China GP Race Report

Before the race a mechanic was face down, bottom up inside Norris's McLaren to try and solve an electric gremlin and they didn't get out of the pit lane before it closed, meaning he would be starting there.  Albon would be starting from the pit lane again, albeit not in his car.

Ted and Bernie did the Grid Walk for Sky and the only celebrity they could find was one Imagine Dragon but they could find cars with faults being fixed including some vigorous work on Verstappen's Red Bull.  By the time we were getting ready to start, Bortoleto and Piastri were both also in their garages.  The Brazilian having been pushed back there from the grid.  Having not got to the grid last week, it wasn't what Piastri needed.

The loss of the McLarens on the grid meant Gasly lost track of where he was meant to be and had to reverse into his grid slot, having overshot it.  I'm glad he wasn't penalised.

Hamilton went straight into the lead and LeClerc to third.  Behind them everyone was going around very tentatively and locking up left, right and centre.  Gasly had dropped a couple of spaces back but before the first lap was over Hadjar had a big spin and Bearman, who he was tussling with, went off behind him in order to avoid him as he sprawled across the track.  This meant the Alpines were fifth and sixth.  Where has this come from?  Is this the Briatore effect?

You must pay close attention at the start because the regulation changes mean it's very close and back and forth at the start.  I don't think this is any more manufactured than other initiatives but the debate is on.  Enjoy the close racing whilst you can.  The Mercedes straight line special boost button kicked in on lap two and Antonelli took Hamilton for the lead and Russell got past LeClerc.  None of the four drivers who started in the pit lane were still in their cars by this point but getting changed into their civvies.  On lap four, Russell got into second place.  Lawson had the best opening laps as he had made up seven places.

With the increase in action at the start of the race, the replay of the start is being shown later and later, so any questions are left unanswered.  Finally we saw how far Verstappen dropped back at the start as he just didn't get underway quick enough.

Verstappen and Lawson came in very early on lap ten for new tyres.  It was terribly timing as Stroll pulled over at the side of the track just as they had come out and the Safety Car was called.  Mercedes and Ferrari double-stacked but Alpine did not.  Not everyone came in for tyres.

At the restart, Antonelli was at least protected from his team mate and the Ferraris with a Colapinto cushion, who was in turn attacked by Ocon, who definitely sniffed an opportunity, which doesn't always end well.  After a while, we stopped watching the front runners.  Temporarily, Colapinto was safe in fourth but behind him both Haas were going for each other and Gasly was watching Verstappen in his mirrors.  The fighting was tight.

Intra-team battles were not restricted to Haas with LeClerc overtaking Hamilton, who fought back hard.  This gave Russell more of a chance behind them.  We would have loved to have heard the team radio.  Once they took a breather, Russell was passed Hamilton.  It took a couple of laps more to get past LeClerc; the only person ahead of him then was Antonelli.

On lap 33, Colapinto finally made his stop and came out ahead of Ocon.  The Haas driver made a foolish move to overtake and they collided.  It didn't look good for either car.  Meanwhile, Alonso had pulled into his garage to retire from the race, as he was losing feeling in his hands.  There might have been a Safety Car, Virtual or otherwise, to clear the debris from the incident but nothing was called.  Then Hamilton radioed to his team that he had no power.  Despite this, he overtook LeClerc and they had another ding-dong.

Ocon admitted that the collision was his fault and received a ten second penalty for it.  I can see why it was good for him that he left Alpine when he did because I don't think Briatore would have a kind word to say to him.

With ten laps to go, Verstappen, who had been trailing about in the bottom of the points, started to go slowly and was called in to retire the car.

As the commentators began to wax lyrical about Antonelli's race and counting down the laps, he locked his tyres, as the spectators gasped, and went off.  His lead to Russell was reduced but everyone was suffering with worn tyres.

It was a Mercedes one-two, with Hamilton behind them.  There were only fifteen finishers.  The most notable for me was Sainz bringing home two points for Williams.

Every car seems to have something different in it's favour.  Gasly got the top speed in the race in his Alpine.  Mercedes are good in some places but not the right places according to Russell.  Ferrari can get off the start.  Haas clearly have something too.

I'm sure Hamilton would have liked the Italian national anthem playing for him as he stood on the podium but everyone seemed cheery enough for Antonelli to take the win.  It bodes well for some sort of championship battle that each Mercedes driver has one win each.  There is just Japan before a very long Spring break, a third race winner would be ideal.

China GP Qualifying Report

Cars were queuing to get out well before the start of the first Qualifying session in Shanghai.  Bottas nudged his Cadillac out in front of the line in a most cheeky manner.   For the first time, in any significant running, LeClerc was at the top of the time sheet at the end.  Obviously followed by Russell and Antonelli but then Verstappen, which might raise a small, very small, smile.   Out went Sainz, Albon, Alonso, Bottas, Stroll and Perez (who only just got running).  The Williams seem have made a significant backwards step over the Winter but at least they're not being beaten by Cadillac unlike Aston Martin (yet).

With half a minute to go on in the second session, Bortoleto crashed out, which meant that a number of quick laps were ruined.  The Audi went skidding across the tarmac, then the gravel and finally into the barrier on a long journey away from the track.  It was only the Alpines who were really going for it and would be able to go through.  Gasly was already in the top ten but jumped to sixth.  Colapinto was only able to get twelfth, which meant Hadjar was safe in tenth.  Antonelli took first place, then LeClerc and then Russell in third, his grip on dominance slipping.  This was explained when he radioed to his team that he was having "major understeer" and asked them to prepare a new front wing.  The drivers departing Qualifying were: Hulkenberg, Colapinto, Ocon, Lawson, Linblad and Bortoleto.

Things went from being somewhat bad to absolutely awful in the final session for Russell as his engine groaned and grunted around and he came to a stop on the track.  He couldn't find the gears but got going again and was able to get back to the pits.  After the first round of quick laps, his team mate Antonelli was the quickest.  McLaren seemed to have found something though and were ahead of the Ferraris.

There was a lot of camera focus on the Mercedes garage but the mechanics all looked very calm as they tried one thing after another.  With a couple of minutes to go, Russell was out of the pit and on his way.  All the drivers were improving their quickest laps, pushing each other lower each time they crossed the line.   Russell put in three green sectors, which meant that Antonelli took pole to be the youngest pole sitter ever and the first Italian for a long time.  Behind the Mercedes' lines up Hamilton, LeClerc, Piastri, Norris, Gasly (who will be pleased to be ahead of...), Verstappen, Hadjar and Bearman.

In the press conference, Hamilton praised "this big lad" Antonelli but is this a careful way of undermining him?  Gasly seems to be riding high and seemed happy.  His former team mate, Verstappen, was not expecting anything better but seemed philosophical.  Once again (although I shouldn't be saying this before the second race of the season) it will be Ferrari who will be bringing the challenge to the Mercedes.  The biggest question hanging over the grid will be reliability.

China GP Sprint Report

Before we even got to the grid, parts had been flying off Gasly's car and Albon decided to start from the pit lane.  The teams are still settling into the changes.

When the lights went out the headline was an awful start by Antonelli who went from second to seventh.  Ferrari went well: LeClerc was third and Hamilton went from second out of the first corner to leading by the middle of the lap and then LeClerc got through for second.  Verstappen hit someone on the first lap, possibly, it was hard to tell and the replays didn't come for quite some time, and his stable mate Linblad spun right around in the middle of the pack.  The new energy system saw Russell get the lead back by the end of the first lap and then Hamilton retook it.   The racing was fast and furious.  Do we mind that the racing is due to use of amped up battery power?

Further back, Albon had made it up to 16th by the end of the second lap from the pit lane and was behind his team mate.  

It went back and forth between the two former team mates until LeClerc had caught up to them on lap six and was in the mix too.  Unusually, we had no radio transmissions broadcast.  

Having got up to fifth place, Antonelli got a ten second penalty for crashing into Hadjar.  I wonder if the length of penalties should be decreased given the lesser number of laps in a Sprint?

The Ferraris were battling now, with LeClerc getting past Hamilton, all of which played into Russell's hands, who was currently in the lead.  On Lap 11, Antonelli was close enough and with enough battery to get past Hamilton for third.  At this point, it started going wrong for everyone: Linblad then Bottas were asked to go into the pit lane to retire their cars and Hulkenberg had to pull over to stop.  A Safety Car came out and the top five all came in for fresh tyres followed on the next lap by drivers from up and down the pit lane.   With only five laps to go, it seemed like madness and the last sprint of the Sprint would be full on.  Several drivers lost out as they were double-stacked.  

It was several laps until the Safety Car did come in, with three laps to go and it would have been amusing but disappointing if the race had finished under it with all the tyre changes.  The drivers were weaving their cars frantically to boost the tyre temperature.  LeClerc lost out with wheel spin.  The rolling start, rather than a standing start, evened out the playing friend.  Hamilton was able to get past Norris for the final podium place.  Perez received a five second time penalty for a Safety Car infringement.  Piastri was told to give a place back to Antonelli back as he was under investigation for overtaking him before the Green "go racing" flag.

Russell won and was lucky that the Ferraris fought with each other and let him take it more easily.  Behind him in the points was LeClerc, Hamilton, Norris, Antonelli, Piastri, Lawson and Bearman.  Verstappen was right outside the points.

I could see that the main race would probably have a first stint similar to this and then it will settle down.  The only differential could be whether there are Safety Cars.

China GP Sprint Qualifying Report

Before the race weekend had even started it was rumoured that things were being ditched from the season: namely the Saudi Arabia and Bahrain races.  If I haven't said it before, damn Trump!

Then we went into this session and Perez' Cadillac was not ready to race and stayed in the pits.  Bortoleto and Bearman both went off on big trips through the gravel but made it through to the next session.  There will be disappointment in Williams as Sainz and Albon were out, followed by Alonso and Stroll, Bottas and Perez.  Two by two.

Verstappen was asking his team to check the "driveability" of the car between sessions.  That's the sort of question I ask of a mechanic.  The Red Bulls ended up ninth and tenth, with Verstappen having a big off.  Russell was fastest with Antonelli behind him for the second session in a row.  I'm not sure why Mercedes went out for a second run when Ferrari didn't.  Out went Hulkenberg, Ocon, Lawson, Bortoleto, Linblad and Colapinto.

Five cars had not set a time with seconds to go in the final Qualifying session, including both McLarens.  Russell took the Sprint pole of course, with his team mate next to him.  Norris got a surprisingly good result in third, how funny we should be saying that.  Hamilton was next, splitting the McLarens.  LeClerc was sixth; Gasly seventh beating former team mate Verstappen.  Finishing up the top ten was Bearman and Hadjar.

I think behind the Mercedes it might be a good race although teams might hold back, saving the car for the main race.

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.

China GP Sprint Report

In the morning there was no news from Sprint Qualifying but Hadjar and Gasly did something wrong on the way to the grid.  Albon was also being investigated and fined for not returning some cameras and footage because of the new wing rules that came into force this weekend.  Pirelli had also changed the mandatory tyre pressures, which would need a lot of management by drivers.

Hulkenberg would start from the pit lane after changing his suspension, which meant that Lawson would be last on the grid but not absolute last.

Hamilton got off to a great start, cutting off Verstappen.  Norris locked a wheel and dropped back to 9th.  Throughout Sprint Qualifying the time bar kept failing and the same happened during this race, which is very frustrating.  Gasly and Sainz made up a few places.

By lap 9 of 19, Verstappen was right up behind Hamilton and tyres were beginning to go.  You either had to manage the tyres and not gain position or risk losing them to stay ahead or push ahead.  At the back, they were two abreast across the track with most of the rookies up against each other.  Piastri crept closer to Verstappen and Hamilton escaped the DRS zone.

It looked like Sainz was out of the race and brought in to pit but they sent him out again, it meant he was last.  Were Williams using this session as Free Practice?

With 4 laps to go, Piastri got past Verstappen (who admitted afterwards that he let him by) but Norris was struggling and conversations were happening on the radio, where it couldn't be solved.  LeClerc was right behind Russell for 4th position but he was carrying a problem.

Hamilton secured his first victory for Ferrari, albeit a Sprint, followed by Piastri, Verstappen, Russell, LeClerc, Tsunoda, Antonelli and Norris, as the points finishers.  It was a quiet race for the Racing Bull but successful.  Bortoleto and Doohan came together on the last lap and spun.  I think the rookies' behaviour will have an impact on the races for a while to come.

A lot of the drivers seemed to be surviving, which would make for an interesting race.

China GP Sprint Qualifying Report

It was a beautiful sunny Friday in Shanghai for Sprint Qualifying and I think it caught a lot of fans off-guard that the second race of the season, and in a double-header too, would be a Sprint weekend.

The first session saw Hamilton put in the quickest lap with Doohan, Gasly, Ocon, Hulkenberg and Lawson going out.  The Kiwi complained that he "could not get the tyres down".  I expect Gasly, Ocon and Hulkenberg had high hopes that this was the year that they weren't all out in the first session of every session.  I caught myself realising that the Haas were now green and then remembered Hulkenberg had moved to mark the back with a different team this season.

In the second session, it looked like all the promise Williams had made at the first race of the season was disappearing, with Sainz out.  But Albon put in a great lap to get through in 7th.  Hadjar gave his team mate Tsunoda a slip stream to get him through but didn't set a lap time himself.    Out went Alonso, Bearman, Sainz, Bortoleto and Hadjar,  Norris was quickest.

The third and final session had a funny end.  Norris didn't set a particularly fast lap and pitted to withdraw from the contest.  Hamilton was fastest (and surprised), followed by Verstappen (spicy), Piastri, LeClerc, Russell, Norris, Antonelli, Tsunoda, Albon and Stroll.  Hamilton was presented by some strange Pirelli gismo for this endeavour.

How many times will Tsunoda outqualify Lawson by many many places before he gets called up to Red Bull?  Lawson had nothing much to say to the press other than "um" and "frustrating."

Russell thought the Sprint will be an interesting race.

China GP Race Report

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

Ricciardo - new chassis

China GP Qualifying Report

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

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

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

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

China GP Sprint Report

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

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

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

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

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

China GP Sprint Qualifying Report

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

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

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

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

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

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

China GP - "Super strong start. Super strong pace"

A funny old race.  Kubica and Verstappen spun on the warm-up lap.  Then back to normal, Kvyat caused a double McLaren collision.  Then Ferrari team orders swung in.  The Mercedes double pit stop was amazing and probably the highlight of the race.  Gasly got the fastest lap but despite lots of overtaking there wasn't that much excitement.  Roll on the next one.

China GP - Results

1= Evel Marque - 178*
1= BottHaas - 178
3. The Hope Fulls - 157
4. Je suis Charlie - 138
5. PickedInAHurry - 137
6. Jack the Lad - 101
7. The Pitstop Princess - 97
8. Hippy F1 - 96
9. Francesco Bernoulli - 89*
10. Ferrari Rocher - 85

* Home track played

China GP - "Clinical moves, cut throat, scary"

The two Rs have looked promising for a while.  Raikkonen keeps showing his teeth and then lowering his tail when it comes to actually racing.  It looks like he's pedaling for the money.  Red Bull even told Verstappen to do the opposite of whatever he does (turns out that is crashing into cars rather than letting them overtake you).  Ricciardo however, brought everything to this race.  He gains 15 points for fastest lap and 15 points for making up the most places.

For a long time, I thought I would have nothing to write about this race other than I'm not sure whether pit stops should be called stops any more as they barely seem to brake.  The mind boggles.

Then, half way through, the Toro Rossos collided, sending Gasly from hero to zero as he crashed into his team mate, drove through his own litter, brought out the safety car, had a massive stop and then a 10 second penalty.  The race was wide open. With ten laps to go, Verstappen damaged Vettel and my points haul disappeared altogether and brought out the now traditional world champion whinging.

I think three races in, we can safely say that Mercedes aren't dominant this year...and neither are Ferrari...

Any volunteers for a guest blog for Azerbaijan?  Email me please.

China GP - Results

1. Beauty & the F1 Geek - 177
2. Halo, baby! - 173*
3= Give it some Gasly! - 151
3= Two World Champions, Two Future World Champions, and um, Two Other Guys - 151
5. Hasstag#FaceBull - 148
6. Spa Day with a Shooey - 140
7. The Pitstop Princess - 129
8. No Vices Now - 114
9= Evel Marque - 105
9= Maximum Attack! - 105
11. The Hopefulls - 91
12. Jack Johnson - 88
13. Hippy F1 - 69
14. Wheels on Fire - 33

*Home track played

China GP - "Absolute masterclass"

So many people picked Stroll this year, yes he was cheap, but didn't his exit on Lap 1 show he was worth every fantasy penny?  Giovanizzi also proved an expensive mistake for Sauber this weekend, crashing in both Q1 and Lap 4.  Bottas proved his position at Mercedes with a spin under the safety car.  Verstappen confirmed why he was a better choice than Kvyat (he used to drive for Red Bull).  The double McLaren retirement continues to signal the beginning of the end.  Once again the internet is full of "Raikkonen?" chat, he insistence on new tyres means we will never know whether he would have finished on the podium.  You would have thought drivers would be trying a lot harder in the "here today, gone tomorrow" world of Formula 1.  Bottas's engineer called him Nico and Hamilton hasn't bothered to learn Verstappen's name at all - why bother with names when it's all so transient?
I will be encouraging all my drivers to the take the "anywhere you like" approach to grid boxes from now on - the nearer the front the better.  As Vettel received no punishment for starting in the middle.  Overall, it wasn't a bad race, especially the nose-to-nose action from the Red Bulls towards the end.

China GP - Results

1. Bernie is a Hobbit - 117
2. Two World Champions, two future World Champions and, um, two other guys - 110
3. No Vices Now - 108
4= The Pitstop Princess - 107
4= Evel Marque - 107
6. Moneyball - 103
7. Slightly Slower Racing - 99
8= Hoping for an Indian Summer - 84
8= Torque of the Devil - 84
8= Beauty & the F1 Geek - 84
11. BOT-RAI-PER - 76
12= Even more hopeful - 70
12= Jenson's Whinging Legacy
14. Burn after racing  -59
15. Hippy F1 - 51

China GP - "The most incredible balance I've probably ever had [in a car]"

Going up

Old(er) qualifying format returns - much better and a shaken-up grid...
Hamilton out Q1 - great news for everyone
Lap 4 safety car - giving us some great racing and overtaking when it went in, really shook things up
Hulkenberg - provided some of the entertainment during the race.  He got fastest lap and this quality radio dialogue: "I really think we should consider the alternative strategy."  Engineer: "We're already on it."
Ricciardo overtakes Hamilton - a great move on Lap 43
Chinese crowd - cheering Ferrari all the way round

Going down

Helmut Marko - prophesying doom for the Red Bull drivers during the race: "we can't keep up."
Ruining a good race - it looked like the Lap 1 Ferrari collision was going to rule out some decent viewing
Ricciardo's puncture - as above
Radio snitching - Vettel
Too much tyre chat - with three choices I'd hoped there would be less
Bottas - gave up his 8th place on the penultimate lap.  I thought he was a fighter.
Whinging - Vettel

Lastly a note on Driver of the Day: Grosjean won the vote for the last two races but this one...Kvyat.

China GP - Results

1. Three teams, one dream - 200
2. BogOffBernie - 198*
3. Merc-redible Hulk - 174
4. The Pitstop Princess - 166
5. Weak End of Bernie - 165
6. Claire has to type out this sentence each time as my team name  - 147
7. Halo, it's me - 138
8. No Vices Now - 134
9. Beauty & the F1 Geek - 129
10. Hippy F1 - 114
11= The Hopefuls - 105
11= Marian's Marvels - 105
13. British Racing Green - 101
14. The Maranello Marvels - 89
15. Put out to Pastor - 58
16. Indiana Walker and the Tyres of Doom - 56

*Home track