MorrisF1

Two bets and two wins. What an odd race weekend. There was also rather more on-track action than last year, mostly thanks to the two Red Bulls carving through the field, and no safety car. Off the line, Vettel got a great start but was unable to capitalise as Hamilton benefited from Bottas’ slipstream. Further back, Verstappen had a flyer and Ricciardo left the handbrake on. Leclerc made good progress, passing Ocon, I think. The Renaults and Red Bulls started on the soft tyre. So did Gasly, with Hartley opting for the hypersoft, but the Toro Rossos both had weird spins on the same lap and ended up retiring (not quite sure why, suspicion is an identical mechanical failure). The Red Bulls, particularly Verstappen, were racing through the order, whilst those at the sharp end pulled away from the midfield but were reasonably close together. Pit stops came relatively early, around 8-16 (of 53 laps) for those on the hypersoft. Bottas pitted first. When Vettel followed h...

Well, tickle my tangerines. Must admit, I thought Hamilton very likely to get pole, with Bottas in with a good shot of second, and was quite surprised to see the Finn fastest. Good start to the weekend, and may make the race a little more interesting. The coverage I had of qualifying was, er, limited. To intermittent bits of text (I was attempting to navigate my way across the Atlantic Ocean, in a beer barrel, equipped only with a road map of Brazil, so you can appreciate I had other things on my mind). First session was more of the same, with McLaren and Williams slowest. Hartley also failed to escape. An interesting thing happened in Q2. Renault had a cunning plan. They didn’t bother running. Knowing Gasly and the Red Bulls had penalties coming, Sainz and Hulkenberg occupied themselves with crosswords whilst the others raced away needlessly in hypersofts. The Renaults guaranteed themselves 11 th and 12 th on the grid, with choice of tyres. No idea how useful that w...

Greetings, fellow cathedral enthusiasts. During the break, Sauber announced they had signed Giovinazzi as Raikkonen’s team mate, with Marcus Ericsson slipping to reserve driver. Giovinazzi has driven a couple of race weekends previously. He was pretty quick but also crashed quite a bit. Haas have confirmed they’re keeping both drivers for next year. Toro Rosso recently declared that Kvyat would be making something of a surprise return in 2019. For the race, both Toro Rosso and Red Bull will be taking new engines and starting from the back. In first practice Vettel was fastest, edging Verstappen by half a tenth, with Hamilton a quarter second back from the Dutchman. Bottas was next, but Ricciardo was half a second off the Finn and a second off the ultimate pace. Ocon, Raikkonen, Magnussen, Hulkenberg and Giovinazzi rounded out the top 10. Second practice had a Mercedes 1-2, with Hamilton two-tenths up on Bottas, himself two-tenths ahead of Verstappen, with Ric...

A classic the race was not. There were a few moments of intrigue, but mostly it was a procession amongst the top six. Said it before, and I’ll say it again: street circuits like here and Monaco are poor. However, it bet did come off (each way), although my daft qualifying tip does make the weekend overall slightly red. Off the line Vettel started well and Verstappen poorly. The Dutchman was aided by the short run to the first corner, managing to fend off the German assault until a few corners later when Vettel made an important pass. In the midfield, Perez was partying like it was 2017. Ocon drew alongside him and the Mexican gave his team mate a nudge into the wall, ending the Frenchman’s race. Ocon was eminently diplomatic about it, and Perez claimed he didn’t see him. The spray of carbon fibre and ruined Force India brought out the safety car (although but for this entirely avoidable collision there would not have been one, so the no safety car bet might be wo...

My predictions were entirely wrong, both regarding the bet itself and general pace. Who would’ve guessed Ferrari would be third fastest? Not me. The first session was mostly predictable, with the Williams rather sadly off the pace (over a second behind the McLaren of Vandoorne. Hartley also failed to escape as did, more surprisingly, Magnussen. His team mate would go on to reach Q3. Gasly was the slowest man in Q2, right behind both Saubers. A Spanish pairing were the fastest chaps eliminated, Alonso ahead of Sainz. (As an aside, everybody in the top 10 had to qualify on the hypersofts, contrary to suggestions that a divergent strategy might work. Ferrari tried the ultrasofts, as Mercedes did in Q1, and, likewise, found they were just too slow). I expected Ferrari to be fastest in qualifying. Which shows what I know. It turned out to be a three-way fight between them, Mercedes and Red Bull. Hamilton put in a fantastic lap, and the closest anyone could get was Verstappe...

News broke between race weekends that Leclerc was off to Ferrari after all, with Raikkonen going to Sauber. Mildly surprised the Finn’s sticking around, but there we are. It also seems probable, but not yet confirmed, that both Ocon and Vandoorne will be without race seats next year. The Red Bulls topped the P1 timesheet, with Ricciardo two-tenths up on Verstappen. The Ferraris came next, with Vettel a short way off Verstappen but half a second ahead of his team mate. Hulkenberg was a further half second back, just ahead of Hamilton (but the Briton being a second and a half off the pace suggests he was carrying around a full fuel tank). Sainz and Bottas were next, with Leclerc and Grosjean rounding out the top 10. In second practice, Raikkonen was fastest, a full hundredth ahead of Hamilton. Verstappen and Ricciardo were close to one another but half a second off the pace, with Bottas close behind. Sainz, Grosjean, and Alonso were next, with Vettel 9 th and Hulkenberg behi...

It isn’t very often we have a race that’s exciting from start to finish, and green to boot. But we got one today. Off the line it was close but formation flying at the sharp end. Further back, Hartley suffered misfortune as he was taken from both sides, Vandoorne cutting across from the left whilst a Sauber sandwiched him from the right. The Kiwi had an immediate DNF, which wasn’t remotely his fault. It was very tight amongst the top three and into a chicane Hamilton drew alongside Vettel. The German was spun around and ended up with front wing damage and pretty much last. A racing incident, in my view (one hopes Ferrari won’t accuse Mercedes of ‘interesting tactics’). This brought out a safety car, which is surprisingly rare at Monza. The grid-penalised Ricciardo and Hulkenberg came in for new tyres, the German attempting a full stint, effectively, on soft tyres. Vettel also came in for a fresh nose and some soft tyres. At the restart, Hamilton was right in Raikkonen’...

Qualifying was very tight throughout. And rather entertaining. Despite major penalties for Ericsson, Hulkenberg, and Ricciardo, all three ran in the first session. Somewhat surprisingly, the Saubers were off the pace, with both exiting at this stage. Less surprising, alas, was that Vandoorne came last. One fears this season may be his last. Hartley failed to progress as did, shockingly, Perez. The Mexican was one-thousandth of a second behind Grosjean. To put the closeness in context, eight chaps were on 1:28.8, including Perez and Leclerc. Superfine margin, but that’s what F1 is about. In Q2 Ricciardo and Hulkenberg did not set times. The Aussie relaxed in the pits whilst the German had a little trundle but didn’t clock a lap time. Sirotkin qualified 12 th , with Magnussen ahead and Alonso behind him. However, the Dane and Spaniard had a very weird coming together. Both were on hot laps, and managed to squabble over track territory, ruining both laps. Unsure what penalty, ...

Both Ricciardo and Hulkenberg have full engine changes, pushing them down to 19 th and 20 th respectively. Ericsson had a big crash in second practice, when his DRS failed. This is likely to require changing a great many components, putting him at or near the back of the grid. First practice was wet, though everyone set a time. Perez was fastest, ahead of Raikkonen and Ocon. Hartley, Ricciardo, Gasly, Verstappen, Sainz, Hulkenberg, and Bottas round out the rather unrepresentative top 10. In second practice it was a Ferrari 1-2 with Vettel ahead of Raikkonen, who was a hundredth faster than Hamilton. Bottas was a few tenths back but a similar margin ahead of Verstappen and Ricciardo. Ocon, Perez, Leclerc and Hulkenberg followed. At the moment, Leclerc and the Force Indias look in solid shape, behind the top dogs. Vettel topped the third practice session but was less than a tenth ahead of Hamilton. Raikkonen was less than a tenth behind Hamilton. Rather tight...