This may be one of the few times where the rain actually hurt the racing spectacle we saw, as there wasn’t too much drama and crashes, and with DRS taking so long to be activated, there weren’t many overtakes either.
This was the weekend Red Bull needed, after a poor first few races overall. They had the pace in all conditions, and their tyre wear was the best out there by far. Verstappen was never really challenged all race, and could push when he needed too, he is not out of this title fight at all yet. He also made up for the bad start in the Sprint, with a good one on Sunday. Perez once again was the perfect No.2 driver, although I am sure he doesn’t want to be called that. His pace basically matched Charles, if not bettered it, and was able to hold him off for the entire race. He was lucky that DRS was not active when Leclerc did get close, but he deserved second place. Going to Miami, with other teams having upgrades it will be tough for Red Bull, but they won’t give up easily.
McLaren have gone from strength to strength with each race so far, showing they can fight right at the front. Their brake issues are still there, as we saw in FP2 from Norris, so the wet race did help them. Other than that, Norris did all he could, making a great start, and once Charles passed him, he settled down into his own race, and was never really seen again. If Mercedes had made the front wing adjustment on Russell, he may have come under threat from behind, but it was still a great weekend for them. On the other side of the garage though, it was an embarrassing mistake for Ricciardo, it wasn’t a huge mistake, but he needed to put some results together. He just touched the kerb at Turn 2 whilst trying to stay away from Sainz, but that had the opposite effect, as he got oversteer, and had to correct into the Ferrari. Can he bounce back in a country he loves?
After the Sprint, this looked like it could be the worst weekend for Mercedes in a decade, in terms of pace. However, thanks to a great start by Russell, the weekend was in some ways saved. We always knew the car would have better race pace than in qualifying, it was just a question of track position. After making it up to 6th on the first lap, George passed Magnussen before settling into 5th, who knows if he could have caught Lando if he had the wing angle change, but 4th is still great. Hamilton was unlucky, although in some ways Russell made his luck this weekend. Hamilton was all over Gasly all race long, but lacked the straight line speed to pass him, so went nowhere. It will be interesting to see how Lewis reacts to this weekend, although I am sure he will bounce back!
At their home track, it was a sombre end to a hopeful day for Ferrari, but in all honesty, they never had the pace to win. Red Bull had brought upgrades here, and they clearly helped. It all went wrong at the start, arguably for both drivers. For Sainz it was clear why, as it put him back into the pack into Turn 2, where Ricciardo hit him and took him out of the race. His luck his terrible right now, and I hope he gets a break soon. As for Charles, the bad start put him behind Perez, who he knew he had to pass, but that was not easy, and eventually he got impatient, pushed too hard, and nearly ended his race. He was lucky to carry on and salvage points, and this will be a learning exercise for him, in his first true title fight.
Bottas yet again is flying in that Alfa Romeo, as he climbed through the field in the race, and nearly got Russell in the dying laps. That battle was close to getting tasty, remembering what happened last year here. I am so glad to see Valtteri back at his best once again, as you could see he was down in the dumps a bit at Mercedes. Tsunoda was another star of the race, and showed how useful the Sprint can be, as he used it to get from 16th to 12th, before then reaching 7th in the race. Normally drivers have a difficult second year, but it seems he got all the bad stuff done in the first year!
The rain may have saved Aston Martin, as they couldn’t make it work in the Sprint in terms of race pace, but could in the main race. These first points for the team are very welcome, and shows Vettel is back to his best once again. Stroll too fought through, as usual in the wet, and also got a point for the team. Magnussen continues to rack up points for Haas, as the team builds momentum this year. Mick seemed to spin off Alonso on Lap 1, which ruined his progress on Saturday.
Albon couldn’t replicate his heroics in Australia, and came up one place short. 18th to 11th is not bad though, as he used an early swich to dry tyres to his advantage. Gasly was stuck behind the Williams with better pace, but couldn’t get past on the straights, and will not like seeing Tsunoda so far up the road. Alpine had a terrible weekend, as Ocon couldn’t recover from his issue in Q1, and Alonso’s collision with Schumacher ended his race.
Momentum has truly swung around into Red Bull’s favour, and the huge title lead of Leclerc and Ferrari is starting to look weaker. Ferrari are reportedly bringing upgrades to Miami, and they need them right now, although not as much as Mercedes do. Can’t wait to see what Miami will bring to the calendar, and see if the event has legs beyond a season or two!
-M
Meaning of Motorsport 