But then wasn't Russell ahead of Bottas at the apex?

 

And we'll have to agree to disagree on turn 1. Off the throttle or not he still very clearly divebombs and runs Lando off the road whilst not remaining within track limits on the exit himself. In fact it was nearly identical to Vegas last season with Leclerc, which he did get a penalty for that time tbf.

But then wasn't Russell ahead of Bottas at the apex?

 

And we'll have to agree to disagree on turn 1. Off the throttle or not he still very clearly divebombs and runs Lando off the road whilst not remaining within track limits on the exit himself. In fact it was nearly identical to Vegas last season with Leclerc, which he did get a penalty for that time tbf.

Russell was ahead indeed but because Bottas had already ceded the corner by the time Russell moved across to the outside he's therefore forced him off track.

 

As for Verstappen the difference between yesterday and Las Vegas is that at COTA the car was deemed under control - misjudging the line does not automatically mean out of control - but in Vegas Max was determined to have lost full control due to the slippery surface, hence a penalty.

 

If that T1 L1 incident had have played out the same in 10 laps time I suspect Verstappen gets a penalty

Still need to watch the highlights for this one

 

Great to see the new drivers performing though - surely they will fill the remaining seats. Feel a bit for Gasly/Alonso (no race pace) and K-Mag (bad strategy decision)

 

Great recovery drive from Russell. Still insane to think Perez has a drive for next year when he couldn’t keep the Merc behind and Hulkenberg was not far down the road

 

Great to see a Ferrrari 1-2 to make the end of the season more entertaining. This will further enhance the need to ditch Perez (Red Bull dripping from 1st to 3rd potentially due to the lack of a consistent second driver)

I'm still intrigued by the rumours that have been saying Perez's future has already been decided and that they're waiting until after Mexico before announcing he's out

wouldn't surprise me if Perez announces he's out or retiring or something but of course has to be after Mex

wouldn't surprise me if Perez announces he's out or retiring or something but of course has to be after Mex

 

But who would get the 2nd seat?

They're clearly praying Lawson does really well in the final 5 races to warrant him being fast-tracked into the senior team, prob why Horner was singing his praises after Austin.

One divebomb too many for Max yesterday. Though the first 10-sec penalty was a bit excessive (Perez did the exact same thing to Stroll and got nothing), seems like the FIA were righting the wrongs from last weekend.

 

Speaking of Perez, couldn't help but laugh at his outburst at Lawson when it was him that went for the outrageous late move. Someone getting twitchy about finally and deservedly losing their seat...

 

If Ferrari keep this up they can genuinely win the constructors... absolute madness when you think how far back they were mid-season, let's hope this revival extends deep into next season!

wow amazing race and amazing result, Sainz is my fav driver so very happy with the result

pity about Leclerq losing the #2 to Norris but alas

 

pitiful pitiful pitiful race from Perez, finishing last and showing he's not on it

I also thought that Verstappen's first penalty was harsh. 5 seconds for that any day but then Johnny Herbert was one of the stewards so that made perfect sense once I knew that. Def a 10 second for the second infraction.

 

Felt a bit sorry for Perez. He should have qualified better and he's clearly underperforming but being forced to plod around at the back in a severely compromised car is no way to run what's probably your last home GP.

 

Shame about losing a Ferrari 1-2 as well but to be fair Norris didn't make any mistakes this weekend. Nice for Sainz to get another win too. Probably his last.

I agree with what a few people have said recently - the stewards making decisions should be the same every race. This would remove any bias/highlight any obvious bias and make the sport fairer.

 

Max may have gained 1 point from the RB fastest lap, but he lost more than that with those penalties. If he loses the title because of that I'd definitely be raising an investigation over it

Piastri hasn’t helped Lando once. Even with a 20 second penalty he couldn’t finish in front of Max.

Max may have gained 1 point from the RB fastest lap, but he lost more than that with those penalties. If he loses the title because of that I'd definitely be raising an investigation over it

 

If Lando gets through at that point he most likely wins the race, and Max finishes 4th ahead of the Mercedes. From a championship point of view it was absolutely best to keep him behind and hold him up.

If Lando gets through at that point he most likely wins the race, and Max finishes 4th ahead of the Mercedes. From a championship point of view it was absolutely best to keep him behind and hold him up.

Absolutely this. Max prevented Lando having a shot at winning and therefore lost less point to him than he likely would if that were the case. It made sense from a mathematical standpoint and he can currently afford to accept the points on his license. He has 6 now but 2 will drop off after this weekend. I've no doubt he'll fight just as hard again if he has to. Although he'll likely be taking a new engine and a grid drop this weekend so might not end up that close to Lando in any case.

The penalties need to be even harsher to prevent this sort of approach imo, or else we're gonna have another Suzuka '90 or Jerez '97 on our hands.

Confirmation that Max has a 5 place grid penalty for the Sunday race (I assume the Sprint is unaffected).

 

Also Bearman will deputise for Magnussen again.

Oliver Bearman will replace Kevin Magnussen for the entire Sao Paulo Grand Prix weekend after the Dane had to pull out through illness.

 

The 19-year-old was initially drafted in only for Friday's running and the sprint race early on Saturday.

 

But on Friday evening the team said Bearman would continue in Magnussen's car for the remainder of the weekend.

 

Bearman qualified 10th for the sprint, which is at 14:00 UK time on Saturday, two places ahead of regular driver Nico Hulkenberg.

oh the McLaren are very fast this weekend it seems, well, they always seem faster with an empty car, when full they go worse I fear

terrible once more for Perez, and also Hamilton

It’s now or never for Norris this weekend he has to win both races

Watching the quali coverage, don't know why they keep delaying it. Clearly isn't drying up so might as well call it day before the sun sets.

 

Not sure what they can do now cos it's gonna rain all day tomorrow so Sunday morning quali isn't viable either.