Max verstappen
Verstappen claims first pole of season at Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
The Dutch driver edged Valterri Bottas in second and the Finn's Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton, who is racing for the first time since winning the...
The 22-year-old Briton, 'on loan' from Williams as stand-in for coronavirus victim seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton, clocked a fastest lap in 54.546 seconds to outpace Red Bull's Dutchman by 0.176 seconds.
Formula One world championship standings ahead of the Emilia-Romagno Grand Prix this weekend.
Hungary is also a favourite for Hamilton, who has won there seven times and can equal Schumacher’s feat of winning the same grand prix eight times.
Sunday’s race, the first of two in Austria on successive weekends, will be the latest start to a championship after the COVID-19 pandemic forced the cancellation of the scheduled Australian opener on 15 March before a wheel had turned.
Teams are cut to a maximum of 80 staff, all in protective equipment, there will be no sponsors, no guests and only a limited number of accredited broadcast and written news media.
Spain’s double Formula One champion and two times Le Mans winner Fernando Alonso will join Brazilian former Ferrari driver Rubens Barrichello in their own entry.
It's suggested that Carlos Sainz would replace Sebastian Vettel at Ferrar.
Against a backdrop of climate crisis demonstrations and coronavirus fears, not to mention an angry anti-Ferrari schism in the pit-lane, it is hardly likely to be a peaceful season.
The two champions are out of contract at the end of the season, by which time 35-year-old Hamilton could have equalled Michel Schumacher’s record seven titles.
The Dutch driver hopes he and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, also 22-years-old, will be fighting for the Mercedes driver’s throne next year.
The Austrian team boss seemed frustrated and angry that the team were distracted from their jobs by a need to dress in old overalls and flat caps.
Max Verstappen's victory brought Red Bull’s engine supplier Honda their first win since the 2006 Hungarian Grand Prix after returning to Formula One.
Red Bull star Max Verstappen was seen on TV pushing Force India's Esteban Ocon three times and accused of threatening to hit him, after the pair had collided on track.
Hamilton held off a mid-race challenge from Red Bull’s Max Verstappen to register a record-equalling fourth triumph at the floodlit Marina Bay Street Circuit track, while Vettel finished third to slip further behind in the title race.
The victory was the Dutch driver’s first of the season and came in front of an army of orange-shirted fans packing the grandstands.
The current youngest is Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, on pole with Toro Rosso in 2008 at 21 years and 73 days.
The most glamorous grand prix on the calendar could favour Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo.
The 20-year-old Red Bull driver blew a potential victory with a rash attempt to pass the four-times world champion in Shanghai two weeks ago while having the advantage of fresher tyres.