Formula 1: good month, bad month — December 2022

Good Month

Gasly goin’ up
Pierre Gasly has finally been freed from his Red Bull shackles, earning an Alpine move that he truly merits.

Aston on the up
Lawrence Stroll can finally lose the hangdog expression. Aston has hit a purple patch with a trio of points finishes in Singapore and Suzuka.

Weather man
Jenson Button showed that he hasn’t lost his inner Tomasz Schafernaker, as he correctly predicted prime tyre strategy for Sky at a wet Japanese Grand Prix.

Best fans
Plenty of homemade headwear par excellence sported by Japanese fans – the most brilliantly quirky on the F1 calendar.

New broom, old broom
In the cutting edge world of F1, it’s still pleasing to see analogue brooms and brushes used to clear the track in Singapore. Can’t beat ’em.

Bad Month

Race control fiasco
Drivers had a right to be outraged when a 125mph Gasly found a recovery truck looming up through the Suzuka spray. Can’t race control use some common sense?

Cost-cap cock-up
Horner claimed “defamatory remarks” re Red Bull’s alleged cost-cap bust, but it then turned out to be true. By how much though? How will it be punished? No one really knows.

What are the points?
F1 is complicated and the rules  are complex. So why can’t the FIA communicate them clearly so we know who the world champion is as he crosses the line?

Wet wipe
Ah, the poor Pirelli full wet – the tyre no one wants. Even at a monsooned Suzuka, it became apparent the intermediate was quicker.

Bottas in a rut
What’s happened to poor Valtteri? Hasn’t scored in 10 races – what started out as a new lease of life at Alfa has turned into midfield misery.