Spain Grand Prix

In case you missed the post-race penalties from the Canadian GP, they’re in the comments on my post but I’ll copy them here:

• TSU for being late to the national anthem – The competitor (Visa Cash App RB F1 Team) is fined €10,000
• PER for continuing to drive with an unsafe car (after breaking his rear wing) – The competitor (Oracle Red Bull Racing) is fined €25,000; Additionally, a drop of three grid positions for the next race in which the driver participates.
• RUS and PIA for a collision – no further action
• Octane Racing Group (the event promoter) for not preventing the spectator track invasion prior to the conclusion of the 2024 Canadian Grand Prix – “The Promoter urgently (i.e. at the latest by 30th September 2024) present a formal remediation plan to the FIA that adequately addresses the serious concerns”

Free Practice

1. FP1: NOR (1:14.228), VER, SAI, RUS, PER
   LEC was frustrated that STR was in the way, “as always”
   PER thought there was something wrong with his Red Bull’s throttle pedal
   ALO broke a piece off his front wing when he ran over a kerb
2. FP2: HAM (1:13.264), SAI, NOR, GAS, VER
   NOR ran wide, touched the gravel but recovered ok
3. FP3: SAI (1:13.013), NOR, LEC, VER, RUS
   Sky Sports reports an electrical fire at McLaren’s hospitality unit just before FP3; emergency services on scene; team members safely evacuated but a least two firefighters treated for smoke inhalation
   LEC clearly cut across the nose of NOR and clearly drove into the McLaren – that deserves a penalty
   It was PIA’s turn to put a McLaren’s wheel in a gravel trap but got away with it
   HAM and GAS also ran wide, touching the gravel
   HAM impeded STR but then STR drove into HAM; unnecessarily childish behaviour from the Aston Martin team owner’s son
   LEC and STR have been summoned to see the stewards for their driving

Qualifying

Air temperature 24°C; track 37°C; humidity 68%
STR and LEC have both just received reprimands for “erratic” driving in FP3, but no grid penalties – that seems insufficient given how they intentionally drove into other cars

Qualifying session 1 (Q1)
SAR 1:14.301
RIC 1:13.771
PER 1:13.090
VER 1:12.306
LEC 1:12.257
Incident involving SAR and STR noted – impeding
Replay of that incident – there’s no doubt SAR was in the way and will be penalised for that
3mins left; bottom 5 are RIC, TSU, ZHO, MAG, SAR
ZHO goes P8, OCO to P16
OCO P7, STR P16
HAM 1:12.143
Chequered flag; bottom 5 are ALO, ALB, STR, TSU, SAR
ALO P9, RIC P16
ALB P17
STR P14, HUL P16
TSU P16
HUL P12, MAG P16
SAR P20
Back of the grid: MAG, TSU, RIC, ALB, SAR

Qualifying session 2
STR 1:13.630
Long queue of very slow-moving cars as they trundle down the pit lane
OCO 1:12.376
PER 1:12.270
GAS 1:12.182
LEC 1:12.038
PIA 1:12.011
SAI 1:11.874
NOR 1:11.872
VER 1:11.653
HAM P12 and RUS P6 – what’s happened to yesterday’s speed?
Radio from HAM reporting the used soft tyre is “bad”
5mins left; bottom 5 are BOT, ALO, HAM, STR, ZHO
2mins left; only VER, NOR, SAI, LEC and STR remain in the pits
(HAM P2)
Chequered flag; bottom 5 are PER, HUL, STR, ALO, ZHO
PER P7, BOT P11
ALO P11
(RUS P3)
Middle of the grid: ALO, BOT, HUL, STR, ZHO

Top 10 shootout is between VER, HAM, RUS, NOR, SAI, PIA, LEC, PER, GAS, OCO

Qualifying session 3
Official FIA timing chart shows LEC is on full wet tyres – errr, I don’t think so!
PER 1:13.061
VER 1:11.673
OCO P2
SAI P2
PIA P3
GAS P4
NOR P2
LEC P4
HAM P3
RUS P4
PIA’s lap time deleted
Order after the first run: VER, NOR, HAM, RUS, SAI, LEC, GAS, OCO, PER, PIA
Radio from RUS complaining about HAM’s out lap – presumably he’s frustrated that HAM wasn’t fast enough; he’s told “we’ll talk about it afterwards”
PER is first to leave the pits again
Followed by PIA, OCO, SAI and LEC… then VER, GAS and NOR; finally HAM and RUS exit the garage
PER P7
PIA ran wide, across the gravel and recovers; heads to the pits
SAI P2
Chequered flag; order is VER, SAI, NOR, HAM, RUS, LEC, PER, OCO, GAS, PIA
LEC P2
VER 1:11.403
GAS P7
NOR 1:11.383
PER pits – he was only out there to give VER a tow
HAM P3
RUS P4
Front of the grid: NOR, VER, HAM, RUS, LEC, SAI, GAS, PER, OCO, PIA

Provisional grid: NOR, VER, HAM, RUS, LEC, SAI, GAS, PER*, OCO, PIA, ALO, BOT, HUL, STR, ZHO, MAG, TSU, RIC, ALB, SAR
*PER’s 3-place penalty from Montreal means he’ll start P11

Race

SAR was given a 3-place penalty for impeding STR in Q1, but he finished Quali in P20 so the penalty is irrelevant
In fact SAR will start P19 because ALB’s Williams was modified in parc ferme which means he’ll start from the pit lane
Grid: NOR, VER, HAM, RUS, LEC, SAI, GAS, OCO, PIA, ALO, PER, BOT, HUL, STR, ZHO, MAG, TSU, RIC, SAR; ALB in pit lane

NOR leads everyone away on the formation lap
They’re all starting on the soft compound tyre except ALB on mediums
Air temperature 24°C; track 41°C; humidity 66%

01/66: NOR defends into Turn 1 but gets squeezed; RUS steals P1
BOT runs wide, STR takes P13

02: RUS, VER, NOR, HAM, LEC, SAI, GAS, PIA, OCO, HUL, PER, ALO, STR, BOT, TSU, MAG, ZHO, RIC, SAR, ALB
DRS enabled

03: RUS fastest lap 1:19.857
RUS defends into Turn 1 so VER goes around the outside to take P1
SAI passes teammate LEC for P5

04: VER f/lap 1:19.364

05/66: VER, RUS, NOR, HAM, SAI, LEC, GAS, PIA, OCO, HUL, PER, ALO, STR, BOT, TSU, MAG, ZHO, RIC, SAR, ALB
Replay of the start; VER whining that NOR “pushed me onto the grass” because VER’s never done that to anyone!

07: Replay of SAI passing LEC; SAI ran wide when LEC tapped his rear-right wheel

08: STR and BOT have passed ALO; did ALO pick up damage at the start when he ran wide in Turn 1?

10/66: VER, RUS, NOR, HAM, SAI, LEC, GAS, PIA, OCO, HUL, PER, STR, BOT, ALO, MAG, ZHO, TSU, RIC, ALB, SAR
ZHO and TSU pit; both switch to mediums; rejoin P19 and P20 respectively
PIA right on GAS’ tail

11: MAG pits; bit slow; mediums; rejoins P20
SAI is catching HAM

12: BOT pits from P13; more softs go on; P18

13: HUL pits; mediums; P16
VER reports “a moment in Turn 7”

14: OCO and PER pit; OCO goes to mediums but PER takes more softs; rejoin P14 and P15
Radio for NOR asking if he wants to pit and get free air (i.e. rejoin in a gap)

15/66: VER, RUS, NOR, HAM, SAI, LEC, PIA, GAS…
GAS pits; problem getting the rear-right off; mediums; P13
MAG given 5sec penalty for false start

16: RUS and SAI pit; rear-right problem for RUS; both onto mediums; exit the pits with inches between them; now P8 and P9
GAS takes P12 from ALB

17: HAM pits from P4; mediums; P9
SAI passes ALO for P7
HAM takes P8 from ALO

18: VER pits; mediums; P4
HAM all over SAI’s rear wing; nearly rear-ends him

19: HAM has DRS on the main straight; inside SAI into Turn 1; small contact but HAM takes P6; SAI tells team HAM needs to let him by (SAI squeezed HAM into the corner; HAM squeezed SAI on the exit)

20/66: NOR, LEC, PIA, VER, RUS, HAM, SAI, GAS, OCO, PER
ALO pits; mediums; P16
HAM f/lap 1:19.307

21: VER easily past PIA for P3

22: PIA pits from P4; mediums; P11, right behind HUL
Only NOR and LEC yet to pit

23: PIA takes P10 from HUL

24: NOR pits; mediums; P6

25/66: LEC pits; mediums; P7
Everyone now on mediums except PER (P9), BOT (P13) and ALB (P19)
Radio for SAI telling him the stewards have decided no further action for the incident with HAM; SAI complains “I don’t know why we have a rule book if we don’t follow it”
ZHO takes P12 from teammate BOT

26: NOR f/lap 1:18.503

27: NOR has DRS to help him pass SAI for P4
LEC takes P6 from GAS
HAM has DRS behind teammate RUS

28: PIA takes P9 from PER

29: BOT pits; hards go on; P19

30/66: VER, RUS, HAM, NOR, SAI, LEC, GAS, PIA, OCO, PER, HUL, ZHO, STR, ALO, MAG, RIC, ALB, SAR, BOT, TSU
Radio from VER complaining “Tyres are very inconsistent”
MAG pits; hards; P20

31: NOR has DRS behind HAM
HAM defends; he doesn’t have DRS plus the McLaren is faster, so it’s just a matter of time until NOR gets past

32: NOR has DRS on the main straight; blasts past HAM for P3
PER pits; mediums; P14

33 = half distance: VER is over 8sec clear of RUS
Dark clouds over sector 3

34: PIA inside GAS for P7

35/66: VER, RUS, NOR, HAM, SAI, LEC, PIA, GAS, OCO, HUL
NOR close enough to force RUS to defend into Turn 1
NOR takes P2 into Turn 2 but RUS fights back; side by side through the next few corners
NOR hangs on to P2

36: RUS and HAM have DRS behind NOR but the McLaren maintains, even opens the gap to the Mercedes pair

37: RUS pits from P3; hards; P7
SAI pits from P5; hards; P8

38: RUS challenging GAS for P6; takes the place

40/66: VER, NOR, HAM, LEC, PIA, RUS, SAI, PER, ZHO, GAS, ALO, RIC, OCO, HUL, ALB, BOT, STR, TSU, MAG, SAR
GAS takes P9 from ZHO
Radio for RUS telling him they expect HAM to be close at the end (HAM is currently ahead but will need to pit again)

42: Radio from RUS, “This tyre does not feel good; I’m sliding already”

44: HAM pits from P3; softs; P7

45/66: VER pits; front-left a bit slow; softs; P3
SAI and HAM scrapping again; SAI defends P6

46: RUS takes P4 from PIA
HAM takes P6 from SAI

47: HAM f/lap 1:17.809
PIA pits; softs; P8

48: NOR pits from P1; softs; P2 but RUS is right on his tail
LEC pits from P2; softs; P6
HUL given 5sec penalty for speeding in the pit lane

50/66: VER, NOR, RUS, HAM, SAI, LEC, PER, PIA, GAS, OCO, HUL*, ZHO, ALO, STR, BOT, MAG, RIC, ALB, SAR, TSU
NOR f/lap 1:17.377
PER pits; softs; P10
Radio for VER telling him NOR is “pushing hard, not saving tyres”

51: VER just over 6sec ahead of NOR
TSU given 5sec penalty for speeding in the pit lane
PER takes P9 from OCO

52: NOR f/lap 1:17.115
RUS defends into Turn 1 but HAM goes outside to take P3 from his teammate

53: Radio for VER, telling him to “push to the end – NOR is not saving tyres”
VER laps STR (P14)
54: ALO takes P12 from ZHO

54: VER given a strat change; VER is tense, telling his engineer he can’t hear if it’s Strat-2 or Strat-10

55/66: VER, NOR, HAM, RUS, SAI, LEC, PIA, GAS, PER, OCO
SAI lets teammate LEC through for P5

56: VER’s lead is over 5sec despite NOR setting fastest laps

57: RIC closing on MAG
Radio for LEC, “If you can, we need to pick up the pace”

58: VER lead now under 5sec
RIC inside MAG for P16

60/66: VER, NOR, HAM, RUS, LEC, SAI, PIA, GAS, PER, OCO, HUL, ALO, ZHO, STR, BOT, RIC, MAG, ALB, TSU, SAR
ALB slides off, through the gravel, but recovers
Radio from ALB, “What’s was that?”; he’s told “everything is OK” but snaps back “don’t tell me that within 5 seconds”

61: VER lead under 4.5sec – that’s probably enough to be safe
RIC around BOT to take P15

63: Closest battles are MAG behind BOT (P16), and HUL behind OCO (P10)

64: VER 3.7sec ahead of NOR but there’s only 3 laps left
LEC closing on RUS

65/66: VER, NOR, HAM, RUS, LEC, SAI, PIA, GAS, PER, OCO, HUL, ALO, ZHO, STR, RIC, BOT, MAG, ALB, TSU, SAR
VER 2.8sec ahead

66: LEC now has DRS behind RUS
PER has DRS behind GAS … and takes P8

VER takes the chequered flag
Provisional result: VER, NOR, HAM, RUS, LEC, SAI, PIA, PER, GAS, OCO; HUL, ALO, ZHO, STR, RIC, BOT, MAG, ALB, TSU, SAR
Fastest lap: NOR
No retirements

[2024 calendar and driver line-up]