Max Verstappen was declared the winner of the Belgian Grand Prix after the requisite two laps amidst a never-ending downpour at Spa.
After a spectacular qualifying session on Saturday, which saw George Russell very nearly snatch the unlikeliest of pole positions, fans waited for hours as the race was continuously delayed.
Eventually, with light fading fast and the rain showing no sign of dissipating, the drivers went out behind the safety car on what were – officially at least – reconnaissance laps, only for the race to be red flagged once again.
Around three and a half hours after the lights should have gone out, it was confirmed that the race would not restart and Verstappen was announced as the winner. That also meant a first ever podium for Russell in second and a 174th podium for Lewis Hamilton in third, with the field awarded half points.
A Bad Day for Formula 1
Image credit: Getty Images
Either side of the summer break, we went from one of the best races in years, to one of the worst ever.
If you can even call it a race.
The situation was clearly a very challenging one for all involved, but the way in which those in charge dealt with it left a lot to be desired. This is not simply a case of having the benefit of hindsight – it was clear to see at the time that many of the procedures were farcical.
Team strategists radioed Michael Masi, clueless of the situation, and received conflicting answers; the commentators did their best to inform the viewers but repeatedly found out that they were wrong.
This writer was just as confused as Martin Brundle upon discovering that the race had been shortened by one lap for each ‘delayed start’. Race start times have been changed in the past without it being classed as such. And then there was the debacle of the various clocks that may or may not have started, and were ultimately paused by the stewards anyway.
Image credit: XPB Images
It felt as though the rules were often being applied far too literally and that all common sense had been washed away by the biblical rain.
And finally came the laps that were classed as ‘the race’. As Hamilton stated in his post-race interview, they were sent out for “one reason and one reason only”: to ensure that there was an official result at the end of the day.
It is a result, however, that leaves a bitter taste in the mouth. For most of the teams and drivers, for those watching at home, and particularly for those in the grandstands. It is particularly painful to read first-hand accounts such as this one of fans who had paid hundreds of pounds or euros to sit in the rain for hours and then, in theory, not receive a refund as – they officially at least – witnessed an ‘event’.
We can only hope that F1 will do something to reimburse them. And that it will learn from this shambles for the future.
The ‘Belgian Grand Prix’ in 30 Seconds
Answering the Burning Questions
What madness happens on the first lap this time? Nothing. Absolutely nothing.
Will Red Bull decide to get an almost inevitable engine penalty out of the way here? Nope.
Are we set for a typical wet and wild race in Spa with showers forecast all weekend? It was too wet and wild…to the point that there was no race.
Lewis Hamilton delighted his home fans with victory at the British Grand Prix after recovering from a first-lap clash with title rival Max Verstappen.
Saturday’s sprint qualifying experiment had put Verstappen on pole, leaving Hamilton disappointed after a great performance in the regular qualifying format on Friday evening.
When the lights went out on Sunday, though, it was the World Champion who got away better. The pair fought tooth and nail for half a lap, regularly wheel-to-wheel and once brushing tyres on the Wellington Straight. Hamilton took a wide line around Luffield to get better drive and closed in on Verstappen down the old pit straight. The Red Bull defended but Hamilton sold him a dummy to move up the inside as the pair approached Copse at nearly 200 mph.
And then the clash – which has been narrowly avoided on numerous occasions this year – finally occurred.
Hamilton’s right front and Verstappen’s left rear touched and the Dutchman was sent spearing into the wall at a terrifying speed. Whilst clearly winded and shaken, he was able to walk away from the accident and transported to hospital for cautionary checks.
The Mercedes, meanwhile, had survived with minor damage and the race had been red flagged.
Once the barriers had been repaired, we witnessed our third standing start of the weekend with Charles Leclerc the unlikely polesitter. Hamilton sat in second – the damage to his car repaired with a bit of superglue – with his teammate, Valtteri Bottas, in third and fellow home hero Lando Norris in fourth.
The Ferrari held Hamilton at bay on the run to the first corner, but behind them Norris started well and passed Bottas for a provisional podium spot.
That would – somewhat surprisingly – remain the order through to the pit stops. Hamilton was generally within two seconds of the leader but couldn’t get close enough to fashion a move, despite occasional power issues for the Ferrari.
The Briton had been given a ten-second penalty as a result of his first-lap collision so an undercut was out of the question. He ran longer than those following, pitting on lap 28 and rejoined in what would effectively become fourth place.
A slow stop for Norris had left him behind Bottas and he didn’t fight as his compatriot stormed past into Copse on lap 31.
As Hamilton closed in rapidly on fresher tyres, his teammate was asked to move aside and that left just Leclerc – nine seconds up the road with 12 laps remaining.
By lap 50 of 52, Hamilton was within the slipstream of the Monegasque. Once again he found himself pulling alongside the leader on the run to Copse. This time, slightly further back, he backed out of it but Leclerc – aware of his competitor’s presence – ran wide and Hamilton was through.
Image credit: AFP
The crowd roared and the World Champion repaid their support with his first victory since the Spanish Grand Prix back in May.
Leclerc came home an excellent second for his first podium of the year, with Bottas in third and Norris fourth – the young Briton now impressively moves up to third in the standings.
This collision had been coming. For months, if not years.
Hamilton and Verstappen have come within millimetres of each other on more than occasion this season.
Generally – throughout their time in F1 – Hamilton has been the one to back out. His approach has more often than not been focused in the long term, on the championship. Verstappen, on the other hand, has usually been in a position where he has nothing to lose.
This time, crucially, those roles were reversed, but Verstappen’s approach remained the same.
This season, Hamilton was shoved wide at the first corner in Imola, and was very accommodating as his rival launched a divebomb up the inside a few weeks later in Spain. He learnt a long while back – and the hard way in 2011 – that staying out of trouble is often the best way to earn titles. But now, with the Red Bull the class of the field recently and Verstappen having opened up a 33-point lead, he found himself in a position to take risks again.
That has not been the case for a long time, and perhaps Verstappen thought he simply had the better of Hamilton. The Dutchman’s approach has always been comparable with Ayrton Senna‘s mantra of ‘Either you back out or we crash’.
Here at Silverstone, Hamilton did not back out and they did crash. And it was Verstappen who came off worse.
In hindsight, as the man with the significant points advantage, he should have been more circumspect. But his natural competitiveness and youthful hotheadedness – which has clearly not been totally ironed out just yet – saw him continue to take risks. Twice before their collision, Hamilton had avoided the Red Bull.
At the first corner, Verstappen came back onto the track sharply after running wide and then used up all the track at Brooklands despite entering the corner behind Hamilton.
In the end, a small penalty for car number 44 felt about right. It follows the precedent set by recent incidents where a driver on the inside has clipped the wheel of one on the outside, with an extra five seconds perhaps for the speed involved.
The comments made by Christian Horner and Helmut Marko – who claimed Hamilton should receive a race ban – were frankly ridiculous, inflammatory and unnecessary.
Whatever your opinion on the incident, it has undeniably reignited a title battle that looked to be slipping away from Mercedes and likely provided a real spark between the two protagonists. Hamilton lifted the trophy on Sunday, but F1 was the biggest winner.
What Did We Make of Sprint Qualifying?
This was due to be the main talking point until the lap 1 drama unfolded. But it’s still worth mentioning on a weekend where F1 trialled the biggest change to its format for decades.
Personally, I remain unconvinced. It didn’t sit right with me that the fastest driver over one lap didn’t earn pole position. The sprint on Saturday cheapened the regular qualifying session and acted as a spoiler for the main race, revealing certain elements of teams’ race pace and tyre life that would normally remain a mystery until the headline event.
As for the sprint itself, the first couple of laps were, of course, thrilling, but the remaining 15 were something of a procession as those out front were barely seen and a DRS train formed in the midfield. Fernando Alonso‘s extraordinary start provided most of the remaining entertainment as he slowly fell backwards after moving up from 11th to 5th in the first few corners.
Ross Brown and co are clearly determined to add more events to the race weekend, but they must be wary of quantity over quality on an ever-increasing calendar.
However, a close friend who has never really been interested in F1 messaged me after the race – initially commenting on Hamilton’s “big ball energy”… – to say that he had been drawn in by the new weekend format, with it sounding more interesting to a casual viewer. So, it has clearly had the desired effect.
If something like this ends up as a special occasion at three or four races a year, that could certainly work. The sprint race itself needs some tweaking. Perhaps a reverse-championship-order sprint for a few points to really embrace the mayhem; although the budget cap means teams are unlikely to go for that. Whatever they choose, for the love of god, just call it a race rather than ‘Sprint Qualifying’. It’s quite clearly a short race, and all the members of the media desperately trying to avoid calling it as such was a bit cringeworthy.
The British Grand Prix in 60 Seconds
Answering the Burning Questions
Will the Sprint Qualifying format be a success? A disaster? Somewhere in between? See above. Let’s go with somewhere in between.
Can Mercedes get back on terms with Red Bull at one of Hamilton’s most successful tracks? One way or another, yes.
Will their long overdue upgrades make a big difference? The updates certainly seem to have brought them closer. With Verstappen out of the race and Sergio Pérez stuck at the back, though, it was hard to tell.
More Austrian dominance for the man becoming the clear title favourite.
Image credit: Getty Images
Seven days after his first domination at the Red Bull Ring, it was a similar serene drive to the win for Max Verstappen at the Austrian Grand Prix.
As predicted, with no freak mechanical issues or weather to intervene, the Dutchman delighted the swathes of fans clad in orange.
Mercedes hoped to have found something to reduce the gap to their rivals in the days since the Styrian Grand Prix. But that was clearly not the case when they found themselves down in fourth and fifth on the grid, behind both Red Bulls and the excellent Lando Norris.
Once the lights went out, Verstappen sailed off into the distance and did not look back. He had a gap easily large enough to pit late on and earn himself the fastest lap – by nearly two seconds – and took the first grand chelem of his career, having also claimed pole position and led every lap.
Lewis Hamilton probably would have settled for more damage limitation in the shape of a second place, and he looked on for just that once he’d found a way past Norris on lap 20. But, just before his pit stop, a piece of crucial aero fell off the back of his car, leaving him with massively reduced rear downforce and costing him half a second per lap.
Image credit: Motorsport Images
It remains something of a mystery what caused this. The World Champion did not run especially wide when the bodywork made a break for it – he was running over the kerbs at Turn 10 as normal. Team Principal Toto Wolff believes it was simply a case of fatigue as teams are forced to make parts last longer amid the new cost cap for 2021.
So, further bad luck for Hamilton and he was helpless to defend as teammate Valtteri Bottas and Norris repassed him. That left the 36-year-old in fourth and he is now a massive 32 points behind his title rival in the standings.
The Future May Be Orange, but It’s Also British
Whilst Verstappen demonstrated once again what we all know – that he will be a superstar for many years to come – there were two other drivers who showed their considerable potential.
Norris’s qualifying lap was extraordinary. He took his McLaren to within five hundredths of a second of the all-conquering Verstappen to take his first ever front row grid slot.
Image credit: Motorsport Images
And Russell was equally impressive, dragging his Williams into Q3 for the first time and ending up eighth on the grid after a Sebastian Vettel penalty.
On race day, Norris defended against the Mercedes pair with nous and composure far beyond his years, even prompting Hamilton to say over the radio, “Such a great driver, Lando”. That is something you very rarely hear from a driver mid-race.
Bottas would only succeed in passing Norris after the young Briton received a debatable penalty for forcing Sergio Pérez wide following a safety car restart early in the race. And the Mercedes driver hardly disappeared into the distance once in front as Norris tailed him home to finish just two seconds back and earn his fourth career podium.
Further back, Russell had recovered from an iffy start to run in a legitimate 10th place through solid race pace and was heading for his first point with Williams. But then came Fernando Alonso. The 23-year-old defended hard from the man he has formed an unlikely bromance with, but eventually had to concede to the Alpine‘s far fresher tyres with just three laps to go.
After a mechanical retirement in the previous race removed Russell from eighth, his luck may not have improved but he continues to earn fans, including Alonso: “I felt a little bit sad for George because he drove an amazing weekend. When I saw P10, I was hoping anyone apart from him…but that’s the sport. He will have more opportunities hopefully for podiums and wins in the future.”
Image credit: Getty Images
Earning compliments from legends like Hamilton and Alonso shows just how much respect these two young drivers have earned over their two and a half years in F1.
In Verstappen, Norris, Russell and Charles Leclerc, the future of the sport looks in safe – and exciting – hands.
Were the Penalties Fair?
The move for which Norris earned his penalty, was mirrored by Pérez himself as he ran Leclerc wide twice later in the race. Each incident earned a five-second penalty.
It is good to see consistency from the stewards for once – though perhaps not in the long term – but were they consistently right or wrong on this occasion?
It’s tricky. The issue is Turn 4, where the two main incidents happened. It is a demanding corner with significant adverse camber and a gravel trap on the outside. So, this was not simply a case of Norris opening the steering up and running Pérez out of road – something we have seen go unpunished many times before anyway. It was more a case of the McLaren naturally understeering towards the edge of the track.
So, the only way to avoid contact or forcing the car on the outside wide would be to get off the throttle and cede the position. Is that something the lead driver on the inside line should ever have to do?
Image credit: Getty Images
The penalty seems more harsh given that it was on the first full lap of racing, when incidents are normally treated with more leniency due to cold tyres, cold brakes and the general mayhem. Case in point: Leclerc not even being investigated for clumsily ending Gasly’s race a week ago, a few seconds earlier in the lap.
Whatever your opinion on the decisions, the penalty points system is clearly broken.
Two penalty points for the incident leaves Norris on ten points – although two will be wiped before the next race – which is just two away from a race ban.
I have touched on the penalty points system as recently as the Azerbaijan Grand Prix – when Norris and Nicholas Latifi were each given three points for tricky situations in which they found themselves somewhat helpless – and they remain unfit for purpose.
Can Mercedes find anything to challenge Red Bull more than last weekend? Nope.
Will the softer tyres make much of a change to the pecking order? Alpine appeared to find some more pace but events conspired to prevent them utilising it.
Any chance of some rain this time? *sigh* Of course not.
Max Verstappen strengthened his grip on the championship with a dominant win in Red Bull‘s back yard at the Styrian Grand Prix.
It was a weekend where the Red Bulls ruled, topping every session except Practice 3, and once Verstappen had successfully navigated the start and the first couple of corners, it looked unlikely that he would be challenged.
In truth, a challenge looked unlikely as soon as the forecast rain failed to appear.
Mercedes may have been able to compete in terms of race pace seven days earlier, but that was at Paul Ricard. The French track has been a strong track for the Silver Arrows since it returned to the calendar; the Red Bull Ring generally has not.
Image credit: Getty Images
In the early stages of the race, Lewis Hamilton managed to keep his title rival close enough to see the now sturdier Red Bull rear wing a few seconds up the road. But as they approached the pit stop window, Verstappen began to turn the screw. And once into the second stage of the race, any hopes of Mercedes utilising a tyre wear advantage to make a race of it also dissipated as Verstappen extended his advantage without drama.
Unlike in France, there was nothing Hamilton and his team could have done differently on strategy this time – Verstappen simply had them covered on outright pace.
The Dutchman eventually reached the flag over 30 seconds ahead of Hamilton, once the Britain had stopped for a set of softs and a consolation bonus point for fastest lap. And it should have been a double podium for the home team.
After all the talk of pit stop regulations – more on that later – it was ironically a botched Red Bull stop which cost Sergio Pérez. Having navigated past the once again excellent Lando Norris, Pérez appeared to have Valtteri Bottas covered in their fight for the final podium spot. But a slow stop dropped him back behind the Finn and a gamble to switch to fresh medium tyres narrowly failed. One more lap would have done it. Pérez broke into the DRS window on the last lap but stood no chance of passing through the final five corners.
Image credit: Getty Images
Norris ran a lonely but effective race to finish fifth and impressively remain above Bottas in the standings. The Ferraris reversed their form from the last grand prix. In France, they started well but fell badly through the field. Here, a poor qualifying from Carlos Sainz and a clumsy opening lap by Charles Leclerc were rectified by impressive race pace which saw the pair recover to sixth and seventh respectively.
That means Ferrari narrow the gap to McLaren slightly after Daniel Ricciardo failed to score points. The Aussie struggled once again in qualifying and, after he had made amends with an excellent opening lap, a temporary loss of power saw him plummet back down the order. The Honey Badger just can’t catch a break right now.
It’s back to Spielberg again in a week’s time and Mercedes won’t be enjoying the prospect of another chastening dent to their title defence. Can we hold out any hope for a more interesting race? Perhaps. The tyres are a step softer and the tworaces in Silverstone last year showed how much of a difference that can make. And who knows – maybe it could even bloody rain when it’s supposed to this time…
“This is an outrage!” screamed large portions of social media. “It’s the FIA trying to help Mercedes against Red Bull!” yelled armchair experts as their tin foil hats slipped over their eyes.
The reality is that this will make very little difference and – more to the point – if it does affect any teams, they were exploiting a loophole and endangering their own pit crews.
The technical directive mandates a minimum 0.15-second delay between the wheel nuts being confirmed as tight and the mechanic operating the jack dropping the car, and 0.2 seconds from the jack going down to the driver receiving the signal to leave the pits.
Christian Horner, of course, piped up – windbag that he is – to claim that, “To have to hold the car for two tenths of a second, you could almost argue it’s dangerous because you’re judging your gaps. The guy that’s releasing the car is having to make that judgement, and I think that it’s not been well thought through.”
Image credit: XPB Images
That is nonsense. There will be no judging a 0.15-second gap. For the same reason that an Olympic sprinter or an F1 driver starting in less than that is deemed to have jumped the start. That is quite simply the absolute fastest a human being can react.
All this clarification does is ensure that there are no automated systems in play. Systems that would speed up times but reduce safety. It’s very easy for Horner to give his two cents, sat on a comfy chair on the pit wall… But it’s a different matter entirely when a 900kg, 1000 bhp Formula 1 car is millimetres away from doing you significant damage.
Let’s not forget, it was only three years ago that a Ferrari mechanic had his leg broken when an automated system gave Kimi Räikkönen an errant green light.
And again, if there are no illegal systems at play, Horner should have nothing to worry about. So, let’s just all move on shall we? It will probably all have been forgotten about by the time it comes into play at the Hungarian Grand Prix anyway.
The Styrian Grand Prix in 60 Seconds
Answering the Burning Questions
Can Mercedes turn around their form on Red Bull’s home track? Nope.
Will we see a wet and wild weekend? As is tradition, the likelihood of a wet race went from 90% on Friday, to 40% on Saturday, to 0% on Sunday morning. The best we got was a few drops in Practice 2. Typical.
Can Ferrari solve their race pace/degradation issues? Yes, Sainz produced an impressive first stint to overcut most of the midfield.
Max Verstappen and Red Bull bested their title rivals in a strategic rollercoaster at the French Grand Prix.
Paul Ricard had historically been a Mercedes track – Lewis Hamilton comfortably winning both races since it returned to the calendar in 2018 – but Red Bull were immediately on the front foot this weekend.
Mercedes, and Hamilton in particular, once again struggled to find a setup for their car. But the World Champion did what he so often does and produced the goods when it really mattered to join Verstappen on the front row.
And that front row soon became the lead when Verstappen was caught out by a tailwind into the first corner; the Dutchman running wide and handing the advantage to his rival.
Image credit: AFP
Hamilton held that lead through the first stint and had extended his advantage to around three seconds when Mercedes triggered the front-running pit stops by bringing in Valtteri Bottas. Red Bull responded a lap later to protect against the undercut but Mercedes, crucially, left Hamilton out.
When car number 44 stopped on the next lap, it became evident that the Mercedes strategists had severely underestimated the power of the undercut. Verstappen swept by into the first corner with the helpless Hamilton left frustrated as his team apologised over the radio, saying they “didn’t really know what had happened there”.
Hamilton channelled his frustration into an immediate attack. The Mercedes pair stalked Verstappen, following within two seconds in an attempt to force him to use up his tyres. It worked, but it ultimately forced Red Bull into a race-winning call.
Wary of another situation like Spain this year or Hungary 2019, Red Bull decided to make what Team Principal Christian Horner later described as a “ballsy call” to pit Verstappen from the lead. The Dutchman emerged with an 18-second gap to chase down in 20 laps.
Image credit: Getty Images
But chase them down he did. The gap initially reduced at a rate of two seconds per lap, and Bottas failed to slow him down on tyres which were now well past their best. But Hamilton had done his trademark tyre whispering and for a brief moment the gap appeared to be holding steady at around five seconds as they navigated through backmarkers.
Once in clear air, however, Verstappen upped his speed and Hamilton was once again helpless as the Red Bull dived to his inside to reclaim the lead with a little over a lap remaining. A crucial 14-point swing in the drivers’ standings which leaves the Dutchman with a healthy lead heading to Red Bull’s home track in Spielberg.
Behind the leading pair, Sergio Pérez had been easier on his tyres and passed Bottas for the final spot on the podium. The McLarens had also shown excellent race pace to move up to fifth and sixth, Lando Norris leading home Daniel Ricciardo on a far stronger weekend for the Honey Badger.
It was a shocking day for the Scuderia as the red cars fell from fifth and seventh on the grid to finish outside the points in 11th and 16th. Ferrari got their strategy all wrong and have now lost third in the standings to McLaren.
More Mercedes Mistakes
Speaking of strategy… The Mercedes strategists are on a horrible run of form.
First, they undercut when they should have overcut in Monaco. That lost Hamilton two places on a circuit where strategy is of the utmost importance and condemned him to seventh place. In Azerbaijan, another undercut and a sluggish pit stop saw Hamilton fall from first to third. And now, in Le Castellet, they were mugged twice by a far sharper Red Bull team.
The power of the undercut was evident. Before the front-runners had pit, Ricciardo undercut both Gasly and Carlos Sainz when his team had only been attempting to jump the former. But Mercedes inexplicably chose to leave their leading man out for an extra lap, overly confident in his three-second cushion.
And to what end? Tyres which were one lap younger than those of Verstappen?
Image credit: Mercedes
Once the first mistake had been made, there was still a chance to make amends. The other thing that had been clear to see during the race was that tyre degradation was far higher than expected. But it was again Red Bull who reacted more quickly, bringing in Verstappen and forcing Mercedes to attempt to make it to the end. The usually cool Bottas vented his frustration over the radio that his pleas for a two-stop had been ignored.
Is this just a few bad races, or is Mercedes’ strategy actually the most significant chink in their armour?
For years, the seven-time World Champions have been described as a well-oiled machine, but their superiority over the field has often masked their strategic deficiencies. It doesn’t particularly matter when you mess up if the only competition is your other car…
In a genuine title battle, they have been exposed before.
Image credit: Getty Images
During their fight with Ferrari in 2018, there were numerous mistakes. They miscalculated the VSC delta in Australia, losing Hamilton a win. In China, they failed to pit him under a Safety Car. The same thing happened in Austria. They kept him out too long at the US Grand Prix and handed Kimi Räikkönen a win. The list goes on.
Even in such a dominant march to the title as 2020, there were many operational errors. Be it failing to see that the pit lane was closed in Italy, advising Hamilton he could do a practice start in the wrong place in Russia, or the pit stop debacle in Sakhir.
Red Bull, on the other hand, come across as ruthlessly efficient at the moment. And they also appear to have the slightly faster car.
So, if Mercedes want to stand a chance of winning either title this year, they will have to make sure these issues are ironed out sharpish. Even with Hamilton to occasionally flatter their decisions.
Image credit: Getty Images
The French Grand Prix in 60 Seconds
Answering the Burning Questions
Can Mercedes recover from two tough weekends? It was better, but Red Bull completed their hat-trick nonethless.
Will we see any more tyre dramas? No explosions thankfully, but the degradation spiced things up.
Will the new wing tests have a noticeable effect on the competitive order? Not really. That whole drama has basically been forgotten about already.
Ecstasy for Verstappen, agony for Leclerc, frustration for Hamilton.
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.
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.
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?
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.
“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
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.
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.
When the lights did go out, it was Verstappen who made a flying start from third on the grid. He had the racing line into the first corner and was able to run his main rival, Lewis Hamilton, out of road and claim the lead. Hamilton bounced over the raised kerbs and damaged his front wing but held onto second. Further round the first lap, Nicholas Latifi spun his Williams and then, upon rejoining, put himself into the wall after leaving Nikita Mazepin nowhere to go on the run down towards the Variante Alta.
That produced a safety car and (you’d expect) a moment of calm… But no, Mick Schumacher overcooked it whilst warming his tyres and pitched himself into the wall at the pit exit. The German rookie was able to recover but would have to drive round minus a front wing for a couple of laps as the pit lane was closed, ironically, to clear the debris from his crash. Sergio Pérez then ran wide into the gravel and earned himself a penalty by passing two cars to reclaim his position under safety car conditions.
Image credit: Formula 1
Verstappen controlled the restart well and the leading pair dropped the rest of the pack. Leclerc – running in an impressive third – was already 15 seconds behind when Verstappen pitted on lap 28. Hamilton responded a lap later but a slow stop ruined any chances of him jumping the Dutchman and he rejoined a few seconds behind.
The World Champion appeared to be more comfortable on the dry tyres, though, and was closing the gap as the two drivers worked their way through the backmarkers. However, on lap 31, Mercedes‘ race imploded.
George Russell slowed to allow his fellow countryman past as they approached the Tosa hairpin, but stayed on the racing line. Force to overtake on the wet part of the track, Hamilton slithered off into the gravel and ultimately the wall, as the appalling turning circle of a modern Formula 1 car was laid bare. After some trouble, he engaged reverse gear and excruciatingly back-pedalled over the gravel and onto the track, but with a damaged front wing. And things were about to go from bad to worse in the Mercedes camp.
As Hamilton limped back to the pits, the other Mercedes driver and the Mercedes protégé came together in a massive way. After a poor qualifying had seen Bottas start from eighth, his struggles had continued come the race and he unbelievably found himself defending against a Williams. At full speed on the start-finish straight, Russell pulled alongside the Mercedes but put a wheel on the grass and immediately speared across into the Finn, both drivers going straight on and smashing into the barriers. With debris all over the track, the race was red-flagged.
After a brief stoppage, the drivers rejoined the track for a rolling restart. Ironically, the Mercedes disaster had actually aided Hamilton, who found himself in ninth, no longer a lap down, and with a repaired car. Verstappen then got lucky himself as he lost the car whilst backing the pack up for the restart, but was just about able to save the situation and Leclerc politely remained behind.
When he did successfully get the race back underway, the McLaren gamble to fit soft tyres saw Lando Norris pass Leclerc for second and briefly put pressure on the leader. Yuki Tsunoda passed Hamilton into the first corner but immediately spun and a lap later Pérez also found himself pointing the wrong direction in the gravel. A tale of hero to zero for the Mexican who had been the first teammate to outqualify Verstappen since Daniel Ricciardo left the team.
Two drivers may have removed themselves as obstacles, but Hamilton still had a lot of work to do if he was to recover to the podium. But recover he did. Slowly but surely, he got to within a second of each of the cars in front and executed a move into Tamburello. Norris put up an excellent fight on what were now very worn soft tyres, but eventually ceded his position with three laps remaining. He would hold off the chasing Ferraris for third, though, and claimed a very well-earned podium – the second of his career.
Ricciardo took sixth but – after earlier having to move aside for his teammate – admitted he still has a lot of work to do as he tries to acclimatise to his new, papaya machine. Late penalties for Lance Stroll and Kimi Räikkönen saw Pierre Gasly promoted to seventh and Alonso claim his first point since returning to the sport, despite never looking especially comfortable in the car.
Image credit: Getty Images
Out front, it had all been plain sailing for Verstappen since his minor blunder at the restart and he had built up a comfortable 20-second lead. Hamilton snatched the fastest lap late on, which keeps him one point ahead in the drivers’ standings, but the title fight is very much on.
A Damaging Day for Bottas and Russell
Now that the field has closed up so dramatically on the Silver Arrows, when Bottas has one of his off-days in qualifying, it is far more brutally exposed. He was a little under half a second shy of his teammate’s pole time and whilst, in the past, that would often still have seen him on the front row, in Imola it left him in an embarrassing eighth place.
And yet, Sunday was arguably worse. Surprisingly, considering his heritage and love of rallying, driving in the wet does not appear to be a strong suit for the Finn – just look at his performance in Turkey last year… He fell back a further two places at the start and then spent 28 laps stuck behind the Aston Martin of Stroll. That is what put him into a situation where he could be crashed into by an arguably overexcited Russell.
If you are expecting that to reflect well on Russell’s chances of replacing him next year, however, you’d be wrong. Whilst qualifying saw another performance worthy of his ‘Mr. Saturday’ moniker and the incident with Bottas itself could have been excusable, it was his reaction during the aftermath that left a bitter taste in the mouth.
Image credit: Getty Images
First, Russell stormed up to the smoking wreckage that contained Bottas, lambasted him for “trying to kill them both” and gave him a smack on the helmet for good measure. As Bottas emerged visibly winded from his car and was then being examined at the medical centre, Russell was already Tweeting his criticisms and claiming that Bottas would have defended differently if it were another driver.
Whilst his initial, heat-of-the-moment reaction was understandable, he really should have thoroughly examined the footage before going to see the media as it seems pretty clear to most that it was somewhere between a racing incident and Russell’s fault. Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff described it as 60:40 in terms of blame and was left fairly unimpressed.
This comes not long after the young Briton crashed behind the safety car whilst also chasing points at Imola last year. There is no denying that he has talent – and he obviously cannot have any blame attributed to him for what happened in Bahrain last year – but, if he is not careful, he could gain himself a reputation for choking when opportunities come his way. And throwing his toys out of the pram in the process.
The Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in 60 Seconds
Answering the Burning Questions
With a very different location to the last race, will Red Bull still have the fastest car? It was hard to say. It looks like Mercedes have certainly at least closed the gap.
Can Max Verstappen make amends for his near miss last time out? Very much so!
Will any of the teams have brought significant upgrades for the first European race after a three-week gap? Ferrari’s new floor appears to have given them a performance boost.
How will the midfield shape up? Can Alpine or Aston Martin improve on their disappointing performances in the desert? A little but the midfield order appeared pretty similar.
Will we see some challenging conditions with cold temperatures and a fair chance of rain? We will!
As is often the case, the Abu Dhabi finale produces a spectacle of style over substance.
Image credit: Getty Images
Max Verstappen took his second victory of 2020 at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, during a weekend where, for the first time this year, Red Bull clearly had the outright fastest car.
Qualifying on Saturday was close – the top three separated by less than a tenth of a second – but surprisingly it was Verstappen who came away with his first pole of the year. And on Sunday, he simply drove away into the setting sun. It was a performance reminiscent of the Red Bull glory days of 2010 – 2013 but now with Verstappen at the wheel rather than Sebastian Vettel. Unfortunately it proved to be yet another sopirific race at the Yas Marina circuit.
The Mercedes behind never looked a threat and it was telling that Alexander Albon was challenging them in the final laps, rather than battling midfield cars. An off-colour Lewis Hamilton – clearly still struggling as he recovers from contracting Covid-19 – meandered round to third before saying, “I’m destroyed – I do not feel good. But I’m happy, I’m grateful. I’m alive, and I live to fight another day.”
In addition to housing a less-than-100% Hamilton, the World Champions had detuned their engines after discovering a reliability concern with their MGU-K. They had also struggled with balance throughout the weekend and were losing three tenths per lap in Turns Five, Six and Seven alone.
Image credit: Getty Images
Most importantly, though, Mercedes – after seeing the level of their dominance early in the year – abandoned development on the all-conquering W11 to concentrate on next year’s car about halfway through the season. Technical director James Allison has pointed out that 2021’s regulations aren’t quite as copy-paste as many would have you believe.
“Actually, you can design an entire new suspension on next year’s car. You can spend your allowable tokens on quite considerable upgrades. You could be permitted to put a new gearbox on your new car if you use your permitted development tokens for that, or a new chassis.
“These are not small twiddles to an existing package. They are quite large ones. If we showed up with the first iterations of this modified regulation set, we would go from pole position to more or less last on the grid. So, there is a lot of work to do.”
If they are truly to challenge, Red Bull must put to bed their recent habit of starting the season slowly, with a tricky car which they slowly gain an understanding of. And a second driver who can consistently challenge at the front wouldn’t hurt either…
The Battle for the ‘Best of the Rest’
After last weekend’s shock win – and double podium – for Racing Point, third place in the constructors’ standings looked theirs to lose.
But things started to unravel when they discovered an engine issue on Sergio Pérez’s car – one that, in fact, came perilously close to denying him an emotional maiden win. The Mexican would have to start the race from the back of the grid. This problem for the Pink Panthers was then compounded by the McLarens’ excellent performance in qualifying, with Lando Norris starting in fourth and Carlos Sainz in sixth.
Image credit: DPPI
On race day, Norris inevitably fell behind the rapid Red Bull of Albon but, from there, those in papaya didn’t put a foot wrong and came home in fifth and sixth for a crucial haul of 18 points.
The other Racing Point of Lance Stroll could only struggle to a single point for 10th and, with the Renaults in seventh and ninth, the unofficial title of ‘best of the rest’ – and more importantly, the extra prize money – went to McLaren.
Racing Point’s 15-point deduction back in the summer for illegally copying the Mercedes 2019 car proved crucial in the end. But they start afresh next year – rebranded as Aston Martin, with four-time world champion Vettel leading the team – and will look to push on towards the battle at the front.
A Race of Farewells
Abu Dhabi saw the end of many chapters. As mentioned, Pérez leaves Racing Point to be replaced by Vettel; the Ferrari driver was given a guard of honour by his mechanics and honoured via a special helmet design from teammate Charles Leclerc.
Image credit: James Moy
It was also Daniil Kvyat’s last race for AlphaTauri. The Russian’s Red Bull rollercoaster ride is finally over, but he is determined to find a spot on the grid elsewhere in 2022 and – after a mediocre start to the season – his performances of late have shown that he still has the potential to shine if given the right car.
The Sainz-Norris bromance at McLaren was heartbreakingly torn apart as the former prepares for his move to Ferrari. They signed off in trademarkstyle though. And a Ricciardo-Norris partnership is unlikely to be dull.
Finally, it was farewell to the Haas drivers. It has been an underwhelming year in terms of performance, but Kevin Magnussen has shown a characteristic fighting spirit throughout. And if we’re talking of fighting spirit… Romain Grosjean was sadly unable to compete in his final race, but the images of him escaping that terrifying fireball in Bahrain will last forever. He may even have bagged himself a drive in the fastest F1 car of all time to see off his career. There are far worse ways to end a career and I’m sure many of them ran through his mind during those excruciating 28 seconds.
The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in 60 Seconds
Answering the Burning Questions
Will Lewis Hamilton experience any knock-on effects from the virus? Apparently so. He certainly didn’t seem his usual self.
How will George Russell readjust to the Williams after a taste at the front? All the usual talk of being happy to be back and he performed at his usual high level.
Who can go into the winter break on a high? Verstappen, Red Bull and McLaren.
Which team will claim third in the standings and which driver will claim fourth? Pérez held on for fourth, despite his retirement contributing to McLaren snatching third from Racing Point.
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.
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.
Hamilton is the hero again, but no more so than the Red Bull mechanics.
Image credit: LAT Images
Lewis Hamilton took a commanding victory at the 2020 Hungarian Grand Prix, winning in Budapest for the eighth time and, in doing so, matched Michael Schumacher‘s long-standing record for the most wins at one grand prix.
It is looking like the first of potentially a few Schumacher records to fall this year, considering the dominance of Mercedes and Hamilton now being just two podiums and five race wins behind the legendary German’s tallies.
The 86th victory of Hamilton’s career began in tricky conditions, with the track soaking wet from rain earlier in the day but drying out as the sun poked through the clouds and leaving the decision of which tyres to start on as a tight judgement call.
Max Verstappen – generally considered one of the very best in the rain – showed just how precarious the conditions were as he crashed on the way to the grid. Thus ensued a mad rush by the Red Bull mechanics to fix his broken front left push-rod in the remaining 15 or so minutes; they completed the work with 25 seconds to spare.
Image credit: Formula 1
The Dutchman demonstrated his gratitude, firstly over the radio and then on the track, with a stellar performance to take second place, having started seventh, and narrowly holding off the charging Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas in the final laps.
Bottas had got away poorly – he was fortunate not to receive a penalty for jumping the start after initially reacting to lights going out on his dashboard – and dropped back down the order on the run to the first corner. This is not the Bottas 3.0 that fans thought they had seen at the opening grand prix. He has now lost the championship lead to his illustrious teammate and will have to conjure up some renewed fire in his belly if he is to wrestle that lead back as we head for back-to-back races at Silverstone, where Hamilton has won five of the last six events.
And the world champion is showing some great form currently. He used all his wet-weather expertise to open up an eight second lead in the first couple of laps and, by the end, had a significant enough gap to Verstappen that he was able to comfortably pit for soft tyres and secure the extra point for the fastest lap. All in all, another masterclass to add to the collection.
Further back, Alexander Albon made a strong recovery after a disappointing qualifying to finish fifth, just ahead of Sebastian Vettel. Both drivers needed a good result and will surely have got some critics off their respective backs, for a while at least.
Neither came close to challenging Lance Stroll in the Racing Point, however, who coasted to a comfortable fourth position – the second-best result of his career. The ‘Pink Mercedes’ was undoubtedly the second-best car during qualifying and, whilst they faded a little in the race, were impressive enough to raise hackles a little more in the paddock. Renault have now lodged a second protest against the Racing Point car, before even having heard the result of their first one.
Image credit: XPB Images
An inspired call at Haas to pit at the end of the formation lap for dry tyres led to the struggling team running third and fourth in the early stages. They predictably fell down the order, but Kevin Magnussen hung on commendably to finish ninth on the road. They would later receive a penalty for breaching regulations regarding driver aids by instructing the pair to pit on the formation lap, but Magnussen still earned a single point -their first of the season – for 10th, at least.
Meanwhile, Red Bull survived without a penalty despite having clearly been caught drying the track on Albon’s grid spot…
Yet More Stewarding Inconsistency
It is so very hard to predict which way a stewarding decision is going to fall currently; it’s as if they are making it up as they go along. But then I suppose that is not a huge surprise when you have a panel that changes from race to race.
Last week saw the bewildering decision not to penalise Stroll for his attempt to pass Daniel Ricciardo late on in the Styrian Grand Prix. He clearly forced Ricciardo off the track – left the track himself for good measure – and then kept the position. It seemed a ‘slam dunk’ penalty to most of the paddock, thanks to the trifecta of forcing another car off the track, violating track limits and completing an overtake off the track all in one move. As well as, arguably, rejoining in an unsafe manner as he blocked Lando Norris upon his return.
The stewards, however, saw things differently. As is often the case, there was not much of an explanation as to their decision, which deemed it a “racing incident where neither driver was wholly to blame”. Ricciardo said he thought it was “crystal clear” that it should have resulted in a penalty and, considering all he did was avoid a collision, it is difficult to see how the stewards apportioned any blame upon him.
Image credit: LAT Images
This is the crux of the problem; the fans – and even the drivers – are often left bemused by the decisions and no one is there to justify them. I have called for it before, but what we really need is a consistent panel of respected figures who are fully accountable for their decisions and explain exactly how and why they have come to them.
A Crash Back Down to Earth for Lando
After two extraordinary races to open the season for Lando Norris, Sunday saw things go far less smoothly for the 20-year-old. After what he described as “the worst start I’ve ever got in my life”, he fell to the back of the field and, from there, never really recovered.
The Hungaroring is notoriously hard to pass on and the McLaren driver could only recover to finish 13th in the end. Still, with two stellar performances out of three so far, things could be going far worse and I’m sure, if you had offered him fourth in the championship standings at this point before the season started, he would have bitten your hand off.
Can Ferrari make some progress this weekend (and maybe not immediately crash into one another)? It wasn’t all plain sailing but certainly an improvement on the previous two races.
Will Lewis Hamilton match Michael Schumacher’s record for the number of wins at one GP with an 8th triumph in Hungary? Yep.
How will Racing Point respond to the protest about their car? By being ever more in-your-face with their speed, if anything.
Will the interview requested by Sebastian Vettel (with Martin Brundle) prove to be a major announcement? No, but it’s a thoroughly entertaining watch.
With more thunderstorms forecast, could it be another wet and wild weekend? It threatened to pour throughout the weekend, but we only ever got hints of rain when it really counted.
