China GP Race Report

With everyone falling at Verstappen's feet during the Sprint, when he started in 4th, it seemed like his win was guaranteed on race day from pole position.  And so it passed although he radioed in from the grid about a "few drizzles" but a wet race never came to pass.

It was an easy start for Max and he was clean away in the lead.  Alonso made quick work of passing Perez though.  I wonder if Horner considered putting Fernando in that seat for this year or next?  The Ferraris had an awful start and it was mixed for Mercedes with Russell gaining 2 places and Hamilton falling to 19th.

The first set of pit stops were fast and frantic with a rogue tyre from Gasly hurting a mechanic and some near miss collisions in the rush to be out ahead.  By this point, Alonso was down in 9th and he would continue to yo-yo up and down the field.

In a battle for 14th, Ricciardo overtook his team mate; it seemed like this new chassis he has been given by his time is allowing him to show his truer pace.  Although he needs to become more flexible as a driver and less demanding of exactly how the car is created.

Midway through the race Bottas' engine went and he stopped at a corner (home boy Zhou was much more likely to finish ahead of his team mate thus).  They initially tried to remove it under double-waved yellow flags but then brought out a Virtual Safety Car order.  As this happened, Norris had just gone past the pit entry but his main competition LeClerc was right there and the battle of the one-stoppers had a little sweet chilli sauce thrown on it.  Then Norris got an extra lap under the VSC and was able to have an easy stop too.  We watched on as the marshals struggled to move the Sauber, which was stuck in gear.  This couldn't go on and a full Safety Car was deployed and Verstappen pitted straight away.  I'm not sure how the change helped the marshals.  Alonso also pitted and took on the soft tyres to bring the fight.

Having whinged about the first set of tyres, Hamilton now radioed in that he thought something on the car was broken.  With his move to Ferrari, I'm not sure the mechanics cared.  I think they've switched off the radio.  I don't think they even check the car over before they sent it out.

Just as everyone got going at the restart there was madness in the midfield - firstly we saw Tsnuoda going off and as we thought we saw what had happened to him, we released that what we were watching was actually Stroll going into the back of his team mate Ricciardo at the restart.  Stroll claimed Ricciardo braked late but we all know that Stroll is just a poor driver.  A disaster for the Racing Bulls as both cars were damaged.  This brought Burt and his Safety Car straight back out.

At this point, we watched more replays.  Magnussen took Tsunoda out.  Alonso had locked up and caused the train of cars behind him to have to brake harder, however Stroll was so close behind Ricciardo already that the RB's tyres were up under his front wing.

Stroll was awarded a 10 second penalty for the incident, as Ricciardo retired the car; Magnussen was similarly punished for taking the other RB out.  Sargeant was handed a penalty for a Safety Car infringement but we never found out what that was.  As Stroll served the penalty he claimed it was a "joke", I don't think he realised that Daddy couldn't help him with this one.

Through all this, Hamilton was making his way back up from 19th and had some slower cars and some damaged cars to get past.

At the close of the race, Alonso pitted for new tyres and we had the pleasure of watching him cut back up through the pack.  Behind him Gasly and Albon continued to radio in about each other's poor behaviour; I feel a new rivalry is brewing.  He finished the race in 8th but claimed an extra point for Fastest Lap.

There was an extraordinary amount of coverage of Zhou and he had a special parking space in front of the main grand stand to give the crowd a wave.  F1 is really chasing the Chinese market.

We didn't see much of the top 3, Verstappen, Norris and Perez until the last lap and podium.  Norris was surprised to be second and let slip that he had believed they wouldn't get past the Ferraris.  The Red Bull drivers weren't surprised by anything.

The next race is Miami, which is a little more challenging and can bring the crazy.  This was an enjoyable race, as always, if you don't watch the front too much.

 

Ricciardo - new chassis

China GP Qualifying Report

By the time we got to Qualifying for the China GP, I had no idea where we were in the weekend, with two events having already taken place.  This new format leaves Saturday's programme feeling very clunky.   Are we supposed to settle down on the sofa for the full day?  If you record and watch later, that's a long session.  It feels peculiar.

Nothing much happened in the first Qualifying session until the end.  Verstappen and Norris vied for the top spot but at the bottom it was a disaster.  Out went hometown hero Zhou, Magnussen, Hamilton, Tsunoda and Sargeant (having spun through the gravel).  Albon was through for the Williams, after an awful Sprint event for the team.  Ricciardo continues to outperform his team mate at this race, at last.

Midway through the second session, as Verstappen took a barn-storming first place, Sainz lost his rear end coming on to the final straight and spun.  The session was red-flagged although he kept the engine on and was able to get the car back to the pits, albeit missing a front wing.  I wondered if driving on the track under a red flag would be allowed.  Impossibly he finished the session in 3rd ahead of his team mate in 4th.  Out went Stroll (really struggling to show pace against his team mate), Ricciardo, Ocon, Albon and Gasly.  Ferrari radioed their driver to ask if the car seemed okay: "It would appear to be."

The final session passed without incident.  No one troubled Verstappen for pole position.  Bottas only took his Sauber out once and finished 10th.  Between them was Perez in second, then Alonso and Norris (who both held second and then disappointingly lost it), Piastri (a strong showing for McLaren), LeClerc, Sainz, Russell and Hulkenberg.

China GP Sprint Report

Norris was on pole for the Sprint and everyone was willing him on.  However, he lost the lead off the start as Hamilton made a good one, causing Norris to go very wide and off the track ending up 7th.  It was up to Alonso to chase Hamilton initially.  Sainz was pushing Verstappen but it only took 7 laps for Verstappen to get past Alonso.

There were many laps for Hamilton to hold off Verstappen, and he told his engineer he could see him and let him race it.  That was only for 2 laps.

With 3 laps to go, Sainz made his move on Alonso and the battle that ensued allowed Perez to get past the Ferrari and the Aston Martin.  The Ferraris then battled each other but unfortunately one Spaniard had given the other a puncture and Alonso had to retire.  LeClerc finished the event ahead of his team mate at last with Sainz battling his friend Norris behind him.

Verstappen will be pleased that everyone gave him that Sprint victory.  The crowd (or as Lewis called them "Team LH China") went wild for Hamilton, especially when he gave them a "Ni Hao".

Getting points were Verstappen, Hamilton, Perez, LeClerc, Sainz, Norris, Piastri and Russell.  Zhou was a great 9th but didn't get any points.  China was also looking to become Ricciardo's comeback event.

China GP Sprint Qualifying Report

The first sprint race of the year saw us introduced to the new sprint format.  The sprint idea has been in place for 4 years and is now in its 4th reincarnation.  I thought I would have something meaty to look forward to after work on Friday but it was only the measly Sprint Qually.

Homeboy Zhou made it through the first session just ahead of Gasly, Ocon, Albon, Tsunoda and Sargeant.  At the close of the session the grass at the side of the track caught fire again.  The sparks from the skid blocks keep setting the hot, dry grass on fire.  What will happen if this occurs during a race?

The fire delayed the start of the second session, despite the rain.  Rain was predicted for the end of the session and it arrived bang on time with 3 minutes to go.  This killed the best laps of Russell and Ricciardo but you have to question why they didn't do better times earlier.  Out went Russell, Magnussen ahead of his team mate Hulkenberg, Ricciardo (at least beating his team mate for the first time this season) and Stroll (a mere 6 places behind his team mate, who has signed a 2 year contract this week).

The third session was properly wet and, thrillingly, they didn't red flag it but let the drivers get on with their job.  LeClerc spun off and clunked his rear wing against the tyre wall (the amount of damage was never reported).  Verstappen also went off but only after setting the fastest lap.  Zhou set a good time and then had his time deleted for track limits.  Vestappen did this a couple of times, along with Hamilton and Norris.  Pole kept changing as the laps were set and then times deleted (including Norris holding pole).  Just when it was looking like experience was the best quality to help you secure pole with Hamilton first then Alonso, Norris's deleted lap time was reinstated and he did take pole.  Behind him was Hamilton, Alonso, Vestappen, Sainz, Perez, LeClerc, Piastri, Bottas and Zhou.

Verstappen isn't known for his wet weather performance but with the rest of the weekend forecast to be dry this won't make any difference to whether or not he will win everything.

The most exciting thing was nearly Albon's panda helmet, which scored him a lot of airtime until he went out early but the rain made this a thriller but his friend Norris on pole is the big news.  Can he win it?

Australia GP Race Report

There was no news between Qualifying and the Race, so off we went.  Verstappen held the lead from the grid but LeClerc took Norris's third place straight away.  Hamilton, who wasn't sure about his soft tyre choice, made up one place, whilst his old nemesis, Alonso, fell back.

Just as I picked my phone to complete Wordle, Sainz makes a DRS pass on Verstappen round the outside of a corner, perfectly timed to take a second helping of open wing.  This is the first time in a long time that someone has overtaken him.  He radioed in to say the car was "loose"; was there something mechanically wrong with the car as it smoked it's way about and then his brake was on fire, or his tyre, or his engine. Verstappen pushed on for a while until the flames coming out the back of the car stopped in.  It's his first reliability failure for a many a season.   At this point, Perez was in 6th and ino position to step in to his team mate's shoes.

There was a flurry of pit stops by Lap 10, early on the 58 lap race.  Sauber, once again, had a poor stop and will need to make changes.

Just as Sainz pitted from the lead and came out second behind Alonso, Hamilton radioed in with an engine failure.  The moaning minnie pretty much manifested it for himself.  A Virtual Safety Car was called, which was a gift for those who hadn't already pitted: Alonso, Ocon and Gasly.

Sainz and LeClerc were told to hold positions  and later on there were more team orders, with Piasti moving over for Norris.

Everyone carried on from this point until the last lap when Russell had a major collision with the wall that left his car on it's side.  This meant that everyone finished under a Virtual Safety Car.  Alonso was subsequently given a 20 second place penalty for driving "unusually" and causing Russell to crash.  Sainz invited LeClerc to move close to him and celebrate the 1, 2 finish together, but he didn't...sour grapes?  He took Fastest Lap though; it feels likes a long time now since he has won a race.  The McLarens were 3rd and 4th and Perez was 5th, hardly scooping up the points upon Max's retiral.

Sainz climbed very slowly and gingerly out of the car, so his recent surgery was apparent.  The officials were trying to rush him about but it wasn't going to be possible.  To make matters worse, he was then interviewed by Guenther Steiner.

The top ten was finished by Stroll, Tsunoda, Alonso and both Haas, which is a massive result for the American team.  Albon, Ricciardo and Gasly came next, which was decent.

What can we look forward to in Japan and China?  The return of a second chassis for Williams?  Further wins for Ferrari?  Further mechanical failure for Red Bull?  Certainly more speculation about who will drive for which team in 2025.

Australia GP Qualifying Report

The build up to Qualifying was a tale of ailing drivers; Sainz was back in the car after abdominal surgery and Albon was in his team mate's car after destroying the chassis in Free Practice.

In the heavy Alpine, Gasly crossed a vital white line and would be penalised by the stewards.  The Frenchman must be on the watch list for drivers who might be racing in a different series next year.  No one noticed that Zhou's front wing was broken as he went around.  He was out last with both Haas (temporarily) and Gasly.  Then Ricciardo had a time deleted and put Magnussen back into the action.  The Australian never has any luck at his home track.

The Mercedes continued to struggle and Hamilton was knocked out in 11th in Q2 ahead of Albon, Bottas, Magnussen and Ocon.  Verstappen was complaining a lot about understeer, which left the Ferraris dominating the session so far.

On to the final Qualifying session and Alonso made a poor start with a trip through the gravel.  Piastri rode across a kerb.  The game played out as it always does, Verstappen comes from being slightly behind, Red Bull turn up the gas and takes pole position.  Next to him was a slightly-lighter-than-at-Bahrain Sainz.  Perez held third and LeClerc abandoned his lap when he knew he wasn't going any quicker.  So Norris starts 4th and Piastri is the other side of the Ferrari driver in 6th.  Russell was the highest finishing Mercedes in 7th, then Tsunoda, Stroll and Alonso.  Finally the owners son out qualifies his team mate.  The stewards would then give Perez a three place grid penalty for impeding Hulkenberg.

Saudi Arabia GP Race Report

The big news in Saudi should have been the teenager in the Ferrari.  If Bearman does well and is kept on as reserve driver for Ferrari, should LeClerc's insides also explode then there could be two Brits driving for the Italian national team next year. 

The big news was still the Horner vs. Marko clash.  No has denied the authenticity of the revealed WhatsApp messages, so we can only assume they are genuine screenshots.  How long can Mr Halliwell hold on to power for?  

Before the race, Norris and Tsunoda had an unsafe release incident leaving the pits.  Gasly had a problem with his gearbox on the way to the grid but it was lights off and away we go.  Perez nearly got second place from LeClerc but the Ferrari driver clung on tenaciously.  Russell snitched on Norris for jumping the start.  Bearman was very aggressive but just seemed to be hanging on.

Once DRS (that great race-killer) was enabled, Perez was straight past LeClerc.

We were waiting for Sargeant or Bearman to Latifi up the race but Stroll went for it early doors on Lap 7.  Daddy must be very proud; watching his son bounce around tracks internationally.  The team radioed in to him when he told them he'd hit the wall, "Can you bring it back in?"  "No," he replied, "I've hit the wall."  The Safety Car came out.  With everyone pitting, the lane got stuffed up and some drivers suffered being held up, particularly LeClerc.  Norris, Hamilton and Hulkenberg didn't stop.  I'm beginning to feel that Lewis is just dialling it in this year. Norris led the race when the Safety Car went in and was nearly able to maintain the one second required to hold off Verstappen getting DRS.

Perez was given a 5 second penalty for unsafe release in the pits.  Magnussen was given a 10 second penalty for causing a collision with Albon.

For the first half of the race, Ricciardo pootled about plumb last.  Netflix executives will be willing him on to boost the ratings.  For the second half of the race he was second to last, ahead of Bottas and then Zhou too, when he had a slow stop.  Even when he spun the car, he stayed ahead of the Saubers.

Magnussen was given another 10 second penalty for forcing another driver off the track.  Norris was given a black and white flag for weaving on the straight.  Busy day for the stewards.

Alonso kissed the wall but told his team there was no damage.  Very much the small boy excuse for doing anything.  He brought the car home in 5th.

Perez held on to Verstappen and made it a Red Bull one-two with LeClerc in 3rd, claiming an extra point for Fastest Lap.  Piastri, Alonso and Russell were next, ahead of Bearman, with an excellent finish in his debut race.  The 18 year old Brit received Driver of the Day too, with Sainz straight back from surgery to watch the race.

Max is no longer shouting how much he loves the team over the radio at the end of races.  Is this complacency?  Is this a reflection on the turmoil within the team?  Is this maturity?  Is it a sign that he is looking to drive elsewhere?

Saudi Arabia GP Qualifying Report

The biggest breakingist news from Jeddah was that Sainz arrived with appendicitis and had to undergo surgery immediately.  This meant that their reserve driver was called up, a young whippersnapper called Bearman.  He was able to have a little go in Free Practice.

Zhou and Sargeant both came to Qualifying having dinted the car.  Whilst Piastri hit the wall during Q1, it was Zhou suffered, only just getting out in time to try and put in a timed lap but didn't make it.  So both Saubers went out with both Alpines and Sargeant too.

During Q2, I spied a car in the background of a shot.  A while after, the commentators picked up that a car had stopped.  Then, finally, the Yellow Flags were waved followed by a Red Flag to stop the session as Hulkenberg's car had lost power and was waiting at the side of the track.

Ricciardo was out next to Hulk, with his team mate through to Q3; he needs to pull his socks up.  Magnussen was next up, then Albon and rookie Bearman in P11 on his first shot.

Traffic was a bit of a problem in all three sessions but LeClerc went out on a different pattern from the rest which meant he had to overtake slower cars, compromising his first hot lap.  In the dying moments of the final session, Alonso stole a tow from Hamilton whilst Russell aborted his lap.  LeClerc and Alonso put in the final quick laps.  Verstappen took pole, sharing the front row with LeClerc.  Perez is behind him, next to Alonso.  The McLarens fill the next row (Piastri ahead of Norris), then the Mercedes (Russell ahead if Hamilton).  Finally was Tsunoda then Stroll.

Could a rookie in the mix for the race shake things up?  Can LeClerc take the race to Verstappen?

Drive to Survive - Season 6

Season 6 opened with Norris driving through the Monegasque countryside and then the drivers airily discussing their privileged lifestyles.  Verstappen demonstrated that he wears Red Bull team attire off-season too.  Because four drivers playing paddle in Monte Carlo hadn't been  set up at all.  The gear was moved up and we zoomed in on a fancy-schmancy Aston Martin event, painting Stroll (senior) as a villain, in opposition to the people's hero Steiner.  

Forward to Bahrain testing and Vestappen comments they will see the drivers a lot on track, more than over the holiday.  Not how it would end up, Max.  Stroll comes back from breaking his wrists and talks about how painful it is.  Then, boom, Claire Williams!

Despite being presented at the time with a miraculous recovery from his biking injuries, it is revealed that Stroll was in a lot of pain and taking a lot of pain medication upon his return to F1 in Bahrain.  Even his colleagues are commenting that the shouldn't be there.  He moved around the paddock looking stoned and demonstrating a somewhat unusual relationship with his father.

Episode 2 started with Father Christmas (not Santa in Ginger's Posh house) asking Christian Horner if he'd been a good boy this year.  We know now that, no, he was not.  The focus of the ep. was De Vries and Ricciardo.  Luckily Geri, was on hand to talk it through.

Everyone emphasised that Ricciardo was specifically there to do marketing duties, not sim work as outlined at the time.  I suppose this makes the return to racing later much dramatic: from boy holding golf sale sign to F1 hero.

Episode 3 was Piasti's (and McLaren's), once again Norris was portrayed as dismayed until a little victory, or second place.  They didn't do much with this well-told story.  

Circling the bottom, was Episode 4, focusing on Haas and Williams.  Claire Williams star turn had come.  It was the story of old-sweary war horse Guenter Steiner and James Vowles, the new Team Principal in town, who couldn't get his introduction right.  I'd forgotten how good the start of the 2023 season was for Haas and how poor for Williams but then the order switched on race 3 at Melbourne and the writing was on the wall.  For his Netflix career, Steiner came out with: "There's nothing left in the lemon, all the juice has been squeezed."  It will be on a T-shirt already.  The slant of the end was building up to Steiner leaving F1, which wasn't on the cards at the time.  Did the editors have to rehash the storyline?

Then we moved onto the French affair of Episode 5.  I have no recollection of Alpine getting a podium with Ocon  at Monaco.  Gasly, who seems to be popular in the paddock (unlike Ocon), was portrayed as the villain of the piece.  In the end, they showed a bit of the spat but overall it was uneventful.  Netflix must have been contractually obliged to include the team.

Episode 6 was Mercedes and opened with Hamilton mentioning his contract was up for renewal this year.  Ears perked up; would this have had a late edit to include his 2025 news about Ferrari?  After some petulance from Hamilton, we switched to the team boss.  In some sort of Horner-Halliwell vs. Wolff-Stoddart one-up-manship, we saw the Wolves take their son karting.  They dwelled on the doom and gloom at the start of the season, then moved to over-taking Aston Martin in the championship at Barcelona.

There was no last minute edit and the sun shone on the silver arrows as Hamilton said, "There's never going to be a time when I'm not a Mercedes driver."  It hasn't aged well.

And back to Alpine...are they paying Netflix for air time?  We saw the firing of Otmar and it was portrayed quite sensitively, with snide comments shown behind the scenes from other F1 personnel but lots of lovely conversations to his face.  Bruno, the new TP (new phrase for 2024), is shown in the slightly embarrassing position of speaking excellent French but not English like the majority of staff he is now hoping to improve the morale of.

From a flailing TP in Episode 7, we moved on to Red Fred in Episode 8.  We were building up to Sainz's great triumph in Singapore (I'd completely forgotten that Russell crashed on the last lap, losing any chance of the victory) after not winning Monza.  Winning Monza is the number 1 item on the Ferrari Team Principal Job Description.

The next episode focused on box office gold Ricciardo, they went from back in the seat to breaking his hand.  The film crew got a lovely trip to Milton Keynes to meet Liam Lawson.  He couldn't have come across as any greener with Danica Patrick commenting, "He's probably shitting himself."  To make matters worse, we saw all the other drivers bullying him outside the press conference.  He then qualified in his first race ahead of all the other Red Bull drivers and finished in the points.  And after all that, when Danny is given the seat over him, he expresses just how upsetting it is.  I suppose this is the reason behind Drive to Survive's great success.

The grand finale was Vegas baby.  The drivers looked aghast at the showmanship they were being asked to perform.  It felt like Netflix would want to make the Las Vegas race look glossy and all-American top fun but perhaps they were happy to show some of the elements that made it less popular with the teams and drivers.  Ferrari closed up on Mercedes.  We moved on to the last race at Abu Dhabi and the picture widened to include the rivalry between McLaren and Aston Martin.  Creepy Uncle Fernando reared his head.  As Russell had "the drive of his life", LeClerc was left frustrated that Ferrari couldn't even hang on to second place in the constructors championship.

And so it was.  They threw in a card to inform the fewer that Steiner's contract was not renewed but nothing about Hamilton's move to Ferrari; they have that in the bag for next season.

Overall, the episodes were fairly predictable.  The weathered F1 fan who is familiar with the Netflix production, could write the show, as Albon did mid-season.  With Verstappen's domination they were obliged to focus on the race to be best of the rest.  Let's hope 2024 provides them with more interesting fodder.

Bahrain GP Race Report

Everyone was eagerly anticipating the first race of the season.  There were some lock ups on the way to the grid, most notably from Ricciardo.  To spice things up, Bahrain had gone for a sandpaper track to wear through tyres quicker.

With lights out, the cars were away pretty much in grid order.  Stroll came together with Hulkenberg and they fell to the back.  Sargeant jumped up a few places.  Once DRS was permitted, Norris was past Alonso and Russell was past LeClerc.

By Lap 6, our old friend, Track Limits, had come to visit and drivers were starting to notch up notes of deviation.  Sainz let his team know that he was faster than the cars ahead, however they weren't going to tell Perez to move over.  He must have seen the way things were going for the troubled LeClerc as Perez was past him in the next couple of corners.

The first retirement of the year was nearly Sargeant, who had a long pause at the side of the track but got going again after Vowles looked bewildered at his monitors.

Sainz made the pass on his team mate, so the gloves are off at Ferrari this year.  It was all in vain, as LeClerc got the place back through the undercut at pit stops.  New for this year, we are not being shown the pit stop times.  And no mention of it.

There was another clean pass by Sainz a few laps later.

Bottas claimed the longest pit stop of the race when a wheel nut got caught in the gun.  Alonso went for a late pit stop, which might have stopped him losing a points position but didn't bring him home in a blaze of glory.  The Racing Bulls reversed their drivers with a few laps to go, when both drivers were out of the points and for no real reason.

Verstappen brought it home 20 seconds ahead of his team mate, as he said, he stayed out of trouble.  Perez needed a strong drive and Horner seemed pleased with it.  Sainz got driver of the day for his third position, I suppose there wasn't much in it between most of them.

It was a poor showing from Williams, who went backwards.  They weren't the only unhappy faces in the pit lane.  Hopefully there will be many developments over the season and the races will get more and more interesting.  This season opener was a snooze-fest after the first corner...

Bahrain GP Qualifying Report

We've watched Drive to Survive (nearly), judged the car launches and seen the outcome of testing, now it was time for the 2024 season to get started.  The weather conditions had changed from testing and were cold and windy for the first Qualifying session of 2024.  This should show which teams are nimbler with their set up.

Sky F1 were keen to grill the Ferrari drivers and team principal on the hiring of Hamilton.  Hopefully they've got it out of their system until the end of the season.  Vasseur was sporting some horrible red and gold trainers, which surely, as the boss, he could have refused to wear. 

Q1 was a jumble of teams at the top, with Ferrari reject Sainz in first and both Alpine out at the back, Sargeant next, and both Saubers out in 16th and 17th.  You have to wonder why Williams couldn't find any other driver in the world faster than the American, with Albon through in 8th.

Again, it was a jumble at the top in Q2, with even Haas in the mix. Out went Tsunoda, Stroll, Albon, Ricciardo (who really needs to beat his team mate early this year or he'll be out on his ear), with Magnussen in 15th.

Q1 went down to the wire, predictably Verstappen took pole, followed by LeClerc.  On the next row were Russell and Sainz.  The second Red Bull was down in 5th, next to Alonso.  The McLarens were on the 4th row and double HH, Hamilton and Hulkenberg at the back of the top ten.

The race and the season ahead look promising, with all teams showing interesting pace.