The tension was floating in the air, as the lights went out. Hamilton on pole made no mistakes and accelerated into Turn 1 first. McLaren's Sainz, who had started to the race from P3, was putting serious pressure on Verstappen in his Red Bull. But Max wasn't to be surprised. Bottas maintained his fourth place.
But what happened in Turn 3 on the opening lap, made my heart go into my mouth. Sebastian was trying to defend his position, fighting two or three cars simultaneously. His teammate, who had dropped three places due to the penalty, was desperate to gain positions as soon as possible. Charles saw space going into Turn 3, but at the end of the day there was no room for the enthusiastic Monegasque. Charles hit heavily into his teammate's car, which entirely ripped off the German's rear wing! Sebastian had no choice but to drive into the pits and retire the race! Charles pitted for a new front wing, but his SF1000 had so severe damage to the floor, that Charles, too had to retire some three laps later. What a true nightmare start to the race! As if the Red Team weren't deep enough in trouble with their car performance! The collision between the teammates and a double retirement were the last things, that the team would have needed in the middle of their overwhelming difficulties! I was absolutely shocked!
Safety car was deployed right away, but it was out only for a few laps, until the debris from the two broken Ferraris was cleaned off. The race was resumed already on lap 4. After this horrendous turn it was a bit difficult to concentrate on watching the race. Bottas knew, that he had to get past Sainz as soon as possible, not to let his teammate get away. On lap 6 the Finn saw his chance and attacked the Spaniard, moving third in the race. Although McLaren had showed impressive pace in the qualifying, the orange team seemed to struggle with their race pace. Albon, too attacked Sainz a couple of laps later, dropping the Spaniard further down in P5.
The top three stood out of the crowd. Hamilton had a 5-second lead to Verstappen, and Bottas was two seconds down on the Dutchman. Verstappen's teammate Albon, who was fourth, was already 20 seconds down on the Finn. Verstappen opened the pit stop roulette on lap 25. Red Bull executed a perfect pit stop, the Dutchman switching to the medium compound. Max rejoined the track in P3, ahead of his teammate. Race leader Hamilton was called in two laps later. The Briton, too opted for the medium rubber. Bottas, on the other hand, stayed out, firmly taking the lead. Mercedes kept Bottas out in case of a safety car, as in that case the Finn would have got the advantage and taken the lead. However, there was no safety car. Bottas pitted not until on lap 34, also for a fresh set of medium Pirellis. He rejoined the track in P3, ending up losing ground to Verstappen in P2.
After the pit stop roulette Hamilton was cruising comfortably in the lead. Verstappen was second, but he seemed powerless to challenge the Briton for the victory. Bottas was third, and then there was a long gap to Albon in P4. Ricciardo in his Renault was 5th, followed by the pink Racing Points of Stroll and Perez. Sainz, who had started to the race from P3, was now in P8 due to a delayed pit stop (the team had difficulties with attaching his rear-left tyre). There was intense battle between the Racing Point cars for P6, which was exciting to watch. Perez smelled his teammate's blood and passed the Canadian. A few laps later the Mexican was right at the tail of Ricciardo. Once again he attacked, taking P5 already. Perez was driving an utterly amazing race. Meanwhile, further down in the pack Kimi was having a battle of his own with Haas' Magnussen. Kimi had pitted not until on lap 45, for a differing tyre choice to the top drivers. The Iceman had switched to a fresh set of soft tyres, which gave him an advantage at the end of the race. After making his way past Magnussen, the Iceman hunted down AlphaTauri's Gasly, taking the Frenchman's sculp. In spite of the classy overtaking moves, Kimi was in modest P12 only.
Racing Point pilot Perez was absolutely on flames today. With 15 laps to go, the Mexican had hunted down Albon, whose pace seemed quite mediocre. There was going to be a tight battle for P4. Behind race leader Hamilton, Bottas had started to close the gap to Verstappen, who was struggling with his rear tyres. The Dutchman also had a small damage to an end plate of his front wing. The gap between the two decreased lap by lap.
The race really came alive towards the end of the race. The McLaren teammates also had an intense battle for positions. Norris, whose pace had seemed rather tame in the beginning of the race, now made a classy move on his teammate, making it 8th. By lap 66 Bottas had chased down Verstappen, putting immense pressure on the stubborn Red Bull ace. Thanks to the DRS the Finn made it ahead of Max, but he wasn't going to surrender to the Finn. Max attacked back like a rattle snake, taking his position back! However, he was in such remarkable trouble with his out-worn tyres, that he wasn't able to hold the Finn back permanently. DRS gave an inevitable advantage for Valtteri, who kept his head cool and waited for his chance. In the end, there was nothing Max could do to prevent Bottas' black Mercedes to move ahead. It was impressive work from Valtteri, as Max is probably the most difficult driver to overtake! Keeping your head cool and maintain your patience while trying to overtake the flying Dutchman is something, that cannot be taken for granted! After being passed, Verstappen pitted for the second time. He opted for a fresh set of soft tyres and rejoined the track in secured P3.
On the second last lap the wheel-banging battles were still on. Perez hadn't been able to get past Albon, but the Mexican was desperate to do so. A wild overtaking move, however, led into contact between these two, causing damage to Perez's front wing. Behind the Mexican there was a bunch of drivers fighting for P6. Ricciardo, Stroll and Norris all wanted to get that 6th place. And what absolutely phenomenal closing laps the young McLaren ace had! I don't know, where his pace came from, but the talented Briton first passed Stroll and Ricciardo and then attacked Perez on the penultimate lap! Norris made it 5th at the chequered flag, which was a phenomenal work indeed! Perez was left 6th due to his stupid overtaking move.
This was the first 1-2 for Mercedes this season, but I'm very afraid, that it won't be the last one. Red Bull have loads of work to do to be able to match the Silver Arrows' pace. What about the Red Team? I don't even have a word for their situation! It's almost unreal, how they have got into a circle of negative events and continuous setbacks, which seems almost impossible to cut off. How to turn negative atmosphere into positive thinking and targeted results? Wish us fans could help the team to do so!
It is shocking, that after two races Ferrari stand in P5 in the constructors' standings. Now they have 19 points, whereas last year after two races they had 48 points in their bag! Sebastian has one point only, making him 14th in the drivers' standings! The schedule between the races is extremely tight, so improving and developing the car is more challenging than in "normal" seasons. However, during these difficult times I support Sebastian and the Scuderia more than ever. There is a way through this, one way or the other! And the team will find the way! Go Sebastian! Forza Ferrari!
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