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F1 2022: French Gp Review – “Atta boy Max”

Max Verstappen has taken back-to-back victories at the French Grand Prix and with it a sizable lead in the driver’s championship standings.

It wasn’t all Red Bull all the time though as Charles Leclerc scored an impressive seventh pole of the season. The Ferrari driver lead cleanly from the start of the race too and held his own against Verstappen. For more than ten laps it looked well within Leclerc’s hands in terms of pace. So much so that Red Bull pulled the strategy call by bringing Verstappen in on lap 17 for hard tyres. Although Leclerc stayed out the pressure of a Verstappen undercut loomed large. So large that it prompted Leclerc into pushing harder on his worn medium tyres which ended with the Monegasque driver in the barriers on lap 18. Initially it seemed like the spin couldve been triggered to a throttle issue, as experienced in Austria. However, Leclerc explained post-crash that it was driver error.

The race re-started on lap 22 with Verstappen leading from Hamilton, Perez, and Russell. By this point Carlos Sainz, starting from the back due to engine penalties, has recovered to P5. The Spanish driver delivered an impressive turn of pace. Soon, he was on the tail of Russell and well in contention for the podium. Strangely, Ferrari decided to pit Sainz. Much to the bewilderment of…all. It dropped Sainz to P9. Despite a 5-second penalty, for an unsafe pitlane release, Sainz recovered to P5. But there’s little doubt that Ferrari fluffed a certain podium result.

Elsewhere, a tasty battle between Checo Perez and George Russell for the final step on the podium. A bit of wheel-banging and a subsequent radio rant from Russell was brought down a notch by the deployment of the Virtual Safety Car. The recovery of Guanyu Zhou’s Alfa Romeo brought another opportunity for Russell. In quite a cunning move as swept past slow moving Perez. After the race, the stewards confirmed a software glitch that prompted a double message of BSC ending. It may have been to blame for Perez’s slow reaction, but it was no less opportunistic and cutthroat from Russell.

Up ahead Lewis Hamilton delivered a solid drive into second place some 10 seconds off leader Verstappen. While Mercedes did benefit from an absent Ferrari the double podium finish is a testament to their reliability.

Behind Sainz in P5 was Fernando Alonso while Lando Norris was seventh for McLaren. Homeboy Esteban Ocon was P8 ahead of Daniel Ricciardo in P9. In P10 Lance Stroll salvaged the final point on offer for Aston Martin.

Verstappen’s win, the 27th of his career, and Leclerc’s retirement gives the Dutchman a ominous 63 point lead in the drivers’ championship points table. Ten races remain in the 2022 season and whole lot of points on the table. But if Ferrari do not clean up their act Max Verstappen May well be shining the plaque on his second driver’s title trophy.

July 26, 2022
F1 2022: French Gp Preview – Vive la France?

Formula 1 heads to the circuit with acres of tarmac run-off but, sadly, not much as entertainment. The Paul Ricard circuit in France has, to put it mildly, not delivered the most memorable or exciting race since its re-introduction to the F1 calendar.

The circuit is more of a purpose-built test track than it is a racing circuit. Nevertheless, it has a spot as a 2022 race and brings with it another opportunity to score points. In terms of pace there is little to choose between Red Bull and Ferrari. However, what has separated the two teams is reliability. Whereas Red Bull suffered some failures in the opening part of the season the mechanical gremlins have continued to plague Ferrari. While Charles Leclerc did win in Austria he not only did so while managing a throttle issue but also with the knowledge that teammate Carlos Sainz’s race had ended a literal fireball. In fact, so prevalent has Ferrari’s reliability issues been that the win in Austria was Leclerc’s first since the Australian grand prix in early April. Ferrari has the pace to trouble Red Bull as shown throughout the season. Add to this that Italian team also seems to be kinder to its tyres, as proven in Austria, and the fact that Leclerc is more than capable to taking the fight to Verstappen and you have the makings of an epic championship fight. It remains to be seen however how much Ferrari can rectify, or at least, mitigate the reliability woes.

The Paul Ricard circuit is never going to be at the top of most people’s list when ticking off favourite racetracks. But Mercedes is not going to be too unhappy with going to Le Castellet this weekend. Like Austria and Silverstone this circuit too has a fairly smooth surface. And based on recent races the Mercedes excels on track surfaces such as this. The picture could’ve been slightly better for Mercedes in Austria if they’d had a cleaner weekend, read crashes in quali, but what was noticeable is that even in conditions that alleviate some the W13’s Hamilton was still well off the fastest pace. There’s no doubt though that they’re set for a good weekend in France, barring crashes or unreliability. The question is whether it will be good enough to challenge either Ferrari or Red Bull.

The mid-field battle in 2022 has been a sight to behold. At several points during the last race in Austria there were four cars abreast, fighting tooth and nail for positions. And that, throughout the race. There is no denying that in the last few races Mick Schumacher has come into himself and is driving beautifully. The test for him now is to maintain his form and prove his ability to consistently score points, should the car allow for it.

It hasn’t been quite the season that Pierre Gasly would’ve been expecting after the highs of the last few seasons. The Alpha Tauri is not in-tune with the new regulations, and it shows in the fact Gasly finds himself in 13^th place in the driver’s standings with a paltry 16 points to his name. There’s an opportunity for him, on home soil, to deliver something worth mentioning. Surely, if a driver can perform better anywhere it is at his home race.

It’s a home race too for Esteban Ocon. The Alpine driver deserves to be mentioned far more than he has. His teammate Fernando Alonso has been vaunted and highly praised for his driving prowess, and rightly so. But Ocon is quietly showing the two-time champion the way with nearly double his points tally of 52 to Alonso’s 29. To regularly be beating someone of Alonso’s caliber is no small thing.

The much-maligned Paul Ricard circuit has received its fair share of criticism for being nothing more than a damp squib. But let’s err or the side of optimism and pin the hopes on the new 2022 cars and the expectation that it just might deliver a French grand prix to remember.

July 19, 2022
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: Azerbaijan Gp Preview – Redemption for Ferrari?

The Baku City circuit doesn’t have an especially long history on the Formula 1 calendar but it has a colourful one. First introduced in 2016 the track, situated on the coast of the Dead Sea has, every year, delivered races filled with drama and unpredictability second to none.

The 2017 race in particular was blighted by several safety car periods and a red flag. But this was not the drama the 2017 edition of this race will be forever known for. Instead, it will be remembered for the Vettel/Hamilton clash under the safety car. Vettel accused Hamilton, over team radio, of brake testing him which prompted the then Ferrari driver to pull up alongside the Mercedes and nudge into the side of him. It didn’t stop with Vettel being penalized either. Hamilton would lose the lead due to a loose headrest which gifted the win to Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo. In 2018 will be remembered for Red Bull teammates Ricciardo and Verstappen taking each other out of the race while the 2019 Gp was fairly tame by these standards. The 2021, back after a Covid break in 2020, was the race of tyre failures as both Lance Stroll and Max Verstappen suffered dramatic tyre blowouts at top speed. It left Checo Perez to pick up the pieces and take only the second win of his career.

Another year on the F1 paddock arrives in Azerbaijan with a completely different complexion to it. Not least of a because of the brand-new cars. Perez most likely arrives in the best place and frame of mind possible. Not only is he fresh off a win on the streets of Monaco but he also has a shiny two-year Red Bull contract in his back pocket. It’s good news for Red Bull as they’ve finally found a driver capable of consistently performing at the sharp end. And Checo certainly wouldn’t be a bad bet for this weekend either. Baku has been a happy hunting ground for the Mexican who has a couple of podiums along with a win on this track.

Ferrari will be looking for some redemption too. Here in 2019 Charles Leclerc crashed in qualifying on his way to pole. He made up for it last year by snatching an unlikely pole. But Ferrari, and Leclerc himself, have make a few mistakes in the last few races. They’re giving away points for Red Bull that they can ill afford to lose. There is very little doubt that the 2022 Ferrari will be competitive this weekend. The question is rather if Ferrari can put together an entire weekend without mistakes on track or on the pitwall.

If Ferrari are assumed to be in the mix this weekend it means that Red Bull will not be far behind. The same though cannot be said for Mercedes. Although there was minor improvement in Spain the form in Monaco was fairly mediocre in comparison to the leaders. Still Lewis Hamilton seems to struggling the most with the W13 as he continues to be outperformed by new teammate George Russell. The long straits of Baku, similar in part to Jeddah, are unlikely to be kind to the Merc either. If they get their respective setups in the sweet spot, the likes of McLaren and Alpine may be a big headache for Mercedes this weekend.

June 7, 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: Miami Gp Preview – America to the fore

In the 21st century there have been many new circuits and venues added to the F1 calendar. From India to South Korea to Singapore to the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. But still the American market and F1’s popularity in the States remained limited. That is until Liberty Media took over the sport’s commercial interests and, possibly, the creation of Netflix’s Drive to Survive series. As it stands now the US is set to host three grands prix from 2023 including this weekend’s race in Miami.

The Formula 1 paddock’s trip to Miami promises to be an American-driven spectacle. The circuit, named the Miami International Autodrome, is set at 5.4 km with a total of 19 corners and is situated in the center of the Sunshine State’s sporting heart. The Hard Rock stadium, which has hosted two Baseball World Series and six NFL Superbowls, is the focal point of a track that organizers hope will encourage “great racing and overtaking opportunities”.

In addition to also being the site of the Miami Open tennis tournament, F1’s arrival has clearly energized the fans as tickets for the event are selling out at record pace. But what of the circuit and its layout? With three long straits it could mean three DRS zones and the chance to see overtaking on a street track. Alpha Tauri’s Pierre Gasly, after testing the circuit on the simulator, thinks that “it looks pretty awesome. I really liked the layout. Quite a lot of high-speed content, quite challenging, unusual type of corners, extremely long corners, very long”.

Ferrari and Red Bull arrive as expected favourites to a circuit that should reward those that have been able to limit porpoising. For Mercedes it might yet be another difficult weekend. Andrew Shovlin, Merc’s Trackside Engineering director, believes they’ll have to chip away at the problems rather than expect a sudden turnaround in form. Nevertheless, the team are expected to bring some new bits and pieces to the car this weekend which they hope will begin to move them in the right direction.

It’s an opportunity too for Haas to showcase their progress on home soil. Drafted in at the last moment Kevin Magnussen has, to date, shone in the 2022 car. It’s about time then that young Mick Schumacher up his game and score his first F1 points. Otherwise, the former F2 champion runs the risk of becoming an also-ran and could very well be under pressure to maintain his seat.

The semi street track will also be a good barometer of how much progress McLaren has made since a dreadful opening two rounds in Bahrain and Jeddah. There may well be a good chance of seeing Lando Norris well up the grid on Sunday.

At 11, no country has hosted F1 at more venues in the same country than America. It’s an ambitious project to transform downtown Miami into a truly global sporting mecca.

May 5, 2022
F1 2022: Imola Gp Preview – Ferrari-run to continue?

As the third round of the season beckons Ferrari are the team to beat. But the story of 2022 is far from written. Nevertheless, most would rather be in Charles Leclerc’s position than not.

The Ferrari driver sits atop the driver’s standings with an impressive 71 points. In Australia the Ferrari stretched its legs both in terms of pace and tyre management. It might be that the Albert Park circuit, always considered an outlier, played to the Ferrari’s strengths but it was quick, in Leclerc’s hands, in Bahrain too.

Red Bull’s reliability woes, seemingly centered around the fuel system, and the pace deficit to Ferrari in Australia, will ring some alarm bells in Milton Keynes. Verstappen currently sits xx points behind the championship leader and has said there is no use in thinking of a title fight before the issues around reliability are solved. There’s no doubt that Red Bull have a quick car, but it is an edgy one too. It looks to have a narrower operating window than the Ferrari and, as such, finding a happy balance appears a bit trickier.

Mercedes too remains on the back-foot. The porpoising (bouncing) issue is a serious one. Unlike Ferrari, who also experience severe porpoising, the Merc doesn’t settle down as the speed bleeds off and this forces all sorts of aero, and other, compromises which has an overall detrimental impact on lap time. But if the team can find a solution to the issue the Merc clearly has some pace in it. It’s just a matter of how soon the issues can be resolved.

Believe it or not all of this is good news. It means that F1 2022 is not going to be predictable by any means. The new cars are temperamental and not easy to predict from one circuit to the next. The days of teams having terabytes of data on performance and setups are gone. They’ve been replaced by an unpredictability that has infused the season with a genuine curiosity. And if Red Bull and Merc can, consistently, join in the battle it will amplify the spectacle to even greater heights. There is even the possibility of teams such as Alpine and McLaren hitting the sweet spot on any given Sunday and sticking their noses in.

Imola was parachuted into the calendar as a stopgap during the worst of the global covid pandemic. It proved so popular amongst fans and drivers though that it has since maintained its place on the roster. The circuit, located in San Marino, is one steeped with both tragedy and the memory of incredible racing. It is here of course that Ayrton Senna fatally crashed in 1994. But it is here too that a young Fernando Alonso withstood a barrage of pressure from 7-time world champion Michael Schumacher in the closing stages of the 2005 grand prix. Amazingly the same Fernando Alonso lines up on the grid this weekend while Mick represents the Schumacher name for Haas.

This weekend’s race will follow the sprint race format which means a one-hour practice session on Friday followed by qualifying on Friday afternoon (17:00 SA time). Saturday is reserved for the second free-practice session and the Sprint race (16:30 SA time) while the grand prix remains on Sunday with a start-time of 15:00 SA time.

April 20, 2022