F1 Saudi Arabia Qualifying Review Part 1

Verstappen back on top in Qualifying After struggling throughout last weekend’s race in Bahrain, Bed Bull’s Max Verstappen demonstrated that he is a genuine contender here in Saudi. After finishing sixth in Bahrain Verstappen will start tomorrow’s race in pole position. Verstappen finished fastest in each part of qualifying.

During his press conference after qualifying Verstappen spoke about his result.

“I definitely didn’t expect to be on pole her after FP3 as well and looking at whole weekend was. But yeah, the car came alive in the night. We made some changes and it was a lot more enjoyable to drive. “

“I think tomorrow in the race it will be tough to keep them behind, but where going to give it a good go.”

All four races this season have been won by the driver on pole position.

Piastri the biggest threat? McLaren’s Oscar Piastri is one of the in formed driver in Formula 1. He has won two of the last three races in China and Bahrain and finished third in Japan. Throughout the race in Japan he was quicker than his teammate Lando Norris who finished in second. He continued that fine form in qualifying putting the car on the front row.

In an interview after qualifying Piastri spoke about his chances in the race.

“I’m feeling confident in what we’ve got. There’s a lot of DRS zones around here which is a nice difference to Suzuka. So yeah, let’s see if we can make some progress.”

Piastri sits in second position in the championship three points behind Norris.

Norris has it all to to do in the race tomorrow. McLaren’s Lando Norris leads the world championship but it hasn’t all gone to plan for the Englishman. In the last race in Bahrain Norris only qualified his car in sixth and had difficulties throughout the race but finished on the podium after passing Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in the final laps.

Here in Saudi Arabia Norris was impressive in the three free practice sessions, finishing quickest in two of the three. It all came undone for Norris in Q3 (third part of qualifying) when he hit the kerb on the exit to turn 4, crashing into the barrier on the opposite side of the track. Norris hadn’t recorded a time in Q3 before his crash and will start the race in tenth.

Speaking with F1.com after qualifying Norris said he was disappointed but determined for the race tomorrow.

“It’s been such a smooth, positive weekend so far, so we’re disappointed to have such a big setback but I’ve got to take it on the chin. I apoligised to the team, to my mechanics and the engineers and try and go again tomorrow.”

Russel continues his impressive form. Mercedes’s George Russell has been underrated in the F1 garage in 2025. Norris, Piastri and Verstappen have been getting the plaudits this season but the British driver has been consistent in the first four races. He has finished on the podium in three of the races and sits in fourth in the championship, only 14 points behind Norris who leads the championship. He qualified for tomorrow’s race in third position.

F1 Japanese Grand Prix Review Part 1

A very dull race Some of the greatest moments in Formula 1 history has happened at the Suzuka race track in Japan including the Prost vs Senna battles of the late 80s and early 90s. The 2025 race will not be added to this list. Apart from almost collision with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and McLaren’s Lando Norris as they came out of the pit lane, there was nothing of real excitement on the track. 11 drivers finished in the same position as they started the race. There was only 15 overtakes during the race and most of these happened at the back of the grid.

Impressive weekend for the world champion The first two races of the season in Australia and China were all about the two McLarens but Verstappen displayed at Suzuka he is well and truly in this World Championship fight. On Saturday in qualified the car at the front of the grid, 0.012 seconds ahead of Norris and on Sunday he wasn’t challenged by either Norris and his teammate Oscar Piastri. Verstappen is the first driver to win four consecutive Japanese Grand Prix.

After the race, Principal of Red Bull Racing Christian Horner spoke with F1 Sky Sports about Verstappen’s performance.

“Max, without any doubt, is the best driver in the world currently.”

Verstappen is second in the world championship, only one point behind Norris.

Still big issues at Red Bull The excitement of Verstappen’s weekend couldn’t hide the continued disappointment with the second drivers seat at Red Bull. The second seat at Red Bull has been the biggest talking point in F1 season. Liam Lawson was to partner Verstappen for the 2025 season but after only two races Red Bull announced that Racing Bull driver Yuki Tsunoda would replace Lawson at Red Bull and Lawson would drive for Racing Bull.

Lawson’s struggled to make an impression at both Australia and China scoring no points. In China Lawson qualified for both the sprint race and race in last position and finished the race in 15.

Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner spoke about the reasons behind the swap.

“We have a duty of care to protect and develop Liam and together, we see that after such a difficult start, it makes sense to act quickly so Liam can gain experience.”

In qualifying, both drivers were knocked out in Q2 with Lawson finishing one position above Tsunoda in 14. They both moved up one position on the starting grid with William’s Carlos Sainz given a three grid penalty. During the race Tsunoda was able to climb up two positions which should be seen as a good result when over half the drivers finished in the same position as they started but for Red Bull it was still two positions out of the points. In the constructors championship Red Bull sit in third in the constructors championship with 61 points, Verstappen has all of them.

Lawson had a race to forget, finishing in 17. Lawson spoke with the F1.com after the race.

“It’s been a pretty crazy few weeks and months, I just want to get back into the groove and get racing. We get to go again next week with a new style of track, so we’ll keep chipping away.”

F1 China Qualifying Review

Questions are already being asked about Lawson’s position at Red Bull We are only at the second weekend of the 2025 Formula 1 season and the pressure is squarely on Red Bull driver Liam Lawson. Lawson was chosen to partner Max Verstappen over Yuki Tsunoda at Red Bull. Yet he has struggled in the role so far, crashing out in the rain in Melbourne and this weekend he qualified last in the sprint and last for the race today. In the sprint he finished in 14, six places outside the points. Verstappen on the other hand has finished on the podium at Melbourne and the sprint race in China. He qualified fourth for the race today.

After qualifying Lawson spoke with Sky Sports F1 on his performance on the track.

“Unfortunately, I don’t really have time but it’s just one of those things. To drive a Formula 1 car, it takes 100% confidence in what you’re doing. It’s not that I don’t feel confident, the window is just so small.”

What will see from Oliver Beaman in Shanghai? There were high expectations for Haas’s Oliver Beaman in 2025 after scoring points in his first two races of his career last season but his race in Melbourne was nothing short of a disaster. Before the race he only drove 12 laps of Albert Park, crashing out twice and missing qualifying completely. He finished the race in 14, last of the drivers to complete the race.

In the sprint he qualified in 12 but would lose three positions throughout the race and finish in 15. There was one positive he did finish one spot ahead of his teammate Esteban Ocon in 16. He qualified in 17 for the race and will be hoping to climb up the grid throughout the race.

After the disappointment of Melbourne Hadjar shines in qualifying. Racing Bulls Isack Hadjar was about to start his first race of his Formula 1 in Melbourne when he crashed out on the warm up lap. Even with his helmet on, Hadjar’s heartbreak was there for all to see. He was comforted by Anthony Hamilton, father of Lewis as he was walked back to the pitlane. the most heartwarming moment of the weekend. Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko didn’t see it this way and said the whole incident “was a bit embarrassing”.

One weekend is a long time in Formula 1 and Hadjar displayed his resilience on Saturday in China qualifying in seven for the race, two positions ahead of his teammate Yuki Tsunoda. Hadjar spoke with the F1 website about his qualifying result.

“I made a mistake and today I didn’t, so I finished the job, it’s a satisfying one.”

F1 Live 2025 Review

To celebrate the 75 years of Formula 1 a two hour extravaganza was held at London’s O2 Arena. Each team was introduced to the crowd with the new liveries of the cars. There was also live performances from American rockstar mgk and British pop band Take That. Here are the biggest talking points.

What does Livery mean? Livery has been the most frequently said word in F1 in the last week. Lets discuss what it means before we go any further. The livery is the design and colour scheme of each of the cars. For example Ferrari’s livery has always been red.

No in-depth conversations from the drivers or teams. If you wanted detailed discussions from the drivers about the season ahead you had come to the wrong place. Most drivers and team principals were given just one questions and those answers weren’t too expansive or long.

Alpine Team Principal Oliver Oakes was asked what they need to do to improve on position six in the constructors championship. He simply replied “I guess we just need to rise higher”.

The night belonged to one man in red. There are four British men on the F1 grid in 2025 but it was clear in the London stadium that Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton was the favourite. A massive roar echoed out when the seven time world champions name was mentioned or face appeared on the big screen.

The same cannot be said for the Red Bull Racing team. When the Red Bull Racing team head to Silverstone later in the season they won’t be expecting a positive reaction. Each time driver Max Verstappen or Team Principal Christian Horner appeared on the big screen a loud boo was heard. Later in the evening when Horner tried to introduce his drivers Verstappen and Liam Lawson to the crowd he was booed throughout his speech. Red Bull drivers were the only drivers not interviewed after there introduction.

Best Introductions of the night. Before the drivers and car came out each team conducted their own introduction through videos on the big screen, props and musicians. The best of the night was Aston Martin whose theme was James Bond. It began with a James Bond style video which could have been out of the Bond movie “the world is not enough”.

Aston Martin drivers Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll walked down the arena stairs in suits with their helmets on with Bond theme playing overhead. A video appeared on the screen about the history of the Aston Matin before Nigerian singer song writer Tems performed her single “higher” with violinists. Aston Martin’s Team Principal and CEO Andy Cowell and drivers came out onto the stage.

Honorary mention to the Kick Sauber team who had drummers lining both sides of the stage as the car and team came out.

Best Liveries for 2025 Alpine and Racing Bulls were the two teams that liveries that stood out the most. Racing Bulls who was formally known as RB last season replaced the majority of blue on their car last season to white and it looks fantastic with the white standing out. The pink and blue of the Alpine team works well together and will look great out on the race track.

The Attention now turns Bahrain. After the excitement of the live event in London the 20 drivers head to Bahrain for three days of testing starting on Wednesday. The first race of the season will be held in Melbourne Australian on 16 March.

Biggest talking points ahead of the 2025 season Part 2

Will the real Alpine please stand up? The start of the 2024 season was nothing short of a disaster. In the first four races of the season they didn’t record a single point. Alpine’s Pierre Gasly highest position was 13 and Esteban Ocon’s highest was 15. Technical director Matt Harman and head aerodynamics Dirk De Beer resigned after the Bahrain Grand Prix, the second race of the season.

At the Monaco Grand Prix in May Gasly and Ocon collided with Ocon clearly being an fault. Ocon had to retire but Gasly was able to recover from the collision and finish the car in tenth. In July it was announced that Alpine Team Principal Bruno Famin would leave his role and be involved in a different position in the Renault Group. Oliver Oakes was announced as the new Team Principal. Oakes is the third team principal at Alpine in 18 months.

There were positives to come out of the year. The biggest being the Sao Paolo Grand Prix with both drivers getting on the podium in the wet at Brazil. Gasly finished in the top four of the fives including top 5 on the streets of Las Vegas. He would finish in the top 10 in the drivers championship.

Gasly’s teammate Ocon had an indifferent year. Apart from his podium finish at Sao Paolo, Ocon only finished in the points in four races and was beaten by 19 points by Gasly in the drivers championship. In July, Haas announced that Ocon had signed a multi year contract with the team. Ocon was replaced by Australian Jack Doohan for the final race of the season.

Alpine announced that Doohan would partner Gasly at Alpine for the 2025 season and Argentinian Franco Colapinto would be the reserve driver. Colapinto replaced Logan Sargeant at Williams for the last nine races of the season. At First Colapinto impressed at Williams finishing in the top 10 in two of the first four races and just outside the points in the other two. There was speculation he could be the second driver at Red Bull.

Colapinto was unable to continue his fine form and wouldn’t finish in the points again. He crashed in multiple race weekends and didn’t finish three of the last five races.

Biggest points ahead the 2025 season Part 1

It was only last month Max Verstappen was celebrating his fourth drivers championship and McLaren their first constructors championship in 26 years but we are only six weeks away from embarking on Albert Park in Melbourne for the opening race of the season. Here we look at the biggest talking points ahead of what will be a fascinating season.

Can Hamilton return to his brilliant best at Ferrari? Hamilton will go down as one of the greatest Formula 1 drivers of all time. With Michael Schumacher, Hamilton has the equal most championship titles with seven. Yet the 2024 season was mixed to say the least. Two brilliant wins at Spa in Belgium and at his home grand prix at Silverstone but he failed to get out of Q1 in qualifying on numerous occasions. Apart from his two wins he only finished on the podium on three other occasions. Hamilton finished the season in seventh, 22 points behind his teammate George Russell at Mercedes. Hamilton finished the 2023 season in 2023.

Hamilton has joined the most famous brand in motorsport Ferrari for at least the next two seasons. Will the new environment at Ferrari’s base in Maranello Italy be what Hamilton needs to fight for the championship in 2025?

Can McLaren do the double in 2025 and win both the drivers and constructors championship? After years of disappointment and struggle McLaren finally returned to be one of the powerhouses of Formula 1. McLaren’s driver Lando Norris won his first race of his career at Miami and would be on top of the podium another three times at Abu Dhabi, Singapore and the Netherlands. He would be on the podium another nine times. Norris finished the drivers championship in second. Had it not been for Verstappen’s dominant start to the season Norris would had been in the battle to win the drivers championship.

His teammate at McLaren Oscar Piastri would win two races this season at Hungary and Azerbaijan and would be on the podium another six times. He finished the drivers championship in fourth place.

McLaren won the constructors championship by 14 points points over second Ferrari for the first time since 1998. Will we see this continued dominance in 2025 and can Piastri or Norris be the first driver to win the championship since Lewis Hamilton in 2008.

Will the new era at Mercedes bring immediate success?

The new era at McLaren has officially begun in 2025. After 12 season Hamilton has left for Ferrari and George Russell has become the lead driver at the team. Russell continued to improve throughout the 2024 season. Russell won races at Austria and Las Vegas and finished first over the line at Belgium but was disqualified after his car was underweight after the race. He would finish above Hamilton in the drivers championship.

Russell’s new teammate at Mercedes will be 18 year old Italian sensation Andrea Kimi Antonelli. Antonelli has continued to impress since his racing debut at the age of 15. He won the Italian Formula 4 championship in 2022 and in 2023 he won the Formula Regional European Championship and the Formula Regional Middle East Championship. In 2024 he bypassed F3 to race in F2. In F2 Antonelli won the sprint race in Silverstone and the feature race in Hungary. He finished sixth in the F2 championship.

Now the big test comes for both these drivers. Can Antonelli brin this impressive form to F1 and can Russell continue his ascension up the ranks in 2025?

What will we see from Aston Martin in 2025? 2024 was a year to forget for the Aston Martin delivering well below expectations. In 2023 Aston Martin finished fifth in constructors championship with 280 points but 2024 they could only record a measly 94 points. Aston Martin would again finish in fifth but a whopping 374 points behind fourth place Mercedes.

Aston Martin driver Fernando Alonso started the season with real promise with finishing in the points in the first six races of the season but for the rest of the season top 10 points were less frequent. Alonso only finished in the points eight times for the rest of the season. He finished with 70 points compared to 206 in 2023.

It was a nightmare season for Alonso’s teammate Lance stroll. He only scored points in five races this season and he was outscored by Alonso 19-5 and 17-7 in races. In the wet at Sao Paulo Stroll spun out on the formation lap and then got the car stuck in the gravel. He finished the season in 13th in the drivers championship.

There was one big positive that came out of the season was Adrian Newey joining Aston Martin as their Managing Technical Partner. He starts his role on the 1 March this year. Newey was at Red Bull for 18 years where he played a key roll in the success of their drivers Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen who have both won four championships.

Biggest talking points for the F1 2024 season: Red Bull

The gap between Verstappen and the rest of the field is closing.

In 2023 Red Bull’s Max Verstappen won every race of the Formula 1 season. Verstappen continued that dominance in the first half of the 2024 season, winning seven of the first ten 10 races. Yet the tide began to turn, Ferrari, Mercedes and in particular McLaren were catching the Red Bull outfit, Verstappen was no longer invincible.

After Verstappen’s win in Spain at the 10th race of the season he wouldn’t win another race until the Brazilian Grand Prix, the 21st race of the season. It was one of Verstappen’s greatest wins, coming from the back of the grid to win the race at Sao Paulo. He would win again at the Qatar.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, Mercedes George Russell and Lewis Hamilton and McLaren’s Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri would all win multiple races during the 2024 season.

Verstappen would win the 2024 drivers championships by only 63 points over McLaren’s Lando Norris. This is compared to the 2023 championship, he won by 290 points.

Perez couldn’t rise to the occasion at Red Bull in 2024.

The second driver has become a poison chalice at Red Bull with drivers including Pierre Gasly and Alex Albon all struggling in the role. Sergio Perez had been at Red Bull since 2021 but there had been continued speculation with his spot at the team. He finished the 2023 season in second but 290 points behind his team-mate Verstappen.

Red Bull sister team RB signed Daniel Ricciardo for the 2024 season. Continued speculation in the pitlane that Ricciardo would replace Perez at Red Bull if he exceled at RB but Ricciardo couldn’t live up to expectation in the early part of the season. Perez started the season in brilliant form finishing on the podium in four of the first five races and signed a two year extension in June.

After a confident start to the season, Perez’s form deteriorated quickly and the pressure began to rise for the Mexican driver. After the fifth race of the season Perez would only finish in the top 5 once for the rest of the season. He didn’t finish 5 races and be completely out of the points another three. Perez finished the drivers championship in 8th place with 152 points, 71 points behind Mercedes’s Lewis Hamilton in seventh. Red Bull finished the constructors champions in a disappointing third place.

On the 18th of December Perez and Red Bull announced that they parted ways with immediate effect.

The next day Red Bull announced Liam Lawson as the second driver or the 2025 season. Lawson replaced Ricciardo at RB for the last five races for 2024 season finishing in the points on two occasions. He also raced for RB when Ricciardo was injured in 2023 for again five races finishing in the points once. Lawson is from New Zealand and is 22 years old.

Talking Points From Day 2 United States Grand Prix

Near perfect day for Verstappen The four week break between the Singapore Grand Prix and the race this weekend has done the Red Bull driver the world of good. Max Verstappen was in clear control of the sprint race from start to finish winning the sprint by almost four seconds, his first win since the sprint race at Austria. He qualified for tomorrow’s race in second and he was on a fast lap when qualifying finished prematurely due to Mercedes George Russell’s crashing in the final minute of qualifying. Verstappen still leads the driver championship by 46 points over Mclaren’s Lando Norris.

Perez continues to struggle As Verstappen thrived in the Texan sun the same cannot be said for his Red Bull teammate. Sergio Perez finished outside the points in the sprint with coming in ninth and will finish the start of the race in tenth. He was unable to record a time in Q3 due to the Russell crash. Perez sits in eighth in the driver championship, over 200 points behind his teammate. Even though he has a contract for the next two season there is immense pressure on Perez holding his spot in the team. Red Bull will be expecting a strong result from him in the race tomorrow.

Qualifying brilliance for Norris. McLaren’s Lando Norris will start the USA Grand Prix in pole position after a brilliant final qualifying lap in Q3. This might have been helped by the Russell crash but nothing can be taken away from Norris who said after qualifying to Sky Sports F1 that this was one of his best ever qualifying laps. He finished the sprint race in third after being overpassed by Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz on the final lap. He will face competition from both the Ferrari’s as they looked quick in both the sprint and qualifying.

No highlights for Piastri after the first two days in Texas but there is still hope for the race on Sunday. On Friday afternoon it was a horror show who McLaren’s Oscar Piastri who was knocked out of Q1 in the sprint qualifying. On Saturday he would climb up six places in the sprint race but was given a five second penalty for forcing Alpine’s Pierre Gasly off the race track. He will start the race from fifth and is in reaching distance on his teammate who starts from pole.

The Ferrari’s are real contenders for the race win tomorrow. There would have been nervous faces in the Ferrari garage at the beginning of the sprint with their drivers Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz battling back and forth for positions. It was enthralling viewing for the spectators around around the race track as Sainz who will join Williams next season came out on top. Both drivers passed Russell and Sainz passed Norris on the final lap with Sainz finishing second and Leclerc fourth. They will start Sunday’s race on the second row of the grid with Sainz third and Leclerc fourth.

Adrian Newey joins Aston Martin.

Adrian Newy one of the most sought after people in Formula 1 has signed a multi year deal with Aston Martin.

Newey is a Formula 1 Engineer who’s main role is designing the car. Newey first joined Formula 1 in 1979. His designs have been key factors in successful teams throughout this time.

He has been the chief technical officer at Red Bull for the last eighteen years. Since his appointment Red Bull drivers have won multiple championships with Sebastian Vettel winning four and Max Verstappen winning three. Last season Verstappen won all but one race and this season is again leading the championship. Red Bull has won 108 races and 101 pole positions.

Newey has won a total of 12 driver and 13 constructor championships in his time in formula 1.

In May when it was announced that Newey would be leaving the Red Bull team Red Bull Racing Principal Christian Horner paid tribute to Newey.

“All of our greatest moments from the past twenty years have come with Adrian’s hand on the technical tiller. His vision and brilliance has helped us to win 13 titles in 20 season” Horner said to the Red Bull website.

Newey has joined Aston Martin on a multi year deal believed to be worth 30 million pounds a year.

Executive Chairman at Aston Martin Lawrence Stroll said Newey was their number one target.

“As soon as Adrian became available we knew we had to make it happen. Our initial conversations confirmed there was a shared desire to collaborate in a once in a lifetime opportunity” he said.

Newey spoke with the media after the announcement.

“I am thrilled to be joining the Aston Martin Aramco Formula 1 team. I have been hugely inspired by the passion and commitment that Lawrence brings to everything that he is involved with.”

William’s half season review

2023 was a big season for the Williams Racing team. They signed Motorsport Strategy Director James Vowels as their team principal. This appointment brought much improvement on the track. Williams Racing finished with 28 points and seventh in the constructors championship. In 2022 they finished last and only recorded eight points.

This improvement was again expected in 2024 but halfway through the season Williams Racing hasn’t come close to the heights they reached in 2023.

Alex Albon was seen as one of the breakout stars of 2023. He scored 27 of their 28 points in 2023. He finished in the top 10 on seven occasions. After Lewis Hamilton signed a two year contract with Ferrari, Albon was seen as one of the drivers that could take the vacant Mercedes drive.

Yet 2024 hasn’t gone to plan for Albon or the Williams team. Williams have only recorded fours points and two top positions this season.

During the third race in Melbourne, Albon crashed out in the first practice on Friday. The team didn’t bring a spare chassis to the Albert Park track and were down to one car for the rest of the weekend. Williams Racing decided to put Albon into his teammate Logan Sargeant’s car. Sargeant had to sit out the rest of the weekend.

Sargeant has been with Williams Racing since the start of the 2023. He has spent most of the season at the back of the grid but did finish 10th at Austin.

Sargeant has continued to struggle in 2024. He finished 11th at Silverstone in the British Grand Prix but has finished 17th or lower eight time and failed to finish on two occasions.

In March Albon signed a multi year contract extension with Williams but Sargeant contract has not been extended.

On the 30th of July Williams Racing announced they had signed Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz for the next two seasons with an option to extend. Sainz contract wasn’t renewed for 2025 after Ferrari signed Hamilton. Sainz has won three grand prix’s including this years Australian Grand Prix and has been on the podium 23 times. This year Sainz sits in 5th in the constructors championship.

On the Williams website Vowels said he is excited to have Sainz for 2025 and beyond.

“Carlos joining Williams is a strong statement of intent for both parties. Carlos has demonstrated time and time again that he is one of the most talented drivers on the grid, with race winning pedigree.”

As of writing this Sargeant will remain with Williams for the next race at the Netherlands.