Quote Originally Posted by airshifter View Post
It will be interesting to see if Checo can stay up front, and if so will he try to control pace to give Max a better chance to catch up quicker. The most Checo and Fred stretch things out, the farther Max has to catch up. And even more interesting to see if RB plays a hand in ordering a similar strategy.

Fred says the RB has the race pace... but then again he wouldn't admit it to the press if he thinks he can blow Checo out of the water either.
If Checo can get off the line in the lead and negotiate backmarkers efficiently, it would take poor pitstops or safety car to bring Verstappen in contention with him. I think this a race for Checo to win or lose. But l fully expect Verstappen to be on the podium, he has some very troublesome fast cars to pass which may cost him time. I think he could win it if he can clear these cars ahead of him before midway into the race.