Ryan's Lil' F1 Blog

IndyCar- Iowa 250 Review

Jul 17th, 2024

The double header at Iowa was an unmitigated disaster. From the track, to the hybrids, to the safety, everything that could go wrong did. We were witness to 500 laps of boredom over two races and however much the commentary team tried to gloss it over, it was clear that a great track had been utterly ruined. One hopes that improvements are made for next year, because I am aghast at what I watched.

Problems with the hybrids were apparent during qualifying. Because some drivers did not have access to the hybrid system IndyCar had to offer them the ability to redo their qualifying runs, including the first race’s polesitter Colton Herta. Unfortunately, it seemed to affect Jack Harvey the most. It was already questionable whether Harvey should have been allowed to compete, as he was affected with serious back and neck spasms. After his first run, it was revealed that Harvey did not have access to the hybrid system, leading to him having to go out a second time. After this Jack was in visible agony and could barely get out of the car. So evidently, his hybrid system hadn’t worked again and he was forced to qualify for a third time. At this point, the IndyCar medical team did not want Harvey to run in the race, due to the apparent agony he was in. However, the officials declared that if he withdrew or was replaced by a substitute driver, the car would not be able to receive full points. This forced Harvey into the race for a brief period, until he came into the pits and withdrew due to his pain having become unbearable. Whilst he probably should never have been cleared to compete in the first place, not adjusting the rules when your medical team is suggesting you should to is shameful from IndyCar.

Problems were not limited to qualifying, as the track had been completely ruined. Iowa had always been a fun track that encouraged overtakes and had high tyre degradation. Unfortunately, the track has been partially resurfaced. Not fully, partially. Half the track consisted of a brand-new tarmac that offered high grip and no tyre degradation, whilst the outside line was abrasive and offered little grip. Thus, it was almost impossible to overtake outside of the few laps after a race restart when the track had been cleaned up. It was obvious that the surface was going to offer a challenge to race on when I saw the track and realized that it looked more like a half-finished B&Q car park than a functioning race course. The result of this foolish decision was to completely destroy the race. Drivers that had pace throughout the races, like Will Power, Felix Rosenqvist and Santino Ferrucci couldn’t make overtakes when in years past, there would have been fights throughout the field. This turned the race into one that was won on pit road, rather than on the track. A race that should have been fun and full of action morphed into a procession. As a result, both races were boring. I love oval racing, so when I’m bored, I don’t know how I’m supposed to recommend the sport to anyone.

Another consequence of the inability to overtake was that races were won and lost due to luck. Luck during the pit sequences has always been an issue in Iowa. As the track is so short, when drivers pit, they are consequently lapped. Thus, if a caution comes out during this sequence, the drivers that pit early are severely punished. However, since Iowa was easy to overtake at and had many pit stops a balance was provided, as positions could easily be regained with clever driving. When there are only two pit stops due to a lack of tyre degradation and it is almost impossible to overtake, what used to be a major setback turned into a fatal one. The major casualty of this in race one was Colton Herta. Colton had taken a fantastic pole position despite not having access to the hybrid system and was running in second, having lost the lead during the first pit stop sequence to race one winner Scott McLaughlin. However Palou, who was mired in the midfield due to experiencing a hybrid related stall during his first pit stop, uncharacteristically crashed and bought out a caution on the lap after Colton had pitted. This ruined Colton’s race, sending him to the back of the field and turning an almost guaranteed spot on the podium into an eleventh place.

The major winner from a lucky caution was Will Power in race two. Power had hit the wall during his second qualifying lap, thus started race two in twenty-second. He managed to make it to nineteenth at the start, but went into fuel save mode afterwards. Thus, when a caution came out and only Power and Palou had to pit, Power found himself jumping from nineteenth to second. A successful overcut during the second pit stop sequence turned the second place into a victory for Power, achieved entirely by making no overtakes, at an oval. The worst part of this was that Power had a lot of pace which was evident when he was chasing Palou during the middle of the race. Yet, due to the resurfacing, Power didn’t take a win due to a tremendous performance aided by luck, he instead took one entirely through luck.

Just to cap off the weekend, the second race ended in a horrific accident. McLaren hadn’t fueled Alexander Rossi’s car correctly, so he suddenly slowed down on the last lap. This led to Sting Ray Robb crashing into him, with Sting Ray’s car rolling over in a dramatic fashion. This also led to Ed Carpenter and Kyle Kirkwood crashing in an attempt to avoid the rolling car. The safety standards of IndyCar have greatly improved in recent years; if it weren’t for the aero screens on the car, Sting Ray and Kyle would likely be dead. So, it was a relief to be reminded that, even in an awful weekend for the sport, safety standards overall have improved by a country mile since the horrific accidents of decades past. This near miss proved the only relief in this weekend defined by boredom though. Whilst there were some good performances across the field, the changes to the track and the introduction of the hybrid systems combined to make one of IndyCar’s worst weekends in a long time. This season is proving to be heavily disappointing and I’m severely hoping for a good weekend in Toronto.
IndyCar- Mid-Ohio Grand Prix Review

Jul 15th, 2024

IndyCar’s Mid-Ohio race saw the debut of the hybrid system. Introducing a new technology mid-season is quite the risk for IndyCar to take. On one hand, I do admire the confidence it shows in the technology. On the other, it may derail the season if things go wrong. Mid-Ohio was not a complete disaster for the hybrids but was also not the unmitigated success that the commentary team tried to spin it as either. Whilst there were not a flurry of hybrid related retirements, one happened on the warm up lap. And it was Scott Dixon who was the victim of this bad luck, who to this point has been one of the contenders for the championship. His chances were already fading before this race and his luck may have put the nail into the coffin. This is the primary concern people have with the hybrids, that they’ll mess up the championship fight. To see that fear realized before the race even started was concerning.

The race itself was a relatively dull affair with not many on track battles. Alex Palou once again started on pole and took an early lead, that reached around six seconds over Pato O’Ward by the first stops. The star of the weekend was David Malukas. Having been dropped by McLaren earlier in the year after breaking his wrists during the pre-season, Malukas was bought back into the sport by Meyer Shank Racing. Despite still suffering the effects of his broken wrists, Malukas was able to qualify in third place in only his second race back. A podium was on the cards, and he ran in third during the first stint. However, another persistent problem with the hybrids affected Malukas, his car stalling after his pit stop. This lost Malukas a lot of time that he was not able to recover, finishing the race in twelfth. At this point I was evidently quite angry, as two of my favorite drivers had their races ruined by the new technology. Whilst it will obviously affect different drivers in future races, if the hybrids’ aim was to instantly alienate me, they succeeded.

Due to the lack of action across the field, most of the coverage was focused on the battle for the win between Palou and O’Ward, which in fairness, did remain tense for the race’s distance. Whilst Palou had built up a healthy lead by the first stops, on the softer red tyres O’Ward proved the better driver. Throughout the second stint he slowly closed up to Palou, to be within a second by the time they made their second stops. O’Ward stopped first and successfully undercut Palou, who himself lost around a second with a mini stall leaving the pits. Whilst Palou was quicker on the harder black tyres, he was unable to find a way past O’Ward, even when they were in traffic. Therefore, O’Ward took his second win of the season and his first on-track victory in nearly two years, as his St. Petersburg win was awarded due to Josef Newgarden’s disqualification. It was a deserved win and reminded fans that O’Ward has what it takes to win races and fight for championships if his consistency improves.

Other than the battle at the front, there was little excitement in the field. The only other thing worth saying about the hybrid system is that the on-screen graphics need to be changed. Red and green lights were appearing on the timing screen beside every driver’s name when they were using or recharging their highlights. This was distracting enough for me; it would be a nightmare for fans with sensory issues. The graphics team needs to fix that immediately, as the sport should be accessible for all fans. Thankfully, this problem was not evident in the double header at Iowa, though it proved the least of that weekend’s problems.
IndyCar- Laguna Seca Grand Prix Review

Jul 12th, 2024

The race at Laguna Seca this year was good, if not overly exciting. With strategic twists proving the highlight around the corkscrew, as Alex Palou delivered one of his dominant drives that we’ve become used to seeing over the past few years. He had to work hard to get this win, but superior pace combined with superior strategy led to a superior performance.

After achieving pole on Saturday, I was confident that Palou was going to take an easy win. The start placed some doubt into this inevitability, as Kyle Kirkwood made a fantastic move on the outside of the first couple of corners to take the lead. Whilst this made Palou’s job harder, it was quite clear during the first stint that Palou had better pace than Kirkwood. He was able to keep within a second of Kirkwood during the entire stint, in a track notoriously hard to follow at due to its twists and turns. It appeared that Palou would be able to pull off an overcut when Kirkwood pit to change his degrading tyres, but Alexander Rossi added an extra complication, by undercutting Kirkwood. Palou was forced to stop the next lap to prevent any further undercuts, but in doing so was passed by Kyle Kirkwood and Colton Herta on warmer tyres, placing him fourth at the beginning of the second stint. Without a strategic offset, it looked at this point like Palou’s chances of winning were fading. But a strategic offset was what he received.

During the the second stint a caution came out when Luca Ghiotto crashed. The leading trio of Alexander Rossi, Colton Hera and Kyle Kirkwood decided to pit, with Alex Palou electing to stay out. Herta jumped Rossi in the pits and was seen at this point by the commentary team as the favorite to win, as he would only need to make one more pit stop to Palou’s two. This confidence in Herta’s strategy was reinforced when Nolan Seigel bought out a second caution in his McLaren, no doubt filling Zak Brown with confidence that he’d made the right decision in firing Theo Pourchaire. For Palou to win the race, he would have to show vastly superior pace to the rest of the field, which the commentators did not expect to happen. However, the commentators forgot one thing, they were discussing Alex Palou.

When Palou made his second stop, he came out in third, behind Rossi and Herta. It became clear from this point that he’d taken the preferred strategy, as the drivers ahead of him were in a heavy state of fuel saving. Palou was able to dispatch with Rossi with relative ease and as the commentators were talking about how he did not have to instantly overtake Colton Herta to win, he went and overtook Herta regardless. From this point onwards, the only thing that kept the others in the game were the large number of cautions leaving Palou to manage multiple restarts. However, in Palou’s typical style, he did so with ease. The only major effect that the cautions had was preventing Romain Grosjean’s charge to the podium. Grosjean had followed Palou’s strategy and was looking set to take the first podium for his team. That this shock result was on the table showed the benefit of the three-stopper, it allowed drivers to push forwards rather than forcing them to look in their mirrors.

So, it was a fun, if not thrilling race at Laguna Seca. Palou put the pride themed livery into a deserved win and reminded everyone why he is already a two-time IndyCar champion. With every race, it’s looking more and more like Palou’s championship to lose.
Austrian Grand Prix 2024- Five Star Drivers

Jul 7th, 2024
1. George Russell-
As I said in my review, George drove a perfect weekend with no mistakes in Austria. Whilst the Mercedes did not have the pace of Max and Lando, Russell capitalized on the opportunity provided by the collision to take a well-deserved second win. He’s one of the most talented drivers in Formula One, when he has the car to win regularly, he’ll deliver.

2. Carlos Sainz-

Whilst not always being the fastest Ferrari driver, Sainz maximized his weekend by making no mistakes. While Leclerc made a mistake in qualifying that led to his race falling apart on lap one, Sainz drove calmly, had a good battle with Hamilton and took a podium on a weekend where it was completely unexpected.

3. Nico Hulkenberg-

Hulkenberg drove a fantastic race in his Haas, to take his best result since 2019 in sixth. He even kept Perez in a Red Bull behind until the end of the race. Albeit, the Red Bull was damaged, but this was still a fantastic performance that showed Nico’s talents.

4. Kevin Magnussen-

Magnussen looked the faster of the Haas drivers through most of the weekend, until qualifying and the race. After a fun battle with Hulkenberg, Kevin settled behind. However, he still finished in eighth, taking home an additional four points to give Haas as many points this weekend as they got throughout the entirety of last year.

5. Daniel Ricciardo-

It was another solid weekend from Ricciardo, outqualifying his teammate and driving a solid race to take a couple of points for the RB team. He has seen an uptick in form recently and whilst it has proven too late to steal that illustrious Red Bull seat, it shows that he still has the skills to succeed in Formula One.

Tally:
1. Max Verstappen- 7
2. Yuki Tsunoda- 5
3. Lando Norris- 4
4. Charles Leclerc- 4
5. Carlos Sainz- 4
6. George Russell- 4
7. Nico Hulkenberg- 3.5
8. Kevin Magnussen- 3.5
9. Oscar Piastri- 3
10. Esteban Ocon- 2.5
11. Pierre Gasly- 2.5
12. Sergio Perez- 2
13. Lance Stroll- 2
14. Alexander Albon- 2
15. Daniel Ricciardo- 2
16. Fernando Alonso- 1
17. Oliver Bearman- 1
18. Zhou Guanyu- 1
19. Lewis Hamilton- 1
Austrian Grand Prix 2024 Review

Jul 7th, 2024

The Red Bull Ring is always a fun track. With a simple layout and three DRS zones, the track encourages overtaking and battling throughout many laps. The Grand Prix this year was a good watch, providing entertaining battles and late race drama. Whilst the race felt like it was lacking a cohesive narrative and felt more like a series of disconnected events, the events in themselves were fun. Not fun for a Leclerc fan, but the action towards the end of the race distracted from that particular disappointment.

Before the drama at the race’s conclusion, there were limited moments of intrigue throughout the first two stints. In particular, there were some exciting teammate rivalries to ruminate on. The first example came when the Haas cars made their first stops, with Magnussen and Hulkenberg proceeding to pass and repass each other as their respective engineers begged for them to work together to save tyres. It took a few minutes of convincing and some colourful language from Magnussen to get there, but eventually the Haas boys calmed down and recorded their best finish of the season. The Alpine boys were not so quick to settle, as they engaged in yet another vicious battle. Whilst it was a tremendously foolish idea to ever make Ocon and Gasly teammates, it provides fans with the entertainment of watching two people who absolutely despise each other fight. As always, the way they raced each other demonstrated their feelings, as they were fighting through for multiple laps, whilst pushing each other off the track at every opportunity. Eventually Gasly passed Ocon, but the fighting likely lost both drivers time and tyres. However, the fact that at any track these drivers never stop fighting makes up for the lack of sensibility with a flurry of entertainment.

Whilst the first two thirds of the race were not boring, it was during the final third that the main spectacle came to pass. Red Bull had already made a mistake during practice, using too many medium tyres when these would prove the strongest in the race. Thus, they had to put Verstappen on an old set of mediums for his final stint. Combined with a slow pit stop and a lock up, this put Lando Norris right on Verstappen’s tail. For a number of laps, Norris tried to hustle his way past, in a battle that was as thrilling as it was silly. Both drivers didn’t show their best qualities during this duel. On Norris’ behalf, his hastiness to overtake Max led him to commit to some silly divebombs and opportunistic overtakes. This showed a lack of solid race craft during high pressure moments from Lando. On Verstappen’s behalf, he demonstrated his willingness to be too aggressive when he feels he can get away with breaking the rules. Virtually every time Norris attempted to overtake, Max would move in the braking zone to push Lando into backing out. The stewards repeatedly failed to intervene to stop Verstappen’s illegal tactics, despite the rule breaking being obvious to anyone watching the race. With Norris and Verstappen both getting increasingly angry at each other’s driving, there was only one way this battle could end.

Thus, on lap 64, as Norris tried to overtake, Max moved under braking again. But Norris didn’t back down and they collided in a dramatic fashion. This gave both of them punctures and was a fantastic example of why the stewards should punish illegal tactics before those tactics lead to the inevitable. One would have thought that the stewards would have learnt their lesson from the events of 2021, but instead they let history repeat itself. Whilst I often criticize Lando Norris, in this moment I have to praise his resolve. He showed Verstappen that he wasn’t prepared to be pushed around. Whilst Norris lost out more from the collision, as he had to retire whilst Verstappen finished fifth, this is still good if Norris wants to be in regular battle with Verstappen. Norris needs to carry the aggression forward throughout the season, as you can only beat Verstappen by meeting his aggression.

The collision between the leaders led to the biggest surprise of the afternoon, George Russell winning. This was the first Mercedes victory since Russell’s win in Brazil 2022 and whilst it fell into his hands, it was nevertheless well deserved. George has been fantastic this year, regularly outqualifying his teammate and proving that he can become Mercedes’ team leader. He drove a perfect weekend, making no mistakes where others faltered. I said that he needed to win another race during my Canada review, to prove his critics wrong. George delivered in the best way possible and I’m sure the Mercedes factory enjoyed their champagne Monday.
Spanish Grand Prix 2024- Five Star Drivers

Jul 7th, 2024
1. Max Verstappen-
Max proved once again that he doesn’t need the fastest car to win. He maximized the opportunity the start gave him, passing Russell with ease and building a first stint lead that Norris was unable to overturn. Races like these remind all fans of the quality of Max Verstappen.

2. Lewis Hamilton-

Whilst this season has largely been a challenge for Lewis, he had a good performance in Barcelona, qualifying ahead of his teammates and the Ferraris. Whilst not having the start Russell had, Lewis was able to perfectly execute his superior strategy to take the third step on the podium.

3. George Russell-

Whilst not being on the preferred strategy, George showed his talents throughout the race, with a fantastic start to take the lead from fourth and great defending later on from Norris’ quicker tyres. Whilst he didn’t quite make the podium, Russell achieved the maximum result he could with his strategy.

4. Charles Leclerc-

Whilst having to handle an aggressive Sainz early on, Leclerc played the patient game, following Norris’ strategy to have quicker tyres throughout the second and third stints. During these stints, his race pace was apparent, almost equal to Verstappen and Norris. Whilst running out of time to catch Russell, Leclerc proved the more talented Ferrari driver of the weekend.

5. Pierre Gasly-

Gasly had a fantastic weekend in Spain, outqualifying and nearly beating the Red Bull of Perez. With Alpine starting to creep up the midfield, Gasly is beginning to appear like the Alpine driver in form at the point where points are finally on offer. However, with both drivers appearing close, I would not be surprised to see more collisions throughout the year.

Tally:
1. Max Verstappen- 7
2. Yuki Tsunoda- 5
3. Lando Norris- 4
4. Charles Leclerc- 4
5. Carlos Sainz- 3
6. Oscar Piastri- 3
7. George Russell- 3
8. Nico Hulkenberg- 2.5
9. Kevin Magnussen- 2.5
10. Esteban Ocon- 2.5
11. Pierre Gasly- 2.5
12. Sergio Perez- 2
13. Lance Stroll- 2
14. Alexander Albon- 2
15. Fernando Alonso- 1
16. Oliver Bearman- 1
17. Zhou Guanyu- 1
18. Daniel Ricciardo- 1
19. Lewis Hamilton- 1
Spanish Grand Prix 2024 Review

Jul 7th, 2024

Whilst hardly a thriller, this year’s Formula One race in Barcelona gave us an interesting strategic battle between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris. Norris and McLaren demonstrated the many ways to lose a race with the fastest car, whilst varying tyre choices across the field kept the race intriguing.

It looked promising on Saturday for Lando to take his second win, after he achieved his first pole position since 2021. Whilst the Red Bull was close in qualifying trim, the McLaren would prove to be faster during the race. However, the race start can be vital at Barcelona and Lando failed to capitalize. Whilst he was busy pushing Verstappen onto the grass, George Russell utilized the outside line to sweep past the pair of them. Stuck in the middle of the situation, Lando was squeezed from first into third. Verstappen then swiftly utilized his Red Bull’s superior top speed to overtake Russell’s Mercedes on lap three. Lando, on the other hand, did not have the top speed advantage to overtake a Mercedes on equal tyres, so found himself stuck behind the slower Russell for the entire first stint. This allowed Verstappen to build a healthy lead over Norris by the end of the stint and forced McLaren onto an alternative strategy to have any hope of catching the Red Bull.

In response to being stuck in the George Russell train, McLaren decided to pit Norris much later than the other front runners, to give him a tyre advantage over Verstappen. However, whilst Norris was significantly faster than Verstappen, he was forced to pass Carlos Sainz, Lewis Hamilton and George Russell on track. All the time Norris spent following and passing other cars would be a detriment upon his advantage. Whilst Sainz and Hamilton proved easy pickings for Lando, George showed his prowess by forcing Lando into a duel. Whilst Lando eventually won the battle, he lost vital time to Verstappen through this sequence. To avoid the necessity of passing slower cars again, McLaren pitted Lando for his third stint slightly earlier than they would have desired. So, he had less of an advantage over Verstappen and whilst he closed up, Lando ran out of time to catch Max, finishing two seconds behind. With a better start, quicker stops, more decisive passes and an uncompromised strategy, McLaren could have won this race. In contrast, bottling all these things left Norris unhappy with second place.

Further down the field the uncertainty in tyre strategies proved to the detriment of some drivers. Whilst Russell and Sainz took the early leads in their respective inter-team battles, they were both put onto the hard tyres for the last stint. With their teammates proving faster on new soft tyres, both drivers were forced to cede position. By the end of the race, both were also not far from losing positions to Leclerc and Piastri respectively. This showed the uncertainty that a hot day on an abrasive circuit can bring, as teams become less sure what tyres to put their drivers on. It was unlikely that Mercedes and Ferrari intended to put their leading drivers on a compromised strategy, but it would certainly prove to the disappointment of Russell and Sainz. But sometimes, strategy is key and strategy in Spain won Lewis Hamilton his first podium of the year, bringing some happiness to a season that he has so far found lacking.

In conclusion, Spain was interesting throughout, if not outstanding. When a race circuit is slightly more difficult to overtake, it pays to have differing tyre strategies. Barcelona is not a bad circuit by any means and there were some amazing turn one overtakes by Russell, Norris and Hamilton throughout the race. But, seeing this race makes me want tyres with higher degradation, to throw more strategic upsets into the mix.
British Grand Prix 2024 Predictions

Jul 5th, 2024
Pole Position: Oscar Piastri
1. Oscar Piastri
2. Lando Norris
3. Max Verstappen
Bold Prediction: Lance Stroll makes it into Q3 whilst Fernando Alonso gets eliminated in Q1
Austrian Grand Prix 2024 Predictions

Jun 28th, 2024
Sprint:
1. Lando Norris
2. Max Verstappen
3. Oscar Piastri
Pole Position: Lando Norris
1. Max Verstappen
2. Charles Leclerc
3. Lando Norris
Bold Prediction: Hamilton qualifies outside of the top ten for the race
Spanish Grand Prix 2024 Predictions

Jun 20th, 2024
Pole Position: Max Verstappen
1. Max Verstappen
2. George Russell
3. Sergio Perez
Bold Prediction: Norris gets knocked out in Q2