Just a week after NOR’s win in Holland, the big news was Williams replacing SAR with Franco Colapinto (“COL” from here on; in car 43) starting from this race weekend. There was also confirmation that Andrea Kimi Antonelli will take the Mercedes seat vacated by HAM next season.
There was action on track even before Free Practice when Bernd Maylander ended up in the tyre wall when something appears to have broken on the safety car [video]
It might appear that he lost control of the car, but as an experienced driver Maylander intentionally tried to spin the car to reduce speed before the impact.
Despite holding his leg when he got out of the Aston Martin Vantage, it was reported that both Maylander and co-driver Richard Darker were uninjured. There’s a spare SC so there was no impact to the F1 sessions.
Free Practice
- FP1: VER (1:21.676), LEC, NOR, SAI, BOT
- FP2: HAM (1:20.738), NOR, SAI, PIA, LEC
- FP3: HAM (1:20.117), RUS, LEC, PIA, NOR
Haas was fined €7,500 for MAG impeding SAI in FP1
There’s a long list of drivers summoned to see the stewards: PIA, LEC, RIC, STR, PER, COL (some for impeding, some for not using the escape road correctly, and COL for a practice start infringement)
Qualifying
Air temperature 34°C; track 50°C; it’s hot and dry
Qualifying session 1 (Q1)
ZHO 1:21.968
OCO 1:21.346
MAG 1:20.856
HUL 1:20.781
LEC 1:20.074
GAS reporting smoke – is that a brake fire?
NOR 1:19.911
ALB also reporting smoke
(VER P4, PER P19)
RUS on the radio reporting that he’s “sliding massively”
5mins left; bottom 5 are COL, TSU, BOT, PER, ZHO
Only ALB and PER on track… but now there’s a rush to get out of the pits
McLaren release PIA right into the path of VER, so expect a penalty
2mins left; only NOR, LEC and SAI still in their garage
COL drops a wheel into a gravel trap but wrangles the Williams back onto the track; it’s ruined his fast run but at least he kept it out of the wall
Brief yellow flag – MAG in the gravel but recovering the Haas back to the pits
Chequered flag; bottom 5 are TSU, STR, COL, BOT, ZHO
No-one on a quick lap, so that’s the back of the grid set
TSU quite vocal on the radio and in the media pen, complaining about the car and not getting upgrades
Qualifying session 2
Message from race control: “Start of Q2 will be delayed as marshals are removing gravel on track in multiple areas”
Just a 2-min delay for sweeping; Q2 now under way
Ferrari and Alpine duos are first on track, all on used soft tyres
Everyone heading out of the pits except HAM, RUS, ALB and ALO
SAI 1:20.328
LEC 1:20.296
VER 1:19.874
PIA 1:19.808
NOR 1:19.727
HAM 1:19.641
5mins left; bottom 5 are ALO, MAG, GAS, OCO, RIC
LEC complaining that his Ferrari is “not turning at all, again”
Just NOR and SAI remain in the pits
Chequered flag; bottom 5 are ALO, RIC, MAG, GAS, OCO
OCO P15
GAS P14
MAG P13
Middle of the grid: ALO, RIC, MAG, GAS, OCO
Top 10 shootout is between HAM, VER, NOR, SAI, PIA, RUS, LEC, PER, ALB, HUL
Qualifying session 3
Ferrari release SAI just in front of VER
ALB 1:20.870
HUL 1:20.482
PER 1:20.062
PIA 1:19.436
NOR 1:19.401
SAI P3
VER P5
LEC P4
RUS P3
HAM P4
Order after the first run: NOR, PIA, RUS, HAM, SAI, LEC, PER, VER, HUL, ALB
Radio from VER, “I had no grip at all on this set, shocking”
Everyone pits
Red Bull sent their pair out first – PER will be giving VER a tow
2mins left; the Mercedes duo are the last to join the track
PER kicks up some dust then pulls off-line
VER P7
PER P8
ALB P9
Chequered flag; order is NOR, PIA, RUS, HAM, SAI, LEC, VER, PER, ALB, HUL
NOR 1:19.327
PIA P2
SAI P3
LEC P3
RUS P3
HAM P6
Front of the grid: NOR, PIA, RUS, LEC, SAI, HAM, VER, PER, ALB, HUL
Provisional grid: NOR, PIA, RUS, LEC, SAI, HAM, VER, PER, ALB, HUL, ALO, RIC, MAG, GAS, OCO, TSU, STR, COL, BOT, ZHO
Post-Quali penalties
COL received a formal warning for completing a practice start in the incorrect location
There was no further action for PER for not following the Race Director’s notes regarding the escape road
McLaren was fined €10,000 for the unsafe release of PIA
Race
Pit lane is open; drivers can make their way to the grid
There haven’t been any penalties that affect the grid – just a fine and a formal warning
Air temperature 34°C; track 53°C
BBC’s weather forecast says “There’s an element of weather jeopardy, due to heavy showers forming in-situ quickly, some only 5-10km away. FIA forecasters advising teams to be alert of increasing rain risk.”
Race control: Risk of rain 40%
NOR leads everyone away on the formation lap
They’re all on medium tyres except VER, PER, OCO, TSU, STR and BOT on hards
The FIA timing chart thinks they’re on lap 1 – whoops! They’ll need to reset that
That’s a very long hold for the McLarens, waiting for the rear of the grid to take their places
01/53: RUS locks up into Turn 1, takes to the escape road
PIA takes P1 through the chicane, and LEC follows past NOR
VER already on the radio whining about HAM
RUS’ front wing is clearly damaged
02: PIA, LEC, NOR, SAI, HAM, VER, RUS, PER, ALB, ALO, RIC, MAG, GAS, OCO, TSU, HUL, COL, STR, BOT, ZHO
DRS enabled
03: PIA fastest lap 1:25.116
Now it’s PER time to try to get Mercedes a penalty, claiming RUS has a lot of damage and it’s dangerous
04: NOR f/lap 1:25.110
05/53: PIA, LEC, NOR, SAI, HAM, VER, RUS, PER, ALB, ALO
PIA f/lap 1:24.695
06: LEC f/lap 1:24.603
HUL pits; hard tyres go on; new nose – replay shows he ran into TSU under braking
08: PIA f/lap 1:24.418
TSU pits; retires, presumably due to damage caused when HUL hit him
09: 5-sec penalty for RIC for squeezing MAG onto the grass
10/53: PIA, LEC, NOR, SAI, HAM, VER, RUS, PER, ALB, ALO
LEC f/lap 1:24.362
RIC locks up, cuts Turn 1
10-sec penalty for HUL
11: PIA f/lap 1:24.077
Mercedes prep for RUS to pit
12: RUS pits from P8; hards go on; new nose; 10.5sec stationary; rejoins P16
13: ALO pits from P9; hards; P15, just ahead of RUS
14: NOR has DRS behind LEC
15/53: PIA, LEC, NOR… NOR pits
NOR locks up before the speed line, clips the marker! Hards; P8 right behind OCO
NOR squeezes past OCO for P7
16: LEC pits from P2; hards; P7 – he’s now behind NOR
HAM pits; hards; P10
17: PIA pits; hards; P4 just ahead of ALB
Radio from LEC asking why they pitted him and ended up being undercut
RIC under investigation for not serving his 5-sec penalty when he pitted
18: Only SAI and ALB currently on mediums
ALB pits; hards; P13
RIC given 10-sec penalty for not serving his previous penalty properly
Replay shows a mechanic touched the front wing as RIC entered the box
19: LEC f/lap 1:23.875 – he has DRS behind NOR
20/53: SAI pits from P1; hards; P6
RUS past ALO for P10
21: LEC f/lap 1:23.826
RUS now past BOT for P9
22: NOR f/lap 1:23.753
Replay for MAG locking up, hitting GAS into the chicane – incident noted
ALO past BOT for P10
23: VER pits from P1; rear right was a bit slow; more hards, so he’ll have to stop again; rejoins P8
PIA f/lap 1:23.647
Radio for NOR, “You are allowed to race Oscar, Papaya rules”
24: PER pits; hards; P8
NOR f/lap 1:23.581
VER takes P6 from OCO
25/53: PIA, NOR, LEC, SAI, HAM, VER, PER, OCO, RUS, ALO, ALB, BOT, MAG, GAS, RIC, COL, STR, HUL, ZHO; out: TSU
MAG given 10-sec penalty for causing a collision
26: PIA f/lap 1:23.230
MAG cleanly past BOT for P12
Half distance
27: PIA f/lap 1:23.133
ALO past OCO for P9
Remember OCO started on hard tyres; BOT is also yet to pit
28: PIA f/lap 1:23.088 – he’s 2.5sec clear of teammate NOR
29: NOR f/lap 1:23.067
30/53: PIA, NOR, LEC, SAI, HAM, VER, PER, RUS, ALO, OCO
PIA f/lap 1:23.066
COL makes his first F1 pass by taking P15 from GAS
31: PIA f/lap 1:22.968
Radio for LEC telling him NOR is starting to struggle with graining
RUS challenges PER into Turn 1; RUS cuts the corner, has to let PER reclaim P7 – PER gave RUS zero space; if it was the other way round, PER would be crying for a penalty
NOR locks up in Turn 4, cuts it; SAI catches up
32: Radio from PER, confused because RUS let him reclaim P7 but then starts to challenge him – errr, it’s racing?
33: NOR pits; hards; rejoins P6
34: RUS pits from P8; hards; bit of a slow stop; P12
35/53: PIA, LEC, SAI, HAM, VER, NOR, PER, ALO, MAG, ALB
NOR 1:22.837
MAG attacks ALB into Turn 1; ALB cuts the apex; MAG takes P9
36: PER pits from P7; mediums go on; P9
37: PER has DRS behind ALB; RUS just outside DRS behind PER… no, he now has DRS too
ALB cuts the apex of Turn 1, letting PER and RUS through
38: HAM pits from P4; hards; P6
Radio for PIA asking if they could one-stop; PIA says no
RUS makes a move on PER; PER moves late, pushing RUS – that would be a penalty for a non-Red Bull
RUS attacks again; takes P8
39: PIA pits; hards; P3
40/53: LEC, SAI, PIA, VER, NOR, HAM, MAG, RUS, PER, ALB, RIC, COL, ALO, OCO, ZHO, STR, GAS, BOT, HUL; out: TSU
41: PIA f/lap 1:22.264
NOR past VER to take P4
Will the Ferrari duo try to 1-stop and get their hard tyres to the end?
42: PIA f/lap 1:22.066
VER pits; mediums; P6
RUS takes P7 from MAG
43: Radio for NOR telling him “Qualifying now”
44: PIA is under 1.5-sec behind SAI, but there’s an 11-sec gap between LEC and SAI
45/53: LEC, SAI, PIA, NOR, HAM, VER, RUS, PER, MAG, ALB
VER f/lap 1:21.745
Radio from SAI reporting “my front left is nearly gone, but I guess we try”
PIA belts past SAI for P2
46: PIA is only a little faster than LEC; he needs to be over 0.5-sec/lap quicker to catch him
NOR is on SAI’s tail
48: NOR storms past SAI for P3
49: LEC under 9-sec ahead of PIA; NOR 4-sec behind PIA
50/53: LEC, PIA, NOR, SAI, HAM, VER, RUS, PER, MAG, ALB, ALO, RIC, COL, OCO, STR, GAS, BOT, ZHO, HUL; out: TSU
The Tifosi are getting louder as the chequered flag gets closer
51: LEC’s lead down to under 7-sec but PIA’s not going to catch him at this pace
RUS is closing on VER but also probably not enough to catch him
52: LEC-PIA gap over 5-sec
STR pits; softs; P19 – that’s a tactical move to take the fastest lap point away from VER
53/53: Gap is 4-sec; LEC might just do it
LEC takes the chequered flag
Provisional result: LEC, PIA, NOR, SAI, HAM, VER, RUS, PER, MAG*, ALB; ALO, RIC, COL, OCO, GAS, BOT, HUL, ZHO, STR (MAG has 10-sec penalty to be added)
DNF: TSU
Fastest lap: NOR 1:21.432 on the final lap
Nice to see Zak Brown congratulate Fred Vasseur (team bosses of McLaren and Ferrari respectively)
The track is full of Tifosi and some huge flags
Watching the FIA site for any post-race penalties…
MAG’s 10-sec penalty drops him from P9 to P10
MAG has accrued 12 penalty points in the past 12-month period and therefore “the Super Licence of the driver of Car 20 must be suspended for the next Competition” i.e. he can’t race in Baku
RIC’s 5-sec penalty drops him from P12 to P13, promoting COL on his first race
Final result: LEC, PIA, NOR, SAI, HAM, VER, RUS, PER, ALB, MAG; ALO, COL, RIC, OCO, GAS, BOT, HUL, ZHO, STR
[2024 calendar and driver line-up]
