Formula One

[Threadfin]

That was fantastic. Hopefully it's like that for the entire season. A few random takeaways....


Hass' decision to chase the money and sign Mazepin will haunt them all season. They have both the worst car and the worst driver. A disastrous debut. It has to get better, but choosing drivers for financial rather than sporting reasons doesn't fly in Formula One.

McLaren picked up where they left off and look to be the leaders in the midfield. Good car, good drivers. The midfield seems a bit tighter this season, after just one race mind, with Ferrari looking more competitive.

Alfa Romeo impressed me, and it looked for most of the race like they'd score. It wasn't to be, but they may be the most improved team/car on the grid. Good for Kimi, who deserves to be fighting for points, at least.

Seb is a disaster waiting to happen. The nightmare season has just begun. Plenty of people made excuses for him at the end of his Fez run, but I suspected he is just past it. He seems uninterested, and makes far too many mistakes. Aston Martin made a big mistake here too. They should have kept Perez. When he blamed Ocon for changing lanes in to turn 1 my eyes could not have rolled farther. His fall from grace and self-inflicted wounds will be riveting television this year.

Speaking of Perez.... great drive to claim 5th from the pitlane. Watching the race I couldn't believe that Red Bull could have such a start after so much promise, and I was holding my head in my hands. I'm a little worried that he didn't show better pace through practice and qualifying, but he made it work in the race. Red Bull will be looking for improvement, but this result limited the damage in what could have been a demoralizing race weekend.

I'm a little bent out of shape over the turn 4 track limits issue. Max had to give the spot back, there's no doubt about that. That was an unfair pass. But race control allowed Mercedes to run there almost the entire race, and if each of those wide exits was good for 2 tenths per lap, then they gained a massive amount of time through the race running off-track. I could argue that had they been forced to stay on track, that Max would have not needed to chase Hamilton down from so far back at the end. If he is 3 seconds closer when he came out of the pits he wins the race.

Allowing so much grey when it should be a black and white issue is a problem that shouldn't exist. Either cars can get all four off there, or they cannot. It cannot happen that it is situational and left to the discretion of race control. If I were Horner I'd be livid over this. As a fan of Max I'm instead just ticked off over it haha. Sort it out. It's simple.

Tsunoda impressed. I read the hype, didn't buy it. But he ran a great race, showed poise and race craft. Pulled off some great overtakes. Alpha Tauri had a poor weekend, but if Gasly hadn't lost his wing I think both cars were in the points. The midfield battle is shaping up to be the best in years.


Can't wait for Imola.

[Jimbuna]

I know it's early days but who do you reckon will win the title this yer?

For me it's obviously between Hamilton and Verstappen.

[Threadfin]

It's difficult to predict, and I think we need three or four races to really get a feel for it.

For driver's title I support Max, but if I had to wager on it, I'd probably put my money on Hamilton at this point. It seems that Red Bull have gotten a handle on the balance issues that plagued them last year, and if so I expect fewer mistakes out of Max, making him a threat to Hamilton, with more consistent finishes. Just look at Imola last year.

But Mercedes are great at tweaking the car, getting the most out of it. Red Bull may have the pace advantage now, but I suspect it won't last all season.

The key to which of these drivers wins may be more down to the performances of their teammates. Whichever way it goes it is shaping up to be the first proper title battle in a long time, isn't it?

For Constructors I think I'll flip it and say Red Bull. It comes down mostly to reliability and mistakes. Perez should come good in short order, but he'll need to improve his qualifying, starting this weekend. If he can outpace Bottas every other weekend it will put the pressure on Bottas and Mercedes.

Mercedes made the right calls Sunday, and frankly I'm amazed Hamilton got 26 laps out of his last set of tyres and still didn't legally lose the lead. I was sure Max was going to blow past him. But when the margins are as fine as they now appear to be, these strategy calls are going to backfire some of the time. Mercedes cannot just rely on pace this year. Bottas is a good driver, but doesn't seem to react well when things aren't going to script, while Perez seems to thrive. With two cars suddenly fighting Mercedes for position they may force Mercedes, and Bottas in particular, in to more mistakes.

So for driver's title my heart says Max, my head says Hamilton

For constructors' I'll say Red Bull just edge it over the course of the season. But for that to happen they'll need to at least match Mercedes' reliability.

Should be a lot of fun!

[Jimbuna]

Charles Leclerc crashed his Ferrari at the end of what had been an impressive second practice session at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

Leclerc had earlier set the fastest lap time of the session, only to lose it for exceeding track limits.

Valtteri Bottas was fastest in the session, just 0.01 seconds quicker than Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton.

Red Bull's Max Verstappen suffered a mechanical failure early in the session.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/56773159

[Threadfin]

It's tight at the top. Still concerned that Perez is so far off the pace. He's eight tenths back after P2. Max didn't have a good session obviously, but I suspect he has the pace to snag pole or thereabouts.

Mazepin is a menace, a disaster waiting to happen at every turn. That's fun to have in the field from a spectator's perspective.

Fez have really got it going. Only top will do for them, but after the past few years they must be feeling good about their improvement.

Tsunoda looked good again, and how about Giovinazzi? I said last race that they look like the most improved team and that's a great result.

At what point do Aston martin realize they wasted their money on Seb. It's going to be funny watching them say all year that he is about to come good.

[Threadfin]

So much for Alfa Romeo's improvement, right back where they started.


Interesting qualifying, and the sort of results that will keep the title fights close. Bottas in 8th with the Red Bulls 2nd and 3rd. Even without pole, this is a great Q3 for Red Bull. Very happy to see Perez show the pace when it counted. Bring on the race!

[Jimbuna]

Not sure what went wrong for Bottas but I'm looking forward to the race tomorrow and a Hamilton win

[Threadfin]

Hamilton?

We have a rivalry right here!

Bottas said he was getting snap oversteer and had to ease off.

[Jimbuna]

Not as entertaining as I'd hoped for but well done to Verstappen who won ahead of Hamilton who made a rare mistake that possibly cost him the race.

Very good race by Norris to finish third.

Hamilton leads the points table by a solitary point so I predict more excitement ahead in future races and no runaway points leader.

[Threadfin]

Not entertaining?! Absurdly so, from my point of view, and not because Max won. I can only think your reaction is tempered by the results of the Mercedes cars. Very bad luck for Bottas, who was having a poor day anyway, and I've watched that incident a few times and still am not sure who was at fault. Must be devastating for Russell, whether he causes it or got caught up.

But the sheer number of spins, collisions, offs, overtakes and mistakes made this race a spectacle. Really enjoyed it. A few random observations....

Oh Checo. When Red Bull signed him I was the first to applaud it. Absolutely the right move for Red Bull considering all of the options in my view. But so far he has been a massive disappointment. It should have been a Red Bull one-two, and instead they only scored one car. Huge letdown and if Red Bull are to challenge this season he needs to snap out of it and start getting results. With Mercedes off colour yesterday a big opportunity was wasted.

Congrats to Kimi, and then it wasn't Disappointed to wake up and see he'd been docked. Hadn't seen the incident, but rule are rules. Alonso the beneficiary for his first point on his return.

The rookies looked every bit of it yesterday.

Lando Norris continues to impress. His pace compared to Ricciardo is startling. Great result for him even if he couldn't hold on to second from a charging Hamilton.

Hamilton could not have gotten luckier. The red flag right after his off at Tosa saved his day. Not sure why he gets to unlap himself at that point, but that was massive, and then he drove masterfully on the recovery so fair play to him. It left me feeling a little bitter, like when United score in the 12th minute of Fergie time. This really shook up the result and his fast lap near the end gave him the point which keeps him leading the title chase. If I were a neutral I'd be cheering this, but alas....

Mazepin is out of his depth. Maybe he'll come good, but I think a common thread in my after-race posts all season will be about how Haas made a fundamental mistake with his hire.

Another great team result for Ferrari. They don't quite have the straight line pace, surprisingly for them, but their car is much improved, and I think it will show in the downforce circuits. It should be a great battle all year between Fez and McLaren. That's great and a proper midfield battle makes for a better sport. I have to say Sainz is an upgrade over Vettel. Sainz had an adventure out there, but 4th and 5th is a good result.

Portugal is next, and should be interesting. Last year DRS felt overpowered down the start-finish straight. I'm hoping they shorten the zone a little to check that. This season is off to a great start.

[Threadfin]

Wasn't able to watch qualifying, but did see most of P2 and P3. Interesting results. A few observations....

Well done to Mercedes, getting the front row. Not what I wanted to see, especially at such a low-grip track, but Red Bull take the second row so it's not too bad. Just need Checo to replicate his pace during the race and not make mistakes.


Vettel in the top ten?! What in the....

Not many surprises really, though Ricciardo can't be pleased. Maybe there were mitigating circumstances? Same with Stroll. Those cars should both be higher in the order I reckon.

Mazepin dead last. Rinse, repeat.

Russell must be feeling great about this season. Williams is still Williams, yes, but he is fighting in the midfield instead of the back, and he has to be feeling good about that. I find myself pulling for him for whatever reason.

Alonso has shown some flashes of his old form, but he is yet to put it together when it counts. Ocon's result suggests Alonso should be better. He is yet to seem comfortable in the car.

I really like the way the midfield shook out with different makes interspersed, not classified by team. Should make a good battle tomorrow. Rain?

[Jimbuna]

Missed everything at this end so hoping for a good race.

[Buddahaid]

Watching qualifying now but I have to say I'm loving the stewards getting tough about track limits this year and looking forward to the races that will use sprints for qualifying. Also if you missed it the Monte Carlo Historique ran last weekend and is viewable on YouTube.

[Jimbuna]

Looks like I'll be channel hopping....TOON kick of an hour before the race starts.

[Buddahaid]

Good clean race overall. Mazipan is definitely not helping HAAS look better but it's an off year development wise.

I'll not talk about winners and losers as some may not have watched it yet.