Tag: Ferrari

The end of the title race, the start of silly season

Posted on by James Mackenzie

The 2022 season has reached the summer break, but it very much feels like the remainder will be a cruise to the finish for Max Verstappen.

After three races, some fans and pundits were fearing the championship was already over on account of Charles Leclerc’s 46-point advantage over Verstappen.

But fast-forward less than four months and the situation could not be much more different.

A series of calamities – mostly mechanical and strategic – have seen that 46-point deficit for Verstappen turn into an 80-point lead heading into F1’s summer holidays.

Picking up where we last left off – after the British Grand Prix – things were looking a little better for Leclerc and Ferrari.

Redemption in Austria

Image credit: Philip Platzer/Red Bull Content Pool

It was redemption on two counts for Leclerc at the Red Bull Ring.

Firstly, making amends for a frustrating Sprint Race on Saturday where the two Ferrari drivers fought amongst themselves to the extent that Verstappen was able to get away.

But more importantly, it was revenge for the 2019 Austrian Grand Prix. A race that looked set to become Leclerc’s maiden victory, only for Verstappen to controversially snatch the lead away in the dying stages courtesy of a particularly impolite pass on the Monegasque.

On this occasion, Leclerc would be the one doing the passing, overtaking his title rival no fewer than three times as they ran differing strategies.

He then clung on commendably despite a late clutch issue to narrow the gap to Verstappen to 38 points and spark hope of a comeback.

Pain in France

That hope would all come crashing down a fortnight later, however.

Yet another Leclerc pole position preceded what looked set to be a fascinating battle between the season’s two main protagonists.

Verstappen had followed Leclerc closely in the early stages before fading slightly, prompting Red Bull to attempt an undercut.

Image credit: XPB Images.

We would never find out whether or not that would work, though, as Leclerc made the biggest mistake of his season – if not his career – thus far, spinning out from the lead and ending up in a barrier.

There have been rumours and suspicions about a throttle issue contributing to the accident, but these are unproven and Leclerc publicly took responsibility.

Verstappen went on to take a comfortable win and extended his lead to 63 points – an advantage from which nobody has ever lost the title.

Another Ferrari Disasterclass To Round Off Part 1

The heat was immediately taken off Leclerc with another strategic blunder by his team in Hungary, though.

Having passed George Russell for the lead and with Verstappen recovering from 10th on the grid, Leclerc had the chance to keep his ever-so-slim title hopes alive heading into the summer break.

But Ferrari would be having none of that.

A bizarre decision to put their lead man on the hard tyre – and then later the soft – had the top three of Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton and Russell laughing in the cool-down room.

It dropped him from the lead to sixth and allowed Verstappen to win, despite having spun shortly after passing the helpless Leclerc.

Speaking of Mercedes, that makes back-to-back double podiums for the Silver Arrows and five in a row for Hamilton.

Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen will not be concerned with this silly season
Image credit: Getty Images

They appear finally to be gaining an understanding of their new car and – depending on the impact of the new Technical Directive at the Belgian Grand Prix – could truly fight for wins in the remainder of the season.

Something which would be most welcome to prevent the season petering out in total Verstappen dominance.

And Finally, the Silliest of Silly Seasons

Within 48 hours of the Hungarian Grand Prix, the F1 driver conveyor belt had gone into meltdown.

With Sebastian Vettel having announced his upcoming retirement in Hungary, Fernando Alonso shocked the paddock on Monday by announcing he would be filling the vacant Aston Martin seat.

That led Alpine to announce Oscar Piastri’s promotion… Only for Piastri – after a couple of hours of deafening silence – to totally denounce said announcement.

As things stand at the time of writing, it would appear that he will be replacing compatriot Daniel Ricciardo at McLaren next season.

The Honey Badger star that once shone so brightly is now flickering and in danger of being totally extinguished.

It would appear his only hope is returning to the Alpine seat – albeit Renault at that point – which he abandoned at the end of 2020, and perhaps rediscovering some form there.

There is also talk of the French marque going for an all-French line-up, however, with Esteban Ocon being joined by Pierre Gasly.

F1 silly season could see Pierre Gasly move teams.
Image credit: Getty Images

Gasly supposedly has an exit clause in his contract that allows him to leave for a team who are higher in the standings than AlphaTauri – which is currently most teams – and surely can’t be content stagnating in a Red Bull feeder system from which he will almost certainly never gain a promotion again.

The remaining seats to fill are at Williams, Alfa Romeo and Haas.

Nicholas Latifi is expected to leave the sport, with Formula E champion Nyck de Vries and Williams academy driver Logan Sargeant seemingly the frontrunners to replace him.

Zhou Guanyu looks reasonably likely to retain his seat at Alfa, despite the promising Théo Pourchaire waiting in the wings and fighting for the Formula 2 title.

And as for Haas, it would surely only be a desperate Ricciardo – on a significantly lower wage – that could usurp Mick Schumacher.

2021 São Paulo GP report | Hamilton the hero in Brazilian blockbuster

Posted on by James Mackenzie
From first to last to first, with plenty of controversy along the way.
Lewis Hamilton celebrates winning the São Paulo Grand Prix.
Image credit: Daimler AG

Lewis Hamilton produced an incredible performance at the São Paulo Grand Prix, moving from the very back of the grid at the start of Saturday’s Sprint Race to eventually take victory.

Mercedes had upset the form book by proving to be the class of the field as the weekend progressed, allowing Hamilton to top qualifying on Friday evening during Formula 1’s third and final Sprint Race weekend of the season.

The drama and controversy started early as the rear wing on car number 44 failed a post-qualifying inspection and was impounded for further investigation, only for Hamilton’s title rival Max Verstappen to then also be called to the stewards having illegally touched the offending rear wing in parc fermé.

Well over 12 hours later, the punishments were eventually dished out. Verstappen received a 50,000 euro fine, whilst Hamilton was disqualified and sent to the back of Saturday’s grid.

Thus, the stage was set for a masterclass.

The Sprint Race saw Hamilton’s teammate Valtteri Bottas jump Verstappen at the start and hold him off for the win, whilst the other Mercedes rose from 20th to fifth, passing 15 cars in just 24 laps.

Hamilton would be forced to take a further penalty ahead of the main race, however, having stuck yet another motor in the back of his Mercedes for this event, and lined up up 10th on Sunday.

Image credit: Getty Images

As the lights went out, Verstappen returned the favour to Bottas, beating him to the first corner and, as Bottas slid wide at Turn Four, it was suddenly a Red Bull 1-2. Hamilton, meanwhile, had wasted no time once again, moving up to seventh as he went around the outside of Pierre Gasly at Ferradura.

He had been helped by the absence of Lando Norris, who was the victim of an excellent getaway – passing Carlos Sainz immediately for what would likely have been third place, but drifting left slightly too early and picking up a puncture as their wheels touched.

Hamilton then picked off Sebastian Vettel, Sainz and Charles Leclerc in the next three laps, and was suddenly into a podium position after Bottas followed team orders to let his fellow Silver Arrow through at the start of lap 5.

Much of the next 10 laps was spent under Safety Car or Virtual Safety Car conditions – following clashes between first Lance Stroll and Yuki Tsunoda, and then Mick Schumacher and Kimi Räikkönen – but when racing resumed, Hamilton found his way past a stubborn Sergio Pérez at the second attempt.

The prospect of another Hamilton-Verstappen wheel-to-wheel battle had gone from incomprehensible to imminent in the space of 24 hours.

The reigning champion closed the gap to the championship leader and then went for the undercut on lap 26 to further reduce the deficit.

Image credit: Formula 1

A second VSC gave Bottas a cheap pit stop and allowed him to jump Pérez, but all eyes were now fixed on the front two.

Hamilton got to within a couple of seconds but, suffering in the dirty air of his rival, was unable to get close enough to make a move. Red Bull then triggered the second round of pit stops themselves on lap 40 to protect against an undercut.

Mercedes brought Hamilton in three laps later and, with a fresh set of hard tyres, he was very quickly onto the back of Verstappen, and this time able to get much closer.

His first attempt at an overtake came on the run to Turn Four on lap 48, the Briton getting alongside and then in front, only for Verstappen to make a desperate dive. Both cars were forced well off the track and returned with the Red Bull in front. (More on that later.)

The two pit walls predictably complained and defended in calls to Race Director Michael Masi, with the decision coming back shortly after that no investigation was necessary. “Of course”, came the sarcasm-laden reply from Hamilton.

10 laps later Verstappen did receive a cautionary black-and-white flag for weaving, with Hamilton unable to pass once again.

It was third time lucky for Hamilton on the next lap, though, as he swept past Verstappen on the same stretch of track before even reaching Turn Four.

Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen at the São Paulo Grand Prix.
Image credit: LAT Images

And that was that. The Mercedes pulled away into the distance, ultimately finishing over 10 seconds down the road with Bottas closing onto the back of Verstappen but running out of laps and settling for third.

Pérez, with a comfortable gap back to Leclerc in fifth, pitted to steal the point for fastest lap away from Hamilton, but it will have done little to dampen the 36-year-old’s mood on a day that will go down as one of the greatest drives in an incomparable career not exactly lacking in that department.

Hamilton waved a Brazilian flag to the adoring crowds – taking one final penalty in the shape of a fine for unbuckling his seat belt to do so – amid a febrile Brazilian atmosphere, as he closed the gap at the top of the standings to 14 points.

The title battle, which many declared over upon the news of Hamilton’s disqualification on Saturday, is very much back on heading into the final three races.

Ferrari Tighten Their Grip on Third

Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz at the São Paulo Grand Prix.
Image credit: Foto Colombo Images

The Prancing Horses finishes line astern, with Sainz following his teammate home in sixth, which sees Ferrari extend their advantage over McLaren in the Constructors’ Championship to 31.5 points.

Norris recovered impressively from his puncture, with a bit of help from that early Safety Car, to take a consolatory point for 10th, whilst Daniel Ricciardo retired with a power-loss issue.

Since their engine upgrade, the Scuderia have made a clear step forward at the same time that McLaren have struggled for pace and failed to take advantage of their opportunities when they did have some. Norris’s agonising near-miss in Russia now seems even more painful as the red cars disappear off into the distance, both on the track and in the standings.

It looks a big ask for the team from Woking to recover such a large gap, but as we’ve seen on numerous occasions this season, the tide can turn very quickly – particularly at two unknown venues.

Another Robust Verstappen Defence

As the camera panned around Turn Four on lap 48, it looked very much like we were about to see the two title protagonists make it three out of three for collisions on a Sprint Race weekend.

As it was, they survived to fight another day – or rather another lap – despite emerging from the corner a good 10 metres wide of the track’s edge.

Image credit: Getty Images

It was another Michael Schumacher or Ayrton Senna-esque defensive manoeuvre from Verstappen – a ‘you move or we crash’ dive. He was clearly behind Hamilton here and, through sheer desperation and characteristic bloody-mindedness, braked so late that he was never going to make the corner, leaving Hamilton with two options: to make contact or to stay right of him and take to the run-off area as well.

I mentioned in the Italian race report that, for all his undeniable speed and talent, these incidents bring a question to Verstappen’s wheel-to-wheel ability.

The instances of him forcing drivers off the road outnumbers his on-the-edge battles at an increasing rate. He surely has the ability and spatial awareness required, but whether he chooses to do so is the bigger issue.

Thanks to Hamilton’s eventual overtake and victory, the furore surrounding the decision that no investigation was necessary has been lessened, but the inconsistency has not escaped drivers, teams or viewers.

HOW TO SOLVE A PROBLEM LIKE THE STEWARDS

This further solidifies a dangerous precedent. Under Masi’s management, F1 has increasingly allowed the driver on the inside to simply run their competitor on the outside off the track. Apart from during the Austrian Grand Prix for some reason, where Norris and Pérez were penalised a total of three times.

This was an even more extreme example. Verstappen surely gained a lasting advantage by leaving the track and the decision to allow that was seemingly reached by the stewards without the onboard footage from the Red Bull, which at the time of writing is still yet to be released…

This has been one of the best title battles in years, if not decades. But it would be nice if the two superstars at the front were able to battle wheel-to-wheel rather than it being a case of Hamilton deciding whether or not he is willing to back out on this occasion and, ergo, whether or not the battle will end in a crash.

The São Paulo Grand Prix in 60 Seconds

Answering the Burning Questions

Will Red Bull continue to hold an advantage at another track that should suit them? No they won’t!

With the potential for rain over the weekend, will Interlagos produce its trademark levels of drama? Who needs rain for drama at Interlagos?

Can McLaren do anything to bounce back as their fight with Ferrari looks to be getting away from them? Nope, although it could have been very different if Norris had moved over a metre or so later.

2021 Monaco GP report | Verstappen takes first Monaco win

Posted on by James Mackenzie
Ecstasy for Verstappen, agony for Leclerc, frustration for Hamilton.
Max Verstappen celebrates winning the Monaco Grand Prix.
Image credit: Getty Images

Max Verstappen took his first win at the Monaco Grand Prix as all his main challengers gradually fell by the wayside.

It appeared that Charles Leclerc had broken his Monaco curse when his gearbox was deemed safe to start the race after he had crashed in qualifying on his way to claiming pole position. But the curse returned with a vengeance on his installation lap and the Monegasque was cruelly consigned to watch his home race from the garage by a terminal driveshaft issue.

That left Verstappen effectively on pole and, once he had survived Valtteri Bottas‘s attack into the first corner, the race was his to lose. Bottas shadowed him for the first few laps as all the drivers managed their pace to conserve tyre life but, as they moved closer to the first stops, the Mercedes started to fall away from the Red Bull and into the clutches of Carlos Sainz in third place.

Further back, Lewis Hamilton was still stuck behind Pierre Gasly in sixth, after a nightmare qualifying session. The World Champion could not get the required temperature into his tyres and was left displeased that his team had not pursued an approach which he had suggested. Mercedes decided to attempt an undercut with Hamilton on lap 30 but found themselves still behind the AlphaTauri driver when he responded with a stop one lap later.

And things were about to get worse.

Valtteri Bottas's neverending pit stop.
Image credit: Getty Images

Having run long and exploited the clean air that provided, first Sebastian Vettel and then Sergio Pérez successfully jumped Hamilton. Meanwhile, teammate Bottas was forced to retire when the wheel gun stripped the nut on his front right during his pit stop. It had turned into one of those Germany 2019-esque races for the Silver Arrows.

Out front, Verstappen was having no such dramas and serenely sailed to the chequered flag, keeping a comfortable gap to the chasing Sainz throughout. The Spaniard provided some consolation for Ferrari after Leclerc’s heartbreak with a strong second place, but was a little disappointed as he felt that he could have challenged for pole and victory without the Q3 red flag caused by his teammate’s crash.

Lando Norris completed another excellent weekend – sporting the beautiful, one-off Gulf livery – and held off a late charge from Pérez to claim his second podium of the season and move up to third in the standings.

Lando Norris in the one-off McLaren Gulf livery.
Image credit: Kym Illman

Vettel, Gasly and Hamilton predictably stayed in that order for the remainder of the race, Hamilton successfully pitting late on to claim the bonus point for fastest lap. Behind him, Lance Stroll made an alternative strategy work, starting on the hard tyres and moving up from 13th on the grid to finish eighth. Esteban Ocon finished a further half a minute down the road in ninth and Alfa Romeo‘s Antonio Giovinazzi claimed the final point – his first of the season.

It was a weekend not lacking in drama but the racing on Sunday was a typically mundane affair. And the Monegasque director – Monaco is the only race to use its own broadcast director – cut away from the one bit of wheel-to-wheel action that we did get… None of that will bother Verstappen and Red Bull, however, who have taken the lead in both championships. The momentum in the title battle switches once again.

Now, how will a very different street circuit – Baku in two weeks’ time – suit the cars?

Where Did That Ferrari Pace Come From?!

The Ferraris often flatter to deceive with their Friday pace, but this time they remained at the top of the timing charts throughout the weekend. So, how did that happen? Did they bring a major upgrade?

Charles Leclerc at the Monaco Grand Prix.
Image credit: DPPI

Well, I’m afraid to say – to any members of the Tifosi currently throwing their red caps in the air and declaring an imminent title charge – that is likely to be a one-off.

Ferrari have often gone well around the streets of the Principality – Vettel came home second in the previous two Monaco Grands Prix and 2017 saw a Ferrari 1-2. Their traditional short wheelbase makes the car nimble through the tight turns and, this year, the Monaco layout masked their still considerable deficiency when it comes to straight-line speed.

Even so, the drivers were surprised by their competitiveness.

The Greatest Ever Monaco Grands Prix

“It is quite a big surprise,” Leclerc said. “Surely we were very competitive in Sector 3 in Barcelona, but again it’s a very different track and we were maybe expecting Red Bull and Mercedes to have something more for here, but apparently they didn’t and we were just very competitive from the start. So it was good, but until quali we didn’t believe we could fight for pole, so it’s a surprise.”

Whilst this likely isn’t the appearance of an unlikely championship contender, Ferrari can be very pleased with their progress since last year’s hugely disappointing campaign. Even the confines of Monaco wouldn’t have saved the SF1000. They can expect to compete at or near the front again in Hungary and Singapore – if that race happens – and now appear to be in a private battle with McLaren for third in the title. A feel good story for the two former giants of F1.

Vettel Finds Form, Ricciardo Loses It Again

Sebastian Vettel brushing a barrier at the Monaco Grand Prix.
Image credit: DPA Picture Alliance

It has been well documented that the drivers who switched teams for 2021 have been struggling to adapt due to the lack of testing. But Vettel appears to have finally made a breakthrough in the Aston Martin. He was far closer to Lance Stroll in Portugal and Spain than he had been at the first two grands prix of the year, and in Monaco he showed his experience, comfortably outperforming the Canadian in every session.

An impressive eighth in qualifying was turned into an even better fifth on Sunday, thanks to smart strategy and some guts during that wheel-to-wheel battle with Gasly. Vettel earned a well-deserved ‘Driver of the Day’ and will now look to build on this for the coming races.

Daniel Ricciardo, however, went in the opposite direction. After a much-improved performance in Spain saw him take a solid sixth place and finish ahead of teammate Norris for the first time, the wheels came off at what is his most successful circuit. The Aussie won here in 2018, after being robbed of victory in 2016, so moving aside to be lapped by Norris on Sunday will have been a bitter pill to swallow.

Daniel Ricciardo's retro helmet design.
Image credit: Motorsport Images

Most worrying of all, he is at a loss to explain his lack of speed. “All weekend, even crossing the line a lot of laps I felt good, I was like that’s a good lap. And I think at one point I was 1.2s slower than say what Lando had just done, so no answers at the moment.”

He will need to find some answers quickly, or he risks having his reputation questioned in the manner Vettel’s was when Ricciardo joined Red Bull in 2014 and consistently outperformed him.

The Monaco Grand Prix in 60 Seconds

Answering the Burning Questions

Will Mercedes or Red Bull be on top around the twists of the Circuit de Monaco? Red Bull, if not Ferrari!

Can Max Verstappen make up for the many laps he spent stuck behind Lewis Hamilton in 2019? He can, in some style.

Will any teams surprise with their performance at this unique track? See above…

Who will have the best unique helmet design? The Williams drivers’ designs in honour of the team’s 750th race were nice, as were the McLaren Gulf specials, but I’m going for Bottas’s cartoon design.

Taking your chance at Ferrari

Posted on by James Mackenzie

How do you fill the shoes of a four-time world champion?

You would imagine that this thought has – fleetingly, at least – crossed the mind of Carlos Sainz ahead of his move to Ferrari this year. He will replace Sebastian Vettel who, whilst ultimately unsuccessful in his quest to bring a title back to Maranello, spearheaded the Italian marque’s endeavours from 2015 to 2020.

Many suspect the Spaniard will fulfil a role as the de facto number two to the Scuderia’s rising superstar, Charles Leclerc, but let’s not write him off so soon. It is worth remembering that Sainz largely matched Max Verstappen during their time as teammates at Toro Rosso and, after a somewhat uninspiring spell at Renault, has reminded the paddock of his considerable potential with two excellent seasons in the papaya orange of McLaren.

However, numerous Ferrari drivers have shown great potential, only for the expectation of the Tifosi – if not an entire nation – to weigh too heavily upon their shoulders.

So, can Sainz shine where many before him have only glimmered? He joins Ferrari after a few seasons at midfield teams who haven’t provided a serious chance at victory. How have those in a similar situation fared over the last few decades? Let’s investigate.

Jean Alesi

Tyrrell > Ferrari, 1991 | Races Before Move: 24 | Races for Ferrari: 81 | Wins: 1

Jean Alesi made quite an impact during his two seasons with Tyrrell, claiming two podiums in an underpowered car and famously battling with Ayrton Senna for the lead of the 1990 season-opener in Phoenix. His performances were impressive enough for Ferrari to take a chance on the young Frenchman.

Despite coping well with immediately having to compete with Alain Prost, Alesi would prove to be the perennial underachiever of F1 during the 90s – undeniably fast, but also an ill-fated combination of foolhardy and unlucky.

A Sicilian-born, passionate driver of the evocative number 27 Ferrari, Alesi was inevitably popular with the Tifosi but would ultimately manage just one win in 1995, before swapping seats with Michael Schumacher and moving to Benetton.

Eddie Irvine

Jordan > Ferrari, 1996 | Races Before Move: 32 | Races for Ferrari: 65 | Wins: 4

Eddie Irvine made an instant impression in F1 by scoring a point on his debut and then promptly being punched by Senna for having unlapped himself. Controversy continued to follow him, with two separate bans the following year and a subsequent threat of his Super Licence being revoked. He certainly showed flashes of speed in between the altercations, though, and Ferrari were suitably impressed to buy out his new contract with Jordan.

Irvine was initially unconvincing and, after a series of eight consecutive retirements, the Italian press was calling for him to be sacked. He steadily improved, however, and played a strong supporting role to Schumacher, before assuming the role of team leader in 1999 when the German broke his leg in a crash halfway through the season.

He would eventually miss out on the championship by two points but played a large part in Ferrari winning their first constructors’ title in 16 years. It would prove to be his final contribution before a largely unsuccessful move to Jaguar.

Rubens Barrichello

Stewart > Ferrari, 2000 | Races Before Move: 114 | Races for Ferrari: 104 | Wins: 9

Seen as a potential successor to Senna, Rubens Barrichello was already experienced in carrying the hopes of a nation by the time he joined Ferrari in 2000. He was, however, entering what was very much Schumacher’s team and that is something he would not be able to change over the subsequent six years.

The popular Brazilian would come to epitomise the ‘number two’ driver role – consistent, compliant and reliable but never quite fast enough to challenge the superstar on the other side of the garage. Team orders were, in fact, banned at the end of 2002 after the controversy of Ferrari forcing Barrichello to hand over a victory to his teammate in Austria.

With more freedom and a less commanding teammate, ‘Rubinho’ would likely have won far more than nine grands prix and could well have challenged for a title.

Felipe Massa

Sauber > Ferrari, 2006 | Races Before Move: 53 | Races for Ferrari: 139 | Wins: 11

Another popular Brazilian and one that would go on to become a Ferrari ‘number two’ also. Felipe Massa started out equal parts fast and error-prone with a hit-and-miss season at Sauber in 2002 but, after spending the following year as test driver for Ferrari, he rejoined his former team a more mature driver. He convincingly outpaced his former world champion teammate, Jacques Villeneuve, throughout the 2005 season and was signed to partner Schumacher at Ferrari for 2006.

Whilst still somewhat inconsistent, Massa was always fast and came about as close as you can to winning a world championship in 2008; only Lewis Hamilton’s infamous last corner “Is that Glock?” moment denying him the title.

A freak accident in 2009 left Massa briefly in a coma and, whilst he would recover in time for the following season, he was arguably never the same driver again. He spent his final four years with Ferrari in a support role to teammate Fernando Alonso and would never win another race.

Carlos Sainz

McLaren > Ferrari, 2021 | Races Before Move: 119 | Races For Ferrari: ? | Wins: ?

So, what does the future hold for Sainz in the red of the Scuderia?

Obviously, after such a calamitous season for Ferrari in 2020, the goalposts for a new recruit have been moved. The team will be rebuilding and that will likely help Sainz find his feet with expectations somewhat tempered for 2021 and a year to acclimatise without the instant pressure most of his predecessors have had to deal with.

Ferrari have historically held a policy of employing tried-and-tested drivers, but taking a chance on youth and potential last year, in Leclerc, proved very successful and 2021 will see the youngest Ferrari line-up in living memory. As we can see from these examples, joining Ferrari and dethroning a multiple world champion is no easy feat, but the young Monégasque managed it over the last two years. Now Sainz will have to attempt to dethrone him…

2020 Tuscan GP report | Hamilton takes 90th victory amid Mugello chaos

Posted on by James Mackenzie
So, shall we just have all the races in Italy then?..
Lewis Hamilton wins the Tuscan Grand Prix.
Image credit: Getty Images

Lewis Hamilton extended his championship lead with a hard-earned victory at the 2020 Tuscan Grand Prix, ahead of teammate Valtteri Bottas and Alexander Albon, who earned his – and Thailand’s – first ever F1 podium.

Whilst it was Bottas who had looked on top for much of the weekend, Hamilton snatched pole position by a few hundredths of a second on Saturday. He got off the line badly, however, and was easily beaten to the first corner by Bottas. He may well have fallen further back in the pack but for Max Verstappen’s engine issues – the Red Bull driver pulled alongside Hamilton but suddenly lost power and caused those behind him to get off the gas.

Things went from bad to worse for Verstappen as – now back in the midfield – he was caught up in one of two crashes at Turn Two. Pierre Gasly found himself sandwiched between Kimi Räikkönen and Romain Grosjean and the now interlocked cars collected the Dutchman with only Räikkönen avoiding the gravel trap. Grosjean somehow escaped back to the circuit, but the race was over for Verstappen – his second successive retirement – and Gasly – from first at Monza to last at Mugello.

Meanwhile, just ahead of that crash, slight contact between Lance Stroll and Carlos Sainz had seen the McLaren spin round and collect the hapless Sebastian Vettel. The pair would at least make it back to the pits whilst the safety car had been deployed.

Mugello’s set of crashes was far from over though.

Barely seconds after the safety car had peeled in, there was a massive, multi-car pile-up before most had even crossed the start/finish line. Bottas had not put the pedal to the metal until the last minute – to minimise the slipstream effect for those behind – but confusion reigned behind as drivers saw some in front accelerating. The concertina effect, from drivers realising they had gone too early and braking, led to Antonio Giovinazzi and Sainz slamming into those ahead of them at terrifying speeds.

A massive crash at the Tuscan Grand Prix.
Image credit: LAT Images

Fortunately, nobody was hurt, but Giovinazzi, Sainz, Kevin Magnussen and Nicholas Latifi were all out the race. Inevitably, this brought out a red flag.

When the drivers lined up for the restart, there were just 13 cars remaining as Esteban Ocon’s Renault had also been forced into retirement with irreparably damaged brakes which had literally been on fire during the safety car period.

As the lights went out for the second time, the Mercedes switched places again, Hamilton getting into the slipstream of his teammate and completing a crucial move around the outside of Turn One. Behind them, Charles Leclerc had got himself up into an unlikely third but would fall back steadily as the Ferrari’s lack of pace became evident at what was turning into a predictably tainted 1000th race for the Scuderia.

Renault successfully executed an undercut at the first stops to get Daniel Ricciardo past Stroll into third place, whilst Albon had recovered from a poor restart and was back up to fifth, behind the Canadian. As the trio navigated the high-speed Arrabbiata corners, Stroll suffered a left-rear failure and crashed heavily, completing the rare event where all three podium finishers from the previous race fail to complete the next. Once again, the driver escaped unscathed and, once again, the red flag was shown.

No red flag for three years and then suddenly three in the space of seven days.

And so, the drivers lined up for their third start of the day, Bottas knowing he just had to repeat his feat from the original start to all but wrap up the race win. He didn’t manage it, though – possibly hampered by the tyre marbles that now adorned the left side of the circuit – and, in fact, fell behind Ricciardo.

He was soon back ahead but could do nothing to close down his teammate, who rubbed salt into the wound with an unerring fastest lap on the penultimate tour. The world champion is now just one win short of Michael Schumacher’s record and seemed quite overwhelmed by the proposition of matching it. “It just doesn’t seem real,” he said, “it’s ultimately a privilege to be in a position and have such a great team and a car to be able to deliver weekend in, weekend out. But I never thought that I would be here, that’s for sure.”

It was once again so near and yet so far for Ricciardo and Renault as Albon banished memories of his former podium near-misses and passed the Australian around the outside of Turn One to finally claim that elusive trip to the rostrum.

Image credit: Red Bull Racing

Hopefully the amiable 24-year-old can use this as a stepping stone to get his season back on track. We’ve seen how good he can be on a Sunday – two instinctive, brave moves earned him this podium finish – but he must improve in qualifying to help cement his position within the team. Red Bull want their second driver to at least be within the pit window of the Mercedes cars and there are rumours beginning to swirl of them considering Pérez or Nico Hülkenberg for next year.

Pérez himself came home a solid fifth – at his first race since discovering he would be replaced at Racing Point by Vettel in 2021 – ahead of Lando Norris, on a surprisingly uncompetitive weekend for McLaren, and Daniil Kvyat.

The Ferraris did at least salvage a double-points finish at their celebratory weekend, but that is not much of an achievement when only 12 cars reach the chequered flag, one of them being a Williams and the other a wounded Haas. They were, at least spared the ignominy of being passed by George Russell for the final point.

Russell was distraught to have missed out on his first F1 points. He had been running a strong ninth when the final red flag was shown and lost out on the restart, but the team are making progress and Russell’s time will come.

Dissecting That Crash

Post-race, 12 drivers were summoned to the stewards and given warnings for their “inconsistent application of throttle and brake, from the final corner along the pit straight”. But when you punish more than half of the grid, surely the rules have to be looked at too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u900k-obTRs

In the immediate aftermath, Hamilton blamed the incident on the safety car turning its lights off too late. Apparently this is a concern that Mercedes had raised about the restart procedure before the race, given Mugello’s layout, but Bottas claims that “they said basically they’re going to keep doing it because it’s better for the show, I think that was the reply”.

Bottas may well have controlled the pack similarly anyway – it was an approach taken by drivers in the junior formulae – but the fact that the safety car only turned its lights off as it entered the final corner clearly left him with no alternative. Once that was the case, the concertina effect was always likely given the lack of visibility and the astonishing closing speeds in these cars.

The onboard footage from Giovinazzi and Sainz was disturbingly reminiscent of horrific accidents in the past, such as the one that sadly cost Billy Monger his legs, and we were lucky that seemingly the only injury was a bruised hand for the Spaniard. Clearly, none of the drivers are predominantly to blame – here is an excellent step-by-step breakdown of exactly what happened – and, whilst Michael Masi claims that “safety is paramount”, the fact that he refuses even to review the restart procedures has a stench of arrogance.

This absolutely needs to be addressed by the FIA and the GDPA. Whether it be a case of returning to the safety car lights going out earlier or even a mandatory VSC period immediately after the safety car comes in, there must be a better solution than the one we saw at Mugello.

The Tuscan Grand Prix in 90 Seconds (It Needs the Extra 30)

Answering the Burning Questions

How do you follow the last grand prix?! Well, like that, actually.

Will the drivers manage any overtaking around the Mugello track? Quite a bit, yes. The headwind helped make the DRS zone very effective.

Can Mercedes bounce back from their messy weekend? Of course they can.

Can Ferrari produce anything worthy of the occasion on their 1000th race? Of course they can’t.

2020 Belgian GP report | Hamilton dominates at Spa

Posted on by James Mackenzie
The rain never came, but it was plain sailing for Hamilton.
Lewis Hamilton wins the Belgian Grand Prix.
Image credit: AFP

Lewis Hamilton took a comfortable victory at the 2020 Belgian Grand Prix to further extend his lead in the championship, with Valtteri Bottas and Max Verstappen completing the usual HAM-BOT-VER podium.

It was a fairly sedate race at the front. Hamilton had more than enough to cover anything his teammate threw at him – which was thoroughly demonstrated on Saturday with two stellar qualifying laps, more than half a second faster than Bottas – and Max Verstappen unable to challenge the mighty Mercedes on this occasion.

An early crash by Antonio Giovinazzi, that also collected the helpless George Russell, brought out the safety car on lap 10 and all the front-runners, bar Sergio Pérez and Pierre Gasly, took the opportunity for a cheap pit stop and ran to the end on a set of hard tyres. Whilst things started to get a little uncomfortable towards the end, and Hamilton’s mind clearly flashed back to that puncture in Silverstone, there were to be no late dramas this time and the Briton took his 89th victory – now just two short of Michael Schumacher’s all-time record – again being denied a ‘grand chelem’ only by a fastest lap on the final lap.

He dedicated the win to Chadwick Boseman, best known for his starring role as Black Panther, who sadly passed away over the weekend at the age of just 43. “It’s been an emotional weekend, I want to dedicate this win to Chad and his family, he was such an inspiration and his legacy will live on.”

Renault Find Their Form

The aforementioned fastest lap was set by Daniel Ricciardo as he closed in on an unlikely podium, finishing just three seconds behind Verstappen in the end.

Daniel Ricciardo at the Belgian Grand Prix.
Image credit: XPB

Renault have been steadily improving as this quick-fire season has progressed, but this year’s black-and-yellow machine really came into its own with a low downforce setup at Spa. They were near the top of the timings all weekend; Ricciardo second in Practice Two and teammate Esteban Ocon in the same position in Practice Three.

Come race day, the Renaults fell back from the top three somewhat but, it would become apparent, were far kinder to their tyres and, with a few more laps, the Honey Badger may well have been designing a tattoo for Team Principal Cyril Abiteboul…

The 44 laps of the Belgian circuit were enough for Ocon, though, who held off the late charge of Lando Norris and successfully passed the Red Bull of Alexander Albon on the final lap for fifth place. 23 points for fourth, fifth and the fastest lap, is Renault’s best points haul at a single race ever. And things bode well for next week’s trip to Monza, where an even lower downforce setup could well see Abiteboul sweating once more.

An Emotional Weekend, Especially for Gasly

A minute’s silence was held before the race in memory of Anthoine Hubert, the F2 driver who was tragically killed at last year’s Belgian Grand Prix. Many of the young, French drivers grew up with Hubert but Gasly, in particular, considered the young Renault protégé one of his very best friends.

So, it was excellent to see the AlphaTauri driver continue his good form this weekend and come home with some more points in eighth place. He made up a number of positions in the opening laps, despite starting on the hard tyre, and showed incredible bravery as he passed Pérez into Raidillon, the Mexican squeezing him to a dangerous degree.

The safety car fell unkindly for Gasly and his counterstrategy, but he fought back through the field excellently, after switching to the medium compound on lap 26, and felt he had done enough to make his former roommate proud come the chequered flag. The fans voted him the Driver of the Day.

More Pain for Ferrari…And It May Get Even Worse

Ferrari did not expect much coming into this weekend, but they may well have managed to underdeliver, nonetheless. The deficiencies of the SF1000 were brutally exposed and its lack of straight-line speed was particularly evident in the first and third sectors of the lap in Belgium.

There were fears that Ferrari would struggle to progress through Q1, after Practice Three left Charles Leclerc in 17th and four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel plumb last. They did narrowly avoid that particular embarrassment, but 13th and 14th on the grid was a long way from locking out the front row before a maiden victory for Leclerc at the same circuit last year.

My personal suspicion is that the team overly focussed on an especially downforce-heavy car for this season due to their superiority on the straights in 2019. But, once the engine rules had been clarified and severely hampered them, it was too late to dramatically change the philosophy of the 2020 design.

Whatever the reason for their shortcomings, it is probably a good thing that there will be no Tifosi at next weekend’s Italian Grand Prix, as it will likely be the lowest downforce setup of the year and their problems will only multiply.

Nil points at Spa is humiliating, but nil points at Monza…

There is certainly a big hill to climb for those in red.

Image credit: Foto Colombo Images

The Belgian Grand Prix in 60 Seconds

Answering the Burning Questions

Can anyone (well, Max Verstappen) challenge the Mercedes? They haven’t won here since 2017… Nope, they have now not won here since 2020…

Will a better result in Spain help motivate Sebastian Vettel? It must have been hard to find any motivation in this Ferrari at this track.

Or will Ferrari just struggle terribly around the power-sensitive Spa track? Yes.

Will the pressure increase further on Alexander Albon? It was another okay race and Helmut Marko has come out and backed him. For now, at least.

Could we have a wet and wild Spa weekend? *sigh* No.

2020 70th Anniversary GP report | Verstappen ends the Mercedes dominance

Posted on by James Mackenzie
What a difference a week can make.
Max Verstappen wins the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix.
Image credit: Motorsport Images

Max Verstappen produced a fantastic drive to take an unexpected win at Silverstone’s 70th Anniversary Grand Prix.

The Mercedes cars had been dominating the weekend in what has become their customary manner this year, with a comfortable margin of almost a second to the rest of the field during qualifying. But that dominant qualifying session would actually prove to be quite costly.

Red Bull put Verstappen out on the hard tyres in Q2 and he succeeded in progressing with that tyre, meaning that he would start the race on it, whilst Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton had to start on the softer medium tyres. Those tyres rapidly started to degrade and Verstappen was all over the back of the Mercedes by the time they pitted on laps 13 and 14 respectively.

Around 10 laps later, Verstappen was still circulating happily on the hard tyres he had started the race on – in addition to having completed a qualifying lap – and the Silver Arrows were already struggling with blistering on their new, hard tyres. Verstappen wrote off any chance of challenging for the win when speaking to the media on Saturday, but Red Bull suddenly realised they had a genuine chance here.

A slow pit stop saw the Dutchman rejoin narrowly behind Bottas, but he was able to make short work of passing him on the fresher tyres and opened out a small gap. The pair would pit together on lap 32, both fitting the hard tyres and Bottas’s chances of a win looked all but over. Mercedes chose to gamble with their other car, initally considering trying to run Hamilton to the end, but – likely cautious considering last weekend’s tyre blowouts – eventually settled on a long middle stint and a charge to the flag with 11 laps on a fresh set of the hard tyres.

Image credit: Mercedes

The world champion did a good job of preserving the tyres and, once he was on the new set, hunted down and passed Charles Leclerc and Bottas fairly easily. Verstappen was long gone, however, and took the chequered flag for his ninth F1 victory, along with second in the drivers’ standings.

Bottas was visibly frustrated at having ended up behind his teammate, after an excellent pole position the day beforehand, and accused his team of “sleeping”. He will have to come back stronger once again in Spain next weekend, where further high temperatures and punishing corners could see Red Bull in contention once again.

Behind the top three, Leclerc came home an impressive fourth and Alexander Albon produced a much-needed performance, full of excellent overtaking manoeuvres, to finish fifth. The Racing Points followed them in sixth and seventh – Nico Hülkenberg impressing again during his substitute appearances – with Esteban Ocon, Lando Norris and Daniil Kvyat filling the remaining points-paying positions.

Politics on the Track

Leclerc continues to drag this year’s Ferrari into positions it probably has no right to be. In Austria and Hungary, he took unlikely, opportunistic podiums and, today, made a risky one-stop strategy work – against the recommendations of his strategy team – to move up from eighth on the grid to fourth at the finish line.

This is reinforcing the impression he gave last year that he is a true star of the future, but he will need Ferrari to make some significant improvements to the way in which they operate if he is to challenge for titles any time soon.

On the other side of the garage, a messy divorce is playing out in front of the eyes of the world.

Sebastian Vettel spins at the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix.
Image credit: Getty Images

Sebastian Vettel picked up where he left off last weekend, struggling to extract any performance from the underpowered SF1000. The low-downforce setup which the team decided to pursue at Silverstone doesn’t appear to suit his driving style and he qualified a lowly 12th. On Sunday, he spun at the first corner.

There was still a strong chance of a recovery drive, though, with the possibility of counter-strategies such as the one-stop used successfully by Leclerc. But Ferrari were stubborn and forced him to pit – seemingly to move him out the way of his teammate – which left him in traffic. The rarely outspoken German came over the radio to say, “I’ll hang in there, but you know that you’ve messed up”.

Matters were made worse when he was bizarrely pitted after just 10 laps on the hard, in order to take a set of used mediums for the remaining 19 laps. Conspiracy theories of Ferrari purposely hindering Vettel are abound and this was not helped by Team Principal Mattia Binotto pinning the blame squarely on his driver. Vettel himself looks done with the team and pointedly remained completely silent over the radio after the race had ended.

And Politics off the Track

Friday morning saw the result of Renault’s protest against the Racing Point brake ducts. The ‘Pink Mercedes’ were docked 15 points and fined 400,000 euros for what the stewards described as “using tracing paper to copy a shape/drawing” when it came to their design process.

The matter is complicated by the fact that Racing Point were legally supplied with Mercedes’ 2019 brake ducts last year, before they became a listed part, and can’t really be expected to forget the designs that they have seen. What apparently swung the stewards’ decision was the fact that Racing Point did not use the designs of the rear brake ducts last year as they did not fit with their former high-rake philosophy, but they are now using them after changing to the Mercedes philosophy for this year’s car.

Image credit: Getty Images

Either way, nobody is happy with the result.

Ferrari, McLaren, Renault, Williams and Racing Point themselves have all lodged the intention to appeal and Lawrence Stroll issued a strong statement, defending the team and accusing others of “poor sportsmanship”.

Binotto said, “at school there are those who pass and those who copy their homework”, and that they would be seeking clarity over the situation. Frankly, that is pretty rich coming from a team who came to a highly controversial ‘undisclosed agreement’ with the FIA regarding their almost certainly illegal use of engines last season. If Racing Point were ‘copying homework’, then Ferrari just plain cheated on the test.

The 70th Anniversary Grand Prix in 60 Seconds

Answering the Burning Questions

With softer tyres and higher temperatures, will there be further tyre dramas? Not as much visible drama as last week, but it certainly changed the complexion of the race.

Can Alexander Albon have a clean weekend? Qualifying still wasn’t the best but overall, yes.

Will Sebastian Vettel find some pace after struggling in the midfield last weekend? Not really.

Can Valtteri Bottas put a dent in what is now an ominous gap to his teammate in the standings? Nope.

Surely The Hulk can catch a break and at least get to race this time?! He can! Still no podium, though, obviously.

2020 Styrian GP report | Hamilton returns to form

Posted on by James Mackenzie
A wet weather masterclass from Hamilton on Saturday. (And Sunday wasn’t bad either.)
Lewis Hamilton wins the Styrian Grand Prix.
Image credit: Getty Images

After last week’s chaos, normal service was resumed at the second event around the Spielberg track, in the shape of a Lewis Hamilton domination, a Mercedes 1-2, an impressive Max Verstappen podium and a Ferrari calamity at the 2020 Styrian Grand Prix.

His troubles at the last race led to Hamilton being asked some fairly ridiculous questions as to whether he should focus more on racing than activism. He answered them in emphatic style with one of his very best pole positions – there are 89 of them, remember – and a controlled victory on Sunday. He then doubled down on that response with a black power salute on the podium.

Saturday’s qualifying took place in the wettest conditions for some time and gave the drivers the platform to demonstrate every ounce of their skill and remind any doubters that they are the very best in the world. Hamilton and Verstappen stood out throughout the session, seemingly on another plane to the others. The world champion was not content with that, though, and moved onto another plane again, with a final lap that was 1.2 seconds faster than Verstappen in second; the gap between first and second was larger than the one between second and 10th. Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff described the lap as “out of this world” and former driver Mark Webber tweeted “there’s a F1 category and there’s then a F1-plus category. Lewis is/was in a different league”.

There were also starring performances from Carlos Sainz in third, Esteban Ocon in fifth and George Russell, who dragged his Williams out of Q1 for the first time and came within a tenth of Sebastian Vettel’s Ferrari for a place in Q3, eventually lining up 11th on the grid.

Sunday was less eventful for the most part but still an entertaining race. Hamilton led from the front whilst teammate Valtteri Bottas steadily worked his way back up to second, eventually passing Verstappen after an excellent duel in the final few laps. There was plenty of midfield action, with Sergio Pérez recovering from 17th on the grid to even challenge Albon for 4th at the end.

A dramatic last lap at the Styrian Grand Prix.
Image credit: Formula 1

In the process, however, he damaged his front wing and fell back into the clutches of Lando Norris, Lance Stroll and Daniel Ricciardo at the final corner, resulting in a three-way photo finish. It was another storming finish from Norris who, after claiming a last-gasp podium seven days earlier, moved up from ninth to fifth in the dying stages after a long first stint. He remains third in the championship and is really coming into his own in his second season of F1.

Further back, things were going from bad to worse to whatever-is-below-that for the Scuderia.

A Horse Far From Prancing

Ferrari rushed through updates, that had originally been intended for the Hungarian Grand Prix next week, in order to have a direct comparison to the previous weekend’s race on the same track. The drivers reported an improvement during Friday’s practice sessions, but the times didn’t appear noticeably better and, whilst the soaking qualifying conditions will have complicated matters, 10th and 14th on the grid was worse than they had managed the week prior.

But still, they had the race on Sunday to try and make up ground and – at the very least – amass some useful data in their recovery efforts…right?

Wrong.

Image credit: Formula 1

A clumsy, overambitious move from Charles Leclerc left him bumping over the kerbs and landing on his teammate, Sebastian Vettel. The German returned to the pits with his rear wing hanging off and retired immediately; Leclerc went back out but only managed a further three laps before the damage – mostly to the floor of the car – was pronounced terminal.

Leclerc was, at least, refreshingly contrite when it came to his culpability for the incident, on what was a far-from-smooth weekend for the Monegasque all round. It began with the news that he had returned home to Monaco for the birthday party of his girlfriend’s sister and not adhered to social distancing whilst there. He may have had two tests before returning to the track but risking everything when the sport has put so much effort into its return, was immature and arrogant. He was very lucky to escape with just a warning.

And yet, that is the least of his worries, considering the position his team is now in. The Italian press have been predictably cutting (whilst romantic, of course) in their appraisal of the effective national team’s current predicament. They must hope that the remaining haul of updates, to be delivered in Budapest, will make a significant difference, or this season looks set to become the biggest embarrassment in their recent history.

The ‘Pink Mercedes’ Under the Microscope

Racing Point are yet to fully delivered on their considerable potential this season, thanks to a retirement at the first race and a scrappy qualifying at the second, but it has become increasingly apparent to the paddock that the pink cars are just as quick as they had feared.

This was demonstrated by Pérez’s charge through the field and then cemented by the fact that he was effectively being held up by the second Red Bull towards the end. As Stroll boisterously pointed out, they have “debatably the second fastest F1 car”.

So, Renault – clearly waiting to enact vengeance after Racing Point protested the French team’s best result in Japan last year – have decided to pull the trigger and lodged a protest over the eligibility of the Racing Point brake ducts.

Image credit: LAT Images

The paddock’s suspicions over the similarities between this year’s Racing Point and last year’s championship-winning Mercedes are well-known. The Silverstone-based team have been steadfast in their assertion that they simply copied the best car of last year and did so within the rules.

The stewards have classed the protest as admissible and impounded the brake ducts, whilst also requesting that Mercedes provide parts from last year’s car, but Racing Point remain resolute and say they “expect the FIA to dismiss the misconceived protest”. This will likely trundle on for a fair while.

The Styrian Grand Prix in 60 Seconds

Answering the Burning Questions

Will we see much difference in pace from anyone since the last race? Nothing particularly noticeable.

Can Ferrari bring some updates in time for this weekend? They did, but they didn’t get much use out of them.

Will there be fewer mechanical issues now that the cobwebs are gone? Yep, just one mechanical failure during the race.

Can Lewis Hamilton claw back some ground on his teammate? He can.

With thunderstorms forecast through the weekend, will we have a wet and wild qualifying and/or race? Not during the race, but the qualifying was emphatically wet and wild.

2020 Austrian GP report | Bottas wins madcap race with maiden podium for Norris

Posted on by James Mackenzie
F1 comes back with a bang. (Literally.)
Valtteri Bottas wins the Austrian Grand Prix.
Image credit: Getty Images

It may have been an agonising 217 days since the chequered flag in Abu Dhabi but the much-delayed opening Austrian Grand Prix of the 2020 season managed to be worth the wait.

By the end of qualifying, the main stories were clear – the dominance of Mercedes and the struggles of Ferrari. Mercedes look pretty mean in their new, black livery and their speed is just as menacing; they appear to have a half second advantage over the rest of the field, which looks ominous for the remainder of the season. Meanwhile, their former main rivals have seemingly slipped back into the midfield, with Sebastian Vettel knocked out in Q2 and his teammate only just surviving to ultimately manage seventh on the grid.

The drama on Sunday started early. Having originally avoided a penalty for not slowing under yellow flags during his final qualifying run, Hamilton was given a three-place grid penalty less than an hour before the race after Red Bull had questioned the stewards’ original decision.

It would not slow him down too much though. By lap 10, Hamilton was ready to inheret second place when Max Verstappen’s Red Bull decided it was done for the day. A massive disappointment for the Dutchman, who seemed to be in a strong position after Red Bull’s gamble in Q2 resulted in him starting on harder tyres than those around him.

He would prove to be far from the only retirement, though, with just 11 cars actually reaching the chequered flag.

Hamilton had closed up rapidly to his teammate after Verstappen’s retirement but a combination of safety cars and orders from the garage to take things easy – as engineers panicked about gearbox issues caused by the aggressive kerbs – meant he never managed to attempt an overtake.

After the third and final safety car, Mercedes found themselves in something of a predicament – they had not stopped for new tyres, whilst a string of cars behind them had done so. Immediately after the restart, Alexander Albon was all over the back of Hamilton and, within a few corners, we had a déjà vu of Brazil last year as they collided and Albon was left pointing in the wrong direction.

Hamilton received a five-second time penalty and would also be denied a spot on the podium as young Lando Norris – fresh from his best ever qualifying result – stormed through with the fastest lap of the race to finish 4.8 seconds behind the world champion and become the third youngest F1 podium finisher ever.

Lando Norris celebrates his maiden podium at the Austrian Grand Prix.
Image credit: LAT Images

Charles Leclerc took an unlikely 2nd considering Ferrari’s pace this weekend – thanks to some daring but clinical overtaking late on – and Carlos Sainz completed the top five. The Spaniard may currently be questioning his decision to switch to the Scuderia next year, with McLaren on an upward trajectory and Ferrari going in the opposite direction.

Bottas begins this season as he did last year’s, with a win, but can he keep it up this time and really take the fight to Hamilton? The 2020 season is already looking like it could be a two-horse race.

Leclerc Spares Ferrari’s Blushes

It was a chastening weekend for those in red, but Leclerc did, at least, manage to salvage something positive for them with an unlikely podium, albeit one which required a fair slice of luck.

Whilst all the noises coming out of Ferrari since pre-season testing have been clear in tempering expectations, nobody could have foreseen quite how far they have fallen; Leclerc’s qualifying time was a little under a second slower than his pole time at the same circuit last year.

Image credit: Foto Colombo Images

This has reminded people of the elephant in the room – namely, the private settlement reached between Ferrari and the FIA regarding their engine last year. It surely cannot be a coincidence that all three Ferrari-powered teams are suddenly struggling and that the factory team are no less than 0.7 seconds down on the straights alone… Whatever trick they were pulling last year, they are clearly no longer able to perform it and it has starkly exposed their 2020 car’s deficiencies; it has a severe amount of drag and, if you watch Sebastian Vettel’s onboard footage, is just a real handful.

Those wondering whether Vettel – with the knowledge that he will be out of the team come next year – would be out to prove a point and back to his best, had an early hint towards a potential answer as he clumsily ploughed into the back of Sainz early on. The four-time world champion is beginning to look disillusioned with the sport – can he find his mojo again with a new project or is this the end?

A Messy Weekend for the World Champion

It was not the ideal start to Hamilton’s quest for a record-equalling seventh world championship. The Briton dominated the practice sessions but was pipped by his teammate when it mattered in qualifying and would eventually be handed a penalty after Red Bull continued their tirade against Mercedes, having already lodged a protest against the Silver Arrows’ DAS system.

Once back up to second, he would endure a frustrating spell stuck behind his teammate, with those in the garage nervous of gearbox issues and desperate for their drivers to stop pushing, before his chances of taking the lead were further scuppered by numerous safety cars. Mercedes then made a mistake by not pitting for new tyres during the final safety car period, which led to the collision with Albon.

The Red Bull driver stormed around the outside of Hamilton at Turn 4, only for the pair to connect front and rear wheels on the exit. Hamilton took full responsibility for their uncannily similar accident at Interlagos last year, but this one was a little more complex.

Hamilton Albon Collision Onboard from formula1

There has been much debate as to whether the five-second penalty was deserved. Some – mostly in the Red Bull camp, obviously – have said that he got off lightly, whilst some have called it a racing incident. It was mostly just unfortunate.

Albon, in hindsight, perhaps should have been more patient – he had far better traction and would surely have been able to pass Hamilton in a less risky situation within a lap or so. Putting himself on the outside of a car on cold, worn, hard tyres at a downhill corner always had the potential to end in tears. Hamilton was something of a passenger as he understeered wide and then Albon’s overspeed effectively drove him into Hamilton’s front left tyre.

Equally, though, whilst he was slightly behind on corner entry, Albon was almost a car length ahead by the exit of the corner. Would a more-experienced driver have left just that extra few centimetres of room, knowing that the other car was likely to run wide? Maybe, but daring manoeuvres like this are why Albon is in the Red Bull; he will get there. Ultimately, it was the outcome that resulted in the penalty for Hamilton – if Albon had been bumped wide slightly and recovere to maybe 4th, there would likely have been no action taken. For a neutral driver’s perspective, check out Marcus Ericsson’s tweet.

Once Hamilton’s penalty was confirmed, Mercedes could potentially have swapped the drivers to help him cling on to a podium place, but that was not done either.

However you look at it, this is not how Hamilton would have envisaged his campaign starting and he already has a 13-point deficit to make up on a reduced calendar.

The Austrian Grand Prix in 60(ish) Seconds

Answering the Burning Questions

How will the new socially-distanced F1 play out? Will it have a significant impact? Not particularly – it’s easy to forget that there is no crowd and the McLaren garage didn’t exactly observe social distancing whilst celebrating their podium.

Who has the fastest car? Mercedes, it would appear emphatically.

Will anyone have made any dramatic changes since pre-season testing? Not to the untrained eye as yet, but Ferrari may do by next weekend.

Can Max Verstappen and Red Bull continue their winning streak in Austria? Nope.

How will Sebastian Vettel approach his final season at Ferrari? About the same as the last two years so far, unfortunately.

Let’s act like we know what’s going on in testing: 2020 edition

Posted on by James Mackenzie

It’s that time of year again.

The teams have packed up in Barcelona and now prepare for the long haul to Melbourne for the season-opener. Meanwhile, the rest of us try to figure out who was ‘sandbagging’, who was doing ‘glory runs’, who’s worried about their reliability and who’s quietly confident.

Let me pose some questions.

A Few Worries for Mercedes?

Image credit: Getty Images

Mercedes continued their fine form from the first week of testing for the most part, but it wasn’t all plain sailing. Reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton missed most of the penultimate day after an oil pressure anomaly caused a precautionary shutdown of the power unit. There had been a couple of other more minor engine-related issues prior to that and Williams, who are an engine customer of Mercedes, had similar problems.

Could this be an Achilles heel for the six-time world champions? We’ve seen the impact having to run on reduced power has had on the team in the past; at high altitude and with high temperatures in Austria last year, they suffered with engine overheating and were not on the level of Ferrari or Red Bull. Have they pushed their new engine too far in trying to catch up to the possibly illegal (more on that later) power achieved by Ferrari last year? Time will tell. But at least they have discovered the issues now. Better in testing than in qualifying or the race in Melbourne.

You can be sure that they will leave no stone unturned back at Mercedes HQ and the Silver Arrows certainly still head into the season as the team to beat. But maybe this development will have given some hope to those in the two garages next door. Speaking of which…

Can Red Bull and/or Ferrari Really Challenge This Year?

Having kept their heads down for the first week of testing, the other two members of the ‘big three’ started to show their hand a little more as they entered the final couple of days.

Ferrari spent the first week insisting that they were in trouble, that they were not sandbagging and that they may well even be battling with the midfield this year. But there was always a hint of the-Italian-lady-doth-protest-too-much about it. And it could be seen from an impressively fast and consistent long run by Charles Leclerc on the final day that they have been keeping their true pace under wraps.

The car was still very slow on the straights, however. How much of that is down to conservative power modes and how much is due to their focus on increasing downforce levels in slower corners will probably only become apparent during Q3 in Australia.

After last year’s pre-season testing promised far more than the season ended up delivering for the Scuderia, they have been maybe too self-deprecating this time round.

Red Bull have taken a similarly reserved approach, with even the notoriously outspoken Dr Helmut Marko not producing anything especially headline worthy. They have been producing solid lap times throughout the test, however, and look like they could pose a real threat to Mercedes. Max Verstappen did suffer a surprisingly high number of spins which raised suspicions about whether the new car has issues with stability on corner entry. The Dutchman dismissed these rumours with talk of the weather conditions and “finding the car’s limits”.

If there is nothing substantial to those rumours then Red Bull are looking in pretty good shape to take the fight to the world champions. Verstappen’s fastest time was only half a second down on that of Valtteri Bottas – who achieved the best lap for Mercedes during the first week – and was completed on a harder tyre. Watch this space.

Who Will Be Best of the Rest?

Image credit: XPB Images

Assuming that Ferrari’s talk of being comparable with those in the midfield is simply a case of tempering expectations, the fight for fourth place and ‘best of the rest’ is looking mighty tight.

Racing Point have caused many a raised eyebrow with their new car thanks to its striking resemblance to last year’s Mercedes; particularly once it had gone nearly as fast as the championship-winning car. Their two drivers – Sergio Pérez and Lance Stroll – spent large periods of testing in the top three and Pérez struggled to hide his glee during every interview, describing this year’s challenger as “the best car I’ve had in pre-season“.

The more established heads of the midfield – McLaren and Renault – pride themselves on making all their own parts and will be very bitter if they are beaten by a “Pink Mercedes“. But it all seems quite logical when technical director Andrew Green says they simply “copied the quickest car from last year”. He also pointed out that they had not had the budget to do so in the past but, with Lawrence Stroll’s investment, they can now achieve great things. And, in fairness, this is a team that has perennially punched above its weight.

McLaren and Renault aren’t looking too bad themselves though.

Image credit: XPB Images

Last year’s ‘Formula 1.5‘ champions have produced another handsome papaya and blue machine which, whilst they don’t appear to have been doing glory runs, looks like it will be there or thereabouts come Melbourne. It has produced some impressive long runs and the team seem very content with their work so far.

Renault, after a very disappointing 2019, have seemingly ripped up their former blueprints and started from scratch. A visibly different car, with a far thinner (and uniquely rounded) nose and reprofiled sidepods and airbox, looks like it could propel them back to the front of the midfield. Daniel Ricciardo’s lap, which left him top of the timings on the penultimate day, looked fast and a lot of their last car’s issues seem to have been solved.

Whilst those three are the favourites to fight for fourth, the others are not far behind. AlphaTauri, Alfa Romeo, Haas and even Williams have looked to be in the mix at varying points throughout the two weeks and the general consensus is that the midfield, as a whole, has closed the gap to the top three.

Image credit: James Moy

All this makes for the prospect of some great racing in the final year of these regulations. And, whilst we all agree that the new regulations were necessary for the health of the sport, it is ironic that the best racing always seems to happen at the end of a set of regulations, once all the teams have figured out what works best, copied each other a fair bit, and the pack has levelled out.

A Couple of Other Points of Order

The two other pressing issues in the sport right now are the FIA ruling regarding Ferrari’s engine last year and, as with most of the world, the Coronavirus.

The FIA revealed on Friday – conveniently just as pre-season testing was concluding – that they had “reached a settlement” with Ferrari after a “thorough technical investigation” into last year’s engine but would be keeping the specifics of said settlement between the two parties.

The opacity and underhandedness of this decision has shocked and infuriated the other teams. The term “settlement” certainly appears to imply wrongdoing on Ferrari’s part but, if that is the case, then why such leniency? Especially considering that would mean the team were using an illegal engine for most of the season.

The announcement was clearly timed to avoid lots of talk in the paddock through testing but you can be sure that the teams will not have forgotten by Melbourne. The drama here is far from over as Ferrari’s competitors “consider their next steps”.

Barring some kind of mass protest by those teams, the Australian Grand Prix does, at least, look likely to go ahead…

Some of the others remain very much in the balance. The Chinese Grand Prix has inevitably been postponed – and it will be a challenge for them to find a spot in the calendar for it later in the year – whilst Bahrain and Vietnam especially are looking pretty iffy. Both Grands Prix are instigating special measures, including a 14-day quarantine on travellers from countries where outbreaks are the most severe. That includes Italy.

Obviously, Italy is the home of Ferrari, but also AlphaTauri, some members of Haas and tyre supplier Pirelli. Whilst authorities in Bahrain are planning an expedited process for F1 personnel, Vietnam’s arrangements are less concrete at this point. There would always likely have been teething problems for a country hosting its ever first Grand Prix and the Coronavirus outbreak will have made thing considerably harder for them.

Ross Brawn has said that a race would not be held in a country that denies access to any team to ensure that the competition remains fair. The irony there, considering the controversial FIA/Ferrari settlement, will likely not have been lost on the teams.