Germany: pre-qualifying 2020

The last race wasn’t covered at all by me due to having no internet connection.

In somewhat surprising news, Honda have announced they’re withdrawing after next year leaving Red Bull and AlphaTauri without engine suppliers for 2022 and beyond.

In more surprising and worse news, the idiots in charge of F1 have abandoned the excellent Interlagos circuit (probably my favourite on the calendar) and will instead shortly be having the Brazilian Grand Prix at a new circuit. The current site is full of pesky rainforest, but don’t worry, they’ll soon cut that down to needlessly create a track almost certainly far inferior to Interlagos.

Morons.

Both first and second practice were cancelled due to rain and fog.

Stroll wasn’t feeling well and so didn’t make a third practice appearance. Racing Point’s qualifying plans will be confirmed after practice. Hulkenberg may return.

Tricky for teams to pack all their practice into a single hour, especially for the single driver Racing Point. Bottas was quickest, a tenth ahead of Hamilton. Leclerc was next, slightly surprisingly, a further three-tenths off Hamilton. Verstappen was next, two-thirds of a second off the ultimate pace but perhaps without a really comparable lap. Vettel was next, Ferrari apparently either suiting the circuit or with upgrades that are working. Norris was a tiny bit ahead of Perez, with Ricciardo, Albon, and Gasly rounding out the top 10.

Hamilton probably had the speed to take the top spot but seemingly made an error. I was doubtful of qualifying value but checked the markets anyway. Both Mercedes were very short, although Verstappen at 9 was somewhat tempting each way, but I decided against backing it.

So, no tip for qualifying from me.

As usual, the pre-race ramble will probably be up on Sunday morning.

Morris Dancer

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