MorrisF1

  Qualifying started wet, and Q1 saw both Haas drivers, Tsunoda, Sargeant, and Zhou Guanyu leave the stage. Tsunoda also has a 60 place grid penalty, so his qualifying position is rather irrelevant to his grid slot. Albon was the fastest chap to depart in Q2, just three-thousandths slower than Perez. Gasly, Ricciardo, Bottas, and Stroll also failed to progress. The wet but drying yet also raining somewhat conditions made it very difficult to tell how things would go. At this stage Verstappen looked very much the man to beat. More rain fell ahead of Q3 so everybody wanted to rush out and set their time as soon as possible (Hamilton first, then Russell, Piastri, Ocon, Norris, Alonso, Sainz, Leclerc, Perez, Verstappen). After the first runs, the McLarens and Mercedes were very close, with the Ferraris behind but Red Bull fastest by a mile. Perez was two-tenths up on Hamilton/Piastri, and Verstappen was six-tenths faster. Interestingly, the McLarens and Mercedes stayed out to do anoth...

  The last before the mid-season break might also be the last for Perez. Rumours continue to swirl he will soon be axed, and perhaps replaced by Ricciardo. Also, in a shock departure, Bruno Famin is to leave Alpine as team principal, having held the role for just a year. Between this and Alpine’s plan to take engines from Mercedes, the team’s looking in what could politely be described as a state of change. Verstappen was quickest in first practice, half a second ahead of Piastri. Albon was a couple of tenths further back. In close succession then came Russell, Hamilton, Leclerc, Perez, Norris, Sainz, and Stroll. Second practice had a clear three at the top. Norris was two-tenths ahead of Piastri and Verstappen (the Dutchman trailing the Aussie by two-thousandths). Leclerc was three-tenths further back, and another three-tenths off the pace was Sainz. Russell, Ocon, Magnussen, Perez, and Hamilton rounded out the top 10. It’s also worth knowing Verstappen has a 10 place grid penalt...

Qualifying was a very stop-start affair, with a pair of red flags.   Q1 saw the first of these. Rain had fallen but ceased shortly before qualifying, and everybody went out on soft tyres. Perez’s poor run of form continued when he binned his Red Bull and brought out an initial red flag. At the time, he seemed likely to reach Q2 anyway, but track improvement put him down in 16 th . Russell also went out, partly because his team didn’t put in enough fuel for him to try a final lap. Zhou Guanyu departed at this stage, as did both Alpines, which had stayed in when everyone else went out (wrongly assuming the lightly falling rain would preclude lap time improvements). In Q2 Bottas qualified a highly respectable 12 th , right behind Hulkenberg. Both Williams failed to proceed, but Sargeant was just one tenth (and one place) behind Albon. Magnussen was the slowest man in the session. And so to Q3, which was looking like the McLarens, Verstappen, and maybe Hamilton would vie for pole. Nor...

Not a surprise, but Magnussen is leaving Haas, Bearman’s in, and Ocon will be announced in due course, almost certainly.   In first practice, Sainz was quickest, almost three-tenths ahead of Verstappen and Leclerc. Russell was a tenth further back, and one and a half-tenths covered from there to Hamilton in 10 th  (following Russell were Zhou Guanyu, Norris, Piastri, Tsunoda, Stroll, and Hamilton). Second practice had Norris faster, about a quarter of a second up on Verstappen. Sainz and Perez followed, then came Russell, Magnussen, Hamilton, Ricciardo, Albon, and Alonso. Leclerc crashed out. At the moment it looks ultra-competitive. This may be bad news for Perez, as a small gap to Verstappen could put him half a dozen places back or even out before Q3. I do wonder if the heat will hamper Mercedes. The forecast temperatures are down on earlier predictions and it should be overcast rather than bright sunlight, though.  There’s also small chance of rain during qualifying....

Well, I never thought the McLarens would be behind both Mercedes. Intriguing for the race, and nice to see three Britons in the first three grid slots for the first time since 1968. Not good for my Piastri bet, though. I blame lack of judgement for this betting failure.   Qualifying began on a track that was wet but rapidly drying. Everyone but Hulkenberg went out on the inters initially (the German relaxed in his garage) and soon switched to softs. However, Perez beached his car in a gravel trap, bringing out a red flag. He wasn’t alone in having troubles there, with multiple drivers going wide and through the gravel but they all managed to keep going (Verstappen took some car damage this way). Bottas, Magnussen, Ocon, Perez, and Gasly (who has an impressive 50 place grid penalty for taking a ton of new parts) were eliminated here. Session 2 of qualifying had some interesting notes, as the dry track saw Logan Sargeant put his Williams up into 12 th . He’s left it rather late, but ...