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Canada 2026: pre-race

While I still dislike sprints immensely this was one of the better ones. It seemed the Mercedes were destined to drive away from the field, but whether it was the squabbling, tyre wear, or something else, they ended up being caught by Norris who had their pace if not better. Antonelli clearly looked quicker than Russell but couldn’t get past and when the Briton introduced the Italian to the side of the track the youngster lost his cool, ranted on the radio, locked up, and lost out to Norris. One suspects their garage will not be entirely harmonious. All three were very close together. A little way further back, the next three were also very tight. Hamilton seemed set for 4th but ended up very narrowly losing out to Piastri and Leclerc (who finished 0.1s behind the Aussie). In the corners the Ferrari’s very good but it lacks straight line grunt. If it rains, this might mean a relative pace advantage for the Prancing Horse, but they’ll also have to survive Ferrari strategy. Verstappen...
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Canada 2026: pre-sprint nonsense and qualifying

Ah, sprint weekends. I wish they’d go away, but at least we will have a decent track this time. Kind of glad I didn’t bet on sprint qualifying as I probably would’ve gone for Piastri each way. Anyway… In SQ1 a red flag emerged after an Alonso crash, although this didn’t stop him beating his team mate, yet again. He’s slated to start 16th, ahead of Perez, Stroll, Gasly, and Bottas. Gasly in particular was screwed, and wasn’t helped when Hamilton deliberately paused in the pit lane to limit the number of drivers who could make a real attempt to put in a competitive time. Lawson and Albon failed to set a time at all as their cars weren’t working. SQ2 was mostly two by two, with the two Audis fastest of those eliminated, Hulk faster, and the two Haas slowest, Ocon being the faster. The meat in the Audi-Haas sandwich was Colapinto. In SQ1 it was even more Noah’s Ark. By just under a tenth Russell leads Antonelli on the front row, and then there’s a couple of tenths back to Norris and Pia...
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Miami 2026: pre-race

Well, I was very tired yesterday which did mostly make the sprint easier to watch. Might just be the circuit but it seems the current, updated, regulations have made overtaking much trickier. Not impossible, though, the Mercs had a tussle, and so did Hamilton and Verstappen. But dirty air seemed to cause Leclerc, who looked fast, problems whenever he got too close to Piastri. Rain is possible for the race which might be brought forward, which is one reason I’m posting this sooner rather than later. Update : the race is now starting 3 hours earlier than initially planned, at 6pm UK time. Anyway, in qualifying we had Bortoleto struggle to get out on time and then his rear brakes turn into a barbecue, which unfortuately meant he ended up last. The Aston Martins and Cadillacs also went in Q1, with Lindblad fastest of the men eliminated (the Racing Bull has looked weak this weekend). In Q2, Hulkenberg and Lawson were the fastest men to leave the stage, with Bearman, Sainz, Ocon, and Albo...
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Miami 2026: pre-sprint nonsense and qualifying

F1 is back. Huzzah! Such a shame it’s contaminated with the sprint bullshit. Anyway, ahead of the sprint and qualifying today the idea that struck me was Piastri for the Grand Prix win… but he’s only 7 and I think this is going to see some fierce competition between Ferrari and Mercedes. Leclerc for 7 to win the sprint is worth considering, I just wish it were each way. He does start 4th, but may start tastily. And a first corner incident is eminently possible. But decided not to back anything for the sprint/qualifying. Briefer than usual, rather tired. Morris
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Japan 2026: pre-race

Glad I didn’t tip the McLaren bet as it came close but didn’t quite work out. In Q1 we said goodbye to most of the regulars, with the Aston Martins slowest, Cadillac in the middle, and Albon seventeenth. The outlier was Bearman, who made an error in a couple of corners and the field’s tight enough that saw him qualify eighteenth. First weak spot of his 2026 season and he’ll be hoping passing’s easier than last year. In Q2 every single driver was from a different team. Verstappen was struggling with his car and went out as fastest eliminated driver, just ahead of Ocon. Hulkenberg had the pace to escape but an error consigned him to thirteenth. Then came Lawson, Colapinto, and Sainz. Q3 came around and Russell had been looking a step behind Antonelli. And so it proved, with the Italian following his maiden victory with a pole position, Russell alongside him. On row two, McLaren bounced back with Piastri (let’s hope he actually gets to race this time). Leclerc had the pace to make the ...
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Japan 2026: pre-qualifying

Been bit off-colour of late, so this and the next post may be briefer than normal. In shock news, Mercedes topped the first practice session, Russell two-hundredths ahead of Antonelli. Norris and Piastri were about a tenth further back and very close to one another. And a tenth further back we had Leclerc and Hamilton. Verstappen was four-tenths down the road, a little ahead of Lawson, Ocon, and Lindblad. In a more surprising result, Piastri topped second practice, less than a tenth ahead of Antonelli with Russell a further tenth back. There was three-tenths back to Norris, then a couple of tenths to Leclerc, who led Hamilton (surprised the Ferrari are seeming behind McLaren, if practice is accurate). Hulkenberg put his Audi seventh quickest, ahead of Albon, Bearman, and Verstappen. Piastri or Norris for pole is tempting. They’re up at 11 each way, boostable to 12. Mercedes have been dominant in qualifying so far, but if McLaren have got their act together, it could be worth a shot...
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China 2026: pre-race

Two quick points of order before I over the sprint, qualifying, and thoughts on race betting: First off, I’ve been mildly pestilent. That’s no excuse for accidentally calling the last post Australian rather than Chinese but it’s the only one I’ve got. Secondly, I listened to rather than watched coverage of the sprint qualifying. There was a telemetry error for the Mercedes-powered Mercs and McLarens and *that* is the reason behind them appearing to maintain such a good top speed along a straight. While not official confirmed it seems highly likely both Saudi and Bahrain will be cancelled. This would leave us with just Japan, in a fortnight, before the Miami Grand Prix on the 3rd of May. To make things even trickier, that’s meant to be a sprint weekend, so there’ll be over a month of developing upgrades and then one practice session only. Even better, the race after that (Canada) is also a sprint. Anyway, with that out of the way, to the sprint. Sprint Race Antonelli had an awful star...
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