Italy GP Qualifying and Sprint Report

Qualifying was fairly interesting this race.  Both Williams were out in the first session...or were they?  This is a track where the stewards watch track limits carefully.  Russell was happy with P16 as he felt they had a good car for the race, however Tsunoda had his time deleted so suddenly Russell was able to claim P15.

The slow laps came in to try and be the last driver across the line as the session came to a close.  Not quite the disaster of previous meets here though.  The world champions Vettel and Alonso both came in ahead of their team mates, two by two.  Perez could only manage 10th, with Verstappen in 4th.  Does a track that favours the Mercedes help keep the championship in the balance?

It seems a shame that this is only qualifying for the sprint.  With Bottas on pole (although with a grid penalty to come), McLaren showing strong and Gasly starting well in his Italian car, it could be a good race.  The Tfosi will be hoping that Ferrari will do well in the sprint.

However, Saturday dawned and Sainz crashed in the morning and LeClerc fell ill.  The Ferrari resurgence would have to wait.  On to the sprint...

The first corner was all action...the McLarens made an awesome start, up to 3 and 4, Gasly maintained his position but clipped his wing on one of the McLarens, it ended up under his tires and sent him off the track spectacularly.  Hamilton got bogged down off the start and lost four places.  Tsunoda and Kubica (standing in for Co-viddy Kimi) came together, with Tsunoda coming in to the pits to get a new front wing for his Alpha Tauri.  Kubica, wise old man that he is, managed to get out of the gravel trap and back into the race.  Other bad starts came from George Russell, who went to the back of the grid.

Giovinnazi did an excellent job of keeping Perez in his Red Bull behind him, as one of the few drivers unsigned for next year, it's a good advertisement.

Nobody ended up at the back of the grid (other than Gasly) who wouldn't have been there otherwise.  The McLarens did very well out of the sprint format, finishing 3rd and 4th, choosing the soft tires to their advantage.   Ricciardo finished in front of his team mate, which was much needed and will hopefully give him the confidence boost he needs to push.  Bottas (the squirrel killer) triumphed to keep his first place and get some points.  The biggest loser was Hamilton.

And let's mentioned the gangsta rapper over-sized medals.  And the interviews on the back of a truck.

Netherlands GP Race Report

The Dutch Grand Prix had the makings of an amazing race: the two championship contenders lined up next to each other on the grid, the banking looks amazing, the roar of the crowd, three abreast for the first lap.  From then on it was downhill (notably Vettel spinning up and then down the banking).

By Lap 5 Hamilton was whinging about his tires.  He came in very early for a second stop, it felt like he'd only just done his first, coming out in traffic.  It was potentially a poor strategy decision from Mercedes.  Would Red Bull bring Verstappen in straight away or let him stay out longer until the window was better for re-entry?  They brought him in sooner, which worked out to be slightly better but all the same the most exciting factor of the race was the tire choice and when to change them.  Hamilton quickly decided it was a poor strategy decision and used the radio to let the world know, repeatedly.

Now on to team orders.  Towards the start of the race, Ocon was denied his request for Alonso to move over, largely because Alonso showed his true speed when it was mentioned.  Norris was given the pass past Ricciardo.  I'm looking forward to hearing the post-race interviews on that.

We also saw mechanical retirements for the first time in a while, Mazepin and Tsunoda did the raised reverse glide into the pit.

Different strategies were employed by every team.  Mercedes went with a bizarre choice at the end to pit Bottas but ask him not to take the Fastest Lap point away from team mate Hamilton.  Did he listen?  No.  Does this make it clear he's not staying at the team next year?  Yes.  Lewis got it back in the end, don't worry.

Some drivers had a very quiet race, we didn't see Kubica in his borrow Alfa Romeo once, or Giovannizi going backwards in his.

From a sea of orange, we move on to a sea of red next week at Monza.  This triple-header is feeling like a lot of hard work.  From the disappointment of Spa to this...what will Italy bring?  A sprint race at least.

Netherlands GP Qualifying Report

The drivers arrived, took to the track and raved about it.  Instagram was full of people illustrating how steep the banking is by rolling things (or themselves) down it.

Raikkonen announced his retirement this week and knowing that he was going to face a barrage of press this weekend, "tested positive for Co-vid".  Polish "superstar" Kubica took his seat and was able to qualify ahead of the Haas, which is good for someone who has been out of F1 for such a long time.

The shock loser of Q1 was Perez, clearly the Curse of the Recently Signed.

The red flag came out immediately as George Russell took his Williams into the gravel.  If anything a little premature as he was able to keep the car going and get back to the pits.  Despite bumping the back of the vehicle into the barrier....he starts 11th.

The session started again...and Latifi put the other Williams into the barrier.  So both Williams out in Q2 with Norris, Stroll and Tsunoda.  Whilst Russell got away with his crash, Latifi hit with much more force.

At the end of the final qualifying session, Verstappen had pole position at his home grand prix, however he is joined on the front row by his championship competitor, Hamilton.  Ocon and Giovannzi also secured great grid places, in front of Alonso and Ricciardo, the latter could not do better than 10th.  Most interesting was Gasly in P4 ahead of both Ferraris.

There's huge potential for a great race tomorrow.  My predictions are: Hamilton for the win.  Gasly (again) for the surprise win.  Two red flags.   Williams mechanics fall asleep mid-race in the garage and fail to get the tires ready in time for a pit stop.

Belgium GP Race Report

Early morning posts on Instagram showed that it was still raining in Spa....so you know you're in for a thrilling race.  Forty minutes before the race, the cars took to the grid.  They all took the chance to do a couple of laps to gauge the conditions, just as I was commenting that, with the rain coming down, it was unlikely all drivers would make it round safe to the grid, Perez went over the wet paint and grass, into the wall and out of the race (just as Red Bull signed him for a second season).  Jos Capito, Team Principal of Williams, commented before the race that you could be out in the first corner or you could be on the podium.  After the formation lap, Verstappen radioed in that it was fine to race.  Further back the grid however, the drivers were complaining.  We even heard from Giovanizzi (I assume he was the only driver not to swear on the radio).  So the race was red flagged and the cars lined up in the pit lane.  Hamilton had water leaking in the top of his helmet.  I'm surprised that they're not waterproof.

And so it went on, we waited and waited.  Red Bell made a compelling case for getting Perez's car fixed and back in the race.  What did the drivers do during the break?  Alonso had a coffee, Sainz was on his phone, Norris played ball, Ricciardo clowned around, some drivers chatted to their dads.  The broadcasters were really pushing for a postponement until tomorrow, it was never going to happen but when you're desperate, you're desperate.   Mercedes pit wall personnel asked race control if they could leave their bar stools for a coffee and were given permission.  After three hours the safety car led the cars out of the pit lane.  Just to help with visibility, the Dutch fans let off their orange flares.

Spa isn't usually too dull a race but this took the biscuit.

So who were the winners and losers from this bizarre two lap, no over-taking allowed race?

Winners

Russell - got second place and half points for that position

Perez - got a "get out of jail free" card and was able to rejoin the race, after his car was fixed during the lengthy pause

Mazepin - got fastest lap, however no point (or half point) as he wasn't inside the top 10

Losers

Bottas - started 13th, finished 13th

Alonso - started 15th, finished 15th

Raikkonen - had been penalized with a pit lane start for changing his wing to one of different specification (although this meant he didn't have to sit in the rain on the grid for 25 minutes)

Ferrari - both started out of the points and finished outside the points

Norris - lucky to be able to participate in this race after his massive crash yesterday in Qualifying, both in body and car.  In the rebuild the gearbox was changed so that he was also handed a five place grid penalty. so started 15th and therefore out of the points.

The crowd - the "true fans" who stood in the rain.  Let's hope there's some financial recompense.

I was very pleased that my race predictions of Verstappen for the win and a big points haul for Williams were spot on.

Belgium GP Qualifying Report

It was a long Summer break and I was so pleased to be back to the F1 race weekend routine.

There was big news at Spa...no, not Russell vs. Bottas but the new helmet cams.  An amazing addition to the coverage, with teams worrying whether what is seen on the steering wheels might be compromising.

Even more exciting, rain!  For most of the first qualifying session, Williams were first and second, having, for once, chosen the best strategy.  Which was the intermediate tire, everyone else was on full wets when it just wasn't wet enough.  The contrast between the two Williams drivers became apparent when the rest of the field changed to inters and many of the drivers set times inbetween Russell and Latifi.  This may be the first time Latifi has made it into the second session.  Norris showed his strength in the wet conditions by finishing the session at the top, with team mate Ricciardo just scraping through. Brits are far more used to this weather than Aussies.

The rain eased off during session 2 and the fun petered out.  Norris remained at the top of the timing sheet, Ricciardo answered his doubters (somewhat) by getting through in 9th.  Latifi scored his best qualifying of his F1 career in 12th, splitting the Ferraris, who were also both out.   I guess the points haul before the break has relaxed the Canadian into F1 at last.  At least Sainz and LeClerc were in similar positions, managing to get equal amounts out of the car.  Disparities continue between Ocon (10th and through) and twice world champion Alonso (out in 14th) and Stroll (out in 15th, also son of the team owner) and four times world champion Vettel (6th and through).  All eyes are on Russell and Bottas, because most seats are secure up and down the pit lane, but here are many questions over the choice of drivers made by the teams.

Again, the weather changed for the third session, when the rain came down much harder.  Vettel and Norris were calling in on the radio for the session to end.  It did end, when Norris had a major spin.  Hot off his PR triumphs of litter-picking at Silverstone and Pride T-shirt wearing in Hungary, Vettel ignored the red flags to drive round to check Norris was okay, knowing he would be first on the scene.  Brundle had picked up the spin almost before it happened as the McLaren didn't appear on the TV coverage as the angle changed.  You forget how good he is.  

Norris's car span and span - I wonder if you just close your eyes?  Awful damage but you could see the monocoque was working.  Norris did seem to be pushing very hard, however, if he'd done it later in the session, he probably would have pole position (albeit with a pit lane start).

During the pause, Latifi commented that the Williams car would be best in the wet....well...

When the cars came out again, the condition were wet but stable.  All the cars put in a banker lap.  Then Williams pulled out another strategy coup (you wait a very long time and then two come along at once...!), having saved a set of tires.  Russell put in a pole lap but was the first to cross the line at the chequered flag.  We had to wait for Hamilton to beat him.  No.  Vettel?  No.  Verstappen?  Yes.  Russell is on the front row alongside Verstappen.  Despite being written off for most of the season, Ricciardo finished in 4th.  A thrills and spills qualifying of a true Belgian variety.