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W Series reigning champion Jamie Chadwick claims pole position at Silverstone ahead of round three of the 2022 W Series championship, having won all three races so far.

She pipped fellow Brit’s Abbi Pulling and Alice Powell to first position after they both put in strong timings during qualifying. Chadwick remained calm and again showed dominance in the session, setting a time of 1:56:758. She finished ahead of Emma Kimilainen, in the hopes to maintain her strong lead in the driver’s standings and the seventh win of her W Series career.

Chadwick was kept under pressure throughout from Finnish driver Kimilainen, with the two battling it out for the number one spot. It was Jenner Racing driver Chadwick who came out on top as Kimilainen finished +0.219s behind. Despite missing out on pole position, Kimilainen’s, second place qualifying position marks her best result of the 2022 season, placing herself between the British drivers in the field.

17-year-old Pulling put in an impressive performance, slotting herself into third place and on the second row, with a time of 1:57:531. Pulling had a strong finish at the Spanish circuit when she finished second, the best result in her W Seriels career so far. Behind Pulling sits the rest of the British field, with Alice Powell starting fifth, Abbie Eaton in eighth, Sarah Moore in ninth and Jessica Hawkins starting in tenth. Hawkins struggled during the session to maintain pace, following on from a disappointing Barcelona race which saw her place eleventh with her team, Click2Drive Bristol Street Motors.

Beitske Visser claimed fourth position as she edged Powell, who was pulled up for track limits during the Silverstone qualifying session.

Scuderia Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz achieved his first-ever Formula 1 pole position in the difficult conditions of a wet British Grand Prix qualifying. With the ever-changing conditions of a rain-soaked Silverstone Circuit, he said that putting together each lap was a challenge– making his pole position all the more memorable.

“I’m extremely happy today! Securing my first pole at Silverstone in the wet is something special that I will never forget. The whole qualifying was very tricky, and every lap was a new adventure because of the track conditions. Finding grip and traction was a huge challenge and every lap you had to adapt. 

Sainz is motivated for race day, and hopes to convert his first-ever pole position to his first-ever win. To secure the top step of the podium, however, he said that he will have to face the stiff competition of those nearby, including the likes of Max Verstappen who joins him on the front row as well as his team-mate Charles Leclerc who will start third. 

“On the very last attempt I went for it and managed to put a good lap together that gave us pole. The confidence for tomorrow is high and hopefully we can bring our good pace from Friday into the race. It will be a very tight battle with our competitors, but I’m ready for it and I’m sure we can put together a strong race and fight for the win. Let’s race.”

“It’s good to see that we’ve found some consistency in the wet.” – Charles Leclerc

Having spun out on his final qualifying run, Charles Leclerc was dissatisfied with his qualifying performance, which left him out of contention for pole position in a particularly dynamic session– leaving him to start the race in third place.

After already taking two pole positions and one podium in the 2022 FIA Formula 2 championship, Jack Doohan has finally found himself on the top step of the podium following a brilliant display on the wet but slowly drying tarmac of Silverstone Circuit.

The Australian driver was followed to the finish line by Ayumu Iwasa who jumped from sixth on the grid to second place by the time the chequered flag fell. The Red Bull junior was closing in on the Alpine junior and managed to get into within a second but ran out of laps before he could make a move.

Charouz Racing System’s Enzo Fittipaldi took the final step on the podium for his second of the season, followed by championship rivals Théo Pourchaire and current leader, Felipe Drugovich respectively.

Due to the wet conditions on the track, the drivers took two formation laps around the 5.891km long track behind the safety car before they got going with a rolling start.

With the rain subsiding and the whole grid on the wet-compound tyres, it wasn’t long before reports of a drying track came in from the drivers. Doohan was one of the drivers who got himself into a rhythm by finding the wet patches on the track to soothe the overheating tyres.

Red Bull Racing Team Principal Christian Horner has confirmed that Liam Lawson will replace the dropped Jüri Vips as the team’s Reserve Driver.

The Estonian Vips was suspended by Red Bull following an online incident which took place at the end of June. The Austrian constructer then confirmed a few days later that Vips’ contract had been terminated in an official statement posted to the team’s social media.

20-year-old Lawson steps into the role with a record of two wins and seven podiums in FIA Formula 2 including one this season in the Jeddah Sprint Race.

When questioned about the vacant reserve driver spot following Vips’ sacking, Horner told Formula 1, “Well Liam Lawson steps into that role, obviously following the Juri Vips announcement.”

The Red Bull outfit isn’t short of junior drivers that are soon capable to step into the role, “Jehan [Daruvala] is doing a great job and we’re just following his progress with interest, as well as Dennis Hauger as well, all qualifying for super licences. That’s our coverage at this point in time.”

Carlin’s Logan Sargeant took his maiden FIA Formula 2 pole position in Friday’s Qualifying, ahead of championship leader Felipe Drugovich who qualified in third place.

The feat marks the American’s third pole position at Silverstone Circuit in his junior single-seater career after previously taking back-to-back poles in the 2020 FIA Formula 3 season.

While the results speak for themselves, Sargeant is unsure as to why he is so fast on the legendary British circuit, saying in the post-qualifying press conference, “I didn’t know this track just suits me. Every time I come here, I seem to be quick. The car was absolutely hooked up today so a big thank you to Carlin. Laid down a heater.”

The Williams Academy driver was on fine form all day on Friday, with him also setting the fastest time in the morning Free Practice session. “I think Free Practice this morning was a really strong start for us. Obviously, the weather was looking a little bit tricky. So I was happy to the weather held out.”

“We did need to make a few tweaks after Free Practice. It wasn’t completely in the window, but I’m very happy with where we put the car in Qualifying.“

Isack Hadjar took his second win in the FIA Formula 3 Championship as he led home Victor Martins and Reece Ushijima at Silverstone on Saturday morning.

The Hitech GP driver started fourth on the reversed grid, behind Ushijima, Martins and Kush Maini.

Brad Benavides slowed on the formation lap, but continued past the National pitlane meaning the start was aborted and the drivers set off on a second tour around the circuit before the lights went green.

Martins jumped Ushijima into Abbey, while Kush Maini tried to get around the outside at Village but couldn’t find a way through.

The whole field made it through Lap 1 cleanly, despite Filip Ugran going three-wide on the run into Copse on his return to FIA F3.

Following victory at the Canadian Grand Prix two weeks ago, reigning world champion, Max Verstappen, is working hard to prepare his car for the British Grand Prix this weekend. The First Practice session of the weekend saw a missed opportunity for drivers to collect data, as rainfall got in the way of dry-tyre running.

Verstappen was able to set a time good enough for fourth-place in Free Practice Two, and now seems more confident in the areas that Oracle Red Bull Racing can improve on.

“It’s always a bit tricky when you don’t run a lot in FP1, it means there’s a lot more guess work in FP2. I think we know what we need to work on and we’ll do that overnight. It looks like it’s going to rain during qualifying tomorrow, so there’ll be different conditions compared to our sessions today.

“I got a few laps in with high fuel on the softest compounds, the tyres wear quickly here with all the high-speed corners, so it’s always going to be quite tricky to manage the tyres on this track. Overall it went okay today and I’m looking forward to qualifying tomorrow.”

Sergio Pérez describes Red Bull car as ‘miles off’ the simulator’s car

Meanwhile, at the other side of the Red Bull garage, mechanics are less certain on the steps that are needed to achieve in order for Sergio Pérez to feel comfortable with his car. The Mexican claims that his preparations in the simulator are “miles off” the real-life feeling of the car, and suspected aerodynamic changes will need to be made in order to regain that confidence.

It was a good start to the British Grand Prix for the McLaren F1 Team, who ended the opening day of their home weekend with Lando Norris in third and Daniel Ricciardo in ninth.

Both drivers sat out the morning session, with the typical British weather providing plenty of rain during Free Practice One. The circuit dried up ahead of the afternoon session, where both drivers worked on a number of areas. Norris did well to finish just two-tenths behind the fastest time of the day, Ricciardo, however, performed better on the long-runs and reported of struggling on the Soft tyres. The Australian ended the day in ninth.

Following the opening day, McLaren’s Executive Director, Andrea Stella, evaluated the team’s start to the British Grand Prix where they have plenty of positives to take into Qualifying.

“The mixed weather conditions today at Silverstone presented us with an opportunity to study the car on both a wet and a dry track, which was useful because the weather is likely to continue in this unsettled vein across the remainder of the weekend. It was also quite windy today, which makes the car a little unpredictable and tricky to drive – especially in the high-speed corners.

“Overall, we’re happy that the car seems to be performing better here than we saw in the last two races. We hope to glean as much as we can overnight from the data gathered today, and be as prepared as possible for qualifying and the race.” 

It was a great start to Lando Norris‘ home Grand Prix, after ending the opening day at the Silverstone International Circuit in third-place.

After choosing to sit out the wet Free Practice One, Norris got to work in the dry afternoon session. The Brit set a best lap-time of a 1:29.118, putting him just shy of Lewis Hamilton in second and two-tenths behind Carlos Sainz Jr in first.

Despite a strong opening day, Norris complained of his car being difficult to drive. Strong winds caused problems for a number of drivers, something which is quite common around the British circuit.

The Brit thinks that on the whole the car is performing well, but that some “small improvements” can be made.

“A decent day, very tricky in the wind conditions we have here. It’s strong gusts at high speed, so the car is difficult to drive, changing every lap, it’s inconsistent. But it’s the same for everyone. From our side I think the car’s performing in a reasonable area, little bit better than maybe we were expecting, so hopefully that can continue into tomorrow. We can make a couple of changes and small improvements in a few areas and continue the pace we had today into tomorrow.” 

Gavin Harlien is no stranger to success at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, winning a Stadium Super Trucks race there in 2019 after leading every lap. Three years later, his return trip netted him a Fastest Qualifier for the second time in his career.

Harlien topped Friday’s qualifying session for his first pole since the 2017 Detroit Grand Prix, where he scored podium finishes in both races. He is the only former Mid-Ohio winner in the seven-driver field.

Robert Stout qualified second and will seek his first podium on a permanent road course. He finished fourth twice at Mid-Ohio as a rookie in 2021 and was a strong contender during his latest run there before a spin knocked him off the podium.

Qualifying third and fourth are series newcomers Ben Maier and Cory Winner, the latter of whom livestreamed his run on his Facebook.

Max Gordon, Zoey Edenholm, and Bill Hynes round out the order. Gordon, racing on his own while father Robby is away on business, flipped between seventh- and fifth-place finishes in his Mid-Ohio début last year. Hynes has always finished seventh or eighth when racing at the Lexington road course.

The Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team enjoyed arguably their best Friday of the season so far, with both Lewis Hamilton and George Russell amongst the pacesetters at the British Grand Prix.

Hamilton appeared incredibly strong on the opening day at the Silverstone International Circuit, after finishing both the wet Free Practice One and dry Free Practice Two in second-place. The seven-time World Champion was just over a tenth behind the best time of the day, but admitted that there is still more performance to extract from the W13.

After not setting a lap in the morning session, Russell focused on long runs in the afternoon, ending the day in eighth-place, The British driver was just under a second behind Carlos Sainz Jr, who topped the opening day.

Russell appeared stronger on long runs than short, with Hamilton being at a good level over both distances. However, porpoising was again an issue for the team, with Hamilton in particular suffering from the issue through the corners.

Mercedes’ Andrew Shovlin discussed the team’s opening day performance, and whether this weekend’s upgrades are working as planned.

Lewis Hamilton had plenty to be pleased about on the opening day of his home Grand Prix, as the seven-time World Champion ended the opening day of the British Grand Prix in second-place.

The British driver performed well on the opening day at the Silverstone International Circuit, after coming second in both the wet Free Practice One; dry Free Practice Two. Hamilton ended the day just +0.163 behind Carlos Sainz Jr, after the 37-year-old posted a personal best 1:29.105 at the end of the second session. Sainz was the only driver to tip into the 1:28s, however, Hamilton won’t be too concerned by this.

Hamilton will be concerned though by the W13 porpoising not down the straights but through the corners, something which the eight-time British GP winner wants the team to get on top of.

Overall though, Hamilton was very pleased with his first day performance, at a circuit he still finds “hair-raising”.

“It has been a good day, we managed10 laps in FP1 which was better than most, so I was happy with that. We’re bouncing a bit still, not on the straights but through the corners so we’ve still got work to do. It does feel like a small step forward but we’ve got to keep working. With this car you can’t drive the tracks the same as you used to, with how stiff it is and the ride characteristics, but it’s still fun through Maggotts, Becketts and also Stowe – it’s mega, my favourite corners.

It was the perfect start to the weekend for Carlos Sainz Jr, who ended the opening day of the British Grand Prix on top by just over a tenth of a second.

Sainz made the most of the only dry session of the day, which came in the afternoon. The morning session at the Silverstone International Circuit was constantly disrupted by the traditional English weather, which resulted in half of the field not even completing a lap-time.

The afternoon saw drivers finally get the hammer down, with Sainz setting the bar on a 1:28.942. The Spaniard appears quick at the British circuit in all conditions crucially, with rain being a threat for Qualifying.

Despite topping the first day, Sainz admitted that Friday was “quite challenging”.

“A busy second session after the lack of running in FP1. We had to put together an intense run plan for FP2 to properly check both the short run and the long run pace. It was quite a challenging session. The wind made it tricky to get the right balance for the high-speed sections and the correct compromise for tyres in the low-speed ones.

Carlin’s Logan Sargeant has secured his first FIA Formula 2 pole position at Silverstone Circuit in round seven of the 2022 championship.

The legendary British track has become favourite of the American driver, with him previously taking back-to-back poles here in 2020 with a podium and victory in respective races. The pole position also marks Carlin’s second of the weekend, with Zak O’Sullivan setting the fastest lap in FIA Formula 3‘s qualifying earlier in the day.

ART Grand Prix’s Frederik Vesti lines up alongside Sargeant on the front-row after qualifying in second place ahead of the championship leader, Felipe Drugovich, in third.

The second place man in the standings, Theo Pourchaire set an identical time to his championship rival but it is the Brazilian who starts ahead due to the fact that his time was set before the Frenchman’s in the thirty-minute qualifying session.

Sargeant’s Carlin team-mate, Liam Lawson, rounded out the top five qualifiers with a time that was just two tenths off the top spot.

The FIA World Motor Sport Council convened Wednesday in Paris to outline regulation changes for its sporting divisions including the Cross-Country Rally Commission that oversees the World Rally-Raid Championship and Cups for Cross-Country Bajas, the latter of which includes regional tiers in Europe and the Middle East. Such modifications include wording tweaks to the rulebook to closer align with the FIM, who co-sanctions the W2RC, along with introducing a penalty points system for non-priority competitors and approving regulations for electric vehicles and hybrid T3 (Lightweight Prototype) entries.

“The Cross-Country Rally Sporting Regulations have been updated with a view to simplification, including the move of technical requirements to the FIA Technical Regulations, the compilation of the fixed penalties in a dedicated appendix (Appendix I) and the harmonization with the FIM’s wording,” reads a meeting summary published by the FIA.

“In order to make the sport more accessible, a penalty point system for minor infringements to the Regulations is being introduced for non-priority drivers. The principles of new Regulations for the EV and hybrid T3 group (lightweight prototype) vehicles were also approved.”

Priority drivers are defined as those who finished in the top three in points (overall or class) for the FIA Cross-Country World Cup or a race within the past two years, received special endorsement from the FIA, or is entered into a cross-country rally event with factory support. Among the ninety-five priority drivers for 2022 are 2021 Dakar Rally champion Stéphane Peterhansel and the previous year’s winner Carlos Sainz, and defending Cross-Country Bajas World Cup titlist Yazeed Al-Rajhi.

Greenlighting new regulations for hybrid T3 and electric vehicles comes as the discipline, much like other motorsport, further embraces alternative fuel sources. Peterhansel won March’s Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge—the second leg of the W2RC—in March with the Audi RS Q e-tron to become the first EV overall rally raid winner. The Dakar Rally intends to mandate zero-emissions vehicles by 2030, a goal also set by the WMSC.