The best race of the year came right after the annual toston in Monaco. Everything that did not happen in the Principality was saved for this race: two safety cars, two or three retirements due to accidents, overtakes for victory, leader changes, three different cars fighting, DRS yes and no, rain yes and no, slick and wet tires, fights in the pit lane. It will be old and whatever, but it is usually one of the best races of the year, every year…
Verstappen showed today the stuff he is made of. With a big car he wins by whistling, without a big car he knows how to win by suffering, that’s why he is a champion. Today he couldn’t beat Russell, then Norris passed him, but he persisted waiting for the mistake, which came with Mercedes, and then he took advantage of the safety car, with the skill of his team, to regain the lead and defend himself, today possibly with worse car, taking advantage of the generational fight between Norris and Russell. In the second restart, before the DRS he already had a second on Norris to resist his attack. It’s going to take blood, sweat and tears to take the scepter from him.
Lando was unlucky in the safety car exit with Sargeant’s accident. His well-earned lead with two superb previous overtakes on Russell and Verstappen (one of the few times it has been seen in recent years) disappeared when he entered a lap later and was also held back by the safety car, all the bad luck possible, when reverse than in Miami. To make matters worse, he was superb again at the start, stretching his return to slick tires for a couple of laps, and again touching the lead against Max in a cinematic ‘pit lane’ start.
McLaren races on all the circuits and with the two drivers, they race in urban, semi-urban, fast and slow, overtake, overcome, fight for pole, win and win again. It has taken years, more than a decade, but they have already put an end to the journey in the desert.
Cold track and goodbye Ferrari. The car does not heat the wheels if the asphalt is frozen and they have suffered like few times, one of the worst races of the year, both out of Q3 for the first time in three years and out of the points the entire race, in fact out both of them in the race, with spins, engine problems… Incredible, ‘one off’ for those from Maranello, who should recover with the Spanish sun.
Haas played it at the start and it went well in the early stages, with Magnussen gaining positions like a locomotive and Hulkenberg the same with those extreme tires. It was risky but it worked at the beginning, with the Dane finishing fourth and the German eighth. However, it stopped raining and the float turned into a pumpkin.. They had nothing to lose but at least they added some spice to the start of the Grand Prix, like later by going hard (and dry) in the final stretch before anyone else. Fighting.
Albon’s pass, double, at the start, to Ricciardo and Gasly, who are not just any two, was one of the best so far this year, one on the outside and the other on the same side, on the inside, like a kamikaze on the M-30. Williams’s has its moments.
Fernando is holding off Hamilton for 25 laps, you stop him and everything gets stuck, you make him lose the advantage that it cost him blood to maintain and he rejoins from behind. And also with Lewis. To turn off the radio two races. Putting it on hard for the final 25 laps, with the rest of the rivals on medium, is also worthy of analysis, due to Aston’s aversion to taking risks or because they do not trust the degradation of the tires.
Logan’s runway departure. Logan accident. He doesn’t have the year and he won’t continue at Williams, whether Sainz goes there or not, whether it’s American Liberty or there are more than three races in the United States.
