MorrisF1

As predicted, qualifying was wet. Rather wetter than anticipated, which led to a 12 minute or so delay at the start.  Come Q1 everyone went out on wets, apart from the Williams that opted for inters. But would it prove brave and smart or foolish? The former, with the two drivers seconds faster than the wet chaps and prompting the whole grid to do likewise. Both Williams duly escaped this session, although the Haas and Alfa Romeo drivers, and Tsunoda, left at this stage. Norris was the fastest driver. Q2 saw the track dry a little for inters more comfortably, but it was still raining and a mile away from slicks. A failure to go out on new inters initially meant the Mercedes ended up burning through two more sets which may have implications if the race is wet (eminently possible). Despite a late run on new inters, Hamilton was only second fastest, behind Norris, who was looking a real contender for pole. Slightly surprisingly, both Ferraris failed to progress, as did Latifi, Alon...

The Japanese Grand Prix has been cancelled due to rising plague cases. In other non-shock news, both Alonso and Perez will be staying with their teams in 2022. In first practice Bottas was quickest, a tenth and a half ahead of Verstappen and half a second in front of Gasly. Leclerc and Sainz followed closely, then came Perez, Vettel, Norris, Ocon, and Alonso. Second practice had both Verstappen and Leclerc crashing, but the Dutchman was still fastest, less than a tenth ahead of both Bottas and Hamilton. Alonso was fourth but four-tenths off the Mercedes, and a hundredth ahead of Gasly. Stroll, Ocon, Vettel, Norris, and Perez rounded out the top 10. Third practice was wet and there’s every chance qualifying will be too. Fast times were set on the inters. Verstappen was top, by a mile, almost a second ahead of Perez. The Mexican was a tenth up on Hamilton, with Norris half a second down the road. Ocon, Stroll, Gasly, Vettel, Russell and Alonso followed. If it’s wet, Verstappen lo...

Well, the race was red due to very unforeseen circumstances. The forecast was dry, the reality was wet. Everyone started on intermediates. Come the first corner, Bottas, who had left the handbrake on at the start and been passed by Norris and Vettel, locked up and struck the Briton whose car hit Verstappen hard and multiple others got caught up in it. A short way further back, Stroll went in too fast (having passed Vettel at the start) and tried to get out of the way on the inside, on the grass, but ended up taking out Leclerc and compounding the incident. Hamilton, leading, was unaffected. Verstappen could continue but his floor was a jagged ruin. Bottas was out. Midfield big hitters Norris, Leclerc, Perez were all out. And who was behind Hamilton? Ocon and Vettel. Bizarre. The damage brought out yet another red flag (they’re in fashion in 2021, it seems). Red Bull couldn’t really patch up Verstappen’s damage but did what little they could. Eventually we had a second formati...

Seems we have red flags every qualifying session. But that wasn’t the most interesting part this time. Schumacher had some misfortune as his car couldn’t be fixed, so he couldn’t set a time at all. Mazepin was slowest on track, with the Williams ahead of him (Russell being unusually helpless to drag his car into Q2). It wasn’t great for Tsunoda, who was the fastest eliminated driver, over a second behind Gasly on pace. The red flag emerged in Q2 when Sainz introduced his Ferrari to the wall. He had been the fastest non-Mercedes/Red Bull driver in the first session, during which he impeded Tsunoda. So he’s 15 th at best and likely to be slapped with a grid penalty that may well send him to the back row. Given how good the Ferrari has looked, this is a great blow, and not the first time the talented Spaniard has come a cropper in qualifying. Also eliminated by less than a tenth was Ricciardo, and Stroll, with both Alfa Romeos also knocked out at this stage. Q2 was also notable for...