Abu Dhabi GP Race Report

At last, the final race of the season.  Several drivers had complained they had reached this point tired and sick.

Everyone lined up cleanly.  LeClerc made a good start, with Verstappen going aggressive to stay ahead, cutting him off.  The McLarens made it up to 3rd and 4th.    LeClerc battled to get past and Verstappen moved his Red Bull decisively, cutting him off and after two laps, he was more than a second ahead.  Tsunoda held his 6th place and Sainz was up to 13th from 17th.  Albon fell to 18th, Perez also lost out.

On lap 5, Norris made the crucial pass on his team mate; firmly cementing his 2023 reputation as someone who cannot put a qualifying lap together but knows how to race.  On Lap 11, Russell got past Piastri to finally get back to his starting position of 4th.  The Australian was immediately under pressure from Tsuonda, as Perez got past Gasly.

The first round of pit stops came early, led by Piastri.  Russell got past Norris in these as McLaren had a problem.  Hamilton and Gasly had a racing incident, with the Mercedes coming off worse.

The hard tyres worked really well initially, with the rest of the field all having pitted a few laps later.  Verstappen came out of it a couple of seconds ahead of LeClerc and Russell charged through the pack.  Both Williams were running last.  Gasly was fuming that they played the undercut so his team mate Ocon over took him.  The headline of this phase was Tsunoda leading the race for several laps.

When the second round of pit stops started, with Ocon returning to the garage to get him wheel tightened,  Norris got a clean stop.  Russell's undercut didn't work, with LeClerc coming out ahead of him.

The drivers continued to battle.  Perez and Norris came together, with Norris being crashed into and forced off the track.  Perez was given a 5 second penalty.  Hamilton, then Gasly, were both investigated for pit stop infringements, which turned out to be because the pit crew didn't have their helmet visors down.  LeClerc schemed to back Russell into Perez if they needed to swap the order for the Constructors Championship position.  In the end, he didn't need any help and got past Russell easily as the Mercedes driver was a little sleepy at the end of the long season.

A lot was decided behind race winner Verstappen, who doughnutted to finish: Mercedes beat Ferrari to 2nd place in the championship, Williams secured 7th, Alonso fourth ahead of LeClerc and Norris, Gasly outscored Ocon, Tsunoda outscored Ricciardo but by only by 11 points in 6 races.  LeClerc finishing 5th really doesn't reflect his season of pole to possible podiums/possible crashes.  Of the bottom four teams, Albon was the highest scoring driver, 26 points ahead of his team mate.  Sargeant did beat someone in the championship, the forgotten De Vries.

Verstappen showed himself to be a man of the people by warmly and lengthily embracing his sweaty mechanics.  Tsunoda got Driver of the Day, which was heartwarming.

And the season closes.  97 days until the next one.  I'll be back with a Drive to Survive review, although I think it will underwhelmingly focus on De Vries being dropped and the questions over Perez' position.  Enjoy the rest and pray Newey has forgotten anything he has ever learnt about how to design a car.

Abu Dhabi GP Qualifying Report

It was a long time before anyone came out to start the final Qualifying event of the season.  It was Perez out first, who trailed a number of others.  It became apparent that track limits would be an issue for some drivers, with lap times being deleted, notably Sargeant who didn't set a time on the complete track at all.  Having had some wobbles over the weekend, Red Bull were proved to be sandbagging in Q1 as Verstappen and Perez were first and second.  The Ferraris had looked very strong but Sainz was out in 16th (having had two big shunts over the last 8 days), blaming traffic, in front of Magnussen, Bottas, Zhou and Sargeant.

Again, in Q2, Verstappen was through in first.  There were more shocks lower down though, with Hamilton out in 11th, then Ocon, Stroll, Albon and Ricciardo.  Tsunoda, Alonso, Gasly and Russell were through, so teams were divided between Q1 and Q2.  It was a shame for Williams as they were showing strong in practice.

In the final Qualifying session, the only team looking to compete with the Red Bulls was McLaren.  This was Norris's final chance of the year to pip his pal to pole.  With a huge slide, he lost out in the final sector and not only didn't take pole but lost the front row to his team mate.  In the dying seconds, LeClerc took second, with Perez unable to get close to his team mate and coming in 5th, then 6th as Russell jumped him before having his time deleted and finished 9th.  Verstappen held pole followed by LeClerc, Piastri, Russell, Norris, Tsunoda, Alonso, Hulkenberg, Perez and Gasly.  Over team radio we found out that Red Bull supremo Helmut Marko had bet against Team Principal, Christian Horner that Verstappen wouldn't make the front row - what confidence!

In the press pen, LeClerc was determined to get second in the Constructors Championship.  His opposition, Hamilton, was done with the season and clearly wanted to get away on holiday.  Norris continues to be frustrated that he makes these mistakes and "ruins" his chances.  He thought he had the pace for pole.

The glitz and glamour of Vegas continued as the race arrived.  The gloriously-named Bruce Buffer introduced the drivers on to the parade and when the cars had finally reached the grid, it was so packed no one could move.

Interviewed on the grid, Albon said that the race would be: "all about the graining."  If you can manage the tyres you will have a good race and if you can't you will go backwards.  As was proven later.

Alonso made a prediction about the race too: "You will enjoy it."  He certainly won't have enjoyed the start.  Or the middle or end probably.

It was the biggest of disappointments at the start with Verstappen immediately overtaking LeClerc for the lead.  The track was especially slippery.  Sargeant lost a place to Magnussen off the start but the Williams had great pace on the straight and he was able to retake the place.  There was some debris on the track from something, possibly a spin by Sainz and a Virtual Safety Car was called for.  Alonso, Perez and Bottas pitted.  The cause of the incident was Alonso spinning in the middle of the pack, bouncing off Bottas like bumper cars.

Then, 3 laps in, in a blink of an eye, we saw Norris disappear off the track.  It took him a while to get out of the car but he did radio in that he was okay.  He didn't look okay when he did get out of the car (unaided).  He lost the rear and left the track backwards, nearly taking out his team mate.  The debris showered Hamilton.

LeClerc was sleeping at the rolling start and Verstappen sailed away.  Rookie Piastri showed the grid how it was done and made a sweet move on Tsunoda.

The stewards finally made a decision about Verstappen's opening pass and awarded him a 5 second penalty, which is nothing to the driver this year.  The glib response from him proved this.  As they were running first and second, they should have been made to swap the places.  It turned out that Verstappen damaged his tyres dashing away after the Safety Car, which meant that on Lap 16 LeClerc retook the lead, with the Red Bull pitting immediately.

Piastri and Hamilton had a little bump which gave Piastri a long stop and Hamilton a puncture.

Then it was LeClerc's pit stop and Ferrari only delivered a slow stop but at least they did know he was coming in, had tyres ready, the crew knew it was happening and they overcame all those little hurdles they usually succumb to.

Verstappen was trying to make his way back up to the front of the pack, then on Lap 26 he and Russell made contact, with damage to both cars and a lot of debris on the track.  On a street track debris equals Safety Car, so lots of drivers including Russell and Verstappen made a cheap pit stop.

Russell was given a 5 second penalty for the incident.  Piastri did well again at the restart and found himself in 3rd.  Verstappen was briefly investigated for an unsafe release but nothing came of it.

Somehow, Perez managed to catch and overtake LeClerc for the lead on Lap 32.  Piastri was unable to hold off Verstappen for third place.  Behind them Gasly and Ocon went wheel to wheel and without team orders they battled for 5th and 6th, however someone came swiftly over the radio to put pay to that.  Perez stuck true to form and, when he had it all, fell asleep, took it fore-granted and lost the lead back to LeClerc.  Also swiftly past Perez was his team mate Verstappen.  It wasn't long until he was back in the lead again.

Toto Wolff radioed to Russell urging him to push forward and make some overtakes; he clearly wasn't bothered with encouraging his other driver, Hamilton, to score some points.  Rhianna will be very disappointed in Lewis.

With 7 laps to go, LeClerc made a mistake and gave second place to Perez.  A Red Bull one-two was now on the cards.  However, LeClerc repeated Alonso's Brazil feat and overtook Perez on the last lap for second position.  Disappointingly, Williams were not able to convert their qualifying position into any points at all.  Poor Gasly went backwards too.

Having moaned about the whole event, Verstappen was played Elvis over team radio and he sang along.  Whilst wearing an Elvis tribute race suit.

Instead of the cool down room, the top three drivers were driven in a Rolls Royce to the podium.  They sat uncomfortably thigh-to-thigh, with Perez in his tribute Ferrari race suit.  I'm sure that will be questioned back at HQ the next day.

Finally, they made it to the podium, where their presence was announced with a fruit machine spin.  The lost of the dice this season will be in a week's time in Abu Dhabi.

Las Vegas GP Qualifying Report

Apologies for the radio silence - I had a mechanical failure (of the back).  Hopefully I can sit and type through this event.

The Vegas event hadn't been without controversy already.  The residents had been vociferous in complaining about having streets closed for 10 days straight and all the building works for months prior (Edinburgh and Croydon feel your pain).  The track then brought itself more bother during Free Practice 1 when a water valve man hole thing came loose under Sainz's car.  It also ran under Ocon's car.  Sainz had to have his plank changed which gave him a 10 place grid penalty.  I think you could feel the waves of outrage from F1 fans across the globe.

F1 fans across the globe were geared up to play Crofty Goes to Vegas Bingo.  If you'd like to play during the race the words are: Elvis ✓, The Hangover, cashing their chips, placing their bets...

During Q1 Tsunoda achieved what I felt was unachievable at a street track like this: having a lap time deleted for leaving the track.  Did he run through a casino?  Skim over the Belagio lake?  How did he get off the track?  With a huge following in the US, both McLarens were out, which will be a big hit for them.  Ocon, Zhou and Tsunoda were also out with Sargeant through to a rare Q2 outing at one of his home tracks.

Teams and drivers continued to be caught out in Q2: Hamilton, Perez, Hulkenberg, Stroll and Ricciardo.  Both Williams were through and both Ferraris held the front row.  So far, no red flags and no safety cars - surprising.

Ferrari held on to the two fastest spots in the final session, although Sainz will start 12th, so Verstappen will start on the front row.  Behind them: Gasly, Russell, Albon, Sargeant, Alonso, Magnussen and Bottas.  Being the pole-sitter means your face is projected onto the roof on the top of the pit buildings.

Verstappen said he "maximised performance" today; I wonder how often he uses the phrase "maximised" about things he does.

Brazil GP Sprint Shootout & Sprint Report

It was a sunny day in Sao Paulo for sprint day.  It was going to be a very different qualifying from the day before.

In SQ1 it was all plain sailing for the first 11 and 1/2 minutes, then Ocon lost control of his car, "got out of shape" and went into and over Alonso, the Alpine went spinning into the wall, causing a  lot of damage and the Aston Martin got a puncture and dragged his car, sparking, back to the pits.  There was a Yellow Flag and then the session was stopped, which really damaged the laps for a lot of drivers who were putting in a quick lap including Albon and Sargeant who finished last.  Also out went Ocon, Stroll and Zhou.

Alonso was out of SQ2 with damage so qualified 15th.  Ahead of him and out went both Haas, Gasly and Bottas.  Notably great lap times were made by Norris, first and Ricciardo, fourth.  Perez was ahead of Verstappen but took two shots to get there.

The first half of SQ3 was particularly dull as no cars went out.  It was all or nothing at the end and fingers were crossed for no Red or Yellow Flags (by the teams if not the spectators).  The first time was set by Piastri but the field was quicker behind him.  Norris took the Sprint pole for his first time, followed by his friend Verstappen, then Perez.  Behind them was Russell and Hamilton, Tsunoda, LeClerc, Ricciardo, Sainz and Piastri.

Remarkably, Ocon's car was prepared in time for the Sprint race.  Our prediction for the race was Verstappen from Norris and that was the case by the first corner.  In fact, Russell was also past Norris by the end of the first lap.

DRS handed positions back and forth between drivers as they overtook each other.  There was overtake after overtake until the end, where Verstappen finished in front of Norris and Perez.  For once the Alpha Tauris were fighting near the front, which was great for them, with Tsunoda finishing in the points.  There was a lot of swearing from Danny Ric on his radio as he couldn't make up as many places as he wanted.

Norris felt he had been too cautious and not made the best of his opportunity.  There's always a reason he doesn't do better and they're not excuses but they need to stop happening.  It's all set to be a great race tomorrow, with tyre degradation being quite high, teams who have saved tyres will be rewarded.

Brazil GP Qualifying Report

Once again the hot topic of the weekend, is whether Perez will keep his contract for next year.  Or even until the end of the season.  The Qualifying session was delayed as there was debris on track which the marshals slowly swept away.

There were spits of rain towards the end of the first session but it didn't slow down the last laps the drivers put in.  Both Alpha Tauris went out, Tsunoda one place higher than Red Bull wannabe Ricciardo.  The Japanese driver felt impeded by Hamilton.  Both Alfa Romeos were out and Sargeant in his Williams too.

The second session was dry and uneventful.  Albon, who was in contention, had a lap deleted so went out in 15th, not attempting to put in a qualifying lap in this session.  Both Alpines and both Haas were out too.  Norris was in first.  

At the start of the final session, Ted could feel rain in the pit lane and Ferrari told LeClerc that it would come in 7 minutes.  There were definitely dark clouds in the sky.  Piastri was the first driver to be caught out and was sent drifting across the grass.  Sainz was also  off the track and those who hadn't put an early lap in would not get a good lap in before the rain came down and the session was red flagged.

As the rain fell down, teams were allowed to close their garage doors and Verstappen held pole, LeClerc second and Stroll in third.  The Aston Martins did well getting out quickly, with Alonso in fourth.  Next was both Mercedes, Hamilton then Russell.  Finishing the top ten were Norris, Sainz, Perez and Piastri.

The drivers were interviewed in the Safety Car pit as the thunder rumbled outside.

Mexican GP Race Report

Alonso sped in the pit lane on the way to the grid and we went into the race awaiting the outcome of the steward's investigation.  He got a €100,000 fine.

They were quick off the start, especially Perez and Verstappen.  As Verstappen pushed for the lead, Perez pulled up on the other side of LeClerc but he squeezed it too tight going around the corner with the Red Bull ultimately going up and over the Ferrari.  This put the Mexican immediately out of his home race and broke the Ferrari's front wing.

Ferrari should have told LeClerc to move over to let Sainz through to chase Verstappen immediately but no.  A selfish decision too.  The bit of wing fell off on the next lap, which was good for LeClerc but a Virtual Safety Car had to be called to get a marshal out to remove it from the track.

Ricciardo held Hamilton off for a few laps before a DRS pass.  Verstappen was the first of the leaders to pit, possibly using data from Tsunoda's stop in the sister team.

When LeClerc did pit, he came out 16 seconds behind Verstappen.  Then, halfway through the race, Magnussen had a big off in his Haas.  This brought out the Safety Car.  The suspension failed on the car and whilst he was quick to jump out, he then looked very shaky.  It took the medics quite a while to get to him.  Then the race was red flagged and stopped.

There was a standing start with Norris massively losing out and Ricciardo losing to Russell.  As they went on, Verstappen was able to pull out a lead and Hamilton honed in on LeClerc and took second place.

Alpha Tauri were having a great race until Piastri and Tsunoda started to tangle.  The first time, nothing came of it.  The next time, Tsunoda had a big off and went on a long path across the grass and into penultimate place.

Norris started pretty much in last place and ended up a triumphant 5th.  Both Aston Martins retired.  For some reason Hamilton took Fastest Lap at the end of the race, why he couldn't have done some of these to challenge Verstappen, I don't know.  Albon finished 9th and for some reason, Sargeant went into the pits on the last lap which meant he dropped a few places to finish last of the runners.

Not long until the end of this triple header in Brazil.

Mexican GP Qualifying Report

Coming in to the event from Disqualificationgate, the big questions were...Should more cars have been inspected for floor wear?  Would Verstappen move over to give Perez a home victory?  Was there any chance that Perez could actually get close enough for his team mate to make this even possible?  After the free practice sessions, there was one more question.  Having been second to Verstappen in FP1 and FP3, could Albon qualify his Williams in the top 3?

In Q1, all the drivers apart from Norris came out and put in an early lap.  Stroll, the Williams and the McLarens were loitering at the bottom.  Sargeant went very wide and asked for his floor to be checked.  There was a large queue to get out of the pit lane with two and half minutes to go.  Some drivers were being investigated for impeding others.  With 30 seconds to go, Alonso brought out a yellow flag, with a spin across a kerb, which would also hinder some drivers.  Albon was lucky as he probably would have gone out having struggled with tyres but with the traffic problems he was through.  Out went Norris in last place until Sargeant had his lap time deleted.  The race stewards had a lot to investigate.

Q2 had a bit more silliness at the pit lane exit but otherwise was much more straightforward.  This session saw team mates dividing.  Zhou went out in 11th with Bottas out, Gasly out in 12th following Ocon, Hulkenberg out in 13th following Magnussen, Alonso out in 14th following Stroll and Tsunoda didn't set a time in the end with Ricciardo through in 4th.

Seconds later, Albon had his time deleted and Zhou was through to Q3.  All those saved soft tyres were redundant.  In Q3 it was tight at the top after the first set of runs.  LeClerc led from Sainz, then pole favourite Verstappen.  Ricciardo was 4th and home hero Perez was 7th after the Mercedes.

In the end, Ferrari pulled an amazing one-two front row lock out from nowhere.  LeClerc will lead another race off the grid, as last week.  Verstappen took third, Ricciardo, fourth then Perez.  Using the Mercedes engine, Hamilton was 6th, then Piastri, then Russell with the two Alfa Romeos completing the top ten.

After all these investigations, only Albon was penalised.  From hero to zero.

America GP Race Report

Before the race had started we had both Aston Martins and both Haas starting from the pits, putting both Williams at the back of the grid.  The boxer Anthony Joshua radioed in to his newly owned driver Gasly to wish him good luck, which I suppose gets you extra coverage.

It was an amazing start for Norris and he took the lead from LeClerc, before the first lap had even ended the two Ferraris were fighting.  Russell was fighting to get past Ocon and was investigated for going off the track and gaining an advantage.  As soon as DRS was enabled, Russell and Perez were past the Alpine.  Hamilton then used his DRS to get past Sainz for third.  On lap 5, Verstappen overtook Sainz and on the next lap Hamilton overtook LeClerc.  DRS was really ruining this race.

Ocon retired his car with a big hole in the side after coming together with Piastri at the start; neither good luck wishes from Anthony Joshua nor golf lessons from Rory McIlroy could help him.  A fifth of the way into the race, Piastri had to retire too.

It was half way through the race that Verstappen inevitably took the lead from his pal Norris.  With 20 laps to go, Norris pitted again and triggered a chain reaction.

Poor Norris lost his second place to Hamilton with 7 laps to go.  Mercedes fed Lewis the little nugget he always needs to push: "Verstappen is managing a brakes problem."  With 6 laps to go LeClerc was told to let Sainz by despite messing the drivers about over tyre strategy.  Alonso retired having managed nearly the whole race.  Verstappen managed his brakes to bring the car back in first place, with Hamilton pushing close behind.

We haven't seen a race so determined by tyre strategy in many a long year and I remember being really frustrated by this in the past.  DRS is the new tyre strategy but this made a pleasant change.

Considering LeClerc started on pole, he finished 6th, not what is needed to keep things harmonious at Ferrari.

Considering Alonso decided to use the old car that they started the year with he was able to put in some good overtakes before retiring.

Ricciardo stole the Fastest Lap point from a top ten finisher by finishing both last and fastest, so he won't get the point himself.

The big grumbles about this race were: holes in your side, DRS, inconsistent wind, problems with the floor, track limits (although I think Albon was the only driver to receive a penalty), attending the race only to find out that two drivers were disqualified for shaving their floors on the track, thus running too low and gaining an advantage.

With LeClerc and Hamilton disqualified, both Williams scored points!  Gasly will also be 6th, which is a great result for Alpine.

America GP Sprint Report

Off they went up the crazy steep hill for 20 laps of racing and obviously Verstappen held pole with LeClerc getting away well in second too but being overtaken off the track by Hamilton.  They were battling hard, seemingly without worries for sustaining damage before the main event the next day.

Russell had been given a penalty for impeding LeClerc in the Shootout so was demoted to 11th.  He was up to 7th after a few laps but by overtaking Gasly and Piastri by going wide.  Drivers were pushing each other off the track left, right and centre and if their elbows were this sharp for the Sprint, there could be some tough battling in the race.  Russell was given a 5 point penalty.

A highpoint of the race for me was Albon overtaking the McLaren of Piastri for 9th place.  I wonder if Williams put all their eggs in the Sprint basket to get points this weekend as they qualified higher for the Sprint than for the race.

Piastri was the first driver to receive a black and white flag for track limits.  It took Perez half the race to realise how to drive the car and he suddenly came to life and started overtaking and working his way up the placings.

In the end, Verstappen won by a comfortable margin.  Hamilton was second and LeClerc third.  Norris was fourth ahead of Perez, who just can't find the same pace as Verstappen in that Red Bull.  Great to see four different teams in the top four positions.  Hopefully this can continue next year and there's more of a battle.

American GP Qualifying and Sprint Shootout Report

There was no real news going into the race weekend.  Verstappen is racing as a three times world champion, Danny Ricciardo is back after breaking his hand.  Piastri had trouble in the practice session and hasn't had much time to set up his car.

The first Qualifying session was uneventful until Verstappen was running 5th and told his current time was "on the bubble" for getting through to the next session.  He made it through but both Williams and both Aston Martins were out with the Haas of Hulkenberg (with a lap time deleted).  For such a strong start to the season, Aston Martin are really floundering; they passed on the news much more kindly to Alonso than Stroll.  Apparently they brought upgrades too.  Alonso said they were using these weekends as test sessions for next year.

In the second session, Russell, Perez and Ricciardo (with a lap time deleted) all struggled to show the same competition as their team mates.  Out went Tsunoda, Zhou, Bottas, Magnussen and Ricciardo.

During the crucial final session, Verstappen had a big wobble on his hot lap and then a second off but still hit pole position then had the lap time deleted.  Russell had a lap time deleted but just crossed the line in time to make a final run and qualified 5th, with his team mate in 3rd.  LeClerc took a brilliant pole, showing that Ferrari can be strong at this track, with Sainz in 4th.  Norris lines up 2nd alongside LeClerc, securing a much-needed Qualifying triumph over his team mate Piastri in 10th.  Verstappen was 6th with Perez in 9th and the two Alpines complete the top 10 in 7th and 8th.

Norris felt he could have had pole but wasn't too disappointed as he made mistakes.  Which LeClerc also admitted.  I remember when drivers never admitted mistakes.  It seemed like Schumacher insisted the team publish a problem whenever he made one.  Now, it is all about being humble.  Hamilton came out singing the praises of American and this circuit.

The next day, everyone moved on to the next Qualifying event, the Sprint Shootout.  In the first Shootout (?), LeClerc was 2 milliseconds behind Verstappen.  The Williams had dialled the car in and Albon was in 3rd although Sargeant was in last place.  Ahead of him and also out was an incredulous Tsnuoda, Bottas and the Haas of Magnussen and Hulkenberg,  Russell heavily impeded LeClerc.

In the second Shootout, Verstappen spun the car but reentered the track facing the right way, although his lap time was deleted.  Out went Ricciardo, Alonso, Ocon, Stroll and Zhou.  It makes you wonder what on Earth Williams were doing with their car yesterday as Albon went through in 10th.

By the end, the pole was Verstappen's for the losing, both Ferrari's right behind me looking for the smallest mistake from the Dutchman.  In the end he took it from LeClerc, with Hamilton, Norris, Piastri, Sainz, Perez, Russell, Albon and Gasly behind him.  All this and there's so much more racing to come.

Qatar GP Race Report

The problem with the Pirelli tyres and the corners rumbled on to race day and tyres should only be used for 18 laps including any laps those tyres have run already over the event.  This meant that teams should be using a minimum of 3 stop strategy and there would be a lot of tyre chat during the race.

The second casualty of the race was Sainz whose car had a fatal fuel system problem and couldn't even leave the pits.  He hung about to watch everyone struggle in the heat though.

The second and third casualties were both Mercedes into the first corner, taking each other out.  The wheel came off Hamilton's car but Russell continued in 17th.  This brought out the first and only Safety Car (was expecting many more).  Russell admitted fault and Hamilton stomped across the track.  He was grumpy about his tyres already so probably best he was able to take an early bath.

Next up, Hulkenberg was given a hefty 10 second penalty for starting in Sainz's empty grid spot.

After 13 laps the pit stops started.  By this point, Russell was up to 3rd and back in the podium spaces.  The Mercedes really had some pace.  The Williams were also in 5th and 6th, benefiting from not having used many tyres in Qualifying.  It was hard to keep up with them as most of the cars visited the pit lane.  I looked up and Perez over took for 3rd and then jumped as Albon was running 2nd.  The Williams briefly led the race when Verstappen pitted before pitting themselves.  As the cars fell out of order through stopping, there was a lot of overtaking as normal order was resumed.

By midway through the race Lawson, Albon and Perez had all been shown the black and white flag for going off track limits a significant number of times.  One more time and they would be given a time penalty.  Perez was the first to be awarded a 5 second penalty.  

Alonso really struggled in his Aston Martin, firstly, with a burning bottom and then a massive off, sliding back onto the track immediately in front of LeClerc.  He had to see the stewards after the race.  The drivers were getting hot and bothered.

Sargeant was "feeling poorly", brought on during the race and was called in by the team to retire but pleaded with the team to stay out.  A few laps later he retired himself though; the cameras showed him struggling out of the car until him team moved in front of them.  As Albon had hustled LeClerc before pitting and having led the race and continuing...can Williams afford to hire a driver who is not physically fit enough to complete a race.  Although Albon did get a 5 second penalty for exceeding track limits.

Stroll claimed two 5 second penalties for track limits, continuing his abysmal weekend.  As with Williams, Aston Martin will struggle to justify his position in the team other than that he is the owner's son.

Further up the grid, McLaren, with 9 laps to go, instructed their drivers to hold positions.  Norris was very reluctant to come in behind his team mate (again) and could not see the logic.

With only a few laps to go, Russell then Verstappen pitted for soft tyres.  Despite a slow stop with a sticky tyre, Verstappen managed to retain the lead but Russell would have to overtake both McLarens to resume 2nd.  Norris is definitely getting the same feeling Ricciardo had at McLaren.

Before awarding and discussing final positions, all time penalties would need to be applied.  Whilst Verstappen did win, both McLarens were behind him and they are looking the stronger team.  Or is Perez driving awfully?  Russell finished 4th with LeClerc close on his heels.

Everyone was just happy to finish the race, with conditions beyond challenges.  

Qatar GP Sprint Shootout and Sprint Report

Just when Formula 1 is reaching more fans and becoming more accessible, the FIA throws a spanner at Liberty Media and Lazenby is left trying to explain some imperative technical changes because Pirelli have botched up making tyres, the one thing that Pirelli do.  It turns out that staying on the track at turns 12 and 13 is too much for these tyres.  Or the kerbs.  Something or other.  And they're going to check the tyres more often.  Don't worry, Rosberg was there to grill someone from the FIA, who also struggled to explain the problem.

For light relief, Sky cut to stroppy Stroll.  New footage had emerged of him throwing his steering wheel away.  He was also in trouble for going backstage and pushing his trainer rather than going to be weighed.

The Shootout was delayed for an extra 10 minute practice so drivers could experience the changes to the track.  As it got underway, it became clear that track limits would continue from Qualifying yesterday to be a problem.  On the timing chart, drivers set times and then fell back to the bottom as their time was deleted.

Out went: Stroll, who went wide; Albon who wide, Tsunoda, who cursed all the way back to the pits, having had a time deleted; Magnussen and Sargeant.

In the second session, it seemed much tighter at the top with Norris really pushing Verstappen and Russell and LeClerc in the mix too.  Hamilton and Sainz had lap times deleted but the Ferraris were struggling with wind.  In the end though Sainz pushed Hamilton out of the Shootout in 12th.  He was preceded by Gasly and followed by Lawson (who would be put back after a time deletion to split the Alfa Romeos), Bottas (just like the good old days) and Zhou.

I hesitated to type the final Sprint Shootout classification as lap times continued to be okay and not.  Norris gave the pole position to his team mate Piastri with a huge slide coming out of the final corner.  Verstappen had to settle for third with Russell, Alonso, Sainz, LeClerc, Hulkenberg, Perez and Ocon.

And on to the Sprint...

It was a competitive start, not many drivers seemed to care about keeping the car in one piece for the race tomorrow.  Alonso had stressed the importance of "staying safe" after the Shootout.  The Ferraris made it up to 3rd and 4th and Russell got into 2nd.  Norris fell back to 6th, behind Verstappen.  The McLaren driver wasn't the biggest loser, it was Lawson, in his final race for Alpha Tauri this season, as he spun out into the gravel and beached himself.  It brought out the Safety Car, so we could replay the start lots.  Luckily it didn't take long to remove the car.

Russell had soft tyres and was able to overtake Piastri for the lead when the Safety Car went back in.  Still, it was less than a lap later for the normal Safety Car Whisperer, Logan Sargeant, to beach his car in the gravel and no sooner had Burt Mylander took his helmet off, he was back out again.  It was a long walk across the gravel for the American.

Russell slowed the pack right down, knowing that when he led off the medium-tyred Piastri wouldn't be able to keep up.  Sainz had a good look at the rookie too.  Finally on Lap 9 of 19, Verstappen switched his Red Bull on and sailed passed LeClerc to take 4th.  It was down to the soft tyres the Ferraris were on starting to grain and go off, whilst the medium tyres of the Red Bull and McLaren came into play.  Norris swept past LeClerc too and Piastri overtook Russell for the lead.  Just as things were getting interesting, we got another Safety Car on Lap 11.  Perez tangled with Ocon and Hulkenberg; all three cars tried to go into the same corner at the same time.  As Perez wouldn't be getting any points, as long as Verstappen scored something, he would be world champion.  Checo stood hands in the air in despair beside his car.  Russell was desperate for new tyres but he couldn't retake the places with so little time left and the pack running so close together.  Verstappen was warned that damage was starting to show on his tyres but he was desperate to win.

LeClerc was the biggest winner at the restart, taking his place back from Norris.  A lap later, Verstappen took second from Russell.  When McLaren got their tyres switched on, Norris was past LeClerc and Sainz for 4th.  On the final lap, Norris claimed the third step of the podium from Russell and Piastri was nearly 2 seconds ahead in the lead.  We can see now why Norris was so disappointed after Qualifying, McLaren can challenge Red Bull at this track and he wants to be the driver to do it, not his rookie team mate.

Somehow, and with 5 cars DNF, Albon made it from the back of the grid ish to 8th, getting past the Aston Martin of Alonso on the last lap to claim 1 point.

The Dutch fans who had travelled to the Middle East and paid the extra for the Saturday Sprint, were rewarded by seeing their hero crowned World Champion.  McLaren and Piastri proved that the whole fiasco with Alpine was worth it as he took the Sprint win.

I had wondered why there were no black and white flags for going over the track limits during the Sprint but apparently we just weren't told about them during the race.  There weren't enough for any time penalties to be handed out though.  There shouldn't have been many as so many laps were slow under the Safety Car.

The podium finishers were given their plaques, which look a lot like house door number signs.  Then they stood in front of the neon screens to have their photos taken with them.  Could Norris break his duck in the race tomorrow?  Will Verstappen have one too many Red Bull and vodkas tonight to celebrate his championship and help his pal out?

Qatar GP Qualifying Report

Qatar is quite a straight forward event, even with night racing and a sprint.

Qualifying was uneventful in Q1.  Out went Lawson, Magnussen (trumped by Hulkenberg), Sargeant (just pushed out by his team mate), Zhou and Stroll.  Whilst Stroll starts in 17th, his team mate was the fastest car on the straights and finished the first session in 3rd. Stroll then gave sub-Raikkonen one-word sullen answers in the press pen.  This probably isn't going to quash the rumours that his father is going to sell the team he bought for his son.

Q2 was slightly more interesting.  Tsunoda led the way for those exiting, followed by Sainz, Perez, Albon and Hulkenberg.  With Perez being the only driver who can challenge Verstappen for the championship, he did not need a lap deleted for going over track limits.  Sainz also put in a shocker.  Hamilton came back from being second to his team mate in the first session to put in the quickest lap in this session.

Through Qualifying, Norris had been on and off the track, with lap times being deleted.  Having finished second, it happened again and he ended up in 10th handing 3rd place to his team mate Piastri.  As Piastri was being interviewed, the interviewer was informed that Piastri was now in 6th as he too had gone over the track limits line.  Hamilton had a big slide and finished behind his team mate, who was second.  Verstappen went out to put in some more quick laps but ended up watching the remainder of Qualifying from the pits, out of the car and chatting.  The final classification was Verstappen (didn't even consider going near a white line), Russell (never a rule breaker), Hamilton (still unhappy), Alonso (I thought he was 4th before lap times being deleted, so not sure how he finished 4th and not -2nd), LeClerc (disappointing), Piastri, Gasly, Ocon (cracks beginning to show at Alpine), Bottas and Norris.

Japan GP Race Report

It didn't look like a traditionally wet race in Suzuka so it was then a question of whether Red Flags or Safety Cars would make the race more interesting.  We all knew the answer to this, it was more when than if Sargeant brought out either.  He was already starting from the pit lane with a 10 second penalty as the team had to get extra parts during Parc Ferme to rebuild his car after he smashed it up during Qualifying.

Piastri and Verstappen both aimed for the same piece of track and gave Norris a pass into second place off the start.  There was some kind of coming together behind them, which meant that a Safety Car came out so some debris could be collected from the track.  Bottas hits Albon, giving himself a puncture.  Zhou was also somehow involved.  Hamilton was hit by Perez.  There were new noses all round.  Sargeant came back into the pits for reason unknown, perhaps to run the hard tyres to the end?

Unlike the olden days, there were no team orders with Russell battling with the damaged Hamilton.  The greatest battles of the race were between team mates.

It was Lap 6, that Sargeant fulfilled his promise and ran into Bottas.  Bottas went off the track, into the pits and was sent out 30 seconds later to trundle around before retiring.  Sargeant got a 5 second penalty.  Perez got 5 seconds for a Safety Car infringement.  It was unclear what he was supposed to do exiting the pits.  Things went from bad to worse, as Perez then drove into the Haas of Magnussen and damaged his front wing.

Piastri came in for his pit stop just as a Virtual Safety Car was called and got a very lucky stop.  This was to get him back past his team mate, Norris.

Perez was told to retire the car.

The  Mercedes continued to fight each other.  Russell held second for a long time as he ran a one stop strategy.

Alonso is clearly still keen to stick up 2 fingers to his old team, Alpine, as he fought to get past Ocon, imploring his team to: "think of something".  The McLarens had a bit of a fight but then the team got tired of Norris's whinging and asked Piastri to move over.  He did look quicker.

Sargeant was seen walking back through the pits.  Clearly he was retired.  Then I noticed that Stroll had retired; I've no idea why.  Then Albon pitted and retired.

The Ferraris quietly drove around in 4th and 5th.

Alonso was given some helpful advice from his pit that Stroll had suffered a rear wing failure, so could he avoid the bumpy bits?

Perez was unretired so that he could serve his penalty and not carry it over to the next race.

Mercedes made the call for Russell and Hamilton to swap places but then needed Hamilton to give Russell DRS to defend from Sainz, who did manage to get past.  If they had waited until the last lap, as Russell suggested, they would have kept both places.  Could Hamilton both give Russell DRS and chase after LeClerc?  No

Verstappen took the victory and scored enough points for Red Bull to claim the Constructor's Championship.  Norris was very happy with the team for them to take the final two spots on the podium.  Piastri drove an excellent rookie drive and was awarded Driver of the Day.  

Lawson finished ahead of Tsunoda but neither of them were in the points.

The next race is at Qatar, where there is a Sprint, so Verstappan can win his Drivers Championship without scoring in a race.  I doubt the FIA thought of that when they introduced the format.

Whilst I don't have much to write about it was a great race and there are lots of battles brewing between currently happy team mates.

Japan GP Qualifying Report

The headlines in Suzuka was that Japanese driver Tsunoda along with Red Bull returnee Ricciardo have been confirmed as Alpha Tauri drivers for 2024.  None of the contenders are taking Perez' Red Bull seat and Lawson will continue as reserve and test driver.

Sargeant stopped the first Qualifying session, bringing out a Red Flag, crashing at the end of his (good?) lap.  This only increases his margin at the top of the damages cost table, bringing his total to probably over the $3 million mark.  His position seems to be becoming increasingly untenable, even though Red Bull boss Christian Horner believes Williams won't take Lawson as they'll want a driver for more than a year.  At the end, out went Zhou, Hulkenberg, Stroll and Bottas with Albon just pulling out a good lap in time to go through.  Lawson, rejected by Alpha Tauri went fourth.  You wonder what metrics the team(s) can see that justify their choice of driver for next season.

The second session passed with no incident.  The McLarens put in a strong showing and Verstappen too.  Out went Lawson, Gasly, Albon, Ocon and Magnussen.  Home track hero, Tsunoda made it through; Honda having given him a special engine probably.

The third session was no more exciting than the second.  Verstappen predictably took pole.  The McLarens continued to show great pace, with Piastri out qualifying his team mate in 2nd and 3rd.  LeClerc was 4th, a much-needed two places in front of his team mate who won the last race.  Perez was 5th, again causing everyone to question why he is keeping his seat at Red Bull.  The Mercedes qualified 7th and 8th with Hamilton in front.  The top 10 is rounded off by Tsunoda and Alonso.  

Suzuka can be a big challenge, especially if it's wet but it also feels like it is Verstappen's to lose.  I suspect the McLarens will make it interesting for the first lap or two.  The interest will be whether they can hold Perez up and whether Mercedes can make it forwards with more tyres saved for the race.  Norris looked miffed to be behind his team mate and I expect he will want to get passed him as soon as possible.  Will they come together?  Same for the Ferrari drivers, when are things going to implode there?  Poor, tiny, Yuki is always treated like a small boy so it would be great for him to prove his worth.

 

SIngapore GP Race Report

Following Verstappen acquiring three investigations during qualifying, we may have woken up on Sunday to see the Red Bull even further back on the grid.  He got away with reprimands though and I can hear Hamilton's voice in my head stating his opinion of that.

Lance Stroll had pulled out of the race after his crash as he wasn't quite fit enough and his car definitely wasn't.  Super-sub Ricciardo was out of action after breaking his hand and super-sub-sub Lawson was in his Alpha Tauri seat.

It was a clean start, Sainz getting away well and his team mate, LeClerc too.  Russell made a poor start from second and fell down to third, with his team mate going off the track and rejoining ahead of him to take that third place.  Alonso and Ocon got past the Haas of Magnussen.  Tsunoda stopped and started on the first lap and then stopped for good, parking his car behind the barriers, averting a Safety Car.  It was a puncture, so you wonder why he couldn't have got back to the pits.

As Russell was released by his team mate, he set the fastest lap.  After a bit of negotiation with the stewards, Hamilton gave a place back to Norris too and that was the end of that.

Everyone went around nicely for a while.  Then Sargeant went and did something silly on Lap 19 and ended up with his own wing underneath him.  He dragged it round the track, sending bits of carbon fibre everywhere.  It didn't look like a Safety Car event but it was.  Lots of cars came in for a change of tyre.  Sainz held first position.  Ferrari double-stacked and bought LeClerc in from second behind him but had to hold him in the pit box as Mercedes double-stacked too.  This brought Norris out ahead of LeClerc.  The Red Bulls did not pit.  Alonso did something silly and locked up his tyres, swaying out of the pit lane lines and got a 5 second penalty.

At the restart, Sainz held his lead but it was all change behind him.  For the first time this season we saw Verstappen being overtaken during race (other than off the start).  Once everyone found their new place, they continued going round and round.  With the Red Bull tyres dropping off more and more.  Russell radioed in to let his team know that he did want to go for the win.

Two thirds of the way through the race, Ocon lost power in his Alpine. He was an angry Frenchman, beating the steering wheel and throwing his head support back into the car.  He stomped back to the pits.  This led to a Virtual Safety Car.  It was a close call whether to pit or not.  Albon made a quick decision to come in.  Further on, both Mercedes came in and were in and out swiftly.  Alonso came in and had to wait 5 seconds before his crew could start work.  It was an awful stop though, with tyres not coming off and not going on.  He had radioed in earlier to say the car was "undrivable".  The end of the love affair begins.  Then he spun but kept going.  Ferrari were now racing on wing and prayer as they hoped LeClerc and Norris could hold up the Mercedes on new tyres.

With 9 laps to go Russell took LeClerc for 3rd place.  Then Hamiton was past the Ferrari too.  With three laps to go, Sainz radioed in to say that his tyres were finished.  All four drivers were in shot at the same time.  Sainz had backed Norris into the Mercedes to aid his defence and now Lando had to put in the hard work.  Had Mercedes put in team orders asking Russell and Hamilton not to fight each other?  It didn't look like it and that was hampering Russell's confidence getting past Norris.  This proved to really cost the team in the last few corners, when Russell clipped the wall and crashed out.  The podium was Sainz, Norris and Hamilton.  LeClerc took fourth with Gasly in a commendable and quiet sixth.

With Verstappen finishing 5th and Perez finishing 8th, Red Bull don't claim the Constructors Championship at this race.  As Verstappen didn't win the race his streak is over, so we won't have to hear about that for at least another 10 races.  And Red Bull didn't win the race, so they won't get a perfect season.  So we won't have to hear about that until next year.

Both the rookies, Lawson and Piastri scored points.  With Tsunoda out, his performance won't have been compared to Lawson, which possibly saves for him for the rest of this season.  We haven't seen a race with five cars out in a long time.  Alonso won't be happy to finish plum last either.  Sargeant will be happy not to be last. This last two is a surprise as Lawson brought out the Safety Car earlier.

Not only was Verstappen not the winner but he wasn't on the podium, which was the breath of fresh air that the fans needed.

Singapore GP Qualifying Report

The big news so far at the event, was that Red Bull were less competitive.  I don't think anyone believed that this would result in them being very far down the grid.

In the first session, backmarker Sargeant impeded Stroll.  Verstappen, not used to seeing cars ahead of him, radioed, swearing, back to the pits about how many cars were on the track in the last minute.  The track was cooling so the tyres were improving and the best laps would be put in at the very end.  Tsunoda went fastest and held this against Perez and several others, the Haas' also getting to the top of the chart.  We were riding on board with Stroll as his car veered to the side of the track and went through a huge spin on the main straight.  The director immediately replayed the incident, even though we didn't know whether Stroll was okay.  This was a huge departure from usual protocol but as we had watched it happen it didn't seem to matter.  Finally Stroll radioed in that he was okay.  It took a while for him to get out though and the chassis was ruined.  It didn't look in a state that it could be repaired for the race the next day.  Who would spin on demand during the race for Alonso now?

The Red Flag was brought out which ended the session.  Stroll went into the lap in last place and finished there.  Also out were  Bottas, Piastri, Sargeant and Zhou.  A couple of these were casualties of the accident.  Verstappen was also investigated for impeding drivers in the pit lane.

The second session was delayed so the TV director played some team radio.  Firstly, Verstappen was swearing about the poor balance of the car.  Then Norris was enquiring about Stroll.  Hamilton said the car was very hot.  Everything continued very topsy-turvy.  Lawson, in the sister team, knocked Verstappen out of the top 10, so he qualifies 11th.  Followed by Gasly, Perez, Albon and Tsunoda, who didn't set a time.  This is what we've waited for all season.

Lawson is driving so well, Alpha Tauri won't need to bring Ricciardo back when his broken hand has mended.  Though he finished tenth in the final Qualifying session  behind Sainz on pole, Russell, LeClerc (who will surely be very disappointed but didn't radio his team to tell them what they did wrong), Norris, Hamilton, Magnussen, Alonso, Ocon and Hulkenberg.  It was a very strong showing for the Haas.

Everyone hopes this will be the race that Verstappen and Red Bull don't win.  They'll probably win the Constructors' Championship though.

Italy GP Race Report

A thrilling race seemed to be promised: a Ferrari on pole, with his team mate  behind him, Verstappen looking for his 10th win in a row, everyone (apart from Red Bull) was saying how quick the Williams are in a straight line and will be difficult to overtake.  There have been several names in the running for the second Red Bull seat: the current holder Perez, longest Alpha Tauri driver Tsunoda, new Alpha Tauri driver Lawson, reserve driver Ricciardo but Albon, who is only on loan to Williams has been overlooked.

The first casualty at the cathedral of speed was Tsunoda, who didn't even make it around the formation lap.  I think the engineers can no longer compute hot weather having been to only cold and wet tracks for a while.  LeClerc also found that his car was tricky to handle.

When the race did start, Sainz made a good start and was able to stay ahead of Verstappen for the lead of the first 15 laps.  Albon suffered with a typical Williams poor start and fell back to 9th; Piastri gained three places.  

By Lap 4, Verstappen radioed his team as he had spotted Sainz beginning to slide on his tyres and was told to be sensible.  The race was full of overtakes and battles.  There were a few 5 second penalties; Russell, Hamilton and Piastri.  At the end, Noah brought the animals in two by two: two bulls, two prancing horses, two silver...foxes?  Verstappen got his record-breaking 10 wins in a row.  The Ferraris battled to the very end with no team orders, with Sainz getting the podium.

Monza usually brings out the best of the racers with shorter, tighter laps and always worth watching.

Italy GP Qualifying Report

Not much news at Monza, the Mercedes drivers have signed new contracts, LeClerc hasn't.  The sun was shining down on the Tifosi.  Alfa Romeo were trying to poach some fans by running an Italian flag livery, they weren't fooling anyone as the team is Swiss.  Perez had to change his engine due to an oil leak but it was part of his allocation so he wouldn't be receiving a grid penalty.

In the first Qualifying session, we found out that drivers were finding it tricky to stay within the track limits on Turn 3, with lap times being deleted.  Ocon had a big trip across the gravel and damaged his floor.  It was another awful day for Alpine with both drivers out, Magnussen was out-qualified yet again by his team mate and Zhou.  Brilliantly, Albon finished 2nd and Sargeant 6th for Williams.  Obviously Verstappen set the fastest lap.  With the alternative tyre allocation in place this weekend, everyone ran the hard tyres.  It looked like LeClerc and Sainz went too slowly on the track and were under investigation by the stewards.  The stewards might find a horses head in their hotel rooms.

By the second session, the drivers had found the track limits.  It was a straight forward session, with the Alpha Tauris taking 11th and 12th, Tsunoda and Lawson, then Hulkenberg, Bottas and Sargeant (his team mate Albon managed 5th).

Half way through the final session, the Ferraris were in the lead, the Williams of Albon was still running well and Verstappen had a made a big mistake, going off the track, so was in 3rd.  I think his Red Bull could be on fire and he would still be in the top 3.  LeClerc held pole until Verstappen took it, then Sainz swooped in and took it and held it.  Russell took 4th ahead of team mate Hamilton in 8th.  Perez was 5th, then Albon.  Piastri was in 7th, ahead of his team mate Norris in 9th.  The promise of Aston Martin last week has disappeared as Alonso finished 10th.  As the drivers parked up, the stewards announced that there would be no further action for the Ferraris about their speed transgression.

The Ferrari drivers had to ask the crowd not to boo Verstappen.  We go into the race hoping that Sainz can hold Max up and perhaps a Ferrari can win at Monza but not holding our breath.

Netherlands GP Race Report

Another race day, another set of concerns about weather.  It definitely wasn't sunny at the seaside resort.

The three Brits behind Verstappen had plans to hold up Alonso at worst, get the better of the championship leader at best.  The banking really helped Fernando though, as he overtook Albon and Russell in the same corner.  They thought it would spit with rain later but then heavy rain fell.  As we watched several drivers pit, Alonso got past Norris for second position.  Obviously, Ferrari had the wrong set of tyres ready for LeClerc and had to go back to the tyre wardrobe for the correct boots.  It wouldn't be a Formula 1 race without Ferrari cocking it up in a very simple manner.

Perez was the first driver to take wet tyres and swiftly made his way to the very front of the race.  Over the next couple of laps, the order changed completely.  Diappointingly, Albon had gone from 4th to 14th, hanging on with dry tyres, Norris 2nd to 12th.  By Lap 12, drivers were coming back in for dry tyres, with LeClerc getting a new front wing too after his wet conditions collision with Piastri.

Four laps later, having drivers in 8th and 20th, down from 4th and 10th starting positions, things went from bad to worse for Williams as Sargeant broke his car taking a corner poorly and spun off, putting his car out of the race, breaking the barriers and bringing out the safety car.  Russell and Stroll gambled on pitting for their second tyre choice as Sargeant sat despondently on the grass track-side, hanging his head in shame.

We went into the next phase of the race with Verstappen leading the race from his team mate, then Alonso, Gasly and Sainz.  After battling Alpha Tauri reserved driver Lawson, making his F1 debut, for 15th position, LeClerc retired his damaged Ferrari, ending an awful weekend on his side of the Ferrari garage.  

Teams now needed to decide whether to stick with old tyres to the end of the race or pit.  Aston Martin bought in Alonso from 3rd, had a problem in the stop and sent him out in 4th.  With 15 laps to go, and a lot of rain predictions throughout the race that came to nothing, it seemed that we would get more rain and this time heavier than the start.

After 13 races and 60 laps, Gasly's decision to leave the Red Bull barn and go to Alpine paid off as he over took Sainz for 4th position.  And then it rained....  Again Perez was in first for wet tyres.  The next lap, Verstappen  took new tyres and held the lead.  Alonso also pitted but Albon and Ocon kept going and were persuaded to come in.

With a 20 second deficit to his team mate, Perez went off the track and handed 2nd place to Alonso.  Ocon had taken on the full wet tyre, which helped him as the rain came down harder and harder.  The other drivers came in for those tyres too.  Zhou went off and a Virtual Safety Car was put out as the car was tucked into the barrier.  Then the race was red flagged.  Now there was a lot of confusion.  A lot.  With cars in the pit for wet tyres, which was the responsible thing to do and part of the reason for the Red Flag, would they lose position when the race restarted?

It was a rolling start for the final 7 laps.  The order was decided somehow, I didn't follow.  Verstappen in the lead, then Alonso, then Perez...Hamilton lucked out in 6th.  Off they went and it was announced that Perez had a 5 second penalty for speeding in the pit lane.  Russell was out of the race, I couldn't understand why there weren't any yellow flags but it was a puncture and it he made it back to the pit lane in a gentlemanly fashion.  Everyone else was scrambling to get within 5 seconds of Perez to move up a place.

Verstappen reigned supreme at his home track.  Alonso comfortably held on to 2nd (voted Driver of the Day too), with Gasly taking his first podium in a long time.  Perez was 5 seconds ahead of Sainz, so claimed 4th, then Hamilton, Norris, Albon, Piastri and Ocon.  It was a good points haul for McLaren and the mass sacking at Alpine seems to have been justified now.

Lawson finished his maiden race in 13th place, 3 places ahead of his team mate (not sure when Tsunoda went back 3 places).

At least Norris wasn't on the podium to smash the Delft (?) trophy.

It was an epic race and one that will be remembered and discussed for many years.  I definitely want this level of personal weather forecasting in my life.

Netherlands GP Qualifying Report

The big news of the weekend so far was the weather.  It has caught a lot of drivers out; most notably Piastri, whose incident was avoided by Ricciardo, breaking his hand in the process.  Danny Ric was dispatched to Barcelona to visit the same surgeon who fixed Lance Stroll.  Everyone will have to look forward to the come back from the come back.

As Qualifying started, in wet weather conditions, Albon, a Haas and Verstappen quickly went off the track.  Several followed and it got wetter and wetter as the first session progressed.

Kiwi Liam Lawson stepped in for Alpha Tauri finished Qualifying last and went out alongside Bottas, Magnussen, Ocon and Zhou.  Alpine continue to sink to the bottom and you have to wonder how long Renault will continue to fund this catastrophe.  LeClerc just scraped through and, once again, berated his team publicly over the radio.  His advice?  They needed to manage their strategy with traffic better.

The second session saw the weather improve and drivers had to make decisions about tyres.  This was not supposed to be a good track for the Williams car but Albon and Sargeant both made it through to the third session.  Both cars got into the final part of Qualifying for the first time in years.  Albon was even in third.  Stroll went out, Gasly, Tsunoda and Hulkenberg.  Sargeant benefited from a huge timing mistake by Mercedes and Hamilton, which caused them to be out in 12th position.

At the start of the final session, Verstappen was the only driver out on Intermediate tyres instead of softs, which could have been a problem but he always gets the luck...  Just when I was wondering whether Williams are the new McLaren (who are the new Aston Martin), Sargeant spun his car heavily into the wall.  The session was stopped and the dire Dutch DJ started up again.

Just as we got started again, with Norris now in the lead, LeClerc hit the barriers and the session was stopped again.  I can't see that he can blame this one on the team and he apologised.  The Ferrari driver did an Alonso and sat by the side of the track on a deckchair watching the rest of the action.

There was only a couple of minutes to put in a final offer for the grid.  Verstappen went out and did the business and got his pole position.  After him it was all to play for, with Norris taking second position and Albon briefly getting third before being pushed down one place by Russell.  Alonso was in fifth.  It's notable that Sainz and Perez are 6th and 7th, being in much better cars than those ahead of them.  Piastri was in 8th, a gap his team mate Norris needs to reinforce his position as Number 1 in the team as the Aussie grows in experience, confidence and, most importantly, results.  The crashers finished the top ten.

For Albon his position was a "nice surprise".  Up and down the paddock there was delight that the Williams were showing more success.  Let's see where they actually finish the race though.  Alex was disappointed that one of the mid-field cars hadn't popped up in the middle of the top 10 to help him, all hopes are on Logan holding the pack up.

Belgium GP Race Report

The biggest talking point before the race was how many laps before Verstappen would be in the lead.  I reckoned he would overtake one car per lap, so 5 laps, as he had had a 5 lap penalty for a gear box change.  

LeClerc held the start for the briefest of rides before Perez overtook him after a couple of corners for the lead.  Piastri sustained damage, coming in to contact with Sainz, and fell back to last, before stopping at the side of the track.  Sainz also accrued serious aero damage, a shredded side, and was a sitting duck and we watched Alonso overtake him (ultimately, it would quietly retire too).  By Lap 4 Verstappen was still in P4.  The overtakes I wanted to see though, were those by Albon, first Stroll, then Norris, having moved from 15th to 8th.  Albon then took poor Sainz.

On Lap 6, Verstappen overtook Hamilton for 3rd and a podium position.  Then a few rounds later, he got past LeClerc for second and now only had to overtake his team mate.  Meanwhile, further back, some drivers took a pit stop.  Norris was struggling with everything and despite some cheery team radio, he just couldn't find a way to make the car work and feel positive about it.  He seemed to have a dreadful race.

There were a few more pitstops and some discussion of rain coming, then it was Lap 17 and Verstappen was past his team mate.

Just as the rain came down and the spectators put on their waterproof ponchos, Norris came in for a very slow stop and put on dry tyres.  The precipitation never came to much as it was gone as soon as it was talked about and blue skies shone over Spa once again.

Verstappen built up a half a minute lead over Perez and earned himself a free pit stop.

After 44 long laps, Hamilton pitted for fresh tyres to try for Fastest Lap and the accompanying point but Verstappen kept that in his pocket.  Norris, amazingly, ended up 7th.  The Ferrari of LeClerc claimed the third spot on the podium.  And now we go on holiday for three weeks; not me but Formula 1.  And when we come back, Verstappen can continue winning.

Belgium GP Sprint Report

The change from August to July for our annual jaunt to the land of rain, in the hope of less rain, meant it was still raining for the Sprint Shootout - or Sprint Qualifying as I like to call it.  The start of the session was delayed as it bucketed down.  When we did start, all cars went out on Intermediate tyres...why not send them out earlier on Wet tyres?

There were no surprises for those who went out after the shorter first session: Zhou, Bottas, Tsunoda (the rise of Ricciardo), Hulkenberg and Magnussen.

In the second session, all drivers were again on Intermediate tyres, designed for a wet but drying track.  Aston Martin threw the dice and switched to dry tyres, with Stroll.  He handled it well for a few corners before being sent into the wall and bringing out a Red Flag and ending the session.  Unfortunately Albon and Stroll's team mate Alonso, were out on their only laps sending both Williams, both Aston Martins and Ricciardo out.

Just as with Race Qualifying, Verstappen pulled out a great last minute lap to claim pole position as the last driver over the line.  Rookie Piastri put his McLaren next to him; a fantastic lap as he hasn't been racing here for 3 years.  Sainz took a rare victory over his team mate LeClerc as they line up 3rd and 4th.  Norris was next, alongside a great job from Gasly.  Then Hamilton and Perez, Ocon and Russell.

Everyone went for some lunch before the sprint race itself started.  However just as it was due to start, the heavens opened and it rained again.  The cars were parked on the grid, so the gazebos went up.  Russell and Wolff had a little banter about the weather, starting with how sorry George felt for the crowd.  It stopped raining and then started again.  A rolling start sort-of started with the Safety Car leading them round on several formation laps.  It felt like a very long time because this is Spa and the track is very very long.  They kept going, even when Verstappen said they might be able to go for Intermediate tyres.

Finally Verstappen held his first place for the rolling start and led into a 12 lap race.  Half the pack pitted, including second place man Piastri, who came out in 11th ahead of all the other stoppers.  On the next lap, the other half pitted (apart from Ocon) and Verstappen came out behind Piasti, leading a grand prix for the first time.  It was chaos in the pit lane and I'm amazed that no "unsafe release" penalties were awarded.

What would happen on Lap 3?  Alonso, celebrating his 78th birthday, went into the wall and brought out the Safety Car.  The whole day shows a dramatic demise for the team.  On Lap 6 the race restarted and Piastri was unable to hold Verstappen off for more than a couple of corners.  Behind them his team mate was overtaken by Hamilton, Sainz and then LeClerc.  Ricciardo was running in 9th and just outside the top 8 places which receive points.  Perez, having been the king of tyre management, couldn't warm them up.  As Norris went for the overtake, he spun off and rejoined the track in 16th putting the rival for his seat into the points.  Red Bull decided to pit and retire the car.  Verstappen was also having problems with his tyres but not enough not to win the race.  

Hamilton was given a rather unfair penalty for his overtake attempt on Perez.  The final order was Verstappen, Piastri and Gasly (with the departing Alpine personnel putting in a good showing to add to their CVs).

No one seemed to know what the rules were for a Sprint format: not the FIA and not the Sky F1 team.  As Piastri pointed out, he was delighted to be not-on-the-podium for this not-quite-a-race.  The drivers were awarded their funny little plaque thingys.  The luxe version of a Blankety Blank chequebook and pen.

There seem to be a number of contenders for the second two spots on the podium in the main race and there is always the hope that Verstappen will spin like Alonso did today, or be penalised like Hamilton was today as he comes though the pack from 5th.  Maybe he will suffer damage like Perez or take a fever.  I remember when these things used to happen but they don't seem to be happening to Max this season.  It must be odd to be him at the moment: on top of your profession but aware that everyone is waiting for your downfall eagerly.  He probably doesn't' realise though.

Belgium GP Qualifying Report

The breaking news was that someone ignored HR's advice and fired the top two dogs at Alpine at the start of the race event.  Alan Pomaine and Otmar Schnafhauzer had to work the weekend and would then be given a year's gardening leave, whilst Pomaine had worked at the team for 34 years.  I'm assuming that redundancy will cost Alpine a full year's cost-capped budget.

Instagram was full of pictures of how wet it has been in Spa but the rain stopped just in time for Quaifying so everyone had to wait 10 minutes for the track to drain of water.  Qualifying did not continue smoothly.  Sargeant had to get a new gearbox fitted but did get out for Q1.  Albon was impeded by Verstappen.  Norris took a bumpy trip through the gravel and had possible front wing damage.  Track limits violations rang up every lap.

Hulkenberg had hydraulic problems and only set a tester lap and went out.  Ricciardo went through but on a lap where he went out of track limits, so was out.  Both Williams went out with Zhou too.

In Q2, the big talking points were the drying track and slick tyres and then Ocon hit the wall and damaged his front wing.  Ricciardo's team mate went first briefly at the end of the session, putting DannyRic to shame.  As the seconds ticked down, the track improved and improved.  Versappen put in a spectactualy poor lap and got through in 10th.  Out went Tsunoda, Gasly, Magnussen, Bottas and Ocon.  Verstappen got very swearing on the radio and his engineer came back equally snappy.

In the final Qualifying session, we hoped that pole was open to more drivers than just Verstappen but ultimately it was Verstappen.  As he is taking a 5 place grid penalty for a gearbox change, LeClerc will be promoted to pole, then Peres, Hamilton, Sainz, Piastri outqualifying Norris, Russell, Alonso and Stroll.

Hungary GP Race Report

Obviously, it was going to be a win for Verstappen so we had to look further back for any interest.

It was a clean start at the front of the grid, with Verstappen making an easy inside corner pass into and out of turn 1.  Hamilton is unused to making pole position starts.  Piastri took his team mate and Hamilton to take second position with Norris putting Hamilton in 4th.  Behind them Zhou nudged Ricciardo into one Alpine who tagged the next, which didn't bring out a Safety Car but the Yellow Flag briefly.  Ocon and Gasly were both retired straight away.  Zhou received a penalty.  The impact split Ocon's seat in half and the Frenchman had to go to the medical centre to have his back checked.

Sainz caught up to his team mate quickly from further back on the grid but was on soft tyres.  Russell made up several places from the back of the grid.  Perez will regret only qualifying in 9th position, as he had to try and get past strong-defender Alonso (obviously he has such a great car that it wasn't too many laps looking at the Spaniard's bahookey).

Albon took an early pit stop on Lap 9, to put on the hard tyres and came out in last place.  It seems a desperate strategy from Williams but other teams reacted.  As the laps went by, Sainz figured out his own pit strategy, still behind LeClerc.  That is until Ferrari had a slow stop, 9.8 months, and LeClerc came out in 11th.    The McLarens took their pit stops one after the other.  Norris built a healthy gap to Hamilton and got a free stop and tried the undercut on Piastri, which worked despite Piastri being served a 2.0 second pit stop.

Hamilton was left flustered behind the McLarens, with some tentative use of the engine restrictions.  His team mate, Russell, kindly let him through as it would be several laps until he pitted.  When he did he was in 14th behind the early stopper Albon who was in 11th.  Returnee Ricciardo continued to pootle about in last place.  Perez had to put in the overtake moves to move up the grid and prove his worth as a driver.

As Hamilton was told to "lift and coast", he was still able to defend against Perez.  Red Bull bought him in for a pit stop as well and he came in at the same time as Piastri.  This was the moment that McLaren found an awful pit stop in their tool box and threw that spanner into the works, whilst Red Bull managed 1.9 seconds.  LeClerc had a ding dong over the radio with his team about strategy or lack of. Alonso then had a poor pit stop.  Perez continued his progress towards the podium.  LeClerc was given a 5 second penalty for speeding in the pit lane.  A lot of the action happened in the pit stops, which hasn't shaped a race in many seasons.

Red Bull, Mercedes and McLaren dominated the top 10, then Ferrari.  The Aston Martins finished 9th and 10th taking the last of the points places.  It no longer looks like Alonso is challenging for a podium at every race.  We can only hope that next year's car is being prepared and it will be a doozy - especially as they have poached everyone apart from Adrian Newey to build it.  Albon continues to shine in his Williams, finishing 11th but failing to get any points this time.  Ricciardo finally fininshed where he started, in 13th place, two places ahead of his team mate.  This must count as a good restart to his racing career?  Verstappen described his car as a "rocket ship", which is fairly accurate and Norris was delighted to finish second.

We were promised a safety car to spice up proceedings but none came.  Hopefully it will rain in Belgium; it's been a very rainy summer so far so I would feel cheated if a little wet weather didn't shake things up at the last race before the break.

Hungary GP Qualifying Report

Because things can't stay the same in F1, their were new tyre regulations for Qualifying.  Hard tyres must be worn in the first session, medium in the second and soft in the third.

It was also very hot in Hungary and this was going to affect how the cars run.  Out in the first session was Albon, Tsunoda, Russell (both a victim and a cause of traffic), Magnussen (new baby, sleepless nights) and Sargeant (a very shoddy lap).  This meant that Toto did some fist-banging and Ricciardo would definitely out-qualify his team mate at his first race back.

In the next session, LeClerc knocked his team mate out of Qualifying.  The story of dominant team mates continued with Ocon ahead of nowhere man Gasly, Alonso was through and Stroll out in 14th and Ricciardo out at last in 13th but still several places ahead of Tsunoda.

Perez had made it through to the final Qualifying session for the first time in ages and, with Ricciardo potentially now nipping at his heels, needed a good result.  Hamilton could not believe it as he took pole (throwing shade on Russell) ahead of Verstappen.  Has the Dutchman been taking fore-granted his premier position this season?  Norris (who was disappointed) and Piastri were on the next row.  Then Zhou (for once ahead of his team mate) and LeClerc (ouch for Ferrari), then Bottas and Alonso (Aston Martin have lost their early promise), then Perez and Hulkenberg.  Is 9th position enough for the Mexican to prove himself?  Surely, he will scythe through the grid tomorrow, however, apart from the Alpha Romeos, I think it will be trickier with some contenders who are bringing significant upgrades every event.

Did the change in tyre rules make a difference?  I don't think so.  Perhaps Williams could have thrown on some softs and got higher up the grid.  If anything I think this rule change benefits the stronger teams.  I'm sure Verstappen will win the race but there is a very tasty battle for 2nd.

GB GP Race Report

As it is our home race, the coverage had so many extra pieces...McLaren playing cricket, Russell taking a ride in a jet fighter and Brundle interviewing Brad Pitt about his new film.  The filming of which involves the car being immersed in the grid, so it was at the back of the grid being filmed being at the back of the grid.

The actual grid hadn't been hit by lots of penalties, so Qualifying actually counted.  Only Bottas was sent to the back as he didn't have sufficient fuel in his car.  Speaking of caras, Cara Delavigne was the celebrity who refused to talk to Martin on his walk.   A better line was "I'll just squeeze by Ralf Schumacher...".  Summing up his F1 career. Then Damian Lewis delivered a never-heard-before jazz version of the national anthem accompanied by a saxophonist.  We usually forward through the anthem but this was so terrible we were gripped and unable to extricate ourselves.

It was a dry start and Norris pointed his car with clear intent towards pole-sitter Verstappen's path.  It was a great start by the Brit  who led the race with his team mate Piastri battling with the Dutchman for second.  Max looked a little rattled or wary, would the rookie take him out?  By Lap 2, Norris had pulled a second clear of Verstappen which was critical for DRS.  The tracker system was so confused by Verstappen not leading that it failed to function for a while.   By Lap 5, the Red Bull was past.  Piastri was told not to overtake Norris, which was a good plan for the team.

LeClerc took an early pit stop and it wasn't long until the race settled down and the action lessened.  Even the pit stops didn't really liven things up.  The Haas of Hulkenberg had been tapped by Perez early doors and he had to stop for a new nose, leaving him running last.  Then on Lap 33, Magnussen's engine caught fire, solidifying a poor race for the American outfit.  The drivers who could, dived for the pit lane for new boots as a Virtual Safety Car was declared.  LeClerc was released into the path of Albon.  Then the Virtual Safety Car became a Real one.  Norris and Verstappen came in from second and first, taking the Hard and Soft tyres respectively.  Norris was happy about this decision.

There were only 13 laps left when the Safety Car went in.  Norris drove very defensively from Hamilton.  Verstappen, as always in the closing laps when he is in the lead, started to worry over the radio, this time about his tyres.  Perez overtook Sainz (on the hard tyre), then Albon powered his Williams past, then LeClerc took his team mate.  Whilst the mid-field battled, Norris was able to stretch to a one second plus gap to Hamilton using his hard tyre, leaving his older countryman behind him.

Ocon retired without explanation early in the race and Gasly followed him with four laps to go.  Williams really need Alpine and Haas to do badly at the moment and they are delivering.  Battling to the end was LeClerc, Albon and Alonso. The Williams needed all his Mercedes power to defend.  With McLaren finishing second and fourth, the long drought (apart from Ricciardo's Monza victory but no one discusses that) is over.  The second Brit on the podium was Hamilton.  He said he didn't have the grunt in the car to overtake the McLaren, which is surprising as they have the same engine and he is in the works car.  Three different teams represented on the podium and not an Aston Martin, so the rest of the season could be interesting.

GB GP Qualifying Report

I don't know if it's global warming but there seem to have been more wet periods of racing this season.  This session was another will it/won't it rain.  Drivers went out on a range of wet and dry tyres and the cars were queued up at the pit lane exit to get out and get a lap in quick.  DRS was also unavailable because of the conditions, which could take away the Red Bull advantage over other teams.

The first casualty of the weather was Hamilton, spinning into the gravel.  Ferrari were one of the teams that went out on wet tyres but then switched to soft, dry tyres, just not quick enough as it started raining again.  The cars became twitchy on the track and now was the time to put in that amazing lap.

Whilst drivers battled the elements the Haas of Magnussen came to a complete stop on the track, with the session was Red Flagged.  There was 3 minutes and 11 seconds left, enough time to put in one more fast lap.

As Verstappen was preparing to go out, he managed to clip the pit lane wall, requiring a new nose.  The last lap was quick with soft tyres all round.  The cheer for Norris taking the first spot was deafening.  Bottas spun off to bring out the double Yellow Flag at the side of the track, anyone who waited 'till last had their time scuppered.  So out went Perez (who was first out but couldn't take advantage of the track conditions improving, collateral in the Bottas stop), Tsunoda, Zhou, De Vries and Magnussen.  Red Bull reserve driver, Ricciardo must be sniffing a seat.  Sainz was unhappy that he had to give up some tyre temperature to help LeClerc. 

In the second session, track limits came in to play with lap times being deleted.  The Brits continued to hear roars from the crowd as they crossed the line each time.  I think the last thing LeClerc needed as he was pushing for a lap to get him through was team radio telling him to push.  As the laps got quicker and quicker, it was Hulkenberg, Stroll (still not able to match his team mate), Ocon, Sargeant (does he have the upgraded parts yet?) and Bottas out.  With a strong showing from McLaren with Piastri ahead of Norris in second and third.

The third session was fairly straightforward.  With DRS available, it was an easy pole for Verstappen, even though he had a yellow sector on his last lap.  It looked like Norris was going to take pole briefly but the McLarens start second and third.   The both Ferraris, then both Mercedes, Albon, Alonso and Gasly.  All the British drivers and even the Thai one, were in the top 10.  

Are the Aston Martins going backwards from their early promise?  Afterwards, Verstappen explained that he didn't need to push full out as the car is so quick.  That's promising.  Piastri definitely has the look of those 45 year old men who still look particularly baby-faced.  See also David Cameron.  Zak Brown was celebrating more than anyone else.  I expect this result saves his bacon somewhat.  Perez didn't seem too disappointed; whether he sees it as a fault by the team or he feels that it's outside conditions.  There has been lots of personnel moving between teams, I wonder if we will see driver line-ups changing too.  Who can continue to bring upgrades this season and who needs to work on next years car?

Austria GP Report

As I've been away on holiday this week, this report is both late and based on the Channel 4 coverage.  I say "coverage", they didn't cover very much.  They barely mentioned the first Qualifying session.  De Vries was last and he only has four races to prove he deserves the seat.  Inspection of track limits violations was taking 3 minutes, so what you were seeing wasn't reflected in the standings.  Given that this was delayed highlights, C4 could have reported the events in a more straight forward fashion.  Perez had a lap time deleted and was out in Q2, he might also have a fight on his hands to keep his Red Bull seat.  At this point, I was wondering why the drivers couldn't stay within track limits.  Was it because they had fewer practice sessions because of the sprint race?  Everyone says it's because they haven't put some destructive material on the ground outside the track, so there's no deterrent.  I would have thought all the penalties was deterrent enough?  Albon went through to the final Qualifying session, showing Williams are making some small progress under Vowles.  LeClerc nearly took pole position, which would have been exciting for a couple of minutes but Verstappen stole it.  Sainz was next and then a good showing from Norris in his upgraded McLaren.

Then we had the Sprint Qualifying.  Hamilton took a disappointing 19th with Russell having a hydraulics failure - a bad start for Mercedes.  The track was slightly wet, so there were some poor decisions made.  C4 didn't even display the result.

The next part of the event was the Sprint Race.  Perez made an aggressive start to take the lead from his team mate but later said he gave the place back.  This coming together bunched up the pack and Norris lost everything.  It was a wet start and Russell was the first to take dry tyres.  Albon went backwards and Sainz managed a clean third.  Ultimately it was an easy win for Red Bull.  It was unlike Alonso to settle for the place behind his team mate.  I have no idea what silver trinket the podium finishers were given.  Answers on a silver post card.

When race day came around, Magnussen and De Vries started from the pit lane.  LeClerc challenged Verstappen from the start.  Tsunoda brought out an early Safety Car when he went through the gravel and the marshals had to sweep it up but it was a boring restart.  At this point the track limit violations started to play a factor.  Briefly the Ferraris fought each other but Sainz was held back.  The mid-field cars were so close that it was tricky to see the order on the track.

Hulkenberg's Haas lost power and he pulled off the track, triggering a Virtual Safety Car.  This time lots of drivers did pit for the mandatory tyre change.  It was then  a case of sitting back to watch and see whether this was the better strategy.  

I had started writing down Black and White flags and penalties but soon gave up as they came thick and fast.  It had looked like it might make the race interesting but it just became an administrative nightmare.  Other interesting points to note include Toto having to go on to team radio to tell Hamilton to stop complaining and just drive the car he has been given and whether 3 DRS zones ruined some good racing up front.  Verstappen took a risky pit stop to get soft tires and get a point for the Fastest Lap.  Norris was awarded Driver of the Day.

There was a bit of a reshuffle from the end of Qualifying to the race start with different penalties awarded.  Off the start and around the first lap, there was lots of overtaking.  The most interesting race start for a long time.  Hamilton got ahead of Alonso straight away and Russell looked pushy too.  LeClerc overtook Albon, who I hoped wouldn't be going too far backwards.  Magnussen was pushed off.

Sargeant was given a "critical message" to stop the car and find a marshal.  This brought out the Virtual Safety Car.  Once they were back going, Verstappen, bored out front, created a new sport, where he earnt extra points by hitting sea gulls.  It wasn't much longer until a proper Safety Car came out, as Russell hit the wall and left a lot of debris across the track.  It was a good time to take a pit stop, Verstappen in first and then Hamilton released into Alonso.  The Spaniard really hammed up how bad it was with lots of sawing on the steering wheel.  Norris into his pal Albon too.  Obviously the Ferraris didn't pit.

A third of the way through, old foes Alonso and Hamilton started battling with Alonso retaking his second place.

After looking at a number of possible infringements, the stewards decided to throw the book at Norris for unsportsmanlike driving.  He had been backing up the pack.  His 5 second penalty gave several drivers a boost up the final standings.

It was a good race behind Verstappen.  Alonso had to save fuel through lifting and coasting but was determined to push and try to win the race.  Russell had been given some new bits of car and got back up to 8th position, which was a good job but had to retire the car eventually evincing more apologies.  Mick Schumacher watched on with envy in his eyes.  He reminds me of lady's companions in murder mysteries of a certain vintage.  Following Toto around dutifully and agreeing with everything he says in hopes of scraps from the table.

Obviously, Verstappen was the winner, with Alonso then Hamilton behind him.  Albon took Driver of the Day, finishing 7th having held up Ocon and Norris, who battled to the very end.  Hamilton had held Fastest Lap for most of the race so Red Bull sent Perez in for fresh tires to steal it.  We found out that Alonso had nursed a problem and probably could have been on for a potential win.  The Ferraris were 4th and 5th, with Sainz told not to fight LeClerc.  The Haas's, who had been Qualifying heroes, were 15th and 17th.  Alonso's Canadian team mate Stroll finished 8th and the crowd was hardly a sea of green, so he's being shown up more and more by his geriatric team mate.

Canada GP Qualifying Report

The drivers all went out on Intermediate tires as we had been given a sprinkle of excitement from the wet conditions.  Zhou immediately had trouble with his Alfa Romeo and he finally had to park up the car, leading to the session being Red Flagged.  He subsequently got it started again, which seems like a much better solution to cars being abandoned on track than stopping proceedings.

When the race restarted, drivers came straight out to beat the times set by the Williams drivers otherwise it would have been an amazing comeback for the team.  The drivers struggled to stay on the track, with times being deleted left, right and centre.  They raced each other to cross the line in time to set a final lap, having gone round and round for a long time.  There were no surprises in the bottom group: Gasly (who had been impeded), Tsunoda, De Vries, Sargeant and Zhou.  Albon in the other Williams was comfortably through but he has all the upgrades on his car.

In the second Qualifying session, Albon was the first driver to go out on slick, dry weather tires.  Everyone got a good look at home-track-hero Stroll making a big slide off the track, in a very close rendez-vous with the wall.  The Williams led the time sheet, with other drivers taking slick tires too late and then missing the window as it started to rain.  There was frustration up and down the pit lane.  LeClerc was furious with his team as he had radioed in to ask for slick tires at the right time and was denied by them.  The nail is being hammered in to his Ferrari coffin.  Will he be replacing the increasingly hapless Perez.  Both went out in this session along with Stroll, Magnussen and Bottas.

It was raining cats and dogs in the final session, with Piastri bringing out the Red Flag as the first driver to put his car in the wall.  As conditions got so bad the drivers felt unable to continue the session came to an early stop.  This meant that Hulkenberg starts the race second, ahead of Alonso and behind Verstappen.  He had crossed the line moments before the Red Flag came out.  Albon didn't set a time at all.  Everyone seemed pleased to have made it to the end without enormous expense of ruined cars and a rush to rebuild overnight.  The race seems to be Verstappen's to lose.

Spain GP Race Report

Once again, race was forecast, which, combined with a slightly topsy-turvy grid could have made for an interesting race.  Having caused a collision with his team mate during Qualifying and receiving a "formal warning", Russell went off over the gravel on the way to the grid pre-race.

LeClerc and Sargeant decided to start in the pit lane.  Everyone made an aggressive start but Verstappen held first with Norris and Hamilton coming together behind him, Norris needing to pit for a new nose.  Alonso made up 3 places in the first 2 laps.  The Mercedes engines were doing well with Piastri, Russell and Hamilton making up some places.

The first pit stop window opened and Sainz and Ferrari seemed to be arguing over whether it was a good time or not.  When Verstappen took his pit stop, he was 30 seconds ahead of his team mate Perez and safely back out in the lead.

Then, halfway through the race, Russell reported rain at turn 5 and Christian Horner tried holding his hand out.  It wasn't rain, it was his own sweat.

Verstappen had a good lead but was given a black and white flag for going over the track limits.  What ensued was some discussion between the driver and the team about whether he needed to keep pushing.  Then the race ended without my really noticing.  The Mercedes upgrades are working well, claiming the other two places on the podium.  Sainz wasn't able to keep Perez behind him.  The Aston Martins were 6th and 7th with the Spaniard behind.  Home tracks are not favourable this year.

Despite a lot of overtaking, it wasn't a gripping race.  Having experienced a year of Red Flags and Safety Cars, are we entering a more stable era?