Ted and Bernie did the Grid Walk for Sky and the only celebrity they could find was one Imagine Dragon but they could find cars with faults being fixed including some vigorous work on Verstappen's Red Bull. By the time we were getting ready to start, Bortoleto and Piastri were both also in their garages. The Brazilian having been pushed back there from the grid. Having not got to the grid last week, it wasn't what Piastri needed.
The loss of the McLarens on the grid meant Gasly lost track of where he was meant to be and had to reverse into his grid slot, having overshot it. I'm glad he wasn't penalised.
Hamilton went straight into the lead and LeClerc to third. Behind them everyone was going around very tentatively and locking up left, right and centre. Gasly had dropped a couple of spaces back but before the first lap was over Hadjar had a big spin and Bearman, who he was tussling with, went off behind him in order to avoid him as he sprawled across the track. This meant the Alpines were fifth and sixth. Where has this come from? Is this the Briatore effect?
You must pay close attention at the start because the regulation changes mean it's very close and back and forth at the start. I don't think this is any more manufactured than other initiatives but the debate is on. Enjoy the close racing whilst you can. The Mercedes straight line special boost button kicked in on lap two and Antonelli took Hamilton for the lead and Russell got past LeClerc. None of the four drivers who started in the pit lane were still in their cars by this point but getting changed into their civvies. On lap four, Russell got into second place. Lawson had the best opening laps as he had made up seven places.
With the increase in action at the start of the race, the replay of the start is being shown later and later, so any questions are left unanswered. Finally we saw how far Verstappen dropped back at the start as he just didn't get underway quick enough.
Verstappen and Lawson came in very early on lap ten for new tyres. It was terribly timing as Stroll pulled over at the side of the track just as they had come out and the Safety Car was called. Mercedes and Ferrari double-stacked but Alpine did not. Not everyone came in for tyres.
At the restart, Antonelli was at least protected from his team mate and the Ferraris with a Colapinto cushion, who was in turn attacked by Ocon, who definitely sniffed an opportunity, which doesn't always end well. After a while, we stopped watching the front runners. Temporarily, Colapinto was safe in fourth but behind him both Haas were going for each other and Gasly was watching Verstappen in his mirrors. The fighting was tight.
Intra-team battles were not restricted to Haas with LeClerc overtaking Hamilton, who fought back hard. This gave Russell more of a chance behind them. We would have loved to have heard the team radio. Once they took a breather, Russell was passed Hamilton. It took a couple of laps more to get past LeClerc; the only person ahead of him then was Antonelli.
On lap 33, Colapinto finally made his stop and came out ahead of Ocon. The Haas driver made a foolish move to overtake and they collided. It didn't look good for either car. Meanwhile, Alonso had pulled into his garage to retire from the race, as he was losing feeling in his hands. There might have been a Safety Car, Virtual or otherwise, to clear the debris from the incident but nothing was called. Then Hamilton radioed to his team that he had no power. Despite this, he overtook LeClerc and they had another ding-dong.
Ocon admitted that the collision was his fault and received a ten second penalty for it. I can see why it was good for him that he left Alpine when he did because I don't think Briatore would have a kind word to say to him.
With ten laps to go, Verstappen, who had been trailing about in the bottom of the points, started to go slowly and was called in to retire the car.
As the commentators began to wax lyrical about Antonelli's race and counting down the laps, he locked his tyres, as the spectators gasped, and went off. His lead to Russell was reduced but everyone was suffering with worn tyres.
It was a Mercedes one-two, with Hamilton behind them. There were only fifteen finishers. The most notable for me was Sainz bringing home two points for Williams.
Every car seems to have something different in it's favour. Gasly got the top speed in the race in his Alpine. Mercedes are good in some places but not the right places according to Russell. Ferrari can get off the start. Haas clearly have something too.
I'm sure Hamilton would have liked the Italian national anthem playing for him as he stood on the podium but everyone seemed cheery enough for Antonelli to take the win. It bodes well for some sort of championship battle that each Mercedes driver has one win each. There is just Japan before a very long Spring break, a third race winner would be ideal.
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