Belgium GP Race Report

The drivers looked pretty unhappy to be put on the back of a truck and toured around the track in the cold, wet Belgian weather.  They should also have been down in the dumps about McLaren now having twice as many points as their nearest competitor (Ferrari) half way through the season.  

Then, as they drove their own cars around to get to the grid, it started to rain and the crowd put on their ponchos.

Brundle and Rosberg cornered Jos Verstappen on the grid, who was very uncomfortable answering questions about Horner's sacking and also uncomfortable answering questions about the weather, which should have been a safe topic for conversation.

Alonso, Antonelli, Hamilton and Sainz, the bottom four apart from Stroll in Qualifying, would be starting from the pit lane.  This could have been a very good choice given the conditions.

There was a long, long delay whilst we watched a tractor clearing water from the track; with shots of amusing signs created by the crowd and scenes from inside the pits.  Eventually, they went out on intermediate tyres behind the Safety Car for two trial laps.  

A rolling start was soon underway and it wasn't long until Piastri got past Norris.  There was a problem with his electrical system.  LeClerc did well to hold Verstappen off despite tyres that fell off quickly.  On Lap 12, Hamilton (then Gasly and Hulkenberg) came in for the first sets of slick tyres.  Piastri followed suit, just as DRS was enabled, and they couldn't double stack as they were so close.  A stream of drivers (pretty much everyone) followed them in on the following lap.  In the pits LeClerc pulled out of his box in front of his friend Albon (nothing came of it).

It was clear immediately how much of an advantage the dry tyres gave.  Hamilton was putting in quickest laps and had jumped into the points.  The racing started in earnest.  The Saubers were in 9th and 10th and they moved Bortoleto in front of newly-podiumed Hulkenberg to try and attack Lawson.

Despite Norris trying a bit, he never looked to have a shot of getting the lead back.  Still, at least he had it for a few hundred metres.  LeClerc did an outstanding job of holding back Verstappen to finish third, despite shouting at his colleagues who were providing an inconsistent level of support over the radio.  Hamilton did well coming from the pit lane to finish 7th but couldn't overtake Albon.

You have to wonder whether McLaren have learnt their lesson from last year, when Norris lost the drivers championship.  Will they ask Lando to support Oscar to secure it this year?  It was a real grimace of a smile as he congratulated his team mate.

Off the podium but in the points was Verstappen, Russell, Albon, Hamilton, Lawson, Bortoleto and Gasly.  It was a very quiet day for the stewards.  When was the last race with no penalties awarded?

There is only a week off until the last race before the summer holiday.  How hot will it be in Hungary?  Will things reach boiling point between the McLaren drivers?  Will Bottas announce that he is driving for Cadillac?

Belgium GP Qualifying Report

Fresh information about the track and how cars were running on it had been gained by the teams during the Sprint Race in the morning.  Skinny wings were the way forward.  However, rain was predicted for the Race the next day.  Some drivers made adaptions for this; others didn't.  Some teams split the strategy across their pair of cars.

In the rush to get out into the pit lane to get going for Qualifying, Hulkenberg nudged his way out and Stroll ran over his front wing and broke it.  There were some quick laps, nothing to mention.  Norris won the head to head with his team mate to take the fastest lap.    It looked like it might be between Hamilton and Gasly to see who would be out in 16th.  Out went three rookies and both Aston Martins in their worst outing for a long long time (possibly ever): Bortoleto, Colapinto, Antonelli, Alonso, Stroll.

Between sessions, Hamilton had his lap time deleted and this gave a reprieve to Bortoleto and he was 16 and out after all.  He said it was unacceptable to be out in the first session for both qualifying sessions at this track and took the blame, saying he would apologise to the team.

The second session proceeded much as the first only Verstappen was confident with his time and saved some tyres, not going out for a second fast lap.  It looked like Ocon might knock Albon out but, even with a purple first sector, couldn't manage it.  Out went Ocon, Bearman, Gasly, Hulkenberg and Sainz.  Williams' performance is improving under Vowle's leadership but they can't seem to get both cars in on it at the same time.

In the final shoot out, LeClerc did manage a faster lap but it was between Verstappen, Norris and Piastri, who traded quickest laps.  Russell put in a couple of purple (best time set so far) sectors but overall it wasn't quick enough.  Albon was the last person across the line and even beat Russell to get 5th.  Verstappen was lacking grip in his Red Bull and it was enough to cost him pole and even third place as LeClerc did have more in himself.  Out of the two McLarens, it was Norris who put in the fastest lap to take pole.  It was needed as Piastri had it yesterday.  The top ten finishing order was Norris, Piastri, LeClerc, Verstappen, Albon, Russell,  Tsunoda, Hadjar, Lawson and Bortoleto.

Belgium GP Sprint Report

With Antonelli and Hamilton both taking their top tier cars out of Sprint Qualifying in the first session, the Sprint Race could have been very spicy with the grid jumbled up and drivers wishing to advance.  Colapinto would be starting from the pit lane and took the chance to reduce his wing size.  Piastri would be keen to maintain his position at the front and further stake his claim to the world championship.

There was drama on the way to the grid as Gasly was told to bring his car in to box but he went to his slot and had to be wheeled off with a water leak.

It was Piastri versus Verstappen off the grid with only 15 laps to battle it out.  Neither will have wanted to damage their car ahead of Qualifying that afternoon.  Verstappen waited a couple of corners and took the lead, with LeClerc getting past Norris.  It was all down to the skinny wings.  

Three laps later, Norris was able to retake the position.  The long Spa laps took an age to play out.  And then, all of a sudden, they had passed.  The McLarens had been unable to challenge the Red Bull.  Apart from those two early overtakes there was only one other, which made the event slightly pointless, more of a tyre test than a race.  Obviously it was Hamilton and Albon past Alonso at the back for no points on the last lap.

So it was Verstappen ahead of Piastri, Norris, LeClerc, Ocon, Sainz, Bearman and Hadjar, in that order, in the points.  Lawson, in his Racing Bull, finished one place ahead of "promoted" Tsunoda in his Red Bull.  Can Mekies make a difference to the team?  Will we discover as the season drives slowly downhill to it's end how much Horner had been Ferrariing things up?

GB GP Race Report

With it being Wimbledon as well, it was raining in Silverstone ahead of the race.  Norris braved the weather to go out and visit his dedicated grand stands, Pinkham took him out, and like a mother, emphasised the positives of it and they enjoyed some special pyrotechnics (or a smoke display?) together.

The theatrics continued with a line-up of minor celebrities on the grid and then a truly awful rendition of the national anthem by Becky Hill.  Bring back Damian Lewis I say.

It was not expected that the Race Director would start the race under the Safety Car for a rolling start, especially as it was now dry and sunny.  LeClerc, Bearman, Bortoleto, Hadjar and Russell decided to come in at the end of the Formation Lap for dry tyres, which meant they would start from the pit lane.  Piastri though thought that the last sector was too wet for slick tyres.  The Safety Car was recalled in the event.

It seemed like a clean start with Verstappen, Piastri and Norris holding their places.  Unseen by the cameras, Lawson went off the track and brought out the Yellow Flags.  There were great plumes of water coming from the back of the cars.  Hamilton fought Norris for third place and they were wobbling around on the tricky track and the drivers that chose slick tyres would be in trouble.  However the Virtual Safety Car was needed to clear Lawson's Racing Bull.  This would help those dry-tyred cars.  It turned out that Lawson and Ocon had come together; apparently all started by Tsunoda, who was later awarded a penalty.

Colapinto had retired in the pit lane with a faulty car before he'd even started, no one really noticed.  

There was an opportunity to pit for new tyres but only Antonelli took it, they would have had information from Russell, who was struggling on his slick tyres, so it seemed an odd choice.

Verstappen got the race going again but Bortoleto couldn't keep his slick tyre car on the track and spun as soon as he tried to speed up.  He was able to get out of the gravel and tried to bring his broken car back to the pits but at least we didn't need a Safety Car and was able to keep racing.  Until he didn't make it and retired it somewhere it could be easily taken off the track side.  A Virtual Safety Car was enacted again.  Stroll pitted for soft, slick tyres.

After a very long time, only eight laps had happened, Piastri was able, with slightly more grip, to get past a shaky Verstappen for the lead, and quickly pulled out a larger-than-DRS gap.  The drivers started racing properly.

Antonelli lost a place to LeClerc down in 13th but Mercedes brought him in for a second stop and onto wet tyres.  The rain did come down and Norris was on the back of Verstappen, whose tyres were so bad he went off the track.  The top three all came into the pit lane, stacking the McLarens, so Norris came out behind Verstappen.

As the rain got heavier, into proper Scottish territory, the Race Director sent out the Safety Car to keep things, well, safe.  LeClerc had a big off, going straight across the grass just before.

There were several laps before we went racing again.  It was Hamilton and Russell who really fought for places immediately.  The spray was still heavy and Hadjar ran into the car in front of him, Antonelli.  And the Safety Car came out again.

Verstappen was too aggressive as the race got underway again but Piastri had braked too hard before him.  He was too confident and the Red Bull spun and was put to the end of the top ten, scooting about, he fought with the Williams'.  Bearman had a big off across the grass even further back.  Piastri received a ten second penalty for his actions.  This could give the race win to Norris after all.

Antontelli had to retire from the damage he sustained during the incident with Hadjar.

A number of dry laps passed by and then, on lap 35, DRS was enabled and drivers were thinking about dry tyres.  Somehow Stroll was in third place, until Hulkenberg and then Hamilton got passed him.  Alonso was the first driver to take dry tyres and came out in last place; Russell was the next and he was in 13th, which by this point, was three places up from last.  You had to go carefully on those slick tyres as Russell went for a fast, uncontrollable spin off across the grass and gravel.   The track was not ready.

Sainz and LeClerc, old team mates had a battle.  Norris ahead was putting in the fastest laps on his intermediate tyres.

Despite all the knowledge gained from watching Russell and Alonso, Stroll, Verstappen, Gasly, Hamilton and Sainz all came in for dry tyres which seemed like madness.  Hamilton was overtaken by his team mate and the Haas cars came together.  

With seven laps to go, Alonso overtook Albon for 8th.  Hulkenberg was somehow back in third with Hamilton behind him.  Norris was in the lead.  Piastri was struggling, going off the track but asking the team to swap the drivers positions if the team felt his penalty wasn't fair.  LeClerc had another off through the gravel and only just made it back onto the track.

The sun stayed out until the end of the race.  It was an emotional victory for Norris, even more so for Hulkenberg as he took his first podium in third place.  Jenson Button had a difficult interview with Piastri, who initially congratulated Hulkenberg if not Norris and refused to speak much about his incident behind the Safety Car.

Norris held it together very well on the podium, receiving two identical trophies, one made from Lego.  What happened afterwards was a shame as the focus was much more on Piastri being upset than Norris winning.  McLaren's PR will not be happy.

Sauber however had much to celebrate.  Hulkenberg won the popular vote of Driver of the Day and the team went wilder than McLaren.  With Binotto and Wheatley now in charge, it seems like Sauber might be a force to contend with in the future and the seats in that team may be more hotly pursued following the last two races.  Could this be where Verstappen chooses in the end?

GB GP Qualifying Report

It was inevitable that, with Oasis playing their first concert in many years the previous night, a best of British feeling would be played to the full at Silverstone.  There were lots of Brits to be supported but Bearman might not be getting much.  He would start the race with a ten place grid penalty for crashing in the pit lane entry as he accelerated past Red Flags.

The first Qualifying session went well for eight minutes, with drivers dutifully setting times.  Then Colapinto touched the paint with a tyre and went for a gentle trip through the gravel and into the wall.  Yellow flags came out and it seemed that the session would need to be stopped (it was eventually) but he was able to keep going, dropping gravel as he went along the straight before pulling over.  His car was dusty and the wheels were so chiselled that he bumped along on square tyres.

When they got going again, the track had changed: the wind direction and the spots of rain affected it.  Some drivers chose not to go out for an early push with five minutes to go but most did.  To his annoyance, Hamilton wasn't fuelled to put in a few laps in a row, which put him under pressure and he finished 14th.  Verstappen was fastest followed by Piastri then Bearman (for the Brits).  Out went Lawson (who did so well last race), Bortoleto (who did so well last race), Stroll (never done well at any race since he left Williams), Hulkenberg (who did so well last race) and Colapinto.

It was a fairly standard second session.  The big surprise was that Hamilton was first with LeClerc second.  Both Williams went out in 11th (Sainz) and 14th (Albon, having made a poor choice to change his set-up).  Tsunoda was in 12th, Hadjar 13th and Ocon in 15th.

Again, the final session was nothing spectacular but did go to down to a final quick lap shoot out.  Having found it difficult to get a good set up and handle his car throughout the first two sessions, Verstappen took pole, setting the sectors purple.  He was ahead of Piastri and Norris, the McLarens behind him.  Max was very pleased with that result: "simply lovely".  Piastri had slipped and swerved about and Norris had taken too much kerb, neither driver was in contention in the end.  Behind them was Russell, Hamilton, LeClerc, Antonelli, Bearman, Alonso and Gasly.

All eyes would now be on the weather forecast for the race.  As ever, there was a sense that Verstappen would hold the lead from the start to the end and all those Brits lining up would not get a look in.

Austria GP Race Report

All talk before the race started was how this Austrian GP was Norris's to lose.  At least he made it off on the formation lap; Sainz was stuck in first gear and something (the hand brake?) was stopping it from moving altogether.  The start was abhorted.  The Williams made it to the end of the pit lane and then his brakes caught fire.  And his race was over before it had even begun.

Everyone got a great start but the supeior pace of the McLaren meant that Piastri got past LeClerc for second and immediately started to go for Norris.  Further back, Verstappen was clipped by Antontelli who locked up in the middle of the pack.  The vet went to see if the rookie was okay with a smile.  The Safety Car was out, we were three drivers down and it was only the second lap,

On Lap 11, Piastri briefly held the lead but Norris came back through the following corners.  How long would they be allowed to race?  Had there been a protocol set before the race?  Whoever was ahead by the first pitstop? Etc.

The battle continued, with Norris positioning his car perfectly.   There was less luck down the track, as Albon pitted and retired his Williams for a double DNF for the team.  Even further back, Tsunoda hit Stroll.

Both McLarens made small mistakes as they pushed each other and then Norris pitted first.  Nearly halfway through, when pit stops were complete and everything was back to level-pegging, Piastri was given a not-very-subtle warning not to get as close to Norris again.

Tsunoda and Colapinto came together again.  He got a ten second penalty.   

And then Norris began to lose confidence in himself, he probably is his own worst enemy.   He held the lead through passing the back-markers.

Hamilton was made to pit against his will. He didn’t want a second stop believing position is king.  This driver versus team strategists is going to run and run.

For the McLarens it was all down to the last set of pit stops.  There were 16 laps to go.  Tsunoda and Colapinto came together for a third time with Piastri in the middle.  He was off and across the grass.  There were more time penalties.  

There were 6 laps at the end of the race for the McLarens to go head-to-head.  Instead we watched Alonso and Bortoleto battling.  The back-markers basically neutralised the McLaren race, much to the management's relief I imagine.

It finished Norris, Piastri (still ahead in the championship, by 15 points), LeClerc,  Hamilton,  Russell and Lawson.  The Ferraris managed an almost secret race to get excellent points and a real in-road towards beating Mercedes and Red Bull.  Piastri didn't look thrilled on the podium with his second place trophy.

Bortoleto was awarrded Driver of the Day as both Saubers were well within the points.  Was it the Wheatley-effect on Sauber?  The loss of both Williams' cars? Or some Austrian magic?

There is a quick turnover between Red Bull territory and Silverstone,  where almost everyone claims a home race.  It would be predictably disappointing for Norris to lose to Piastri there.

Austria GP Qualifying Report

For some reason, the talk of the pit lane was whether Russell would keep his Mercedes seat if Verstappen should want it next season.  Nobody let it affect their performance in Qualifying though. 

Piastri swept through some gravel in the first session. Sainz also struggled in his Williams to keep it on the tarmac.  The five slowest and out drivers were Stroll, Ocon, Tsunoda (another poor showing, just how bad is that Red Bull?), Sainz and Hulkenberg.  One driver each from five different teams...this says a lot about the current state of competition in the sport.  Sainz complained that the car was undrivable but his driving also looked pretty shoddy.

Verstappen also thought his car was undrivable in the second session.   The McLarens and Ferraris were looking strong.   Then Hamilton ran wide and set the grass on fire so the session was red flagged.  This led to a sprint to the end, with time for one fast lap only.  Bortoleto crossed the line first in his Sauber and was very quick, third for a moment.  He did get through to the final shoot out for the first time.  Out went Alonso, Albon, Hadjar, Colapinto and Bearman.  The McLarens were a dominant first and second with LeClerc behind them and Hamilton dropping back. 

After the first set of laps in Q3, Norris was on pole, then LeClerc then Piastri.  Russell was noted for an unsafe release in the pit lane.   But Russell couldn't improve his place in the end.  There was a half second gap between Norris on pole and LeClerc behind him.  Then it was Piastri,  Hamilton,  Russell,  Lawson (doing better in the junior team than the lead driver of the main outfit), Verstappen,  Bortoleto, Antontelli and Gasly.   The Alpine driver did two full rotations as he went off through the gravel at the end of the session.

I think Norris will be quick in the race and Ferrari likely to give a McLaren the win through choosing a poor strategy.  The question is whether McLaren will give a fair and equitable strategy call to both drivers and whether they will end up hot on each others' heels?  I don't put it passed Norris to make a hot-headed driver error again and LeClerc will be there to pick up the spills.

Canada GP Race Report

Even though Russell was on pole, it still felt like it might be Verstappen's race, possibly Piastri's, probably not Norris's.  The British press were trying to put the Red Bull driver off by continually referencing his 11 licence points, perilously close to a race ban.  Having apologised two weeks ago for his misdemeanour, he was getting more and more annoyed by the questions.

Following Qualifying, Lawson and Gasly fitted new engines (not themselves, personally), which meant that they would start from the pit lane.  Tsunoda was in 18th after his 10 place penalty.  Hadjar was 12th after a three place drop for impeding Sainz, as he started 16th this would be no consolation for the Williams driver.

It was a clean start.  Albon was both under pressure and pressuring others but went across a chicane and through the grass, dropping back places.  Antonelli got past a risk-averse Piastri for third place.  Then there was a quiet ten laps until Norris overtook Hamilton and Alonso, and Antonelli started to really challenge Verstappen.  He avoided it by pitting very early.  The race leader, Russell, followed him in on the next lap, which put Antonelli out front.  Then he pitted.  There was confusion brought on my the Red Bull strategy, so many drivers having taken a stop, it was hard to see who would be where.

By lap 21 everyone had pitted apart from Norris and LeClerc, who were in front, a cluster of Ocon, Sainz, Albon (one team mate having gotten past the other, who was very irate with the team for not listening to him), Tsunoda, Bortoleto and Stroll, then Lawson and Gasly, who would be returned to the back of the pack when they did.

Albon refused to box and a numbers of cars overtook him in quick succession.  When he did pit he was last.

LeClerc pitted just before the halfway point and immediately questioned the choice of tyre Ferrari had given him.  LeClerc had asked for Plan C as he felt the tyres were okay.  Ferrari thought Plan B would be better but failed to communicate this with him.  Norris pitted from the lead and came out in 5th and could do a one stop race.

Aston Martin gave Alonso some gentle guidance and he told them he was racing not testing.  He really was.

By halfway through, not a lot had changed in the top 9.  Verstappen was still setting the pace, even from fourth.  Everyone responded when he pitted again.  When Russell stopped it went wrong and cost him valuable seconds.

Having done 49 laps, Albon pulled off the track and down an escape road.  It was a terrible day for him.  Then Stroll was awarded a ten second penalty for forcing another car off the track, we don't know who, we didn't see it, it wasn't replayed.  The Canadian driver was really bringing the show for his home fans.

The top five were covered by less than eight seconds with 16 laps to go.  Lawson was also retired due his Power Unit, they wanted to look after it.  It hadn't taken long to wear it down, given that they fitted it overnight.  Then, with eight laps to go, the McLarens were battling each other hard for fourth and fifth.  With Antonelli right ahead of them, they could have been making a play for a podium finish, it's seemed short-sighted by their leadership.  It proved to be true, Norris got down the inside and was ahead but Piastri fought back hard.  It looked like he clearly had the lead but he backed out heading onto the straight.  For some reason, Norris thought he could overtake then and took the slipstream, pulling out at the last minute.  He hadn't pulled out quite enough though, as he hit the go pedal to move ahead, he was not alongside but slightly behind.  He tagged his team mate, which sent him on to the narrow slip of grass next to the wall where his car was basically shredded between rock (teammate) and hard place (wall).  We rewound twice to watch despite knowing it would be replayed from different angles.  Here was the Safety Car that Norris had been counting on.  Piastri appeared to have been unharmed, lucky not to have a puncture.  He had been looking in his other mirror to see where Lando was.  There was basically not a car width's gap for him to put his car through.  It was such an error of judgement.  When asked on the radio if he was okay, Norris laid the blame calmly at his own feet: "It's all my bad.  All my fault.  Unlucky.  Sorry.  Stupid from me."  No one could disagree with that.  If it was Latifi or Sargeant who had made the move...  I had written that opening comment about it not being Norris's race two hours before this incident.  It speaks volumes. Stella would be getting it in the neck.  Piastri looked very pale when he got out of the car but was given an immediate briefing by the team about what he should say.

Russell and Verstappen were still playing silly games with each other under the Safety Car, Verstappen radioed that he had to overtake Russell because his driving was erratic and the other saying that he overtook him.  Each hoping the other would get a penalty because that was the only way to move their positions, as the race would end under the Safety Car.  They went on to have a very civilised conversation in the cool-down room.  The camera operator clearly knew to capture their faces as the McLaren incident was replayed.  "There just wasn't a space there," Russell declared.

The Top 10 was Russell, Verstappen, Antonelli (very well deserved), Piastri, LeClerc, Hamilton, Alonso, Hulkenberg, Ocon and Sainz.  It was Alonso's first points of the season and he had told Brundle before the race that Canada was good to him.  There was a lot of celebratory hugging in the Mercedes huddle in front of the podium.

There was so much chat about tyre choice (until the drama at the end) and having to run two different compounds.  The whole thing is so contrived and should be stopped; there must be other ways to make races interesting.  Perhaps if the only people who could choose tyre strategy were the drivers, that would make it spicy.

Canada GP Qualifying Report

This event in Canada felt like it could be another Monaco.  The track is narrow and the walls are punishing.  Norris was fastest in practice and his team mate and main championship rival, Piastri, hit the wall.  LeClerc also had a pretty big crash in the first session, which meant he didn't get out for the second one.  Stroll was back for his home race having had an operation on his wrist and recovered in a fortnight.

There was drama as we went into the first session.  Tsunoda was given a ten place grid penalty for overtaking under a red flag during practice.  I wonder what his excuse will be, it seems like it might be a valid mistake.  With everyone having set a lap, Albon lost the engine cover on his Williams, leaving debris all over the track and the session had to be red flagged for some tidying up.

The session continued.  Alonso had been in the lead when the flags were waved but Norris led his team mate when it ended.  Albon, with a fresh engine cover, made it through but his team mate, Sainz went off and through the dust as he had a moment with Hadjar, who impeded him.  Hadjar was through (but possibly heading for a three place grid penalty) and Sainz was out.  It was Bortoleto in 16th, Sainz in 17th, Stroll in 18th, Lawson in 19th and Gasly in 20th.  I don't know why Gasly was so low, other than Alpine are having an awful year and are last in the constructors championship.

The second session passed calmly.  Russell was fastest, followed by Norris.  Out went Tsunoda, Colapinto (8 places ahead of his team mate), Hulkenberg, Bearman and Ocon.  We should have paid more attention to the performance of the Mercedes.

It was all down to the last laps in the final session.  Norris could not put a lap together and will be incredibly disappointed with all the promise he'd shown earlier in the week when it didn't count.  Verstappen looked like he would take pole, then Piastri put in the quickest lap, then Verstappen took it back.  Behind him,

 Russell had put in a purple, fastest sector and took pole.  All he has been asked about this year is what he thinks of Verstappen's behaviour, surely now it is time for him to be questioned on his amazing season.  Villeneuve, who did the interviews, went down this avenue.  Initially, George deflected them and then joked that he had "more points on his licence to play with".  The starting top ten was provisionally Russell, Verstappen, Piastri, Antonelli, Hamilton, Alonso, Norris, LeClerc (who couldn't seem to find a good place to be on track all afternoon), Hadjar and Albon.

It feels like it will be a strongly contested race tomorrow.  Russell and Verstappen must be in contention with at least one McLaren.  We can't rule out Antonelli or Hamilton.  LeClerc always seems to be in the right place if there are any lucky breaks.

Spain GP Race Report

Following Qualifying, Norris must have taken a knock on his confidence gained at Monaco last weekend.  His team mate Piastri secured pole with the largest margain of the season.  Would he be aggressive in this race?  He needed to be.

Stroll decided that the recurring pain in his wrist (from a pre-season training accident quite a while ago) required him to travel somewhere else to have a "procedure".  Strange that he couldn't have waited twenty-four hours.  And let Drugovich have a drive, a long-waited for F1 start.

Colapinto was penalised for his break-down in the pit lane during Qualifying and would start last on the grid, with Tsunoda starting from the pit lane, having qualified there anyway and changing his suspension.

Much had been made of the race down to turn one but Piastri made an amazing start and held his position.  Other drivers were three abreast and there was some argy-bargy at the back.  Somehow Albon lost three places and sustained damage to his front wing, Alonso lost his points-finishing place and Sainz remained in 17th.  Verstappen got past Norris and both Ferraris got past Russell.

Lots of drivers tried an early stop strategy (by lap 10) including Albon (forced to get a new front wing), Sainz, Tsunoda, Bearman and Hulkenberg.  Norris got past Verstappen and he didn't do much to defend it, coming in immediately after for his new tyres.  Alonso had a big old trip over the gravel, perhaps getting some practice in for the next series he will drive.

A third of the way through the race, Piastri had pulled out five seconds ahead of his team mate and it was looking critical between Norris, who had not taken a pit stop, and Verstappen, who had.  The Red Bull undercut both McLarens for the lead.

Albon was the first retirement, shunted, bumped, damaged and demoralised.

Having so many stops in the race, some were bound to be duds.  Ferrari did a slow one for Hamilton.

With eleven laps to go, Antonelli ended up in the gravel, which he needed to stop the car as the engine failed and there was a Safety Car.   Taking a pit stop seemed a good idea.  The McLarens were double stacked and both came out in front of Verstappen's Red Bull.  Behind them LeClerc, Russell and Hamilton also came in.  Verstappen put on the hard tyre because it was the only option and it wasn't ideal.  This didn't put him in a positive mindset.

There were only six laps to go when the Safety Car was due to end and Piastri slammed his brakes on to control the pack.  It looked like Verstappen might take Norris but LeClerc overtook him instead, even Russell looked like he might have a chance to pass him.  Max would be a grumpy goose after the race.  In fact, he lost his rear end and had a little tap, each blaming the other.  Verstappen was asked to let Russell through and thought he had permission but Versappen cut him off with a bump.  Rosberg thought he should get a black flag.  

With one lap to go, Hulkenberg overtook Hamilton for 6th place, the Sauber driver having a great race and we heard the cheer from the fans as Alonso overtook Lawson for a one point finish.  It finished with a McLaren one-two with the Ferrari of LeClerc behind.

In the end, Verstappen was given a ten second penalty, which dropped him down to 10th place.  He said it was a "misjudgement" but was very critical of Russell's response and said he would bring him tissues for the next time.

I'm sure Piastri celebrated with a small sangria (hold the red wine and brandy).  LeClerc was surprised and somewhat bewildered to find himself being interviewed.

Will Stroll return for his home race in Canada?  Can Piastri extend his championship lead there?  Let's hope Williams find their pace again as we cross the Atlantic.

Spain GP Qualifying Report

Going into Qualifying in Barcelona, Piastri had won Free Practice.  After the first round of quick laps in the first session, he was the quickest, ahead of Verstappen and Norris.  Then the drivers queued up in the pit lane for the shoot out at the end.  Colapinto had a problem at the front and couldn't get going; finally Sainz decided to undertake him, which was permitted and it took the other drivers behind them a while to get round and going.  Sainz was knocked out by Ocon in the Haas in the last few seconds, he in turn was knocked out by his rookie team mate who went through in 11th.  Piastri remained quickest.  His old team mate Hulkenberg was also knocked out by his rookie team mate Bortoleto.   So it was Hulkenberg, Ocon, Sainz, Colapinto and Tsunoda out.  For the Red Bull to be last in Qualifying will raise huge questions.

The track did not seem to be improving as the second session progressed.  Williams did not seem to have the same speed as they showed as the last couple of races.  Out went Albon, Bortoleto, Lawson, Stroll and Bearman.  Hadjar put in another great lap for 6th.  Piastri was fastest, with Norris ahead of Verstappen this time.

It looked briefly like Norris might take pole position.  He set the fastest time after the first round of laps, stealing a tow from his team mate.  Positions were reversed for the final laps and Norris pushed hard, perhaps too hard and behind him Piastri put in purple sectors every time he crossed the timing lines.  It finished Piastri, Norris, Verstappen, Russell, Hamilton, Antonelli, LeClerc, Gasly, Hadjar and Alonso.  The Spaniard was very pleased with his lap and whooped as he came in, waving to the crowd.

The most annoying thing about this part of the event?  The contact talk of the "TD" or Technical Directive - I don't think this needs an abb.

Monaco GP Race Report

There were a few shifts about on the grid due to penalties and whatnot but no one really cared as all concern was directed to how the teams would cope with having to stop twice.  

The first few corners would be crucial as well.  In F2 and the Porsche Supercup races earlier in the day, there were big crashes.  In F2, there was an 11 car pile up (which was not replayed despite no one being hurt) and the Porsche that spun meant all the cars behind them had to stop, like a massive Monegasque traffic jam.

Everyone was away clearly and in grid order, at the end of the first lap though, Bortoleto was into the wall, as he was caught out by Antonelli overtaking him.  It was a heart-stopping moment: was this the early Safety Car that had been predicted?  A green flag replaced the yellow as Bortoleto reversed his Sauber to keep going.  Those who were ready to pit immediately stood down.  The barrier needed to be inspected though, so a Virtual Safety Car was instigated.  Tsunoda, Gasly, Bearman and Bortoleto pitted with the Haas experiencing problems.

The race went on for a further eight laps, until Gasly went into the back of his old chum Tsunoda and lost a front wheel.  Piastri slowed as there were waved yellow flags for the debris on the track but Verstappen right behind him did not.  Gasly had no brakes and could not stop; he couldn't park the car at the side and he couldn't stop when he got into the pit lane either.  Eventually he stopped but pretty much in the Williams garage, the pit lane was closed.  However, Gasly could have gone down an escape road much earlier but chose to keep going and nearly took off his team mate as he careered across the corner.

Hulkenberg was the first driver to take a proper stop.  This triggered others.  Hadjar had been running well and pitted from fifth, exiting ahead of his team mate in eighth, a good result for the Racing Bulls.  Norris pitted on lap 20 of 78 and came out in fourth behind LeClerc, Piastri and Verstappen.  Bearman and Hadjar did a quick change of tyres so that they had their stops all done.  Piastri's stop was very slow but would not be able to jump LeClerc.  Despite putting in the fastest lap of the race, he didn't.

It seemed everything had calmed down.  The front runners were complaining that the marshals were not waving blue flags to tell the backmarkers to let them through.  It felt like there should have been ten laps to go but, remarkably, there were forty laps to go and Alonso's engine gave out with a puff of smoke from sixth position.  He would have scored some good points.  The Aston Martin was parked neatly off the track by the ever-professional Spaniard.

With two thirds of the race gone, neither Mercedes had taken any of their mandatory pit stops.  Russell got more and more frustrated behind Albon, who was deliberately holding up the pack for his team mate Sainz.  Following closely, he cut the corner and refused to give the place back.  The team asked him to again and he told them that he would take the five second penalty rather than concede.  The stewards didn't like that and gave him a drive through penalty instead, which meant he would have to go slowly through the pit lane rather than take the pit straight on track as normal.  This was very costly.

Then we waited for drivers to make their stops.  Verstappen made his final one on the last lap, giving Norris the lead back.  His finished there with LeClerc and Piastri behind him.  Also in the points positions were Verstappen, Hamilton, Hadjar, Ocon (an excellent finish for the Haas), Lawson, Albon and Sainz.  The Racing Bulls and Williams' did well to get some points and will keep their battle going.

There was general agreement that the two stop rule did not work. There's little time to party before heading to Barcelona.  Piastri was still leading the championship and there's still plenty of time in his career to win at Monte Carlo.

Monaco GP Qualifying Report

During the Practice sessions both Hamilton and Piastri crashed which gave a sense that anything could happen in Qualifying.  Ferrari just managed to rebuild the car in time.  Bearman would have a ten place grid penalty for overtaking under a Red Flag.  All eyes were on Williams to see if they could qualify high up, continuing their revival and potentially score lots of points in the race.

LeClerc was fastest in the first Qualifying session, the man who knows the track better than anyone.  Out went Bortoleto, Bearman, Gasly, Stroll (who was in everyone's way all the time) and Colapinto.  Piastri was the only driver to kiss the wall but Antonelli brought a sour end to the session, preventing those at the back having any chance at getting through with a final minute smash into the barrier.  This brought out the Red Flag.  He was through in 15th and would stay there.

A few minutes into the second session Russell came to a stop in the tunnel, after turning his car off and on again.  It would be a very hard place to extract it from and George got the marshals pushing it to a safer place.  It was an awful Qualifying for Mercedes.  With both of them out, there were only three more spaces to fill in the bottom five.  It looked likely it would be Hulkenberg (it was in 13th) and then Ocon or the Racing Bulls.  Unfortunately it was Sainz and Tsunoda, whose team mates finished 3rd and 5th.  Here was Williams outperforming the Red Bulls.  Norris took the fastest time with LeClerc hot on his heels.

At the last gasp in the final session, LeClerc took pole.  Verstappen could only manage 5th.  Then Piastri was on a quick lap but could not get higher than 3rd.  Norris put together a great lap and did take pole; it could be his comeback lap.  Disappointingly, Albon was 10th.  Between them was Hamilton in 4th, Hadjar in 6th, then Alonso, Ocon and Lawson.

Everyone seems pretty defeated by their position on the grid, even Norris.  So if the mandatory two stops don't make the race exciting enough for you, don't forget that you can play spot the difference with the new McLaren livery.  It's very tricky.

Emilia Romagna GP Race Report

Sky picked up a good banner pre-race, "Someone make Ferrari great again!"  As they were out of the top ten going into the race, it was a prescient poster.  

Before the race there was a little drama, all wet: the slight possibility of rain and Williams' unable to find a leak from Albon's car prior to going to the grid.  Everyone made it around the formation lap.  Two rookies fell back two places off the start, Hadjar and Colapinto but Verstappen made it up one significant place to take the lead and did it convincingly.  

Everyone held their place cleanly for a couple of laps before LeClerc decided to try and overtake his good friend Gasly, sending the Frenchman wide, over the gravel, dramatically bouncing across it and coming back on track five places later.

After eleven laps, Norris finally made it past Russell for a podium position, but the Mercedes tyres were going off badly and he was straight into the pits with Sainz, Ocon, Lawson and Gasly for an early switch onto the Hard tyres.  Then Alonso came in with his brakes on fire and Piastri changed his strategy to pit too and it was slow.

Piastri soon began to scythe his way back up the placings.  Those at the front (Verstappen, Norris, Albon, Hadjar) were all hanging on and waiting for a Safety Car.  As he got up to 4th place, his team mate Norris pitted and came out in 7th.  Simultaneously Ocon pulled his car to a stop at the side of the track on the team's instructions and a Virtual Safety Car was called for.  This was perfect for Verstappen, slightly less so for Albon but LeClerc was swearing on the radio about how he always loses out.  Suddenly many cars were in, with unsafe releases all around.  Verstappen held the lead, ahead of Paistri, Norris, Alonso and Hadjar.

Whilst things were going well for Verstappen, his team mate Tsunoda was investigated for banging into Sainz, who was himself on the worse side of split strategy.

On Lap 46, we heard from Antonelli as he pulled off the track and onto the grass too: he had an issue.  The teams got ready in the pit lane and a full Safety Car was called for.  His car just stopped.  LeClerc was negotiating with his team over getting some new tyres, he really wanted a fresh pair of Medium instead of his current ones that were wearing out.  The maths said it was a bad idea and he promised to tidy his bedroom and do the washing up for a week.  If McLaren pitted Norris, he would definitely be behind his team mate or they could leave him out and keep him ahead of Piastri which wouldn't seem fair.  Albon didn't pit but the McLarens were past him and they decided not to risk it but he was behind LeClerc now, could he get past on fresh tyres?  The Ferrari driver was worrying on the radio about whether everyone behind him would get past straight away as his tyres were in such bad nick.  Norris was also arguing on the radio for permission to battle Piastri, commentating on the state of his tyres.

There were ten laps to go when the power was handed back over to Verstappen.  Norris and Albon were noted for a Safety Car infringement.  Norris didn't seem to be getting particularly close to Piastri and LeClerc was holding off Albon.  A lot of incidents were noted during the race with no further investigation needed.  On Lap 58, Norris made it past for second.  When Albon finally tried, he went off across the gravel of a corner and Hamilton got past too.  LeClerc let Hamilton through.  It was a terrific defensive drive from LeClerc but he was told to give the position back.  I don't think it was fair but as a Williams supporter, I'll take it.

Norris's pessimism seems misplaced, that his racecraft, along with a little luck and strategic help, is enough.  He was very despondent with his second place over the radio after.  Piastri was as excited in tone in his post-race interview as when he wins.

After a great race, surely the Imola track must return to the calendar.

Emilia Romagna GP Qualifying Report

The big news in Formula One, now feels like old news; it is all change at Alpine with a new driver and a departing team principal.  It seems Briatore is now the TP.  The Lesser-spotted Colapinto, who has done less press this season and last than he really should, has become the second driver (well, third technically and you're only allowed four per season).  Jack Doohan was still at the track and was paraded as one of  the Alpine stable's pit ponies.

There was some worry about tyres and rain but they wouldn't be the biggest troubles on the day.

Only three minutes into the first session, it was Red Flagged when Tsunoda had a huge smash.  No one wants to see this in a circuit famed for deaths in the past.  He just hit the kerb poorly and ran into the barrier at a high speed and at such an angle that the car was tipped into rolling fully around.  Somehow, he climbed out of the car by himself with no help.

It looked like Colapinto would be in trouble, as he came into the pit lane too early to queue.  His troubles wouldn't stop there though.  As the chequered flag was waved, he too had a huge smash.  It was fully nose on and looked like a big impact.  Bearman was unlucky as he crossed the line just after the Red Flag was shown.  Deciding whether he or Bortoleto was through delayed the start time of the next session.  Out went Colapinto, Lawson, Hulkenberg, Ocon, Bearman and Tsunoda.

When they did go out, it was all much more straight forward, with the minor annoyance of lots of traffic on track.  Lots of teams brought upgrades to this circuit, the Aston Martin ones really seeming to make a difference, Ferraris' less so.  At the end of the session, Sainz put in a quick lap out of nowhere in his Williams to take first.  Then Gasly went quick in the remaining Alpine and knocked out home track hero (not much mentioned about this in the media though) Antonelli.  At the last gasp, the Ferraris were sitting in 9th and 10th but both Aston Martins were on track.  They both put in good enough laps for the top 10 and knocked the prancing horses out; LeClerc was much more despondent than Hamilton afterwards.  The middle five were LeClerc, Hamilton, Antonelli, Bortoleto and Colapinto.  All the Italian hope (apart from the Racing Bulls) was out.

As the only rookie in the final Qualifying session, Hadjar was putting such a great performance in that he risks being called up to the Big Team.  Norris doesn't seem to be able to challenge Piastri anymore, even Russell was able to get ahead of him; later we were shown a shot of him being propelled up into the air over a kerb but whatever the cause these things seem to bother him more than his team mate.  He criticised his Q3 performance over the season so far.  The top ten finished with Piastri on pole and then Verstappen, Russell, Norris, Alonso, Sainz, Albon, Stroll, Hadjar and Gasly.

With a Qualifying session like this, the chances of a Safety Car for the race must be high.  It would be interesting to see whether the Racing Bull, Aston Martins and Williams could stay in the points during the race.

Miami GP Race Report

The most exciting drivers' lap ever took place in Miami, full size, two-seater, fully-drivable Lego cars were given to each team.  The drivers seemed to be having the time of their lives and forgot that they were supposed to be waving to the crowds.  A giant Lego minifig (Megafig?) was circulating on the grid too.

The Florida weather was haunting this part of the weekend too.  There was a 40% chance of rain but more importantly if there were lightning strikes in the region there was an alarming protocol of evacuation and Red Flags to follow.

The grid walk was back with Brundle but he struggled to find anyone who could string a sentence together, there was a number of celebrities wheeled out who had no idea where they were.  He found some drivers, who obviously spoke well, and Jack Whitehall.

Initially it looked like a clean start but Norris made yet another mistake and ran wide and off the track, coming back in sixth.  Annoyingly the classification wasn't showing, the FIA really need to sort that out.  Norris was on the radio saying that Max was up to his old tricks.  Meanwhile, at the back, Doohan and Lawson had come together.  Eventually the Alpine came to a stop at the side of the track and a Virtual Safety Car slowed the cars until it could be cleared.

After 14 laps and an intense battle, with excellent defence by Verstappen, Piastri was passed him and into the lead.  The Red Bull driver complained about his brakes, as Norris lined up to take his turn to get passed.  He did and after a lap, Verstappen took the place back, letting Piastri get a strong 8 second lead.    Norris got back to second and we wondered how long it would last.

It was reported that Albon had a water leak (or something) on his Williams, which everyone waited to see what would become of that.  With rain forecast by different teams at different times, Russell made an early call that it was precipitating, although that they have been inside-helmet rain, as no one else saw it.  They can't have had much of a hope of it actually arriving because the pit stops went ahead half way through the race.

Bearman's Haas broke down and he slowed then pulled to the side of the track.  A Virtual Safety Car was called again and several top runners got a cheap pit stop: both McLarens, Hamilton, Russell.  Russell was able to get past Verstappen through it.

A couple of laps later, Sainz was passed LeClerc and Albon was past Antonelli; the Williams were flying.  Tsunoda was given a penalty for speeding in the pit lane. 

Bortoleto was the next driver to retire with engine problems; it seemed like he would be able to get back to the pits but pulled off well out of the way.  A Virtual Safety Car was called for the third time anyway.  Sainz was sleeping when it ended as LeClerc caught him napping and got past and Hamilton took him too.  He asked the team to get LeClerc to move over, they were on different tyres.  It took a while but they did swap positions.  

At the back of the grid, Lawson was also out, the fourth rookie to retire.  To add to the confusion, Ferrari asked the two drivers to swap positions back again.

In the end, it was an easy win for Piastri but it was a one-two for McLaren.  They were over thirty seconds ahead of Russell.  It will be very tricky for Toto if Verstappen does want to drive for Mercedes, to choose which driver to dump.

Verstappen was fourth ahead of an excellent points haul for Albon in fifth, then Antonelli, LeClerc, Hamilton, Sainz and Tsunoda in the points.  Hadjar just missed out on a point as Tsunoda managed to keep five seconds ahead of him to mitigate his penalty.  The two Aston Martins finished last, Alonso ahead of Stroll obviously.

Will McLaren be found to have dodgy parts on their cars before the season is out?  Who knows but their dominance continues and the disappointment in Norris compared to Piastri is becoming more and more apparent.

Miami GP Qualifying Report

Everyone was still recovering from the Sprint and too tired to Qualify.  Silly mistakes were made straight away, the first session had barely started when Albon was noted for a pit lane infringement.  

There were scrappy laps from some top drivers, Russell and Hamilton struggling.  Despite going second fastest, Norris hit the wall.  Verstappen had learnt something from the Sprint event and finished first. The McLarens were a strong second and third. Some drivers, including Russell and Hamilton used more new sets of tyres than they would want to.  Out went Hulkenberg, Alonso, Gasly, Stroll and Bearman.  This was disappointing from the Haas rookie.  The disparity between the Aston Martins and other teams is showing more and more.  Where others were able to learn and improve from the other competitive sessions at Miami, they went backwards.

In the second session, some drivers did well and others made mistakes, locking up on fresh sets of tyres, Hamilton was one of these.  Out went Hadjar, Hamilton, Bortoleto, Doohan and Lawson after an eventless few minutes.

It was close in the last session, with three thousandths of a second between Verstappen and Norris at the front.  LeClerc and Russell had scrappy first laps and had time in hand to improve.  The Williams were looking strong again too.  McLaren were not able to get ahead of the Red Bull.  The Mercedes found a little time at the end.  Unlike earlier, there were no penalties handed out.  They finished: Verstappen on pole, Norris, Antonelli, Piastri, Russell, Sainz, Albon, LeClerc, Ocon and Tsunoda.

The question going into the race would be whether Verstappen has found it in himself to keep it clean and maintain the lead after the first lap without the stewards needing to intervene.

Miami GP Sprint Report

What a difference twenty-fours hours makes!  All pundits' eyes were on Antonelli, any other driver that was previously the big story ("Just look at young Piastri!") is now too old and too slow.  The Mercedes driver came to the track on the Saturday as the centre of everyone's attention.  Also, the Floridian sunshine had disappeared and was replaced by rain.  The track wet was a complete unknown.

It was a bit wet, drizzly and drivers went out on Intermediate wet tyres to get round to the starting grid.  The rain suddenly got much, much heavier and LeClerc, who was going round (far too fast for the conditions I feel, he should have tip-toed round) hit the wall in a largish smash.  He tried to bring the car back around to the pits but stopped at the end of the pit lane.  Both Ferrari drivers were complaining.  I was surprised that they were not stopped from going out with the car at the side of the track.  Bearman was going at much more appropriate speed and went off but was able to bring the car gently around and back on track.  LeClerc was out of the race.  Hamilton has been facing a lot of negative discussion about his performance compared to LeClerc but in this instance he did a better job in the conditions.  He was pulled up for driving unsafely by the stewards.

The formation lap would be behind the Safety Car and all drivers were on the Intermediate tyres apart from Sainz who chose the Full Wet.  They did a few laps.  Verstappen spun off, lots of drivers complained/fed back and the race was Red Flagged and stopped.

Following a delay for the marshals to sweep water off the track.  They did a couple of laps behind the Safety Car and the drivers radioed in to tell us what the conditions were like.  From all this, the Race Director decided to go for a standing not a rolling start.  With three laps completed of the 18, it would be a short sprint.

Antonelli made a poor start and Piastri came in quick, he fought and he was off and coming back onto the track in 4th.  Despite large rooster tails of water, the drivers were right behind each other tightly.  Lawson and Stroll made up 5 places each.

The race was like watching highlights, everything that would normally happen in a race did, but much closer together.  Albon was desperately trying to get past Hamilton, there was overtaking, pit stops were made.  Tsunoda, running in last place, was the first person to go onto slick, dry weather tyres.  He was followed by Hamilton, which was a bigger gamble as it dropped him into 15th place ahead of Bortoleto, Stroll and Sainz.

Next, Verstappen and Antonelli came in from the front, the Red Bull car was released into the Mercedes, meaning Antonelli couldn't even get into his pit box and had to keep going.  He was awarded a 10 second penalty.  Whilst this was happening there were Yellow Flags then Green again, something had happened on track.  We quickly found out that Sainz had had a big smash with lots of debris on track that drivers were trying to avoid.  We weren't sure whether there would be a Safety Car.  Piastri took a risk and came in early, not waiting to see; then Norri kept radioing in to say how much debris there was on track in the hope that a Safety Car would be called.  Sainz managed to get back to the pits somehow.

It looked like Norris was going to have to pit for dry tyres anyway, especially as Hamilton was powering through the line up and was in third.  As he was in the pits, there were more Yellow Flags, initially this seemed because of the debris but we cut to an Aston Martin in pieces across the track.  Obviously, the world assumed it was Stroll but, no, two times world champion Alonso.  It wasn't his fault, Lawson went into him; in a race where he veered from hero to zero and back again at an alarming pace.

There were three laps left and the pole-sitter, Antonelli, was in 11th.  A replay of Sainz made me think Albon was out from 5th too but luckily not.  With the Safety Car leading the cars to the finish, everyone was very close.  This meant that Verstappen's 10 second penalty took him back to 16th place, ahead of only Doohan.  Somehow, just by keeping his head down Norris won ahead of Piastri, Hamilton, Albon, Russell, Stroll, Lawson and Bearman.  It was a good chance to earn points for those last 4 drivers.  For once the promise of Williams looking strong came true, normally as soon as anyone suggests it there will be an inevitable no points finish.

There were several more investigations announced as well, so the finishing order did not look definite at all.  In the end only Bearman was given a 5 second penalty, which put Tsunoda in the points, which is amazing for him as he started at the back.  Then Albon and Lawson were also given 5 seconds off their race times for not staying above the minimum times set under the Safety Car and bumping into Alonso respectively.  

Hamilton was full of praise for his team's strategic decision to bring him in early.  He was overjoyed for once.

Williams might rue their saviour Sainz, he has made one mistake after another so far this season.  Three cars needed fixing before the imminent Qualifying session, his, LeClerc's and Alonso's.  It would be touch and go.  It was a thrilling Sprint, which made me worry that Qualifying and the Race would be dreary.

Miami GP Sprint Qualifying Report

Formula 1 arrived in Miami for some glitz and glamour.  Lando Norris went for a disco ball helmet design, which was a big hit with my 7 year old.  Now we've been coming to the track for a few years, less is made of how much it is a party.

In the first session, it was very busy on the track at the end.  Tsunoda didn't manage to cross the line in time to put in a final lap and was out.  This must have been disappointing for Red Bull. Norris got held up by his bestie, Verstappen, who seemed to hold up his team mate too, who in turn made some disparaging remarks in the press pen.  Fatherhood must be distracting the driver.  Out went Stroll, Doohan, Tsunoda, Bortoleto and Bearman.  The Mercedes were the two top drivers, then Albon, Norris, Sainz and Piastri.  The Mercedes engine was going great guns at this track.  Doohan was very angry on team radio about his release from the garage during the session, it could have been unsafe and he felt that it disadvantaged him.  Briatore won't like him having been so public in his criticism.  It won't do him any favours.

Unfortunately Sainz made a mistake and had a huge lock-up, going right off track, which meant Williams couldn't keep up the form in the second session.  There were a few bumps to the wall on the back straight, mostly notably by Gasly.  Other than Sainz, who didn't end up setting a time at all, there were no surprises amongst the drivers going out: Hulkenberg, Ocon, Gasly and Lawson.  Norris and Verstappen were quickest.

In the final session, Russell only put in one flying lap and sat on pole as everyone else went out.  It was nip and tuck.  Verstappen took pole from the Mercedes, then Antonelli took it.  We waited for the McLarens to put in quicker times but they couldn't.  It finished: Antonelli, Piastri (looking ever stronger than his team mate, again, even the 7 year old has switched allegiance), Norris, Verstappen, Russell, LeClerc, Hamilton, Albon, Hadjar and Alonso.  Toto Wolff had a huge grin as his choice of replacement for Hamilton came good.  Russell was quick to get to parc ferme to congratulate him.  It was the fastest lap time ever set at Miami.

Verstappen was confident that he could make up some places in the Sprint but both Ferrari drivers were despondent that they could do anything in the Sprint or the main event.

Saudi Arabia GP Race Report

With Verstappen on pole, Piastri would be nipping at his heels and whether he would be the world championship leader at the end of the race was being highly predicted.  No one was interviewing Norris.  The other bet was how many Safety Cars there would be and whether the race would be stopped with a Red Flag.

Usher refused to speak to Martin on the Grid Walk; the Saudi money must be sufficient that slebs don't need to get any publicity from their appearance too.  Then his former boss Briatore didn't recognise him; he predicted that Gasly would finish in 6th.

The first Safety Car came quickly as Briatore's prediction came undone.  Verstappen only just held first place from Piastri and had to cut a corner to maintain it, he could possibly have argued that he was forced off the track.  Antonelli did something similar to Russell but clearly did not gain an advantage whether through poor driving or deliberate manoeuvre.  Behind them though Tsunoda and Gasly came together with the Red Bull spinning but was able to keep going in last place and the Alpine slammed into the wall and was out of the race.  However, once Tsunoda came into the pit to be checked out, it was decided to retire him.  Both drivers were equally to blame.

So early into the race, only three drivers took the cheap pit stop: Ocon, Bortoleto and Doohan.  They hoped to go to the end of this short race.

The restart was on Lap 3.  Verstappen backed them almost impossibly up and then sped away.  However, he was simultaneously handed a 5 second penalty for his earlier incident with Piastri.  Brundle was unhappy with this and thought he should have been made to give the place back.

In the Williams garage they were having to manage having two drivers nose to tail in the points.  In front of them Norris and Hamilton were fighting harder.  It would be lap 15 when the McLaren got past.

Approaching the middle of the race, teams were now playing chicken with their pit stops to see if there would be another Safety Car.  Piastri pitted to get some clean air and then Verstappen made his.  McLaren were slow though, negating the penalty.  Both Williams came out very far back.  On Lap 30 LeClerc finally came in from the lead to pit and came out in 5th, not too bad.  Next, it was Lap 34 when Norris pitted from the lead.  There was also the possibility that he went too fast in the pits, or some similar atrocity.

There was lots of overtaking on the street circuit, both at the front and the back of the grid with the rookies getting involved with each other.

Team orders started to come into play at the end of the race.  Ocon, on old tyres, had to let rookie Bearman through.  Sainz was instructed to let Albon into his DRS zone, to try and hold off rookie Hadjar.  Then rookie Bortoleto let Hulkenberg through, in the tense battle for 15th and 16th.

Piastri was moderately pleased with his win and points haul that took him into the lead of the championship.  Verstappen needs to moderate his aggressive driving choices if he is going to get the wins, although I suspect he will continue to blame the car.  LeClerc scored a creditable third.  Norris made up six places, the most of any driver, to finish fourth.  Russell, Antonelli and Hamilton were next, then the mini fight of Sainz, Albon and Hadjar.

As Piastri is now ten points ahead of Norris, I can see that this will end up as a Rosberg versus Hamilton battle, with Norris as Rosberg.  He will have to start sacrificing much more if he is going to achieve his world championship dream.

Verstappen made a short but smiley statement instead of being questioned during the pre-podium interview.  He did not want to defend his early, penalty-receiving move.  He will have to play it cooler if he wants a shot and maybe coach Yuki to support him.

Saudi Arabia GP Qualifying Report

Apart from exhaustion from a triple header, everyone was ready to go racing in Saudi Arabia.

The only drivers to hit the wall in the first session were Hadjar and Albon.  Verstappen was fastest, ahead of the two McLarens, Antonelli and Tsunoda.  Some people looked like they were sandbagging.  Out went the usual clutch of suspects: Stroll, Doohan, Hulkenberg, Ocon and Bortoleto.  The Williams wunderkind of last year had his first lap time deleted and spun into the path of Verstappen on his third.

There were no incidents in the second session.  Albon went out early for his second lap, to cover off any chance of it being red flagged or raining but it didn't pay off and he went out in 11th.  Behind him was Lawson, Alonso, Hadjar and Bearman.  Antonelli continues as the best-performing rookie but should with the equipment he has at his disposal.  Norris was fastest, followed by Verstappen and then Piastri.

The third and final session saw drivers out fairly early to get a lap in, which was a good idea as Norris went over a curb, which propelled him hard into the wall, putting him out of contention and red flagging the competition.  His team mate, Piastri, was just across the line to set his time; for the first time, we saw the Australian's eyes light up inside his helmet.

In the final shoot out, it was between Piastri and Verstappen only Russell put a corker of a lap in and nearly got in the way of things.  The Red Bull took it by one hundredth of a second from the McLaren, with the Mercedes in third.  Behind them was LeClerc (a good showing by the lead Ferrari), Antonelli (does Hamilton wish he'd stayed in that car now?), Sainz (yes, quicker in a Williams than in his old Ferrari seat), Hamilton, Tsunoda, Gasly (who had shown such promise in practice) and Norris with no time set at all.

The FIA were trying out something new with the messages for viewers and letting us know who the last car across the line at the chequered flag was, which is fairly apparent anyway.   I wonder what else they'll come up with this season?

Bahrain GP Race Report

Other than both Mercedes being handed a one place grid penalty, there was nothing to report before the race started other than that Norris had cheered up.

On the softest tyres, Norris made it up to 3rd from 6th off the start, a little cheeriness goes a long way.  Russell got ahead of LeClerc for 2nd.  Gasly and Sainz were 5th and 6th.  LeClerc was playing the long game in medium tyres.  Bearman made up 5 places.  Verstappen,  Hamilton and Tsunoda remained in the doldrums at the bottom of the points.   

Then the stewards announced that Norris might have been out of position on the grid.  LeClerc had told his BFF Gasly that the Ferrari might be doing a one stop strategy.  It feels like when the competitor is your friend you should still keep schtum as he told the world over the radio.

We then saw a shot of Norris at the start and he was ahead of his slot, which would ruin his race potential.  He was given 5 seconds and told to get passed Russell.

There was plenty of overtaking.  Sainz battled to hold Hamilton behind him and needed DRS to get it done.

When the pit stops came up, it was tricky to find a clear window to bring cars out into, the field was very close together.  Red Bull had a problem with their traffic light hold and release system in the pits and lost out with both drivers.  LeClerc wanted to stay out longer but was overuled by Ferrari.   

By the time the second round of stops came, Ferrari were making up places.  Verstappen had an awful stop and came out in last place.  I'm sure Mrs Stroll will have taken a picture of the screen for the one and only time her son is ahead of the World Champion.

Verstappen and Sainz had a minor coming together and there was a little bit of carbon fibre debris left behind.  Stunningly, this triggered a full Safety Car.  This was just in time for most drivers to take a cheap pit stop.  A cynic would say it was done to affect the outcome of the race.  

This all meant there would be a restart.  Piastri managed to stay ahead but everyone behind him was fighting.  Russell held 2nd and the Ferraris got 3rd and 4th.  Lawson got a 5 second penalty for causing a collision but it really can't have been serious enough for that as it didn’t bring out a Safety Car. Sainz was retired after getting and serving a penalty because his car was too damaged. 

Russell had to reset his DRS settings, which sounded like an engineering ballache and technically challenging and then he was told he might lose his dash.  Lots of the cars seemed to be developing gremlins in Bahrain.  Then the Mercedes lost its gears.

Norris was pushing his way forward in the last laps; overtaking Hamilton by force, then LeClerc.  Because Russell was no longer being correctly and accurately timed, it wasn’t clear when he could use DRS or those (Norris) chasing him.  I would like to have seen Ron Dennis stood out with a stopwatch.  They fought until the bitter end.  Verstappen kept being shown the black and white flag for exceeding lap limits but went on to take Gasly for 6th place on the final lap.

Piastri said he would party to celebrate his victory that night; we can only imagine he had a late cola and risked the caffeine keeping him awake.  In fact, he said he wouldn’t go to the party. Russell's race was "tricky" and Norris found his "messy".  The cool down room was noisy with three geeks discussing the highlights they were shown and calling one driver a "muppet".

Norris left Bahrain, to prepare for the third race in three weeks, still as championship leader but if Piastri continues like this, he won't hold it for long.  It felt like Ferrari did well until you saw that they were behind at the end and they expressed their disappointment.

I watched this event on Channel 4 rather than Sky and whilst the presentation before and after the race is slick, the actual order of the race and timely provision of information was shockingly bad.  There was no word about why Russell suddenly went to last place for a couple of laps.  I didn't understand why Sainz had a penalty, I don’t know if they actually told us.  As it is highlights, surely there is ample opportunity to present the race in a logical manner?  They've really committed to supporting Bearman too.

These triple headers feel relentless and I think by the end of the year we will see some tired drivers and I wonder if it will effect championship ambitions.

Bahrain GP Qualifying Report

With turmoil in the FIA, Sainz bewildered by a hefty fine for a visit to the loo at the wrong time, Alonso's steering wheel fell off when he was out on the track during Practice. 

In the first Qualifying session, Verstappen was complaining about his car; it wasn't right.  The Red Bulls were not through as the final push started.  Albon was knocked out in the final seconds by Ocon and Hulkenberg, he was too cold.  Behind him was Lawson, Bortoleto, Stroll and Bearman.  At the front was Norris and Hamilton.

The second session saw Ocon's push to get through being absolutely wasted as he went  immediately in the wall and the session was stopped with a Red Flag.  There were no surprises in the five that went out apart from Sainz, who was comfortably through in 7th.  It was Doohan, Hadjar, Hulkenberg, Alonso and Ocon.

It was harder for all in the final session, with the most pressure on Antontelli and Hamilton who had their first lap times deleted.  Whereas McLaren had been dominant in the first two sessions, Russell was a real contender now.  It was looking strong for him until Piastri did pull something out of the bag to take pole position and he could not be touched.  LeClerc wass third, Antonelli 4th, Gasly 5th.  If you're reading this and wondering where the championship contenders are: Norris 6th and Verstappen 7th.  Behind them were Sainz (finally outqualifying his team mate), Hamilton and Tsunoda.  LeClerc did not expect his place and was glad of the new tyres.  Russell thought it was the cooling track temperatures that helped.  Or were people just not as good?  Norris and Hamilton were both quick to blame themselves but Verstappen explained it away as something with the brakes.

Gasly was hoping that BFFs Lando and Max were going to fight with each other off the line but leave him out of it.  Mercedes were penalised for something administrative on Q2, where I think they released the drivers into the pit lane too early after the Red Flag.  They were each given a one place grid penalty.

If it doesn't turn out to be another dreary procession then it could be a spicy race.

Japan GP Race Report

The drivers were full of talk about how much fun driving at Suzuka is, the media commitments felt less of a burden and they were enjoying being on track.

Sainz had been given a three place grid penalty for impeding Hamilton, it had rained overnight and was cold for the start of the race: that was the pre-race news.  There would be no race news.

It was a clean start with Norris defending well from Piastri.  The top ten remained as they were but behind them there were overtakes a plenty.  Alonso got Gasly, Tsunoda took Lawson, Hulkenberg passed Sainz and Bortoleto, the great prodigy, fell back three places to last.

Stroll was the first to pit in the slow Aston Martin.  He went to the hard tyres and came out in last place.  Of the main runners, on the one stop race, Piastri came in first, followed by what was the top three.  Ferrari made very slow stop for LeClerc.  Norris and Verstappen nearly came together as they exited the pits, the McLaren going on to the grass.  They both blamed each other.  This meant that Antonelli was leading, followed by Hamilton, Hadjar and Albon.

There was so little to watch that we were given a shot of Gasly's mum watching the race.  She would have been disappointed to see the team orders which asked him to move over for Doohan.  It never happened though.

The top three pretty much held stations once all the pit stops had happened.  Behind them Antonelli put in a series of Fastest Laps.  Tsunoda was the Driver of the Day.  It was an easy win for Verstappen and an easily held second and third place for McLaren, Norris holding off Piastri.  Hadjar did well for 8th in his Racing Bull, followed by Albon and Bearman,  The rookies were doing well.  Alonso was just outside the points in 11th but his team mate was last.  Is this finally the year he gets sacked?  Tsunoda was 12th ahead of Lawson in 17th.

It was a very disappointing race, with little to no action.  At least we will be swiftly moving on to two more races in the next fortnight.

Japan GP Qualifying Report

Obviously all the talk at the Japanese Grand Prix weekend, home of Honda, was Tsunoda's move to Red Bull and Lawson's demotion to his seat at Racing Bulls after only two races.  Despite heavy online support from drivers current and old, this must have felt like an awful setback to the Kiwi.

As they went into the Qualifying sessions, grass fires had plagued the practice sessions.  Rain was forecast overnight though.  Doohan didn't shut his DRS during one practice session and had a 300kph crash.  He was winded but did not have concussion.  Villeneuve was very critical of this.

In the first Qualifying session, Antonelli was having problems getting his tyres up to temperature and Hadjar was in pain with the positioning of his seat belt.  It was tight at the bottom.  Out went Hulkenberg, Bortoleto, Ocon, Doohan and Stroll.  A poor showing for the Aston Martin driver.  Antonelli got it together and proceeded in 8th.  Both Racing Bulls were through, which meant Lawson was able to get his Racing Bull out of the bottom five, when he couldn't do the same with his Red Bull.

With 8 minutes to go the second session was stopped because of a grass fire.  It was nip and tuck in the middle.  Out went Gasly, Sainz (with an investigation for impeding pending), Alonso, Lawson and the Tsunoda.  That will certainly put a smile on the faces of his supporters.

The final session was a battle between the two McLaren drivers and Verstappen, behind them it didn't seem to matter so much.  Verstappen snatched pole from Norris at the last second, behind them was Piastri who drove an awful first sector and couldn't make it up with two subsequent purple sectors.  To finish the top ten was LeClerc, Russell, Antonelli, Hadjar, Hamilton, Albon and Bearman.

I only noticed that the Red Bulls were in their white Honda livery for this race, so I had spent the whole time confusing them with their sister team.

Drive to Survive - Season 7 Review

Can we guess who, in the whole entire world of F1 was the second person to appear on the new season of D2S?  Yes!  A Spice Girl!  Newly Posh Spice, formerly Ginger, Gerri Horniwell.  Also making a career change comback is Claire Williams, who now seems to be a pundit for the show.

There was an interesting snippet where Sainz and Hamilton were "caught" discussing  Mercedes drive for the 2025 season; Lewis was advising that he didn't think the team were going to win again.  Carlos said that he had not heard from the team boss so felt an offer of driver there was unlikely.  It seemed a very sad start to the season already.

The release of the cache of messages and emails that were sent to team principals and every member of the press about Horner's alleged misbehaviour was a key selling point for the series.  He was looking hunted already on the show but it was starting to look like D2S was on Horner's side but also did manage to make him look a little shady.  It seems like it was a very long time ago and all has been forgotten now.  Geri's face could not have looked more tense if she was taking Ozympic.

The editor and director didn't seem to know what direction they wanted to take the first episode, was it all about Sainz's departure from Ferrari or Horner's failure to depart from Red Bull?  It finished with Sainz beating Red Bull at Australia.

In the second episode, they brought up the name Lando "No Wins" Norris.  I've never heard this, neither had Jenson Button.  Having created a little extra jeopardy for the McLaren driver, in episode three, they went for George Russell.  I don't think there was ever any question that George Russell had a drive at Mercedes in the 2025 season but it was played that he was contending for the lead driver position.  There was a lot of comment about how he needed to step things up to achieve this.

Where it used to be that Netflix were lucky to be embedded in the right team at the right time, they are now staging increasingly awkward interactions between drivers and their team principals and other staff.  It's really taking away from what was a somewhat serious sporting documentary.

The episode felt rushed, Antonelli's announcement coming hastily at the end and Toto Wolff not looking completely confident in his decision.

Episode four can't have been easy viewing for Logan Sargeant.  It was his crash highlights, with Williams Team Principal, James Vowles, listing the parts he had gone through.  The title was "Carlos Signs".  We didn't know that Sainz had backed out of the first signing with Williams.  It was the second coming of Briatore.  Some of us remember him from the first time around and his no holds barred support of Schumacher.  Those younger will remember crashgate, when he was the engineer of Piquet Jr deliberately crashing to enable Alonso a late-career win.

There were some episodes where the focus was so obvious I had nothing to comment on about it.  The one where they gave them phones to film on and focused on the brotherhood was sweet. Then they moved on to the Danny Ric Story.  Someone, probably Will Buxton, made the point that if he had only stayed at Red Bull and not left to go to McLaren, he could have been world champion.  You could see that Netflix were sad to lose him from the show and this was his grand finale.

With Steiner gone, the production team were looking to the returning Briatore to bring some fire.  You could see he was tired with the idea.  One episode was Haas vs. Alpine.  Ocon really presented that he chose to go to Haas.  This was contrasted with Flavio calling him "a spoilt brat"; then we saw someone in the Haas factory questioning his appointment there.

The final episode tied up loose ends with Verstappen winning the Drivers' Championship and McLaren winning the Constructors'.  As well as the number of drivers leaving teams.  The bizarre outpouring of emotion at Hamilton leaving but only for Ferrari, not forever, was shown.  He was allowed to do doughnuts, what will they do when he finally quits F1?  Shoot him, embalm him and set in a glass tomb in Stevenage?

Didn't mention: Sargeant being dismissed, Newey leaving Red Bull.

China GP Race Report

As with the Sprint race, Lawson was going to be starting in the pit lane.  Oil had been spilled on the main straight as well.  The worst indignity though was Brundle having to interview a Chinese influencer dressed as a unicorn.   He interrupted Antonelli and Bearman chatting, they claimed they were discussing the wind direction but we all know they were talking about Fortnite.

Several drivers were under investigation before the race even started, for not performing their practice race starts correctly.  Given that the rule had only been clarified that morning, there was no excuse.

It was racy but clean off the start.  The action had to play out over a few corners before we definitely knew the running order.  Norris overtook Russell for 2nd.  As LeClerc was overtaking Verstappen, he slightly bumped the rear of Hamilton.  I don't know how Hulkenberg lost 7 places off the start.

The first retirement was Alonso in his Aston Martin, as his brakes caught fire and then went completely.

As the first round of pit stops came and went, Norris lost out to Russell as Piastri pitted first.  A lap or two later, he took the place back.  The Williams were among the cars who didn't go early and Albon led the race on his birthday, not for very long though.  LeClerc was due to change his front wing but didn't.

Unusually and surprisingly, Hamilton spotted that he was holding his team mate up as he struggled with tyres.  He radioed in and the cars swapped places.

There were various bits of overtaking, as cars tried to get back into some kind of regular order.  LeClerc commented on how good the Mercedes were running.

The overtaking petered out towards the end of the race.  Doohan received a penalty for pushing Hadjar off the track.  Tsunoda's front wing broke of it's own accord and he had to pit for a new one.  Norris's brake went long and he would have to ease up.  Verstappen took 4th place from LeClerc with 3 laps to go.

Norris's brake situation became critical with 1 lap to go.  We barely saw his team mate all race.  McLaren managed their one-two finish. Russell fought a little harder and got the last podium place.  Antonelli won Driver of the Day for starting 8th and finishing 8th.  His family must have rung up a large phone bill.

After the race, some of the checks revealed some necessary disqualifications.  Hamilton was first, for blocks for being too small.  LeClerc and Gasly for being underweight.  

Ocon ended up with 5th place and Bearman in 5th so that was a big points haul for Haas.  Antonelli was 6th.  Albon was 7th and Sainz was 10th, so some points for Williams.  We'll have to hope that the next track suits them better.  Stroll was the other points finisher in 9th.  If the big teams are going to make cock-ups, you need to be ready to pick up the points.

For the rookie report: Doohan was scrappy and penalised for it, Lawson had a could-do-better 12th, I don't think we've seen Bortoleto's face yet.

China GP Qualifying Report

Hot on the heels of the first Sprint of the season came Qualifying.  Doohan had been awarded a fine and 2 penalty points for his collision with Bortoleto at the end of the Sprint.  He then went on to spin on his first attempt to put in a timed lap.  I can't see Briatore being happy with his performance so far.  With 2 reserve drivers at Alpine, he needs to make rapid improvements.

LeClerc made a very scrappy lap in the first session and Norris had a time deleted.  Both had to rely on their second and final attempt.  The track got better and better as more rubber was laid down.  The name at the top changed with every car past the chequered flag.  Norris managed to get the McLaren to give the fastest lap, which should have been a confidence boost after a dodgy weekend to that point.  Behind him was Hadjar and Tsunoda in their Racing Bulls, definitely catching some eyes with Lawson finishing last.  Out went Gasly, Bearman, Doohan and Bortoleto with him.

The second session was incident-free.  Again the Racing Bulls finished well, Hadjar 4th and Tsunoda 5th.  Out went Ocon, Hulkenberg (former team mates next to each other on the grid), Alonso, Stroll (still not out-qualifying his geriatric team mate) and Sainz, who was unable to improve his first lap time set.  Hamilton has now laid down a clear marker for how quickly a top driver can fit in with a new team; Sainz is not living up to it.

After the first round of laps set in the final session, only Antonelli had any drama, with a lap deleted for exceeding track limits.  Piastri put in a record lap for the track to secure his first proper pole.  Russell put in a good lap too to be alongside him.  Norris aborted his final lap and finished 3rd.  Then it was Norris, Verstappen, Hamilton, LeClerc, Hadjar, Antonelli, Tsunoda and Albon.

Horner, TP of Red Bull, thought it would be all about strategy and not about starting position, batting off comments about Lawson.

I don't think it will be long before LeClerc really starts complaining.  Could Fred have already been setting things up in deference to Hamilton's preferred style?

An early prediction is that Tsunoda will get a mid-season call up to the Big Team, Red Bull.