F1 Russian GP, 29 September 2019

1. LC. Hamilton       2. V. Bottas       3. C. Leclerc

Hamilton snatches Sochi win after Ferrari fail to make advantage count
Sochi          [29 September 2019]

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Ferrari looked set to end Mercedes’ dominant run at the Sochi Autodrom, but in the space of a few seconds their hopes of victory vanished, with championship leader Lewis Hamilton seizing the advantage to seal a first Grand Prix win since the summer break….

Leclerc pitted first and set a flurry of fastest laps which proved enough to undercut Vettel and regain what would have been the net lead. But on his first lap out of the pits Vettel pulled over on track with an energy recovery problem, to his absolute dismay. There was worse to come for Ferrari, though, because that retirement triggered the Virtual Safety Car, neutralising the race.

This allowed Hamilton, whose Mercedes team had instructed him to extend his stint on the medium tyres, to get what essentially amounted to a free pit stop. The Briton boxed for soft tyres and rejoined comfortably ahead of Leclerc, with the other Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas pitting and rejoining third.  

 

 

F1 Singapore GP, 22 September 2019

1. S. Vettel       2. C. Leclerc       3. M. Verstappen

Opportunistic Vettel snatches Singapore victory to end barren run
Marina Bay          [22 September 2019]

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Sebastian Vettel has been on a rotten run, his last Grand Prix victory coming 392 days ago in Belgium. But the stars aligned under the lights of Singapore’s Marina Bay with the Ferrari driver taking advantage of a fortuitous strategy call to beat team mate and pole-sitter Charles Leclerc…

Vettel looked out of contention in third in the early stages as Leclerc led Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton and managed the pace at the head of the field, as all of the frontunners looked after their tyres to enable them to make a one-stop strategy work.

The other Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas was fifth, having been told to back off the pace to allow Hamilton to pit and rejoin ahead, with Red Bull’s Alexander Albon sixth and Lando Norris seventh in the McLaren.

 

MotoGP Aragón, 22 September 2019

1. M. Márquez       2. A. Dovizioso       3. J. Miller

Márquez reels in victory at MotorLand on 200th GP start
Aragón, 22 September 2019

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It’s now Championship point to the Repsol Honda rider as two Ducatis battle a Yamaha for the final two podium spots.

On his 200th GP start, Marc Márquez (Repsol Honda Team) decimated his competitors to claim victory at the Gran Premio Michelin® de Aragon. The Spaniard led from start to finish as a fierce podium battle raged behind, with Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) and Jack Miller (Pramac Racing) completing the rostrum.

Three to go: Viñales was still holding onto P2. However, with just three laps remaining, the red Desmosedici was all over Viñales like a rash. Heading onto the back straight, the story was written – Dovi used the Ducati grunt to make Viñales look like he was standing still as 04 grabbed P2. Now, Miller smelt a podium. Into Turn 1 on the last lap, Miller went for it. Up the inside of Viñales, the Ducati man just about got it stopped and P3 was his.

 

MotoGP San Marino, 15 September 2019

1. M. Márquez       2. F. Quartararo       3. M. Viñales

Reigning Champion vs rookie: Misano goes down to the wire
Misano, 15 September 2019

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Márquez and Quartararo went head-to-head at the San Marino GP, Viñales joins the duo on the rostrum.

Marc Márquez (Repsol Honda Team) was the victor in a GP Octo di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini stunner as the seven-time World Champion went head-to-head with Petronas Yamaha SRT’s Fabio Quartararo, with the battle for the win going down to the last lap.

Maverick Viñales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) completed the podium, 1.6 back from Márquez. Viñales was on pole and the Spaniard made it count, keeping the lead heading into Turn 1 as third place Quartararo grabbed P2, with Pol Espargaro (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) losing positions at the start from second on the grid.
  
 

F1 Italian GP, 8 September 2019

1. C. Leclerc       2. V. Bottas       3. LC. Hamilton

Leclerc defeats Bottas to end Ferrari win-drought in Monza
Monza          [8 September 2019]

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A battling performance from Charles Leclerc saw the Monegasque claim his second win in as many weekends, taking a brilliant Italian Grand Prix victory for Ferrari, the Scuderia’s first at Monza since 2010, as he saw off a late-race push from Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas.

Leclerc became a first-time Grand Prix winner last weekend in Belgium. But while that victory would undoubtedly have been special, winning at Monza in his first race here as a Ferrari driver – claiming the Scuderia’s first Italian Grand Prix win since Fernando Alonso’s victory nine years ago – will doubtless have turned the 21-year-old Leclerc into a national hero in Italy.

For the majority of the race, it appeared as though Lewis Hamilton would once again deny Ferrari home glory. But once the five-time champion’s tyres went off in the closing stages of the race, it was left to team mate Bottas to launch a late, and ultimately unsuccessful assault, on Leclerc. 

 

F1 Belgian GP, 1 September 2019

1. C. Leclerc       2. LC. Hamilton       3. V. Bottas

Leclerc holds off Hamilton to take emotional maiden Grand Prix victory
Spa-Francorchamps          [1 September 2019]

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Charles Leclerc claimed the first Formula 1 victory of his career and Ferrari’s first in the 2019 campaign in the Belgium Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps, less than 24 hours after his friend Anthoine Hubert passed away after a crash in Saturday’s F2 feature race.

The Monegasque, who immediately dedicated his win to Hubert, who he grew up racing, was in a league of his own all weekend, topping two of the three practice sessions and all three segments of qualifying on his way to his third pole position.

Come race day, Leclerc led away from P1 and though he lost track position to team mate Sebastian Vettel during the pit stops, Ferrari instructed Vettel to move aside for the flying polesitter. From there Leclerc led reasonably comfortably, though he had to coolly hold off a late attack from Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton to clinch victory.