formula one thoughts

thoughts, opinions and ramblings of someone with an unhealthy formula one obsession

[formula-one-thoughts]

What’s going on at Red Bull?

2020 (ignoring the global pandemic) should theoretically be Red Bull’s most comfortable year in F1 for a while. With Ferrari dropping considerably off the pace to the back end of the mid-field, their closest rival of the last few years has effectively been eliminated. Having pushed through the pitfalls of his aggressive driving style and refined his approach to racing, Max Verstappen has barely made a mistake of the kind that hampered his first few years at the team. They have on their hands a man who is widely considered (I believe rightfully so) to be the second best driver on the grid. And the results in part speak for this – they seem to have 2nd in the constructors championship in the bag. But a number of issues are plaguing the team that are making this an increasingly difficult season for them.

Firstly, Alex Albon simply isn’t delivering. It pains me to say this, as I love Alex; he is a genuinely nice guy and a great driver, and wouldn’t have been promoted to F1 and then Red Bull if he weren’t. He has pulled off some of the most exciting overtakes I’ve seen in a while since he landed the seat, braking late enough to make Daniel Riciardo jealous. But he is being majorly let down by his qualifying performance. In Russia for example he could only manage 10th (before a penalty dropped him to 15th), 1.1secs off his teammate in 2nd. Max is beating him 11-0 in the qualifying battle, and whilst Alex did manage to line up alongside him at Mugello and convert that into his first podium, when Max has finished a Grand Prix it has always been above his teammate. Plenty of people have said this isn’t a fair battle, that the team and car is built around Max, and that anyone going up against him will never have a fair chance. Of course the team is going to invest in Max – they would be stupid not to. He has a long-term contract with them and increasingly looks like the only alternate World Champion to Lewis Hamilton whilst the Brit remains in the sport. It doesn’t mater how good the second driver is, top teams have to choose a number one driver and get behind them if they want to have any chance of winning – just look at the mess Ferrari got themselves into last year with Leclerc and Vettel. But the accusations that Red Bull are sabotaging Alex are completely laughable. His success in the car means financial gains for the team, and it would be extremely beneficial for them and Max if Alex was closer to him, allowing for split strategies to attack the Mercedes. We’ve seen plenty of instances where a driver has entered a team built around one personality and managed to succeed: obviously the circumstances are all different but Ricciardo and Vettel, and Hill and Prost come to mind for me.

I think a major factor in this that has been overlooked a little though is the quality of the car, which due to the disappearance of Ferrari from the top has been more difficult to discern this year. Just because the team are second in the constructors championship by quite a way does not mean they have the second best car by quite a way. Even in Max’s hands, the RB16 looks a handful on the track, often more so than the Mclaren or pink Mercedes/Racing Point. Although impossible to tell for sure, I think the gap between the Red Bull drivers is exacerbated by the fact that Max is outperforming the car to quite a degree, whilst Alex is sadly underperforming. The pace of a team’s fastest driver isn’t always a direct indication of the pace of the car (Ferrari are experiencing something similar with their two drivers). The position of P3 that Max so often manages to slot himself into isn’t representative of the strength of the car, but neither is P8 (Albon’s average qualifying position this season). If Alex could consistently qualify and finish around the p4, p5, p6 mark (as he did after joining Red Bull mid way through last season), and on occasion stick together with Max throughout the race, then I think he and Red Bull could be proud of the results. There’s also rookie errors and clashes with other drivers from misjudged moves that end up landing Albon with a time penalty, damaged car, or both. His incident with Daniil Kvyat at the Nurburgring for example was completely avoidable, and reminiscent of the kind of incidents Max was causing in 2017 and 2018 (his clash with Vettel in China comes to mind). But whilst Max was making reckless manoeuvres, he was also getting results for the team, and Albon isn’t.

I don’t think there’s any chance at this point in the season of Red Bull swapping him out a la Gasly or Kvyat, but if things don’t improve his seat for next year is very much at risk. If they do decide to replace him though, who do they choose? For so long Red Bull were at the front of the pack when it came to their driver development programme, reflected in the fact that nearly half (7/16) of the podium sitters on the current grid are from the Red Bull Junior Team. But their talent pool seems to have dried up recently. The shuffling around of drivers between Alpha Tauri and themselves has left them in quite an awkward position, where the sister team they should be able to pick up-and-coming talent from consists of two demoted Red Bull drivers. Moving one of them back up to the number one team would be something of an admission that they fucked up their driver choices. I can’t see Gasly having any more success than Albon is having now, or he had during his first stint at Red Bull, if he makes the move back up (despite his strong form so far this season) and Kvyat definitely hasn't proved himself deserving of a promotion. Out of the nine Red Bull juniors, Yuki Tsunoda is the only driver with a realistic chance of gaining enough super licence points to move to F1 next season (I believe he needs to maintain his P3 in the F2 drivers standings for this), but he would only ever begin at Alfa Tauri. If they want to fill a seat at Red Bull with a new driver, they'll have to look to someone older and more experienced, creating a sort of Mark Webber Sebastian Vettel dynamic. Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez’s names have been thrown around a lot, but a departure from their home grown talent again shows a weakness and a failure in how the entire Red Bull outfit is being managed.

The troubles don’t stop there though. Whilst certainly better than during the 2017 and 2018 seasons, the RB16 is suffering far more reliability issues than its immediate predecessor. In last year’s 21 races, the Red Bull cars only suffered one reliability-based retirement (Gasly in Baku). In the 11 races so far this year they have had four, five if you consider Verstappen’s PU issue in Mugello that dropped him into his crash and would have ended his race anyway. Add to that Honda’s announcement that they will no longer be working with Red Bull after 2021(more on this another time), and the Austrian team’s situation is not looking at all rosy. For the sake of F1 fans everywhere eager for a close fight for the title, I hope Christian Horner and Helmut Marko sort it out.

What do you think about the situation at Red Bull? What do they need to do to challenge Mercedes? Let me know!

[formula-one-thoughts]

2020 Italian Grand Prix

Oh my god. I still can’t quite believe what we all witnessed last Sunday. Despite a slightly mixed up qualifying (with a bit of slip stream drama thrown in for good measure) resulting in Verstappen starting from 5th and Sainz and Perez locking out the second row of the grid, Monza was set to have another paint it by numbers podium, with the overwhelming talking point being Ferrari’s disappointing pace. Oh how wrong we were. In addition to the Scuderia’s weekend being even worse than they could ever have imagined, we were gifted one of the most unexpected podiums in the history of the sport (well, not so unexpected if you were the mystery individual who reportedly placed a 20 cent bet on the top three and got back over €33,000!)

Mercedes lost what could have been an easy 1-2 through a combination of factors, first of which was Bottas’s terrible start. Overtaken by Sainz and then Norris (who took advantage of Verstappen’s poor start), he was swiftly eaten up by Perez and Ricciardo. Such was his lack of pace he thought he might have a puncture, and whilst he did pick up a small amount of damage from contact with Norris, it wasn’t enough to explain the pace with which he moved backwards through the field. Whilst Hamilton was able to motor away undisturbed into the distance, the lack of a teammate to protect him and help with pit stop strategy didn't look to be ideal. I couldn’t help but feel it was a small serving of karma following Hamilton’s less than complimentary comments on Albon and Red Bull during the week, where he suggested Alex wasn’t a strong enough number 2 driver to help Max and the team to victory. It wasn’t however a strong weekend for the Thai driver either. After another disappointing quali he made contact with Gasly, went wide across the first chicane and dropped back to 15th, a position he occupied for the majority of the race. His cause was not helped by a 5 sec time penalty for a first lap episode with Grosjean, and the damage his car sustained. His teammate meanwhile found himself stuck in the DRS train behind Bottas in P7.

Whilst their woeful qualifying result of P13 and P17 had already put Ferrari on the back foot, it really started to go downhill on lap 6. Whilst battling to avoid being overtaken by George Russell, Seb’s brakes failed and he careered quite comically straight through the polystyrene barriers at turn one, before retiring the car. The field was spectacularly bunched up in these early stages of the race, with the DRS train extending all the way from Norris in P3 to Latifi in P19. After the action of the opening laps no one could seem to make a move, least of all Bottas. His Mercedes wasn't only one of the slower cars in a straight line on the track, but also fundamentally isn’t built to follow other cars, being accustomed to leading the field.

The cars came in to pit for the undercut from lap 16, one of them importantly being Pierre Gasly. Lap 20 then brought about the turning point of the race, albeit in a less then dramatic fashion. Who would have thought that Kevin Magnussen pulling over on the exit of the Parabolica would have such insane consequences! With the Dane’s retirement came a safety car, and with that I assumed there would be a steady flow of cars into the pits, terrible timing for those who has recently pitted. Only the race leader and Giovinazzi came in though, and it soon became clear why: the pit lane was closed as Magnussen’s car was being recovered into it. Hamilton’s race lead actually played against him, as it meant his team had the least amount of time to warn him of this. With there being just 19 seconds between the safety car deployment and him crossing the pit lane entry he was alerted to the issue 5 seconds too late. Mercedes error was thus understandable to an extent, whilst Alfa Romeo’s, who had a whopping 75 secs to warn Giovinazzi, was not. However, both teams could have avoided the penalties that soon came their way had their drivers noticed the red cross signals indicating the pit lane closure. Again though, it’s somewhat understandable that they didn’t. Being such an unprecedented occurrence, the only driver to register that the signs meant they could not pit was George Russell.

Once the signs were gone though everyone yet to pit but Stroll filed in, McLaren pulling off a flawless double stack. It turned out that pitting before the safety car was a great call, and when racing resumed Gasly and Leclerc were in 3rd and 6th, respectively. The Monegasque quickly swooped past the two Alfas but it was to be a short-lived high for Ferrari, as he lost the back end of the car at high speed and went careening off at the Parabolica. It could have been an extremely nasty accident but instead we were reminded once again of how brilliant the sport’s safety measures are. Due to the extent of the damage to the tyre barriers the race was red flagged, and Giovinazzi and Hamilton were informed of the punishments for their illegal pit stops – a ten second stop/go penalty. Whilst the combination of the first safety car and red flag cost McLaren a possible double podium, the pause in the race massively advantaged Lance Stroll, who was able to make his mandatory pit stop without, well, pitting! This loophole has kicked up a certain amount of chat and criticism across the world of F1 (especially from a certain Lando Norris), and maybe the rules will be altered to say the obligatory tyre change can’t take place under red flag conditions. As the vast majority of red flags are due to heavy rain, the cars are on wet weather tyres when they come in and hence this has never been an issue before; it will be interesting to see whether the FIA address this for future races.

Another anomaly thrown up by the non-wet weather red flag was a second standing start (as opposed to a rolling start as per usual). I liked this, as it was a more neutralised beginning to the second half of the race rather than being the race leader’s to control. With Hamilton taking his penalty at the end of the lap, which would place him in last, the re-start was Stroll’s to lose, and that's kind of what he did! Losing places to Gasly, the two Alfas, and Sainz, he was in 5th within two laps. Max Verstappen’s race came to a dismal end as he pulled into the pits with power unit issue, but he had an uncharacteristically poor race prior to this, failing to make much of an impact on the cars in front of him. As Raikonnen moved backwards through the field, Hamilton was battling up the order, overtaking with much more apparent ease than Bottas (though admittedly most of the cars in his way were of the slower variety). As the countdown to the finish began, it was Gasly, Sainz, Stroll at the top, a potential podium I found near impossible to imagine. Surely Bottas would wiggle his way up to second, Hamilton would appear in first and Verstappen would return from the dead to plonk his car in third? But the trio were secure, the only possibility of a mix-up coming from Sainz, who lap by lap was nibbling into Gasly’s lead.

It was only on the final lap though that he was able to get DRS, and as much as I love wheel to wheel racing, I was terrified of the prospect of the pair taking each other out and Bottas lucking his way onto the podium. But fortunately, it was not to be, and we were blessed with the first podium not to feature a Mercedes, Red Bull or Ferrari since Hungary 2012. In complete disbelief, I cried as Gasly crossed the line and the Alpha Tauri garage erupted with joy, the most emotional race ending for me since Abu Dhabi 2016. What it meant to both Gasly and the team was palpable. After an unimaginably difficult 18 months, that saw him relegated from Red Bull and lose one of his best friends in the most tragic of circumstances, Gasly emerged as one of the most deserving ever winners of a Grand Prix. For Alpha Tauri, it was their second ever win and first in 12 years, at their home race to boot. As the Red Bull mechanics congratulated their sister team and Leclerc, Grosjean and many more came to congratulate Gasly in Parc Ferme, the waterworks really started on my sofa. Add to that the Williams drivers’ heartfelt messages of thanks and farewell to Frank and Claire Williams and I was a sobbing mess! Gasly sitting alone on the top step of the podium, taking it all in, is an extremely poignant image I'm sure will live on for years in the minds of every F1 fan.

It was a superb weekend for McLaren, securing a 2nd and 4th on pace that gave them a brilliant boost in the constructor’s championship. Whilst it was a disappointing afternoon for Perez, Stroll continued what has been an impressive season, disproving his doubters with a second career podium. It was sad to see the Williams drivers unable to score at the family’s last race, but they do seem to be on the up and hopefully will be in good hands to return to the top of the sport. With retirements due to both mechanical and driver errors, the weekend couldn’t have gone worse for Ferrari at their home race; as Seb said it was a good thing the Tifosi weren’t there to witness it. Nonetheless, they've got two more Italian Grand Prix to try and claw back a bit of their reputation, with their 1000th race at Mugello set to be an unpredictable one that they can hopefully capitalise from. I can’t wait.  

[formula-one-thoughts]

2020 Belgian Grand-Prix

Well I think we can safely say that 2020 was not a vintage year for the Belgian Grand Prix. One of the world’s greatest racetracks just didn’t deliver this time round (though I’m certainly not complaining – any racing is good racing in the time of Corona!). Not only were we looking forward to the track itself, but the promise of rain had given extra cause for excitement. Now, I’ve learnt not to be too optimistic when the possibility of a wet weather race is mentioned, and to secretly and silently wish for a downpour rather than voicing my hopes out loud for fear of jinxing it. But with the forecast stating a 100% CHANCE OF RAIN for Sunday, I foolishly allowed myself to believe that we may have a classic race akin to 1998, or at least a mix of tyre strategies necessitated by changing conditions across the track. Alas, it was not to be (though it did of course rain after the race!)

It’s not often that a team finishing 13th and 14th on pace is the major talking point following a grand prix. But when that team is the (once) mighty Ferrari, things are slightly different. How on earth did they go from easily the most dominant car around the circuit last year to one of the slowest? How were they the only car to be slower (1.317 secs to be precise) in FP2 this year than last year? Hmm, well it’s looking more and more like it might have something to do with the 2019 Scuderia engine not being 100% legal. The other Ferrari powered cars suffered too last weekend, yet Raikkonen managed to finish ahead of both of the works team cars, an achievement he was characteristically nonplussed about. But to fall so monumentally from grace to behind the Alfa suggests other issues also – their chassis is far from perfect and the fraught internal politics of the team at the moment can hardly be helping them out. Add to that a team of strategists seemingly incapable of making strategy calls and you have the perfect storm.

A team who have made considerable gains since last year are Renault. It seems like since they gave up protesting the pink Mercedes and started to focus on their own car they have really found their form! Ricciardo though has attributed their good fortunes to a set-up improvement; shall we just call it a combo of the two? In all seriousness though, it seems the team are experiencing the breakthrough they needed, not only with Danny Ric showing the skill and talent we all know he possesses, but also through Esteban Ocon really starting to show up at the last few races. Though we would have all loved to see a Max vs Daniel battle, and admittedly we did for about 15 seconds, Cyril Abiteboul will be very happy with the Australian’s second consecutive 4th place finish and extra point for fastest lap. With their haul of 23 points being the team’s greatest ever at a grand prix weekend, they will surely be feeling positive about their chances in the extremely tight midfield battle, where only 9 points separate McLaren in 3rd and Renault in 6th.

Whilst Ricciardo was a strong contender for driver of the day, that honour went deservedly to Pierre Gasly, whose performance so far this year has been consistently impressive, reminding everyone why he was promoted to Red Bull in the first place. Taking the risk to start the race from 12th on the hard tyres, he stormed through the field, passing cars left, right and centre who were on the speedier soft compound. A highlight of his charge, and a highlight of the race itself, was his sensational pass on Perez through Eau Rouge. Having been mightily squeezed by the Mexican he stuck to his guns and pulled off the overtake of the race. His strategy was sadly hampered by the safety car coming out on lap 11, but he still managed to fight his way through the pack after a late pit stop to finish a very respectable p8. It must have been an unbearably difficult weekend for Gasly at times, with the memory of the tragic accident that took the life of Anthoine Hubert, one of his best friends, still fresh. The Frenchman was honoured respectfully and with heart across the F2 and F1 paddocks, and it brought more than a few tears to my eyes to see Juan Manuel Correa return to Spa to remember his fellow racer. Gasly was driving with his dear friend in mind, putting on a performance that Anthoine would have loved and that was a wonderful tribute to an amazing talent and human being gone far too soon.

Come the chequered flag, the top three positions were occupied by… you guessed it! Hamilton, Bottas and Verstappen, the 1st and 3rd place drivers bemoaning the lack of excitement the race provided, both for themselves and the fans. This is shaping up to be Max’s best season yet. With a top three result in every race he’s finished this season he has hardly put a foot wrong, and though the gap between him and Valterri in the drivers championship is only 3 points (the Dutchman in 2nd, the Finn in 3rd), it’s increasingly looking like he’s the only driver Hamilton has cause to worry about. Elsewhere in the race, a heart stopping crash involving Giovinazzi and Russell fortunately resulted in no injuries. Russell was a sitting duck and there was nothing he could have done to avoid colliding with the wall as he swerved out of the way of Giovinazzi’s wheel. What could have been a very nasty incident indeed was yet another example of how impressive the sport’s safety measures have become (though we have seen a few too many wheels detaching from cars this season). Finally, I strongly recommend you check out the Racing Point social media channels. Whilst they might not have been as strong as they hoped on track in Belgium, they are killing it online, an absolute highlight being the adorable cartoon posters they have created for each race so far. The details on the Spa one were too good, ranging from Roscoe Hamilton at the wheel of his dad’s car, the bright yellow overalls of the two Jordan drivers standing out on the podium, and Sebastian and Daniel enjoying a game of ping-pong! 10/10.

What did you think of the 2020 Belgian Gran Prix? Who impressed you and who disappointed? And what are your predictions for this weekend’s first of three visits to Italy? Let me know!

[formula-one-thoughts]

70th Anniversary Grand Prix Race Weekend Review

If I could take my pick of any of the 2020 season’s races so far to commemorate the 70thanniversary of Formula One, a celebration of the greatest sport on the planet, I wouldn’t have to look any further than last weekend at Silverstone. How convenient then that our second consecutive visit to the home of the sport was for the 70thAnniversary Grand Prix. Whilst another Mercedes win would have characterised the current state of F1 and their near total dominance, a commanding drive and win from Max Verstappen provided us with a race that was full to the brim with the skill, risk and excitement that makes the sport. For anyone growing tired of Mercedes’ winning streak (and I’m expecting that's a fair few) it was a timely reminder of the unpredictability that brings races to life, and of how special it is to see a young talent drive beyond the limits of a car. It felt fitting that a man who many believe is destined to become world champion (and some believe is set to be one of the greatest, amongst the likes of Fangio, Senna, Schumacher and Hamilton) won on Sunday.

But we must start first with Saturday, and with a qualifying session that threw up a fair few surprises. George Russell managed to get his Williams into Q2, though considering it’s the fourth week in a row he’s achieved that, the shock factor has worn off a bit. What was impressive though was that he managed to so after being heavily impeded by Esteban Ocon in Q1, the Frenchman receiving a five place grid penalty as a result. It was a miserable day (and a miserable weekend) for Sebastian Vettel, as he failed to make it to Q3 for the second time, P12 the best his Ferrari could manage. It was a disappointing session also for Carlos Sainz who slotted in behind Vettel, Lando Norris not doing much better and finishing at the back of the Q3 pack in 10th. Ricciardo and Gasly had strong afternoons, getting P5 and P7 respectively. Valterri Bottas secured pole by the slimmest of margins, Lewis Hamilton lining up alongside his teammate. The performance of the day undoubtedly came from Nico Hulkenberg, who bounced back from the disappointment of last week to secure an unbelievable P3. Alex Albon continued to struggle with qualifying, ending up in P9. His teammate was up in P4, but it was a decision made by the red Bull crew in Q2 that was to have the greatest influence on the race itself, as Verstappen set his fastest lap and managed to squeeze into Q3 on the hard tyre, meaning this was the tyre on which he had to start the race. This would allow him to go further on his first stint than the rest of the top ten, who were setting off on the mediums. The tyre drama at the culmination of last weeks race, coupled with the softer compounds brought by Pirelli to spice up the second weekend at Silverstone, meant most drivers were expected to opt for a two stop strategy.  

Bottas had a clean get away at lights out, keeping Hamilton behind him as Verstappen moved up into 3rdby Abbey. Further back it was a disastrous start for Vettel as he span AGAIN.  I don’t know if anyone is keeping a tally, but over the last few seasons he must have spun more than most of the grid combined. Poor Seb. Lucky Sainz though, who only just avoided the spinning Ferrari. The Mercs fought into Brooklands, giving us a good bit of early entertainment, but Hamilton failed to get past. As the cars already began to manage their tyres, Albon became the first to pit for hards on lap 6. Rather than disappearing into the distance, Bottas and Hamilton were kept in check once Max’s tyres warmed up and he began to lap at the same pace as them. By lap 11 he was in Hamilton’s DRS, but his engineer promptly told him to back of and preserve his tyres. Luckily for our sake, Max wasn’t having any of it, refusing to drive like a ‘grandma’ and give up his first real opportunity to fight the Mercedes all season. He pushed, forcing Bottas to pit on lap 13 and Hamilton a lap later to get rid of their heavily blistered tyres.

Slightly further back there was some great action, with Leclerc battling Norris and Albon pulling off a superb move on Raikkonen around the outside of Stowe. Magnussen had a characteristically bullish encounter with Latiffi, pushing the Williams off the track and receiving a 5 second time penalty as a result. With Max in the lead, by lap 23 the Mercedes were already struggling on their new tyres, lapping slower than the Dutchman. Having pulled out a nice lead, he pitted, coming out just behind Bottas, but immediately overtook him on colder tyres, regaining P1. Having had a good weekend it went very suddenly downhill for Danny Ric as he spun towards Village. Immediately following this Verstappen and Bottas pitted in tandem, holding position as they came out behind Lewis. The Brit sounded concerned about his tyres but was reassured by his team he was OK, and it increasingly looked like he was going to attempt a one-stop strategy. Albon continued to wiggle his way through the field with a wonderful overtake on Ocon at Copse, his confident and assured drive reminding everyone why he deserves his seat at Red Bull.

Just as Verstappen started to push to close the 8.9 sec gap to Hamilton, the leader pitted, coming out behind Leclerc but overtaking him easily within a few laps on fresh rubber. With Hulkenberg pitting from p5 to come out 7th, Leclerc’s 4thplace was safe, the Monegasque again outdriving his car and demonstrating why he is the number one Scuderia driver (one of only three drivers to make a one-stop work). Just three laps from the end the Mercedes were told they were allowed to race, their battling helping Verstappen extend his lead. It wasn’t to last long though, as on newer tyres Hamilton got his teammate into Brooklands. As he began his final lap Max made sure to check in with his race engineer GP, reminding him for the second race in a row to stay hydrated, a humorous demonstration of the relaxed demeanour that helped him win the race. It was a double podium for Mercedes but Bottas was noticeably and understandably disappointed to have ended up on the weaker strategy and in 3rd. Leclerc and Albon drove well to end up P4 and P5, and it was 6thand 7thfor Stroll and Hulkenberg. Ocon took P8 and Norris P9, on what was a terrible weekend for the Mclaren’s. They’re form has been patchy as of late, and Ferrari have now managed to steal 3rdin the constructors standings from them. Speaking of the red cars, things seem to be going from bad to worse for Vettel, his radio message at the end of the race confirming all is not well in the relationship between him and the team.

Looking to Barcelona it’s likely that tyres will continue to play a key role in the race weekend. It’s set to be a scorcher, and even though the compounds will be slightly harder (the same as for the British Grand Prix), the Mercedes is expected to again struggle with its high down force compromising its tyres, with the Red Bull enjoying the higher temperatures. What is often one of the duller races of the season could thus provide us with a healthy dose of excitement, and I can’t wait.

[formula-one-thoughts]

2020 British Grand Prix - Race Review

The 2020 British Grand Prix was for the most part a relatively calm race, bookended by drama. The trend of chaotic and intense final laps continued, the race culminating with one of the craziest endings to a Grand Prix I’ve ever seen. Nico Hulkenberg unfortunately was not to be part of it though. Having been called in to replace Sergio Perez at Racing Point following the Mexican’s positive Covid-19 test, his whirlwind weekend ended in disappointment as he failed to make it onto the starting grid, his race over before it even began. Lewis Hamilton led into the first corner and held his position at the front of the pack for the race’s duration. Leclerc almost got the better of Verstappen, but Max managed to hold onto third. Unfortunately that was as much wheel-to-wheel action between the pair we’d be treated to, with Max escaping Charles to run a very lonely race. Behind them Norris and Stroll swapped places with Sainz and Danny Ric. After a promising start Kevin Magnussen’s race came to an abrupt end after he clashed with Alex Albon, bringing out the first safety car of the afternoon. After clipping a kerb Magnussen wobbled a little and Albon went for an overtake into the final corner. The gap wasn't quite there though, and Magnussen ended up in the gravel, missing a tyre. For me it was a racing incident, but if blame was going to be placed anywhere, it was Albon who was more at fault, and the 5-second time penalty he was handed was justified. His car appeared to be in OK form but after the safety car came in complaints of vibrations resulted in an early pit stop for hard tyres, placing him firmly at the back of the field.

Pit stops from the other drivers were triggered by the biggest crash of the season so far. Daniil Kvyat collided dramatically with the barriers at Maggots-Becketts, fortunately getting out of the car unharmed. The Russian was quick to blame himself for the incident, but it appears he may have suffered a right-rear tyre puncture. In the wake of the crash the majority of cars from Ricciardo in P6 filed into the pits, with the top five plus Stroll joining them in switching to the hard tyre. Haas seem to be gambling with every strategy call they make this season, and while it paid off in Budapest, leaving Grosjean out until lap 36 didn’t prove to be the smartest choice. Whilst he did manage to hold onto his position at the front of the midfield for a while, he was on faster tyres and pulled off several classic ‘sketchy’ Grosjean moves, much to the displeasure of Ricciardo and Sainz, and received a slap on the wrist from race control as a result. He eventually pitted and returned to the track in last position.

Pierre Gasly had a great race that featured a brilliant battle with the Ferrari of Vettel, the other Scuderia of Leclerc having much more success, running steadily in 4th. The Renault car took a shine to Silverstone and injected excitement into the midfield, both through Ocon’s fight with Stroll and Ricciardo’s battles with the Mclarens. The greatest excitement though came on lap 50, when the tyres that had been troublesome for the majority of the race finally gave up on a handful of cars, in spectacular fashion. The gaps between Hamilton, Bottas and Verstappen that had stayed consistent throughout the race started to change, with Bottas sliding away from his teammate and into the reach of the Red Bull. He dramatically slowed down when his front left tyre completely delaminated and Verstappen snuck past. Unfortunately for the Finn he had just past the pit entrance and hence had to nurse his car round and entire lap, eventually re-joining with fresh rubber in 11th. Next to be betrayed by his tyres was Carlos Sainz, whose puncture promoted Ricciardo into 4thand his teammate into 5th. In the wake of Bottas’ disaster, Red Bull decided to make the most of a free pit stop, protecting against a potential puncture of their own and giving Verstappen new tyres to set fastest lap with. What they couldn't have predicted was that Hamilton too would get a puncture! In scenes that had many a fan (myself included) screaming at their television, Hamilton achieved the impossible, bringing home his three wheeled Mercedes to win his 7thhome Grand Prix, with Verstappen all the time gaining on him but ultimately finishing a good 5 seconds behind. In the midst of all this madness, Albon managed to move his car up to 8thand Leclerc inherited 3rd.

It was race that will go down in history as one of Hamilton’s finest, and footage of him dragging his car across the finish line will be seen on highlight reels for years to come. Any fear that this weekend’s race will be a carbon copy of its predecessor has been strongly dispelled by the tyre drama, the hotter conditions and softer compounds for the 70thAnniversary Grand Prix necessitating a two stop strategy in what is sure to be super race.

[formula-one-thoughts]

British Grand Prix - Qualifying

Not the most exciting qualifying of the year so far, but entertaining nonetheless. There were a few surprises scattered across the session but not on the front row of the grid, where it was another Mercedes lock out, their 8thconsecutive at Silverstone and a record for front row lockouts at a single venue. They were miles ahead of the rest of the pack, with Max Verstappen over a second behind Hamilton in third. The session wasn’t without its faults for the pole sitter though as he made an uncharacteristic mistake, spinning at Luffeild and red flagging Q2.

The Racing Point’s were slower than perhaps expected, but for someone who has not stepped foot in an F1 car since December Nico Hulkenberg impressed, despite only managing to qualify 13th. Lance Stroll made it out of Q1 for the first time at Silverstone to place his car in 6th. It was a mixed bag at Ferrari, with Vettel only achieving 10thand Leclerc surprising everyone, including himself, with 4th. It should be interesting seeing him line up along Verstappen for the start. It was a woeful day for Alex Albon though, as he continued to struggle with his car; failing to get out of Q2 he could only manage P12.

Of the other British drivers besides Hamilton Lando Norris had a great day at the office, out qualifying his teammate Sainz with an impressive P5. George Russell managed to get his Williams out of Q1 for the third weekend in a row, but a five place grid penalty for failing to slow under yellow flags when his teammate spun pushed him right to the back of the grid. It looks likely that it will be a British driver on the top step of the odium this afternoon, but if the racing is even half as good as it was at Silverstone last year and the midfield continues to serve us up the fabulous battles we’ve been treated to so far this season I’m sure it will be an unpredictable and brilliant race.

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Styrian Grand Prix Race Weekend Review

Whilst I think we can agree any racing is good racing, there is an argument to be made that qualifying for the Styrian Grand Prix was more exciting than the race itself. One of the most rain-drenched sessions I’ve ever seen, all of the drivers exhibited incredible skill. I honestly expected far more chaos and crashes than we saw, but was grateful that we were treated to some spectacular displays of driving with only one red flag punctuating the session.  The Racing Points did NOT seem to enjoy the rain, but someone who did was George Russell, who managed to pull off a spectacular P12, and then was promoted to P11 following Charles Leclerc’s grid penalty. It was Williams’ first appearance in Q2 since Brazil 2018, and it was wonderful to see George display the talent he so clearly has (despite his race not going quite so well). The Uno reverse card came out at Ferrari, with this time Vettel pushing Leclerc out of Q3, the German only able to manage P10 at the end of the day. The battle for pole was primarily between the two drivers who have gained the strongest reputations for commanding a rainy track: Hamilton and Verstappen. But while Max put in a brilliant performance, demonstrating great control as he saved his car from a nasty accident after sliding through the final corner (the kind of thing we first saw in Brazil 2016), it was Lewis’s day. He put in a completely commanding final lap that cemented him as back in the game after a disappointing last weekend, the gap between him and Verstappen a mind-blowing and unheard of 1.2 seconds! Sainz, Ocon and Gasly also impressed, qualifying P3, P5 and P7 respectively.

Due to the wet qualifying, everyone had a free choice of tyres come race day, with most drivers electing to begin on the softs. Almost instantly it was all over for Ferrari, an ill-judged move from Leclerc taking their weekend from bad to worse. It goes back to the saying that you can’t win a race on the first lap, but you can easily lose one. His attempt to go down the inside of Vettel was completely unnecessary, and both drivers paid the price (Leclerc did apologise profusely and accept all the blame). With their car not even looking ‘best of the rest’ and this being their second race ending collision in four races, you get the feeling Sainz might be feeling a little less than happy about his upcoming move to the Scuderia. The incident necessitated a safety car for a couple of laps whilst the remains of Vettel’s rear wing were cleared off the track.

The majority of the race was not super eventful, with only one further retirement – Esteban Ocon. Hamilton pulled away from Verstappen and the trio of Hamilton, Verstappen and Bottas in turn pulled away from those behind them. The midfield was closely bunched together for much of the race with lots of good battles, Perez in particular making his mark with a remarkable drive where he was up to 5thfrom 17thby lap 49 (having also pitted), pulling out fastest laps all over the place. Stroll was not able to make quite the same impact, struggling to pass Ricciardo for most of the race. Sainz’s race was rather ruined by a botched pit stop that put him out at the back of the group that included Norris, Ricciardo and Stroll, but he did manage to set fastest lap (and set a new lap record), giving McLaren their first consecutive fastest laps since 2011.

It really started to heat up on lap 67, with Bottas finally catching Verstappen, who was struggling with older tyres and some front wing damage. It looked like the Finn had got him, but Verstappen pulled off an insane move to regain the position, if only for 1 lap. It really showed Max’s passion that despite knowing Valterri was in the faster car and would eventually pass him he still put up an amazing fight, providing the fans with the entertainment we wanted. In my opinion, this drive, fight, and unwillingness to give up are the qualities of a future world champion. Perez finally caught Albon, but suffered damage that seriously compromised his speed, causing him to drop back. Lando Norris has come alive at the end of both races so far, and it’s great to see. Over the final 2 laps he went from 8thto 5th, capitalising upon Stroll and Ricciardo’s battle that saw both cars go off-track, and then passing the ailing car of Perez on the penultimate corner. The Mexican was soon caught by his teammate and the Renault, and the trio crossed the line three abreast, Perez just clinging on to 6thwith only a second separating Norris in 5thand Ricciardo in 8th. It was a Mercedes 1-2, with Hamilton putting in a totally dominant performance to win the race.

One of the most powerful moments of the weekend came during the podium celebration, when Stephanie Travers, Mercedes’ Trackside Fluid Engineer, accepted their constructor’s trophy. She is one of only NINE women ever to stand on an F1 podium, and the only woman of colour. I want to talk about gender diversity in the sport more in another post, but the importance of Stephanie standing up there alongside the drivers cannot be understated. Representation is so important, and the fact that women and young people of colour could see someone who looked like them on that podium says there is a place for them in the sport. I would read Lewis’s Instagram post if you want to find out more about Stephanie, and I think he was certainly instrumental in selecting her to join him for the champagne. Other teams should take note; although this is only a start, it was a display of genuine (rather than just performative) allyship.

Ferrari need to get their act together for Hungary this weekend; if they don’t show any improvement then I can’t see them having much of a chance of success for the rest of the year. Apart from Sainz’s pit stop it was a great weekend for McLaren, who stand 3rdin the constructors championship, with Norris maintaining 3rdin the drivers (with over half the points he managed to get all of last year). Toto Wolff has said he expects Red Bull to be a threat at the Hungaroring, but he has been known to make these kind of comments only for the Mercedes to appear stronger than ever, so we shall have to wait and see. Verstappen was narrowly beaten by Hamilton for the win last year, but managed to secure his first pole position, and has performed steadily there over the years. However, this is arguably the track where Hamilton has seen the most success – he has won 7 out of his 13 races there, and could be set to equal Michael Schumacher’s record of most race wins at the same circuit. Whatever happens, I can’t wait for more racing.

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We Race As One - Racism in F1

On the 22nd of June, in wake of the worldwide protests in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, Formula 1 announced their We Race As One initiative. Its aims are to ‘fight challenges of COVID-19 and global inequality’, with the logo of a rainbow made up of the colours of each team. Whilst I’m happy to see the sport step up and recognise it has plenty of work to do regarding diversity, I feel the initiative is by no means perfect. Meaningful change obviously cannot occur overnight, work needs to be done on a grassroots level to get people from a variety of backgrounds and of different races interested and invested in not only karting, but also the STEM and media sides of the sport. Beyond the end racism t-shirts, F1 has promised to establish a diversity task force over the coming months, as well as a diversity foundation, and I am hopeful that these will be effective at both combating the lack of diversity and the covert racism in the sport, and diversifying its personnel. However, it leaves a bad taste in my mouth that they have conflated the issues of Coronavirus and Racism under one umbrella. It feels almost like they are trying to soften the impact of their anti-racism stance, placating those who object to it by tying it to the virus – something we are all united in wanting to beat. It also means they can get away with slightly fluffy language about ‘unity’, rather than an aggressive stance on challenging racism and the blatant lack of diversity through all levels of the sport. The rainbow also is a strange one. I realise that in the UK at least it has been a sign of support and respect for the NHS and key workers during the pandemic, but as a global symbol is more widely associated with pride and the LGBTQ+ community. It seems odd to me that no one thought twice about placing the rainbow at the forefront of the movement during Pride Month. Only right at the end of their posts on Instagram and their website do they clarify that diversity and discrimination cover gender, ethnicity, sexuality and disability. This could have been better woven into the announcement as a whole, but again I feel that whilst the sport 100% needs to diversify so it is not only populated by straight, able-bodied men, it is a separate issue to confronting racism. Shoehorning this issue along with Corona into this particular initiative only serves to further water down its anti-racist stance.

It is well known that F1 is an extremely pricey sport to get into, and requires a great amount of input, both in terms of time and money, from families, with little guarantee of great professional success. To an extent the lack of racial diversity in F1 can be seen as reflective of the racist structures that restrict people of colour socio-economically. Money needs to be invested into giving young, black talent the financial aid they need to make it into the sport. Critics of the push for diversity have stated that drivers should make it based on their talent alone and that F1 is a sport for the best of the best, regardless of the colour of their skin. I have to laugh at this argument, as it ignores the fact that if not everybody is given the opportunity to show their talent, if black people do not have the platform to show their talent, how can the sport be showcasing the best drivers in the world? They are ignoring a giant sector of society! If the sons of billionaires are able to access the sport through their parents’ money, people of colour should be able to access the sport through their talent. A certain degree of positive discrimination is necessary, from the grassroots up.

Lewis Hamilton, as the sport’s only black driver, has been a key driving force behind the sport’s pledge to diversify and put an end to racism. Lewis’s importance as a black driver cannot be understated, as people can only imagine themselves in positions or jobs where they see themselves represented, and hence he is a beacon of hope for young black people with a love of Formula 1. But the movement should not solely be on his shoulders. It should not be the responsibility of black people to educate white people on their own trauma and the effects of racism. I read something over the weekend addressing the actions taken by the drivers to display their opposition to racism, which for some involved taking the knee. The journalist asked in response to Verstappen saying the drivers were all talking about the best way to fight racism why they didn’t just ask Hamilton what to do and then do it? No! Whilst Hamilton’s voice is significant and should undoubtedly be listened to, it shouldn’t be his responsibility to educate his peers and colleagues. As grown men they should be able to educate themselves, and the sport should establish a figure to act as an authority on these matters, whose job doesn’t also involve being its star driver!

Formula 1 is a global and international sport. It is completely unique in that there are no national leagues or factions, just the best competitors from any and every country competing together. It travels all across the world, uniting fans from every continent. This is what I love about it, being a small part of a global community of fans that is powered by pure passion for the drivers and teams. There are 14 different nationalities represented on the 2020 F1 grid. Over the course of its 70-year history, 775 drivers of 39 different nationalities have competed. Yet there has only ever been one black driver – Lewis Hamilton. For a sport that has such a humungous global reach, its lack of racial diversity is disappointing, shameful and needs to change.

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2020 Austrian Grand Prix - Race Review

Wow. What a season opener that was! I think we can safely say the 2020 Austrian Grand Prix was worth the wait. Whilst the opening third of the race seemed to suggest an easy Mercedes 1-2, it shortly unravelled into a chaotic and extremely entertaining race of attrition, which only saw 11 cars make the chequered flag. The drama started before the race had even begun, with Red Bull filling a complaint about Mercedes’ DAS (Dual Axis Steering) system, which was quickly dismissed, and also requesting a review of Lewis Hamilton’s failure to slow under yellow flags in qualifying, which resulted in a 3 place grid penalty for the Brit. The race got away pretty cleanly, which was a relief as I was already so overexcited and tense I probably would have imploded had there been a collision! Bottas soon established a 2 second lead and it was looking like once he had to look after his tyres a bit Verstappen would be able to pounce on his mediums. However, it was not to be. The first of 9 retirements, Max’s car went into anti stall, and no matter how many times he swore down the team radio, it just wouldn’t work, breaking the hearts of both his fans and everyone who saw him as the only hope for upsetting a Mercedes dominated race.

As Vettel battled his way through the field from P11, Ricciardo also retired, followed shortly by Lance Stroll. Whilst everyone so far was able to place their car back in the pits, this was not to continue, and when Magnussen’s car found itself deeply planted in the gravel out came the safety car, triggering the first round of pit stops. Everyone bar Perez opted for hards, the Mexican choosing mediums and proceeding to nearly wipe out Lando Norris with what I'm shocked was not deemed an unsafe release from his box. Hamilton wasn’t able to catch his teammate on the restart but there was drama further back in the field. As Sainz attempted to make a move on Leclerc he was tagged from behind by Vettel, who promptly found himself facing the wrong way round on the track. I love Seb, but clashing with the guy who is replacing him next year and then spinning AGAIN is literally the most Vettel thing that could happen. As Russell crept tantalisingly close to the points in P12, the Mercedes continued to lead the field, despite repeated warnings from the team to stay of the kerbs (and thus drive less aggressively), due to a sensor issue. It was quite comedic listening to the desperate radio messages followed by both drivers looking like they were aiming their cars straight for the kerbs, but after a message from James Vowles (Mercedes chief strategist) they both backed off – a good thing as the word ‘kerbs’ was starting to loose any meaning to me.

Grosjean retired on lap 50, handing Haas a disappointing DNF for both cars. This was followed by disaster for Russell, who after a promising performance all weekend had to pull over to the side of the track with a smoking engine, bringing out a second safety car. At the front of the field Albon, Norris and Leclerc pitted for fresh rubber, with the two Mercs and Perez choosing to stay out. The safety car came in, but not for long. In a bizarre incident, Kimi Raikonnen’s right front wheel flew straight off, narrowly missing Vettel. The Finn had pitted on lap 53 but had spent a couple laps trundling along behind the safety car and once he properly accelerated the wheel nut fell out of the wheel, which promptly said goodbye! It could have been very nasty indeed if the wheel had collided with anyone, so quite a relief overall. Just as the safety car was deployed for the third time Albon pulled off an overtake on Perez, but backed off upon seeing yellow flags; he was rightfully allowed to retake the position under the safety car.

With 11 laps left the safety car came in for the final time and the action on track heated up even more. In the blink of an eye, elation turned to heartbreak for the Red Bull crew as they watched Albon pull off an overtake on Hamilton, only to be shunted into the gravel. It was painful to watch, given that Albon was on for his first podium, and possibly even a win. It was one of a number of similarities the race bore to the 2019 Brazilian Grand Prix, where Hamilton denied the Thai driver a podium whilst attempting to overtake him. Both occasions saw Hamilton handed a 5 second penalty, which resulted in a McLaren driver getting their first podium (spooky). Leclerc used his new tyres to his advantage, overtaking Norris and then Perez for third place, placing his Ferrari on the podium – something that had been unthinkable following their disastrous qualifying and pace. This was followed the announcement of Hamilton’s penalty, which in my opinion was deserved. Alex was very much in front and as such Lewis could have allowed him a bit more room, rather than keeping on the power and squeezing his competitor off the track. As Albon retired from the race, Norris got his elbows and pulled off a ballsy move on Perez to claim 4th. At this point the realisation set in that if Lando could get the gap between him and Lewis (which I think stood at 5.4?) down to under 5 seconds, he could grasp his first podium. As Kvyat became the race’s final retiree, Lando put in a breath taking final lap, achieving both fastest lap and his first Formula 1 podium. It was a tense few seconds, waiting for the gap between the two British drivers to show up on the screen, but when it did, showing 4.8 seconds, I was screaming with happiness. Bottas, having led every lap, took 1st.

I would say I couldn’t have asked for a better race for the sport to return with, but I was a bit disappointed we were robbed of Verstappen battling with the Mercedes. Oh well, were back in Spielberg this weekend where the odds will hopefully be more in Red Bull’s favour. Along with Haas and Williams they were one of the only teams not to score points, which with the length of the season remaining unknown could have big implications. Very few people would have predicted that podium, which in my view makes it a great race. It filled me with pure joy to see both Norris and Leclerc succeed, and it will be interesting to see if Bottas can maintain the momentum he carried through this weekend across the whole season, and really take the fight to Hamilton.

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Austrian Grand Prix Qualifying

Our first serving of on track action has certainly not disappointed! Whilst a Mercedes front row lockout was predictable, it will be a question of whether Bottas can retain first place once the lights go out. Hamilton seemed a little disappointed during the socially distanced post-qualifying interviews, which is no surprise since he will be exposed to the threat of Verstappen, provided the Dutchman gets a better start than his disastrous get away last year.  Norris really impressed me, managing to split the Red Bulls and out qualifying his teammate.  It will be interesting to see how he handles the pressure of starting the race on the second row – he seems to have a newfound confidence this season so my expectations are high. It was a good result for Racing Point, their pink Mercedes taking 6thand 9th. The biggest story by far though was just how off the pace the red cars were. I can’t really believe I’m typing this but Vettel could only manage 11th(11th!!!), his lowest ever qualifying for Ferrari based on pace alone. Leclerc made it into Q3 but 7thplace was the best he could do, both drivers sounding genuinely shocked with their car’s performance. The Ferrari didn’t look great in testing or practice, but not many could have predicted it would be this far back. Whilst its wholly possible the Mercs will sail away into the sunset leaving the rest of the field behind, the midfield promises plenty of action and it will be especially intriguing to see if the prancing horses can claw their way towards the front.

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F1 Driver Market Action

Silly season started a whole lot earlier than we expected this year, before any racing had actually taken place. I had hoped to write about the developments whilst they were well, actually developing, but university work got in the way. Oh well! Kick started by the announcement that Sebastian Vettel is to leave Ferrari at the end of the 2020 season, a chain of events unravelled that has seen Carlos Sainz win the much coveted Ferrari seat for 2021, and Daniel Ricciardo moving to fill his seat at McLaren, leaving a free space at Renault.

Firstly, lets look at Seb. It had seemed likely for a while that his time at Ferrari was running out, but nonetheless the departure came as a bit of a shock (for me at least). Charles Leclerc’s 5 year contract has firmly asserted him as the driver that the team are putting their energy and hopes behind for a title challenge, establishing him as their number one driver. Yet it was still surprising that Seb decided to call it a day, before the possibility of establishing himself as Ferrari’s best hope over the course of the 2020 season had even begun. It will be interesting to see how the, shall we say frosty, relationship between the two drivers plays out this year. With nothing to lose, will Seb’s loyalty to the teamof Ferrari disappear? Will he ignore team orders, throw caution to the wind, and attempt to show them they've made a mistake? Perhaps a bit, but despite his demonstrations of a fiery attitude over the years (Baku 2018, Canada 2019), I don’t think its in his nature as a sportsman to act like that towards his team. What will happen, I’m not sure; as ever we shall have to wait and see.

What next for Vettel though? With gaps opening up across the driver market there are plenty of options for him to choose from. Whilst it would be every F1 fan’s (apart from maybe a handful of Lewis Hamilton fans) dream come true to see him partner the six time world champion, the chances of that happening I believe are sadly slim to none. There’s an empty seat at Renault but Vettel’s chances of taking it depend on their performance this year, and moreover, the success and attitude of Esteban Ocon. Having left Ferrari after being usurped by a young talent, I can’t imagine Vettel is eager to repeat that process. He was explicit in his statement describing his decision to leave, and has been explicit throughout his career, that money is not a motivating factor behind his decisions, so maybe he might go to a smaller team? If a seat opens up at Alfa Romeo due to either Kimi Raikkonen’s retirement or Antonio Giovinazzi’s departure, it's a possibility Vettel may take it. If Giovinazzi does get the boot wouldn't it be amazing to see Seb and Kimi back together? Sadly, I think this is little more than wishful thinking. The big question is how Seb’s passion for racing, desire to win another world championship, and pride balance out. With Lewis closing in on Schumacher’s 7 championships, I think through his Ferrari departure Seb has probably given up on the dream of matching his great rival, especially as with the regulation changes being pushed back a year it doesn’t look likely that a midfield team could provide him with the chance to challenge for top spot any time soon. With his pride being so evidently dented by Leclerc’s ascent, I’m not sure I can picture Seb being comfortable towards the back of the grid in a car that struggles to collect points. Sadly, I think the most likely option for him is retirement. An extremely down to earth and private guy, he must be eager to spend more time with his family and three young children, away from the spotlight and pressures of Formula 1. I’ll be sad to see him go if this is indeed the road he takes, but despite his recent dip in form, he will certainly go down in the history books as one of the best, funniest, and most enigmatic Formula 1 drivers of all time.

The choice for Vettel’s replacement at Ferrari was really only between Ricciardo and Sainz, and I had a feeling Sainz would be their pick (I promise!). Again it comes down to the rivalries that often emerge between the veteran and the upstart, and Ricciardo did not take Max Verstappen’s success well. He needs to be in a team where he can be the leader, and although it would be a dream come true to sign for the prancing horse, and he’s a reliable in terms of his talent, I don’t think it would be an ideal situation for either party. Sainz on the other hand is a great fit. He really proved his talent last season and came away with a podium and 6thplace in the driver’s championship to show for it. But other than that, he has shown himself to be a true team player, someone who will go above and beyond in terms of developing the car and forming proper relationships with everyone working around him. Rather than joining the scores of drivers living in Monaco, he moved from his hometown of Madrid to London to be closer to the McLaren base, just one example of his dedication. This will surely have caught Ferrari’s eye and I think is what really sealed the deal for Sainz. I’ll talk about who might take the empty seat at Renault another time, but I think Ricciardo’s departure from the team was probably a good idea. They simply weren’t delivering on what they had promised him when they lured him over from Red Bull. Ricciardo is only 31, but he isn’t getting any younger and can’t really afford to spend his time waiting around for the team to get better, when there is a free seat at the team which is in the position that they want to be. He also already has a good relationship with Lando Norris, who so far has shown himself to be a fair and supportive teammate. If McLaren’s upward trajectory continues then this is a very positive move for the Australian. Thank god for all this drama giving us something to talk about whilst we wait for racing to resume!

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F1 2020 - What Can We Expect?

After what feels like a lifetime of waiting, Formula 1 is officially back. Rather than the intended shortest gap between seasons ever, the winter break has become both a spring and summer break, at 217 days. My excitement levels are so high I’m genuinely concerned for how I'm going to react once I hear the words ‘Its lights out and away we go’ on Sunday. Though the season is taking a dramatically different form to the record breaking 22 races we were promised, I expect it to be filled excitement and upsets a plenty.

Mercedes are (shocker) the clear frontrunners, as per usual, and their reign could now be extended even longer due to the push back of regulation changes to 2022. This throws a spanner in the works somewhat, as it was a possibility some teams (maybe Ferrari and Renault) would have been focusing more on perfecting a car for the 2021 season than performance during the 2020 season. Hence, maybe we will see an improvement in form coming from Maranello, the Italian team realising a chaotic season could throw up an opportunity for them to bring the fight to the Mercs? We can’t forget their assertion during testing though that they were not sandbagging (purposefully making their car appear slower than it is), a rather humbling and depressing thing to have to admit. I still believe though that the future is not all doom and gloom for Ferrari. With the announcement of Sebastian Vettel’s departure from the team for 2021, (more on that another time) I anticipate Charles Leclerc emerging as a true force to be reckoned with. He well and truly earned his place as the team’s number one driver by the end of last season, and whilst I don’t expect Seb to throw the towel in and give up, his lack of commitment to the team will surely be advantageous to Charles. Then again, Seb may just think ‘fuck it’, throw caution to the wind and put everything into a final push to be a Ferrari world champion! We’ll have to wait and see.

Following the pattern of the last couple of seasons, there is much excitement surrounding Red Bull’s chances at challenging for the top spot. If the momentum they have acquired over the last few years continues (as testing suggested), and their partnership with Honda goes from strength to strength, I would expect Max Verstappen to have his first real chance at challenging Lewis Hamilton for the World Driver’s Championship. He has matured considerably since the turning point of his crash during practice for the 2018 Monaco Grand Prix, and his willingness to take well-calculated risks may serve him well in what looks to be hectic season of racing, full of unknowns. Alex Albon also appears as the perfect teammate. Fast, talented and reliable, he now looks to have fully settled into the team, and whilst he will surely want to prove himself to Horner and Marko, I don’t anticipate the inter-teammate tensions that existed in the Daniel Ricciardo-Verstappen era.

Beyond the top three there is lots to suggest that the mid-field battle will be just as, if not more thrilling, than the action at the front. McLaren will be hoping to continue their success of last season and make it a top four. Sainz should be filled with confidence following his Brazil podium, 6th place in the driver’s championship and promotion to Ferrari for 2021, whilst Norris can fully unlock his potential having shaken off his rookie season nerves. They will have to watch out for the Racing Point boys though, who have certainly been talking the talk and seem to have a lot of confidence in their car. This is no surprise, seeing as in many ways it is essentially a replica of last years Mercedes W10. If they do live up to the high standards they have set for themselves I think this will be a strong year for Sergio Perez, in which he can make the move out of the underrated driver category and into the great driver category. The return of Esteban Ocon to the grid is great news, and I’m intrigued to see how the dynamic between him and Ricciardo plays out; going by the drama of the Ocon/Perez and Verstappen/Ricciardo pairings I’m expecting it will not be all plain sailing. The pressure is on for Cyril Abiteboul: will his team be able to claw their way back to the top of the midfield, or sink further down it? The newly (and confusingly) named Alpha Tauri team had a solid showing last season, and with Pierre Gasly firmly back in a team he feels comfortable in it should be interesting to see what they can achieve.

This may be Kimi Raikonnen’s last year in Formula 1 so I’m hoping the Alfa Romeo is a strong car capable of earning him a good handful of points and seeing him out of the sport on a high. One can only hope that the fortunes of both Haas and Williams see an improvement. Whilst the outbursts of Gunther Steiner were undoubtedly hilarious to watch on Netflix’s Drive To Survive, it’s difficult to watch the team struggle so much. They completed the least amount of miles by some stretch during pre season and the drivers were reluctant to comment much on the car, so we will have to wait and see. Pre season started on a much better note for Williams than last year, though being ready for the first day isn’t exactly a monumental achievement. I so want them to do well, as do many other fans, but their current financial and sponsorship difficulties are troubling to say the least. Nicholas Latifi is the only rookie on the grid, positioning George Russell as de facto team leader; hopefully he can finally achieve that long awaited points finish!

Whilst it’s difficult to truly gauge a team’s potential and race pace from testing alone, here is my prediction for how the top ten drivers and the constructor’s championship might shape up come the end of the season. Lets hope it's a good one!

Drivers

1.    Hamilton

2.    Verstappen

3.    Bottas

4.    Leclerc

5.    Albon

6.    Vettel

7.    Sainz

8.    Perez

9.    Ricciardo

10.  Norris

Constructors

1.    Mercedes

2.    Red Bull

3.    Ferrari

4.    McLaren

5.    Racing Point

6.    Renault

7.    Alpha Tauri

8.    Alfa Romeo

9.    Haas

10.  Williams