New Motorsport Week article: Why Formula 1 should get rid of blue flags

By Royalbroil (Own work) [CC
BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativec
ommons.org/licenses/by-sa/
3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

The Malaysian Grand Prix weekend was extraordinary. Not so much in thrills necessarily, but in providing things to talk about.

And one from late in the race got me - that Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso had their latest minor spat. This time as Alonso waited a few corners before letting Vettel by to lap him.

Nothing personal to Seb, but it's long been a hobby horse of mine that F1 could do without blue flags. Keep them as advice by all means, but we'd benefit in a number of ways if those lapped were not forced to leap out of the way pronto.

In my latest article for Motorsport Week I argue this case. You can have a read here: https://www.motorsportweek.com/news/id/16036

Japanese GP Betting Preview - Turning Japanese

F1's battles at the front in recent times have been three way between Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull. And the Japanese round this weekend once again in advance feels a close call between the trio - all approach the round with some reason for hope.

Will the 'big three' teams be evenly
matched again at Suzuka?
Photo: Octane Photography

Sebastian Vettel's Ferrari will not now be taking a gearbox grid drop in Japan, which brings him right back into the game. He has after all been the pace-setter in both of the previous two rounds, and more encouragingly for him the two tracks had very different demands.

It's not clear if the bookies have noticed - or perhaps they've noticed Ferrari's concurrent habit of treading on its own tail. Seb's 14/5 to win in Japan looks generous.

They have noticed Red Bull's improved form though, with Max Verstappen at a much tightened 5/1 (readers of the Malaysia betting preview will know Max could have been backed at 25/1 for his Sepang win) and Daniel Ricciardo at 7/1 to triumph this time. Flowing Suzuka will suit the RB13 - a few think Red Bull again has the best chassis in F1. If you fancy playing safer then Max is at 3/4 and Daniel 11/10 to get on the podium.

Suzuka Preview: Big in Japan

They don't make 'em like they used to.

It's not always true, but it sometimes is. It certainly is with Suzuka, the welcome stop-off for this weekend's Japanese Grand Prix.

Inimitable Suzuka
Photo: Octane Photography

Whatever the newer venues' merits none have got even close to quickening the pulse when cars circulate as they do at this venue. Not all that many of the older tracks have either.

The layout is dominated by challenging, snaking, undulating turns - the sort that separate the great from the good; the sort that would most likely be laughed out of court were they proposed now from the ground up.

The narrow circuit's challenge is like walking an ever-veering tightrope. There aren't vast run-off areas to use as a benign get-out. Precision counts.

Malaysia GP Report - Max power

Rarely can an F1 weekend have contained so many twists. There were planety on Friday and Saturday. And the Malaysia Grand Prix's Sunday had plenty more.

Max Verstappen reminded us of his star
quality with a crushing win
Photo: Octane Photography

And quickly. The first was before the race even started, as Ferrari sank further into its recent quagmire. Kimi Raikkonen reported a power loss on the way to the dummy grid, which proved terminal. He didn't start.

But in another twist this did not give us a Lewis Hamilton benefit run. Mercedes's worries about lacking race pace were founded. Max Verstappen's Red Bull hounded leader Lewis from the off, sailed down the inside of the first turn after four laps, then left him.

On lap 12 he was five seconds up the road; on lap 18 it was nine. Almost like he was driving a Mercedes. He was never seen again.

"I think in the beginning, straight away the car felt good," said Verstappen later.

Sepang Qualifying - Taking advantage of your fortune

Lewis Hamilton bagging pole position hardly seems a surprise. This was his 70th ever, as well as his fourth in a row here. But, boy, did we have a journey getting there.

Lewis Hamilton took brought the Malaysia
weekend full circle by taking pole
Photo: Octane Photography

After his and Mercedes's dash from jail in Singapore, leaving with a 28 point championship lead, the consensus was that was that. Yet once cars started to circulate the Sepang track this weekend no one was quite as sure.

There were reasons to think in advance that Malaysia would not be a Merc cakewalk, but it was off the pace to an extent that shocked. There wasn't an obvious explanation either - nothing peculiar to short runs or to the tyres, or a lack of balance. It just lacked grip.

And Merc and Lewis's direct title rivals Ferrari and Sebastian Vettel stepped into the breach. Suddenly it threatened to be a lot like Singapore's build up - them on top and Red Bull in the mix. The third row looking possible/probable for Merc. And with it a healthy points swing was on for Seb.

Daniel Ricciardo connects with fans over FaceTime

You've got to love Daniel Ricciardo, possibly F1's most glowing personality.

And a sponsor of his Red Bull team, ExxonMobil, gave a few F1 fans - who had used the hashtag #SpeedDialDaniel - an opportunity to speak directly to Danny Ric live via FaceTime and ask him a burning question of their choice.

The results are below. And from what I can see he doesn't mistake any of their nationalities...

Malaysia GP Betting Preview - Battle of the big three?

It's not just due to geography that the Malaysia Grand Prix this weekend feels a short hop from the previous round in Singapore. They share sapping heat, and it will be if anything more intense this time given it's run in the day time. We've seen plenty - including in Singapore - that Mercedes struggles relatively when the temperature rises.

Will the Malaysian round be a close
battle of the big three teams?
By Morio (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://
creativecommons.org/licenses/
by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

And as a partial consequence this race feels a close call between the 'big three' teams.

Here two years ago Sebastian Vettel's Ferrari flat beat Lewis Hamilton Merc on tyre longevity in the tough conditions. Plus the Scuderia has an updated engine this weekend. With all this the 13/5 for Seb to win looks better value than the evens for Lewis.

Like in Singapore too Red Bull will look to this one with optimism. It looked strong in Hungary on the supersoft tyre in hot conditions and this is what it'll get here. The team of course scored a 1-2 in this race last season, albeit aided by a late engine failure for Lewis. But even so its showing was strong.

Inside Line F1 Podcast - Did The Success Of The Singapore GP Cause Malaysia's F1 Exit?

After 19 illustrious years, Formula 1 will bid adieu to the Malaysian Grand Prix (and the Sepang International Circuit) this Sunday. While the gesture to release a full-race edit of the 2001 Malaysian Grand Prix is a good one, did the success of the Singapore Grand Prix cost Formula 1 (and us!) the Malaysian Grand Prix? Or have the Motorsport fans in Malaysia chosen MotoGP over Formula 1?

In this week's episode, we talk about the Red Bull Racing-Aston Martin partnership - will James Bond make an appearance in Formula 1? Will Red Bull or Formula 1 use 007 to promote the sport? We were the first ones to suggest this! (Do check our previous episode 'James Bond in Formula 1?' below)

Will the Strolls have a say in selecting the lead Williams driver in 2018? Are McLaren already jumping the gun with Renault? And finally, who will jump on the top step of the podium in Sepang while the FIA have tightened the rule for jump-starters! All this and more in the Inside Line F1 Podcast.

Do subscribe to the Inside Line F1 Podcast on iTunes and audioBoom for your weekly dose of Formula 1 humour. 

Tune in!

(Season 2017, Episode 32)

Sepang Preview: The days of future past

Sepang was the future once. When it arrived in 1999 it was the great leap forward. Bernie Ecclestone hailed the venue for the Malaysian Grand Prix immediately as "the best in the world".

The future once - the Sepang venue makes its F1 curtain call
By Morio (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (http://
creativecommons.org/licenses/
by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

It was a template too. The built-from-scratch all-mod-cons Hermann Tilke typology is now familiar. This was the first.

The template stretches to the circuit layout - a long straight book-ended by tight corners (this track has at least two of them indeed) intended to provide overtaking, with a variety of types of turn elsewhere including a high speed esses section.

Even its motivation was as would become grimly samey - the Malaysian Prime Minister wanted to promote the country as an industrial and business destination and bankrolled the event to this end.

New Motorsport Week article: Putting the leader first - what happens if F1 titles are based on laps led?

By Suyk, Koen / Anefo / neg. stroken, 1945-1989, 2.24.
01.05, item number 929-3235 [CC BY-SA 3.0 nl
 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/
by-sa/3.0/nl/deed.en)], via Wikimedia Commons

You likely will have discerned that I'm one of those who likes F1 history.

With this I like to look for anniversaries, which took me 40 years ago to the 1977 season. I also like a 'what if?' And both of these came together for me to wonder, how would F1 history would look if world championships were based on laps led in the season and not points?

In my latest article for Motorsport Week I investigated. And it's surprisingly interesting, even uncovering a fundamental of how exactly F1 has changed over time.

You can have a read here: https://www.motorsportweek.com/news/id/15940