COTA Grand Prix

There’s been a long gap since the Singapore GP – so long, in fact, I had to re-read my notes to remember what happened! Here’s the TL;DR

• Result: NOR, VER, PIA, RUS, LEC, HAM, SAI, ALO, HUL, PER
• RIC set the fastest lap right at the end; he finished P18 but it prevented NOR from getting that additional point (Reminder: RIC was in the RB, junior team to Red Bull)
• As far as the Championships are concerned: VER is 52 points ahead of NOR, with LEC a further 34 points back
• McLaren lead the Constructors’ Championship, 41 points ahead of Red Bull, with Mercedes 34pts behind RBR.

Incidentally, I’m referring to this race weekend as the COTA GP because there are three races in America again this year. (I still don’t understand why)

There’s also been lots of news and rumours since the last race.

• RIC has been dumped by RB/Red Bull; Liam Lawson (LAW) has taken that seat and will use number 30 on the car
• The FIA have announced they’re dropping the bonus point for fastest lap starting next season
• PER somehow continues to hang onto his drive; the latest rumours are he’ll announce his retirement at the Mexico GP
• VER continues to act like a spoiled brat. He’s said he’ll continue to give minimal answers in official Formula 1 news conferences after being penalised for swearing in the press conference before the Singapore GP
• Red Bull have been discovered to have a device in their cars that enables mechanics to adjust the “bib” aka “tea-tray”, i.e. the front of the floor in the middle of the car. Red Bull of course said they’ve never used it (because that will be illegal) but no-one seems to ask why they spent the time and effort to design, build, install and test such a device if they don’t use it. The FIA are desperately trying to sweep it under the carpet and have called it a non-issue. Oh, but the FIA will seal the device before the start of this weekend’s parc ferme conditions, i.e. before Sprint Quali starts. (The rumour is they’ve had this device for 2 or 3 seasons; even more reason to put a star against those championships)

It’s a Sprint format weekend, although the Race Director clearly forgot this and had to issue an updated Events Note document! Hopefully someone can put a little asterisk in his calendar for the remaining sprints in Brazil and Qatar.😀
The sprint format means there’s just one practice session and then Sprint Quali on Friday; the Sprint race is Saturday morning, and Quali for the race in the afternoon; the race is on Sunday as usual.

FP1: SAI (1:33.602), LEC, VER, NOR, PIA
LAW has inherited RIC’s car but he’s also going to have to “start the Race behind any other classified driver” as the penalty for all the engine component replacements that it required
ALB and COL have been summoned by the stewards for failing to “attend the drivers’ meeting at the scheduled time” – that’ll probably be a fine if anything

Sprint Qualifying

Reminder: the SQ sessions are shorter (12, 10 and 8 mins respectively) and require everyone to use medium tyres in SQ1 and SQ2 then softs in SQ3.
Air temperature 27°C; track 35°C; humidity 41%; wind 12.6km/h so it’s quite gusty

Sprint Qualifying session 1 (SQ1)
BOT was released almost into the side of PER
VER 1:34.698
MAG 1:34.403
NOR 1:33.919
LEC 1:33.896
HAM 1:33.840
3mins left; bottom 5 are OCO, HUL, BOT, ZHO, PER
(PER P7)
ALB spins through Turn 20
Chequered flag; bottom 5 are ALB, OCO, HUL, BOT, ZHO
HUL P15, GAS P16
BOT P18
PIA’s lap time deleted, dropping him to P16
OCO P17
GAS P15
Back of the grid: PIA, OCO, ALB, BOT, ZHO

SQ2
Radio from HAM asking why he’s been sent out so early; he’s told it’s to avoid traffic
HUL 1:33.994
MAG 1:33.788
RUS 1:33.544
HAM 1:33.370
SAI 1:33.274
3mins left; bottom 5 are STR, ALO, LAW, TSU, GAS – none of them have set a time yet
TSU P10, relegating PER
Chequered flag; bottom 5 are PER, GAS, STR, ALO, LAW
LAW P12
ALO P12 but was he wide in one of the final turns?
STR P15
Middle of the grid: PER, ALO, LAW, GAS, STR
ALO’s lap time deleted so he drops to P15
LAW’s time deleted too

Top 10 shootout is between SAI, VER, HAM, LEC, RUS, NOR, MAG, COL, HUL, TSU

SQ3
Radio from HAM asking why he’s gone out early again; there’s just him, RUS and COL on track at present
Brief yellow flag for COL spinning in T12
RUS 1:32.845
HAM P2
Chequered flag; only RUS and HAM have set times
SAI P2
NOR P2
LEC P2
MAG P6
TSU P7
VER 1:32.833
HUL P6
COL P10
Front of the grid: VER, RUS, LEC, NOR, SAI, HUL, HAM, MAG, TSU, COL

Provisional Sprint grid: VER, RUS, LEC, NOR, SAI, HUL, HAM, MAG, TSU, COL, PER, GAS, STR, ALO, LAW, PIA, OCO, ALB, BOT, ZHO

Update on ALB and COL missing the drivers’ meeting: “The team manager explained that the team attempted to log into the video meeting but was unable to do so as the attempt was rejected by the software provider.”
Decision: No further action.

Sprint Race

Grid: VER, RUS, LEC, NOR, SAI, HUL, HAM, MAG, TSU, COL, PER, GAS, STR, ALO, LAW, PIA, OCO, BOT, ZHO; ALB starting from the pit lane
Everyone starting on medium compound tyres (it’s very unlikely anyone will pit in the Sprint)

01/19: NOR harrying RUS and takes P2 through Turn 2
TSU inside MAG – that’s an accident waiting to happen
LEC dives inside RUS but RUS reclaims P3

02: VER, NOR, RUS, LEC, SAI, HAM, MAG, TSU, HUL, PER, COL, STR, GAS, PIA, LAW, ALO, OCO, BOT, ZHO, ALB
NOR has DRS behind VER
SAI challenging teammate LEC for P4; LEC comes out ahead
PER nearly ploughs through TSU – that was dangerous

03: RUS fastest lap 1:38.452 (but there’s no point for f/lap in the Sprint)
SAI has another dive inside LEC but LEC cuts back and reclaims P4
Radio from LEC suggesting they concentrate on racing others, i.e. tell SAI to back off

04: VER f/lap 1:37.906
SAI still filling LEC’s mirrors

05/19: VER, NOR, RUS, LEC, SAI, HAM, MAG, TSU, HUL, PER
LEC runs wide; SAI takes P4

06: RUS has a look outside NOR but the McLaren keeps P2

07: PIA takes P12 from STR
ALO frustrated with LAW

10/19: VER, NOR, SAI, RUS, LEC, HAM, MAG, HUL, TSU, PER
Radio from RUS, “My front left is toast”
LEC past RUS too, but does that count as forcing RUS off track?

11: PIA given 5-sec penalty for forcing GAS off track

12: LEC f/lap 1:37.748
PER all over TSU’s rear wing; dives inside and takes P9

13: TSU inside PER to reclaim P9 but PER fights back
PIA has a look at TSU; the RB runs wide but hangs on to P10

14: Radio for TSU telling him “give back the position” but he stays ahead and makes PIA fight for it

15/19: VER, NOR, SAI, LEC, RUS, HAM, MAG, HUL, PER, TSU, PIA*, COL, STR, GAS, OCO, LAW, ALB, ALO, BOT, ZHO (*PIA has 5-sec to be added)
PIA has another look at TSU but can’t find a gap
Incident involving TSU and PIA is under investigation

16: PIA dives inside into Turn 1; takes P10 from TSU
Stewards decide no further action for TSU/PIA incident

17: GAS has been shown the black and white flag for repeatedly exceeding track limits
HAM has DRS behind RUS and is told to look after the car when racing, i.e. don’t hit your teammate

19: SAI and LEC have DRS behind NOR
NOR locks up – SAI steals P2
PIA f/lap 1:37.613
NOR locks up again, runs wide, but stays just ahead of LEC
LEC nearly rear-ends NOR; complains NOR is moving under braking

Provisional Sprint result: VER, SAI, NOR, LEC, RUS, HAM, MAG, HUL, PER, PIA*, TSU, COL, STR, GAS, OCO, LAW, ALB, ALO, ZHO, BOT

Penalties
NOR was investigated by the stewards for moving under braking; ” the Stewards determine that there is no erratic driving and hence take no further action”
MAG was investigated for leaving the track and gaining an advantage; the review showed he was avoiding a collision; no further action

Qualifying

Air temperature 28°C; track 38°C; humidity 40%
Sauber mechanics have been busy rebuilding BOT’s car after it had a small fire at the end of the Sprint race
Reminder: LAW will start the race P20 as the penalty for a lot of engine component changes

Qualifying session 1 (Q1)
A dozen cars queueing at the end of the pit lane with 2mins before the session starts
ALO 1:34.496
NOR 1:34.028
VER 1:33.690
GAS 1:33.550
LEC 1:33.241
3mins left; bottom 5 are BOT, RUS, HAM, ZHO, TSU
VER 1:33.046
RUS P2, ALO P16
HAM P16 – oh dear!
TSU P7, MAG P16
Chequered flag; bottom 5 are MAG, HAM, ALO, BOT, ZHO
ALO P10, STR P16
ZHO P19
HAM’s lap was deleted, adding insult to injury; he’s now P18
BOT P18
MAG P7, COL P16
STR P15, ALB P16
Back of the grid: ALB, COL, BOT, HAM, ZHO

Qualifying session 2
VER 1:33.052 (on used softs)
RB using LAW to help TSU set a decent time
NOR 1:32.851 (on new softs)
3mins left; bottom 5 are OCO, ALO, STR, LEC, LAW
LAW gives TSU another tow; goes P9
Chequered flag; bottom 5 are OCO, MAG, ALO, STR, LAW
MAG P9, HUL P11
ALO P9, TSU P11
STR P14
Middle of the grid: TSU, HUL, OCO, STR, LAW

Top 10 shootout is between VER, SAI, NOR, LEC, PER, PIA, RUS, GAS, ALO, MAG

Qualifying session 3
MAG 1:33.481
RUS 1:32.974
NOR 1:32.330
PIA P2
SAI P2
LEC P3
GAS P6
VER P2
PER P8 … but it’s deleted
ALO P8
Order after the first run: NOR, VER, SAI, LEC, PIA, RUS, GAS, ALO, MAG, PER
GAS clearly released into the path of VER so expect a penalty
Yellow flag – RUS is off, in the barriers
Chequered flag
The medical car has been deployed to pick up RUS
Replay shows RUS got a huge snap of oversteer and it threw him across the gravel trap
Front of the grid: NOR, VER, SAI, LEC, PIA, RUS, GAS, ALO, MAG, PER

Provisional grid: NOR, VER, SAI, LEC, PIA, RUS, GAS, ALO, MAG, PER, TSU, HUL, OCO, STR, LAW*, ALB, COL, BOT, HAM, ZHO
*LAW will start last per the penalty for a heap of engine component changes
In an interview HAM said problems with the front suspension mean he expects he’ll start from the pit lane

Penalties
ZHO given 5 grid place penalty for taking a fourth engine store unit, so he’ll start P19
Alpine were fined €5,000 for the unsafe release of GAS in Q3

Mercedes have been reported to the stewards: “The Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS Formula One Team did not cover car number 63, driver George Russell, two (2) hours after the end of the qualifying session, but continued to work on the car.”
RUS will have to start from the pit lane because rebuilding it after his Q3 crash meant having to break parc ferme conditions

Race

Pit lane is open; drivers can make their way to the grid
Grid: NOR, VER, SAI, LEC, PIA, GAS, ALO, MAG, PER, TSU, HUL, OCO, STR, ALB, COL, BOT, HAM, ZHO, LAW; RUS in the pit lane
Air temperature 28°C; track 47°C; humidity 37%

NOR leads everyone away on the formation lap
Everyone on medium compound tyres except STR, COL, HAM, LAW and RUS on hards

01/56: VER pushes NOR wide in Turn 1, but LEC sneaks past to steal P1
Yellow flag – OCO spun
HAM up to P12 aleady
VER runs wide and rejoins ahead of SAI

02: LEC, VER, SAI, NOR, PIA, GAS, MAG, TSU, PER, ALO, HUL, HAM, STR, LAW, ZHO, COL, BOT, ALB, RUS, OCO
DRS enabled

03: SAI fastest lap 1:39.923
Yellow flag – HAM is beached at Turn 2
Why haven’t they deployed the SC yet?
Finally! SC deployed

04[SC]: LEC, VER, SAI, NOR, PIA, GAS, MAG, TSU, PER, ALO,
Replay shows ALB tapped OCO’s rear wheel as they all bunched up into Turn 1, and that caused OCO to spin
Replay of HAM’s off in T2 – looks a lot like what happened to RUS in Q3
First SC since the Canadian GP, 10 races ago

05/56[SC]: HAM’s car is being removed from the gravel trap
Radio from NOR discussing how VER deliberately pushed him off track and then took the position while off the track
SC in at the end of this lap
LEC bunching everyone up ready for the restart; as usual, VER close to passing illegally

06: LAW past STR for P12 … STR has dropped to P19, so did he have an issue?
STR goes off track and takes P18 from ALB

07: LEC f/lap 1:38.951
DRS enabled

09: STR noted for gaining an advantage off track (on lap 6)
Radio from SAI reporting “no power” exiting corners; he’s told there’s no action to take at the moment; SAI says he can smell fuel!

10/56: LEC, VER, SAI, NOR, PIA, GAS, MAG, TSU, PER, HUL, ALO, LAW, ZHO, COL, BOT, RUS, OCO, STR, ALB; out: HAM
SAI reports the smell of fuel again; that’s worrying
ZHO spins in T1; resumes P19
SAI is given a setting change

11: LEC is pulling away; he’s over 4sec clear of VER
LAW takes P11 from ALO

13: Time for teams to discuss pit stop strategy with their drivers ; sounds like some might be 2-stopping

14: ZHO pits; new mediums
Radio for VER informing him they’ve found an issue that they’ll need to address in the pit stop (Don’t mention adjusting the bib height!)

15/56: LEC, VER, SAI, NOR, PIA, GAS, MAG, TSU, PER, HUL, LAW, ALO, RUS, COL, BOT, OCO, STR, ALB, ZHO

16: RUS given 5-sec penalty for forcing BOT off-track at T1 – that’s inconsistent with their other decisions
BOT pits; hards go on

18: RUS takes P12 from ALO
MAG pits from P7; hards go on; rejoins P17

19: HUL has a look at TSU; HUL runs wide; TSU pits
GAS pits too; rejoins a long way back from MAG, which shows the power of the undercut

20/56: LEC, VER, SAI, NOR, PIA, PER, HUL, LAW, RUS, ALO, COL, OCO, STR, ALB, MAG, GAS, TSU, BOT, ZHO; out: HAM

21: PIA reports his tyres are feeling good after passing through the graining phase
RUS inside LAW to take P8

22: SAI pits from P3; hards go on; rejoins P5

23: COL inside ALO for P10
Radio from LEC, “Don’t leave me out for too long – I don’t want to be under pressure”

24: SAI f/lap 1:38.731
Radio from VER, “Left side tyres are really bad now”

25/56: LEC, VER, NOR, PIA, SAI, PER, HUL, RUS, LAW, COL, ALO, OCO, MAG, STR, ALB, GAS, TSU, BOT, ZHO

26: VER pits; hards; rejoins P5

27: LEC pits; hards; P3
PER pits; P11
GAS, ALB and STR squabbling over P13

28: HUL pits from P6; hards; P12
STR pits; mediums; P19

Half distance

29: LEC f/lap 1:38.662
PER takes P9 from MAG
Black and white flag for GAS for repeatedly exceeding track limits (next time it’s a 5-sec penalty)

30/56: NOR, PIA, LEC, SAI, VER, RUS, LAW, COL, PER, MAG, OCO, HUL, GAS, TSU, ALB, BOT, ALO, STR, ZHO
Yet to pit are NOR, PIA, RUS, LAW, COL and OCO

31: LEC closing on PIA; takes P2

32: NOR pits; hards; P5, about 6secs behind VER
OCO pits; hards; P17

33: PIA pits from P2; hards; P5
GAS given 5-sec penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage

34: NOR f/lap 1:38.641

35/56: LEC, SAI, VER, NOR, PIA, RUS, LAW, COL, PER, MAG
LEC f/lap 1:38.633
NOR f/lap 1:38.043 – that 1sec/lap faster than VER

36: NOR f/lap 1:37.918
TSU given 5-sec penalty for forcing a driver (ALB) off track
ALO takes P14 from BOT
Radio from VER complaining about the tyres

37: LAW pits from P7; mediums; P12

38: PER attacking COL; takes P7
Urgent radio call for MAG telling him to box

39: MAG pits; stop #2; mediums; P13 … so whatever the problem was, he’s back on track

40/56: LEC, SAI, VER, NOR, PIA, RUS, PER, COL, HUL, LAW, GAS, TSU, MAG, ALO, BOT, OCO, STR, ALB, ZHO
LEC f/lap 1:37.834
COL pits; mediums; P12
Just RUS yet to pit, and he’ll have to serve his 5-sec penalty when he does

41: RUS from P6; serves penalty; mediums; P8
MAG makes a move on COL but the newbie defends P12
Yellow flag – TSU spun in Turn 1 but gathers it up and rejoins P14

42: SAI f/lap 1:37.786
NOR 1.5sec behind VER

43: SAI f/lap 1:37.763
RUS f/lap 1:37.656

44: NOR now has DRS behind VER

45/56: LEC, SAI, VER, NOR, PIA, PER, HUL, RUS, LAW, GAS
RUS takes P7 from HUL

46: NOR continues closing on VER
Will VER deliberately run wide and claim NOR pushed him off track? Yeah, probably

47: VER locks up in T1 but NOR’s not quite close enough to attack
VER defends through T12
COL f/lap 1:37.611

48: NOR fills VER’s mirrors but bides his time

49: VER closing on a back marker (BOT)

50/56: LEC, SAI, VER, NOR, PIA, PER, RUS, HUL, LAW, COL
BOT moves well out the way to let VER and NOR through
Small lock up from VER in T12

51: VER defends again; NOR almost alongside; VER stays ahead

52: VER clearly forces NOR off track
NOR takes P3
VER on the radio complaining NOR passed him while off the track

53: VER on the radio, as expected, because that’s what the spoiled child always does
Incident involving VER and NOR under investigation

54: RUS attacking PER for P6

55/56: LEC, SAI, NOR, VER, PIA, PER, RUS, HUL, LAW, COL, MAG, GAS, ALO, TSU, STR, ALB, BOT, OCO, ZHO
OCO f/lap 1:37.330
Radio for VER telling him NOR will get a penalty for exceeding track limits

56: RUS takes P6 from PER
Radio for NOR telling him he’s exceeded track limits three times
NOR given 5-sec penalty

LEC takes the chequered flag
Provisional result: LEC, SAI, NOR*, VER, PIA, RUS, PER, HUL, LAW, COL; MAG, GAS, ALO, TSU, STR, ALB, BOT, OCO, ZHO
NOR’s penalty drops him to P4 … but of course no penalty for VER forcing him off track
DNF: HAM
Fastest lap: OCO (P18 so no point)

Penalties
There were 5-sec penalties (handed out during the race) for forcing another car off the track for RUS, GAS, TSU and NOR
Post-race, there was a 5-sec penalty for GAS (leaving the track and gaining an advantage) but it didn’t change the finishing order

Also, “Representatives from US Race Management and Circuit of The Americas are required to report to the Stewards” for “Spectator track invasion prior to the conclusion of the 2024 United States Grand Prix.”
Decision: “In view of the severity of the incursion, a fine of €500,000 is imposed on the Promoter. In view of the fact this is the first case of its kind at this circuit, €350,000 of the fine is suspended until December 31 2026 on the basis that between now and that date, there are no further track incursions at this circuit during any FIA Championship Event.”

[2024 calendar and driver line-up]