Abu Dhabi GP Race Report

The Decider in the Desert.  It's only live once.  Channel 4 stumped up a few million to broadcast the whole race live.  Sky spent the big bucks getting Rosberg, Button, Hill plus Brundle.  All the coverage was on Verstappen and Hamilton, not even much on Horner and Wolff or Red Bull and Mercedes.  It was more like a boxing match than a race.  Norris in third was briefly touched upon.  If the championship had been decided the week before, it would have been all about Raikkonen (and Giovinazzi) leaving Formula 1 and Bottas' and Russell's last race for their current teams.  Raikkonen was wearing a throw-back helmet from his McLaren years.  Giovinazzi was wearing a throw-back helmet from Raikkonen's Ferrari years.  Which speaks volumes about his F1 career.

Bottas gave Hamilton a hug after the anthem.  Norris said he was "going to go for it".  Not sure for what.  Lando, someone has to be third.  Disappearing into nowhere, we found that Mazepin wouldn't be taking part in the race, having tested positive for Covid.

Norris lost "it" at start and several places, running wide.  It was not to be his best race.  Everyone will be hoping that McLaren come back stronger next year.

The start was clean, with Hamilton taking the lead from second.  Then the gloves came off at Turn 9 with Verstappen pushing hard and Hamilton running off.  Initially it looked like Hamilton would have to give the place back.  However, Mercedes believed that Hamilton hadn't gained a lasting advantage.   They had touched briefly and it was unclear whether this would have a lasting impact.  The stewards made a quick decision: no investigation necessary.  Blood boiled around the world.

On to lap 14, Verstappens gambles and pits to put on hard tires, that they've never run before.  It was predicted to be his one and only stop.

Six laps later, Perez did what he could as the team mate with the most to offer.  There was a tremendous battle (all thoughts of Tsunoda or Alonso defence gone) with the lead going back and forth between himself and Hamilton.  When Verstappen caught them up, Perez was called a "legend" and an "absolute animal".  

Raikkonen went rallying with a slide, spin and tapping the wall.  He got it back to the pits but had to turn the engine off on his final race.  The footage from his pit was longest we've been off-track in a  very long time.  Whilst he was retiring, Russell lost power in his Williams and came back to the pits via the run offs and also retired.

The dice was rolled again when Giovinazzi retired his Alfa Romeo at the corner of turn 9 and a Virtual Safety Car was called.  Hamilton did not come in to pit and both Red Bulls did for fresh tires.  They had nothing to lose as they were not in the lead of the drivers or constructors championships.

We got to enjoy a lot of helmet cam - during the race, this time installed in LeClerc's hat, particularly during his battle with Bottas and in the pit exit, which looked very scary, tighter than a 70s concrete car park.

It looked like it was game over for the Red Bull camp.  Horner said, "we will need a miracle in these last 10 laps".  Then came a slow puncture and a pit stop for Norris, caused by the curbs.  His mum and dad, who were at the race, are clearly not a good luck charm for him.  Hamilton was then warned to keep off the curbs, just in case.  Would this be the miracle?  No.

With 5 laps to go, Latifi put his Williams into the barriers and across the track as the consequence of another championship decided by a Schumacher smash.  Just as the safety car was called, Verstappen came in for tires and Hamilton was told to stay out.  There was one long swear over the radio from Hamilton.  He would have lost track position if he came in.  Now the audience waited on tenterhooks to see if there would be any more racing, with Max starting on fresh tires right behind Lewis or would the race (and championship) conclude behind the safety car?

Perez came into the pits for a fourth time, giving Sainz a podium.  No reason given but it sounded pretty urgent.

Then the miracle came, the lapped cars were not going to be allowed to unlap themselves, which played right into Hamilton's hands.  Then Masi made a decision, the cars in between Hamilton and Verstappen would be allowed past and the safety car was to end straight away.  Hamilton backed the pack right up, almost trying to force Verstappen to overtake him, which would result in a penalty for Max.  The Dutchman pushed him all the way to the line and got past.  Yes, it was aggressive.  Yes, it was hard racing.  The last lap was exquisite racing, literally edge-of-the-seat But it was the race of a champion and a champion he is.

Hamilton looked very lonely heading to the podium.  Everyone was Max's pal, they're all more like his age.  Then Vettel and Schumacher came over to give him a hug.  Having had a bit of Angie-time, Lewis approached Max and congratulated him.  Max then praised Perez as such a supportive team mate, which is more than Lewis had this year.  Verstappen made a very eloquent speech after the podium about how you hope for points, podiums, wins but you hope when they play the anthem it's for you.

Mercedes made two protests, both of which were rejected by the stewards.  Masi: "Toto, that's called motor racing."   Michael Masi has become the Alistair Campbell of F1, he shouldn't be the story but he is.  In the end, he did allow the drivers to race.

On to final thoughts...Vettel, Alonso and Raikkonen were the drivers who had made the most overtakes this season.  Experience over car performance.  Alex Albon was seen talking to Geri Horner in front of the podium; does he know about her previous career?  It's a sign of how popular he is amongst F1 fans world wide as Raikkonen was named Driver of the Day, decided by a phone-in.

Predictions for the future?  Many many Angry Toto memes.  Possible court action.  Mass Covid outbreak in the F1 community as a result of a lot of hugging post-race.  There will be a squad of children in a third world country all wearing Hamilton 2021 championship winner T-shirts.

Abu Dhabi GP Qualifying Report

 Good news if you're a Kelly Piquet fan, see also Christan Horner or Toto Wolff.  All eyes are pretty much on 4 men this weekend with the occasional nod to Raikkonen, Russell or even, maybe, Giovinnazi.

On to Qualifying and there was bollards on the track.  Bit like the last race.  The Red Flag was put out.  Bit like the last race.  Mercedes were dominant in the first session.  With Tsunoda and Gasly doing very well.  At the bottom end, both Haas, both Williams (Mr Saturday no more) and Raikkonen's Alfa Romeo all predictably out.

The second session was a parade as well.  The only interest was when Verstappen flat-spotted his tire, which was his race tire.  A lot of cars went out at the end of the session, which may have caused an incident of note, but no.  The only surprise was Gasly out in 12th.

The third and final session was also fairly dull.  As Hamilton crossed the line, he was unable to do better than second and the crowd roared.  Bottas and Perez were unable to make the top 3, with Norris in third with an excellent performance.  Red Bull worked hard for that pole, with the perfect slip stream set up from Perez.

With the race and championship leaning in Hamilton's favour, this was the result that we all needed and wanted.  Obviously we were aware that the stewards could find anything overnight to ruin it.

Saudi Arabia GP Race Report

The question mark hanging over the race was whether Verstappen really did need a new gear box.  After his qualifying smash, he might have damaged his but he didn't want to take the 5 place penalty to change it.   Ultimately it was not discussed at all...

In new tech madness, we saw a drone light display in the sky.  It counted down to the race.  Brave new world.  (I'll stick with Shakespeare.)

There were no incidents off the start, everyone clean away.  We had to wait 10 laps for Mick Schumacher to hit the wall and bring out the safety car.  Most cars came in to pit for new tires, including Hamilton and Bottas from 1 and 2.  Verstappen didn't pit so was in the lead (right ahead of them).  Williams made yet another excellent stop for Russell to overtake Stroll.  THEN the red flag came out, which meant that Verstappen could change his tires without taking a pit stop.  Cue Hamilton questioning his team's every decision.  After just 14 of 50 laps, the drivers were already looking very sweaty and tired.  We also enjoyed Michael Masi cam.  It looked like everyone would go to the end of the race on the hard tires with no more pit stops necessary.  The race was truly on.

Returning to the grid for a standing start, Verstappen would be on pole, with Hamilton second and Bottas third.  The Dutchman started with brand new tires and Hamilton's having been worn in behind the safety car.  You could tell the pressure they were under from the radio and the games they were playing.  Hamilton held the pack right back; more than 10 cars?  Verstappen complaining the whole way round.

The second start brought lots of thrills and spills.  Hamilton got the better start, overtaking Verstappen into turn 1.  The red mist was clearly down as he locked up, cut a corner and aggressively retook the lead.  Bottas also made this move, allowing Ocon through though.  Was Max's mistake due to cold tires from Hamilton's game?  Behind them, Perez spun, having been the middle of a sandwich of other cars, with no space to go, he gets squeezed by LeClerc and spins.  Perez  loses his front wing and tries to limp back to the pits but didn't make it.  The drivers behind slowed to avoid, including Russell; Mazepin didn't see this and ran at near full force into the back of him.  A scary shunt which he did climb free of (although we haven't heard from him since???).  We also learnt the Haas team, call him "Maz".  Obviously the red flag came out again.  With all the attention back at the turn of the big smash, Perez was abandoned out on the track.  Hamilton got his scooter out.

With a furious Wolff storming about the paddock, Masi (race director) was on the radio with Red Bull.  It's so good that we are now privy to this.  Masi offered Red Bull second place on the grid instead of their recent incident going to the stewards.  After a minute, Red Bull accepted if Ocon was on pole.  He was second in the race.  Masi declined this as Hamilton would be pole, then Ocon, the Verstappen, so the offer wasn't second, it was third.  He had just forgotten Esteban  existed, like the rest of us.  Finally they accepted.  Having walked through the Williams garage, Hamilton got a nice head massage from Angie.

Helmets back on and back round to the grid for a third standing start.  With the astonishing stat that Ocon has led more race laps than any other driver than Hamilton and Verstappen this season, even Bottas!  Do you think Alonso gave him a wee pep talk in the pause?  Ricciardo had done well out of everything too, sitting in fourth.  Norris, Alonso and Raikkonen were towards the very back of the pack.  This time, Ocon went off and cut the corner, Verstappen took Hamilton and Ocon had to give the place to Verstappen, who went off in the lead.  Lewis and Esteban got away with a wing to tire touch.

Three laps later, the yellow flags were out for Tsunoda as he was tapped by Vettel.  With parts of his car all over the track and his brakes on fire, he set off for the pit lane.  DRS was turned off, much to Verstappen's advantage as Hamilton was getting near 1 second away.  Then a virtual safety car was announced.

Vettel was further damaged by Raikkonen, who also needed a new front wing.  During this, there was a quickie virtual safety car, to enable a brave marshal (not last race's rogue marshal) to run across the track to grab a bit of car.

We got racing again and almost immediately VSC was declared again, for debris to be cleared up.  Alonso got on the radio to ask for a real safety car as the track was covered in shards of carbon fibre.  This one took a while longer.

Back racing and Hamilton got up to 0.7 second behind Verstappen and the Virtual Safety Car came out again for another hazard, neutralising the battle for a minute (were Red Bull employees positioned around the track lobbing bits of car on?).  This was a brief one again and they were very soon wheel to wheel, with a heart-stopping move.  This was noted by the stewards...  

Next thing we know, Red Bull told Verstappen to give Hamilton the place back, he slows slightly to one side but Lewis is unaware and drives straight into the back of him.  This was also noted and then investigated by the stewards.  Wolff was again furious, throwing his headphones to the floor.  Meanwhile Ricciardo and Bottas had a little battle, with Danny Ric staying out in front at first before being defeated.  Hamilton was going round dropping debris, trying to bring out another safety car.  We heard that Verstappen was going to be told to give the place back, again.

He waited for the perfect spot, moved over and then immediately took the lead back.  We were then told Verstappen was to get a 5 second penalty for gaining an advantage cutting a corner.  Very much unnecessary intervention from the stewards, surely there was enough happening on the track to negate the need?  Hamilton did then get past Verstappen on merit.

At one point, it looked like Hamilton and Verstappen would end up on exactly the same points, going into the final race.  Vettel retired with 4 laps to go with too much damage done to his car.  Ocon was 24 seconds behind Verstappen with Bottas behind him, Mercedes needed Bottas closer to prevent Verstappen being able to take another stop.  No wonder Bottas's serviced are being declined for next season.  He did overtake Ocon on the line to come home third, such a shame.  Bottas said that he finally got it in the end, it was like after many laps he remembered what his job was.

Verstappen finished the race still in the lead of the championship, saying "it is what it is".  Late into the night the stewards were still deliberating over it all and everyone went to bed not knowing the full outcome of the race.  As the crowd booed, Max looked close to tears.  He is definitely from the Schumacher School of Driving.  The Dutch voted with telephones, getting him Driver of the Day.  Sainz now has the most points without a win in history.  A day of stats.  

It should be said, the track was amazing, so quick through the walls, with the spectacular banking.  Fifteen drivers made it to the end of the race.  A track that showed who has the skill and who doesn't.  The light display was also incredible.

Saudi Arabia GP Qualifying Report

As coverage went on air for Qualifying, Hamilton was doubly under investigation by the stewards for ignoring waved yellow flags and impeding Mazepin in FP3.  He was immediately let off on the first count as it was an error that the flags were shown for less than a second.   He was given a reprimand for the second.  Mercedes were more heavily penalised because they should have warned him to speed up earlier.

Another key focus of all the coverage of this weekend is whether F1 should be in Saudi Arabia to start off with.  Hamilton has made it very clear that he is "uncomfortable there", Vettel too.  Coverage of Sir Frank Williams' passing should have been slightly higher profile, I feel.

The first session was anyone's with Perez taking first position and Bottas' stopping in the pit lane with a broken engine (despite being through).  Latifi in the Williams, both Aston Martins and both Haas out of the game.

It's such a speedy circuit, heart in your mouth as the drivers carreer around with almost no run-off.  As we drive around with Verstappen on his final flying lap, I almost felt like this could be his weekend for a major, major accident.  Then he crashed, just a bump but deadly for the car.  Now we all had to wait to see whether the car would be damaged a la LeClerc, Monaco 2019 (?).  So he handed Hamilton pole and Bottas second, securing himself third.  Ferrari were looking stronger, with LeClerc in fourth (Sainz in 15th after being held up by Gasly).  A good showing from Norris ahead of Ricciardo in 11th, Ocon in 9th ahead of Alonso in 13th and Giovinazzi  in 10th ahead of Raikkonen in 12th.