Jack Prentice

Oscar Piastri took his third Grand Prix victory with an imperious win at Shanghai International Circuit.

His McLaren teammate Lando Norris had to manage a brake issue but managed second to complete a 50th 1-2 for the team, while George Russell was third for Mercedes and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen fourth.

The result leaves Norris eight points clear of Verstappen in the fledgling Championship standings, with Russell a point further back and Piastri a point behind in fourth.

.The Ferrari duo of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton were fifth and sixth, while Haas improved from a dreadful Australian Grand Prix with seventh for Esteban Ocon and tenth for Ollie Bearman.

Kimi Antonelli in eighth and Alex Albon in ninth completed the points positions.

It was the perfect start for McLaren as Piastri blocked off Russell to hamper his entry into Turn One, with Norris sweeping around the outside to take second.

Max Verstappen was another to go backwards as he was passed by both Ferraris of Hamilton and Leclerc, who lost a chunk of front wing hitting Hamilton, through ahead of the Dutchman.

A slow burner of a first stint was curtailed as the midfield, led by Pierre Gasly, Ocon and the Racing Bulls duo of Yuki Tsunoda and Isack Hadjar pitted before lap 12.

Expected high tyre wear throughout the race failed to materialise as the leading five cars – all of whom pitted before lap 17 – making it to the end of the Grand Prix on their hard tyres.

At the front, Piastri completed his most complete weekend with a race win during which he wasn’t troubled, with a difficult Friday giving way to a dominant display to underline his own World Drivers’ Championship credentials.

A strong undercut, where the car behind pits for fresh tyres to pass the car ahead when they pit, was prevalent in China and helped Russell briefly repass Norris, but the McLaren had regained second by lap 18 and gradually built a gap.

That gap became important for Norris, who in the last 15 laps reported a long brake pedal that was critical by the penultimate lap.

An eight-second gap became 1.3s by the end of the race as a quietly effective Russell maximised his weekend once again.

Behind that Verstappen grew into the race after an off-colour first stint in which he dropped back from the Ferraris in sixth.

The Dutchman salvaged fourth as Leclerc’s damage caught up with the Monesgasque driver with four laps to go.

Hamilton’s hard tyre performance fell away leading Ferrari to call him in for a second stop before Verstappen passed his old rival.

It was another chastening weekend for Liam Lawson at Red Bull, as he twice qualified 20th and last and could only manage 15th in the race, over a minute behind Vertappen.

Haas’ turnaround from an Australian Grand Prix weekend in which they were clearly the slowest team to an excellent weekend in China was remarkable.

Ocon expertly judged his one-stop strategy to pass and stay ahead of Antonelli’s Mercedes while Bearman, starting 17th, managed his tyres superbly for tenth.

Lando Norris survived late challenges from both Max Verstappen and the weather to win the Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park.

Norris had serenely led the race through three Safety Car periods before a heavy rain shower 14 laps from the end caught both he and McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri out two corners from the end of the lap.

The Brit recovered, but Piastri ended up beached on the grass for nearly a lap when a podium at worst would have been on the cards.

George Russell was third for Mercedes ahead of an excellent fourth place for Alex Albon in the Williams, while the impressive rookie Kimi Antonelli was fifth from 16th on the grid.

Lance Stroll took a quiet sixth for Aston Martin ahead of Kick Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg, with the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc eighth ahead of a disappointed Piastri, who recovered to ninth by passing Lewis Hamilton on the last lap.

Racing Bulls rookie Isack Hadjar gave a taste of what was to come as he both crashed on the formation lap, leading to a delay of 15 minutes, while fellow rookie Jack Doohan got one sector further before spinning under acceleration on lap one, with Carlos Sainz going off later that lap.

A quiet race briefly livened up when Piastri passed Verstappen on lap 19, with both McLarens quickly opening up a lead over Verstappen that still looks ominous for the rest of the season.

Fernando Alonso then spun off at the exit of Turn 6 on lap 35 to pull the pin on the rest of the Grand Prix, as the Safety Car was deployed and drivers pitted for slick tyres.

Shortly after this a heavy rain shower fell on the Albert Park circuit, and three laps after the Safety Car pitted all hell broke loose as Norris and Piastri both went off at Turn 12.

Norris sought refuge in the pit lane to fit Intermediates while Piastri took over a minute to free himself from the grass to drop to the back of the field.

Liam Lawson spun in identical fashion to Hadjar before him as Gabriel Bortoletto also found trouble at Turn 12 to bring the Safety Car out, with Ferrari the big losers as a strategy gamble to stay out on slicks backfired.

Leclerc was able to pass Hamilton at the Safety Car restart before later taking eighth from Gasly, but it was a bitterly disappointing start to the season for the Scuderia who would have expected much more than 5 points from the season opener.

The Safety Car allowed Piastri to rejoin the pack and gave the Australian a shot at points – a chance he took by passing Gasly two laps from the end, before an excellent move on Hamilton at Turn 9 on the last lap salvaged ninth and two World Championship points.

On a tough day for the Championship’s rookies with four of the six failing to finish, Kimi Antonelli kept his head save for one small spin at Turn 4 early race as he picked his way through to fourth on the road, and fifth overall courtesy of a post race penalty.

The Italian’s maturity stood out with passing moves Hulkenberg and Stroll particular highlights as he recovered well from a disappointing qualifying on Saturday.

Lando Norris will start the season-opening Australian Grand Prix from pole position.

The Brit beat McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri by 0.081s as the pre-season favourites send out an ominous message to rest of the field.

2024 World Champion Max Verstappen will start third on the grid ahead of Mercedes rival George Russell, while it was a disappointing session for Lewis Hamilton and his new Ferrari team.

Hamilton will start only eighth having struggled with rear instability all session, but he’s only one spot behind teammate Charles Leclerc as two midfield teams usurped the Scuderia.

Alex Albon confirmed Williams’ solid pre season form with sixth place on the grid, behind Yuki Tsunoda and his Racing Bull in fifth.

Pierre Gasly for Alpine and Carlos Sainz’s Williams round out the top 10.

Q1: Top team rookies toil

The surprises didn’t end at Row Three.

Liam Lawson was qualifying for Red Bull for the first time after an 11-race, two-spell audition with their junior team and struggled on a torrid Saturday in what’s been dubbed Formula One’s toughest seat.

After losing the entire Saturday practice to an engine issue, Lawson struggled with the balance in a bitty qualifying session for the New Zealander.

He’ll start 18th after locking up at the penultimate corner, ahead of only the two Haases of Esteban Ocon and Ollie Bearman.

Lawson wasn’t the only well-fancied rookie to struggle, as Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli could only manage 16th on Saturday.

The Italian has been all over the kerbs all weekend and after clouting them one too many times, damaged the bib on the underside of the car, which Mercedes believe cost him three tenths to teammate Russell on the straights.

Nico Hulkenberg, so often the star of qualifying last season, was the other driver out in Session One in his Sauber.

Q2: Hamilton spin effectively ends the session

The second session ended in anti-climactic fashion, as a spin from Hamilton right at the end brought out double-waved yellow flags to hamper a number of drivers.

One of those was the quietly impressive Jack Doohan, who was unlucky to line up 14th after being on track to be at least on the cusp of getting through the the final session in his Alpine.

It also ended the session of Fernando Alonso, who had fought with the leaders in session one but could only manage 12th in the Aston Martin, ahead of teammate Lance Stroll but behind Isack Hadjar, who backed up the improvement showed by Racing Bulls since testing.

Gabriel Bortoletto survived a scare to keep his Sauber out of the wall, but will start 15th after a good opening Saturday.

Q3: McLaren come good in the end

McLaren recovered from a scrappy start to the final session to snatch the front row away from the rest of the pack.

Norris had his first time deleted for track limits at Turn 6, while Piastri made a mess of the final sector to initially fall half a second behind the early pace.

Verstappen, cast in the unusual role of underdog with Red Bull far from the force they have been since 2022, had gone fastest ahead of late-2024 rival Russell.

The surprises in the final session were two-fold. Ferrari’s lack of pace was evident throughout the session as the Prancing Horse struggled with rear instability.

That manifested with Hamilton’s spin in Q2, and neither driver was anywhere near their early weekend pace as Leclerc could only manage seventh ahead of the seven-time champion.

That opened the door for two of the midfield’s strongest performers this weekend, with Albon initially deposing the Scuderia.

That before Tsunoda made his point to the Red Bull hierarchy having been passed over for the main team over the winter to nick 5th.

Lando Norris will start Sunday’s US Grand Prix on pole position, after Mercedes’ George Russell crashed at the end of the final qualifying session to  end Max Verstappen’s run at pole position.

The McLaren driver laid it all on the line early in Q3 to set a time of 1:32.330, 0.031s ahead of Verstappen on a weekend where the team haven’t been as imperious as previous weekends.

Russell’s crash at the fast Turn 19 a minute before the end of the session likely saved Norris’ pole, as both Verstappen and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz looked likely to overhaul the Brit

Behind the front row it is Sainz who starts third ahead of teammate Charles Leclerc, with the second McLaren of Oscar Piastri fifth.

Provided there’s no chassis damage to Russell’s car he’ll start sixth ahead of the impressive Pierre Gasly in the Alpine, while Fernando Alonso put his Aston Martin eighth.

Haas driver Kevin Magnussen will start ninth ahead of Red Bull’s Sergio Perez, who lost his best time in Q3 to a track limits offence and couldn’t complete his final lap due to the yellow flags for the stricken Russell.

The first qualifying session saw one of the biggest shocks of the season so far as Lewis Hamilton was a surprise exit to qualify 19th quickest.

The seven-time World Champion lost almost half a second to a mistake at Turn 12 and crossed the line with a minute to spare, and not enough time to recharge his battery start another lap.

A dejected Hamilton joined the less surprising quartet of the Williams duo of Alex Albon and Franco Colapinto, with the Saubers of Valterri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu sandwiching the Brit.

The second qualifying session was somewhat more routine, with only the minor surprise of Nico Hulkenberg’s Haas missing out on the top ten after mistakes on his final flying lap to start 12th.

The German had looked nailed on for the top ten before that, and was absolutely gutted on the team radio on his inlap.

Teammate Kevin Magnussen did squeeze through in tenth to outqualify Hulkenberg for the first time in 8 races, while Yuki Tsunoda was 11th despite a tow from teammate Liam Lawson, starting last after a host of engine penalties. The Kiwi proved his own point with third fastest in Q1, with Esteban Ocon 13th and Lance Stroll 14th.

Formula One rolls into Singapore ahead of its accidental break with more questions than answers in 2024.

Marina Bay’s bright lights proved a small ray of hope in 2023 during the most dominant season ever seen, but 2024’s edition could be even more engaging than Carlos Sainz’s interloping win last year.

For the first time since 2021 at least one of the championships is not a safe prediction, with McLaren taking the lead of the Constructors’ standings for the first time since a fortuitous double podium at the 2014 Australian Grand Prix, after Oscar Piastri’s win and Lando Norris’ recovery to fourth at last week’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Red Bull and Max Verstappen have been there to be shot at since May, and McLaren have time and again proven the sharpest of shooters since June, when Norris emerged as the closest driver to being a challenge to three-time World Champion.

Verstappen and Red Bull haven’t won since that month’s Spanish Grand Prix, something that would have been considered impossible as recently as April as the Dutchman breezed his way through F1’s opening rounds with six wins in seven races.

How times change.

Verstappen still has a lead to defend as F1 2024 approaches its final innings, but even a man as near to bulletproof as he has been in F1’s ground effect era is on something of a sticky wicket despite having a 59-point lead.

As recently as the British Grand Prix five races ago, that lead was 84 points, with Verstappen currently on a run of one podium in seven races.

This, therefore, is not a great time to arrive at the circuit they struggled on most last season. Indeed it was the only race Red Bull failed to win in 2023, but failure to avenge that defeat in 2024 would not generate any surprise given their struggles over high kerbs and a bumpy track surface.

McLaren clearly have the fastest car across a wide variety of circuits and are more than just the fast corner specialists they were a year ago and while Sergio Perez in the second Red Bull has improved since the summer break he still has yet to show that he can back Verstappen up in the same way that Oscar Piastri has been asked to back Norris up by McLaren.

Australia’s answer to Kimi Raikkonen’s “Iceman” persona has shown he has everything it takes to be an outright number 1, and has been the most prolific scorer in the last seven races.

Victory last time out in Baku, where he held off a charging Charles Leclerc after executing a brilliant move on the Monegasque driver, only underlines those credentials.

Piastri has said that he will follow team orders where necessary, but McLaren’s eyes on the Constructors prize first and foremost he will not be expected to sacrifice himself needlessly.

Red Bull need be wary of not just McLaren.

While the Papaya outfit are the strongest outfit, boosted by the FIA declaring their “mini DRS” rear wing legal after some minor controversy post-Baku, Ferrari and Mercedes can at the very least get in the way of the current World Champions.

Leclerc drove an almost faultless weekend in Baku last week, with Sainz also on course for a podium before his controversial race ending clash with Perez on the penultimate put both drivers into the wall.

Sainz’s win last year required expert management and Ferrari have in the past showed real strength at Marina Bay, while Lewis Hamilton’s 2018 pole lap for Mercedes is the stuff of legend.

The Silver Arrows have themselves been a little confused on car development in recent races following a summer renaissance, but George Russell was ahead of Verstappen on merit en route to a fortunate third place in Baku.

A “significant” Red Bull upgrade package is expected for the US Grand Prix at COTA in a month’s time.

This weekend will more than likely tell us exactly how much work they have to do to retain both Championships in 2024.

“I always say, you can’t get nine women pregnant and hope you have a baby in a month.”

That was the bizarre quote from the now former Alpine Team Principal Otmar Szafnauer, with the American removed from the team following a bruising 12-month period.

He leaves alongside stalwart Alan Permane, with Sporting Director also out after 34 years and numerous roles with the team.

Alpine’s new motorsport director, Bruno Famin, will be acting team principal during this period, and is assessing the team’s F1 operations.

Famin said at the Belgian Grand Prix on Friday that the moves had been made with “the aim of reaching faster the level of performance we are waiting for” with Szafnauer and Permane being “not on the same line on the timeline” and that “we have a different view of the way of doing it”.

The duo’s departure was hastily announced on the Saturday of the Belgian Grand Prix, and all seems rather sudden in keeping with an often messy period for Alpine and Renault’s most recent F1 project

Chief Technical Officer Pat Fry also departs, to take a similar with Williams from November, although this is unrelated to the departures of Permane and Szafnauer.

All of this comes two weeks after the Team’s CEO Laurent Rossi, a divisive and fiery character, was moved on to work on other “special projects” with Alpine and parent company Renault.

That leaves the team needing to fill its four most senior positions at the same time.

Why did Alpine hire Szafnauer?

Szafnauer was poached from Racing Point for the 2021 season following the sacking of Cyril Abiteboul, with the passionate Frenchman ditched after heading the Renault factory programme following their return as a team in 2016.

Abiteboul had overseen genuine progress from an awful 2016 after the French marque had re-bought the ailing Lotus team after selling up in 2010, with the team on the podium twice in 2020.

He had a habit of getting into public spats, most notably with the equally spiky Christian Horner at Red Bull following Renault’s still unsolved engine woes and the signing of Daniel Ricciardo from Red Bull for 2019. That Ricciardo saw fit to ditch the Renault project after one year signalled the beginning of the end and a search for a new Team Principal.

Having worked with BAR and later the Honda F1 team for ten years from 1998 before a 12-year stint at Racing Point in its various guises from 2009, Szafnauer was seen as an experienced and shrewd operator.

He oversaw the rise of the Silverstone team from perennial back markers through to solid midfield runners and occasional podium finishers, culminating in Sergio Perez’s Sakhir GP win, garnering great respect as the team consistently punched above its weight.

He was ultimately tasked at Renault with implementing their “100 race plan” to get back to the front, a plan which save for Esteban Ocon’s shock – and fortuitous – win in Hungary that year – looks as far away as ever as the Enstone outfit languish in sixth, over 100 points behind a stated aim of fourth.

A chastening 12 months

Cracks in Alpine’s leadership can be traced back to the Hungarian Grand Prix last year.

Alpine were playing hardball with Fernando Alonso when negotiating a new contract beyond 2021, the team mistakenly believed that the Spaniard, who won two World Drivers’ Championships with the team in their mid-noughties heyday between 2005-06, had no other options.

Alonso’s move to Aston Martin announced the Monday after a race that saw him clash with Ocon came as a surprise right up to raceday in Budapest, and to rub salt into the wound has worked out for him.

He was for the first third of the season the only driver to even resemble a challenge to Red Bull and still lies third in the standings despite Aston Martin’s recent lull, the team having made great progress since a dreadful start to 2022.

Alpine then rushed to announce then junior driver Oscar Piastri as his replacement with a press release issued that day, curiously with no quotes from their supposed new driver.

Piastri would then issue a humiliating rebuke later that evening as he was in talks with McLaren, and the FIA’s Contract Recognition Board found against Alpine – criticising the team in the process.

Alpine went on to sign Pierre Gasly, who has done well for a team not operating at the level in previous years, but the damage to Alpine’s reputation, and particularly those of Rossi and Szafnauer, following the saga was significant.

A poor start of 2022 was brought to a head by Rossi’s scathing criticism of the team’s performance, accusing it of “a performance deficit and an execution deficit” before stating, that it was “not worthy of of our resources” and going to accuse the team of “dilettantism (amatuerishness)” after a poor Bahrain Grand Prix where Ocon served three penalties, one for not serving an initial penalty correctly.

The one high point prior to Spa was an excellent podium for Ocon in Monaco and an excellent showing overall, and Gasly’s podium in the Belgian sprint ensured a positive weekend for the team.

They are currently sixth in the Constructors’ Championship on 57 points, as close to a rejuvenated McLaren in fifth as they are Williams in seventh.

What next?

The question of what next is impossible to answer with any certainty.

To fill one role at short notice is difficult but Alpine at least have the summer break to begin the process of filling those four roles, with the next race not until the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort at the end of August.

Famin is for now the interim team principal while Julian Rouse, head of the team’s young driver academy, temporarily fills the void left by Permane as interim sporting director.

Famin’s time will likely be taken up with  conducting an audit of the team’s Formula 1 operations but he cannot afford to dither.

At present the team are rudderless and with a lack of immediate options, may have to promote from within.

The team have faced accusations from former Renault driver and senior advisor Alain Prost, of a variety of faults ranging from corporate interference, a lack of structure and in the case of Rossi arrogance.

The four-time World Champion drew comparisons with Jean Todt, Ross Brawn and Michael Schumacher at Ferrari, Toto Wolff and Niki Lauda with Lewis Hamilton,  and Christian Horner, Adrian Newey with Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen at Red Bull.

Prost, who left the team in 2021, then highlighted that the team’s only successful period this century was with Flavio Briatore and Fernando Alonso as a partnership with the point being that works teams perform better if the team is separate from the company.

The team have a lot of issues to fix from arguably their lowest ebb since that 2016 nadir. They have shown in the past that they can turn things around but the job, and pressure, is bigger now.

Whether Alpine take Prost’s advice remains to be seen, at the most critical point in the team’s journey since a return to factory status.

Images courtesy of Pirelli F1