MorrisF1

Thankfully the race was a lot more entertaining than qualifying. It was also red, by the narrowest of margins, alas. Kvyat didn’t even have a dreadful start because a technical failure on his car required a second formation lap whilst his broken Red Bull was pushed into the pits. An uncommon DNS for the Russian. Off the start Vettel and Raikkonen pounced like man-eating cougars on Hamilton and Rosberg. In fact, the Englishman had a dreadful start, slipping back to 6 th , or thereabouts. At the back, Wehrlein had a tasty start, making up a quintet of places. The two Prancing Horses galloped away, opening a gap between themselves and Rosberg, whilst Hamilton floundered behind Massa (the Brazilian being 5 th , with Verstappen ahead). Things looked bad for Hamilton. He did pass Massa after a few laps, but Verstappen was another kettle of monkeys. The Toro Rosso’s looking tasty, and the Mercedes just couldn’t get in a passing position. Alonso and Gutierrez collid...

Qualifying wasn’t merely a wet squib, the third session was damper than a dolphin’s codpiece. The first two sessions worked essentially as normal, and the latter half of Q3 had no interest whatsoever. What should have been a climax was more of a coma. Universal contempt leads me to hope it’ll revert to the old system for the next race, but we shall see. In Q1 there were a few surprises. Wehrlein’s been much hyped but was outqualified by his team mate, Haryanto (Haryanto will start last, however, due to a grid penalty). Kvyat got caught out and was a surprise departure in 18 th (both Haas drivers are between Kvyat and the Manors. Grosjean was on a fast lap but the instant cut-off meant he didn’t get to complete it). The Saubers also exited at this stage. In Q2, it was generally a case of by the teams, with both Force Indias, McLarens and Renaults leaving (the exception being Bottas in 11 th , who seems to have had a scruffy lap). Whilst not stellar for the McLarens, it’s a l...

From what I could glean about P1 and P2, nothing too significant occurred. It appears P2 was soggy and Rosberg had a minor crash, and that’s about it. Channel 4 doesn’t appear to have its online act together (fortunately, the BBC still provides the practice results). The most important new thing about qualifying is the drastic change to the format. It’s still three session, but from Q1 we’ll lose 7 cars, from Q2 we’ll also lose 7 cars, meaning just 8 will participate in Q3. The eliminations will not happen at (or just after) the chequered flag. Instead, the slowest driver every 90 seconds (a few minutes into each session) will go, even if they’re on a hot lap (excepting the final exclusion who can reach the chequered flag, if on a flying lap). As you’ll have noticed, this means the pole position shoot-out will reduced from 10 cars to 2. It also means if someone buggers up one lap, they may not get a second chance. From the limited data, Alonso’s look a possible p...

Just a few weeks remain until we go to Oz and the new season begins. But what’s changed? Technical rules are similar (wider front wings, narrower rear rings, to try and decrease the aerodynamic disruption of closely following another car, thereby to increase overtaking opportunities), qualifying will change despite much grumbling, a few teams have new driver line-ups, Azerbaijan is added to the calendar, and the Haas team joins the grid. Qualifying changes: Contrary to earlier plans for a mid-season introduction, qualifying is set to be changed right from the off. There will still be three sessions with cars eliminated (I think it’ll be 7-7-8) but this time the slowest driver will be knocked out every 90 seconds. Even if a driver is on a hot lap, they’ll be eliminated, unless they’re the final elimination from a session when, as now, those on a hot lap when the chequered flag is waved will be able to complete it. What happens if a driver gets blocked on a fina...