France GP Race Report

In response to an Insta Story between races, Ricciardo had lined up a long interview with Sky to explain that the problem with his performance is not him but the car.  Apparently, he cannot dance with this partner.  Some would say that the best dancers can perform with anyone - as the Strictly pros will tell you any day of the week.  And I'm sure his will tell us this next year.

LeClerc made a textbook start and held his position from Verstappen to lead the race.  Alonso also made an excellent start and made up 2 places.  Zhou dropped back to the end of the grid.  Ocon spun and hit Tusnoda and sending him off and right to the back (and earning the home boy a 5 second penalty).  Sainz only made up a couple of places on the first lap with Magnussen shooting up 7 places.  How did all these drivers jump forwards?  It seems Bottas lost 6 places somehow.   Choosing the harder tyres certainly cost those drivers.

The race plodded on and nothing much happened, Verstappen seemed to give up on the idea of overtaking on track.  Lap 18 our of 53 and a Yellow Flag came up, who was it?  Was it just the red and black stripes on the track making me think it was a Ferrari?  No, it was a Ferrari, LeClerc Ferraried up his own race, possibly due to old tyres or another throttle pedal problem?  No, he later admitted a mistake. We heard his radio back to the team, breathing heavily and furiously ending with a roar.  Unlike last year, Verstappen did check in to see if his rival was okay.  Many cars pitted under the ensuing Safety Car, Hamilton briefly taking the lead before pitting and losing it to Verstappen who had pitted a couple of laps earlier.  To even things out, Ferrari sent Sainz out of the pit box straight into Albon's Williams and we awaited his penalty.

Upon the restart, Sainz carved his way up the grid, past Ricciardo, Norris and Alonso almost in the same lap.  And so the race went on.  Sainz overtook Russell.  Hamilton went very wide off track.  Latifi took  his newly upgraded car for a wee spin.  

Finally, with 10 laps to go, Sainz goes for the podium place by overtaking Perez, who had a dull, dull race.  It was a maneuver that took several corners, during which Ferrari told him to box over the radio.  Russell, buoyed up by the move, went to take Perez too and nearly caused a collision.  Sainz then pitted and came out 9th, not sure why, how bad were the tyres?  Ferrari believe this was the safest option.

Russell is told that he will be able to hunt Perez down.  Sainz passes Ricciardo (as does Ocon), Ocon and Norris. then Alonso, setting fastest laps as he goes.  Following a Virtual Safety Car brought on by Zhou retiring at the side of the track, Russell caught Perez sleeping and passed him.

Merecedes were "freestyling" their set up this weekend and probably did not expect two podium places.  Hamilton finished by exhorting his team to "keep pushing".   Verstappen was very happy with his 25 points.  LeClerc was very harsh on himself and his mistake.  Fans need the battle, Rachael Brooks, for Sky, seem to be suggesting we should all club together to get him a sports psychologist or mentor.  We all want the fight.

Unusually, for a race with only one short Safety Car, an even briefer Virtual Safety Car and not much action, 6 cars didn't finish.  One week to go until the next race and we'll get to see what else Ferrari have in their arsenal to scupper their own races.  Fishes in the tank?  Choosing square tyres?  Forgetting to fuel the cars?  The mind boggles.

France GP Qualifying Report

There were no surprises under the sunny French skies as the first part of Qualifying ended.  Albon made it through despite spinning and Latifi didn't and the writing is on the wall for his F1 career, I'm sure it would be more widely talked about if DannyRic weren't about to receive his marching orders.  DR3 and Mick Schumacher both had times deleted for exceeding track limits, which cost the German but not the Aussie.  And so the heart sinks as it looks like another race weekend where all eyes are on the white lines.  Not in the fun, Studio 54 way either.

Sainz and Magnussen were destined to start at the back of the grid, following changes to power units.  Both felt the need to put in speedy laps in Q2 to scare the opposition.  Albon briefly looked like he could make it through to Q3 but then tumbled down to 15th.  Out in 11th was DannyRic.

Ferrari ensured Sainz was through to the final Qualifying session to be out on the track, giving a tow to his team mate.  Red Bull didn't seem to want to play that game.  It gave LeClerc pole position though.  Norris was able to put his McLaren inbetween the two Mercedes with Alonso and Tsunoda finishing the running cars.

It would be interesting to see LeClerc and Verstappen battling on even ground.  Will there be reliability issues?  Will "track limits" be cried often?  Who will be able to look after the tyres best?

France GP Race Report

Let's begin this report with a review of the four big swaps.  Sainz has had no problem fitting in with Ferrari.  Vettel scored a podium for Aston Martin last race.  Alonso was up in Q3 this weekend and seems to be heading in the right direction.  Ricciardo however is grinning but not smiling.  It's getting critical that he starts challenging his team mate.

Speaking of critical, with ever-increasing speculation about his seat, Bottas needs to start going forwards in races not backwards.  He seems to have Qualifying pace over one lap but is unable to challenge in the races.  The strategy plays don't pay off for him either.

Sainz was one of my picks for surprise podium contender (along with Gasly) but he went off the track on his lap to the grid and flat-spotted his left rear tire.  Although not his race tires.  He finished 10th for one point.

At the start of the race the French army dropped the trophy in from a helicopter with two soldiers.  It is a cool trophy though, artist-designed and depicting a triumphant gorilla.

After a good start off the line, Verstappen didn't get round the second corner and gave the race lead to Hamilton.  With world champion style Raikkonen made up three places on the first lap.  By lap 2, Hamilton started commenting about his tires and lack of grip, which would be a theme of the race.  Confirming that Aston Martin really are Force India no more, Stroll was quick to start making up places from the back of the grid following his disastrous Qualifying.

Everyone began to lose grip and by lap 14, Alonso commented that everyone is struggling with their tires.  Well not the McLarens as they head up and through the pack  It was predicted that this would be a one-stop race as the pit straight is very long.  Verstappen and Red Bull managed to undercut Hamilton out of the pits and took the lead.  Unfortunately with Hamilton and Bottas right behind him.  Bottas, having been written off during the first stint of the race, had actually been managing his tires which gave him fresher boots in this critical stage.  Vestappen was told by the team to calm down and he gave a strong retort.  Keeping a clear head, he slowly started pulling away from Hamilton and out of the one second DRS window.  Bottas however continued to keep within one second to Hamilton, thus having the DRS overtaking advantage and being encouraged by his team.  How would the team play this?

Vestappen bit the bullet and went for a second pit stop.  In the closing laps the question was then whether Hamilton could keep his tires running...well Bottas could always hold off Verstappen on his fresher tires, what a wingman!  Bottas fumed on the radio: "Why didn't anyone listen to me when I said it was going to be two stopper!"  I've omitted the swears.  At the end of the race Hamilton also blamed the team over the radio.

The leader of this race was always under pressure, with Hamilton feeling it he hit a curb as Verstappen chased him down.  As Perez took Bottas, the Red Bulls proved their strategy can be strong.  Finally, with those newer tires, Verstappen got into the DRS window and with one lap to go retook the lead.

There were a number of nominees for Driver of the Day. Hamilton for getting the lead and managing his tires to keep it almost to the end.  Verstappen for his resilience.  Norris or Ricciardo for a race spent overtaking.  Russell finished a commendable 12th and Tsunoda finished 13th starting from the pit lane.  Clearly they ran good races but with so much going on at the front, not a bit of coverage on this action.

Bottas finished a miserable 4th, as his strategy let him down as he predicted.  How long can he continue in this team and maintain his self-belief, self-esteem and general sanity?

France GP Qualifying Report

 The Hamilton Whinging started early this race weekend with complaints during Free Practice 2.

Following the two tire blow outs last race, there has been intense scrutiny of Red Bull. Aston Martin and Pirelli.  The coverage was keen to try and get to the bottom of the problem.  They can't get the problem without ending up in a libelous situation so there's a lot of tiresome technical chat.

Going into Qualifying, the Red Bull of Verstappen was a clear favourite for pole, with Bottas out-performing Hamilton.

4 min into Q1, Tsunoda spun and red flagged the session.  If that wasn't bad enough, there was a lot of fuss whether he could get the car in gear and drive back, eventually admitting defeat and letting the tow truck do it's work, Mater wouldn't have stood for this nonsense.  With a minute to go, one of the other rookies, Mick Schumacher, crashed and the session was red flagged then stopped.  Was this a move reminiscent of this father at Monaco?  The session stopping gave him his first entry into Q2, even if he can't take the car out in the session.  That's 15th position secured for him.  Stroll also didn't make it through: "Shall I go this lap?"  "You have to go this lap."  This was his second try and the flag cut him short.

In Q2, Norris was instructed to abort his final quick lap, it seemed to be because nobody was going to really challenge him.  Looking at the names, of those out in the session it was very predictable: Ocon, Vettel, Giovanizzi and Russell.

The majority of the final Qualifying session was as dull as dishwater.  With three minutes to go, the drivers started to come out for their final quick lap.  Alonso and Gasly were the two bonus drivers in the session (with two each Red Bulls, McLarens, Ferraris and Mercedes).  Alonso and Ricciardo were the two drivers redeeming themselves after their tumultuous team transfers.  In an old fashioned manner, all drivers went for a last minute flying lap - do or die.  Verstappen initially scored pole with Perez briefly taking second before Bottas, then Hamilton took that spot.  Mercedes seemed happy with that result.  Frenchman Gasly starts his home track sixth.

So predictions for the race...  The baguettes will play some part (Jonathan Wheatley claimed that they cost the team £100,000 every time a driver crosses them.  The FIA insist they just enforce track limits).  Verstappen has the pace to win and it will come down to decisions made by the Red Bull strategiests.  I predict Bottas will go backwards.

France GP - "Blistering drive"

May be it was a blistering drive from Hamilton but it was a pretty boring race from everyone else.  I'm not sure I even saw an overtake.   There was no first turn drama, no safety car just a sneaky short VSC brought on by a rogue bollard.

Jackie Stewart turned 80.  That was nice.  Hamilton threw in a bit of stroppy team radio: "Make a decision and stick with it".

On the penultimate lap fifth-placed Vettel went for the tyre-change-induced fastest lap bid.  Then Hamilton set the fastest lap.  Then Vettel got it.  Maybe the championship will come down to that one point?

Brundle said that Hamilton's drive was a "masterclass".  Probably.  I was impressed by McLaren's technical improvements and continue to be impressed by Williams reliability.  Combined it could be a move forward for the teams.

France GP - Results

1. BottHaas - 425
2. Evel Marque - 424*
3. The Hope Fulls - 392
4. PickedInAHurry - 382
5. Je suis Charlie - 362
6. Jack the Lad - 312
7. The Pitstop Princess - 296
8. Hippy F1 - 271
9. Francesco Bernoulli - 222*
10. Ferrari Rocher - 221

*Home track played

France GP - "Happy Sunday everyone"

I thought Ocon was Spanish.  Halo, Baby! thought he was Mexican.  Turns out he's French.

He and his compatriot , Gasly, were out half a lap in.  What a start...Bottas and Vettel...surely he should have been penalised further than 5 minutes.  Usually pre-race we hear a lot about how difficult the first corner is and how it brings out a safety car....none of that for this race.  All the chat was about rain.  Which never came...however, the first corner...

Not much else to comment about this race.  Alonso had a special name banner graphic, is this another method to convince him to stay in F1?  And a rubbish end of the race for Stroll in the Williams.

Any volunteers to write the commentary for Austrian race next weekend?

France GP - Results

1. Give it some Gasly! - 520*
2. Evel Marque - 434*
3. Two World Champions, Two Future World Champions, and um, Two Other Guys - 415
4. Hasstag#FaceBull - 401*
5. Beauty & the F1 Geek - 393
6. Maximum Attack! - 374
7. Halo, baby! - 325*
8. No Vices Now - 288
9. The Pitstop Princess - 284
10. Spa Day with a Shooey - 283
11. The Hopefulls - 254
12. Hippy F1 - 228
13. Jack Johnson - 206
14. Wheels on Fire - 196

* Home track played