MorrisF1

Well, the bet didn’t come off. Very unusually, Alonso’s engineers didn’t clear the car in time for the formation lap (he needed a new battery at the last minute) leading to a 5 second penalty at a pit stop (which sounds mild and might otherwise be, but it had a substantial impact on his race result). So, the bet was red and the hedge unmatched. Would he have had a podium but for that? Possibly. Raikkonen was very close, but it’s worth mentioning Alonso also suffered a slowdown on the last few laps (he may just have been conserving the car after ending up 8 th after a very tight battle for 5-8 th places). Anyway, disappointing, but lucks always plays a role and it doesn’t always go well. There was drama off the start. Rosberg started poorly, Hamilton well. Alonso, lacking the opportunity to go through the usual routine to optimise the start procedure due to the aforementioned battery problem and dysfunctional formation lap, was a bit lacklustre and both Red Bulls had a good star

There was significant rainfall prior to qualifying, but the sun emerged before the session started. Q1 was very wet. Some went out on full wets, most on intermediate. Both Caterhams went out, as did Gutierrez (who had a reliability failure, again), Chilton, Maldonado and, surprisingly, Hulkenberg. Bianchi did a great job to get into Q2, and, somewhat surprisingly, the Williams were (after Mercedes) the fastest. Would’ve expected Red Bull to be a bit faster. Lotterer (replacing Kobayashi this weekend) did well to beat Ericsson, although both are rooted to the bottom of the grid. Kvyat, Vergne, Perez, Sutil, Grosjean and Bianchi left the stage during Q2, which was another persistently wet session. Mercedes were untroubled at the to, with Ferrari and Williams vying for best of the rest, and Red Bull a shade slower. In Q3 Rosberg put in an early great lap, good enough for pole, and improved a little to get it by two-tenths over Hamilton. The Mercedes was in a league of its

There were a lot of driver stories in the days running up to P1, and even during the first practice session itself. Max Verstappen, 16 year old son of ex-F1 driver Jos, is to replace Vergne next year. Bit rough on Vergne, who is beating talented newcomer Kvyat and was basically equal to Ricciardo. At least the early announcement gives him time to try and secure a drive, unlike when Toro Rosso tossed Buemi and Alguersuari overboard with so little notice neither could get a seat elsewhere. Lotterer replaces Kobayashi in the Caterham this weekend. It appears to be a one race deal. Bit odd, frankly. Even more weirdly, Alexander Rossi (a Yankee doodle that Gene Haas reportedly wants for his team in a couple of years) replaced Max Chilton for the whole weekend, due to ‘contractual’ difficulties. Only he didn’t as, halfway through P1, it was then reported Chilton would race as usual and Rossi would only get the seat for P1. Sounds like Chilton wanted a better deal in some mann

The mid-season interval is nearly over, and the fantastic Spa circuit awaits this weekend. After a suggestion from Mr. Putney, I’m putting up an early article for vague musings about Spa (and the latter half of the season in general). Tips, suggestions, questions, comments and magic incantations to stop Flavio Briatore becoming president of Ferrari are all welcome in the comments section. Hard to see Mercedes being caught. I expect Williams to challenge and probably better Red Bull at Spa and Monza (the next race) but the Red Bulls will be best of the rest at twistier, slower circuits. How McLaren, Ferrari and Force India upgrade their cars will be critical. Force India especially have slid down the order recently. A bet I have in mind is to back Williams to top score when Monza rolls around. I’ll try and remember to check the odds after Spa. They’re 8 to top score in Spa. Not sure about that, will mull it over. A key question for the season is whether or not Merc

Unlike previous years I’m just doing the one review. It’ll be mostly racing, with a bit on betting at the end. We’re 11 races into a possible 19 (Russia seems likely to go ahead but could yet be suspended, delayed or abandoned before October depending how the situation in Ukraine develops). Because of the mentally challenged decision by F1 bigwigs, the final race (Abu Dhabi) will be worth double points (this may end up determining who wins the title). So far the majority of races have been hugely enjoyable. Racing has been tight with engine variabilities and tyre degradation combining to provide lots of on-track action, and we’ve had a couple of real classics (including, bizarrely, Bahrain). Throughout the season, Mercedes has been the team to beat. Sportingly, they’ve let their drivers race (ignored team order in Hungary aside). Even more sportingly, they’ve had their cars break down on several occasions to give the other teams a chance. The title began as a priv