F1Minute - Bitesize Formula One News

We all expected there to be some kind of chaos as the first European Grand Prix around the streets of Baku got underway. But a relatively clean first lap was followed by a pretty tame Grand Prix, one where strategy and tyre wear dictated events, rather than crashes and safety cars.

Nico Rosberg lucked into pole position for the inaugural F1 race in Baku, after his teammate Lewis Hamilton crashed into the wall and damaged the suspension of his car, bringing out the red flags. He’d had a scrappy session anyway, spinning off in all three of the qualifying stints, and he’ll be starting the race from tenth place.

Lewis Hamilton was fastest for both Friday practice sessions ahead of the European Grand Prix in Baku, but the two sessions were littered with drivers having issues. In FP1, Valtteri Bottas reported smoke in the cockpit of his Williams, and he returned to the pit lane so the mechanics could take a look.

Italian manufacturer Pirelli have agreed a deal to remain the exclusive tyre supplier for Formula One for three more years following this season – extending their contract to the end of 2019. From next season there will be extensive technical regulation changes which prompted Pirelli to write into their new agreement an improved amount of tyre testing days during the season.

Lewis Hamilton didn’t get his Canadian race off to a good start, relinquishing his pole position off the line to a superbly fast Sebastian Vettel. Hamilton and Rosberg bumped wheels which sent Nico off track and down the order, and the championship leader was only able to claw his way back to fifth place.

Kevin Magnussen was unable to participate in qualifying for the Canadian Grand Prix as the Renault driver crashed out in final practice giving the mechanics some lengthy repairs to complete. Jolyon Palmer did compete, narrowly missed hitting the wall, and dropped out in Q1 by just one hundredth of a second.

Deputy team principal of the Williams team, Claire Williams, has been awarded an OBE in the Queen’s birthday honours list, recognising her for services to Formula One. Claire admitted she was surprised but proud to be added to the growing collection of F1 names with honours from Her Majesty, and said: “I’m extremely lucky that I get to do a job I love. To be able to play a role in a family legacy is an enormous privilege and one I don’t take for granted.”

Lewis Hamilton set the fastest lap time in both Friday practice sessions, beating his closest rival and teammate Nico Rosberg. In the first session, Felipe Massa brought out the red flags after a heavy crash at turn 1, that looked more like car failure than driver error. Jenson Button struggled with a temperature issue that saw him complete only 8 laps before returning to the garage for the mechanics to take a look.

Heavy overnight rain meant the Monte Carlo streets were wet when the race was due to start. Wet tyres were bolted to the cars and the Grand Prix began under the safety car, which stayed out for seven full laps. When the action got underway, polesitter Ricciardo made a good start, and had the advantage of good tyre strategy, but a miscommunication in the pits meant he was delayed waiting for fresh tyres which robbed him of a win.

Qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix was drama from start to finish, with Felipe Nasr’s engine giving up just a minute or two into the first session. There was a red flag period whilst the Sauber was recovered, only for another red flag to appear when Max Verstappen hit a couple of barriers and ended with a heavy impact into the wall.