How Drugovich didn’t win but is basically still all I talk about

While all the F2 drivers clambered for Racing Point’s attention and an opportunity to jump in COVID-stricken Perez’s F1 seat, Racing Point were like “no thanks, we’ll take Hulkenberg instead,” so they were all stuck driving in F2 as usual. Better luck flexing that Super Licence next time Louis Delétraz. 

Practice: The return of Drugovich

The first incident of the weekend came ten minutes into practice, when Alesi ended his session by spinning. This was followed by a bit of a spin for Gelael five minutes later, a trip off wide by Lundgaard, and Nissany generally struggling to stay on track. Essentially it was very slippery and anyone who did actually manage to get a lap in immediately had their time deleted for abusing the new very strict track limits. Luckily Alex Brundle was commentating and able to give us some insight about the state of the track and the “yucky, slippery, inside line”. Great technical analysis. 

While Tsunoda, Aitken and Sato also all managed off-track excursions, Tsunoda did manage to stay on track for at least one lap and was fastest for the session, with Red Bull rival Daruvala in second, and occasional superstar Drugovich in third. 

Qualifying: The rise of Drugovich

Despite it being the hottest day of the year, there was “rain on the radar”, of course, so everyone duly headed out to get some laps in. The session started with Tsunoda going fastest, then Aitken going fastest, Ghiotto nearly losing it, Zhou not going fast at all, Ilott messing up his lap, and Shwartzman nearly hitting Gelael while they were both on a warm-up lap, “this fucking guy is unbelievable,” Gelael exclaimed, which I don’t think he meant in a good way. Nissany decided to go about getting in everyone’s way as well, by blocking Schumacher and Alesi (déjà vu anyone?).

It was also very close between Daruvala, Lundgaard and Ilott, but in a time way rather than a getting too close to each on track way and they were all very fast, as were Schumacher, Aitken and Mazepin. However, of course the list of top drivers fighting it out for pole wouldn’t be complete without Drugovich. Yes, I said Drugovich. He took pole and he was very happy about it. Everything was “amazing”. The car, the lap, the feeling, everything. His analysis of the lap was that he “pretty much nailed sector two”. He did. When asked what he had done to boost his performance he said “I improved my driving style.” Also true. Ilott and Schumacher took second and third place respectively. 

Feature Race: The fall of Drugovich 

With championship leader Robert Shwartzman having had a shocker of a qualifying (ending up in 18th place), this was Callum Ilott’s chance to claw back some points, although Ilott was apparently less optimistic about this, as he said Shwartzman “could probably do something special.” That general pessimism was not unwarranted, as Ilott stalled on the formation lap and was therefore forced to start from the pitlane. 

After Ilott was cleared away, the race was ready to start. Drugovich, probably still having nightmares about how previous Feature Race pole sitters had had their race wins destroyed by people coming from the back on an alternative tyre strategy, had himself opted for the alternative strategy and was starting on the harder tyres, which may well have been a sensible approach but meant that he was slow off the start and everyone (three people) overtook him. As a result, Schumacher was in the lead, with Mazepin and Lundgaard in second and third, although Mazepin didn’t take long to get past Schumacher, overtaking him around the outside at Stowe like it was nothing. 

After the front runners had all made their pit stops, things were basically the same, except that Lundgaard had got caught in some traffic and was unhappy about it, “we’re in a bit of a shit position here.” Luckily he managed to get himself out of said situation and proceeded to catch Schumacher and overtake him in a move that led Alex Brundle to declare, “goodness gracious me, the wall of death” and we all agreed it was fantastic (I mean Alex J and Alex B agreed and I joined in, albeit alone, at home, talking to the TV). 

At this point, with half the cars having stopped and the field all mixed up, Daruvala asked his team if he could have an update on the race, to which his engineer replied, “Just fucking drive fast!” Top tip from Carlin. 

Those on the alternative strategy began to make their pit stops with around ten laps to go, and it was looking pretty good for pole-man Drugovich to make a comeback on faster newer tyres. Except that he didn’t, and we’ll never know why because no one thought to show it on the TV. I mean sure, the pit stop of the guy who started on pole with a daring alternative strategy isn’t important at all right? What did I say about underestimating Drugovich F1 TV director!?

Anyway, after all the pit stops, it was Mazepin in the lead, followed by Lundgaard and Schumacher, but making his way up through the field (also on the alternative strategy but without a disaster pit stop) was Zhou. Schumacher, however, was on the opposite of a charge, or as Alex B politely put it, Zhou drove around Schumacher like he was a Northampton town centre mini roundabout, i.e. non-existent. 

Zhou’s charge was obviously a worry for Hitech too, who told Mazepin to pick up the pace. Sadly Lundgaard did not get this memo, as Zhou flew by him and then Tsunoda did the same, with just three more corners of the race to go, leaving the top three as Mazepin, Zhou and Tsunoda, with Lundgaard in fourth and Ilott in fifth. ILOTT!? Who knows how he even got there after starting in the pitlane. Title rival Shwartzman was a lowly 14th. 

In the post-race press conference, Mazepin was stressed. The race was so stressful he hadn’t recovered. Zhou said it was “pretty intense out there”. It sounded like they all went to war. Tsunoda wasn’t fazed by the war, he just explained that he doesn’t like to talk too much on he radio. Oh we know. Quite clearly he likes to scream like a maniac instead. 

Sprint Race: Who’s Drugovich?

It was Ticktum who was on pole for the Sprint Race, with Drugovich in second, Delétraz in third and Ilott in fourth, although none of it stayed that way for long, after Ilott hit Tsunoda, who responded with “what the fuck is that!?”, and lost a load of places, while Lundgaard and Delétraz did overtaking. Ticktum took advantage of the battles behind him and set off into the distance, while the Virtual Safety Car was deployed to clear away Tsunoda’s car. The top three were Ticktum, Lundgaard and Delétraz.

As Ilott was handed a five-second time penalty for his Tsunoda incident, he became a man on a mission, eventually overtaking Drugovich (who then disappeared into obscurity, aka 6th), Delétraz and Lundgaard. UNI Virtuosi were clearly doing something right, as teammate Zhou was also now flying through the field and was up to fifth and looking like he was on route for a podium. 

While Ilott’s pace continued, Ticktum’s tyres were looking ropey, but Ilott’s self-sabotage from the previous day apparently wasn’t enough and he went for a spin, ending up stalled in the middle of the track, “ah man, what a disaster”. Safety Car. 

As the Safety Car had to take the cars down the pitlane to avoid Ilott’s disaster, ART told Lundgaard to just pop in for some new tyres while he was there. Cue everyone panicking and trying to do the same. Except Ticktum, who seemed fine with it, and Zhou, who absolutely was not fine with it, “why did we not box!?” Shwartzman, however, probably regretted boxing, as he had the world’s longest pit stop after having to first wait for his teammate and then wait while they double checked to make sure they were putting on the right tyres. And with that went any chance he had of salvaging some points from the weekend. Shwartzman wasn’t alone though, as Gelael also had a terrible stop where his mechanics didn’t even put one of his wheels on properly and he was told to stop as soon as he had left the box. To add insult to injury, as he stopped just after the pit exit line, his mechanics were unable to come and help him with the car so he had to push it back to the pitlane on his own. 

After all the pit stops, Ticktum was still in the lead, with Delétraz in second, Zhou in third, Mazepin in fourth and Lundgaard in fifth. Once the Safety Car had gone back in, Lundgaard and his fresh tyres made short work of both Mazepin and Zhou, before chasing down the top two, with two laps to go and a 1.5 second gap to the lead. This excitement was briefly threatened as Ghiotto had at some point managed to go off track, but the marshals were so speedy fast that all we saw was him being wheeled through a gap in the fence. Thank you marshals for letting us keep our exciting last lap sprint for the win. 

On the last lap, Delétraz crumbled under the pressure, going wide and allowing Lundgaard to pass him. The pressure also got to Zhou, who followed in the footsteps of his teammate with a random spin. Ticktum, however, very much did not crumble under pressure and crossed the line to win, with Lundgaard less than half a second behind him and Delétraz in third. 

Ticktum said he could barely remember when he last won a race and was very happy, particularly given how in love he seems to be with Silverstone, even nagging Lundgaard about it. Leave off Dan, he doesn’t like the track okay? Ticktum also described his career as “not plain sailing,” which I thought was the understatement of the season, until he went on to say “my reputation hasn’t been fabulous.” He dealt with the awkward questions like a pro though. 

Lundgaard rounded the whole thing off by saying that it’s too early to think about the championship. Classic racing driver line. 

Championship Standings: Where’s Drugovich?

Well it’s not too late for me to start talking about the championship, and despite his shocking weekend, Shwartzman is still in the lead (81 points), but it’s very close behind now, with Ilott in second (73 points), Lundgaard third (69 points), Mazepin moving into fourth (58 points) after a good weekend for him, and Ticktum keeping up with his consistent points scoring in fifth (57 points). 

Drugovich is eighth with 45 points.