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Russia GP Qualifying and Race Report

Two Free Practices had been cancelled at this holiday destination circuit before Qualifying.  Luckily it dried up just in time, although cars used the wet weather intermediate tire for most of the three Qualifying sessions.  There had been a few crashes during practice sessions, then Giovinazzi spun during the first session.  The messages over the radio showed that teams had no idea whether there would be more rain or not.  Vestappen only briefly went out as he was already due to start at the back of the grid, taking a new engine.  This would develop into a theme.

In the second Qualifying session, Latifi and LeClerc also didn't go out and set a time as they had decided to take new engines.  We all learnt a rule, that the first driver to take an engine change starts at the very back and those who declare later will start in the reverse order of declaration.  So LeClerc was next and will start one place in front of Verstappen.  Williams were waiting to see what Ferrari did, then decided to take an engine change penalty, so Latifi starts in front of LeClerc.  In between them, Giovinazzi took a gearbox penalty.  Finally, and well after Qualifying, Bottas took an engine change, for "strategic purposes", meaning he starts five places ahead of Verstappen.  Is the strategy for Bottas to hold up Verstappen at the back of the pack?  At the end of the session, the other two drivers out were the Alpha Tauri drivers, who made poor strategic decisions about when to take their laps, with Russell and Alonso through to Q3.

At this point, the track was drying out and it was looking like there might be a dry line soon.  Russell was the first driver to decide to go on to slick, dry tires.  This initially looked like a poor idea as he nearly spun exiting the pit lane.  However, he was able to get a feel for these tires and built up to a quick lap.  Other drivers made the change, with Sainz and Norris able to get in better laps but it led to the Williams starting third.  A fantastic result for the backmarkers.  The young guns were certainly showing the old hands how to tackle the changing conditions, as Hamilton first collided with the pit lane wall, resulting in him holding up Bottas in the pit lane, then he spun on his first lap on slicks and his final lap of the session.

Everyone learnt something in Russia. Hamilton didn't know there were skiing places in Sochi.

On to race day, during the Sky build up with DHL, Aston Martin and Bond, Crofty arrived driving the truck.  We're that desperate for HGV drivers.

Rain was predicted 5-10 minutes into the race, with teams thinking that different amounts of rain were going to fall.  So this could have been another Spa...

A thrilling first lap kicked off proceedings, where the lead could have gone to anyone.  Sainz took it from Norris, with Russell maintaining third.  Stroll got up to 4th, which meant that most people thought that Hamilton was in 4th as their liveries are too similar.  Ricciardo and Alonso battled for position, with Alonso knowing all the shortcuts around the circuit.  Hamilton had fallen back to 7th behind them.  Chaos at the back of the grid saw LeClerc, Bottas and Latifi all hold their position relative to Verstappen with local boy Mazepin holdng his place but all of them got past Schumacher, Giovinazzi and Tsunoda.  Crazy.  And no replay, so I have no idea how that happened.

It took 6 laps for Verstappen to get past Bottas.  Then another 6 laps before the conversation became solely about tires.  Stroll took the undercut first.  The clouds showed no sign of dropping any rain.  Despite some whinging about tires, Norris was able to get past Sainz to take the lead again.  Russell was first to respond to Stroll and lost his third place to him.

On Lap 23, McLaren fell for Mercedes' bluff and then cocked up the pit stop.  The race continued and despite some good overtaking manoeuvres, there isn't too much to say about the middle of the race.

With the grid split on strategy quite drastically, it was hard to predict who was going to stand on the podium.  Add in many slow stops and there were several contenders.  The top step seemed to be between Norris and Hamilton.  As the race drew to a close, engineers were on the radio warning of light rain soon.  Crofty and Di Resta were gleefully pointing out grey clouds.  With 8 laps to go, the spectators put up their umbrellas and got out their rain coats.  Norris ran wide on the wet track and Hamilton pounded, sensing his time was now.  Norris held the place, then ran wide again.  Stroll was first to pit for wet tires, leading several followers.  As some drivers were not using wet tires, DRS was disabled, giving those in close battle a breather.  Stroll pushed his team mate Vettel into the wall.

Breath was held as Norris hung out without going onto wet tires.  Stroll and Gasley spun into each other.  Norris wobbled.  He wobbled some more.  The spray plumed higher and higher, with light rain becoming Scottish rain, and finally, with a grim inevitability, Norris spun off and Hamilton took the lead.  Lando called for full wet and to pit and the team finally agreed with him: "I can't go this anymore".  LeClerc also threw away his race because he didn't go to wets and stopped on the track as he was unable to drive the car any longer.  We then had to wait and find out whether Norris would also get a penalty for crossing back over the pit lane entry line.  With all this, Verstappen had made it from the back of the grid to second.  Raikkonen scored points for Alpha Romeo.  Norris did get Fastest Lap and Driver of the Day.  Russell was unable to convert his top 3 start to a podium position but did pick one point for 10th.  Despite everything that happened to him during the race, Sainz somehow managed to go from second to third, getting a much needed podium.

Norris definitely looked like he'd shed a tear before he turned up to the press pen, declaring it "heartbreak".   The race win was ultimately decided on a weather forecast interpretation.  Cruel.

I can tell you that most of this post is about the first 5 laps and the last 5 laps.  Channel 4 will find editing the highlights an easy task.

Italy GP Race Report

With Hamilton writing off his chances of besting Verstappen before the race, the worry was that this could be a dull race, with Verstappen taking the lead and maintaining it.  My predictions were Verstappen for the win, with Hamilton and Norris on the podium.  I thought that Norris would be the surprise winner.  Little did I know...

Before the race began, Gasly came back to the pits, then his team mate Tsunoda.  Tsunoda stayed in and never started.  Gasly started and then came back in to retire.  Sad times for Minardi at the their home track.

The start was thrilling, Hamilton went up to 3rd (but did he take a short cut?) and then back to 4th, Ricciardo went up to 1st with a storming start and Giovannizzi spun but kept going without his front wing.

Verstappen found it very hard to get close to Ricciardo, with the 1 second-ish gap getting a tiny bit more and less each time trap.  Hamilton couldn't get close enough to Norris either.  Overtaking is possible as Bottas showed coming up through the field and Latifi overtook Ocon - for a point!   (Lost in the end.)  Talking of Bottas, he was undertaking his new job induction at the back of the field after his grid penalty for taking a new engine.

Finally, the pit stops came.  Red Bull played the dummy and Ricciardo came in to pit from the lead.  The Aussie had to put in a stellar out lap as his former nemesis, Verstappen did not have the tires to fight back.  He pitted the next lap and it was an 11.1 second shocker.  Whilst all this was happening, Hamilton snuck by Norris.  A few laps later and Hamilton pitted to change his hard tires, much earlier than expected.  What was the point of taking the deficit at the start if you had no intention of running long?  Ricciardo kept his lead with Hamilton rejoining the track close to Verstappen and then it got too close, with the pair taking each other out.  Verstappen's tire grazed Hamilton's helmet and the Dutchman did briefly look into the Mercedes cockpit to check his adversary was alright.  This continues the curse of the sprint, as the old proverb says "first you sprint, never shall you call it a race, for then you shall shunt".  The Tfosi went wild.  This brought out the safety car which gave the Ferraris and Bottas a free pit stop and both Williams were in points finishing places. At this point, Verstappen  held the fastest lap...more later.  Verstappen did get points, unlike Hamilton at this meet because of the sprint.  So it has effected the championship.

At the restart, Ricciardo handled it well and kept his lead, LeClerc immediately lost second place to Norris then falling into Bottas' clutches.  The battle continued, which kept the McLarens safe at the front.  The advice to Ricciardo from his engineer was: "We think the best thing is to be as quick as we can until the end of the race."

With 12 laps to go team orders were issued in McLaren to hold position.  Perez and Bottas continued to battle, trading third and the final podium spot.  Mazepin then scored a 5 second penalty for...something..then his engine conked out and he pulled off to the side of the road.  This brought out another safety car.  Ultimately Bottas couldn't get past Perez but did got third place due to 5 second penalty for the Red Bull driver for gaining an advantage.  It was smiled all round when the McLarens crossed the line in first and second.  

Just to confirm that Driver of the Day, Ricciardo, could have got the win without team orders keeping Norris behind him, he also scored Fastest Lap.  "For anyone who thought I'd left, I never left.  I just moved to the side for a while." - Ricciardo

He didn't disappoint the broadcasters, finishing the podium celebrations with his trademark shoey.  What Formula 1 really needs and what the new 2022 rules aim to bring about is more teams in contention for winning races and this race brought a new contender into the fore.  A joyful day for McLaren and a much-needed day for F1 fans.

Italy GP Qualifying and Sprint Report

Qualifying was fairly interesting this race.  Both Williams were out in the first session...or were they?  This is a track where the stewards watch track limits carefully.  Russell was happy with P16 as he felt they had a good car for the race, however Tsunoda had his time deleted so suddenly Russell was able to claim P15.

The slow laps came in to try and be the last driver across the line as the session came to a close.  Not quite the disaster of previous meets here though.  The world champions Vettel and Alonso both came in ahead of their team mates, two by two.  Perez could only manage 10th, with Verstappen in 4th.  Does a track that favours the Mercedes help keep the championship in the balance?

It seems a shame that this is only qualifying for the sprint.  With Bottas on pole (although with a grid penalty to come), McLaren showing strong and Gasly starting well in his Italian car, it could be a good race.  The Tfosi will be hoping that Ferrari will do well in the sprint.

However, Saturday dawned and Sainz crashed in the morning and LeClerc fell ill.  The Ferrari resurgence would have to wait.  On to the sprint...

The first corner was all action...the McLarens made an awesome start, up to 3 and 4, Gasly maintained his position but clipped his wing on one of the McLarens, it ended up under his tires and sent him off the track spectacularly.  Hamilton got bogged down off the start and lost four places.  Tsunoda and Kubica (standing in for Co-viddy Kimi) came together, with Tsunoda coming in to the pits to get a new front wing for his Alpha Tauri.  Kubica, wise old man that he is, managed to get out of the gravel trap and back into the race.  Other bad starts came from George Russell, who went to the back of the grid.

Giovinnazi did an excellent job of keeping Perez in his Red Bull behind him, as one of the few drivers unsigned for next year, it's a good advertisement.

Nobody ended up at the back of the grid (other than Gasly) who wouldn't have been there otherwise.  The McLarens did very well out of the sprint format, finishing 3rd and 4th, choosing the soft tires to their advantage.   Ricciardo finished in front of his team mate, which was much needed and will hopefully give him the confidence boost he needs to push.  Bottas (the squirrel killer) triumphed to keep his first place and get some points.  The biggest loser was Hamilton.

And let's mentioned the gangsta rapper over-sized medals.  And the interviews on the back of a truck.

Netherlands GP Race Report

The Dutch Grand Prix had the makings of an amazing race: the two championship contenders lined up next to each other on the grid, the banking looks amazing, the roar of the crowd, three abreast for the first lap.  From then on it was downhill (notably Vettel spinning up and then down the banking).

By Lap 5 Hamilton was whinging about his tires.  He came in very early for a second stop, it felt like he'd only just done his first, coming out in traffic.  It was potentially a poor strategy decision from Mercedes.  Would Red Bull bring Verstappen in straight away or let him stay out longer until the window was better for re-entry?  They brought him in sooner, which worked out to be slightly better but all the same the most exciting factor of the race was the tire choice and when to change them.  Hamilton quickly decided it was a poor strategy decision and used the radio to let the world know, repeatedly.

Now on to team orders.  Towards the start of the race, Ocon was denied his request for Alonso to move over, largely because Alonso showed his true speed when it was mentioned.  Norris was given the pass past Ricciardo.  I'm looking forward to hearing the post-race interviews on that.

We also saw mechanical retirements for the first time in a while, Mazepin and Tsunoda did the raised reverse glide into the pit.

Different strategies were employed by every team.  Mercedes went with a bizarre choice at the end to pit Bottas but ask him not to take the Fastest Lap point away from team mate Hamilton.  Did he listen?  No.  Does this make it clear he's not staying at the team next year?  Yes.  Lewis got it back in the end, don't worry.

Some drivers had a very quiet race, we didn't see Kubica in his borrow Alfa Romeo once, or Giovannizi going backwards in his.

From a sea of orange, we move on to a sea of red next week at Monza.  This triple-header is feeling like a lot of hard work.  From the disappointment of Spa to this...what will Italy bring?  A sprint race at least.

Netherlands GP Qualifying Report

The drivers arrived, took to the track and raved about it.  Instagram was full of people illustrating how steep the banking is by rolling things (or themselves) down it.

Raikkonen announced his retirement this week and knowing that he was going to face a barrage of press this weekend, "tested positive for Co-vid".  Polish "superstar" Kubica took his seat and was able to qualify ahead of the Haas, which is good for someone who has been out of F1 for such a long time.

The shock loser of Q1 was Perez, clearly the Curse of the Recently Signed.

The red flag came out immediately as George Russell took his Williams into the gravel.  If anything a little premature as he was able to keep the car going and get back to the pits.  Despite bumping the back of the vehicle into the barrier....he starts 11th.

The session started again...and Latifi put the other Williams into the barrier.  So both Williams out in Q2 with Norris, Stroll and Tsunoda.  Whilst Russell got away with his crash, Latifi hit with much more force.

At the end of the final qualifying session, Verstappen had pole position at his home grand prix, however he is joined on the front row by his championship competitor, Hamilton.  Ocon and Giovannzi also secured great grid places, in front of Alonso and Ricciardo, the latter could not do better than 10th.  Most interesting was Gasly in P4 ahead of both Ferraris.

There's huge potential for a great race tomorrow.  My predictions are: Hamilton for the win.  Gasly (again) for the surprise win.  Two red flags.   Williams mechanics fall asleep mid-race in the garage and fail to get the tires ready in time for a pit stop.