🏁 Fly Like the Wind Lando

🥇Max Verstappen [295]: Admits that he “tried to be second” after the team “wasn’t quick enough” when Lando pulled an uno reverse card on him at his home race. I really thought that were in for another Lando bottle after Max overtook him at the start. Didn’t see that pace difference coming.

🥈Lando Norris [225]: Hails “unbelievable” McLaren pace, and knew he had a shot at the win quite early: “probably Lap 5, 6, 7…I expected Max to start pushing and get a bit of a gap but he never did, so from that point I knew we were in with a good fight.”

🥉Charles Leclerc [192]: Before the race he said “a podium would be a miracle”. With a P3 finish, it proves that miracles still exist in this world ✨ 

4️⃣ Oscar Piastri [179]: With the car now being a certified rocket ship, missing out on the podium was “disappointing”, adding “I just got stuck in the dirty air and, from that point onwards, it was a pretty painful afternoon, so definitely some things to look at.”

5️⃣ Carlos Sainz [172]: “Hopeful” that Monza upgrade package will finally eliminate the team’s bouncing issue that has plagued them since Spain. If they can, he says adding downforce is the next focus.

6️⃣ Lewis Hamilton [154]: With a solid recovery drive to finish P8, he’s kicking himself over missing out on Q3: “I think if I’d qualified where I should have qualified, I’d have been in the top five.”

7️⃣ Sergio Perez [139]: Although the team had disappointing race pace, chatter is Zandvoort went a long way to giving the team data on what’s missing, and Checo agrees: “It has been a good weekend in terms of understanding the car issues and we can go forward to take this as the base and to develop from here.”

8️⃣ George Russell [122]: He was just as surprised as us at home with the lack of pace Mercedes showed: “just surprised by the lack of pace, really don’t know where that disappeared to…We’ve been ahead of Ferrari in all of them and suddenly today they looked really competitive.”

9️⃣ Fernando Alonso [50]: Watch “Inspector Alonso” try to get a closer look at McLaren’s space ship in parc ferme after the race, as he kneels down to inspect the diffuser and rear floor. Love it. You’ve seen Hamilton do this to from time to time. The old guard knows how to looks for any edge possible.

🔟Lance Stroll [24]: With Sainz and Hamilton inevitably passing the Aston, he said “the focus was on holding position as we didn't really have the pace in the car to challenge for more.”

11. Nico Hulkenberg [22]: Thinks his early pit stop was “too aggressive”, which left him on 57 lap old hard tires at the end of the race, which saw him drop from P9 to P11 after getting passed by Gasly and Alonso.

12. Yuki Tsunoda [22]: Thinks his two stop strategy “wasn’t ideal” after starting P12 and finishing P17.

13. Daniel Ricciardo[12]: “Frustrated” with finishing outside the points last weekend, though he had a solid drive to P12 after getting knocked out in Q3. “Our balance today felt points-worthy.”

14. Pierre Gasly 📈 [8]: “Extremely happy” with his “amazing” race that saw a Q3 in quali, a good start, and multiple overtakes to score 2 points. “I had a couple of great battles with Lewis and Carlos as well, so it was fun.” Always remember to have fun out there, kids.

15. Ollie Bearman 📉 [6]: Dang, doesn’t even get a chance to defend against the Gasly standings overtake here. I guarantee he doesn’t finish last though…

16. Kevin Magnussen [5]: Says he’s “at peace” and “not too stressed” about his racing future that’s currently up in the air. “Right now there’s no news to report on my future. Nothing has been decided.”

17. Esteban Ocon [5]: Stuck in a DRS train for most of the race, “I think we did the maximum we could on our side today.” He also praised Pierre’s race and said it gave good info to the team.

18. Alex Albon [4]: DQ’d from quali after his floor was found to “lie outside the regulatory volume mentioned in Article 3.5.1 a) of the FIA Formula One Technical Regulations.” Should have read past Article 3.4. “We got the undercut on a few cars, then at the same time got stuck behind a lot of cars as well, during the stint, so we never really showed any true pace.”

19. Zhou Guanyu [0]: Had a tough day that saw he and his teammate lapped twice. He’s still looking to find out “why we struggle so much on high fuel – as the changes we implemented didn’t quite work for us.”

20. Logan Sargeant [0]: Part of Logan’s statement regarding his departure: “I am super thankful to Williams Racing for giving me my first opportunity in Formula 1…I am so grateful for the support I received…Going on to drive an F1 car for the first time in Abu Dhabi was the experience of a lifetime, while becoming the first American points scorer for 30 years in Austin last season was a really special moment.” Hoping Logan finds success in another series. USA! USA! USA!

21. Valtteri Bottas [0]: Reveals he’s “only interested” in the last remaining seat option at Sauber if he can sign a multi-year deal.

Constructor’s Corner

🥇Red Bull [434]: Max on what the team needs to do to get back on the top step of the podium: “I’ll just try to improve the situation with myself and the car and just try to get a better balance. If we get a better balance, it will help everything and the performance of the car naturally.”

🥈McLaren [404]: Bosses weren’t short on praise for Lando, and were ultimately surprised just how big the gap was. TP Stella: “We would have never thought that coming to Zandvoort, which has been a difficult venue for us in the past, we could put together such a strong performance in qualifying and then confirm this in the race.” The team knew they’d be better with their upgrades, but not THIS much better..

🥉Ferrari [370]: TP Vasseur says the team “must build” on their surprising race pace after what was a tough qualifying, praising the performance of the team. “There are still nine races to go, some of them will suit us better than others and we must see what we can do with the new package that is coming soon, but today has certainly been a confidence boost for the team.”

4️⃣ Mercedes [276]: Toto Wolff was stumped by the team’s “totally off” weekend in Zandvoort as the team looks to the data to find out what happened. “You don’t finish first and second three weeks ago, and then seventh and eighth so far off the pace.” Remember, always read Toto quotes in his signature accent in your head. Makes them so much better.

5️⃣ Aston Martin [74]: Another week, and no Newey announcement. TP Krack says they’re “in the hunt” to sign him and “we are all pushing” to get him on board.

6️⃣ VCARB [34]: Technical Director Jody Egginton on the team’s promising progress: “Today’s race has confirmed that there is now next to no delta in race pace between the teams towards the front of the midfield.”

7️⃣ Haas [27]: TP Komatsu is taking the positives from last weekend: “Nico’s performance was very strong and I think Kevin in clear air was strong as well.” Monza will suit Haas’ low downforce car, look for them to compete for points in Italy.

8️⃣ Alpine [13]: New TP Oakes on the “big task” that awaits him at Alpine: “It’s everyone’s dream to lead an F1 team. I’m fortunate to do it at a young age, which everyone keeps reminding me, so no pressure.” Oakes is currently the youngest TP and the second youngest ever to hold the position, behind Christian Horner.

9️⃣ Williams [4]: TP Vowles on Logan being replaced: “To replace a driver mid-season is not a decision we have taken lightly, but we believe this gives Williams the best chance to compete for points over the remainder of the season. This is undoubtedly incredibly tough on Logan, who has given his all throughout his time with Williams, and we want to thank him for all his hard work and positive attitude. Logan remains a talented driver and we will support him to continue his racing career for the future.”

🔟Kick Sauber [0]: New tech leader for the Audi project Mattia Binotto made a bid to poach Ferrari power unit guru Enrico Gualtieri in a move that would have reportedly tripled his salary - but he’s sticking with the Scuderia. Dang that’s some loyalty to be able to deny that raise. He REALLY wants to see Ferrari back on top. Respect.

• Winging It: Red Bull TP Christian Horner believes rivals’ front wing development holds the key to unlocking further performance: “The way the front wings are being used are quite different. If you look at the front wing angle of McLaren and Mercedes, they’re very, very different. Very different to the rest of the grid.”

• Yaw Baby: Talk is that thanks the McLaren’s new innovative wind tunnel, they can simulate much higher angles of yaw than their competitors. Word is Ferrari is looking to add similar capabilities, with the first step to be widening the rolling road the test car is placed on. Love yaw. Not even kidding. It’s a term I remember with regard to airplanes, but did have to give it a quick google: “Yaw is the term used to describe a race car’s movement around an imaginary vertical axis that goes through the car’s center. It’s a rotation that changes the car’s direction, either to the left or the right or its current direction or motion.” Alright so it’s basically just turning in this case. Here’s a picture of a plane example too.

• Start Analysis: Great breakdown from the Lewis Hamilton of F1 data, @FDataAnalysis. Take a look at Lando’s initial hard throttle that caused excessive wheel spin vs Max’s more measured approach. The data suggests this is part driver error, but with PIA also having bad starts on average, there’s likely something up with the car too that make starts difficult (maybe clutch or energy deployment) 🔽

• Italian Bling: The pole sitter at Monza this weekend will go home with a ring adorned with an Italian and checkered flag pattern. I like the idea of swag for pole sitters, but why stop there? Silverstone could give out a crown, Suzuka a samurai sword, Vegas a crippling hangover that lasts four days. So many possibilities.

• Unsafety Car: You don’t see this ironic scene everyday, in fact its the first time it’s ever happened in F1 - While running some test laps on Thursday, the safety car crashed along Monza’s famous Parabolica corner. Driver Bernd Maylander and passenger are unharmed, and don’t worry - there’s a backup safety car at the track. Cue endless cheeky quips.

Quick Quiz (Answer)

Oscar Piastri has put up 92 points, follow by HAM/NOR/VER with 84/76/75 points respectively.