Belgian GP / Qualifying: Leclerc led Ferrari to a front row lock-out!

What a delight, that F1 is finally back from the four-week summer break! The legendary old school circuit of Spa Francorchamps was the perfect venue to kick off the second half of the season. Against the odds, the weather was perfect as well. The sun was shining, and there were scorching 29 degrees Celsius, as the qualifying got underway.

The championship leader Hamilton had crashed out at Turn 12 in the last free practice session, which was a rarely-seen mistake from the five-time world champion. The mechanics were still working on the Briton's car, as the light turned green for Q1. However, the first session had a dramatic start. Kubica's Williams was hit with a sudden power unit failure, which saw a dramatic smoke cloud around the car, with also flames coming out of the rear of the Pole's Williams. The session was red-flagged, which gave the Mercedes mechanics some extra time to get Hamilton's car fixed for the qualifying. As the session was resumed, Verstappen reported on the team radio, that he had a problem of the car not responding to the throttle. Ferraris had topped all three practice sessions; their straight line pace was utterly in a class of their own. Leclerc went fastest, edging his teammate Sebastian by half a second. However, Bottas in third was unbelievable 1.5s off the leading Ferrari's pace! On the first sector alone, the red cars were six to seven tenths faster than the Silver Arrows! It felt so incredible to see such a difference in favor of the Italian team, as all pole positions at Spa during the modern turbo hybrid era have been conquered by a Mercedes driver. Red Bull managed to get Verstappen's RB15 back to top form by the end of the session, and the flying Dutchman went third fastest at the end of the first segment. His new teammate Albon, who had been promoted to Red Bull from Toro Rosso during the summer break, was sixth fastest in Q1. Gasly, who had been demoted back to the sister team Toro Rosso, was the first driver to miss out on Q2. The session was red-flagged again, with less than a minute remaining in the clock, as Alfa Romeo's Giovinazzi was also hit with a power unit failure. Out with Gasly went McLaren's Sainz, the Frenchman's teammate Kvyat and the Williams duo of Russell and Kubica.

The start of the second session was slightly delayed due to Giovinazzi's incident. All top teams came out on the red-walled soft Pirellis. The young Ferrari ace continued, where he had left off in the first session. Once again he set the screens purple and went fastest, pipping his teammate by a tenth only. Unbelievably, the Silver Arrows were toothless against the Ferraris, with Hamilton third and Bottas fourth. Verstappen was fifth, also dearly missing the straight line speed. Kimi had set an extremely impressive lap time, as the Iceman in P6 was only eight thousandths of a second down on Verstappen! Kimi is called "the king of Spa" for a reason indeed! Albon hadn't set a competitive lap time towards the end of the session, but the Thai driver wasn't even targeting to get into Q3. Due to multiple power unit element changes, Albon is going to start to the race from the very back of the grid anyway. At the closing stages of the second segment, both red-suited drivers improved their lap times, with Leclerc maintaining the upper hand on his teammate. However, Sebastian' gap to Charles was a minimal 0.099s. In addition to Albon and Giovinazzi, Haas' Grosjean, McLaren's Norris and Racing Point's Perez were eliminated from the last segment.

Leclerc was absolutely determined to go for pole. He laid down a marker early in the final segment, going fastest in the first runs. Hamilton was second fastest, six tenths down on Charles. Sebastian made a mistake on his first attempt, which left him massive eight tenths off his teammate's pace. Bottas was fourth and Verstappen fifth. Renault showed impressive performance, with Ricciardo 6th after the first runs. Kimi had made his first flyer on a used set of softs, and the Iceman was only 8th. As the two previous sessions had indicated, there was no one to challenge Leclerc for pole. The Monegasque improved his lap time by a tenth on his last flyer. Sebastian managed to improve, too, and the German made it a front row lock-out for the Scuderia. Nevertheless, Sebastian was massive seven tenths off Charles' pace! Sebastian's last flyer had left a little to hope for, as he had locked up his tyres, but it was so great to see the red cars conquer the front row! The Silver Arrows were left on the second row, with Hamilton having the upper hand on teammate Bottas, whose contract with Mercedes had just been renewed for the 2020 season. Verstappen in fifth was 1.1s down on pole-setter Charles, which was a bit surprising. The Renault duo of Ricciardo and Hulkenberg qualified 6th and 7th, but both of them have been handed a 5-place grid penalty for power unit element changes. That makes Kimi jump 6th on the grid!

Charles will start on pole for the third time in his career. Mercedes' long-run pace was slightly better than Ferrari's on Friday's practice, so they might have a real chance to challenge the red cars for the victory. Sebastian has had a long dry season, as he took his last win at Spa last year. The weather forecast says, that the temperature will drop by ten degrees by tomorrow, and there might be some rain on the way... So there might be some surprises as well.

Hungarian GP: Verstappen wasn't quite able to turn maiden pole into victory!

The Ferrari motor home was utterly impressive.

I had the unforgettable experience to watch the Hungarian GP live at Hungaroring. It is always a dream come true to get into the F1 world! I had a chance to watch the first free practice session at the Ferrari garage. It was absolutely awesome to follow, how the mechanics worked on Sebastian's car. Charles tested the new floor on his SF90 first, and it took half an hour, as the mechanics changed the new floor to Sebastian's Lina. I didn't understand the technical details, what the mechanics were actually doing, but I enjoyed watching all the action so closely. I was absolutely touched, that Sebastian came to me to say a few words in the middle of the practice session.

After the FP1 I had a chat with Sebastian's physio Antti.

Of course I had to take a look at the drivers' parking area!

The qualifying session was a memorable one! Charles had a shunt in the first session, which caused major damage to his rear wing. The Red Team made an amazing job, managing to fix it in time for Q2. The top teams' pace seemed very evenly matched, as all five drivers -Hamilton, Verstappen, Bottas, Leclerc and Vettel- were all within three tenths of a second only! Q2 saw the familiar tyre strategy in terms of the top teams, which opted for the yellow-walled medium compound.

The battle for pole gave me chills. Verstappen laid his hands on provisional pole on his first flyer. The flying Dutchman was absolutely on fire, improving his lap time on his second run. Bottas, who was in P2 after his first attempt, also managed to improve on his last run. It was extremely tight, but Max made it on pole by 0.018s to the Finn! It was such a joy to see Max take his maiden pole at Hungaroring! Hamilton was left third this time. Unfortunately the red cars didn't have enough pace to fight for pole; Charles qualified fourth and Sebastian fifth. In spite of his shunt, Charles managed to out-qualify his teammate, which caught me by surprise.

Sebastian on the start/finish straight at Hungaroring.

I wanted to take a photo with "Max the lion", although some Verstappen fans thought, that the lion shouldn't have agreed to take a photo with me! :D :D :D

The top three of the qualifying.

It was so thrilling to see the start in front of my very eyes! This time Verstappen took a superb start, maintaining his lead. Now it was Bottas, who struggled with his start. The Finn locked up his tyres at first two corners, and he had contact with both his teammate and Leclerc! He lost positions to both drivers. Due to the contact with Charles, Bottas had severe damage to his front wing. Even Sebastian managed to pass Bottas, who dropped down to P5 in no time. Surprisingly, Bottas didn't pit until on lap 6 for a new nose cone and a fresh set of hard tyres. He re-joined the track at the very back of the pack. 

Race leader Verstappen opened the pit stop roulette in terms of the top drivers. The Dutchman opted for hard rubber, and re-joined the track in P2. Ferrari called Charles in for a similar tyre strategy. However, Hamilton came in not until on lap 31, opting for hard Pirellis as well. After his pit stop Hamilton was six seconds down on Verstappen, but started "hammertime" immediately. It didn't take many laps, until Verstappen was in serious trouble with storming Hamilton. It was absolutely hair-raising to watch, how the Briton was right at Max's tail, lurking for a chance to get past! Hamilton even made a move, ending up wide, so Max was able to maintain his lead. However, it seemed to be only a matter of time, that Hamilton was going to snatch the lead... 

Sebastian was on a different tyre strategy. The German pitted on lap 40, for a fresh set of soft tyres. Unfortunately there was an issue with attaching one of the front tyres, which cost Sebastian some extra seconds. Sebastian re-joined the track in P4. To my surprise, Hamilton pitted for the second time on lap 49, switching to the medium compound. The Briton was 20 seconds down on race leader Verstappen, but Hamilton started to set the screens purple lap after lap... He was absolutely determined to hunt down Verstappen by the end of the race. 

With only three laps to go, Hamilton had closed the gap to Max, who was lacking grip due to his outworn tyres. In the end, it was easy for Hamilton to swipe past Verstappen, who had no chance to defend his lead. A wave of disappointment hit me that moment. To be honest, I would have wanted to see Max win the race! But this time Hamilton was on a better strategy. Max pitted on the sequential lap, switching to a fresh set of soft tyres. Max was going for the fastest lap time. Meanwhile, Sebastian had also closed the gap to his teammate, whose tyres were gone. Sebastian moved past Charles, claiming P3. 

At the end of the day, Hamilton cruised to victory with a 17-second gap to Verstappen, who finished the runner-up. I was very delighted to see Sebastian completing the podium, leaving his teammate fourth. Sainz finished fifth for Renault, Gasly sixth for Red Bull and Kimi seventh for Alfa Romeo Racing. In the end, Bottas was able to make it eighth, but Hamilton increased his championship lead into 62 points already.

The starting grid for the Hungarian GP.

Podium: Hamilton 1st, Verstappen 2nd and Sebastian 3rd.

Now it's time for the four-week summer break. I really enjoyed my time in the hectic F1 world from the bottom of my heart. For those four days I forgot all my worries. I wish I could attend a GP weekend more often! Nevertheless, I'm extremely grateful, that I had a chance to attend the Hungarian GP <3 It was a perfect way to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary with my husband!

Me and my husband enjoyed every second at Hungaroring.

Charles Leclerc left Hungaroring in his blue Ferrari.

Pole-setter Verstappen leaving the track in his Aston Martin.

Sebastian didn't leave, until it was already dark.