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Qatar 2025: pre-sprint and qualifying

Incidentally, there’s a 25 lap maximum for stints in Qatar, which means at least two stops due to the 57 laps in the Grand Prix. The 19 lap sprint will be unaffected. This may also affect whether an early (lap 6 or earlier) safety car leads to pit stops or not. The reason is fears over the track chewing up tyres so much they disintegrate. In solitary practice the McLarens were looking good, as was Alonso. Verstappen’s 6th wasn’t great but I was confident he’d bounce back, and seriously considered tipping Piastri (his odds were 7, boosted to 7.5) but ended up not doing so. Come sprint qualifying, more woe for Hamilton. He was out in SQ1, ahead only of the Alpines. Also out were Lawson and Stroll, whose team mate would reach SQ3 (as would Hamilton’s). SQ2 saw the unexpected departure of Hulkenberg as both Saubers formed the meat in a Haas sandwich (Bearman fastest of them). The German had looked very good but failed to hook up a final lap. Out in 11th was Hadjar, due to a lap being de...
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Las Vegas Grand Prix 2025: pre-race

Well, qualifying was less than splendid as I managed to combine oversleeping with not being there to see the chap I thought might get pole go out in Q1. But I did catch Q2 and Q3 live, at least. Las Vegas qualifying also saw the rarest of things, wet tyres actually being used (for Q1 and Q2, it was intermediates for Q3). In Q1 (having caught up), we said goodbye to Albon, Antonelli (who messed up his final lap), Bortoleto, Tsunoda, and Hamilton, who was last and always seemed to be struggling. Kind of shocking to lose both a Mercedes and a Ferrari in Q1 just on pace, but it was full wets and clearly the cars didn’t like it. If the race is dry, there may still be hope for them. Q2 was still wets, except for Stroll who was looking very good then put on inters and discovered it was about 10 minutes too early. Hulkenberg was the fastest man eliminated, right ahead of Stroll. Ocon and Bearman were both out, as was Colapinto, who did nicely to save himself form a trip to the barriers when...
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Las Vegas Grand Prix 2025: pre-qualifying

Due to the hellishly early 4am (UK) start times this weekend, the pre-qualifying and pre-race rambles are both going to be early. First practice had the unexpected top three of Leclerc, Albon, and Tsunoda, who was one place and less than half a tenth ahead of Verstappen. Sainz, Norris, and Hadjar followed, with Piastri, Russell, and Antonelli bringing up the rear of the top 10. While intriguing I suspect these times may be less than representative. Second practice was back to Brazil, with Norris quickest, but under a tenth ahead of Antonelli. Leclerc stayed fast in third, one place ahead of Hulkenberg. Right behind the Hulk were the racing Bulls pair of Hadjar and Lawson, with Russell a little further back. Albon, Verstappen, and Hamilton finished off the upper half of the time sheet. Piastri was 14th. I was a bit surprised Antonelli was out at 9, 9.5 boosted, so I’ve backed him each way for qualifying. He was second quickest and very close behind Norris in FP2 and while the Mercede...
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Brazilian Grand Prix 2025: pre-race

I tend not to comment, good or bad, on bet results but a Mercedes being top 2 but not the guy who finishes ahead 85% of the time and whom I’d backed was pretty galling. Ah, well. I had a lot of flukey results in previous seasons so 50/50s going against me this year is just the way it goes…and it was a crazy qualifying session. Quick sprint rundown: Piastri out. He spun and was immediately followed by Hulkenberg and Colapinto so it looked like bad luck rather than a serious error. With Norris winning this was another step backwards for the Aussie. Verstappen was 4th, and Gasly got the last point in 8th. Qualifying saw Red Bull make serious setup changes to try and make up for relatively weak pace in the sprint. This had the opposite effect, with Verstappen out in Q1 in 16th. He was ahead of Ocon (as he had been at the line in Brazil last year), then came Colapinto, Tsunoda, and Bortoleto, who was unable to set a time due to his car not being fixed in time. Rough home race for the Brazil...
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Brazilian Grand Prix 2025: pre-qualifying and sprint

Once again the magnificent Interlagos is contaminated by the American vomit chocolate of the sprint race. Alas. Bit of off-track news: Alpine has kept Colapinto for next year. Only practice had Norris and Piastri quickest, ahead of Hulkenberg and Alonso. Bortoleto was fifth quickest, followed by Russell, Gasly, Sainz, Hadjar, and Antonelli. It’s worth knowing the Ferraris and Verstappen didn’t use the medium tyre due to limited allocation and not wanting to use them up. Sprint qualifying was extremely close, as indicated by the five eliminated in SQ1 all coming from different teams. The drivers were: Colapinto, Lawson, Tsunoda, Ocon, and Sainz. The gaps were tiny in SQ2 and some were not helped by Leclerc spinning in sector 2 towards the end. This screwed over Hamilton, who was the fastest man out, ahead of Albon, Gasly, Bortoleto, and Bearman. As in SQ1, everyone eliminated was from a different team. Going into SQ3 it seemed Norris and Piastri were very close, with Verstappen in ...
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Mexican Grand Prix 2025: pre-race

Before qualifying (and, indeed, third practice) it looked like Verstappen remained likeliest to get pole but that it could be close, with Leclerc, Antonelli, and Norris all looking pretty good. The short lap made qualifying very close throughout, and in Q1 we waved goodbye to Bortoleto, Albon, Gasly, Stroll, and Colapinto. Given Sainz got through to Q3 bit of a weaker showing from Albon, though it might be fairer to say Sainz is very good around this track. In Q2 Tsunoda was the fastest man eliminated, followed by Ocon, Hulkenberg, Alonso, and Lawson. Going into Q3 I had thought it was Verstappen’s to lose but his car was sliding a bit which was not only bad for pace but also won’t help his tyre wear over the long runs. In a tight session, Norris’ pole margin of around three-tenths was very impressive and if he can retain the lead on the opening lap he’s very likely to win. But, and it’s a big but, there’s a very long run into the first corner and a great opportunity to screw up. ...
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Mexican Grand Prix 2025: pre-qualifying

And so we come to the annual tradition of me trying to remember what impact the higher altitude and thinner atmosphere of Mexico has on the race… (Less air, less slipstream effect, so overtaking’s harder). As before, this is up early due to the late FP3/qualifying times being inconvenient for me. Quick note for FP1: there were nine young (mostly) drivers taking regulars’ places and neither Verstappen nor Norris were driving. Anyway, Leclerc was quickest, ahead of Antonelli by a tenth. Two-tenths later came Hulkenberg, who was narrowly ahead of Piastri. Bortoleto followed, making this rather good for Sauber, with Lindblad (Red Bull), Ocon, Tsunoda, Colapinto, and Albon following. Verstappen topped second practice, a tenth and a half ahead of Leclerc, who was again followed closely by Antonelli. Norris was next, then came Hamilton, with Russell, Tsunoda, Alonso, Sainz, and Stroll completing the top 10. Piastri was 12th, six-tenths off Norris. I would be tempted by the 9 on Leclerc f...
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