Despite the bumps, F1 broke the track record fell at the Circuit of the Americas, and McLaren made another “huge step forwards”.
Lap Time Watch articles archive
Lap Time Watch
Verstappen breaks Mexico track record by one thousandth of a second
Lap time watch: 2019 Mexican Grand Prix
Posted onMax Verstappen may not have pole position but he has broken the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez track record, by a mere 0.001 seconds.
Vettel breaks track record as Ferrari make biggest gain this season
Lap time watch: 2019 Japanese Grand Prix
Posted onSebastian Vettel broke the Suzuka track record with his pole position lap as Ferrari have made their biggest year-on-year gain relative to their rivals this season.
Mercedes are 0.6 seconds slower in Sochi than last year
Lap time watch: 2019 Russian Grand Prix
Posted onFor the first time this year Mercedes has turned up at a track with the ‘least improved’ car of any of the 10 F1 teams. They are 0.6s slower than last year.
Ferrari spring Singapore shock as Mercedes and Red Bull lap slower
Lap time watch: 2019 Singapore Grand Prix
Posted onFerrari expected their SF90 to struggle in Singapore but they lapped quicker in qualifying than last year while Mercedes and Red Bull were slower.
Raikkonen’s F1 lap speed record stands for another year
Lap time watch: 2019 Italian Grand Prix
Posted onNo one managed to beat Kimi Raikkonen’s all-time record for the fastest ever official lap of an F1 circuit, which he set last year.
Only one team is quicker at Spa than they were last year
Lap time watch: 2019 Belgian Grand Prix
Posted onDespite a year of development every F1 team has failed to lap quicker at Spa-Francorchamps than they did in 2018 – with a single exception.
Williams not slowest team for the first time in 2019
Lap time watch: 2019 Hungarian Grand Prix
Posted onWilliams were the slowest team in qualifying for the first 11 races of the 2019 season, but in Hungary that unwanted claim fell to Racing Point.
Only three teams quicker than last year in Germany
Lap time watch: 2019 German Grand Prix
Posted onFor only the second time this year the track record has not fallen during a race weekend, as only three teams lapped quicker than last year.
Silverstone track record falls as all teams lap quicker than 2018
Lap time watch: 2019 British Grand Prix
Posted onThe new track surface at Silverstone has helped all 10 F1 teams lap quicker than they managed 12 months ago.
Mercedes are slower in Austria than they were last year
Lap time watch: 2019 Austrian Grand Prix
Posted onLast week Mercedes trimmed 1.7 seconds off the previous quickest lap at Paul Ricard. But at the Red Bull Ring the team is actually slightly slower than it was 12 months ago.
McLaren make 3.5-second leap forward in France
Lap time watch: 2019 French Grand Prix
Posted onMcLaren have made a huge step forward in performance at the French Grand Prix, lapping the Paul Ricard circuit three-and-a-half seconds faster than they did last year.
Red Bull no quicker in Canada as Renault make strides
Lap time watch: 2019 Canadian Grand Prix
Posted onThe two Renault-powered teams made the biggest year-on-year gains at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve but Red Bull lapped slower than they did last year.
Mercedes find a second as Ferrari flatline in Monaco
Lap time watch: 2019 Monaco Grand Prix
Posted onWhile Ferrari were hardly any quicker in Monaco than they had been last year, Mercedes made a huge step forward at what had been one of their weaker tracks.
Mercedes have their biggest performance advantage for 58 races
Lap time watch: 2019 Spanish Grand Prix
Posted onMercedes are further ahead of the field this weekend than they have been at every F1 round since the 2016 British Grand Prix.
How F1’s slowest team is getting even slower
Lap time watch: 2019 Azerbaijan Grand Prix
Posted onWilliams are getting further away from their 2018 lap times with each passing race, and for the second race running are more than 2.5 seconds off their 2017 pace.
Ferrari are 0.7 seconds slower than last year in China
Lap time watch: 2019 Chinese Grand Prix
Posted on“We had it” rued Sebastian Vettel after qualifying third for the Chinese Grand Prix, 0.7 seconds slower than his pole position time from last year.
Alfa Romeo and McLaren make biggest gains in Bahrain
Lap time watch: 2019 Bahrain Grand Prix
Posted onHalf the F1 teams lapped Bahrain slower than they did 12 months ago due to the slightly more conservative tyre selection being used this year.
Williams is the only team lapping slower in Melbourne than last year
Lap time watch: 2019 Australian Grand Prix
Posted onWilliams is the only team which has not managed to lap Albert Park quicker this year than it managed 12 months ago.
Lap time watch: 2019 F1 testing day eight
2019 F1 season
Posted onMercedes trailled Ferrari by three-thousandths of a second but led them by almost 900 kilometres at the end of pre-season testing.