better stop this time - 2.351! He's away as Piastri enters the pitlane, 2.452 for him! Verstappen, Herta and the two Alpines in!

Lap 42: Leclerc, Verstappen, Bottas, Antonelli, Piastri, Herta, Sainz, Gasly, Russell, Pérez, O'Ward, Norris, Bortoleto, Tsunoda, Ricciardo, Bearman, Ocon, Hadjar, Lawson, Pourchaire, Albon, Colapinto

(LEC) "It's raining like crazy"

(BOZ) "Copy"

(LEC) "Visibility is so s---, so s---!"

Herta runs wide again while trying to overtake Piastri!! Sainz capitalises and takes P6 from the American!

(BON) "Antonelli 1.t, Sainz 0.6"

(PIA) "Yep, doing my best, but there's only so much I can do with this gearbox"

(BON) "Let's just keep our heads down. Happy with temps?"

(PIA) "Yep"

Albon with another lock-up in the rain! This is a driver really struggling for confidence right now, and it is showing!

SAINZ

(Before the rain. Don't think he's losing this point now)

🌧️ The rain is really starting to pour down, and this is Wet Tyre conditions. Will anyone switch to the Wets?

(BOZ) "We think it will ease up slightly in a few laps, we are staying out"

(LEC) "Yeah, understood"

Bottas still two seconds ahead of a chasing pack of Antonelli, Piastri and Sainz. Could Aston's first podium of the year be on?

Piastri overtakes Antonelli with a damaged gearbox! Could he push for a shock podium?

Bortoleto very wide at turn 9, but he returns to the Circuit!

(LEC) "It's raining more"

(BOZ) "Understood, Charles"

(LEC) "What's the gap to Max? Is he close?"

(BOZ) "22.7, Charles"

(LEC) "...not bad, not bad"

(PIA) "Rain is getting very heavy here"

(BON) "Copy. Do what you can here, you're doing well."

Sainz overtakes Antonelli for 5th!

Herta struggling for pace, his car also seems to be having an issue!

[sterile breach]

Fire the whole crew, would have no issues at all then

[foggy locust]

VIRTUAL SAFETY CAR CALLED!!!

[foggy locust]

I need the 2025 pitcrew back

A miserable day for Alex Albon comes to a crashing end. He goes aquaplaning, hits the curb, and goes into the wall! His race is over, and that's exactly what he didn't need! Albon is okay, out of the car, but what an awful run he is having this season.

Green flag as we enter lap 62, and we go racing again!

Lap 62: Leclerc, Verstappen, Bottas, Piastri, Sainz, Antonelli, Herta, Gasly, Russell, Pérez, Norris, O'Ward, Tsunoda, Bortoleto, Ocon, Ricciardo, Hadjar, Bearman, Pourchaire, Lawson, Colapinto. Albon out of the race!

SMOKE IS COMING OUT OF HERTA'S MERCEDES!!! He's slowing down very quickly and that could be his race! He's pulling into the pitlane, and his race is over!!

Sainz just overtook Piastri, who is still struggling with that gearbox, for fourth place!!

LAWSON IS SLOWING TOO! He's having major gearbox and ERS issues and has dropped to the back of the pack!! He's coming into the garage to retire!

As is Pourchaire! A lot of mechanical failures today!!

All three of Herta, Lawson and Pourchaire will be classified as they completed 65 laps each - over 90% of the distance.

Gasly now chasing Piastri for 5th, having just overtaken Antonelli!

Lap 67: Leclerc, Verstappen, Bottas, Sainz, Piastri, Gasly, Antonelli, Russell, Pérez, Norris, O'Ward, Tsunoda, Bortoleto, Ocon, Hadjar, Ricciardo, Bearman, Colapinto. Pourchaire, Lawson, Herta and Albon out of the race.

Gasly going on the attack on Piastri, but Piastri holds him off for now!

Antonelli with a lovely move to take P6 from Gasly!

LAST LAP

An incredible drive in changing conditions for the Champion, who is going to extend his Championship advantage here, it's a result that's never been in doubt really from the off today CHARLES LECLERC ROUNDS THE FINAL CORNER TO WIN THE AUSTRIAN GRAND PRIX!!!

(LEC) "Ahhh! Feels good! Let's gooooo!"

(BOZ) "Amazing race, P1, never in doubt today. Fantastic drive in the rain, Charles! Well done, another win!"

(LEC) "Thank you, Bryan! We're on a roll here, let's keep pushing and keep this level up!"

Max Verstappen rounds the corner for P2 for Subaru! Amazing drive by Max as well. Bottas takes P3! Sainz P4, Piastri holds on for ap5 ahead of Gasly and Antonelli!

(BON) "And that's the chequered flag. So P5, P5. That was a real tough race, you did well to get the best out of a tough situation"

(PIA) "Good effort. Thank you guys, was tough with the gearbox but we got some good points at least. We'll try again"

(BON) "Head up, this isn't over yet"

Russell P8 and some much needed points for Williams, P9 for Pérez, Norris takes the final point

2028 AUSTRIAN GRAND PRIX
RACE CLASSIFICATION

1. Charles Leclerc 01.24.46
2. Max Vedstappen +31.784
3. Valtteri Bottas +11.424
4. Carlos Sainz +7.806
5. Oscar Piastri +6.286
6. Pierre Gasly +0.241
7. Andrea Kimi Antonelli +0.317
8. George Russell +7.793
9. Sergio Pérez +0.521
10. Lando Norris +0.659
11. Pato O'Ward +1.281
12. Yuki Tsunoda +1 lap
13. Gabriel Bortoleto +1 lap
14. Esteban Ocon +1 lap
15. Isack Hadjar +1 lap
16. Daniel Ricciardo +1 lap
17. Franco Colapinto +1 lap
18. Oliver Bearman +1 lap
19. Colton Herta DNF (+6 laps)
20. Théo Pourchaire DNF (+7 laps)
21. Liam Lawson DNF (+7 laps)
22. Alex Albon DNF

DRIVER OF THE DAY: CARLOS SAINZ

A fantastic drive under the radar from Carlos Sainz as his career renaissance continues. Sainz went from 20th on the grid to taking fourth, beating out Oscar Piastri in the process, and taking a clean sweep of DOTD, fastest lap and fastest pitstop! Carlos Sainz is your Driver of the Day!

Top Five: Sainz, Bottas, Leclerc, Verstappen, Piastri

2028 FIA FORMULA 1 WORLD DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP

🇲🇨 Leclerc 255
🇦🇺 Piastri 191
🇪🇸 Sainz 112
🇳🇱 Verstappen 111
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Norris 90
🇺🇸 Herta 54
🇯🇵 Tsunoda 49
🇫🇮 Bottas 45
🇲🇽 O'Ward 43
🇮🇹 Antonelli 43
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Russell 37
🇫🇷 Gasly 36
🇲🇽 Perez 15
🇳🇿 Lawson 11
🇫🇷 Pourchaire 9
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Bearman 1
🇫🇷 Ocon 0
🇦🇺 Ricciardo 0
🇹🇭 Albon 0
🇧🇷 Bortoleto 0
🇫🇷 Hadjar 0
🇦🇷 Colapinto 0

2028 FIA FORMULA 1 WORLD CONSTRUCTORS CHAMPIONSHIP

Ferrari 446
Red Bull-Ford 202
Subaru-Honda 112
Mercedes 97
Aston Martin-Honda 94
McLaren-Mercedes 79
Williams-Ferrari 37
Alpine-Renault 26
Audi 9
Haas-Ford 0
Andretti-Ferrari 0

2028 WORLD TYRES CHAMPIONSHIP

Bridgestone 652
Pirelli 316
Goodyear 134

DHL FASTEST PITSTOP COMPETITION

Red Bull 247
Ferrari 147
Aston Martin 100
McLaren 98
Andretti 92
Alpine 76
Audi 71
Williams 66
Subaru 58
Mercedes 50
Haas 5

F2 SPRINT RACE

1. Tim Tramnitz
2. Paul Aron
3. Richard Verschoor
4. Kacper Sztuka
5. Dayton Coulthard
6. Zak O'Sullivan
7. Doriane Pin
8. Jak Crawford
9. Arvid Lindblad
10. Ritomo Miyata

F2 FEATURE RACE

Pole Position: Arvid Lindblad

1. Arvid Lindblad
2. Dayton Coulthard
3. Tim Tramnitz
4. Doriane Pin
5. Zak O'Sullivan
6. Kacper Sztuka
7. Jak Crawford
8. Ritomo Miyata
9. Richard Verschoor
10. Pepe Marti

F3 SPRINT

1. Nina Gademan
2. Christian Mansell
3. James Wharton
4. Héctor Araya
5. Martinius Stenshorne
6. Chloe Grant
7. Alexander Dunne
8. Joshua Dürksen
9. Joseph Loake
10. Nikita Bedrin

F3 FEATURE RACE

Pole Position: Chloe Grant

1. Abbi Pulling
2. Nikita Bedrin
3. Christian Mansell
4. Nikola Tsolov
5. Alexander Dunne
6. Joshua Dürksen
7. Chloe Grant
8. James Wharton
9. Martinius Stenshorne
10. Nina Gademan

F2 CHAMPIONSHIP TABLE

Lindblad 128
Sztuka 116
Pin 103
Tramnitz 85
Câmara 81
Maloney 67
Coulthard 65
Minì 64
Hauger 53
Aron 51
Barnard 37
Crawford 30
Miyata 28
A. Leclerc 25
Verschoor 22
Beganovic 16
O'Sullivan 14
E. Fittipaldi 11
Stanĕk 9
Marti 3
Maini 0
Browning 0

F3 CHAMPIONSHIP TABLE

Dürksen 90
Dunne 79
Bennett 75
Araya 67
Pulling 66
Mansell 65
Wharton 64
Bedrin 59
Stenshorne 57
Grant 54
Villagòmez 51
van Hoepen 41
Gademan 32
Esterson 25
Arnold 23
Afonso 22
Testa 19
Tsolov 18
Léon 17
Goethe 11
Loake 10
Boya 9
Fornaroli 3
Manuel Correa 1
Cordeel, Montoya, Abadi, Wurz, Meguetounif, Voisin 0

[foggy locust]

2028 BELGIAN GRAND PRIX
WEEKEND PREVIEW

It's over to Belgium and Spa-Francorchamps for the third Sprint weekend of the season, and with just two races to go until the Summer Break, we have a first part of a double-header with the Netherlands next weekend.

LAST TIME AROUND

It was sheer dominance from Charles Leclerc in the Austrian rain, as title challenger and Ferrari teammate Oscar Piastri suffered gearbox reliability issues. Leclerc was 30 seconds clear of Max Verstappen to take his eighth win in ten races this season. Valtteri Bottas took his, and Aston Martin's, first podium this season, while Carlos Sainz took his Red Bull from P16 to P4, and Piastri had to settle for 5th. Gasly, Antonelli, Russell and Pérez all took valuable points in the midfield fight, while Lando Norris took the final point after Colton Herta's retirement from the race.

THE CIRCUIT

Located in Francorchamps, Stavelot, Wallonia, the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps - or Spa - was built back in 1921 and is one of the oldest circuits on the calendar. After a lot of doubt about its F1 future, and potential rotation talk - it signed a new long term contract to remain on the calendar for the foreseeable future back in August 2026. The 7.004 km, 19 turn circuit is the longest lap on the calendar, and the least amount of laps - 44. This circuit features that famous long run up to Eau Rouge, as well as famous corners such as La Source and the Bus Stop Chicane. A circuit that focuses on Low and High Speed Cornering, as well as a strong straight-line speed, is a must this weekend.

FIVE STORYLINES WE ARE WATCHING THIS WEEKEND

IS THE TITLE FIGHT OVER ALREADY?

A big win for Charles Leclerc at Austria saw him increase the gap to Oscar Piastri to 64 points, and with eight wins to two, Leclerc has had a dominant start to the 2028 season. With two races until the Summer Break, and us officially reaching the halfway point of the season - the title fight isn't over by any stretch, but it is already becoming crunch time for the chasing pack. Such is Ferrari's dominance thus far that Leclerc is 143 points ahead of Red Bull's Carlos Sainz in third, and Subaru's Max Verstappen in fourth. Ferrari have a 244 point advantage to Red Bull in second, while Subaru are on 112 in third - Ferrari look almost certain for a fifth Constructors title in a row, their 21st in total. But can Piastri turn the Drivers title challenge around here?

ASTON MARTIN PUTTING PRESSURE ON MERCEDES

Aston Martin have had a superb turnaround this season, and are back to challenging for the top four after a disappointing 2027 campaign. Yuki Tsunoda and Valtteri Bottas have both been delivering points consistently this season, and Bottas took a superb podium in Austria. They now find themselves just three points behind Mercedes as the pressure ramps up on the Silver Arrows. But the Mercedes lineup of Colton Herta and Andrea Kimi Antonelli has been delivering well and consistently, and both teams believe not only they can take fourth, but potentially catch Subaru for third. With McLaren still in the mix as well, it feels like anyone's game still.

WITH THE DRIVERS’ TRANSFER MARKET LOOMING, HOW WILL THE PERFORMANCES AT BELGIUM AFFECT THE FUTURE?

Nine drivers - Lando Norris, Valtteri Bottas, George Russell, Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Oliver Bearman, Théo Pourchaire, Pato O'Ward, Isack Hadjar and Alex Albon - are out of contract at the end of the season. Bottas and Antonelli are expected to potentially remain at their current teams, but outside of that, it is anyone's game. Norris and Russell will probably be the most in-demand of the free agents, but there is a lot of potential in the likes of Bearman, Pourchaire, Hadjar and O'Ward. Albon meanwhile has struggled all season and is fighting for his position on the F1 grid. A big result for any of these nine at Belgium could change things substantially, however.

CAN HAAS OR ANDRETTI GET ON THE BOARD THIS WEEKEND?

Neither Haas nor Andretti will be in the conversation for the Drivers’ market however this Summer Break, as both teams have their drivers signed for at least the 2029 season in the case of Franco Colapinto and Gabriel Bortoleto, and longer term for Esteban Ocon and Daniel Ricciardo. Neither team has gotten on the board this year however, but the traditional chaos of Belgium combined with the Sprint Weekend is often a chance for the backmarkers to score points. Both teams likely have their eyes on 2029 and the big regs changes, but for now, neither wants to go scoreless - Haas for a second year running, and a third time in five years - and both have their eyes on the likes of Belgium, Singapore and Saudi for the potential of points. Can they get them this weekend?

THE SPRINT FORMAT RETURNS TO SPA

For the second year in a row, we are going Sprinting at Spa, and with the rain likely to come on the Friday only - we could have the real potential of a mixed up grid this weekend. While Ferrari remain favourites, the often chaos of Belgium has thrown up some surprising results - Carlos Sainz won the Sprint here last year, and Red Bull look the most likely to challenge the Scuderia this weekend. How will the Sprint affect this weekend?

Spa is always a favourite of the fans, and one of the most exciting weekends of the season. With the third Sprint of the year and rain incoming - one thing's for certain, you won't want to miss it.

FP1 Reserves: Grant (Norris), Sztuka (Sainz), Araya (Antonelli), Minì (Lawson), Shwartzman (Verstappen), Gademan (Bearman)

FP1: MIN TSU RIC
PIA P9, LEC P10

A washed out session saw Gabriele Minì with a huge statement of intent towards his F1 future, going quickest ahead of Tsunoda and Ricciardo. Red Bull Scottish junior Chloe Grant P4, while Russell was 5th and Subaru junior Shwartzman 6th. Gasly and Bottas 7th and 8th - just 9th and 10th for Piastri and Leclerc.

With the rain pouring down in Spa, it is time to go Sprint Qualifying, and as mentioned in the past, the rain is the great leveller in Formula 1. This could be an intriguing, fascinating session ahead. Anyone's game today.

RED FLAG IN SQ1 AND ONLY FOUR CARS GOT A TIME IN!!!

OUT IN SQ1: Bortoleto, Ricciardo, Pourchaire, Hadjar, Tsunoda, Verstappen
Bubble: Colapinto
Top Five: BEA, LEC, PIA, BOT, OWA

What a weird situation here. Daniel Ricciardo goes skidding off in SQ1 and causes a Red Flag, but as four cars only had secured times by that point, the session ends, and the bottom six names are automatically eliminated! Surely this has to be reviewed, but that means Tsunoda and Verstappen are both out, alongside both Andrettis and both Audis!

Ricciardo is okay after the crash, thankfully

OUT IN SQ2: Bearman, Pérez, Albon, Colapinto, Piastri, Gasly
Bubble: Ocon
Top Five: SAI, LEC, NOR, HER, BOT

It gets more bizarre in SQ2 - Piastri misses out after getting caught in traffic and the rain catching him out! Bearman, who topped the controversial SQ1, also exits, while Perez, Albon, Colapinto and Gasly also miss out. Sainz quickest from Leclerc and Norris, with Herta 4th and Bottas 5th. Russell, O'Ward, Lawson, Antonelli and Ocon also into SQ3.

SQ3: Leclerc, Sainz, Herta, O'Ward, Antonelli, Russell, Bottas, Lawson, Norris, Ocon

Despite all the controversy in Sprint Qualifying, it ends the same way - Leclerc taking Pole. Sainz joins him on the front row, 5 tenths behind, while old IndyCar rivals Herta and O'Ward will be on row two. Antonelli and Russell on the third row, Bottas and Lawson on row four, Norris and Ocon on row five.

FIA UPHOLD CONTROVERSIAL SPRINT DECISION AFTER SUBARU PROTEST

The FIA have upheld the results of qualifying after Subaru and Audi protested.

Despite Oliver Bearman's P1 in Q1, Subaru, as well as Audi both protested that their drivers - Max Verstappen and both Isack Hadjar and Théo Pourchaire respectively - were unfairly eliminated due to only four cars setting times after Daniel Ricciardo's crash.

But the FIA have upheld the decision, saying the five cars - as well as Ricciardo - that were eliminated were towards the back of the pack.

Pierre Gasly is taking a pitlane start, meaning all six cars eliminated will move up one spot anyway.

2028 BELGIAN GRAND PRIX
SPRINT GRID

LEC SAI

HER OWA

ANT RUS

BOT LAW

NOR OCO

BEA PER

ALB COL

PIA BOR

RIC POU

HAD TSU

VER

PITLANE START - GAS

[foggy locust]

It's Saturday here at Spa-Francorchamps, and it's time to go Sprinting. Just 15 laps but it's 7.004km, making it one of the longer Sprints of the year at 105.06km. You take this lap at full throttle for 67.70% of this lap, it is a very quick and testing lap around this famous old circuit.

Pierre Gasly starts from the pitlane so after yesterday's Q1 controversy, Max Verstappen is alone of the back row. It's Yuki Tsunoda and Isack Hadjar, both former Red Bull afflilated drivers, on row ten, then Théo Pourchaire beside Daniel Ricciardo, who caused that Q1 controversy with his Red Flag crash. Gabriel Bortoleto begins P16 then it's Oscar Piastri who has struggled in Sprint Qualifying this season and finds himself P15. Franco Colapinto up in 14th alongside Alex Albon, Sergio Perez begins 12th and Ollie Bearman is 11th. Esteban Ocon starts inside the top ten with Lando Norris just outside the points in 9th, Liam Lawson just inside the points in 8th while it's a P7 start for Valtteri Bottas. George Russell alongside Andrea Kimi Antonelli on the 3rd row, with former IndyCar rivals Colton Herta and Pato O'Ward sharing the second row. Former teammates on the front row with Carlos Sainz starting second, and it is Sprint Pole for defending Champion Charles Leclerc.

Let's go Sprinting!

One light, two, three, four, five...AND IT'S LIGHTS OUT AND AWAY WE GO

Leclerc away well and holds the lead, Sainz pushing him though, Herta ahead of O'Ward, Russell, Antonelli, Bottas, Norris ahead of Lawson into the points, Piastri up ahead of Colapinto!

Herta is pushing Sainz for second behind Leclerc!

Piastri climbing as we enter lap 2, ahead of Albon and into P13!

Sainz wants the lead of the Sprint and moves ahead of Leclerc for it!

Russell gets O'Ward for fourth!

SAINZ

Williams showing some pace with Russell up ahead of Herta into P3!

Leclerc retakes the lead from Sainz!

(BOZ) "You're doing well here Charles, mode defence, you're doing an excellent job"

(BON) "That's P10, Oscar. Keep it up, not far off the points now."

Piastri ahead of Pérez, and now putting the pressure on Lawson for P9!

Leclerc doing a fantastic defensive job at the Bus Stop Chicane on Sainz, but Sainz has a run up to Eau Rouge, and gets position back!

Leclerc retakes the lead from Sainz!!

Norris has stormed through the pack and is up ahead of Russell into third!

Piastri gets Lawson, now chasing that final point!

Piastri down the inside of O'Ward and he's into the points!

(BON) "Temps look good, you can probably afford to push a little bit more Oscar"

(PIA) "Yep"

Norris struggling with tyres and has slipped back!

Antonelli now up to P3, ahead of Russell!

Russell retakes third!

Piastri up to 7th!

OH MY GOD IT IS A RED FLAG

(PIA) "Unbelievable. Unbelievable."

(BON) "You okay, Oscar?"

(PIA) "Yeah, got driven into. Not great."

Lawson locks up and clips Bottas, and Bottas is sent spinning into Piastri!!! All three men's races have now been ended immediately! Thankfully all three are walking away unharmed though!

Restart order on Lap 13: Leclerc, Sainz, Antonelli, Russell, Herta, Norris, O'Ward, Tsunoda, Bearman, Pérez, Ocon, Colapinto, Ricciardo, Albon, Verstappen, Bortoleto, Gasly, Hadjar, Pourchaire. Piastri, Bottas and Lawson out of the race.

AND IT'S LIGHTS OUT AND AWAY WE GO AGAIN

Leclerc holds firm from Sainz, Antonelli third, then Russell, Herta, Norris, Tsunoda and O'Ward, Bearman and Perez just outside the points!

(LEC) "Is Oscar okay?"

(BOZ) "Yeah, he's annoyed but unhurt."

(LEC) "F---, he was unlucky there"

CAR 30 (LAWSON) - CAUSING A COLLISION

Ocon ahead of Pérez! Ocon has been so close to the points so many times this year - if this was race day, he'd be in the points!

ANTONELLI UP TO P2! What a move by Kimi!

FINAL LAP

Sainz retakes P2 from Antonelli!!

Ocon ahead of Bearman, but he'll just miss the points again!

SAINZ RADIO "I cannot push - something is strange"

Leclerc rounds the final corner, through the Bus Stop Chicane, and OVER THE LINE TO THE CHEQUERED FLAG, CHARLES LECLERC WINS THE BELGIAN SPRINT!!

(BOZ) "And that's my boy, another win, first Sprint win of the year! Well done Charles!"

(LEC) "Let's gooooo! Aaahhh, well done guys! Great start to the weekend, let's keep this going!"

(BOZ) "Amazing job today."

Sainz holds on for P2, Antonelli 3rd, Herta 4th, Norris 5th, Russell 6th, Tsunoda 7th, O'Ward 8th. Ocon just misses the points

2028 BELGIAN GRAND PRIX
SPRINT CLASSIFICATION

1. Charles Leclerc 00.23.27
2. Carlos Sainz +4.833
3. Andrea Kimi Antonelli +0.241
4. Colton Herta +0.288
5. Lando Norris +0.392
6. George Russell +1.302
7. Yuki Tsunoda +0.420
8. Pato O'Ward +1.721
9. Esteban Ocon +3.414
10. Oliver Bearman +0.688
11. Sergio Pérez +0.383
12. Max Verstappen +0.689
13. Alex Albon +0.478
14. Franco Colapinto +0.912
15. Daniel Ricciardo +0.933
16. Gabriel Bortoleto +0.587
17. Isack Hadjar +0.440
18. Pierre Gasly +0.636
19. Théo Pourchaire +0.356
20. Oscar Piastri DNF
21. Valtteri Bottas DNF
22. Liam Lawson DNF

2028 FIA FORMULA 1 WORLD DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP

🇲🇨 Leclerc 263
🇦🇺 Piastri 191
🇪🇸 Sainz 119
🇳🇱 Verstappen 111
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Norris 94
🇺🇸 Herta 59
🇯🇵 Tsunoda 51
🇮🇹 Antonelli 49
🇫🇮 Bottas 45
🇲🇽 O'Ward 44
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Russell 40
🇫🇷 Gasly 36
🇲🇽 Perez 15
🇳🇿 Lawson 11
🇫🇷 Pourchaire 9
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Bearman 1
🇫🇷 Ocon 0
🇦🇺 Ricciardo 0
🇹🇭 Albon 0
🇧🇷 Bortoleto 0
🇫🇷 Hadjar 0
🇦🇷 Colapinto 0

2028 FIA FORMULA 1 WORLD CONSTRUCTORS CHAMPIONSHIP

Ferrari 454
Red Bull-Ford 213
Subaru-Honda 112
Mercedes 108
Aston Martin-Honda 96
McLaren-Mercedes 80
Williams-Ferrari 40
Alpine-Renault 26
Audi 9
Haas-Ford 0
Andretti-Ferrari 0

2028 WORLD TYRES CHAMPIONSHIP

Bridgestone 662
Pirelli 328
Goodyear 148

Well, no rest for the wicked as we head to Qualifying here at Spa-Francorchamps, always one of the most exciting Qualifying sessions of the season. After Charles Leclerc won the Sprint earlier and Oscar Piastri was crashed into, the Championship advantage has swung the way of the Champion - but still plenty of play for here at Round 11.

Tsunoda with a big spin and he's off! He's kept the engine running and has made it back to the pits, no Red Flag needed!

HERTA OFF! He went off at Les Combes and clips the barrier! He's also not brought out the Red Flag, but heavy damage for that Mercedes!

OUT IN Q1: Lawson , Pérez, Ricciardo, Bearman, Herta, Tsunoda
Bubble: Ocon
Top Five: NOR, SAI, BOT, LEC, PIA

Both Herta and Tsunoda had crashes in Q1 and both are on the back row, subject to Lawson's penalty. Lawson also out, along with teammate Pérez, while Ricciardo and Bearman also exit. The two Red Bulls quickest with Norris P1, then Bottas, Leclerc and Piastri.

RED FLAG CALLED!!!

Hadjar overtakes Piastri, who was on a cool down lap, but then Hadjar misjudged the corner and goes into the barrier!!! His session is over, but thankfully he is okay.

(LEC) "Did we make it? Are we through?"

(BOZ) "We are through. P10."

(LEC) "Phew. Far too close. Traffic was a nightmare"