RUSSIAN GRAND PRIX 2021

Lando had his first race win stolen from him by the rain at the last minute only to have Hamilton get his hundredth win, which would have been unbearable if Max hadn’t also gotten second.

This was the race where Lando led basically everything and should have won, but rain - and chaos - at the last minute caused everyone to need to make an unscheduled stop. It was absolutely dramatic, all of it.

I mostly feel stunned. A really riveting race. Just wish this day could have been Lando’s first win! But Max did great damage limitation.

Free Practice 1

• I saw something on social media before this race that was like F2 arriving and the whole Russian paddock was flooded so it looked like it wasn’t even gonna be raceable but now it looks sunny for today so false alarm

• Charles is gonna start the race on Sunday with penalties cause his car is basically rebuilt for improvements with whatever the heck Ferrari is trying to fix now. But Sainz won’t take the penalty until next race probably

• WHAT Haas confirms Mazepin and Schumacher for next year, that is a SHOCK to me. I thought for sure Mick would move up to Alfa or something

Free Practice 2

• there is already talk about the weather for tomorrow for qualifying and how they think it will have to be rescheduled from rain for Sunday morning. Crazy, this sounds like it’s going to be a spa weekend.

• CONFIRMED that Max will start from the back of the grid this race for taking a new power unit. So Max and Charles will both start from the back! And also we will see what happens with Max’s three place penalty for doing nothing wrong in last race but hopefully the back is the back and it doesn’t go on to the next race

• LEWIS just TOTALLY HIT his front jack man as he stopped in the pit cause he said the “magic” was still on. It was quite a huge hit and they just ignored it like nothing happened

• Charles has a scary spin and is really fortunate not to hit the wall or get hit by Perez who is right behind him and goes by really fast

• Gio hits the barrier and causes a red flag and gets a ton of debris on the track so they clean that up

• Gasly’s front wing came off when he went over the curb and it got eaten under his car

Free practice 3

• cancelled for rain!

Qualifying

• it is so wet but not actively raining so they’re going ahead

• GIO SPINS with CHARLES RIGHT BEHIND HIM and man it was close to Charles having nowhere to go and hitting him but thank God Charles got around him

• Max does a few laps and is done because he is starting from the back anyway

• Out in Q1: Kimi, Lil Schu, Gio, Mazepin and Max

• Out in Q2: Vettel, Gasly, Yuki, Latifi and Leclerc (because of the engine penalty)

• I think it’s shady that Williams didn’t declare that Latifi was going to take an engine penalty until after the end of the q2 session so that they would stay ahead of Charles

• Near the end of Q3, it got dry enough for slicks so a bunch of people are risking going in for slicks to be fastest

• HAMILTON HIT THE WALL ON THE WAY INTO THE PITSSSS YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS Hahahahahah YES

• WOWWWWW LANDO ON POLE AHHHHHH WITH SAINZ IN SECOND GEORGE RUSSELL IN THIRD AHHHHH THE FUTURE IS NOW

• Hamilton hitting the wall hindered Bottas coming in behind him too so this is GREAT

• AND HAMILTON CRASHED ON HIS FINAL LAP AHAHAHAH

Race

• report rain coming five minutes in

• Max reports his battery draining on formation lap

• Oh no worries his battery is all good now he says thank God

• FIRST LAP CHAOS BUT NO CRASHES

• Sainz leads into turn 1!!!! And Lando in second and George in third and Hamilton has moved back into 7th!! Charles is up from the back to 13th!! Max made a good start and is up to 17th

• Somehow Mazepin is up to 13th right after Charles?

• Why is Bot in the back in 15th now by lap 4? Did he start from the back?

• 7/53 HA MAX JUST WENT RIGHT BACK BOTTAS and it was like Bottas just let him right by!!! HA! And they were like why didn’t he put up a defense? YES BOT, free now that he doesn’t have a contract for next year!

• Gasly let Max right by which is lovely from the sister team

• 12/53 AHH MAX getting past Charles was TERRIFYING and almost really bad because Charles was fighting with Vettel ahead and Max tried to get past during it and Max was afraid his front wing was damaged but it is fine and now Max is ahead of Charles

• LANDO is like right on Sainz for first and I think he can get him

• Sainz complains his retired are more difficult than expected

• Lando has to stay behind because his front left is gone

• Stroll pits first and the undercut is powerful and it’s going to really inhibit Hamilton later and they say it’s a nightmare for Mercedes in this situation!

• 13/53 LANDO GET AHEAD OF SAINZ FOR THE LEAD and made it look easy

• Stroll undercut George in the pit stops SHOOT

• Sainz pits first and has a slower stop but still has position over Stroll

• Hamilton is still stuck behind Ricciardo and no one knows why they didn’t pit Hamilton cause he didn’t even make up track position while he was out there! Hahaha!

• 16/53 AH Charles is super close behind Max and I’m terrified but I think he is just letting Max tow him along and isnt going to tangle with him I hope, he’s just so good and is such a natural racer

• 17/53 Max is a second faster than the cars around him!

• 18/53 Max does fastest lap and then acts like Lewis and says his tire is dead which is hilarious, go Max. Karun says he thinks Max went to the Hamilton school of acting

• Hamilton says undercut on the radio to try and make Max pit first and he doesn’t fall for it

• 23/53 Daniel pits and AHHH ITS SO LONG and what is happening?! Nooooo shoot. This means Hamilton is released. It was a mechanic who didn’t switch the button on his gun and the light wouldn’t go green!! UGHHH. These new pit stop regulations are so stupid, they are just making computer things get in the way and take longer

• 24/53 Max is really adamant that the tires are totally done

• 27/53 both Hamilton and Max pit and they both have okay pit stops, Red Bull is a little slower but it’s altogether not the worst

• When Lando is on the radio he is so calm and happy, it’s like he has no problem coping with the pressure of leading

• 28/53 LANDO pits from the lead and thank goodness, this stop goes smoothly

• 33/53 oh no Lil Schumacher has to retire, they can’t resolve the issue

• 36/53 Charles finally pits but ugh it’s slow!! Almost 5 seconds. After all that passing and is going to have to do it all again. What is wrong with them at Ferrari

• 37/53 SERGIO HAS A 9 SECOND PIT STOP UGHHHH what happened?! This pit thing is not working

• All the sudden Alonso flies past Max into sixth, what the heck

• Now Hamilton is on the charge trying to get Lando for the lead and he BETTER NOT GET IT. Come on Lando, you can do it

• 43/53 Charles gets by George for 9th

• There’s a huge threat of rain for the end of the race AHHH

• 47/53 ITS RAINING oh NOOO, LANDO KEEP THE LEAD, umbrellas are going up, WHAT A NIGHTMARE

• Lando keeps having to go wide on the wet

• Seb and Lance collide but keep going, Lance just in the way and wandering over

• They order Hamilton to come in and he stays out and the Eure just waiting for him

• MOST PEOPLE PITTING FOR INTERS BUT LANDO WONT

• HAMILTON PITS FOR INTERS WITH THREE LAPS TO GO

• LANDO STAYING OUT

• Stroll in barrier but keeps going and Gasly spins

• 51/53 LANDO SPINS OUT AND ITS FULL WETS AND HAMILTON TAKES THE LEAD BUT MAX IS IN SECOND WOAH WOAHHHHHHHHHHH

• MADNESS

• CHARLES HAS AN OFF ON TURN 5 BUT IS OK, he is still on slicks

• Lando pits and he almost missed the pit entrance and crossed the white line and now he might even get a penalty

• UGH now they are going on and on about Hamilton’s 100th win and they have been waiting to use this disgusting graphic for like 10 races and it’s great that it took so long and I am proud of Max for pushing it off as long as possible

• Ugh the whole thing celebrating Hamilton’s 100th won is absolutely disgusting and overdone times a million

• So it’s Hamilton wins, MAX IN SECOND WOOOOOO, and Sainz in third, this was just insanity

• Everyone is so sad for Lando and I am too, what on earth

ITALIAN GRAND PRIX 2021

This was the Italian Grand Prix where Lewis and Max collide halfway through the race and end up both retired. Then Daniel Ricciardo wins the race with Lando in second and it became McLaren weekend.

It was such a super scary moment between Max and Lewis.

This weekend was an experimental format again with a sprint. It looked dull compared to the Dutch Grand Prix the weekend before cause there was so much fan energy, until this huge drama happened mid-race. It is being called the defining image of the season with Max’s car flying over Lewis. I’ve got to say, Monza somehow always does create drama.

Practice 1

• okay buckle in it’s another experimental format weekend

• AWWWWW they renamed the Parabolica! That was my favorite name awwwww

• Kubica is still in for Kimi this weekend since Kimi is still out with Covid

• This was the week of all the driver market news!! Bottas from Mercedes to Alfa Romeo, George Russell from Williams to Mercedes and Alex Albon to Williams!! Wowwww what changes. I know George was going to go to Mercedes and he deserves it but I wish it had been after Lewis was gone because I dread him having to play second fiddle to Hamilton and I just hope they will give George his fair chance to compete even though I don’t think they will. I would have rather Ocon went to Mercedes because Ocon would have been a perfect second fiddle for Hamilton

Qualifying

• there’s an adorable kid yelling his face off about Ferrari and it’s great to see

• There’s something wrong with Charles car and he asks about it in the radio and as usual ferrari doesn’t know what it is

• Charles is cut off on his way out of the pits by Mazepin and the stewards note it

• And then there’s ANOTHER Mazepin incident noted with Kubica

• Mazepin complaining that Mick Schumacher “needs to get a move on” ughhhh how dare he address little schu

• Wow this traffic is unbelievable every single year

• Out in Q1: George Russell, Latifi, Mick Schumacher, Kubica, Mazepin

• Latifi almost hit some wildlife on the track

• OH WAIT Yuki had a lap time deleted so now Yuki is out instead of George and George is still in Q2!!

• It’s the first time we’ve had Jost Capito of Williams on the pit wall and he seems like a lot of fun

• Ferrari found a problem in Charles car and they’re not telling us what it is but it is not looking good

• WOAH there was just nonsense getting out onto the track at the end of Q2 and an Aston almost hit a Mercedes and they all almost took out an Alpine mechanic directing a car and Max was so mad about the whole thing that he shot out of the pits and overtook 4 cars

• Pit lane incident will be investigated after the race

• Out in Q2: Vettel, Stroll, Alonso, Ocon and Russell

• What in heck is Gio doing in Q3 again

• At the last second Bottas goes fastest!!! Taking it away from Hamilton for the sprint!!

• Bot on pole, then Hamilton and then Max, Norris, Ricciardo, Gasly

Free Practice 2

• Carlos Sainz has a big crash and causes a red flag. Front end of the Ferrari is really broken and they have to figure out how to fix it before the sprint race later. Big impact for Carlos and it sent his head forward a lot more than you usually see and he reports he’s a little hurt but he’s okay. Went to medical center.

• Charles has to bring the Ferrari into the garage because there’s something wrong he can’t say on the radio so it’s very secret. It could be something that would get the team into trouble if he said it on the radio. Oh Ferrari

Sprint race

• oh RIGHT the weird floating graphics, I forgot

• Oh RIGHT the weird photos for the drivers on the grid lineup

• MAX AND BOT have GREAT STARTS and HAMILTON GETS EATEN UP AT THE START AND LOSES 4 PLACES YESSSSSSS

• WOAH Gasly is in the wall and it was cause he clipped the back of the McLaren in front of him and his front wing shot under him and put him in the gravel but luckily the impact was minimal

• Kubica also spins out and it turns out it was YUKI who hit him!!!

• Safety car to clean up Gasly

• Stewards rule no investigation necessary in Yuki hitting kubica

• Charles transponder broken and it appears at the end of the field but he is still near the front, it’s wrong

• Perez gets by Stroll but goes over a corner and gains an advantage and won’t give the place back but then he does and gets Stroll again on the next lap

• Stewards note the Perez and Stroll incident

• Lando is defending against Hamilton brilliantly and keeping Hamilton behind, go child go

• Hahahaha Hamilton still can’t get past Lando AND Hamilton has a squirrelly moment and almost loses the car

• Aw geez now they are investigating the Perez and Lando thing, why

• Okay no investigation necessary

• This is just 18 laps but very exciting

• OKAY SO Bottas wins, BUT HE HAS AN ENGINE PENALTY so HE STARTS FROM THE BACK, which means MAX STARTS ON POLE, then DANIEL Ricciardo in second!! And LANDO Norris in third!! Fantastic

Race

• Yuki having brake problems so they start from the pit lane

• Eeeee Daniel and Max starting next to each other

• Ferrari starting in a different by tire than everyone else like usual

• Charles wasn’t feeling well yesterday so that was what the mysterious radio call was

• UMM DANIEL IN THE LEAD off the line and then Hamilton makes up a place to third getting past Lando but then Gio reenters the track and Carlos Sainz hits him and puts him in the wall but somehow Gio keeps going and it’s a virtual safety car

• then there’s an incident where Hamilton goes off and Hamilton accuses Max of pushing him off but it was just a racing incident

• Gasly retires because of something in the back and Yuki also isn’t going to be in the race so both Alpha Tauris are out basically right away

• No investigation necessary on the thing where Hamilton says he was pushed wide hahaha I know right

• Max reports he can’t get close to Daniel

• Daniel getting track limits warning

• Gio getting a 5 second penalty for unsafely rejoining the track, I totally thought they would give Carlos the penalty for hitting Gio

• Perez making up places and gets past Sainz to sixth with some great racing

• 12/52 Lando keeps Hamilton behind him!!

• It’s helping Hamilton in fourth that Daniel is keeping Max behind him so that is very upsetting

• Ocon completely pushes Vettel into the gravel and it’s so typical, giving Ocon a race win makes him worse on track. Being investigated by the stewards

• Max is having problems harvesting energy for a pass

• HA Esteban Ocon gets a five second time penalty for the move on Vettel

• Max has to go over the chicane and rejoins but it doesn’t give him an advantage or disadvantage. They investigate it but no investigation necessary

• 23/53 daniel pits!!

• 24/53 OHHHH NOOOOOO MAX PITS AND IT IS A COMPLETELY UNEXPLAINED LONG PIT STOP AND IT WAS 11.1 SECONDS NOOOOOOOOOOOOO THIS RUINS EVERYTHING FOR MAXY AND THIS BAD PIT STOP COULD NOT COME AT A WORSE TIME

• Hamilton has a little longer pit stop of 4.2 seconds but it’s still

• MAX AND LEWIS HIT EACH OTHER IN A BIZARRE INCIDENT WHERE MAX’S CAR IS LAUNCHED ONTO HAMILTONS CAR AND IT ENDS UP WEDGED UNDER MAX’S RED BULL. Max did nothing wrong and Max had earned the weight to some space and Lewis did not leave him a cars width!!!! It all put Lewis in huge danger and the incident is too scary to watch and it launched Max right in the air

• Max is so furious he just walks away and he doesn’t even want to go to the pit stand and is going back I to the garage and Max says he doesn’t leave me any space to Helmut and he is completely right

• Max and Lewis incident investigated after the race

• First time Hamilton hasn’t finished in like 63 races or something

• Charles pits under the safety car and it helps him IMMENSELY all the sudden and he’s in second!! WOAH

• After safety car start, Lando gets past Charles and there are scraps everywhere, Perez gets past off the track and will it be an advantage

• Vettel hits little Schumacher and then Schumacher is spin around by Mazepin, for goodness sake

• Bottas is on a FEARSOME charge all the way from the back and it’s overtaking everybody and he’s in fourth now

• There is so much crazy racing behind the restart I cannot even keep up

• 37/53 both Mclarens are in 1 and 2 and are in danger from Bottas creeping up to get the lead eventually

• Charles is always such a fair racer

• 37/53 THE STEWARDS give PEREZ a 5 second time penalty for gaining an advantage off the track and its added to his race time at the end UGHHHH

• 39/53 Now Charles is back charging at Bottas and just found a ton of pace

• HA a 5-second time penalty for Mazepin hitting Schumacher!! TAKE THAT MAZEPIN

• Mazespin hits one of the styrofoam barriers on the chicane and Lando will do it as long as it’s best for the team

• Team orders telling Lando not to try and overtake his teammate for first

• Bottas pace has just gone away suddenly after his crazy charge

• 41/53 double yellows to replace the styrofoam blocks on the chicane but it scared me

• 43/53 Perez and Bottas scrapping and Perez manages to stay ahead from Bottas mistake

• 43/53 Mazepin stopped on the side of the track and it’s double yellows and hopefully they can just push him away but they pull a virtual safety car and they push Mazepin’s car into the opening and it appears his engine just lost power and retires

• If McLaren wins it’s the second longest gap between an ever present constructor cause their last win was nine years ago? And now they’re in 1 and 2

• 51/53 lance stroll under investigation for failing to slow under yellow flags hahah

• DANIEL RICCIARDO WINS, the first time since Monaco 2018, LANDO IN SECOND, Perez crosses third but drops to fifth for the five second time penalty, so Bottas takes third, Charles in fourth!!!

• The celebrations for McLaren are absolutely just heartwarming in every way

• I can’t believe it’s finally a Daniel win again. Wow!!

• Daniel does a shoey! And then does one with the other shoe for Lando and Zak brown!

• Bottas did an awesome drive all the way up to third from the back and he’s just fantastic

POST RACE UPDATE: THE STEWARDS GAVE MAX A 3-PLACE GRID PENALTY FOR THE NEXT RACE IN SOCHI EVEN THOUGH IT WAS TOTALLY CLEAR IT WAS NOT HIS FAULT

F1 FOODS: THE NETHERLANDS

For the Dutch Grand Prix, we had Dutch Babies with homemade whipped cream and sausage links. We also had orange chicken on Saturday night specifically in honor of the orange army and Max Verstappen.