After the Italian Grand Prix two weeks ago, which signaled the end of the European races for this season, Formula One headed to Asia for round fifteen of 2018, the Singapore Grand Prix. One of the most demanding tracks of the calendar for both drivers and cars due to high humidity, the Marina Bay Street Circuit covers 5.067 kilometres, with twenty-three turns and a race distance of sixty-one laps.
Going into qualifying it had looked as if things would be close at the front, but an outstanding lap from Lewis Hamilton saw him grab pole position by three tenths of a second from Max Verstappen. Vettel ended up third on the grid, six tenths behind his championship rival. Behind him, Bottas, Raikkonen, Ricciardo, Perez, Grosjean, Ocon, and Hulkenberg completed the top ten.
The five red lights counted down to the start, and what a start it was for Hamilton. In typical Singapore style the safety car was brought out, this year after just seven corners due to Ocon and Perez colliding with each other, putting the Frenchman in the wall.
2018 Singapore Grand Prix, Sunday- Wolfgang Wilhelm
Vettel attempted an overtake on Verstappen for second place, which succeeded just before the safety car was called out. It seemed like Vettel had learned from his crash with Hamilton in Monza as he didn’t go for the overtake straight away at turn one, despite having had a much better start than Verstappen.
The restart on lap five saw Hamilton driving away from Vettel whilst Bottas closed in on Verstappen, however a lock up meant the Finn then lost the same amount of time he had gained.
Reports of some wear on the hypersoft tyres started coming in from lap twelve onwards. Ferrari reported this to Vettel as well, who was now losing some time to Hamilton. The German made his first pit stop on lap fourteen, changing to the ultrasoft tyre. Getting stuck behind traffic, this early stop cost him some major time. Mercedes responded to this pit stop by bringing in Hamilton, who opted for the soft tyres.
The end of lap sixteen saw Verstappen leading the race ahead of Bottas, who made his pit stop on lap seventeen. Vettel, meanwhile, overtook Perez and set about closing the gap to Hamilton. Verstappen then made his pit stop and went to the softs. It was very close at the pit exit with Vettel, but Verstappen came out ahead to claim a net second place.
Vettel reported to his team that he wouldn’t make it to the end of the race on the ultrasoft tyres, a real blow for Ferrari who really had to win this race to keep their hopes for the championship alive.
2018 Singapore Grand Prix – Sebastian Vettel
Race leader Räikkönen went into the pits on lap twenty-three, dropping back to fifth place. It seemed Ferrari had taken note of Vettel’s worries, as they put Raikkonen on fresh soft tyres.
After a staggering twenty-seven laps on the hypersoft tyres Ricciardo finally made his pit stop, opting for the ultrasofts and dropping back behind Raikkonen. With the better tyre and more than half distance still to go, he still had enough time to close the gap.
Sergio Perez had dropped down the order, getting stuck behind Sergey Sirotkin and becoming increasingly frustrated, even complaining that Charlie Whiting had to do something. The Mexican’s patience ran out on lap thirty-four when he tried overtaking Sirotkin but ended up crashing into him, looking and steering to the left and raising questions about whether it had been done deliberately. Perez as a result had to gp back into the pits for repair. The stewards looked into the incident and decided that he had caused a collision, handing him a drive-through.
2018 Singapore Grand Prix, Sunday- Steve Etherington
Up front, Hamilton was still leading from Verstappen who was carving his way through all the traffic. In front of them was a trio of backmarkers – Grosjean, Gasly, and Sirotkin – fighting for P14. Hamilton was held up as a result, allowing Verstappen to close to within a second. Both drivers expressed their frustration over the radio, describing the backmarkers as “crazy”. Once they cleared them, though, Hamilton opened the gap back up to three seconds, and Grosjean was handed a five-second penalty for ignoring blue flags.
A big surprise came on lap forty-six when Alonso put up the fastest lap time of the race and broke the lap record. That surprise was then doubled when Kevin Magnussen in eighteenth place then broke that record as well.
After sixty-one long laps it was Lewis Hamilton who claimed victory, winning his forty-fourth race from pole position and extending his championship lead. Verstappen took an impressive second place, deservedly resulting in him being voted driver of the day. Vettel was disappointed as once more he lost points to Hamilton in the championship, taking third place. Completing the top ten were Bottas, Räikkönen, Ricciardo, Alonso, Sainz, Leclerc and Hulkenberg.
2018 Singapore Grand Prix, Sunday- Steve Etherington
It was not the most spectacular Singapore Grand Prix we have ever seen, but it still had some interesting moments. For the teams, focus now turns to the Russian Grand Prix at the Sochi Autodrom, with Hamilton leading the championship by forty points.
There are still six races to go though, and lots can happen. As always in F1, nothing is certain.
Round fourteen of the 2018 Formula One season saw teams arrive at Monza for the Italian Grand Prix. Deemed the Temple of Speed for a reason, it would be a two-way fight for the victory between Ferrari and the Mercedes. Ferrari hoped to please the Tifosi at their home GP whilst Mercedes wanted to steal the show and dominate proceedings, over their Italian rivals.
In a dry qualifying it was Ferrari that took a front row lockdown, but not in the usual order. It was Kimi Räikkönen who profited from the slipstream he got from his teammate Sebastian Vettel, giving him the fastest ever F1 lap with an average speed of 263kmh. Vettel wasn’t happy with his P2, as he told his team they’d “talk about it” afterwards. He was most likely disappointed that the Finn got the slipstream instead of him as he’s a Drivers’ Championship contender. The second row belonged to Mercedes.
The Tifosi were in for a party as the front row coloured red, just as all the grandstands were. Räikkönen had a great start as he led into turns three and four. It was at that same corner that Lewis Hamilton went round the outside of Vettel which then led to contact. The Ferrari driver spun and headed to the pits to repair his front wing. The stewards would look into the incident between the two championship contesters. Before the drivers had cleared the first corner, the Safety Car (SC) was brought out for an incident involving Brendon Hartley, after he got sandwiched on the straight between a McLaren and a Sauber. This meant his suspension broke and he had to pull the car onto the grass.
At the restart in lap four it was Hamilton who got past Räikkönen into turn one without DRS. However, a better exit gave Räikkönen the opportunity to get first place back, leading to big cheers from the Italian crowds. Vettel opted during his pit stop for the soft tyres, probably trying to avoid another pit stop.
At the back there was slight contact between Sergio Perez and Kevin Magnussen at the first Lesmo corner. Some debris flew onto the track and onto Magnussen’s car, but not enough to bring out another SC. Meanwhile the stewards decided to take no further action in the incident between Hamilton and Vettel.
During lap eight it was chaos in the fight for the last available point. Charles Leclerc got P12 from Pierre Gasly, and Daniel Ricciardo tried to profit from his poor exit but that almost cost him his front wing into turn four. One lap later Vettel overtook Leclerc for P13, who had already lost his P12 to Gasly. Drama for Fernando Alonso and McLaren again, as he had to retire the car only ten laps into the race due to an engine problem. His “what a shame” comment sounded a bit sarcastic over the radio.
A huge fight between Ricciardo and the new 2019 Red Bull driver Gasly took place. It was the Australian who braked too deep into the corner, hitting the Toro Rosso on the side but without major damage.
Then Esteban Ocon taking sixth place from Carlos Sainz using DRS on the main straight. At front it was still Räikkönen leading Hamilton by 1.4 seconds. Meanwhile Vettel reported to his team that he still had some damage affecting the balance of the car. Max Verstappen, who was in third, was under increasing pressure from Valtteri Bottas, closing in on the Red Bull driver to try and get within DRS reach. Vettel was in ninth place by lap 16 and closing in on the Force India of Perez. Trying to overtake him the German braked too late, missed the apex and Perez got his eighth place back. Finally in lap 18, Vettel got past the Mexican for eight place, now heading towards the Renault of Sainz.
The battle between Verstappen and Bottas continued to heat up, causing both to lock up their tyres into turn one. Verstappen seemed to think Bottas was close enough to overtake him, but his team reported to him that “he was nowhere near.” Vettel meanwhile passed Sainz for seventh place, still around thirty seconds behind his teammate and race leader, Räikkönen. The Finnish Ferrari driver came into the pits during lap 21 whilst the Mercedes crew were ‘faking’ a pit stop. But only one lap later they were saying the famous words, “It’s hammer time!” He then didn’t come to the pits again, after his team ordered him to stay out as he still had the pace but his teammate Bottas was still struggling to get past Verstappen.
On lap 24 some drivers reported that it was raining at the back of the circuit around turns three and four, but one person who wasn’t worried about the rain was Vettel. He was still surging ahead and got into P5 after overtaking Ocon. Then there was a big smoke plume behind Ricciardo – his new C spec Renault engine died, meaning he had to retire from the race. For the fourth time in six races the Australian didn’t make it to the end. His teammate Verstappen then asked his team if everything was alright with his engine, the team assured him that there was no problem. The Dutchman would soon come into the pits, opting for the soft tyres, but he dropped back to sixth place behind Vettel.
Bottas was told by his team to keep Räikkönen behind him to help Hamilton make a safe pit stop. He would opt for the soft tyres, but he couldn’t even get close to Räikkönen coming out of the pits. During lap 30, Vettel made his second pit stop of the race, now opting for the supersofts. Falling back to tenth place for doing so, he once again had to fight his way back to the front. Bottas was in “holding mode” – keeping Räikkönen behind him so that Hamilton could close the gap between himself and the Finn. Mercedes reported to Bottas that Räikkönen had blistered his left rear tyre.
AUTODROMO NAZIONALE MONZA, ITALY – SEPTEMBER 02: Back right tyre of Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari SF71H in parc ferme during the Italian GP at Autodromo Nazionale Monza on September 02, 2018 in Autodromo Nazionale Monza, Italy. (Photo by Manuel Goria / Sutton Images)
Hamilton was within a second of Räikkönen by lap thirty-five, splitting the top three by just less than two seconds. Finally, Bottas came into the pits from the leading position, going from the supersofts to the softs, but he would fall back behind Verstappen by three seconds. This pit stop gave Räikkönen the chance to create a gap between himself and Hamilton, but at this stage he was really struggling with his blistered tyre. Hamilton’s tyres were eight laps newer with fifteen laps left.
Vettel meanwhile overtook Perez for sixth place with only a small gap to catch Ocon, who headed to the pits, so Vettel surged to fifth. Whilst Räikkönen was struggling with blisters on the rear left, it was Hamilton who was struggling with blisters on the front left. The battle behind them was between Verstappen and Bottas who got very close to the Red Bull and tried to get past him in lap 42, but Verstappen defended well. One lap later he tried again but this time it cost him way more as he completely missed turn one after he and Verstappen made contact when the Dutchman went to the left where Bottas was trying to overtake him. Once again the stewards had a tough job to decide what to do. Bottas lost four seconds because of the incident. The stewards handed Verstappen a five-second time penalty for causing a collision. He didn’t sound too happy on the radio: “For what? I gave him space. They are doing a great job of killing racing, honestly.”
Then Monza had a new race leader as Hamilton finally got past Räikkönen using DRS into turn one, despite Räikkönen’s defense attempts. Seven laps to go and Räikkönen began losing time to Hamilton. Verstappen had a gap of just over one second on Bottas and with the time penalty he had it would mean he’d be in fourth place. The Dutchman also lost time to Vettel because he was fighting Bottas, but told his team, “I don’t care about it.”
Meanwhile it was worryingly to see that Sergey Sirotkin had unlapped himself by passing Räikkönen, when Ferrari had told the Finn that his tyre situation was critical.
After 53 laps, taking around 77 minutes, it was Hamilton who took his 86th career victory at Ferrari’s home GP. This made it extra painful for the Tifosi who really made this clear by booing the race winner and his ‘wingman’. Mercedes then angered the Tifosi even more as Bottas was told over the radio to stay next to Hamilton in “formation all the way out, just to show our Italian colleagues.” Hamilton even thanked his teammate for helping him out. One positive for the Tifosi was that Driver of the Day Räikkönen brought home his Ferrari in second place and Vettel fought back to finish in fifth position. Bottas completed the podium as Verstappen got demoted to fifth. Romain Grosjean, Ocon, Perez, Sainz and Lance Stroll completed the top ten.
Hamilton entered the weekend as Championship leader and left Monza still as the leader in the title fight, but now with an even bigger margin. He now has 256 points over Vettel’s 226 points, as the German threw away some very important points at his team’s home GP. Räikkönen extended the gap between himself and Bottas to five points, and Verstappen once again shortened the gap to his teammate due to another retirement. While Mercedes are leading the Constructors’ Championship with 415 points with Ferrari trailing behind with 390 points.
F1 will return in two weeks for round 15 in Singapore. Vettel really has to get some points to keep Hamilton from running away with the Championship, and Singapore seems to be one of his biggest opportunities to do that. Will Vettel be able to bounce back, or will Hamilton take another big step towards his fifth World Championship?
McLaren’s Fernando Alonso has said that despite having fond memories of the Monza circuit, he is not holding out hope for a good result at this weekend’s Italian Grand Prix, with the track unlikely to play to his car’s strengths.
“Monza is a very special circuit for me and I have a lot of happy memories there,” he said. “It has a different feeling to many tracks – maybe because of the heritage or the fans, I’m not sure – but the emotions you feel when the fans invade the track after the race is like nowhere else in the world – there’s so much passion there.
“For us we know this weekend will be difficult, like in Spa. Better tracks are coming for us, that’s for sure, but Monza has all the characteristics that expose the weaknesses of our package. We just have to work as hard as possible and see what we can get out of it.”
Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium. Sunday 26 August 2018. Fernando Alonso, McLaren, and Stoffel Vandoorne, McLaren, on the grid. Photo: Glenn Dunbar/McLaren ref: Digital Image _31I8707
Last weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix came to a rather jarring halt for Alonso before he’d even reached the first corner. P17 was his result in qualifying – the worst Saturday for McLaren so far this year after team-mate Stoffel Vandoorne qualified P20 – but the Spaniard was bumped up a few places on the grid thanks to engine penalties given to those around him.
Unfortunately, that put him right in the thick of things when Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg missed his braking point going into La Source on lap one and triggered a series of events that ended in Alonso being launched over the top of Charles Leclerc in an incident reminiscent of the crash at the start of the 2012 Belgian Grand Prix.
“After the accident in Spa last Sunday,” Alonso added, “I know the team has been working very hard to make sure we have enough parts for this back-to-back race. I’m very grateful for their efforts and I’ll still be giving it maximum attack even if it will be a challenging weekend.”
Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium. Friday 24 August 2018. Fernando Alonso, McLaren MCL33. Photo: Steven Tee/McLaren ref: Digital Image _2ST3380
Featured image – Steven Tee/McLaren. Ref: Digital Image _1ST2801
Finally the summer break is over as Formula 1 returned to the Ardennes forests for the 13th round on the calendar, the Belgian Grand Prix.
Lots of things happened during the summer break; the shocking news of Daniel Ricciardo moving to Renault next year, Carlos Sainz moving to McLaren and the retirement of Fernando Alonso. Most important though was the news that (formerly) Sahara Force India was saved from bankruptcy by an investor group led by Lance Stroll’s father, Lawrence Stroll. It took until one day before the Grand Prix to really save the team because problems with previous investors meant that the team wasn’t officially allowed to start. FIA gave clearance as the team changed their name to Racing Point Force India. This came with its consequences though, as they lost all their Constructors’ Championship points from the previous 12 races.
Daniel Ricciardo due to leave Aston Martin Redbull Racing for Renault f1 for the 2019 season. Image courtesy Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool
The Saturday of the GP started bizarrely as Valtteri Bottas didn’t see Stoffel Vandoorne coming up Kemmel straight just after Raidillon in FP3 which resulted in the Belgian evading the Finn by running onto the wet grass. Vandoorne lost control of his McLaren and just missed the barriers. The incident was noted by the stewards, who only reprimanded the Mercedes driver. It was already a tough weekend for Bottas who started the race from the back of the grid due to his team fitting new parts to his car, which resulted in a grid penalty.
Then the qualifying started. Out of Q1 were Vandoorne, Stroll, Sergey Sirotkin, Alonso and Sainz. During Q2 the clouds came out, but there was still no sign of rain. The five drivers not making it into Q3 were Nico Hülkenberg (who didn’t even get to drive in Q2 due to a grid penalty), Marcus Ericsson, Charles Leclerc, Brendan Hartley and Pierre Gasly. When the lights went green in Q3 all drivers went out on slicks because of potential rainfall. It was at Blanchimont that Bottas showed it was raining hard; spinning out of nowhere at high speeds. Only the Force Indias tried to set a lap on the slicks, which saw a spectacular save by Sergio Perez at Eau Rouge and Raidillon just keeping him from the tyre barriers. Then everyone went out on the intermediates, some fast times were put on the leader boards, but the rain was decreasing near the end of the session. Force India profited from this situation as they spectacularly took P3 and P4, with Romain Grosjean also surprisingly taking P5 and Lewis Hamilton took pole in front of rival Sebastian Vettel.
With a very mixed up grid the race on Sunday was looking to be crazy, which was definitely the case although not as you would expect. The Verstappen grandstand coloured Spa bright orange on race day, just like Max Verstappen’s special helmet for the weekend.
Lights Out at the Belgian GP 2018. Image courtesy of Ferrari Media
After the five red lights went out it took only a few hundred metres before total chaos ensued. Hülkenberg completely missed his brake zone on the left, causing him to fully lock all of his tyres. He couldn’t do anything to avoid a collision with Alonso in front of him, who got catapulted into the air just over the car of Leclerc. Damage on Leclerc’s Halo showed that Alonso was dangerously close to hitting him. In all this chaos, Alonso hit the rear of Ricciardo’s car who lost a big part of his rear wing. The team could repair the car, but would eventually retired it near the end of the race to safe parts. In a chain reaction it was then Ricciardo who hit the back of Kimi Räikkönen’s car, causing a puncture. After some pit stops the race was over for the Finn as well. On the right side it was Bottas who braked too late as well, but only causing light damage to his front wing.
With all chaos behind them it was Vettel who took the lead from Hamilton after a better exit through Eau Rouge saw him overtaking the Brit on Kemmel straight. Just after his overtake the Safety Car (SC) was brought out to clean up the mess at La Source.
In lap 4 the SC came back into the pits. Hamilton tried to overtake Vettel into the final chicane, which allowed Vettel to pull away because he locked up. This was strange as they weren’t past the SC line yet. Three laps later it was Verstappen who overtook Esteban Ocon for P4, as the Dutchman clearly wanted to impress all the Dutch fans around the track. Meanwhile Bottas was storming through the grid, with a spectacular move at Eau Rouge on Hartley, giving him P13. Just later he also got into P12 when overtaking Sainz. In front it was Hamilton that was initially losing time to Vettel, but as the laps went by he gained more and more, and closed the gap between himself and the German. In lap 9 the other Ferrari driver Räikkönen came into the pits to retire from the race as the damage the car sustained after the manic start was too severe. Verstappen then overtook Perez for P3, leading to big cheers from the crowds who hoped he could finally get a podium at his home Grand Prix.
It was lap 22 when Hamilton went into the pits to fit soft tyres. Vettel responded to his decision by coming into the pits one lap later, also opting for the soft tyre. Vettel came back on track still leading the race with a gap of around two seconds between himself and Hamilton, who overtook Verstappen using DRS on the long straight. Verstappen hadn’t made a pit stop yet so he didn’t defend as aggressively as he usually does.
An interesting fight took place for the last points around lap 27/28 between Ericsson and Hartley. The Toro Rosso driver overtook Ericsson on the Kemmel straight, but the Swedish Sauber driver fought back by going down the inside of Hartley regaining his tenth place. On lap 28 it was Hartley who got his P10 back again by using DRS on the straight but only one lap later it was Ericsson who overtook the Kiwi that very same way again. In lap 31 Ricciardo had to come into the pits to retire his car. There was too much damage to continue and by retiring the car they can fit a new gearbox without any penalties as a result. Bottas, starting in 17th place, got P4 in lap 40 when overtaking Perez.
The race could have been more interesting without the chaos at the start, which meant that five cars retired from the race. There were a few interesting battles from time to time, but overall the gaps between the cars were big.
In the end it was Vettel who took the win, with a struggling Hamilton taking second place. Third place went to Verstappen, who finally got a podium at his ‘home’ Grand Prix. In fourth it was Bottas who really fought his way back into the top but just couldn’t get close to a podium. Force India should be happy with a fifth and sixth place meaning they now have 18 points, moving them into ninth in the Constructors’ Championship. Completing the top ten was Grosjean, Kevin Magnussen, Gasly and Ericsson.
Sebastian Vettel wins the 2018 Belgium GP. Image courtesy of Pirelli media
The win for Vettel meant that he gained seven points in the Drivers’ Championship, bringing the gap between himself and Hamilton down to 17 points. Bottas is closing in on Räikkönen, who was unlucky in the race, as he now has 144 points to Kimi’s 146 points. Verstappen has finally passed his teammate in the Championship. The Dutchman has 120 points and Ricciardo has 118 points as his retiring from the race meant he left with zero points.
It’s already race week again with the Italian Grand Prix taking place this weekend. Will Vettel please the Italian Tifosi at Ferrari’s home Grand Prix, or will Hamilton try to extend his lead in the championship?
Featured image courtesy of Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool
2018 is the debut season in F1, and in junior series F2, of the frontal head protection system more commonly known as the halo. Despite its unpopularity, the device has already proven its worth on numerous occasions.
Back when the halo was still in development, one of the crashes looked at was that of the 2012 Belgian Grand Prix, when Romain Grosjean sent his car flying over Fernando Alonso’s, only narrowly missing the latter’s head. Grosjean was handed a race ban for the incident while everyone knew that Alonso had been very lucky to avoid any injury.
Joe Portlock / McLaren
This time it’s another first lap crash at Spa involving Alonso that has caused debate surrounding the halo, and one that could’ve had a much different outcome had the device not been there. Nico Hulkenberg missed his braking point by quite some way, later saying that the turbulent air from the cars in front took weight off the front of his car, and ploughed into the back of Alonso. The Spaniard, now a passenger, then hit the back of Charles Leclerc’s car and was launched over the top of the Sauber, coming into contact with its halo.
As in 2012, all drivers involved walked away from the incident unscathed, and thoughts quickly turned to what sort of penalty Hulkenberg should get. It turned out to be a 10-place grid penalty for Monza, though Alonso insists that the penalty should’ve been more like that given to Grosjean in 2012.
The sheer damage to Leclerc’s halo was only realised when images of the device were released during the race. Alonso’s car, and more specifically his tyre, had left black rubber marks all over the right side of the halo, along with the side of the Sauber. Clearly, the outcome could, and would, have been a lot worse if those tyre marks were on Leclerc’s helmet and not his halo, showing exactly why the protection device was introduced.
Another thing the crash perfectly demonstrated is why the FIA were unwilling to delay the halo’s introduction. Imagine if that crash had happened and the halo wasn’t there. The outcome would have been a lot worse, while the FIA would be open to numerous lawsuits and we might just have lost one of F1’s brightest young stars.
This crash is, however, not the first one in 2018 to prove the halo’s worth. When Tadasuke Makino and Nirei Fukuzumi came together earlier in the F2 season, Fukuzumi’s tyre ended up on Makino’s halo, leaving similar black marks to those left on Leclerc’s. This should have ended the halo debate there and then, with Makino saying that the halo “saved his life”, but still it rumbled on.
Haters of the halo are, on various social media platforms, still trying to find ways to complain about it, despite both Leclerc and Makino’s crashes. I’ve seen a lot say that the wheel wouldn’t have come into contact with either of their heads anyway, so the halo doesn’t need to be there. But, there’s no proof for that, either way. Surely, it’s better to err on the side of caution by having the halo there, rather than risk it with their head’s exposed.
The presence of the halo makes championships without it look very exposed and excessively dangerous by comparison. Take IndyCar, for example. At Pocono, there was a huge wreck in which Robert Wickens’ car came perilously close to Ryan Hunter-Reay’s head, and a piece of debris entered James Hinchcliffe’s cockpit causing damage to his hands. Just watching IndyCar, Pocono aside, it looks like their heads are so exposed, something that has only really come to light because of the halo.
Renault Sport F1 Team
The FIA have said that they’ll share their findings from Leclerc’s crash with IndyCar, but the latter is unable to use the halo due to visibility issues on ovals and super-speedways. Nevertheless, the American series is looking to introduce a windscreen-type solution for next season.
Fellow drivers have praised the halo after Leclerc’s crash, with Leclerc himself saying that he was glad to have it over his head. 2016 world champion Nico Rosberg declared that the halo discussion was over because it clearly can save lives while Felipe Massa said that it can now be called “beautiful”. There has been a huge outcry of support for the halo and a crash like this, however awful it is to say, was needed to prove to the doubters that the device effective. Now there can be no question about that.
The strongly-opinionated type will probably still criticise the halo but, the fact is, it’s the best solution to the problem that currently exists. Eventually, there will be a halo replacement or adaptation that is better-looking but, in the meantime, the halo is most definitely here to stay and whether you like it or not, expect other series to be adopting it very soon.
Fernando Alonso is one of the most highly regarded drivers in F1 but, after a torrid four years with McLaren, he’s finally called it quits on the sport he loved so dearly. Now, let’s get one thing straight; this is, by no means, a retirement from Alonso, the guy lives and breathes racing and will certainly continue for many years to come… just not in F1.
In truth, this announcement has been coming for a long time. Alonso has the habit of being in the wrong place at the wrong time when it comes to teams and his last venture with McLaren was certainly that. The well-documented but doomed partnership with Honda caused the first three years of misery for Alonso while this current season put the final nail in his F1 coffin when the team were unable to live up to expectations following a switch to Renault.
Moving away from McLaren but staying in F1 was never really an option for Alonso either, sure there was a bit of speculation around the Red Bull seat and a few blind hopes that he might return to Ferrari but really, the only place that would have him was McLaren. Despite mellowing in his latter years in F1, Alonso spent the best part of a career burning bridges and inadvertently making this stretch of his career much harder – the doors-off-hinges malarkey at McLaren in 2007 did nothing for his reputation while the Ferrari years left him being portrayed as ‘grumpy’ and ‘difficult to work with’.
It was not always this way for the Spaniard, he is, after all, a two-time world champion. Once upon a time he was the whiz kid, the young upstart, the driver that would be the one to beat the all-dominant Schumacher. That, he did. Alonso claimed both the 2005 and 2006 world titles before moving to McLaren for 2007 to partner F1’s new hope, Lewis Hamilton. We all know how that story went, what with the massive fall-outs and scandals resulting in Alonso sulking off back to Renault and so on.
This stint back at the Enstone team wasn’t nearly as successful and only resulted in two wins, one of which was as a result of ‘crash-gate’ but we won’t open that can of worms again now…
If you look at Alonso’s first year with McLaren in 2007 combined with his 2010 and 2012 seasons with Ferrari, he missed out on all those titles by a total of eight points. Just eight points difference would’ve made him a five-time world champion. That just shows that the record books don’t tell half the story when it comes to Alonso!
Hungaroring, Budapest, Hungary. Saturday 28 July 2018. Fernando Alonso, McLaren, puts on his helmet in the garage. Photo: Steven Tee/McLaren ref: Digital Image _2ST0511
But, with all that behind him, what’s next for a rather frustrated Alonso?
The best bet is by far and away IndyCar. 37-year old Alonso has long said that he wishes to complete the unofficial ‘Triple Crown’ of motorsport – Indy 500, Le Mans 24 Hours and Monaco GP. Of these three, Alonso has two after winning Monaco twice in 2006 and 2007 before taking the Le Mans 24 Hours victory on his first attempt with Toyota earlier this year. The only one missing for him is the Indy 500 which he attempted in 2017 to no avail.
With the new universal aero kits in IndyCar, doing the Indy 500 as a one-off, as Alonso did in 2017, and being competitive is a lot harder, meaning that if Alonso wants to stand a chance at drinking the milk, he needs to do the full season. 2016 IndyCar Series champion, Simon Pagenaud, has said that he thinks it would take Alonso three years to get up to speed and win a championship, referring to title-contender Alexander Rossi, who’s in his third season of IndyCar after a spell in F1, as a prime example.
A sticking point surrounding all this could be Honda. After numerous media attacks at the manufacturer following their time together in F1, Honda might not be so willing to accept Alonso with open arms however, the huge potential for media coverage and success may well outweigh any pre-standing grudges. The biggest problem is that Alonso’s under contract with Toyota for WEC, and you can’t imagine them being overly pleased at Alonso driving for one of their biggest rivals.
The way around this problem would be Alonso driving for a Chevrolet-powered team, such as Penske, and it would be a viable solution for the Spaniard because they’re just as competitive and just about every team manager on the grid will be phoning him up, so he’s got the pick of the lot!
Another option for Alonso would be to take a step back and just do the remainder of the Super-Season with Toyota in WEC however, given that’s only three races in 2019, that’s probably not the most appealing option for Alonso – who would be racing every weekend if he could.
It won’t take long for Alonso to tell the world what he plans to do next season given he’s almost certainly already made that decision, at least in himself. He’s got the entire IndyCar silly season on pause and has left some large, if expected, shockwaves in F1 but the world will keep turning without him there and soon, his void will be filled by another.
Wherever he ends up going, Alonso will be met with a huge amount of support and will provide a huge boost to the given series but, most of all, he will be hungry of victory, for wins, for championships…
The Hungarian Grand Prix was the twelfth round of the 2018 Formula One season, meaning we are now over halfway through the year. All the teams will enjoy a well-deserved break for four weeks, which gives them the time to relax and maybe come up with some new ideas to improve the car and gives us the time to look back at this season before looking ahead to the Belgian Grand Prix.
After the Hungarian Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton leads the drivers’ championship with 213 points, in front of rival Sebastian Vettel who has 189 points. Behind him are Räikkönen (146 points), Bottas (132 points), Ricciardo (118 points), and Verstappen (105 points), with Hülkenberg (52 points), Magnussen (45 points), Alonso (44 points) and Perez (30 points) closing the top ten in the drivers’ championship.
However, these numbers don’t tell the whole story. How did it come to these standings? How did each team perform this year so far? How did the drivers perform? Let’s take a look at that, team by team.
Mercedes
Currently leading both the drivers’ championship with Lewis Hamilton and the constructors’ championship, it would seem that Mercedes are on another dominant run. However, that is far from the truth. Mercedes are having a very tough season currently. Their season started mediocre in Australia as Hamilton ended in a solid second place (the VSC cost him a shot at victory), but Bottas only ended up in eight place after an awful qualifying.
In Bahrain things got a little better for the Brackley-based team, with Hamilton bringing home eighteen points with his P2 finish, whilst Bottas brought home fifteen points with his third place finish. The following races they scored some good points too, although a late drama in Azerbaijan cost Bottas a victory as he ran over debris and incurred a puncture.
Mercedes have so far achieved two 1-2 finishes, one at the Spanish Grand Prix and one at the German Grand Prix, with the latter meaning a lot more to the German team, especially because Hamilton started from fourteenth place and came through to win the rain-affected race.
A definite all time low this season for Mercedes came at the Austrian Grand Prix, where both cars failed to cross the finish line due to mechanical problems (just after they got an upgraded engine).
The team can go into the summer break buoyed by a victory in the Hungarian Grand Prix, courtesy of Lewis Hamilton. Bottas had a disappointing race in Hungary, though, as he made contact with Vettel and Ricciardo in the last ten laps of the race, costing him his front wing and resulting in a ten-second time penalty after the race.
Mercedes are still the team to beat, and it is most likely that if they continue like this Lewis Hamilton will become a five-time World Champion. Bottas looks out of the running for the championship battle, because of his bad luck early on this season.
2018 Großer Preis von Ungarn, Sonntag – Wolfgang Wilhelm
Ferrari
Someone else who is hoping to become a five-time world champion is Sebastian Vettel. In the first couple of races of the year it was the German who got away with a full complement of points. A very chaotic Chinese Grand Prix, however, ruined his winning-streak as he got hit by Verstappen. Vettel was spun and picked up some damage so he could only finish in eighth.
His teammate Kimi Räikkönen scored some solid points too with a third position in Australia and China, although he retired from the Bahrain Grand Prix.
Räikkönen will probably have to help his teammate in this fight – he got ordered at Hockenheim to let Vettel past. It was at that race where the biggest disaster this year so far took place for Ferrari, as Vettel crashed out of the lead of his home race in the rain. This very rare mistake from Vettel kept him from taking his first every victory at Hockenheim and, with the track’s uncertain future you wonder if it will even be possible for him to make up for it in the future. This meant he lost some important points, and with his rival Hamilton taking victory it meant Vettel lost the championship lead.
In the Hungarian GP Vettel crossed the line in second place, losing another seven points to his rival Hamilton, who took victory.
With the passing of Ferrari president Sergio Marchionne at the age of 66 just before the Hungarian Grand Prix the Italian team might lose some stability. Marchionne led Ferrari to become the team it is now and they are the closest they’ve ever been to a constructors championship since 2007. Let’s hope Ferrari can continue to fight Mercedes for the constructors championship and bring it home for Marchionne.
Red Bull
The Austrian team were the third-best team last year, and this year it is no different. They are not fast enough to regularly beat the Mercedes or Ferrari, but are much faster than Renault, Haas and McLaren in the mid-field.
Where Mercedes and Ferrari have a pretty stable point scoring record so far, Red Bull have had more problems. They have walked away from a race weekend with no points on two occasions this year. At the Bahrain Grand Prix mechanical issues ended the race of both Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo, and the Azerbaijan Grand Prix ended up as a major disaster for the team as their drivers crashed into each other, costing the team valuable points.
However, there were still some very good moments for the Austrian team this season. In China Ricciardo took victory because of a brilliant strategy in what was a chaotic race, whilst Verstappen took victory at the team’s home Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring, although they were helped by the DNFs of both Mercedes drivers. Ricciardo also dominated at the Monaco Grand Prix, even though he suffered some problems with the car during the race.
The team announced earlier this season that they will switch to Honda engines for 2019, and they hope this will make it possible for them to not just fight for the third position in the teams standings, but also for the first place.
For now though, they still have ten races to go with Renault engines. With circuits coming up like Mexico and Singapore there should be enough possibilities for them to get at least another victory.
Renault
Best of the rest at the moment are Renault. The French team are currently embroiled in a tight battle for the fourth position in the constructors championship, with Force India, Haas and McLaren.
There has only been one race so far where they haven’t scored any points, which is a very impressive result for the French team.
Two fifth places are the highlights of the year so far, by Hulkenberg at his home Grand Prix at Hockenheim, and by Sainz at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. The difference between the two teammates in the drivers’ championship, however, is big, with Hulkenberg on almost twice as many points as Sainz.
The fight for the constructors championship is still very much on, and Renault have to find improvements from Spa-Francorchamps onwards as their rivals are still on their tail.
Renault Sport F1 Team
Force India
After a terrible qualifying at the Hungarian Grand Prix the gap to their main rivals at Renault only increased for Force India. The team really struggle to even get in the top ten regularly, and there have been three races so far where Esteban Ocon and Sergio Perez have not scored any points between them.
Their biggest points haul came from the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, where the team scored fifteen points in total, thanks to a spectacular third place for Perez.
Placed into administration over the Hungarian Grand Prix weekend, the team’s future is uncertain. Sergio Perez, his manager, BWT, and Mercedes want the money back Force India owes them, with Perez saying he brought action against his team to “save [them] and protect the 400 people who work there”. Now it is even a question whether they’ll start the Belgian Grand Prix or not. Let’s hope they can get out of trouble,as it would be a huge shame to lose such an amazing team.
Haas
Haas began the Hungarian Grand Prix equal on points with Force India. The so-called “second Ferrari” team started the season very promising at the Australian Grand Prix after an impressive qualifying. The race, however, ended in a horrible nightmare as two identical mistakes at the pit-stops of both Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen meant they had to retire.
At the Austrian Grand Prix they once again put in an impressive qualifying and followed that up with an even more impressive race in which they scored twenty-two points thanks to a fourth place for Grosjean and fifth place for Magnussen.
After a pretty good Hungarian Grand Prix the team jumped to fifth in the constructors championship, leaving Force India behind.
The team seem to have found pace this year. Of course not all races ended well, but for a relatively new team they are surely proving what they are capable of. Can they keep up their good performances for the upcoming nine races?
McLaren
After years of disappointment due to problems with the Honda engine, this year could finally have meant the Woking team could fight for the podiums.
Now driving with a Renault engine, they were immediately aiming to fight the Red Bulls. At the Australian this looked very much possible, with Alonso finishing in P5 and saying “now we can fight!’”. Vandoorne ended that race in ninth, a nice result for McLaren then, scoring almost more points in one race than in the whole of last year. The dreams of fighting the Red Bulls continued when they finished the Bahrain Grand Prix in seventh and eighth.
Unfortunately, these dreams were shattered from Monaco onwards, where the pace had seemingly vanished and the points almost became out of reach. At the Monaco, Canadian and French Grand Prix the team scored no points, mostly because of retirements (Alonso had DNFs in all these races).
The highest position they achieved after these problems was P8 in Austria, Great Britain and Hungary, all thanks to Alonso. Team-mate Vandoorne was lacking pace, even losing almost a full second to Alonso at the qualifying for the British Grand Prix, and he had to retire from the Hungarian Grand Prix from what would have been a ninth-place finish.
The Renault engines have not brought the real change the team were hoping for. It even looks like the team are struggling more than ever, as qualifying pace is way off and results in the races are disappointing for such a great team. Maybe the summer break will bring the change they desperately need.
Steven Tee/McLaren
Toro Rosso
Currently standing eighth in the constructors standings with just twenty-eight points, the team will not be happy.
Brendon Hartley in particular has just had no luck. This became especially clear when he crashed heavily during free practice at the British Grand Prix due to a suspension failure. Two days later, he had to retire from the race after just one lap as the team found a problem with the car.
Seven races out of the twelve so far have yielded no points. When they have gotten into points though, the results have been very impressive. Gasly got P4 at the Bahrain Grand Prix and P6 at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Hartley has just two points to his name, whilst Gasly brought home twenty-six points. The Kiwi’s future is uncertain because of his disappointing results, but a lot has been due to problems out of his control.
Alfa Romeo Sauber
One driver showing his potential this season is Charles Leclerc. The Ferrari Driver Academy driver from Monaco just keeps on impressing everyone. With a car that shouldn’t regularly finish in the points, he got himself two consecutive points finishes in Baku and Spain. His sixth place in Baku definitely was a highlight for the team, bringing home eight very important points for the team. He even held up Alonso in Spain in a tense battle in a race where he finished in tenth place.
His teammate Ericsson has improved himself. Seemingly motivated by the speeds Charles has shown, he now too scores points from time to time. With five points for the Swedish and thirteen points for Leclerc, the team are now ninth in the constructors championship.
The last few races Sauber were able to out-qualify McLaren, and even in the races they have showed they have the pace to fight for position. Hopefully they are able to continue this fantastic performance.
Williams
It has been an absolute nightmare for Williams so far. Eleven of the twelve races resulted in zero points for the team, leaving them last in the championship. The only points they have managed so far were the four points Lance Stroll achieved because of his eighth position at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Even Robert Kubica, test driver for the team, said it is “embarrassing” to drive the car. Newcomer Sergey Sirotkin, while showing a few flashes of pace, doesn’t seem to be able to build up any momentum.
Williams has lots of work to do if it wants to score some points after the summer break. If they don’t, they will be hoping for another chaotic race like Azerbaijan, otherwise the points will be scarce.
The last race before the teams could enjoy the summer break took place at the Hungaroring, on the outskirts of Budapest. The twelfth round of the season started very interesting with a spectacular wet qualifying. The starting grid was thus very shaken up, with Toro Rosso in P6 and P8. Carlos Sainz started from fifth, while Red Bull were disappointed with P7 and P12. Force India were disappointed as well, with neither driver making it to Q2. Lewis Hamilton took pole in front of his teammate, with Kimi Räikkönen following in third ahead of Sebastian Vettel.
A wet qualifying meant that all teams were free to choose on what dry tyre to start the race on. Both Mercedes drivers started on the ultrasofts, while Vettel chose the softs and Raikkonen chose the ultrasofts.
The start went well for Lewis Hamilton and he maintained the lead, while Bottas kept second. It was behind them where a change took place as Vettel overtook his teammate Räikkönen into turn two. By the end of the first lap there was already one retirement. Charles Leclerc was forced to bring his car to a halt after flying debris from contact between Ricciardo and Ericsson ahead of him damaged his radiator.
On lap six, Max Verstappen pulled over to the side of the circuit, telling his engineer over the radio that he had no power. He sounded very angry and disappointed, with the spotlight once again on Renault after yet another forced retirement. His expletive-filled message made sure that FOM had a busy time censoring it. It was reported that the problem lied within the MGU-K, meaning he might have to take a grid penalty at the Belgian Grand Prix.
On lap fifteen Kimi Raïkkönen was the first to make a pit stop. He went from the ultrasofts to the softs, which meant he was probably going for a two-stop strategy rather than a one-stop. The stop took a bit longer than normal, because there was some rubber stuck in the brakes that the mechanics had to remove. He emerged in sixth, in front of Sainz and Ricciardo.
2018 Großer Preis von Ungarn, Sonntag – Wolfgang Wilhelm
Valtteri Bottas responded to Raikkonen’s stop by going to the soft tyre a lap after his fellow Finn. That same lap, Ricciardo finally got past Sainz, and he set about chasing down Raikkonen and claiming the fastest lap as he did so. Vettel was losing time to Hamilton, and by lap nineteen the gap had opened up to almost nine seconds.
On lap twenty-two Ferrari told Vettel over the radio that they had switched to ‘plan C’. He began to close the gap, but a mistake on lap twenty-three meant he lost all the time he had gained.
McLaren were struggling for pace, with Alonso and Vandoorne fighting for eleventh place. Hamilton stopped for new tyres on lap twenty-six, changing from the ultrasofts to the softs. Could he make it to the end on these tyres?
Daniel Ricciardo meanwhile was fighting against Gasly. The Honda-powered Toro Rosso looked strong, but the Australian lunged down the inside at turn one and taking fifth place, although he had yet to make his pit stop.
Mercedes told Bottas that Vettel was probably going for another fifteen to twenty laps on his softs, and that the German was being held up by traffic.
After thirty-five of the seventy laps, Vettel was leading with a 12.5 second gap to Hamilton, who had a gap of twelve seconds to his teammate behind. Räikkönen was fourth, followed by Ricciardo, Gasly, Alonso, Vandoorne, Magnussen and Ocon completing the top ten.
On lap thirty-nine Ferrari mechanics brought Raikkonen in for a second pit stop, opting for another set of softs. A lap later Vettel pitted for his first stop of the race, choosing the ultrasoft tyres so he could try and attack the Mercedes duo. The pit stop was a bit slow, and he re-joined one second behind Bottas.
Daniel Ricciardo went to a set of ultrasoft tyres with twenty-five laps to go. He was sitting comfortably in fifth place, with a gap of fourteen seconds to Kimi ahead and twenty-two seconds to Gasly behind.
On lap fifty-one a yellow flag was brought out for Vandoorne, who had to retire the car because the gearbox was gone. This yellow flag resulted in a Virtual Safety Car, but Hulkenberg was the only one who used it to make another pit stop.
With fifteen laps to go the battle between Vettel and Bottas was heating up, as Vettel got into DRS range. Ferrari reported to Vettel that Bottas was struggling with his tyres, and to continue to put pressure on him.
2018 Großer Preis von Ungarn, Sonntag – Wolfgang Wilhelm
In the closing laps it became a three-way fight for P2, with Raikkonen having joined the fray, although it was clear that Räikkönen was not allowed to make it difficult for his German teammate. Over the radio Vettel was asked by his engineer how fast he could go. In response, he said he could go half a second faster but it was impossible as he was still stuck behind Bottas.
On lap sixty-five Vettel tried the overtake on Bottas, going around the outside of the Finn at turn one to get a better exit. He was in front of Bottas going into turn two and closed the door. Contact between the two, as Bottas clipped the back of Vettel, damaged the front wing of the Mercedes. Replays suggested Bottas braked too late, and that it was no more than a racing incident.
Bottas dropped back as a result, and found himself fighting with Ricciardo for fourth. By lap sixty-eight Ricciardo was in DRS range and tried to overtake Bottas around the outside of turn one, but it once again ended in disaster as Bottas ran a bit wide, making contact with Ricciardo’s sidepod and pushing the Australian wide.
Mercedes advised Bottas to let Ricciardo pass in the hope to avoid a penalty afterwards. He did get a ten-second penalty after the race, but he kept his fifth place because the gap to Gasly was big enough. He also received two penalty points.
Up front, Hamilton took victory, with Vettel and Räikkönen completing the podium. Bottas finished in fifth place after letting Ricciardo pass. Behind him, Gasly, Magnussen, Alonso, Sainz and Grosjean completed the top ten.
Hamilton now leads the championship with 213 points, and Vettel follows with 189 points. Meanwhile a Finnish battle for third place is on, with Räikkönen on 146 points and Bottas on 132 points.
Now the summer break finally has arrived. In four weeks time Formula One will return to the Ardennes forests for the Belgian Grand Prix at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, a fan-favourite track and loved by the drivers. Let the fight for the championship go on.
Featured image – 2018 Großer Preis von Ungarn, Sonntag – Steve Etherington
McLaren’s Fernando Alonso has said the team is seeking to improve their pace during qualifying ahead of this weekend’s German Grand Prix at Hockenheim.
“We know we need to work on our qualifying performances to give ourselves the best chance on Sunday,” he said, “but we’ve also seen that during the race we can push forward and secure points, so the aim is to achieve the same in Germany [this] weekend.”
Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve, Montreal, Canada Saturday 9 June 2018. Fernando Alonso, McLaren. Photo: Steven Tee/McLaren ref: Digital Image _1ST9206
So far this season, Alonso has only made it into Q3 twice – in Spain and in Monaco – while team-mate Stoffel Vandoorne hasn’t managed to do so at all. For the most part, the duo have been stuck in the midst of the mid-field, with P13 and P14 being their most frequent results in qualifying. There is no doubt that the French Grand Prix provided their worst Saturday of the year so far – though Vandoorne has failed to make it out of Q3 on four occasions, Paul Ricard has been the only track thus far where Alonso has joined him.
Speaking of the Hockenheim track, Alonso was realistic about his chances. “[I] have won there three times so it’s great to be back after a break last year. The track is viewed as one of the classics, it’s fun to drive and there are a couple of overtaking opportunities – and an extra DRS zone this year – so hopefully we can fight with the cars around us.
“The next couple of races before the summer break are on very different tracks. We need to work hard, and do as much as possible to adapt our set-up for each of them to maximise our chances. We know this weekend won’t be an easy track for us but we’ll give it our best as always.”
Last time out at the power-sensitive Silverstone, Alonso unexpectedly made up five places during the race to end up in the points for the 200th time in his career. In apparently typical McLaren style, the eighth place finish was not made easy for him after – unsurprisingly – a lacklustre qualifying the day before, a trend Alonso and the team are hoping they can end sooner rather than later.
Looking at the results, you wouldn’t have thought much happened during the British Grand Prix, but some action at the start and a couple of safety car periods spiced the race up. The final race of the triple-header in Europe saw Sebastian Vettel take the win.
The 2018 Formula One British GP winners; (left to right)Lewis 2nd, Seb winner and Kimi 3rd. Image courtesy of Ferrari
Sebastian Vettel – 9
There were pre-race doubts about Vettel’s fitness – he had tape put on his neck after FP3 – but the adrenaline kicked in and his start was beautiful, waving concerns away. All the action happened behind him. The safety cars late on in the race put him behind on the track but a great dive-bomb up the inside of Bottas sealed the win. Great victory as we head towards Germany next!
Lewis Hamilton – 9
The Brit got a tardy start which he would come to regret, even if he ended the race in a position where he lost minimal amounts of points. There were some very interesting comments from him afterwards suggesting that tactics from Ferrari were what resulted in him being taken out, bringing back memories of Mexico 2017. Hamilton was the last car on track at the end of lap one, but like a knife through butter he carved his way through the field. A disappointing start, but if you look from lap two onwards it was a great race for him.
Kimi Raikkonen – 7
Raikkonen has finished on the podium at the last three races, but never on the top step. The Finn owned up to his coming-together with Hamilton, saying the incident at turn three was his fault and accepting the penalty handed to him. Team-mate Vettel stormed off into the distance, while Raikkonen couldn’t quite match Hamilton near the end of the race.
Valtteri Bottas – 8
The Mercedes team threw away the lead again today, deciding to keep Bottas out after the second safety car. Before that he was faster than Vettel, so on a level playing field Bottas could have beaten the German and taken the flag first. Much like in China and Baku, strategy from his team may have cost him the victory once again, even if it may have been tougher in Silverstone to remain in the lead. A great start made amends for a poor qualifying on Saturday, but he is clearly still playing second fiddle to Hamilton.
Daniel Ricciardo – 7
Silverstone turned out to be a track which highlighted the frailties of the Red Bull package. Roughly 80% of the track is spent at full throttle, and power isn’t exactly Red Bull’s strong point. Ricciardo was out qualified once again by Verstappen, with a DRS issue hampering his performance. He was great at defending against Raikkonen during the race but unfortunately the safety car came out at the wrong time for him, as he had already made a pit-stop two laps beforehand. The lack of speed along the straights prevented him from passing Bottas in the closing laps of the race.
Nico Hulkenburg – 8
Best of the rest and great haul of points for the German. Renault were the only team to use the hard tyre during the race, having worried about blistering on the other compounds, and the tactic worked brilliantly. Hulkenberg did supremely well to keep the pack behind him at the two safety car restarts.
Esteban Ocon – 7
Ocon is showing his worth a lot more this season compared to last, and provided a great result at for Force India at what is essentially the team’s home race, given that their factory is literally just over the road. Ocon made it through to the final part of qualifying, and kept the car in the top ten on Sunday.
Fernando Alonso – 8
Alonso’s McLaren may lack pace on a Saturday but on a Sunday, in the hands of the Spaniard, it is one of the best in the midfield. He took advantage of the safety cars to pit for some fresh rubber, allowing him to get past Kevin Magnussen at the end. He may appear calm on the outside, but it isn’t hard to imagine that deep down all is still not well with the relationship between himself and McLaren.
Sebastian Vettel leads the 2018 British GP. Image courtesy of Ferrari
Kevin Magnussen – 7
Hampered by the first lap accident with his team-mate, Magnussen did well to score points considering the clash inflicted some damage to his car, which restricted his speed. He was one of few drivers not to pit under the safety car which pushed him down the order late on, but he managed to hold on to salvage some points.
Sergio Perez – 6
Much like Hamilton, Perez saw the field drive past him after contact on the first lap spun him at turn one. He recovered well and found himself in contention for the last point, which was ultimately claimed by Pierre Gasly Chafter a collision between the two near the end of the race. After the race, though, Gasly was awarded a five-second penalty for the incident, meaning Perez inherited P10 and the one point that comes with it.
Stoffel Vandoorne – 4
It was a quiet weekend in general for Vandoorne. He was a whopping 0.9 seconds slower than Alonso on Saturday, and with others making the decision to start the race from the pit-lane it meant he was the last on the grid. He finished the race in 12th, meaning he now hasn’t scored since Baku. Lando Norris in currently second in Formula 2 and is hotly tipped for a drive in F1 next year. It could well be this seat that he takes.
Lance Stroll – 5
Williams are currently the worst car on the grid, and unfortunately nothing put that more on show than Sunday’s race. Prior to the first safety car they were the only team to have been lapped, and Stroll made a mistake in qualifying which ended up his car being beached in the gravel.
Pierre Gasly – 7
Gasly had a good Sunday and initially finished tenth, a welcome result given that Toro Rosso been having a tough time of it recently. The Frenchman collided with Perez with a few laps to go, and a harsh time penalty given to him after the race pushed him down the field. Silverstone was a track which showed Honda’s deficit to the other manufacturers, but there are still promising signs and it was a far better day for Gasly than the results suggested.
Sergey Sirotkin – 5
Sirotkin, along with his team-mate, started the race from the pits after taking on new parts. Like Stroll, Sirotkin also made a mistake in qualifying, but managed to keep the car going and set a lap, albeit one that turned out to be the slowest of the session. Seeing the Williams team run plum last is such a shame to see.
Max Verstappen – 7
Verstappen may have been classified as a finisher, but a brake-by-wire issue ended his day late into the race. Ever-hungry, he was running in a solid podium position, but with the deficit of his Renault power-unit he was a sitting duck at the restarts. His defending to Raikkonen was brilliant.
Carlos Sainz – 5
A poor performance for Sainz both on Saturday and Sunday. A less-than-par qualifying session put him in the thick of the action, and he collided with Romain Grosjean. A weekend to forget for the Spaniard.
Romain Grosjean – 5
Will Austria be seen as a peak in Grosjean’s season? Three collisions in one weekend isn’t good enough. The first occurred in practice, with the second being the cardinal sin of hitting his team mate on the first lap. The third, a tangling with Sainz at Copse, ended his race. Grosjean should have lifted off the throttle, but he kept his foot buried, causing instability and ultimately the collision.
Marcus Ericcson – 6
Ericsson’s DRS didn’t close as he approached turn one during the race and he crashed heavily, bringing out the first safety car. The crash rounded out an unfortunate weekend for the Swede, after England took his country out of the World Cup the day before. He did, however, have great pace during qualifying and got through to Q2.
Charles Leclerc – 8
An unfortunate error in the pits for Sauber resulted in Leclerc’s rear tyre not being fitted properly and the team telling him to stop the car. He had made another Q3 appearance on Saturday and had been running seventh at the time of the error, which meant the loss of a potentially big haul of points.
Brendan Hartley – N/A
You can’t really comment on what a horrible weekend the Kiwi has had. The suspension failure on Saturday pretty much ended his weekend. He didn’t see any track action in qualifying, and a last minute problem starting from the pit lane resulted in retirement after one lap. None of it whatsoever was his fault.
Ferrari Media
There is now a two-week break before we head to Hockenheim in Germany, a track that we see appear every so often on the calendar. Vettel won on Hamilton’s home turf this weekend, but can Hamilton strike back with victory in Germany? Vettel hasn’t got a record like Hamilton at his home track, and has only won in Germany once in his Red Bull days. The summer break looms and, for drivers such as Grosjean and Vandoorne, the pressure increases.
