Tag: Pierre Gasly

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

Posted on by James Mackenzie

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

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

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

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

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

Redemption in Austria

Image credit: Philip Platzer/Red Bull Content Pool

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

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

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

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

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

Pain in France

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

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

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

Image credit: XPB Images.

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

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

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

Another Ferrari Disasterclass To Round Off Part 1

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

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

But Ferrari would be having none of that.

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

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

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

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

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

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

And Finally, the Silliest of Silly Seasons

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

2020 Italian GP report | Gasly wins bonkers race at Monza

Posted on by James Mackenzie
I mean…what just happened?!
Pierre Gasly wins the Italian Grand Prix.
Image credit: XPB Images

And just when everybody was calling F1 boring… Pierre Gasly took his maiden victory in a crazy 2020 Italian Grand Prix, being joined on the podium by Carlos Sainz and Lance Stroll.

Things had started in a regular manner with a Mercedes 1-2 in qualifying; although, Max Verstappen dropped from his obligatory third to fifth on the grid, as the Red Bull’s struggled around the high-speed circuit. Valtteri Bottas’s reactions to the lights going out were slow and he was jumped by Carlos Sainz on the run to the first corner, but that was not to be the end of his troubles. Lando Norris – who had put a recent run of poor opening laps behind him and climbed from sixth to fourth at the start – passed the Mercedes around the outside of the second chicane and, after Bottas ran wide at the second Lesmo, he was also passed by Sergio Pérez and Daniel Ricciardo on the run to the Ascari chicane.

Lewis Hamilton, meanwhile, was sailing away at the front. Without the ability to use a conservative engine mode, the true pace of the Mercedes was revealed and Hamilton, despite taking it pretty easy, had built a 14-second gap by lap 20. But that’s when the normality stopped.

Kevin Magnussen’s Haas broke down at the pit lane entrance and, after a lap of yellow flags, triggered a safety car. Mercedes brought Hamilton in to pit under the safety car, as is often standard procedure to gain a cheap pit stop, but crucially they had missed that the pit lane entry had been closed. The world champion was somewhat a victim of his own success, as the rest of the field had those extra 14 or so seconds to prepare and only the Alfa Romeo team made the bizarre decision to bring in Antonio Giovinazzi.

Mercedes were immediately aware of their mistake and Hamilton may have had some time to build a gap to the field, but just one lap after the safety car had ended, Charles Leclerc suffered a massive crash as he lost the car halfway through the 150 mph Parabolica.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0WzAatudAo

That led to a red flag whilst the barriers were repaired and meant that Hamilton’s ten-second stop-go penalty was confirmed during the race suspension. We then experienced the novelty of a post-red-flag standing start, with the top 10 on the second grid being Hamilton, Stroll, Gasly, the Alfa Romeos, the McLarens, Bottas, Nicholas Latifi and Daniel Ricciardo.

Stroll got away poorly and Gasly found himself in the lead once Hamilton had served his penalty; Mercedes elected to take it immediately as the rules state it must be served within three laps and another safety car would have left them in even bigger trouble. Hamilton rejoined 20 seconds behind the pack with only 24 laps remaining.

Kimi Räikkönen was briefly in second but, on soft tyres in an underperforming Ala Romeo, quickly began to fall back down the order. In the four laps it took Sainz to pass the Finn, Gasly had opened up a four-second gap. The Spaniard would then go about closing that down in the remaining laps and eventually got to within the one-second DRS window on the final lap.

Gasly withstood intense pressure and didn’t put a foot wrong, successfully holding off the faster McLaren and taking an incredible victory for AlphaTauri, at the same track where a young Sebastian Vettel had taken the team’s only other victory 12 years ago, under their former guise of Toro Rosso.

Pierre Gasly at the Italian Grand Prix.
Image credit: Getty Images

It was the first win for a French driver since Olivier Panis in 1996 and the entire paddock – perhaps aside from Esteban Ocon – seemed thrilled for the affable Frenchman. “Honestly, it’s unbelievable, I’m not sure I’m realising what’s happening right now, it was such a crazy race”, Gasly said. “I’ve been through so much in the space of 18 months, my first podium last year and now the win in Monza!”

Carlos Sainz and Lance Stroll had understandably mixed emotions – initially at least – after the former’s near miss and the latter’s poor start throwing away his chance at the win. Norris produced an excellent defensive display, holding off Pérez in the first half of the race and then Bottas – the Finn struggling with overheating issues throughout – for a well-deserved fourth. Ricciardo finished sixth, equally unable to pass the Mercedes, and Hamilton completed a stunning recovery to seventh place and took the fastest lap.

That meant, against all odds, that his championship lead actually remained the same – now 47 points from Bottas, rather than Verstappen. These are the days when Bottas absolutely has to be seizing his opportunity to close the gap to his illustrious teammate, but spending the race stuck behind first a Renault and then a McLaren, whilst Hamilton carves through the field to finish just two places behind him, is not a good look.

Time for a Change to the Rules?

This race weekend brought attention to a rarely-experienced set of circumstances.

Hamilton took responsibility for having missed the boards that stated the pit lane had closed but, in his defence, they are not ideally located. Two red crosses on the far left of a right-hander, which look pretty similar to the usual yellow/orange SC signal, is surely not obvious enough. As Hamilton pointed out to his team over the radio, he was looking right as that’s where the incident was and this post from Reddit shows the delayed reactions of all the teams.

Image credit: Formula 1

This is less a question of fairness than it is one of safety. The pit lane was closed to protect marshals who were about to wheel a car to the pits and yet more than one team didn’t notice that the pit entry was closed. Daniel Ricciardo missed the same warning signal in Brazil four years ago.

Surely a large screen could be positioned just before the pit lane entry, jutting out from above the catch fencing? Or more crucial information on the steering wheels, rather than just the light indicators for flags? More to the point, why do the FIA not have the ability to send out a radio message on all channels – to drivers and teams – for major safety messages? Other racing series utilise this.

In addition to this point, there was the fact that Stroll was then able to take his mandatory tyre change during the red flag – ironically, gaining a free pit stop à la Hamilton and Giovinazzi – the unfairness of which, Norris drew attention to. We also saw footage of Mercedes and Red Bull trying to convince the stewards that minor bodywork damage to Bottas and Alexander Albon was a safety risk and should be allowed to be changed. A red flag should be like pausing the race, simple as that.

And then there was the qualifying fiasco again – not as dramatic as last year’s but still dangerous in both P3 and Q1. It feels as though the FIA does not make changes until an accident forces them to address issues properly.

A Bad Day for Mercedes…But Worse Still for Red Bull and Ferrari

On one of the rare occasions where Mercedes have an off-day, Red Bull would have hoped to have been there to capitalise, but things never really got going for them at Monza.

Verstappen crashed during Practice One and, by the end of qualifying, it was apparent that they simply were not the second fastest car this weekend. The Dutchman also lost places on the opening lap and spent the first half of the race stuck behind Bottas, before retiring with an engine issue not long after the restart.

Albon had another weekend to forget. Whilst ‘only’ three tenths off Verstappen in qualifying, he went off at the first corner and then received a five-second penalty for a clumsy defensive manoeuvre on Romain Grosjean, which resulted in his damaged floor. He never recovered and finished ahead of only Giovinazzi, after the Italian’s ten-second stop-go penalty.

All whilst the driver they demoted last year was winning the race in their B-team…

Ferrari, on the other hand, never expected to be in a position to challenge Mercedes, but would nonetheless manage to disappoint. Vettel got caught up in the Q1 mayhem and qualified 17th, with Leclerc only managing 13th on outright pace – the first time since 1984 that neither Ferrari qualified in the top 10 at Monza.

Things would get worse on race day, however. A brake failure for Vettel thankfully happened at a safe point of the circuit but, obviously, produced a retirement on lap 6 and then there was Leclerc’s crash at the halfway point. At least the Tifosi weren’t there to witness it all.

The next race is Ferrari’s 1000th and the first ever at their home track in Mugello. They will be desperate to produce something remotely worthy of the occasion.

Farewell to the Williams Family

A Williams engineer thanks Claire and Frank Williams at the Italian Grand Prix.
Image credit: Formula 1

Finally, a quick word for the Williams team, who were recently bought out by US investment company Dorilton Capital. Claire and Frank Williams announced that the Italian Grand Prix would be their final race in charge of the team, as they stepped aside to allow the new owners to run it.

Tributes were ubiquitous and the affection in which the Williams family are held was clear to be seen throughout the paddock. Their driver George Russell delivered a touching message upon finishing the race, thanking them for giving him his chance in the sport, which was something echoed by many drivers – both current and former – from Bottas to David Coulthard.

It is the end of an era, as the final family-owned team in Formula 1 changes hands, but hopefully the name will remain and the team can continue their recovery up the grid.

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

Answering the Burning Questions

What effect will the new ban on engine ‘party modes’ have over the weekend? It didn’t seem to affect Mercedes in qualifying and may, in fact, have hurt Red Bull who had been pushing for the change. It’s hard to tell on the Monza track, though, so watch this space at Mugello.

Will it bring Mercedes back towards the field as planned? Nope, but other things did.

How badly are things going to go for Ferrari at their home race?.. Pretty badly…

Can Daniel Ricciardo challenge for a podium? Bizarrely, no…considering it consisted of an AlphaTauri, a McLaren and a Racing Point.

2020 Belgian GP report | Hamilton dominates at Spa

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

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

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

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

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

Renault Find Their Form

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

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

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

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

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

An Emotional Weekend, Especially for Gasly

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

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

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

More Pain for Ferrari…And It May Get Even Worse

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

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

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

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

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

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

Image credit: Foto Colombo Images

The Belgian Grand Prix in 60 Seconds

Answering the Burning Questions

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

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

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

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

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

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.

Red Bull pull the ol’ switcheroo again

Posted on by James Mackenzie

Rule One: The Doctor lies.

I’m not exactly a Doctor Who fan, but I am aware of that as a reference. And it also applies in Formula 1…at least when referring to Dr Helmut Marko.

Less than two weeks ago, Dr Marko ruled out replacing Pierre Gasly mid-season, stating that he would be remaining with the Red Bull team for the rest of 2019. But that is exactly what has happened today. Gasly will be demoted back to Toro Rosso to partner Daniil Kvyat – a man very familiar with that feeling – and replaced by Alexander Albon at Red Bull from the Belgian Grand Prix.

That is a very early promotion for Albon. He is just 12 races into his Formula 1 career and suddenly faces the daunting prospect of switching teams mid-season into a race-winning car and being compared with an in-form Max Verstappen on the other side of the garage. This is a young man who was dropped entirely from the Red Bull programme in 2012 and who only really got his chance this year thanks to Red Bull’s pool of junior prospect drying up.

There is logic behind the decision, however. Gasly has badly underperformed, obviously, and Kvyat is a known quantity to Red Bull management, so why not give the new guy a shot? Albon has been performing well in his debut season and, as the official statement points out, “Red Bull are in the unique position of having four talented Formula 1 drivers under contract who can be rotated between Aston Martin Red Bull Racing and Toro Rosso. The team will use the next nine races to evaluate Alex’s performance in order to make an informed decision as to who will drive alongside Max in 2020.”

The four Red Bull drivers.

Red Bull have little to lose. If Albon doesn’t cut it then – being brutally honest – he’s unlikely to be that true star driver. Sink or swim situations are where the ‘generational’ talents thrive – think Verstappen winning his first race for Red Bull or Lewis Hamilton’s rookie season, pitted against the reigning double world champion Fernando Alonso. And if he does well then they have pulled off a master stroke and stand a far better chance of beating Ferrari to second in the Constructors’ Championship this year. That is the main motivator behind this change – it was evident in Christian Horner’s comments after the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Should we feel sorry for Gasly?

He is by all accounts a lovely guy and he was probably unlucky to be thrust into the big team so early, after Daniel Ricciardo‘s shock move to Renault. But Formula 1 is cut-throat; Red Bull Racing particularly so. Perhaps he will recuperate at Toro Rosso and come back stronger – he certainly showed promise last year and, between Kvyat and Robert Kubica, this has already been a year for comebacks. Or he may take it the way Kvyat took his demotion in 2016 and mentally struggle to deal with the setback. Time will tell; I hope it’s the former.

Spare a thought for Kvyat, too, as he can now add ‘passed up for the job’ to his long list of grievances through his Red Bull rollercoaster.

‘Silly season’ has now officially started. Over to you, Mercedes…

2019 French GP report | Hamilton cruises to victory

Posted on by James Mackenzie
Something of a damp squib after the high drama (or at least controversy) of last race.
Lewis Hamilton at the 2019 French Grand Prix.
Image credit: AFP

Damp squib or not, there is no denying Lewis Hamilton‘s brilliance at the front of the 2019 French Grand Prix.

It was all something of a walk in the park; albeit a hot, sweaty, tiring walk. Through the practice sessions, the balance of power had somewhat swung between himself and his teammate – Valtteri Bottas arguably even appearing to have the edge ahead of qualifying – but when it hit crunch time it was the reigning champion who delivered, as he so often does. An 18-second gap to 2nd place is an age in modern Formula 1. The mantra of winning as slowly as possible has become increasingly accepted, with the limit on engines meaning they are only used as much as is absolutely required. Hamilton’s lead in the championship is looking increasingly insurmountable.

Behind the two Mercedes, Charles Leclerc drove an excellent race to the final step of the podium, even closing and pressuring Bottas in the last couple of laps in what appeared to be an inferior car. Whilst his more experienced teammate, Sebastian Vettel, toiled – recovering from 7th to 5th after a poor qualifying – the young Monegasque shone. This was exactly the race he needed after a run of bad luck and costly mistakes had left him further back in the championship than was a true reflection of his quality. This was a very mature performance and one that will potentially turn senior Ferrari heads.

Vettel remains the de facto lead driver but, with it looking increasingly like Ferrari will not be involved in a serious title challenge this season, perhaps they’re better off letting their drivers fight and gaining Leclerc some valuable further experience.

Time Running Out For Gasly?

Whilst the locals were happy with quasi-French Leclerc’s podium, they must have been somewhat embarrassed by yet another lacklustre performance from their man at Red Bull. The Honda upgrade may not have made a noteworthy difference to the Red Bull performance but Max Verstappen still put in another solid performance to split the Ferraris and take another haul of points. Gasly, meanwhile, claimed one solitary point thanks to a 10-second penalty for Daniel Ricciardo.

Christian Horner recently made a pointed remark regarding Helmut Marko ‘softening in his old age’ but there are surely now discussions happening behind the scenes as to how you solve a problem like Pierre. The excuse of acclimatising to the car must be long gone but Gasly is still alarmingly far behind his teammate. Even with a softer tyre in Q2 than most of his competitors he only scraped into the top 10. How much longer can this continue? Daniil Kvyat was bumped down to Toro Rosso for far less… Admittedly with Verstappen crying out for his seat.

What saves Gasly could just be a lack of competition as it is surely too soon for Alexander Albon and there would be a significant slice of humble pie involved in re-promoting Kvyat…

A Renaissance in Papaya Orange

Carlos Sainz at the 2019 French Grand Prix.

The story of the weekend was arguably McLaren’s performance. 5th and 6th on the grid and out-qualifying the Ferrari of Vettel clearly meant a huge amount to the team as they celebrated on the pit wall. They had not expected to be particularly strong on this track after all. Coming into the weekend, all the attention had been on Renault’s upgrades and whether they could move clear of the midfield pack. But it was the other cars with the French engines that were to do so.

Come race day, the two orange cars held their own and looked comfortable for 6th and 7th – after Vettel had predictably passed them – only for Lando Norris to experience hydraulic issues in the closing stages of the race and agonisingly lose three places on the final lap. He regained one after Ricciardo’s penalty but 9th was not befitting of another excellent drive from the young rookie.

Nonetheless, this has been an excellent spell for the McLaren team. Their new Team Principal, Andreas Seidl, appears to be another solid addition to a much-improved leadership team as they continue their steady ascent towards former glories.

Championship Over?

With Mercedes seemingly having developed a car with no clear weaknesses this season and five-time world champion Hamilton hitting his stride, is the championship as good as done in June? The Briton has now opened up a 36-point gap over teammate Bottas after four wins on the trot. And the odds are he is just getting going.

Hamilton has generally always become stronger as the season progresses and he gets more comfortable with the car. Was Bottas 2.0 for real early in the season or was it just Hamilton getting his eye in? His new steely persona seemed to be visibly slipping as he crouched forlornly in the background after qualifying on Saturday and such a dominant performance one day later will surely have him wondering how, and if, he can compete with his illustrious teammate.

Image credit: LAT Images

Can the Finn make a fight of this championship still? The next race in Austria has been a strong one for him in recent years so he will really need to make the most of that. And maybe grow a 2nd beard?..

Oh and Ferrari…well, Vettel is now more than three clear victories behind Hamiton in the standings. I’ll leave it at that.

Answering the Burning Questions

Will Vettel’s penalty be overturned? Will the situation actually be resolved this weekend? No and yes, respectively. People even seemed to have moved on for the mostpart.

Can Bottas or Ferrari do something to reduce Hamilton’s momentum towards another title? Just a plain no for this one.

Can Renault’s aero upgrade help keep up the progress they’ve made in the last two races? McLaren stole their limelight but it was another decent race for the French team. Can’t say the upgrade made a noticeable difference though.

Will we have the same ridiculous trophy as last year? Yup. And a giant version of it next to the podium.

What effect will the new Honda engine have on Red Bull? Not much of one.

Will anyone make it through the race without a migraine from those stupid lines in the run-off area? I did, just about.

The French Grand Prix in 60 Seconds

Session Progression

A Quick Public Service Announcement

I’m heading off to Glastonbury in the morning (to work in a smoothie stall for a week) so there will be a bit of radio silence. And next week’s report will probably be a day or two late.

See you on the other side.

2019 Bahrain GP report | A maiden victory snatched away

Posted on by James Mackenzie
Oh, Charles.
Charles Leclerc at the 2019 Bahrain Grand Prix.
Image credit: Ferrari/Colombo

Formula 1 can be such a cruel sport…and we saw it at its most callous on Sunday, as Charles Leclerc was denied a maiden victory at the 2019 Bahrain Grand Prix, with Lewis Hamilton picking up the spoils.

Leclerc had driven near enough flawlessly all weekend, barring maybe half of the first lap, and he looked to be heading towards his first victory in the sport, in only his second race for Ferrari. But then came a radio message. “There is something strange with the engine.” And so unravelled a fairy tale.

It wasn’t to be for Leclerc as his engine, down on power due to an injector failure, left him a sitting duck on the straights. Lewis Hamilton almost-apologetically passed him to take the chequered flag, as did Valtteri Bottas, before Leclerc was at least saved a place on the podium thanks to a late safety car caused by a bizarre, synchronised double-Renault-failure. The dignity and grace with which he took such a crushing blow was as impressive as his speed – an incredibly mature head on such young shoulders.

But the story of the day was clear: Leclerc is now undeniably a championship contender. As Sebastian Vettel’s chances slipped away with a spin reminiscent of his struggles last season, the young Monegasque kept his cool and sailed off into the distance. Ferrari have clearly fixed their issues from the first race and, whilst Bahrain has always been a strong track for them, this bodes well for a competitive season. The red cars had straight line speed that their competitors struggled to comprehend and, assuming there is nothing sneaky going on that will subsequently be banned, that is hard to fight against. I expect superiority to swing between Ferrari and Mercedes throughout the year, dependent on tracks and updates, but we now have enough evidence to believe that this shouldn’t be the year of Mercedes-dominance the opener hinted at. And that it could well be Leclerc taking the fight to them rather than his multiple world champion teammate…

The Heir to Hamilton’s Throne?

It is very early days, of course, but the start to Lando Norris’s F1 career has been very impressive. When I say ‘the heir to Hamilton’s throne’, I do not necessarily mean I expect him to be a future five-time world champion obviously – that’s just setting the kid up for a massive fall – but more that British fans will want a new home-grown star to cheer for in a few years, whenever the current superstar decides to hang up his racing boots.

That’s not to say that they shouldn’t be cheering for him already. Norris comes across as a very down-to-earth lad – I mean, he’s normally competing online with Joe Public on iRacing hours before a race – with a good sense of humour. Oh, and he’s pretty damn quick too. There have been many junior careers that have promised much but failed to deliver once at the very top table. Norris has won most series he has entered at the first attempt and, having been given his chance early, has taken very little time to appear settled in F1. Any left wondering about his racecraft or wheel-to-wheel credentials, after he spent a few laps stuck behind Antonio Giovinazzi in Melbourne, had their questions answered this race with both some great overtakes and defensive driving, keeping a former world champion (who is more than double his age) behind him to claim an excellent 6th place.

It should be noted of course that he was not the only young Brit to join the grid this year. George Russell even beat Norris to the F2 title last year. Unfortunately, he is currently hampered with an uncompetitive Williams and a teammate who, should he continue to stay in front of, will most likely be sadly written-off as too injured to to be considered a yardstick. But both he and Thai-British rookie Alexander Albon have been impressing so far. Time will tell who of last year’s F2 top three is really the biggest talent but, in the meantime, we can feel safe that the future of British motorsport looks rosy.

Is Dr. Marko Oiling Up the Guillotine?

Pierre Gasly has to find some speed, simply put, and pretty sharpish too. Max Verstappen on the other side of your garage would be intimidating for most on the grid, but currently he is making Gasly look decidedly average. We know about Red Bull’s – or rather Helmut Marko’s – history of impatience with underperforming drivers and there were the first few comments starting to appear over the weekend about it being unacceptable that they were fighting in the midfield.

Max Verstappen at the 2019 Bahrain Grand Prix.
Image credit: Getty Images

All that said, it appears Red Bull are still to fully understand the intricacies of their new car and it appears as if it may be a bit of a diva. So one would hope the Frenchman is given some time to find his feet. Another reassuring factor for him will be that there is not an obvious replacement – surely Daniil Kvyat’s rollercoaster of a career with the Red Bull programme wouldn’t see them rushing to put him back into the senior team and it is certainly too early for Albon at the moment.

I’d advise Gasly not to start watching the new series of Game of Thrones though…just in case…

The Bahrain Grand Prix in 60 Seconds

Answering the Burning Questions

Was Australia a blip for Ferrari or is there a more fundamental problem with this year’s car?Would appear pretty safe to say it was a blip.

Is Bottas really rejuvenated and now a force to be reckoned with? Jury’s out. Normal Hamilton dominance was resumed this race but apparently Bottas had a plastic bag stuck in/on the car for a portion of the race which hampered performance.

Will the new regulations provide better racing at a track with a better potential for wheel-to-wheel racing? That was certainly a great race and with a good amount of on-track battling. Looks promising.

Can Leclerc push on from a mixed first weekend for the Scuderia and properly take the challenge to Vettel? Yes. And then some.

Will the Ricciardo-Hamilton/Avocado&Ham bromance continue? Saw no evidence of any further bromancing.