What an epic race! A great start from Norris and a shockingly poor start from Verstappen and during the following lap Raikkonen really went for it. It was the most exciting start to a race that I can remember without any crashes. Norris helped the top four by holding up everyone else and it made me think that LeClerc would break his duck.
On Lap 22, Ferrari showed what they're capable of, with an excruciatingly long pit stop. Hamilton followed on Lap 31 with a new wing, which probably cost him a podium place. He was surprisingly calm about it in the post-race interview though.
The sea of orange supporters for Verstappen went berserk when when he attacked Vettel on Lap 50 and from that point onwards things just got more and more exciting. Five laps later, there was a power scare on his car which was proven to be fatal when he overtook Bottas less than a lap on.
It led me to wonder when Verstappen is really so significantly better than Gasly that he should be so far ahead or do Red Bull choose a favourite driver and invest all their resources in their direction? It would explain why Ricciardo felt he had to jump so far.
The pressure really began to mount. LeClerc told his team to: "Leave me alone". DRS was definitely a key player in the race outcome, enabling Verstappen to get closer and closer. And on he went, in the Honda that Alonso didn't want. By Lap 68 (of 71) the racing couldn't have been any closer and on Lap 69 Verstappen finally made it stick. If the race hadn't been a comeback for Verstappen, I'd have been much more upset on LeClerc missing out. Ultimately the A1 Ring is his track.
On the penultimate lap Vettel squeezed past Hamilton. Some commentator stated this was Honda's first win in 27 years which was bitterly disputed by my sofamate. We believe last win to be Button in 2006. Corrections in comments please.
LeClerc blamed tyre degradation for his victory loss and Bottas found both attacking and defending a problem with his car.
Three hours later the race result was confirmed. The stewards had a good contemplate of further ruining F1 but decided against it.
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