Qualifying classification saw a dramatic change late on Saturday evening. Pole-setter Verstappen was given a 3-place grid penalty for having failed to slow down under yellow flags followed by Bottas' crash in the final corner. The first lap time would have been enough to secure pole for Max, had only his second time lap been deleted. Max could possibly have got away with impunity, had he kept his mouth shut in the post-qualifying press conference! He was asked about ignoring the yellow flags, as he improved his lap time in the end, although Bottas had crashed into the barrier a moment earlier. Max gave an arrogant answer: "Did it look like I slowed down? No, I didn't. You can delete my second time lap if you want to." After these thoughtless comments the stewards took Max's action into investigation and gave the penalty, which dropped the hot-headed Dutchman down to P4 on the grid. Max is an outstanding driver, but sometimes he really should pay attention to the frogs he lets out of his mouth!
I expected to see irritated Verstappen at the start. This time I got what I expected. There was drama already in Turn 1, with who else than Max Verstappen involved! Charles held on to his lead, with teammate Sebastian right behind him. Behind the red duo, Hamilton and Verstappen made contact. Both cars took damage, but they were able to continue the race. Virtual safety car was deployed. Albon was stunning third after the eventful start! McLaren's Sainz had also benefited from Verstappen's and Hamilton's hullabaloo, having moved up to P4. Hamilton was fifth, McLaren's Norris sixth, Bottas seventh and Verstappen eighth.
After the virtual safety car had ended, Hamilton made a move on Sainz, robbing the Spaniard of P4. Verstappen and Bottas had a wheel-banging battle of their own for P7. Max made an insolent move on the Finn, jumping seventh. But Bottas wasn't to let that happen. Only a moment later he snatched his P7 back from hard-fighting Verstappen. And there was another dramatic turn for Max; he had a puncture, as Valtteri's front wing had touched Max's rear tyre! Max had to limp into the pits for a fresh set of hard tyres and face the reality: he was now at the very back of the pack!
Meanwhile, Bottas was making his way up through the field. First the Finn passed McLaren's Norris and then his teammate Sainz, claiming P5. Norris' race turned into a catastrophe only a moment later; during his pit stop his front tyre wasn't successfully attached, which cost the Briton an awful lot of valuable time. Albon was the first top driver to pit on lap 15. Race leader Charles pitted a lap later. They both switched to another set of medium tyres, which was a clear indication of a two-stop strategy. Charles re-joined the track in P4.
Hamilton wasn't the only driver, who Verstappen made contact with. On lap 23 the flying Dutchman had a slight contact with Haas' Magnussen. Max made a questionable move by overtaking the Dane off track. Hamilton pitted on the same lap for a fresh set of hard tyres. However, it seemed quite unlikely, that the Briton would be able to go till the end on those tyres. Soon after his pit stop he complained on the team radio, that the team had called him in way too early. Hamilton was expected to drive a 48-lap stint on the hard Pirellis! Both Sebastian and Bottas stayed out and continued clocking excellent lap times.
Bottas pitted on lap 36, so it was an obvious one-stop strategy for the Finn. Sebastian pitted from the lead on the sequential lap, also for a fresh set of white-walled hard compound. After the pit stops Hamilton was fourth and Sebastian fifth. But Albon and Leclerc, who were ahead of them, were to stop for the second time. Charles drove into the pits on lap 43, and unfortunately it proved a delayed pit stop for the Monegasque. The red crew had difficulties to attach one of the rear tyres, which cost valuable seconds. Charles re-joined the track in P5. Albon pitted a lap later for a fresh set of hard Pirellis, similar to Charles.
With 25 laps to go, Hamilton was leading the race. Sebastian was three seconds down on the race leader, and Valtteri was two seconds behind the German. Meanwhile, Renault's Ricciardo proved, that an extremely long stint on the hard rubber was doable; the Australian pitted after a 50-lap long first stint! Kimi, who was driving his own race out of points, was asked to drive into the pits and retire the car on lap 59. Sad but true, scoring points has proved almost a mission impossible for Alfa Romeo since the summer break.
The gaps between the top four -Hamilton, Sebastian, Bottas and Charles- were extremely small towards the end of the race. However, an overtaking move of any kind seemed to be out of the question. Meanwhile, Verstappen had made his way up to P6 already in spite of the catastrophic start to the race. He had made his only pit stop already on lap 5, which meant a 66-lap second stint! Tyre management is definitely one of Max's strengths!
In spite of an all-red front row, the red-suited warriors had to settle for playing the second fiddle to Mercedes. Hamilton crossed the line as the race winner for the 10th time this season! Sebastian was the impressive runner-up, and Valtteri's race from P6 to P3 was well done, too. Pole-setter Charles was left fourth due to his two-stop strategy. To his comfort, he took the extra point for the fastest lap time. This time Albon was the more successful of the Red Bull drivers, as the Thai finished in P5 and Max in P6. Without the first-lap hullabaloo Max would have had a chance even for a better result. Racing Point's Perez took the honor of being "the best of the rest" in P7. Toro Rosso's Gasly in P9 was split by the Renault duo of Ricciardo and Hulkenberg.
Bottas still has a gossamer mathematical chance to win the drivers' championship. To be honest, it's only a matter of time, when Hamilton secures his sixth world title. The US GP this week is his next chance to do so.
Kimi Räikkönen & Sebastian Vettel
maanantai 28. lokakuuta 2019
lauantai 26. lokakuuta 2019
Mexico GP / Qualifying: Lightning fast Verstappen took 2nd career pole!
I feel so grateful, that it is F1 weekend again! Round 18 brought the pinnacle of motor sport to Mexico City, which is known as the highest venue of the season. The circuit is situated 2.2 km above the sea level, which explains the challenges caused by thin air.
Coming to the weekend, the weather forecasts had predicted rain for the qualifying, but as the lights turned green for Q1, the risk was only 10 %. However, conditions had been damp in the last free practice session, so the track was still slippery, as the qualifying got underway. Albon showed excellent pace at the wheel of his Red Bull and went fastest on his first run. The pecking order of the top three teams was mixed in an exciting way, as Hamilton was second for Mercedes, followed by the Ferrari duo of Charles and Sebastian. Kimi, too had showed superb pace, as the Iceman was "the best of the rest" after his first attempt. Red Bull have been very strong at Mexico in previous years, and Verstappen stamped the energy drink team's authority at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez by clocking the fastest lap time. The top six didn't need to opt for second runs. First McLaren's Sainz jumped 6th, and a moment later the Spaniard was robbed of the 6th place by Toro Rosso's Kvyat. Kimi, too made it into Q2 by making it 11th. Racing Point's Stroll was the first driver to be eliminated from the second session. Alongside with the Canadian, both Haas drivers and both Williams drivers were knocked out of Q2.
It was well expected, that the top three teams -Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull- were going to come out on medium Pirellis in Q2. More of a surprise was the fact, that also both McLaren drivers and both Toro Rosso pilots opted for the medium compound as well. Bottas made a mistake at the stadium on his first flyer. Meanwhile, Sebastian went fastest, with Verstappen second, Charles third, Hamilton fourth and Albon fifth. The Finnish Mercedes ace managed to put together a decent lap on his second flyer, jumping fourth. Unfortunately Kimi was struggling with the performance of his Alfa Romeo in the second session. The Iceman was in tame P13 after his first run. McLaren and Toro Rosso were forced to switch to the soft compound at the end of the session. Sainz underlined McLaren's brilliant performance by jumping fourth on his last flyer. Hamilton and Bottas made a second attempt on the medium Pirellis; Hamilton made it on top of the time sheets, with his teammate second. Both Ferrari and Red Bull sent their drivers out on the red-walled soft compound, but neither one of the drivers improved his lap time. Home hero Perez was the first man in the knock-out zone unfortunately. The Renault duo of Hulkenberg and Ricciardo, who had both been excluded from the results of the Japanese GP due to a brake system infringement, were out, too. It wasn't much of a comfort, that Kimi out-qualified his teammate Giovinazzi, as both of them were out of the top ten.
The fight for pole came down to the final segment, which definitely didn't lack action. Last year Verstappen had lost pole to his teammate (Ricciardo) by 0.026s, so the Dutchman had decided to take his revenge this year. The flying Dutchman was untouchable on his first run. In spite of Ferrari's incredible straight line speed in sector one, Max took provisional pole by a tenth to Charles. Sebastian had set a staggering time for the first sector, but in spite of that he was left third on his first flyer, two tenths shy of Max. Hamilton was fourth, Albon fifth and Bottas sixth. The second runs were crucial. Charles made a mistake on his last run, and was therefore unable to improve. Something dramatic happened in the dying moments of the decisive last session. Bottas was pushing extremely hard on his crucial flyer; so hard, that he lost his W10 in the final corner! He crashed into the wall, and the left side of his Mercedes turned into a wreck. Double yellows were out, which meant no improvements. It was a shame for Sebastian especially, as he had been improving his lap time till the last sector. So Verstappen took his second career pole, with Charles second and Sebastian third! Hamilton had to settle for P4. Albon qualified 5th and Bottas 6th. McLaren locked down the fourth row (Sainz 7th, Norris 8th), and the fifth row belonged to Toro Rosso (Kvyat 9th, Gasly 10th). It was an extremely costly mistake for the Finn; if the team need to replace the damaged chassis with a new one, Valtteri will have to start to the race from the pit lane.
Mexico is extremely hard both on the brakes and on the cooling of the cars. So will all top six cars make it to the chequered flag tomorrow? The start will also play a thrilling role, as there's an extremely long straight into Turn 1. Sebastian and Charles might benefit from the tow, but will they be able to avoid contact with each other? Tyre degradation is also very high, so tyre management will also be a key factor for victory tomorrow. I think it takes huge effort to beat Max tomorrow, unless he screws up the start (which he has done a couple of times this season). Max is shining so bright this weekend! But the red threat behind him is definitely real!
Coming to the weekend, the weather forecasts had predicted rain for the qualifying, but as the lights turned green for Q1, the risk was only 10 %. However, conditions had been damp in the last free practice session, so the track was still slippery, as the qualifying got underway. Albon showed excellent pace at the wheel of his Red Bull and went fastest on his first run. The pecking order of the top three teams was mixed in an exciting way, as Hamilton was second for Mercedes, followed by the Ferrari duo of Charles and Sebastian. Kimi, too had showed superb pace, as the Iceman was "the best of the rest" after his first attempt. Red Bull have been very strong at Mexico in previous years, and Verstappen stamped the energy drink team's authority at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez by clocking the fastest lap time. The top six didn't need to opt for second runs. First McLaren's Sainz jumped 6th, and a moment later the Spaniard was robbed of the 6th place by Toro Rosso's Kvyat. Kimi, too made it into Q2 by making it 11th. Racing Point's Stroll was the first driver to be eliminated from the second session. Alongside with the Canadian, both Haas drivers and both Williams drivers were knocked out of Q2.
It was well expected, that the top three teams -Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull- were going to come out on medium Pirellis in Q2. More of a surprise was the fact, that also both McLaren drivers and both Toro Rosso pilots opted for the medium compound as well. Bottas made a mistake at the stadium on his first flyer. Meanwhile, Sebastian went fastest, with Verstappen second, Charles third, Hamilton fourth and Albon fifth. The Finnish Mercedes ace managed to put together a decent lap on his second flyer, jumping fourth. Unfortunately Kimi was struggling with the performance of his Alfa Romeo in the second session. The Iceman was in tame P13 after his first run. McLaren and Toro Rosso were forced to switch to the soft compound at the end of the session. Sainz underlined McLaren's brilliant performance by jumping fourth on his last flyer. Hamilton and Bottas made a second attempt on the medium Pirellis; Hamilton made it on top of the time sheets, with his teammate second. Both Ferrari and Red Bull sent their drivers out on the red-walled soft compound, but neither one of the drivers improved his lap time. Home hero Perez was the first man in the knock-out zone unfortunately. The Renault duo of Hulkenberg and Ricciardo, who had both been excluded from the results of the Japanese GP due to a brake system infringement, were out, too. It wasn't much of a comfort, that Kimi out-qualified his teammate Giovinazzi, as both of them were out of the top ten.
The fight for pole came down to the final segment, which definitely didn't lack action. Last year Verstappen had lost pole to his teammate (Ricciardo) by 0.026s, so the Dutchman had decided to take his revenge this year. The flying Dutchman was untouchable on his first run. In spite of Ferrari's incredible straight line speed in sector one, Max took provisional pole by a tenth to Charles. Sebastian had set a staggering time for the first sector, but in spite of that he was left third on his first flyer, two tenths shy of Max. Hamilton was fourth, Albon fifth and Bottas sixth. The second runs were crucial. Charles made a mistake on his last run, and was therefore unable to improve. Something dramatic happened in the dying moments of the decisive last session. Bottas was pushing extremely hard on his crucial flyer; so hard, that he lost his W10 in the final corner! He crashed into the wall, and the left side of his Mercedes turned into a wreck. Double yellows were out, which meant no improvements. It was a shame for Sebastian especially, as he had been improving his lap time till the last sector. So Verstappen took his second career pole, with Charles second and Sebastian third! Hamilton had to settle for P4. Albon qualified 5th and Bottas 6th. McLaren locked down the fourth row (Sainz 7th, Norris 8th), and the fifth row belonged to Toro Rosso (Kvyat 9th, Gasly 10th). It was an extremely costly mistake for the Finn; if the team need to replace the damaged chassis with a new one, Valtteri will have to start to the race from the pit lane.
Mexico is extremely hard both on the brakes and on the cooling of the cars. So will all top six cars make it to the chequered flag tomorrow? The start will also play a thrilling role, as there's an extremely long straight into Turn 1. Sebastian and Charles might benefit from the tow, but will they be able to avoid contact with each other? Tyre degradation is also very high, so tyre management will also be a key factor for victory tomorrow. I think it takes huge effort to beat Max tomorrow, unless he screws up the start (which he has done a couple of times this season). Max is shining so bright this weekend! But the red threat behind him is definitely real!
sunnuntai 13. lokakuuta 2019
Japanese GP: Bottas took victory in spite of all-red front row!
I have waken up to this day three times. My first alarm was set at 3.50 am. All F1 action had been cancelled yesterday, because typhoon Hagabis had hit the Suzuka area on Saturday. Due to the typhoon, qualifying had been postponed to this morning. In spite of the qualifying taking place very early in the morning here in Finland, the qualifying turned out worth waking up for! Ferrari continued their superb performance, and once again Mercedes proved to be the underdog in terms of single-lap pace. Qualifying has been postponed to Sunday morning four times before this year, and there's an odd statistic involved with this procedure. Every time the qualifying has taken place on Sunday morning, there has always been a German driver on pole! And to my joy this year was no exception. Sebastian put together a perfect lap in Q3 and took his second pole of the season with a 0.189s-gap to his teammate. Sebastian's pole was the most perfect birthday present for me, although the official birthday is tomorrow. Mercedes had brought an upgrade package to Suzuka, but in spite of the new parts, they were unable to match the Red Team's pace. Bottas pipped his teammate, and the Silver Arrows had to settle for the second row. Red Bull's pace proved surprisingly tame; Verstappen and Albon set the exact same lap time, but as the Dutchman had set it first, he got P5 and Albon P6. McLaren proved the best of the midfield teams, and the orange cars locked down the fourth row.
My second alarm was set at 7.50 am, as the race start took place at 8.10 in the morning. The typhoon was gone, but the wind speed was still extremely high. Unfortunately pole-setter Sebastian screwed up the start. His Lina moved slightly before the lights had gone out, which cost him dearly. Bottas from P3 took a rocket start, and the Finn stormed into the lead. Charles' start was everything but smooth as well. The Monegasque's SF90 understeered going into Turn 1, which led into contact with Red Bull's Verstappen. Charles' front wing got bad damage, and Max spun and dropped down to the back of the pack. The left-hand side end plate of Charles' front wing was about to fly off, but Charles wanted to stay out, although the team told him to pit. Hamilton put intense pressure on Charles, who was in trouble with his damaged car. There was a close call, as the end plate and some other bits flew off from Charles' Ferrari in full speed. Some of that debris hit Hamilton's car, making Hamilton's right-hand side mirror to fly off. In the end, Charles had no option but to pit for a new nose cone. He also switched to the medium Pirellis, re-joining the track at the back of the field.
The stewards took Verstappen's and Leclerc's first-corner incident into investigation. Sebastian, too was taken into investigation for alleged false start, as his car had moved before the lights out. I was relieved to hear, that there was no penalty given for Sebastian, and that he got to keep his second place in the race! Verstappen, on the other hand, was forced to retire the race on lap 15. His RB15 had suffered too much damage due to the first-lap collision.
Sebastian pitted on lap 17, for a fresh set of soft Pirellis. This was a clear sign, that he was on a two-stop strategy. Race leader Bottas pitted on the following lap, opting for a fresh set of medium compound. This meant, that at least theoretically, the Finn could be on a one-stopper. The third free practice session had been cancelled, so tyre degradation was kind of a question mark for all teams. Initially, the team had planned a one-stop strategy for Hamilton, but it proved to be a no go. Hamilton's tyres were gone on lap 22, and the Briton had no chance but to pit for medium rubber, similar to his teammate. After the pit stops there was about a 10-second gap between the Mercedes teammates, and Hamilton questioned his strategy on the team radio. He asked, why the team hadn't put the hard tyres on his car. His race engineer answered, that the hard tyres hadn't seemed competitive on other cars. Charles pitted for the second time already on lap 27. He switched back to the softs.
Sebastian opened the second round of pit stops on lap 32. The German re-joined the track on fresh mediums, whilst the Mercedes aces opted for the softs for their last stint. After the pit stop roulette Bottas was still leading the race, with Sebastian second and Hamilton third. After the second pit stops Hamilton was literally flying, closing the gap to Sebastian radically. In spite of Ferrari's amazing single-lap pace, Mercedes still had the upper hand in terms of the race pace. Hamilton got within striking distance from Sebastian, but luckily the team told the German, that he was able to extract some extra power from his Lina to defend his position. Sebastian knew, what he had to do to keep Hamilton behind. Meanwhile, teammate Charles pitted for the third time already, and went for the fastest lap time. However, in spite of Charles having the fresh set of soft tyres, Hamilton snatched the fastest lap time under his belt.
Bottas took a sweeping victory, which was his first one since the Azerbaijan GP in April. In spite of the threat from Hamilton, Sebastian finished the runner-up. I don't know, whether Sebastian would have been able to take the victory, had he taken a dream start. I was so happy, that Sebastian drove a flawless race, in spite of the mistake at the start. He definitely drove his heart out, defending his second place like a lion. I was so proud of him and so happy to see him on the podium! Albon finished the race fourth for Red Bull, who were driving the home race of their engine supplier Honda. Sainz crossed the finish line in P5 for McLaren and Charles was able to fight it in P6 in the end. However, the young Monegasque was given penalties after the race. He was given a 5-second penalty for causing the collision in Turn 1 and an additional 10-second penalty for staying out on the severely damaged car, which caused danger to other drivers. The time penalties dropped Charles down to P7 in the final standings. On the other hand, Renault's Ricciardo, who was then promoted to P6, is also under investigation for a brake infringement.
By finishing P1 and P3, Mercedes secured their 6th consecutive constructors' title, which is a remarkable achievement indeed. It is also clear, that a Mercedes driver will win the drivers' world championship. It takes a miracle, if it will be Bottas, but the Finn still has a mathematical chance to take it. Now that all the pressure caused by the world titles is gone, Sebastian seems much more relaxed and comfortable in his Lina. I hope he keeps up this impressive work also in the last four races of the season! Forza Ferrari!
P.S. I woke up at two o'clock in the afternoon for the third time. I watched three episodes of Big Brother Finland and started to write my thoughts on the GP weekend :)
My second alarm was set at 7.50 am, as the race start took place at 8.10 in the morning. The typhoon was gone, but the wind speed was still extremely high. Unfortunately pole-setter Sebastian screwed up the start. His Lina moved slightly before the lights had gone out, which cost him dearly. Bottas from P3 took a rocket start, and the Finn stormed into the lead. Charles' start was everything but smooth as well. The Monegasque's SF90 understeered going into Turn 1, which led into contact with Red Bull's Verstappen. Charles' front wing got bad damage, and Max spun and dropped down to the back of the pack. The left-hand side end plate of Charles' front wing was about to fly off, but Charles wanted to stay out, although the team told him to pit. Hamilton put intense pressure on Charles, who was in trouble with his damaged car. There was a close call, as the end plate and some other bits flew off from Charles' Ferrari in full speed. Some of that debris hit Hamilton's car, making Hamilton's right-hand side mirror to fly off. In the end, Charles had no option but to pit for a new nose cone. He also switched to the medium Pirellis, re-joining the track at the back of the field.
The stewards took Verstappen's and Leclerc's first-corner incident into investigation. Sebastian, too was taken into investigation for alleged false start, as his car had moved before the lights out. I was relieved to hear, that there was no penalty given for Sebastian, and that he got to keep his second place in the race! Verstappen, on the other hand, was forced to retire the race on lap 15. His RB15 had suffered too much damage due to the first-lap collision.
Sebastian pitted on lap 17, for a fresh set of soft Pirellis. This was a clear sign, that he was on a two-stop strategy. Race leader Bottas pitted on the following lap, opting for a fresh set of medium compound. This meant, that at least theoretically, the Finn could be on a one-stopper. The third free practice session had been cancelled, so tyre degradation was kind of a question mark for all teams. Initially, the team had planned a one-stop strategy for Hamilton, but it proved to be a no go. Hamilton's tyres were gone on lap 22, and the Briton had no chance but to pit for medium rubber, similar to his teammate. After the pit stops there was about a 10-second gap between the Mercedes teammates, and Hamilton questioned his strategy on the team radio. He asked, why the team hadn't put the hard tyres on his car. His race engineer answered, that the hard tyres hadn't seemed competitive on other cars. Charles pitted for the second time already on lap 27. He switched back to the softs.
Sebastian opened the second round of pit stops on lap 32. The German re-joined the track on fresh mediums, whilst the Mercedes aces opted for the softs for their last stint. After the pit stop roulette Bottas was still leading the race, with Sebastian second and Hamilton third. After the second pit stops Hamilton was literally flying, closing the gap to Sebastian radically. In spite of Ferrari's amazing single-lap pace, Mercedes still had the upper hand in terms of the race pace. Hamilton got within striking distance from Sebastian, but luckily the team told the German, that he was able to extract some extra power from his Lina to defend his position. Sebastian knew, what he had to do to keep Hamilton behind. Meanwhile, teammate Charles pitted for the third time already, and went for the fastest lap time. However, in spite of Charles having the fresh set of soft tyres, Hamilton snatched the fastest lap time under his belt.
Bottas took a sweeping victory, which was his first one since the Azerbaijan GP in April. In spite of the threat from Hamilton, Sebastian finished the runner-up. I don't know, whether Sebastian would have been able to take the victory, had he taken a dream start. I was so happy, that Sebastian drove a flawless race, in spite of the mistake at the start. He definitely drove his heart out, defending his second place like a lion. I was so proud of him and so happy to see him on the podium! Albon finished the race fourth for Red Bull, who were driving the home race of their engine supplier Honda. Sainz crossed the finish line in P5 for McLaren and Charles was able to fight it in P6 in the end. However, the young Monegasque was given penalties after the race. He was given a 5-second penalty for causing the collision in Turn 1 and an additional 10-second penalty for staying out on the severely damaged car, which caused danger to other drivers. The time penalties dropped Charles down to P7 in the final standings. On the other hand, Renault's Ricciardo, who was then promoted to P6, is also under investigation for a brake infringement.
By finishing P1 and P3, Mercedes secured their 6th consecutive constructors' title, which is a remarkable achievement indeed. It is also clear, that a Mercedes driver will win the drivers' world championship. It takes a miracle, if it will be Bottas, but the Finn still has a mathematical chance to take it. Now that all the pressure caused by the world titles is gone, Sebastian seems much more relaxed and comfortable in his Lina. I hope he keeps up this impressive work also in the last four races of the season! Forza Ferrari!
P.S. I woke up at two o'clock in the afternoon for the third time. I watched three episodes of Big Brother Finland and started to write my thoughts on the GP weekend :)
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