There’s a Mercedes on pole, but probably not the one you’d expect!
Provisional grid: RUS, SAI, LEC, NOR, OCO, ALO, HAM, BOT, RIC, VER, PER, ZHO, MAG, STR, SCH, TSU, ALB, VET, GAS, LAT
As usual, there are some penalties to be applied after Quali: GAS has a new power unit in his AlphaTauri; he’ll start from the pit lane rather than P19, so not a big difference
VER and PER both have new engine components in their Red Bulls but they’re within the allocation so no penalties for either of them [F1]
Pit lane is now open; drivers are doing practice starts before heading out to the grid
VER locks up and runs wide in Turn 2; GAS does the same; fortunately the tyres they use to get to the grid aren’t ones they’ll use in the race
It’s much windier than it was in Quali yesterday
There was some rain earlier this morning but the forecast is unclear – they may well be rain at the start of the race
Air temperature 19°C; track 27°C
McLaren report it’s starting to rain just ahead of the anthem
Toto Wolff says “big rain is on the way”
Will there be some last-minute tyre changes on the dummy grid? If it’s not raining fairly hard it’s probably too early to go to inters
Radio for RUS, predicting ~10mins of “high intensity” rain in about 5 mins
RUS leads everyone away on the formation lap, except for GAS who waits in the pit lane
RUS is on the soft compound; SAI and LEC on mediums
Both Red Bulls are very slow getting off the grid; are they holding back to make RUS sit for a long time on the grid?
Radio from HAM reporting a vibration in his brakes
01/70: SAI attacks into Turn 1 but RUS hangs on to P1
MAG rear-ends RIC
Brief yellow flag in sector 1 – ALB and VET collide in Turn 2
ALB has front wing damage
02: RUS, SAI, LEC, NOR, HAM, OCO, ALO, VER, PER, MAG, RIC, SCH, BOT, STR, ALB, TSU, ZHO, VET, LAT, GAS
VSC deployed
ALB pits
03: GAS fastest lap 1:49.869
VSC ending
DRS enabled
04: RUS f/lap; no LEC; now it’s PER f/lap 1:26.519
PER reports a “weird sound” from his engine
05/70: RUS, SAI, LEC, NOR, HAM, OCO, ALO, VER, PER, MAG, RIC, SCH, BOT, STR, TSU, VET, ZHO, LAT, GAS, ALB
RUS 1:23.722
SAI 1:23.354
VER steals P7 from ALO
06: RIC looking to take P10 from MAG
Black and orange flag for MAG, telling him to pit because there’s bodywork hanging off his Haas
07: VER inside OCO into Turn 1 for P6
PER takes P8 from the other Alpine (ALO)
08: Will Mercedes try to postpone RUS’ pit stop in case the rain arrives? He’s expected to stop around lap 20
10/70: RUS, SAI, LEC, NOR, HAM, VER, PER, OCO, ALO, RIC
11: LEC has NOR and HAM on his tail; VER joins the battle
12: HAM inside NOR into Turn 1; takes P4
VER follows through and takes P5
13: PER now on NOR’s rear wing; gets DRS and blasts past the McLaren for P6
Radio from VER swearing at his team again; he’s given a setting to try to help with the clutch issue
LEC asking his team to tell SAI to go faster
14: NOR’s tyres must have gone off – he’s now got OCO closing on him
15/70: RUS, SAI, LEC, HAM, VER, PER
NOR pits, followed by STR
LEC has DRS behind his teammate
16: SAI is told to box… or is that a dummy?
17: RUS pits from P1; mediums go on; rejoins P6, inches ahead of ALO
VER pits from P5; rejoins P8
18: SAI pits from P1 – seems like an early stop for mediums; more mediums go on; rejoins P6
RUS took P4 from OCO while SAI was in the pit lane
19: PER pits from P3; mediums; rejoins P10 in the middle of a battle between SCH, BOT and ZHO
RUS f/lap 1:23.272
VER 1:23.082
SAI takes P4 from OCO
20/70: HAM pits from P2; mediums; looked like the cleanest stop so far; rejoins P7
VER takes P5 from ALO
21: LEC, RUS, SAI, OCO, VER, ALO, HAM, SCH, PER, BOT
LEC is 21sec ahead of SAI; will Ferrari wait until he’s got a gap and can come out ahead of his teammate?
22: LEC pits from P1; mediums; rejoins P2, just ahead of SAI
ALO pits; hard tyres go on; rejoins P11
24: LEC f/lap 1:22.995
OCO pits; rejoins alongside teammate ALO, but he has RIC all over him
ALO looks to pass OCO but he defends, which lets RIC steal P10
25/70: RUS, LEC, SAI, VER, HAM, PER, NOR, BOT, ZHO, RIC, OCO, ALO, STR, VET, TSU, GAS, SCH, MAG, LAT, ALB
26: LEC almost close enough to get DRS behind RUS
HAM warned about exceeding track limits in Turn 12
27: LEC has a look into Turn 1
28: LEC attacking again; RUS has to defend through T2 and T3
29: RUS continues to defend
30/70: RUS, LEC, SAI, VER, HAM, PER, NOR, RIC, STR, OCO
LEC close enough to touch the Mercedes
31: RUS defends the inside so LEC goes round the outside into T1; takes P1
VET inside ALO to take P11
32: LEC has already opened a 1.5sec lead
Radio from VER, “It’s drizzling more and more”
Radio for HAM telling him “report of light drizzle but it shouldn’t amount to anything”
33: LEC laps ALB
35/70: LEC, RUS, SAI, VER, HAM, PER, NOR, RIC, STR, OCO, VET, ALO, GAS, BOT, SCH, ZHO, LAT, MAG, ALB, TSU
Yellow flag – TSU spins just after pitting; he spins it the right way round, but that’s not good for his tyres
38: LEC’s lead now 5sec over RUS; there’s just over 1sec gap to SAI, and then VER has DRS as he’s under a second behind the Ferrari
Radio from NOR reporting it’s “very slippery”
39: VER pits from P4; mediums go on; rejoins P6
Radio for RUS telling him to box and push hard
40/70: LEC pits; hard tyres go on; rejoins P3
RUS pits; mediums; rejoins P6 behind VER
PER lets teammate VER through for P4
41: VER f/lap 1:22.789
VER around the outside of LEC in Turn 1; claims P3
Yellow flag – VER lost the rear, spun around and rejoins just in front of PER
42: RUS takes P5 from PER
43: PER and NOR pit
Mediums for PER; rejoins P6
NOR takes on hards; rejoins P9
44: VER closing on LEC again
VER f/lap 1:22.128
45/70: SAI, HAM, LEC, VER, RUS, PER, RIC, STR, NOR, VET
LEC defends into T1; VER goes outside and takes P3
46: PER f/lap 1:21.940
HAM slowly reeling in SAI, but they both need to stop again
47: Radio from HAM reporting his tyres are ok
RIC and STR pit, followed by VET and GAS
48: SAI pits from P1; slow stop due to rear left; softs go on; rejoins P5
Yellow flag – STR around the outside of RIC; contact; STR spins and recovers
49: HAM leads but he has to make another stop
50/70: HAM, VER, LEC, RUS, SAI, PER, NOR, ALO, OCO, BOT, RIC, STR, ZHO, VET, GAS, SCH, MAG, LAT, ALB, TSU
5-sec penalty for RIC for causing the collision with STR
VET takes P13 from ZHO
51: RUS tucked up behind LEC
52: HAM pits from P1; softs go on; rejoins P5
LEC defends through Turn 1
STR and VET have passed RIC
53: RUS still looking for a way around LEC
54: RUS finally finds a gap as LEC struggles for grip
55/70: LEC pits from P4; softs; rejoins P6
HAM f/lap 1:21.685
Radio for HAM telling him there’s a risk of rain in a couple of laps time but it shouldn’t last long
56: GAS steals P13 from RIC
57: HAM f/lap 1:21.560
58: HAM 1:21.386
Radio for RUS telling him they think the tyres will be fine to the end
60/70: VER, RUS, SAI, HAM, PER, LEC, NOR, ALO, OCO, BOT, STR, VET, GAS, RIC*, SCH, MAG, ZHO, ALB, LAT, TSU (*RIC has 5-sec penalty to be applied)
61: HAM is rapidly closing on SAI
Radio for SAI telling him his tyres are fine… but they don’t look it, and SAI isn’t convinced
62: HAM thinks about a move but SAI holds on to P3
63: HAM uses DRS to blast past the Ferrari on the main straight
RUS is only 1.5sec ahead of HAM, so Mercedes may ask RUS to let HAM take P2
64: HAM fills his teammate’s mirrors as they lap BOT (P12)
65/70: VER, RUS, HAM, SAI, PER, LEC, NOR, ALO, OCO, STR, VET, BOT, GAS, RIC*, SCH, ZHO, MAG, ALB, LAT, TSU
RUS defends into Turn 1 but HAM switches side and takes P2
Radio for STR telling him his teammate VET is closing on him; STR shouts at his engineer “You didn’t warn me”
66: VER is 10sec ahead of HAM, so that seems safe unless it rains
67: Radio for HAM telling him the risk of rain is moving towards the end of the race
STR lets VET through for P10
68: Yellow flag – BOT has pulled off the track and parked his Alfa Romeo; he reports he lost power
VSC deployed
69[VSC]: VER, HAM, RUS, SAI, PER, LEC, NOR, ALO, OCO, VET, STR, GAS, RIC, SCH, ZHO, MAG, ALB, LAT, TSU; out: BOT
MAG pits
VSC ending
Radio from RUS, “It’s raining hard at the moment”
70/70: DRS disabled (why? because of the rain? to stop LEC attacking PER?)
The rain’s getting harder; they just need to nurse the cars home
VER takes the chequered flag
Provisional result: VER, HAM, RUS, SAI, PER, LEC, NOR, ALO, OCO, VET; STR, GAS, ZHO, SCH, RIC, MAG, ALB, LAT, TSU
DNF: BOT
Fastest lap: HAM
In the cooldown room (before the podium) and they seem surprised that the Ferraris were on hard tyres at the end
So now there’s a 3-week break before the next race, and then it’ll be Belgium, Netherlands, and Italy (Monza) back-to-back-to-back.