Both championships may have been decided with three races to spare, since Lewis Hamilton became F1 world champion for the 7th time in Turkey, but the battle for the 4th position in the driver standings and for the 3rd in the constructors standings is truly on! Given Ferrari’s resurgence in the last few races, I would expect them to be fighting for a podium in this race. A race that Leclerc lost last year due to an engine cylinder issue.
The first Turkish GP happened back in 2005 and it was actually the first F1 race that I managed to attend in person. I saw Michael Schumacher spinning in qualifying at turn 9 and I was at turn 12, the end of the back straight, during the race. Great memories! This race returns to F1 after 9 years and the circuit includes the famous quadruple-apex turn 8 which drivers expect to take flat-out in modern F1 machinery. Everything looks set…
F1 returns to the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari in the town of Imola. This is the circuit where Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger lost their lives in 1994. The last F1 race was held in 2006 where Michael Schumacher won, reaching 7 wins in that circuit. His fastest time in qualifying was 1:22:579 which I expect to get smashed by the current generation of F1 cars. Of the current drivers, only Kimi has ever driven this circuit before.
Portimao and Algarve International Circuit will be hosting their first ever Formula 1 Grand Prix this weekend. Portugal has not hosted an F1 race since 1996 in Estoril. If Lewis Hamilton wins, he will reach 92 victories and become the man with most wins in F1 history. It’s actually a matter of ‘when’, not ‘if’, Lewis achieves this. Will this record ever be broken? Definitely! It will take quite some time though I guess.
Honda leaving F1 at the end of 2021 will be the biggest news in the upcoming race in Nurburgring. This means that Red Bull and Alpha Tauri will be looking for a new engine supplier, otherwise they have to produce their own engine. Mercedes is unlikely to provide engines to their main championship rivals, Ferrari has pretty much the worst engine this year while the Red Bull-Renault relationship has reached a low point after their break up in 2018. Big…
After the mayhem at Mugello which saw two red flags, F1 is heading to Russia and to the Sochi Autodrom – a race where Mercedes drivers have triumphed every year since 2014. A lot of discussion in the paddock will be around the safety measures that should be taken to prevent another Mugello-like accident and what needs to be changed in the safety car procedures. Besides that, ex-Ferrari boss Stefano Domenicali will be the next F1 CEO and this means…
The Tuscan GP will be the first ever F1 GP held in Mugello circuit – a track that is owned by Ferrari which uses it for testing. The official lap record if 1:39.07 achieved by Riccardo Patrese in 1985 driving a Lancia LC2. I’m sure F1 cars will lap in under 1:20. After a crazy Italian GP, can F1 give us another unpredictable race?
The temple of speed! F1 is heading to the iconic Monza circuit for the fastest race in the calendar. In such a power-hungry circuit, it will be a great chance to observe what impact (if any) the ban of ‘party’ engine modes has on the qualifying session. Mercedes are expected to be hit the most but Toto Wolff has suggested that it may actually give their cars a boost come race day.
Another triple-header is approaching including three of the greatest circuits. Spa francorchamps, Monza and Mugello! I really can’t wait to watch to fastest F1 cars ever built race in those iconic places. On the same note, F1 has announced the return of the Turkish GP (I’ve been lucky enough to be there in 2005) where cars are expected to take the famous turn 8 at full throttle!
Mercedes may have lost for the first time this season but rest assured that they are still as strong as ever – they have not magically become slow. They will be heading to Barcelona this weekend with the will to prove who’s the boss. Last year, Hamilton led a Mercedes one-two with Verstappen finishing third. I would expect to see the exact same podium this year.