Tag: pirelli

F1 2022: Miami Gp Preview – America to the fore

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

April 20, 2022
F1 2022: Australian Gp Review – Leclerc Dominates Down Under

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

All images courtesy of Pirelli Motorsport

April 11, 2022
F1 2022: Australian Gp Preview – Down Under Once More

Only two of the twenty-three scheduled races of 2022 have been run so far. But what we have learnt from Bahrain and Saudi Arabia is likely to characterize the first portion of the season. Ferrari has clearly delivered a car capable of producing peak pace for qualifying and one that is more than capable of delivering long-run pace that is not only competitive but puts them in a position to win races. Red Bull too seems to have produced a car that is capable of winning but is perhaps not yet able to deliver the one-lap quali pace as easily as Ferrari.

When there is a major rule change there is always the potential for the pecking order to be re-arranged. But few would have expected Mercedes to stumble early on. After all, the German mark has won a staggering eight constructor’s titles in a row. But fundamental change can catch out even the very best. Bahrain and Saudi exposed some serious deficiencies in the W13 Mercedes. Not only is it still struggling to get a handle on the porpoising (bouncing) at high speed, but aerodynamically the car also seems to be on the draggier end of the scale. Speaking of scales, the Merc is also one of the heaviest cars on the grid, which is not helped by the engine. From the first two rounds of the season, and comparison of speed-trap figures it’s clear that the Merc engine is lacking in comparison to the Ferrari and Red Bull-badged Honda. And heck if numbers isn’t your thing have a gander at the quali results and notice that Merc-engined cars are dominating the bottom-half of the grid.

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff remains as bullish as ever and promises that the team will not rest until it finds its way back to the front of the pack. The question remains how long this recovery will take, and will it be in time for the team to be in the mix for the titles? This weekend there may be a bit of light at the end of the tunnel for Mercedes. Formula 1 returns to race in Australia for the first time since 2019. The Albert Park circuit is an outlier on the calendar, a unique semi-street track that combines medium to higher-speed turns and rewards good braking performance.

It is a circuit that has the potential to mask some deficiencies in a car. Missing some k’s on the top-end? This is not much of a problem here as the circuit has a relatively short start/finish strait. Unfortunately, the turn 9 and 10 chicane has been removed which has transformed this sector of the track into a 1.3 km long blast at full throttle. The good news is that several of the corners (read turns 1,3, and 6) have been made broader to encourage more overtaking. All in all, the changes to the track is expected to drop the lap time by an estimated five seconds.

It isn’t exactly a bold suggestion to postulate that Ferrari and Red Bull are likely to duke it out for pole and the win. But already the narrative of Verstappen versus Leclerc is being woven. What then of Carlos Sainz? If Ferrari maintains their competitiveness throughout the season this is the Spaniard’s most important season. Sainz was a match for Leclerc in 2021 but it wasn’t under the guise of championship battle and the colossally unremitting pressure which accompanies it. This will reveal if Sainz is champion-material or not.

For Hamilton and George Russell things should go better than it did in Saudi. But then it could hardly be worse than a Q1 knock-out.

April 5, 2022
F1 2022: Saudi Arabia Gp Review – Verstappen v Leclerc from lights-out to chequered flag

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

All images courtesy of Pirelli Motorsport

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

All images courtesy of Pirelli Motorsport

March 21, 2022
F1 2022: Red Bull? Ferrari? Mercedes?

The wait for the start of F1 2022 is over. This weekend the season-opening race in Bahrain brings with it the start to a whole new era in the storied saga of Formula 1.

The new regulations have produced not only a completely different visual aspect to F1 but has showcased some of the brilliant engineering and design prowess up and down the paddock. From McLaren’s wavy floor to Ferrari’s scooped side pods to Mercedes seemingly complete lack of side pods the innovation has been cranked to the max.

The three days of public testing around the Sakhir International circuit has revealed at least some of what the picture could look like at the start of the season. The mid-field battle promises to be exceptionally tight with the likes of McLaren, Aston Martin, Alpine, and Alpha Tauri expected to occupy this space.

Williams looks in fairly good shape, relatively speaking, with Haas and Alfa Romeo expected to bring up the rear. For Haas it certainly hasn’t been a straightforward pre-season. First, their equipment and freight were delayed from arriving to Bahrain in time due to a broken-down plane. Then their title sponsor and one driver were removed from the team, which left them with the task of quickly finding a replacement. Although Pietro Fittipaldi, as reserve driver, seemed to be the most obvious choice Haas opted for experience instead and drafted Kevin Magnussen back into the team. The Danish driver brings with him a decent pedigree of being able to get the most out of a car and will be a good barometer for teammate Mick Schumacher.

What then of the top three. There are some who agree that Mercedes starts the season not as outright favourites. In fact, some have penned them down as in third place behind Red Bull and Ferrari. Lewis Hamilton himself has declared Mercedes as not in a position to win races. But we’ve read this chapter before, haven’t we? Mercedes downplays their chances and sandbag on track only to show up at race one and blitz the field. But there may be some truth to Sir Hamilton’s words. Firstly, the porpoising which Red Bull and Ferrari are appearing to manage is still a major problem at Merc. So much of an issue is the porpoising that Merc have taken to sawing off some underfloor strakes in a bid to change the air flow distribution not only on the forward section of the car but also into the underfloor and the rear diffuser. The front-wing angle has also been significantly altered to combat the understeer that has been plaguing the W13 throughout testing.

But Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz are not buying the line that Mercedes are struggling. Both point out that the Silver Arrows have made a habit of underplaying their position before the season starts. And despite an apparent consensus amongst the pundits in the paddock that Hamilton and co might not be the quickest the fact remains that only time will tell, literally.

Ferrari starts the season in the best shape they’ve been in for a few years. Without any reliability issues the car has run smoothly, and importantly, it’s been quick in both Charles Leclerc and Sainz’s hands. Yet team principal Mattia Binotto is remaining cautious by insisting that the Italian team remain “outsiders” behind Red Bull and McLaren.

On the final day of testing Red Bull bolted a serious upgrade package to its car and it went quite a bit faster, 7 tenths faster than anything Ferrari could manage. But headline times in testing are just that. It’s only in Q3 on Saturday where everyone’s hand will finally be shown. And as it stands right now it looks as if Red Bull and Max Verstappen are holding all the cards.

All images courtesy of Pirelli Motorsport

March 14, 2022
F1 2021: Saudi Arabian Gp Review – Red-flags, Controversy, Penalties, and Chaos

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

December 6, 2021
F1 2021: Mexican Gp Review – Verstappen at a canter

In the greater scope of 2021, the Mexican Grand Prix will not be remembered for producing the most exhilarating on-track racing.

At the head of the field the lack of edge-of-your-seat entertainment was due to Max Verstappen’s utter dominance of proceedings. At least in part. Mercedes would’ve been buoyed with a front row lockout in Saturday qualifying by Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton. But the elation was short lived as the start of the race saw Verstappen take full advantage of the slipstream. Add to that a lot more bravery on the brakes than the Merc pair and you had Verstappen sailing around the outside of both of them in turn one.

The double overtake in turn one would be the hardest that Verstappen would work all afternoon as he disappeared into the distance. If losing the lead at lights out wasn’t bad enough for Bottas he was also tapped into a spin, at the first corner, by McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo. While most of the blame for the clash would ordinarily be attributed to Ricciardo Bottas braked so early into turn one that it likely caught Ricciardo off guard. Speculation abounds as to why Bottas braked so inexplicably early, with the chief theory being to allow Hamilton through. Whatever the reason just as in Hungary Bottas’s lack of courage at crucial moments has again made him the master of his own downfall.

AUTODROMO HERMANOS RODRIGUEZ, MEXICO – NOVEMBER 07: Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing, 3rd position, and Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, 1st position, celebrate with Champagne during the Mexican GP at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez on Sunday November 07, 2021 in Mexico City, Mexico. (Photo by Glenn Dunbar / LAT Images)

Though qualifying presented Mercedes as rapid it was not the case in race trim. Hamilton and Merc were planless as Verstappen disappeared into the distance. It is a staggering observation that Hamilton, once not in the lead of a race, transforms into a sullen driver seemingly not able to unleash the experience and talent of a driver many cite as the ‘greatest of all time’. There’s no question that Hamilton would’ve pushed his car in the race. But where is the impossible result seemingly conjured from nothing? The greatest champions have always been defined by winning races they has no business winning. But this does not appear to be in the make-up of Lewis Hamilton. While he is an incredible front-runner it just doesn’t seem like it will be enough in 2021. Mind you, there is still a long way to go with a heck of a lot of points on the table. But as it stands there’s not much coming from Hamilton that suggests he has any answer for Verstappen. And that is one of the most surprising narratives of the season.

There is nothing like home support and there is nothing like Checo Perez racing in front of a fervent Mexican crowd. The spectators created a colourful cacophony of support for Perez who became the first ever Mexican driver to lead the Mexican Grand Prix and to stand on the podium. For a while it looked for all money that Perez would take second but Hamilton just held on to the position in the closing stages of the race. Nevertheless, it was a day and a scene that Perez won’t soon forget.

In fourth Pierre Gasly ran a fairly anonymous but still impressive race. The Ferrari duo of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz was fifth and sixth with an important haul of points over McLaren for third in the constructor’s championship. Seb Vettel was seventh for Aston Martin ahead of former teammate and current Alfa Romeo driver Kimi Raikkonen in eighth. Fernando Alonso was ninth ahead of Lando Norris who fought his way through from the back of the grid after serving having served penalties for a power unit change.

In a bid to nick one point off Verstappen Mercedes pitted Bottas for fresh tyres at the end of the race and ensured fastest lap. It was scant consolation for Bottas who finished a lowly fifteenth.

The day belonged to an imperious Max Verstappen who cantered to yet another victory in 2021. Nineteen points is the gap to Hamilton and some would suggest that the writing might be on the wall. But Verstappen himself would be the first to tamp down any such proclamations. This version of Verstappen is not only blindingly quick but also calmness personified. There’s little doubt that he is ready and able to be a world champion.

All images courtesy of Pirelli Motorsport

November 8, 2021
F1 2021: USA Gp Preview – Battle Renews in Texas

Only five rounds remain in the 2021 season and just who will walk away as champion is as unclear as it was at the first race of the year.

This weekend Formula 1 is in Austin, Texas for the 17th round of season. The Circuit of the Americas has proved a popular one amongst fans and drivers since its introduction in 2012. F1 returns to the US for the first time since 2019 following a Covid-induced absence from last year’s calendar. F1 also returns to North America on the heels of the news that Miami has entered into the fray as a Grand Prix host for 2022.

As the US eyes up a big piece of the F1 pie the battle raging between Red Bull and Mercedes and Verstappen and Hamilton seems to have been balanced on a knife edge since the opening of the season in mid-March. Hamilton’s exercise in damage limitation at the Turkish Grand Prix could’ve gone slightly better however he will arrive in Texas at a circuit where he excels. With six wins around this track and without any penalties, as it stands, there is every expectation that he’ll start the weekend as favourite for the top step of the podium. But this season has been like few others for Hamilton. Over the last several seasons the second half of the year is, traditionally, when Hamilton would hit a level that previously made him all but unbeatable. But this hasn’t been the case in 2021 and the relentlessness which has previously been synonymous with Hamilton simply isn’t present. Nevertheless, there is still a handful of races to go and Hamilton is expected to raise the bar once more.

What also cannot be ignored is the engine issues that Mercedes have been struggling with over the last few months. The issues, seemingly contained to the internal combustion engine, has already forced two replacements on Valtteri Bottas’s side of the garage. And one of the engines replaced ran only 931 km before giving up the ghost. It’ll be an area of particular focus for Mercedes in the run towards the end of the season. In a championship as closely contested as 2021 all fingers are crossed that unreliability does not have a say in the ultimate outcome.

Despite Hamilton’s grand record around the Circuit of the Americas the Red Bull should perform especially well in the first sector of the lap. It’s high-speed sweeping turns, akin the sector one of Suzuka and the Maggots-Becketts complex at Silverstone, will emphasize the aero proficiency of the Red Bull. With the weather set fair for the weekend it’s likely to come down to the smallest of margins yet again. Teammates, Bottas and Perez, also become ever more vital not only in terms of support for Hamilton and Verstappen in qualifying, but also to serve as a potential obstacle where strategy comes into play.

Given the high-speed nature of the track Ferrari are not expected to feature as prominently. McLaren on the other hand, now powered by Mercedes, and with an in-form Lando Norris could drive home the advantage over constructor rivals Ferrari.

Six points is all that separates Verstappen from Hamilton at the top of the driver’s standings. It’s a thin margin that continues to ebb and flow between the pair. And it simply wouldn’t be Formula 1 in 2021 if there wasn’t at least a few more twist.

October 21, 2021