This was not the race I really expected.

Up front, Max and RB were mighty. Even playing two vs one Merc and Lewis couldn't find a weakness to exploit, but they sure tried. I guess the Bottas stop was to make sure he also had fresh tires just in case Max stopped, or managed a fast lap on the old tires. But part of me wonders if Merc thought they could convince RB to pit and fight for that point, hoping something went wrong in the pits. Either way, it played out well for Merc and they got the point.

I'm fairly shocked that we didn't see a safety car or red flag during this race, as I would have bet on it happening. I think they closest we got was the Vettel spin and the chance of collecting Bottas.

I was also shocked at the ability to overtake. I thought Perez would get slowed down much sooner, and there were be fewer chances to pass even the slower cars. As it turned out, passes can be made, they just aren't long straight DRS easy passes. And that's a good thing in my book.... some of the tracks reward the cars with more power, even when the handling isn't great.

Some of the camera angles sucked, and I think they could do better. But having more cameras at elevation they could often get a view of several corners, and watch as the fights unfolded.

Similar to Monaco in expecting contact/offs/mistakes to cost the drivers, but at least they could pass on track. The banked corners are wild to watch, and especially the lines in turn 3.



Well done by Gasly, both reds, and the Alpines as well. Some fairly clean racing up there. Perez drove well once the qually snafu killed their weekend, but too little too late to help the team really. I guess Ocon is feeling bold after a win, but it seems Alonso showed him the 6/10ths as the tires aged.



So Max takes the WDC lead by just a few points, while Merc still leads the WCC by a dozen or so. Seems like a tight race on both counts.