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
29.5km north of the Italian capital of Milan, the Autodromo Nazionale Monza is the oldest circuit in Formula 1 history, and it is the home not only spiritually of Formula 1, but also of title contenders and F1’s oldest team: Ferrari.
The first ever race at Monza was held back in 1922, with Frenchman André Dubonnet taking the race. Michael Schumacher is the most successful driver at Monza, with five victories and it was after his last win there in 2006 that he announced his initial retirement from F1. His Ferrari victories were always the scene of jubilation from the Ferrari faithful, but let’s not forget the other Italian team: Toro Rosso. Sebastian Vettel took a remarkable wet-weather victory for the Red Bull junior team in 2008. The start of a glorious career, which has now seen him end up as the darling of Ferrari as he attempts to bring Championship success back to Maranello.
The starting grid of the “1st Cup Fiera di Milano” race held in 1925. Image courtesy of Bundesarchiv, Bild 102-01319 / CC-BY-SA 3.0, CC BY-SA 3.0 de
Lurking in the background of the track is an echo of the past; the old banking that was a feature of the Italian Grand Prix at Monza provided scary, high-speed, adrenaline-filled racing and posed an incredible amount of danger for drivers. One mistake or twitch of the back end and the consequences could, and sometimes were, very grave indeed. In 1928, a crash involving Emilio Materassi, took his life along with the lives of 27 spectators, and in 1933, Giuseppe Campari, Baconin Borzacchini and Stanislaw Czaykowski all lost their lives to the old banking. That particular race would be known as “Black Sunday.” After the 1969 race at Monza, the track layout was altered and the banks were disused, they are however a beautiful and mind-blowing attraction for spectators.
Monza now consists of 11 turns, three of which are named after the great Alberto Ascari. Months after being fished out of the harbour at the Monaco Grand Prix, he crashed at the then flat-out corner during a test run and lost his life. This one corner was then turned into a triple-corner chicane and it was named after the Italian driver.
Tyre Selection upto Japan. Image courtesy of Pirelli Media
Monza is very much a power circuit, which over the last few years and even at the start of this year favoured Mercedes. However, some significant gains from Ferrari have now meant that, as Lewis Hamilton acknowledged last time out in Belgium, Ferrari have the power and straight-line speed advantage over Mercedes. Red Bull isn’t expecting their power upgrades to come in time for the Italian Grand Prix, so this could be a real fight for the win between Ferrari and Mercedes.
This power advantage could finally mean victory for Ferrari on home turf. The Tifosi have become restless at not only the lack of Championship success in recent years, but also the lack of success at Monza for Ferrari. Their last win on home soil came eight years ago, when Fernando Alonso beat McLaren’s Jenson Button to victory. Furthermore, Vettel enters this weekend on a high having comfortably beaten Hamilton in Spa – another power track – and closed the gap in the Championship to 17 points.
Sebastian Vettel. Image courtesy of Ferrari Media
As a result, the Championship fight is finely poised coming into the final seven races of the season, as Ferrari look to bring the fight to Mercedes at the Italian fortress.
Featured image courtesy of Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool
Sunday in Silverstone was something of an unprecedented situation for MotoGP, at least since the word “MotoGP” became a reality. Not since Misano 1990 had every single rider in every single class walked away with precisely the same points with which they entered the weekend; and not since Austria 1980 had every World Championship race been cancelled in a motorcycle Grand Prix weekend. That weekend was due to snow. In fact,this weekend we saw the first cancelled races since Indianapolis 2008, when the 250 GP was cancelled because of a hurricane.
The situation in Silverstone was similar in at least one way to all of these events. Indianapolis 2008 was cancelled because of impending rain, and the races in Silverstone were rescheduled in an attempt to avoid the worst of the day’s precipitation. In addition Austria ’80 saw all races cancelled, and Misano 1990 was cancelled due to rain. But none of these perhaps had the controversy behind them as this weekend’s British Grand Prix did (well, maybe Misano ’90, but in a different way). All of the previous situations were brought about purely because weather conditions prevented racing: you can’t race in the snow, you can’t race in a hurricane and you can’t race in monsoon-like rain, but Silverstone 2018 was such a disaster because of the track surface.
A wet Silverstone tarmac. Conditions that lead to the MotoGP British GP being cancelled. Image courtesy of Yamaha Motor Racing
So, what made Silverstone such a disaster this year? Well, the problem was identified in July, at Formula One’s British Grand Prix. Atypically, it was not F1’s fault, maybe they made it worse, but not significantly – the problem was already there. After the first practice of the F1 weekend back in July, drivers were almost unanimous in opining that the new Silverstone circuit was more bumpy than before, Lewis Hamilton even spoke to Cal Crutchlow about the situation, saying that Silverstone was “the bumpiest he had ever driven”. This sparked worry for MotoGP.
The circuit had resurfaced its entire 3.6 mile track over the winter with the precise goals of improving grip consistency (previously there had been four different surfaces around the track) and erasing bumps. The second point there was of most immediate concern for the riders; Silverstone was not in a state akin to Barcelona or Jerez in terms of grip, but the bumps made riding there quite dangerous, because bumps make everything very unpredictable and difficult to manage, and when in a group it can be hard to pick out where the bumps are, which makes it easy to crash. You can say “the riders should be able to ride through them, they are the best in the world,” but if you cannot see where the danger is, how are you supposed to avoid it? That is the danger of bumps, and in Silverstone they were particularly bad.
The new surface aimed to rectify that, and as far as Franco Uncini (the MotoGP Safety Officer – he homologates the circuits) was concerned, in February it was fine, and it was in March, too. Cal Crutchlow concurred with the 1982 500cc World Champion when he rode a Honda RC213V-S there for a media day, with the opinion that the surface was generally fine, bar a couple of spots that were more bumpy. Uncini had made the same deductions before Crutchlow, which as encouraging because there was agreement. The circuit was not 100% perfect, but it was damn close.
Rubber Ducks at the 2018 MotoGP British GP. Silverstone 2018. Image courtesy of Suzuki Racing
Then, however, something happened. Between March and July, when the F1 race was held, because when the car racers showed up, they came out with comments like Hamilton’s to Crutchlow. Something in that time period happened to make the track more bumpy, more so even than it was before the new surface was laid. There are some possibilities, like the unusually hot summer Britain has enjoyed, but realistically it is difficult to know precisely what made the track deteriorate so much with so little top-level track action.
These bumps became a problem from the beginning of the weekend – even in the dry. Valentino Rossi said that you have to “not care” to negotiate the bumps, whereas Andrea Dovizioso opined that riding around the bumps was the best way. Ultimately, the bike determined the strategy – the Yamaha could handle the bumps well, whereas the likes of the Honda and Ducati couldn’t deal with them so efficiently – especially the Honda.
But that didn’t matter come Saturday afternoon and FP4. When the rain came down at the end of the session, it became a disaster between turn seven, Stowe, and turn ten, Club. In these areas, especially in turns seven and eight – particularly the braking areas for these corners – it was impossible to ride. The problem was that the water was pooling in the bumps, so aquaplaning became both inevitable and extreme. In turn seven at least seven riders ran off track or crashed in the space of one minute or so. Alex Rins was first in, and then tried to direct traffic from the gravel trap to minimise risk for the other riders. Jorge Lorenzo, Aleix Espargaro and Marc Marquez all also ran on, and Tito Rabat crashed. Franco Morbidelli also fell a few seconds after Tito, and when the Spaniard stood up, he was hit by Morbidelli’s 160kg bike, travelling at 100+mph. The result was a broken fibula, tibia and femur for the 2014 Moto2 World Champion. Thankfully, he had a successful operation on Saturday night and on Sunday took his first steps since the accident.
The accident for Tito was a direct result of the weather, as neither he, nor any of the other riders who went into the gravel at turn seven in that period, was able to stop the bike. Bradley Smith said he started braking “500 metres before the corner” and still couldn’t stop the bike, because it just aquaplaned. When the bike aquaplanes, the tyre is not touching the asphalt, of course, so you cannot slow down. Rins said that the water in that section was deep enough to submerge a whole finger. You can have the best tyres in the world, but if you have 10cm of water, it is impossible to control.
Andrea Iannone riding through the rain and puddles on the track. Image courtesy of Suzuki Racing
Following this, and considering the incoming day-long deluge facing the whole of the UK for Sunday, Race Direction decided, together with the teams and the riders, that rescheduling the races was the best plan for Sunday. MotoGP was moved to 11:30 am, and Moto3 and 2 would follow the premier class race.
This didn’t work. Already in Moto3 warm up on Sunday morning, the rain had arrived, and by the end of the Moto2 warm up, the track had become shiny, as the standing water was starting to gather.
11:30 arrived, and things were terrible. Alvaro Bautista ran into the gravel at turn eight because he was trying to warm his carbon brakes, and it just locked. Then, Maverick Vinales was seen coming out of pit lane, spinning the rear tyre immediately. Alex Rins reckoned that he was spinning the tyre with 15% throttle in third gear on his way to the grid for the initial start time. They were on the limit just for the sighting lap, and so it was no surprise that the start was delayed – just to ride a MotoGP bike in those conditions would have been nearly impossible, let alone race one.
Maverick Viñales on the aborted MotoGP Grid at the British GP. Image courtesy of Yamaha Motor Racing
From there, there were many inspections, and many meetings, before at 4pm the Safety Commission decided that the races should be cancelled, because the track would not be in a good enough order to race whilst there was still enough light to race.
There had been the option to race earlier that was presented to the teams, but they needed warm up (these are 270+hp motorcycles, you need to prepare) and they, as well as the circuit, needed time to prepare the track after the warm up. There are procedures which need to be done for safety in a race meeting, and as a result it was not possible to run any earlier than 11:30.
Then there was the possibility to race on Monday – after all, it’s August bank holiday, everyone is free, right? Wrong. MotoGP relies on a vast number of temporary services, such as security guards, and temporary, rented equipment, such as generators, that have been rented for Thursday through Sunday, not through Monday. On top of that, the people who work in the paddock who pay to get there would have to cancel and re-book flights should they be necessary, which is potentially beyond their realistic means – this includes freelance journalists, photographers and such like. Additionally, and arguably more importantly, the teams cannot afford to stay one more day, especially the private teams who are tight on budget as it is, and furthermore the TV companies do not have the time slots available to them to be able to air races on Monday. It happened in Qatar in 2009, but it happened in Qatar in 2009 because the Losail International Circuit could afford to make it happen, Silverstone couldn’t.
But how did we arrive in this situation in the first place. It has already been explained that the track was resurfaced over the winter, and that it initially was good, and later became not-so-good with the bumps. But the bumps were just one part of the problem.
With a new surface there is one guarantee: for the first year or two, the porousness of the surface will be poor. Think Sepang’s new surface, which takes basically half a day to dry out from just a small shower. It happened to F1 in Korea back in 2010 – the surface had been down for a matter of weeks, so a downpour before the race halted proceedings by an hour and more. The issue was more extreme, though, this weekend in Silverstone, because instead of having poor porousness, it had none. A light shower would be okay, as we saw in Moto2 FP2, that was manageable for the riders; but a deluge like we saw on Saturday, or the prolonged downpour of Sunday was too much for the track to drain, and even drainage ditches and cuts in the track could not help the situation. After so long, the water just started to build up, until you basically ended up with something resembling a lake – and this was after two hours.
The day-long drenching the new Silverstone surface took today was well beyond its drainage capabilities, and mixed with the pooling in the bumps, as well as the polished parts of the track (from cars bottoming out at the end of straights when under maximum loading, causing the abrasiveness of the stones in the asphalt to disappear) it became an impossible situation for the riders, and an equally hard one to call for the Race Direction.
Alex Rins, like the fans waiting for information from MotoGP Racing Control. The 2018 British GP. Iage courtesy of Suzuki Racing
It is at this point that it is important to point out that in 2011 there was an almost identical situation, with rain all day, and all three races went ahead, and just last year in BSB there was a race in biblical conditions, but everyone went out, it was deemed safe enough to ride, although there were only seven finishers. Today was normal rain, nothing spectacular, just normal rain, over a long period of time, which is common in Britain, and it was deemed unsafe.
So, was it Race Direction’s bad decision, did they listen too much to the riders? Well, no. Firstly, it is my opinion that the decision to continue the race last year in British Superbike when so many riders were crashing was a bad one, because it was clearly unsafe (although in the same moment, BSB goes to tracks like Cadwell Park and Oulton Park, which are dangerous tracks, so the standard is maybe lower). Secondly, in 2011 the surface could deal with the water, so aquaplaning was less.
The fact that the new surface could not deal with the water on Saturday, or Sunday, shows that the surface was the issue, and therefore two groups of people are at fault. One is Aggregate UK, who provided and laid the surface over the winter; a surface which was produced and designed in the UK, yet could not absorb any water whatsoever. Second, you have to put some blame at the door of Silverstone, because they employed the services of Aggregate UK. Ultimately, Aggregate UK did a terrible job, they laid a surface which has no drainage and is in fact worse than the one they replaced, and Silverstone have a right to feel cheated by them, as do the fans, teams, riders and the Championship.
In a press conference after the decision to cancel the races, Franco Uncini said that there have been demands for a new surface to be laid at Silverstone for next year, and before that there will be an investigation into why exactly the circuit could not absorb any water. How exactly Silverstone manages to afford another full resurfacing job just a few months after the last one remains to be seen, and it remains to be seen if it is even possible. Once the new surface has been laid, there are intentions to test the track in the wet although there have been admissions from Mike Webb (Race Director) that after the experience of artificially wetting the Losail track earlier this year, it is difficult to see how that could happen.
Ultimately, it was a combination poor asphalt being poorly laid, a remarkable British summer which left the track unprepared for the wet (Saturday and Sunday were probably the worst two days this new surface has seen, weather-wise) and a day with no break in the weather which conspired to create this British MotoGP disaster, and at the moment it is unsure how it can move on from this.
One thing, though, is for sure. Silverstone want to continue to host the British Motorcycle Grand Prix, and MotoGP are keen to continue to have a British Grand Prix. Over the next months we should see whether the British Grand Prix will continue in the near future, and whether it will continue at Silverstone.
Will Power took his fourth win of the season after a close strategy call saw him take the lead from Alexander Rossi in the closing stages, moving the Australian up to third in the championship. Championship leader Scott Dixon saw his advantage cut by another three points to 26 after he was unable to pass Rossi on the last lap.
Will Power wins the Bommarito Automotive Group 500. Image courtesy of Team Penske
Power didn’t have it all his own way, it was Dixon who took the pole, by virtue of being the championship leader after qualifying was rained off, and Power didn’t lead until 150 laps of the race had past. However, once Power was in the lead, he looked fairly untouchable – that was until Ryan Hunter-Reay caused the second caution of the day, the first coming courtesy of Sebastien Bourdais. This came at a time when it was very touch and go as to whether the drivers could make it to the end of the race with the fuel they had after the stops under the caution.
There were two options: push, burn the fuel and accept that you have to come in for a splash-and-dash or stretch out the fuel to make the end of the race, sacrificing pace. Power, Dixon and the like went for the first option, Rossi, true to his 2016 Indy 500 performance, opted for the latter. It very nearly didn’t work out for Power, but he came out of the pits just close enough to Rossi to be able to get past him – Dixon was not so fortunate with Rossi aided by traffic. Regardless of that, Power was the one who took the victory, putting himself within 70 points of leader Dixon with just two rounds to go.
Rossi remains second in the championship after coming home second on the road with his ambitious strategy not quite paying off. Rewind to earlier in the race and Rossi was trying for a move on then second-placed Power when he drifted high, missing the wall by the narrowest of margins. It was the save of all saves, not just for the Gateway race but also for the championship – a DNF at this stage of proceedings would spell disaster. When the questions over fuel mileage surfaced after the final caution, you could be fairly sure, given his previous form, that Rossi would hang it out until the end of the race, even if no one else did.
For a while, it looked like Rossi’s Andretti teammate Zach Veach might be in for a surprise result when he took the lead following the fuel stops for both Power and Dixon. However, it was too good to be true – Veach had pushed too hard and was forced to pit with just a few laps remaining however, his fifth-place finish is nothing to be ashamed of!
For championship leader Dixon, this race could’ve gone a lot better, given he started on pole, but, equally, it could’ve been a lot worse. This continues his so-so run of races since his win at Toronto, presumably with the championship firmly in mind. Dixon can afford to give two or three points away to Rossi but what he can’t afford is a DNF – it’s a smart move from IndyCar’s ‘Iceman’.
The often-forgotten Penske of Simon Pagenaud had a fairly decent race, finishing in fourth, but it was a tail of what could’ve been after a wide moment cost the Frenchman a sizeable amount of positions. He reckons he would’ve been in the lead battle had that moment not happened but fourth is what he got out of it in the end. The #22 Penske is long out of the championship but insists his future at the team is not under question, despite various silly season rumours surrounding him.
The other Penske of Josef Newgarden had a less than good day, finishing down in seventh and losing yet more ground in the championship – dropping down to fourth. It was a very frustrating race for Newgarden, he couldn’t match the more fuel-efficient Hondas and that was pretty much that for the final stint. It certainly wasn’t the repeat of last year’s victory that he’d hoped for with his gap to the championship lead now large but not insurmountable.
Will Power, Alexander Rossi and Scott Dixon on the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 podium. Image courtesy of Team Penske
Another one to struggle was Hunter-Reay who is now just a few points away from dropping out of championship contention after two straight DNFs. If the crash with Robert Wickens at Pocono hadn’t extinguished his championship hopes, Gateway has with a loss of fuel pressure being cited as his reason for retirement.
Speaking of Wickens, just before the race got underway Schmidt Peterson released the promising news that the Canadian is now breathing unaided and speaking with his family. It’s a long road to recovery for Wickens, but at least there is one. Teammate and close friend James Hinchliffe struggled this weekend, clearly shaken by Wickens’ crash and sporting finger-less gloves as a result of his injuries sustained in that crash.
With Wickens still firmly in everyone’s minds, the paddock moves onto the penultimate race of the season at Portland which marks the end of the last triple-header of the season.
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.
Despite having heard the news that (Racing Point) Force India’s points tally was to be reset to zero, I nonetheless did a double take when first confronted with the updated Constructors’ Championship standings. It might be a little sad to admit, but, while the Force India fan in me shook my head, the Williams fan in me got momentarily excited by the prospect of Williams being not-last for the first time in what felt like an age.
But could Williams hold on to the heady heights of 9th place? Only time would tell (rather quickly, as it turned out).
I would have thought that this surprise jump in the standings might have been a new source of motivation for Williams (except possibly for the presumably temporarily conflicted Lance Stroll, rumoured to be joining his father, Lawrence, at the pink team before the season is out). But, watching FP1, it all seemed to be business as usual, with relative anonymity from both drivers, with the exception of a spin from Sergey Sirotkin. Despite the odd moment when Stroll or Sirotkin leapt briefly up the timesheets, only to topple back down moments later, they ended the session in the now-familiar depths of 16th and 19th respectively. FP2 and FP3 were incident-free but similarly unimpressive for the team. Presumably there’s not much that motivation can do in such a terrible car.
Qualifying made clear that the points battle between Williams and Force India was likely to be over as soon as it began, with both Williams out in Q1, while the Force Indias achieved near-perfection, locking out the second row of the grid, with some excellent wet-weather laps.
Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium. Sunday 26 August 2018. Lance Stroll, Williams FW41, leads Stoffel Vandoorne, McLaren MCL33. Photo: Andy Hone/Williams F1 ref: Digital Image _ONY2925
Come race day, towards the rear of the field Sirotkin and Stroll took advantage of the first lap carnage that collected Alonso, Hulkenberg and Leclerc, with Sirotkin finally completing a lap in a points-paying position, despite receiving a clattering from Bottas amidst the chaos. His race continued on a positive note as he overtook Ericsson shortly after the restart, with the two switching positions multiple times thereafter (none of which, sadly, was shown on screen).
While it was ultimately yet another pointless outing for Williams, their pace seemed a little better than in previous races. It was a particular shame that Sirotkin’s race went under the radar, with his Williams only appearing on screen again when falling victim to the faster-paced Carlos Sainz. As such, we missed out on some feisty driving from Sirotkin, who found himself in close on-track battles throughout the race.
Meanwhile, much further forward, the Force India drivers made the most of their advantageous starting positions, with Esteban Ocon getting an impressive but perhaps slightly over-ambitious start, narrowly missing out on a run for the lead. In usual Sergio Perez style, he immediately seized the opportunity to capitalise on Ocon’s misfortune, slotting neatly into third place behind Vettel and Hamilton. He shone again later, holding a resurgent Bottas off in the closing stages for longer than might reasonably be expected. The Pink Panthers finished the race a solidly impressive 5th and 6th on a day when more would have been impossible, a result that was a world away from the uncertainty surrounding the team as they went into the weekend, when at times it was unclear if they would even make it to the grid.
Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas at the Belgian 2018 GP. Image courtesy of Racing Point Force India
So, that of course brought an end to the short-lived points battle between Williams and Force India, with Perez and Ocon gaining 18 points between them, to put the team comfortably ahead of Williams with their miserable 4 point total.
But with Force India now just one point shy of Sauber, there’s another battle on the horizon for the next race. Will Monza see them climb another rung on the ladder? Once again, time will tell, but expect Sauber to put up a bit more of a fight.
Following on from his win in that stunning Austrian Moto2 battle with Miguel Oliveira, Francesco Bagnaia took pole position in Silverstone for the 2018 British Grand Prix. It was a complicated session, as were all the qualifying sessions today, with the track starting off dry for the majority of the lap, but very wet in the far end of the circuit, between Stowe and Club (turn 7 to 10). Throughout the session, the track was getting drier, and Bagnaia timed his final lap perfectly to be almost the last rider over the line, meaning he enjoyed almost perfect track conditions, relatively speaking.
Francesco Bagnaia. Image courtesy of Honda Pro Racing
Bagnaia stole pole in the final moments, after the flag had dropped, and he stole it from Remy Gardner. The Australian got lost on his way to the track earlier in the week, with dad – and 1987 500cc World Champion – Wayne having to go and find the Tech 3 rider. Despite missing out on pole position in the end, it was still a career-best qualifying position for Remy, whose previous record was ninth. Both the Mistral 610 chassis and Gardner have shown themselves to be capable in wet conditions, and with a typically British aquatic onslaught scheduled to batter the Northamptonshire circuit all day long tomorrow, such skills could prove vital for the #87, and he will be aiming for his first World Championship podium, especially if it does rain.
Alex Marquez was third fastest today, and looked for a period as though he would take pole position, such was the scrolling nature of the times in the end of the session. Two straight DNFs mean that points are essential for Marquez tomorrow, and of course a strong ride would do a lot for his undoubtedly damaged confidence.
Marcel Schrotter will start his 105th Moto2 race from fourth place tomorrow, as he continues his search for a first Moto2 podium.
On the contrary, Luca Marini is coming off the back of three consecutive podiums, as he starts from 5th on the grid, and is another rider who could relish the adverse conditions.
Petronas Yamaha-bound Fabio Quartararo will complete the second row tomorrow, and he will be hoping for dry conditions tomorrow, because on the slick tyres he has been very fast, and very consistent all weekend.
Mattia Pasini was on for pole position in the final stages of qualifying, but caught Iker Lecuona in sector three of his final lap, and so was consigned to just seventh place, with the aforementioned Lecuona and home hero Sam Lowes (another who looked a possible pole-setter) joining him on the third row.
It has been a strong weekend for Romano Fenati, and for the most part he has been the top rookie – he will line up tenth tomorrow. The injured Xavi Vierge as well as Lorenzo Baldassarri will join Fenati on row four.
Thirteenth on the gird tomorrow belongs to Andrea Locatelli, whilst Joan Mir could only manage fourteenth. It’s slightly fortunate that Mir got his Suzuki deal done when he did, because since then, his form has dipped bar that podium in Germany. Augusto Fernandez completes the 5th row.
Red Bull KTM’s Brad Binder could only do as well as 16th fastest, and will be alongside Domi Aegerter and Bo Bendsneyder on the sixth row; whilst row seven holds Niki Tuuli, Joe Roberts and Tetsuta Nagashima, complete with his new ‘surfer doggo’ seat sticker, as a nod to the famous shot of him surfing his Honda Team Asia Kalex two weeks ago in the wet practice in Austria.
Jorge Navarro will be disappointed with his 22nd grid slot because he has looked quite strong this weekend. However, Miguel Oliveira will be even more disappointed, as he made yet another poor qualifying position, and whilst championship leader Bagnaia starts from pole, Oliveira only qualified 23rd. Stefano Manzi completes the eighth row.
Miguel Oliveira. Image courtesy of Honda Pro Racing.
Steven Odendaal on the second NTS chassis was 25th fastest, with Danny Kent and SIC-Petronas Moto2-bound Khairul Idham Pawi joining him on row nine; whilst wildcard Josh Owens impressively took 28th spot (only 2.880 seconds off pole), joining Jules Danilo and Federico Fuligni on the 10th row.
Alejandro Medina heads up row eleven, from Simone Corsi – whose qualifying was hampered by a crash – and Xavi Cardelus who is 33rd and last.
The Moto3 qualifying session was a complicated one for the British Grand Prix. It started in reasonable, dry conditions, but a sprinkling of rain in the mid-point of the session disrupted everyone’s rhythms.
In the end, though, it was Jorge Martin who took pole position. It was his seventh pole of the season, and it could prove an important one for the championship, considering the position of his main title rival. But once again, Martin fought against the pain of his broken radius – which this weekend is more intense than he expected – to top qualifying and put himself in prime position for tomorrow, where he will aim to close his deficit in the championship.
Just 0.001 seconds behind Martin was Jaume Masia. The seventeen-year-old is making a habit of being robbed by Martin in the closing stages, after his first Grand Prix podium was taken away from him by Martin in the final corner in Austria at the last race. Nonetheless, a personal best qualifying for the Spaniard, who is progressing well in what is his full rookie season.
Jorge Martin. Image courtesy of Honda Pro Racing
Completing the front row for tomorrow’s 2018 Moto3 British Grand Prix is Lorenzo Dalla Porta, the Italian just 0.021 second off pole in what turned out to be a stunningly close-fought qualifying, even more so when you consider the complexity and length of the British track. Coming into Silverstone in a strong vane of form, Dalla Porta will hope to take his second career podium, after taking his first back in Qatar this year.
Albert Arenas heads up row two, ahead of Fabio Di Giannantonio who seems to be back on form after a poor Austrian round a couple of weeks ago. Tatsuki Suzuki rounds out row two.
Seventh on the grid tomorrow is Gabriel Rodrigo, who was on for pole before crashing at Abbey, after which he was sent to the medical centre. Enea Bastianini took eighth place, after a late change on the front gave him more confidence. The third row was rounded out by Nicolo Bulega, who has the opportunity to do a good race tomorrow, as the run to turn one is short, so he shouldn’t lose too much time off the start, where he is always very weak.
Marcos Ramirez completed the top ten, and will head row four tomorrow ahead of Marco Bezzecchi and Niccolo Antonelli. Bezzecchi had a good shot at pole, but he seemed to think himself out of it, by trying to stay with Jorge Martin the whole session, following the Spaniard everywhere. Ultimately, he crashed on his final lap, which left him eleventh. Antonelli, like Rodrigo, had to go to the medical centre following a crash late on in the session.
Aron Canet had a disappointing qualifying, ending up down in 13th. Philipp Oettl and Adam Norrodin join him on row five; whilst Kazuki Masaki, Jakub Kornfeil and Tony Arbolino make up row six.
John McPhee will start his home Grand Prix from just nineteenth place, although he has looked better than that when his bike has been correctly lined up, and not barrelling through the gravel. Ayumu Sasaki rounds out the top twenty, and row seven is completed by Dennis Foggia, who has looked good at times this weekend.
Alonso Lopez could only manage 22nd fastest, and will be joined by Vicente Perez and Nakarin Atiratphuvapat on row eight.
Row nine consists of Andrea Migno, Kaito Toba and Darryn Binder; whilst Tom Booth-Amos, Stefano Nepa and Jake Archer complete the grid.
