Category: F1 Race Reviews

Monaco Grand Prix 2024 Review

May 27th, 2024

Monaco, the jewel in the crown. If that crown is a night cap, at least. Because this race was even more boring than Monaco usually is. A red flag on lap one led to the drivers changing their tyres under caution, eliminating the need to pit in the race. This turned a race in which the only excitement comes during the pit stop phase into a race in which there was absolutely no excitement at all. Whilst qualifying was amazing, like it always is in Monaco, the only things of note to happen during this race were during lap one, after that point it became a game of follow-the-leader. Thus, the only point of discussion are the incidents during the first lap, so be prepared to read three paragraphs discussing sixty seconds of the race.

The first incident to occur on lap one was a collision between Carlos Sainz and Oscar Piastri. Sainz went for an audacious lunge at the first corner, attempting to turn a Ferrari 1-3 into a Ferrari 1-2. I admire the effort, unfortunately for Carlos this gave him a puncture, turning the race into a Ferrari 1-20. No driver deserved to be penalized for the incident, even if it was bold from Carlos to try the move. Either way, the red flag coming out before all drivers crossed the first timing line saved Carlos’ afternoon, as it ensured he could restart back in his grid spot. Piastri’s car was damaged from the incident, but this did not matter, as it is nearly impossible to overtake at Monaco.

The second incident to occur featured F1’s resident chaos merchant of Kevin Magnussen. Kevin did exactly the same move that took Logan Sargeant out of the race at Miami, putting his nose into a closing gap and causing a collision. Not only did this move take out Sergio Perez, Kevin’s latest victim, but also Kevin’s teammate Nico Hulkenberg. After this incident, I was quite sure Kevin would be penalised, which since he was already on ten penalty points, would thereby lead to a race ban. However, despite Kevin receiving a penalty at Miami, the stewards inexplicably decided that they would take no action on this occasion. This shows the uselessness of the penalty system, as the stewards seem never willing to take the decision that would lead to a race ban. Whilst Kevin has been incredibly entertaining this season, there is little doubt that his move deserved a penalty. If the stewards want to discourage illegal driving standards, they have to be prepared to make a driver pay the consequences for their actions.

The third incident further demonstrates the stewards’ inconsistency. Esteban Ocon divebombed his teammate Pierre Gasly before the tunnel, leading to a collision that took Esteban out of the race and risked doing the same to Pierre. The stewards penalised this move with a five-place grid drop, for causing a collision. This was the right thing to do, as making such an audacious divebomb should not be allowed in F1. Yet, even harsher than the response from the stewards was the response from Alpine’s team principal, Bruno Famin. He made it clear that there would be consequences for what Ocon did, implying that Ocon may be put on the naughty step and not be allowed to participate in the next race. This would be excessively harsh on Ocon; however, I understand Famin’s thinking. He has inherited a pair of teammates who despise each other and Esteban has been open all season about his lack of desire to stay with the team. Famin feels the need to show that he is the boss and has authority to represent the team’s interests. Would banning Ocon for a race be the right move? No. But showing that you are prepared to do so sends a clear message to Pierre and Esteban, that they can’t get away with putting their own interests before the team’s. The fact that a team principle is prepared to do this to their own driver but the stewards are not prepared to ban anyone speaks to the cowardice of the stewards.

After these three events nothing happened. Everyone drove as slowly as possible and there were about three overtakes in the entire race, none of them for the points paying positions. Yet, by the end of the race, I was still filled with ecstasy. My driver, for my team, after nearly two years without a win, won at his home and got to celebrate with the Crown Prince. If even I, filled with the excitement of those events occurring, can recognise that I just witnessed the most boring race in human history, I hate to imagine how everyone else felt.
Imola Grand Prix 2024 Review

May 20th, 2024

Until the last ten laps, I thought I was going to be the only person on the planet defending Imola. Imola is the recipient of valid and understandable complaints from fans. It’s difficult to overtake on, is unnecessary when there is already a fan-favourite Italian track on the calendar and seldom throws up classic races unless it rains. However, I don’t think that how easy a track is to overtake on is necessarily a count against it. Whilst incredibly difficult, it requires precision to make a move, with the last two corners proving especially challenging for drivers to nail. The track punishes mistakes with trips to the grass or gravel and requires drivers to exercise 100% concentration. It is an incredibly fun track to drive on which is vital to keep drivers bored of generic street tracks to stay in the sport. Whilst this old school track doesn’t necessarily lead to non-stop action, I find it relaxing to watch Formula One cars hustle around here.

That’s not to say nothing this weekend disappointed me. Ferrari’s upgrade package was anticipated for two weeks, with Fred Vasseur anticipating that Ferrari would be competing for a victory.[1] Friday looked promising as well, with Red Bull struggling, Ferrari appeared to be the fastest car. Yet, when it came down to qualifying and the race, Ferrari was slower than McLaren and not quick enough compared to Red Bull to challenge the excellency of Max Verstappen. The track did not suit Ferrari, which should have been more clearly communicated to fans earlier in the week. Monaco may also be a relatively painful weekend, unfortunately, with the true impact of Ferrari’s upgrades to become apparent when we return to faster tracks.

In contrast to Ferrari’s upgrades, McLaren’s are continuing to impress. Whilst in the middle of the race, it looked like Lando Norris was struggling for the pace, it instead appeared that he managed his tyres to perfection. This allowed him to charge at Max Verstappen towards the end of the race. Verstappen had to dig deep to stop Lando from getting into DRS range and attempting a move during the final laps and only won by 0.7 seconds. The last ten laps had vibes of Imola 2005, an example of how an F1 race’s quality is not always determined by the number of overtakes. Whilst Lando was not the driver I wanted to see hunting Max Verstappen down, this race showed that Red Bull is not invulnerable this season. The damp squib of a performance from Perez also emphasized this point.

In conclusion, I enjoy Imola. I understand why many don’t, but I’m never not going to have fun watching F1 drivers struggle to master a challenging, old-school circuit. I also am excited at the prospect of a season where three teams fight for wins, it’s been too long since F1 had one of those.

[1] https://www.instagram.com/p/C6tby48NvUW/

[2] https://www.racefans.net/2024/05/19/2024-emilia-romagna-grand-prix-in-pictures/motor-racing-formula-one-world-championship-emilia-romagna-grand-prix-race-day-imola-italy-405/
Chinese Grand Prix 2024 Review

Apr 21st, 2024

A decent race in Shanghai this weekend was buoyed by the stellar commentary of Nico Rosberg. He has the perspective of someone who deeply understands the sport, able to analyse moment-to-moment actions quickly and reasonably, alongside possessing a balanced perspective on the long-term picture of the race. He is not afraid to call out Crofty when he makes flawed observations, which afforded me the usual activity of shouting at my TV whenever I disagree with him. To accredit David Croft, he can be great at delivering hype during exciting battles, but it helps to have a more analytical voice to balance the coverage out.

Regardless of Nico Rosberg’s commentary, I enjoy this track. There are a variety of corners, all wide enough to allow for possible overtakes. This allows for drivers to attempt different lines and find unique opportunities to make those vital moves fans enjoy. The crowd also delivered, the hype for Zhou Guanyu, F1’s first Chinese driver, rivalling the support from Japanese or Dutch fans. Seeing Zhou crying at the end after finally racing at home was an incredibly wholesome moment. Whilst Zhou has not been an outstanding driver, a country that possesses over a billion people and one of the most important markets in the world needs a star to cheer.

Two weeks ago, McLaren were ruing their disappointment in Japan. But this week, their disappointment dissipated, as they unexpectedly proved the second fastest team. Whilst not having the pace to challenge Verstappen, Lando Norris maximized his pace to finish in second, a fantastic result for the team. Post-race, Lando was hopeful of achieving his long-awaited win this year and if McLaren can develop their car well, his first win seems inevitable and deserving for a driver of evident talent.

Two other topics that warrant mentioning are the arbiters of entertainment, Ferrari and Fernando. Whilst both suffered a regretful weekend, Ferrari lacking pace and Aston Martin strategy, the best overtakes all seemed to be those committed by Fernando and Charles. Fernando instantly ended Sergio Perez’s chance of winning the race by overtaking him at the start and the Ferrari’s picked their way through the slower cars. Charles humbled his on-form teammate, whilst in the meantime Alonso’s teammate humbled himself. The second half of the race proved weak for both drivers, Leclerc slowly realizing that he hadn’t been given the pace to fight Norris and Aston foolishly pitting Alonso onto soft tyres, then requiring another pit stop to finish the race. But both drivers used their talent to maximize the situations, Leclerc finishing just off of the podium and Alonso making decisive moves in his final stint to wrap up a healthy haul of points.

In conclusion, we had a decent weekend of F1 with good commentary, a solid track and a surprising second place. It’s good to have Shanghai back on the Formula One calendar, though hopefully next year we have a fight for the win.
Japanese Grand Prix 2024 Review

Apr 8th, 2024

F1 delivered a thrilling Japanese Grand Prix. Often one of the best tracks for drivers, Suzuka has recently proved a difficult track to make overtakes. However, mixed up tyre strategies provided for battles throughout the field this year. Whilst the final result was predictable, the action was exciting, something that should please any fan of good racing.

Red Bull returned to dominate the field after their Australian hiccup. Whilst Verstappen’s win was expected, what surprised was how close Sergio Perez was throughout this weekend. Japan is one of Verstappen’s best tracks and Sergio had a relentless struggle here last season. I fully expected him to qualify in seventh and finish around fifth. Yet, Perez seems to have stepped up his game, only being 0.066 seconds slower than Verstappen in qualifying. He then proceeded to have an entertaining race, battling the rest of the field after his pit stops, to finish exactly where Red Bull need him to. Also, overtaking both Mercedes through 130R was inspired. Channeling his inner Alonso, Perez showed that he has the bravery to stop the second Red Bull seat going down under.

McLaren have had a slightly less fortunate week than the bulls. I fear I was not firm enough in the article I wrote on McLaren’s performance earlier in the year. Whilst the article I wrote back then expressed doubts and reservations on McLaren’s expectations of challenging Red Bull, I was actually certain that they would not be the second-best team this year. Thus, it was not to my surprise to see McLaren now claiming that it would now take another twelve months of development to improve, followed by the shock announcement that David Sanchez, who only started his job three months ago, was leaving.[1] Despite this, the grand prix itself was not even that bad for McLaren. They still look like they are solidly the third best team and can challenge for podiums in the right circumstances. But the team set expectations too high at the beginning of the year, disappointing their drivers and exemplifying the amusement of Ferrari fans. If McLaren had set realistic expectations, people would be singing their plaudits for seemingly dethroning Mercedes as a top team. Instead, we’re all busy wondering what happened to the Red Bull challenger we were promised.

This week’s stewards thankfully proved to be more competent than the ones in Australia. Towards the end of the race, Fernando was delivering another defensive masterclass, driving slowly to keep Piastri in DRS to stop George Russell from being able to advance and overtake on his faster tyres. No twenty second penalty was given to Fernando for driving slowly this week, but when Russell and Piastri had a moment at the chicane, I was nervous that one of them would get an unnecessary penalty. This was because the divebomb Russell made to attempt to overtake Piastri led to Piastri going off the track to avoid a collision. I was initially hesitant that Piastri may get a penalty for leaving the track, when his space was incredibly limited, but then Russell was put under investigation for pushing Piastri off the track. This was even though Piastri benefited from not taking the chicane. But the stewards took the right decision this week, to not punish hard racing. After Australia’s debacle, I was pleased to see the attitude of ‘let them race’ being adopted. I hope future stewards can learn from the fair handling of this incident.

Overall, a good weekend for F1. Suzuka reminded us why it was one of the greatest tracks in F1 history, moves were made across the field, Tsunoda got some points at home and Alpine dropped back like a stone. I couldn’t really have asked for much more.[2]

[1] McLaren will need “another 12 months” to fix F1 weaknesses, Fillip Cleeren, Autosport (1 April 2024) https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/mclaren-will-need-another-12-months-to-fix-f1-weaknesses/10593701/; McLaren’s Big Ex-Ferrari F1 Hire Out After Three Months, Josh Suttill, The Race (2 April 2024) https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/mclaren-reshuffle-ex-ferrari-f1-hire-david-sanchez-out-after-three-months/

[2] For my thoughts on Ferrari’s race, see my forthcoming article on the five star drivers.
Australian Grand Prix 2024 Review

Mar 27th, 2024

This weekend, we were witness to one of the best stories F1 has provided in a long time. Carlos Sainz, who only two weeks ago was recovering from appendicitis, won the race. Furthermore, Max Verstappen retired. Whilst most F1 fans would never wish bad luck on any driver, F1 needed a Verstappen retirement, if merely for reminding casual fans that it is possible for other people to win an F1 race. It’s not often I agree with Crofty, but when he declared that this was a result F1 needed, I completely concurred. A smile was on my face seeing a Ferrari 1-2.

All this almost distracted from the fact that I found the race boring.

Yes, even without Max Verstappen, a processional race with limited overtaking still occurred. In terms of track action, it appeared to have the least of the three races so far, the only racing highlights being Magnussen and Tsunoda making switchback moves at turn ten. This is because F1 has outgrown the Melbourne circuit. Narrow cars that can navigate the tight circuit of Melbourne have been replaced with wide cars that struggle to overtake here, which is a shame as the circuit provides one of the best vibes on the calendar.

Yet still, Sainz winning almost made this race appear to be a classic.

With little on track action throughout the middle of the race, attention was drawn to Sauber’s pit stops. Sauber appears to have decided to honor their gambling sponsorship by making the odds of a successful pit stop roughly the same as the odds of big winnings on a slot machine. The official reason behind their 30-50 second pit stops is that they have bought new wheel gun equipment for the year. Unfortunately, these wheel guns do not work properly with their car. If any other team did this they would become the laughing stock of F1, for failing on something so basic to success. However, as Sauber is already the most anonymous and mediocre, their pit stops just become another problem they have to solve. Still, the team should be embarrassed, especially when looking at statistics showing that they have already spent more time doing pit stops in three races than nine drivers did for the whole of last year.[1]

After a long race with little action, the most controversial moment suddenly happened on the last lap. George Russell crashed and this was partially caused by Alonso slowing down for turn six early, in order to get a better exit, likely to defend from Russell at the overtaking zone. Alonso’s actions, despite no contact with Russell, earned him a 20-second penalty, demoting him from 6^th to 8^th. The steward’s defense was that this was due to Alonso lifting, braking and downshifting a hundred meters earlier than on every other lap, before beginning to accelerate again, as by his own admission, he made a mistake.[2] The stewards argued that as this was inconsistent with Alonso’s previous laps, that it constituted driving ‘unnecessarily slowly… in a manner that could be deemed potentially dangerous.’[3] The stewards also argued that they were not taking the consequences of the incident into account.[4] The last point is obviously false. Hulkenberg moved under braking to cut off Alex Albon earlier in the race ‘in a manner that could be deemed potentially dangerous.’ Yet as Albon reacted and avoided Hulkenberg, no penalty was handed out. Additionally, back in Saudi, Magnussen backed up the entire midfield pack for multiple laps. If drivers didn’t react to Magnussen driving ‘unnecessarily slowly’ then there could have been a concertina effect where multiple cars crashed into each other. Yet this did not happen. So, Magnussen was allowed, in that case, to drive ‘unnecessarily slowly’. Presumably as Magnussen was lifting a hundred meters earlier for many laps, rather than just one, this made it safe? If Alonso had made the exact same move, yet Russell had reacted to it and slowed down accordingly, there would have been no penalty. Alonso’s move may have contributed to Russell’s accident, yet to punish a driver for the impact of their dirty air, itself a problem exemplified by F1’s wide cars, seems inconsistent and unfair.

So, F1 provided us with bad racing, long pit stops and awful stewarding. Yet still, the novelty of Verstappen winning made up for that. I just hope the next time Verstappen doesn’t win, there’s actually a good race to analyse, rather than merely a good result.

[1] https://twitter.com/F1BigData/status/1771911908506865952

[2] https://twitter.com/fiadocsbot/status/1771822384309231731

[3] https://twitter.com/fiadocsbot/status/1771822384309231731 [Article 33.4]

[4] https://twitter.com/fiadocsbot/status/1771822384309231731
Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2024 Review

Mar 15th, 2024

When Sergio Perez overtook Charles Leclerc on lap four of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, I tweeted that the race was over. I could only see a processional race following, due to the lack of tyre degradation. The best chance to make the race exciting would be an early safety car, as this would lead to differing tyre strategies across the field. Thankfully, Lance Stroll saved this race by crashing on lap six.

Following the early safety car, Max Verstappen was not in the lead, needing to catch and pass the McLaren of Lando Norris, who had declined to stop under the safety car. Whilst Norris needing to stop meant that this battle would likely not affect the final result, Lando still fought valiantly, keeping Max behind for multiple laps on his medium tyres. I savor every moment Max Verstappen needs to catch and pass a rival car. Max is one of the best drivers in Formula One, so it’s a shame his domination means we seldom see him in battles anymore. Whilst the battle at the front was brief, the safety car provided for a number of smaller storylines to take place throughout the race. These storylines, whilst not making the race an all-time classic, kept me intrigued and entertained throughout.

The tyre strategies also meant that we got to clearly see the differing characteristics of the McLaren and Mercedes cars. Hamilton, who had not stopped, kept Oscar Piastri behind for much of the race. Whilst Piastri could close up to Hamilton during the lap, the McLaren was slow in a straight line and had an inefficient drag reduction system. Yet, when Hamilton found himself directly behind a McLaren (Lando Norris) after his pit stop, he also could not overtake. In the high-speed corners, the Mercedes could not keep up with Lando, who was pulling ahead in the first sector by almost a second. When we got to see Lewis’ onboard it was clear how much that Mercedes was struggling with high-speed performance, he began the sector right behind Norris and ended the sector barely able to see him. These clear differentials and contrasting strength and weaknesses between the two cars should provide for some entertaining battles throughout the season and it was exciting to see the first of these battles debut in Saudi.

The debut of Oliver Bearman was another highlight. As well as having my favorite name for a person ever, Ollie also had a Ferrari drive this weekend, courtesy of Carlos Sainz needing surgery for appendicitis. A lot of the focus went into Ollie’s debut this weekend and he impressed, by finishing 7^th. After learning the ropes of overtaking and carving his way through the midfield, Ollie found himself under pressure towards the end of the race. Both Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton decided to pit towards the end of the race, with hopes of making up multiple positions on fresh soft tyres. Yet, they never got close to Bearman, who kept a consistent pace on his aging hard tyres. Despite no experience managing F1 tyres, a consistent pitfall for rookies, Ollie showed this weekend why he is one of the stars of the future and I personally loved seeing the Bearcub evolve into the Bearman.

My favorite part of the race, however, was seeing Kevin Magnussen embracing chaos. After demonstrating questionable driving standards that led to a couple of incidents, Magnussen was handed twenty seconds worth of penalties. However, as Haas had not pit Nico Hulkenberg under the safety car, this provided the team with an opportunity to utilize an unorthodox strategy. Magnussen was in front of much of the bottom half of the field and was ordered to hold them up, to give Hulkenberg a gap to pit into.[1] He succeeded, building a train of cars so long one could call it the Magnussen Express. And similarly to many English train companies, he frustrated every passenger by delaying their progress indefinitely. The midfield used the opportunity to jostle with each other, but had no chance of overtaking that Haas, which appears to be an incredibly efficient car in a straight line. Hulkenberg got the gap he needed to pit in thanks to Kevin’s efforts, providing Haas with their first point of the season. Perhaps I was wrong to doubt Haas’ ability to perform, as new Team Principle Komatsu is doing the job that Gene Haas set out for him, to maximize every result with the car that they already have.[2]

So, I was surprised at the end of the race at how entertained I had found myself. These smaller storylines had made me forget the constant killjoy of having the same winner every week. As this Red Bull looks very good and will likely win the vast majority of races, I’d recommend to fans to put their focus onto these other storylines, as the sport is brimming with them.

[1] The cars behind Magnussen after his overtake on Tsunoda [which he received one of his ten second penalties for] were Tsunoda, Ocon, Albon, Sargeant, Bottas and Ricciardo].

[2] EXCLUSIVE: ‘It came down to performance’ – Gene Haas on Guenther Steiner’s departure and what it means for his team’s future, Lawrence Barretto (11 January 2024) https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.exclusive-gene-haas-guenther-steiner-departure-f1-team-future.3pt87IVfCzoOgJLV19Atf4.html
Bahrain Grand Prix Review

Mar 2nd, 2024

There was a lot of excitement regarding a Ferrari fightback through testing and practice. When Verstappen still clinched pole, there was disappointment, but I told myself that this Ferrari looks good and appears to have sorted their tyre wear problems. So of course, the race begins with Leclerc locking up at seemingly every corner. These lock ups were not a result of poor tyre wear, rather an issue with Leclerc’s brakes. Several drivers had issues throughout this race, with both Mercedes suffering from battery issues and Hamilton reporting that his seat was broken. Between these issues and the inevitable squabbling between drivers that resulted, Verstappen was allowed to drive off into the distance, a sight we’ve become used to seeing.

Albeit the first third of the race was quite entertaining. All the cars were relatively close and there was always a battle to cut to. Perez passing Leclerc and Seargeant passing Ricciardo were memorable, but the best battle came from the two Ferraris. Sainz clearly does not care whose feathers he ruffles, making an aggressive overtake on Leclerc on lap 11, before shutting the door on his teammate. Sainz then had to do the same on lap 17, after the first round of stops, before passing George Russell three laps later to bag himself a podium. As for Sainz’s replacement, he finished two places behind his teammate and spent more TV time going off the track than driving on it.

The race became more sparse of action shortly after the first stops. Gaps started to emerge between the drivers and the cars slotted into their natural positions. A personal highlight was watching Bottas’ 52-second pit stop, only for the TV directors to decide that as there was nothing else going on, we might as well spend a minute watching it again. Oscar Piastri attempting to defend from Lewis Hamilton on freezing tyres also entertained, though the difference in grip made that particular pass inevitable from the word go.

Thus, it fell on Visa Cash App to provide us with some drama. The car could have received a point with Tsunoda today, but the team allowed for Yuki to get undercut by multiple cars, likely as the team members were too busy checking their Visa Cash Apps. With so much focus on the current cost of living crisis, one would forget to do their job, a bit like when I found smashed up eggs under the fruit cases when working at Sainsburys. Though, even more controversially than me having to remove eggshells that were literally welded to the shelf, would be RB’s use of team orders. As Tsunoda was attempting to set up a move on Kevin Magnussen, they ordered a driver swap with Ricciardo. Yuki was not happy with this, arguing with the team until relinquishing the position a couple of laps later. I understand Yuki’s frustrations. In a year where a Red Bull seat is possibly on the line for him, he needs to beat Ricciardo consistently. After being in the hunt for points, to have the team mess up his strategy and use unnecessary team orders, I would be angry as well. What was less acceptable was when Yuki decided to divebomb Ricciardo after the race had finished. Moments of road rage are not good examples to set, especially when that road rage is directed against someone you are soon going to be spending hours in meetings with.

As the junior RB team provided some entertainment, the senior RB team sucked out a lot of it. Whilst I haven’t given up hope of there being some battles for the win this season, Red Bull getting yet another 1-2 has not filled me with unbridled optimism. As this may be one of the better chances for Ferrari to win in the early portion of the season, we may have to get used to learning the Dutch National Anthem. Again.