I think Ferrari are eyeing him as a Kimi replacement. If Kimi stays on for a further year then I think we could see a bidding war for his services. I can see Sauber, Force India and Renault and circling. It's not unthinkable he'd end up at McLaren or Williams but I can see them pairing their rookies with experience next year rather than another rookie.

 

He has done a very good job for Sauber, given the circumstances. I'm really looking forward to what he can do over a full weekend

No running in second practice due to poor visibility and the medical helicopter being unable to operate.

 

Going back to Giovinazzi, if Ericsson continues to be poor I think he'll replace him mid-season.

And less than 20 mins of running in FP1! Going to be an interesting weekend with so little running prior to the race

Interesting indeed, the weather could definitely play a part on Sunday.

 

 

I watched the last 20 or so laps so missed the safety car dramas. Saw a replay of Gio's crash, feel for the lad tbh really wanted him to have a strong weekend

Two rookie mistakes though from him, Gio. Shame. Hope it's not the last we've see from him.

 

Stroll- good qualifying but a crap way to go out.

 

 

Stroll was unlucky, was 100% Perez's fault that, surprised he escaped without a penalty.

 

Decent race, nice to see them pushing to the end, always felt this track would be a better indicator of the how effective the new regulations were than Melbourne. Only a week to wait for the next one :D

Didn't Gio crash near the extract same place where he did in qualifying?

 

A OK race better than the last one. Looks like Red Bull could join the Mercedes/Ferrari battle in mid-season possibly.

 

 

Almost yeah. Other side of track but same stretch pretty much.

 

 

The F1 Facebook has a video of Max's first lap where he single handedly does more overtakes than the whole field at Melbourne. I like the Aussie Grand Prix but it's not one for much overtaking neither is Monaco. Canada is probably the best street circuit for overtaking

Pascal Wehrlein back for Sauber for Bahrain.

 

I hope those two crashes haven't deterred teams from wanting Gio as a driver for next season. If teams can have Yamamoto, Karthikeyan and Crashtor for too long then surely a possible talent could get a drive.

 

Interesting news-

 

Fernando Alonso is set to miss the Monaco Grand Prix and take part in the Indy 500 in an McLaren-entered car.

 

What do you think of this, how do you think he'll do.

 

 

Jenson Button looking very likely to replace Alonso for Monaco.

 

 

Another short retirement! I think it'd be a shame for them not to use their reserve driver but I understand in a way given that'd leave them with 2 rookies

Palmer has never shown why he could be a future Grand Prix winner. I do wonder why he is still at Renault.

Hulk thrashed him in Quali. However Palmer finally made it out of Q1 reaching Q3 for the first time!

 

 

 

Bottas gets his maiden pole! ^_^

Ferrari proving Melbourne wasn't an early season fluke, they have some very competitive racecraft this season. Even without that daft penalty for Hammo I think he'd have struggled to get past Vettel. Shame Bottas faded away in the middle, he looked good in the opening 10 laps!

 

Feel for Stroll, taken out again by a ridiculous lunge. The McLaren situation never fails to amuse me :lol:

Definitely the best race so far! Force India continue to impress despite having very weak pace and qualifying yesterday, 3 double points finishes out of 3 - something I imagine only Ferrari and Mercedes have also managed!

 

Palmer really is dreadful, about 1.5 seconds behind Hulkenberg yesterday and he ends up finishing last today yet again. I know there were lots of DNFs but still!

Palmer is a rubbish driver. Best race of the season so far if Max hadn't had brake failure he could have played a part in the race.

Another good race. Having a second team in it certainly makes it a lot better.

 

 

Pleased to see Hulk got points this week after Renault f***ed up last week. I just can't at Palmer talking the talk, but finishing literally last. He was in the wrong engine mode in Q3 but the gap in Q2 and Q1 was like 0.7secs. So still a huge gap. No way that's set up.

 

 

There's rumours that Alonso was spotted chatting to Renault reps with his Manager about a 2018 drive. I WOULD DIE. (of happiness obviously) So Palmer is defo gone for next year. Just a question of when not if.

 

 

Will be interesting to see what happens from Russia/Spain when the aero upgrades and engine upgrade hits for RBR. Coz all 6 Renault's are running the 2016 ERS currently. 2017 not coming until Spain with the rest of the upgrade. They reckon it's worth 0.3 alone which with aero (coz its not just the engine this year) could put RBR in the hunt

I think Bottas would feel hard done by if he is asked to move over and help Hamilton win the race for the title. I prefer teams that let drivers race each other and no matter what, not use team orders.

 

Never been a fan of team orders at all.