Austria GP Race Report

Austria is traditionally a good race set at a boring race.  There were no celebrities on the grid and nothing had happened since the last two days of full reporting to be discussed.

So on to the race, Verstappen got away well.  The Mercedes hustled behind him, Russell trying to overtake Norris with Hamilton and Sainz jostling behind.  Le Clerc lost some of his front wing, coming together with Piastri (he later blamed Perez for the first corner incident), and had to go to the pits for a new one.  He would have come out last were it not for Sargeant also pitting, we didn't find out why.

By Lap 3, Hamilton overtook Russell for third place, although with DRS, Russell took it straight back.  This was a defining feature of the weekend and they need to reconsider where the zones are for the next season.  Hamilton subsequently lost a place to Sainz.

LeClerc trundled around at the back of the pack, with even a Williams overtaking him.  It became clear that the Medium tyres did not last well.

There were all sorts of things happening up and down the pack.  Alonso shunted into the back of Zhou, unaccountably.  Norris was stuck in launch mode and had to try and reboot his car.  Hamilton was given a five second penalty for crossing the white pit line and was given a pep talk by Wolff.

The stewards were busy handing our penalties left, right and centre.

Verstappen was treated to an extraordinarily slow pit stop of six and a half seconds.  He was still out ahead of Norris, who pitted at the same time but the battle was closer.

Then, with less than ten laps to go, it all went wrong between the best buddies.  There was contact between Verstappen and Norris, having had a few battles around the previous corners.  They were busy on the radio arguing, for the stewards' benefit about who had pushed who off the track.  Norris was pushing it for getting a penalty for exceeding track limits.  Both cars ended with shredded rear tyres, going off the track.  Norris boxed and told the team to retire the car as he also received a penalty for going off the track too much.

Russell was now in the lead of the race.  Piastri went around Sainz for second place.  Verstappen was able to pit and come out in fifth but received a ten second penalty for causing the collision.

A Virtual Safety Car was called to clear the track but no one benefited from it.

The top three held their positions to the end.  It was initially frosty in the green room, as Sainz and Piastri discussed the damage the McLaren sustained.  Russell broke the ice and there was some banter and sympathy when they saw Lando's episode.

It was only Russell's second win in F1.  Norris claimed that he had led a blame-free race which wasn't true when you look at track limits.  I wonder if the pair will recover their friendship by next weekend?  For Norris it was a question of fairness and owning up to it.  Verstappen took the pressure from the British press on the chin but placed the blame fairly at Lando's door, partly also blaming the shape of the curb.

Gasly finished in tenth and was able to beat his team mate, who finished in twelfth.  Ricciardo finished in ninth and also trumped his team mate, Tsunoda was 14th and this is a small victory he needs. Magnussen was the lowest finishing Haas in eighth; Hulkenberg in sixth made a great points haul for the team.  Perez was seventh and should have been nearer the top to take the victory for Red Bull when Verstappen couldn't.  The wisdom of resigning him seems dubious.  Hamilton was fourth and will probably be ruing the lost opportunity.  LeClerc had been promised a points finish by the team but came home in eleventh.

Austria GP Qualifying Report

Amongst other news from Austria was new contracts for Gasly and Stroll.  Lots of questions here...Does Stroll have a manager?  Who else was interviewing for the drive?  What were the sticking points between father and son?

Fresh from the Sprint Race, where Verstappen capitalised on the McLarens squabbling, the short circuit meant Qualifying was close.

In the first session, most drivers went out for a final push and there was a big traffic jam to leave the pit lane.  Hamilton had to put on a new set of tyres as he struggled.  Ultimately the first five drivers out were predictable: Albon, Stroll, Bottas, Sargeant and Zhou.  Magnussen seems to have taken over from Hulkenberg as the Haas hero qualifier.

Again, the next five out were very predictable: Ricciardo, Gasly, Magnussen, Tsunoda and Alonso.

Verstappen had taken pole at the last three races here and it felt predictable that he would take a fourth.  And he did.  Norris took second again, with his team mate Piastri initially taking third before dropping to seventh, due to going out of track limits.  Russell graduated to third, Sainz, Hamilton then LeClerc, who potentially broke a lot of bits as he went rallying off the track.  Finishing the top ten was Perez, Hulkenberg and Ocon.

Austria GP Sprint Report

One of the biggest news stories of the weekend is that Flavio Briatore is back; he has been shown ambling around the grid like the Biden of F1, too old and doddery to be of any real use.

Excitingly, there was an aborted start, so there was an extra formation lap.  We never found out why it was.

Everyone got away cleanly, with no gaps forming.  Verstappen, Norris and Piastri were line astern.  The McLarens did not need to be battling each other.  On Lap 5, Norris went for it, successfully at last.  Only two corners later, Verstappen retook the lead but Piastri was behind them and started to battle with Norris.  Neither could focus on getting the lead as they were fighting each other, with Piastri taking the place from his team mate and was up into second.

There were a couple more overtakes further back but other than that it became a fairly dull race.

Norris had every right to believe he could have won the race had Piastri left him alone.  It doesn't seem like good tactics from McLaren.  I wonder if they will play things differently if Qualifying has a similar result.

Austria GP Sprint Qualifying Report

The only news after one Free Practice session in Austria was that Norris had been off.  Hamilton had an off too at the start of Sprint Qualifying and had his time deleted but still managed to get through.  Ricciardo was knocked out by his team mate, who had an off on his fastest lap (I don't think Danny will be getting a Red Bull seat anytime soon), Hulkenberg, 7 places behind Magnussen in a reversal of the usual situation at Haas, Bottas, Albon and Zhou, with Sargeant going through in 14th.

Those teams who didn't have high hopes for reaching the final session only did one hot lap at the very end of the second session.  Magnussen went out in 11th, followed by both Aston Martins with Stroll ahead of Alonso, Tsunoda and finally Sargeant.

The final session was a little disastrous for some.  All ten drivers waited until the very last minute to get out of the pits.  Russell broke first and Hamilton was sent out as it was his turn to go out first.  LeClerc had a problem with his car and didn't make it around the track in time to set a Qualifying lap.

So Hamilton held pole at first but his team mate immediately bettered his time.  Both McLarens went ahead of the Mercedes before Verstappen took pole to a massive roar from the heavily biased crowd.  Norris will line up alongside him.  Sainz was able to split the Mercedes.  Perez only managed 7th.  Ocon beat Gasly to 8th and LeClerc was last having not set a time.

It may possibly a boring Sprint.  Can the Mercedes push forwards?  Can Ferrari and Perez get their act together?

Spain GP Race Report

No news had broke over night since Qualifying.  Verstappen had said that he didn't think the Red Bull was the quickest car on the grid any more; Perez' performance would testify to that.  Albon changed a power unit and would start from the pit lane.  Sargeant had received a penalty but it made no difference to his last place starting position.

Norris made a good start but Verstappen matched him, however Russell took the tow and went round both of them to take first place, with the Dutchman taking the McLaren too.  By Lap 3 though, Russell moved to try and break the tow he was giving Verstappen but it was to no avail and he took the place.

Whilst other teams struggled to provide their drivers with clean stops, Red Bull serviced Max in 1.9 seconds.  With Norris leading when other pitted, he stayed out and lost out, coming back out in 5th.

It was a two stop race and Norris lost out again to a pit stop that lasted over three seconds, bringing him out behind Verstappen but in front of the Mercedes.

Ultimately Verstappen took the win with Norris and Hamilton behind him (I did not see him get past Russell for his first podium of the season).

It was a race full of overtakes and not as dull as people suspected it might be.  Only one more Barcelona to go before the Spanish GP moves to Madrid.

Spain GP Qualifying Report

We went into Qualifying with three separate incidents in Free Practice where drivers came together.  The battles seemed already to have been set up.

The Racing Bulls and Williams both had poor sessions, out line astern in the first stint along with Magnussen.  Sargeant impeded another car but as he sits at the back of the grid, the stewards have nowhere to go with their penalty choices.

The second session was equally based team-by-team. with the Aston Martins out in 11th and 14th, the Saubers out in 12th and 15th along with Hulkenberg,

The third and final session answered some questions that were asked at the beginning of the season.  It looked like Verstappen was going to take an easy pole.  First Sainz, then LeClerc in the Ferraris took the place next to him.  Secondly, Russell then Hamilton held the spot.  Finally, Norris took pole from Verstappen.  People who asked why Norris signed a longer contract with McLaren, here's your answer.  For those who asked how Alpine had got it so wrong, here is the answer, 7th for Gasly and 9th for Ocon.  For those asking why Red Bull resigned Perez, we still don't have an answer as he qualified 8th.  In 10th was Piastri who made a big mistake on his final hot lap and went through the gravel.  

Commentators thought it was a thrilling qualifying, possibly the last minute was but at this standard, benchmark track, the teams qualified in standard benchmark order.

Canada GP Race Report

There was no news overnight but the Saubers decided to start from the pits.  The track was wet to begin but as no rain was falling to there was a standing start.  Everyone started on Intermediate tyres except for the Haas who cut through the pack and gained 12 places between them by the second lap.  But the rain came down harder and harder, so the Haas decision seemed like the best one.

Gasly and Perez had a collision early on, with the Red Bull going into the Alpine but it was disregarded as a first corner incident.  LeClerc was told he had engine issues early on.  The drivers were all disappointingly good in the wet weather; apart from Sargeant who went off when it was drying out.

Drivers started to slip and slide and Magnussen pitted for Intermediate tyres but his team weren't ready and the stop was hideously slow.  Hulkenberg began to hold up a huge train of cars.

Ricciardo made a false start, invisible to the human eye and was given a 5 second penalty.

By Lap 20, DRS had been enabled and it was the McLarens who had the pace.  Norris was passed Verstappen into second and Piastri set the fastest lap.  The next lap, Norris was able to take the lead.  Russell was caught out but swerved and came back into the path of Verstappen and had to pull back into third.

Finally, Sargeant had his prang on Lap 25.  Teams were braced for a Safety Car and it was slow to be called.  He was in the middle of the track and rain was due imminently, so cars came in but could they choose the correct tyre?  Everyone chose Intermedite tyres.  Norris was the big loser as karma meant he was past the pit lane entry when the Safety Car was called, meaning he came out in fourth from the lead.

Ferrari then decided to roll the dice and brought LeClerc in to perform some resets on his car and put on Slick tyres.  He was tasked by his team to just keep it on the track through two minutes of rain.  He came back into the pits to get Intermediate tyres and came out last.

Albon made what must be the overtake of the season, taking both Ricciardo and Ocon in one corner; threading his way between the cars.

Gasly was the next driver to try Slick tyres and went straight off.  Finally LeClerc retired after a race to forget.

More dice were rolled when Norris went for the over-cut on Verstappen and Russell.  LeClerc was shown gripped to the monitors in the garage.  Unfortunately Norris's tyres were too cold and split them.  Russell was able to get past fairly quickly, whilst Verstappen sped away.  Drivers still slipped on the track and Russell gave the place back to Norris.

Further down the field, Perez lost grip and smashed his rear wing into the wall and had to limp back to the pits with it hanging off.  This was investigated after the race.  Whilst that was happening, Sainz lost control and spun across the track, taking out Albon.  With Albon's car needing taken off the track, the Safety Car came out.  Sainz made it back to the pits but retired there, which made it a double DNF for Ferrari.  I think James Vowles will be ripping up any contract he had penned for Sainz.

The fight behind Verstappen continued.  Piastri and Russell battled and the Mercedes lost out and was then taken by his team mate who came back into contention.  The pole sitter was going backwards fast.  Piastri was offered the chance to get past Norris by his team but told them he was too busy fighting, which you thought they should have been able to see.

At this point, Russell got past Piastri but Tsunoda had spun elsewhere, across the track and just avoided a huge collusion.  It took him a minute to get going again.  McLaren took to the radio to put in an unsubtle request for a Safety Car to clear the damage.

Russell and Hamilton raced to the end, with Russell putting in the overtake and no team orders other than to keep in clean and safe.

5 cars did not finish but Verstappen was bemused with his victory.  He kept his racing clean and was happy to take the points and the top step.  The next three drivers were all British, which is a strong showing.  Norris was awarded Driver of the Day.

Canada GP Qualifying Report

The latest news from silly season is that Ocon will be leaving Alpine at the end of the year and Perez will be staying with Red Bull for the next two years, Albon would also be with Williams.  Much like Raikkonen and Ferrari, he must know which cupboard the skeletons are kept in to have negotiated this contract.  Ocon is less of a surprise after his boss's outburst following a huge lapse of judgement at Monaco last time out.  Tsunoda was also confirmed over the weekend that he would be staying at Racing Bull next year.

It was a wet start to Qualifying but not raining.  The rain might have come but didn't in the first session.  It was pretty uneventful.  Perez fully justified his shiny new contract by exiting, along with both Saubers, Hulkenberg and Ocon.

It was quite competitive to get through to the final Qualifying session though.  Verstappen was noted by the stewards for doing something against the race director's directions.  Merecedes pulled something out the bag and did well but both Ferraris went out, with Sargeant, Magnussen and Gasly.  From such a spectacular weekend in Monaco, they left all their luck and know-how behind and didn't put on new tyres to get through.

Again, it was super competitive in the final session.  Russell held pole position, despite Verstappen completing his lap in exactly the same time, because he got it first.  Norris was an incredibly close third, alongside his team mate Piastri.  The next row was Ricciardo and Alonso, the Hamilton, Tsunoda, Stroll and Albon.  Presumably the Ferraris will move forward and the Racing Bulls and Williams will move backwards.  

There was no rain but it wasn't really needed to spice up this Qualifying.