The Polesitter

  The 2022 Formula 1 Season so far can be described simply in one word: dominance.  Dominance by one driver. Dominance by one team. Dominance by Max Verstappen in a Red Bull.  Before I continue I would like to apologize to my readers for the lack of posts this season. Having ankle surgery early in the year coupled with university assignments and rehabilitation made it slightly tough to keep up with the packed 23-race calendar year that Formula 1 has somehow managed to organize. Nonetheless, that should not be any excuse for some insightful content which I hope to provide in the coming weeks ahead.  Formula 1's return to Monza marks its 73rd race at a single venue; the most at any track in F1 history. A legendary location where the Tifosi make it very clear who the favourites are: the Scarlet Prancing Horses that are Ferrari. Sporting a special livery for their 75th anniversary they were hoping to impress at their home race.  Monza has been host to some nail-biti...

  The highly anticipated return of Formula 1 after 98 days since the controversial Abu Dhabi Grand Prix has encompassed the globe. New rule changes, new driver line ups, the longest race calendar in the history of the sport. It is the dawn of the new era.  Prior to the opening race in Bahrain, Formula 1 testing had revealed many details that may or may not surprise you. Ferrari had a brilliant winter with tremendous development on their new car. It was an added benefit that they finished 6th in 2020 which meant they were granted a lot more wind tunnel time as opposed to their rivals Mercedes and Red Bull. Speaking of the two title protagonists last year, the Silver Arrows, who returned to their silver livery, developed radically different sidepods to the rest of the grid. However, they experienced several difficulties with porpoising (when the car jumps up and down on the straight). Contrastingly, Red Bull looked to have the best car of the three with a different side pod desi...

  An insane season of Formula 1 came to an end today with the better driver not ending up as World Champion.  All eyes across the globe honed in to what was one of the most anticipated finals of a Formula 1 season that nobody, at the start of the year, would have ever even imagined. Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton, for 20 races, on equal points and the decider in Abu Dhabi would determine who the 2021 World Champion would be.  Before I continue, I know I try my utmost best to maintain an unbiased point of view when I recap races and the events that have unfolded in front of my eyes but today marks one exception which I apologize for.  A brilliant getaway off the line saw Hamilton immediately take the lead from Max who had qualified in first place after a smart bit of team work saw him gain the slip stream from his teammate the day before. From there the Briton was able to manage the pace and extend his lead out front showing the skill he had with medium tyres to pu...

  12 months ago we witnessed history in the making when Pierre Gasly won his first-ever Grand Prix at the Temple of Speed. And on Sunday history was rewritten as McLaren achieved their first 1-2 after 11 long-awaited years.  Following an intense sprint qualifying that saw Lewis Hamilton lose 2 places to the McLaren duo of Daniel Ricciardo and Lando Norris, we knew that the world was in for an entertaining race which has seemed to be the case at Monza throughout history. With Max starting on provisional pole as Valtteri Bottas had to take grid penalties due to power unit changes, it meant that a lot of work would have to be done from the Silver Arrows to salvage as many points for the World Championship.  A flying start off the line by the Honey Badger meant that he took the lead of the race from Verstappen. Right behind him Lewis Hamilton also got away well and pipped Norris off the line. Heading into turn 4 he was up alongside the Dutchman who pushed him off the track wh...

  Pictures speak a thousand words. That could not be any more true than with this snapshot of Max Verstappen finishing the Dutch Grand Prix as a race winner at his home race.  We have seen passionate fans all around the globe; in Silverstone, in Brazil, even in China to a certain extent. But none surpass the level of support that I witnessed in the Dutch fans at Zandvoort. A perfect weekend from start to finish saw Max in dominant force as formula 1 made its return to the Netherlands.  A brilliant getaway from pole position saw Max into the lead which he kept for nearly the entire race as nobody besides Lewis Hamilton even came close to him. Fortunately for the Mercs they had 2 drivers in the top 3 whereas Sergio Perez, after a poor qualifying had to start from the pit lane. This meant that they could try and play around with their strategy so as to bring the flying Dutchman closer to the jaws of defeat. Unfortunately, even though Bottas put in a long stint to keep Max be...

  It might as well have been Bernd Mayländer who won this weekend's Belgian Grand Prix after what was a rain-filled, miserable Sunday.  The grid failed to get away as the rain poured at Spa on Sunday. Aqua planing was the order for the day as every driver could not see anything ahead of them given the sheer amount of spray that spat up from the cars ahead. The safety car led every lap however it was the order in which the drivers had qualified which determined their final position at the end of the race.  This meant that Max Verstappen would win the race with none other than George Russell in second after what was a magnificent Q3 lap and Lewis Hamilton to round out the podium places.  Given that only 2 laps were completed (and that too behind the Safety Car), only half points were awarded to all the points finishers which now means that Max is 3 points behind Lewis in the driver's championship. The constructors would have seen a bigger swing had it not been for Serg...

  If I were to tell you that it was not a Mercedes or a Red Bull that won the 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix would you be surprised? Somewhat, yes. If I were to add that it was not McLaren or Ferrari would you be perplexed? Certainly. If I were to inform you that it was a maiden win for one of F1's rising stars would you be absolutely blown away? Let me tell you, I most definitely would be.  Following a somewhat entertaining qualifying session with claims of slow out laps and forcing the opposition out of the 'competition,' F1 graced us with a race that could very well be compared to the intensity and entertainment level as the British Grand Prix at Silverstone 2 weeks ago.  A starting grid that was more or less expected with Hamilton in pole from Bottas from Verstappen then Perez ended up after 70 laps with the one and only Esteban Ocon taking the top step of the podium with Sebastian Vettel claiming 2nd and Lewis Hamilton down in the final podium place. A shame for the Brit ...

  F1 is brutal. It is high speed. It is high risk. It requires precision. It requires boldness.  The 2021 British Grand Prix is a race that will be talked about for the entire season because of one and only one moment that took place at Copse corner on lap 1. That is the contact made between title rivals Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen which sent the dutchman into the wall at incredibly high speed resulting in a 51G crash and a red flag. The Red Bull driver was taken to hospital soon after the incident and I hope that he is alright and gets well soon.  Throughout the season this rivalry has been reminiscent of the battle that Lewis Hamilton had with Nico Rosberg from 2014 to 2016 when Rosberg finally won the championship. Intense racing, almost scary at times with fans not knowing whether the drivers would come out of it unscathed. Think about Bahrain 2014 and Spain 2016 as a couple of examples where the racing was unbelievably tight. However, it was in Spain in 2016 wh...

  If you thought last weekend was a dominating performance by Red Bull and Max Verstappen, boy oh boy you were wrong.  Fastest lap after fastest lap, extending the lead further and further, untouchable till the very end; the Dutchman made it a Red Bull Ring double and his 3rd victory in a row. Their car is truly the dominant force in Formula 1 at the moment and nobody can even remotely compete with them - even the Silver Arrows. Lewis Hamilton and Valterri Bottas had no answers for the dominance showed by the Red Bulls this weekend as their competition ended up being the McLaren of Lando Norris who had a sublime weekend it must be said.  After qualifying in second place - his best ever in Formula 1 to date, Norris lost a couple of places to the Silver Arrows but was able to make up one of them - specifically that of Lewis Hamilton. The Brit had suffered damage to his floor on lap 29 before coming in for his pit stop, which meant that he was losing more than half a second ...

  If last night's race was an indication of anything, it was that we have a new number 1 team at the top of Formula 1. And it is not Mercedes.  A race that was dominated by the Red Bulls on their home turf saw Max Verstappen win with ease at the Red Bull Ring with the Mercedes duo of Hamilton and Bottas taking up the rest of the podium positions. Perez finished 4th thanks to a poor pitstop by the Red Bull crew with Lando Norris an impressive 5th place. He truly has been the best of the rest this season. We're used to seeing Pierre Gasly in 6th however he suffered suspension damage after coming into contact with Charles Leclerc on the opening lap meaning he was out of the race. Speaking of the Monegasque, he finished 7th right behind his teammate leading to a good haul of points for the prancing red horses as their battle with McLaren for 3rd becomes even more intense. A brilliant drive by the trio of Lance Stroll, Fernando Alonso and Yuki Tsunoda saw them wrap up the rest of t...

  Pictures speak a thousand words. That could not be more true when we see the podium from last weekend's race at Circuit Paul Ricard. The joy on one's face and the feeling of loss on another.  About a month ago Mercedes performed a strategic masterclass to oust Red Bull at the Circuit de Catalunya in Spain. The sting that Red Bull felt from that very race was reciprocated in France as Max Verstappen came to take his 3rd win of the season and extend his lead ahead of Lewis Hamilton to 12 points. It was not all straight sailing from pole position though.  Losing his first place at the start of the race by going deep into turn 1, the Dutchman had an uphill battle to climb as he conceded the race lead to Lewis Hamilton. The first stint on medium tyres saw the Briton build a comfortable lead of 3 seconds before both his teammate Bottas and title rival Verstappen pitted. With fresh hard tyres on Verstappen put on a blistering outlap and overtook Hamilton into turn 1 which is w...

  There are few words that can be used to describe the Azerbaijan Grand Prix that we witnessed on Sunday night. No changes to the title fight, questions looming over the heads of Pirelli and a podium that we would not have expected come Sunday night.  Baku has been known to be a place of drama with a safety car being required in every race that has been held here since it first hosted in 2016. That was no different this year as on lap 31 a huge tyre blowout for Lance Stroll brought out the first safety car of the race. Having run the hard tyre from the start of the race, Aston Martin expected to go long in the hopes of being able to pit under a safety car. Unfortunately they were the reason it was brought out. Many eyes will be on Pirelli in the upcoming days as they said their tyres would last longer. A similar fate to Lance Stroll was experienced tantalisingly close to the end of the race by non other than race leader Max Verstappen. Having driven a sublime race from the sta...

  The Formula World Championship took a huge turn on Sunday with the conclusion of one of Formula 1's most historic events - the Monaco Grand Prix. For the first time since Germany 2018, a team other than Mercedes have led the Drivers and Constructors championships. This team is non other than Red Bull who are finally seeing days which remind them of their ever so dominant era between 2009 and 2013.  It was a race of many first for the season. The first time there was no Mercedes on the podium. The first time both Aston Martin's finished in the points. The first time Pierre Gasly finished 6th in the principality. Leading Lewis Hamilton for the entire 78 laps, it was a tremendous drive from him under plenty of pressure throughout from the 7 time World Champion.  A conclusion of 300 kilometers of racing in possibly the globe's richest location saw Max Verstappen win with Carlos Sainz 2nd and Lando Norris completing the podium positions. This would definitely have to be one ...

  An unexpected start, a crazy strategy call, and 66 laps of tyre management. The Spanish Grand Prix returned once again to Circuit de Catalunya but was not as exciting as one may think.  A record-breaking qualifying session saw reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton reach a ton of poles, the first man in the history of the sport to ever achieve the feat. It was once again the Red Bull of Max Verstappen behind him who was close to denying him the record with the fast, not flying anymore, Finn behind the pair.  A tremendous getaway by the Red Bull as the lights went out saw him take the lead from the Briton into turn 1 as he kept his elbows out. In the worlds of Crofty, his elbows had razor blades on them which is why Lewis was smart to not challenge it. Right behind the duo, Bottas lost his 3rd place to Charles Leclerc who also had a fantastic getaway, taking a smarter line through turn 3 to easily fly past Bottas before turn 4. The Alpines of Ocon and Alonso, who had bee...

  A return of Formula 1 to Portimao, a day to forget for some, a gauge of the field which may raise some eyebrows. The Portuguese Grand Prix failed to disappoint in its 2nd year running as the fastest cars in the world returned to one of the most undulating circuits of the season.  I would firstly like to apologise for my absence on the review and coverage of the previous race in Imola. Being a National Cricketer while studying in university makes it slightly tough to be able to find time to write but that should not be an excuse when you love the sport hence I am sorry. An eventful race, that saw Max Verstappen win after pipping both his teammate and rival at the start, had a red flag, multiple overtakes, and a lot of drivers having to be extremely careful as rain had hit the circuit just before the race start. That however is far in the past which, if you read this blog regularly meaning you are interested in F1, will have moved your attention away to more recent events....

  It was 105 days on Sunday since the last F1 Grand Prix was held in Abu Dhabi late last year. And if you ask any Formula 1 fan across the globe, boy was the wait worth it.  Following an intense 3 days of pre-season testing at the very same track in Bahrain, there were 3 key takeaways. First, Red Bull Racing had made some incredible strides over the winter - closing up the gap to the Mercedes who have reigned supreme in this turbo-hybrid era. Second, the midfield battle was going to be ever more competitive with Alpha Tauri, Ferrari, McLaren, Alpine, Alfa Romeo, and Aston Martin all in the mix. Third, low-raked cars were going to suffer far more this season with the updated aero rules put in place by the FIA.  If you looked at the race result on any sports website this morning, you would have thought that 'Oh, it's the usual. Hamilton winning the race with Verstappen splitting the two Mercs...nothing new there.' The narrative however could not have been more different....

  89 days. 16 hours. 57 minutes since the 2020 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.  We. Are. Back.  1 year ago today the F1 community was gearing up for the start of an exciting new season in Melbourne only for a global pandemic to throw the world into chaos - including the pinnacle of motorsport. 365 days later we are back, albeit in a different country, for the start of pre-season testing.  New names, new faces, new regulations and new expectations. The excitement for cars to be back on track can be felt within the F1 community. The number of messages I have personally received about Drive to Survive Season 3, the new liveries, and the new drivers is a testament to the hype that Formula 1 brings to the world.  Looking back, 2020 was one of the most packed seasons to ever exist as the FIA worked to rebuild a season with enough races to host a world championship amidst the spread of Covid-19. Whilst it was a blessing in disguise for us F1 fans, the immense pressure to meet th...