MorrisF1

As is traditional, the Hungarian Grand Prix was mostly boring, but it did have some excitement towards the end. It was also unprofitable. The Bottas bet didn’t come off, the Verstappen bet failed because his engine broke. Had it worked, the bet was very likely to have come off. Vettel started on soft tyres, unlike those ahead of him who were on the ultrasofts. Off the line, Bottas started poorly and was almost passed by Raikkonen. In the end, it was Vettel who passed his team mate. Further down the field, Ricciardo got squeezed and dropped several places. And then the waiting game began. You see, Hungary, like Singapore and Monaco (although not a street circuit) is one of those where it’s almost impossible to overtake. Which isn’t a great quality in a race track. So, Ricciardo, having a fantastically faster car than the midfield, began slicing his way towards to the upper echelons, and there was not much else of interest occurring. Verstappen had dispatched t...

Qualifying was thoroughly wet and soaked with entertainment. The first session was soggy enough for the intermediate tyre. Despite looming rain clouds the track was drying out nicely and all seemed as normal. But then the backmarkers decided to be brave and shoved on some ultrasoft tyres (weirdly, Ricciardo put on the soft). Suddenly, midfield runners were seconds faster than the top chaps, who rushed in to rectify their mistake. But would rain come before they could exploit the window of opportunity? And would Ricciardo ever warm up his soft tyres? No, and yes, respectively. The big losers in Q1 were the two Force Indias. Leclerc also failed to progress, as did Vandoorne and last-placed man Sirotkin, who explained that the team believed rain was coming, so he pushed hard on the first lap, but the track was actually drying out so others were going faster but by then he’d taken too much out of the tyres. Q2 did have another surprise, as everyone went out on slicks. Except Ve...

Sergio Marchionne, who was until a few days ago the leader of the entire Ferrari group (Fiat-Chrysler), has died rather suddenly. He had just been replaced on health grounds, when complications from shoulder surgery caused his death. Naturally, my thoughts go out to his friends and family. His replacement as chief executive may also alter the lineup of drivers next year, as he was (apparently) a big supporter of Leclerc replacing Raikkonen. However, it is now possible that the Finn will stay on another year. Where the talented Monegasque ends up, who can say? Speaking of talent, James Key, designing chap, has moved from Toro Rosso to McLaren. Which is interesting. He must’ve been in line to succeed Newey at Red Bull. This does show McLaren is serious about turning things around, but they need a sea change in their fortunes. In shock news, on Saturday morning I read that Force India are in administration. The team has been very successful recently, leading the midfield...

Well, that had a sting in its tail. The bet came within a place of coming off, rather frustratingly. But that’s this year in general, really. Off the line, Verstappen got a flyer but Raikkonen defended superbly to retain his position. There was close stuff throughout the field but no collisions. Hamilton quickly started carving his way through the field, whereas Ricciardo took considerably longer (the Aussie started on the medium tyre, Hamilton on the soft). The two out of position chaps made good progress, so much so that before the first pit stops Hamilton had joined the upper ranks, albeit with a considerably time gap. Raikkonen pitted early and emerged ahead of the Briton. When Vettel and Bottas did likewise perhaps a dozen laps later, Raikkonen was in first place, Vettel second. We have entered a strange twilight world. A world where Fernando may no longer be faster than you. Whilst Ferrari did swap their cars (which were on different strategies, so it was entire...

Qualifying was indeed entertaining, for unexpected reasons. In the first session it was not too surprising to see Vandoorne slowest and Stroll barely faster. More surprising, somewhat, was losing both Toro Rossos. Ocon also failed to progress, which was not great, considering Perez would end up in the top 10. However, the real sting came late on. Hamilton was circulating when suddenly his hydraulics went on strike. He was instructed to stop (unsure if he disobeyed that or not as radio messages can be delayed) and tried pushing the car to the pits but it was too far out. Having reached Q2 and with Ricciardo enduring an engine penalty, he’ll still start 14 th or so, but not a good day for the Briton. It’s believed the problem was caused when he went wide and decided to keep his foot on the accelerator, going over very bumpy ground and potentially causing the failure. With Hamilton out and Ricciardo not running in Q2, there were only three ‘real’ eliminations: Alonso, S...

Ahead of the German Grand Prix, Hamilton signed a new deal with Mercedes. Not too surprising, although it’s only until the end of 2020, so it could’ve been longer. Bottas has also signed a new deal with the Silver Arrows, making it very likely Ricciardo will be staying at Red Bull. The Finn’s new contract is for 2019, with an option to extend it to 2020. That’s quite interesting as they could’ve almost certainly ditched the Finn and gone for Ricciardo. However, it’s worth pointing out Bottas has been driving very well indeed and he really should be a title contender, but for misfortune (two DNFs and the collision which saw Vettel put him to the back of the field). Speaking of Ricciardo, engine penalties mean he’ll start from the back. The penalties are being taken now as the team feels they’ll be more competitive at Hungary and so prefer to take the pain now. At the time of writing (Saturday morning) there’d s roughly 50% chance of rain in qualifying, and a lower ...

Well, that was quite a race. A turbulent and dramatic first lap, and the most exciting finish at the sharp end for quite some time. One bet came off, one failed (I really should’ve suggesting hedging the Bottas bet, but never mind) so it was green overall. The pit lane was busy with both Williams and Hartley starting from there. Off the line, many things happened. Hamilton was unusually slow, allowing Vettel and then Bottas to pass him. Further back, the Haas cars left their handbrakes on and Hulkenberg smashed the first lap to climb half a dozen (nearly) places. Meanwhile, Raikkonen locked up as he was close to passing Hamilton, and caused a collision. The Finn lost a couple of places to the Red Bulls, Hamilton fell to practically last, voicing concerns over the radio that his car was damaged (if it were, it had little impact upon his speed). Vettel and Bottas started to pull away from the field, and whilst Raikkonen passed Ricciardo fairly easily he was unable to do ...

As predicted, qualifying was very tight. Annoyingly, the Raikkonen bet was a tenth off winning outright and half a tenth off winning each way. Ah well. Hartley wasn’t running in qualifying after his substantial crash in practice. He was joined in the departure lounge by Stroll, who beached his car after it snapped on him (which appears to have happened many times for Williams). Sirotkin did similarly but was able to drive away, set a time, but start just a single place ahead of his team mate. Things are not rosy in the good ship Williams. Vandoorne was just ahead of them and, weirdly, so was Sainz. The talented Spaniard had previously never failed to reach Q3 before this season. Just goes to show the engines matter hugely now at Silverstone, with the Ferrari the best and the Renault the weakest. In Q2 it was slightly surprising that Ericsson was slowest as the Sauber had looked pretty competitive (and remained so in Leclerc’s hands). Gasly, who managed to get out and set ti...

On Wednesday news emerged that Eric Boullier has resigned from his position as racing director. Not too surprising. McLaren has not been performing well for years, and Zak Brown has estimated it will take between two and 10 years for the team to return to the sharp end. That does, of course, assume it’s possible. Bottas has a fresh engine (no penalty) after his Austrian breakdown. Mercedes has replaced part of its fuel system (pump or filter, I think) following reliability ropeyness last time out. Hamilton has a very strong British record, but then, he did have that in Canada and it didn’t stop him underperforming significantly. In first practice, he led Bottas by close to half a second as Mercedes dominated the time sheets. Vettel, Ricciardo, Raikkonen, and Verstappen were all covered by four-tenths. Grosjean was just two-hundredths behind Verstappen. Perez and Ocon were next, half a second off Grosjean but separated from one another by just three-thousandths. St...

Well, the bet on Sainz didn’t come off (bad luck, would you believe?) but the race itself was enthralling from end to end. Fantastic to watch, it was. I’ll do my best to recount it, but so much happened I may well miss small details. Off the line, Raikkonen (surprisingly) had a flyer and Bottas went backwards at a rate of knots, at one point descending to around 5 th . Hamilton got the lead, and Verstappen did well, with Bottas fighting back very well to regain 2 nd . Meanwhile, Sainz lost many places and Vettel dropped one or two, with Stroll enjoying his usual first lap skill and gaining a place. The cars were all able to stay pretty close together, suggesting good racing in prospect, which came to pass. Vettel set about slowly climbing the field, and the two Mercedes began to ease away from Verstappen. Hulkenberg, who had been running solidly in the points, was forced to retire when his engine burst into flames. The German sensibly drove his Renault far off the...

Leclerc’s power problem in third practice necessitated a new gearbox and, with it, a five place grid penalty. The Q1 departures were mostly expected (Ericsson, Hartley, Sirotkin, Vandoorne) and one surprise: Perez. The Force India has not been looking especially racy this weekend but even so it was a surprise the Mexican couldn’t even make Q2. Both the Haas and Renault drivers progressed from Q2, meaning those who failed to escape were all the team mates of the chaps who didn’t survive Q1. In order from fast to slow, Ocon, Gasly, Leclerc, Alonso and Stroll were eliminated (NB Leclerc will start 18 th due to his penalty). Everyone thought it would be very close between the Mercedes and Vettel for pole, with Red Bull destined for the third row. Which shows what everyone knows. On the first runs, Bottas was over half a second clear of the field, ahead of his team mate, with Vettel (due to an error) a very lacklustre 7 th . The Haas chaps waited until the track was clear ...