As I've been away on holiday this week, this report is both late and based on the Channel 4 coverage. I say "coverage", they didn't cover very much. They barely mentioned the first Qualifying session. De Vries was last and he only has four races to prove he deserves the seat. Inspection of track limits violations was taking 3 minutes, so what you were seeing wasn't reflected in the standings. Given that this was delayed highlights, C4 could have reported the events in a more straight forward fashion. Perez had a lap time deleted and was out in Q2, he might also have a fight on his hands to keep his Red Bull seat. At this point, I was wondering why the drivers couldn't stay within track limits. Was it because they had fewer practice sessions because of the sprint race? Everyone says it's because they haven't put some destructive material on the ground outside the track, so there's no deterrent. I would have thought all the penalties was deterrent enough? Albon went through to the final Qualifying session, showing Williams are making some small progress under Vowles. LeClerc nearly took pole position, which would have been exciting for a couple of minutes but Verstappen stole it. Sainz was next and then a good showing from Norris in his upgraded McLaren.
Then we had the Sprint Qualifying. Hamilton took a disappointing 19th with Russell having a hydraulics failure - a bad start for Mercedes. The track was slightly wet, so there were some poor decisions made. C4 didn't even display the result.
The next part of the event was the Sprint Race. Perez made an aggressive start to take the lead from his team mate but later said he gave the place back. This coming together bunched up the pack and Norris lost everything. It was a wet start and Russell was the first to take dry tyres. Albon went backwards and Sainz managed a clean third. Ultimately it was an easy win for Red Bull. It was unlike Alonso to settle for the place behind his team mate. I have no idea what silver trinket the podium finishers were given. Answers on a silver post card.
When race day came around, Magnussen and De Vries started from the pit lane. LeClerc challenged Verstappen from the start. Tsunoda brought out an early Safety Car when he went through the gravel and the marshals had to sweep it up but it was a boring restart. At this point the track limit violations started to play a factor. Briefly the Ferraris fought each other but Sainz was held back. The mid-field cars were so close that it was tricky to see the order on the track.
Hulkenberg's Haas lost power and he pulled off the track, triggering a Virtual Safety Car. This time lots of drivers did pit for the mandatory tyre change. It was then a case of sitting back to watch and see whether this was the better strategy.
I had started writing down Black and White flags and penalties but soon gave up as they came thick and fast. It had looked like it might make the race interesting but it just became an administrative nightmare. Other interesting points to note include Toto having to go on to team radio to tell Hamilton to stop complaining and just drive the car he has been given and whether 3 DRS zones ruined some good racing up front. Verstappen took a risky pit stop to get soft tires and get a point for the Fastest Lap. Norris was awarded Driver of the Day.
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