Brazil GP Race Report

After a tumultuous Qualifying earlier in the day; Albon wasn't able to get his car fixed in time and would not be starting.  The other four Red Flag causers all did little enough damage to be grid-ready for the race.  Last time Albon couldn't start they gave him Sargeant's car, I suppose the Argentinian money must be talking and also the driver is significantly better than his predecessor.   Sainz was going to be starting from the pit lane.

As the drivers set off on the formation lap, Alonso deliberately held up the rear end of the field.  Following this his team mate, Stroll, spun, got back going, then spun again and got himself beached in the gravel.  The start was aborted; all the drivers should have stayed where they were however Norris set off.  Several drivers followed him but lots remained behind believing themselves to be in the right and then some of them decided that they would go after all.  Norris was investigated for some kind of infringement and all the drivers and their mechanics regrouped at the grid and got ready to try again after a few minutes.  The Brazilian GP event was going from absurdity to absurdity.

This time, Verstappen held up the field to disadvantage those at the front who would have to sit for longer, tyres getting colder.  As they drew up to the grid, the top dogs at the pit wall stuck their hands out from under their shelters to feel if it was raining, it was.

Russell made an excellent start and took Norris into the first corner.  They immediately put some clear air between themselves and Tsunoda.  Perez spun but managed to get going again in last place.  Verstappen made up 7 places on the first lap, including getting past Hamilton.  As the everyone was on Intermediate tyres, there wouldn't need to be a pit stop for a while.

By Lap 10, Verstappen was behind Piastri in 7th.  Having already given Norris a solitary point (and a Sprint win) this weekend, he could now give his team mate even more by holding the Red Bull up for as long as possible.  Unfortunately he wasn't able to.  The next driver he needed to get past was Lawson, who very compliantly moved over for his stablemate.

Meanwhile, Bearman was given a 10 second penalty for coming together with Colapinto, which we didn't see until the Stewards had completed their investigation and the TV directors decided it might be worth showing.  Colapinto lost no time over it through and was then battling Hamilton for 12th place.  Even though the Mercedes had just gone off the track and over the grid, it was a straight battle and the Argentinian made it stick and the crowd roared.

A few other drivers had been added to the list of those being investigated for getting it wrong at the start.  It was announced that it would be investigated after the race, confirming that the Stewards have a partiality for allowing themselves to decide the winner of a race after it has finished.

Eventually, Sainz started to make up some places but ran very wide when he tried to overtake Colapinto, nearly running into Hamilton.  The Mercedes driver was really struggling to keep his car on the track.

Halfway through the race, the rain started coming down much heavier and this was also in a pit window.  The order was changing up and down the field.  LeClerc was pitted and came out behind Hamilton and could not overtake him.  Norris was very close to overtaking Russell for the lead.  Suddenly, Hulkenberg got his Haas stuck on a bump and a Virtual Safety Car was called.  Norris had to slam on the brakes as Russell hit the speed limiter.  Lots of drivers pitted and Perez was the first driver to change to Wet tyres.  

Whilst this was happening, it was revealed that the Mercedes cars were being investigated for changing their tyre pressures on the grid.  As the VSC ended, Russell and Norris both pitted, too late.  They came out behind Gasly in 5th in torrential rain.  Russell struggled on his new tyres and Norris was able to overtake him.  Ocon led the race as the Safety Car was called to try and mitigate the rainy conditions.

Colapinto pitted and came out with new tyres.  He didn't cope well with them and had a big spin, which stopped the race with a Red Flag.  It was an awful weekend for the Williams team.

The body language of Norris and Russell as they walked down the pits (and the radio) was furious, as Verstappen and Ocon had been handed a free pit stop.

Bizarrely, I had noted that Hulkenberg pitted for new tyres, which I thought was odd as he was out of the race.  It turned out that 4 marshals pushed him back into the race, which isn't allowed, so he was served a Black Flag as he sat on a chair during the Red Flag period.

The race stoppage did allow us to catch up with everything that had happened.  Piastri had run into Lawson and been given a 10 second penalty.  He took the opportunity to go down to RB to apologise.  There had never been so much activity during a Red Flag before.

It was a rolling start to get the race going again; Ocon would be in charge.  Before he did though, Bearman and Zhou went off over the grass but got back on track straight away.  The drivers were struggling on an unknown track.. Norris went off and let Russell get back ahead of him, then LeClerc did it as well.

Again, Bearman spun off and kissed the tyre barrier with his nose intact.  Unlike his team mate he was able to get going again under his own steam.  A lap later he went off again.  Then Sainz spun and smashed his rear wing against the barrier and the Safety Car came out.

Ocon did restart the race well but Verstappen easily took him; so it was Alpine second and third.  A number of drivers were able to put in an overtake but Norris went off and ended up 7th behind his team mate.  Again, Hamilton went backwards.

The remaining laps were dry and, whilst drivers were still battling with each other, where relatively quiet.  Alonso was in a lot of pain at the end of the race, with the bumping caused by the poor track resurfacing.  Verstappen kept putting in Fastest Laps.

It was a shame that the RBs wound up 8th and 9th, whilst the Alpines got the podiums but you have to make the most of days like this.  It was telling on a day when Verstappen went from 17th to win, that his team mate didn't finish in the points.  Surely Perez cannot be kept on at Red Bull next year.

Alpine made a huge leap in the Constructors Championship and everyone must be thrilled with the result for them, even if you support one of the teams that they leapfrogged or think Ocon is a little bit creepy and weaselly.

Brazil GP Qualifying Report

Due to torrential rain and lightning storms at the circuit, the original time slot for Qualifying was a wash out.  It was delayed until early morning, 7.30am in local time.  It would be a very long day for the teams with the Race to follow at 3.30pm (adjusted to fit around the weather but giving the teams less time to set up).

When the first session started, the drivers were queued up as rain was predicted 15 minutes later.  It was tricky going from the off, with spray and Yellow Flags quickly out for Lawson.  The flags continued to flash green and yellow.  Stroll could not keep it on the track at all.  With 8 minutes to go, Colapinto crashed his Williams into the hoarding, ending covered in Rolex signage.  The session was stopped with a Red Flag.  If they didn't restart the session, his team mate, Albon, both Saubers and both Mercedes would be out.  The mechanics were very disappointed, particularly because they would only have a short time to reset before the race.  It restarted fairly quickly but the rain was falling harder.  Some drivers were improving but Russell was struggling to stay on track, going off and cutting back on in front of Albon.  As they were on wet tyres they were able to stay out and put in lap after lap.  Hulkenberg also went off and over the grass.  Then lap times started to be deleted.  This included Norris, who was caught amongst traffic whilst being in 17th place.  The last corner and straight was do or die; he pushed Hamilton out, just staying safe.  Vestappen was quickest followed by Albon and Russell.  It was lap by lap, minute by minute, to succeed on the track.  Hamilton was 16th, then Bearman, Colapinto, Hulkenberg (out-qualified by his rookie team mate who had never driven in the wet in an F1 car before) and lastly, Zhou.

In the second session, less to no rain was forecast.  The track got quicker and quicker and Intermediate tyres were put on.  It was being discussed how late drivers could come out to try and get the latest and fastest time.  However, with 6 minutes to go, Sainz took a slow spin off the track and his rear-end thudded into the wall.  It would be a bigger job for his mechanics than Colapinto.  The Red Flag came out and this session was stopped.  Every driver was lined up to leave the pit lane when the session restarted.  By this time there were two minutes left, Alonso was quickest.  The stewards let a number of drivers complete laps under double-waved Yellow Flags, as Stroll was stuck at a corner, having spun off.  Two drivers who did not get to finish a fast lap were Verstappen and Perez.  With less than a minute to go, the session would not be restarted.  Out went Bottas, Verstappen (who will also receive a five place grid penalty for an engine change), Perez, Sainz and Gasly.  It was felt that the Red Bulls went past the crash as it happened so must have known that they could not complete that lap as they should have dropped pace at the start of their final lap and would not have been able to go quicker than any previous times set.

Back in the pit lane, Sainz went around and apologised to everyone in the garage.  Stroll took a drink and went for a chat and smile with one of his engineers.

Even with a delayed time for the third session, drivers started queuing up very early.  This was because it was starting to rain.    After another few minutes, the session was Red Flagged for Alonso going nose-first into the wall.  It would be a busy and expensive afternoon for Aston Martin.  At that moment Norris, Albon and Piastri were the top three.  The worst smash then came for Albon, who was okay but the car was not going to be able to be fixed before the race.  This was the first off that caused the Medical Car to come out, so it was a much greater impact.  He had said he was okay on the radio but didn't look it when the medic got him out of the chassis.  There was a lot of debris to clear.

Norris was given a message that seemed very good advice; there was no need to go fast when not starting the race if your car couldn't be fixed in time was also a possibility.  After five Red Flags, this was pertinent.  Norris hammered home the point that he was the quickest driver out there by continuing to put in pole lap after pole lap.  Second was Russell, putting in one very quick lap.  Following him was Tsunoda, Ocon, Lawson, LeClerc, Albon, Piastri, Alonso and Stroll.  Despite both cars crashing, it was a good result for Aston Martin and Williams.  The RBs outshone their sister team, Red Bull.  Unfortunately, Tsunoda was being investigated by the stewards for not following the race director's instructions.  The commentators felt that was due to him not knowing where he should have been parking his car and were hoping he would be exonerated.

Brazil GP Sprint Qualifying

With only one practice session and a new track surface, there was quite a bit of jeopardy going into this first competitive outing of the event.  Bearman was back driving again, replacing Magnussen who was ill.

In the first Qualifying Session, the Haas continued to look good again, finishing in 7th and 8th.  The Williams' took 3rd and 9th too.  Out went Alonso, Ocon, Tsunoda, Stroll and Zhou.  It seems that Aston Martin are going backwards in their progress, they are urgently needing Newey's input.  Norris took 1st place comfortably.

In the second session, Red Bull messed things up for Perez by not sending him out soon enough to cross the line for a final hot lap, he qualified 13th.  Hamilton was also out in 11th.  Bearman beat his team mate, as Hulkenberg finished 12th whilst he went through.  Colapinto was 14th and Bottas 15th.  Norris again was fastest.

The final session brought a surprise though, with Piastri pulling a lap out to take pole.  Norris aborted his final lap and held 2nd place.  LeClerc also found something extra and got 3rd.  Verstappen, once again, ran out of steam and came in 4th, ahead of Sainz, Russell, Gasly, Lawson, Albon and Bearman (another good drive by the new super sub).  Piastri seemed to be contemplating a win but surely will need to give any points to Norris if he is in a position to do so.

The bumpy track made it hard for the drivers to see and Hamilton had found it painful.  It wasn't known how this would affect the drivers and their vehicles during a long race.  There was a lot of talk about possible wet weather and different tyre usage across the teams.

When the Sprint came, Alonso, Stroll and Zhou all started from the pit.  Piastri admitted going to the grid that he probably wouldn't be allowed to win.

It was touch and go off the start.  Norris made a great one but couldn't get past Piastri and Verstappen was nearly past LeClerc but he held him off.  By lap 7, Norris was on the radio wondering why Piastri hadn't let him past already.  Given that he had been complaining to the media about being asked about the Drivers' Championship; either he wants Piastri to help because it is important to him or he has given up and shouldn't be asking the team.

Nothing much happened for most of the race but with a couple of laps to go, Hulkenberg's engine blew and he pulled up at the side of the track.  McLaren's hand was forced and Piastri was told to switch places with Norris before any action was taken to bring out a Virtual Safety Car, Safety Car or Red Flag, which would mean they couldn't maximise Norris's points.  This proved wise as a Virtual Safety Car was called, which meant that the drivers had to hold position.  This ended with a couple of corners to go.  Piastri had allowed Verstappen to get too close during this and was nearly overtaken.  It was important that Norris gave his team mate DRS.

Lawson, the Williams and Hamilton were unluckily just outside the pits.  Before the race, everyone had said that Ferrari were streets ahead of Red Bull but this didn't prove to be the case in the Sprint, let's hope that they have more in the tank for the actual race.

As soon as the drivers were out of the car, a notice came from the Stewards that Verstappen was being investigated for a Virtual Safety Car Infringement.  He also carries a five place grid penalty for an engine change.  Perhaps the new engine is what helped him challenge Ferrari in the Sprint.  We would see in Qualifying and, more so, in the Race, if Red Bull just needed a little power boost.

Mexico GP Race Report

Again, this was a very quiet night between Qualifying and Race.  There were no grid penalties and no surprises.  The biggest news was that this would be Alonso's 400th race start, and he still has two seasons ahead of him (potentially).   I'm sure the celebrations would have been greater were it not for Perez and Mexico's complete admiration for him.  He had done very little to deserve this in Qualifying and his position was coming back into question since he had been awarded a new contract in May.

The tyres were a slight unknown with cooler temperatures on race day than the day before.  Ocon was starting in the pit lane but it was likely that that would make little difference to the race.

Verstappen made an excellent start and overtook Sainz for the lead.  With an incident further back, drivers were caught out as the RB of Tsunoda was spun up the pack, Sainz took a wide cut across the corner and had to give the place back.  Tsunoda also took Albon out, who is having a shocking time in the Americas.  The Safety Car came out to clear the cars and the debris.  Tsunoda should not have been pushing to be four across the track.

Perez made up five places off the start but only because he jumped it, starting way ahead of his grid place and was awarded a five second penalty.  The Red Bull stop watch would be roundly tested in this race.

Verstappen slowed the pack up to an almost standstill before restarting the race.  As soon as DRS was enabled though, Sainz was passed him.  At this point, Norris was also behind and Verstappen had a problem with his ERC and an empty battery.  During his overtake, Norris had to go off track again, as Verstappen forced him off the track.  Then they both went off track and LeClerc went through for second place and Hamilton was hanging about right on the back of this row.  Finally, Verstappen received a ten second penalty for this behaviour.  His engineer reported that there was "a lot of whinging" about his move.

Russell, without any upgrades having trashed them, was able to overtake his team mate, who had the upgrades, pretty easily.  Further up, the Ferrari team mates were starting to battle.

Alonso was retired from this special race.

As if listening to the voice of F1 fans across the globe, but not the Dutch, Verstappen was awarded a further ten second penalty for his altercations with Norris.  Behind him Perez and fellow Red Bull driver Lawson were battling for the final points position with both going off the track.  They, however, did not receive a penalty.

There was plenty of overtaking and interest during the race; later on the Mercedes started to spar for fourth place.  Kimi Antonelli watched on at Toto's side; I remember when Mick Schumacher used to stand by him.  An incident between Lawson and Colapinto, battle of the late-coming rookies, was investigated after the race.

With ten laps to go, LeClerc lost the grip in his rear tyres altogether and was nearly into the wall but managed to get back on track.  This gave Norris a pass through into second place.

Then, with one lap to go, Ferrari pitted LeClerc to try and get the Fastest Lap point from Lawson and then Red Bull pitted Perez for the same reason.  LeClerc won it and Perez finished last.

Everyone praised Sainz for his excellent race and time will tell whether Ferrari made the correct decision with their line-up for next year.  Carlos himself was allowed to speak in Spanish, which was unusual but he chose not to, having just been handed a Spanish flag by his brother.

Mexico GP Qualifying Report

There were some incidents during the Free Practice sessions: Russell, Albon and Bearman all got into trouble.  Most talk though was still on the Norris/Verstappen overtake controversy.

It was hot and steamy in Mexico and the track was improving with every lap of Pirelli rubber laid down and tyres coming into the sweet spot with the heat.  Zhou was out in last place, Ocon ahead of him and then there were a couple of surprises with Perez (the home track hero) not being able to go quick enough, then Piastri having lap times deleted.   Out in 16th was, more predictably, Colapinto.  Bottas was through to the second session, for a very rare outing there.

The second session was very pedestrian until Tsunoda crashed with less than two minutes to go and brought out a Red Flag.  This gave several drivers a buy through to the next session as fast laps were nullified.  Surprisingly this didn't lead to any big scalps.  Out went Tsunoda, Lawson, Alonso, Stroll and Bottas; team mates travelling two by two.  An Aston Martin occasionally makes it through to the final session but with two drivers for top teams already out, Albon, Gasly and both Haas were through.  What could they make of the opportunity?

The start of the final session was a little delayed to get the barrier fixed.  The drivers went out for their first flying lap, with Verstappen putting in a very quick lap.  The stewards then established that it was quick because he went outside of track limits so the time was deleted.  Many drivers were trying to get a slip stream from their team mates or other drivers.  Sainz had put in the fastest lap in the first tranche.  Hamilton was out of step putting the laps in.

With four and a half minutes to go, all the drivers apart from the Mercedes came out.  This was a risky strategy for them.  The battle seemed to be between the two Ferrari drivers.  Sainz took the pole from his team mate, Verstappen then split them.  Norris went fastest in the middle sector but the other two sections of the track weren't quite quick enough and he was third.  Poor LeClerc finished fourth.  The Mercedes of Russell and Hamilton were behind them, then Magnussen, Gasley, Albon and Hullkenberg.

It could be a tricky Mexican race with four drivers all in with a good chance of winning it and, everyone apart from Verstappen, probably willing to take a risk to get it.