Formula 1: good month, bad month - June 2022

Good Month

Albon the tyre whisperer

Williams’ Alex Albon pulled off one of the all-time great strategy wheezes, driving just slow enough to preserve his Pirellis till the year 2100 and score a point in Oz.

Ferrari lets its stars spar

“I will enjoy their battle for a good position,” purred Ferrari principal Mattia Binotto after Melbourne, sounding like an unchallenged Roman emperor heading for the Coliseum

F1’s astounding safety

Mick Schumacher hit a concrete wall at 170mph in Saudi, sustaining an impact of 33g, and appeared essentially completely fine afterwards. F1 safety innovations still astound.

DRS chess

Racing has reached its logical post-modern state in Jeddah whenVerstappen and Leclerc played games before the DRS line. A modern classic?

F1 drivers united

They may have raced in the end, but F1 drivers showed themselves in a decent light by having a four-hour meeting on whether to race in Saudi after the missile attack. Good to see sports stars actually taking responsibility

Bad Month

F1’s polemic political approach

F1 claims to be shielded from goings-on outside of the sporting world, while simultaneously purporting to be on a noble mission to positively effect our semi-war-torn globe. Missiles raining down in Saudi said otherwise.

Red Bull reliability woe

“I’d rather fix a fast car, than make a slow car fast,” said Christian Horner after a third retirement in three races.Meanwhile Russell in apparently rubbish Merc is second in the championship…

Bottas’s duff Oz lid

Beaches, huts, clear skies and kangaroos were never going to strike fear into competitors.

Aston’s disaster Down Under

After its F1 drivers crashed in almost every session, Verstappen then ripped into the slow Aston Martin safety car, calling it a “Turtle”. Oh dear

Fernando outfoxes himself

Alpine’s wily Alonso campaigned to get an extra DRS zone removed to favour his straight-line speed, then gets stuck in the midfield. Unlucky…