Baku GP Race Report

It's a long lap, nearly 2 minutes at Baku, so only 51 of them.  You can certainly feel the length.  My prediction for the race (usually posted on Twitter and Instagram @pitstopprincess) was Verstappen for the win if Red Bull get the strategy right, Hamilton if not and Gasly for the surprise contender.

LeClerc maintained the lead from pole for a couple of laps, but Ferrari's lack of horsepower on the straight finally gave Hamilton the chance to use the tow and DRS to take first place.  It took Verstappen far longer than expected to replicate this for second place.

Russell and Giovanizzi went for a Lap 2 pit stop to get the obligatory change of tires done.  10 laps in LeClerc pitted and that was him out of contention.  Everyone was playing for the undercut, Alonso and Norris pitting very early to get past Bottas.    Given it's such a long lap, why is getting out from the pits into traffic such an issue?

On Lap 11 Sainz took a trip to the run off area, locking up on the hard tires.  At the same time Gasly held up Hamilton's release from his pit stop, giving him a 4.6 second stop (shockingly long!).  With Red Bull holding the season record for quickest pit stop (1.93 seconds), Verstappen was able to overtake Hamilton in the pits.  Could Red Bull manage the same for Perez?  No a 4.3 second stop for him, yet still overtakes Hamilton, we were braced for  whining.  In the mean time, four time world champion Vettel became the leader of the race.  It almost felt like the television director didn't know who to follow and finally realised he should be giving the Aston Martin some airtime.

It seemed like Hamilton had been given a glimmer of hope for the race and then the reality of how much Mercedes have struggled at this circuit kicked in.

That was the first third of the race.

They followed each other through the amazing architecture for a while...Mazepin followed Sainz down the escape road later.

Then suddenly, on Lap 31, we saw Stroll spinning around on the main straight, debris everywhere, with a tire failure.  It was quite a while until he was able to get out of the car.  And sounded very shocked and shaken on the team radio.

Obviously a safety car presents the teams with options to change tires.  Mercedes and Hamilton ummed and ahhed and then did nothing.  Alonso thought he would try softs.  Schumacher too but they didn't put them on correctly.

At the restart, Vettel took LeClerc then tussled with and took Gasly ("That's not possible!") and Perez gave Hamilton the tow to attack both himself and Verstappen.

Then with 5 laps to go...a huge spin for Verstappen, who was in the lead, with another tire failure.  Furiously kicked by Max when he got out of the car.  With two tire failures, could there be any more...  The team looked absolutely devastated.  After the safety car was considered, the race was red flagged and suspended.  The cars lined up in the paddock.  Knowing he was on camera, live to millions and race control, Christian Horner explained to Dieter Materschitz (Head of Red Bull Sport) that it was the exact same failure as Stroll, I don't know why Materschitz hadn't figured this out already...it's almost like it was played out for the TV.  I can see this Netflix Drive to Survive episode already.  Red Bull got on the radio to the FIA (still loving this new for 2021 feature) to ask for a red flag and all cars allowed to change tires.  Given that they were still on for the win with Perez, it seems generous and caring.

Williams completely ballsed up the red flag, telling Latifi to stay out when they meant come in.  A simple mistake to make.  I'm sure that will please all the new investors.

After a long wait they had a short, sprint race of two laps.  Perez made an awful start and my heart sank as Hamilton moved ahead of him, then he didn't manage his brakes and went straight on...a swell of emotion.  With Verstappen out through no fault of his, Hamilton's exit neutralises the potential world championship points deficit.  I held my breath for two laps and there was the podium with no Verstappen, no Hamilton, no Ferraris, no Bottas.  Indeed Bottas finished around 52nd.  Finally Red Bull have a driver that can bring the points home and hopefully we have someone who won't be constantly questioned until they are driven out of the team.  Alongside him on the podium was Vettel (his familiar "yes yes yes yes yes" on the radio was actually heart-warming, unlike that horrible period from 2010 onwards), finally earning his wages and Gasly, my prediction for the surprise contender.

It was a bittersweet race for Aston Martin, as they scored their first podium but the owner's son had a huge shunt and brought no points home.  Also bittersweet for Perez, scoring his first podium and win for Red Bull whilst the golden boy had a huge shunt and brought no points home.  

Baku Qualifying Report

With Mercedes clearly on the backfoot, the front of the grid was up for grabs.  Things are heating up in the contest for the championship, at least in the media room.  Wolff was moved to say that: "Christian is a bit of windbag who wants to be on TV".

A scant 13 minutes into Q1, Stroll visited the corner and took the right front corner of his car to the cleaners and the session was stopped.  The debris was cleared up, the car was removed and the barrier checked.  Everyone came back out and four minutes later, Giovinazzi smashed his car up and bought out the red flag.

It now felt like a waiting game to see who would be next.  In to Q2 we went, the cars at the front were unbelievably close with 5 cars all setting the same time exactly.  Then with a minute and half to go, Ricciardo put his papaya machine into the barrier and the session was closed.  The winners from this were Alonso, who was right on the cusp and Tsunoda, who finished the session 4th and through to his first ever Q3.  He needed this boost as team mate Gasly was first in FP3.  The losers were Russell, who didn't get a chance to show what he could do with his newly-fixed Williams, it needed a new engine unit after a failure in FP3 and the world champions Vettel and Raikkonen.

These crashes, when viewed from the sofa, all seem particularly avoidable, just turn the wheel when you go into the corner.  The car-lifting truck got a lot of track time this week.

Getting a slip stream from a car in front proved to be very important.  On the first run, we saw Bottas get 8th spot, with Hamilton, who was directly behind him on track, getting 2nd.   With all the chat focused on Mercedes and Red Bull, well Hamilton and Verstappen, Gasly and LeClerc were the big names in Q3. We saw fun and games heading round the track for the second run, I didn't know F1 cars could travel so slow.  With LeClerc in pole position, could he manufacture a wee incident somewhere round the track.  I predicted Sainz would do it for him and he did, with some help from Tsunoda.  Only the four red flags during Qualifying.  LeClerc looked like he couldn't quite believe what had happened.  In interview he said: "I thought it was quite a s**t lap".  Don't write off the power of a good first run.

Still Azerbaijan looks absolutely beautiful and the coverage really sells it as a holiday destination, if I can remember what a holiday is.

Monaco GP Race Report

 After a year off, the only year without a Monaco GP other than 1954, this race felt so nostalgic.  The track looks exactly the same as it did throughout my childhood, as it did in all the VT of races from the olden days.  The jewel in F1's crown sparkled brighter this year as a beacon of hope that the world restarts life post-covid, even watched from a lousy Level 3 postcode.

The main talking point before lights out was whether LeClerc's gearbox was definitely undamaged from the Qualifying incident.  Ferrari Team Principal Bennoto assured everyone as much as he could that they were as certain as they could be that it did not need replacing (and thus giving LeClerc a grid penalty).  He seemed to be pretty much ignored by everyone.  As it turned out, the gearbox failed on the way from the pitlane to the grid.  Ferrari rolled the die (despite insisting that they were not gambling) and lost everything at the casino that is Monte Carlo.  The pundits did a 180 and starting insisting it was probably a software problem, having willed him out of the race, they were willing him back in and back to the fairy tale.

As the mechanics struggled to fix the stricken car, the FIA-Team radio made a new appearance and we're all enjoying this new feature.  Ferrari confirmed a pit lane start for the home track prince.  Verstappen therefore got his pole and Bottas second.  Sainz and Norris behind them, given an extra boost.  In the end the damage was terminal and the dream for LeClerc finally fizzled out.  His team mate Sainz went on to drive an anonymous, heads-down race and finish second.

Bottas got a good launch at the start but Verstappen had firmly, nay aggressively, pointed his car across the track to cut off any ambitions he had to lead the race.  We then watched the drivers manage their tires and try not to clip the wall.  For 30 laps.  Then Hamilton pitted.  With no incident.  He got back out on track ahead of Giovanizzi.  Breaking News.  2.2 second stop for Hamilton.  This opened the floodgates.  Bottas came in right after Hamilton and never came out again.  Like many a particularly amateur DIY aficionado, the nut would not come off the tire.

Hamilton was cross to come out of the pits still behind Gasly's Alpha Tauri, then Vettel came out of the pits and something happened, we don't know what as the editor cut to a replay of Stroll doing a corner badly.  At this point, it was business as usual for Lewis, world champion moaning.  

For once, Red Bull pulled an excellent strategy out of the bag, whereas it's usually Mercedes who master the tactics.  Perez came from the back of the Q3 set up to 4th after the first (and usually only) pitstops.  A position he held until the flag fell, despite putting up a good chase after Norris.

Another sad moment of the race was Norris waving at his new teammate Ricciardo as he lapped him.  Karma came back to bite him as his tires started to give way, leaving him vulnerable to losing his podium place.  He was able to keep his track position, no surprise given the circuit.

Ten laps from the end, Hamilton came in for new tires to get the point for fastest lap, at 7th he wasn't far from being outside the top 10 and able to claim it.  (Once again, I state vehemently that I think this caveat sucks.)

Just outside the top ten point-scorers were world champion, Raikkonen, former Monaco winner Ricciardo and twice world champion Alonso.   How the mighty have fallen.

When Verstappen crossed the line to win the race, he also took the lead in the world championship.  A might moment for him and career defining.  A nice young podium, signally exciting racing for years to come.  

And no safety car!

What I want for every race is basically a wider Monaco.  No room for error.  Heartstopping laps.  A short lap keeping the cars together.  But with overtaking.  But no DRS.  This is what I want.

Monaco GP Qualifying Report

Prior to the race Nico Rosberg declared that Mercedes didn't stand a chance of pole on the Riviera, they were too far behind Ferrari and Red Bull at this glittering track.  And he was right.

Immediately prior to Qualifying, both Latifi and Schumacher crashed in FP3.  Haas couldn't/wouldn't fix the car in time, given a penalty identified for a gearbox change.  Williams worked hard, whilst celebrating 750 grand prix, and had the second Williams ready.  If being Mr Saturday was ever important, being so in Monaco is it, so all eyes were watching his team mate Russell.

Would Ferrari do a Monza and pull out all the stops to give Monegasque LeClerc the best chance on race day?  He had the fastest lap in Q2 to set this up.  Will Ferrari prove to be quick at other street and street-style circuits?  Giving us the thrilling excitement of three teams competing at some races this season.  Hard to believe we're only four races in.

At the end of Q1, Mazepin outqualified his team mate for the first time ever...I get the feeling he will be celebrating and bragging to all those who wouldn't know it was because his team mate couldn't go out in his car.  In all fairness, this was because Mazepin didn't crash his car prior to the most important Qualifying session on the calendar.

The surprise exit was two-times world champion Fernando Alonso, which will be a real low for him. He could't get the tires to work.  At this point Mr Saturday, George Russell was ahead of three world champions, Alonso, Vettel and Raikkonen.  Russell did go out in Q2 and was last in the session, did he save tires?  Not sure why he wasn't out for a final push at the end.

The big scalp in Q2 was Ricciardo, finishing 12th to Norris's final grid position of 5th.  Up until this point, it looked like it could go either way for Mercedes, who are infamous for "sandbagging".

It was tense half way through Q3, with three different teams in the top three after their first run.  The Sky commentary team were watching a dark cloud up on the hills, that didn't seem to be moving at all, in case it brought a rainy end to qualifying.  There is always the danger of a yellow flag slowing you down at Monaco too.  Would everyone make it safely through to the end?

Perez was caught out by kerbs and traffic.  Hamilton touched the barrier.  Ultimately LeClerc brought the session to an abrupt red-flag ending, 18 seconds from the end, with a crash, touching the barrier, taking off over the kerb and into the armco.  Rosberg, always the voice of gloom, wondered if there would be any damage to his gearbox which would give him a grid penalty.

Bottas took the safe opportunity of commenting that he was gutted not to have be given his final shot at pole as he felt confident, however we'll never know will we?  Verstappen's times looked more promising to take the pole from LeClerc, he didn't seem too disappointed with how it ended (perhaps relieved it wasn't him in the barrier?).  Understandably, LeClerc was very happy, he felt he had it after Q2 and found it difficult to focus going into Q3.  He says that he has been unlucky here before and not to count his winning chick before it's hatched (my translation), he should be worried, will one crash lead to another when it really counts?

Spain GP Race Report

Max Vestappen has been racing for 5 years now.  Where has the time gone?  He was celebrating 100 races with Red Bull.  A race weekend of hundreds.  And ten hundred in the stands for race day.  Unlike other tracks, most of whom have tried to disguise the stands, Spain felt empty and desolate during qualifying and not much better on race day.  Having a few fans in, you wonder what the atmosphere was like.

With Hamilton starting on pole, the race, as always, was his to lose.  However, no one has won from pole this year.  It was a clean first corner, with Hamilton making a poor start (by a gnat's scrotum) and Verstappen able to get past at the end of the straight. And then headed out by himself.

It was mooted before the race that the teams in the pits could make all the difference in a race.  With a snail-paced 4.2 hour, sorry second, pit stop for Verstappen, could this give the race to Hamilton?  It made no difference.  

Hamilton took a second stop which Verstappen did not, so then it was a waiting game to see whether he was able to overtake Bottas (arf arf) and then overtake Verstappen.  I very much enjoyed all the radio to Bottas: "we are following Lewis", "Lewis is on a different strategy from you", "Lewis is fighting for the win" and finally "Don't hold Lewis up".  In the end, Bottas did not make it easy for him.  A dirty protest there.  The pass for the lead was clean and confident.  With his win, Hamilton equals Senna's record making five consecutive wins on the same track.  It makes me wonder whether Hamilton has some team of archivists squirrelled away somewhere finding records for him to break.  None of this taking into account how many more races there are a season each year.

Verstappen was magnanimous at the end, he "could see it coming" and was a "sitting duck", speaking of working hard to catch up and pleased with the jump forward the team has made.  Button asked Bottas to try and find some positives from the race, he blamed LeClerc for holding him up at the start of the race.  Hamilton could have blamed Verstappen for the same thing.

A new feature for this race was hearing the radio between the teams and race control, namely between Wolff at Mercedes asking for blue flags to signal to Mazepin to let the leader, Hamilton, past.  This has huge potential for more interesting races.

There were lots of tasty overtakes during the race, Sainz on Norris for example, so it's not all doom and gloom and moaning about a boring procession.  If any of the top three had won the race it would have been well earned.  The only question is whether and why Perez is not up there, I guess he can take the Ricciardo defense that he has only just joined the team.   We know Red Bull have no patience with second drivers, he may only retain the seat for a lack of obvious substitutes.

Finally, Williams are very susceptible to wind issues.  Baked beans have been banned in their pit.  Russell finished a creditable 14th however.  Happy days.