(Notes delayed due to spending the weekend shooting the Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto)
Qualifying
Air temperature 24°C; track 29°C; it’s been raining for a few minutes ahead of Quali
Will anyone start Q1 on intermediate tyres?
Qualifying session 1 (Q1)
Radio from BOT, “Track is ok for slicks”
HUL 1:20.585
MAG 1:19.343
SAR 1:17.770
Radio from ZHO, “Rain is increasing”
PIA 1:17.504
SAI 1:17.244
HAM 1:17.087
Yellow flag – SAR has a huge lock up, run wide at Turn 1, across the gravel and taps the tyre wall; he’s found his way back to the track
Radio from VER complaining “we can’t improve like this”; GP (his engineer) says it he’s concerned about weather or tyre temps, come back to the pits
Yellow flag – PER’s in the tyre wall at turn 8
Red flag; PER will be picked up by the medical car while his car is removed
The rain’s getting harder; DRS disabled
There’s 6:45 left of Q1
Rain’s easing off
Green light; Q1 resumes
Sauber pair are first out of the pit lane
5mins left; bottom 5 are RIC, STR, MAG, ZHO, HUL
Only the Alpine duo (GAS and OCO) and PER are not on track
Chequered flag; bottom 5 are RIC, STR, MAG, ZHO, HUL
STR P4, BOT P16
RIC 1:17.050, TSU P16
HUL P6, OCO P16
ZHO P16
BOT P10, RUS P16
MAG P15, PER P16
Back of the grid: PER, RUS, ZHO, OCO, GAS
Looks like RUS wasn’t fuelled for one final flying lap
Qualifying session 2
SAI has the track to himself
SAI 1:17.028
HAM 1:16.544
VER 1:15.770
Chequered flag; bottom 5 are SAR, MAG, TSU, BOT, HUL
NOR 1:15.540
TSU P8, HAM P10
BOT P11
HUL P11
MAG P15
Middle of the grid: HUL, BOT, ALB, SAR, MAG
Top 10 shootout is between NOR, VER, PIA, SAI, LEC, STR, ALO, TSU, RIC, HAM
Qualifying session 3
Six cars rolling down the pit lane, ready for Q3 to start
Official weather forecast says rain in 5mins
VER 1:15.555
PIA P2
SAI P3
HAM P3
LEC P3
ALO P5
TSU P7
NOR 1:15.227
RIC P9
STR P8
Order after the first run: NOR, VER, PIA, LEC, HAM, ALO, SAI, STR, TSU, RIC
Rain starts falling on cue
PIA P2
HAM P4
SAI P4
VER P3
Yellow flag – TSU in the wall at Turn 5
Red flag – there’s a lot of grass and debris on track
Replay shows TSU ran a little wide, onto the grass but the kerb seemed to launch him into the armco barrier
Medical car has picked up TSU
There’s 2:13 left of Q3
McLaren send NOR to wait at the end of the pit lane
If they’re as slow in the pit lane as usual, they won’t all be able to start a flying lap
VER is out of his car but others are queueing for the restart
Green light; the queue is NOR, HAM, PIA, RIC, STR, LEC, SAI but they may try overtaking on the out lap to get to the start line in time
SAI pits because he wouldn’t have made it in time to start a flying lap
Chequered flag; order is NOR, PIA, VER, SAI, HAM, LEC, ALO, STR, TSU, RIC
NOR pits
HAM P5
PIA pits
RIC P9
Front of the grid: NOR, PIA, VER, SAI, HAM, LEC, ALO, STR, RIC, TSU
Provisional grid: NOR, PIA, VER, SAI, HAM, LEC, ALO, STR, RIC, TSU, HUL, BOT, ALB, SAR, MAG, PER, RUS, ZHO, OCO, GAS
Post-Quali Penalties
Alpine replaced a ton of components on GAS’s car so he will have to start the race from the pit lane.
Race
Pit lane is open; drivers can make their way to the grid
NOR reports “something not right with the throttle”; the McLaren mechanics working on it on the grid
Grid: NOR, PIA, VER, SAI, HAM, LEC, ALO, STR, RIC, TSU, HUL, BOT, ALB, SAR, MAG, PER, RUS, ZHO, OCO; GAS starts from the pit lane
Looks like McLaren have replaced a physical damper on NOR’s car
NOR leads everyone away on the formation lap
Everyone starting on medium compound tyres except ALO, STR, ALB & MAG on softs, and HUL, PER, GAS on hards
01/70: VER runs wide in Turn 1
PIA takes P1
VER P2 – he clearly gained an advantage off track
02: PIA, VER, NOR, HAM, LEC, ALO, SAI, STR, ALB, MAG, RIC, TSU, BOT, HUL, OCO, RUS, SAR, PER, ZHO, GAS
DRS enabled
VER incident – gaining a position – noted
Radio from VER claiming he was pushed wide – well, (a) he wasn’t, and (b) you still can’t gain a position when off track
03: VER incident under investigation
VER has been told to let NOR reclaim P2; VER disagrees
04: VER lets NOR reclaim P2
Radio from VER whining about “so is that how we’re racing now?” as if he’s never done that before
05/70: PIA, NOR, VER, HAM, LEC, SAI, ALO, STR, ALB, MAG
07: ALB and MAG pits, followed by OCO; all switch from softs to hard tyres; rejoin P18, 19 and 20 respectively
08: ALO, RIC and ZHO pit; ALO goes on to mediums, RIC and ZHO switch to hards
10/70: PIA, NOR, VER, HAM, LEC, SAI, STR, TSU, BOT, RUS
13: RUS should get DRS behind BOT soon
14: NOR falling back to over 3sec behind PIA
15/70: PIA, NOR, VER, HAM, LEC, SAI, STR, TSU, BOT, RUS, PER, GAS, HUL, ALO, ALB, MAG, RIC, OCO, SAR, ZHO
STR pits; mediums; rejoins P16
17: HAM pits from P4; hard tyres go on; rejoins P7
Radio for NOR, “100% pace please”
18: NOR pits; hards; P5
HAM dives inside TSU for P6
Radio from VER complaining “I can’t brake”, wah, wah wah
19: PIA pits; hards; P4
HAM fastest lap 1:23.350
20/70: VER, LEC, SAI, PIA, NOR, HAM, TSU, RUS, PER, GAS
HAM 1:23.201
Radio from HAM, “This tyre definitely has less grip”
21: Radio from LEC, suggesting “Plan C”
22: VER pits, followed by SAI; hards for both; P5 and P9 respectively
23: HAM f/lap 1:23.180
ALO all over HUL’s rear wing
24: LEC pits from P1; hards; P5
PIA f/lap 1:23.102
VER f/lap 1:22.769
25/70: PIA, NOR, HAM, VER, LEC, TSU, RUS
27: HUL locks up; ALO takes P11; STR has a look but HUL defends P12
28: Radio for ALB telling him they’re going to Plan B; ALO’s not impressed
STR takes P12
29: LEC f/lap 1:22.359
PER pits; replaces hard tyres with mediums; P15
30/70: PIA, NOR, HAM, VER, LEC, SAI, TSU, RUS, ALO, STR, HUL, ALB, MAG, BOT, PER, OCO, SAR, ZHO, GAS, RIC
LEC 1:22.182
TSU pits; hards; P10
31: HAM is falling back from the front duo
PER inside MAG to take P11
33: VER has DRS behind HAM
PIA ran wide in Turn 11
34: RUS pits; mediums; P11
GAS pits; retires the Alpine
35/70: VER around HAM for P3 but then runs wide and HAM reclaims the position
Radio from VER complaining about his car again
36: PER takes P8 from STR
37: VER closing up on HAM again
38: VER tries to dummy HAM into Turn 1
LEC has closed up on VER
39: Radio for NOR giving him the ok to “race the papaya car”
40/70: PIA, NOR, HAM, VER, LEC, SAI, PER, RUS, STR, TSU, BOT, ALO, RIC, HUL, ALB, MAG, OCO, SAR, ZHO; out: GAS
Radio for VER advising him to change mode; VER barks “Why?”
41: HAM pits, as does LEC; hards and mediums respectively; P5 and P6
42: VER having another strop over the radio, complaining about the strategy
44: NOR under 2secs behind his teammate
45/70: PIA, NOR, VER, SAI, HAM, LEC, PER, RUS, STR, TSU
46: NOR pits; mediums go on; rejoins P4
STR pits; hards; P14
47: NOR under 19sec behind PIA but a pit stop costs about 20secs
48: PIA pits; slow front-right; mediums; P3
SAI pits too; mediums; P6
Radio for NOR telling him they want to “reestablish the order”, i.e. let PIA pass
49: NOR f/lap 1:21.954
PIA dips a wheel in a gravel trap
50/70: VER, NOR, PIA, HAM, LEC, SAI, RUS, PER, TSU, ALO, RIC, STR, HUL, ALB, MAG, OCO, SAR, BOT, ZHO; out: GAS
VER pits; mediums; P5
PER f/lap 1:21.096
51: Radio for PIA telling him NOR will give up the position once PIA catches him
53: Radio for VER commenting on the “gentle introduction” of the tyres; VER unloads on his engineer again
55/70: NOR, PIA, HAM, LEC, VER, SAI, PER, RUS, TSU, ALO
VER has DRS behind LEC
Radio for NOR telling him to save tyres
56: RUS f/lap 1:20.305
57: VER inside LEC to take P4
Radio for NOR telling him again about his tyres; also reminding him to “do the right thing” and let PIA pass (once he catches him)
58: Yet another reminder to NOR about tyres
59: PIA is 4.3sec behind NOR
60/70: NOR, PIA, HAM, VER, LEC, SAI, PER, RUS, TSU, ALO, STR, RIC, HUL, ALB, MAG, OCO, SAR, BOT, ZHO; out: GAS
61: Radio from NOR, “tell him to catch up then please”
62: PIA just over 5sec behind NOR
VER tries to go around HAM but HAM defends P3
63: VER steams up the inside of HAM, huge lock up, hits HAM, runs wide; LEC passes VER for P4
Another radio call for NOR telling him to let PIA catch up and pass
64: Incident involving VER and HAM noted
Radio from VER whining, trying to blame HAM for moving under braking; even his engineer says it’s childish
65/70: NOR, PIA, HAM, LEC, VER, SAI, PER, RUS, TSU, ALO
PIA over 6sec behind NOR – will NOR do a Massa and let PIA pass him out of the final corner of the final lap
66: Radio for NOR telling him he needs PIA and the team in order to win a championship
67: Radio for NOR, “Please. Do. It. Now.”
68: NOR slows on the main straight, letting PIA take P1
Radio from NOR, “Don’t even say anything”
69: NOR has DRS behind PIA but presumably won’t be allowed to challenge his teammate
70/70: NOR still filling PIA’s mirrors
PIA takes the chequered flag
Provisional result: PIA, NOR, HAM, LEC, VER, SAI, PER, RUS, TSU, STR; ALO, RIC, HUL, ALB, MAG, BOT, SAR, OCO, ZHO
DNF: GAS
That’s HAM’s 200th podium
Post-race investigation
The VER/HAM collision on lap 63 has the expected (disappointing) outcome – “we determine that no driver was predominantly to blame and decide to take no further action.”
The Stewards do not consider this to be a typical case of “changing direction under braking” although it is our determination that the driver of Car 44 could have done more to avoid the collision.
Yeah, next time HAM should just wave VER through! Ridiculous!
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