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The 2019 German Grand Prix Review

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was victorious at this weekend’s German Grand Prix at Hockenheim
Source: Autoblog

What a race at the Hockenheimring! After some very dull races this season, we’ve seen 3 races that have livened up the sport – in Austria, Verstappen’s battle with Leclerc for the lead after charging through from a poor start; Silverstone had battles throughout and was won by the home favourite, Lewis Hamilton. This race was the wet race every F1 fan had been waiting for. It had absolutely everything: top drivers making mistakes, drivers charging through the field, a choice between slick and wet weather tyres and a surprising podium finish for a non-top 3 team.

Here are some of the major talking points of a thrilling race in Germany:

Many Mistakes from experience and youth:
The first major mistake from the race came on the second lap, when Sergio Perez spun out in the midfield. This wasn’t the only time an experienced driver made a mistake in this race – Lewis Hamilton crashed into the barrier at the final corner whilst leading the race under the safety car. He also spun at the first corner, where his teammate Valterri Bottas later crashed in the race. Nico Hulkenberg, who was running 4th and in line to take his first podium in F1, also crashed out at the final turn, one lap after Kimi Raikkonen saved his car from getting beached in the gravel at the same point on the track. This showed that no matter how many races you’ve competed in (and how invicible your season has seemed), you are still liable to a bad day at the office, especially in an unpredictable, hard-to-call race like the one we witnessed at the weekend.
It was also the first full-wet race in F1 for the likes of Pierre Gasly and Charles Leclerc, who both failed to finish the race due to their mistakes. Leclerc was the first victim of the Turn 16 barriers, whilst Gasly ruined his race after a failed overtake on Alexander Albon in the Toro Rosso. Despite it not being his first wet race, Carlos Sainz was the first driver to lose it at Turn 16, although he did not crash out of the race, and eventual race-winner Max Verstappen spun on his first lap with medium tyres. It shows how great wet races are in F1, because it catches out many of the top drivers, no matter how much experience they have in these conditions and leads to some surprise results.

Slicks vs Inters – and a great strategy call:
The tyre battle was an interesting watch throughout. Intermediate tyres were clearly the best option as the track started to dry at the beginning of the race. However, Kevin Magnussen, in the Haas, and Sebastian Vettel, charging through from the back in the Ferrari, threw a spanner in the works when they pitted for dry tyres on Lap 22. They were followed by most of the field, with a few notable exceptions like Carlos Sainz (who had previously spun – and pit for fresh inters). Despite the initial speed advantage, this proved to be the wrong decision as Verstappen spun in 3rd, followed by Leclerc and Hamilton crashing from 1st and 2nd – ending the former’s race and bringing out a safety car, allowing all the drivers to pit for new inters since the track was not yet dry enough for slick tyres.
This so-called ‘battle of the tyres’ also allowed us to witness a masterstroke from the Racing Point strategists. After the Safety Car period for Nico Hulkenberg’s crash ended, most of the field pitted once again for the dry weather tyres – which the lone Racing Point of Lance Stroll had done during the SC period, leaving him to lead the race for a short period. They were nearly rewarded for their efforts with a podium, but were pipped by Sebastian Vettel and the Toro Rosso of Daniil Kvyat.

Gasly’s situation at Red Bull:
Kvyat managing to achieve Toro Rosso’s second ever podium once again casts doubt over the future of Pierre Gasly. Red Bull say that they will stick by Pierre, but they need someone who can back up Max Verstappen when he is leading races if they are to become in contention for championships again – and at the moment, they are the closest to Mercedes and Hamilton with Max Verstappen at the wheel. Daniil Kvyat has come back into F1 and he has proved that he is not a liability, and can race properly and maturely against top drivers (especially now Sebastian Vettel this weekend). Many fans of the sport, myself included, feel as if Kvyat could walk back into that seat after the summer break, as it is very rare to see a Red Bull driver be outdone by a Toro Rosso driver (the only other time this has happened was at Monza 2008 – with the teams first win), and Kvyat himself was subject to the same treatment back in 2016.

Unjust penalty for Hamilton?
Of course, a race weekend is not complete with questioning the FIA’s decision to enforce a penalty on teams and/or drivers. The first case was a fine for Ferrari for an unsafe release. This is quite controversial, as in Monaco Max Verstappen received a 5 second penalty for the same incident (although he did force Bottas into the wall during that incident). This suggests that the FIA are becoming more lenient on the drivers on these issues, and will start to impose fines if they are consistent. In my opinion, this is a good thing, as I don’t think drivers should be punished for a mistake by the team, although I understand some concerns that it could put drivers and members of the pit crew at risk.
The second penalty that needs to be mentioned is Lewis Hamilton’s 5 second time penalty for illegally entering the pit lane. To be honest, I understand why this was given considering the amount of grief that was given over Hamilton not receiving a penalty for a similar incident in the exact same race last year., however it was a lose-lose situation for the driver. The pitstop was 50.3 seconds long, as the team were unaware of what happened and they had to change the front wing and the tyres, and he was not able to go around the bollard since he had gone off past the final turn. If he had continued, considering he had lost half of the front wing and was bringing gravel back onto the track, he would’ve done damage to the car, although he would not lose positions due to being behind the Safety Car. I do understand why the FIA decided to give the penalty (also what happened to the investigation about driving ‘unnecessarily slowly’ under the SC?) but it was a very harsh call considering the situation.
Finally, the Alfa Romeo pair of Antonio Giovinazzi and Kimi Raikkonen were given 30 second penalties after the race as they used driver aids at the start of the race. The team are appealing the decision – which promoted Lewis Hamilton to 9th and Robert Kubica to 10th, and demoted their drivers to 12th and 13th.

Opportunity missed for Renault?
Renault are trying to hunt down McLaren in the Constructors’ championship for the best of the rest position, but this weekend is not the way for them to go about it, with another double DNF this season. Daniel Ricciardo had an exhaust failure and was the second man to retire during the race, whilst Nico Hulkenberg was another victim of the final turn. This could prove to be the one that got away for Renault, since Hulkenberg was actually running in the podium positions before his crash, but now they have been leapfrogged by Toro Rosso – and are 31 points behind McLaren, which also isn’t great for them as the works team since they are being outperformed by the team they are supplying. It is worrying at Renault, as they would’ve expected to be the team that could’ve got a surprise podium, with their driver lineup and no longer having to supply a top 3 team, instead they were faced with their second double retirement of the season.

The Haas drivers collide (again!):
Towards the end of the race, after the restart from Bottas’ crash, the Haas drivers once again came close to taking each other out of the race (Force India 2017 vibes anyone?), for the second time in 2 races. Kevin Magnussen came over the radio to say that he “doesn’t feel safe” racing his teammate, whilst Grosjean asked “what is [Magnussen] doing”, and said that “he will never learn”. This shows a rift between the 2 drivers, which will definitely need to be sorted before the relationship between them becomes irrepairable. I’ve previously said in my driver transfer predictions (link below) that there needs to be a change at Haas, and this race further proves that point.
https://allthat.sport.blog/2019/07/25/sebastian-vettel-to-retire/

Vettel curse lifted?
The final question every Vettel fan can ask themselves, will this whole year of bad luck finally end? Seb got his podium at Hockenheim, and although it wasn’t the win he was overdue, it isn’t exactly the worst result since he started from 20th on the grid. He clearly seemed to enjoy the track, and some of the overtakes were like watching the dominant Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel again, and for the sport, this must continue – because it is great watching experienced drivers who have won multiple championships fight against the young, up-and-coming stars of the future.

There are so many highlights from a great, classic F1 race like this. Let me know your favourite moment of the Grand Prix this weekend, and who you think was the driver of the day.

The 2019 Singapore Grand Prix Review

***Ferrari have been on fire over the last 3 races, and got the first ever 1-2 at the Singapore Grand Prix in the race’s history.***

What a surprising outcome from last weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix! After the domination of Ferrari from the last two races, it was widely thought that Red Bull and Mercedes would be the key competitors over the weekend. However, 392 days after his last win, Sebastian Vettel finally won a Formula 1 Grand Prix in a rather unexpected manner.

Here are all the talking points from the Singapore Grand Prix:

The minor lap 1 incidents:
There’s always a safety car in Singapore, and this season it was no exception. However, it did not make an appearance on the opening lap, but that does not mean there weren’t any incidents. Firstly, George Russell had a tangle with his teammate, Robert Kubica as well as Daniel Ricciardo, who had to make his way through the field after disqualification from qualifying. Russell ended up losing his front wing when he was squeezed by the two cars.
Former teammates Nico Hulkenberg and Carlos Sainz also had a coming together on the first lap, resulting in punctures for the pair. Sainz came off worse, as during the pitstop McLaren struggled to lift the car up with the rear jack. It is the third race in a row where Sainz has had issues – first struggling to get off the line in Belgium, then a botched pitstop at Monza, and then a race-ruining puncture at the beginning of the race.

The power of the undercut:
In recent years, we have seen many race-winning strategies, but this call from Ferrari was top class if you’re Sebastian Vettel. The initial plan from the strategists was to pit Vettel to get him ahead of Lewis Hamilton and get a 1-2 finish, but it obviously turned out better than this, much to the dismay of Charles Leclerc. It was completely understandable as to why Ferrari blinked first with Sebastian: someone had to pit first and the field was not spreading as far apart as the teams would’ve liked; also it would have been worse jeopardising the race lead with Leclerc’s car than it would’ve with Seb, who was running in third place.
It is also worth noting that Red Bull too capitalised on the opportunity of an undercut, as Max Verstappen managed to get past Hamilton with this strategy, as was brought closer to Leclerc’s Ferrari as the race progressed. It’s like a complete reverse from the strategy calls earlier in the season, where Mercedes rarely missed a trick – but in the last 2 races they have been caught napping by Ferrari, and have been surpassed on pure pace too.

The Safety Cars:
As previously mentioned, it would not be a Singapore Grand Prix without a safety car. This year, it was called on three times. The first case was when there was a crash between Romain Grosjean and George Russell. It was ruled as a racing incideny by the stewards, as Grosjean didn’t really have anywhere to go after entering ffrom the outside of the corner, whilst Russell wouldn’t have known much about the Haas being there.
The second call was the end of a nightmare few laps for Racing Point. Sergio Perez’s car had an oil leak, and he was told by his race engineer that he had to stop the car on track. It was rather unfortunate for the team, who had to deal with a Lance Stroll puncture a few laps earlier, but they could not do anything with the mechanical failure on Perez’s car.
The final safety car was called on after the ‘Torpedo’ returned. Daniil Kvyat crashed into the side of Kimi Raikkonen’s Alfa Romeo, damaging the suspension and subsequently ending Kimi’s race. Once again the stewards ruled no action was necessary as they seemed to agree with Kvyat’s claim that he was turned in on by Raikkonen.

Is Sebastian Vettel finally back?
Over the past year, Sebastian Vettel has not raced like the four time world champion we all know he is – whether its down to lack of confidence, mistakes or whatever else there could be. However, this weekend’s win against the run of form must surely instill some confidence from him, and as a fan of the sport, I think its important that Sebastian got this win at the weekend, regardless of the manner in which it came, and I hope we can see an actual fight to the end of the season between Ferrari and Mercedes, as we have seen in the previous 2 races beforehand.

These are my key moments from the Singapore Grand Prix. What are yours? Do you think that Vettel will come back on the right track?

F1 2020 – Haas retain drivers, Kubica out

***Haas announced a few hours ago that they have decided to keep both drivers for the 2020 season, leaving Nico Hulkenberg’s future still uncertain.***

Ahead of this weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix, more has been revealed about the state of Formula 1’s 2020 grid. Firstly, Haas have announced that they are retaining both drivers for next season. This comes after the speculation surrounding Romain Grosjean’s future, as it was recently confirmed that Nico Hulkenberg would not be racing for Renault next year.

After winning the battle to retain his seat, Grosjean commented:

“I’ve always stated that it was my desire to remain with Haas F1 Team and keep building on the team’s accomplishments. Having been here since the very beginning and seen the work both Gene Haas and Guenther Steiner put into the team to make it competitive, I’m naturally very happy to continue to be a part of that. To finish fifth in the constructors’ championship last season in only the team’s third year of competing was something very special. We’ve had our challenges this season, but we’ll use both the experience of last year and this year to move forward into 2020. I’m looking forward to working with Kevin [Magnussen] and the whole team and continuing our journey together.”

The Haas team principal, Guenther Steiner, also added:

“Experience, and the need for it, has been one of the cornerstones of Haas F1 Team, and with Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen racing for the team in 2020, we continue to have a driver lineup that offers us a solid platform to continue our growth. Their understanding of how we work as a team, and our knowledge of what they can deliver behind the wheel, gives us a valued continuity and a strong foundation to keep building our team around. It’s been a tough year for us in 2019 with the fluctuation in performance of the VF-19, but our ability to tap into our combined experiences will help us learn, improve, and move forward as a unit in 2020.”

***Meanwhile, it has also been confirmed Robert Kubica will not be returning for Williams next year.***

There has also been some other big news, Robert Kubica and Williams will part company at the end of the season. Kubica, who has had 1 points scoring finish since his fairytale return to F1, has trailed his rookie teammate George Russell for the majority of the season, and confirmed the news himself in the driver’s press conference ahead of the weekend’s race.

He said this on the matter:

“I have taken the decision that I will not continue more with Williams after this year. The decision opens a bit the opportunities for me for the future in different scenarios and now I will evaluate what is possible.”
“This season has been very tough from a performance point of view, but it’s been also very demanding. Being back in Formula 1 after a long time is not easy, and especially when you’re in a difficult situation like we are. But still, nevertheless, I have to thank the team for the opportunity and we’ll see what the future will bring.”

Claire Williams, Deputy Team Principal, issued this statement after the announcement:
“I would like to thank Robert for his hard work and respect his decision to leave the team at the end of the 2019 season.
“Robert has been an important member of the team in both his role as Reserve & Development Driver, and subsequently as one of our Race Drivers in 2019. We thank him for his continued efforts throughout what has been a challenging couple of seasons and wish him well in his future endeavours.”

This now leaves the door open for a return to Williams for Hulkenberg, after the news from Haas; or maybe a step up to F1 for the Formula 2 driver Nicholas Latifi.

What do you think about the news? Have they all made the correct decisions? and who do you think will replace Kubica at Williams?

The 2019 Italian Grand Prix Review

***Charles Leclerc celebrates on the podium after becoming the first Ferrari driver to win the Italian Grand Prix since Fernando Alonso in 2010.***

Once again, we have been blessed with another great race. After the bore-fest of the French Grand Prix, people were speculating about how Formula One could become exciting again, and since that race we have had 6 races – all great in their own ways. Here are some of the talking points of the 2019 Italian Grand Prix:

Qualifying drama:
It’s not often that qualifying steals the show, but this weekend the final lap drama of qualifying was ridiculous – if not bordering on hilarious. Only Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc managed to cross the line at the end of Q3, in a session where Nico Hulkenberg, Lance Stroll and Sainz were all investigated after the session – but escaped with only a repimand after cutting the chicaine and driving unneccesarily slowly on the out lap. It was truly dramatic and bizarre and could arguably be one of the key highlights from the weekend.

Lap 1, Turn 1:
Most of the first lap action happened towards the back of the field, with Max Verstappen (who started last on the grid after engine penalties and failing to set a time in Q1) making contact with the Racing Point of Sergio Perez before the first corner. It was ruled as a racing incident, as the FIA clearly believed it was a typical first lap incident and it was hard to avoid considering the difference in speed and braking power between the two cars.

***Vettel*** **crashed with the Racing Point of Lance Stroll, but where does this leave him at Ferrari?**

Vettel’s Monza nightmare (the Lap 6 incidents):
Sebastian Vettel’s dreams of winning the Italian Grand Prix with Ferrari have diminished in the opening laps of the last 2 races at Monza. It was very much a case of deja vu on Sunday – when he spun completely unassisted and collected Lance Stroll when he rejoined the track. As a 4-time World champion, you would not expect the mistakes that keep coming from him, it is just baffling because the error he made on Sunday was one even a rookie would not make. It’s bizarre and it is difficult not to question the mindset that Sebastian has at the moment, since he is making errors that we have rarely seen from recent rookies who have joined F1 in the last few years. It is also worth noting that Vettel received a 10 second stop/go penalty, the harshest penalty they can give before a black flag.
Lance Stroll, who had been collected by Vettel, rejoined the track and pushed Gasly into the gravel. Considering he branded Vettel “a f*****g idiot” over the radio and then did a similar thing, it is very ironic. Stroll also received a penalty, although it was a slightly more lenient in comparison to Vettel, as he picked up a drive through penalty for compromising Gasly’s race and rejoining the track in an unsafe manner.

Mercedes vs Leclerc:
With his teammate down the order, Charles Leclerc was left to defend against both of the Silver Arrows on his own, and did an absolutely stellar job. Hamilton triggered the pitstops on Lap 19, swapping softs for new medium tyres – with Leclerc pitting for hards as opposed to mediums one lap later. Now we were left with a waiting game, would Hamilton’s medium tyres last until the end of the race, and if so could Leclerc keep up his defence against both cars? Hamilton struggled to get past the Ferrari on the straights due to the Scuderia’s well-known pace in a straight line, even with the assistance of DRS, but came close on multiple occasions and forcing Leclerc into the odd error here and there. However, he was ‘forced’ off the track at the Della Roggia chicaine, after which the Ferrari driver was presented with a black and white flag for potentially dangerous driving, sparking debate across social media and Hamilton himself questioning the call. Hamilton could not complete the move on Leclerc, and his tyres faded, leaving his teammate Bottas to attempt to take the win. Like Hamilton, Bottas came close on several occasions, but still could not pass the Ferrari.

Renault resurgence:
What a result for Renault! It has been very frustrating to watch Renault this season, as they should be challenging for best-of-the-rest at nearly every race track if you take into account the progress they have made over the last few seasons, but for whatever reason, it has not happened for them this season. However, they had a great result in the race, with Daniel Ricciardo finishing P4 and Hulkenberg just behind in P5. It’s a great finish for them, especially considering the company’s new backers aren’t all that interested in the sport. If they keep this up, they could still bridge the gap to customers McLaren before the season ends.

Back-to-back wins for Leclerc:
I’m not going to pretend I wasn’t sat at my television smiling when I saw all the Italian fans singing the anthem underneath the podium after Leclerc’s win. After 9 years;after the performance last year, they finally had the win they’d been looking for at their home grand prix. It was a very hard-earned win for them, and a long time coming. The question still remains though, is Leclerc now their number one driver? Realistically speaking, he has to be (for the remainder of this season at least) because once again, Vettel has struggled to cope under pressure, whilst Charles has excelled. It will be very interesting to the mindset of the team heading into the Singapore GP weekend, what will they decide? And what will Sebastian Vettel be thinking after seeing the electrifying atmosphere given towards his teammate after accomplishing the victory that he himself so desperately wanted?

Here are some of my key events from this weekend’s race, what are yours? And what do you think about Vettel’s situation right now?

The 2019 Belgian Grand Prix Review

This weekend was a very tough one emotionally for the entire motorsport community. It would be physically impossible to write this without sparing a few words for Anthoine Hubert, the promising French F2 driver, who has been taken from us far too soon in a horrific crash at Spa on Saturday. It just proves that even though there have been major developments in safety, this sport is still risky and dangerous. My thoughts are with his family and friends at this very difficult time. I also have to spare a thought to Juan Manuel Correa – the other driver involved in the incident. I hope he has a swift recovery and sincerely wish he will recover fully from this – both physically and mentally.

Talking about the race itself, the winner was a very fitting one, considering the tragedy of the day prior. I’ve drafted some of the key talking points of the race here:

The Kimi and Max incident:
Spa usually has a thrilling start to its races, and this one was no exception. There were 2 incidents going through La Source – the main one being the crash between Kimi Raikkonen and Max Verstappen. Going into the corner, Raikkonen was on the outside and couldn’t see Verstappen going into the corner, the pair touched and Raikkonen’s Alfa Romeo was nearly tipped over, whilst Verstappen’s Red Bull suffered suspension damage and crashed into the tyre barrier at the top of Raidillion.
This incident caused a mild blockage, as all of the cars behind the top 4 slowed up massively. This caused another incident, between Lance Stroll and Daniel Ricciardo, the former tagging the rear-right of the latter, leaving Ricciardo with damage to deal with for the rest of the race.

Contrast in starts for Mclaren:
Whilst one car managed to get up into P5 after the first 2 corners, the other struggled to get off the line. Lando Norris managed to get a great start from 11th on the grid, and managed to avoid the trouble around him to become the best of the rest car – where he stayed for the majority of the race. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for his teammate Carlos Sainz’s getaway, stalling on the grid and during his first lap pitstop. Sainz later retired due to his loss of power, which will be quite worrying for both McLaren and Renault as he already has exceeded the quota for power unit components – so they will hope there was just a minor fault that can be fixed in time for this weekend’s race in Monza.

Haas’ race pace:
As much as this has been a recurring theme throughout the season, it still puzzles me as to why the Haas cars struggle for race pace and tyre management. Most of the pictures at the start of the race were of Kevin Magnussen getting passed lap after lap at Les Combes. It is just baffling that the team which finished as the best of the rest last season is struggling so much, and cannot figure out the reasons why – and it is even more painful to see them going backwards again and again in every single race.

The undercut strategy:
The undercut proved to be very effective at the start of the race. It was used by Pierre Gasly, who managed to get ahead of drivers like Lance Stroll in the Racing Point, as well as his teammate Daniil Kvyat. Ferrari also used the undercut with Sebastian Vettel in order to maintain his position ahead of the 2 Mercedes cars. This tactic initially worked, and even got him ahead of race leader and teammate Charles Leclerc. However, this did not last too long. The ones who pitted early struggled with worn tyres despite the original speed advantage, and were on the defensive for the last few laps.

Mercedes race-pace advantage over Ferrari:
It was evident on Friday practice that Mercedes had a quicker race car than the Ferraris. To be honest, I was not expecting them to be as quick as they were, especially towards the end of the race – at one point they were nearly 2 seconds quicker in the second sector, which is absolutely insane. Despite them having a slower straight line speed than the Scuderia, they could manage their tyres better and therefore they received a significant pace advantage in the last 10 or so laps. If Sebastian Vettel wasn’t such a team player, Mercedes would have been extremely confident in catching Leclerc in the closing laps (exactly like in Hungary) – however it would not have been easy, if you look at the straight line advantage alongside the fight that Vettel was able to put up against a flying Hamilton, they might have struggled to get past at all.

Vettel – Number 1 teammate, number 2 driver?:
Imagine saying after Malaysia 2013 that Sebastian Vettel would be allowing a teammate past him for a victory, absolutely no-one would have believed it. It seems like a long time ago since the occurance of multi-21, and Sebastian has definitely matured as a driver and team player since then. During the team photo, everyone at Ferrari points to Seb and acknowledges that he basically helped them win the race. However, this race has left many people questioning the roles of the two drivers, as prior to the season Mattia Binotto said Vettel would be the number 1 driver, but Leclerc has now outqualified Vettel in the last 6 races and has won the first race for Ferrari since Kimi Raikkonen at the 2018 United States Grand Prix, so they will have to consider who gets priority for the second half of the season.

Albon’s storming drive:
It would be wrong to not shine light on a wonderful drive from Alexander Albon on his debut for Red Bull. Starting from P17, he stayed out of trouble on the opening lap, managed his tyres well to lap 23, and then made his way back through the field. His great overtake on Daniel Ricciardo at turn 11 was the only part that was actually broadcast live – which was a shame, even though there was a battle unravelling at the front. It will be great to see if he has any potential to match Max Verstappen over an entire race weekend, and how he can develop as a driver in the senior team there.

Bad luck for Norris:
Lando Norris had some bad luck on the final lap on the race; after being in P5 for the entirity of the race, he stopped on the main straight on his last lap, meaning he finished the race in P11 without any points. Despite McLaren not having high expectations for Spa, they were in a good position and unfortunately came away with nothing. The McLaren issues fit in with most of the week-end’s engine and power unit issues, but for them it was unluckily during the race.

A very fitting winner:
Charles Leclerc always seems to race well under tragic circumstances – you just have to look back to the F2 weekend in Azerbaijan back in 2017, a weekend where we nearly scored a double after his father’s death. This is a very similar thing, and I think it was just meant to be for Charles’ first win in Formula 1. He dedicated the win the his friend who he raced against, Anthoine Hubert and it is almost impossible to argue that he didn’t deserve it. Now it will be interesting to see if he (as well as Ferrari in general) can carry this momentum into their home grand prix in Italy.

Here are some of my key talking points from the Belgian Grand Prix. I’m going to leave this post by commending the motorsport community for their tributes for Hubert, especially those at the track with the applause on Lap 19, as it was incredibly loud even through the TV screen.

Bottas Mercedes 2020, Ocon to Renault

**Valterri Bottas has been announced for Mercedes for the 2020 season.**

Silly season has reached its heights just before the return from the F1 summer break. Yesterday, it was revealed that Valterri Bottas was staying at Mercedes for the 2020 Formula One season.

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff commented this after Bottas’ extension was announced:

“For 2019, we set Valtteri the challenge of coming back even stronger than we saw him in the first part of 2018 – and he has achieved that, with some really impressive performances in the early races this year.

“Although it has been his most successful first half of a championship so far, he is hungry for more and determined to keep on improving and raising his level. That’s the mindset we want from all our team members.

“The results we have achieved together with Valtteri are no coincidence: he has been an integral part of our championship success in the past two seasons, his teamwork with Lewis has been exemplary and he has shown real strength of character in how he has responded to setbacks.

“I’m delighted that he will stay with the team for another season at least – and look forward to seeing him raise the bar even further.”

**Esteban Ocon has cut ties with Mercedes to join Renault for the 2020 Formula One Season.**

This news left fans questioning the future of Esteban Ocon, as it has been anticipated that he would return to F1 for the next season. A few hours after, Renault and Ocon announced he would join them for 2020 in place of Nico Hulkenberg.

Cyril Abiteboul, Team Principal for Renault F1 Team, had this to say on Ocon joining the team:
“We are very happy to work with Esteban for the next two seasons. Over his F1 career ,Esteban has experienced the highs and lows of the sport, and fully understood the need to seize every possible chance. In addition to lending his natural talent, Esteban’s aim will be to focus his natural energy and drive, both of which have been intensified by a year away from racing. It is then up to us to infuse them into the next phase of the team’s progress.

“He has shown his ability to score points, has great professionalism on and off the track, plus his recent experience as reserve driver to the current world champions will be a valuable asset to the development of our entire team.

“I wish to thank Nico for his phenomenal involvement and massive contribution to our progress over the past three seasons. When Nico decided to join us, the team was ninth. He brought us to fourth place last year, and was classified seventh in the drivers’ championship. The imminent end of his contract made this decision a difficult one as Nico has been a pillar of this progress. The first part of this season has been more challenging, but I know we can count on him and deliver together throughout the second half of the year.”

**The announcement of Ocon to Renault currently leaves Hulkenberg without a drive.**

This announcement leaves Nico Hulkenberg without a drive. In my opinion, as much as I am very happy to see a driver as talented as Ocon return to the sport, I am very disappointed that Hulkenberg has had to step aside. He has proven that he has deserved the recognition he has received throughout his career by driving alongside (and matching) multiple race winner, Daniel Ricciardo. This news leaves me, alongside many others I suspect, questioning whether Hulkenberg will get a drive next season and if so where.

What do you think about these announcements? Do you think Hulkenberg will get a drive somewhere, and if so where?

ALEX ALBON TO RED BULL – GASLY DEMOTED

**Pierre Gasly has been demoted back to Toro Rosso after a terrible run of form this season.**

Silly season is in full motion now, and there were severe question marks over the future of Pierre Gasly at Red Bull Racing before the summer break. However, it has now been confirmed that he will be demoted back to Toro Rosso after the summer break, and is going to be replaced by Alexander Albon.

Red Bull issued this statement on their website:

“Alexander Albon is being promoted to the Team to drive alongside Max, while Pierre will return to the Red Bull sister team, Scuderia Toro Rosso.

“Red Bull are in the unique position of having four talented Formula One drivers under contract who can be rotated between the Team and Toro Rosso. The Team will use the next nine races to evaluate Alex’s performance in order to make an informed decision as to who will drive alongside Max in 2020.

“Everyone at the Team looks forward to welcoming Alex and supporting him during the next phase of his F1 career.”

**Albon is being promoted to the team, despite originally being dropped from their junior programme and being a late announcement last season.**

Gasly has had poor form in comparison to his teammate Max Verstappen, and whilst it would have been a harsh decision, Red Bull knew that they would have to make a change for 2 main reasons. Firstly, as they mentioned in their statement about Gasly’s demotion, they will need to assess which driver is the most suited in their view to be driving alongside Verstappen for the 2020 season. Gasly has over half the amount of points as Verstappen, and has often been unable to finish races inside the top 6, despite being in a top 3 car that should be challenging for podiums; whilst Albon has quietly impressed during his debut season and Daniil Kvyat has managed to obtain a podium at Red Bull’s sister team Toro Rosso – which was surely the final nail in the coffin for Gasly.

Secondly, Red Bull need a driver that can be up there and challenging for wins and podiums if Verstappen is going to be able to launch a title challenge to Mercedes in the second half of the season. Gasly has been nowhere near doing this, and has even been lapped by his teammate on multiple occasions during the race weekend. Clearly, the hierarchy at the team see Alex Albon capable of doing this, and that is why they have decided to promote him.

**Kvyat achieved Toro Rosso’s second ever podium, and the first since 2008, so why isn’t he being promoted?**

There will no doubt be some people questioning why Red Bull did not decide to promote Daniil Kvyat, who scored Toro Rosso’s second ever podium earlier in the season. I think this is because they already know what ability Kvyat has, but they also know that he can clash with teammates (see Carlos Sainz in 2017) as well as other top-level drivers (a.k.a Sebastian Vettel on multiple occasions). Albon has impressed as a rookie, and he has also been quite consistent throughout the season so far, so Red Bull could be doing this to see whether they think Kvyat or Albon is a better fit for the team, and number 1 driver Max Verstappen, in the long term. Potentially, Red Bull may have taken note from Ferrari, after they promoted Charles Leclerc, although he had not fully completed a season in F1 because he had impressed them and the president of the team – and we’ve seen what Leclerc has managed to do since.

What is your opinion on this? Do you think Red Bull have made the correct decision or should they have given Gasly a little bit more time?

Premier League 2019/20 Predictions – The Top 6

***Man City will be looking to win their 3rd Premier League title in a row under Pep Guardiola this season.***

There’s been a slight delay in the release of the final placings of my predictions, because I have been travelling back from holiday and have been having a few issues with my back, but here they are. This is the final instalment of the 2019/20 predictions, where I discuss who I think will finish in the top 6.

6th – Arsenal:
Congratulations Arsenal, you have finally managed to improve your defence! In all seriousness, I don’t understand why it took Laurent Koscielny wanting to go back to France to make the board realise that they need at least one new defender, but they’ve managed to sign full-back Kieran Tierney, after chasing him all window long, and David Luiz in a surprise move over the last 2 days of the transfer window. They’ve also signed Nicolas Pepe from Lille, who was the 2nd highest scorer in Ligue 1 last year for a club record fee – meaning that their front 3 scored a combined 57 goals last season. This is a big number, but I still think that they are liable to conceding goals, simply because Luiz is not consistent, and I am not that impressed by Sokratis (who I presume would be in their starting 11 instead of Mustafi – who I’m not even going to go into detail about). I think they will be closer than they have been in previous seasons, but injuries to any of the front 3 or one of the defenders then they’ll start to look vulnerable again.

5th – Manchester United:
I definitely think that this will be close between 4th and 5th. I am looking forward to watching Man United this season, which is something I never thought I would say. They’ve invested in youth by signing Aaron Wan-Bissaka from Crystal Palace and Daniel James from Swansea, who’s pace is absolutely blistering. They also finally signed Harry Maguire who will definitely be an addition to the squad, despite the price (which is quite frankly ridiculous). In addition to their new signings, United have an emerging talent coming through their ranks in Mason Greenwood – who almost every single Manchester United fan is excited about. The only concern I have there though is, now Romelu Lukaku has gone to Inter, Greenwood and Rashford are the only real strikers left (as most of the other forwards play best on the wing), so the questions are: 1.) what happens if one or both get injured? and 2.) is Greenwood ready to lead the line of one of the biggest clubs in the world, not just the country? I’m not sure, but these questions will be answered over the course of the season, but I am expecting good performances on the pitch from this team.

4th – Chelsea:
Honestly, I think people are underrating Chelsea. I’m one of those people that has faith in Frank Lampard and the young players who will have to come through this season. The main players I am excited to see progress this season are Kurt Zouma, who looked promising when he first broke into the Chelsea team as well as during loan spells at Stoke and Everton; Tammy Abraham, who will definitely have to majorly contribute goals into this team, and Mason Mount, who worked with Frank Lampard last season at Derby County. I think he was the right man for the job as it will provide stability during the transfer embargo, and Frank and his coaching staff (most notably Jody Morris) know some of the players and have worked with them previously. I think it will be interesting to watch Chelsea this season, because they’ve obviously not been able to sign anyone (with the exception of permanently signing Mateo Kovacic, who was registered as a Chelsea player last season because of his loan) and have lost Eden Hazard, who is a loss to English football in general, not just Chelsea Football Club. They’ve also only kept 1 clean sheet during pre-season and have looked worringly vulnerable whilst defending set pieces and against high presses, which I’m sure has since been addressed in training, but teams can definitely look and see weaknesses in Chelsea, which is why I think it’ll be close between both themselves and Man United just behind.

3rd – Tottenham Hotspur:
They’ve recruited very well in this transfer window – they’ve signed Ryan Sessegnon, Giovani Lo Celso and Tanguy Ndombele who are all very highly rated players. Sessegnon is definitely a future England star, and Ndombele looked very sharp in their Internatiol Champions’ Cup game against Juventus which I watched, and he looks very pacy also. There’s not too much to say really except that I think they’ll have a decent season and solidify their place in the top 4, although I cannot see a repeat of them reaching the Champions League Final at this moment in time.

2nd – Liverpool:
I think it could be close once again between the top 2 from last season. In my honest opinion, I look at every squad in Europe and I do not see any teams better than the current top two in England. Liverpool are the reigning European champions and will definitely be looking to add a first Premier League title to that by the end of this season. I believe they will fall just short, because they have not strengthened as sufficiently as Man City, although neither of them really needed to do much, just decent back up in positions where they would be significantly weakened if a player got injured. I think both City and Liverpool provided a great battle last season, and I expect the same again. There’s not really too much else to say except I will be very disappointed and shocked if either Liverpool or City do not finish in the top 2, as I think these are the most secure positions in my predictions.

1st – Manchester City:
3 in a row? Quite possibly for Man City. As much as I think it should and will be close, I cannot see any other outcome. The only weakness I see in their current squad is Angelino – the left back they re-signed from PSV Eindhoven, as he did not look City-standard in the 2 games I saw of him in preseason (but after all, it is preseason for a reason!) even though I suspect he’ll only be cover for Oleksandr Zinchenko. Other than that, they’ve bought some great players in Rodri and Joao Cancelo – I still desperately want to know who at Juventus thought swapping him for Danilo was a good idea – and they will provide more options to Pep Guardiola, as sometimes he is not content with the performances of Kyle Walker at right back, and we all know what happened in the 2 games that Fernandinho missed last season. So, they now have strong competition in all aspects of their squads and I can only see them trying to win all 4 trophies, or become the second Invincibles.

Premier League 2019/20 Predictions – Battle for 7th

**West Ham and Leicester both have a chance at getting the 7th spot and a one-way ticket to the Europa League qualifiers.**

The next stage of my Premier League 2019/20 predictions is looking at who I think could be challenging for that 7th placed spot (which could earn that team a place in Europe).

11th – Everton:
To be honest, I think this could be quite a disappointing finish for Everton, considering that they always seemed to be the number one contender for seventh place. They’ve lost a very good defensive midfielder in Idrissa Gueye, it will be a big loss, losing a player of his calibre – although they have found a replacement fairly quickly. There have been links previously this summer that Everton may be the destination for Crystal Palace’s Wilfried Zaha, but those rumours have gone cold recently, which is a shame for the club, as he would definitely be a strong addition to their squad.
They have managed to get Andre Gomes back on a permanent deal though, which is a good thing for them since he provides a great physical presence within their squad. They’ve also retained some good players in their squad – the likes of Richarlison, Gylfi Sigurdsson and Lucas Digne, who performed so well last season. I’m not convinced though, to me there is something missing in comparison with the other clubs that will be mentioned here, so I think they will miss out.

10th – Watford:
To be as short as possible, they haven’t really signed anyone. In all honesty, they didn’t really need to considering the fact they made FA Cup final last year (even though they got absolutely hammered by Man City), but I think a few aspects could’ve been strengthened. There are still talks for Ismaila Sarr, who would definitely be a good addition and would challenge or play alongside Gerard Deulofeu – who was great last season. I’m very confident in Javi Gracia as a manager, and what he can do with this Watford team, so I hope they don’t do a typical Watford thing by sacking him, especially since he took them from being on the cusp of relegation to beating Chelsea and co., and reaching an FA Cup final. However, there could be a struggle due to the overbearing expectations after reaching that final, although I expect them to still do reasonably well.

9th – Wolves:
The reason that Wolves are in 9th is because of the Europa League. You have to ask the question will it take its toll, as it has done on many other teams in recent history? I’m not too sure yet, but I do know that Nuno is an incredible manager and would’ve definitely won Manager of the Season last year if it was up to me. They’ve also managed to permanently secure the services of Raul Jimenez and Leander Dendoncker; and have also confirmed the signings of Jesus Vallejo on loan from Real Madrid and Patrick Cutrone from AC Milan, which add to the depth that they have in their squad (which is unbelievable considering they’re only in their second season back in the top flight). I think they’ll be okay in both competitions, because they’ve made enough signings to be able to rotate the squad accordingly, and it will be an interesting point to see which team Nuno believes is his strongest.

8th – Leicester:
I think that Leicester are very much dark horses going into this season, with or without Harry Maguire. I think he will be a significant loss to the club, but if you take the fee into account, they will definitely be able to find a replacement. It’s not necessarily the worst thing that could’ve happened, as if he did not want to remain at the club, it is better to sell him than to allow a negative atmosphere to develop. Leicester already still have a good enough squad without Maguire, especially when you look towards their midfield and attack. James Maddison (who created the most chances in the Premier League last season) and the permanent signing of Youri Tielemans boosts their midfield into one of the best outside the top 6, and I think both Harvey Barnes and Marc Albrighton add to this combination quite well. We all know how prolific Jamie Vardy can be, and he’s also got good back up, since they’ve signed Ayoze Perez from Newcastle, who was in good form towards the back end of last season. I think there is definitely a clear opportunity for Leicester to get into the Europa League, whether it be through league position or a cup competition (if they start taking those seriously).

7th – West Ham United:
West Ham are one of those hit or miss teams, considering their past few transfer windows you’d have expected them to be up there fighting for this position, but it has not been the case because they have started the season so poorly. However, I am backing them this season. They’ve managed to sell Arnautovic to Shanghai SIPG, which seems to have been the best thing for everyone involved. His alleged toxic behaviour may have been the thing that was holding the club and players back, but now that he is gone we will be able to see how they cope without their former star man. As for the current squad, I see very few weaknesses in it. Fabianski has drastically improved as a player since he was at Arsenal, Balbuena and Diop have the potential to form a strong partnership at the back, and their midfield looks so strong. You have to look at players like Declan Rice, Felipe Anderson and their new signing, Pablo Fornals, who impressed during the Spanish U21 Euro triumph. There’s also Manuel Lanzini, a fit Jack Wilshere could fight for his place in this team, Robert Snodgrass and of course, Mr West Ham himself, Mark Noble. They’ve also signed Sebastien Haller from Eintracht Frankfurt, who’s goal involvement tally last season was only beaten in the Bundesliga by Robert Lewandowski. I’d be very excited at the prospects within this West Ham squad if I was a supporter of the club, and they also have a manager who’s won many trophies at different clubs, so I think they are in a perfect place to steal the 7th spot if they remain consistent throughout the whole season.

Premier League 2019/20 Predictions – The Midtable Finishers

***Aston Villa won the Championship play-off final last year, but where will they finish this year?***

Here’s the next installment of my Premier League predictions. This time, I am looking at the teams I believe will be achieving solid midtable finishes at the end of the season.

15th – Burnley:
One of the main positives Burnley have had in their squad during their Premier League reign is their goalkeepers, as Tom Heaton, Nick Pope and Joe Hart have all played for their national teams (although Heaton is apparently pn the move to Aston Villa as I write). These keepers, combined with the solid defensive pairing of James Tarkowski and Ben Mee, are crucial to Burnley’s success this season, since they have a fairly decent squad should the defence be on top form. They haven’t made many additions to their squad, but they have re-signed Jay Rodriguez, who scored 22 goals last season for West Brom in the Championship. The only real concern I have about Burnley is that they haven’t looked the same team since competing in the Europa League (a.k.a when Sean Dyche worked a miracle), but I feel like they will definitely stay up, although I’m not sure they can bridge the gap to some of the other teams in the division.

14th – Southampton:
The first thing I have to say is that I’m very excited to watch Che Adams in the top flight. He was one of Birmingham’s best players last season, scoring 22 goals, and with good service he could possibly ease into the Premier League (I’m not expecting another 20+ goal season, but he could get over 10, which is a number that Southampton could do with). I’m also interested to see how their right back, Yan Valery plays this season. He played exceptionally well against Manchester United last season, where he scored his first goal for the club. I feel like they could possibly do with strengthening with a winger before the transfer window closes, but I expect them to stay up quite convincingly under the guidance of Ralph Hasenhuttl with the squad that they have, and the performances they gave after the Austrian took charge.

13th – Aston Villa:
In my opinion, Villa are by far the most convincing of the promoted sides. They have made some very good signings – managing to permanently secure the services of Anwar El-Ghazi, Kourtney Hause and Tyrone Mings; and welcoming other good players in Matt Targett and Ezri Konza in defence, Jota in midfield and Wesley in attack. I think with the potential addition of Tom Heaton from Burnley, Aston Villa will be secure in the division – as last season their goalkeepers made some questionable choices. I also think that Dean Smith is a promising manager, and that Villa will have to stick by him this season even if things start to go against them because of the way he managed to rally the team towards the play-offs in the Championship last season. As well as this, it will be interesting to see how both Jack Grealish and John McGinn perform in the top flight, as an England call-up could be beckoning for Grealish – who will also attract a lot of fouls – and McGinn could prove that he is worth the supposed £50 million price tag they slapped on him to wave away interest from Manchester United earlier in the transfer window. Personally, I am expecting very big things from Villa this season, as they have added some quality to an already good squad.

12th – AFC Bournemouth:
I feel bad for Bournemouth, they always seem to have injury concerns and are never able to field their best team. David Brooks, who made a big impact on the team last season and was nominated for the PFA Young Player of the Year award, has to undergo surgery on his ankle and will be out for about 3 months, which is not welcome news. Thankfully though, they have seemingly managed to keep hold of the attacking duo in Ryan Fraser and Callum Wilson, despite there being no progress in Fraser’s contract negotiations – meaning they will still have a reliable goal source. Even though they have many injuries, I am still convinced that they will finish midtable, because their manager, Eddie Howe, is still considered as a manager who deserves a chance at a bigger club. It has become a trend at Bournemouth to start a season off well, but trail off at the end. I suspect this could become the inverse this season, given their current injury list.