MorrisF1

Spa’s a great circuit but fair to say this wasn’t a classic race. One bet green, one bet red, very slightly behind overall. A note that Sainz was unable to start due to a car failure, which is a great shame for the Spaniard. Off the line it was very tight but Ricciardo was just barely unable to pass Verstappen, the top four retaining their positions. And it ended that way too. Luckily, the midfield decided to have some moments of interest. Giovinazzi lost control, crashed, a stray wheel taking out Russell (could’ve easily been Grosjean but there we are) and necessitating a safety car. Everybody pitted except Gasly, who was on the hard, and Perez, on the soft. Silly fellows. Only they weren’t silly. They pitted a second time late on and gobbled up more than half the field with ease, the strategic contra-strategy working splendidly. The top three were struggling with their tyres a lot late on but Ricciardo, 4th, seemed to have performed some sort of rubber voodoo dance before the race be

Some predictable results, especially on the front row, but some slight surprises. I was taken aback by Ricciardo’s pace, the slower than expected Racing Point, and just how poor Ferrari were. In the first part of qualifying Ferrari struggled to escape, but managed to do so by the skin of their teeth. The Haas and Alfa Romeos were not so fortunate, and Latifi also failed to progress. Ferrari were glad of Russell in Q2 as the Briton was the only man slower than them. Mercedes, Verstappen, and Racing Point all set their times on the medium, but the competition forced Racing Point to shift to the soft tyre, which pushed both AlphaTauris into the elimination zone. Very tight in the midfield. Q3 was predictable with Hamilton fastest and Bottas 2nd, but a mile ahead of the rest of the field, but did have a surprise or two. Ricciardo was faster than Verstappen on the first run, forcing the Dutchman to improve (which he duly did). Nevertheless, the Renault’s looking very tasty especially in the

Some significant off-track news occurred between the last race and this one, with all teams signing up for the immediate future, and Williams being sold to US investment firm Dorilton. Not only that, we had the final quartet of races added to the calendar, taking the probably ultimate total of races up to 17. These races are to be held in Turkey, Bahrain (twice), and Abu Dhabi. The circuit to be used in the second Bahrain race is the outer circuit, which looks hateful for Ferraris, as it primarily consists of three straights. Also, fancy engine modes for qualifying are banned and apparently a single mode has to be used all weekend (I think the latter part is true, the former definitely is). First practice had Bottas topping the time sheet but both Hamilton and Verstappen were less than a tenth behind. Just a tenth off the ultimate pace was Perez, with Stroll two-tenths further back. Albon was next, followed by Ocon, Sainz, Ricciardo, and Norris. Verstappen was fastest in second

In shock news, Hamilton got pole, Bottas starts 2nd, and Verstappen starts 3rd. Gosh. Je suis flabbergasted. Pole-sitters tend to get wins here at a high rate, but there are notable exceptions, such as 2016. Q1 was mostly the same old story, with Giovinazzi and both Williams/Haas failing to progress. The exception was Raikkonen, who managed to drag his Alfa Romeo into Q2. The Finn surprisingly managed to outpace Ocon, though both men were slowest in the second session. Vettel was the fastest of those eliminated, a mere two-thousandths off reaching the top 10, but he starts 11th yet again. His glass half-full view may be that the medium tyre (thought to be the best for the race) may be best for starting, and those ahead were forced by the competitive nature of the times to qualify on the soft, which may prove suboptimal for the race. Kvyat and Ricciardo also left at this stage. It was close in Q3 but Hamilton secured yet another pole, this time by half a tenth over Bottas. I think neutr

Slightly surprisingly given how long they’ve been around, the FIA has decided to ban qualifying engine modes from Belgium onwards. Probably won’t have a huge impact, but there we are. I also expect this weekend to be critical for the title race. Last weekend the Mercedes looked vulnerable, and the weekend before that the pace for the Silver Arrows was great until the tyres went. This suggest heat more than tyre wear was the real problem. Immediately after the race concluded I checked the Barcelona weather forecast and both the actual and ‘feels like’ temperature was predicted to be much the same as it had been for the second Silverstone outing (though it’s worth noting the BBC weather forecast seems less accurate than it used to be). With a first ever Portuguese Grand Prix and multiple races in Italy this could suggest Verstappen stands a real chance. Spain’s slower than the UK but with identical temperatures in the pipeline this race and how it unfolds may paint a picture of either a

Huzzah for Max Verstappen! Won a great race thanks to a combination of great driving, excellent strategy, and the heat (for the record, around 28C feeling like 32C) playing havoc with the Mercedes (or perhaps they’ve returned to their old problem of tyre-chewing). Verstappen was 12 for the win, which I didn’t tip, but I did tip Kvyat to score at 7 (with boost) and I’m very pleased that came off, as he squeaked into 10 th . No safety cars or huge numbers of DNFs, only Magnussen, who was behind him anyway, failed to finish, so I’m very pleased with that. Off the line Hulkenberg lost a place to Verstappen and Ricciardo slipped back to be passed by Stroll, putting the Racing Point cars adjacent in the running order. Vettel continued his downward spiral (although it may be partly him being shafted by his own team) by spinning by himself early on (weirdly, Ricciardo may have done something similar later in the race, unclear if he had a slight contact with Sainz). Out front a gap opened

Quite an intriguing grid for the race ahead, with Bottas nabbing pole from Hamilton, and Hulkenberg well and truly returning with a fantastic 3rd on the grid. Q1 saw us say au revoir to Magnussen and the two Alfa Romeos, as well as Latifi. Kvyat put in a very fast lap but got it deleted due to exceeding track limits which means he starts way down in 16th and may have damaged the floor into the bargain. Q2 was as competitive as expected with many teams having one driver fail to proceed. Ocon, Vettel, and Sainz were all eliminated whilst their team mates progressed, with Grosjean and Russell also leaving at this stage. The Mercedes were ahead by miles, but in the final Q3 runs it was Bottas who marginally got ahead of Hamilton thanks to a very slightly off the pace first sector by the Briton. And who’s right behind them? Hulkenberg, who qualified in a fantastic 3rd. Immensely impressive, and a third of a second ahead of his team mate. Verstappen completes the second row, and it also the

  There have been repeated protests regarding Racing Point’s apparent copy and paste design technique and, to my surprise, this has enjoyed a success. The team has received a fine and had 15 points docked when the FIA upheld Renault’s complaints regarding brake ducts. The team has leave to appeal (so this means they can run the unchanged ducts at this race weekend) but this won’t make their rivalry with McLaren any easier to win. Ironically, Racing Point haven’t decided whether to appeal or not yet but other teams are appealing, wanting clarification/harsher punishment. Tyre strategy will be interesting as both Mercedes and Sainz suffered failures last time, after long periods on the hard tyre, and Verstappen may have suffered likewise had he not pitted late on. Pirelli have brought tyres a grade softer than last weekend, so last time’s medium is this race’s hard. Because of this, the hard is thought likely to be used twice during the race and the medium rather than the soft used i

Mildly off-colour so this’ll be briefer than usual. Hulkenberg suffered a DNS. Power unit perhaps. Off the line Leclerc briefly passed Verstappen who retook the place. Lap one saw Albon do what Albon does and Magnussen do what Magnussen does. Clumsy pass met obstructive idiot, Magnussen got punted off, Albon got a 5s penalty. Safety car ensued. Another happened later when Kvyat’s car failed him, this time late enough for everyone save Grosjean to dive into the pits. Sainz and Ricciardo had gotten past Norris and Stroll, but later the Briton passed the Aussie (maybe in the pits, unsure). Late on all seemed set fair, then with just two laps to go Bottas’ tyre punctured with most of the track to go, leaving him out of the points. On the final lap Hamilton’s failed but his 30 odd second advantage was just enough for him to retain the win. This also put Leclerc into 3 rd . Ricciardo had passed Norris when Sainz’s tyre also went, as unlucky for the Spaniard, who was

A tale of two grids, with Mercedes hosting a private duel and everyone else engaged in rather more competitive racing. Aside from the front row, quite an intriguing grid. First session of qualifying saw Latifi embark upon some hot rally action which didn’t necessarily lead to fantastic time as he was last. Also departing were cars with Ferrari engines (Alfa Romeos and Haas). Gasly was the fastest chap eliminated in Q2, which had a mid-session interval so the stewards could sweep up some gravel deposited when Hamilton spun in the same place Latifi did. Albon’s ropey form continues, with the twelfth fastest time, and Hulkenberg did reasonably well to end up 13 th on the grid, with very little running prior to today. Kvyat was next but suffers a five place grid penalty for a gearbox change and Russell was slowest of the Q2 drivers. In Q3 the Mercedes was a day and a half ahead of the competition, a second clear of the competition. Verstappen starts 3 rd , a tenth ahead of

And so to Blighty. Though Perez won’t be racing, as he’s got COVID-19. Let’s hope he recovers quickly, as the rapid succession of races means he could easily miss several. In to replace him is everyone’s favourite comeback kid: Nico Hulkenberg, who seems to have had more surprise returns than Dracula. Friday’s hot so I suspect teams may be a bit conservative for the first two practice sessions. In first practice a Dutch chap was fastest, nearly half a second ahead of Hamilton. Stroll and Albon were next, followed by Leclerc, Bottas, Ocon, Ricciardo, Hulkenberg, and Kvyat. Albon had a big crash in second practice which might do his confidence much good after a somewhat tricky start to the season. Stroll was fastest in second practice, with Albon less than a tenth behind. Bottas and Leclerc followed, with Hamilton next, after whom came Sainz, Hulkenberg, Gasly, Ricciardo, and Raikkonen. Third practice was more of a usual result with Bottas over a tenth ahead of Hami