MorrisF1

Well, the Sainz bet didn’t come off. Bit unlucky, actually. But otherwise the race was thoroughly entertaining. Incidentally, Hulkenberg’s oddly lacklustre qualifying performance was due to an engine malfunction that put his Renault into safe mode (slow mode, essentially). An awful lot happened in the race. I’ll do my best to remember it, but if I forget bits and pieces, don’t be surprised. Off the line, Leclerc struggled and Vettel strolled into the lead. Meanwhile, Bottas passed Hamilton, and then Leclerc. Within a few corners the top four had all changed places. Further back, Hulkenberg leapt up the order (he did the same in Australia), and Sainz passed Magnussen. Leclerc was squirming around, struggling for grip, barely holding off Hamilton. In a lap or two he recovered himself and passed Bottas. The Finn now seemed the weakest of the quartet, and was shortly passed by Hamilton too. Verstappen was right behind him and seemed poised to pounce, but the Dutc...

For the second year in a row, Mercedes dominated Australian qualifying only for Ferrari to lock out the front row in Bahrain. I believe the Hamilton/Bottas pole odds were circa evens and 3.5 respectively ahead of practice, so Leclerc would’ve had tasty odds. First session was mostly as expected, with the sadly slow Williams trundling around dead last. Giovinazzi and Stroll were also eliminated, but the weird one was Hulkenberg. He’d clocked a fifth in one practice session and looked quick all weekend. Hard to say if it was traffic, a car problem, or he was just a bit off the boil. But with the midfield so competitive, he’ll have a tough race starting 17 th . In Q2, less than half a second covered those eliminated, and there was only a hundredth of a second between fastest departing driver and the slowest chap to make it through. Ricciardo and Albon were top of the five, with Perez and Kvyat the slowest. In another odd elimination, Gasly will start 13 th (unless he benefit...

Ahead of the race weekend there was some more rumbling about bringing in financially fairer rules, including a cost cap (proposed to start at £200m before falling to £150m [think it’s pounds, may be dollars]) a few years later. The cost cap is meant to address the sport’s two tier nature, with Mercedes, Ferrari, and Red Bull the only chaps with a shot at winning on pace, a situation that’s existed since the hybrid era began. It’s unlikely to go through. It didn’t last time and those three (four if you count Red Bull’s ‘sister’ team Toro Rosso, and five if you count Alfa Romeo [formerly Sauber] as Little Ferrari) have significant clout in the sport. In other off-track news, it appears Patrick Head is returning to Williams. After the swift departure of Paddy Lowe for ‘personal’ leave, this does suggest Lowe may not be coming back. One hopes the team can turn things around rapidly, as right now they’re in a lowly third tier, by themselves. Ahead of practice, on PB, I tipp...

A rather interesting result. I brilliantly continued my bad habit of sleeping in for either race or qualifying, and missed the first 26 laps or so, but caught the highlights later. Ferrari look to be third fastest with Mercedes in good shape and Verstappen competitive, but the jury is out on Gasly. Watched highlights: Off the line Bottas had a great start. Hamilton’s wasn’t awful but also wasn’t sufficient to stop his team mate getting ahead. Further back, Hulkenberg started well, making up three places, but Ricciardo had a slightly odd incident, running onto the grass and managing to lose his front wing. Kubica also lost his front wing, and the pair were forced into early pit stops. Leclerc attempted to get around Vettel and almost collided, the evading action putting him onto the grass and ensuring both Vettel and Verstappen were ahead of him. Meanwhile, the more things change for McLaren the more they stay the same. Different engine, different unlucky Spaniard, sa...

Very mixed feelings. Pleased the Bottas bet came off (albeit in a weak rather than strong fashion) but annoyed with myself for not hedging at evens on an exchange, something I seriously considered and decided against. Nevertheless, a green start is nice. The first part of qualifying had a few notable moments. Sadly, Williams being incredibly slow was one of them Russell was more than a second behind the chap ahead of him, and, worse still, Kubica was a second and a half off his newcomer team mate (that gap might’ve been narrowed had the Pole not touched a wall and suffered a puncture on a later lap). The track evolved rapidly which caught out two chaps who should’ve been through. Gasly starts his first race for Red Bull in 17 th , the cost of complacency from a top team. Sainz was doubly unlucky, as track evolution meant his original time wasn’t quick enough and he was behind Kubica on track for the later attempt but the Pole’s misfortune compromised the Spaniard’s effort to imp...

Learnt on Thursday that Charlie Whiting, the race director, died suddenly of an embolism. Rather a shock, to be honest. In his sixties, which isn’t exactly old these days, and a great loss to the sport. Rest in peace. The fastest lap will now earn said driver a point. He would still have to finish in the top 10, though. Seems a bit of a gimmick to me, when the F1 decision-makers have rather bigger fish to fry, but there we are. It might have altered the third place spot last time, as Raikkonen, Verstappen, and Bottas all finished very close together indeed. Even before the season started, Williams announced that Paddy Lowe has taken a leave of absence for personal reasons. May not bode well. At this stage it sounds permanent but we really don’t know for sure. Practice Times First practice saw Hamilton fastest, but Vettel was just four-hundredths behind him, and Leclerc a similar margin behind his team mate. Verstappen was a further tenth down the road, with Bottas...