Valtteri Bottas set the pace in opening practice for the Russian Grand Prix which was disrupted by a crash for Nicholas Latifi, while Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton was only 19th.

Start Tuscan Grand Prix - Hamilton got the a sluggish start, Bottas whipped ahead of him and Verstappen after an initial good get-away suddenly lost power and slide back through the pack before being shunted out into the gravel.
Gasly had nowhere to go. He had contact with Raikkonen who then went steaming into the back of Verstappen. Verstappen is fuming but his race already looked in tatters.

Valtteri Bottas has completed a clean sweep of practice sessions at the Tuscan Grand Prix.
The Finn, who was also fastest in both sessions on Friday, was 0.017 seconds quicker than Max Verstappen’s Red Bull.
1. Valterri Bottas 1:16.350
2. Max Verstappen +0.017
3. Lewis Hamilton +0.083
4. Lance Stroll +0.582
5. Pierre Gasly +0.696
6. Sergio Perez +0.811
7. Charles Leclerc +0.958
8.Alex Albon +1.008
9. Danni Kvyat +1.097
10. Romain Grosjean +1.105

Sergio Perez has revealed he is leaving Racing Point at the end of this season in a shock announcement released on Wednesday evening.
The Mexican driver said the 2020 season would be his last with the Silverstone-based squad, despite the fact he signed a three-year contract just last year.
He added that he has no "Plan B" in terms of a drive for 2021, and that the move "hurts a bit as I bet on the team during very rough times"
https://twitter.com/SChecoPerez/status/1303760511239151618

An incredible 2020 Italian Grand Prix saw AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly claim a maiden Formula 1 win from the McLaren of Carlos Sainz and the Racing Point of Lance Stroll, as a transgression under the Safety Car saw polesitter Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton forced to serve a 10-second stop/go penalty, leaving him seventh at the flag.
https://youtu.be/TB5yhZdF8SI

Race starts in 35 minutes.
Hamilton on pole, Bottas 2nd, Sainz 3rd
Turn 11 is the famous Curva Parabolica. Turn three Curva Biassono. Turns six / seven Curve di Lesmo.

Qualification Italian Grand Prix,
5 September 2020
There was just a tenth between Hamilton and Bottas in the end.
BBC was told that lap from Lewis Hamilton was the fastest lap in F1 history!
If Lewis Hamilton turns this pole into a win tomorrow he will just be one race victory behind Michael Schumacher's all-time record of 91.

Sebastian Vettel qualifies in 17th. This is the first time a Ferrari driver will start outside the top 15 at Monza since Giancarlo Baghetti started in 16th in 1966.
Charles Leclerc's final lap is no better than his first either! He's out in Q2. There will be no Ferrari in Q3 at Monza...#ItalianGP #F1

Lewis Hamilton took his sixth victory of the season, but it was a race that is unlikely to be remembered fondly among his 89 career wins. All the ingredients were there: a semi-competitive Red Bull, a circuit where overtaking is possible and the potential for Hamilton to lose the lead on the long run to Les Combes on the first lap. Yet the race never really came alive...
https://youtu.be/xOy63dhQmUg

Lewis Hamilton wins at Spa! He finishes ahead of Valtteri Bottas (P2) and Max Verstappen (P3) to take the 89th win of his #F1 career
1) #Hamilton
2) #Bottas
3) #Verstappen
4) Ricciardo
5) Albon
6) Ocon
7) Norris
8) Stroll
9) Gasly
10)Perez

Sixteen laps gone - Carlos Sainz failed to start because of an exhaust issue. Antonio Giovinazzi went into the wall and his crash then caused George Russell to do the same.Safetycar on track.
Standings:
Hamilton (hards)
Bottas (+1.6, hards)
Verstappen (+3.2, hards)
Gasly (+9.1, hards)
Ricciardo (+10.9, hards)
Albon (+13.2, mediums)
Perez (+14.6, softs)
Ocon (+15.3, hards)
Stroll (+16.3, hards)
Norris (17.8, hards)

Max Verstappen gets third, ahead of Daniel Ricciardo and the Dutchman was less than one tenth away from the front row and the Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas.

Hamilton to start #F1 Belgian Grand Prix on pole position. Lewis Hamilton, who has won four of the six races this season.
It's an all-Mercedes front row.
1) Hamilton (#Mercedes)
2) Bottas (Mercedes)
3) Verstappen (Red Bull)
4) Ricciardo (#Renault)
5) Albon (Red Bull)
6) Ocon (Renault)
7) Sainz (#McLaren)
8) Perez (Racing Point)
9) Stroll (Racing Point)
10) Norris (McLaren)

F1 world championship leader Lewis Hamilton set the pace in final practice for the Belgian GP, while Ferrari’s misery continued.
Formula 1 world championship leader Lewis Hamilton set the pace in final practice for the Belgian Grand Prix ahead of Esteban Ocon, while Ferrari’s misery continued.

The "Outer Circuit" deviates from the Grand Prix circuit just after Turn Four and rejoins it at Turn 13
Formula 1 is to use a brand new layout of Bahrain's Sakhir track for the second race to be held in the Gulf state this year.
This shortens the track to 2.28 miles and is expected to produce qualifying lap times of less than 55 seconds.
Bahrain will hold events on 29 November and 6 December.
http://motor-bytes.com/OuterCircuit

Former Formula One champions Williams have been sold to U.S.-based private investment firm Dorilton Capital, they announced on Friday with a statement that marked the end of an era for the family-owned team.
They will continue to race under the Williams brand and remain at their Grove headquarters in England, the statement added.
https://www.espn.co.uk/f1/story/_/id/29708742/us-based-dorilton-capital-buys-williams-f1-team

Not quite the dominant day we expected from the Silver Arrows. Bottas led FP1 narrowly from Hamilton and Red Bull’s Verstappen, while Hamilton was their leading runner in FP2 in P3, 0.096s off Verstappen’s time – although Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner reckoned that Hamilton had around three-tenths in hand before a mistake in the final chicane. A bit of work needed overnight for the Silver Arrows, then, if they want to enjoy their usual crushing qualifying.
http://motor-bytes.com/BelgiumFP2

Valtteri Bottas headed Lewis Hamilton in a Mercedes one-two ahead of Red Bull's Max Verstappen in first practice at the Belgian Grand Prix.
The usual top three in F1 2020 were separated by tiny fractions - Bottas was 0.069 seconds ahead of Hamilton, who had 0.012secs on Verstappen.
Racing Point's Sergio Perez and Lance Stroll were fourth and fifth.
Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, winner at Spa-Francorchamps last year, was 14th, ahead of team-mate Sebastian Vettel.
https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/53947247

Highlights from the 2020 Formula 1 Spanish Grand Prix at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, as Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton attempts to become Formula 1's all-time record podium finisher.
#F1 #Formula1 #Racing #Motorsport
https://youtu.be/-yHbZWfkBwU

With track temperatures some 10 degrees hotter than in FP1 this morning, Hamilton’s best time from the qualifying simulations in FP2 was a 1m 16.883s, 0.098s slower than Bottas’ session-leading time from earlier in the day – while Bottas had a small hesitation at Turn 16 on his fastest flying lap, which may partially explain the gap to his team mate, before later running slightly off the track at Turn 12 on his long run.
https://youtu.be/BBwR9yCoGcA