Monaco GP Race Report

The big day at Monte Carlo got off to a shaky start: Lawson's car almost wasn't ready, Bortoleto's was but it stalled and was pushed back into the pit lane and Brundle couldn't interview the Kardashians.  The grid was rammed with people and Martin got more and more irate as people either shoved him or refused to talk to him.

Antonelli made a great start but it might have been an optical illusion as Verstappen, who was alongside him, lost power.  It was well done by everyone that he was not hit as he was stationary in his grid spot.  The only driver to overtake off the start was Gasly, who got past Norris, helped that he was avoiding the Red Bull  As we got over that excitement, we saw that Russell was being investigated for a false start.  Norris had grassed on reported him being outside his box but it was dismissed.  Perez was given a drive through penalty for a false start; he did make a flying one.  

After the stewards had finished their duties, there was nothing to report until we were a third of the way through the race.  Hadjar's car was slowly breaking, losing different elements each lap.  Russell had caught right up behind him and his car was jumping about wildly; I'm not sure if that is how the Mercedes are running or if that is the effect of turbulent air.  Finally, it was the undercut at his pit stop nearly halfway through the race that got Russell past.  As the drivers started making their one and only pit stop, Hamilton sped in the pit lane and received a five second penalty.  He must have wanted the race over quickly so he could whisk Kim back to his Monaco pad.

Norris was the next driver to start to lose function in his car.  David Croft speculated that the bumps on the track were knocking the cars apart: Norris, Hadjar, Verstappen had all lost power.  Bearman and Bottas had also quietly retired.  Russell also then got a five second penalty too for speeding in the pit lane.  As the phrase goes, if he didn't have bad luck, he'd have no luck at all.  The gremlins were serious and Norris had to retire.  Piastri joined the speeding in the pit lane club.  If it wasn't one thing it was another.

Both Williams were in the points then they were asked to swap places.  Albon wasn't happy but did it and then we waited to see what would happen.  After Sainz' stop they swapped back and Sainz was left to defend against Hulkenberg for a while.   The strategy didn't work out because Linblad in front of them got a cheap pit stop...

Just as I was wondering whether we would get all the way through Qualifying and the Race without a Safety Car and only one Red Flag and whether Stroll would bring this about, Stroll went nose first into the wall at the chicane.  Not all drivers came in for fresh tyres.

 

At the start, Hamilton got fairly close to race leader Antonelli but not enough for the pass.  Leclerc behind his team mate had cold brakes and couldn't get them working at the restart and went into the tyre wall and out came the Safety Car again.

Gasly then sped in the pit lane.  But Russell forgot to take his penalty so there would be more coming to him.

The crane and operators were well-practised and moved quick and Leclerc was almost immediately back in the garage and his car lifted off the track.  The cars were going around the track behind the Safety Car and then the race was Red Flagged and suspended.  Finally, we were shown what had happened: the tarmac on one corner was coming up in chunks.

Hamilton was investigated for some infringement but it was dismissed.  Russell had a drive through penalty for not taking his penalty at his pit stop.  Then the long wait was over and I have no idea what they actually did to the track to fix the problem.  Antonelli's engineer thought they just swept it up and the problem would continue for the final eight laps of the race.

The Safety Car led the cars around to the grid for a standing start sprint shoot-out to end the Monaco GP.  Antontelli kept his lead, with Hamilton right behind.  Hulkenberg, who had been giving Williams grief all afternoon, tagged Sainz and put him out of the race as he was then tapped by Colapinto to seal the deal.  The Audi then overtook Albon very naughtily.  The German should not get any points for that race and those final laps.  He gave the place back.  He did get a ten second penalty in the end which did indeed put him out of the points.

As they raced close together, yet more infringements were reviewed by the stewards.  Hadjar would be investigated after the race.  Russell took his drive through and Gasly still had a second penalty to take.  Hadjar was battling to get onto the podium but kept losing power in his Red Bull.  Perez was also out of position at the restart and to be looked into.

The commentators effusive words during Antonelli's last lap made it seem fateful that he would crash during it.  Hamilton took a great second place, which may feel like a win.  Hadjar would stand on third place on the podium but might lose it later, which would be unfair on Piastri who needed a stand on the podium for his confidence.  Hulkenberg's drop down the order meant that Cadillac scored their first ever point with Perez (even though he was still under investigation).  It would be Alonso and Aston Martin who would get it if he were demoted.

Hamilton was the first to congratulate Antonelli before he was even out of the car.  It was a good haul for Racing Bull in (potentially) sixth and seventh.  Only fifteen cars finished the race.  The top ten were Antonelli, Hamilton, Hadjar (who was cleared by the stewards in the end), Piastri, Lawson, Linblad, Gasly, Albon, Ocon and Perez.

With five races won in a row, Antonelli is firmly in the lead in the championship.  There is only one week's gap before racing in Barcelona so he has the momentum and Russell is now behind Hamilton as well in the championship.  When does George become a desperate man?

Monaco GP Qualifying Report

The drivers were already to take on this great challenge...sorry, no Kim Kardashian was ready to walk the pit lane as though it was the world's greatest catwalk.  The sun was shining in the province.  The cars' restrictions had been lessened and drivers were looking forward to the best Saturday on the season's calendar.

Antonelli was a little all-over-the-shop in the first Qualifying session.  The near-rookie who made the mistake though was Bortoleto who clipped a curb and nearly managed to stop in time but broke his suspension instead.  He was stranded on the track and the session was stopped with a red flag.  Some drivers appeared safe and in the pit lane, others went out to try and secure a spot in the top sixteen.  The Williams' put in great laps for ninth and tenth.  Bortoleto was through in fifteenth, which felt unfair.  Out went Ocon, Perez, Bearman, Bottas, Alonso and Stroll.  Is this the start of another awful weekend for Aston Martin?  Where is the Newey magic we (and Fernando) were promised?  It seems like Monaco is not a good track for the Haas as well.

The second session was uneventful.  Williams had peaked and finished in eleventh and twelfth; they pushed too hard.  Behind them were Hulkenberg, Colapinto, Linblad and Bortoleto.  Fastest was Max Verstappen who suddenly was much quicker and Russell could only manage eighth.

With a couple of seconds to go, having not put in a particularly good lap so far, Leclerc took provisional pole.  Up until then Antonelli and Verstappen had been quickest and there was still some time for them to do some good work.  The Ferrari driver needed a crash.  Verstappen did indeed get pole and then Hamilton took second place.  The Mercedes drivers were still going...Just as Antonelli did take pole, Leclerc was pushing again but bumped the wall and gained a puncture.  The top ten line-up would be Antonelli, Verstappen, Hamilton, Leclerc, Hadjar, Russell, Piastri, Norris, Gasly and Lawson.

The teenager was over the moon.  Could he sustain focus and keep it on the black stuff for a whole Monaco race?  Russell's response would also be interesting.

Canada GP Race Report

As promised, it was raining in Montreal - ish.  The race had been pushed back because of the forecast and then there was the opportunity to undo that but IndyCar wanted the viewers too so a last minute compromise was reached and the race stayed at the revised time.  I was yawning by the end.

No one felt intermediate wet weather tyres were necessary we were told but then it seemed a few drivers did start the race with them.  I say "start the race" but I shouldn't get ahead of myself.  The formation lap went smoothly but the lights came on individually as normal and then it was a long time until they went off.   Nobody went.  It was strange.  Next we were told there was going to be an extra formation lap because Linblad had stalled.  On this extra formation lap Piastri said it was time for intermediates over the radio.

Linblad had to be pushed back down the grid, whilst cars were going past to get to their grid slots.  It was all incredibly strange.  Once the cars were all settled in their places, they were sent off for another formation lap so the marshals could keep pushing.  Everyone would have to undertake fuel saving measures because there were three formation laps which are extra to the race length.  It was then decided that these laps would come off the race distance.  Piastri continued to debate tyre choice with his team (he was on the intermediates).

Despite heavily pointing right, Russell lost two places to Antonelli and Norris, who took the lead.  Hamilton was up into fourth.  Piastri pitted at the end of the first lap.  It turned out there were lots of drivers on intermediate tyres, including race leader Norris, who pitted at the end of the second lap.  The two Audis also changed and had to double-stack.  

The drivers behind Linblad had also gone into the wrong positions after Linblad vacated a space on the grid, so that was something else for the Stewards to consider.

What the pundits all wanted was for Antonelli and Russell to have a real go at each other on the track.  On lap seven, Russell wanted the lead and took it causing Antonelli to lock his wheels and go wide off the track.  As Verstappen went past Hamilton, the Ferrari driver was quickly on the radio to complain that he had no power.    

Russell and Antonelli started going for it again, the Italian really pushing his team mate.  Suddenly there were Yellow Flags: Piastri went across the hairpin and into the side of Albon, putting him out of the race and sending the McLaren  in for a new nose.  Things kept going wrong for the team and they had to bring Norris in shortly after to remove grass and debris from the sidepods.  

It was lap 23 that saw Antonelli finally get past Russell for the lead and Piastri was given a ten second penalty for taking the Williams out of the race.  Unfortunately Antonelli went wide on the next lap and at last they touched as he took the lead back.  Halfway through, Russell went across the kerbs because he had lost power, giving Antonelli the lead.  He was furious, throwing the headrest  in front of the car, thumping it then throwing his gloves down after he he had climbed through the hole in the fence.  Antonelli now had an easy lead, six seconds ahead of Verstappen.  A Virtual Safety Car was brought about.  Lots of drivers came in for fresh tyres.

Norris soon had to drive his McLaren into a nice tidy corner as his gear box failed.  Perez brought a broken car into the pits with collapsed suspension, making him the sixth car to retire (Alonso had retired, been in the pits and retired again).  

Leclerc and Hadjar had battled for fourth quite heavily earlier in the race.  The stewards were so busy that it took them many laps to review and award Hadjar a ten second penalty for weaving in front of him.  The other Ferrari v Red Bull driver battle was between Verstappen and Hamilton for second.  With six laps to go Verstappen was left with nothing to defend with and Hamilton got past.

The top three were interviewed by Hamilton's former team mate Heikki Kovalainen (a name I haven't typed for a very long time).  The linguist thanked his team and the spectators in their native tongue; all those hours on Duo Lingo have not been wasted.

Monaco is the next race and will be a bigger challenge for the young Antonelli.  Ferrari also are prone to silly mistakes at the circuit.

Canada GP Qualifying Report

There was no big news between the Sprint and Qualifying.  The pundits were very excited that Antonelli might try and get his own back on Russell over the weekend.

Aston Martin bought the early drama with an unsafe release for Alonso and a wheel rim falling off for Stroll.  There were a lot of sloppy laps from the drivers in the first session and out went Ocon, Albon, Alonso, Perez, Stroll and Bottas.  Yet again it was not looking like to would be Stroll's year to win at home.  Antonelli was the fastest ahead of the two McLarens.  His team mate was in eighth and we assumed sandbagging.

The action in the second session was at the top of the time sheet: Hadjar took the quickest lap right at the end with a ramshackle smattering of top runners behind him.  The bottom six were Hulkenberg, Lawson, Bortoleto, Gasly, Sainz and Bearman.  It wasn't a great showing for Williams despite having shown promise recently.  The Alpines and Audis really seem to be making progress.

Russell came quite close to the wall of champions in the final session but not close enough to be a champion.  There were lots of quick laps in the last minute.  It was very close between the two Mercedes with Russell getting it on the last lap set.  The top ten were Russell, Antonelli, Norris, Piastri, Hamilton, Verstappen, Hadjar, Leclerc, Linblad and Colapinto.  Linblad is really outshining Lawson this weekend and Leclerc cannot shine as brightly as Hamilton, who, as we are always told, loves Canada.

Take a close look at Antonelli in the interviews; he looks like his figure has been added in in the edit and has been sized too small.

Canada GP Sprint Report

What was all the chat about before the Sprint race?  Tyres?  Engines?  Wet weather?  No!  Groundhogs.  The one Albon ran into during practice (that meant he missed Sprint Qualifying) had the consequence that he was starting in the pit lane alongside Bottas, Bearman and Gasly.  Stroll's suspension failed on the way to the grid so it looked like he would not be crashing into anyone during the Sprint but he was able to get going from the pit lane.

The Mercedes actually made good starts and went off in formation.  Behind them there was more action.  Hamilton was able to get past Piastri.  The Audis had an awful start, both cars dropping back several places in the melee.  

On Lap six, the Mercedes decided to go racing.  Initially I thought they had been told to hold places because Antonelli looked like he was deliberately staying back.  As they kept going, with Antonelli trying everything to get past, he went off twice and the second time Russell was even more aggressive in asserting his position and it was a bigger off.  Antonelli consequently lost a place to Norris and was pounced upon by Hamilton.  As Kimi complained on the radio, the team told him to "keep it cool" asking him not to draw attention to the team from the stewards.  Team Principal Toto Wolff put his foot down and told him to stop the "radio moaning".

Hadjar complained of engine problems and was then retired by Red Bull on Lap nine.  The mechanics worked some wizardry over one lap and sent him out again.  

On the final lap, the drivers pulled out all the stops to try and make up some places.  Antonelli went too far and went off across a grassy corner again as he tried to get past Norris.  Piastri got past Hamilton and the shock of it meant that Leclerc snuck through too.

The top eight for points were Russell, Norris, Antonelli, Piastri, Leclerc, Hamilton, Verstappen and Linblad with Colapinto and Sainz in the top ten but gaining no points.  Perez was eleventh for Cadillac, their highest finish yet.  Wolff came back on the radio to stop Antonelli criticising the team publicly.

The Mercedes team mates had the briefest of handshakes once they got out of their cars before Russell went for a chat with Norris.  Jean Alesi tried to gee up Kimi but failed.  

It bodes well for an interesting race with the Mercedes battle hotting up but another of other drivers hot on their heels behind and keen to scoop up the points.

Other notes: Lando has started growing his moustache ready for November.  Alesi looks like he's trying for a position with FIFA.