MorrisF1

Well, now I wish I’d tipped Russell to top FP3. Ending the season with a couple of good predictions I didn’t tip is a bit irksome. What isn’t irksome is how incredibly close qualifying was, which led to a pretty good grid and the prospect of an intriguing final race, both in itself and for the title. Q1 said goodbye to some big names, with Hamilton, Albon, Hulkenberg, Gasly, and Colapinto going out. Both Hamilton and Hulkenberg’s team mates made it through to Q3 and the German looked fast enough to escapebut didn’t quite hook things up. In Q2 Bearman, Sainz, Lawson, Antonelli, and Stroll exited the stage. Bearman and Antonelli were surprises, as the Briton has looked very good lately (including this weekend) and Antonelli is also on a run of good results. Every driver out in Q2 had a time of 1:23:0. And so to Q3 which I felt had become a probable McLaren duel. Not for the first time this season, I was wrong. Verstappen put in two great laps for pole, and didn’t need the tow he had ...

We had some news between Qatar and now that Tsunoda will be out next year, with Lawson joined by Lindblad at Racing Bulls and Hadjar moving up/down to Red Bull in 2026. Given the second seat has chewed up plenty of good drivers it’s a shame, but not unexpected, to see Tsunoda tossed overboard like this. Quick note: there are three pre-season tests for 2026, the first being in late January, making the off-season unusually short this year. And so the title decider, which, thanks to a combination of disqualifications and sub-optimal strategy still sees Verstappen in with a chance of the title. Norris remains favourite, and Piastri lags them both but could theoretically still win. Gosh. In FP1 Piastri was not running as his car was (long-planned move) taken by Patricio O’Ward, and we had many similar changes in other teams. Norris was fastest, eight-thousandths ahead of Verstappen and 16-thousandths ahead of Leclerc. A tenth back was Antonelli, then Hulkenberg, Russell, Bortoleto, Bearm...

And so, with the pretend race and qualifying done, it will soon be time for the penultimate Grand Prix of the year. Norris could sew things up, if he finishes where he starts. In Q1 it was another torrid time for Hamilton.It was also a return to poor form for Tsunoda, who did extremely well in sprint qualifying. The five out were Tsunoda, Ocon, Hamilton, Stroll, and Colapinto. To be fair to Hamilton, the car looked like a dog in Leclerc’s hands too (the Monegasque had a high speed spin but was luckily nowhere near the barriers). Ferrari to have 1 or 2 not classified is a market I’ll be checking. Q2 said goodbye to Hulkenberg, Lawson, Bearman, Bortoleto, and Albon. Once again, Sainz’s fantastic run of form continues, he was four-tenths faster than Albon in this session and reached Q3. Hulkenberg was one-hundredth slower than Leclerc, which is a bit unlucky. At the sharp end it was looking like a McLaren duel, and so it proved. Piastri was the quicker and claimed pole, again, a tenth ...

Incidentally, there’s a 25 lap maximum for stints in Qatar, which means at least two stops due to the 57 laps in the Grand Prix. The 19 lap sprint will be unaffected. This may also affect whether an early (lap 6 or earlier) safety car leads to pit stops or not. The reason is fears over the track chewing up tyres so much they disintegrate. In solitary practice the McLarens were looking good, as was Alonso. Verstappen’s 6th wasn’t great but I was confident he’d bounce back, and seriously considered tipping Piastri (his odds were 7, boosted to 7.5) but ended up not doing so. Come sprint qualifying, more woe for Hamilton. He was out in SQ1, ahead only of the Alpines. Also out were Lawson and Stroll, whose team mate would reach SQ3 (as would Hamilton’s). SQ2 saw the unexpected departure of Hulkenberg as both Saubers formed the meat in a Haas sandwich (Bearman fastest of them). The German had looked very good but failed to hook up a final lap. Out in 11th was Hadjar, due to a lap being de...

Well, qualifying was less than splendid as I managed to combine oversleeping with not being there to see the chap I thought might get pole go out in Q1. But I did catch Q2 and Q3 live, at least. Las Vegas qualifying also saw the rarest of things, wet tyres actually being used (for Q1 and Q2, it was intermediates for Q3). In Q1 (having caught up), we said goodbye to Albon, Antonelli (who messed up his final lap), Bortoleto, Tsunoda, and Hamilton, who was last and always seemed to be struggling. Kind of shocking to lose both a Mercedes and a Ferrari in Q1 just on pace, but it was full wets and clearly the cars didn’t like it. If the race is dry, there may still be hope for them. Q2 was still wets, except for Stroll who was looking very good then put on inters and discovered it was about 10 minutes too early. Hulkenberg was the fastest man eliminated, right ahead of Stroll. Ocon and Bearman were both out, as was Colapinto, who did nicely to save himself form a trip to the barriers when...

Due to the hellishly early 4am (UK) start times this weekend, the pre-qualifying and pre-race rambles are both going to be early. First practice had the unexpected top three of Leclerc, Albon, and Tsunoda, who was one place and less than half a tenth ahead of Verstappen. Sainz, Norris, and Hadjar followed, with Piastri, Russell, and Antonelli bringing up the rear of the top 10. While intriguing I suspect these times may be less than representative. Second practice was back to Brazil, with Norris quickest, but under a tenth ahead of Antonelli. Leclerc stayed fast in third, one place ahead of Hulkenberg. Right behind the Hulk were the racing Bulls pair of Hadjar and Lawson, with Russell a little further back. Albon, Verstappen, and Hamilton finished off the upper half of the time sheet. Piastri was 14th. I was a bit surprised Antonelli was out at 9, 9.5 boosted, so I’ve backed him each way for qualifying. He was second quickest and very close behind Norris in FP2 and while the Mercede...

I tend not to comment, good or bad, on bet results but a Mercedes being top 2 but not the guy who finishes ahead 85% of the time and whom I’d backed was pretty galling. Ah, well. I had a lot of flukey results in previous seasons so 50/50s going against me this year is just the way it goes…and it was a crazy qualifying session. Quick sprint rundown: Piastri out. He spun and was immediately followed by Hulkenberg and Colapinto so it looked like bad luck rather than a serious error. With Norris winning this was another step backwards for the Aussie. Verstappen was 4th, and Gasly got the last point in 8th. Qualifying saw Red Bull make serious setup changes to try and make up for relatively weak pace in the sprint. This had the opposite effect, with Verstappen out in Q1 in 16th. He was ahead of Ocon (as he had been at the line in Brazil last year), then came Colapinto, Tsunoda, and Bortoleto, who was unable to set a time due to his car not being fixed in time. Rough home race for the Brazil...

Once again the magnificent Interlagos is contaminated by the American vomit chocolate of the sprint race. Alas. Bit of off-track news: Alpine has kept Colapinto for next year. Only practice had Norris and Piastri quickest, ahead of Hulkenberg and Alonso. Bortoleto was fifth quickest, followed by Russell, Gasly, Sainz, Hadjar, and Antonelli. It’s worth knowing the Ferraris and Verstappen didn’t use the medium tyre due to limited allocation and not wanting to use them up. Sprint qualifying was extremely close, as indicated by the five eliminated in SQ1 all coming from different teams. The drivers were: Colapinto, Lawson, Tsunoda, Ocon, and Sainz. The gaps were tiny in SQ2 and some were not helped by Leclerc spinning in sector 2 towards the end. This screwed over Hamilton, who was the fastest man out, ahead of Albon, Gasly, Bortoleto, and Bearman. As in SQ1, everyone eliminated was from a different team. Going into SQ3 it seemed Norris and Piastri were very close, with Verstappen in ...

Before qualifying (and, indeed, third practice) it looked like Verstappen remained likeliest to get pole but that it could be close, with Leclerc, Antonelli, and Norris all looking pretty good. The short lap made qualifying very close throughout, and in Q1 we waved goodbye to Bortoleto, Albon, Gasly, Stroll, and Colapinto. Given Sainz got through to Q3 bit of a weaker showing from Albon, though it might be fairer to say Sainz is very good around this track. In Q2 Tsunoda was the fastest man eliminated, followed by Ocon, Hulkenberg, Alonso, and Lawson. Going into Q3 I had thought it was Verstappen’s to lose but his car was sliding a bit which was not only bad for pace but also won’t help his tyre wear over the long runs. In a tight session, Norris’ pole margin of around three-tenths was very impressive and if he can retain the lead on the opening lap he’s very likely to win. But, and it’s a big but, there’s a very long run into the first corner and a great opportunity to screw up. ...

And so we come to the annual tradition of me trying to remember what impact the higher altitude and thinner atmosphere of Mexico has on the race… (Less air, less slipstream effect, so overtaking’s harder). As before, this is up early due to the late FP3/qualifying times being inconvenient for me. Quick note for FP1: there were nine young (mostly) drivers taking regulars’ places and neither Verstappen nor Norris were driving. Anyway, Leclerc was quickest, ahead of Antonelli by a tenth. Two-tenths later came Hulkenberg, who was narrowly ahead of Piastri. Bortoleto followed, making this rather good for Sauber, with Lindblad (Red Bull), Ocon, Tsunoda, Colapinto, and Albon following. Verstappen topped second practice, a tenth and a half ahead of Leclerc, who was again followed closely by Antonelli. Norris was next, then came Hamilton, with Russell, Tsunoda, Alonso, Sainz, and Stroll completing the top 10. Piastri was 12th, six-tenths off Norris. I would be tempted by the 9 on Leclerc f...

The sprint race was marked by two events. On lap 1, a collision had knock-on effects which caused both McLarens and Alonso to DNF, and shunted Hulkenberg way down the order, out of the points. After the safety car came out, and left again, things were fairly sedate, with passing proving tricky, although Hamilton did manage to get ahead of Leclerc. Later, Stroll clumsily smashed into Ocon with an ill-considered overtake attempt which took out both men, and brought out the safety car for the second time. Under this finish the race would finish. Verstappen had a lovely time, getting all 8 points while McLaren scored 0. Russell got 2nd place with Sainz in 3rd. Behind the Spaniard, Ferrari recovered from woeful qualifying to 4th and 5th, Hamilton leading Leclerc, with Albon, Tsunoda (who made up 11 places), and Antonelli finishing the points positions. Bearman had been in 8th but continued his one-man mission to disprove British bias by getting a 10s penalty for defending against Antonell...

Ah, sprints. The pre-digested food of a Formula 1 weekend. Not a fan of late start times either, but at least we’re at the best of the (ridiculous) three circuits in the USA. In first and only practice Norris was fastest, a quarter of a second of… Hulkenberg. Hmm. Piastri was two-hundredths behind the Sauber. Alonso was next, and only then came Verstappen, with Albon, Russell, Hamilton, Hadjar, and Bearman completing the top 10. In pretend qualifying for the pretend race Verstappen decided it would be better to go faster and thus got pole. Norris was a tenth off, one place and three-tenths quicker than Piastri. Hulkenberg starts 4th, and was just one-tenth behind the Aussie. Russell and Alonso start on row three, then we have Sainz ahead of Hamilton (ironically), and Albon ahead of Leclerc. NB several drivers failed to put in a final time, which meant Bortoleto had none on the board and was last. Would’ve been interesting to see where he would’ve come, given he was 12th and almost a...

I’d expected qualifying to be a five horse race but instead it ended up with rather bigger gaps than we’ve come to expect this year. Q1 featured a red flag from Gasly suffering what appears to be a hydraulic failure. Bortoleto, Stroll, Colapinto, Ocon and Gasly were eliminated at this stage. Not too unexpected, save for Bortoleto being outqualified by Hulkenberg for the first time in a long while. Q2 was a little delayed but when it was done we said goodbye to Hulkenberg, Albon, Sainz, Lawson, and Tsunoda. I think Hulkenberg did well to get so far up the grid, and the Williams was pushed to its potential but simply doesn’t gel with this circuit. Lawson and Tsunoda could’ve done better given how their team mates did. And so to Q3, which was feeling like it might be a Verstappen versus Mercedes battle. And so it was, with Russell putting in a cracking first lap to secure provisional pole. Verstappen could only get within a couple of tenths but had to settle for the runner-up spot. Pi...

In first practice Alonso was quickest, a tenth and a half ahead of Leclerc. Verstappen was a similar margin further back, a tenth ahead of Hamilton. Piastri was a thousandths off the Briton but two-tenths ahead of Norris, with Hadjar, Sainz, Tsunoda, and Ocon rounding out the top 10. Second practice was disrupted by two red flags caused by Russell and Lawson crashing out. Fastest in FP2 was Piastri, a tenth up on Hadjar. Verstappen and Alonso were one- and three-hundredths respectively behind the Frenchman. Then there was a huge three-tenths gap to Norris, who was followed by Stroll, Ocon, Sainz, Leclerc, and Hamilton. Practice also saw a pit lane crash when Ferrari sent out Leclerc directly into the path of Norris. Very much a case of incompetence from the pit crew. The penalty was just a fine, but if that had happened in qualifying or the race then a grid penalty would’ve been on the cards. In third practice we had another red flag courtesy of Liam Lawson crashing, again. Hamilto...

Hello, everyone, and welcome to the 37th Undercutters podcast, looking back at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. I’m your host, Morris, and you can find me on Twitter or Blue Sky as MorrisF1. As usual, I’ll post the transcript up on morrisf1.blogspot.com. I said before that Azerbaijan was one of my favourite circuits. Would it live up to my hopes, or be a letdown? Here’s what happened at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Azerbaijan Grand Prix Qualifying 00m37s Qualifying was ridiculously long at 2 hours, and this was all down to half a dozen red flags. One was unnecessary, thrown up too rapidly for a Hulkenberg crash when he was able to keep moving, but the other five were all necessary. Between that, late rain, and many a hot lap aborted by the flags we had a chaotic, crazy qualifying. This left the grid in some turmoil. One shock departure in Q1 was Alexander Albon, who had looked very good but crashed out to end qualifying in last position. A similar fate befell Oliver Bearman in 15th, while H...

Well, qualifying was a five red flag, two hour affair, with numerous drivers crashing out and a mostly shocking grid. There was even a touch of rain, but not enough to do more than add a touch of stress near the end. Q1 had three red flags, including an unnecessary one for Hulkenberg, whose car was never without power and who was able to get back to the pits and compete again when the track was green. The five eliminated drivers were Colapinto, who crashed out, Hulkenberg, who had crash damage, Ocon, who was just slow, Gasly, who was off-track near the end, and Albon, who crashed out. This was especially galling for Albon, who had looked good up until this point. In Q2 I was astonished Alonso was the fastest man eliminated (thought the Aston Martin would not be good here). He was ahead of Hamilton, who had seemed really competitive but lacked a lot of pace in the middle sector. Bortoleto in 13th being a little disappointing is indicative of what a great job the Brazilian’s been doing...

First practice had a predictable McLaren 1-2 at the top, Norris leading Piastri, with Leclerc and Russell next down the road. Albon was next, with Tsunoda ahead of Verstappen. Sainz, Lawson, and Hadjar completed the top 10. FP2 was quite different. Hamilton was top ahead of Leclerc, with Russell leading Antonelli, and then Bearman. Verstappen was in sixth, ahead of Lawson, Ocon, Albon, and Norris, with Piastri in 12th. A few notes are worthwhile: Norris whacked into the wall in FP2 and had about a third the laps of everyone else. First practice also had a long red flag due to a kerb deciding to be loose. Third practice had Norris quickest, two-tenths up on Verstappen, Piastri, and Hamilton. Antonelli and Russell were four-tenths further back, and narrowly ahead of Albon, Bearman, then Lawson and Leclerc (who made an error on his final qualifying simulation run). Hamilton’s been surprisingly close to Leclerc in practice. This is a shock for two reasons: it’s not been the case most o...

Hello, everyone. This is the 36th Undercutters podcast, and we’re going to look ahead to the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. I’m Morris, and you can find me on Blue Sky or Twitter as MorrisF1. Transcripts are posted to morrisf1blogspot.com.  Baku is one of my favourite destinations. It can sometimes be a little steady but can also throw up very chaotic races. The circuit is one where Sergio Perez and Charles Leclerc are both very quick, and as Perez isn’t on the grid this year this may mean Leclerc can do well in qualifying and the race. Or perhaps I’m underestimating Verstappen, and he’ll spring another surprise. The McLaren Monza Strategy 00m50s But before we look ahead to Azerbaijan, I want to talk a bit about the McLaren decision last race, which seemed to catch most people by surprise or look ridiculous to them. While I admit it was a slightly odd situation, it didn't surprise me in the slightest. That's why I didn't comment on it much last time, but given the general reaction ...

Hello, everyone. Welcome to the 35th Undercutters podcast, looking back at the Italian Grand Prix. I’m Morris, and I’ve just got a cold, so apologies if things sound worse than usual. Could Norris reduce the damage he suffered with a rare reliability failure at the Dutch Grand Prix? Could Ferrari bounce back from a double DNF to glory at home? Italian Grand Prix Qualifying 00m29s Qualifying in Monza this year was ultra-close. It was a surprise to see both Racing Bulls out in Q1, and both Williams out in Q2. Less surprising was Bortoleto making Q3, but Hulkenberg’s 12th was rather good for him this year. The German was 9th in the standings but has never made Q3, which is rather odd. At the sharp end, Verstappen put in a great lap to claim pole ahead of Norris by less than a tenth of a second. Piastri and Leclerc formed up on row two, with Russell and Antonelli on the third row. Good result for the Italian driver who really needs a steady weekend. Bortoleto and Alonso started on the...

Qualifying’s been very competitive this season and Monza was a perfect example, as drivers from one of three or four teams could’ve credibly taken pole. Q1 saw us lose Hadjar, Stroll, Colapinto, Gasly, and Lawson. The Kiwi made a mistake on his last lap which is why Lawson’s last, and most of the others aren’t a surprise. Hadjar is, however, and apparently he had problems with warmup as well as making a mistake on his lap. Q2 was also very close and I was surprised to see both Williams exit at this stage. Bearman was fastest of those out, ahead of Hulkenberg (in a shockingly High For Hulkenberg 12th), Sainz, Albon, and Ocon. Seven-hundredths would’ve put either Bearman or Hulkenberg into Q3. And so into Q3. The McLarens hadn’t been looking as dominant as expected through qualifying, with Russell (on mediums, weirdly) and the Ferraris looking like they might pose a threat. But it was Verstappen who put in a fantastic final lap to take pole away from Norris. Piastri ended up 3rd, ahea...

Quick reminder that Hamilton has a 5 place grid penalty from speeding under yellows in Zandvoort, which is a shame. First practice had a Ferrari 1-2, with Hamilton a tenth and a half up on Leclerc. Sainz was third but half a second off the ultimate pace, and narrowly ahead of Verstappen. Antonelli was three-tenths further back, slightly ahead of Norris, with Albon, Russell, Alonso, and Hadjar completing the top 10. Piastri didn’t drive, his seat was occupied by Alexander Dunne. Second practice was back to business as usual, with Norris top, less than a tenth ahead of Leclerc. Sainz was a hundredth further back, making him top 3 in both sessions at this point. Piastri was a tenth off the Spaniard, and a hundredth ahead of Hamilton. In turn, Verstappen was seven-thousandths behind Hamilton, with Albon, Hulkenberg, Tsunoda and Russell filling out the upper half of the time sheet. Due to the timing of my Saturday I’m not going to be able to watch FP3 then bet, or not, but I was pretty t...

Hello, everyone. This is the Undercutters podcast, and I’m your host, Morris. You can find me on Twitter or Blue Sky as MorrisF1, and the transcript is available on morrisf1.blogspot.com. We’ve just had the Dutch Grand Prix, and the Italian Grand Prix is around the corner. Things have been tight between Piastri and Norris all season, and the Zandvoort event was dramatic. But who will triumph in Monza? And can Ferrari pull out an unlikely home victory? Dutch Grand Prix Qualifying 00m39s Qualifying for the Dutch Grand Prix was eventful. Spare a thought for Aston Martin’s mechanics. They stayed up overnight mending Lance Stroll’s car after a practice crash only for him to immediately hit the wall in qualifying. He was able to get back to the pits but had to retire. Otherwise the qualifying was highly competitive. Norris had looked the man to beat and while Piastri did get pole it was by just twelve-thousandths of a second. This was not a case of Norris bottling it or making an error, ...