Brendan Lines November 30, 2020

Lewis Hamilton took his eleventh victory for 2020 at an incident filled Bahrain Grand Prix, the race was red-flagged on the opening lap as Haas driver Romain Grosjean escaped from his car after it exploded into a fireball on impact with a barrier splitting the car in two.

Grosjean made contact with Alpha Tauri’s Daniil Kvyat on the exit of Turn 3 which sent his Haas on a collision course piercing the barrier at high speed. Grosjean was saved from injury by the car’s cockpit survival cell and Halo crash structure.

The Frenchman miraculously emerged from the flames that engulfed the wreckage, as Formula 1 Medical Delegates Dr. Ian Roberts and Alan van den Merwe arrived on the scene to extinguish the flames and come to Grosjean’s aid as he extricated himself.

Grosjean was airlifted the MDF MC Military Hospital in Bahrain’s capital Manama, with suspected broken ribs, and minor burns to his hands and right ankle.

Grosjean spoke on Twitter updating his condition from his Hospital bed.

“I just wanted to say I’m OK, we’ll sort of OK, but thank you to very much for all the messages, I mean I wasn’t for the Halo some years ago but I think it’s the greatest thing we brought to Formula 1, without it I wouldn’t be able to speak to you today,” he said.  

Haas F1 Team Team Principal Guenther Steiner thanked Formula 1’s safety team after the race.

 “We got fortunate today. The good news is that Romain is doing well considering what happened. We are thankful for all the safety advancements in modern Formula 1 in order to protect the drivers.

“We send a thank you to the FIA safety team and the marshals who were on-site immediately to help Romain get away from the scene. As I said, I think we got lucky – there’s not a lot more to say. We hope Romain will recover quickly from the injuries he sustained,” he said.

Over just over 90 minutes later the race was re-started, only to again be yellow-flagged when Lance Stroll’s Racing Point rolled over after contact from an ambitious overtake by Kvyat went wrong under brakes at Turn 8.

There was more carnage and woe as Mercedes Valtteri Bottas suffered a puncture, his day shot before it got started dropping back to P16, the Fin had to fight his way back through the field to finish P8.

With the fight for 3^rd in the constructor’s championship still a four-way fight between Racing Point, McLaren, Renault and Ferrari the mid-field battle heated up under lights in the Bahrain desert.

Racing Point’s Sergio Perez looked to have a firm grip on P3 for most of the race on track to single-handedly take a haul of points and a podium for his team.

 A suspected MGU-K failure on Lap 54 ended Perez’s race in spectacular fashion as the rear end of his car plumed with smoke eventually igniting into a high speed inferno — Perez’s misfortune was an opportunity for Alex Albon to collect a valuable podium finish for Red Bull.

The McLaren’s of Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz finished P4 and P5 respectively, their collective effort won the day for McLaren in the constructor’s showdown, now 17 points clear of Racing Point and 27 points from Renault.

Daniel Ricciardo rebounded from a nightmare re-start to finish P7, the Australian losing out in a wheel to wheel battle with Sainz, who later caused more trouble for the Renault of Ricciardo and his teammate Ocon – Sainz splitting the pair on Lap 26 eventually clearing Ricciardo in the lead Renault the next lap as the McLaren driver went on to take P5.

The Renault cars squabbled as Ricciardo radioed to the team “Why are we racing each other,” unable to catch Alpha Tauri’s Pierre Gasly who finished P6.

Hamilton again controlled the race at the front from Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, the only worry for the Brit was covering Verstappen’s attempt to undercut him pitting for fresh Hard tyres on Lap 36.

Hamilton’s worry of a late charge from Verstappen was put to rest as the race finished under the Safety Car after Perez’s stricken car had to be cleared from the track.

It is the first time the Bahrian Grand Prix has been won by a car leading from start to finish, another feather in the cap for Hamilton’s stellar record-breaking year.

“Today is a reminder for all of us that this is a dangerous sport. It was shocking to see Romain’s accident and I’m just so grateful that the Halo did its job and credit to the FIA medical team who were straight on the scene,” Hamilton said after the race.

 “For Romain to be able to walk away from an accident like that just shows what an incredible job F1 and the FIA have done in their quest for safety.

“Physically it was such a demanding race. Max pushed me all the way and he had a lot of speed today.

“I was struggling a little bit with the car sliding around, but I just had enough to be able to respond to Max’s quick laps when it mattered. I was a little cautious how it would play out at the end of the race once Max pitted, but I’m so thankful to my team because they made the right calls all day on the strategy. What a privilege it is to be able to get another result like this.”

Formula 1 returns to the Sakhir circuit racing on its alternate layout for the Sakhir Grand Prix next week.

Full results:

Note – Verstappen scored an additional point for setting the fastest lap of the race.

Brendan Lines November 14, 2020

Red Bull drivers Max Verstappen and Alex Albon were fastest in FP1 for the Turkish Grand Prix, the slippery conditions of the newly re-surfaced track mixed up the field as both Ferrari cars finished in the top ten ahead of Mercedes.

Formula 1 last visited the Istanbul Park circuit on the banks of the Bosphorus Strait in 2011, 9 years on it’s not the familiar territory F1 teams expected, the cooler conditions chilled the newly re-surfaced track temperature well below the ideal conditions for the harder compound Pirelli tyres.

Red Bull’s Alex Albon likened the conditions to being icy for the drivers, taking a cautious approach through the renowned high-speed Turn 8.

“It was a positive day and it’s always fun to try out a new track. In FP1 and FP2, it was like an ice rink out there and a bit weird because it’s not a normal feeling driving what feels like a drift car.” he said.

“You’re just sliding around which of course is a bit fun in a way but it’s also not what an F1 car likes! In order to switch the tyres on and get them to work you’re having to push way out of your comfort zone so it’s tricky but it is what it is.”

Ferrari’s showed some surprising pace with both Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel finishing P3 and P5, Leclerc’s time was +2.0s faster than the fastest Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas, proving high grip setups might be preferred over high-speed.

There was just the one hiccup for Leclerc as he brought out a red flag briefly after knocking over a track bollard

At the re-start the Alpha Tauri’s of Pierre Gasly and Danil Kyvat posted their best times to take P4 and P5 for the session.

McLaren’s Carlos Sainz was sidelined with an electrical issue to his MCL35’s power-unit, his teammate Lando Norris got his 21^st birthday celebrations under way for the weekend with  P7.

Another surprise was Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi taking P8, not only ahead of his teammate Kimi Raikkonen, but faster than Bottas by a tenth in P9.

Esteban Ocon was the fastest of the Renaults finishing P10, Ocon’s best time of 1:38.428s just edged Williams rookie Nicolas Latifi from his first top ten classification by .08s.

Racing Point finished down the order in P12 and P13 well off their best, but it is expected the team will improve its RP20 for better qualifying results than favoring its race setup.

Lewis Hamilton found himself on the back foot to clinch the Drivers World Championship this weekend finishing P15. Hamilton will need to finish 8 points clear of teammate and nearest rival Bottas to equal Michael Shumacher’s record of seven world championships.

Brendan Lines November 2, 2020

Lewis Hamilton has claimed his 93rd F1 victory – his first at Imola for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, Valtteri Bottas came home in second, Australian Daniel Ricciardo was third, taking his second podium in three races.

Formula 1’s return to the historic Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari di Imola was the setting for Mercedes to rewrite the history books, its one-two finish secured the team’s seventh successive Constructors World Championship.

Lewis Hamilton delivered another win despite being out-qualified for the second successive race by Bottas, the Brit slipped back to P3 on the opening laps behind Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.

Hamilton played the strategy game to extend his opening stint on the Medium tyres under-cutting both Bottas and Verstappen ahead.

“A big, big thank you to the entire Mercedes family and all of our partners, because we wouldn’t be able to do what we do without them,” Hamilton said.

“The race itself was an exhausting one, particularly with the speeds that we are experiencing around this track. I had a tricky start but extended the stint and managed to fight back to the front. It feels fantastic to clinch the title today at Imola in style.”

Hamilton pitted under the Virtual Safety Car on Lap 31 after Renault driver Esteban Ocon’s retirement, Hamilton covering his rivals to maintain the lead, after Vertappen’s right rear puncture forced his retirement forced a full safety car.

The later safety car period had its winners and losers, as Hamilton and Ricciardo chose not to pit to maintain track position, but for Williams’ George Russell it was disaster as his car spun out of control behind the safety car and hit a wall as he swerved to maintain tyre temperature — ending his day that was set for a points finish.

For Daniel Ricciardo it was all smiles and ‘Shoeys’ as the Aussie drove himself to third from P5 on the grid.

“Two podiums in three races! I’m very happy and I didn’t forget to do the ‘shoey’ this time around! We were pretty settled in fifth but then Max triggered the safety car. It was the right thing to stay out, especially after Perez pitted,” Ricciardo said.

The podium finish now puts Renault just one point ahead in the constructors standings ahead of McLaren — Ricciardo’s team of choice in 2021.

Alpha Tauri’s Daniil Kyvat took P4 his best finish for 2020, the Russian’s pass around the outside of Vettel at the Piratella a highlight, despite teammate Pierre Gasly’s retirement on Lap 9. Kyvat finished ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in P5 and Racing Point’s Sergio Perez in P6.

Perez, who started P11, staged another great comeback drive after a compromised qualifying.

The McLaren’s of Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris finished P7 and P8, salvageable performance from the Woking team to remain in the hunt for third in the constructors standings.

It was a double points finish for Alfa Romeo as Kimi Räikkönen and Antonio Giovinazzi finished P9 and P10 respectively, the team’s first double points finish for the season and on home Italian soil.

It was a forgettable day for Red Bull, coming away with no points, Verstappen’s day cut short while in second place, by a puncture in the closing stages after troubling Bottas’ Mercedes all race.

Red Bull teammate Alex Albon was relegated to P15 after spinning out at the Tamburello chicane jostling with Sergio Perez on the restart from the safety car.

Lewis Hamilton is now poised to clinch his seventh drivers title to match Michael Shumachers all time record, at the Turkish Grand Prix in two weeks time.