GB GP Sprint Report

It was windier today at Silverstone and Albon had pushed back to start from the pit lane.

Antonelli pushed Hamilton off the grid but the Ferrari was able to hold the place but behind him the Mercedes and McLarens swapped places back and forth.  It took eight laps for Antonelli to take the lead.  He was able to hold it until the finishing line.  There seemed to be nothing Hamilton could do about it.

There was a lot of overtaking although we didn't see any further down the field, I suspect there was some but it's not the focus for the television director unfortunately.  The top eight were Antonelli, Hamilton, Norris, Russell, Leclerc, Verstappen, Piastri and Lawson.

It's a shame that we cannot enjoy the mid-field and backmarkers racing: they aren't able to trouble the top ten and what they do to perform isn't shown.

Canada GP Sprint Report

What was all the chat about before the Sprint race?  Tyres?  Engines?  Wet weather?  No!  Groundhogs.  The one Albon ran into during practice (that meant he missed Sprint Qualifying) had the consequence that he was starting in the pit lane alongside Bottas, Bearman and Gasly.  Stroll's suspension failed on the way to the grid so it looked like he would not be crashing into anyone during the Sprint but he was able to get going from the pit lane.

The Mercedes actually made good starts and went off in formation.  Behind them there was more action.  Hamilton was able to get past Piastri.  The Audis had an awful start, both cars dropping back several places in the melee.  

On Lap six, the Mercedes decided to go racing.  Initially I thought they had been told to hold places because Antonelli looked like he was deliberately staying back.  As they kept going, with Antonelli trying everything to get past, he went off twice and the second time Russell was even more aggressive in asserting his position and it was a bigger off.  Antonelli consequently lost a place to Norris and was pounced upon by Hamilton.  As Kimi complained on the radio, the team told him to "keep it cool" asking him not to draw attention to the team from the stewards.  Team Principal Toto Wolff put his foot down and told him to stop the "radio moaning".

Hadjar complained of engine problems and was then retired by Red Bull on Lap nine.  The mechanics worked some wizardry over one lap and sent him out again.  

On the final lap, the drivers pulled out all the stops to try and make up some places.  Antonelli went too far and went off across a grassy corner again as he tried to get past Norris.  Piastri got past Hamilton and the shock of it meant that Leclerc snuck through too.

The top eight for points were Russell, Norris, Antonelli, Piastri, Leclerc, Hamilton, Verstappen and Linblad with Colapinto and Sainz in the top ten but gaining no points.  Perez was eleventh for Cadillac, their highest finish yet.  Wolff came back on the radio to stop Antonelli criticising the team publicly.

The Mercedes team mates had the briefest of handshakes once they got out of their cars before Russell went for a chat with Norris.  Jean Alesi tried to gee up Kimi but failed.  

It bodes well for an interesting race with the Mercedes battle hotting up but another of other drivers hot on their heels behind and keen to scoop up the points.

Other notes: Lando has started growing his moustache ready for November.  Alesi looks like he's trying for a position with FIFA.

Miami GP Sprint Report

Sprint Day dawned in Miami and Linblad had to start from the pit-lane because Racing Bulls did not cover up his car overnight then Hulkenberg's engine blew up on the way to the grid.  It was a poor start for McNish as the new Audi boss.

Having had a full month to practice their starts a lot was expected from the drivers off the grid.  Antonelli, who had solemnly promised he wold work on nothing but his starts, had a stinker, dropping back to fourth.  It was wheel to wheel in the first few corners.  Racing Bulls have a new livery for the event and are now yellow all over the front.  An added benefit is that it makes them mush easier to distinguish from the Red Bulls.  Antonelli made a couple of moves on LeClerc who then radioed in to say he was driving dangerously.

Hamilton will have been pleased get passed old rival Verstappen on lap three.  Meanwhile the McLarens were clear away at the front, staying in the order they started.  At the back of the pack, Stroll overtook Alondso; why weren't we shown that?

Linblad went out but I don't know where, when or why.

Russell got past Antonelli for fourth place but  it was reversed later in the lap.  Verstappen and Hamtilton were contining to battle, coming to a head when Versappen pushed Hamilton off the track to overtake.  Red Bull told him to give the place back.  Ultimately Verstappen would win between the pair.

Just after halfway, Bearman lost a large piece of his car that was smashed up by his team mate, splintering it into little parts.  With six laps to go Albon came in for a new nose for his Williams.  It seemed a bit pointless unless they were going to be investigated for having wobbly parts on board.  He came back out at the back.  

The beginning of the race was interesting but then it became quite boring.  Bearman did his best and overtook his team mate with only a couple of corners to go and Alonso waited to then get past Stroll and Perez.

Despite having been warned with a flag, Antonelli went outside of track limits again on the last lap and was awarded a five second time penalty.  That dropped him from fourth to sixth.

David Coulthard hosted the not-podium interview and also got to hand out some plaques as not-trophies to the top three.  LeClerc looked absolutely bewildered to have been given it.  Norris praised the upgrades.  He got his special plaque from someone who was on Artemis II.  Coulthard added some appropriate words about the recent death of Alex Zanardi at the end: "remembering him as a racing community", which was unusually apposite of him.

The drivers were very sweaty after the Sprint so the actual race should be a challenge.

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.

Qatar GP Sprint Report

It was yet another bright, sunny day in Doha.  Four drivers would be starting from the pit lane: Stroll, Hamilton (Ferrari admitted that the way they went with the rear wing was wrong) and both Alpines.

On the track, the McLarens got away quickly but Russell stayed between them.  Tsunoda let Verstappen past before the first lap was even completed, as his team mate made it past Alonso.  Further back, LeClerc fell back to 13th.

Verstappen was speaking a lot about how much his car was not only bouncing but jumping.  Brundle fleetingly mentioned that the teams were very worried about tyres getting punctured, why wasn't this brought up before?  By lap ten, the issue of track limits came into play, with Tsunoda getting the first black and white flag to let him know that he only had one chance left to stay on the black stuff.  Other drivers would soon see one too.  Tsunoda didn't manage it and got a five second penalty which was no good in a DRS train of a race.  In the end he only lost one place to Antonelli, who in got 5 seconds, so it made no difference to anyone  In the race though, with more laps to run, this could be real problem for some drivers if they are not careful.

The four pit lane starters could do nothing with the changes they made.  Stroll and the Alpines made a pit stop for soft tyres to have a little practice for Qualifying.  Overall, it was nineteen laps of not much happening, apart for LeClerc who was driving an off-road race.

There were several factors to note for the longer race: Qualifying places would be important, tyres would need to be managed, pit stops need to be sharp, gravel will need to avoided and track limits will need to be adhered to.

Brazil GP Sprint Report

Overnight it had rained in Sao Paulo but it was dry and the torrential downpour predicted was nowhere to be seen for the Sprint.  There were plumes of water off the track as they set off.  Norris got off pole cleanly and Antonelli shot straight across the track in a punchy move that saw him secure second.  Verstappen got past Alonso by the first couple of corners.  Towards the back, Lawson tapped Bearman who spun.

Tsunoda and Sainz started from the pit lane having had awful Sprint Qualifying sessions.  For six laps everyone went about their business, trying to keep within DRS of the cars in front of them.  Then, out of nowhere, Piastri hit a wet curb, dragging water onto the track, went into a spin, into the barrier and out of the race.  Right behind him, Colapinto and Hulkenberg did the same thing.  There were two cars right at the side of the track, the medical car was triggered and a Safety Car brought out before they stopped the race with a Red Flag.  Antonelli told his team that it was Norris who had splashed water onto the track.  Hulkenberg got his car back to the pit lane where it could be worked on.

Verstappen and his engineer, JP, had another married couple tiff about how Turn 1 could be bettered on the radio, to entertain the crowd during the halt.  There would be a lot of work for Alpine to do for Colapinto's car to be ready for Qualifying.

It was a rolling start and behind Norris, who left them behind, there were plenty of battles.  Alonso pushed hard at Verstappen and Russell went for Antonelli, neither were successful.  Albon did get ahead to tenth.  Then everyone held their places until, with three laps to go, Antonelli finally caught up with Norris.  It seemed he couldn't quite do enough though.

On the last lap, the commentators could see a huge crash for Bortoleto but it wasn't shown until everyone knew he was okay.  Unusually, the race kept going under waved Yellow Flags.  We also weren't shown LeClerc getting past Alonso.  When we did see the crash, we saw that he was full throttle down the straight and it was very high speed, high impact collision.  Hadjar was sprayed with debris and Albon scooped up the big bits under his car.  None of them were near the points though.  The mechanics would be working very hard for a couple of hours.  Colapinto and Bortoleto, who were the only home town heroes in Brazil, would be catching up in the medical centre.  The Brazilian was later seen running back to the pit lane.

The top eight were Norris, Antonelli, Russell, Verstappen, LeClerc, Alonso, Hamilton and Gasly.  These were great points for Alpine and Mercedes and Ferrari all need points for the Constructor's Championship.

US GP Sprint Report

Despite securing the Constructor's Championship, all eyes remain on McLaren: how they treat their drivers and what role "Papaya Rules" will play in the final six races.  On press day, Norris commented that there would be "repercussions" following his collision with his team mate at the last race.  Cue speculation about what form this punishment might take.  The team seemed to be finding it harder to provide a car that would stay out front of all the competition to allow their own brand of racing to play out.

The Sprint Qualifying had led to a promising line up for the Sprint (must keep reminding myself not to call it a race and slap my wrist when I do).  Verstappen made a good start which meant he was well ahead of the carnage behind him.  It was a Turn 1 racing incident but Piastri was definitely making a move to push at Norris and Hulkenberg had got himself into the thick of things without considering an exit plan.  Norris and Piastri were immediately parked up at the side of the track, with the Brit securing quite a lot of damage, his wheel lying a long way from his car.  Alonso was also out but somehow Hulkenberg carried on but didn't get back into a points paying position.  The Safety Car was out for four of the nineteen laps.

The Stewards rightly judged it to be a racing incident but little was made that both Williams had managed to keep out of the mess, which was highly surprising for the team who seem to find a loss in even the most promising of situations.  The question at the restart was whether Sainz could hold of his old team mate LeClerc to keep third position.  It turned out the bigger question was whether LeClerc could stay in front of his current team mate and Hamilton took the position from him when he made a silly mistake.  All of which benefitted Sainz. 

Also largely unmentioned was Tsunoda's rise from the back of the grid to 7th after seven laps, a position he held until the end.

Halfway through the Sprint, Russell had one opportunity to overtake Verstappen for the win but it wasn't really there and didn't happen.  They both went wide and off the track but nobody suffered for it.  There were lots of incidents noted but not much followed up on; we shall see if this is the same during the race.  The potential for drivers being penalised for leaving the track limits too often seems high.

With three laps to go, Stroll locked up at a corner and went straight into Ocon.  He was waving an apology to the Haas driver before his car had even come to standstill.  This meant that the Sprint finished under the Safety Car and Stroll was awarded a five place grid penalty for the Race (the actual race not the sprint race which is not a race but a sprint).  Bearman did something or other to Antonelli (pushed him off the track or gained an advantage by leaving the track...) and was given a ten second penalty.  As the cars were so bunched up in the finishing conditions, this meant that not only did Bearman fall back from his one point position but his classification was right at the end.  Verstappen held his lead from start to finish, with Russell feeling he had done well to get second.  Sainz was happy with third but we didn't get to hear about it.  Off the podium (no, not a podium, a kind of standing hug) but in the points were Hamilton, LeClerc (who comes up as Charlotte Flair on subtitles, a merry distraction but it does mean you can't see what the Stewards are up to), Albon, Tsunoda and Antonelli.

Qualifying later in the day could not possibly be as interesting as the Sprint and lots of engineers and mechanics would be very busy fixing cars over their lunch break to ensure all drivers could get out. 

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?

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.

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.

Qatar GP Sprint Qualifying Report

The dust had settled from Las Vegas and we were back at the dustiest of tracks, Qatar.  Once again, LeClerc looked to be the favourite but would the weekend leave him cursing again?

In the first Sprint Qualifying session, Norris was the strongest but the others were snapping at his heels.  Perez let his team down again by finishing SQ in 16th, ahead of Tsunoda, Ocon, Zhou and Colapinto, a nice mix of the teams at the slower end of the field.

In the second session, the McLarens continued to look strong but Piastri was all over the shop with Norris quickest again.  Out went Alonso, Albon, Bottas, Stroll and Magnussen.

The third session held no surprises for who took pole: Norris.  Russell managed to outpace Piastri for second place.  Sainz and LeClerc were 4th and 5th, then Verstappen, Hamilton, Gasly, Lawson and Hulkenberg.  It was so comfortable for Norris that he was out of the car whilst others were still coming round the track.

Overnight Perez and Colapinto decided to start from the pit lane with everyone else lining up on the grid as expected.  Piastri was able to overtake Russell off the line and Hamilton also got a good start and made up a place, with Verstappen losing three places.  Perez was running last.

During the race LeClerc made an excellent overtake on Hamilton and Russell had a couple of unsuccessful attempts on Piastri but other than that there was nothing of any note in the Sprint until the last milliseconds.  As the two McLarens approached the finish line, there was an incredibly tight switch were Norris gave Piastri the win as he had done for him in Brazil.

Behind the top three were Sainz, LeClerc, Hamilton, Hulkenberg and Versappen.  It was good points for Haas but not what Red Bull needed.  Horner commented after the race that Perez hadn't actually got going quick enough when the lights went out at the end of the pit lane, just ambled out.

Norris spoke that the team didn't want him to risk handing the win to Piastri but he managed it.  It was telling how little the Sprints mean to the drivers that he said he wasn't bothered about it.

For those wondering who the hell James Hinchcliffe is, as he keeps popping up, he was a Canadian Indycar driver.

Brazil GP Sprint Qualifying

With only one practice session and a new track surface, there was quite a bit of jeopardy going into this first competitive outing of the event.  Bearman was back driving again, replacing Magnussen who was ill.

In the first Qualifying Session, the Haas continued to look good again, finishing in 7th and 8th.  The Williams' took 3rd and 9th too.  Out went Alonso, Ocon, Tsunoda, Stroll and Zhou.  It seems that Aston Martin are going backwards in their progress, they are urgently needing Newey's input.  Norris took 1st place comfortably.

In the second session, Red Bull messed things up for Perez by not sending him out soon enough to cross the line for a final hot lap, he qualified 13th.  Hamilton was also out in 11th.  Bearman beat his team mate, as Hulkenberg finished 12th whilst he went through.  Colapinto was 14th and Bottas 15th.  Norris again was fastest.

The final session brought a surprise though, with Piastri pulling a lap out to take pole.  Norris aborted his final lap and held 2nd place.  LeClerc also found something extra and got 3rd.  Verstappen, once again, ran out of steam and came in 4th, ahead of Sainz, Russell, Gasly, Lawson, Albon and Bearman (another good drive by the new super sub).  Piastri seemed to be contemplating a win but surely will need to give any points to Norris if he is in a position to do so.

The bumpy track made it hard for the drivers to see and Hamilton had found it painful.  It wasn't known how this would affect the drivers and their vehicles during a long race.  There was a lot of talk about possible wet weather and different tyre usage across the teams.

When the Sprint came, Alonso, Stroll and Zhou all started from the pit.  Piastri admitted going to the grid that he probably wouldn't be allowed to win.

It was touch and go off the start.  Norris made a great one but couldn't get past Piastri and Verstappen was nearly past LeClerc but he held him off.  By lap 7, Norris was on the radio wondering why Piastri hadn't let him past already.  Given that he had been complaining to the media about being asked about the Drivers' Championship; either he wants Piastri to help because it is important to him or he has given up and shouldn't be asking the team.

Nothing much happened for most of the race but with a couple of laps to go, Hulkenberg's engine blew and he pulled up at the side of the track.  McLaren's hand was forced and Piastri was told to switch places with Norris before any action was taken to bring out a Virtual Safety Car, Safety Car or Red Flag, which would mean they couldn't maximise Norris's points.  This proved wise as a Virtual Safety Car was called, which meant that the drivers had to hold position.  This ended with a couple of corners to go.  Piastri had allowed Verstappen to get too close during this and was nearly overtaken.  It was important that Norris gave his team mate DRS.

Lawson, the Williams and Hamilton were unluckily just outside the pits.  Before the race, everyone had said that Ferrari were streets ahead of Red Bull but this didn't prove to be the case in the Sprint, let's hope that they have more in the tank for the actual race.

As soon as the drivers were out of the car, a notice came from the Stewards that Verstappen was being investigated for a Virtual Safety Car Infringement.  He also carries a five place grid penalty for an engine change.  Perhaps the new engine is what helped him challenge Ferrari in the Sprint.  We would see in Qualifying and, more so, in the Race, if Red Bull just needed a little power boost.

US GP Sprint Report

There were some new bits of tarmac to worry about on the Austin track and Red Bull had some bit of kit on their car that other teams were worried about, not the FIA though.  We were back after an unusual wee holiday mid-season.

Sprint Qualifying is always hyped up but not really worth the interest.  Obviously both Saubers were out at the bottom, then Albon, who did a magnificent 360 degree spin at the end of his hot lap, Ocon and Piastri, whose fastest lap time was deleted after running wide and exceeding track limits, were out in the first session.

The second Qualifying session saw little grumbles from cars and drivers, all starting to trip over each other.  Perez could only manage 11th, Alonso 12th, Lawson (replacing Ricciardo) 13th and then Gasly and Stroll.  Both Haas were straight through to the final session at their home track.  Alonso suffered with a lap time deletion and was dropped to 15th.

In the third session, the other Williams of Colapinto also spun.  It was uncertain who would take pole, any driver from at least four teams could have taken it.  In the end Verstappen took it on the last possible lap, ahead of Russell.  Behind them was LeClerc, Norris (who needs the Sprint points), Sainz, Hulkenberg, Hamilton (who won't be happy sandwiched between two Haas), Magnussen, Tsunoda and Colapinto.

The next day, for the Sprint itself, Albon started from the pits and the Qualifying order was somewhat jumbled from all the deleted times.

There were plenty of battles off the line; Norris quickly made it up to second, with LeClerc and Russell battling behind.  Verstappen held his lead.  Things were quiet for a couple of laps and then the two Ferraris started to battle, dangerously so.  Russell caught back up with Norris and started to demand his place back.

Halfway through teams were beginning to get concerned about tyre wear; the Mercedes seemed to suffer the most with Russell losing places to both Ferraris.  Piastri was awarded a 5 second penalty for forcing Gasly off the track, with such a short, well, Sprint, it seemed to take an enormous length of time for the stewards to make this decision.

It looked like the main interest in the last couple of laps would be whether the Ferrari or Mercedes team mates would take each other out.  However, as the last lap started, Norris locked up and Sainz got past.  As it was looking like he could take the place back, he slid off again.  LeClerc held a massive drift as Verstappen rounded the corner ahead of them to win.

The podium was completed by Sainz then Norris, who will be kicking himself.  Tyre wear could potentially be a massive factor, alongside track limits in the main race.  LeClerc was ahead of the two Mercedes, then the two Haas, who ran a quiet race.  The top ten was completed by Perez and Piastri.

To round off the event, it was left to Sting to present some funny, large metal cards.  The FIA really can't decide how to celebrate and reward these races that aren't races without it seeming like the anti-climax it is.

Austria GP Sprint Report

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

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

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

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

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

Miami GP Sprint Report

All over social media and television coverage, Ferrari's special livery blue shirts were looking good.  Very occasionally there's merch I'm tempted to buy.

Leaving the pits, Ocon drove straight into LeClerc, having been told by his engineers to stop, breaking his own front wing and was duly awarded a ten second penalty, a significant chunk of a shorter sprint race.

Williams elected to start Albon from the pit lane.

Verstappen was punchy at the start, diving across at LeClerc.  His team mate Perez completely missed the corner behind him and lost a number of places to cars behind him, with Ricciardo ending up third.

In the first corner, Norris was out and the Safety Car came out.  The two Aston Martins came together, Stroll crossing in front of Alonso, with Hamilton going for what he felt was a gap, coming in to the Aston Martins.  The pair went into Norris.  Stroll then came into the pits to retire and Ocon, cheekily took his 10 second penalty early.  Unfairly, the stewards decided no further action was needed as it was a first corner incident.

On Lap 5, when DRS was enabled Perez was past Ricciardo, if he couldn't overtake the weaker sister team, questions would be asked.  The Australian was then vulnerable to Sainz but still had DRS from Perez, less than a second ahead.

Then there was more bad news for Norris, who was to be investigated for crossing the track to get back to the pits.

Everyone enjoyed watching Hamilton struggling to pass the Haas for one point.  His team mate, Russell, meanwhile was in 14th.  The battle raged on with Magnussen cutting a chicane, getting a ridiculous ten second penalty.  As this was announced, the stewards also announced that Hamilton was being investigated for speeding in the pit lane.

Further up the race, Sainz could not get past Ricciardo for 4th.

Hamilton and Magnussen kept going at each other, with Tsunoda sneaking up behind them.  As Hamilton  went for it again, Magnussen put up a strong defence and both cars went off the track.  With potentially both cars carrying a time penalty, Yuki stood to get points at the end.  But he wasn't content with this and, in one swift move, he was past both cars.  In the aftermath, Hamilton finally got past Magnussen (the Dane getting another 10 second penalty, giving places to lots of drivers, but no points, as the pack was so close).

There were plenty of opportunities on the last lap for overtakes to take place.  Hamilton overtook Tsunoda, so the drivers finished thus: Verstappen, LeClerc (both running a boring race), Perez, Ricciardo (a much needed and hard fought for 4th), Sainz (challenging to the very end), Piastri, Hulkenberg, Hamilton, Tsunoda, Magnussen, Gasly (6 places ahead of his team mate), Sargeant (3 places ahead of his team mate in a very rare placing), Zhou, Russell (the Mercedes having both an abysmal qualifying and race car for this event), Albon, Bottas, Ocon and Alonso (we guess carrying some damage from his first corner collision).  After the 25 second time penalties were applied, Magnussen was moved to the back of the table but points were not affected.  Hamilton was then given a 20 second penalty for speeding in the pits, which put him out of the points and Tsunoda in, meaning the Torro Rossos had both cars in the points. Ricciardo commented: "I prefer it up the front." and the team were delighted with the result.

LeClerc commented that he played it somewhat safe at the start so as not to get any damage that might hurt Qualifying later.  This is a good point and makes you wonder why his team mate Sainz went for a last minute, unsuccessful dive up alongside Ricciardo in the last couple of corners.  Some people (Fitzpatrick for one) feel you can take chances because there are fewer points places to chase and it's just the Sprint but that isn't true.  If you get damage, you damage your Qualifying session in a couple of hours thus damaging your race.

Magnussen said that all his penalties were deserved and that he played the game well, creating a gap to protect his team mate Hulkenberg from Hamilton.  It was not the way he liked to go racing but fully took credit for those points for his team.

Mercedes admitted that they couldn't get the tyres working; had they got enough information to make them work in the race?

Adrian Newey enjoyed periodical coverage as the cameras checked in on him.  I don't know whether the director thought he might switch cap or shirt as a sneak peek for which team he will move to.

 

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.

Brazil GP Sprint Shootout & Sprint Report

It was a sunny day in Sao Paulo for sprint day.  It was going to be a very different qualifying from the day before.

In SQ1 it was all plain sailing for the first 11 and 1/2 minutes, then Ocon lost control of his car, "got out of shape" and went into and over Alonso, the Alpine went spinning into the wall, causing a  lot of damage and the Aston Martin got a puncture and dragged his car, sparking, back to the pits.  There was a Yellow Flag and then the session was stopped, which really damaged the laps for a lot of drivers who were putting in a quick lap including Albon and Sargeant who finished last.  Also out went Ocon, Stroll and Zhou.

Alonso was out of SQ2 with damage so qualified 15th.  Ahead of him and out went both Haas, Gasly and Bottas.  Notably great lap times were made by Norris, first and Ricciardo, fourth.  Perez was ahead of Verstappen but took two shots to get there.

The first half of SQ3 was particularly dull as no cars went out.  It was all or nothing at the end and fingers were crossed for no Red or Yellow Flags (by the teams if not the spectators).  The first time was set by Piastri but the field was quicker behind him.  Norris took the Sprint pole for his first time, followed by his friend Verstappen, then Perez.  Behind them was Russell and Hamilton, Tsunoda, LeClerc, Ricciardo, Sainz and Piastri.

Remarkably, Ocon's car was prepared in time for the Sprint race.  Our prediction for the race was Verstappen from Norris and that was the case by the first corner.  In fact, Russell was also past Norris by the end of the first lap.

DRS handed positions back and forth between drivers as they overtook each other.  There was overtake after overtake until the end, where Verstappen finished in front of Norris and Perez.  For once the Alpha Tauris were fighting near the front, which was great for them, with Tsunoda finishing in the points.  There was a lot of swearing from Danny Ric on his radio as he couldn't make up as many places as he wanted.

Norris felt he had been too cautious and not made the best of his opportunity.  There's always a reason he doesn't do better and they're not excuses but they need to stop happening.  It's all set to be a great race tomorrow, with tyre degradation being quite high, teams who have saved tyres will be rewarded.

America GP Sprint Report

Off they went up the crazy steep hill for 20 laps of racing and obviously Verstappen held pole with LeClerc getting away well in second too but being overtaken off the track by Hamilton.  They were battling hard, seemingly without worries for sustaining damage before the main event the next day.

Russell had been given a penalty for impeding LeClerc in the Shootout so was demoted to 11th.  He was up to 7th after a few laps but by overtaking Gasly and Piastri by going wide.  Drivers were pushing each other off the track left, right and centre and if their elbows were this sharp for the Sprint, there could be some tough battling in the race.  Russell was given a 5 point penalty.

A highpoint of the race for me was Albon overtaking the McLaren of Piastri for 9th place.  I wonder if Williams put all their eggs in the Sprint basket to get points this weekend as they qualified higher for the Sprint than for the race.

Piastri was the first driver to receive a black and white flag for track limits.  It took Perez half the race to realise how to drive the car and he suddenly came to life and started overtaking and working his way up the placings.

In the end, Verstappen won by a comfortable margin.  Hamilton was second and LeClerc third.  Norris was fourth ahead of Perez, who just can't find the same pace as Verstappen in that Red Bull.  Great to see four different teams in the top four positions.  Hopefully this can continue next year and there's more of a battle.

American GP Qualifying and Sprint Shootout Report

There was no real news going into the race weekend.  Verstappen is racing as a three times world champion, Danny Ricciardo is back after breaking his hand.  Piastri had trouble in the practice session and hasn't had much time to set up his car.

The first Qualifying session was uneventful until Verstappen was running 5th and told his current time was "on the bubble" for getting through to the next session.  He made it through but both Williams and both Aston Martins were out with the Haas of Hulkenberg (with a lap time deleted).  For such a strong start to the season, Aston Martin are really floundering; they passed on the news much more kindly to Alonso than Stroll.  Apparently they brought upgrades too.  Alonso said they were using these weekends as test sessions for next year.

In the second session, Russell, Perez and Ricciardo (with a lap time deleted) all struggled to show the same competition as their team mates.  Out went Tsunoda, Zhou, Bottas, Magnussen and Ricciardo.

During the crucial final session, Verstappen had a big wobble on his hot lap and then a second off but still hit pole position then had the lap time deleted.  Russell had a lap time deleted but just crossed the line in time to make a final run and qualified 5th, with his team mate in 3rd.  LeClerc took a brilliant pole, showing that Ferrari can be strong at this track, with Sainz in 4th.  Norris lines up 2nd alongside LeClerc, securing a much-needed Qualifying triumph over his team mate Piastri in 10th.  Verstappen was 6th with Perez in 9th and the two Alpines complete the top 10 in 7th and 8th.

Norris felt he could have had pole but wasn't too disappointed as he made mistakes.  Which LeClerc also admitted.  I remember when drivers never admitted mistakes.  It seemed like Schumacher insisted the team publish a problem whenever he made one.  Now, it is all about being humble.  Hamilton came out singing the praises of American and this circuit.

The next day, everyone moved on to the next Qualifying event, the Sprint Shootout.  In the first Shootout (?), LeClerc was 2 milliseconds behind Verstappen.  The Williams had dialled the car in and Albon was in 3rd although Sargeant was in last place.  Ahead of him and also out was an incredulous Tsnuoda, Bottas and the Haas of Magnussen and Hulkenberg,  Russell heavily impeded LeClerc.

In the second Shootout, Verstappen spun the car but reentered the track facing the right way, although his lap time was deleted.  Out went Ricciardo, Alonso, Ocon, Stroll and Zhou.  It makes you wonder what on Earth Williams were doing with their car yesterday as Albon went through in 10th.

By the end, the pole was Verstappen's for the losing, both Ferrari's right behind me looking for the smallest mistake from the Dutchman.  In the end he took it from LeClerc, with Hamilton, Norris, Piastri, Sainz, Perez, Russell, Albon and Gasly behind him.  All this and there's so much more racing to come.

Qatar GP Sprint Shootout and Sprint Report

Just when Formula 1 is reaching more fans and becoming more accessible, the FIA throws a spanner at Liberty Media and Lazenby is left trying to explain some imperative technical changes because Pirelli have botched up making tyres, the one thing that Pirelli do.  It turns out that staying on the track at turns 12 and 13 is too much for these tyres.  Or the kerbs.  Something or other.  And they're going to check the tyres more often.  Don't worry, Rosberg was there to grill someone from the FIA, who also struggled to explain the problem.

For light relief, Sky cut to stroppy Stroll.  New footage had emerged of him throwing his steering wheel away.  He was also in trouble for going backstage and pushing his trainer rather than going to be weighed.

The Shootout was delayed for an extra 10 minute practice so drivers could experience the changes to the track.  As it got underway, it became clear that track limits would continue from Qualifying yesterday to be a problem.  On the timing chart, drivers set times and then fell back to the bottom as their time was deleted.

Out went: Stroll, who went wide; Albon who wide, Tsunoda, who cursed all the way back to the pits, having had a time deleted; Magnussen and Sargeant.

In the second session, it seemed much tighter at the top with Norris really pushing Verstappen and Russell and LeClerc in the mix too.  Hamilton and Sainz had lap times deleted but the Ferraris were struggling with wind.  In the end though Sainz pushed Hamilton out of the Shootout in 12th.  He was preceded by Gasly and followed by Lawson (who would be put back after a time deletion to split the Alfa Romeos), Bottas (just like the good old days) and Zhou.

I hesitated to type the final Sprint Shootout classification as lap times continued to be okay and not.  Norris gave the pole position to his team mate Piastri with a huge slide coming out of the final corner.  Verstappen had to settle for third with Russell, Alonso, Sainz, LeClerc, Hulkenberg, Perez and Ocon.

And on to the Sprint...

It was a competitive start, not many drivers seemed to care about keeping the car in one piece for the race tomorrow.  Alonso had stressed the importance of "staying safe" after the Shootout.  The Ferraris made it up to 3rd and 4th and Russell got into 2nd.  Norris fell back to 6th, behind Verstappen.  The McLaren driver wasn't the biggest loser, it was Lawson, in his final race for Alpha Tauri this season, as he spun out into the gravel and beached himself.  It brought out the Safety Car, so we could replay the start lots.  Luckily it didn't take long to remove the car.

Russell had soft tyres and was able to overtake Piastri for the lead when the Safety Car went back in.  Still, it was less than a lap later for the normal Safety Car Whisperer, Logan Sargeant, to beach his car in the gravel and no sooner had Burt Mylander took his helmet off, he was back out again.  It was a long walk across the gravel for the American.

Russell slowed the pack right down, knowing that when he led off the medium-tyred Piastri wouldn't be able to keep up.  Sainz had a good look at the rookie too.  Finally on Lap 9 of 19, Verstappen switched his Red Bull on and sailed passed LeClerc to take 4th.  It was down to the soft tyres the Ferraris were on starting to grain and go off, whilst the medium tyres of the Red Bull and McLaren came into play.  Norris swept past LeClerc too and Piastri overtook Russell for the lead.  Just as things were getting interesting, we got another Safety Car on Lap 11.  Perez tangled with Ocon and Hulkenberg; all three cars tried to go into the same corner at the same time.  As Perez wouldn't be getting any points, as long as Verstappen scored something, he would be world champion.  Checo stood hands in the air in despair beside his car.  Russell was desperate for new tyres but he couldn't retake the places with so little time left and the pack running so close together.  Verstappen was warned that damage was starting to show on his tyres but he was desperate to win.

LeClerc was the biggest winner at the restart, taking his place back from Norris.  A lap later, Verstappen took second from Russell.  When McLaren got their tyres switched on, Norris was past LeClerc and Sainz for 4th.  On the final lap, Norris claimed the third step of the podium from Russell and Piastri was nearly 2 seconds ahead in the lead.  We can see now why Norris was so disappointed after Qualifying, McLaren can challenge Red Bull at this track and he wants to be the driver to do it, not his rookie team mate.

Somehow, and with 5 cars DNF, Albon made it from the back of the grid ish to 8th, getting past the Aston Martin of Alonso on the last lap to claim 1 point.

The Dutch fans who had travelled to the Middle East and paid the extra for the Saturday Sprint, were rewarded by seeing their hero crowned World Champion.  McLaren and Piastri proved that the whole fiasco with Alpine was worth it as he took the Sprint win.

I had wondered why there were no black and white flags for going over the track limits during the Sprint but apparently we just weren't told about them during the race.  There weren't enough for any time penalties to be handed out though.  There shouldn't have been many as so many laps were slow under the Safety Car.

The podium finishers were given their plaques, which look a lot like house door number signs.  Then they stood in front of the neon screens to have their photos taken with them.  Could Norris break his duck in the race tomorrow?  Will Verstappen have one too many Red Bull and vodkas tonight to celebrate his championship and help his pal out?