We possibly had the best Sprint so far, although there isn’t exactly a long list to choose from, as the cars were able to follow closely here, and make plenty of passes. This shows that the new regulations have done their job, even on a tight track like this. There were still DRS trains, but there is little that can be done to solve that problem. I am still not sold on the Sprint format, as we could easily have seen this excitement in the race tomorrow, and if the race tomorrow is dull, the Sprint has only hurt the event!
Verstappen was not able to convert pole position off the line, as gear sync issues meant he lost out to Leclerc and nearly Norris too. After that though he was super-fast, not letting Charles get further than 1.5 seconds ahead, and as the Ferrari’s tyres wore out, he pounced, and took the lead with a lap or two to go. This suggests that in the main race, tyre wear could be a big strength of that car, as well as the pace it has.
Leclerc said he pushed too hard in the first few laps to try and break Verstappen, which then cost him at the end. There wasn’t really anything he could do, as his tyres fell off the cliff. The team will have to hope that the soft is their weakest tyre, and that the other two work better for them. If not, a second or even third will still be good damage limitation for him. Perez may well be driver of the Sprint, as he got a superb start, flew through the field, and was gaining on the leaders at the end. His pace has been electric all weekend, and could even threaten Max if his race goes well tomorrow!
Sainz did all he could as well, gaining 6 places, and being right in the fight for the race. I wonder if Ferrari will try and put him on an alternative strategy to try and mix up the race. He was lucky on the first lap, as he was right in the chaos at Turn 1, but managed to get out of it unscathed. Norris was a sitting duck against the Red Bull and Ferrari, but could pull away from everyone else. This bodes well for the race, as teams like Mercedes don’t seem to be able to get that far up the grid.
Ricciardo backed up Norris, and had better late race pace than his teammate too. Brake issues were a worry for the team in FP2, but otherwise they look in prime position to bag a lot of points tomorrow. Bottas fought back after his issues yesterday, and could be a threat to McLaren even in the main race. Haas had an alright day, the mediums didn’t work for Magnussen, although that could just be their true pace shining through. Mick on the other hand gained 2 places, and was closing on Alonso at the end, so points could be on the cards for him tomorrow.
Alonso fell back with Magnussen, the Alpine just not having the pace in the race to stay up near the front. Russell ended where he began, the car probably has more potential than 11th, but a poor start, and a DRS train, left him with nothing more to gain. Apparently, a lack of straight line speed also means they can’t take advantage of their speed. It was a similar story for his teammate, who fell back to 15th, but could only gain one place in the train, which will be annoying for Lewis. Tsunoda did the best he could for AlphaTauri after a terrible qualifying, and might get points tomorrow, if he can continue his momentum.
Vettel was leading the train for most of the Sprint, with the Aston Martin not looking that fast, and fell back to 13th in the end. Gasly and Zhou came together on lap 1, it was probably a racing incident, as Zhou came down slightly on the Frenchman. Ocon and the Williams were stuck at the back, lacking pace.
We have a straight duel between Ferrari and Red Bull tomorrow, and it could be very close between the two, especially if Ferrari can improve overnight. The midfield will surely be as chaotic as usual, and the progress of Mercedes will be fascinating to see with the help of strategy. Add into all of that the threat of rain, and everything could be up in the air!
-M
Meaning of Motorsport 