A winning Formula (One)

Some of you may have heard me refer to my love of Formula One racing in the past. I've not posted about it to date other than in reference to trips to Singapore to watch one of the races. I haven't posted about the actual racing before though, as far as I can remember after 1,120 posts over two years - I'm going to rectify that though, starting right now.

I've been following Formula One since the 1979 season, I was nine years old. I can recall sitting in front of the family TV watching drivers risk their lives pushing their machinery to the limit in pursuit of faster times, race wins and the ultimate prize; The Formula One World Drivers Title.

Men like Mario Andretti, Niki Lauda, Keke Rosberg, René Arnoux, Emerson Fittipaldi, Carlos Reutemann, Nelson Piquet and Australian Alan Jones put it all on the line and I loved it. Their cars, some of the most respected and recognised names in the industry, carried them to victory or defeat and I loved it! Ferrari, Alfa Romeo, Williams, McLaren, Lotus, Renault. Brabham, Ford...Fast cars, big crashes and loads of excitement for a young kid like me.

I've followed every season since and this weekend the F1 circus is in Germany at the Hockenheim circuit.

Qualifying finished on Saturday night (German time) and race day is on Sunday afternoon. It looks like it could be an interesting race considering the qualifying results considering Ferrari's Vettel posted no time with air flow issues to the turbo. As it turned out Leclerc, his team mate, had a fuel system problem and starts from tenth instead of the pole position he was set for.

It's been a bit of a cakewalk in recent times with Mercedes-Benz running away with the drivers and the constructors titles for a few years with their British driver, Lewis Hamilton (pictured, off my TV) however there have been a few other race-winners and some good quality races which I hope is the case this weekend in Germany.

My driver, Australian Daniel Ricciardo, is having a bit of a shocker this year after his shock-move from Red Bull Racing to Renault and I'm pretty sure the German GP this weekend won't turn up any surprise improvements as the Renault package seems not to be coming together very well. Qualifying was quite close however, as you'll see below, and I'm hopeful of a great race with Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, the 21 year old Monégasque driver, on the top step at the conclusion. It would be his first F1 race win if he manages it and I think he'll be a popular winner. It could be a stretch considering his tenth place grid slot though.

German F1 GP Qualifying Results 2019

Front row
Pole: Hamilton - Mercedes 1:11.767
2nd: Verstappen - Red Bull Racing Honda 1:12.113

Second Row
3rd: Bottas - Mercedes 1:12.129
4th: Gasly - Red Bull Racing Honda 1:12.522

Third row
5th: Räikkönen - Alfa Romeo Racing Ferarri
6th: Grosjean - Haas Ferrari

Fourth row
7th: Carlos Sainz - McLaren Renault
8th: Sergio Perez - Racing Point BWT Mercedes

Fifth Row
9th: Hulkenberg - Renault
10th: Leclerc - Ferrari

Sixth row
11th: Giovinazzi - Alfa Romeo Racing Ferarri
12th: Magnussen - Haas Ferrari

Seventh row
13th: Ricciardo - Renault
14th: Kvyat - Scuderia Torro Rosso Honda

Eighth row
15th: Stroll - Racing Point BWT Mercedes
16th: Norris - Williams Mercedes

Ninth row
17th: Albon - Scuderia Torro Rosso Honda
18th: Russell - Williams Mercedes

Tenth row
19th: Kubica - Williams Mercedes
20th: Vettel (No time) Ferrari

The race this weekend also marks 125 years of Mercedes-Benz in motorsport which is an amazing effort. The marque were one of the early pioneers of the sport of motor racing and despite enormous challenges and setbacks are still there, right at the top, leading the way in F1. You may not know but Mercedes Benz withdrew from Formula One in 1955 after a tragic accident at Le Mans where French driver Pierre Bouillin (racing under the name Pierre Levegh) was killed. The crash also killed 83 spectators and injured 180 more. They came back in 1989 though and are dominatingnow. The link will take you to footage from that crash in 1955: video Le Mans crash 1955

I'm looking forward to the race tonight. I hope there's some great action which could be the case with two fast drivers in Leclerc and Vettel are starting out of position. I'm hoping either my dude, Ricciardo, or Leclerc comes out on top. Won't be Ricciardo though, I guess.

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