2019 drivers’ end-of-year report cards

Posted on by James Mackenzie

Lewis Hamilton

1st | Pts: 413 | Wins: 11 | Podiums: 17 | Poles: 5 | FL: 6 | Ret: 0

The above statistics sum it up pretty well. Whilst Lewis Hamilton was unusually lacking in pole positions this year – by his usual standards at least – he dominated pretty much every other aspect of the season. He finished every single race in the points, was only off the podium in four of them and won more than half.

It’s that relentless consistency that sums up the world champion these days. Whilst still obviously incredibly quick, it is the metronomic excellence of his performances that have made this championship something of a formality, wrapped up fittingly with a ‘grand chelem’ in the final race.

And with no real changes to next season’s regulations, could we be talking about Hamilton as statistically the greatest driver ever this time next year?

Highlight: Clinching his sixth title with all his family (and Matthew McConaughey…) there.

Lowlight: Uncharacteristic mistakes from driver and team in Germany.

GRADE: A

Valtteri Bottas

2nd | Pts: 326 | Wins: 4 | Podiums: 15 | Poles: 5 | FL: 3 | Ret: 2

2019 proved to be something of a false dawn for Valtteri Bottas, or certainly ‘Bottas 2.0’ anyway. Whilst the Finn undoubtedly improved on what was a disappointing 2018, he still ultimately came up a fair way short of his world champion teammate in the end.

Of course, being Hamilton’s teammate is one of the hardest ever jobs in Formula 1 but, even in what was probably his best year so far, Bottas did not challenge Hamilton to the extent that Nico Rosberg did.

He will need to find another way to step up his level next year if he is to do so. Bottas 3.0 maybe?

Highlight: Redemption in Baku after last year’s heartbreak.

Lowlight: That costly crash at the Hockenheimring.

Grade: B

Sebastian Vettel

5th | Pts: 240 | Wins: 1 | Podiums: 9 | Poles: 2 | FL: 2 | Ret: 3

Sebastian Vettel came into this season as Ferrari number one and with aspirations of a world title challenge after the Italian team’s strong showing in winter testing. But that challenge looked thoroughly over by the summer break and he finishes the season with his number one status severely under threat, if not already gone.

Things went from bad to worse when the Ferrari drivers collided in Brazil and were both forced to retire, with most attributing the largest share of the blame to Vettel. The German has some soul-searching to do over the winter and will need to come back stronger next year to compete with his increasingly impressive teammate.

With his contract up at the end of 2020, will next season be Vettel’s last in the red of Ferrari? Could it even be his last in the sport?

Highlight: Laying to rest his Hockenheim demons with a drive from last to second place.

Lowlight: The highly controversial penalty that cost him a win in Canada.

Grade: C+

Charles Leclerc

4TH | PTS: 264 | WINS: 2 | PODIUMS: 10 | POLES: 7 | FL: 4 | RET: 3

Charles Leclerc has made quite the impression in his debut year for Ferrari. He came in hoping to be able to match the four-time world champion on the other side of the garage but has ended up beating him in pretty much every measurable way: more points, more wins, more poles and comfortably winning the qualifying head-to-head.

After a period of things not quite clicking, Leclerc changed his approach on a Saturday and promptly outqualified Vettel nine times in a row, claiming five poles and two wins during that run. The wins were both very emotional. His maiden victory coming on the tragic weekend in Spa where his friend, F2 driver Anthoine Hubert, was killed and the second in front of the Tifosi in Monza; a first win for Ferrari on home soil since 2010.

The crash at Interlagos may have cost him third in the championship but he can be very satisfied with his performances this season under the severe pressure of driving for the Scuderia in only his second year in the sport. With a bit more experience under his belt, next year could be even better.

Highlight: Making himself an instant hero for the Tifosi with a hard-fought win at Monza.

Lowlight: The victory that was snatched oh so cruelly away in the closing laps in Bahrain.

Grade: B+

Max Verstappen

3rd | PTS: 278 | WINS: 3 | PODIUMS: 9 | POLES: 2 | FL: 3 | RET: 2

Max Verstappen has competed with Hamilton for ‘driver of the year’ rights throughout the season and there is very little to separate them. Verstappen has often outperformed his Red Bull machinery and his level of performance is causing those in charge to struggle to fill the seat alongside him. The flying Dutchman crushed Pierre Gasly into a mid-season demotion to Toro Rosso and, certainly on sheer pace, his replacement hasn’t managed to get much closer.

We did see a couple of glimpses of ‘the old Verstappen’ in a first corner crash at Spa and some impetuosity during the qualifying debacle in Mexico. But, overall, he appears to have reached a new level of maturity whilst holding onto his raw speed.

He can be very proud of three wins this year. If Red Bull can keep up the momentum they have ended the year with, he could take even more next season.

Highlight: All three wins were showstoppers but the Austria comeback was particularly impressive.

Lowlight: Throwing away pole in Mexico by not slowing for yellow flags and then crashing early in the race.

Grade: A

Alexander Albon

8th | PTS: 92 | WINS: 0 (BEST: 4th) | PODIUMS: 0 | POLES: 0 | FL: 0 | RET: 1

What a journey Alexander Albon has been on. A little over a year ago, he thought his F1 dream was over and was preparing to join the Nissan e.dams teams in Formula E. But when Daniel Ricciardo announced he was leaving Red Bull, and Gasly was brought in to replace him, Albon was urgently parachuted into a Toro Rosso drive for 2019.

He gave a good account of himself in the first half of the year, generally matching his more experienced teammate, Daniil Kvyat, despite never having driven a Formula 1 car before pre-season testing. And then, suddenly, he was presented with a race-winning seat when Red Bull decided to give him a chance after Gasly’s demotion. He started promisingly with a great comeback drive in Spa but has not quite been able to keep up with Verstappen in a straight fight thus far.

Still, he did enough to retain the seat for 2020 and time will tell what he can do with a proper winter’s preparations.

Highlight: Impressing on his Red Bull debut and even passing Ricciardo around the outside during his comeback.

Lowlight: Being denied a first podium by an overambitious move from Hamilton on the penultimate lap in Brazil.

Grade: B-

Carlos Sainz

6TH | PTS: 96 | WINS: 0 (BEST: 3rd) | PODIUMS: 1 | POLES: 0 | FL: 0 | RET: 4

Carlos Sainz re-announced himself as a star of the future – if not present – this year. After never quite getting to grips with the Renault, his star had seemed to be fading but, having stepped into the racing boots of his compatriot and idol Fernando Alonso, he has flourished as McLaren team leader.

One solid, understated, rarely filmed performance followed another, Sainz making the position of ‘best of the rest’ his own and was properly rewarded with an unlikely podium in the chaos of Brazil. He then claimed sixth in the drivers’ standings thanks to a great pass on the last lap of the last race. A fitting way to cap off his year.

Whilst obviously two drivers shared the second Red Bull seat, breaking into the top three teams’ usual lock-out of the top six positions is some achievement. He is one smooth operator.

Highlight: A first ever podium in Brazil and (eventually) celebrating it with the entire team.

Lowlight: Forgetting how few prisoners Verstappen takes in Bahrain and costing himself dearly.

Grade: A-

Lando Norris

11TH | PTS: 49 | WINS: 0 (BEST: 6TH) | PODIUMS: 0 | POLES: 0 | FL: 0 | RET: 6

Lando Norris had more than his share of bad luck in his first F1 season but, nonetheless, he has made a name for himself. He got into Q3 in his first ever qualifying session and finished sixth in the next race. Whilst thoroughly outscored by Sainz, the gap in their points tallies isn’t totally representative due to the high number of issues outside the young Brit’s control. Numerous mechanical failures, poorly timed safety cars and botched pit stops have all blighted him.

But he has remained positive throughout and even made memes out of most of his misfortune. Norris is a breath of fresh air in the sport and has marked himself out as the joker of the paddock. He can be serious when needed, though, and shouldn’t be underestimated. He certainly has the speed, as shown by clinching the qualifying head-to-head with his teammate 11-10 at the final race of the season.

Highlight: Sixth place in only his second ever race.

Lowlight: A gut-wrenching mechanical failure on the last lap when running fifth in Spa.

Grade: B+

Daniel Ricciardo

9TH | PTS: 54 | WINS: 0 (BEST: 4TH) | PODIUMS: 0 | POLES: 0 | FL: 0 | RET: 5

For the most part he has put on a brave and predictably smiley face…but this year must have been tough for Daniel Ricciardo. Renault splashed the cash and were aiming to close the gap to the big three but, in fact, dropped further back into the midfield and Ricciardo has been left fighting to scrape into the points at most races. He certainly enjoys that scrap and the intense racing that comes with it but, surely, he will be evaluating his options if Renault don’t make significant progress next year.

After a period of acclimatisation to his new surroundings, he stamped his authority over teammate Nico Hülkenberg and, by the end of the season, was comfortably ahead. Next year he will have a new challenge in the form of the incoming Esteban Ocon. He will once again be the elder statesman of the team with a feisty young upstart challenging him. Isn’t that what he was aiming to leave behind?

Highlight: Fourth place in Italy was Renault’s highest finish since the start of 2011.

Lowlight: Another mechanical failure in Germany costing him the chance of an upset.

Grade: B

Nico Hülkenberg

14TH | PTs: 37 | WINS: 0 (BEST: 5TH) | PODIUMS: 0 | POLES: 0 | FL: 0 | RET: 3

Whatever or whoever cursed Nico Hülkenberg, did so very thoroughly. This year’s German GP looked like being his best chance of a long overdue podium but yet again it wasn’t to be, as he slid agonisingly into the barriers whilst very much in contention. And that may have been his last chance, it turns out.

Renault have decided to replace him with Ocon and, after deciding a pay cut to drive for Haas wasn’t worth it, he is suddenly out of the sport. Will he be back? Potentially. There will be a lot of change in 2021 and his reputation as an experienced head and reliable source of points remains intact, despite losing out to Ricciardo this year. Maybe at Alfa Romeo if Kimi Räikkönen finally decides to call it a day next year?

Highlight: A strong fifth place at Monza.

Lowlight: That crash in Germany costing another chance at a podium.

Grade: C

Daniil Kvyat

13TH | PTS: 37 | WINS: 0 (BEST: 3RD) | PODIUMS: 1 | POLES: 0 | FL: 0 | RET: 3

Daniil Kvyat had some good moments this year – particularly the podium in Germany, obviously – but has returned somewhat to his previous grumpy persona and torpedo-ish ways since missing out on the Red Bull drive when Gasly was demoted. He seemed to be glad just to be back in the sport early in the year but that has evaporated and back-to-back penalties for late, desperate lunges in Mexico and the US (and his reaction towards those justified penalties) revealed the frustrations boiling under the surface.

He was also beaten too often by a rookie in the first half of the year and what was initially a crushed man in the second half of the year. He keeps his drive for next year (potentially competing under a neutral flag) but you get the feeling it may be his last one in the Red Bull system.

Highlight: An unlikely podium on the same weekend that his first child was born.

Lowlight: Missing out on a Red Bull seat again; another dip in his Red Bull rollercoaster.

Grade: C+

Pierre Gasly

7th | PTS: 95 | WINS: 0 (BEST: 2nd) | PODIUMS: 1 | POLES: 0 | FL: 2 | RET: 3

One could describe Pierre Gasly’s 2019 season as a rollercoaster but, if so, it was basically a big dipper with just the one drop at the start before being returned to the station. So, it’s an overused cliché from football rather than F1 that best sums up his year: it was very much a tale of two halves. He never got to grips with the Red Bull and, under the pressure of Verstappen’s relentless performances, started to fall apart. A demotion after just 12 races seems harsh but was ultimately not that much of a shock to the paddock.

To compound an already tough weekend in Belgium – his first since being demoted – Gasly lost a very close friend in Hubert and his performance in that race is a great credit to him. In fact, once back in the more familiar surroundings of Toro Rosso, the Frenchman showed what he is capable of on a consistent basis. And that culminated in a fully-deserved second place in Brazil, the release of emotion after the crossing the line palpable.

Highlight: That incredible podium at Interlagos and the Ayrton Senna-esque radio message that followed.

Lowlight: Finishing a lap down on his teammate in Hungary spelt the end of his time at Red Bull.

Grade: (D-)+(B+)=C

Sergio Pérez

10TH | PTS: 52 | WINS: 0 (BEST: 6TH) | PODIUMS: 0 | POLES: 0 | FL: 0 | RET: 2

After a pretty disappointing first half of the season, Sergio Pérez had a ridiculously consistent second half. He went into the summer break with just 13 points – most of which came in Azerbaijan – but since coming back from his ‘holidays’ scored points in every race bar a mechanical retirement in Singapore. It was often, as ever, his expertise when it comes to preserving tyre life that proved crucial.

That consistency saw him climb into the top half of the standings and, in the end, crush his teammate in the way many were expecting. Racing Point made decent progress with their car after a step back at the start of the year – most likely due to the transition from Force India – and Pérez is staying with the team next year for a sixth season.

Whilst he continues to prove himself an ever-reliable set of hands, will he ever get another shot in a top team?

Highlight: Qualifying fifth and then holding on to sixth in Azerbaijan.

Lowlight: A clumsy spin in the German rain ending his chances in his type of Grand Prix.

Grade: B

Lance Stroll

15TH | PTS: 21 | WINS: 0 (BEST: 4TH) | PODIUMS: 0 | POLES: 0 | FL: 0 | RET: 3

In stark contrast to his teammate, Lance Stroll barely picked up another point after the summer break, with just a 10th place in Spa and a ninth in Japan – the latter only coming courtesy of Renault’s double disqualification. Truthfully, even his 21-point tally is somewhat flattering, given 12 of them came from Racing Point’s successful gamble to switch to dry tyres in Germany which left the Canadian temporarily leading the race.

Stroll has held up his reputation for starting races very well but much of that is down to his awful qualifying record. He finished 18-3 down against Pérez and had the worst average grid position of anyone other than the Williams drivers. He will have to do more than this to shake off that ‘pay driver looked after by Daddy’ reputation.

Highlight: Suddenly, incredibly finding himself leading a Grand Prix in Germany.

Lowlight: Most qualifying sessions.

Grade: D+

Kimi Räikkönen

12TH | PTS: 43 | WINS: 0 (BEST: 4TH) | PODIUMS: 0 | POLES: 0 | FL: 0 | RET: 2

Kimi Räikkönen started the season very well with talk of rejuvenation and Indian summers as he consistently racked up points and spent some of the first half of the season as ‘best of the rest’. But, as Alfa Romeo went off the boil after the summer break, so did Räikkönen to some extent, scoring points just once.

He also went from having his teammate comfortably covered to suddenly being pretty evenly-matched and often qualifying behind him. But Kimi doesn’t seem to care, as ever. He’s just enjoying racing still…even at 40. Who’d have thought that possibly the most apathetic driver ever will next year take the record for the most races in F1 history? He must love it really.

Highlight: Bwoah, who knows? It was all okay.

Lowlight: See above.

Grade: B-

Antonio Giovinazzi

17TH | PTS: 14 | WINS: 0 (BEST: 5TH) | PODIUMS: 0 | POLES: 0 | FL: 0 | RET: 2

In the first half of the year, it looked like Antonio Giovinazzi was potentially not up to scratch as he failed to score points whilst teammate was racking up a fair haul. But the Italian got stronger as the year progressed and did enough to convince Alfa Romeo to keep him on for another season.

Unfortunately for him, as his performances increased, his team’s dwindled and, whilst he was often matching or beating Räikkönen, he wasn’t earning points. A freak fifth place in Brazil accounts for nearly 75% of his points tally. He will have to push on and find another level in 2020 to prove to Ferrari that he is worthy of their young driver slot in the junior Alfa Romeo team. After all, he’s not particularly young at 26.

Highlight: An unlikely fifth place at Interlagos.

Lowlight: Crashing out of a points-paying position on the last lap at Spa.

Grade: C-

Romain Grosjean

18TH | PTS: 8 | WINS: 0 (BEST: 7TH) | PODIUMS: 0 | POLES: 0 | FL: 0 | RET: 7

It has been another error-strewn season for Romain Grosjean. From repeated clashes with his teammate to spinning at the pit exit during a practice session, these are incidents that a driver of his experience shouldn’t be making; certainly not with this frequency.

He certainly still has a flash of speed on his day and the fact that he was proven right with regards to his idea to revert to the Australia-spec Haas car is probably what kept him in a seat for next year. Grosjean performed more consistently towards the end of the year but the Haas performance had fallen off a cliff and he didn’t pick up a single point after the summer break.

Highlight: Having his suspicions that the car had actually become worse proven right.

Lowlight: Immediately spinning into the barriers at the pit exit during Practice 1 in Britain.

Grade: D

Kevin Magnussen

16TH | PTS: 20 | WINS: 0 (BEST: 6TH) | PODIUMS: 0 | POLES: 0 | FL: 1 | RET: 3

Earlier in the year, Kevin Magnussen was generally qualifying very well but then suffering from Haas’s non-existent race pace and coming out of the weekend without much to show for his efforts. And, again, as the Haas car fell down the pecking order through the season, his qualifying performances were barely getting him out of Q1.

He was also, obviously, on the other end of those inter-team collisions with Grosjean, though, which didn’t help. The fault has generally laid somewhere between 50/50 and Magnussen and he continues to not make many friends out on the track. Not that he seems to care. His outright speed is currently keeping him in an F1 seat but, at some point, surely he’ll have to ask himself if there isn’t another way when it comes to wheel-to-wheel racing. Particularly with your teammate.

Highlight: Starting the season with a strong sixth-place finish in Australia.

Lowlight: The collision with Grosjean at Silverstone taking out both cars.

Grade: C+

Robert Kubica

19TH | PTS: 1 | WINS: 0 (BEST: 10TH) | PODIUMS: 0 | POLES: 0 | FL: 0 | RET: 2

Robert Kubica’s return was not quite the fairy-tale story that many had hoped for. The Williams has, of course, been a long way off the pace but Kubica has also been a fair way off the pace of his rookie teammate. There had been rumours regarding whether the drivers had equal machinery but, even after swapping chassis, it would appear that the Pole sadly just didn’t have the pace and that was backed up by an eventual qualifying 21-0 whitewash.

He did at least claim the unlikeliest of points in Germany to have something to show for what was nonetheless an incredible comeback, almost a decade after a near-fatal injury. We must not forget the man was basically driving with one hand.

Highlight: A points-finish in Germany in a car that seemed unlikely ever to achieve one.

Lowlight: Consistently driving round in last place, being lapped two or three times.

Grade: D (But A for Effort)

George Russell

20TH | PTS: 0 | WINS: 0 (BEST: 11TH) | PODIUMS: 0 | POLES: 0 | FL: 0 | RET: 2

George Russell finished the season as the only driver without a point but that is far from the story of his impressive debut season thus. Whilst Kubica is an unknown quantity since his return, Russell frankly destroyed him. 21-0 in qualifying and 17-4 on Sunday. And beating your teammate is about all you can do in a car so off the pace as this year’s Williams.

Russell very nearly dragged the car miraculously into Q2 when the playing field was levelled a little in Hungary and even set a lap record whilst testing the Mercedes earlier in the year. Last year’s F2 champion would appear to have a very bright future ahead of him.

Highlight: That Hungarian qualifying lap. 16th in this Williams is stunning.

Lowlight: Missing out on a point in Germany.

Grade: B+

2019 Abu Dhabi GP report | Hamilton rounds out championship year with grand slam

Posted on by James Mackenzie
That’s a wrap on F1 2019.
Image credit: Mercedes-AMG F1

Lewis Hamilton finished the year at the 2019 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in the fashion he has spent much of it – leading from the front. And in the most emphatic fashion so far this season, as he took his only ‘grand chelem’ – achieved by claiming pole, the win, the fastest lap and leading every lap – of the year.

That is the his sixth grand slam, moving him beyond Alberto Ascari and Michael Schumacher to outright second on the all-time list, two behind the late, great Jim Clark. Yet another record for Hamilton to set his sights on.

The race itself was sadly a fairly standard Abu Dhabi affair – a pretty dull race with the action limited mostly to Valtteri Bottas’s fight through the field from the back of the grid. The Finn’s job was also made slightly harder by the bizarre lack of DRS for 18 laps, apparently caused by a ‘data server crash’.

As Martin Brundle had feared may be the case, Hamilton ‘checked out’ at the front of the field, controlling his pace and keeping a comfortable lead throughout. He showed just how much pace he had to spare by setting the fastest lap of the race on reasonably old hard tyres when many behind had pitted for new, softer ones in the final few laps.

The fight for the other podium positions was slightly spicier. Charles Leclerc passed Max Verstappen on the first lap as the Red Bull seemed to initially struggle heating its tyres. But Verstappen ran 13 laps longer and comfortably passed the Ferrari, having rejoined just four seconds back on far fresher tyres, despite nursing a subtle engine issue throughout the race. Leclerc then switched to a two-stop strategy and just about managed to hold off the closing Bottas in the closing laps. Leclerc had spent the entire race aware that he could well be disqualified for a technical infringement from Ferrari before the race but, after a post-race investigation, the team were fined €50,000 and his third place stood.

It was another amateur-ish mistake from F1’s most experienced team – simply a case of the amount of fuel Ferrari had said was in Leclerc’s car being significantly different from the actual amount once it had been checked by the FIA. If they are to put together a real title challenge in 2020, Ferrari will have to iron out these basic operational failings…as well as the rather larger ones such as strategy and their drivers crashing into each other…

Sebastian Vettel at the 2019 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Image credit: Foto Colombo Images

Sebastian Vettel came home a fairly underwhelming fifth, followed by the other Red Bull of Alexander Albon, the Anglo-Thai finishing a disappointing 52.5 seconds behind his teammate. Whilst, overall, Albon has done a solid job in what has undeniably been a big ask of a rookie driver, that is similar to the gaps we were seeing between Verstappen and Pierre Gasly before his demotion. With a proper preparation for next year, Albon will surely have better foundations to build on for 2020 but he will have to be consistently and markedly closer to the superstar on the other side of the garage to cement his place in both the team and the sport for the future.

Sergio Pérez claimed ‘best of the rest’ thanks to some trademark tyre conservation and a good strategy, nicking seventh from Lando Norris on the last lap with what he described as “one of the best moves in my career”.

Sainz Leaves it Late to Snatch Sixth

Another move on the last lap – this time with a McLaren being the overtaker rather than the overtaken – brought Carlos Sainz the single point he required to seal sixth in the Drivers’ Championship, with the Spaniard clearly ecstatic with the manner in which he claimed it.

Carlos Sainz at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Image credit: Sutton

Sainz absolutely deserves that sixth place. Whilst it has obviously been made possible by two drivers getting half a season each in the second Red Bull, the level of consistency achieved by the Spaniard has been excellent and he nearly broke the 100-point barrier despite a fair share of bad luck. He lost a haul of points in Bahrain through a coming together with Verstappen and more via a botched pit-stop in Italy.

Surely Red Bull are looking somewhat longingly at Sainz now as they struggle to find a driver worthy of their second seat. Verstappen and Sainz were very evenly matched as teammates in their rookie years and it seems that, in the last 12 months certainly, Sainz has pushed onto another level and is relishing his role as team leader at McLaren.

Tension between their respective fathers supposedly played a part in Sainz not being considered for the Red Bull drive when Daniel Ricciardo dropped the bomb that he was leaving for Renault last year. But you have to wonder, with a Verstappen-Sainz pairing, would Red Bull have been able to truly challenge Ferrari for seconds in the Constructors’ Championship this year?

Verstappen Claims the Other ‘Best of the Rest’

Whilst, at times, Ferrari and Red Bull have looked very fast – the Ferrari particularly in qualifying and the Red Bull particularly at altitude – over the course of the season, the Mercedes team has been somewhat in a class of one.

With his second place in Abu Dhabi – and a helping hand from the Ferrari clash last weekend – Verstappen claimed third in the championship and what is effectively ‘best of the rest’ beyond the Silver Arrows. It is another deserved unofficial crown, as Verstappen has surely stood out, alongside Hamilton, as the star of the field this year.

Image credit: Red Bull

Where, in past seasons, he had shown unquestionable raw speed but flashes of immaturity and rashness, this year has been nearly devoid of those flies in the ointment. There were perhaps a couple of overambitious moves but that comes with the territory when you are a bold driver like Verstappen.

If Red Bull can actually start a season competitively for once next year, and Verstappen can keep his head once faced with a real title battle, 2020 could even be a case of him going for ‘best of the best’.

But the final word must go to Hamilton.

Having been challenged more consistently by the other teams since the summer break, the world champion’s superlative performance at the Yas Marina Circuit was a pointed reminder to the prentenders to his throne that he is still very much the king.

The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in 60 Seconds

Answering the Burning Questions

Who can go into the winter break on a high? Certainly Hamilton. But Verstappen and Leclerc will be pretty content too.

How will relations be between the two Ferrari drivers and within the team? There was a hint of tension with Leclerc missing his final qualifying lap and seeming to blame Vettel but really it was the team’s fault. That was followed by another silly error from the team on race day… Will any heads roll over the winter break?

Who will claim third in the Drivers’ Championship? Verstappen, pretty comfortably in the end.

Can Hülkenberg get a podium in possibly his last ever race?? Of course not. A token Driver of the Day award though!

2019 Abu Dhabi GP preview

Posted on by James Mackenzie

The Burning Questions

Who can go into the winter break on a high?

How will relations be between the two Ferrari drivers and within the team?

Who will claim third in the Drivers’ Championship?

Can Hülkenberg get a podium in possibly his last ever race??

The Track

The Stats

Track Length: 5.554 km

Laps: 55

Race Distance: 305.355 km

First Grand Prix: 2009

Race Lap Record: Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull | 2009 | 1:40.279

Outright Lap Record: Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 2018 | 1:34.794

Most Driver Wins: Lewis Hamilton | 2011, 2014, 2016, 2018

Most Constructor Wins: Mercedes | 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018

The Weather

The Quotes

Charles Leclerc | “Seb probably shouldn’t have gone to the left and he knows it and I could have done a better job of avoiding him going to the left. What is important is everything is clear now and we move forward.”

Mattia Binotto | “We discussed together and I think that they understand what happened was not acceptable. We know how to move forward.”

Toto Wolff | “The underperformance in Brazil means we head to Abu Dhabi with a point to prove. Yas Marina has been a good circuit for us in the last years and we’ll push hard to continue in the same way.”

Claire Williams | “We look forward to [Nicholas Latifi] stepping up into this new role, as we look to fight our way back to the midfield.”

Lewis Hamilton | “There’s always room to improve and we’ve not been perfect all year, we’ve not won every single race and there are areas we can definitely round up and do better.”

The Photos

The Predictions

Podium

Pole Position

Fastest Lap

Driver of the Day

2019 Brazilian GP report | Verstappen thrills in Brazil and Gasly claims second as the Ferraris collide

Posted on by James Mackenzie
A fairly average race for 50 laps…and then absolute bedlam.
Max Verstappen and Pierre Gasly on the Brazilian Grand Prix podium.
Image credit: Getty Images

Max Verstappen took a commanding victory at the 2019 Brazilian Grand Prix as all around him – or certainly most – were losing their heads.

Verstappen led away from pole with Lewis Hamilton passing Sebastian Vettel for second place around the outside of the first corner. From there, it looked likely to be a tale of whether the young Dutchman could keep the newly-crowned world champion at bay. Mercedes had shown strong pace during race simulations in the practice sessions and, whilst never quite getting close enough for an overtaking attempt, Hamilton remained within touching distance throughout the first phase of the Grand Prix.

Mercedes triggered the undercut on lap 20 by pitting Hamilton and committing to a two-stop strategy. Red Bull responded a lap later but, via the combination of an unhelpful Williams pit release and a strong out lap from Hamilton, Verstappen emerged behind the Mercedes driver.

That would not remain the case for long, however. Hamilton had completely depleted his battery on his flying out lap and so was slow on the start/finish straight; Verstappen took the opportunity to fly past and regain his net lead.

The two drivers matched each other as they worked their way through backmarkers until, after another 20 or so laps, Mercedes attempted another undercut. This time with less success. Hamilton appeared happier on the medium tyres than he had been on the soft, though, and was closing the gap. But everything was about to be flipped on its head.

Whilst trying to find a way past Charles Leclerc for fourth, Valtteri Bottas’s Mercedes engine overheated and the Finn ground to a halt – the first mechanical retirement for Mercedes this year – which, despite some good parking, brought out the safety car. Mercedes told Hamilton to do the opposite to Verstappen; the Red Bull driver came in and so Hamilton stayed out, but almost immediately began to question the decision to leave him vulnerable on older, harder tyres.

His fears were quickly proven to be well-founded as, despite Hamilton’s best efforts to catch him out at the restart, Verstappen flew by once more before the first corner. Alexander Albon also made a great move to jump past Vettel, before starting to pressure Hamilton, with the Ferraris close behind. But not for long.

With five laps remaining, Leclerc dived down the inside of his teammate at the first corner but Vettel stayed close behind and pulled alongside on the following straight. As he passed, he drifted left, Leclerc did not move fast enough, there was slight tyre-to-tyre contact and Ferraris race quite literally fell apart.

The Ferraris collide at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Image credit: Formula 1

Leclerc’s front left suspension was broken and Vettel was also parked up with the damage caused by a rear right puncture within a lap. As is tradition, both drivers blamed each other. (More on that later.)

This brought about another safety car. This time Mercedes gambled and brought Hamilton in, dropping him to fourth and leaving a Honda 1-2-3, as things stood, in the form of Verstappen, Albon and Pierre Gasly’s Toro Rosso. Lance Stroll had also retired after hitting debris from the Ferrari theatrics and it looked as though the race may finish behind the safety car.

It was restarted, however, with an effective two-lap sprint race to the chequered flag. Hamilton, on his fresh, soft tyres, dispatched Gasly at the first corner and was immediately onto the gearbox of Albon. Was the gamble about to pay off for Mercedes?

No. It was, in fact, about to end in tears, as Hamilton made an ambitious dive into the Bico de Pato corner. Albon certainly left the door open but, when he took the normal racing line and effectively closed it, Hamilton was too committed and made contact with the Red Bull, leaving it pointing in the wrong direction as the field sailed past. Agony for Albon, apologies from Hamilton post-race, but euphoria at Toro Rosso as Gasly moved into second position.

A lap later, coming out of the last corner, Hamilton got a run on the Frenchman and pulled alongside to produce a drag race to the line. But, in a show of just how far Honda have come this year, the Toro Rosso won that drag race and Gasly took a stirring first podium in F1, after an incredibly trying year. Cue an emotional release and a Senna-in-91-esque radio message.

Image credit: Motorsport Images

Once Hamilton had been given a five second penalty, we were left with a bizarre top five of Verstappen, Gasly, Carlos Sainz and the Alfa Romeos of Kimi Räikkönen and Antonio Giovinazzi. It was also a debut podium for Sainz and, although he was not part of the initial ceremony, he was later allowed up to the podium to celebrate with his team.

Again, there were some questionable strategy decisions from Mercedes. Bottas was confusingly pitted just 14 laps into a stint on the hard tyres as the team drastically bailed out of a one-stop. And whilst the undercuts for Hamilton were fairly well executed, the decision not to pit him under the first safety car left him a sitting duck and, but for the Ferrari incident, Hamilton could easily have found himself behind all four cars that had been following at that point. This was supposed to be a race for Mercedes to be set free from the constraints of playing it safe with the championship in mind but it came across more like rash, ill-considered decisions with a whiff of desperation at points. Especially in contrast to the excellence of the Red Bull strategies, pit stops and drive by Verstappen.

But hey, it could have been worse. They could be…

Ferrari…

After two years of near misses and now a season that promised so much but has massively under-delivered, the Tifosi fans are pretty numb to pain at the moment.

But this one will have hurt.

Tensions that have been in danger of boiling over for some time now, finally did so. And with disastrous consequences. The two drivers conspired to crash into each other whilst on a straight and, just like that, Ferrari’s season surely hit its nadir. But who was primarily to blame, if anyone?

Image credit: Formula 1

The stewards have ruled ‘no further action necessary’ but, for me, the blame must lie closer to Vettel’s door than that of Leclerc. It was a slightly rude divebomb – particularly on a teammate – by Leclerc into the first corner, but a fair and successful one. Maybe that stung Vettel – with Hamilton and Albon having also robbed him at the same corner earlier in the race – as there was no need for him to come across his teammate in the way that he did as he came back past. He had the overspeed to be ahead by the corner anyway.

Watching the onboards, you can see how little time Leclerc had to react. It was all a bit Turkey 2010 with Webber. Vettel has been under such pressure this season and has seen his number one status within the team come under serious threat; was this an attempt to show dominance? We can’t be sure.

Between the many spins and the incidents like this – remember that, just two races ago, Vettel squeezed Hamilton onto the grass at the start and was saved by the latter bailing out – the four-time world champion sometimes seems to lack a bit of spacial awareness in the car. He may have a bit of soul-searching to do before next season.

Image credit: Getty Images

It will be interesting to see how Ferrari handle the fallout from this. They have one race left to patch things up or it could be a very frosty winter…

Two Very Wholesome Podiums

The podium finishes for both Gasly and Sainz will be hugely popular throughout the paddock.

Gasly has had such a tough year. Obviously, struggling badly in the Red Bull and seemingly losing all confidence before being demoted during the summer break. But then particularly, during his first race back at Toro Rosso, losing his close, lifelong friend Anthoine Hubert to that tragic, fatal accident in Spa.

That makes his redemption arc in the second half of the season all the more impressive. He has generally had the better of new teammate Daniil Kvyat, despite having to readapt to the Toro Rosso, and has just kept getting stronger. He was ‘best of the rest’ for the majority of the weekend in Brazil and fully capitalised on the chance he was given. It also leaves him with the record for France’s youngest ever podium.

Carlos Sainz with his trophy at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Image credit: EFE

Sainz, meanwhile, deserves it for the sheer quality of his performances this year. The Spaniard was starting to look like he may have contracted the Nico Hülkenberg podium curse with so many fourth and fifth place finishes in a generally impressive career.

But he has broken that duck and, judging by the consistently high level he has been (smoothly) operating at this year, it would not be a surprise to see him pick up many more trophies.

The Brazilian Grand Prix in 60 Seconds

Answering the Burning Questions

With the title wrapped up, can we still get an exciting race? Just a bit, yeah.

Will we get any more clues as to the effect the power unit clarifications have had on Ferrari? There is still talk from Mercedes and Red Bull that they are seeing a reduction but the Ferrari straight-line speed appeared closer to what we’re used to here. And the altitude made it hard to come to a definite conclusion.

How will Albon perform now that his seat for next year is confirmed? He still has work to do when it comes to qualifying pace but he looked at home mixing it with the big names during the race.

Who of Leclerc, Verstappen and Vettel will leave the weekend leading the battle for third in the championship? Verstappen, by a surprisingly comfortable 11 points.

Surely we’re overdue another crazy, wet race? Interlagos quite often delivers them… Well it wasn’t wet but it was certainly crazy.

2019 Brazilian GP preview

Posted on by James Mackenzie

The Burning Questions

With the title wrapped up, can we still get an exciting race?

Will we get any more clues as to the effect the power unit clarifications have had on Ferrari?

How will Albon perform now that his seat for next year is confirmed?

Who of Leclerc, Verstappen and Vettel will leave the weekend leading the battle for third in the championship?

Surely we’re overdue another crazy, wet race? Interlagos quite often delivers them…

The Track

The Stats

Track Length: 4.309 km

Laps: 71

Race Distance: 305.909 km

First Grand Prix: 1973

Race Lap Record: Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 2018 | 1:10.540

Outright Lap Record: Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 2018 | 1:07.281

Most Driver Wins: Michael Schumacher | 1994, 1995, 2000, 2002

Most Constructor Wins: Ferrari | 1976, 1977, 1990, 2000, 2002, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2017

The Weather

The Quotes

Lewis Hamilton | “When people talk about history, it just doesn’t fully resonate at the moment. But at some stage I’m sure it will.”

Alexander Albon | “To get the call-up originally after Hungary, it was quite a daunting prospect really. But I felt like I could do something and, to be honest, the races that I’ve had, I have been pretty happy with. To get the final call to tell me that I’m staying for next year, it feels really good.”

Sebastian Vettel | “Somehow there’s always drama here. There’s always something happening, it’s quite unpredictable.”

Valtteri Bottas | “If I can perform at the level I want to, that tends to upset the other side of the garage a little bit, and I know being on the other side as well it can lead you to mistakes. I have a plan for next year but I am really not willing to share it so we will find out.”

Nico Hülkenberg | “Next year I will not be on the grid. I will not retire as a driver. But, for now, it will be a year without running. I don’t know what will happen in the future, I’m not in a hurry. I don’t see myself as a test pilot.”

The Photos

The Predictions

Podium

Pole Position

Fastest Lap

Driver of the Day

2019 United States GP report | Bottas wins the battle, Hamilton wins the war

Posted on by James Mackenzie
It’s number six for Lewis Hamilton.
Lewis Hamilton at the United States Grand Prix.
Image credit: Getty Images

A fine drive from Valtteri Bottas meant he took his seventh victory in Formula 1 at the 2019 United States Grand Prix but it wasn’t enough to deny Lewis Hamilton his sixth world championship.

After a poor Saturday – certainly by his high standards – Hamilton started fifth on the grid but produced a champion’s performance on race day. Clearly determined to make amends, Hamilton had passed both Ferraris within a matter of seconds as they struggled to turn on their tyres, including a particularly impressive move around the outside of Sebastian Vettel through Turn Eight. Bottas held a comfortable lead throughout the first stint with Max Verstappen and Hamilton a few seconds back.

Red Bull triggered the first pit stops with an attempted undercut on lap 13 and Mercedes responded with Bottas, both drivers now on a likely two-stop strategy. This left Hamilton to go long and attempt another now-somewhat-trademark ‘tyre whisperer’ massage session in order to make a one-stop work. He stopped on lap 24, leaving him 32 laps to eke out of his hard tyres.

Bottas pitted on lap 35 and rejoined six seconds behind Hamilton. He initially closed on his teammate quickly but, when the tyre differential had reduced slightly and backmarkers began to come into play, the drivers appeared to be in something of a stalemate. With the remaining laps ticking down, it looked as though Hamilton was on the verge of repeating his feat from a week ago in Mexico and making a contra strategy work perfectly. But in the end Bottas’s fresher tyres were enough and, after a good battle with some strong defence from Hamilton, the Finn took the lead with four laps to spare. Verstappen, who had also been steadily closing in, was foiled by yellow flags from Kevin Magnussen’s stricken Haas in the last couple of laps and was unable to pass.

Bottas took the chequered flag to claim his fourth victory of the year and, in doing so, showed that he can maintain some momentum after the summer break, where in years gone by his challenge has faded. But it was still not enough and Hamilton took second place and an unbelievable sixth World Championship with two races to spare.

Image credit: Formula 1

Further back, Vettel’s rear suspension had dramatically failed early on; the German doing well to keep his suddenly three-wheeled Ferrari pointing in the right direction before pulling over in a convenient spot. His teammate, Charles Leclerc, had a slightly better afternoon but a pretty lonely one and came home a distant fourth. Sceptics – including Max Verstappen, who was even quoted as saying “that’s what happens when you stop cheating” – are already suggesting that the recent FIA clarification of technical rules regarding power units has impacted Ferrari’s performance.

One race is too early to make those of kind of sweeping assumptions. This was not a track layout that ever looked to particularly favour Ferrari’s package and there main issue appeared to be with the tyre temperatures. The next race in Brazil will likely be similar so let’s all try and reserve judgement until the season finale in Abu Dhabi. If their clear straight-line speed advantage has disappeared there, then maybe we can all consider grabbing our pitchforks and/or tin foil hats.

Alexander Albon recovered well to fifth after a first corner incident. We have still barely seen the Anglo-Thai in a straight fight with teammate Verstappen since his swap to Red Bull but he has continued to put in solid performances in the unenviable position of joining a team mid-way through your rookie season and being matched up against the flying Dutchman.

Alexander Albon at the United States Grand Prix.
Image credit: DPPI

Behind him, Daniel Ricciardo narrowly held off a charging Lando Norris for sixth place after the young Briton had taken a late pitstop and charged back through the field from 10th. It was a better weekend for McLaren – with Carlos Sainz following his teammate home in seventh – after Mexico where a pit stop error cost Norris and there was the mystery of Sainz’s lack of pace on the hard tyre.

Also, a quick mention for Sergio Perez who claimed a points-paying position having started in the pit lane, even with Daniil Kvyat producing another desperate final lap divebomb just seven days after doing the same to Nico Hülkenberg. This one earned him a penalty too. The Torpedo is back to torpedo-ing. Is he costing himself a seat at Toro Rosso next year? Sorry, make that Alpha Tauri…or whatever they’re called.

Lewis Hamilton: Six-Time World Champion

Image credit: Getty Images

Hamilton was already undeniably in the pantheon of the greats. But he is now closing in on staking a strong claim to be the best driver in the history of the sport.

A sixth world championship moves him clear of the great Juan Manuel Fangio and just one behind the record seven titles of Michael Schumacher. He is also now closing in on most of Schumacher’s various other records. 83 wins compared to Schumacher’s 91, 150 podiums compared to 155. If all seasons are converted to having the current points system, Hamilton is now at 3788 with Schumacher having taken a total of 3961. These are records that could easily change hands in the next 12 months.

The world champion’s prowess over a single lap in qualifying has long been known and he already stands far out on his own when it comes to the record for pole positions. But more recently, and particularly this season, he has shown he is just as good on a Sunday. As previously mentioned, he is now infamous for his tyre management. Mercedes Technical Director James Allison, who has worked with many greats including Schumacher himself, described Hamilton’s “instinctive ability” when it comes to the subtle technicalities of racing – such as tyre management and fuel conservation – as “remarkable” and has spoken of the “metronomic consistency of his race performances all year”.

Hamilton really does have very few – if any – weaknesses these days. After the season, I plan to do a post truly comparing him to the previous greats but, for the moment, let’s just appreciate that we have seen a fantastic driver further cement his legend and move closer to what had previously appeared to be unassailable records.

Congratulations, Lewis. The lad from Stevenage done good.

The United States Grand Prix in 60 Seconds

Answering the Burning Questions

Can Hamilton wrap up the title? Of course he did.

…When Hamilton wraps up the title, will there be any impressive theatrics from the Americans/Liberty? There was a parking spot but that was about it. Maybe the champion being lifted up to the podium last weekend in Mexico would have been more fitting.

With its varied layout, which car will COTA suit the best? Red Bull gave a good charge but Mercedes appeared to just have the edge for most of the weekend.

Can Verstappen stop his recent run of mishaps? There was a small bit of contact at the first corner, and later on with a kerb, that caused minor damage but it was a strong weekend overall.

Chances of another Kimi win?.. Bwoah, sadly not.

2019 United States Grand Prix preview

Posted on by James Mackenzie

The Burning Questions

Can Hamilton wrap up the title?

…When Hamilton wraps up the title, will there be any impressive theatrics from the Americans/Liberty?

With its varied layout, which car will COTA suit the best?

Can Verstappen stop his recent run of mishaps?

Chances of another Kimi win?..

The Track

The Stats

Track Length: 5.513 km

Laps: 56

Race Distance: 308.405 km

First Grand Prix: 2012 (Austin) | 1959 (US) | 1950 (US incl. Indy 500)

Race Lap Record: Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 2018 | 1:37.392

Outright Lap Record: Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 2018 | 1:32.237

Most Driver Wins: Lewis Hamilton | 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017

Most Constructor Wins: Mercedes | 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017

The Weather

The Quotes

Lewis Hamilton | “I never thought I would have five titles. If I am able to get a sixth one, it will be pretty unreal. I don’t think I’ve hit peak yet and I plan to continue to get stronger.”

Max Verstappen | “I like to fight hard but on the edge. If they want me to stay behind, it’s better to stay at home. I really want to take the fight to them because that’s what we are here for. We fight for victories because that’s what we live for.”

Kimi Räikkönen | “I think even if we are 10 seconds slower, for people to watch the races, if it’s more exciting nobody cares. Every year the times are slightly different.”

Daniil Kvyat | “This is a nice place to go racing, there’s a good atmosphere from the fans at the track and I think all the drivers appreciate the city of Austin itself, so we like going there.”

The Photos

The Predictions

Podium

Pole Position

Fastest Lap

Driver of the Day

2019 Mexican GP report | Hamilton win leaves him on brink of title

Posted on by James Mackenzie
Ferrari mess up a 1-2, Hamilton wins, Lando’s luckless, water is wet.
Lewis Hamilton wins the Mexican Grand Prix.
Image credit: Daimler AG

Lewis Hamilton came away with a surprise win at the 2019 Mexican Grand Prix after Mercedes had struggled through Friday and Saturday on a track that has not been kind to them in recent years.

Max Verstappen had initially taken pole position but was given a three-place grid penalty for ignoring yellow flags after Valtteri Bottas’s nasty crash in the dying seconds of Q3, which left the Finn winded. It was a needless penalty to risk as Verstappen already had pole secured through his previous flying lap but the Dutchman appeared characteristically unrepentant in the press conference.

So a fired-up Verstappen on race day was something of an inevitability. Last year, that approach won him the race; this year, it did not.

Hamilton made a good start but was squeezed onto the grass by Sebastian Vettel – in previous years that may well have earned him a penalty but not with the current approach by the stewards – and that left him with Verstappen on his inside into Turn One. They nearly touched, Verstappen following Vettel’s lead by also squeezing Hamilton to the edge of the track. Hamilton then got a big slap of oversteer and failed to make the corner, leaving Verstappen nowhere to go except joining him on the grass.

The pair recovered to fifth and eighth but Verstappen’s opportunistic move on Bottas in the stadium section resulted in a puncture and a long trip back to the pits.

At the front, it would become a tale of divergent strategies.

Charles Leclerc had retained the lead at the start and led until pitting on lap 15, committing to a two-stop strategy. Alexander Albon would also be pitting twice, having stopped a lap earlier, but the rest of the leaders would go with what transpired to be the faster option of the one-stop.

Mercedes, for once, decided to go with the undercut for Hamilton and pitted him on lap 23, leaving Vettel and Bottas to go much further. The world champion feared they had pitted too early as his two rivals continued on and on at a decent pace. But it turned out to be the perfect move.

After Bottas and Vettel pitted on laps 36 and 37 respectively, and Leclerc came in for his second stop on lap 43, Hamilton appeared to be in trouble – easy prey for the chasing pack. Vettel had 14-lap-younger tyres and his teammate was closing the gap by a second a lap. It looked set for a showdown in the last few laps, as all four drivers converged, but Hamilton had preserved his tyres perfectly and was able to hold his challengers at arm’s length – two seconds in F1 terms – to the chequered flag.

Ultimately, it was a slow-burner of a race that looked ready to explode but the fuse went out just before reaching the fireworks.

Nonetheless, it was a very satisfying win for the Briton and his Mercedes team at a race from which they did not expect a lot. And one that takes him to the very brink of the title. If either he takes at least four points or Bottas doesn’t win next weekend then he is guaranteed a sixth World Championship. Even with a likely coronation, the Americans will have to go some to beat the Mexican post-race ceremony, which featured the race-winning car and driver appearing from below the stage à la Beyoncé…

Is the Old Verstappen Back?

Many spent the first half of this year waxing lyrical about how Max Verstappen had finally matured and it certainly did appear that way. But was it true?

Since the summer break, Verstappen has been on a run not too far from the one he had in early 2018, with first corner incidents at four of the last six races. Certainly, he was blameless in Japan and unfortunate here, but he is back to just always seeming to be involved in something and that often comes down to where a driver is positioning their car.

The move on Bottas was overambitious and clearly hot-headed as, even without the contact, he was just giving Bottas DRS and a tow down the straight immediately after. And on his way back through the field, there was also a slightly clumsy move on Magnussen, followed by overtaking the Dane whilst off the circuit – there doesn’t seem to have been any explanation as to why this wasn’t penalised.

It is that red mist and seeming lack of foresight that he will need to improve upon if he ends up in a genuine title fight in the next couple of seasons. Not lifting whilst passing the scene of Bottas’s crash on Saturday was potentially excusable, due to the lack of the electronic yellow flags, but his demeanour when asked about it was belligerent and arrogant.

The ‘Orange Army’ are quick to remind that he is still only 22 but should five seasons of F1 experience not trump that?

Image credit: Motorsport Images

Meanwhile, on the other side of the garage, the slightly older but much less experienced Albon had another solid race. And he has now outscored Verstappen in their time together by 46 points to 27.

His pace is getting stronger as he acclimatises to car and team, as shown by matching Verstappen’s qualifying time to the thousandth of a second in Suzuka. He didn’t look overawed whilst battling with the big names this weekend, maintaining third position in front of Hamilton for the first stint in Mexico, and he is making an increasingly compelling case to be kept on for the Red Bull seat in 2020.

Pérez Sends the Home Crowd Wild

I mean, he always does – all he has to do is drive through the stadium section without putting the car in the wall – but rightly so this weekend with a strong drive to seventh and ‘best of the rest’.

Sergio Pérez and Daniel Ricciardo fought hard for that unofficial honour in the final few laps as the Australian closed in on new, softer tyres but he was unable to pull off a trademark divebomb, locking up and running over the grass into Turn One.

Image credit: Renault

There was some further drama behind them as, during their battle over the final two points positions, Daniil Kvyat punted Nico Hülkenberg into the barriers at the very final corner. The German limped over the finish line with no rear wing and the Russian was given a penalty that dropped him to 11th and promoted his teammate, Pierre Gasly, to ninth.

It was a poor day for McLaren who, having been running fourth and sixth early on, found themselves pointless at the chequered flag. Lando Norris’s appalling luck continued as a pit stop error left him stranded at the end of the pit lane with a loose wheel. And Carlos Sainz just had no pace once on the hard tyre, was forced to stop again, and gradually faded into obscurity, finishing 13th. They’ll hope to be back mixing it with the big teams in Texas.

The Mexican Grand Prix in 60 Seconds

Answering the Burning Questions

Can Lewis Hamilton clinch the world title this weekend? Not quite. But it’s as good as done, barring any kind of 2007-esque cataclysm.

Or can Valtteri Bottas use the momentum of his win in Japan to take the challenge to his teammate? Not really. It could have been worse after that Q3 crash, though.

Which car will deal with the low altitude best? Hard to say. A 1-3 for Mercedes but Ferrari were very strong and who knows what Verstappen could have achieved?

Will there be any more drama between Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen? Leclerc was one of the few drivers that Verstappen didn’t end up in some kind of drama with.

With thunderstorms forecast over the weekend, could we have our first wet Mexican race? Nope. It poured every evening though… Typical.

2019 Mexican GP preview

Posted on by James Mackenzie

The Burning Questions

Can Lewis Hamilton clinch the world title this weekend?

Or can Valtteri Bottas use the momentum of his win in Japan to take the challenge to his teammate?

Which car will deal with the low altitude best?

Will there be any more drama between Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen?

With thunderstorms forecast over the weekend, could we have our first wet Mexican race?

The Track

The Stats

Track Length: 4.304 km

Laps: 71

Race Distance: 305.354 km

First Grand Prix: 1963

Race Lap Record: Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 2018 | 1:18.741

Outright Lap Record: Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull | 2018 | 1:14.759

Most Driver Wins: Jim Clark/Nigel Mansell/Alain Prost/Max Verstappen | 1963, 1967/1987, 1992/1988, 1990/2017, 2018

Most Constructor Wins: Lotus/McLaren/Williams | 1963, 1967, 1968/ 1969, 1988, 1989/1987, 1991, 1992

The Weather

The Quotes

Lewis Hamilton | “Mexico is generally our worst race of the year because of the way our car is set up and it’s going to be a tough one for us.”

Sebastian Vettel | “Over the past couple of years, we have been on an upward trend in Mexico, although Red Bull has been the team to beat. But I think the gaps between us are getting smaller, so let’s see how we get on this year.”

Toto Wolff | “The four remaining races are not going to be easy and we expect Mexico to be the most difficult.”

Mattia Binotto | “After two races in which we could have done better, we arrive in Mexico determined to win. We will be aiming for our sixth consecutive pole, before looking to convert that into victory.”

Sergio Pérez | “Racing in Mexico is the highlight of the season for me. When I see the busy grandstands, I feel very proud and the support from the people is fantastic.”

Daniel Ricciardo | “I love that they have Mariachi bands everywhere.”

The Photos

The Predictions

Podium

Pole Position

Fastest Lap

Driver of the Day

2019 Japanese GP report | Bottas wins as Mercedes seal title

Posted on by James Mackenzie
Some questionable strategy but, nevertheless, Mercedes are champions.

With Ferrari finding new and ever more inventive ways to capitulate, Valtteri Bottas came home a comfortable winner at the 2019 Japanese Grand Prix and sealed the Constructors’ Championship for Mercedes. The result also confirmed that only Bottas or his teammate, Lewis Hamilton, can now win the Drivers’ Championship so that is a record six consecutive world championship doubles for the Silver Arrows.

Whilst some may be tired of the recent domination within the sport, you have to admire the consistency with which the team operate. It is worth remembering that we are witnessing history in the making. In the future, people will surely point back to arguably now the greatest team the sport has ever known. The efficiency with which the German marque is renowned came to the fore at the beginning of the hybrid era in 2014 and the relentless Mercedes machine has rumbled on ever since, crushing all in its path.

It is a shame that Niki Lauda is not around to see them break the record as he was so instrumental in that success. He played a crucial role in convincing Hamilton to join the team and, together with team principal Toto Wolff, formed a fantastic management team. Touchingly, Lauda was remembered by his infamous red cap in the celebratory photos.

As for the race itself, there is a fair amount to discuss.

Typhoon Hagibis swept through the area on Saturday and produced the rarity of a Sunday morning qualifying session. Having looked considerably off the pace in Friday’s practice sessions, Ferrari produced a surprise front row lock-out, with Sebastian Vettel outqualifying his teammate, Charles Leclerc, for the first time since June to take pole position.

However, Ferrari’s joy was to be short-lived as three hours later, at the race start, everything rapidly fell apart.

The start of the Japanese Grand Prix.
Image credit: Getty Images

Vettel produced what appeared to be a false start. It would eventually prove to be legal, due to the peculiarities of the regulations and the sensors. Despite moving before the lights went out, Vettel stayed within the confines of his grid slot and, because he braked instantly, was stationary when they did. Thus, it was a legal start.

But not a good one.

Whether distracted by this teammate or not, Leclerc also got away poorly and Bottas was comfortably leading by the first corner. Hamilton had nowhere to go but Max Verstappen had his eyes on third and set about storming around the outside. Leclerc, however, understeered into him and wrecked the Dutchman’s race – he would retire from the damage on lap 17. Leclerc survived but with damage to his front wing. He pitted on Lap 3, after showering those behind him with bits of carbon fire, and spent the rest of the race fighting back through the field.

The front three of Bottas, Vettel and Hamilton broke away from the pack and it became apparent that strategy would be key. The Ferraris had been suffering with their tyres more and expected to two-stop, whilst Mercedes were aiming for just the one.

Vettel was first to blink on lap 16 and Mercedes responded by pitting Bottas the following lap. Hamilton was left out with the intention of one-stopping but this was always going to be tricky as Saturday’s typhoon had washed the track clean of rubber and left it very ‘green’. The tyres, already damaged by following Vettel, degraded quickly and Hamilton found himself almost a pit stop behind Bottas in the space of a few laps; the world champion was soon on the radio, agitated and confused by his strategy.

The particularly confusing decision by Mercedes, however, was when they bailed out of the one-stop and pitted Hamilton with 10 laps remaining. Passing the Ferrari of Vettel – with its significant straight-line speed – combined with the layout of Suzuka, was always going to be a tall order, even with fresh tyres. And so it proved to be as he closely followed Vettel home but never truly challenged him.

Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton at the Japanese Grand Prix.
Image credit: DPA Picture Alliance

Hamilton has shown his expertise when it comes to managing degrading tyres and defending positions many times in the past and would surely have been better off attempting that. The worst case scenario there would be that both Bottas and Vettel pass him and then Hamilton would have pitted anyway as there was well over a pit stop’s time back to Alexander Albon in fourth.

This obsession Mercedes appear to have with the overcut – certainly when it comes to Hamilton – is quite strange considering its lack of success. In this instance, it looks a bit like they were wary of Hamilton and Bottas fighting on track and so removed him from the situation. You get the sense that the Mercedes strategy team may have been a bit flattered by the dominance of their car in recent years.

Either way, Bottas didn’t put a foot wrong out front and picked up a deserved victory – his first since Baku in April.

More Points for Sainz, More Bad Luck for Norris

It was another strong drive for Carlos Sainz and another fifth place come the chequered flag. That moves him up to sixth in the Drivers’ Championship and moves McLaren another step closer to sealing fourth in the Constructors’ Championship. The Spaniard really is showing his full ability now, after a difficult year at Renault in 2018, and is potentially making Red Bull question their decision to release him. Whilst obviously far more experienced, he is only actually 18 months older than Albon and Pierre Gasly…

His teammate, Lando Norris, on the other hand, reverted back to form. That form being a promising race ruined by bad luck and factors beyond his control. The teenager was following his teammate comfortably in sixth for the first few laps but then collected some shrapnel from Leclerc’s disintegrating car in his brake duct, which began to overheat.

Lando Norris at the Japanese Grand Prix.
Image credit: Getty Images

To add insult to injury, just as he was about to take an early pit stop to have the debris removed, Albon launched an overambitious divebomb into the final chicane and clumsily punted his friend off the track. Norris recovered to the pit lane, his brake now on fire. He returned to the track and fought gallantly for the remainder of the race, finishing 13th, but it was another haul of points lost.

By rights, Norris should be close behind Sainz in the championship. It has been an impressive debut season for an immensely likeable character and, with some better luck and a bit more experience – particularly when it comes to race starts – the young man from Somerset could really challenge in the next couple of years.

Is Michael Masi Producing Problems?

Speaking of Albon’s overambitious divebomb, which went unpunished, it feels like F1’s stewarding and regulations are suffering from something of an identity crisis.

Michael Masi was a fairly popular replacement when we sadly lost Charlie Whiting on the eve of this season. He was stepping into some particularly large shoes and, for the first few races, he went mostly unnoticed – ergo, he was doing a fine job. But since the backlash caused by Vettel’s – in my opinion justified – penalty in Canada, Masi and co decided to change their tact somewhat and allow harder racing.

I brought up some potential issues after the Italian Grand Prix, when Masi announced that they would now be using the black and white flag more often, which I’m fine with in principle, and that Leclerc would have received a penalty had he made contact with Hamilton, which I think is somewhat ridiculous considering Hamilton had to leave the track to avoid said contact. Read that Grand Prix’s report for a more detailed analysis.

Since Verstappen’s move in Austria, the drivers have started to push the limits, finding out just how much they can get away with. And the answer appears to be a lot.

Hard racing, for me, is two drivers on the very edge but not quite making contact. Think Albon-Kvyat in Hungary this year or, particularly, Hamilton-Alonso in Mexico 2017. That’s surely the kind of racing we want to see.

But suddenly, in the space of a few races, it seems that clumsily throwing your car at the apex – Albon didn’t appear in a position to even make the corner without using Norris as a stopper – and knocking another car out of the way is apparently now okay.

This looks ridiculous when driving the wrong side of a bollard, as per Kevin Magnussen in Russia, gets you a time penalty. The lines are becoming too blurred and the stewards are losing authority. I just hope it doesn’t take a massive incident to provide perspective about what is and isn’t acceptable.

Japan was a sloppy weekend all round when it came to stewarding.

The casual viewer would struggle to understand why Vettel did not receive a penalty for what was a very visible jump start – we had expert analysts guessing at the minutiae, attempting to justify the decision – especially as Kimi Räikkönen received a penalty for an almost identical error at the very last race. It also took the best part of half the race for the stewards to reach their decision.

Then there was the fiasco with Leclerc’s damaged car. The blame appears to be shared by Leclerc, Ferrari and the FIA. Firstly, Ferrari called Leclerc in but he ignored the request and responded “Why?!” after having passed the pit entry. One lap later, just after the endplate had flown dangerously close to Hamilton, Ferrari told Leclerc not to come in. But the simple fact is Leclerc should immediately have been shown the black and orange flag and forced to come in by Race Control. Apparently Ferrari ‘promised that they would bring him in on the second lap’, only to go back on their word when the endplate fell off. But who is running the sport again?..

Image credit: Motorsport Images

So much time and effort has gone into safety in recent years and yet we have cars allowed to drive round at full racing speed, leaving a slew of sharp carbon fibre in their wake. That endplate sliced Hamilton’s wing mirror off; I can’t imagine it would have been pleasant had it struck him, just a few inches to the left. We have seen similar incidents in the last decade that resulted in a coma for Felipe Massa and the tragic death of Justin Wilson.

It was plainly obvious that Leclerc’s wing would not survive long and that it would most likely give up at the fastest part of the track. He also had a loose wing mirror which broke off later in the race. No one from Race Control even seemed to acknowledge that.

Leclerc and Ferrari were eventually given five and ten second penalties for the Verstappen incident and then not pitting respectively after the race. But, regardless of the fact that they are quite lenient penalties, why did the decision take so long? The first penalty seemed an absolute slam dunk – it was particularly bizarre that the initial decision was ‘no further action’ before it was then reopened – and five seconds after the race is considerably different to five seconds early in the race with traffic to navigate.

Image credit: Formula 1

Drivers with dangerous damage such as this should be shown the black and orange flag and forced to return to the pits at a reduced speed. It’s as simple as that for me.

And finally, to top things off, the new virtual chequered flag, which officially ends the race, was somehow produced one lap early. This actually changed the race result as Sergio Pérez’s last-lap retirement from eighth place was undone. Imagine if Hamilton had dramatically passed Vettel in the final few corners…

This is the very highest echelon of motorsport and it should feel as such. Right now, it doesn’t.

The Japanese Grand Prix in 60 Seconds

Answering the Burning Questions

Will there be more drama at Ferrari? Of course. But at least there was no drama between the drivers this time.

What effect will the Mercedes upgrade have? Hard to say. On Friday, it looked massive but then the Ferraris locked out the front row.

Are we going to have (lots of) rain with a typhoo heading for Suzuka? Yep. But it was all on the one day and didn’t affect a single session with the Saturday cancellation.

Can Mercedes wrap up the Constructors’ Championship? They can!

Which enthusiastic Japanese fan will have made the best hat? Got to be this one for me.