MorrisF1

The race was tense rather than dramatic, and had quite a few cunning twists. The bet came off, more due to luck than judgement, but if fortune intervenes in my betting I'll not complain if it's the helpful sort. Off the line Rosberg had a great start, for once, and Raikkonen had a flyer, getting ahead of his team mate and Vettel into fourth place before passing Ricciardo somewhere or other for third. Maldonado failed to get off the line for the parade lap and had to start from the pit lane, behind Marcus Ericsson. Vettel early on had a problem with his engine, then when he pitted and emerged he was stuck in first gear and forced to retire. A great shame. The gap between the two Mercedes was less than a second for most of the race, particularly early on. When Sutil introduced his car to the barriers the safety car emerged (I think there was one earlier, but it was too early for pit stops), and everyone streamed into the pits. However, during the safety car r...

Well, it was very tight, but only between the two Mercedes. If Vettel's kinetic energy supply had been stable it might have been a shade tighter, as it was, he was outshone again by his Aussie team mate. Ricciardo's having a great season, to date. Q1 was as expected, with the four pointless teams being joined by both Saubers, who, alas, really haven't got their act together. It was also notably for Ericsson knocking out Massa after the Brazilian helpfully let him through, meaning Massa starts 16 th as he couldn't participate in Q2. Q2 saw the two Lotuses (Loti?) last (but still ahead of Massa), and joined by Hulkenberg, Button and Bottas. Mercedes power did not seem as helpful here as at other circuits, and Hulkenberg and Button were left behind by team mates who got into Q3. Q3 was all about one incident, really. On the first runs Rosberg was half a tenth ahead of Hamilton. On the second, the German failed to make a corner after locking a brake, caused...

The tyres for this weekend, unsurprisingly, are soft and supersoft. During P2 (I think), early on, Grosjean said he reckoned the softs took about 8-9 laps to warm up in his Lotus, but for Mercedes it's only 3. P1 was dry, and had the two Mercedes cars within 0.032s of one another (Hamilton first). Ricciardo was a few tenths down the road and Alonso 0.4s further back from him. Then came Vettel, Raikkonen, Bottas, Perez, Magnussen and Hulkenberg. P2 was mostly wet, so the times are probably worthless. For the sake of completeness, Alonso was fastest, then Hamilton, Vettel, Vergne, Bottas, Perez, Hulkenberg, Button, Ricciardo, Magnussen. Qualifying is forecast to be dry, with the race probably dry but with the potential for some rain. P3 was dry. Hamilton led Ricciardo and Rosberg, but the gaps were minute. Vettel was next, then Alonso, Raikkonnen, Perez, Hulkenberg, Vergne and Kvyat. In the third practice session it seemed that the supersoft tyres took a few...

The race wasn't a classic, although the end was entertaining, but the bet came off (just). Overall the weekend was slightly green. Off the start Bottas took third from Ricciardo, and Button left the handbrake on. Otherwise drivers mostly held station. Grosjean had a lock-up into the first turn but managed to stay ahead of both Ferraris, Raikkonen retaining his place ahead of Alonso. In the initial phase of the race Hamilton slightly pulled away from Rosberg, and the pair of them galloped away from the battle for third. Bottas remained ahead of Ricciardo on track, but after the first pit stops were done the amiable Aussie was a distance ahead and untroubled in third for the rest of the afternoon. After the first stops Hamilton went medium and Rosberg hard, but the gap didn't really change, staying around 3-4s. In the final stint Hamilton was on the hard tyres and Rosberg the medium. The German was on a charge, but may have left it a lap or two too late, and altho...

Got to admit qualifying was a bit galling, although it did have some interesting moments. If I'd made the bet myself I might've gone for a hedge (as I often do), and if Vettel hadn't had a red flag (perhaps needlessly) things may have turned out differently. However, the real story is that the tip was close but wrong, and red's red whether it's by an inch of a mile, or, indeed, 0.168 seconds. In Q1 Maldonado crashed (an event which astounded and astonished all who heard of such a thing). Together with the pointless teams Sutil went out, as has become quite common. In Q2 2/6 of those who departed did say without setting a time at all. Magnussen suffered an in-garage power failure and Vergne, who has a 10 place grid penalty for a wheel going walkies during practice, opted not to run. Gutierrez and Kvyat were 14 th and 13 th , with the Force Indias the fastest not to make Q3. Q3 saw a Mercedes duel for pole, as expected. However, the initial fast laps ...

Pirelli have stated they're hopeful of avoiding four stops in Spain. However, as the circuit's hard on tyres that may compromise the hopes of Ferrari and Williams, both of which had to make an extra stop compared to cars ahead of them in Bahrain. It's also worth remembering, for the race, that the run to the start is the longest of any circuit, so Mercedes-powered cars should love it, and Renault less so (although I expect the performance gap to have narrowed somewhat). During the weekend it emerged Renault were getting annoyed with late payment from some teams (probably Lotus and/or Caterham) and was threatening that it may stop supplying engines to the relevant team(s) if it doesn't get paid. The tyres for this weekend are hard and medium. There's an emphasis on aerodynamics, which will help Red Bull. Mercedes have tightened the packaging at the rear of the car to increase aerodynamic efficiency at the cost of heat dissipation, but have ...