US GP: Where did Ferrari's race pace disappear?

The Red Team were in trouble already at the start. Pole-setter Bottas kept shining at the lights out; the Finn held firmly on his lead. Aggressive Verstappen took a splendid start, making his way to second. The most impressive start was taken by Hamilton, who made it look easy to jump from P5 to third. Sebastian had something wrong; even teammate Charles made it past Sebastian. On the second lap Sebastian lost his fifth place to McLaren's Norris, and reported on the team radio about massive under steer. He felt like there was something wrong with his Lina, although he hadn't had contact with anyone that far. A lap later also Renault's Ricciardo made a successful overtaking move on Sebastian. Meanwhile, also Charles in P4 was missing pace badly. The gap to Hamilton in third had already increased into over six seconds.

Kimi, who had started to the race from modest P17, made an excellent job on the opening laps. Alfa Romeo had provided the Iceman with a genius strategy, with Kimi having started to the race on the soft compound. On lap 7 Kimi was pushing immense pressure on Haas' Magnussen, challenging the Dane for P10. But what a bitter turn Sebastian's race saw on lap 8! All of a sudden, Lina's rear suspension failed completely, Sebastian having hit the kerb! This kind of a complete suspension failure isn't often seen. Sebastian was cruelly out of the race! One's misfortune is another's fortune; Sebastian's DNF benefited Kimi, who had been able to pass Magnussen, claiming P9 already.

Race leader Bottas had increased the gap to Verstappen into three seconds. Hamilton, on the other hand, was right at the very tail of the Dutch Red Bull ace. Red Bull opted for the undercut strategy, calling Max in on lap 14. The Dutchman switched to the hard Pirellis, re-joining the track in P4. Mercedes reacted to Red Bull's strategy and called race leader Bottas in on the sequential lap. Mercedes pit crew made a perfect job, and the Finn re-joined the track ahead of Verstappen. Bottas' pace was outstanding; the Finn had no difficulties to pass Charles, moving to second. Valtteri kept storming, banging the fastest lap time in the race. Charles pitted on lap 21, but the pit stop didn't go to plan at all. The pit crew had difficulties to get one of the tyres attached, and the pit stop took 7.7 seconds! A podium finish was slipping through the Monegasque's fingers...

By lap 24 Bottas had closed the gap to his teammate, who hadn't stopped yet. The team gave Valtteri a permission to attack, and, with DRS open, he moved past the champion-to-be, claiming his lead back. Hamilton, who was on a different strategy to his teammate, stopped on the following lap. The Briton re-joined the track in P3, with Bottas and Verstappen ahead of him. He was to drive a long second stint on the hard tyres. He faced a true challenge; on one hand, he should set extremely competitive lap times to challenge Verstappen and Bottas for the victory, but on the other hand, he was advised to save tyres. Would it be an impossible equation?

Hamilton kept decreasing the gap to his race-leading teammate. On lap 32 there were only 15 seconds separating the Silver Arrows. They were split by Verstappen, who was some seven seconds behind the Finn. Lap 36 was a turning point in the race; Bottas pitted for the second time, opting for another set of medium rubber. He re-joined the track 8.8 seconds behind his teammate, who wasn't to stop anymore. But the Finn had victory glowing in his eyes, and he started a hungry and determined chase. Valtteri banged a new track record, and in no time he was already within 5 seconds from his teammate. Hamilton seemed a bit uncertain, whether his tyres were going to last till the end. Nevertheless, the Briton decided to stay out.

Charles, who was driving in secured P4, set the fastest lap time on a fresh set of soft Pirellis. Hamilton was racing against time on his worn tyres; it was only a matter of time, until Bottas had made it within DRS distance. They were tormenting laps for the ambitious Briton... Hamilton could hear his teammate's heavy breath in his neck, and the Finn was definitely "blood-thirsty"! With five laps to go, Bottas already made it alongside his teammate, but Hamilton made a brash move on Valtteri, forcing him off track. But giving up was no option for the determined Finn, who just waited for another chance to attack. And he didn't have to wait long; he smelled his chance on the following lap already. Hamilton had no chance to defend his lead with his dying tyres, so the lead was Valtteri's to take. Verstappen smelled his chance, too and started to chase down Hamilton.

On the second last lap Haas' Magnussen went off due to a brake failure, getting stuck on the gravel. Yellow flags were out in sector two, and this effected crucially the battle between Verstappen and Hamilton. Verstappen wasn't allowed to use DRS at the back straight on the penultimate lap, which helped Hamilton significantly in terms of fighting Max.

Fantastic Valtteri converted his pole into victory, which was his first on Texan soil. Hamilton made it a 1-2 for Mercedes, clinching also his sixth world championship title, which is an incredible achievement indeed. Even P8 or P9 + the fastest lap time would have been enough to secure the title, but now he did it in style. Verstappen completed the podium. Ferrari's race pace left many question marks, as Charles in fourth was over 50 seconds down on the race winner! I couldn't help wondering, where the Red Team's race pace had suddenly disappeared. Albon finished 5th for Red Bull and Ricciardo sixth for Renault. Once again both McLarens made it in the points, with Norris 7th and Sainz 8th. Hulkenberg (Renault) was 9th and Kvyat (Toro Rosso) 10th. Unfortunately Kimi didn't make it in the points after all, in spite of his stunning first stint on the soft tyres.

But where has Ferrari's pace mystically disappeared? Have they made use of a loophole in the rules in terms of engine performance, which has recently been clogged by FIA? Such allegations have been thrown in the air by rival teams. Let's see, how things will emerge in Brazil... I'm looking forward to the next round and more speculation with huge interest!

US GP / Qualifying: Bottas continued Mercedes' reign at COTA!

Back-to-back weekend brought the F1 caravan from Mexico City to Texas, Austin. Some dark clouds had gathered upon Ferrari in the last free practice session, as Leclerc's SF90 had been hit with an oil leak. This had forced the team to switch an older-spec engine to Charles' car for the qualifying. Sebastian in his Lina made a small mistake on his first run in Q1, which left the German with no time. Meanwhile, McLaren showed amazing performance, as Sainz made it on the top of the time sheets with 10 minutes remaining. Teammate Norris had also jumped fourth in the charts. However, a moment later Hamilton robbed Sainz of the fastest lap time, and Verstappen went second fastest. Bottas was third, and after a successful run Sebastian moved fourth. Unbelievable but true, McLaren had another ace up to their sleeve, as Norris clocked the fastest lap time in the dying moments of the first session! Alfa Romeo's performance, on the other hand, left a lot to hope for. Kimi moved 15th on his last attempt, but teammate Giovinazzi knocked the Iceman out of the second session. As Grosjean moved 15th in the very end, it meant, that both Alfa Romeos were out of Q2 for the first time this season. It wasn't "an ordinary day at the office" for Toro Rosso's Gasly, either, as the Frenchman made it P4. On the other hand, Leclerc was only in tame P12. In addition to the Alfa Romeo duo, also the familiar names of Russell and Kubica were out of Q2. Racing Point's Perez was to start to the race from the pit lane, as the Mexican had missed the weigh bridge in the free practice session (what a harsh punishment!).

Q2 was all about playing with the tyre strategy. Both the Red Team and the Silver Team sent their drivers out on the medium rubber. Red Bull had a differing strategy for their drivers; Verstappen came out on the medium compound, whilst Albon opted for the soft Pirellis. The battle on track was fiery; the top four was all within 0.15s! At this point the Mercedes duo of Hamilton and Bottas had the upper hand on the Red Team. However, the tyre choice played for Albon's favor, and the Thai driver went fastest. Verstappen set an impressive lap time on the medium compound, jumping third. Both Charles and Sebastian made another attempt on the mediums, both making an excellent job. Charles went fastest, but Sebastian was only 0.022s shy of his teammate! Both Mercedes aces and Verstappen came out on the softs at the end of the session, but neither one of them improved his lap time. Kvyat's fastest lap time was deleted due to exceeding the track limits in Turn 19, but the Russian was out of Q3 anyway. Renault's Hulkenberg missed out on the last segment, whilst teammate Ricciardo made it among the ten fastest. Racing Point's Stroll and the home team Haas' drivers were eliminated from Q3 as well.

During the modern turbo hybrid era Mercedes have always conquered pole at the Circuit of the Americas. And this year proved no exception! Bottas took provisional pole, pipping Sebastian by as tiny margin as 0.012s! Verstappen was third and Charles fourth, with only two tenths off the pace. Hamilton has always enjoyed driving on the Texan soil, but now he was only fifth after the first runs. Usually the track always improves towards the end of the session, but this time the second runs saw no improvements. Bottas scored his 11th career pole, which was his fifth one this season. It's an impressive piece of statistics, as in spite of Hamilton's firm lead in the championship standings, he has scored only four poles this season. The battle for pole was hair-raising, as Sebastian was only 0.012s down on the Finn! Verstappen in third had only a 0.067s margin to Bottas as well. I don't know, if it was down to the engine change, but Charles was only able to make it fourth. Surprisingly, Hamilton was really left on the fifth grid slot. Albon qualified sixth for Red Bull, and he was followed by the McLaren duo of Sainz and Norris. Renault's Ricciardo and Toro Rosso's Gasly rounded out the top ten.

Today's start will certainly be interesting. Turn 1 is definitely one of the hottest action-zones on the track. The track seems to be extremely bumpy this year, so I wouldn't be surprised to see even some technical failures on the cars. After the difficult two thirds of the season, Sebastian has found his lost self-confidence, so I really hope the US GP will be another sequel to his success story!

Mexico GP: An all-red front row turned into P2 and P4!

Qualifying classification saw a dramatic change late on Saturday evening. Pole-setter Verstappen was given a 3-place grid penalty for having failed to slow down under yellow flags followed by Bottas' crash in the final corner. The first lap time would have been enough to secure pole for Max, had only his second time lap been deleted. Max could possibly have got away with impunity, had he kept his mouth shut in the post-qualifying press conference! He was asked about ignoring the yellow flags, as he improved his lap time in the end, although Bottas had crashed into the barrier a moment earlier. Max gave an arrogant answer: "Did it look like I slowed down? No, I didn't. You can delete my second time lap if you want to." After these thoughtless comments the stewards took Max's action into investigation and gave the penalty, which dropped the hot-headed Dutchman down to P4 on the grid. Max is an outstanding driver, but sometimes he really should pay attention to the frogs he lets out of his mouth!

I expected to see irritated Verstappen at the start. This time I got what I expected. There was drama already in Turn 1, with who else than Max Verstappen involved! Charles held on to his lead, with teammate Sebastian right behind him. Behind the red duo, Hamilton and Verstappen made contact. Both cars took damage, but they were able to continue the race. Virtual safety car was deployed. Albon was stunning third after the eventful start! McLaren's Sainz had also benefited from Verstappen's and Hamilton's hullabaloo, having moved up to P4. Hamilton was fifth, McLaren's Norris sixth, Bottas seventh and Verstappen eighth.

After the virtual safety car had ended, Hamilton made a move on Sainz, robbing the Spaniard of P4. Verstappen and Bottas had a wheel-banging battle of their own for P7. Max made an insolent move on the Finn, jumping seventh. But Bottas wasn't to let that happen. Only a moment later he snatched his P7 back from hard-fighting Verstappen. And there was another dramatic turn for Max; he had a puncture, as Valtteri's front wing had touched Max's rear tyre! Max had to limp into the pits for a fresh set of hard tyres and face the reality: he was now at the very back of the pack!

Meanwhile, Bottas was making his way up through the field. First the Finn passed McLaren's Norris and then his teammate Sainz, claiming P5. Norris' race turned into a catastrophe only a moment later; during his pit stop his front tyre wasn't successfully attached, which cost the Briton an awful lot of valuable time. Albon was the first top driver to pit on lap 15. Race leader Charles pitted a lap later. They both switched to another set of medium tyres, which was a clear indication of a two-stop strategy. Charles re-joined the track in P4.

Hamilton wasn't the only driver, who Verstappen made contact with. On lap 23 the flying Dutchman had a slight contact with Haas' Magnussen. Max made a questionable move by overtaking the Dane off track. Hamilton pitted on the same lap for a fresh set of hard tyres. However, it seemed quite unlikely, that the Briton would be able to go till the end on those tyres. Soon after his pit stop he complained on the team radio, that the team had called him in way too early. Hamilton was expected to drive a 48-lap stint on the hard Pirellis! Both Sebastian and Bottas stayed out and continued clocking excellent lap times.

Bottas pitted on lap 36, so it was an obvious one-stop strategy for the Finn. Sebastian pitted from the lead on the sequential lap, also for a fresh set of white-walled hard compound. After the pit stops Hamilton was fourth and Sebastian fifth. But Albon and Leclerc, who were ahead of them, were to stop for the second time. Charles drove into the pits on lap 43, and unfortunately it proved a delayed pit stop for the Monegasque. The red crew had difficulties to attach one of the rear tyres, which cost valuable seconds. Charles re-joined the track in P5. Albon pitted a lap later for a fresh set of hard Pirellis, similar to Charles.

With 25 laps to go, Hamilton was leading the race. Sebastian was three seconds down on the race leader, and Valtteri was two seconds behind the German. Meanwhile, Renault's Ricciardo proved, that an extremely long stint on the hard rubber was doable; the Australian pitted after a 50-lap long first stint! Kimi, who was driving his own race out of points, was asked to drive into the pits and retire the car on lap 59. Sad but true, scoring points has proved almost a mission impossible for Alfa Romeo since the summer break.

The gaps between the top four -Hamilton, Sebastian, Bottas and Charles- were extremely small towards the end of the race. However, an overtaking move of any kind seemed to be out of the question. Meanwhile, Verstappen had made his way up to P6 already in spite of the catastrophic start to the race. He had made his only pit stop already on lap 5, which meant a 66-lap second stint! Tyre management is definitely one of Max's strengths!

In spite of an all-red front row, the red-suited warriors had to settle for playing the second fiddle to Mercedes. Hamilton crossed the line as the race winner for the 10th time this season! Sebastian was the impressive runner-up, and Valtteri's race from P6 to P3 was well done, too. Pole-setter Charles was left fourth due to his two-stop strategy. To his comfort, he took the extra point for the fastest lap time. This time Albon was the more successful of the Red Bull drivers, as the Thai finished in P5 and Max in P6. Without the first-lap hullabaloo Max would have had a chance even for a better result. Racing Point's Perez took the honor of being "the best of the rest" in P7. Toro Rosso's Gasly in P9 was split by the Renault duo of Ricciardo and Hulkenberg.

Bottas still has a gossamer mathematical chance to win the drivers' championship. To be honest, it's only a matter of time, when Hamilton secures his sixth world title. The US GP this week is his next chance to do so.

Mexico GP / Qualifying: Lightning fast Verstappen took 2nd career pole!

I feel so grateful, that it is F1 weekend again! Round 18 brought the pinnacle of motor sport to Mexico City, which is known as the highest venue of the season. The circuit is situated 2.2 km above the sea level, which explains the challenges caused by thin air.

Coming to the weekend, the weather forecasts had predicted rain for the qualifying, but as the lights turned green for Q1, the risk was only 10 %. However, conditions had been damp in the last free practice session, so the track was still slippery, as the qualifying got underway. Albon showed excellent pace at the wheel of his Red Bull and went fastest on his first run. The pecking order of the top three teams was mixed in an exciting way, as Hamilton was second for Mercedes, followed by the Ferrari duo of Charles and Sebastian. Kimi, too had showed superb pace, as the Iceman was "the best of the rest" after his first attempt. Red Bull have been very strong at Mexico in previous years, and Verstappen stamped the energy drink team's authority at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez by clocking the fastest lap time. The top six didn't need to opt for second runs. First McLaren's Sainz jumped 6th, and a moment later the Spaniard was robbed of the 6th place by Toro Rosso's Kvyat. Kimi, too made it into Q2 by making it 11th. Racing Point's Stroll was the first driver to be eliminated from the second session. Alongside with the Canadian, both Haas drivers and both Williams drivers were knocked out of Q2.

It was well expected, that the top three teams -Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull- were going to come out on medium Pirellis in Q2. More of a surprise was the fact, that also both McLaren drivers and both Toro Rosso pilots opted for the medium compound as well. Bottas made a mistake at the stadium on his first flyer. Meanwhile, Sebastian went fastest, with Verstappen second, Charles third, Hamilton fourth and Albon fifth. The Finnish Mercedes ace managed to put together a decent lap on his second flyer, jumping fourth. Unfortunately Kimi was struggling with the performance of his Alfa Romeo in the second session. The Iceman was in tame P13 after his first run. McLaren and Toro Rosso were forced to switch to the soft compound at the end of the session. Sainz underlined McLaren's brilliant performance by jumping fourth on his last flyer. Hamilton and Bottas made a second attempt on the medium Pirellis; Hamilton made it on top of the time sheets, with his teammate second. Both Ferrari and Red Bull sent their drivers out on the red-walled soft compound, but neither one of the drivers improved his lap time. Home hero Perez was the first man in the knock-out zone unfortunately. The Renault duo of Hulkenberg and Ricciardo, who had both been excluded from the results of the Japanese GP due to a brake system infringement, were out, too. It wasn't much of a comfort, that Kimi out-qualified his teammate Giovinazzi, as both of them were out of the top ten.

The fight for pole came down to the final segment, which definitely didn't lack action. Last year Verstappen had lost pole to his teammate (Ricciardo) by 0.026s, so the Dutchman had decided to take his revenge this year. The flying Dutchman was untouchable on his first run. In spite of Ferrari's incredible straight line speed in sector one, Max took provisional pole by a tenth to Charles. Sebastian had set a staggering time for the first sector, but in spite of that he was left third on his first flyer, two tenths shy of Max. Hamilton was fourth, Albon fifth and Bottas sixth. The second runs were crucial. Charles made a mistake on his last run, and was therefore unable to improve. Something dramatic happened in the dying moments of the decisive last session. Bottas was pushing extremely hard on his crucial flyer; so hard, that he lost his W10 in the final corner! He crashed into the wall, and the left side of his Mercedes turned into a wreck. Double yellows were out, which meant no improvements. It was a shame for Sebastian especially, as he had been improving his lap time till the last sector. So Verstappen took his second career pole, with Charles second and Sebastian third! Hamilton had to settle for P4. Albon qualified 5th and Bottas 6th. McLaren locked down the fourth row (Sainz 7th, Norris 8th), and the fifth row belonged to Toro Rosso (Kvyat 9th, Gasly 10th). It was an extremely costly mistake for the Finn; if the team need to replace the damaged chassis with a new one, Valtteri will have to start to the race from the pit lane. 

Mexico is extremely hard both on the brakes and on the cooling of the cars. So will all top six cars make it to the chequered flag tomorrow? The start will also play a thrilling role, as there's an extremely long straight into Turn 1. Sebastian and Charles might benefit from the tow, but will they be able to avoid contact with each other? Tyre degradation is also very high, so tyre management will also be a key factor for victory tomorrow. I think it takes huge effort to beat Max tomorrow, unless he screws up the start (which he has done a couple of times this season). Max is shining so bright this weekend! But the red threat behind him is definitely real!

Japanese GP: Bottas took victory in spite of all-red front row!

I have waken up to this day three times. My first alarm was set at 3.50 am. All F1 action had been cancelled yesterday, because typhoon Hagabis had hit the Suzuka area on Saturday. Due to the typhoon, qualifying had been postponed to this morning. In spite of the qualifying taking place very early in the morning here in Finland, the qualifying turned out worth waking up for! Ferrari continued their superb performance, and once again Mercedes proved to be the underdog in terms of single-lap pace. Qualifying has been postponed to Sunday morning four times before this year, and there's an odd statistic involved with this procedure. Every time the qualifying has taken place on Sunday morning, there has always been a German driver on pole! And to my joy this year was no exception. Sebastian put together a perfect lap in Q3 and took his second pole of the season with a 0.189s-gap to his teammate. Sebastian's pole was the most perfect birthday present for me, although the official birthday is tomorrow. Mercedes had brought an upgrade package to Suzuka, but in spite of the new parts, they were unable to match the Red Team's pace. Bottas pipped his teammate, and the Silver Arrows had to settle for the second row. Red Bull's pace proved surprisingly tame; Verstappen and Albon set the exact same lap time, but as the Dutchman had set it first, he got P5 and Albon P6. McLaren proved the best of the midfield teams, and the orange cars locked down the fourth row.

My second alarm was set at 7.50 am, as the race start took place at 8.10 in the morning. The typhoon was gone, but the wind speed was still extremely high. Unfortunately pole-setter Sebastian screwed up the start. His Lina moved slightly before the lights had gone out, which cost him dearly. Bottas from P3 took a rocket start, and the Finn stormed into the lead. Charles' start was everything but smooth as well. The Monegasque's SF90 understeered going into Turn 1, which led into contact with Red Bull's Verstappen. Charles' front wing got bad damage, and Max spun and dropped down to the back of the pack. The left-hand side end plate of Charles' front wing was about to fly off, but Charles wanted to stay out, although the team told him to pit. Hamilton put intense pressure on Charles, who was in trouble with his damaged car. There was a close call, as the end plate and some other bits flew off from Charles' Ferrari in full speed. Some of that debris hit Hamilton's car, making Hamilton's right-hand side mirror to fly off. In the end, Charles had no option but to pit for a new nose cone. He also switched to the medium Pirellis, re-joining the track at the back of the field.

The stewards took Verstappen's and Leclerc's first-corner incident into investigation. Sebastian, too was taken into investigation for alleged false start, as his car had moved before the lights out. I was relieved to hear, that there was no penalty given for Sebastian, and that he got to keep his second place in the race! Verstappen, on the other hand, was forced to retire the race on lap 15. His RB15 had suffered too much damage due to the first-lap collision.

Sebastian pitted on lap 17, for a fresh set of soft Pirellis. This was a clear sign, that he was on a two-stop strategy. Race leader Bottas pitted on the following lap, opting for a fresh set of medium compound. This meant, that at least theoretically, the Finn could be on a one-stopper. The third free practice session had been cancelled, so tyre degradation was kind of a question mark for all teams. Initially, the team had planned a one-stop strategy for Hamilton, but it proved to be a no go. Hamilton's tyres were gone on lap 22, and the Briton had no chance but to pit for medium rubber, similar to his teammate. After the pit stops there was about a 10-second gap between the Mercedes teammates, and Hamilton questioned his strategy on the team radio. He asked, why the team hadn't put the hard tyres on his car. His race engineer answered, that the hard tyres hadn't seemed competitive on other cars. Charles pitted for the second time already on lap 27. He switched back to the softs.

Sebastian opened the second round of pit stops on lap 32. The German re-joined the track on fresh mediums, whilst the Mercedes aces opted for the softs for their last stint. After the pit stop roulette Bottas was still leading the race, with Sebastian second and Hamilton third. After the second pit stops Hamilton was literally flying, closing the gap to Sebastian radically. In spite of Ferrari's amazing single-lap pace, Mercedes still had the upper hand in terms of the race pace. Hamilton got within striking distance from Sebastian, but luckily the team told the German, that he was able to extract some extra power from his Lina to defend his position. Sebastian knew, what he had to do to keep Hamilton behind. Meanwhile, teammate Charles pitted for the third time already, and went for the fastest lap time. However, in spite of Charles having the fresh set of soft tyres, Hamilton snatched the fastest lap time under his belt.

Bottas took a sweeping victory, which was his first one since the Azerbaijan GP in April. In spite of the threat from Hamilton, Sebastian finished the runner-up. I don't know, whether Sebastian would have been able to take the victory, had he taken a dream start. I was so happy, that Sebastian drove a flawless race, in spite of the mistake at the start. He definitely drove his heart out, defending his second place like a lion. I was so proud of him and so happy to see him on the podium! Albon finished the race fourth for Red Bull, who were driving the home race of their engine supplier Honda. Sainz crossed the finish line in P5 for McLaren and Charles was able to fight it in P6 in the end. However, the young Monegasque was given penalties after the race. He was given a 5-second penalty for causing the collision in Turn 1 and an additional 10-second penalty for staying out on the severely damaged car, which caused danger to other drivers. The time penalties dropped Charles down to P7 in the final standings. On the other hand, Renault's Ricciardo, who was then promoted to P6, is also under investigation for a brake infringement.

By finishing P1 and P3, Mercedes secured their 6th consecutive constructors' title, which is a remarkable achievement indeed. It is also clear, that a Mercedes driver will win the drivers' world championship. It takes a miracle, if it will be Bottas, but the Finn still has a mathematical chance to take it. Now that all the pressure caused by the world titles is gone, Sebastian seems much more relaxed and comfortable in his Lina. I hope he keeps up this impressive work also in the last four races of the season! Forza Ferrari!

P.S. I woke up at two o'clock in the afternoon for the third time. I watched three episodes of Big Brother Finland and started to write my thoughts on the GP weekend :)

Russian GP: Red victory turned into Mercedes 1-2!

It was known beforehand already, that the start straight into Turn 1 was frighteningly long. Especially for pole-setter Leclerc, who wasn't to get a tow from other cars. Sebastian knew that. The German took a rocket start behind his teammate. Thanks to the slipstream, Sebastian had it easy to move pass Charles, who didn't even try to defend his position. I assume there had been a pre-race agreement between the Ferrari drivers, that Charles wasn't going to prevent Sebastian from overtaking him. Ferrari's target was to get both cars on top, and the mission was accomplished; Sebastian was in the lead, with Charles following him. Hamilton was third, whilst teammate Bottas had lost a position to McLaren's Sainz at the start. Although the top drivers had a clean start, there was action further down in the pack. Haas' Grosjean and Renault's Ricciardo hit each other, which ruined the race for the Frenchman. Safety car was deployed already on the opening lap! Meanwhile, Kimi in his Alfa Romeo had taken a jump start, and the Finn was to get a drive through penalty for his infringement.

After the re-start the race took an interesting turn, as race leader Sebastian was told on the team radio, that he was expected to let Charles past, although the Monegasque wasn't even in the striking distance from his teammate. Sebastian wasn't willing to obey the order, but answered the team by banging the fastest lap time. Charles told on the team radio, that he had done, what had been expected from him (not defending his position at the start). Sebastian was stubborn; he increased the gap into 2.7s already. The situation reminded a lot of the Malaysian GP 2013 and the famous "multi 21" scandal; the Red Bull drivers Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber were told by the team to maintain their positions (Webber 1st and Vettel 2nd), but instead of obeying the team order, Sebastian overtook his teammate and won the Malaysian GP. That happened at the end of the race, but now it was only lap 6 in the race. And Sebastian truly seemed faster than Charles, so why should he have given up on the lead? I love how hot-headed Sebastian is in this kind of situations! I was so happy, that he stuck to his decision to keep the lead!

While the red-suited drivers had their feisty conversation on the team radio, Bottas had made his way past Sainz, moving to fourth. Red Bull's Verstappen, who had started to the race from P9 due to his penalty, had also passed Sainz and was now in P5. Charles was the first Ferrari driver to be called in for the pit stop. Everything went smoothly, and Charles re-joined the track on the medium compound. As Sebastian hadn't given up on his lead willingly, the pit stop strategy was the perfect way to make the switch. Sebastian was called in three laps after Charles, which offered the Monegasque a chance to move ahead of his teammate.

What a dramatic turn the race saw only a couple of laps after Sebastian's pit stop! His Lina was hit with a MGU-K failure, and she came to a halt on track! What made the situation even more ironic, was the fact, that Sebastian's retirement brought out the virtual safety car. Both Hamilton and Bottas had a free pit stop, and Hamilton took the lead! Meanwhile, Russell in his Williams suffered a brake failure, and the Briton, too stopped on the track. Safety car came out again. Ferrari made a risky call and took Charles in during the safety car. Charles switched to soft Pirellis, as Hamilton, too was on softs. Due to the pit stop, Charles lost a position to Bottas, dropping down to P3.

There were 20 laps to go, as the re-start took place. Charles did the best he could to challenge Bottas for the second place, but it didn't turn out easy, in spite of Ferrari's ridiculous straight line speed. Charles was able to make it within DRS distance from the Finn, but there was no going further. Bottas is extremely good at defending his position, when somebody is putting pressure on him. Bottas hardly makes any mistakes under pressure, which makes overtaking extremely hard. Maybe Ferrari were a little arrogant even, thinking that they could afford an extra pit stop because of their superb straight line speed. What had initially looked like a red victory, turned into a Mercedes 1-2! Hamilton took his 9th win of the season, with Bottas making it a glorious 1-2 for the Silver Arrows. Charles was left in P3. The Red Bull teammates finished 4th (Verstappen) and 5th (Albon). It was well done from Albon, who had started to the race from the pit lane. Sainz brought his McLaren to the chequered flag in P6.

I love the fact, that Sebastian was voted as the Driver of the Day by fans! Not only was his start sensational, but also the fighting spirit, that he had! Sebastian's retirement saved the team from the awkward post-race drama, had the German won the race against the team order. But this is definitely the Sebastian I want to see in the remaining races! Relentless and fearless! Forza Sebastian! Forza Ferrari!

Russian GP / Qualifying: Leclerc did it again!

The Russian GP at Sochi Autodrom always brings back so many unforgettable memories from the 2017 season, when I got the chance to spend four memorable days at the paddock, watching the free practice sessions at the Ferrari garage and interviewing Sebastian Vettel in front of the Ferrari motor home. It gives a wonderful personal touch to the F1 weekend, when you have actually made the track walk yourself!

The Ferraris came out on the medium compound at the beginning of the first session. Sebastian was pushing hard and made a mistake in the second sector, ending up wide at Turn 13, so the quadruple world champion was unable to set a competitive lap time. Teammate Charles, on the other hand, set the screens purple and went on the top. However, Hamilton snatched the top spot a moment later, due to his softer tyres. Red Bull's Verstappen proved strong as well, ending up only a tenth shy of Hamilton's benchmark. Sebastian was on his second flyer, as Red Bull's Albon hit the kerb and crashed into the tyre wall, which brought out the red flag. Sebastian's flyer was ruined, and the German was in P19, with 6:38 remaining in the clock. The red flag episode forced Sebastian to come out on the softs at the end of Q1. Sebastian's pace on the soft Pirellis was absolutely convincing, and he set the fastest lap time with a two-tenth margin to Hamilton. Both Verstappen and Leclerc sat out the second runs, as they had no need to improve. Unfortunately Kimi's pace at the wheel of his Alfa Romeo left a lot to hope for. The Iceman made a mistake on his last run, and the Finn was knocked out of Q2 by his teammate Giovinazzi, who was the last driver to make it into the second session. It was such a shame, that Kimi missed out on Q2 by 0.085s only! Toro Rosso's Kvyat didn't set a lap time at all, as the home hero had been handed multiple grid penalties for power unit element changes, and the Russian was to start from the back of the grid in front of his home crowd.

In terms of a single lap pace, Mercedes seemed to be the underdog compared to the Red Team. That's why the Silver Arrows opted for a different tyre strategy in Q2. Both Hamilton and Bottas came out on the medium rubber, whilst all others opted for the red-walled soft compound. Once again, Charles stamped his authority all over the place, pipping teammate Sebastian by seven tenths on his first run! Verstappen in third and Hamilton in fourth were separated by one thousandth of a second only, and Bottas in fifth was only about a hundredth of a second off his teammate. Everyone came out at the end of Q2, as the track conditions kept improving throughout the session. Sebastian managed to improve his lap time on his last flyer, but was still a tenth down on his pace-setting teammate. Mercedes teammates had difficulties to match the red cars' pace. Haas' Grosjean was responsible for the most positive surprise in Q2, as the Frenchman made it as high as P6, whilst teammate Magnussen was knocked out of Q3. Alongside with the Dane, out of Q3 were Toro Rosso's Gasly, the Racing Point duo of Perez and Stroll and Alfa Romeo's Giovinazzi.

Charles continued his unbelievable form also in the last session. The Monegasque took provisional pole firmly in his hands, leaving Sebastian three tenths off the pace. Hamilton was half a second down on Charles, and teammate Bottas' gap to the provisional pole setter was massive eight tenths already. Verstappen in P4 was almost a second behind amazing Charles. At this point it seemed, that Ferrari were going to conquer the front row. Charles stroke again on his last flyer, slightly improving his lap time. Although Mercedes were struggling with their pace, Hamilton squeezed himself on the front row! Sebastian was left in P3 again, with two hundredths of a second shy of Hamilton. Once again Verstappen managed to out-qualify Bottas, who abandoned his last flyer due to a mistake of his own. However, the Dutchman's joy was only premature. Verstappen had been handed a 5-place grid penalty for a power unit element change, so he is dropped down to P9. Sainz qualified the best of the rest, and due to Verstappen's penalty the Spaniard will start to the race from P5. Renault's Hulkenberg will start alongside Sainz. McLaren's Norris and Haas' Grosjean will be on the fourth row, with Verstappen and Renault's Ricciardo completing the top ten.

The previous Ferrari driver, who scored four consecutive pole positions, was legendary Michael Schumacher back in 2001. These statistics tell a lot both about Charles' skills and the momentum, that he is having. The start straight into Turn 1 is extremely long at Sochi Autodrom, and Sebastian is passionate to challenge his teammate for the lead. The red-suited drivers will probably have a slight advantage on the Mercedes duo at the start, due to the soft tyres. Sochi offers plenty of chances for overtaking, so I'm sure tomorrow's race will be action-packed! I would love to see another 1-2 for Ferrari, preferably with Sebastian on the top step of the podium!