F1 News
Five things we learned from qualifying ahead of the French Grand Prix
- Nicolás Quarles van Ufford
With qualifying out of the way in France and with the Grand Prix under 24 hours away, we sat down and thought hard about the five things we have learned from Saturday's qualifying. Here they are!
Sebastian Vettel is in his own head
For someone who just got married, Sebastian Vettel doesn't look like a happy man. The fallout from his five-second penalty two weeks ago in Canada has followed him ever since, and he doesn't seem to be at peace at the moment.
Between his body language, the way he talked on the radio on both Friday and Saturday, and the actual results this weekend, something is off with the four-time champion.
We can imagine how gut-wrenching the whole Canada thing must have been for Seb. After losing every single race of the season so far, but not just losing, but getting your ass kicked every race by this winning machine, you *finally* are about to beat them in a race, and just by being quicker as well. And then, you lose the car for three seconds and you get a penalty, and Mercedes end up winning again. It must be a hammer-blow like no other.
Starting from P7 now, Vettel will have to hope something happens during the race so he can climb up the order. He'll have to drive a clean race himself, though.
Bottas' title challenge is over if he doesn't win tomorrow
You might think: "Woah, that's a bit early to say," but we really do believe that. After winning in Baku and in Australia in a convincing fashion, Lewis Hamilton has just taken over again. Three straight wins since Baku, with Valtteri Bottas not always being there to challenge the reigning champion like in the first handful of races.
The difference is just 29 points now, and it will only take one DNF from Hamilton for the Finn to be right there again, but if you've paid attention to F1 in recent years, that just doesn't happen. If you're beating Hamilton, you'll have to actually beat him rather than to wait for him to make a mistake, because that simply won't happen. You know much DNF's he has since that famous crash with Nico Rosberg in Spain in 2016? One. One!
My point: 29 points is more than you think. If the gap increases again, and Hamilton has all the momentum in the world heading into the European leg with four straight wins, we don't think there's any catching him. Ferrari won't do it, anyway.
Red Bull Racing are in a no man's land
They're not challenging for wins or for pole positions, but their car is much quicker than the midfield cars. Well, normally, because Max Verstappen only beat Lando Norris by 0.009s during qualifying in France. The Spec 3 Honda engine was supposed to continue to close the gap to the Mercedes and Ferrari engines, but with Max being over a second off of pole position, they don't seem to be anywhere near contention as of now.
P3 is the highest finish for the Bulls so far this season with Verstappen having gotten there twice, which is impressive from the Dutchman. However, last season at this stage, Red Bull had two wins under their belt already, with a third one coming in Austria (next week's venue).
Of course, Honda is a long-term project, and reliability has not been an issue whatsoever which is fantastic news, but performance on the RB15 needs to be upped, and quick.
McLaren's kids are alright
P5 and P6. In a McLaren. It's been a long time since that's happened. Three years to be exact, when Jenson Button put his MCL31 on P3 in the pouring Austrian rain. And that was a complete fluke (Nico Hülkenberg was P2 for Force India as well that day).
The progress this season compared to past seasons is quite amazing. The atmosphere at the team has made a complete 180, and the new crop of drivers has to be a big reason for it. Norris and Carlos Sainz are two young, charismatic drivers who are very eager to perform, and that energy must have rubbed off on the factory workers in Woking. It's all smiles and the results on track reflect that.
Team principal Andreas Seidl also confirmed the team are building a wind tunnel at the McLaren Technology Centre in the coming two years, which is another good step on the way to being a contender again somewhere in the future. Good times to be a McLaren fan!
The Frenchies are endangered
Red Bull knew when they promoted Pierre Gasly that it would take some time for the 23-year-old to get to grips with the car and the team. However, we've seen in the past how quickly patience can run out at the team as well.
It seemed like Gasly was finally starting to get the hang of the RB15 at Monaco and in Spain, but it went wrong again in Canada, finishing behind two Renaults. In France, his home country, he qualified behind a Renault as well, as well as the two McLarens. P9 is just not good enough in a Red Bull, no matter how you view it. We hope he gets more time, but we also fear he could be on the hot seat...
As for the other Frenchman, Romain Grosjean, it's been another tough start of the season. The veteran has been desperately unlucky at times, and Haas as a team have struggled during races, but Grosjean's points haul of two points just isn't good enough, compared to teammate Kevin Magnussen's 14 points.
We all remember how bad last season's start was for Grosjean, and he can still be a fantastic driver on his day, but it's just that his day rarely seems to come anymore. Particularly before the summer breaks. P17 in qualifying in France is the latest piece of evidence.