The main news has been that “the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix will not take place in April” – it’s interesting that the FIA didn’t say cancelled, but realistically there’s no room in the calendar to reschedule. (This was announced during China GP weekend.)
The other news is that Jonathan Wheatley has left Audi; he’s rumoured to be moving to Aston Martin. Mattia Binotto is filling in as team principal.
Mercedes have been the team to beat in both races so far, but all the teams are working on updates to make the most of the new regulations. McLaren have had an array of issues – PIA has yet to complete a racing lap!
Free Practice
- FP1: RUS (1:31.666), ANT, NOR, PIA, LEC
Aston Martin put Jak Crawford in ALO’s car; the veteran driver skipped media day due to the birth of his first child
The Haas duo have Godzilla prominent in their new livery, and Mercedes have a special front wing design
RUS drifted wide in Spoon curve, as did LIN, LAW and VER
ALB ran into the gravel in Degna 2 and managed to avoid the bridge
PER blocked RUS out of the final turn
ALB made a late dive up the inside of PER into the final turn; PER turned in and they collided
PIA was upstaged by LEC and GAS when they both passed him at the end of the session - FP2: PIA (1:30.133), ANT, RUS, NOR, LEC
NOR’s McLaren had a hydraulic leak
GAS complained when ALB left the garage just ahead of him, but it wasn’t really a problem
LEC seemed to be fighting his Ferrari more than usual; HAM reported he had “no confidence in the car”
LIN had problems and spent much of the session in the garage, unable to set a time - FP3: ANT (1:29.362), RUS, LEC, PIA, HAM
NOR’s McLaren had a problem with energy recovery system this time
LEC continued to struggle with his Ferrari
BEA spun coming out of Spoon – looks like he lost it as he put his foot down
LAW ran wide in Spoon again
BOT got caught out by a dawdling BEA, and again a few laps later
PER had a big lockup and ran into the gravel at the chicane
HUL encountered a weaving PIA
Penalties
COL was given a warning for impeding VER in FP2
PIA also received a warning; his was for impeding HUL in FP3
Qualifying
Qualifying session 1 (Q1)
LEC 1:29.915
Chequered flag; bottom 6 are COL, ALB, PER, BOT, STR, ALO
ALB P16, relegating BEA to P17
STR P21
ALO P21
COL P16, ALB P17
Back of the grid: ALB, BEA, PER, BOT, ALO, STR
Qualifying session 2
LEC 1:29.303
Chequered flag; bottom 6 are VER, OCO, HUL, COL, LAW, SAI
SAI P16
LAW P14
ANT 1:29.048
VER P11, and of course blames the car
Middle of the grid: VER, OCO, HUL, LAW, COL, SAI
Qualifying session 3
ANT 1:28.778
RUS P2
BOR P3
GAS P3
LIN P5
NOR P3
PIA P3
LIN’s time has been deleted
HAM P5
LEC P5
Chequered flag; order is ANT, RUS, PIA, NOR, LEC, HAM, HAD, GAS, BOR, LIN
HAM P6
BOR P8
HAD P7
LIN P10
GAS P7
LEC P4
Front of the grid: ANT, RUS, PIA, LEC, NOR, HAM, GAS, HAD, BOR, LIN
Provisional grid: ANT, RUS, PIA, LEC, NOR, HAM, GAS, HAD, BOR, LIN, VER, OCO, HUL, LAW, COL, SAI, ALB, BEA, PER, BOT, ALO, STR
Penalties None.
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