China GP Race Report

With everyone falling at Verstappen's feet during the Sprint, when he started in 4th, it seemed like his win was guaranteed on race day from pole position.  And so it passed although he radioed in from the grid about a "few drizzles" but a wet race never came to pass.

It was an easy start for Max and he was clean away in the lead.  Alonso made quick work of passing Perez though.  I wonder if Horner considered putting Fernando in that seat for this year or next?  The Ferraris had an awful start and it was mixed for Mercedes with Russell gaining 2 places and Hamilton falling to 19th.

The first set of pit stops were fast and frantic with a rogue tyre from Gasly hurting a mechanic and some near miss collisions in the rush to be out ahead.  By this point, Alonso was down in 9th and he would continue to yo-yo up and down the field.

In a battle for 14th, Ricciardo overtook his team mate; it seemed like this new chassis he has been given by his time is allowing him to show his truer pace.  Although he needs to become more flexible as a driver and less demanding of exactly how the car is created.

Midway through the race Bottas' engine went and he stopped at a corner (home boy Zhou was much more likely to finish ahead of his team mate thus).  They initially tried to remove it under double-waved yellow flags but then brought out a Virtual Safety Car order.  As this happened, Norris had just gone past the pit entry but his main competition LeClerc was right there and the battle of the one-stoppers had a little sweet chilli sauce thrown on it.  Then Norris got an extra lap under the VSC and was able to have an easy stop too.  We watched on as the marshals struggled to move the Sauber, which was stuck in gear.  This couldn't go on and a full Safety Car was deployed and Verstappen pitted straight away.  I'm not sure how the change helped the marshals.  Alonso also pitted and took on the soft tyres to bring the fight.

Having whinged about the first set of tyres, Hamilton now radioed in that he thought something on the car was broken.  With his move to Ferrari, I'm not sure the mechanics cared.  I think they've switched off the radio.  I don't think they even check the car over before they sent it out.

Just as everyone got going at the restart there was madness in the midfield - firstly we saw Tsnuoda going off and as we thought we saw what had happened to him, we released that what we were watching was actually Stroll going into the back of his team mate Ricciardo at the restart.  Stroll claimed Ricciardo braked late but we all know that Stroll is just a poor driver.  A disaster for the Racing Bulls as both cars were damaged.  This brought Burt and his Safety Car straight back out.

At this point, we watched more replays.  Magnussen took Tsunoda out.  Alonso had locked up and caused the train of cars behind him to have to brake harder, however Stroll was so close behind Ricciardo already that the RB's tyres were up under his front wing.

Stroll was awarded a 10 second penalty for the incident, as Ricciardo retired the car; Magnussen was similarly punished for taking the other RB out.  Sargeant was handed a penalty for a Safety Car infringement but we never found out what that was.  As Stroll served the penalty he claimed it was a "joke", I don't think he realised that Daddy couldn't help him with this one.

Through all this, Hamilton was making his way back up from 19th and had some slower cars and some damaged cars to get past.

At the close of the race, Alonso pitted for new tyres and we had the pleasure of watching him cut back up through the pack.  Behind him Gasly and Albon continued to radio in about each other's poor behaviour; I feel a new rivalry is brewing.  He finished the race in 8th but claimed an extra point for Fastest Lap.

There was an extraordinary amount of coverage of Zhou and he had a special parking space in front of the main grand stand to give the crowd a wave.  F1 is really chasing the Chinese market.

We didn't see much of the top 3, Verstappen, Norris and Perez until the last lap and podium.  Norris was surprised to be second and let slip that he had believed they wouldn't get past the Ferraris.  The Red Bull drivers weren't surprised by anything.

The next race is Miami, which is a little more challenging and can bring the crazy.  This was an enjoyable race, as always, if you don't watch the front too much.

 

Ricciardo - new chassis

China GP Qualifying Report

By the time we got to Qualifying for the China GP, I had no idea where we were in the weekend, with two events having already taken place.  This new format leaves Saturday's programme feeling very clunky.   Are we supposed to settle down on the sofa for the full day?  If you record and watch later, that's a long session.  It feels peculiar.

Nothing much happened in the first Qualifying session until the end.  Verstappen and Norris vied for the top spot but at the bottom it was a disaster.  Out went hometown hero Zhou, Magnussen, Hamilton, Tsunoda and Sargeant (having spun through the gravel).  Albon was through for the Williams, after an awful Sprint event for the team.  Ricciardo continues to outperform his team mate at this race, at last.

Midway through the second session, as Verstappen took a barn-storming first place, Sainz lost his rear end coming on to the final straight and spun.  The session was red-flagged although he kept the engine on and was able to get the car back to the pits, albeit missing a front wing.  I wondered if driving on the track under a red flag would be allowed.  Impossibly he finished the session in 3rd ahead of his team mate in 4th.  Out went Stroll (really struggling to show pace against his team mate), Ricciardo, Ocon, Albon and Gasly.  Ferrari radioed their driver to ask if the car seemed okay: "It would appear to be."

The final session passed without incident.  No one troubled Verstappen for pole position.  Bottas only took his Sauber out once and finished 10th.  Between them was Perez in second, then Alonso and Norris (who both held second and then disappointingly lost it), Piastri (a strong showing for McLaren), LeClerc, Sainz, Russell and Hulkenberg.

China GP Sprint Report

Norris was on pole for the Sprint and everyone was willing him on.  However, he lost the lead off the start as Hamilton made a good one, causing Norris to go very wide and off the track ending up 7th.  It was up to Alonso to chase Hamilton initially.  Sainz was pushing Verstappen but it only took 7 laps for Verstappen to get past Alonso.

There were many laps for Hamilton to hold off Verstappen, and he told his engineer he could see him and let him race it.  That was only for 2 laps.

With 3 laps to go, Sainz made his move on Alonso and the battle that ensued allowed Perez to get past the Ferrari and the Aston Martin.  The Ferraris then battled each other but unfortunately one Spaniard had given the other a puncture and Alonso had to retire.  LeClerc finished the event ahead of his team mate at last with Sainz battling his friend Norris behind him.

Verstappen will be pleased that everyone gave him that Sprint victory.  The crowd (or as Lewis called them "Team LH China") went wild for Hamilton, especially when he gave them a "Ni Hao".

Getting points were Verstappen, Hamilton, Perez, LeClerc, Sainz, Norris, Piastri and Russell.  Zhou was a great 9th but didn't get any points.  China was also looking to become Ricciardo's comeback event.

China GP Sprint Qualifying Report

The first sprint race of the year saw us introduced to the new sprint format.  The sprint idea has been in place for 4 years and is now in its 4th reincarnation.  I thought I would have something meaty to look forward to after work on Friday but it was only the measly Sprint Qually.

Homeboy Zhou made it through the first session just ahead of Gasly, Ocon, Albon, Tsunoda and Sargeant.  At the close of the session the grass at the side of the track caught fire again.  The sparks from the skid blocks keep setting the hot, dry grass on fire.  What will happen if this occurs during a race?

The fire delayed the start of the second session, despite the rain.  Rain was predicted for the end of the session and it arrived bang on time with 3 minutes to go.  This killed the best laps of Russell and Ricciardo but you have to question why they didn't do better times earlier.  Out went Russell, Magnussen ahead of his team mate Hulkenberg, Ricciardo (at least beating his team mate for the first time this season) and Stroll (a mere 6 places behind his team mate, who has signed a 2 year contract this week).

The third session was properly wet and, thrillingly, they didn't red flag it but let the drivers get on with their job.  LeClerc spun off and clunked his rear wing against the tyre wall (the amount of damage was never reported).  Verstappen also went off but only after setting the fastest lap.  Zhou set a good time and then had his time deleted for track limits.  Vestappen did this a couple of times, along with Hamilton and Norris.  Pole kept changing as the laps were set and then times deleted (including Norris holding pole).  Just when it was looking like experience was the best quality to help you secure pole with Hamilton first then Alonso, Norris's deleted lap time was reinstated and he did take pole.  Behind him was Hamilton, Alonso, Vestappen, Sainz, Perez, LeClerc, Piastri, Bottas and Zhou.

Verstappen isn't known for his wet weather performance but with the rest of the weekend forecast to be dry this won't make any difference to whether or not he will win everything.

The most exciting thing was nearly Albon's panda helmet, which scored him a lot of airtime until he went out early but the rain made this a thriller but his friend Norris on pole is the big news.  Can he win it?