Review of the fourteenth round of the 2019 F1 season at Autodromo Nazionale Monza, Monza, near Milan, for the Italian Grand Prix.
Overall, it was a thrilling Grand Prix from start to finish, Charles Leclerc on pole for Sundays race. On a dry Sunday race, Leclerc took the lead at the start and controlled the race from the start of the Grand Prix to the end, Despite pressure from both Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas, it was Leclerc day to win in Ferrari back yard to win this seasons Italian Grand Prix for Charles Leclerc's second race win of the season.
While, Current Formula 1 World Champion Valtteri Bottas finished second place in the Mercedes, Bottas was eight tenths of a second behind Leclerc at the end.
Meanwhile, Current Formula 1 World Champion Lewis Hamilton finished in third place in the other Mercedes to complete the podium, Hamilton was thirty-three seconds behind Leclerc at the end of the fifty-three lap race.
Now with seven races to go, with Lewis Hamilton's third place in Italy, Max Verstappen only finished in eighth place, while Hamilton's team mate Valtteri Bottas finishing second place finish at Monza, Lewis Hamilton has reduce his lead of the F1 Drivers' Standings from sixty-five points to sixty-three points ahead of team-mate Valtteri Bottas, while Max Verstappen is third in the standings from seventy-seven to ninty-nine points behind Hamilton.
While Mercedes still leads F1 Constructors' Standings, the gap is now improved from one hundred and forty-five points to one hundred and fifty-four points for Ferrari who are second in the Constructors' Standings with seven races to go.
Highlights of the race below, enjoy.
Rate the Teams and Drivers
Mercedes - 7
Lewis Hamilton - 7 (finished third, fastest lap)
Valtteri Bottas - 8 (finished second)
Ferrari - 6
Sebastian Vettel - 3 (finished thirteenth place, lap down)
Charles Leclerc - 10 (pole, race win)
Red Bull Racing - 7
Max Verstappen - 7 (finished eighth)
Alexander Albon - 7 (finished sixth)
Renault - 9
Daniel Ricciardo - 10 (finished fourth)
Nico Hülkenberg - 9 (finished fifth)
Haas - 5
Romain Grosjean - 5 (finished sixteenth, lap down)
Kevin Magnussen - 5 (DNF, Hydraulics)
McLaren - 8
Carlos Sainz Jr. - 6 (DNF, Wheel)
Lando Norris - 7 (finished tenth, lap down)
Racing Point - 7
Sergio Pérez- 9 (finished seventh)
Lance Stroll - 6 (finished twelfth, lap down)
Alfa Romeo - 6
Kimi Räikkönen - 5 (finished fifteenth, lap down)
Antonio Giovinazzi - 7 (finished ninth, lap down)
Toro Rosso - 6
Daniil Kvyat - 6 (DNF, Oil leak)
Pierre Gasly - 6 (finished eleventh, lap down)
Williams - 5
George Russell - 6 (finished fourteenth, lap down)
Robert Kubica - 4 (finished seventeenth, two laps down)
Next stop Marina Bay Street Circuit in two weeks time for the Singapore Grand Prix.
Predictions for this weekends Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix at Monza, near Milan. For the home race for both Ferrari, Toro Rosso teams and the home Grand Prix of Antonio Giovinazzi.
So Predictions for the race, for the win, I predict Sebastian Vettel for the race win in the Ferrari. Charles Leclerc second in the other Ferrari, and third place for Lewis Hamilton in the Mercedes. Don't forget Valtteri Bottas, the Red Bull drivers, the Renault drivers and the McLaren drivers as well for a podium place.
Review of Round Eight of the 2019 World Rallycross Championship season was the World RX of France, at Circuit de Lohéac located in Lohéac, in North-West France.
In the four Heats, those were won by Toomas Heikkinen, Rokas Baciuška, Andreas Bakkerud and Timmy Hansen.
In the first semi-final that was won by Monster Energy RX Cartel driver Andreas Bakkerud in his Audi S1. Second was Team Hansen MJP driver Timmy Hansen in his Peugeot 208, he was seven tenths of a second behind Bakkerud in the end. While, third was GC Kompetition driver Anton Marklund in his Renault Mégane R.S., he was thirteen tenths of a second behind Bakkerud in the end.
In the second semi-final that was won by GRX Taneco Team driver Niclas Grönholm in his Hyundai i20. Second was GC Kompetition driver Rokas Baciuška in his Renault Mégane R.S., he was three seconds behind Bakkerud in the end. While, third was Team Hansen MJP driver Kevin Hansen in his Peugeot 208, he was five seconds behind Timerzyanov in the end.
In the final race, Team Hansen MJP driver Timmy Hansen took the race win in his Peugeot 208. Second was GC Kompetition driver Anton Marklund in his Renault Mégane R.S., he was fifteen tenths of a second behind Hansen in the end. While, third was Team Hansen MJP driver Kevin Hansen in his Peugeot 208, he was two and half seconds behind Hansen in the end.
Next stop World RX of Latvia at Biķernieku Kompleksā Sporta Bāze for Round Nine of the 2018 World Rallycross Championship season in two weeks time.
Review of Round One of the 2019/20 FIA World Endurance Championship at Silverstone.
The Toyota Gazoo Racing team won the race overall and the LMP1 class too of Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and José María López in their Toyota TS050 Hybrid; Toyota 2.4 L Turbo V6. While, second place was the other Toyota Gazoo Racing to complete a Toyota one-two finish, with the team of Sébastien Buemi, Kazuki Nakajima and Brendon Hartley in their Toyota TS050 Hybrid, Toyota 2.4 L Turbo V6; they were two seconds behind the leaders at the end of the race. While third place was Rebellion Racing team to completethe podium, with the team of Nathanaël Berthon, Pipo Derani and Loïc Duval in their Rebellion R13, Gibson 4.5 L V8; they were a lap behind the leaders at the end of the race.
In LMP2 class (all cars using the Gibson 4.2 L V8 engine), Cool Racing team of Antonin Borga and Nicolas Lapierre in their Oreca 07 won LMP2 class. They finish in fifth place overall and they were five laps behind the leaders at the end of the race.
While in GTE Pro class, was won by Porsche GT Team of Gianmaria Bruni and Richard Lietz won in their Porsche 911 RSR-19. They finish in thirteenth place overall and they were fourteen laps behind the leaders at the end of the race.
While in GTE Am class, was won by AF Corse team of Emmanuel Collard, Nicklas Nielsen and François Perrodo in their Ferrari 488 GTE Evo. They finish in eighteenth place overall and they were fifteen laps behind the leaders at the end of the race.
Highlights of the 4 Hours of Silverstone below, enjoy.
Next Stop 6 Hours of Fuji in five weeks time for Round Two of the FIA World Endurance Championship.
Review of the twelfth round of the 2019 F1 season at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Spa, east of Belgium, for the Belgian Grand Prix.
Overall the race itself was a good race to watch. It was the race where Charles Leclerc controlled the race from the start of the Grand Prix to the end, on pole for Sunday's race, took the lead at the start of the race and never looked back; lead most of the laps and despite a late charge from Lewis Hamilton, it was Leclerc day to win this seasons Belgian Grand Prix for Charles Leclerc's first ever Grand Prix win.
Leclerc dedicated his win to Anthoine Hubert who died from a Formula 2 crash on the Saturday.
While, Current Formula 1 World Champion Lewis Hamilton finished second place in the Mercedes, Hamilton was nine tenths of a second behind Leclerc at the end.
Meanwhile, Valtteri Bottas finished in third place in the other Mercedes to complete the podium, Bottas was thirteen seconds behind Leclerc at the end of the forty-four lap race.
Now with eight races to go, with Lewis Hamilton's second place in Belgium, Max Verstappen first DNF of the season, while Hamilton's team mate Valtteri Bottas managing a third place finish at Spa, Lewis Hamilton has now improve his lead of the F1 Drivers' Standings from sixty-two points to sixty-five points ahead of team-mate Valtteri Bottas, while Max Verstappen is third in the standings from sixty-nine to seventy-seven points behind Hamilton.
While Mercedes still leads F1 Constructors' Standings, the gap is now reduce from one hundred and fifty points to one hundred and forty-five points for Ferrari who are second in the Constructors' Standings with eight races to go.
Highlights of the race below, enjoy.
Rate the Teams and Drivers
Mercedes - 7
Lewis Hamilton - 8 (finished second)
Valtteri Bottas - 7 (finished third)
Ferrari - 8
Sebastian Vettel - 7 (finished fourth, fastest lap)
Charles Leclerc - 10 (pole, race win)
Red Bull Racing - 8
Max Verstappen - 6 (DNF, Collision with Räikkönen)
Alexander Albon - 10 (finished fifth)
Renault - 6
Daniel Ricciardo - 5 (finished fourteenth, lap down)
Nico Hülkenberg - 7 (finished eighth)
Haas - 5
Romain Grosjean - 5 (finished thirteenth, lap down)
Kevin Magnussen - 5 (finished twelfth, lap down)
McLaren - 8
Carlos Sainz Jr. - 6 (DNF, Power loss)
Lando Norris - 10 (finished eleventh/DNF, lap down/Engine)
Racing Point - 7
Sergio Pérez- 8 (finished sixth)
Lance Stroll - 6 (finished tenth)
Alfa Romeo - 6
Kimi Räikkönen - 5 (finished sixteenth, lap down)
Antonio Giovinazzi - 8 (finished eighteenth/DNF, two laps down/Accident)
It was confirmed the last few days that Racing Point will retain both Sergio Pérez through to the end of the 2022 Formula 1 season on a three-year deal it was announced of Friday (30/8/19) on the eve of the Belgian Grand Prix alongside Lance Stroll for the 2020 F1 season on a one-year deal as-well.
Pérez currently sits sixteenth place in the Drivers' standings with a best finish of sixth place at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix back in April. While, Stroll currently holds twelfth place in the Drivers' standings with a best finish of fourth place at the German Grand Prix back in July.
Overall, a very good decision from Racing Point to keep both Sergio Pérez and Lance Stroll for next seasons. Although, I was surprise to see Pérez got three-year deal.
Overall, the right choice for Racing Point going into 2020.
Before I start, Motorsport is dangerous sport. No matter if its Go-Karting, motorbikes, Formula 1, Indy Car, any kind of Motorsport is dangerous, but Motorsport can be safer between tracks, fans, spectators, tracks marshals, people in pits, cars and drivers too.
Formula 2 racer Anthoine Hubert died yesterday (31/8/2019) following a serious crash with Juan Manuel Correa on Lap 2 of the Formula 2 feature race at Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium.
Hubert was involved in a serious crash with Juan Manuel Correa on Lap 3 of the Formula 2 feature race at Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium.
Hubert crashed at Raidillon at about 170mph, with Juan Manuel Correa crashing into him at impact. After being transported to the circuit's medical centre post-crash, Hubert died from his injuries; while Correa was taken to Liege hospital and is in a stable condition, the FIA confirmed. While both Formula 2 races this weekend at Spa-Francorchamps have been cancelled.
Hubert's death is the first fatality in a major international motor-race since Justin Wilson when he was hit on the head by debris during an IndyCar race at Pocono, Pennsylvania in August 2015.
Condolences goes to Anthoine's family and friends, Hubert won last years GP3 Championship with ART. Moved up to Formula 2 with Arden this season while contracted with the Renault F1 Sport Academy team. Hubert was lying eighth in the F2 championship and had scored two wins this season, in Monaco and France.
Rest in Peace Anthoine Hubert, you will be much missed.
