Category: The Ratto Report

FCA NEWSLETTER
DESERT REGION – LAS VEGAS CHAPTER
4th Quarter 2021

Written by John Ratto
Edited by Chuck Damus

Dateline: Early October 2021

Things seemed to be very slowly returning to normal; but we were walking on egg shells, wishing and hoping for normalcy as the pandemic lingered. Club activities were again being scheduled, and more importantly were being held…and attended. Socials seemed a convenient and relatively safe way to begin the return to normal life.

Dateline: Early December 2021

And then, just a couple of months later, just when you thought it would be safe to go back in the water, boom! (An homage to John Madden) Omicron, a new variant of the virus, springs into our lives. Suddenly, all bets seem to once again be off, and all prior advances and victories rendered immaterial. As this goes to publication, the ramifications of Omicron are still mostly unknown, so we are once more proceeding blindfolded. We do know (if anything is ever really, like, known) that Omicron spreads easily, much more so than Delta, and that it is not as powerful as Delta. And as of New Year’s Eve, we know that it is spreading like wildfire.

Will this pandemic ever end?

Despite the doom-and-gloom, life has gone on. We had a successful Christmas Party, and we have continued to live our lives in a more or less normal fashion. The virus is not as scary as it once was. Wear a mask. With all this ongoing uncertainty, let’s have a look at some of the events and get togethers we have managed to have during the last quarter of 2021.

October 6: Board Meeting at Siena

We had 11 in attendance, which isn’t bad. Again, it indicates that that there is still interest. The new for 2022 Board was discussed, along with potential drives and activities for the cool winter months. Special attention was given to the Concours coming up in late October. Remember, all members are invited to attend Board Meetings, so come check one out sometime.

October 28: Social at Table 34

Our members turned out in force for dinner and conversation at this southeast hot spot. Maybe that it is because they treat us so well. Or, maybe it was because it was such a beautiful evening for outdoor dining in Table 34’s sheltered patio. In any case, it was a fun evening among friends, with some Ferrari conversation thrown in, and what more can you ask for than that?

November 7: Drive to Callville Bay

Our first driving event in quite a while proved to be a success, with a half-dozen participating cars. Once out on the road most everything was optimal: not too much traffic, warm but not hot, breezy but not windy. The cars were running pretty good as well; they seemed hungry for the fast sweeping turns they were presented. And, after nearly a year of limited access, even the finest roads in the area seemed ready for some action. Only the alarmingly low level of Lake Mead spoiled the vibe. Speaking of hungry, we stopped at the now also re-opened restaurant at the yacht marina for some brunch and conversation, and then it was time to turn around and cruise that fabulous road back to home. I’d have to say the day was a success, especially considering how long it has been since our last visit to this spot.

December 4: Christmas Party

It was less than a crowd, more like a merry lot, of Ferrari faithful (including some recent new members) that invaded Limoncello for our annual holiday feast and festivities. The restaurant was decked out, and by 8pm or so it was full of revelers, all prepared to wish 2021 good riddance and to welcome 2022 with hope for better times ahead. The food was great and the beverages tasty, but the service really stood out – we were very well looked after. If you missed it, then you missed a nice evening with your friends. In any case, onward to the New Year! Please join us!

FORMULA 1 NEWS

Formula 1 Summary – as of October 1

The third quarter of 2021 saw some wonderful and exciting racing. We hope you were able to enjoy some of it. So, let’s have a status report as to the point situations with 15 races in the books. Again, it is close. Hamilton and Verstappen are separated by only 2 points. You cannot ask for a more competitive season.

Drivers:

Hamilton 246.5
Verstappen 244.5
Bottas 151
Norris 139
Perez 120
Sainz 112.5
Leclerc 104
Ricciardo 95

Constructors:

Mercedes 397.5
Red Bull 364.5
McLaren 234
Ferrari 216.5

Moreover, it looks as if a real battle between Ferrari and McLaren is brewing for third in the constructors’ face-off.

So, let’s hope that the excitement continues.

October 10: GP of Turkey

This little used track is 3.3 miles long and contains 14 turns. It features big elevation changes and several good spots for overtaking; the drivers like it. 58 laps were scheduled. High winds and possible rain were predicted for the weekend.

Hamilton (10 spots), Sainz and Ricciardo (both to the rear of the field) took penalties for exceeding the maximum number of new engines permitted.

Practice: Not much happened during P1 or P2, as the teams were working hard to obtain data on the relatively unknown track. The big surprise was that lap times were about 6 seconds faster than they had been the last time F1 was here. This was attributed to much high grip resulting from the freshly scrubbed track surface. Saturday morning saw rain and wet conditions for P3. In response, the drivers proceeded on full, and then intermediate wet tires; they found surprisingly good grip (and lap times) while doing so. The Ferraris looked strong, but it was Pierre Gasly in the Alpha-Tauri that claimed fast lap of P3.

Qualifying: the rain abated on Saturday afternoon, but the track was still quite wet, making for challenging conditions. Despite the conditions, everyone tried to set good times on the soft (slick) tires, resulting in a lot of spinning and sliding. However, as the track dried, conditions improved and lap times fell. By Q3, things, and the starting grid, were essentially back to normal: Hamilton (who would start 11th due to his penalty), Bottas, Verstappen, Leclerc, Gasly, and Alonso.

Race: Sunday was cool, cloudy, and wet. Enough so that everyone opted to start the race on intermediate wet tires. Despite some wheel spin, the leaders got off clean. There was some sliding, bumping, and passing in the field, but in general it was an uneventful start. At lap 5 the running order was Bottas, Verstappen, Leclerc, Perez, Gasly, Norris, and Stroll.

As the track dried, the intermediate tires were getting too hot; lap speeds were then limited in order to control tire temperatures. Despite that, Hamilton harassed Tsunoda for several laps, and then finally overtook the Alpha-Tauri. Meanwhile, Sainz, who had started from the very rear, was passing backmarkers left, right, and center. He was up to 11th place by lap 8. As for the three leaders, they were cruising along, saving their tires. Everyone wanted to pit, but it was still too wet for slicks, and lap times were still surprisingly good. So they continued on the wet weather intermediate tires despite the drying conditions. Soon, the tread of these tires was pretty much gone, and they became pseudo-slicks. And lap times dropped even further! A huge surprise. Moreover, the lap times of the few drivers who did stop for slicks, or fresh intermediate wets, were slower rather than faster than they had been. Meanwhile, there was plenty of action in the mid-field as the laps rolled by. Some of the highlights:

Lap 14: Sainz catches and passes Vettel. Hamilton passes Gasly.
Lap 18: Sainz passes Tsunoda.
Lap 22 – 32: A few stop for new tires and are rewarded with slower lap times.
Lap 33: Hamilton catches Perez. A multi-lap, wheel-to-wheel battle ensues.
Lap 36: Hamilton has to abandon trying to pass Perez – tire temps too high.

The crucial moment of decision happened on lap 37. With everyone on rain tires (designed for a maximum of 20 – 25 laps) that were now essentially dead, it seemed that there was no choice other than to stop, either for fresh intermediates or slicks. And many (including Verstappen, Norris, Perez, Sainz, Vettel, and Gasly) did just that. When they returned to the fray they were rewarded with a faster car for about 5 laps, but then with a slower one for the next 15 or so laps, than the cars (including Hamilton, Ocon, and Leclerc) still running their ancient rubber. The question now was – would those grizzled tires last another 20 laps, to the end of the race? The situation was so unclear that Hamilton, when told to pit, refused to do so. At lap 40 the running order was Leclerc (Ferrari!), Bottas, Verstappen, Hamilton, and Gasly.

As the 20 or so remaining laps ticked off, the front runners on newer tires were slowly reeling in Leclerc, but none had the speed to pass the Ferrari. But, then, on lap 47, Leclerc’s engineer blinked and called the Ferrari in for new rubber. Hamilton also blinked (lap 55) and stopped, rejoining in 5th place. But he could never catch, much less pass, those ahead of him who had stopped 20 laps earlier. The final finishing order was Bottas, Verstappen, Leclerc, Hamilton, Gasly, Norris, and Sainz.

This was a tense, exciting race. It was stressful for the engineers in the pits (should we stop for tires or not?) and the drivers (when are these worn out intermediates going to explode?). Hamilton was incensed at the finish, but his anger was misdirected. He was the one who decided not to stop at about lap 37, which, in the end, proved to be the best strategy.

October 24: GP of the USA at Circuit of the Americas (Texas) (17)

This 3.4 mile, 20 turn track is a favorite of the drivers as it offers several spots where passing is possible. It features massive elevation changes, but is also very bumpy in several spots. The surface is abrasive, hinting at short tire life. Top speeds are 200 mph+, and average lap speeds are about 130 mph. The weather report predicted extreme heat, reinforcing the consensus belief that tire lives would be short, making two stops necessary.

As is becoming the norm, many drivers (including Bottas (again), Alonzo, Vettel, and Russell) were taking on new power units, and suffering the attendant grid penalties. These engine reliability issues were centered in Mercedes powered cars, hinting of potential long term problems with German engines.

Practice: As predicted it was hot. The Ferraris looked good in Practice, but, as usual, the Mercedes and Red Bulls looked even better. Everyone was using the Practice sessions to determine how long the various tire compounds would last during the race, and then developing strategies for timing their stops. It seemed obvious that the soft tires would be useless, so most of the fast guys at the front were planning to start on medium tires and to stop twice. Only those starting at the rear (mostly due to penalties) chose hard tires to begin the race.

Qualifying: Big Surprise: Leclerc was fastest in Q1. Another One: Due to some Ferrari SNAFU, Sainz was forced to start on the soft tires. When the surprises were in the past, the grid was as follows: Verstappen, Hamilton, Perez, Bottas (penalized to 9th), Leclerc, Sainz (soft tires), Ricciardo, and Norris.

Race: Two things were clearly obvious: the crowd was huge (estimated 140K) and it was HOT. You could see the engineers recalculating their strategies to account for the heat.

Verstappen made a decent start, but Hamilton made a much better one. As a consequence, despite Verstappen’s daring moves to prevent it, Hamilton took the lead. Meanwhile, just behind them the Ferraris and McLarens were having a four car battle for places 4 – 7. After an exciting 3 laps the running order, much to Verstappen’s chagrin, was Hamilton, Verstappen, Perez, Leclerc, Ricciardo, Sainz, and Norris. Everyone expected early pit stops, but no one (other than those pesky engineers) foresaw that they would begin on lap 11 (of 56), or that Verstappen would initiate them. Yet, by lap 14 virtually every car had made its first stop, and had switched to hard tires.

Laps 20-30 saw many good battles in the mid-field, most notably between Bottas and Tsunoda; Raikkonen, Stroll, Giovinazzi, and Alonso; and Vettel and Russell. Meanwhile the leaders were circulating, trying to go as fast as possible without degrading their tires. Surprisingly, on lap 30, Verstappen also initiated the second round of pit stops; he opted for another set of hard tires. Hamilton delayed his second stop to lap 37, also choosing to continue on hard tires. He rejoined in second place, 8+ seconds behind the Red Bull. At lap 40 the running order was Verstappen, Hamilton, Perez, Leclerc, Ricciardo, Sainz, Bottas, and Norris.

At this point, the game was on. With about 20 laps to go, Hamilton, on newer tires, had to catch and pass (the hard part) Verstappen to win the race. As the final laps rolled by, Hamilton slowly reeled in the leading Red Bull, sometimes gaining as much as a second per lap, but then also losing time while passing backmarkers. By lap 50 Hamilton was about a second or so behind the Red Bull, but it seemed he could not get any closer. He never got the DRS advantage and was forced to simply drive in Verstappen’s wake to the end of the race (lap 56). The final finishing order was Verstappen, Hamilton (a second behind the winner), Perez, Leclerc, Ricciardo, Bottas, Sainz, and Norris.

This was a fabulous, nail biter of a race. Both Verstappen and Hamilton developed winning strategies, but Verstappen’s proved to be just that tiny bit better. The next race will be in Mexico, at high elevation. Both the drivers’ and the constructors’ championships hang in the balance. What more can you ask for? I hope you’ll be watching!

November 7: GP of Mexico (City) (18)

This 2.7 mile track features 17 corners and one long-long straight, where terminal velocity reaches 220 mph. It was warm and sunny all weekend, and the only flies in the ointment seemed to be the extreme dustiness (from lack of use) of the track and the high altitude, which combined to reduce grip and downforce.

As is becoming the norm, a bevy of drivers changed power unit components, and were duly penalized for doing so. When the penalty orgy was over, Stroll, Tsunoda, Norris, Russell, and Ocon had all been penalized to one degree (5 grid spots) to another (10 spots). The only consolation was that none of the front runners were included, most importantly local hero Sergio Perez in the Red Bull.

Practice: The low grip mentioned previously caused precarious conditions and many drivers found themselves spinning and sometimes coming into contact with the barriers. None of these realities did much to change the pecking order: the Mercedes and Red Bulls were at the top of the charts, with the Ferraris and the McLarens close at hand. The data gathered by the teams indicated relatively high tire degradation and the likely hood that two stops would be necessary to complete the 71 lap race.

Qualifying: Red Bull was having a last minute, high-velocity structural problem with its rear wings. They were apparently designed to withstand the 200 mph race speeds, but not the 220+ of Qualifying. That is how close the tolerances are in F1 – amazing. A little tape and some epoxy seemed to alleviate the problems, and the show continued. When the dust (literally) had settled, the starting order was determined as follows: Bottas, Hamilton, Verstappen, Perez, Gasly (this guy driving the Alpha-Tauri has become a common sight at the front of the grid), Sainz, Ricciardo, and Leclerc. Virtually the entire field chose to start on the medium tires.

Race: The two Mercedes moved off from the starting line well and approached turn one side-by-side, with Verstappen close on their tails. But the Germans were creating a giant slip stream for the Red Bull; Verstappen was gaining ground. With a bold move, when the Mercedes began to brake for the corner, Verstappen pulled out of their slip stream and passed them both on the outside of the turn! A truly audacious move and he made it stick. Meanwhile, myriad skirmishes were being fought throughout the field, the most significant dropping Bottas from the leaders to the back of the pack. The various bits of carbon fiber carnage brought out the safety car, which departed the track on lap 4 with the running order of Verstappen, Hamilton, Perez, Gasly, Leclerc, Giovinazzi, and Sainz. This was not Mercedes’ finest hour.

From this point forward, the race featured many long battles in the mid-field. Cars were quite evenly matched, and no one wanted to concede a single place as passing was not easy. For example, Bottas and Ricciardo settled into an epic battle that lasted for the better part of 30 laps. Bottas was faster, but could not get past the McLaren. Meanwhile, Hamilton was working hard to stay ahead of Perez, who was glued to the rear wing of the 7 time world champion, much to the delight of the thousands of fans cheering his nickname – Checo. Vettel spent many laps in close pursuit of Giovinazzi; he finally forced his way past around lap 30, when the running order was Verstappen, Hamilton, Perez, Gasly, Leclerc, and Sainz.

Lap 30 also saw the first of the pit stops. Hamilton was, surprisingly, the first to stop, but Leclerc, Gasly, and Verstappen quickly followed his lead. Meanwhile, Perez, and Sainz delayed their stops to laps 41 and 43, respectively. On lap 45, with all of the leaders on fresh rubber, the running order was Verstappen, Hamilton, Perez, Gasly, Leclerc, and Sainz. Moreover, much to the delight of the fans, Perez was slowly catching Hamilton, who was dropping back from Verstappen. A bit farther back in the field, Vettel, Raikkonen, Alonso, and Norris staged a spirited fight for seventh, while Sainz passed Leclerc and began challenging Gasly for fourth. This was all close quarters racing, wheel-to-wheel, and lap-after-lap. The very best Formula 1 can offer.

With 11 laps to go, Perez made his final assault on Hamilton for second place, but it was not to be. The Brit is very experienced and very difficult to pass; he managed to hold his position. The same fate was experienced by both Sainz and Leclerc, who caught Gasly but could not pass him. The final results: Verstappen, Hamilton, Perez, Gasly, Leclerc, Sainz, Vetter, and Raikkonen. A massive celebration in the pit area ensued to celebrate Red Bull and Perez. Fiesta Time!

November 14: GP of Sao Paolo/Brazil (19)

The Interlagos track near Sao Paolo is often used for big time racing, which Brazilians certainly love; their national hero is, after all, Ayton Senna. The 2.7 mile track incorporates 15 turns and is fast, with speeds up to 220 mph. Initially, the drivers found the track damp and dusty, giving minimal grip. But, as the cars circulated and the sun came out, conditions improved. 71 laps were scheduled. Some pundits were predicting two stops; others insisted that one stop would be faster.

Hamilton took a new engine, and was penalized 5 grid spots for doing so. With both championships so close, such issues become increasingly significant. The point situations are straightforward: Verstappen leads Hamilton by 19 points in the drivers’ championship, while Mercedes is 1 point ahead of Red Bull in the constructors’ race. That is close. This was another Sprint Qualifying weekend, which had the possibility for further shaking up of the situation.

Practice/Qualifying/Sprint Race: Friday morning Practice was relatively uneventful, only the very competitive times set by the Ferraris were of note. Friday afternoon Sprint Qualifying also provided few surprises. The grid for the 24 lap Sprint was as follows: Hamilton, Verstappen, Bottas, and Perez. The Ferraris were sixth and seventh.

Then the merde hit the fan. Hamilton’s rear wing diffuser was found to be opening too far, not by much, but enough to give him a perceived top speed advantage. Verstappen was the first to notice something was amiss when he ‘had a look’ at the Mercedes after Friday Qualifying. This led to an investigation and ultimately a penalty to the rear of the field for the Sprint race for Hamilton, and a 50,000 euro fine to Verstappen for touching the Mercedes in parc ferme conditions. Hamilton was also forced to use an older, spare rear wing from that time forward while his new wing was under examination. Would the championship be won or lost because of such a technicality?

Bottas and Sainz, along with several others, chose to run the Sprint on soft tires; most opted for the mediums. They proved to be prescient. With more grip, they motored by Verstappen to take the lead. At lap 3 the running order was Bottas, Sainz, Verstappen, Perez, Leclerc, Norris, and Gasly. Hamilton was up to 14th. A few laps later, Verstappen reestablished some order and passed Sainz for second place, but he was never able to wrest the lead from Bottas. The Ferrari, however, remained competitive. Sainz was still in third spot after 10 laps. At about lap 20, those who had started on the soft tires began to see their lap times increase. However, they were bailed out by increasing clouds which dropped the temperature and provided just enough additional life to the soft rubber for them to make it to the end. The result of the Sprint: Bottas, Verstappen, Sainz, Perez, Hamilton, Norris, Leclerc, and Gasly. Hamilton would start 10th after the original penalty for changing his engine was assessed.

Race: Temperatures were MUCH hotter on Sunday than the previous two days. The Sprint format allows the drivers to start on any of the three compound tires they choose; virtually everyone chose the mediums. Bottas made a poor start and was immediately passed by Verstappen, and then by Perez. There was much jostling for position, both at the front and in the field, with some incisive passes and a few touches, leaving carbon fiber in their wakes. This brought out the safety car to allow cleaning of the track. When racing resumed on lap 9, the running order was Verstappen, Perez, Bottas, Leclerc, Sainz, Hamilton (moving quickly toward the front), and Vettel.

Hamilton made short work of the two Ferraris, and Bottas simply waved his teammate by. Then the Brit mounted a siege on Perez in second place. A grinding battle of passes and re-passes ensued between the two, but Hamilton finally prevailed, on lap 19. He then set his eye on Verstappen and the leading Red Bull, 4 seconds up the road. While the action was intense at the front, good racing was transpiring throughout the field as well, where exceptional passes were pulled off by Vettel over Ricciardo and Stroll over Alonso.

Considering the on-track action and the heat, it was no surprise that the drivers were noting that their medium tires were nearing the end of their useful lives. Gasly was the first to pit for new rubber (lap 25); he was followed closely by Hamilton, Bottas, Sainz, and Leclerc. In an interesting twist, the two Mercedes chose hard tires, while the two Ferraris chose to mount a second set of mediums, meaning that they would have to stop one more time. How these differing strategies would play out through the end of the 71 lap race remained to be seen.

Verstappen extended his first stint to lap 41, when he stopped for hard tires. During the following 10 laps or so, Bottas, Perez, and Hamilton did the same. When things settled down, Hamilton was clearly quickest on the hard rubber, and by lap 47 he was on Verstappen’s tail. Passing the Red Bull proved to be difficult, however. Hamilton made many feints and lunges, hoping to force Verstappen into an error, but none was forthcoming. They both took unexpected excursions off track, but the running order remained unchanged. Verstappen continued to hold the lead. Finally, on lap 59, the Mercedes passed the Red Bull and then uneventfully motored to victory. The final order was Hamilton, Verstappen, Bottas, Perez, Leclerc, Sainz, Gasly, and Ocon. ,

This was another great race. With Hamilton’s victory, the point races draw closer. This is the home stretch; the finish line is in sight. We hope you see the last push to season’s end. What a Holiday Season it shall be.

November 21: GP of Qatar (20)

This was the first ever F1 race to be contested in Qatar, so little information regarding the idiosyncrasies of the track were known, only the statistics: 3.4 miles, 16 corners, and 57 laps. Oh, and the race would be run at night. The controversy surrounding Hamilton’s rear wing had not been resolved, so a big question mark hovered over the proceedings.

Practice: P1, held on late afternoon Friday, was spent on learning the track and its quirks. P2, held on Friday night, was more of the same. Bottas was quickest in that session, which was no surprise. The competitive times set by Tsunoda in the Alpha Tauri were the only real surprise.

Qualifying: The Ferrari’s seemed to be slowing down during Qualifying rather than speeding up. In an effort to proceed to Q3, Leclerc used soft tires in Q2; he still failed to progress into the final round. In the end, two things stood out. The first was Hamilton’s utter domination of Qualifying and the second was more penalties – to Bottas and Verstappen, both for ignoring yellow flags. The resulting, rather odd, grid was as follows: Hamilton, Gasly, Alonso, Norris, Sainz, Bottas, Verstappen, and Tsunoda.

Race: Held at night in the desert under high power lighting, the race seemed surreal. Nevertheless, the racing was quite real, and ultra-intense. At the start, Alonso immediately passed Gasly. Verstappen, also on a tear, passed three cars in the first lap. Meanwhile, Bottas made a terrible stop and fell five spots. By lap 5 things had settled down a bit, and the running order was Hamilton, Alonso, Verstappen, Gasly, and Norris. Sainz was seventh, the highest placed Ferrari.

The early laps saw some spirited battles waged in the mid-field, most notably between Perez and Sainz, Leclerc and Raikkonen, Ricciardo and Giovinazzi, Perez and Ocon, and Stroll-Tsunoda-Bottas-Norris-Gasly. Perez, in particular, was moving up fast, while Bottas seemed mired in quicksand. Meanwhile, at the front, Hamilton was setting a fast pace and pulling away from Verstappen in second place. Gasly (who started on soft tires) was the first of the leaders to stop for new rubber (lap 14), and by lap 20 most of the other leaders had done the same. Virtually everyone switched to the hard tires, hoping they would last until the end. Meanwhile, Perez forced his way past both Leclerc and Alonso.

Around lap 40, though, the hard tires began to fade and the race pace slowed appreciably. To cap off a terrible day, Bottas suffered a puncture on lap 34, and was never a factor after that. Several of the leaders made second stops, but the field was so spread out that it often made little difference. When the checkered flag waved at the end of lap 51 the finishing order was Hamilton, Verstappen, Alonso, Perez, Ocon, Stroll, Sainz, and Leclerc. With third and fifth place finishes, the Alpines were clearly the toast, and the surprise, of the day. Meanwhile, the championship races tightened up; two races to go.

December 5: GP of Saudi Arabia (21)
This would be the first F1 race ever run in this oil rich principality, which is surprising considering the symbiotic relationship between oil, money, and fast cars. Anyway, given the desert heat, the race would be run at night on the beautiful, fast, but very daunting street circuit measuring 3.8 miles and encompassing 27 turns. Why daunting you might ask? Well, 27 turns, plus barriers only inches from the cars travelling at an average lap speed of 160 mph call for a lot of courage, not to mention skill…and at least a little faith. One definite result of the circuit layout was that cleaning debris or removing crashed cars would be very difficult. 50 laps were scheduled.

With 21 races in the books, the point situation heading into the penultimate battle is amazingly close, with Verstappen holding a slim 8 point lead in the drivers’ championship, and Mercedes holding an even slimmer 5 point lead in the constructors’. It was put up or shut up time.

Practice: The Practice sessions were devoted mainly to learning the track and gaining confidence in edging up to the barriers as lap times tumbled. P1 was, surprisingly, run without incident, but Leclerc made a slight error at the end of P2 and hit a wall at high speed. His Ferrari was crushed, with bits and parts strewn everywhere. Was this an omen of things to come, or merely a warning to slow down?

Qualifying: As the late afternoon/early evening temperature dropped, speeds went up. It was simply breathtaking to watch these drivers circulating at nearly 200 mph just inches away from the barriers. All of the fast guys ran Q2 on the medium tires, so they would also start on them. The Ferraris looked good until Sainz scraped a wall in Q2 and had to settle for 15th on the grid. At the last moment of Q3, Verstappen also rubbed a wall the wrong way, thereby losing his last and best time, and likely pole. The resulting grid order looked like this: Hamilton, Bottas, Verstappen, Leclerc, Perez, and Gasly.

Race: Every rare and strange thing possible occurred during this race…each two or more times! There were what seemed to be a hundred passes, three additional standing starts, an additional rolling start, numerous encounters with the barriers, numerous encounters between cars, multiple safety car periods/red flag periods/virtual safety car periods, etc. Given all the action, we’ll just look at the really strange things that went down.

Oddly, after this build up in excitement, the start was the calm before the storm. Pretty much everyone maintained position and decorum, and the calm continued for about 10 laps, with Sainz the only driver making waves by moving up 5 places in the early action. Then on lap 10, Schumacher hit a wall, bringing out the Safety Car so the debris could be swept up. Some of the leaders pitted for new tires, many did not. Three laps later, repairing the Schumacher damaged barrier triggered a red flag, and pit stops by most that had not stopped just a few laps earlier. Verstappen definitely was the beneficiary of this chaos; he assumed the lead. However, he lost his advantage quickly when Hamilton jumped him on the standing restart. After another accident and similar messy cleanup period and another standing restart, the leaders were Ocon (Alpine), Hamilton, and Verstappen. By lap 18 however, Verstappen had passed Hamilton and Ocon to regain the lead. At lap 20, with a long way to go, the running order was Verstappen, Hamilton, Ocon, Ricciardo, Bottas, and Gasly. The Ferraris were down in 10th and 11th.

In the laps that followed, virtually every scrape with the walls or between cars elicited a safety car, virtual safety car, or red flag. Meanwhile, by lap 30, at the front of the pack the situation was getting tense. Hamilton was closing up on Verstappen, and indicating he was going to pass come hell or high water. These two waged a spirited, and perhaps beyond the rules, battle for several laps that included jostling and running beyond track limits. Finally, Hamilton made a pass, forcing Verstappen to go off track. However, when Verstappen managed to cut the corner and return to the fray in first place, the stewards instructed him to give the place to Hamilton. Unfortunately, Hamilton, following the slowing Red Bull, was not informed and knew nothing of this. Instead of just moving past Verstappen, Hamilton, perhaps anticipating some sort of chicanery from Verstappen, approached the rear of the Red Bull, expecting some blocking maneuver. But Verstappen continued to slow, leading to Hamilton to drive straight into the rear of his car. Surprisingly, neither car suffered much damage, and both were able to continue to the end. The final finishing order was Hamilton, Verstappen, Bottas, Ocon, Ricciardo, Gasly, Leclerc, and Sainz.

Well, certainly everyone got their money’s worth. This race was one for the ages. And, when all the dust settled and all the debris had been removed, we found ourselves with a dead heat between Hamilton and Verstappen in the drivers’ championship. The next race will determine who wins, and who loses…probably.

December 12: GP of Abu Dhabi (22)

This was truly a season for the ages. It was the longest by any reasonable measure, both in duration (March into December) and number of races (22). And after all that we come to the end with the top two drivers tied in the point battle. As the proverb says, “up and down the pit lane you could cut the tension with a knife…even a dull one.” May the best man, and machine, win.

The circus returned to a significantly modified, and hopefully improved, track in Abu Dhabi, one of the Arab Emirates. The revised Yas Marina circuit is 3.3 miles long and incorporates 16 turns. The plan called for 58 laps. It is faster than the previous layout, but not by much. As is becoming common and popular in this part of the world, the race was run at night.

Practice: The Practice sessions were relatively uneventful. Most of the time and effort was directed to leaning and analyzing the revised circuit. The Mercedes seemed to be a bit faster than the Red Bulls, but they were close. The very impressive lap times posted by Yuki Tsunoda in the Alpha Tauri were surprising. At this point the massive improvement in the fortunes of Yuki Tsunoda must be lauded. He started out as the driver demanded by Honda in exchange for them to continue to supply engines to Red Bull and Alpha Tauri. And he drove that way. He was fast, but erratic and prone to finding barriers all the others managed to avoid. At mid-season, he had improved little, and the jibes and jokes were heard up and down pit lane. But, as the season draws to a close, Tsunoda seems to have found his bearings, and he seems to have found the balance between being competitive and being dangerous. Hats off to the young man, his future is looking up.

Qualifying: The two protagonists in our story (Verstappen and Hamilton), plus Bottas lurking in the wings, ran Q2 on the medium tires, meaning that their strategy called for only one tire change, from medium to hard. Most of the other fast guys opted to start on the soft tires, meaning they would likely need two stops. Many of the experts believed that Hamilton had specifically chosen to use the same tires as Verstappen to reduce one variable in their showdown. At the very end of Q2, though, when it was too late for Hamilton to change his tire choice, Verstappen ‘managed’ to flat spot his last new set of mediums. Since he did not want to start the race on these compromised tires, he mounted a set of new soft tires and set his fastest Q2 time on them. He would thereby be forced to start on them. Or, perhaps forced is not accurate, was this his plan all along? In any case, this separated the strategies of the top two drivers: Verstappen would have the advantage of more grip at the start and for the first 10 or so laps, but Hamilton’s advantage meant his tires should last many more laps. Which strategy would prevail? In another strategic ploy, Verstappen utilized the tow of his Red Bull teammate to set fastest time and claim pole. The starting order: Verstappen (s), Hamilton (m), Norris (s), Perez (s), Sainz (s), Bottas (m), Leclerc (s), and Tsunoda (s).

Race: Verstappen made a terrible start. Despite being 25 feet to the good in grid position and being on the soft tires, Verstappen bogged down and was immediately passed by Hamilton. His soft tire advantage was dust in the wind. Now desperate to do something, Verstappen made a bold move to repass Hamilton a few corners later. Hamilton was forced off track, while Verstappen succeeded in making the corner and continuing on track. Hamilton rejoined after short cutting the corner, still in first place. At this point, everyone believed that Hamilton would be directed to give the position to Verstappen, but the Stewards decided otherwise. Hamilton was permitted to maintain the lead, and the race win looked to be well within his grasp. As might be expected, not all the action was at the front; by lap 10 the two Ferraris were 4th and 6th.

With his soft tires fading, Verstappen was the first to stop (lap 14); looking to mimic the Dane’s moves, Hamilton, perhaps surprisingly, did the same on lap 15. Both switched to the hards, hoping they would make it to the end. Then something that seemed of little importance happened. But this year, nothing is of little importance. After his stop, Hamilton had to work his way back up the field, and in doing so he caught Perez (who had not yet stopped) on lap 19. Hamilton hoped to move past with little opposition from the Mexican on his aging soft tires, but he was wrong. Perez staged an epic 2 lap defense of his position, allowing Verstappen to significantly reduce his deficit to the Mercedes. In contrast, when Hamilton caught Bottas several laps later the Finn waved him bye. In all fairness, Bottas provided little resistance to Verstappen several laps later. At lap 30, the running order was Hamilton, Verstappen, Bottas, Perez, Alonso, and Gasly.

At lap 36, an accident and its debris initiated a Virtual Safety Car period during which Verstappen and Perez stopped for new hard tires. Hamilton, on the other hand, continued without stopping, despite that fact that his hard tires had already done 23 laps. Now it seemed that the question was whether Verstappen, on his new tires, could catch Hamilton, on his old ones within the remaining 22 laps. The gap was 18 seconds. As the laps ticked off, Verstappen incrementally reduced the gap to Hamilton, but not to the degree that would be required. He was still about 7 seconds behind when, on lap 53 (just 5 laps from the end), Latifi went off track, eliciting the Safety Car so that the hazard could be removed. When the field slowed and bunched up behind the Safety Car, Verstappen went to the pits for a third time and mounted a new set of soft rubber. Hamilton chose not to pit, but rather to maintain his advantageous track position. Verstappen returned behind Hamilton, but also behind the bunched up lapped traffic behind the leader. As the few remaining laps ticked off while the field was behind the Safety Car, the marshals moved quickly to remove the damaged car, but it seemed that the race would end without another racing lap, which would give the win and the championship to Hamilton. But, on the penultimate lap, the lapped traffic was allowed to pass the leader and the Safety Car, leaving Verstappen immediately behind the leader. Then the green flag was waved. At this point, on his old rubber, Hamilton was a sitting duck and Verstappen easily passed him. A moment later the race was over, Verstappen had won, and he was also Champion of the World!

The finishing order, which seemed of little importance at this time, was Verstappen, Hamilton, Sainz, Tsunoda, Gasly, and Bottas. Leclerc was tenth.

Overview – 2021 Season
This was without doubt one of the best/most exciting/closest Formula 1 seasons of all time. Virtually every race was contested, most were highly contested. And the best action was right at the front, where seemingly equal drivers (Max Verstappen and Louis Hamilton) duked it out in seemingly equal cars (Red Bull and Mercedes) lap-after-lap and race-after-race to a last lap, last race finale that bent the time-space continuum. There was also plenty of controversy (including on the last few laps of the final race), but that just served to spice things up.

Let’s have a look at the final standings of the top drivers and teams.

Final Drivers’ Standings

Verstappen – Red Bull
Hamilton – Mercedes-Benz
Bottas – Mercedes-Benz
Perez – Red Bull
Sainz – Ferrari
Norris – McLaren
Leclerc – Ferrari

Final Constructors’ Standings

Mercedes-Benz
Red Bull
Ferrari
McLaren

This has to be regarded as a major come back year for our red chargers. After a dismal 2020, Ferrari was once again in contention for podiums and even victories in 2021. In other words, things returned to normal.

Outlook – 2022 Season

A completely new set of regulations pertaining to the cars will come into effect for 2022. It will be, essentially, starting from scratch, designing from a clean sheet. This means that any team could possibly come up with the better mouse trap, and turn the power pyramid on its ear. But, don’t count on it. The best, most highly funded teams generally seem to come up with the best solutions, and the fastest cars at the first race of the new season. Nevertheless, there are always some surprises, so be watching for a new season to begin in March 2022. Meanwhile, Forza Ferrari.

FCA NEWSLETTER
DESERT REGION – LAS VEGAS CHAPTER
3rd Quarter 2021

Written by John Ratto
Edited by Chuck Damus

Dateline: Early July 2021

Was it really three months ago? In some ways, it seems like yesterday. I remember it was hot out there…really HOT. It seems that virtually every day broke, or threatened, an existing record. The oddity of the situation was that this heat wave engulfed the entire west coast. It was flaming in Portland and Seattle…Idaho and Montana…places normally not associated with extreme heat. Meanwhile, the level of Lake Mead was dropping by the day. Our dependence on the Lake and Dam is primal. The Lake supplies the water we drink and use for irrigation…and to wash our precious Ferraris. Moreover, we need the water level to maintain some reasonable minimum so that the Dam can produce power for our neon lights and one-armed bandits. I generally believe engineers can and will solve any problem that arises. However, creating massive amounts of water (or moving it from another locale) is a tough ask. Meanwhile, our elected officials act as if there is no problem, or potential problem, at all. They are doubling down…issuing more building permits. Maybe they know something we don’t. Let’s hope so. We were hoping for a plentiful monsoon season…but it was less than average.

More bad news lurked in the form of the Covid virus. Despite the vaccines, people were and still are catching the disease, and suffering for it. The Delta variant was worst, and truly nasty cases seemed to be reserved for those who had not been vaccinated. The latest surge began in May, and it has become more serious as the summer has worn on. We are now wearing masks indoors in public places again. Keep your guard up; the virus has not yet been defeated.

Despite all of that negative stuff, we managed to have some fun in the second quarter of 2021. So, let’s move on to some good news. These are the events of the quarter, which are already fading into the past.

August 19: Social at Limoncello

Despite our general reluctance to have socials during the summer months, the Board decided to organize one for mid-August. I think we needed something positive to counterbalance all the negative news (retreat from Afghanistan, reemergence of the virus, immigration problems at the southern border …) on
TV. Several factors (the proximity to Car Week in Monterey on the calendar, illnesses, members on vacation) conspired to reduce our turnout, but it was still a happy group that invaded this popular Italian restaurant. The good news: everyone seemed to love the place. Dan and Jan Fogle then announced some double-good news. They are now proud great-grandparents! Moreover, their simply scrumptious 599 GTB Fiorano nabbed a Platinum award at Concorso Italiano, in Monterey the previous weekend. Let me tell you, from, unfortunately, long prior experience, those platinum trophies are hard to get. What makes the story even better is that they drove the car to Monterey (500+ miles) immediately before showing it on the green. A BIG congratulations!

September 23: Social at the Italian-American Club

This event drew a nice turnout of 16-18 members and guests, all of whom seemed to have enjoyed their dinners and have had a fabulous time. We all tip our hats to Bianca for orchestrating another successful get-together. Of great interest to me, and likely to many others as well, was the attendance by Stuart Sobek, the driving force behind the Las Vegas Concours d’Elegance. This show was first held in 2019, and then cancelled for 2020 due to the pandemic. Cancellation of its second iteration must have been a tremendous blow to its continuity and momentum, but it is good to see it alive and kicking for 2021 (October 21 – 24 at the Las Vegas Ballpark in Summerlin). Stuart is aiming for the stars, and he seems to be succeeding, so we suggest that you attend. Please see lasvegasconcours.com for additional information.

Dateline: Late September 2021

Another quarter bites the dust. But it was certainly an eventful one. Looking back, a few high (low?) lights stand out. The first, and most dramatic, was the retreat from Afghanistan. A mess of massive proportions. But, on the other hand, it was something that needed to be done sooner or later, but something no one was willing to do. So I give Biden credit for biting the bullet. By Christmas it will all be a bad nightmare, and things will improve because of the termination of our active involvement in the quagmire.

The return of the virus was another kick in the gut. It seems odd that people in other parts of the world are begging to be vaccinated, while people here in America reject vaccination, even when it is free (or even rewarded). Then there was the deplorable situation at the border. This one is especially troubling because it calls into question the overall viability of our country. There must be an immigration plan and it must be enforced. Our future depends on it.

Despite all he doom and gloom, we have survived another quarter (and one of the hottest summers in LV history) relatively unscathed. Problems continue to hamper enjoyment of the present, but nothing seems insurmountable. If the pandemic has taught us anything, it is ‘enjoy life while you can.’ In the meantime, be sure to visit our website (ferrariclubvegas.com) periodically to find the latest news and information on upcoming events, such as these.

October 28: Social at Table 34
November 18: Social at Nora’s
Christmas Party: Early December at Limoncello

FORMULA 1 NEWS

The Formula One Score Board – through 8 races

So, what does the scoreboard look like after 8 races? It looks close. REALLY REALLY CLOSE. And that is a very good thing! After years of domination by Mercedes, it appears that 2021 will be a highly competitive season. Significantly, Perez (in the second Red Bull) is ahead of Bottas (in the second Mercedes). This hasn’t happened in years. It hints that at this moment the Red Bull is the slightly superior car. Max Verstappen and Red Bull can win the championships with a slightly superior car. Here are the statistics:

Drivers:

Verstappen 156
Hamilton 138
Perez 96
Norris 86
Bottas 74
Leclerc 58
Sainz 50

Constructors:

Red Bull 252
Mercedes 212
McLaren 120
Ferrari 108

These results further show that Ferrari is back in the game. The red cars are a threat for high grid positions and for scoring significant points. McLaren is now the team to beat for Ferrari…the battle is on for third place. That certainly makes things more interesting than they were last year.

July 4: GP of Austria (Race 9)

In an effort to reduce travel in these difficult times, two successive races, one week apart, were run at the Red Bull Ring in Austria. This was the second of those races. To recap, the circuit is 2.7 miles in length, features massive elevation changes, and very high top and average speeds. 71 laps were scheduled. Tire degradation is low. Also of note: there were fans, massive numbers of them, in the grandstands. Where were they last weekend? Slowly but surely, and with a few bumpy patches, things are getting back to normal.

Practice: Friday was a pleasant day, but rain was in the forecast for both Saturday and Sunday. Given that the same track had been used a week earlier, everything was familiar to the drivers, and their data gathering proceeded swiftly. As a consequence, little of note transpired in the three Practice sessions, except for the teams testing prototype tires for next year. Oh, and there was some news: Hamilton signed on for two more years with Mercedes-Benz.

Qualifying: It was very hot Saturday afternoon, and the soft tires were degrading fast. Given the situation, everyone at the front attempted to qualify on the medium tires, but only the fastest (the two Red Bulls, two Mercedes, and Norris) succeeded. After a rather stilted qualifying session, the grid order was as follows: Verstappen, Norris, Perez, Hamilton, Bottas, Gasly, Tsunoda (a nice run by the rookie), and Russell (showing that Williams is returning from the hinterlands it has occupied for several years). Both Ferraris started outside the top 10. In a surprise move, Sainz opted for the hard tires to start the race. Most of the others in the field chose the mediums.

Race: Sunday was much cooler with rain in the forecast. This did nothing to dissuade the fans, who were out in full force, with many clad in orange for their favorite – Max Verstappen.

The cars got off to a clean start, with much excitement throughout the mid field. There were numerous battles and position changes among the cars running between 8th and 19th. Lap 4 saw a titanic battle for second between Norris and Perez, a battle in which Norris was the victor. Losing the battle put Perez in a vulnerable position relative to those immediately behind him, who smelled blood. In a flash both Mercedes passed Perez, and then Leclerc had a go as well. Perez managed to fight off the Ferrari, but in the process both cars lost track position to others. In addition, Leclerc was penalized 5 seconds for forcing Perez off track. Soon thereafter, the drivers began heading for the pits, changing from their soft (and medium) tires to the hards, hoping they would make it to the end of the race.

From this point onward, most of the action was in pits, and in the mid-field, where it was hot and heavy. Laps 13 to 50 saw a bevy of pit stops (including – in this order – Vettel, Ricciardo, Norris, Bottas, Hamilton, Verstappen, Perez, Leclerc, and Sainz, who was the last to pit after starting on the hard tires.). These laps also saw many battles in the mid-field, including, notably, Gasly/Stroll, Leclerc/Perez (for a second and then third time), Ricciardo/Vettel, and Hamilton/Norris. During this period, Verstappen was drawing away from the field, while Bottas, in third place, was slowly running down his teammate in second. Also during this time, the stewards were handing out penalties (virtually all 5 second ‘hand slaps’) – and more penalties. Perez got 2, while Leclerc, Norris, Stroll, and Tsunoda got one each.

A few laps later, Bottas caught and passed Hamilton for second place, and an instant later Norris did the same (lap 53). Hamilton responded with a visit to the pits to replace his worn out tires. Meanwhile, in the Ferrari camp Leclerc was moving up. He caught and passed Ricciardo for sixth place on lap 58.

Verstappen, managing an easy lead, made a second ‘better-safe-than-sorry’ pit stop on lap 60 and cruised to victory. However, there was still action to be found in the waning laps. Alonso and Russell staged an all-out war for the last point paying position, with Alonso the winner, and Sainz managed to get by Ricciardo for fifth on the very last lap. When all the penalty time had been meted out, the finishing order was Verstappen, Bottas, Norris, Hamilton, Sainz, Perez, Ricciardo and Leclerc.

July 18: GP of Britain (10)

Silverstone, located on an old WW2 air force base, is long (3.7 miles) and fast (average speed over 150 mph). After the cancellation of last year’s race due to the pandemic, the track was in serious debt and in danger of default. However, in 2021 the British fans turned out in droves (140,000 were estimated for the actual race), creating sufficient income for the track to remain solvent. Fifty-two laps were scheduled.

Practice – Qualifying: The organizers decided to try a new practice/qualifying format. A normal practice session was held Friday morning. A relatively usual qualifying session was then held on Friday afternoon (instead of Saturday). Saturday morning saw another mostly usual practice session, but then the changes began. Saturday afternoon hosted a Sprint race (17 laps), the grid order for which was determined by the results of Friday qualifying. The results of this race would determine the grid for the actual Grand Prix. Moreover, the top three qualifiers would earn points (3 – 2 -1). A bit strange for sure, but an attempt to keep the fans interested during the pre-race days.

Verstappen forced his way past Hamilton at the start of the Sprint, and managed to hold the lead to the end. Numerous other good battles (Norris/Alonso, Ricciardo/Alonso, Sainz/Gasly, Sainz/Raikkonen) were waged in the short 17 laps, and when all was said and done, the grid for the big race was mostly business as usual: Verstappen, Hamilton, Bottas, Leclerc (a nice surprise), Norris, Ricciardo, Alonso, and Vettel (who has seemed to find a home with Aston Martin). Sainz (who dropped to the rear of the field after an opening lap collision in the Sprint) was 10th, while Perez would start at the rear after spinning off track in the Sprint race. This new twist seemed to find favor with the fans, but little purchase with the drivers. More news when it happens.

Race: It was very hot, at least by British standards, which was causing concern regarding tire wear. With the new rules, everyone had a free choice of tires for the start. Everyone except Perez, starting from the rear, opted for mediums. He chose the hards.

Verstappen and Hamilton staged a war from the start, with Hamilton challenging for the lead on several occasions, and Verstappen rebuffing his every move. Things got really tight, then they banged wheels and Verstappen was off into the barriers at 170 mph. Hamilton managed to maintain control of his mount, but not before Leclerc was past him and into the lead. A Ferrari if first place – that hasn’t happened in a while! Meanwhile, the race was red flagged so that Verstappen’s car and debris could be removed. Racing resumed on lap 4 with Verstappen out, Leclerc in the lead, and Hamilton saddled with a 10 second penalty for causing the crash. At this point Hamilton attempted to get by the Ferrari several times, but failed to make a pass. He dropped back to save his tires and contemplate his situation. He was 2 – 3 seconds behind on track, but 12 or 13 seconds behind in reality. Hamilton needed to get by Leclerc to have any chance to win. But, in reality, the Ferrari, surprisingly, was more than a match for the Mercedes at this point in the action. Then, disaster seemingly struck…on lap 15 Leclerc began experiencing electronic engine control problems. Meanwhile, Hamilton was close behind, waiting for his opportunity. It didn’t come. The Ferrari engineers identified the issue and figured out a patch (about lap 20), allowing Leclerc to remain in the lead.

The first pit stops came at lap 19; everyone that stopped changed to the hard tires, except Perez who went from hard to medium rubber. By this time both Ferraris were running in the top 5, and seemingly experiencing little difficulty with their tires. They appeared to be circulating nicely, cruising to an outstanding result. Meanwhile, Bottas and Norris visited the pits on lap 23, Hamilton did the same (and served his 10 second penalty) on lap 28. Leclerc and Sainz were the last of the leaders to pit, on laps 29 and 30 respectively. Sainz’s stop was quite long, causing him to rejoin the race behind Ricciardo, a situation from which he never escaped.

The running order at lap 30 was Leclerc, Bottas, Norris, Hamilton, Ricciardo, and Sainz. Then, Hamilton went on one of his patented tears. He seemed to be very committed. The Mercedes was very fast on the hard tires. Nothing was going to prevent him from winning this race!

The Brit caught Norris on lap 31, and made short work of the McLaren. He caught his teammate on lap 40, and was by him on lap 41. With those tasks completed, he set sail for the leading Ferrari of Leclerc. At this point, with about 10 laps to go, the gap was about 10 seconds. But Hamilton was gaining at over 1 second per lap. It was going to be close. Meanwhile, Leclerc was cruising in the lead. And while he was turning personal best lap times, Hamilton was setting fastest race laps. (In an interview after the race, Leclerc noted that the Ferrari simply did not meld with the hard tires as well as it had with the mediums.) Hamilton caught the Ferrari on lap 49 and flew past it on lap 50. So close – so far. The final finishing order: Hamilton, Leclerc, Bottas, Norris, Ricciardo, Sainz, Alonso, and Stroll.

This was a great race. There were spirted battles (and passes) for position up and down the field. There was nearly constant excitement. There were 140,000 fans in the stands, mostly cheering for Hamilton to catch and pass the red usurper leading the pack. Two Ferraris in the top six is just the icing (and the bright red cherry) on the top. Fabulous race and brilliant outcome, what more can you ask. Only Verstappen and Red Bull were unfulfilled when it was all over.

August 1: GP of Hungary (11)

The 2.7 mile track in Hungary is tight and twisty, featuring 14 corners, and an average lap speed of ‘only’ about 125 mph. Passing is very difficult. 70 laps were scheduled, with rain predicted for Saturday and Sunday. The traditional qualifying format was to be used.

Practice: All three Practice sessions were run under bright skies and high temperatures, meaning tires degraded quickly. Verstappen, surprisingly, was experiencing car set up problems; he could not seem to dial out the pervasive understeer his mount was exhibiting. On the other hand, the Ferraris were performing well, giving the tifosi hope for the upcoming battle.

Qualifying: The predicted rains failed to materialize; instead conditions remained very hot. While everyone wanted to start the race on the more durable medium tires, only the Mercedes were fast enough to move into Q3 on the mediums. All of the other leaders would be forced to start on the softs. Once again, the Mercedes were clearly fastest in the prevailing conditions. The Qualifying order was Hamilton, Bottas, Verstappen, Perez, Gasly, Norris, and Leclerc. Sainz, who had crashed in Q2, was 15th.

Race: That rain that had been predicted since late Friday? It finally came on Sunday morning, just minutes before the start of the race. Temperatures dropped and the wind began to howl. The track was suddenly changed, becoming greasy and slippery. Forget the discussion concerning medium versus soft tires; everyone started the race on the intermediate wet tires.

Despite the obvious need for discretion as opposed to valor, Bottas made an idiotic start, one which disrupted or eliminated half of the field. He raced into the first corner at full speed, ramming several cars, which in turn ran into other cars, which in turn led to the race being red flagged, which led to a parade to the pits. Fifteen minutes or so later, when the race was re-started, the rain was gone, and so were a handful of cars. Then something even more bizarre transpired. At the end of the formation lap for the re-start, everyone, except leader Hamilton, aborted their lap and went to the pits for dry weather tires (mediums). Hamilton stopped for normal medium tires at the end of the second lap, but he was now in last place. The running order at this point clearly demonstrates just how jumbled the field had become: Ocon, Vettel, Latifi, Tsunoda, Sainz, Alonso, and Russell. Verstappen, with a damaged car, was running 11th; Hamilton was last.

This set the stage for another of Hamilton’s dashes from the very rear to the front. It took him several laps to catch the first car ahead of him, but once he did Hamilton began an inexorable slash-and-dash through the field towards the front, where Ocon and Vettel were staging their own battle for the lead. Pushing this hard proved problematic for Hamilton’s tires; at lap 20 he was the first to make a second pit top, this time opting for the hard tires. Once back on track, Hamilton continued his assault on the drivers ahead of him; he was up to 7th place by lap 30, when the leaders were Ocon, Vettel, Sainz, Alonso, and Gasly, none of whom had stopped for a second time.

Laps 30-35 saw some spirited competition for positions throughout the field, but those battles proved to be the swan songs of the tires the leaders had been babying since lap 3. Vettel made his second stop on lap 37; it was a slow one that compromised any possibility he might pass Ocon for the lead. Both Ocon and teammate Alonso made their second stops just one lap later, and at lap 40 the running order was Ocon, Vettel, Sainz, Hamilton, Alonso, Tsunoda, and Gasly.

Then, on lap 48, another surprise. Hamilton made yet another pit stop, this time opting for medium tires. He returned in 5th place, behind the Alpine of grizzled veteran Fernando Alonso. This set up what will likely become the defining battle of the 2021 season. Hamilton, on fresh tires, was able to catch Alonso (on much older tires) by lap 54. With 16 laps to go, the question was how fast could Hamilton pass Alonso, and then resume his quest for the lead? The answer was a very long time…a very, very long time. Alonso went to his bag of tricks and used every one…multiple times. Hamilton repeatedly threatened, making move after move, pulling even to the Alpine, having a good look. But Alonso defended brilliantly…over and over and over again. Hamilton tried, but he repeatedly failed. This wheel-to-wheel battle for 4th place went on for more than 10 laps (that is not a misprint). Finally, on lap 65, Alonso made a tiny mistake and Hamilton completed the pass. But, too few laps remained. After a short but spirited tussle, Hamilton managed to pass Sainz for third, but that was it. There would be no Mercedes victory today.

The final finishing order was Ocon, Vettel, Hamilton (who looked as if he was about to faint on the podium), Sainz, Alonso, Gasly, and Tsunoda. Verstappen salvaged 10th, and one single point.

This, ladies and gentlemen, was a fabulous race. This year has seen many good races, but nothing that comes close to this GP of Hungary, which will be remembered as an all-time great. Luckily, the summer break is here. The drivers and mechanics can take a long breath and regroup. Unfortunately, we fans must wait several weeks for action to resume.

August 29: GP of Belgium (12)

The summer break is over and it is time to go racing. Belgium is home to SPA – Francorchamps, one of the most (in) famous tracks on the F1 circuit. SPA is long (nearly 4.4 miles) and fast (average lap speeds are into the 145 mph range, and top speeds nudge 220 mph). The track is located high in a dense forest, so the weather generally varies from cool and damp to wet and raining. The forecast for the weekend was the latter.

With the return to action came several penalties meted out by the FIA for transgressions at the Hungarian GP. Due to a minor fuel error, Vettel was disqualified and stripped of his second place finish. In addition, 5 spot grid penalties were given to Bottas and Stroll for their driving boo-boos.

Another significant news item also popped up: Red Bull announced that the services of Sergio Perez would be retained for at least one more season. This was a smart move, as Perez is the top driver not specifically affiliated to one group of teams (he is a free agent), and he is mature enough to function as Max Verstappen’s spear carrier.

Practice: Friday morning saw damp conditions for P1, but the sun was peeking through the clouds, promising better conditions in the near future. The drivers gingerly circled the track, mostly on intermediate tires. By Friday afternoon, conditions were more acceptable for P2, which saw some aggressive driving. The bad news was that the Ferraris were off the pace. Moreover, late in the session Leclerc spun and hit a wall, doing some damage to his car. When even the mighty Verstappen suffered a similar fate, the session was terminated. Friday night saw extensive rain that carried over into Saturday P3, rendering the information that was being harvested unrepresentative of what could be achieved. Given the unrelenting wet conditions, Saturday afternoon Qualifying was a big question mark.

Qualifying: The deplorable condition persisted into Saturday afternoon. Initially, Q1 was delayed in the hope that the weather would improve. When it did not, Q1 proceeded despite the rain, with everyone on full wet tires. Things improved a bit during Q1, providing a reason for hope for Q2, which everyone ran on intermediate wet rubber. Unfortunately, the rain was back in full force for Q3, which saw Norris in the McLaren suffer a massive spin (5 complete revolutions) and complete annihilation of his car. In response to the conditions, and the evident damage that could be wreaked by them, the session was red flagged until the weather improved. When Q3 was finally run, the resulting grid order was Verstappen, George Russell with an outstanding effort in the Williams, Hamilton, Ricciardo, Vettel, Gasly, and Perez. Leclerc managed only 9th, while Sainz was even farther adrift (11th).

Race: Sunday’s weather was simply more of the same: Ominous grey skies, frigid temperatures, and unrelenting rain. How bad was it? Perez crashed driving from the pits to the grid. Then, just when it looked like the race would begin, it was delayed repeatedly in 5 minute increments. Finally, about a half hour late, the field cautiously began to circulate behind the safety car. After a couple such laps, the race was aborted due to the drivers’ complaints of lack of visibility caused by the spray from the tires.

Then – nothing. Hour after hour, nothing. Finally, seemingly a lifetime later, the stewards announced the race would start-resume in 10 minutes. Everyone geared up for whatever might happen because it was still raining hard. In any case, the field followed the safety car out on track and, on tippy-toes, completed a couple more laps at which point the race was red flagged one more time. This time, there would be no more effort to resuscitate it. The Belgian GP was over and the race went into the books as having been partly completed (hence the few laps run for no apparent reason). As a result, half points were awarded. The finishing order was, not surprisingly, very similar to the starting: Verstappen, Russell, Hamilton, Ricciardo, Vettel, Gasly, Ocon, Leclerc, Latiffi, and Sainz.

After a string of excellent races, a clunker was inevitable.

September 5: The Dutch GP (13)

The circuit known as Zandvoort, just a few hundred miles from the previous week’s race at SPA, hosted the thirteenth race of this busy season. This track, always a driver favorite, has not hosted a GP in nearly 35 years, probably due to lack of spectator interest. Well, this year, with home-boy Max Verstappen in the field and challenging for the title, there was plenty of interest, and the grandstands were packed with fans dressed in the bright orange livery of the area. More than 70,000 were on hand, most for the entire three day race weekend. The track itself is short (2.6 miles), and tight, twisty, and undulating. Some of the turns have as much as 19 degrees banking (a lot). Race distance was 72 laps.

As the weekend was beginning, Kimi Raikkonen announced his retirement as of the season’s end. Say what you will about Kimi, he had a great career (including one world championship – driving for Ferrari!), and he certainly did things his way.

Practice: The Practice sessions were generally held in cool temperatures and under bright, sunny, blue skies. Marvelous conditions compared to those at SPA the weekend prior. Despite the excellent weather, all three Practice sessions were disrupted and significantly shortened by cars spinning into walls, causing major damage. As a result, the teams had little data upon which to make their Qualifying and race preparations and simulations. Looking back, after the completion of P3, Verstappen looked to be the man to beat, which was just fine with the fans in the grandstands.

Qualifying: The times were initially very close (with less than one second covering the top 10), and generally remained so as the track’s grip improved from the rubber being laid down. Everyone’s next lap was typically a good bit faster than their previous one. As a consequence, when he miss-timed starting his final Q1 lap, Perez failed to make it into Q2, a disturbing situation for Red Bull. Both Russell and Latifi spun in Q2, and the ensuing red flags curtailed the proceedings just as the rack was reaching its apex of performance. Fortunately, Q3 was relatively calm, and the grid looked like this: Verstappen, Hamilton, Bottas, Gasly, Leclerc, and Sainz. Yes, the Ferraris were looking good!

Race: The top 10 all started on the soft tires, which were projected to have a fairly long life at this track. After all of the accidents that marred Practice and Qualifying, It was a welcome change that the field rolled off without much incident. Verstappen managed to hold the lead, with the two Mercedes close on his heels. Farther back in the field, Alonso, the foxy old veteran in the Alpine, managed to move up two places in the first lap.

Lap 21 saw the first pit stops, with Hamilton being first. Verstappen followed his lead into the pits, leaving Bottas in the lead, but on old tires. That didn’t last long. With fresh tires, Verstappen caught and passed the, sending Bottas to the pits for new rubber. Meanwhile, much of the field had also stopped, choosing to continue on the various available tire compounds. On lap 35, after most of the field had stopped, the running order was Verstappen, Hamilton, Bottas, Gasly, Leclerc, Sainz, Norris, Perez (up from last place).

Things started getting interesting on lap 40, with strategy dictating planning. Hamilton made a second stop, opting for the medium tires. One lap later, Verstappen (mimicking Hamilton) also made a second stop, but he chose the hard tires. As a consequence, Verstappen and Hamilton, on different compound tires, were poised for a long stint (about 30 laps – nearly half the race) culminating in either victory or defeat. At first, Hamilton on the medium rubber began to very slowly reel in the leader, closing to within 3 seconds. But then, around lap 55, Hamilton’s medium tires began to fade, and Verstappen, on the hard tires, regained the pace. Verstappen slowly began pulling away and won the race. The fans went wild. The finishing order was Verstappen, Hamilton, Bottas, Gasly, Leclerc, Alonso, Sainz, and Perez.

Not a bad outcome for Ferrari, which extended its lead for third place over McLaren.

September 12: GP of Italy (14)

The GP of Italy is typically held at Monza, generally known as the Temple of Speed (naturally). The long 3.6 mile track features only 11 turns, perfect for producing 160 mph average lap speeds. One pit stop for tires seemed to be the consensus. For the second time this year, the race would be run using the Sprint Qualifying format.

As the drivers began to get down to business, information on their homes for next season trickled out. George Russell will leave Williams for Mercedes, ousting Bottas who will move to Alfa. Alex Albon will return to take Russell’s seat at Williams.

P1 and Friday Qualifying: Not much happened during P1. The big news was that there was little difference between the lap times achievable on the soft and medium tires, meaning that use of the soft tires in the race was unlikely. Friday afternoon Qualifying saw lots of traffic and more than a few penalties for exceeding track limits. Initially, the Red Bulls were a bit off the pace, which was surprising. As anticipated, the Mercedes were fast. The speed of the McLarens was very surprising. When the three Qualifying sessions were completed, the grid order for the Sprint Race (to be held Saturday afternoon) was Bottas, Hamilton, Verstappen, Norris, Ricciardo, Gasly, Sainz and Leclerc.

P2 and the Sprint Race: The teams planned to use P2 to develop and fine tune their strategies for the Sprint Race and the GP. However, less than half way into P2, Sainz spun and hit a wall, bringing out the red flags and terminating the session – and the gathering of information.

The Sprint format allows the drivers to choose any tire for the 18 lap Sprint Race; most chose the mediums. Hamilton made a poor start and immediately dropped to fifth place. Stuck behind Norris, he was never a threat or factor in the short race. There was some good action between other drivers, however, with Alonso and Stroll gaining positions with excellent passes. The finishing order of the Sprint was Bottas, Verstappen, Ricciardo, Norris, Hamilton, Leclerc, and Sainz. That would be the grid for the Grand Prix, except for Bottas, who would be forced to start from pit lane due to penalties for taking on a new engine.

Race: Sunday was sunny and hot. Everyone had a free choice of tires for the start, and all (except those relegated to starting from the pits) chose the medium rubber. The start was hectic, with both Hamilton and Ricciardo moving up one position. After a few laps, things settled down and the running order was Ricciardo, Verstappen, Norris, Hamilton, Leclerc, and Sainz.

Lap 9 provided some big excitement as Sainz and Perez staged a massive battle for seventh place. These two passed and then repassed each other several times. Meanwhile, Hamilton was closing up on Norris running in third place, and Ricciardo, the race leader, was slowing and clearly holding up Verstappen, who could not find a way to pass the Aussie. By lap 20 it was clear that the medium tires were degrading fast; pit stops began shortly thereafter. Ricciardo stopped on lap 22, and Verstappen did the same only one lap later. However, Verstappen’s stop was very, very long; he returned in tenth place. Hamilton stopped on lap 26, and he also suffered a long stop. As a consequence of these coincidences, he rejoined immediately next to Verstappen, and a heated battle for position began. First there was some jostling, then a massive collision. Then both were out of the race. This caused the Safety Car to be deployed and allowed those who had not yet stopped for tires to do so, gaining a big advantage. Leclerc was the biggest beneficiary; he was suddenly elevated to second place. When the Safety Car left the track on lap 30, the running order was Ricciardo, Leclerc, Norris, Perez, Sainz, Bottas, and Stroll. Soon thereafter, Norris passed Leclerc with an audacious move, both Bottas and Perez passed Sainz, and finally Perez squeezed by Leclerc with a bold pass.

At this point (between laps 30 and 40), Bottas, on medium tires, was fastest on the track, mainly because everyone else was on the hards. However, as the laps clicked off, this advantage lessened and by lap 43 Bottas was slower than many of the cars he had just passed. This (and the absence of Hamilton and Verstappen) led to some good fights at the front in the final laps, but when the dust had settled the finishing order was Ricciardo, Norris, Bottas, Leclerc, Perez, Sainz, and Stroll. All in all, it was a wonderful day for McLaren and a very good one for Ferrari as well.

September 26: GP of Russia (15)

This track, located at the resort city of Sochi which hosted the Olympics a few years ago, is 3.6 miles of medium speed corners (18 in total). As such, average lap speeds are ‘only’ about 130 mph. 53 laps were scheduled. Rain of epic proportions was predicted for Saturday, with milder rain forecast for Sunday.

For various strategic reasons too complicated to explain here, many of the teams decided to use new power units for this race. The cars that did so were those of Verstappen, Leclerc, Bottas, Latiffi, and Leclerc, all of which were penalized to start at the back of the field.

Practice: P1, held on Friday morning, was sunny and windy. As a wash out was expected for Saturday, the teams got busy gathering data as soon as the track opened. As expected, the Mercedes were quickest, but the Red Bulls, Ferraris, and McLarens were close to the pace. P2 also saw a high level of activity, with Mercedes again setting the pace. As expected, P3, scheduled for Saturday morning, was a complete wash out due to a deluge of biblical proportions.

Qualifying: Luckily, conditions improved as the day wore on, permitting Qualifying to proceed on Saturday afternoon. The track was still very wet though, and everyone ran the early sessions on intermediate rain tires. Even so, they were slipping and sliding in the damp conditions. However, by Q3 things had improved to the point where slicks were faster. As the conditions improved, Hamilton seemed to be having more difficulties than most. In the final minutes of Q3, when conditions were best, he managed to hit a barrier wall in the pit entrance and then spin on his final timed lap. I’d have to say the pressure was on, and Louis was feeling it.

Nevertheless, the conditions added to the drama, producing a grid order that was truly a head-scratcher: Norris (McLaren), Sainz (Ferrari!), Russell (Williams?), Hamilton, Ricciardo (McLaren), Alonso (Alpine?!), and Bottas. That tutti frutti was truly an eclectic surprise.

Race: Race morning was cloudy and cold, with the possibility of rain in the air. Most opted to start on the medium tires, while many of those at the back of the field (fast cars that had been penalized) decided to start on the hard rubber. The start was tight and very exciting, with many fighting hard to gain (or maintain) position. Despite that, there were no collisions and the first laps were without major incident. With a couple of laps in the books, the running order was Sainz (yes, a Ferrari led the field!), Norris, Russell, Stroll, Ricciardo, and Hamilton. As for those who had started in the rear, Leclerc was up to 12th, Bottas to 14th, and Verstappen to 15th. Then, Verstappen got especially aggressive and passed Bottas (lap 6), Gasly (8), and Leclerc (10). Meanwhile, Ricciardo was delaying Hamilton’s progress, and Norris and Sainz were staging a spirited battle (ultimately won by Norris) for the lead. This was great racing.

Stroll was the first to stop for fresh rubber (lap 13), followed shortly by Russell, and Sainz, and then a few laps later by Ricciardo, Hamilton, Verstappen, Norris, and Bottas. These stops, many of which were atypically slow due to new FIA rules governing pit stops, led to a series of daring passes among the front runners, many of which had not yet made their first pit stops, including those who had started on hard tires at the rear of the field. The field was jumbled-up, and the racing was all the better for it. At lap 37, after everyone of note had made a stop, the running order was Norris, Hamilton, Sainz, Ricciardo, Perez, and Verstappen. At this point, with more than 15 laps remaining, Hamilton got busy with the task at hand. He slowly began to reel in the leading McLaren, and everyone was preparing for an epic battle for the win between the grizzled vet and the fresh faced youngster.

Then, on lap 46, the unthinkable happened. Rain! At first, it seemed unbelievable. Not a drop had fallen all race, and now it was raining with 5 laps to go. At first, the rain was light and the optimists were predicting it would not be heavy or last long. No way, Jose. As the cars slowed (lap times increased by up to 20 seconds) down to maintain their tenuous grip to the tarmac, the rain grew heavier. By lap 47, many were stopping for intermediate wet tires. Hamilton stopped on lap 49. With cars slipping and sliding, Norris decided to try to make it to the end. But, after exiting the pits it only took Hamilton a few moments to re-catch Norris, who then spun under the pressure.

Then the race was over. The finishing order was Hamilton, Verstappen, Sainz, Ricciardo, Bottas, Alonso, Raikkonen, and Norris. So, we have another win for Mr. Lucky, his 100th. We can say what we will about Hamilton, but he is truly an amazing driver, all the more so because he drives best when the odds are stacked against him. And again, we had a race of high excitement. This season will be long remembered for its unusual occurrences and high drama.

Formula 1 Summary – as of October 1

The third quarter of 2021 saw some wonderful and exciting racing. We hope you were able to enjoy some of it. So, let’s have a status report as to the points situation. Again, it is close. Hamilton and Verstappen are separated by only 2 points. You cannot ask for a more competitive season.

Drivers:

Hamilton 246.5
Verstappen 244.5
Bottas 151
Norris 139
Perez 120
Sainz 112.5
Leclerc 104
Ricciardo 95

Constructors:

Mercedes 397.5
Red Bull 364.5
McLaren 234
Ferrari 216.5

FCA NEWSLETTER
DESERT REGION – LAS VEGAS CHAPTER
2nd Quarter 2021

Written by John Ratto
Edited by Chuck Damus

Dateline: Early April 2021

April 15, tax day…generally not a very good day for most people. But this is an entirely different April 15th because nothing is the same in the lingering throes of the pandemic. Tax day has been postponed! But, far more importantly, the end of the pandemic seems in sight. The Governor has decreed that it will be mostly business as usual (the old pre-Covid usual) as of May 1, and that if all goes well it will be full steam ahead from June 1.

Finally, I can definitely say that things are getting better and not worse! We have walked through the valley (desert) of death and made it out the other side. Future generations will remember us as those hearty souls that survived the pandemic of 2020. Pat yourselves on the back, and let’s get back to work…and play. Only the ongoing difficulties in other parts of the world cast pallor on the situation. True victory will only be achieved when the virus is conquered everywhere.

In response, our/your Club awoke from its inactivity and is showing signs of life. We conducted our first Board meeting in more than a year. Everyone seemed genuinely happy to see each other. A future Social was planned. Hopefully, we will recover fully and then move forward.

April 14: Board Meeting at Siena

For our first meeting in a very long time, the Board convened at one of our favorite hangouts, Siena Trattoria. Considering that the meeting was scheduled only a few days earlier, the turn out of ten Board members and others was heartening. People are still interested in participating. We decided that our first general event should be a Social, at old favorite Table 34 if possible. Such an event will provide insight into the mood of the crowd. Are people ready to get together and do a little partying, or are they still in hibernation mode? Bianca will investigate.

May 19: Social at Table 34

It was a cool and very blustery evening when we gathered at one of our favorite restaurants for some food and fun, and to gauge the mood of the membership regarding the prospects for our Club. Everything went better than planned, likely due to the efforts of Bianca and Elda, and the restaurant itself. First off, attendance was about 20, an excellent turn-out considering this was our first Social in 15 months, and that it had been organized and publicized at the last minute. Moreover, we were all pleased to see that Table 34 has erected an enclosed patio area that blocks virtually all the wind (and direct sun), allowing us to wine and dine outside in peace, privacy, and calm…simply perfect. To top it off, the restaurant provided some scrumptious appetizers to, shall we say, grease the social interaction during the cocktail hour. During this time your Board members ‘took the temperature’ of the attendees to determine their attitudes regarding the long term future of the club. I am happy to say that the attendees were more than happy that things were returning to normal and that Club activities would resume. Dinner was quite good as well.

When it was time to leave, everyone seemed genuinely happy to have attended. There were even three or four exotic cars in the parking lot awaiting their trot home.

This was an important event, marking our return to activity after the pandemic. Based upon what I observed our Club remains viable and vital. ONWARD!!

June 13: Ferrari Announces Fashion Collection

On Sunday, June 13, as part of a lavish fashion show, Ferrari launched a new era for Marenello as a lifestyle brand. Ferrari’s first ever ready-to-wear clothing collection was presented with a full runway spectacular. This new avenue (helmed by creative director Rocco Iannone) is part of a diversification project that hopefully will add significantly to Ferrari’s bottom line. Does that mean they will cut the price of the cars and servicing them? Just asking.

Let’s hope that these models come with timing chains, and not belts.

Dateline: Early July 2021

With the hot summer weather comes a period of Club inactivity. No one is anxious to drive when the thermometer reads 115. As a consequence, we have nothing planned for the near future.

However, at least one significant event is coming into view: the Las Vegas Concours d’Elegance. This will be the second year for this show, and all that attended last year deemed it a success. So, maybe you should get over there and have a look. There is one major change this year: the event will be held at the beautiful new Las Vegas Ballpark in Summerlin. The event is scheduled for the weekend of October 21-24. Check them out at lasvegasconcours.com for additional info.

In the meantime, be sure to visit our website (ferrariclubvegas.com) periodically to find the latest news and information on upcoming events.

FORMULA 1 NEWS

Unfortunately, this year testing was not held in Barcelona. As a consequence, I have no behind the scene tidbits to reveal. So, before we start off on the 2021 season, let’s remember back to what happened last season. The final statistics for 2020 are as follows:

Drivers:
Hamilton… 347
Bottas…223
Verstappen…214
Perez…125
Ricciardo…119
Leclerc was eighth with 98, while Vettel was 13th with 33.

Constructors:
Mercedes Benz…573
Red Bull…319
McLaren…202
Racing Point…195
Renault…181
Ferrari…131

These statistics show that Mercedes dominated once again. They handily won the constructors’ championship, and their pilots were 1-2 in the drivers’ championship. They also show that 2020 was a disaster for Ferrari. The Italian reds could only manage 6th place in the constructors’, a terrible result for a team with such resources.

The 2021 season will see several driver shake-ups throughout the field, including at some of the major teams, which is unusual. Hell, it will see major shake-ups in the names of two teams:

Racing Point will become Aston Martin. Renault will become Alpine.

The driver line-ups will be as follows (an * indicates a new driver to that team, an R indicates a rookie driver).

Ferrari:
Charles Leclerc
Carlos Sainz *

Mercedes-Benz:
Lewis Hamilton
Valtteri Bottas

Red Bull:
Max Verstappen
Sergio Perez *

McLaren:
Lando Norris
Daniel Ricciardo *

Aston Martin/Racing Point:
Lance Stroll
Sebastian Vettel *

Williams:
Nicholas Latifi
George Russell

Alfa Romeo:
Kimi Raikkonen
Antonio Giovinazzi

Haas:
Nikita Mazepin * R
Mick Schumacher * R

Alpine/Renault:
Esteban Ocon
Fernando Alonso *

Alpha Tauri:
Pierre Gasly
Yuki Tsunoda * R

Several teams made no changes. Mercedes-Benz won everything last year, and did so convincingly. They made no changes to a good thing. Williams, on the other hand, brought up the rear of the field; they also made no changes. They have George Russell, who is very quick, but they also have a very slow car. Surprisingly, Alfa Romeo brought back both grizzled veteran Kimi Raikkonen and promising youngster Antonio Giovinazzi. Everyone expected one of their seats to be filled by one of the up-and-coming rookies in the Ferrari drivers’ academy. Instead, Alfa opted for a well-functioning pair of familiar faces.

Clearly, the biggest change was at Ferrari, where 4 time world champion Sebastian Vettel was unceremoniously shown the door. There was little question that Vettel had lost his mojo, but this change was handled poorly. His replacement, Carlos Sainz, is quick, but not one of the fastest on the grid. However, he is consistent, doesn’t make mistakes, and takes good care of the machinery. He is a good team player. It will be interesting to see if he can challenge incumbent Charles Leclerc for top dog of the team. I doubt it.

Naturally, Max Verstappen, still a youngster and perhaps the fastest and boldest driver in the field, returns at Red Bull. He is joined by Sergio Perez, who drove for Racing Point in 2020. After nearly 200 starts, Sergio finally won a race last year. Not the fastest of qualifiers, he is a great racer who excels in strategy, conserving his tires, and passing. He is a consistent points finisher. If Red Bull is looking to mount a serious challenge to Mercedes for the constructors’ title, Perez was the right choice to pad their score tally.

Daniel Ricciardo makes yet another move in his personal game of musical seats. In just a few years he has gone from Red Bull to Renault, and now from Renault to McLaren, which secured Mercedes-Benz power for 2021. McLaren was already fast in 2020, switching to German power should make them serious challengers for race wins, which likely enticed Ricciardo to jump teams. Ricciardo has always been fast and has always been in a fast car, yet mostly due to bad luck, some of it self-inflicted, he has accomplished little. Will he finally find happiness driving the McLaren, paired with upcoming incumbent Lando Norris, who is very quick? Failing to out-perform Norris would be a serious blow to Riccardo’s ego.

Sebastian Vettel moves from Ferrari to Racing Point/Aston Martin (RP/AM). This is the most intriguing change of the year. Vettel seemed disoriented and disinterested last season. Can he regain his luster? RP/AM, with new team owner Lawrence Stroll’s financial wherewithal, was clearly looking to make a splash, and they have done so by bringing on the 4 time world champion. They are also looking to move up the ranks. Bringing Vettel to the team will give them stature and media coverage, and championship winning experience. Can Vettel back it up on the track? He clearly needs to demonstrate superiority to returning youngster Lance Stroll to justify his existence on this rapidly improving team.

Haas will have two rookies (Nikita Mazepin and Mick Schumacher – yes, Michael’s son), setting up a situation where failure is expected. They now have a mercurial car, and two drivers with no experience to drive it, or improve it. The talk in the paddock says that Russian Mazepin brings more rubles to the table than skill…we shall see. This could be a disaster

Alpine/Renault returns reliable Estaban Ocon and brings in former multi-world champion Fernando Alonso, who took a multi-year sabbatical from F1 to drive sports cars, Indy cars, Le Mans prototypes, etc. Does he have anything left in the tank? Will he be old and slow, or rejuvenated and quick? This guy has mad skills. If he can call up his former self, he could be a top competitor in the mid-field driving the Renault. Again, a most intriguing situation.

And, finally, Alpha Tauri returns the very competent and very motivated Pierre Gasly, and brings in the mostly untested and unknown Yuki Tsunoda (as an inducement to Honda for continuing to supply engines) to be his teammate. Gasly is very quick and competitive; he should do well in 2021. With his ‘wild man’ years behind him, this is his opportunity to grab a drive with a top team in 2022. Tsunoda is rumored to be wicked fast, very talented, and confident. As the youngest driver on the grid, let’s hope he shows some good judgement as well.

This year, pre-season testing was held in Bahrain. The teams were all present and spent three days in early March, sometimes trying for fast times, other times checking their reliability and compatibility with Pirelli’s new for 2021 tires. Testing results are notoriously unreliable, but here is what was gleaned from the days on track. The Red Bulls looked to be the class of the field. Both Verstappen and Perez were near (or at) he front of the field on a consistent basis. Both Mercedes suffered reliability (mainly gear box) and other issues. They showed some speed when they were not in the pits or in the gravel traps after spins. While Lance Stroll was competitive in the Aston Martin, Vettel suffered both self-inflicted and mechanical problems. Other drivers who showed well included Gasly, Norris, and Sainz in the Ferrari!

March 28: GP of Bahrain (Race 1)

In an effort to reduce travel in this time of the pandemic, the first race was held in Bahrain, where the teams had tested just a few weeks earlier. Given the situation, they got down to business rapidly, and soon the sounds of screaming engines permeated the air.

Fifty seven laps around the 3.4 mile circuit were scheduled. Bahrain is in the Middle East, so it was hot. Early sessions were run in the afternoons, when it was blazing, over 100 degrees. Later sessions, including qualifying, and the race were run in the evening, when temperatures were a bit more normal (think 80). Everyone complained of low grip and fading brakes in the two (early) afternoon sessions.

Practice: The durations of the three Practice sessions were reduced to 60 minutes. Not much that was unexpected transpired during Practice; the Red Bulls, Mercedes, and McLarens topped the charts, followed by the Ferraris and Gasly (Alpha Tauri). Everyone set faster lap times in the evening session, meaning that much of the data from the early sessions might not be representative of the true speed of the cars. One thing was clear: lap times of the cars were closer than they were last year. The slower cars have improved – become faster, while the faster cars have not.

Qualifying: From Q1 on, it was clear that the Honda (Red Bull and Alpha Tauri) powered cars were very fast. Meanwhile, Russian Nikita Mazepin (Haas) was all over the track and into the gravel traps as well. The really quick guys (Mercedes and Red Bull) contested Q2 on the medium tires so they could begin the race on that compound. They were generally successful, but Perez failed to advance. However, in order to advance to Q3, Ferrari (and most others) had to run Q2 on the soft tires. The final qualifying order: Verstappen, Hamilton (4/10 of a second behind), Bottas, Leclerc (soft tires), Gasly, Ricciardo (soft), Norris (soft), Sainz (soft), Alonso (soft – no one expected this performance), and Stroll (soft). Meanwhile, Vettel continued his baffling ways. He initially qualified 17th!, and then was penalized to the rear of the field for ignoring a yellow flag.

What do these results show? Ferrari has gotten better over the off-season. Alonso is still Alonso; the man can drive. Gasly and the Alpha Tauri can challenge. Vettel still seems lost in space. And finally, the McLarens, with Mercedes engines, are a threat to the front runners.

Race: Race evening was cooler and windy, so much so that it affected the driving characteristics of the cars. Sergio Perez (Red Bull) suffered electrical issues on the formation lap, stopped on the track delaying the start of the race, managed to restart his engine, drove through the pits, and wound up starting from the rear of the pack. Meanwhile, a second formation lap was run. After all that, the race commenced.

Leclerc managed to pip Bottas on the start, while Mazepin managed to execute one of his becoming famous spins, smacking the wall and bringing out the Safety Car. When things settled down, Leclerc was motoring along in third place. But, Bottas reclaimed the position a few laps later. From that point forward, the field was running in close order and there were many terrific battles for position throughout the pack. For example, Bottas and Norris managed to pass Leclerc, but only after several exciting wheel-to-wheel battles. Laps 6 through 13 were excellent. It is to be noted that Perez, who started dead last, was up to 12th place by this time.

The first pit stops for those (including Alonso, Stroll, Leclerc, Norris…) who had started on the soft tires began on lap 13. The big surprise was that Hamilton, who had started on the mediums, also stopped. New rubber meant bolder drivers, and more battles for position. On lap 30, after a series of exciting laps, the running order (and tire choice) was Hamilton – H, Verstappen – M, Bottas – H, Norris – M, and Leclerc – M. At this point, the two Mercedes stopped for a second time, with Bottas enduring a very long delay in the pits. He was never a challenge again. On the other hand, Verstappen delayed his second stop to lap 38; he rejoined, on hard tires, about ten seconds behind Hamilton. Game on.

From this point forward, all attention was focused on the two leaders, and the excitement was palpable. Verstappen, on newer tires was slashing Hamilton’s lead by about a second a lap, and by lap 48 he was on the Mercedes’ tail. But remember, as we all know, catching someone is one thing, passing is another. Verstappen zigged and zagged, probed and juked, but Hamilton repeatedly rebuffed his attempts to get by. Two factors were hampering the Red Bull’s efforts. 1) When tracking down Hamilton, Verstappen was running in clean air. Now he was running in Hamilton’s turbulent air, and that was slowing him down. 2) Verstappen’s tires were now also beginning to show the effects of wear, and that was contributing to his difficulties in passing. As a consequence, despite his best efforts and amazing skills, Verstappen could not pass Hamilton in the remaining 8 or so laps of the race. The finishing order was Hamilton, Verstappen (less than a second behind), Bottas, Norris, Perez (once again demonstrating his race craft, starting last due to mechanical issues and finishing 5th), Leclerc (nice job in the Ferrari), Ricciardo (finishing behind teammate Norris), Sainz (nice work in his first race for Ferrari), and Tsunoda (a points finish in his first F1 race!).

This, my friends was a fabulous race. Let’s hope they are all like this. As a bonus, this race shows that Ferrari is back on the pace. It doesn’t get much better than this.

April 18: GP of Emilia Romagna at Imola (Northern Italy) (2)

This 3 mile track in the northern Italian countryside is a favorite of the drivers. The surface provides excellent grip, and speeds are high (about 145 mph is a fast lap). Given the high grip, tire life should be relatively long. A one stop race was planned by most.

Practice: It was generally cloudy, cool, and windy the entire weekend. Our Russian friend Nikita Mazepin spun twice in P1, doing some damage the second time. Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc also spun, in P2, doing some serious damage to his mount, as did rookie Yuki Tsunoda in P3. When Practice ended, two things were surprising: the medium tires were nearly as fast as the softs and the Ferraris were right on the pace.

Qualifying: Qualifying was dominated by ‘track limits.’ Cars were having their lap times disqualified for exceeding the official boundaries of the track. Bottas, Norris, and Sainz (Ferrari) were especially affected, having their fastest laps disqualified. As a result, the starting order was a bit mixed-up. In the end, after a highly contested session with tiny time differentials, the starting order would be Hamilton, Perez, Verstappen, Leclerc (!), Gasly (Alpha Tauri), Ricciardo, Norris, and Bottas. Sainz was 11th in the second Ferrari.

Race: After a dark and gloomy morning, a full blown rain storm hit the area just half an hour before race time. With the rain persisting and cool temperatures damping evaporation, the stewards declared a wet race. Most of the drivers started on intermediate wet tires. A few opted for caution, and started on the full wets. Cars were slipping and sliding on the formation lap, so you knew the start was going to be eventful. It was. Verstappen immediately challenged Hamilton and, after some jostling, elbowed his way to the front. Leclerc then managed to get by Perez for third. Meanwhile, behind the leaders, cars were spinning, and sometimes making big contact with the walls. The Safety Car was deployed to clear the debris.

Racing resumed on lap 7, with Leclerc challenging Hamilton for second and a ferocious battle between Sainz, Stroll, Gasly, Bottas, and Norris just behind the leaders. These five ran side-by-side for about 5 laps, with many passes, aborted passes, and passes and repasses, all in the still wet conditions. Great racing! At lap 13 the running order was Verstappen, Hamilton, Leclerc, Perez, Ricciardo, Norris, and Sainz. Soon thereafter, the intermediate wet tires were starting to show distress. However, it was still wet. Too wet for slicks? Who would blink first and visit the pits for new rubber? Given the uncertainty, the first stops were delayed until lap 22, with most everyone choosing to continue on medium slicks. The leaders were the last to stop, delaying the inevitable to lap 29.

They weren’t cautious enough. Cars on the race rubber had virtually no traction, and were difficult to control; the resulting mayhem was fast-and-furious. Hamilton had two! serious off-track excursions, but managed to bring his seriously wounded mount to the pits. His race looked to be over. Russell and Bottas collided massively, both were out. Many of those running in the mid-field were doing so absent their front wings; debris (and damaged cars) was scattered on the track, prompting the marshals to red-flag the race. Everyone returned to the pits and the mechanics began repairing the cars that might be able to continue when the race re-started. Here is where Hamilton was again Mr. Lucky…he gained a tremendous advantage. First off, he was able to unlap himself. Moreover, his mechanics were able to repair his car while everyone else was also stationary. Absent this period with all cars in the pits, Hamilton would have been lucky to finish at all. He would have had no chance to score points. Instead, he was able to answer the restart in 12th place, with all repairs done.

The order at the restart was Verstappen, Leclerc, Norris, Perez, Sainz, Ricciardo, and Stroll. Hamilton, back in the field, then began a magnificent charge to the front. By lap 48 he was challenging Sainz for fourth place; several laps later he passed Leclerc for third, and a few laps after that he passed Norris for second. His driving was magnificent. Then the race ended with the final finishing order of Verstappen, Hamilton, Norris, Leclerc, Sainz, Ricciardo, and Stroll. Perez finished 12th and Vettel 15th.

This was another exciting race, with lurid spins, massive accidents, and non-stop action. It once again demonstrated the superiority of Verstappen and, especially, Hamilton. Yes, he was very lucky…he was also very good. Also of note: the Ferraris are back in the hunt. More of this please!

May 2: GP of Portugal (3)

This 2.9 mile track features 15 corners, massive elevation changes, easy overtaking, and a relatively low-grip racing surface. All of this, along with the cool and very windy weather conditions, seemed to favor Mercedes, and to spell difficulties for Red Bull. Sixty-six laps were scheduled; most teams planned to make only one stop for tires.

Practice: Not much of interest transpired during the three Practice sessions. As expected, the Mercedes and Red Bulls set the pace, but the ‘others’, led by the Ferraris and the Alpines, were not far behind. The omnipresent wind caused all the drivers to proceed with caution, which likely contributed to the highly competitive lap times being set; in most of the sessions 1 second covered the top 10.

Qualifying: It seemed that the wind blew extra strong on Saturday afternoon, leading to a few off-track excursions. As is becoming usual, the fastest few cars ran Q2 on the medium tires, hoping to be fast enough to advance to Q3 on them, and to then use them at the start of the race. Most everyone else ran Q2 on the softs, hoping to advance to Q3. The wind was especially fierce during Q3, leading most to be unable to match their Q2 times when it really mattered. When it was all over, the starting order was nothing unusual: Bottas (Medium), Hamilton (M), Verstappen (M), Perez (M), Sainz (Soft), Ocon (S), and Norris (S). Leclerc in the second Ferrari managed only 8th, but on the medium tires.

Race: Race day was significantly warmer, but also even windier than either Friday or Saturday. It was howling. The guys on the soft tires had the initial advantage over the top four at the head of the field, so fireworks on the first several laps were expected…and transpired. Sainz squeezed his way past Perez and Norris made an outstanding move to move past Ocon. Unfortunately, a minor collision involving Raikkonen scattered debris on the track, causing the Safety Car to be deployed. When racing resumed on lap 6, Verstappen passed Hamilton (!), and Norris passed both Perez and Sainz. After all this action, the running order at lap 10 was Bottas, Verstappen, Hamilton, Norris, Perez, Sainz, and Leclerc.

The action continued hot-and-heavy. On lap 11, Hamilton squeezed by Verstappen to retake second place, and Perez passed Norris for fourth. With Verstappen behind him, Hamilton then began an assault on Bottas for the lead. Meanwhile, those who had started on the soft tires were beginning to suffer from tire degradation, and began to slow a bit to save their rubber. On the other hand, nothing was slowing Hamilton. On lap 20 he made a brilliant pass of Bottas to take the lead.

On lap 22, Sainz was the first to pit for fresh tires. He scrapped his soft rubber and opted to continue on mediums, which meant he might need a second stop to complete the race. The other drivers that had started on soft tires followed his lead shortly thereafter. Leclerc was the first of those who had started on the mediums to stop (lap 26); he chose to continue on the hard tires. The leaders, however, managed to continue to set acceptable lap times on their original, fading medium tires. Verstappen was the first of these to stop, but on 36, 10 laps later than Leclerc. Bottas and Hamilton did the same in the next few laps, leaving Perez in the lead on some very old tires indeed. However, the wily vet managed to extend his first stint to lap 52!! When he did stop though, the other leaders retook the front of the queue. During this period, Verstappen passed Bottas, but was unable to catch Hamilton for the lead. The final finishing order was Hamilton, Verstappen, Bottas, Perez, Norris, Leclerc, and Ocon. Sainz limped home in 11th on his dilapidated medium tires with 46 laps of hard service behind them.

And now, a word about Mick Schumacher. With three races in the books, Michael’s son has yet to score a point, which some might see as a disappointment. I say the critics are missing the bigger picture. Mick is driving for Haas, which is now the slowest car on the grid. Expecting a rookie driver to score with an uncompetitive car is unfair. Instead of focusing on points, young Schumacher’s worth must be measured in another currency. First, it is to be noted that Mick (unlike his fellow rookie teammate) has managed to control the car, avoiding collisions and off-track excursions. He has also managed to consistently outpace his teammate (Nikita Mazepin) in both Qualifying and the races. For example, in Portugal, Mick was 1.5 seconds faster than Mazepin in Qualifying, and he finished the race more than a minute ahead of the Russian. It seems the young man is doing just fine.

May 9: GP of Spain at Barcelona (4)

Great weather was predicted for the entire weekend at this 3 mile, 16 corner track, which is demanding on the drivers and offers little opportunity for passing. Sixty-six laps were scheduled.

Practice: The three Practice sessions produced no real surprises except for the close lap times up and down the field. At the close of each session it was not uncommon for 1 second to cover the top 10-12 drivers. That is CLOSE! Why so close? Over the five or so years of this formula (known as the turbo-hybrid era) Mercedes (and to a lesser extent Red Bull) was the first to optimize its car, now the others are slowly catching up. The Ferraris showed well in Practice, boding well for their performance in the race.

Qualifying: Almost everyone ran Q2 on the soft tires, meaning nearly everyone would start on that compound. The closely contested lap times of Practice demonstrated that at this track, at least, medium tires would not be fast enough to advance to Q3, even for the fastest drivers at the front. Everyone talked about a one stop race (switching from soft to medium tires at about lap 25), but this seemed optimistic. No one was interested in using the hard compound tires, they were too far off the pace. After a highly contested session, the starting order was Hamilton, Verstappen (3/100 of a second behind), Bottas, Leclerc, Ocon, Sainz, Ricciardo, and Perez. Two Ferraris in the top 6 was music to my ears.

Race: Race day was cloudy and cool, conditions that might produce slightly longer tires lives than originally foreseen. The wind direction had also changed, tossing another variable into the equation.

When the lights went dark, Verstappen fought Hamilton tooth-and-nail down the long straight, and managed to come out of turn 1 with the lead. Just behind them, Leclerc and Perez both made good starts, moving up the field; Sainz, however, made a poor start and dropped back a couple of spots. After a few laps without incident, the engine of Tsunoda’s Alpha Tauri expired, causing the Safety Car to be deployed so that the car could be removed. Racing resumed on lap 10, with Verstappen, clearly the quickest on soft tires, pulling away from Hamilton, and Hamilton pulling away from the rest of the field. Other than Stroll’s brilliant pass on Alonso, the next 10 or so laps were uneventful. Then, on lap 22, the pit stops began. Gasly, Vettel, Stroll, Alonso, Sainz, and Bottas all stopped and changed to the medium tires. Verstappen had a slow stop on lap 24, but managed to rejoin the fray ahead of Hamilton. Leclerc and Hamilton were the last of the leaders to stop, on lap 29.

As soon as Hamilton resumed, it was clear that the advantage had shifted to Mercedes. He was clearly quicker than Verstappen on the medium tires. The Mercedes was quickly on Verstappen’s tail, looking for a place to pass on this track where passing is very difficult. Hamilton juked and jived, but could not find a way to pass the Red Bull and regain the lead. After six or seven laps of frustration, Hamilton made a surprise move; on lap 42 he stopped again for a new set of medium tires. He rejoined in third place, about 10 seconds behind Bottas (now in second), and 22 seconds behind Verstappen in the lead. With about 24 laps to go it was GAME ON.

Meanwhile though, there was plenty of action throughout the field. Perez made a great move to pass Ricciardo (lap 47) and Sainz pulled off an excellent pass of Norris (lap 51) and then Ocon (lap 52). But the real nail biting action was at the front, where Hamilton was on a charge to catch the two cars ahead of him. He was on Bottas’ tail by lap 52, but the Finn put up a surprisingly strong fight against his teammate to hold on to second place. He failed, and Hamilton went by looking for Verstappen. Seven laps later he was on Verstappen’s tail, and on lap 60 the Brit regained the lead he had lost on the first corner of the first lap. The final six laps were relatively uneventful except for attempts to set fastest lap, and the finishing order was Hamilton, Verstappen, Bottas, Leclerc, Perez, Ricciardo, and Sainz. Two Ferraris finished in the top 7 – not too bad, especially when compared to last year.

May 23: GP of Monaco (5)

Monaco is the shortest, slowest, tightest, most famous, most picturesque and most challenging venue-track on the F1 circuit. The lap is only 2 miles, but has 19 turns, one a hair-pin that slows the cars to about 20 mph. Average lap speeds are in the 100 mph range. It is virtually impossible to pass at Monaco, so grid position is paramount. 78 laps were scheduled. The teams planned for one stop.

Practice: The Ferraris, with Sainz leading the way, were astonishingly fast throughout the Practice sessions. This was a revelation. It was wonderful to see the red cars back at the front. In the final session, P3, the top three times were posted by Verstappen, Leclerc, and Sainz. The Mercedes were off the pace.

Qualifying: The pundits did not know what to say after the Ferrari showing in Practice, but they generally concluded that things would return to normal in Qualifying. Then Leclerc and Sainz duplicated their Practice results in Qualifying. The grid order would be: Leclerc, Verstappen, Bottas, Sainz, Norris, Gasly, Hamilton, Vettel and Perez. Two Ferraris in the top four was simply unexpected. Hamilton mired in seventh place was beyond comprehension.

Unfortunately, there was a fly in the ointment. There is always a fly in the ointment. Leclerc, on his fastest lap at the very end on Q3, smacked a wall. That ended Qualifying a few seconds early, which prevented some of the fast guys from setting their fastest laps. More importantly, it meant that Leclerc’s car needed to be rebuilt before the race. The (English) pundits, clearly unhappy with Hamilton’s woes, predicted that the gearbox of the Ferrari would need to be replaced, which would incur a five grid spot penalty for Leclerc. Despite the general agreement that the gearbox would need replacing, Ferrari decided to roll the dice and to not replace the gearbox. Disaster struck almost immediately. The half-shaft on the opposite side of the accident suffered damage which was not visible to the eye, and failed when Leclerc attempted to drive the installation lap prior to the race on Sunday morning. The Ferrari pole at Monaco evaporated into thin air. Ferrari had shot itself in the foot, as it quite often does.

Race: All of the top ten were on soft tires. The plan was to make one stop when the soft tires gave up the ghost. The start was clean and relatively uneventful. In the first 500 feet, Verstappen had to make a serious move to block Bottas from jumping to the lead, but after that things settled down and not much transpired for the first third of the race. The cars were parading around the track, saving their tires, waiting for something to happen. Pit stops started on lap 30, when Hamilton stopped and changed to the hard tires. He rejoined behind Gasly, mired in traffic. Bottas stopped on the next lap, when his mechanics flubbed the stop by damaging the head of the knock-off wheel nut on one of the tires. No matter how hard they tried they could not remove the nut, they only made matters worse and Bottas retired. All of the top runners stopped in the next few laps, with Perez holding off until lap 36.

At this point it became obvious that it was simply impossible to overtake, and the race devolved into a colorful parade. Verstappen controlled the pace from the front and that was that. Sainz challenged the Red Bull several times, but was never able to mount a serious threat. The finishing order was Verstappen, Sainz, Norris, Perez, Vettel, Gasly, Hamilton, and Stroll.

With these results, Verstappen and Red Bull took a tiny lead in both the drivers’ and constructors’ championships.

The big question, though, concerns Ferrari. Where did this sudden competiveness come from? Is it here to stay? Or, is it a product of this unusual track? Tune in for the next episode…

June 6: GP of Azerbaijan (6)

This intriguing street circuit, 3.7 miles long with 20 turns, located on the Caspian Sea, offers some outstanding medieval architecture. The juxtaposition of a space age F1 car to the 14th (?) century castle is startling. The track itself is similar to Monaco, twisty and challenging, but with two long, long straights thrown in to add some spice. While it is pretty easy to pass here, it is also easy to hit a barrier. Drivers beware. Setting up the cars was a balancing act: enough downforce for the turns was needed, but too much would slow the cars on the straights. Most planned to start on the soft tires and to make one stop (for hard tires) at around lap 15, of the 51 scheduled. The weather was forecast to be hot the entire weekend.

Practice: After their impressive showing at Monaco, the Ferraris continued their rampage, running at or near the top of the leaderboards throughout the Practice sessions. The Red Bulls appeared to be their biggest challenge, with the Mercedes a bit off the pace. As predicted, there were quite a few encounters between machines and barriers, including one involving Max Verstappen himself. When Practice came to an end, the Ferraris seemed to be the cars to beat. The one fly in the ointment (there is always…) seemed to be that the red Italians were wearing their tires faster than the other top teams.

Qualifying: All of the Qualifying sessions were disrupted, interrupted, and/or delayed by accidents, and the clean-up efforts associated with them. High tech machines met archaic barriers, and the machines lost. Consequently, the results were not quite as significant/representative as normal: Leclerc (!!), Hamilton, Verstappen, Gasly (!), Sainz, Norris (subsequently penalized three places), and Perez. One thing for sure: the Ferraris continued to be VERY competitive.

Race: The start was clean with few changes in positions thru the first lap. However, on lap 2 Hamilton used Leclerc’s slipstream on the long straight to easily overtake the Ferrari for the lead. Verstappen was able to do the same to Leclerc on lap 7. Meanwhile, Sainz in the second Ferrari was cruising along in 6th place, faster than those behind him, slower than those ahead. As predicted, the Ferraris were the first to stop for new tires (Leclerc on lap 9), but, surprisingly, most of the leaders followed his lead in short order. By lap 15 most of the leaders had stopped for tires and the leaderboard looked like this: Vettel (who had not stopped and was driving delicately, looking to make his tires last as long as possible), Verstappen, Perez, Hamilton, Stroll (who had started from the rear of the pack on hard tires and who had not yet stopped), Gasly, and Leclerc.

At this point, Verstappen was maintaining a comfortable lead and it looked as if the race was essentially over. NOT SO FAST! On lap 31, Stroll (still on his original hard tires) experienced a tire failure on the long straight that launched him into a wall. The massive shunt required massive clean-up, and deployment of the Safety Car to get it done. Surprisingly, none of the leaders used this opportunity to mount fresh tires. When racing resumed, the bunched field saw many challenges for position, but little actual change in the leaderboard. Then, on lap 47, Verstappen experienced spectacular tire failure similar to that of Stroll. He spun and smashed the wall, again bringing out the Safety Car; then the race was Red Flagged so that the debris could be removed. The drivers retuned to pit lane to await the action of the marshals. This time, with tire integrity in question, everyone mounted the best set of tires they had on hand, preparing for a sprint to the finish, just 4 laps in the future. (It was later determined that the tires had failed due to being cut by debris.) These circumstances handed a great boon to Vettel, as he was the only driver within sniffing distance of the front that still had a new set of soft tires, which had been held in reserve for just such as occurrence.

The standing re-start provided immediate action. Hamilton, from third on the grid, must have had some sort of failure…of tires, brakes, steering, or brain: he seemed to make no effort to negotiate turn 1 and simply drove off the track. (It was later learned that he had inadvertently changed one of the brake related settings on his steering wheel.) With the field again bunched up, and several of the fastest cars out of the race, some serious, hard-fought racing ensued. Gasly, Norris, and Leclerc waged a duel for the ages, while Sainz, Tsunoda, and Alonso (who would pass 4 cars in the final 4 laps) were battling just a few seconds farther behind. Meanwhile, Vettel was fastest on track and rapidly working his way to the front. When the 51st lap ended, every race fan certainly wanted more. But the race was over with the finishing order of Perez (whose Red Bull failed just yards beyond the finish line), Vettel (yes, that is not a misprint), Gasly (ditto), Leclerc, Norris, Alonso, Tsunoda (these were the rookie’s first points), and Sainz.

This race was exciting, dangerous, and bizarre. What more can you ask for? With DNFs by both championship leaders, the rest of the field slashed their gaps to the lead. Tune in next time for more on the weird and whacky world of F1.

June 20: GP of France (7)

Raceway Paul Ricard is a long, wide, open track located in the South of France. Only 15 turns grace its 3.6 miles, which sees speeds in excess of 200 mph. It also features some very nasty curbing for those that should venture off the assigned route. The weather report called for very hot and windy weather on Friday and Saturday, and possible rain on Sunday. Fifty-three laps were scheduled, and most planned for only one stop. The common strategy called for starting on medium tires and the switching to hard tires at about lap 20.

Practice: Numerous cars ventured off course during the three sessions. Those that managed to find the far-off walls certainly earned their comeuppance, while those who merely ran over the big, yellow curbs beside the track were treated to serious front wing damage. Data gathered in Practice hammered home one fact: the soft tires were too fragile for serious race deployment. In the end, as usual, the Mercedes and Red Bulls occupied the top of the time sheets.

Qualifying: The Qualifying sessions were stopped on two occasions to clean up from cars that smacked the walls. Despite the mayhem, Hamilton managed to pull off another minor miracle: after being significantly slower than Bottas in every Practice session, he managed to out-qualify his teammate when it really mattered. Times were very close, and the grid provided few real surprises: Verstappen, Hamilton, Bottas, Perez, Sainz, Gasly, and Leclerc.

Race: Verstappen suffered a momentary loss of grip at the start and was promptly passed by Hamilton. In the mid-field, Alonso and Riccardo squeezed by Norris, and there were several other passes. Meanwhile, at the rear of the pack several changes of position also occurred, making for an exciting first lap.

Several drivers, most notably Alonso, began to complain about tire degradation as early as lap 11, much sooner than expected. Then, within two laps, Norris and Ricciardo, and then Vettel, passed Alonso. With most of the field complaining about tires, the pit stops started earlier than anticipated. Leclerc was the first (lap 15) to pit for hard tires, and most of the front runners followed suit. At lap 20, the running order was a bit jumbled. Perez was leading, but had not stopped (he was cruising, saving tires, and ultimately delayed his stop to lap 25). After their stops, Verstappen, Hamilton, and Bottas were running hard, nose-to-tail, pushing their new hard tires. Meanwhile, Leclerc and Sainz motored along in 7th and 8th, fighting the battles of the mid-field, looking to score maximum points.

Then, unexpectedly, on lap 26, with only 5-10 laps on their new hard tires, the front runners again began complaining of tire degradation. Each of the three leaders, still running in very close order, made it known that they could not remain competitive for another 25 +/- laps on their current tires. Things were clearly very unclear. Finally, on lap 32, Verstappen was the first to blink. He returned to the pits for a second stop and a new set of medium tires, rejoining the fray in fourth place, about 12 seconds behind Hamilton, the new leader. At this point the running order was Hamilton, Bottas, Perez (saving his tires), Verstappen, Vettel (saving his tires), Norris, and Stroll (also in tire conservation mode).

A very tense period of the race ensued, with Verstappen and Perez slowly but surely catching the two Mercedes at the front of the pack. Initially, Verstappen caught and passed his teammate; he then caught Bottas on lap 44. When Verstappen attempted to pass, Bottas fought the move tooth-and-nail. The two battled side-by-side through four consecutive corners before Verstappen finally claimed the position. He then set off to catch Hamilton, who was 5 or so seconds ahead. Meanwhile, Perez managed to catch and pass Bottas for third place on lap 49. Verstappen was on Hamilton’s tail by lap 51, and managed to pass the race leader with a ruthless move on lap 52. And then the race was over.

The final finishing order was Verstappen, Hamilton, Perez, Bottas, Norris, Ricciardo, and Gasly. Sainz finished 11th, Leclerc 16th.

This was a tense, exciting, and strategic race. It is too bad Ferrari wasn’t involved. Red Bull, on this occasion, was the team that defied general concurrence. Their different approach won the race for Verstappen, but by only a few seconds. This is turning out to be a classic year for F1.

June 27: GP of Styria (Austria) (8)

The Red Bull Ring, located in Northern Austria, hosted race 7 of 2021. The track is short (2.7 miles) and fast (average lap speeds are in the 150 mph range), resulting in very Quick lap times (just over a minute). Being in the mountains, the terrain is hilly and the track features large elevation changes. 71 laps were planned.

Practice: Friday and Saturday were both nice days, with the drivers pounding out as many laps as possible to determine their race pace, tire degradation (which seemed to be low), and figure out their strategies. The usual suspects; Mercedes, Red Bull, and Gasly, along with the Alpines and the McLarens; looked good. In P2 Bottas overcooked his departure from the pits and spun his car IN PIT LANE. He was given a three spot grid position penalty for endangering life and limb.

Qualifying: Considering the low tire degradation, most of the drivers decided to start on the soft tires. However, the fast three (Verstappen, Hamilton, and Bottas) opted for the mediums. The starting order was Verstappen, Hamilton, Norris (surprise), Perez, Bottas (penalized from second), Gasly, and Leclerc.

Race: Sunday was HOT…hot enough to relegate all the carefully mapped out strategies to the trash can. Moreover, rain was a serious possibility…another variable not yet accounted for.

The field made a pretty clean start; the only bumping involved Gasly and Leclerc (on an unlucky streak), who was forced to stop after less than a lap to replace a punctured tire. Gasly was not so lucky – he was out of the race. The action got going on lap 8, when four cars passed Ricciardo. Soon thereafter both Perez and Bottas passed Norris, so a lot of action was concentrated into a few laps. When things settled down a bit, the running order was Verstappen, Hamilton, Perez, Bottas, Norris, Stroll, and Alonso. While the front of the field was motoring away, the cars running from 7th through 14th were tightly bunched and squabbling to pass for position on virtually every lap. Good stuff. Meanwhile, Leclerc was on a charge from the rear of the field. He was up to 14th by lap 26.

On lap 27, Perez, who had started on the soft tires, was the first to pit. He had a slow stop and returned to the fray behind Bottas. By lap 35 most of the front runners had made their stops, and the running order was Verstappen (who seemed to be setting the pace with little effort), Hamilton (providing no real challenge to the lead), Bottas, Perez, Sainz (who had not stopped and was in tire conservation mode, hoping for a Safety Car period), and Norris. Sainz finally made his first stop on lap 43. Virtually everyone who stopped for tires during this window opted to resume the race on the hard tires.

The race was mostly uneventful from this point forward. Rain threatened, but never quite arrived. In an effort to shake things up, Perez made a second stop on lap 55, but rejoined too far behind the leaders to make a serious challenge. In fact, the final laps saw only Leclerc in his Ferrari making serious headway. As the laps ticked away, he managed to catch and pass Tsunoda (the rookie drove a nice race), Alonso, and Stroll, and finish seventh. Where would he have been absent that first lap collision, tire puncture, and pit stop? We’ll never know, but we do know the official finishing order: Verstappen, Hamilton, Bottas, Perez, Norris, Sainz, and Leclerc.

Given recent race results, it appears that the momentum has shifted…that Verstappen and Red Bull, after years of domination by Hamilton/Mercedes, have finally gained the upper hand. But it is a fragile advantage that Verstappen has eked out…a slight edge. Will the momentum shift again when Mercedes wins a race? Who knows? No one knows, but everyone cares. When it is this close, the excitement is palatable. So, be sure to tune in next week for our next exciting episode.

The Formula One Score Board – through 8 races

So, what does the scoreboard look like after 8 races? It looks close. After years of domination by Mercedes, it appears that 2021 will be a highly competitive season. Significantly, Perez (in the second Red Bull) is ahead of Bottas (in the second Mercedes. This hasn’t happened in years. It hints that at this moment the Red Bull is the superior car.

Drivers:
Verstappen…156
Hamilton…138
Perez…96
Norris…86
Bottas…74
Leclerc…58
Sainz…50

Constructors:
Red Bull…252
Mercedes…212
McLaren…120
Ferrari…108

These results further show that Ferrari is back in the game. The red cars are a threat for high grid positions and for scoring significant points. McLaren is now the team to beat for Ferrari. That certainly makes things more interesting than they were last year.