McLaren won the constructors championship today but Lando and Oscar aren't on the best of terms.

George Russell dominated this weekend and finished P1.

Graphics from F1 Updates & Chill on Facebook.

I didn't get watch this one due to going to a wedding this weekend.

But it sounds like George Russell with Mercedes was his best form of the season at the "hot" night race in Singapore!  He wins pole and really wasn't challenged at all on Sunday during the race.  Very impressive.

I did watch the highlights and while Toto Wolfe (Mercedes Boss) congratulated him, it seemed strained to me.  Wolfe is the one who courted Max Verstappen (Red Bull) to try to convince him to come to Mercedes, which he still may do later.  So, this leaves Russell in a tough spot.  He is the lead Silver Arrow, but his boss is shopping his seat to Verstappen, who is undeniably the best driver.  It's a dog-eat-dog business.  But GREAT job by Russell this weekend!  Can they keep that momentum going in Miami?  We'll see.

Verstappen was second all weekend.  He complained about it but still kept Norris behind him, so he did a good job.

Then the McLarens come home 3rd (Norris) and 4th (Piastri).  On the positive side, this clinched the Constructors Championship for the second straight year for McLaren, who has really dominated this season overall.  On the negative side, Norris and Piastri hit each other during Lap 1 turmoil.  Norris said he couldn't hit Verstappen in front of him, but Piastri said "yeah, so he hits me instead" and that was true.

McLaren has these "Papaya Rules" on how they handle their drivers, but to me they "always" go in Norris' favor.  Do I think they should have let Piastri back in front?  Probably as he hit Piastri and nudged him out of the way.  If you like Norris, I see where you don't see it that way.  In the end, these rules have caused problems and will continue to do so IMO.  The guys in the pits were happy, but the drivers not so much.  That's where it will continue in Miami the next race.  Piastri is only 22 points ahead of Norris now.

Kimi Antonelli drove a great race and came home 5th.  Great drive from the rookie, although he said he was disappointed with 5th.  Good to be hungry!

Then came the Ferrari's with Leclerc in 6th and Hamilton in 8th.  They are spending WAY TOO MUCH money to be down here.  Not sustainable.  Moves will have to be made and will be interesting to see what happens.

Fernando Alonso was upset at Hamilton for "blocking", which was true, but I don't know a better blocker on the circuit than Alonso.

Oliver Bearman drove a great race for Haas and comes home 9th.

The Williams cars looked good early but were disqualified from Qualifying due to a technical breech of the rules.  So, they started from the back of the pack.  But Carlos Sainz drove really well (Red Bull should have hired him - Come on Man!) again and made it all the up to the last points position in 10th.

It will be a couple weeks now till the US Grand Prix in Miami on the 19th.  It's getting good at the front now.

I came across this clip today trying to explain the new 2026 regulations and how it will change F1 racing next year.  It is really in the weeds but overall does a good job of picking up some of the biggest challenges the teams/drivers will be faced with.  I came away thinking it "should" be better racing.

Why?  Well, if you just keep giving more and more power it is more likely one team will master that more than the others and produce pretty boring racing.  But the new regs "seem" to pull back on that just a bit and allow strategy to come into play a little more with the amount of energy recovery vs top end speed, which I hope produces better racing through more overtakes on the track.  We'll see.

Oh, I've watched this once.  I'm going to need to watch it a couple more times for it to sink in, I think.  But if you like to know the real science behind it all this is pretty fascinating stuff and well presented.  It's about 10 minutes long.

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/other/is-formula-1-about-to-get-really-slow/vi-AA1F9seM?ocid=socialshare

 

The US Grand Prix was like the Jerry Seinfeld episode where he has the girlfriend that is hot one minute and the next, she's ghastly!  

There were moments that were the hot girlfriend and very entertaining:

1. The lap 1 chaos of the Sprint Race and moreso,

2. The great on track battle between McLaren Lando Norris and Ferrari Charles LeClerc.

But there were more ghastly girlfriend moments of just hanging out and turning laps and saving tires IMO.

PART OF THAT was the fact that the Hard Tyres (1 of 3 selections available to all teams) were garbage.  What do I mean by that?  Well, the hard compound tyres warm up really slowly and if you don't gingerly do that they tend to overheat quick and cause drivers to slip and slid all over the track with no grip.  Exactly NOT what any driver wants.  That played out very early in the race.  So, what do you do about that?

Well, the prevailing line of thinking was to save your medium compound tyres (which were likely the best option on the track) and run them as long as you can until you come into the amount of laps left in the race that can be covered by the soft compound tyres (which are fast tyres, but eat up the good rubber more quickly).  So that means you aren't racing as much as you are babysitting the rubber hoping to get to the end and then push on the soft compounds.  That's great in theory, but if you aren't planning to do that and you don't have new soft tyres to go to then you are up a creek without a paddle and I think we experienced some of that yesterday in Austin.

What I will say was a HOOT was the pre-race coverage with all the celebrities interacting with the F1 drivers.  I enjoyed that.  Also, the pre-race Martin Brundle pit lane walk is one of my favorites as well, so that was fun.  And in many ways more fun than the action on track unfortunately.

BUT, the drivers' championship (the one to crown the World Champion) is suddenly up for grabs IMO.  Leader McLaren Oscar Piastri hasn't driven really well in some time.  I personally think his team has hamstrung him with the "so-called Papaya Rules" and favored more marketable teammate Lando Norris now in second just 14 points back.  AND don't look now, but the reigning world champ and clear best driver Max Verstappen is now only 40 points back with 5 races to go!

BUT as of this post:  Verstappen has been called to the Stewards Office over the US Grand Prix and what is reported "Failure to Follow Instructions of Relevant Officials".  And this is today so this is important in the standings.  We'll see.  But if this holds, Verstappen will be right there the rest of the way IMO.

GREAT Day for Ferrrari!  It was Lewis Hamilton's best race of the season IMO.  Really strong.

And Charles LeClerc drove his crankshaft off trying to keep the faster Lando Norris behind him.  Plus, they out strategized McLaren, which they rarely if ever have done so this season by selecting the soft compound tyres to start the race.  That allowed LeClerc to get around Norris at the start and give him a chance at 2nd place.  He ended on the podium in 3rd but still great effort!

Verstappen wins, Norris in second, LeClerc in 3rd, Hamilton in 4th, Piastri way down in 5th, George Russell in 6th; great day for Yuki Tsunoda in 7th;  great day for Nico Hulkenberg in 8th (that guy can drive man!); Ollie Bearman - great job to get 9th and the silver fox Fernando Alonso getting everything he can out of a poor car IMO in 10th (the last points spot).

Quick turn now to the Mexican Grand Prix this coming weekend!  Tune IN!!!

The Mexican Grand Prix was today and just finished.  

If you only care about the winner then this was the MOST boring race I can recall, as Lando Norris with McLaren had everyone covered by A LOT.

But if you just like good racing up and down the grid and especially when strategy comes into play this was one of the most fascinating race I can recall.    So many things I could mention, but I'll just focus on these:

1.  Teammates Antonelli and Russell for Mercedes didn't switch spots when Russell was faster and held Russell back about 5 laps too long.  If they hadn't Russell would likely have finished higher than 7th.

2.  Ollie Bearman, the Haas rookie is just a BALLER man.  He is such a great driver and willed his car to power up the grid today and finishes a career best 4th place.  Incredible.

3.  Max Verstappen with Red Bull, didn't have his A game today as his car just wasn't as good as it has been the last 2 races, but the World Champion had enough to battle through the pack and get all the way up to what should have been 2nd place.  But a phantom safety car spoils a great ending.  GREAT drive really.  

So much more, I'd recommend watching the highlights of this race on the F1.  They are worth your time!

 

Adrian Newey names the two best F1 drivers he’s ever worked with

The above article link was really fascinating to me.  It is basically an interview with "new" Astin Martin designer Adrian Newey.  I think Adrian Newey is the greatest race care designer ever to live.  And when he picks his top 2 drivers he has ever worked with that says alot to me.

These are the driver he did NOT pick in his top 2:

Alain Prost, Nigel Mansel, Damon Hill, Jacques Villeneuve and Mika Hakkinen.  WOW!  Those are World Championship winning drivers that did NOT make the list.

I'm not going to spoil who did so you will find out by opening the link.  But it should make you want to tune into the final 4 races of the F1 2025 Season!

On 10/20/2025 at 1:56 PM, Purple88 said:

The US Grand Prix was like the Jerry Seinfeld episode where he has the girlfriend that is hot one minute and the next, she's ghastly!  

There were moments that were the hot girlfriend and very entertaining:

1. The lap 1 chaos of the Sprint Race and moreso,

2. The great on track battle between McLaren Lando Norris and Ferrari Charles LeClerc.

But there were more ghastly girlfriend moments of just hanging out and turning laps and saving tires IMO.

PART OF THAT was the fact that the Hard Tyres (1 of 3 selections available to all teams) were garbage.  What do I mean by that?  Well, the hard compound tyres warm up really slowly and if you don't gingerly do that they tend to overheat quick and cause drivers to slip and slid all over the track with no grip.  Exactly NOT what any driver wants.  That played out very early in the race.  So, what do you do about that?

Well, the prevailing line of thinking was to save your medium compound tyres (which were likely the best option on the track) and run them as long as you can until you come into the amount of laps left in the race that can be covered by the soft compound tyres (which are fast tyres, but eat up the good rubber more quickly).  So that means you aren't racing as much as you are babysitting the rubber hoping to get to the end and then push on the soft compounds.  That's great in theory, but if you aren't planning to do that and you don't have new soft tyres to go to then you are up a creek without a paddle and I think we experienced some of that yesterday in Austin.

What I will say was a HOOT was the pre-race coverage with all the celebrities interacting with the F1 drivers.  I enjoyed that.  Also, the pre-race Martin Brundle pit lane walk is one of my favorites as well, so that was fun.  And in many ways more fun than the action on track unfortunately.

BUT, the drivers' championship (the one to crown the World Champion) is suddenly up for grabs IMO.  Leader McLaren Oscar Piastri hasn't driven really well in some time.  I personally think his team has hamstrung him with the "so-called Papaya Rules" and favored more marketable teammate Lando Norris now in second just 14 points back.  AND don't look now, but the reigning world champ and clear best driver Max Verstappen is now only 40 points back with 5 races to go!

BUT as of this post:  Verstappen has been called to the Stewards Office over the US Grand Prix and what is reported "Failure to Follow Instructions of Relevant Officials".  And this is today so this is important in the standings.  We'll see.  But if this holds, Verstappen will be right there the rest of the way IMO.

GREAT Day for Ferrrari!  It was Lewis Hamilton's best race of the season IMO.  Really strong.

And Charles LeClerc drove his crankshaft off trying to keep the faster Lando Norris behind him.  Plus, they out strategized McLaren, which they rarely if ever have done so this season by selecting the soft compound tyres to start the race.  That allowed LeClerc to get around Norris at the start and give him a chance at 2nd place.  He ended on the podium in 3rd but still great effort!

Verstappen wins, Norris in second, LeClerc in 3rd, Hamilton in 4th, Piastri way down in 5th, George Russell in 6th; great day for Yuki Tsunoda in 7th;  great day for Nico Hulkenberg in 8th (that guy can drive man!); Ollie Bearman - great job to get 9th and the silver fox Fernando Alonso getting everything he can out of a poor car IMO in 10th (the last points spot).

Quick turn now to the Mexican Grand Prix this coming weekend!  Tune IN!!!

On 10/26/2025 at 5:44 PM, Purple88 said:

The Mexican Grand Prix was today and just finished.  

If you only care about the winner then this was the MOST boring race I can recall, as Lando Norris with McLaren had everyone covered by A LOT.

But if you just like good racing up and down the grid and especially when strategy comes into play this was one of the most fascinating race I can recall.    So many things I could mention, but I'll just focus on these:

1.  Teammates Antonelli and Russell for Mercedes didn't switch spots when Russell was faster and held Russell back about 5 laps too long.  If they hadn't Russell would likely have finished higher than 7th.

2.  Ollie Bearman, the Haas rookie is just a BALLER man.  He is such a great driver and willed his car to power up the grid today and finishes a career best 4th place.  Incredible.

3.  Max Verstappen with Red Bull, didn't have his A game today as his car just wasn't as good as it has been the last 2 races, but the World Champion had enough to battle through the pack and get all the way up to what should have been 2nd place.  But a phantom safety car spoils a great ending.  GREAT drive really.  

So much more, I'd recommend watching the highlights of this race on the F1.  They are worth your time!

 

I have struggled with several races as of late being somewhat boring. 

2 minutes ago, theguru said:

I have struggled with several races as of late being somewhat boring. 

I don't think this is off base really.  I'd love to say you're crazy, but I don't see it that way.

But I do (personally) enjoy the racing down the grid and that really carries me through on these races really.  Because at the top the last 3 races at least the pole sitter has just run off and hid.  That is hard to be excited about.  

I think Verstappen could come back and challenge Norris in this next race though in Brazil.  He has always been strong there.  The altitude in Mexico City really bothered the RedBull much more so than the McLaren.  That won't be the case in Brazil and definitely not in Vegas.

Onward!

The Brazilian Grand Prix was action packed.  So much in it that I think reading and then watching the race highlights is your best approach:

HIGHLIGHTS: Relive the drama-filled Sao Paulo GP as Lando Norris takes victory over Kimi Antonelli and Max Verstappen

But Lando Norris wins and had a great weekend and now owns a 24-point lead over his teammate Piastri who finishes 5th today.  Norris is also nearly 50 points clear of Max Verstappen who had a poor start to the weekend and then started on the pit lane and ran it all the way to 3rd place on the podium.  He was just held off by a Great effort for Mercedes Rookie Kimmie Antonelli who drove the Silver Arrows tires off this weekend.  Great effort to get his career best 2nd place.

They move now to Las Vegas in 2 weeks in a race that should set up better for Verstappen, but he is now likely too far back with only 3 races to go to win now, I think.  But still should be a good race!

1 minute ago, Purple88 said:

The Brazilian Grand Prix was action packed.  So much in it that I think reading and then watching the race highlights is your best approach:

HIGHLIGHTS: Relive the drama-filled Sao Paulo GP as Lando Norris takes victory over Kimi Antonelli and Max Verstappen

But Lando Norris wins and had a great weekend and now owns a 24-point lead over his teammate Piastri who finishes 5th today.  Norris is also nearly 50 points clear of Max Verstappen who had a poor start to the weekend and then started on the pit lane and ran it all the way to 3rd place on the podium.  He was just held off by a Great effort for Mercedes Rookie Kimmie Antonelli who drove the Silver Arrows tires off this weekend.  Great effort to get his career best 2nd place.

They move now to Las Vegas in 2 weeks in a race that should set up better for Verstappen, but he is now likely too far back with only 3 races to go to win now, I think.  But still should be a good race!

I still need to watch it.  I just finished the Sprint Race and still have to watch qualifying before I can get to the big show. 

Just now, theguru said:

I still need to watch it.  I just finished the Sprint Race and still have to watch qualifying before I can get to the big show. 

Sorry if I spoiled your viewing.  I thought it was a great race though and well worth your time.

Just now, Purple88 said:

Sorry if I spoiled your viewing.  I thought it was a great race though and well worth your time.

I already saw the finish on Facebook.  I know the deal when I don't watch live.  Thanks, 88!