INDIA in F1

Tag: Malhaar Khaladkar. F1

  • Part II: Hamilton, the Last Dance

    Part II: Hamilton, the Last Dance

    By Malhaar Khaladkar

    New Delhi, 2 February 2024: In the words of famous TV presenter Jeremy Clarkson, “And on that Bombshell”, Sir Lewis Hamilton has kickstarted the 2024 Formula 1 season with the announcement that he will be driving for Ferrari from 2025 onwards. This is the biggest driver transfer in Formula 1, since Hamilton himself announced he would leave McLaren for Mercedes in 2013, sending shockwaves throughout the paddock.

    Part II (You can read Part I here)

    The Ferrari Element

    John Elkann, Stellantis and Ferrari Chairman has said to have a key role in persuading Hamilton to join the Scuderia. Vasseur already being the Team Principal means Hamilton already has people at Ferrari that he trusts. Further, a marriage between arguably the greatest driver in Formula 1 and the greatest team in Formula 1 is too enticing. When the opportunity came Ferrari jumped at signing the Briton. Just the magnitude of this announcement is a commercial dream. It also coincides with Sainz’s contract finishing at the end of 2024 and Leclerc signing a multi-year deal to continue with Ferrari.

    Sweeping power unit and technical regulations give a clean sheet where Ferrari could be best placed to capitalise and leap forward of the field. This is what attracted Hamilton to join them. 2025 would be a season where he can bed in and 2026 go all out for the title. Ferrari have not won a drivers’ championship since 2007 and constructors’ championship since 2008. If Hamilton can get one or both, that too with Ferrari his status will undoubtedly be cemented as the greatest.

    One could say it is a match made in heaven as both have the immense hunger to not only win again but get their dominant glory days back, especially for Ferrari as it has been long overdue. Since the Maranello squad last won, it has been plagued by mismanagement, bad strategy calls, dirty politics and mediocre engineering given the facilities they have. This is concurred by the failure of great drivers like Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso’s inability to win a title with them. Ferrari’s motivation to bring Hamilton would be to get these processes right. It has already started with Vasseur in charge and bringing positive changes in the technical departments. There is no doubt in Hamilton’s abilities, give him a car and he will deliver. Hamilton is being brought in to push and extract the best out of every single team member. His experience and knowledge will be invaluable to the team. The onus is on Ferrari then to help Hamilton and themselves to reach the summit.

    Lastly, there is Sainz who is out of contract after 2024 and will not continue with Ferrari. For the Italian squad it is a no brainer, if a driver of Hamilton’s stature is available, they will make him a priority. Sainz was able to match Leclerc throughout his time at Ferrari but was never clearly faster than the Monegasque. Leclerc is the Scuderia’s golden boy but remains to be seen how the dynamic will evolve once Hamilton is there in 2025. Make no mistake Sainz is immensely talented and will land a drive for 2025 somewhere, Mercedes being one of the options. The Spaniard has been heavily linked with Stake F1 team Kick Sauber, which will be rebranded as Audi in 2026. Remains to be seen what plans Sainz has.

    The Conundrum facing Mercedes

    Mercedes and specifically Toto Wolff have been caught off guard by this bombshell news. Wolff said that he got to know about the news only a day before and that before going in the winter break Mercedes and Hamilton’s ambitions were aligned. Turns out the contract Hamilton signed was a 1+1 year contract which had an exit clause at the end of the first year, which Hamilton used.

    A week ago, the future at Mercedes looked very different with Hamilton and George Russell embedded to bring Mercedes to the front again. That is all up in the air as Hamilton has decided agree terms with Ferrari for his future. With Hamilton being there, the team had a clear direction for development which now might be out of the window. This might backtrack Mercedes’ plans to get to the front in the short term.

    This agreement between Hamilton and Ferrari has a twofold impact on the German squad. Firstly, Hamilton is still part of Mercedes for 2024. This means that Hamilton will be excluded from certain parts of the team which plan their long-term development. On track strategy and planning will also be affected by this somewhat. Wolff has commented that both drivers will be treated equally throughout the season but clearly Russell is the future for the Silver Arrows. It is a positive situation for Russell as he becomes the de facto leader of the team once Hamilton departs. Secondly, this announcement means Mercedes have to look for a driver to fill their vacant seat. Mercedes is not the formidable team they used tobe; their seat was the most coveted till 2021. Still, they are one of the big names in Formula 1 and a works team so drivers would undoubtedly want to sign for them.

    There are multiple candidates for this seat. Sainz will be out of contract and could technically swap with Hamilton. But Mercedes have already been hurt by their man leaving for Ferrari and hence, they may not want Sainz as he is a former Ferrari man. They may look towards Fernando Alonso, but he may not be the right choice for long term future in the eyes of Mercedes. Alex Albon of Williams is a sound choice considering he gets along with Russell and has shown that he can be consistent. Further vacating the Williams seat means Mercedes young driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli could be placed in the Williams who share a good working relationship with Mercedes. Antonelli will be in F2 for 2024, and depending on his performances could make the jump to F1 in 2025. Esteban Ocon is another name that comes to mind as he is managed Gwen Lagrue, Mercedes’ Driver Development Advisor. Factors against Ocon might be that he was beaten by fellow Frenchman Pierre Gasly in their first season as teammates. Daniel Ricciardo is another name linked with Mercedes in the past but there are questions if Mercedes would want him due to his age and whether he would be willing to leave the Red Bull family a second time.Drivers such as Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri have already signed long term deals with McLaren. Max Verstappen would not move as he is long term contracted to Red Bull and is in the fastest car on the grid currently.

    If Mercedes move in too quickly for a driver, they may end up losing an opportunity to sign a driver of a higher caliber later. Make their move too late and all their targets may be locked down to their respective teams.

    Hamilton and Ferrari will be hoping for a fruitful outcome of their union from 2025 onwards whereas Mercedes will be hoping to get their new driver and development cards right for the future.

  • Lewis Hamilton: The Last Dance!

    Lewis Hamilton: The Last Dance!

    By Malhaar Khaladkar

    New Delhi, 2 February 2024: In the words of famous TV presenter Jeremy Clarkson, “And on that Bombshell”, Sir Lewis Hamilton has kickstarted the 2024 Formula 1 season with the announcement that he will be driving for Ferrari from 2025 onwards. This is the biggest driver transfer in Formula 1, since Hamilton himself announced he would leave McLaren for Mercedes in 2013, sending shockwaves throughout the paddock.

    On Thursday February 1, it was announced that Hamilton will be joining Ferrari on a multi-year arrangement starting in 2025. He will partner Charles Leclerc as Carlos Sainz will make way for the 7-time world champion.

    Reports of Hamilton joining Ferrari are not a recent development in Formula 1 paddock. In fact, every time Hamilton’s contract has been up for renewal at Mercedes, rumours of the Briton joining the Prancing Horse have flared up. These rumors had little substance though and looked like a pipe dream, as nothing more than casual talks took place between Hamilton and Ferrari. Possibly, these rumors helped strengthen Hamilton’s contract negotiation with Mercedes. But joining Ferrari never seemed feasible for Hamilton as Mercedes was the place to be. Mercedes produced title winning cars from 2014 till 2021, winning eight Constructors’ Championship. Hamilton himself won six of his seven World Drivers’ Championships with the Silver Arrows.

    This time it was different when the news broke. Specifically, the timing was peculiar as Hamilton had just signed a two-year (1+1 year) contractwith Mercedes in August 2023. Further multiple reports coming out of the Formula 1 paddock indicated that this was a story with substance. So, what convinced Hamilton to join the Maranello squad and leave his long-standing family of Mercedes?

    A Lewis Hamilton Perspective

    Hamilton has been a part of the Mercedes family since he was13 years old. His whole Formula 1 career has been powered by Mercedes engines, first at McLaren as Mercedes supplied them, then at the works team itself. He has achieved some mind-boggling statistics with the Silver Arrows powering him. He has 7 World Drivers’ Championships, 103 wins, 104 pole positions and 197 podiums in 332 grands prix. With Mercedes works team alone he has 6 World Drivers’ Championships, 82 wins, 78 pole positions and 148 podiums in 222 grands prix.

    Hamilton is 39 years old now and is at the twilight of his career. It seemed as if Hamilton would hang up his gloves at Mercedes hoping to be crowned Champion for the 8th time, provided the Silver Arrows gave him a car that could challenge for it. He would be a Mercedes man life long, much like Sir Stirling Moss. It only seemed right that what had propelled him throughout his Formula 1 career would the same when closing it as well. Then what is it that made him join the most coveted team in Formula 1?

    Sebastian Vettel once said, “everyone is a Ferrari fan”. In fact, there is no Ferrari without Formula 1 and no Formula 1 without Ferrari. It is every racers dream since a child to adorn the Scarlet Red overalls and drive for the Prancing Horse. Yes, there is romanticism attached to this move. For so long a Hamilton-Ferrari partnership seemed impossible, but now that Hamilton is nearer to the end of his career, it makes sense to take on a new challenge and go for a last hurrah.

    The Briton must have looked at the development trajectory of Mercedes and thought that they cannot challenge for a title for another couple of seasons, combined with the sweeping technical rule changes for both the power unit and the car coming in 2026. 2021 was brutal ending as the championship was taken out of his hand on the last lap in Abu Dhabi, yet his resolve remained strong. Come 2022, a rules overhaul ushered in ground effect cars where Red Bull came out of the blocks strong and Mercedes considerably missed their mark struggling to third place in the championship. Mercedes’ car philosophy of the zero-pod and long wheelbase did not work for the new regulations. Yet, the team decided to stick with it for the W14, their challenger for the 2023 season. W14 did not fare better as it lagged behind the Red Bull- the title winners- by a big margin, even though Mercedes managed to finish 2nd come the end of the season.The Briton publicly demanded accountability and said that the Mercedes technical team had not listened to him regarding what the car needs to be at the front of the field. Hamilton would have taken into account the development of the W15 and though progress would have been made, it might not be enough to take on the title charge.

    Ferrari on the other hand finished 3rd in the championship but had a better car towards the end of the season, getting narrowly beaten by Mercedes. Plus, Hamilton struggled with his Mercedes at the end of the season to challenge for podiums whereas Sainz was the only non-Red Bull driver to win a race. Combined that with Frederic ‘Fred’ Vasseur is the Team Principal of Ferrari. The Frenchman happens to be a close friend of Hamilton and he was the Briton’s team manager in GP3 and GP2, before Hamilton entered Formula 1. Since joining Ferrari in 2023, Vasseur has brought in several technical people from Red Bull and Mercedes over to Ferrari, to strengthen their technical and engineering department. One of the names that has gone from the Mercedes camp over to Ferrari is Loic Serra who was the Head of Vehicle Performance at Mercedes. He will join Ferrari from 2025 and is one of the key factors why Hamilton is joining Ferrari.

    Loic Serra was said to be at odds over the zero pod and long wheelbase concept used by then Mercedes Technical Director Mike Elliot. Both Hamilton and Serra seemed to echo the same concerns. Furthermore, changes in the Mercedes structure and significant big-name departures have not only played a role in Mercedes’ downfall but Hamilton leaving as well. It started with departures of Aldo Costa and Mark Ellis in 2018. They were pivotal in design of the Mercedes cars that won them both championships from 2014 to 2018. Mercedes would experience success till 2021 though. Andy Cowell, Head of Mercedes HPP departed the team in 2020. He was regarded as the brains behind the architecture and success of Mercedes’ turbo-hybrid power unit, which used to be the field leader. Mercedes’ Technical Director James Allison moved on to a Chief Technical Officer role in 2021, though he came back as the Technical Director after the team struggled for two consecutive seasons in the ground effect era.Lastly, James Vowles, Chief Strategist and another one of Hamilton’s confidants, left Mercedes to be team principal at Williams F1. Although Allison and Toto Wolff- with whom Hamilton shares a fantastic relationship- have committed their long-term futures with Mercedes, it is reported that Allison wanted Serra alongside him due to the success achieved pre-2022.

    All these factors make it look like a tall order for Mercedes to return to the top in the short to medium future. With Hamilton not getting any younger, he has to see where his chances of winning the coveted 8th title are, and his bets are on Ferrari with Mercedes progression plateauing.

    You can read the second and concluding part here.

  • Perez gets maiden career pole but Verstappen turns tables on Sunday

    Perez gets maiden career pole but Verstappen turns tables on Sunday

    Max Verstappen took his first victory of the season after an intense battel with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc as Red Bull scored points for the first time in 2022. Carlos Sainz finished third, giving Ferrari a double podium for the second consecutive race while Polesitter Sergio Perez had to settle for P4.

    By Malhaar Khaladkar

    New Delhi, 28 March 2022: Sergio Perez outqualified his decorated teammate Max Verstappen only the second time in his Red Bull career, as the world champion had to settle for P4 on Saturday. Perez had his hands full with the two Ferrari’s close behind. Another shock on Saturday came from the 7-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, who exited in Q1 for the first time since 2017, that too on pure pace.

    As the lights went out, the top 2, Perez and Leclerc maintained position. Meanwhile, Verstappen sneaked past Sainz for P3 on lap 1. Behind, Mercedes’ George Russell got past Esteban Ocon to run in P5 by lap 3 and teammate Hamilton recovered to P10 by lap 15.Laps 5-7 saw an enticing battle between Alpine teammates Ocon and Fernando Alonso for P6. With Ocon later being instructed by the team to hold position on Alonso.

    Sainz in P4 dropped back from the top three cars. The gap between Perez and Leclerc hovered around 3s as the pitstop window opened on around lap 13. Top 5 cars were on medium tyres. With there being a significant advantage of undercut, Ferrari called Leclerc saying, “box to overtake”. Essentially meaning whatever Perez does, do the opposite. Red Bull acted on this, to avoid getting undercut and pitted Perez on lap 15 for hard tyres. Lady luck was not on Perez’s side as Williams’ Nicholas Latifi crashed in the final corner, bringing out a virtual safety car and then the full safety car. With the race neutralised everyone took advantage and pitted bar Kevin Magnussen, Hamilton and Nico Hulkenberg who started on the hard tyres.

    Oracle Red Bull drier Max Verstappen of the Netherlands celebrates after winning the F1 Grand Prix of Saudi Arabia at the Jeddah Corniche Street Circuit on March 27, 2022 Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images for Red Bull Content Pool

    Naturally Perez lost out to Leclerc and Verstappen who emerged in P1 and P2 respectively. While the Mexican did momentarily overtake Sainz, he had to give back the position at the restart as the Ferrari was ahead on the safety car line 1 while exiting form the pits. Safety car came in on lap 21 as racing got underway.

    By lap 25 Hamilton passed Magnussen for P6, both running on hard tyres still yet to make a pitstop. At the front Leclerc managed to keep Verstappen out of DRS range as the Ferrari was faster in sector 1 with all the high-speed corners while Red Bull used its straight-line speed advantage in sectors 2 and 3.

    Alonso in P7 reported loss of power as his car slowed down on lap 35. As Alonso slowed down, so did McLaren’s Ricciardo as he halted on the pit lane entrance. A VSC was deployed as Magnussen and Hulkenberg pitted to change their hard tyres and onto the mediums. Hamilton running in P6, just missed the pitlane and after it was closed for 3 laps to clear the cars halted on the pit entrance. Hamilton finally pitted on lap 40 for medium tyres and emerged in P12.

    The VSC ended on lap 41, with Verstappen closing the gap within a 1s to Leclerc as the Dutchman’s tyres were up to temperature. At the end of lap 41 Verstappen got past Leclerc before the final corner. Leclerc employing the same technique he did in Bahrain of letting Verstappen through then overtaking him on the next straight. On lap 43 both locked up going into the final corner vying for DRS onto the start finish straight. Leclerc was still able to maintain the lead.

    Verstappen continued his hunt for the lead as he closed up to Leclerc at the end of lap 46. Using DRS he overtook the Monegasque into turn 1. Leclerc did not lose touch as he was still within 1s of Verstappen, but the Red Bull was able to keep in front owing to better straight line speed.

    At the chequered flag Verstappen took his first victory of the season finishing just 0.549s ahead of Leclerc. Sainz achieved another podium with Perez finishing in P4. Mercedes’ Russell maximised his race by finishing in P5, ahead of Alpine’s Ocon who beat McLaren’s Lando Norris by 0.107s at the finish line. P8 was Pierre Gasly for AlphaTauri and P9 was Magnussen for Haas. Hamilton could only finish P10 as safety car ruined his race strategy.

    Zhou Guanyu finished in P11 for Alfa Romeo ahead of the Aston Martin duo of Nico Hulkenberg and Lance Stroll in P12 and P13 respectively. Retirees from the race were Williams duo Alex Albon and Latifi, Valtteri Bottas of Alfa Romeo and Alonso and Ricciardo. Yuki Tsunoda was unable to start his race due to an electrical issue with his AlphaTauri while Mick Schumacher’s car was not built by Haas after suffering a heavy crash in Saturday qualifying.

    Red Bull and Ferrari were closely matched on both race and qualifying pace. Both exhibited their advantage in different areas, Red bull were faster in the speed traps while Ferrari gained their time in the corners. Red Bull are still on the backfoot with their double DNF in the first round, but this championship has a long way to go. Mercedes were again third best, in no man’s land as described by Toto Wolff. Hamilton’s set up tweak meant the car became undrivable in qualifying, hence, the Britain’s exit in Q1. Russell maximised their performance in P5, while Mercedes still believes that porpoising is 99% responsible for their problems.

    Alpine showcased good pace as they headed the midfield in qualifying and the race. Reliability issues hampered them from achieving a double points finish. Alfa Romeo had question marks over how their car would perform in high speed corners and Jeddah gave encouraging answers. Bottas qualified in the top 10 and was running in the same before having to retire the car. Haas struggled compared to Bahrain but still showed positive signs with Q3 appearance and points in the race. They went into the race on a backfoot as Schumacher crashed his car on Saturday hence, not starting the race on Sunday.

    McLaren had an encouraging race weekend after having a dismal time in Bahrain. Although they were unable to make it to Q2, Norris finished P7 and possible they could have had a double points finish had it not for Ricciardo’s retirement from the race. The McLaren car lacks downforce compared to rivals but that weakness was not evident at a low-drag high speed circuit like Jeddah. It remains to be seen how they perform over the coming races. AlphaTauri were on a similar footing to Haas as one car made it to Q3 and points finish. Though the team admitted they need to fix their reliability issues if they want to maximise their results. They have had two retirements in two races now. Aston Martin struggled with porpoising and Williams struggled with balance issues throughout the weekend as both drivers struggled to get the car in its optimum window.

    Saturday Qualifying Results were:

    P1: Sergio Perez- 11 (Red Bull)P2: Charles Leclerc- 16 (Ferrari)
    P3: Carlos Sainz- 55 (Ferrari)P4: Max Verstappen- 1 (Red Bull)
    P5: Esteban Ocon- 31 (Alpine)P6: George Russell- 63 (Mercedes)
    P7: Fernando Alonso- 14 (Alpine)P8: Valtteri Bottas- 77 (Alfa Romeo)
    P9: Pierre Gasly- 10 (AlphaTauri)P10: Kevin Magnussen- 20 (Haas)
    P11: Lando Norris- 4 (McLaren)P12: Daniel Ricciardo- 3 (McLaren)
    P13: Zhou Guanyu- 24 (Alfa Romeo)P14 Mick Schumacher- 47 (Haas)
    P15: Lance Stroll- 18 (Aston Martin)P16: Lewis Hamilton- 44 (Mercedes)
    P17: Alex Albon- 23 (Williams)P18: Nico Hulkenberg- 27 (Aston Martin)
    P19: Nicholas Latifi- 6 (Williams)P20: Yuki Tsunoda- 22 (AlphaTauri)

    Note – Ricciardo penalised 3 grid places for impeding another car during qualifying. Tsunoda failed to set a time within the Q1 107% requirement – races at stewards’ discretion. Schumacher withdrawn from the race following a qualifying accident.

  • Sergio Perez, first to claim podium in home race

    Sergio Perez, first to claim podium in home race

    By Malhaar Khaladkar

    Max Verstappen took a dominant win for the third time at the Mexico City Grand Prix as he extended his championship lead over rival Lewis Hamilton to 19 points. Hamilton finished second on the road as he held off home hero Sergio Perez who achieved a podium for the first time at his home race.

    London, 8 November 2021: The race got off to an explosive start as Valtteri Bottas, Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen were side by side, three-wide going into turn 1. Bottas backed off but was tagged by Daniel Ricciardo in the McLaren, the Finn spinning and falling to the back of the grid. In the process Ricciardo lost his front wing. Verstappen now lead the grand prix with Hamilton in P2 and Perez P3- a dream start for Red Bull. Behind an incident between Esteban Ocon, Yuki Tsunoda and Mick Schumacher meant that both the AlphaTauri and Haas car had to retire bringing out the safety car.

    Racing resumed on lap 5 as Verstappen pulled off quickly, building a 1s lead over Hamilton. Behind Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz overtook the Alfa Romeo of Antonio Giovinazzi for P6- the Italian gaining five positions at the start of the race. Meanwhile, Bottas and Ricciardo were stuck behind back markers at the far end of the grid.

    Verstappen gradually increased his lead over Hamilton as the Red Bull’s superior race pace was showcased, the Mercedes was unable to keep up. By lap 21 Verstappen was more than 7s ahead of Hamilton with Perez hanging onto Hamilton and staying around 2s behind the Briton. Behind the leaders, Pierre Gasly was running a superb P4 for AlphaTauri ahead of Ferrari duo of Charles Leclerc and Sainz.

    Mercedes decided to bite the bullet and boxed Hamilton for a set of hard tyres on lap 29 to avoid getting undercut by Perez and lose P2. Verstappen continued for four more laps before doing the same, emerging comfortably ahead of Hamilton. Perez continued as he became the first Mexican driver in history to lead their home grand prix.

    Leclerc pitted on lap 30 and Gasly followed suit one lap later to cover him as both ran in net P4 and P5 position with Sainz continuing for longer on the medium tyres. Sainz eventually pitted on lap 42 for hard tyres gaining quickly on Leclerc as the team swapped the cars on track, so that Sainz with fresher tyres could attack Gasly up in P4.

    Perez pitted on lap 40 and emerged about 9s behind Hamilton but with 11 laps younger tyres. The chase was on! Mercedes did not have the race pace to challenge Verstappen as he was in the lead by over 10s and Perez was closing in on Hamilton rapidly, especially through the middle sector of the lap where the W12 struggled.

    By lap 60 Perez was just 1s behind Hamilton, as he looked for ways to get past Hamilton. The saving grace for Hamilton was that Mercedes had greater straight line speed compared to their rivals, which helped the 7-time world champion stay ahead of the Red Bull driver in the DRS zones.

    Ultimately Verstappen won in a dominant fashion by over 16s increasing his lead in the championship to 19 points as Hamilton held off Perez for P2 in what was a damage limitation race for him. Perez gave his all to get past Hamilton but in the end had to settle for P3, albeit first ever podium for him at his home race. Gasly delivered another consistent race to finish in P4 ahead of the Ferrari pairing of Leclerc and Sainz in P5 and P6 respectively.

    Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel finished a brilliant P7, making use of the first lap and a good strategy to get a decent haul of points. Alfa Romeo too had a good strategy to help Kimi Raikkonen finish P8, though the same cannot be said for teammate Giovinazzi as his strategy was compromised and meant he finished P11, just outside the points. Alpine’s Fernando Alonso finished in P9 ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris in P10 who had started at the back of the grid after taking a power unit penalty.

    Ricciardo could not make it back to the top 10 after lap 1 incident as he finished P12 ahead of Alpine’s Esteban Ocon in P13 and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll in P14- who received power unit penalties as well. Williams pairing of George Russell and Nicholas Latifi finished in P16 and P17 ahead oh Haas’ Nikita Mazepin in P18 with Tsunoda and Schumacher the only retirees from the grand prix.

    Red Bull had superior pace compared to Mercedes as Verstappen on average was 0.3-0.5s/lap faster than Hamilton in the race. They underperformed in qualifying as Mercedes locked out the front row but delivered on Sunday. The higher downforce nature of their car working better at the high altitude of Mexico City as air is thinner. Mercedes locking out the front row was a surprise for everyone but ultimately did not have the pace to challenge for the win on Sunday. Compounded with the fact that Bottas fell to the back of the grid they were handicapped in terms of race strategy at the front. With Red Bull in the ascendency, it looks like a tall order for Mercedes if they want to win the championships.

    AlphaTauri had an incident free weekend with Pierre Gasly as he qualified P5 and finished P4 in the race, ahead of both Ferrari and McLaren cars. With that result they are level on points with Alpine in the constructor’s championship. Ferrari achieved another double points finish and leaped ahead of McLaren in the constructor’s championship. They certainly have a superior car compared to the McLaren and it remains to be seen if the Woking squad can fight back. McLaren had a dismal weekend by their standards, Ricciardo finishing outside the points and Norris adding a single point to their tally after taking an engine penalty.

    Alpine and Aston Martin had positive race weekends as good strategy calls enabled them for points finish on Sunday with Vettel and Alonso respectively. Alfa Romeo may not have had the pace on paper for appoints finish but with a brilliant strategy and driving by Kimi Raikkonen helped them get P8. They were unable to maximise their race as they could have achieved points with Giovinazzi had he not pitted early went on for long. Williams lacked the pace in qualifying and the race to challenge for the top 10 positions and Haas finished bottom of the pace charts.

    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: Pierre Gasly- 10 (AlphaTauri)P6: Carlos Sainz- 55 (Ferrari)
    P7: Daniel Ricciardo- 3 (McLaren)P8: Charles Leclerc- 16 (Ferrari)
    P9: Yuki Tsunoda- 22 (AlphaTauri)P10: Lando Norris- 4 (McLaren)
    P11: Sebastian Vettel- 5 (Aston Martin)P12: Kimi Raikkonen- 7 (Alfa Romeo)
    P13: George Russell- 63 (Williams)P14: Antonio Giovinazzi- 99 (Alfa Romeo)
    P15: Esteban Ocon- 31 (Alpine)P16: Fernando Alonso- 14 (Alpine)
    P17: Nicholas Latifi- 6 (Williams)P18: Mick Schumacher- 47 (Haas)
    P19: Nikita Mazepin- 9 (Haas)P20: Lance Stroll- 18 (Aston Martin)

    Note – Russell drops 5 grid places for taking on a new gearbox after exceeding his allocation. Ocon, Stroll, Tsunoda and Norris start from the back of the grid after taking on new PU components.

  • Hamilton’s century feat at Drama-filled Sochi autodrome

    Hamilton’s century feat at Drama-filled Sochi autodrome

    By Malhaar Khaladkar

    Lewis Hamilton achieved his 100th Formula 1 career victory at a drama filled Sochi autodrome- a feat that no driver has achieved before, as Max Verstappen finished P2 from starting last and Carlos Sainz completed the podium. Lando Norris who had lead majority of the race finished in P7 after a strategic error.

    London, 26 Sept. 2021: Lewis Hamilton won a formula 1 race for the record 100th time as he continued Mercedes’ dominance of never being beaten at the Russian Grand Prix since 1913. Max Verstappen finished P2 as he limited his points damage to Hamilton after starting last due to an engine penalty, and former Toro Rosso teammate Carlos Sainz finished in P3, his third podium this season with Ferrari. McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo was classified in P4 ahead of Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas in P5 and Alpine’s Fernando Alonso in P6- the Spaniard finishing in the same position he started the race. Lando Norris who looked favorite for McLaren’s consecutive race win eventually finished P7 after the weather interfered and a wrong strategy call to sit out on slick tyres. Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Raikkonen finished in P8, his best finish of the season as he returned from Covid-19 illness. The second Red Bull of Sergio Perez looked on for a podium but had to settle for P9 after rain came into play. George Russell has scored points in last four out of five races for Williams as he crossed the line in P10.

    Lance Stroll finished P11 as he had a coming together with Aston Martin teammate Sebastian Vettel and AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly, earning himself a 10-second time penalty for his troubles. Vettel finished in P12 and Gasly in P13. Alpine’s Esteban Ocon finished in P14 ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in P15, Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi in P16 and AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda in P17. Haas’ Nikita Mazepin was last of the finishers in P18. Williams driver Nicholas Latifi and Haas rookie Mick Schumacher were two retirees from the race.

    News broke before the race that Bottas would be starting P16 after taking another engine penalty with Leclerc and Verstappen already starting P19 and P20 respectively due to taking new engines outside of their allocation. There was a 70% chance of rain during the start of the race, but it did not materialise.

    Norris starting from pole got good start, but Sainz caught the McLaren’s slipstream and was ahead at braking zone of turn 2. Behind Hamilton lost positions as he fell to P7 from P4. Russell maintained his position in P3. Stroll had an amazing start leapfrogging to P4 from P7. At the back of the grid Verstappen made up a couple of positions, as did Bottas while Leclerc jumped from P19 to P12.

    Hamilton dispatched Alonso but got stuck behind the Mercedes powered DRS train of Russell, Stroll and Ricciardo. Behind, Verstappen passed Bottas for P14 with the Finn barely putting up a defense. Sainz was leading with Norris chasing the Ferrari and both were pulling away from Russell. Hamilton who had been the favorite before the start was losing time to the leaders and his chances of victory slimming lap by lap.

    The tyres were graining and subsequently losing grip in cold conditions. Aston Martin decided to trigger the undercut with Stroll on lap 12 as he pitted from P4 for a set of hard tyres. Norris caught up to Sainz and passed him for the lead on the inside of turn 12. Russell and Sainz followed suit at the end of lap 13 and 14 respectively. Meanwhile, Hamilton was still held up behind Ricciardo unable to overtake him as the McLaren runs the Mercedes power unit too.

    Ricciardo pitted on lap 22 for hard tyres, releasing Hamilton into free air who was around 12 seconds behind Norris. After consecutive fastest laps by the Mercedes driver, the team decided to pull in Hamilton for a set of medium tyres and capitalise on Ricciardo’s slow pit stop. Hamilton emerged behind Stroll and Gasly, dispatching them quickly by lap 31. Meanwhile Norris responded to Hamilton and pitted on lap 28, emerging in P4 behind yet to pit Leclerc, Alonso and Perez. Verstappen had pitted on the same lap as his championship rival, albeit for medium tyres but was stuck behind Ricciardo.

    Leclerc pitted on lap 35 with Alonso and Perez following him in on lap 37. This meant that Norris lead the race with Hamilton some 8 seconds behind and rapidly catching. The tension built up as Hamilton was around a second behind Norris for consecutive laps. With five laps remaining the heavens opened up, andumbrellas and raincoats came out with the majority of rain focused around turn 5 and 7. Both Norris and Hamilton stayed out resisting the call to pit for intermediate tyres. As the rain worsened Mercedes were adamant to pit Hamilton and the Briton listened, pitting on lap 49. He was now around 25 seconds behind Norris but the gap shrinking rapidly has the track was properly wet. It was heartbreak for Norris as he decided to stay out on slick tyres on a wet track and slid off of it on the penultimate lap with Hamilton taking the lead. Norris limped back to pits for inters as he could only manage P7 in the end.

    It was gutting for the young Briton, Norris as he almost controlled the race from start to finishonly to lose the lead on the penultimate lap. But the headlines belonged to Hamilton who became the first driver to reach a century of victories and with that retaking the championship lead as Mercedes extended their constructors championship lead too.

    Mercedes once again had the fastest car of the grid in Russian but failed to capitalise in qualifying due to weather and partly driver error. Eventually they managed to win thanks to a good strategy call in the dynamic conditions. Even Bottas who was running in P14 before rain arrived, managed to gain nine positions and finish in P5. The German squad are currently leading both championships. Red Bull chose to bite the bullet for Verstappen and take an engine penalty. He achieved the best possible result of P2 with Hamilton winning to limit the damage. It is difficult to judge Red Bull’s pace this weekend due to Verstappen not taking part in qualifying and both cars running in traffic in the race.

    McLaren were the best of the rest as Norris managed to pass Sainz’s Ferrari with ease. They even had the pace to hold up both Mercedes and Red Bull behind owing to their straight-line speed and evident by Hamilton being unable to pass Ricciardo and Norris, and Verstappen being caught behind Ricciardo. Strategy error meant they lost the chance to win a second consecutive race. Ferrari showed decent pace as they held a podium position with Sainz before the late rain drama begin. Even with the conditions changing the Italian team kept a cool head and Sainz achieved his fourth podium of the season. Both Alpine and Aston Martin showed good race pace to hold high top 10 positions but ultimately failed to capitalise due to the interference of weather. Only Alonso being able to finish in P6 as both Aston Martin cars and Ocon failed to score points.

    AlphaTauri had a mediocre race as both cars finished outside of points. Gasly had a chance to finish in points as the conditions changed but entanglement with Stroll meant that his chances were all but over of scoring points. Alfa Romeo capitalised on the weather as they got the season’s best finish of P8 with Raikkonen. Williams and Russell scoredpoints in four races out of five. Arguable the Grove squad should have scored higher points as Russell started from P3 but a wrong strategy call meant he was stuck in traffic after the first round of pitstops. Both Haas cars had their highest starting positions of the season owing to a lot of grid penalties but were unable to challenge for points.

    Saturday’s Qualifying results were:

    P1: Lando Norris- 4 (McLaren)P2: Carlos Sainz- 55 (Ferrari)
    P3: George Russell- 63 (Williams)P4: Lewis Hamilton- 44 (Mercedes)
    P5: Daniel Ricciardo- 3 (McLaren)P6: Fernando Alonso- 14 (Alpine)
    P7: Valtteri Bottas- 77 (Mercedes)P8: Lance Stroll- 18 (Aston Martin)
    P9: Sergio Perez- 11 (Red Bull)P10: Esteban Ocon- 31 (Alpine)
    P11: Sebastian Vettel- 5 (Aston Martin)P12: Pierre Gasly- 10 (AlphaTauri)
    P13: Yuki Tsunoda- 22 (AlphaTauri)P14: Nicholas Latifi- 6 (Williams)
    P15: Charles Leclerc- 16 (Ferrari)P16: Kimi Raikkonen- 7 (Alfa Romeo)
    P17: Mick Schumacher- 47 (Haas)P18: Antonio Giovinazzi- 99 (Alfa Romeo)
    P19: Nikita Mazepin- 9 (Haas)P20: Max Verstappen- 33 (Red Bull)

    Note – Verstappen penalised 3 grid places for causing a collision at the previous round. Leclerc, Verstappen and Latifi required to start from the back of the grid for use of additional power unit elements. Bottas penalised 15 grid places for use of additional power unit elements. Giovinazzi penalised 5 grid places for an unscheduled gearbox change.

  • Washed out Belgian GP shows the importance of qualies

    Washed out Belgian GP shows the importance of qualies

    By Malhaar Khaladkar

    Max Verstappen was classified first in a washed out Belgian Grand Prix, which was the shortest race in the history of Formula 1. George Russell achieved his maiden podium finish in P2 while Lewis Hamilton retrieved 7.5 points coming third. Three laps took place behind the safety car as torrential rain made the track undrivable and only half points were awarded as the race distance was less than 75%.

    London, 30 August 2021: Rain was forecasted for the Grand Prix, but no one expected it to be a washout. Drama ensued before the race as Sergio Perez went into the barrier on his way to the grid ruling him out of the race. Instead of the lights going out, two formation laps took place behind the safety car. Drivers complained on the radio about aquaplaning and zero visibility, hence, the race was red flagged by the FIA.

    After a wait of more than three hours FIA notified that the race would resume at 18:17 local time (race start was at 15:00 local time). With the grid bunched up behind the safety car, the drivers ventured out for another couple of laps before returning to the pits. FIA declared that the race won’t resume, and half points will be awarded to the top 10 finishers.

    This race showed the importance of qualifying. Due to a red flag the finishing order was exactly similar as to qualifying, barring Perez who crashed out and had to start from the pitlane, if the race had started. Verstappen closed the gap on championship rival to Hamilton while a stunning Saturday qualifying lap by Russell meant he kept his 2nd place.

    The 2021 season got back underway in a less than ideal way as if the summer break was extended for another week. Weather is one of the few elements that is out of control of the organizers and the FIA, and safety being paramount it was deemed unsafe to race in such dire conditions. Onto Zandvoort, hoping for some racing action there!

    Saturday Qualifying results were:

    P1: Max Verstappen- 33 (Red Bull)P2: George Russell- 63 (Williams)
    P3: Lewis Hamilton- 44 (Mercedes)P4: Daniel Ricciardo- 3 (McLaren)
    P5: Sebastian Vettel- 5 (Aston Martin)P6: Pierre Gasly- 10 (AlphaTauri)
    P7: Sergio Perez- 11 (Red Bull)P8: Valtteri Bottas- 77 (Mercedes)
    P9: Esteban Ocon- 31 (Alpine)P10: Lando Norris- 4 (McLaren)
    P11: Charles Leclerc- 16 (Ferrari)P12: Nicholas Latifi- 6 (Williams)
    P13: Carlos Sainz- 55 (Ferrari)P14: Fernando Alonso- 14 (Alpine)
    P15: Lance Stroll- 18 (Aston Martin)P16: Antonio Giovinazzi- 99 (Alfa Romeo)
    P17: Yuki Tsunoda- 22 (AlphaTauri)P18: Mick Schumacher- 47 (Haas)
    P19: Kimi Raikkonen- 7 (Alfa Romeo)P20: Nikita Mazepin- 9 (Haas)

    Note: Bottas and Stroll penalised five grid places for causing a collision at the previous round. Norris penalised five grid places for an unscheduled gearbox change. Raikkonen required to start from the pit lane, as car modified whilst under Parc Ferme conditions.