Sprint Qualifying:

 

1st Lando Norris (GB) [McLaren]

2nd Lewis Hamilton (GB) [Mercedes]

3rd Fernando Alonso (SPN) [Aston Martin]

4th Max Verstappen (NED) [Red Bull]

5th Carlos Sainz Jr (SPN) [Ferrari]

6th Sergio Perez (MEX) [Red Bull]

7th Charles Leclerc (MON) [Ferrari]

8th Oscar Piastri (AUS) [McLaren]

9th Valtteri Bottas (FIN) [Kick Sauber]

10th Zhou Guantu (CHN) [Kick Sauber]

11th George Russell (GB) [Mercedes]

12th Kevin Magnussen (DEN) [Haas]

13th Nico Hulkenberg (GER) [Haas]

14th Daniel Ricciardo (AUS) [RB]

15th Lance Stroll (CAN) [Aston Martin]

16th Pierre Gasly (FRA) [Alpine]

17th Esteban Ocon (FRA) [Alpine]

18th Alexander Albon (THA) [Williams]

19th Yuki Tsuonda (JPN) [RB]

20th Logan Sargeant (USA) [Williams]

Channel 4 have 3 programmes this weekend on each of Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

I've just been watching sprint qualifying on C4 and the out-of-syncness was very pronounced. "He's gone fastest!" Has he? I'm still waiting for him to cross the line.

Not the most exciting race in China

you can tell cos no one even commented in here

Yeah the only interesting thing that happened was Stroll doing a Stroll.

 

Outstanding drive by Norris though, that car had no right to finish P2.

 

Sprint race was better, Hamilton leading for 10 laps was quite the sight and then that great battle between Alonso and the Ferraris.

The interview with Danny Ric where he is told Stroll blamed him was interesting - you could see Danny trying to keep composed. It gets boring just saying Stroll shouldnt be in the sport but here we are.

 

Which reminds me - where are the voices calling for Danny to be replaced? (he dominated Yuki this weekend)

 

Great race for Lando. Alonso's strategy made things interesting late on.

 

Haas got a strategy right for once, pitting Hulkenberg early to undercut Bottas who had just overtaken him. Great to see Nico get the most out of the car again

 

 

Outstanding drive by Norris though, that car had no right to finish P2.

 

 

Do you think so? It was the 2nd fastest car this weekend. Lando, I expected to finish at least 3rd and he's well capable of challenging Perez for 2nd in that car, on that circuit. Oscar should probably have finished 4th or 5th, in and around the Ferraris and Alonso. Just unfortunate that Piastri had such heavy damage he couldn't make the most of it.

It was a good drive but I wouldn't say it was outstanding.

 

 

Fun facts of the weekend -

 

Nico Hulkenberg not only has the record for most races without a podium but also ties formost races without a win, with Andrea De Cesaris's 30 year old record.

 

Max Verstappen has won 18 of the last 20 GP - a win percentage of exactly 90%

Edited April 22, 20241 yr by Severin

I don't think going into the weekend McLaren were expected to beat Ferrari in the dry at all.

Low temps, lots of long sweeping corners and an abrasive surface are all things that recent Ferraris don't tend to like. They either struggle to get heat in the tyres or have high deg. Added to this that Leclerc is having trouble getting a handle on the cars finer points this year, suggested they could find it harder. McLaren meanwhile have a car that suits a circuit like this and Norris is driving better than ever.

 

Miami should see an improved Ferrari performance.

 

I thought the biggest surprise was how poor Hamilton was in the dry this weekend.

@1782342339589001609

Andretti Group will they eventually manage to get onto the grid?

Long overdue re points down to 12th, I'd go even further and give them down to 15th like in MotoGP.

Not sure about it going down to 15th, but 12th I would agree with.

Not really fussed either way about what points are awarded (often during a race for a split second, I'm still think in terms of only the top six scoring)

 

Points further down certainly has the potential to increase competition among cars down there towards the end of a race.

 

My only bugbear is that people use reasons like most points scored as some kind of relevant statistic to compare drivers. I know it tends to be those more ill informed but it's a tad annoying. They can't even retroactively adjust the stats as though all drivers accumulated points under the current scoring system because you end up altering who was champion on quite a few occasions.

 

That last point is actually fairly interesting so here goes. And yes this does include points for fastest lap -

 

Graham Hill becomes 3x WDC taking 1962 away from Surtees

Clark in 1963 scores nearly double that of challenger Richie Ginther

Jacky Ickx takes 1970 from Rindt

Lauda takes 1976 away from Hunt but loses 1984 to Prost

Prost himself becomes a 6x champion by also taking Senna's 1988 title (Prost still loses 1983 to Piquet but only by a point - yes, he is seriously underrated)

Schumacher's DSQ and 2 race ban costs him 1994 long before Adelaide, making Damon Hill a double WDC and bettering Michael's reputation.

Schumacher therefore drops to a 6x WDC by losing 1994. however, he would have likely won 1997 as he didn't need to take out Villeneuve to win the title, 2nd would have been enough so likely still 7x Champ and no bad smells around him.

Irvine ends any debate about who's the worst champion ever when he wins 1999 in place of Hakkinen (yes really!)

Raikkonen comfortably wins 2007 but Alonso finishes a clear runner up.

Hamilton still beats Massa in 2008 by a point.

Vettel wins 2013 by a huge margin of 160

 

Everything doesn't change much

 

 

The gap between 5th and 6th this season is quite unique, so certainly would add some excitement to it. The continued greater reliability of cars also makes it worth it, the average retirements in 2010 when it was introduced was about double what it is now (3.35 per race vs 1.67 for 23-24), so would make sense from that respect.

 

I think 12 is perfect, wouldn't want to go much further as you're getting towards points for finishing.

Hockenheim & Nürburgring hope for the German Grand Prix to return to the calendar, starting from 2026, rotating between them.

 

https://www.grandprix.com/news/german-circu...-from-2026.html

Thailand is the latest country in line for an F1 race,

 

https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20240...eets-of-bangkok

Red Bull design chief Adrian Newey is to leave the team in the wake of the controversy involving allegations about team principal Christian Horner.

 

Newey, regarded as the greatest Formula 1 designer in history, has told Red Bull he wants to move on, BBC Sport has learned.

 

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/articles/cmm3v9ny78eo

That's it then, the Red Bull era will soon be done.

 

No doubt Verstappen to follow him out of the door next.

So with the designs for the 2025 Red Bull already underway it'll be interesting to see how much impact that might have on next years car, and even were he to be placed on gardening leave immediately he's unlikely to be able to contribute much for next year to whichever team he might go to, should he choose to continue in F1.

 

Smart money would seem to be on Aston Martin who have the ambition and funds to offer him anything he wants, plus a Honda engine and Fernando Alonso. Stroll Jr may or may not be on his way out and if Verstappen were to follow Newey, AM looks the best bet for him too.

 

Any team would no doubt be interested in Newey but does he fancy Merc or Ferrari? Not sure he'd fit in that well at Ferrari. McLaren may well fancy having him return and Williams would be a nostalgia inducing option but they may be too far behind.

 

RB would obviously be a similar set up and a team which already run a car that takes infleunce from his work.

 

Other than that - Audi, Haas, Alpine. Maybe even Andretti. None seem that likely.

 

 

This is going to be an interesting few weeks at least.