It was known beforehand already, that the start straight into Turn 1 was frighteningly long. Especially for pole-setter Leclerc, who wasn't to get a tow from other cars. Sebastian knew that. The German took a rocket start behind his teammate. Thanks to the slipstream, Sebastian had it easy to move pass Charles, who didn't even try to defend his position. I assume there had been a pre-race agreement between the Ferrari drivers, that Charles wasn't going to prevent Sebastian from overtaking him. Ferrari's target was to get both cars on top, and the mission was accomplished; Sebastian was in the lead, with Charles following him. Hamilton was third, whilst teammate Bottas had lost a position to McLaren's Sainz at the start. Although the top drivers had a clean start, there was action further down in the pack. Haas' Grosjean and Renault's Ricciardo hit each other, which ruined the race for the Frenchman. Safety car was deployed already on the opening lap! Meanwhile, Kimi in his Alfa Romeo had taken a jump start, and the Finn was to get a drive through penalty for his infringement.
After the re-start the race took an interesting turn, as race leader Sebastian was told on the team radio, that he was expected to let Charles past, although the Monegasque wasn't even in the striking distance from his teammate. Sebastian wasn't willing to obey the order, but answered the team by banging the fastest lap time. Charles told on the team radio, that he had done, what had been expected from him (not defending his position at the start). Sebastian was stubborn; he increased the gap into 2.7s already. The situation reminded a lot of the Malaysian GP 2013 and the famous "multi 21" scandal; the Red Bull drivers Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber were told by the team to maintain their positions (Webber 1st and Vettel 2nd), but instead of obeying the team order, Sebastian overtook his teammate and won the Malaysian GP. That happened at the end of the race, but now it was only lap 6 in the race. And Sebastian truly seemed faster than Charles, so why should he have given up on the lead? I love how hot-headed Sebastian is in this kind of situations! I was so happy, that he stuck to his decision to keep the lead!
While the red-suited drivers had their feisty conversation on the team radio, Bottas had made his way past Sainz, moving to fourth. Red Bull's Verstappen, who had started to the race from P9 due to his penalty, had also passed Sainz and was now in P5. Charles was the first Ferrari driver to be called in for the pit stop. Everything went smoothly, and Charles re-joined the track on the medium compound. As Sebastian hadn't given up on his lead willingly, the pit stop strategy was the perfect way to make the switch. Sebastian was called in three laps after Charles, which offered the Monegasque a chance to move ahead of his teammate.
What a dramatic turn the race saw only a couple of laps after Sebastian's pit stop! His Lina was hit with a MGU-K failure, and she came to a halt on track! What made the situation even more ironic, was the fact, that Sebastian's retirement brought out the virtual safety car. Both Hamilton and Bottas had a free pit stop, and Hamilton took the lead! Meanwhile, Russell in his Williams suffered a brake failure, and the Briton, too stopped on the track. Safety car came out again. Ferrari made a risky call and took Charles in during the safety car. Charles switched to soft Pirellis, as Hamilton, too was on softs. Due to the pit stop, Charles lost a position to Bottas, dropping down to P3.
There were 20 laps to go, as the re-start took place. Charles did the best he could to challenge Bottas for the second place, but it didn't turn out easy, in spite of Ferrari's ridiculous straight line speed. Charles was able to make it within DRS distance from the Finn, but there was no going further. Bottas is extremely good at defending his position, when somebody is putting pressure on him. Bottas hardly makes any mistakes under pressure, which makes overtaking extremely hard. Maybe Ferrari were a little arrogant even, thinking that they could afford an extra pit stop because of their superb straight line speed. What had initially looked like a red victory, turned into a Mercedes 1-2! Hamilton took his 9th win of the season, with Bottas making it a glorious 1-2 for the Silver Arrows. Charles was left in P3. The Red Bull teammates finished 4th (Verstappen) and 5th (Albon). It was well done from Albon, who had started to the race from the pit lane. Sainz brought his McLaren to the chequered flag in P6.
I love the fact, that Sebastian was voted as the Driver of the Day by fans! Not only was his start sensational, but also the fighting spirit, that he had! Sebastian's retirement saved the team from the awkward post-race drama, had the German won the race against the team order. But this is definitely the Sebastian I want to see in the remaining races! Relentless and fearless! Forza Sebastian! Forza Ferrari!
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