Hungary Qualifying Report

Firstly, no F1 coverage this weekend is complete without saying "Happy 40th Birthday" to Fernando Alonso, I'm sure most of us thought, "Isn't he already 40?".  Along with, "He must dye his hair".  And that's the kind of insightful commentary you come here for.

Mick Schumacher kindly crashed his car in the morning's practice and was unable to participate in Qualifying, giving other drivers the chance to get through to Q2 or even 3....oh no, sorry, he drives a Haas.  Did Papa Mazepin slip him a few Euros...

There were no real surprises in the first session of Qualifying, although Russell failed to get through for the first time this season.  It was a scrappy lap though.

In the second session, Sainz brought out the red flag to halt the running, "I crashed.  I'm sorry".  It was driver error, he kept the engine running and got going to get back to the pits, the race director brought out the red flag, possibly prematurely, before his front wing fell off and his front tires went over and the whole car was stuck.  This track is a Ferrari track, so a major setback for the team.

Raikkonen managed 13th, which I would say shows that experience and track knowledge is valuable here, Vettel and Alonso also running well.  A huge mistake cost Ricciardo entry to the final session and he starts 11th.

The final session played out as expected.  The Mercedes were dominant and were placed first and second with the Red Bulls failing to get Perez across the line in time to put in a final quick lap (yet he still starts 4th, so no change really).  Gasly in P5 is impressive though.  Pierre must be pleased that he made it back to the Red Bull B Team that is Alpha Tauri after his stint at Red Bull and not in crime scene recreation like Alex Albon (who had to replicate Verstappen's track position to make a (failed) point to the stewards).

My final thoughts of Rosberg as a commentator to follow tomorrow.

Race predictions are: Hamilton for the win, Bottas for the surprise win (arf arf) and Gasly for the very surprising win.

GB Race Report

It's well known that Hamilton always collides with anyone who challenges him for the world championship.  Today it was Verstappen's day to feel the wrath.  Lewis is beginning to look more and more like one of his idols, Michael Schumacher, who frequently relied on a little tap to anyone who gave him a serious race.  With the red flag brought out after the incident, pausing the race, there was no cost to him repairing his car.  His radio footage made it clear that he felt Max did not give him space.  Verstappen looked very shaken and spacey as he got out of the car and into the medical vehicle.  All the pundits came out on the side of Verstappen, which is unusual not to be supporting the Brit.  In 2021 revamped F1, we also got to hear Horner speaking to Michael Massey on his new Sunday afternoon radio show (MMFM).   Whilst Horner claimed that Hamilton was never ahead of Verstappen, Wolff called (long time listener, first time caller, arf arf) to say that he was "significantly alongside" the car). Wolff then sent a special mystery email to Massey (race director), pointing out something in the rules.  He kept patiently telling the angry team representatives that the race stewards were investigating the incident.  Also, footage of Hamilton watching the replays and seeing the full extent of the damage to the Red Bull (and Verstappen).  I think Verstappen's visit to the medical centre prevented us from seeing some good old-fashioned pit land fisticuffs.

It had been a thrilling start to the race with Hamilton and Verstappen battling back and forth for the lead, showing real skill and race craft.  LeClerc had a great start, getting past Bottas and then taking the lead into the pit lane rolling start.

After the break in the pit lane, when Merecedes gaffer-taped up Hamilton's car, it was round the track for a standing start.  LeClerc reminded us all what an excellent driver he is by making an excellent start and retaining the lead.  Vettel spun his car and ended up behind the Haas.

All calmed down then suddenly on Lap 15, LeClerc's engine cut out and returned to life.  They gave him a new setting, but the driver was still closer to Hamilton and the dreaded DRS window.  He held on.

Lap 20 showed Raikkonen battling with the beleaguered Perez and proving why he continues to be paid the big bucks to drive in F1, holding off the faster car where skill counts in the corners and only conceding the position on the straight where money talks with engine performance.

From 3rd position Norris came into the pits and McLaren failed the home track hero with a 6 second stop.  I remember going to Silverstone in the Noughties and everyone was wearing Mercedes colours and supporting Hamilton, despite other Brits on the grid.  Now Norris and his papaya army are growing - is this a backlash against Hamilton?

It was a day of doomed pitstops, with Sainz taking a 12 second stop.  Hamilton took 4.2 seconds, on top of his 10 second penalty.

Another long period of calm, with Hamilton chasing LeClerc.  With less than 5 laps to go, Gasly gets a puncture and makes it into his pit in time.  Raikkonen spins off when battling with Perez.  Then the Mexican made the ultimate sacrifice by going in to the pits for soft tires to get the fastest lap - only he didn't get the point for it because he was not in the top ten (I still dispute this clause) - he did it to stop Hamilton getting the point.  Then LeClerc just couldn't hold off the Mercedes left with so few laps to go.

I don't think anyone would have predicted that LeClerc would come second this race.  It really shows why Ferrari picked him, making almost the absolute best of a golden opportunity.  His team mate finished 6th.  He maintained the lead for pretty much all of the race, losing out to the superior car with 3 laps to go.  I think only the staunchest Hamilton fans would think that he deserved victory today and until we hear how Verstappen is in hospital, there's no reason to celebrate.  LeClerc claimed Driver of the Day.  Still no points for Williams.

Hamilton put in a very slow lap, collecting a flag on the way to thank the fans and then ran around with said flag.  Obviously emotions were running high with the sudden victory but over-the-top celebrations are not respectful when the driver you ran off the track is in hospital.  As Verstappen pointed out himself on Twitter.

Looking at the crowd in light of the Hamilton Commission, you wonder whether you also need to change the fan base and grass roots engagement of the sport too.  You can only watch one full race for free on council TV every year and tickets for the race are well out the reach of most people.

Should also mention Tom Cruise.

GP Qualifying & Sprint Race Report

With only soft tires an option for Qualifying, I was worried that there wouldn't be any surprises as there would be no opportunities to play a different card.  Ultimately it was good one though.  With a capacity crowd. it was great to hear the cheers for Russell and Hamilton.  With Russell straight through Q1 and P7 in Q2, will he go backwards during the sprint race?  In Q3 he finished P8 ahead of Sainz and Vettel, not too bad.  Like most Williams fans, I think this format does not seem to be a winner for us.

It seems unlikely that I would write this but it was quite a nice surprise for Hamilton to take pole position in Qualifying.  It bodes well that possibly he can keep the championship race ticking along.  With the new format, this is his chance to score much-needed bonus points for the sprint race.

The start of the sprint (not a race, note) was electric, with Verstappen pulling away and Hamilton fighting hard to retake the position.  Alonso went from 11th to 5th.  No one was expecting the drivers to push to hard.  Russell gave everyone a tow off the grid and went backwards, tapping Sainz as he went.

Third of the way through, Perez spun the car (drive error), saved by the gravel trap, he didn't hit the wall and managed to rejoin the track, somewhat dangerously.  He was still ahead of Mazepin though, until he retired the car.

What did the sprint change about the grid?  Latifi started 17th in Williams, which is perhaps one place ahead of normal.  Verstappen took to the front of pack a day earlier than he would have.  LeClerc managed to jump ahead of the two McLarens.  Russell starts 9th instead of 8th.

How did Verstappen find the sprint?  "Nice".  The best move of the race/sprint was Alonso's start by far.

Have to say 17 laps seems like quite a long sprint.  The laurel wreaths are fun though.  The truck they went round in was like an Acme designed Securicor van that escorts prisoners to court.

I wonder how the free tire choice for the whole starting grid will play out...

Austria GP Qualifying and Race Report

Note: for this race I am "on holiday", the reality being that I can only watch highlights on C4 late at night and come to write this very late in the day on Monday...

Qualifying

The second Qualifying session had a couple of notes of interest.  Four times world champion Vettel impeded twice world champion Alonso, a move that cost him 3 grid places.  Former Aussie hot shot Ricciardo could only get his (flash lightning) McLaren into 13th, whilst Russell in his (improving?) Williams made 10th and through to the final session, beating both Ferraris.

The crowd was a sea of orange (Rangers fans or as Norris repeatedly joked, there in papaya for McLaren?) and gave a huge cheer when Hamilton could only go 4th in the final session.  Norris missed pole by 0.04 seconds.  Russell wasn't 10th as expected and put in a quicker lap than former Williams protégé/pay driver Stroll.  After, Russell felt it was a particularly quick lap as it was done on medium tires, which he will have to start on.  He was pleased as the soft tires looked "disastrous for the race".  So Williams definitely to score points in this race...

Race

It still felt like the media were running a skeleton crew (for each 5 members of crowd, 1 member of the media had to go?).  DC was left interviewing his godson, Monty Horner, who was very clear that his favourite driver is Max....  Turns out Perez is doomed after all.

With Ocon out on the first lap, hopes were that Russell would definitely be in the points after the first lap.  No, down four places at the start.  Perez was also down six places by lap 4, which also saw Bottas overtake Hamilton.  Lewis was particularly quiet this race, not complaining or questioning, just head down and race slowly.

Then the stewards remembered they had the power to hand out penalties.  Norris for pushing Tsunoda off the track, two for Tsunoda pushing drivers off the track, two for Perez pushing LeClerc off the track and many more for track limits, speeding in the pits and crossing a special white line.

Half way through the race I looked to see where Ricciardo was placed and couldn't find him....I was looking to low, he was in P5!  After the pit stops had played out, Russell was in 16th, definitely going to score some points.  Hamilton and Bottas were "inverted", a chance for Bottas to show Russell how to score points?  The question is why did Mercedes leave poor tires on Hamilton for so long when they clearly weren't working?  They let Norris past them.  Hamilton even commented on the radio that Lando is "such a great driver", maybe he will be the Brit in the second seat?

Towards the end, Alonso and Russell were battling for 10th.  In the end the car with the bigger budget (and world champion) won.  Behind them a fuming Kimi Raikkonen was upset that no one in the team told him to watch the track limits at turn 10.  Not surprising they didn't mention it until they really needed to.  Hamilton was given the number 2 job of backing a 10-second-penalty-carrying Perez up.  While Norris held 3rd, Sainz overtook Ricciardo, having also been given the team orders pass to overtake LeClerc.  On the last lap Vettel was taken out by his pal Raikkonen.  Norris felt his penalty cost him second place, which is probably true and bodes well for the future of this season.

The interviews were done by Christian Klein, which was a blast from the past.

How do I rate the Channel 4 experience?  Jones' questions are short and to the point.  DC is greyer than I remembered and they seem to get changed during the race?  There are so many ad breaks though, so many.