Even Hamilton doing a brilliant lap couldn’t stop the Red Bull!
Saturday went as planned for Max, although it was much closer than they would have hoped for. The car has been fast all weekend, especially around Turn 3, which allows him to carry speed all the way to Turn 7. On the other hand, their straight line speed is lacking slightly, so he will need to be wary of that tomorrow! I expect the race pace to be pretty comparable between Max and Lewis, yet I think the Red Bull is the favourite for the win.
Perez had a mare today, lacking tonnes of pace overall, which when combined with him missing his final lap in Q1, led to an absolute disaster for him. Even if he had got the final lap in, he is still nowhere near where he should be on pace. Red Bull really needs to understand what is wrong with their car for the 2nd driver. When you compare it to the Mercedes, Russell was able to move into the Mercedes for a weekend, and almost dominate!
Talking of that 2nd Red Bull seat, one man who deserves to be there is Gasly, who once again has got all he can from his car, to start 4th for the race. I do think that he will have the Ferrari’s all over him in the race, but you still have to credit him for his job today. Ferrari weren’t spectacular in the end, however despite that they can be pleased with their efforts, as it was a tough morning for them. This is a prime opportunity to close on McLaren for 3rd in the constructors.
FP3 suggested that Alonso could do something incredible today, yet as the qualifying session went on, it became clear that this would not be the case. Nevertheless, getting both cars in Q3 is great for them, and may allow them to gain on Aston Martin who had a more difficult day. Another team who had a difficult day was McLaren, it wasn’t a disaster, they just seemed a bit lost as to where the pace went when it mattered most. Even if Norris got a lap at the end of Q2, he wasn’t sure if he could make Q3. Big points will be a struggle on Sunday, but it was at least nice to see Ricciardo looking more on top of his car this weekend.
On paper, two crashes for Williams sounds like a disaster, although I think that they couldn’t have done much better today if it had gone swimmingly. Russell possibly could have reached Q3, but free tyre choice balances out those losses. I said yesterday that they probably couldn’t get points 3 races in a row, however I wouldn’t bet against it yet, as Williams look excellent at the moment.
Red Flags and traffic cost Aston Martin today, despite that they just didn’t have the pace in any case to fight for Q3. Tsunoda did make Q2, but with Gasly in 4th, it is still not very good for the Japanese driver. Haas’ team politics continue, with both drivers having a go at the other, to me I can’t blame either one, it was just one of those chaotic things, although Mazepin may get a penalty for blocking Vettel.
To end, I must give a massive amount of credit to Giovinazzi, who pulled an absolute stormer out for Alfa Romeo. This is exactly what he needs as he tries to stay in F1 for next year. I have a feeling it may be too little too late, however it was still nice to see him reach Q3.
Lap 1 could well be crucial tomorrow, with the track being so tight and aero dependant after that, so watch out for crashes into Turn 1 and 3 on the first lap!
-M
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