Emilia Romagna GP Race Report

We switched the TV on and the umbrellas were out...there was huge potential for something a little bit interesting at this race.  Even with Verstappen and LeClerc lined up at the front of the grid, how many Red Flags would there be?  How many Safety Cars?  How many drivers would finish the race?  Will the Honda/Red Bull engines be reliable?

The track started to dry up and the drivers needed to choose which wet tire to start on.  As Hamilton was out on track investigating, he radioed in with engine problems.  The Mercedes just can't catch a break at the moment.

LeClerc has only ever won from starting in pole position (a trend which continues).  And he lost out to both Sainz and Norris off the start.  Things went from bad to worse for the Tfosi as sometime Italian Ricciardo took Sainz out at the next corner.  Ricciardo was able to get the car back on track though.   Refreshingly, this was put down as a racing incident by the stewards.

Safety Car: 1

Red Flag: 0

Unsurprisingly, Perez posed no great threat to his teammate Verstappen when the Safety Car went in.  During the calm everyone realised that Russell had made up many places from his starting position and Alonso had a great big hole in the side of his car.

The track dried out and McLaren pulled last place Ricciardo in to try slick tires.  As he set good times through the sectors, everyone pitted their drivers.  Red Bull won this with a pit stop 1.4 second quicker than Ferrari.  Bottas also had a nightmare stop.  Not quite like Hamilton, who had Ocon released on top of him and was then overtaken by Albon in his Williams for 12th place.

The race plodded on, the second rain shower (Class 0-1 according to McLaren) never arrived, Verstappen lapped Hamilton, Ricciardo came in for 97 pit stops.  LeClerc could not catch up with the Red Bulls, Norris couldn't catch up with LeClerc, Russell couldn't catch up with Norris.  Plod plod plod.   With 12 laps to go, LeClerc pitted for the soft tire to try something new.  This brought him out behind Norris, although it was only a few corners before he got passed.  Perez came in from second next for some soft tires and came out in second.  Then Verstappen.  Surely someone was going to have an awful stop or be penalised for speeding in the the pit lane?  No.  LeClerc came on to the radio regretting having chosen the soft tire over the medium.  Altogether now: non, je ne regrette rien.  The commentators began to hype up the potential of LeClerc going for second place and as they spoke, the driver hit the kerb awkwardly, spun and nudged the wall, requiring a trip to his pit for new wing and tires and came out in 9th.

Ultimately, it was a dominant weekend for Red Bull, pole position, Sprint win and third, 1 2 finish.

I was surprised to see the return of pre-podium room banter!  Co-vid has bid us farewell and now we can listen in to people in a small room not wearing masks.  They watched LeClerc's crash and analysed it.

Much was made of there being no DRS for the first 35 laps.  Would it have improved the race?  I'm not sure. It wasn't a classic and we're all being reminded why we haven't raced at Imola for while until Co-vid forced the FIA's hand.  Roll on Miami.

Emilia Romagna GP Sprint Report

With 6 Red Flags in Qualifying, what would happen in an actual race?  Lap 2 and out came the Safety Car when Zhou went over Gasly and into the wall.  

This came hot on the heels of an explosive start with LeClerc taking Verstappen off the grid, with Norris pushing him hard.  Alonso, starting out 5th and everyone's shout for surprise podium, got overtaken by all and sundry.  The Mercedes couldn't make a speedy getaway to make up for their poor qualifying with both cars losing places.

Basically the Sprint meant that anyone interesting who was near the front of the grid is starting much further back and there was no real change at the front.  Ferrari will have a greater knowledge of racing on the Soft compound of tire, which hopefully they can apply for the race proper.  On the mini podium the drivers were given a maxi medal - what happened to the laurel wreaths?  Next year, a book token will be awarded.

Emilia Romangna GP - Qualifying Report

A new feature at this race weekend - rain!

Following his hot points success in Australia, Albon set fire to one of his brakes and brought out a Red Flag in Q1.  Not sure why as the Williams didn't leave any debris on the track; there was a lot of sweeping up anyway.  The track dried up but rain still threatened.  Latifi also managed to spin his Williams putting both cars in the bottom 3 positions.  Heros to zeros.  The porpoising on the Mercedes looked unbearable and they just scraped through the first session.  The Williams were joined by Ocon, who doesn't have the new floor, and got stuck in his garage and both Alpha Tauris.

Q2 saw rain clouds blowing in and drivers pushing to get multiple quick laps in on the same run.  Different drivers were setting personal bests and pushing.  Sainz pushed too hard in his Ferrari, clutching his brand new contract, lost the rear of his car and put it into the wall.  Another Red Flag.  By the time Sainz got back to the pit on a moped and his car was hauled out of the wall, the rain was falling heavily.  The Tfosi had their rain macs on and it looked like no one wanted to go out on track as there was no way to set a quicker time.  With a couple of minutes to go, some of the drivers came out to get a feel for the conditions.  So both Mercedes were out of Qualifying, along with the predictable three: Schumacher, Zhou and Stroll.

And Q3 started, off the 10 drivers went, then KMag went nose-first into the wall.  There were waved Yellow Flags...would it be a Red?  He drove it round the tarmac and back on track, it was still a Red Flag though.  The drivers get going and there were lots of contenders for pole battling it out, trying to avoid the slippery white lines.  Then, of course, another Red Flag as Bottas pulled his Alfa Romeo in to the side of the track.  So the drivers queued up at the end of the pit lane to get out at the front to try and have two stabs at pole.  Off they went...and Norris spun off, quite gently.  The sixth and final Red Flag secured his third place on the grid.  Verstappen got his first pole position of the year followed by LeClerc and Norris.  Magnussen did a good job starting fourth for the sprint, with Alonso behind him they need to make themselves very wide.

George Russell felt that they could make up this poor qualifying in the sprint, and there was the race too.  It's Friday hey!  Saturday, Sunday, what?

Australian GP Qualifying & Race Report

It was a doozy of a weekend for Aston Martin, who seem to have attracted a number of headlines.  There was the Free Practice sessions with crashes for both drivers (one of whom doesn't seem quite right after his bought of Co-Vid) with Vettel then getting a fine for driving back to the pits on a moped, on the race track.  Then Stroll ran into Latifi in his freshly rebuilt car in Qualifying.  A triumph of Daddy's money over driving ability.  

The biggest scalp in Q1 was Magnussen, no longer the comeback backmarker magician.  There were no big surprises in Q2.  The final Qualifying session was slightly disastrous.  Alonso pushed too hard and had problems with his hydraulics and gears and DNF.  There were 2 red flags (without Latifi even being on track).  As Sainz was only able to take 9th, his Ferrari team mate LeClerc snatched pole from Verstappen.

The race promised excitement with the two rivals lined up next to each other on the grid.  Hamilton made up 3 places off the grid, unfortunately Sainz spun on Lap 2 bringing out the Virtual Safety Car and then the real Safety Car.  Albon did not pit under Safety Car conditions.  I watched this race on Channel 4 and it speaks volume about the quality of the race that in a highlights format they chose to show the replay of the start 5 times from different driver perspectives rather than action on track.  Verstappen was reminded that he is not allowed to draw alongside the leader of the Safety Car crocodile, very much a primary teacher shouting to walk single file in the corridor.

16 laps later, Vettel drove off the road bringing out another Safety Car, in the middle of a great battle between Hamilton and Perez.  Albon did not pit under Safety Car conditions.

The battle between Verstappen and LeClerc simmered away throughout until weird noises and strange smells brought the Red Bull to a stop.  A Virtual Safety Car was called again.  The Dutchman is not going to keep his world title if Red Bull cannot achieve better than 1 in 3 race reliability.  Albon did not pit.  By this point I was very worried/confused.  Albon was running in 7th, brilliant.  Why hadn't he pitted?  Is running two different tire compounds no longer a requirement?  Is he waiting for another Safety Car?  Surely his team mate, Latifi, could bring out another Safety Car?  A startling brilliant strategy from Williams played out, earning them one point, as Albon pitted during the final lap to comply with regulations.  Is Latifi's daddy going to start asking the team if the two men are driving the same car?

Hamilton appeared to blame Mercedes for putting him in a "really bad position" with Russell able to put under the Safety Car and Hamilton having unfortunately pitted just before the incident.  He needs to find some way of driving a poor car well, as his team mate is second in the championship.  Which, whilst being mathematically correct, does seem inherently wrong.  Red Bull seem in danger of handing points over to Mercedes too often.  Everyone was pleased to be in the Australian sun again, although questions were asked about the sustainability of travelling there and back for just one race and not stopping in somewhere local as well.  With three races confirmed in America next year, I think we can see a winning sustainable format ahead...hold all the races in different states of America and call it a world championship.  Why hasn't anyone thought of this before?