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Real Racing...

2/5/2018

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It’s great news that F1 has approved (subject to final confirmation) new aero modifications for 2019 in an attempt to allow cars to follow each other more closely without losing such a high proportion of downforce. I’m fed up with that element of each race we have at the moment when a rival catches another by half a second to a second a lap over a concerted period of effort, only to get within 2 seconds of the car in front and get stuck. Only when the car behind has a 2-3s per lap advantage do we tend to see a successful pass, especially on the tracks with fast corners where downforce disruption is even more noticeable. 


In Baku we did see some exciting overtaking, but the flat out section from Turn 16 to Turn 1 has a great deal to do with that; tuck into your competitor’s slipstream for an extended period when you don’t need the downforce for a corner, and suddenly overtaking is a reality. We were able to watch a fabulous battle between the two Red Bull drivers until it all went wrong. Up til then, Riccciardo and Verstappen were treating us to some of the best wheel-to-wheel racing we have seen in F1 for a while; just imagine if they had been battling for the win…


Mind you, Max should look back over that race and work out if his tactics were really in the interests of either himself or the team. He was so aggressively committed, which normally I would praise above everything, but when racing your team mate there is a subtle change in etiquette. You have to give a couple more inches of space, and make allowance for what can go wrong. When they touched wheels at Turn 1 in the first stint, it could so easily have ended with Ricciardo in the wall. Max was also super aggressive into Turn 2 on a couple of occasions, and it was because Ricciardo gave him room that they got away with it, but it still allowed the Renault of Sainz to pass Daniel and then a few laps later, Verstappen. Perhaps if the Red Bull drivers had worked together, towing past each other without fighting in order to achieve fast lap times, then they wouldn’t have dropped back so far compared to Vettel and Hamilton in those early stages.


In wheel to wheel racing, there is a time to fight, and a time to give way to allow another opportunity to arise in a moment’s time. That’s part of the joy of great racing; the very best drivers somehow always manage to be in the right place when it counts. Two weeks ago, I raced my Formula Ford at Donington - getting out on track always helps me reconnect with the driver’s eye view and hopefully helps my commentary. In preparation, I was drawn to YouTube and a race that took place just a couple of weeks earlier in the Historic FF1600 series between 2017 Champion (and former Formula Palmer Audi Champion) Richard Tarling and the rest of a very competitive field. It was a fantastic race (if you have time, here’s the link to Tarling’s on board coverage of the whole race https://bit.ly/2FBOmUG ) and an absolute reminder that to be overtaken is not a sign of weakness. Having started 3rd, Tarling was up and down the lead group like a yo-yo thanks to the effect of slip-streaming, but pulled off some terrific moves to to be in front at the chequered flag. OK, FF1600 cars are narrow, have no wings and therefore no loss of downforce to worry about, but the principals are the same. Let’s hope that the revised technical rules in F1 open the door to more racing of the sort we saw in Baku before the crash, and that drivers who can mix the right blend of attack, defence, patience and cunning will rise to the top and show their true worth.
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F1: 5 Themes from opening races

10/4/2018

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1. Ferrari are riding their luck but good fortune does not favour Kimi. Vettel’s two victories lend something to luck, with the perfect timing of the Virtual Safety Car in Melbourne and the fact that Hamilton suffered a 5 place penalty in Bahrain, although Seb’s drive in the desert was a beautifully judged mix of pace and protection that relied upon both sheer driving skill and smart thinking. But Kimi’s season is not so blessed; the VSC dropped him from 2nd to 3rd place in Australia, and that awful pit stop in Bahrain cost him any result at all. His pace has been strong but he’s already 35 points behind Vettel which kind of settles his role for the year already. Perhaps if he’d won the opening two races, Ferrari would have had to think carefully about team orders going forward, but not now. It’s a straightforward decision to focus on Vettel from here on in. 


2. There isn’t a real laggard amongst the constructors, and therefore the battle not to be last is going to be intense. Williams were poor in Bahrain but Stroll was 13th on the grid in Melbourne and there are some real racers on the engineering side of the team who will find a way to improve what is a completely new philosophy aerodynamically with the car. Sauber delivered a worthy points finish with Ericsson’s 9th place, and correspondingly there are some very smart people being shipped across from Audi’s successful sportscar campaigns of recent years to help further improve the car. Toro Rosso and Honda have clearly made great strides and while they may not always have the speed shown in Sakhir, they are a strong midfield team. Where’s the weak link? Is it in Williams developing their car with two relatively inexperienced drivers? Time will tell. 


3. The battle between McLaren and Toro Rosso is going to be very intriguing. Both have double World Champions, although Hartley’s titles came in a different branch of the sport. Both have exciting fresh talents in Vandoorne and Gasly. The fact that they have swapped power units just adds to the fun, but despite Gasly’s amazing performance in Bahrain, I would imagine that McLaren are going to fight back and that in reality McLaren’s chief rivals over the course of the season are going to be Renault and Haas. The American outfit has certainly produced a good car (with some help) but will it be developed at the same rate as the others? I rather doubt it, meaning Renault and McLaren will in effect be fighting for 4th in the Constructors. More of Alonso and Sainz running wheel to wheel? Let’s hope so.


4. Red Bull will definitely be a factor in this year’s championship. We have not seen the best of them as yet, and that double DNF in Bahrain was downright painful. But the car is a jewel and once they get up and running they are going to be a major thorn for both Ferrari and Mercedes. The danger in terms of a good championship is that they will alternate with Ferrari in being closest challenger to Mercedes at certain tracks and that Hamilton will be up there near the front every time. Even somewhere like China, with that hugely long straight, they can be a threat. After all, Daniel was on the front row two years ago and led before suffering a puncture, and Max came from 16th on the grid last year to run 2nd before dropping to 3rd. They’ll be in the game, that’s for sure.


5. There’s a new style to F1’s TV output. Under Liberty’s stewardship there have been quite a few changes to the TV ‘look’ this year; the new logo, a longer more dramatic ‘sting’ at the start of the race coverage with block-buster Hollywood style music, and new graphics to deliver information during each session. The opener works well for me and helps ramp up the atmosphere before the start, the scene-setting allows a bit more time to explain where we are,  but I miss the global map which reminded us all how expansive the Championship is. Using the green and purple sector colours to indicate fast laps is useful, but sometimes the lower graphic can take up a lot of available screen and I’m not convinced about the ‘speedometer’ that tells us in kph what a particular car is doing at any point around the track. The trouble with F1 cars is that the speed changes so fast, you can barely register what it’s telling you. It's all still a work in progress and I look forward to seeing how it develops over the season. 


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Musings on McLaren

9/2/2018

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An interesting couple of hours was spent at McLaren this week, in company with a small group of journalists, talking to key members of the design team and to the boss Zak Brown. Evident immediately was an enthusiasm and a sense of relish which is extremely welcome after the tribulations of the last three years with Honda. Nobody is saying that they will come out and fight for the championship immediately in this first year with Renault, but the target is to be competitive and to see Alonso and Vandoorne qualifying near the front and fighting for podium positions. Chief aerodynamicist Peter Prodromou is actively looking forward to battling against his old team Red Bull, with whom he enjoyed so much success in the early part of this decade, using the same engines and having a clear reference point to aim at. These guys are racers, and when asked if being compared to Red Bull might not cause undue pressure, they replied that’s what they’re there for, and effectively ‘Bring it on’. The rivalry between Red Bull and McLaren is certainly going to be one of the key talking points of the season, and while Red Bull is the bigger spender of the two, McLaren does have the advantage of having a double world champion on the books. 


Fernando is going to be a busy man this year, combining his F1 with the World Endurance Championship, but Zak is convinced that he’ll thrive, particularly if both programmes are competitive. He cited Alonso’s energy and enthusiasm at Daytona this year, especially when the car was on the pace in wet conditions, showing that his competitive hunger is as keen as ever. The feeling is that a happy Fernando is a competitive Fernando, and he likes nothing better than racing, particularly when decent results are achievable. Zak also feels that Stoffel Vandoorne learnt a huge amount from what was a particularly difficult early season for him last year, with more than his fair share of reliability concerns, and that the Belgian’s progress in the second half of 2017 will be built upon this year. Mind you, he’ll be glancing over his shoulder at the young Brit Lando Norris who is now the team’s official test and reserve driver as he attempts to follow in Vandoorne’s footsteps in winning Formula Two this year. 


In terms of adjusting from running a Honda engine to installing the Renault, the design team feel that the decision was made just in time for them to have made the necessary changes and still be on schedule for the start of the season. Indeed the majority of work over the past two months has been on the update package that will be brought to the first race in Melbourne; it seems bizarre that updates take place before the car has even turned a wheel at the first test, but such is the level of intensity in F1. Architecturally the Renault is different from the Honda which has caused some changes to the chassis layout, but not much change to the aerodynamic profile of the car which will be an evolution of last year’s machine. But the look of the car will change more than any other car on the gird apart from maybe Sauber according to Zak, as the new livery will attempt to engage the McLaren heritage in a more telling manner. The Halo cockpit protection will change the look of all of the cars of course, and it was fascinating hearing both Tim Goss and Matt Morris talk about the engineering challenge that has been created; like it or loathe it, the Halo is a fact of life but it has meant a redesign of the monocoque chassis in order to spread the loads that occur at the three attachment points. The discussion confirmed that adding a halo to any existing car in a lower formula is not simply a question of bolting it in; it needs to be incorporated from the beginning of the design process.


Overall, it was an encouraging briefing for those of us that want to see as competitive a series as possible. There’s real confidence that Renault can produce a power unit they can work with, although at one point there was a telling comment from Zak that implied Mercedes are still going to be very difficult to beat given their superiority in this area from the beginning of the current engine formula. Don’t expect McLaren to leapfrog their way to the very top of the charts straight away, but we can hope to see them become a factor amongst the leaders and maybe, just maybe, achieve their first win since the end of 2012 in Brazil. 

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A Glance in the Mirror.

23/11/2017

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The final round of 2017 brings us to Abu Dhabi for the curtain call on a twenty race escapade which has delivered an intriguing and entertaining season. From Round 1 in Australia the signs were encouraging, and when Vettel chased Hamilton so closely in the early stages it confirmed  that Ferrari had indeed responded to the new regulations with a big jump in competitiveness. Using that pace around the pitstops allowed Ferrari to take the first win, although as it turned out, probably the only victory over Mercedes at a track that favoured neither in particular. Hamilton bounced back in China to make it one all, and the game was on. 

Bahrain saw a significant first pole position for Bottas but what struck me more about that scenario was the fact that Hamilton did not have a car in full health on his final qualifying lap and yet never mentioned it, instead praising his team mate's efforts, demonstrating that this was indeed an entirely new dynamic at work within Mercedes. Ultimately, the lack of internal strife allowed Hamilton to soar to new levels, and he was equally gracious when Bottas took his first win next time out in Russia. 

Barcelona saw a real contest between Hamilton and Vettel throughout the full distance, but this time Hamilton triumphed, and Mercedes looked to have made some useful gains compared to winter testing at the same track. But Monaco was Ferrari terrain, and a missed victory for Kimi Raikkonen. His pole position and early lead should have been converted, but Vettel's more favoured pit stop strategy swapped them around and that was the closest Kimi ever came to winning a race this year. 

Hamilton has an extra gear in Canada no matter what he's driving, but Baku certainly caught the attention. This was another proper two way dice between our pair of title protagonists, but it ended in temper tantrums, penalties and pop-up headrests in one of the most bizarre races of the season. Bottas made the most of an electrifying start in Austria but at Silverstone Hamilton was again in a world of his own, equalling records established by Jim Clark and watching the Ferraris flounder with overworked tyres. The Italian team that had taken a drubbing on the high speed sweeps in Northamptonshire returned with gusto and a one-two in Hungary, but here once again we saw the consequences of a new relationship within Mercedes as Hamilton returned third place to Bottas. Remember how we wondered if he would regret it? Seems an irrelevant question now.. 

Vettel should probably have won Spa, but he was out-raced by Hamilton on the crucial restart and in Italy Lewis became the all time record holder for pole positions, setting his lap in wet conditions yet also dominating in the dry on raceday. The Asian tour followed, and a Ferrari meltdown in terms of reliability and points-scoring effectively ended the challenge. As much as Vettel threw at the race in Austin, he still couldn't prevent Hamilton scorching past as early as Lap 6 and the writing was on the wall. To be fair, Vettel was like a dog with a bone until it was mathematically out of sight in Mexico but after a scrappy race for both of them, Hamilton could celebrate his huge achievement of a fourth world title; game over. 
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Minor compensation came the way of Ferrari in Brazil and now we arrive in Abu Dhabi for the concluding episode. It has been a fascinating season in many ways, pitching two great drivers against each other, seeing new records established and a resurgence from Red Bull which may bode well for an even more open contest next year, especially if McLaren can also join in. I shall remember it for a proper rivalry, more often than not played out cleanly and respectfully, and for a generation of cars that has genuinely put the smiles back on the faces of the fastest drivers in the world. 

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Has Mercedes been MAX'd out?

9/11/2017

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Max Verstappen has scored more points in the last four races than anyone else, and this weekend we return to the venue where last year he turned in one of his most impressive F1 performances to date. Emerging from the pits in 14th place with 16 laps to go, he scythed his way through the field to claim third position by the time the chequered flag came out, finding grip on the wet track surface where others were sliding and slithering about. Earlier in the race he had needed every ounce of his skill, and a certain element of luck, to avoid hitting the barrier on the pit straight, but avoid it he did and the incident didn't slow him down one iota.
This weekend he comes off the back of a masterful drive in the dry in Mexico, and while Hamilton and Vettel were unable to challenge him due to their own contretemps, there's no question that Verstappen is now a potential race winner wherever we go. He passed Hamilton in a clean fight in Malaysia, he hounded the Mercedes in the closing stages of Japan and his recovery from 16th on the grid to 3rd before the penalty in Austin further emphasised the sheer pace of both the Red Bull and the Flying Dutchman. If it stays dry at Interlagos this weekend, the Renault power unit may not deliver the sheer grunt necessary for the long hill that climbs from the last of the infield corners and sweeps past the grandstands on the start finish line, but if any of the rain that's forecast happens to fall during qualifying then you would fancy Max's chances of starting from the front row, and from there anything is possible.
Red Bull have a good record in Brazil, having won three in a row and then again in 2013 having been beaten at the race in between by McLaren in that whacky title deciding race of 2012 when Vettel was facing the wrong way on Lap 1 and yet still recovered sufficiently to win the championship. That McLaren victory was the last I commentated on, and I fervently hope it doesn't remain that way for too much longer. Fernando Alonso seems convinced that Renault power will help McLaren reach the front again in 2018, but there isn't much hope for them in their final Brazilian GP with Honda; bear in mind that two years ago he ended up in a deckchair in Free Practice, while last year he was let loose with a TV camera in a similar session after yet another glitch with the power unit.
Alonso never won this race when he was with Ferrari, in fact he's never won here at all, although he did wrap up both of his driver's titles here. The last Ferrari win 'Between the Lakes' was in 2008 when Felipe Massa commanded the race but lost the championship and that was another Constructor winning sequence that came to an end after three in a row. Since then Ferrari have enjoyed five podium finishes, but no sign of adding to their total tally of eight victories in São Paulo which ties for the record with McLaren. In theory, this track should suit the 2017 car, with the twisty infield section combined with that long flat-out drag race up the hill but morale is low in the camp and you wonder if they can re-energise this faltered campaign in time to hit the ground running again next year.
As ever the team to beat is Mercedes. Not only have they won the last three races here but they have done it with 1-2 finishes from an all-Mercedes front row. But analysis of the statistics shows that of the dominant teams in various eras, none have been able to win four in a row on this characterful and unpredictable circuit and if momentum is anything to go by, you'd have to say that Max is the man once again to upset the form guide. Come rain or shine, his star is in the ascendant. 

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5 Thoughts on the Mexican GP

26/10/2017

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1. On this third visit to the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, we are beginning to get used to the fact that the altitude in Mexico City has some interesting effects. Less dense air means less wind resistance for the cars but also less downforce for a given amount of wing. So the cars are run in much the same specification as in Monaco or Hungary to try and get some of that downforce back, and yet we still see the fastest speeds of the entire calendar, thanks to the use of turbocharged engines which compensate for that low air density from a power aspect. The 2017 spec cars are likely to be a little bit slower in a straight line than last year’s machines due to to the wider tyres and the fact that they run more downforce and therefore drag as standard, but in 2016 the Williams team recorded Bottas at 231.96mph. Bearing in mind that brake cooling is also reduced by around 25% for similar reasons, and it becomes clear that setting a car up for Mexico is not an easy task. 


2. Lewis Hamilton is likely to win the title this weekend unless he suffers a non finish. Fifth place is all he needs no matter what anyone else does, but he’s on such a roll at the moment that anything less than a race win will be disappointing to him. British drivers have wrapped up the title here in Mexico on two previous occasions. 1964 was a titanic battle between 3 Brits; Graham Hill in the BRM, John Surtees for Ferrari and Jim Clark in a Lotus. During the race, Hill was holding on to 3rd place which was enough for him to become champion, but a controversial clash with the other Ferrari of Lorenzo Bandini put paid to that. Clark had been leading throughout and was now in position to claim his second title when an oil leak saw him grind to a halt with just over a lap to go. Surtees was now in 2nd, way behind Dan Gurney, but that was enough for the multiple motorbike world champion to become the only winner on both 2 and 4 wheels. Graham Hill did go on to win his second title here in Mexico, again helped by poor reliability afflicting his rivals, in this case Denny Hulme and Jackie Stewart. So while Lewis is odds-on to wrap it up this weekend, reliability has often been a factor here.


3. The track that Jim Clark and Graham Hill raced on in the 1960s, and the slightly revised version that the likes of Mansell and Senna competed at in the the 80s was a more challenging circuit than the modern version, a circuit that demanded bravery and commitment and took no prisoners. It was similar in many ways to Suzuka (without the elevation change) but the requirement for bigger run-off  areas yet staying within the confines of a municipal park have led to an emasculation of the better corners. On the other hand, from a spectators point of view the atmosphere here is awesome. Not only in the Foro Sol stadium section at the end of the lap but also in the grandstands at the Turn 1 complex and at Turn 4. Mexican fans are super passionate, the place is a sell-out and the fever is electric.


4. Sergio Perez adorns the advertising across the city, but has yet to finish in the top seven at his home race and its hard to see it being much better this time when Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull tend to take the top 6 places on the grid with quite a gap to the next group, which is as tight as ever between Renault, Force india, Williams, McLaren, Toro Rosso and Haas. Thanks to Carlos Sainz, Renault have moved back ahead of Haas and are catching Toro Rosso who”ll be depending on new boys Pierre Gasly and Brendon Hartley. That mid field group is going to be hard fought for the remaining 3 races. 


5. Track limits. I didn’t really want to mention them, after the furore of Austin, but they are a factor here as Max Verstappen discovered when he lost another podium 12 months ago. Hamilton got away with straight-lining the first chicane at Turn 1 on the very first lap but Max was done later in the race for a similar move. The stewards purposefully allow more leeway on the opening tour, but once again, consistency of approach is all we ask for, so that we can have some idea as to what’s going on.
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Aligning the Stars

19/10/2017

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The news this last week of two neutron stars spinning ever closer to one another and then impacting to shower the universe with gold made me realise just how much we might be missing out on a climax to this championship as a result of Ferrari’s recent troubles. It’s as if one of the stars suddenly went off at a tangent and the universe has been left in the dark. But hold on, because there is still plenty of intrigue and interest left in the remaining four races of the World Championship, and arriving in Austin for the US Grand Prix always provides an additional buzz.


Hamilton has a brilliant record in the States, matching Senna and Schumacher for five wins and easily capable of extending that to six this weekend. He is driving superbly well, we have seen no evidence of any dips in motivation and that fourth title is almost within grasp. He seems to relish the Circuit of the Americas, having won the last three in a row, plus the first one here in 2012 when he took on and passed Vettel in a straight fight. The car may be a Diva, according to Toto Wolff but Lewis seems to know how to coax the best out of her. Meanwhile at Ferrari, Vettel’s car (which he named Gina at the start of the year...) is quick in almost all conditions and the team should be more competitive here than in recent years. Seb himself has had more poles than Lewis here, and has taken fastest lap at every race bar one. 


Red Bull will also be in the hunt, with a solid record of podium finishes in the past, and a car that is clearly a match for either of the top two in race conditions. Verstappen is on a roll after that win in Malaysia and a fighting 2nd in Japan, and as long as he’s learnt from the mistake of coming into the pits in Austin when the team wasn’t expecting him, he should be a contender once again.


Meanwhile, in the heart of the pack there’s plenty to watch out for. At Toro Rosso, the Torpedo is back, as Daniil Kvyat is granted another opportunity to prove what he can do. He had one of his best ever performances here in the early stages of the damp 2015 race when he was fighting for the lead with Hamilton; sadly he speared into the barrier at the penultimate corner much later in the race, and it’s those kinds of errors that have kept him from fulfilling his potential. Joining him for what could be a one-off race or perhaps the precursor to more is New Zealand’s Brendon Hartley. At one time in his career he was understudy to Vettel as Sebastian started winning regularly for Red Bull, but Brendon’s single seater results at the time simply weren’t good enough for him to earn promotion. Having rebuilt his career and confidence with Porsche, he won the World Endurance Championship alongside Mark Webber in 2015, he’s on target to do it again this year and he won Le Mans in June. Although it is 33 years since a Kiwi was in a Formula 1 race, the first ever US GP was won by another; Bruce McLaren. 


Toro Rosso have been put in the unusual situation of completely changing their driver line up from Japan partly as a result of Carlos Sainz moving early to Renault, and that’s going to be another focus of attention this weekend. For all the talk about time to settle in, this is F1 and you are judged from the moment you jump in the car, before even leaving the pit lane. Sainz will want to start his career with the team strongly, and he has every chance; he was an excellent 6th last year with Toro Rosso, at the time matching his best career result, and he was 7th the year before in the wet race. Sainz vs Hulkenberg is going to be one of the stories of the next 18 months and it starts right here in Austin. 


So while Hamilton and Vettel’s orbits have separated after the Asian escapades, the ripples of change throughout the grid are like gravitational waves created by colliding astronomical bodies and the outcomes will begin to evolve here in the Lone Star State. 

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5 Aspects to Suzuka

5/10/2017

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1. It's Old School. This is a track of its era, the 1960s, and has remained remarkably true to its original scope. From a flat-out blast dropping downhill past the pits to the meandering S curves that climb back up the other side this circuit is narrow, fast, twisty, and unforgiving. A few inches off line and the car will be clipping the grass to one side, and from there it's often a short distance to the barrier. Mistakes have real consequences, but then the best drivers respond to that with millimetre accuracy and utter commitment. Mind you, one of the strangest statistics here is that Hamilton, Alonso and Raikkonen with 6 world titles between them have never taken pole position. 

2. Variable weather. While the prospects of a typhoon appear to be slim this year, the variety of weather in autumnal Honshu can still throw a spanner in the works. Temperatures can vary enormously; carry a raincoat, a fleece and plenty of suncream. Even over the course of this weekend the temperatures are set to change considerably from a cool and damp Friday to a warm and dry Sunday and that will have a key influence on outcomes. Mercedes will be looking for cooler temperatures where their package works best, but Ferrari will want the opposite, and look set to be given that on raceday.

3. Lessons from history. Nico Rosberg won this race last year from pole for Mercedes while Hamilton spent the afternoon recovering from a poor start from his front row slot, but failed to find a way past Verstappen at the end and settled for third. Ferrari were the second fastest team but both drivers carried penalties into the race that set them back on the grid, but Red Bull were only a fraction behind on sheer pace. Judging by performance levels in Malaysia it wouldn't be a huge surprise to see pole position going to either Ferrari or Red Bull, even though Mercedes have annexed the front row for the last three years. Red Bull dominated this event when Vettel was winning his 4 titles; now they are in separate camps it is difficult to predict which will emerge ahead. 

4. Dutch on Dutch. Max Verstappen's superb drive in Malaysia just reconfirmed his potential; we know what he's capable of, but it was encouraging to see fortunes favour him for once. As David Coulthard mentioned on our C4 programme, the Suzuka circuit was designed by a Dutchman, John Hugenholtz who was also responsible for the original layout at Zandvoort and another twisty, narrow delight; Jarama in Spain. He used the natural rolling terrain here in Japan to create the only figure of eight circuit on the current calendar. His fellow countryman has excelled on the 3.6 mile layout since making his Friday morning practice debut for Toro Rosso in 2014 and if his luck has truly changed, I reckon his chances of back to back wins are pretty high. But if Ferrari can recover quickly from the setbacks in Sepang and if Mercedes can get the tyres in the right working range, it will still be a mighty tough contest.

5. A warm welcome to Japan. Passionate fans bedecked in handmade regalia wait for hours on end on the approach to the circuit, hoping for the briefest glimpse of their heroes yet always happy, smiling, enthusiastic. Spectators in the grandstand opposite the pits, sitting in their seats well into the night on Saturday just to watch from a distance the work that's going on in the garages, giving the mechanics a real sense that their efforts are appreciated. Despite the fact that there's no Japanese driver in the field and that Honda are not exactly at their best right now, there is still a wonderful atmosphere at this place created by people who simply love the sport, and what could be better than that?
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They think it’s all over……

28/9/2017

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One of the great commentary lines of all time, Kenneth Wolstenholme’s reaction to a pitch invasion as England was about to win the 1966 World Cup, could easily be attached to the current state of play in F1. The accident immediately after the lights went out in SIngapore which led to Vettel’s demise just two corners later has made a huge difference in what until now has been a delicate see-saw balance between the two big title rivals, but suddenly all the impetus is with Hamilton who carries a 28 point lead with six events to go. 


But is it all over? Hamilton and Esteban Ocon are the only drivers on the grid to have completed every racing lap this year, and at some stage you would expect either or both to have some sort of problem. True, they both have the benefit of Mercedes power which this year has been almost faultless in terms of reliability but there are so many ways for a Grand Prix to go wrong, and here in Malaysia there are some particular hurdles to clear. Weather is one of them, with the ever-present chance of a thunderstorm and consequent mishaps and tyre gambles which can turn a race upside down. The rain delivered Lewis a unique opportunity in Singapore and he grabbed it with both hands, but his wet weather driving skills won’t necessarily help if someone else aquaplanes into him. Add in the fact that Turn 1 is notorious for incident, as we saw last year when Vettel speared into Rosberg, and the chances for mayhem are pretty high.


Vettel himself won’t have given up just because of one bad race. He’s the most successful driver in the 18 year history of the Malaysia Grand Prix, having won on four occasions and the venue has always been a good one for Ferrari with Eddie Irvine winning the first ever race with help from Michael Schumacher who then went on to win another three. Ferrari’s pace at Spa should be a further encouragement for a circuit like this, with its blend of high speed and stop-start corners, and although Mercedes have taken pole position for the last three years in a row, they’ve only taken the one victory back in 2014. 


If Vettel can convert that pedigree into victory this weekend, he will still feel on target to snatch the title; in 2010 he was battling with the likes of Fernando Alonso, Mark Webber and Lewis Hamilton and with six races to go (the same as right now) he was 31 behind Hamilton. In 2012 with six to go, he was 29 points behind Alonso and yet in both seasons he went on to win the championship. The scenario was different in that there were more drivers in race-winning cars in both of those years, but the resurgence of Red Bull in this latter part of the season could still play a role in the outcome and Vettel now has to adopt the straightforward mindset of going for everything, whereas Hamilton is the one who will perhaps think twice in protecting his advantage.


The title race is not all over, but Vettel has to deliver here in Malaysia with some strong back-up from Raikkonen. If not, it will be all too tempting to complete Wolstenholme’s line and say ”It is now…”
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Dismiss Mercedes at your peril....

14/9/2017

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The final third of the F1 season is a hectic world tour from East to West, ending in the Middle but beginning with the Singapore street race. Now in its 10th year, the night time extravaganza has captured both avid race fans and weekend party animals. Grab a cocktail, enjoy a concert, watch the fastest racing drivers in the world and dance the night away in a nearby club. The blend of  ambitious Asian economy with Formula One glamour has been symbiotic and profitable on both sides, and we can expect an announcement of an extended deal this weekend


This event also presents a fascinating competitive challenge at a key stage in the championship. With more corners than any other circuit on the calendar, the emphasis is on chassis not engine. Red Bull have more podium results here than any other team, and having taken the pain of grid penalties in Monza, they should be fighting fit this weekend. Daniel Ricciardo has been second or third for the last three years at a venue that draws plenty of Australian fans and he's found a rich vein of form this season even if his team mate has generally been the faster qualifier. Relentless consistency is the key here, but it needs to be combined with a daring effort in qualifying. Only twice in nine events has this race not been won from pole position.


Talking of which, Vettel and Hamilton have each taken three poles here, but in terms of victories on the Marina Bay Circuit, Vettel beats Hamilton 4-2. On current season form Ferrari come into this one as favourites having taken 1-2 finishes in both Monaco and Hungary on similarly low average speed tracks, and Vettel took one of his wins here with the Scuderia in 2015. But it would be foolish to assume anything on this layout, where the key to performance lies in getting the tyres into their sweet spot. That was where Mercedes tripped up two years ago, and found themselves fifth and sixth on the grid, and it was where Hamilton struggled last year while Rosberg coaxed them perfectly and went on to take one of the most significant wins of his entire title winning campaign.


Squeezing the last ounce of performance out of the Ultra Soft tyre in qualifying, and then ensuring it lasts in the race will be more important than downforce levels or power unit strength, and that's why I think that Mercedes still have a very realistic shot at winning here. The lessons learnt from that painful 2015 event have not been forgotten, and while they haven't always prepared the tyres perfectly this year, I think they will be on the case this time. Mercedes, Ferrari, Red Bull - they all have a shot at supremacy in Singapore and being such a tough and unpredictable race there might also be opportunities for others to shine. Esteban Ocon on his 21st birthday perhaps or Carlos Sainz now that his future is mapped out and his career is on the climb, or even McLaren Honda....


There's no easy formula for success on the flood-lit streets sweltering under a tropical night sky. In a city where cocktails are high on the menu, this weekend's Formula One race should supply a heady mix. 


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