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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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Ahead of the 2021 Formula One season, there was great anticipation surrounding what was supposed to be a record-breaking 23-race schedule – as it was a sign that the sport was returning to normality in this pandemic affected world.
From one concrete jungle to another, Formula One travels to the streets of Baku for the first time since 2019, for a welcome return of the high-speed, high drama Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Catch live blog coverage on The Roar from 9:50 pm AEST.
As if after five races in the 2021 world championship, the burgeoning title fight between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen wasn’t enough: another battle is set to boil over to this weekend’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix in the form of a protest.
Since the unveiling of the fresh first images of Supercars’ Gen3 future last October, very little has been added to what is already known about the next generation of racing car set to debut in 2022.
After being left off the 2020 Formula One schedule due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the jewel in the crown is back on the calendar for this year as the Monaco Grand Prix takes off. Join The Roar for live blog coverage from 10:50 pm (AEST).
South Australia was welcomed by the Supercars championship in 2021, with a single visit to The Bend Motorsport Park which has become a mainstay on the calendar with its Bend SuperSprint.
Just seven days after Lewis Hamilton’s triumph over Max Verstappen at Portimão, Formula One finds itself across the border in Spain and at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya for the next chapter of this 2021 world championship for the Spanish Grand Prix. Join The Roar for live blog coverage from 10:50 pm AEST.
Round 3 of the Formula One world championship returns to the rollercoaster that is the 4.6km Algarve circuit in Portimão. Join The Roar for live updates of the Portuguese Grand Prix from midnight (AEST).
The jury is out on Formula One’s latest attempt to shake up its qualifying format, the introduction of a Saturday sprint race, but the reception has been overwhelmingly negative. Unanimously approved by the Formula One Commission, three events in 2021 will feature sprint qualifying in a bid to increase on-track action across a race weekend […]
Symmons Plains was another circuit that was sorely missed in the Covid-19 affected schedule for the 2020 Supercars championship and after a year on the sidelines, the Tasmania SuperSprint put on a spectacle.
Following a lengthy three-week break between races, Formula One gets back into gear and returns to continental Europe for Round 2 of the 2021 world championship at the famed Imola circuit in Italy. Join me on The Roar from 10:50 pm AEST for live blog coverage of the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. Having made its […]
Formula One returns for its bumper 2021 season when another year of grand prix action begins this weekend under lights in Bahrain. Join The Roar for a live blog from 2:00am (AEDT).
Following a short off-season, Formula One is back for 2021, and while on the surface it appears the cars will be the same as last year, there have in fact been significant enough changes.
It’s been well over a year since Victoria had any Supercars action, since the ill-fated Australian Grand Prix was cancelled in March 2020, thus cancelling the support round for the top touring car category.
Formula One pre-season testing for 2021 has been completed and as always, there’s great intrigue at the shape of the pecking order ahead of the new season.
The Supercars championship was welcomed back to Bathurst this weekend for the beginning of a new season, making for back-to-back visits to the Mountain after the series ended 2020 at the epic Mount Panorama circuit.
It’s been a long off-season for the Supercars championship, having concluded the truncated 2020 campaign at the Bathurst 1000 back on October 18 – as Shane van Gisbergen with Garth Tander claimed the Great Race for Holden and Scott McLaughlin clinched a third championship.
The dictionary has been exhausted of all adjectives that could be used to describe the bizarre events that have taken place in 2020.
Formula One reaches the end of the 2020 world championship season at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Join The Roar for live race updates and a blog of the last race of the year from 12:10am (AEDT).
One of the great travesties of the 2020 Formula One season has been the ousting of veteran driver Sergio Perez from the Racing Point team in favour of four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel for 2021.
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
Lap 70/78:
VER SAI NOR PER VET GAS HAM STR OCO GIO RÄI RIC ALO RUS LAT TSU MAZ MSC the order of the field.
Bottas and Leclerc out of the race.
Monaco Grand Prix: Formula One live race updates, blog
Lap 68/78:
Race Control deem no further action to be taken on Stroll. Footage showed that he was right on the line and not over it.
Hamilton also takes a second pit-stop, no doubt to pursue the fastest lap for that extra world championship point. He goes onto the soft compound.
Monaco Grand Prix: Formula One live race updates, blog
Lap 67/78:
Norris and Perez come into a hive of backmarkers, but they all so far have been well behaved and have gotten out of the way.
Monaco Grand Prix: Formula One live race updates, blog
Lap 66/78:
Tsunoda at last pits from fourteenth and will drop behind both the Williams cars on the soft tyres.
Monaco Grand Prix: Formula One live race updates, blog
Lap 65/78:
Lando calling for radio silence with his team, as he has Perez on his gearbox now.
Now comes the hard part for the Red Bull.
Monaco Grand Prix: Formula One live race updates, blog
Lap 64/78:
Perez within 1.2 seconds now of Norris.
Verstappen meanwhile is closing in on Stroll to lap the Aston Martin.
Monaco Grand Prix: Formula One live race updates, blog
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