Mercedes Top Brass Join Hands With Ferrari

Not An Isolated Event By Ferrari

Max Verstappen, an exceptional Dutch racing prodigy, commands the Formula 1 track with unparalleled finesse. Achieving multiple Grand Prix victories, he fearlessly navigates high-speed challenges. With meticulous precision, he tactfully overtakes rivals, showcasing unwavering determination. His remarkable skillset and strategic brilliance consistently propel him to the forefront of the championship race. In this exhilarating sport where seconds determine victory, Verstappen’s agility and focus captivate global audiences, redefining racing excellence.

Triumphant Max Verstappen at Rainy Zandvoort

Red Bull’s number 1 and defending champion, Verstappen, begins strongly from the pole position. However, rain intervenes before drivers can leave the starting grid, prompting early pit stops and a significant leaderboard shift. Multiple pit stops and corner chaos follow, normalizing once skies clear and tracks dry.

Fernando Alonso ends his podium hiatus, securing second place after his last podium at the Canadian GP. Despite multiple opportunities, Sergio Perez falls short of the top 3 again. Perez loses control on a wet track, slipping to 3rd place. Perez’s tire change pit stop coincides with Zhou Guanyu’s wall crash, leading to a Red Flag.

As per revised FIA rules, Perez restarts from 3rd but receives a 5-second penalty for a faulty restart. Eventually, he drops to fourth place behind Alpine’s Pierre Gasly.

A Tale of Strategy Errors and Technical Glitches

While Red Bull Racing and Verstappen enjoy a dream season, Ferrari and Charles Leclerc face challenges. Starting 9th, Leclerc steadily advances, but car floor damage leads Ferrari to withdraw from the race, resulting in a DNF. Sainz finishes fifth, earning points for the red team.

Interestingly, for Mercedes, despite Russell’s promising start and the intense fight by Lewis Hamilton, team strategy errors prevent podium placements. As a consequence, both drivers miss out. Though Russell fails to earn points, Hamilton secures a valuable 8 points with a 6th-place finish.

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Looking forward, Formula One heads to Italy next week. The race weekend starts on September 1st, with the race scheduled for September 3rd. The spotlight is on whether Max Verstappen breaks the DNF jinx or history repeats itself.

Hamilton began his Formula One career with the McLaren team in 2007 after impressing in the GP2 series. In his debut season, he finished as the runner-up in the championship, losing out to Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen by just one point. He secured his first championship in 2008, beating Ferrari’s Felipe Massa by just one point in a dramatic finale in Brazil.

Lewis Hamilton Moves to Mercedes

After six seasons with McLaren, Hamilton made the move to Mercedes in 2013, where he has remained ever since. Since joining the team, he has secured six more championships, with his most recent one coming in the 2020 season. Hamilton has won seven titles, tying him with Michael Schumacher for the most championships won by a single driver in the sport’s history.

Apart from his success on the track, Hamilton is also known for his various interests and hobbies. He advocates for animal rights and has spoken out against using animals in circuses and other forms of entertainment. He is also a keen supporter of environmental causes and has taken steps to reduce his carbon footprint, such as adopting a vegan diet and driving electric cars.

Hamilton is also a music enthusiast and has collaborated with several artists in the past. He has even released his music album, “The Stevenage Kid”. In addition, he is an avid fashion enthusiast and a frequent attendee at various fashion events worldwide.

Lewis Hamilton’s success on the track and his diverse interests and passions along the way have made him a true icon in the world of Formula One. With seven championships, he has established himself as one of the greatest drivers in the sport’s history.

READ MORE: Hamilton says Mercedes had ‘obstacles to overcome’ despite topping Barcelona pre-season running

His legacy will inspire generations of racing drivers and fans alike, and his impact on the sport and wider society will be felt for many years. Whether breaking records on the track or using his platform to champion social and environmental causes. Lewis Hamilton continues pushing the boundaries and redefining what being a Formula One driver means.

Mercedes actually took a one-two – ahead of the two Red Bulls of Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen – on Day 3 of pre-season running in Barcelona, Hamilton clocking a week’s-best lap time of 1m 19.138s, 0.095s quicker than new teammate George Russell’s 1m 19.233s from earlier in the day.

So, having spent three days getting to know the new Mercedes W13 – built to F1’s sweeping new 2022 technical regulations – how did Hamilton rate his time in Barcelona?

“It’s been an interesting few days,” he told the media on Friday evening. “It’s not been the easiest, or the most smooth running. We’ve definitely had some obstacles to overcome. But we’ve got through as much as we wanted – of course we can always do more laps but I’m happy with today’s. I think I almost got 100 laps in today, so for half a day running, that’s not too bad.

“We’re a little bit behind on the last two days. The car’s a lot different to previous years to drive, as are the tyres, but we’re working our way through it.”

Mercedes are well-known for not showing their full hand in pre-season running, while it’s believed that the W13 will be significantly different by the time it arrives in Bahrain for the Official Pre-Season Test on March 10-12.

And perhaps because of that, Hamilton wasn’t drawing too many conclusions about the pecking order from his Barcelona running.

“You never do [find out the pecking order] on the first week,” he said. “You never do. We have no idea where everyone is.

“But the whole team have done an amazing job this week. The men and women back at the factory have done an awesome job, so we just need to download all this data and just get through as much as we can next week and just put one foot in front of the other.”

The news was broken to the global world by the FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem on Thursday.

Sulayem said Eduardo Freitas and Niels Wittich will share the duties once held by Masi, who’ll be offered a new position with FIA. The change is part of a restructuring that includes prohibiting radio communication between the teams and the race director.

Max Verstappen won the championship last season in what was a thrilling and controversial season finale.

Verstappen racing for Redbull Racing was in a locked battle with Mercedes Lewis Hamilton. Masi said that the lapped cars won’t unlap themselves after a Nicholas Latiffi crash due to which Verstappen had created a handsome gap between him and race leader Hamilton.

But after complaints from Redbull Racing over the radio Masi changed his mind and asked the lapped cars to overtake. It eventually reduced the gap between Verstappen and Hamilton.

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Since Verstappen was on fresh tires. He had an undue advantage over the rusty Mercedes car. Had the lapped cars not overtaken Hamilton would have won the championship a record 8th time.