F1 2019: Valtteri Bottas wins Azerbaijan Grand Prix

Valtteri Bottas extended Mercedes incredible opening to 2019, enjoying a lights-to-flag victory at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix as the Silver Arrows secured their fourth consecutive one-two of the season.

Sebastian Vettel completed the podium in Baku, Ferrari once again failing to de-stabilize Mercedes despite their apparent straight-line advantage. He was ahead of Max Verstappen, the Red Bull driver maintaining his record of finishing in the top four at every race this year. Charles Leclerc was next up, meanwhile, the Monegasque recovering decently from his qualifying crash yesterday to take his third fifth place of the year – while a late stop to try and get the extra point for fastest lap paid dividends as he set a new lap record for the track.

Baku specialist Sergio Perez was a strong sixth for Racing Point, ahead of the McLaren pairing of Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris. The second Racing Point of Lance Stroll took ninth, while Kimi Raikkonen made the most of a pit lane start to claim the final points-paying position for Alfa Romeo.

Despite a relatively trouble-free Azerbaijan Grand Prix for much of the field, Daniel Ricciardo recorded his third non-finish of the year after running wide into Turn 3 and then reversing into the stopped car of Daniil Kvyat, who was also forced to retire.

US MotoGP 2019: Alex Rins claims Maiden Victory

Alex Rins secured Suzuki’s first MotoGP win since the 2016 British GP after edging out Valentino Rossi to an extraordinary win at the Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas, which saw the king of COTA Marc Marquez crash out of the lead.

As the lights went out it was Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda Castrol) who got the better launch out of the front three on the grid, with Valentino Rossi (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) also getting off the line well as the duo pulled alongside Marquez up the hill, but it was the pole man who was bravest on the brakes to grab the holeshot. Rossi and Crutchlow slotted into second and third as the duo tried to keep tabs on the leader, with Andrea Dovizioso (Mission Winnow Ducati) making a stellar start from P13 to move up to P6 on the opening lap.

Marquez didn’t get away from the clutches of Rossi straight away in an opening couple of laps, but the reigning World Champion then started to pull the pin and by lap five, the gap was 1.4 seconds. It was quickly becoming a battle for second and in it was Rossi and Crutchlow, with Jack Miller (Pramac Racing) and Rins right in the hunt.

10th went the way of Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu), the leading Honda in Austin, with Maverick Vinales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) 11th. Both he and compatriot Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) were handed ride through penalties after jump starts, with Vinales taking the long lap penalty at least once before coming through pit lane. Andrea Iannone (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini), Johann Zarco (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Tech 3) and Reale Avintia Racing’s Tito Rabat completed the points.

F1 2019: Lewis Hamilton wins Chinese Grand Prix

As Formula 1 celebrated the 1000th World Championship race, Lewis Hamilton led home team-mate Valtteri Bottas Mercedes secured their third one-two in as many races to start the 2019 season. On a day when Ferrari had no answer for the Silver Arrows, Sebastian Vettel completed the podium in third.

Hamilton’s win means that Shanghai joins the Hungaroring and the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on the list of tracks where Hamilton has secured six victories. Behind the Mercedes pair, Vettel’s podium position was effectively secured when Ferrari team orders saw Charles Leclerc moved over early in the race, with the Bahrain near-victor ending up a frustrating fifth, behind the Red Bull of Max Verstappen.

Sixth was Pierre Gasly, who strapped a new set of soft tyres onto his Red Bull two laps from the end to help him take the extra point for fastest lap. Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo secured his first finish of the year – and it was a good one too, the Australian ending seventh at the head of the midfield, holding off the Racing Point of Sergio Perez, who used a lightning start from P12 on the grid to finish P8 by the flag.

A strong drive from Alfa Romeo's Kimi Raikkonen saw him finish ninth, while an impressive afternoon from Toro Rosso's Alexander Albon from a pit lane start saw him make a one-stop strategy work to finish P10 after holding off the Haas of Romain Grosjean. The Thai driver’s efforts also saw him earn ‘Driver of The Day’. From the wide open spaces of the Shanghai International Circuit, Formula 1 now heads to tight confines of Baku City Circuit for what promises to be another fraught and frantic Azerbaijan Grand Prix and the start of Formula 1's next 1000 races.

Argentina MotoGP 2019: Marc Marquez wins

After putting a spectacular fight in the first race of the season last month, Honda's Marc Marquez took a dominant win in the 2019 MotoGP Argentina Grand Prix. The rider completed the race with a massive lead of 9.816s over the rest of the pack, having led the race right from pole position. Coming in second was Yamaha's Valentino Rossi, going strong even as newer and younger riders take space on the grid. The Italian managed to pass Ducati's Andrea Dovizioso take P2, with each rider of the top three teams making it on the podium.

Marquez had a near perfect start to the race from pole and was quick to detach himself from the rest of the pack from Turn 1 of the opening lap. The Spaniard had a one-second lead at the end of the first lap, which extended to over three seconds by Lap 3, and was at its highest at 12 seconds by Lap 10, as the race reached half time. While Marquez was untouchable at the front, it was the battle for second place that brought in all the action over the 25 lap race.

Rossi had as a good start as Marquez and was quick to take second place, but Dovizioso was quick to challenge the position. The Ducati rider crossed Rossi early on into second place after the Italian ran wide at Turn 5 on Lap 7. However, Rossi recovered to P2 once again a lap later and held on to the position for the new six laps. Dovizioso was hot on his tail and found a gap on Lap 13 but with Rossi still a close third. It wasn't until the final lap that the Yamaha rider managed to pass Dovi at Turn 7 to retake P2 and cross the chequered flag.

Coming in fourth was Pramac Ducati rider Jack Miller, 12.140s over the race leader, after a late pass on Suzuki rider Alex Rins who finished fifth. Factory Ducati rider Danilo Petrucci took sixth. Yamaha's Maverick Vinales though finished was expected to take seventh after a poor started pushed the rider from P2 to P4 and eventually P8 by the second lap of the race. The Spaniard, however, was taken out by Petronas SRT Yamaha's Franco Morbidelli on the final lap.

The incident promoted LCR Honda's Takaaki Nakagami to seventh ahead of Yamaha Petronas rider Fabio Quartararo (Petronas), Aleix Espargaro of Aprilia and KTM's Pol Espargaro. Coming in 11th was Miguel Oliveira of Tech3 KTM, followed by Honda's Jorge Lorenzo in 12th place, same as his qualifying position.

Coming in 13th was LCR Honda's Cal Crutchlow who had a strong chance to be a podium contender but earned a ride-through penalty for a jump start that left him fending for 13th. The final point takers were Pramac Ducati's Francesco Bagnaia and Johann Zarco for KTM. The last finishers were Tech3 KTM's Hafizh Syahrin followed by Aprilia's Andrea Iannone in 17th place.

F1 2019: Lewis Hamilton wins Bahrain Grand Prix

Charles Leclerc had looked on course to convert his pole position into a maiden win under the floodlights in Bahrain. That was until 10 laps before the end of the Grand Prix when an issue with his Ferrari engine forced him to concede the lead he’d held for the majority of the race to the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton.

Hamilton went on to lead home Mercedes’ second one-two of the year ahead of Valtteri Bottas, while a late Safety Car brought out for the two Renaults retiring on the same lap at least limited the damage to Leclerc’s race, as he ended up third to claim his first podium in F1.

It was still a heartbreaking end to what had been a superb Grand Prix for Leclerc, who had managed much of the race magnificently from the front and would certainly have become the 108th winner in F1 history had the issue with his engine not manifested.

There was more woe for Ferrari too, as Sebastian Vettel – who himself had looked set to claim a podium behind Leclerc – spun while battling with Lewis Hamilton before dramatically losing his front wing down the back straight. He was left to fight back to fifth, behind the fourth-placed Red Bull of Max Verstappen. Lando Norris put in a fantastic drive to wind up sixth – benefitting from Nico Hulkenberg late retirement from that position, while Kimi Raikkonen was seventh ahead of the Red Bull of Pierre Gasly.

F1 now heads to Shanghai for the Chinese Grand Prix on April 14 – and after Mercedes took their second win from as many races in 2019 in Bahrain, how dearly Ferrari would love to win the next one, as Formula 1 celebrates its 1,000th Grand Prix.