MorrisF1

Ah, a return to a more sensible weekend arrangement. Horner and Red Bull continue to grumble but have had a request for a review of Hamilton’s penalty (viewing it as too lenient) declined. Verstappen’s engine, surprisingly, appears to be ok for the race. In first practice Verstappen was fastest, less than a tenth ahead of Bottas, with Hamilton a tenth further back. Sainz was next but four-tenths down the road, narrowly ahead of Gasly. Then came Alonso, Leclerc, Perez, Norris, and Stroll. Second practice had Bottas fastest, a mere two-hundredths up on his team mate. Verstappen was three-tenths off the Mercedes pair, but nearly half a second ahead of Ocon. Perez and Gasly followed, with Alonso, Vettel, Norris, and Stroll rounding out the top 10. At this stage it seemed to be advantage Mercedes, but keep an eye on the sky as there is an outside chance of thundery showers during qualifying. And it’s predicted to be in the mid-30s for the race, which may adversely affect various tea

Finally, we have a grid. The sprint race had a few moments of interest but it remains like a hobbit’s daily meal arrangement: there’s too many. This is second breakfast. It’s unneeded and does not add to the entertainment because it feels hollow. Anyway, almost everyone, as expected, started on the medium compound, notable exceptions being Bottas and the two Alpines (all on soft). Off the line Verstappen nailed it and passed Hamilton then did very well to hold onto the lead for the rest of lap 1 as the Briton was incredibly fast on the straight. Ultimately, that was job done. The Dutchman ended up with pole position and 3 points, with his title rival starting 2 nd and earning two points. Bottas retained his place and will start 3 rd , having earned himself an extra point. Behind them Leclerc was miles ahead of the rest (and extending, gradually, the gap over the McLarens) while unable to close up to the Mercedes but he’s looking very well-placed. Alonso got up to 5 th on lap on

Qualifying defied my expectations with the final result, although I still think this weekend’s schedule is just daft. The first part of qualifying was very much predictable, with the two Haas slowest, joined by Tsunoda, Raikkonen, and Latifi. At this stage Verstappen and Hamilton had essentially identical times. In Q2 we lost both Alpines, which was mildly surprising, as well as Gasly, Giovinazzi, with Stroll slowest. The Canadian has been struggling all weekend and has looked quite a bit behind Vettel. In practice Verstappen looked to have a crushing advantage but in Q2 Hamilton was significantly faster. How would things go in Q3? Very tightly, and both men could probably have gone faster. Hamilton got it, less than a tenth ahead of Verstappen. But it’s only for the sprint, not for pole. Bottas was not far behind, and half a second separated him and Leclerc. Perez had to make do with 5 th , and the McLarens were closely matched in 6 th and 7 th , Norris two-thousandths ahea

The Australian Grand Prix, which had been rescheduled, has been formally cancelled. Mildly surprised given how things are easing in most places but the Aussies seem to be taking a cautious approach. Oddly, I had thought the UK was next up, checked and saw it was Hungary, but apparently I was right before. Apologies for the erroneous Hungary reference before, I’m clearly going slightly mad. The Mercedes, incidentally, have some upgrades, so we’ll see if that’s enough for them to fight back against Red Bull. Friday - Practice 1 (already held) and Qualifying (6pm) Saturday - Practice 2 (12pm) and Sprint Qualifying (4.30pm) Sunday – Race (3pm) Drivers can choose whatever tyre they like for the sprint race (the Q2 starting tyre rule is axed for this event). There’s also free tyre choice for the proper race. Medium tyres likely to be used for the sprint. The sprint race is 17 laps long, and while pit stops are allowed they are not required so obviously most will want to make it t

Well, it wasn’t a classic at the sharp end, but, as predicted, that meant Verstappen won by a large margin, even doing a late second stop to guarantee the extra point for the fastest lap. There were some good on-track battles, often involving Perez, and too many penalties for decent racing. Off the line it was formation flying at the front, with Russell slipping at the back and Ricciardo doing well. Ocon was unlucky to be the filling in a sandwich, and got tagged by Giovinazzi which destroyed his front right suspension and ended his race on lap one. Cue the safety car. Positions stayed pretty much unchanged when it came in, and Verstappen duly drove off into the sunset. Perez got was very close to Norris and had a crack at passing but the Briton held the racing line and the Mexican didn’t bail, which put him into the gravel. Even Christian Horner (Red Bull team principal) described it as one of those things (a racing incident) but, bizarrely, the race stewards disagreed and slapped

I don’t offer qualifying bets often but did so on this occasion because I thought it was a better than 50/50 odds for a 50/50 chance, assuming Verstappen was all but guaranteed pole and the Mercedes would follow. Shame it didn’t come off, but the greatly surprising lineup was fantastic to see and may bode well for the race tomorrow. Latifi, Schumacher, and Mazepin leaving in Q1 was not unexpected. Ocon also failed to progress and was far off Alonso, who ended up with the third fastest time. Raikkonen also left at this stage and was less than half a tenth off Ricciardo, who made it through. Q2 had an unfortunate incident. Alonso was improving and had horrendous, lap-ruining traffic from Vettel, and didn’t get through. Vettel did, and though he apologised I think it nigh on certain the German will be encountering a penalty. Giovinazzi was the slowest man in this session, and Ricciardo remains significantly off the pace of Norris, who cruised through with ease (unlike his Aussie team

And so we return to the same circuit that saw Verstappen achieve a seemingly effortless victory. More pain for Hamilton and Mercedes, or can they bounce back? And what of the weather? And the tyres are softer than last time out. In the first practice session Verstappen was fastest, which hardly counts as a surprise, but what was a surprise was that the Ferraris followed him a quarter of a second down the road. It was only a small gap further back to Bottas, Tsunoda, and Raikkonen. Next up was Hamilton, then came Perez, Gasly, and Norris. It was all change in second practice, with Hamilton leading Bottas at the top of the timesheets. Verstappen was two-tenths off his title rival, but four-tenths ahead of Stroll. Vettel, Tsunoda, Gasly, Alonso, Norris, and Giovinazzi rounded out the top 10. Come final practice Verstappen was fastest by a large margin, over half a second on Bottas and six-tenths on Hamilton (the Briton could’ve been within four-tenths but had a lap time deleted for