#bahrain sprint 2017

[petit-papillion]

Alex Jacques about that iconic 2017 F2 Bahrain Sprint Race.

The whole article is a fascinating read.

Source: Motorsport Broadcasting

[effervescentdragon]

"8 laps to the end, how is it possible to gain the lead... it looks impossible" always makes me giggle

[sillystappen]

The Daniel Ricciardo Race Watchlist

Want to watch the best of Daniel Ricciardo on F1TV (or whatever 'totally legal site' you use), then here below the cut is a complete guide to the best most awesome races by Daniel Ricciardo! Please read the IMPORTANT before selecting races!

Daniel's Career Path

2011 - HRT

2012 -> 2013 - Toro Rosso

2014 -> 2018 - Red Bull Racing

2019 -> 2020 - Renault

2021 -> 2022 - McLaren

2023 - Alpha Tauri

2024 - Visa Cash App RB

IMPORTANT: Races in which he was on the podium with Max Verstappen are in blue. Races he was on the podium without Max are in pink. Races in which he did not podium are in red. Races that he won are in green.

2011 Season - 27th

Great Britain - this is Daniel's first ever F1 race!

2012 Season - 18th

Australia - Daniel scores his first ever points!

Japan - Daniel has said this is one the races he's most proud of.

2013 Season - 14th

China - one of the best results this season

Italy - one of the best results this season

2014 Season - 3rd

Australia - though this is listed as a podium race, Daniel was later disqualified due to fuel flow reasons.

Bahrain - recommendation from @f1oatingaway

China - recommendation from @f1oatingaway

Spain - this is Daniel's first podium!

Monaco

Canada - Daniel's first win!

Great Britain

Germany - this another race Daniel has said he's proud of

Hungary - this race got my friend into F1

Belgium

Italy - recommendation from reddit

Singapore

USA

Abu Dhabi - recommendation from reddit

2015 Season - 8th

Hungary

Singapore

USA - recommendation from reddit

2016 Season - 3rd

Australia - home race points!

Bahrain - recommendation from me

China - recommendation from reddit

Spain - recommendation from me

Monaco - while this is a podium, it is incredibly frustrating to watch so keep that in mind

Austria - recommendation from me

Hungary

Germany

Belgium

Singapore

Malaysia - this is also a win for Daniel as well as the first time he podiums with Max!

USA

Mexico

2017 Season - 5th

Spain

Monaco

Canada

Azerbaijan

Austria

Great Britain - big recommendation from me

Belgium

Italy - recommendation from @rickybaby

Singapore

Malaysia - maxiel podium with a p1 for Max

Japan - maxiel podium with a p2 and p3

2018 Season - 6th

China

Azerbaijan - well done, baku.

Spain - recommendation from me

Monaco - AND ITS REDEMPTION DAY FOR DANIEL RICCIARDO

Hungary - recommendation from me

Japan - recommendation from me

2019 Season - 9th

Italy - recommendation from me

Mexico - recommendation from me

USA - recommendation from me

Brazil - recommendation from me

2020 Season - 5th

Great Britain - recommendation from me

Belgium - recommendation from me

Tuscany - recommendation from reddit

Eifel - maxiel podium with a p2 and p3

Emilia-Romagna

Sakhir - recommendation from me

2021 Season - 8th

France - recommendation from me

Austria - recommendation from me

Great Britain - recommendation from me

Italy - Daniel's most recent win

Russia - recommendation from me

USA - recommendation from me

Saudi Arabia - recommendation from me

2022 Season - 11th

Australia - recommendation from me

Emilia-Romagna Sprint - recommendation from me

Azerbaijan - recommendation from me

Austria - recommendation from me

Singapore - recommendation from reddit

Mexico - recommendation from reddit

2023 Season - 17th

Hungary - recommendation from me

Mexico - recommendation from me

Abu Dhabi - recommendation from me

2024 Season - ?

Miami Sprint - recommendation from me

Canada - recommendation from me

Austria - recommendation from me

Belgium - recommendation from me

Singapore - you know why

If you have any race recommendations leave them in the comments or reblogs and I will add them! For now this is my DR3 Race Masterlist. I hope you find this useful!

[sedicisantidote]

I will NEVER shut up about how charles is not only one of the fastest drivers ever be it quali or race, but he is also one of the most intelligent drivers, like this is all just 3d chess for him, he can gauge his opponents car placements, think of his moves one-two laps ahead, and figure out others' strategies and come up with a plan instantly

Like we saw today, he guessed what fernando was doing, managed his tyres accordingly because he knew fernando was going to push at the end, never let him get close enough, all of which resulted in him being on the podium, in a car with worse tyre degradation and against one of the best drivers.

He is just so brilliant and like i get it, he's a bit of no thoughts head empty guy sometimes off track but he is NOT an idiot!! he is so underrated it makes my head hurt sometimes.

He is a fucking mastermind and a genius, he can react to challenges as they happen on the spot without losing time, you can't learn that, you either have it or you don't and he has it in spades!!

some other examples include (2017 bahrain sprint - he was thinking of what he was gonna do in two laps time while doing overtakes and then pulling off the later overtakes exactly how he planned, bahrain 2022- he read max and his moves like a nursery poem and had back up strategies planned in case max tried something different, jeddah 2022 - he would have won the drs chicken game were it not for the late safety car ruining it, etc etc etc) (also sorry i have terrible memory and am too lazy to list other 738282 instances of his genius)

he's like if alain prost and ayrton senna had a lovechild kjsksn

[babysharl]

Feel like I'm always arriving late to these, sorry @epylonia for this arriving a couple days late and so many thanks for tagging me! 🥰🥰 🥰 You already know everything I'm working on rn 🤭, I'm gonna share a snippet of the 5+1 fic I told you about the other day (Snippet under the cut)

I'm tagging @fabbyf1, @drivestraight @celientjeee & @landoom (if you feel like it of course, no pressure! ^^)

Bahrain. 2017.

The first time Max watches it, it's not out of his own volition. Daniel shoves his phone in Max's face after dinner on a race Sunday with a glint in his eye, urging him to watch some onboard from the Formula 2 sprint. 

"From P14 to P1 in 8 laps, mate." Daniel says, grinning as he waits for Max to take his phone, expectantly.

"It's just the sprint." Max says, not understanding why Daniel has all of a sudden taken an interest in Formula 2. He didn’t even care that much for Max – or Carlos – when they were in Toro Rosso, still doesn’t care about either Daniil now or Pierre, and it’s supposed to be their sister team. But here Daniel is, holding his phone out to Max, waiting for him to take it. After a couple more seconds of being on the receiving end of Daniel's encouraging stare, Max relents. "Who is it, anyway?" Max asks as he presses play.

The start is nothing to write home about. Whoever put together the onboard video agrees, because it jumps to lap 14 after the start.

"Prema rookie.” Daniel answers. Max looks up, frowning a bit at Daniel’s tone. But then Daniel adds, “Jules knew him”, and that's when it clicks. Max understands. And he knows who he’s talking about. “I think his name’s Leclair?" 

"Leclerc." Max corrects him, gaze now focused on the screen as he watches his karting nemesis pit for softs and knows the comeback Daniel gushed about is about to start. It's a compilation, obviously half the turns being cut out – probably for effect and to make it seem even more impressive –, but Max knows even the best editing can't change a narrative if the backdrop of it didn't have the material to make this comeback meteoric. The end result is the same. The overtakes keep coming, and coming, and now Max can’t look away. It’s weird, watching it just from the onboard camera. He doesn’t even know how Daniel got access to this footage. Max didn’t even know F2 had onboard cameras fitted this year.

[starset21]

The Build Up

Standard disclaimer: I do not consent to the posting, translating, or publishing of my work to any 3rd party site, the only place it may currently be found is on tumblr and Wattpad under the name @.itswildflower. This is all fake. This does not reflect real people, real events, or their actual actions or relationships.

Summery: A quick look into her junior series records. However there is a focus on the 2019 season.

WC: 2.3k

Warnings: Death of a person

Looking for more? Find the Masterlist Here!

It was the final race of the 2017 formula 3 season and they were at the famous Hockenheim track. The drivers, clad in their brightly colored suits, were seated in their cars, helmets on, eyes focused on the race ahead of them. The lights blinked on, one by one, signaling the final countdown. The crowd held its breath as the lights turned from red to green, and the engines roared to life. Tires screeched as the cars leaped off the line, jostling for position. Casey had started in 5th but made up one place at the start when Callum Ilott, second on the grid, lost momentum after what seemed like a decent initial launch, and plummeted to sixth by the time the field reached Turn 2. She then made a pass on Jake Hughes for third place into the hairpin on lap two, the Midlander unable to defend as strongly as he had in Saturday’s second race. In another lap she was passing Zhou for second, and was 2.7s behind the Prema Powerteam of Gunther, who, unlike her, had two new tyres left for this race from his weekend allocation. Gunther inched out a couple of tenths more to his advantage before a full-course yellow was called on lap seven – Ferdinand Habsburg had misjudged his car positioning in a jostling midfield bunch into the Sachskurve, and was launched over the rear wheel of Juri Vips and into the barriers according to her race engineer. She tried like hell to catch him but just wasn’t able, leaving her crossing the finish line in second place. On the podium, Gunther stood proudly in the center, a broad smile on his face as the national anthem played. Casey, though disappointed, congratulated him with a handshake and a smile. Zhou completed the podium and the three of them sprayed their celebratory drink and stood together, their achievements celebrated. Lando had won the championship with 441 points but with a mere 5 points between her and Gunther she had managed second place in the championship. It had been a tough year but Casey was moving up to formula 2 next year. She had never thought that she’d get the chance to prove herself like this and it really was all thanks to Kimi Räikkönen taking a chance on her. After he had asked if she still wanted to race and she said yes he got to work, having her travel with him for the remainder of 2016’s races, helping her train to get into an open wheel vehicle and securing her several sponsorships among his own. 

In all, the 2018 season of Formula 2 did not go how she wanted it to go. It started off pretty decently actually, it was monumental that she was the first woman to drive in the series. With a second place in Bahrain’s feature race behind Lando, her team mate at Carlin, and a third place in the sprint race but then she was disqualified the following race in Baku. Then the day before she was set to fly to Barcelona she got news her mom was in the hospital again and this time it was looking to be fatal. Her team understood and allowed her to fly back to the U.S to be with her. She watched the race from there as Lando did well in both races and earned himself P3. Her mom was gone a mere two days after that. Safe to say she also missed the Monaco race. She came back for the France race, with much support from her friends and family, ending the sprint race in 6th but doing much better with a P2 in the feature race. She had to then retire early in the Silverstone races, something was off with the car.  She did ok in Hungary and at Spa she had a not so good sprint race but managed a P2 in the feature race. Following that was Monza and Sochi and she did decently in the sprint getting P3 and P2 but her feature races lacked pace with a P7 and P5 respectively. Her final races of the season in Abu Dhabi were not good, she stalled during the first start of the feature race and ultimately ended up a miserable P16. The sprint race went better but still not the best with a P10. She ended up in 6th place in the championship and was not going to be advancing to Formula 1. She was however picked up by a new team for the next season, BWT Arden, and she was excited for it, being the team's first woman driver in history.  

Casey started the 2019 season of Formula 2 with great results, winning the feature race in Bahrain and earning a P3 for the sprint race and she attributed much of it to the testing she did for Alfa Romeo’s F1 team and the experience she gained from it. Baku afforded her another sprint race win and Barcelona a win in the feature race. Monaco unfortunately was not as kind to her, hardly getting any points but she still celebrated with her teammate and friend (whom she had grown fairly close to) Anthonie when he won the sprint race. Moving on to France, she did much better than Monaco with a P5 feature race and a P6 during the sprint. Anthonie again won the sprint race, which meant a lot to him as it was his home race. In Austria she DNF’d the feature race after a wreck in the first lap, and was P17 in the sprint. Anthonie did well though with a P4 but only managed a P16 in the sprint. She had several eyes on her from the Formula 1 paddock for Silverstone, such as Christian Horner and some of the Red Bull Racing executives. She had done well in qualifying which then translated to her winning the feature race, which was infinitely much better than the previous year's race, and settling for a decent P5 in the sprint race. Afterwards when she stood with Kimi and her manager talking about the race and upcoming plans they were approached by Horner and Marko. They offered her the opportunity to join their junior program, a track with a likely advancement into formula 1. After much deliberation, having her lawyers and Kimi’s lawyers look over the contract and ensuring she wouldn’t be screwed over she signed it at last. She did a bunch of promotional stuff and sim work following that, joining them in the garage as a guest in Germany for Hockenheim. The next weekend was the Hungarian GP, where she got second in the feature race and P4 in the sprint. Anthonie was ecstatic for her, always the first to congratulate her, despite his string of not so good races. 

There was quite a bit of hype following her into the race weekend at Spa. The media had taken to considering it her home race (though she raced under the American flag) due to her dual citizenship. She wasn’t starting in the best position, 10th after an interrupted qualifying and someone else's penalty. She tightened her grip on the steering wheel, the starting lights began to illuminate one by one. She took a deep breath as adrenaline flooded her system. The anticipation was almost unbearable. The lights went out, and a thunderous roar erupted as the cars launched off the grid. Tires screeched, and the machines darted forward with incredible speed, slicing through the track in a symphony of precision and power. She made a quick jump up two places into 8th and by the time she was starting her second lap she was in 7th. The next thing she knew there was a yellow and a then red flag. “Red flag. Red flag. There were several collisions involving multiple cars at the Raidillon corner behind you,” Jay, her race engineer, informed her. “Is everyone ok?” she asked worriedly. “We don’t know yet,” he told her after several long seconds. She sent a quiet prayer up to whoever was listening, hoping everyone would be ok as she brought her car to a stop in the pit lane and the mechanics brought it into the garage before allowing her to climb out. She saw Anthonie’s car wasn’t in the garage beside her and looked worriedly over at the pit wall. “Can someone please tell me what’s going on? What happened?” Jay quickly crossed the lane from the pit wall and took her aside, ushering her back to one of the small private rooms in the garage. 

“I’m going to explain this very technically and if you need me to stop I will,” he tells her sternly and Casey nods her understanding. “Giuliano Alesi was running tenth when he spun into the barriers while going through Eau Rouge, damaging the rear of the car and bouncing back onto the circuit at the exit of the corner. Ralph Boschung, Anthoine and Jordan King had been running eleventh, twelfth and thirteenth at the time and took evasive action. Boschung cleared Alesi's Trident by taking to the tarmac run-off on the outside of the corner and King was able to slow in time to avoid contact. Anthonie attempted to go to the right of Boschung, but made contact with the Trident's right-rear wheel, puncturing Boschung's tyre and causing him to lose his front wing. His car continued along the run-off and crashed into a tyre barrier with the front and right side of the car. The car snapped around and was sitting at an angle that was perpendicular to the racing line, but it remained on the tarmac run-off area. Correa, who had been fourteenth at the time, was on the approach to Eau Rouge as Alesi lost control. He hit a piece of debris which lodged under a front wheel, preventing his car from steering effectively and causing it to go straight into the tarmac run-off where Anthonie had been. The force of the collision was enough to tear his car in half-” He was interrupted by her gasping as she shook her head, bringing a hand to her mouth. “No. no. no. stop.” Jay nodded, simply moving to bring the young woman into his arms, holding her tightly as her body began to shake. They had worked quickly, transporting him to the nearest hospital but it was announced an hour and half after the accident that Anthonie had succumbed to his injuries and Correa was critical but stable. The F2 races were canceled out of respect and the motorsport community was in mourning. 

There was a minute of silence observed before the Formula 3 and Formula 1 races at Spa the next day. Casey lost count of how many people told her they were sorry, that Anthonie was a good man. It was a stark reminder to all of the drivers that what they do is dangerous. She had spent that night with Pierre in the hotel, the two of them mourning for their friend but also remembering the fun times they had shared as the three of them had gotten close over the last year or so. A few of the other drivers had stopped by earlier in the night to talk with them, checking in and sharing stories. She spent pretty much all of that Sunday in the Red Bull teams garages, or hospitality with Pierre. Before the start of the race, all the safety vehicles, safety car, medical car, track inspection car, ambulance, car recovery vehicles, etc. made a lap on the track as a tribute to Anthonie and it was nice to see how fast they had created a sticker of the number 19 inside a star and the words "Racing for Anthoine". Charlie won his first grand prix that day and dedicated it to Anthonie. 

After his funeral nine days later, which saw many from the greater motorsport community attend, BWT Arden announced that they would only enter one car for the round at Monza. The team went on to prepare a car for Anthonie, which was then left in the garage as a mark of respect. Casey didn’t do well during those races, earning herself a P13 and a P10. Tatiana Calderón was named as his replacement for the final two rounds of the championship in Sochi and Abu Dhabi. Where she was assigned the number 22. It was awesome having another woman driving beside her, and they got along well. Matevos Isaakyan replaced the injured Correa at Charouz for the final races. In Sochi she came back much stronger, with a P2 and P4. She traveled to Japan with Kimi and the Alfa Romeo team, as she wanted to discuss her future with him. She was approached about being brought into Formula 1 at Toro Rosso in 2020, which would actually become AlphaTauri in the new year. Of course he encouraged her to go for it, after of course looking over the contract himself. She joined Red Bull in their garages at the remaining three races before Abu Dhabi, even being released and allowed to participate in a free practices in Pierre’s Toro Rosso car. With her future secured she went into the season's final race and managed a P7 in the feature and a P2 in the sprint race, which meant she placed second overall in the championship. Later at the FIA Formula 2 Championship prize-giving ceremony in Monaco the Anthoine Hubert Award was introduced. The award is given to the highest-placed driver without previous Formula 2 experience and the inaugural recipient of the Anthoine Hubert Award was Zhou. It was overall a bittersweet season for her but she was ready for the challenges that would come next. 

[j-emini]

charles i need you to pull a 2017 f2 bahrain sprint race rn

[forelsketparadise]

stats after the season

Ferrari scored their first 1-2 finish since Singapore 2019 at Bahrain.

Ferrari led the every single lap of a GP at Bahrain since Spa 2018.

Zhou Guanyu scored his first F1points of his career and for Alfa Romeo in Bahrain by getting P10 (1 points).

Nico Hulkenberg is still the driver with most points scored without a podium. 

Valtteri Bottas scored his first points for Alfa Romeo at Bahrain by getting P6 (8 points).

Daniel was outqualified by a teammate for the first time at Bahrain. He had previously outqualified all his teammate at that circuit. 

Charles is the first Monegasque to lead the championship.

58 pit stop at Bahrain was the most since 2016 Germany grand prix.

Lewis got out in Q1 for the first time since Brazil 2017 in Saudi Arabia.

Sergio Perez scored the first pole of his career in Saudi Arabia. He is also the first Mexican driver to ever take a pole in F1. Also the 103th driver to get pole.

Saudi Arabia was the first race without a Schumacher or Vettel since Portugal 1994.

Saudi Arabia marked Lewi’s 180th race with Mercedes. The most by any driver with any team. It surpassed Michael Schumacher 179 races with Ferrari. 

Charles got the first pole for ferrari in australia since Kimi 2007 15 years ago. 

Valtteri’s record of 103 Q3 appearances broke in Australia where he failed to get into Q3 by qualifying P12.

Carlos loses a 33 race finish streak in Australia where is the first one to retire. Eifel 2020- Saudi Arabia 2022

Carlos also lost a 17 point scoring streak in Australia. Styria 2021- Saudi Arabia 2022.c

Alex got his first points for Williams in Australia by getting P10 (1 points)

Charles scored his first grand slam in Australia. The first for Ferrari since Alonso in Singapore 2010.

Charles the first driver to win from pole in Australia since Lewis Hamilton in 2014.

George’s first podium for Mercedes comes in Australia where he got P3.

Zhou first DNF at a race came in Miami though he had one in sprint race at Imola the weekend before.

Charles’s took Ferrrari’s first pole in Cota.

Abu Dhabi was Lewis’s 200th race with Mercedes.

this year is the first time since 1979 that most drivers (Checo, Carlos, George and Kevin) scored their maiden pole in a single year. it has been 43 years since then.

It took Haas 142 Grand Prix to get their first pole.

Kevin’s pole put Denmark as the 24th Nation on pole.

[f1]

FACTS AND STATS: A first front row in Baku for Verstappen but the wait for a Red Bull pole here continues

Friday qualifying yielded plenty of drama, with Charles Leclerc grabbing a first pole position of the season for Ferrari despite stiff competition from the Red Bull drivers. That was only half the story though, with two red flags disrupting proceedings in Q1 as both Nyck de Vries and Pierre Gasly came a cropper at Turn 3. Here are all the best facts and stats from a very busy Friday in Baku… Leclerc made it three consecutive poles at a venue for the first time in his F1 career. The Ferrari man has led one lap in each of his last two starts from pole here. Max Verstappen was second, and while Red Bull have never taken pole here, Ferrari have never won at this track. READ MORE: Leclerc beats Verstappen in qualifying thriller for third straight Azerbaijan GP pole It is the Dutchman’s first ever front row start in Azerbaijan. Sergio Perez made it two Bulls in the top three for the first time since Bahrain. Third is where Verstappen won the race from in 2022. Leclerc might have started on pole here twice - but he has yet to win in Baku Carlos Sainz was fourth, meaning that the grid order is Ferrari, Red Bull, Red Bull, Ferrari for the second straight year. Lewis Hamilton’s P5 means he outqualified George Russell for the first time this year. Hamilton has only ever won from fifth once in his career – in Singapore in 2017. Fernando Alonso was sixth in his worst qualifying of the year. FORMULA WHY: What makes F1 Sprint weekends harder – your questions answered in our new podcast Lando Norris managed seventh for his first Q3 appearance of the season. Yuki Tsunoda was eighth, in not just his, but also his team’s, first Q3 showing. The AlphaTauri man has never qualified lower than eighth in Baku in three appearances. Lance Stroll was ninth, for his highest start in Baku since 2017, when he finished on the podium. Oscar Piastri in P10 set an identical time to the Canadian. It did mean that both McLarens made Q3 for the first time this season. Russell was 11th, missing out on Q3 by just 0.004s. Tsunoda made Q3 for the first time this season Alex Albon’s P13 was the best qualifying for Williams in Baku since 2018. Valtteri Bottas was 14th leaving Alfa Romeo as the only team without a Q3 appearance in 2023. Logan Sargeant became the first American to reach Q2 since Scott Speed at Silverstone in 2007. This was the first time Williams managed to get both cars into Q2 since Russia 2021. WATCH: Nyck de Vries and Pierre Gasly crash out of Azerbaijan Grand Prix qualifying Zhou Guanyu missed out on Q2 by just 0.020s. Both Haas cars went out in Q1 for the first time since Austin last year. Kevin Magnussen was outqualified by a team mate here for the first time in his sixth visit. Pierre Gasly missed out in Q1 as he did in Bahrain. Nyck de Vries suffered his third Q1 elimination in four races. The Dutchman’s accident was identical to his team mate’s from qualifying here in 2021. via Formula 1 News https://www.formula1.com

[petit-papillion]

If you are in need of some delightful racing this Winter Break, may I recommend doing what I just did and (re-)watching this Leclerc Overtaking Masterclass. Never fails to make me happy. 😊

Special appearances by Alex Albon, Antonio Fuoco, Norman Nato, Nyck de Vries & Nicholas Latifi.

[petit-papillion]

You say 10 place engine penalty, I say Leclerc overtake masterclass! Charles baby, just channel your inner Bahrain 2017 F2 sprint race, and we good.

just listen to the comms. free fucking serotonin ❤️

[still-we-rise]

Since the GODDAMN link in the GODDAMN description just refuses to work, because fuck Carol am I right gamers, I decided to pin my ✨masterlist✨ for y'all. It really needs updating but a) i am not very feeling like it or anything rn and b) at this point i don't even know what's missing and what's not because i can't remember the stuff i did myself so it izz what it izz

ANYWAY ENJOY! 💖💖💖 Lots of love from your Bono fanclub proud leader

facts i gathered about Bono: x

interview audio with Bono parts only (for therapeutic purposes): x

gifsets:

my first Bono gifset What Happens at the Engineering Station in an F1 Garage? Curry night in Singapore Bono being tiny Bahrain 2021 + Bono x Lewis hug ✨hugs✨+ happy Bono Bono during various practice sessions Portuguese GP 2021 Romain Grosjean + Mercedes Spanish GP 2021: quali + race 'My job in F1: Andrew Shovlin' Baku 2021 French GP 2021 Testing W12 with Anthony Davidson James Vowles and Lewis Hamilton at Imola, 2021 British GP 2015 Sky Sports interview with Bono Turkish GP 2020 Turkish GP 2009 British GP 2017 Spanish GP 2018 Austrian GP debrief Portuguese GP 2020 Ted's Notebook: Silverstone sprint race British GP 2021: 1 2 3 Hungarian GP 2021: 1 2 Belgian GP 2021: 1 2 Zandvoort 2021

fancams

Bono + 'Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For' mini-Mercedes fancam + 'Not Afraid' Mercedes + 'Sex Type Thing' Mercedes + 'Don't Worry 'Bout a Thing' Formula 1 + Zitti e Buoni Bono/Lewis + 'Hear Me Now'

[gulflaren]

pierre gasly watching the 2017 formula two bahrain sprint race

[gresiniracing]

2017 BAHRAIN SPRINT RACE | for @uni-virtuosis

[ryo-hirakawa]

i just watched charles' 2017 bahrain sprint race and holy smokes that really was something...

[formula365]

Everyone loves an underdog - Portuguese GP preview

The midfield battle in 2020 was one of the most fascinating stories of the season. From the pink Mercedes controversy to the podium opportunities and unlikely wins, the fight behind Mercedes and Red Bull was far more enticing than the title battle (such as it was). The three teams that ended the season still with a shot of supremacy all had moments throughout the year in which they had the fastest car, so the difference was in who could take the best advantage of their package overall.

Of those three, McLaren was definitely not the one with the best pace for most of the year. The Woking team, limited in their development for 2021 due to the change to Mercedes power, was hard at work in improving their front wing to have it homologated for this season, and that cost them in terms of the car development compared to Renault and Racing Point. Ultimately, it didn’t matter, as they managed to consistently maximise their results at almost every race, while their rivals squandered opportunities on occasion.

It was consistency - shown by how close their two drivers finished on the standings compared to the distances between Ricciardo and Perez and their teammates - not pace that delivered McLaren the third place in the constructors championship. In such close battles, to have pace is important, of course, but you need to know how to take advantage of it, and that wasn’t always the case with their rivals.

This is a lesson that AlphaTauri is learning the hard way. The AT02 has shown some remarkable pace, to the point that after practice in Bahrain there seemed to be a consensus that the Faenza squad was on par with McLaren and Ferrari at the front of the midfield. Their qualifying results seem to confirm this, and their race pace, when not hampered by other factors, does as well. So it ends up being a disappointment that they have only collected eight points so far.

This still puts them fifth in the championship, ahead of Aston Martin and Alpine, who were significantly ahead of them last year, but given the promise and potential of the car, it feels like underachieving. Driver errors in both races, and bad strategy at Imola have cost them much better results, and although this is enough for a place in the top half of the table - Franz Tost’s goal for the team - it was a lost opportunity at a time when they have a significant pace advantage over the teams immediately behind them.

Their rivals will be working hard to close the gap, and with the resources at their disposal it wouldn’t be surprising to see that happen. Not taking the most out of the opening two weekends might hurt AlphaTauri in the long term, and when teams are beginning to bring some more significant updates to their cars as the European season progresses, they might be left ruing these missed opportunities. That pace advantage might not always be there.

This is a team that is easy to love. Everyone loves an underdog, of course, but the origins of this team hark back to the humble Minardi, that struggled as back marker for most of its existence but was endearing to fans as they always seemed to do their best in tough circumstances and hung around for decades as other squads, with far more money and ambition, tumbled out of the sport. That, and also they had some really beautiful liveries.

Add to that an exciting driver line-up, with Gasly continuing to write his redemption story and Tsunoda coming to the sport like a comet, and it’s easy to see why so many fans want to see them do well. The car has pace, the drivers have promise and, as an outfit, they continue to deliver more than is expected of them, just like in the Minardi days. As the races will start coming thick and fast now (three GPs in the next four weekends), they need to deliver on this promise in Portugal to create momentum. 2021 can be another fairytale underdog year for them, but they need to learn that at the sharp end, if you don’t take your opportunities, others will.

Talking points

* It’s all everyone seems to be talking about. Who will come out on top this weekend? The Hamilton-Verstappen battle has already captured everyone’s imagination and the battle promises to be one for the ages. The last few seasons had plenty of great stories and moments of awe, but they lacked a fight at the front. Even the Vettel challenge in 2017 and 2018 petered long before the end, so the last time we had a real fight was Rosberg’s title year. It’s high time we had a battle taken to the bitter end.

* Sprint qualifying was announced this week, and the reaction among fans has been mixed, at best. Under the context of increasing the interest for the casual fan watching on TV or those who might want to go watch it live but will only care about the Sunday ticket, this format becomes understandable. On a sporting context, though, it seems to add little, and might even detract from the overall product quality, as drivers will not be particularly keen to take chances in overtaking on a qualifying race knowing it might ruin their entire weekend. One upside is that drivers will go into Friday qualifying with only one hour of practice session. Benefit of the doubt for now, but it doesn’t look promising.

* Speaking of not very promising things, the Miami GP track layout seems very… meh. Maybe it’s a bias against car park tracks, but I am not looking forward to see a race there. Then again, Baku didn’t feel too inviting either and we have had some crazy races, so… Again, benefit of the doubt, for now.

* At the time of writing, Lewis Hamilton and George Russell have announced that they will be joining a social media boycott over the weekend, protesting the lack of action from platforms against racism and hate by users. It’s an important message to send, but I am not sure that absence for a short period of time is the right way to send it.

* Speaking of Russell, the controversy around his crash with Bottas and, in particular, the way he reacted to it keeps rumbling on. Scolded by Toto Wolff in the immediate aftermath, and very much aware of the long-term implications, the Brit did issue an apology on the Monday after the race - but he only apologised for his reaction, not for the crash. Also, he did say he would call Bottas, but the Finn said Russell tried to call him early on Monday morning, while Bottas was sleeping, and did not try again. It’s clear there will be a continued animosity between these two, given how intertwined their futures are. Let’s hope that the next time they meet on track, the ending won’t be filled with car parts like in Imola.