MorrisF1

Must confess to being livid at Button’s stupidity. Last year’s tip by Mr. Sandpit on No Safety Car was very good, and it should’ve come off this year but for a returning veteran forgetting how the laws of physics work. Wehrlein was fine, but the bet was not. A clear case of bad luck rather than ill-judgement (on the bet), and these things happen, but I’m not best pleased about it. Before that, the race had been largely a procession. It was pretty much formation flying off the line. Raikkonen was looking quick and the two Ferraris were cruising away from the field. Then came the pit stops. Verstappen and Bottas ended up in traffic, and the Dutchman’s attempt to undercut the Finn failed. Worse still, clear air enabled Ricciardo to make up time and he emerged ahead of the pair of them. There’s an interesting discussion to have about Ferrari’s timing. Raikkonen was boxed before Vettel (and Ricciardo) and emerged in traffic. This helped Vettel to make up the small gap and the Ger

Well, I said Hamilton’s odds were too short and Raikkonen’s/Bottas’ too long but I didn’t expect qualifying to be quite so dramatic. There had been whispers that the Red Bulls might actually be dark horses, and in the first session Verstappen was fastest, narrowly ahead of both Ferraris. Force India worked very hard to get Ocon’s car ready in time, but, alas, it wasn’t to be. He was the fastest man to depart Q1, ahead of Palmer, Stroll and the two Saubers. Q2 was far more dramatic. Hamilton was really struggling for pace, had traffic, rescued a squirm that threatened to plunge his car into the barriers and went into the pits. He came out, hit traffic, backed off and was probably going to edge (and only edge) into Q3 when Vandoorne crashed and Hamilton’s lap was over. Joining the Briton were Kvyat, Hulkenberg, Magnussen and Massa. The third session of qualifying was very tight. The Red Bulls suddenly lost pace, and the tussle for the top time was between the Ferraris and

Ah, Monaco. King of processions. However, last year there was a very good tip from Mr. Sandpit which only failed to come off due to bad luck. At 8, he suggested backing No Safety Car. It emerged but only due to rain at the start. After that there were four VSC periods but no new safety car. So, I’ve backed No Safety Car at 6.5 (weather forecast is sunny all weekend). My feeling heading into this was that the Ferrari would have the whip hand. This was based on Spain, where pace was broadly similar but the Mercedes had a clear edge on the straight (therefore the Prancing Horse must have had an advantage in the twisty bits). We should also note that Alonso is off in Indyland, and Button has returned, for a one-off appearance, to the McLaren team. One-stop is eminently likely, because position is critical. In first practice, Hamilton was fastest, two-tenths up on Vettel, who was closely followed by Verstappen, Bottas and Ricciardo. Kvyat was next, then Raikkonen, half a s

A very entertaining race, a mixed bag from a betting perspective. To commemorate the luckiest of all tips (Verstappen last year) I offered some frivolous suggestions on PB and one of them (Perez podium at 41) very nearly came off. On the ‘proper’ tips, one green, one red, green overall for both race and weekend. Not huge numbers but still good given, as Kermit the frog taught us, it’s not easy being green. Off the line, it seemed all square but the Ferrari of Vettel flew into the second phase and the lead, and Bottas had a good start. However, he connected with Raikkonen, who hit Verstappen, and the latter two were both out of the race. Alonso was knocked wide by Massa, who was taking evasive action, went into a gravel trap and lost a dozen places or so. Bottas appeared to have taken some damage because although he was much faster than Ricciardo he was rapidly being left behind by Vettel and Hamilton. Further back, the big winners from the first lap shenanigans wer

Obviously, Raikkonen didn’t get pole, but the tip was green or not depending on whether you hedged. As an experiment, for the first time I put a little on the Ladbrokes exchange (identical set-up) but the hedge was not matched. In the first part of qualifying, all the cars to depart were from different teams. From fastest to slowest, Ericsson, Palmer, Stroll, Vandoorne and Kvyat failed to progress. Quite surprised that Stroll and Kvyat were so slow. Q2 was rather competitive, with just a tenth covering the fastest three to leave at this stage. Magnussen, Sainz and Hulkenberg were the fastest three, with Grosjean and Wehrlein bringing up the rear. The Renault has not performed well so far, and Grosjean struggled to keep his Haas on the road at times. However, Q2 was remarkable for the Spaniard who escaped it. Alonso reached Q3 for the first time this year. In Q2, things had seemed very close at the sharp end, with Mercedes better able to preserve their tyre life for the

As is usual, the first European race of the year sees oodles of upgrades. Annoyingly for those of us who enjoy variety of winners, Mercedes seem to have taken a big step. Red Bull have also narrowed the gap to the front. So, the order may be shuffled a little. This race sees the three hardest compounds available for the first time this year (soft, medium and hard). Early forecasts indicate that showers or even thunderstorms are possible for qualifying and the race is likely dry. In P1 Hamilton was fastest, but not even half a tenth ahead of Bottas. Raikkonen was next, but nearly a second down the road, with Vettel a tenth back. Verstappen was just a tenth off Vettel, followed by Ricciardo, Magnussen, Grosjean, Hulkenberg and Sainz. Same two chaps at the top in P2 and the gap remained under a tenth. The gap to Raikkonen was just over two-tenths, with Vettel again a tenth off his team mate. Verstappen was a couple of tenths back, Ricciardo close behind, with Hulkenberg, P