Abu Dhabi GP Race Report

At last, the final race of the season.  Several drivers had complained they had reached this point tired and sick.

Everyone lined up cleanly.  LeClerc made a good start, with Verstappen going aggressive to stay ahead, cutting him off.  The McLarens made it up to 3rd and 4th.    LeClerc battled to get past and Verstappen moved his Red Bull decisively, cutting him off and after two laps, he was more than a second ahead.  Tsunoda held his 6th place and Sainz was up to 13th from 17th.  Albon fell to 18th, Perez also lost out.

On lap 5, Norris made the crucial pass on his team mate; firmly cementing his 2023 reputation as someone who cannot put a qualifying lap together but knows how to race.  On Lap 11, Russell got past Piastri to finally get back to his starting position of 4th.  The Australian was immediately under pressure from Tsuonda, as Perez got past Gasly.

The first round of pit stops came early, led by Piastri.  Russell got past Norris in these as McLaren had a problem.  Hamilton and Gasly had a racing incident, with the Mercedes coming off worse.

The hard tyres worked really well initially, with the rest of the field all having pitted a few laps later.  Verstappen came out of it a couple of seconds ahead of LeClerc and Russell charged through the pack.  Both Williams were running last.  Gasly was fuming that they played the undercut so his team mate Ocon over took him.  The headline of this phase was Tsunoda leading the race for several laps.

When the second round of pit stops started, with Ocon returning to the garage to get him wheel tightened,  Norris got a clean stop.  Russell's undercut didn't work, with LeClerc coming out ahead of him.

The drivers continued to battle.  Perez and Norris came together, with Norris being crashed into and forced off the track.  Perez was given a 5 second penalty.  Hamilton, then Gasly, were both investigated for pit stop infringements, which turned out to be because the pit crew didn't have their helmet visors down.  LeClerc schemed to back Russell into Perez if they needed to swap the order for the Constructors Championship position.  In the end, he didn't need any help and got past Russell easily as the Mercedes driver was a little sleepy at the end of the long season.

A lot was decided behind race winner Verstappen, who doughnutted to finish: Mercedes beat Ferrari to 2nd place in the championship, Williams secured 7th, Alonso fourth ahead of LeClerc and Norris, Gasly outscored Ocon, Tsunoda outscored Ricciardo but by only by 11 points in 6 races.  LeClerc finishing 5th really doesn't reflect his season of pole to possible podiums/possible crashes.  Of the bottom four teams, Albon was the highest scoring driver, 26 points ahead of his team mate.  Sargeant did beat someone in the championship, the forgotten De Vries.

Verstappen showed himself to be a man of the people by warmly and lengthily embracing his sweaty mechanics.  Tsunoda got Driver of the Day, which was heartwarming.

And the season closes.  97 days until the next one.  I'll be back with a Drive to Survive review, although I think it will underwhelmingly focus on De Vries being dropped and the questions over Perez' position.  Enjoy the rest and pray Newey has forgotten anything he has ever learnt about how to design a car.

Abu Dhabi GP Qualifying Report

It was a long time before anyone came out to start the final Qualifying event of the season.  It was Perez out first, who trailed a number of others.  It became apparent that track limits would be an issue for some drivers, with lap times being deleted, notably Sargeant who didn't set a time on the complete track at all.  Having had some wobbles over the weekend, Red Bull were proved to be sandbagging in Q1 as Verstappen and Perez were first and second.  The Ferraris had looked very strong but Sainz was out in 16th (having had two big shunts over the last 8 days), blaming traffic, in front of Magnussen, Bottas, Zhou and Sargeant.

Again, in Q2, Verstappen was through in first.  There were more shocks lower down though, with Hamilton out in 11th, then Ocon, Stroll, Albon and Ricciardo.  Tsunoda, Alonso, Gasly and Russell were through, so teams were divided between Q1 and Q2.  It was a shame for Williams as they were showing strong in practice.

In the final Qualifying session, the only team looking to compete with the Red Bulls was McLaren.  This was Norris's final chance of the year to pip his pal to pole.  With a huge slide, he lost out in the final sector and not only didn't take pole but lost the front row to his team mate.  In the dying seconds, LeClerc took second, with Perez unable to get close to his team mate and coming in 5th, then 6th as Russell jumped him before having his time deleted and finished 9th.  Verstappen held pole followed by LeClerc, Piastri, Russell, Norris, Tsunoda, Alonso, Hulkenberg, Perez and Gasly.  Over team radio we found out that Red Bull supremo Helmut Marko had bet against Team Principal, Christian Horner that Verstappen wouldn't make the front row - what confidence!

In the press pen, LeClerc was determined to get second in the Constructors Championship.  His opposition, Hamilton, was done with the season and clearly wanted to get away on holiday.  Norris continues to be frustrated that he makes these mistakes and "ruins" his chances.  He thought he had the pace for pole.

The glitz and glamour of Vegas continued as the race arrived.  The gloriously-named Bruce Buffer introduced the drivers on to the parade and when the cars had finally reached the grid, it was so packed no one could move.

Interviewed on the grid, Albon said that the race would be: "all about the graining."  If you can manage the tyres you will have a good race and if you can't you will go backwards.  As was proven later.

Alonso made a prediction about the race too: "You will enjoy it."  He certainly won't have enjoyed the start.  Or the middle or end probably.

It was the biggest of disappointments at the start with Verstappen immediately overtaking LeClerc for the lead.  The track was especially slippery.  Sargeant lost a place to Magnussen off the start but the Williams had great pace on the straight and he was able to retake the place.  There was some debris on the track from something, possibly a spin by Sainz and a Virtual Safety Car was called for.  Alonso, Perez and Bottas pitted.  The cause of the incident was Alonso spinning in the middle of the pack, bouncing off Bottas like bumper cars.

Then, 3 laps in, in a blink of an eye, we saw Norris disappear off the track.  It took him a while to get out of the car but he did radio in that he was okay.  He didn't look okay when he did get out of the car (unaided).  He lost the rear and left the track backwards, nearly taking out his team mate.  The debris showered Hamilton.

LeClerc was sleeping at the rolling start and Verstappen sailed away.  Rookie Piastri showed the grid how it was done and made a sweet move on Tsunoda.

The stewards finally made a decision about Verstappen's opening pass and awarded him a 5 second penalty, which is nothing to the driver this year.  The glib response from him proved this.  As they were running first and second, they should have been made to swap the places.  It turned out that Verstappen damaged his tyres dashing away after the Safety Car, which meant that on Lap 16 LeClerc retook the lead, with the Red Bull pitting immediately.

Piastri and Hamilton had a little bump which gave Piastri a long stop and Hamilton a puncture.

Then it was LeClerc's pit stop and Ferrari only delivered a slow stop but at least they did know he was coming in, had tyres ready, the crew knew it was happening and they overcame all those little hurdles they usually succumb to.

Verstappen was trying to make his way back up to the front of the pack, then on Lap 26 he and Russell made contact, with damage to both cars and a lot of debris on the track.  On a street track debris equals Safety Car, so lots of drivers including Russell and Verstappen made a cheap pit stop.

Russell was given a 5 second penalty for the incident.  Piastri did well again at the restart and found himself in 3rd.  Verstappen was briefly investigated for an unsafe release but nothing came of it.

Somehow, Perez managed to catch and overtake LeClerc for the lead on Lap 32.  Piastri was unable to hold off Verstappen for third place.  Behind them Gasly and Ocon went wheel to wheel and without team orders they battled for 5th and 6th, however someone came swiftly over the radio to put pay to that.  Perez stuck true to form and, when he had it all, fell asleep, took it fore-granted and lost the lead back to LeClerc.  Also swiftly past Perez was his team mate Verstappen.  It wasn't long until he was back in the lead again.

Toto Wolff radioed to Russell urging him to push forward and make some overtakes; he clearly wasn't bothered with encouraging his other driver, Hamilton, to score some points.  Rhianna will be very disappointed in Lewis.

With 7 laps to go, LeClerc made a mistake and gave second place to Perez.  A Red Bull one-two was now on the cards.  However, LeClerc repeated Alonso's Brazil feat and overtook Perez on the last lap for second position.  Disappointingly, Williams were not able to convert their qualifying position into any points at all.  Poor Gasly went backwards too.

Having moaned about the whole event, Verstappen was played Elvis over team radio and he sang along.  Whilst wearing an Elvis tribute race suit.

Instead of the cool down room, the top three drivers were driven in a Rolls Royce to the podium.  They sat uncomfortably thigh-to-thigh, with Perez in his tribute Ferrari race suit.  I'm sure that will be questioned back at HQ the next day.

Finally, they made it to the podium, where their presence was announced with a fruit machine spin.  The lost of the dice this season will be in a week's time in Abu Dhabi.

Las Vegas GP Qualifying Report

Apologies for the radio silence - I had a mechanical failure (of the back).  Hopefully I can sit and type through this event.

The Vegas event hadn't been without controversy already.  The residents had been vociferous in complaining about having streets closed for 10 days straight and all the building works for months prior (Edinburgh and Croydon feel your pain).  The track then brought itself more bother during Free Practice 1 when a water valve man hole thing came loose under Sainz's car.  It also ran under Ocon's car.  Sainz had to have his plank changed which gave him a 10 place grid penalty.  I think you could feel the waves of outrage from F1 fans across the globe.

F1 fans across the globe were geared up to play Crofty Goes to Vegas Bingo.  If you'd like to play during the race the words are: Elvis ✓, The Hangover, cashing their chips, placing their bets...

During Q1 Tsunoda achieved what I felt was unachievable at a street track like this: having a lap time deleted for leaving the track.  Did he run through a casino?  Skim over the Belagio lake?  How did he get off the track?  With a huge following in the US, both McLarens were out, which will be a big hit for them.  Ocon, Zhou and Tsunoda were also out with Sargeant through to a rare Q2 outing at one of his home tracks.

Teams and drivers continued to be caught out in Q2: Hamilton, Perez, Hulkenberg, Stroll and Ricciardo.  Both Williams were through and both Ferraris held the front row.  So far, no red flags and no safety cars - surprising.

Ferrari held on to the two fastest spots in the final session, although Sainz will start 12th, so Verstappen will start on the front row.  Behind them: Gasly, Russell, Albon, Sargeant, Alonso, Magnussen and Bottas.  Being the pole-sitter means your face is projected onto the roof on the top of the pit buildings.

Verstappen said he "maximised performance" today; I wonder how often he uses the phrase "maximised" about things he does.

Brazil GP Sprint Shootout & Sprint Report

It was a sunny day in Sao Paulo for sprint day.  It was going to be a very different qualifying from the day before.

In SQ1 it was all plain sailing for the first 11 and 1/2 minutes, then Ocon lost control of his car, "got out of shape" and went into and over Alonso, the Alpine went spinning into the wall, causing a  lot of damage and the Aston Martin got a puncture and dragged his car, sparking, back to the pits.  There was a Yellow Flag and then the session was stopped, which really damaged the laps for a lot of drivers who were putting in a quick lap including Albon and Sargeant who finished last.  Also out went Ocon, Stroll and Zhou.

Alonso was out of SQ2 with damage so qualified 15th.  Ahead of him and out went both Haas, Gasly and Bottas.  Notably great lap times were made by Norris, first and Ricciardo, fourth.  Perez was ahead of Verstappen but took two shots to get there.

The first half of SQ3 was particularly dull as no cars went out.  It was all or nothing at the end and fingers were crossed for no Red or Yellow Flags (by the teams if not the spectators).  The first time was set by Piastri but the field was quicker behind him.  Norris took the Sprint pole for his first time, followed by his friend Verstappen, then Perez.  Behind them was Russell and Hamilton, Tsunoda, LeClerc, Ricciardo, Sainz and Piastri.

Remarkably, Ocon's car was prepared in time for the Sprint race.  Our prediction for the race was Verstappen from Norris and that was the case by the first corner.  In fact, Russell was also past Norris by the end of the first lap.

DRS handed positions back and forth between drivers as they overtook each other.  There was overtake after overtake until the end, where Verstappen finished in front of Norris and Perez.  For once the Alpha Tauris were fighting near the front, which was great for them, with Tsunoda finishing in the points.  There was a lot of swearing from Danny Ric on his radio as he couldn't make up as many places as he wanted.

Norris felt he had been too cautious and not made the best of his opportunity.  There's always a reason he doesn't do better and they're not excuses but they need to stop happening.  It's all set to be a great race tomorrow, with tyre degradation being quite high, teams who have saved tyres will be rewarded.

Brazil GP Qualifying Report

Once again the hot topic of the weekend, is whether Perez will keep his contract for next year.  Or even until the end of the season.  The Qualifying session was delayed as there was debris on track which the marshals slowly swept away.

There were spits of rain towards the end of the first session but it didn't slow down the last laps the drivers put in.  Both Alpha Tauris went out, Tsunoda one place higher than Red Bull wannabe Ricciardo.  The Japanese driver felt impeded by Hamilton.  Both Alfa Romeos were out and Sargeant in his Williams too.

The second session was dry and uneventful.  Albon, who was in contention, had a lap deleted so went out in 15th, not attempting to put in a qualifying lap in this session.  Both Alpines and both Haas were out too.  Norris was in first.  

At the start of the final session, Ted could feel rain in the pit lane and Ferrari told LeClerc that it would come in 7 minutes.  There were definitely dark clouds in the sky.  Piastri was the first driver to be caught out and was sent drifting across the grass.  Sainz was also  off the track and those who hadn't put an early lap in would not get a good lap in before the rain came down and the session was red flagged.

As the rain fell down, teams were allowed to close their garage doors and Verstappen held pole, LeClerc second and Stroll in third.  The Aston Martins did well getting out quickly, with Alonso in fourth.  Next was both Mercedes, Hamilton then Russell.  Finishing the top ten were Norris, Sainz, Perez and Piastri.

The drivers were interviewed in the Safety Car pit as the thunder rumbled outside.