Austria: pre-qualifying 2024

The sprint race format is still a pain in the arse and I typically can’t watch it (a slight shame as the pace indication is useful for the race proper), so I’m just going by race reports and/or highlights.

In the only practice session during a sprint nonsense weekend we had Verstappen top, over a quarter of a second ahead of Piastri. Relatively large gaps (around a tenth) separated him from Leclerc, and then Sainz, Hamilton, Ocon, Stroll, (closely followed by Russell), with Tsunoda and Alonso completing the top 10.

 

Come sprint qualifying, Verstappen was a tenth ahead of Norris, with Piastri and Russell forming the second row. Sainz and Hamilton followed on row three, with row four consisting of Perez and Ocon. Gasly and Leclerc qualified on the fifth row.

 

In the stupid money-grubbing pretend race, Verstappen beat Piastri for the win, with the Aussie managing to pass his team mate, pushing Norris down into 3rd. Russell passed Sainz but Hamilton was unable to do so, meaning the current Ferrari driver finished 5th and the future Ferrari driver was 6th. Leclerc and Perez snaffled the final points.

 

Decided against betting on qualifying, though I was tempted by Piastri at 13 each way.

 

Morris Dancer

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

F1 2014 - Second and Third Tests

Image
Bit of a whopper of an article, but it didn’t make sense to write two for the Bahrain tests, as they were so close together. Many of the rule changes are helpfully outlined here: http://www1.skysports.com/f1/news/22058/9077826/gearing-up-for-2014-the-rule-changes-uncovered-and-explained-part-one This is one more reason why reliability is to critical. Losing a whole power unit (exceeding the 5 per season limit) means starting the next race from the pit lane. Losing a component, such as the turbo, means a 10 place grid penalty. On day one of the first test in Bahrain it appeared the Renault/Red Bull woe might continue. However, both Red Bull and Toro Rosso got in good running on the second day. Any remaining issues seem more to do with the car rather than the power unit. It’s been suggested the Renault requires significantly more cooling than rival engines, but apparently there are upsides. If the horsepower rumours were true (Mercedes being mighty and Ferrari better
Read more

Great Britain: post-race analysis

Image
Well, that was a dramatic race. Even better, it was profitable. When Hamilton’s tyre exploded it looked set to be yet another Vettel victory, but then the German’s car lost drive, gifting Rosberg the lead. He did well to retain it at the end against a strong attack from Webber. It’s also nice to benefit from some good luck when it comes to bets. The start saw Vettel instantly pass Rosberg into second (maybe because the odd-numbered side of the track is a significant advantage). Webber meanwhile had a terrible start, even by his standards, and Massa gained a huge number of places. To make matters worse, Grosjean nudged Webber off the track and damaged his front wing (replaced at the first round of pit stops). A big question was whether or not Mercedes would be able to maintain decent race pace, as this has proved their weakness so far this season. Hamilton seemed to have no real issues keeping Vettel behind him, until the Briton’s tyre burst apart. It did so at the worst
Read more

Abu Dhabi: early discussion

Image
Well, Vettel and Red Bull remain the champions. 2014 has the prospect of a change, but we’ll see. In the meantime, there are three races to finish off the season. Abu Dhabi’s a fairly narrow circuit with barriers close to the track (and pit lane exit), so a safety car is probable. The performance of the cars is largely locked in now, as any development on non-2014 relevant areas will have practically stopped. Ferrari, Mercedes and Lotus are all fighting for 2nd in the Constructors’, but whilst this matters getting next year right is more important. I expect Mercedes to be a little better in Abu Dhabi. They did well in Monaco and had a reasonably result (4th and 5th) in Singapore, which are fairly similar to the Yas Marina circuit. Turning to the driver market, the prevailing rumours I’ve heard are: Massa to Williams (replacing Maldonado) Maldonado or Hulkenberg taking Raikkonen’s old seat Some argue that Hulkenberg should get Perez’s seat, but I think that
Read more