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Netherlands GP Race Report

At last our prayers were answered and it started raining in Zandvoort before the race started.  The drivers went to the grid on Intermediate wet tyres.  It stopped though.  Would there be a tricky transition for drivers between wet and dry tyres or would the track be back to normal before they needed to?  Before we got to find out a woman sang the national anthem in a dress with black pointy shoulders and black pointy breasts and a train approximately 100 metres long that celebrated the history of the track.  It was Madonna meets Mansell.

So, with all the excitement, the tyres were revealed and...it was dry tyres.  It was still looked a little bit hairy on certain corners but it was lights off and away we go.  Mercedes poor starts let Russell down again and Antonelli got ahead of him but Norris was away in the lead.  The final corner looked to be the wettest part of the track, the rear end of the cars on the high camber were sliding around.  And so, at the end of the first lap, Verstappen lost it and went hard into the wall and sprayed Bortoleto with his debris.  Verstappen seemed the most unlikely driver to make this error although if he had qualified better then he would not have been in the middle of it all.  The mistake was perhaps inevitable wherever he was.  He hung his head as the medical car collected him.  The race was stopped.  It was preposterous that no other drivers were caught up in it as they were all racing so close together.

In the midst of it the incident, Ocon overtook Albon and then Bortoleto did a full 360 degree spin with Hulkenberg's reflexes causing him to dart to one side to miss it through the smoke from the tyres.  Linblad and Colapinto were both under investigation for overtaking under Yellow Flags.

With the cars stopped in the pit lane, the drivers could stretch their legs and the techno music was switched on.  Eventually there was going to be a second dry standing start.

There was a mix-up in the pitlane and some drivers were held back by a red light or flag which meant Norris would get to the front of the grid a very long time before the back of the pack.  To make matters worse, Bearman pulled over to the side of the track as his power unit failed.  I am getting to grips with calling it a power unit and not an engine.  I wonder when we will all have power units rather than engines in our cars just like we got ABS and then F1 outlawed it?

An extra formation lap was needed to clear away Bearman's Haas.

Now the Mercedes made a great start and Antonelli got past Norris.  Russell's start was pretty good too but he fell back as Piastri somehow got past him.  They followed each other around for a dozen laps and then Russell was the first of the front runners to pit.  It was a bold move but he was under pressure from Leclerc.  Piastri responded but was given a five second plus pit stop from his team so it didn't work out well at all and Russell took his place back.  Antonelli was the next driver to pit closely followed by Norris, Leclerc and Lawson.  Hamilton took the lead of the race, I bet he was hoping that was the moment Kim decided to switch on the telly to check in on him - who are we kidding?  She is never going to watch a race.

Towards the middle of the race there was an epic mid-field battle between five or six cars.  Halfway though all of Norris's promise was gone as first Leclerc then Hamilton got past him and he was back in sixth.  Both passes were nicely done, with Hamilton imitating his team mate.  It was also pointed out by the stewards that Piastri was driving erratically.

When the second round of pit stops were happening it was hard to see who was where in reality.  You would have thought the FIA could have tweaked the graphics to show this at this stage of the game.  Hamilton appeared to be leading the race from Antonelli but did he need another stop?  This was the subject of much debate between team and driver.  Norris, Russell, Leclerc and Piastri were behind them.  

A panicky Antonelli was on the radio asking how to manage the car on tyres that were not suiting it.  Norris took advantage and got past him.  On old tyres Hamilton could not defend the lead any longer and both Norris and Antonelli got past him.  Ocon pulled the other Haas onto the side of the track to retire and, just as those big overtakes had happened, the Virtual Safety Car was declared.  Hamilton was frustrated on the radio wondering whether and when he would get new tyres and then he was allowed to pit and get a cheap stop.  They double-stacked with Leclerc.  Piastri was nearly the only other car to pit under these conditions but then Antonelli came in when it was clear the marshals could not move the stricken Haas quickly.

With seven laps to go, Mercedes made the call for Russell to swap places and give Antonelli second place.  He questioned it but gave way swiftly.  It was a big demand of the teenager to make up the eleven second gap to Norris over seven laps and overtake him.  Hamilton was immediately preying on Russell and was on much fresher tyres.  Should they have made the switch right at the end?  Russell did some excellent defending but could he hold Hamilton off for three laps?  The question was deferred as a Virtual Safety Car was called in order for the marshals to collect debris from the track after the Williams drivers collided.  This was not the team unity that they had been presenting as part of their re-signing announcement.

With laps to go Colapinto, Lawson and Sainz were all given ten second penalties for one misdemeanour or the other.  Leclerc had caught up with Hamilton and Russell and nearly got too close to his team mate.  I don't know quite how it happened, when he took the lead again and why no one else got close but Norris won the race.  He thought the strategy won it for him.

There was a lot of outside influence in this race: long pit stops, two starts, mismanaged tyre strategies.  However the Sprint Qualifying, Sprint and Qualifying  promised a particularly dull race and it was actually full of carry on.

Piastri was sixth and not showing any of the spirit he brought to last season.  Hulkenberg scored points for Audi and, more surprisingly, Alonso scored points for Aston Martin.  At some point Stroll retired but nobody noticed or cared.  Tsunoda finished ahead of his team mate which was excellent going for a sub driver; I do think Red Bull were too quick to dispatch him from Formula 1.  Only sixteen cars finished the race, a high level of attrition and Norris looked very tired.

The points from the Sprint and third place promoted Russell to second place above Hamilton.  The problem will be that if Antonelli keeps on going at this pace and everyone else squabbles, the teenager will win the championship.  With back-to-back wins, Norris seems to have joined Hamilton and Russell as contenders.

Netherlands GP Qualifying Report

There was bad news at the start of Qualifying: there would not be any more rain over the race weekend.

With Aston Martin making improvements the floundering Williams may now struggle to make it out of the first Qualifying session.  There were no incidents or accidents and Piastri, last year's pole-sitter, was fastest.  In the end Albon went through but Sainz was out followed by Alonso, Stroll, Bearman, Bottas and Perez.  It was Ocon and the Audis that made great laps.   Tsunoda, standing in for Lawson, who is standing in for Hadjar, was seventh quickest and showing that he is getting to grips with the new regulation cars quickly.

The second session was as exciting as the first, in that it wasn't.  This time the McLaren of Norris was fastest.  Out went Gasly, Tsunoda (only two places behind his team mate), Hulkenberg, Colapinto (who could not put together a good lap), Ocon and Albon.

Then we were halfway through the final Qualifying session and rain came down.  Most drivers got out early and put in their hot lap.  Norris hit the sweet spot before the track became too wet.  For a minute we watched the clock tick down to zero with no one on track before pole was confirmed.  Norris took pole showing a true resurgence for McLaren.  Russell and Antonelli completed the top three.  Behind them were Piastri, Hamilton, LeClerc, Verstappen, Lawson, Bortoleto and Linblad.

I will make sure I have a crossword or two to complete during the race.  Or maybe a little Sunday snooze?

Netherlands GP Sprint Report

 The wind was blowing in off the North Sea in the Netherlands.  The Spaniards, Sainz and Alonso had retreated to the pit lane to start the race.  On the formation lap, Norris seemed to be napping as Russell led the cars away.  Perez was wheeled away by his mechanics at the back.

Everyone was awake at the start and Russell led them all away pretty much in order apart from Antonelli who moved forwards.  It took a couple of laps for Perez to come out from the pit lane and a few more before Hulkenberg took his car back there to retire.

18 laps later another car retired, that of Sainz and we saw our first on-track overtake, LeClerc on Norris for second place.  It was a good move but not enough to sustain the entertainment for a whole race.

It did start to rain on the last lap but there were no more overtakes.  I would be interested to see how Channel 4 make a highlights package out of this race.  It was a thoroughly dreary race only made worse by techno music.

Netherlands GP Sprint Qualifying Report

We arrived at Zandvoort to breaking driver news...Albon and Sainz would be staying with Williams!  No, Verstappen had signed for four more years with Red Bull, ending all exciting speculation that he would be with a different team next season. 

There was change at Red Bull though, Hadjar had damaged his wrist over the holidays so Lawson was moved to stand in at the main team from Racing Bulls.  Tsunoda was brought in from the cold to drive in that seat.

Into the lap-setting and Antonelli was quick to go off through the gravel in the first session.  Alonso did something similar.  Aston Martin had brought upgrades to the last race and now it was their power unit provider, Honda's turn to bring the goods but the drivers were out in 19th and last places.  The six drivers out were Bearman (who seems to have lost it compared with the flailing Ocon), Sainz, Stroll, Bottas, Perez and Alonso.  It turned out a piece was broken on the wing on that slowest car.

The second session passed off with no incidents.  Lawson and Tsunoda were the best of the rest but that was still a good showing in new cars to them.  Behind them were Colapinto, Hulkenberg, Ocon and Albon.  The Williams is really struggling at this track (and the rest of them really).

There were quite a few drivers who could have taken Sprint Pole but in the end it was Russell, who will not stop going on about getting engaged.  Norris and LeClerc took the other "podium" places then Piastri, Antonelli, Versappen, Hamilton, Gasly, Bortoleto and Linblad.  It's good to see the two top drivers in the championship a little further back and having to work for it.

Andrea Stella warned that despite his drivers starting in great positions there was lots of uncertainty for the Sprint.  The weather may be a problem.  It would be interesting to see how it all pans out.