2021 Formula 1 World Championship Archives

F1/Round 22: Highlights & Provisional Results For 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2021

As the 19 cars (Haas F1’s Nikita Mazepin could not start due to COVID-19 infection) slowly took their places on the starting grid for the final round of the 2021 Formula 1 World Championship, the air was full of tension. Tonight’s result would decide who the new champion would be. It could well be the race of the century.

As the lights went out, the Red Bull driver got a good start but was not quick enough to outrun Lewis Hamilton to the first turn and coming out on the other side was the Mercedes-AMG. But the first controversy started by Turn 6 as Hamilton ran wide and Verstappen alleged that he had been pushed off the track. However, the Stewards did not see anything wrong and decided not to investigate… much to Christian Horner’s frustration again.

While McLaren Lando Norris slipped back and was overtaken by Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, it was Verstappen’s team mate, Sergio Perez, who managed to slip into third place about 4 seconds behind Hamilton. It was a good position to be where he could take over when the two leaders headed into the pits.

By lap 11, Hamilton was 3,5 seconds ahead but coming in was something that would need to be carefully considered as there was a risk in giving up the place too soon. Meanwhile, Verstappen was beginning to struggle with the soft tyres he started with, as opposed to Hamilton who had mediums from the start.

On lap 14, Verstappen had to come in and took on hard tyres. As usual, Mercedes-AMG followed next and when Hamilton rejoined, he was ahead enough to be in second place behind Perez who had taken over. However, Verstappen was further down and rejoined as Norris passed by. He had a 9-seconds gap from Hamilton who was ahead of Sainz.

With everyone more careful not to be the cause of any incident that could impact either of the championship leaders, Sainz didn’t put up a fight when the Red Bull was about to pass. Verstappen was up into third place but Hamilton had been pushing harder to reach Perez, and the gap was still 8 seconds.

On lap 20, Hamilton began to dice with Perez who had been instructed to delay the Mercedes-AMG driver enough so that Verstappen could close in. And as Hamilton had to be careful, he lost out as Verstappen shot forward unimpeded by his team mate who was ready to head for the pits. This put the Dutchman in second position and ready to fight for the title.

16 seconds behind Verstappen was Tsunoda, pursued by Bottas, while Perez slotted into fifth place after getting his fresh tyres. However, the Japanese drivers position was lost when he pitted, dropping him to tenth.

Alfa Romeo ORLEN’s Kimi Raikkonen did not get to finish his final F1 race as his car had braking problems around lap 26 and he had to limp back to the pits. Fans of the Finn, who was among the senior drivers, were saddened that the 20-year career had to end on a low note.

At the halfway point of the 58-lap race, Hamilton was still in the lead, 4 seconds ahead of Verstappen but without the security of having Bottas near enough. Though his team mate was in third, he was some 20 seconds behind. In any case, he had to come in for a tyre change and rejoined in tenth. His place was taken over by Perez who had a comfortable gap from Alpine F1’s Fernando Alonso, so he could focus on staying in the race.

Raikkonen’s team mate, Antonio Giovinazzi, also had an unhappy ending with the team as his car came to a stop on lap 36, triggering the Virtual Safety Car to enable clearing. Verstappen came in for hard tyres and rejoined still in second place as Hamilton did not want to lose his top spot. Twenty laps remained and Hamilton looked like he would keep the hard tyres till the end and take another world championship.

The Virtual Safety Car had given Verstappen a chance to close in on Hamilton and by lap 43, he had gained 4 seconds, though the gap was still over 12 seconds. His steady progress to close the gap meant that it was going to be a thrilling finish. And with 12 laps remaining, Hamilton was also getting close to backmarkers which could make things tricky.

With his tyres having been in use for over 37 laps, the team was warning Hamilton to be careful on the kerbs. A puncture would be disastrous at this point with the remaining laps.

7 laps from the end, Hamilton finally got past the traffic but Verstappen still had to carefully find his way past at least 5 cars, some of whom were also battling each other. The delay kept the gap at around 12 seconds.

And then Williams Racing’s Nicholas Latifi crashed at Turn 14 while duelling with Haas F1’s Mick Schumacher, and the Safety Car had to come out. Just 6 laps remained and with the cars unable to race, the release of the Safety Car would certainly be a dramatic moment as the two leaders tried to sprint to the finish. Verstappen decided to come into the pits to get fresh tyres – certainly the last time in the race – but Hamilton was unwilling to take any risk of losing his position right at the front.

With 3 laps remaining, the gap was just 3 seconds between Hamilton and Verstappen. Everyone was biting their nails as the outcome was going to be very tight. Verstappen still had 5 slower cars in front of him.

On the 57th lap, the cars were still behind the Safety Car so it seemed like a real shoot-put to the finish line. Then race control told the 5 cars between Hamilton and Verstappen to overtake the Safety Car as it was about to leave the track – and it would be Hamilton and Verstappen going for it as they were side by side. An incredible setting to the end of the season!

The moment racing resumed, Hamilton had a slight edge but Verstappen grabbed the lead – and held it to the chequered flag to become the new World Champion. Crossing the line, the Dutchman was about 2 seconds ahead of the Mercedes-AMG driver, whose boss was unhappy at the circumstances. But his team does win the Constructors Championship again, which makes it 8 times in a row. But for the Red Bull Racing team, the hard work finally paid off and for Honda, their engine supplier, it was a great way to end F1 involvement.

*Valtteri Bottas leaves the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS team to take over the spot vacated by Kimi Raikkonen, while Williams Racing’s George Russell will become Lewis Hamilton’s team mate in 2022.*

Guanyu Zhou 2022 F1 Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN — *Guanyu Zhou will join Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN in 2022 to partner with Bottas.*

F1/Round 22: Preview & Starting Grid For 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

Race starts at 5 pm in Abu Dhabi/9 pm in Malaysia

And so its down to the final round of the 2021 Formula 1 World Championship which takes place at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi. It’s been a dramatic year with the two leaders – Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton – having a battle between themselves only. And now, as they face each other for the final time this year, their points are tied so this is a crucial race to decide who takes the crown. Tensions are so high that the Race Director has warned both drivers not to indulge in any unsporting behaviour otherwise the winner could be decided by the Stewards – which no one wants.

Last time was 1974
The last time two drivers were tied for the title was in 1974, when Emerson Fittipaldi of Lotus and Clay Regazzoni of Ferrari had 52 points each. But it was a different era too, with faster and more powerful cars, and the business of the sport also far more intense. Hamilton already has a string of 7 titles going back to 2008 and would certainly like to add another. But there are also some who would like to see a new champion although Verstappen has gained a ‘bad boy’ image of late.

“The final race will be intense… the fact that both championships will be decided at the season finale proves just how hard both sides have been challenging each other and pushing each other forward. It’s all or nothing for the season finale and that’s amazing for the sport, amazing for the fans and amazing for all of us, too,” said Mercedes-AMG’s Toto Wolff.

*‘May the best man win’ as the team bosses of Mercedes-AMG and Red Bull Racing shake hands before the race.*

Circuit substantially altered
The Yas Marina Circuit has, for some time, held the season-closing race. In fact, 9 of the 12 times it has had a F1 race, it has been the finale round. The cumulative data the teams have gained over the years will not be so applicable as the circuit has also been substantially altered for this year’s race. For one thing, it has 5 less corners – 16 instead of the 21 in last year’s layout. The hairpin complex from Turns 5 to 7 has been replaced with a wider hairpin bend at Turn 5, with the aim of promoting overtaking.

The changes have shortened a lap by 273 metres, which sees the number of laps increased from 55 to 58, all run after sunset. The changes to the track will also increase speeds and loads through some corners. However, as the circuit will still be smooth, with average stress on the tyres in terms of wear and degradation, the three softest compounds in the P Zero range remain a suitable choice, according to Pirelli.

The pitlane is the only one in F1 to feature a tunnel, with drivers passing under the circuit at the pit exit and re-joining on the left-hand side of Turn 2. It can prove tricky to see other cars when feeding back onto the track mid-corner.

*The last outing for the F1 Safety and Medical Cars which have been supplied by Mercedes-AMG (above) and Aston Martin (below) and used in different races.*

F1/Round 21: Preview & Starting Grid For 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

Race starts at 8:30 pm in Jeddah/1:30 am (Monday) in Malaysia

This weekend, for the 21^st round of the 2021 championship, Formula 1 goes to Saudi Arabia for the country’s first F1 event at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit. The circuit, newly created, is a street circuit situated 30 kms outside the historic city of Jeddah, the second largest city in Saudi Arabia. It is the second venue to join the calendar this year, following Qatar a fortnight ago.

While this is the first time an F1 race is being held, Saudi Arabia is no stranger to international top-level motorsports and, in recent years, has hosted rounds of the Formula E series and the Dakar Rally. Saudi Arabia also joins three other countries in the Middle East – Qatar, Bahrain and the UAE – to host F1 rounds.

Second longest circuit
The streets have been specially prepared to meet FIA’s strict standards for a Formula 1 circuit, with 34 tonnes of new asphalt and 550,00 tonnes of cement used. At 6.175 kms, it is the second longest circuit in the 2021 calendar, just 800 metres longer than the circuit at Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium.

The Jeddah Corniche Circuit will be the fifth track to run a F1 race at night. The total number of lights is estimated at over 600 to achieve lighting levels have to be 1,500 lux, and there is more than 20 kms of electric cabling.

There are 27 turns around the track with one (Turn 13) banked at 12 degrees. That’s three degrees steeper than Indianapolis’ banked corners and 7 degrees less than those at Zandvoort. This will add stress for the drivers who will experience a high g-load (around 4.9 lateral g) as they circulate for 50 laps.

As the track is totally new, the top speed that the cars will reach is not known but simulations put it as 322 km/h, with an average speed as high as 252.8 km/h. On this basis, Jeddah has billed its circuit as the ‘fastest street circuit in the world’.

The waterfront location presents similar challenges to Abu Dhabi, blowing sand onto the track and experiencing wind shifts from daytime to the evening. Because of the long track length, energy management is very difficult, which puts more focus on the performance of the MGU-H and hybrid systems.

Hard work for tyres
The circuit has more corners than any other track on the calendar, which will keep the tyres working hard. As it’s never been used before, drivers can expect a slippery and ‘green’ track at the start of the weekend. “Jeddah is probably the biggest unknown we face all year, as with the track being completed very close to the race. As a result, we can only rely on simulations from F1 and the teams, along with other information we’ve collected, to come up with our nomination of tyres to supply,” said Mario Isola, Head of F1 and Car Racing at Pirelli. “This street circuit looks set to be quite different to anything else, and the high speeds with fast corners will obviously play a big part in the way that the tyres behave.

Blind corners, unforgiving track
Many parts of the circuit are quite narrow and unforgiving, with the walls close to the side of the track. “Blind corners are obviously an issue whenever someone is cooling down and you are on a push lap because of the huge speed difference so we all need to be super focused even when we are not pushing. The track leaves very little margin for mistakes and Charles Leclerc was unfortunate to crash,” said Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz.

“It is unforgiving; there is no room for any mistakes. The most challenging part is getting into the right rhythm with all the blind corners there are. But as soon as you do, it’s even more exciting to drive,” added Leclerc.

With the exceptionally high speeds, stopping power will be of great importance and the expert at Brembo have classified 2 braking sections as ‘very demanding’ on the brakes; 2 are of ‘medium difficulty’; and the other 3 are ‘light’. The hardest on the brake system is the last corner because the racing cars come to it after braking for the last time on turn 22 (they don’t have to brake in the other 4 corners). As they come onto Turn 27, the cars will be at around 317 km/h when the brakes will need to be used for 2.6 seconds. This is the time needed to slow down to 110 km/h. In the meantime, they cover a distance of 127 metres and the drivers experience 4.3g of deceleration.

Can Verstappen be champion?
Following Lewis Hamilton’s victory in Qatar, Max Verstappen’s lead had been cut to just 8 points. The Red Bull Racing driver still has a chance to take the 2021 title and he must outscore Hamilton by 18 points. This requires the Mercedes-AMG driver to finish 6^th or lower. Clocking the fastest lap with its precious point – and holding it till the end – will also be an important factor. If he finishes second with the fastest lap and Hamilton is down in 10^th place at the end of the race, then the Dutchman can be confirmed as 2021 champion.

In the Constructors Championship, the gap is narrow – just 5 points – so the drivers of each team will be working hard to collect as many points as possible. Ferrari looks set to take third overall this year, with McLaren in fourth.

Guanyu Zhou – first Chinese driver in F1, to race with Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN team in 2022

F1/Round 20: Highlights & Provisional Results For Ooredoo Qatar Grand Prix 2021

Max Verstappen and Valtteri Bottas received grid penalties and were repositioned them at the start, moving the Red Bull driver to 7th and Bottas to 5th, But the moment the race started, Verstappen was ready to remove the disadvantage of starting further back and was up 3 places by Turn 3. However, Bottas got caught in traffic and feel to 11th instead,

Scuderia AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly had been promoted to 2nd on the grid but it was short-lived. From the start through the first few corners, Alpine’s Fernando Alonso dueled with him and eventually took over second spot behind a quickening Lewis Hamilton. Knowing that the Dutchman was working very hard to reach him, he had to open up the gap as wide as possible while Verstappen had to get through traffic.

By lap 4, about 9 minutes after the start, Verstappen was past Gasly and then Alonso and 4 seconds behind Hamilton. Sergio Perez, the other Red Bull driver, was also making progress up the field, having moved up to 8th after passing Scuderia AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda. Next target – the Red Ferrari of Carlos Sainz, Jr.

Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and Bottas both managed to pass a seemingly weakened Tsunoda who eventually came into the pits on lap 10, the first driver to do so in the inaugural Qatar GP. Bottas moved ahead to 9th while Stroll took over Tsunoda’s 10th place. As for Sebastian Vettel, the other Aston Martin driver, from 10th place on the starting grid, he had dropped back to 15th.

Alfa Romeo ORLEN’s Kimi Raikkonen also came in shortly after Tsunoda and like the Japanese driver, Raikkonen also switched from the soft tyres that had been on at the start to mediums.

With a quarter of the race done, McLaren’s Lando Norris was up to 4th and had Alonso in his sights. The Alpine driver did not need to work any harder to move forward since he was 30 seconds behind Verstappen, so he would be focussed on defending his position and at least get to the podium for a change. But for Norris, trying to stop a hard-charging Perez from passing was occupying him and eventually, he lost his place.

On lap 18, Verstappen came into the pits and left with hard tyres within 2.2 seconds. As expected, Hamilton came in next and took just a tenth of a second longer to depart, also with hard tyres. Neither driver lost their positions. Apparently, Hamilton had been reluctant to come in so early as he felt his tyres were fine but he was obeyed orders – this time.

Other teams did not have the super-quick put stops like the Mercedes-AMG and Red Bull Racing teams, so as their drivers came in, they returned to lower positions from which they had to work their way up again. Alonso, for example, was running in third and after coming in and then rejoining the race, he was done at 8th, his place taken over by Bottas (who had still not pitted).

Tyre wear, as expected, was quite high and teams were bringing in their cars for new tyres regularly. Sainz missed coming in as he seemed to miss his call, and continued past the pits to circulate another round before pitting.

On lap 31. it was Verstappen chasing Hamilton and about half a minute behind, Bottas watching out for Perez as he kept closing in. But for the Mercedes-AMG driver, the risks were increasing as he still had not changed his tyres. And it happened on lap 34 – a puncture on the front left wheel. He slid into the gravel and managed to get back onto the track but had about 2.5 kms to reach the pits. After getting new tyres, he rejoined in 14th place.

With 15 laps remaining, Verstappen slipped back into the pits for another set of tyres and the Mercedes-AMG team brought Hamilton in right after that. The British driver had maintained a lead of about 8 seconds for many laps, while Verstappen had a huge gaps behind him so there was no distraction from aiming to beat his rival this time.

On lap 47, as a precaution, Red Bull brought Perez in for a new set of tyres, losing him his third place and he fell to seventh. Alonso was thus back in third and had a good chance at the podium with 10 laps remaining. However, Perez was determined to regain his positions and within 3 laps, he was just a corner behind the Alpine driver. Bottas, meanwhile, couldn’t complete his 51st lap and had to retire as the damage sustained earlier was too problematic.

Lap 55 saw the Virtual Safety Car (VSC) activated as Nicholas Latifi’s Williams pulled over to the side and had to be moved by marshalls. Verstappen shot into the pits for a precautionary change and maintained his positions, while Alonso looked like he was on his way to the podium for the first time in 7 years.

As Hamilton crossed the finish line to win the race, the VSC was still active and then it went off, so Verstappen had a chance to go for the fastest lap and get a 1 more precious point – which he succeeded in getting.

F1/Round 20: Preview & Starting Grid For 2021 Qatar Grand Prix

Race starts at 5 pm in Qatar | 10 pm in Malaysia

With the 3 events in the western hemisphere completed, the final leg of the 2011 Formula 1 World Championship takes place in the Middle East this month and next month. This weekend will be the Ooredoo Qatar Grand Prix in Qatar, a small country in the Persian Gulf. This race, which is Round 20, will be special as it is the first F1 race held in Qatar, and it is held at night. Each year until 2032 (except for 2022 as it coincides with Qatar’s hosting of the 2022 FIFA World Cup), the country will be one of the venues.

The Losail International Circuit for the race is not unknown in the motorsport world. It is FIA-certified as it has been a MotoGP venue since 2004, so some technical data is available although it would be related to motorcycle racing. It has also hosted car races, such as the GP2 Asia Series and WTCC, but clearly no car has reached the speeds that the Formula 1 cars will hit, both on straights and in turns.

Sergio Perez is the only current F1 driver to have raced at Losail. The Mexican driving for Red Bull Racing contested 2 rounds of the 2008 – 2009 GP2 Asia series at this circuit. Nico Hulkenberg won that year so if he was also racing in F1 today, he would be the other driver with experience on the circuit.

“This is the first time Formula One has raced in Qatar, so it’s a step into the unknown for everyone. We have no historical data of the Losail International Circuit, so much more focus in the build-up to the event is in the virtual world, working on the computer simulations and driver-in-loop simulator running with the limited information we do have for the track,” said Mercedes-AMG’s Toto Wolff.

“The workload around the simulations is obviously higher, because we’re more dependent on them, and the simulator program will be hard at work all through the week, including running on Friday to maximize the fresh learnings we receive from practice,” he explained.

The 5.38-km track still has its original surface from 2004, which offers high grip and has become quite abrasive over time, accentuating wear and degradation. Despite the presence of strategically-placed artificial grass around the circuit to keep away the sand from the desert, the surfaces could still become very dusty thus affecting grip. Pirelli classifies the circuit as high severity, and have chosen their 3 hardest compounds for this race.

The dominant characteristic of the circuit is the close sequence of 16 corners, many of them taken at high speeds. Downforce levels will be high, but whether or not they are at maximum will depend on how many of those corners are power rather than grip-limited.

“I really like the track here at Loisail, it is great. It’s always interesting to mix things up and see a new venue on the calendar. What will be key is balancing the first and last sectors, due to tyre overheating that is caused by the high temperatures here,” said Scuderia Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.

“Qatar is just one of four races held in the evening under floodlights this year. This means that the evolution of track temperature over the course of the race should be quite different compared to a standard afternoon race, with the potential for a big drop-off as the race goes on. In the desert, there’s a big difference in temperature between day and night,” explained Pirelli’s Mario Isola.

The championship titles are still not confirmed. Victory for Lewis Hamilton in the previous round in Brazil saw the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS team extend their lead over Red Bull Racing to 11 points. In the Drivers Championship, Max Verstappen still has the lead but with the 25 points he collected, Hamilton cut that lead to 14 points.

F1/Round 19: Highlights & Provisional Results For 2021 Sao Paolo Grand Prix

With the engine change, Lewis Hamilton’s fifth place finish in the Sprint Race put him 10 places behind his team mate who was on pole position but that was at least better than the back of the grid that he had started from for the Sprint Race due to disqualification of his Qualifying times.

Valtteri Bottas was quicker off the start line and first into Turn 1 but by Turn 2, it was Max Verstappen who emerged in the lead. As Bottas had to run wide, an alert Sergio Perez immediately passed by to trail his team mate. Meanwhile, Lando Norris was struck with a puncture (after hitting Carlos Sainz’ Ferrari’s wing) and had to limp back to the pits.

Within the first 3 laps, Hamilton was up to 5th and had Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc to pass before reaching Bottas. Two laps later, he appeared behind his team mate and got past easily and into third place, ready to go for the two Red Bulls.

Further back, Scuderia AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda collided with Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin and with much damage to the front wing, the Safety Car had to come out to control the field while marshalls cleared the debris. It stayed out for 3 laps before racing was allowed to resume.

Just as the drivers were starting to pick up speed, Haas F1’s Mick Schumacher radioed that his wing was dragging under his car after contact with Kimi Raikkonen’s Alfa. The Virtual Safety Car was activated as he crawled back to the pits. Only 13 laps had passed after about 20 minutes since the race had started.

When the Virtual Safety Car ended, Verstappen wasted no time in extending the gap and sped off to a 2-second lead from Hamilton, with his team mate Perez acting defence. Bottas meanwhile was doing the same thing behind his team mate but he wasn’t under pressure like Perez was.

On lap 18, Hamilton made it past Perez but the Mexican managed to regain his position, The next time round, the Mercedes driver tried again and this time, he kept his position was prepared to do battle with Verstappen. Perez now had to focus on Bottas right behind rather than chase Hamilton and was falling back.

On lap 25, Verstappen was still holding on to his lead with a gap of almost 4 seconds from Hamilton. But the Red Bull driver was also starting to feel his tyres going, and the question was whether to come in for a single stop and switch to hard tyres for the rest of the race.

The first of the frontrunners to come in for a tyre change was Hamilton on lap 27, and Verstappen came in on the next lap. Both cars switched to hard tyres. Perez was also brought in but the Mercedes-AMG team decided to leave Bottas running for a while more. So the Finn took over the lead from lap 29, as Verstappen raced towards him with Hamilton not too far behind.

Stroll’s car still had some loose bits that started to fall off on lap 31, activiting the Virtual Safety Car. Bottas was brought in for his tyre change but the VSC ended and when he rejoined, he just managed to get ahead of Perez. Verstappen meanwhile had taken over the lead.

At the halfway point in the race, many drivers were coming in. Pierre Gasly was trying hard to keep his 8th position as McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo kept snapping at him.

Hamilton took over the lead on lap 40 as Verstappen shot into the pits to make another tyre change. His return to the track was slowed down by Williams’ Nicholas Latifi who was just reaching the end of the pit lane. Bottas was brought in but when he rejoined, he was down in 5th, over 25 seconds from the front so there was not much he could do to help.

An incident between Verstappen and Hamilton on lap 49 attracted the attention of the Stewards. He had challenged Verstappen for the lead going into a turn but was unable to get past and forced to go wide. However, no irregularity was found and the Race Director told the teams that no action was going to be taken. The Mercedes-AMG team didn’t like that as they believe the Red Bull driver had forced Hamilton to run wide.

In spite of the various collisions, no one retired until lap 50 when Stroll’s car – which had earlier come in contact with Tsunoda’s – had to pull out, making him the first driver to end his race early. Around the same time, Ricciardo also pitted and never came out again, becoming the second retiree of the day with a Power Unit problem.

10 laps later, on lap 59, Hamilton finally moved into the lead at Turn 4. Verstappen had to work very hard to prevent his rival from collecting those 25 points, which would make it trickier for his championship chances. The Dutchman had also to watch out for Bottas who was running third by then.

With 3 laps remaining, Hamilton could still keep the lead and maintain a gap of about 7 seconds from Verstappen. Bottas has fallen back a bit but would be ready to take over if anything happened to the two duelling drivers ahead.

On the remaining lap, Perez was quickly brought into the pits and fitted with soft tyres to try to get at least one more point for fastest lap. Verstappen wasn’t going to get by Hamilton who would be first to cross the line after 71 laps.

Vaccination does not make you immune to COVID-19 infection. You can still get infected and although you may not show symptoms, you could spread the coronavirus to others. Do not stop taking protective measures such as wearing a facemask, washing hands frequently and social distancing.

F1/Round 19: Preview & Provisional Sprint Race Starting Grid For 2021 Sao Paolo Grand Prix

Sprint Race starts at 4:30 pm in Brazil/3:30 am in Malaysia (Sunday)

GP race starts 2:00 pm in Brazil/1:00 am in Malaysia (Monday)

After last weekend in Mexico City, the F1 teams continued 7,500 kms south to Brazil for Round 19 of the 2021 Formula 1 World Championship. This will be the last of the three rounds in the western hemisphere which started in Texas on October 25. This round is known as the Sao Paulo Grand Prix and is held at the Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace, usually referred to as Interlagos.

There was no race held last year due to the pandemic, so the teams have not been at the track for longer than usual. But they are familiar with it as it has been hosting F1 rounds since 1972. The events used to be called the Brazilian Grand Prix but for some reason, the organizers and FIA now use city names instead.

The short 4.309-km circuit (almost same as the circuit in Mexico City) has a tight layout which the drivers will go around for 71 laps. Its undulating sequence of mostly medium and low-speed corners have always presented tough technical challenges. It is also one of the relatively few circuits run anti-clockwise on the calendar. The short lap (around 1 minute 10 seconds) means that traffic can be an issue and there’s also a high safety car probability, so any race strategy needs to bear that in mind.

In 2019, when the last GP was held, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen won with a 3-stop strategy, following 2 Safety Car appearances at the end of the race. There were 3 different strategies in the top 4, with McLaren’s Carlos Sainz (fourth at the flag) stopping just once from last on the grid. Without the Safety Cars, a 2-stop strategy would have been the favoured tactic.

“Interlagos is an old-school track that keeps drivers and tyres busy and often produces some dramatic races, as we saw last time,” said Pirelli’s Mario Isola, adding that the weather is another variable factor and it can be very hot or very wet. “As a result, this year’s more versatile tyre selection should be able to cope with all the wide-ranging demands of the race and provide some different strategies.”

For this round, as in the British GP in July and the Italian GP in September, there is also a sprint race to offer additional excitement for spectators and also a different challenge for the teams. The Sprint Qualifying Race, which was well received by the drivers, is 100 kms long. Being run over a shorter distance, drivers will be flat out from start to finish, with no pit stops needed. The best effort will be necessary as the finishing order will determine the starting positions for the main race, so there is a chance to improve on the position gained in Qualifying. There are also points for the top 3 finishers of the race.

In Qualifying, Lewis Hamilton took pole position for the Sprint Race to be held on Saturday afternoon in Brazil. But because of an engine change, he will get a 5-place grid penalty for the main race on Sunday. Verstappen, who was 4/10ths of a second slower will start in second, with Valtteri Bottas in third and Serio Perez in fourth on the grid.

However, there is more tension at this time at Interlagos as both Hamilton and Verstappen have been referred to the Race Stewards for different matters. In Hamilton’s case, there is an alleged technical infringement regarding the rear wing on his car.

Verstappen could be in trouble relating to the FIA’s International Sporting Code concerning rules on working on the cars after Qualifying. Video footage shows him getting out of his car and walking to check on his own rear wing and then walking over to Hamilton’s car and also examining it and seemingly touching it. Article 2.5.1 of the Sporting Code states that ‘no operation, checking, tuning or repair is allowed’ but what sort of penalty the Red Bull driver will get remains uncertain.

At the time of writing, the rest of the world still doesn’t know the outcome but starting from the front row has proven historically important. Out of the 20 races run since 2000, 16 of them have been won by the driver who started from the front row. For Hamilton, already resigned to starting 5 places back even if he wins the Sprint Race, worse could come if the issue of the wing leads to another penalty.

As things stand after Mexico, Verstappen’s win moved him to a 19-point lead over Hamilton in the Drivers Championship. After finishing third, the other Red Bull driver, Sergio Perez, has moved closer to third-positioned Valtteri Bottas.

The double podium in Mexico for Red Bull also saw the gap narrowing to just one point in the Constructors Championship between leaders Mercedes-AMG and Red Bull Racing. The battle for third is also close after Ferrari collected a total of 18 points which moved the team ahead of McLaren with a 13.5-point advantage.

F1/Round 18: Highlights & Provisional Results For 2021 Mexico City Grand Prix

It was a disastrous start for Valtteri Bottas as he seemed to get a good start but as three cars – with Verstappen having also stayed alongside the two Mercedes cars, – went into the first tune, he was hit and went into a spin. The chaos also knocked out other cars, among them Yuki Tsunoda and Mick Schumacher, while Daniel Ricciardo had a damaged front wing. Out came the Safety Car as Verstappen was pulling ahead in the lead.

While Scuderia AlphaTauri and Haas F1 had one car retire before even the first lap, McLaren’s Ricciardo and Bottas came into the pits for quick repairs and rejoined the race. For Bottas, a pole position was wasted as he was near the back of the field.

The Safety Car circulated for 3 laps and then freed the convoy to resume racing. Verstappen was in the lead and took off, followed by Hamilton and Sergio Perez, with Pierre Gasly in fourth. The chaotic start had seen some of the drivers at the back gaining a few positions up, with Antonio Giovanazzi having gone from 11th to 6th, but Carlos Sainz then passed him for the position.

10 laps into the 71-lap race, the Red Bull in the lead was steadily opening up the gap and had an almost 2-second lead over Hamilton, who had to keep and eye on the other Red Bull behind. Bottas was somewhere down in 16th, stuck in traffic. His position was originally George Russell’s on the starting grid but the Williams driver had moved up to 11th and was busy duelling with Alpine’s Fernando Alonso.

By lap 17, more than half the field had come into the pits and changed to hard tyres but the leaders were still out and seemed to be managing their tyres well. They were still on mediums but would likely switch to hards eventually and try to make it all the way. That had been the case in the last race in 2019.

By lap 21, the frontrunners were starting to come up behind the backrunners. Verstappen was pushing hard and almost 7 seconds ahead of Hamilton, who was tailed by Perez just 2 to 3 seconds behind. The second Red Bull driver was in a safe position as Gasly was some 15 seconds further back so he played it safe and kept the pressure on Hamilton.

Bottas was taking a while to get past Ricciardo and was stuck in 12th place on lap 28, trying to get past the McLaren’s Aussie driver and at the same time, having to avoid letting Alfa Romeo’s Giovanazzi slip past. Meanwhile, up at the front, the leaders were resisting coming in for new tyres.

Hamilton finally came in on lap 30 and after a 2.4-second stop, he rejoined in fifth behind Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Gasly. But then the Ferrari pulled out to pit so Hamilton moved up one position. Just after that happened, Verstappen came in and Perez took over the lead, much to the delight of the home crowd.

Hamilton got past Gasly and moved up to 3rd but Verstappen was in an out fast enough to maintain the Red Bull 1-2. It was a 7-second gap for the reigning champion to close and he was working hard. Just over a third of the race was completed.

On lap 40, Ricciardo finally pitted and Bottas was able to move up and came up behind Fernando Alonso. Interestingly, the McLaren driver got medium tyres rather than hards, which only a few teams had chosen to use.

Bottas came in on lap 43 and disaster struck the Finn driver for the second time in the day as a front wheel was stuck and took a while to loosen, stretching his stop to an agonising 11 seconds. When he rejoined, he had dropped to 14th. But his team mate had inherited second place as Perez finally came in and though his stop was the usual quick one, he was already 7 seconds behind Hamilton when he rejoined. However, he had a comfortable 10-second gap with Gasly so he could focus on catching up and hassling the Mercedes driver.

Lando Norris had done 46 laps on his first set of tyres before he came in to switch to hards. He managed to rejoin in 10th place and would have to spend the remainder of the race trying to keep in the point-paying group.

On lap 58, with traffic slowing Hamilton down, Perez had come right up into his mirrors. The Mexican driver was going to keep the pressure on so that his team mate could safely collect the 25 points and pull away into a strong championship lead.

With 10 laps left – plus tyres wearing out – Hamilton had to be very careful how hard he wanted to push. A second place might disappoint but would be way better than not finishing.

Bottas was in 14th place and 2 laps behind the leaders and eventually came up to Verstappen. Both drivers were cautious about not causing any incident as less than 10 laps remained, and Verstappen stayed well away as the Finn tried to go for a very fast lap. And with one lap left, he again came into the pits to switch tyres and try one last time to get that precious 1 point for fastest lap (which he did achieve but as he was not in the top 10, it did not count).

But it was still Verstappen’s race as he crossed the finishing line comfortably ahead of Hamilton, his ninth win of 2021 securing a stronger championship lead. Perez gave it all he had but couldn’t make it to 2nd in time. Nevertheless, it was a proud moment for his countrymen as it was the first time a Mexican driver was on the podium of the Mexican GP.

F1/Round 18: Preview & Starting Grid For 2021 Mexico City Grand Prix

Race starts at 1 pm in Mexico/3 am (Monday) in Malaysia

While the racing teams are on the west side of the Atlantic Ocean, they have 3 races in the hemisphere – after the US Grand Prix in Texas, this weekend sees the second one in Mexico City. The event has been known as the Mexican Grand Prix for the 20 times in has been held since 1963 (last year, it was cancelled due to the pandemic) but this year, it will become known as the Mexico City Grand Prix.

An event special to Honda
The Mexican Grand Prix has been held at the same circuit which was originally named the Magdalena Mixiuhca Circuit but renamed to Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in honour of the country’s racing drivers, Ricardo and Pedro Rodriguez. This circuit in particular is special to Honda because it was the first Japanese team to win a Formula 1 race in the 1965 event. While it did not participate as a factory team later on, it was an engine supplier and contributed to the victories of Williams (1987) and McLaren (1988-1989) in the Mexican rounds of the championship.

*Honda RA272 winning the 1965 Mexican GP – the first F1 win by a team from Japan.*

5 times higher than Petronas Twin Towers
The 4.3-km circuit set within a sports park has always presented a unique challenge for the engineers. At 2,385 metres above sea level, it is situated at the highest altitude of any circuit and that’s 5 times higher than the height of the Petronas Twin Towers. This means the air is thinner (by about 25%) so the operating conditions are unlike other tracks. This is where forced induction is vital to avoid the loss that naturally-aspirated engines suffer due to less air being available.

There are also has implications on aerodynamics and the racing cars will be set up with maximum downforce. But because the air is thin, resistance is less so the cars will be able to hit very high speeds of around 350 km/h too.

The drivers will have to be alert for cooling problems with the brakes and the turbochargers will also have to work harder, so there is a risk of the Power Unit failing. Cooling the car appropriately is probably the biggest challenge in Mexico. For the Power Unit, the lack of mass flow of air limits the cooling potential, which requires careful management to ensure reliability.

Red Bull Racing or Mercedes-AMG?
Going into the final quarter of the championship, the battles for the Drivers and Constructors titles are still tight. The lead has alternated between Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS and Red Bull Racing and after the US Grand Prix, Max Verstappen has a lead of just 12 points ahead of Lewis Hamilton 275.5 points. Running in third is Valtteri Bottas with 185 points and he will be starting from pole position for the race after a surprise qualifying run to beat his teammate by 0.145 second. 35 points behind him is Sergio Perez who will be in fourth place on the grid, alongside his teammate, Verstappen.

Historically, the Mexican Grand Prix has been one of the races where the Drivers championship has been decided but in those years when Hamilton was confirmed champion (2017 and 2018), the event was the 19th round of a 20-race calendar.

In the Constructors championship, the positions are reversed and it is the German team that is ahead of Red Bull Racing by 23 points. The fight for the title will be confined to these two teams, while third will be fought by McLaren and Scuderia Ferrari which are just 3.5 points apart with 5 rounds remaining.

F1: Australian GP to be replaced by Ooredoo Qatar Grand Prix in November

F1/Round 17: Highlights & Provisional Results For 2021 US Grand Prix

As the lights went green, both drivers on the front row got off to good starts and were side by side heading to Turn 1. Neither was willing to back off and in the end, it was Max Verstappen who had to go wide when Lewis Hamilton did not let him pass. But the Dutchman recovered quickly and rejoined alongside team mate Sergio Perez.

The first vehicle contacts occurred when Wiliiams Racing’s Nicholas Latifi bumped into Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll at the start and the Canadian driver spun. Alpine’s Esteban Ocon also got hit by the Alfa Romeo of Antonio Giovanazzi, resulting in the Alpine’s front wing being damaged and he had to head to the pits for a replacement. As he rejoined the race, he almost collided with a fast-moving Latifi who had also come in.

There was a lot of jostling for better positions in the first laps, and starting positions quickly changed. Williams Racing’s George Russell was able to move up to 14th from the back, while McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo moved from 7th to 5th after getting past Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz.

From lap 8 onwards, the switch to hard tyres had started for most cars, except for Valtteri Bottas and the two Aston Martin drivers. Verstappen came in on lap 10, and Hamilton was forced to do likewise next, The Red Bull Racing driver inherited the lead as Hamilton went into the pits and wasted no time opening up the gap which was almost 7 seconds when the Mercedes-AMG driver came out again.

On lap 16, Pierre Gasly’s AlphaTauri had suspension problems serious enough that he had to pit. The problem was serious enough that he did not leave and was the first retiree of the USGP.

Bottas had been struggling to improve on his position but did not make much progress until lap 20 when he finally got past AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda to move into 8th – only one position better than what he started at (he had incurred a 5-place penalty on the grid for a sixth engine change).

On lap 22, Alonso got past Giovanazzi but it had occurred off the tracks, and after clarifying with the Race Director that it was not permissible, he had to give back the 11th place he had acquired, while Giovanazzi’s team mate, Kimi Raikkonen, moved further ahead. A lap later, an angry Alonso again has a close encounter with Giovanazzi and this time it was the reverse as the Alfa Romeo driver was told to give back the place to Alonso,

The Virtual Safety Car appeared on lap 29 for a while as a marshal had to get onto the track to collect some debris left by one of the cars during a minor collision earlier. At that point, Hamilton had closed in to around 3 seconds from the leader with no worries from the next car behind (Perez) who was some 17 seconds away.

On lap 30, Hamilton moved into the lead as Verstappen came in for his second tyre change. As he rejoined, he was just behind his team mate but got past quickly and began closing in on his rival who was trying to open up a gap so that he could safely go for a tyre change. This time, the Mercedes-AMG team might get it right. However, Verstappen was not making things easy by steadily eating away at what started as a 16-second gap.

Hamilton finally came in on lap 37, spent 2.4 seconds in the pits to get another set of hard tyres and when he came out, Verstappen was almost 8 seconds in the lead. Not a big gap and still 19 laps left which meant an interesting fight ahead. The tyres should last but track temperatures were high too and could be an unexpected factor. Further back, Perez and Ferrari’s Charle’s Leclerc were reasonably safe in their 3rd and 4th positions, respectively, with wide gaps between them.

Ocon became the second driver to retire as his team radioed him to return to the pits. They didn’t seem to want to explain why but it was a disappointment as he was running well. Alonso, his team mate, was in 13th and trying to take home at least 1 point from the race for the team. But he too would retire 5 laps from the end with a wing problem.

With 10 laps remaining, Hamilton was 2.5 seconds behind Verstappen, pushing as hard as he could and collecting fastest lap along the way. It appeared that Verstappen was not going as fast as he could have, which may have helped the Mercedes-AMG driver close in.

On the second last lap, Vettel was able to slip into the points-paying 10th as Raikkonen spun off into the gravel.

The last lap provided the American spectators a thrilling dual as the gap was under 2 seconds between the leaders. Hamilton seemed to be pushing very hard and sliding round some corners. It was going to be tight and Verstappen had one last back runner – Haas F1’s Mick Schumacher – to get past. But Verstappen just made it across the finish line with less than a second’s gap from Hamilton to win the USGP for the first time.

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