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F1/Round 19: Preview & Provisional Sprint Race Starting Grid For 2021 Sao Paolo Grand Prix

Sprint Race starts at 4:30 pm in Brazil/3:30 am in Malaysia (Sunday)

GP race starts 2:00 pm in Brazil/1:00 am in Malaysia (Monday)

After last weekend in Mexico City, the F1 teams continued 7,500 kms south to Brazil for Round 19 of the 2021 Formula 1 World Championship. This will be the last of the three rounds in the western hemisphere which started in Texas on October 25. This round is known as the Sao Paulo Grand Prix and is held at the Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace, usually referred to as Interlagos.

There was no race held last year due to the pandemic, so the teams have not been at the track for longer than usual. But they are familiar with it as it has been hosting F1 rounds since 1972. The events used to be called the Brazilian Grand Prix but for some reason, the organizers and FIA now use city names instead.

The short 4.309-km circuit (almost same as the circuit in Mexico City) has a tight layout which the drivers will go around for 71 laps. Its undulating sequence of mostly medium and low-speed corners have always presented tough technical challenges. It is also one of the relatively few circuits run anti-clockwise on the calendar. The short lap (around 1 minute 10 seconds) means that traffic can be an issue and there’s also a high safety car probability, so any race strategy needs to bear that in mind.

In 2019, when the last GP was held, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen won with a 3-stop strategy, following 2 Safety Car appearances at the end of the race. There were 3 different strategies in the top 4, with McLaren’s Carlos Sainz (fourth at the flag) stopping just once from last on the grid. Without the Safety Cars, a 2-stop strategy would have been the favoured tactic.

“Interlagos is an old-school track that keeps drivers and tyres busy and often produces some dramatic races, as we saw last time,” said Pirelli’s Mario Isola, adding that the weather is another variable factor and it can be very hot or very wet. “As a result, this year’s more versatile tyre selection should be able to cope with all the wide-ranging demands of the race and provide some different strategies.”

For this round, as in the British GP in July and the Italian GP in September, there is also a sprint race to offer additional excitement for spectators and also a different challenge for the teams. The Sprint Qualifying Race, which was well received by the drivers, is 100 kms long. Being run over a shorter distance, drivers will be flat out from start to finish, with no pit stops needed. The best effort will be necessary as the finishing order will determine the starting positions for the main race, so there is a chance to improve on the position gained in Qualifying. There are also points for the top 3 finishers of the race.

In Qualifying, Lewis Hamilton took pole position for the Sprint Race to be held on Saturday afternoon in Brazil. But because of an engine change, he will get a 5-place grid penalty for the main race on Sunday. Verstappen, who was 4/10ths of a second slower will start in second, with Valtteri Bottas in third and Serio Perez in fourth on the grid.

However, there is more tension at this time at Interlagos as both Hamilton and Verstappen have been referred to the Race Stewards for different matters. In Hamilton’s case, there is an alleged technical infringement regarding the rear wing on his car.

Verstappen could be in trouble relating to the FIA’s International Sporting Code concerning rules on working on the cars after Qualifying. Video footage shows him getting out of his car and walking to check on his own rear wing and then walking over to Hamilton’s car and also examining it and seemingly touching it. Article 2.5.1 of the Sporting Code states that ‘no operation, checking, tuning or repair is allowed’ but what sort of penalty the Red Bull driver will get remains uncertain.

At the time of writing, the rest of the world still doesn’t know the outcome but starting from the front row has proven historically important. Out of the 20 races run since 2000, 16 of them have been won by the driver who started from the front row. For Hamilton, already resigned to starting 5 places back even if he wins the Sprint Race, worse could come if the issue of the wing leads to another penalty.

As things stand after Mexico, Verstappen’s win moved him to a 19-point lead over Hamilton in the Drivers Championship. After finishing third, the other Red Bull driver, Sergio Perez, has moved closer to third-positioned Valtteri Bottas.

The double podium in Mexico for Red Bull also saw the gap narrowing to just one point in the Constructors Championship between leaders Mercedes-AMG and Red Bull Racing. The battle for third is also close after Ferrari collected a total of 18 points which moved the team ahead of McLaren with a 13.5-point advantage.

F1/Round 18: Highlights & Provisional Results For 2021 Mexico City Grand Prix

It was a disastrous start for Valtteri Bottas as he seemed to get a good start but as three cars – with Verstappen having also stayed alongside the two Mercedes cars, – went into the first tune, he was hit and went into a spin. The chaos also knocked out other cars, among them Yuki Tsunoda and Mick Schumacher, while Daniel Ricciardo had a damaged front wing. Out came the Safety Car as Verstappen was pulling ahead in the lead.

While Scuderia AlphaTauri and Haas F1 had one car retire before even the first lap, McLaren’s Ricciardo and Bottas came into the pits for quick repairs and rejoined the race. For Bottas, a pole position was wasted as he was near the back of the field.

The Safety Car circulated for 3 laps and then freed the convoy to resume racing. Verstappen was in the lead and took off, followed by Hamilton and Sergio Perez, with Pierre Gasly in fourth. The chaotic start had seen some of the drivers at the back gaining a few positions up, with Antonio Giovanazzi having gone from 11th to 6th, but Carlos Sainz then passed him for the position.

10 laps into the 71-lap race, the Red Bull in the lead was steadily opening up the gap and had an almost 2-second lead over Hamilton, who had to keep and eye on the other Red Bull behind. Bottas was somewhere down in 16th, stuck in traffic. His position was originally George Russell’s on the starting grid but the Williams driver had moved up to 11th and was busy duelling with Alpine’s Fernando Alonso.

By lap 17, more than half the field had come into the pits and changed to hard tyres but the leaders were still out and seemed to be managing their tyres well. They were still on mediums but would likely switch to hards eventually and try to make it all the way. That had been the case in the last race in 2019.

By lap 21, the frontrunners were starting to come up behind the backrunners. Verstappen was pushing hard and almost 7 seconds ahead of Hamilton, who was tailed by Perez just 2 to 3 seconds behind. The second Red Bull driver was in a safe position as Gasly was some 15 seconds further back so he played it safe and kept the pressure on Hamilton.

Bottas was taking a while to get past Ricciardo and was stuck in 12th place on lap 28, trying to get past the McLaren’s Aussie driver and at the same time, having to avoid letting Alfa Romeo’s Giovanazzi slip past. Meanwhile, up at the front, the leaders were resisting coming in for new tyres.

Hamilton finally came in on lap 30 and after a 2.4-second stop, he rejoined in fifth behind Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Gasly. But then the Ferrari pulled out to pit so Hamilton moved up one position. Just after that happened, Verstappen came in and Perez took over the lead, much to the delight of the home crowd.

Hamilton got past Gasly and moved up to 3rd but Verstappen was in an out fast enough to maintain the Red Bull 1-2. It was a 7-second gap for the reigning champion to close and he was working hard. Just over a third of the race was completed.

On lap 40, Ricciardo finally pitted and Bottas was able to move up and came up behind Fernando Alonso. Interestingly, the McLaren driver got medium tyres rather than hards, which only a few teams had chosen to use.

Bottas came in on lap 43 and disaster struck the Finn driver for the second time in the day as a front wheel was stuck and took a while to loosen, stretching his stop to an agonising 11 seconds. When he rejoined, he had dropped to 14th. But his team mate had inherited second place as Perez finally came in and though his stop was the usual quick one, he was already 7 seconds behind Hamilton when he rejoined. However, he had a comfortable 10-second gap with Gasly so he could focus on catching up and hassling the Mercedes driver.

Lando Norris had done 46 laps on his first set of tyres before he came in to switch to hards. He managed to rejoin in 10th place and would have to spend the remainder of the race trying to keep in the point-paying group.

On lap 58, with traffic slowing Hamilton down, Perez had come right up into his mirrors. The Mexican driver was going to keep the pressure on so that his team mate could safely collect the 25 points and pull away into a strong championship lead.

With 10 laps left – plus tyres wearing out – Hamilton had to be very careful how hard he wanted to push. A second place might disappoint but would be way better than not finishing.

Bottas was in 14th place and 2 laps behind the leaders and eventually came up to Verstappen. Both drivers were cautious about not causing any incident as less than 10 laps remained, and Verstappen stayed well away as the Finn tried to go for a very fast lap. And with one lap left, he again came into the pits to switch tyres and try one last time to get that precious 1 point for fastest lap (which he did achieve but as he was not in the top 10, it did not count).

But it was still Verstappen’s race as he crossed the finishing line comfortably ahead of Hamilton, his ninth win of 2021 securing a stronger championship lead. Perez gave it all he had but couldn’t make it to 2nd in time. Nevertheless, it was a proud moment for his countrymen as it was the first time a Mexican driver was on the podium of the Mexican GP.

F1/Round 18: Preview & Starting Grid For 2021 Mexico City Grand Prix

Race starts at 1 pm in Mexico/3 am (Monday) in Malaysia

While the racing teams are on the west side of the Atlantic Ocean, they have 3 races in the hemisphere – after the US Grand Prix in Texas, this weekend sees the second one in Mexico City. The event has been known as the Mexican Grand Prix for the 20 times in has been held since 1963 (last year, it was cancelled due to the pandemic) but this year, it will become known as the Mexico City Grand Prix.

An event special to Honda
The Mexican Grand Prix has been held at the same circuit which was originally named the Magdalena Mixiuhca Circuit but renamed to Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in honour of the country’s racing drivers, Ricardo and Pedro Rodriguez. This circuit in particular is special to Honda because it was the first Japanese team to win a Formula 1 race in the 1965 event. While it did not participate as a factory team later on, it was an engine supplier and contributed to the victories of Williams (1987) and McLaren (1988-1989) in the Mexican rounds of the championship.

*Honda RA272 winning the 1965 Mexican GP – the first F1 win by a team from Japan.*

5 times higher than Petronas Twin Towers
The 4.3-km circuit set within a sports park has always presented a unique challenge for the engineers. At 2,385 metres above sea level, it is situated at the highest altitude of any circuit and that’s 5 times higher than the height of the Petronas Twin Towers. This means the air is thinner (by about 25%) so the operating conditions are unlike other tracks. This is where forced induction is vital to avoid the loss that naturally-aspirated engines suffer due to less air being available.

There are also has implications on aerodynamics and the racing cars will be set up with maximum downforce. But because the air is thin, resistance is less so the cars will be able to hit very high speeds of around 350 km/h too.

The drivers will have to be alert for cooling problems with the brakes and the turbochargers will also have to work harder, so there is a risk of the Power Unit failing. Cooling the car appropriately is probably the biggest challenge in Mexico. For the Power Unit, the lack of mass flow of air limits the cooling potential, which requires careful management to ensure reliability.

Red Bull Racing or Mercedes-AMG?
Going into the final quarter of the championship, the battles for the Drivers and Constructors titles are still tight. The lead has alternated between Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS and Red Bull Racing and after the US Grand Prix, Max Verstappen has a lead of just 12 points ahead of Lewis Hamilton 275.5 points. Running in third is Valtteri Bottas with 185 points and he will be starting from pole position for the race after a surprise qualifying run to beat his teammate by 0.145 second. 35 points behind him is Sergio Perez who will be in fourth place on the grid, alongside his teammate, Verstappen.

Historically, the Mexican Grand Prix has been one of the races where the Drivers championship has been decided but in those years when Hamilton was confirmed champion (2017 and 2018), the event was the 19th round of a 20-race calendar.

In the Constructors championship, the positions are reversed and it is the German team that is ahead of Red Bull Racing by 23 points. The fight for the title will be confined to these two teams, while third will be fought by McLaren and Scuderia Ferrari which are just 3.5 points apart with 5 rounds remaining.

F1: Australian GP to be replaced by Ooredoo Qatar Grand Prix in November

F1/Round 17: Highlights & Provisional Results For 2021 US Grand Prix

As the lights went green, both drivers on the front row got off to good starts and were side by side heading to Turn 1. Neither was willing to back off and in the end, it was Max Verstappen who had to go wide when Lewis Hamilton did not let him pass. But the Dutchman recovered quickly and rejoined alongside team mate Sergio Perez.

The first vehicle contacts occurred when Wiliiams Racing’s Nicholas Latifi bumped into Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll at the start and the Canadian driver spun. Alpine’s Esteban Ocon also got hit by the Alfa Romeo of Antonio Giovanazzi, resulting in the Alpine’s front wing being damaged and he had to head to the pits for a replacement. As he rejoined the race, he almost collided with a fast-moving Latifi who had also come in.

There was a lot of jostling for better positions in the first laps, and starting positions quickly changed. Williams Racing’s George Russell was able to move up to 14th from the back, while McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo moved from 7th to 5th after getting past Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz.

From lap 8 onwards, the switch to hard tyres had started for most cars, except for Valtteri Bottas and the two Aston Martin drivers. Verstappen came in on lap 10, and Hamilton was forced to do likewise next, The Red Bull Racing driver inherited the lead as Hamilton went into the pits and wasted no time opening up the gap which was almost 7 seconds when the Mercedes-AMG driver came out again.

On lap 16, Pierre Gasly’s AlphaTauri had suspension problems serious enough that he had to pit. The problem was serious enough that he did not leave and was the first retiree of the USGP.

Bottas had been struggling to improve on his position but did not make much progress until lap 20 when he finally got past AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda to move into 8th – only one position better than what he started at (he had incurred a 5-place penalty on the grid for a sixth engine change).

On lap 22, Alonso got past Giovanazzi but it had occurred off the tracks, and after clarifying with the Race Director that it was not permissible, he had to give back the 11th place he had acquired, while Giovanazzi’s team mate, Kimi Raikkonen, moved further ahead. A lap later, an angry Alonso again has a close encounter with Giovanazzi and this time it was the reverse as the Alfa Romeo driver was told to give back the place to Alonso,

The Virtual Safety Car appeared on lap 29 for a while as a marshal had to get onto the track to collect some debris left by one of the cars during a minor collision earlier. At that point, Hamilton had closed in to around 3 seconds from the leader with no worries from the next car behind (Perez) who was some 17 seconds away.

On lap 30, Hamilton moved into the lead as Verstappen came in for his second tyre change. As he rejoined, he was just behind his team mate but got past quickly and began closing in on his rival who was trying to open up a gap so that he could safely go for a tyre change. This time, the Mercedes-AMG team might get it right. However, Verstappen was not making things easy by steadily eating away at what started as a 16-second gap.

Hamilton finally came in on lap 37, spent 2.4 seconds in the pits to get another set of hard tyres and when he came out, Verstappen was almost 8 seconds in the lead. Not a big gap and still 19 laps left which meant an interesting fight ahead. The tyres should last but track temperatures were high too and could be an unexpected factor. Further back, Perez and Ferrari’s Charle’s Leclerc were reasonably safe in their 3rd and 4th positions, respectively, with wide gaps between them.

Ocon became the second driver to retire as his team radioed him to return to the pits. They didn’t seem to want to explain why but it was a disappointment as he was running well. Alonso, his team mate, was in 13th and trying to take home at least 1 point from the race for the team. But he too would retire 5 laps from the end with a wing problem.

With 10 laps remaining, Hamilton was 2.5 seconds behind Verstappen, pushing as hard as he could and collecting fastest lap along the way. It appeared that Verstappen was not going as fast as he could have, which may have helped the Mercedes-AMG driver close in.

On the second last lap, Vettel was able to slip into the points-paying 10th as Raikkonen spun off into the gravel.

The last lap provided the American spectators a thrilling dual as the gap was under 2 seconds between the leaders. Hamilton seemed to be pushing very hard and sliding round some corners. It was going to be tight and Verstappen had one last back runner – Haas F1’s Mick Schumacher – to get past. But Verstappen just made it across the finish line with less than a second’s gap from Hamilton to win the USGP for the first time.

F1/Round 17: Preview & Starting Grid For 2021 US Grand Prix

Race starts at 2 pm in America/3 am on Monday in Malaysia

After circulating around Europe since April, the Formula 1 World Championship crosses the Atlantic to the USA for Round 17. The event is at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in Austin, Texas, which has to cancel its race last year due to the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s a venue that the teams have always been happy to visit since it first joined the championship in 2012.

The 5.513-km long circuit with 20 turns offers drivers a variety of challenges. The first sector features a wide, blind first corner that allows for multiple lines, followed by a sequence of rapid changes in direction similar to Suzuka’s Esses. A car with good balance will have an advantage.

The second sector has a long high-speed straight followed by a heavy-braking overtaking point at Turn 12. The cars approach this turn after having traveled the long straight and must lose almost 240 km/h in order to set the braking point up right. They go from 333 km/h to 94 km/h in just 2.52 seconds and 125 metres.

During that time, the drivers are subject to 5.8g in deceleration or almost 6 times their body weight. So a driver weighing 70 kgs will feel like he weighs almost 420 kgs, which requires a high level of fitness to be able to cope with that and control the car properly over 50 times during the race.

Compared to the motorcycles, the single-seaters complete the race 30 seconds sooner because they travel a good part of the corners at a faster speed and sometimes don’t need to brake. Of the 10 braking sections on COTA, Brembo technicians have classified three as demanding on the brakes, one is medium difficulty and five are light.

Commenting on the conditions at COTA, Pirelli’s Head of F1 and Car Racing, Mario Isola, said that despite the circuit having been resurfaced for around 40% of its total length, there’s not a huge difference in terms of abrasion compared to the last F1 race in 2019. Several bumps are also still present despite some surface ‘milling’ – a process designed to smooth out the asphalt.

“The biggest difference has instead been the weather, with both track and ambient temperatures considerably warmer than the cool conditions experienced a couple of years ago. As expected in today’s warm temperatures, there was a bit of overheating on the soft C4 compound rear tyre, which is quite stressed given the severe traction demands of this circuit in the final sector especially,” he said.

“A two-stop strategy is the more likely, with the high speeds and abrasive surfaces here taking a lot out of the tyres. At the same time, the relatively low pit stop time loss and number of overtaking opportunities mitigate the advantages of a one-stopper. There are a number of different two-stoppers that are quite closely matched, depending on the race circumstances, so this looks set to be an intense strategic battle,” added Isola.

The championship for drivers still remains close at the very top, with Max Verstappen just 6 points ahead of Lewis Hamilton after the 16^th round in Istanbul. For the constructors championship, Valtteri Bottas’ win in the Turkish GP plus Hamilton’s 5^th placing gives the Mercedes-AMG team a 36-point lead ahead of Red Bull Racing. The Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS team and Lewis Hamilton have been dominant at COTA but Verstappen’s pole position for today’s race may be the beginning of a change.

F1: Australian GP to be replaced by Ooredoo Qatar Grand Prix in November

2022 Formula 1 calendar to have 23 races, with season-opener in Bahrain

The Formula 1 organisation has released its calendar for next year and the 2022 Formula World Championship will have 23 rounds, one more than 2021. Perhaps to be on the safe side, the Australian GP is no longer the season-opener, as it was for many years. In 2020, the opening round in Melbourne was cancelled at the last moment as the pandemic worsened and there was hope that it could be held later in the year. But that didn’t happen and in 2021, the same thing happened and Bahrain had to quickly take over for the first round.

This year, the Middle Eastern venue is again the season-opener on March 20, along with Jeddah, Saudi Arabia hosting Round 2. It will be the second time for the Jeddah Street Circuit but at this time, little is known about it since the first race on it will only be towards the end of this year’s championship. It is likely to be a night race as it would be cooler, especially in March.

Bahrain Circuit — *The Bahrain International Circuit at Sakhir where the 2022 championship will start.*

Round 3 will be held in Australia, a rather long journey down under and then for Round 4, the teams will have to fly all the way to Florida in the USA where there will be the first ever F1 race in Miami. It will be one of two races to be held in America, the other being Round 20 in October in Texas. The Miami circuit will be new to everyone but the Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas, is a familiar one already.

After Miami in the early part of May, the teams will then return to Europe where there will be 3 rounds before crossing the Atlantic again for the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal. Then it’s back to Europe for 8 rounds until September 25.

*The Spa de Francorchamps Circuit for the Belgian Grand Prix is the longest one on the calendar, with each lap being 7 kms long.*

The only two rounds in the Far East are in Singapore and Japan during October. Both venues had cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to the severity of their pandemic conditions that made it not only risky for the participants but would also have been troublesome logistically with long quarantine periods.

*The Singapore GP – which was the first-ever F1 night race – is scheduled for October 2 next year. Hopefully, it will run and not have to be cancelled for the third time due to the pandemic.*

After Japan (which hopefully will not be hit by a typhoon at the time), the next venue is in the western hemisphere 14 days later for the second race in America. While they are in the Americas, they will head south to Mexico City for Round 21 and then Sao Paolo’s well known Interlagos Circuit for Round 22. By then, it will be mid-November and the final round of 2022 will be at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi on November 20.

Hopefully, unlike the 2020 and 2021 seasons, the schedule as published can be retained and rounds do not have to be cancelled or postponed because certain countries introduce lockdowns again or tougher quarantine requirements. The COVID-19 pandemic seems to be diminishing and health authorities in many countries are hopeful that we will be able to have ‘normalcy’ in 2022, so motorsports and other activities can be held safely.

Is the Monaco Circuit the hardest on brakes in the F1 championship? (w/VIDEO)

ProDrive’s Hunter T1+ competition car to run on sustainable fuel for FIA off-road events

While electrification is the big move by the auto industry to achieve carbon neutrality as soon as possible, there are also parallel efforts by the FIA (the world motorsport governing body) to reduce the environmental impact of motorsport and motorized mobility. The efforts of the organization apply a science-based target reduction plan aligned with the Paris Agreement 1.5°C objective.

One of the strategies is the introduction of 100% sustainable fuel for Formula 1 in 2025. This fuel will have zero net carbon dioxide emissions. The use of this fuel in motorsports could be a savior for internal combustion engines (ICE) if the technology can be widely commercialized for roadgoing vehicles. If this can happen, then the days of the ICE could be extended a bit more while meeting demands to stop carbon dioxide emissions.

While the use of sustainable fuels in F1 has already been committed, there are also other parties in the motorsport community that are supporting the effort. Prodrive, the British motorsport specialist that developed championship-winner cars for the Subaru World Rally Team, will support one of the first major teams in the world to compete with a new generation of advanced sustainable fuels in an FIA championship. The championship is the FIA World Cup for Cross Country Rallies that will run later this year.

The Prodrive-run Bahrain Raid Xtreme (BRX) team will then use this fuel at the Dakar rally in January to demonstrate that such sustainable fuels can be used as a direct replacement for fossil fuels in standard production vehicles.

Prodrive has developed the sustainable fuel over the past 8 months in conjunction with UK-based, Coryton Advanced Fuels. Called Prodrive ECOpower, it has been specifically developed to demonstrate the environmental benefits of the latest sustainable fuel technology. The main components are generation 2 biofuel, manufactured from agricultural waste, and efuels created by capturing carbon from the atmosphere. As a result, the fuel reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 80% compared to equivalent petrol.

“I am a great advocate of motorsport taking the lead in developing, proving and promoting new technologies that can help address climate change. Covering thousands of miles across the toughest terrain, the Dakar and the FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies are the perfect environment to showcase the benefits of the next generation of sustainable fuels and demonstrate that they can be used in road vehicles to reduce the use of fossil fuels, while still offering the same performance and range,” said Prodrive Chairman, David Richards.

The fuel has been developed at Prodrive’s powertrain facility in England and has been run in the BRX team’s Prodrive Hunter T1+ car in the same unmodified engines which previously ran on petrol. While Prodrive ECOpower has been developed for motorsport use, this sustainable fuel can be used as a direct replacement for unleaded petrol in almost any vehicle and the company is planning to run a near identical fuel in a number of its road vehicles to further prove out the technology.

The Hunter T1+ has been specifically designed to compete at the tough Dakar Rally in the deserts of Saudi Arabia and in cross-country rallies across the world. The 4-wheel drive car can travel over almost any type of terrain, from sand dunes to rocky mountain tracks, and at high speeds. Over the 2 weeks of the Dakar, it will cover more than 7,500 kms.

The BRX team has carried out extensive testing in the UK and is now heading to the Middle East for more extensive endurance work in the same conditions it will experience at the rally. The team will then compete at the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge and Hail Rally before heading to the Dakar which starts on the first day of 2022.

eFuel to be used in Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup

F1/Round 16: Highlights & Provisional Results For 2021 Turkish Grand Prix

Rain was falling as the cars lined up, Valtteri Bottas in front with Max Verstappen alongside and the fastest driver in qualifying – Lewis Hamilton – down in 11th spot as he had to take a grid penalty for the engine component change. The wet conditions were expected to remain throughout the race.

The Mercedes-AMG driver got off to a good start, and Verstappen slotted behind in his spray. Not surprisingly, there was some drama as Alpine’s Fernando Alonso, Williams Racing Nicholas Latifi and Haas F1’s Mick Schumacher went into spins on the wet track. But Hamilton was quick to slice through traffic within the first few corners and started the second lap to positions higher. He was then held at ninth place for 6 laps as Scuderia AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda proved difficult to get past.

In third was Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc while Verstappen’s team mate Sergio Perez was shadowing him and waiting for an opportunity to get forward to cover Verstappen. Track temperatures were low due to the rain and as the drivers tried to get the tyres warmer, the racing was still a bit tricky.

On lap 9, the first penalty of the race was imposed on Pierre Gasly. It was a 5-second time penalty for having bumped Alonso in a spin at the start. However, Alonso also got a 5-second penalty as well as he had later bumped in Schumacher.

Within 15 laps, Hamilton had moved from eleventh at the start to fifth and the difficult part would start – ahead were Perez and Leclerc. Meanwhile, Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, who had started from the back due to an engine change penalty, had moved up to ninth place after 18 laps. McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo was less successful and stuck at sixteenth place for some time. He would be the first driver to pit on lap 24.

At the halfway point of the race, it was still Bottas leading Verstappen and the gap was around 4 seconds. Leclerc was about 3 seconds behind the Dutchman but Perez was still some distance away with a gap of over 10 seconds. The prospect of more rain was mentioned in the pits.

Lap 36 saw Hamilton close in on the Red Bull driver and for a few corners, the two drivers were doing close-up duels. As with Tsunoda, Hamilton’s attempts to overtake keep being frustrated by the Mexican driver. And then Perez headed for the pits on lap 37, letting Hamilton through to start chasing Verstappen. Bottas also came in at around the same time, his lead taken by Leclerc. The Mercedes-AMG driver was able to return to the race just ahead of Verstappen.

On lap 42, Hamilton was asked to come in but he was reluctant to do so, and remained on the track. Leclerc too was thinking that he might trey to stay with the tyres all the way till the end of the race. Aston Martin COGNIZANT’s Sebastian Vettel had come in and taken the chance on intermediates which proved to be a very bad decision, dropping him totally out of contention.

Bottas started to close in on Leclerc while Verstappen was facing steering problems. With 10 laps remaining, the Mercedes-AMG finally regained the lead. Leclerc was displaced to fourth as Hamilton zipped past him but there was still a 6-second gap with Verstappen. The pressure was on the Red Bull driver who was aiming for the Finn ahead but also having to keep an eye on his team mate in the mirror.

To be on the safe side, Hamilton decided to come in to change tyres with 7 laps remaining. His quick stop allowed him to return behind Perez and Leclerc. He had fresh tyres and could put in maximum effort all the way to the finish so the 5-second gap was nothing. But even as Hamilton closed in on Perez, he put in a spurt and overtook Leclerc, which was not what the Mercedes-AMG driver was expecting. It didn’t help that Scuderia Alphatauri’s Pierre Gasly had also closed in and was watching for an opening past. Only 3 laps remained.

In the final two laps, Bottas had a comfortable 10-second lead over Verstappen, enough for him to concentrate on picking up an extra point by going for the fastest lap just before he took the chequered flag to win the Turkish Grand Prix. It was his tenth win on Formula 1. Strange how, having been confirmed that he will leave the team at the end of this season, his fortunes are getting better.

F1/Round 16: Preview & Starting Grid For 2021 Turkish Grand Prix

Race starts at 3 pm in Turkey/8 pm in Malaysia

It was less than a year ago that the Formula 1 teams were at the Istanbul Park Circuit in Turkey and this weekend, they are back again for Round 16 of the 2011 Formula 1 World Championship. The Turkish Grand Prix replaces the Singapore Grand Prix which had to be cancelled due to the ongoing pandemic in the country.

The track is not entirely unknown to them and current drivers like Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen have raced at the circuit when the Turkish Grand Prix was held between 2005 and 2011. And even though they also raced there last year, there are unknowns, specifically regarding surface conditions. Last year, as the track had to be prepared for F1 racing after a lapse of 9 years, the freshly laid asphalt was slippery. Since then, the asphalt may have matured slightly and it’s also been completely cleaned with a high-pressure water jet. So this year drivers should benefit from better grip as a consequence of the softer compounds, higher asphalt roughness, and the likelihood of higher temperatures compared to last year.

According to Mario Isola, Head of F1 and Car Racing at Pirelli, the tyre suppliers, drivers reported improved grip during practices, and times in both sessions were considerably faster than 2020. “It’s hard to compare this year to last year, because the weather conditions are different and our tyre nomination this year is a step softer. We’ve seen consistent grip throughout the lap – albeit slightly affected by today’s gusting winds. However, there’s a risk of rain that could cause yet another variable,” he said.

Because Istanbul Park isn’t as frequently used as other F1 venues and with it being resurfaced, the track evolution is high – meaning, the track starts the weekend fresher (or ‘greener’) and develops more grip as more laps are completed and more rubber is laid down by the racing cars.

Istanbul Park is one of 7 anti-clockwise track layouts on the 2021 F1 calendar, the others being: Imola, Interlagos, Baku, COTA in Texas, Jeddah and Yas Marina. These layouts increase the strain on the opposite side of the driver’s neck, which isn’t used to experiencing these forces due to there being more clockwise circuits.

The best-known corner at the 5.338-km circuit is Turn 8, which has been described as one of the great corners in Formula 1. It’s very long, at 640 metres (or 12% of the entire lap) and taken at high speed, with several apexes that place forces peaking at more than 5g on the cars and tyres. Due to the increased downforce levels of the cars today compared to those 15 years ago, it has the highest lateral g-force experienced by the drivers over the course of the lap.

Many other corners place considerable demands on the tyres as well: Turn 1 is approached with a significant descent before heading uphill, and the back straight also contains a swooping uphill kink nicknamed ‘Faux Rouge’ in homage to Spa. The entire track layout makes plenty of use of the area’s natural elevation. It is one of the better circuits in F1 for overtaking, because there are several big braking zones and corners leading onto longer straights which offer several different lines.

The winning strategy last year was a one-stopper. Hamilton was one of only four drivers to stop once, as the majority stopped twice. In terms of car set-up, Turkey is what the engineers call ‘middle of the pack’, because most of its characteristics are pretty average, so not on either end of the spectrum in terms of downforce and power sensitivities.

Pole position on the starting grid seems to give a clear advantage at this circuit as 5 of the 8 winners started from that position. However, Hamilton won’t get that slot no matter how quick he is in qualifying as his engine change incurs a penalty that will put him 10 places down on the starting grid tomorrow. But it should be remembered that last year, he started the wet race from sixth place – and won it as well as confirmed his seventh World title.

As the teams begin their battle tomorrow, both championship titles are still tightly contested. Hamilton is just 2 points ahead of Max Verstappen, while a good weekend in Russia in the last round put the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS team extend their lead to 33 points ahead of Red Bull Racing. Behind the two, the battle for third between McLaren and Ferrari should be interesting with the gap of 17.5 points.

*Lewis Hamilton was quick in qualifying but he will still have a 10-place grid penalty as the team has made an engine component change for his car to be on the safe side.*

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Max Verstappen had to start from the back as he took a penalty, and while going on the formation lap, he had a battery problem and was concerned he might not be able to start. However, by the time he reached the starting grid, it seemed to go away.

Lewis Hamilton, starting from a few places back, was crowded as he moved forward and without room to manoeuvre, he very quickly slipped to seventh. Perhaps he was being more cautious to avoid any more unnecessary incidents…

McLaren’s Lando Norris, who had pole position, had a clean start but before Trun 2, Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz had managed to catch up and slipped past to take the lead from the British driver.

The two Scuderia AlphaTauris had a poor start, dropping backwards in the field. Verstappen meanwhile was steadily slicing through traffic and moving upwards. By Lap 6, he was 14th after passing Valtteri Bottas and 18 seconds behind the leader, while his team mate was up in seventh.

Up front on lap 10, Norris was narrowing the gap to Sainz and staying in his mirrors. 7 seconds behind, Williams George Russell was watching Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll who was just a second behind.

After lap 12, the drivers started to report their tyres going or gone, and visits to the pits started with Stroll being the first to do so on lap 13. Fortunately, the rain that had been expected did not arrive. Sainz came in on lap 15 and Norris, in spite of worn tyres, took over the lead.

By lap 17, Verstappen was up to sixth and just 3 places and 7 seconds ahead was his arch-rival, Hamilton. The Dutchman was pushing hard and clocking about a second quicker than the other drivers ahead of him. Alpine’s Fernando Alonso was next to pass and that might require a bit more effort and then he would be behind his team mate.

Rain began to fall on lap 22 and drivers who had tried their best to stretch their tyres had to start coming in. The positions began to change and though Hamilton had moved into second, he was still 12 seconds behind the leader.

On lap 24, Verstappen again reported problems, this time that he was having difficulty turning the car. His pit stop had dropped him to 12 place when he rejoined but he was trying to move back up. Hamilton had dropped to ninth and was also not bothering about the Dutchman and just wanting to get to the front.

After most of the other drivers had changed tyres, the order had also changed with Perez in the lead on lap 34 and Alonso behind him, both still staying out. Norris, Leclerc and Hamilton were within reach of each other so the battle was on to try to secure third place but Toto Wolff was urging his driver to go for a win.

As both Perez and Alonso came in on lap 37, Norris got back his lead, with Hamilton 4 seconds behind and Alonso having dropped out for a tyre change. Behind Hamilton was Sainz, a long way away with a 22-second gap.

With 10 laps remaining of the 53-lap race, Sainz was battling to hold on to this third place while McLaren’s Danial Ricciardokept trying to displace him and Perez was waiting for the two to make a mistake that he could gain from.

8 laps from the finish, the rain started to get heavy. Though Hamilton has no problem with wet tracks, he was not finding it easy to close in on Norris who was out to collect his first-ever F1 win.

The rain caused enough concern that teams called their drivers in. The track seemed to be getting slippery and Norris was seen to be running wide in corners a few times, with Hamilton getting closer each time. Hamilton was asked to come in but he chose to ignore the call. He was probably determined to be the one to take the chequered flag but Norris too was determined so both drivers stayed out. The British driver was heard to tell his engineer to ‘shut up’ when a warning came over the radio about cars ahead sliding.

Finally it happened – on lap 52, Norris went very wide and off, and Hamilton was ready to shoot by. The McLaren driver recovered and slotted into second place quickly though the next car (Perez) was 49 seconds away. The slide made Norris lose his spirit a bit and he decided he had to come in. As Perez dropped off for tyres, Verstappen suddenly found himself in second place but way behind Hamilton.

With just one lap left, it was to be Hamilton’s win in Sochi – finally reaching his 100th F1 win. Verstappen had done well to come up all the way from the back to finish second while Bottas was able to hold on to his fifth place till the end.

Piston.my

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