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.

Saudi Arabia GP Race Report

With Verstappen on pole, Piastri would be nipping at his heels and whether he would be the world championship leader at the end of the race was being highly predicted.  No one was interviewing Norris.  The other bet was how many Safety Cars there would be and whether the race would be stopped with a Red Flag.

Usher refused to speak to Martin on the Grid Walk; the Saudi money must be sufficient that slebs don't need to get any publicity from their appearance too.  Then his former boss Briatore didn't recognise him; he predicted that Gasly would finish in 6th.

The first Safety Car came quickly as Briatore's prediction came undone.  Verstappen only just held first place from Piastri and had to cut a corner to maintain it, he could possibly have argued that he was forced off the track.  Antonelli did something similar to Russell but clearly did not gain an advantage whether through poor driving or deliberate manoeuvre.  Behind them though Tsunoda and Gasly came together with the Red Bull spinning but was able to keep going in last place and the Alpine slammed into the wall and was out of the race.  However, once Tsunoda came into the pit to be checked out, it was decided to retire him.  Both drivers were equally to blame.

So early into the race, only three drivers took the cheap pit stop: Ocon, Bortoleto and Doohan.  They hoped to go to the end of this short race.

The restart was on Lap 3.  Verstappen backed them almost impossibly up and then sped away.  However, he was simultaneously handed a 5 second penalty for his earlier incident with Piastri.  Brundle was unhappy with this and thought he should have been made to give the place back.

In the Williams garage they were having to manage having two drivers nose to tail in the points.  In front of them Norris and Hamilton were fighting harder.  It would be lap 15 when the McLaren got past.

Approaching the middle of the race, teams were now playing chicken with their pit stops to see if there would be another Safety Car.  Piastri pitted to get some clean air and then Verstappen made his.  McLaren were slow though, negating the penalty.  Both Williams came out very far back.  On Lap 30 LeClerc finally came in from the lead to pit and came out in 5th, not too bad.  Next, it was Lap 34 when Norris pitted from the lead.  There was also the possibility that he went too fast in the pits, or some similar atrocity.

There was lots of overtaking on the street circuit, both at the front and the back of the grid with the rookies getting involved with each other.

Team orders started to come into play at the end of the race.  Ocon, on old tyres, had to let rookie Bearman through.  Sainz was instructed to let Albon into his DRS zone, to try and hold off rookie Hadjar.  Then rookie Bortoleto let Hulkenberg through, in the tense battle for 15th and 16th.

Piastri was moderately pleased with his win and points haul that took him into the lead of the championship.  Verstappen needs to moderate his aggressive driving choices if he is going to get the wins, although I suspect he will continue to blame the car.  LeClerc scored a creditable third.  Norris made up six places, the most of any driver, to finish fourth.  Russell, Antonelli and Hamilton were next, then the mini fight of Sainz, Albon and Hadjar.

As Piastri is now ten points ahead of Norris, I can see that this will end up as a Rosberg versus Hamilton battle, with Norris as Rosberg.  He will have to start sacrificing much more if he is going to achieve his world championship dream.

Verstappen made a short but smiley statement instead of being questioned during the pre-podium interview.  He did not want to defend his early, penalty-receiving move.  He will have to play it cooler if he wants a shot and maybe coach Yuki to support him.