Five races completed and McLaren remains safely in the lead of the constructor’s championship. After leading the drivers’ championship for the first four races, Lando Norris has been supplanted by teammate Oscar Piastri, who has secured back-to-back victories over the last two weeks. The desert has been good to Piastri. He won at Bahrain last week, and he secured victory at Jeddah this week.
Verstappen Remains Dogged Despite Engineering Struggles.
Max Verstappen is nipping at everyone’s heels. In perhaps the most boring race of the season, Verstappen secured pole and then easily secured victory three weeks ago. Last week he turned in an abysmal performance by his standards, finishing in sixth at the Bahrain Grand Prix.
Verstappen has been fighting his substandard car all year. It appeared he was on track for his second victory of the season when he secured pole at this week’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. However, the short run to turn one at the start of the race sealed his fate.
Piastri started faster, and edged Verstappen out ever so slightly at the apex of turn one. Having nowhere else to go, Verstappen ran off track, remained in first position and claimed Piastri gave him no room. I think the race stewards could have called it either way. Had Verstappen completely backed out he might have wrecked the Mercedes screaming up his rear wing. To make this season more interesting, I would have given Max the position. The stewards saw it differently and handed Verstappen a five second time penalty.
It is interesting to note, that though Oscar Piastri started second, he had the edge to turn one. If a driver earns pole position, should the FIA consider allowing the pole sitter to decide which side of the track he starts on? Perhaps it gives the pole sitter too much an advantage but it is certainly worth pondering.
McLaren Engineering versus Red Bull Driving.
For this week’s race, McLaren had the better car, but Red Bull has the best driver. Verstappen served his five second penalty during his lap 22 pit stop. He finished the race in second, only 2.8 seconds behind Piastri. But for the time penalty, Verstappen likely wins his second race of the season.
In Japan, the weather was relatively cool, with a hint of rain and Verstappen took pole eventually winning the race. During this week’s practice runs, both Red Bulls struggled during the heat of the day but still turned in top three competitive times. Last night, Verstappen’s Red Bull came alive for qualification. Though still hot, it is notably cooler in the desert night. Verstappen edged out Oscar Piastri for pole. As we head into the summer months, it will be interesting to see how Red Bull adjusts to the heat. I suspect they will welcome racing in Europe.
McLaren fields the best car on the grid. They also have two of the best young drivers on the grid. Despite that, Verstappen is a mere twelve points behind the leader. He isn’t going away. He came away from today’s race angry yet determined. He knows how good he is. He knows his car needs more work. While Red Bull may yet improve their car this season, the rest of the grid will upgrade as well. This season will be Verstappen’s most difficult yet. Despite Red Bull’s challenges, I would not count him out of winning his fifth championship this year.
The Challenges and Triumphs of Jeddah.
Racing at Jeddah is difficult. It’s hot. It is often windy. The track is 27 turn, 3.8 mile circuit with narrow lanes and few runoffs. Fortunately, lap one featured the one and only yellow flag of the race. As the grid rounded turn four, Yuki Tsunoda and Pierre Gasly were side by side. Gasly secured a slight lead heading into the apex of turn five and as both cars turned, Tsunoda’s right front tire bumped Gasly’s rear left and sent both race cars spinning into the wall. Both cars were forced to retire.
Williams finally secured a top ten finish for both of their drivers. Carlos Sainz executed his best qualification in a Williams, starting in sixth position. With the top four racing teams swirling all around them, Williams executed a wily strategy the last fifteen laps of the race.
At lap 35, Isack Hadjar trailed William’s drivers Sainz and Alex Albon. They were running eight, ninth and tenth respectively. With Hadjar bearing down on Albon, Williams ordered Sainz to keep his teammate in DRS range holding Hadjar from overtaking Albon. Sainz led the three car DRS train all the way to the checkered flag securing the best points of the season for Williams.
Lando Norris executed an excellent recovery from his Q3 wreck. Norris was attempting to hang it all out to earn pole position last night. He over corrected himself right into a wall, earning him the tenth starting position. Admittedly sore, he fought through his physical and mental pain while racing his way to a fourth-place finish.
McLaren’s strategy for Norris was brilliant. They started him on hard tires, allowing him to run as long as possible. After everyone had pitted, he was running in first position. With fifteen laps to go, McLaren called Norris in to change his tires for the first time. He exited pit lane behind George Russell. It didn’t take long before he overtook Russell allowing him to eventually finish fourth.
Extra Credit (Commentary on last week’s race).
The Red Bulls have shown a propensity to run well in cooler temperatures, and last week was extremely hot. Still, Yuki Tsunoda joined Verstappen in finishing in the top ten for the first time in Red Bull’s season.
The Bahrain Grand Prix was a predictable result for the front runners. Oscar Piastri earned pole position and then proceeded to win by a 15.4 second gap ahead of George Russell. Lando Norris struggled in Q3 earning sixth position to start the race. Yet, everyone knew Norris would pass the Kimi Antonelli and Pierre Gasly once the race started. Norris secured McLaren’s third two podium appearance of the season. Notably, both of Haas’s drivers finished in the top ten as well.
On to Miami!
