F1: Battle Of The Ages
F1: Battle Of The Ages
I always thought records were there to be broken - Michael Schumacher
Hello Hello and Hello. Did you folks miss me? I certainly did miss writing this “once upon a time” regular F1 newsletter. Few days back, a friend of the newsletter Vinayak asked me why I stopped writing. Well this is not enough space to get into those details but here I am back on the weekend where Max and Lewis are in the front row and Max does not enjoy a comfortable lead in the Drivers' Championship 🏆.
Some housekeeping notes: Congratulations to Dennis Hauger for winning the F3 championship and Trident for winning the team championship. The road to F1 got brighter for Hauger as rookies prepare for veterans to hang their boots.
In today’s edition:
Driver’s market
Turkish Grand Prix
Russian Grand Prix
Battle of the ages
A lot has happened, so let’s dig right in.
What’s ahead: United States Grand Prix (& regular programming returns for last 6 races)
Driver’s market
It was George Russell’s turn to get into that Mercedes F1 seat but what triggered that move was Kimi Raikkonen’s retirement. Kimi started his F1 career in 2001 alongside Alonso, went away and came back. The last few years have shown how Kimi is there because Alfa Romeo doesn’t want to show him the door. They just want him to leave on his own terms and that’s what he did.
“This is it,” Kimi wrote on Instagram. There is no driver on the grid as charismatic as Kimi. His ability to speak volumes without uttering a word will stay the legend and his racecraft is unrivalled. If you are a Kimi fan, do yourself a favor and read The Unknown Kimi Raikkonen by Kari Hotakainen.
Here’s what happened next: The whole F1 PR machinery sprung into action as Alfa Romeo announced signing Valtteri Bottas as replacement for Kimi Raikkonen. While Alfa Romeo is replacing one Finn with another Finn, Bottas is getting something that has been elusive for him at Mercedes. A 3-year contract which means Bottas will be a regular in the F1 Paddock at least until 2024. These two moves mean that every other block was supposed to be revealed.
Mercedes went ahead and revealed their worst kept secret. George Russell officially joins Mercedes as Lewis Hamilton’s teammate in 2022. Alex Albon, the reserve driver for Red Bull, will take his seat at Williams. Alpine, Aston Martin and AlphaTauri confirmed their current driver lineup for 2022. There is one missing piece in this whole kerfuffle - that second driver seat at Alfa Romeo.
Antonio seems to be doing a decent job at beating his veteran teammate but it often slips away from him. While his strong Ferrari ties have helped him hold onto that seat, he may not hold on for long. The most likely contender is Guanyu Zhou with Nick De Vries all but ruled out of contention. There is Oscar Piastri waiting while Calum Illot could be a good bet too. Fred Vasseur has said he is in no hurry to announce Bottas' teammate next year but it should become clear sooner than later. With Andretti said to be weighing his investment options, this second seat's owner could be a big surprise. Hopefully, Netflix is following along.
Here is the 2022 F1 Driver’s Lineup
Mercedes: Lewis Hamilton (#44) & George Russell (#63)
Red Bull Racing: Max Verstappen (#33) & Sergio Perez (#11)
McLaren: Lando Norris (#4) & Daniel Ricciardo (#3)
Ferrari: Charles Leclerc (#16) & Carlos Sainz (#55)
Alpine: Esteban Ocon (#31) & Fernando Alonso (#14)
Aston Martin: Lance Stroll (#18) & Sebastian Vettel (#5)
AlphaTauri: Pierre Gasly (#10) & Yuki Tsunoda (#22)
Williams: Nicholas Latifi (#6) & Alex Albon (#23)
Haas: Mick Schumacker (#47) & Nikita Mazepin (#9)
Alfa Romeo: Valtteri Bottas (#77) & [Yet to be confirmed]
Turkish Grand Prix
"The rain that never came and the track that never dried enough"
That sentiment from PETRONAS Motorsports is the perfect way to describe the 2021 Turkish Grand Prix. With last year's "feels like driving on ice" fresh in memory, most teams and drivers saw the race weekend as stepping into an unknown territory. But the water blast treatment really changed the nature of this circuit. Suddenly drivers found more grip than they expected and there was so much grip out there that Pirelli's decision to go with one step softer tyres were immediately questioned.
But this is the year when we are being treated with battle of the ages. I never saw a grand prix featuring Senna and Prost as teammates or rivals and that for me remains a remarkable battle. This battle between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen may not continue like the way Senna and Prost competed year after year but it is certainly one of the most intense battles in recent memory. If given a car with a chance to fight, Max won't yield and will push through to the very end is something abundantly clear.
Honestly this is a season that is so good that Netflix wouldn’t mind calling it scripted to near perfection. “I never gave much thought to the champagne-soaked world of Formula 1. Then I watched Drive to Survive,” as Amanda Mull points out in The Atlantic, F1 has found an audience that it would not have otherwise without Netflix. At Istanbul Park in Turkey, Netflix camera people would have left happier than some drivers and constructors.
With Lewis Hamilton leading the championship by two points, Red Bull and Max Verstappen needed to be at their sharpest. With Turkey filling in for Japan, Red Bull decided to run a one-off livery commemorating the successful Honda F1. This is the weekend where Red Bull could not fail and a lot of that depended on weather. Since Belgium, we have seen weather become a major talking point and Turkey provided a mix of dry and wet conditions.
After dry FP1 and FP2, we saw a wet FP3 while qualifying had 100% threat of rain. With Lewis Hamilton’s engine change resulting in a 10-place grid penalty, Max Verstappen needed to put himself not only ahead of one Mercedes but both the Mercedes. With the threat of rain, we saw drivers get out immediately and struggle with both grip and getting the tyres into temperature. With track evolution, Daniel Ricciardo was caught out while Mick Schumacher put in a stellar lap to make it through to Q2.
As the track continued to dry, Mercedes were getting faster and faster. All through the weekend, Lewis Hamilton was his quickest best this year. However, the highlight has to be Ferrari sending out Carlos Sainz to tow Charles Leclerc which lifted him into Q3. This is where the genius of Sir Lewis Hamilton comes into play. He came out while every driver stayed in the pits. With a clear track, Hamilton put in the fastest lap and had enough time to charge his batteries and go for pole again.
With a 10-place grid drop, Hamilton couldn’t qualify anywhere but P1 and he nailed it. Bottas did what he was expected to by putting his car in P2 and inheriting the pole. With Verstappen in P3 (net P2), it just became clear that Max would have his work cutout. Then rain played its own script. From a 40 percent chance of rain to a wet track that never dried, inters became the way to go. Staying out of first lap trouble would be in the mind of most drivers, including Lewis Hamilton.
When the lights went out, Bottas got a great start while Verstappen was able to cover Charles Leclerc. However, Pierre Gasly got sandwiched between Fernando Alonso and Sergio Perez which sent Alonso spinning and dropping way back in the grid. Pierre got a 5 seconds penalty and then Alonso found himself hitting Mick Schumacher which saw the young German go spinning. While this was happening, Lewis Hamilton was gaining places while Carlos Sainz, with penalty and starting from the back, was also making big moves.
I would say Sainz and Hamilton kept the race alive and Yuki Tsunoda’s ability to keep Hamilton at bay was commendable. The big turning point of the race came when Lewis Hamilton came to challenge Sergio Perez and almost pushed Perez into the pitlane. Checo’s ability to find the grip and then come back at Hamilton is the best racing action you will find at this race. Red Bull pitwall would have said: CRISIS AVERTED.
While this action was unfolding, one of the questions looming in that moisture was whether to pit and opt for another set of Inters or switch to slicks. Max Verstappen decided to pit and switch to new Inters and Bottas, Perez followed too. However, Charles Leclerc, Lewis Hamilton and Esteban Ocon stayed out. Let me congratulate Ocon right away for putting those Inters till the end of the race and managing to finish in the top 10.
Mercedes often fails with its strategy and at Turkish GP, they didn't fail with their strategy but the hesitation about pitting Lewis proved too costly. Time and again, this season has proved to be a nip and tuck contest and even the tiniest of mistakes (or indecision) on the track or on the pitwall can put a major dent in championship hopes of either drivers.
Red Bull were definitely weaker than Mercedes but by managing to finish P2 and P3, the bulls proved to be the real Istanbuls. With six races left in the calendar and reliability becoming a major talking point, the question really is whether Red Bull can find their mojo back or whether Mercedes can continue on its fight back.
Russian Grand Prix
How to even describe that race? Wild is just not enough. Exciting won’t do enough justice. Edge of a seat event comes close but this is probably the race that even the racing god wanted to see how it pans out. Imagine a racing fan wrote a script for a race then it might turn out to be like Russian Grand Prix 2021. It was by far one of the best races of this season. Actually, even the races that are supposed to be straightforward are becoming exciting this year.
Look at Monaco. Charles Leclerc crashed during qualifying but is still on pole. Ferrari deem that his gearbox is fine and he fails to start the race. Suddenly the person on pole won’t win and Valtteri Bottas’ wheel nut issue takes him out of contention while Lewis Hamilton is struggling down the order. This is not something a lot of people would have predicted ahead of Monaco weekend.
Russia was expected to be a straightforward race with Mercedes leading the pack. The silver arrows have been strong around Sochi since the race was added to the calendar. Valtteri Bottas, who was yet to win a race this season [he won Sprint and not the race], is sublime around Sochi. It was almost like all the stars aligned themselves for Bottas' win but then someone edited the script, in a big way.
It started with a change in conditions from dry to wet on Saturday. The third free practice was cancelled in hope of getting some running for the qualifying session. After that charade in Belgium, Masi pulled off an excellent racing decision. The qualifying started on inters but the track was dry enough to switch to slicks for the Q3 run. Huge shoutout to George Russell for calling in on that strategy spot on.
The 10 drivers in the fight for pole all switched to slicks and when Lewis Hamilton went into the pits, he hit the wall. Yes, Lewis Hamilton, who doesn't make mistakes even in the worst of situations, kissed the wall and forced his team to prepare not only his tyres but also the front wing. The mistake not only put Hamilton in a jeopardy but also made it difficult for his teammate Bottas. While Hamilton's front wing was being fixed, Bottas had to wait and thus was robbed of a chance to put in two laps.
Being there at the right time is very important. With Hamilton's mistake and Verstappen's penalty, Lando Norris seized the opportunity and took pole and thus became the 102nd driver to grab pole in F1. He was joined by Carlos Sainz and George Russell. The top three qualifiers at Russian GP can even be dubbed as the future of this sport and future of three of the biggest teams in F1.
If qualifying was the trailer then the race was an absolute film. The mix of medium starts and those starting on hard compounds and penalties were clearly the big deal. Mercedes deciding to replace Bottas' engine as a strategic move showed the stakes are high and you must pull all stops to stop your direct challenger. When the lights went out, Lando Norris was phenomenal and even managed to get away from Sainz threat. Norris didn't put a foot wrong. From start to pitstop, he was sensational and I was gutted to see him lose out during the late rain.
In hindsight, Norris should have pitted when his engineers made the call to switch to wet tyres. Lewis Hamilton, who was hunting Norris, also ignored the call initially but eventually did and came out as winner. After dropping to P7 at start, Hamilton showed why he is a 7-time world champion and what he can pull off from uncertainty. Sainz did find to come home P3 while Charles Leclerc, Fernando Alonso made a blunder with the pitstop.
Who else did excel? Max Verstappen. Yes, the guy who started plum last not only came through the field but also managed to finish P2 with a brilliant call on switch to wet tyres. As far as damage limitations are concerned, this was the maximum that Red Bull could have achieved. This year has been so exciting with events happening on and off the track that every win, every mistake, every slow pitstop and even kiss to the barrier amplifies the story.
Battle of the Ages
When Michael Schumacher was winning championships, he did not have it easy. He had Mika Häkkinen to look in the mirror and even saw fights from younger drivers at that time, namely Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen. When Sebastian Vettel won four back-to-back championships, he definitely had to be wary of his own teammate and even the likes of Fernando Alonso. For Hamilton in this turbo hybrid era, the real challenger to him has been his teammate and Nico Rosberg expertly demonstrated in 2016. But Hamilton is a master and you need to be an excellent student to beat the master.
Max Verstappen has proven that he is an excellent student several times. But for the first time, in a really long time, he has a car and the means to beat the master. At the start of this season, Verstappen was so good and Red Bull were so quick that it seemed like an easy effort but Mercedes has thrown everything including the kitchen sink at them. The pressure is so huge that Hamilton has made mistakes and Verstappen has fought battles that he could have let go. The momentum seems to be coming back to Mercedes but Red Bull's best chance in nearly 8 years to win F1 championship and that too with departing Honda as engine partner, I am pretty sure they will go lengths to make it work in their favor.
It's not just Red Bull and Mercedes fighting it out. Ferrari and McLaren have been in a battle of their own. With Mercedes powertrain, McLaren seems like the package worthy of challenging for race wins. In Norris and Ricciardo, they have drivers bringing raw energy and race winning experience as demonstrated by Honey Badger in Italy.
Ferrari, on the other hand, are emerging out from some of their worst years in the sport. They finally have two drivers who seem to be able to extract the most of the car while the PU side continues to improve the engine. The progress shown by Ferrari this year alone makes them one of the contenders for championship with new regulation coming into effect in 2022, which will feature a total of 23 races. Aston Martin trying to put themselves in the top five to Gasly making a statement in that AlphaTauri to Alpine showing they didn’t make a mistake bringing Fernando back, there is battle and stories at every moment of this season.
I want to leave you all with this thought - does winning F1 championship everything? Sure, it is the best way to show you are the best on the track but I keep remembering Juan Pablo Montoya, who never won a championship but is arguably one of the finest drivers to ever step into a F1 car. When listening to Daniel Ricciardo on F1’s Beyond The Grid podcast, I was just asking myself this question - won’t we recognize Danny Ric as a great driver, a great personality if he doesn’t win F1 title. Hit me with your thoughts in reply.
Before you go:
Thank you for reading!!!