Mexico GP: Win for flying Verstappen, world title for Hamilton!

After a bitter disappointment in qualifying, Verstappen had slept only three hours, and there was an aggressive Red Bull pilot on the second grid slot on Sunday. As the lights went off, Verstappen attacked with full throttle, taking the lead. Pole-setter Ricciardo, on the other hand, had a bad start, and lost a position to Hamilton as well. The Briton came close to challenge even Verstappen for the lead. Kimi, who had started from P6, was overtaken by Renault's Sainz, but Kimi snatched his 6th place back on the following lap. There was a close call on the opening lap, as Sebastian's front-right tyre touched Bottas' front wing. Luckily there were no consequences due to the contact!

It was very surprising to see, how huge an issue the tyre degradation turned out, especially for the Silver Arrows. Hamilton was in severe trouble with his out-worn ultra-softs already on lap 8. Kimi, too was struggling with his tyres. There was no way this was going to be a one-stop race! The Mercedes teammates Hamilton and Bottas both pitted on lap 12, for a fresh set of super-soft Pirellis. Red Bull's Ricciardo pitted on the sequential lap, also for the red-walled super-softs.

Race leader Verstappen pitted on lap 14, opting for a similar tyre choice to his teammate. The flying Dutchman re-joined the track in P3, right behind Kimi, who hadn't pitted yet. Ferrari's strategy seemed to be to keep Kimi on track, to slow down Verstappen. However, Max was absolutely flying on his fresh tyres, so Kimi was facing a mission impossible. The difference in the pace of these two was so significant, that Max could easily make it past the Iceman at the end of the main straight. Kimi's lap times at this point were four seconds slower than Verstappen's! This seemed as a very poor strategic call from Ferrari at this point... On lap 17 both Hamilton and Ricciardo passed Kimi, who had no chance to defend his position on his dying tyres.

Both red-suited drivers pitted on lap 18, opting for the hardest compound as well. Sebastian re-joined the track in P4 and Kimi in P6. Verstappen in the lead was in a class of his own, as the gap to Hamilton was already nine seconds. Kimi's pace on the second stint was extremely promising, and he was clearly faster than his fellow countryman Bottas. Hamilton, on the other hand, was once again in trouble with the tyres! Mercedes seemed to be harder on the tyres than Red Bull and Mercedes. It was kind of weird to see Mercedes struggling so much with their pace, as they have been so competitive all season so far.

On lap 29 Sebastian was right at Ricciardo's tail. The German was allowed to use DRS, and this time he was patiently waiting for his chance to make a move. Meanwhile Sainz's Renault was hit with a power unit failure, which deployed the virtual safety car. On lap 34 Sebastian made a successful overtaking move on his ex-teammate in Turn 2. I was so happy for Sebastian, who made the move perfectly and snatched the third place from Ricciardo. After overtaking the Australian, Sebastian rapidly closed the gap to Hamilton, who was struggling desperately with his tyres and missing pace. And Sebastian attacked again on lap 39! The hungry German passed his title rival at the end of the main straight, moving second already. Sebastian started banging fastest lap times, and the storming Ferrari ace was half-a-second per lap quicker than Verstappen in the lead.

The pit stop roulette started again on lap 47. Sebastian pitted for a fresh set of ultra-softs, whilst Hamilton had to opt for a used set of the middle compound. Meanwhile, there was an intense battle between the Finns. Kimi was right at Bottas' tail, putting pressure on his compatriot. Bottas locked up in Turn 1 and ended up going wide. Kimi thanked for the chance and passed Valtteri. Red Bull reacted right away and called Verstappen in. The Dutch Red Bull ace switched to another set of super-softs and re-joined the track in the lead. Teammate Ricciardo was second, four seconds behind Max. Sebastian was third and Kimi fourth. Bottas pitted for a used set of ultra-softs, as there were no fresh sets left. It was a bit weird to see the Silver Arrows back in P5 and P6.

With 20 laps to go, Sebastian had hunted down Ricciardo. Although Sebastian managed to make it within DRS distance, he seemed to be stuck behind the Australian. Until something dramatic happened on lap 62. There was smoke coming from the rear of Ricciardo's RB14! Once again the Australian's Red Bull was hit with a technical failure, and this was already the 8th DNF for the unfortunate Honey Badger. Ricciardo has the very questionable honour of having more DNFs than any other driver this season. What a bitter and heart-rending disappointment for Ricciardo! Ricciardo's retirement brought out the virtual safety car. It was no wonder, that Max in the lead became very worried about the condition of his power unit.

On lap 67 Bottas pitted for the third time already. The Finn had to opt for the pink-walled hyper-softs, as there were no other compounds left. Meanwhile dominant race leader Verstappen lapped the Finn! Mercedes were definitely having a bad day in the office! Luckily that wasn't the case for the Red Team. Kimi had made excellent job with tyre management, and Kimi proved, that it was possible to make the one-stop strategy work. So what had first appeared to be a bad tactical call from Ferrari, proved a genius one at the end of the race, as Kimi had jumped third thanks to the one-stop strategy.

As a precaution Red Bull turned Verstappen's engine down at the end of the race. But there was nothing, that could threaten the flying Dutchman's victory! He crossed the finish line as the race winner for the second time this season. Sebastian finished the runner-up after a strong race, with teammate Kimi completing the podium. Hamilton finished the race in P4, which was high enough for the Briton to secure his fifth world championship. Teammate Bottas finished 5th, with Renault's Hulkenberg 6th, Sauber's Leclerc 7th, McLaren's Vandoorne 8th, Sauber's Ericsson 9th and Toro Rosso's Gasly 10th.

I have to admit, that Hamilton really deserves the fifth championship. He has had an impressive season with hardly any mistakes. Sebastian showed true sportmanship, as he went to congratulate his rival right after the race. Mercedes still haven't clinched the constructors' championship, but the Red Team is 55 points behind them already. There are two more rounds to go... Hopefully two more victories to take for the Red Team! Never give up! Forza Ferrari!

Mexico GP / Qualifying: Ricciardo led Red Bull to a front row lock-out!

Red Bull had proved extremely competitive in the free practice sessions, with Verstappen stamping his authority all over the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez. Mexico was known to be the venue, where Red Bull would have their best chance to fight for pole position. It was surprising to see, that both Mercedes drivers came out on the ultra-softs already in Q1. Sebastian showed excellent pace right away, and the German went fastest, setting the fastest ever lap time around the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez. The Red Bull aces came out at the halfway point of the first segment. The Red Bulls were absolutely shining especially in the last sector through the stadium. Verstappen went on the top, with teammate Ricciardo just a tenth off the pace. The Mercedes duo of Hamilton and Bottas came out on the hyper-softs at the end of the session. Bottas had an impressive second flyer, and topped the timesheets, with Hamilton second. The Ferraris and the Red Bulls, on the other hand, sat out the second runs. Both Saubers made it through to Q2, whilst both Haas drivers got knocked out already in Q1. Seeing McLaren's Vandoorne and the Williams duo of Stroll and Sirotkin out of Q2 was no surprise.

As the pink-walled hyper-soft compound was predicted to be an extremely unfavourable choice for the race, all three top teams resorted to the purple-marked ultra-soft rubber in Q2. More unexpected was to see both Force India cars come out on the super-softs, which is the hardest compound of the weekend. It was thrilling to see, how evenly matched the top three teams were in terms of performance. Verstappen was the fastest man of the second session, but edged Mercedes' Hamilton by four thousandths of a second only. Sebastian was third, only 0.075s off Max's benchmark. Ricciardo was fourth, followed by the Finns of Bottas and Kimi. As expected, all top six drivers came out on the softest compound at the end of the segment, but neither of them improved his lap time. The Force Indias made their second runs on the middle compound, which seemed a bizarre choice, as they both missed out on the decisive last segment. Mexico with its high air definitely mixed up the teams' pecking order. In addition to the top three teams, also both Renault drivers and both Saubers made it among the top ten.

The battle for pole was super exciting. Pole position was within any of the top six drivers' reach! Verstappen showed amazing pace and self-confidence, taking provisional pole. The gap to Sebastian was surprisingly big, 0.185s. Hamilton was third, two tenths down on flying Max. Ricciardo was fourth, Bottas fifth and Kimi sixth. Before the final runs, the question on everyone's mind was, whether Max would snatch the pole and rob the record of the youngest-ever pole-setter of Sebastian. However, something extremely unpredictable happened at the end of the session. Ricciardo's RB14 came alive on the Australian's second run, and the Honey Badger made it on pole by 0.026s to his teammate! This was the first pole position that Ricciardo hasn't scored in Monaco. Max made it a front row lock-out, which was the first for Red Bull since 2013! The championship leader Hamilton was left third, 0.135s off the pace. Sebastian was fourth (+0.2s), Bottas fifth (+0.4s) and Kimi sixth (0.5s). However, an interesting and revealing statistic detail is, that Kimi remains the only driver to start every race in the top six in 2018. The Renault duo of Hulkenberg and Sainz paired up on the fourth row, followed by the Sauber duo of Leclerc and Ericsson.

Verstappen was extremely disappointed after losing the eagerly-hunted pole to his teammate. Max didn't hold back his emotions, either. Entering the parc ferme, the Dutchman ostentatiously hit the number 2 sign. In the post-qualifying interview he referred to his qualifying as "crap". So I'm sure we're going to see an extremely gutted and hungry Verstappen at the start today. But there is a worrying question about Red Bull's reliability. Will both energy company cars make it to the chequered flag today? Hamilton, on the other hand, has no pressure in the race. P7 is enough for the Briton to secure his fifth world championship, no matter where Sebastian finishes. Without technical issues I believe we're going to see a Red Bull victory today. But I hope the red-suited drivers will be up there to challenge the Bulls closely. I'm definitely looking forward to an entertaining Mexico GP tonight!

US GP: Grande Kimi won after a 5-year dry season!

What a start the US GP had! Kimi, who started from P2 on the ultra-soft Pirellis, took control right away. The Iceman challenged pole-setter Hamilton for the lead, going into Turn 1. Kimi went to the inside, and although Hamilton tried everything to block the ice cool Finn, Kimi squeezed it past the Briton, taking the lead. That was a moment of pure joy! Kimi had absolutely nailed it at the start!

On my yesterday's blog post I wrote, that Sebastian couldn't afford any first-lap mistakes in the US GP. Well, unfortunately my hopes weren't answered! Sebastian had a tight battle with Red Bull's Ricciardo for P4 after the start. Sebastian seemed to have an advantage in terms of pace, but again the German was lacking patience! Sebastian tried a move on his ex-teammate, going into the outside of Ricciardo, but their wheels touched and Sebastian span! Once again Sebastian had made the race extremely challenging for himself. He dropped down to P14 and had to start a recovery run...

The opening lap wasn't problem-free in the midfield, either. Sauber's Leclerc had a collision with Haas' Grosjean, and another crash involved Williams' Stroll and McLaren's Alonso. The Spaniard was the first driver to retire, and Stroll was handed a drive through penalty for causing the collision. Grosjean, too had to retire due to the incident with Leclerc.

Red Bull's Verstappen, on the other hand, had an amazing start to the race. The Dutchman had started from P18, but by lap 7 he had made his way up to P5 already! The further back on the grid Max starts, the better he seems to perform. He made overtaking look so easy. Max always delivers when it comes to putting up a staggering overtaking show. However, teammate Ricciardo was once again the victim of Red Bull's reliability issues. The Australian lost all power on lap 9, and his RB14 stopped on the track. A very frustrated Ricciardo got out of the car.  So it was good-bye for P4 and valuable points! Virtual safety car was deployed, as Ricciardo's Red Bull had stopped dangerously on track.

Mercedes made a strategic call to take Hamilton in during the virtual safety car. The Briton switched to the yellow-marked hardest compound. Ferrari told Kimi on the team radio, that Hamilton was probably on a two-stop strategy. I didn't believe it, I have to admit. I was sure, that it was Hamilton's first and last pit stop in the race. Meanwhile, Sebastian had managed to make his way through the field, and had moved fifth already.

After his pit stop, Hamilton was absolutely flying around the track, decreasing the gap to Kimi extremely rapidly. Bottas was told on the team radio to give way for his teammate, and the Finn obeyed the team order. Kimi was a second per lap slower than Hamilton, who was storming on his fresh set of tyres. At this point I was seriously thinking, that Ferrari had made a wrong tactical call by not taking Kimi in during the virtual safety car. On lap 19 Hamilton was right at the Iceman's tail, benefitting from the use of the DRS. Turn after turn, Hamilton was patiently lurking for a chance to overtake the Iceman, but the ice cool Finn played it smart and defended his position with a big heart and ice cool attitude. Two laps later Kimi pitted for a fresh set of soft tyres. Kimi re-joined the track in P5, 19 seconds off Hamilton.

Verstappen, who had been utterly on flames, pitted for a different tyre strategy. The Dutch Red Bull ace opted for a fresh set of super-soft Pirellis. Bottas, who pitted a lap later for a similar tyre choice to his teammate, lost a position to Verstappen, when re-joining the track. On lap 25 we saw quite a rare team order from Ferrari, as the Red Team told Sebastian to give way for Kimi, who was much faster on the fresh set of tyres. Hamilton was now leading the race, Kimi was second and Sebastian third. Verstappen was fourth and Bottas fifth.

Sebastian pitted on lap 26 for the hardest rubber, and re-joined the track in P5. Kimi had banged excellent lap times, and the gap to Hamilton was now 17 seconds. Hamilton had 10 laps more on his tyres, and the championship leader started to struggle with his tyres. Kimi's lap times were much more competitive than the Briton's, and on lap 36 the gap between these two was only some 10 seconds. In no time Hamilton was in serious trouble especially with his rear tyres, which were badly blistered. Hamilton had no choice but to pit for a fresh set of softs on lap 37. Kimi took the lead, as Hamilton re-joined the track in P4. The teams had missed the long runs on Friday due to the rainy conditions, so tyre degradation must have come as a surprise for Mercedes. I was so happy for Kimi! I knew, that having taken the lead, Kimi was determined to take the win!

Hamilton was absolutely storming on his fresh tyres. His lap times were two seconds faster than Kimi's! Would Kimi's worn softs last till the end? The last 15 laps were such a thriller! I was kind of glad, that I was watching the race at hospital; at least the nurses would be close, if I got a heart attack! Once again Bottas let his teammate past, and Hamilton kept up his superior pace. With seven laps to go, the top three drivers were within 2.5 seconds! Kimi was leading the race, with Verstappen right at his tail. Hamilton, on the other hand, was lurking right behind Verstappen. I wanted Kimi to win the race -I wanted it so badly! I was happy, that Verstappen was behind Kimi, because I knew, that the Dutchman wouldn't let Hamilton to get past. The closing laps seemed to take an eternity... Verstappen was allowed to use DRS against Kimi at some point, but Kimi defended his position absolutely flawlessly. Hamilton made a move on Verstappen three laps before the chequered flag, but ended up going wide.

Sebastian and Bottas had an intense battle of their own for P4. The Finn struggled with his out-worn tyres, and Sebastian squeezed it past Bottas on the second last lap. It was certainly a convincing recovery from Sebastian after his first-lap mistake. But Kimi won the US GP! This was the first win for the Iceman since the 2013 Australian GP! The Iceman showed the world, that as 39 years old he is not too old for Formula 1! I was so so happy for Kimi. It was a dream come true to see him on the top step of the podium and hear the national anthem of Finland. Verstappen finished the runner-up, and Hamilton was left third. This meant, that Hamilton didn't clinch the world championship, at least not yet. Sebastian finished fourth and Bottas fifth. Renault's Hulkenberg was the "best of the rest", finishing 6th. Force India's Ocon and Haas' Magnussen, who had finished 7th and 8th, were excluded from the results due to a fuel infringement, so Renault's Sainz was promoted 7th. Force India's Perez, Toro Rosso's Hartley and Sauber's Ericsson completed the top ten.

The F1 circus stays in America, and round 19 will take place in Mexico already this week. Hopefully Kimi will keep up his amazing momentum! I want to see more red victories at the end of the season!

US GP / Qualifying: Hamilton on pole after a thrilling battle!

The temperature was only 19 degrees Celsius, but the track conditions were dry, when the qualifying at the Circuit of the Americas was kicked off. Ferrari had showed promising pace in the last free practice session, but everyone expected to see Mercedes' dominance in the qualifying. Sebastian went fastest at first, but soon the top spot was taken by the Mercedes ace Bottas. However, teammate Hamilton snatched the lead by three tenths, when there were ten minutes in the clock. The Red Bull duo of Verstappen and Ricciardo were 5th and 6th, half a second off the pace. The first segment proved dramatic for the flying Dutchman, as something broke in his RB14 after hitting the kerb in Turn 15. There seemed to be an issue with the rear-right suspension, and Verstappen managed only just to bring his car into the pits. Emotions were running high, as the technical failure ended the qualifying for the unfortunate Red Bull ace. The top six drivers -Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull- sat out the second runs, as there was no need to go out again. There were no surprise names in the knock-out zone. Both McLarens, both Williams and Sauber's Ericsson were out of the second segment. Ericsson's teammate Leclerc, on the other hand, stood out of the crowd by making it P13 in Q1.

The top teams' tyre strategy was interesting in Q2. Both Mercedes drivers came out on the red-walled super-softs, as expected. So did Red Bull's Ricciardo. Ferrari, on the other hand, sent Kimi out on the ultra-softs-softs, whilst Sebastian opted for the red-marked super-soft compound. Sebastian's tyre choice came down to the 3-place grid penalty, which he had been given for not slowing down sufficiently under the red flags in Friday's first practice session. Kimi went fastest, edging his teammate only by two tenths, despite the different tyre choice. Bottas was third, already eight tenths down on pace-setting Kimi. Hamilton had a very tame first attempt; the Briton was massive 1.1s off the pace, and had to resort to a second attempt after a cool-down lap. The second flyer was decent, and Hamilton jumped third, half a second down on Kimi. The Mercedes duo came out on the ultra-softs at the end of the second session, but didn't improve their lap times. The battle in the midfield was extremely tight. Renault's Hulkenberg was the last driver to make it through to the last segment. Teammate Sainz got knocked out of Q3 only by bitter two thousandths of a second! Along with the Spaniard, also Haas' Magnussen and the Toro Rosso duo of Gasly and Hartley were out of Q3. Due to the technical failure, Verstappen proved unable to set a time in Q2, and was therefore also out of the top ten. The top five drivers could be taken for granted -Kimi, Sebastian, Hamilton, Bottas and Ricciardo-, but the shining "best of the rest" in P6 was Sauber's Leclerc, which caught my eye. Haas' Grosjean made an impressive job as well, by being 7th fastest in Q2.

The third decisive session saw a hair-raising shootout for pole. The Red Team definitely didn't make it easy for the Silver Arrows. Hamilton took provisional pole, but only by 88 thousandths of a second! Sebastian showed top form, and he was determined to challenge the championship leader for pole. Bottas was third, only a tenth down on his teammate. Kimi was fourth, four tenths off the pace. Red Bull didn't have the pace to fight for pole, as Ricciardo was already almost a second down on the ultimate pace. The last minutes of the qualifying were absolutely breath-taking. Kimi had a flying second attempt, and the Iceman got every sector perfectly together, making it on the top! However, Kimi's joy lasted only for a fleeting moment, as Hamilton set the fastest lap time, robbing Kimi of the pole position. Sebastian, too was on flames on his last flyer, but the German ended up six hundredths of a second shy of Hamilton! Mercedes' and Ferrari's pace was very evenly matched, as the top three was separated by seven hundredths of a second only! Bottas in fourth was three tenths down on his teammate, and Ricciardo in fifth was massive 1.2s off the pace. Ocon qualified sixth for Force India and Hulkenberg 7th for Renault. Haas' Grosjean, Sauber's Leclerc and Force India's Perez rounded out the top ten.

Due to Sebastian's penalty, Kimi will start to the race from the front row, alongside title favourite Hamilton. Bottas and Ricciardo will start from the second row, as Sebastian has been dropped down to P5. Kimi will start on the softest rubber, whilst the other top five drivers are on the middle compound. If Kimi gets a dream start, he has every opportunity to challenge Hamilton for the lead. Sebastian has made many mistakes on the opening laps this season, because he has desperately wanted to get past his rivals right away. The situation is certainly difficult, as he needs to be patient but still aggressive, if he wants to keep his championship hopes alive. And I'm sure there will be frustrated and aggressive Verstappen starting from P18 today. I know it's going to be inevitable, that Hamilton will clinch his fifth world championship sooner or later, but I hope it won't happen today!

Japanese GP: No success for Ferrari, whilst superior Mercedes took a sweeping 1-2!

The conditions at Suzuka were hot and dry, as the lights went out. Both Mercedes drivers took a perfect start, Hamilton maintaining his lead. Verstappen was third and Kimi fourth. Sebastian had started to the race from P8, as Force India's Ocon had been given a 3-place grid penalty for ignoring the red flags in the qualifying. Sebastian's start was mesmerising, and the passionate German jumped two positions right away, moving to 6th. There was drama already on the opening lap. Verstappen made a mistake coming to the last chicane, ending up off track. Kimi, who had been right at the Dutchman's tail, smelled his chance and went to the outside. Max re-joined the track and crashed into the left sidepod of Kimi's SF71-H! There was debris flying off Kimi's Ferrari. Verstappen stubbornly maintained his 3rd place, and Sebastian, too made it ahead of his teammate, claiming P4 already. The incident was taken into investigation by the stewards, and Verstappen was handed a 5-second time penalty for re-joining the track unsafely.

Meanwhile, there was drama in the midfield as well. Sauber's Leclerc was in the tow of Haas' Magnussen, lurking for a chance to overtake the Dane. However, Magnussen made a sudden change of line twice, and Leclerc crashed into the rear of Magnussen's Haas! Magnussen ended up off track and suffered a rear-left puncture. What a dangerous move from the Haas pilot indeed! This incident, too was taken into investigation by the stewards, but no further action was warranted. This incident reminded very much of that between Sebastian and Hamilton in Russia last week. Had Magnussen been penalised for today's incident, it would have made the stewards look extremely inconsistent. The puncture destroyed the Dane's rear-left rim and ended the race for him.

Safety car was deployed as there was a lot of debris on track from Magnussen's car. Leclerc had to pit for a new nose. Re-start took place a few laps later. The order of the top five remained unchanged. But there was more breath-taking drama on lap 8. Sebastian, who desperately needed to chase down Hamilton, saw his chance coming into the spoon. Self-confident Sebastian dived alongside Verstappen, but Max wasn't going to let Sebastian get past him. Sebastian's move led into contact between the two, and Sebastian span. Max, too got some damage to his RB14, but was able to maintain P3. The move proved extremely costly for Sebastian, who dropped down to P19. My heart was bleeding; this was not the turn that I would have wanted to see in the race! At this very moment I felt so desperate; Sebastian's realistic chances for winning the championship this year are fading away for good. The incident was taken into investigation by the stewards, but it was seen as a racing incident and no penalties were given.

Kimi, who was struggling with the performance of his SF71-H especially in the left-turning corners, was the first top driver to pit on lap 17. The Iceman switched to the white-walled hardest rubber. Kimi showed excellent pace after his pit stop. He first made his way past Renault's Sainz, and then the Force India duo of Ocon and Perez. They were impressive and clever overtaking moves from the experienced Finn. Verstappen pitted on lap 21 for a different tyre strategy. The flying Dutchman opted for a fresh set of soft Pirellis and re-joined the track in P5, right ahead of Kimi. Both Bottas and Ricciardo pitted on lap 24, both for a fresh set of mediums. Thanks to a well-planned strategy, also Ricciardo re-joined the track ahead of Kimi. Race leader Hamilton pitted on the sequential lap, for a similar tyre choice to his teammate. It told everything about the Briton's dominance, as he re-joined the track in the lead. Bottas was second, followed by the Red Bull duo of Verstappen and Ricciardo.

Sebastian made his compulsory pit stop on lap 27. The German Ferrari ace opted for a fresh set of the middle compound and re-joined the track in P16. Sebastian had to start the overtaking roulette all over again... My heart was aching when I watched him struggle throughout the race. But gutsy Sebastian made his way through the field again, climbing back up to P6 in only seven laps. After that there was a 40-second gap to his teammate Kimi in P5, so that was unfortunately the end of the overtaking show for the German.

Virtual safety car was deployed on lap 41, as Leclerc's Sauber stopped on track due to a technical failure. With ten laps to go, Verstappen had hunted down Bottas, who was slowed down by the lapped cars. The Finn locked his front tyres when lapping Alonso, and Verstappen got right at the Finn's tail. But Bottas gave the Dutchman no chance for an overtaking move. Race leader Hamilton was hungry to get the grand slam, and the Briton set the fastest lap time on the second last lap. However, Sebastian set the screens purple on the penultimate lap and deprived Hamilton of the fastest lap time.

Flying Hamilton was in a class of his own. He had controlled the race perfectly and took his fifth consecutive victory. The dominant Briton has won six races out of seven, which is a remarkable statistics. Bottas made the day perfect for the Silver Arrows by finishing the runner-up. Max, who had collided with both Ferrari drivers, completed the podium for Red Bull. Ricciardo managed to make his way from P15 up to P4 and was well-deservedly voted as the Driver of the Day. Kimi finished the race in P5, and Sebastian had to settle for tame P6 after his venturesome overtaking attempt on Verstappen. This time it was Force India's Perez, who was the best of the rest, claiming P7. Haas' Grosjean, Force India's Ocon and Renault's Sainz completed the top ten.

Sebastian's situation in the championship battle is now extremely sticky. He is now massive 67 points down on Hamilton, who has done everything perfectly in the past five races. Hamilton clearly enjoys doing his job, and he has the momentum on his side. In the USA in a fortnight Hamilton already has the chance to Secure his fifth world title. Without major technical issues I don't believe Hamilton can lose the title anymore. The same implies to the constructors' championship battle. Ferrari are already 78 points down on Mercedes, which is like a light year already. It seems inevitable, that Mercedes will clinch the constructors' title, sooner or later.

I hope, that Sebastian could put all the massive pressure aside and concentrate on enjoying the driving, which he's so skillful and talented at. With success or no success, he has my support, always!

Japanese GP / Qualifying: Tactical call ruined Ferrari's qualifying!

After five years of total Mercedes dominance at Suzuka I expected no different in this year's qualifying. Conditions were dry, as the qualifying got underway, but there was a 60 % risk of rain. Everyone came out on the super-softs, and Hamilton set the benchmark right away. Sebastian was second, three tenths down on his title rival, followed by Bottas and Verstappen. On his second flyer Sebastian suddenly lost the grip and span, but luckily he managed to stay off the walls. Things were worse for Sauber's Ericsson, who went wide, losing control of his car and ending up into the wall. The session was red-flagged, when there were a bit less than ten minutes left in the clock. There was light drizzle already at the end of the first segment. The top three teams didn't need to come out for a second attempt. Williams' Stroll was a positive surprise, as the Canadian made it through to Q2. Once again Sauber's rising star Leclerc made an eye-catching job by making it P6 in the first segment. The biggest casualty in Q1 was Renault's Hulkenberg, who was the first man to be eliminated from the second segment. The elimination of Williams' Sirotkin and the McLaren duo of Alonso and Vandoorne was no surprise in the end.

Mercedes having been so dominant in the free practice sessions, everyone expected the Silver Arrows to opt for a different tyre strategy in Q2. This expection proved right. Mercedes sent their drivers out on the yellow-walled soft Pirellis, whilst Ferrari and Red Bull came out on the softest compound. In spite of the tyre choice, Bottas went fastest, edging his teammate by three thousandths of a second only. Sebastian was third, almost three tenths down on the Mercedes duo. Kimi was massive six tenths shy of the ultimate pace, although he had set his lap time on the softest rubber. It told everything about Mercedes' priority at Suzuka… The most unfortunate driver in Q2 was Red Bull's Ricciardo, who faced engine woes and was unable to set a lap time. It was a very frustrating day in the office for the Australian, who wasn't facing reliability issues for the first time this season! Towards the end of the second session the rain intensified. At first it was only raining lightly in the second sector, but soon the track had become so damp, that the conditions had turned slippery, and it became impossible for the drivers to improve their lap times. At the end of the session Sauber's Leclerc had a splashy 360-degree spin, but the talented Monegasque managed to maintain control of his C37. However, the future Ferrari star was the first driver to be knocked out of the final segment. In addition to Ricciardo and Leclerc, Haas' Magnussen, Renault's Sainz and Williams' Stroll were out of Q3. An interesting detail was, that Sainz, too had set his fastest lap on the soft rubber.

The conditions were quite challenging, as the final and decisive segment was kicked off. Which would be the right tyre choice? As there had been a shower of rain at the end of Q2, Ferrari sent their drivers out on the green-marked intermediate tyres. Mercedes and the other teams made a different tactical call, opting for the slicks. Ferrari's call turned out to be the wrong one, as the track was too dry for the intermediates. Both Kimi and Sebastian had to pit for slicks, losing valuable time. The wrong call had major consequences for the red-suited drivers. Everything didn't go as planned for Sebastian, who went wide on his first run, failing to set a competitive lap time. Hamilton took provisional pole by 0.299s to teammate Bottas. Verstappen was third, already 1.3s off Hamilton's pace. Kimi's first attempt was very tame as well, the Iceman being unbelievable 1.76s down on Hamilton. This definitely didn't seem to be Ferrari's day!

After the first runs the conditions took a turn to worse, as the rain  intensified significantly. In the worsening track conditions Hamilton wasn't able to improve his benchmark on his second run. All drivers were in trouble on the slippery track. Kimi went wide in Turn 1, and teammate Sebastian was sliding all over the place... A much-telling fact is, that Hamilton was the only driver to be able to improve his lap time from Q2! A well-deserved 80th career pole for the Briton. Bottas made it a front row lock-out for the Silver Arrows. Verstappen benefitted from the Red Team's wrong tactical call and claimed P3. Kimi completed the second row for Ferrari. Haas' Grosjean made an impressive job in the mixed conditions, claiming P5. Toro Rosso succeeded well, too, as Hartley and Gasly qualified 6th and 7th. Force India's Ocon took P8 ahead of Sebastian, who was 4.4s off Hamilton's pace in the end! What a catastrophic session for Sebastian, who would have needed to qualify ahead of Hamilton to maximise his chances to close the gap in the drivers' championship standings!

Ferrari seem to be in serious trouble. In the free practice sessions the red team suffered from blistering rear tyres, whilst Mercedes were able to make the tyres last longer. Do you know days, when you wake up and everything starts to go wrong right from the beginning? Same seems to imply to Ferrari's hopes of winning the championship. Wrong tactical and strategic calls, mistakes by the drivers… Setbacks and difficulties seem to build up one after another. Changing the course will be extremely difficult.

Mercedes are starting to the race on the more durable rubber, which gives the Silver Arrows a strategic advantage. The red-suited drivers' chance lies on the race start. But Sebastian won't have it easy to climb up through the field… Nevertheless, I won't give up on hope. Sebastian has made a few mistakes this season, but it's not too late to turn the tables. I can only imagine the pressure that is on both the drivers and on the team, especially by the Italian media. Too much pressure is never good for the atmosphere in the team.

I hope my red-suited heroes make waking up early for the race worth it!