Round 6: Monaco 2016: Preview

Greetings Internet, 

The continual problem of late posts continues this week with the introduction to the famous... or infamous Monaco GP. A race weekend which has always been more about the heritage, the tradition and the spectacle than the actual sense of competition. But then again unless the two Mercedes cars bounce off one another again there is rarely too much competition towards the front of the grid anyway, and surprisingly the fallout from that collision last time in Spain has been bizarrely minimal. After the first incident in Belgium two years ago - the world erupted with opinions and theories, the team were apoplectic with the tiniest bit of contact which did cost them the win but didn't take both cars out of the race at the time. This time round it was declared a racing incident, and even the drivers themselves haven't had a significant falling out like they did last time, although I imagine behind closed doors there are some very different feelings which are being hidden from the general public. 

The News

Things have been rather quiet on the news front over the past two weeks - or more accurately I haven't seen too much news because I've been busy with stuff. Life the universe and things do tend to get in the way of taking meaninglessly into the dark and empty void that is this deserted corner of cyberspace. Alas despite my seclusion from all things motorised, the odd story has cycled it's way into my view and those include a pair of new rules that have made an appearance for the Monaco GP. The first of which is a temporary relaxation of the 'One helmet design per season' rule for the sake of this race weekend. There is a degree of tradition in doing something special simply because it is the Monaco GP and that a title which delivers all kinds of

connotations. So as a result several drivers have opted for one-off helmet designs for the weekend, Massa for example has some strange faces drawn all over it by some graffiti artist. Grosjean however has gone for a design in tribute to Jules Bianchi's triumphant points scoring effort in 2014 on the hallowed streets. 

The other rule in the helmet department regards tear-offs, in the preseason there were a lot of discussions surrounding disposal of tear-offs, and finding ways of keeping them off the track surface. The concept aims to prevent incidents where tear-offs have found their way into brake ducts and cooling systems and cause retirements. 

Initially the FIA wanted a blanket ban on discarding the tear-offs outside the cockpit and instruct drivers to store them inside the car. A plan which never took off because there is no reasonable place to store them when hurtling round a race track, the air pressures inside the cockpit case them to rattle around and get caught in the pedals. So taking this information the FIA delayed the idea, until this weekend where a compromise was put in place - two tear-offs were permitted during the race and none during the other sessions. Since the rule was introduced on Thursday is has since been reversed once more - Charlie Whiting has found that the same conclusions that caused the rule to be abolished the first time, still hold now... who knew...

The Venue

Monaco - Home of Maldonado's never forgotten barrier fort...

Monaco is probably one of the few races in the world alongside the Indy 500 and the Le Mans 24hrs that ordinary folk have heard of. Because of its history, its reputation and because of the money that changes hands across the weekend, if the long running street race was held in the suburbs of Northern England I bet it wouldn't get quite the same reception... even if the climate was more agreeable. But underneath the layers of obscene wealth, egotistic celebrities pining for any millisecond of screen time and parties there is a lot to like about the most superficial venue on the calendar.

Once you've scraped away the shiny facade of rich people you get down to the real reason that makes Monaco so special - and that is the circuit itself. In this modern era of F1 it easily be argued that the speed and power of the cars have outgrown the tiny coastal roads around the marina. But it places even more of a challenge on the drivers to keep all four wheels out of the omnipresent barriers. Yes the racing might be a tad on the processional side because overtaking is so much of a challenge - but one the rare occasions it does happen it is a joy to behold. But it is the mastery of the layout that is more testing than fighting for position, finding the limits and inching closer to the barriers without doing too much damage. 

Even though the track is folded into the very tight confines of a small Mediterranean city there is a remarkable amount of variation between the types of corner and the corner speeds. While at the same time incorporating iconic features known through the entire racing world, from the slowest corner of the season at the Loews Hairpin, the unique tunnel section and the high speed swimming pool chicane. While tracks come and go from the calendar and go through layout changes - even Monza is considering a substantial redesign - Monaco remains the same. Not since the inclusion of the swimming pool section in the late 60s has the format changed. A couple of modifications here and there but everything else is as it was... with more barriers and less lamp posts that is.

The Form Guide

As is the tradition in Monaco, the first practice sessions are held on the Thursday - so we already have a reasonable idea of how things are going to work out. Based on the evidence of the first two practice sessions the winner of the race will be declared based on whichever car is still running at the end. The barriers have seen quite a lot of action so far - Haryanto, Palmer, Massa, Grosjean, Magnussen, Vettel, Palmer again and a second bump from Vettel sums up those who have had incidents thud far. Gutierrez and Bottas came very close to adding to that list in the first session, which was ended after Rosberg threw a drain cover at Jenson Button shattering the McLaren front wing. It wasn't the first time a drain cover has come loose under the aerodynamic forces of a race car but does ask questions of the normally impeccable preparations of the Monaco circuit organisers. But then again they might be feeling a little edgy after they dropped a historic McLaren from a crane during the Historic GP a fortnight ago. 

Aside from the carnage a strange development arose from the practice session results - and that is Red Bull look rather strong this weekend in the hands of Daniel Ricciardo. Because Renault have brought an upgraded engine to Monaco, claiming gains of up to half a second per lap - which is a sizable jump. Magnussen for the factory Renault team has been given the newer engine too as there is only one available per team right now, but he spend time time in the wall so the jury is out on precisely how much it could help him. In FP2 Ricciardo with the new engine topped the timesheets and looked comfortable doing so ahead of Mercedes. Toro Rosso made themselves look like strong points contenders too - while Ferrari were struggling, Vettel hit the wall twice and Raikkonen was just off the pace. However I can imagine the red cars will sort something out for qualifying - so there is the potential for a genuine fight for pole that doesn't just involve Mercedes for once. 

Anything can happen in the mid-field this time around, utter chaos can prevail and really rearrange the grid and the finishing order. As previously mentioned Toro Rosso have proven they have a really strong chassis being dragged around by the older spec Ferrari engine and Kvyat is dominating Sainz thus far. So they might be in front of the mid-field scrap featuring Williams, Force India, McLaren, Haas and if things stay as they are potentially Ferrari. McLaren have been quite vocal that they think they can beat Ferrari and therefore aim to be ahead of the main mid-field melee, but so far the times don't quite match that boast, even with Ferrari struggling so much at the moment. 

At the back Renault, Sauber and Manor are on course for a difficult weekend, Renault look closest to joining the next group with Magnussen's upgraded car but the others are anchored to the back. Manor and Sauber especially are suffering from little aerodynamic grip and underdeveloped chassis' - Manor topped the speeds in Spain at times but can't go round corners quite as quickly as the others... shame Monaco is just about all corners then isn't it.

There is one final entrant that might mix things up a little bit, and that is the weather - there are forecasts of rain for the race which is generally bad for Williams, good for Jenson and hilarious for us folks at home. If they are already struggling to keep the cars off the walls then things will only get more chaotic if the rain does happen... oh please let there be some rain...

Round 5: Spain: Bonus Points

Greetings Internet, 

Now as you might be aware, the Spanish GP actually took place a week ago, and we all know how that played out and the events have been shared across the world. But while this was all taking place in real time, I was hanging out in Beamish playing with steam trains and other olde worlde things, which meant it wasn't possible to see the race live and only caught up with the highlights later on in the evening. Due to other commitments this format of a Sunday may become the norm, as the world of motorsport does bore other people a considerable amount - at Blog HQ there are often audible groans when the other residents realise there is a race on the TV, and outside of Blog HQ time is often spent away from the television. This is rather exacerbated by the fact that Sky have bought half the season, so when in a place with freeview it doesn't have access to the footage. 

The Race

We all know what happened last Sunday, as it was one of those races where the result and images would be broadcast across the world in the following days after the chequered flag fell. The whole thing began when the two Mercedes drivers took themselves out of the race on the entrance to turn four, and aggressive overtaking effort was met with an even more aggressive defensive manoeuvre and the two met in the middle. Before reconvening in the gravel trap moments later. What followed was an example of what Formula 1 would look like without that dominant team making everyone else look slow and off pace. When the safety car was initially deployed it was a Red Bull 1-2-3 with Carlos Sainz, sitting behind Ricciardo and Verstappen. Ferrari made easy work of Sainz on the restart thanks to DRS and a newer version of the Ferrari engine.

The rest of the race came down to strategy as the lead quartet split into two groups based on the number of stops they wanted to take... or how many the team suggested. This strategy has also summoned a series of conspiracy theories - as some people are pointing out that Red Bull might have sabotaged Ricciardo's strategy to lure Vettel out of the equation and gift a win to their new prodigy in the form of Max Verstappen. As the dutchman crossed the line in first place, history was made as the youngest ever winner, and winning on his debut with a new team. Whether this anomalous form will continue into Monaco, who knows, or whether Spain was an anomaly... but we'll see what happens when Mercedes don't knock themselves out of the race. There were other intra-team battles that occurred further down the field - the two Haas cars brushed wheels when duelling with Jolyon Palmer, then Palmer himself came to bother on the final lap when Magnussen attempted an aggressive overtake forcing Jolyon off track.

The Bonus Points Winners
So with that review sort of pulled together it is time to move onto the matter of the points... just so that they are out of the way before Monaco. 

• 25pts - Carlos Sainz - A brilliant start and running third under the safety car without the older engine and DRS might have been able to hold off the Ferraris
• 18pts - Kimi Raikkonen - Round the outside of Bottas by millimetres on the opening lap and making the most of the tyre strategy to earn another podium finish.
• 15pts - Max Verstappen - A brilliant debut win under pressure from Raikkonen once the strategy cleared the cars ahead of him. 
• 12pts - Daniel Ricciardo - Fought hard to challenge Vettel for third but another late puncture cost him the shot at the podium
• 10pts - Esteban Gutierrez - The first race where the Mexican exhibited stronger form than Grosjean  for the Haas team in their continued run of form, just missed out on the points
• 8pts - Felipe Massa - After a terrible qualifying Felipe drove a strong recovery drive to continue his streak of points scoring finishes for Williams
• 6pts - Daniil Kvyat - Gets demoted and then scores a point and the fastest lap of the race, and unlapped himself on Ricciardo in the closing laps. A move which seemed funnier before it became apparent Daniel had a puncture.
• 4pts - Jenson Button - After Alonso secured the best qualifying result of their new era, Jenson Button took home some points on the Sunday for the team when Fernando's car broke down
• 2pts - Nico Hulkenberg - Following in the footsteps of Heikki Kovalainen and taking over the fire fighting duties from the marshals once his Force India started roasting itself mid race.
• 1pt - Nico Rosberg - The move round the outside of Hamilton on the opening lap was brilliant... then things went wrong a few corners later

Looking ahead to Monaco

The monaco GP is a race that is drowning in tradition and history but doesn't often deliver the most enthralling race, because it is so difficult to overtake and engage in prolonged wheel to wheel contact. But it is also a race where chaos can reign supreme and drivers can out-drive their cars and deliver history making performances. Jules Bianchi's stunning points scoring finish in 2014 is one of those wonderful occurrences that a mad street race can deliver. We've had contact, controversy and craziness - sometimes all in the same race weekend. On the back of this Spanish GP, I expect tensions to be quite high in certain garages... tensions that might spill into on track mayhem. Anything to distract us from the plague of 'celebrities' who seem to only appear if there is a chance of getting on TV... but hopefully there will be too much happening on track that there will be no cause to look for famous faces. 

Round 5: Spain 2016: Qualifying

Greetings Internet, 

There are some qualifying sessions that take hours to complete and are peppered with rain, collisions and make Saturday a very dramatic affair. Then there are sessions like today, running under clear-ish skies with no interruptions but prove to be just as enthralling but for different reasons. Yes looking at the grid and the results of the afternoon's competition demonstrated the precise characteristics of the Spanish circuit which can often see the running order defined by team performance. However underneath that result was an array of strong individual performances and drivers under pressure from new team mates. What materialised was a series of internal battles playing out within the macrocosm of the main grid. To make things look a little more interesting tomorrow on a track which doesn't necessarily lend itself to lap after lap of wheel to wheel racing there are a couple of cars out of position. 

Q1

At the start of the session Manor had the Spanish tarmac to themselves and alas despite all the will in the world, the folk from the lower end of the grid weren't going to threaten the Q2 positions. The same could be said for Sauber whose financial difficulties have severely hampered development, and both teams were anchored to the bottom two rows of the grid. Sauber ahead of Manor purely because they have a slightly more aerodynamically effective configuration while Manor have the stronger engine. That left two relegation places left and early in the session those seemed to be earmarked for Renault or Haas.

But there was a fly in that particular ointment, in the form of an errant Williams - an early lap plagued with traffic meant that Felipe Massa was loitering dangerously close to the drop zone it would only take a strong lap from those right behind him to cause more significant problems. While we waited for someone to make that attempt, at the front it was another predictable Mercedes 1-2 with Rosberg ahead of Lewis - Red Bull and Ferrari fighting over who would be the closest challengers. 

Back with the relegation battle, Felipe was running out of time to secure his promotion into Q2. It got more difficult when Jenson Button buried the McLaren deep in the promotion places, but McLaren have been showing more pace this weekend. The bigger surprise was Kevin Magnussen in the Renault delivering a brilliant lap to secure only the second Q2 appearance for the bright yellow machines in 2016. This dropped Massa into relegation and bizarrely he was unable to respond despite having a much faster car than those around him, so he and Palmer in the second Renault joined Manor and Sauber in relegation.

Q2

Now I must admit that for the start of this second part of qualifying I was in the kitchen, as the mid-session toastie took a little longer to prepare than one would have liked. But once I returned the two Mercedes cars were setting their one and only flying laps of the second part of qualifying. Laps which were comfortably faster than they achieved in Q1 and in this instance the balance of power shifted away from Rosberg as Hamilton started to emerge as the most likely car to take the all important pole position. It was in this second part of the qualifying session where we could look at how the driver swapping episode within the Red Bull camp was playing out. At this stage Mad Max Verstappen was doing a striking job in his new seat as he was defeating his more experienced team mate. It was also the first time we started to see Ferrari struggling - Raikkonen visited the tarmac run-off on the outside of turn three. Vettel in the other car was also experiencing oversteer.

In the battle in and around the relegation zone, there were some drivers who were locked into the bottom six places - Magnussen and the two Haas cars didn't quite have the pace to threaten the top ten. In the middle of this fight was the second of the new team-mate battles - where Kvyat was not having the same degree of success in his new team. Carlos Sainz was sitting inside the top ten, while the Russian was struggling to keep up the same level of performance and looked unlikely to make progress. In the end strong performances from Alonso and Perez - the former scoring the best qualifying result for the new McLaren Honda partnership on home turf - meant that Daniil was doomed to stay in the relegation zone.

Q3
The final part of the qualifying session turned into more of a formality at the front - as the two Mercedes took to the track but only Rosberg completed a lap that staked a claim on the front row of the grid. Lewis on the hand, got things a little wrong and posted a slower lap due to a lock-up on his first flying lap. This lead to an unusual running order after the first set of competitive qualifying laps - Mad Max Verstappen was second with the Ferraris seeming to be struggling in comparison, losing their grasp on the role of being Mercedes' closest challengers. 

On the track there was some work to do in the Mercedes camp to regain the standard control of the front row. The question would be whether Rosberg would be able to secure his first pole position this season in a session where Hamilton's car hadn't broken down. The answer was, well... no. Once again Lewis found the time he lost on the first attempt and demoted Nico into second place but that wasn't the most intriguing development as the battle for third sat on the verge of stealing highlights. At present Verstappen was poised to be the leading challenger to the two silver cars on his debut... that was until Ricciardo took exception to the young upstart turning up in his team and showing him who's boss. In response Ricciardo delivered an epic lap to knock several tenths off Max's time and only a few more tenths short of Rosberg's second place time. Ferrari on the other side had to settle for the third row.

The Bonus Points Championship Points Winners
Here are the points following the qualifying for the Spanish GP, although this points total is actually been written a week after the session actually took place due to other events taking place throughout the weekend made it impossible to complete the post after the live broadcast.

• 10pts - Daniel Ricciardo - That was a monumental lap to make sure he asserted number one status in the team when it mattered
• 8pts - Fernando Alonso - Got the McLaren into Q3 for the first time in the new Honda era
• 6pts - Kevin Magnussen - Since the return of the new/old qualifying format Renault haven't made it out of Q3, until Magnussen escaped relegation in Spain
• 5pts - Max Verstappen - Adjusted to the new car very quickly and almost became the fastest Red Bull car on his debut
• 4pts - Carlos Sainz - Was paired with the outgoing Kvyat this weekend and comfortably beat the more experienced Russian 
• 3pts -Kimi Raikkonen - Out qualified Vettel after a making fewer mistakes on the second flying lap
• 2pts - Valtteri Bottas - After Williams struggled with Massa, Valtteri holds up the flag and got the car into the top ten.
• 1pt - Sergio Perez - Force India inside the top ten when the often favoured Hulkenberg fell out in Q2

Normally I'd have a 'Looking to tomorrow' section but as it is now a week after the fact... it would be a little pointless so I shall just move on to work on something resembling a race post...

Round 5: Spain 2016: Preview

Greetings Internet, 

After taking a race weekend off to mingle with the world of nerdy celebrities and their costumed fans and onlookers, blog HQ has returned for the Spanish GP - much to the collective disappointment of the internet I've no doubt. It does mean that no points were handed out during the Russian GP as I was away for its entirety - catching up with proceedings on the Tuesday after the race. 

So moving swiftly on, the Spanish GP has been traditionally the start of the European season and despite Russia taking that honour this year - it is still considered to be the first European race. Even previously Russia was bundled after the Japanese GP as one of the final set of flyaway races outside Europe... maybe there is a conspiracy theory there. It might be best to chat with Mercedes on that one, as they have stepped forward in debunking other conspiracy theories pointed at them in the past week. The annual trip to Barcelona for a race weekend isn't traditionally one of those races that fills anyone barring the most enthusiastic of fans with a sense of grand anticipation. The hundreds of testing laps all teams have completed of the Catalunya circuit means that performance will be dictated more by the car than driver ability more so than any other track. Which means that the result in qualifying will likely by quite similar to the finishing order on Sunday, with strategies creating most, if not all of the position changes. So this gives the Spanish GP on this circuit a reputation of being a little... underwhelming, hampered by the lack of overtaking opportunities. It is a shame because barring the miserable final chicane the track is several shades better than the generic modern venues that are taking over the calendar. But before we get into all that, time for the news... and boy has there been some since Russia.

The Spanish GP - 2000 - Back when we had four yellow cars... Including the legend that was Gaston Mazzacane...

The News

While the Russian GP did see another generic Mercedes 1-2 in what was the least entertaining race of the championship so far there was plenty going on beneath that result. Events that have played on into the weeks that followed before this weekend's race. The biggest story is the one that has come as a significant shock to the wider motorsport community, and involves Mad Max Verstappen being promoted to Red Bull with immediate effect. To make way for the Dutchman, Daniil Kvyat was bumped down to Toro Rosso where he can make friends with Carlos Sainz Jnr. After a podium finish in China and a strong - if not erratic set of performances in 2015 it is being widely regarded as a very harsh decision... and one which I don't really agree with. But the fact of the matter is that the powers that be at Red Bull have been wanting to promote Max for a while, mostly to prevent other teams from pinching him, and because they think is going to be the next 'Vettel'. So with that inner motive in mind, all they needed was an excuse, a catalyst of sorts to make the swap. 

The race in Sochi provided that Catalyst after Daniil made a bit of a mess of the opening corner (well turn two) and rammed Sebastian Vettel... and then hit him again midway through turn three causing the Ferrari driver to crash out, and swear a lot... and then some more after that. In the melee Ricciardo and Sainz all suffered damage - most of the Red Bull squad lost out in the incident and thus lost a lot of potential points. A week later it was announced that the swap would take place. The thing is that the crash(es) itself shouldn't warrant a demotion - for example when driving for Toro Rosso, Vettel rammed Webber in the main Red Bull team under the safety car in Fuji, costing both drivers many points. Was Vettel fired/demoted... nope, and then again when Vettel collided with Webber in Turkey 2011 - when the two cars were  first and second - no one was fired. Many other drivers have been retained after embarrassing collisions... just remember how many years Maldonado was employed (although there was money behind that). So on that basis I suspect there are much bigger forces at work here involving a lot of pressure to move Verstappen into the main team as quickly as possible. Kvyat may well be the unfortunate victim a forceful power play between Helmut Marko and the rest of the Red Bull administration. In the end Red Bull does have a history of booting out good drivers in the hope they will eventually discover the best driver. Alguersuari, Bourdais, Vergne and Buemi are among many in that list so this brutal approach to driver selection is very much in their competitive manifesto. 

I admit that Daniil has been very mature and restrained throughout this whole debacle, and Red Bull themselves have fed him little in the way of an explanation about the demotion. One telling insight from his comments to the press came in the following quote "I got to know many interesting details, I must say, but I think I’ll keep it for myself for now" I do wonder what those interesting details were, but do indicate that this about far more than colliding with Red Bull's most successful driver. 

In other news Mercedes have hit back against the inevitable armada of conspiracy theorists online and in the media. Again this came down to the events of the Russian GP, where in qualifying Lewis suffered the same problem with the hybrid system he did in China - forcing him to start 10th. Kvyat's demolition derby approach to turn two haved that penalty by removing several drivers in the way. There have been calls that Mercedes are now sabotaging Lewis' car in order for their German driver to ease his way to the championship for the German team in a German car... These theories first arose when Lewis had issues in qualifying for the German and Hungarian races in 2014, but faded in 2015 when Nico faced a spate of technical problems in Italy and Russia. From what I have seen, the conspiracy theorists have been quieter this season... thus far, so it was a surprise to see Mercedes publish an open letter to shut the conspiracy theories down. Of course the team won't sabotage a car to favour another driver... they need both cars running 1-2 to make the constructors championship a formality. But the publication of the letter does indicate that there may have been more complaints and accusations flying in directly to Mercedes than were aired in the public domain. On the other hand the GPDA published an open letter to the world about FOM and it's general leadership, so I guess Mercedes figured that open letters were all the rage these days and jumped on the bandwagon.


The Spanish GP
Moving on now the the race weekend at hand, and as previously mentioned the Spanish GP traditionally formed the start of the European season and is the first time in the championship that teams bring new updates and upgrades to the cars. Force India have boldly claimed that their car will look very different when their upgrades are applied... but in FP1 there was no such dramatic evolution of the design at all. So perhaps those parts are being saved for later, of or for the post race test next week. The nature of the track is one of the reasons it is allocated as the designated test venue for the pre-season development. The assortment of high, medium and low speed corners means that most elements of the cars performance can be evaluated - even the inclusion of the hideous final chicane provides an evaluation of low speed mechanical grip. The net result of all this is that everyone has a firm grasp of the circuit and thus the difference between drivers in terms of lap time will be more heavily influenced by the capabilities of the car, rather than it's pilot. 

In some corners like turn three and Campsa, the aerodynamic performance defines the speed drivers can sustain through the bend, and the long straights are governed by engine performance and drag limitations. This is due to the dominant influence of downforce on lap time round the circuit as the majority of corners are relatively long, especially in comparison to the previous race in Sochi. For most teams and drivers they will have roughly optimised setups obtained through the testing milage and a lengthy history of circuit evolution with temperature and other variables. 

So far in practice Ferrari have been setting the fastest times but only by virtue of running the soft tyre when Mercedes haven't tried that at this point in time, so when they do I expect the running order to normalise. Red Bull have a strong configuration here benefitting Ricciardo and Mad Max, but once again the mid-field does look really competitive again as it has done for so much of this season. Toro Rosso, Williams, Force India, Haas and McLaren are all duelling for the remaining points positions once the top teams have taken the lions share. Unlike Russia Williams are anchored into this midfield group as they can't rely on the Mercedes engine to put one over on Red Bull to become the closest challengers to the factory Mercedes team and Ferrari out front. 

Off the back of the mid-field we have Renault, Sauber and Manor in their own separate battle to avoid being in last place -  at the moment it seems as if Haas have escaped from this bottom group and moved into the core mid-field pack for this weekend. But with all the differing programs and tyre strategies being operated across FP1 and FP2 at the moment 

Bonus Points for The Russian GP
In the aim of completeness it would be a good idea to add some points for the race that took place when I was touring round the midlands in a bus - and then hanging out with famous people. So here are the points for the Russian GP from Sochi - both qualifying and the race points

Qualifying
Qualifying was viewed over a couple of days after downloading the session file from channel 4 online through the hotel wifi. So in honesty I can remember more or less nothing about what happened when using the tiny phone screen as my portal into reality... so here are some points.

• 10pts - Sergio Perez - Got the car into the top ten while Hulkenberg didn't do so well, so he must have done something impressive I think
• 8pts - Valtteri Bottas - Only managed the front row due to Vettel's penalty and Hamilton's technical difficulty... but he beat one Ferrari on pace that must count for something... right?
• 6pts - Daniel Ricciardo - On a power dependant circuit, qualifying a Renault powered car anywhere near the front gets points
• 5pts - Felipe Nasr - The new chassis is certainly having an impact and putting him comfortably ahead of Ericsson
• 4pts - Jenson Button - Less than a tenth away from making it into Q2 for the first time in the new Honda era, it is only a matter of time now
• 3pts - Mad Max Verstappen - Got the Toro Rosso into the top ten, but only barely defeated Sainz in Q2 in the process
• 2pts - Daniil Kvyat - After a podium in Russia he closed up the qualifying deficit to Ricciardo... nothing could go wrong there...
• 1pt - Rio Haryanto - Despite being seen by many as a low ability pay driver, Rio's qualifying time kept him ahead of Ericsson and within a tenth of Wehrlein.

The Race

Once again it was 4od that came to rescue this time, and on a tuesday morning I borrowed a lunch break to process the goings on in the winter olympic park. There was plenty of chaos in the first breaking zone and then not too much after that - Vettel got cross, Kvyat got demoted and several people benefited from the mayhem. The race was less impressive than the others this season, but they all can't be marvellous, but like qualifying I can't really remember too much so these points will be based on my fading recollection, guesswork and looking at the results on the internet to jog my memory.

• 25pts - Kevin Magnussen - The yellow car has points!, which in itself is marvellous but the underpowered and underdeveloped Renault car finished 7th despite starting the race in 17th. Yes the crash helped that progress but staying that high up is impressive.
• 18pts - Fernando Alonso - Another beneficiary of the crashes but drove through the middle of the melee to pick up places and score the best points result for McLaren this season.
• 15pts - Romain Grosjean - More points for Haas, after their non-scoring race in China, but only Grosjean is delivering (mostly because Esteban's car keeps breaking or getting run into... or in the case of Russia, doing the hitting).
• 12pts - Jenson Button - A double points scoring day for McLaren, you don't see to many of those these days 
• 10pts- Marcus Ericsson - Despite being beaten in qualifying Marcus won the team-mate battle on Sunday... mostly by not having a fight with Palmer but even so, here are some points. 
• 8pts - Kimi Raikkonen - Held up the flag for Ferrari as Vettel was introduced to the barrier 
• 6pts - Nico Rosberg - Made a strong start and drove unchallenged to another win
• 4pts - Lewis Hamilton - Another strong recovery race, although most of that was down to the start, half of those places were gained in turn three. 
• 2pts - Daniil Kvyat - Two points for two collisions with vettel, because one has to laugh really
• 1pt - Sebastian Vettel - Gets the final point for the longest, angriest tirade on the radio I've heard, the chap with the swear button also gets an honourable mention

• -1pt - Lewis Hamilton - I saw that cheeky dive across the run-off area to avoid the accident, yes you obeyed the rejoining rules. But you were very eager to take that route and gain full advantage from doing so.
• -1pt - Red Bull - Yes the decision was made after the race but I am adding the penalty point now, simply because this is when I am writing up the points. In the very same race Gutierrez made an identical error and hit Hulkenberg... Gutierrez has not been dropped or demoted to a reserve driver role now has he...

Round 4: Russia 2016: Preview

Greetings Internet, 

As this little island continues to pretend to reenact winter, the championship travels to the far end of Europe to the former home of the winter olympics in Russia. For the first time the start of the European season begins in Sochi having traditionally being held in Spain with the occasional trip to Turkey back when Istanbul featured on the calendar. Here at an equally wintery blog HQ the past couple of weeks have been rather problematic in terms of productivity - a dress rehearsal and a almost continuous week of rehearsals meant that is wasn't feasible to craft a report on the Chinese GP, which was again another entertaining installment of the unfolding championship. The bonus points for which will be added to this introductory post. But before we begin there is a slight problem with blog HQ's coverage of the Russian GP, and that problem is that I shall be in Nottingham throughout the weekend and thus will be rather unlikely to catch up with the races live on the day. Furthermore there will certainly be no time for any write-ups, not that they are any good to begin with - so things might not go to plan. I shall have to figure out what I am going to do with points and stuff over the course of the weekend, while at the same time avoiding finding out who won. 

The News

In the past weeks the arguments that dominated the opening couple of races have finally subsided, for the time being, and instead discussions have been redirected towards the rule changes for 2017. With several deadlines coming and then going without these rules and design regulations being set in stone, the time needed to develop cars to meet the specifications continually ebbs away. The problem is that with the teams being significantly involved in the process, each of them will want to engineer the rules closer to their own strengths. Red Bull wanting more downforce, and Mercedes wanting engine stability and probably more power - and at the same time Pirelli are outlining their requirements for the tyres capable of withstanding the forces of a breed of faster race cars. We know some of the criteria the team have to build to - 2m wide cars with 'aggressive' aesthetics and wider tyres. What that will actually look like is a matter of debate. 

For example in winter testing the first concept design of a head protection device dubbed 'The Halo' demonstrated by Ferrari - now Red Bull have stepped into that arena with their own creation "The Aeroscreen". This new creation is effectively a large visor glued in front of the cockpit, creating a solid barrier between the driver and any debris. While the device has obvious greater protective potential, it also presents the possibility for greater visibility problems. Oil, water and general dirt can accumulate on the screen and the driver doesn't have the ability to clear it himself. Special coatings can help reduce the problem but probably not eliminate it. Being a Red Bull creation I can imagine that the Aeroscreen will have been designed with any aerodynamic advantage in mind likely having a much larger impact on handling than the Halo. Test videos posted by Red Bull have illustrated that the screen can withstand the impact of a loose wheel or debris hit at high speed without deflecting too much or shattering. The only concern is that in a test with a loose wheel, after the initial impact the wheel still brushed the top of the driver's helmet - some minor changes may improve the ability of the screen to push large debris away from the car.

The Venue

Sochi is now entering it's third season as an entry in the calendar and the previous two races have been polar opposites in terms of levels of entertainment and competition. In the first incarnation of the race, Hamilton drove to an uncontested victory in a race which was dubbed the most boring event of the year. In contrast the second attempt was far more entertaining, there was good racing, a safety car intervention, and then another one later. A three way last lap fight for the podium involving a collision and an underdog taking home the silverware - one of the best races of the year. So when it comes to round three... who knows what to expect. 

The track itself isn't going to go down in history as one of the most inspired layouts - with a lot of generic repetitive corners and enough tarmac run-off to land a passenger jet in. In the build up to the weekend several drivers were remarking that the space offline is a little excessive, and will undoubtedly be abused throughout the race weekend... especially at turn two and across the final couple of corners. 

However the track does have the odd unique feature, the most notable of which being the enormous turn three - which saw Grosjean bounce off the wall in last years race. Also the technical braking area after the long back straight has been known to present an interesting challenge - a challenge that caught Carlos Sainz Jnr out in FP3 last time as he plowed into the barriers.

A couple of changes have been made to the track to minimise some of the difficulties with the track, the first of which being the excessive run off space on the exit of turn two. Astroturf has been placed on the other side of the curb so that drivers will at least be fractionally inconvenienced when cheating. The other changes are to curb heights at other locations and updates to the barriers that Sainz buried himself under at the end of the second sector.

The Form Guide

Well as a result of many things, all of which can be generally described as laziness this post is happening after the first two practice sessions. Which means you, and I already know what the rough running order its, and it is almost identical to how it was in China. Mercedes have a comfortable lead and Ferrari are the nearest rivals - it is estimated that in the cooler temperatures predicted for the coming days in Sochi, that their advantage will only grow. As to which of the two drivers will come out on top - who knows Rosberg comfortable lead FP1 and then Hamilton comfortably lead FP2 so neither is really showing their hand yet. 

The middle of the pack once more looks magnificent - Williams, Red Bull and the vast majority of the mid-field are not too far away from one another which means that the chances of a repeat of the Chinese GP in terms of action are reasonable good - more so if we drop a Ferrari or Mercedes to the back. Even McLaren seem to be getting amongst the times near the points positions which is promising for their continued improvement. Toro Rosso and Force India seem to be the two teams towards the bottom of this mid-field group, but with reasonable straight line speed - more so for Force India - they could recoup some of the places lost in qualifying. All in all this group of cars might make up the bulk of the entertainment on Sunday.

At the back of the field the bottom four teams are starting to slip slightly from the core of the mid-field. Renault and Haas remain only just within sight of those teams in front mostly in the hands of their lead drivers, but in FP2 the two teams engineered a sort of no-mans land between the main midfield and the back of the grid runners closer to the latter than the former. Just behind them we have Sauber and Manor propping up the final rows of the practice grid. A new chassis for Nasr has him comfortably beating Ericsson and the two Manor drivers. At this stage Haryanto is out pacing his highly rated team-mate but Pascal did end FP2 with a technical issue.

Bonus Points that should have been Bonus Points a fortnight ago

As I mentioned earlier, it has been a busy time with one thing and another so the points for China race day were not listed. So without even more delay to proceedings - here are the results following that event

• 25pts - Daniel Ricciardo - Loses at tyre when in the lead, gets caught out by the safety car and still finishes in fourth place a great drive
• 18pts - Kimi Raikkonen - Dropped to the back on lap one, and finishes ahead of the other driver in the same spot despite a slower car
• 15pts - Daniil Kvyat - An opportunistic start caught Vettel by surprise and was completely unphased when the German complained before stepping onto the podium.
• 12pts - Lewis Hamilton - Started last, made contact on the first lap, was last again and still finished with points
• 10pts - Felipe Massa - Put up a strong defence against Hamilton as he attempted to carve through the field
• 8pts - Nico Rosberg - A crushing albeit unopposed victory, has to be worth some points
• 6pts - Pascal Wehrlein - After the safety car the Manor driver was running 4th... in a Manor. Yes it was just track position due to strategy but he held onto places better than Rio did on the restart
• 4pts - Sebastian Vettel - Lost several places at the start and still finished second, and the rant pre-podium was brilliant
• 2pts - Rio Haryanto - Wasn't last at the end of the race, finishing ahead of Jolyon Palmer's Renault
• 1pt - Esteban Gutierrez - Well done for finishing... well done...

Round 3: China 2016: Qualifying

Greetings Internet, 

Well the old format of qualifying has returned following some unfavourable attempts at getting the elimination format off the ground in Australia and then again in Bahrain we have the most exciting grid of the championship thus far. To some extent that wasn't a factor of the format but due to technical difficulties beyond anyone's control. But of all the race weekends to step away from the version of qualifying that we were stumped with since the start of the year, this one proved to be far better served by the reinstated configuration. A session that featured two red flag interruptions would have caused mayhem under the elimination format, because drivers would be forced to the pits during the clean up. On the restart there isn't enough time for drivers to drive an outlap and then a flying lap before being counted out. So on balance not only do we have a highly anticipated grid for tomorrow's race, but we also had an entertaining session and the best one of 2016 - which included a battle for pole between two teams for once.

That rain which was forecast for Saturday did arrive, but only in FP3 and then again after the final part of qualifying had been completed - the track itself throughout the afternoon was dry. With the exception of two patches underneath the giant bridges over the main straight as they were shielded from the wind and water leaking from the towers continually replenished the puddles.

Q1

With the damp patches, several drivers played it safe by starting the session on the intermediates rather than a slick option, others on the other hand were feeling a little bit braver. Those taking the brave pills included the two Manor drivers - while Mercedes being less risky... although Hamilton radioed that there was a problem with his engine. It turned out to be a problem that would prove terminal for his car, demoting him to the back of the grid. Another car facing

problems was the Manor of Pascal Wehrlein who bounced off the wall on the main straight. A replay showed that Pascal hit a bump in the middle of the first puddle with the DRS open - a combination of these things caused the German to lose control of the car and visit the barrier. A red flag was thrown and a comedic display of Chinese marshals appearing to attempt to clear the puddle with a carpet commenced...

Several minutes later the session restarted and everyone decided that the intermediates were of no real use... and they also decided to avoid using DRS when crossing the first puddle (the one that wasn't cleared up at all by the carpet). Jenson Button later pointed out that the carpet truck was bizarrely parked in the run-off area at the final corner. With the back row now decided, the battle for relegation was between Renault and Sauber - Haryanto was the only running car predictably locked into the relegation zone. Nasr was the first to escape and Renault tried to respond with both cars and only Magnussen was able to cling onto a Q2 place... Until Ericsson came along and demoted the second Renault along with Gutierriez for Haas. 

Q2

Moving into the second part of qualifying and with Hamilton out, Rosberg in the remaining Mercedes tried something a little different - using the soft tyres rather than the super-softs. If Nico could make it in to Q2 on these tyres he'd gain an advantage at the start of the race with a longer stint while the others have to stop earlier. Rosberg's time on the soft tyres initially looked vulnerable to those on the faster option, but when the main contenders tried to challenge it started to look a lot safer. Ricciardo came within three tenths of Nico's time and the Ferrari pairing of Kimi and Vettel were only able to go a couple of tenths faster than the Mercedes despite having tyres which were supposed to be almost a second faster on this circuit. In the relegation zone things were close, and populated with drivers who thought they could make it into Q3 with a final run later on. McLaren were aiming for the final part of qualifying as was Felipe Massa currently in relegation after a mistake on his first lap.

But there was a slight problem, just as everyone barring Rosberg and the Ferrari's headed to the track with fresh tyres for a final charge - the session was stopped again. A stoppage that particularly annoyed Fernando Alonso on his return to the championship following his shunt in Melbourne who vented his frustration down the radio once the red flags came out. The reason behind this stoppage was Nico Hulkenberg's Force India which took to the circuit with one wheel incorrectly fitted, a wheel that obediently parted company on the exit of turn four and rolled down the road. In order to collect the car, and the errant wheel the session was stopped with just over a minute remaining, and was not restarted. This trapped the McLarens, Massa and Grosjean in relegation but was good for Toro Rosso and Force India who got both cars into Q3.

Q3

With the old format reinstated ten cars get to play for the pole position instead of eight under the less old elimination version, but only nine were able to compete as Hulkenberg's three wheeled car was unable to join the party. Of the front runners it was Rosberg the first to set a time easily brushing aside the opening times set by Perez and the Toro Rosso's and into a provisional lead. But the time on the super-soft tyre was slower than his time on the soft tyre in Q2 and was naturally vulnerable to attack from the two Ferraris. An attack they certainly capitalised on, initially only with Raikkonen's car, and with Nico vulnerable the Finn found more pace and took provisional pole. Vettel on the other hand was holding back for a single flying run at the end of the session.

When the second runs started it was Daniel Ricciardo who stole the limelight by driving the underpowered Red Bull to provisional pole with an exceptional lap dropping Nico off the front row. Vettel couldn't compete with his former team-mate's lap nor his current team-mate's one but was able to out-pace Rosberg. Raikkonen also failed to improve as both Ferrari's out braked themselves in the final hairpin after setting sector times which could have challenged for pole. After being dumped down to 4th place, Rosberg had plenty of room for improvement. Nico was able to make ground when others didn't quite get the job done and found a sizable chunk of time to retake pole position meaning that Mercedes bookend the entire field.

The Bonus Points Championship

The first conventional qualifying session of the year becomes deserving of all the bonus points unlike the mess that was the Australian qualifying session and the winners from this part of the weekend are as follows.

• 10pts - Daniel Ricciardo - A brilliant front row performance for the Red Bull with a lap no-one saw coming 
• 8pts - Marcus Ericsson - A very impressive lap in Q3 to get out of relegation move a long way into safety 
• 6pts - Kimi Raikkonen - The lead Ferrari driver for once after being largely shadowed by Vettel recently
• 5pts - Nico Rosberg - A clever Q2 strategy could make the race very easy for Nico... depending on how the start works out
• 4pts - Valtteri Bottas - After a slow start to the weekend for Williams, Valtteri has made a good job of qualifying - add a good start and another car in the mix at turn one.
• 3pts - Sergio Perez - A strong Q3 showing plus an impressive save crossing the same bump that fired Wehrlein into the wall.
• 2pts - Haryanto/Wehrlein - Get a couple of points each for being the first drivers to try slicks on in the first part of qualifying when the puddles were biggest. It just didn't work for Pascal
• 1pt - Hulkenberg's Left Front Wheel - Stayed off the racing line and tidied itself up after parting company with the car

• -1pt - The Chinese Marshals - The  approach of drying the track with a carpet tied to a pick-up truck was less than ideal and a terrible waste of time. Especially considering that it was a combination of a bump, the damp and the DRS which caused Wehrlein's crash.

Looking to Tomorrow

The Chinese GP grid is set up for a very entertaining race, we have a Mercedes off the back of the pack and one at the front which may be vulnerable off the line on harder tyres than those around him. So the opening stint of the race could be very interesting - a quick start for Ferrari or Bottas could lead to six cars all fighting over the lead into the first corner. After this strategy becomes a big factor - Rosberg will be running longer and might find himself driving off into the distance and on for a sixth straight win. But I doubt it is going to be quite as simple as that, in fact I hope it isn't going to be as simple as all that either. 

Round 3: China 2016: Preview

Greetings Internet, 

It is that time of week again where I - an unimportant peasant of the internet pollute your screens, or at least a small portion of it as you scroll past to find something more amusing... likely involving cats. But for those brave (or just lost) souls who have ended up on this page, intentionally or otherwise I welcome thee to the opening post for the third round of the championship. A championship which has seen more fighting off the track and in meeting rooms than it has on the racing surface which in turn has seen quite a bit of entertainment to begin with. At least one of the major arguments has finally been put to bed in the form of qualifying - where after weeks of of 'discussions' and meetings where increasingly mad suggestions started to bubble to the surface some common sense appears to have prevailed. Alas as one argument peters out, there are plenty more waiting in the wings to take to the stage and although we might be safe from more qualifying changes for a while - bigger plans may be afoot for 2017. Hopefully that will also be set aside for at least one race this weekend China - although we might not actually have much of a race given some mid-week developments.

 The News

The first point of order naturally is the row over qualifying. After it failed in Melbourne there was a meeting - that meeting decided to bin the old format and go back to the 2015 rules. One week later, that decision was reversed as everyone was informed such a option was not acceptable and so the elimination format remained. In Bahrain the format failed again, although arguably slightly less so in Q3, and so there was another meeting - in which the idea of going back to the last format which worked was taken off the table at the beginning. At the time the only format which seemed to be gaining any traction was the idea of an aggregate qualifying. Here a drivers time would be aggregated from their two fastest laps in a session - but that would never have worked because under the elimination rules most drivers were only able to complete one lap before being eliminated. Finally after months of arguing someone must have gave in at the top and allowed the 2015 format as a selectable option, an option which was seized by everyone concerned. A few days later it was confirmed by the FIA that from the Chinese GP onward we will go back to the nice, simple and functional qualifying rules of 2015. So lets see how much difference it actually makes to the grid on Sunday.

Speaking of the grid, there will be a couple of changes to it - firstly Lewis Hamilton is entering the weekend knowing he has to drop five places due to a gearbox change. The gearbox was cracked when Bottas rammed him in Bahrain and the team decided that this race was the one where grid position mattered least and recovery from 6th at best would be easiest. This is down to the long back straight and strong DRS settings. The other change is the return of Fernando Alonso the McLaren driver was cleared to drive yesterday and following FP1 this morning was given permission to compete in the rest of the weekend. So last race's star rookie Vandoorne was free to complete the Superformula pre-season test instead... but I'm sure he'd rather be in the McLaren, even if it is a little slow and uncompetitive.

The Venue

The Shanghai circuit for this weekend's race is one of the polarising venues the ensemble of teams and drivers will deal with. Some folk think it is an evil scourge on the calendar made of corners that don't make sense cobbled together for the sake of symbolism rather than racing. Others think is isn't too bad - yet surprisingly in the era of engine dominance it has managed to produce decent races. Even if it does look as if the layout was pieced together out of left over bits of scalextric track, and you had to use up all the curved pieces. But in a new feature (one that probably won't last) blog HQ will examine the good and bad of the Chinese GP venue

The Good

Food, when struggling to wrap your head around the questionable design choices that have been made in Shanghai - the local food is probably a good distraction... if my local take away is anything to go by. Nothing like drowning your confusion in a oversized bowl of Salt & Pepper spicy fried chicken and egg fried rice, the thought of which will now make me rather hungry and afflicted with a craving for Chinese food. Aside from the culinary options there are parts of the track which are almost as appealing - turn one for example is quite nice, turn two is even tolerable... just. But turns three and four are needless and terrible. In fact most of the middle sector isn't bad at all and the final corner is rather nice - so there is something to look forward to on track and off it.

The Bad

Now I know I have already accepted turn one as being... acceptable - the majority of the opening sequence of corners can only be described as annoying. Yet at the same time they do get credit for being unique and they certainly are instantly recognisable - to those in the know that is. Print a picture of the Chinese GP layout and show it to my mother and ask her to identify it - I would get a very confused face in return. So on the whole I can't necessarily complain too much about the opening phase of the lap - just because it's not that entertaining when driving about in the simulator... However at the other end of the circuit we have what can only be described as an abomination, not quite on the same scale as the blasphemous "Bus Stop" chicane at spa, but quite bad. Turn 11 is made from the very fires of hell itself, it doesn't really serve that much of a purpose as an overtaking spot and is needlessly sharp. I'd be tempted to place a mirrored version of Magny-Cours "Nurburgring" chicane feeding into the long banked turn 12. Yes it would replace a potential overtaking zone with one that isn't, but it would be far more interesting. Besides the hairpins at either end of the lap provide plenty of overtaking as we have seen in previous years. 

The Form Guide

Well once again laziness has meant that this post is happening after the first day of practice, so we have a more reasonable idea of how things are going to play out. The traditional contenders are enjoying the top of the timesheets all to themselves - Mercedes lead FP1 and Ferrari lead FP2, hopefully meaning all four drivers will be closer going into qualifying tomorrow. Rosberg seems to have the edge over Hamilton this weekend, like he did in Bahrain before the tables turned on Saturday. But this time Lewis has a grid penalty to contend with and thus will be moved down the grid regardless of what happens, thus making Sunday more interesting. 

Beyond the top two teams, Ricciardo for Red Bull and Mad Max for the junior team were leading the cavalry charge for the rest of the pack with Sainz and Hulkenberg close at hand. This is a reasonably good omen for the rest of the weekend because the pace isn't grouped into team order - there is a mix up throughout the mid-field. The FP2 times were also quite closely matched in the central group of cars, a second covered Force India, Williams, Toro Rosso and Red Bull - which accounts for the points positions. 

This weekend Haas seem to be a little further off the pace than they were in Bahrain, mostly because Shangai does have more of a downforce oriented configuration and not one where the Ferrari engine can make up some of the chassis deficit. The same problem is causing Williams to fall to the lower end of the mid-field as well, and hurting Sauber even more as they struggle for finances. Sauber, Renault, Manor and Haas do seem to be forming a group at the bottom of the pack, and if the race doesn't see some bizarre strategies or inclement weather - points might be a little on the unlikely side for those teams. 

Speaking of the weather, the newly redressed qualifying format might be held in the wet this time as rain is predicted to hover around the circuit all day. Depending on when the clouds open up there may be a light drizzle or a more significant downpour, it is estimated that the bulk of the rain will fall after qualifying has finished but who knows. It will be the first time the teams have run a proper wet session this year, so it will be interesting to see how the relative pace changes - last year showed us that in the event of rain Red Bull moved forward while Williams fell back. Furthermore, what will Haas do in the rain - in NASCAR as soon as the rain falls the race is red-flagged so they might forget that here in F1, you drive about when it gets a bit damp. It is a relief on the whole that the new, old qualifying format has been re-instated, because elimination qualifying in the wet will probably end up being a disaster... more than it already was.