Russian GP: Bottas took self-confident victory!

Several races have come up with pre-race drama this season, and that was up for the championship leader Hamilton at Sochi. On their way to the grid, the drivers tend to take practice starts to prepare themselves for the lights out. This time, however, Hamilton took a practice start out of the designated area, and he did it twice. The Briton's action was taken into investigation by the stewards.

The lights went out for the seventh time at Sochi Autodrom. Hamilton took a convincing start from pole, but teammate Bottas attacked like a hyena. The Finn first moved past Verstappen and then dived into the slipstream behind Hamilton. Going into Turn 1, half of his W11 was already ahead of the Briton, but braking a bit too late made Valtteri end up on the sausage kerb, and Hamilton managed, just barely, to stay ahead of his teammate. One of the best starts was taken by Renault's Ocon, who had jumped three positions and was now fourth in the race, followed by his teammate Ricciardo. 

Sochi is well-known for first-lap safety car episodes, and this year proved no exception to the rule. In Turn 1 there was contact between Charles and Racing Point's Stroll. The Monegasque hit the rear of Stroll's "pink Mercedes", which threw the Canadian into the barriers and out of the race. Charles was able to continue with no significant damage to his SF1000. There was also another bizarre event in Turn 1. McLaren's Sainz failed to brake in time for Turn 1, and he ended up on the run-off area. That wouldn't have been a problem, had the Spaniard rejoined the track following the instructions, which meant getting around the orange blocks. However, Sainz was driving way too fast, and he ended up hitting the edge of the wall and almost every block on his way back to the track! In addition to his own race, Sainz ruined his teammate's race as well, as Norris inevitably hit the debris on the track. Safety car was deployed.

Safety car came in on lap 5, and the race was back on. Hamilton's preparation for the restart was perfect, and his lead wasn't jeopardised. However, a couple of laps later the stewards gave their verdict; Hamilton was handed two 5-second time penalties, one for each practice start out of the designated area.

It was inevitable, that the Briton was going to run out of tyres before his closest rivals Bottas and Verstappen, who had started to the race on the yellow-walled medium compound. Hamilton banged the fastest lap time, and then pitted on lap 16. He suffered his penalty first, 10 long seconds, before switching to the hard Pirellis. The Briton rejoined the track in P11, right ahead of Kimi, who had started to the race on the hard rubber and was driving a long first stint. 

Bottas was absolutely flying in the lead. He was banging superb lap times one after another, and his margin to teammate Hamilton had increased into almost 40 seconds. The Finn was perfectly safe in terms of his upcoming pit stop, as the delta time at Sochi was about 25 seconds. Verstappen pitted on lap 25, switching to the hardest compound. The Dutchman rejoined the track in P4. Home hero Kvyat, who had also started to the race on the hard rubber, hadn't pitted yet, and the Russian was third in the race. Bottas pitted from the lead on the sequential lap, opting for a similar tyre choice. The storming Finn rejoined the track in the lead. 

Kimi was driving a consistent race in P10, until he pitted on lap 36. Unfortunately the Iceman's pit stop didn't go as planned, as the mechanics had problems with attaching his front-left tyre. A 6-second delay was costly for Kimi, and the Iceman dropped down to P16. Sebastian, too was driving a modest race at the back of the pack. On lap 40 he attacked Haas' Grosjean, who was adamant to hold on to his position. There was even contact between the two, luckily tyres only. Sebastian made his way past the Frenchman, who ended up going wide, hitting the colourful blocks. Virtual safety car was brought out, but for a short moment only, as the Russian marshals had quickly replaced the damaged blocks with new ones.

Bottas was controlling the race perfectly. Runner-up Verstappen was 10 seconds down on the Finn already. Hamilton in third was almost 10 seconds off the Dutchman, so the pecking order was very straightforward. The most thrilling battle seemed to be going on for P9 between Norris, Albon and Gasly. Albon in his RB16 made a small mistake, and Gasly used his opportunity right away, snatching P10. Norris seemed to be in trouble with his dying hard tyres, and both Albon and Gasly passed the struggling Briton. Norris had no choice but to pit for the second time, which dropped the young McLaren pilot out of points. 

It was an awkward moment to see race leader Bottas behind Sebastian, lapping the struggling quadruple world champion, who was shown blue flags. It hurt my heart to see Sebastian out of the points and struggling with a badly-behaving car.

On the second last lap Bottas set the fastest lap time, which brought the Finn the extra point, too. The day was perfect for Valtteri, who deserved his second win of the season undoubtedly. Verstappen managed to split the Silver Arrows, which was the maximum result for the Red Bull ace. Hamilton completed the podium in spite of his penalty, but equalling Schumacher's record of most wins is still to await. Perez finished fourth for Racing Point, which underlined the strong potential of the Mexican. The Renault duo of Ricciardo and Ocon was split by Charles, who managed to extract the maximum out of the performance-lacking Ferrari. Home hero Kvyat finished impressive 8th, followed by Gasly in the sister AlphaTauri and Albon in his RB16. To my deep disappointment, Sebastian finished 13th and Kimi 14th. 

In spite of the glorious win at Sochi, Bottas is still 44 points down on his teammate in the championship standings. However, the Finn managed to increase his lead to Verstappen into 33 points. The battle for P4 is absolutely hair-raising, as Norris has 65 points to Albon's 64 and Ricciardo's 63. In the constructors' standings the top two teams are very obvious; Mercedes are the leading team, and Red Bull are their closest contender. But who will be "the best of the rest" at the end of the season? Currently McLaren are third with 106 points. Racing Point in fourth are only two points down on McLaren, and Renault in fifth are five points down on "the pink Mercedes". Ferrari are currently in modest P6 with 74 points.

In a fortnight the F1 circus moves to Nurburgring Germany, which hasn't hosted an F1 race for seven years. The autumn weather in Germany may throw up some interesting challenges for the teams.

Russian GP / Qualifying: Verstappen made it on the front row alongside Hamilton!

Formula 1 definitely brings joy into my weekend. I have been on a sick leave since Monday; I have found myself in a situation, where I have completely run out of energy and strength and where I don't feel well either physically or mentally. I still don't know, whether this is about burn out or depression or a combination of those two. It has been 1.5 years only since I lost my 16-year-old son Samuel, so instead of judging myself I'm trying to feel compassion for myself. I have tried to focus on things, that bring me joy, such as walking in the forest and swimming in the lake, which gets colder and colder every week. When I don't feel well, I tend to isolate myself from the outside world, but now I have consciously tried to see people and not to leave myself outside alone. I'm so happy, that it's Formula 1 weekend, which gives me other things to think about in this difficult time.

Russian GP weekend couldn't have come at a better time. Sochi brings back so many memories from 2017! In April 2017 life was perfect! I lived a four-day fairy-tale at the coast of the Black Sea. Those days and all those experiences and wonderful memories give me so much strength.

Qualifying was expected to be a Mercedes show, as Mercedes have won every race at Sochi. Bottas had shown top form in the free practice sessions, and the Finn went fastest at the beginning of the first session. Teammate Hamilton's lap time, on the other hand, was deleted due to exceeding the track limits at Turn 1. Perez in his "pink Mercedes" was second, followed by teammate Stroll and Red Bull's Verstappen. Against the odds, the Dutchman had set his lap time on the medium compound. Meanwhile, Leclerc jumped third, whilst teammate Sebastian was down in 7th, massive two seconds off the pace. Having completed a cool-down lap, Hamilton headed for another flyer, which saw him jump second in the standings. At the closing stages of Q1, everyone rushed out, trying to find an optimal track position for their last flyer. Kimi at the wheel of his Alfa Romeo made a mistake in Turn 1, spinning and losing the lap. Unfortunately the Iceman was out of Q2. There was a close fight for P3 in the end. First Renault's Ocon jumped third, but a short moment later AlphaTauri's Kvyat deprived the Frenchman of the third place. Charles, who didn't even come out at the end of the session, ended up 14th fastest. In spite of his second run, Sebastian was only able to make it P15, being the last driver to make it into Q2. In addition to both Alfa Romeos and both Haas, also Williams' Latifi got knocked out of the second session.

It was no surprise to see the Silver Arrows come out on the yellow-marked medium rubber. Expectedly, Verstappen opted for similar tyre strategy. This time it was Hamilton, who set the pace. McLaren's Sainz was a surprise second, as especially Bottas' middle sector had left a lot to hope for, and the Finn was nine tenths down on his teammate. At this point Norris in the sister McLaren was fourth and Ocon fifth. However, once again Hamilton's lap time was deleted due to not respecting the track limits -this time at Turn 18. Now there was Renault's Daniel Ricciardo on top of the standings! Ferrari's pace was everything but competitive, Charles being 9th and Sebastian 13th only. Verstappen, who had set his lap time on the mediums, was now in P7. It seemed, that the flying Dutchman was forced to switch to the softs for his second run. Bottas, on the other hand, made another flyer on the mediums, moving up to second. But last-minute drama brought a new twist to the otherwise predictable second session. On his second run, Sebastian lost the rear of his SF1000 in Turn 4, spinning and hitting the barriers. His front wing was smashed, and there was debris all over. Charles, who had been following his teammate closely, hit the debris and was about to hit his teammate's car! Red flags came out, with 2:15 remaining in the clock. At this point Hamilton had no time, and the reigning world champion was down in P15. With that little time left, it was surprising, how Hamilton stayed in the pit garage, whilst all his rival queued on the pit lane, waiting for the light to turn green. As the session was resumed, Hamilton was the last driver to head out! The Briton managed just barely to start his flyer in time. On the contrary to Sainz and Perez, who didn't reach the start line in time. On the soft Pirellis Hamilton had it easy to jump 4th, making his way into the final segment. Verstappen made a bold call to abort his last run on the soft tyres, to get the tyre advantage for tomorrow's race. His first run on the mediums entitled him to P9. It turned out to be another difficult day in the office for the Red Team, as in addition to Sebastian's shunt, Charles was the first driver to be eliminated from Q3. AlphaTauri's Kvyat and Williams' Russell were also out, accompanied by Racing Point's Stroll, whose "pink Mercedes" had been hit with a technical issue and who therefore had been unable to go for a second run. 

After the rhythm-braking second session, Hamilton was back on top form in Q3. And the margins were huge. The Briton took provisional pole by over seven tenths to his teammate! Valtteri told after qualifying, that he had had difficulties to get his tyres up to temperature on his first run. Verstappen was third and Ricciardo fourth. These ex teammates were separated by four thousandths of a second only. Perez was fifth for Racing Point, followed by Sainz (McLaren) and Ocon (Renault), who were also separated by a hundredth of a second only. It all came down to the second runs. Bottas managed to improve a little, but he still ended up half a second shy of his teammate's benchmark. And everyone, who follows F1 knows, that the end of Q3 means hammer time for Hamilton. The Briton absolutely nailed his second run, increasing the gap to Valtteri into over six tenths. Verstappen, too delivered at the end of the session, jumping second and making it on the front row for the first time in Sochi! Less than a tenth separated Max and Valtteri in the end. Perez completed the second row for Racing Point, which was an impressive result from the Mexican. The third row was conquered by Ricciardo and Sainz. Ocon qualified 7th in the sister Renault and Norris 8th in the sister McLaren. AlphaTauri's Gasly and Red Bull's Albon rounded out the top ten. Albon's result, P10 and 1.7s off the pace, is unacceptable, as Max has showed, what kind of potential the RB16 holds.

In Sochi if anywhere, pole is the most ungrateful place to start to the race. The straight into Turn 1 is the longest on the calendar, and the benefit from the tow has only increased this year. In addition to this, Hamilton is on more degradable tyre compound, as he starts to the race on the soft Pirellis, whilst Verstappen and Bottas are on more durable medium Pirellis. In 2017 Bottas had the most perfect acceleration from P3 into the lead. Will he be able to repeat it tomorrow? If Hamilton wins tomorrow, he'll equal Schumacher's record of most wins (91) in F1.

Tuscan GP: Maiden podium for Albon in a collision-filled race!

Dark clouds gathered upon Red Bull before the start already. Verstappen reported about an engine woe on his installation lap, and the mechanics were busy working on the car until the very last minute. 

The lights went out for the very first time under the Tuscan sun. Bottas took an incredible start from P2, snatching the lead from his teammate. Verstappen's reactions at the lights out had been outstanding, but there was something wrong with the ERS system of his RB16, which meant significant loss of power and losing positions. Turn 2 saw a major incident; AlphaTauri's Gasly crashed into Kimi's Alfa Romeo. This contact made the Iceman crash into the rear of Verstappen's Red Bull, throwing the Dutchman into the gravel. The race was over for both Verstappen and Gasly. Monza's glory had disappeared in a blink of an eye! Kimi was able to continue, but the Iceman had to pit to get himself a new front wing, which dropped him down to P17. Also McLaren's Sainz span between Turns 2 and 3. Sebastian proved unable to avoid contact with the Spaniard. The German's front wing took damage, and Sebastian had to pit for a new nose. Safety car was deployed on the opening lap already!

The greatest start to the race had been taken by Charles, who was now third in the race! He was followed by Red Bull's Albon, who was chasing his maiden podium finish. Safety car came in on lap 6. Bottas defended his lead superbly, keeping his contenders behind. But there was huge drama at the back of the pack right at the restart! Coming to the start straight, the back of the pack opened full throttle, expecting the top ten to do so. This led into a scary-looking collision involving four cars. Alfa Romeo's Giovinazzi crashed into the rear of Magnussen's Haas, with Latifi's Williams and Sainz' McLaren also taking a hit. All four drivers were out of the race, and there was debris all over the start straight! The race was red-flagged, and the cars were to return to the pit lane. At this point there were only 14 cars in the race. However, Renault's Ocon became the seventh driver to retire. The Frenchman had to retire due to brake overheating. Kimi, who had been able to avoid hitting anyone at the restart, was now in P11.

After a 20-minute delay the race saw a standing restart from the grid. Both Mercedes drivers opted for the medium tyre wear, whilst other top drivers had the red-walled soft compound on. Kimi, too opted for the medium compound. The restart was an eventful one. Thanks to the head wind, Hamilton benefitted from the tow and dived into Turn 1 as the race leader. Albon, who dropped down to P7, was the biggest loser at the restart. Kimi was able to pass Williams' Russell, moving up to P10.  

In spite of the excellent start to the race, Charles was in serious trouble with his toothless SF1000. Racing Point's Stroll had rapidly closed the gap to the Ferrari ace, and using DRS made it extremely easy for the Canadian to move past the Monegasque. Next lurking behind Charles was Renault's Ricciardo, who also used his opportunity and passed Charles. Racing Point's Perez was also missing pace, and Albon made a successful overtaking move on the Mexican. Charles' race turned into worse and worse, as both Albon and Perez overtook him one by one. The SF1000 was simply just too slow! Charles' tyres were finished, and he pitted on lap 22 for a fresh set of hard Pirellis. The pit stop dropped the Monegasque down to P13.

The gap between the Mercedes duo maintained within two seconds. Stroll in third was 12 seconds down on Bottas already. On lap 27 Bottas said on the team radio, that he wanted to opt for an opposite tyre choice to Lewis for his last stint. He obviously didn't want to leave any stone unturned in the fight against his teammate. Meanwhile, both Ricciardo and Kimi pitted for a differing tyre choice. The Australian opted for a fresh set of medium Pirellis, whilst the Iceman rejoined the track on a fresh set of hard tyres. Unfortunately Kimi's pit stop didn't go as planned, and the Iceman was now at the back of the pack.

Bottas pitted on lap 32, as the Finn's front-right tyre was completely finished. Also Hamilton and Albon pitted on the sequential lap. Both Mercedes were on the hard compound, although Bottas would have wanted to opt for a differing tyre strategy to his teammate. Hamilton was still leading the race, with Bottas second. Albon dropped down to P5 after his pit stop. Ricciardo was now impressive third in the race. Meanwhile, it was Norris' turn to overtake Charles, moving up to P7. This definitely wasn't the way to celebrate Ferrari's 1000th GP! Charles pitted for the second time on lap 39, now switching to the mediums. Meanwhile, both Mercedes drivers were told on the team radio to stay away from the kerbs due to high tyre degradation. 

The battle for the last podium place seemed interesting. Stroll was only 1.2 seconds down on Ricciardo, and Albon in fifth had quite the same gap to Stroll. However, a dramatic turn on lap 44 ended the race for the Canadian! Going through the Turns of Arabiata 1 and 2, Stroll suddenly suffered a rear-left puncture, and the Racing Point pilot was thrown into the tyre wall. The race was red-flagged for the second time already! Bottas had the perfect track position, and the Finn pitted for the second time. However, teammate Hamilton still managed to hold on to the lead despite pitting for the second time as well.

The last time there were two red flags in the race was at the 2016 Brazilian GP. Kimi was now under investigation for crossing the line at the pit entry. Unfortunately the Iceman was given a 5-second time penalty.

After another 20-minute delay, the second standing restart took place. Unfortunately Bottas failed to take a dream start. He had every opportunity to take his lost lead back by using the tow and attack Hamilton in Turn 1, but the Finn ended up losing a position to Ricciardo and dropping down to third. However, the gutted Finn took his second place back a moment later. Further down in the pack, Kimi had taken an impressive restart, as the Iceman had made it up to P8. The first points of the season were at the Iceman's sight!

With eight laps to go, Albon made his move and passed Ricciardo. The Thai driver was on his way to the podium for the very first time in his career. For the 90th time in his career, Hamilton crossed the finish line as the race winner. He broke another record by finishing in the points for the 222nd time in his career! The gap to teammate Bottas had increased into over five seconds in the end. I was so happy for Albon, who finally scored his maiden podium! Ricciardo was left fourth, with Perez fifth, Norris sixth and Kvyat seventh. Due to Kimi's time penalty, Charles finished the race in P8, with Kimi 9th and Sebastian 10th. It definitely wasn't a glorious race for the Red Team, but at least they got both drivers in the points. 

Italy has seen two extremely action-packed and colourful races. Now the F1 circus moves to Sochi, Russia in a fortnight. Sochi has a very special place in my heart, as that's the venue, where I got to interview the quadruple world champion Sebastian Vettel back in 2017. Those are such unforgettable, extraordinary and exceptional memories, which I will always cherish!

Tuscan GP / Qualifying: Hamilton conquered first Mugello pole!

There was breaking news in the build-up to the first-ever Tuscan GP. On Thursday Racing Point announced, that they had signed Sebastian Vettel for Aston Martin for 2021. Sebastian's contract is said to cover multiple seasons. Actually Sebastian's new seat has been a "public secret" since May, when Ferrari announced, that Sebastian and the Red Team were to part ways at the end of the season. Signing Sebastian means, that Perez has to leave the team at the end of the 2020 season. It hasn't been confirmed, but most probably it's Lance Stroll, who lines up with Sebastian for Aston Martin. It's not only the team's name but also its colour changes from pink to dark green. At the moment I don't have a single green garment in my wardrobe! But I guess I will pretty soon... ;)

This weekend marks the very first time, that Mugello hosts an F1 race. The Tuscan GP also marks Ferrari's 1000th GP in the history of Formula 1. The first-ever F1 GP took place in Monaco in 1950. To mark this impressive milestone the Red Team run their cars in retro burgundy colour scheme this weekend. 

At the high-speed circuit of Mugello, qualifying was kicked off in hot and sunny conditions. Bottas set the fastest lap time on his first run, but teammate Hamilton was only 0.029s off the pace. Red Bull had struggled heavily at Monza last week, but now they were back on top form. Verstappen in third, however, was six tenths down on the Finnish Mercedes ace. Racing Point showed excellent performance as well, on the contrary to the Scuderia drivers, who were still struggling with their missing pace. Even Williams' Latifi made it ahead of Sebastian, who was in poor P15. Charles managed to extract a little more out of his burgundy-coloured SF1000, but he, too was 1.2s off the pace. Kimi seemed to enjoy the challenge offered by the Mugello circuit; the Iceman jumped 9th at the end of Q1. Albon in his RB16 put together a smooth lap, moving up to P4. Sebastian was the last driver to make it into Q2, whilst teammate Charles made it in promising P6. Monza hero Gasly was unexpectedly the first driver to be knocked out of Q2! The Frenchman missed out on the second session by five hundredths of a second only. Kimi's teammate Giovinazzi was out, too, alongside with the Williams duo of Russell and Latifi and Haas' Magnussen.

Because the soft tyre provided for Mugello was the C3 compound instead of the softest C2 version, everyone opted for the above-mentioned compound in Q2. The tables turned in terms of the Mercedes teammates, as now it was Hamilton, who set the benchmark by 0.013 seconds. This time Verstappen managed to make it a little closer to the Silver Arrows, as the flying Dutchman was 0.162s down on Hamilton. The Mugello circuit really seemed to bring the best out in the RB16, as Albon was again fourth fastest. The first flyer saw Charles in P7 and Sebastian in P13. Kimi made his first run on the used set of soft Pirellis, and the Iceman was in P14. Sebastian did everything he could to improve his lap time on his last attempt, but he had no choice but to take P14 as the result, as Kimi managed to improve his lap time on his final run. The gap between the ex teammates was teeny tiny four thousandths of a second! P13 is the highest grid slot, that Kimi has reached this season, so there is some improvement in terms of Alfa Romeo's performance. Charles, on the other hand, made it among the top ten, being a second off Mercedes' pace. It was a bit surprising to see half a second separating the red-suited drivers. Out of the final segment were also McLaren's Norris, AlphaTauri's Kvyat and Haas' Grosjean. 

The only question ahead of the last session was, which one of the Mercedes drivers would take pole. Hamilton clocked an impressive banker lap, claiming provisional pole, again by some hundredths of a second only. The Red Bull drivers had a grab on the second row; Verstappen was third and teammate Albon fourth. Racing Point's Stroll in fifth was 1.2s down already. Charles made his first run on a used set of softs, ending up massive 2.5 seconds off the pace. Unfortunately the second runs turned into an anticlimax. At the closing stages of Q3 the wind had picked up, and Hamilton proved unable to improve his lap time. Thanks to a flying last sector, Verstappen managed to improve his lap time by a tenth. However, Renault's Ocon pushed too hard on his last run and span, bringing out the yellow flags. This forced Bottas to lift off, which meant no chance to challenge his teammate for pole. Charles was the driver to benefit most of Ocon's incident, and the Monegasque qualified as high as P5. In current circumstances it was a great way to mark the Red Team's significant milestone. The "pink Mercedes" by Perez and Stroll qualified sixth and seventh. However, they will start to the race in reversed order, as Perez has been given a 1-place grid penalty due to his collision with Kimi in FP2. McLaren's Sainz in P9 was sandwiched by the Renault duo of Ricciardo and Ocon.

I love the nature of the Mugello circuit; it's an old-school circuit with no run-off areas. It doesn't forgive you your mistakes; if you push too much to the limit, you will get stuck on the gravel. The G-forces are high and the tyre degradation is a key factor. I hope to see as eventful race tomorrow as last weekend! Always wishing the best for Sebastian (+ Max and Kimi)!

Italian GP: Phenomenal maiden win for Gasly in a red-flagged race!

Many people anticipated the Italian GP to be a predictable, probably even boring race. Against all odds it turned out to be the most thrilling, exciting and entertaining race for a long time!

Hamilton on pole took a stunning start, holding on to his lead. Bottas, on the other hand, failed to take a strong start. The Finn dropped down to P6 on the opening lap, and it seemed, as if there was something wrong with the Finn's W11. The McLarens had absolutely nailed the start, as Sainz was second and teammate Norris third. Perez in his "pink Mercedes" was fourth, followed by Renault's Ricciardo. Further down at the back of the pack, Sebastian had proved unable to gain any positions at the start. The German was driving in poor P17, as something dramatic suddenly happened on lap 6. Sebastian faced a brake failure, which meant cutting the corner and hitting the bollards in full speed! Sebastian nurtured his SF1000 into the pits, and retirement was inevitable. 

Hamilton in the lead had opened up an 8-second gap to Sainz. Further down in P6 Bottas was struggling with the performance of his W11. There seemed to be an issue with the cooling system, as Valtteri was told not to use slipstream. Verstappen, who had also taken a tame start, was lurking right behind Valtteri. Did Bottas' problems come down to the renewed regulation in terms of the engine mapping? Bottas reported on the team radio, that he was unable to race on the current engine settings. One thing was sure: the Finn was lacking performance badly!

Charles had been overtaken by Kimi at the beginning of the race, and the Monegasque was struggling outside the top ten. He pitted on lap 18, for a fresh set of hard Pirellis, rejoining the track in P17. Kimi, who had started to the race on medium Pirellis, pitted for the hard compound as well. Right after Kimi's pit stop Magnussen's Haas came to a halt on the finish straight near the pit entry. First there were yellow flags, but soon safety car was deployed. Both Hamilton and Alfa Romeo's Giovinazzi drove into the pits right away. Unfortunately it had gone unnoticed for both of them, that the pit entry had been closed. This meant a 10-second stop-and-go penalty for both of them! 

During the safety car most drivers made their compulsory pit stop. This roulette had an interesting effect on the pecking order; Hamilton was leading the race, with Racing Point's Stroll second, AlphaTauri's Gasly third and the Alfa Romeo duo of Giovinazzi and Räikkönen fourth and fifth. The race had just become extremely interesting. 

As the safety car came in on lap 24, Charles took a great restart, making his way past both Alfa Romeos, moving up to P4. There was thin hope in the air, that Ferrari could make it in the points after all. However, as soon as the hope had awaken, as soon it was all gone. On lap 25 Charles lost the rear of his SF1000 at Parabolica, and he was heavily thrown into the tyre wall. The shunt damaged the tyre wall so significantly, that the race was red-flagged! All cars were to return to the pit lane.

After quite a delay to the race a standing start was to take place. First the cars started to the formation lap, and then they lined up on the grid, and what an order the grid saw! Hamilton, who was to suffer the penalty, started on pole, but this time it was Racing Point's Stroll alongside the six-time world champion! Gasly was in P3, with Kimi alongside the Frenchman! It was such an unusual grid, as Bottas was down in P8, and Verstappen was as further down as in P11! What a thrilling restart it was going to be!

Hamilton maintained his lead, knowing, that he had to box to suffer his penalty. Gasly made his way past Stroll, who had had a poor restart due to wheel spin. Kimi, too, smelled his chance and passed the Canadian. What a delicious situation it seemed! Kimi in his Alfa Romeo fighting for a podium finish! As Hamilton pitted for the stop-and-go penalty, Kimi was second already! Part of me knew, that it wasn't going to happen for real, but I enjoyed the moment to the fullest. 

Verstappen, whose race had had a lot to hope for, got more setbacks on lap 31, as the Dutchman had to drive into the pits and retire the race. Zero points for Max was bad news in terms of the championship fight. Kimi, too had a setback-filled end of the race. Alfa Romeo were lacking performance so badly, that the Iceman had no chance to defend his position against the faster McLarens and the Racing Points. First Sainz made it past Kimi, then Stroll. One by one all top ten drivers had passed the Iceman, no matter how hard Kimi pushed. It was so sad, as Kimi's skills would have entitled him to a much better result! The penalty had dropped Hamilton down to the very back of the pack, but the Briton made an unbelievable recovery, gaining positions one by one. Actually it was Hamilton, who dropped Kimi out of points. 

The last five laps were such a thriller! Sainz in his McLaren had closed the gap to Gasly in the lead. AlphaTauri's pace was amazingly competitive, and Sainz had to push everything he got to make it within DRS distance from the Frenchman. It all came down to the very final lap. Sainz used DRS and attacked, but Gasly crossed the finish line as the race winner! It was the Frenchman's maiden win in F1; what a delightful moment! Sainz, too scored his best ever result by finishing the runner-up. Stroll completed the podium for Racing Point. So in the end I got, what I had hoped for, a non-Mercedes winner! Norris finished fourth in the sister McLaren, leaving Bottas in disappointing P5. Ricciardo finished the race sixth for Renault, and Hamilton managed to recover from his penalty and move up to P7 in the end. Ocon (Renault), Kvyat (AlphaTauri) and Perez (Racing Point) completed the top ten. Unfortunately Kimi was left in P13 with no points despite fighting like a lion.

Gasly became the 109th GP winner in the history of Formula 1. It was so touching to see the genuine joy of the winner himself and that of the team. In the end, the Italian GP saw a victory by an Italian team, and the Italian national anthem was played on the podium, in spite of the devastating difficulties of Ferrari! It was such a welcomed change to see a podium with no Mercedes drivers! F1 needs more races like this. Gasly making his way from P10 to victory was a much-needed fairy-tale.

Next week's race at iconic Mugello will mark Ferrari's 1000th GP in Formula 1. Scoring points would be a proper way to celebrate this great achievement! So upwards and onwards!

Italian GP / Qualifying: Mercedes still the team to beat, with or without party mode!

From Belgium the F1 caravan moved to sunny and hot Italy, the home soil of the Red Team. The Temple of Speed wasn't expected to suit the Scuderia too well, so I didn't have high expectations for the qualifying.

The midfield teams, which unfortunately currently include Ferrari, came out first in Q1. Charles went fastest, but his lap time was deleted due to exceeding the track limits at Parabolica. This made Sebastian on top but  for a fleeting moment only. Surprisingly, Q1 saw both Mercedes drivers come out on medium Pirellis. In spite of the harder rubber, they were absolutely flying. Hamilton set the benchmark by 0.25s to his teammate. Perez in his pink Racing Point was third and Sainz in his McLaren was fourth. Red Bull were struggling with their straight line speed quite badly, and Verstappen was only in P7 after his first run. Charles wasn't the only driver to exceed the track limits at Turn 11; also AlphaTauri's Gasly had his lap time deleted for the same reason. Charles made it P11 on his second run. As there were six minutes left in the clock, Sebastian was in desperate P17, so the things didn't look good at all for the German. Albon in his RB16 had it difficult as well. The Thai driver had his lap time deleted as well, and he was only barely in safety in P15. There was a ridiculous traffic jam on track during the last three minutes,  when everyone tried to find the right track position to benefit from the tow. Renault's Ocon was clearly impeding Kimi, whose last flyer was ruined due to the Frenchman. Luckily Kimi was in P14 already, so Ocon's manoeuvre didn't jeopardise Kimi's Q2 entrance. At the closing stages of Q1, Gasly jumped fifth in his AlphaTauri. Cruel but true, Sebastian was out of Q2 for real! 0.047s separated the struggling German from the second session. P17 on the grid definitely wasn't where the tifosi wanted to see Sebastian on their home turf! Alongside with Sebastian, also Haas' Grosjean, Alfa Romeo's Giovinazzi and the Williams duo of Russell and Latifi were knocked out of Q2.

It hit me as a surprise, that everyone opted for soft Pirellis in Q2, even the Silver Arrows. Mercedes' pace was in a league of their own, so dominant, that they didn't even need to use slip stream to put together a staggering lap fime. Verstappen, on the other hand, followed Hamilton very closely to benefit from the tow. Once again it was Hamilton, who set the benchmark. Bottas was three tenths down on his storming teammate, and Perez in third was six tenths off the pace already. Sainz was fourth, only five thousandths of a second down on the Mexican. Verstappen was fifth, whilst his teammate Albon was only in poor P10. Bottas nailed it on his second run, making it on top of the standings. Hamilton was a tenth down, with Sainz third and Perez fourth. Albon was the last driver to make it into Q3. Kvyat, on the other hand, was the first driver to be excluded from the final session, accompanied by Renault's Ocon, Charles in his SF1000, Kimi in his Alfa Romeo and Haas' Magnussen. 

At Monza a new technical regulation was introduced in terms of engine maps used in qualifying. This made Mercedes' famous "party mode" prohibited from now on. This, however, proved to have no impact whatsoever on Mercedes' dominance in terms of one-lap pace! Hamilton took provisional pole by 0.053s to his Finnish teammate. Perez in third was six tenths down and Verstappen in fourth was seven tenths down. Once again Albon's lap time was deleted due to not respecting the track limits at Parabolica. A bit unexpectedly, Mercedes rushed out for their second runs with still five minutes in the clock. Others rushed to follow the leading team. Bottas managed to make it on top by a tenth of a second, but Hamilton was running from behind frighteningly fast. The battle between the teammates was tense, but again Hamilton got the upper hand. The pole was the Briton's but by 0.069s only. This was the unbelievable 94th pole for the dominant Briton. It was a welcomed change to see Sainz in P3 and Perez in P4. At the Temple of Speed Verstappen had to settle for row three and P5. Sainz's teammate Norris made it alongside the Dutchman. Renault's Ricciardo and Racing Point's Stroll locked down the fourth row, with Albon and Gasly rounding out the top ten.

What to expect from tomorrow's race? Nothing but a sweeping victory for either one of the Mercedes aces, presumably for Hamilton. There might be a battle for the lowest step of the podium, but let's see. Unfortunately that battle won't include the red-suited drivers, that's pretty sure. A non-Mercedes victory would be so welcomed for a change! In spite of the poor starting point to the race, I always believe in Sebastian! Forza Ferrari!

Belgian GP: Totally predictable 89th victory for imperious Hamilton!

McLaren's Sainz faced drama before the race start already. The Spaniard was hit with an exhaust failure, which proved impossible to be fixed in time for the start. AlphaTauri's Gasly was the only driver to start to the race on the white-walled hard compound. The red-suited drivers had different tyre strategy, as Charles was on soft Pirellis and Sebastian on the medium rubber.

Hamilton took a self-confident start. Going into Turn 1, Bottas was right at his teammate's tail, hungry to rob him of the lead. However, the Finn had to lift his foot off the throttle only for a fleeting moment, which meant, that he wasn't close enough to make an overtaking move in the Kemmel straight. Renault's Ricciardo, who had started to the race on the softs, was passionate to challenge Verstappen for P3; the Honey Badger even made it ahead of his ex teammate for a short moment, but Max stubbornly took back, what he thought was his. Teammate Ocon had had an impressive start as well, as the Frenchman had overtaken Albon at the start.

Charles had a promising start to his race in spite of the tame grid slot. By lap 5 the Monegasque had made his way up to P10 already. However, he sounded quite frustrated when complaining on the team radio about imminent lack of straight line speed. The SF1000 was going absolutely nowhere in the straights! McLaren's Norris saw his chance and attacked "crawling" Charles, snatching P10 from the struggling Ferrari ace.

There was dangerous-looking drama on lap 11. Alfa Romeo's Giovinazzi, who was driving out of the top ten, right ahead of his Finnish teammate, pushed a bit too hard, losing the rear of his car and hitting the wall. The rear-left tyre was ripped off, which shouldn't have happened. The loose tyre hit Russell's Williams, although the Briton did everything to avoid it. Russell, too ended up into the wall, with his car wrecked as well. The track was covered with debris, and safety car was deployed. Everyone else rushed into the pits, except for AlphaTauri's Gasly and Racing Point's Perez, who stayed out. Mercedes' double stop was quite risky, as Bottas was just barely able to keep his second place ahead of Verstappen. The top three had predictably opted for a fresh set of hard Pirellis. Hamilton was still leading the race, with teammate Bottas second and Verstappen third. Due to not stopping yet, Gasly was fourth and Perez fifth.

The restart took place on lap 14. It offered Valtteri a second chance to challenge Hamilton for the lead, but the Briton was not to be surprised by any means. The restart didn't change the order of the top five. Lap 16 saw an event, which told everything about Ferrari's agonising current situation. Kimi in his Alfa Romeo saw his chance and made a move on Sebastian in the Kemmel straight. It seemed easy for the Iceman to move past the German and take P12. Who could have predicted, that Kimi in his Alfa Romeo would be the best performing Ferrari powered car at Spa Francorchamps? At Spa Francorchamps, where Ferrari were invincible last year, as Charles took his maiden win in F1! I felt utterly flabbergasted, totally out of words. On lap 19 teammate Charles tried to challenge Sebastian for P13, and the two even slightly made contact, but Sebastian firmly kept Charles behind. Such a battle for P13! It was so sad to watch!

Gasly was deeply in trouble with his out-worn hard tyres. Ricciardo attacked the Frenchman first, moving up to P4. Ricciardo showed excellent pace, but unfortunately his pace wasn't quite competitive enough to challenge Verstappen for P3. Also Ocon in the sister Renault and Stroll in his "pink Mercedes" smelled Gasly's blood and passed the struggling Frenchman. Gasly pitted not until on lap 27, for a fresh set of medium Pirellis. It was refreshing to see someone try different tyre strategy. 

Hamilton controlled the race from the start till the chequered flag. There was no battle for the podium places, which made the race quite boring. But just because the race is boring, you can't take anything away from Hamilton, who is just simply on another planet compared to his rivals. He is simply unstoppable at the moment, doesn't put a foot wrong. Valtteri had no chance to challenge him at any point of the race. Verstappen, who finished third, complained about a boring race, too. He had to look after his tyres, and there was no real chance for him to challenge either one of the Silver Arrows. Verstappen's statistics of finishing on the podium in the last six races is convincing as well. Ricciardo definitely was "the black horse" of the race today; the ever-smiling Australian took P4 and the extra point for the fastest lap time. Teammate Ocon finished fifth, having overtaken Red Bull's Albon on the very final lap! Norris crossed the finish line in P7, followed by Gasly, who had been voted as the Driver of the Day by fans. "The pink Mercedes'" pace proved quite mediocre, as Stroll and Perez finished in P9 and P10 respectively. Kimi had driven a strong race, but unfortunately the Iceman wasn't rewarded with any points this time (P12). Sebastian and Charles were left in P13 and P14! This was a catastrophic result for the Red Team, totally unacceptable.

Hamilton's lead in the drivers' championship standings keeps growing. The imperious Briton has now 157 points to Verstappen's 110. Bottas is still third with 107 points. Albon has now dropped Charles down to P5 in the standings (Albon 48-Charles 45). Norris, too has 45 points thanks to his solid P7 today. 

The F1 circus will move to Monza, Italy already next week. Monza is known not only as a true power circuit but also as the Red Team's home track. It's difficult to see, that the Red Team would be any more competitive on their home soil. Actually both upcoming back-to-back races will be held in Italy, so there might be two humiliating weekends on the way for Ferrari. It might be a good thing, that the races will be driven in front of empty grandstands, as the current situation hits hard fans' emotions and hearts as well. 

My heart bleeds to see Sebastian fight for P12. He has potential for so much more. The current situation is absolutely unbearable.

Belgian GP / Qualifying: Fifth pole of the season for Hamilton, whilst both Ferraris got knocked out of Q3!

The Belgian GP weekend starts the third triple-header of the season. Naturally Mercedes arrived at famous Spa Francorchamps as the favourites in terms of both qualifying and the race. Ferrari's situation had even worsened coming to chilly Belgium. The last free practice session had seen Charles in P17 and Sebastian at the very back of the pack in P20! The starting point to the qualifying couldn't have been any more difficult. 

Mercedes continued living their fairy-tale. Hamilton went fastest, with teammate Bottas only two tenths off the pace. Ricciardo at the wheel of his Renault brought a refreshing change, as the Australian jumped third on his first run. However, Mercedes proved untouchable, as Ricciardo was nine tenths off Hamilton's benchmark already. Sainz in his McLaren was fourth, followed by the Red Bull duo of Verstappen and Albon. Things seemed miserable for the Red Team after their first flyers; Charles made it only 14th and Sebastian 18th. Only the Haas duo of Grosjean and Magnussen was slower than the struggling German. Verstappen made a second run on his first set of soft Pirellis, jumping third. However, not even the flying Dutchman was able to make it closer than 0.8s from the pace-setting Briton. At the very end of the session the traffic at the last corner was horrendous, as both Ferraris, both AlphaTauris and both Williams were trying to find an optimal position for their decisive last attempt. Luckily both Charles and Sebastian were able to extract a little more out of their challengers, and they both made it among the fifteen fastest. Charles made it just barely though, as his margin to safety was 0.087s only! The first driver to be knocked out of Q2 was unfortunately Kimi, the King of Spa. Alongside with the Iceman, eliminated were his teammate Giovinazzi, Williams' Latifi and the Haas duo of Grosjean and Magnussen. The comet of the first session was definitely AlphaTauri's Gasly, who jumped fourth at the closing stages of the first session.

Expectedly, the Mercedes duo came out on the medium Pirellis in Q2. So did Red Bull's Verstappen and a bit surprisingly both Racing Points as well. In spite of the harder rubber, once again Hamilton made it on top. This time Bottas got close, as he was only a tenth down on his teammate. Max got a little bit closer, too, as he was 0.4s down on Hamilton. Renault continued their awesome performance, as Ricciardo was fourth and Ocon fifth. Racing Point's tyre choice didn't prove successful, as the pink-suited drivers were only in P10 (Stroll) and P11 (Perez) after their first runs. It was obvious, that they had to opt for the soft compound at the end of the session. Ferrari's struggle continued, as Sebastian was in poor P13, followed by his teammate. Spa Francorchamps, which required high straight line speed, proved the worst-suiting track for the Red Team so far. There was no chance for Sebastian and Charles to make it among the top ten. Having opted for the soft compound, Stroll jumped fifth and Perez 7th. Sainz made an excellent job by moving fourth at the end of the session. AlphaTauri's Kvyat was the first driver to miss out on Q3, and by such a minimal margin as 0.008s! His teammate Gasly was out, too. The Ferrari duo of Charles (P13) and Sebastian (P14) was separated by three tenths in favor of the Monegasque. Williams' Russell was left in P15. 

Q3 threw no surprises. Like predicted, Hamilton laid his hands on provisional pole. This time he pulled a significant gap to his teammate, as Bottas was half a second down already. Ricciardo was magnificent third after his first run, but Verstappen in fourth was a hundredth of a second off the Australian only. Teammate Albon had found promising pace as well, and the Thai driver was in P5. Although Hamilton had set a flawless lap at the beginning of the final segment, the Briton saw a chance for improvement. On his final flyer, he cut two tenths off from his benchmark, making it his fifth pole of the season and 93rd of his career. Bottas was truly left half a second down on his teammate. Actually Verstappen got extremely close to a front row grid slot, as the Dutch Red Bull ace was only 0.015s down on the Finn. Ricciardo made it on the second row alongside Verstappen. The third row was locked down by Albon and Ocon. The top ten was rounded out by McLaren's Sainz, the Racing Point duo of Perez and Stroll and Norris in his sister McLaren. 

I definitely hope there will be some rain tomorrow! Otherwise it will be another boring race, with Hamilton disappearing into the horizon. Ricciardo is the first driver on the grid on the soft compound, as the top three will start to the race on the medium rubber. Will the Ferraris be able to make it in the points even? My heart bleeds to see Sebastian struggle like this. This might be the worst season for Ferrari in those 25 years, that I've been following the sport!

Spanish GP: Hamilton broke Schumacher's record of most podium finishes!

It was scorching hot at Circuit de Catalunya, as the lights went out. Hamilton on pole took a rocket start, on the contrary to his teammate. Verstappen saw his chance and snatched the second place. Bottas got sandwiched by the "pink Mercedes", as Stroll, too had passed the Finn, and Perez was at the Finn's tail. It was crucial for Valtteri to pass Stroll to keep his dream of challenging his teammate alive. Circuit de Catalunya is known for only very few places for overtaking; on lap 5 Valtteri saw his chance and made a successful overtaking move at Turn 1.

Hamilton in the lead kept setting considerably slow lap times, in order to manage his soft tyres. It was easy for Verstappen to keep within 1.5 seconds from the Briton. Bottas, too was within a couple of seconds from the Dutchman. The top three was on a level of their own, as the Racing Points weren't able to match the top three's pace. Albon in his RB16 was the first top driver to pit on lap 17. The Thai driver opted for a fresh set of hard Pirellis, which seemed a bit questionable choice.

By lap 20 the gaps between the top three had increased. Hamilton had already built up a 6-second gap to Verstappen, and Bottas was now 8.5 seconds behind his teammate. It was a bit surprising to hear Verstappen complain about his out-worn tyres on the team radio. On the basis of last weekend's events at Silverstone, I had expected it to be Mercedes, who would be in trouble with tyre management. Meanwhile Kimi, who had started to the race on the medium compound, pitted for another set of mediums. Max pitted a lap later. The flying Dutchman switched to the medium rubber, and rejoined the track in P3, right ahead of the Racing Points. As both McLarens pitted, the Ferrari duo was now in P6 (Charles) and P7 (Sebastian). Hamilton and Bottas pitted from the lead -also for another set of mediums.

Perez in his RP20 and Charles in his SF1000 drove a 29-lap first stint on the softs, until they pitted for mediums. Sebastian had started to the race on the yellow-marked medium tyres, and he switched to softs on lap 29. In the halfway point of the race dark clouds had emerged in the sky, and even rain was predicted some ten laps before the chequered flag. It seemed almost as if the dark clouds were an omen for the Red Team. Suddenly on lap 37 Charles span without making a mistake of his own, and his SF1000 stopped at the second last corner. The Monegasque managed to continue, but in the end, he had to box and retire the car. Now it was all about Sebastian's performance.

During the Spanish GP Kimi in his Alfa Romeo broke a record. After completing lap 37, the Iceman had raced 83 846 km, which is further than any other driver in F1 history! In fact, that's more than twice the circumference of the Earth! The record breaker was now in P13 in the race. 

Red Bull reacted first and called Max in on lap 41. He rejoined the track in P3 on a fresh set of medium Pirellis. However, Bottas proved unable to open a gap big enough to the Dutchman. The Finn pitted for the second time on lap 48, for soft tyre wear. Race leader Hamilton, on the other hand, told on the team radio, that he didn't want to switch to the soft compound, but he was happy with his current tyres. The Briton boxed two laps after his teammate, for another set of mediums. 

Perez in P4 had been taken under investigation by the stewards for ignoring blue flags, when race leader Hamiltonnwas lapping him. Soon the Mexican was given a 5-second time penalty for his infringement. AlphaTauri's Kvyat was similarly penalised some laps later. 

The atmosphere between Sebastian and the Red Team seemed everything but warm. Sebastian's race engineer Adami asked on the team radio, what Sebastian thought about going till the end on the soft tyres. The German replied, that wasn't it what they had discussed earlier already. Thanks to the one-stop strategy, Sebastian was now fifth in the race. However, there were threats coming from behind. First of them was Racing Point's Stroll.

On lap 57 the Canadian had made it within striking distance from the German. Unfortunately there was only very little for Sebastian to do, when Stroll opened his DRS. Losing P5 to Stroll was unfortunately inevitable. Three laps later McLaren's Sainz had closed the gap to Sebastian, who was in trouble with his dying tyres. Thanks to DRS, also Sainz made it past Sebastian, who now dropped down to P7. 

Although Bottas had set the fastest lap time three laps before the chequered flag, he pitted on the second last lap for a fresh set of medium tyres. Due to screwing up at the start, the Finn wanted the extra point for the fastest lap time. Which he also nailed on the very final lap! 

It was win number 88 for imperious Hamilton. Runner-up Verstappen was massive 23 seconds off the world champion's pace. Bottas in third was another 20 seconds behind the Red Bull ace. Unbelievable but true, only those three cars were on the same lap! Perez crossed the finish line in P4, but teammate Stroll leapfrogged him after the penalty for the Mexican. Sainz finished sixth for McLaren and Sebastian scored his best result this season by finishing in seventh. Despite lack of car performance, he fought bravely on a differing pit stop strategy. I was touched to see him voted as the Driver of the Day. Albon finished eighth in the sister Red Bull, with AlphaTauri's Gasly and McLaren's Norris completing the top ten. Unfortunately Kimi didn't make it in points, but was left in P13. 

Hamilton now broke Schumacher's record of most podium finishes, as this was the 156th podium finish for the sweeping Mercedes ace. His dominance made today's race very boring. Not even the rain came to mix things up. Hamilton now has 132 points to Verstappen's 95. Teammate Bottas is 43 points off the Briton already. Hamilton keeps breaking Schumacher's records one after another.

After a two-week break the F1 circus will move to Spa, Belgium. With high hopes I'm looking forward to more success from Sebastian and the Red Team. Forza Ferrari!

Spanish GP / Qualifying: Hamilton predictably on pole!

After a two-race break Perez had finally been tested negative for Covid-19, and the Mexican was back at the wheel of his RP20. In the previous years the Spanish GP has taken place in May, so today's conditions were different to the usual ones. Barcelona is currently under a heat wave, so air temperature was +30 degrees Celsius. The track temperature was as high as +50 degrees Celsius.

Q1 unravelled the usual way. Hamilton set the benchmark, which teammate Bottas proved unable to match. Verstappen in third, on the other hand, was only two thousandths of a second shy of Bottas. "The pink Mercedes" showed excellent performance as well, as Stroll jumped second, splitting the Silver Arrows. Only a moment later teammate Perez deprived his teammate of the second place. Ferrari's pace was still modest, especially in terms of Sebastian. Charles was 7th and Sebastian 11th. Both Racing Points sat out the second runs at the end of the session, but everyone else rushed out. It was a positive surprise to see Kimi's perky performance at the wheel of his Alfa Romeo. The Iceman made it into Q2 for the first time this season! Opposite to his teammate Giovinazzi, who was left at the very back of the pack. The pecking order of the backmarkers was quite straightforward; both Haas drivers and both Williams drivers were knocked out of the second session as well. 

For the first time this season, everyone opted for the soft compound at the beginning of Q2. The pecking order remained the same; Hamilton kept his teammate under control, but this time by one tenth of a second only. Again Verstappen was third, half a second off the pace. Sainz in his McLaren was fourth and Perez in his "pink Mercedes" fifth. However, Charles jumped fifth, dropping Perez down to sixth. Sebastian was only 11th after his first attempt, massive 1.3s down on pace-setting Hamilton. Kimi was the only driver to come out on medium Pirellis at the end of the session. I was slightly amazed, how competitive the Iceman turned out. The Finn managed to out-qualify Renault's Ocon, qualifying in P14 on the grid. P14 can be seen as an excellent achievement, considering Alfa Romeo's lack of power and performance in general. The top three sat out the second runs, as the Mercedes duo and Red Bull's Verstappen had no need to go out for the second time. Sebastian again faced cruel destiny; he was knocked out of the last segment by two thousandths of a second, whilst teammate Charles made it among the top ten (P8). Sebastian was accompanied by AlphaTauri's Kvyat, the Renault duo of Ricciardo and Ocon and Alfa Romeo's Räikkönen. At the very end of the session Stroll jumped fourth and Gasly in his AlphaTauri fifth.

To my disappointment Q3 saw no changes in terms of the predicted pattern, which made the shootout for pole quite boring actually. Once again Hamilton laid his hands on provisional pole, but not as easily as in the first two sessions. Bottas had set the screens purple in first two sectors, but Turns 10 and 12 in the last sector proved difficult for the Finn, and he was 0.059s down on his teammate. Verstappen's gap to Hamilton had increased into seven tenths, and Perez in fourth was a second down on the Briton already. Charles in P7 was incredible 1.7s down on the Mercedes ace! Against the odds, the top five made no improvements on their last flyers. Predictably, Hamilton made it on pole again, with teammate Bottas making it another front row lockout for the Silver Arrows. Verstappen familiarly stood out of the crowd as "the best of the rest", with Perz fourth and teammate Stroll fifth. Albon in his RB16 made it 6th on the grid, leaving the McLaren duo of Sainz and Norris in P7 and P8. Charles and AlphaTauri's Gasly rounded out the top ten. Worth noting is the fact, that Albon's gap to teammate Verstappen, once again, was massive eight tenths. There are two drivers, who are in serious trouble with their teammates, and those are Albon and Sebastian.

I have to be honest and say, that I don't have high expectations for tomorrow's race. My prediction is, that Hamilton wins the race, Bottas finishes as the runner-up, and Max completes the podium. That, however, sounds as a very boring race. I hope to see some surprises and unexpected turns, excitement at least!

70th anniversary GP: Superb victory for Max Verstappen!

70 years of Formula 1 history was celebrated today at Silverstone. The reigning world champion was hunting one piece of the F1 history; by finishing on the podium Hamilton was to equal Schumacher's record of most podium finishes (155). 

Bottas took the start with self-confidence, although Hamilton tried his very best to challenge his Finnish teammate for the lead. Verstappen took a magnificent start on the hard tyres, making it past Hulkenberg's "pink Mercedes" immediately. Also Stroll gained a position at the start, as the Canadian managed to pass Renault's Ricciardo. Unfortunately the driver to face drama on the opening lap was Vettel, who had started to the race on the white-walled hard Pirellis. Going into the first corners, hitting a kerb, Sebastian peculiarly lost the rear of his SF1000, spinning and dropping down to the back of the pack. The circle of difficulties seemed endless for Sebastian! The start to the race wasn't easy for Charles, either. The Monegasque lost two positions at the start, dropping down to P10.

It was a bit surprising, how huge the tyre degradation turned out. Having completed six laps only, both Mercedes drivers complained about their overheated left-side tyres. Albon in his RB16 pitted on lap six already, opting for a fresh set of hard Pirellis. By lap 9 Verstappen had made it within 1.2 seconds from Hamilton. The team told Max to keep the distance to the Briton, but Max completely disagreed. He didn't want to "drive like a grandma", but to use every opportunity to challenge the Mercedes ace, who was in serious trouble with his blistered tyres.

The leading Mercedes drivers pitted on the sequential laps, with Bottas boxing first on lap 13. The Finn rejoined the track ahead of Charles in P6. Both drivers switched to the hard compound. Against all odds, Verstappen in the lead didn't have any issues with his tyres. He still hadn't pitted on lap 22, and unbelievable but true, his lap times were 1.5s faster than those of Valtteri, who was on much fresher tyres! Tyre management proved Max's secret weapon against the Mercedes drivers. Max had already opened a 16-second gap to Bottas in P2. Meanwhile, Sebastian pitted for the first time on lap 22. He switched to another set of hard tyres. 

Verstappen pitted not until at the halfway point of the race, on lap 26. The "tyre whisperer" opted for a fresh set of medium Pirellis and rejoined the track right at Bottas' tail. However, overtaking didn't prove difficult for Max, who was absolutely flying on his fresh tyres. Verstappen inevitably snatched the lead from the Finn.

Further down in the midfield, Kimi had also pitted for the first and only time. The Iceman had started to the race on the hardest compound, and opted for the mediums for his second stint. Kimi did everything he could at the wheel of his Alfa Romeo, but after pitting, the Finn was in tame P13. Haas' Magnussen, on the other hand, was given a 5-second time penalty for rejoining the track in dangerous manner, which led into contact with Williams' Latifi. 

Lap 32 saw both Verstappen and Bottas pitting for the second time. Both drivers' pit stops went smoothly, and only two seconds were separating the rivals, as they rejoined the track on hard Pirellis. Now it was all about battle for victory! Meanwhile, Hamilton stayed out, although his tyres were critically out-worn. It was amazing, how the Briton was still able to bang competitive lap times. Not until on lap 42, with ten laps to go, Hamilton pitted for the second time. He locked up his tyres when braking heavily at the pit entry. It almost seemed like speeding at the pit lane. The Briton had aimed for a one-stop strategy, but with the tyre degradation that Mercedes had, it proved mission impossible. Hamilton opted for another set of hard Pirellis. He rejoined the track four seconds behind Charles, who was confident to make one-stop strategy work. 

However, Charles proved unable to match Hamilton's storming pace. In just three laps Hamilton had made it within DRS distance from the Ferrari ace. The speed difference at the straight was so remarkable, that in spite of a desperate defensive move, Charles had no chance to keep Hamilton behind. After passing Charles, the Briton smelled his teammate's blood. Both Mercedes aces were told on the team radio, that they were free to race, but they had to keep it clean. Tenth by tenth Hamilton closed the gap to Valtteri, who was struggling heavily with grip on his blistered hard tyres. With only two laps to go, Hamilton moved ahead of his teammate. Pole had turned into a bitter P3 for the Finn. 

"Tyre whisperer" Max Verstappen was not only the hero of the day, but also the Driver of the Day -once again. He crossed the finish line as the  race winner for the 9th time in his career. This was the first time, that Red Bull won at Silverstone since 2012! Max's margin to the runner-up Hamilton was impressive 11 seconds. Pole-sitter Bottas was cruelly left on the lowest step of the podium. Once again Charles managed to maximise his performance at the wheel of his pace-lacking SF1000, thanks to the Red Team's genius strategy. Albon, too finally delivered, crossing the finish line in fifth. The Thai driver was followed by the Racing Point duo of Stroll and Hulkenberg. The German ended up doing three pit stops in the race. The top ten was rounded out by Renault's Ocon, McLaren's Norris and AlphaTauri's Kvyat. Sad but true, Sebastian could only make it P12 in the end. It also broke my heart to see Kimi in P15.

By winning the race, Max jumped second in the drivers' championship standings. Hamilton has 107 points to Max's 77. Bottas was dropped down to third with 73 points. Charles is now in P4, but 28 points down on the Finn already. Sebastian still has 10 points only, which doesn't provide a truthful image of his talent and skills. 

After reading a deep interview of Vettel at f1.com last weekend, many thoughts have crossed through my mind. Does Sebastian get any support from his fans this season, which is driven in front of empty grandstands? No fans are allowed to attend races, and Sebastian is the only driver on the grid, who doesn't have any social media. Meanwhile, other drivers get massive support on social media. I guess some drivers need it more than the others, but in my opinion everyone benefits from encouraging messages and words of support, especially in a challenging situation, like where Sebastian stands in right now. I wish there was a way, that us fans, could show how much we support him and cheer for him, no matter how many difficulties he faces on or off track! I wish he knew, that there are so many people, who believe in him from all their hearts!

It was a refreshing change to see Verstappen win the race! Hopefully going to Barcelona next week, will offer more refreshing winds of change!

70th anniversary GP / Qualifying: Second pole of the season for Bottas!

Pirelli had brought a step softer tyres for the second race at Silverstone. This change caused welcome variations in terms of teams' tyre strategies. Conditions at Silverstone were also significantly warmer than in last week's qualifying.

Q1 already saw medium tyres, as both Haas drivers came out on the yellow-marked compound. Williams' Russell opted for this compound as well. The Silver Arrows set the pace, with Bottas having an edge of 56 thousandths of a second over his teammate. Hulkenberg continued his services for Racing Point, as Perez had again been tested positive for Covid-19 after his 10-day quarantine. The German showed impressive pace right away, jumping third and being only a tenth off the pace. A moment later Verstappen went fastest, but the flying Dutchman was only 0.021s faster than Bottas. Albon in the sister Red Bull hadn't been able to overcome his difficulties; he ended up going wide, which produced tame P13 for the Thai driver. A 1.3-second gap to your teammate is an unforgiving performance. It wasn't easy for the red-suited drivers, either. Charles was in decent P7, but Sebastian was only in P10. It was difficult to understand, that Sebastian was six tenths slower than his teammate! He hadn't made any visible mistakes during his flyer; it seemed, that he just couldn't extract any more pace out of his SF1000. With 5 minutes remaining, Sebastian was as low as in P13. Albon, too was in poor P16. However, the Red Bull driver managed to jump third in the closing stages of the first session. This time there was only a thousandth of a second separating the Red Bull drivers, surprisingly in favor of Albon! Two drivers to stand out of the crowd were AlphaTauri's Gasly and Williams' Russell, who made P5 and P8 respectively. Sebastian was left in P14 in the end, just barely making his way into Q2. Eliminated from the second session were AlphaTauri's Kvyat, Haas' Magnussen, Williams' Latifi and the Alfa Romeo duo of Giovinazzi and Räikkönen. What a poor start to the season Alfa Romeo have had! Neither one of the drivers has made it into Q2 this season! It really hurts me to see Kimi in such a poorly-powered car, as the Iceman would have potential for so much more!

Q2 saw all three tyre compounds in use. Mercedes sent both cars out on the medium tyre wear, whilst Red Bull opted for a risky call, sending Verstappen out on the white-walled hard rubber. Once again it was Bottas, who set the benchmark, which was four tenths quicker than his teammate's lap. In spite of the hard tyres, Max made it fourth in the time sheets. The Scuderia opted for the medium compound, similar to Racing Point, Renault and McLaren. Charles set a competitive lap time, which entitled the Monegasque to P4. Sebastian, on the other hand, failed to make it among the top ten. Russell in his Williams set his first lap time on the soft Pirellis, still unable to break into the top ten. To maximise his chances to make it among the top ten, Sebastian was forced to switch to the softs at the end of the session. But not even the fastest tyre compound guaranteed the German a place in the final session! The badly-struggling German had to settle for disappointing P12! Renault's Ricciardo and Red Bull's Verstappen sat out the second runs. Hulkenberg was absolutely on flames at the wheel of his "pink Mercedes", jumping second in the standings. Gasly, too kept up his impressive work, making it 4th. This time the biggest name casualty in Q2 was McLaren's Sainz, who was knocked out of Q3 together with Renault's Ocon, Haas' Grosjean and Williams' Russell. Charles prevented the Scuderia's day from turning into a completely shameful one by securing his place among the top ten.

Other tyres than the softs have rarely been seen in the last segment. Against the odds, this time both Red Bull drivers and Renault's Ricciardo rushed out on the medium tyres. Silverstone is known to be extremely hard on the tyres, and the soft compound lasts the entire flying lap only barely. Hamilton took provisional pole by a tenth to his teammate, whose first sector left a little to hope for. Ricciardo was making a superb job, making it third on his first flyer. However, the gap to pace-setting Hamilton was a massive second. Hulkenberg was fourth in his pink car, leaving Verstappen fifth and Albon sixth. P7 was the maximum, that Charles was able to reach. Although a 1.5-second gap to Hamilton was pretty catastrophic! Both Hamilton and Bottas came out on the mediums at the end of the session. The Red Bull drivers had an opposite strategy, as they switched to the soft compound for their final flyers. Ricciardo, on the other hand, decided to stick to the mediums. Hamilton managed to snatch some hundredths of a second off his lap time, but teammate Bottas robbed his teammate of the pole! The Finn's lap time was six hundredths faster than that of his teammate's! After the devastating race result last week, Bottas was absolutely determined to take what was his. Hulkenberg out-qualified his teammate Stroll by four tenths, which made Hulk third on the grid! That was an impressive result indeed. Verstappen completed the second row, with Ricciardo and Stroll on the third row. Gasly qualified 7th for AlphaTauri and Leclerc 8th for the Scuderia. Red Bull's Albon and McLaren's Norris will line up on the fifth row. 

Verstappen will have the advantage in terms of tyre strategy, as he will start to the race on the hardest tyres. Although the required tyre pressures have been raised by the FIA, it's interesting to see, if there will be punctures in tomorrow's race. One thing is for sure: no team will try to make a one-stop strategy work! In spite of Hulkenberg's stunning P3, I consider Max as the strongest contender to fight for the last spot on the podium. Unfortunately my hopes are not high in terms of the Red Team's performance. At least I'm hoping to see an action-packed and eventful race! 

British GP: Hamilton took victory in spite of last-lap puncture!

Similar to the Hungarian GP two weeks ago, there was drama already before the race start. Hulkenberg, who had replaced Perez in "the pink Mercedes", hit trouble already when leaving garage. Unfortunately the issue turned out to be so severe, that Hulkenberg was unable to start to the race.

It was partly cloudy and 21 degrees Celsius, as the lights went out. Bottas took a superb start from P2, and the Finn dived into Turn 1 alongside Hamilton. Nevertheless, he wasn't quite able to challenge the Briton for the lead. Behind the Mercedes duo, Verstappen and Leclerc had a wheel-banging battle of their own. Charles made it past the Red Bull pilot, but lost the position right away. Sainz in his McLaren had taken a stunning start as well, having gained two positions right away. Teammate Norris, on the other hand, had lost two places. There was drama at the last corner on the opening lap. Magnussen in his Haas had hit the kerb at the previous corner, which had made the car jump and slide a bit. Albon in his RB16 saw his chance and went into the inside of the Dane. However, Albon placed himself right at the blind spot, so Magnussen couldn't see him. The collision made the Dane crash into the barriers, ruining the Haas pilot's race. Safety car was deployed already on the second lap!

Safety car came in on lap 5, and the race was back on. The order of the top five remained unchanged. Mercedes' race pace was on a different level compared to their rivals. Hamilton had a firm lead, but Bottas controlled the gap, keeping it within 1.5 seconds. Verstappen was in secured third place, as Leclerc in fourth proved unable to match the Dutchman's pace. Sainz in his McLaren was fifth, with Ricciardo sixth and Norris seventh.

The race saw the second safety car episode on lap 12. All of a sudden Kvyat's AlphaTauri was hit with a rear-right puncture, which threw the Russian into the barriers. The deployment of the safety car opened the pit stop roulette. Everyone rushed in for a fresh set of white-walled Pirellis, except for Haas' Grosjean, who stayed out. The Frenchman was now fifth in the race.

The second restart took place on lap 18. Once again the Mercedes duo quickly vanished into the horizon. Further down in the midfield, Sainz was challenging Grosjean for P5. In the heat of the battle, the Haas driver made questionable defensive moves. He changed his line twice, which meant changing the line at the braking. Rules define this as unsportsmanlike behaviour. The Frenchman's move was risky and dangerous, but Sainz took the upper hand, moving fifth. Grosjean was showed a black and white flag due to his unsportsmanlike behaviour. The Frenchman was struggling heavily on his out-worn medium tyres, and also Norris squeezed him past Grosjean, dropping the Haas driver down to P7.

Albon pitted for the second time on lap 31. He had been given a 5-second time penalty for causing the collision. The Thai driver switched to a fresh set of medium tyres and rejoined the track at the back of the pack. What a difficult race Albon was facing! His teammate was cruising to the podium, whilst Albon was fighting with the backmarkers! This is definitely the only major weakness, that Red Bull have; they have an outstanding driver in Max Verstappen, but no matter who they put in the sister Red Bull, he seems to be doomed to fail! Talking about difficulties, Sebastian, too had hard time fighting for P10. Not to mention Kimi in his Alfa Romeo, who was at the very back of the pack trying to keep the Williams cars behind.

Hamilton and Bottas in the double lead kept playing "cat and mouse game". Once the Finn had banged the fastest lap time, race leader Hamilton set the sectors purple on the sequential lap. Verstappen in third was already some ten seconds behind. Charles in P4 was massive 20 seconds down on the flying Dutchman already. The race seemed so boring, as there were no intense and hot battles for positions, not even in the midfield. It really seemed like Sunday driving for the Mercedes teammates and Verstappen! Further down in the midfield, Grosjean continued his unsportsmanlike manoeuvres. This time the victim was Racing Point's Stroll. In spite of Grosjean's dirty moves, the Canadian managed to get past. The Frenchman then pitted, which dropped him to the very back of the pack. In spite of repeating the dirty manoeuvre after the black and white flag, the stewards didn't take any further action in this matter.

Sebastian had it challenging to even finish in the points. For some reason, the German had no pace at all. AlphaTauri's Gasly was putting serious pressure on the struggling German, and managed to make a successful overtaking move, taking P10 from Sebastian. 

With ten laps to go, Bottas reported about vibration on the team radio. At the same time, the gap to Hamilton had increased into three seconds and kept increasing. However, there was no warning about what was to come a few laps later. With only three laps remaining, Bottas suddenly suffered a front-left puncture in Turn 3! He had to limp into the pits on three wheels, which turned the Finn's race into a complete catastrophe! The Finn's name kept dropping down in the standings... Motor sports sometimes has a cruel face, and Valtteri saw that face today. This definitely wasn't the Finns' day at all, as Kimi in his Alfa Romeo suffered a front wing failure at the Becketts, which ruined the race for the less talkative Finn! 

Bottas rejoined the track in disappointing P12. Meanwhile, Verstappen pitted for the second time for a fresh set of soft Pirellis. The Dutchman was to hunt the extra point for the fastest lap time. But had the energy drink team had a crystal ball, they wouldn't have called their hero in! Unbelievable but true, Hamilton faced a similar front-left puncture to his teammate! The only difference was, that the race leader was hit with the puncture on the very final lap! Against the odds, Hamilton was able to bring his three-wheeled W11 to the chequered flag and win the race! Sainz, too in P5 faced a similar front-left puncture on the penultimate lap, so Pirelli have a lot of research and work to do before next week's race at Silverstone. Verstappen would have won the race, had he not pitted for the second time! Once again Charles benefitted from his rivals' misfortune, completing the podium. Ricciardo was impressive fourth for Renault, with Norris fifth for McLaren and Ocon sixth in the sister Renault. In the end, Albon made it 8th in the sister Red Bull, leaving Stroll 9th in his RP20. Sebastian was just barely able to keep Bottas behind, scoring the last point and leaving the Finn out of points. 

Due to Bottas' crucial puncture, Hamilton suddenly has a 30-point lead in the drivers' championship standings. Verstappen is only 6 points down on Bottas, seriously challenging the Finn for the second place. Many people say, that such thing as luck doesn't exist in Formula 1. However, it is so interesting, how both success and misfortune tend to gather upon certain drivers. Hamilton always seems to have "luck" on his side; even when facing a puncture, he manages to cross the line as the race winner! Same goes for Charles in his SF1000. The Monegasque always seems to be "in the right place at the right time", gaining the success, when others fail. Bottas and Sebastian, on the other hand, are surrounded by a different kind of circle -the negative one. Setbacks seem to follow them one after another. I would definitely want to understand better, why this happens! I think this phenomenon is even more powerful now, when the season is more intense than ever before, with triple headers after triple headers.

Next weekend everything is wide open again -at least in theory! Somebody needs to challenge Hamilton for real, otherwise it will be another terribly boring race at Silverstone!

British GP / Qualifying: 7th pole for Hamilton on his home turf!

After a 2-week break it was time for another triple header! This weekend the F1 circus moved to iconic Silverstone, which will host two consecutive races in two weeks. Coming to this weekend, the breaking news had been the fact, that Racing Point's Perez had been tested positive for Covid-19 following his trip to his home country Mexico. The team announced, that Perez was replaced by Nico Hulkenberg during the Mexican's 10-day quarantine, which includes both races at Silverstone.

Mercedes continued, where they had left off at Hungaroring. Bottas set the benchmark in Q1, whilst teammate Hamilton made a small mistake on his first run, being three tenths off the pace. Verstappen showed excellent pace at the wheel of his RB16, jumping second. Charles was fourth, followed by Stroll in his pink Racing Point. Sebastian had had a very difficult start to the British GP weekend, as he had faced a series of techical issues in the free practice sessions, completing only a handful of laps. The woes continued in the qualifying, and Sebastian was in modest P10. The German was a second off the Finn's benchmark, which meant, that he had to go out again at the end of the session. Hamilton put together a competitive lap, making it second in the standings. Hulkenberg, who had been called to replace Perez on a very short notice, jumped fourth on his last run. However, teammate Stroll dropped him down to fifth only a short moment later. Sebastian ended up 8th in the standings. He was a tenth faster than his teammate, who had sit out the second runs. Both Haas drivers and both Alfa Romeos were knocked out of Q2 in addition to Williams' Latifi, who had spun at the closing stages of the first session. Teammate Russell, on the other hand, put together a superb lap, jumping 13th. However, the Briton is still under investigation due to improving his lap time under the yellow flags. 

Q2 was all about tyre strategy. Which teams would make it into Q3 setting their fastest lap time on the medium compound? The three leading teams -Mercedes, Red Bull and Racing Point- sent their drivers out on the yellow-marked medium Pirellis. Ferrari had a differing strategy for their drivers; Charles came out on the medium rubber, whilst Sebastian emerged on track on the softs. Hamilton hadn't found the flow yet; the reigning world champion span on his first attempt, which left him with no decent lap time. The home hero's spin brought so much gravel on the track, that the session was red-flagged with 8:51 in the clock. At this point Bottas was topping the time sheets. His closest rival Verstappen was massive 1.1s down on the Mercedes ace! Mercedes' edge was absolutely astronomical! Leclerc was third, Ocon fourth for Renault and Sainz fifth for McLaren. It was a bit surprising to see, that "the pink Mercedes" of Stroll and Hulkenberg were only in P8 and P10. When the session was resumed, Hamilton came out on a new set of medium Pirellis. This time the champion made no mistakes and jumped second, three tenths shy of his teammate. Sebastian's struggle continued, as he was only 8th, in spite of having set his lap time on the soft rubber. As there were three minutes left in the clock, everyone rushed out. Everyone else opted for the soft compound, except for Sebastian and Stroll, who opted for medium tyrewear. Neither of the drivers was able to improve his lap time. The battle behind Mercedes proved tight, and Sainz in his orange McLaren jumped fourth in the dying minutes of the second session. There were two surprise casualties in Q2; once again Albon failed to deliver for Red Bull, ending up in tame P12. Hulkenberg, too got eliminated from Q3 due to having failed to set a lap time competitive enough on the harder tyres. In addition to these surprise names, also the AlphaTauri duo of Gasly and Kvyat were out of the top ten, alongside Williams' Russell. Unbelievable but true, Stroll in crucial P10 and Gasly in P11 had set the exact same lap time! But because Stroll had set it first, he got into Q3 and Gasly didn't.

Bottas had set the pace in the first two segments, but as history had already shown, you mustn't ever write off Lewis Hamilton. Again the Briton rose from the ashes and clocked the fastest lap time, setting a new track record. Bottas was one and a half tenths down on his teammate. Verstappen in third was a light year down, as he was 1.1s slower than the pace-setting Mercedes ace! Stroll was fourth, Charles fifth and Sebastian sixth. I was quite worried to notice, that there were three tenths between the Ferrari teammates, in favor of the Monegasque. However, there was more to come from both Renault and McLaren. Both Ricciardo and Norris made it ahead of Sebastian. Charles showed promising performance, jumping third, but only temporarily. Verstappen rapidly took back his third place. Sebastian went wide on his last flyer, which had unforgiving consequences. The German was left in P10, astronomical two seconds down on the pole-setter! What a highly challenging weekend this has been for Sebastian! Hamilton took his 7th pole on his home turf! Bottas proved unable to match his teammate's time on his last flyer. In the end, the gap was significant three tenths in favor of the Briton. Expectedly, Verstappen was "the best behind Mercedes", qualifying third. Charles managed to extract the maximum out of his SF1000, making it P4. The third row was locked down by Norris in his McLaren and Stroll in his "pink Mercedes". McLaren's Sainz in P7 was followed by the Renault duo of Ricciardo and Ocon, leaving Sebastian at the back of the pack.

Norris is the first driver on the grid to start to the race on the soft Pirellis. It is interesting to see, how the tyre strategy will turn out. Strategy is probably Bottas' best chance to challenge his teammate for victory. I'm still uncertain, whether Sebastian actually managed to improve his lap time on the mediums in Q2. So whether he will start to the race on the soft or medium Pirellis, remains to be seen. The British weather may also throw up some surprises. A Mercedes victory is well predicted, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed, that in spite of a setback-filled start to the weekend, Sebastian will have a consistent and strong race tomorrow! I'm also confident, that Max will spice up the battle between the Silver Arrows! I'm definitely looking forward to an entertaining race.

Hungarian GP: Verstappen from barriers to 2nd!

Dark clouds had gathered above the Hungaroring, and the track was damp, as the cars exited the pits. There was drama already before the start. On his way to the grid, Verstappen drove into Turn 12 a bit too fast. He went wide, ending up into the barriers nose first! There was significant damage to his RB16, and it was obvious, that it required a miracle from the mechanics to get his car fixed in time for the race! However, the Red Bull crew were actually capable of making that miracle happen, and at 3.05 p.m. Max was ready to go on the formation lap! 

Due to the damp conditions, everyone started to the race on the green-walled intermediate tyres. Actually Haas decided to make a risky move, and the American team called both their drivers in on the formation lap already. Both Grosjean and Magnussen switched to a fresh set of medium slicks, which turned out to be a wise call.

Hamilton on pole got a perfect start, on the contrary to that of his teammate in P2. Bottas had three little lights on his dash board, which went out a fraction before the lights. This made Bottas react, and his W11 jumped forward. Bottas immediately realised, that he had reacted before the lights had gone out and stopped the car. The Finn dropped down to P6 due to his miserable start. Hamilton, on the other hand, was rapidly opening a gap to Racing Point's Stroll in 2nd. There was no rain, and the track dried up quickly. Both Bottas and Leclerc pitted on the second lap already. The Finn opted for a fresh set of medium Pirellis, whilst Charles switched to the soft compound. By lap 5 all drivers had pitted for slicks. Hamilton in the lead had an 8-second gap to Verstappen, who was second after the pit stop roulette. The Dutchman had taken an extremely impressive start to the race, considering his shunt on the installation lap! Haas had made a genius strategic call by taking their drivers in on the formation lap already. Magnussen was now third and teammate Grosjean fourth in the race! Stroll in his "pink Mercedes" was fifth, Leclerc was sixth and Bottas only 7th. 

Unfortunately Haas' success was only temporary. In a few laps only Stroll had made his way past Grosjean. Bottas had to fight hard to get past Charles, but it worked out eventually. Further back in the midfield Kimi had made excellent job by making his way up to P14, having started from the very back of the pack. Unfortunately the stewards had given the Iceman a 5-second time penalty for being out of position at the start. By lap 17 Stroll had made his way past Magnussen in the sister Haas. The Dane was clearly struggling with his race pace, as Bottas, too passed the Haas driver. Although rain was forecast any minute, the conditions stayed dry.

Charles was the only top driver, who had opted for the soft rubber. The Monegasque's pace on that set turned out poor indeed, and he pitted on lap 20 for a fresh set of white-walled hard tyres. He rejoined the track in P15. The positions of the top three seemed secured. Hamilton had a safe 12-second lead to Verstappen, and the Dutchman's gap to Stroll in third was 15 seconds already. However, Bottas was almost within striking distance from the Canadian, hungry to gain as much as he could after the failure at the start. Meanwhile, Sebastian pitted for the second time on lap 30. Similar to his teammate, he opted for the hard Pirellis. 

Although McLaren had shone in the first two races in Austria, they seemed to struggle with their pace at the Hungaroring. Norris had a wheel-banging and intense battle with Charles for modest P13. Norris defended his position with every effort possible, but finally Charles forced his way past the young Briton. On the other hand, Bottas seemed unable to get past Stroll. Mercedes called the Finn in, and Valtteri, too rejoined the track on a fresh set of medium tyres. The Finn was now fourth in the race. When Stroll pitted a moment later, Valtteri benefitted from the undercut, jumping third. Also Verstappen and Hamilton made their second pit stops, and the order in the lead remained unchanged. 

After the pit stops Bottas began his hunt. By lap 46 he had made it within DRS distance from Verstappen. But the battle for P2 didn't turn out to be easy. On his out-worn tyres Bottas didn't have a powerful chance to challenge Max. Mercedes made their move and called the Finn in for the third time on lap 50. This time Valtteri opted for the hardest compound. On the fresh set of tyres he began his chase again. Once again he had 20 seconds to Verstappen ahead of him. But Valtteri's lap times on the fresh tyres were much more competitive than those of Max's! Against the odds, Red Bull didn't call Max in for the third time, but the Dutchman stayed out. Meanwhile, Sebastian had made convincing work at the wheel of his Ferrari, and the German was fifth in the race. It was heart-warming to see such consistent driving from Sebastian. 

As Hamilton's lead was well-secured, the Briton insisted on the team radio, that he wanted to stop for a fresh set of softs. Finally Hamilton's wish was granted and he was asked to box. It tells a lot about Hamilton's superiority, that on lap 58 Sebastian in P5 got lapped by Hamilton! Hamilton's pace is just from another planet! Finally on the second last lap, Bottas had closed the gap to Verstappen, hanging right at the Red Bull ace's tail. To the Finn's misfortune there were several backmarkers ahead of the duo, which made possible overtaking manoeuvre even more difficult. Actually impossible. 

Hamilton took a sweeping victory, which was his 8th at Hungaroring already! Now he officially equals Michael Schumacher's record of most wins at a single Grand Prix. Verstappen drove a spectacular race after his rookie-like mistake on the installation lap. Due to his lion-hearted driving, he really deserved to be voted as the Driver of the Day! After screwing up at the start, it was all about damage limitation for Bottas. In the end he had to settle for P3. Stroll in P4 stood out of the crowd in a very positive way. Red Bull's Albon managed to overtake Sebastian in the end, taking P5 from him. However, seeing Sebastian finish in the points made me very happy after setback-filled first two races. As Hamilton took the fastest lap time under his belt, too, the Briton also took over the lead in the drivers' championship standings. He has 63 points to his teammate's 58 points. Verstappen is third with 33 points. Sebastian has now 9 points, which entitles to P10 in the standings.

There seems to be no stopping Mercedes. They have crushing 121 points to Red Bull's 55! Ferrari are still in P5 with their 27 points. Mercedes are so dominant, that I'm afraid it will make the season a bit boring. But they have done everything perfectly, so they totally deserve all the success.  Now there will be a two-week break, until the Formula 1 circus moves to Great Britain for a double-header. Silverstone, if any venue, is known as Hamilton's playground, which is bad news for everyone else! 

Hungarian GP / Qualifying: Record-equaling 7th pole for Hamilton!

Budapest hosts the third round of the season, ending the first streak of three back-to-back races. Usually the GP weekend has been known to take place in extremely hot conditions, but this year has been an exception. Today the temperature was only +18 degrees Celsius, and the sky was covered with dark grey clouds. The weather forecast predicted 90 % chance of rain during the qualifying.

Due to the risk of rain, everyone rushed out at the beginning of the first session. The pecking order seemed to have changed from that in Austria. Mercedes were still the leading team by far, but "the pink Mercedes cars" (i.e. the Racing Points) turned out to be the Silver Arrows' closest rivals. After the first runs Charles was 5th, followed by Red Bull's Verstappen. It was a bit unexpected to see Red Bull struggling at Hungaroring, which has suited very well for the energy drink team in the previous years. Somehow the RB16 seemed restless and unstable in the hands of both Verstappen and Albon. Actually the Thai driver was even more in trouble with the car, being in poor P15, as there were five minutes remaining in the clock. Sebastian was in P9, a whole second down on pace-setting Bottas. Red Bull being the team to stand out in negative light, I have to say, that Williams were responsible for the most positive surprise in the qualifying. Russell jumped third with three minutes remaining! In the closing stages the pink Mercedes went fastest, Perez having the upper hand of the pink-suited teammates. Hamilton was third, followed by the McLarens of Norris and Sainz. Sebastian was in promising P6 in Q1. Worth noting is the fact, that Russell's teammate Latifi, too made it into Q2 today! What a leap forward Williams have taken! Out of the second session were both Haas cars, both Alfa Romeos and AlphaTauri's Kvyat. It broke my heart to see Kimi in the penultimate P20. Alfa Romeo are head over heels in trouble at the moment.

Q2 saw interesting gamble in terms of the tyre strategy. I mean it was quite expected to see the Mercedes come out on the medium Pirellis, but surprisingly, they were accompanied by both Racing Points and both Renaults. In spite of the harder rubber, Hamilton went fastest. Teammate Bottas wasn't quite able to take the fight to his teammate, as the Finn was two tenths shy of the Briton. Sebastian in third was unbelievable eight tenths down on the storming Briton, in spite of having set his lap time on the red-marked soft compound! Charles' first attempt left a lot to hope for, and the Monegasque was only in P10 after his first run. I don't know, whether it told about Ferrari's missing pace or William's impressive development, that Charles in the knock-out zone was edging Russell by two hundredths of a second only! The Racing Points made a risky move, opting for the medium rubber also at the end of the session, whilst everyone else relied on the soft tyre wear. Perez proved unable to improve his lap time in the end, but the Mexican's place in the top ten turned out to be secured. Verstappen jumped third in the dying minutes of Q2, and the Dutchman was followed by Charles in his SF1000 and Norris in his McLaren. The highest profile casualty in the second session was Red Bull's Albon, who had to settle for disappointing P13. In addition to the Red Bull driver, also Renault duo of Ricciardo and Ocon and the Williams duo of Russell and Latifi were knocked out of the final segment. 

Q3 marked the first time, that both red cars were among the ten fastest this season. Hamilton's first run seemed like "a walk in the park", the Briton nailing provisional pole by three tenths to his teammate. More surprising was to see Racing Point's Stroll in third! Nevertheless, the Canadian was a massive second off Hamilton's pace. Verstappen was fourth, with the McLaren duo in fifth and sixth. Sebastian was in P7, 1.6s down on the provisional pole-setter. However, both Ferrari aces had set their fastest lap times on a used set of soft tyres. So there was more to come from the Ferraris on their second attempt. The last flyers saw Sebastian jump fourth and Charles fifth, but unfortunately Perez dropped both of them a position down on his last flyer. Hamilton took one and a half tenths off from his lap time on his final run. Bottas was only a couple of hundredths down on his teammate in the first two sectors, but in the end, he ended up a tenth slower than his teammate. The pecking order was straightforward: Mercedes conquered the first row easily, and the second row was locked down by "the pink Mercedes", Stroll pipping his teammate. It was a delight to see the red cars on the third row! At least there's some light at the end of the tunnel for the red team! I was happy to see Sebastian again taking his teammate's sculp. Verstappen was left in P7 in his badly-behaving RB16. Norris, Sainz and AlphaTauri's Gasly rounded out the top ten.

Today's pole marked not only Hamilton's 90th career pole but also his 7th pole at Hungaroring! The Briton now equals legendary Michael Schumacher's record of most pole positions at Hungaroring. In spite of the 90 percent risk of rain, the conditions stayed dry till the end of the qualifying. No one knows, what the weather turns out tomorrow, when the lights go out in the afternoon. If it stays dry, the tyre strategy will certainly play an interesting role. The red-suited drivers on the third row are the first drivers to start to the race on the soft Pirellis, whilst the top four will start on the more durable medium compound. I have to say I'm a bit worried about Ferrari's race pace, no matter how good a start Sebastian and Charles get. Without a doubt, Verstappen will attack like a tiger from P7. One thing is for sure: whether it's dry or wet, the battle for victory will be between the Mercedes drivers. I keep my fingers crossed, that tomorrow will be a successful day for the red team, Sebastian in particular. All the best for my favourite driver! Forza Ferrari!