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drivindrivin · 4 years

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While I don’t necessarily agree with these rankings, I always find what Jolyon has to say very interesting. He, Jack Nicholls and Jenny Gow are great on the BBC radio F1 coverage.

Jolyon’s five best drivers of the year

Max Verstappen

Lewis Hamilton

Charles Leclerc

Carlos Sainz

Sergio Perez

Article under the cut

Former F1 driver Jolyon Palmer, who left Renault during the 2017 season, is part of the BBC team and offers insight and analysis from the point of view of the competitors.

The Formula 1 season ended in Abu Dhabi on Sunday with a podium that summed up the season perfectly - the three outstanding drivers of the year were all on it.

Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton won the race, from Red Bull's Max Verstappen and Ferrari's Charles Leclerc. For me - and I suspect many others - they were the best three drivers in 2019. Just not quite in that order.

This is my assessment of the F1 grid in 2019.

The five best drivers of the year

1. Max Verstappen

In terms of choosing the best driver of the season, Hamilton and Verstappen were practically inseparable. Hamilton won the championship, but if I had to pick just one of them, I'd say Verstappen just edged it.

His relentless pace and consistently high level caused team-mate Pierre Gasly to be demoted from Red Bull to Toro Rosso in the summer break. And now the pressure is mounting on Alex Albon, Gasly's replacement, as Red Bull desperately search for someone who can operate somewhere near Verstappen's level.

In the first part of the season, Verstappen's victory in Austria, achieved while lapping his team-mate despite being behind him on the first lap, underlined his dominance over Gasly, who has excelled against both his other F1 team-mates, Brendon Hartley last year and Daniil Kvyat this.

Three race wins, extremely few mistakes and being a constant thorn in the sides of Ferrari and Mercedes shows how good Verstappen has been.

This was underlined by the fact that he finished the season comfortably third, ahead of both Ferraris, despite being in a slower car in terms of absolute pace and being wiped out by each of the Italian team's drivers at some point.

The only big downside for Verstappen are that a first pole position in Hungary should have been followed up with another in Mexico as well as Brazil, were it not for some foolhardy driving to not back off past a yellow flag.

That cost Verstappen another win. Potentially he could have exercised more caution in Belgium Turn One as well, but aside from that Verstappen's season was flawless.

2. Lewis Hamilton

Equally as impressive as Verstappen, this was an almost perfect season for Hamilton, in which he was strongly in contention for victory at nearly every single race.

When Hamilton leads out of Turn One, the race is boring. This was demonstrated once more in Abu Dhabi, although team-mate Valtteri Bottas couldn't challenge him from the back of the grid. When he doesn't, he's always a factor in the fight for victory anyway.

Hamilton has had one of his finest seasons and it has gone under the radar, because the title has been effectively wrapped up since June.

But winning 11 from 21 races proves his dominance, particularly because of the threat he's had since the summer break from Ferrari and Red Bull.

In the end, I have marked Hamilton down behind Verstappen only because he went off track while leading in Germany and hit Albon in the chaotic final couple of laps in Brazil.

In reality, there was nothing to choose between the two. Hopefully next year we can see them in a genuine title fight. That is a mouthwatering prospect.

3. Charles Leclerc

Ferrari have had a lot of stick this year - and quite rightly. They have been disappointing in every area.

Abu Dhabi was a real microcosm of their season. As Hamilton and Mercedes waltzed to an easy win, Verstappen showed up both Ferraris.

Both drivers hit the wall on Friday. Leclerc missed a final qualifying lap because of a pointless strategic timing 'gamble'. The team were investigated for a fuel irregularity before the race even began, and ultimately found guilty. And they had a seven-second pit stop with Sebastian Vettel as well for good measure.

Leclerc can sometimes get lumped into Ferrari's woeful season; he has after all made a fair few mistakes, such as crashing in Baku qualifying, in the race in Germany or hitting Verstappen on the first lap in Japan.

But this is only his second season in F1, and in reality he has been a revelation. Taking the pole position trophy for his seven poles shows how fast he has been - and he added two excellent victories as well.

Leclerc has brought numerous question marks upon the future of Vettel, because of how much he's ended up shading his team-mate as the season has gone on, combined with Vettel's own mistakes.

In fact, Leclerc has beaten Vettel on every single measure - he outscored him in the championship, took more wins, more poles and comfortably won their qualifying head-to-head. And that was despite Ferrari starting the year favouring Vettel, and imposing team orders - generally in the German's favour - a number of times.

Races such as Bahrain and Belgium show how good Leclerc can be. Hopefully, with another year's experience and a second season with Ferrari, he can cut the mistakes and become a season-long threat. Whether Ferrari can hold up their part of the bargain is a different matter.

4. Carlos Sainz

Sainz is another man who has had an exceptional year, and just managed to take sixth in the championship with a brilliant last-lap pass on Nico Hulkenberg in Abu Dhabi. With both Gasly and Albon, his rivals for that spot, spending half a year in the significantly quicker Red Bull, that is seriously impressive.

Sainz hasn't been the fastest this season. He's actually been out-qualified by rookie team-mate Lando Norris 11-10 in the head-to-head - although the Spaniard is actually ahead when taking into account only sessions in which a fair comparison can be made. But he's been relentlessly strong in the races and ultimately that is what counts.

Sainz's first laps have always been strong, and his race-craft has been superb as well. He has made several great overtakes in the year, and barely had contact with other drivers, in spite of often being in the thick of the midfield chaos.

A first podium in Brazil was thoroughly deserved. It's just a shame he didn't actually get to stand up there as the stewards dithered when handing Hamilton a penalty.

McLaren have had a brilliant season, with huge progression from last year. But they have a lot of work to do if they and Sainz can achieve any better next year.

Consolidating fourth in the constructors' championship and getting closer to the big three will likely be the aim in 2020.

5. Sergio Perez

This was a really tough call between Sergio Perez and Daniel Ricciardo, but in the end I've given Perez the nod because the Racing Point was not as good a car as the Renault and the Mexican all but matched the Australian's points total.

It's been an under-the-radar but extremely strong season once more for Perez. Five top-seven finishes in the past nine races leapt him up to 10th in the championship, ahead of Norris and almost catching Ricciardo, despite having a slower car across the season.

There have been a few mistakes along the way, particularly in a barren patch in the middle of the season such as at Germany and Silverstone, where Perez went a full eight races in a row without scoring.

But either side of that run he failed to score in only two other races and surely punched higher than his car, with four best-of-the-rest finishes, thanks to some super race performances.

The rest of the grid

This season has been a real fall from grace for Ricciardo, since winning races with Red Bull last year. The switch to Renault hasn't been anywhere near a success. In fact, the team have dropped backwards by 31 points and a position in the constructors' championship even though they splashed out on the big-money signing of the Australian.

But Ricciardo isn't to blame for any of that. As a driver he has actually been very strong this year, outshining Nico Hulkenberg 14-7 in qualifying and 54-37 in the points.

Everyone who has raced alongside Hulkenberg rates him highly - including myself - so Ricciardo beating him in that manner, in his first season with the team, is an impressive start, personally at least.

The Pierre Gasly that drove the Toro Rosso in the second half of the season was very good. Both fast and consistent, he scored a stunning second place in Brazil in what was my favourite moment of the season.

Sadly, the Gasly that started the year in the Red Bull never got going. This was the ultimate Jekyll-and-Hyde season, with some of the best and some of the worst. Very mysterious.

George Russell, Albon and Norris have had strong rookie seasons. For Russell, he's had no competition and a terrible car, which has made gauging his performance difficult. But for what it's worth beating team-mate Robert Kubica 21-0 in qualifying was good. He had flashes of pace and barely put a foot wrong.

Albon's Toro Rosso half-season was encouraging. His Red Bull second half started in an encouraging fashion, and fell a little flat towards the end of the season. He could do with kicking on a bit next year, but hopefully a full winter of team integration can help.

Norris' season started very well. He was fairly consistently ahead of Sainz in qualifying in the first half of the year and was held back by misfortune in the races.

As the year went on, Sainz increasingly established himself over Norris as the lead McLaren driver, but points in six of the past eight races show that Norris still did a solid job. He is my rookie of the year.

At the other end of the spectrum, Kimi Raikkonen had a very good first half of the season in the Alfa Romeo, before slipping back, along with his team, in the second half.

A sequence of silly errors kicked off the second half of the season, but on the whole Raikkonen has still shown he has what it takes at 40, as he showed Antonio Giovinazzi the way, beating him in all but three races.

It was a tough year for Haas, and in particular Romain Grosjean, who was generally out-performed by team-mate Kevin Magnussen.

A number of incidents and a fair amount of radio whining didn't help the Frenchman's cause, but the team fell away from good midfielders to ninth in the constructors' this year, and for the most part had no clue why that happened.

They desperately need to understand the tyres more, as this has been their Achilles' heel since day one. One day they can be super quick, like in Barcelona when they were best of the rest. The next they are absolutely nowhere.

Finally, Kubica had the worst season of all. It was a remarkable achievement for the Pole to get back onto the grid after his rally accident in 2011, and the terrible injuries he suffered. But that's where it ends, sadly.

I was a Kubica fan in his BMW days and when he was at Renault in 2010, and I hope people will remember him as that driver, rather than the tail-end Charlie who limped around in a very poor Williams car this year.

Either his right arm and hand - which have only partial movement, and which appear to be more or less a passenger in the car - were holding him back, or so much time away simply left him rusty. Or maybe both.

Either way, his performances this year were not a true representation of a driver who is supremely naturally talented.

#f1 2019 #f1 #jolyon palmer

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musicfeedsmysoul12 · 5 years

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Haven Raised- Chapter 9

Summary: Harry's life is completely changed when his aunt and uncle are forced to take him to a funeral at a relatives. Now being raised by Primrose Evans, her sister Grace and the citizens of Havenfall, his life is going to be a roller coaster.

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Hermione Granger loved having friends. Ron was an avid reader- thanks to his dyslexia being discovered and the various charms he was given helping ease his reading skills. He enjoyed muggle fiction surprisingly and devoured her copies of Lord of the Rings in glee- though it was very slow going. Harry was so curious about everything that he liked looking up random things in the library, saying his mom’s boss Razi often did something similar when he was growing up- encouraging him to look through his books.

Harry also had a phone he let her borrow- after explaining the somewhat illegal status of it. Not enough for a fine but enough to get side eyes.

She was very happy with her friends… even if it ended up like this at times.

“This is the forbidden corridor!” She hissed to Ron and Harry. Hagrid was happily leading them along. Spot was bouncing along himself, looking cheerful and wagging his tail.

“You want to bother telling them that?” Ron asked. “Harry heard three-headed dog and came running!”

“And we’re following like ducklings.” Hermione huffed.

“Harry likes animals and would end up a second Hagrid with none of his ability to shrug off danger,” Ron told the girl. “We have to keep an eye on this.” Hermione rolled her eyes as Hagrid opened the door to reveal a giant dog with three heads. Harry immediately began cooing.

“Such a big puppy! Cute puppy! So adorable!”

“...” Ron blinked at the dog suddenly gave way to a puppy as Harry cooed over him. “... the dog is kinda cute.”

“... you’re crazy as he is.” Hermione said. However eventually she ended up coping over the puppy, smiling big as she did so. Hagrid just beamed.

Time went on and it got a little colder out, prompting Hermione to show off some of her fire skills and conjuring blue flames in a jar so they could be warm. Ron convinced her that it was a nice market to sell them to others- after Harry looked up the rules to find there was no actual rule against it.

“Think of the extra money for books!” Was all Ron had to really say. His twin brothers were impressed when they heard about it.

“Smart lad! Smart lass!” One said one day, appearing at the Hufflepuff table. Hermione often joined them over there- all of the house having declared her an honorary Hufflepuff given her status as a pariah in her house. Bullying was down but she was kind of shunned for drawing the teachers ire.

“Other smart lad,” the other said, nodding to Harry. “Already coming up with…”

“... excellent business ideas.” The first said. Ron sighed.

“Fred,” he nodded to the second twin, “George,” a nod to the first, “what do you two want?”

“Well, Ronnikins-“

“-we’re double checking that-“

“-we are going to Harrykins house-“

“-for Christmas!” The twins grinned, but then twitched, looking at Ron for a second in shock.

“You are. JD- my mom’s coworker- is a prankster themself and would love to share jokes but… muggle ones.” Harry told the twin who grinned and high fived. “Is Percy coming?”

“He’s worries about OWLs.” Both twins said. Harry has heard of the tests, and he nodded.

“Understandable. My aunt- Grace- is graduating this year and worrying about her own tests. If he does come he may be able to trade ideas and tricks on studying with her.”

“Oh nice.” Fred Said, as George went off to tell Percy that. “We’ll see you around!”

“You’re going to regret having them around,” Ernie told Harry. Harry just shrugged.

“It’ll be funny at least.”

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“If we’re not playing why are we going? Other than to cheer on your brothers which you probably don’t want to do.” Harry asked Ron as he dragged Harry and Hermione to the stadium.

“Because it’s Quidditch!” Ron threw his hands up and gave his friends a look. Hermione was less opposed to going then Harry who had wanted to hang out with Hagrid and Buckbeak. “We always go and see Hagrid Harry. I really want to do this.”

“...Okay.” Harry said after a moment. “You guys do always come with me.”

“Will you guys come with me to the library tomorrow for a study session that one of the Ravenclaws is putting on for muggle subjects?” Hermione suddenly asked.

“Sure,” Harry agreed. Ron frowned.

“I don’t know how good I’ll be but sure!” He grinned at Hermione who beamed back happily.

The three friends went to the stadium where Spot was waiting. None of them remarked on it- it was weird but it happened that he would randomly appear in different places where they went. He was just like that.

Going up to their seats, Hermione sat with the Hufflepuffs again, getting drawn into a conversation with Zacharias. The pureblood enjoyed a good debate and liked speaking with Hermione.

“You should really just ask for a resort,” laughed Justin. “You could live with us!”

“Resorts aren’t allowed until third year,” Hermione said, looking annoyed. “I checked.”

“Kind of makes sense. Otherwise, a lot of people would want resorts so they could be with friends or with family,” Ron remarked.

“Good point,” Ernie said as Susan spoke up,

“My auntie said that is the reason for the rule. Some pureblood families kept demanding that their heirs were in Slytherin and raised a huge fuss so they slapped the rule on to stop them from demanding resorts.”

“That is quite interesting,” Harry mused. Hermione’s eyes were glittering.

“Are there any books about this?” she asked eagerly. “I love learning these sort of things!” The group chatted about it- or some did while the others watched the Quidditch game. Harry was watching said game, finding it interesting when a ball- a bludger came streaking towards them.

Screaming erupted from the group of Hufflepuffs as they dodge the rogue bludger. It kept coming though- right after Harry.

Teachers booked it over to the stand, yelling as some of the older Hufflepuffs threw up shields to try and block the bludger. It was chaos.

It only ended when the ball was firmly destroyed and Harry was behind five different shield charms.

“...Ron, I don’t think I like Quidditch.” Harry choked out to his friend.

“It’s alright Mate. Not a big fan of it myself right now.”

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“HE WAS ATTACKED BY WHAT?!” Albus flinched, pulling the phone away from his head. He had been thrilled to learn that the MUSA had developed magical based phones. Now they could give numbers to parents to contact them.

And then he learned the downside.

“By a bludger Miss Evans. We believe it was cursed to attack him- we are devoting all our available resources to discover what cursed it.” Albus promised the woman.

“First a troll and now this? Professor Dumbledore, what sort of school are you running?” Miss Evans sounded very upset which was why he didn’t take her words to hear. She was just upset.

“I am sorry Miss Evans, but we are trying our best.”

“I understand Professor, but why is it always my son that is involved?”

“I… believe it may be the fault of Lord Voldemort,” Albus admitted. He had to be honest here- she cared deeply and deserved to know what she was getting into. He wouldn’t tell her everything- she was a defenseless muggle after all. But enough would help.

“... If my son dies, I come after you with a knife Professor.” Miss Evans said. “I won’t pull him out- he’s never had friends before and I can’t separate them, but if he gets hurt and you could have stopped it I will kill you.”

“I will let you,” Albus promised, meaning every word. They hung up together and he sighed, removing his glasses to pinch the bridge of his nose. It had to be Quirrel who was the agent of Voldemort. But there was no proof other than his own suspicion and he couldn’t fire Quirrell without any obvious wrongdoing. He couldn’t even fake any evidence- with the curse on the position, there was no one else he could hire on such short notice.

Sighing, he pulled a bottle of fire whiskey from his desk. He was going to need it.

As he sipped his whiskey, he wondered if he’d done the right thing in having the stone brought to Hogwarts. While he did believe it was safer there- he was also aware of the fact that Voldemort would be drawn to it.

The darker part of him wanted to test Harry Potter with it but he restrained himself. He couldn’t let himself sink that low. It would be horrific if he did so and he refused to be that person.

He sighed and thought of the cloak he still had. He needed to give it back. The temptation it held was too much for him. He couldn’t… he couldn’t keep it here and not yearn for the third. He couldn’t keep it from Harry either- it was his after all.

The Prevelle Brothers, the greatest necromancers in the world. Before necromancy was branded as a Black Art. Albus grimaced. He wished he could change that but it was hard. Most referred to him as a Light wizard when the truth would always be he was Grey. He was able to use both arts with ease even if he was terrified of some of the Darker Arts. He had abstained for years until he went to Havenfall. He’d felt the darker energies in the air, felt how they protected the town.

He’d never known that Dark Arts could be protective which was what spurred him to look into the Arts once more. With that- using all of his magic- he felt more and more younger. Healthier. Less tired and exhausted. It lead to him questioning everything.

He was rather happy with that. It made his life more interesting.

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The weeks until vacation passed by in a blur- other than Harry dragging his friends to the forest every once in a while to see animals. Those were terrifying moments and Ron swore his friend was nuts- in a fun way.

Hermione was just exhausted. Especially after the giant squid incident. She told Harry point blank she was never going near the lake with him again.

“Fair.” was all he was able to say to that.

“Your aunt is graduating this year?” Percy asked Harry a week before vacation. “She has study tips?” Ron noticed how frazzled his brother was and how terrified he looked in his eyes. OWLs was a big deal after all- it said if you could enter the proper classes for your future job choices. He immediately felt for his brother and planned on trying to get the twins to back off on pranking a little.

“She does,” Harry confirmed. Percy nodded and that was that. They left Hogwarts in glee, Harry eager to see his family and introduce his friends to his aunt.

He saw them on the other side of the platform once they pushed through the barrier- his mom dressed in her usual grey coat and skirt and his aunt in her pink coat and blue dress.

“Mom! Grace!” He shouted, running towards them- Spot galloping along the way. Hedwig was sitting on his shoulder as he threw his arms around his mom who hugged right back. Everyone stared at Proper Potter- as Malfoy had called him a few times- acting like a child.

“Harry!” Grace stole Harry from Prim and hugged him tight, laughing as she danced around with him- the Weasleys coming up to the small family.

“Pleasure to meet you,” the woman said with a smile. Percy offered his hand and she shook it.

“Thank you for opening your home to us,” he said. Prim laughed.

“You are more than welcome.” She told him. “I assume you are Percy?”

“Yes,” he said before Fred and George popped up.

“Nice to meet you!” they said at once, grinning.

“Fred and George?” she asked. They nodded together. Prim smiled at them, ignoring a dark look from a family of blondes who Harry noticed Draco approached.

The Malfoy family viewed the woman who had destroyed all of their standing in society coldly, glaring at her as she laughed with her ward and his friends. Lucius sneered slightly, eyeing her in disgust. A muggle. A common muggle destroyed everything. And he couldn’t touch her in America- she was protected there.

“Bye Harry! Bye Ron!” A bushy haired girl said before she went over to a pair of muggles who were waiting for her. He smirked then, thinking of a black diary.

Now all he had to do was make sure the Potter brat died in his attempt...

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Hope you guys enjoyed this short chapter. I had wicked writer's block but wanted to get this small bit out before the Christmas chapter so yeah... Honestly- Harry is not picking up on the clues guys. There's a reason for that and it's that Dumbledore- instead of ignoring his darker side, is listening to it and is making healthy choices for once. So he's not forcing a confrontation. Of course- that won't mean there won't be chaos in the Hogwarts world for long...

#haven raised #harry potter #havenfall is for lovers

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thisdaynews · 4 years

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Jolyon Palmer column: Max Verstappen edges it over Lewis Hamilton

New Post has been published on https://thebiafrastar.com/jolyon-palmer-column-max-verstappen-edges-it-over-lewis-hamilton/

Jolyon Palmer column: Max Verstappen edges it over Lewis Hamilton

Former F1 driver Jolyon Palmer, who left Renault during the 2017 season, is part of the BBC team and offers insight and analysis from the point of view of the competitors.

The Formula 1 season ended in Abu Dhabi on Sunday with a podium that summed up the season perfectly – the three outstanding drivers of the year were all on it.

Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton won the race, from Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. For me – and I suspect many others – they were the best three drivers in 2019. Just not quite in that order.

This is my assessment of the F1 grid in 2019.

The five best drivers of the year

1. Max Verstappen

Max Verstappen won three grands prix in 2019 and scored points in the first 12 races of the season

In terms of choosing the best driver of the season, Hamilton and Verstappen were practically inseparable. Hamilton won the championship, but if I had to pick just one of them, I’d say Verstappen just edged it.

His relentless pace and consistently high level caused team-mate Pierre Gasly to be demoted from Red Bull to Toro Rosso in the summer break. And now the pressure is mounting on Alex Albon, Gasly’s replacement, as Red Bull desperately search for someone who can operate somewhere near Verstappen’s level.

In the first part of the season, Verstappen’s victory in Austria, achieved while lapping his team-mate despite being behind him on the first lap, underlined his dominance over Gasly, who has excelled against both his other F1 team-mates, Brendon Hartley last year and Daniil Kvyat this.

Three race wins, extremely few mistakes and being a constant thorn in the sides of Ferrari and Mercedes shows how good Verstappen has been.

That cost Verstappen another win. Potentially he could have exercised more caution in Belgium Turn One as well, but aside from that Verstappen’s season was flawless.

2. Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton won 11 of the 21 races in 2019, equalling his totals in 2014 and 2018

Equally as impressive as Verstappen, this was an almost perfect season for Hamilton, in which he was strongly in contention for victory at nearly every single race.

When Hamilton leads out of Turn One, the race is boring. This was demonstrated once more in Abu Dhabi, although team-mate Valtteri Bottas couldn’t challenge him from the back of the grid. When he doesn’t, he’s always a factor in the fight for victory anyway.

Hamilton has had one of his finest seasons and it has gone under the radar, because the title has been effectively wrapped up since June.

But winning 11 from 21 races proves his dominance, particularly because of the threat he’s had since the summer break from Ferrari and Red Bull.

In the end, I have marked Hamilton down behind Verstappen only because he went off track while leading in Germany and hit Albon in the chaotic final couple of laps in Brazil.

In reality, there was nothing to choose between the two. Hopefully next year we can see them in a genuine title fight. That is a mouthwatering prospect.

3. Charles Leclerc

Charles Leclerc finished 24 points ahead of team-mate Sebastian Vettel in the drivers’ championship

Ferrari have had a lot of stick this year – and quite rightly. They have been disappointing in every area.

Abu Dhabi was a real microcosm of their season. As Hamilton and Mercedes waltzed to an easy win, Verstappen showed up both Ferraris.

Both drivers hit the wall on Friday. Leclerc missed a final qualifying lap because of a pointless strategic timing ‘gamble’. The team were investigated for a fuel irregularity before the race even began, and ultimately found guilty. And they had a seven-second pit stop with Sebastian Vettel as well for good measure.

Leclerc can sometimes get lumped into Ferrari’s woeful season; he has after all made a fair few mistakes, such as crashing in Baku qualifying, in the race in Germany or hitting Verstappen on the first lap in Japan.

But this is only his second season in F1, and in reality he has been a revelation. Taking the pole position trophy for his seven poles shows how fast he has been – and he added two excellent victories as well.

Leclerc has brought numerous question marks upon the future of Vettel, because of how much he’s ended up shading his team-mate as the season has gone on, combined with Vettel’s own mistakes.

In fact, Leclerc has beaten Vettel on every single measure – he outscored him in the championship, took more wins, more poles and comfortably won their qualifying head-to-head. And that was despite Ferrari starting the year favouring Vettel, and imposing team orders – generally in the German’s favour – a number of times.

Races such as Bahrain and Belgium show how good Leclerc can be. Hopefully, with another year’s experience and a second season with Ferrari, he can cut the mistakes and become a season-long threat. Whether Ferrari can hold up their part of the bargain is a different matter.

4. Carlos Sainz

Carlos Sainz came sixth in the drivers’ standings, a point ahead of Pierre Gasly

Sainz hasn’t been the fastest this season. He’s actually been out-qualified by rookie team-mate Lando Norris 11-10 in the head-to-head – although the Spaniard is actually ahead when taking into account only sessions in which a fair comparison can be made. But he’s been relentlessly strong in the races and ultimately that is what counts.

Sainz’s first laps have always been strong, and his race-craft has been superb as well. He has made several great overtakes in the year, and barely had contact with other drivers, in spite of often being in the thick of the midfield chaos.

A first podium in Brazil was thoroughly deserved. It’s just a shame he didn’t actually get to stand up there as the stewards dithered when handing Hamilton a penalty.

McLaren have had a brilliant season, with huge progression from last year. But they have a lot of work to do if they and Sainz can achieve any better next year.

Consolidating fourth in the constructors’ championship and getting closer to the big three will likely be the aim in 2020.

5. Sergio Perez

Sergio Perez won 52 points this year, more than double team-mate Lance Stroll’s total

This was a really tough call between Sergio Perez and Daniel Ricciardo, but in the end I’ve given Perez the nod because the Racing Point was not as good a car as the Renault and the Mexican all but matched the Australian’s points total.

It’s been an under-the-radar but extremely strong season once more for Perez. Five top-seven finishes in the past nine races leapt him up to 10th in the championship, ahead of Norris and almost catching Ricciardo, despite having a slower car across the season.

But either side of that run he failed to score in only two other races and surely punched higher than his car, with four best-of-the-rest finishes, thanks to some super race performances.

The rest of the grid

This season has been a real fall from grace for Ricciardo, since winning races with Red Bull last year. The switch to Renault hasn’t been anywhere near a success. In fact, the team have dropped backwards by 31 points and a position in the constructors’ championship even though they splashed out on the big-money signing of the Australian.

But Ricciardo isn’t to blame for any of that. As a driver he has actually been very strong this year, outshining Nico Hulkenberg 14-7 in qualifying and 54-37 in the points.

Everyone who has raced alongside Hulkenberg rates him highly – including myself – so Ricciardo beating him in that manner, in his first season with the team, is an impressive start, personally at least.

Sadly, the Gasly that started the year in the Red Bull never got going. This was the ultimate Jekyll-and-Hyde season, with some of the best and some of the worst. Very mysterious.

George Russell, Albon and Norris have had strong rookie seasons. For Russell, he’s had no competition and a terrible car, which has made gauging his performance difficult. But for what it’s worth beating team-mate Robert Kubica 21-0 in qualifying was good. He had flashes of pace and barely put a foot wrong.

Albon’s Toro Rosso half-season was encouraging. His Red Bull second half started in an encouraging fashion, and fell a little flat towards the end of the season. He could do with kicking on a bit next year, but hopefully a full winter of team integration can help.

Norris’ season started very well. He was fairly consistently ahead of Sainz in qualifying in the first half of the year and was held back by misfortune in the races.

At the other end of the spectrum, Kimi Raikkonen had a very good first half of the season in the Alfa Romeo, before slipping back, along with his team, in the second half.

It was a tough year for Haas, and in particular Romain Grosjean, who was generally out-performed by team-mate Kevin Magnussen.

A number of incidents and a fair amount of radio whining didn’t help the Frenchman’s cause, but the team fell away from good midfielders to ninth in the constructors’ this year, and for the most part had no clue why that happened.

They desperately need to understand the tyres more, as this has been their Achilles’ heel since day one. One day they can be super quick, like in Barcelona when they were best of the rest. The next they are absolutely nowhere.

Either his right arm and hand – which have only partial movement, and which appear to be more or less a passenger in the car – were holding him back, or so much time away simply left him rusty. Or maybe both.

Either way, his performances this year were not a true representation of a driver who is supremely naturally talented.

Hamilton dominates in Abu Dhabi for 11th win of the season

How the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix unfolded / reaction

What you voted as the moment of the 2019 F1 campaign

#Hamilton #Lewis

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jesusvasser · 6 years

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First Drive: 2019 Lexus ES 350

It was the most thrilling drive I’d had in months. I headed fast into a sharp left-hander, carrying a bit more speed than I felt comfortable with. I braced myself for the onset of understeer, but the car turned in sharply and eagerly. I rolled into the throttle as I straightened the wheel, the transmission instantly grabbed a lower gear, and the car rocketed ahead. I kept my foot in it as long as I dared—a bit longer, perhaps—then jumped on the powerful brakes before diving into the next corner. I’d been told the car was improved, but I had no idea it would be this good.

That was three weeks ago in the Nissan GT-R. My drive of the new 2019 Lexus ES 350 was nowhere near as exciting.

I tell you this only because the Lexus people spent so much of our press preview trying to assure us that the ES had shed its boring-to-drive skin and was now an honest-to-goodness helmsmith’s machine. And for what it’s worth, the 2019 ES 350’ driving dynamics are greatly improved. The new seventh-gen ES, which rides on a mildly modified version of the TNGA (Toyota New Generation Architecture) that underpins the impressive new Camry, takes corners quickly and competently. And if you relax your hands and concentrate, you’ll get some pretty decent feedback from the steering.

On the downside, the steering feels heavy in more relaxed driving. On cars with driver-selectable shock valving, there’s little discernable difference between the modes. Still, compared to the previous ES, which turned into a quivering puddle of understeer, it’s a notable improvement.

But a front-wheel-drive BMW clone it isn’t. And there’s nothing wrong with that—except that Lexus seems to think there is.

Comfort has traditionally been the ES’ strong suit. Years ago, a colleague referred to the ES the Japanese Buick, and he didn’t mean it as an insult. The ES was as cozy as a well-worn couch and as quiet as a New Orleans church during Mardi Gras. Happily, that has not changed: The 2019 ES is just as placid as any ES of yore. Were I writing the ads, I’d call it a road-going oasis in a desert of chaos. (And that’s why I don’t write car ads.)

Unfortunately, there are other places where the ES gets away from tradition—and to its detriment. Like the exterior, the interior is largely modeled after the Lexus LS, for better or worse. On the better side are the materials from which the cabin is built—acres of leather, wood, and, in F-Sport models, patterned metal trim. The attention to detail is exquisite, which is exactly what I expect from the ES.

My problem is with the control layout. The basics are just fine; the digital instrument cluster, with its silver ring circling the single speedo/tach/power display, is lovely, and the steering wheel controls are no more confusing than any other competing luxury car. And we should all take a moment to thank Lexus for fitting a nice old-fasioned P-R-N-D-style shift lever, even on the hybrid ES 300h variant.

But from there it all goes, as the Brits would say, a bit pear shaped.

Let’s start with the touchpad interface for the infotainment system. When Lexus first launched its mouse-like Remote Touch controller, I thought things couldn’t get any worse; the touch pad with which they replaced it has proved me wrong. There is absolutely no way to use it without staring at the screen, which is not where a driver’s eyes should be. And the ES driver’s eyes will be there for a long time, because the menu layout buries common functions in obscure places.

Entering a destination letter-by-letter is excruciating and even if you program the navigation system by voice—your only choice when the car is moving—you still have to use the touchpad to get navigation started. Same when you tell the voice recognition system—“Call Robin” and it asks you to choose from a list of a dozen similarly sounding names. And please, please, for the love of all that is holy, don’t get me started on how wonky the touch-pad gets with Apple CarPlay. (The ES doesn’t support Android Auto, so my fellow green-robot enthusiasts are spared this misery.) The ES now offers voice-activated Alexa connectivity; I tried it and the responses were so slow I resigned myself to the awful touch-pad, suspecting that the car’s warranty would run out before Alexa figured out where the nearest used book store was.

To be fair to Lexus, distracted driving is part-and-parcel of today’s infotainment systems, but there are ways to make them less distracting. Point-at-what-you-want touch-screens are the best and dials make some sense (spin it a little for selections at the top of the list and a lot for those at the bottom). Of all the infotainment controllers I’ve tried—and that’s most of them—Lexus’ touch pad is, in my opinion, the worst.

The saving grace of other Lexus models is the redundant controls, but in the ES these have been ground down to the bare minimum. The climate control system has a line of look-alike buttons that are no easier to distinguish from one another than the touch-screen options. Ditto for the minimalist stereo controls. Funnily enough, seat heating and cooling buttons are done right—someone must have been asleep at the switch.

Bottom line: When I see a Lexus on the road, if I notice the driver’s eyes on the center screen, I give the car a wide berth.

Why am I railing on about this? Well, for one thing, confusing controls and distracted driving are a pet peeve of mine. And for another, such a confusing control layout is anathema to the people the ES attracts—older drivers who need a low-distraction driving environment. Not that older folks can’t deal with technology—my parents’ proficiency with their smartphones has disavowed me of that notion—but as you age, you need to ratchet up your concentration levels when you drive.

Lexus might argue that the ES is supposed to attract younger buyers, but is that realistic? I imagine that younger Lexus intenders would be happier with the smaller, sportier IS—which, though still afflicted with that wretched touchpad, has a much better secondary control layout than the ES. If Lexus wants a bigger car for the younger crowd, then maybe it’s time to show the GS a little love.

Bugger me, I’ve spent so much time bitching about the control layout that I haven’t given you the low-down on the rest of the car. Here’s what you need to know:

The ES 350 is powered by our old familiar friend, the 3.5 liter V-6, actually an updated 2.2GR-FKS version with 302 horsepower and 267 lb-ft of torque (up from 268/248 in the 6th-gen Lexus ES). A new eight-speed automatic transmission adds two gears and a wider ratio spread. Toyota says the new powertrain cuts a half-second from the ES’ 0-60 time, dropping it to 6.6 seconds. Power from the revitalized V-6 engine is impressive, though the new 8-speed transmission is slow to downshift.

For the first time, the ES 350 gets an F-Sport version. It gets jazzier styling and brighter colors inside and out (including an optional snazzy red interior), adaptive shock absorbers, and a fancier gauge cluster. Along with the top-of-the-line Ultra Luxury version, the F-Sport gets a pair of horizontal dampers, one between the forward frame rail and one ahead of the trunk. Confusingly called “performance dampers”—not to be confused with the British word for shock absorbers—Lexus says they allow for better handling without the rougher ride that comes with simply stiffening the structure with steel. It’s a novel idea that makes a nearly imperceptible difference, and given the ES’ buyer base, I have to wonder if that money couldn’t have been better spent elsewhere.

For comparison, a 2.5-liter Atkinson-cycle four-cylinder drives a new and more compact version of Toyota’s power-split hybrid transmission in the ES 300h. Horsepower is up 15 to 215, and the combined fuel economy estimate is up 4 MPG to an impressive 44—a remarkable number for a car this big. The compact battery pack now fits under the seat, so the hybrid has the same 16.7 cubic-foot trunk as the V-6 car. 0-60, if anyone cares, is unchanged at 8.1 seconds.

All in all, I found the 2019 Lexus ES 350 to be something of a disappointment. I applaud Lexus’ move better driving dynamics and I love the changes they have wrought in the IS, LS and RX—just this weekend, I drove a base model RC 300 and was struck by how on-target it was. But when it comes the ES, something has been lost. The improved handling is welcome, but by trying to be more like its sportier siblings, the ES has given up its base appeal—that of a nice, low-impact, easy-to-live-with luxury car. Lexus has succumbed to the mistaken idea that every luxury car has to be a Bimmer-beater, and that’s too bad. Had they kept the ES on-message, I might have enjoyed it as much as that GT-R.

2019 Lexus ES 350 Specifications

ON SALE September 2018 PRICE $40,000 (base) ENGINE 3.5L DOHC 24-valve V-6/302 hp @ 6,600 rpm, 267 lb-ft @ 4,700 rpm TRANSMISSION 8-speed automatic LAYOUT 4-door, 5-passenger, front-engine, FWD sedan EPA MILEAGE 22/31-33 mpg (city/hwy) L x W x H 195.9 x 73.4 x 56.9 in WHEELBASE 113.0 in WEIGHT 3,649 lb 0-60 MPH 6.6 sec TOP SPEED N/A

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