MorrisF1

Well, I didn’t feel brave but if you did kudos for backing Leclerc on 13 for pole. Gosh. The first session was not great for Albon, last and outqualified by a faster team mate (who escaped to Q2). The same thing happened to all those eliminated, who were Tsunoda, Gasly, Ocon, Hulkenberg, and Albon. Things were very close, though. In Q2 we lost some big names. Fastest out was Bearman, and right behind him was Hamilton (who has more poles here than the rest of the field combined). Sainz ended up 13th, ahead of Colapinto and Antonelli, who has having a torrid time of late. Then Q3 decided to spring a surprise and Leclerc reminded us all he’s the best qualifier on the grid with a stunning pole lap. He was right ahead of Piastri, and Norris was relegated to third on the grid, alongside Russell. The third row is Aston Martin territory, Alonso leading Stroll, and the car’s looking tasty this weekend. They could be on for major points. Bortoleto continues to impress with 7th on the grid (1...

And so to Hungary, final race before the summer break. Surprising no-one, McLaren topped first practice with Norris ahead of Piastri by two-hundredths. Leclerc was a couple of tenths further back, followed by Hadjar, who was four-tenths slower. Then, with narrower gaps, we had Hamilton, Bearman, Antonelli, Russell, Verstappen and Stroll. In second practice Norris was again ahead of Piastri but this time by nearly three-tenths. Leclerc was one-tenth off and followed (again a tenth away) by Stroll, with Alonso the same margin behind. Hamilton, Russell, Hadjar, Tsunoda, and Antonelli rounded out the top 10. It’s worth noting Alonso missed FP1, and was replaced by Felipe Drugovich, due to a muscular back injury. Sounds like he’ll be there for qualifying and the race. Verstappen was 9th and 14th in practice and he may end up having a rough weekend. And, at the moment, the forecast indicates only drizzle rather than serious rain which might’ve helped him out. Third practice had Piastri ...

Hello, everyone. This is the 30th Undercutters podcast, looking back at Belgium and ahead to Hungary. I’m Morris, and you can find me on Twitter or BlueSky at MorrisF1, or read the transcript at morrisf1.blogspot.com Hungary saw Piastri’s first win last year, but can the Aussie repeat the feat? Can anyone stop McLaren dominating the whole season? And will Verstappen and Alonso be as annoyed as they were last year? Belgian Sprint 00m39s The sprint in Belgium was not the most exciting of things. Verstappen and Leclerc passed Piastri and Norris respectively. Norris was able to pass the Ferrari then close up on Verstappen and Piastri, but the Aussie was not able to reclaim the lead despite sitting in DRS range of Verstappen all race long. Despite a lot of drivers being consistently in DRS there was not much in the way of passing. The points scorers were: Verstappen, Piastri, Norris, Leclerc, Ocon, Sainz, Bearman, and Hadjar. Belgian Grand Prix Qualifying 1m20s Qualifying for the Belgia...

Sprint qualifying had a few surprises, with SQ1 losing Albon, Hulkenberg, Hamilton, Colapinto, and Antonelli. I think only Hulkenberg and Colapinto aren’t too surprising there. For all his great race results, Hulkenberg’s regularly gone out early. Hamilton spun, Albon was just not quick enough, and Antonelli, from the sounds of it, had some sort of floor damage. That said, it’s worth noting neither Mercedes looked fast. SQ2 saw Piastri scrape through in 10th after a great time was eliminated and he had to set another on used tyres. Lawson, Tsunoda, Russell, Alonso, and Stroll all left, and the track showed immense evolution. SQ3 was a dominant pole for Piastri, and Haas also really punched above their weight. The Aussie led Verstappen on the front row, with Norris relegated to 3rd alongside Leclerc. Ocon was 5th, with Sainz 6th (great for both), Bearman leading Gasly on row four, and Hadjar and Bortoleto bringing up the rear. The sprint itself saw Gasly not start due to a suspected ...

This is up a day earlier than usual due to the timing of the sessions this weekend. It’s not really a surprise that the McLarens and Verstappen topped the first and only practice session but there was a bit more of a gap than there might have been. Piastri was four-tenths up on the Dutchman and five ahead of Norris. Russell was close behind Norris but then there was nearly half a second back to Leclerc. Antonelli, Hamilton, Stroll, Alonso, and Hadjar completed the top 10. I have very mixed feelings about sprint weekends. As a spectator, I dislike the money-grubbing format, but as a bettor the sprint is often a fantastic guide to race pace. I’m not inclined to bet after a single practice session, but will be paying close attention to pace in both the sprint and qualifying ahead of the Grand Prix. The pre-race ramble will be up Sunday morning (UK time). Morris

 Hello, everyone. Welcome to the Undercutters podcast, previewing the Belgian Grand Prix, and also having a quick look back at a couple of other things including Piastri’s penalty and Horner being tossed overboard. Last season’s race here was fantastic, and we might see strategic cunning on display once again. Will Hulkenberg maintain his fantastic form? Will Norris continue reeling in Piastri? And will we find out if Verstappen really is going to Mercedes.   Quick Look at Spa 00m36s The Belgian Grand Prix is hosted at Spa, and is the longest track on the calendar at 7km, meaning there are just 44 laps. It’s a fantastic circuit, sadly to be reduced to rotating status on the calendar in the near future, with the epic Eau Rouge early on and a long straight between turns 4 and 5 that can make it tricky to retain the lead on an opening lap. This is also where one of the DRS zones is located, with the other running from turn 19 to turn 1, but that’s pretty short. Downforce setup...

Hello, everyone. In the 28th episode of the Undercutters podcast we’re looking back at the British Grand Prix. Did it live up to the fantastic 2024 race? Was it a great day for the various British drivers? Well, let’s look back at the weekend. British Grand Prix Qualifying 00m28s Qualifying at Silverstone was another exciting session, with one of the key moments being Colapinto’s crash when he spun out. While he was able to get going again he was advised to stop and this brought out red flags. This is not going to do his bid to stay in his seat much good and the rumours about Bottas replacing him might get a little louder. Stroll failed to escape Q1 but Alonso made it to Q3. Antonelli had a 3 place grid penalty for his crash into Verstappen in Austria, with Bearman getting a 10 place penalty for a red flag infringement during practice. That’s a shame, as the Haas rookie did very well to make it to the end of qualifying and paid the price for a silly practice mistake. At the sharp end...

Well, I’m glad I didn’t bet because, if I had, it probably would’ve been on Hamilton (or maybe Leclerc). There were spots of rain in parts of qualifying but nothing that affected times much. Qualifying as been fantastically competitive this year and this time was no exception. Colapinto dealt his prospects of keeping his Alpine seat a bit more damage when he went off, crashed into a barrier, was able to get going, but had to stop the car and brought out a red flag. Also out in Q1 were Lawson (bit of a surprise), Bortoleto, Stroll, and Hulkenberg. Q2 said goodbye to Sainz, Tsunoda, Hadjar, Albon, and Ocon. While it’s not ideal for Williams this does mark an improvement, assuming the cars finish the race. Tsunoda was also better than he has been, but it was a bit weak from Ocon to be slowest when Bearman made Q3 (but the Briton has a 10 place grid penalty for a practice red flag infringement, alas). In Q3 it was looking like McLaren versus Ferrari, with an outside chance of Verstappe...

Rain is possible this weekend. Shocking, I know. FP1 had Hamilton fastest, two-hundredths up on Norris. Piastri was a tenth further back, with Leclerc another half-tenth off. Russell wasn’t far behind in 5th, then came Hadjar, Albon, Lawson, Antonelli, and Verstappen. The Red Bull was not exactly brimming with grip. In second practice Norris was quickest, two-tenths up on Leclerc. Hamilton was within a tenth of his team mate, while Piastri didn’t get the most from his McLaren and was nearly half a second behind Norris. Verstappen was close behind the Australian. Antonelli, Stroll, and Russell followed, with Hadjar and Lawson rounding out the top 10. So far it’s looking like a two-team weekend with Ferrari challenging McLaren (although I think the latter has the edge in the wet). Verstappen’s seem out of it without a big setup improvement for FP3/qualifying and/or rain. Racing Bulls are looking good. I think it could be a good fight in qualifying, but expect Norris to end up on pole...

The double-header of Austria and the UK were fantastic last year, but would they live up to that in 2025? In this, the 27th edition of Undercutters, I take a look at how the Austrian Grand Prix went, and ahead to Silverstone. As always, if you want to say hello online I’m MorrisF1 at both Blue Sky and Twitter, and morrisf1.blogspot.com is where you can find the transcript and many wonderful graphs. There are plenty of upgrades still coming in, but will Ferrari finally work out how to get the most from a car that differs drastically from their excellent 2025 effort? Will Sauber continue to be surprisingly good? And will Norris finally nail Q3? Austrian Grand Prix Qualifying 00m55s Qualifying in Austria had some weird results. Hulkenberg was slowest of all, perhaps the most surprising man to go out in Q1. He was joined by Stroll, Ocon, Tsunoda, and Sainz. The Spaniard seemed to have some serious car problems, which explains his lack of pace. Alonso and Albon were the fastest men elimi...