Summary

Sprint race weekend, almost a month on from the last GP in Singapore. During that month most column inches were written on 4 main topics:-

1. Can Norris maintain his momentum to challenge Verstappen for the Drivers Championship?
2. Can McLaren seal the Constructors Championship?
3. Can Red Bull resolve its driver line-up conundrum?

The 4th major topic during October related to Red Bulls floor adjustment mechanisms' design

"F1 teams complained about an unnamed rival exploiting a way to lift the height of its T-tray. Reportedly, they found out via open-sourced FIA servers from the Singapore Grand Prix. Red Bull were the cause of concern, it emerged."

The question was 'why did Red Bull have a mechanism inside the cockpit to adjust the cars ride height'? From the start of qualifying the cars are deemed to be in parc ferme, i.e. closed to further adjustments, for everything except tyre pressures & front wing angle. The implication behind the complaints was that Red Bull were cheating by changing the car's ride height between qualifying and the race. Lowering the ride height during qualifying and raising for the race would give a considerable advantage.

There was no conclusive evidence that the adjustment feature had been used during parc ferme, so no evidence of cheating. The FIA agreed with Red Bull that an official seal would be applied at the start of future qualifying sessions to confirm no adjustments were made using the in cockpit mechanism. Story ends; except that is for queries raised by Zak Brown (head of McLaren) about the need to get senior Red Bull staff to sign a sworn affidavit ... . Watch this space perhaps.

As to the other 3 questions - a solid "No" seems to be the outcome from Austin. Verstappen was able to halt Norris' championship momentum and increase his lead by 5 points. McLaren's added 1 point to their lead in the constructors championship, but Ferrari's 1-2 means that they are now only 8 points behind Red Bull and 48 behind McLaren. Another Ferrari 1-2, which seems quite possible from their form this weekend would close those gaps by twenty or more points!

Whilst technically both championships are still open, Verstappen's performance means that barring a couple of DNFs, he will maintain his advantage to become champion.

Red Bull Line-Up

Red Bull, and their sister team RB seem to have a driver line-up conundrum: they have publicly backed their 2nd driver Perez, but he clearly continues under perform; and Red Bull are on the verge of dropping to 3rd in the constructors champ. Red Bull use RB as its driver development academy. For several years they have had Yuki Tsunoda in the RB (nee Alpha Tauri) team. Despite him being a Honda sponsored driver, Red Bull have declined to promote him to the top team.

RB dropped Daniel Ricciardo from their line up following the Singapore GP. He has been replaced by Liam Lawson, a 22 year old Kiwi who seems to have the backing of Helmut Marko . Changing drivers mid season is unusual, and Lawson's replacement of Ricciardo for the last six races of the season looks odd. Most commentators see this as an audition for the 2nd Red Bull seat in 2025. This gives an added frisson to the team mate battle at RB. [PS. Lawson finished 9th; Tsunoda 14th. First blood to Liam].

The use of Tsunoda, who is a Honda backed driver, is also thrown into doubt as Red Bull are in the process of replacing Honda engines with those of their own manufacture. The Red Bull Drive Train project is heavily supported by Honda, but for how long will their support bolster Tsunoda?

Sprint Race

Verstappen took pole position for the sprint race. He managed to lead from lights to flag. His sixth consecutive sprint race victory.

Norris started in 4th, and managed to get to up to second, but never looked a real threat to Verstappen. Norris held 2nd until he was 'mugged' on the last lap by Sainz. The race was largely processional and finishing order for the point scoring top eight was:- Verstappen, Sainz, Norris, Leclerc, Russell, Hamilton, Magnussen and Hulkenberg.

Notably missing were Perez and Piastri, who finished 9th and 10th respectively. Neither of the two leading teams drivers able to score points in the Sprint.

Both Ferrari and Mercedes seemed to show good potential; one realised and one not, in the main race.

Qualifying

Shock of qualifying1 was Hamilton's elimination. He could only finish in 19th position! His immediate request to the team following this elimination was to "start from the pit's"; his view being he'd merely get bogged down amongst the tail enders. A request which was superseded when Russell crashed in Q3 meaning he would need to start from the pits following part replacement beyond component limits.

Lawson received a 60 place penalty(!!) for multiple changes made to his car, which took the (previous Ricciardo) car outside the limits for engine, turbo, etc.. With a guarantee of starting at the back, the team decided not to run in Q2 in order to preserve his tyre allocation for the race.

Verstappen impressed throughout qualifying. Norris had an excellent lap to sit in provisional pole entering the last couple of minutes. With drivers on their last push lap, Verstappen had purple first sector when Russell went off into the wall. An immediate double yellow giving an early end to the qualifying session. This left Norris on pole with Verstappen 2nd, and the promise of great racing to come. Top ten shoot out & grid positioning:- Norris, Verstappen, Sainz, Leclerc, Piastri, Russell, Gasley, Alonso, Magnussen and Perez.

2024 Full Race

Drama from turn 1. Norris took the wide route into T1 leaving Verstappen free to perform a late dive to the inside. Never shy, Verstappen lunged inside Norris, but had to take a wide line to make the corner, Verstappen left the track, and in doing so forced Norris even wider. Leclerc took the invitation to stay on track on the inside line and took the lead. Sainz attempted the same manoeuvre, but Verstappen rejoined the track and managed to retain 2nd position, [NB leaving the track & gaining advantage not investigated by the stewards].

Reversing his sprint race start, Norris was relegated back to 4th. With 2 Ferraris and a Red Bull ahead, Norris' race strategy had to be reformed from lap 1.

Lap 3 and Hamilton leaves the track into a gravel trap. His Mercedes beached leaving him to rue a bad weekend. Mercedes still seem unable to unlock the potential of this years car on any kind of consistent basis. The beached car results in a Safety Car. Post race Hamilton said the upgrades caused the problem for George in quali and for himself in the race; car bounces & is unstable. Lewis thinks the upgrades may be withdrawn for Mexico.

Lap 23 and Sainz becomes the first of the front runners to pit for a tyre change. He's aiming to undercut Verstappen for second position. Lap 26 and Verstappen reacts with his own tyre change. He rejoins behind Sainz, dropping to an effective 3rd on track.

Lap 27 and Leclerc pits to avoid being undercut by Sainz. He rejoins ahead of Sainz, leading an effective 1-2 once the pit stops play out.

Norris commits to a one stop strategy and pits on lap 32. He rejoins 6 seconds behind Verstappen, but on hard compound tyres which are 6 laps fresher than Verstappen's. Piastri pits on lap 33 and rejoins ahead of Russell.

Norris gaining on Verstappen every lap. By lap 37 Verstappen is complaining about his hard tyres.

Lap 41 and Tsunoda spins at turn 1. His error costs him significant time, and does nothing to help his cause in the comparison with Lawson.

By lap 44 Norris has closed to within DRS range of Verstappen. This is the start of 8 laps of superb driving by both Norris and Verstappen. Max has long been acknowledge as one of the great overtaking drivers; he now proceeds to demonstrate his excellent defensive skills. Despite being in a slower car on older tyres he manages to fend of the Norris challenge. With overtaking restricted to turns 1, 4 and 12, Verstappen uses his battery power to endure he is ahead at these points and always manages to get better drive out of the corner .... until lap 52 that is. Norris attempts to go around the outside of Verstappen. Verstappen commits to late braking and goes wide, marginally leaving the track. He forces Norris to either concede the manoeuvre or drive wider. Norris takes the wider route and complete his overtake whilst outside track limits.

Rules state overtaking must be on track. Radio traffic at Red Bull and McLaren consider the options. McLaren believe Norris was ahead as they reach the corner, and as such he would have right of way. They instruct Norris to continue. Verstappen & Red Bull say "that's not allowed"; and the incident is 'under investigation' by the stewards ([ led by Derek Warwick]. Whilst the stewards investigate, Christian Horner instructs Verstappen to push to stay within 5 seconds of Norris, as a penalty to Lando would move him back in the final results. That's exactly what happens. On track Leclerc and Sainz take a Ferrari 1-2. Norris crosses the line 3rd, but only 4.1 seconds ahead of Verstappen. His 5s penalty gives Max 3rd position which reinforces his lead in the Driver Championship.

Post Race Controversy

Unsurprisingly the incident, and the stewards decision, prompted much debate post race. The rules are codified into "driver guidelines" which give the interpretation which the stewards apply. For overtaking, the guidelines state actions and penalties for overtaking. When George Russell braked late whilst diving down the inside and forcing Bottas wide, he as the driver who forced an opponent of the track was given a 5s penalty. For the over take, the guidelines are explicit.

When Verstappen made exactly the same manoeuvre in defending his position he receives no penalty!! This is because the guidelines do not specify the limit of actions for the defending driver in a competitive turning situation. What Max did was deemed legal! When Lando did the equivalent if was illegal.

Some commentators are suggesting that the FIA need to create a second Verstappen based guideline. Verstappen's 'weaving' in the braking zone led to a rule specifying defending drivers are only allowed one defensive direction change in defending a corner. Do we now need one to say "not allowed to force driver off the track whilst defending".

Conclusions

Some of the best side-by-side racing for a long time. Drivers showing its possible to go side-by-side without colliding with each other. This applies not only to the Verstappen/Norris battle but also to several midfield battles.

Leclerc drove a superb win; amply backed up with a team mate second. This success barely noticed following the Verstappen/Norris tussle.

Next Race

The season continues to promise great entertainment. The next instalment is:

Mexican GP on October 27th. Only a week away, so little time for upgrades

Hasta luego,