Monday 17 September 2018

Singapore GP - "Keep pushing"

The weekend started poorly with Hamilton turning to two wheels for the weekend - a scooter.  The attitude continued with his Q1 radio comment: "You guys need to listen to me".  In all fairness, they probably should, as he did an amazing qualifying lap and secured an easy victory.

Force India are in contention for the team bringing the most entertainment to the race.  The last thing Ocon needed was Perez taking him out of the race.  I'm not sure anyone knows why they've chosen Perez (one of the most hyped drivers of recent years and yet not going the way of Vandoorne???).  The FI bosses must be scratching their heads post-race after subsequently seeing his mid-race move on Sirotkin.

Verstappen also brought a smidgin of excitement, as we waited to see whether he would come out of the pits ahead of Vettel (he did).  It was fantastic holding of nerve and a demonstration of the power of the undercut?  Overcut?  Half cut?  Cut and blow dry?

Magnussen somehow gave the fastest lap of the race.  I think every year we should keep looking out to see if it is ever beaten.

Ultimately though, Ferrari tweeted post-race: "Boredom is the real winner at Singapore".

Singapore GP - Results

1. Give it some Gasly! - 842*
2. Two World Champions, Two Future World Champions, and, um, Two Other Guys - 806*
3. Evel Marque - 741*
4. Maximum Attack! - 681
5. Hasstag#FaceBull - 637*
6. Beauty & the F1 Geek - 631*
7. The Hopefulls - 598*
8. No Vices Now - 596*
9. The Pitstop Princess - 554*
10. Halo, baby! - 550*
11. Spa Day with a Shooey - 485*
12. Hippy F1 - 437*
13. Jack Johnson - 424
14. Wheels on Fire - 398

* Home track played

Monday 3 September 2018

Italy GP - "For continuing to believe in me, I really do appreciate it"

 Or "Disappointing.  There was nothing I could do"

Everyone was happy to see to see Raikkonen on pole, even if he is an old man.  Or because he is an old man?

Lap 1 saw an "incident" that we hoped would get Hamilton a penalty.  But we did get to watch Vettel "fight" his way through the pack and hear the tfosi roar.  Whilst we wondered how Ferrari would engineer his pass on Raikkonen.
Lap 4 (or 2 if you don't count the laps under the safety car), saw Hamilton overtake Raikkonen and then he got it back.  A heartstopping moment.
After Alonso stopped on lap 10, I'm wondering if we'll ever really see him race a Formula 1 car again.  I see they've chosen a young gun to replace him, who I guess isn't used to do many laps in a race, so will fit right in.
After the first stop, we were willing Raikkonen on, to push, push, push to get the undercut.  Ultimately it didn't work out for him though and Bottas was usefully deployed.  I've not been so invested in a race for a long time.  Lap 45 was a disaster as Raikkonen just couldn't match the lap times of the Mercedes although he was too nice about it and could have made himself a little wider.

Other highlights of the race included a petulant Verstappen holding back Bottas saying: "I know I'm losing to Vettel but I really don't care", the "Kimi for President" banner and Williams getting their first points of the season.

Volunteers for writing up the forthcoming races please!

Italy GP - Result

1. Give it some Gasly! - 791*
2. Two World Champions, Two Future World Champions, and um, Two Other Guys - 755*
3. Evel Marque - 682*
4. Maximum Attack! - 622*
5. Hasstag#FaceBull - 603*
6. No Vices Now - 553*
7. Beauty & the F1 Geek - 551
8. The Hopefulls - 550*
9. The Pitstop Princess - 533*
10. Halo, baby! - 529*
11. Spa Day with a Shooey - 461*
12. Jack Johnson - 408
13. Hippy F1 - 407*
14. Wheels on Fire - 376

*Home track played