Tag: honda

F1 2023: Bahrain Gp Review – Verstappen picks up where he left off

The more things change, the more they stay the same. At least this is how most of the F1 field would feel after a complete domination of the opening race for the 2023 season.

Red Bull ended pre-season testing without any great fanfare. But the defending champions were probably well aware of their own pace and what they might deliver in Bahrain. Despite appearances that Red Bull does not have the quickest qualifying car, to which there is certainly some proof, Max Verstappen and Checo Perez still locked out the front row of the grid.

It was an equally straightforward start for Verstappen who led easily at lights out. It wasn’t quite the same for Perez who fell behind Charles Leclerc at the start. The Ferrari driver had opted out of a second Q3 run in Saturday qualifying to save a set of new soft tyres for the race start. It paid off too as Leclerc took second place. The strategy advantage didn’t come too much as it was evident straight away that Leclerc couldn’t live with Verstappen’s pace. By lap 13 the Dutchman had pulled a 10 second gap and never looked back.

Behind the leading trio of Verstappen, Leclerc, and Perez was Carlos Sainz. However, the Spaniard didn’t seem to turn up this weekend and was well off the pace of the top three. Fernando Alonso had started fifth but was tagged by teammate Lance Stroll in the opening lap. Surprisingly, Alonso carried on without damage but with a bit of work to do if he was going to put the Aston Martin into a position worth shouting about.

If you know Fernando Alonso, you’d know a few things about him. He’s had a knack of moving to teams at the absolute wrong time for most of his career. And to be fair, he has also been a highly destructive character within those teams. The time at McLaren and his treatment of the Honda mechanics is the perfect example of this. But. When he is on it there are few better to watch. This weekend he drove as brilliantly as he has ever done.; and that’s saying something given that this weekend marked his F1 debut a staggering 22 years ago. Aston Martin too have produced a car that Alonso has deemed “lovely”. It is genuinely competitive at this stage of the season, and it has made Alonso a very happy boy.

An audacious move up the inside of turn 10, where only Juan-Pablo Montoya had once dared to overtake, saw him snatch fourth place from Lewis Hamilton. As it were, an engine issue brought an end to Leclerc’s race and Alonso was now hunting down Sainz for the final step on the podium. The pair raced within centimeters of each other before Alonso scythed passed the Ferrari and into third. It’s no surprise at all that the two-time champion was voted driver of the day by fans as he not only drove a stonking race but that at the age 41 years old.

While Sainz trundled home in fourth it won’t have been considered a good result for Ferrari. The team promised much more in pre-season. Granted, there is still the matter of 22 races to go this season, so there is some time yet. Hamilton was fifth for Mercedes but the once near-invincible team is clearly struggling, again, in 2023. So much so that Toto Wolff has seemingly already written off the season.

In sixth place was Alonso’s Aston Martin teammate Lance Stroll. The Canadian driver deserves some big props for coming back from two fractured wrists and a broken toe just twelve days ago. It’s a mighty effort to finish as high as he did, and that without any testing in the car either. George Russell was seventh in the other Mercedes while Valtteri Bottas continues to shine as an Alfa driver in eighth. Pierre Gasly salvaged ninth for Alpine while Alex Albon took the final point in tenth, for Williams.

Both McLaren cars of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris failed to reach the chequered flag and Esteban Ocon, who racked up several time penalties, also racked up a DNF. Logan Sargeant, the American rookie, finished a solid twelfth for Williams.

It’s on to Jeddah in two weeks with everyone already scratching their head about how they’re possibly going to beat Red Bull. It won’t be an easy prospect especially if you consider that the first non-Red Bull car finished roughly 35 seconds behind Verstappen and the first Mercedes was nearly a minute behind. There’s a long way to go yet in 2023 and so many incredible stories to tell. The question remains: Who is ready and able to take the fight to Max Verstappen and Red Bull?

March 5, 2023
F1 2022: Singapore Gp Review – Top Notch Checo Wins

For the first time since 2019 Formula 1 has returned to the city streets of Singapore.

As the most physically and mentally challenging track on the calendar the Marina Bay circuit also ensures itself as the longest race of the season just about every year. In 2022 the race again ran to its two-hour time limit thanks to three full safety car appearances and two deployments of the Virtual Safety Car (VSC).

Saturday qualifying delivered a scintillating battle which saw the top three of Charles Leclerc, Checo Perez, and Lewis Hamilton separated by a scant 0.054 of a second. Max Verstappen too would’ve been in that mix but for a rare miscalculation from his Red Bull team. As it were the Dutchman had to abort his final flying lap in quali to ensure that enough of a fuel sample was available for FIA scrutineering. If not, he would’ve been excluded from qualifying and sent to the very back of the grid.

While Leclerc has proven himself as a masterful qualifier the Ferrari driver just isn’t able to consistently translate pole into wins. after an hourlong delay, thanks to a torrential downpour, the race got underway. Perez took full toll of this and snatched the lead of the race at lights out. For much of the opening stint Leclerc seemed able to match Perez’s pace and the pair quickly dropped Carlos Sainz and Hamilton in third and fourth.

It wasn’t as clean a start for Verstappen who dropped outside the top ten with a poor getaway. Nevertheless, the reigning champion found his groove and began to climb back up through the field. That was at least until the switch to dry tyres. He misjudged an overtake on Lando Norris, locked his wheels, and went straight on at turn 7. It dropped him down the field and required a pitstop to replace badly flat-spotted tyres.

Although the rain had abated for some time the Marina Bay circuit was incredibly slow to for a dry line. Still, it prompted George Russell onto the dry tyres. The Merc driver, way down the field after starting from the pitlane had little to lose. It took some time for Russell to start turning quicker laps than those on intermediate tyres but it provided valuable feedback as to exactly when the switchover should happen.

While Perez and Sainz turned an unmatchable pace at the front Hamilton was bringing himself into contention for the third step on the podium. But the 7-time champion went straight into the barriers of turn 7 and took himself out of podium contention. The damage wasn’t too bad though but he had to pit for a new front-wing.

By lap 39 it was clear that the race would run to time instead of its allotted 61 lap distance. The lap counter changed to a timer with roughly 35 minutes to go on the clock. By this stage only fourteen cars remained in the race. Up ahead Leclerc was doing his utmost to take the lead off Perez but the Mexican kept his cool and the coveted P1 position.

Towards end of the race a notice flashed up that Perez would be investigated after the race for a safety car infringement. As it turns out the Red Bull driver was pinged for not staying within ten car lengths of the safety car. Although he had pulled a more than 5 second gap to Leclerc it leaves a bitter taste in the mouth to think that the official result was delayed until well after the completion of the race. It’s clear that the new race director hasn’t quite yet found his feet.

No less than five safety car periods, two of them virtual, interrupted the action of the Singapore Grand Prix. This and treacherously slippery conditions on the hardest tracks on the calendar was beautifully handled by the race winner. Checo Perez delivered a stunning drive than easily ranks as the best of this career, to date.

Leclerc had to settle for second eventually as Sainz completed the podium for Ferrari. McLaren too made the most of the safety cars and finished fourth and fifth with Norris and Daniel Ricciardo. Lance Stroll scored some welcome points in sixth ahead of Verstappen in seventh. Seb Vettel made it a double points scoring day for Aston Martin in eighth ahead of Hamilton in ninth. Alpha Tauri’s Pierre Gasly took the point in tenth.

It’s on to Japan this weekend where race win for Verstappen will assure him as the 2022 driver’s champion.

October 3, 2022
F1 2022: Singapore Gp Preview – Asian Challenge Awaits

This weekend marks the first opportunity for Max Verstappen to win the 2022 drivers world championship.

While it is a mathematical possibility, the permutations though are a bit of a long shot. For Verstappen to claim his second title he would have to win the race, which is by no means an impossibility. But with a Verstappen win Charles Leclerc would have to be ninth or lower and Checo Perez fourth or lower (without fastest lap) for the title to be won. Singapore can often be an unpredictable place and coupled with Ferrari’s unreliability it isn’t an impossible permutation. Nevertheless, with all being equal and the Ferrari engine staying in one piece Verstappen’s title glory may not come in Singapore this weekend.

The South-East Asia venue, first introduced in 2008, has had its fair share of spectacles over the years. Who could forget the infamous crashgate scandal in which Renault driver Nelson Piquet Jr. was ordered to crash to benefit then-teammate Fernando Alonso. It ended with a lifetime ban for team principal at the time, Flavio Briatore. But Alonso kept the win and celebrated it as such.

As the first ever night race on the F1 calendar the Marina Bay circuit is an amalgamation of medium to slow speed corners, interrupted by a lengthy start/finish strait. The proximity of the barriers in combination with one of the longest laps on the calendar and the stifling humidity and heat makes the Singapore Grand Prix one of the biggest mental and physical challenges of the year.

Seb Vettel has been the most successful driver around these parts with five wins in total. The last of those victories, and his last win to date, came in 2019 as a Ferrari driver. And unless something truly dramatic happens it’s unlikely that Vettel’s Aston Martin has the performance capability to put him anywhere near the front. Then again, the Singapore Grand Prix has seen a total of twenty-one safety car deployments since 2019.

The prevalence of the safety car means that quick thinking in terms of strategy could yield results. Mercedes, somewhat renowned for its efficient strategies, should be primed then to take advantage of any such opportunities. While it refrains to be seen how the Merc performs on the Singapore streets, the team seems confident that it will be able to compete. The performance on other street tracks this year, like Miami, Baku, and Monaco, were quite dreadful but as the season has progressed so too the Merc engineers have begun to understand how to get the most out of the car. But it remains a big ‘if’ for Hamilton and/or Russell to push for the top step of the podium.

September 22, 2022
F1 2022: Italian Gp Review – Five in a row for Verstappen

No penalties, no safety cars, no traffic. There is seemingly nothing that can stop Max Verstappen’s determined march towards a second world title. The win at Monza this week makes it five in a row for the Dutchman who is driving and performing to an unmatched level of excellence.

The vociferous Tifosi was buoyed by a stunning pole position from Charles Leclerc on Saturday. And with Verstappen relegated to seventh, thanks to penalties, they would’ve believed it possible that a Ferrari driver may just stand on the top step of the famous podium come Sunday. But such was the pace of Verstappen that it all be negated his five-place grid drop within a handful of laps.

Leclerc started cleanly from pole with George Russell, promoted due to several penalties applied to others, challenged briefly. Ultimately, the Mercedes driver simply didn’t have the pace to live with either Verstappen or Leclerc.

For the first time in quite a while Ferrari’s woes cannot be blamed on a bizarre strategy call. As Verstappen slotted into P2 by lap 5 it was clear that the Red Bull pace wouldn’t be beaten in a straight-out fight. As it were, Vettel’s retirement from the race, with a suspected ERS issues, on lap 12 prompted the deployment of the Virtual Safety Car (VSC). It gave Leclerc and Ferrari the opportunity to opt for alternative strategy and they did. The Monegasque swopped his soft tyres for mediums while Verstappen stayed out. Being on the alternate tyre gave Leclerc at least some chance to upset the Red Bull apple cart, even if it was a long shot.

Verstappen would swop his softs for mediums on lap 26 and hand the lead of the race back to Leclerc. Again, Ferrari made a clever call to pit Leclerc for second time, this time giving him fresher, and hopefully quicker, soft tyres. With 20 laps to go Verstappen stayed out on his older mediums. But despite Leclerc’s tyre advantage he simply was not able to close the gap to Verstappen. A late race retirement from Daniel Ricciardo prompted the deployment of the full safety car on lap 48. The seemingly innocuous retirement of the McLaren became slightly more complex as the car remained stuck in gear and therefore unmovable by marshals. As it were, clearing the McLaren took longer than expected and the race eventually finished behind the safety car.

While ending a race behind the safety car is not the optimal conclusion there was little else race control could do. There are some who say that a red flag should have been brought out, however this option is reserved only for serious incidents and as the very last resort.

Behind the top three of Verstappen, Leclerc, and Russell the second Ferrari of Carlos Sainz recovered, yes from penalties, to a solid fourth place. Lewis Hamilton and Checo Perez, also felled by grid penalties, were fifth and sixth ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris in seventh and Alpha Tauri’s Pierre Gasly in eighth. But the drive of the day was delivered by ninth place finished Nyck De Vries. The Dutch Formula E champion was drafted in on Saturday morning after regular Williams driver was told to be suffering from appendicitis. With very little time behind the wheel De Vries delivered a stunning drive to finish with points on debut. He surely hasn’t done his chances of being in that Williams for 2023, any harm either. Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu was tenth at the chequered flag.

After a sprint of three consecutive races Formula 1 takes a collective breath before heading to Singapore in two weeks’ time. Remarkably, such has his dominance been in 2022 that Verstappen will arrive in South-East Asia with a chance of wrapping up the driver’s world title.

All images courtesy of Pirelli Motorsport

September 12, 2022
F1 2022: Dutch Gp Review – 4 in a row for Verstappen

It’s four in a row for Max Verstappen who once again stood on the top step of the podium at the Dutch Grand Prix. The Red Bull driver had to work a bit harder for it, but his tenth win of the season is in the bag. Although he started cleanly from pole Verstappen had to overcome not only an out-of-character pacey Mercedes duo but also a virtual safety car (VSC) and a full safety car to take the chequered flag first.

But first the race itself deserves some unpacking. And where better to start than with Ferrari’s failing championship bid. On Saturday it seemed that both Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz had stepped up to the plate. After all, both drivers were less than a tenth of a second off pole position. The stage seemed to be primed for a battle royal. Alas, the Ferrari pace seemed to be restricted to qualifying as Leclerc couldn’t keep tabs on Verstappen from second on the track. For his troubles Sainz had a coming together with Lewis Hamilton that damaged his floor and cost him some downforce and balance and, ultimately, pace. But this wasn’t even close to the worst part of Sainz’s afternoon. First, the Spaniard arrived in the pitlane to a team of mechanics who were still carrying tyres out of the garage. Sainz lost an inordinate amount of time waiting to have his tyres fitted. Next there was a dicey moment when overtaking Esteban Ocon with a stricken Valtteri Bottas parked up near the end of the start/finish strait. This though didn’t get Sainz a penalty but what did was an unsafe release in the pitlane later. The five-second penalty simply added insult to injury on what was already a genuinely poor afternoon. Again, through yet more operational errors Ferrari are masterminding their own demise.

It was going much better at Mercedes. In fact, for a good portion of the race Hamilton had a real shot at winning it. But a bizarre series of events for Yuki Tsunoda, which included the driver stopping the car and then being told to continue by his team. The young Japanese driver then entered the pitlane to have his seatbelts refastened before being released. Moments later he was told to stop the car which prompted the appearance of the VSC.

Leading up to this Verstappen had stopped for medium tyres while Hamilton had opted for hard tyres to carry him to the end of the race. As it stood, Verstappen would have to stop and need to overtake both Mercs, on track, to win the race. The VSC however gave Verstappen a cheap stop and he emerged still in the lead. But Hamilton’s pace was still impressive, and he was still well on course. That is until the full safety car was deployed to scoop up Bottas’s Alfa.

At this point both Verstappen and Russell stopped for soft tyres while Hamilton stayed on the medium. As it were, Russell made the call to switch tyres himself while Hamilton made no such choice. It was clear very quickly that Hamilton would be a sitting duck. And it was confirmed mere seconds after the race restarted as Verstappen swept back into the lead of the race. Russell and Leclerc too passed an irate Hamilton a few laps later. While Russell had taken his own initiative to call for the soft tyre Hamilton blamed the team, using the some colourful language, for not giving him the correct tyre compound.

As it were Verstappen, Russell, and Leclerc occupied the top three positions while Hamilton trundled home in fourth. Checo Perez was fifth in the other Red Bull ahead of Fernando Alonso in sixth and Lando Norris in seventh. Carlos Sainz dropped down to eighth, due to his penalty while Ocon, in ninth, made it a double points scoring day for Alpine. Lance Stroll was tenth for Aston Martin.

There’s hardly any time to recover as the F1 paddock heads to Monza this weekend for the sixteenth round of the season. Verstappen arrives at Ferrari’s home track with a gigantic, and perhaps unassailable, lead of 109 points over Leclerc. With the championship titles seemingly out of their reach can Ferrari give their beloved Tifosi something to cheer about at the cathedral of speed?

All images courtesy of Pirelli Motorsport

September 5, 2022
F1 2022: Belgium Gp Review – Red Bull Hunt in Pairs

The 2022 Belgian Grand Prix was by no means the most memorable race. Nevertheless, the first race after the summer break and yet another win for Max Verstappen has put him in prime position to retain his championship title.

The most chaotic segment of the race turned out to be the opening lap. First, Fernando Alonso, starting in a lofty P3 thanks to a raft of penalties for others, clashed with Lewis Hamilton. The move was a rather dicey one as Hamilton closed the door on Alonso into turn 5, leaving the Alpine driver nowhere to go. Hamilton, who retired on the same lap, admitted that he was completely to blame for the move and that he didn’t see Alonso in his blind spot.

Elsewhere, Nicholas Latifi’s woeful run in F1 continued with yet another incident. This time the Canadian driver ran wide and tagged the back of Valtteri Bottas, which sent the Finn into a gravel trap. With the Alfa Romeo beached and Hamilton’s stricken Merc on the side of the track the safety-car was deployed to clean up the chaos of lap 1.

The race resumed a few laps later with Sainz, who had inherited pole, maintaining the lead over Checo Perez. By lap eight of the race Verstappen swept into P3 and was now well in position to win the race. Although the Red Bull driver had started well down the grid he was still the bookies favourite to take the win, such was the pace of the Red Bull in Belgium. With fastest lap to boot, Verstappen never looked troubled in what was an utterly dominant weekend. Red Bull also increased their lead in the constructor’s standings with Checo Perez finishing a comfortable second. Carlos Sainz was third on the day in a Ferrari that punished its tyres from the opening laps of the race. George Russell salvaged a solid fourth place finish for Mercedes who have yet again been sent back to the drawing board in a quest to understand the W13.

Leclerc had been running in fifth before Ferrari decided on a late race pitstop and a bid on the point for fastest lap. Not only was Leclerc, on soft tyres, not fast enough to snap up the point, but he also incurred a five-second penalty for speeding in the pitlane. As such, Alonso was promoted to fifth ahead of Leclerc in sixth. Esteban Ocon made it double points scoring afternoon for Alpine in seventh while Seb Vettel somehow dragged his wretched Aston Martin to an eighth-place finish. Pierre Gasly recovered from a pitlane start to ninth while Alex Albon drove an impressive race to take the final point on offer in tenth.

Where exactly Ferrari’s pace has disappeared to no one seems to know. It could well be that the team simply followed the wrong path on setup and paid the price in terms of high tyre degradation. Whatever the cause, there is a monumental task ahead of them if they are to turn things around, which seems more and more unlikely.

Verstappen’s drive looked quite easy, but it should not be underestimated for its utter brilliance. To simply dismiss starting fourteenth as a mere formality, to run eighth by the end of the first lap, is a stunning performance that should be lauded and then some. Leclerc made steady progress too but a visor tear-off getting stuck in his brake duct forced into an early pitstop. But there simply was no peer on the Spa-Francorchamp racetrack for Max Verstappen. His pace, at times otherworldly, was not only enough to get him through the field but also to ultimately win the race by nearly twenty seconds. The fact is that in 2022 Verstappen has stepped up to a level not even he would’ve thought possible. That he is seemingly getting even better, even quicker is an ominous to ponder.

Part two of the Verstappen home-race double comes up this weekend as F1 heads to Zaandvoort for the fifteenth round of the season. The Dutch circuit is undoubtedly going to be packed to the rafters with Verstappen’s fanatical orange army. Their expectation will be for a tenth win of the season for Verstappen. Baring unreliability or a clash of some sort there really is nothing to suggest that the Red Bull driver won’t be standing on the top step of the podium again this weekend.

All images courtesy of Pirelli Motorsport

August 29, 2022
F1 2022: Hungarian Gp Review – Verstappen Wins Again

Despite starting tenth on the grid Max Verstappen executed a brilliant Red Bull strategy to pick up, easily, the most impressive win of his 2022 season.

The script for Saturday read like a horror story for Red Bull who not only saw Checo Perez in eleventh but also had Verstappen confined to tenth with an engine issue. On the other hand, Saturday qualifying couldn’t have gone better for George Russell who delivered a stunning lap to snatch a maiden pole position. To say that Russell’s pole came as a surprise would be understatement.

He shared the front row of the grid with Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz with Charles Leclerc in third. The feeling was though that Russell’s joy would be contained to pole, and that Ferrari simply had too much pace for the Mercedes. But regardless of pace there is still the matter of acing every call and decision that needs to make during a grand prix. An area that Ferrari has struggled in for several years.

For the second time in seven days Ferrari has done its level best to make the worst of a good situation. Yet another blunder on tyre strategy saw the team pit to cover those immediately behind despite being on the more durable medium tyre. Still, Leclerc especially showed great pace and overtook Russell for the lead of the race. Meanwhile, Verstappen was delivering laptimes that would soon bring him into contention. The second round of pitstops again came early for Ferrari and this time they put race leader Leclerc on the hard compound tyre. It should be noted that earlier in the race both Alpine drivers and the Haas of Kevin Magnussen struggled to switch on the hard tyre – a clear indication for all that it simply wasn’t suited to the track and ambient conditions. There will be those that say that Ferrari had no medium tyre to put on Leclerc’s car, but al alternative option was still available to them. They could’ve run longer on both medium stints and fit the soft tyre for a short final stint. But again, the Ferrari strategy team simply made the wrong decision, which cost them not only a potential victory but a spot on the podium as well.

Ferrari’s strategy blunder left Leclerc defenseless against a rampant Verstappen who took the lead of the race on lap 41. However, the Dutchman, owing to a clutch issue, spun in the penultimate corner of the lap, handing the lead back to Leclerc. It was short-lived though as Leclerc struggled to heat up the hard tyre Verstappen was back past the Ferrari driver in a handful of laps. With Verstappen well in control of the race Sainz and Hamilton made a final stop for soft compound tyres. Russell took second place off an exposed Leclerc on lap 54 prompting the Monegasque driver into a late pitstop for soft compound tyres. Meanwhile, Hamilton, also on soft tyres, made impressive progress to pass Sainz on lap 63. His pace wasn’t quite enough to catch Verstappen but there was the treat of Hamilton going wheel-to-wheel with teammate Russell for P2. Owing to Ferrari’s strategic errors both Mercs found themselves on the podium for the second race running.

Behind the top three of Verstappen, Hamilton, and Russell was Carlos Sainz in fourth ahead of Checo Perez in fifth. Charles Leclerc eventually trundled home in sixth while Lando Norris was seventh for McLaren. In eighth was Fernando Alonso while Alpine teammate Esteban Ocon was ninth. Seb Vettel, who announced his retirement at the end of the year, was tenth for Aston Martin.

The ability of the cars to follow more closely for longer periods on a circuit such as the Hungaroring is a great advert for the 2022 spec cars. On a circuit that is so notorious for its lack of overtaking that it’s knows as ‘Monaco without the barriers’ it shows that progress has been made. What then of Max Verstappen? The performance by him and Red Bull in Hungary was simply sublime and indicative of a team and driver at the peak of their considerable powers. With an 80-point lead and only nine races remaining in 2022 the second title beckons for a driver who, stunningly, seems to be getting even better.

All images courtesy of Pirelli Motorsport

August 1, 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: 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: 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