Justin:
I won't apologise for spotting a great pun and going for it with the headline there.
I was absolutely gutted for the Haas team though. They were running, what was it 4th and 5th, or 4th and 6th and looking pretty comfortable to be honest before disaster struck. Of the midfield teams, they were clearly the quickest behind the top 3 of Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull. They were holding off Renault and McLaren pretty easily. Still, the big positive to take forward is that if they have that genuine pace for the year, then big points are on the horizon for sure.
Fernando Alonso got F1 Driver of the Day for a gutsy, fighty and opportunistic drive. He pounced on the virtual safety car to pit and then jump a couple of cars. Of course a spinning Max helped his cause, but Alonso came out of the pits in front of Max in 5th and held him back for the rest of the race. A good start for McLaren with Stoffel also in the points. I have to say, I am loving Kimoa sponsoring McLaren - witness Zak Brown wearing the very cool sunnies produced by the company owned by his star driver.
All in all, I have to say that this was a pretty average race overall. Lewis was walking it until Mercedes misjudged things and allowed a very opportunistic Vettel a chance with the virtual safety car pit stops. Give Vettel a sniff of blood and he'll bring it home. Then it was Lewis following Seb for the rest of the race. The Mercedes doesn't run too well in dirty air, actually not many of the cars do in this incarnation of the formula - witness Bottas struggling in 15th for a fair while before starting to progress through to 8th.
No fighting at the front. Which was one of my big annoyances from last year - minimal action mano a mano at the front. All the fun fighting is in midfield still, and there didn't seem to be a great deal of that today either.
There was a great overtake by Ricciardo on one of the Renaults I think. That guy can brake later than anyone! Fantastic stuff.
Anyway, on to Bahrain we go.
Sunday 25 March 2018
Saturday 24 March 2018
Australia qualifying report
Justin:
Well, ultimately, there were no great surprises. Lewis out ahead flanked by a Ferrari. That was an astonishing lap by Lewis and a huge gap to Kimi.
It caused a bit of a fruity press conference afterwards - Gotta love these two exchanging words.
Bottas has his work cut out after hitting the wall quite heavily. Still, with the speed on the Mercedes you'd expect him to rise through to the top 5 with relative ease.
The Renault team look strong, as do Haas (they have apparently remained within the rules whilst actually building very little of their car compared to other teams) - the latter are surely the most improved/ big surprise of 2018 so far?!
Fernando Alonso said during the build up that this would be the worst weekend for McLaren. He'd better hope so. I'd imagine they didn't have qualifying 11th and 12th in mind before Q3. That said, Alonso seemed ok with it.
There is a big gap between the top 3 teams and the best of the rest. There was one second from Daniel Ricciardo back to Kevin Magnussen. Not sure if I'm more concerned by that gap or the one between Lewis and the rest.
That said, the flip side is the top 3 were all mega close after Q2...but Lewis was holding back until obliterating everyone in Q3.
Unless Ferrari and Red Bull pull something very special out of the bag tomorrow (today now if anyone down under reads this), I don't think anyone other than Lewis will win this race.
It's great that F1 is back, but I hope we have fighting at the front tomorrow and don't just have to rely on midfield for close up racing.
We shall see.
Well, ultimately, there were no great surprises. Lewis out ahead flanked by a Ferrari. That was an astonishing lap by Lewis and a huge gap to Kimi.
It caused a bit of a fruity press conference afterwards - Gotta love these two exchanging words.
Bottas has his work cut out after hitting the wall quite heavily. Still, with the speed on the Mercedes you'd expect him to rise through to the top 5 with relative ease.
The Renault team look strong, as do Haas (they have apparently remained within the rules whilst actually building very little of their car compared to other teams) - the latter are surely the most improved/ big surprise of 2018 so far?!
Fernando Alonso said during the build up that this would be the worst weekend for McLaren. He'd better hope so. I'd imagine they didn't have qualifying 11th and 12th in mind before Q3. That said, Alonso seemed ok with it.
There is a big gap between the top 3 teams and the best of the rest. There was one second from Daniel Ricciardo back to Kevin Magnussen. Not sure if I'm more concerned by that gap or the one between Lewis and the rest.
That said, the flip side is the top 3 were all mega close after Q2...but Lewis was holding back until obliterating everyone in Q3.
Unless Ferrari and Red Bull pull something very special out of the bag tomorrow (today now if anyone down under reads this), I don't think anyone other than Lewis will win this race.
It's great that F1 is back, but I hope we have fighting at the front tomorrow and don't just have to rely on midfield for close up racing.
We shall see.
Thursday 22 March 2018
Nearly time for lights out!!
Justin:
I think I either need to do a live blog during the race highlights on Sunday, or at least cynically post a blog during to piggyback on all the hashtag traffic to get me more readers :-).
There's just a handful of days until FP1 and we get more of an idea of the pecking order.
I'm competing yet again in a Fantasy F1 contest. I've picked 3 teams - my drivers include Ricciardo, Bottas, Alonso, Hulkenberg, Perez, Sainz. In fact, the Renault drivers and engines pop up a fair bit. Ocon is in there too.
I'm just bloody excited for it all to start now.
Have I mentioned this blogger is off to Canada in June too?!
F1 is back!
*Update - FP1 is very soon now!! F1 is back. This blog post is pretty much just me getting very excited and wanting to post something!!
I think I either need to do a live blog during the race highlights on Sunday, or at least cynically post a blog during to piggyback on all the hashtag traffic to get me more readers :-).
There's just a handful of days until FP1 and we get more of an idea of the pecking order.
I'm competing yet again in a Fantasy F1 contest. I've picked 3 teams - my drivers include Ricciardo, Bottas, Alonso, Hulkenberg, Perez, Sainz. In fact, the Renault drivers and engines pop up a fair bit. Ocon is in there too.
I'm just bloody excited for it all to start now.
Have I mentioned this blogger is off to Canada in June too?!
F1 is back!
*Update - FP1 is very soon now!! F1 is back. This blog post is pretty much just me getting very excited and wanting to post something!!
Saturday 10 March 2018
F1 2018...go, go, go!!!!
Justin:
So, welcome back readers. I'm welcoming myself back here too. I last blogged in August 2017, after visiting Oviedo and the Fernando Alonso Collection.
It's been a while, for sure.
Before I go into what is happening in F1 - I just need to bask in the glory of the fact I have a ticket to see the Canadian Grand Prix this year. I cannot wait. Grandstand 12, 3 day ticket with mates, flat booked and flight booked. Bring it on.
That's four F1 themed holidays in the last four years - three of those were/are Grand Prix: Hungary 2015, Singapore 2016, Canada 2018. Boom.
I also need to purchase the new book by Darren Heath - I have all the others and need a bit of F1 photography before the first race. If I'm brave I may hashtag him when sharing this blog on Twitter in a shameless attempt to get more reads :-). Well, here is a link to his website anyway.
The rundown
In truth, I survived the 3 or so months over winter with no F1 ( as opposed to every other year where I always needed a good F1 book). The title race became dull over the second half of 2017.
I'm using the BBC gossip column to update myself on rounding up the news here.
Some bits and pieces...
1. Looks like business as usual at the front end with Mercedes leading the way, followed by Ferrari and Red Bull.
2. After those teams, I think it's going to be closer than ever. Haas and Renault look like they have improved on 2017, whilst McLaren have made the biggest time difference gain in testing (fastest lap to fastest lap).
3. But really, we don't know until Australia. I'd imagine it will be a Mercedes clean sweep as usual. Sad and cynical as it makes me sound.
Here is Andrew Benson breaking it down.
Contracts
No disrespect to Bottas, but surely Ricciardo is on his way to Mercedes for 2019. Or Ferrari.
Actually, I'm hoping Bottas runs Hamilton much closer in 2018.
I think I called it incorrectly in my last blog. I thought Max was fed up at Red Bull, but he has signed a long term deal now. So, Ricciardo is looking at options and playing it cool for a bit.
Alonso
This guy is running in the WEC this year too. Fair play! I'm hoping McLaren have built a car worthy of his speed this year. Time to buy some new Alonso/ McLaren/ Renault merchandise.
Liberty
Not sure why they are faffing about hiring a Hollywood music person to write a theme song for F1.
There are surely bigger things to concentrate on first.
The state of TV in the UK after 2018 maybe?! More of this soon.
Maybe give the cash they are spending on the theme song back to the smaller teams. Or, give it to circuits that need to upgrade their facilities to be able to stay on the F1 calendar.
There's so many things they could do before faffing with a theme song for crying out loud.
A theme song? It's as if Bernie "let's have medals and sprinklers" Ecclestone never left.
TV coverage in UK
We have to take Liberty at their word. I imagine they explored the Sky contract for 2019 and it is watertight. That doesn't help viewing figures though.
Channel 4 gets more viewers for free practice sessions than Sky does for races.
It's all about money unfortunately. Though, I'd imagine Channel 4 could afford to pay large sums for a new live contract if they were given a chance.
Their coverage is awesome. They need to appeal to a wider audience as a given. Thus, their show is fun and accessible. But they also have the tech stuff too.
I watched Sky coverage twice. I've been watching F1 for 33 years now and I prefer Channel 4 coverage, even as a seasoned F1 viewer and fan. My I do sound pompous.
Anyway, who knows what coverage in the UK will be like after 2018. Let's enjoy it for now.
Roll on Australia, roll on F1 and roll on race day!
So, welcome back readers. I'm welcoming myself back here too. I last blogged in August 2017, after visiting Oviedo and the Fernando Alonso Collection.
It's been a while, for sure.
Before I go into what is happening in F1 - I just need to bask in the glory of the fact I have a ticket to see the Canadian Grand Prix this year. I cannot wait. Grandstand 12, 3 day ticket with mates, flat booked and flight booked. Bring it on.
That's four F1 themed holidays in the last four years - three of those were/are Grand Prix: Hungary 2015, Singapore 2016, Canada 2018. Boom.
I also need to purchase the new book by Darren Heath - I have all the others and need a bit of F1 photography before the first race. If I'm brave I may hashtag him when sharing this blog on Twitter in a shameless attempt to get more reads :-). Well, here is a link to his website anyway.
The rundown
In truth, I survived the 3 or so months over winter with no F1 ( as opposed to every other year where I always needed a good F1 book). The title race became dull over the second half of 2017.
I'm using the BBC gossip column to update myself on rounding up the news here.
Some bits and pieces...
1. Looks like business as usual at the front end with Mercedes leading the way, followed by Ferrari and Red Bull.
2. After those teams, I think it's going to be closer than ever. Haas and Renault look like they have improved on 2017, whilst McLaren have made the biggest time difference gain in testing (fastest lap to fastest lap).
3. But really, we don't know until Australia. I'd imagine it will be a Mercedes clean sweep as usual. Sad and cynical as it makes me sound.
Here is Andrew Benson breaking it down.
Contracts
No disrespect to Bottas, but surely Ricciardo is on his way to Mercedes for 2019. Or Ferrari.
Actually, I'm hoping Bottas runs Hamilton much closer in 2018.
I think I called it incorrectly in my last blog. I thought Max was fed up at Red Bull, but he has signed a long term deal now. So, Ricciardo is looking at options and playing it cool for a bit.
Alonso
This guy is running in the WEC this year too. Fair play! I'm hoping McLaren have built a car worthy of his speed this year. Time to buy some new Alonso/ McLaren/ Renault merchandise.
Liberty
Not sure why they are faffing about hiring a Hollywood music person to write a theme song for F1.
There are surely bigger things to concentrate on first.
The state of TV in the UK after 2018 maybe?! More of this soon.
Maybe give the cash they are spending on the theme song back to the smaller teams. Or, give it to circuits that need to upgrade their facilities to be able to stay on the F1 calendar.
There's so many things they could do before faffing with a theme song for crying out loud.
A theme song? It's as if Bernie "let's have medals and sprinklers" Ecclestone never left.
TV coverage in UK
We have to take Liberty at their word. I imagine they explored the Sky contract for 2019 and it is watertight. That doesn't help viewing figures though.
Channel 4 gets more viewers for free practice sessions than Sky does for races.
It's all about money unfortunately. Though, I'd imagine Channel 4 could afford to pay large sums for a new live contract if they were given a chance.
Their coverage is awesome. They need to appeal to a wider audience as a given. Thus, their show is fun and accessible. But they also have the tech stuff too.
I watched Sky coverage twice. I've been watching F1 for 33 years now and I prefer Channel 4 coverage, even as a seasoned F1 viewer and fan. My I do sound pompous.
Anyway, who knows what coverage in the UK will be like after 2018. Let's enjoy it for now.
Roll on Australia, roll on F1 and roll on race day!
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