MorrisF1

Well, that was quite the race. The Perez bet failed early as he was the first (but not the last) to introduce his car to the barriers (his first DNF of the year, incidentally). That aside, the race was fantastic, with slippery conditions catching out most of the frontrunners and giving the midfield teams a nibble of the larger points positions. A lot happened, and I’m a bit off-colour so I’m afraid the complicated and many doings of the race will be covered rather more concisely than they deserve. Off the line the race was wet and Verstappen left the handbrake on. He slipped down to about 7 th or so, Bottas easing into 2 nd . Vettel gobbled up half a dozen others on the first lap. Verstappen fought back and things settled down into the Mercedes leading with the Dutchman 3 rd . Perez spun on the slippery track. This brought out the first of many safety and virtual safety cars. Leclerc and Hulkenberg really benefited from a short VSC, diving into the pits for fresh tyre...

The early Verstappen bet came off (modestly green given it was each way). But qualifying was remarkable for the failures more than anything else. Ferrari were fast. But not reliable. In Q1 both Williams failed to progress, as did Albon and Norris, who missed out by a very narrow margin. The big shock was that Vettel, on his out lap, noticed a problem and had to box. It turned out his turbo had failed and the team were unable to mend it in time, meaning he is likely to start dead last at his home race. Especially irksome given he’s recently made some mistakes and suffered bad luck. In Q2 it seemed the same type of thing might happen to Verstappen. Whilst Mercedes and Leclerc were setting their times on the medium tyres, Verstappen had to pit for a seeming problem to be fixed. Unlike Vettel, it was mended and he went on to set his lap on soft tyres (with which he shall start the race). This session was ultra close with about two-hundredths separating 8 th to 13 th . Every ch...

An important note: Friday is hot and sunny, the weekend (whilst still warm) is significantly cooler, overcast, with a high chance of thundery showers on both qualifying and race days. So the first two practice sessions are probably going to be of limited utility in predicting either the grid or the final result. [On the basis of the wet situation I tipped Verstappen elsewhere to be top 3 in qualifying]. That said, Vettel was fastest in first practice, a quarter of a second ahead of Leclerc. Hamilton was next, closely followed by Verstappen. Bottas was some way further back, ahead of Gasly, Sainz, Grosjean, Stroll, and Ricciardo. Leclerc topped FP2, a tenth and a smidgen ahead of Vettel. Hamilton was a hundredth behind the German, with Bottas half a second down the road (not a great start for the Finn). Verstappen was two-hundredths off the slower Mercedes. Grosjean, Stroll, and Raikkonen followed, with Hulkenberg and Perez rounding out the top 10. Second practice also ...

A fantastic race for the eyes and a frustrating one for the wallet. One bet straight failed, the other was likely to have come off but for misfortune (reminded me a bit of Button bringing out a pointless Monaco safety car when he was sitting in for Alonso and I’d backed no safety car at 8). Off the line it was close at the front, and Vettel passed Gasly. Hamilton was super close but couldn’t pass until after the first lap, but Bottas immediately retook the place. It was great on-track action and was merely the appetiser. Verstappen appeared faster than Leclerc but couldn’t pass the Monegasque despite the pair being very close to one another indeed. Come the first pit stops, the Dutchman entered behind his rival, emerged ahead, found the tyres lacking grip, made a small mistake, and was immediately past by Leclerc. Bottas pitted first of the Mercedes, coming in for a second set of medium tyres. Hamilton and Vettel stayed out. And were soon to reap the rewards. Giov...

Well, I could’ve gone for Bottas and picked Leclerc. Galling to get it wrong but the hedge means, if you went that way, it should be all even. In Q1 it was depressingly familiar for Williams, as they propped up the time sheet once again. Similarly, Stroll failed to progress. Magnussen and Kvyat joined them, perhaps a little disappointing for the Russian. Q2 was interesting as it saw the Ferraris and Mercedes go out on mixed tyres. I believe, after later changes, the Ferraris will start on the soft, with the Mercedes going on the medium. Have to check that. The midfield was as competitive as ever, with Albon squeezing into the top 10, with (along with the predictable six), Norris and the Renaults also progressing. The two Alfas were the fastest to be eliminated, and behind them we have Sainz, Grosjean, and Perez. Mildly surprised the Spaniard didn’t do better. So far, Leclerc had looked the man to beat, and that’s probably why the hedge got matched. Hamilton buggered up...

A new Silverstone deal has been struck, ensuring that the race should continue until at least 2024. Would’ve gotten tasty odds on Gasly topping first practice. The Frenchman was half a second up on Bottas and eight-tenths ahead of Verstappen. Hamilton, Leclerc and Vettel were each separated by a tenth, with Hulkenberg half a second further back and a little way ahead of team mate Ricciardo. Albon and Sainz followed close behind. Second practice had a more predictable fastest chap, with Bottas half a tenth up on Hamilton. Leclerc was two-tenths off the ultimate pace, and a couple of tenths ahead of Vettel. Gasly followed close behind, with Norris a tiny margin ahead of Verstappen. Sainz, Albon, and Perez were separated by fifteen-thousandths (with Kvyat, following, a further six-thousandths back). Although third practice had some rain it dried off and slicked were back on by the end. Leclerc was fastest, less than three-hundredths ahead of Vettel and not even half a ten...