MorrisF1

Well, another reasonable but red bet that occurred during a rather exciting bit of F1. Thrilling conclusion to the race, but my bet failed. It was also a very eventful race so I may well end up forgetting bits and pieces. Drama started before the formation lap ended as Perez’s car decided to stop working. He managed to get it going again but that meant the field  had another formation lap and he had to start from the pit lane. Off the line the top two held position while Bottas was passed by a very racy Leclerc. Norris managed to get past his team mate. Mazepin did his thing and spin to end his race before completing a lap, and bringing out a safety car. It was either here or under the virtual safety car that emerged a few laps later (Gasly’s front wing fell off and had to be fetched) that Perez made his first stop for medium tyres. So far so good for Verstappen. He and Hamilton broke away from Bottas, who had managed to get ahead of Leclerc. Norris, meanwhile, and Ricciard...

Well, the bet failed to come off. It was eminently achievable, and the four-tenths Sainz dropped to his team mate in the first sector on the last run was the difference. So, a red start, but also an exciting qualifying session. The first session had some surprises as we got the season underway. Mazepin spun on his first lap, and followed this up with a late spin that brought out yellows and compromised many drivers behind him. Losing both Haas cars was expected, and Latifi also failed to proceed with his Williams, but Russell did well to advance. Ocon and Vettel were the two men perhaps most affected by the Mazepin yellows and we have a four time champion starting 18 th . Vettel’s had pretty rotten luck this year. Verstappen was quickest in this session but was concerned he might have damaged his floor on the kerbs. Be aware that the second Mazepin spin’s yellow flags mean that many drivers will have lap times investigated so the final grid could be reshuffled significantly from qu...

I offered one tip on the 16 th , elsewhere, for Perez to win each way (fifth the odds top 3) at 8.5, with boost, on Ladbrokes. As always with such off-blog bets, I won’t count it, win or lose, towards my ‘official’ results.  Bahrain provided spectacular entertainment last season and if this season-opening race is half as good it’ll be a cracking start to the season. Development has been particularly tricky this year as teams only had a couple of tokens to spend. Exceptions include McLaren, who had to alter things to fit their new Mercedes engine, and Aston Martin, who can upgrade 2019 Mercedes parts to 2020 Mercedes parts without costing tokens. Testing’s always tricky to tell. I think Ricciardo’s looking at home in the McLaren, and Vettel’s low number of laps was not great, but telling pace is tricky. The Red Bull starts looking comfortable for Verstappen. Will Mercedes have mastered their snappy rear? And how do the teams stack up on pace? We shall see. Practice will offe...

Day One The first of three days of testing was slightly unusual in that Mercedes actually had something of a setback. Gosh. In addition, sandy weather curbed the already limited testing time for everyone (and may recur for the race, although I don’t think we’ve had a sandstorm-affected event so far). Gearbox woe afflicted Mercedes, particularly Bottas, and meant the Finn only got in six laps. Because Mercedes split their day between both drivers, unlike some other teams, this meant Hamilton was able to get in 42 laps, but Bottas had the fewest laps completed of anyone driving on day one of the test. Hamilton’s number of laps was comparable to most other drivers (most teams split the day rather than having just one driver partake) but he was only tenth fastest, likely highlighting how little testing times are worth. Whether the gearbox problem is a quick fix or persistent remains to be seen. It was a lovely Friday for Verstappen, who was not only the fastest (for what that’s worth...