Mastering the Grid - S2 E19

Grid Master Newsletter

MASTERING THE GRID

Welcome to the Grid Master’s Newsletter- Mastering the Grid, brought to you by Asia's first motorsport-focused daily fantasy app— Grid Master, made for the racing fans by the racing fans in India. This newsletter was brought to you by our favourite, Griddie.

In this edition, we dive into the thrilling on-track action that took place in the Spanish GP:

  • Spanish GP - The Build-up

  • Qualifying Hour

  • Sunday Show!

  • Aragon GP Contest!

  • Ultimate Wheel to wheel action?!

  • Mad Max Returns?!

  • Next to Watch!

  • Best Team Name

  • Did you know?

But that’s not all—Grid Master is also a platform to connect with fellow fans. Let’s engage in dynamic conversations about race strategies, team rivalries, and everything. We have also launched our official WhatsApp channel where you’ll receive updates, insights, and exclusive content to help fuel your passion.

SPANISH GP - THE BUILD-UP

For the fitting end of this European triple-header, we head to the Circuit De Catalunya under the sunny skies of Spain to raise the bar previously set so low by Monaco that, for once, even your texts to your crush might not seem that bad. We enter this weekend with sheer desperation brewing in the Red Bull garage and ultimate ‘hopium’ as Horner believed that the technical directive changes of Spain will not only bring them to the front but will also throw McLaren to the back. (Horner’s equivalent of - “WILL ROCK IT IN THE NEXT SEMESTER”). The technical changes affected the flex of the front wing of the cars from 10mm to 5mm (and yes, size does matter here!). Even after the changes, nothing much changed in the picture of the weekend with a McLaren topping every Free Practice session, all set to clean sweep this one.

QUALIFYING HOUR

Qualifying around the demanding track of Spain is a spectacle to cherish. A lot of talking points coming straight out of Q1 itself, with Williams of Carlos Sainz not finding the pace this time and Yuki Tsunoda qualifying dead last. (AH SHIT! HERE WE GO AGAIN). The regulation changes were brought in to bring the cars even closer, but somehow made them spread even further, with Oscar Piastri clinching the pole with the biggest margin of the season. Lando put the final nail in the Red Bull’s hopium coffin by gaining the next best stop on the grid with Max glaring right behind in a P3. George Russell put in an identical lap to Max and ended up P4, and if we last Spanish GP is anything to go for, miracles have happened right there. The only guaranteed thing was a dog-fight for the lead out of turn 1 amongst the top 4 cars from 3 different constructors.

SUNDAY SHOWDOWN

The circuit notorious for not many overtakes showed up this time, and it showed up big time!!! Oscar had the start of his dream while Lando was thrown to the pack of wolves with Max covering him on one side and Russell on the other, going three wide before turn 1. Alonso came to life by showing us overtakes on the part of the track we least expect, hell bound on getting a point to match up his GOATED teammate Lance Stroll. Lando finally got a sniff behind Max’s tail which allowed him passing him into turn 1. A third in a row reliability issue came for Antonelli’s car, bringing out the safety car making the last 10 laps super exciting to watch. Max was as confused as us watching the hard tyres on his car, and that led to a last corner incident, opening the way for Charles to slip right past him. The long day only got worse for Max as he was asked to let Russell through, which he did, momentarily, but later decided to be the Red Bull himself and ram into Russell, landing him a 10-second penalty while at the front it was another day at the office for the two McLarens with Charles finishing the podium.

ARAGON GP CONTEST!

If the season so far hasn’t convinced about the uncertainty this season holds then I don’t even know what can! Nothing is out of the frame anymore and there are no longer any safe bets or any ‘WILD’ bets. Put your passion for motorsport on the play and roll on your intuition to help you roll to the top of the pile by participating in Grid Master Aragon GP Conest. Bigger stakes makes the racing even spicier with each overtake translating into big impacts on the Championship table. Join Grid Master and elevate your experience of this thrilling racing weekend!

ULTIMATE WHEEL TO WHEEL ACTION?!

The sport with so many tech companies on its timing tower that it makes it look like an average Indian engineering college placement sheet, was back in the amazing land of Shanghai and we weren’t anywhere near prepared for what was about to unfold. In the first round, Gunther seemed pretty destined to win the race after getting a pole while behind him we saw some great wheel to wheel action between Rowaland, Ticktum and Vergne to the ultimate finish line. However, the move by Ticktum opened the doors for Vergne to sweep through in the last corner and make it a DS Penske 1-2. Luck wasn’t with Guenther in the second round however, as drivers kicked off in wet conditons. In the front, Cassidy was chased all the way home by the two Porsche. Nyck De Vries had an unfortunate moment in the gravel that left him tumbling down the order but amidst all the chaos, Cassidy maintained his cool and through his brilliant performance, brought a win for Jaguar TCS Racing. (Good enough for us to claim it an Indian team).

MAD MAX RETURNS?!

This season start has been 2023 Max Verstappen’s worst nightmare when it was eat, sleep, win and repeat for the flying Dutchman. From poor car performance and strategy blunders to tormenting long pit stops, Red Bull has had a complete buffet this season. The growing tension is completely apparent in Verstappen’s radio breakouts while the other side of the garage is constantly sitting on the back end of the grid. The move on George has left the fans with a sour taste, and people are claiming this as a return of ‘MAD MAX’. Verstappen has also brought his penalty points tally up to 11, and he will be running just one point short of a race ban! It will be interesting to look out for how long Max will be struggling in a car not up to his potential and finding himself suffocating week in and week out behind the two papaya McLarens, and if he does leave, WHAT WILL RED BULL DO? It will be interesting to see if he finally gives up on his championship campaign or if he still manages to somehow hang on to it.

NEXT TO WATCH!

Struggling with the same old void now that the race weekend is over? Jump back into the Spanish GP weekend and relive the hottest, craziest overtakes and ‘Mad Max’ moments by tuning-in to the Grid Master Podcast! Latest Episode now live on Youtube!

Watch now: Grid Master Podcast

BEST TEAM NAME 

CATA LUNGA

- Aman Gahoi

DID YOU KNOW?

Presenting a brand new section of your much-loved newsletter, called DID YOU KNOW? A segment where we take random, interesting, shocking facts, trivia and stories, realising how they painted the motorsport world, how we now see and love!

We all saw the buzz around the flexi-wing changes kicking in this weekend. Even though it didn’t change much, what was this ‘FLEXI-WING’? Teams were enabling their front and rear wings to flex while on the straight to give them efficient drag reduction while on the corners, they came back down to give them greater downforce and hence making them fastert overall.

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