Jordan's Track Talk

Tag: Brazil GP

  • RND 21 – Sao Paulo Grand Prix

    Wow, the Sao Paulo Grand Prix never disappoints, we had drama before the race even started and it continued on into the race!

    Max Verstappen grabbed his 17th win this season, ahead of Lando Norris in P2 and Fernando Alonso who returned to the podium in P3!

    The full top 10 are- P1: Verstappen, P2: Norris, P3: Alonso, P4: Perez, P5: Stroll, P6: Sainz, P7: Gasly, P8: Hamilton, P9: Tsunoda and P10: Ocon.

    Charles Leclerc went off on the formation lap, after he lost the hydraulics which then forced him to retire before it even began…

    When the lights went out, we had drama, there was a heavy collision between Alex Albon and Kevin Magnussen.
    Replays showed that Hulkenberg was squeezed and subsequently made contact with Albon, which ricocheted the Williams into the path of Magnussen. Piastri was also caught up in the incident, having suffered a broken rear wing. This then caused a red flag to be shown due to the extensive debris out on the track.

    A strong result from Aston Martin, from both drivers, this is what they needed for the fight in the Drivers’ and Teams’ Standings. Alonso had a great battle with Sergio Perez at the end of the race where they had a photo finish! The gap between the Spaniard and Mexican was less than a tenth of a second in the incredible finish.

    Talking about Perez, a really strong performance from him and a good haul of points aswell. This will help him in the fight with Hamilton as he only scored 4 points in the race.

    Talking of Hamilton, where did Mercedes pace go?? They certainly had pace in the first part of the race until Hamilton radioed his team about a steering issue with his front right tyre just after pitting. Russell was forced to retire his W14 from the race later on due to high and worsening oil temperature. The team won’t be happy with the result at all.

    Tsunoda points again! His loving life at the moment he currently has 13 points, he sits 14th in the Driver Standings. For the team themselves they grow a gap to Alfa Romeo in 9th with 5 points between them. But Alpha Tauri will be looking towards Williams who are only 7 points away in 7th.

    Next up for Round 22, we head to a brand new track for 2023 as it’s the Las Vegas Grand Prix!

  • Mercedes request review

    Mercedes have announced that they are seeking a ‘Right of Review’ of the incident which occured during the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, which saw Max Verstappen defend Lewis Hamilton and see both drivers run wide.

    But yesterday, the onboard footage of Max Verstappen got released, and Mercedes felt like with the new evidence which was unavailable to the stewards at the time of decision feel that it is enough for a right of review.

    The onboard of Max Verstappen.

    Hamilton started P10 on Sunday, and had been closing on Max for quite some time and finally he attepmted a pass on Lap 48 at Turn 4 but both drivers run wide when rejoining Max was still in the lead.

    The stewards noted the incident but decided soon afterward that no investigation was necessary, 11 laps later and Lewis went on to take the win. But with Mercedes taking to social media, yesterday afternoon they want to review the Turn 4 incident. The stewards will meet with representatives from the team to assess the new evidence.

    My Opinion-

    I’m not surprised by Mercedes wanting to do this, as a key video wasn’t available at the time of the incident they let it slide but now its come to surface they want to see if they can get something out of it. Which I think is fair enough considering that Lewis did get pushed of the track more than necessary.

    Let me know in the poll below if you think this is the right decision by Mercedes!

  • Round 19- Brazil Race

    Lewis Hamilton WINS the Sao Paulo Grand Prix and to take his 101 win! To think he started in P20 in the sprint race to finish 5th and then have a five place grid penalty to start 10th in todays race and go on to win, it for sure shows this championship is far from over and with only 3 races left now!

    Max Verstappen finishes in second place not giving up just yet, but its a good day for Mercedes as Valtteri Bottas finishes in 3rd place on the podium!

    The full top 10 are- P1: Hamilton, P2: Verstappen, P3: Bottas, P4: Perez, P5: Leclerc, P6: Sainz, P7: Gasly, P8: Ocon, P9: Alonso, P10: Norris. Perez took the fastest lap point away from Lewis and Mercedes on the last lap.

    Mercedes' British driver Lewis Hamilton , Red Bull's Dutch driver Max Verstappen and Mercedes' Finnish driver Valtteri Bottas celebrate with Mercedes...
    Mercedes’ British driver Lewis Hamilton (2-L), Red Bull’s Dutch driver Max Verstappen (L) and Mercedes’ Finnish driver Valtteri Bottas (R) celebrate with Mercedes strategic chief on the podium after obtaining the first, second and third positions respectively, in Brazil’s Formula One Sao Paulo Grand Prix at the Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace, or Interlagos racetrack, in Sao Paulo, on November 14, 2021. (Photo by NELSON ALMEIDA / AFP) (Photo by NELSON ALMEIDA/AFP via Getty Images)

    To start, what a race we had! We are so lucky to be witnessing such a close and exciting season, not just between Mercedes and Red Bull but also between the other teams on the track.

    First up, gutting day for McLaren in general, Lando had contact with Sainz on lap 1 which saw him drop all the way down to P20 as he had a puncture, he managed to scrape his way to 10th and finish there, as for Daniel he was having a good race until a PU problem which saw him having to retire… This is the second race in a row where McLaren have scored 1 point, can next week bring them something new?

    Ferrari then have had another strong weekend, both drivers finishing in top 10, looking more and more likely if they keep going this way they will have no problem securing P3 in the constructors!

    There was a collision between Tsunoda and Stroll which brought out a Safety Car, and also saw Tsunoda given a 10 second time penalty… Not a good weekend for him, hopefully next week will be a different story.

    The Championship-

    Now looking at the drivers standings, there is now only an 14 point gap between Max and Lewis… with 3 races to go, who will come out on top? Looking a little further down, Leclerc who is currently sitting in P6 is only 3 points away from P5 which Lando is currently sat at, these two brilliant drivers will want to give it everything now.

    Looking at the constructors, Mercedes now have an 11 point lead over Red Bull, both teams with two talented drivers its going to be a close one for sure! Ferrari have a hefty gap now in P3 making it 31.5 points between them and McLaren, the british based team will be needing something special to happen in the next 3 races if Ferrari carry on like this… Alpine and Alpha Tauri are sat on the same points 112, with Alpine ahead in 5th this is going to be a tight battle!

    Onto the next! We are racing at a completely new circuit next week to finish of our triple header and we are in Qatar for its first ever F1 World Championship race!

  • Round 19- Brazil Sprint

    Valtteri Bottas is on POLE position for the Sáo Paulo GP! He beats Max Verstappen to it after taking the lead on the first lap!

    The top 10 are- P1: Bottas, P2: Verstappen, P3: Sainz, P4: Perez, P5: Hamilton, P6: Norris, P7: Leclerc, P8: Gasly, P9: Ocon and P10: Vettel.

    We all knew Hamilton would be on a charge today, but to get up 15 places in 24 laps, the reigning world champion is on fire! It makes you think, what could he do with 71 laps tomorrow starting P10? Maybe a win is on the cards…

    Not a good start for Ricciardo or Gasly, Ricciardo finished out of the top 10 so he will most definitely be on the charge tomorrow to claw some points. Pierre started the Sprint in 4th and finished in 8th, even thought he will be starting the race in P7 he will be hoping to get a better start tomorrow.

    Amazing start for Sainz, finished P3 after starting 5th, he managed to hold of Perez too both of them starting on the 2nd row tomorrow so that will be entertaining to see the battle between the two.

    Predictions-

    I think Lewis will take the win, I think his hungry for it and he knows he can get it too. He wants to show everyone his still in this title fight by the moves he does on track!

    The rest of my top 5 predictions are- P2: Bottas, P3: Verstappen, P4: Norris and P5: Perez.

    Tomorrow will be a very entertaining race, 71 laps of overtaking and strategies taking place. If you wasn’t planning on watching the race I’d change your plans!

    5PM (GMT) lights go out, come back for all the details after the race!

  • Hamilton Disqualified, Verstappen Fined

    Well what a 24 hours it has been! What has not happened since qualifying wow…

    First of all Lewis Hamilton got called to the stewards last night about his rear wing it had been deemed that it was not in the regulations for the DRS, but the stewards couldn’t come to a close last night so it resumed at 10.30am this morning…

    Max also got called to the stewards this morning an hour before Mercedes due to him touching the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton’s in Parc Ferme after qualifying.

    Only now have they come to an answer to both of them. First up Max got a €50,000 fine for obviously touching the Mercedes which isn’t allowed at all and it states that in the regulations so that seems a fair conclusion I’d say.

    Now onto Lewis he has been disqualified from qualifying yesterday which means he obviously won’t be starting the sprint race from pole instead Max Verstappen will.

    Both Mercedes and the stewards came to the conclusion that Max didn’t have anything to do with the DRS infringement on Lewis Hamilton‘s car…

    Merc and the stewards came to agreement that there was an unintentional fault with the rear wing and no obvious reason which has led to the disqualification.

    This means that Lewis Hamilton will be starting the sprint race from P20 meaning all drivers move up one place, where ever he finishes today he will obviously qualify but he also has a 5 place grid penalty for a new ICE which will be put on after the Sprint.

    Now with only two hours to go to till the final sprint of the season all eyes are on Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes to see how well they can do before the 5 place grid penalty comes into play could he somehow get into the top 10 who knows!

  • Round 19- Brazil Quali

    Well… It was our first day of action of the Sao Paulo GP and I had no clue what to expect! Lewis has took a new ICE meaning on Sunday he will have a five place grid penalty, but today was all about qualifying!

    Hamilton tops the charts and goes fastest out of everyone, showing his not giving up in this fight till the very end! Verstappen joins him on the front row of the grid in P2 and his sandwiched by the Mercedes of Bottas in P3.

    Fastest qualifier Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain and Mercedes GP celebrates in parc ferme during qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Brazil at...
    SAO PAULO, BRAZIL – NOVEMBER 12: Fastest qualifier Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain and Mercedes GP celebrates in parc ferme during qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Brazil at Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace on November 12, 2021 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. (Photo by Lars Baron/Getty Images)

    The full top 10 are- P1: Hamilton, P2: Verstappen, P3: Bottas, P4: Perez, P5: Gasly, P6: Sainz, P7: Leclerc, P8: Norris, P9: Ricciardo and P10: Alonso.

    I’m quite shocked that both Russell and Latifi out in Q1, I thought maybe they would get into Q2 but they now have two chance to redeem themselves starting with tomorrows sprint!

    Another one who shocked me was Stroll who was also out in Q1, starting 16th his right in the middle of any drama that could happen in the beginning of the sprint which could compromise him! Hopefully he gets through it okay if there is any drama, as Aston Martin will be hoping for a strong weekend.

    Predictions for Sprint-

    I can see pole going to Hamilton, if he gets away unscathed I think he wont really have any challenges tomorrow and he will be hoping to keep P1 so then he starts P6 on Sunday. The rest of the top five I think will be: P2: Bottas, P3: Verstappen, P4: Gasly and P5: Leclerc.

    Hopefully we see both McLaren’s and Ferrari’s battling for position tomorrow, with some late overtakes from Danny Ric. Both teams will be wanting to use tomorrow as much as possible so then they can get further up the grid and get more points for Sunday.

    Someone to look out for tomorrow is Alonso, we all see how he does in the Sprint the previous two times, so he may be a surprise and be towards the middle of the top 10!

    Times for tomorrow are-

    Saturday 13th- FP2: 15:00pm – 16:00pm (GMT), 16:00pm – 17:00pm (CET). Sprint: 19:30pm – 20:00pm (GMT), 20:30pm – 21:00pm (GMT).

  • Brazil GP

    We are back racing once again, for our second race of the triple header. Who will be leaving Brazil victorious? With only 19 points between the top 2 could this weekend be Maxs’ to loose? Or will it be Lewis’? Both have won here before, Max back in 2019 and Lewis in 2016 and 2018.

    This weekend isn’t like any normal race weekend, we have the final sprint of 2021, and with the fact that there are more points up for grabs who will be wanting to make the most impact? Could we see a Ferrari or McLaren up there trying to get some points? Or will it be two Mercs against one Bull or the other way round…

    In both weekends of the previous sprint races we have had Max and Lewis touch at Silverstone which saw Max DNF on the Sunday, and then the weekend in Monza where we saw Max and Lewis DNF on the Sunday again… Could we see potential of this again on Sunday? Personally I hope not, as I want the battle to come down to the last race!

    Who needs a good weekend?

    McLaren need a good weekend, after Ricciardo not scoring last weekend he will be wanting to get a good points haul this weekend to help in the fight for P3 in the Constructors, the same goes to Lando as well, even though he started back of the grid last weekend and managed to score one point, he will be wanting to finish higher up than that this weekend.

    Bottas will be wanting a good weekend, again after last weekend and not scoring, its put him in a spot where he could potentially loose P3 in the driver standings if Perez keeps having really good races and Bottas not having good ones, this would then effect on the Constructors too with only one point separating the top 2!

    Predictions for Qualifying-

    My predictions for the top five for qualifying are- P1: Verstappen, P2: Hamilton, P3: Bottas, P4: Perez and P5: Norris.

    Hopefully we see a Williams in the top 10 for qualifying this weekend. But traffic will play a part in qualifying tomorrow, so keep an eye out especially if there is a yellow flag.

    Pierre will be wanting to do well in tomorrows qualifying, last time out he got a podium here in 2019, so he will be wanting to do well this weekend and possibly pick up the pieces if something like that happens this weekend.

    Times for the weekend are-

    Friday 12th- FP1: 15:30pm – 16:30pm (GMT), 16:30pm – 17:30pm (CET). Qualifying: 19:00pm – 20:00pm (GMT), 20:00pm – 21:00pm (CET).

    Saturday 13th- FP2: 15:00pm – 16:00pm (GMT), 16:00pm – 17:00pm (CET). Sprint: 19:30pm – 20:00pm (GMT), 20:30pm – 21:00pm (GMT).

    Sunday 14th- Race: 17:00pm (GMT), 18:00pm (CET).

  • Tyres for Brazil

    Pirelli have chosen the tyres ahead of this weekend for the Brazil GP, where we will see the sprint race return for the last time in 2021.

    The tyres chosen are C2 (Hard), C3 (Medium) and C4 (Soft). This is the same tyre choice which has been made for the raves on the American continent this year, however it is a step softer than the tyre choice nominated in 2019.

    The hard tyre wasn’t used extensively on our last visit to Brazil, but this years choice should see an more even use of all compounds potentially different variations in strategy.

    The circuit itself-

    A lap of Interlagos is short and intense, the lap is one of the few anti-clockwise layouts on the calendar. With a non-stop succession of corners that keeps the tyres working hard- pacifically the front right.

    Traffic can be an issue on the circuit as its a short lap, so you may want to keep an eye out for this over the course of the weekend, especially qualifying, the traffic also plays a bit of a role on strategy for the sprint and race too.

    The weather in Brazil at this time of year can range from intense heat to torrential rain, but the circuit shouldn’t be affected as some grooves had been cut to help drain in the event of heavy rain, looking at the weather for this weekend, theres a possibility of rain on Friday right when Qualifying is…

    The winning strategy last time out in 2019 was by Max Verstappen, a three-stop where they had two safety cars at the end of the race. Without the safety cars, a two-stop strategy is favoured with the 71 laps on Sunday.