MorrisF1

As well as vague musings about Japan and the title race, I’m going to try and analyse why my recent form has been patchier than a pirate convention. But first: Japan. The Suzuka circuit is a proper racing circuit, no namby-pamby street nonsense. Fast, has a flowing quality similar to Silverstone and the early part of the Texas circuit, and with relatively little room for error (hopefully they won’t copy the wimps of Monza and add massive run off to areas that are traditionally guarded by gravel traps). Which makes it a bit surprising Hamilton has never won there. He’s got a very good chance this weekend. The gremlins struck Rosberg at the perfect time, and it’s hard to see anyone other than Mercedes taking the win (reliability notwithstanding). The higher speed nature should also be handy for Williams, and I’d expect them to have the beating of Ferrari and probably Red Bull as well. Rain is entirely possible in Suzuka, so we should keep an eye on the skies. ...

Must admit I found the race a bit gruelling. There was a good helping of on-track action, but from both a title and race bet perspective it seemed things didn’t quite go right. Ricciardo’s bad start and power problems prevented him from running second for a long while. If he had, I feel confident the hedge would’ve been matched. Still, it’s easier to bet with hindsight. My bad patch continues, but we’ll see how the next race goes. Rosberg and Kobayashi had nightmare formation laps. Rosberg couldn’t even get off the line and Kobayashi suffered a reliability failure on the formation lap. Though Rosberg started from the pit lane his car had a terminal electronic problem which robbed him of any pace, and at the tragically comic effort at a pit stop he was forced to call it a day. Off the line Hamilton retained the lead, Ricciardo bogged down and was passed by both Vettel and Alonso and Button made up a few places. For a long while the tedious track saw the gaps increase with rel...

I missed the first half of qualifying as the BBC’s Judas Iscariot approach to broadcasting F1 doesn’t seem to cover having it on either Radio 5 or Sports Extra, and I had to go online. Sutil and Maldonado joined the usual suspects in leaving in the first part of qualifying. In Q2 Button, Vergne, Hulkenberg, Gutierrez, Perez and Grosjean went out. Grosjean sounded furious over the radio due to some engine problem or other which really angered him. Sounds like he’s at the end of his wick with Lotus’ shoddy reliability. Force India continue to slide down the competitive order. Particularly tricky at a circuit like Singapore. In Q3 Hamilton was fastest, ahead of Rosberg. Ricciardo and Vettel have the second row, with Alonso and Massa on the third (Massa had been fastest earlier in the session but failed to improve later). Raikkonen and Bottas are next, with Magnussen and Kvyat rounding out the top 10. Commentary info suggested Rosberg set his fast lap in Q3 on a u...

Ah, Singapore. Tight, twisty and tedious as Monaco, although it does look nicer due to being nocturnal. The tyres are soft and supersoft. In P1 Alonso was fastest, ahead of Hamilton and Rosberg (but don’t get excited, Alonso has topped a session or two earlier this year and it didn’t translate to marvellous pace in the race. The car’s simply not good enough). Vettel and Ricciardo were next, followed by Vergne, Raikkonen, Button, Kvyat and Perez. In P2 Hamilton led Alonso and Ricciardo, with Raikkonen, Vettel, Magnussen, Button Perez, Hulkenberg and Kvyat rounding out the top 10. Rosberg was one and a half seconds off the pace, as a Maldonado crash brought out a red flag during his fast lap. P3 had Alonso fastest again, barely half a tenth ahead of Ricciardo. Rosberg was third, then Vergne and Vettel, wuth Hamilton sixth, then Massa, Bottas, Raikkonen and Gutierrez. The mini-forecast on the sport’s official site suggests that storms could hit on both Saturday ...

There’s been some pretty significant news between Monza and Singapore, with Montezemolo (not too surprisingly) resigning/being resigned as big cheese of Ferrari. Joe Saward, F1 journalist who knows his beans, reckons it’s possible Mattiaci will move to take Montezemolo’s post, with Brawn becoming the new team principal of Ferrari. That would set the cat amongst the pigeons. In addition, teams have now been banned from giving drivers advice over the radio. The concern is that the rule is so broad that practically any communication at all from pit to car could contravene it (full story here): http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/29161931 ). Peter Prodromou, a top aerodynamicist formerly working under Adrian Newey, has now joined McLaren. It’s a good move for the team though I doubt his appointment will be the panacea they need to return to winning ways. Surprising just how much the team’s performance has declined since 2012, when they had the fastest car (albeit with poor rel...

Both Lotuses finished. Bit miffed. Both failed in Belgium, Grosjean at Hungary and Germany (Maldonado didn’t finish at Silverstone but the reliability failing was so late on he was still classified). First time since Austria in June neither Lotus had a problem. Oh well. None of the early Williams bets came off either, and whilst they don’t count in the ‘official’ records it’s still a bit disappointing. The start was terrible for Bottas and Ricciardo and pretty bad for Hamilton. The Briton slumped to 4 th , from pole, Bottas went from 3 rd to 12 th and Ricciardo lost many places as well. Great start for Rosberg and Magnussen (1 st and 2 nd respectively) with Massa getting up to 3 rd . Magnussen began a long afternoon of drifting backwards through the field (not always gracefully, as his late moves defending from Bottas saw him earn a 5 second stop and go penalty). Massa claimed 2 nd but was soon dispossessed by Hamilton. Rosberg failed to stop for the first corner twice,...

Rosberg’s car was fixed in time for qualifying, so he suffers no grid penalty. In Q1 Caterham and Marussia, as expected, left proceedings. Slightly less expected was the double departure of Lotus. That car is shocking this year. Reportedly, they’ve stopped developing it and are focusing on 2015’s car instead. Perhaps wise, but it can’t be too much fun being a driver there this year. In Q2 neither Sauber went any further, and we also lost Raikkonen, Vergne and Hulkenberg. Kvyat qualified 11 th but due to the penalty mentioned in the pre-qualifying piece he’ll be set back 10 places and start 21 st . Q3 was quite interesting. There were reasonable margins between the top four, who were Hamilton, Rosberg, Bottas and Massa. Hamilton’s pole lap was very impressive. However, behind them it was much tighter, with six-tenths covering 5th-10 th . The two McLarens had a good day, with Magnussen ahead of Button, and both ahead of 7th-placed Alonso. Red Bull cannot be happy with 8 ...

The compounds in Monza will be hard and medium. Mercedes have indicated they may have to drop one of their two drivers if they can’t get along. I think that’s a gross over-reaction, as was their condemnation of Rosberg during the Spa race. Drivers including Vettel, Hulkenberg and Alonso have since said they believe the collision to have been a racing incident, a view that I subscribe to. The FIA will not have a look at it, something Hamilton’s questioned. The Briton (whether you believe the incident to be mistake or malice) currently has a lot of sympathy but such utterances may lose him some. Anyway, the circuit in Italy is rather nice. It’s a collection of straight lines with very few proper corners, so straight line speed is what matters most. This will help cars powered by a Mercedes and probably hinder Ferrari-powered cars the most. The Parabolica, which is a proper corner, has been emasculated this year by the removal of a gravel trap outside the track limit and ...

It sounds like Rosberg’s been fined for his action in Belgium. I’d be amazed if that’s the last testy moment we have between the title rivals this year, though. Anyway, to Monza. The circuit’s nice and fast, and is essentially a collection of straight lines joined by tiny little corners. Do not expect Red Bull to be fastest or second fastest as, although the Renault seems improved, the Williams is fastest in a straight line closely followed by the Mercedes. Red Bull were fast in Spa, but recall they had a wing thinner than a supermodel on a diet, whereas the Williams and Mercedes had bigger rear wings (adding more downforce but costing pace on the straights). So, the latter two teams have more drag to lose and straight line speed to gain, as well as having the best engines anyway. I think that Williams, particularly Bottas, might be the ones to watch. A few times this year Williams have run the Mercedes’ team close (and could’ve perhaps had a shot at winning in Austri...