It was all sunshine and smiles on the cramped grid walk.  LeClerc had been awarded a 3 place grid penalty for impeding Norris during Qualifying.  All the former driver pundits agree that there is a gentlemen's agreement that you don't go slow in the tunnel.  I fail to understand how the stewards can penalise for breaking an agreement rather than a rule.

The first take of the hairpin saw the drivers get bunched up to a stand still; resulting in Hulkenberg in the pits and damage for Stroll.  The Canadian went for a gap where there was no gap twice.  George Russell was also in trouble for starting in the wrong place; this was later judged to be not of sufficient interest.

Once the first lap was all done, everyone settled into a routine.  On Lap 12, Sainz went into the back of Ocon, just as he was trying to force the man ahead to push his tires too hard.  With a bit of wing hanging off, he should have been called into the pit lane but didn't.  The bit fell off and Ferrari no longer felt any need at all to bring Sainz in as driving to optimum speed around Monte Carlo isn't necessary.  

Magnussen managed an overtake on Sargeant.  The Williams were sitting ducks as others followed through and Albon pitted.  But was it tactical for one driver to hold up others to give the team mate more of a gap to pit?  At this point, there was much talk of tires graining as this was the only hope of the race spicing up.  Or perhaps rain?

Stroll had more coming-togethers, this time with Perez, who had to get a new nose when he pitted, ruining his already ruined race.  I don't think Alonso will be able to say what a great driver the boss's son is after this race.

Sainz did a LeClerc and was furious on the radio with his team for poor strategy.  It felt like there was only a matter of time before his rage distracted him from due care and he crashed.  We were treated to a shot of Antonio Giovannazi looking worried in the Ferrari garage but also much more dishy for having a hair cut.  If only he'd reduced his weight earlier...

By Lap 45 of 78, everyone had been playing chicken with their pit stops waiting for either a Safety Car or rain.  LeClerc broke first, pitting from 3rd and exiting in 8th.

With 26 laps to go, the rain arrived.  Sainz continued to battle Ocon and it seemed no one other than Verstappen was worried.  Alonso was the first driver to be called to the pits and chose dry weather tires, which threw his race as the rain suddenly came down much heavier and he came straight back in, luckily back out in 2nd  Verstappen nudged a barrier.  They were stacking at Ferrari.  Mercedes beat them at the strategy, with both cars out in front.  Stroll lost his wing running into the barrier.  Then Magnessen.  Then Sargeant (who also sped in the pits, rounding off a particularly lacklustre weekend for Williams).  As if the rain wasn't enough, Russell had a time penalty for rejoining the track unsafely (indeed into Perez).  There were numerous other incidents and Hamilton came on to the radio saying the track conditions were unsafe.  The first driver to actually retire was Stroll.  Russell put in a bid for Hamilton to let him past to maximise the points but was told no.

Despite everyone willing Alonso to win, Verstappen held on to his premier position.  It wasn't a good day for overtaking with Ocon holding on to his third position.  As the circus moves on to Spain, all hopes will be back with the Spaniard; I think we're going to keep on like this until he either wins or retires.

Monaco GP Qualifying Report

There were a few bumps in Monaco prior to Qualifying and the most talked about was Hamilton's bump in Free Practice 3 that morning, which meant a quick turnaround for the team.  The first big incident of the weekend though was for Perez who brought out the Red Flag after less than 10 minutes into the first Qualifying session.  With a barrier broken and a hole in the side of his car, he was beached in the middle of the track.  From being King of the Circuit last year, this was abysmal.

We were treated to another amazing shot of a car suspended high above Monte Carlo, against the azure blue sky.  All week there had been mentions of rain, would this come for race day?

The track warmed up with every second that passed and drivers kept shooting up to the top of the timetable.  At the end Hamilton and Sainz were under pressure to put in a good lap to get them through and just made it, putting out Sargeant (who, only moments earlier looked very safe), Magnussen, Hulkenberg (a poor showing all round from Haas), Zhou (who had held the top spot) and Perez last.  It proved that you need to get an amazing lap in as you don't know what flags might come out and the track kept evolving.

The next bump came in the next Qualifying session and it was a bottom wallop by Norris to his McLaren, right at the very end of the session.  The mechanics worked furiously on the car as he was still through to the final Qualifying session, just knocking out his team mate.  Race Control put the start time back for this session, which would benefit the team.  Out went Albon, Bottas, Stroll, Piastri and de Vries.

The final session saw championship-leader Verstappen looking a little shaky but still caught pole position in the final moments.  It looked spicy though with Alonso in second.  He had held pole, with LeClerc in third position having held pole briefly prior.  Ocon also put in a great lap to be first before the top drivers put in their last laps.

The first 100 metres of the race would be electric as Alonso is definitely in it to win it this weekend, possible being one his best chances to take a win this season.  I think LeClerc will play it cautiously as he will at least want a finish first before considering a podium; he first had to survive an inquiry.

Miami GP Race Report

Storms were predicted for the race but came overnight, leaving gusty winds behind them, which the drivers managed well.  Nothing could have been greyer than the driver presentation by LL Cool J...Sargeant came out first and waved well.  De Vries could not have been more awkward.  We couldn't hear the crowd cheering on the TV coverage, presuming they were, which also made it even more bizarre.  The rapper's introductions were very Netflix but assuming no one has ever heard of any racer before.  LL Cool J appeared to have been given every failure to read out loud: "contending the championship in 2021".  The omissions shouted loudly.  Everyone looked embarrassed from the drivers to the classical musicians.

Pretty much all the cars got away cleanly at the start.  De Vries hit Norris so they went to the back of the grid with Piastri actually doing well.  Alonso made a mediocre start but the top three held their places with Gasly and Russell moving forwards.  Sargeant pitted on Lap 3 for a new nose; we never found out why.

As Magnussen and LeClerc battled each other, Verstappen overtook them both on the straight.  By Lap 10, he was in 4th place, just outside the podium.  Four laps later, he was past Sainz in 3rd and on the back of Alonso and was past him on the next lap.  Magnussen made an early stop who triggered Gasly and then a number of others, whilst Alonso and Perez were wondering whether they could eek the tyres out longer.

Sainz pitted to undercut Alonso and came out charging.  His pace completely overshadowed his team mate.  However, it was then revealed that he had speeded in the pit lane and was given a 5 second penalty.  Halfway through, Hamilton was asked to let Russell by...another sign he's heading for retirement.  Very little was made of Russell's pass on Sainz for 4th.  Although Hamilton overtaking LeClerc was noted.

Verstappen made his only pit stop with ten laps to go and was out right behind his team mate.  The battle for the lead of the race started at last.  With DRS it was an easy pass on the second attempt.  They looked mindful of taking each other out.  Perez needed to keep with him to get a DRS pass himself but was unable to do so.  Verstappen drove the race of a champion calling it "simply f**king lovely".  Magnussen was able to keep his Haas in the top ten for one point.  

Alonso was surprised that he didn't have to fight for his third place.  There was a fair bit of overtaking, despite worries about the shortened DRS zones.  And no Red Flags, Safety Cars or even Virtual Safety Cars.

I'm not sure how they printed up the winner's NFL jerseys so quickly but they were waiting in the stadium for them.  Verstappen has now won all the Miami Grand Prix and can probably keep go for many years to come.  Alonso grinning through the pain as Perez asked Verstappen: "What lap you got him?"

Miami GP Qualifying Report

Everyone seemed pleased to have arrived in Miami and not to have a sprint weekend.  Although, what they lacked in extra racing time, they made up for in PR events.

Going into the first Qualifying session, no one was expecting any big surprises.  The traffic on track was busy and the track improved, meaning drivers had to keep putting in the laps.  Out went Norris, Tsunoda, Stroll, Piastri and home town hero Sargeant, last.  Stroll in the Aston Martin was the big surprise as the Mercedes put in quick laps at the last second.

As we went into the second session, the track continued to get better and better.  The Mercedes of Hamilton could not stick with the pace and was out along with Albon in 11th, Hulkenberg, Zhou and De Vries (who did well to get to the session and needs an improvement in pace as the non-rookie rookie).  There were several unsafe releases in the pit lane as teams tried to get their drivers through to the third session but the stewards didn't feel these warranted any penalties.

Drivers were really struggling to put together the perfect lap.  Throughout the afternoon, they radioed in to ask engineers to check their car as they touched the walls.  With a minute and a half to go, Le Clerc made a dramatic spin across a vast run off area.  As there wouldn't be enough time for an out lap and fast lap, Qualifying was over and it looked like a great grid: new championship contender Perez in pole, Alonso, Sainz, Magnussen (fantastic placing), Gasly (needing some luck), Russell, the stricken LeClerc, Ocon, Verstappen (who messed up his first flying lap) and Bottas.  With predictions of rained (poopooed by local boy Sargeant), an interesting race lay ahead with only the shortened DRS zones to ruin it.

The biggest cheer of the whole session was undoubtedly for the brief shot of Ricciardo in the Red Bull garage.   Let's see who we're cheering tomorrow.

Azerbaijan GP Race Report

Having watched the Sprint race, I assumed the race would go exactly the same...  LeClerc would lose his pole position after ten laps, Russell would knock about a few cars, Perez would win and Verstappen would be very unhappy.

So far, the biggest surprise of the weekend was the rumours of Taylor Swift dating Fernando Alonso.

Hulkenberg and Ocon started from the pit lane, which would prove to be problematic at the end of the race.

As per the day before, LeClerc held on in the first lap, getting a good start.  It was four laps until he made the overtake, just as DRS was enabled.  Perez also made it look easy two laps later.  Hamilton and Norris pitted early on lap of 51 and it didn't work out well, coming out in 13th and 14th.  At that point De Vries, parked his car at the side of the track and the Safety Car was deployed, so those drivers both lost out.  Verstappen had just pitted from the lead (and came out 7th),  so couldn't take advantage.  Perez was hoping to pit and come out ahead of his team mate.  The top 6 ahead of Verstappen all pitted with Perez and LeClerc coming out ahead, Sainz, Alonso and Russell behind.  As the race restarted, Verstappen immediately overtook LeClerc and Alonso took Sainz.  

From this point, the race became boring.  There was an overtake for 18th; Gasly on Zhou or possibly Bottas.  Hamilton thought he could overtake Sainz for 5th and Alonso thought he could overtake LeClerc for third but didn't.  Gasly also overtook Sargeant.  With 5 laps, Norris overtook the Haas that he had been stuck behind for a very long time.

With a lap or so to go, Russell took a fairly risk-free stop to put on soft tyres and try for the Fastest Lap.  The two drivers who started from the pit needed to put on a change of tyres to comply with regulations.  Hulkenberg took his stop with plenty of time but it looked like Ocon and Alpine had forgot and then came in in the nick of time, mowing down people standing around in the pit lane.

It wasn't a thriller.  Fans of Perez will be pleased.  Verstappen wasn't as unhappy as I thought he'd be.  On to Miami...