Japan GP Race Report

It didn't look like a traditionally wet race in Suzuka so it was then a question of whether Red Flags or Safety Cars would make the race more interesting.  We all knew the answer to this, it was more when than if Sargeant brought out either.  He was already starting from the pit lane with a 10 second penalty as the team had to get extra parts during Parc Ferme to rebuild his car after he smashed it up during Qualifying.

Piastri and Verstappen both aimed for the same piece of track and gave Norris a pass into second place off the start.  There was some kind of coming together behind them, which meant that a Safety Car came out so some debris could be collected from the track.  Bottas hits Albon, giving himself a puncture.  Zhou was also somehow involved.  Hamilton was hit by Perez.  There were new noses all round.  Sargeant came back into the pits for reason unknown, perhaps to run the hard tyres to the end?

Unlike the olden days, there were no team orders with Russell battling with the damaged Hamilton.  The greatest battles of the race were between team mates.

It was Lap 6, that Sargeant fulfilled his promise and ran into Bottas.  Bottas went off the track, into the pits and was sent out 30 seconds later to trundle around before retiring.  Sargeant got a 5 second penalty.  Perez got 5 seconds for a Safety Car infringement.  It was unclear what he was supposed to do exiting the pits.  Things went from bad to worse, as Perez then drove into the Haas of Magnussen and damaged his front wing.

Piastri came in for his pit stop just as a Virtual Safety Car was called and got a very lucky stop.  This was to get him back past his team mate, Norris.

Perez was told to retire the car.

The  Mercedes continued to fight each other.  Russell held second for a long time as he ran a one stop strategy.

Alonso is clearly still keen to stick up 2 fingers to his old team, Alpine, as he fought to get past Ocon, imploring his team to: "think of something".  The McLarens had a bit of a fight but then the team got tired of Norris's whinging and asked Piastri to move over.  He did look quicker.

Sargeant was seen walking back through the pits.  Clearly he was retired.  Then I noticed that Stroll had retired; I've no idea why.  Then Albon pitted and retired.

The Ferraris quietly drove around in 4th and 5th.

Alonso was given some helpful advice from his pit that Stroll had suffered a rear wing failure, so could he avoid the bumpy bits?

Perez was unretired so that he could serve his penalty and not carry it over to the next race.

Mercedes made the call for Russell and Hamilton to swap places but then needed Hamilton to give Russell DRS to defend from Sainz, who did manage to get past.  If they had waited until the last lap, as Russell suggested, they would have kept both places.  Could Hamilton both give Russell DRS and chase after LeClerc?  No

Verstappen took the victory and scored enough points for Red Bull to claim the Constructor's Championship.  Norris was very happy with the team for them to take the final two spots on the podium.  Piastri drove an excellent rookie drive and was awarded Driver of the Day.  

Lawson finished ahead of Tsunoda but neither of them were in the points.

The next race is at Qatar, where there is a Sprint, so Verstappan can win his Drivers Championship without scoring in a race.  I doubt the FIA thought of that when they introduced the format.

Whilst I don't have much to write about it was a great race and there are lots of battles brewing between currently happy team mates.

Japan GP Qualifying Report

The headlines in Suzuka was that Japanese driver Tsunoda along with Red Bull returnee Ricciardo have been confirmed as Alpha Tauri drivers for 2024.  None of the contenders are taking Perez' Red Bull seat and Lawson will continue as reserve and test driver.

Sargeant stopped the first Qualifying session, bringing out a Red Flag, crashing at the end of his (good?) lap.  This only increases his margin at the top of the damages cost table, bringing his total to probably over the $3 million mark.  His position seems to be becoming increasingly untenable, even though Red Bull boss Christian Horner believes Williams won't take Lawson as they'll want a driver for more than a year.  At the end, out went Zhou, Hulkenberg, Stroll and Bottas with Albon just pulling out a good lap in time to go through.  Lawson, rejected by Alpha Tauri went fourth.  You wonder what metrics the team(s) can see that justify their choice of driver for next season.

The second session passed with no incident.  The McLarens put in a strong showing and Verstappen too.  Out went Lawson, Gasly, Albon, Ocon and Magnussen.  Home track hero, Tsunoda made it through; Honda having given him a special engine probably.

The third session was no more exciting than the second.  Verstappen predictably took pole.  The McLarens continued to show great pace, with Piastri out qualifying his team mate in 2nd and 3rd.  LeClerc was 4th, a much-needed two places in front of his team mate who won the last race.  Perez was 5th, again causing everyone to question why he is keeping his seat at Red Bull.  The Mercedes qualified 7th and 8th with Hamilton in front.  The top 10 is rounded off by Tsunoda and Alonso.  

Suzuka can be a big challenge, especially if it's wet but it also feels like it is Verstappen's to lose.  I suspect the McLarens will make it interesting for the first lap or two.  The interest will be whether they can hold Perez up and whether Mercedes can make it forwards with more tyres saved for the race.  Norris looked miffed to be behind his team mate and I expect he will want to get passed him as soon as possible.  Will they come together?  Same for the Ferrari drivers, when are things going to implode there?  Poor, tiny, Yuki is always treated like a small boy so it would be great for him to prove his worth.

 

SIngapore GP Race Report

Following Verstappen acquiring three investigations during qualifying, we may have woken up on Sunday to see the Red Bull even further back on the grid.  He got away with reprimands though and I can hear Hamilton's voice in my head stating his opinion of that.

Lance Stroll had pulled out of the race after his crash as he wasn't quite fit enough and his car definitely wasn't.  Super-sub Ricciardo was out of action after breaking his hand and super-sub-sub Lawson was in his Alpha Tauri seat.

It was a clean start, Sainz getting away well and his team mate, LeClerc too.  Russell made a poor start from second and fell down to third, with his team mate going off the track and rejoining ahead of him to take that third place.  Alonso and Ocon got past the Haas of Magnussen.  Tsunoda stopped and started on the first lap and then stopped for good, parking his car behind the barriers, averting a Safety Car.  It was a puncture, so you wonder why he couldn't have got back to the pits.

As Russell was released by his team mate, he set the fastest lap.  After a bit of negotiation with the stewards, Hamilton gave a place back to Norris too and that was the end of that.

Everyone went around nicely for a while.  Then Sargeant went and did something silly on Lap 19 and ended up with his own wing underneath him.  He dragged it round the track, sending bits of carbon fibre everywhere.  It didn't look like a Safety Car event but it was.  Lots of cars came in for a change of tyre.  Sainz held first position.  Ferrari double-stacked and bought LeClerc in from second behind him but had to hold him in the pit box as Mercedes double-stacked too.  This brought Norris out ahead of LeClerc.  The Red Bulls did not pit.  Alonso did something silly and locked up his tyres, swaying out of the pit lane lines and got a 5 second penalty.

At the restart, Sainz held his lead but it was all change behind him.  For the first time this season we saw Verstappen being overtaken during race (other than off the start).  Once everyone found their new place, they continued going round and round.  With the Red Bull tyres dropping off more and more.  Russell radioed in to let his team know that he did want to go for the win.

Two thirds of the way through the race, Ocon lost power in his Alpine. He was an angry Frenchman, beating the steering wheel and throwing his head support back into the car.  He stomped back to the pits.  This led to a Virtual Safety Car.  It was a close call whether to pit or not.  Albon made a quick decision to come in.  Further on, both Mercedes came in and were in and out swiftly.  Alonso came in and had to wait 5 seconds before his crew could start work.  It was an awful stop though, with tyres not coming off and not going on.  He had radioed in earlier to say the car was "undrivable".  The end of the love affair begins.  Then he spun but kept going.  Ferrari were now racing on wing and prayer as they hoped LeClerc and Norris could hold up the Mercedes on new tyres.

With 9 laps to go Russell took LeClerc for 3rd place.  Then Hamiton was past the Ferrari too.  With three laps to go, Sainz radioed in to say that his tyres were finished.  All four drivers were in shot at the same time.  Sainz had backed Norris into the Mercedes to aid his defence and now Lando had to put in the hard work.  Had Mercedes put in team orders asking Russell and Hamilton not to fight each other?  It didn't look like it and that was hampering Russell's confidence getting past Norris.  This proved to really cost the team in the last few corners, when Russell clipped the wall and crashed out.  The podium was Sainz, Norris and Hamilton.  LeClerc took fourth with Gasly in a commendable and quiet sixth.

With Verstappen finishing 5th and Perez finishing 8th, Red Bull don't claim the Constructors Championship at this race.  As Verstappen didn't win the race his streak is over, so we won't have to hear about that for at least another 10 races.  And Red Bull didn't win the race, so they won't get a perfect season.  So we won't have to hear about that until next year.

Both the rookies, Lawson and Piastri scored points.  With Tsunoda out, his performance won't have been compared to Lawson, which possibly saves for him for the rest of this season.  We haven't seen a race with five cars out in a long time.  Alonso won't be happy to finish plum last either.  Sargeant will be happy not to be last. This last two is a surprise as Lawson brought out the Safety Car earlier.

Not only was Verstappen not the winner but he wasn't on the podium, which was the breath of fresh air that the fans needed.

Singapore GP Qualifying Report

The big news so far at the event, was that Red Bull were less competitive.  I don't think anyone believed that this would result in them being very far down the grid.

In the first session, backmarker Sargeant impeded Stroll.  Verstappen, not used to seeing cars ahead of him, radioed, swearing, back to the pits about how many cars were on the track in the last minute.  The track was cooling so the tyres were improving and the best laps would be put in at the very end.  Tsunoda went fastest and held this against Perez and several others, the Haas' also getting to the top of the chart.  We were riding on board with Stroll as his car veered to the side of the track and went through a huge spin on the main straight.  The director immediately replayed the incident, even though we didn't know whether Stroll was okay.  This was a huge departure from usual protocol but as we had watched it happen it didn't seem to matter.  Finally Stroll radioed in that he was okay.  It took a while for him to get out though and the chassis was ruined.  It didn't look in a state that it could be repaired for the race the next day.  Who would spin on demand during the race for Alonso now?

The Red Flag was brought out which ended the session.  Stroll went into the lap in last place and finished there.  Also out were  Bottas, Piastri, Sargeant and Zhou.  A couple of these were casualties of the accident.  Verstappen was also investigated for impeding drivers in the pit lane.

The second session was delayed so the TV director played some team radio.  Firstly, Verstappen was swearing about the poor balance of the car.  Then Norris was enquiring about Stroll.  Hamilton said the car was very hot.  Everything continued very topsy-turvy.  Lawson, in the sister team, knocked Verstappen out of the top 10, so he qualifies 11th.  Followed by Gasly, Perez, Albon and Tsunoda, who didn't set a time.  This is what we've waited for all season.

Lawson is driving so well, Alpha Tauri won't need to bring Ricciardo back when his broken hand has mended.  Though he finished tenth in the final Qualifying session  behind Sainz on pole, Russell, LeClerc (who will surely be very disappointed but didn't radio his team to tell them what they did wrong), Norris, Hamilton, Magnussen, Alonso, Ocon and Hulkenberg.  It was a very strong showing for the Haas.

Everyone hopes this will be the race that Verstappen and Red Bull don't win.  They'll probably win the Constructors' Championship though.

Italy GP Race Report

A thrilling race seemed to be promised: a Ferrari on pole, with his team mate  behind him, Verstappen looking for his 10th win in a row, everyone (apart from Red Bull) was saying how quick the Williams are in a straight line and will be difficult to overtake.  There have been several names in the running for the second Red Bull seat: the current holder Perez, longest Alpha Tauri driver Tsunoda, new Alpha Tauri driver Lawson, reserve driver Ricciardo but Albon, who is only on loan to Williams has been overlooked.

The first casualty at the cathedral of speed was Tsunoda, who didn't even make it around the formation lap.  I think the engineers can no longer compute hot weather having been to only cold and wet tracks for a while.  LeClerc also found that his car was tricky to handle.

When the race did start, Sainz made a good start and was able to stay ahead of Verstappen for the lead of the first 15 laps.  Albon suffered with a typical Williams poor start and fell back to 9th; Piastri gained three places.  

By Lap 4, Verstappen radioed his team as he had spotted Sainz beginning to slide on his tyres and was told to be sensible.  The race was full of overtakes and battles.  There were a few 5 second penalties; Russell, Hamilton and Piastri.  At the end, Noah brought the animals in two by two: two bulls, two prancing horses, two silver...foxes?  Verstappen got his record-breaking 10 wins in a row.  The Ferraris battled to the very end with no team orders, with Sainz getting the podium.

Monza usually brings out the best of the racers with shorter, tighter laps and always worth watching.

Italy GP Qualifying Report

Not much news at Monza, the Mercedes drivers have signed new contracts, LeClerc hasn't.  The sun was shining down on the Tifosi.  Alfa Romeo were trying to poach some fans by running an Italian flag livery, they weren't fooling anyone as the team is Swiss.  Perez had to change his engine due to an oil leak but it was part of his allocation so he wouldn't be receiving a grid penalty.

In the first Qualifying session, we found out that drivers were finding it tricky to stay within the track limits on Turn 3, with lap times being deleted.  Ocon had a big trip across the gravel and damaged his floor.  It was another awful day for Alpine with both drivers out, Magnussen was out-qualified yet again by his team mate and Zhou.  Brilliantly, Albon finished 2nd and Sargeant 6th for Williams.  Obviously Verstappen set the fastest lap.  With the alternative tyre allocation in place this weekend, everyone ran the hard tyres.  It looked like LeClerc and Sainz went too slowly on the track and were under investigation by the stewards.  The stewards might find a horses head in their hotel rooms.

By the second session, the drivers had found the track limits.  It was a straight forward session, with the Alpha Tauris taking 11th and 12th, Tsunoda and Lawson, then Hulkenberg, Bottas and Sargeant (his team mate Albon managed 5th).

Half way through the final session, the Ferraris were in the lead, the Williams of Albon was still running well and Verstappen had a made a big mistake, going off the track, so was in 3rd.  I think his Red Bull could be on fire and he would still be in the top 3.  LeClerc held pole until Verstappen took it, then Sainz swooped in and took it and held it.  Russell took 4th ahead of team mate Hamilton in 8th.  Perez was 5th, then Albon.  Piastri was in 7th, ahead of his team mate Norris in 9th.  The promise of Aston Martin last week has disappeared as Alonso finished 10th.  As the drivers parked up, the stewards announced that there would be no further action for the Ferraris about their speed transgression.

The Ferrari drivers had to ask the crowd not to boo Verstappen.  We go into the race hoping that Sainz can hold Max up and perhaps a Ferrari can win at Monza but not holding our breath.