Two weeks on from the GP of Turkey, which ended with VER 6 points ahead of HAM in the Drivers’ Championship standings.
News:
- The 2022 calendar was announced – a record 23 races, running from Mar20 (in Bahrain) to Nov20 (in Abu Dhabi); Miami has been added but China was dropped (due to COVID)
- Aston Martin will replace some components of VET’s power unit, which will mean grid-place penalties
- Lots of helmet design changes for this weekend, and Red Bull are sporting Acura on their rear wing as that’s Honda’s “prestige brand” in N.America
- RIC will be dressing up and pretending he’s a cowboy – no, wait, that’s not news because he does it every time they’re in Texas 🙂
Free Practice:
- FP1: BOT (1:34.874), HAM, VER, LEC, SAI, GAS, PER, NOR, GIO RAI
Almost as soon as the session starts ALO is told to stop the car – sounds like a hydraulic problem with his Alpine
Red flag – session suspended so ALO’s car can be recovered
NOR reports that his battery recharge lights aren’t working
LEC spins across the gravel but keeps it out of the barriers and rejoins the track
NOR complains of a lot of front and rear locking
Mercedes report that BOT will take yet another engine and therefore a 5-place grid penalty; RUS also penalties for engine changes in his Williams
Radio from HAM, “Lots of overheating, on the rears particularly”
MAZ spins (surprise!) across the gravel and recovers
NOR flat-spots his tyres and has to box
Alpine have fixed the problem and send ALO out for the last few minutes of FP1
Christian Horner continues stirring a rumour by suggesting Mercedes are running a higher engine mode
PER goes inside SCH but then SCH turns in and they make contact
Incident involving PER and SCH “noted” by the stewards
Radio from SCH suggests he didn’t see PER, sounds resigned to getting a penalty
Home-team Haas prop up the bottom of the timing sheet - FP2: PER (1:34.946), NOR, HAM, BOT, RIC, STR, LEC, VER, SAI, GIO
Radio from NOR reporting something has come loose by his left elbow; pits so the team can investigate
HAM and VER are side-by-side on the main straight; VER gesticulates and calls HAM a “stupid idiot” [video]
LEC reports something moving around by his feet
STR goes P2 but then reports he has something in his eye
VER whining about the traffic
Soft tyres don’t seem to be lasting very long
ALO spins, across the gravel and taps the tyre wall with his rear wing
Chequered flag
GIO missed the pit lane! Has to reverse then turn around – whoops! - FP3: PER (1:34.701), SAI, VER, NOR, BOT, HAM, RIC, GAS, LEC, OCO
ALO, on soft tyres, first to set a lap time – 1:40.977
HAM 1:35.814 on softs
BOT 1:35.556 … but his time’s deleted for exceeding track limits
Sounds like ALO will take new engine components and the associated grid penalties
HAM 1:35.571
VER 1:35.207
BOT loses the tail in Turn 7, spins
RUS spins in Turn 5, calls himself a “bit over-optimistic”
VER 1:34.912
BOT finally puts in a lap time, goes P2
SAI 1:34.805
Red Bull have replaced the rear wing on VER’s car
LEC runs wide; his lap time is deleted
PER 1:34.701
LEC has a big twitch coming out of the hairpin
VER 1:34.383 … but his time’s deleted for exceeding track limits at Turn 19
HAM 1:34.458 … but his is deleted too at Turn 9
VER gesticulation again – this time it’s at a Haas; “I need to buy everyone glasses”
Grid penalties so far for BOT, VET, ALO and RUS
Apparently the reason Red Bull changed VER’s rear wing was they found a crack; 15mins before quali starts and they still seem to be working on it … and PER’s car too!
Qualifying session 1 (Q1)
Air temperature 29°C; track 37°C
FIA say risk of rain during Qualifying is 40%
Lights turn green to make the start of Q1
Radio from STR asking why they’ve sent him out so early; “We think it’s going to be busy” presumably referring to the risk of rain
MAZ 1:37.894 but his time’s deleted for exceeding track limits
SCH 1:37.241
LEC 1:35.281
VER 1:34.521
(PER P2)
(BOT P3)
(HAM P4)
RIC 1:34.407
(NOR P3)
VET angry at a Haas getting in his way – it was MAZ
(SAI P4)
VER 1:34.352
5mins left of Q1; bottom 5 are ALO, LAT, SCH, RAI, MAZ
Incident involving VET and MAZ “noted” by the stewards
Brief yellow – GIO spun in Turn 2 and recovered
Chequered flag
RAI P18
LEC 1:34.153
LAT P15, OCO to P16
OCO P13, LAT P16
ALO P15, STR P16
MAZ P20
SCH P19
Back of the grid: STR, LAT, RAI, SCH, MAZ
Qualifying session 2
Mercedes send their pair out on medium tyres, with BOT ahead of HAM
BOT 1:33.959
HAM 1:33.797
VER 1:33.464
(LEC P3)
(NOR P3)
PER and RIC have their times deleted
Everyone running on medium tyres so far except SAI, TSU and ALO
5mins left of Q2; bottom 5 are PER, RIC, RUS, VET, GIO (none have set a time yet)
PER only manages P7 – is he fuelled for another lap?
RIC P9
Chequered flag; bottom 5 are TSU, GIO, ALO, VET, RUS
GIO P12
ALO P13
TSU P10, OCO P11
VET P12
RUS P13 but it’s deleted so he has no time
Middle of the grid: OCO, VET*, GIO, ALO*, RUS*
*Reminder: there are grid penalties for BOT, VET, ALO and RUS for engine changes
Qualifying session 3
Top 10 shootout is between VER, HAM, NOR, LEC, BOT, SAI, PER, GAS, RIC and TSU
Radio for HAM, confirming the wind has picked up
HAM 1:33.564
BOT 1:33.475
NOR P3
GAS P4
RIC P3
TSU P6
SAI P3
LEC P4
VER 1:33.199
PER 1:33.180
Order after first run: PER, VER, BOT, HAM, SAI, LEC, RIC, NOR, GAS, TSU
4mins left; Mercedes send out BOT and HAM
The Red Bull pair are the last to leave the pit lane
Radio for NOR, “If rain comes, we think it’ll hit Turn One first”
Chequered flag
BOT P3
HAM 1:33.119
Reports of rain in the pit lane
GAS P9
NOR P6
SAI P5
RIC P6
LEC P5
TSU P10
VER 1:32.910
PER P3
Front of the grid: VER, HAM, PER, BOT*, LEC, SAI, RIC, NOR, GAS, TSU
Interviews:
VER: “It was quite exciting out there, in Q3 my first lap wasn’t amazing. In the final lap, I started slipping, there was a bit of drizzle, I wasn’t sure I could hold on to my lap time. P1 and P3 for the team is a strong result. We’ll work together as a team to get the best possible result.”
HAM: “I gave it everything today, a bit of a struggle through qualifying. Since FP1 we fell backwards a bit. I was happy with my Q3 lap, it was everything I had. Mindset tomorrow is to win this race.”
PER: “We were really close, on that final lap… Unfortunately it wasn’t as good throughout the lap, the rain hit me too hard in the final sector, I lost a bit of grip. Tomorrow is a very long race, there will be a lot of degradation on these tyres. I’m looking forward to it!”
Provisional grid: VER, HAM, PER, BOT*, LEC, SAI, RIC, NOR, GAS, TSU, OCO, VET*, GIO, ALO*, RUS*, STR, LAT, RAI, SCH, MAZ
*BOT will drop to P9; VET, ALO and RUS will drop to P18, 19 and 20 respectively
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