Australia GP Race Report

There was no news between Qualifying and the Race, so off we went.  Verstappen held the lead from the grid but LeClerc took Norris's third place straight away.  Hamilton, who wasn't sure about his soft tyre choice, made up one place, whilst his old nemesis, Alonso, fell back.

Just as I picked my phone to complete Wordle, Sainz makes a DRS pass on Verstappen round the outside of a corner, perfectly timed to take a second helping of open wing.  This is the first time in a long time that someone has overtaken him.  He radioed in to say the car was "loose"; was there something mechanically wrong with the car as it smoked it's way about and then his brake was on fire, or his tyre, or his engine. Verstappen pushed on for a while until the flames coming out the back of the car stopped in.  It's his first reliability failure for a many a season.   At this point, Perez was in 6th and ino position to step in to his team mate's shoes.

There was a flurry of pit stops by Lap 10, early on the 58 lap race.  Sauber, once again, had a poor stop and will need to make changes.

Just as Sainz pitted from the lead and came out second behind Alonso, Hamilton radioed in with an engine failure.  The moaning minnie pretty much manifested it for himself.  A Virtual Safety Car was called, which was a gift for those who hadn't already pitted: Alonso, Ocon and Gasly.

Sainz and LeClerc were told to hold positions  and later on there were more team orders, with Piasti moving over for Norris.

Everyone carried on from this point until the last lap when Russell had a major collision with the wall that left his car on it's side.  This meant that everyone finished under a Virtual Safety Car.  Alonso was subsequently given a 20 second place penalty for driving "unusually" and causing Russell to crash.  Sainz invited LeClerc to move close to him and celebrate the 1, 2 finish together, but he didn't...sour grapes?  He took Fastest Lap though; it feels likes a long time now since he has won a race.  The McLarens were 3rd and 4th and Perez was 5th, hardly scooping up the points upon Max's retiral.

Sainz climbed very slowly and gingerly out of the car, so his recent surgery was apparent.  The officials were trying to rush him about but it wasn't going to be possible.  To make matters worse, he was then interviewed by Guenther Steiner.

The top ten was finished by Stroll, Tsunoda, Alonso and both Haas, which is a massive result for the American team.  Albon, Ricciardo and Gasly came next, which was decent.

What can we look forward to in Japan and China?  The return of a second chassis for Williams?  Further wins for Ferrari?  Further mechanical failure for Red Bull?  Certainly more speculation about who will drive for which team in 2025.

Australia GP Qualifying Report

The build up to Qualifying was a tale of ailing drivers; Sainz was back in the car after abdominal surgery and Albon was in his team mate's car after destroying the chassis in Free Practice.

In the heavy Alpine, Gasly crossed a vital white line and would be penalised by the stewards.  The Frenchman must be on the watch list for drivers who might be racing in a different series next year.  No one noticed that Zhou's front wing was broken as he went around.  He was out last with both Haas (temporarily) and Gasly.  Then Ricciardo had a time deleted and put Magnussen back into the action.  The Australian never has any luck at his home track.

The Mercedes continued to struggle and Hamilton was knocked out in 11th in Q2 ahead of Albon, Bottas, Magnussen and Ocon.  Verstappen was complaining a lot about understeer, which left the Ferraris dominating the session so far.

On to the final Qualifying session and Alonso made a poor start with a trip through the gravel.  Piastri rode across a kerb.  The game played out as it always does, Verstappen comes from being slightly behind, Red Bull turn up the gas and takes pole position.  Next to him was a slightly-lighter-than-at-Bahrain Sainz.  Perez held third and LeClerc abandoned his lap when he knew he wasn't going any quicker.  So Norris starts 4th and Piastri is the other side of the Ferrari driver in 6th.  Russell was the highest finishing Mercedes in 7th, then Tsunoda, Stroll and Alonso.  Finally the owners son out qualifies his team mate.  The stewards would then give Perez a three place grid penalty for impeding Hulkenberg.

Saudi Arabia GP Race Report

The big news in Saudi should have been the teenager in the Ferrari.  If Bearman does well and is kept on as reserve driver for Ferrari, should LeClerc's insides also explode then there could be two Brits driving for the Italian national team next year. 

The big news was still the Horner vs. Marko clash.  No has denied the authenticity of the revealed WhatsApp messages, so we can only assume they are genuine screenshots.  How long can Mr Halliwell hold on to power for?  

Before the race, Norris and Tsunoda had an unsafe release incident leaving the pits.  Gasly had a problem with his gearbox on the way to the grid but it was lights off and away we go.  Perez nearly got second place from LeClerc but the Ferrari driver clung on tenaciously.  Russell snitched on Norris for jumping the start.  Bearman was very aggressive but just seemed to be hanging on.

Once DRS (that great race-killer) was enabled, Perez was straight past LeClerc.

We were waiting for Sargeant or Bearman to Latifi up the race but Stroll went for it early doors on Lap 7.  Daddy must be very proud; watching his son bounce around tracks internationally.  The team radioed in to him when he told them he'd hit the wall, "Can you bring it back in?"  "No," he replied, "I've hit the wall."  The Safety Car came out.  With everyone pitting, the lane got stuffed up and some drivers suffered being held up, particularly LeClerc.  Norris, Hamilton and Hulkenberg didn't stop.  I'm beginning to feel that Lewis is just dialling it in this year. Norris led the race when the Safety Car went in and was nearly able to maintain the one second required to hold off Verstappen getting DRS.

Perez was given a 5 second penalty for unsafe release in the pits.  Magnussen was given a 10 second penalty for causing a collision with Albon.

For the first half of the race, Ricciardo pootled about plumb last.  Netflix executives will be willing him on to boost the ratings.  For the second half of the race he was second to last, ahead of Bottas and then Zhou too, when he had a slow stop.  Even when he spun the car, he stayed ahead of the Saubers.

Magnussen was given another 10 second penalty for forcing another driver off the track.  Norris was given a black and white flag for weaving on the straight.  Busy day for the stewards.

Alonso kissed the wall but told his team there was no damage.  Very much the small boy excuse for doing anything.  He brought the car home in 5th.

Perez held on to Verstappen and made it a Red Bull one-two with LeClerc in 3rd, claiming an extra point for Fastest Lap.  Piastri, Alonso and Russell were next, ahead of Bearman, with an excellent finish in his debut race.  The 18 year old Brit received Driver of the Day too, with Sainz straight back from surgery to watch the race.

Max is no longer shouting how much he loves the team over the radio at the end of races.  Is this complacency?  Is this a reflection on the turmoil within the team?  Is this maturity?  Is it a sign that he is looking to drive elsewhere?

Saudi Arabia GP Qualifying Report

The biggest breakingist news from Jeddah was that Sainz arrived with appendicitis and had to undergo surgery immediately.  This meant that their reserve driver was called up, a young whippersnapper called Bearman.  He was able to have a little go in Free Practice.

Zhou and Sargeant both came to Qualifying having dinted the car.  Whilst Piastri hit the wall during Q1, it was Zhou suffered, only just getting out in time to try and put in a timed lap but didn't make it.  So both Saubers went out with both Alpines and Sargeant too.

During Q2, I spied a car in the background of a shot.  A while after, the commentators picked up that a car had stopped.  Then, finally, the Yellow Flags were waved followed by a Red Flag to stop the session as Hulkenberg's car had lost power and was waiting at the side of the track.

Ricciardo was out next to Hulk, with his team mate through to Q3; he needs to pull his socks up.  Magnussen was next up, then Albon and rookie Bearman in P11 on his first shot.

Traffic was a bit of a problem in all three sessions but LeClerc went out on a different pattern from the rest which meant he had to overtake slower cars, compromising his first hot lap.  In the dying moments of the final session, Alonso stole a tow from Hamilton whilst Russell aborted his lap.  LeClerc and Alonso put in the final quick laps.  Verstappen took pole, sharing the front row with LeClerc.  Perez is behind him, next to Alonso.  The McLarens fill the next row (Piastri ahead of Norris), then the Mercedes (Russell ahead if Hamilton).  Finally was Tsunoda then Stroll.

Could a rookie in the mix for the race shake things up?  Can LeClerc take the race to Verstappen?

Drive to Survive - Season 6

Season 6 opened with Norris driving through the Monegasque countryside and then the drivers airily discussing their privileged lifestyles.  Verstappen demonstrated that he wears Red Bull team attire off-season too.  Because four drivers playing paddle in Monte Carlo hadn't been  set up at all.  The gear was moved up and we zoomed in on a fancy-schmancy Aston Martin event, painting Stroll (senior) as a villain, in opposition to the people's hero Steiner.  

Forward to Bahrain testing and Vestappen comments they will see the drivers a lot on track, more than over the holiday.  Not how it would end up, Max.  Stroll comes back from breaking his wrists and talks about how painful it is.  Then, boom, Claire Williams!

Despite being presented at the time with a miraculous recovery from his biking injuries, it is revealed that Stroll was in a lot of pain and taking a lot of pain medication upon his return to F1 in Bahrain.  Even his colleagues are commenting that the shouldn't be there.  He moved around the paddock looking stoned and demonstrating a somewhat unusual relationship with his father.

Episode 2 started with Father Christmas (not Santa in Ginger's Posh house) asking Christian Horner if he'd been a good boy this year.  We know now that, no, he was not.  The focus of the ep. was De Vries and Ricciardo.  Luckily Geri, was on hand to talk it through.

Everyone emphasised that Ricciardo was specifically there to do marketing duties, not sim work as outlined at the time.  I suppose this makes the return to racing later much dramatic: from boy holding golf sale sign to F1 hero.

Episode 3 was Piasti's (and McLaren's), once again Norris was portrayed as dismayed until a little victory, or second place.  They didn't do much with this well-told story.  

Circling the bottom, was Episode 4, focusing on Haas and Williams.  Claire Williams star turn had come.  It was the story of old-sweary war horse Guenter Steiner and James Vowles, the new Team Principal in town, who couldn't get his introduction right.  I'd forgotten how good the start of the 2023 season was for Haas and how poor for Williams but then the order switched on race 3 at Melbourne and the writing was on the wall.  For his Netflix career, Steiner came out with: "There's nothing left in the lemon, all the juice has been squeezed."  It will be on a T-shirt already.  The slant of the end was building up to Steiner leaving F1, which wasn't on the cards at the time.  Did the editors have to rehash the storyline?

Then we moved onto the French affair of Episode 5.  I have no recollection of Alpine getting a podium with Ocon  at Monaco.  Gasly, who seems to be popular in the paddock (unlike Ocon), was portrayed as the villain of the piece.  In the end, they showed a bit of the spat but overall it was uneventful.  Netflix must have been contractually obliged to include the team.

Episode 6 was Mercedes and opened with Hamilton mentioning his contract was up for renewal this year.  Ears perked up; would this have had a late edit to include his 2025 news about Ferrari?  After some petulance from Hamilton, we switched to the team boss.  In some sort of Horner-Halliwell vs. Wolff-Stoddart one-up-manship, we saw the Wolves take their son karting.  They dwelled on the doom and gloom at the start of the season, then moved to over-taking Aston Martin in the championship at Barcelona.

There was no last minute edit and the sun shone on the silver arrows as Hamilton said, "There's never going to be a time when I'm not a Mercedes driver."  It hasn't aged well.

And back to Alpine...are they paying Netflix for air time?  We saw the firing of Otmar and it was portrayed quite sensitively, with snide comments shown behind the scenes from other F1 personnel but lots of lovely conversations to his face.  Bruno, the new TP (new phrase for 2024), is shown in the slightly embarrassing position of speaking excellent French but not English like the majority of staff he is now hoping to improve the morale of.

From a flailing TP in Episode 7, we moved on to Red Fred in Episode 8.  We were building up to Sainz's great triumph in Singapore (I'd completely forgotten that Russell crashed on the last lap, losing any chance of the victory) after not winning Monza.  Winning Monza is the number 1 item on the Ferrari Team Principal Job Description.

The next episode focused on box office gold Ricciardo, they went from back in the seat to breaking his hand.  The film crew got a lovely trip to Milton Keynes to meet Liam Lawson.  He couldn't have come across as any greener with Danica Patrick commenting, "He's probably shitting himself."  To make matters worse, we saw all the other drivers bullying him outside the press conference.  He then qualified in his first race ahead of all the other Red Bull drivers and finished in the points.  And after all that, when Danny is given the seat over him, he expresses just how upsetting it is.  I suppose this is the reason behind Drive to Survive's great success.

The grand finale was Vegas baby.  The drivers looked aghast at the showmanship they were being asked to perform.  It felt like Netflix would want to make the Las Vegas race look glossy and all-American top fun but perhaps they were happy to show some of the elements that made it less popular with the teams and drivers.  Ferrari closed up on Mercedes.  We moved on to the last race at Abu Dhabi and the picture widened to include the rivalry between McLaren and Aston Martin.  Creepy Uncle Fernando reared his head.  As Russell had "the drive of his life", LeClerc was left frustrated that Ferrari couldn't even hang on to second place in the constructors championship.

And so it was.  They threw in a card to inform the fewer that Steiner's contract was not renewed but nothing about Hamilton's move to Ferrari; they have that in the bag for next season.

Overall, the episodes were fairly predictable.  The weathered F1 fan who is familiar with the Netflix production, could write the show, as Albon did mid-season.  With Verstappen's domination they were obliged to focus on the race to be best of the rest.  Let's hope 2024 provides them with more interesting fodder.