Spain GP Qualifying Report

Going into Qualifying in Barcelona, Piastri had won Free Practice.  After the first round of quick laps in the first session, he was the quickest, ahead of Verstappen and Norris.  Then the drivers queued up in the pit lane for the shoot out at the end.  Colapinto had a problem at the front and couldn't get going; finally Sainz decided to undertake him, which was permitted and it took the other drivers behind them a while to get round and going.  Sainz was knocked out by Ocon in the Haas in the last few seconds, he in turn was knocked out by his rookie team mate who went through in 11th.  Piastri remained quickest.  His old team mate Hulkenberg was also knocked out by his rookie team mate Bortoleto.   So it was Hulkenberg, Ocon, Sainz, Colapinto and Tsunoda out.  For the Red Bull to be last in Qualifying will raise huge questions.

The track did not seem to be improving as the second session progressed.  Williams did not seem to have the same speed as they showed as the last couple of races.  Out went Albon, Bortoleto, Lawson, Stroll and Bearman.  Hadjar put in another great lap for 6th.  Piastri was fastest, with Norris ahead of Verstappen this time.

It looked briefly like Norris might take pole position.  He set the fastest time after the first round of laps, stealing a tow from his team mate.  Positions were reversed for the final laps and Norris pushed hard, perhaps too hard and behind him Piastri put in purple sectors every time he crossed the timing lines.  It finished Piastri, Norris, Verstappen, Russell, Hamilton, Antonelli, LeClerc, Gasly, Hadjar and Alonso.  The Spaniard was very pleased with his lap and whooped as he came in, waving to the crowd.

The most annoying thing about this part of the event?  The contact talk of the "TD" or Technical Directive - I don't think this needs an abb.

Monaco GP Race Report

There were a few shifts about on the grid due to penalties and whatnot but no one really cared as all concern was directed to how the teams would cope with having to stop twice.  

The first few corners would be crucial as well.  In F2 and the Porsche Supercup races earlier in the day, there were big crashes.  In F2, there was an 11 car pile up (which was not replayed despite no one being hurt) and the Porsche that spun meant all the cars behind them had to stop, like a massive Monegasque traffic jam.

Everyone was away clearly and in grid order, at the end of the first lap though, Bortoleto was into the wall, as he was caught out by Antonelli overtaking him.  It was a heart-stopping moment: was this the early Safety Car that had been predicted?  A green flag replaced the yellow as Bortoleto reversed his Sauber to keep going.  Those who were ready to pit immediately stood down.  The barrier needed to be inspected though, so a Virtual Safety Car was instigated.  Tsunoda, Gasly, Bearman and Bortoleto pitted with the Haas experiencing problems.

The race went on for a further eight laps, until Gasly went into the back of his old chum Tsunoda and lost a front wheel.  Piastri slowed as there were waved yellow flags for the debris on the track but Verstappen right behind him did not.  Gasly had no brakes and could not stop; he couldn't park the car at the side and he couldn't stop when he got into the pit lane either.  Eventually he stopped but pretty much in the Williams garage, the pit lane was closed.  However, Gasly could have gone down an escape road much earlier but chose to keep going and nearly took off his team mate as he careered across the corner.

Hulkenberg was the first driver to take a proper stop.  This triggered others.  Hadjar had been running well and pitted from fifth, exiting ahead of his team mate in eighth, a good result for the Racing Bulls.  Norris pitted on lap 20 of 78 and came out in fourth behind LeClerc, Piastri and Verstappen.  Bearman and Hadjar did a quick change of tyres so that they had their stops all done.  Piastri's stop was very slow but would not be able to jump LeClerc.  Despite putting in the fastest lap of the race, he didn't.

It seemed everything had calmed down.  The front runners were complaining that the marshals were not waving blue flags to tell the backmarkers to let them through.  It felt like there should have been ten laps to go but, remarkably, there were forty laps to go and Alonso's engine gave out with a puff of smoke from sixth position.  He would have scored some good points.  The Aston Martin was parked neatly off the track by the ever-professional Spaniard.

With two thirds of the race gone, neither Mercedes had taken any of their mandatory pit stops.  Russell got more and more frustrated behind Albon, who was deliberately holding up the pack for his team mate Sainz.  Following closely, he cut the corner and refused to give the place back.  The team asked him to again and he told them that he would take the five second penalty rather than concede.  The stewards didn't like that and gave him a drive through penalty instead, which meant he would have to go slowly through the pit lane rather than take the pit straight on track as normal.  This was very costly.

Then we waited for drivers to make their stops.  Verstappen made his final one on the last lap, giving Norris the lead back.  His finished there with LeClerc and Piastri behind him.  Also in the points positions were Verstappen, Hamilton, Hadjar, Ocon (an excellent finish for the Haas), Lawson, Albon and Sainz.  The Racing Bulls and Williams' did well to get some points and will keep their battle going.

There was general agreement that the two stop rule did not work. There's little time to party before heading to Barcelona.  Piastri was still leading the championship and there's still plenty of time in his career to win at Monte Carlo.

Monaco GP Qualifying Report

During the Practice sessions both Hamilton and Piastri crashed which gave a sense that anything could happen in Qualifying.  Ferrari just managed to rebuild the car in time.  Bearman would have a ten place grid penalty for overtaking under a Red Flag.  All eyes were on Williams to see if they could qualify high up, continuing their revival and potentially score lots of points in the race.

LeClerc was fastest in the first Qualifying session, the man who knows the track better than anyone.  Out went Bortoleto, Bearman, Gasly, Stroll (who was in everyone's way all the time) and Colapinto.  Piastri was the only driver to kiss the wall but Antonelli brought a sour end to the session, preventing those at the back having any chance at getting through with a final minute smash into the barrier.  This brought out the Red Flag.  He was through in 15th and would stay there.

A few minutes into the second session Russell came to a stop in the tunnel, after turning his car off and on again.  It would be a very hard place to extract it from and George got the marshals pushing it to a safer place.  It was an awful Qualifying for Mercedes.  With both of them out, there were only three more spaces to fill in the bottom five.  It looked likely it would be Hulkenberg (it was in 13th) and then Ocon or the Racing Bulls.  Unfortunately it was Sainz and Tsunoda, whose team mates finished 3rd and 5th.  Here was Williams outperforming the Red Bulls.  Norris took the fastest time with LeClerc hot on his heels.

At the last gasp in the final session, LeClerc took pole.  Verstappen could only manage 5th.  Then Piastri was on a quick lap but could not get higher than 3rd.  Norris put together a great lap and did take pole; it could be his comeback lap.  Disappointingly, Albon was 10th.  Between them was Hamilton in 4th, Hadjar in 6th, then Alonso, Ocon and Lawson.

Everyone seems pretty defeated by their position on the grid, even Norris.  So if the mandatory two stops don't make the race exciting enough for you, don't forget that you can play spot the difference with the new McLaren livery.  It's very tricky.

Emilia Romagna GP Race Report

Sky picked up a good banner pre-race, "Someone make Ferrari great again!"  As they were out of the top ten going into the race, it was a prescient poster.  

Before the race there was a little drama, all wet: the slight possibility of rain and Williams' unable to find a leak from Albon's car prior to going to the grid.  Everyone made it around the formation lap.  Two rookies fell back two places off the start, Hadjar and Colapinto but Verstappen made it up one significant place to take the lead and did it convincingly.  

Everyone held their place cleanly for a couple of laps before LeClerc decided to try and overtake his good friend Gasly, sending the Frenchman wide, over the gravel, dramatically bouncing across it and coming back on track five places later.

After eleven laps, Norris finally made it past Russell for a podium position, but the Mercedes tyres were going off badly and he was straight into the pits with Sainz, Ocon, Lawson and Gasly for an early switch onto the Hard tyres.  Then Alonso came in with his brakes on fire and Piastri changed his strategy to pit too and it was slow.

Piastri soon began to scythe his way back up the placings.  Those at the front (Verstappen, Norris, Albon, Hadjar) were all hanging on and waiting for a Safety Car.  As he got up to 4th place, his team mate Norris pitted and came out in 7th.  Simultaneously Ocon pulled his car to a stop at the side of the track on the team's instructions and a Virtual Safety Car was called for.  This was perfect for Verstappen, slightly less so for Albon but LeClerc was swearing on the radio about how he always loses out.  Suddenly many cars were in, with unsafe releases all around.  Verstappen held the lead, ahead of Paistri, Norris, Alonso and Hadjar.

Whilst things were going well for Verstappen, his team mate Tsunoda was investigated for banging into Sainz, who was himself on the worse side of split strategy.

On Lap 46, we heard from Antonelli as he pulled off the track and onto the grass too: he had an issue.  The teams got ready in the pit lane and a full Safety Car was called for.  His car just stopped.  LeClerc was negotiating with his team over getting some new tyres, he really wanted a fresh pair of Medium instead of his current ones that were wearing out.  The maths said it was a bad idea and he promised to tidy his bedroom and do the washing up for a week.  If McLaren pitted Norris, he would definitely be behind his team mate or they could leave him out and keep him ahead of Piastri which wouldn't seem fair.  Albon didn't pit but the McLarens were past him and they decided not to risk it but he was behind LeClerc now, could he get past on fresh tyres?  The Ferrari driver was worrying on the radio about whether everyone behind him would get past straight away as his tyres were in such bad nick.  Norris was also arguing on the radio for permission to battle Piastri, commentating on the state of his tyres.

There were ten laps to go when the power was handed back over to Verstappen.  Norris and Albon were noted for a Safety Car infringement.  Norris didn't seem to be getting particularly close to Piastri and LeClerc was holding off Albon.  A lot of incidents were noted during the race with no further investigation needed.  On Lap 58, Norris made it past for second.  When Albon finally tried, he went off across the gravel of a corner and Hamilton got past too.  LeClerc let Hamilton through.  It was a terrific defensive drive from LeClerc but he was told to give the position back.  I don't think it was fair but as a Williams supporter, I'll take it.

Norris's pessimism seems misplaced, that his racecraft, along with a little luck and strategic help, is enough.  He was very despondent with his second place over the radio after.  Piastri was as excited in tone in his post-race interview as when he wins.

After a great race, surely the Imola track must return to the calendar.

Emilia Romagna GP Qualifying Report

The big news in Formula One, now feels like old news; it is all change at Alpine with a new driver and a departing team principal.  It seems Briatore is now the TP.  The Lesser-spotted Colapinto, who has done less press this season and last than he really should, has become the second driver (well, third technically and you're only allowed four per season).  Jack Doohan was still at the track and was paraded as one of  the Alpine stable's pit ponies.

There was some worry about tyres and rain but they wouldn't be the biggest troubles on the day.

Only three minutes into the first session, it was Red Flagged when Tsunoda had a huge smash.  No one wants to see this in a circuit famed for deaths in the past.  He just hit the kerb poorly and ran into the barrier at a high speed and at such an angle that the car was tipped into rolling fully around.  Somehow, he climbed out of the car by himself with no help.

It looked like Colapinto would be in trouble, as he came into the pit lane too early to queue.  His troubles wouldn't stop there though.  As the chequered flag was waved, he too had a huge smash.  It was fully nose on and looked like a big impact.  Bearman was unlucky as he crossed the line just after the Red Flag was shown.  Deciding whether he or Bortoleto was through delayed the start time of the next session.  Out went Colapinto, Lawson, Hulkenberg, Ocon, Bearman and Tsunoda.

When they did go out, it was all much more straight forward, with the minor annoyance of lots of traffic on track.  Lots of teams brought upgrades to this circuit, the Aston Martin ones really seeming to make a difference, Ferraris' less so.  At the end of the session, Sainz put in a quick lap out of nowhere in his Williams to take first.  Then Gasly went quick in the remaining Alpine and knocked out home track hero (not much mentioned about this in the media though) Antonelli.  At the last gasp, the Ferraris were sitting in 9th and 10th but both Aston Martins were on track.  They both put in good enough laps for the top 10 and knocked the prancing horses out; LeClerc was much more despondent than Hamilton afterwards.  The middle five were LeClerc, Hamilton, Antonelli, Bortoleto and Colapinto.  All the Italian hope (apart from the Racing Bulls) was out.

As the only rookie in the final Qualifying session, Hadjar was putting such a great performance in that he risks being called up to the Big Team.  Norris doesn't seem to be able to challenge Piastri anymore, even Russell was able to get ahead of him; later we were shown a shot of him being propelled up into the air over a kerb but whatever the cause these things seem to bother him more than his team mate.  He criticised his Q3 performance over the season so far.  The top ten finished with Piastri on pole and then Verstappen, Russell, Norris, Alonso, Sainz, Albon, Stroll, Hadjar and Gasly.

With a Qualifying session like this, the chances of a Safety Car for the race must be high.  It would be interesting to see whether the Racing Bull, Aston Martins and Williams could stay in the points during the race.

Miami GP Race Report

The most exciting drivers' lap ever took place in Miami, full size, two-seater, fully-drivable Lego cars were given to each team.  The drivers seemed to be having the time of their lives and forgot that they were supposed to be waving to the crowds.  A giant Lego minifig (Megafig?) was circulating on the grid too.

The Florida weather was haunting this part of the weekend too.  There was a 40% chance of rain but more importantly if there were lightning strikes in the region there was an alarming protocol of evacuation and Red Flags to follow.

The grid walk was back with Brundle but he struggled to find anyone who could string a sentence together, there was a number of celebrities wheeled out who had no idea where they were.  He found some drivers, who obviously spoke well, and Jack Whitehall.

Initially it looked like a clean start but Norris made yet another mistake and ran wide and off the track, coming back in sixth.  Annoyingly the classification wasn't showing, the FIA really need to sort that out.  Norris was on the radio saying that Max was up to his old tricks.  Meanwhile, at the back, Doohan and Lawson had come together.  Eventually the Alpine came to a stop at the side of the track and a Virtual Safety Car slowed the cars until it could be cleared.

After 14 laps and an intense battle, with excellent defence by Verstappen, Piastri was passed him and into the lead.  The Red Bull driver complained about his brakes, as Norris lined up to take his turn to get passed.  He did and after a lap, Verstappen took the place back, letting Piastri get a strong 8 second lead.    Norris got back to second and we wondered how long it would last.

It was reported that Albon had a water leak (or something) on his Williams, which everyone waited to see what would become of that.  With rain forecast by different teams at different times, Russell made an early call that it was precipitating, although that they have been inside-helmet rain, as no one else saw it.  They can't have had much of a hope of it actually arriving because the pit stops went ahead half way through the race.

Bearman's Haas broke down and he slowed then pulled to the side of the track.  A Virtual Safety Car was called again and several top runners got a cheap pit stop: both McLarens, Hamilton, Russell.  Russell was able to get past Verstappen through it.

A couple of laps later, Sainz was passed LeClerc and Albon was past Antonelli; the Williams were flying.  Tsunoda was given a penalty for speeding in the pit lane. 

Bortoleto was the next driver to retire with engine problems; it seemed like he would be able to get back to the pits but pulled off well out of the way.  A Virtual Safety Car was called for the third time anyway.  Sainz was sleeping when it ended as LeClerc caught him napping and got past and Hamilton took him too.  He asked the team to get LeClerc to move over, they were on different tyres.  It took a while but they did swap positions.  

At the back of the grid, Lawson was also out, the fourth rookie to retire.  To add to the confusion, Ferrari asked the two drivers to swap positions back again.

In the end, it was an easy win for Piastri but it was a one-two for McLaren.  They were over thirty seconds ahead of Russell.  It will be very tricky for Toto if Verstappen does want to drive for Mercedes, to choose which driver to dump.

Verstappen was fourth ahead of an excellent points haul for Albon in fifth, then Antonelli, LeClerc, Hamilton, Sainz and Tsunoda in the points.  Hadjar just missed out on a point as Tsunoda managed to keep five seconds ahead of him to mitigate his penalty.  The two Aston Martins finished last, Alonso ahead of Stroll obviously.

Will McLaren be found to have dodgy parts on their cars before the season is out?  Who knows but their dominance continues and the disappointment in Norris compared to Piastri is becoming more and more apparent.

Miami GP Qualifying Report

Everyone was still recovering from the Sprint and too tired to Qualify.  Silly mistakes were made straight away, the first session had barely started when Albon was noted for a pit lane infringement.  

There were scrappy laps from some top drivers, Russell and Hamilton struggling.  Despite going second fastest, Norris hit the wall.  Verstappen had learnt something from the Sprint event and finished first. The McLarens were a strong second and third. Some drivers, including Russell and Hamilton used more new sets of tyres than they would want to.  Out went Hulkenberg, Alonso, Gasly, Stroll and Bearman.  This was disappointing from the Haas rookie.  The disparity between the Aston Martins and other teams is showing more and more.  Where others were able to learn and improve from the other competitive sessions at Miami, they went backwards.

In the second session, some drivers did well and others made mistakes, locking up on fresh sets of tyres, Hamilton was one of these.  Out went Hadjar, Hamilton, Bortoleto, Doohan and Lawson after an eventless few minutes.

It was close in the last session, with three thousandths of a second between Verstappen and Norris at the front.  LeClerc and Russell had scrappy first laps and had time in hand to improve.  The Williams were looking strong again too.  McLaren were not able to get ahead of the Red Bull.  The Mercedes found a little time at the end.  Unlike earlier, there were no penalties handed out.  They finished: Verstappen on pole, Norris, Antonelli, Piastri, Russell, Sainz, Albon, LeClerc, Ocon and Tsunoda.

The question going into the race would be whether Verstappen has found it in himself to keep it clean and maintain the lead after the first lap without the stewards needing to intervene.

Miami GP Sprint Report

What a difference twenty-fours hours makes!  All pundits' eyes were on Antonelli, any other driver that was previously the big story ("Just look at young Piastri!") is now too old and too slow.  The Mercedes driver came to the track on the Saturday as the centre of everyone's attention.  Also, the Floridian sunshine had disappeared and was replaced by rain.  The track wet was a complete unknown.

It was a bit wet, drizzly and drivers went out on Intermediate wet tyres to get round to the starting grid.  The rain suddenly got much, much heavier and LeClerc, who was going round (far too fast for the conditions I feel, he should have tip-toed round) hit the wall in a largish smash.  He tried to bring the car back around to the pits but stopped at the end of the pit lane.  Both Ferrari drivers were complaining.  I was surprised that they were not stopped from going out with the car at the side of the track.  Bearman was going at much more appropriate speed and went off but was able to bring the car gently around and back on track.  LeClerc was out of the race.  Hamilton has been facing a lot of negative discussion about his performance compared to LeClerc but in this instance he did a better job in the conditions.  He was pulled up for driving unsafely by the stewards.

The formation lap would be behind the Safety Car and all drivers were on the Intermediate tyres apart from Sainz who chose the Full Wet.  They did a few laps.  Verstappen spun off, lots of drivers complained/fed back and the race was Red Flagged and stopped.

Following a delay for the marshals to sweep water off the track.  They did a couple of laps behind the Safety Car and the drivers radioed in to tell us what the conditions were like.  From all this, the Race Director decided to go for a standing not a rolling start.  With three laps completed of the 18, it would be a short sprint.

Antonelli made a poor start and Piastri came in quick, he fought and he was off and coming back onto the track in 4th.  Despite large rooster tails of water, the drivers were right behind each other tightly.  Lawson and Stroll made up 5 places each.

The race was like watching highlights, everything that would normally happen in a race did, but much closer together.  Albon was desperately trying to get past Hamilton, there was overtaking, pit stops were made.  Tsunoda, running in last place, was the first person to go onto slick, dry weather tyres.  He was followed by Hamilton, which was a bigger gamble as it dropped him into 15th place ahead of Bortoleto, Stroll and Sainz.

Next, Verstappen and Antonelli came in from the front, the Red Bull car was released into the Mercedes, meaning Antonelli couldn't even get into his pit box and had to keep going.  He was awarded a 10 second penalty.  Whilst this was happening there were Yellow Flags then Green again, something had happened on track.  We quickly found out that Sainz had had a big smash with lots of debris on track that drivers were trying to avoid.  We weren't sure whether there would be a Safety Car.  Piastri took a risk and came in early, not waiting to see; then Norri kept radioing in to say how much debris there was on track in the hope that a Safety Car would be called.  Sainz managed to get back to the pits somehow.

It looked like Norris was going to have to pit for dry tyres anyway, especially as Hamilton was powering through the line up and was in third.  As he was in the pits, there were more Yellow Flags, initially this seemed because of the debris but we cut to an Aston Martin in pieces across the track.  Obviously, the world assumed it was Stroll but, no, two times world champion Alonso.  It wasn't his fault, Lawson went into him; in a race where he veered from hero to zero and back again at an alarming pace.

There were three laps left and the pole-sitter, Antonelli, was in 11th.  A replay of Sainz made me think Albon was out from 5th too but luckily not.  With the Safety Car leading the cars to the finish, everyone was very close.  This meant that Verstappen's 10 second penalty took him back to 16th place, ahead of only Doohan.  Somehow, just by keeping his head down Norris won ahead of Piastri, Hamilton, Albon, Russell, Stroll, Lawson and Bearman.  It was a good chance to earn points for those last 4 drivers.  For once the promise of Williams looking strong came true, normally as soon as anyone suggests it there will be an inevitable no points finish.

There were several more investigations announced as well, so the finishing order did not look definite at all.  In the end only Bearman was given a 5 second penalty, which put Tsunoda in the points, which is amazing for him as he started at the back.  Then Albon and Lawson were also given 5 seconds off their race times for not staying above the minimum times set under the Safety Car and bumping into Alonso respectively.  

Hamilton was full of praise for his team's strategic decision to bring him in early.  He was overjoyed for once.

Williams might rue their saviour Sainz, he has made one mistake after another so far this season.  Three cars needed fixing before the imminent Qualifying session, his, LeClerc's and Alonso's.  It would be touch and go.  It was a thrilling Sprint, which made me worry that Qualifying and the Race would be dreary.

Miami GP Sprint Qualifying Report

Formula 1 arrived in Miami for some glitz and glamour.  Lando Norris went for a disco ball helmet design, which was a big hit with my 7 year old.  Now we've been coming to the track for a few years, less is made of how much it is a party.

In the first session, it was very busy on the track at the end.  Tsunoda didn't manage to cross the line in time to put in a final lap and was out.  This must have been disappointing for Red Bull. Norris got held up by his bestie, Verstappen, who seemed to hold up his team mate too, who in turn made some disparaging remarks in the press pen.  Fatherhood must be distracting the driver.  Out went Stroll, Doohan, Tsunoda, Bortoleto and Bearman.  The Mercedes were the two top drivers, then Albon, Norris, Sainz and Piastri.  The Mercedes engine was going great guns at this track.  Doohan was very angry on team radio about his release from the garage during the session, it could have been unsafe and he felt that it disadvantaged him.  Briatore won't like him having been so public in his criticism.  It won't do him any favours.

Unfortunately Sainz made a mistake and had a huge lock-up, going right off track, which meant Williams couldn't keep up the form in the second session.  There were a few bumps to the wall on the back straight, mostly notably by Gasly.  Other than Sainz, who didn't end up setting a time at all, there were no surprises amongst the drivers going out: Hulkenberg, Ocon, Gasly and Lawson.  Norris and Verstappen were quickest.

In the final session, Russell only put in one flying lap and sat on pole as everyone else went out.  It was nip and tuck.  Verstappen took pole from the Mercedes, then Antonelli took it.  We waited for the McLarens to put in quicker times but they couldn't.  It finished: Antonelli, Piastri (looking ever stronger than his team mate, again, even the 7 year old has switched allegiance), Norris, Verstappen, Russell, LeClerc, Hamilton, Albon, Hadjar and Alonso.  Toto Wolff had a huge grin as his choice of replacement for Hamilton came good.  Russell was quick to get to parc ferme to congratulate him.  It was the fastest lap time ever set at Miami.

Verstappen was confident that he could make up some places in the Sprint but both Ferrari drivers were despondent that they could do anything in the Sprint or the main event.