MorrisF1

As expected, the Azerbaijan Grand Prix was mostly tedious with startling bursts of crashing excitement. Betting-wise, because I screwed up and split one stake evenly rather than to equalise profitability, it was very mildly red (with £10 stakes, it was down £1.25). Personally, I finished slightly ahead thanks to an each way tip from Mr. Sandpit on Raikkonen for the win (at 26). Also personally, I had a small bet on Perez to win each way (top 2) at 401. He finished third. I suppose the plus side is that it means I was thinking on the right lines. But it’s still a bit frustrating to get so close... Anyway. Off the start line, as per the last two races, the pole-sitter (Vettel) retained the lead. There was small carnage behind, however, with Raikkonen and Ocon colliding (Ocon’s fault, and he paid for it with a DNF). Hulkenberg looked to have clumsily tagged Sirotkin, who then hit Alonso. The Spaniard was ok, the Russian was not, and also left the race. We had a lap 1 safety ca

Qualifying was certainly interesting. Incidentally, apologies for a minor error in the previous blog, Mr. Sandpit referred to F2, not F1. My finger slipped, which may explain why I don’t work on a nuclear submarine. In the first session, Grosjean’s gearbox decided not to play (incidentally, Hulkenberg has a five place grid penalty for changing his) and he didn’t get to set a time. The two Toro Rossos almost had a massive crash after Hartley was mindlessly trundling around the quickest part of the track, and only Gasly’s swift reactions prevented a huge collision. Both Toro Rossos failed to advance, Hartley taking full responsibility. Ericsson and Vandoorne also left at this stage. In the second session the top three teams sent everyone out on the supersoft tyre, which should be better for the race. However, Ferrari only had one set. Raikkonen ended up ruining his pair and so had to set his fast lap on the ultrasofts, which it’s believed will be detrimental in the race (alth

Using the immense power of the internet, I set up a couple of polls (one midfield, one frontrunner) to see what people thought of Azerbaijan’s possible outcomes. Haas, McLaren and Renault were all very close for the midfield, with Toro Rosso unloved. The frontrunner poll had Ferrari get half the vote, Mercedes get a smidgen less, and Red Bull in a distant third. The FIA announced it was clamping down, with immediate effect, upon exhaust blowing for aerodynamic gains, something many are seeing as likely to adversely affect Ferrari the most. Little surprised as I hadn’t heard too much wibbling about this. It may also compromise Renault, who have apparently been doing much the same. Azerbaijan is an interesting circuit (to consider, at least) in that it’s a very tight and twisty track, akin to Monaco, but has one long straight as well. This makes it quite hard to assess which teams will do well. That said, I think Haas will top the midfield, as they were quick in Australia and

Alas, the Hamilton bet not only failed, it never looked close, so red with or without the hedge. In half-annoyance and half-delight, I learnt late on that a one stop (ultrasoft-medium) was considered viable after all, and put a tiny sum on the Red Bulls to win (26 Verstappen, 31 Ricciardo). Smaller stakes but one came off, though I learnt of it too late for a blog tip. I ended up ahead overall for the race. Off the line, Raikkonen started well, and Vettel squeezed him. This kept the German his place but enabled Bottas and Verstappen to get past Raikkonen. Whilst there was much to-ing and fro-ing in the midfield, the race settled down, with small gaps emerging between the top 6. And, to be honest, it became a little worrisome, the race seemingly destined for a boring result. But boring it was not. Red Bull pitted first, slotting on the mediums. Mercedes reacted pretty quickly, but this time it was Ferrari caught napping. They needlessly left Vettel out a few laps too l

The ‘qualifying’ bet for Raikkonen to be top 3 in third practice came off. He was 2 nd , again, though I was slightly surprised it was his team mate rather than a Mercedes that pipped him. For the sake of completeness, third practice had Vettel almost half a second up on Raikkonen, with Bottas three-tenths of his countryman. Verstappen and Hamilton followed, with Magnussen, Perez, Ocon, Sainz and Sirotkin rounding out the top 10. (Magnussen this year seems to have the measure of Grosjean, early on, at least). Before qualifying commenced there was drama. It turned out Ricciardo needed a new engine but there was no complete engine to be plugged in. His engineers has most of the engine and then had to scavenge parts from the dud unit, forcing them to work flat out and only just get the Aussie out in time. One imagines Red Bull will not be thrilled with Renault. Out Ricciardo went, just making it for a fast lap in Q1. It wasn’t perfect but it was good enough to see him thr

I checked the last few years’ results and noticed something odd. In 2017, the finishing top 10 were identical to the top 10 in the grid. In 2016, the only points scorer not to start in the top 10 was Hamilton (who started last). In 2015, with minor variance from grid to flag, the starting top 10 all scored points. In 30 points finishes, only one was for a chap who didn’t start in the top 10. That’s quite the pattern. In the two races to date, one had two cars outside the top 10 score [both McLarens], and the other had three [both McLarens and Sauber’s excellent result for Ericsson]. Renault are reportedly allowing the teams for which they supply engines to unlock more performance, following good reliability in the opening two races of the season. [Although one cynical chap who shall not be Mr. Sandpit reckons it’s because they’re upset at being beaten by Honda last time]. I had tiny bets at long odds on Williams/Sauber to top first practice, based on an early weat

The bet didn’t come off. Ricciardo almost immediately had a gearbox failure which put him out of the race. Frustrating but also the sort of thing that can’t really be foreseen (as an aside, this and Hamilton’s gearbox change for this race indicates some fragility. If Ferrari don’t have this weakness it could be a rather helpful advantage, although Vettel is already on the second [of two permitted] electronic control units). Annoyingly, this also means we still have no idea of the race pace of the Red Bull, as Verstappen exited at practically the same time. It’s the first double DNF for Red Bull since Korea 2010, or thereabouts. The race itself, however, was really rather good. Off the line, most chaps on the evens (dirty) side struggled. Ricciardo lost a place to Gasly, and Raikkonen being passed by Bottas. There was minor contact and Perez suffered an involuntary pirouette. Hamilton and Verstappen made swift progress carving through the field, and were side by side. The

The Raikkonen bet came off, but only the each way aspect so the profit was modest. But it’s still much better than being red. As an aside, the Betfair hedge also came off. In Q1, Verstappen lost control and his front left suspension when he crashed into the barriers. He’d already set a time fast enough to proceed, but (all else being equal) he’ll start 15 th . Eliminated in Q1 were the two Williams, with Stroll slowest of all, both Saubers, and, very surprisingly, Grosjean in the much-fancied Haas. A stark turn around for the Williams team, which a few years ago was very much a frontrunner. In Q2, it was McLaren that underwhelmed, with both cars failing to proceed. Hartley and Perez also left at this stage, with just over a tenth covering the Kiwi, Mexican and Alonso. And so to Q3. All through qualifying it had looked very close between Ferrari and Mercedes, with the Prancing Horse seemingly just ahead of the Silver Arrows. Would the Mercedes engine get turned up and e

From PB: “F1: Bahrain and China next, back-to-back races. Will be interesting to see if the Ferrari advantage on the straights is maintained. If so, that'll be indicative of an actual edge, if not, the advantage over Mercedes in Australia will be down to differing set-up. [The straight line speed advantage was proven by Karun Chandhok when he looked at Hamilton and Raikkonen’s qualifying laps side-by-side]. Also, if they have such an edge that will make roadblock strategies (Raikkonen holding people up for Vettel, mostly) viable. Being faster in the twisty bits only works when you're ahead or corner passing is possible. At many circuits now, that's tricky. Also, the Mercedes still looks rough in traffic.” I don’t normally divert from F1, but congratulations are due to Billy Monger, the 18 year old racer who last year had both legs amputated. He made his British F3 début recently, and finished 3 rd . His ultimate objective is to reach F1, so we’ll see how he ge