France GP Race Report

In response to an Insta Story between races, Ricciardo had lined up a long interview with Sky to explain that the problem with his performance is not him but the car.  Apparently, he cannot dance with this partner.  Some would say that the best dancers can perform with anyone - as the Strictly pros will tell you any day of the week.  And I'm sure his will tell us this next year.

LeClerc made a textbook start and held his position from Verstappen to lead the race.  Alonso also made an excellent start and made up 2 places.  Zhou dropped back to the end of the grid.  Ocon spun and hit Tusnoda and sending him off and right to the back (and earning the home boy a 5 second penalty).  Sainz only made up a couple of places on the first lap with Magnussen shooting up 7 places.  How did all these drivers jump forwards?  It seems Bottas lost 6 places somehow.   Choosing the harder tyres certainly cost those drivers.

The race plodded on and nothing much happened, Verstappen seemed to give up on the idea of overtaking on track.  Lap 18 our of 53 and a Yellow Flag came up, who was it?  Was it just the red and black stripes on the track making me think it was a Ferrari?  No, it was a Ferrari, LeClerc Ferraried up his own race, possibly due to old tyres or another throttle pedal problem?  No, he later admitted a mistake. We heard his radio back to the team, breathing heavily and furiously ending with a roar.  Unlike last year, Verstappen did check in to see if his rival was okay.  Many cars pitted under the ensuing Safety Car, Hamilton briefly taking the lead before pitting and losing it to Verstappen who had pitted a couple of laps earlier.  To even things out, Ferrari sent Sainz out of the pit box straight into Albon's Williams and we awaited his penalty.

Upon the restart, Sainz carved his way up the grid, past Ricciardo, Norris and Alonso almost in the same lap.  And so the race went on.  Sainz overtook Russell.  Hamilton went very wide off track.  Latifi took  his newly upgraded car for a wee spin.  

Finally, with 10 laps to go, Sainz goes for the podium place by overtaking Perez, who had a dull, dull race.  It was a maneuver that took several corners, during which Ferrari told him to box over the radio.  Russell, buoyed up by the move, went to take Perez too and nearly caused a collision.  Sainz then pitted and came out 9th, not sure why, how bad were the tyres?  Ferrari believe this was the safest option.

Russell is told that he will be able to hunt Perez down.  Sainz passes Ricciardo (as does Ocon), Ocon and Norris. then Alonso, setting fastest laps as he goes.  Following a Virtual Safety Car brought on by Zhou retiring at the side of the track, Russell caught Perez sleeping and passed him.

Merecedes were "freestyling" their set up this weekend and probably did not expect two podium places.  Hamilton finished by exhorting his team to "keep pushing".   Verstappen was very happy with his 25 points.  LeClerc was very harsh on himself and his mistake.  Fans need the battle, Rachael Brooks, for Sky, seem to be suggesting we should all club together to get him a sports psychologist or mentor.  We all want the fight.

Unusually, for a race with only one short Safety Car, an even briefer Virtual Safety Car and not much action, 6 cars didn't finish.  One week to go until the next race and we'll get to see what else Ferrari have in their arsenal to scupper their own races.  Fishes in the tank?  Choosing square tyres?  Forgetting to fuel the cars?  The mind boggles.

France GP Qualifying Report

There were no surprises under the sunny French skies as the first part of Qualifying ended.  Albon made it through despite spinning and Latifi didn't and the writing is on the wall for his F1 career, I'm sure it would be more widely talked about if DannyRic weren't about to receive his marching orders.  DR3 and Mick Schumacher both had times deleted for exceeding track limits, which cost the German but not the Aussie.  And so the heart sinks as it looks like another race weekend where all eyes are on the white lines.  Not in the fun, Studio 54 way either.

Sainz and Magnussen were destined to start at the back of the grid, following changes to power units.  Both felt the need to put in speedy laps in Q2 to scare the opposition.  Albon briefly looked like he could make it through to Q3 but then tumbled down to 15th.  Out in 11th was DannyRic.

Ferrari ensured Sainz was through to the final Qualifying session to be out on the track, giving a tow to his team mate.  Red Bull didn't seem to want to play that game.  It gave LeClerc pole position though.  Norris was able to put his McLaren inbetween the two Mercedes with Alonso and Tsunoda finishing the running cars.

It would be interesting to see LeClerc and Verstappen battling on even ground.  Will there be reliability issues?  Will "track limits" be cried often?  Who will be able to look after the tyres best?

Austrian GP Qualifying, Sprint & Race Report

At the Red Bull home track, packed full of bigoted Verstappen fans dressed in orange accessorised with orange flares, it seemed like the team were on track to bring home a one-two.  In Qualifying a lot of teams struggled.  Norris was "scared to hit the brakes" in his McLaren and Ricciardo was out in the first session.  Vettel was the other surprise knock-out in Q1, although I'm not sure it is a surprise anymore.  The final Qualifying session was more chaotic with Hamilton crashing out his Mercedes, closely followed by his team mate.  It looked like it was going to be a Ferrari front row for the Sprint then Verstappen snatched pole.

On to the Sprint and Alonso didn't make it off the grid and then Zhou's engine switched off.  Not a great start to the make or break 20 laps.  There was a little bit of argy-bargy but not too much.  Albon received a 5 second penalty for pushing Norris off the track, which he also did to Vettel, who reversed off of the gravel.  Ultimately Vettel retired, which is not what you want in the sprint.

Vettel started off race day with a disagreement with the stewards.  He feels the switch-around of personnel isn't working for him.  It does seem strange with changes in sticking to the track limits, penalties and how quickly the Safety Car or Red Flag is issued seems to vary hugely race to race, the sport has become more inconsistent.  With Masi having quit the FIA completely to return to his native Australia, perhaps everyone turned on him too quickly?

The number 2 drivers didn't have a great race.  Perez was out early doors and on Lap 57 Sainz caught fire and had the dilemma between staying in a burning car rolling backwards and getting out of the burning car rolling backwards.  McLaren quickly made it up to 9th and 10th but fell back as the race went on.  Ricciardo took to Instagram to let the world know he is not leaving McLaren - only a Story though.

The battle continues to be between LeClerc and Verstappen.  Red Bull just didn't have the pace and LeClerc passed him easily on Lap 12 and Lap 33 and Lap 53.  Despite having problems with his throttle pedal, Verstappen couldn't find a way back past, closing the gap slowly until the race finished.

It looked like Alonso might have pulled a blinder by saving his tyres but then he pitted.  The busiest people this race were the stewards, eyes glued to the white lines to see whose tyres went over and then waving their black and white flags with abandon.  With two more races until the summer break, some drivers have a lot to prove, if they want their seat next year, if they want to be more than number two.

GB GP Race Report

The grid was celeb-packed and the grandstands were filled; the sky had been taken over by heavy, dark clouds.  This despite being promised a dry race, absolutely, for sure.

A thrilling start.  Verstappen easily took Sainz off the start and Hamilton (my prediction for race winner) also got a great start.  Behind them though, it all went wrong.  We saw a car fly upside down across the gravel trap.  Russell was out of his battered Mercedes first and running over to Albon in his Williams who was also there.  Ocon was damaged and limping back to the pits as was Tsunoda.  However, Zhou was trapped in his Alfa Romeo in a barrier.  With improved morals of TV coverage, we didn't see him at all.

As the race had been Red Flagged, the drivers lined their cars up in the pit lane, Latifi was up to 8th.  As the race continued to be paused, the Alpine mechanics struggled to fix Ocon's car and got the gaffer tape out.  It became apparent that Russell had stopped his car of his own volition to see if his fellow drivers were okay but because the marshals bought it back to the pit lane on a truck, he wasn't going to be allowed to restart the race.  He had been running to and from the car out on the track and kept his helmet on, maintaining that he was going to restart the race.  The "Extraction Team" had been out at Zhou's car as it had flipped over the tire barrier and eventually he was pulled out of the car and put on a stretcher and into an ambulance.  At this point, we were shown the incidents off the grid.  Gasly had gone into the back of Russell who spins into Zhou, who flips up, travels upside down across the whole gravel trip and is turned up and over the tire barrier.  Meanwhile, Vettel runs into the back of Albon and spins him.  In positive news, Latifi had overtaken both Zhou and Russell off the grid and is in 8th on his own merit.

For some reason, the cars started in their original grid position. This time, Sainz put on the softest tires and went for a very aggressive start and managed to hold his position with Verstappen, LeClerc and Perez all holding their positions, Norris taking Hamilton behind them.

Sainz and Verstappen resumed their battle from Canada but on Lap 10, Sainz went wide and ran parallel to the track, handing Verstappen an easy lead of the race.  Two laps later, Verstappen ran over the  a bit of carbon and got a puncture, giving Sainz back the lead to a huge cheer/jeer from the crowd.   Further back down the track, the mechanically-mended Alpha Tauri of Tsunoda tangled with his team mate Gasly, sending them both spinning.   Glancing at the race order, I see that Latifi is back in 8th.

Out of the pits, Verstappen declares his car 100% broken and undrivable.  His team report that his car is a little broken at the back but perfectly safe to drive so suck it up.  The Ferraris were now right together and battling for the lead with Hamilton (my prediction for the race win) creeping up behind them.  With both Ferraris pitting, Hamilton took the lead.  Verstappen also pitted and was given the hardest tires that were proving hard to get warmed up and working well.  

By Lap 30, Sainz had been told that unless his lap times match Hamilton's, LeClerc will get a shot of being the leading Ferrari.  Also, Zhou was released from the medical centre as fit but Albon had been transferred to hospital for precautionary checks.

Sainz couldn't make it and LeClerc took second place to Hamilton (my prediction for the race win).  After a slow pit stop from Mercedes though he was behind both Ferraris.  He was warned that the hard tires take a while to get into the zone.  I could see some whinging over the radio coming.

The cars kept dropping out of the race.  After a nice wee battle with Verstappen, Ocon pulled over with a mechanical failure.  He chose a spot that brought a Safety Car straight out.  With 6 cars out of the race, there were two lapped cars, Ricciardo and Tsunoda.  We've barely seen DannyRic this weekend other than when he hit smacked Norris in the race with a space hopper.

With 10 laps to go, the Safety Car period was finishing, Sainz was asked to give LeClerc 10 car lengths breathing space.  With Hamilton right behind him though, how could he do this?  The Ferraris battled hard, with Perez trying to take Hamilton right behind them.  One lap later, the order was Sainz, LeClerc, Perez, Hamilton.  The crowd were on the edge of their seats.  Latifi was in 11th, which is such as shame as he really had earnt a point today.  LeClerc was on hard tires, the others soft.  DRS was enabled.  Could the Red Bull Number 2 overtake the Ferrari Number 1?  Yes, no, yes, no, yes and they let Hamilton through into second.  The tussle continued, places continually switching, Perez pushing drivers off the track left, right and centre.  Alonso, with Norris behind him, arrive on the scene.  No driver was happy to sit back and give up a place, positions switching and switching back and switching back again.

Once again, Ferrari Ferraried things up for LeClerc by not having him on the soft tires after the Safety Car.  Everyone was happy for Sainz to get his maiden victory and for Hamilton to be on the podium (and Fastest Lap).  Schumacher gained his first points in Formula 1.

GB GP Qualifying Report

Being patriotic, we tuned into the Channel 4 coverage.  Well that was a poor choice, I'd forgotten about Eddie Jordan.

The first session started with rain, which slowly cleared away during the session although drivers were able to chase down a quick lap beyond the chequered flag.  Latifi put in a lap to take him 12th momentarily and still made it through to Q2 in 15th, beating his team mate who had the "improvements" on his car.  Mick Schumacher followed him around and wasn't able to even sneak a peek at Q2 (neither was his team mate).  It shows that Schumacher probably isn't the driver his father was and Mazepin must have been truly dreadful to flatter him.  The Aston Martins continue not to benefit from recruiting Red Bull staff by completing the Out in Q1 Line Up.

There were no surprises in the second Qualifying session: Gasly, Bottas, Tsunoda, Ricciardo and Ocon out.  Hold on...where's Latifi?  Didn't he get through to Q2?  He got through to Q3 too!  There's a surprise.  It should be big news for Ricciardo to be out but not these days.  I'm predicting he drives for Williams next year.

The final Qualifying session looked like it was going to be a question of who crossed the finishing line of the drying track last.  Even Alonso and Hamilton were in the mix.  Sainz was first to seem to take pole; Verstappen and LeClerc were unable to beat his time and we waited for the other cars to complete their laps.  Perez 4th, Hamilton 5th, Norris 6th, Alonso 7th then Russell, Zhou and Latifi unable to push higher than 10th.

The crowd were very happy for Sainz to get that pole but then booed Verstappen.  He took it well, like the pantomime villain he is.