Tag: Red Bull

One year on

Posted on by James Mackenzie
Everything has changed and yet nothing has changed.

Exactly one year ago today, the 2021 season came to an end.

What had been one of Formula 1’s greatest ever seasons, right up until the penultimate lap of the final race, ended in one of the sport’s most controversial moments.

Senna vs Prost 1989. Senna vs Prost 1990. Schumacher vs Hill 1994. Schumacher vs Villeneuve 1997.

The 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix will join these truly momentous, contentious entries in the F1 annals.

The key difference, though, is that all the previous incidents were brought about by the actions of the drivers. Not those in charge.

Crashgate and the 2005 United States Grand Prix could be thrown into the mix as things that were – and 2021 had its own equivalent in Belgium – but those were not championship-deciding catastrophes.

Formula 1 and the FIA have tried to move on from the controversy that brought the sport into disrepute. The drivers, the teams, the fans have all tried to do so too. So has this writer. But have any of us succeeded?

The Last 12 Months

I wrote the below at the start of the season.

“A Red Bull and Max Verstappen domination was the last thing the sport needed as it headed into its new era.

“With the huge controversy of Abu Dhabi having left a bitter taste in the mouth for many, a runaway championship for the man who earned his maiden title via Michael Masi’s questionable decisions on lap 57 at the Yas Marina Circuit would not have been a good way for F1 to turn over a new leaf.”

The use of the past tense there was due to Ferrari’s strong start to the season. It looked as though we were heading towards another epic, season-long battle.

Of course, that is not how things played out.

Image credit: XPB Images.

As Ferrari floundered and failed to capitalise on their excellent car, Red Bull claimed six wins in a row.

And what little hope was left for a championship fight disappeared as F1 returned from its summer break. A mid-season Technical Directive had clearly hurt Ferrari, and Red Bull were able to sail off into the distance.

Verstappen broke the record for the number of wins in a season – and number of points in a season – as he claimed seven of the remaining nine winner’s trophies.

Another Cloud in a Stormy Sky

What made the dominance even harder to take was the revelation that Red Bull had failed to comply with F1’s inaugural cost cap in 2021.

In a story that rumbled on for weeks – if not months – the 2022 World Champions’ financial indiscretions were eventually laid bare for all to see.

Talk of catering issues were nonsensical and frankly embarrassing.

One cannot simply pick and choose which areas of a budget were the ones to fall outside the limit. If $600,000 of food ended up outside of the budget, it’s because you spent $600,000 you shouldn’t have somewhere else.

Was their overspending the sole cause of Red Bull’s runaway victory? No, of course not.

Adrian Newey did his thesis on ground-effect cars and they have a generational talent behind the wheel who will win 9 times out of 10 when given the best car.

Image credit: Getty Images

Team and driver had such a clear margin over the field in the final standings that they clearly would still have triumphed had they spent a couple of million less.

But that’s not the point.

A sport that was already trying to recover from perhaps its biggest ever sporting mistake, now has another cloud hanging over.

One that, of course, further taints 2021. But will also now cast its shadow over this season and future seasons as the knock-on effects of that overspend continue to grow.

Speaking From Personal Experience

“I have loved F1 since I was about three years old. I want to continue to do so. Please, stop making it so difficult.”

This was how I finished my previous piece, as the rumours began to emerge about the cost cap.

The fact that I haven’t managed to write another article since somewhat tells its own tale.

People love to throw around the term ‘PTSD’ without any real respect for the genuine condition. Let’s be clear – that is not what any Lewis Hamilton fans, Mercedes fans, or just Formula 1 fans have experienced over the last 12 months.

But that’s not to belittle the pain that last season’s finale caused so many people. Myself included.

Yes, full disclosure, I am a Lewis Hamilton fan. I’d like to think that I’ve always managed to deliver my articles without any unfair bias, nevertheless.

Image credit: Getty Images

I did, however, vent my feelings in an open letter late last year, once the dust had begun to settle.

The truth is, some of that dust still seems to be swirling around, refusing to fully dissipate, obscuring our vision and dampening our enjoyment of the sport.

As much as I may support Hamilton, there are many drivers and teams I like and, above all, I always considered myself primarily a fan of Formula 1.

But when something that you love so much hurts you so deeply, it can be difficult to fully process that and reach forgiveness.

Sport is sport. It has its ups and downs. Every fan will have experienced that, but this was something different.

It was a decision and an outcome that made you question everything. All the emotions, all the time you’d invested – which for me has been a lot, as you can see by this website.

And then when you tried to get up and go again…

Imagine that your partner had cheated on you. They’d apologised, promised to change, and you’d tried to move on. But all you saw over the next year was them having a great time with the person who was the cause of those issues.

That is why it has been so hard to move on.

Hopefully 2023 will bring a closer battle at the front and some form of redemption. If it’s simply another tale of controversy, social media toxicity and Red Bull dominance, there likely won’t be another article this time next year.

Gains that could prove to be ill-gotten

Posted on by James Mackenzie

Three races, three more wins for Max Verstappen.

Domination Across Europe

Image credit: Red Bull Racing

F1 returned from its summer break with a triple-header in Belgium, the Netherlands and Italy.

There was initially hope that things may close up at the front, courtesy of the new Technical Directive focused on porpoising and the ‘flexi-floors’ which Red Bull and Ferrari were widely expected to have been benefiting from.

But as soon as Verstappen topped qualifying in Spa by well over half a second, took a grid penalty for a new power unit, and then proceeded to sail through the field and win comfortably from 14th on the grid, it was clear that – if anything – things had spread out further.

Whilst Spa was always likely to be a track that favoured Red Bull, Ferrari have seemingly been hampered more significantly than their former title rivals by the Technical Directive.

A week later at Zandvoort, the Scuderia arguably fell behind Mercedes in the pecking order.

Lewis Hamilton even looked set to challenge for his first victory of the season. On a different strategy, Verstappen looked like he would have to pass the seven-time world champion on track to take the victory.

However, the Safety-Car curse that has plagued Hamilton since Abu Dhabi last year kicked into life again.

A dodgy-looking debacle at AlphaTauri – which sent social media conspiracy theorists into overdrive – and then former teammate Valtteri Bottas’s retirement nullified Hamilton’s advantage.

A questionable strategy call by Mercedes to pit current teammate George Russell subsequently left him with no chance.

Image credit: Red Bull Racing

As has so often been the case, Ferrari had iffy strategy calls of their own at both Zandvoort and Monza.

Ultimately, though, Verstappen’s race pace looked too strong, irrelevant of those decisions, and he extended his championship lead to 116 points.

A Painful Dose of Déjà Vu

The Dutchman will now have his first chance to clinch the championship in Singapore. With five races still to come after that.

That is a level of dominance over one season that even Hamilton has never managed in the hybrid era. You have to go back to the years of Michael Schumacher to find something similar.

As I mentioned early in the season, a Verstappen domination was the last thing the sport needed in the wake of the 2021 finale controversy.

There was even a painful reminder of how the race in Abu Dhabi could and should have ended as Verstappen took the chequered flag under Safety Car conditions in Monza.

The Tifosi boos rang out, frustrated that their man – second-placed Charles Leclerc – had been denied the chance of a late battle for the win.

Image credit: Foto Colombo Images

They had a point in that the race direction had once again been somewhat shambolic, the Safety Car erroneously picking up third-placed Russell instead of the leader.

But, considering the position in which they found themselves for the final laps, the decision not to restart the race was the correct one. Or at least it followed the rules as they currently read.

Whether or not they should be amended – perhaps for a default red flag within the last x number of laps – is a debate for another day.

But F1 found itself in another sticky situation – one which unfortunately opened up old wounds.

And there may now be salt on the horizon to apply to those wounds.

A new controversy building

I have tried so hard to fall back in love with Formula 1 this year.

As any long-term reader will have noticed, the regular race previews and reports have morphed into occasional catch-ups.

Whilst I am now busier with other journalism work, in truth it is more due to the rug that was swept from under my feet on 12th December 2021 taking a decent chunk of my passion and enthusiasm with it.

Image credit: Getty Images

The lack of a title battle has certainly made it more difficult to rekindle the F1 fire that once burnt so strongly. Decisions made in Saudi Arabia and for the future have also played their part.

And now, it appears there may be another hurdle on the horizon.

The rumours of Red Bull not complying with the budget cap have been rumbling away for a while. Mattia Binotto has even been uncharacteristically outspoken at times.

But they have really built pace over the last 24 hours.

The truth will – hopefully – become clear in the next week or so regarding Red Bull and Aston Martin‘s alleged indiscretions.

If they do exist, F1 simply has to bring down the hammer.

They have to dissuade others from following suit. If the punishment is financial, the budget cap will become a joke even faster than football’s Financial Fair Play.

F1’s popularity in terms of numbers may be at an all-time high, but the integrity of the sport still feels like it is hanging by a thread.

The increased number of Sprint weekends next year was a disappointing if predictable change. But Stefano Domenicali continues to say more and more worrying things.

I have loved F1 since I was about three years old. I want to continue to do so. Please, stop making it so difficult.

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

Posted on by James Mackenzie

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

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

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

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

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

Redemption in Austria

Image credit: Philip Platzer/Red Bull Content Pool

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

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

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

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

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

Pain in France

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

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

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

Image credit: XPB Images.

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

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

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

Another Ferrari Disasterclass To Round Off Part 1

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

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

But Ferrari would be having none of that.

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

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

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

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

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

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

And Finally, the Silliest of Silly Seasons

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

2021 Styrian GP report | Verstappen and Red Bull dominate at home

Posted on by James Mackenzie
A race that probably could have used some rain.
Max Verstappen celebrates winning the Styrian Grand Prix.
Image credit: Getty Images

Max Verstappen strengthened his grip on the championship with a dominant win in Red Bull‘s back yard at the Styrian Grand Prix.

It was a weekend where the Red Bulls ruled, topping every session except Practice 3, and once Verstappen had successfully navigated the start and the first couple of corners, it looked unlikely that he would be challenged.

In truth, a challenge looked unlikely as soon as the forecast rain failed to appear.

Mercedes may have been able to compete in terms of race pace seven days earlier, but that was at Paul Ricard. The French track has been a strong track for the Silver Arrows since it returned to the calendar; the Red Bull Ring generally has not.

Max Verstappen leads the Styrian Grand Prix as Lewis Hamilton, Lando Norris and Sergio Pérez battle behind.
Image credit: Getty Images

In the early stages of the race, Lewis Hamilton managed to keep his title rival close enough to see the now sturdier Red Bull rear wing a few seconds up the road. But as they approached the pit stop window, Verstappen began to turn the screw. And once into the second stage of the race, any hopes of Mercedes utilising a tyre wear advantage to make a race of it also dissipated as Verstappen extended his advantage without drama.

Unlike in France, there was nothing Hamilton and his team could have done differently on strategy this time – Verstappen simply had them covered on outright pace.

The Dutchman eventually reached the flag over 30 seconds ahead of Hamilton, once the Britain had stopped for a set of softs and a consolation bonus point for fastest lap. And it should have been a double podium for the home team.

After all the talk of pit stop regulations – more on that later – it was ironically a botched Red Bull stop which cost Sergio Pérez. Having navigated past the once again excellent Lando Norris, Pérez appeared to have Valtteri Bottas covered in their fight for the final podium spot. But a slow stop dropped him back behind the Finn and a gamble to switch to fresh medium tyres narrowly failed. One more lap would have done it. Pérez broke into the DRS window on the last lap but stood no chance of passing through the final five corners.

The Red Bulls at the Styrian Grand Prix.
Image credit: Getty Images

Norris ran a lonely but effective race to finish fifth and impressively remain above Bottas in the standings. The Ferraris reversed their form from the last grand prix. In France, they started well but fell badly through the field. Here, a poor qualifying from Carlos Sainz and a clumsy opening lap by Charles Leclerc were rectified by impressive race pace which saw the pair recover to sixth and seventh respectively.

That means Ferrari narrow the gap to McLaren slightly after Daniel Ricciardo failed to score points. The Aussie struggled once again in qualifying and, after he had made amends with an excellent opening lap, a temporary loss of power saw him plummet back down the order. The Honey Badger just can’t catch a break right now.

Lance Stroll came home a solid eighth, Fernando Alonso continued his return to form in ninth and Yuki Tsunoda had a better weekend to take the final point.

It’s back to Spielberg again in a week’s time and Mercedes won’t be enjoying the prospect of another chastening dent to their title defence. Can we hold out any hope for a more interesting race? Perhaps. The tyres are a step softer and the two races in Silverstone last year showed how much of a difference that can make. And who knows – maybe it could even bloody rain when it’s supposed to this time…

A Storm in a Pit Stop

An overhead shot of a Red Bull pit stop.
Image credit: Getty Images

There was a lot of talk in the run-up to the Styrian Grand Prix about a new technical directive regarding pit stops.

“This is an outrage!” screamed large portions of social media. “It’s the FIA trying to help Mercedes against Red Bull!” yelled armchair experts as their tin foil hats slipped over their eyes.

The reality is that this will make very little difference and – more to the point – if it does affect any teams, they were exploiting a loophole and endangering their own pit crews.

The technical directive mandates a minimum 0.15-second delay between the wheel nuts being confirmed as tight and the mechanic operating the jack dropping the car, and 0.2 seconds from the jack going down to the driver receiving the signal to leave the pits.

Christian Horner, of course, piped up – windbag that he is – to claim that, “To have to hold the car for two tenths of a second, you could almost argue it’s dangerous because you’re judging your gaps. The guy that’s releasing the car is having to make that judgement, and I think that it’s not been well thought through.”

Christian Horner at a press conference.
Image credit: XPB Images

That is nonsense. There will be no judging a 0.15-second gap. For the same reason that an Olympic sprinter or an F1 driver starting in less than that is deemed to have jumped the start. That is quite simply the absolute fastest a human being can react.

If you doubt me, please go and attempt to react in under 150ms here: https://humanbenchmark.com/tests/reactiontime

All this clarification does is ensure that there are no automated systems in play. Systems that would speed up times but reduce safety. It’s very easy for Horner to give his two cents, sat on a comfy chair on the pit wall… But it’s a different matter entirely when a 900kg, 1000 bhp Formula 1 car is millimetres away from doing you significant damage.

Let’s not forget, it was only three years ago that a Ferrari mechanic had his leg broken when an automated system gave Kimi Räikkönen an errant green light.

The Ferrari mechanic injured by Kimi Räikkönen at a 2018 pit stop.
Image credit: Giuseppe Cacace

Loose wheels bouncing down the pit lane are equally dangerous.

And again, if there are no illegal systems at play, Horner should have nothing to worry about. So, let’s just all move on shall we? It will probably all have been forgotten about by the time it comes into play at the Hungarian Grand Prix anyway.

The Styrian Grand Prix in 60 Seconds

Answering the Burning Questions

Can Mercedes turn around their form on Red Bull’s home track? Nope.

Will we see a wet and wild weekend? As is tradition, the likelihood of a wet race went from 90% on Friday, to 40% on Saturday, to 0% on Sunday morning. The best we got was a few drops in Practice 2. Typical.

Can Ferrari solve their race pace/degradation issues? Yes, Sainz produced an impressive first stint to overcut most of the midfield.

2021 Bahrain GP report | Hamilton holds off Verstappen in titanic battle

Posted on by James Mackenzie
To quote a great man: catching is one thing, passing is quite another.
Lewis Hamilton celebrates winning the Bahrain Grand Prix.
Image credit: Getty Images

If the Bahrain Grand Prix is anything to go by, 2021 could be the year when F1 fans finally get to see the no-holds-barred fight between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen that they have been craving for years.

It was largely expected that this season would prove to be another tale of Mercedes dominance; one more efficient stroll to an eighth consecutive title double. But those expectations have gradually dissipated over the last few weeks. Pre-season testing may always boil down to rumours, sandbags and cloak-and-dagger lap times but, by the end of the truncated three-day meeting, there was a growing consensus that Red Bull may actually have the fastest car.

And so it proved to be, as Verstappen claimed pole position by nearly four tenths on Saturday, with Hamilton claiming he “gave it everything”. It was Red Bull‘s race to lose – but lose it, they did.

Both leading drivers got away well and the first stint was something of a stalemate. Crucially, though, Hamilton was able to remain within two seconds of the Red Bull and could therefore undercut the Dutchman when his pit window opened on lap 13. That gained the World Champion the lead and he – just about – kept it to the end.

Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen go wheel-to-wheel into the first corner at the Bahrain Grand Prix.
Image credit: Getty Images

Verstappen still appeared the more likely victor as he closed the Mercedes down with a set of tyres that were 10 laps fresher. The gap reduced steadily to the point that, when Hamilton ran wide on lap 51, Verstappen was straight into the DRS window. And, sure enough, the Red Bull was ahead a couple of laps later. However, not legally, as he had passed Hamilton whilst off the circuit.

Going around the outside at Turn 4, Verstappen had a snap of oversteer which took him wide and his team immediately informed him to allow Hamilton back past. That would prove to be his best chance, as his tyres overheated following the Mercedes and his advantage was significantly reduced. The frustrated Dutchman gave it his all over the remaining three laps but ultimately had to watch as Hamilton took the chequered flag, ending a gripping battle of strategy and racecraft.

There has been some controversy regarding the track limits. Not really with the decision for Verstappen to give up the place – the drivers know you can’t complete a pass off the track. But that temporary overtake ironically came at the corner where the Mercedes drivers were told to stop ‘extending’. So, the question has revolved around what constitutes a ‘lasting advantage’. As ever, the stewards lacked consistency and, having initially told the drivers there would be no issue with track limits at Turn 4, changed their minds and sent Mercedes a warning halfway through the race. The pundits and fans have said it numerous times, but surely grass run-offs are the easiest way to clear up this issue…

How Mercedes Won the Battle

For once, this was a Mercedes team acting as the hunter rather than the hunted. We have grown so accustomed to the Silver Arrows leading from the front in the hybrid era that this felt like something of a novelty. And they proved that they are predictably good at it.

Lewis Hamilton takes the chequered flag.
Image credit: LAT Images

It is usually Red Bull doing the chasing and making the aggressive strategy calls with Mercedes maintaining a conservative approach. This time, it was Hamilton who profited from a perfectly executed undercut. By the end of the following lap, Verstappen’s gap back to Hamilton was too small to get out ahead and, with Valtteri Bottas uncomfortably close behind, Red Bull were stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Red Bull’s second seat really is the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor of F1. And the curse didn’t hang about this year, as the latest victim – Sergio Pérez – ground to a halt on the formation lap. He was able to get moving again but had to start from the pit lane, which meant – as has usually been the case for the last two years – Red Bull were left to fight one-handed. Bottas pitted two laps after Hamilton and forced Red Bull to respond against another undercut; this prevented them from building the tyre offset they would have liked.

The second stops would likely have followed a similar pattern, but a painful, 10-second pit stop for Bottas meant Red Bull could leave their driver out this time and he was able to pit 10 laps later than the race leader. At this point, it was largely out of Mercedes’ hands. Fortunately for them, it was in the hands of Hamilton. And if there is one man on the grid who can keep his tyres alive whilst still pounding out respectable lap times then it is the seven-time world champion at their disposal.

It was another masterclass in tyre management. By rights, Verstappen should have been on his tail far sooner than lap 51. And, if he had been, the pass would likely have been more of a done deal. When he did catch up, the pair traded blows with the excellent car control and positioning you would expect. Under immense pressure, each made one slight mistake, but eventually it was Hamilton who held his nerve as the Red Bull breathed down his neck for the final three laps.

How Red Bull Have Started the War

Max Verstappen produces sparks at the Bahrain Grand Prix.
Image credit: Honda Racing F1

They may have lost on the day, but Red Bull undoubtedly had the fastest car in Bahrain. So, how has that happened when we were all told repeatedly that so little was changing on the cars between 2020 and 2021?

Well, it would appear the regulation changes that did happen have affected the teams with low rake far more significantly than those with high rake. A large portion of the rear of the floor has effectively been chopped off over the winter in a bid to reduce downforce. The idea being to reduce speed and, thus, the strain on the overworked tyres in the wake of the multiple blow-outs experienced at last year’s British Grand Prix.

One of the greatest strengths for Mercedes was their rear downforce. And it would appear that the chunk removed has severely affected their rear stability. They have done an impressive job in the two weeks since the pre-season test to improve that and close the gap – which they believe was around 0.8 seconds – to Red Bull.

This theory is backed up by the other main losers in this regulation change – Aston Martin. The former Racing Point team infamously did their best to copy the Mercedes philosophy and appear to have been hit hard in the same area, but with less of an advantage to fall back on. They have seemingly gone from arguably the third best car last year to Lance Stroll fighting for a solitary point in Bahrain, whilst Sebastian Vettel had a debut to forget further back.

Honda have also given Red Bull a significant helping hand. The Japanese marque leaves the sport – again – at the end of the year, so rushed through its 2022 engine a year early and it would appear to be a masterpiece. This was also demonstrated by AlphaTauri‘s pace at the opening weekend.

Time will tell who is truly the team to beat. Bahrain is a fairly unique circuit, located in a gusty desert, and there is now a three-week gap for teams to further refine their new machines. It would also not be a surprise to see some updates in time for the return to Imola – so let’s watch this space. Either way, it appears that we have a race on our hands.

What About the Rest?

Now, bear with me as I attempt to condense down a lot of information into a few paragraphs…

McLaren lived up to expectations, claiming ‘best of the rest’ thanks to an impressive fourth for Lando Norris and a solid debut for Daniel Ricciardo in seventh. Surprisingly, it is Ferrari who seem to be their biggest challengers currently.The Scuderia were pleasantly surprised by the performance of the much-improved SF21 and Charles Leclerc produced a signature qualifying lap for fourth on the grid. The red cars reached the chequered flag in sixth and eighth and, whilst you still couldn’t exactly call that success for a team like Ferrari, it is certainly a big step up from last year.

Pérez recovered impressively after his nightmare start to claim fifth place and remind those instantly writing him off what he can do on a Sunday. The experienced Mexican claimed Driver of the Day and will surely continue to improve as he gets better acquainted with the RB16B. Another contender for Driver of the Day was Yuki Tsunoda. The AlphaTauri rookie shocked the paddock by finishing Q1 in second, before making a mess of Q2 and starting down in 13th. But he produced a mature performance on Sunday and finished ninth to become the first Japanese rookie ever to score points on his debut.

Aston Martin and Alpine appear to have dropped back from their positions – under different names – last year. Fernando Alonso briefly ran in the points on his return before retiring due to an unwanted sandwich wrapper. Meanwhile, the other multiple world champion in the midfield – Vettel – crashed into the back of Esteban Ocon to cap off a terrible first weekend in British racing green. That earned him two penalty points to add to the three he picked up for ignoring yellow flags on Saturday.

Alfa Romeo appear to have made progress but didn’t end up with anything to show for it, finishing just outside the points in 11th and 12th. Williams will be happy to at least no longer be propping up the field, as that honour now goes to the Haas team. The controversial Nikita Mazepin immediately earned himself a new nickname of Mazespin, with no fewer than five spins over the course of the weekend, the final one pitching him into the barriers three corners into his debut race.

One of many Nikita Mazepin spins over the Bahrain Grand Prix weekend.
Image credit: Getty Images

The Bahrain Grand Prix in 60 Seconds

Answering the Burning Questions

What is the pecking order? Who was holding the most back during testing? …See above.

Do Red Bull actually have the fastest car?! It’s close but, for now at least, it appears they do!

How will Sergio Pérez do in his first race for Red Bull? A tricky start but a trademark race performance.

How will Fernando Alonso fare on his return? Showed that he still has the speed…but does his car?

Have Ferrari made progress since last year? Yes, quite a lot!

2019 Belgian GP report | Leclerc takes emotional first victory

Posted on by James Mackenzie
A poignant weekend with probably the right result.
Charles Leclerc points to the heavens after winning the Belgian Grand Prix.
Image credit: LAT Images

The 2019 Belgian Grand Prix came on a weekend where things were put very much in perspective. On Saturday, shortly after qualifying, F2 driver Anthoine Hubert tragically lost his life following a massive accident at the Raidillon swerves. The Frenchman, who was just 22, suffered a huge 170mph impact from the car of Juan Manuel Correa. Lewis Hamilton saw the incident live on TV whilst being interviewed and you can see in his face that he instantly knew it was not good. But these guys are racers. So come Sunday, they race. It’s all they can do.

Charles Leclerc was a childhood friend of Hubert – as were Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon – so it seems fitting that the next day he should take his maiden F1 victory. It was long overdue anyway.

Under such difficult circumstances, it was an incredibly mature performance. Leclerc got away well from pole position and – after a safety car period caused by a Max Verstappen crash – started to open up a gap as his teammate, Sebastian Vettel, struggled with his tyres. After the German pitted early, on lap 15, the race pace of the Mercedes cars became clear and Hamilton started to close on Leclerc. Whilst Ferrari had held a significant advantage over one lap throughout the weekend, their race pace had always looked less convincing. And so proved to be the case.

When the front two pitted, Vettel inherited the lead but was asked to move aside for the younger Ferrari driver. Credit to Ferrari that they have stuck by their mantra of team orders benefitting whichever driver requires them rather than solely their de facto number one. Whilst Vettel’s status as de facto number one is becoming increasingly under threat, he was still to play a crucial role in this race.

He held the rapid Hamilton behind him for around four laps, in which time Leclerc had stretched his advantage over the world champion to nearly seven seconds. It appeared for a few laps that they had reached something of a stalemate but then the Ferrari tyres began to fade fast and Hamilton was suddenly catching by more than a second a lap. Leclerc kept his head, negotiated back-markers, made no mistakes and narrowly held on for a well-deserved victory. Valtteri Bottas, after a fairly anonymous race, completed a sombre podium as Vettel pitted for new tyres to claim the fastest lap along with fourth position.

Monaco’s first-ever race winner immediately dedicated the victory to Hubert. This is a young man that has already experienced so much tragedy in his 21 years: he lost his godfather and mentor, Jules Bianchi, in 2014; his father died a day before the 2017 Baku F2 race; and now long-term friend Hubert. The fact that he won both races a day after such losses shows the way Leclerc sees the world – he just wants to make them proud.

Yesterday, once again, he did so emphatically.

More Mixed Emotions at Red Bull

Image credit: Getty Images

Verstappen’s excellent run of results eventually came to an end with a race start more reminiscent of his early 2018 struggles. After another poor getaway, he went for a gap that was closing quickly and very reliant on Kimi Räikkönen, firstly, knowing he was there and, secondly, being pretty generous. One of those two requirements was not satisfied and the Red Bull pitched the Alfa Romeo up into the air. Verstappen continued but the damage done to his steering saw him go straight into the barriers at Eau Rouge.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the garage, newly-promoted Alexander Albon was having a debut race to remember, for the right reasons. He was forced to start from the back of the grid as Honda trialled a new engine. This meant no ultimate qualifying lap to truly gauge how he was matching up to Verstappen but he appeared to be holding his own through the practice sessions and, on race day, would show why Red Bull have chosen to give him this chance.

After a steady first half of the race, making slower progress through the field than he would have liked, he suddenly came alive on the soft tyres. A cunning move around the outside of Daniel Ricciardo was followed by a piece of sheer bravery as Sergio Pérez forced him onto the grass down the Kemmel Straight at over 200mph on the final lap. He kept his foot in and took sixth place, which would become fifth after Lando Norris’s retirement.

From the back of the grid to fifth in his first race for Red Bull? I imagine he’ll take that. Christian Horner and Dr Helmut Marko will be very pleased with a performance that justifies their latest driver swap, or certainly goes along way to doing so in one race.

And More Bad Luck for the Luckless Lando

What does Lando Norris have to do to catch a break?!

At a weekend where it looked like McLaren were struggling – having never really been inside the top 10 during Friday or Saturday – Norris dealt with the first corner drama perfectly and found himself emerging from it in fifth. He then set about holding onto that position and did so expertly. Many watching – and Norris himself, he admitted after the race – were expecting those behind to close in on him. Especially once Pérez, armed with an in-form Racing Point, were up to sixth. But it never happened.

It was a drive that thoroughly deserved what would have been the best result of Norris’s career so far, but it wasn’t to be. Just one lap from the end, his Renault engine decided it was done for the day and Norris ground to a halt. To add salt to the wound, Leclerc finished the race just behind a gaggle of drivers that, if they had been lapped, would have been classifield below Norris and seen him eighth rather than 11th.

This is just the latest in a run of misfortune that has cost him countless points. A slow pit stop in Hungary; mechanical failures in Germany, France and Canada; a poorly-timed safety car in Britain. But the bad luck will surely end and the potential he has is clear to see. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see him up in fifth place again before the end of the season…and this time at the chequered flag.

The Racing Point Update Seems to be On Point

Having somewhat disappointed – or at least been pretty anonymous – this season, the update for Racing Point that hinted at progress in Hungary, showed this weekend that it has certainly pushed them up the pecking order.

Pérez into Q3 and Lance Stroll into Q2 is better than they have generally managed, respectively, this year. And a solid double points finish on Sunday with a deserved sixth place for Pérez, who had to pass a fair few cars on his way, bodes well for the remainder of the season and for the future of what is a team starting afresh since Lawrence Stroll’s buy-out last year.

Answering the Burning Questions

How will Alexander Albon cope with his promotion to Red Bull? Very well, it turns out!

And how will Pierre Gasly do in the Toro Rosso? A solid run to ninth on what was an incredibly hard weekend for him.

Can Ferrari finally win a race? Yes!

Will we find out who gets the Mercedes seat for 2020? (And the Renault one potentially…) Yes and yes. All as expected with Bottas confirmed for Mercedes and Ocon moving to Renault.

Can F1 pick up where it left off with another excellent race? It was another good race, if a very sad weekend for the sport.

The Belgian Grand Prix in 60 Seconds

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…

Let’s act like we know what’s going on in testing, pt. 2

Posted on by James Mackenzie

In this post I will, for the most part, stick with my modus operandi of not granting the 2019 F1 testing times too much significance. But it’s no fun to entirely ignore them so let’s allow ourselves to read a little into them, especially when it comes to the headline news of the front-runners.

Let me pose some questions.

So, Were Mercedes aCTUALLY Sandbagging Then?

The Mercedes cars did finally unleash a bit of speed but they left it until the final hour of the final day of testing. Ferrari had already packed up, after Sebastian Vettel was left stationary at turn two with an electrical failure an hour or so earlier. That quick run on the softest tyres left him just 0.003 seconds shy of Vettel’s test-topping time of 1:16.221 which, even by Formula 1 standards, is very close. Fuel-and-tyre-corrected lists have put the Ferrari around half a second ahead but I’m not totally convinced; the apparent differences between the tyre compounds always appear to be overestimated in my experience. And will the Silver Arrows still have their infamous ‘party mode’ once it comes to the serious business?

The Mercedes and Ferrari at F1 2019 testing.
The two teams have gone in noticeably different directions with their aero philosophies

From on-board footage, the Ferrari looks by far the easier of the two to drive – very balanced; equally happy in different corner types – and has done so since the first day of testing. An impressive feat with new regulations and a brand new car. My gut feeling is that Ferrari have the edge currently. Lewis Hamilton is unmatched when it comes to throwing a car round Albert Park on a Saturday, so he could well pull yet another pole out of nowhere, but I think by race day the red cars will be on top. One thing to bear in mind, though, is that Mercedes’ Achilles’ heel in recent years has been dealing with the dirty air when following another car. If the regulation changes have done their job, they may now be able to put up more of a fight when not in the lead. The rest of the season will be a story of who wins the development war and whether Ferrari can solves the operational issues that have plagued their last two championship campaigns. Of course, Helmut Marko would have you believe it will be Red Bull bringing the fight to Ferrari…which leads me nicely to my next point…

Where do Red Bull Stack Up?

Dr. Marko says a lot of things. And you get the impression a lot of them are just to stir things up – he’s quite similar to the ex-Godfather Bernie Ecclestone in that way. He has made a lot of ambitious claims of Red Bull’s impending success in the recent past which have not really come to fruition. But in fairness, this time round, the RB15 is looking pretty promising. It is a little harder to compare them with the other two of the ‘big three’ as they did not do any qualifying runs, but their long-run pace has been looking pretty good. Unfortunately, Pierre Gasly put paid to one of those on Thursday with a fairly hefty trip into the barriers. And it wasn’t his only one either. The young Frenchman will need to iron out those mistakes if he is to truly challenge Max Verstappen on the other side of the garage. He may be a year older than his teammate, but he has far less experience in the sport and the consensus seems to be that Verstappen has now added much-needed maturity to his undeniable speed.

Image credit: Getty Images

If my hand was forced, I would say I can see Red Bull matching up roughly where they did last season – nicking the odd win whilst also having some off days and a fair few retirements. Whilst their relationship with Honda has certainly started smoothly, Red Bull cars tend to ask a lot of their power units and I can see a few teething issues appearing once everything gets turned up to 11. Nonetheless, I think the Honda deal is a good move in the long-term and could see Red Bull as genuine championship contenders again given time.

How Close is the Midfield Battle?

Very. In a word. Renault, Haas, Toro Rosso, McLaren and Alfa Romeo all appear to be within a couple of tenths of each other, whilst Racing Point were openly running a very basic car for these tests, with many new parts coming for either Melbourne or the first of the European races – the return to Barcelona in May. With all the variables, I don’t think there is a lot of point in dissecting such similar times to try and figure out who is looking the favourite for 4th place. Just rest assured that the ‘Formula 1.5‘ championship, as it has been christened, looks like being even more closely fought than last season. And it seems they have all closed the gap to the front-runners a little, so we may see the odd podium position being stolen more often.

Image credit: Motorsport Images

That just leaves Williams, who are as off the pace as expected after their late arrival. The car has, commendably, not suffered any obvious issues and the team have amassed a fair amount of laps. But Robert Kubica admitted that he had not done a run longer than 15 laps so we will have to see how they deal with a full race distance in two weeks time. It is a real shame to see Williams just making up the numbers.

And Finally, How Quick Are the Cars in General?

This year’s regulation changes were expected to result in a drop in performance and a rise in lap times. But that hasn’t really happened. Whilst some of the lap time can be accounted for by, amongst other factors, more favourable conditions than at last year’s test, the headline time ended up just shy of a second quicker than last year’s. It would appear, as ever, that the brainboxes behind the scenes have found ways around the rules to exploit loopholes and make the air go in exactly the directions around the car they so choose. And they certainly have the potential to go much faster at this stage of development.

Overall, this season has the makings of a fantastic one. Let’s hope that’s still the case come Abu Dhabi in around 9 months time.

Launch season continues to kind of kick off

Posted on by James Mackenzie

And on we go with the 2019 car launches!

Alfa Romeo don’t officially unveil their latest effort until the first test tomorrow but have had an on-track shakedown (in a rather fetching Valentine’s Day livery) so that will do for now. Plus, they probably revealed more of their hand with the parts on the car than any other team, and there will be enough to write about during testing as is, so let’s see off the launch season posts with what we have.

Aston Martin Red Bull Racing

Red Bull have teased us in the past with a dramatic livery reveal which would turn out to be only for testing. And it was to be no different this year. The online F1 world drew a collective intake of breath at the latest camouflage number, which features some nice origami elements presumably in honour of their new deal with Honda. But Red Bull admitted it was just a one-off again and that was that. Maybe the Honda deal will result in a little white being added to the regular brand colours this season, though, at least.

On the more technical side of things, whilst certainly keeping things under wraps – onlookers noticed differences between the car on track and the one in the reveal photos already – the rear end is as tightly packaged as predicted. Even more so than last year’s. You just hope the Honda power unit deals with that better than it did with McLaren’s…

SportPesa Racing Point F1 Team

Well. Lots of people seem to disagree but personally I actually quite like this livery. The (royal…I think?) blue combining with the pink gives me some warm, fuzzy, nostalgia for the old Brabham BT60B that Damon Hill drove just before they went bust. And I’m glad that they have stuck with BWT and therefore the pink as more colour on the grid is always welcome. The name and logo on the other hand are pretty shocking. If you have to go to a comments section to figure out the dot after ‘Racing’ is a ‘Point’ something’s gone wrong in the marketing department.

A lot of the aero seems to be just glorified 2018 or basic regulation-meeting parts. It wouldn’t make sense for them to ship everything over the Atlantic for the Canadian launch anyhow so, as with most, we’ll see what they really have to offer in Barcelona. The little team that has perennially punched above its weight, now with financial backing? Could be one to keep an eye on.

McLaren F1 Team

Zak Brown has done a lot for McLaren. You can see that sheerly by the long number of sponsors on the black area of the sidepod. The car certainly looks the part too. It is comfortably the best McLaren livery since the chrome ones circa-2010 at least; the papaya orange and ‘vega’ blue now nicely balanced and with some interesting triangular pixelation at the join.

But more importantly, will it perform on track? The design, even at this point, does seem to live up to their radical promises with some pretty aggressive aero, particularly around the bargeboard. They seem to have gone towards the Mercedes school of thinking in some areas – certainly the nose and front wing cape – and Ferrari in others. Clearly, a lot of effort has gone in and, whilst at first some maybe enjoyed McLaren’s struggles, I think the majority would now like to see this once great team fighting back nearer the sharp end of the grid.

Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow

Turns out this year’s Ferrari is red. Blimey. But then actually, some photos have shown it looking a bit orange. It is matte as that apparently saves a few grams on paint and they are pushing the envelope in every possible department. And the Marlb…sorry…Mission Winnow logos are now black, or maybe grey…it’s hard to tell. Either way, they’re not white and that may be a ploy to help Ferrari not be sued by the whole of Australia.

As for as the car itself, I feel like a lot of the pieces you can currently see on the Alfa will end up on the Ferrari if they are a success. The official render shows very little in the way of new design parts so Ferrari are, as they have often done, keeping their cards closest to their chest of all.

Alfa Romeo Racing

So, the Sauber name officially leaves the sport after a quarter of a century. A real shame as the Swiss team have proved to be one of the great survivors. Of course, the team is fundamentally the same as last year but it’s the little things – the tradition of cars being named after Peter Sauber’s wife seems somewhat unlikely to remain. We will also see what livery they have cooked up tomorrow. It will likely remain predominantly white and red. Some green would be nice, though…and it is on both the national flag and the Alfa badge after all.

The car has already been run on track, however. And it is mad. As mentioned above, Alfa Romeo appear to be acting as the guinea pigs for Ferrari; this year’s car having been designed by former Ferrari designer Simone Resta with ‘as little caution as possible’. And we can see some of their experiments already. Front wing flaps that appear unconnected to the endplate, an airbox and nose that both resemble Darth Vader’s helmet and nothing in the way of a shark fin. Watch this space through testing.

That’s it then. Testing starts tomorrow morning and we can all really get our teeth stuck into reading between the lines as to who’s nailed it, who’s blown it and who will make up the midfield, anonymously running in 11th most of the year. And then find out we were all wrong anyway once the season actually starts.

See you all bright and early!