Formula 1
By Vlad Roman,
General Manager, Smart Games
Formula 1 held its second stage of the season in Saudi Arabia on the Jeddah Corniche circuit, as we expected Red Bull repeated the result in Bahrain clearly dominating the peloton securing the first 2 positions, of course in the established order, respectively Max followed by a gap by 13 seconds from Checo with a podium completed by Charles Leclerc.
The most popular driver was the replacement of Carlos Sainz, a young Englishman of only 18 years who is competing for the 2nd year in the Formula 2 championship. On Friday morning he was announced by the Ferrari staff that he is going to replace Sainz who was operated on for appendicitis. And so Oliver Bearman found himself behind the wheel of the Ferrari SF-24 single-seater and after just one hour of practice, in which he had the 10th time, he entered the qualifications obtaining the 11th position on the starting grid to be ranked at the end of the race on the honorable 7th position which brought him 6 points in the championship. ”I felt destroyed, it was a very difficult race especially at the end when I had the two soft guys behind me (Norris and Hamilton), I went with the pedal to the floor…”
Formula 1
Sainz, after a quick recovery, resumed his post two weeks later in Melbourne for the 3rd round. It’s hard to say what’s in his mind after the announcement that he will be replaced by Hamilton next year and with no clear contract for 2025, but there is still a long way to go and opportunities will arise, especially if he goes well.
Melbourne’s Albert Park circuit, home to Australia’s grand prix, is one of the fastest on the calendar with a qualifying record dating back to 2019 when Hamilton averaged 235km/h, while Lewis holds the record for eight pole positions here.
Qualifying set the starting grid with Max in first position followed by Sainz, Perez and Norris on the top two lines. Tsunoda, to Ricciardo’s dismay, manages to qualify for Q3 for the second time this year, he will start the race from 8th position while Daniel is penultimate on the grid. Williams were in big trouble after Albon’s crash which left the engine, gearbox and chassis damaged, with no spares available the team had to call on Logan Sargeant to lend his car to his team mate.
Starting from pole, Max put some distance between him and Sainz, but in the 4th lap he had to retire after a brake fire, thus interrupting the series of 9 consecutive victories and 43 races without abandoning. Sainz took the lead and stayed there until the end, it was a Ferrari double with a podium completed by Lando Norris. Local hero Oscar Piastri, although he did not get the podium, raised the stands with his 4th place finish… another slap for Daniel Ricciardo who disappointed not only his fans but also Helmut Marko who gave him an ultimatum to prove his worth in the next 2 races.
It was a black weekend for Mercedes after the abandonment of Lewis in the 15th lap due to engine failures, followed by the fight in the penultimate lap between Alonso and Russel for the 5th position which ended in a bad accident, luckily Russel got out of the car quickly which stopped on the track. The race ended under the virtual safety car.
The last Ferrari double took place in Singapore in 2019 with Vettel and Leclerc in the first positions… well, after almost 5 years the members of the team did not forget the lyrics of the Italian national anthem, it was a pleasure to hear them sing again, especially since as far as I know it is the only team that sings its anthem in unison.
The Japanese Grand Prix followed, changing the date was a good choice, not necessarily because of the atmospheric conditions but especially to admire the cherry blossoms on the side of the Suzuka circuit.
In the first training session Racing Bulls lined up two Japanese drivers. Ayumu Iwasa took to the circuit alongside Tsunoda in the second car. Iwasa completed more than 20 laps and finished 16th…“ Iwasa made a very good figure at the Racing Bulls. The gap to Yuki Tsunoda is one second. This is a very positive performance”… stated Helmuth Marko, as if to remind Daniel Ricciardo of the ultimatum in Australia.
Problems again at Williams, a piloting error by Logan Sargeant sent the car onto the grass and hit the side barriers, for the race Albon will use Logan’s chassis and he will drive the chassis repaired from the accident in the previous race.
In qualifying Perez begins to show his muscles and Max barely manages to blow his team-mate’s pole by 0.066 seconds, Lando Norris held on to third place in the chasing pack, ahead of Carlos Sainz and Fernando Alonso. Oscar Piastri, Lewis Hamilton, Charles Leclerc, George Russell. Yuki Tsunoda completed the top 10 followed at 0.055 seconds by Daniel Ricciardo, but unfortunately bad luck follows the Australian, at the beginning of the race, in turn 3 he was hit by Albon both being projected into the barriers, the race was stopped to restore the tire barrier and the two protagonists of the accident had to abandon.
Formula 1
The re-start of the race required the modification of the strategies, those of Red Bull and Ferrari worked while for Mercedes not so much, however they ranked in points which keeps them in 4th place in the constructors with only one point in front of those of at Aston Martin.
The race was won by Red Bull with Max on the top step of the podium followed by Sergio Perez and Carlos Sainz. With the exception of Lance Stroll, all the drivers of the first 5 teams scored, with the last point going to Yuki Tsunoda.
