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2018 F1 Grand Prix of Singapore — Results & aftermath

Hamilton cruises to victory, extends championship lead; Verstappen finishes P2 ahead of disheartened Vettel in P3

Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton capped his perfect weekend with an unassailable drive to victory at the Marina Bay Street Circuit in Singapore on Sunday, making the most of his dominant pole position as a springboard to get away and stay away from any and all challengers. Better yet for Hamilton, his main title rival, Sebastian Vettel, could not overcome his P3 qualifying effort and was unable to pass Red Bull’s Max Verstappen on this very tight track either via pit strategy or pure pace. With the Dutch wunderkind battling engine gremlins and preserving his tires in a very poised and mature effort throughout the race, Vertsappen successfully held off Vettel to finish P2. Most pivotally Verstappen got the better of a very close encounter when he was just coming out of the pits on cold tires on Lap 18 and Vettel, who had already pitted 3 laps earlier, desperately tried to steam past him in the chicane. Unable to get that move done or really challenge Verstappen again after that his eventual P3 finish dealt the German’s title hopes a blow, as Hamilton pulled out his points lead to 40 with the victory.

Pics courtesy GrandPrix247.com

Both men are hunting their fifth F1 World Championship but Hamilton has now won four out of the last six contests and while Vettel has won this other two he has seen his deficit grow to an alarming level with only six more Grand Prix remaining in 2018. Worse yet for the Scuderia, the Ferrari SF71H no longer seems to be keeping up with the Mercedes W09’s continuing improvement. Vettel also appears to have lost a bit of faith in the team, frequently questioning strategy and sometimes attempting to dictate it from the driver’s seat. After their disappointment in Singapore the reality is stark: Ferrari are running out of time to simultaneously ramp up their performance and make the savvy strategy calls that will enable their superb ace to return to being a true threat to Hamilton and Mercedes.

Mercedes’ second driver Valtteri Bottas also outscored outgoing Ferrari #2 Kimi Raikkonen, P4 to P5, further boosting Mercedes lead over Ferrari to to 37 points in the all important Constructors’ Standings. Daniel Ricciardo couldn’t overcome his lackluster qualifying effort and held station to finish a desultory P6 despite hounding both Raikkonen and Bottas in the closing laps. While Singapore is often incident filled it really is exceedingly hard to overtake here. Fernando Alsonso had a great day for himself and team McLaren at his last Singapore GP, coming home “best of the rest” by finishing an impressive P7. That was ahead of the Renaults of Carlos Sainz in P8 and Nico Hulkenberg in P10. And rookie Charles Leclerc gave Ferrari no reason to doubt their decision to promote him into the factory team next year at Raikkonen’s expense. The talented young Monegasque drove a solid race and kept his nose clean to take P9 at the finish.

While there was not much action among the elite racers at the front the midfield and back markers provided many thrills and spills. Sergio Perez had a crazily self-destructive race, shoving his Force India teammate Esteban Ocon into the wall on the opening lap to bring out a Safety Car. He then engaged in a multi-lap dice with the super slow Williams of Sergei Sirotkin becoming so frustrated that when he finally got the opportunity to pass the Russian he cut him off impetuously and caused a collision. That moment of red mist caused Perez’s Force India to suffer a puncture and also earned the Mexican a stop and hold penalty that doomed him to last place. Largely due to Perez’s out of control behavior Force India scored zero points after qualifying P7 and P9. That had team boss Otmar Szafnauer muttering about reinstalling team orders on his unruly charges.

Top 10 finishers for the Singapore GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR LAPS TIME/RETIRED PTS
1 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 61 1:51:11.611 25
2 33 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 61 +8.961s 18
3 5 Sebastian Vettel FERRARI 61 +39.945s 15
4 77 Valtteri Bottas MERCEDES 61 +51.930s 12
5 7 Kimi Räikkönen FERRARI 61 +53.001s 10
6 3 Daniel Ricciardo RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 61 +53.982s 8
7 14 Fernando Alonso MCLAREN RENAULT 61 +103.011s 6
8 55 Carlos Sainz RENAULT 60 +1 lap 4
9 16 Charles Leclerc SAUBER FERRARI 60 +1 lap 2
10 27 Nico Hulkenberg RENAULT 60 +1 lap 1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race is in two weeks time from Sochi Autodrom in Russia. Can Vettel and Ferrari get back to their winning ways or will Hamilton use his superlative Mercedes power to put the hammer down on Vettel’s championship dreams? Hope to see you then  to find out!

2018 F1 Grand Prix of Belgium — Results & aftermath

Vettel survives chaotic start to dominate at Spa, Hamilton a distant runner-up as championship tightens yet again; Vertsappen salvages P3 at home race

The action at the Belgian Grand Prix was all front-loaded with a large and frightening multi-car opening lap shunt starting the proceedings off in chaos and then the race settling down to a serenely dominating performance by Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel. The crash began when Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg misjudged his breaking going into Turn 1 La Source and plowed into the back of McLaren’s Fernando Alonso, sending the Spaniard airborne. Alonso came down on top of the Sauber of Charles Leclerc, showing for the first time since its introduction this year the efficacy of the Halo head protection device. Leclerc could well have had cockpit intrusion by Alonso’s car as it fell on top of him but the Halo successfully deflected any potential contact to the Frenchman’s otherwise exposed head. Hulkenberg was assessed the blame for the accident and rightfully so. The veteran German, who is not usually a reckless driver, will face a 10-spot grid penalty in Italy next weekend as well as 3 points on his super license. In addition to Hulkenberg, Alonso and Leclerc, Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen and Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo were also caught up in the mess, somewhat victims of their poor starting positions due to the scrambled wet weather conditions in Saturday qualifying They came together harshly in the resultant accordion effect and Raikkonen suffered a puncture and rear wing and floor damage and Ricciardo’s rear wing was completely ruined after someone had knocked him into Raikkonen from behind. That necessitated time consuming repairs during the Safety Car period, particularly a complete rear wing change for Ricciardo that put the Aussie a lap down. But while both soldiered on gamely their races were inevitably ruined. Raikkonen and Riccardo would both be forced to retire before the end of the race.

Meanwhile the fi the race might as well have been in a different postal code as neither Mercedes pole-sitter Lewis Hamilton or the man starting beside him from P2, Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, were effected in the least by the mayhem behind them. Waging their own private championship battle and oblivious to the unfolding carnage, the two fierce championship rivals rocketed through Radillon and Eau Rouge and up the Kimmel Straight at full chat bracketed by two game but overmatched Force Indias. There Vettel made his move, scooting by Hamilton to grab the lead of the race before the Safety Car was deployed. That meant Vettel could dictate the restart when the Safety Car came in at the end of Lap 4. And while he did his best to roar away when he got the green flag the German could not quite escape Hamilton’s pursuing Mercedes. Continue reading →

2018 F1 Grand Prix of Germany — Results & aftermath

Hamilton drives from P14 to victory in damp Hockenheim; Bottas P2, Raikkonen P3; Vettel crashes out from the lead late in race

The script flipped for Ferrari and Mercedes at the German Grand Prix due to a little wet weather at the Hockenheimring in Sunday’s German Grand Prix. With the two top contenders in this year’s Formula 1 Championship looking like going in different directions due to their recent race results, Ferrari’s ace Sebastian Vettel started from pole and seemed a lock to consolidate his position as the points leader and expand on the team’s lead in the Constructors’ Championship. Meanwhile, Mercedes’ ace Lewis Hamilton was stuck back in P14 on the grid after a hydraulic failure saw the Englishman bounced out of qualifying in Q1 on Saturday. It would have to be another massive recovery drive for Hamilton to get up to his teammate Valtteri Bottas, flying the team flag up in P2, with Vettel’s wingman, Kimi Raikkonen, looking to attack his fellow Finn from just behind in P3. And when the lights went out for the start that’s how things looked like they’d shake out.

Pics courtesy GrandPrix247.com

Vettel and Bottas both got away well from the line, holding position and keeping Raikkonen just behind them who in turn was able to fight off the Red Bull of the newly circumspect Max Verstappen. Meanwhile, Hamilton began carving his way through the field, putting his superior Mercedes power and chassis to good use against a host of backmarkers. By Lap 8 Hamilton was already up to P8 and by Lap 11 he had taken P6 by passing the Renault of Nico Hulkenberg as if the German were standing still. By Lap 14 he had overtaken the Haas of Kevin Magnussen for P5 and set of for Verstappen and possible podium aspirations to try to salvage the day. And now the first round of tire stops for the frontrunners began, as on Lap 15 Raikkonen pitted for Softs in an apparent attempt to ensnare Mercedes into a similar early move for Bottas.

But Bottas’ initial Ultrasoft Pirellis retained their advantage and there was no need for Mercedes to take Ferrari’s bait. Even so, while Bottas was bale to keep Verstappen safely behind him in P3 the Mercedes #2 didn’t seem to have anything for the ultra-confident Vettel running several second to the good out front, well out of DRS range. However, Ferrari’s split strategy gambit began to backfire as Raikkonen’s pace actually seemed to drag Hamilton up to the front with him. When Vettel finally pitted on Lap 26, he did manage to come out ahead of Hamilton, still running on his initial set of the harder Soft tires, but he was behind his teammate Raikkonen. Bottas was now running from the lead and stretched his initial stint on Ultras until Lap 29, when he pitted for fresh Soft rubber. It looked as though it might be terrible timing when Daniel Ricciardo’s Red Bull, himself moving up through the field after engine penalties pushed him back on the grid, came to an abrupt stop on track. But the Aussie’s stationary Red Bull was able to be retrieved without a Safety Car, saving Mercedes and Bottas any headaches or heartbreak.

With Raikkonen now leading the race and Vettel in P2 it became apparent that Ferrari had miscalculated because Vettel was unable to take advantage of his fresher tires while Raikkonen was holding him up. After much cajoling by Vettel to the pit wall and a needlessly coy message to the Iceman by Scuderia chief strategist Jock Clear, Raikkonen ceded the top spot to his Championship leading teammate on Lap 39. Clearly that decision should have been made earlier and/or putting Raikkonen ahead of Vettel should never have been made in the first place. Somewhat remarkably Hamilton still hadn’t pitted while all this Ferrari drama was going on. Instead he simply ran competitive laps and held his position at P3. But by Lap 42 he was definitively holding up Bottas with shagged tires so he finally dove for the pits for fresh rubber, culminating a remarkable opening stint. By playing the long game and starting on the Softs, unlike the other main contenders, this meant he now had on the high performing Ultra Soft tires. This was an all the more significant decision — and a major team gamble — as foreboding rain clouds surged around the forests of Hockenheim. With a clean stop, Hamilton came back in P5.

On Lap 44 the threat of rain finally came good with light showers near the tricky hairpin. Some teams gambled on pitting for Intermediate wet tires including, surprisingly, Vertsappen from P3 who then came out behind Hamilton in P5. But the track was never fully wet and by Lap 49 the rain had decreased to the pint where it was clear that was huge mistake. Verstappen promptly pitted to get back to the Ultras, losing no more positions at least. The track did remain treacherous to those on the proper slicks, with perhaps Hamilton’s fresher, softer tires giving him some advantage. After some nervy moments for all the frontrunners it was Vettel who was the man who surprisingly cracked. The usually supremely confident 4-time World Champion, likely feeling the heat from the the surging Hamilton, overcooked it going into the tricky Sachs Turn in the Stadium section on Lap 52 and speared off the road through the gravel and into the barriers. With Vettel’s Ferrari now buried, just like that race and points leader had thrown away a nearly certain victory for himself and the team.

That brought out the Safety Car. Ferrari tired to fire up some of their patented strategy magic by bringing Raikkonen in for new tires but on this day all their moves were busts. That ceded the lead to Hamilton of all people, who had been abruptly waved off from pitting again at the last second and stayed out instead. That meant Raikkonen rejoined in P3 behind Bottas. After some tense jousting between the Mercedes teammates, Bottas was given team orders to stand down and hold position against Raikkonen. With the threat of rain omnipresent but holding off in the final laps, Lewis Hamilton held on for perhaps the most surprising and significant win of his career, driving back from a P14 start to victory and taking back the Championship lead for both himself and, thanks also to Bottas’ P2 and Vettel’s DNF, team Mercedes’ lead, as well. As Hamilton frolicked in stunned disbelieving joy on the top step of the podium the skies opened up and poured down on the resourceful and lucky Englishman, washing away the doubts that had consumed him over the last few races and leaving him poised to seize another World Championship at the expense of the suddenly mortal Vettel.

Top 10 finishers of the German GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR LAPS TIME/RETIRED PTS
1 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 67 1:32:29.845 25
2 77 Valtteri Bottas MERCEDES 67 +4.535s 18
3 7 Kimi Räikkönen FERRARI 67 +6.732s 15
4 33 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 67 +7.654s 12
5 27 Nico Hulkenberg RENAULT 67 +26.609s 10
6 8 Romain Grosjean HAAS FERRARI 67 +28.871s 8
7 11 Sergio Perez FORCE INDIA MERCEDES 67 +30.556s 6
8 31 Esteban Ocon FORCE INDIA MERCEDES 67 +31.750s 4
9 9 Marcus Ericsson SAUBER FERRARI 67 +32.362s 2
10 28 Brendon Hartley SCUDERIA TORO ROSSO HONDA 67 +34.197s 1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

Notes: Ferrari boss Sergio Marchionne was replaced as CEO of the Fiat Chrysler auto group over the weekend after falling gravely ill following shoulder surgery some 3 weeks ago. All of us here at Man’s Fine Life wish the 66-year-old Italian industrialist and savior of both Fiat and Chrysler companies only the best and hope he has a full recovery no matter how grim things may look at the moment. Gianni Agnelli’s grandson, John Elkann, was appointed new Chairman of Ferrari.

The next race is in but a week’s time — the Hungarian Grand Prix from the Hungaroring. It’s the last contest before the 3-week summer break. So catch it if you can to see whether Hamilton can parlay his unlikely victory into a proper winning streak or Vettel can regain his mastery after his fumble in Germany. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2018 F1 Grand Prix of Germany — Qualifying results

Ferrari’s Vettel seizes pole on home soil in Hockenheim, wingman Raikkonen P3; Bottas P2 for Mercedes as Hamilton bows out in Q1 with mechanical, will start P14

Ferrari’s recent momentum continued in Saturday qualifying for the return German Grand Prix at Hockenheim after a year’s absence. The Scuderia’s ace, Sebastian Vettel, grabbed pole for his home GP with a dominant track record 1.11.212 lap and his teammate Kimi Raikkonen qualified P3 some 3-tenths behind. Even better for the points-leading team from Maranello, while their chief rival Mercedes’ second pilot, Vlatteri Bottas, was able to snag P2 just 2-tenths back of the pole time, Vettel’s closest competitor Lewis Hamilton suffered hydraulic failure in Q1. The team ordered Hamilton to stop his car on track and the distraught Englishman actually resorted to trying to push his wounded mount back to the pits in the hopes of keeping his quali alive. But in the end Hamilton was left disconsolate in a praying position next to his stationary Silver Arrow, perhaps wondering if his championship dreams for this year could be starting to slip away. In truth, it’s possible Hamilton helped caused the malfunction by traveling over the steep Hockenheim curbs repeatedly and with too much abandon. Starting from P14 on the grid due to Daniel Ricciardo’s penalty, Hamilton will have it all to do come race day. Vettel and Ferrari clearly smell Mercedes blood and it will be up to them to make the most of Mercedes’ misfortune.

Red Bull might also be in a position to upset the order of the usual front runners, at least as far as Max Verstappen is concerned. The Dutch wunderkind was good enough for the P4 timed will look to take it to the top 3 for a possible podium. As mentioned above, however, their veteran Australian pilot Ricciardo entered quali facing a raft of engine penalties and chose to run quali as more of test session with the result that he made it out of Q1 but did not compete in Q2. Ricciardo will strat from dead last come race day. There was better news for the American Has team, which say their two drivers make both make the Top 10. Kevin Magnussen got the best Haas qualifying position ever with P5 while Romain Grosjean was just behind in P6. If Haas can just get consistent double-points finishes from their drivers and team from the rest of the way a “best of the rest” fourth place in the final Constructors’ standings should be within reach.

Renault, the other contenders for that ever-valuable fourth spot in the Constructors’, did well enough if not quite matching the Ferrari-powered Haas cars. Nico Hulkenberg qualified P7 at his home Grand Prix, while Carlos Sainz  was P8. Rounding out the Top 10, hot commodity Charles Leclerc, rumored to be heading to Ferrari next season, set the ninth fastest time and Force India’s Sergio Perez salvaged P10.

Top 10 qualifiers for the German GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 5 Sebastian Vettel FERRARI 1:12.538 1:12.505 1:11.212 16
2 77 Valtteri Bottas MERCEDES 1:12.962 1:12.152 1:11.416 18
3 7 Kimi Räikkönen FERRARI 1:12.505 1:12.336 1:11.547 17
4 33 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 1:13.127 1:12.188 1:11.822 18
5 20 Kevin Magnussen HAAS FERRARI 1:13.105 1:12.523 1:12.200 18
6 8 Romain Grosjean HAAS FERRARI 1:12.986 1:12.722 1:12.544 17
7 27 Nico Hulkenberg RENAULT 1:13.479 1:12.946 1:12.560 17
8 55 Carlos Sainz RENAULT 1:13.324 1:13.032 1:12.692 19
9 16 Charles Leclerc SAUBER FERRARI 1:13.077 1:12.995 1:12.717 23
10 11 Sergio Perez FORCE INDIA MERCEDES 1:13.427 1:13.072 1:12.774 19

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race airs live starting at 9AM Eastern on ESPN2 here in the States. Hope to see you then!

2018 F1 Grand Prix of Austria — Results & aftermath

Verstappen seizes opportunity in chaotic Austrian GP to win at Red Bull Ring; Ferrari capitalize on stunning Mercedes double DNF as Raikkonen and Vettel take P2 & P3

Under punishingly hot conditions at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg Austria on Sunday, Red Bull’s own Max Verstappen capitalized on a chaotic race and parlayed a dynamite start into an unexpected victory in front of a sea of orange-clad fans. With the perfect vantage point of his P4 position on the grid, the Dutch wunderkind watched as Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen attacked both front row Mercedes by forcing his Prancing Horse between the Silver Arrows of pole-sitter Valtteri Bottas and P2 starter Lewis Hamilton. For a brief moment it looked as if that bold and ballsy effort might work but Bottas was able to recover and force Raikonnen off the circuit as Hamilton sped away into the distance. That left Raikonnen at the mercy of Max, as Verstappen was able to capitalize on the veteran Finn’s loss of momentum and pass him for P3 before the eventful first lap was even half over.

It looked as if Hamilton’s and Mercedes preferred script for the win was playing out perfectly but the track conditions made extra demands of the equipment on this very hot day. In a harbinger of things to come, first the factory Renault of Nico Hulkenberg suffered a prolonged and smokey engine failure on Lap 12. It proved to be the first of many retirements in this race, none more astonishing then when Bottas suffered complete hydraulic failure just two laps later and was forced to pull his car off into a partial escape road. It was a stunning turn of events for the pole-sitter and yet another perplexing bit of very bad luck for Bottas in what is turning into something of a snakebite season for him. Even worse for Mercedes they were once again caught flat-footed when a Virtual Safety Car was deployed to slow the field so Bottas’ car could be retrieved. The top contenders — Verstappen, his Red Bull teammate Daniel Ricciardo and the two Ferrari men Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel — all dove for the pits for fresh rubber, dispensing with their pit stops on this potential one-stopper while the race was essentially neutralized. In an inexplicably defensive decision Mercedes kept Hamilton out circulating on track at reduced speed. This made it much more likely that the English championship points leader would be forced to pit under less advantageous green flag conditions down the road. I any event his rivals had all made up valuable track position on him with their stops during the VSC.

So when Hamilton was called in for his tire change on Lap 25 he had only a 13-second cushion. And with a roughly 20-second pit delta even the typically efficient Mercedes pit work couldn’t keep Hamilton in the lead. In fact, he came out in P4 when all was said and done, behind the new leader Verstappen, Ricciardo in P2 and Raikkonen in P3. With Bottas out Mercedes were trying to cover being ganged up on by the two car teams of Red Bull and Ferrari if they split their strategies. But that didn’t materialize and it proved to be the wrong call, which the Mercedes brain trust admitted to a highly frustrated Hamilton.

In front of the lone Mercedes, Raikkonen hunted down Riccardo, whose rear tires were blistering badly, passing him for P2 on lap 38. Blistered rears were an issue that would begin to afflict the entire field as the race wore on at this high speed and very short circuit.  Ricciardo was forced to pit for fresh rubber on Lap 39, seemingly gifting back P3 to Hamilton. But Vettel forced his way by Hamilton for that position on the very same lap, as the Merc appeared to already be losing its rears in the heat. By Lap 53 Hamilton had to pit again, once more conceding valuable track position. Hamilton came out in P5 behind a seemingly rejuvenated Ricciardo. But just as it seemed the affable Aussie was going to take off and try to force his way onto the podium he suffered a sudden engine failure at the start of Lap 54. As a disconsolate Ricciardo climbed out of his stricken Red Bull the team had to be looking at Verstappen’s telemetry and wondering whether their bad luck at their home track was fated to continue.

But Hamilton’s good fortune at the expense of Ricciardo’s DNF was short lived. In an unbelievable turn of events Hamilton’s engine also let go10 laps later while running solidly in P4. While it was always going to be a race of damage limitation after the ill-fated decision not to stop under the VSC, Mercedes now had to swallow the bitterest pill of seeing both their cars scoring precisely zero points. It ended a 33-race points scoring streak for the factory team and proved to be calamitous when the race results were tallied. Verstappen finished off a race he controlled beautifully from the front for the majority of the contest with an authoritative victory. And Ferrari saw their men Raikkonen and Vettel take P2 and P3 respectively, a massive result fir the fabled team from Maranello. With their arch-rivals scoring nothing, it catapulted Ferrari into the lead of the all-important Constructors’ Championship by 10 points. Vettel also regained the points lead in the Drivers’ competition. And while that was only a 1 point margin in what has been a see-saw battle between four-time champions all season long one almost felt that the gut punch that Mercedes received in Austria could be more significant to the overall direction of these two powerhouse teams’ and their long term fortunes.

The disasters experienced by so many of the top contenders proved a veritable boon for the mid-field running teams. Haas saw the biggest benefit from others’ misery as Romain Grosjean finally put together a composed drive and came across the line in a stunning P4. His teammate Kevin Magnussen finished right behind him in P5 making it a banner day for the young American team. Force India also flourished due to the bad luck of their nearest rivals, especially pointless Renault, after looking utterly lost in qualifying. Esteban Ocon took P6 and Sergio Perez was P7 despite starting near the rear, a mega-valuable points haul for a team that had been struggling and appears to be up for sale. Fernando Alonso, who started from the pit lane, managed to salvage a remarkable P8 for McLaren, while Sauber had a rare double points day with rookie phenom Charles Leclerc taking P9 and Marcus Ericsson coming home in P10.

Top 10 finishers of the Austrian GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR LAPS TIME/RETIRED PTS
1 33 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 71 1:21:56.024 25
2 7 Kimi Räikkönen FERRARI 71 +1.504s 18
3 5 Sebastian Vettel FERRARI 71 +3.181s 15
4 8 Romain Grosjean HAAS FERRARI 70 +1 lap 12
5 20 Kevin Magnussen HAAS FERRARI 70 +1 lap 10
6 31 Esteban Ocon FORCE INDIA MERCEDES 70 +1 lap 8
7 11 Sergio Perez FORCE INDIA MERCEDES 70 +1 lap 6
8 14 Fernando Alonso MCLAREN RENAULT 70 +1 lap 4
9 16 Charles Leclerc SAUBER FERRARI 70 +1 lap 2
10 9 Marcus Ericsson SAUBER FERRARI 70 +1 lap 1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race is but a week away as F1 completes its unprecedented “triple header” — the historic British Grand Prix from Silverstone. Can Mercedes recover from this weekend’s fiasco or have Ferrari now got their number? Hope to see you then to find out!

2018 F1 Grand Prix of France — Results & aftermath

Hamilton romps to victory in F1’s return to France; Verstappen takes an opportunistic P2, Raikkonen P3; Vettel and Bottas tangle on opening lap,

The championship momentum swung back to Mercedes ace Lewis Hamilton who capped of a resurgent weekend for the Silver Arrows with a dominant win at Circuit Paul Ricard on Sunday. Hamilton took advantage of his pole position to avoid the mayhem behind him as the opening lap unspooled on this unfamiliar track, a place that F1 had not raced at since way back in 1990 (the last French GP itself was at Magny-Cours in 2008). Hamilton was able to control the race from the front easily even after a first lap Safety Car was deployed after multiple collisions during the frantic start, including the most significant one between his teammate Valtteri Bottas and his Ferrari title rival, Sebastian Vettel. Vettel misjudged his braking and ran into the back of the Finnish Mercedes man, causing an immediate puncture for Bottas and a damaged front wing for Vettel. Both drivers had to limp to the pits for premature service although Bottas got the worst of it, as he had to nurse his ride home in hopes that the wounded rear left tire did not delaminate and begin destroying all that precious body work.

Pics courtesy GrandPrix247.com

Both drivers emerged at the tail of the pack and had to pursue a strict recovery strategy to make the best fo a bad situation. With the new nose Vettel’s car was essentially unaffected and the German began carving his back up through the order in rapid fashion when racing resumed on Lap 6. Bottas’ Benz had floor damage. however, and so his progress came more deliberately. Vettel was adjudged to be at fault for the incident by the stewards, however, and received a 5-second time penalty, something he would have to factor into how hard he had to push on a set of new Soft tires that potentially he and Ferrari might run to the bitter end.

But it became clear that Vettel’s tries, after working his way all the way up to P4 before seeing himself passed by his teammate Kimi Raikkonen on Lap 39, would not stay competitive until the end of the 53 lap contest. Vettel pitted on Lap 41 for fresh rubber and to serve his 5-second penalty in the pits, coming out in time to still maintain his P5 overall. This was the moment for Mercedes and Bottas, who had himself battled up to P6, to seize the opportunity to jump the penalized Vettel in the pits or at least get close enough to challenge him with a clean stop. But mighty Mercedes uncharacteristically dropped the ball with a jack problem and Bottas’ stop was as slow as Vettel’s penalty-hampered one. In the end the two drivers held station after their excellent comebacks, with Vettel finishing P5 and Bottas an unlucky P7. While Hamilton swanned to victory, team Mercedes had to be wondering about theirs and Bottas’ bad luck as they left valuable points on the table after their front row lockout in qualifying. Ferrari were probably feeling the same way after their paladin’s first-lap misjudgment.

The main beneficiary of the opening lap melee was Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who started P4 and avoided contact with Vettel and Bottas by taking evasive action outside track limits before resuming in P2 behind Hamilton. Because it was for his own safety his excursion was deemed a legal move by Verstappen and the Dutch wunderkind thereafter drove an excellently well controlled race to maintain that lucky spot. While he never had anything for Hamilton at the front, who seemed to tease the Red Bull by conserving his tires and keeping his engine turned down, Verstappen and the team had to be well pleased by both his pace and his discipline in  keeping it clean. He finished right in the position he inherited on the opening lap, P2, an excellent podium result.

Kimi Raikkonen saved Ferrari’s blushes with a stout drive to hoist himself up from an underwhelming P6 starting spot on the grid to a fine P3 podium finish. The veteran Finn, who has frankly had a perplexingly inconsistent season, found a measure of redemption in France by overtaking his teammate as well as Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo for that precious podium spot. To be fair, Ricciardo was hampered by debris in his front wing, which compromised his aero enough to force him to reluctantly cede P3 to Raikonnen late in the going. Nevertheless the affable Aussie had a strong run overall to come home P4 well ahead of Vettel.

Further back in the order, Kevin Magnusson added to what has been a very impressive season for him and his improving Haas with a solid P6 finish. Once again Magnussen outperformed his erratic teammate, Frenchman Romain Grosjean, who was involved in a separate opening lap contretemps, incurred a penalty and saw himself finish outside the points in P11. In fact, it was not good day for any of the French drivers at their home race, as Force India’s Esteban Ocon and Toro Rosso’s Charles Gasly got entangled at the start and took each other out in front of their disappointed countrymen. In better news for the French, Carlos Sainz nursed his factory Renault home to a P8 finish. While the Spaniard ran as high as P3 in his French mount early in the race, he suffered some power loss later on and was greatly aided by a late Virtual Safety Car to salvage that 8th place finish ahead of his teammate Nico Hulkenberg, who finished P9. The standout rookie Charles Leclerc took the last points paying position by coming home P10 for Sauber. While Leclerc felt afterwards he might have done better it was nevertheless another standout drive for the Monagast pilot, who is surely on Ferrari’s radar for a future seat in the big team.

Top 10 finishers of then French Grand Prix:

POS NO DRIVER CAR LAPS TIME/RETIRED PTS
1 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 53 1:30:11.385 25
2 33 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 53 +7.090s 18
3 7 Kimi Räikkönen FERRARI 53 +25.888s 15
4 3 Daniel Ricciardo RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 53 +34.736s 12
5 5 Sebastian Vettel FERRARI 53 +61.935s 10
6 20 Kevin Magnussen HAAS FERRARI 53 +79.364s 8
7 77 Valtteri Bottas MERCEDES 53 +80.632s 6
8 55 Carlos Sainz RENAULT 53 +87.184s 4
9 27 Nico Hulkenberg RENAULT 53 +91.989s 2
10 16 Charles Leclerc SAUBER FERRARI 53 +93.873s 1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race is but a week away and will be the second of an F1-first three in three weeks: the Austrian GP from the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg. Hope to see you then to find out whether the result in France was the start of renewed dominance by Hamilton and Mercedes or if Ferrari will fight back to recapture the momentum in what has so far been an enjoyably see-saw season!

2018 F1 Grand Prix of France — Qualifying results

Hamilton takes pole, Bottas P2 for resurgent Mercedes front row lockout in F1 return to Paul Ricard; Vettel P3 for Ferrari

Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton appeared back on the pace in Forumla 1’s return to France two weeks after their disappointing showing in Canada. Championship contender Lewis Hamilton, who lost his points lead after two lackluster outings in Monaco and Montreal, put his newly upgraded engine to good use on the strange and colorful Paul Ricard circuit, pipping his teammate Valtteri Bottas for pole by just over a tenth. It made for a satisfying front row lockout for the Silver Arrows and, despite the somewhat unknown nature of a track that F1 has been absent from for 28 years, puts the factory Mercedes team in good position to reclaim winning momentum come Sunday.

Points leader Sebastian Vettel qualified third for Ferrari, which appeared down on overall power to the new generation of Mercedes engines. Worse still for the Scuderia, their second driver Kimi Raikkonen couldn’t get it together and only mustered the 6th best time. Raikkonen saw himself out-qualified by the trimmed-out Red Bull’s of Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo, who will start P4 and P5 respectively. Carlos Sainz carried the colors for the French Renault team by qualifying an excellent P7. Charles Leclerc showed once again that he is a young driver to watch as he willed his usually pokey Sauber up to the eight grid spot. And Haas rounded out the top 10 starters, with Kevin Magnussen starting P9 and Romain Grosjean qualifying tenth fastest. However, the Frenchman Grosjean rather took the bloom off his achievement by having a lurid spin that led to a Red Flag period mid-Q3 but thankfully only damaged the Haas’s front wing. In Grosjean’s case, Paul Ricard’s unique and ubiquitous red and blue “friction stripes” in lieu of gravel traps showed their slowing power to excellent effect.

A week after winning Le Mans Fernando Alonso returned to the reality of a surprisingly poor McLaren machine. Both he and his teammate Stoffel Vandoorne failed to make it out of Q1, a decisive setback for McLaren after some small signs of hope this season. Williams horror season also continued, as both their cars were inexplicably the slowest in the field.

Top 10 qualifiers or the French GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 1:31.271 1:30.645 1:30.029 19
2 77 Valtteri Bottas MERCEDES 1:31.776 1:31.227 1:30.147 17
3 5 Sebastian Vettel FERRARI 1:31.820 1:30.751 1:30.400 22
4 33 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 1:31.531 1:30.818 1:30.705 20
5 3 Daniel Ricciardo RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 1:31.910 1:31.538 1:30.895 20
6 7 Kimi Räikkönen FERRARI 1:31.567 1:30.772 1:31.057 22
7 55 Carlos Sainz RENAULT 1:32.394 1:32.016 1:32.126 23
8 16 Charles Leclerc SAUBER FERRARI 1:32.538 1:32.055 1:32.635 22
9 20 Kevin Magnussen HAAS FERRARI 1:32.169 1:31.510 1:32.930 24
10 8 Romain Grosjean HAAS FERRARI 1:32.083 1:31.472 DNF 20

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race airs live on ESPN2 beginning at 10AM Eastern here in the States. Hope to see you then!

2018 F1 Grand Prix of Canada — Results & aftermath

Vettel masterful in Montreal in dominating win, reclaims championship lead over uninspired P5 Hamilton; Bottas salvages P2 for Mercedes, Verstappen P3 for Red Bull in processional Canadian GP

Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel went from pole to the victory in seemingly effortless fashion at the Canadian Grand Prix on Sunday, dominating a race where once again overtaking proved exceedingly difficult. That resulted in a somewhat desultory contest where finishing positions were mainly dictated by starting positions. Once again F1 finds itself in a season with record setting fast cars but a lack of on-track action due to the overly aero sensitive nature of these magnificently engineered machines, as well as a lack of tire degradation form this year’s Pirelli rubber. All that said it is shaping up to be a seesaw season results-wise between the top contenders from the elite Mercedes and Ferrari teams. And this weekend it was Vettel’s turn to win again, as Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton exhibited a surprisingly similar malaise to the one that seemed to afflict him in slow-speed Monaco only this time at one of his favorite fast tracks here in Montreal. Hamilton couldn’t overcome his mediocre qualifying effort and in fact lost a position from his P4 start on a pit stop overcut by Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo. The Englishman could never get back at Ricciardo and came home a disappointing P5. With Mercedes holding back on their new engine for now Hamilton was definitely down on power and coupled with Vettel’s dominating victory, the 50th of his illustrious F1 career, it saw the Drivers’ Championship lead swing back to the German by a single point. So while the racing may not be of the most exciting overtaking variety, this 2018 season is providing some real suspense as to which driver will walk away with the crown at the end of it.

Pics courtesy GrandPrix247.com

Valtteri Bottas was the better of the two Silver Arrows, maintaining his P2 starting position in the face of a first lap onslaught by Red Bull’s hyper-aggressive Max Verstappen. While he didn’t really have anything to challenge Vettel in front, missing his only minor chance by running a ragged Lap 56 when he was almost within striking distance, Bottas drove well once again to come home P2. It was a good salvage job when Mercedes seemed throughly outclassed by the red cars this weekend. One wonders what the team dynamic would be had Bottas not DNF’d from the lead in Baku with an ill-timed puncture that ceded Hamilton a very lucky win. Verstappen had a much needed steady and incident-free race after a lot of erratic performances this season. While Bottas held him off early and Vertsappen never really had another shot to advance, young Max managed his race well enough to take the last step on the podium in P3. With Ricciardo’s overachieving P4 it made for another very solid day for team Red Bull and their slightly underpowered RB-14.

With the difficult nature of overtaking in this race with these cars, Ferrari’s second driver Kimi Raikkonen found himself stuck in P6 after Ricciardo also pipped him at the start of the race. Ferrari could never quite figure out how to get the veteran Finn back in the mix and so Raikkonen finished there as well. Best of the rest after the elite 6 was Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg who finished P7 followed by his teammate Carlos Sainz in P8. Rounding out the top 10 Esteban Ocon came home P9 for Force India and Charles Leclerc’s stock kept rising with another splendid drive to take the last point in P10 for perpetual backmarkers Sauber.

A scary opening lap shunt between Williams Lance Stroll and Toro Rosso’s Brendan Hartley caused a Safety Car until Lap 4. Hartley went airborne briefly and was checked at hospital but was cleared medically and released. It was another disappointing result for the struggling Kiwi, as well as for the Canadian Stroll, who found himself out of the GP before the end of the first lap in front of his home fans.

Top 10 finishers of the Canadian GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR LAPS TIME/RETIRED PTS
1 5 Sebastian Vettel FERRARI 68 1:28:31.377 25
2 77 Valtteri Bottas MERCEDES 68 +7.376s 18
3 33 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 68 +8.360s 15
4 3 Daniel Ricciardo RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 68 +20.892s 12
5 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 68 +21.559s 10
6 7 Kimi Räikkönen FERRARI 68 +27.184s 8
7 27 Nico Hulkenberg RENAULT 67 +1 lap 6
8 55 Carlos Sainz RENAULT 67 +1 lap 4
9 31 Esteban Ocon FORCE INDIA MERCEDES 67 +1 lap 2
10 16 Charles Leclerc SAUBER FERRARI 67 +1 lap 1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

In two weeks’ time the next race will feature the return of France to the GP calendar after a decade’s absence. The first French Grand Prix since 2008, it will be back at the venerable Circuit Paul Ricard. Hope to see you then to see if Vettel can extend his points lead or if Hamilton can back to his winning ways on this new-old circuit!

2018 F1 Grand Prix of Spain — Results & aftermath

Hamilton flies to victory in Spain as Mercedes dominate & Ferrari founder; Bottas P2, Verstappen holds off Vettel for P3

The Mercedes factory team displayed their usual superiority at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, dominating the Spanish Gran Prix on Sunday. Reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton rocketed to the victory from pole, avoiding the mayhem and mistakes of the pursuers behind him to take his second win on the trot after starting the season 0-3. The mini-streak has boosted Hamilton in the Drivers’ standings over his nearest rival, Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, opening up a 17 point lead over the German. Hamilton’s victory was also he third of his career the Spanish GP and made it a remarkable 4 out of the last 5 wins for the Silver Arrows at this most familiar and yet somewhat treacherous track, which all the teams use for preseason testing but somehow bites many of them come race day. While Hamilton lucked into his first win of the season at Baku two weeks ago when his teammate Valtteri Bottas suffered an ill-timed puncture while leading in the closing laps, the English ace drove one of his classic dominating “Hammer Time” races in Barcelona and the outcome was never really in doubt. Suddenly, after a bit of a inconsistent start and a serious threat by Ferrari, Hamilton and the Silver Arrows look like the championship favorites once again. The team were helped immensely by another strong drive from Bottas, who put aside the massive disappointment of his lost win in Azerbaijan, recovered from a so-so start to the race and then outpaced the rest of the field to come home P2, a massive points haul for mighty Mercedes.

Pics courtesy GrandPrix247.com

Everything good for Mercedes came at the expense of Ferrari, as unreliability and questionable strategy came back to bite the fabled team from Maranello. The most serious setback for the Scuderia came when their number two man, Kimi Raikkonen, who podium at the last race and was running easily in the top five on Sunday, experienced a mechanical failure on Lap 25 that forced his retirement shortly thereafter. That removed a key strategic piece from the Scudeia’s chessboard their after the team had already gambled with Vettel’s tire strategy by pitting him early on only Lap 18 for the hardest compound Medium Pirelli’s. The decision was all the more peculiar in that the cars had run behind a Safety Car for 5 laps after a big first lap shunt caused by Haas’ Romain Grosjean losing control and careering across the track in a cloud of smoke, collecting Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg and Toro Rosso’s Pierre Gasly in the process. So when Ferrari brought Vettel in even after all that slow running in the first part of the race it look like they were playing out a two-step strategy and Raikkonen would be the insurance policy. However, Hamilton ran all the way to Lap 26 on his original Soft tires and it was soon clear that the performance of the Mediums did not deteriorate as much as perhaps Ferrari suspected when Ham the Man kept laying down lap records despite the switch to the harder rubber. It all still might have worked out when Vettel dived for the pits again under a Virtual Safety Car on Lap 41 due to the on track engine failure of Esteban Ocon’s Force India, a favorite Ferrari tactic this year and one that has paid them good dividends.

But the stop went long at over 5 seconds when the team had to hold Vettel until the other Force India of Sergio Perez could clear him in the pits. That enabled Red Bull’s Max Verstappen to come round Turn 1 in front of Vettel’s exiting Ferrari at the blend line. And despite damaging his front wing when he ran into the back of the slow Williams of Lance Stroll after the end of the VSC, the Dutch phenom was still able to keep Vettel behind him lap after lap on this circuit where overtaking is very difficult. It was an excellent drive from Verstappen at the scene of his maiden victory back in 2016 and a much better result than the double DNF he and teammate Daniel Ricciardo managed two weeks ago after a tangle on the city streets of Baku. For Ferrari it was a big disappoint with only one car finishing and then with only fourth place points. It’s an ominous sign that Mercedes appear to be back on the top of their game, although their cars may not be as well suited for the next race at slow and tight Monaco as we well and truly enter the European part of the schedule.

Ricciardo did decently but could never match the pace of the front for and was clearly slower than his teammate Verstappen even with a sound front wing. He also didn’t help his chances with a needless spin coming out of the VSC period. The Australian veteran finished P5 but it still made for a much needed strong points day for the Red Bull team overall. Even as his Haas stablemate Grosjean appears to have taken two steps backwards with a terrible start to the 2018 campaign, Kevin Magnussen is definitely on the ascent. The Dane seems to have bonded very well with his Ferrari powered chassis and even if his fellow drivers regard him as reckless on the road he has used that aggression to good effect more often than not. Running virtually a solo race in Spain with big gaps in front and behind him and with no one to tangle with, Magnussen piloted his Haas to an outstanding P6 finish. Carlos Sainz drove his lone remaining factory Renault to a strong P7 finish at his home Grand Prix as his fellow countryman and boyhood idol Fernando Alonso took his McLaren to P8. Sergio Perez managed to salvage P9 for Force India and Chrles Leclerc was once again impressive in taking the last points paying position at P10 in the normally underwhelming Sauber. There is good reason to think that the eyes of Ferrari are upon Leclerc for a seat at the big team when the day finally comes and they put Raikkonen out to pasture.

Top 10 finishers of the Spanish GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR LAPS TIME/RETIRED PTS
1 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 66 1:35:29.972 25
2 77 Valtteri Bottas MERCEDES 66 +20.593s 18
3 33 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 66 +26.873s 15
4 5 Sebastian Vettel FERRARI 66 +27.584s 12
5 3 Daniel Ricciardo RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 66 +50.058s 10
6 20 Kevin Magnussen HAAS FERRARI 65 +1 lap 8
7 55 Carlos Sainz RENAULT 65 +1 lap 6
8 14 Fernando Alonso MCLAREN RENAULT 65 +1 lap 4
9 11 Sergio Perez FORCE INDIA MERCEDES 64 +2 laps 2
10 16 Charles Leclerc SAUBER FERRARI 64 +2 laps 1

Complete race results available via Fomula1.com.

The next race is in two weeks time, the grand old dame of F1, Monaco on Memorial Day Sunday. Hope to see you then for one of the true highlights of the autosport year!

2018 F1 Grand Prix of Azerbaijan — Results & aftermath

Hamilton lucks into wild win at Baku as Bottas blows tire from lead; Raikkonen salvages P2 but Vettel misses out as Perez podiums; Red Bulls crash each other out

The Azerbaijan Grand Prix has quickly become one of the most entertaining and potentially consequential on the Formula 1 calendar. In only its third year on the schedule the tricky Baku City Circuit once again provided more than its fair share of twists, turns and nail-biting drama. Fortune seemed to change its favors on a whim as chaos reigned and the laps wound down on Sunday and it was Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton whom she finally chose to smile upon even as she turned her fickle back on his more deserving teammate. With Valtteri Bottas looking primed to win for the first time in 2018 due to clever pit strategy and (once again) the strangely permissive nature of F1’s pit rules under Safety Car the unlucky Finn ran over debris at high speed down the start-finish straight with only two laps to go, puncturing his rear right tire and dooming his race. As Bottas trundled despondently off the track and into a hard-luck DNF, second position Hamilton capitalized on his teammate’s misfortune to inherit the lead and the victory in short order. Amazingly it was the current World Champion’s first victory of the new season and gave the Englishman a much needed boost after a desultory start saw him a lackluster second in the championship. But if we’re all being honest Bottas has outdriven the 4-time champ Hamilton so far this season and Sunday was no exception. But for a better track cleanup under the long yellow flag periods it could have been the unlucky Finn celebrating at his teammate’s expense rather than the other way around.

Pics courtesy GrandPrix247.com

Despite leading both the Constructors’ and Drivers’ Championships so far this season and with a car that is obviously up for race wins every weekend Ferrari had another very mixed day. Their lead ace Sebastian Vettel controlled the first part of the race from pole but then the team seemed to get a bit too ambitious on tire strategy by running longer stints and allowing the Mercedes to erase Vettel’s hard fought time advantage on fresher rubber. Worse still when a major Safety Car came out on Lap 40 after a disastrous incident between the two Red Bulls it was the Merc of Bottas who made the first dive to the pits for the Ultrasoft Pirellis, the perfect rubber for the closing laps of this 51 lap street fight. Vettel, as well as Hamilton, were forced to react but that left Bottas in the lead with Vettel behind in P2 running seemingly endless laps behind the Safety Car on rapidly cooling tires. When the race finally got going again on Lap 48 Vettel pushed too hard to try to regain the top spot, locking up and running off line as first Hamilton and then his teammate Kimi Raikkonen passed him. The flat spots on his tires made his normally fantastic SF71H underivable and eventually even the Force India of Sergio Perez was also able to pass him. With Bottas’ unfortunate puncture that meant not only that Hamilton would earn the victory but also that Raikkonen and Perez would be on the podium at Vettel’s expense. After leading the most laps and looking  likely to duke it out for the win Vettel finished a disappointing P4. The German points leader and his team had to be wondering where it all went wrong on a day that started with so much promise.

Raikkonen had a saga of his own en route to that impressive if somewhat fortuitous P2 finish. Continue reading →