Tag: lando norris

2026 United States Grand Prix preview: Antonelli’s title shot, McLaren’s mess and Red Bull’s momentum

The short version

Kimi Antonelli can clinch the championship in Austin, but only if he wins, George Russell finishes ninth or lower, and Lewis Hamilton finishes fifth or lower. At 20 years and 61 days he would be the youngest world champion in F1 history.
Max Verstappen has won the last two races and cut McLaren’s constructors’ lead to seven points. Lando Norris’s sprint crash with Oscar Piastri didn’t help McLaren.
There is no sprint this weekend, and the forecast is hot and dry.

Antonelli: the youngest champion ever, maybe

Antonelli leads Russell by 102 points, 340 to 238. A title in Austin would make him 20 years and 61 days old, taking the youngest-champion record from Sebastian Vettel, who was 23 years and 134 days when he won in 2010.

The maths is stricter than the headline suggests. Five rounds remain after Austin, which leaves 125 points on the table. A win takes Antonelli to 365. If Russell finishes ninth he reaches 240, a gap of exactly 125. A tie on points would go to race wins, and Antonelli would have nine against a maximum of eight for Russell. So ninth is the cut-off for Russell. Hamilton, on 229, must finish fifth or lower, because fourth would keep him inside the gap.

Austin result	What it means
Antonelli wins, Russell P9 or lower, Hamilton P5 or lower	Champion in Austin
Antonelli wins, but Russell or Hamilton finish higher	Title decided in Mexico at the earliest
Antonelli doesn’t win	Can’t clinch this weekend

A win would also end the title hopes of Verstappen (119 back), Leclerc and Norris. Verstappen is mathematically alive unless Antonelli outscores him by six or more.

The catch is that Russell, who is on 238 points, has to have a bad day. He did finish ninth in Singapore, but from the back of the grid after a power unit penalty. Short of a mechanical failure or one of Mercedes’ puzzling weekends, he’s more likely to be on the podium. The most probable outcome is that the party gets postponed.

Red Bull’s surge

Verstappen has taken the last two grands prix and the Singapore sprint, and was second in Baku. He was seven points short of a perfect score across that triple-header. He’s fourth in the standings on 221 points, and Red Bull’s recent form has people asking who really has the quickest race car. Mercedes lead the championship but are still working out the upgrade they brought to Malaysia.

McLaren: how to lose points to yourself

On the final lap of the Singapore sprint, Norris dived up the inside of Piastri at Turn 5 and the two collided. Piastri retired and Norris limped home eighth. McLaren banked one point from what should have been about nine. The stewards took no action, ruling that both drivers contributed.

Norris’s reaction took two days to arrive. On Saturday he insisted the move was on. On Sunday, after finishing fourth in the race, he reversed himself. He said he should never have attempted it, even if the move was on, apologised to the team and said he’d been told off in internal talks. Piastri, for his part, said he wasn’t that bothered by a sprint result. The team principal was blunter, calling the damage to the team material.

Constructors’ points are the cost. The gap to Red Bull was 18 before Singapore, then 11 after the sprint, then 7 after the race. One former technical director estimated the lost points could cost McLaren around $10 million, although how he got to that number isn’t explained, so take it as a ballpark. McLaren are bringing further upgrades to Austin.

Constructors’ standings and the midfield

Team	Points
Mercedes	578
Ferrari	444
McLaren	339
Red Bull	332
Racing Bulls	100
Alpine	68
Haas	30
Audi	23
Williams	12
Aston Martin	7
Cadillac	0

The top four is a proper fight. Ferrari are 105 clear of McLaren, but McLaren and Red Bull are separated by seven. The midfield is less tight than it sounds. Racing Bulls lead Alpine by 32, and Alpine are 38 clear of Haas. The real scrapping is further down. Haas lead Audi by seven, Williams lead Aston Martin by five, and Aston Martin lead Cadillac by seven. Cadillac are the only team still without a point, and with no sprint in Austin there are fewer points to go around.

The weather

After Malaysia and Singapore, Austin should feel like a holiday. Forecasts put highs near 30°C on Friday and Saturday and around 29°C on Sunday. Rain chances are low: about 3% on Friday and 7% on Saturday and Sunday. The only weather problem is heat, which will test tyre management.

Also in the paddock

F1 has signed a 10-year deal for a Rwanda Grand Prix, its first African race since Kyalami in 1993. Haas have also signed Rafael Camara for 2027 to partner Oliver Bearman.

What to watch

A 20-year-old could be crowned on Sunday. Verstappen is chasing a hat-trick of wins. McLaren have a mess to clean up, and the whole thing starts at 22:00 on a hot Texas evening with no rain in sight. Clear your Sunday night and stock up on coffee.

Image courtesy Pirelli Motorsport

October 20, 2026

2026 Singapore Grand Prix preview: Mercedes need answers, the FIA needs dry weather
The short version
- Round 17 is the final sprint weekend of 2026.
- George Russell, last year’s winner, starts Sunday’s race from the back after taking a fifth power unit. Kimi Antonelli leads him by 84 points and cannot clinch the title this weekend.
- The FIA says it has found the cause of Sepang’s software failure. Nothing new is planned for Singapore, and a further wet-weather update is due before Austin.
Mercedes: a penalty and a question

Mercedes were quickest in two of three practice sessions at Sepang, then lost their pace in qualifying. Deputy team principal Bradley Lord blamed a mix of the new upgrade, track temperature and surface. He said the drivers were on the throttle in slow corners, which hurt tyre temperatures. Marina Bay has plenty of slow corners.

Russell’s lap-50 retirement was a mechanical failure on the power unit side, Lord said, and the root cause is still unknown. The replacement is Russell’s fifth unit of the year, beyond the four-unit allocation, so he starts Sunday from the back of the grid.

Antonelli leads 320 points to 236. Singapore offers 33 per driver (eight for the sprint, 25 for the race), which is not enough to settle anything. The earliest he can clinch is the US Grand Prix on 25 October. Even then he would need to outscore Russell by at least 42 points across the two weekends, out of a maximum possible swing of 58. A long shot, but not a closed door.

What the FIA found at Sepang

The FIA’s review is complete. It blames a bug in the power unit software that limits electrical power around the lap. In the wet a 250kW reduction applies, and some cars running low revs in certain sectors lost more power than intended and could not recover it. That is how a formation lap became a car park. The FIA says it found the fault within minutes and sent teams a revised configuration during the red flag. It rejects the suggestion the code was never tested, saying it ran in simulation and in first practice at the Belgian and Dutch Grands Prix. Whether a bug that sailed through those sessions counts as tested is a question for the philosophers.

For Singapore no further changes are planned. If it rains, cars revert to what reports call the Malaysia configuration, though they don’t say whether that means the original or the patched version. A further wet-weather update is due before the US Grand Prix.

The forecast is less settled than the software. There is chance of rain at 30% on Friday and 40% on Saturday and Sunday. Humidity could reach 83% at the start of the race. Weather forecasts in F1 are proving less reliable than the Aston Martins at this stage. Things could change.

Ferrari: a podium, a stall and noise upstairs

Lewis Hamilton’s third place was his first podium since Silverstone, and it followed a scare. His car stopped on the straight during the formation lap and had to be restarted. Ferrari still can’t explain why, and Fred Vasseur said on Sunday he had no clear answer. Ferrari are second on 405 points, 151 behind Mercedes.

The leadership story has not moved. Ferrari said on 29 September that it had made its choices and had full confidence in Vasseur. Hamilton said on 1 October that “there are also people above” the team principal, and Vasseur called his relationship with Benedetto Vigna and John Elkann a very good one. No change has been announced as of Thursday.

Red Bull and McLaren

Max Verstappen arrives with Red Bull Ford’s first win and first pole, level with Lando Norris on 188 points. Red Bull sit 18 behind McLaren in the constructors’ table. Singapore remains a gap on his record: four podiums, three of them second places, and no win.

McLaren concede the MCL40 may not suit Marina Bay’s slow 90-degree corners, and say the latest upgrade hasn’t delivered in Baku or Sepang. They did win here in 2024 and clinched last year’s constructors’ title at this race.

The circuit and the tyres

Marina Bay is 4.927km, with 19 corners and 62 laps, and Hamilton holds the lap record: 1:33.808, set last year. Every edition up to and including 2023 had at least one Safety Car, 24 deployments in total, but 2024 and 2025 had none. Russell won last year’s race from pole without one, so the old certainty has been downgraded to a tendency.

Pirelli bring the C3, C4 and C5 (hard, medium and soft) again and expect a one-stop to be the preferred strategy. The soft may get a look from more than one team on Sunday. With a single practice hour, the sprint is where teams will learn how it behaves.

Midfield

Team Points
Racing Bulls 90
Alpine 68
Haas 27
Audi 17
Williams 12
Aston Martin 7
Cadillac 0

Racing Bulls lead Alpine by 22 after Alpine failed to score at Sepang. Fernando Alonso’s eighth place there was Aston Martin’s best result of a difficult season and cut the gap to Williams to five points. Cadillac remain the only team without a point, though the sprint pays down to eighth, which gives the back of the grid a second chance this weekend.

Sepang showed what happens when everything that can go wrong does. Marina Bay, with its humidity, one practice hour and a sprint thrown in, is a decent venue for a rematch. Bring a towel.
October 8, 2026
F1 2023: Hungarian Gp Review – Red Bull’s Record-Breaking Streak: 12 Wins and Counting!

There aren’t many superlatives that remain to be espoused in honour of the Red Bull team. So, we’ll give you the stats instead. The latest win in Hungary has taken Red Bull to a record-equaling twelfth win in a row. They share this auspicious record with the 1988 McLaren. The difference in 2023 is that there are still eleven races to be run. There’s no telling then where Red Bull’s record of consecutive wins will end.

A seventh win in a row for Max Verstappen has also taken him into some elite company. From Ascari, to Michael Schumacher (twice), to Seb Vettel and Nico Rosberg, Verstappen joins a short list of drivers to win seven grands prix consecutively. The outright record of nine wins, is held by Seb Vettel. There is every expectation that Verstappen will blow past this record in relatively short time. This weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix could well be number eight.

The Saturday qualifying result would have come as a surprise to many given the current run of form. Lewis Hamilton delivered a truly impressive lap to snatch pole position by just three thousands of a second. It was the Brit’s first pole since the Saudi Arabian Gp in 2021, some 33 races ago. The resurgent Hamilton brought with him a real sense of optimism that he could perhaps challenge for the victory. But it was nothing more than a short-lived fantasy.

A poor start from Hamilton saw him drop behind not only Verstappen but also the two McLaren’s of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. And although he showed a good turn of pace towards the end of the race it wasn’t enough to recover to the podium.

As it were, once Verstappen took the lead, he disappeared into the distance quite rapidly. In fact, the Dutchman was leading by more than half a minute by the time the chequered flag appeared. In second place Norris drove yet another impressive race to hold off Checo Perez for a second consecutive podium finish. Perez, who qualified a lowly ninth, delivered the drive of the day, according to the fans’s vote, to finish third. The Mexican driver unquestionably pitched up on Sunday and delivered a drive that reminded everyone just how good he can be.

Hamilton’s late charge saw him finish fourth ahead of Piastri in fifth. George Russell, who had to endure a qualifying faux pas, recovered from eighteenth to sixth place. It was yet another forgettable day for Ferrari as Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz trundled home in a lowly seventh and eighth; Leclerc having been demoted from sixth after incurring a five second time penalty for speeding in the pitlane. Aston Martin’s recent drop in performance was underlined too as Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll finished ninth and tenth.

The returning Daniel Ricciardo was rock solid in the AlphaTauri. He both outqualified and outraced teammate Yuki Tsunoda to finish thirteenth in what has been described as a very difficult car to drive. To deliver a performance such as that after only two days in a completely new car and environment is a perfect start to his return.

Formula 1 heads straight to Belgium this weekend for a race around the famed Spa-Francorchamps circuit. Regardless of the weather conditions, which is notoriously unpredictable in these parts, there is unlikely to be any genuine threat to Red Bull’s dominance. At this point only unreliability or a freak turn of events are likely to stop Red Bull from owning the top step of the podium once more.

All images courtesy of Pirelli Motorsport

July 24, 2023
F1 2021: Turkish Gp Preview – Turkish Delight Beckons

Circumstances may have necessitated the return of Formula 1 to Turkey. However, it’s re-introduction to the Formula 1 calendar delivered a stunning Grand Prix in 2020. So much so that the organizers of the event are trying to secure a ten-year deal for Istanbul Park as part of the Formula 1 world championship.

They will have their work cut out though as in recent weeks F1 has committed to Qatar and Miami. And there are strong rumours too that the championship could return to Kyalami in the not too distant future if the final arrangements can be agreed upon. It does bring into question the length of the calendar and the subsequent strain on team personnel who are already stretch thin. As an example, F1’s season-ending triple header will see teams, in just four weeks, travel from Brazil to Qatar to Saudi Arabia to Abu Dhabi.

There is more news about the future of F1 as Porsche and Audi are assumed to be close to joining the championship as the 2026 engine rules are finalized. The teams and the sport have agreed to drop the MGU-H which has, in the past, because of its complexity and expense dissuaded manufacturers from committing to F1.

With the future of F1 taking shape there still remains the matter of the 2021 championship. To illustrate how different this year has been Lewis Hamilton ended the 2020 Turkish Gp as the world champion. It’s a far different scenario in 2021 as Hamilton goes into this weekend’s race only two points clear of Max Verstappen. The fact that Hamilton has also scored 85 points less than at the same point last season is another example of how hard the Mercedes driver has had to work.

There’s no sign either that the task will get any easier in the final seven races of the year. In fact, all indications are that the title fight could go all the way to the season-ending race in Abu Dhabi. But then, F1 in 2021 has proven that very little is predictable and that neither Mercedes nor Red Bull will have an easy run into the flag.

Unless things take a dramatic turn, it doesn’t appear that Hamilton or Verstappen will have much support from their respective teammates either. For Sergio Perez there haven’t been nearly enough moments this season where he has performed to the standard of the Red Bull. As such, the expectation that Perez will able to take points off Mercedes, or at least influence their race strategy on Sundays, isn’t especially high.

For completely different reasons Valtteri Bottas too is unlikely to hamper the progress of Verstappen. Though the Finn hasn’t consistently shown great pace this season his loyalty to the team has also been nullified given that he’s been, effectively, fired and replaced with George Russell for 2022. It is this lack of allegiance, as evidenced in Bottas’s lack of defense against Verstappen in Russia, which means that he cannot be fully relied on to ‘take one for the team’.

The Istanbul Park circuit shouldn’t expressly favour either the Red Bull or the Mercedes but, like in 2020, the weather could have a significant impact on the running order. The likes of McLaren and even Ferrari could well have an impact should the forecasted rain make an appearance.

October 4, 2021
F1 2021: Russian GP Review – The Great Escape

If any season could jolt the Russian Grand Prix into life it would be 2021. And come to life it most certainly did. In fairness, the excitement started on Saturday as heavy rain not only saw free practice 3 cancelled but turned qualifying on its head.

A drying track at the end of qualifying on Saturday saw the young generation of drivers come to the fore in a big way. While Hamilton not only clouted the wall in the pitlane but also spun on his flying lap the likes of Lando Norris, Carlos Sainz, and George Russell aced the conditions. As it were, Norris scored the first pole position of his career while Sainz and Russell rounded out the top three.

With the longest run on the calendar to the first braking point, the slipstream was always going to have an effect for those starting at the sharp end. It was Carlos Sainz who manoeuvred it best of all as he took the lead of the race from Norris. Hamilton struggled at lights out and dropped behind Lance Stroll, Daniel Ricciardo, and Fernando Alonso, to seventh, for most of the opening stint of the race. Meanwhile, Verstappen started dead last due to penalties but made decent progress in the opening laps. Mercedes opted to fit yet another power unit to Bottas’s car in what they termed as “tactical” decision. The only tactic they were playing at was to use Bottas as a blocker against Verstappen. But Bottas has never been the most robust in defence nor is he a match, in a straight-out fight, for Verstappen. As if to emphasize this Verstappen overtook Bottas on lap 6 of the race with a minimum of fuss.

Up ahead, as Russell and Stroll dipped into the pits, Norris closed down Sainz and passed the Spanish driver into turn 2 on lap 14. Sainz diverted to the pitlane on lap 15 but Hamilton and Norris opted to stay out. At this point, Verstappen had made significant progress to run only four seconds behind Hamilton. Both championship contenders entered the pitlane on lap 27 and emerged in 9th and 12th respectively. Verstappen made short work of Russell for 11th place and now only had Ricciardo between himself and Hamilton. As Norris pitted Hamilton progressed to 5th to run 8 seconds behind the net race leader.

For all money, Hamilton’s pace suggested that he’d breeze past Norris and into the lead of the race. But Norris was driving brilliantly and kept the Merc at bay at the most crucial parts of the lap around the Sochi Autodrom. But it would all be turned on its head as the rain came down with just five laps to go. Though it did come down the rain light enough to sow some doubt in the drivers’ minds. Initially, both Norris and Hamilton elected to stay out on slicks. But with 3 laps to go Hamilton swopped his slicks for Inters but Norris decided to try and hang on with his dry tyres. In hindsight, Norris’s decision was the wrong one and resulted in a heartbreaking tumble down the field. It doesn’t take away what stellar driving the 21-year-old McLaren driver had delivered all weekend.

Hamilton meanwhile took the chequered flag first for the 100th time in his career. It’s a monumental achievement and a record that won’t be broken for a very long time. The win has also regained him the lead in the driver’s championship but, incredibly, by only two points. For when it was all going off at the front of the race Verstappen too opted onto the Inters early enough to gain himself an incredible second-place finish.

Red Bull always knew Mercedes held the advantage in Russia. A second-place finish then was likely the best they could do even on a ‘normal’ day. But a second-place finish on a day when Verstappen started dead last is an enormous result. And that with a fresh power unit in his pool to boot.

The third step on the podium was snapped up by Carlos Sainz while McLaren’s Ricciardo finished fourth. Bottas, who also benefited from an early switch to Inters, was fifth ahead of Alonso in sixth. The unlucky Norris was eventually seventh ahead of Kimi Raikkonen who on his return to F1 after testing positive for Covid-19 drove a superb race to finish eighth in what is a grotesquely off-the-pace Alfa Romeo. For the final points paying positions, Sergio Perez and George Russell were ninth and tenth.

Only seven races remain in the 2021 season and if what has gone before is anything to go by then what is to come is not only going to be the stuff that champions are made of but is also likely to culminate in one of the most memorable and exhilarating Formula 1 season ever.

September 27, 2021
F1 2021: Russian Gp Preview – Advantage Merc?

You’re unlikely to find many F1 fans that will sing the praises of the Sochi Autodrom in Russia. While the venue, formerly the host of the Winter Olympics, is a seaside holiday destination the F1 track is not one that will infuse excitement into most races. Nevertheless, the 2021 Formula 1 season makes its next stop in Russia for the 15th round of the season.

Though it might not be an inspiring venue it does have big points up for grabs for what has been one of the most closely fought and intense championships for quite some time. Both championship protagonists, Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton, arrive into the weekend on the back of yet another contentious incident. The Monza clash has been litigated to within an inch of its life both for and against both drivers. The fact remains however that Verstappen emerged from the weekend with a three-point gain to lead Hamilton by 5 points atop the driver’s championship. But Verstappen also received a penalty after being adjudged, by race stewards, as having caused the Monza collision.

As it stands wherever Verstappen qualifies in Russia, he will drop down a further three places. Due to its excessively long and flat-out run to turn 1 the Russian Grand Prix circuit is one that allows for overtaking. It is for this reason that the inevitable power unit change, and subsequent grid drop, for Verstappen may have been earmarked for this race. It is believed that at some point in the remaining races that Hamilton too will have to fit a new power unit and incur the same grid penalties. There is a chance however that Mercedes could try to eke out the lifespan of the current power unit components in Hamilton’s pool. But doing so would mean running the risk of suffering a potential mechanical failure. And in a championship as closely contested as this one losing points to the opposition could well tip it in their favour.

The good news for Merc is that the Sochi Autodrom is a track on which Valtteri Bottas excels. Add to this that the Russian Grand Prix has been somewhat of a stronghold for Merc and it looks like the deck is stacked for a good weekend. But if we know anything about Formula 1 in 2021 it is that it has been nigh on impossible to predict. If Verstappen is to start from the back of the grid Red Bull will look to Sergio Perez to, at least, delay the progress of Mercedes. But the Mexican has struggled of late and doesn’t go into the weekend with the highest of expectations. McLaren too, powered by Merc engines in 2021, could bring themselves into the equation.

Elsewhere, Kimi Raikkonen has, via Instagram, announced that he will be returning to the cockpit for this weekend’s race. The Finn has been self-isolating since testing positive for COVID-19 at the Dutch Grand Prix. It’s his Alfa Romeo teammate Antonio Giovinazzi though that’s under pressure to keep his seat for 2022. The Italian has shown some moments of real potential in the last few races but it might be too little too late. It is believed that a host of drivers are duking it out for the seat alongside Bottas. Chinese F2 driver Guanyu Zhou is believed to be the front runner for the seat.

Since its first race in 2014 there haven’t been many memorable moments at the Russian Grand Prix. But surely with the tantalizing battle that is this year’s title fight even Russia has the potential to deliver a race worthy of the 2021 F1 championship.

September 20, 2021
F1 2021: Italian Gp Review – Ricciardo & McLaren Return on Top

Just when you thought the drama of the Formula 1 season might be ebbing it delivers the 2021 Italian grand prix.

The sprint format last seen at Silverstone was utilized this weekend, which included an 18-lap sprint-qualifying race to determine the starting grid for Sunday’s race. While Valtteri Bottas walked away the victor of the sprint qualifying race a raft of penalties, incurred for fitting a new power unit, dropped him to the back of the grid. It promoted Max Verstappen to pole with Daniel Ricciardo alongside in second. In third on the grid was Lando Norris while Lewis Hamilton, due to a bad start in the sprint-quali race, lined up in fourth.

The first corner, or chicane if you will, at Monza has more often than not delivered a tense opening salvo to many a grand prix. It was no different this time around at Ricciardo scythed into the lead of the race ahead of Verstappen and his McLaren teammate Norris. Hamilton and Mercedes decided to play the long game by starting on the hard compound tyre but the Brit was stuck behind Norris for the majority of the opening stint of the race. But because Verstappen was unable to pass Ricciardo up ahead the gap to the leading duo didn’t grow as much, which left Hamilton well within striking distance.

As the laps ticked by Riccardo held his own in the lead of the race. The Aussie dove into the pitlane while Verstappen stayed out. One lap later the Dutchman stopped on his marks in the pitlane and disaster struck. From the Hungarian grand prix onwards the FIA has implemented a mandate, which requires a mechanic to press a button once a wheel has been fastened onto the car. In Verstappen’s 11-second pitstop was due to the mechanic in question not pressing this button which, in turn, meant the light that signals the driver remained red. It dropped Verstappen well behind Ricciardo and should have dropped him behind Hamilton as well. But the Mercedes driver had his own tardy stop of 4 seconds, which saw him emerge from the pitlane alongside Verstappen.

Neither driver yielded as they went into the first chicane, which resulted in a spectacular clash and the end of both their races. Verstappen’s rear tyres climbed over the cockpit of Hamilton’s car, which looked a frightening incident in slow motion. It was clear that once again the Halo had protected Hamilton for sustaining serious injuries. As in Silverstone the Hamilton and Verstappen fans will be steadfast in their blame of the other driver.

Those for Hamilton will argue that he was ahead in the corner and those for Verstappen will contend that he wasn’t left enough space. Because both could make a valid argument it does tend more towards a racing incident. However, the race stewards found that Verstappen was proportionally more at fault and thus has been given a three-place grid penalty at the next race. The only potential solace of this penalty is that it may amount to nothing, as it is likely that Red Bull will take several grid penalties for installing fourth power unit to Verstappen’s car at the Russian grand prix.

As much as the championship protagonists dominated the headlines it is Daniel Riccardo, Lando Norris, and McLaren who deserve all of the plaudits. New to the team in 2021 Ricciardo has struggled at times to find his feet but with the support of McLaren the highly rated Honey Badger delivered a race victory that will live long in the memory. The win wasn’t lucked into either as Ricciardo led the race from start to finish on pure merit while Hamilton and Verstappen played bumper-cars behind him.

Lando Norris’s second-place finish earned McLaren their first 1-2 finish since 2010. It has been a remarkable journey for the Woking based team who found themselves occupying the back rows of the grid just a few years ago. The combination of Zak Brown and Andreas Seidl and many others behind the scenes has eventuated in a turnaround every single member of McLaren should be utterly proud of.

The pitwall was draped in papaya orange at the mechanics cheered home Ricciardo who crossed the line for his eighth and probably most memorable win closely followed by Norris in second. Sergio Perez was third on the track for Red Bull but a 5-second time penalty, incurred for cutting the track and gaining an advantage, dropped him down the field. Valtteri Bottas, thanks to the safety car deployed for the Hamilton/Verstappen crash, finished fourth but moved up to third due the Perez-penalty. The Ferrari of Charles Leclerc was fourth with Perez in fifth ahead of Carlos Sainz in sixth. Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll was seventh as Fernando Alonso was eighth for Alpine. Mercedes-bound George Russell was ninth as Esteban Ocon rounded out the top ten.

There will be vociferous agreement and disagreement on the Hamilton/Verstappen incident. But one thing that is unanimously true is that the 2021 Formula 1 season is mind-bogglingly spectacular.

Images courtesy of Pirelli Motorsport

September 13, 2021
F1 2021: Hungarian Gp Review – Ocon Emerges in P1

You’re only as good as your last race. If there were any truth to this old racing adage then half of the Formula 1 field would be absolutely elated while the other half is absolutely fuming. Such was the chaos at the 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix.

The wet weather that came down just minutes before the race start seemed like it would cause the most difficultly on the opening few laps but it turned out to be Valtteri Bottas instead. As the drivers battled wheel-spin off the starting grid Bottas made the poorest starts of the first few rows. Hamilton, starting on pole, was relatively clean away with Verstappen, starting third, well on his way to slotting in behind him. But Bottas’s mind clearly wasn’t where it needed to be. The Finn, at best described as an errant torpedo, failed to brake early enough for turn 1 and scuttled nearly half the field. The Mercedes driver triggered the chaos by hitting the back of Lando Norris who in turn walloped the side of Verstappen. In a sort of two-for-one special Bottas also collected the other Red Bull of Sergio Perez on his way into the turn 1 barriers. Bottas wasn’t the only one who forewent the braking into turn 1 as Lance Stroll skittered across the inside kerb of said corner and took out himself, Charles Leclerc and punted Daniel Ricciardo into a spin.

The shambolic start couldn’t have been worse for some but several others were still in the running and picked their way through the mess of carbon fiber. With Hamilton unscathed in the lead it was Esteban Ocon in second with Aston Martin’s Seb Vettel in third. Carlos Sainz, who’d started 15th was now fourth with both Williams drivers also running solidly in the points. But the debris on track proved too much and the red flag was subsequently put out. As the cars came to a halt the Red Bull mechanics worked feverishly to repair Verstappen’s car that was, miraculously, still running. Albeit car no. 33 had suffered significant damage, including a missing right bargeboard and severe damage to the floor which resulted in a nearly un-drivable car. Not only was Verstappen at the back of the field with a drastically damaged car but Perez too was out of the race.

And still the shambles of the Hungarian Grand Prix was far from over. The red flag period was long enough to dry the track and prompt the drivers back into the pits at the end of the formation lap. All the drivers bar one. Lewis Hamilton remained on track and lined up as the only car on the grid. In comical fashion the lights went out and Hamilton pulled away. It was clear fairly quickly that Merc had made the wrong call to stay out and Hamilton was forced to pit at the end of that lap. It dropped him to last place for the time being.

As the race sorted itself out at the front Ocon led Vettel by roughly a second for the majority of the race. Try as he might Vettel was not able to overtake the Alpine for the lead of the race. Initially, Hamilton’s progress was stunted but once he undercut Verstappen with a slightly earlier switch to hard tyres he was on the move. The damage to Verstappen’s car was evident as the Dutchman spent far too much time trying to overtake the much slower Mick Schumacher in the Haas. As it were Verstappen would only manage tenth place by the chequered flag.

Meanwhile, Hamilton had made a second stop for brand-new medium tyres and was on an almighty charge with a substantial pace advantage over those ahead of him. It seemed highly likely that the Brit would recover to win the race. That was until he encountered the Alpine of one Fernando Alonso. Despite being in a slower car with much older tyres Alonso delivered a stunning defensive drive to hold off Hamilton just long enough. Eventually the Merc was past the Alpine and also made short work of Sainz’s Ferrari in third but it was too late for Hamilton to attempt an overtake on either Vettel or Ocon.

Unfortunately, Seb Vettel’s great drive was sullied by a post-race disqualification. As per regulation the FIA requires the withdrawal of 1 liter of fuel from the car, which they were unable to do. Aston Martin has lodged an appeal against the disqualification. Bottas and Stroll get off fairly lightly with a 5-place grid drop at the next race as the only penalty for eliminating half of the field.

The last two races have been nothing short of a nightmare for Red Bull who has now lost the lead in both the constructors and driver’s championship. But it doesn’t diminish what was a good day for many others on the grid. Vettel’s disqualification moves Hamilton into second while Sainz is third. The driver-of-the-day Alonso is fourth ahead of Alpha Tauri’s Gasly and Tsunoda in fifth and sixth. Nicholas Latifi is seventh with Williams teammate George Russell in eighth and Verstappen in ninth. Somehow, despite a 10-second penalty for an unsafe release by the Alfa Romeo team in the pitlane Kimi Raikkonen is able to salvage tenth and the final point on offer.

After being dumped out of F1 in 2019, for no good reason, Esteban Ocon had to somehow find his way back into the sport in an ultra-competitive midfield. He’d done so slowly but surely and Sunday’s drive showcased not only his determination but put on display all the skill and talent that he promised a few seasons ago. It was an utterly stellar drive and win for one of the nicest guys in the paddock.

All images courtesy of Pirelli Motorsport

August 2, 2021
F1 2021: British Gp Review – Hamilton Takes Controversial Win

Drama has been synonymous with Formula 1 racing for all of its history. And so has controversy. For the 2021 British Grand Prix an extra helping of controversy was in the offing.

It was Max Verstappen who started from pole after winning the first ever sprint race on Saturday afternoon. The Dutchman went wheel to wheel with title rival Lewis Hamilton as the lights went out all the way around the famed Silverstone circuit. The battle though would only last until the ultra-fast Copse corner. Hamilton, desperate for the lead of the race, placed his car on the inside while Verstappen took the racing line into the corner. As it were Hamilton’s left-front collided with the right-rear of the Red Bull, which ended in a 51G impact with the barrier for Verstappen. The race was red flagged in order for the barrier to be repaired and the debate begun as to who was to blame for the incident.

As it were, Hamilton offered an array of defenses that included that he was alongside Verstappen, that he was ahead, and that Verstappen had turned in on him. A review of footage disproves all of these rationalizations. In fact, an on-board with Verstappen shows him deliberately leaving Hamilton space on the inside. The reality is that not Verstappen fans nor Hamilton fans will be convinced that either of the driver that they support was to blame. Here are the indisputable facts: Hamilton was not alongside Verstappen and he not only had more than enough space but was wide of the apex. It is a certainty that he knew exactly where the other car was positioned at all times. The same cannot be said for Verstappen and his awareness of where Hamilton was. For this reason he was fully capable of knowing that a collision was highly likely but decided to carry on with the attempted overtake.

While Verstappen was transported to a local hospital for precautionary checks Hamilton was given a decidedly light ten second penalty, which is the second-most lenient penalty a driver, can be given. In another stroke of luck the red flag period also allowed Mercedes engineers to repair any damage on Hamilton’s car at no time loss. In fact, it was revealed post-race by Mercedes that without the opportunity to repair the damage to Hamilton’s car, under the red flag, he would have been forced to retire from the race.

As it were Charles Leclerc picked up the pieces from the Hamilton/Verstappen clash and took the lead. He drove a stellar race and led for the majority of it despite a software problem, which caused the engine to cut sporadically threatening the Monegasque’s race. But the Ferrari is far from a front-running car in 2021 and certainly hasn’t been anywhere near the pace of a Mercedes either. It was all but inevitable then that Hamilton would make short work of Leclerc given the superior pace of his car. Heck in more than half of the races this season Leclerc has finished more than 50 seconds adrift such is the pace deficit of the Ferrari in comparison to the Red Bull and Merc. A slow pitstop for Lando Norris meant another obstacle was removed for Hamilton who only had teammate Valtteri Bottas in between himself and Leclerc. Naturally, Bottas was told to let Hamilton through and the Finn, eager to please the team bosses and maintain his seat, obeyed and moved aside.

Leclerc, easily the best driver of the day, finished in second ahead of perennial wingman Bottas in third. Despite a slow pitstop Norris was fourth ahead of his McLaren teammate Daniel Ricciardo in fifth. Carlos Sainz, who suffered his own pitstop issues, was sixth while Fernando Alonso was seventh for Alpine. Lance Stroll was eighth for Aston Martin ahead of Esteban Ocon in ninth and Yuki Tsunoda in tenth.

The win brings Hamilton to within eight point of the title lead. Not only that but Mercedes also closed the gap to four points in the constructors’ standings, as Sergio Perez scored no points after starting from the pitlane. If you’d tuned in to listen to the radio messages between the Merc pit wall and Hamilton you’d have thought they’d beaten Red Bull by half a minute such was their boastful jubilation. Under a cloud of controversy that will not trouble either Hamilton or Mercedes the British Grand Prix has injected some dissent into the title fight. On to Hungary.

All images courtesy of Pirelli Motorsport

July 20, 2021
F1 2021: British Gp Preview – Hamilton-mania to Propel Merc?

Formula 1 not only returns to the famed Silverstone circuit but also to a full capacity crowd. With the exception of Monza, and maybe Zaandvoort later this year, there is hardly a more raucous us F1 crowd anywhere in the world.

The Silverstone circuit, based in Northamptonshire, is a marvel too. It’s ultra high-speed layout and iconic corner like Copse, Stowe, and the Maggotts-Becketts complex are as iconic as they are demanding. The black and white painted kerbs become little more than a blur as the cars buzz around the English countryside at one of the most magnificent venues in all of Motorsport.

All drivers will have their supporters at Silverstone not to mention the legendary teams such as McLaren and Williams. But it’s expected that none will have a bigger swell of support than Sir Lewis Hamilton. The seven-time champion arrives somewhat on the back foot and not having won a race since the Spanish Grand Prix at the beginning of May. But it isn’t necessarily an unknown position for Hamilton to be in. After all, in 2018 Seb Vettel looked to be running away with the title before fading in the second half of the season. Nevertheless, Max Verstappen and Red Bull are a completely different equation to Vettel and Ferrari. It wasn’t that long ago that Red Bull were reeling off championship titles much in the same way that Mercedes have done in the last seven years. And it doesn’t seem like they have forgotten how to put together a championship title run.

Mercedes haven’t had an answer to Red Bull for a good few months but they have a fairly big upgrade package to run on the car this weekend. It isn’t only on-track where they’re looking for some answers either. There is also the matter of who Hamilton’s teammate will be for 2022. As is usual there are a slew of rumours making the rounds with the most vociferous of them suggesting that a certain George Russell will be announced this weekend as a works Mercedes driver for 2022. If you were to ask Valtteri Bottas the Finn believes that he has more than a good chance of retaining his seat. An argument can easily be made for and against that. It would make sense for Toto Wolff to maintain the peaceful status quo with Bottas. But they also need to think about the future. And who better for Russell to learn from than Hamilton?

Rain or shine Lewis Hamilton has always been something special around the Silverstone track. He wants to win everywhere but none more so than on home soil. As impressive as Verstappen and Red Bull have been in 2021 a win at the British Gp will be a significant step towards the title. Not only will it mean an extended points gap but also it will unquestionably introduce, if not intensify, any grain of doubt in Hamilton’s mind. And there is every expectation that Red Bull will be the car to beat at Silverstone.

A full capacity crowd anywhere is a rarity these days, almost a novelty. Another novelty will be the re-jigging of the weekend’s format. Friday’s first free practice session remains unchanged but is followed by qualifying at 7pm. This quali session will determine the grid for Saturday’s 100km sprint race. Free practice 2 will take place on Saturday at 2pm while the sprint race is scheduled to start at 5:30 pm. It is important to note than there are no mandatory pitstops in the sprint race and that only the top three will earn points. Also, the finishing order of the sprint race will be taken as the starting grid for Sunday’s Grand Prix. Teams will also not be able to make any changes or adjustments to the cars as they enter parc ferme at the end of the first practice session. The new format, including the sprint race, is considered a trial run. There are some fears that the sprint race will amount to little more than a high-speed train, so says Hamilton, but it’s certainly worth it to see what might come out of it.

July 12, 2021