21/07/2024
NEWS STORY
You may not be aware, but Expensify APX-GP, the fictitious team that stars in the imaginatively titled F1 movie - F1 - has a social media account, a year before the public gets to see the movie.
This morning we are helpfully advised that Sonny qualified P5 for today's Hungarian Grand Prix and Joshua 4th, the team apologising for its mistake in the qualifying result times.
In somewhat questionable taste, on Wednesday the team even paid tribute to Jules Bianchi on the anniversary of his death.
"A true racer, whose smile shone as bright as his talent," read the tweet. "You will forever in our heart, Jules."
Thus with every passing day the line between F1 fact and F1 fiction becomes ever more blurred, as Mike Lawrence's Formula One Script Unit gradually becomes reality.
Four teams in the battle for titles, Hamilton's fairy-tale win at Silverstone, McLaren's first front row lock-out since 2012... not to mention the Sergio Perez saga, the Horner saga, Lewis to Ferrari, Adrian Newey to... where?
Art imitating life or life imitating art? Whatever, the fact is that now under the ownership of a media company - and who, in this day and age, trusts the media - it is becoming increasingly difficult to tell what is real and what isn't.
So, with that in mind, what is the point of attempting to predict this afternoon's events, for someone, somewhere already has the script and all that remains is for the players to stick to it.
As previously mentioned, McLaren has locked out the front row, but with an eye on the strategic cock-up in Silverstone, not to mention a determined Max Verstappen, the boys in Papaya's first concern is going to be maintaining position on the opening lap.
Strategy is usually the downfall of Ferrari, but this year they appear to have gone the wrong way with their updates also, a situation not helped by Charles Leclerc's repeated mistakes.
While poor old Sergio has grabbed all the headlines, other than his progress through the field it will be interesting to watch George Russell's progress. Interestingly, having initially taken the blame for his Q1 elimination, the youngster proceeded to throw Mercedes under the bus quicker than Jack Black threw his Tenacious D bandmate.
Looking good for a decent points haul are the Aston Martin pair, likewise the RB duo, both of whom could be in line for promotion to the 'big team' over the summer.
On previous form, don't write off Nico Hulkenberg, while surely Valtteri Bottas deserves something.
As for the weather, well along with the Weather Gods it would appear that there might be other factors to consider. After Friday's scorching heat, qualifying was hit by rain and cooler temperatures.
Now, we're not ones for conspiracy theorising, but did Friday's clear skies give way to chemtrails yesterday, could (would) F1 resort to geoengineering in order to boost Expensify APX-GP's chances?
Finally, are we alone in wondering how Max looked superfast on Friday yet somewhat sluggish just 24 hours later.
In terms of movies about F1, the benchmark has to be John Frankenheimer's 1966 epic Grand Prix. Interestingly, the following decade saw a spate of great conspiracy theory movies, including Capricorn One, The Parallax View, Soylent Green, Three Days of the Condor, The Conversation, The China Syndrome... all of which, you won't be surprised to hear, are in the Pitpass DVD collection.
Consequently, we have to wonder if the forthcoming F1 movie is Liberty Media trying to get ahead of the game. Turk Thrust would be fully in favour.
This is a race where the classic two-stop is the clear favourite. On paper, the quickest option is to start on the medium before then bringing in the hard. Clearly, the number of available sets of these two harder compounds will determine the teams' decisions.
On that topic, there are three teams - Red Bull, McLaren and Ferrari - whose drivers only have one set of new hards and two of new mediums available, while one, Aston Martin, has one set of new mediums and one of new hards. All the other teams have at least two sets of hard and one of medium.
After changing parts overnight, Gasly will start from the pitlane, though having qualified 20th courtesy of Alpine's monumental 'error' this shouldn't bother him too much... at least he should avoid any first corner silliness.
The pitlane opens and Verstappen leads the way, followed by Hulkenberg, Magnussen, Zhou and Bottas.
By the way, following Tsunoda's crash, the grass run-off in Turn 5 has been replaced with gravel.
Air temperature is 28 degrees C, while the track temperature is 44 degrees. Race Control claims a 20% chance of rain.
"Well done guys, amazing job," says Perez, "let's go for a really good race."
"Front brakes locking, front-left," warns Gasly.
Among the last to take their places on the grid are Hamilton and Sargeant.
"Just confirming, something's definitely not right with the throttle," reports Norris. "It's not how it should be."
The FIA's Jo Bauer is overseeing the work on Norris' car. Finally, a huge sigh of relief as the issues appears to have been resolved.
All are starting on mediums bar Alonso, Stroll, Albon and Magnussen who are on softs and Perez and Russell who are on hards, fresh rubber for all bar Alonso, Stroll, Bottas and Zhou.
Aston Martin going aggressive while - out of place - Russell and Perez opt for the long game.
Ricciardo told of a tailwind out of Turn 1.
The field heads off on the formation lap. The rear of the grid getting away very slowly, indeed Norris is at Turn 5 as Ocon finally leaves the grid.
The grid forms.
They're away! A strong start from Norris sees him move across to cover his McLaren teammate. Tucked in behind the Briton, Verstappen finally pulls to the left as they head towards Turn 1.
Norris moves to his left to cover the Red Bull, and as they head into the first corner they are three abreast with Piastri on the inside, then Norris and Verstappen on the outside.
Piastri holds his position, which causes Norris to go wide and Verstappen to go even wider, the Dutchman taking to the run-off. However, such is his momentum he rejoins that track ahead of Norris who is now battling Hamilton as Piastri disappears up the road.
"Max has to give the position," declares Norris, who having lost out to Hamilton is now under attack from Leclerc.
Somehow he holds off the Ferrari and as they head into Turn 3 he eases ahead of Hamilton also.
At the end of Lap 1, it's: Piastri, Verstappen, Norris, Hamilton, Leclerc, Alonso, Sainz, Stroll, Albon and Magnussen.
Verstappen has been noted for leaving the track and gaining an advantage as Norris continues to complain.
"I got forced off, I was ahead at the apex," insists Verstappen who is now under investigation.
"He committed to the exit," insists Norris.
In seventh, a DRS train is forming behind Alonso, the first three of which, like the Spaniard, are on softs.
Verstappen is advised to let Norris through as the incident is under investigation. The Dutchman isn't happy - is he ever - but subsequently yields to the second McLaren.
"OK, so you can just force people off the track then," moans Verstappen, who is 0.86s down on Norris who is 2.2s down on Piastri.
Check out our Sunday gallery from the Hungaroring here.
"Everything feels better than expected," reports Alonso.
Albon, Magnussen and Ocon all pit at the end of Lap 6, all three switching to hards.
Alonso pits next time around, as do Ricciardo and Zhou. The Spaniard rejoins in 15th on mediums, while Ricciardo has lost out to Magnussen who nails the Australian into Turn 1.
Sargeant pits at the end of Lap 8, while Stroll continues on his softs.
Norris is told to manage his pace in Turn 11.
Perez goes quickest in S1, the Mexican up to 11th - right behind Russell - as a result of those pit stops.
After 10 laps, Piastri has extended his lead to 3s with Verstappen a further 2.1s behind. However, just 1.3s behind the Dutchman is Silverstone winner Hamilton.
Russell and Perez' progress has been halted by Bottas as the pair appear to lose any advantage their initial tyre choice might have given them.
"Lando, we believe our race is with Verstappen, continue to open a gap, this is good, it's now 2.9." An odd call, as McLaren appears to be telling Norris that this is Piastri's race.
Stroll pits at the end of Lap 14, rejoining in 16th behind Magnussen following a poor stop.
Told what his teammate is doing, Alonso replies: "I don't care mate."
"Both Safety Car windows are open for Plan A," Norris is told.
Hamilton pits at the end of Lap 16, as does Bottas. The seven-time world champion rejoining in 7th.
"100% pace, 100% pace," Norris is told.
Norris subsequently pits, the Briton rejoining in 5th, 7.5s down on Sainz, as Hamilton passes Tsunoda for sixth just 2.8 behind.
"I can't brake, I can't enter corners, the fronts, the rears..." sighs Verstappen.
Piastri pits at the end of Lap 18, rejoining in fourth, as Hamilton posts a new fastest lap (23.350).
"Verstappen's stayed out, so it's three seconds safe to him," Hamilton is told.
Russell and Perez are now stuck behind Tsunoda.
"This tyre definitely has less grip," reports Hamilton.
"Think about Plan C," urges Leclerc.
Verstappen and Sainz pit at the end of Lap 21, the Dutchman rejoining in 5th and the Spaniard 9th. Verstappen is 6.7s down on Hamilton.
Leclerc leads but has yet to stop, as has Tsunoda, who leads Russell and Perez.
Lap 22 sees another fastest lap from Hamilton (23.180).
"Keep it up, this is really good driving," race leader Leclerc is told. The Monegasque subsequently pits, rejoining in 5th, ahead of Tsunoda.
Sainz passes Perez for 8th as Verstappen posts a new fastest lap (22.769).
Piastri leads again with Norris 3.1s behind and 2.4s clear of Hamilton who leads Verstappen by 4.7s.
"Don't lose time with Sainz here, we are racing Perez," Russell is told.
In quick succession Sainz passes the Mercedes and then Tsunoda to claim 7th.
After several failed attempts, Alonso passes Hulkenberg when the German locks-up in Turn 1, somehow managing to stop Stroll taking advantage.
"I don't like it when you do that," responds Hamilton when told that he is being switched to Plan B.
As Hamilton begins to lose ground - no doubt due to pushing his tyres too hard - Norris and Leclerc trade fastest sectors.
Perez finally pits at the end of Lap 28, as do Gasly and Ricciardo. The Mexican rejoins in 15th on mediums.
A new fastest lap from Leclerc (22.182).
Tsunoda pits at the end of Lap 29, as do Hulkenberg and Albon.
Ocon pits at the end of Lap 31, the Alpine driver rejoining in last position.
Verstappen is now 1.4s down on Hamilton who is clearly struggling.
Perez passes Tsunoda for tenth.
Piastri runs wide in Turn 11 allowing his teammate to close to within 2.1s.
Russell finally pits at the end of Lap 33, rejoining in 11th - behind Tsunoda - as Sargeant and Gasly also pit.
Hamilton locks-up in Turn 1 under pressure from Verstappen. The Mercedes driver runs slightly wide, the Red Bull is through, but into Turn 2 Verstappen runs wide, allowing Hamilton to reclaim the position.
"I'm minus 5 brake bias, and this thing just doesn't ******* turn, it unbelievable" snaps Verstappen.
Gasly has seemingly retired.
As Verstappen shadows Hamilton, Norris is just 1.3s down on race-leader Piastri.
Zhou pits at the end of Lap 37.
Alonso makes his second stop at the end of Lap 37, as Verstappen is all over Hamilton.
Behind the Hamilton/Verstappen battle, Leclerc is just 1.6s behind and looking to pick up the pieces in the event of any silliness.
Down in 13th, on fresh rubber, Alonso goes quickest in S3, subsequently passing Ricciardo for 12th.
"It's a long way to go on that damn tyre," says Hamilton.
"Present hold the overtake," Verstappen is told. "Why?" he replies.
At which point Hamilton pits... as does Leclerc. They rejoin in 5th and 6th on hards and mediums, respectively.
"It's quite impressive how we let ourselves get undercut and completely **** the race," opines Verstappen.
"We think we will not try and cover Hamilton," Piastri is told, "it's very early to stop now."
Alonso passes Bottas for eleventh.
"Everyone still going on that tyres," asks Hamilton, "there's going to be some trouble at the end of the race."
Ricciardo passes Bottas for 12th.
Norris makes his second stop at the end of Lap 45, he rejoins in fourth on scrubbed mediums, locking-up in Turn 1.
Piastri is told that Norris has pitted to cover Hamilton. "Don't worry," he is told.
Stroll also pits, as does Bottas.
On his out lap, Norris is fastest in the final two sectors, the Briton 18.3s down on his teammate.
Piastri pits at the end of Lap 47, once again told not to worry about his teammate.
Check out our Sunday gallery from the Hungaroring here.
As Sainz also pits, Piastri rejoins in third, 2.7s down on Norris.
Sainz and Perez also pit.
"We stopped too short that first stint mate," says Hamilton as Norris, having just posted a new fastest lap (21.954) is told to re-establish the order "at your convenience".
Verstappen pits at the end of Lap 49, rejoining in fifth, 5.7s down on Leclerc.
Elsewhere, down in 8th, Perez posts a new fastest lap (21.096) as he hunts down Russell who still needs to make a second stop.
"Once you get to Lando we will swap positions," Piastri is told, "but we want to avoid Lando giving up a lot of time. The Australian is currently 2.9s down on his teammate.
As he posts a new fastest lap (20.908), Verstappen is 1.2s down on Leclerc and 8s down on Hamilton.
"Well that's some gentle introduction," says Gianpiero Lambiase. "Don't give me that **** now, you guys gave me the strategy, ok? I'm trying to ******* rescue the race."
As Verstappen closes on Leclerc, Piastri is losing ground to Norris.
Told to save his tyres and allow Piastri through, Norris argues that the Australian should have been pitted first. "It doesn't matter" he is told. "To me it does," he replies.
As Verstappen finally nails Leclerc, Norris is told: "I know you'll do the right thing."
Norris is lapping at 22.2 and Piastri 22.5, as Verstappen closes to within 1.7s of Hamilton.
"Turn 4, Turn 11," Norris is told, basically warning him about the corners where he's pushing his tyres too hard. "It's getting boring," he replies. The gap to Piastri is now back up to 4.1s, despite the Australian upping his pace.
After 60 laps, it's: Norris, Piastri (+ 4.8s), Hamilton (+ 10s), Verstappen (+ 0.9s), Leclerc (+ 4.5s), Sainz (+ 2.4s), Perez (+ 17.2s), Russell (+ 4.6s), Tsunoda (+ 22s) and Alonso (+ 1.6s).
McLaren doing its best to get Norris to yield but the Briton simply replies that Piastri has to get closer.
Verstappen attacks Hamilton through Turns 2 and 3 at the start of Lap 63, but the Briton has his rival covered. Clearly unhappy, the world champion subsequently makes another move and hits the Mercedes in an over ambitious move and goes off. He rejoins in fifth after what was a heavy hit.
Meanwhile, McLaren is virtually begging Norris to yield, meanwhile Verstappen is told he is being "childish" for claiming that Hamilton moved under braking.
"I'm not getting into this on the radio," says Lambiase," it's childish, childish."
"Lando there are 5 laps to go, the way to win a championship is not by yourself, is with the team, you're going to need Oscar and you're going to need the team." Extraordinary.
"The longer we leave it, the harder it gets," says Piastri.
"If there's a Safety Car now it's going to make it very awkward. Please do it now!"
At the start of Lap 68, Norris slows on the pit straight to allow his teammate through. "You don't need to say anything," says the Briton.
However, despite letting Piastri through, Norris hangs on to the rear of his teammate's car.
As they begin the final lap, Piastri leads by 1.015s.
Piastri takes the flag and a very, very, very controversial win, Hamilton claims third, while Leclerc is fourth, ahead of Verstappen, Sainz, Perez, Russell, Tsunoda and Stroll.
Alonso is eleventh, ahead of Ricciardo, Hulkenberg, Albon, Magnussen, Bottas, Sargeant, Ocon and Zhou.
It's a low key reaction from Piastri who feels he made the swap difficult, "sorry I made it more painful than it needed to be," he says.
"Good 1-2, good load of points," says Norris. "As we said this morning, many more opportunities," he is told.
Meanwhile, told that the medical delegate will want to have a look at hi, Verstappen advises him to go look at the stewards.
"Big thanks to this amazing crowd and a huge congratulations to McLaren on the 1-2, my old, original family," says Hamilton, "I'm so happy to see you guys back at the front.
"Ultimately we didn't have the race of the McLarens or the Bulls," he continues, "but we were just able to hold on and that close battle at the end was a bit hair-raising, but that's racing.
"When you see the pace they closed the gap, you just laughed as that's just not something I can do," he adds. "He sent it up the inside, I stayed still... I think it's a racing incident.
"Congratulations to Oscar, he's done a fantastic job since he got here to be honest, and it was only a matter of time before he got a win."
"Amazing day for us as a team, that's the main thing," says Norris. "A long journey to achieving this on merit, and a long way clear of the rest.
"Oscar got me off the line, it's been coming and he deserved it today," he adds. "The team asked me to do it so I did it, that's it."
"Very, very special," says Piastri, who is still somewhat subdued. "This is the day I dreamed of as a kid, standing on the top step of the podium.
"A bit complicated at the end," he admits, "but I put myself in a good position off the start.
"The car is a beast at the moment, fast in every conditions. To secure a 1-2, I don't know when our last 1-2 was, but a long time ago."
Asked about the switch, he replies: "The longer you leave it, the more you get a bit nervous but yeah I think it was the right thing, I put myself in the right position at the start and yes, my pace wasn't what I wanted in the last stint but well managed by the team."
"There's an entire approach to racing that we have with our team and drivers," says Andrea Stella, "we are in this together, none of us, the team, Lando, Oscar can go alone and that's what we discuss Sunday mornings.
"We are extremely pleased how our drivers support the trajectory of McLaren, that's the message today," he adds, "1-2 in qualifying, 1-2 in the race.
"I want to thank the men and women of McLaren for making this possible.
"I don't know any driver who when leading the race is happy to swap back, that's not the nature of drivers. That's why we have to recall our principals, our principals of Sunday morning. In these battles Lando will need the support of Oscar and the support of the team.
"For Oscar, that win is very early after 18 months, and Oscar is learning so rapidly. Last year in terms of single lap pace he learnt quickly, he needed to learn how to use the tyres in hot conditions, and this year he's picking things up so rapidly. He's so strong in those, and so strong mentally. He's the youngest and the wisest member of our team."
"I had a lot of trust in Lando," says Piastri in a subsequent interview, "and I think it was a fair decision to swap us back at the end.
"We were free to race each other and both try to win as long as we finish 1-2 and that's what we did. We have a lot of trust and respect for each other.
"From my point of view I did all the right things in the first half of the race, and the only reason we pitted the cars in the way we did was to cover off other people."
Well, those of you who thought we were wide of the mark at the intro may now be having second thoughts.
Think about it, Max's clash with old foe Hamilton aside, the Dutchman being told by his engineer not to be "childish", and McLaren having to virtually beg Norris to give way to his teammate... this was the stuff of soaps, the sort of thing we expect to see from the Expensify APX-GP teammates.
This should have been a day of joy for Piastri, but for the youngster, his fans and indeed the sport it is somewhat tainted.
But don't despair, the ratings will be brilliant, and now the likes of Sky will have another controversial topic on which to feast.
A great day for Oscar, a sad day for our sport.
Check out our Sunday gallery from the Hungaroring here.