MorrisF1

I do loathe the sprint weekends, but the contest is, it must be acknowledged, very useful for assessing genuine pace in race conditions. Perez and Colapinto made some setup changes and started the sprint race from the pit lane. Medium tyres for everyone excep Zhou who started on softs. At the start, Piastri passed Russell, and Hamilton had a good start, rising two places into 5th, ahead of Leclerc and behind Sainz. Lawson had a terrible start, losing seven places. Verstappen also lost places, down to 9th on lap 4 (maybe earlier). The top 5 of Nor-Pia-Rus-Sai-Ham settled into a DRS train, with Leclerc close behind. About 13 laps in both Haas drivers were doing well, Hulkenberg up to 7th (up two) and Magnussen rose from 15th to 10th. Same lap, Leclerc and Hamilton had a fun battle that saw the Monegasque pass the Briton. Lap 15, Perez pitted for a new front wing… rather sums things up. According to F1 Gamer (YouTube channel) the McLaren race pace appears inferior to Ferrari. He may be ri...

Ha, if I’d backed Sainz for pole (each way) as well as the win that would’ve come off. But if wishes were fishes… Aston Martin worked hard to get Stroll’s car fixed for qualifying but his sole lap was the slowest. Alonso also failed to progress, as did Perez. Albon left at this stage, as did Bottas, both men outqualified by their team mates. Q2 ended with a longer break than usual as Colapinto binned his car into the wall and barrier repair plus track cleaning was required. The yellow flag ruined the chance for some to escape, such as Magnussen, who qualified 12th, right behind Ocon. Zhou Guanyu was a surprisingly good 13th, ahead of Colapinto and Lawson (whose team mate made it to Q3). All session long Mercedes, particularly Russell, had looked like the man to beat, with perhaps McLaren the closest competitor. And so it proved, with Russell on pole. But Sainz is the man starting alongside him on the front row. Full marks to anyone who tipped Gasly to be top 3, because he leads the sec...

And so, after a stupid three week break with three consecutive race weekends either side, we are back for the final three races of the year. For those interested, F1 put up the whole of the 2023 race on YouTube, which can be watched here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqq0AmnGwqI A few quick notes on re-watching: Perez pitted lap 2 under VSC for a nose change, was 18th yet ended up on the podium. Stroll and Tsunoda started on soft tyres, made up many places early on (Stroll got good points, Tsunoda DNFed). Slippery surface, concerns over maintaining temperature with VSC/SC. Lap 7, Sainz was 17th, Piastri 10th, Sainz finished 6th, Piastri 10th. First practice was a Mercedes 1-2, Hamilton leading Russell by four-tenths. Norris was over half a second further back, half a tenth ahead of Leclerc. Verstappen, Sainz, and Alonso followed, with Piastri, Gasly, and Perez rounding out the top 10. Hamilton also topped second practice, this time one-hundredth ahead of Norris. Russell was a tenth ...

I didn’t watch the sprint race but did catch up via the YouTube channel F1 Gamer, which has a nice neutral approach plus live driver tracker. If I can’t (or don’t want to) catch a session live this is how I usually follow along. The sprint was interesting, with Hamilton falling back and Perez progressing through the field (including getting reacquainted with his new best friend Lawson). Based on the performance, I expect Verstappen and Piastri to be fastest in the race (perhaps not in that order), then Norris, followed by Leclerc with Sainz last of the top five. On pace, the McLarens and Verstappen are a clear margin ahead of Ferrari, who are clearly faster than Mercedes. Also worth noting both Aston Martins finished behind both Saubers. Norris was gifted the win by Piastri swapping over, with Verstappen passing Leclerc for 3rd and 4th. Sainz was next, then Russell and Gasly (these later two separated by big gaps). Perez was only half a second behind Gasly come the end and snaffled th...

Bit annoyed with myself for not backing Piastri to win the race each way ahead of time, but this has become a minor habit of late. Was 9, now down to 6.5, which is likely too short (given we don't know how the grid will be). Magnussen is unwell and replaced once more by Bearman. Anyway, in first and only practice Norris was quickest, almost two-tenths up on Russell. Bearman was just a hundredth further back, with Piastri and a tenth and a half down the road but five-thousandths ahead of Albon. Leclerc and Sainz followed, then came Hulkenberg, Alonso, and Gasly. In pretend qualifying for the pretend race, it was a McLaren 1-2 with Piastri three-hundredths ahead of Norris. Leclerc was two-tenths down the road, with Verstappen just half a tenth behind the Monegasque. Sainz followed closely, with Russell one place but two-tenths further back. Row four is Gasly and Lawson (Red Bull ghosts of Christmas Past and Future), with Albon and Bearman forming the fifth row. For those wondering, H...