2019 Formula One World Championship


Free practice drivers

Across the season two drivers drove as a test or third driver in free practice sessions. Nicholas Latifi drove for Williams at six Grands Prix, while Naoki Yamamoto drove for Toro Rosso at the.

Team changes

ended its twelve-year partnership with Renault and switched to Honda engines. In doing so, Red Bull Racing joined sister team Scuderia Toro Rosso in using Honda power after the latter joined the Japanese manufacturer in. Neither team is recognised as Honda's official factory team under the terms of the agreement.
pit box and impeded Valtteri Bottas, resulting in a five-second time penalty for Verstappen. In the second half of the race, Hamilton was on the radio complaining about his graining tyres, but his team kept him out. Second-placed Verstappen kept the pressure on Hamilton, with Verstappen coming close to Hamilton in the final laps of the race at the Nouvelle Chicane. Hamilton went on to win the race and although Verstappen was second, his penalty was applied and it demoted him to fourth place. This promoted Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel to second and Mercedes's Bottas to third, ending Mercedes's 1–2 winning streak.
At the Canadian Grand Prix, free practice was eventful. Championship leader Lewis Hamilton made contact with the wall at turn 8, damaging his car, and some other drivers made contact not just there, but also at the Wall of Champions. Qualifying 2 was red-flagged after Kevin Magnussen slammed into the Wall of Champions, which also affected some racers trying to improve their times. At the end of qualifying, Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel won pole position ahead of Hamilton. Vettel led from the start until lap 48, when he lost control of his Ferrari and slid across the grass at turn 3, regaining control as he came back onto the circuit and nearly colliding with Hamilton. The stewards controversially gave Vettel a five-second time penalty for this incident as they deemed it an unsafe re-entry to the track and impeding Hamilton. Although Vettel crossed the finish line first, Hamilton was less than five seconds behind, so was promoted to first place after the penalty was applied. Vettel's teammate, Charles Leclerc finished in third place, and Mercedes's Valtteri Bottas received the fastest lap bonus point. Although Ferrari had intended to appeal the ruling, they withdrew but reviewed the evidence further. During free practice at the next race, the stewards announced that they would not review Ferrari's new evidence, thus the final standings stood with Hamilton in first and Vettel in second.
At the French Grand Prix, Mercedes dominated the free practice sessions. Hamilton was summoned to the stewards' office for rejoining the track unsafely, forcing Red Bull's Max Verstappen off the track, but no penalty was issued. Mercedes locked out the front row again in qualifying with Hamilton on pole and Bottas in second. Mercedes secured their sixth 1–2 of the season with Hamilton finishing 18 seconds ahead of Bottas, and Leclerc completing the podium less than a second behind Bottas. At the end of the final lap, fifth-placed finisher Vettel set the fastest lap for a bonus point.
At the Austrian Grand Prix, some drivers spun off the track in free practice due to wind. In qualifying, Leclerc secured his second pole position. Verstappen was promoted to second and Bottas third after second-placed Hamilton was given a grid penalty for impeding Kimi Räikkönen in Q1. In the race, Leclerc led away as Verstappen lost a few positions at the start. However, Verstappen found power for his car and managed to come back, passing Leclerc with just a few laps left. An investigation followed after contact was made between the two at turn 3 on lap 69, but the stewards deemed it a racing incident. All drivers finished the race, with Verstappen winning the race for a second consecutive year as well as setting the fastest lap. Leclerc finished second and Bottas finished third. It was the first win for a Honda-powered F1 car since Jenson Button in the 2006 Hungarian Grand Prix, and the first non-Mercedes win in 2019.
At the British Grand Prix, the newly resurfaced track surface caused plenty of eventful moments throughout the weekend, with Romain Grosjean crashing his car on the pit exit and Kimi Räikkönen's Alfa Romeo stopping on the Wellington straight, the latter of which brought out a red flag. The drivers all struggled with track grip levels throughout the session, and although there was some brief rain, it had little impact on the running in the session. Championship leader Lewis Hamilton was chasing for a 6th consecutive pole position at Silverstone but Bottas pipped him to pole by 0.006 seconds, almost as close as the 0.002-second time gap by which Vettel beat Fernando Alonso in the 2010 German Grand Prix. The opening laps did provide for some battling between the two Mercedes drivers, but the safety car played a crucial role in the Mercedes battle when Giovinazzi became stuck in the gravel trap at the penultimate corner and Hamilton pitted under the safety car, whereas Bottas had already pitted a few laps earlier during open racing. Thereafter, Vettel and Verstappen were battling for 3rd when Vettel misjudged his braking point at Vale corner and rammed into the back of Verstappen, resulting in a 10-second penalty, which led Vettel to finish behind the two Williamses. It also promoted Pierre Gasly to a joint career-best finish of 4th. Leclerc took 3rd, Bottas took 2nd, and Lewis Hamilton won his 6th British Grand Prix, equalling the record for the most home grand prix wins with Alain Prost. Hamilton also set the fastest lap on the final lap with the hardest tyre, which he ran for most of the race.
At the German Grand Prix, Mercedes ran a special one-off livery to commemorate their 125th anniversary in motorsport. Ferrari looked set to be the favourites for pole, having been fastest in every practice session, but both hit technical difficulties during qualifying, leaving Hamilton to take pole. Vettel started the race from last place. Everything changed in the race as it rained heavily before the start, leading the race to have a standing start for the first time. As the race progressed, many drivers spun off or crashed, particularly at the final two turns of the track, where Nico Hülkenberg and Charles Leclerc ended their races. Hülkenberg was on course to take his first ever podium before he crashed out. Hamilton also fell victim at the same place, but managed to keep going with a broken front wing. He was later penalized for entering the pit lane outside the bollard, later having a spin, and ended up 11th. Max Verstappen went on to claim victory in the race, with Vettel recovering from last to second, and the third podium place went to Toro Rosso's Daniil Kvyat, who made a stop for slick tyres late in the race to claim his third career podium and Toro Rosso's first since the 2008 Italian Grand Prix, after a close battle with Racing Point's Lance Stroll. Post-race, both Alfa Romeos, which finished 7th and 8th, were penalized for technical infringements, promoting Hamilton and Williams's Robert Kubica into the points, the latter scoring Williams's first – and what turned out to be only – points of the season, as well as his first since the 2010 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Verstappen took his maiden pole at the Hungarian Grand Prix, equalling the record with Sir Jackie Stewart for taking the most victories before a maiden pole. An unexpected extra stop for Hamilton soon led him to winning the race and beating Verstappen in the closing laps, who was suffering from graining tyres late in the race, having been battling with Hamilton previously.
The two tracks immediately after the summer break were more suited to Ferrari's top speed advantage, with Leclerc winning both the Belgian and Italian Grands Prix from pole position. In both races, Leclerc was under strong pressure from Hamilton throughout, winning the Belgian race by less than a second, before Hamilton ultimately dropped back after missing the first chicane in Italy. This enabled Bottas to finish second and slightly close up in the title race. Leclerc won his first two career wins consecutively and within the timespan of one week, as Vettel and Verstappen endured two terrible weekends. His victory at Belgium was an emotional one, as the race was overshadowed by the death of Formula 2 driver Anthoine Hubert the previous day. The Renault junior driver was involved in an accident on lap 2 of the Feature Race, succumbing to his injuries later that evening. This saw Leclerc close up in the battle for third in the Drivers' Championship. Leclerc also became the first Ferrari Monza winner since Fernando Alonso's victory in 2010. Qualifying sessions for both races were unusual in that Leclerc won pole by a sizeable margin of more than 0.7 seconds on a dry track in Belgium, whereas almost the entire Q3 field missed crossing the line in time for their second timed lap at Monza, as no driver wanted to be at the front of the group as they would not have the advantage of a tow from the car in front – a significant benefit at Monza, the season's fastest track.

Closing rounds

Vettel ended a winless streak stretching over a year to win at the Singapore Grand Prix for Ferrari, the team's third consecutive victory. Leclerc had qualified on pole ahead of Hamilton and Vettel and led the first stint. However, a timely pitstop by Vettel saw him unintentionally undercutting Leclerc with an outlap three seconds faster than Leclerc's inlap. Hamilton then tried an overcut that did not work, limiting him to a fourth-place finish, as Mercedes were off the podium with both cars. Hamilton initially kept a reasonable pace, before his tyres fell off and the midfield cars behind him started to run faster laptimes than him. After his pitstop, he was unable to pass Verstappen, who finished third. There were three safety car spells in the second half of the race, although the complexion of the Singapore circuit made the restarts uneventful up front as the top cars ran in formation. This marked the first time in eleven years that Ferrari had won three races in a row and was Vettel's record fifth win at Singapore, and also the first time a team has finished 1–2 in Singapore. The race results saw Leclerc move ahead of Verstappen and climb to third in the standings for the first time of the season.
Leclerc took his fourth consecutive pole at the Russian Grand Prix, but at the start of the race, it was Vettel who led, contradicting a pre-race agreement that had been discussed. Vettel led until he made his first stop on lap 26, but an engine component failed just after his stop, prompting his retirement. This prompted a Virtual Safety Car, during which both Mercedes as well as Leclerc pitted, therefore resulting in a 1–2 finish for Mercedes with Hamilton winning. Leclerc could only finish third behind the Mercedeses.
At the, free practice sessions 1 and 2 went as scheduled on Friday, with Mercedes topping each of the sessions. Because of Typhoon Hagibis, all events for Saturday, with the exception of qualifying, were cancelled with qualifying instead being rescheduled to Sunday morning. Vettel and Leclerc both locked out the front row for a Ferrari 1–2, with Bottas and Mercedes not far behind. The Red Bull drivers of Verstappen and Albon finished with the exact same Q3 time, but Verstappen received the position ahead of his teammate as he was released first. At the race, Vettel had an issue when the lights went out to start the race, letting Bottas pass by easily. Leclerc and Verstappen had a tangle at turn 2 on the opening lap, which saw Leclerc being given a five-second penalty; he was later given a ten-second penalty for driving in an unsafe condition after the collision. Verstappen eventually retired from the race, his second DNF of the season. The chequered flag was waved a lap early, and though Sergio Perez of Racing Point crashed out, his 9th place standing was left intact as the results of the race were taken from lap 52. Bottas of Mercedes finished first, Vettel of Ferrari finished second, and Hamilton finished third with Hamilton receiving the fastest lap point. With the 1–3 finish for Mercedes, the team had secured their sixth consecutive Constructors' Championship. Renault had both drivers disqualified for a technical infringement following a protest from Racing Point.
At the Mexican Grand Prix, Hamilton won his tenth Grand Prix of the season, after a first-corner touch with Verstappen that saw them both crossing the grass at turn 2. Verstappen lost several positions, and in fighting his way back past Bottas sustained a puncture that effectively ended his challenge. Sebastian Vettel finished second and Valtteri Bottas third. Although Hamilton could have taken the World Championship, he was unable to outscore Bottas by a sufficient number of points.
At the, Bottas won from pole followed by Hamilton and Verstappen. Second place in the race was enough for Hamilton to claim his sixth World Drivers' Championship making him the second most successful Formula One driver in terms of Championship wins behind Michael Schumacher.
At the Brazilian Grand Prix, Verstappen won from pole. Pierre Gasly and Carlos Sainz Jr. took their first podiums, finishing 2nd and 3rd respectively. The race changed dramatically on lap 53 when Valtteri Bottas retired with an engine problem, bringing out the safety car to bunch up the field. Immediately after the end of the safety-car period, Ferrari teammates Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel collided on the back straight, causing both to retire. Debris from the incident brought out the safety car again, returning to the pits with two laps remaining. Following the restart, Lewis Hamilton misjudged an overtaking manoeuvre on Alexander Albon, putting the latter into a spin and dropping him from a podium position to being out of the points. Hamilton's car was damaged but he was able to continue, although he lost second place to Pierre Gasly. Gasly and Hamilton were involved in a dramatic flat-out race to the finish line, with DRS being unavailable as this was only the second lap following the safety car ending. Gasly held onto second place, with his ability to keep Hamilton's Mercedes at bay in a straight fight being a major show of strength for the Honda engine. Hamilton occupied the final step of the podium, but was later given a 5-second time penalty for causing the incident with Albon. This dropped him to 7th and promoted Carlos Sainz Jr. to his first podium in Formula One in his 101st race – the longest any podium winner has had to wait for his first podium in F1 history.
Hamilton took pole position at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, ending his pole-less streak since Germany, and went on to dominate and win the race, taking the sixth Grand Slam of his career. Verstappen was initially overtaken by Leclerc at the start but despite having minor engine issues, managed to repass him later on. Leclerc had been summoned to the stewards regarding a fuel issue, and Ferrari were fined €50,000 while Leclerc got to keep his position. Bottas, who started from 20th and last due to multiple engine penalties, was able to recover to 4th place, despite a DRS issue affecting the entire grid for the first 17 laps of the race.

Results and standings

Grands Prix

Scoring system

Points were awarded to the top ten classified drivers and the driver who set the fastest lap. The points were awarded for every race, using the following system:
Position 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th FL
Points2518151210864211

The point for fastest lap was only awarded if the driver was classified in the top ten for the race. Two fastest lap points were not awarded this season as Kevin Magnussen and Valtteri Bottas set the fastest lap but did not classify within the top ten in Singapore and Brazil, respectively. As Daniil Kvyat and Nico Hülkenberg ended the season with an identical number of points, a count-back system was used as a tie-breaker, with the driver's best result used to decide the standings.

World Drivers' Championship standings

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