Harry Slade – Prost International [PINT]

Liam Lawson wins the last race of the season as Oscar Piastri edges Theo Pourchaire in thrilling decider

Harry Slade — Sun, 13 Sep 2020 13:42:21 +0000

Liam Lawson dominated the final race of the Formula 3 season – as Oscar Piastri edged a valiant Theo Pourchaire to take the championship.

The Hitech driver dominated the race to take the win at Mugello – but the real story was between Pourchaire and Piastri.

The ART driver attacked throughout the race to charge to the podium – failing to overtake the Trident of David Beckmann for what would have been the championship.

Meanwhile, Piastri limped home to seventh but did just enough to take the title by a slender margin of two points.

Logan Sargeant was involved in a collision on the opening lap to take the title-favourite out of contention.

Enzo Fittipaldi has his best result of the season with fourth – just ahead of Richard Verschoor – with Jake Hughes rounding out the top six.

Piastri was seventh and champion – ahead of Sebastian Fernandez

Frederik Vesti and Alex Smolyar rounded out the top ten.

Story of the race

Lawson initially started well – but Sebastian Fernandez got into the slipstream and attempted to challenge the polesitter round the outside.

The Hitech driver then squeezed the Spaniard out of the road to defend the lead and leave Fernandez fourth.

As Fernandez rejoined the circuit it caused a concertina effect – leaving a three-wide moment between himself, Lirim Zendeli, and championship-chasing Sargeant.

The American driver – who came into today’s race as the title-favourite – was left with no room and crashed out with the Trident of Zendeli to end his championship campaign in the gravel and bring out the safety car.

It was now in Piastri’s hands – who jumped up to seventh – just ahead of his final title-rival Pourchaire.

On the restart, 17-year old Pourchaire was on the charge, jumping up from eigth to sixth, meanwhile, the championship leader dropped down to ninth as the door opened for the French driver to take the championship if he could take the podium.

Upfront, Lawson began stretching his lead with a handful of fastest laps stretching his lead over Alex Smolyar to 1.6s

Back with the title fight – Pourchaire began applying the pressure to Enzo Fittipaldi’s fifth place.

Beckmann then passed Smolyar for second as Vesti lunged passed his Prema team-mate Piastri for ninth place – to leave the Renault Academy driver under serious pressure in regards to the championship.

Fernandez then demoted Smolyar to fourth as the ART driver struggled for speed.

The Russian driver then lost two places in one corner as Fittipaldi went to the inside and critically Pourchaire to the outside.

The 17-year old continued to charge – immediately moving clear of the HWA of Fittipaldi for fourth.

This left him one place away from taking the F3 crown – with his team-mate just ahead of him.

Vesti was then warned to pass Smolyar ahead or let Piastri through for the championship – the Danish driver chose to attack – demoting the ART driver to ninth.

Lap 16 was huge for the championship – Pourchaire moved to the net championship lead by passing Fernandez – but His rival struck straight back – by sweeping around the outside of Smolyar.

The Australian then saw off Vesti to add some comfort to his situation.

His rival struggled to get into Beckmann’s DRS to no avail – as team-mate Fernandez slipped back.

At the flag ART’s Fernandez was pipped by Piastri in a drag race to the line as the Australian was crowned champion.

The Top Ten finishes

Liam Lawson
David Beckmann
Theo Pourchaire
Enzo Fittipaldi
Richard Verschoor
Jake Hughes
Oscar Piastri
Sebastian Fernandez
Frederik Vesti
Alex Smolyar

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Lirim Zendeli Takes Final F3 Pole of the Season as penalised Oscar Piastri will start 16th

Harry Slade — Fri, 11 Sep 2020 14:38:26 +0000

Lirim Zendeli took the final pole position of the Formula 3 season as championship leader Oscar Piastri struggled and will start 16th.

The Trident driver went fastest of all late in the session amid a flurry of on track improvements to take pole position.

Championship-chasing Logan Sargeant battled oversteer problems but still qualified second – albeit with a three-place grid penalty.

This contrasted the speed of his championship rival – Piastri – the Australian struggled to 11th and will start 16th after a grid penalty of his own.

Jake Hughes was third for HWA Racelab – as he failed to usurp Zendeli and Sargeant at the session’s death.

Frederik Vesti was fourth after he recovered from a moment where he touched the gravel to keep his slim championship hopes alive.

Behind him was the second HWA of Enzo Fittipaldi – as the Brazilian took his best qualifying session of the season.

He led ART duo of Sebastian Fernandez and Theo Pourchaire in sixth and seventh respectively.

Eighth was David Beckmann – who will be disappointed not to match team-mate Zendeli’s super form, while Dennis Hauger was the lead Hitech as Liam Lawson struggled.

The championship-chasing New Zealander went deep into the gravel and could only recover to a lowly 13th in his final run.

Alex Smolyar rounded out the top ten in the third and final ART car.

The story of Qualifying

The initial flurry of runs saw Trident and Prema show good speed – with the two Italian squads enjoying home advantage.

David Beckmann was initially fastest of all, followed by team-mate Lirim Zendeli.

But the tyres held on for a second ‘hot-lap’ allowing practice-pacesetter Hughes to usurp the Beckmann.

The Prema trio completed the top five – as Sargeant led Vesti and Piastri.

The other title-contending duo – Pourchaire and Lawson – sat seventh and 13th respectively after the first runs.

The youngest driver in the field, Roman Stanek, took a trip through the gravel on his first run.

Before his second run, Vesti demanded a clean track to help prepare his tyres, and Prema obliged as the Danish driver led the snake of cars out of the pitlane.

But Vesti made an error on his run, clipping the gravel trap and losing some momentum.

But he still initially went quickest of all – only to be swiftly demoted as the times tumbled – leaving the Dane 11th.

Zendeli then went fastest of all – going quicker than Sargeant – who despite complaints of oversteer was second.

Championship leader Piastri was in trouble – only managing eleventh with a five-place penalty leaving him 16th on the grid.

The other Prema of Vesti battled back on his final run to finish the session in 4th

Further down the order, Lawson went wide to leave him 20th with only one shot left.

The Hitech driver battled hard but could only put it 13th in the final moments.

Full Grid

Lirim Zendeli
Jake Hughes
Frederik Vesti
Logan Sargeant ( 3-place grid penalty)
Enzo Fittipaldi
Sebastian Fernandez
Theo Pourchaire
David Beckmann
Dennis Hauger
Alex Smolyar
Jack Doohan
Liam Lawson
Richard Verschoor
Alex Peroni
Matteo Nannini
Oscar Piastri (5-Place grid penalty)
David Schumacher
Oli Caldwell
Bent Viscaal
Michael Belov
Federico Malvestiti
Lukas Dunner
Clement Novalek
Sophia Floersch
Callan Williams
Roman Stanek
Cameron Das
Alessio Deledda

Formula 3 braces for six-way title shoot out at Mugello

Harry Slade — Thu, 10 Sep 2020 19:30:03 +0000

FIA Formula 3 heads to Mugello with the championship in the balance – with six drivers theoretically in contention to take the championship.

Last year’s powerhouse, Prema was seen as the pre-season favourites and while all three of their drivers still retain a chance to be champion, the dominance has eased from 2019.

Instead, Trident, ART, and Hitech have all shown the ability to challenge the junior series goliath – with each of the trio still able to have a drivers champion in 2020.

This didn’t stop Prema suing up the constructors’ title at Monza – but there is a real threat of a non-Prema champion in F3 – after they took the top three 12 months ago.

It is still advantage Prema though – the top two in the standings both come from the Italian squad – Formula Renault Eurocup champion, Oscar Piatri leading the way from F3 returnee Logan Sargeant.

Renault junior Piastri holds an eight-point advantage over his American rival – after both struggled massively – with Sargeant not scoring all weekend.

This allowed a chasing quartet to close down the leading duo.

Ahead of the queue is F3’s youngest-ever winner – Theo Pourchaire – the young Frenchman has spearheaded ART’s resurgence at this level – and is only 24 points behind in the championship after a pair of podiums at Monza.

Red Bull junior Liam Lawson is just behind Pourchaire, with Lawson ruing a stretch of three races earlier in the year without a point – this included clashing while fighting for the lead at the Styrian round.

The New Zealander will have more than just a title fight on his mind – as a top-three finish in the standings will give him the points required to gain a super license – effectively opening the door to Formula One in the future.

Trident’s David Beckmann is fifth – with the German attempting to complete a Cinderella story by winning the F3 title.

Beckmann showed promise in F3’s former guise as GP3 – winning races with his current Trident team – but a switch to French squad ART left Beckmann beleaguered as he struggled for form.

Without a drive on the 2020 grid – he was offered a lifeline at the eleventh hour by former team Trident – and hasn’t looked back since – claiming a pair of wins to catapult him into the championship conversation.

Finally, we have Frederik Vesti, the final of the three Prema’s, the Danish driver has arguably under-achieved in 2020 after winning the Formula Regional title twelve months ago.

But a feature race win at Monza has given him the slimmest of chances – can he now upstage his team-mates?

Credit: F3

Qualifying is expected to be critical at Mugello in regards to the title battle with four points on offer for pole position – but the importance is heightened due to the lack of overtaking opportunities at the Tuscan circuit – even in these Formula 3 cars.

In the 30-car field, it will be vital for all of the contenders to avoid being mired in the mid-pack, drivers there will not care about championship aspirations and will only be looking to scalp a big name.

One thing is for sure – we are in for one more enthralling round of Formula 3 action as we head to Mugello.

Formula 2: Tuscan Grand Prix Preview

Harry Slade — Thu, 10 Sep 2020 19:15:04 +0000

Formula 2 heads to the Tuscan hills in the midst of one of the greatest title battles in the series’ history – who will strike hardest at Mugello?

The series seemingly has seven potential title contenders, with only 47 points separating championship leader Callum Ilott with his UNI-Virtuosi team-mate, Guanyu Zhou, who sits seventh.

Between them are a whole host of remarkably talented drivers – all of which have major championship aspirations and some of which feel that they warrant a seat in Formula One.

Championship Standings

Callum Ilott 149 points
Mick Schumacher 143 points
Robert Shwartzman 140 points
Yuki Tsunoda 123 points
Christian Lundgaard 116 points
Nikita Mazepin 102 points
Guanyu Zhou 102 points.

The top three drivers all come from the Ferrari Driver Academy (FDA), therefore, the pressure to outperform their rivals will be higher as they all aim to secure a seat at the Alfa Romeo F1 Team.

Out of the three, the form guide is looking the strongest for Ilott.

The British driver has only failed to miss out on the top three once in qualifying this season at Spa – Francorchamps and with overtaking expected to be challenging at the Italian circuit, he could have an advantage.

Shwartzman, in contrast, has struggled with one lap pace and will be looking to rectify those struggles at the high-speed circuit.

That leaves Schumacher, the son of the seven-time world champion has found his form in recent rounds – taking his first F2 Feature Race win at Monza last time outbuilding on this similarly to his Euro F3 championship win in 2018 will be vital.

Intriguingly, the lack of contemporary data at the Mugello circuit could allow a relative minnow to spring a surprise – with the top teams having less of an advantage in this regard.

This could harm Juri Vips – the Red Bull junior joined the F2 fraternity mid-season and has less knowledge in the car – coupled with the team’s inexperience at the circuit means he will not be able to lean on his mechanics as much for set up advice.

The high-speed Mugello circuit will put the drivers at the forefront – with fast corners such as the fabled Arrabbiata section expected to draw the best out of the drivers.

These cars – which have less downforce than their F1 counterparts – will not be flat through those sections, which will leave the drivers under immense stress as they’re forced to thread the car through this old school circuit with little-to-no room to manoeuvre.

Practice begins on Friday morning for the ninth round of the Formula 2 season.

Tuscan Grand Prix Preview: What to expect as Formula One heads to Mugello

Harry Slade — Thu, 10 Sep 2020 19:00:35 +0000

Formula One heads to Mugello for the first time in its 70-year history this weekend – with the ten teams set to face new challenges on the Tuscan circuit.

While racing in Italy is synonymous with Formula One – with Monza hosting 70 Grand Prix, Imola 27, along with a solitary visit to Pescara – yet Mugello has never made it to the calendar.

The 5.245km circuit is located in Scarperia, Tuscany, and has 15 corners – some of which are engrossed in motorsport folklore.

The most famous of those corners are the daunting Arrabbiata 1 and 2 (Turns 7, 8, and 9) – these are expected to be almost flat out in a contemporary Formula One car.

Due to these challenging corners the track is loved by all the drivers – with Mark Webber lauding it following F1’s most recent visit to Tuscany at an in season test in 2012.

Did 10 dry laps today around Mugello, which is the same as doing 1000 laps around Abu Dhabi track in terms of satisfaction.#realtracks #fast

— Mark Webber (@AussieGrit) May 1, 2012

Mugello’s remarkable high-speed corners should highlight the incredible aerodynamic performance of modern cars – in particular the incredible Mercedes W11.

Pirelli has also brought the hardest tyres in their range to Mugello – with the high-speed corners and lack of data from the Italian circuit causing Pirelli to be cautious.

Credit: Pirelli Media

The race also marks Ferrari’s 1000th race in the sport – therefore all eyes will be in the Maranello marque as they aim to bounce back from a double ‘DNF’ at Monza.

The Scuderia has also unveiled a new ‘retro’ livery ahead of the race – however, the main talking point going into the race is surrounding their driver – as Sebastian Vettel was announced as an Aston Martin driver for the 2021 season.

On the track, all eyes will be on Alex Albon and Red Bull.

The London-born Thai driver has struggled to find his best form at the Milton-Keynes outfit and has just seen Pierre Gasly take a remarkable victory at Monza in the junior team; Alpha Tauri.

Gasly will surely be eyeing up a promotion and will look to apply even more pressure on Albon as F1 heads to Tuscany.

The title battle also rages on with Lewis Hamilton aiming to extend his championship lead as he looks to equal Michael Schumacher’s seven world titles.

The British driver can also go one away from the German’s all-time win record if he crosses the line first at Mugello – for what could be his 90th Grand Prix win.

Tuscan Grand Prix schedule

Friday 11 September

10:00 BST / 11:00 Local Time – Free Practice One

14:00 BST / 15:00 Local Time – Free Practice Two

Saturday 12 September

11:00 BST / 12:00 Local Time – Free Practice Three

14:00 BST / 15:00 Local Time – Qualifying

Sunday 13 September

14:10 BST / 15:10 Local Time – Race

Sebastian Vettel to join Aston Martin for 2021 Season as Sergio Perez departs

Harry Slade — Thu, 10 Sep 2020 10:08:28 +0000

Sebastian Vettel will join Aston Martin F1 Team for the 2021 Formula One season.

The four-time world champion will move to the newly-rebranded Racing Point squad on a long-term deal – replacing Sergio Perez.

The move comes following Ferrari’s decision not to retain the German’s services for next season – signing Carlos Sainz Jr. in his place.

Sebastian Vettel was delighted to have a seat confirmed for the 2021 season.

“I’m extremely proud to say that I will become an Aston Martin driver in 2021.
‍
“The energy and commitment of Lawrence [Stroll] to the sport is inspiring and I believe we can build something very special together.

“I still have so much love for Formula 1 and my only motivation is to race at the front of the grid.

“To do so with Aston Martin will be a huge privilege”

The 53-time Grand Prix winner will be partnered by Lance Stroll – leaving no room for Perez – who was only one year into a three year deal with the Silverstone-based squad.

The Mexican driver admitted that the end of his seven-year stint with the team hurts – but wished the Aston Martin team well in their new guise.

“I don’t have a plan B, my intention is to continue racing here [in Formula One], but that would depend on me finding a project that motivates me to continue giving my 100% each lap.”

The 30-year-old has been linked to a switch to both Haas and Alfa Romeo for the 2021 season – with no seats filled in either team.

A move to the latter would see Perez return to the team formerly known as Sauber – where he made his F1 debut in 2011.

However, both teams offer the Mexican driver a significant step down on his current machinery at Racing Point.

Inside Red Bull’s driver line-up quagmire

Harry Slade — Tue, 30 Jul 2019 21:41:40 +0000

Following Max Verstappen’s successful promotion to the Red Bull team back in 2016, it seemed that the team had their driver set-up sorted, but it was disrupted with Daniel Ricciardo’s shock move to Renault.

The daunting task of replacing a seven-time Grand Prix winner fell to twenty-three-year-old Pierre Gasly, a man who was veteran of only one full season in the sport and who’s best result was a creditable fourth place at the 2018 Bahrain Grand Prix.

While Gasly’s performances were deemed strong, the absence of a known quantity in single-seater racing in Brendon Hartley left a level of uncertainty around the form of the Frenchman.

Despite this Red Bull went ahead with the move, passing over the highly-rated Carlos Sainz Jr. in the process as Sainz made the move to the seemingly struggling McLaren team.

Sainz has gone from strength to strength in a revitalised McLaren in 2019 alongside Lando Norris, leaving him seventh in the drivers’ championship and arguably in the best form of his still fledgling career.

Gasly, on the other hand, has fallen into a career vacuum, as his form spirals further out of control. This culminating in him crashing out of last weekends German Grand Prix, following contact with the Toro Rosso of Alex Albon.

Furthermore, Sainz only sits seven points behind the Frenchman in the drivers’ standings, as the pressure continues to mount on Gasly.

For Gasly, Hockenheim marked a new low as the Toro Rosso pair of Alex Albon and Danil Kvyat, the most likely candidates to take his coveted Red Bull seat, both performed to increasingly remarkable heights.

The aforementioned Albon drove a superb race amidst the chaos to take his highest-ever finish in Formula 1 with sixth, taking into account this was the London-born Thai drivers’ first experience of a Formula 1 car in wet conditions of any kind.

Kvyat was the real headline, and arguably the real headache for Gasly. The Russian grabbed an improbable podium for the Faenza based squad as a Russian Roulette style gamble for Pirelli’s slick tyres paid off as he marked his return to Formula 1 with a podium – his first since the 2016 Chinese Grand Prix.

In spite of the form of the junior teams’ incumbents, Dr. Helmut Marko has remained firm on his position, with Gasly seemingly safe from a ‘Kvyat-Esque’ mid-season swap, but the real issue remains for 2020 and beyond.

Is Albon ready for a promotion and if they deem so, do they risk allowing him to falter similarly to the beleaguered Frenchman.

What about Kvyat returning to the Red Bull team?

The Russian has already received an opportunity at the senior team. One that Red Bull higher-ups deemed he squandered.

While there is no doubt there is a new found confidence in the Russian, his proposed matchup with Verstappen would surely only go one way; and with Verstappen in such fine form, is there a risk at Kvyat suffering another mental capitulation?

Is the Red Bull system now at an impasse and if so do they look for a replacement outside of the programme? How do they get out of the quagmire that is there 2020 driver line-up plans?