Mexico GP Race Report

The question hanging over the weekend was not whether Antonelli could win the drivers' championship but what on earth Sky TV would do with their build-up in the next race if he didn't.  Eventually we did get on to the race in hand and found out that Lawson had been disqualified from Qualifying for some safety regulation infringement that I can't quite follow.  His boss, Alan Pomaine, said that Lawson had messed it up.

Apart from a few Mexican Day of the Dead figures hanging around there was no one on the grid to be interviewed. Ferrari were at the front and had had a strong weekend so far; it was now a question of how the team would Ferrari it up. Hamilton locked his wheels up on the formation lap and gave himself a flat spot on his right front tyre - ouch,

There was a little funky madness at the start. Hamilton went well, Russell worse and Leclerc steamed ahead. Leclerc wanted the lead and went for it but drove wide and whilst he did Verstappen got past Hamilton which meant that he would need to lose two places if he gave the place back. He did not. In the background, Hadjar spun off. It was a tricky situation and at times the cars were four abreast.

A few laps in there were questions: what would Ferrari do, what would the stewards do, did Russell send Hadjar off the track and why were there two Aston Martins in the pits? The first questions were not answered immediately but Alonso was called to the pit lane to retire and then Stroll was told to stop at the side of the track. Of course, that called for a Virtual Safety Car. No one used the opportunity to pit for fresh tyres. Finally Leclerc was given a five second penalty which would be fine if he could maintain that gap at the front. It was lesser than him giving away those places. Russell however was given ten seconds.

There were mysterious early pit stops. We didn't know why Gasly had fallen four places at the start. Not to mention the astonishing fact that Haas have replaced Ocon with a thirty-two year old in Hirakawa. It was a Halloween spooky spectacular.

The front runners stopped just before halfway through and reassembled from fourth down. Others went later and there were some slow stops about perhaps some ghoulish gremlins hanging about in the pit lane causing mischief. Those that hung about waiting for a Safety Car opportunity had forgotten that Stroll had already retired from the race.

It was Lap 45 when the beleaguered Bottas spun after a suspension failure, crashed and brought out the Safety Car. It was bad news for Antonelli who had only just pitted; he did jump Hamilton though. As the Medical Car came around to check him out, the race was stopped with a Red Flag as the barriers needed repairing. Bottas had given a thumbs up to say he was okay and it took a long time for him to get out of his chassis and for us to see a replay, you could hear the crowd gasping.

Hamilton came on the radio to say that "we have problems. Big big problems." He stomped off into his pit when he got out of the car. From absolute delight with the team the previous day, he was now embittered. The cameras were trying to get as far into the Ferrari garage as possible.

Poor Gasly was not having any luck in the race as he lost power at the start and then, as he exited the pit lane under the Safety Car the exit traffic light turned red just as he was crossing it and was under investigation.

The race director decided to go back an extra lap to take the order for the race restart. Verstappen got away well from first place despite Red Bull's launches being abysmal this year. Leclerc was second but the dirty side of the track did him no favours and he lost the place to Hamilton in third. Then he locked up and got large flat spots on his tyres which left him vulnerable to those behind him and it wasn't long until Antonelli was past. Somehow he held Norris and others off despite everyone reporting that the holes were down to the canvas. I don't know if this is real canvas or just what we refer to as canvas these days.

Verstappen was investigated for being over the white line at the restart but was cleared. Further back Hulkenberg collided with Bearman, running straight into the back of him and putting him out of the race. He got a ten second penalty for that.

On lap 59 of 71, another Safety Car came out because Linblad had pulled over in his Racing Bull after coming together with Piastri and being sent into the air. The Medical Car came to get him.

Verstappen backed them right up for the rolling restart. No one made an overtake. It stayed that way until the finishing line. And there we were, the first words came from Bonno as Antonelli cried. He is the youngest ever world champion and spoke to Nico Rosberg whilst Verstappen, the winner and Hamilton, the runner up, watched on. Russell had made his way over from wherever the also-rans parked to congratulate his team mate, probably knowing he would get a little bit of TV coverage. Hamilton had chilled out a bit by the time he was interviewed so Rosberg poked the bear. It must have galling to lose the win in a Ferrari watching his replacement take the ultimate prize. Everyone is babying the new champion - there were lots of cuddles and lifting him, then Hamilton gave him another in the cool down room before Verstappen sorted out the confetti on his face by wetting a towel...the youngest champion ever.

There are a few more races to enjoy this season and Antonelli can sit back to enjoy them and watch things implode around him. How is Russell going react and will he finally get some wins now the pressure is off? What will be said in the Ferrari debrief? Will there be anymore fallout from the Ocon debrief debacle? Will Bottas be sacked having survived the imploding car? Will Stroll finally be sacked? Will we have some new race winners this season? It's still all to play for.

Mexico GP Qualifying Report

All the focus for the weekend should have been on Antonelli becoming world champion (potentially).  However, other people wanted to steal the limelight.  The dead were trying to have their day with the Mexican Día de los Muertos.  I remember the real spectacle that it was when we returned to Mexico in 2015 now it's less of a novelty.  Talking of dead men walking, Ocon was sacked in the middle of the weekend, following Free Practice 2 for talking back to the team.  Obviously there must be more to the story but Japanese driver Ryo Hirakawa will be benefiting this weekend.  Where eyes should have been on Mercedes, they turned towards Haas.

Alonso had also made a big splash with a comment about drivers at the back of the grid (probably directed at Albon) being substandard.  Albon said he was disappointed but still looked up to Alonso.  That was more frustration coming out.

Before that a number of drivers had missed the press day or been ill earlier in the week including the championship contender.  It had been blamed on this race being the second triple-header in a row.  I think it's the same lurgy that we're all getting passed on aeroplanes between Texas and Mexico.

When in Mexico though, all attention was on Checo Perez.  Cadillac capitalised on this by announcing that his contract was renewed for the next season.

In Free Practice 3 there were more divas wanting their share of the attention: Lawson and Verstappen were given conflicting advice over the radio about what the other was doing and crashed into each other.  This was followed by some very harsh comments from Verstappen about what a driver "who is fighting for their seat" should be doing.  Both drivers were given a one place grid penalty.

There was more going on with Red Bull drivers, Hadjar also received a warning from stewards after pushing a paddock guest who aggressively approached him for a selfie when he was running late for Free Practice 1.  In the olden days he would have gotten away it but with people catching footage for social media everywhere, he did not.

If you really want people to see you then you need to do what Alonso did in the middle of the first Qualifying session and pull over to stop your car in the middle of the stadium section of the track.  40,000 people were present and the session was Red Flagged and stopped.  He did not know why they stopped the car like that.

Leclerc and Norris had been quickest during Free Practice but Hamilton was the fastest in the first Qualifying session.  The slowest six cars were Albon, Alonso, Hirakawa, Stroll, Perez and Bottas.  It seems likely that this will be Bottas' last season in Formula 1.  I don't understand how Stroll could not beat his team mate when his team mate did not even have a car.  When will it be his last season?  Alonso would even be reprimanded for not replacing the steering wheel correctly when he stopped.

The second session passed without event although we started to see some drivers have lap times deleted.  The drivers that didn't go through were: Hulkenberg, Colapinto, Piastri, Bortoleto, Bearman and Sainz.  If Alpine are going to have a good day, someone in a top team will go out and today it was Piastri.  It was a pretty big scalp when McLaren were looking good at this circuit.  Ultimately the team made a poor choice with tyres.

In the final session, drivers were pushing.  Hadjar crossed a white line at the pit lane entry and became under investigation.  From nowhere, with a minute to go, Russell took pole position from Leclerc.  He had not been mentioned at all thus far into the coverage.  Hamilton quickly took it off him.  Leclerc, who had been so strong, could only come back to third place.  Antonelli was not quick and then Verstappen locked up his tyres as Norris was in his way.  The dying seconds did not see anyone put in a quick lap.  The top ten were: Hamilton, Russell, Leclerc, Verstappen, Antonelli, Norris, Hadjar, Lawson, Linblad and Gasly.  Verstappen and Lawson will both take a one place grid penalty, remember.

Hamilton was overwhelmed and almost hugged his car.  Russell and Hamilton both need to finish near the front in the race if they are to take Antonelli's championship bid on to the next race.  It looks like a good line-up and I'm actually exited to watch the race.

 

US GP Race Report

It was almost a clean start apart away from the grid apart from a tiny tap between the two Ferrraris and the US GP was underway.  Antonelli was off into the distance.  Leclerc took third and then second place from the Red Bulls and then Verstappen took it back.  This argy-bargy meant that Antonelli left them far behind and was over two seconds clear after the first lap.  There was a very quick Virtual Safely Car to clear some debris; no time to make a pit stop.  Alonso was the only real loser at the start and dropped five places, the debris had come from Albon's car as it came past him.

After only eight laps, Piastri was asked to let Norris through.  They were both on medium tyres with no other discerning difference between the cars, it may have been unfair although Piastri was told they were on different strategies.  This didn't seem to be put back later and Norris went for some risky strategies to stay ahead and finished fifth.

Russell, who is one of the few drivers who could challenge Antonelli for the championship, was given a five second penalty for leaving the track at the start.  It seemed petty.

The first round of stops were very early.  I felt we had only just begun.  Norris was served poorly with a long stop and Hamilton came out behind Lawson.

In between quite a lot of overtaking, Bearman was given a ten second penalty for a collision with Gasly at the beginning of the race.  He received an unusual radio message from the team telling him they were happy to retire the car on lap 26.

Antonelli made one stop whilst many others were going for two.  He made it pretty much in the middle of the race and came out in fourth between the Ferraris and bequeathing the lead to Verstappen.  After the second round of stops everything was refreshed and he was back at the front.

On lap 52 of 56 a Virtual Safety Car was called because Bottas had come to a stop at the side of the track.  It had all been a bit racy up front and now the race was put on a freezehold.  Apparently, Antonelli was going to make a stop but he didn't ,which seemed like the right thing to do.  He had 19 seconds at the end of it.

Ferrari finally came good, having lost direction in Qualifying, and Leclerc finished second.  Verstappen took third place, which he wasn't unhappy with and then it was Hamilton, Norris, Hadjar, Piastri, Russell, Lawson and Gasly.

It was an awful outing for Cadillac and Williams with Aston Martin coming out ahead at the back.  Further up it was a real mixed bag with team mate quite far apart from each other.  Antonelli did everything he could to secure the championship at CotA: pole position and race winner.  Hamilton and Russell were both only one place away from handing it to him.  Has he won it this year or did everyone else lose it?

US GP Qualifying Report

There was only one name on everyone's lips going into this event in Austin, Texas: Kimi Antonelli.  Russell and Hamilton would have to do very badly this weekend and he would have to win and the Mercedes driver would be world champion.  And now I will move on.

Qualifying was Ferrari's to lose, they had been the fastest in every practice session.  They started losing it in the first session when Norris was quickest.  Gasly was the only driver who fell foul of the track limits but he put in another lap and secured his place.  It was a predictable six drivers that went out: Ocon, Stroll, Sainz, Albon, Perez and Bottas.  Alonso had been on fire to put on a bit of a show for the Americans.

Leclerc regained that quickest slot in the second session ahead of Antonelli.  It was uneventful and out went Gasly, Hulkenberg, Bearman, Bortoleto, Colapino and a smoking Alonso.

Ferrari entirely lost it - or Ferraried it up - in the final session.  Calmly, Antonelli slid in and took the pole position from nowhere.  I won't mention why this might be important.  Behind him were Verstappen, Hadjar, Leclerc, Hamilton, Norris, Russell, Piastri, Linblad and Lawson.

The stewards were out in force: there were track limits infringements here and black and white flags for driving unnecessarily slowly there.  I wonder what they will get up to during the race or will they have had so much brisket and beer that they have a lovely nap?

Bortoleto will start at the back of the grid for the race with a record (?) 60 place grid drop, for that he has replaced everything on his car, had a respray and had two ribs removed.

It was a pretty uneventful Qualifying but the drivers went out and showed their skill and the teams produced the best cars they could to challenge with so there's little you can do without being too artificial.  Let's hope something interesting happens in the race.

Singapore GP Race Report

Race day finally arrived in Singapore and it felt long-awaited for.  Hamilton turned up in special spangly jeans.  Another fashion he has pioneered is use of a scooter by the drivers to get around the paddock; even Hulkenberg had one.  Somewhere children are going without.

There was no Safety Car last year and no rain before this race so there was a feeling that anything could happen at this year's race.  Somehow Verstappen kept his place at the start despite a formidable challenge from Leclerc.  The car floors sparked in the night's darkness as they ran down towards the corners.  Russell started from the back of the grid and by the end of lap two, he was in seventeenth place, so it was looking good for him.

After that there wasn't much competition so it was disappointing to be shown a great team mate battle between Bearman and Ocon in the mini-screen rather than full frame.

The Safety Car opportunity came at the end of lap eight when Bortoleto pulled his car over to park it at the end of the pit lane.  It was a Virtual Safety Car though and too early to be capitalised on.  The teams tried to figure out their next move.  Norris talked with his engineer who asked him if he wanted to go with his idea from the briefing, which the driver agreed to.  This was much more coded than Ferrari who told Leclerc that they would be going for Plan C with the opposite to Verstappen.

Those first stops came on lap 17 with Hamilton moving from medium to the preferred soft tyre, Leclerc doing the reverse seven laps later.  With perfect timing at exactly half way through the race, Colapinto stopped, he drove off the track and into what appeared to be a civilian car park.  Norris and Piastri sensed a Safety Car coming and pitted with Piastri getting a delay and slow stop.  But Safety Car came.

Meanwhile Antonelli diced with track limits as he often does.  The one person who we can rely on to bring drama to a race finally did.  Stroll stopped on lap 39, retiring from the race and calling for Virtual Safety Car conditions.  Leclerc and Antonelli pitted at the front.  Russell came in but of course just missed out on it being a cheap stop because it finished.

McLaren called Piastri in for an unusually early second stop and it seemed like their were losing their strategic nous but it turned out he had a slow puncture.  The Aussie has had no luck this year.  He and Russell should form a club.

Ferrari were handling strategy in their own special way and there were times when it would have been a good idea to switch the position of their drivers but they waited until lap 46 of 62.  Verstappen, whilst seeming to be cruising to an easy victory out front, suddenly had a very slow lap.  We couldn't figure it out because his radio transmissions were not broadcasting, to us or to his team.

Towards the end of the race it became do-or-die time.  Norris had decided that he was going to get past Hamilton, who was not on good tyres.  This was his own call and he apologised for it later.  However both drivers went wide and Antonelli got past them both.  Norris is now back to self-recrimination.  Eventually Norris did get past Hamilton and we were treated to Kim  Kardashian's reaction.  Bonno was busy telling Antonelli off for exceeding track limits but the race was done.  Norris offered to help Piastri get past Hamilton was but was told not to worry, it wouldn't have been any recompense for tipping him out of the Sprint anyway.  Piastri managed it himself.

Russell started from the back of the grid and made it to ninth.  Hadjar started in the pit lane and made it to tenth.  Both were points positions but is it what their team mates would have achieved?

Singapore marks a new milestone in this season of F1; a driver can now secure the championship at the next race.  Exciting times and Antonelli did do the usual play of saying they would not think about it but took on the challenge with glee despite looking absolutely exhausted at the end, clutching his water bottle for dear life.

So there we are, a week off for good behaviour and we are on the championship straights.  Austin is always amusing and I feel we are heading into Kardashian territory now.  Yee ha!