Author: Shaun P Kernahan

F1 Review: 2023 Singapore Grand Prix

The story around Marina Bay was Red Bull this weekend, as they genuinely struggled for the first time, coming away without a victory for the first time this season and Max Verstappen missing out on a podium for the first time this season.

When you look the end of a historic run, there was no shortage of drama throughout the weekend. The practice sessions were relatively quiet, but qualifying left everyone on the edge of their seats.

As time was winding down on the Q1, Lance Stroll lost control of his Aston Martin and hit the wall at high speed, demolishing his car. The good news is he was able to get out and walk himself to the medical car, although he did not participate in the race on Sunday. The one who’s qualifying was impacted the most was Oscar Piastri, who was putting in a quality lap but wound up missing Q2.

Two of the five drivers that were eliminated in Q2 were in a Red Bull, giving us our first Q3 of the season without either Sergio Perez or Verstappen. In the end it was Carlos Sainz who ended up on pole with George Russell alongside.

During the race we saw Yuki Tsunoda wound up with a DNF as he pulled off the track early with a puncture he felt would prevent him from getting back to the pit lane. Esteban Ocon and Valteri Botas also failed to see the checkered flag. George Russell and Lewis Hamilton both pit for a fresh set of medium tires during the Virtual Safety Car that came out when Ocon’s day ended, and it looked to be the perfect strategic move as they had significantly more pace than the rest of the field down the stretch.

Unfortunately, that pace got the better of George Russell in the end and he found himself in the barriers, taking him from a podium spot to a DNF. He and Hamilton found themselves pushing harder than they expected thanks to some ingenious driving by Sainz, who kept allowing Lando Norris to just get into DRS range, which allowed him to hold off both Mercedes, and prevent them from mounting a chase for the front. The strategy worked as Sainz finished on the top step of the podium, while Norris finished second, and Hamilton third.

Fernando Alonso was the last of all drivers to cross the finish line, meaning he falls out of third place in the Drivers Championship, as Hamilton now has a ten point lead there. Ferrari took home a first and fourth place in the race, slowly closing the gap on Mercedes, now only twenty four points back for second in the Constructors Championship.

2023 F1 Singapore GP Preview

The prevailing sense around the industry is this is the race! This is the race that stands in Max Verstappen and Red Bull’s way of finishing the rest of the season on top of the podium, making it a clean sweep for Red Bull. Verstappen struggled on the wet track a year ago while Sergio Perez took home the checkered flag helping create his street track dominant persona. Ferrari finished 2-3 after Leclerc held pole a season ago, but they aren’t the favorites to challenge Red Bull this weekend.

Instead, McClaren and Mercedes are the cars to watch out for, and Lewis Hamilton may be the single biggest threat to Red Bull’s chances at a clean sweep. The weather is always unpredictable in Singapore, and nobody is better at adapting in real time than Hamilton. Add to that there is a change on the course this year, with the weaving stretch under the grandstands gone and replaced with a long straight that could see some overtaking take place.

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While I am not sure what to root for as a fan or as someone covering the sport, a clean sweep is unprecedented, but the Red Bull dominance does have some casual fans losing interest this season. Ultimately I believe the new straight will actually help Red Bull during the race and allow Verstappen to continue his streak and catapult Red Bull to the sweep. It will be close though, as I anticipate Hamilton and Perez filling out the podium.

2023 IFSC Climbing World Cup: Koper, Slovenia

Yes, it is a bit late to be joining into the 2023 Climbing World Cup season, especially given this was the second to last event of the season and many of the top climbers won’t be participating in China. That said, it is a sport that I have recently begun participating in and very much following, so let’s get some extra publicity to the sport of climbing.

The women’s lead title was crowned in the nightcap, which was fitting as Slovenia had three native climbers in the eight-woman final. It was heartbreak for Mia Krampl as her foot slipped after hold 11 going a dyno into the next section and leaving a clear black rubber streak on the foothold serving as a warning to all the climbers who came after her.

Another Slovenian climber, Vita Lukan, managed to bring home the bronze medal in a riveting climb. She lost her chalk bag in an incredibly technical section that saw all but one climber, Mori Ai (more on her in a moment), end up with their backs facing the wall and spinning around their rope to solve the most notable crux in the route. As she spun, the clip for her chalk bag came undone and snag on one of her harness loops. She reached back to get a handful of chalk but instead set the bag free to fall to the ground. Somehow unphased, Lukan continued climbing to the 40+ hold mark, which was just enough to earn a spot on the podium.

Ai put together an impressive climb, especially given the setup did favor the taller climbers, and she was the shortest in the final. As mentioned before, she was the only one not to go for the reverse hold and spin in the middle of the wall, instead putting in an impressive heel hold to get through the crux and ending up nearly reaching the top, before falling at 44+.

The final climber of the day was climbing superstar Janja Garnbret, and she put on a show for her home crowd. The fans were incredibly loud for her entire climb, regularly chanting “Janja” and “Slovenia” as she made the problem that stumped every climber before her look almost simple. She breezed her way to the top to claim gold.

On the men’s side, there was again only one climber to top the route, and he was also the last competitor to go. Anraku Sorato of Japan showed why he is a future star in the sport as he absolutely dominated the wall and made it look even easier than Janja did the women’s route. American Jesse Grupper found himself burning too much time at one of the most unique features you will see on a lead route. The right-handed swinging move that leads to a slight down jump before a full dyno with an underhand hold would be intimidating on a bouldering wall, it in the middle of a lead route is borderline crazy. Despite the uniqueness of the feature, every single climber did successfully solve it.

Grupper though did spend a lot of time in that section which led to him seeming to rush at the end as he found himself with a handful of maneuvers to complete with only 20 seconds left and fell on hold 42+. It really was a two man show as the bronze medal went to Olympic champion Alberto Gines Lopez, who only made it to hold 23.

2023 NFL Predictions

2023 NFL Predictions

Another NFL season kicks off tonight, and we can’t go into another season without doing a prediction article. Stay tuned throughout the year as we will have DFS plays every week and will certainly have more articles about this NFL season.

AFC East: Buffalo Bills
AFC North: Cincinnati Bengals
AFC South: Tennessee Titans
AFC West: Kansas City Chiefs
AFC Wild Card: Baltimore Ravens
AFC Wild Card: Los Angeles Chargers
AFC Wild Card: Miami Dolphins

NFC East: Philadelphia Eagles
NFC North: Detroit Lions
NFC South: Atlanta Falcons
NFC West: San Francisco 49ers
NFC Wild Card: Seattle Seahawks
NFC Wild Card: Dallas Cowboys
NFC Wild Card: New Orleans Saints

MVP: Joe Burrow
OPOY: Ja’Marr Chase
DPOY: Micah Parsons
OROY: Bijan Robinson
DROY: Christian Gonzalez

Super Bowl Matchup: Buffalo Bills vs. San Francisco 49ers

Super Bowl Champions: Buffalo Bills

Best MLB Debuts: May 2023

Some big names made their MLB debuts with 2022 MLB draft pick Ben Joyce joining the Los Angeles Angels bullpen, along with Sam Bachman. Meanwhile up the freeway Bobby Miller earned a win in his Los Angeles Dodgers debut and currently has a 2-0 record with a 1.64 ERA, but that is not good enough for the best debut or the best month. Even further up the California freeway system, Patrick Bailey is hitting over .300 with a couple home runs and a dozen RBI, but he didn’t have the best debut month for the San Francisco Giants in May. For both the pitcher and batter, the player with the best debut was also the player with the best first month. 

Best Hitting Debut & Month:

Casey Schmitt, 3B, San Francisco Giants – Schmitt went 2-4 with a solo home run in his debut, making him the only player to homer in his debut this month. He has gone on to hit another home run, is hitting .325, driven in 16 and crossed the plate a dozen times. Schmitt has been arguably the best player on the Giants over the past month. 

Best Pitching Debut & Month:

Bryce Miller, RHP, Seattle Mariners – Miler didn’t get the win on his debut, but he went six innings while allowing just a single run with two hits. He wound up striking out 31 batters in his 36 innings on the month, with an ERA of an even 3.00 and a 3-2 record.

2023 F1 Monaco Grand Prix Preview

Arguably the most iconic track in all of racing, the Monaco Grand Prix takes center stage again this weekend. A year ago the race began behind a safety car on the formation lap before being red flagged due to the pouring rain. Haas has both their cars out of the race by lap 27, with Mick Schumacher’s crash bringing out another red flag.

The story of the day was pole sitter Charles Leclerc pitting well after Sergio Perez and being double stacked with his teammate Carlos Sainz, losing far too much time and falling all the way off the podium. Perez took home the win with Sainz in second and Max Verstappen in third.

This weekend there is a chance of rain all weekend but, after having last weekend’s race in Imola called off due to the immense rain and flooding in the region, it does appear to be a relatively dry weekend. Currently it appears the chance of rain during qualification and race day sitting right around 20%. If there is rain, Pirelli will get the chance to debut their new intermediate and wet tires that don’t require tire warmers.

Ultimately, I anticipate some mild weather coming into play in the strategy of the day which, based on recent seasons, doesn’t bode well for Ferrari despite the fact they may have the best car for the circuit. I anticipate this being the first non-Red Bull win of the season, with Fernando Alonso my pick to end his win drought given how quick the Aston Martin is in the corners and the fact the track will limit the Red Bull DRS impact. That doesn’t mean Red Bull won’t see the podium, as I expect the Perez to have another excellent showing on a street circuit and finish second. Leclerc is my pick to round out the podium and give him his first podium in his hometown.

Other stories to watch will be how Mercedes does this weekend, as they are expected to debut a number of upgrades in Monaco despite it being a track that is easy to clip a wall. With many other teams holding off on their upgrades another week, this may be Mercedes making a desperate swing to regain traction as a top three team, but I am not optimistic.

A driver I think is a lock to finish in the points despite not being one of the top teams is Valtreri Bottas, as I expect him to actually finish in the top eight on Sunday.

We will also see the return of F2 and F3 giving us a full weekend of racing to take in as Monaco becomes the first European race of the season.

2023 F1 Miami Grand Prix

There were plenty of fireworks early in the Miami weekend with a car hitting the wall in both of the Friday practices. Come Saturday the practice was relatively uneventful in terms of incidents, and Max Verstappen put together a blistering 1:27:558 fastest lap. Then came qualifying, where plenty of drama ensued.

In Q1there were a number of incidents that were investigated by the stewards, but ultimately no penalties were handed down. On his home soil, Logan Sargeant had an abysmal weekend, finishing dead last in qualifying and later being one of two backmarkers and finishing P20. Also out in Q1 was Yuki Tsunoda, both McClarens, and a shock in Lance Stroll. Q2 provided another shocker when Lewis Hamilton failed to qualify in the top six for the first time and even failed to make Q3. Once Q3 began, the initial story was Verstappen making a mistake on his first flying lap and heading back to the garage before putting in an official time. That came back to bite him as Charles Leclerc spun out and hit the wall in the closing minutes, drawing a red flag and the end to qualifying, putting Sergio Perez at P1 and Verstappen at P9.

Come Sunday all eyes were on Verstappen and the question of whether or not he could be the first race winner from P9 since 1984, which he went on to accomplish with little struggle amazingly. Perez finished second, extending the battle at the top of the championship from the rest of the pack and giving Red Bull a stranglehold on the constructors race. Fernando Alonso found himself on his fourth podium in five races, finishing third. The story of the race really was the Red Bulls as there was not a single yellow flag during the race, much less a safety car. The big incident on the day was Carlos Sainz getting a five second penalty for speeding into the pit lane, although that didn’t impact the final standing as he finished more than eight second ahead of Hamilton behind him.

The overtake of the day and the driver of the day both also goes to Verstappen, with an impressive move to get ahead of Leclerc and Kevin Magnussen in a single turn.

In other open wheel news, the F1 Academy raced in Valencia. Initially Marta Garcia won double pole, but ultimately had her lap time deleted due to track infringements, giving fellow Spaniard Nerea Marti the pole out of Q1. Come race day, Hamda Al Qubaisi won race one with Marti in second and Lena Buhler getting her first podium of the season. Race two saw Bianci Bustamante on top of the podium with Buhler continuing a strong weekend and Al Qubaisi getting on the podium again. Race three was the first ever Sunday race for the F1 Academy, and Garcia took home her third win in six races, while Marti and Abbi Pulling rounded out the podium.

The F1 world takes the next week off before F1 through F3 hit the track in Imola, and the F1 Academy stays in Spain, but heads to Barcelona.

2023 F1 Miami Grand Prix Preview

Formula 1 is the only open wheel circuit taking to the streets of South Beach this weekend, but they are not the only ones on in the F1 family racing. F1 Academy will have their second weekend of races in Valencia, Spain on Saturday and Sunday, with qualifying taking place Friday. During Thursday’s testing, the two fastest laps were put in by the Al Qubaisi sisters, with Amna putting in a 1:34:143 second only to Hamda who finished her best lap in 1:34:071. Among the three other fastest racers in practice, it should come as no surprise Abbi Pulling is in the group, as is the Championship leader Marta Gacia, racing on her home track. In fifth is a fellow Spaniard who calls Valencia home in Merea Marti.

It would almost be a shock to see Garcia not secure at least one pole and one race win, but the other four are clearly excellent competition for her this weekend, as is the rest of the field, as every team scored at least a point in the first weekend of the F1 Academy, and there were seven different people who stepped onto the podium a week ago.

Clearly the focus this weekend will be on the streets surrounding Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, and even plenty of focus inside the stadium as the Paddock has been moved onto the football field this weekend. Last season was the inaugural race for F1 in Miami, and it was pretty well dominated by Max Verstappen who won the race and secured the fastest lap. The other two podium spots belonged to Ferrari as Charles Leclerc finished second after securing pole in qualifying, and Carlos Sainz finished third.

After seeing what the Red Bulls did this past weekend in Baku, it is hard pressed to believe they won’t finish 1-2 yet again this weekend, where I would anticipate seeing Verstappen defending his title with Sergio Perez finishing second. In a single lap setting, Charles Leclerc certainly has an argument to be the best in the sport and expect to see him prove it again by being the pole sitter, but ultimately falling down to third again this weekend.

Currently the weather looks like it will be kind as the highs are in the mid-80s all weekend with limited chances of rain, so we should see slicks all weekend long. In the first race most teams went with a single stop strategy going from mediums to hards, and we will probably see another single stop weekend.

One driver to really keep an eye on is going to be Logan Sargeant as it will be his first home circuit race and he is one of two racers still without a point this season. He had a good showing in qualifying in Baku, but the pressure of a home circuit is always tough, but it would make for a great story as Sargeant is the first American to take the cockpit of an F1 car in 8 seasons.