And Sao Paulo completes the triple-header!

What a weekend. What a day. What a race! Rain, amiright? Gotta be the most expensive weekend all year, in terms of destruction.

Congrats to Ocon, Gasly, and all of Alpine! P2 & P3, respectively. No one would've predicted that.

As an RB fan, it's great to see Max back at P1 and extending his championship lead over Norris! The gap has increased to 62pts. Amazing drive, starting at P17 and finishing P1. Plus he kept banging out fastest lap after fastest lap at the front, even with the rain and wet track. Yeah he got lucky with the safety car and red flag, but even before that, he was on form.

On the other side of the garage...Checo, WTH. Can't even pass your junior team's rookie driver? And then letting Hamilton through, as well? I'll just leave it at that.

Props to all the mechanics and engineers for having to fix and rebuild all those cars that got destroyed in Qualifying this morning. Especially Williams. I think Albon's crash was the most disappointing for me. He was provisionally P2 with 3min left of Q3, and I was stoked that he might actually keep it. But then he spun out into the wall. I actually yelled out "NOOOOOOO!" when I saw it happen 😭

Lastly, remember that there are potential penalties for Norris and a few others on the aborted start weirdness at the beginning.

3 weeks until the next race; enjoy the break. REMEMBER: Vegas is a SATURDAY NIGHT race in the US. Adjust accordingly to your local time.

Next race:

Las Vegas Grand Prix
Las Vegas Strip Circuit
Saturday, November 24

Race 2 of the triple-header complete! At the highest altitude of all the races: Mexico City.

Lots of crashes into the barriers this weekend. Such as for Yuki. I think Yuki was pulling off a great move on the outside of Albon, but Albon was being squeezed by Gasly, which made him squeeze Yuki. Either way, both were out of the running before Turn 1.

Max had a great start on Sainz to get P1, but then Sainz had a great run on Max after the restart! Sainz's move surprised me actually. But then Max's moves on Norris, as the latter attempted to pass the former, were ugly, to say the least. Both 10-sec penalties on Max deserved, IMO.

Perez had a great start at his home race, 'cept for the false start (looks like he was too far ahead of the marks). That earned him a 5-sec. But seems like the scrap and touch with Lawson just left him adrift at the back. At one point, Zhou was on hards 20 laps older than Perez' mediums, but Perez couldn't get anywhere close to DRS range of Zhou.

Mercedes were entertaining today, with Lewis trying to get around George lap after lap, for 10 laps.

I was hoping that Leclerc would keep P2, ahead of Norris, as a form of damage control in Red Bull's direction. But Norris came out ahead, after Leclerc almost went into the walls. Which was a good recovery by Leclerc to NOT hit the wall! At least Leclerc also took the fastest lap on the last lap. Another great P1 victory for Sainz. Provided this continues, what a way to finish out his time with Ferrari!

After the race, Colapinto recived a 10-sec penalty due to a collision between him and Lawson on the penutlimate lap.

Onward to Brazil!

Next race:

Sao Paulo Grand Prix
Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace
Sunday, November 3

Welcome back from the second summer (fall?) break! And a sprint weekend at COTA in Austin, Texas, at that. And the start of a triple-header!

About to go to bed, so only posting the results for both the sprint race and the grand prix.

Except...Poor Hamilton. What a weekend to forget.

Next race:

Mexico City Grand Prix
Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez -- Mexico City, Mexico
Sunday, October 27

Thought that was a rather boring race. First half or so was just tire management. The added DRS zone didn't really spice anything up, as so many of the gaps were greater than 1 second. Even in the late race when the gaps tightened up, didn't seem like passing was possible. Perez couldn't get around Hulk. Leclerc couldn't get around Russell.

On a more positive note, Colapinto continues to kill it. Albon had to retire due to a PU cooling issue, but even before that, Colapinto passed his teammate on a great move at the start. One that Albon was not particularly happy about! Unfortuantely, Perez just nudged Colapinto out of the points.

McLaren continues to extend their recently-attained lead in the Constructor Championship. McLaren is ahead of Red Bull by 41 points. Though with 6 races left, that's not quite a guarantee just yet.

Anyway, we begin the unofficial autumn break. 4 weeks until COTA. A whole month. Sigh. Since we're entering another break, I'll also post the current Constructor and Driver Championships standings below.

Next race:

United States Grand Prix
Circuit of the Americas -- Austin, Texas
Sunday, October 20

Oscar Piastri is a beast. But so is Leclerc. I really thought Leclerc was going to get the place back a couple times, but Piastri kept closing that door on him. Absolutely great race for the both of them.

The crash between Perez and Sainz was unfortunate. Perez, especially, was driving a great race. He was ahead of Max! The whole time or pretty close to it, I think. P3/P4 for both would've been a great position for each. But DNFs for both instead.

I don't think it was 100% either driver's fault, as it sounds like both were trying to get into Leclerc's slipstream and drifted into each other, but I would probably assign more to Perez, just because he could see from behind and could've moved over. But I think it's really just a racing incident. They were racing hard; shit happens.

Great haul for Williams with 10pts! Even had Sainz and Checo not crashed out, they still would've scored points.

Anyway, onward to another street circuit: Singapore!

Next race:

Singapore Grand Prix
Marina Bay Street Circuit
Sunday, September 22

OT/Related: IndyCar's last race of the season is today. Big Machine Music City Grand Prix at the Nashville Superspeedway. 3:00p EDT.

I'm back! I missed Zanvdoort since I was moving cross-country.

Anyway, this turned out to be a fun race! I wasn't sure how it was going to end up but the tire strategies kept it interesting. Not sure if the Ferraris, particularly Leclerc, made a big gamble, or that the McLarens snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. Probably a little column A, little column B. Either way, I did not expect a Leclerc victory; they probably didn't either. The Tifosi will be partying hard tonight!

Red Bull continues to, unfortunately for me, shit the bed. During the first half of the race, Perez could barely overtake Russell, even though Russell had a damaged front wing. Later in the race, when Max switched to new mediums, with Hamilton ahead on slightly used hards, Max still couldn't close the gap. The gap even opened up! At least both RBRs finished in the Top 10 (more impressive for Perez, less so for Max).

I didn't see what happened to Yuki that caused him to retire; need to find that out.

Lastly, congrats to Colapinto finishing P12! Excellent for an F1 debut.

Onward to Baku.

Next race:

Azerbaijan Grand Prix
Baku City Circuit
Sunday, September 15

Not the most exciting race, but Mercedes made it exciting towards the end. I was really rooting for Lewis to overtake Russell , but Russell kept his P1. Ballsy strategy with a one-stopper, but in the end, turned out to be a great call.

UPDATE: Russell was DSQ'd post-race due to his car being underweight. FIA decision document [PDF]. Everyone moves up. Tough break, but the rules are the rules.

Max was able to claw his way through the field, ending P5 P4. Checo did better this weekend, but finishing P8 P7 (and also getting fastest lap), probably still not great for his future. If he survives to drive another day, it's just barely.

Anyway, on to the summer break. See you all for Zandvoort!

Also, sorry for not posting an post-race discussion for Baku last weekend. I was out of town and almost immediately after the race had to leave for the airport.

Next race:

Dutch Grand Prix
Circuit Zandvoort
Sunday, August 25

What a race -- Silverstone delivers, again!

Due to the bouts of rain, it was definitely a race centered around tire and pit stategy. Friends and I were constantly analyzing the tires changes.

Congrats to Lewis Hamilton for P1! 9th victory at Silverstone, and first win in like 2.5yrs. He's not "my" driver, but it's hard to not be happy for him for him! I thought McLaren was going to get the 1-2, but McLaren strategy shit the bed, hard. Just goes to show that speed isn't always everything (unless the team is Mercedes pre-2021).

Checo did not get his amazing performance, which was expected starting from the pitlane, but I imagine he was still valuable by providing data to the team for Max. So that's something. Though I was a little perplexed with Ferrari and Leclerc. At one point Leclerc was right next to Sainz in the Top 10. Then Leclerc pitted too early and never recovered. Maybe just poor strategy. As usual.

Anyway, triple header is over -- Two weeks til Hungary.

Off-topic, but there's an IndyCar race today as well. First showing of their new hybrid engines.

Also, thank you to @EmperorPenguin for posting the Austrian post-race discussion last week.

Next race:

Hungarian Grand Prix
Hungaroring
Sunday, July 21

Since we're halfway through the season -- though still not at the summer break -- I'll post the WCC and WDC as well.

JCPhoenix is out today, so I went ahead and filled in!

Bad day for Red Bull on their own track. Max messed up, and Checo is a bit of a Haas sandwich!

Busy today so can't do a write-up -- Sorry!

Next race:

Austrian Grand Prix
Red Bull Ring
Sunday, June 30

Oh hey, I'm back! Sorry for not doing a post-race report for Monaco. I straight-up forgot about the report. Was hardly a race, anyway.

But Canada, Oh, Canada...Now that was a race! All weekend, the rain (and even hail) had been causing chaos, and the rain delivered even more on Sunday. Around Lap 32, I realized that we still we had half a race to go! At one point early in the race, KMag had cut his way through the field to P4/P5 on Wets while everyone else was on Inters, but as the track dried, he wasn't able to keep it. Still ended up P11, 7 places up from where he started.

Unfortunately, not a great weekend for Ferrari, both starting just outside of the top 10, and then both cars retiring during the race. And I don't quite understand what Leclerc and the strategists were doing switching to Hards right as the rain was coming back to the track.

But otherwise, a great weekend for Mercedes and McLaren, though they had to work for it. But in the end, we return back to the Dutch and Austrian national anthems.

Next race:

Spanish Grand Prix
Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya
Sunday, June 23

Kind of a boring race, honestly. At least until the the last ~10 laps or so. Then Lando ate into that already small gap (for Max) of like 6-7sec and seriously challenged Max for P1! I think the gap the two was down to 0.7sec. I was wearing my RBR jacket; thought I might have to change into my McLaren jacket! One more lap and I think Lando would've had Max.

I definitely expect Lando at the top of the podium again at some point this season. And I'm looking forward to it.

Next race:

Monaco Grand Prix
Circuit de Monaco
Sunday, May 26

Lastly...LOTS of racing next weekend. Aside from Monaco, IndyCar's 108th running of the Indianpolis 500 is on Sunday, along with NASCAR's Coca-Cola 600 only a couple hours later. There's also the Formula E Shanghai E-Prix and a MotoGP race at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. I'm sure there're more, but these are some of the bigger races.

Congrats to Lando Norris for finally breaking his record of most podiums without a win...by winning! Much deserved.

And because the F1 racing gods giveth and taketh away, I saw an unfortunate racing record for Kevin Magnussen: Most penalty points in a single weekend, with 6 points. He now has 10 out of 12 points before a race ban. And the earliest any of these points expire? March 2025. Yikes.

Though we'll see if he actually gets more points and/or a race ban.

Next race:

Emilia Romagna Grand Prix
Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari (Imola)
Sunday, May 19, 2024

Safety cars made that more interesting than it might've been. I was hoping for some rain!

Feel bad for RB (VCARB). Yuki had a poor weekend of course, but Daniel was doing pretty good today, until Stroll rear-ended him before the restart of the first SC. Both DNF'd.

Sainz and Checo did alright, but I was expecting more from them both.

Norris did great (and was DOTD), but my personal DOTD was Alonso, especially after his crazy save.

It's 2:45a as I'm posting this. I'm too tired to comment on the race...

Next race is in Shanghai, China -- April 19-21, 2024. First time racing in Shanghai in 5yrs!

Quite an exciting weekend. Drivers having problems keeping it on track during FPs, Albon's crash and Logan's sacrifice, a pretty good Quali, and then Max's shocking DNF in the early laps of the race.

But if I'm being honest, the rest of the race wasn't that exciting. What does that say about current state of F1?

Anyway, moral of the the weekend: get your appendix removed; you'll become a Smooth Operator.

Lots of fights in the midfield and back this weekend. And that performance from Oliver Bearman! For me, it was more entertaining than the season opener.

We get a little bit of a break before we head to Melbourne in two weeks, March 21-23.

Not gonna lie, I'll be missing these Thursday-Saturday formats. Well, for us Americans, Australia is still Th-Sa because of timezones.

Welcome back to Formula 1, Tilderinos! After what seemed like a short break, our 2024 season opener in Bahrain is already over!

Next week is already Race #2 in Saudi Arabia at Jeddah. See you all next weekend!

And the 2023 Formula 1 Season has ended!

This isn't a spolier this "late" in the game, so congratulations to Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT for winning the 2023 World Constructors' Championship, and their driver Max Verstappen for the winning the 2023 World Drivers' Championship. Plus all the other records Max has smashed this year—talk about domination!

The 2024 schedule is out and the first GP is February 29 - March 2 in Bahrain.

Pre-season testing will also be in Bahrain, Feb. 21-23 (the week prior). We usually get a little bit of sneakpeak, I think.

Anyway, enjoy the break, everyone. I know I'll enjoy not waking up at odd hours or not sleeping for F1 sessions for a few months! See you all -- according to David Coulthard -- in 97 days for testing!

OK, I'll admit it. I didn't think Las Vegas was going to be that exciting. I was proven wrong. What a race!

But F1 still owes me money for the Thursday night FP1/FP2 debacle!!

Anyway, the final race of the season is at Abu Dhabi, Nov. 24-26. Which is already next weekend! Didn't even realize we had a double-header.

Interlagos delivers again! Great weekend.

Two weeks until Las Vegas, Nov. 16-19. Which I'll be at -- Well, at least FP1!

Remember, this is an unusual one since it's a Saturday night race.

Results for both the GP and the Sprint Race from yesterday below.

Enjoy the break!

I can't get enough of that mariachi F1 theme, no joke.

Next weekend (Nov. 3-5), we head to the Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace PACE in Sao Paulo, Brazil to finish up the triple header. Only 3 more grands prix left!

EDIT: Results updated to account for BOT post-race penalty.

I don't know about you all, but I thought that was a great race. The tire strategies featured very prominently again, though for typical degradation reasons instead of Qatar's safety reasons. Some surprising moves made it an exciting race all the way to the end.

EDIT: Updated the results due to the news of post-race DQs for HAM and LEC. (Thanks @deknalis)

F1 heads "South of the Border" to Mexico City next weekend (Nov. 3-5).

It was an interesting race with tire strategy, given that Pirelli and the FIA imposed an 18-lap max on all tires, even used one, for safety reasons.

F1 heads to the US in two weeks for COTA (Oct 20-22). Hopefully the drivers and teams get a bit of a break from such a grueling race. See you all there!

Since it's a weekend with a Sprint Race, thought I'd do a separate post for the Sprint.

And on to the Sprint Race Results:

On to the actual Grand Prix, tomorrow!

Before I visited Suzuka, I found reading people's experiences (mainly on reddit) to be helpful, so I thought I'd post my own thoughts from driving down this past weekend.

I came from Tokyo, driving to Suzuka and parking in one of their official lots, and I stayed at a small resort about 50 minutes by car away from the track. The race tickets, and parking ticket were bought from the official "mobilityland" website, and it was 14,000 yen for a parking pass for the weekend, and I paid I think about 9000 yen to get there, and 6500 yen on the way back in tolls. For two people it worked out to be cheaper then the trains (and more fun to drive it!). They had some cheaper parking options as well in an unpaved lot, but I get the feeling the official parking passes sell out super quick, so you should take what you can get. There was a lot of unofficial lots nearby selling day parking, but I think you'd have to arrive very early to use them since most of them were full by the time I strolled up to the official lots around 9-10am. Speaking of which, if you buy the official parking ticket, you get an exact assigned space to use for the whole weekend, so no roving up and down the lots looking for a space. Also some people were sleeping in their cars as well so that's an option if you want to save on a hotel..

Crowds (cars and people) were managed really well. I was dreading leaving the parking lot at the end of the race, but I got out before it was crowded at all, and was able to make a beeline for the highways.

About the stands, my tickets were in Q1, at the final corners closest to the track. Aside from seeing Logan's accident in qualifying they weren't the best seats. The monitor was absolutely worthless, it was so small and so far away that without binoculars you couldn't tell the position of anyone on the track, or what lap they were on. There was also a pole blocking the middle of the monitor as well which was very distracting. Washrooms were quite far from these stands as well, although underneath the neighboring Q2 stands there was a water bottle filling machine which was pretty nice. Speakers were playing only the Japanese audio, and they have a FM radio station with the same Japanese commentary. I had hoped to get live timings on my phone, but there was basically no internet due to the huge number of people.

If anyone has questions, please ask. Overall I had a great time, although after the exciting Singapore race prior to Suzuka, this was pretty boring by comparison. Max held the lead at the first corner, and he just extended the lead over the whole race. Seeing Perez get retired and then suddenly show up again was really weird/ confusing, also it was good to see Sainz fighting with the Mercs.

Kinda thought it was boring race. A few entertaining passes, but that was it.

On to Qatar in two weeks (Oct. 6-8)!