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!

Singapore GP Qualifying Report

With the sun set and the drivers fresh from a wet Sprint, Verstappen was looking to maintain his dominance over the race weekend.

Not everyone had such confidence.  Ocon went into the wall as soon as the first Qualifying session started.  Hadjar's awful weekend continued with more problems on his car.  He kept resetting, trying again but could not set a time.  There were no such issues for the other Red Bull and perhaps he is beginning to see what Webber, Sainz, Ricciardo, Gasly, Albon et al were dealing with.  Hamilton set the fastest time and at last there seemed to be a real challenge for Verstappen.  The Audis are beginning to get stronger and are now looking officially "midfield".  Out went Alonso, Albon, Stroll, Perez, Bottas and Hadjar.

In the second session it was Colapinto's turn to hit the wall straight away.  Predictably Hulkenberg, Bearman (who had an outstanding Sprint with a great battle with Gasly), Ocon, Sainz, Bortoleto and Colapinto were dismissed from Qualifying.

The third and final session passed without any incidents, no one even kissed the wall.  The Ferraris tried to challenge and Norris hoped for "a miracle lap" but Verstappen took pole.  Leclerc beat his team mate Hamilton to second, which had not looked certain at all.  I don't know why Leclerc is wearing a black costume this weekend and Hamilton red?  A mystery.  Behind them were Antonelli, Norris, Russell (who will start from the back of the grid after a power unit change), Piastri, Gasly, Lawson and Linblad.  The Red Bulls and Racing Bulls are showing their strength.

Predictions are difficult at Singapore; it is all down to driver error and whether there are Safety Cars and Red Flags.  It seems likely that Verstappen's experience and talent will win out though.

Singapore GP Sprint Report

The rain came down before the Sprintt and I wish I had watched in it full rather than on Channel 4.  Verstappen made a "horrendous" getaway from pole and lost the position to a hero start from Russell in second.  It was hero to zero for the Mercedes driver though as the was first through the final corner at the end of lap one, was delivered a power spike, misjudged it on the painted white lines, found more rainwater than he expected and spun off and into the wall.  He gave his car a thump in frustration.  It took seven corners for the Safety Car to be called for which was not good enough for safety-minded David Coulthard.

Russell was not the only retirement though, oh no!  Perez and Stroll also came together and took each other out of the race at the end of lap one.  Hadjar had a power unit failure and parked up.  Colapinto stopped on lap four.  Linblad was nearly out when he spun his car, then drover the wrong way around the track to be able to spin himself around and get going again.

At the restart, Verstappen held the lead and did not let it go even if Hamilton was pushing him slightly.  Albon, Bottas and Bortoleto were not expecting the backing up if the pack and came together in a motorway-style incident, putting all three drivers out of the Sprint.  

Would there only be fourteen finishers?  No.  The McLarens had been close together with no team orders and, more importantlly, no mention of Papaya Rules.  On the last lap, Norris believed there was a gap and, having been pushing for the previous sixteen, went for it.  It was not big enough, he tagged Piastri and put him out of the race too.  I cannot remember an event recently with such attrition and it shows what this street track can do, Singpore tends to let the top drivers shine and the lesser ones struggle.

If it's a dry race though, Verstappen will dominate and everyone will have to think very carefully about their strategies.