Verstappen takes pole position for F1 Australian GP, resurgent Carlos Sainz also in front row

Fastest qualifier Red Bull driver Max Verstappen, center, of the Netherlands stands with second fastest, Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz, left, of Spain and Red Bull teammate and third placed Sergio Perez of Mexico following the qualifying session for the Australian F1 Grand Prix at Albert Park, in Melbourne, on Mar. 23, 2024. (AP)
Short Url
Updated 23 March 2024
Follow

Verstappen takes pole position for F1 Australian GP, resurgent Carlos Sainz also in front row

  • Verstappen will start in the front row for Sunday’s 58-lap race on the temporary Albert Park street circuit
  • Carlos Sainz, returning from appendix surgery ahead of the last race in Saudi Arabia, was second-fastest, followed by Perez in third

MELBOURNE: Max Verstappen not surprisingly clinched pole position for Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix. More surprising was record eight-time Australian pole winner Lewis Hamilton not making it into the final round of qualifying on Saturday.
Verstappen, who has won both races to start the season in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, with his Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez second both times, will start in the front row for Sunday’s 58-lap race on the temporary Albert Park street circuit.
It was the 35th pole of Verstappen’s F1 career.
Carlos Sainz, returning from appendix surgery ahead of the last race in Saudi Arabia, was second-fastest, followed by Perez in third.
“It was a bit unexpected but I’m very happy,” Verstappen said. “It’s been a bit of a tricky weekend so far. (Ferrari) seem very quick, so it’s a bit of a question mark for tomorrow.”
“Even throughout qualifying, Q1, Q2, I didn’t really feel like (I was) fighting for pole. Then we made some little tickles on the car and that seemed to help me in Q3 to really push it to the limit; both of my laps I was quite happy with it.”
The biggest surprise of the day was Mercedes driver Hamilton. He failed to advance from the second qualifying session, finishing 11th. It was his worst qualifying position at the Australian Grand Prix since 2010.
“The inconsistency within the car — it really messes with the mind,” the seven-time world champion said, citing the afternoon wind as a problem.
“Our car is on a bit of a knife edge. When the wind picks up the car becomes a lot more unstable. But the others seem to (be able to) pick their pace up in qualifying, I’m not sure why. It’s not a great feeling for everyone in the team, but we’ll just keep working away.”
Ferrari’s performance here could have been compromised after Sainz declared he was ready to return to the cockpit, but not feeling 100 percent after surgery for appendicitis ahead of the last race in Saudi Arabia.
But the Spanish driver, who is out of contract at the end of the season, rebounded from a hospital bed a few weeks ago to the front row of the grid in Australia this weekend.
“It’s been a tough couple of weeks, so to make it to this weekend I’m very happy,” Sainz said. “I was a bit rusty at the beginning but I got up to speed and I’m feeling good in the car.”
Sainz said he was still feeling the effects of the surgery.
“I am not going to lie, I am not in my most comfortable state, but i can get it done,” he said. “Obviously, a lot of discomfort and weird feelings, but no pain, so it allows me to push.”
Australian Daniel Ricciardo was eliminated in the first qualifying session for the first time at Albert Park after his fastest lap was deleted by stewards. Ricciardo surged into the top-10 near the end of the session and seemed certain to continue his impressive record of never qualifying lower than 15th in Melbourne.
But the 34-year-old Ricciardo was deemed to have exceeded track limits and was pushed back to start from 18th place in his first GP on home soil since 2022.
Alex Albon qualified 12th, repaying some of the faith shown from Williams after the British-born Thai driver sat in teammate Logan Sargeant’s car. Albon’s vehicle sustained extensive damage after he crashed into a wall during practice on Friday, with American driver Sargeant stepping aside for the rest of the weekend.
It was already an eventful week ahead of Saturday’s qualifying. FIA’s Ethics Committee had cleared its president, Mohammed Ben Sulayem, from “interference of any kind” at two F1 events last year was followed quickly by a social media post from Susie Wolff, who is director of the all-female series F1 Academy and also married to Mercedes F1 boss Toto Wolff, announcing that she had filed a criminal complaint in the French courts against the sport’s governing body for statements made about her in December.
It was all against the backdrop of ongoing furor surrounding Red Bull Racing and its team principal Christian Horner.


F1 drivers gather in London to launch 75th anniversary season

Updated 18 February 2025
Follow

F1 drivers gather in London to launch 75th anniversary season

  • The F1 75 Live event at London’s O2 arena marks a new approach by the series
  • Teams will present their 2025 liveries, but don’t have to show off the actual cars they’ll race this season

LONDON: All 20 Formula 1 drivers and the 10 teams are expected in London on Tuesday to kick-start the 2025 season with a new live launch show.
The F1 75 Live event at London’s O2 arena marks a new approach by the series. It’s the first time the sport is hosting its own large-scale launch event, rather than leaving it to the individual teams to present their drivers and cars.
The televised two-hour show includes musical acts like country singer Kane Brown, British band Take That and American rapper MGK, also known as Machine Gun Kelly.
Teams will present their 2025 liveries, but don’t have to show off the actual cars they’ll race this season. Teams are still allowed to hold their own launch events to present their 2025 cars, as McLaren and Williams did last week.
It comes at a time when F1 is keen to expand beyond a sports audience, with races in cities like Miami and Las Vegas, a movie called “F1” starring Brad Pitt releasing in June, and the ongoing popularity of the “Drive To Survive” series on Netflix.
“To have this many fans out shows that we bring the sport together away from the racetrack. There’s a lot of excitement,” McLaren chief executive Zak Brown said Tuesday.
“The Brad Pitt movie will no doubt create a huge amount of awareness for the sport. Netflix, I’m sure, knowing what happened last year, will be a drama-filled television show again, which has been great for all of us. So I think the sport’s going from strength to strength.”
Drivers broadly welcomed the new launch show, though two-time champion Fernando Alonso warned it could be “a little bit of distraction” at a time when drivers and teams are fine-tuning their approach to the season.
F1’s preparations for the new season — which marks the series’ 75th anniversary — continue with preseason testing next week at the Bahrain International Circuit. The first race is the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne on March 16.


Rowland triumphs as British trio dominate second Jeddah E-Prix podium

Updated 16 February 2025
Follow

Rowland triumphs as British trio dominate second Jeddah E-Prix podium

  • Briton capitalizes on a dramatic early collision between title contenders Antonio Felix da Costa and Maximilian Guenther
  • Victory gives Rowland lead in Drivers’ World Championship standings, while Nissan hold slim lead in Teams’ Championship

JEDDAH: Oliver Rowland stormed to victory in the second race of the inaugural Jeddah E-Prix on Saturday, leading an all-British podium and securing Nissan’s place at the top of the Teams’ and Manufacturers’ World Championship standings.

Rowland’s expertly managed race saw him capitalize on a dramatic early collision between title contenders Antonio Felix da Costa and Maximilian Guenther. The incident cleared the way for the Briton to seize control, executing flawless energy management and Attack Mode activations to maintain his lead to the checkered flag.

“It was great — the key was at the beginning obviously. It was pretty much the perfect scenario. I had a little bit of contact with Guenther at the chicane; he got really aggressive on the inside and I got stuck on him,” Rowland said.

“That’s the point when I went to the front — being third or fourth, people start to get aggressive, so I got out of trouble and went to the front and led from there. I’m just trying to focus race by race, try and do the best job we can and score points,” he added.

The 21-year-old Taylor Barnard, who made history as the youngest polesitter in Formula E, took an impressive second place, fending off a late charge from Jake Hughes. Despite immense pressure, Barnard held firm to secure his second podium of the weekend for NEOM McLaren.

“Coming into this weekend I didn’t expect a podium, so to leave here with massive points for the team, I couldn’t be happier,” Barnard said. “I think I struggled a little bit for the first five laps — but two podiums, I’m so happy. Sometimes you have to be extra aggressive, but we also had to keep the podium and secure P2, and we did that.”

Hughes rounded out the podium in third, marking his first rostrum finish for Maserati MSG Racing and his second in Formula E. Reflecting on his hard-fought result, Hughes praised his team’s execution.

“It felt like it was a little bit on the edge, but super happy with today. After messing up FP3, getting into the Duels to the Semi-Final and then coming away with a podium for the team, I couldn’t ask for more really,” he said. “We did really well with the Attack Mode; we used the energy when we needed to, and the execution was great.”

The all-British dominance extended beyond the podium, with reigning champion Jake Dennis delivering a remarkable drive from 19th on the grid to finish fourth.

Meanwhile, Kiwi Nick Cassidy climbed from 17th to claim fifth, and Hughes’ Maserati teammate Stoffel Vandoorne secured sixth place. Defending champion Pascal Wehrlein, battling to limit the damage from a challenging weekend, finished eighth.

With this result, Rowland leads the Drivers’ World Championship standings with 68 points, ahead of Barnard on 51. Nissan hold a slim lead in the Teams’ Championship, with just five points separating the top four squads.

Formula E now heads to Miami for Round 5 on April 12, where the championship battle will continue on American soil.


Guenther clinches victory with last-ditch move at first Jeddah E-Prix race

Updated 15 February 2025
Follow

Guenther clinches victory with last-ditch move at first Jeddah E-Prix race

  • Nissan’s Oliver Rowland beaten by dramatic last-lap charge

JEDDAH: Maximilian Guenther secured victory in the inaugural Jeddah E-Prix, overtaking Nissan’s Oliver Rowland at the last corner to claim his first win for DS Penske in round three of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship.

Guenther, who started from pole position for the first time since Jakarta 2023, initially led the race but lost places as drivers navigated Formula E’s debut Pit Boost mandatory pit stops.

Rowland, Taylor Barnard, and Mahindra Racing’s Nyck de Vries capitalized on early energy deployment, while Guenther took a more measured approach, conserving power for a late-race push.

That patience paid off. Setting the fastest lap on lap 27, the German driver fought back to second place before launching a dramatic last-lap charge. With a slight energy advantage, he seized his moment on the final chicane, making a decisive move to snatch victory from Rowland just before the chequered flag.

Guenther said: “This means everything to me. It’s the first win with my new team, DS Penske. It was a lot of hard work, a big race but an amazing outcome for us. We lost quite a few places around the pit stop window, but we just stayed calm and did our race. I didn’t expect to come back all the way.

“I thought a podium would have been good, but to do it in the end and to win it is an extra special feeling. I didn’t want to leave it until the last corner but there was no other option — Oli was doing a mega job today, a great race. I believed until the end.”

The victory marked Guenther’s first win since Tokyo last season and broke a 17-race streak in which the pole sitter had failed to convert the start into a victory.

Rowland, despite his disappointment, moved to the top of the Drivers’ Championship standings with 43 points, ahead of Antonio Felix da Costa. Porsche lead the Teams’ Championship by a slim three-point margin over DS Penske, while Nissan top the Manufacturers’ table.

Rowland said: “We had a plan before the race and we executed it pretty well. I’m a little bit disappointed because when I had such a gap, if I’d under-consumed a bit I’d have had enough energy to defend from Max. He caught me napping a little bit and I couldn’t do much in the last corner. Nevertheless, we scored some great points and on to tomorrow.”

NEOM McLaren’s Barnard completed the podium, celebrating a strong third-place finish after starting from P4.

He said: “Starting from P4, a podium was always my hope, but you never know how the race is going to play out. It was the first Pit Boost race as well, so to know that we’ve done the procedure that well as a team, I couldn’t be happier to be P3.”

With round four set to take place in Jeddah on Saturday, the championship battle remains fiercely competitive as the season continues to deliver thrills.


Racing fans meet Formula E drivers at autograph session

Updated 14 February 2025
Follow

Racing fans meet Formula E drivers at autograph session

  • 21 drivers featured at event at Jeddah’s circuit
  • Enthusiast Adel Hasanain got there early to interact with motor racing icons

JEDDAH: Fans at the Jeddah E-Prix were given the opportunity to meet some of motorsport’s biggest stars in person on Friday in a pit-lane walk and autograph session.
Some 21 superstar drivers were featured at the autograph session, all taking time out of their busy schedules to meet fans, have their pictures taken, and sign all kinds of memorabilia.
Hadeer Mohammed, a Saudi student who attended Jeddah’s first race of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship with her friends, told Arab News that she was an enthusiast, and added: “I’m a big fan of both Formula One and Formula E and I was very happy when they announced they would host the Formula E in Jeddah.”
She said she was happy to be given the opportunity to meet the drivers, take selfies and get autographs.
She said: “I just got an autograph of Oliver Rowland and Norman Nato of Nissan.”
The Formula E drivers made themselves available at the fan zone with the teams providing photos, postcards and other goodies.
Adel Hasanain said that he arrived early in the day to interact with the motor racing icons.
He said: “It was an excellent opportunity to meet our favorite drivers. I had the chance to get a signed cap from Jake Dennis and Nico Mueller of the Andretti team, and Jean-Eric Vergne and Maximilian Guenther of DS Penske.”
Fans made the most of the opportunity to obtain autographs and take photographs.
Talal Al-Katheri, an engineering student at King Abdulaziz University, said: “It was a great moment for us today as we got the chance to meet these drivers.
“I am a fan of NEOM McLaren so I got autographs and photos of Sam Bird and Taylor Bernard.
“What a day it was, walking on the track and seeing the participating drivers up close.”


Formula E drivers revved-up for podium finishes at first Jeddah E-Prix

Updated 14 February 2025
Follow

Formula E drivers revved-up for podium finishes at first Jeddah E-Prix

  • The doubleheader of races will take place at Jeddah Corniche Circuit on Friday and Saturday

JEDDAH: Ahead of the third round of the Formula E’s season in Saudi Arabia this weekend, drivers from the teams competing in the first Jeddah E-Prix have revealed their ambitions for the doubleheader under lights.

Sam Bird of NEOM McLaren, Maximilian Guenther of DS PENSKE and Nick Cassidy of Jaguar TCS Racing spoke to Arab News recently ahead of the action taking place at Jeddah Corniche Circuit for the first time after six years of Formula E’s Saudi Arabia residency in Diriyah.

Bird, who previously managed to claim two wins in Saudi Arabia, said: “I am very motivated to get the best on the Jeddah’s track for the first time.

“I am really excited to take on the two doubleheaders in Jeddah and push for my first points with Jaguar Racing. I’ve won in Saudi Arabia, particularly in Diriyah not so long ago so can’t wait to get going here in Jeddah.”

Even though the Mexico City E-Prix in January did not go as planned for the British driver, who ended fourth, he is determined to get back on the podium on Saturday.

“We need a strong performance to stay in the fight at the top of the standings,” said Bird.

Meanwhile, New Zealand’s Cassidy is keen to replicate past success in Saudi Arabia.

“We have put in a lot of hard work since Mexico and hopefully we can translate that into some strong results in Jeddah,” the Jaguar driver said.

“I have happy memories of racing in Saudi Arabia for Jaguar TCS Racing, including taking my first win with the team, so it would be great to continue that.”

Germany’s Guenther, who narrowly lost the internal team duel against Jean-Eric Vergne in Mexico, commented: “I am happy with the way the team works together.

“It was only my second race with DS Penske, but I have the feeling that everything is developing very well. Now I am really looking forward to Jeddah.”