The season restarted this weekend with an absolute cracker of a race. Mercedes are so dominant it could have been dull as dishwater but the qualifying penalty for Hamilton and the safety cars during the race livened it up nicely.
And I’m a huge fan of Lando Norris - that fastest lap at the end was the mark of a future champion.
Looking forward to the re-run this Sunday, though I will be surprised if it’s anywhere near as fun as this was.
The critical gearbox issues on Mercedes made it a nail biter too.
The socially distanced, fanless podium ceremony was so sad and pathetic though. Made me sad for Lando’s first podium.
I missed it, but will be watching from here on out. Glad that it’s happening at all. I think we can definitely expect to see Norris consistently placing higher this time around from last year, and I also get the feeling this is going to be Kimi Raikkonen’s last season, sadly.
I hate that it probably is.
The silliest of silly seasons continue. Alonso will be joining Renault in 2021. I’m not entirely sure how it makes sense for anyone - I guess the cost cap may help in 2022, but… how was this any better than McLaren (which amusingly are in a far better position than Renault right now - and I do think Riccardo and Norris may do better than Alonso next year).
It’s great that Alonso is back though. And if the Renault is awful then he will entertain us on the radio instead of with his driving.
Though it does likely mean no Vettel next year (unless Stroll fires his son, LOL). Which is sad.
Though perhaps Kimi does leave this year, leaving the Ferrari retirement slot open for Seb.
Stroll has been doing OK considering how young he is. I can’t help but like the guy, and his fellow back-of-the-packer George Russell. They’re just scrappy young guys trying to make it! Cut them some slack!
No beef with Russell (though my fav youngster is Norris). However, I may like Stroll better if I wasn’t convinced that he got his ride in 2017 and has kept it this entire time due to his billionaire father buying into teams he wants his son to race in…
eh…there are a lot worse things you can do with a billion dollars, as recent events have proven.
I’m happy to see McLaren improving, I count them as my ‘home’ team. I know people who work or have worked there on both the F1 and road car sides, and their HQ is less than 10 miles from my house as the crow flys.
Eh, Stroll is an extreme example, but F1 has always been (and perhaps always will be) largely a rich man’s sport (pronoun chosen deliberately). Norris’s father is a multimillionaire businessman, which no doubt helped him to be able to focus on racing. Nothing against him - I like him too and hope he can be the next great British driver after Hamilton. He seems to have the potential.
As you noted, Stroll is an extreme example. I think there is a slight difference between getting to focus on racing because you had a rich father and getting a seat because said rich father owns a substantial part of the team ;).
FWIW, you already have a better option for the next great British driver - his name is Lando Norris ;).
So I have P2 on in the background while working, and holy crap, Ferrari are in some major trouble (caveats for being practice, of course).
Lando was who I was referring to - sorry, that wasn’t clear at all! I’m sure Stroll is a great guy and a good racer but he’s not going to be the next great British driver, barring a change of citizenship 
Ah, I see where I got it wrong. I misread your second sentence. Sorry!
There are a few things I like about Stroll. 1. He’s Canadian. I like Canadians, and combined with the fact that his teammate Sergio Perez is Mexican, it’s cool to see North America represented by Racing Point. 2. He’s Jewish, and as a “member of the tribe” myself - though my connections to Jewishness are minimal - I am not immune to the stereotypical affinity for our fellow tribesmen in sport, as if they’re “flying our banner” or something. He certainly has large shoes to fill because the legacy of Jewish drivers in motorsport has always been quite substantial. He’s no Scheckter, that’s for damn sure.
(I’m also part Greek but long ago gave up any hope of seeing a fellow pipe-hittin’ lamb-grillin’ Greek on the F1 grid. Greece may be known for many great things but motorsport is not one of them.)
Awww, c’mon, there’s ummm…ok, I got nobody, and I looked up the Greek motorsport drivers. Bummer of a birthmark, Hal.
I enjoyed the last race a lot, especially the last 30 laps or so. Good racing, even if it was a bit sloppy and the final order was decided by penalties.
Really enjoyed the race last week, nail-biting and a very rare error from Hamilton but the stand-out was Norris’s final balls-out lap to get a podium. The lad has character and temperament.
Just watched wet qualifying, the sort of wet that isn’t a lottery (few people going off) but defintely the the sort that equalises the cars and tells you who the class is.
In short, Hamilton blitzed it. 1.2 seconds ahead of second place. (to put that in perspective, places 2-10 were covered by 1.2 seconds) One of the best quali performances I’ve seen in years. He is very good in the wet but that was outstanding. (I think that of the last 13 wet qualifying sessions, Lewis has got pole on 9 of them.)
Still, dry tomorrow and all bets off. Austria is looking like a very good choice to start the season.
Wuh?! This is the highest finish Stroll has ever had, isn’t it? Perez and Stroll placed 6th and 7th respectively, that is a stellar day for Racing Point. I missed the damn race because I slept in.