Singapore GP: Sebastian led Ferrari to a mesmerising 1-2!

The night had darkened, as the bright red lights went out at magical-looking Marina Bay. Pole-setter Leclerc took the start with confidence and stormed first into Turn 1. Hamilton followed closely, in spite of Sebastian trying to challenge him for P2. This time Red Bull's Verstappen managed to take a decent start as well, maintaining his fourth place. Bottas was fifth and Red Bull's Albon sixth, so there were no changes in terms of the top six. All drivers out of top ten started to the race on the medium Pirellis, except Toro Rosso's Gasly, who had opted for the white-walled hard compound. The start was surprisingly clean, as only McLaren's Sainz and Williams' Kubica had contact at Turn 1.

After the start the race saw an odd turn. Race leader Charles set the pace, which almost reminded of crawling on the track. Due to very slow pace, the gaps between the top six were quite minimal. It seemed though, that getting past was a mission impossible. However, Renault's Ricciardo proved otherwise. The Honey Badger had started to the race from the back of the grid, due to a grid penalty for an ERS infringement. The Australian showed, that overtaking was possible if you had the will power, and squeezed his Renault past Kvyat's Toro Rosso, claiming P12.

As the top six was so closely packed, it was all about choosing the right timing for the pit stop. Would it be possible to make the undercut work, or would overcut be the right call? It was impossible to predict, as no one knew, when safety car would be deployed. Sebastian and Max drove into the pits on lap 19. They both switched to the hard rubber, which was to last till the end. Sebastian re-joined the track in P10 and Max in P12. Sebastian's out lap on the fresh tyres was sensational. As teammate Charles pitted on the sequential lap, he was shocked to witness, that when re-joining the track, Sebastian moved ahead of him due to the strategy!

Bottas pitted two laps after Charles, also for a fresh set of hard Pirellis. Teammate Hamilton stayed out instead. Bottas banged the fastest lap time shortly after his pit stop, but the team told him to play for the team and slow down, as Hamilton was to pit a couple of laps later. The Briton came in on lap 26, switching to the hards as well, and thanks to Valtteri's "team effort", Hamilton re-joined the track ahead of his Finnish teammate. Unbelievable but true, Alfa Romeo's Giovinazzi, who had started to the race on the medium Pirellis and therefore hadn't pitted yet, was now leading the race!

After making an adventurous move on Toro Rosso's Gasly and a bit safer one on Giovinazzi, stunning Sebastian moved to the lead. What a happy moment it was! I was so happy for Sebastian, who needed this more than ever! Teammate Charles was at Sebastian's tail, and Verstappen was third in the race. Lap 35 started a chain of three safety car episodes. Haas' Grosjean and Williams' Russell hit each other, and the wreck of the Briton's Williams stopped on track. This was the 12th Singapore GP, and the 12th time, that a safety car has been deployed during the race!

Charles seemed gutted for losing the lead to his teammate, and complained about the strategy on the team radio. He was told to keep his head down and concentrate on racing. The re-start took place on lap 40, and the pecking order remained the same. But the race was on only for a few laps, as Perez's Racing Point came to a halt on lap 43 due to a technical failure. Safety car was deployed for the second time already, so that the Mexican's car was to be moved off safely.

The second re-start took place on lap 47. Once again Sebastian firmly held on to his lead. Further down in the pack, Kimi in his Alfa Romeo in P9 seemed to be on his way to bring valuable points for the team. But after the second re-start, something happened. Kimi was lacking pace dearly, and the Iceman got overtaken by both Toro Rosso's Gasly and Renault's Hulkenberg. Lap 50 was a dramatic turning point in terms of Kimi's race. Toro Rosso's Torpedo (Kvyat) dived into the inside of Kimi, which caused the Russian to crash into Kimi's Alfa Romeo. The Iceman's front suspension was damaged, and his race was ruined. Safety car was brought out for the third time already!

The final re-start took place with nine laps to go. Charles had been told to bring his SF90 to the finish line, which meant no risky overtaking moves. First Sebastian clocked the fastest lap time, hungry to take the extra point for it. Then Bottas stroke back and snatched the fastest lap time from the German. In the end, neither one of the drivers got the extra point under his belt. Haas' Magnussen, who had pitted at the end of the race, set the fastest lap time in the end, but didn't get awarded of it due to finishing the race out of top ten. On the closing laps Hamilton was putting hard pressure on Max, but the flying Dutchman gave Hamilton no chance to try a move of any kind.

"The good old Sebastian" was back! He won the Singapore GP after a year-long dry season! This was Sebastian's fifth win in Singapore already. Charles made it a mesmerising 1-2 for Ferrari, which was a phenomenal result. Ferrari's previous 1-2 was taken in Hungary in 2017, so it was about time! Max completed the podium, which I was also very happy about. Unbelievable but true, both Mercedes drivers were left out of podium! Albon brought valuable points for Red Bull by finishing sixth, and McLaren's Norris was the best of the rest by finishing seventh.

I was over the moon to see Sebastian win after a long series of setbacks and mistakes! He truly deserved the glamorous win today! He proved, that difficulties can be turned into success. It was emotional to hear him thank his fans in the post-race interview. Me, including so many fans around the world, wanted to show our support to him during this difficult time. I have an Indonesian friend Sheena, who I became friends with in Maranello in 2018. She and her friend had come up with a project to ask Sebastian fans around the world to shoot a fan video for Sebastian. All videos were uploaded on a memory stick, which Sheena gave to Sebastian during the GP weekend. From the moment, that Sheena asked me to take part in the project, I knew I wanted to be a part of it! So my fan video was included on the memory stick with around 70 other videos from all over the world. So Sebastian definitely knows, that he has his fans' support, faith and admiration!

                                           My fan video for Sebastian Vettel.

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Singapore GP / Qualifying: Third pole in a row for Leclerc!

The night race of Singapore is one of the ultimate highlights of the Formula 1 calendar. The atmosphere in Singapore is one of a kind; the tall skyscrapers lit with different colors and the bright artificial lights at the track make the venue magical. There´re two drivers, who have scored four wins at magical Marina Bay, and they are Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel.

In the dark night of Singapore the Mercedes drivers came out on the yellow-walled medium Pirellis, as Q1 was kicked off. Leclerc set the benchmark on his first flyer, the Monegasque being half a second faster than Verstappen at the wheel of his Red Bull. Bottas was third and Hamilton fourth in spite of their different tyre wear. Sebastian had a tame first attempt, being almost a second off his teammate's pace. Even McLaren's Sainz made it ahead of the German on his first run. However, Sebastian managed to improve his lap time, jumping second in the standings. This time there were only three tenths separating the Ferrari teammates. The Mercs came out on the soft compound at the end of the session. Bottas gave a strong impression on the Silver Arrows' pace, pipping his teammate by two tenths of a second. Charles in third was massive seven tenths off the Finn's pace. Alfa Romeo were struggling with their pace at the long and demanding Marina Bay circuit, and especially Kimi was at risk not to make it into Q2. In the end, Kimi managed to make it 13th on his final run. Teammate Giovinazzi out-qualified the Iceman for the fifth time this season, the Italian making it 11th in the time sheets. Out of Q2 were familiar names: Toro Rosso's Kvyat, Racing Point's Stroll, Haas' Grosjean and the Williams duo of Russell and Kubica.

In Q2 there were no differing tyre strategies, but everyone opted for the red-marked soft compound. Personally, I expected Mercedes to raise the bar in the second session. However, Charles went fastest on his first flyer. Hamilton was one and Bottas two tenths down on the "Monegasque with the momentum". Sebastian seemed unable to match his teammate's storming pace, as the gap to his teammate's benchmark was 0.375s. But Red Bull was strong as well, especially in the hands of the flying Dutchman. Verstappen jumped third, being only a tenth slower than Charles. Kimi was pushing hard to extract the maximum out of his Alfa Romeo, which caused the left-hand side of his car to touch the wall on his first run. Kimi was in P14, out of the final session. "The good old Sebastian" was back for a fleeting moment. Sebastian put together a magnificent lap time, making it on top of the charts. However, the fastest lap time was deprived of Sebastian by his teammate only a short moment later, and by seven hundredths of a second only! This time the pecking order of the teams was clear; Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull were "the three big names" and McLaren and Renault were the top two teams of the midfield.

Q3 gave me chills. What a battle for pole it turned out! It seemed, that Sebastian had found his lost self-confidence, as he set an astonishing lap time on his first run. He set the screens purple even in spite of kissing the wall. There was no one to match that lap time, so Sebastian had his hands on provisional pole! Teammate Charles was 0.354s off Sebastian's benchmark, Verstappen was third and the Mercedes duo of Hamilton and Bottas only fourth and fifth. What was extremely unexpected, was the fact, that the silver-suited drivers were a whole second off the pace! Where had Mercedes' pace suddenly disappeared? The Silver Arrows waited at their pit garage, as the Ferrari aces headed out for their final runs. Sebastian had a wobble on his final run, and the German decided to abort his lap. Charles improved his lap time on his second run and robbed the pole position of his teammate by two tenths of a second. Also Hamilton managed to make a perfect run in the end, jumping second. A provisional pole turned into P3 on the grid for Sebastian. Verstappen (P4) managed to out-qualify Bottas, whose qualifying was a disappointment. Albon qualified 6th for Red Bull, and the McLaren duo of Sainz and Norris was split by Renault's Ricciardo and Hulkenberg.

This was already the third consecutive pole position for superb Charles! Unbelievably, he has now most poles this season, as Hamilton and Bottas have four poles each. This was already the eighth consecutive time, that Charles managed to out-qualify Sebastian. Ferrari's pace surprised me truly. On paper the street circuit of Marina Bay wasn't supposed to suit the Red Team this well! Statistically, pole means a lot at this track, as following another car, not to mention overtaking, is extremely difficult. Marina Bay is a highly demanding track, as there are 23 corners and no time to rest. The walls are close, so there is absolutely no room for mistakes. The expectancy of a safety car is very high as well, so strategy plays a key role in the race. Let's see, who does the best job tomorrow! Forza Ferrari!

Italian GP: Glorious back-to-back victory for Charles in front of the Tifosi!

Tifosi were cheering, as the lights went out at Monza. Pole setter Leclerc kept his head cool and took a splendid start. Bottas from P3 managed to make it ahead of teammate Hamilton, but only for a fleeting moment. Hamilton snatched his second place back. Renault's Hulkenberg made it past Sebastian, jumping to 4th. However, the Ferraris were superior in terms of the straight line speed, and Sebastian managed to claim his fourth place back later on. Verstappen, who had started to the race from the last row, oddly missed the braking point into Turn 1 and went wide on the grass. This caused Max a front wing failure, and he had to pit for a new nose cone. What a messy first lap for Max! Meanwhile, Renault's Ricciardo managed to pass teammate Hulkenberg, moving to 4th.

It seemed, that an intense battle was evolving between the top four; Charles, Hamilton, Bottas and Sebastian were all within four seconds only. However, there was drama already on lap 6. Sebastian made a mistake of his own and spun at Parabolica. He was in a rush to re-join the track as soon as possible. But when spinning his Lina around, Racing Point's Stroll came towards him in full speed! Stroll made a dodge, but couldn't avoid having contact with Sebastian's Ferrari. Stroll spun on the grass, and another close call took place, as the Canadian was about to re-join the track. This time Toro Rosso's Gasly had to make a sudden dodge, not to hit Stroll. Sebastian managed to continue the race, but obviously his race was ruined. The stewards took both incidents into investigation. Sebastian was handed a 10-second stop-and-go penalty for re-joining the track in an unsafe manner. Stroll, on the other hand, was handed a drive through penalty for the same infringement. Kimi, too was under investigation for starting to the race on the wrong tyres. The Iceman had set his fastest lap time in Q2 on the soft tyres, but he had started to the race on the medium Pirellis. What a stupid mistake from the team! A moment later Kimi was handed a 10-second stop-and-go penalty for the tyre infringement, which ruined the Iceman's race for good.

Leclerc wasn't able to run away from the Mercedes rivals. Hamilton was 1.5s down on Charles, and teammate Bottas was within the same distance from his teammate. This was going to be an epic battle for the victory! Hamilton opened up the pit stop roulette on lap 19. The Briton opted for the medium compound, and re-joined the track in P5. Race leader Charles pitted on the following lap, for a different tyre strategy. The Monegasque re-joined the track on a fresh set of hard tyres, staying ahead of Hamilton. The Briton put extremely hard pressure on Charles, trying to force him into making a mistake. Charles passed Renault's Hulkenberg, so did Hamilton. Hamilton was already within striking distance and tried a move on defending Charles. Charles left no room for his rival, but forced him off track. The stewards gave Charles a black and white flag, which was a warning. No such move was allowed anymore!

Bottas pitted not until on lap 27. He opted for a similar tyre strategy to his teammate. Virtual safety car was deployed twice within only a few laps. At first Sainz was released from the McLaren pit box, although his front-left tyre wasn't fully attached. Sainz had to stop his car on the track. A moment later Kvyat's Toro Rosso was hit with a power unit failure, and the Russian stopped his car on the track as well.

Lap 33 saw a sad incident, where Sebastian was lapped by his teammate Charles. What a setback-filled race this was for Sebastian, who was at the back of the pack due to mistakes of his own. Kimi, too was in a disappointing P17. Verstappen, on the other hand, had made it in the points already.

Race leader Charles was under immense pressure by the five-time world champion. Charles proved to be vulnerable as well; he locked up his tyres, cutting the corner at Turn 1. Hamilton was right at the gear box of Charles' SF90, and the overtaking move was almost floating in the air. But in spite of the mistake, Charles was able to honorably defend his lead!

Bottas, who had stopped almost ten laps later than his rivals, benefited from his fresher tyres at the end of the race. As Hamilton was fighting with Charles, Valtteri managed to close the gap to the battling duo. With ten laps to go, Hamilton made a mistake, going into Turn 1. Bottas thanked for the opportunity and moved past his teammate. The Finn was determined to chase down Charles and deprive him of the victory. Hamilton, whose tyres were gone and who had nothing to lose, pitted for a second time. He re-joined the track in P3 and started to chase the fastest lap time on the new softs.

With only a couple of laps to go, Bottas had made it within DRS distance from Charles. Just being ready to try a move, he made a mistake with the braking into Turn 1, and Charles run away! Hamilton banged the fastest lap time on the second last lap. Bottas tried everything he could to be able to challenge Charles, but the Ferrari ace was too quick today. He took his second career win in front of the passionate Tifosi, which made the victory perfect. The Mercedes drivers Bottas and Hamilton completed the podium. Renault achieved a fantastic result, as Ricciardo finished 4th and teammate Hulkenberg 5th. The Red Bull duo of Albon (6th) and Verstappen (8th) was split by Racing Point's Perez. Giovinazzi made a great job for Alfa Romeo Racing by finishing 9th. McLaren's Norris scored the last point.

Sebastian's career seems to be in a crisis. This year reminds me a lot of the 2014 season, which was Sebastian's last season at Red Bull. That year new teammate Ricciardo came out clearly stronger than Sebastian, with the Australian claiming two victories compared to Sebastian's zero wins. Everything seems to work in favor of Charles at the moment, and Charles definitely deserves all the success. At the same time, everything seems to go wrong in terms of Sebastian. The setbacks have turned into a continually growing snow ball effect... How to stop that snow ball from rolling on? Sebastian's self-confidence has been undermined severely, and he needs to get it back!

Italian GP / Qualifying: Leclerc took back-to-back pole in a qualifying turned into a farce!

The F1 circus moved to Ferrari's home turf, where the grandstands were full of passionate Tifosi. The Temple of Speed is a true motor racing circuit with long straights and corners run with full throttle. It was considered to be the Red Team's kingdom, and the expectations didn't let the Tifosi down this time.

The red-suited home heroes came out on the medium rubber, whilst all rivals had the soft compound on. The Renault duo of Hulkenberg and Ricciardo was amazingly competitive, and they were topping the time sheets at the beginning of the first session. Even the Mercedes drivers were unable to match Hulkenberg's time! Bottas went second, a thousandth of a second off Hulkenberg's pace. Teammate Hamilton was third, a tenth down on the German. Sebastian and Charles made their second attempt on the mediums as well. Charles showed top form and went fastest -only a fraction before the session was red-flagged! Perez's Racing Point came to a sudden halt on the track, which brought out the red flags. There were 4:34 remaining in the clock. As the session was resumed, the Ferrari duo came out on the soft Pirellis. The order of the top four -Leclerc, Hulkenberg, Bottas, Hamilton- didn't change at the closing stages of the first segment. Verstappen came out not until at the end of Q1, but reported about engine woes and came in without setting a time. The Dutch Red Bull pilot will start to the race from the very back of the pack, as he has been given a penalty for power unit elements change. In addition to Perez and Verstappen, out of Q2 were Haas' Grosjean and the Williams duo.

In Q2 there were no differing tyre strategies, but everyone opted for the red-walled soft compound. Charles had definitely held on to the momentum from the previous race, as the Monegasque went fastest again on his first run. Hamilton was second, Sebastian third and amazing Ricciardo fourth. Kimi had showed promising pace at the wheel of his Alfa Romeo, but in Q2 the latest Ferrari world champion made a fateful mistake. The Iceman lost the rear of his car at Lesmo 1, failing to get a lap time. There was traffic on the track, with two minutes remaining. Hamilton went fastest, but by 89 thousandths of a second only. Charles was second, followed by Sebastian and Ricciardo. Amazingly, Kimi made an impressive second run, which took him into Q3. The margin between Kimi in P10 and teammate Giovinazzi in P11 was minimal 0.002s! Alongside Giovinazzi eliminated were Haas' Magnussen, the Toro Rosso duo of Kvyat and Gasly and McLaren's Norris.

The decisive segment turned into a farce. No driver wanted to be the leading car on the track, due to losing valuable tenths for not getting the tow from other cars. To avoid being the first car on track, the drivers ended up doing weird things. The Mercedes pilots came out of their pit garages first, but they stopped at the pit exit! Sebastian, who was now forced to be the leading driver, made a fake lock-up into Turn 1, cutting the corner. His strategy didn't work, as all the other drivers followed him, cutting the corner as well! So the German had to set his fastest lap time first. His flying lap was controversial, as it seemed, that he had exceeded the track limits with all four wheels at Turn 11, which had been prohibited by the stewards. Q3 saw another fateful mistake by the Iceman. A spin threw Kimi into the tyre wall, and the session was red-flagged, with 6:35 in the clock. Just before the red flags Charles had gone fastest. Hamilton was second, 0.039s down on the Monegasque. Bottas had had to slow down due to the yellow flags, with the Finn being on his way to provisional pole. However, the Finn's time was third fastest anyway. Sebastian was fourth, 0.15s down on his teammate. Ricciardo in P5 was half a second off the pace. At the end of the session, drivers' determination to avoid being the first man on track reached a whole new dimension. The clock was ticking, but everyone stayed in their pit garage! Renault's Hulkenberg finally led the cars out, but there were only two minutes left in the clock. This indicated serious trouble in terms of starting the flying lap in time. Hulkenberg, too cut the corner at Turn 1, but in spite of overtaking the German, the others slowed down and waited for Hulkenberg to re-join the track in the lead. At the end, Charles and McLaren's Sainz were the only drivers to make it to the chequered flag in time! And Charles had no need to improve his lap time, as he was on pole already! What a ridiculous farce this qualifying turned out!

In spite of the farce, Charles definitely deserved his back-to-back pole. Hamilton will start to the race alongside the super fast Monegasque. Sebastian's flying lap was taken into investigation by the stewards, but the German got to keep his fourth place alongside Bottas. The Renault duo made a superb job by locking down the third row, with Ricciardo having the upper hand on his teammate. Kimi's car has had a gear box change and a power unit upgrade, which means, that the Iceman will start to the race from the pit lane. Verstappen, who will also start from the back of the pack, will certainly offer a great overtaking show. One thing is for sure: Charles will have to fight extremely hard to convert pole into another victory, as Mercedes' race pace is frighteningly competitive!

Belgian GP: Emotional maiden win for Leclerc!

The F1 drivers came to the paddock today with heavy hearts. Yesterday's F2 race had seen a fatal crash at Raidillon on lap 2, which led to the death of young and talented French racing driver Anthoine Hubert. There was a touching one-minute silence before the Belgian national anthem. The late Hubert was a close friend of pole-setter Leclerc, who wanted to win the race in memory of his friend.

The start was eventful, which is typical of Spa. Leclerc took a fantastic start and maintained his lead. Hamilton's start was brilliant, too, and the Briton made it ahead of Sebastian, climbing up to Eau Rouge. However, Ferrari's straight line speed was superior compared to the silver cars, and Sebastian snatched his second place back on the long straight. Once again Verstappen, who started to the race from P5, had a lousy start. He lost two positions right away, trying to compensate his loss, going into Eau Rouge. He dived into the inside of Kimi, where there was no room at all. Verstappen crashed into Kimi's Alfa Romeo, making Kimi's car jump into air and landing on two wheels. The crash damaged the front suspension of Verstappen's RB15, which made the aggressive Dutchman to crash out into the tyre wall at Eau Rouge. What a stupid and desperate move from Verstappen! Safety car was deployed, and Kimi pitted for a new nose cone. However, there was severe damage in the floor of Kimi's Alfa Romeo. The Iceman pitted for the second time on the sequential lap, this time for a fresh set of yellow-walled medium Pirellis. The Finn re-joined the track at the very back of the pack. The safety car stayed out a bit longer than intended, as McLaren's Sainz also faced DNF.

As the race was back on, Leclerc had a firm lead, with teammate Sebastian second. Hamilton was third, followed by teammate Bottas and McLaren's Norris, who had made it from P11 up to P5. Due to yesterday's tragic events, Leclerc had to work extra hard to keep up his concentration. He locked up his tyres going to Les Combes, which caused him to cut the corner. Nevertheless, Sebastian wasn't able to decrease the gap to his teammate.

Sebastian was the first top driver to pit on lap 15. He switched to the medium compound and re-joined the track in P5. After his pit stop Sebastian was absolutely flying. His lap times were significantly better than the top three's. It seemed, that Sebastian was going to take the lead, when his rivals pitted!

It was absolutely heart-warming to see, how the crowd got up to give standing ovation for Anthoine Hubert on lap 19, which was his racing number. Meanwhile, Kimi was really struggling with the performance of his car. Unfortunately the Iceman seemed like a bowl, which got passed one driver by another. A spectacular start had turned into a disappointing P16.

Race leader Charles came in not until on lap 20. Similar to his teammate, he switched to the medium compound. Sebastian benefited from the undercut, and Charles re-joined the track behind his teammate, in spite of a flawless pit stop. The Mercedes duo pitted on the sequential laps for a similar tyre choice. Hamilton maintained his third place, and teammate Bottas stayed in fourth. Charles was significantly faster than Sebastian, although the teammates were on the same rubber. Charles was rapidly catching his teammate.

The tables have turned at Ferrari, as Sebastian was given a team order on lap 26; he was told to let Charles past. The German obeyed, and Charles was back in the lead. Sebastian was in serious trouble with his out-worn medium tyres, which had degraded faster than he had hoped. Hamilton's pace on the medium Pirellis was frighteningly competitive, and the Briton was catching Sebastian lap by lap. Sebastian reported on the team radio, that his tyres weren't going to last till the end. The German was likely to be forced to make a second pit stop.

By lap 29 Hamilton was right at Sebastian's tail. It was only thanks to Ferrari's splendid straight line speed, that Sebastian was able to defend his position. But on lap 32 Hamilton managed to squeeze himself extremely close to Sebastian, and thanks to DRS, the Briton snatched the second place from Sebastian. Immediately there was a new danger lurking from behind: Bottas, who was on a hunt. But as the Finn was on a striking distance from the struggling German, Sebastian drove into the pits for the second time. He re-joined the track on a fresh set of soft tyres in P4. It was a disappointing turn, as it had seemed earlier, that he had an excellent chance to win the race... But success just disappeared in the air.

With ten laps to go, Charles had a seven-second lead to Hamilton, so the Monegasque's maiden win seemed quite secured. Sebastian set the fastest lap time on lap 37. Nevertheless, the gap to Bottas was far too massive (18 seconds) to be caught up. Meanwhile, the battle in the midfield was extremely intense and tight. The Red Bull debutant Albon managed to pass Toro Rosso's Kvyat, making it P7 already. Kimi's teammate Giovinazzi was driving a great race as well; the Italian made an overtaking move on Toro Rosso's Gasly, making it in the points. A lap later he attacked Renault's Ricciardo, claiming P9 already.

On the closing laps Charles' tyres were dying. Hamilton smelled the Ferrari ace's blood, determinedly closing the gap tenth by tenth. With three laps to go, the gap between the top two was under 2.5 seconds already. Hamilton was able to decrease the gap especially on the second sector, which consisted of corners mostly. On the second last lap, the gap was only 1.5 seconds. Would Hamilton be able to try an overtaking move on Charles?

The penultimate lap was highly dramatic. Norris, who was driving a superb race in P5, suffered a sudden loss of power on the very last lap, with his orange McLaren coming to a halt. It was such a shame, that a great result turned into P11 and no points. Also Giovinazzi, who was on his way to the points finish, crashed out on the very last lap, due to a mistake of his own! The yellow flags meant, that Hamilton missed his chance to try a move on Charles. Charles took his well-deserved maiden win at legendary Spa Francorchamps. Hamilton finished the runner-up, only less than a second behind. Bottas completed the podium, and Sebastian was left in P4. Albon drove a strong first race for Red Bull, finishing fifth. Perez finished sixth for Racing Point and Kvyat seventh for Toro Rosso. Renault's Hulkenberg, Toro Rosso's Gasly and Racing Point's Stroll rounded out the top ten.

Is Charles the new number one driver at Ferrari? Sebastian still seems to struggle with his performance, for one reason or another. His strategy wasn't perfect today, but I can't help wondering, why Sebastian's pace on the medium tyres was so poor compared to his teammate's pace on the same compound. Charles was clearly the faster one of the red-suited drivers the whole weekend. Next week the F1 circus moves to Monza, "the temple of speed", which is expected to be the Red Team's territory as well. Hope to see another red victory, preferably by Sebastian!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Ferrari motor home was utterly impressive.

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

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

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

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

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

Sebastian on the start/finish straight at Hungaroring.

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

The top three of the qualifying.

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

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

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

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

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

The starting grid for the Hungarian GP.

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

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

Me and my husband enjoyed every second at Hungaroring.

Charles Leclerc left Hungaroring in his blue Ferrari.

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

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