What to watch this F1 Weekend (June 4th - June 9th)

• Formula 1 - Azerbaijan Grand Prix; from the street circuit in Azerbaijan, Baku. Practice 1. Friday @ 4:25am - 5:30am (ESPN2) live
• Formula 1 - Azerbaijan Grand Prix; from the street circuit in Azerbaijan, Baku. Practice 2. Friday @ 7:55am - 9am (ESPNU) live
• Formula 1 - Azerbaijan Grand Prix; from the street circuit in Azerbaijan, Baku. Practice 3. Saturday @ 4:55am - 6am (ESPNU) live
• Formula 1 - Azerbaijan Grand Prix; from the street circuit in Azerbaijan, Baku. Qualifying. Saturday @ 7:55am - 9am (ESPN2) live
• Formula 1 - Azerbaijan Grand Prix; from the street circuit in Azerbaijan, Baku. Race. Sunday @ 6:30am - 10am (ESPN) live
• Garage Squad. Mon/Tue/Wed @ 4pm - 5pm (MotorTrend) replays
• Bitchin Rides. Mon/Tue/Wed @ 6pm - 7pm (MotorTrend) replays
• Auto Mundial. Tuesday @ 7pm - 7:30pm (MotorTrend)
• Motorweek. Tuesday @ 7:30pm - 8pm (MotorTrend) 

Monaco is always the best weekends of the year, for teams, drivers and spectators, and the weather didn't disappoint; perfectly picturesque, sunny and with fans. Charles was home, once again, coming off some poor fortune last time around in 2019. Unfortunately his luck this year was no better, despite taking pole on Saturday via his first run in Q3. On his last run in Q3, however, he clipped the turn 15 barrier and put it into the wall. This is what set into motion what would take place on Sunday. But before we get to that, the rest of the top five qualifiers were on fliers when Charles hit the way, negating their attempts. Verstappen was in second, Bottas took third and a quick Sainz and Norris rounded out 4th and 5th. Ferrari was very quick around the Monaco streets all weekend and it was proven to not be a fluke on Saturday. Merc was not close enough, but Hams had a rough weekend overall, never able to quite get the balance where he was able to push; he qualified 7th. Vettel finally out qualified his teammate and qualified 8th beside Lewis. Gasly showed some pace, qualifying 6th and Perez was in 9th, not quite in a position to help out Max with strategy, but then again this race is almost entirely about track position due to the lack of passing points on the circuit. Sunday came, and the proverbial shit hit the fan (see vid two for an explanation). Leclerc wasn't the only one who got the shaft (no pun intended) Sunday, so did Valteri, who has be up there in the most unlucky drivers over the last couple years -- he's running in a podium position, comes in for tires and never leaves the pit again, as he had shredded wheel nut on his FR (see video three). Picking up the scraps of these mistakes, however, were Norris, Sainz, Verstappen and Vettel (!) who took fifth. Red Bull has taken the lead in the Constructors Championship for the first time in years -- and more importantly Max leads the Driver's Championship for the first time in his career. This weekend in Azerbaijan will be intense across the board; it'll be interesting to see if the unique nature of the Monaco streets were an anomaly or not in terms of pace and result; this championship could be getting really good.

Enjoy your motorsport weekends.

Video courtesy of Formula1.

Videos courtesy of Peterwindsor.

What to watch this Weekend (April 26th - May 1st)

• The Grand Tour. Season 3. Episodes on demand. Friday (Amazon Prime) 
• Formula 1 - Azerbaijan Grand Prix; from the street circuit in Azerbaijan, Baku. Practice 1. Friday @ 4:55am - 6:30am (ESPN2(HD)) new
• Formula 1 - Azerbaijan Grand Prix; from the street circuit in Azerbaijan, Baku. Practice 2. Friday @ 8:55am - 10:30am (ESPNU(HD)) new
• Formula 1 - Azerbaijan Grand Prix; from the street circuit in Azerbaijan, Baku. Practice 3. Saturday @ 4:55am - 6:30am (ESPNNEWS(HD)) replay
• Formula 1 - Azerbaijan Grand Prix; from the street circuit in Azerbaijan, Baku. Qualifying. Saturday @ 8:55am - 10am (ESPN2(HD)) live
• Formula 1 - Azerbaijan Grand Prix; from the street circuit in Azerbaijan, Baku. Race. Sunday @ 7:30am - 10am (ESPN2(HD)) live
• Chasing Classic Cars. Tuesday @ 7pm - 7:30pm (MotorTrendHD) replay
• Motorweek. Tuesday @ 7:30pm - 8pm (MotorTrendHD) replay
• Garage Squad. Wednesday @ 10pm - 11pm (MotorTrendHD) new
• Wheeler Dealers. Wednesday @ 9pm - 10pm (MotorTrendHD) new

Last we left off in China, the 1000th F1 race, Bottas took pole, Ferrari looked suspiciously slow and inept with strategy and Merc took another 1-2 in a row. Renault had another mechanical failure related DNF, Hulk the victim by himself this time around, and Ricciardo finally finished a race. Verstappen split the Ferraris again, which is putting Maranello in a bit of a pickle. If they can't keep up with Merc it leads to them shooting themselves in the foot by not covering off Verstappen with their strategy. Also, if Leclerc is as good as he appears to be and Ferrari seems to be favoring Vettel with the benefit of team strategies, this lack of letting their drivers race each other will likely decide this years Championship; probably in favor of the silver arrows if they continue to remain as reliable as they've been thus far. Albon crashed out in P3, which took him out of Qualy, but he made it up to his team by taking back one championship point from the starting at the back of the field during the race -- great drive to take 10th. Gasly finally performed up to expectations, finishing right behind Leclerc in 6th. He also wisely snagged the fastest lap since he had a big enough cushion to pit late for softs, keeping the front runners from holding onto it. Kimi took 9th, Perez too 8th and both Haas couldn't find any real pace and finished out of the points. Daniil regained his torpedo status with a 7-10 split of McLaren's on lap one, which he got penalized for, but it lead to both himself and Norris not finishing the race. Sainz finally finished a race, but it was only in 14th. Hamilton's start proved to be both decisive and the deciding in this grand prix; he never looked back and drove an excellent race. He now leads the championship.

With the checkered flag dropped the current Driver's Championship standings are as follows: Hamilton, Bottas (-6), Verstappen (-29), Vettel (-31), Leclerc (-32), Gasly (-55). This weekend in Azerbaijan should be another entertaining race, we'll see if Ferrari can respond after a lackluster performance in China.

Enjoy your weekends.

Video courtesy of Autosport.

What to watch this Weekend (April 27th - May 2nd)

• The Grand Tour. Season 2. Friday (Amazon Prime) replays
• Formula 1 - Azerbaijan Grand Prix; from the street circuit in Azerbaijan, Baku. Practice 3. Saturday @ 5:55am - 7pm (ESPNNEWS(HD)) replay
• Formula 1 - Azerbaijan Grand Prix; from the street circuit in Azerbaijan, Baku. Qualifying. Saturday @ 9am - 10am (SkySports.com) live
• Formula 1 - Azerbaijan Grand Prix; from the street circuit in Azerbaijan, Baku. Race. Sunday @ 7:30am - 10am (ESPN2(HD)) live
• Chasing Classic Cars. Tuesday @ 7pm - 7:30pm (VelocityHD) replay
• Motorweek. Tuesday @ 7:30pm - 8pm (VelocityHD) replay
• JDM Legends. Season1 Ep3. Tuesday @ 9pm - 10pm (VelocityHD) new
• Wheeler Dealers. Season 15 Ep4. 1987 Alfa Romeo Spyder. Wednesday @ 9pm - 10pm (VelocityHD) new

The past few races have been pretty crazy. China once again shows strategy is enough to bridge the gap between the top three teams. Don't have enough power on the straights? Overtake via pitstop, ideally as soon as a safety car shows up and get on the best tires for the remainder of the race. China was an unbelievable victory for Red Bull and Daniel Ricciardo, great race for Bottas and solid grid spot penalty salvage for Hamilton. Kimi is still just off the tip of the Ferrari spear, still getting out qualy'd, by hundredths, by Vettel. Vettel still seems to be a magnet for agressive driver moves, but he still did his best to finish an avoid giving up major points to Hams in the Driver's championship. Verstappen, despite his incident with Vettel and 10 second penalty, drove his ass off and helped Red Bull take home great team points. And in case you didn't noticed, Massa's replacement isn't doing so well; Williams has regressed.

Just when I was warming up to Sky Sports shared coverage of F1 on ESPN, they don't include a live airing of qualifying in Azerbaijan this weekend (or so I can tell right now) -- what a !@#$*(# joke. This weekend should still be an interesting race as we wait to see if Red Bull can build on this success, if Petronas Mercedes can come up with a tweak to help them get on the front row, if Ferrari is still the team to beat this year (despite not leading the Manufacturers Championship) and if Alonso can continue knocking on the door of the top 7 teams.

Enjoy your weekends.

Video courtesy of Shmee150.

What to watch this Weekend (June 23rd - June 28th)

• Formula 1 - Azerbaijan Grand Prix; from the street circuit in Azerbaijan, Baku. Practice. Friday @ 2pm - 4pm (NBCSN(HD)) replay (no live option)
• Formula 1 - Azerbaijan Grand Prix; from the street circuit in Azerbaijan, Baku. Qualifying. Saturday @ 9am - 11am (CNBC(HD)) live
  
• Formula 1 - Azerbaijan Grand Prix; from the street circuit in Azerbaijan, Baku. Race. Sunday @ 8am - 11:30am (NBCSN(HD)) live
• Chasing Classic Cars. Tuesday @ 7pm - 7:30pm (VelocityHD) replay
• Motorweek. Tuesday @ 7:30pm - 8pm (VelocityHD) replay 
• Speed is the new Black. Wednesday @ 9pm - 10pm (VelocityHD) new

We have another great weekend of racing to look forward to, following up an amazing 24hrs of Le Mans last week in France where Porsche claimed a third overall victory in a row in their 919 Hybrid. Jackie Chan DC Racing was in the lead for a good bit of the race due to some issues affecting the two Porsche LMP1 cars; #1 car was out with about 3:37 to play and the #2 car picked up the reigns to make things happen; with under an hour to go, the #2 car clawed back into the overall lead and held it to the end. Meanwhile in GTE Pro, Corvette Racing, being piloted by young American Jordan Taylor, was dicing it up with the Aston Martin Racing entry trying to hold onto class P1. through the last hour of action, but unfortunately it was not to be; puncture on the last lap which dropped him to P3. A lot of great racing action, plenty of classes clashing in turns (unfortunately), but another legendary year with more racers from different disciplines participating along with the regulars.

F1 is back to Europe with a GP in Azerbaijan, but last we left off Hamilton, Bottas and Merc seem to have gotten their groove back with a 1-2 finish after Lewis tied Senna with his 65th Pole. Ferrari had some troubles early which lead Vettel to have to make his way back to the front from 18th and Kimi had some setting issues throughout and got team orders to let Vettel through late in the race. In this same group of cars, Force India had a golden opportunity for a possible P4-P5, squandered, because of the teams inability to make a decision when Ocon was the hot hand with fresh tires behind Checo. Both cars were passed late in the race by a pressing Vettel who finished 4th to salvage the overall race and his Driver's Championship lead over Hamilton. The McLaren's broke again, keeping the zero point scoring streak alive, and Alonso took a trip into the stands after retiring to give the fans a good time. Grosjean's brakes were giving him problems again, but finished in the points, Lance Stroll scored points in his home grand prix much to the delight of the Canadian fans and Hulk took 8th for Renault. Ricciardo survived the power unit issues that retired Verstappen and took 3rd and shoey'd champagne himself and provided a boot for Sir Patrick Stewart! With the checked flag dropped the current Driver's Standings are as follows: Vettel, Hamilton (-12), Bottas (-48), Raikkonen (-68), Ricciardo (-75), Verstappen (-96). Red Bull can't keep Verstappen finishing races, McLaren is fed up with Honda's reliability and power woes (some say more than Alonso is), Force India is really good but needs to clean things up to make a real go at being the #3 Manufacturer and Mercedes AMG's upgrades seem to have worked giving them the current lead in the Manufacturers Championship. This weekend in Baku should be another good one.

Enjoy your weekends.

Video courtesy of CarThrottle.