Category: Reviews

F1 2022: Austrian Gp: Leclerc Limps to Victory

For the first time since the 2022 Australian grand prix Charles Leclerc has returned to the top step of the podium. The Ferrari driver’s pace was unbeatable on Sunday, but the win was a nervy one that as Leclerc just held on, from Verstappen, to take victory in Austria.

The race weekend, which adopted the Sprint format, was dominated by Red Bull’s Max Verstappen who not only took pole position but also comfortably won the Saturday sprint race from Leclerc. Nevertheless, Leclerc was convinced that come Sunday he had enough to beat Verstappen. And he was right. As the reigning champions struggled with tyre degradation Leclerc was able to cruise up to the back of the Red Bull, twice, and take the lead of the grand prix.

Verstappen too was under significant pressure from Carlos Sainz late in the race and third was most likely the best he could hope for. However, as the Spaniard closed to within meters of taking second-place his Ferrari engine let go in spectacular fashion. Like his hopes Sainz’s engine went up in smoke. A virtual safety car was deployed to recover the stricken Ferrari, which allowed Leclerc and Verstappen to make a pre-cautionary stop and switch onto the medium compound tyre. Just after the re-start of the race Leclerc reported a problem with his throttle that was not staying at around 20-30% open when he lifted off. It gave Verstappen some hope, but Leclerc was able to manage the issue and take the chequered flag less than two seconds ahead of Verstappen.

Lewis Hamilton was third on the timing sheets but the result somewhat flattered Mercedes. Without Sainz’s retirement and with Sergio Perez taken out at the start by George Russell, Hamilton wouldn’t have seen the podium. What’s more, while third looks like an encouraging result the pace of the Mercedes was quite woeful in comparison to Leclerc and Verstappen. While the top two made three stops each, Hamilton made only two and still he was roughly 40 seconds adrift. This translates to a lap time loss of around 8 tenths of a second in the race.

The mid-field battle in Austria was likely the best seen all season. At several points there were three cars abreast heading into turns 3 and 4 as drivers swopped positions in wheel-to-wheel action made for the ages. As it were, Russell finished fourth despite receiving a five-second penalty for causing a collision with Perez. Esteban Ocon, in his 100^th race, was fifth but the driver of the day was unquestionably Mick Schumacher. In fact, Schumacher could easily be deemed the driver of the weekend.

In the Sprint race he held off a much faster Hamilton with some canny driving for all but two laps and he subsequently past him Sunday’s race as well. The young Schumacher’s race craft was put on full display and it was an absolute pleasure to watch. His sixth-place finish will undoubtedly please his Haas F1 bosses. Lando Norris salvaged a difficult weekend for McLaren in seventh while Kevin Magnussen was eighth in the other Haas. In ninth and tenth was Daniel Ricciardo and Fernando Alonso, respectively.

It was miserable weekend for Seb Vettel who was not only taken out in the Sprint race but also dumped into the gravel on Sunday’s race. For Checo Perez the Austrian grand prix will remain a case of what could have been. His pace in the sprint race was eye catching and, most likely, a predictor of what he could have done on Sunday. But significant bodywork damage, sustained from the clash with Russell, brought an early end to his race.

Despite the win for Ferrari the cloud of unreliability still hangs heavily over the team and was again underlined by the fiery end to Sainz’s race. But all is well that ends well and even with a throttle issue Leclerc drove exceptionally well to underscore the pace of the Ferrari. The Monegasque driver now sits 38 points behind championship leader Verstappen at the halfway mark of the 2022 season.

All images courtesy of Pirelli Motorsport

July 11, 2022
F1 2022: British Gp Review – Sainz Takes First Win

As far as British grands prix go the 2022 edition will live long in the memory. And no one else will remember it more vividly or fondly than Carlos Sainz. The Ferrari driver, in his 150th race, has finally climbed to the top step of the podium. It wasn’t a straightforward march to victory by anyone’s measure, but it is a popular one up and down the paddock.

Saturday had already proven to be a stand-out day for Sainz who secured his first pole position is tricky, changeable conditions. Max Verstappen would pounce quickly at the race start however and snatch the lead at the outset.

But the racing action was short lived as moments later race control red flagged the race. A horrific crash for Zhou Guanyu saw the Alfa Romeo barrel roll it’s way across the turn 1 gravel trap and slam into the catch fence that lines the perimeter of the track. There were anxious moments as everyone waited for news on Zhou’s condition. The delay in updates was because the extraction team was taking some time to remove the driver from the wreck. Nevertheless, testament to the safety of F1, and the HALO, Zhou escaped a horrifying incident without any injuries. Further down the field a second crash off the start line pitched Alex Albon into the concrete pitwall and necessitated a pre-cautionary trip to the hospital for the Williams driver. Ultimately, Albon too escaped injury.

The first-lap melee also lay claim to George Russell. The Merc driver, with significant damage to his car, climbed out of his cockpit and ran over the the Guanyu’s wreck. Russell’s car was transported back to the pits on the back of a truck. And try as he might he could not convince the FIA to allow him to re-start the race. The regulation clearly states that any car that receives outside assistance, in this case the flatbed truck, will not be permitted to restart the race. Ironically, Russell has teammate Hamilton to thank for this rule. It was after Hamilton himself was craned back onto the track at the 2007 European Grand Prix that this particular rule was introduced.

Nearly one hour later the race commenced in the original starting grid order. The reason for this being that the field had not yet reached the second safety car line. This time Sainz was able to maintain the lead, but teammate Leclerc scrapped with Checo Perez for third place. Both cars lost some bits and pieces off their front-wing, but Perez seemed to be worse off and was forced into the pits for a replacement wing. It dropped the Mexican driver to dead last.

Meanwhile, Verstappen clearly the quicker car was tenths away from Sainz and seemingly primed for an overtake. He didn’t have to work hard though as a slight mistake from Sainz, in the Maggots-Becketts complex, allowed Verstappen into the lead. But his ascendency would short-lived as Verstappen pitted with what he thought was a puncture. He emerged well down the field with a car her termed “100% broken” and ultimately held on for a lowly seventh place finish. As it were, floor damage is what felled the Red Bull.

As Ferrari took their time to figure out a strategy between their two drivers Hamilton was closing, from third, on the pair of them. The solution was to put Sainz on lap 20 thereby releasing Leclerc. Five laps later Leclerc pitted from the lead while Hamilton pitted on lap 33. Meanwhile Ferrari had released Leclerc from behind Sainz and the Monegasque was making hay. Despite quite a bit of damage to his front-wing, from the opening lap, Leclerc was easily extending the gap over Sainz and Hamilton.

But a few laps later the safety car was deployed to enable the recovery of Esteban Ocon’s stricken Alpine. In true Ferrari fashion Leclerc was left out on old hard tyres while Sainz and Hamilton both fitted new softs. It was a non-sensical but unsurprising decision by Ferrari who has made somewhat of a tradition of bad strategy calls. The restart saw Sainz take the lead of the race and head off towards a welcome first career win.

Behind the dice between Perez, Leclerc, and Hamilton sent the capacity crowd into raptures. As the three swopped position turn after turn it out on display the absolute finest of F1 racing.

While Sainz cleared off in p1 Checo Perez completed a stunning comeback from last place to second. Hamilton secured a fine third place while Leclerc held on to fourth. I’m fight was Fernando Alonso with Lando Norris in sixth. Max Verstappen just held on to seventh from a feisty Mick Schumacher in eighth. Schumacher’s eighth place secure his first points in F1. On his birthday Seb Vettel was ninth ahead of Kevin Magnussen in tenth.

All images courtesy of Pirelli Motorsport

July 4, 2022
F1 2022: Canadian Gp Review – Methodical Max Wins Again

For the first time since 2019 Formula 1 returned to the man-made island of the Ile de Notre Dame and the Canadian Grand Prix.

What lives in the memory bank for the famed circuit Gilles Villeneuve is the great Michael Schumacher’s dominance and the fact that it is the site of Lewis Hamilton’s first win. Amongst other indelible memories the rain in Canada also features quite prominently in the recollection, not least of all due to the 2011 Grand Prix.

The rain made its presence known in 2022 as well but confined itself to Saturday qualifying this time around. Although there was no monsoon level of rain it was enough to produce a spicy qualifying session. Checo Perez’s mistake in Q2 confined him to second half of the grid while teammate Max Verstappen was peerless as he headed to a comfortable pole position. But elsewhere Fernando Alonso snatched a front-row starting position for the first time since 2012 while Hamilton put his Mercedes in fourth alongside the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz. Kevin Magnussen and Mick Schumacher too delivered stand-out performances to qualify fifth and sixth for Haas. Meanwhile, Charles Leclerc was relegated to the back of the grid owing to penalties for new power unit elements.

Race day saw the return of pristine sunshine albeit on a green track. Verstappen led easily away from pole and quickly gapped Alonso in second. On lap 8 the weekend went from bad to worse for Perez as the Mexican driver was forced into retirement with a suspected gearbox issue. The stricken Red Bull prompted the deployment of the Virtual Safety Car (VSC) which allowed Verstappen to swop his medium tyre for the hard compound while Sainz and Alonso opted not to take the cheap pitstop.

A handful of laps later, on lap 15, another VSC was called upon. This time it was to recover the Haas of the luckless Mick Schumacher. Schumacher had been running solidly in the lower end of the points paying positions before retiring with a mechanical problem. The opening stint of the race didn’t produce the meteoric rise through the field that Leclerc would’ve hoped for. Nevertheless, by lap 21 he was running seventh after choosing not to pit under the VSC.

By lap 35 the race had seemingly settled with Verstappen comfortably in the lead from Sainz and Hamilton with George Russell and Esteban Ocon rounding out the top five. While Verstappen had stopped on lap 8 Sainz with fresher tyres was able to close the gap to the leader to around six seconds. On lap 43 Verstappen opted for a second stop and emerged just behind Hamilton. The Dutchman made short work of the Mercedes though and was back into P2 by the end of the lap.

On lap 47 Yuki Tsunoda exited the pitlane with cold tyres and acquainted himself with the barrier at the exit of the pitlane. This prompted the deployment of the full Safety Car and allowed Sainz not only a cheap pitstop but put him right on the back of Verstappen with much fresher tyres at his disposal.

The race resumed on lap 55 and try as he might Sainz could not snatch the lead from Verstappen. Despite running mere tenths ahead Verstappen absorbed the pressure from Sainz to take his fifth win in the last six races. While Sainz was second a clearly chuffed Hamilton was third for Mercedes.

George Russell, in fourth, underlined a good day for Mercedes while Leclerc recovered to fifth overall. Esteban Ocon was sixth for Alpine ahead of the Alfa Romeo duo Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu in seventh and eighth. Fernando Alonso finished only ninth after a post-race five second penalty for weaving on the back strait. Lance Stroll, racing at home, was tenth for Aston Martin.

The start of this season was blighted by two DNFs in three races for Verstappen which saw him 46 points behind then-points leader Leclerc. A few months and string of sublime drives later the reigning champion now enjoys his own 46-point lead in the standings. So far, it’s been a mature and blindingly quick Max Verstappen that has turned up in 2022 clearly with the intent, and currently the form, of defending his title.

All images courtesy of Pirelli Motorsport

June 20, 2022
F1 2022: Azerbaijan Gp Review – Double Red Bull Delight

By Baku standards the 2022 race didn’t set the world alight in terms of entertainment. Nevertheless, the Red Bull team will leave Azerbaijan absolutely delighted with another 1/2 victory in the books.

In contrast, Sunday proved a disastrous day for Ferrari who suffered retirement with both cars. First, it was a hydraulics failure for Carlos Sainz who was running a distant fourth. Later, on lap 21, Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari engine seemed to give up the fight. As smoke poured from the air box so too Leclerc’s chances of a podium finish evaporated into thin air. Such was Red Bull and Max Verstappen’s pace that a win may have been out of the question for Leclerc. Still, any step on the podium would have been better than leaving with zero points from the weekend. Remarkably, Red Bull and Verstappen have transformed a 46-point deficit into a 36-point lead. There’s still a long way to go in the 2022 season but there’s no doubt what enormously demoralizing read these numbers make for Ferrari.

Though Checo Perez out-qualified teammate Verstappen on Saturday he didn’t have the pace, due to higher tyre deg, to keep the reigning champion at bay. Perez’s second place, and fastest lap, on Sunday does move him into second place in the driver’s standings.

George Russell once again saved Mercedes blushes with a third-place finish, thanks to Ferrari’s double retirement. But it’s still not pretty reading for the Silver Arrows as Russell, in normal racing conditions, finished a mammoth 45 seconds adrift of Verstappen. Lewis Hamilton, some 71 seconds behind the race winner, was fifth and suffered some seemingly severe back pain due to the W13’s porpoising issues.

While there are a few other teams who have similar issues none are complaining more about porpoising than Mercedes. What’s more, Russell in the same car seems to be less affected by this issue and there’s a reason for that. The porpoising, or bouncing, is a setup issue, ride height to be specific. Alleviating the velocity of it involves increasing said ride height. But Mercedes is reluctant to do this because it will cost them lap time. It hasn’t stopped Toto Wolff from inferring that the regulations need to be reconsidered. This is not only an attempt to bail out his obviously plan-less design team but also disingenuous.

It’s rather unsporting to imply that regs must be changed because a team hasn’t been able to ace the design. Lest we forget the gigantic power unit advantage Mercedes had with the introduction of the hybrid engine in 2014. It was a marvel of engineering and design prowess and was applauded as such. What it did not do was prompt a demand for a rules change. Instead, others had to get their heads down, take the pain for years, and attempt to get on terms with what Mercedes were able to produce. And so they did. It’s not easy being on the back foot in F1 and Mercedes are showing that they’re in unfamiliar territory but that they are also not very good at handling it.

Behind Hamilton Pierre Gasly was fifth for Alpha Tauri while Seb Vettel recovered beautifully from an early run off to finish sixth for Aston Martin. Fernando Alonso was seventh for Alpine while Daniel Ricciardo and Lando Norris were eighth and ninth for McLaren. In the final points paying position of tenth was the second Alpine of Esteban Ocon.

There’s not much time to regroup as F1 heads straight into the Canadian Grand Prix this weekend.

All images courtesy of Pirelli Motorsport

June 14, 2022
F1 2022: Monte Carlo Gp Review – Checo Conquers Monaco Streets

Based on recent racing history you’d be forgiven for dismissing the Monaco Grand Prix as nothing more than a procession of some very fast racing cars. But in 2022 the race on the streets of Monte Carlo delivered just about everything a Formula 1 race can.

Saturday qualifying saw a standout performance from Ferrari as Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz locked out the front row of the grid. The quali session ended with Checo Perez in the wall and left Max Verstappen without the chance for a final Q3 run.

The race however didn’t get going an hour and ten minutes after what was scheduled as the official start time. The threat of rain seemed to be the reason for the delay. But at the official start time of 15:00 there was a bit of rain but not enough to justify the delayed started. This Sunday race control and those in charge of it did not cover themselves in glory.

When it did get underway Leclerc looked to have the race well in control. As the track began to dry a decision of when to switch to Intermediate tyres had to be made. Red Bull decided to deploy the overcut by staying out longer than Ferrari. But Sainz played what seemed to be the best strategy of all by extending his stint and switching straight onto slicks. But Perez’s longer stint enabled him to jump into the lead of the race as the field finally switched to slick tyres.

On lap 21 Ferrari chose to double stack their cars in the pitlane with disastrous consequences for Leclerc. The Monegasque driver went from leading comfortably to fourth place. Obviously livid Leclerc was left staring at the back of Verstappen’s gearbox. On lap 28 of the race Mick Schumacher’s Haas crashed into the barrier on the exit of the swimming pool section. The damage looked severe but thankfully the driver stepped out of the car without any issues. Nevertheless, for cleanup and rearrangement of the barrier a red flag was deployed.

The race resumed on lap 33 with a rolling start and would clearly run to the two hour time limit well before the allotted remaining laps could be run. Red Bull had opted for new medium tyres while Sainz in P2 and Leclerc in P4 opted for the hard compound.

Despite struggling with wear on his medium tyres Perez held his own and placed his cars in all the right spots. He held off Sainz for a famous victory. Perez’s latest win at the famed Monaco Grand Prix not only moves him right into the championship fight but also more than likely assures his seat for 2023.

With Sainz and Verstappen rounding out the podium a dejected Leclerc was fourth at the chequered flag. George Russell kept up his strong performances with a fifth-place finish just ahead of good friend Lando Norris in sixth.

The Fernando Alonso queue though did reaffirm the impossibility of overtaking on the famous streets. So impossible in fact that Alonso was able to run nearly four seconds off the pace and hold up the entire field behind him. The Spaniard finished a solid seventh for Alpine with a frustrated Lewis Hamilton in eighth. Valtteri Bottas was ninth for Alfa Romeo while Seb Vettel was tenth for Aston Martin.

There was rain, chaos from race control, rolling starts, red flags. And from all of it Checo Perez emerged as an extremely popular winner after a genuinely stellar drive.

May 30, 2022
F1 2022: Australian Gp Review – Leclerc Dominates Down Under

After two years of suffering with a sub-par Ferrari, things can hardly be going any better for Charles Leclerc in 2022. On Saturday the Monegasque driver took Ferrari’s first pole in Australia since Kimi Raikkonen did so his debut season with the team in 2007. Still, there were many that expected second place starting Max Verstappen to mount a serious fight for the win. But Leclerc not only had the pace advantage he also coped extremely well with the re-starts after the safety-car and virtual safety car periods.

For most of the weekend it was clear that Verstappen was not comfortable with his Red Bull. Still, second on the grid and even the second step on the podium would have been acceptable for the reigning champion. But, once again, unreliability reared its head and forced Verstappen into a second retirement in three races. The team has remained tight-lipped on the failure was, but it was most probably mechanically related. The Red Bull powertrains, aka Honda, has proven to be quite problematic so far in 2022 with Alpha Tauri also suffering its own failures in the opening races of the season.

Three races in the championship tables does not make good reading for Red Bull or Max Verstappen. But although Ferrari and Leclerc have gotten off a rollicking start it isn’t the end of the world…yet. Yes, Verstappen currently sits 34 points adrift of Leclerc but there are still 20 races to go and the matter of 544 points up for grabs. There is an awful lot of racing between now and the point where any driver can seriously start to think about the championship.

As predicted in the race preview column Mercedes faired a bit better in Australia than in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. While the Merc pair still finished nearly half-a-minute off the race winner’s pace. Nevertheless, Verstappen’s retirement promoted George Russell onto the podium for the second time in his career while Lewis Hamilton was fourth. The safety car, deployed to enable to clean up of the bits and pieces of Seb Vettel’s Aston Martin, allowed Russell to make a cheap stop and emerged, in P3, ahead of Perez and Hamilton. While Perez easily dispatched of Hamilton, he took P3 off Russell on lap 36. Three laps later Perez would inherit second as Verstappen pulled over his smoking Red Bull at turn 2.

While Perez saved Red Bull’s blushes in second place Mercedes, clearly still struggling, will be pleased with third and fourth. It was a better day too for McLaren as Lando Norris finished fifth ahead of Aussie Daniel Ricciardo in sixth. Esteban Ocon was seventh for Alpine while eighth and ninth place was occupied by Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas and Alpha Tauri’s Pierre Gasly.

As impressive as Leclerc’s performance was the driver of the day was undoubtedly Alex Albon. The Thai driver completed a mammoth 56 lap stint on his hard tyres, pitted on the final lap of the race, and emerged to score the final point in tenth for Williams.

The first retirement of the race, one-and-a-half laps in, was Carlos Sainz. The Spaniard spun in turn 9 and beached the Ferrari in the gravel, bringing out the first safety car of the race. It compounded the Spaniard’s misery who had already made a mistake in his Q3 run to start ninth. At the start of the race Sainz dropped to P14 before spinning out of the race. Afterwards Sainz said he would be hard on himself for the driver errors, but that Ferrari too should take some of the blame for the position he found himself in. It’s somewhat difficult to blame the team though for a driver error in both quali and the race. Carlos Sainz is, for the first time in his career, in a race-winning car. The problem he has is that on the other side of the garage is Charles Leclerc – clearly a driver who is ready and at a level capable of winning the title. But just as Verstappen, or even Mercedes, cannot be ruled out this early on Sainz shouldn’t be either. However, the Spanish driver will have to turn things around very quickly before Ferrari begin to push their support towards Leclerc and relegate Sainz to driver number two.

Charles Leclerc has unquestionably hit a sweet spot in 2022. He is driving this new Ferrari faultlessly and ominously comfortably. It’s a new position for him too to be in the lead of the driver’s championship and the pressure hasn’t ramped up quite yet. But there is a feeling that even if it does Leclerc will be equal to the task.

All images courtesy of Pirelli Motorsport

April 11, 2022
F1 2022: Saudi Arabia Gp Review – Verstappen v Leclerc from lights-out to chequered flag

It’s only two races in the 2022 season but it appears that the new regulations are delivering on the promise of closer racing. Not only has it pushed Ferrari to the sharp end of the grid, but it is producing spine-tinglingly, edge-of-the-seat racing from the first to the very last lap of the race.

In a record-breaking performance on Saturday, it was Checo Perez who delivered a stonking lap to become the first Mexican driver to secure pole position. Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz was second and third while Max Verstappen started the race in fourth. The biggest shock of the day came in the form of Lewis Hamilton who failed to advance beyond the first part of qualifying in his Mercedes.

While Mercedes tried to understand their Saudi Arabian woes Checo Perez led cleanly off the line with Verstappen slotting into third behind Leclerc. It all looked to be going well for Perez who took to the pitlane on lap 15 to fit the hard compound tyres. Unfortunately, Nicholas Latifi’s crash brought out the safety car one lap later. It proved to be the worst possible outcome for Perez who dropped to third behind Leclerc and Verstappen. A dodgy ‘overtake’ on Sainz, exiting the pitlane, meant that Perez had to surrender third to the Ferrari driver.

Further behind the Alpine drivers, Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso, swopped position several times early in the race before settling solidly in the lower end of the top ten. Regrettably, Alonso would retire from the race with a suspected mechanical issue. He would be quickly followed into retirement by McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo. Both drivers ground to a halt at the entry to the pitlane which prompted race control to close the pitlane entry and deploy the virtual safety car. It was bad timing for Hamilton who had started the race on the hard compound and worked his way into the top ten. The 7-time champion had to wait for the pitlane to reopen before being allowed to make his compulsory pitstop.

It was clear that Ferrari, and Leclerc, held the pace advantage through the corners while Red Bull, and Verstappen, had the edge on the straits. But although Verstappen got to within DRS range of the leading Ferrari Leclerc outsmarted his opponent. By letting Verstappen pass him in the first DRS detection point Leclerc ensured himself DRS on the start-finish strait that follows. Still, in a testament to how much better the 2022 cars can follow, Verstappen remained on Leclerc’s gearbox and this time used the Ferrari driver’s DRS tactic against him. As it were Verstappen pulled into the lead of the race and held off Leclerc, by half a second, for his first win of the new season.

Some 8 and ten seconds down the road Carlos Sainz finished third ahead of Perez in fourth. More than half-a-minute behind was George Russell in fifth with Ocon in sixth ahead of Lando Norris in seventh. Pierre Gasly was eighth for Alpha Tauri while Kevin Magnussen finished ninth for Haas. Lewis Hamilton scored a solitary point in tenth more than a minute behind the leaders, despite a safety car bunching up the field. If it wasn’t so before Mercedes’ problems are more than just the bouncing, seen in Bahrain.

Both Verstappen and Leclerc looked properly worn-out which is an indication of just how hard the pair of them had to work. It’s evident that in this new era of F1 drivers are pushing from lights out to the cheqeured flag. It’s only two races into the season and there is an awfully long way to go. But if the rest of the year is anything like the first two races, then we’re in for a heck of a ride.

All images courtesy of Pirelli Motorsport

March 28, 2022
F1 2022: Bahrain Gp Review – Out with the old, in with Ferrari?

Despite introducing a completely new era of Formula 1 racing the season-opener in Bahrain has simply picked up where the drama left off in 2021. In a triumphant return to form Ferrari reigned supreme with a brilliant one-two finish for Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz.

Throughout pre-season testing the Ferrari had looked good and allegedly on the pace of the quickest cars. It looked supple and easy to drive but still the hesitation lingered in deeming the Italians back in position to mix it at the sharp end of the grid. But in emphatic fashion Ferrari has announced itself with dazzling display of speed and performance in the first race of 2022.

On Saturday Charles Leclerc snatched pole by a tenth of a second from Red Bull’s Max Verstappen while teammate Sainz qualified third fastest. As Lewis Hamilton and George Russell could only manage fifth and ninth it looked set to be a battle between Ferrari and Red Bull. And a battle it was. Leclerc led cleanly away from pole with Verstappen in relatively close attendance. However, before long the Red Bull driver was told to cool his brakes and he fell three seconds behind the Ferrari. The first round of stops came around soon enough with Verstappen heading to pitlane first. Despite pitting only one lap later, Leclerc nearly lost P1 to a charging Verstappen. The lead of the race swopped dramatically between the pair for a few laps before Verstappen locked up into turn 1 and seemed to lose some pace. Wily as ever, Leclerc saw off the threat from Verstappen and eased the gap back out to three-odd seconds with Sainz trailing a further 10 seconds behind, in third, with fourth-placed Checo Perez threatening to close him down. What was especially good about the Leclerc/Verstappen duel, besides the intense wheel-to-wheel racing, was the confirmation that the new era of F1 cars are able follow each other much more closely.

For those who may have thought that Mercedes was sandbagging in pre-season testing, and even in free practice, it was unfortunately not the case. At least in Bahrain the Mercedes W13 was significantly off Ferrari and Red Bull pace. A glance at the results does not tell the full story. Although Hamilton and Russell will be happy to have come home in third and fourth there are serious questions that are going to be asked at Mercedes. What will be especially worrying for Mercedes is the fact that after 40-odd laps of the race Hamilton was already more than half a minute behind the race leader Leclerc and second-placed Verstappen. What’s more is that on-board footage from practice still shows the Merc porpoising (bouncing) in the straits which clearly effects the driver’s confidence on the brakes. Case in point is Hamilton’s inability to overtake Perez despite being well within the DRS range for a handful of laps.

As it turns out neither Red Bull reached the chequered flag. First Verstappen noted an issue with the power steering of his car, which he at least appeared to be able to handle, no pun intended. And in the closing stages of the race Pierre Gasly’s car seemed to catch fire which brought out the safety car towards the end of the race. It seemed Verstappen’s best chance of challenging Leclerc. But soon after the Safety-car pulled in Verstappen was on the radio and reporting a loss of battery charge. Moments after that the Dutchman slowed dramatically and promptly retired from the race. A few laps later Perez’s engine seemingly switched off and pitched his car into a spin in turn 1. In matter of minutes Red Bull went from sitting with the potential of two cars on the podium to a double retirement. This elevated Hamilton onto the podium in third and Russell to fourth overall. Red Bull, through Helmut Marko, identified the problem being an inability of getting enough fuel to the engine and that Verstappen’s power steering issue may have been caused by the jack, which lifts the car, during a pit stop.

Leclerc delivered a stunning weekend to score pole, fastest lap, and a much-deserved race win. But the driver of the day must be Kevin Magnussen. Drafted in as a late replacement at Haas the Danish driver produced a stunning drive to finish P5. Valtteri Bottas won’t be dissatisfied with his first race for Alfa Romeo in P6 while Esteban Ocon and Yuki Tsunoda finished 7^th and 8^th respectively. Fernando Alonso was 9^th overall ahead of the only rookie in the field Zhou Guanyu who scored the final point in 10^th for Alfa Romeo. Mick Schumacher just missed out on scoring his first points in 11^th.While Gasly clearly experienced a distressing end to his race it was probably as dreadful a day for McLaren with Daniel Ricciardo and Lando Norris finishing a wretched 14^thand 15^th overall.

For the first time since the 2019 Singapore grand prix Ferrari has stood on top of the podium. It is apparent that Maranello has not only produced a very good power unit but perhaps even a car to go along with it. But this is only the beginning of F1 2022 and there is still some way to go. There are 22 more races in a season that has started in spectacular fashion. And the next of those is this weekend’s Saudi Arabian grand prix.

All images courtesy of Pirelli Motorsport

March 21, 2022
F1 2021: Abu Dhabi Gp Review – Super Max is World Champion

At the first free practice session of the 2014 Japanese grand prix a driver by the name of Max Verstappen stepped into the cockpit of the Toro Rosso. What immediately stood out about the 16-year-old Dutchman was his poise behind the wheel and of course – that prodigious speed.

A year-and-a-half later he stood on the top step of the podium in Spain as the youngest ever race winner. There was some discontent though about Verstappen’s driving style and some even deemed it dangerous. While a case could be made in support of that opinion what also becoming clear was that Verstappen was a revelation. He came into F1 and seemed to be instantaneously in command. Naturally, there were a few mis-steps but it was clear that it would be only a matter of time before Max Verstappen would become world champion.

That day came in Abu Dhabi this past Sunday in a manner most befitting of one of the most memorable, exhilarating, and dramatic F1 season in living memory. From Bahrain to Spain to Monaco to Baku and Brazil the 2021 Formula 1 season has been one lived on the edge of your seat from the first lap of the season until, quite literally, the last.

Thanks to an unbelievable comeback from Lewis Hamilton which saw him win three on the bounce in Brazil, Qatar, and Jeddah, the championship protagonists went into the season-ending Abu Dhabi grand prix equal on points. Max Verstappen threw down the gauntlet by taking pole position on Saturday but the ever-present Hamilton was right alongside him on the front-row of the grid. It was short-lived advantage for Verstappen though as Hamilton aced the start and swept into the lead of the race. But Verstappen wasn’t about to give up and sent a move up the inside of Hamilton at the turn 6 chicane. Though Verstappen kept within the white-lines Hamilton ran off the track and maintained the lead of the race. Most were sure that Hamilton would have to yield the place to Verstappen but race stewards felt otherwise and deemed no investigation necessary.

On soft tyres Verstappen steadily lost time to Hamilton in the opening stint. On lap 13 Verstappen fitted the hard compound tyre which Hamilton too opted for one lap later. It was clear fairly early on that the Hamilton had a definite pace advantage over Verstappen. Red Bull would need to rely on strategy if they were going to have any chance of beating Hamilton. Enter Checo Perez. The Mexican, dragging his Red Bull around on severely worn soft tyres, was told to hold-up Hamilton as much as he could. It seemed for all money that Hamilton would merely breeze past Perez on his fresher tyres but not only did he miraculously hold off Hamilton but Perez did so long enough for Verstappen to close down a nearly seven-second gap to roughly one-and-a-half seconds. But again, Hamilton’s raw pace allowed him to re-build the gap to Verstappen. Perez’s work wouldn’t be in vain however as a Virtual Safety Car (VSC) was deployed on lap 36 to recover the stricken Alfa Romeo of Antonio Giovinazzi.

Hamilton stays out while Verstappen chooses to pit for new hard tyres. He emerges only 17 seconds behind Hamilton and the race is on to catch the race leader. However, somehow Hamilton, a master of tyre conservation, appears to be doing enough to stymie the Verstappen-threat. On lap 53 of 58 the Williams of Nicholas Latifi crashes into the barrier of Turn 14 and it requires a full Safety-Car to be cleaned up safely. Red Bull rolled the strategy dice one more time and brought Verstappen in for fresh soft tyres while Hamilton stayed out. Initially, it appeared that the race would end under the Safety-Car. However, while originally lapped cars were told to hold position, they were then instructed to overtake the Safety-Car as Race Director Michael Masi was set on returning to racing conditions, even if only for one lap. Five lapped cars overtook and left Verstappen right behind Hamilton for the re-start. Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff bemoaned Masi’s decision to allow lapped cars to overtake as “unfair”. Verstappen made his move for the lead of the race by diving down the inside of the re-profiled turn 5. He held off Hamilton on the two straits and crossed the finish line to become the 2021 world champion.

Instead of accepting defeat however Mercedes immediately lodged an appeal against the race result by citing that not all lapped cars had overtaken the Safety-Car and therefore the regulation was not adhered to. This after Wolff demanded that the result be counted back one lap in order to hand Hamilton the victory. In the steward’s hearing, which dismissed Mercedes’s protests, it was pointed out that the regulation prescribes that any lapped cars and not all lapped cars can be instructed to overtake. It was further pointed out that the race director is imbued with overriding authority over use of the Safety Car. Still, Mercedes have stated their intent to appeal the steward’s decision.

There is little doubt that the stewards and race director’s decision-making has been ambiguous at many points throughout the season. And there is some scope for understanding why Mercedes feels aggrieved. But then there is scope for pretty much all the teams to have felt aggrieved sometime in the season. The fact is however that the issue of clarity in decision-making must be addressed.

The regulation allowing lapped cars to overtake was brought in for the simple reason that having back-markers amongst the frontrunners could interfere with racing. Case in point, Hamilton would’ve been advantaged by Verstappen having to pass all five lapped cars thereby giving him a leg up.

Elsewhere, Kimi Raikkonen’s storied 20-year career came to a close with a wheel-nut failure on lap 29. The 2007 champion bows out after a staggering 349 races, 21 wins, and 105 podiums. He doesn’t leave empty-handed though as his legion of fans around the globe combined to vote the Iceman as Driver-of-the-Day. Perez’s retirement promoted Carlos Sainz to third. The Spaniard, in his first year at Ferrari, beat highly-rated teammate Charles Leclerc to fifth in the final driver’s standings. Yuki Tsunoda and Pierre Gasly were fourth and fifth for Alpha Tauri while Valtteri Bottas trundled home in a lowly sixth in his final race for Mercedes. In seventh was Lando Norris ahead of Alpine duo Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon in eighth and ninth. Leclerc scored the final point in tenth.

Seven years has been a long time coming for Max Verstappen but there has always been an air of inevitability about it. If there were stand-out moments that genuinely solidified the fact that Verstappen could be champion this year those moments came in France and Texas. The manner in which he drove the in- and out-laps around his pitstop in France was so magnificent that not even Mercedes could understand how they had been undercut. And then there was the defensive drive in Texas. Red Bull had left him with an awful lot of work to do but instead of questioning the team he pumped in the laps and held off a faster Hamilton in true Schumacher-esque style. Oh, and the other eight wins and ten poles helped some too.

In 2014 Max Verstappen arrived in Formula 1 as an uncompromising, self-confident, and blindingly quick teenager. Over the last seven years he has not only become, astonishingly, even quicker but he has also refined into an unquestionably deserved world champion. Goed gedaan Max.

All images courtesy of Pirelli Motorsport

December 13, 2021
F1 2021: Saudi Arabian Gp Review – Red-flags, Controversy, Penalties, and Chaos

The sheer speed achieved around the Jeddah circuit raised many eyebrows. Add to this that is lined with barriers and you have yourself the perfect ingredients for chaos. And bedlam most definitely ensued. As has been true of the entire 2021 season Hamilton and Verstappen were far and away to biggest story of the race. Here follows a breakdown of events.

Saturday Qualifying – The first run of the Q3 session has Lewis Hamilton in pole with teammate Valtteri Bottas in second with Max Verstappen third. On the final run of the session however Verstappen is flirting with disaster as he skims the walls but is on his way to a stunning pole position. It wouldn’t eventuate though as he clips the wall on the final corner with his right-rear. He starts the race in P3.

Mick Schumacher crash, lap 10 – The Haas drivers crashes heavily into the Tecpro barrier of turn 23. A safety-car is immediately deployed which prompts both Hamilton and Bottas into the pits for hard tyres. Verstappen opts for track position and does not pit. The race is then red-flagged, which Hamilton deems unnecessary. However, since the death of Jules Bianchi, safety protocols dictate that whenever machinery is on track a session will be red-flagged.

Hamilton’s displeasure with the red-flag decision is motivated by the fact that Verstappen, per regulation, is allowed to change tyres under red-flag conditions. A rule Hamilton himself benefitted from earlier in the year at Imola.

From a standing-start Hamilton gets the better of Verstappen but the Red Bull driver cuts across the turn ½ runoff area and takes the lead. Hamilton clashes with Ocon and loses another place to the Alpine. Chaos ensues behind bringing to an end Perez, Russell, and the second Haas driver’s races. With a sea of carbon fibre littering the track another red-flag is shown.

Race director Michael Masi gives Red Bull the opportunity to drop behind Hamilton for the restart following Verstappen’s cutting on the chicane. This has been noted as controversial by some but is no different than race-control instructing a team to return a position on-track. Red Bull accept and Verstappen drops to third on the grid with Ocon now in P1.

Crucially, Verstappen takes the re-start on new medium tyres while Hamilton remains on hards. It works a treat as Verstappen pulls off a sublime move into turn 1 to take the lead of the race. Hamilton momentarily falls behind Ocon but is back into P2 by lap 22.

JEDDAH STREET CIRCUIT, SAUDI ARABIA – DECEMBER 05: Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB16B , leads Sir Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W12, and Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes W12 during the Saudi Arabia GP at Jeddah Street Circuit on Sunday December 05, 2021 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. (Photo by Sam Bloxham / LAT Images)

Virtual Safety Cars – On lap 24 Yuki Tsunoda clashes with Seb Vettel in turn 1 and strews debris over the track, prompting the VSC. On lap 30 another VSC is needed this time to collect more debris from a clash between Kimi Raikkonen and Vettel. Racing resumes on lap 33 with Hamilton within DRS range of Verstappen. However, the canny Dutchman stretches his advantage just enough in sector-1 to ensure he stays ahead. On lap 36 another VSC is called on to collect debris that had fallen off Vettel’s wounded Aston Martin.

Lap 37 – Hamilton is closer than ever on the main-strait and makes his move. Verstappen brakes late and again cuts across the run-off of turn1/2. Verstappen is instructed to give the place back to Hamilton and he slows on the back part of the track to do just that. However, because Hamilton doesn’t want to get to the DRS activation point first, thereby giving Verstappen DRS, he too, bizarrely, brakes and runs into the back of Verstappen.

Hamilton would allege that Verstappen had brake-tested him, while Mercedes would say that Hamilton was ‘confused’ about what was happening. The question remains however as to why Hamilton would not overtake a slowing car? The answer we now know is DRS. Laughably, Verstappen was given a post-race 10-second penalty for the incident, which did nothing to the final classification.

Lap 42 – Hamilton is back on Verstappen’s gearbox and makes a pass into turn 1. Again, Verstappen cuts across the run-off and maintains the lead. Verstappen then gives the place back to Hamilton but, peculiarly, still incurs a five-second penalty. To say that race control was a bit shambolic on the day wouldn’t be completely untrue.

To the end – Verstappen, with diffuser damage and worn medium tyres, nurses his Red Bull home in second place. Hamilton’s win means that both championship protagonists head into the finale this weekend equal on points. Verstappen still leads the championship by virtue of more race wins.

Third and fourth were Bottas and Ocon as the Finn just pipped the Alpine to the podium. In fifth was Daniel Ricciardo as Gasly, Leclerc, Sainz, Giovinazzi, and Norris occupied the rest of the top ten places.

The Saudi Arabian Gp could not have delivered a more chaotic and controversial race if it tried. And regardless of who has your loyalty and support it should be recognized that as fans of F1 it is an utter privilege to be living through one of the most intense and fascinating seasons in living memory.

December 6, 2021