♦ With temperatures already at 30 degrees C. when the race started, managing the tyres was a major part of the race strategy for the Mercedes-AMG drivers. It was evident from the beginning laps as they moderated lap times.
♦ Unlike his advantageous situation at Silverstone in the previous round, Max Verstappen found his tyres (especially the rear ones) to be less than satisfactory at Catalunya.
♦ After 22 laps, the drivers were struggling with the tyres and heading for the pits to get fresh sets. 3 of them held out till over 30 laps.
Empty stands, as it has been in the other five rounds this year.
♦ At the halfway mark, while Hamilton kept a 5.5-second gap from Verstappen, the action was closer in the midfield between drivers like Alexander Albon, Pierre Gasly, Charles Leclerc and Land Norris.
♦ The engine of Leclerc’s Ferrari cut suddenly on lap 40, causing a spin and stall. He managed to get it restarted and limped to the pits, his race over.
♦ It may have been blistering hot but as 20 laps remained, the possibility of rain grew stronger. That was something unexpected since it had not rained at a Spanish GP in 21 years.
♦ With 13 laps left to go, the Ferrari team decided – and Vettel agreed – that he would not change tyres and aim to finish on the very old set he had. But he found it hard to hold off other cars and slipped from fifth to seventh.
♦ With 4 laps remaining, Hamilton had a comfortable 17-second gap from Verstappen, who had to watch out for Valtteri Bottas making a bid to end with a Mercedes-AMG 1-2.
♦ With one lap remaining, Bottas changed his tyres with the aim of going for the fastest lap and managed to pick up an extra point.
Race starts at 3:10 pm in Spain/9:10 pm in Malaysia
The compressed revised schedule of 2020 Formula 1 World Championship continues this weekend with the Spanish Grand Prix at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. The circuit is a familiar one to the F1 teams as it is where they go for pre-season testing. Located in the Barcelona area, the circuit has been in operation since 1991.
The 4.655-km circuit has 16 turns and though many drivers have driven around it a lot, it is still challenging with its broad mix of corner types. There are swift changes in direction and a long start-finish straight that tests both the car’s strength and weaknesses. Each year, teams search for the best set-up to enable their drivers to extract the maximum from the machines.
To get that right set-up can be elusive; there are strong winds blowing at the circuit and they change not just in direction but also speed. So aerodynamics are very important although they are important everywhere else too.
Hotter than usual
For this weekend, there is concern about high temperatures. This has not been a major issue in the past as the Spanish Grand Prix usually runs in May when it is still cool. However, it is now mid-August and the engineers are preparing the cars to cope with temperatures of around 30 degrees C.
Pirelli is bringing its most durable compounds to cope with the heat and high loads of fast corners such as Turn 3. The C1 is nominated as the hard tyre with C2 and C3 and medium and soft tyres, respectively.
The hot conditions can be a problem for the Mercedes-AMG cars, as evident at Silverstone last weekend. It’s possible that similarly high temperatures could give Red Bull Racing a chance to claim a second victory of the season after Max Verstappen’s success.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been to Spain when it’s been this hot. The weather is beautiful, but it’s tricky for the car and very tough on the tyres as well. We didn’t see any blistering, the tyres felt OK and the long runs didn’t look too bad, but we also didn’t see any blistering last Friday, so we’ll have to remain careful,” said Lewis Hamilton, who will start from pole position at tomorrow’s race.
The Ferrari drivers also find conditions challenging but have been doing well in practices. “I am confident we can extract the maximum out of the car in quali and if I manage to get the balance where I want it to be, we can have a pretty good result. With regards to the heat, out on track is not that hard because at least there’s some air, but when you are in the garage… it’s like being in a sauna!” said Charles Leclerc.
Max Verstappen is now second
After winning last weekend, Verstappen is now second in the Driver’s Championship, 30 points behind leader Hamilton. Valtteri Bottas is, however, not far behind with a gap of just 4 points.
The Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS team has a good lead with 180 points after 5 rounds, 67 points ahead of Red Bull Racing and 125 points ahead of Ferrari. The Italian team has had the most wins here, having won 12 times, of which 5 were won by Michael Schumacher who has also won the event the most times.
♦ Nico Hulkenberg, replacing Sergio Perez who tested positive for COVID-19 and had to self-isolate, had a bad day. Just before the race was due to start, the pink BWT Racing Point car could not start and the Power Unit could not be fixed in time, he dropped out. He had performed well in qualifying and other drivers were impressed, looking forward to a challenge from him during the race.
♦ Scuderia Alpha Tauri’s Daniil Kvyat was dropped 5 places on the grid as his team decided to change the gearbox. He was relocating to the back alongside George Russell who also had a 5-place penalty for ignoring yellow flags during qualifying.
♦ The Safety Car got to work very early – even before the first lap was completed – when Alexander Albon’s car came into contact with Kevin Magnussen and the Haas F1 driver went off into the gravel. The Safety Car was out for 5 laps to manage the racers while Magnussen’s car was removed. Albon would later be given a 5-second penalty for the incident.
♦ Lap 12 saw the Safety Car coming out again after Daniil Kvyat went off the track when his car had suspension failure and hit the barrier heavily.
♦ At the halfway point in the 52-lap race, Lewis Hamilton was 2.3 seconds ahead of Valtteri Bottas who would be a buffer with Max Verstapen as he tried to close the 5-second gap further. After the Red Bull Racing driver, there was a 10-second gap to Charles Leclerc.
♦ In the closing laps, the drivers struggled with heavily worn tyres and Bottas fell to 11th after a puncture, while Kimi Raikkonen spun off – probably due to the tyres too.
♦ A puncture at the end didn’t stop Lewis Hamilton from winning the race ahead of a determined Verstappen who clocked the fastest lap of the day. With the victory at Silverstone – his seventh at the British GP – he has won more races at his home circuit that any other driver.
As in Austria and Hungary, there were no spectators watching from the stands due to strict conditions set by the organisers and authorities.Bad luck for BWT Racing Point’s Nico Hulkenberg who had engine problems just as the race was about to start so he had to drop out. But at least the team ended the day with another 2 points from Lance Stroll’s 9th placing.It wasn’t Daniil Kvyat’s day – not only did he have to start from the back due to a gearbox-change penalty but he crashed on the 12th lap due to suspension failure.Charles Leclerc continued to collect points for Ferrari with another podium finish.After his collision with Kevin Magnussen, Alexander Albon was given a 5-second penalty.
Race starts at 2:10 pm British time/9:10 pm Malaysian time
Following the first three rounds of the delayed 2020 Formula 1 World Championship, this weekend sees the teams at Silverstone in England. The 2020 Pirelli Formula 1 British Grand Prix will be the first of two that will be held at the 72-year old circuit, the second to be run next weekend as the Emirates Formula 1 70th Anniversary Grand Prix 2020.
After the compact, undulating layout of the Red Bull Ring in Austria and the tight twists and turns of the Hungaroring in Hungary, the wide open spaces of Silverstone – once an airfield – promises a very different kind of challenge.
A true power circuit
Silverstone is one of F1’s last remaining true power circuits, and one which the drivers like. Its fast and flowing layout with iconic corners such as Copse and the rapid changes of direction through Maggotts, Becketts and Chapel provide both a thrill and a test of nerve and skill.
Drivers experience some of the highest lateral g-forces of the season at Silverstone, with a maximum of 5g – meaning they will feel 5 times their normal weight. Therefore, with the average weight of a human head wearing a helmet being 7 kgs, the driver’s neck is being pulled side-to-side by a force of 35 kgs through some of the corners.
The drivers will experience up to 5 times their weight in some corners due to the high g-forces.
Drivers spend almost 81% of the lap distance at Silverstone driving at full-throttle and the average speed over the course of a lap is one of the highest in F1 at around 220 km/h. But Silverstone is not entirely about high speeds; the ‘Arena’ section introduced a decade ago provides the additional challenge of a sequence of technically demanding low-speed corners.
Resurfaced last year, the track has shed some of its reputation for abrasiveness and Pirelli is added spice to the two races by varying its compound choices for this weekend and the next. It is being cautious by supplying its most durable compound (C1) while the C2 and C3 will be the medium and soft, respectively. Next Sunday, the plan is to move on step softer with the C2 to C4 compounds.
Conditions are notoriously windy at Silverstone and the wind direction changes relatively frequently, too. This has a big impact on the car balance and can completely change the car’s behaviour, forcing drivers to adapt their driving style to suit. Braking points, apex speeds and throttle application can all change due to a shift in wind direction.
Sergio Perez replaced by Nico Hulkenberg
Racing Point’s Sergio Perez will not be racing as he was tested positive for COVID-19, believed to have been due to visiting his mother in Mexico who was hospitalised. So far, he shows no symptoms but the strict rules require him to self-isolate for 10 days. This means he will also miss the next round. Nico Hulkenberg will drive in his place, starting from 13th place on the grid.
Sergio Perez was tested popsitive for COVID-19 so he cannot race tomorrow as well as the following Sunday as he must self-isolate for 10 days.
As with the other rounds earlier, there will be no spectators within the circuit and the number of people allowed inside are kept to a minimum. Those who enter are tested regularly for COVID-19 and team members are required to stay within their ‘bubble’ and not mix with others, even at the hotel or other places outside the track. Things are that strict and the FIA is constantly monitoring because it does not want to have governments in other countries withdrawing permission to hold the forthcoming races because of participants not being disciplined to observe the Standard Operating Procedures.
The championship so far
Mercedes-AMG’s Lewis Hamilton, last year’s winner and the one who has won the most times at Silverstone (6), starts his home race as the leader in the Drivers Championship, 5 points ahead of team mater Valtteri Bottas. Consecutive podium finishes in Austria and Hungary put Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen in third place, 25 points behind Bottas.
Lewis Hamilton set a new lap record again and takes pole position tomorrow, with Valtteri Bottas alongside.
In the Constructors Championship, the top finishing places of its two drivers have built up the points lead which, at 121 points, is 66 ahead of Red Bull Racing with McLaren in third. However, Mercedes-AMG team boss, Toto Wolff, is not complacent. “We enjoyed very good results at the British Grand Prix in recent years, but we all know Babe Ruth’s famous quote: ‘Yesterday’s home runs don’t win today’s games’. There’s no entitlement to a good result because you had a strong showing in the past, on the contrary: a successful race will always be the result of the hard work of every single team member and we will have to bring our A-game to stay ahead of our competitors,” he said yesterday.
♦ 25 minutes before the race was to start, Max Verstappen slid into a barrier at the tricky Turn 12! The RB16’s nose cone and front wing were damaged and he rushed back to the pits for repairs, which were completed in time for the race start.
♦ As the track seemed to be drying out after earlier rain, the two Haas cars rushed to their pits as the race started to switch to medium tyres. It was the right move as they would move up to fourth and fifth places by the seventh lap.
♦ On lap 4, Verstappen (who had started from seventh on the grid) took the lead from Lewis Hamilton who had come into the pits to switch to slicks. But it was only a 1-lap lead as he too had to pit to get off the intermediate tyres and Hamilton slotted back to the front.
♦ Bad luck for Williams’ Nicholas Latifi who spun in the first turn and then had a puncture a few laps later, forcing him to limp back to the pits. And after replacing the tyre, his release from the pits was considered unsafe by the Stewards and he got a 5-second penalty.
♦ If it wasn’t already bad enough that Kimi Raikkonen qualified in last position on the starting grid, he would be slapped with a 7-second penalty for his car being out of position on the grid.
♦ Pierre Gasly got a new Honda unit for his car but wasn’t penalised as he is still within his limit for the season. However, by lap 16, he had to pull out of the race as the engine started smoking. During practice, he had reported a burning smell which was why the engine was replaced.
♦ Charles Leclerc was the last to get off the soft tyres he had started with when it seemed like the rain expected by lap 23 might not arrive. He went on hard tyres which he hoped would take his Ferrari to the end.
♦ Sebastian Vettel, wanting to move ahead as much as possible, pitted on lap 30 to change to hard tyres. It was a risky move with most forecasters saying rain was due within the next few laps.
Tyre changes were required a few times during the race as the weather alternated between dry and possible rain and then no rain.
♦ The first drops of rain came down at the halfway point of the race (35 laps). By then, Hamilton was comfortably ahead with a 20-second lead. Behind him was Verstappen and then Valtteri Bottas 5 seconds away.
♦ 20 laps before the end, Bottas came in for a change to hard tyres to give him more speed in the duel with Verstappen.
♦ 5 laps from the end, the Mercedes-AMG team debated whether to switch Hamilton’s tyres to hard but the driver wanted softs. His choice was followed and when he rejoined the race, he had 3 laps to go for a fastest lap as he headed to the finish line. He did that and was in line to collect the extra virtual point.
♦ Today’s win puts Hamilton equal with Michael Schumacher of having the most wins at a race. It is eighth win in Hungary, and the third year in a row.
Sebastian Vettel finished 6th to collect 8 points for Ferrari but Leclerc managed only 11th. Not exactly a great race for the team again.Despite crashing even before the raced started, Max Verstappen finished the race in second place, 8 seconds behind Hamilton.
Pierre Gasly had engine problems all week and, during the race, had to retire when smoke started to come out of the engine.
A bad day for Nicholas Latifi with two spins and a 5-second penalty as well. When the race ended, he was 5 laps behind Hamilton.
Race starts at 3:10 pm in Hungary/9:10 pm in Malaysia
After two weekends at the Red Bull Ring in Austria, the F1 teams travelled 420 kms to the next venue on the calendar, Hungaroring in Hungary. The 2020 Hungarian Grand Prix (which has the official event title of 2020 Formula 1 Aramco Magyar Nagydij) is the third round of the championship.
The authorities are very strict on the conditions of allowing the race to be run. These include staying within the circuit or at their respective hotels and not socialising; breaking the rules can result in a fine of 15,000 euros (about RM73,000) and/or jail time. Both Ferrari drivers were reported to have broken the rules and the team boss has warned them that they cannot be irresponsible and jeopardise the team.
A regular venue
The circuit is a familiar one to the drivers, having been used over the past 34 years. As such, they will be prepared for the hot and dusty environment, more so with the pandemic-related lockdowns further keeping the circuit unused. The air and track temperatures experienced at the Hungarian Grand Prix are typically some of the highest of the season, with an average air temperature of 30°C and average track temperature of 49°C.
The current Hungaroring circuit uses the third layout since 1986 and has 14 turns. Running around a valley, it is twisty and bumpy, giving a ‘street circuit’ feel like that of Monaco. Rain can add to the challenges and it has during practice sessions this week. With the revised 2020 schedule and the circuit’s relentless run of corners, the Hungaroring looks set to be the highest downforce track on the calendar.
Constant cornering
Because of the track’s high-downforce nature, its maximum speed – 318 km/h – is one of the lowest in F1. The cars only spend around 10 seconds going in a straight line during a 4.4-km lap, with the remaining 65 seconds or so spent cornering. As such, the Hungaroring is known for its constant cornering.
Despite the Hungaroring having one of the shortest start/finish straights, the track has the fifth-longest run to Turn 1 from pole position – due to the grid being positioned very close to the exit of the final corner.
The circuit is one of the toughest for brake cooling, in part due to the lack of straights, often made worse by cars being stuck in traffic. Just 65% of the lap distance at the Hungaroring is taken at full throttle, one of the lowest figures in F1.
The average lateral g-force experienced during the course of the lap is one of the highest in F1, due to the grip levels from the new tarmac, long corners, lack of straights and high downforce levels. Drivers report that the kerbs are some of the most severe in F1 for the cars. The spacing, height and speed at which drivers go over kerbs are all important factors. While the kerbs in Hungary are harsh, they are generally taken at slower speeds than in Red Bull Ring.
The track features many long corners, some of which are 180 degrees or more, which impacts the suspension set-up. The majority of corners in Hungary are taken in ‘steady state’, which is where the length of the corner allows the car to settle and stay in a rolled condition for a long period of time. A ‘transient state’ means the opposite and is seen in corners requiring quick changes of direction. For this weekend’s race, ‘steady state’ is more important and the suspension can be tuned to be better suited to this.
A place in F1 history
The 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix was the first race in F1 history to be won by a hybrid car. Back then, using the Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS) was optional and the opening races were won by cars with conventional engines. However, Mercedes-AMG had developed a hybrid system run by McLaren-Mercedes in 2009. So, when Lewis Hamilton won the event that year, it was the first ever victory for a hybrid Formula 1 car.
Hamilton has won the Hungarian Grand Prix 7 times, making it his joint-most successful track – shared with the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal, Canada. Commenting on his experience this weekend during practices, Hamilton said: “This is such a great track to drive in the dry, but it’s very tricky in the wet and it felt quite low grip out there. It’s not such a power-dependent circuit. I’m hoping for a tighter pack, it’d be great to see the Renaults doing well, the McLarens are doing a fantastic job, as are the Racing Points, it’s really exciting to see. We also expect Red Bull to be strong, so I anticipate a tough battle with them.”
The championship so far
Valtteri Bottas is in top spot after two rounds with 43 points, 6 points ahead of Hamilton. Lando Norris is in third with 26 points while Charles Leclerc, in spite of the fiasco last Sunday, is in fourth with the 18 points collected for his win in the first round.
As for the Constructors Championship, the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team has already built up a 41-point lead ahead of McLaren. BWT Racing Point F1 Team is in fourth and will be closely watched as it tries to pass Red Bull Racing which is 5 points ahead.
Race starts at 3:10 pm in Austria | 9:10 pm in Malaysia
Just last weekend, the opening round of the 2020 Formula 1 World Championship was run at the Red Bull Ring in Austria and this Sunday, the second round takes place at the same circuit. It’s unusual to have two consecutive rounds at the same location but this is due to the postponement/cancellation of earlier rounds due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
As a result, the organizers have to compress the schedule for this season as they try to get up to 18 races run by the end of the year. Ten have already been confirmed to date.
The FIA says that this is the first time that a region’s name has been used for a F1 round but then again, there is the European GP and Europe is also a region, isn’t it? The event also has the name of 2020 Formula 1 Pirelli Styrian Grand Prix, only the 43rd time that a round has had an individual tile. Styria is the region in Austria which the Red Bull Ring is located.
To recap on the previous round, the race was certainly a chaotic one and by the time the chequered flag came out, just 13 cars (of the 20 that started the race) were classified as finishers. It was the lowest number since the 2017 Australian GP when the same number completed the race.
Although the Red Bull Ring is familiar to the teams and drivers, the gap of just a week has meant that there has been limited time to analyze performance and address issue and concerns. It seemed that there were some reliability issues as certain systems in some cars had problems.
The positions of Lando Norris, Charles Leclerc and Antonio Giovinazzi were changed after they received grid penalties for various offences.The view from Lando Norris’ McLaren.Daniel Ricciardo (Renault) crashed during practices but still made it for the qualifying session.
For the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team, the free practice sessions were used to check whether those reliability concerns were fixed. “The team is still looking into that, but I think we have made some progress. We made some good set-up tweaks and I tried to use the learnings from last weekend, in terms of one-lap pace and driving style over a race distance,” said the winner of the first round, Valtteri Bottas.
The Official F1 Medical Car assessing track conditions during the heavy rain that delayed qualifying.
Heavy rain forced the final practice session to be cancelled and today’s qualifying sessions could not start on time due to the same climatic issue. Eventually, the cars went out on wet tyres after a 45-minute wait.
In the Constructors’ battle, Bottas’ win and Lewis Hamilton’s fourth place last weekend put Mercedes-AMG in the familiar position at the top. They have an 11-point lead over McLaren which was the combination of points for the third place of Lando Norris and fifth place of Carlos Sainz, Jr. Ferrari struggled but still collected 19 points with the second placing of Charles Leclerc, plus 1 point from Vettel.
♦ Lewis Hamilton, already the 2019 World Champion Driver, finished off the season with another win at Yas Marina. It is his fifth victory at the event.
♦ Although Charles Leclerc finished third overall, his position is not confirmed as there is an investigation into the amount of fuel that was actually in the Ferrari.
♦ Valtteri Bottas finished finished the race in 4th after having started from the back of the grid.
♦ In the closing stages of the race, McLaren’s Carlos Sainz, Jr. gave one last push and moved into 10th place to finish 6th overall in the Driver’s Championship.
♦ Alex Albon is the only one of the four rookies this year who had not driven an F1 car at Yas Marina (although he is familiar with it, having raced in GP3 and F2 events there).
