MorrisF1

Russia sometimes produces boring races. This was not such a race; it was exciting from start to finish.. Before the start, Mercedes tried tactical shenanigans by giving Bottas a new power unit, earning him a grid penalty. Off the line, two men had weird starts: Sainz and Ricciardo. Sainz left the handbrake on and looked swamped but then benefited from the slipstream of Norris to claim the lead. Ricciardo’s getaway was good but he ended up hemmed in and, along with Hamilton, fell down to around the 7 th or 8 th mark. Sainz and Norris were close together but pulled away from Russell, who led a DRS train involving Stroll, Ricciardo, and Hamilton. Further down the field, Verstappen passed Bottas with seemingly little effort. At the sharp end, Stroll and Russell boxed, then Sainz did. The McLarens and Hamilton stayed out longer (but not as long as Perez and Alonso who waited until there were only 18 laps or so left). Ricciardo was screwed by a very bad pit stop (others had similar

I said qualifying would be uncertain, and that proved truer than I could have imagined. Incidentally, Leclerc also has a back of the grid penalty but will start ahead of Verstappen due to being ahead of him in qualifying. It was wet but drying in Q1, with intermediates the order of the day. We waved goodbye to both Haas and Alfa Romeos, who joined Verstappen (who just had a sighter lap). Q2 was more competitive, and had Hamilton leading Bottas at the sharp end. The relegation zone saw Vettel depart, just half a tenth off Sainz. Gasly’s normally a day and a half ahead of Tsunoda but on this occasion will start just one place further up the grid, with Latifi and Leclerc also failing to progress. Russell might have been in trouble if the track weren’t drying so swiftly as he’d used all his intermediates but it was soon dry enough to try for slicks. Everyone ended up copying him, but Hamilton cocked up and cost both him and Bottas. He hit the wall entering the pit lane, necessitating

Verstappen got a 3 place grid penalty for the incident last time. Somewhat surprised. But there we are. And he’s taking an engine penalty which means he’s starting at the back of the grid. The Ferraris, I think, have new engines this time around. First practice saw Bottas top of the time sheets, two-tenths ahead of Hamilton, with Verstappen just a hundredth off his title rival. Four-tenths further back was Leclerc, with another seven-tenths gap to Vettel. Gasly, Sainz, Norris, Perez, and Alonso round out the top 10. Second practice had the same top two, with the gap just four-hundredths. Behind the Mercedes by two-tenths was Gasly, with sizeable gaps to Norris, Ocon, and Verstappen. Sainz and Alonso were narrowly behind the Dutchman, and just ahead of Vettel and Leclerc. At this stage it looks set to be a Mercedes front row, and rain is possible for both qualifying and the race. Third practice was cancelled due to rain. Qualifying is scheduled at 1pm UK time but it’s unclea

Overtaking was very hard in the sprint, and it was largely true in the race. In stark contrast to much of the year, good fortune was clearly mine as both aspects of the bet came off. Huzzah! There was much misfortune for drivers though, with the first man thus afflicted being Yuki Tsunoda, whose AlphaTauri went wonky on the grid and had to be wheeled back to the garage (he was unable to start). Almost everyone went to start on medium tyres, with a notable exception being the two Mercedes. Off the line, Hamilton actually got away well, passing Norris and challenging Verstappen, who had lost out to Ricciardo. However, the Dutchman closed the door, Hamilton went off-track over a chicane, and this enabled Norris to retake third spot. Both title contenders were bottled up behind McLarens. Further back, both Perez and (especially) Bottas were making progress from lowly starting positions. The safety car was briefly brought out off backmarkers went off (one of the Alfa Romeos, with Gasl

For what it’s worth, which ain’t much, Hamilton and Bottas and Verstappen topped second practice, with two-tenths intervals. Perez was another two-tenths back, then came Ocon, Kubica, Giovinazzi, Alonso, Gasly, and Norris.  Surprised to see Alpine and Alfa Romeo there but such were the results. Most drivers started the sprint on the medium but exceptions on softs were the McLarens, Alpines, and Aston Martins. Unusually, off the line Bottas did well, Verstappen was a bit iffy but managed to cling onto his place, and Hamilton started poorly, slipping behind both McLarens (Ricciardo overtaking his team mate) and Gasly. The AlphaTauri driver was unlucky that minimal contact with Norris damaged his front wing, which broke, went under his car, and sent him crashing out on lap 1. The safety car emerged but the story of the race has largely been told. The top five retained their places, Bottas snagging 3 points, Verstappen 2, and Ricciardo 1. Hamilton got very close to Norris but even

Ahem, due to being too swift the numbers entered for the title race (constructors) previously were actually old (not updated with the Dutch result). Here’s how things currently stand: Mercedes 344.5 Red Bull 332.5 Ferrari 181.5 McLaren 170 Alpine 90 AlphaTauri 84 Aston Martin 53 Williams 20 Alfa Romeo 3 Haas 0 Also, Bottas, surprising no-one, is leaving Mercedes and joining Alfa Romeo next year. And, staggeringly, Russell is off to Mercedes. Gosh. Gosh, I tell you. Likewise, Gasly and Tsunoda are confirmed for AlphaTauri in 2022. The Frenchman, along with Norris, is the best performing driver of the year, so that’s very good for a midfield team.  Elsewhere, Albon’s back in F1, at Williams. And, just for the next race (presumably), Kubica is standing in for Raikkonen again. I’m not a fan of this stupid sprint race format. On the plus side, we actually had a qualifying session without a red flag. In Q1 things were pretty much as expected with Kubica, the Haas drivers, and L

Well, the bet was red and the race was more tactical than frenetic, but there were varying strategies and some overtaking, so it (thankfully) wasn’t as boring as Monaco. Off the line, the top six held formation, Bottas doing well to retain his place after leaving the handbrake on. The mode was set, with the top three pulling away from the midfield and the top two pulling away from Bottas. Further back, Alonso had snuck ahead of various chaps, including his team mate, by taking the high line at the third (I think) corner. This prompted Ocon to claim he was faster, asking to be let by, but the Spaniard pulled out a six second gap which rather suggested he was quicker. Verstappen built up a gap of a few seconds over Hamilton, and when the Briton pitted first the Dutchman copied. A slightly tardy stop by Hamilton’s pit crew meant Verstappen held his place. Bottas was then used as a glorified roadblock, and this cut down the interval between Verstappen and Hamilton to less than a se

I miss the days when red flags were rare. We had two in qualifying this session, one of which was unnecessary. There were also a few interesting little results. Q1 saw Vettel absolutely screwed by traffic which destroyed any hope of escaping. The Haas drivers were the prime but not sole culprits. Both also exited here, as did Kubica (understandable, he’s only had a morning with his Alfa Romeo) and Perez (seems to have been a timing issue, perhaps complacency). Bad news for Red Bull to allow that to happen. Q2 saw Russell put his Williams into the barrier and bring out a red flag, which looked a shade excessive given he almost immediately drove back to the pits (albeit after littering the track with gravel). A more understandable red flag was when his team mate imitated him but did so with much more force, Latifi’s red flag ending the session. In addition, we said goodbye to Tsunoda, Stroll, and, weirdly, Norris. The Briton’s arguably been the best driver of the whole season to date

There was no post-race ramble last time on the account of the fact that there was no race. Raikkonen has said this is his final season. A shame, but he’s had quite a lot of races and it’s not unusual for people to move on. Fans will be saddened as he’s probably the most popular driver. He’s also not partaking in the race or qualifying due to a OVID-19 test failure so he’ll be replaced by Robert Kubica. In first practice, Hamilton was fastest, a tenth ahead of Verstappen and the very competitive Sainz and Leclerc (both within a tenth and a half of the Briton). Bottas, Alonso, and Ocon followed, then came Giovinazzi, Stroll, and Gasly. Second practice saw red flags aplenty, but it was a Ferrari 1-2 at the sharp end with Leclerc leading the way. I’m going to have to check the Monaco timings, but this might be genuine competitiveness from the reds. Ocon was a close third, followed by Bottas, Verstappen, Alonso, Gasly, Norris, Giovinazzi, and Vettel. At this stage, Ferrari look to b