Japan GP Qualifying Report

Had silly season begun already?  Two races in?  Jonathan Wheatley has left Audi (because Switzerland was too much.  I would have thought Switzerland was easier than Christian Horner.) and is strongly rumoured to be heading to Aston Martin.  Aston Martin had made no progress in getting their cars to be racable but Fernando has become a father.  In a surprising twist we are not speculating who is going to be imminently brought in to replace Hadjar in the second Red Bull seat, which usually has a revolving door policy.

There was absolutely no drama at all in the first Qualifying session.  Stroll was last and three seconds behind his team mate.  The Cadillacs of Perez and Bottas were ahead of the Aston Martins.  Bearman was the shock exit in 18th place; he just didn't string a lap together.  Albon was in 17th.  Colapinto nearly went out but got through, which would have meant both Williams were through to Q2.  Unusually, Albon made a strong complaint about the condition of his car compared to Sainz' over the radio.  A few drivers were vocal that it was their car and not them, including Russell and Verstappen.

The drama came in the second Qualifying session.  Linblad in his Racing Bull knocked out Verstappen in his Red Bull.  Antonelli had been fastest in both sessions so far.  The six out were Verstappen, Ocon, Hulkenberg, Lawson, Colapinto and Sainz.  All the drivers (apart from Ocon and Sainz) had team mates in the top ten.

At last, in the final session, it looked as though Russell might catch Antonelli.  He was nearly three tenths of a second off but was still second.  Piastri was third, LeClerc fourth; then Piastri, LeClerc, Norris, Hamilton, Gasly, Hadjar, Bortoleto and Linblad.

Antonelli was pleased but not surprised.  Russell was disappointed but not surprised.  Piastri was surprised.

We will have to see what sort of starts the drivers and cars can manage on race day as I suspect it might dictate some of the finishing result.  If you're not enjoying the racing on track because it's Japan, you can enjoy the outfits trackside; the spectators have really outdone themselves this year.

China GP Race Report

Before the race a mechanic was face down, bottom up inside Norris's McLaren to try and solve an electric gremlin and they didn't get out of the pit lane before it closed, meaning he would be starting there.  Albon would be starting from the pit lane again, albeit not in his car.

Ted and Bernie did the Grid Walk for Sky and the only celebrity they could find was one Imagine Dragon but they could find cars with faults being fixed including some vigorous work on Verstappen's Red Bull.  By the time we were getting ready to start, Bortoleto and Piastri were both also in their garages.  The Brazilian having been pushed back there from the grid.  Having not got to the grid last week, it wasn't what Piastri needed.

The loss of the McLarens on the grid meant Gasly lost track of where he was meant to be and had to reverse into his grid slot, having overshot it.  I'm glad he wasn't penalised.

Hamilton went straight into the lead and LeClerc to third.  Behind them everyone was going around very tentatively and locking up left, right and centre.  Gasly had dropped a couple of spaces back but before the first lap was over Hadjar had a big spin and Bearman, who he was tussling with, went off behind him in order to avoid him as he sprawled across the track.  This meant the Alpines were fifth and sixth.  Where has this come from?  Is this the Briatore effect?

You must pay close attention at the start because the regulation changes mean it's very close and back and forth at the start.  I don't think this is any more manufactured than other initiatives but the debate is on.  Enjoy the close racing whilst you can.  The Mercedes straight line special boost button kicked in on lap two and Antonelli took Hamilton for the lead and Russell got past LeClerc.  None of the four drivers who started in the pit lane were still in their cars by this point but getting changed into their civvies.  On lap four, Russell got into second place.  Lawson had the best opening laps as he had made up seven places.

With the increase in action at the start of the race, the replay of the start is being shown later and later, so any questions are left unanswered.  Finally we saw how far Verstappen dropped back at the start as he just didn't get underway quick enough.

Verstappen and Lawson came in very early on lap ten for new tyres.  It was terribly timing as Stroll pulled over at the side of the track just as they had come out and the Safety Car was called.  Mercedes and Ferrari double-stacked but Alpine did not.  Not everyone came in for tyres.

At the restart, Antonelli was at least protected from his team mate and the Ferraris with a Colapinto cushion, who was in turn attacked by Ocon, who definitely sniffed an opportunity, which doesn't always end well.  After a while, we stopped watching the front runners.  Temporarily, Colapinto was safe in fourth but behind him both Haas were going for each other and Gasly was watching Verstappen in his mirrors.  The fighting was tight.

Intra-team battles were not restricted to Haas with LeClerc overtaking Hamilton, who fought back hard.  This gave Russell more of a chance behind them.  We would have loved to have heard the team radio.  Once they took a breather, Russell was passed Hamilton.  It took a couple of laps more to get past LeClerc; the only person ahead of him then was Antonelli.

On lap 33, Colapinto finally made his stop and came out ahead of Ocon.  The Haas driver made a foolish move to overtake and they collided.  It didn't look good for either car.  Meanwhile, Alonso had pulled into his garage to retire from the race, as he was losing feeling in his hands.  There might have been a Safety Car, Virtual or otherwise, to clear the debris from the incident but nothing was called.  Then Hamilton radioed to his team that he had no power.  Despite this, he overtook LeClerc and they had another ding-dong.

Ocon admitted that the collision was his fault and received a ten second penalty for it.  I can see why it was good for him that he left Alpine when he did because I don't think Briatore would have a kind word to say to him.

With ten laps to go, Verstappen, who had been trailing about in the bottom of the points, started to go slowly and was called in to retire the car.

As the commentators began to wax lyrical about Antonelli's race and counting down the laps, he locked his tyres, as the spectators gasped, and went off.  His lead to Russell was reduced but everyone was suffering with worn tyres.

It was a Mercedes one-two, with Hamilton behind them.  There were only fifteen finishers.  The most notable for me was Sainz bringing home two points for Williams.

Every car seems to have something different in it's favour.  Gasly got the top speed in the race in his Alpine.  Mercedes are good in some places but not the right places according to Russell.  Ferrari can get off the start.  Haas clearly have something too.

I'm sure Hamilton would have liked the Italian national anthem playing for him as he stood on the podium but everyone seemed cheery enough for Antonelli to take the win.  It bodes well for some sort of championship battle that each Mercedes driver has one win each.  There is just Japan before a very long Spring break, a third race winner would be ideal.

China GP Qualifying Report

Cars were queuing to get out well before the start of the first Qualifying session in Shanghai.  Bottas nudged his Cadillac out in front of the line in a most cheeky manner.   For the first time, in any significant running, LeClerc was at the top of the time sheet at the end.  Obviously followed by Russell and Antonelli but then Verstappen, which might raise a small, very small, smile.   Out went Sainz, Albon, Alonso, Bottas, Stroll and Perez (who only just got running).  The Williams seem have made a significant backwards step over the Winter but at least they're not being beaten by Cadillac unlike Aston Martin (yet).

With half a minute to go on in the second session, Bortoleto crashed out, which meant that a number of quick laps were ruined.  The Audi went skidding across the tarmac, then the gravel and finally into the barrier on a long journey away from the track.  It was only the Alpines who were really going for it and would be able to go through.  Gasly was already in the top ten but jumped to sixth.  Colapinto was only able to get twelfth, which meant Hadjar was safe in tenth.  Antonelli took first place, then LeClerc and then Russell in third, his grip on dominance slipping.  This was explained when he radioed to his team that he was having "major understeer" and asked them to prepare a new front wing.  The drivers departing Qualifying were: Hulkenberg, Colapinto, Ocon, Lawson, Linblad and Bortoleto.

Things went from being somewhat bad to absolutely awful in the final session for Russell as his engine groaned and grunted around and he came to a stop on the track.  He couldn't find the gears but got going again and was able to get back to the pits.  After the first round of quick laps, his team mate Antonelli was the quickest.  McLaren seemed to have found something though and were ahead of the Ferraris.

There was a lot of camera focus on the Mercedes garage but the mechanics all looked very calm as they tried one thing after another.  With a couple of minutes to go, Russell was out of the pit and on his way.  All the drivers were improving their quickest laps, pushing each other lower each time they crossed the line.   Russell put in three green sectors, which meant that Antonelli took pole to be the youngest pole sitter ever and the first Italian for a long time.  Behind the Mercedes' lines up Hamilton, LeClerc, Piastri, Norris, Gasly (who will be pleased to be ahead of...), Verstappen, Hadjar and Bearman.

In the press conference, Hamilton praised "this big lad" Antonelli but is this a careful way of undermining him?  Gasly seems to be riding high and seemed happy.  His former team mate, Verstappen, was not expecting anything better but seemed philosophical.  Once again (although I shouldn't be saying this before the second race of the season) it will be Ferrari who will be bringing the challenge to the Mercedes.  The biggest question hanging over the grid will be reliability.

China GP Sprint Report

Before we even got to the grid, parts had been flying off Gasly's car and Albon decided to start from the pit lane.  The teams are still settling into the changes.

When the lights went out the headline was an awful start by Antonelli who went from second to seventh.  Ferrari went well: LeClerc was third and Hamilton went from second out of the first corner to leading by the middle of the lap and then LeClerc got through for second.  Verstappen hit someone on the first lap, possibly, it was hard to tell and the replays didn't come for quite some time, and his stable mate Linblad spun right around in the middle of the pack.  The new energy system saw Russell get the lead back by the end of the first lap and then Hamilton retook it.   The racing was fast and furious.  Do we mind that the racing is due to use of amped up battery power?

Further back, Albon had made it up to 16th by the end of the second lap from the pit lane and was behind his team mate.  

It went back and forth between the two former team mates until LeClerc had caught up to them on lap six and was in the mix too.  Unusually, we had no radio transmissions broadcast.  

Having got up to fifth place, Antonelli got a ten second penalty for crashing into Hadjar.  I wonder if the length of penalties should be decreased given the lesser number of laps in a Sprint?

The Ferraris were battling now, with LeClerc getting past Hamilton, all of which played into Russell's hands, who was currently in the lead.  On Lap 11, Antonelli was close enough and with enough battery to get past Hamilton for third.  At this point, it started going wrong for everyone: Linblad then Bottas were asked to go into the pit lane to retire their cars and Hulkenberg had to pull over to stop.  A Safety Car came out and the top five all came in for fresh tyres followed on the next lap by drivers from up and down the pit lane.   With only five laps to go, it seemed like madness and the last sprint of the Sprint would be full on.  Several drivers lost out as they were double-stacked.  

It was several laps until the Safety Car did come in, with three laps to go and it would have been amusing but disappointing if the race had finished under it with all the tyre changes.  The drivers were weaving their cars frantically to boost the tyre temperature.  LeClerc lost out with wheel spin.  The rolling start, rather than a standing start, evened out the playing friend.  Hamilton was able to get past Norris for the final podium place.  Perez received a five second time penalty for a Safety Car infringement.  Piastri was told to give a place back to Antonelli back as he was under investigation for overtaking him before the Green "go racing" flag.

Russell won and was lucky that the Ferraris fought with each other and let him take it more easily.  Behind him in the points was LeClerc, Hamilton, Norris, Antonelli, Piastri, Lawson and Bearman.  Verstappen was right outside the points.

I could see that the main race would probably have a first stint similar to this and then it will settle down.  The only differential could be whether there are Safety Cars.

China GP Sprint Qualifying Report

Before the race weekend had even started it was rumoured that things were being ditched from the season: namely the Saudi Arabia and Bahrain races.  If I haven't said it before, damn Trump!

Then we went into this session and Perez' Cadillac was not ready to race and stayed in the pits.  Bortoleto and Bearman both went off on big trips through the gravel but made it through to the next session.  There will be disappointment in Williams as Sainz and Albon were out, followed by Alonso and Stroll, Bottas and Perez.  Two by two.

Verstappen was asking his team to check the "driveability" of the car between sessions.  That's the sort of question I ask of a mechanic.  The Red Bulls ended up ninth and tenth, with Verstappen having a big off.  Russell was fastest with Antonelli behind him for the second session in a row.  I'm not sure why Mercedes went out for a second run when Ferrari didn't.  Out went Hulkenberg, Ocon, Lawson, Bortoleto, Linblad and Colapinto.

Five cars had not set a time with seconds to go in the final Qualifying session, including both McLarens.  Russell took the Sprint pole of course, with his team mate next to him.  Norris got a surprisingly good result in third, how funny we should be saying that.  Hamilton was next, splitting the McLarens.  LeClerc was sixth; Gasly seventh beating former team mate Verstappen.  Finishing up the top ten was Bearman and Hadjar.

I think behind the Mercedes it might be a good race although teams might hold back, saving the car for the main race.