Busy and short week again, but Max is on a roll. Merc held on to the other two podium spots and took fastest lap late, but going back to the same track doesn't bode well unless they figured something out with race pace. Red Bull Leads in both championships for another week, Lando is strong again, Ferrari recovered a bit last weekend and made up ground on McLaren, Alonso is looking more and more comfortable in the Alpine and Ricciardo is still struggling for now. George and Pierre had some bad luck. This GP triple-header will wrap this weekend then we'll have a short break before heading to Silverstone.
Speed Is The New Black. Wednesday @ 8pm - 9pm (VelocityHD) replay
Garage Squad. Season 5 Ep2. Wednesday @ 9pm - 10pm (VelocityHD) new
Last week at Spa we had a lot of news break with drivers (both those with seats, those leaving seats and those needing a seat) and a wild run-up to Sunday's race with Esteban Ocon and Sergio Perez taking P3 and P4, respectively in Qualy, after it began raining at the end of Q2. Hams took the pole, seemingly out sniping Vettel for final drying lap runs as Kimi had to come back into the pits never to go back out. Ferrari still had the edge on pace and the race showed just that. The race started with a turn one incident eventually leading to five retirements; Ricciardo was rear-ended and put a front wing into the back of Kimi, damaging the iceman's RR tire and rear wing -- Kimi eventually retired after what appeared to be a DRS flap failure after a longish pitstop. Ricciardo's rear end damage lead to an emergency rear wing assembly swap which got him square again, but he was a lap down on everyone. Red Bull were gambling on a potential second safety car, that never came so they retired the car late to save the drivetrain. Meanwhile Alonso was rear ended a little further up ahead in the same turn one melee, by a surging Hulkenburg who could get on the brakes hard enough, which flipped Alonso over the top of LeClerc, all three retiring immediately afterwards. While all this was going on, Verstappen made hay, dispatching the two Point Force India cars as the first third of the GP unfolded. Vettel power slip-streamed Hamilton into the straight to Le Comb, after Hams got a great start, and took the lead never to relinquish it again. The halo on LeClerc's car did its job beautifully and no one was injured. The order settled a bit as the race unfolded, Hamilton seeming to settle into second rather than wear out his powertrain trying to chase Vettel down after they both made their first pit stop. With the checkered flag dropped, Vandoorne finished last (expectedly from back weekend performance) in his home GP, Red Bull rounded out the podium, the Haas boys followed up new-old Force India team who got their first points of the race season after the ownership change over. The Driver's Championship standings are as follows: Hamilton, Vettel (-17), Raikkonen (-85), Bottas (-87), Vertstappen (-111), Ricciardo (-113). The orange army cheered on Verstappen, finally getting a great result without bad luck for the first time; Hams looked worried about the power deficit to the latest Ferrari power unit upgrade heading into another power circuit, Monza, and Ferrari looks strong. Monza should be a season-impacting showdown.
Speed Is The New Black. Wednesday @ 8pm - 9pm (VelocityHD) new
Garage Squad. Season 5 premier. Wednesday @ 9pm - 10pm (VelocityHD) new
We return to F1 this weekend following two strong GP outings by Merc in Germany and Hungary; the story of Hungary was much different that of Germany; Hams took pole, got a great start in the race and pretty much lead from the front through the checkered flag. Ferrari wasn't as fast in the single lap despite Merc giving them all the credit in the world for having the fastest overall package, but tire wear came into play and Merc seemed to be as good if not a touch better on tires, which is unusual. Bottas got into a bit of trouble late into the race, with contact to Ricciardo on a hairpin when he lost front end grip on old tires, which ended up moving him back three spots from where he started the race, taking fifth. Ricciardo played a good tire strategy, going back onto hypersofts late to make up ground on the front-runners going long on the softs via one-stopper. The Ferrari boys did well as always and Kimi ended up getting passed by Vettel as he worked through his own strategy during the race. Verstappen was let down by his gearbox giving him another DNF. In the end, Vettel had some good damage control, Merc stretched the Constructor's lead to 9 and Hamilton stretched his Driver's lead to 24, which will likely come in handy sooner than later. In more important future news, Ricciardo has signed with Renault for 2019, which has firmed up the lineup for yet another team. Red Bull needs to find a driver who could be Sainz given they have an option on him, but they could pull from Toro Rosso as well. Alonso has also finally decided to walk away from McLaren after this season seemingly to chase the last leg of the career Motorsport Trifecta, the IndyCar Indy500. Spa will help folks distinguish themselves more for the remaining seats along with most teams beginning 2019 development efforts. The current Driver's Standing are as follows: Hamilton, Vettel (-24), Raikkonen (-67), Bottas (-81), Ricciardo (-95), Verstappen (-108). Spa should be another great race; it's a power track so Ferrari will try to get back in control of the podium, Red Bull will try to get as many points as possible with strong strategy and rain dancing, Merc is going to try to stretch this lead and the Orange-clad Max fans will be packed in the stands to cheer their boy on in his defacto home GP.
Speed Is The New Black. Season2 Ep7. Wednesday @ 9pm - 10pm (VelocityHD) new
So about that race in Germany...what a strategy gambling intensive Grand Prix; we had rain, we had mechanical failures, we had overtaking, we had cheers, tears and offs. Hamilton pushed way too hard in Q2 and seemingly damaged his gearbox, hydraulic failure sticking him in a single gear. This forced him to a starting position of P14 (softs) on Sunday. Vettel had a crazy qualifying run in his home GP, taking pole by 2 tenths over an outstanding lap by Valteri. This lead directly into the race; Ferrari on the front two rows, Verstappen in fourth (Ricciardo starting from the back (mediums) with new engine parts). Ferrari started well as always and the top positions were relatively unchanged. Meanwhile Ricciardo and Hams had to work their way through the field, which they both did; by about lap 20, Hamilton was up to 6th and Ricciardo was in 10th with an overtake on LeClerc. Things continued from there for the next 10-15 laps and then things got interesting; the rain in the forecast was scheduled to arrive around lap 44. Accordingly, Hamilton who had worked his way into the top five stayed out hoping to see what would come, while the leaders who already one stopped onto softs just before lap 20 were over 20 laps old and starting to get a bit scraggly. Then on lap 42 Merc decide to pit Lewis and put him on ultrasofts, betting on the rain being light in enough on most of the track to support much faster lap times to allow him to catch the front runners. His lap pace showed well, gaining about 2secs a lap on Vettel in P1. Then the rain started -- light over all, but enough to coat the road surface in a few places that inspired the mid-tier teams to gamble; Alonso, Verstappen and Grosjean came in for inters, one of the Torro Rosso's even came in for full wets. As lap 50 came closer folks began to understand the error in their gambles; Hamilton was closing the gap on the leaders still and folks with wet tires were shredding them on the dry tarmac. But it wasn't dry everywhere; Vettel put his Ferrari in the barrier on a seemingly innocuous approach to Sachs corner; he lost the front end, corrected and skidded into the gravel, gently tapping into the DHL logo, but beaching himself regardless. A gutting error, but his softs were old and the greasy track wasn't a good combo.
The ultrasofts became the clear tire of choice during the following safety car while they got Vettel's car moved. At this point Hams took over P1 during the pitstops and Verstappen's mistake of a inter gamble (30+ sec gap) was nullified. With about 10 laps left the field bunched up behind the safety car, Hams with the oldest ultrasofts of all the front runners, with his primary suitor being Bottas right behind him with fresh rubber. The safety car pulled away and Bottas was on Hams tail like white on rice; it appeared Hamilton's tires were colds and the delta in youth was the difference in grip. Hams defended while he worked his tires up to temp, but before that happened Bottas got team orders to hold position. This is how the race ended; Hams, winning a grand prix from 14th (miracle in itself), Bottas finishing where he started in second and the same for Raikkonen in third and Verstappen in 4th. Bottas has had some terrible luck this year, DNFs abound, but when he actually has finished races he's finished second; he's hungry for a victory and I really hope his position in the drivers championship doesn't keep him from getting one he has the ability to fight for this season. While it looked like Hamilton may have been able to catch him one his tires were up to temp, you never know with all the tire wear that occurs when following, especially with two evenly matched cars. Ah well, until next time. Ricciardo's new engine parts had another failure so a DNF for him, unfortunately.
With the checkered flag dropped, the drivers championship standings are as follows: Hamilton, Vettel (-16), Raikkonen (-57), Bottas (-66), Ricciardo (-82), Verstappen (-83). Mercedes-AMG has taken the constructors championship lead back from Ferrari (+8) with this 1-2 victory at their home GP, which was the most important thing for the team. Now we're headed to Hungary where strong aero teams like Red Bull are strong and Merc will wan to try reestablishing its position against a strong Ferrari power unit and more importantly strong overall package. It should be interesting to see who can get the upper hand before the Summer break.
Speed Is The New Black. Season2 Ep6. Wednesday @ 9pm - 10pm (VelocityHD) new
We find ourselves heading to Germany for the next round of F1, a week after three back to back races. The first of the three was won by Lewis Hamilton after Merc brought an upgraded power unit to France. The second of three was won by Max Verstappen in Austria after Merc brought aero upgrades which made them fast, but in spite of that pace suffered mechanical failures on both cars for a quite costly double DNF, all while Ferrari continued to rack up points. The last of the three races was won by Vettel in his Ferrari at Silverstone, after Hams took pole only to be spun around by a hard charging Kimi on lap one of his home grand prix. Hams made a miraculous push back to finish on the podium in second, but could only limit the damage so much since Vettel took the checkered flag. Heading into Vettel's home grand prix, Ferrari leads the Manufacturers Championship and the Driver's Championship standings are as follows: Vettel, Hamilton (-8), Raikkonen (-55), Ricciardo (-65), Bottas (-67), Verstappen (-88). All to play for this weekend, Red Bull still looking quite strong, Mercedes looking to bounce back in their home Grand Prix and Vettel and Ferrari look to stretch the lead over the Silver Arrows. Should be another great one.
Chasing Classic Cars. Tuesday @ 10pm - 10:30pm (VelocityHD) new
Speed Is The New Black. Min-marathon. Wednesday @ 8pm - 3am (VelocityHD) replays
We have back to back to back races with the second leg being Austria this weekend. Red Bull has decided to go with Honda power in 2019 and 2020 so this will be the last year running Renault. While they're leaving Renault, it's a bet on the future as they won 4 manufacturers and drivers championships with the old N/A 3.0L V8 powerplants. Honda looks to be stronger with the next generation of power unit but time will tell if that actually pans out. Meanwhile Merc looks like it's in much better shape with the upgraded powerplant, Hams taking qualy and the race win in France without much competition, primarily because Valteri keeps having terrible fortune, this past weekend getting tagged and tire punctured by Vettel into turn 2. The French driver contingent had three on offer for the return to Circuit Paul Ricard, but Ocon and Gasley took each other out in the lap 1 melee that caught many folks out with damage. McLaren looked woeful again, but Alonso seemed more comfortable with that Le Mans win on his mantle. Bottas salvaged the day to gain points so they've stretched the Constructors lead ever so slightly. The Red Bull duo put out a great effort, helping the team and their drivers fortify their points. Grosjean missed out on the points in his home GP, rounding out the French driving contingent. Leclerc made Q3 for the first time and was competitive all weekend; apparently teams are taking notice of his skills. With the flag dropped the Drivers Championship standings are as follows: Hamilton, Vettel (-14), Ricciardo (-29), Bottas (-33), Raikkonen (-63), Verstappen (-78). Austria is another power track so we'll see if Merc still has the edge with their most recent upgrade and if Red Bull can finally make a good showing at their home track. Don't forget IMSA sportscar racing at historic Watkins Glen!
Enjoy your motorsport infused Independence Day weekends.
Speed Is The New Black. Season 2 Ep3. Wednesday @ 8pm - 9pm (VelocityHD) new
It's been a couple busy weekends and I haven't watch the Canadian GP yet, was watching the 24Hrs of Le Mans and cleaning cars last weekend, so no recap for this week. We have two F1 races coming up back to back, starting with Canada, so I should have another in mid-July. I'll be smoking like a mofo this weekend so check my IG starting...today actually.
Speed Is The New Black. Season 2 Ep1. Wednesday @ 8pm - 9pm (VelocityHD) new
We're in Canada this weekend for the next round of F1 action for 2018, but Monaco was pretty interesting weekend for several reasons. RedBull Racing came into the weekend as the favorites, being the best with aero on slow corners and Monaco being the least dependent on power, of all the calendar's circuits. Ricciardo was confident and rightly so. Meanwhile, Verstappen was also quite fast, but ended up repeating the exact same accident that he had in 2016 (breaking his front suspension on turn 15 by cutting it too closely and going straight into the barrier on turn 16) at the worst of all times, late in FP3. Hamilton was quick, but not quick enough, however he was able to start in 3rd position for the GP. Ferrari was still fast and with Verstappen in the back of the field for the start of the race and out of qualy, Vettel took the runner up spot to Ricciardo's blistering record-smashing qualifying lap (1:10.810). The actual race was more of the same; the top six spots of qualifying matched the race finishing order (all the way down to Ocon in 6th), as track position is king on this circuit. Unfortunately, Alonso's Memorial Day weekend woes continued with his inability to finish another race in succession on this weekend. Last year it was the Indy500 while leading late, this year another mechanical failure on his F1 car (gearbox this time around). The silver lining of this is that this is amazingly the first DNF of the season which is head and shoulders above of last season's results. Also he got an endurance race win at the 6hrs of Spa earlier in May, which has to be some consolation. Ocon raced well, finished 6th and also played nice in the Mercedes manufacturer game by not impeding the races of Hams and Bottas during pit cycles, as this was the first race to feature the pink-walled hypersoft tires. Red Bull Racing put all their chips on this stickiest of the icky tire choice, and only had a set of ultrasofts to meet regulation during the race. Mercedes played with the ultras to see if they could be just as fast with them in Q2, but unfortunately they took too long to get up to temp so the hypersofts were also their optimum tire of the weekend. Verstappen did his best to make up for his late error to his team, by passing early and often, maxing out (no pun intended) in P9 during the race, but was able to get a few points to add onto Daniels 25. With the checkered flag dropped, Ricciardo celebrated with a shoey, Vettel sprayed the royals with champagne and the drivers standings are now as follows: Hamilton, Vettel (-14), Ricciardo (-38), Bottas (-42), Raikkonen (-50), Verstappen (-75). Canada is a power track, so Ferrari and Merc are looking to get back on track, no pun intended. Look out for the wall of champions!
