Esteban Ocon might not finish the season with Haas

👉 Julianne Cesaroli (@UOLEsporte): "Ayao Komatsu doesn't like Ocon. He's not happy with his current performance."

👉 "In fact, I've heard that he's not sure if Ocon will drive until the end of the season

Possible redemption opportunity for Jack Doohan if so?

Possibly we shall see what happens.

Aston Martin and Cadillac continue their record of seeing both drivers out in Q1 at every race so far in 2026.

Franco with no FP1 puts it in Q3.

Franco has found a whole new level recently, I've been very impressed.

Meanwhile in F2:

I wish that they wouldn't say rain is coming as it doesn't arrive.

Lewis with a new PB for Ferrari is very pleasing! Dominated Charles all weekend too which is a rarity.

The entire McLaren team left their brains in Woking apparently.

And Kimi is very close to bagging that title. Biggest points deficit overcome in the sport's history to win a title is 46 points (Max on Charles, 2022) so just a few more to realistically lock it in. Luck is totally on his side so far.

1 hour ago, Dobbo said:

Lewis with a new PB for Ferrari is very pleasing! Dominated Charles all weekend too which is a rarity.

The entire McLaren team left their brains in Woking apparently.

And Kimi is very close to bagging that title. Biggest points deficit overcome in the sport's history to win a title is 46 points (Max on Charles, 2022) so just a few more to realistically lock it in. Luck is totally on his side so far.

Your statistics, whilst not incorrect, do not account for the changes in the points system over the years and how early it is in the season.

Russell is less than 2 race wins at 25 points behind Antonelli with most of the season left to go and the opportunity of Sprints in play being an extra factor. As an earlier example Hunt was 17 points behind Lauda in '76 with 3 to go with only 9 given as a win and only 7 out of 8 results counted.

In 2007 Raikkonen, at 17 points behind and with two races to go also had a 0% tolerance of error to beat Hamilton or Alonso in 2007 and required them both to have problems in order to win.

Antonelli as you point out, has been fortunate so far but realistically George had the measure of him this weekend (as much as it pains me to say). Antonelli has every chance to be champion this year but he still has his work cut out if he is to realise that dream.

You're absolutely right about all of that but I'm planting my flag in the sand early! I think Kimi would still have beaten George had he not retired yesterday as he looked the quicker of the 2 and simply needed to rein it in a little.

I hope Antonelli does take the title if it's between the two Merc drivers and I agree Kimi is naturally faster than George. However he showed his weaknesses yesterday. I said to my mate he was driving like Senna but without the talent. By that I mean he was going for it every lap like Ayrton would but he lacked the super elite ability Senna had. Not suggesting Kimi isn't very talented but he was driving with his heart and not using his head. He kept trying to pass George at the wrong corner and Russell always looked to have an answer each time and was nearly always fully in control.

This year could shape up to be an interesting fight especially if others can get in amongst them.

I like George and would be happy with him winning the title but I'm gradually leaning more towards Kimi as it would end such a ridiculously long wait for an Italian drivers champion when you consider the history of motor racing in the country. Crazy how little world class talent there has been since the 50s. I suppose Andretti sort of counts...

I'm a sucker for random specific stats and one I was thinking about earlier was when was the last year a driver won their first world championship in the same season they also won their first race and apparently the answer is Keke Rosberg in 1982 so that would be a long run ended if Kimi does indeed do it. The full list excluding 1950 reads Brabham in 1959, Hill in 1962, Hulme in 1967 and Rosberg in 1982.

I feel bad for Russell

He’s always been underrated in my opinion. He jumped into a Mercedes and dominated Bottas for christs sake. And his wins last year were great. Yes he has made mistakes but he’s one of the strongest in the field

But Kimi has upped his level at the right time / lucky time. A part of me would love the story of it all. Wouldn’t surprise me if we have a repeat of zpiastri/Norris though, with consistent performances from Russell pulling him through