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Red Bull Racing experienced a difficult qualifying at the Russian Grand Prix, with Sergio Pérez to start from ninth and Max Verstappen of course starting from the back of the grid after having an engine change.

With Verstappen not really taking part in qualifying to prevent any unnecessary damage, it was a day for Pérez to take the lead in the Red Bull camp and take the fight to the Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team. In Qualifying One and Two the Mexican did just that, performing strongly in the difficult damp conditions at the Sochi Autodrom.

However it all unravelled in Qualifying Three, Pérez failed to switch from intermediates to slicks quick enough and was unable to challenge the front runners. In the end it’s a disappointing ninth place for Pérez, although the Mexican does believe the team are moving more positively into Sunday.

“Things were looking really promising and we had a strong Q1 and Q2. But in the changing weather and track conditions, timing is important and in hindsight we probably could have tried slick tyres one lap earlier. As we know anything can happen in the race and a positive to take from today is that the car was performing very well in the wet. We are going to move positively into Sunday and the main target will be to get a strong start and then put together the best possible race.”

“Hopefully we can have a fun race” – Max Verstappen

For Verstappen it was a pointless session, the Dutchman left the pits, drove round the circuit, then came straight back into the pits an got out the car.

The Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team so nearly had both cars make final qualifying at the Russian Grand Prix, with Lance Stroll making it and qualifying eighth and Sebastian Vettel narrowly missing out in eleventh at the Sochi Autodrom.

Stroll who struggled on Friday in both Free Practice Sessions, made the most of the challenging conditions in qualifying. The Canadian did well to make it to Qualifying Three and qualify in a solid eighth place for the race on Sunday. Stroll could’ve possibly put his car further up the grid, had he not been caught behind Sergio Pérez on his fastest lap, the Canadian also had an altercation with Daniel Ricciardo in Qualifying One.

Overall a strong qualifying for Stroll who is looking forward to seeing what unfolds on Sunday.

“I am happy that we made it into Q3 and P8 is a good starting position to fight for points tomorrow. We made a decent step forward compared to yesterday and the team did a good job in challenging conditions. I do think there was more on the table on the last lap, though.

“What affected the lap most was traffic in the last sector [caused by Sergio Perez] and my lap time was hurt under braking into Turns 13, 14 and 15. I also had issues with Daniel [Ricciardo] getting in my way in Q1. It was a bit frustrating, but we will look ahead to tomorrow now. It is a long run to the first braking point here and there is a lot of slipstreaming, so let us see what happens on Sunday.”

For the fifth time this season the Alpine F1 Team had both cars in Qualifying Three, with Fernando Alonso qualifying sixth and Esteban Ocon tenth in what was challenging conditions at the Russian Grand Prix.

Alonso came out as top Alpine on Saturday at the Sochi Autodrom, after putting his vast experience to use in very tricky conditions. After heavy rainfall at the circuit Saturday morning it was looking likely that qualifying may even get cancelled. Thankfully the weather eased allowing what was an exhilarating session.

Alonso made it into Qualifying Three comfortably and even ended Qualifying Two in third whilst on the intermediate tyres. The Spaniard put an initial lap time in on the intermediate tyres in final qualifying, before following the rest of the field and switching onto the soft tyres. In the end Alonso managed to put his car in sixth after a crazy last couple minutes, with everything trying to find grip for their slick tyres.

The double world champion is happy with sixth but believes he could have qualified even higher up the grid.

“I’m happy with sixth position in qualifying as the conditions weren’t easy out there today. It was very stressful as we’ve never run in the wet in Sochi. There was no time to experiment and find where the grip was on the track. But, in the end, we were competitive in both wet and damp conditions. I also lost about five tenths of a second on my final lap in Q3, so I could have qualified even higher than sixth. Tomorrow will be difficult because we have several very fast cars starting behind us, but I’m looking forward to the challenge.”

Lewis Hamilton to start the Russian Grand Prix from fourth place after the Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team threw away pole position at the Sochi Autodrom. Team-mate Valtteri Bottas to start seventh.

Hamilton and Bottas dominated Qualifying One and Two on the Intermediate tyres at a very damp Sochi Autodrom, the pair looked untouchable and almost certain to lockout the front row.

Qualifying Three started the way the previous sessions ended, with the Silver Arrows one and two after the first runs. Hamilton was on provisional pole from his Finnish team-mate. Everything then went so wrong for the Mercedes side. The team were slow to react to those around them who had all pitted for soft slick tyres. Hamilton and Bottas were the last to make the change.

Hamilton’s hopes of pole suddenly looked bleak , the seven-time world champion hit the barrier hard when entering the pit-lane, breaking his front wing in the process. The British driver sat in the box as his team not only changed his tyres but also his front wing. By the time Hamilton was back out on track he only had time for one lap on the soft tyres, unlike his opponents who had a couple.

Hamilton failed to improve and dropped to fourth after not managing to generate enough heat into the soft rubber. The world champion is disappointed in himself after making the mistake, on a weekend where his title rival Max Verstappen is starting from the back of the grid.

Mr Saturday George Russell did it yet again, after qualifying an incredible third for Williams Racing at the Russian Grand Prix in mixed conditions qualifying. Team-mate Nicholas Latifi to start from the back of the grid after taking engine penalty.

Russell appears to have a knack for damp conditions, after making the right decision at the correct time to fit the soft tyres in final qualifying. The British driver had enough laps in Qualifying Three to get his slick tyres up to temperature, and launch himself into third on the drying Sochi Autodrom circuit.

The Williams driver’s qualifying was almost over at the first hurdle, after Russell launched himself out of the elimination zone on his final lap. His transition into final qualifying was much smoother.

So Russell will start on the second row of the grid where he has absolutely nothing to lose. Russell is amazed by the team’s performance yet again and is going to give it his absolute all on Sunday.

“P3 is an incredible result and the team did an amazing job once again. We’re riding a wave at the moment and it feels pretty great! It’s high risk and high reward in situations like these but I knew it would be slicks for the end of the session. I managed to get the tyres in a good window and was building up to the limit to give it everything I had on the last lap.

“Many people have said in the past that third is the best place to start in Sochi. I won’t be doing anything crazy but if there’s an opportunity there tomorrow I’ll go for it. It’s going to be a very tricky race but I’ll be defending hard and picking my battles. We’ve got to look forward but also be realistic as we’ve got some very fast cars behind us. It’s not going to be easy but I will be doing my best.”

Carlos Sainz Jr produced his best ever qualifying in Formula 1, to put his Scuderia Ferrari on the front row for the Russian Grand Prix in testing conditions. Charles Leclerc to start from the back of the grid with engine penalty.

Sainz judged the conditions perfectly, the Spaniard made the right call at the right time in Qualifying Three, fitting the soft compound tyre on with enough time to get heat in the tyres on the drying Sochi Autodrom surface. It so nearly looked like it would be pole for Sainz but he was narrowly beaten by ex-Mclaren team-mate Lando Norris in what was a crazy qualifying.

Sainz enjoyed the tricky qualifying and is pleased to be on the front row, although the Spaniard would’ve been happier with pole.

“It’s been a tough quali session but I’m proud how we managed the situation to end up putting a great lap together for P2. I like these tricky conditions and I really enjoyed that last attempt on the slicks. We were one of the first ones to cross the line and the wait until P2 was confirmed was tense, as the track was drying quickly! Front row for tomorrow is a good result, and I’m happy, but I would have preferred to keep pole!

“Tomorrow it’s very likely to be dry and we had a decent pace yesterday. Graining on the front tyres will be challenging but I will give it all from the very first lap until the end. Congrats to Lando on his first pole! It’s good to start beside him.“

The Mclaren F1 Team’s ecstasy from the Italian Grand Prix continued on Saturday at the Russian Grand Prix, after Lando Norris mastered the changing conditions to claim his first ever pole position! Team-mate Daniel Ricciardo qualified a strong fifth on another memorable day for Mclaren.

Norris was the king of the challenging conditions at the Sochi Autodrom on Saturday, the British driver timed the switch from intermediates to the soft slick tyres perfectly in Qualifying Three. Norris had just enough time to do a couple of laps on the soft tyre, something which was essential to get any form of heat into the tyres on the drying surface. Alongside Norris on the front row will be his former team-mate Carlos Sainz Jr, both drivers risked it all to put their cars on the front row.

It is Mclaren’s first pole since 2012, and comes on former majority shareholder Mansour Ojjeh’s birthday, who sadly died earlier this year. Norris is of course very happy with his pole and is aiming for another strong result on Sunday.

“Obviously I’m very happy – probably the happiest I’ve been in F1! My first pole position in Formula 1 and in some pretty tricky conditions. It was very tough out there, a lot of risks taken, a lot of times I thought I could’ve ended up in the wall – but it all paid-off and was worth it. Thanks to the whole team for giving me a great car today.

“It’s an amazing feeling to get pole and something I’ve always dreamed of since I was a kid. So now I can finally tick that off, and hopefully tomorrow we can just go for another strong result.”

The last time Jerett Brooks won a Stadium Super Trucks race, it was the series’ inaugural season in 2013 at Crandon International Off-Road Raceway. Eight years later, he is back on top of the podium in Race #1 at the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.

Bill Hynes started on the pole ahead of Bo LeMastus while Fastest Qualifier Robby Gordon was at the rear. Hynes led the opening lap as a contingent of Crosley Brands trucks of CEO LeMastus, Jeff Ward, and newcomer Mads Siljehaug followed.

The top four distanced themselves from the field as Hynes led until the competition caution on lap four. Behind him, Ward won the battle of the Crosleys to hold second while LeMastus found himself swarmed by the rest of the field on lap three. By the competition yellow, Hynes led Ward, Siljehaug, and Brooks.

Hynes pulled away on the restart while a strong jump by Siljehaug propelled him into second. However, Siljehaug’s podium hopes would come to an abrupt end when an erratic landing sent him into the wall, bouncing him off and into the middle of the racing surface. The race remained green despite the wreck.

At the front, Hynes’ lead diminished as Brooks, Ward, and Brabham gave chase. The pack—led by Brooks, Robert Stout, and Brabham—caught Hynes with two laps remaining.

Colton Herta once again sat atop the timing charts today, going fastest in practice two ahead of the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach. Herta, who also went fastest in first practice yesterday, was the only driver to crack the 1:07.000 second lap time barrier, despite making heavy contact with the wall earlier in the session.

Josef Newgarden was the fastest of the three title contenders, going fourth fastest as all four Team Penske cars found themselves in the top ten. Patricio O’Ward managed a much better day than yesterday where he struggled greatly, finishing the session eighth fastest while even spending time at the very top.

Championship leader Alex Palou found himself in sixteenth at the end of the session, but the team stated that they were primarily focused on the race setup during this session. The Spaniard switched to the alternate red-wall tyres with under ten minutes left in the session, and with a congested track he was unable to put together a quick lap.

Palou’s Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Scott Dixon didn’t make things any better, going nose-first into the tyre barrier at turn six with one minute remaining, bringing out the red flag that ended the session.

Behind Herta in second place sat Will Power, followed by James Hinchcliffe in third, who has had a very promising start to the weekend with two top-ten finishes in practice. “Hinch” split Power from his teammates Newgarden, Simon Pagenaud and rookie Scott McLaughlin, who finished fourth through sixth respectively in a fantastic showing for Penske. McLaughlin has taken to the streets of Long Beach quickly, which may help him in his fight for the Rookie of the Year honors.

Franco Colapinto took his second Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine win in three races as the Argentine racer fended off the race-long challenge from David Vidales to win race one in Valencia on Saturday.

The MP Motorsport driver, who took the chequered flag first in both races at the Red Bull Ring two weeks ago only to have the second victory taken away from him due to a penalty for exceeding track limits, took pole position for race one at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo, and he held onto the lead at the start.

Vidales, racing for Prema Powerteam, stayed on Colapinto’s tail throughout the race and was never more than a second behind his rival, but the Spaniard was never close enough to make a genuine attempt to take the lead.

Completing the podium was Van Amersfoort Racing’s Mari Boya, who had by far his best finish of the season, with the Spaniard’s previous best being a fifth place in the first race of the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya weekend back in May.

Prema’s Paul Aron made a first lap move on G4 Racing’s Michael Belov to give him fourth place ahead of the Russian, while Arden Motorsport’s Alex Quinn was sixth ahead of R-ace GP duo Hadrien David and Zane Maloney as overtaking proved difficult around the tight Valencia track.

Oscar Piastri’s chances of joining the Formula 1 grid in 2022 are remote, and the Australian is facing a year on the side-lines before possibly joining the field in 2023.

Only one seat remains vacant for 2022 at Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN, but the drive appears to be heading the way of either Antonio Giovinazzi or Guanyu Zhou, leaving Piastri, the current FIA Formula 2 championship leader on the side-lines.

Should he win the title in 2021, he would be unable to continue in Formula 2 in 2022, and this could pose a problem for his career momentum. However, Piastri feels stepping up to reserve driver at the Alpine F1 Team – he is already a part of the Alpine Academy – is the best chance of keeping his name in the limelight with a move into a race seat the aim for 2023.

All teams will need to give young drivers outings in several free practice sessions from 2022 onwards, and Piastri should be in with a chance of showing what he can do behind the wheel of a Formula 1 car should Alpine take up the option of making him their official reserve driver.

“Looking forward, that Alfa seat, I’m not very confident about that,” said Piastri to Motorsport.com.  “Realistically, the most logical pathway is to try and be reserve driver for Alpine for next year and put in a lot of hours in the sim and really working with the team to try and get a 2023 seat.

Lando Norris took a shock maiden Formula 1 pole position in an exciting Qualifying session at the Sochi Autodrom as the track dried enough to get some dry tyre running in Q3.

The McLaren F1 Team driver made the most of the conditions and confidence behind the wheel to grab top spot, with his former team-mate Carlos Sainz Jr. joining him on the front row as Lewis Hamilton spun on his one and only attempt on slicks.

Q1 – Usual Suspects Drop Out… and Verstappen

Max Verstappen knew going into the weekend that he will be starting at the back of the grid for the Russian Grand Prix after his Red Bull Racing team changed his power unit to a new specification Honda engine, and the Dutchman only completed one lap before calling it a day.

In a session that saw the Sochi track continue to dry but a session that needed intermediate tyres throughout, Verstappen was joined in the drop zone by the two Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN’s of Kimi Räikkönen and Antonio Giovinazzi, and the two Uralkali Haas F1 Team cars of Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin.

Räikkönen was sixteenth fastest, missing out on a Q2 appearance by more than seven-tenths of a second, while team-mate Giovinazzi, who secured top ten starts in the Dutch and Italian Grands Prix, was only eighteenth after an early spin at turn sixteen.

Scott Speed returned to Nitro Rallycross looking for redemption. The Subaru works driver was able to come out on top beating Travis Pastrana in the final head-to-head bracket race. For Speed to win he had to defeat Kevin Hansen, Fraser McConnell, and finally Pastrana himself, to win pole position for tomorrow’s feature race. 

Subaru ultimately finished on top today as they finished 1-2 on the podium. However, they had their fair share of loss as Andreas Bakkerud couldn’t bring the car past the first heat race. Subaru Motorsport will start tomorrow with the additional seven championship points that they’ve accrued from this win.

Meanwhile, Steve Arpin of GRX Loenbro finished third on the day with a solid performance in his second heat race. Arpin is commonly viewed as an underdog in the rallycross world, so it was a surprise to see him beat Tanner Foust in his second heat race after a mistake by the Audi driver. Arpin will start tomorrow with three championship points as he looks to remain competitive come race time.

Fraser McConnel of OMSE follows behind Arpin after falling behind in his second heat race. The Jamaican showed up strong in the initial heat races but fell flat when it came time to face Speed. He finished fourth on the day. Meanwhile, teammates Kevin and Oliver Eriksson were not as fortunate as they fell out after only their first heat race. Team OMSE will start with two championship points tomorrow.

Next, Timmy Hansen can be found behind McConnell finishing fifth on the day. He made quick work of his competition in his first heat race but contact with Pastrana in the second race forced him to retire and continue no further. His brother Kevin had similar luck in winning his first but coming up short on the second race. Team Red Bull Hansen starts tomorrow’s final with one championship point.

The third and final practice of the Russian Grand Prix has been cancelled due to wet weather conditions.

Saturday’s schedule is planned to be a busy one but already two events have been marred due to rain. Not only has the third Free Practice been cancelled but the first FIA Formula 2 action of the weekend, which was due to run before the practice session, has been postponed.

The next planned event for the day is the second race of the weekend for FIA Formula 3 at 13:40 Local Time / 11:40 BST. The first race of the weekend was moved to Friday afternoon, which saw Dennis Hauger crowned the 2021 Champion.

Formula 1 is due to run Qualifying at 15:00 Local Time / 13:00 BST. There have already been talks that qualifying may have to be moved to Sunday morning, as the weather is forecasted to be much better conditions.

Before the final practice was cancelled, FIA Race Director Michael Masi said running Formula 1 qualifying was his priority.

Felipe Drugovich hopes the rule change surrounding the usage of young drivers in free practice sessions in Formula 1 opens the door for him, with the Brazilian eager for his first taste of Formula 1 machinery.

The FIA Formula 2 racer is unattached to a Formula 1 team at present, with the Brazilian one of the highest rated stars in the category without being part of a young driver programme.

His team-mate at Uni-Virtuosi, Guanyu Zhou, is a member of the Alpine Academy, as is current Formula 2 championship leader Oscar Piastri and Christian Lundgaard, while the likes of Robert Shwartzman (Ferrari Driver Academy), Jehan Daruvala, Liam Lawson and Jüri Vips (all Red Bull Junior Team), and Théo Pourchaire (Sauber Junior Team) all find themselves with links to Formula 1 teams.

Drugovich is a three-time race winner in Formula 2 but remains without a young driver programme to his name, but the regulation changes that mandates Formula 1 teams using rookie drivers in a handful of free practice sessions for next year gives him hope that he can get some seat time in a Formula 1 car for the first time.

“I think it really helps, first of all to get more mileage in F1 cars, but also my first mileage in F1 because I have not driven in an F1 yet,” Drugovich is quoted as saying by Motorsport.com.