MorrisF1

Must admit, not my favourite race of the year. The first lap or two was dramatic, the final few were tense, the intervening fifty were tedious. And the tip I offered failed (particularly irksome given the other two I was contemplating, at longer odds, both came off). Still, that’s why it’s called gambling rather than incredibly safe investment planning. Alonso saved time by having his car break down before the race began. This led to a second formation lap. Off the line, the Ferraris were slow. Bottas passed both of them and Hamilton nearly got past Raikkonen, who fought back well. Grosjean knocked into Palmer, who spun, taking out both cars. A safety car emerged, and a few backmarkers (I think Vandoorne and Wehrlein) came in for a lap one pit stop, so they could run ultrasofts for the rest of the race, but everyone else stayed out. A few laps after the safety car came back in, Ricciardo’s brakes failed. He was able to return to the pits, but his race was done. Wit...

Qualifying was tighter than a miser’s purse strings, and very exciting. The Vettel tip came off but, to be honest, it was fortune over judgement. Whilst the Ferrari was faster (marginally) than the Mercedes, Raikkonen could’ve and should’ve beaten his team mate. That he didn’t was due to an error, so the greenness of the bet was due to luck (I’m not complaining, I just think it’s important to realise when a winning bet is wise, and when it’s a fluke).  In the first part of qualifying Grosjean simply couldn’t get his Haas to be fast. The car’s peculiar, very up-and-down. He was slowest (he won’t start last because Vandoorne and Palmer both have grid penalties). As might be expected, the two Saubers and Vandoorne were ahead of him, with Palmer also failing to escape Q1 (Wehrlein and Palmer both also buggered up their last laps and went off the circuit, Palmer damaging his car a little). The most remarkable surprise of Q1 was Alonso not only escaping, but being complimentar...

Ah, Russia. A pretty rubbish track. Hard to pass on, and the compounds this weekend are the three softest yet it’s still expected to be a one stop race. However, the tightness at the top and within the midfield means we should have a competitive race. The tyre compounds are the softest (ultrasoft, supersoft and soft) which may favour Ferrari. In another place (so it won’t count in the graphs) I tipped backing Force India for a double points finish with Ladbrokes at 3 before practice began. It has since declined to 2.5 (that’s a maybe bet). Likewise, I contemplated Vettel for pole at 4.5, but after P2 it slumped to 2.87. Renault have brought some new parts. Apparently their strength in qualifying (or weakness in racing, as you like) is because they work the tyres too hard, knocking race pace down a peg. On engines, the FIA has conducted analysis and now believes the top three (ie not Honda) engines are covered by 0.3s. That’s pretty damned close, and I suspect the majori...

The race was exciting from start to finish, and green as well. Better not to have hedged, of course (this is the first race I’ve offered a hedged bet). Given I was uncertain how things would play out, relieved and pleased with the result, and it was good to watch too. Off the line, surprisingly, Vettel passed Hamilton, and Verstappen passed both Raikkonen and Ricciardo. We then had a sight reminiscent of a Trulli train. Vettel could run within a few tenths of Bottas, but couldn’t pass. The German’s pace was clearly constrained. Hamilton was right behind him but trying to compare their relative pace was impossible because both were stuck behind Bottas, and Verstappen was right behind Hamilton. After perhaps eleven laps of this Vettel pitted, swapping supersofts for supersofts. Verstappen got on the radio asking for likewise, and got what he wanted. However, Verstappen then suffered a brake failure. He was fine but out of the race (damned shame because he was looking rath...

Well, I didn’t do that very well, did I? Bottas got his first ever pole, and Hamilton’s run of pole positions came to an end. However, the grid is rather tasty. The first session of qualifying saw the surprising departure of Perez, who qualified only 18 th (imagine he must have had some sort of technical woe). This definitely afflicted Sainz, who posted the fastest first sector time before his car failed him (worth recalling he also had engine woe in practice). Also out were Vandoorne, Ericsson and Magnussen. Alonso reached Q2 but didn’t run in it. Ahead of him Kvyat was the fastest of those eliminated, followed by Stroll, Wehrlein (who drove well on his return), and Ocon. So, a pretty rubbish qualifying for Force India. The final session saw Hamilton half a tenth ahead of Bottas after the first run, with the Ferraris a large margin behind, followed by the Red Bulls. On the second run, Bottas improved to go fastest, but Hamilton buggered up his middle sector and ended...

Before we get to practice, Alonso has announced he’ll be racing in the Indy 500. He’ll be replaced for Monaco, with which the aforementioned race clashes, by Jenson Button. There’s a special on Ladbrokes for Button to be top 10 there at 4. Possible, but the car is unreliable, though I thought it worth mentioning in case anyone disagreed. Also, this marks the first full race weekend for Pascal Wehrlein, who resumes his place (that had been occupied temporarily by Antonio Giovinazzi). I put a small sum on Red Bull for the Constructors’ at 46 about a week ago. My reasoning was that they’ve got two very good drivers, whereas the teams ahead of them have one number one driver and one chap slightly off the boil. With new regulations there’s lots of room for development which has historically been a Red Bull strength. It’s still odds against, of course, I just think 46 is far too long. In first practice Vettel was fastest, four-tenths ahead of Ricciardo. Verstappen was half a ...

An interesting race, although not quite the classic it might have been due to the timing of an early safety car. From a betting perspective, bad, as none of my tips came off and the derided (by me, and others) Verstappen podium odds of 4.5 did. Still, that’s the nature of gambling. It was wet at the start. Not raining, and not soaking, but enough dampness for all save Sainz (supersoft) to start on intermediate tyres. At that stage, I was feeling quite confident that attrition might be substantial. Off the line, Sainz was passed by everyone then spun at the second corner. Elsewhere, the Ferraris were tardy again, Vettel just about holding off Bottas and Raikkonen losing a place to Ricciardo. Hulkenberg passed Massa (the pattern I noted at Australia was pretty much repeated). Verstappen flew up the order like a hawk with its tail on fire. Perez struck Stroll from behind, punting the unfortunate Canadian into the gravel and out of the race. (The Mexican received no penalty...

Well, after the doom of yesterday, qualifying went perfectly well and the race seems set for tomorrow (7am UK time), although there’s a 90% chance of rain. In the first part of qualifying a number of chaps dropped out who ought not due to a (second consecutive) last lap cock-up by Giovinazzi, this time losing control on the final corner’s astroturf, ploughing his Sauber into the barrier and forcing those behind (including Ocon, Palmer and Grosjean) to abort their final laps. Vandoorne also failed to escape (16 th ) and Verstappen qualified 19 th , but that was due to his engine software being disobedient. Giovinazzi, ironically, qualified for Q2 but was unable to compete in it due to his car not being MOT compliant. Second qualifying ran a bit more to form. Despite impressive driving, Alonso could only manage 13 th , with Magnussen just ahead and Sainz 11 th . Ericsson was 14 th , just ahead of his team mate. It was very tight between the top four going into the last se...

There has been less running at this stage than perhaps for any race weekend I’ve seen. Smog, or fog, meant that the medical helicopter was unable to safely take off from the circuit and land at the hospital, which meant that running almost didn’t happen at all. In three hours of time set aside for practice, there were a pair of five minute windows during which we didn’t learn much at all. McLaren did top the time sheet in second practice, though, so if you backed that, good for you. So. Not much to base this article on and a real chance that qualifying and perhaps the race might simply be cancelled. On Twitter, Hamilton suggested running three practice sessions tomorrow, with qualifying Sunday morning and the race Sunday afternoon. Interesting idea, although qualifying would then be at a horrendous time in the UK. If the race does go ahead, there is a chance of rain, and that also applies to qualifying (if held on Sunday, Saturday should be overcast but dry). ...