Tag: Max Verstappen

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sainz Leaves it Late to Snatch Sixth

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

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

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

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

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

Verstappen Claims the Other ‘Best of the Rest’

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

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

Image credit: Red Bull

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

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

But the final word must go to Hamilton.

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

The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in 60 Seconds

Answering the Burning Questions

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Image credit: Motorsport Images

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

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

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

Ferrari…

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

But this one will have hurt.

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

Image credit: Formula 1

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

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

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

Image credit: Getty Images

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

Two Very Wholesome Podiums

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Brazilian Grand Prix in 60 Seconds

Answering the Burning Questions

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Is the Old Verstappen Back?

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

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

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

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

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

Image credit: Motorsport Images

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

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

Pérez Sends the Home Crowd Wild

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

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

Image credit: Renault

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

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

The Mexican Grand Prix in 60 Seconds

Answering the Burning Questions

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

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

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

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

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

2019 Hungarian GP report | Hamilton stages comeback to snatch victory

Posted on by James Mackenzie
The Hamilton-Verstappen duel we’ve all been waiting for.
Lewis Hamilton celebrates winning the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Image credit: AP

Lewis Hamilton and his Mercedes team produced a tale of redemption, after their messy weekend in Germany, to take a dramatic late victory at the 2019 Hungarian Grand Prix.

Max Verstappen had continued his excellent recent form to pip both Mercedes drivers – Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas – for his first ever pole position on Saturday. He then just about survived with the lead intact to the first corner, despite running three-wide with Hamilton and Bottas, and from there it looked his race to lose on a track where it is notoriously difficult to overtake.

Behind him, the two Mercedes battled through the first few corners. Bottas did so clumsily though, locking up twice and then clipping his front wing first against the rear tyre of his teammate and then that of Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari. Both escaped without punctures but Bottas’s wing was damaged to the extent that he was forced to pit for a replacement and would emerge in last place, with a long race ahead of him.

The top two of Verstappen and Hamilton steadily pulled away from the Ferrari pair; it becoming apparent fairly quickly that this was to be a two-horse race. At first there was something of stalemate but as Verstappen’s tyres began to fade, Hamilton closed up to the back of the Dutchman and forced Red Bull to pit him early on lap 25, as they feared a pit stop by Mercedes would produce an ‘under-cut’ and give Hamilton the lead. Mercedes stretched the championship-leader’s first stint as far as they could – for another six laps – with the hope of fresher tyres at the end of the race. Hamilton rejoined and immediately closed the gap; a six-second lead gone in just over three laps.

Thus ensued the duel that Formula 1 fans have been craving for a long time. Of course, the two drivers have battled for position on track before, but it has rarely been in closely-matched cars and, generally, Hamilton has been very cautious – looking at the bigger picture of his own title fights and knowing Verstappen’s tendency to take no prisoners. But here, it was different. Hamilton has a far more comfortable lead in the championship and, at this point, his closest competitor is arguably Verstappen. So he went for it. Specifically around the outside of the deceptively tight Turn Four, at 150 mph over a blind crest. He nearly pulled it off too but for a snap of oversteer which sent him wide into the run-off area.

The first four corners of that lap were captivating, with excellent attacking and defensive driving from the two. But now, it was the turn of the Mercedes strategy team to excel.

With no threat to their second place coming from behind, they decided to roll the dice and pit Hamilton for a set of medium tyres, hoping he could claw back the 20-second gap in the remaining 22 laps as Verstappen’s tyres aged. For a while, it looked overly ambitious, with the gap still at over 15 seconds seven laps later, but then Hamilton turned it on and Verstappen’s tyres faded badly; the gap suddenly decreasing by more than 1.5 seconds per lap. By the time Hamilton had reached the back of the Red Bull, there was little Verstappen could do to defend. There was to be no repeat of the dramatics from earlier and Hamilton neatly swept around the outside of Turn One with a little under four laps remaining and claimed his eighth victory of 2019.

A totally different race to the chaos in Germany but certainly still an enthralling one – plenty of action, interesting strategies and nail-biting tension at the front. Formula 1 enters its summer break on a high.

Ferrari Finish Third But Now Have the Third Quickest Car

Ferrari were always likely to struggle in Budapest but will be disappointed to have finished a full minute behind the leader. This was a track that in recent years has very much suited their car, with its downforce and speed through slow corners, but this year’s machine has almost the exact opposite traits. They now have a significant straight-line advantage but are somewhat hopeless in slow to mid-speed corners. And whilst Red Bull have made impressive progress in reducing the gap to Mercedes, Ferrari have faltered.

Image credit: Callo Albanese

They were left to their own private race for the final step on the podium and it was Sebastian Vettel who used a similar strategy to Hamilton’s to catch and pass his younger teammate a couple of laps from the end. An impressive 39-lap stint on the medium tyres left the German able to switch to the softs for the remainder of the race and reel in Leclerc on similarly fading tyres to Verstappen’s at the front.

It was continuation of Vettel’s recent upturn in form and/or luck but he will be fully aware that there is a long way to go for the team. They found themselves with clearly the third quickest car this weekend. That is something that will provide some embarrassment at Maranello – this was supposed to be their year, remember? And Red Bull were supposed to be in a rebuilding phase as they acclimatised to a Honda engine.

At least the races after the summer break will present an opportunity for the Scuderia, with Spa and Monza both heavily reliant on straight-line speed. And oh how the Tifosi could do with a victory at home right now…

Pressure Mounts on Bottas and Gasly

With ‘silly season’ in full swing and lots of rumours swirling regarding their seats, both Bottas and Pierre Gasly could have done with a solid race heading into the summer break. But neither managed one.

Toto Wolff has now openly admitted that it is a straight choice between Bottas and Esteban Ocon – the Mercedes reserve driver, waiting in the wings after missing out on a seat this year – and that the Mercedes management will be using the summer to weigh up their options. But the Finn made a less-than-compelling case in Hungary. Fortunate not to wreck both Mercedes cars’ races with that early contact, he certainly damaged his own and then did a somewhat average job of working his way through the field, eventually being held behind Kimi Räikkönen’s Alfa Romeo for an underwhelming eighth place finish.

The Mercedes at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Image credit: Motorsport Images

His mental state after that mistake in Germany was dicussed; did that play a part in his sloppy performance on Sunday? Either way, that would appear to be his championship hopes all but over. Potentially his Mercedes career too.

Meanwhile, at Red Bull, Gasly is a driver under even more pressure. He has been given more time than probably any other driver in Red Bull’s history when performing so badly but now, after once again being lapped by his teammate and failing to pass a McLaren, is that time up?

Helmut Marko had announced very recently that Gasly would stay on for the remainder of the season but there was a pointed shift in the comments made by both himself and team principal Christian Horner after this race. Horner stating that “we shouldn’t be racing Saubers [sic] and McLarens”. The issue being that Gasly’s lack of performance noticeably cost them this weekend – a driver closer to Verstappen’s level should have been within 20 seconds of Hamilton and would then have prevented the strategy that won Mercedes the race.

With Red Bull now legitimately challenging Ferrari for second in the Constructors’ Championship, every point counts. And Gasly is not providing many unfortunately.

Sainz and McLaren Continue to Impress

Image credit: McLaren F1

Speaking of the McLarens, the fact is that they are racing with Gasly…and winning. Once again, they punched above their weight, running comfortably in fifth and sixth until Lando Norris was again unlucky with a slow pit stop, on a track that they thought might cause them problems. Norris recovered well through the field to earn a couple of points at least in ninth, whilst Carlos Sainz finished fifth for the second successive race and is now only five points behind Gasly in the standings.

McLaren have thoroughly embarrassed Renault – comfortably outperforming them with their own engine and doing so in a season where the French team were aiming to close the gap to the top three. And, after struggling with the Renault car somewhat last year, Sainz is really showing his quality and consistency in 2019. It’s worth remembering that he generally matched Verstappen in their year together at Toro Rosso.

A word also for Williams, who seem to have had something of a breakthrough with their understanding of their car, and particularly George Russell. The young Briton narrowly missed out on claiming a spot in Q2 – a feat which would have seemed unthinkable prior to the weekend – and then finished ahead of Lance Stroll and Antonio Giovinazzi on legitimate pace on Sunday. In doing so, he is ensuring that his name is at least mentioned in regards to that Mercedes seat, even if Toto Wolff – probably correctly – thinks it is a little early for him.

The Hungarian Grand Prix in 60 Seconds

Answering the Burning Questions

Surely the upward curve of increasingly dramatic races can’t continue?! Well, the curve maybe didn’t continue upwards but I wouldn’t say it went particularly downwards either.

Can Bottas mentally recover from his costly crash in Germany? A good performance on Saturday but come Sunday, it would appear maybe not.

Will his performance last race prove to be a turning point for Vettel? Quite possibly. Time will tell but it was another better weekend for him.

Can Verstappen continue his good form and head into the summer break as an outsider for the title? He certainly continued his good form. The title looks maybe a taller order than it did prior to Sunday but he’s an outside bet nonetheless.

Will we get the Pierre Gasly from Silverstone or Hockenheim? Turns out it was specifically the Gasly from Austria – getting stuck behind a McLaren and lapped by Verstappen.

2019 German GP report | Verstappen wins utterly chaotic race

Posted on by James Mackenzie
What a difference a year makes…
Max Verstappen wins the German Grand Prix.
Image credit: LAT Images

Max Verstappen came home to take a popular victory at the 2019 German Grand Prix after an incredibly eventful race which was dominated by ever-changing weather conditions. The race started under a safety car but, after it came in, we experienced the first post-safety-car standing start. And from there, the madness never really stopped.

Strap yourself in: this might be a long write-up.

Lewis Hamilton led away from pole but Verstappen, alongside him on the front row, suffered severely with wheelspin and dropped back behind Valtteri Bottas and the Alfa Romeo of Kimi Räikkönen. There was normally a car in a run-off area during the next few laps as the drivers struggled with cold tyres and a slippery track. Räikkönen held on to his impressive 3rd place for a couple of laps but was passed by Verstappen just before Sergio Pérez became the first casualty of the race, spinning his very jittery Racing Point and being collected by the wall. That brought out the first safety car of the day and the first wave of pit stop panic. Most cars came in for intermediate tyres and, in the pandemonium, Ferrari were punished with a fine for an unsafe release having sent Charles Leclerc out directly into Romain Grosjean’s path.

The rain stopped and the track began to dry up, but teams suspected more was on the way and were instructing their drivers to try and take care of their tyres. Daniel Ricciardo experienced an all-too-familiar Renault engine blow-up on Lap 15 and Leclerc used the ensuing Virtual Safety Car for a cheap pit stop. Suddenly he was the fastest car on track by two seconds a lap and rapidly closing in on the front three. A bit more rain had begun to fall but Kevin Magnussen and then Sebastian Vettel – who had started the race from the back of the grid – took the gamble of pitting for dry tyres; after initially sliding around, they began to set fastest sectors and those in front decided to follow suit.

Red Bull fitted the mediums to Verstappen, which take longer to heat up than the soft tyres. The Dutchman span – but survived with a neat 360 – and berrated his team over the radio for not giving him the softs. Another Renault engine blow-up – this time for the luckless Lando Norris – brought out another VSC on Lap 28. The race was about to turn on its head.

Leclerc benefitted again, pitting for soft tyres and leapfrogging Bottas for 2nd place. Hamilton, who had been controlling the race superbly from the front up to this point, then also pitted for softs. This top two would not last long however as Leclerc ran wide on to the slippery drag strip on the outside of the final corner and aquaplaned into the barriers and out of the race. Moments later, with a safety car already called, Hamilton suffered a near carbon copy of the incident but just about managed to keep the car moving, having bounced off the barriers. He had lost his front wing though and would need to pit.

Image credit: AFP

This meant, firstly, he had to go the wrong side of the bollard at pit entry – which would earn him a five second penalty – and, secondly, that his engineers were not ready. Thus ensued a fairly comedic 50-second pit stop with engineers bumping into each other as they tried to replace the nose and changed their mind on which tyres to fit. Hamilton did eventually re-join in 5th; some blushes spared by the gap he had held and the safety car. In the meantime, most had now changed back to inters and the new top 5 was Verstappen, Nico Hülkenberg, Bottas, Alexander Albon, Hamilton.

The Mercedes cars worked their way back into the top 3 within a few laps and then, with that elusive podium in sight, agonisingly, Hülkenberg recreated the Leclerc/Hamilton incidents but with the Leclerc result of bogging down in the gravel and retiring. This brought out yet another safety car. Verstappen and Vettel pitted but the Mercedes did not. Just three laps after the restart, all the drivers came in for dry tyres and Racing Point’s gamble to fit them to Lance Stroll’s car during the safety car period meant that he was suddenly, unbelievably leading the race.

It didn’t take long for Verstappen to retake the lead of the race but we were left with a provisional podium of Verstappen, Stroll and the Toro Rosso of Daniil Kvyat. Then another uncharacteristic error from Hamilton saw him spin at turn 1 on Lap 54, whilst chasing down. The championship-leader narrowly kept it out of the barriers but was forced to pit for new tyres and rejoined in last place. And then, just when Mercedes thought things couldn’t get any worse, Bottas – whilst chasing Stroll for 3rd – recreated Hamilton’s spin from a couple of laps prior but couldn’t keep it out of the barriers. He hit the wall, about as hard as Toto Wolff’s hand hit his desk, and was out of the race too. The safety car made its fifth appearance.

It returned to the pits on Lap 59, leaving a five-lap sprint race to the end. The race still had time for one more retirement as Pierre Gasly drove into the back of Albon whilst battling for 6th; a poorly-timed mistake from the under-fire Frenchman, with excellent performances from both the Toro Rosso drivers that are eyeing up his seat. Verstappen finished the job and sealed an almost flawless victory – his second of the season. Meanwhile Vettel, who had been steadily working his way through the field at various points of the race, sent the home fans wild by passing Stroll and then Kvyat for an unlikely 2nd place.

Behind Verstappen and Vettel, Kvyat took the final place on the podium – Toro Rosso’s second ever podium. Stroll held on to 4th, Sainz – who had at one point spun out and had to put it in reverse – claimed 5th, and Albon 6th. After the race, the two Alfa Romeos – who had finished 7th and 8th on the road – were given 30 second time penalties for driver aid infringements. This promoted the Haas drivers of Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen, who had conspired to crash into each other once again during the final laps, along with Hamilton to 9th and Robert Kubica to 10th. In a season where he has perenially been running in last place, the least likely of points scorers to cap the least likely of races.

And breathe.

Redemption in Red

Image credit: Ferrari

A year on from his title-swinging, gut-wrenching crash in the rain at Hockenheim, Sebastian Vettel produced an inspired fight through the field to finish 2nd, having started the race at the very back of the grid.

It was not only a tale of the difference a year can make for Vettel, but also the difference 24 hours can make. For the second time in three races, he experienced a technical issue in qualifying as his Ferrari developed a turbo problem and he was unable to set a competitive time. Last place on the grid with rain forecast for Sunday always felt like a chance for redemption and that’s exactly how it played out.

Vettel, who was born just half an hour’s drive down the road from Hockenheim, got straight down to business. He was up to 10th by Lap 5; 7th by Lap 8. For the most part of the race he was then generally running in the low end of the top 10 – changing surprisingly little despite the madness going on around him. But he came alive towards the end of the race, using the straight line speed of the Ferrari and some tactical nous to pass cars before and after the final safety car period and collecting a well-deserved 2nd place.

It is a much-needed result for himself and his team. And particularly fitting that it occurred on the effective anniversary of his lowest point, in Germany last year. For a team that has been much-criticised for their strategic calls in recent years, Ferrari barely put a foot wrong in such a manic race and made up numerous positions for both cars with opportunistic pit stops.

Will this prove to be a turning point for team and driver? Time will tell. But it’s certainly a step in the right direction.

A Miserable Anniversary for Mercedes

For a team that had won nine of the first 10 races this season, one would imagine that this was just another weekend. But no, this one really mattered to the dominant force of recent F1 history that is Mercedes-Benz: it was one of their two home Grands Prix; they were celebrating (complete with special livery and fancy dress) the 125th anniversary of motorsport and their 200th Grand Prix; this was the one race they had given access to the Netflix crew of Drive to Survive. So for things to have gone this way will have especially hurt them.

In fairness, there were few truly major errors; it was mostly a domino effect from a few small ones. They dominated the first half of the race. Particularly so Hamilton, despite still suffering from illness, but that ended with the first switch to dry tyres. In hindsight, it was a bad call. Hamilton had a very comfortable lead and was saying that he didn’t think the switch was the right call – it was still raining after all. Could they have waited for a lap or two to see how things were progressing? Yes, but of course that is easy to say now. Either way, the call was made, Hamilton ran wide and then brought about an embarrassing pit stop as he was forced to pit immediately whilst the team had been waiting for Bottas with different tyres. The whole episode made the fancy dress element of their celebrations seem suddenly very clownish.

A few laps later, they were back running 2nd and 3rd but this is where the wheels were really about to fall off – literally in the case of Bottas. Again, in hindsight, they probably should have pitted Hamilton under the safety car and were overly wary of the five-second time penalty dropping him too far back when the drying track was about to make that issue far worse. But the drivers were about to outdo the strategists in terms of their mistakes with synchronised spins at Turn 1.

Hamilton rescued his but Bottas did not and his was far more costly. Hamilton does not present his competitors with an opportunity to claw back that many points in the title race very often. And for it to happen just as the Mercedes hierarchy is about to decide on their driver line-up for 2020 and beyond is particularly unfortunate. You have to wonder if Bottas will mentally recover from this setback.

It seemed Toto Wolff had decided after the race that they would not be making such a song and dance about any celebration in the future: “It shows that you shouldn’t fool around with stuff – you should concentrate on the job, we are not superstitious, but we should focus on the job at hand.”

The German Grand Prix in 90 Seconds (It needed the Extra 30)

Answering the Burning Questions

Will the run of great races continue? Oh yeah. And then some.

Can Bottas can do anything to claw back some of Hamilton’s championship lead? He had the opportunity but fluffed his lines.

Will Leclerc and Verstappen have another epic battle? Not this time. Verstappen battled with Bottas, Leclerc battled with the slippery drag strip.

Can Gasly continue the progress he made at Silverstone? No. He crashed badly during practice and drove into the back of the sister car of Albon.

There are a few updates this weekend. Whose will have the biggest impact? Hard to tell in the rain but judging by earlier in the weekend, Racing Point seemed to have made a big jump.

Could we actually have a wet race?? We could and did. And it was great.

2019 Austrian GP report | Verstappen takes dramatic victory

Posted on by James Mackenzie
An end to the Mercedes domination…and what a way to end it.
Max Verstappen wins the 2019 Austrian Grand Prix.
Image credit: Getty Images

Many criticised the sport in the wake of an uneventful race in France but, just seven days later, Formula 1 reminded the world of the drama it can produce with an action-packed 2019 Austrian Grand Prix, a last-gasp pass for the win and obviously some controversy to boot.

The youngest ever front row promised excitement into the first corner but, after Max Verstappen got away horribly, Charles Leclerc was left unchallenged and all the drama unfolded behind him with Lando Norris even momentarily passing Lewis Hamilton for 3rd. The following laps produced some good racing as Hamilton, Verstappen and Sebastian Vettel worked their way past the slower cars, before the usual top five started to break away from the pack and the race somewhat settled down.

Leclerc appeared comfortable at the front but was forced to pit slightly early to cover off Bottas – something that would prove decisive later on. Hamilton and Verstappen aimed to go long in their first stint but the Briton put paid to his chances by clipping one of the many unforgiving kerbs around the Spielberg track and damaging his front wing. The younger man in the Red Bull made no such mistake however and re-emerged in 4th with tyres 10 laps fresher than those ahead of him.

Verstappen then set about chasing Vettel, passing him with about 20 laps remaining and suddenly the masses of orange in the crowd realised there was the chance of an unlikely victory. Bottas proved easy to dispatch – the Mercedes had been short of power throughout as they struggled with cooling – and he was right on Leclerc’s tail with four laps to go. On Lap 68, Verstappen dived down the inside into Turn 3, allowing Leclerc a Ferrari’s width on the outside and they drag raced along the back straight with Leclerc coming out on top. One lap later, Verstappen made the same move but this time did not leave the room, taking the lead and then the victory – the first for a Honda engine since Jenson Button in 2006.

“Hard Racing” or “Not the Way You Overtake

As you would expect, Verstappen and Leclerc had very different views on the overtake. They both immediately came on the radio; Verstappen claiming Leclerc had turned in on him and Leclerc asking “what the hell is that?”

Image credit: DPPI

The stewards decided to investigate, with the result only being confirmed as a Verstappen victory three hours after he had taken the chequered flag. And so the conversation of what the rules should be and how they should be enforced reared its ugly head once more.

It is very easy to see why Ferrari and their fans could feel aggrieved. There have been two fairly similar incidents in which they have somehow lost out on both occasions, despite being on opposite sides of the two. Vettel was penalised for not leaving Hamilton a car’s width in Canada and the obvious differences between there and here are that Verstappen was fully in control of his vehicle and that Leclerc was fully alongside his rival. Both of which you could reasonably expect to further cement a penalty.

Personally, whilst I’m glad the result stood – the sport didn’t need another overturned win fiasco and Leclerc deserves a better maiden victory than being told three hours after the fact – I can’t help feeling that Formula 1 has contradicted itself. After the Vettel penalty, there was a lot of talk of ‘the letter of the law’ and so on, but now it’s about ‘the way to interpret the rules’. I refer back to my post after the Canadian Grand Prix and my opinion that the stewards should be a consistent panel of respected figures who are accountable and explain exactly how and why they have come to their decisions. There is no point having thousands of regulations if they are not airtight and leave so many situations that are open to interpretation – that has been the case in the three most recent races and they all appear to have been dealt with differently. It is obviously far easier said than done but a reasonable number of more iron-clad rules and a stable stewarding presence is surely the answer.

Whatever your opinion on the incident though, it could well turn out to be an infamous moment that defines the beginning of an intense rivalry. One that could even dominate the sport for the next decade.

McLaren Prosper Whilst Mercedes Faulter

McLaren continued their good run of form and excellent progress this season with 6th and 8th place finishes. Both impressive drives in very different circumstances. Norris showed his star potential again by qualifying 5th and then mixing it with the front-runners for a few laps before settling into a very solid 6th and holding off the other Red Bull of Pierre Gasly – yet another disappointing performance from the under-pressure Frenchman. Meanwhile, Carlos Sainz fought admirably from the back of the grid to end up 8th.

Lando Norris at the 2019 Austrian Grand Prix.
Image credit: DPA

To have had two great races back-to-back on such different tracks as Paul Ricard and the Red Bull Ring shows how much progress McLaren have made and, for all his undeniable talent, there is a distinct freshness to the team since Fernando Alonso’s departure. They are enjoying the challenge of their revival without the pressure that Alonso puts on a team. There are no politics; it’s just racing. And they continue to punch above their weight, or at least their weight of recent years.

Mercedes, however, finally had an off-week.

It’s unlikely to prove a huge turning point, as the unique combination of high temperatures and altitute, twinned with a very short track, meant they had cooling issues throughout the weekend. Their engines were not at full power and they were even having to do a considerable amount of ‘lift and coast’ during the race, where the drivers lift off the throttle up to 400m before the corner.

But certainly it bodes well for some more competitive races whilst temperatures are likely to be higher in the summer.

The Austrian Grand Prix in 60 Seconds

Session Progression