There was a bit of a reshuffle from the end of Qualifying to the race start with different penalties awarded.  Off the start and around the first lap, there was lots of overtaking.  The most interesting race start for a long time.  Hamilton got ahead of Alonso straight away and Russell looked pushy too.  LeClerc overtook Albon, who I hoped wouldn't be going too far backwards.  Magnussen was pushed off.

Sargeant was given a "critical message" to stop the car and find a marshal.  This brought out the Virtual Safety Car.  Once they were back going, Verstappen, bored out front, created a new sport, where he earnt extra points by hitting sea gulls.  It wasn't much longer until a proper Safety Car came out, as Russell hit the wall and left a lot of debris across the track.  It was a good time to take a pit stop, Verstappen in first and then Hamilton released into Alonso.  The Spaniard really hammed up how bad it was with lots of sawing on the steering wheel.  Norris into his pal Albon too.  Obviously the Ferraris didn't pit.

A third of the way through, old foes Alonso and Hamilton started battling with Alonso retaking his second place.

After looking at a number of possible infringements, the stewards decided to throw the book at Norris for unsportsmanlike driving.  He had been backing up the pack.  His 5 second penalty gave several drivers a boost up the final standings.

It was a good race behind Verstappen.  Alonso had to save fuel through lifting and coasting but was determined to push and try to win the race.  Russell had been given some new bits of car and got back up to 8th position, which was a good job but had to retire the car eventually evincing more apologies.  Mick Schumacher watched on with envy in his eyes.  He reminds me of lady's companions in murder mysteries of a certain vintage.  Following Toto around dutifully and agreeing with everything he says in hopes of scraps from the table.

Obviously, Verstappen was the winner, with Alonso then Hamilton behind him.  Albon took Driver of the Day, finishing 7th having held up Ocon and Norris, who battled to the very end.  Hamilton had held Fastest Lap for most of the race so Red Bull sent Perez in for fresh tires to steal it.  We found out that Alonso had nursed a problem and probably could have been on for a potential win.  The Ferraris were 4th and 5th, with Sainz told not to fight LeClerc.  The Haas's, who had been Qualifying heroes, were 15th and 17th.  Alonso's Canadian team mate Stroll finished 8th and the crowd was hardly a sea of green, so he's being shown up more and more by his geriatric team mate.

Canada GP Qualifying Report

The drivers all went out on Intermediate tires as we had been given a sprinkle of excitement from the wet conditions.  Zhou immediately had trouble with his Alfa Romeo and he finally had to park up the car, leading to the session being Red Flagged.  He subsequently got it started again, which seems like a much better solution to cars being abandoned on track than stopping proceedings.

When the race restarted, drivers came straight out to beat the times set by the Williams drivers otherwise it would have been an amazing comeback for the team.  The drivers struggled to stay on the track, with times being deleted left, right and centre.  They raced each other to cross the line in time to set a final lap, having gone round and round for a long time.  There were no surprises in the bottom group: Gasly (who had been impeded), Tsunoda, De Vries, Sargeant and Zhou.  Albon in the other Williams was comfortably through but he has all the upgrades on his car.

In the second Qualifying session, Albon was the first driver to go out on slick, dry weather tires.  Everyone got a good look at home-track-hero Stroll making a big slide off the track, in a very close rendez-vous with the wall.  The Williams led the time sheet, with other drivers taking slick tires too late and then missing the window as it started to rain.  There was frustration up and down the pit lane.  LeClerc was furious with his team as he had radioed in to ask for slick tires at the right time and was denied by them.  The nail is being hammered in to his Ferrari coffin.  Will he be replacing the increasingly hapless Perez.  Both went out in this session along with Stroll, Magnussen and Bottas.

It was raining cats and dogs in the final session, with Piastri bringing out the Red Flag as the first driver to put his car in the wall.  As conditions got so bad the drivers felt unable to continue the session came to an early stop.  This meant that Hulkenberg starts the race second, ahead of Alonso and behind Verstappen.  He had crossed the line moments before the Red Flag came out.  Albon didn't set a time at all.  Everyone seemed pleased to have made it to the end without enormous expense of ruined cars and a rush to rebuild overnight.  The race seems to be Verstappen's to lose.

Spain GP Race Report

Once again, race was forecast, which, combined with a slightly topsy-turvy grid could have made for an interesting race.  Having caused a collision with his team mate during Qualifying and receiving a "formal warning", Russell went off over the gravel on the way to the grid pre-race.

LeClerc and Sargeant decided to start in the pit lane.  Everyone made an aggressive start but Verstappen held first with Norris and Hamilton coming together behind him, Norris needing to pit for a new nose.  Alonso made up 3 places in the first 2 laps.  The Mercedes engines were doing well with Piastri, Russell and Hamilton making up some places.

The first pit stop window opened and Sainz and Ferrari seemed to be arguing over whether it was a good time or not.  When Verstappen took his pit stop, he was 30 seconds ahead of his team mate Perez and safely back out in the lead.

Then, halfway through the race, Russell reported rain at turn 5 and Christian Horner tried holding his hand out.  It wasn't rain, it was his own sweat.

Verstappen had a good lead but was given a black and white flag for going over the track limits.  What ensued was some discussion between the driver and the team about whether he needed to keep pushing.  Then the race ended without my really noticing.  The Mercedes upgrades are working well, claiming the other two places on the podium.  Sainz wasn't able to keep Perez behind him.  The Aston Martins were 6th and 7th with the Spaniard behind.  Home tracks are not favourable this year.

Despite a lot of overtaking, it wasn't a gripping race.  Having experienced a year of Red Flags and Safety Cars, are we entering a more stable era?

Spain GP Qualifying Report

Another race weekend, another threat of rain.  Not the Monagasque showers, not the Emilia Romagna floods but lightning in Barcelona.  Verstappen was uncomfortable in Free Practice in these conditions; was he too unsettled to qualify well?  Of course not.

It was spitting as the cars went out for the first Qualifying session and weatherman Russell felt rain was on the way.  Ferrari were sitting in the pits, risking losing a dry lap.  Tsunoda was the first to take a trip across the gravel.  Then the Ferraris were out.  Perhaps they were listening to the Mercedes team radio?  6 laps later Bottas took a jaunt through the gravel and the Red Flag was brought out.  Alonso also went through his native gravel and De Vries too.  Then Albon.  Did the stewards want everyone out on wet weather tires?  No, they wanted to sweep up the gravel.  From then on, rain wasn't mentioned again.

It still got very desperate in the Ferrari garage.  LeClerc was in the bottom 5 until the last minute, having to take a new set of soft tires to get through and, home track hero, Sainz was called to the weigh bridge.  As the chequered flag approached the track got quicker, with Albon setting a quick lap in his Williams and Norris leading the board briefly.  Zhou did much better than his team mate Bottas, who was out.  LeClerc was also out, continuing his abysmal year.  Albon fell down the placings and out, with his team mate, Sargeant last.  Magnussen completed the set.

Verstappen radioed in about being impeded by Gasly; Alonso also radioed in about this.

In the second session, Russell told his team how much he was struggling with the car.  It was so bad that Sky had bleep out the b****y before his Nora.  Perez let Red Bull know he was struggling with his car by taking himself out of qualifying and into the gravel.  They were out of Qualifying with both Alpha Tauris and Zhou.  The Mercedes also had a coming together, so Russell may have scuppered Hamilton's session too.

It was a mixed bag of competitors in the final session.  Again the track got quicker and quicker as the session went on.  Alonso could only hit 4th before everyone jumping ahead of him, finishing 9th.  Verstappen took pole, of course, with Spaniard Sainz next to him.  The Spanish will have to remember to cheer him as well as Fernando.  McLaren have finally found some pace, finishing 3rd and 10th (rookie Piastri not showing as well has his more experienced team mate Norris).  Norris is buddies with Verstappen and they seemed pleased to be on the pole "podium" together.  Stroll was 6th and ahead of his team mate.  When the Sky interviewer hinted at a podium, he showed a darker side, commenting: "Now you're teasing me..."    

Gasly finished Saturday with a 6 place grid penalty - 3 for impeding Verstappen and 3 for impeding Sainz.  He's basically a bollard.

Can Sainz and Norris do anything to hold onto Verstappen tomorrow?  Can Perez or LeClerc come through the field.  Will Norris end up still inside the top 10?  Can Alonso continue his run of podiums?

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.