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Roar Guru
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Motorsports writer, photographer and sometimes podcaster on Hit The Apex Podcast. Catch me on Twitter @Doctor46th and @HitTheApexMedia.
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While the debate rages on surrounding the outcome of the 2021 Formula One world championship, won by Max Verstappen over Lewis Hamilton amid a controversial conclusion to the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, it is easy to forget the rest of drivers and teams.
It feels like an age since McLaren and Ferrari were battling away for noteworthy positions in Formula One, given each organisation’s respective struggles over the last decade and 2021 saw these former icons return to the limelight.
A controversial conclusion to the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix to determine the outcome of the 2021 Formula One world championship, in part summarises the titanic battle between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen – but also detracts from the epic duel amidst these heavyweights.
Behind every championship calibre driver, it seems, is a reliable wingman and team player, and that adage was no different in the 2021 title battle between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton.
After a long and arduous 21-race season, all roads have finally led to a thrilling championship decider between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Join The Roar for live scores and rolling updates of all the action from the UAE from 11:50pm (AEDT).
The penultimate race of the Formula One season takes place in Saudi Arabia – join The Roar from 4:30am (AEST) for a live blog of all the action.
Despite once again being interrupted by the ongoing global pandemic, another season of the Supercars championship has been run and done, culminating in the Great Race at Mount Panorama.
Four consecutive weekends at Sydney Motorsport Park has finally come to an end and despite the non-event that was Race 30 on Sunday, the appetite for Supercars after such a long lay off from Townsville in July finds itself sated.
It’s the final three races of the 2021 Formula One world championship and with the title battle between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton still raging, the series makes its debut at one of two new tracks. Tune in on The Roar from 12:50am (AEST) for live blog coverage and updates
Three consecutive weekends of Supercars racing at Sydney Motorsport Park seems to have flown past, with so much unfolding across the nine sprint races contested thus far.
Off-track technical breaches, fines and grid penalties among the championship protagonists have dominated the headlines coming into race day of the São Paulo Grand Prix, but it’s time to go racing proper. Join in the conversation on The Roar for the Formula One action with live blog updates from 3:50am (AEST).
The Sydney Cup continues for the Supercars championship at Sydney Motorsport Park with the second instalment of night racing at the 3.93km Gardner Circuit to the west of the bustling CBD.
The Mexican Grand Prix was a casualty of the COVID-impacted 2020 calendar, and is a welcome return in this fascinating 2021 title race between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton. Join The Roar for a live blog of all the action from 6am (AEDT).
After the long 104-day wait since the Townsville SuperSprint in July, Supercars racing finally got back underway at Sydney Motorsport Park.
The wait has been arduous since the Supercars championship last turned a wheel in anger at the Townsville SuperSprint in July, with the COVID-19 pandemic having halted the series due to states and territories locking down in response to outbreaks.
Six races remain in the 2021 Formula One title hunt, and it is a mere six points that separate protagonists Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton as their titanic battle resumes at the US Grand Prix. Join The Roar for live race updates and rolling coverage from 6am (AEDT).
Seven races remain in the 2021 Formula One world championship and the battle for the title itself is still as close as ever, with only two points separating Lewis Hamilton and the red-hot Max Verstappen. Join the conversation on The Roar with a live blog from 10:50pm (AEST) as we await another twist in the […]
After an enthralling Italian Grand Prix which saw Daniel Ricciardo and McLaren take belated wins and title rivals Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton coming to blows again, it is time to go racing once more. Join The Roar for live blog coverage of the Russian Grand Prix from 9:50pm (AEST).
From the energetic orange laden grandstands of Zandvoort, Formula One arrives at the passionate red of the Tifosi at the legendary Monza circuit for what should be another exciting Italian Grand Prix. Tune in from 10:50pm (AEST) on The Roar for live blog updates.
The wait is over and official confirmation has come that George Russell will be promoted to Mercedes in 2022, replacing the outgoing Valtteri Bottas to race alongside seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton.
There was a tweet someone put out saying what luck Russell has, if Mercedes end up slower than Williams with the new regulations next year. 😂
At last! Mercedes sign Russell and look to the future
I think with that Mat, is that they are being a bit cautious about the Sprint being its own thing. Obviously the point of it is to make the weekend building up to the Grand Prix more exciting, without taking away the grandeur of the main event itself. I agree too that the standard qualifying has been more exciting to watch now, especially there’s no longer that feeling that you already know who’s going to get pole at the end of Q3.
Still I believe that the Qualifying should set the grid for the Sprint and the latter set the grid for the Grand Prix. It does remind me of the format they used for the Sandown 500 endurance race and I recall enjoying watching the sprint for the grids on the Saturdays. As well to your proposed schedule, I would too prefer having Quali before the Sprint on Saturday but F1 wants to give Friday something to show as well for weekend ticket holders.
Ultimately, I’d have left Quali alone as is. But now that we’ve gone down this route, I do feel as an occasional substitute it would be nice. Still I’d love to have a proper Top-10 Shootout/Superpole at tracks like Monaco or Spa and purely put the emphasis on one driver getting one attempt to record that one perfect lap.
Was F1's Sprint experiment a success?
Success ballast though is so contentious on its own and feels too artificial. Even compared to the aero changes we got throughout the last couple of years. Nothing will happen this year, but there’s going to be a lot of pressure on Gen3 to get the parity spot on.
Supercars Townsville 500 talking points
That would be worth considering and I’d be down for that! Especially to see Hampton Downs get a shot on the calendar.
Supercars Townsville 500 talking points
Yeah sadly he did, despite the podium appearance on Saturday.
Supercars Darwin Triple Crown talking points
Having now gone through another lockdown and given I don’t forsee any change from the Federal Government on travel restrictions, it’ll definitely be cancelled.
The decision Formula One should make on the 2021 calendar
Worst case scenario at the moment is that Japan, Mexico, Brazil and Australia also drop off the calendar. Then if you add an extra race in Austin and then Turkey comes back again, there’d be 21 in total which would be enough to satisfy the TV deals. F1 still hope that even China will be able to feature.
The decision Formula One should make on the 2021 calendar
Thanks Andrew!
Look Dan keeps talking about his driving style not suiting the McLaren, but surely that can only go so far considering his teammate has already 2 podiums this season. Guess we have to play the long term game with this one.
Monaco Grand Prix: Formula One live race updates, blog
Well that then concludes this live blog of the Monaco Grand Prix, thank you very much as always for joining me on The Roar and sharing your thoughts.
A short two-week break between races and the championship will get going again on the streets of Baku in Azerbaijan!
Bye for now.
Monaco Grand Prix: Formula One live race updates, blog
——– DRIVER’S ——–
105 – Max Verstappen
101 – Lewis Hamilton
56 — Lando Norris
47 — Valtteri Bottas
44 — Sergio Perez
40 — Charles Leclerc
38 — Carlos Sainz
24 — Daniel Ricciardo
16 — Pierre Gasly
12 — Esteban Ocon
10 — Sebastian Vettel
9 — Lance Stroll
5 — Fernando Alonso
2 — Yuki Tsunoda
1 — Antonio Giovinazzi
0 — Kimi Räikkönen
0 — George Russell
0 — Mick Schumacher
0 — Nikita Mazepin
0 — Nicholas Latifi
Monaco Grand Prix: Formula One live race updates, blog
—– CONSTRUCTOR’S —–
149 – Red Bull Racing Honda
148 – Mercedes AMG
80 — McLaren Mercedes
78 — Ferrari
19 — Aston Martin Racing
18 — Scuderia AlphaTauri
17 — Alpine
1 — Alfa Romeo Racing
0 — Williams Mercedes
0 — Haas Ferrari
Monaco Grand Prix: Formula One live race updates, blog
RACE REPORT
Max Verstappen put in a faultless drive to win the Monaco Grand Prix and for the first time in his career lead the world championship, as pole sitter Charles Leclerc failed to even start the race.
The Monegasque driver suffered from a driveshaft failure on the out-lap to the grid pre-race, as a result of the damaged caused to his Ferrari in the crash during qualifying.
Pole position was left vacant, allowing Verstappen a clear run into Saint Devote ahead of Valtteri Bottas on the second row and the other Ferrari of Carlos Sainz.
A difficult qualifying for reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton saw the Briton start the race in seventh and remain there in the opening stages of the race, behind the AlphaTauri of Pierre Gasly.
The Briton was the first of the leaders to pit on Lap 30 for the hard tyres, though this ended up further ruining his weekend, as he was overcut by not only Gasly – but Sebastian Vettel and Sergio Perez, who both started behind Hamilton.
Matters were made worse for Mercedes, when a lap later Bottas pitted and the mechanics couldn’t remove the front-
right tyre. The result meant that the Finn was retired, delivering a significant blow to the Silver Arrows in the constructor’s championship.
This elevated Lando Norris up into the podium places, ahead of Perez, Vettel and Gasly – who all caused Hamilton further fury during the second half of the race. A late stop for the seven-time champion though, did see him the fastest lap of the race and gain an extra point in the standings.
Perez did give Norris a brief run for third, having been quicker than the McLaren in the dying stages of the race, though ultimately the lack of passing opportunities meant that the Briton was ensured a spot on the podium.
Verstappen cruised to an 8.9 second victory over Sainz, who was able to console Ferrari with a maiden podium for his new team – all while the wound of what could have been with Leclerc remained raw.
A second podium of the season for Norris sees him jump ahead of Bottas and back into third in the standings again, while his teammate Daniel Ricciardo endured a difficult weekend off the pace and out of the points.
Aston Martin achieved their best finish of the season, as both Vettel and Lance Stroll delivered points. The four-time world champion also scored his first points in fifth since moving to the British marque from Ferrari.
While Antonio Giovinazzi also put Alfa Romeo on the board for the first time in 2021, capitalising on an excellent top-ten qualifying result from earlier in the weekend.
Monaco Grand Prix: Formula One live race updates, blog
STANDBY FOR RACE REPORT & UPDATED STANDINGS
Monaco Grand Prix: Formula One live race updates, blog
POST-RACE INTERVIEWS – Hosted by David Coulthard
VERSTAPPEN – “It’s so special here and my first time on the podium here. It’s really cool.” “You never know what’s going to happen.” “I was pretty much in control.”
SAINZ – “It is a good result.” “The whole circumstances of the weekend, maybe it doesn’t taste as good.” “It was all about getting the start right.” “I was feeling the car was very good today.”
NORRIS – “I didn’t think I’d be here today!” “It’s down to these guys you know.” “It’s always a dream to be on the podium. A bit of luck and some good driving.”
Monaco Grand Prix: Formula One live race updates, blog
RESULTS FROM THE 78-LAP MONACO GRAND PRIX
1 M. Verstappen
2 C. Sainz
3 L. Norris
4 S. Perez
5 S. Vettel
6 P. Gasly
7 L. Hamilton (Fastest Lap)
8 L. Stroll
9 E. Ocon
10 A. Giovinazzi
11 K. Räikkönen
12 D. Ricciardo
13 F. Alonso
14 G. Russell
15 N. Latifi
16 Y. Tsunoda
17 N. Mazepin
18 M. Schumacher
RET V. Bottas
DNS C. Leclerc
Monaco Grand Prix: Formula One live race updates, blog
MAX VERSTAPPEN WINS THE MONACO GRAND PRIX!
It may have been heartbreak for Charles Leclerc, but Ferrari can celebrate second for Carlos Sainz.
And another podium in 2021 for Lando Norris and McLaren!
Monaco Grand Prix: Formula One live race updates, blog
Lap 77/78:
It looks like the McLaren in third will be safe.
Meanwhile there’s a late waving of the black and white flag for Tsunoda, who’s been caught abusing track limits by Race Control.
Monaco Grand Prix: Formula One live race updates, blog
Lap 75/78:
Perez drops behind by 2 seconds again, possibly to charge up that ERS battery for one last charge at a podium spot.
Monaco Grand Prix: Formula One live race updates, blog
Lap 74/78:
Verstappen’s lead meanwhile is stretched to 8.6 seconds over Sainz.
Monaco Grand Prix: Formula One live race updates, blog
Lap 72/78:
Perez much quicker than the McLaren of Norris, but at the moment there is no DRS for the Red Bull driver.
Only a mistake from Lando would give Perez the opportunity to pass.
Monaco Grand Prix: Formula One live race updates, blog
Lap 71/78:
Hamilton sets the fastest lap of the race then with a 1:12.909, so that extra point at the moment will be going the way of the Briton. It also happens to be the race lap record too.
Monaco Grand Prix: Formula One live race updates, blog
And Mercedes will be quick for many years to come with Russell leading the way as well.
At last! Mercedes sign Russell and look to the future