Red Bull - The African Mirror

Jun

2023

Verstappen wins in Spain to continue Red Bull sweep

MAX Verstappen won the Spanish Grand Prix from pole position to stretch his Formula One championship lead to 53 points and continue Red Bull's sweep of the season with the team's seventh success in as many races. Seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton was second for Mercedes, but a distant 24.090 seconds behind, with teammate George Russell completing the podium on a cloudy but dry afternoon at Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya. Red Bull's Sergio Perez, Verstappen's closest rival in a season that looks sure to crown the dominant Dutch 25-year-old for a third time, finished fourth after fighting back from 11th…

May

2023

By STEVE KEATING

Lots of sporting buzz in Miami but can F1 deliver?

SPORT

WITH Formula One drivers facing off at the Miami Grand Prix, the Florida Panthers making a surprising Stanley Cup playoff run and Miami Heat facing the New York Knicks in the NBA - there is no shortage of sporting buzz this week in South Florida. But sports fans may have to look to the Panthers and Heat for some genuine excitement, warned Aston Martin's double world champion Fernando Alonso, with the Miami Grand Prix shaping up as another Red Bull victory parade. "Maybe not too many surprises," Alonso told reporters on Thursday. "If you have the fastest car, you can…

Apr

2023

By The African Mirror

Team-by-team analysis of the Australian Grand Prix

MOTORSPORT

TEAM-BY-TEAM analysis of Sunday's Australian Grand Prix at Melbourne's Albert Park, round three of the 23-race Formula One season (listed in current championship order): RED BULL (Max Verstappen 1, Sergio Perez 5) Red Bull won the opening three races of a season for the first time. This was also their 350th race. The victory, from pole, was double champion Verstappen's second of 2023 and first in Australia. The Dutchman lost out to Russell and Hamilton at the start, complaining about Hamilton's turn-three move forcing him wide, but retook the lead by passing the seven-times champion around the outside on lap…

Dec

2021

By The African Mirror

Hamilton wins dramatic race, sets showdown for final race

SPORT

AFRICAN MIRROR REPORTER WORLD champion Lewis Hamilton drove a race of his life to win a dramatic, incident-filled F1 in Saudi Arabia and set the scene for a showdown in the final race with rival Max Verstappen. The victory has left Hamilton and Verstappen tied at the top of the world driver championship - each with 369.5 points, They will fight it out in the last race set for the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi. It was an epic wheel-to-wheel battle between Hamilton and Verstappen from early in the race, which Hamilton led from pole, to register his third…

Sep

2021

By The African Mirror

Hamilton’s historic win at Sochi marks his 100th

SPORT

BOITUMELO RANTAO On a partly wet Russian afternoon, world champion Lewis Hamilton drove like a legend to win the Russian Grand Prix, retake the world championship race and became the first driver in F1 history to record 100 victories. After he took the chequered flag, Hamilton conceded that a century of victories was a hard toil all the way. “It was hard work,” he said.”. To get to a hundred…” Hamilton’s driving and Mercedes strategy won the race that many thought was going to be won by McLaren’s Lando Norris, who led the race until lap 50 of the 53…

Sep

2021

By The African Mirror

I am lucky to be alive, says Hamilton after rival’s tyre landed on his head

SPORT

BOITUMELO RANTAO THE rear right wheel of his rival's car landed on the safety Halo, just above his head, and seven time world champion Lewis Hamilton, who escaped with a headache, knows that he is lucky to be alive. There was drama in Lap 26 of the Monda F1 race when Hamilton and Red Bull's Max Verstappen battled into the tight Variante del Rettifilo. Hamilton had just pitted and Verstappen was making his way to the front after a horrific 11 second pit stop. With none of the drivers prepared to give room, Verstappen car ended on top of Hamilton's…

Sep

2021

By The African Mirror

Verstappen delights home Dutch crowd

SPORT

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen absorbed the pressure from both Mercedes cars and won his first Grand Prix in front of the Dutch “Orange army ”. Verstappen took his seventh win of the season from pole, producing a magnificently controlled performance at the whirlwind Zandvoort circuit. A delightful display of fireworks and an orange haze greeted Verstappen as he crossed the line 20 seconds ahead of Lewis Hamilton and teammate Valterri Bottas, who finished second and third. The lead Red Bull driver now leads the Drivers' Championship standings with 224.5 points to Hamilton's 221.5 though - interestingly - Mercedes leads the constructors'…

Jul

2021

By The African Mirror

Sprint qualifying claims first victim

OTHER

FORMULA One’s newly revised sprint qualifying race provided late Saturday entertainment - to the benefit of pole-sitter Max Verstappen. The fiery Red Bull shot through a cannon off the start line to lead championship rival Lewis Hamilton into turn 1. The flying Dutchman retained position after a nervous first lap and will start the British Grand Pirx from the start of the grid. Verstappen’s teammate Perez, after being passed by Norris on lap one, spun out later in the race. Perez, a disappointed figure, earned the title of biggest loser from the inaugural event with the one of fastest cars…

Jul

2021

By The African Mirror

Gasly reveals “attractive” interest by F1 teams for 2022

SPORT

AFRICAN MIRROR REPORTER ALPHATAURI’S Pierre Gasly is the latest name going around in the driver market regarding prospective seats for the 2022 Formula 1 season. After Alpine’s Esteban Ocon signed an extension until 2024, and Mercedes’ drivers Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas in discussion with Mercedes, Gasly is the other driver whose 2022 plans have not yet been confirmed. The French driver has had a few successful races with AlphaTauri, even winning in Monza in 2020, since being demoted by Red Bull in dramatic fashion in 2019, but there have been talks as to whether Helmut Marko will retain Gasly…

Jun

2021

By The African Mirror

Red Bull outpace Mercedes in Austria

SPORT

BOITUMELO RANTAO A thrilling display in Austria went down for pole position, with Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen taking the top spot ahead of the main event on Sunday. Verstappen managed to clock his fastest time for Q3 in his first run at 1:03.84, following a successful practice where he led in practices one and two. “It’s been a very good weekend,” said pole-sitter Verstappen. “Again in qualifying the car was really good to drive. “It was not easy to deal with the traffic in the last few corners to get a clean run but I think that first lap…