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Category: Column: High Octane
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Hamilton achieves 150th points-finish; Bottas gets fastest lap and a point
Lewis Hamilton took his 97th career victory and second of the season ahead of chief title rival Max Verstappen in 2nd and Mercedes teammate and pole sitter Valtteri Bottas in 3rd. The race win also meant that Hamilton achieved points for the 150th time since joining Mercedes in 2013.
London, 3 May 2021: Lewis Hamilton passed Max Verstappen and Valtteri Bottas on track to take a well-managed victory with the latter two completing the podium, Bottas bagging an extra point for the fastest lap of the race. The second Red Bull of Sergio Perez finished P4, his highest result since joining the Austrian squad. McLaren’s Lando Norris achieved P5, meaning he’s finished in the top 5 in all three races this season. Charles Leclerc brought home his Ferrari in P6 as Alpine achieved consecutive double points finishes with Esteban Ocon in P7 and Fernando Alonso in P8. Daniel Ricciardo recovered his McLaren to P9 after a disappointing qualifying with AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly rounding out the top 10.
Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz crossed the line in P11 due to a strategy mistake, ahead of Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi. Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll finished P13 and P14 respectively for Aston Martin. Japanese rookie Yuki Tsunoda came home in P15. George Russell complained the Williams of being undrivable as he only managed P16 by the end of the chequered flag. Mick Schumacher overtook Williams’ Nicholas Latifi in the last stages of the race to finish P17. Haas teammate Nikita Mazepin finished last- P19 and the only retiree was Kimi Raikkonen.
The top four cars of Bottas, Hamilton, Verstappen and Perez started on the medium tyres. The top 3 got off the line well as they maintained the order heading into the uphill turn 4, while Perez lost a position to Sainz. Behind Ocon had jumped Norris, but the Briton pulled off a move on the outside of turn 11 to regain his position. Ricciardo too had made up three positions from P16. Meanwhile, Raikkonen was trying to slipstream Alfa Romeo teammate Giovinazzi when he ran into the back of him, dislodging his front wing and going into the gravel at turn 1. This brought out the safety car.
Bottas did a brilliant restart on lap 7 as Hamilton was slow to react, eventually being overtaken by Verstappen for P2. Behind, Sainz made a mistake as he dropped to P6 and Norris passed Perez for P4. Perez complaining that the McLaren driver had passed him off the track.
Hamilton repaid the favour to Verstappen on lap 11, using DRS and sling shotting past the Dutchman in turn 1, with the Red Bull power unit unable to match Mercedes. With that Hamilton was on the gearbox of Bottas, eventually passing his teammate on lap 20 to take the lead. The running order now was Hamilton, Bottas, Verstappen and Perez, albeit Perez far behind the top 3. Norris was best of the rest ahead of Sainz, Leclerc, Ocon, Gasly and Ricciardo.
Ferrari blinked first as they brought in Sainz for medium tyre on lap 21. To cover Sainz, Norris and Ocon pitted on lap 22, McLaren opting for the medium tyres whereas Alpine choosing the hard tyres. Gasly pitted on lap 24, choosing mediums as well while Leclerc pitted a lap later changing from mediums to hard tyres.
Pirelli Graphic At the front of the field to undercut Bottas, Verstappen pitted on lap 35 for hard tyres. Bottas following suit the next lap came out just ahead of Verstappen but on colder tyres. As Bottas struggled for traction Verstappen with help of DRS moved ahead of the Finn before turn 5. Meanwhile race leader Hamilton pitted on lap 37 for hard tyres, emerging in P2 but having the net lead as Perez was yet to pit.
Behind the Leclerc passed Sainz on the instructions from Ferrari as the Spaniard struggled on the medium set of tyres. Ocon passed Sainz on lap 44. A fast-charging Alonso was flying on his set of the hard tyres as he passed Ricciardo and Sainz in quick succession to take P8. The final nail in the coffin came when Gasly passed Sainz dropping the Ferrari driver out of points.
Meanwhile, at the front Perez did a mammoth 51 lap stint on the medium tyres, eventually pitting for soft tyres in a bid to set the fastest lap of the race. Bottas was closing in on Verstappen but an exhaust sensor issue meant he suffered a power loss and lost 4s to the Red Bull. Bottas had enough of a gap to pit for soft tyres and emerge in front of Perez, in a bid to set the fastest lap. On lap 63 bolting on the softs the Finn set about going for the fastest lap point. Verstappen did the same thing next lap and although he did set the fastest lap due to track limits the time was deleted and the point went to Bottas.
With Hamilton’s second victory of the season, he now leads the championship by 8 points over Verstappen while Mercedes double podium means that they lead the constructor’s championship over Red Bull by 18 points. With 20 more races yet to come it is game on!
Pirelli Graphic Mercedes was the outright fastest car this weekend as can be seen in both qualifying and the race. It is not the case that Mercedes have brought upgrades but more of the circuit characteristics suiting the W12 compared to the Red Bull. Red Bull evidently struggled in the low grip of the Portimao circuit, especially in race trim. Red Bull brought some upgrades to their floor and bargeboard area which seemed to make gains for them. The picture between the top 2 will be clearer next time out in Barcelona which is a more conventional circuit.
McLaren once again were the best of the rest behind the top 2, though this time they had a less of an advantage over immediate rivals Ferrari. Ferrari will be happy to beat McLaren in qualifying, but they struggled in the race to manage the tyres, especially mediums. Once again, the caveat being that this race was an outlier in terms of surface grip being very low. Alpine will be positive about the aerodynamic package introduced in the last race at Imola, as they achieved double points finish. The A521 showing top 10 qualifying pace in the hands of Ocon as well. AlphaTauri lacked both qualifying and race pace to challenge any of the midfield cars with Gasly picking up a solitary point in P10. After showing promising pace in the opening two rounds of the season they will be looking to bounce back at Barcelona next week.
A safety car period at Round 3 at Portimao on Sunday. A Mercedes AMG F1 team image Aston Martin were nowhere near top 10 this weekend. Vettel impressed in qualifying as he reached Q3 but that pace disappeared come race day. Stroll’s car had some new aerodynamic parts, but it remains to be seen if they are enough to make a leap forward for the British racing team. Alfa Romeo were on the fringes of points once again but could not break through to top 10. With Raikkonen retiring they had one less car on the strategy side, but the potential is there to achieve points. Williams had a contrasting weekend with Russell showing blistering qualifying pace, starting P11. But the FW43B was edgy and undrivable on heavy fuel in the race. Williams need to sort out these unpredictable characteristics of the car if they are to achieve points in 2021. Haas had a positive weekend with Schumacher able to split the Williams in the race and both drivers able to complete the race without any major incidents.
Saturday Qualifying Results were:
P1: Valtteri Bottas- 77 (Mercedes) P2: Lewis Hamilton- 44 (Mercedes) P3: Max Verstappen- 33 (Red Bull) P4: Sergio Perez- 11 (Red Bull) P5: Carlos Sainz- 55 (Ferrari) P6: Esteban Ocon- 31 (Alpine) P7: Lando Norris- 4 (McLaren) P8: Charles Leclerc- 16 (Ferrari) P9: Pierre Gasly- 10 (AlphaTauri) P10: Sebastian Vettel- 5 (Aston Martin) P11: George Russell- 63 (Williams) P12: Antonio Giovinazzi- 99 (Alfa Romeo) P13: Fernando Alonso- 14 (Alpine) P14: Yuki Tsunoda- 22 (AlphaTauri) P15: Kimi Raikkonen- 7 (Alfa Romeo) P16: Daniel Ricciardo- 3 (McLaren) P17: Lance Stroll- 18 (Aston Martin) P18: Nicholas Latifi- 6 (Williams) P19: Mick Schumacher- 47 (Haas) P20: Nikita Mazepin- 9 (Haas) -
Superb last few laps gets Hamilton his 96th victory
Lewis Hamilton took a sensational win at the 2021 season opening Bahrain Grand Prix by just 0.7s from the rapid Red Bull of Max Verstappen, breaking Michael Schumacher’s record of most laps led in the process. Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas completed the podium as he set the fastest lap of the race on lap 56.
London, 29 March 2021: Defending superbly and nurturing the tyres in the last few laps, Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton took his 96th career victory ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen who fought for the lead till the last lap. Valtteri Bottas finishing P3 with an extra point for the fastest lap for the race. McLaren’s Lando Norris finished P4 in their new Mercedes powered challenger, ahead of his latest teammate Daniel Ricciardo who crossed the line in P7. Sergio Perez finished P5 in his new Red Bull machinery, after starting from the pitlane due to power unit issues on the formation lap. Charles Leclerc finished in P6 in the much-improved Ferrari SF21, two places ahead of new teammate Carlos Sainz. AlphaTauri rookie Yuki Tsunoda achieved his first points as he finished P9 on debut, ahead of Lance Stroll in the re-branded Aston Martin team.
Alfa Romeo pair of Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi finished P11 and P12 respectively. It was an unsuccessful race for Alpine after Esteban Ocon only managed P13- partly due to being hit by Sebastian Vettel from behind- and veteran returnee Fernando Alonso retiring due to break failure. Williams’ George Russell finished P14, ahead of Sebastian Vettel in P15 as his teammate Nicholas Latifi DNF’d from the race. Other DNF’s included Pierre Gasly and Nikita Mazepin. Mick Schumacher was the last to finish in P16.
Drama ensued before the race started as Perez’s car shut down on formation lap at turn 13 and came to a standstill. Due to this, an extra formation lap took place while Perez’s car could be recovered. As luck would have it, Perez was able to start his car, but had to start from the pitlane as per regulations.
Verstappen covered Hamilton at the start and both maintained positions. Leclerc was aggressive and got ahead of Bottas in P3. Meanwhile, Norris got ahead of his new teammate Ricciardo. The new Aston Martin Vantage safety car was called into action as Mazepin spun and went into the wall at Turn 3, ending his first F1 race.
Red Bull better equipped for Qualifying sessions. A Pirelli image from 2021 Bahrain GP The race got underway on lap 4, with Verstappen leaving the restart as late as possible, to decrease the chances of Hamilton slip streaming and overtaking him. As Hamilton started chasing Verstappen, Bottas passed Leclerc for P3, Norris followed suit and passed Leclerc for P4. Gasly’s front wing unfortunately touched Ricciardo’s rear left tyre and dislodged it, sending the Frenchman to the back of the grid.
Alpine and Alonso pulled the trigger to initiate the first round of pitstops on lap 11, with Alonso electing the medium tyres. Lap 12 saw Norris, Leclerc, Stroll and Giovinazzi pit. Everyone going on the mediums except for the Alfa Romeo who chose hard tyres. At the front, Mercedes pulled the trigger and pitted Hamilton for a set of hard tyres in a bid to undercut Verstappen. It seemed to work as the Dutchman pitted four laps later albeit for medium tyres. Once he came out, Hamilton had a six second advantage on him.
Hamilton’s advantage eroded quickly as Verstappen was within 1.5-2s, this time Hamilton in a danger of being undercut. Bottas was close behind to the top two cars. Behind, Norris maintained P4, ahead of Leclerc, Ricciardo, Stroll and Sainz- who battled with former Ferrari drivers Alonso and Vettel to get up to P8.
Mercedes once more protected against the undercut, pitting Hamilton on lap 28 for another set of hard tyres, Bottas followed suit 2 laps later. Although a slow stop by Mercedes meant Bottas came out in P5, though, Norris and Leclerc were yet to pit, giving him a net P3. With Hamilton in P2 and steadily reducing the gap to Verstappen, Red Bull boxed him on lap 39 for hard tyres. This meant he would have 10 laps fresher tyres compared to Hamilton. He came out 8.6s behind the Mercedes.
Alonso’s F1 return ended abruptly on lap 33 due to brake issues. Meanwhile, Perez behind was making steady gains as he was now behind Ricciardo and Leclerc. Vettel too had a dismal debut for Aston Martin as he ploughed into the back of Ocon, spinning them both and earning the German a 10-second time penalty.
At the front, Verstappen was right on the gearbox of Hamilton as the difference was around about 1s. On lap 53, Verstappen with help of DRS got a run on Hamilton exiting turn 3 and seemed to get past him on the exit of turn 4. Only he had gone too wide and extended the track limits while overtaking the Mercedes car and thus, was instructed to give the place back to Hamilton. After that point Verstappen couldn’t get close enough to mount another challenge ultimately finishing second.
Straight-line speed is not Ferrari’s weakness anymore. Action shot from Bahrain GP by Pirelli. The first blow was dealt by Mercedes, but Red Bull know they can consistently challenge the Silver Arrows in the upcoming races. It is game on for 2021!
Mercedes clearly lacked qualifying pace as they for three-tenths off the pole position. In race trim they were matched with Red Bull as aggressive strategy and brilliant tyre management by Hamilton earned them the victory and double podium. The W12 is not in the sweet spot and clearly has lots of room for improvement. Mercedes will be hopeful to iron out these issues as soon as possible to challenge Red Bull, especially in qualifying. Red Bull’s RB16B looks like the class of the field at the moment. The car looks stable and with immense work put in by Honda over the winter they are the favorites this season. Once again reliability hampered them as Perez had to start from the pitlane. It will be interesting to watch the development race between Mercedes and Red Bull this season.
McLaren have made a step forward, owing to the new Mercedes power unit as they still look like the best midfield car, though, it is early to say that. Ferrari too, have made a step forward, especially in the power unit department as both cars were able to achieve points finishes, similar to their papaya orange rivals. The AlphaTauri car has looked stable and fast, but their true pace cannot be gauged due to Gasly’s incident which resulted in damage and Tsunoda’s starting position compromised due to qualifying.
The same can be said about both the Aston Martin and Alpine cars. Both teams did not have the best qualifying result, with only one of their cars reaching Q3. Race Pace remains a question mark too, as both teams exhibited good pace in the middle stints of the race but were unable to be consistent or reliability hampering their progress. Aston Martin admitted that the low rake (rake is the difference between the front and rear ride height of the car) cars getting disadvantaged the most from the new regulations.
A Pirelli graphic of Pit Stops – Round 1 Bahrain GP Alfa Romeo have made a clear step forward as they just missed out on points. Thanks to the brand-new Ferrari power unit, straight line speed is not their weakness anymore. Williams look like they have made a step forward with the car, as raw pace suggests they are faster than Haas. It remains to be seen if they can challenge for the points in future. Haas have admitted that their car is underdeveloped, and that the final version will make an appearance at Imola in round 2.After that no upgrades will be introduced for the whole of 2021 as they have shifted their focus and resources on 2022.
Saturday Qualifying results were:
P1: Max Verstappen- 33 (Red Bull) P2: Lewis Hamilton- 44 (Mercedes) P3: Valtteri Bottas- 77 (Mercedes) P4: Charles Leclerc- 16 (Ferrari) P5: Pierre Gasly- 10 (AlphaTauri) P6: Daniel Ricciardo- 3 (McLaren) P7: Lando Norris- 4 (McLaren) P8: Carlos Sainz- 55 (Ferrari) P9: Fernando Alonso- 14 (Alpine) P10: Lance Stroll- 18 (Aston Martin) P11: Sergio Perez- 11 (Red Bull) P12: Antonio Giovinazzi- 99 (Alfa Romeo) P13: Yuki Tsunoda- 22 (AlphaTauri) P14: Kimi Raikkonen- 7 (Alfa Romeo) P15: George Russell- 63 (Williams) P16: Esteban Ocon- 31 (Alpine) P17: Nicholas Latifi- 6 (Williams) P18: Sebastian Vettel- 5 (Aston Martin) P19: Mick Schumacher- 47 (Haas) P20: Nikita Mazepin- 9 (Haas) -
Will his first victory in last season, change the fortunes for Sergio Perez, ex-Force India star?
Sergio Perez recorded a career first victory- in what could be his last ever season in Formula 1- amidst a nightmare race for Mercedes as Renault’s Esteban Ocon achieved his first podium of the career in P2 and Lance Stroll took P3 for the second time in 2020.
London, 7 Dec 2020: Sergio Perez took advantage of Mercedes’ mishaps to win the Sakhir Grand Prix, after being last on lap 1, ahead of Esteban Ocon and teammate Lance Stroll.
For once all the three on the podium, are those who have done service to the Indian outfit, Sahara Force India, before the team went into `Administration’ and later, became BWT Racing Point midway through 2018 season in late July. Till then Mercedes were in contract to supply engines and were in the 10-year relationship that has grown to allow Mercedes’ junior driver Esteban Ocon to take a driver seat as an understudy to Perez, who has been with Force India for five years till then.
The double podium helping Racing Point, formerly Force India, leap to P3 in the Constructor’s Championship. McLaren’s Carlos Sainz finished in P4 and teammate Lando Norris in P10, as they lost out P3 to their pink rivals in the constructor’s championship. Daniel Ricciardo finished P5 in the other Renault, ahead of the sole Red Bull of Alex Albon. Daniil Kvyat finished a respectable P7 in his AlphaTauri ahead of Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas in P8 as he had a forgettable race after a shambolic 27s pitstop. Lewis Hamilton tested positive for Covid-19, thus, he was replaced by Williams’ George Russell for the weekend- who is also part of the Mercedes driver program. Russell impressed in qualifying as he secured P2 and led 2/3rd of the race before a pitstop in which he was fitted with wrong tyres and a puncture cost him a certain debut win. Ultimately, he finished in P9.
Three former Force India drivers celebrating on podium, representing other teams, two still with the same pink colours of BWT of Racing Point. Photo by BWT Racing Point Pierre Gasly just missed out on points, finishing in P11 ahead of the outgoing Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel. Alfa Romeo duo of Antonio Giovinazzi and Kimi Raikkonen finished in P13 and P14 respectively. Haas’ Kevin Magnussen finished in P15 as his new teammate, Pietro Fittipaldi finished in P17- subbing in for the injured Romain Grosjean. Williams’ new driver Jack Aitken finished in P16 as his teammate Nicholas Latifi DNF’d. Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc DNF’d on lap 1 after a kerfuffle in turn 4.
At the start, new boy Russell leapt ahead of Bottas and took the lead. Meanwhile, behind Leclerc dive bombed Verstappen but misjudged, locked up and made contact with Perez. The Ferrari was damaged and retired immediately while Perez spun, pitted and fell to the back of the grid. Meanwhile, Verstappen tried to avoid the spinning Perez but to no avail ran out of space as his car went into the barrier. Safety car was deployed.
At the safety car restart on lap 8, Russell bolted away putting distance between himself and Bottas. Perez was at the back of the grid but by lap 15 he had made his way up to P11. Russell ahead had the race in control as he maintained a 2sec gap over Bottas.
Kvyat was the first one to pull the trigger and pitted for hard tyres on lap 27 in an attempt to undercut Ricciardo, which was successful. McLaren’s Sainz pitted on lap 28 to protect from the Russian’s undercut while Ricciardo pitted on lap 29, losing a place to Kvyat. By halfway point, lap 44, Perez was once again running in P3 while the two Mercedes out front were yet to pit.
As Russell was leading, he pitted first for hard tyres on lap 45. 4 laps later Bottas pit, slotting into P2 now the gap between him and Russell hovering around 5 sec. On lap 62, a second safety car was called out as Aitken went off in the final corner and swiped his front wing, which had to be cleared off the track.
Mercedes with their advantage, pitted and double stacked the two cars. As Russell went off and Bottas came in, there was confusion in the Mercedes pit box and seemingly after 27s Bottas was sent out on the same set of tyres. Meanwhile, Russell had to pit again as he was fitted with one of Bottas’ tyre. This meant that Bottas dropped to P5 and Russell to P6, promoting Perez in the lead.
As the safety car pulled in, Russell used his pace and tyre advantage to get past Bottas, Stroll and Ocon. It looked like the victory was still on the cards for him. But it was not to be as he was informed, he had a slow puncture and therefore, had to pit and fell to P15.
Ultimately, Perez cruised to victory as the only consolation for Russell was that he got his first Formula 1 career points. It was an impressive display by the young Englishman who has been touted as the successor to statistically greatest driver Hamilton at Mercedes in the future. Perez has time and again shown why he deserves a seat in F1, with one such display again on Sunday. Only time will tell if he can make it to the grid for 2021.
Mercedes maintained their dominance on such a short track- only 2.2miles- by locking out the front row and having the pace to win. Their pit stop mistake and an unfortunate puncture cost them the win. Russell more than stepped to the challenge and undoubtedly beat Bottas when it mattered, showing why he deserves to be in the Mercedes seat. Hamilton is on the path to recovery from Covid, but if he is not available for the Abu Dhabi GP, Russell will step in and have another opportunity to fight at the front.
Red Bull had a bad weekend as Verstappen crashed out of the race and Albon could not capitalise on the misfortunes of the Mercedes. They have another headache of deciding the fate of the second Red Bull seat. Albon did achieve a podium in last week’s Bahrain GP, but Perez pulled a win and capitalised on other people’s mistake when it mattered. Surely a headache for Christian Horner and Helmut Marko eh?
Racing Point showed great pace over the weekend and crucially they were the fastest in the speed traps. The straight-line speed enabling the drivers to overtake and achieve a double podium finish, and potentially P3 in the constructor’s championship. Renault and Ocon capitalised on the mistakes of front runners too. Their car worked well in low drag set up. Even though they struggled in qualifying, their straight-line speed helped them to stay ahead of their orange rivals McLaren and Ocon to achieve a podium. McLaren performed poorly compared to Racing Point and Renault. With a P4 and P10 they slipped back to 4th in the constructor’s championship, 10-points behind Racing Point and 12-points ahead of Renault.
Full BWT Racing Point team cheers as Sergio Perez takes his maiden win with the team and his own on Sunday in Shakir in the penultimate F1 round. A BWT RP photo AlphaTauri did not have the race pace to challenge for higher points at the Sakhir GP as Gasly finished out of points and Kvyat managed a P7. Ferrari had a pointless race weekend as Leclerc crashed out and Vettel finished out of the points. This track layout yet again exposing their power disadvantage. It was the same with Ferrari-customer cars of Alfa Romeo and Haas as they too finished outside the points. Haas also announced that 2020 F2 Champion Mick Schumacher and F2 driver Nikita Mazepin will drive for them in 2021. Williams had the pace to challenge the likes of Haas especially in the hands of Nicholas Latifi. But to no avail he DNF’d and Aitken’s incident meant that he finished second to last.
Saturday Qualifying results were:
P1: Valtteri Bottas- 77 (Mercedes) P2: George Russell- 63 (Mercedes) P3 Max Verstappen- 33 (Red Bull) P4: Charles Leclerc- 16 (Ferrari) P5: Sergio Perez- 11 (Racing Point) P6: Daniil Kvyat- 26 (AlphaTauri) P7: Daniel Ricciardo- 3 (Renault) P8: Carlos Sainz- 55 (McLaren) P9: Pierre Gasly- 10 (AlphaTauri) P10: Lance Stroll- 18 (Racing Point) P11: Esteban Ocon- 31 (Renault) P12: Alex Albon- 23 (Red Bull) P13: Sebastian Vettel- 5 (Ferrari) P14: Antonio Giovinazzi- 99 (Alfa Romeo) P15: Lando Norris- 4 (McLaren) P16: Kevin Magnussen- 20 (Haas) P17: Nicholas Latifi- 6 (Williams) P18: Jack Aitken- 89 (Williams) P19: Kimi Raikkonen- 7 (Alfa Romeo) P20: Pietro Fittipaldi- 51 (Haas) -
Mercedes dominance over one-lap and race pace continues: Imola Race analysis
Lewis Hamilton won at the 29th different circuit in his Formula 1 career as Valtteri Bottas completed a Mercedes 1-2 and Daniel Ricciardo completed the podium, a second time in three races, at the history-ridden Imola circuit. A 1-2 finish for Mercedes fetched them the constructor’s champions for a seventh-consecutive season, breaking Ferrari’s record of six-straight championships.
London, 3 Nov 2020: Hamilton took his 93rd F1 career victory. In the process, he also set the fastest lap and led more than 5000 laps. A P2 was a consolation for Bottas, and Ricciardo achieved his second podium of the season. Kvyat finished a brilliant P4 for AlphaTauri, ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in P5. Sergio Perez rued the decision of pitting as the team gave away a podium finish. McLaren got a double points finish as Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris finished in P7 and P8 respectively. Alfa Romeo had their best race of the season, as they too, achieved double-points, finishing ninth and tenth, Raikkonen, ahead of Giovinazzi.
Williams’ Nicholas Latifi was ever so close to points in P11, ahead of Sebastian Vettel who would have finished in the top 10 if not for the slow pit stop. Lance Stroll finished in P13, and Haas driver Romain Grosjean in P14. Alex Albon spun around his Red Bull trying to maintain his position after the safety car restart, ultimately finishing last in P15.
2020 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix action, Sunday – LAT images for Mercedes Mercedes clinched a historic 7th consecutive constructor’s championship, breaking Ferrari’s record of 6 consecutive titles. They have taken all the pole positions in 2020 so far and have maintained an advantage in race pace over rivals Red Bull. Red Bull were unable to close the gap to Mercedes at Imola, especially in qualifying as Max Verstappen never looked in contention for pole position. Ferrari’s one lap and race pace has improved significantly since Nürburgring as Leclerc has finished in the top 10 for three consecutive races. They could have achieved a double-points finish, if not for Vettel’s slow pit stop.
Renault looked like the lead midfield car as they qualified in the top-5 and Ricciardo managed a podium. Racing Point still have the best race pace, as evident from Perez’s overcut. They threw away a podium by pitting for fresh soft tyres. McLaren looked to have lost ground to Racing Point and Renault, as they lacked both the qualifying and race pace to challenge them. AlphaTauri have improved their qualifying pace significantly as they qualified P4 and P8. It remains to be seen if it is track specific or they have genuinely made a step up.
Alfa Romeo achieved double points finish as they have unlocked pace by exploring different set up directions. They still lack qualifying pace owing to the slow Ferrari power unit. Williams are making marginal gains in race pace which will help them for 2021 and they still have decent qualifying pace as Russell once again made it to Q2 on Saturday. Haas revealed a fundamental problem with their car, regarding the rear suspension. The rear suspension overheats due to which they have to raise the rear ride height, which compromises their aero performance. It is not a quick fix, but the team hopes they can rectify it for 2021, even though it will be the same chassis.
For the first time, Formula 1 experimented with a two-day weekend. One practice session on Saturday, followed by qualifying and the race on Sunday.
The predicted fastest strategy was mediums to soft tyres.
The start was hectic as Hamilton lost out to Verstappen. And had to settle for P3. Meanwhile, behind Gasly was squeezed by Hamilton and subsequently lost a position to Ricciardo. The other Renault of Ocon tagged Stroll’s front wing, resulting in damage as the Racing Point had to pit. Vettel tagged Magnussen as well which resulted in the Dane spinning and Vettel losing a part of his front wing endplate. Giovinazzi from the back of the grid was up to P14.
As the race settled the top three were covered by 2.5-3s, as Bottas lead with Verstappen 1.5s behind in P2 and Hamilton hot on his heels. There was sad news for Gasly as AlphaTauri had to retire his car due to terminal damage on lap 8. Norris, Ocon and Leclerc started the round of pit stops as they pitted on lap 13. The degradation on soft tyres was worse than expected, therefore, the early pit stops. Ricciardo, Kvyat and Albon followed suit one lap later.
Verstappen was the first to pit, in an attempt to undercut Bottas on lap 18, changing onto a set of hard tyres. Bottas did the same next lap, emerging 1.5s ahead of Verstappen. Meanwhile, Hamilton told the pit wall not to box as he carried on, setting fastest laps in the process and extending his gap to Bottas and Verstappen. Bottas’s car had picked up damage as well, which cost him around 0.7s per lap. Verstappen was held up behind the damaged Mercedes, as Hamilton extended his gap to over a pit stop.
Ocon retired on lap 30 due to a gearbox issue due to which a VSC was deployed for a half a lap. Hamilton made full use of VSC to pit and come out in the lead 4s ahead of Bottas. Verstappen was hounding Bottas for P2, and due to his ailing car, Bottas locked up and ran wide in second to last corner. This allowed Verstappen to close up and pass on the main straight using DRS for P2. Behind, Perez was running in P4 after making a pit stop, overcutting Ricciardo, Leclerc, Sainz & Kvyat. Meanwhile, a mammoth stint from Vettel and Raikkonen on mediums gave them points potential. A botched pit stop by Ferrari robbed Vettel of a top-10 finish, whereas Raikkonen pitted on lap 48 to emerge in the top 10.
Bad luck struck Verstappen on lap 50 as his rear right tyre blew up and pitched him into the gravel trap. Russell, by then running in the points, made a rookie error and crashed behind the safety car while warming his tyres. Both Mercedes pitted under the safety car for soft tyres, and so did Perez- giving up P3- and Kvyat. Ricciardo, Leclerc and Albon stayed out on hard tyres. Green flag running resumed on lap 58, as Hamilton and Bottas made clean getaway. Behind, Ricciardo was running in P3 and Kvyat gained three positions, running in P4, courtesy of the new soft tyres. Perez was unable to do the same as he was stuck behind Leclerc in P6.
Earlier on Saturday, Mercedes locked out the front row as Bottas claimed pole and Hamilton had to settle for P2. Behind, Verstappen lined up in customary P3. Alongside him, a fantastic qualifying saw Pierre Gasly start P4 and AlphaTauri teammate Daniil Kvyat started in P8. Renault’s Ricciardo started in P5, alongside the second Red Bull car of Albon with Leclerc qualifying one position ahead of Kvyat in P7. McLaren duo of Norris and Sainz completed the top 10. Both Racing Point cars were unable to make it to the top 10 as Perez started in P11 and Stroll in P15. Ocon started P12 in his Renault. For the second race in a row Williams’ Russell out-qualified Ferrari’s Vettel as they started P13 and P14 respectively. Haas drivers Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen started 16th and 17th respectively. Alfa Romeos of Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi started P18 and P20, sandwiched Latifi’s Williams in P19.
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Canadian GP: Early sparks, but no fire as Vettel puts Ferrari ahead of Mercedes
Seb Vettel….in a league of his own in Montreal. Photo: Nico Marchand Montreal, 11 June 2018: Formula 1 suffered a back to back embarrassment with the Canadian GP failing to produce an iota of excitement
and followed in the footsteps of the Monaco chapter two weeks ago. The character of the circuits had nothing in common to cause this feeling of ennui.Team Scuderia Ferrari bulldozed it’s title contender Mercedes comprehensively with Vettel taking the lead authoritatively and never having to look in his mirrors all the way to the premature checkered flag at the 68th. That was about the only sense of excitement if at all.
Other than a sporadic clash for positions 12th downward, there wasn’t much to excite the enthusiastic spectators who arrived in full strength to witness an epic battle amongst the likes of the three – Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull. The DRS system took the day off and wasn’t summoned since no driver came within striking distance to put it to use and it basked in the fabulous weather that made it worth the while to watch the F1 train go round and round the famous Giles Villeneuve circuit!
The race had a promising start with Hartley and local hero Lance Stroll coming together spectacularly on lap 1 causing the safety car to control the proceedings for the initial 6 laps while the marshals and the wreckage retrieval crew cleaned up the mess . Once the SC exited the fans were buckling themselves for a ride of their lives that wasn’t to be sadly. Vettel’s domination was so emphatic that all Bottas could offer was a weak challenge whilst being threatened somewhat by Max Verstappen who thankfully decided to finish the event rather tamely for a change!
Huge crowds at the Giles Villeneuve circuit in Montreal. Photo: Nico Marchand Lewis Hamilton had a bad day at work with his engine malfunctioning and also having to employ incorrect tires which was a consequence of a choice made earlier on in the championship. That cost Mercedes dearly since this wiped out their name from the leader board in one event while handing over their arch-rivals Ferrari a slender one point lead at the end of it all. Anyway, it’s great for F1 to have a see-saw battle to keep the excitement however contrived it may be! When the behemoths eventually get their act together as the F1 juggernaut moves to Europe, the two back-to-back blah events will be consigned to history hopefully.
Sahara Force India didn’t have a great outing with Perez straying into the kitty litter thus pushing him down to 14th place from which he never recovered. Ocon was all set to put in another sterling drive until a messy pit stop put paid to his potentially top six finish but he yet picked up valuable points for his 9th place effort.
Rumours were flying thick and fast about the potential sale of his team to Rich Energy. These were denied vehemently by the team boss Mallya, but vaguely confirmed by a few in the know. We know that there is never smoke without a fire. Currently, the team is fairly valuable and time to cash in would be now! But Mallya’s passion for F1 may delay or deny the process for a while. After all he did build it to be a team to reckon with from a rather scrappy outfit that he inherited a decade ago.
Ricciardo should be content with his 4th place considering that his Renault engine was not putting out its best. Kimi had another pedestrian day at work. How long will be able to hang on to his precious seat is anyone’s guess! Nico Hulkenberg and Carlos Sainz played it sensibly and earned themselves some valuable points for their attempt with their 7th and 8th finishes for Renault . Alonso 300th race was done with an exhaust med problem . He must easily the most frustrated man in the paddock. After the top 6 finishers, the rest of the best finished over a lap down. Something’s don’t change, do they ?!!!!
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Monaco GP separates men from boys… but Oh boy, what a win!
Daniel Ricciardo celebrating his win at the Monaco GP. Photo: Red Bull Racing Monaco, 27 May 2018: The Monaco GP is as extreme as it’s brutal. Hot-footing it for 78 laps while avoiding the ever-welcoming walls on this unique circuit does separate the men from the boys but in this case, the boy won! And in great style too.
To soak in the pressure from the likes of Vettel and Hamilton is not for the weak-hearted. However, the ever-smiling assassin, Ricciardo, had the comfort of leading the race from the get-go knowing very well that to catch him was one thing but to overtake was another story, all together.
Vettel and Hammy were not losing much sleep over his victory as they had racked up valuable points where it mattered since Ricciardo was not their title contender for the time being. Redbull’s pace is for real, however, and as the circus moves to more-traditional circuits such as Canada, the wheat shall be separated from the chaff! By and large, F1 is having the best season ever with so many drivers and teams in contention.Kimi and Bottas played the role of mere spectators at the Mecca of F1 and all they could do was go round and round the mulberry bush just hoping for a safety car to show up! When it actually did it was only a virtual safety car a few laps before the checkered flag that didn’t threaten the proceedings much. The winner, however, had to go through many anxious moments throughout the race as his car had a myriad of technical issues that threatened his otherwise perfect weekend. He, of course, had a far-better weekend than his teammate, Max Verstappen, who has become a famous trouble magnet! He simply has to take one step back to go two forward. His eagerness is his downfall. Currently a maverick but hopefully soon a champion!
Force India had yet another day to cheer as Esteban Ocon, the cool youngster put his Mercedes powered VJM11 chassis into the sixth slot. He is no fluke and a lot can be expected of him as the season progresses. Against all odds, team FI is punching considerably above its weight.
Monaco would, meanwhile, do well to create more over-overtaking room, otherwise, it may border on boring eventually! Qualifying results should not resemble race results! It’s wildly popular as is expensive and that suits the F1 characteristic. Advantage – partying and the wildlife!
Anyway, the 20-car train does look spectacular to the uninitiated and for some die-hards, it does increase the adrenaline. Whatever works I guess.
Two weeks later at Montreal, the real story may be told but then having seen the lopsided results thus far, for me to hazard a guess to spot winners will be rather foolish!
2018 Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix – Race Results:
1 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing-
2 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 7.336
3 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 17.013
4 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 18.127
5 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 18.822
6 Esteban Ocon Force India 23.667
7 Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso 24.331
8 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 24.839
9 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing 25.317
10 Carlos Sainz Renault 1’09.013
11 Marcus Ericsson Sauber 1’09.864
12 Sergio Perez Force India 1’10.461
13 Kevin Magnussen Haas 1’14.823
14 Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren 1 lap
15 Romain Grosjean Haas 1 lap
16 Sergey Sirotkin Williams 1 lap
17 Lance Stroll Williams 2 laps
Charles Leclerc Sauber 8 laps
Brendon Hartley Toro Rosso 8 laps
Fernando Alonso McLaren 26 laps. -
Monaco GP: It’s all about grit, glamour and glory; thrilling battle in the offing
Monaco, 26 May 2018: Let’s start with why this GP is like none other in the calendar.It has an arrogance which is unique due to the patronage of the Uber Rich and the display of wealth per sq ft more than anywhere else on the planet. Last week, it was officially given No.1 status as the second smallest country in the world with citizens living an average age of 89 with more than 30 % worth upward of a million dollars! No wonder they find it gauche to have a brand or title sponsor. Just ‘ The Monaco GP ‘ if you don’t mind! It doesn’t pay any fees to F1, just the berthing rights of the boats during the GP that earn it around 17 million dollars and to add to F1s earning.
No grid girls in 2018 at F1 events was announced by the new management Liberty. Ha, ha, ha, you kidding, was Monaco’s response! Yep, the girls are very much frolicking around!
Any die-hard F1 fan will tell his own about the difficulty of traversing this treacherous 3.337-km street circuit. After the event, the Principality has to remove paint from the walls that was deposited by F1 cars daring to punch the limit! The legendary Ayrton Senna won the event six times! While not all F1 fans and participants approve of this edgy style of racing, it does add to the flavour!
FP 3 session late Saturday morning saw the impetuousness of youth go faster than Max Verstappen himself resulting in his shunt that put him out of the qualifying session much to the obvious delight of his Red Bull team-mate Ricciardo!
The risk and reward is very real in Monaco said the two times F1 pole-sitter Ricciardo, both scored at the same venue!
The Red Bull driver has been on a roll this weekend, topping the time-sheets in the Free Practice sessions, and he carried the form into qualifying, finishing ahead of Vettel, Hamilton, Raikkonen and Bottas. So, as has been the norm this season, the Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes (not necessarily in that order!) have made the front few rows their preserve.
While hypersoft was the preferred compound of choice by the top ten qualifiers, it’s going to be a gruelling event tomorrow and the eventually finishers are highly unlikely to finish in today’s pecking order! The safety car making it’s presence felt in this fascinating race has been the norm rather than the exception, and it’s going to be bumper to bumper all the way!
With no sign of rain forecast tomorrow it’s going to be hot on the circuit in more ways than one! With the unforgiving walls of the Monaco street circuit beckoning, it’s going to be a matter of true grit to the fore!
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The smiling assassin Shanghais the leader in China to set up thrilling scenario!
By Harish Samtani
Shanghai, April 15: Daniel Ricciardo, the Australian driver for Red Bull, just tossed a spanner in the works of Ferrari and Mercedes with a superlative performance in the third chapter of the 2018 Formula 1 calendar.
His team did very well to pull him back from the precipice of the cliff and just a gasp away from qualifying last. Red Bull mechanics should pat themselves by shoehorning an engine in last minute and send him on his way. And also for alertness on their race engineers who brought him and Max Verstappen in and put them on soft tyres right away when the safety car interrupted the proceedings while the rest mostly were on a slower medium compound that was meant to last the distance.Ricciardo returned the favour in style by bringing home the trophy. A catastrophe converted to a trophy in just under 24 hours may make a bad pun, but you get my drift.
The racing itself must have brought tears of joy to any F1 fan regardless of their heroes. A safety car on lap 30 created by the coming together of Gasly and Hartley led to the exciting situation that followed, but who cares as to how. Just bring it on!
Daniel Ricciardo exults after winning the trophy. Photo: FIA Meanwhile, if one were to pretend that all this did not happen, Ferrari had only themselves to blame for throwing away a win by bringing in Vettel too late into the box for his one tyre change. This only goes to show that human beings have their silly moments regularly!
While Hamilton is not having the best days in his racing life momentarily, he also seems to have become a little mellow. Good for him but not so for his F1 career! His teammate Bottas, on the contrary, may not be the most-spectacular driver on the grid but he may be doing something right, just by staying out of trouble. It’s early days yet and picking up valuable points in these stages is going to serve him at the fag end of the championship.
With three teams now in the fray, every point is worth its weight in gold. DNFs will play an important role in the F1 version of snakes and ladders. With the scramble up, the middle and down the grid, stress will tell and the ultimate winner will be not only being a result of a champion driver but a calm professional team to boot. This year has the potential of turning into one of the finest battles in recent times. Is this the perfect time of entry for Liberty, the new owners of F1? Probably yes.
The quality competition was expected of course but not with such aggression by a few players who are giving the stewards a massive headache and tough decisions to make. When Verstappen collided with Vettel in the 43rd lap, he, in my opinion, got away cheap by getting just a 10-sec penalty.
Anyway excitement, however, contrived by such incidents serve a larger purpose and The Show will, and must go on!
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Vettel and Ferrari burn competition with a hot lap; tough task ahead for Hammy!
Vettel….continues his charge. Photo: FIA By Harish Samtani
Shanghai, 14 April 2018: The fans of Mercedes and those who believed that Ferrari couldn’t possibly
sustain its superiority over the German outfit, are currently busy consuming big portions of humble pie after Saturday’s qualifying session in the Chinese Grand Prix here.The Scuderia steamrolled Mercedes with over a half second advantage in qualifying in a relatively cooler environment and circuit than in Bahrain that had Hamilton incredulous and questioning Ferraris’ back-to-back superior performances in qualifying.
Vettel, the eventual pole-sitter, is on song and his last minute record breaking lap had even his team-mate stunned and Mercedes humbled. His car is not only reliable and quick, but seems to be running on rails with nary a twitch.
The Renault-powered Red Bulls were not exactly slackers, but were made to appear so by the Maranello outfit’s duo. Even Kimi was stunned by Vettel’s last second gasp which dethroned him from his almost certain pole.
At this rate, Hammy’s quest for title No. 5 has to wait patiently. In hindsight, the five championship title holders of the past have to be acknowledged with greater respect. There will be ifs and buts, but every year and era has its own set of challenges. No one has it easy.
The top six cars qualified within a 0.853 seconds of each other. Grosjean rounded up the 10th position 1.760 seconds adrift in his Ferrari-powered Haas! That’s quite a bit as it is. So, it would be safe to assume that around 12-14 cars will be lapped in the 56-lap race.
Force India had a decent outing with Perez eighth on the starter board. I suspect that they have taken a step back to go two steps forward. So, the aero package or something else has not delivered as expected, but the good thing is that once they get sorted, they are going be in the thick of action and will leapfrog over a few of the pretenders such as Haas etc. Their fourth overall in 2017 will gain even more legitimacy.
While it is early days, the die is cast and some serious action is on the anvil on and off the track!!!
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China GP: With chasing pack closing in on the front-runners, frenetic action on the cards!
Circuit Map – Courtesy China Grand Prix By Harish Samtani
Shanghai, April 13: The land of mystique spoke with me on arrival at the airport in Shanghai. The customs department was scrutinizing incoming passengers and
I had to restrain myself from asking the stern looking officer as to what on earth was he looking for! Everything that I had with me, including my luggage and my undies, were made in China! Maybe, they had a bizarre reverse smuggling regulation in force!All that flippancy transformed quickly to respect once I reached the F1 circuit. China had exceeded itself in building a state-of-the-art circuit that has the approval of all the teams. From the perfect surface of the track itself to the facilities on offer were bang on.
Add to this a picturesque location – the team paddocks are located idyllically on the banks of a meandering river and the Media Centre that has the best view ever of the circuit’s many corners and looking out on to the start/finish line. Top class. Period!
One tends to overlook the shortcoming of lack of the English language and the overwhelming presence of the Special Forces on duty. There was a sign posted on the glass window stating that it was dangerous to take pictures from there and strictly not permitted! In short, you shoot pictures and we shoot you. Fair.
The 5.45 Km circuit allows for a maximum straight line speed of about 320 KPH and seems to be favored by most drivers. Tyre wear isn’t all that much and hence one can expect – I am guessing – that most teams will opt for the ultra super soft option of tyre and then stop just once for a change after about 15 laps. Looks like, it’s going to be fast and furious all the way to the checkered flag.
The other rhyming word is curious, as to the tremendous build up of tension in the midfield. The time difference is tantalizingly close from 6th downward to the 14th position. With fractions of a second separating them, finally boredom may have to take a back seat, thankfully. That is, if the cars get thru’ the first two laps without taking each other out, like they stupidly did in Bahrain.
Photo: McLaren F1 team Alonso’s team McLaren had brought grief upon themselves in Bahrain by opting to focus more on cornering speed via better downforce and which as a downside affected their straight line speed by about 7 Kph. Their Bahrain Sheikh sponsor didn’t quite enjoy that event from his royal box obviously! So, one can hopefully see this legend back and thrilling his legion of faithful followers.
Now, if one was to throw in Max Verstappen (good news that he and a forgiving and forgetting (?) Hammy have kissed and made up) and Ricciardo into the mix, it’s going to be frenetic action surely. This will hold good through the entire season, of this I am sure. Practice timings only flatter to deceive and hence I won’t dwell on that for now for the Chinese chapter.
Photo: Redbull Racing The leaderboard will have its independent numbers and stories since the big boys such as Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull are in a different league and only major mishaps can derail their charge to the top. But they are a bit confused and worried about the emergence of team Haas and Toro Rosso as challengers.
Gasly (Toro Rosso, 4th in Bahrain) and Magnussen (Haas, 5th in Bahrain) have been quite proficient behind their respective wheels. Vicious rumors are doing the rounds about probable reasons for their superlative performance, but I think that’s rather unfair and uncalled for. Time will tell and time can be a bitch when push comes to shove.
and followed in the footsteps of the Monaco chapter two weeks ago. The character of the circuits had nothing in common to cause this feeling of ennui.
His team did very well to pull him back from the precipice of the cliff and just a gasp away from qualifying last. Red Bull mechanics should pat themselves by shoehorning an engine in last minute and send him on his way. And also for alertness on their race engineers who brought him and Max Verstappen in and put them on soft tyres right away when the safety car interrupted the proceedings while the rest mostly were on a slower medium compound that was meant to last the distance.
sustain its superiority over the German outfit, are currently busy consuming big portions of humble pie after Saturday’s qualifying session in the Chinese Grand Prix here.
