2024 Formula 1 Season
Contents
2023-03-02 Bahrain Grand Prix
Track Info
- Bahrain International Circuit
- 3.36 miles
Tire Info
- C3, C2, C1
- Hardest in the range
Qualifying
Q1
- Windy conditions could unsettle the cars
- Track is cold — might lead to tire warmup issues
- Ferrari are the first out of the garages, on medium (C2) tires
- Alpine also go out on medium tires
- After the first set of fast laps, Carlos Sainz has gone fastest overall, with Max Verstappen second
- Lando Norris is 3rd fastest
- Lewis Hamilton and George Russell are both fairly far down, in 12th and 7th respectively
- Hamilton's Mercedes was sparking a lot the end of the main straight
- Eliminated in Q1
- Valteri Bottas — Sauber
- Zhou Guanyu — Sauber
- Logan Sargeant — Williams
- Esteban Ocon — Alpine
- Pierre Gasly — Alpine
- Awful qualifying for Alpine
- Mercedes don't look all that hot either, with Russell finishing Q1 in 8th and Lewis Hamilton in 10th
Q2
- McLarens go out on used soft tires
- Kevin Magnussen has his first lap time deleted for exceeding track limits
- Verstappen goes 0.5 seconds than Perez, even though they both went out on new tires
- LeClerc goes fastest overall in Q2
- Mercedes still look like they're a bit off the pace, with Hamilton going 4th and Russell going 7th
- Nico Hulkenberg has a great lap, and gets into Q3
- Eliminated in Q2
- Yuki Tsunoda — RB
- Lance Stroll — Aston Martin
- Alex Albon — Williams
- Daniel Ricciardo — RB
- Kevin Magnussen — Haas
Q3
- LeClerc looks quite fast, even though he's on used tires
- Fernando Alonso goes out for a single lap, and goes 3rd fastest
- Final top 10 qualifying order
- Max Verstappen — Red Bull
- Charles LeClerc — Ferrari
- George Russell — Mercedes
- Carlos Sainz — Ferrari
- Sergio Perez — Red Bull
- Fernando Alonso — Aston Martin
- Lando Norris — McLaren
- Oscar Piastri — McLaren
- Lewis Hamilton — Mercedes
- Nico Hulkenberg — Haas
Race
Starting Grid
- Max Verstappen — Red Bull
- Charles LeClerc — Ferrari
- George Russell — Mercedes
- Carlos Sainz — Ferrari
- Sergio Perez — Red Bull
- Fernando Alonso — Aston Martin
- Lando Norris — McLaren
- Oscar Piastri — McLaren
- Lewis Hamilton — Mercedes
- Nico Hulkenberg — Haas
- Yuki Tsunoda — RB
- Lance Stroll — Aston Martin
- Alex Albon — Williams
- Daniel Ricciardo — RB
- Kevin Magnussen — Haas
- Valteri Bottas — Sauber
- Zhou Guanyu — Sauber
- Logan Sargeant — Williams
- Esteban Ocon — Alpine
- Pierre Gasly — Alpine
- 57 laps
- DRS now available after lap 1, instead of after lap 3 in previous seasons
- All cars starting on soft tires
- 2 stops expected
- Lap 1
- LeClerc challenges Verstappen into turn 1 but isn't able to overtake
- Lance Stroll spins and falls into last place after a possible collision with Nico Hulkenberg
- Nico Hulkenberg reports front wing damage
- Sergio Perez passes Carlos Sainz for 4th
- Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly have moved up into 16th and 17th respectively
- Lap 2 — Nico Hulkenberg comes into the pits for a front wing change, and goes back out on hard tires
- Verstappen has pulled out of DRS range of Charles LeClerc
- Lap 3
- Lando Norris passes Fernando Alonso for 6th
- George Russell passes Charles LeClerc for 2nd
- Lap 5 — Piastri passes Alonso for 7th
- Lap 7 — Perez passes LeClerc for 3rd
- LeClerc is having trouble with lock-ups
- Lap 10
- Hamilton passes Alonso for 8th
- Logan Sargeant has gone off, but is able to recover and continue
- Lap 11 — Sainz has a good overtake on LeClerc to take 4th (that was a proper overtake, not team orders)
- Lap 12
- LeClerc pits from 5th, goes onto hard tires, and comes out in 14th
- Russell pits from 2nd, goes onto hard tires, and comes out in 12th
- Lap 13
- Sergio Perez pits from 3rd, goes onto hard tires, and comes out in 9th
- Lewis Hamilton pits from 6th, goes onto hard tires, and comes out in 12th
- Oscar Piastri pits from 5th, goes onto hard tires, and comes out in 11th
- Notably, George Russell has managed to hold a lead over Perez through the first round of pit stops
- Lap 14
- Russell passes Ricciardo for 7th
- Norris pits from 3rd, goes onto hard tires, and comes out in 9th, just ahead of Piastri
- Perez passes Russell for 6th
- Sainz pits from 2nd, goes onto hard tires, and comes out in 7th, just behind Charles LeClerc
- LeClerc regains the place that he lost to Sainz after the first round of pit stops
- Lap 15 — Lewis Hamilton on the radio saying his battery system isn't charging
- Lap 16
- Fernando Alonso pits from 2nd, goes onto hard tires and comes out in 10th
- Zhou Guanyu has made it up into 9th, after the first round of pit stops
- Lap 17 — Sainz re-passes LeClerc for 4th
- Lap 18
- Verstappen pits and retains the lead
- Sainz passes Russell for 3rd
- LeClerc is saying he's having brake issues — car is pulling right while braking
- Russell is complaining about overheating problems — might have a power unit issue as well
- Mercedes says that Hamilton's battery is fine; he just needs to back off and charge it more
- Russell is managing an engine issue
- Lap 23 — Both Mercedes told to lift and coast in order to prevent overheating
- Lap 25 — Hamilton reporting that his seat is broken
- Lap 32
- Valteri Bottas has a very problematic pit stop — wheel nut issues cause a 52s pit stop
- George Russell pits from 4th, goes onto a fresh set of hard tires, and comes out in 9th, behind Alonso
- Lap 34
- Lando Norris pits from 5th, goes onto new hard tires and comes out in 8th, behind Alonso
- Lewis Hamilton pits from 7th, goes onto new hard tires and comes out in 9th, behind Norris
- George Russell passes Fernando Alonso for 6th
- Lap 35
- LeClerc pits from 4th, goes onto new hard tires, and comes out in 6th, behind Alonso
- Piastri pits from 5th, goes onto new hard tires, and comes out in 9th, just behind Hamilton
- Piastri lost a place to Hamilton through the second round of pit stops
- Lap 36
- Carlos Sainz pits from 3rd, goes onto new hard tires, and retains 3rd
- LeClerc passes Alonso for 5th
- Lap 37
- Lando Norris passes Fernando Alonso for 7th
- Sergio Perez pits from 2nd, goes onto soft tires, and retains 2nd
- Perez started the race on soft tires, and had to change them after 13 laps
- There are 20 laps left in the race
- However the car is lighter, now that it's burned off most of its fuel
- Verstappen pits at the end of the lap, goes onto new soft tires, and keeps the lead
- Lap 39 — Hamilton passes Alonso for 7th
- Lap 40 — Piastri passes Alonso for 8th
- Lap 42 — Alonso pits from 9th, goes onto new hard tires, and comes out in 11th behind Zhou Guanyu
- Lap 44 — Alonso passes Zhou for 10th
- Lap 46 — Russell locks up and goes wide into turn 10, allowing LeClerc to pass him going into turn 11
- Tsunoda and Ricciardo are not happy with how the place swap at the end was conducted
- Kind of a boring race — Verstappen won by a comfortable margin again
- Didn't seem like anyone could challenge Red Bull
- Surprised to see Alpine performing so poorly — if it hadn't been for Logan Sargeant's lock-up and Bottas' extremely slow pit stop, they'd have been dead last
Results
- Max Verstappen — Red Bull
- Sergio Perez — Red Bull
- Carlos Sainz — Ferrari
- Charles LeClerc — Ferrari
- George Russell — Mercedes
- Lando Norris — McLaren
- Lewis Hamilton — Mercedes
- Oscar Piastri — McLaren
- Fernando Alonso — Aston Martin
- Lance Stroll — Aston Martin
- Zhou Guanyu — Sauber
- Kevin Magnussen — Haas
- Daniel Ricciardo — RB
- Yuki Tsunoda — RB
- Alex Albon — Williams
- Nico Hulkenberg — Haas
- Esteban Ocon — Alpine
- Pierre Gasly — Alpine
- Valteri Bottas — Sauber
- Logan Sargeant — Williams
2024-03-09 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix
Track Info
- Jeddah Corniche
- 3.84 miles
Tire Info
- C4, C3, C2
- One step softer than at Bahrain
Qualifying
Q1
- Carlos Sainz is out for this race because of appendicitis surgery
- Ollie Bearman, Ferrari's reserve driver, is substituting
- Much less wind than in Bahrain
- Zhou Guanyu had a big accident in free practice, and he might be missing qualifying if his car cannot be repaired in time for him to set a lap in Q1
- Lewis Hamilton and George Russell set their first fast laps on medium tires
- Alonso sets a pretty fast time in the first set of laps
- Logan Sargeant might have been impeding Nico Hulkenberg
- Oscar Piastri glances the wall on his second lap, but that doesn't stop him from going fastest overall
- Aston Martin don't seem to be struggling as much here as they did in Bahrain
- Hamilton and Russell go back out on soft tires, as others have improved and the time they set on medium tires is no longer a sure bet to get them into Q2
- Hamilton is 9th fastest on his second attempt
- Russell is 4th fastest
- Zhou Guanyu made it out of the pits, but wasn't able to start his fast lap before qualifying ended
- Eliminated in Q1
- Valteri Bottas — Sauber
- Esteban Ocon — Alpine
- Pierre Gasly — Alpine
- Logan Sargeant — Williams
- Zhou Guanyu — Sauber
Q2
- Nico Hulkenberg pulls over and stops — says he's lost power
- Sector 1 has a yellow flag while Hulkenberg's car is cleared
- Session is red-flagged because Hulkenberg can't restart his car, 10:58 remains
- Red flag was pretty short, because Hulkenberg had managed to pull over before his car stopped, so it didn't take too long to clear his car from the track
- Alonso has a great first lap, places second, only 0.044 seconds behind Verstappen
- LeClerc goes third fastest, but he's on used tires
- Norris and Piastri set virtually identical times, and are 4th and 5th, respectively
- Yuki Tsunoda goes faster by almost half a second over Daniel Ricciardo
- Eliminated in Q2
- Ollie Bearman — Ferrari
- Alex Albon — Williams
- Kevin Magnussen — Haas
- Daniel Ricciardo — RB
- Nico Hulkenberg — Haas
Q3
- Verstappen and Perez are first and second after the first set of fast laps, with Alonso 3rd
- LeClerc can only manage 4th after he has a snap of oversteer in the final corner
- LeClerc's second lap is much better, and puts him in 2nd
- Mercedes have, just like this time last year, been outqualified by both of their customer teams
- Final top 10 qualifying order
- Max Verstappen — Red Bull
- Charles LeClerc — Ferrari
- Sergio Perez — Red Bull
- Fernando Alonso — Aston Martin
- Oscar Piastri — McLaren
- Lando Norris — McLaren
- George Russell — Mercedes
- Lewis Hamilton — Mercedes
- Yuki Tsunoda — RB
- Lance Stroll — Aston Martin
Race
Starting Grid
- Max Verstappen — Red Bull
- Charles LeClerc — Ferrari
- Sergio Perez — Red Bull
- Fernando Alonso — Aston Martin
- Oscar Piastri — McLaren
- Lando Norris — McLaren
- George Russell — Mercedes
- Lewis Hamilton — Mercedes
- Yuki Tsunoda — RB
- Lance Stroll — Aston Martin
- Ollie Bearman — Ferrari
- Alex Albon — Williams
- Kevin Magnussen — Haas
- Daniel Ricciardo — RB
- Nico Hulkenberg — Haas
- Valteri Bottas — Sauber
- Esteban Ocon — Alpine
- Pierre Gasly — Alpine
- Logan Sargeant — Williams
- Zhou Guanyu — Sauber
- 50 laps
- All cars starting on medium tires save for Ollie Bearman (Ferrari) and Valteri Bottas (Sauber)
- Pierre Gasly complaining of gearbox problems on the formation lap but is able to make it to his grid box for the start
- Lap 1
- Seems like a clean start for everyone
- LeClerc has a poor start and Perez is immediately fighting him for P2
- Pierre Gasly pulls into the pits and retires with mechanical issues
- Lap 2
- Piastri passes Alonso for 4th
- Yuki Tsunoda, Lance Stroll and Ollie Bearman are fighting for P9, P10 and P11
- Stroll passes Tsunoda for 9th
- Bearman is all over the back of Tsunoda
- Lap 4 — Perez passes LeClerc for 2nd (the DRS is so effective on the Red Bull)
- Lap 6
- Lance Stroll has a big lock-up and crashes!
- Clipped the wall, which broke his front suspension, leading him to crash on the following corner
- Safety car deployed
- Lap 7
- Lots of pit stops under the safety car
- Verstappen
- Perez
- Alonso
- LeClerc
- Bearman
- Russell
- Tsunoda
- All pit for hard tires
- The only two drivers in the top-10 who've stayed out are Hamilton and Norris
- Norris is leading, Verstappen in 2nd and Hamilton in 3rd
- Red Bull's pit crew were top notch, as usual, and Red Bull managed to change the tires on both its cars in the same lap
- The only cars which did not pit on lap 7-8 were
- Lando Norris (leading)
- Lewis Hamilton (3rd)
- Nico Hulkenberg (8th)
- Zhou Guanyu (10th)
- Lap 9 — Safety car ends
- Lap 10
- Race resumes
- Ollie Bearman passes Yuki Tsunoda for 11th
- Alex Albon makes contact with Kevin Magnussen and takes front wing damage
- Lap 13
- Verstappen passes Norris for the lead
- Perez passes Hamilton for 3rd
- Lap 14 — Bearman passes Zhou for 10th
- Lap 15 — LeClerc passes Hamilton for 4th
- Sergio Perez gets a 5 second penalty for an unsafe release
- Kevin Magnussen gets a 10 second penalty for causing a collision with Alex Albon
- Lap 17 — Piastri is battling Hamilton for 5th
- Lap 18 — Perez passes Norris for 2nd
- Lap 21 — Bearman passes Hulkenberg for 9th (beautiful pass)
- Lap 22 — Good defending by Hamilton against Piastri, as he holds on to 5th
- Kevin Magnussen assessed another 10 second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage
- Lap 27 — LeClerc passes Norris for 3rd
- Kevin Magnussen is doing a good job of holding up the cars behind him to allow his teammate to hold Nico Hulkenberg
- Lap 33 — Good pass by Alex Albon on Yuki Tsunoda for 14th
- Lap 34
- Nico Hulkenberg pits from 10th, goes onto hard tires and comes out in 11th, behind Zhou Guanyu
- However Zhou still has to pit, so Hulkenberg still has net 10th
- Lap 35 — Piastri passes Hamilton, but goes off track and has to give the place back
- Lap 37 — Hamilton pits from 5th, puts on soft tires, and comes out in 9th behind Bearman
- Lap 38 — Norris pits from 4th, puts on soft tires and comes out in 8th, behind Bearman, and crucially ahead of Hamilton
- Lap 42 — Zhou Guanyu pits from 10th, allowing Hulkenberg to move up into to the points
- Zhou Guanyu's car has a problem with the wheel nuts, just like Valteri Bottas' car last race
- Bearman manages to hold on to 7th on his debut race in F1
Results
- Max Verstappen — Red Bull
- Sergio Perez — Red Bull
- Charles LeClerc — Ferrari
- Oscar Piastri — McLaren
- Fernando Alonso — Aston Martin
- George Russell — Mercedes
- Ollie Bearman — Ferrari
- Lando Norris — McLaren
- Lewis Hamilton — Mercedes
- Nico Hulkenberg — Haas
- Alex Albon — Williams
- Kevin Magnussen — Haas
- Esteban Ocon — Alpine
- Logan Sargeant — Williams
- Yuki Tsunoda — RB
- Daniel Ricciardo — RB
- Valteri Bottas — Sauber
- Zhou Guanyu — Sauber
- Lance Stroll — Aston Martin (DNF)
- Pierre Gasly — Alpine (DNF)
2024-03-24 Australian Grand Prix
Track Info
Tire Info
- C3, C4, C5
- Softest in the range
Qualifying
Q1
- Tire temperature management has been a problem in free practice
- Logan Sargeant will not be participating in qualifying or the race, because Alex Albon crashed during qualifying and Williams didn't bring a spare chassis
- That is extremely harsh for Logan and signals that he'll probably be out at the end of the season
- Track is dusty and slippery, which catches Alex Albon out on his first lap
- Track evolution is likely to be a factor
- The Ferraris look fast, with Charles LeClerc going fastest and Carlos Sainz going 2nd in the first set of fast laps
- Esteban Ocon brushes the tire barrier on his first fast lap and picks up a puncture. However he is able to return to the pits
- McLarens look quite quick as well, with Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris going 3rd and 4th, respectively on their 2nd fast laps
- Fernando Alonso goes fastest overall after his first fast lap, and surprisingly, Max Verstappen can't beat his time, ending up 2nd
- Carlos Sainz goes fastest in his 2nd lap, and this time LeClerc can't beat him
- Daniel Ricciardo loses his fast lap for a track limits violation, dropping him into the elimination zone
- Eliminated in Q1
- Nico Hulkenberg — Haas
- Pierre Gasly — Alpine
- Daniel Ricciardo — RB
- Zhou Guanyu — Sauber
- Logan Sargeant — Williams
Q2
- Many cars going out on used tires
- Verstappen goes fastest after the first set of fast laps
- Oscar Piastri goes 2nd fastest on his first attempt in Q2
- Carlos Sainz goes fastest on his 2nd lap
- Yuki Tsunoda delivers an impressive final qualifying lap to get himself into Q3
- It's looking worse and worse for Daniel Ricciardo
- Lance Stroll, who looked to be eliminated also does a good job at the very end to get himself into Q3, knocking Lewis Hamilton out in the process
- It's kind of shocking to see Hamilton out in Q2 in Australia — normally he does quite well on this track
- From the replay, it looks like the Mercedes was very unstable — Hamilton was having to make a lot of corrections
- Eliminated in Q2
- Lewis Hamilton — Mercedes
- Alex Albon — Williams
- Valteri Bottas — Sauber
- Kevin Magnussen — Haas
- Esteban Ocon — Alpine
Q3
- Carlos Sainz puts in a quick lap, but Verstappen is still faster
- Fernando Alonso goes into the gravel on his first fast lap, but avoids crashing and manages to make it back to the pits
- Sainz and Verstappen are very closely matched on their second laps
- Sergio Perez has been doing a good job of making the case for why he should be allowed to continue at Red Bull next year
- Big contrast with Perez's performance from last year, where he crashed in Q1
- Final top 10 qualifying order
- Max Verstappen — Red Bull
- Carlos Sainz — Ferrari
- Sergio Perez — Red Bull
- Lando Norris — McLaren
- Charles LeClerc — Ferrari
- Oscar Piastri — McLaren
- George Russell — Mercedes
- Yuki Tsunoda — RB
- Lance Stroll — Aston Martin
- Fernando Alonso — Aston Martin
Race
Starting Grid
- Max Verstappen — Red Bull
- Carlos Sainz — Ferrari
- Lando Norris — McLaren
- Charles LeClerc — Ferrari
- Oscar Piastri — McLaren
- Sergio Perez — Red Bull (3-place grid penalty for impeding Nico Hulkenberg in qualifying)
- George Russell — Mercedes
- Yuki Tsunoda — RB
- Lance Stroll — Aston Martin
- Fernando Alonso — Aston Martin
- Lewis Hamilton — Mercedes
- Alex Albon — Williams
- Valteri Bottas — Sauber
- Kevin Magnussen — Haas
- Esteban Ocon — Alpine
- Nico Hulkenberg — Haas
- Pierre Gasly — Alpine
- Daniel Ricciardo — RB
- Zhou Guanyu — Sauber (pit lane start for a front-wing replacement)
- 58 laps
- Track temperatures are high
- Most cars are starting on medium tires
- One prominent exception is Lewis Hamilton who is starting on softs
- Fernando Alonso is starting on hards
- A two-stop strategy is expected, with the tire choices being medium - hard - hard for most
- Don't know what Mercedes is planning for Hamilton
- Lap 1
- Clean start
- Sainz attacks Verstappen into turn 1, but Verstappen manages to retain the lead
- George Russell passes Sergio Perez for 6th
- Hamilton passes Alonso, using the greater grip from the soft compound tires against the hards that Alonso is running
- Lance Stroll passes Yuki Tsunoda for 8th
- Lap 2
- Stroll is challenging Perez for 7th
- Sainz passes Verstappen for the lead
- Verstappen had a slide in turn 7-8 which allowed Sainz to get the jump on him
- Lap 4 — Verstappen's Red Bull is giving off a lot of smoke
- Lap 5
- Verstappen reports a fire and pulls into the pits to retire the car
- Looks like a brake fire on the right rear wheel
- Lap 8 — Lewis Hamilton pits from 9th, goes onto hard tires, and comes out in 14th
- Lap 9 — George Russell pits from 5th, goes onto hard tires, and comes out 11th, behind Pierre Gasly
- Valteri Bottas has another wheel nut issue leading to a long pit stop
- Lap 10
- Charles LeClerc pits from 3rd, switches to hard tires, and comes out in 7th, behind Gasly
- Oscar Piastri pits from 4th, switches to hard tires and comes out in 8th, behind LeClerc
- Both LeClerc and Piastri retain their lead over Russell in the first round of pit stops
- Lap 11 — LeClerc passes Gasly for 6th
- Lap 12
- Piastri passes Gasly for 7th
- LeClerc passes Hulkenberg for 5th
- Piastri passes Hulkenberg for 6th
- LeClerc and Piastri are making their way backup to their original spots
- Lap 15
- Norris pits from 2nd, goes onto hard tires, comes out in 5th, behind Piastri
- Perez pits from 3rd, goes onto hard tires, comes out in 10th, behind Stroll
- How did Perez end up so many places behind Norris, when they came in at basically the same time?
- Lap 16
- Russell passes Gasly for 7th
- Sainz pits from the lead, goes onto hard tires, and comes out in 2nd, behind Alonso
- Lap 17
- Hamilton has an engine failure, and a VSC is declared to allow marshals to clear his car from the track
- Alonso gets a cheap pit stop under the VSC, goes onto medium tires (because he started on the hards) and comes out in 5th, behind Norris
- Lap 18
- VSC ends
- Perez passes Stroll for 7th
- Lap 21 — Perez passes Russell for 6th
- That was an easy pass
- Lap 26 — Good battle between Alex Albon and Nico Hulkenberg for 10th
- Lap 27 — Perez passes Alonso for 5th
- Lap 29 — Norris passes Piastri under team orders
- Norris has tires that are six laps younger than Piastri, so McLaren don't want Norris to lose that advantage being stuck behind Piastri who is having to manage his tires more than Norris
- Lap 35 — Charles LeClerc pits from 2nd, goes onto a fresh set of hard tires, and comes back out in 4th, ahead of Perez
- Lap 36 — Perez pits from 5th, goes onto a fresh set of hard tires and comes back out in 9th, behind Yuki Tsunoda
- Lap 40 — Piastri pits from 3rd, goes onto new hard tires, and comes back out in 5th, behind Alonso
- Lap 41
- Lando Norris pits from 2nd, goes onto new hard tires and comes back out in 3rd, behind Charles LeClerc
- Carlos Sainz pits from the lead, goes onto new hard tires and retains the lead
- Lap 42
- Piastri passes Alonso for 4th
- Alonso pits from 5th, goes onto hard tires, and comes back out in 7th, behind Sergio Perez
- Lap 46 — George Russell pits from 6th, goes onto a new set of hard tires and comes back out in 7th just behind Fernando Alonso
- Lap 54 — George Russell has caught up to within DRS range of Fernando Alonso
- Alonso has done a really good job of defending 6th place
- Lap 57
- George Russell has a big crash!
- VSC declared
- Race ends under VSC
- Double DNF for Mercedes, and another race where Mercedes looked to be behind its own customers
- Cinderella result for Sainz, who comes back from surgery to win a race
- I wonder if Piastri would have been able to hold onto 3rd — would have been nice to see him on the podium at his home race
- Alonso picks up a 20s penalty for dangerous driving because he was found to have brake-tested George Russell and was held responsible for the crash
Results
- Carlos Sainz — Ferrari
- Charles LeClerc — Ferrari
- Lando Norris — McLaren
- Oscar Piastri — McLaren
- Sergio Perez — Red Bull
- Lance Stroll — Aston Martin
- Yuki Tsunoda — RB
- Fernando Alonso — Aston Martin (+20s penalty for potentially dangerous driving)
- Nico Hulkenberg — Haas
- Kevin Magnussen — Haas
- Alex Albon — Williams
- Daniel Ricciardo — RB
- Pierre Gasly — Alpine
- Valteri Bottas — Sauber
- Zhou Guanyu — Sauber
- Esteban Ocon — Alpine
- George Russell — Mercedes (DNF)
- Lewis Hamilton — Mercedes (DNF)
- Max Verstappen — Red Bull (DNF)
- Logan Sargeant — Williams (DNS)
2024-04-07 Japanese Grand Prix
Track Info
Tire Info
- C3, C2, C1
- Hardest in the range
Qualifying
Q1
- Tire wear likely to be an issue
- Suzuka is such a fun track to view from the onboard cameras
- Verstappen is very fast — 0.4s faster than Perez
- Ferrari don't look very fast — LeClerc is almost a full second behind Verstappen's time after the first fast lap,
- Hamilton and Russell both out-qualify LeClerc, with Hamilton leading Russell
- Alonso goes second fastest on his first qualifying lap
- Piastri was pretty quick too, qualifying ahead of both Mercedes and both Ferraris
- Norris has a bit of a drift in turn 16; first lap is good for 6th overall
- Lots of drivers having issues with rear-end instability, especially towards the end of the lap
- LeClerc is 4th on his second run
- Lots of drivers improve on their second laps, notably Valteri Bottas who places 8th on his second lap
- Eliminated in Q1
- Lance Stroll — Aston Martin
- Pierre Gasly — Alpine
- Kevin Magnussen — Haas
- Logan Sargeant — Williams
- Zhou Guanyu — Sauber
- Very surprising to see Lance Stroll out in Q1, when Fernando Alonso was 2nd fastest in Q1
- Daniel Ricciardo is ahead of Yuki Tsunoda thus far
Q2
- Perez's first lap in Q2 is very close to Verstappen's, but Verstappen is still ahead
- Alonso goes third fastest (another pretty impressive lap from the Aston Martin)
- Hamilton is qualifying ahead of Russell once again, but both Mercedes are on used tires, and so place around 6th
- Sainz places ahead of LeClerc after LeClerc makes a small mistake in the final chicane
- Neither Mercedes nor Ferrari look all that impressive here; perhaps this could be Aston Martin or McLaren's time to shine
- Lewis Hamilton goes 3rd on his 2nd lap, placing ahead of both Norris and Alonso
- Russell goes 7th, but he was on used tires
- Tsunoda outqualifies Daniel Ricciardo in 10th — pushes Ricciardo out of Q3
- Eliminated in Q2
- Daniel Ricciardo — RB
- Nico Hulkenberg — Haas
- Valteri Bottas — Sauber
- Alex Albon — Williams
- Esteban Ocon — Alpine
Q3
- Verstappen goes 0.5 sec faster than Hamilton in 2nd on his first fast lap
- Perez goes 2nd fastest, about three tenths down on Verstappen
- Alonso splits the Mercedes, going 4th on his first lap
- Norris goes onto the front row after his first fast lap, qualifying 0.1s ahead of Perez
- LeClerc only has one set of tires for Q3, after using up an extra set in Q1, and qualifies 7th
- Perez improves on his second fast lap and moves ahead of Norris into 2nd
- Final top 10 qualifying order
- Max Verstappen — Red Bull
- Sergio Perez — Red Bull
- Lando Norris — McLaren
- Carlos Sainz — Ferrari
- Fernando Alonso — Aston Martin
- Oscar Piastri — McLaren
- Lewis Hamilton — Mercedes
- Charles LeClerc — Ferrari
- George Russell — Mercedes
- Yuki Tsunoda — RB
- Another qualifying session where Mercedes are behind both of their customer teams
- Lando Norris looks comfortable again
- Sergio Perez has done much better than he did last year so far
Race
Starting Grid
- Max Verstappen — Red Bull
- Sergio Perez — Red Bull
- Lando Norris — McLaren
- Carlos Sainz — Ferrari
- Fernando Alonso — Aston Martin
- Oscar Piastri — McLaren
- Lewis Hamilton — Mercedes
- Charles LeClerc — Ferrari
- George Russell — Mercedes
- Yuki Tsunoda — RB
- Daniel Ricciardo — RB
- Nico Hulkenberg — Haas
- Valteri Bottas — Sauber
- Alex Albon — Williams
- Esteban Ocon — Alpine
- Lance Stroll — Aston Martin
- Pierre Gasly — Alpine
- Kevin Magnussen — Haas
- Logan Sargeant — Williams
- Zhou Guanyu — Sauber
- 53 laps
- Track is much warmer than it was in qualifying
- Most cars are starting on the medium tires, but Fernando Alonso has an extra set of soft tires from qualifying and will be starting on those
- Lap 1
- Verstappen gets away well from the start and comfortably holds the lead over Perez
- Alonso attacks both Norris and Sainz, but they're able to fend off his challenge
- This, in turn, allows Piastri to attack Alonso, and they have a running battle through the first lap
- Ricciardo has a slightly slow start, and Albon moves up on the outside into Turn 2 and makes contact with him, and they both crash into the tire barrier
- Race is red-flagged due to the damage to the barrier, which will require additional maintenance vehicles to fix
- The restart will be in race order, rather than returning to the original starting grid, since all the drivers were able to pass through the end of the first sector before the red flag was declared
- This is good news for Hulkenberg, who had gained two places off the start
- Both Mercedes are restarting on hard tires, while most of those around them have chosen to retain the mediums that they did the original start with
- Mercedes' strategy might be to do a one-stop race, using the fact that they have two sets of hard tires, while those around them will probably have to do two stops, since they have more medium tires and fewer hards
- Lap 3
- Race restarts
- Verstappen retains the lead again from the start
- LeClerc passes Hamilton for 7th
- Alonso is once again under attack from Piastri
- Yuki Tsunoda passes George Russell for 9th
- Both Mercedes have lost a spot, but, in theory, they'll gain more by being able to do one fewer pit stop than everyone else
- Lap 5 — George Russell passes Yuki Tsunoda for 9th
- Nico Hulkenberg has lost a lot of places — was 10th at the restart, but is 17th by lap 5
- Lap 8 — Tsunoda pits from 10th, goes onto hard tires, and comes back out in 16th, behind Valteri Bottas
- Lap 10 — George Russell complaining about vibrations in the steering wheel
- Fernando Alonso's soft tires are holding on well, with little drop-off in performance compared to the cars around him on medium tires
- Lap 11 — Lando Norris pits from 3rd, goes onto hard tires, and comes out in 10th, behind Lance Stroll
- Lap 13 — Piastri pits from 5th, goes onto hard tires and comes out in 12th, behind Logan Sargeant
- Lap 14
- Piastri passes Sargeant for 11th
- Russell passes Hamilton for 7th, under team orders
- Zhou Guanyu pits again, and retires with a gearbox problem
- Fernando Alonso pits from 4th, goes onto hard tires, and comes out in 8th, behind Lance Stroll
- More importantly, he comes out ahead of Oscar Piastri
- Lap 16
- Carlos Sainz pits from 3rd, goes onto a new set of mediums, and comes out in 7th, behind Sergio Perez
- Sergio Perez pits from 2nd, goes onto a new set of mediums, and comes out in 6th, behind Lando Norris
- Lando Norris has also managed to undercut Perez and Sainz by stopping earlier
- At this point, Russell and Hamilton are up into 3rd and 4th, respectively, because of the cars ahead of them coming in for pit stops
- By going onto a second set of mediums, both Red Bulls and Carlos Sainz have indicated that they're not planning on doing a medium-hard one-stop. Instead, they'll be doing a medium-medium-hard 2 stop, which Mercedes are trying to counter with their hard-hard one stop approach
- Lap 17
- Verstappen pits from the lead, goes onto a new set of mediums and comes back out in 3rd, behind Russell
- Norris passes Hamilton for 4th
- Verstappen passes Russell for 2nd
- Perez passes Hamilton for 5th
- Lap 18
- Norris passes Russell for 3rd
- Perez passes Russell for 4th
- Lap 19 — Sainz passes Hamilton for 6th
- Lap 21
- Verstappen passes LeClerc for the lead
- Sainz passes Russell for 5th
- Lewis is not happy with the one-stop strategy, and for good reason — neither Hamilton nor Russell were able to effectively defend against Perez, Norris, or Sainz on fresher tires
- All three of those cars will have to stop again, but it's not clear that they'll lose more time with the pit stops than the Mercedes cars will lose by having to go slow and conserve the tires
- The problem is that at this point, it might be too late to change strategies — if they stop now, they'll be in the worst of both worlds, having both track position and pit-stop advantage
- Lap 22 — Fernando Alonso passes Hamilton for 7th
- Lap 23
- Perez passes Norris for 3rd
- George Russell pits from 6th, goes onto a new set of hards and comes out in 9th, behind Piastri
- The really amazing thing is that LeClerc hasn't come in, even though he's on medium tires
- Lap 24 — Hamilton pits from 7th, goes onto a new set of hards and comes out in 9th, behind George Russell
- Now comes the interesting part — all the cars in front of the Mercedes, except perhaps LeClerc will have to pit again, but, in theory, the Mercedes can carry on 'til the end of the race
- So will the Mercedes fall too far behind? Will they get re-passed like they did after the first round of pit stops?
- Lap 26
- Perez is battling LeClerc for 2nd
- The amount of resistance LeClerc is able to put up is pretty amazing, given that he hasn't stopped, and therefore Perez is on much fresher tires
- LeClerc goes wide and Perez is able to finally pass him for 2nd
- Seems like LeClerc might have pushed the tires just a bit too far
- Lap 27
- LeClerc pits from 3rd goes onto hard tires, and comes back out in 6th, behind Piastri
- Norris pits from 4th, goes onto hard tires, and comes back out in 8th, behind Russell
- Russell managed to pass Norris in the pit stop, but we'll see if he's able to keep Norris behind on tires that are four laps older
- Lap 28 — Norris passes Russell for 7th
- LeClerc might be able to make the one-stop work, because the Ferrari just seems that fraction faster than the Mercedes
- Lap 33 — Piastri pits from 5th, goes onto a new set of hard tires, and comes back out in 9th, behind Hamilton
- Lap 34
- Tsunoda passes Nico Hulkenberg for 10th, putting him into the points positions at his home race
- Perez pits from 2nd, goes onto hard tires, and comes back out in 5th, behind Norris
- Fernando Alonso pits from 4th, goes onto a new set of hard tires, and comes back out in 8th, behind Hamilton
- Seems like Norris undercut Perez again
- Lap 35
- Verstappen pits from the lead, goes onto hard tires, and comes back out in 2nd, behind Sainz
- Perez passes Norris for 4th
- Lap 36
- Perez passes LeClerc for 3rd
- Sainz pits from the lead, goes onto hard tires, and comes back out in 7th, behind Hamilton
- Now comes the interesting part, which is to see whether Sainz, Alonso and Piastri, all of whom have stopped twice, can pass Hamilton and Russell who are on a one-stop strategy
- Will also be interesting to see whether Sainz can pass LeClerc, under much the same scenario
- Lap 38
- George Russell pits from 5th, goes onto (used?) medium tires and comes back out in 9th, behind Piastri
- I'm confused — what happened to the one-stop?
- Carlos Sainz passes Lewis Hamilton for 5th
- Lap 40 — Hamilton pits from 6th, goes onto used mediums and comes back out in 9th, behind Russell
- Lap 42 — Logan Sargeant goes off track at the second Degna, but is able to back out onto the racetrack and carry on
- Lap 44 — Sainz passes Norris for 4th
- No team orders — Sainz and LeClerc can race for the last podium place
- Lap 46 — Sainz passes LeClerc for 3rd
- Lap 50 — Russell challenges Piastri for 7th, but Piastri manages to hold on
- Alonso & Piastri are using the same strategy that Sainz & Norris used in Singapore last year, where Alonso backs off ever so slightly in front of the DRS detection zone to allow Piastri to get within 1 second, so he has DRS to defend against Russell
- Lap 52/53 — Piastri makes a small mistake into the chicane at the end of lap 52, which give Russell enough of an advantage to pass Piastri at the start of lap 53
- The one-stop strategy didn't really work out for Mercedes, and they had to abandon it at the end of the race
- However, one-stop did work out for Charles LeClerc, who finished fourth despite starting 8th
Results
- Max Verstappen — Red Bull
- Sergio Perez — Red Bull
- Carlos Sainz — Ferrari
- Charles LeClerc — Ferrari
- Lando Norris — McLaren
- Fernando Alonso — Aston Martin
- George Russell — Mercedes
- Oscar Piastri — McLaren
- Lewis Hamilton — Mercedes
- Yuki Tsunoda — RB
- Nico Hulkenberg — Haas
- Lance Stroll — Aston Martin
- Kevin Magnussen — Haas
- Valteri Bottas — Sauber
- Esteban Ocon — Alpine
- Pierre Gasly — Alpine
- Logan Sargeant — Williams
- Zhou Guanyu — Sauber (DNF)
- Daniel Ricciardo — RB (DNF)
- Alex Albon — Williams (DNF)
2024-04-21 Chinese Grand Prix
Track Info
- Shanghai International Circuit
- 3.38 miles
- This is the first time I've seen this track; the turn 1-4 complex looks pretty interesting
Tire Info
- C4, C3, C2
- Middle of the range, same as Saudi Arabia, one step softer than at the Japanese Grand Prix
Sprint
Sprint Qualifying
SQ1
- 60% chance of rain
- Teams have only had 60 minutes of practice (which is normal on sprint weekends), so the performance of the tires will be less known
- All teams are forced to use medium tires for SQ1 and SQ2, just like last year
- Oscar Piastri and George Russell report rain very early in the session, before anyone's done a fast lap
- The Red Bulls are fast, as expected, but Sergio Perez manages to beat Max Verstappen by 0.3s after the first set of laps
- Lando Norris' second fast lap splits the Red Bulls, going 0.2s behind Perez
- The Mercedes look slow once again, with Hamilton and Russell only qualifying 12th and 13th respectively, in SQ1
- Despite some early reports, there wasn't enough rain to force a change of tires
- The grass caught fire on the outside of Turn 5, apparently due to the sparks coming off the car in that turn
- Eliminated in SQ1
- Pierre Gasly — Alpine
- Esteban Ocon — Alpine
- Alex Albon — Williams
- Yuki Tsunoda — RB
- Logan Sargeant — Williams
SQ2
- Start of SQ2 was delayed by a few minutes to allow the fire to be put out
- Different teams are predicting the rain to arrive at different times, with the most pessimistic teams thinking that the rain will arrive at the end of the warmup lap
- There is a traffic jam in the pit lane as everyone rushes to get out ASAP to get a fast lap time on the board before the rain hits
- Red Bull take a risk by waiting until everyone has left before sending out Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez — if the rain comes earlier than expected, they might not have time to do a fast lap in dry conditions
- Red Bull do manage to get fast laps in before the rain arrives, with Verstappen going fastest, and Perez going 3rd
- McLaren look quick as well, with Piastri and Norris going 4th and 5th fastest, respectively
- LeClerc is second fastest after the first set of fast laps, but Sainz is only 6th
- Mercedes look slow, with Russell 11th and Hamilton 9th
- George Russell goes for a second fast lap, despite the rain having started
- However the intensifying rain forces him to abandon his effort and return to the pits
- Eliminated in SQ2
- George Russell — Mercedes
- Kevin Magnussen — Haas
- Nico Hulkenberg — Haas
- Daniel Ricciardo — RB
- Lance Stroll — Aston Martin
- Zhou Guanyu has made it into SQ3, and is guaranteed a top-ten starting position in the sprint race, which has made the crowd very happy
SQ3
- Cars are going out on intermediate tires
- Cars are skidding even on their warm-up laps
- Charles LeClerc skids wide and hits the barrier, but manages to pull away and return to the racetrack
- Turn 6 is a spot where multiple cars are going wide, including Max Verstappen
- Perez goes fastest by over two seconds (!) as he's able to put some heat in his tires during the warm-up lap
- Verstappen was on quite a fast lap, but skidded wide at the final corner
- Hamilton and Alonso go fastest and second fastest, respectively at the very end of the session
- Verstappen's final lap puts him second fastest, ahead of Alonso, but Alonso replies at the very end of the session and regains 2nd place
- Lando Norris, whose lap time had been deleted for a possible track limits violation, has his lap time reinstated, which puts him back in pole position
- Another qualifying session where Carlos Sainz does better than Charles LeClerc
- Final top 10 sprint qualifying order
- Lando Norris — McLaren
- Lewis Hamilton — Mercedes
- Fernando Alonso — Aston Martin
- Max Verstappen — Red Bull
- Carlos Sainz — Ferrari
- Sergio Perez — Red Bull
- Charles LeClerc — Ferrari
- Oscar Piastri — McLaren
- Valteri Bottas — Sauber
- Zhou Guanyu — Sauber
Sprint Race
Starting Grid
- Lando Norris — McLaren
- Lewis Hamilton — Mercedes
- Fernando Alonso — Aston Martin
- Max Verstappen — Red Bull
- Carlos Sainz — Ferrari
- Sergio Perez — Red Bull
- Charles LeClerc — Ferrari
- Oscar Piastri — McLaren
- Valteri Bottas — Sauber
- Zhou Guanyu — Sauber
- George Russell — Mercedes
- Kevin Magnussen — Haas
- Nico Hulkenberg — Haas
- Daniel Ricciardo — RB
- Lance Stroll — Aston Martin
- Pierre Gasly — Alpine
- Esteban Ocon — Alpine
- Alex Albon — Williams
- Yuki Tsunoda — RB
- Logan Sargeant — Williams
- 19 laps
- Conditions are dry
- Most cars are starting on medium tires, however, George Russell is starting on soft in an attempt to make up places early
- Lap 1
- Hamilton challenges Norris immediately into turn 1
- Norris runs wide into turn 3, allowing Hamilton to take the lead
- Norris drops into 7th by the time he's able to rejoin the track
- Lap 3 — Max Verstappen is complaining about his hybrid system's battery going flat
- Lap 4 — Hamilton has pulled out of DRS range of Fernando Alonso
- Lap 7 — Verstappen passes Alonso for 2nd
- Lap 8 — Hamilton goes wide at turn 6 which allows Verstappen to close the gap substantially
- Lap 9 — Verstappen passes Hamilton for the lead (on the same corner that he passed Alonso for 2nd)
- Lap 15 — Alonso is under a huge amount of pressure from Sainz and Perez as he attempts to hold on for a podium place
- Lap 16
- Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz have a running battle over several corners for 3rd, but Carlos eventually manages to pass Fernando for 3rd, touching wheels in the process
- However, Alonso forces Sainz wide on the next corner, allowing him to re-pass Sainz
- While all this was going on, though, Perez opportunistically passed both of them, taking third
- Then Sainz passes Alonso again, as it becomes apparent that Alonso has picked up a puncture
- Lap 17
- Sainz and LeClerc battle each other for 4th, with LeClerc eventually passing Sainz
- Alonso pits and retires
Sprint Results
- Max Verstappen — Red Bull
- Lewis Hamilton — Mercedes
- Sergio Perez — Red Bull
- Charles LeClerc — Ferrari
- Carlos Sainz — Ferrari
- Lando Norris — McLaren
- Oscar Piastri — McLaren
- George Russell — Mercedes
- Zhou Guanyu — Sauber
- Kevin Magnussen — Haas
- Daniel Ricciardo — RB
- Valteri Bottas — Sauber
- Esteban Ocon — Alpine
- Lance Stroll — Aston Martin
- Pierre Gasly — Alpine
- Yuki Tsunoda — RB
- Alex Albon — Williams
- Logan Sargeant — Williams
- Nico Hulkenberg — Haas
- Fernando Alonso — Aston Martin (DNF)
Qualifying
Q1
- Track is warmer than it was during sprint qualifying
- Yuki Tsunoda says that his DRS isn't working
- Carlos Sainz does his first fast lap on medium tires
- Alonso sets a fast lap, and even Verstappen isn't able to beat it on his first try
- Valteri Bottas is third fastest after his first lap
- The Sauber seems to have improved for this weekend, with Valteri Bottas 3rd and Zhou Guanyu 6th after the first set of fast laps
- Alex Albon goes 4th fastest (seems to be doing better than he did in SQ1)
- Oscar Piastri goes to the top with his first lap, beating both Alonso and Verstappen
- Sainz goes fastest as well, with his first attempt
- Sergio Perez's first lap puts him sixth, right behind where Verstappen has been bumped down to
- Lewis Hamilton has a big lock-up which costs him time, and he drops out in Q1 (huge difference from the sprint qualifying, where Hamilton qualified 2nd)
- Sergio Perez just barely makes it into Q2
- Zhou Guanyu is just barely eliminated in Q1
- Eliminated in Q1
- Zhou Guanyu — Sauber
- Kevin Magnussen — Haas
- Lewis Hamilton — Mercedes
- Yuki Tsunoda — RB
- Logan Sargeant — Williams
Q2
- Carlos Sainz has a huge spin at the end of his first lap, hits the barrier
- Red flag declared
- Sainz does manage to get his car going, and limps back to the pits, sans front wing
- The Ferrari looks remarkably intact; if there's no underlying damage, there's a very good chance that Sainz can go again
- The red flag helped Ferrari a lot by stopping the clock on qualifying
- Sainz's lap is good enough for 2nd, but he's pipped by Sergio Perez at the very end
- What a session for Sainz — huge crash, but then he goes back out there and still manages to beat LeClerc
- Valteri Bottas also has a good lap and manages to make it into Q3, in 10th
- Eliminated in Q2
- Lance Stroll — Aston Martin
- Daniel Ricciardo — RB
- Esteban Ocon — Alpine
- Alex Albon — Williams
- Pierre Gasly — Alpine
Q3
- Alonso has an excellent first lap, going into 2nd place, behind Verstappen
- Lots of fast times at the end, with Sainz, LeClerc, Piastri and Norris all taking second place consecutively
- Max, is, of course, unchallenged in pole position
- Fernando re-takes 2nd on his second lap, but is bumped by Sergio Perez
- Ferrari didn't actually do all that well — are behind McLaren and Aston Martin in qualifying
- However Mercedes look even worse — George Russell was never a threat for the front two rows
- This qualifying session shows how, apart from Red Bull, the field is actually very very close — a tiny pace deficit is the difference between qualifying 2nd and qualifying 6th
- Yet another qualifying where Mercedes are behind their customers
- Final top 10 qualifying order
- Max Verstappen — Red Bull
- Sergio Perez — Red Bull
- Fernando Alonso — Aston Martin
- Lando Norris — McLaren
- Oscar Piastri — McLaren
- Charles LeClerc — Ferrari
- Carlos Sainz — Ferrari
- George Russell — Mercedes
- Nico Hulkenberg — Haas
- Valteri Bottas — Sauber
Race
Starting Grid
- Max Verstappen — Red Bull
- Sergio Perez — Red Bull
- Fernando Alonso — Aston Martin
- Lando Norris — McLaren
- Oscar Piastri — McLaren
- Charles LeClerc — Ferrari
- Carlos Sainz — Ferrari
- George Russell — Mercedes
- Nico Hulkenberg — Haas
- Valteri Bottas — Sauber
- Lance Stroll — Aston Martin
- Daniel Ricciardo — RB
- Esteban Ocon — Alpine
- Alex Albon — Williams
- Pierre Gasly — Alpine
- Zhou Guanyu — Sauber
- Kevin Magnussen — Haas
- Lewis Hamilton — Mercedes
- Yuki Tsunoda — RB
- Logan Sargeant — Williams (pit lane start)
- 56 laps
- Most cars starting on the medium tire, but there are some who are starting on softs and Kevin Magnussen is starting on hards
- 2 pit stops expected
- Lap 1
- Clean first lap
- Alonso makes a big move on Perez right at the opening and takes 2nd place
- That pass was a thing of beauty, probably will make the season highlights
- George Russell passes both Ferraris and takes 6th
- Lap 3
- Sergio Perez is within DRS range of Alonso
- Verstappen is 2.6s in the lead
- Lap 5 — Perez passes Alonso for 2nd
- The question is, how much life did Alonso take out of his tires by battling Perez so hard at the beginning
- Lap 7 — Norris passes Alonso for 3rd
- Lap 9 — LeClerc has a nice pass over George Russell into 6th
- Lap 10
- Russell is under pressure from Sainz going into Turn 1
- Lots of cars towards the back making pit stops, including Lewis Hamilton
- Lap 12
- LeClerc and Piastri almost come together as LeClerc passes Piastri for 5th
- Alonso pits from 4th, goes onto hard tires, and comes back out behind Logan Sargeant in 10th
- Russell pits from 7th, goes onto a fresh set of medium tires and comes back out behind Fernando Alonso in 11th
- Lap 13 — Hamilton passes Tsunoda for 15th
- Lap 14
- Verstappen pits from the lead, goes onto hard tires, and comes back out in 4th, behind Oscar Piastri
- Sergio Perez pits from 2nd, goes onto hard tires and comes back out 6th, behind Carlos Sainz
- Lap 15 — Verstappen passes Piastri for 3rd
- Lap 16 — Verstappen passes LeClerc for 2nd
- All this time, Perez is still in 6th, behind Sainz
- Lap 17 — Oscar Piastri pits from 4th, goes onto a fresh set of medium tires, and comes back out in 9th, behind Lance Stroll
- Lap 18
- Perez (finally) passes Sainz for 4th, as Sainz is called into the pits
- Sainz pits from 5th, goes onto hard tires, and comes back out in 10th, behind Nico Hulkenberg
- LeClerc and Norris might be trying to make it a 1-stop race
- Lap 19
- Carlos Sainz passes Nico Hulkenberg for 9th
- Max Verstappen passes Lando Norris for the lead
- Lap 21
- Valteri Bottas pulls over with a smoking engine
- Carlos Sainz has a big lock-up as he attempts to pass Lance Stroll
- Lap 22
- VSC declared
- LeClerc pits from 3rd, goes onto hard tires, and comes back out in 5th, behind Fernando Alonso
- Norris was past the pit lane entry when the VSC was declared, and so is unable to pit this lap
- Lap 23
- Norris pits from 2nd, goes onto hard tires, and comes back out in 3rd, behind Perez
- Full safety car declared
- Bottas' car was stuck in gear, which meant that the VSC was extended, allowing Norris to also pit under the VSC and retain track position over LeClerc
- Verstappen pits for the 2nd time from the lead, goes onto fresh hard tires, and retains the lead
- Sergio Perez pits for the 2nd time from 2nd, goes onto a fresh set of hard tires and comes back out in 4th, behind Charles LeClerc
- Fernando Alonso pits for the 2nd time from 4th, goes onto soft tires, and comes back out in 7th, behind Carlos Sainz
- Red Bull chose to pit so soon again, because they want the freshest possible tires for the safety car restart
- I suspect that if the VSC had continued rather than a full safety car being declared, they wouldn't have stopped again, because in a VSC, the pack doesn't close up like it does under a full safety car
- Lap 25 — Oscar Piastri pits for the second time from 5th, under the safety car, goes onto hard tires, and comes back out in 8th, behind George Russell
- Pitting this late under a safety car is a bit questionable, because with the pack bunched up, you lose track position, and everyone else has already done their pit stop
- Lap 26 — Safety car ends
- Lap 27
- Racing resumes
- Verstappen has an easy getaway
- Norris does a good job of holding onto 2nd
- LeClerc, Perez, and Sainz are all in the hunt for 3rd
- Alonso is also pushing hard (as expected) on his soft tires, and passes Sainz for 5th
- Lance Stroll runs right into the back of Daniel Ricciardo, before the restart
- Yuki Tsunoda has major damage to his car, as Kevin Magnussen tries a very aggressive move into turn 1
- Magnussen has a puncture and has to come back into the pits
- Tsunoda pulls into the pits and retires
- Safety car comes out again
- Is Ricciardo's car okay? It took a pretty hefty kick, right into the gearbox assembly
- Lap 31 — Safety car ends
- Lap 32
- Racing resumes
- Much more orderly restart than the last one
- Alonso is immediately closing in on Perez for 4th
- Daniel Ricciardo has reported floor damage and is sliding backwards through the order
- Lap 34
- Lance Stroll gets a 10s penalty for causing a collision
- Daniel Ricciardo pits and retires
- Double DNF for RB
- Kevin Magnussen also gets a 10s penalty for causing a collision
- Alonso doesn't seem to be making much progress in his fight against Perez for 4th
- Lap 37 — Perez has closed to within DRS range of LeClerc
- Lap 39 — Perez passes LeClerc for 3rd
- Lap 44 — Fernando Alonso pits for the third time from 5th, goes onto medium tires, and comes back out in 12th, behind Albon
- The choice to go onto softs on lap 23 was a questionable one, and now Alonso is paying the price for that
- Lap 48
- Alonso passes Nico Hulkenberg for 9th
- Alonso has a big moment, going sideways has dips a wheel into the gravel on the last turn, but he manages to hold it together and retains his position
- Lap 49 — Alonso passes Hamilton for 8th
- Lap 50 — Alonso passes Piastri for 7th
Results
- Max Verstappen — Red Bull
- Lando Norris — McLaren
- Sergio Perez — Red Bull
- Charles LeClerc — Ferrari
- Carlos Sainz — Ferrari
- George Russell — Mercedes
- Fernando Alonso — Aston Martin
- Oscar Piastri — McLaren
- Lewis Hamilton — Mercedes
- Nico Hulkenberg — Haas
- Esteban Ocon — Alpine
- Alex Albon — Williams
- Pierre Gasly — Alpine
- Zhou Guanyu — Sauber
- Lance Stroll — Aston Martin
- Kevin Magnussen — Haas
- Logan Sargeant — Williams
- Daniel Ricciardo — RB
- Yuki Tsunoda — RB
- Valteri Bottas — Sauber
