US GP Race Report

It was all drama on the grid and I'm not referring to Martin Brundle being blanked by every celebrity, lavishly paid to attend, on the grid, his first grid walk with interviews allowed since the last race of 2018.  Gasly had serious engine issues with all the mechanics working hard with minutes to go.  They got it going, however the bumps broke his suspension not long after.

The first lap was thrilling.  Hamilton (and nearly Perez) took Verstappen at the start.  The track is so wide Sainz, Norris and Ricciardo had a huge battle, with Ricciardo finally coming out on top in 5th.  Three abreast battles are rare.  Unseen by us, Russell made up 6 places just on that lap including overtaking Vettel and Alonso.

It was predicted to be a two stop race.  Early doors, Alonso went for the undercut on Vettel (for 14th) and Verstappen went too.  When Hamilton did pit on Lap 14, he was quite far behind his rival.  The Red Bull strategists played a blinder this weekend.

Alonso and Raikkonen had an epic wheel to wheel battle, with parts flying off of the Alfa Romeo as he went over the curbs, pushed by the Spaniard.  It was noted by the stewards.  Nothing came of it.  Which was the right call.

A sudden Virtual Safety Car call came mid-race and we all waited to see what had happened...a marshal picked up some litter.  The drivers clearly weren't listening to Vettel asking the crowd not to leave litter on the Driver's Truck Lap pre-race.

LeClerc had a very quiet race and finished 4th, an excellent job.  Another fantastic performance was put in by Kimi Raikknan, who nearly finished 10th but had a big spin 3 laps from the end - a senior moment if you will.

When I was young, I bought the commentators notion that the second place driver could possibly overtake for the win.  Now I'm older, I know that, unless there's a serious cock-up, it won't happen.  Vestappen took the win, which gives me a successful race prediction at last.  I also thought that Perez and Ricciardo would do well, 3rd and 5th.

There were fireworks at the end, but we're used to that sort of thing.  Where were the showy extras?  No drivers introduced through music...nothing.  Then Shaquille O'Neill brought the trophy along in a car with horns (not the beep beep sort, the on-a-ranch sort).

As a final note, COTA is a sanitary product surely.

US GP - Qualifying Report

Unusually, this was watched live.  Unfortunately that means you can't fast forward through ad breaks, Zak Brown getting a tattoo, Paul di Resta...

There were no unusual losses in the first Qualifying session, with Stroll, Latifi, Raikkonen, Schumacher and Mazepin.  Maybe Giovinnazi knocking Stroll out, despite a spin.

Again, after Q2, no surprises: Ocon, Vettel, Giovinnazi, Alonso and Russell (with the one timed lap set deleted for going over track limits) out.  Staying up late to watch was looking like a big mistake.

And it was, Vestappen took the pole position, with Hamilton in second.  Perez (who held pole after the first round of laps) was third and Bottas fourth.  We were told to watch out for LeClerc whose Ferrari is much improved.  He came fifth and couldn't challenge the top 4.

Turkey GP Race Report

I saw Button on Instagram before the race commenting that it was spitting heavily and looked like good conditions for a great race.  By the time the Sky coverage had started it was properly raining and intermediate tire weather.  It was exactly the right kind of rain for a fun race, enough for the talent to show but not hours of red flag coverage.

It was a clean start with no losers apart from Alonso, who was tapped by Gasly and spun out, returning to the track in 18th from 5th.  At the back of the pack, Alonso then tagged Schumacher.  Both were duly served 5 second penalties and all my race predictions of one of the two getting a podium went out of the window.

Hamilton was starting from 11th after an engine replacement penalty.  He took Vettel quickly off the line.  Tsunoda held him up for quite a few laps, once taken, he was able to get past Stroll and then Norris, which made the Japanese driver look very good for a change.

Hamilton then slowly chased down his championship rival's team mate, Perez.  Finally, he was close enough to over take and over five corners they were side by side until Perez triumphed.  With Hamilton wishing that his wingman, Bottas, was more like this one.

Then the pit stop window came.  Ricciardo had previously become the track's guinea pig and tried a new set of intermediates early and failed but now the time had come to get a fresh set.  Vettel thought he'd try a set of medium, slick, dry weather tires and it took him less than a lap to decide that was a poor mistake, even sliding as he came into the pitlane.  The Red Bulls (in their fine one-off white Honda tribute livery) both pitted and Bottas from the lead too.  LeClerc led, with Fastest Lap under his belt.  He slid.  Would he change his tires or keep going to the end?  He questioned his team and they gave him permission.  Was this Hamilton's plan too?  There was a glimmer of hope for something a bit different from the Verstappen/Hamilton podium tussle.  Mercedes made the call for Hamilton to come in for new tires but Hamilton questioned them and stayed out.  Ultimately LeClerc couldn't make it stick and he came in for new tires after being overtaken for the lead by Bottas.  And Hamilton stayed out.  With 7 laps to go, he pitted and came out in 5th place.   Cue some old-skool whinging about tires and strategy decisions.  His press pen interview was surprisingly chipper.

Crofty got excited because he'd spotted a dark, rain cloud in the distance.  Many spectators would be happy with a Bottas, Verstappen, LeClerc podium.  Perez took LeClerc.

Bottas took his 10th (and final?) win in Formula 1 along with Fastest Lap.  Only 10th?  That's why he's going to Alfa Romeo,.

The moral of the story...a wet race only produced good racing when it is changeable.  When the drizzle is constant for the full two hours, it's just round and round as usual.  A dull race with Verstappen that they key to getting a podium was "staying awake".  Sainz was awarded Driver of the Day by the public.  Not sure why?  He started at the back and finished...not sure where.

Turkey GP Qualifying Report

Rain was predicted for the session but it was dry at the start, within two minutes, drivers were spinning because it was spitting.  They all got used to the conditions and fired in the laps before it stopped raining five minutes before the end of Q1.  Suddenly the lap times started to tumble, with Ricciardo and Latifi losing out, accompanying Giovinnazi, Raikkonen and Mazepin to the press pen early.  Mick Schumacher was through to Q2 for the first time.

Hot off the success of helmet cam, which the teams did not like as it gave away data and other information, we now have nose cam.  This has graphics which show what speed etc. the car is travelling at too.  It's good but it's not helmet cam.  What next?  Foot cam?  Rear view cam?  A sensor that detects tears?  A small unit that gives the driver an electric shock if they swear on team radio?

Verstappen must have eaten something dodgy before the second session as Crofty was heard to comment: "Out in the front, Verstappen is turning green then purple".

Sainz, Schumacher, Vettel, Russell and Ocon were all out after Q2, with Russell losing his Q3 pass in the last slow corner, that seemed to catch a lot of the drivers out.

Despite scoring the fastest lap in Q3, he will move back 10 places for a engine replacement penalty.  His team mate Bottas will move up from 2nd to 1st and his rival Verstappen will move from 3rd to 2nd.  LeClerc scored a respectable 4th (3rd on the day) in his Ferrari, Gasly doing well behind him  and then Alonso.  Norris and Stroll both comfortably out-qualified their older, illustrious team mates.

Button had predicted a yellow flag very early during the afternoon, however, despite all the spins, none came.  No red flag through rain.  Not so much as a bump into the barriers.