Martin Brundle summarized the results of the American Grand Prix

Former Formula 1 driver and Sky Sports F1 commentator Martin Brundle summarized the results of the US Grand Prix…

The Formula 1 weekend in Austin was intense and intriguing and left more questions than answers.

At first glance, it is only two victories for Max Verstappen and Red Bull this season, but McLaren, Mercedes and Ferrari are putting pressure on the leaders, who are forced to make full use of Verstappen’s speed.

During the sprint weekend, the teams work in cramped conditions. Only one training session, after which the specifications and settings of the cars are determined by the conditions of a closed park, does not provide the opportunity to fully prepare for the stage, if we are talking about a relatively new circuit for everyone in Qatar or the bumpy Austin.

The situation is far from ideal when working with complex modern machines. And it is also foreseen that during the only training there will be good weather and no reliability problems or accidents will occur.

And here the first question arises: is this not an unnecessary risk, is it possible that teams and drivers will be forced to waste their strength and resources in a situation that does not fully comply with Formula 1 standards.

In Sunday’s race, 20% of the field started from the pit lane: both Aston Martins and Haas. They had to break through the conditions of a closed park in an attempt to find the optimal configuration and settings of the machines. The remaining drivers, who started at noon on Friday, with two qualifying sessions and two races ahead, were doomed to drive sub-optimally set up cars for the rest of the weekend. It’s more like a lottery, the outcome of which in this case we heard a few hours after the finish. And something must be done about this.

Verstappen rightly noted that Saturday’s sprint allows us to assess the balance of power, robbing Sunday’s race of intrigue. But personally, I still prefer sprints to training.

Another problem is that we have three different tire distribution scenarios, two different qualifying formats and two different racing formats in parallel. Commentators are forced to refresh their memories of all the possible options every weekend – and what are the chances that fans will remember it all?

Mercedes brought the last major update to Austin this season to determine the development of the car next season. Lewis Hamilton felt progress and, performing on one of his favorite circuits, got the most out of the car and was even able to win the race, but was ultimately disqualified.

After the race it turned out that in his car, just like in Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari, the control rod under the bottom was too worn. It has been used for almost thirty years, allowing you to keep performance under control and avoid the daily replacement of expensive parts at the bottom.

This beam is made of reinforced polymer, not wood, and traces of contact with it can often be seen on the circuits, especially at the Eau Rouge corner in Spa. At high speeds you hear the cars hitting the asphalt and see the sparks flying.

For cars with a large lean angle – the angle between the front and rear suspension – this was not a problem for many years, but current ground effect cars, which appeared after the 2022 regulation changes, show much better results with minimal ground clearance.

On the bumpy track in Austin, it is extremely difficult in one hour of practice to determine the suspension height for the entire weekend, taking into account the speed requirements, the wishes of the drivers and the inadmissibility of wear on the control rod in particular when the car is full of tanks.

If you increase the spring height as a precaution, the car will lose so much downforce that you can go straight home.

After the race the FIA ​​checked four cars. Verstappen’s Red Bull and Norris’s McLaren were fine, but Hamilton’s Mercedes and Leclerc’s Ferrari had too much wear on the control rod. In this case, disqualification is inevitable. There are no gray areas here.

But now the question is: if 50% of the cars inspected did not comply with the regulations, shouldn’t all other cars be inspected? It was definitely worth it.

It must be said that the checks that the FIA ​​​​performs before and after the race are absolutely extensive. There are more than 50 individual and detailed checks on this list.

The high temperatures of the air and asphalt, as well as the fast and bumpy nature of the circuit, presented a serious test for cars and drivers. Tire degradation during Sunday’s race was clearly higher than expected, and those hoping to complete the distance with one pit stop had to make two.

It seems that Mercedes did not want to put up with this and decided to expand the first segment. A pit stop was required a few laps later, leaving them between two strategies, but Hamilton and Russell showed excellent speed in the closing laps, although at least one of them drove a car with too low a ride height.

Ferrari did not change their strategy with Charles Leclerc, so after starting from pole he finished sixth and was eventually disqualified. Bad day for the Monegasque.

Daniel Ricciardo in AlphaTauri actually completed the race with one pit stop and finished last. I wonder again if it is good for the show if the drivers only have one practice session.

The strict need to respect the boundaries of the track once again played a negative role, as it always has in Austin, and almost everywhere these days.

The white lines defining the circuit at the three main corners were widened on Friday, so that only 35 infringements occurred in eight corners over the course of the race. With 17 cars completing the 56-lap race, these corners were successfully navigated more than 7,600 times.

But the problem remains. Racers will always attack as close to the edges of the track as possible, simply because this is faster.

High curbs can damage cars and tires. Gravel, grass or artificial grass are very effective, but often end up on the track after incidents. What suits car racing does not suit motorcycle racers; what can hold Formula 1 cars back is sometimes easily ignored in other series.

During the preliminary races in Austin, there was little enforcement of the track boundaries, which did not look very professional, and certainly unacceptable for Formula 1.

This problem is easy to solve with walls and barriers on street circuits, but much more difficult on other circuits.

One solution would be brightly colored and highly visible security zones equipped with sensors or cameras that provide immediate feedback.

It is difficult for drivers to see the white lines at high speed when looking from the cockpit. The solution to the problem may be some form of off-route interference.

The interesting thing about Turn 1 in Abu Dhabi is that there is a slight downhill towards the departure area, which takes away the advantage of the drivers going into the fast second and third corners, where they tend to be more precise.

Lando Norris had a great weekend. Fourth place in the sprint and second place in the race helped McLaren overtake Aston Martin in the Constructors’ Championship.

In the individual championship, much will still be determined for Alonso, Sainz, Norris, Leclerc and Russell. Hamilton’s suspension was a major blow to his battle with Perez for second place. Mexico is leading the way.