Formula 1

The world champion finished a place ahead of Red Bull teammate Sergio Pérez to take the lead in the championship, George Russell claimed third and Lewis ...

Hamilton, having worked his way through the field made a late stop for fresh tyres and his team’s confidence paid off as he made it through to pass Sainz for fourth on lap 59. He duly came in on lap 44 and emerged in front of Russell and five seconds behind his teammate. Pérez with working DRS could not be held off by Russell and he passed for the lead on lap 30. He had it open on lap 23 and the pair went wheel to wheel through turn one and into two and three as Russell refused to yield, brilliantly squeezing the Dutchman wide. Losing power on lap 26 he was forced to retire, promoting Russell to the lead. Verstappen charged and had Russell in range but with his DRS failing he could not make the pass as Russell defended brilliantly.

Max Verstappen won an action-packed 2022 Spanish Grand Prix as pole-sitter Charles Leclerc retired from a comfortable lead. Sergio Perez took second place ...

The Mercedes emerged ahead of the Red Bull in the battle for third, and on Lap 16 Verstappen was right on Russell’s tail. But on Lap 49, Perez complied – Verstappen thanking him – before skating away to win by 13.072s and retake the championship lead. Of course, I was in the train and I tried to pass but my DRS was not always working, so that made it very tough but we managed, due to the strategy, to get ahead again and do our own race and eventually win the race. As a result, Sainz re-took P4 having passed not only Hamilton (on Lap 65) but Bottas (on Lap 57, along with Hamilton). The following lap began with Verstappen therefore attacking Russell for the lead, Perez vying for a starring role just behind. Leclerc enjoying a comfortable lead, Perez attempted to pry P2 off Russell on Lap 10 but was held off masterfully by the Mercedes into Turn 1. Agonisingly for Verstappen, even though he was within striking distance on Lap 25, that DRS just wouldn’t open and give him that extra burst of pace. So Verstappen pitted a second time from mediums back to softs on Lap 29 and caught up to Russell’s tail by Lap 37, when Russell swapped for another set of mediums. Mercury indicating air temperature of 36 degrees Celsius and a track temperature of 49 degrees C, the heat was most definitely on. Valtteri Bottas’s soft-medium-medium strategy saw him lose out to soft-tyred finishers Sainz and Hamilton, the Finn taking a still-solid P6 finish for Alfa Romeo. In seventh was Esteban Ocon, up five places for Alpine with two soft-tyred stints. Hamilton passed Sainz for P4 with a brilliant move at Turn 1 with five laps left, but then dropped to P5 having been told to lift off by his Mercedes team. Soaring temperatures weren’t the only problem on Sunday; huge gusts into Turn 4 caused both Carlos Sainz and Verstappen to go off track and drop down the order early on.

Formula 1 is planning to group more races by region in 2023 in an effort to improve its sustainability credentials by reducing freight movements and ...

Monaco’s traditional end-of-May date reduces F1’s flexibility at that time of the year. The sport has been hit not just by rising prices but increasingly scarce availability of freight capacity. Although Domenicali did not go into extensive detail in the meeting of what might change, it’s understood that Baku could be grouped in a run of races with Shanghai and Suzuka.

Troubles for Charles Leclerc and Ferrari at Barcelona lead to another 1-2 finish for Red Bull.

I’m very happy to win and also very happy for Checo. A great result for the team”— Formula 1 (@F1) #SpanishGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/zd27jgVf8p May 22, 2022 A difficult beginning but a good end. A mixture of hot conditions and dramatic moments played havoc with the strategy. Plenty of pit-stop action out there during the race. If there is an issue, it is with Perez and the team, not Verstappen, as the two seem to get along just fine. Hamilton's fifth-place finish is a testament to grinding it out and not giving up. Haas: They were the only team that did not bring any bodywork or changes to the car after Miami, and it showed. Russell and Verstappen's tussle in the opening third of the race was fantastic and gave proof that the young British driver can turn wheels with the best in the series and come out ahead. He also had a fast car, as after spinning he dropped down to 11th, but through race strategy he made it to fourth, capturing valuable manufacturer's points for the team. Putting Verstappen and teammate Sergio Perez on different strategies forced Mercedes to decide which one they should cover, and in the end Russell would settle for third place. "The DRS was not always working, but we made it work," Verstappen said at the finish. It kept him locked behind George Russell for the opening third of the race until Red Bull used strategy and pit stops to accomplish what they couldn't on the track.