Miami Grand Prix

Two weeks on from Saudi Arabia, the F1 circus is in Miami for one of three US Grands Prix. It’s a sprint format weekend, so just one practice session then on to Sprint Qualifying and the Sprint before the usual Quali session and Race.

Free Practice

1. FP1: PIA (1:27.128), LEC, VER, SAI, ALB
   NOR has a disco ball on his head, and the Red Bulls have turned pink for the weekend
   Despite his dazzling helmet, NOR had a bad start to FP1 when he discovered a mechanic had left some tools in the cockpit! (A penalty for the team?)
   And then a slow-moving OCO made a last minute decision to swap to the other side of the track, causing NOR to take evading action (Impeding penalty for OCO?)
   BEA lost the rear of his Haas and ended up reversing into the wall, bringing out the red flag
   PIA brushed a wall but survived and even set fastest lap

Penalties:
Alpine fined €1,000 for DOO speeding in the pit lane
McLaren received a warning for NOR’s unsafe release (leaving tools in the cockpit)
OCO got a warning and Haas was fined €7,500 for impeding NOR

Sprint Qualifying

Sprint Qualifying session 1 (SQ1)
VER blocked STR on the Aston Martin’s final flying lap
Chequered flag; bottom 5 are DOO, TSU, BOR, BEA, HAD
HAD P8, relegating STR to P16
Back of the grid: STR, DOO, TSU, BOR, BEA
Replay of DOO angry at the Alpine team for sending teammate GAS out at the same time; looks like that caused DOO to mess up his line into the pit lane

Sprint Qualifying session 2
Chequered flag; bottom 6 have not set a lap time: SAI, OCO, HAD, ALO, HUL, LAW
HUL P7, SAI to P11
OCO P8, HAM P11
HAD P7, GAS P11
ALO P7, ALB P11
SAI abandons his lap; he’s P14
LAW P14
ALB P7, OCO P11
HAM P6, HUL P11
Middle of the grid: HUL, OCO, GAS, LAW, SAI
Replay shows SAI locked up and ran wide on that flying lap

Top 10 shootout is between NOR, VER, PIA, ANT, LEC, HAM, RUS, ALB, ALO, HAD

Sprint Qualifying session 3
VER 1:27.070
RUS 1:26.791
ALB P3
ALO P4
HAM P2
VER 1:26.737
ANT 1:26.482
NOR P2
PIA P2
LEC P6
Front of the grid: ANT, PIA, NOR, VER, RUS, LEC, HAM, ALB, HAD, ALO
Not bad for the 18 year old! That makes ANT the youngest pole sitter in any format

Provisional Sprint grid: ANT, PIA, NOR, VER, RUS, LEC, HAM, ALB, HAD, ALO, HUL, OCO, GAS, LAW, SAI, STR, DOO, TSU, BOR, BEA

Penalties:
TSU will start the Sprint race from the pit lane after Red Bull changed the suspension setup during parc ferme

Sprint Race

Pit lane is open; drivers can make their way to the grid
The rain is coming down quite hard but the forecast is for it to end in about 20 minutes
LEC has aquaplaned into the wall, breaking his Ferrari’s suspension

ANT leads everyone away on the formation lap – the track looks fairly dry but they’re all starting on inters
Everyone except LEC takes up their grid spot

03: PIA has the inside line into Turn 1; ANT runs wide

05/18: PIA, NOR, VER, ANT, RUS, HAM, ALB, ALO, LAW, HAD
SAI up the inside of OCO for P12 … but OCO reclaims the place

08: SAI tries going around the outside of OCO but runs wide and OCO reclaims P12

12: HAM pits; softs go on
STR and SAI pit too

13: Yellow flag – SAI clipped a wall and punctured his rear left
VER and ANT pit; VER takes on mediums; Red Bull release VER right into the side of ANT! That prevents ANT from pitting, and VER has broken a lot of his front wing
VER is given a 10-sec penalty for the unsafe release

14: PIA pits from P1; mediums go on;
RUS pits
HAM around VER to take P3
Yellow flags – ALO in the wall
Safety Car deployed

15/18[SC]: NOR, PIA, HAM, VER*, ALB, RUS, STR, LAW, BEA, TSU (*VER has 10-sec penalty to be applied)
Replay shows LAW hit ALO’s rear and spun him into the wall

18/18[SC]: SC in at the end of this lap… except this is the final lap
NOR takes the chequered flag

Provisional result: NOR, PIA, HAM, VER*, ALB, RUS, STR, LAW, BEA, TSU, ANT, GAS, HUL, HAD, OCO, BOR, DOO; out: ALO, SAI, LEC
*VER’s penalty drops him to P16
Sprint points only go down to P8

Penalties:
BEA was given a 5-sec penalty (after the race) for an unsafe release
ALB received a 5-sec penalty (after the race) for not staying above the minimum time set by ECU under the Safety Car
LEC got a reprimand for continuing around the track after his incident on the reconnaissance laps (when he was heading to the grid)
LAW was given a 5-sec penalty (after the race) for causing the collision with ALO

Sprint result: NOR, PIA, HAM, RUS, STR, TSU, ANT, GAS, HUL, HAD, ALB, OCO, LAW, BEA, BOR, DOO, VER
DNF: ALO, SAI, LEC

Qualifying

Qualifying session 1 (Q1)
Chequered flag; bottom 5 are GAS, HAM, OCO, STR, BEA
OCO P13, ALO P16
BEA P20
HAM P8, TSU P16
GAS P18
TSU P9, HUL P16
Back of the grid: HUL, ALO, GAS, STR, BEA

Qualifying session 2
Chequered flag; bottom 5 are HAD, HAM, BOR, DOO, LAW
LAW P15
Middle of the grid: HAD, HAM, BOR, DOO, LAW

Top 10 shootout is between PIA, NOR, RUS, ANT, VER, SAI, ALB, LEC, TSU, OCO

Qualifying session 3
OCO 1:27.407
VER 1:26.492
PIA P2
NOR P2
SAI P4
ALB P4
ANT P4
RUS P6
Order after the first run: VER, NOR, PIA, ANT, ALB, RUS, SAI, OCO, TSU, LEC
LEC P5
TSU P6
VER 1:26.204
Chequered flag; order is VER, NOR, PIA, ANT, LEC, OCO, TSU, ALB, RUS, SAI
NOR P2
PIA P3
SAI P4
ALB P5
ANT P3
RUS P5
Front of the grid: VER, NOR, ANT, PIA, RUS, SAI, ALB, LEC, OCO, TSU

Provisional grid: VER, NOR, ANT, PIA, RUS, SAI, ALB, LEC, OCO, TSU, HAD, HAM, BOR, DOO, LAW, HUL, ALO, GAS, STR, BEA

Penalties:
ALB received a reprimand for pushing into the pit lane’s fast lane “with no suitable gap to blend in”

Race

Pit lane is open; drivers can make their way to the grid
GAS will have to start from the pit lane because the setup of his Alpine’s suspension has been changed while under Parc Ferme
Air temperature 27°C; track 42°C; humidity 63%
The FIA have issued something I’ve never seen before: “Procedures relating to Lighting Risk”
Aston Martin mechanics are busy working on STR’s front left

Grid: VER, NOR, ANT, PIA, RUS, SAI, ALB, LEC, OCO, TSU, HAD, HAM, BOR, DOO, LAW, HUL, ALO, STR, BEA; *GAS will start from the pit lane

VER leads everyone away on the formation lap
Everyone starting on mediums except RUS on hards

01/57: VER leads into Turn 1, locks up a bit
NOR squeezed against the wall by VER
Yellow flags; DOO has a puncture

02: VER, ANT, PIA, RUS, ALB, NOR, SAI, LEC, TSU, OCO
Yellow card; DOO has stopped
VSC deployed
Replay shows LAW squeezed DOO and they made contact; LAW spun but recovered

03[VSC]: Replay of the start shows after VER locked up he slid towards NOR; might also have been contact
VSC ending

04: DRS enabled
PIA inside ANT to steal P2
NOR past ALB for P5
Radio chatter suggests rain in about 15-20 mins

05/57: VER, PIA, ANT, RUS, NOR, ALB, SAI, LEC, TSU, OCO
HAD runs a little wide in Turn 1 and HAM takes P11
SAI takes P6 from teammate ALB

06: NOR has DRS behind RUS, but RUS also has DRS

07: Incident involving VER and NOR – no further action
NOR takes P4 from RUS

08: SAI now lining up to attack RUS – is the Mercedes struggling on the hard tyres?

09: Radio conversations seem focused on the weather – heavy rain expected in a few laps
NOR past ANT for P3
ALO has spun, rejoins P18

10/57: VER, PIA, NOR, ANT, RUS, SAI, ALB, LEC, TSU, OCO, HAM, HAD, BOR, HUL, STR, BEA, GAS, ALO, LAW; out: DOO
PIA is closing on VER

11: PIA looks at the outside of VER into Turn 1 but plays it safe
VER using all the track to defend from PIA

12: NOR closing on the VER-PIA battle
PIA dropped back a fraction but he has DRS again

13: A few raindrops starting to appear on the camera lens
VER making some late moves to defend P1

14: VER runs deep in Turn 1; PIA takes the lead
NOR now has DRS to help attack VER
Radio from VER whining about the brakes; of course it’s never his fault

15/57: PIA, VER, NOR, ANT, RUS, ALB, SAI, LEC, TSU, OCO

16: VER continues to defend the inside line so NOR keeps looking at the outside
Radio from VER, “Everything is all over the shop”, which I’m sure helps the engineers

17: VER and NOR both brake late; VER off the track but did NOR keep a wheel on the line?
NOR takes P2
NOR lets VER reclaim P2, just in case

18: PIA is over 8sec clear of the P2 battle
NOR attacks again and cleanly takes P2 from VER

19: NOR has opened enough gap to deny DRS to VER
Radio from RUS reporting that it’s raining

20/57: PIA, NOR, VER, ANT, RUS, ALB, SAI, LEC, TSU, OCO
BOR pits; hard tyres go on – if there’s rain in a few laps, that’s a bad decision

21: HAM closing on OCO
STR pits
The official weather radar suggests the rain will either miss the circuit or barely clip it

22: HAM around the outside of OCO; the Haas squeezes the Ferrari, but HAM hangs in there

23: HAM takes P10
VER over 5sec behind NOR

24: OCO pits

25/57: PIA, NOR, VER, ANT, RUS, ALB, SAI, LEC, TSU, HAM, HUL, BEA, GAS, ALO, HAD, OCO, BOR, STR, LAW; out: DOO
NOR continues setting fastest lap but there’s no bonus point for it this season (so I’m not tracking it in my notes)
Finally the FIA timing data shows tyre info!

26: ANT pits from P4; hards go on; has to wait as SAI passes; rejoins P9
SAI pits; mediums go on; rejoins P11

27: VER pits from P3; hards; P7
ALB also pits; hards; P9

28: VER takes P6 from HAM
TSU pits from P5; hards; P13
Smoke from BEA’s engine; he runs wide; slowly continuing round the track
BEA stops in Turn 8

29: VSC deployed
HAM pits; hards; P10
McLaren telling both drivers to pit

30/57[VSC]: PIA pits from P1; hards go on; rejoins still P1
NOR pits too; hards; P2
RUS also pits; switches from hards to mediums; a bit slow on the front left; P3
VSC ending
Radio from BOR reporting his engine is failing

31: ANT locks up; ALB takes P5
TSU under investigation for speeding in the pit lane

32: 5-sec penalty for TSU
Radio for BOR telling him to box and retire
Replay shows TSU locks up as he enters the pit lane

33: VSC deployed – BOR has stopped just off to the side of the track
VER doesn’t think RUS lifted for a yellow flag; he’ll do anything to try to get an advantage
VSC ending

34: LEC around the outside of ALB; the Williams defends but LEC takes P7; HAM sneaks past ALB at the same time

35/57: PIA, NOR, RUS, VER, ALB, ANT, LEC, HAM, SAI, TSU*, HUL, HAD, OCO, GAS, ALO, STR, LAW; out: BOR, BEA, DOO (*TSU has 5-sec penalty)

36: Radio from HAM, “I’m burning up my tyres behind him”; will Ferrari tell LEC to let HAM through?

37: HAM asking his engineer again; “I’ll come back to you”

38: LAW pits and is pushed into the garage

39: HAM “this is not good teamwork” – he’s right, but then bad strategy is what you expect from Ferrari
Finally LEC lets HAM take P7

40/57: PIA, NOR, RUS, VER, ALB, ANT, HAM, LEC, SAI, TSU*, HAD, OCO, GAS, HUL, ALO, STR; out: LAW, BOR, BEA, DOO (*TSU has 5-sec penalty)

41: Radio from LEC, “I need Lewis to go faster” except he’s 1.4sec behind HAM

43: It’s interesting that HAM is closing on ANT but LEC is consistently 1.3sec behind his teammate

45/57: PIA, NOR, RUS, VER, ALB, ANT, HAM, LEC, SAI, TSU*
HAD is over 5sec behind TSU so TSU’s penalty won’t have any impact if things stay like this
Radio from LEC complaining about the knee separator is in the wrong place – that could be painful

46: LEC has DRS behind HAM – this could get interesting

48: NOR continues to slowly close on PIA but it’s over 4sec; RUS is almost 30sec behind NOR

49: LEC still has DRS behind HAM

50/57: PIA, NOR, RUS, VER, ALB, ANT, HAM, LEC, SAI, TSU, HAD, OCO, GAS, HUL, ALO, STR; out: LAW, BOR, BEA, DOO

52: HAM now 2.5sec behind ANT; not close enough to attack before the end
Radio for HAM telling him to let LEC reclaim P7 … but if HAM has to slow he might be caught by SAI

53: HAM lets LEC re-take P7

54: Radio for HAM telling him the gap to SAI; HAM asks if they want him to let SAI through too

55/57: PIA, NOR, RUS, VER, ALB, ANT, LEC, HAM, SAI, TSU*
HAD is 5.0sec behind TSU, so almost close enough to claim P10 when the penalty’s applied

56: Radio for VER telling him to stay within 5sec of RUS – I wonder what Red Bull are expecting?

57/57: LEC has fallen back from ANT; it’ll be an interesting debrief for Ferrari this evening

PIA takes the chequered flag
SAI has a last minute dive at HAM, hits the Ferrari’s rear left wheel, but HAM hangs on to P8

Provisional result: PIA, NOR, RUS, VER, ALB, ANT, LEC, HAM, SAI, TSU*; HAD, OCO, GAS, HUL, ALO, STR
DNF: LAW, BOR, BEA, DOO

HAD didn’t get close enough so TSU’s penalty doesn’t change the result

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