MorrisF1

Qualifying was close and competitive. At the front, this was only between the McLarens, but the rest of the field was much tighter. Lance Stroll didn’t delight his engineering team. The mechanics worked overnight to put his car together after a practice crash, then he immediately crashing in qualifying. While he was able to get it back to the pits, it had to be retired. Bearman could’ve gone faster but made an error and ended up going out, as did Ocon. Colapinto was the fastest man eliminated in Q1, right ahead of Hulkenberg, who continues to be outqualified by Bortoleto. Q2 was very tight indeed, but we said goodbye to Antonelli, Tsunoda, Bortoleto, Gasly, and Albon. Yes, Albon was the slowest one, rather surprisingly as both he and the Williams had been looking good. His tyres (perhaps warmup) were not there for the final, critical lap. If there’s a safety car or strange situation tomorrow then he has the pace to make up ground in clear air. All weekend long it had looked like Nor...

Shocking precisely no-one, Bottas and Perez have been confirmed for Cadillac in 2026. Good for them, and the team too, I think. Level heads, good speed, and a bag and a half of experience. Speaking of shocks, McLaren were 1-2 in first practice. Norris was three-tenths up on Piastri, who was two-tenths ahead of Stroll (somehow). Alonso was half a second off his team mate, but three-tenths ahead of Albon. Verstappen was down in 6th, ahead of Russell, Sainz, Bortoleto, and Gasly. Ferrari were 14th and 15th. FP1 also saw Antonelli going off and beaching himself in gravel. Practice two had red flags from two drivers, namely Stroll and Albon. Norris was quickest again, less than a tenth of a second ahead of Alonso, who was two-thousandths faster than Piastri. Three-tenths further back was Russell, then two-tenths to Vrstappen. Hamilton was 6th but another three-tenths away (eight-tenths off the fastest), ahead of Tsunoda, Leclerc, Colapinto and Hulkenberg. While Aston Martin are looking g...

Hello, everyone. After the summer break we return to the McLaren duel that is the 2025 Formula 1 season. I’m your host Morris, and this is the Undercutters podcast. As always, you can find me on Twitter or Blue Sky as MorrisF1, or read the transcripts, and admire the lovely graphs, at morrisf1.blogspot.com. Next up we have the Dutch Grand Prix, and I’ve got to admit this is not one of my favourites due to the difficulty passing (a problem at many circuits, it must be said). Will Norris maintain his momentum? Will Verstappen enjoy a home victory? And will Leclerc be so annoyed he has another radio rant so long it goes off the screen? Quick Look at Zandvoort 00m54s The Dutch Grand Prix is held at Zandvoort, which is 4.259km long and gives us 72 laps in a race. It was actually first created back in 1948, the same year as Silverstone. The circuit is fast and undulating, and if there weren’t dirty air and such large cars it might be rather good. As it is, the track’s not ideal for racing,...

Hello, everyone. Welcome to this extra summer break podcast, which only exists because I was vaguely pestilent for the Hungarian review. But that also means I can spend a bit more time on it. Today, I’ll be looking at the standings in a lot of detail, covering the title contenders, top teams, and a fantastically competitive midfield. After that I’ll be running through my surprisingly long list of predictions, including team mate battles, ranking the rookies, and season predictions. As ever, you can find me on Twitter or Blue Sky as MorrisF1, or read the transcript and look at lovely graphs at morrisf1.blogspot.com. Piastri versus Norris 00m51s I’ll start at the top, with the intra-McLaren battle between Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris. After the very first race in Australia it looked like Norris might have the whip hand, but assured performances from Piastri saw him close up and then take the lead. Norris seemed to have something of a psychological battle to hold things together, and...

Hello, everyone. This is the 31st Undercutters podcast, looking back at the Hungarian Grand Prix. I’m your host, Morris, and you can find me on Twitter or Blue Sky as MorrisF1. Hungary’s the last race before the summer break in a season that’s been dominated by McLaren so far. But there’s still plenty of racing to come.   Hungarian Grand Prix Qualifying 00m27s Qualifying at the Hungarian Grand Prix was very much on the tasty side for spectators. For Tsunoda, Gasly, Ocon, Hulkenberg, and Albon it was a bit more rubbish because they were all eliminated in Q1 while their faster team mates escaped to Q2. All through practice McLaren looked dominant and that was maintained in Q2. Unfortunately, it was dreadful for Hamilton, who has more poles here than everyone else put together, and he went out, right behind Bearman and ahead of Sainz, Colapinto and Antonelli. The Italian rookie’s also having a tough time of it, with four DNFs in the last seven races, before Hungary, and a single poin...

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 ...