Formula 1
De Vlad Roman,
General Manager, Smart Games
Formula 1 has returned to China after a five-year absence, with the last Grand Prix hosted by the country taking place in 2019, before the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.
Verstappen took his 58th Grand Prix victory, his fourth of the current season and his first success in China, after also winning the sprint on Saturday. But if McLaren driver Lando Norris’ 3rd place finish in the Australian Grand Prix seemed like a fluke, the orange team is starting to prove the opposite, with a performing car and the best driver team will manage to be a constant presence on the podium of awards.
After Shanghai, the “aerodynamic bomb” fell!… Adrian Newey is leaving Red Bull, he is stepping down from the Formula 1 development program with immediate effect, but will still come to the circuit for selected races from 2024 to provide selective support to the on-site racing team. In terms of day-to-day work, his attention will now turn to the RB17 hypercar, which Red Bull is currently developing and which is due to be unveiled at Goodwood in July. According to the press release, Newey will say goodbye for good in “the first quarter of 2025”.
Immediately after the announcement of the split from Red Bull, Ferrari team boss (Frederic Vasseur) made a stopover in London where he is said to have met with Newey – presumably to finalize the move to Ferrari, which generated media speculation for weeks. If the transfer goes through, probably too late to influence the 2025 Ferrari – but above all, and this was important to Ferrari and Vasseur, early enough to be involved in the design of the 2026 reform regulation. Especially since no one can stop Newey from thinking about Formula 1 2026 and what it might look like “in private” to contribute to the development of the 2026 car.
The Crypto.com Miami Grand Prix brought the long-awaited change, Max Verstappen finally has a potential rival and it is not Leclerc or Perez but rather Lando Norris who after a lucky synchronization with the Safety Car took the first position and succeeded to cope with the pressure exerted by the Dutchman and even put seven seconds in front of him at the end. It was time for the McLaren driver to get his first victory in Formula 1 after 15 podiums. Leclerc completed the podium by adding Ferrari red (which in Miami was actually blue to mark the 70th anniversary of the presence in North America).
At Imola – the “made in Italy” and Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, Ferrari came with new single-seater updates, they dominated the first two practice sessions, however in qualifying they were overtaken by Max and the two McLaren drivers.
After bad practice sessions, Verstappen started the race from pole position, but with uncertainties about the pace. With a good start, he had an important foundation. Coming out of the first corner as the leader, he was able to control the pace of the race. The tires were at their last and with the last of his strength he managed to stop the attack of Norris who in turn had to repel an intermediate sprint by Charles Leclerc after the pit stop. It was a battle between Ferrari and McLaren for 2nd and 4th which was won by the orange team, with each driver managing to outclass their Ferrari counterpart.
Max Verstappen naturally remains at the top of the standings. However, with another strong race from McLaren, the pressure on Ferrari and Sergio Perez is mounting. Norris is now just six points behind third-placed Perez, who due to a poor performance loses second place to Leclerc.
The Grand Prix of the Principality of Monaco reconfirms the good form of the McLaren and Ferrari teams, but also a revival of Mercedes and RB Honda. The first two lines of the starting grid were composed of Ferrari and McLaren drivers with a Max who had to settle for 6th position, behind George Russell.
Charles Leclerc can finally call himself the winner of the Monaco Grand Prix. Despite a huge stint on hard tires, he didn’t give the competitors a chance. Max Verstappen failed with a risky strategy. The biggest drama came at the first attempt at the start when Sergio Perez and the two Haas cars were involved in a violent crash that triggered a long pit stop. Fortunately, no pilot was injured. The accident at the start meant that everyone was able to change tires and go after the first red flag lap. Leclerc did not shy away from this challenge and never let himself be thrown out of his routine in an uneventful race at the front. Oscar Piastri kept the pressure on for a long time, but the Ferrari in front of him didn’t want to make any mistakes. Leclerc won for the first time since Austria 2022, and achieved his sixth victory, but most importantly – his first victory at home! For Monegasque Leclerc, the Formula 1 dream began here and no race is more important to him, “ with two laps to go I realized I was having trouble seeing out of the tunnel because I had tears in my eyes”, reveals Leclerc.
In the Canadian Grand Prix, the red on the podium palette was replaced by the black color of the Mercedes overalls, Ferrari had the worst possible weekend, after the victory in Monaco they failed to catch the third stage of the qualifications, worse Perez after the confirmation of the extension of the contract with Red Bull made another surprise to the team and was eliminated from the first qualifying session.
For the first time since 1997, the two fastest drivers in a Formula 1 qualifying session set the same time! Both George Russell and Max Verstappen stopped in Q3 with times of 1:12.000. As Russell set the time first, he took the Canadian pole and Verstappen had to settle for second followed by the McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, then Daniel Ricciardo and Fernando Alonso. Lewis Hamilton, both Aston Martins, both Racing Bulls and Alex Albon also made the top 10.
Although he didn’t start from pole position, Max Verstappen quickly got to the front of the grid and controlled the race without great emotions, he fought for several laps for the first position with George Russell, and at one point Lando Norris was in the lead, but after the 27th lap, Verstappen took control.
A quarter of the drivers on the starting grid did not finish the race at the Gilles-Villeneuve circuit. Logan Sargeant was the first to abandon the Canadian Grand Prix after going into a parapet, later both Ferrari drivers, Leclerc and Sainz, were also forced to abandon and Sergio Perez was also forced to abandon after the rear wing problems of his single-seater.
