Month: March 2022

Max Strikes Back at Jeddah

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We stay in the Middle East for round 2 of the Formula 1 season as the teams and drivers head to the Jeddah street circuit in Saudi Arabia for the second time in the tracks history. Last years race took place less than 4 months ago at the end of a contentious title fight between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen. 

If you recall, the race was marred by CONTRAVASSY when Verstappen ran off track and then was instructed by his team to allow Lewis to pass strategically. You can hear more about last seasons drama by listening to our Drive to Survive episode recaps. Although this trip to the Jeddah circuit is at the front end of the season, there is no shortage of story lines and title implications. Let’s get to the race weekend recap.

An extraordinary situation developed immediately during the first practice session when a drone missile strike hit an Aramaco oil refinery 6 miles from the track. Verstappen radioed telling his team he smelled something burning, wondering if it was his car. The unsettled teams continue through both practice sessions then held meetings well into the night.

Team principals voted unanimously to proceed with the race weekend but the Drivers held in their meeting contemplating refusing to race. Ultimately one of the deciding factors in the ‘show going on’ was the teams would have to remain in Saudi Arabia until their scheduled flights on Monday. They were given reassurances of the Saudi Air Defense Systems instilling some level of confidence in their safety. 

Unsettled by the situation off the track, qualifying went ahead as scheduled on Saturday night. Both Nicolas Latifi and Mick Schumacher crashed in Q1 and Q2 respectively with the HAAS driver’s accident being especially violent and destructive. 

Mick was pushing hard challenging the mid-field and looked set to make his first Q3 before taking too much inside curb and throwing his car into the wall. A delay in showing Mick on-screen was worrying, as it always is, but Mick was in good spirits afterward despite his race weekend being over.

Mercedes continues to struggle with Hamilton failing to get out of Q1. Despite what some Saudi fans showed on camera, you really do hate to see it for Hamilton and Mercedes. 

Q3 was probably the most competitive qualifying session since the last Bush Administration with 4 drivers having a shot at pole. In the end, it was oft-disrespected Mexican driver Sergio Perez putting his Red Bull on top ahead of previous race winner and pole sitter Charles Leclerc by just 2 hundredths of a second. The top four were all separated by 2 tenths.

The Red Bull team had another gremlin pop up in pre-race, Yuki Tsunoda’s Alphatauri could not complete its warmup lap and would not start the race due to a drivetrain issue. For the rest of the grid it was time for lights out.

The start of the race which can be especially unnerving on a street circuit was very clean for the entire grid. Carlos Sainz did drop a position seeming to be more focused on passing his teammate than defending, Verstappen.

Gassly lost 2 spots on the opening lap while Lewis Hamilton carried on in 14th. His teammate George Russell made the first pass of the main teams getting around Esteban Ocon’s Alpine for 5th on lap 4. Alonso wasted no time attacking his team mate with some pink on pink crime. Starting lap 5 Ocon defended aggressively with a late inside block that kicked up some Saudi sand. 

The two Alpine’s dueled it out until lap 7 where Alonso went around the outside in turn 1. This continued into a 4-way battle between the Alpines, Kevin Magnussen, and Valteri Bottas. 6th-9th place were separated by 3 seconds for a couple of laps providing some early race action.

At the pointy end of the grid, Perez was settling in with a 2.5 second gap to Leclerc. The top four were evenly spaced ahead of the first round of pit stops.

On lap 15, the nerds on the pitwall and radio began to inject their influence into the race when Leclerc’s team messaged his tires were healthier than the Red Bull’s. Shortly after the message came into Leclerc, “box to overtake.”

Red Bull took the bait or decided to block Leclerc’s undercut attempt, pitting on lap 16. The Ferrari opted to stay out and go for an overcut. Unfortunately for the race leading Perez, Nicolas Latifi put his Williams into the wall for the third time in as many race weekends bringing out local yellow flags and eventually a safety car. 

Moar CONTRAVASSY when Perez hit the line at pit exit behind Sainz in 3rd but refused to let Sainz by until after the race went green again. The grid held position at the restart, George Russel got around Magnussen to reclaim 5th while his teammate Hamilton got around the lone HAAS on lap 25 for 6th who opted not to pit during the safety car thanks to selecting hard tires to start the race.

The race settled in again with Verstappen lurking behind Leclerc poised to challenge for the lead of the race. Then on lap 36 durability issues struck the grid again. Alonso’s Alpine overheated and eventually shut down while Ricciardo’s McLaren (who had been irrelevant up to this point) losing drive. Both cars would stall out in the pit entry lane closing the pits throwing a SPANNER (I think that’s British for wrench?) Into Lewis Hamilton’s strategy being unable to pit. 

With the virtual safety car being deployed, the gaps between the lead cars remained more or less the same. The race would restart on lap 40 setting up a 10-lap sprint to victory lane. Let’s go racing!

Max made his intentions known early threatening Charles on the first lap after the restart. Charles set-up Max for the galaxy brain move of letting Max by ahead of the DRS detection zone while working lap 42 and was able to retake the lead in turn 1 on lap 43. Cheeky lad that Charles! (British for.. clever and boy or boi to the zoomers).

The battle continued relentlessly as the pair played lava monster with the DRS detection line on the next lap. Max flat spotted his tires some trying to avoid being ahead of Charles at the line in what was a bizarre act of race-craft.

The flat-spot would not hinder Max for long who took the lead on lap 47 heading into T1. Now it was Charles’ turn in the game of cat and other cat. 

Approaching the penultimate lap yellow flags were out in turn 1 for debris thanks to an ill-fated lunge by Alex Albon’s Williams on Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin. This prevented Charles from attempting a pass who was very much in striking range. 

Max was able to hold of Charles to the line and take a well-fought win in Saudi Arabia, the first in his title defense. Sainz took 3rd with Perez 4th. 

Next up on the calendar the F1 circus travels to Melbourne for the Australian Grand Prix on a revised circuit that should provide more passing opportunities. The battles will resume in two weeks with race day landing on April 9th locally. It will be a late night and early Sunday morning for us in the US making adult beverages a mandatory race staple. 

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Saudi Arabia Draft Kings: Don’t sleep on Sergio Perez

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Saudi Arabia GP

I cannot believe I am writing about Formula 1 DFS, but here we are. It’s an exciting time to be an F1 fan. With more and more game and gambling options we are entering a new era of racing. Let’s get to it.

Looking at the pricing and starting grid, the driver I see that will give an edge over the field is rostering Sergio Perez in the Captain spot. Perez somewhat shocked the paddock by snatching pole ahead of the two Ferrari drivers on Saturday and now is providing a pricing and ownership discount for someone starting from P1. And the Saudi Arabia track is a street circuit, where passing could be a bit more challenging. We have seen Perez have success at street circuits before, his win at Baku last year most notably. 

Being only the second race at Jeddah, we do not have a large sample size to predict how the race might unfold. We can look at tracks with similar traits. Jeddah is a sneaky fast track that should favor cars with an engine advantage, which points to Ferrari having a good race. However, I feel their perceived advantage is being overstated. 

Two seasons ago at the one-off event in Bahrain, Perez won the Sakhir GP in a Racing Point (now Aston Martin). The track layout at the Sakhir GP in 2020 produced what was essentially a drag race. A drag race that Perez one despite being dead last after the first lap. 

Perez is not the best driver on the grid. He may not have the best car and his teammate is consistently ahead of him on the track, but his pricing and P1 advantage is too good to pass up. If he gets through the first lap, Perez will be running in clean air and will have the best shot in the field of keeping his nose clean in what could be a chaotic race. 

Another driver I am targeting over the field is George Russell. He starts well ahead of Lewis Hamilton who has been off the pace this weekend and should have the 5 points for finishing ahead of a teammate locked in. I find it hard to believe the Mercedes is entirely uncompetitive against the Red Bulls and Ferrari’s, we could see Russell sneaking onto the podium if things get scrappy up front. 

Two teams I am fading are Alphatauri and McLaren. Both teams have had significant issues and with no break in the calendar from last weeks season opener it is unlikely the teams have been able to make any significant upgrades or modifications. 

Of course there are a lot of variables at play, new tires, new aero, new fuel. It is all contributing to a blurry picture of power structure on the grid. Hopefully, this is where those who are not new to F1 can exploit their edge. 

Good luck this weekend! Let’s get this pumpernickel!

Ferrari and the Tifosi Dance Again in Bahrain

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The F1 season opened this season at Bahrain marking the 3rd time the track has hosted the first race on the calendar. Teams were eager to go racing with their new equipment and see how they faired in F1’s new hierarchy. 

The race weekend started after a week of testing where traditional heavyweights Mercedes were adamant they were struggling to keep pace with their rivals at Red Bull (sus’). Meanwhile, Ferrari, HAAS, and Alfa Romeo all appeared to take a step up compared to the teams they were competing against last season leaving us wondering could the grid dynamics we saw last season have a significant reshuffle? Oh the suspense!

Red Bull appeared to have the upper hand leading 2/3 practice with their sister car at Alpha Tauri leading the other. Ferrari was consistently next best ahead of Mercedes. HAAS surprisingly, also appeared well ahead of McLaren, Alpine, and Aston Martin heading into qualifying. The reveal.

All the bluster and bullshit would finally be set aside and we get the first true competitive action to see who’s hard work would pay off on track. 4 cars who had enjoyed the luxury of running a Mercedes engines in previous did not make it out of Q1, including Daniel Ricciardo’s McLaren. 

The shootout for pole in Q3 held mostly familiar faces with Kevin Magnussen’s HAAS being the big surprise, he managed to qualify 7th ahead of George Russel’s Mercedes (9th) and former Champion Fernando Alonsos Alpine in 8th. Leclerc and Verstappen emerged as the two in contention for pole, in the end it would be the Ferrari driver claiming top spot on the grid ahead of the reigning champion by 1/10th of a second.

Finally, we arrive to race day where even more questions would be answered. Is Ferrari truly back? Can they sustain a full race at the front of the field or will bad luck and a lack of consistency for a full grand prix strike them again? Will Hamilton and Mercedes find their pace on race day? Is the HAAS really going to do this and take points in race 1?

Lights out and the 2022 F1 season is underway! The two Ferrari’s and Verstappen got away with Sergio Perez who started in fourth losing positions. Valteri Bottas’ who started 6th in his Alfa Romeo dropped 8 spots on the first lap.

It only took until lap 4 and the Champion Verstappen was raising the alarm his Red Bull may be hobbled suggesting the engine braking of the Red Bull badged Honda power unit, was.. strange. Hamilton opted to pit somewhat early on lap 12 taking hard tires in what may have been a 1-stop option. The leading pair Leclerc and Max, pit on laps 15 and 16 respectively.

Leclerc ceded 2 seconds back to Max in the first pit cycle putting Verstappen in DRS range. Going in to turn 1 on lap 17, Max made his move diving down the inside. Leclerc kept his cool and got a good drive out of turns 2-3 and made a bold pass on the outside into turn 4 to retake the lead. 

Max used DRS advantage again in turn 1 on lap 18 overtaking the Ferrari from further back, but Leclerc was able to again retake the lead in turn 4 this time making his move on the inside of Verstappen. A more desperate Max tried for the 3rd time to pass Charles on lap 19 in turn 1, this time he could not make the move stick and locked up his inside tire. The champion Verstappen would settle in behind Charles for the time being.

The rest of the field saw no significant movement. Bottas began to regain positions he lost on opening laps while both McLaren’s were notably struggling toward the back of the grid. Sergio Perez held fastest lap at mid-race distance with an outside change of leap-frogging Sainz in 3rd if he could make his tires last.

Medium tires became the clear optimum tire selection when the Hards offered no clear durability advantage and the softs degrading quickly. Both Mercedes cars switched off the hards by lap 32 and Sainz in third was questioning a 3-stop strategy due to the degradation of his mediums.

The pair of contenders at the front pit on laps 31 and 32. When Leclerc narrowly emerging from his pitstop ahead of Max Verstappen, the champion radioed to his team he felt he could have taken the lead if the team would have permitted him to push on his out-lap and vowed to “never again,” take it easy on his outlaps.

Both Red Bulls pit on lap 44 to change to a 3-stop strategy, immediately Max reported issues with his power steering. Sainz mirrored the Red Bulls and dove in on lap 45.

A proverbial wrench was thrown into the the procession to the checkered flag reared its head in the form of a flaming Frenchman’s Alpha Tauri. Pierre Gasly pulled his Red Bull engined car to the side of the track on lap 46. Leclerc was successfully able to rejoin in the lead as the safety car was deployed, and George Russell gained 3 positions up to 6th thanks to a cheap pit stop setting up a 7-lap race to the end on fresh rubber.

Max nearly played himself out of 2nd spot on the restart by trying to intimidate Leclerc into getting back on the throttle early. A frantic Verstappen begins complaining of battery issues on lap 54, before immediately falling through the gird, he would not make it to lap 55 having to retire his car. 

His teammate suffered the same fate on the final lap of the race when his engine seized suggesting Red Bull may have significant reliability issues with their 2022 challenger. Charles Leclerc took the checkered flag ahead of his teammate and the tifosi rejoiced celebrating their first win in 46 races ending their longest drought ever with a 1-2 at Bahrain with Hamilton taking 3rd. 

5 out of 6 Ferrari engined cars finished in the points, Magnussen took 5th and newcomer Zhou Guanyu points in his first F1 Grand Prix.