A good Qualifying for Mercedes but not great for Ferrari.
Grid: VER, RUS, HAM, PER, SAI, BOT, LEC, NOR, ALO, OCO, RIC, ZHO, TSU, GAS, SCH, VET, ALB, LAT, MAG*, STR* (*MAG had a 5-place penalty for an engine change; STR had a 3-place penalty for causing a collision in the previous race)
More drama with Red Bull – VER has taken umbrage at SkySports reporter Ted Kravitz said HAM was “robbed” of the 2021 title. Apparently Red Bull have decided not to talk to him “indefinitely” – I hope SkySports support their guy and don’t interview anyone from/representing Red Bull for the rest of the season. Give us all a rest from Whiny Spice and his team of cheats.
Pit lane is open; cars can make their way to the grid
MAG reports a problem, “Something on the rear – it’s either gearbox or suspension”
VER leads everyone away on the formation lap
A real mix of tyre compounds: VER on softs; RUS & HAM on mediums; PER & SAI on softs; BOT on mediums
Air temperature 25°C; track 46°C
01/71: VER leads into Turn 1
PER nearly runs into the rear of RUS
HAM takes P2 from his teammate
PER tags RUS, takes P3
02: VER, HAM, PER, RUS, SAI, LEC, ALO, BOT, OCO, NOR, TSU, ZHO, RIC, VET, STR, GAS, SCH, MAG, ALB, LAT
03: VER fastest lap 1:23.247
Replay of the start – I was wrong, there wasn’t contact between RUS and PER; RUS ran a fraction wide in Turn 3
05/71: VER, HAM, PER, RUS, SAI, LEC, ALO, BOT, OCO, NOR
BOT looking for a way around ALO
07: NOR locks up as he closes on OCO
RIC dives inside ZHO for P12 but ZHO reclaims the place
08: RIC looks again; ZHO defends
09: RIC uses DRS to pass ZHO on the straight, takes P12
10/71: VER, HAM, PER, RUS, SAI, LEC, ALO, BOT, OCO, NOR
13: STR and GAS battling over P15
Radio for VER telling him to break HAM’s two
STR and GAS both run wide; GAS comes out ahead, but that looks like he gained an advantage while off track
15/71: VER, HAM, PER, RUS, SAI, LEC, ALO, BOT, OCO, NOR, TSU, RIC, ZHO, VET, GAS, STR, ALB, SCH, LAT, MAG
16: GAS still ahead of STR; stewards are reviewing
17: ALB closing on STR
5-sec penalty for GAS
18: STR is the first to pit; soft tyres go on; rejoins P20
19: LEC suggesting strategy changes
20/71: VER, HAM, PER, RUS, SAI, LEC, ALO, BOT, OCO, NOR
Radio for RUS telling him VER is losing pace so he’ll pit soon
22: VER reports his tyres are starting to struggle
23: Radio from VER, “Left front doesn’t want to turn”
24: It’s PER who pits; slow rear-left change, 5-sec stop; rejoins P6
25/71: VER, HAM, RUS, SAI, LEC, PER, ALO, BOT, OCO, NOR, TSU, RIC, ZHO, VET, GAS, ALB, SCH, MAG, STR, LAT
26: VER pits; clean stop; rejoins P3, just ahead of SAI
PER f/lap 1:21.995
27: PER closes, passes LEC for P5
29: LEC pits from P6; mediums go on; rejoins P12
30/71: HAM pits; hard tyres go on; rejoins P3
SAI pits; mediums; P9
Radio from RUS, “Tyres feel good – let’s extend”
31: PER f/lap 1:21.775
LEC has a big twitch
LEC takes P10 from RIC
32: SAI looking to pass NOR… but then NOR pits
34: Radio for RUS telling him to box
35/71: RUS pits from P1; hards go on; rejoins P4
Half distance
36: VER, HAM, PER, RUS, ALO, BOT, SAI, LEC, RIC, ZHO, VET, GAS, OCO, ALB, NOR, TSU, STR, MAG, SCH, LAT
39: SAI takes P6 from BOT
40/71: VER, HAM, PER, RUS, ALO, SAI, BOT, LEC, RIC, ZHO
BOT pits
SAI all over ALO’s tail
41: SAI takes P5
ALO pits; hard; rejoins P8
HAM and RUS both complaining about the hard tyres
42: OCO struggling to hold off BOT
43: GAS pits; serves his 5-sec penalty before swapping tyres
45/71: VER, HAM, PER, RUS, SAI, LEC, RIC, ALO, ZHO, OCO
RIC pits from P7; softs go on; rejoins P13
That means ZHO is the only one yet to pit
46: ZHO pits, so now everyone’s stopped – STR has stopped twice
49: Radio from HAM, “Still having dropouts from power”
50/71: VER, HAM, PER, RUS, SAI, LEC, ALO, OCO, BOT, NOR, TSU, RIC, VET, ALB, GAS, ZHO, SCH, STR, MAG, LAT
51: RIC looking to take P11 from TSU, but the AlphaTauri defends
RIC dives inside; contact; TSU flies off track but recovers
52: TSU pits; new front wing; soft tyres go on; no, they’ve decided to retire the car
53: HAM still questioning the tyre choice
VET has GAS and ZHO on his tail
Incident involving RIC and TSU will be investigated
54: GAS steals P13 but VET fights back
10-sec penalty for RIC – that seems excessive
55/71: VER, HAM, PER, RUS, SAI, LEC, ALO, OCO, BOT, NOR
58: RIC up to P9 (NOR was asked to let RIC through, and then RIC passed BOT)
60/71: VER, HAM, PER, RUS, SAI, LEC, ALO, OCO, RIC, BOT, NOR, ALB, GAS, ZHO, VET, STR, SCH, MAG, LAT; out: TSU
61: PER laps OCO and ALO; RIC follows through and steals P8 from ALO, but OCO hangs on to P7
HAM and RUS still unhappy with the hard tyres; I’m not sure what they expect the team to do because stopping isn’t really an option
62: RIC inside OCO for P7, although he does have a 10-sec penalty to be applied
ALO seems to be struggling
65/71: VER, HAM, PER, RUS, SAI, LEC, RIC, OCO, ALO, BOT
NOR passes BOT for P9
ALO runs wide – no, he’s parking the Alpine in the run-off area
VSC deployed
66[VSC]: Marshalls are quick to remove ALO’s car
VSC ending
RUS says he’s gone through debris and should pit – is that his attempt to switch to softs?
67: HAM pointing out that VER has increased his lead under the VSC
68: RUS posting personal best times; he’s 5sec behind PER – why not pit him and go for fastest lap?
69: GAS takes P11 from ALB
70/71: VER, HAM, PER, RUS, SAI, LEC, RIC, OCO, NOR, BOT, GAS, ALB, ZHO, VET, STR, SCH, MAG, LAT; out: ALO, TSU
RUS pits; softs go on; rejoins still P4
71: VER has ~15sec lead and has lapped everyone up to & including RIC (P7) – yeah, that budget overspend makes no difference, sure
VER takes the chequered flag
HAM P2
PER P3
RUS P4 and f/lap 1:20.153
Provisional result: VER, HAM, PER, RUS*, SAI, LEC, RIC**, OCO, NOR, BOT; GAS, ALB, ZHO, VET, STR, SCH, MAG, LAT
*RUS f/lap
**RIC’s 10-sec penalty drops him to PP10 (I think)
DNF: ALO, TSU
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