Tag: mclaren

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 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 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: 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